Hey guys! For the sake of nostalgia (and boredom), I thought I would try out writing these one-shots again! I don't know if I'll keep it up, but I do remember that writing these was always a lot of fun, and hearing what you all had to say was even better. Anyways, enjoy the story!
--- : Time skip
Italics mean thoughts/Dreams :)
CW:
- Abandonment
- Fighting (Nothing too violent though)
- Flashbacks
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There was no explanation, no note, no sign, no goodbye. All Mumbo left behind was his tie, which rested on the palm of Grain's hand. It wasn't like Mumbo to completely disappear without a trace, yet Grian could feel the growing pit in his stomach, the swelling feeling that it was his fault. He stood in the kitchen, where they had spent many days baking cookies, laughing, dancing to whatever was playing on the radio. He recalled a fond memory while he shuffled around for a book and quill.
Grian was sitting on the counter with his arms around Mumbo's neck, as Mumbo stood in front of him.
"Pinkie promise we'll love each other forever?" Mumbo said, a smile spreading across his face and a pinkie raised.
"Pinkie promise" Grian replied, his pinkie hugging Mumbo's.
Grian's mind went back to blank, except for a singular thought he just couldn't shake.
I know I shouldn't be here...but just let me be close to you one more time Mumbo...
Grian took out the book and quill, and began to write,
My dearest, Mumbo,
i cannot expect you to come back, but i will never ever stop yearning for your arms to wrap around me one more time. i can't sleep, i'm worried about you. so please, if you ever find this, come home to me. i'm sorry, you deserve more. and if you cannot find that with me i understand, but please, just look me in the eyes and tell me you no longer love me. Just do me that one favour, so I can move on.
yours, always,
Grian.
The shorter man wiped a tear from his eye with the sleeve of his sweater, before pocketing the red tie Mumbo had left behind. He made his way up to the room they once shared, and dropped the tie on the pillow where Mumbo's head used to lay every night, right next to Grian's.
Grian knew he wanted to cry, and he couldn't tell if it was the shock or the pain, but he could not shed another tear.
----
It had been 2 years since Mumbo left. Grian did not know what he expected, however he would never guess that Mumbo really would be gone for that long, maybe even forever. People say home is where the heart is, but Grian often wondered how he was still stuck in their base, thoughts swirling around as he stared at the walls of a place that he used to call home, but now felt unfamiliar. His heart was no longer within the stone confines, because his heart was with Mumbo. He had tried to get over it, he really did. But that stupid tie, he hadn't moved it from the pillow since the day Mumbo left. A constant reminder of what Grian lost. The small man climbed into their, once shared, bed and pulled out a pocket knife. He etched another line into the bed frame. It was the 730th tally mark to be added, signifying the 2 year anniversary of the day Grian lost his everything.
Grian laid, staring at the ceiling. He was completing his nightly routine of recalling the events of the day Mumbo disappeared.
They woke up side by side, all was well. At least that's what Grian had thought. Mumbo was under insane amounts of pressure trying to complete all his projects, and the redstoner was starting to crack. The two had not spent much time together, and the distance was challenging their relationship greatly. They would bicker almost every day, about the smallest things. That day, whilst Mumbo was in the middle of one of his projects, Grian decided to visit to see if he needed any help.
Grian recalled that memory the clearest of them all,
the fly over to Mumbo's industrial district, the look on Mumbo's face. The words that were exchanged..
"Mumbo, do you need any help?"
No answer.
"Mumbo? Maybe I coul-"
"No, Gri. And I can't think straight with you here." Mumbo interrupted.
It was not said aggressively. Mumbo wasn't capable of sounding angry. But those words hurt like daggers through Grian's little, aching heart. Mumbo turned back around to what he was working on, Grian tried to make his way over to Mumbo. Before he could get within a few feet of his boyfriend, Mumbo turned to face him once more.
"Grian. Go away."
Grian shook the memory from his head once again, another failed attempt of leaving the event in the past. And slowly, he faded off to sleep.
It was sunny out, there was a familiar smell floating through the house. Redstone dust, pine, fresh linen. Grian descended the ever so slightly creaky floor boards of the staircase to find Mumbo, standing in the kitchen, facing the opposite direction so all Grian could see was his back. Grian approached the tall suited man wearily, a sense of wholeness and comfort washing over him. Grian reached out a hand to the tall man's shoulder and-
Grian awoke to the sun shining in through the windows. His eyes stung, his head felt heavy. Mumbo was right there, a figment of Grian's imagination once again. It had been so long, Grian had begun to question if Mumbo existed in the first place.
