Tango woke up in somewhere bright yet dim, cold yet burning, and she ached though she felt numb. What the fuck happened..? The last thing she remembers was being in the car with Zed and then- Zed. Zed? Where the fuck is Zed? Tango shot up, and two gasps echoed in the tiled room. Tango looked to his right, there sat her own and Skizz’s moms. “Oh lord, Tango sweetie, you’re awake!” Tango’s mom ran over to him for an embrace, but paused partway through and backed away. “I’m… I’m sorry but we can’t actually hug you right now.”
“W…Why..?” Tango’s voice was raspy and weak, like it hadn’t been used in… who knows how long. Tango watched as both women’s faces dropped and tears broke through his own mother’s eyes.
“Your uh… Your arm is broken. Bad.” She took a breath, covering her mouth as a sob escaped. “It’s your right so, it’ll take some time to heal.” Tango looked down, seeing the cast and sling wrapped around her arm, breaths becoming shakier as everything set in.
“Wh-What happened..?” The raspiness lingered, though use and breathing was helping it recover. Everything began to click. The headlights. The blood. The screams. The sirens. It all came rushing back, all within an instant. Tango’s eyes watered as tears silently slid down her cheeks. She looked to her other arm, barely able to lift it as she saw the scratches that covered it along with the IV that was pushed into his hand. Tango’s mother sobbed further, but Skizz’s was able to hold it together even as tears rushed past her eyes.
“It was a bad accident. Someone ran a red light and slammed straight into you guys at an intersection. Neither your or Zed are at fault here. The other person got some serious injuries but we’re suing, it should help lighten the load with everything. The police will probably come by to ask some questions later now that you’re up, mostly stuff like ‘Why was Zed driving your car,’ ‘Where were you headed,’ ‘What was your route,’ and similar things. We can put it off for a bit for you to recover if you’d like though, nothing here will be fixed or happen overnight.” Mrs. Leman silently wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks, taking a breath. “Do whatever feels best for you, okay Tango?”
Tango nodded, shakily breathing as thoughts raced through his head. Was it really this bad? The police are involved? Is the other person okay? Is Zed okay? Is… Is Zed okay? Oh god, where’s Zed!? “W-where is… Zed..?” Tango’s voice physically couldn’t share the anxiety that raced through her veins, mind speeding with thoughts of incoherence and fear.
More sobs wracked through the room, with Tango’s own tears speeding up. Skizz’s mom finally broke, sobbing into her own hand as she sat down. Tango’s mom took a deep breath, steadying herself and sitting near Tango for the news. “Zed… Passed. They were crushed instantly by the other car, and if not that, it would’ve been due to the heat and and being upside down.” Tango began dissociating. The sides of her vision went blurry, mind wandering as tears streamed faster and faster down her cheeks. She stared straight through her own mother, ignoring any words of comfort that attempted to reach her ears. She felt nothing. She understood nothing. She just laid back down and sobbed silently as all words and thoughts phased straight through her. He slipped back into sleep.
Tango dreamt. Vividly. He saw Zed. Zed ran up to him and told him it was okay. That he was okay. That nothing was going to be wrong. That they were always going to be there with her. God, how Tango wished for that to be true. This all hurt. Not only physically, but mentally too. Tango had lost the person who was arguably his best friend, and Tango couldn’t stop blaming himself. If I hadn’t taken that hit I would’ve been driving and we might’ve been slower or faster, missing that guy. If I hadn’t taken the hit and been driving I might’ve realized and reacted. This is my fault, isn’t it? God, I know it is. This is all my fault.
Tango remained at the hospital for a few days after the news was broken to her, with a few police visits for accounts and information and even a visit from Impulse and Skizz.
It had been a day after Tango had first woke up when they visited. It all felt like so much. It hadn’t been just the three of them in so long. They gave her words of comfort and apologies, along with some flowers. Tango appreciated the gestures, really, but it just didn’t do anything to help soothe his pain. The flowers came in a bouquet with lilies, roses, gardenias and some baby’s breath. That… Was Zed’s favorite flower. Tango could only think of Zed. It was all he could think about. He missed them. So. Fucking. Much.
