things were looking bad.

not just for him. well, yes, of course for him as well, but for his friend group in an entirety. it was as if a bad-luck streak had passed through his group, & had decided to choose him & you as its primary targets. he didnt know what he did to deserve this; the worst thing he could recall himself doing was stepping on his grandmother's dog's tail that one time. he had no clue why this was happening to both him & you specifically. no one else in the friend group seemed to be affected, apart from that one time purplesub kept on nagging at him about god-knows-what & dragon ended up lashing out at her. that incident was still engrained in their back of his mind, often coming up at intervals—but he'd mostly managed to put that incident behind him. she was just being particularly annoying that day, & he hadn't been in the best of moods after losing you. simple.

anyway, the main reason for dragon's current distress nowadays was you. not that you yourself had actually done anything to him, no—you were his best friend. it wasnt anything you'd done to him. it was you going missing that had initiated what he had since begun to call his "bad day streak". he remembered each & every detail of the day before you had gone missing all of a sudden—with dragon showing up at your house & later on going out to the town centre with the rest of your friend group to get some ice-cream & hang out near the large fountain in the park. he kept on thinking & thinking about that day. had anyone done anything wrong around you so as to prompt you running away? had you even ran away? no one was sure, not even the police. well, they stopped investigating the case only a day or two after it was initially reported, so they were of no real use anyway. dragon himself believed he did more investigating on your case than the cops themselves. it had gotten him in mighty trouble, all sorts of it, but it was worth it, it would be worth it... just to get another chance of seeing that signature bright smile of yours to grace your visage one more time.

one more time.

the grass, damp & mildewy, swayed gently in the wind. it was the early hours of the night. dragon was not in bed. he'd been up since around six in the morning, & currently it was just rounding nine pm on the clock. dragon hadn't been able to sleep much these nights. he kept tossing and turning, mind full with the constant train of thoughts that had only seemed to grow all the more frequent nowadays. back when school was still a part of his weekly schedule, dragon could rely on his homework & upcoming exams he needed to study for to take his mind off of your mysterious disappearance. well, since school had now let out, dragon didnt have that sort of distraction on-hand anymore, & it really managed to mess up his sleep for that night.

he'd decided to go on a walk. not sure where to exactly, though.. just a small stroll round the vicinity of his home to take his mind off of things—mainly, your recent absence in his life. hell, even his mother had taken notice of how much dragon's personality had shifted, & she was at work more than she was at home. dragon hadn't even realised it as his legs began subconsciously carrying him towards the local hill, upon which also sat a lofty old oak tree. it was a place where he & you had visited frequently back in the day, where he'd even stargazed with you more times than once—

he immediately thought about turning heel & going back home, not wanting to torture himself with even more memories of what could've been— but, just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of.. you. just standing there, not doing much, but dragon couldn't care LESS.

" ACE!! ", he exclaimed, tears of joy springing up into his eyes as he practically launched himself at you—immediately wrapping his arms round your torso, this being his signature greeting he'd present you with whenever he met up with you. the signature nickname only he used for you slipped off his tongue, as natural as ever.

" where have you BEEN, dude?!? "