Fandom Snapshots From The Past { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh flushed a dark red at that and sighed heavily as he pushed his head back against the headrest of the seat. "Ugh. I can't wait till I grow some more." Josh grumbled though the smile on his face showed he didn't really care either. He felt Hayden lean a little into him and he smiled a little as they headed back to their house. Once Claire pulled into the driveway, he looked at Hayden as he got out and saw that hesitation. "Come on! The pizza will get cold, or Logan'll eat it all." He grabbed Hayden's hand as the rest of the family piled out and headed inside. Josh led Hayden to the door and then stepped inside. It was a spacious two story with light colors on the walls and pictures of the family hung around the walls.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden followed Josh inside as he laughed. “Would he really eat all of our pizza?” He knew this was a joke but at the same time, before Kyra decided that’s he didn’t eat pizza, she could eat whole ones all by herself. Maybe Logan was the same way. He didn’t know him very well yet. Yet because he was sure that he would with the way that this was going. He moved inside and stopped because of the pictures. He couldn’t help but look at them. “Is this you when you were little?” He chuckled at some of them. “Ooh this place looks fun. And- wait sorry. Pizza. I can inspect pictures later.” ​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Logan was lounging in the living room when the door opened and he grinned, getting up from the couch. "Pizza!" He said happily before looking at Hayden. "Hey look, squirt brought a friend over for the first time ever." Logan teased as Jacob rolled his eyes. Josh looked at Hayden and nodded. "He would eat all our pizza. And yes, that's me when I was four." He laughed at the distracted nature of his friend. Claire brought the pizza in the kitchen as Lucas grabbed paper plates for them all. "Come get your slices everyone." He called as Josh led Hayden into the kitchen so they could grab food. He took two slices and stepped back, eating it with a happy smile. "Oh, so much better than school pizza!"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

“You’re shrimp and squirt? That’s way better than what Kyra calls me.” Hayden shook his head. Kyra was a lot meaner than he’d seen out of Jacob and Logan, though that admittedly wasn’t much since it had only been a week. Of course, Kyra’s meanness wasn’t real meanness. She had always been his number one fan. She was his biggest supporter. She was just… a sister. He grabbed the first slice and took a bite as he moved away. Oh yeah. They were right. Best pizza he had ever had. “Is this real?” He asked, mouth mostly full of pizza. “Or is it like fairy food or something? It’s so good!" He grabbed his second slice as well and moved to sit down. ​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh shrugged and laughed at his words, nodding as well. His brothers were his best and only friends until now, and while they teased him, he still loved them. A lot. Josh sat down at one of the kitchen chairs and looked at Hayden, hearing his words. "Isn't it so good?!" He asked, his mouth also full of pizza before his mom looked at him. Josh blushed red and swallowed before nodding again. "It's like.. the best pizza I've ever had." He said and he was a quick eater, it didn't take long before he finished his slices and sat back in his chair, happy. "That was so good. I'm so full though." Jacob and Logan had finished their slices and smiled. "We're going to head to bed, we both have early shifts at the hospital." They both worked at Lakehill, right now as interns while they go through their courses at the college. "Good night, and it was great hanging out with you Hayden." Jacob said, waving with a smile.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden ate much slower than Josh. He took his time otherwise he was afraid he would choke on his food like he did when he was younger. “It’s really good. You were right. I know I can trust your just judgment now.” He finished up his pizza with a laugh. He waved to Logan and Jacob. “Goodnight! Thanks for being our chaperone!” He turned back to Josh. “And thanks so much for being my friend. I know I already said that but I… I really mean it. You have no idea what this means to me.” He got out his things from the bag. It all means so much. All of this.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh had always been a fast eater, it was just how he was. He looked at Hayden as he heard his words and smiled, pushing his leg against Hayden's. "You're welcome. I'm glad you wanted to be my friend." Josh admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. He loved spending time with Hayden, even though it had been a little less than a week. "I'm also really happy you had a good day today." Josh said with a smile as he looked at Hayden. "And don't forget to wear that shirt on Monday. I can't be the only shark in the school." Josh added with a smile.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden was so far beyond happy, he didn’t even know how to describe it. When Josh pressed his leg against him, he leaned against him a little. Just a little. He couldn’t do too much. It was enough to make sure that he knew how much he was wanted. “I won’t forget. We’ll be the coolest sharks in the whole school.” He felt like a nerd. That was okay. Josh was this amazing athlete, and he wanted to nerd with him. