[This chapter isn't about couples. It's about Babe and Way.]

~ Memories ~

Memories.

Little fragments of your unforgettable past continuously whirling within you. Something you can never let go of. People are made of memories, and so are you. Each and every single shard is etched upon your bones, like the salts mingled in the gurgling waters of the sea.

Memories are meant to be cherished. We always keep the most beautiful ones in the depths of our hearts, nurturing them and caring for them till the road ends. But Alas! Life's so unpredictable, isn't it? One spur of a moment, one wrong decision, one wrong move, one wrong word....and all your precious moments will turn into piles of dust, heaping up on the floor, crashing and smashing down right in front of your eyes...those once golden times. But...can they destroy the memories you've created? The history you've made? The past you wove? No!

Because...the word forever wasn't meant for people...it was meant for memories.

Sometimes, they rush into your eyes and roll down your cheeks...little broken pieces of simple memories.

The room was gloomy, dark and silent. Everything was in order and there was no sign of anything unclean or disorderly. The silence that the room held was heavy and deep, as if it the walls were breathing, sobbing and sighing, as if the room had life, and right now it was mourning...mourning for the departure of someone it was close to

Lying on the floor at one corner of the dark room, his back supported against the wall was a boy. He looked weak and completely messed up. He had a simple tshirt and trousers on, and was holding a photo frame in his hand. His face was expressionless, holding no signs of valid emotions. His eyes were dark, red and swollen, his face all pale and tear stained, his hair unkempt, thoughts in a turmoil. He continued sitting silently, gazing blankly at the dark nothingness in front of him, no expressions or sounds emitting from him, making him look like a living corpse. Occasionally, he took a glance at the picture in his hand, which only resulted in him spilling more tears from his eyes almost without control, his face still stoic.

Why? Why did you have to do this?

The picture was so simple, yet held one of the most precious moments in the boy's life. It was him, some ten years ago, holding a huge trophy in his hand, his face glowing with every signs of victory. Beside him, with one of his arms wrapped around the champion's neck and the other holding a beer bottle was his best friend, young and beautiful, his smile lightning up his entire face. The two of them looked so happy, especially the taller one, even if he wasn't the winner. After all, it was his best friend who won. He couldn't have been happier.

You really had to do this?

Babe held the frame tighter, both his hands clutching the borders hard as he stared deeper into the picture, crying louder and louder. He couldn't help but let out a howl of agony, a scream of despair, his broken voice echoing across the empty room. This picture...this very picture...he had it with himself too. But he had destroyed it. The day his best friend betrayed him, he had tore it into pieces.

He wanted to forget him, he wanted him to get out of his life after that incident...forever. And ironically, his wishes came true. Two days after a confrontation he had with him, an angry outbreak which had resulted him in insulting and even beating up his fragile friend in the worst way possible, his friend, his mate for ten long years, was found in his apartment room in the afternoon of a Sunday, dead.

Babe could remember everything so well, every single moment he had encountered, every single breath, every single throb. How Alan's phone rang in the midst of an important meeting, bringing in the vicious news to the group, how they had left everything behind and rushed to the apartment, how they had sprinted straight into the apartment, breaking through the crowd and had reached their mate's room...only to see him lying on his bed...motionless, speechless, lifeless.

W-Way?

Babe still remembered his face as it flashed before his teary eyes...the contrast of the face he had seen for the past ten years and the one he was seeing now was so unbelievable. He remembered it so well, how his friend was lying on his bed, his face pale, his beautiful brown eyes closed, his cheeks white yet having a faint blush against them, lips chapped and slightly parted, as if he was still breathing.

His attires were those simple ones he always used to wear whenever they went somewhere together. Babe would have never believed that his friend was no more and perhaps was in a deep slumber, if an empty bottle of sleeping pills didn't lay beside his pillow. The boy looked peaceful, without any signs of pain or worry across his face. His face showed only peace, a calm demeanor of subtle tranquility, as if he was released...he was finally free. The poignant part of the entire thing was the way the dead boy was holding something against his chest, as if he had desired to take it along with him, to accompany him in death.

Just a simple framed picture of two boys celebrating their victory after winning a race.

"W-Way..." whispered Babe, looking at the picture in the dark, "A-Am I that b-bad? A-Am I that cr-cruel that I f-forced you t-to this? W-Was I th-the reason? W-Was I s-so bad...th-that I had t-to become the r-reason of your d-demise? I'm th-this bad, Way? T-Tell me..."

