Strap in (〜￣▽￣)〜

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~

"..R— Romeo...?"

Romeo sat up straight, feeling his heartbeat pick up. "Juelz? What's wrong?" He locked eyes with his mom, who now looked just as worried.

More crackling silence followed, every second feeling like hours. Romeo swallowed. "Ju—

"Lola's gone— I can't fucking find her a-and I— she ran away."

Romeo's heart sank to the pit of his stomach, an increasing worry roaring through his head. Shit. Not again... "She can't be that far, right? We'll go look for her. I'll meet you at our spot, okay?"

A shaky breath was heard on the other line. "O-okay. See— I'll see you there." Before Romeo could add something a little more reassuring, the line clicked dead.

"¿Qué ocurre?" Romeo's mom glanced at him with worried eyes, her arms still crossed over her chest.

Romeo sighed again, running a shaky hand through his hair. "Lola escaped." And with that, he grabbed a stray hoodie off the floor and rushed past his mom, scrambling down the stairs in a hurry.

" ¡Ten cuidado ahí fuera! (Be careful out there!)" his mom called out from the top of the staircase as Romeo all but flew through the front door while simultaneously tying the laces of his shoes. A dangerous move. But he didn't care about safety right now, not when Juelz needed him.

He ran, feet thumping against the dusty red gravel that made up most of the roads, water droplets running down his forehead. Despite the ivory night around him, Romeo knew exactly where he was and where he had to go. Nonetheless, it felt like several days had passed when he finally reached the fence, finding Juelz already there, anxiously glancing around.

"Juelz," Romeo made out between heavy breaths, leaning onto the fence for support, "are you okay?"

Juelz looked at Romeo with glazy eyes and an involuntarily trembling lip. In complete silence, he inched closer to him, hissing out a soft "fuck" when new tears rolled down his cheeks. 

Romeo immediately wrapped his arms around Juelz, resting his chin on Juelz's head. "We'll find her, okay? I'm sure she's just hiding out somewhere, don't worry."

Juelz pressed himself against Romeo, holding him so tight Romeo could hardly breathe. "I can't—" he gasped, "I don't w-want to lose her... n-not— not again." 

With a heavy heart, Romeo kissed the top of Juelz's head. "You won't, I promise." Was that a promise Romeo could actually keep? No. But he didn't care, he'd make it work.

~

"Lola? C'mere kitty-kitty!" Romeo wandered around the quiet neighborhood, making various clicking and kissing noises in the hopes of locating Lola. Juelz had gone in the opposite direction, with the agreement of meeting each other back at their spot in 20 minutes. 

A stranger might say Juelz was being dramatic. Cats escape all the time, right? But Romeo wasn't a stranger, and he knew that Lola used to have a brother, Thyme. That was, until Thyme was found dead on the side of the road. 

And even though Karl had been the one to find him, Romeo could still recall the feeling of Thyme's cold and stiff body in his arms as he carried him home because Juelz was way too emotionally crushed to even look at the scene.

Juelz was an emotional person, that much was true. But even so, Romeo had never seen him cry as much as then. Crying was probably an understatement. Sobbing until he couldn't breathe, was more accurate. And that was something Romeo hoped he'd never have to witness again. He wouldn't wish that pain onto his worst enemy, let alone the most precious person in the world.

Romeo sighed, taking in the cold air of the night. He wondered what Lola's thought process would've been. Then he decided no one would ever find out and it'd cost his brain way too much work to even try.

The streets seemed to go on forever, yet still no sign of Lola. The moon followed after Romeo, highlighting the empty streets with a soft blueish glow. It reminded him of Juelz. 

Glancing up at the sparkling sky, Romeo took a deep breath. Please, let Lola be okay...For Juelz. Although he wasn't exactly religious, sometimes Romeo found comfort in the idea of someone watching over him. But then he'd think too much into it and it began feeling like a violation of his privacy. Regardless, he sincerely hoped his prayer wouldn't go unheard by whoever was up there. 

Just as Romeo was starting to run out of time, he heard some rustling behind him. He turned around, squinting his eyes at where he thought the sound had come from. It was quiet again, and for a moment Romeo thought it must've just been a bird, before a small thud was heard, followed by a soft meow. 

Walking closer, Romeo felt the biggest wave of relief wash over him when there, on a little wall outside of someone's front yard, sat Lola, profoundly smiling at him. Her misty green eyes sparkled under the soft light of a lantern, hanging right above her head. 

"Lola," he breathed with a smile, reaching out to pet her. Lola smiled, bopping her head into the palm of Romeo's hand. Romeo took out his phone and called Juelz. He lifted himself onto the wall, carefully holding his phone between his cheek and shoulder. Juelz picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, guess who I found?" Romeo asked with a slight grin, chuckling when Lola meowed again, bopping her head into Romeo's side. 

"You—you found her? I— fuck—" The line fell silent for a second, followed by a slur of incoherent grumbling Romeo couldn't quite understand. "S-sorry I— is she okay?"

Romeo's free hand stroked Lola's thick fur, who seemed very content about the whole situation. "Don't worry, sunshine. She's okay. I think I'll manage to carry her to our spot, if that's okay with you?"

"Y-yeah, I'll see you there..?"

