❝ That'll be the day. ❞

―

NOVEMBER 4, 2032.

Theo and Five lay cuddled together on an old couch that they had found and relocated to the ruins of the library. Sometimes Theo wished that they had a mattress to rest their heads. But a couch would do. It proved to be a much better place to lay down compared to the ground.

Theo's head was resting on Five's chest. He listened to the other man's heartbeat, finding an unexplainable comfort in the way his heart thumped in his chest. Five was running his fingers through Theo's hair, fiddling with the strands that were starting to grow longer.

"What is today?" Five asked.

"November 4, 2032," Theo responded.

"How have you managed to keep track of the days after all this time?" Five wondered aloud.

Theo lifted his head up to look at Five. "I don't know. It's not really that hard to figure out. We got here on April 1 of 2019. I've been keeping track in my notebooks with tally marks. But then you also have to take into account leap years, which are every four years. It's definitely a process."

"You're such a math geek," Five laughed.

Theo sat up and glared at him. "I'm the math geek? Tell that to the walls that have your equations scribbled all over them."

Five nodded his head. "You got me there. I guess we're both geeks."

"How about this..." Theo suggested as he changed his position on the couch.

He swung one leg over, wedging it between Five and the couch. His legs were positioned on either side of Five's body. Theo looked down at him. Five stared up at him, a look of pure admiration in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Five questioned.

"You give me math equations, and for every one that I get right, you have to kiss me," Theo finished his sentence.

"You don't need to answer math equations for me to kiss you," Five told him.

"I know," Theo said as he looked down at him. "I just think it'll be fun."

Five shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, I guess, but how am I supposed to know if you're right?"

Theo shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to trust me. Now, on, give me a challenge."

"624,428 multiplied by 562."

Theo thought for a moment, doing the math in his head. He could visualize himself writing it down on a piece of paper as he solved it.

"350,928,536," Theo said before leaning down and kissing Five quickly.

He pulled back and waited. The process continued multiple times until Theo decided that he was tired of it and would have much rather preferred to just kiss Five without the equations.

He leaned down and kissed him with more force. Five did not hesitate to kiss back. It had been years, but somehow, every kiss felt like a new experience.

...

FEBRUARY 6, 2034.

Theo and Five were wandering aimlessly through the city. They weren't looking for anything in particular as Five pulled the wheelbarrow behind him. Theo walked closely at his side, glancing down at the ground. The asphalt on the road had started to crack more within the past few years. Theo kept his eyes glued on a very specific crack in the road. He'd been staring at it for quite some time now. It seemed to span for miles.

Suddenly, Theo paused. He stared down at the crack in the road; a tuft of grass sprouting caught his eye. Theo looked up, watching as the grass continued on. There were small patches of it growing through the various cracks in the asphalt. 

Five, unaware that Theo was no longer walking beside him, kept walking. He turned his head to look at him and realized that the other man had stopped a little ways back. Five dropped the wheelbarrow and headed back toward Theo. He stood in front of him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Look." Theo pointed down at the ground. "It's been a while since we've walked this way. The grass is starting to grow even more than last time."

Five followed Theo's finger down to the ground, and sure enough, green grass was beginning to grow. It had only taken fifteen or so years, but the world was finally beginning to grow back around them. Just the other day, Theo had seen a flower and had made a big deal of giving it to Five, who had thought he was losing his mind. He had appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

Five stared down at the road, a smiling tugging at his lips. He had noticed the grass as they walked on, but he had not thought much of it. "It's strange, huh? Slowly watching the world grow back around you."

Theo nodded his head. "The only thing that could make it better is if we saw an animal. I know nothing survived, but could you imagine?"

"That'll be the day," Five replied. He grabbed Theo's hand. "Now, come on. We should keep going."

Theo allowed Five to pull him to the wheelbarrow. He let go of his hand, and together they continued walking to one of the neighborhoods outside of the city. Most of them had basements or cellars, and they were hoping that maybe they could find more food or supplies.

Hours later, they reached the neighborhood and began to search for the first intact house on the street. There was no indication of a basement, and so they searched the rubble before moving on. After searching a few houses and having no luck finding anything of use in any of the basements, Theo was beginning to give up hope that they would find anything that would be useful.

Theo followed Five into the cellar of the next house. It was rather dark when they got down there, but the light from the sun was providing some light. Dust immediately filled Theo's senses.

"Care for some more wine?" Five questioned, nodding his head toward a shelf of wine bottles. "Look, they have other stuff too."

"Alcohol isn't exactly food or proper sustenance," Theo pointed out. "But I guess we can take some to have for celebrations. You know, birthdays, anniversaries."

Theo continued glancing around the cellar. He heard a small sound coming from behind a box in the corner. As Five grabbed some of the alcohol from the shelf, Theo approached the box. He couldn't be certain what the noise was, but it almost sounded like scurrying of some sort. As he got closer, he heard an unmistakable sound that he had almost forgotten.

Theo looked behind the box; a small smile appeared on his face. Staring back up at him was a group of three small rats.

"What are you doing?" Five questioned from across the cellar.

