Like It Used To Be, for caddyeverafter7
Title: Like It Used To Be
Author: megageek
Rating: PG
Verse: Gameverse (Gen IV), high school AU
Characters: Barry, Dawn, Lucas
Summary: Two people can easily drift apart. It can be hard work to come back together. For caddyeverafter7.
Warnings: None.
Tap-tap-tap-taptaptaptap. Tap.
Dawn glanced up from her paper. The boy sitting in front of her, as usual, could not be still for even a moment. Tap-tap-tap. The eraser of his pencil bounced against his desk, the sound of the impact echoing through the quiet classroom. She could see his foot tapping against the floor to the same beat. She sighed and returned to her exam.
Taptaptaptaptaptap.
“Hey.” A hiss came from Dawn's side. The blond-haired boy looked up, then turned to face the sound. Dawn did the same. Lucas leaned forward from his seat, his eyebrows tightly knit. “Could you knock that off?” he whispered.
“Oh,” Barry smiled. “Sorry, man.” As he turned back to his paper, his eyes connected with Dawn's. She quickly looked down at her desk.
She glanced at Lucas out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were on his exam again, and his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. A moment later, tap-tap-tap-tap. Lucas gripped the side of his desk until his knuckles turned white. Dawn bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling.
-
“He just drives me nuts,” Lucas moaned.
“Then why do you talk about him so much?” Dawn asked, rolling her eyes. “Come on, I really want to get this abstract finished.”
The two sat in the school's library, surrounded by textbooks. Rain beat against the windows, and the dull drumming sound threatened to lull Dawn to sleep. As it was, the biology project she was currently attempting to focus on was demanding more of her attention than she honestly wished to give.
It was the latter half of the semester, which meant that Dawn's teachers were piling on the assignments, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had exams and projects in every class and limited amount of time in which to finish them all. She considered herself lucky, at least, to have a lab partner like Lucas, who did his fair share of the work, making one assignment a bit easier. But at the moment, Lucas' mind was elsewhere.
“He's your friend,” Lucas continued. “You should tell him to shape up. He's been getting even worse lately.”
“He's not...” Dawn tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, unsure of how to continue. In years past, she could have called Barry her friend, but the truth was that they had grown apart, despite still living next door to each other. She suddenly wished they were talking about something - anything - else. “We haven't really been close since we were kids.”
“Whatever,” he said, passing a hand through his short black hair. “Let's change the subject, I'm getting a headache.”
-
Their project came back to them with an “A-” at the top. Lucas groaned in disappointment, but Dawn was satisfied.
After school, Dawn walked home, as she did every day. Her house was not far from the school, and she enjoyed the exercise and fresh air. And the familiar sights along the path home were comforting. But when she had almost reached her house, she saw one thing on the path that was not usually there - in front of her was Barry's back, walking with his head hung low. Barry usually left school before Dawn, so they didn't cross paths very often on the way home. They didn't cross paths very often at all anymore, she thought.
“Barry!” she suddenly cried out. He stopped, paused, then turned to face her. An enormous bruise circled his left eye. He shrugged his shoulders at Dawn's horrified expression. “What happened?”
“I, uh,” he started, pausing to clear his throat. He scratched the back of his head. “I ran into Buck after school, and we...we had some words.” He tried to smile, but it was too tight, too strained.
Dawn looked at him with concern. She walked forward, closing the gap between them. “You were in a fight?” She wanted to reach out to him, touch his sleeve, touch his face, wrap her arms around him. But she didn't.
Barry looked into her eyes and, after a moment, rubbed his forehead and sighed. “OK, his exact words were, 'no wonder your dad is never around, since you're such a fuck-up.'” His voice was icy and detached. Dawn's heart dropped. “So I punched him, and he punched me back. And that's that.” He looked up at her again, and his eyes looked hollow.
Dawn knew that Barry's father worked in another city, and he was rarely able to come home. She knew that he would be home every night if he could. And she knew Barry knew that. But, she realized, it must still be very hard. She knew what it was like to only have one parent.
“Barry, about your dad...” she said slowly. She could see his muscles tense, but she continued. “I know it's hard. I get it.”
“No, you don't!” he snapped. Dawn took a half-step backward. “You don't, OK?” His eyes were wild now, his voice full of a rage he had never shown before. “You've never had a dad, you know? So you don't know what it's like to have him and then lose him, OK? You have no idea what it feels like! So just shut up!”
His words stung like a whip against her skin. She felt the tears forming in her eyes and tried to push them back. She laid her chin against her chest, her hands clenched into fists.