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. “Best day. I’ve had so many best days. Now I have to get through tomorrow before it can be Monday.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh felt Hayden lean against him a little bit when he’d pressed his leg against him. “Yeah we will! The two coolest sharks among all the kids.” Josh agreed with a big smile. “This has been the best day I’ve had in a long time. And I can’t wait to get through tomorrow so it’ll be Monday.” Josh agreed, knowing their time was coming to a close today. He didn’t want it to but he knew that they’d have all school year together. And perhaps maybe summers too. The future was wide open and he hoped to have his friend in it for a long time. Claire cleaned up the kitchen and Lucas smiled at the boys. “I’ve got some stuff to get done early tomorrow, I’ll see you boys later. It was really nice to meet you Hayden.” Lucas waved as he headed upstairs.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden didn’t know how to leave this. He didn’t know what to do before they had to go. He didn’t know because it was all so great. “Is it weird that I’m kind of glad that we were late on Monday? Because if we weren’t, I may not have sat next to you. But I’m so glad I did.” He watched as Claire cleaned and knew that they needed to go. He stood up so that he could do this better. He took Josh’s hand and lightly pulled at him to get him to stand too. It was time for a hug. He felt like he demanded so many hugs from Josh. He wasn’t sure why he was like this. He never was like this with anyone else. Just Josh. His best friend. ​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh shook his head as he smiled at Hayden. "I don't think it's weird, because I'm kind of glad you were late too." He admitted as he smiled at Hayden. He felt the light pull on his hand and stood up with him, and wrapped his arms around Hayden in a hug. "Thanks for being my best friend." Josh whispered before he pulled back and smiled at Hayden as Claire looked at both boys. "Alright Josh, shall we get this guy home to his parents? Let him tell them all about his day?" Claire said with a smile, ruffling both teenager's hair, as Josh huffed and laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." He agreed reluctantly.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Best friend. Yeah. Yeah he really was. He was ready to tell his family everything. Kyra was going to make fun of him, and it was fine. All of it was fine if he could have this. He smiled at Claire and nodded. “It’s okay.” He moved after her and smiled at Josh. “Monday’s not that far from now.” He headed out of the house and back to the car. He’d never wanted to be around anyone as much as Josh. He loved being with his family. There was a part of him that wished that he could have met Josh a long time ago when he could have treated him the same way. His family could have made him special toppings on the pizzas. ​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh smiled as he watched Hayden head off and waved. “I know. I’ll see you Monday!” He called as he ran to the living picture window and watched as Claire and Hayden left. The rest of the school year passed by in a flurry, but it was the best year Joshua had ever had. He spent every afternoon with Hayden in the park, and they helped each other with math and history like they’d talked about. The two best friends quickly became close and during the summer, they spent a lot of time together. It was a day in mid-July, a warm one and even Josh wasn’t running, he was sitting on the swings with Hayden, the warm breeze blew over them with a promise of rain later. It rained a lot in Seattle. Josh was quiet as they swung, his mind on how awesome it had been having such a great best friend and how they were going to tackle high school together.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

The school year was a whirlwind of new. New friends. New classes. New opportunities. Every day, he was with Josh. Every day. He loved being around him. He loved being with him. After school became the him and Josh show. They were rarely apart. On the occasion that he got sick and stayed home from school, Emily made sure to let Claire know ahead of time so that they could also let Josh know. Emily was be try aware of how much the boys were starting to mean to each other. Or at least, she was as aware as a mother could be. Now it was summer, and if they could, they were together. Hayden would go anywhere with Josh if he could. He didn’t have a lot of places he could take Josh. His dad was back home, so they occasionally had family dinners where they also brought Josh. His dad had to make sure Josh knew that the magnet made him laugh every time he saw it. Summer. It was summer. It was wonderful. It was everything. And he had to tell him. Josh was too good a friend not to. It ate at him that he wasn’t telling him. They were on the swings like they did sometimes, and Hayden wasn’t even swinging that much. He stared down at the wood chips below them. He wished he could just say it. ​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh noticed how quiet Hayden was and he could see that he wasn’t even swinging that much. He reached a hand out and took one of Hayden’s. “Hey.. everything okay? You seem kind of quiet and in your head today.” Josh said softly as he looked at Hayden with a soft smile. He was getting more in tune with his best friend the more time they spent together. “Is there anything you wanna talk about? Remember what I told you when we met, I’m a great listener.” Josh said with a smile, squeezing the hand that he held ever so gently. He was enjoying having a best friend and he didn’t like seeing him looking like that. “But you don’t have to tell me if you really don’t want to, you know I’ll never force you to talk to me.