Was listening to this song while writing:0

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~

.5 Years Ago.

The morning sun was peaceful, especially compared to the atrocious heatstrokes it would blast onto earth after humanity awakened every morning, now still only grazing behind the ginormous maroon canyons Romeo had yet to get accustomed to. 

It was difficult not to think about Mexico, about his old home and all the memories it held. His mom had promised him a better life here, but as for now that was difficult to believe. Because right now, all Romeo could truly think of was the stone-solid mattress he had spent the night on and the squeaky clean white walls that lined the empty house. Any signs of life were long gone, it seemed. An elderly couple lived a few houses down, but they didn't exactly fit Romeo's idea of a new friend. In fact, he hadn't seen a single person his age so far, and school wouldn't start for another month or so. Besides, it would be nice to make at least one friend before being thrown into the deep end that was a new school, although Romeo wouldn't be surprised if the school wasn't much bigger than his old one, which barely fit 50 students. 

A small hummingbird speared past Romeo, seemingly squeaking out a high-pitched apology as it clumsily redirected its pace toward a patch of purple flowers. Romeo chuckled, zooming his eyes back into focus; into the real world. If he had to name something positive about his apparent new life, it had to be the environment. I mean, have you seen those mountains? And the big tree on the front porch, maybe Dad and I could hang a sw—

Romeo's thoughts got cut short when his attention fell on a boy, whose eyes were focused on a notebook as he sat against the tree. Again?! Yesterday's memories came floating back, and Romeo was certain he hadn't dreamt it. He chewed at his lip, contemplating whether or not he should test his luck again, seeing as the boy hadn't seemed very talkative last time. Then, he realized that this could be his chance to make a friend, a very cool one. There weren't many people that knew of Gorillaz, as far as Romeo was aware at least. But the graphic t-shirt loosely hanging from the nape of the boy's neck said otherwise. 

The damp grass soaked through the fabric of Romeo's run-down sneakers as he -once again- made his way to the mysterious boy with pretty black hair. With a shaky sigh, Romeo crouched down, careful not to get his ass wet, and plastered on the most polite smile he could. He gave the boy a gentle tap on the shoulder and cleared his throat. 

The boy jerked his head up with a loud gasp, staring at Romeo for a few seconds before his expression morphed into that of pure annoyance. He scoffed, paused the player of his mp3, and then blankly stared at Romeo. 

Okay, just proceed how you usually would. "Hi, I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Romeo, me and my parents moved here yesterday," Romeo said with a bright smile, his hand stuck out for the boy to shake. He tried his best not to cringe at his thick accent curling around each word he spoke; it was something he had to work on. 

The boy raised his brows, knitting them together in thought. After a few highly awkward moments of silence, he glanced up at Romeo. "Your name is Romeo? Like the—"

"—Yes, like the William Shakespeare story." It was protocol at this point. Anytime Romeo introduced himself, the other person just had to mention Shakespeare. And if their name started with a J...Boy, was he in for a long ride. Romeo tried to maintain a smile, but it was getting difficult with that intense stare holding him down. 

"Juelz," the boy finally said, reluctantly taking Romeo's hand to shake it. 

Juelz.. Even his name is cool. "Hi," Romeo said again, a more genuine smile on his face this time. "Can I sit?" He motioned to the empty spot next to Juelz, slightly scared he would bite his head off if Romeo came any closer.

But to Romeo's surprise, Juelz nodded before shoving his bag aside to make some extra space. Romeo smiled— again.

In an unexpected turn of events, the two boys had ended up spending the entire day together, slowly warming up to one another until their loud laughter echoed through all of the empty streets lining the neighborhood. Before Romeo knew it, the sun had already begun sinking down the horizon, slowly disappearing behind the aflame canyons. 

As the two of them sat against and around the oak tree, Juelz's eyes sparked up when the little porch light blinked on, soon followed by the street lanterns. "Shit, I have to go home," he muttered, hastily shoving all his stuff into his bag. He crawled up from the grass with an awkward smile pointed at Romeo, seemingly unsure of what to do next. "Uhm, I'll see you around-?"

Romeo nodded with a wide grin still stuck on his face, something he felt would happen a lot around Juelz. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow! Oh, and Juelz?" he called out just as Juelz was about to turn around. 

Juelz stopped in his tracks to look at Romeo. "Yeah?"

"I like your shirt," Romeo said with a somewhat shy smile, pointing at Juelz's shirt. 

A warm smile crept up Juelz's face, pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Thanks, I got it from my niece. She's been to their concert."

Romeo's eyes widened. "Oh, that's cool!"

"Yeah. Bye!" And with that, Juelz was gone, little clouds of red dust trailing behind him. 

A very cool friend.

.Present Day.

Romeo couldn't help but laugh, watching Juelz hopelessly chase after a grasshopper under the descending sun. And despite the entertaining sight, he had to admit he was kind of on the grasshopper's side. It had started out innocent, Juelz had simply wanted to draw the grasshopper, but the poor insect wasn't exactly too thrilled about that. And well, you can figure out the rest. 

"Come here, you little shit," Juelz called out in between exaggerated breaths before finally, he gave up and collapsed in the grass. "Fuck you, then. I wasted my lung capacity on a grasshopper, how disappointing."

With a chuckle, Romeo stood up from under the willow and made his way to where Juelz had collapsed to lie down next to him. "I appreciate your determination, sunshine. But maybe you should save your breath for other things."

Juelz rolled his head around, now lying face to face with Romeo. A sly grin crept up his face as he raised his brows. "What kind of things, huh?"

Romeo felt his face heat up, a smile of his own tugging at his cheeks. "Guess you'll have to find out," he mused, leaning closer to kiss Juelz's temple. 

Juelz grinned and threw one of his legs over Romeo's, tangling them together. He folded his arm over Romeo's torso to pull him close before finally, he kissed him. 

Romeo found himself smiling against Juelz's lips, entangling his hands in Juelz's hair as he kissed him back. That smile morphed into small giggles, and soon enough, Romeo had to pull away, tears forming in his eyes at the full-blown laughter escaping from his chest. 

Juelz furrowed his brows, now chuckling too as he watched Romeo with a slightly confused expression on his face. "What's so funny?"

Truth was, Romeo didn't know why he was laughing. He just knew that he was, and he didn't mind. While still laughing, he folded one arm under his head for support, using the other one to wrap it around Juelz and pull him closer. "I'm so glad I met you, sunshine."

Juelz smiled, then turned to Romeo with furrowed brows. "Why do you always call me that?"

"The sun is the most vital element of the Earth. Well, technically it's water, but without sun, I don't think we'd have water. Actually, I'm not sure. I should pay more attention in school," Romeo chuckled to himself before continuing, "Anyway, when I first moved here, I kinda saw everything as one bland, gray world. But when I met you, things started to gain back their color." He took Juelz's hand in his own. "And I know you don't see yourself that way, so I gave you your nickname as a reminder, I think."

To Romeo's surprise, Juelz didn't say anything. Instead, he flopped around to bury his face in Romeo's collarbone, holding him tight. "I love you," he finally said with a muffled voice, searching for Romeo's hand with the one draped over his stomach. 

"I love you too, sunshine," Romeo said with a bright smile as he reconnected their hands, giving Juelz's a little squeeze. 

𝓕𝓲𝓷

~

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