"See you there," Romeo paused for a moment, his smile faltering when he heard a shaky sigh come from the other side. He chewed at his lip, glancing up at the stars once more as if they'd give him an answer. And maybe they did. "See you there, Juelz. Te amo."

It was silent for a moment, followed by a soft sigh. "Love you too." Then the line clicked dead. And Romeo's heart did a backflip.

However, it wasn't long until Romeo's brain caught up with the current situation and began releasing every ant of anxiety it had access to. To no one's surprise, there were a lot of ants. Flashes of memories smacked him against his brain, overanalyzing every little detail. Did I actually kiss the top of his head?! Oh my god, I kissed his head. I'm so dead.

His brain seemed so occupied, even, that Romeo was already walking down the street when he remembered he was supposed to take Lola with him. Oops. Making a run for it, he raced back to the little wall and scooped Loola in his arms, who happily complied and nuzzled herself comfortable. And now to figure out where I am.

~

"Lola!" Juelz called out the moment Romeo reached their spot, running over to take her into his arms. "You fucking bitch, running away from me like that," he retorted with a watery laugh, sniffing away the remains of his tears as Lola bopped her head against Juelz's face. Romeo smiled.

After -with great difficulty- shoving the gray fluffball into her carrier, Juelz glanced at Romeo with a smile. Without a word, he inched closer and buried his head into Romeo's chest, holding him tight.

Romeo gasped before a small smile formed on his lips. He wrapped his arms around Juelz as a weird feeling fluttered around his stomach, which somehow set his skin on fire. Huh?  

In the silence of the night, Juelz lifted his head, glancing up at Romeo through glazy eyes. Romeo's heart stuttered at how close their faces were. The army of ants seemed to have settled in Romeo's stomach, crawling around at such a speed Romeo thought he'd combust. It was torture, yet still, all he could focus on was the way Juelz's eyes kept flitting to Romeo's lips. He held his breath, steadying his hands on Juelz's lower back. Romeo had no idea what was happening, but he was okay with that. 

Juelz's lips parted, unspoken words tangling from his lips when Lola let out a loud cry, violently thrashing around the inside of her carrier. Both of them jolted back into reality as Juelz stumbled back, hissing something incoherent under his breath. He picked the carrier off the ground and turned back to Romeo with an awkward smile. 

"I should probably go home," he chuckled, motioning to an annoyed Lola.

Romeo nodded with an almost automatic smile, one that he usually reserved for extended family members. He simply didn't know what to do with his face right now. Or with anything, for that matter. "Yeah, it's uhm— it's getting late." He scratched his neck, suddenly very aware of the dark trees around him. 

"See you tomorrow." And with that, Juelz was gone.

~

"Hola, cariño. ¿Va todo bien? (Hey, honey. Is everything okay?)" Romeo's mom appeared in the doorway of his room, her brown eyes filled with concern.

Romeo sighed, raking a hand through his messed-up hair. He crawled up from his slouched position on his bed and smiled at her. "Yeah, todo va bien."

His mom nodded, returning the smile. "Okay, dormir un poco, ¿hm? (Get some sleep, hm?)"

Shooting a glance at his phone, Romeo saw it was nearing 11 pm. He hummed, despite knowing he wouldn't get much sleep that night.

"¿Valentina? ¿Ya llegó Romeo a casa? (Valentina? Did Romeo get home yet?)" Romeo's dad called out from up the staircase as his footsteps thundered through the hallway, causing Romeo to chuckle. His dad appeared behind his mom, smiling when she placed a kiss on his cheek. "There you are," he said, nodding at Romeo. "Everything good with Juelz?"

Romeo gave him a reassuring smile. "All's good, papá."

His mom smiled, removing a hair tie from her braid which allowed her long, raven black hair to flow freely. "Juelz's a lucky boy, ¿verdad, Rubén?"

His dad hummed, ruffling his mom's hair. "He sure is. You're a good friend, Romeo." 

A good friend... If only they knew about what had happened tonight. Romeo's heart clenched at the thought. He knew how much his parents loved Juelz, but he had no idea what they'd think if Romeo told them he was in love with Juelz. Wait— what was he even thinking?! 

His mouth felt dry when he told his parents goodnight, forcefully smiling at them as they closed the door with a soft click. Romeo rolled around, burying his head in his pillow with a muffled groan. He didn't understand his feelings anymore. It's normal to love your best friend, right? It's normal to put their needs in front of your own, even when they repeatedly tell you not to do so. It's completely normal that you always want to be close to them, and it's most definitely normal to feel the urge to kiss them every time they look at you. Who am I kidding, he thought to himself, sighing at his stupidity. 

Sleep was difficult to find when Romeo's brain kept repeating that night's events over and over again, shoving the images into his skull with all force. Juelz had avoided it. Albeit Lola was the one who interrupted whatever moment they were having, Juelz seemed almost happy to turn away, to leave. Romeo's stomach curled up, spreading fire throughout his entire nervous system. He squeezed his eyes shut, promising he'd do anything to just forget it all, and hoped that whatever he was feeling right now, would be gone by the time the sun rose.

~

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So uhm, that happened.. Thoughts? What do you think Juelz's really thinking?

Leave a vote to smack some sense into both of them:P 

Stay hydrated love you all byeeeeee!<3