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Yes. There was something he always wanted to talk about, only he didn’t want to say it. He was afraid. So afraid. This was what caused him so many problems before. This was what made him lose his friends before. He didn’t want to lose Josh too. Josh was his favorite person in the whole world. Out of every friend he ever had, they all paled in comparison. He loved Josh like best friends did. “I always want to talk to you.” He always wanted Josh to know. It was hard though. It was so incredibly hard. His fingers curled more around Josh’s like they might slip away. They might. He didn’t want that. “Money isn’t the only reason we left Florida.” His voice was quiet. Their intertwined hands were the only thing keeping him from falling apart. “I don’t think my parents know the real reason. They just knew that it got bad at school. Really bad.” He winced a little as he thought about it. But it was okay. It was okay because he had Josh. If anyone could know it was Josh. “So my mom said that Florida wasn’t working anymore. Too many bullies. Too expensive without help. She only had the one job. We could go back home to Seattle where her parents are, and we can start over.” He was slowly becoming more insular. Slowly rolling inside himself. “But I know she wanted to know why it was me. Why I was the one with so many… bullies.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh heard Hayden’s words and felt those fingers curl around his a little more. His head tilted slightly as he listened to him. Concern on his face as he looked at his best friend. What else caused them to move? Bullies. Josh’s jaw clenched as he heard that and he saw him wince a little. He could see Hayden almost curling inside himself as he spoke, and he tilted his head ever so slightly. “Hayden.. you can talk to me. I won’t judge you, I promise.” Josh’s whispered, squeezing Hayden’s hand to provide as much comfort and support as he could. But he wanted to know just who hurt his best friend. Who made him so nervous and almost afraid to talk about it. His blue eyes looked at Hayden, giving him his full attention as he smiled softly, warmly.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden knew that Josh was right. He could talk to him. Even though he was so afraid, he knew. And even though he knew, he was so afraid. He was not afraid that it would happen again. Josh wasn’t that kind of person. They were too close for that. They were too close for this to ruin everything. But what if it did? What if Hayden was wrong? What if instead of this being a confession that didn’t matter, it changed everything? He didn’t want that. “Dad used to tell me that it’s okay to be a nerd. He was a nerd in school too. Nerds like science and information more than they like people.” He always thought that was why he never liked anyone like everyone else liked them. “He used to joke that if he hadn’t married Mom, he would have married his job.” Hayden laughed, but it wasn’t real. It was meant to hide the pain. He went quiet after that. He watched as his fingers played with his pants. “I thought I was like that too.” Until he realized. “I’m not.” He could still see the moment that everything changed. He thought he could trust his friend. He thought he could tell him anything. “I think… I think I’m gay.” His heart hurt as he said it. This was the moment that everything could fall apart. “And I told one person that I thought would…” He didn’t. “And now it’s done nothing but cause everyone else problems, and I wish I could be something else.” He wasn’t sure when the tears started. “And I don’t want to be your problem too.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh listened to him but that laugh wasn’t real, he could tell. He had known so many of Hayden’s laughs to know this wasn’t real. He looked at him, seeing him playing with his pants. His eyes widened as he heard the confession and suddenly there was too much space between them. He let go of Hayden’s hand and stood up, walking over to stand in front of his best friend. He saw this tears and his hand instinctively went and brushed them away. Then he pulled Hayden to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. “You aren’t a problem. You aren’t my problem. I don’t care if you’re gay, straight or bi.” He whispered a she hugged Hayden close. “You’re my best friend no matter what Hayden Gaines. And if anyone has a problem with it then they can come to me. I’ve got your back.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Every fear he had come true all at once as he lost the feel of Josh’s hand in his. