They met at a park when they were both young. Victoria was having her sixth birthday party there and Nichkhun was sitting on the swings watching. Victoria noticed that he was alone, and after briefly excusing herself, she ran to the swing next to him and sat on it.

“Hi, I’m Victoria!” She said brightly, smiling at the boy.

“Hello, I’m Nichkhun,” he responded shyly, giving a small smile of his own to the girl.

“It’s my birthday today. Would you like to come to my party?”

Nichkhun looked at her surprised before nodding. Victoria grinned and jumped off the swing with Nichkhun doing the same a moment later. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to where her parents were sitting to introduce him.

“Mom! Dad! This is my new friend, Nichkhun! I just invited him to my birthday party,” Victoria said.

“Hi Nichkhun,” her mom said. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” he replied politely.

“Are your parents okay with you being here?” Victoria’s dad asked.

Nichkhun nodded. “They won’t mind.”

“Alright dear. Would you like some cake? We just cut it.”

Nichkhun spent the rest of the day next to Victoria, only speaking when someone spoke to him. Soon, it was time for everyone to leave. Everyone except Nichkhun and Victoria’s family left. Victoria’s parents were reluctant to leave Nichkhun by himself at the park while he was trying to reassure them that he was fine being on his own while he waited for his parents.

In the end, he gave up trying to convince them and was back on the swings with Victoria.

“Where are your parents?” Victoria asked.

Nichkhun shrugged. “At work, I guess.”

“Are you always here by yourself?”

He shrugged again. “My parents work a lot and leave me at home alone. But I don’t like being alone in the house so they said I can go to the park whenever I want and to wait for them there.”

Victoria was quiet for a moment before smiling.

“You shouldn’t be alone all the time so I’ll come and visit you every day!”

“Really?” Nichkhun asked, shocked.

“I promise. I will never leave you alone again.”

Victoria kept true to that promise for many years. Every day she went to the park and spent her afternoons with Nichkhun until his parents showed up.

They became close friends as Nichkhun got over his shyness. They never kept secrets from each other and were always honest.

When Nichkhun started high school Victoria was already in her second year. They had lunch together with their other friends. They always talked quietly with each other, not paying attention to their friends. Their friends always joked that they would get married one day.

The two still went to the park after school each day. Neither missed a day of hanging out together.

But one day, Victoria didn’t come to school. When Nichkhun went to the park that day, Victoria never showed up. He grew worried as she wasn’t answering her his texts and could only hope that she was okay.

The next day she was back in school, smiling at all her friends and saying that she was sick but was feeling better. Only Nichkhun seemed to notice that she was faking it. Her eyes looked dim despite her wide smile. Victoria knew he wasn’t fooled. She whispered a “Later,” to him when no one was paying attention to them.

They went to the park after school, sitting on the swings like the day they first met. They were the only people there, the children usually there still in school.

Victoria was gathering her thoughts and Nichkhun waited patiently for her to speak.

“I’m sorry I ignored your texts yesterday,” Victoria finally spoke after several minutes of silence. “I thought it would be better if I told you in person rather than through text.

“I’m moving.”

Nichkhun stared at her in shock. His mouth moved but no sounds came out.

“When?” He managed to choke out.

Victoria shrugged. “In two weeks.” Her voice wavered and Nichkhun noticed tears in her eyes. He jumped off his swing to stand in front of Victoria who couldn’t meet his eyes. He reached out and lifted her head up, wiping away the tears that had managed to fall.

“Hey, it’s okay, Victoria,” he said, his own voice wavering. He swallowed thickly before speaking again. “We’ll still be friends, right? It doesn’t matter where you live.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

Nichkhun walked her home that night, like he always did.

“Don’t tell our friends yet,” she said once they were outside her house.

“I won’t,” he said.

Victoria nodded and walked into her home, hoping that Nichkhun didn’t see the new tears in her eyes.

The next week passed by quickly and Victoria had finally told her friends the news.

Her last week was spent in packing up her things. She didn’t go to school anymore.

On her last day, Nichkhun went to her house for the last time. They sat on the floor in her room since all of her furniture was gone. Victoria held Nichkhun’s hands tightly, afraid to let go.

“Before you go,” Nichkhun started, his voice hoarse. “I just want you to know that I love you.” Tears appeared in Victoria’s eyes but he continued to speak. “I always have, from the moment you made that promise to me when we were younger. You were my first friend and I loved you for that. But now I love everything about you. And I just wanted you to know that before you left.”

“Nichkhun,” Victoria whispered. “I love you, too.” She couldn’t say anything more as she started to cry. Nichkhun hugged her and Victoria held onto him tightly. She managed to calm down just as her mom opened the door. She looked at the couple sadly as told Victoria that it was time to go.

Nichkhun and Victoria stood up at the same time. They held hands as they walked out of the house. They hugged one last time and Nichkhun kissed the top of her head once they separated.

“I’ll always love you,” Nichkhun said.

“I promise.”

I'm  posting this later than I said I would oops

Hello~

This may or may not have some sort of sequel at some point, I don't know yet if I'll write one (I probably will though because I have so much free time at school now)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!