TW FOR: DEATH, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH & BLOOD IN THIS CHAPTER!
If anything like that triggers you or makes you uncomfortable, feel free to skip this chapter or stop reading. Stay safe! <3
Remembering.
Once again, the memories were flooding back. I can still hear my screams, his breathing, the shouting of the other skaters as they crowded around. I still remember it all. It's not like I could ever forget.
I decided to just close my eyes, and let the memories play. I'm tired of trying to make them go away, despite knowing full well they'd come back as soon as they left. I'm tired.
It was the day of Langa's beef against ADAM. The one everyone was most excited for. Everyone except me. I didn't want him to get hurt, which is why everything happened in the first place. The crowd was packed that day, everyone wanted to see who would win, the rookie or the mandator of love. Of course, we all knew who was going to win that day, but nobody expected the outcome to be this..permanent.
I was hiding, I didn't want Langa to know I was there, I didn't want to put him off or put him in danger by him seeing me. But I still came so I could see the smile on his face when he put ADAM to shame. That's what I hoped for. I wished that all my worrying would've been for nothing, and I could've ran up to him at the finish line, and hug him as tight as I could. But of course, that never happened.
As the countdown started, my nerves kicked in. I'm still not sure why, I wasn't even the one skating. I guess it was my fear of ADAM. Either way, I was stood trembling at the sidelines, waiting for them to speed past. Even while they weren't where I was yet, I could still see what they were doing via the cameras and the huge screens that decorated the venue. I saw them flying round corners, doing extravagant tricks to try pass each other, even if it was just by a centimetre. The crowd was cheering like crazy, as if they had just seen the most beautiful performance take place. I mean, I'm not surprised, since this is the biggest match in a long time.
Something about Langa's face seemed..wrong. Like he didn't want to be there, or as if he wasn't happy? I thought all he wanted was to skate against ADAM, so why does he seem so glum? He seemed to be holding his heart, as if there was no tune to keep him going. I don't know what song gave him the motivation to carry on, but all I know was that Langa was my music, my everlasting melody. With the high notes, he gifted fun and comfort. With the low notes, he gifted jealousy and tears. But no matter what, he was my tune, my song that gave me the motivation to carry on.
As they whirled around corners, and flew like birds over ramps, the gap between them was slowly getting smaller and smaller. So slim, that you could almost see the sparks lighting up the gap. The cluster of S members were getting gradually louder at each trick, roaring until they were hoarse. It seemed like I was the only one who noticed my best friend's misery.
My ears were ringing, as I could hear ADAM's excited gasps, the crowd's screams and the screech of skateboard wheels.
When all of a sudden, everything went silent, and all you could hear was someone's desperate yells, and a huge crash as a body hit the floor.
My heart stopped, my blood ran cold. It couldn't be that..no. I'm sure it was nothing. I'm sure he's fine. But, I had to check..just in case. I pushed past everyone who was in my way, all of them still standing silently in shock, and ran across the dirt tracks. I ran for what seemed like forever, twisting round the corners, going through every shortcut I knew.
And that was when I saw it.
Langa, sprawled out on the chalky roads, quivering slightly in a pool of his own blood, skateboard still rolling. A look of terror mixed with shock spread across my face, and before my brain could even process what I was seeing, my legs seemed to take control, and started dashing towards him at full speed. I dropped to my knees in front of him, picked him up and cradled him in my arms.
Nearby witnesses gathered around, in a frenzied panic while others tried to get them to clear the way. But my attention wasn't on them. My attention wasn't on ADAM, who was standing on the sidelines, with a look of pained regret on his face, knowing that he took it too far. My attention wasn't even on Joe, SHADOW, Cherry or Miya, who were crying and trying to figure out what to do. My eyes were fixated onto Langa's pale face, as it's little colour started to drain. The rouge flush from his cheeks slowly fading into a paper white.
His eyes slowly started to open, the gleam that usually shone over them dimming. He saw me, and gave a weak smile, before opening his mouth and squeaking "..R-Reki, you came..!" in a small voice.
"Of course I did Langa..I wanted to make sure you were okay..! Now look at you..! I- What have you gotten yourself into?!" I replied back, holding back tears as best as I could, even though a few still spilled down my cheeks and nestled into the corners of my lips. I wanted to make sure he was okay, yet he ended up in that horrific state.
"I'm..sorry, Reki." He sputtered, as his breaths were getting shorter by the minute. "I should've..l-listened. I-I just..couldn't forgive him f-for hurting you.."
He started to cough violently, hacking up blood and spit as his lungs slowly started to give up on him.
I wish I'd gotten help sooner. Maybe if I did, he could've been saved.
He gasped for as much air as his broken lungs could hold, as I clutched him tighter, his red paint oozing out from his wounds and staining my clothes.
"I-I..love you Reki, I always..have. I w-wanted to..s-skate with you until the end of..infinity."
In that moment, my heart's selfish desires took control, and my lips became acoustic, and his became the strings. I pressed my mouth against his and gave him a gentle kiss, as tears dripped onto his face from my stormy eyes, like rain races down a window. At any other moment, this kiss would've been ethereal. But this kiss was out of pure desperation and fear of losing the one I loved most in the world.
"I love you too, Langa..please, don't leave me alone again. I'm begging you!" This time, the tears wouldn't stop, flowing down my face like a river. But of course, my pleading and crying could do nothing to save him.
"I'll always be here, Reki." Langa used to tell me as we'd skate together, while he'd smile at me.
As I stared up at the night sky, I realized I've never liked the dark. Because staring into the endless black void always made me feel the most scared of what's to come.
Now I stroked his icy blue hair as it flopped against his forehead, sticking to the drying blood, as tears scorched my throat. His skin looked raw and tart."I'll always be here, Reki." Langa whispered one last time, pointing at my heart.
"No, Langa..please. Stay a little while longer..I-I can get help and you and me can skate together again, just like you wanted and-" I started rambling on, in a panic, just hoping maybe he could manage a couple more breaths. But before I knew it, the last breath he had drawn was long gone, his eyes had drifted to a close, and he lied there, limp in my arms.
His hot breath was no longer making it's way to my face. My ears were starved of high notes and low ones, because he was now a song that would be forgotten overtime.
I clutched him as tight as I could, as creases sliced my skin, and tears slid down my cheeks like silk ribbons. It was at that moment I realized I was now alone, and I would be forever. I would never find someone like Langa again.
I sat there for a while, in pure shock, not knowing what to do, but not wanting to stop holding him, as his body temperature slowly started to decrease. "He's gone..?" I murmured over and over under my breath. "He's gone. He's gone. He's gone." I rocked myself back and forth, Langa's limp body still in my arms. I could see Joe and the others crying together out of the corner of my eye. I could still even see ADAM, standing there, his whole face turning pale as the bystanders screamed and cursed at him for what he had caused. But in that moment, I didn't care. I didn't have a care in the world anymore, the only thing that I had ever cared for, was gone. Usually, you're supposed to feel free, and that you can take on anything during those moments. But I felt like I could snap at any time.
Not soon after, I did snap. My murmurs gradually turned into yells, and those yells turned into gasps and sobs. "HE'S GONE! HE'S GONE! FOREVER!" I screamed, as my cries ripped my vocal chords. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, I couldn't even move. I had no reason to continue skating, no reason to even continue living anymore.
What was I going to do?
Notes: AAH THIS WAS A HARD CHAPTER TO WRITE!!! it made me kinda sad :(
please carry on giving me opinions and stuff in the comments ect, and i'll be back with a new chapter soooon!