He rolled out of bed, throwing on his sweater and heading downstairs. Upon arriving to the lower level of the base, he felt an unnerving sense of familiarity. He assumed it was the dream just making his brain act in strange ways. Grian stumbles groggily over to the kitchen. He opens up the cupboards for a mug, but finds that his favourite one wasn't there. He searched all over the kitchen, eyes eventually landing on a small, secluded cabinet in the corner, slightly ajar. He grabs the knob of the cabinet, getting the most vague flashback and wondering why.
It all hit him, this cabinet was where he had placed the letter to Mumbo all those years ago. He slowly pulls it open, a slight squeak could be heard from the hinges.
The book was gone.
Grian got up, shot his head around, noticing the back door was slightly open.
That's when the sound of a firework rocket caught Grian's attention. He grabbed a kitchen knife, terrified of the idea that someone was around and he did not know who.
The front door knob rattled. A few seconds flew by, but they felt like hours.
The door creaked open.
There he was, suit and all, missing only the red tie that Grian had slept beside for 2 long years. His hair was a bit longer than what Grian remembered, but his moustache stayed the same, his eyes stayed the same, his scent was even the same.
Grian dropped the knife, which fell to the ground in what felt like slow motion, and Grian stared. There was no way that Mumbo, HIS Mumbo, was standing right there. Mumbo was first to break the silence, mumbling a silent and guilty, "Am I too late...?"
Grians fists clenched, his eyes welling up with tears as he ran towards the moustached man.
"YOU LEFT ME. YOU LEFT ME FOR 2 YEARS MUMBO! WAS THERE SOMEONE ELSE? WAS I NOT ENOUGH?" Grian screamed, banging his forearms on the taller man's chest with closed fists. Mumbo did not flinch.
"WHY? EXPLAIN YOURSELF. I LOVED YOU MUMBO, I- I LOVE..I love you..." Grian was sobbing at this point, exhausted.
All the anticipation, sadness and betrayal Grian had felt and built up over the years had finally let itself go. Grian had his forearms rested on Mumbo's chest, fists clenched and looking down at the ground. His breath hitching and heavy.
"Say something Mumbo. Scream, yell, tell me why you left just please...say something."
Mumbo brought a hand to Grian's cheek, raising his head so the two could make eye contact. Grian's face was warm, red from the crying. His eyes were just as blue as Mumbo remembered they were. Mumbo held him and softly whispered,
"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you.."
Grian sobbed. Collapsing into Mumbo's arms. They sank to the ground, Grian being held to Mumbo's chest.
"I'm sorry G... You needed more than me. You needed someone better than me. Someone who could love you better than I could. I just didn't want to hurt you anymo-"
Grian cut Mumbo off, "Do you still love me?"
Mumbo was stunned by the question, eyes widening slightly.
"I never stopped." The taller man replied.
Grian buried himself into Mumbo's chest, arms wrapping around the man's torso as they sat on the floor. Grian on Mumbo's lap. He is unsure whether to feel angry, upset, betrayed. But if Grian was fully honest with himself, all he could feel was relief. After a few moments of silence, Grian looks back up at Mumbo. He was not expecting the moustached man to be crying, but tears slowly made their way down Mumbo's face. Grian wiped them away.
"I spent, every single day hoping you'd come home. I looked for you in everything I touched, everything I saw. 2 years Mumbo. 2 years without the love of my life...I would have traded a hundred fights with you, just to have you there with me. Because even if we fought sometimes, it didn't mean that I loved you less, I just wanted you around more." Grian held Mumbo's face with one hand, planting a kiss on Mumbo's lips. A feeling of life and exhilaration rushed through both of them.
"I wanted to come back. I just couldn't forgive myself after telling you to go away. I thought it would be best that I left, so that you would never feel that pain again." Mumbo replied quietly.
"Mumbo, I would take on all the pain in the world if it meant I got to have you for just a moment longer." Grian brought up a hand, lifting up his pinkie finger.
"Pinkie promise you'll stay...?" Grian whispered, eyes almost begging for Mumbo to say yes.
Mumbo smiled, lifting up a pinkie and interlocking it with his lovers'.
"Pinkie promise."
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Thank you all very much for reading! I don't know if people still see this book at all, and I'm definitely a little rusty after all these years, but this was quite fun to write, and very nostalgic. Thanks y'all, I appreciate you!