It was the middle of the night when Tango was discharged, and Tango had been wheeled out just to be safe. The final verdicts of her injuries were internal bruising, a broken arm, lacerations in her arms, a concussion, and slight burns. It wasn’t too bad, all things considered. She was luckier than Zed. He missed Zed. So much. So. Fucking. Much. Tango’s ride home was uneventful, though her mom got McDonald’s in an attempt to cheer her up. Keyword attempt. Tango felt so numb. Nothing mattered. She didn’t feel like she could be happy again. Not without Zed.
Once home, he laid in bed almost 24/7. Staring at the ceiling. Listening to music. The occasional text message. Many went unanswered though. She didn’t have the energy to even take care of herself, much less talk to others. All she could think of was the image of Zed hanging with what she now knew was lifelessness, stuck in that car, and he could only blame himself. A light flickered. Odd. It had been happening for a few days now, on and off. Tango only assumed that the power was being faulty. Or there was a storm. Or… Something. A cup knocked off her nightstand. It was empty, luckily, but it was still odd. A storm, he thought. It’s just shaking everything because of thunder or something like that. Yeah. That.
But it didn’t quite get normal. Not any time soon, at the very least. She felt almost as though she could feel Zed in the room. Watching over him. Trying to tell him to just get up, take that first step. But he couldn’t . Not right now.
Tango lifted her hand to her forehead, covering the sun as it beat down upon her. It was a nice day -if a little hot- and she and Zed were preparing for a fun night at Skizz’s. They frequented his house, and Impulse had actually already been there. Tango hopped down from her porch onto the driveway, a small tap sounding from her weight meeting the concrete. She kicked a rock into the grass of her lawn, thinking little of it, and walked towards the car with eyes squinted. Guess Zed’s driving then, huh? Tango sighed as she watched Zed get into Tango’s bright red camaro -the driver side specifically- and push the keys into their rightful place in the ignition. Their eyes lit up with excitement and fear when he turned the key and the engine roared to life, causing him to giggle somewhat nervously. Tango slid into the passenger side, thinking about how weird it felt to be riding instead of driving her own car. “Zed, are you really okay with driving? It was only one *small* hit and-”
“Up-bah-bah-bah!” Zed cut Tango off, a finger wagging in her direction. “You are not sober and therefore will not risk that! Plus, this gives you a chance to finally have aux control. Don’t you want that?” Tango shook his head, sighing.
“That I do.” Tango laughed, plugging his phone into the aux and scrolling through her playlists as Zed turned on the A/C and adjusted their seat position. Tango mumbled out a small “Gotcha!” as she tapped a playlist, the speakers blaring before she frantically turned the volume down. “Sorry sorry sorry!!” She nervously laughed, seeing Zed’s ears covered by his hands.
“It’s okay! I just uh… Forgot how loud you liked your music.” The nervous laughter was returned, which helped Tango feel a little better about the incident.
“This song okay? Least I can do after THAT is to make sure it’s something that you’ll enjoy!”
Zed nodded, focusing his attention to reversing out of the short driveway and onto the road Tango lived on. “This one sounds familiar in a way, don’t quite know why though!”
“Oh well it-”
“DON’T TELL ME THE TITLE I WANNA BE SURPRISED OR FIGURE IT OUT MYSELF!” Zed jokingly yelled, pressing down the gas pedal with what he thought was light pressure, but ended up jolting the car forward before he figured out that it was a lot more sensitive than his own car. The engine roared again, and Zed giggled. “Is that why..?”
“I have my music so loud?” Tango turned it up in accordance to the engine’s volume, and laughed. “Yep!” Tango looked out the window, trusting Zed now that they had realized the differences in the cars. “You adjusted the mirrors right?”
“Mhm! Don’t worry Tek, I’m not that bad at driving!” Zed’s hair flipped back and forth as he checked both sides of the road as they pulled out onto the larger road that Tango’s subdivision was off of. They pulled onto the road gently -much gentler than Tango would’ve at least- and began to speed back up. The music and engine reached a comfortable mix and Tango began to relax. She usually drove, why not enjoy the ride? I wonder what Skizz has planned for tonight. Maybe games? Almost definitely games. Do we have any movies..? Eh, we’ll figure it out there. Hoopefullyy he’ll have his Mom make dinner. Oh, Mrs. Leman. Always the best. She watched the green trees pass by them, waving in the summer breeze. Tango loved this time of year. It felt so peaceful, yet there was always just something else that Tango liked about right now. Zed hummed along to the song that came on next, recognizing it. Tango’s eyes widened, looking down at her phone.