Barry blinked several times in succession. His words finally reached his ears, and he wished he could take them back. “Dawn,” he said softly, stepping toward her. She backed away, her eyes still on the ground. “I'm sorry, I didn't...”
“No,” she said, her voice shaking. “Don't.” She looked up, ignoring the tears that were falling. “Don't say anything to me.” She marched past him, leaving him there on the sidewalk, and she ran all the way home.
-
The next day, Barry wasn't in class. Dawn tried not to care.
When she reached her house, a surprise was waiting on her front doorstep. Barry sat there, the bruise on his eye now a sickly yellow color. He stood when he saw Dawn approaching. She stopped in her tracks. She wondered if she should just ignore him and walk inside, or if she should turn and walk in the other direction.
“Hey,” he said, walking toward her. “Uh, it took all day, but...” he trailed off, smiling sheepishly. He held up his right hand, clutching a bouquet of blue wildflowers, clumps of soil still clinging to some of the roots. Dawn recognized them immediately - they were from Lake Verity.
“I'm really sorry,” he said, forcing himself to hold eye contact, “about yesterday. I shouldn't have said those things.”
Dawn took the flowers, and she was suddenly seven years old again, standing on the edge of the lake, throwing stones into the water and watching dragonflies buzzing on the surface. The grass gently waved as the wind blew through it, the flowers' stems bending gently against the breeze. Though the lake was only minutes from their houses, it felt miles away from anyone else. The two of them, there, might as well have been the only people in the world, and Dawn was happy. She was with her best friend.
She looked up. Barry was standing so close to her now. She opened her mouth to speak, but wasn't sure what to say.
“You don't have to forgive me,” he said. “I would understand if you didn't.”
“No,” she said finally. She took a deep breath, taking in the flowers' weak fragrance. The flowers were quiet and meek, a lot like her. “It's alright.” She looked up again and smiled. “I forgive you.”
Barry's smile widened. “Oh, good,” he said. “Good.” He shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly. “I'm glad. Thank you.”
For a moment, they just looked at each other. Barry shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Just as he opened his mouth to say goodbye, Dawn stepped forward. “Do you want to come inside?” He closed his mouth. “I think my mom made cookies yesterday.”
Barry's face lit up. “Oh, the cherry ones?”
“Yeah, with the chocolate chips.”
“Oh, yeah, I love those!”
Dawn smiled. Just like it used to be. They turned and walked up the front porch together, their shoulders bumping into each other as they made their way through the door.
Author: megageek
Rating: PG
Verse: Gameverse (Gen IV), high school AU
Characters: Barry, Dawn, Lucas
Summary: Two people can easily drift apart. It can be hard work to come back together. For caddyeverafter7.
Warnings: None.
Tap-tap-tap-taptaptaptap. Tap.
Dawn glanced up from her paper. The boy sitting in front of her, as usual, could not be still for even a moment. Tap-tap-tap. The eraser of his pencil bounced against his desk, the sound of the impact echoing through the quiet classroom. She could see his foot tapping against the floor to the same beat. She sighed and returned to her exam.
Taptaptaptaptaptap.
“Hey.” A hiss came from Dawn's side. The blond-haired boy looked up, then turned to face the sound. Dawn did the same. Lucas leaned forward from his seat, his eyebrows tightly knit. “Could you knock that off?” he whispered.
“Oh,” Barry smiled. “Sorry, man.” As he turned back to his paper, his eyes connected with Dawn's. She quickly looked down at her desk.
She glanced at Lucas out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were on his exam again, and his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. A moment later, tap-tap-tap-tap. Lucas gripped the side of his desk until his knuckles turned white. Dawn bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling.
-
“He just drives me nuts,” Lucas moaned.
“Then why do you talk about him so much?” Dawn asked, rolling her eyes. “Come on, I really want to get this abstract finished.”
The two sat in the school's library, surrounded by textbooks. Rain beat against the windows, and the dull drumming sound threatened to lull Dawn to sleep. As it was, the biology project she was currently attempting to focus on was demanding more of her attention than she honestly wished to give.
It was the latter half of the semester, which meant that Dawn's teachers were piling on the assignments, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had exams and projects in every class and limited amount of time in which to finish them all. She considered herself lucky, at least, to have a lab partner like Lucas, who did his fair share of the work, making one assignment a bit easier. But at the moment, Lucas' mind was elsewhere.
“He's your friend,” Lucas continued. “You should tell him to shape up. He's been getting even worse lately.”
“He's not...” Dawn tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, unsure of how to continue. In years past, she could have called Barry her friend, but the truth was that they had grown apart, despite still living next door to each other. She suddenly wished they were talking about something - anything - else. “We haven't really been close since we were kids.”
