An old friend

It was a Thursday. Mikey and Jamie both decided to take a day off from YouTube that day. Mikey took the day to organise the junk in the back of the wardrobe. Specifically, the junk in Jamie’s side of the wardrobe. He was rummaging through boxes of old photographs and childhood memorabilia. He found a box that had photos taken in what seems like the same area.

“Hey, where is this?” Mikey interrogated, barrelling into the kitchen where Jamie was sat doing his taxes. Taking the photo from his boyfriend’s hands, a small grin spread across Jamie’s face.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot about this. It’s a park back home, that I used the visit all the time.” There was nostalgia that laced his tone when he spoke.

“Who’s that photographed with you? He’s in all of them.” Mikey prompted, leaning over Jamie’s shoulder to peek at the grainy photograph.

“Henry Fraiser! He was my best friend in primary school. But we lost contact when we went to new schools.” There was a dejected look in his eye.

“You should post this photo on Instagram. I’m sure someone in your large following will know where he is now.”

“But isn’t that weird. Using my 2mil followers to find some guy who I haven’t spoken to in years.”

“Not really people do it all the time. Plus, it’ll be great content if you vlog about it.” Mikey suggested, gently nudging his boyfriend in the shoulder. Jamie nodded in reply.

“I guess you’re right.” He pulled open twitter and began writing the tweet. Hey guys, I have an important mission for all of you. This is my childhood best friend, we lost contact about 10 years ago and I want to get back into contact with him. His name is Henry Fraiser and if any of you know who he is, please get him to get into contact with me. Thanks, guys! He then attached the photo and pressed send, hoping that someone will know who he is. He tried not to think about it for the rest of the afternoon and went back to his taxes.

3 hours had gone by and Mikey came barrelling back into the kitchen, phone in hand.

“He replied to your tweet!” He called out to Jamie, who was sitting across from him. Hi, Jamie, Its me, Henry. Perhaps we can meet in the spot that we used to meet. Bring your camera, it would make an awesome vlog.

“That seems like him.” Mikey spoke up, breaking the tense silence that was beginning to fall on them.

“What if its just a prank? Someone trying to get into one of my vlogs by pretending to be Henry.” Jamie slumped in his chair. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to meet Henry in the first place or if he was just going along with it because it was Mikey’s idea. Mikey took note of this tone and gently wrapped his arms around the shorter boy.

“You should still go. And you should still vlog about it, it’ll be great content.”

“But if I vlog it, that’ll mean that you wont be able to go.” Jamie whispered, a deflated tone lacing his speech. Mikey let out a sigh, mimicking the same deflated tone of his boyfriend.

“How much longer are we planning on hiding this? I mean, we practically live together.” Mikey was making some good points, they did spend most of their time together and it was clear that they were made for each other.

“I know and I’m sorry but my audience just isn’t ready for that yet. But you should still come along, your fans don’t know who you look like and if you don’t say too much, we should be able to pull it off.” Jamie rambled. Mikey let out an offended scoff, not being able to believe what he is hearing.

“So, I can come as long as I stay silent? Nah, you’re alright, mate.”

“But I need you for moral support.” Jamie was an expert at puppy dog eyes, they were Mikey’s kryptonite.

“Fine! But let it be said, I hate that we’re still hiding this.”

“Hey guys, this is a very exciting video for me. I’m sure you’ve already seen the title of this video and know what’s going to happen. I always took that photo at that tree there so I guess we wait for him there.” Jamie turned off the camera, rolling out of his picnic blanket in preparation for when Henry arrived.

“Are you alright?” Mikey asked after noting the nervous way that Jamie was fiddling with a stray thread on his jacket.

“Yeah, it just, what if we don’t have anything in common anymore?” He shuffled slightly, keeping his eyes glued to the ground as he felt himself be pulled into a tight hug by his supportive boyfriend.

They weren’t kept waiting long. They were only sat waiting for about 10 minutes before they saw a short, stocky man running up the steep hill.

“Right, guys, here he comes, my childhood best friend. Let’s hope we still have stuff in common.”

“Hi, Jamie. Nice to see you again.”

“Hey, Henry, its been a long time.” It was slightly tense. Henry was probably uncomfortable with a camera being shoved in his face and a sensitive moment. What followed was probably the most awkward hug any of them had ever seen. They ate their picnic food mostly in silence. The silence only being broken when one of them made a comment about how good the food is.

“So, you do YouTube?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s that for you?”

“Pretty good. Wanna say hi to the vlog?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Guys, this is Henry, my childhood best friend. We’re just having a lovely picnic; there’s macarons, sandwiches, grapes, pringles, all the things needed for a good picnic. There is a lovely view of the sunset; look at all of those pinks, purples, and oranges.”

The rest of the day droned on boringly, the two finding nothing that they have in common. It was disappointing for Jamie, who really hoped that the two would be able to pick up where they left off. They were best friends for 6 years, and now they couldn’t even hold a conversation. It became clear to Jamie that people change and that there was no way of them being friends anymore and he accepted that. Some people just grow apart.