Chapter 38 (The End)

August just sat there, silent and lost in thought. At some point, the nurse returned, and Ethan went back to his room, casting a last worried glance at the boy who seemed to be frozen in time. Ivy entered the room, sitting by his bedside. They both sat in silence until the teen girl boredly took out her phone, scrolling through it.

"...call him," August spoke all of a sudden, startling Ivy. She almost jumped, "W-what?"

"...phone," August stretched his hand, asking for the device. Ivy looked confused but still gave him the phone at once, his expression making her swallow all her questions. He opened the call option, his fingers tapping a phone number he had long ago memorized by heart.

"...hello?" the voice on the other end seemed to have no life in it, sadness and grief the only things recognizable.

"Hello."

Edward recognized the voice, his eyes widening. He looked at the phone in shock, not knowing what to say. "I- no, wait...I- Please don't hang up, please- just listen-"

August cut him off, "No, please. Let's just...not talk about it. " He pleaded, "Please, let's just leave it behind, pretend like it never happened. For once, please see me as a person, not someone who you want revenge on or someone you wronged."

"Please....see me just as a boy named August, who wants to know another boy named Edward. Can we-" he smiled ruefully, "-start over? Rewrite destiny?"

Tears dripped out of Edward's eyes as he nodded, "...Y-Yes. Let's intro-...introduce ourselves, then?"

"Okay. You...you start first."

"...I'm Edward Felix, a junior at the University XXX. Nice to meet you."

For the first time in a while, August laughed. It wasn't a self-deprecating or mocking laugh; rather, a chuckle of pre-happiness, something he seemed to have almost forgotten. "Nice to meet you too, Edward. I'm August Castellan, a senior at the same uni and president of the student council. Feel free to ask me any questions you have, okay?"

Edward found it hard not to cry at the familiar line. His mouth spoke the same words as before, but the feelings behind them couldn't be more different. "Then, I'll be troubling the senior."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

THE END

AN- It's done. hah, i almost can't believe it. This started off as a completely different story but it changed so much along the way.

Pls stay tuned for the side stories! first one will be Ian's backstory. 

EDIT- so I'm not able to upload side stories. I'll have to make a separate story for that, unfortunately. well, a lesson learnt for next time- do not set the status to completed if you still have side stories lol. I'll post a link here.

Okay so I'm not able to post links here. the name is 'Walking a very thin line (side stories)' and you can search it or find it in my profile.