“You know this? Really?” Tango asked, laughing. Zed nodded, still focusing on the road.
“Yeah I love this artist!” Zed hummed along again, bopping their head lightly with it. “You think I don’t have taste? ”
“Well, I just didn’t expect you to listen to this kinda stuff, y’know?” Tango laughed, looking back out the window. He trusted Zed enough to just watch the side of the road pass by, especially as they headed into the larger city between where Tango and Skizz live. Zed stopped as they approached a red light, and Tango turned back to the windshield. The truck in front of them had some… interesting bumper stickers. Lots of fishing stuff. Some included “If it was a good morning I’d be fishing,” “LOVE FISHIN,” and a Bass Pro Shops sticker. “Hm. Someone likes fishing, huh?”
Zed burst out laughing, keeling over slightly. “Apparently!!” Zed wiped a tear from their eyes after a good while laughing,
“Fishin’”
“Fishin’?”
“Biiiiig fishin…”
“Big fishin!!!”
As the cars in front of them began to pull forward, Zed followed. They were the last ones in the line of cars, when as they were in the center of the intersection, many car horns blared as headlights filled the driver side window. There was a sudden jolt as their car was slammed into from the side, with Zed’s scream being the second loudest thing behind the scraping and crushing metal. Tango’s vision blacked out as the car seemed to flip over, shards of glass flying across his vision.
Tango woke up after a few moments, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Zed hung limply next to her, flipped upside down with the whole car. Tango didn’t know if they were just passed out or… Dead. She didn’t have time to figure that out. She saw flames peeking out of the hood, glaring against the shattered windows and metal of the car. She weakly reached for his seatbelt, attempting to unclip it with shaky arms, barely able to get it loose as she fell against the roof of the car. The window was broken open, and she definitely could crawl out, but she would get some scrapes and cuts at the very least. Tango decided it was the best possible option, crawling out with tears in his eyes as he felt the heat of the fire, heard the sirens approaching from a distance, and thought about the image of Zed loosely hanging behind her. Her arms gave out as soon as her legs were about halfway out of the window, blood dripping onto the grass and tears streaming down her cheeks. The red and blue lights of the ambulance and police approaching flashing against the scene, ensuring Tango knew this wasn’t just a dream. Fucking hell. This is the worst. Fucking hell. Tango passed out.
do you ever feel victimized by fanfic authors when you make them fanart and then they give YOU compliments and you try to give THEM compliments and its a vicious cycle??? ♥♥
ft. @nicolareed
Slow dancing in the living room/kitchen to the sound of "Everybody Loves Somebody" (or another song with a special meaning for them) side smiles, butterflies on the stomach, listening to each other's heartbeats through the music.
Stargazing. One of them looking intently at the sky, saying, "Isn't this beautiful?" The other look at them and say, "I've never seen anything more beautiful." (my heart>>>>)
One of them is sick, like, really sick. And the other cancell all their plans to take care of them. (ooomg🥹)
In a car ride, one of them is really tired and falls asleep. The other don't want to wake them up 'cause they look so peaceful, so they keep driving for hours 'til the other wake up by their own selves.
After an awful day on work, one of them finally gets home late at night and see their partner awake. "Hi,honey. I was waiting you for dinner!" They say with the sweetest smile (🤧🤧🤧)
Even though they love each other, one of them remains insecure about marriage. "What if...What if I'm never ready?" "I can wait for you for ever, my love" (Sad? Sad. But a fluffy sad)
One of them returns from a long business trip. The first thing they do when they get home is hug their partner and lift them in the air as they kiss all over their face. (Oh SOOO cute💞)
Hope you like it as much as I liked it!🫶🏻 Also hope it helped you!
origamiaround
germansingergirl
prguitarman