Babe cried harder, all the words emitting from his lips sending sharp pangs of irresistible pain straight through his heart. He was shaking all over, the burden of self guilt and repentance crashing down on his shoulders. He cried and cried, as memories came flooding into his mind, making him go numb.

"Ei Babeeee?"

"Ughh stop nagging Way," Babe swiped his hand away, as he lay down on the grass, with his best friend laying down beside him, showing absolutely no signs of stopping his whinings. He kept on pestering the other one, when finally Babe gave up.

"What? What? What? What do you want?" Babe grumbled, sitting up on the grass, looking like a mad man that made Way giggle, "Stop laughing, idiot! What the fuck-"

"You know what I want, don't you?" Way smirked, edging closer to Babe with a glint of naughtiness in his eyes.

"Err...no?" Babe raised a brow.

"Goshhh Babeeee!" Way whined loudly, hitting Babe on his biceps, "You forgot this early?"

"C'mon Way you literally ask for so many things everyd-"

"You promised me a candy Babe," Way grumbled.

"A-A candy? A candy for...for what?"

"Seriously Babe?" Way fake gasped, pretending to be really shocked, "You literally sent me to submit sooooo many files to Alan-"

"P'Alan."

"Ughhh whatever! Uncle! You sent me to submit the files to Uncle because you didn't want to go yourself and you promised me to give a candy in return so that-"

"Yes! Yes! I'll give you. Happy? Now get off me...yuck...you're sweating, ugh! You smelly prick!"

"W-Way..." Babe whispered, his eyes now aching and being almost dry with no more tears left to cry. He had now extracted a small piece of paper from his pocket and was staring at it, his hands shaking. He didn't want to open it and reveal its contents. Babe was given it by the other boys on Way's funeral, who had found it inside Way's jeans pocket when he had died, and had guessed that it was meant for Babe.

Babe knew, he wouldn't be able to hide the truth anymore, to suppress his mistakes by running away from the truth. With trembling hands, he unfolded the piece of sheet, his eyes brimming with tears. There was a short letter inside, scribbled in beautiful alphabets, the inked words  smudged at certain places which only proved the signs of tears falling from the writer's eyes while he wrote it. The first word of the content had proven that the writing was indeed meant for Babe and with a heavy heart and eyes brimmed with tears, he read.

Babe,
When you read this, I'll be no more in this world. I don't know what this choice of mine will make you feel but I hope you respect it because...I had no other choice left.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry Babe, for being such a vile friend to you. I'm sorry for turning out to be the worst person you have ever encountered. I'm truly sorry for breaking your trust and ruining our bond. I know, how much I meant to you Babe and how much you trusted me. But maybe, somewhere within, this heart of mine craved for more than what it already had. Greed is the mother of destruction and so was in my case. My greed for your love increased and in the end I ruined everything. I'm so so sorry for that.

I know Babe, my apologies will never suffice the mistakes I've committed. It will be difficult for you to forgive and so...believe me...I'm asking for none. You don't have to forgive me Babe, you seriously don't. I just wanted you to know that I'm truly sorry for everything I did.

You don't have to sympathise my death at all, neither should you blame yourself for that. It was just a simple choice of mine among the thousands that I had made in my lifetime and for the first time I felt like...I had made a right choice. I had no one in this world...except you and my friends. Loosing you all was equivalent to loosing myself. Finally I had none to loose, none to gain. I no longer want to live like this Babe...hated, used, miserable, misunderstood...being all alone...suffering in a miserable pit.

I want to be free...completely free...from everyone...from everything.

I hope everything becomes alright just like it was in the past as I leave. Even though it will be impossible, please try to remember the memories we made...because believe me or not...all of them were true...they were the best moments of my life and I'm so thankful to you for all of that.

Good luck Babe. I wish you remain the same PitBabe I have known till the end...may you win each and every league and race and make X-Hunter proud of you. I hope you cherish your love and have a beautiful life ahead. Don't worry about me Babe...I'll be gone from your life from now on. I was just a piece of paper in your story which you can feel free to tear off...I won't regret.

...'cause after all...I was made of memories...now piling up into flecks of dust at your feet...

Goodbye.

Yours,
Way.

Babe cried harder, clutching the paper close to his chest, curling up on the cold floor. He couldn't think of anything anymore, his mind all bare and blank, as tears flowed from his eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry...W-Way..."

Regret. That was the only thing he felt at that moment...and would be feeling till the end of his existence...because...even though the person left...the memories will haunt him till the end.

And then every single moment of ours turned grey as soon as you let go of my hand.

Because...

You left...

--------------------

Angst fr!

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