Hi everyone !! I’m starting a renga fanfic :)) it’s not on ao3 yet, since I’m still applying for an account. it’s called last kiss, and the first chapter is below 💕
As my thumb hovers over his contact, I feel my breath becoming restrained. Looking down at his profile photo, my heart stings as I subconsciously recall the moment it was taken.
“Happy Birthday Langa!” Reki exclaims. I look up from my phone, and I can't hold back the smile that forces its way onto my face. His familiar messy red hair, contrasting perfectly with his bright yellow hoodie. After a moment, I look down at his hands and notice a neatly wrapped gift with a tag that writes “To Langa.”
“Reki. I told you I didn't want anything for my birthday.”
“Dude. I’m not just gonna not get you anything for your freakin birthday!” He scoffs, setting the gift on my desk. The gift was rectangular shaped, with a blue ribbon tied perfectly into a bow. I carefully observed the tiny doodles, the stickers scattered around the wrapping paper, and the hearts surrounding my name. I couldn't help but think back to the various times I've teased him about his messy style of decorating. Although, looking back, I never actually disliked it. It's what made Reki special, and there was no way I could be mad at that.
“It’s perfect.” I smile up at him,“Thank you,”
Reki chuckles, and scratches the back of his neck nervously.
“Jeez, you haven’t even opened it yet man…”
My hands reach out to tug on the neat ribbon that reveals the messily taped up wrapping paper, and I couldn’t help but crack a small grin at the uneven placements of the tape. I felt a little sad as I gently lifted up the paper to reveal the gift, since it felt like I was ruining Rekis hard work. When I was finally done unwrapping the gift, I picked up a scrapbook; a handmade scrapbook at that.
“Yeah!” He exclaimed, “I know it's a bit lame, but I wanted you to have something to look back at all the memories we’ve made together. Y’know, while skating n’stuff.” He looks down at his fidgety hands, avoiding eye contact.
“I love it, Reki. It's beautiful.”
For a brief moment, he looks up at me excitedly, then looks away bashfully.
“You do? It's really not a big deal man…”
“It is. It’s amazing Reki. Thank you.” I say, my eyes never leaving the book. I flip through the blank pages, daydreaming about the pictures we would fill it with, together.
“Do you wanna take one right now?” he says. I snap out of my daze, and look up at Reki
“I mean a picture. For the scrapbook?” He says, grinning at me. I nod, and watch him pull his phone out of his back pocket. On the back of his phone, in the case was a polaroid of the two of us. I remember taking it when we went to the beach with everyone. Man, I was so happy.
“Hey man! What's up?” My heart drops at the excitement in his voice. In this moment, I realize there is nothing I can say or do to change the outcome of this phone call.
“......Langa? You there?”
I sit there unable to speak, stroking the quilt Reki hand made for me, trying to grasp some form of comfort. No matter how hard I tried, there was no more avoiding it. I had to tell him.
“We're moving back to Canada.” I blurt out breathlessly, a grim sense of relief leaving my body. The truth was out, and sure, it felt good, but it brought a new sense of reality to the situation. I would be leaving my best friend who rescued me when I was drowning in grief after my fathers death. Reki gives me a thrill in life. Skating with him gives me a breath of fresh air I didn't know I needed, I can't lose that. The line goes quiet for a moment, before I hear the quiet sound of a sigh.
“This is a prank, right?” He says, chuckling nervously. My stomach drops. I’ve never been good with words, I know that, but Reki deserves someone who can let him down softly.
“No Reki, My mom got a job offer that pays better there, and my grandparents are offering to let us stay with them.” I say with a wince. The line goes quiet again, and the anticipation kills me.
“This has to be a dream,” He says, his voice quivering slightly.
A rather uncomfortable silence passes over us, something I'm not so used to with him.
“...Can I come over?” His voice breaks on that last “over”, and I feel my heart clench.
The second I open the door to face Reki, he pulls me into a tender hug. I practically sink into his touch, and feel him sniffle into my shoulder. Oh god.. Please don't cry. It feels worse knowing there's nothing I can do to fix this. He pulls away, sniffling quietly. He takes a shaky breath and then grins at me.
We sit together soaking up our fleeting sunset. The sun casts an orange hue across the skatepark, and I glance over at Reki. He's kicking his skateboard back and forth, saying nothing. The silence that I'm usually comfortable with, is eating me alive.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving.” He says, avoiding my eyes. I wish he would look at me. I stay silent, unable to figure out the right words. I'm usually scarce of words, but today more than ever.
“I'm really gonna miss you dude.” He says again, glancing over at me while picking at a bandage on his knee. I lock eyes with him for a moment, watching them well up as I do. Before I know it he falls into my shoulder, his sobs muffled by my baggy T-shirt. My stomach drops when I hear his silent sobs, and I wrap my arms softly around him. We sit there for a moment holding each other, and I honestly can't imagine what he's feeling right now. He hasn’t told me much about his life before I moved here, but I know he got bullied pretty bad when his friend got hurt. I don’t want to think about him going through that again. After a few minutes of him crying and me rubbing his back softly, he pulls away.
“How long until you move?” He asks, wiping his tears and sniffling.
“2 months.” I say quietly. He nods and looks back out to the sunset, which was slowly turning dark as the minutes passed.
“You’ll be here for my birthday.” He says, smiling ever so slightly through the tears and puffy eyes. I so desperately wanted to wipe those tears, to do something to fix this. But I just sat there, unmoving. I glance over at him, and begin examining his face. The way he tries to force his smile, even while he's holding back tears and the way he avoids eye contact when he asks the things he really doesn’t want to ask. You can see it all in his face.
“I'm really excited.” I say, trying to lighten the mood. He nods, glancing back out at the sunset kicking his board again. The only time i've ever seen Reki with this little enthusiasm was when we had our fight. Before I know it, Reki jumps up, wiping his face subtly. He takes off on his skateboard, nailing a few tricks as he goes. I watch as the further he skates down the park, the more he just looks like a silhouette against the darkening sky.
this fic is very much still in the early stages, and chapter one is the only one i have written. if you guys enjoy it, i will try my best to update it faster. im so excited about this one !! ill upload it to ao3 as soon as they email me back about my account :)
let me know if you would like a synopsis of the plot 🩷
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