Chapter Text
The ring of an alarm Avery heard every morning for the past few years surprisingly hadn’t gotten old yet. Though he still grumbled and lazily threw his hand over his phone, stopping it. He drew back that same hand to rub over one of his eyes and groan a little more, run it through his hair, then let it flop down onto his bed as he let his groggy eyes stare up at the ceiling.
There was no sun covering it this time. Turning to look outside, Avery saw how miserable of a day it was. Thank God it was a Sunday, though. The only things he needed to do today were inside. A few assignments he wanted to dust off, then maybe as a reward, hop on minecraft for a few hours.
Sitting up, Avery threw his legs around the side of his bed and slouched there for a moment in his pyjamas. He smacked dry lips before reaching for the glass of water on his bedside table, taking a sip, and feeling the much needed cool pass through his chest. After he set the glass back down, Avery corrected his posture and stretched, mentally preparing himself for the assignments he left to collect dust on his computer. His chair bobbed up and down as he dropped onto it, scooting forward as he reached to log on to his computer.
But, instead of being met with his usual wallpaper, a bright white immediately filled his view. Since when had he opened Word recently? In curiosity, he begun to read the text.
“You know, it’s weird writing a final letter. Almost as if I have to come to terms with.. whatever this is.”
Avery didn’t remember writing anything like this.
“Which is something I find quite displeasurable. But here I am. Why did I even record all this? I don’t know. Well I do know. I just don’t want to be forgotten.”
Forgotten? Avery didn’t have any reason to fear being forgotten?
“My head hurts like hell. I can feel myself slipping as we become one. And my mind becomes a prison. What a true shame it is. All the knowledge in the world and no way to use it. That’s how it should be, I suppose.”
He certainly didn’t have “all the knowledge in the world”, otherwise these assignments would’ve been done weeks ago-
“We stumbled into a world we have no business in. This is just the cost.”
“Please don’t think you failed, Avery. When you read this, don’t think you let me down. You didn’t. It’s thanks to you, and all that you did, that millions live to see another day.”
How could he have forgotten?
Every letter faded and blurred as it swam in the tears flooding Avery’s eyes. Despite every blink, they rolled down his cheek, collecting at his chin, dripping down onto the wood of his desk. His hand shook over his mouse, threatening to scroll down any further.
“And thanks to you, I got a chance to see all the beauty of the universe. Things I never even knew were in the world. Or could be. A chance no human will ever get again. I’m grateful that I saw it all. Even if it was just for a little.”
Avery choked on his own breath, forcing himself to read on despite the sobs and wetness of his face.
“You’re capable of great things. You’ll do great things. So believe in yourself. And I don’t just say that because I saw it. It doesn’t take a god for me to figure that out. I know it because I know you. Goodbye my friend.”
Avery’s trembling hands slapped over his mouth, muffling the babbles of confused, angry, and sad nonsense that he attempted to spew out, his whole body shaking with each cry.
“Whatever you do at the crossroads, keep going forward.”
His hands grasped his face like he’d die if he let go, desperately closing his eyes and keeling over in his chair.
Those same hands, again, ran through his hair, slightly wetting it with his own tears. He let them splatter onto the carpeted floor, gripping the strands as hard as he could while he had the strength.
He had failed to keep Derek alive. Failed to convince him to talk about what was happening to him. Failed everything. Failed him.
Avery cursed under his breath as he threw himself back in his chair, hopelessly staring up at the ceiling.
There was no sun covering it this time.
But, the glint of something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
God, it’s been a while.
Hopefully he’ll bleed enough for the two of them to meet once more.