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything. Or maybe he should have said something a long time ago. How hurt would he be if he let himself get close to someone for almost a year to realize they were something wrong? Wouldn’t that feel like a lie. He closed his eyes to ignore the inevitable moment a little longer. Except whatever he was expecting didn’t happen. Something else did. He opened his eyes to see Josh so close and looking so concerned. The gentle swipe of his tears stole his breath away. He was swept away, up on his feet, and Josh was all around him. Holding him close. What? The overwhelming sense of maybe he didn’t make the wrong choice suddenly hit him. Because Josh was his best friend, and he didn’t care. Hayden hugged him back as more tears fell down his cheeks. “I don’t understand how you are so good to me.” No one else was ever like this. “I just don’t want to hurt you too.” Because that was what he did. He hurt the other people, and that was why they hurt him.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh heard his words and smiled, pulling his head away as he held him close. “Because that’s what best friends do. They are good for each other. Good for the ones that they spend time with.” He said softly, smiling at Hayden. “You won’t hurt me. I promise.” Josh said as he rubbed Hayden’s back. The desire to comfort him high as he stood there. “Now, wipe those tears off. Okay?” He asked as he hugged him a little more. “What do you want to do now?” Josh asked as he smiled at Hayden. “Today, you get to pick what we do. We can go home and look at comics, swing, walk around the park. You trusted me with this and I want you to know how happy that makes me feel. So today is all you buddy.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden already knew that Josh was his best friend. He was the closest to him than he was with anyone else. He could tell him anything, apparently even something like this. He already knew that he made the right choice in sticking around with him. Going to the park with him every day. Cheering him on. He went to the aquarium with him all the time. He already knew that Josh was the best. He also already knew that he loved him. He knew that ages ago. Right then, when Josh looked at him like he mattered despite everything, he really knew it. He loved Josh. He didn’t understand how. He didn’t get that it was a little bit different to the love he had for his other friends and family. He didn’t know that it was blossoming into a whole different kind of love that coursed through his veins like it was keeping him alive. He pulled away and sat back down on the swing, still holding his hand. “Swing with me?”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh had never thought about crushes or loving someone before, but the more time he spent with Hayden, the more he was thinking about it. He loved Hayden, that much he knew but he figured it was because they were best friends. But the more he thought about it, the more he questioned himself. He smiled at him as he squeezed the hand Hayden still held. “Of course.” He replied as he turned and sat down in the swing beside him. “I wanted to say that I’m honored you told me, even after everything that you went through in Florida. Thank you Hayden, for trusting me. That means more than you know.” Josh admitted quietly, squeezing the hand he held as he began to swing. The day was half over and he knew soon that his mom would come and pick them up to bring Hayden home and then they’d go home.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines
Middle Schooler | 13 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Hayden didn’t tell him what all happened in Florida. He didn’t tell him why stairs were hard sometimes. He didn’t tell him why it was hard for him to be close when they were in public. There were a lot of things that Hayden didn’t tell Josh. Not yet. He would. For now, this was enough. It was enough to know that Josh was going to be there for him. After so long keeping this one secret in, he felt so much better. So much. “I trust you.” He rested his head on the chain links holding up his swing. “You’re my best friend.” For Hayden, it didn’t matter what Josh’s sexuality was either. He didn’t need to ask. He didn’t even think about it. All Hayden wanted was for Josh to be happy. So they swung there talking about whatever came to mind. They swung there until the day was over and they had to part once again. When the day was done, he felt relieved. He felt like things could be okay again. And he wondered something he had been thinking about for a while. He wondered and finally he fell asleep.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua Smith
Freshman | 14 | Current location ;; Seattle, WA

Josh smiled at that, and squeezed the hand he held a little more. Those three words made his heart race and flip in his chest. “Thank you.” Was all he could think to say. They swung and talked until they had to part again. And Josh headed home with a full heart, and a warmth inside like the sun was inside him. The rest of the summer flew by and soon high school started. The first day was now Josh’s favorite because he got to see his best friend. Though they were in a new school and he’d have to learn the layout, he’d learn it with Hayden. Josh swung his backpack onto his back as he waved to his mom, standing in front of the high school. He looked around for Hayden and decided that he’d wait outside until he showed up, if one was late, then the other would be too. He didn’t care if he was late or not, it was the first day after all.​