Thorns

000

The boy with the golden hair and angelic blue eyes stared off into the distance. The wooded hills and valleys became less visible the further he looked out. He stood on a cliff in a white shirt and an orange skirt that billowed in the warm wind. Stars from the bluish purple ocean above watched over him. A crescent moon was off in the corner. He loved the sky in the afternoon. He wondered if Earth was this beautiful. Beautiful, like a misty forest.

"One day," His mother had told him. "One day I will take you."

A shadowy figure rises up from below. His piercing red eyes looked deep into Simon.

"Josh!"

In one of the rare occasions, Josh's hood is down. Instead, the thorn crown Simon had gifted to him rested upon his black locks.

"There you are, Simon! I've been looking for you everywhere. How did you get way out here?" They were both far from the cities. Instead, Simon had hiked to the more desolate, natural destinations.

"I don't quite remember." Simon muttered, looking off to the side in an attempt to recall his journey here.

"Strange. It doesn't matter now, I have fantastic news!" Josh smiles.

"Ooh! Do tell me!" Simon bounces with anticipation.

"Tobi's back home! He's just arrived." Josh tells him with much joy. Simon's new friend has not met this member of the group yet. So he is ready to finally do so.

"Really?! That's great. I'm so happy he passed. I knew he could do it." Simon bubbles. He grabs Josh's hand and together they blindly run into the forest with no clue of how to get home. It doesn't matter at this moment, they know they'll find their way eventually.

And when they did, they ran up the grand fountain in the middle of the courtyard where they saw Tobi and Vik chatting away on the edge.

"Tobi! Tobi! Tobi! To-!" Simon, who is running at full speed, trips on a stone but luckily he is still holding onto Josh who pulls him back so he doesn't fall. "Whoopsie, getting ahead of myself. Thanks, Joshy." He stops for a moment to regain his composure. Then he starts running again, this time without Josh.

When Tobi sees Simon he stands up and opens his arms as wide as he can, preparing himself for the biggest welcome home hug of his life. Simon bulldozes into Tobi nearly taking them both out into the fountain.

"Oh my goodness, Simon, control yourself. It's only been a little more than a month, yeah?" Tobi's laugh is muffled as he laughs into Simon's shoulder. Their hug was tight, nearly squeezing the life out of them.

"I know but it feels like it's been so much longer. I'm just so proud of you! Did you have fun?" Simon asks, full of curiosity.

"Meh." Tobi shrugs. Memories of dull and gray days flash through his head.

"Meh?" Simon repeats with an inquiring tone.

"It's a long story." Tobi pushes it all aside. Simon would never understand Tobi's struggle in finding real friendship. Nor would he ever understand the story that is Ethan. It's much too sad. Simon doesn't empathize with sadness well.

Simon shuffles his feet awkwardly while looking down. Josh, who was standing beside him, looks at him with furrowed brows.

"Tell me you guys," Simon begins. "Is Earth pretty?"

"Uh..." the two darker colored boys utter out.

"I never got to see much of it." Vik answers solemnly.

"Me neither." Tobi shakes his head. "From what I did see, it really was... lackluster."

Simon slouches.

"Tobi, come to my place." Vik invites. "We can tell each other more about our adventures while I pack." Vik notices Tobi's face beam with an infectious smile. He seems so eager to be back with Vik. A thought sprouts in Vik's mind. A thought that reconsiders his conversation with JJ. Vik shakes the silly thought out of his head to let logic reclaim its throne. 

They laugh together as they trot away. Simon and Josh are left with each other.

"That's so sad." Simon hums. He sits down where the two were just.

"What is?"

"A few different things. To start, now that they've passed their tests, Tobi and Vik are going to graduate and leave us again." he pouts. Realization that JJ will do the same in a years sets in. Soon, all Simon will have is Josh. "Second, Earth doesn't sound that breathtakingly beautiful. I imagined it to be like that forest we were in early today you know?"

"You heard those two; They didn't see much of anything." Josh sits next to him. "Do you know how big Earth is? It's bigger than this star. There must be some place on there that's as incredible as that forest. Just wait until you see it yourself okay?"

Simon continues to look down at the cracks in the concrete pathway. Josh's coal-black hand pokes the corner of Simon's mouth and pushes it upward.

"Smile? For me?" Josh pleads. The precious boy can't help but crack a grin at his adorable friend. He is happy to see him being so comfortable with himself.

"Josh? Do you know why I love that forest so much?" The pale boy shook his head. "It reminded me of you. It had this thick layer of pine trees that you can't see through and a thin layer of fog that gave it this mysterious feeling. Like you. And people stand at this edge unsure of what's down there and they don't know what's behind those layers of trees. But once you see what kind of unique, pretty things lay underneath the surface, the warm wind hugs you and the once intimidating forest is now your favorite place in the whole world."

Josh sits there is awe with pale rose colored cheeks. A certain gushy, tingly feeling like no other dances in his stomach. He loves it.

"Th-That was, amazing. Beautiful..." he breathes. "I hope to find a place on Earth that alluring, and that it will remind me of you in such a fashion." Awkwardly he fiddles with bottom of his shirt. Simon told him such a sweet thing, but Josh isn't sure how to reciprocate that. Instead, Josh lightly splashes Simon with the water from the fountain. He can't help but giggle as Simon flinches, who then laughs as well. Josh gives a shy smile in hopes Simon isn't disappointed with his strange of a response.

Understanding, Simon puts together his hands and pulls them apart, a rose flower forming between them. The petals were a deep rich red. He hands Josh the flower.

Josh takes the gift. He buries his nose in it and inhales a deep whiff of the floral smell. Gorgeous.