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TEN SEE YOU AROUND
Ten days had passed since they returned with Emily's body in their arms. Ten days of nothingness. People had locked themselves up in their houses, no one was cooperating. When they buried Emily, it seemed they had buried any morale they had left as well. The sun rose and set every day, but nothing about their town was normal -- anyone knew that. Wes never got an answer from Grizz about what he had said in that empty church, but then again, he never asked. Most nights since he came back, he and Winona slept in the same bed just so they felt less alone. He didn't realize how much he missed his parents until he had no way of knowing where they were or if they were okay. Sahar and Daniel stayed over, too; no one wanted to be alone. Sometimes when they were particularly upset, all four of them would fit into Wes's parents' bed, all cuddled up like they would disappear the moment one of them let go. Wes was just glad he wasn't alone, but it didn't feel like home anymore.
Wes woke up with the sun for some reason, the clock on his phone reading 5:41 am. He groans, separating from his friends and sister as he stretched and crawled out of bed. Looking at the date, he realizes today was the day they were supposed to be home from the school trip. He wonders if his parents are somewhere else, waiting for the bus to drop them all off only to realize they're somewhere else entirely. He sighs and heads downstairs, opting to use that bathroom for a shower instead rather than wake up anyone else. Stepping under the warm water, he wonders how this world runs. Who is keeping the lights on? The water warm? Who is out there pulling the strings?
He doesn't know why, but as the sun is rising over the horizon, he gets out of the shower and shoves on his sneakers, going for a walk. It's rare he wakes up this early, most of the time on his off days he rolls out of bed around noon. Still, this isn't exactly an ordinary morning, there are no ordinary mornings anymore.
Strangely, as his hands are shoved in his pockets and he kicks around the loose asphalt on the edge of the road, he runs into the exact person that had been occupying his thoughts lately. He hadn't seen Grizz in ten days, but it wasn't like anything changed in that period of time. The boy must have been out for a jog, his long hair pulled back at the top into a small ponytail (if it could even be called that). Wes had always loved when Grizz tied his hair back because it gave him something to yank on whenever he passed by, much to the other boy's annoyance. Wes made sure to never grow out his hair too badly so the boy could never get revenge on him.
When Grizz sees Wes walking, he slows down to a stop, facing him. "Hi."
"'Mornin," Wes offers, "Why are you up so early?"
"Why are you?" Grizz asks with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets. When Wes doesn't answer him, he speaks instead, "Couldn't sleep. So, I just go for a jog to see if I can tire myself out. It's really not working."
Wes nods, "Woke up early for some reason, didn't know what to do with myself. Didn't wanna wake up anyone else in the house so... I'm here."
"Is it just you and Winona? Or are Sahar and Daniel there, too?" Grizz asks and Wes wonders why they're even bothering with small talk. He should be mad at Grizz still, he is. He thinks part of him will always be mad at Grizz for destroying the trust they had. Wes had never trusted someone the way he did Grizz and he had taken that and spit it back in his face. This is a grudge that deserves to last.
He nods once more, avoiding meeting Grizz's eyes, "Uh, yeah, it's the four of us. Are you... are you staying by yourself?"
"Yeah, it's just me," the boy answers, "Gets pretty lonely so I try not to be in the house too much, but everyone's pretty much holed up anyway so, it's kind of moot. I was thinking about starting a garden or something just to give myself something to do."
"You always had a knack for shit like that," Wes points out, "Um, hey, can I ask you something?"
Grizz seems to perk up at this, his eyebrows raising slightly as he nods, "Uh, yeah, sure, what's up?"
"The thing you said in the church a couple of weeks ago," Wes began, knowing he had to get this off of his chest because he literally had not stopped thinking about it. In fact, he hadn't stopped thinking about Grizz as a whole. It was getting a little irritating if he's being honest. "What did... what did that mean? Like, I know there's something you're not telling me. I mean, you know you've never been able to lie to me?"
The boy scoffs at this, shaking his head, "I don't... I don't wanna talk about this right now. I shouldn't have said that. I really shouldn't have... started that conversation in the first place. If you don't wanna be friends or mend what happened between us, then I need to respect that and I'm sorry. You just... you've always been one of my closest friends and after a year, I'm still... still not used to not having you around."
"Grizz --" Wes begins, but he doesn't even know what he could say. The cool wind is the only movement between them, blowing Grizz's hair gently. They're both silent for a while, but it's probably for two different reasons. He stops avoiding it and his eyes meet Grizz's. He barely knows what he's going to say before the words are already leaving his mouth, "I don't think... I don't think we'll ever be as close as we were, but I... I think we can settle for... for not being total enemies. For now."
He doesn't know what reaction he expects from Grizz. He doesn't expect much of one considering Wes is doing the absolute bare minimum at the moment. He watches as the corners of Grizz's lips lift in the ghost of a smile, but it's not quite there and it doesn't quite meet his eyes. He just nods and Wes feels like Grizz is staring straight into his soul when their eyes meet. Wes has never felt like this around Grizz before, but he has no idea what it means. Maybe he does want to be friends again after all, but he doesn't know if he can say that out loud just yet.
Grizz shoots him a gentle smile, "Then I guess I'll see you around, Wes."
By the time Wes finds his words, Grizz is already off on his jog again, leaving him to mutter to himself, "Yeah, I guess you will."
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