"Remember how we were talking about finding an animal earlier?" Theo asked.

"Yeah," Five responded, nodding his head in the dark.

"You're never going to believe what I just found," Theo told him.

"You did not find an animal," Five said in disbelief.

"I did," Theo responded. "Come see for yourself, but be quiet. We don't want to scare them."

Five quietly and carefully walked over to the box where Theo stood. Five glanced over the box, and sure enough, Theo was right.

"Holy, shit..." Five mumbled under his breath. "You know, if they don't have any diseases and are prepared properly..."

Theo turned to look at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "First you wanted me to eat bugs, and now you're suggesting that I eat a rat that has potential diseases? Yeah, no thank you."

"A box of three stale, charred Pop-Tarts covered in ash and dust can only get you so far," Five told him.

"And I'll eat my three stale Pop-Tarts little by little if I have to; thank you very much," Theo replied. "And I'll eat a bug before I eat a rat. I'll eat the damn grass if I have to."

"You're awfully picky for someone who has been stuck in a post-apocalyptic environment for the past fifteen years," Five argued.

"There's a difference between being picky and not wanting to eat germ-infested, potentially disease-ridden bugs and rats," Theo argued back. "Now, grab the alcohol and let's go."

Theo turned and climbed up the steps leading to the outside. Five was a few steps behind him, placing the bottles of alcohol in the wheelbarrow before descending the stairs to grab a few more. The two boys searched through a few more basements and cellars and made their journey back to the library.

...

OCTOBER 16, 2034.

"Theo?"

Theo glanced around the pitch-black room, searching for the owner of the voice. It was a voice that he knew all too well—a voice that he did not want to forget.

"Malina?"

"Theo! Theo, help!"

"Malina!"

Theo finally spotted her standing across the room. He called out to her again, "Hold on, Lina-Bear!"

Theo and Malina started running toward each other. When they reached each other, Theo held his arms out to embrace his little sister in a hug. A bright flame rose from the ground, separating the two before he had the chance to hug her. The flames grew higher, preventing them from reaching each other.

"Theo!" Malina shrieked.

"Malina!" Theo called out.

His view was obstructed. All could barely see the small girl standing behind the burning flames. He tried to get around the wall of fire, but it was no use. The wall had formed across the entirety of the room.

"Theo! Please, help me!"

"I'm trying, Malina!"

Suddenly, the wall of fire disappeared, but Malina was gone. Theo turned around to see her standing behind him. The fire reappeared, forming a circle around Malina. She stared at him. He could see himself in the reflection of her eyes that were lit up by the flames. He was his younger self—his fourteen-year-old self.

"Why did you leave me?" Malina's voice asked.

"I—I didn't mean to leave you."

"You left me. You were supposed to come home, but you left me."

Theo shook his head. "I didn't mean to, Lina. I was on my way back to you."

"You broke your promise."

Theo tried to reach for her, but the flames surrounding her prevented him from doing so. Tears started rolling down Theo's cheeks as he shook his head. He kept trying to reach for Malina, screaming as the fire burned his arms.

Theo ignored the pain, finally breaking through the circle of flames. But as he reached the center, Malina was no longer there. He glanced around the room but saw no sight of her.

Theo sank to his knees and screamed. His cries echoed in the dark void.

"Theo...wake up. Come on, Theo. Wake up."

Theo's eyes shot open as he jolted awake. He was breathing heavily, and his cheeks were wet with tears. He was drenched in sweat.

Five wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Theo leaned his head against his chest, shaking as he sobbed.

"You're okay," Five whispered softly. "It was just a nightmare. You're okay. I've got you."

Five leaned down on the couch, pulling Theo down with him. Theo continued to sob until he fell asleep, his head resting on Five's chest.

Theo woke up the next morning with his tears staining his face, his hair pressed against his face with snot and tears. He was still in Five's arm.

"Good morning," Five greeted him. "How are you feeling?"

Theo lifted his head, turning to look at him with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Five furrowed his eyebrows. "For what?"

"I woke you up with my nightmare last night," Theo replied. "I don't know why it happened. It's been years since I've had it."

"The Malina one?" Five questioned.

Theo nodded his head, remaining silent.

Five grabbed Theo's hand. "You don't ever have to apologize for having a nightmare, especially not that one. What did I tell you when you first told me about the nightmares?"

Theo gulped, his eyes darting up to meet Five's. "That you get them too. About your family. About not being able to save them."

"Exactly," Five nodded his head. "So, don't apologize, and don't feel bad for waking me. It's not your fault that you had a bad dream. Understand?"

Theo nodded. Five brushed Theo's hair out of his face and kissed his cheek.

"Now, what do you think should be on the agenda for today?" Five asked. "Should I work on some equations while you write? Should we read a book? Or should we venture out of the city some more?"

Theo smiled at him. It was truly unexplainable how much he loved him.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

i'm actually not ready for the handler to show up and ruin their little bliss and life they've built. but we have a few more chapters to go before that happens.

thank you all so much for reading this fic and for 3k! my impulsive decision to publish this fic is probably one of the best decisions i've made. especially since i thought it would never see the light of day.