“Whatever,” he said, passing a hand through his short black hair. “Let's change the subject, I'm getting a headache.”
-
Their project came back to them with an “A-” at the top. Lucas groaned in disappointment, but Dawn was satisfied.
After school, Dawn walked home, as she did every day. Her house was not far from the school, and she enjoyed the exercise and fresh air. And the familiar sights along the path home were comforting. But when she had almost reached her house, she saw one thing on the path that was not usually there - in front of her was Barry's back, walking with his head hung low. Barry usually left school before Dawn, so they didn't cross paths very often on the way home. They didn't cross paths very often at all anymore, she thought.
“Barry!” she suddenly cried out. He stopped, paused, then turned to face her. An enormous bruise circled his left eye. He shrugged his shoulders at Dawn's horrified expression. “What happened?”
“I, uh,” he started, pausing to clear his throat. He scratched the back of his head. “I ran into Buck after school, and we...we had some words.” He tried to smile, but it was too tight, too strained.
Dawn looked at him with concern. She walked forward, closing the gap between them. “You were in a fight?” She wanted to reach out to him, touch his sleeve, touch his face, wrap her arms around him. But she didn't.
Barry looked into her eyes and, after a moment, rubbed his forehead and sighed. “OK, his exact words were, 'no wonder your dad is never around, since you're such a fuck-up.'” His voice was icy and detached. Dawn's heart dropped. “So I punched him, and he punched me back. And that's that.” He looked up at her again, and his eyes looked hollow.
Dawn knew that Barry's father worked in another city, and he was rarely able to come home. She knew that he would be home every night if he could. And she knew Barry knew that. But, she realized, it must still be very hard. She knew what it was like to only have one parent.
“Barry, about your dad...” she said slowly. She could see his muscles tense, but she continued. “I know it's hard. I get it.”
“No, you don't!” he snapped. Dawn took a half-step backward. “You don't, OK?” His eyes were wild now, his voice full of a rage he had never shown before. “You've never had a dad, you know? So you don't know what it's like to have him and then lose him, OK? You have no idea what it feels like! So just shut up!”
His words stung like a whip against her skin. She felt the tears forming in her eyes and tried to push them back. She laid her chin against her chest, her hands clenched into fists.
Barry blinked several times in succession. His words finally reached his ears, and he wished he could take them back. “Dawn,” he said softly, stepping toward her. She backed away, her eyes still on the ground. “I'm sorry, I didn't...”
“No,” she said, her voice shaking. “Don't.” She looked up, ignoring the tears that were falling. “Don't say anything to me.” She marched past him, leaving him there on the sidewalk, and she ran all the way home.
-
The next day, Barry wasn't in class. Dawn tried not to care.
When she reached her house, a surprise was waiting on her front doorstep. Barry sat there, the bruise on his eye now a sickly yellow color. He stood when he saw Dawn approaching. She stopped in her tracks. She wondered if she should just ignore him and walk inside, or if she should turn and walk in the other direction.
“Hey,” he said, walking toward her. “Uh, it took all day, but...” he trailed off, smiling sheepishly. He held up his right hand, clutching a bouquet of blue wildflowers, clumps of soil still clinging to some of the roots. Dawn recognized them immediately - they were from Lake Verity.
“I'm really sorry,” he said, forcing himself to hold eye contact, “about yesterday. I shouldn't have said those things.”
Dawn took the flowers, and she was suddenly seven years old again, standing on the edge of the lake, throwing stones into the water and watching dragonflies buzzing on the surface. The grass gently waved as the wind blew through it, the flowers' stems bending gently against the breeze. Though the lake was only minutes from their houses, it felt miles away from anyone else. The two of them, there, might as well have been the only people in the world, and Dawn was happy. She was with her best friend.
She looked up. Barry was standing so close to her now. She opened her mouth to speak, but wasn't sure what to say.
“You don't have to forgive me,” he said. “I would understand if you didn't.”
“No,” she said finally. She took a deep breath, taking in the flowers' weak fragrance. The flowers were quiet and meek, a lot like her. “It's alright.” She looked up again and smiled. “I forgive you.”
Barry's smile widened. “Oh, good,” he said. “Good.” He shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly. “I'm glad. Thank you.”
For a moment, they just looked at each other. Barry shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Just as he opened his mouth to say goodbye, Dawn stepped forward. “Do you want to come inside?” He closed his mouth. “I think my mom made cookies yesterday.”
Barry's face lit up. “Oh, the cherry ones?”
“Yeah, with the chocolate chips.”
“Oh, yeah, I love those!”
Dawn smiled. Just like it used to be. They turned and walked up the front porch together, their shoulders bumping into each other as they made their way through the door.