Übers Ende der Welt

"Übers Ende der Welt" - Tokio Hotel

🎵 Vors uns bricht der Himmel auf / Wir schaffen es zusammen / Übers Ende dieser Welt / Die hinter uns zerfällt / Wir schauen nochmal zurück 🎵

I sat alone in my bedroom per usual for this summer, reading manga on my laptop. Mom was getting ready for work, Kyle was at the bar, and Emilia was all the way in Germany.

That last fact tore at my heartstrings and made my eyes sting a little bit. That hole in my chest throbbed with pain as I thought over the realization that I wouldn't be seeing Dad this year. Of course it was my decision, but it still sucked and made me feel blue. I knew that at the end of the day though, it was for the best.

Shoot, after that creepy phone call with Dominik last month when I'd told him that I wouldn't be coming, my mind was more than made up. I do not understand the teenager whatsoever. I mean, first he acts like he hates me, then he acts all friendly to me, then he calls me a "nobody", and then he gets mad that we won't see each other over the summer? His mood swings are giving me a headache, for real.

I shook my head at the mere thought of him. I really shouldn't be worrying about him in the least.

Besides, after that whole fiasco, Dad had called me back (I'd been so shocked), and he hadn't sounded too upset about not seeing me. Whatever, like I care, *scoff... *sniffle.

I tried to focus all of my attention back onto my laptop, trying my hardest to distract myself with manga so that my thoughts wouldn't travel to the horrible fact that I have no one in the universe, or the fact that my step-brother is weird.

There was a knock at my bedroom door. "You got a package on the counter," Mom said as her footsteps retreated. "I'll be back later tonight!"

The slamming of the front door sounded out, letting me know that I was all by myself now.

A package? It was June and my birthday was all the way in October, so I had no idea why someone would want to send me something. Still, I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't a little tinge of excitement that I felt at the thought of having something postmarked just for me. I hope it's money!

I snatched the box in my clutches and ran back to my bedroom, studying it once my door was closed.

It was a decently-sized box, about as big as the ones my shoes come in, and it kind of light but I could hear something bumping around inside when I shook it. The front of the box had my name written on it in blocky letters: Max Estrada. However, in the upper lefthand corner of the box, I cringed at the scribbled: Dominik Stubbe.

Oh shit. This was it. Dominik was pissed off that I wasn't going to Germany this summer (for some unknown reason), and he probably mailed me a bomb to illustrate how over my shit he was!

It may be a hunch, but I think that I might've just made him mad a teensy bit when I'd blocked his number... and when I'd called him a "Bitch".

The sheer fact that there was a whole ass ocean separating us brought me a little bit of comfort, but already my fingers were starting to shake with nerves as I opened up the box, preparing for the worse.

At first, there was nothing but a bunch of bunched up white tissue paper, but under it was a black wolf plushie. Huh?

I grabbed the wolf plushie out of the box and held it in my hands. Its fur was black as midnight, and it seemed to be stylized in a cartoonish way where it appeared to be sitting on its rear while its head was too big for its body. It reminded me a lot of those wolf dolls that Bedburg sells in nearly every store in order to capitalize off its creepy werewolf-lore past to tourists. All that was missing was BEDBURG, DE sewn onto its chest.

But... why would Dominik sent me this wolf plush?

I studied it in my grasp, noting the two large beady eyes on its face. My confused expression reflected back at me in the clear plastic.

"Eh, it is kinda cute," I mused. I mean, I do still like plushies so I figured that it wasn't too outside of the box for someone to gift me one. The only weird part of this entire scenario was that it was Dominik of all people who'd decided to sent me a stuffed wolf. I highly doubted there was some of motive behind it— perhaps he was extending an olive branch?

Nope, that couldn't be it.

I shrugged and put the wolf plushie on top of my dresser and then went back to my desk so that I could continue reading BL manga on Max's Most Amazing Summer Break Ever!©

The second I sat back at my desk, my stomach growled loudly and I couldn't help but grab at it. "Damn," I muttered, pushing myself away from my laptop for the moment to head to the kitchen for something to eat.

Unfortunately, with my mom working in the health industry, she tended to believe in the annoying fact that people should eat to live, and not the other way around. Therefore, I opened up the cabinet and frowned deeply when there weren't any chips or even a box of Kraft Dinner!

"There's no food in this place!" I whined loudly. Worse was that I was a broke ten year old, so I couldn't exactly order take out.

I looked in the fridge and saw a large tub with a salad that Mom had prepared earlier, filled to the brim with chopped kale and red onion...

"There's no food in this damn place!" I repeated, much more dramatically this time as I slammed the fridge door shut.

I practically stomped my feet back to my bedroom where I pouted at my desk over the fact that I was going to starve to death this summer; and no, that was not an exaggeration! My scowl was painted all over my face as I tried to read my manga, ignoring the stomach rumbling that echoed throughout my bedroom.

After finishing a few chapters of the manga I was reading, the doorbell rang out, startling me in my seat. Who the hell could that be?

I tiptoed out of my bedroom and walked over to the front door where there was panel next to the light switch that had a blurry screen on the front. This screen showed the outside entrance to the building, where someone would press the corresponding button to our apartment to ring for us. In the middle of the screen stood a pizza delivery man holding a large pizza box in front of him.

Thankful that the people outside couldn't see us back, I pressed the intercom button. "Um... hello?" I asked, figuring he was lost.

"I have a delivery for a Max Estrada," the pizza guy said.

I blushed and realized that he actually wasn't lost. However, knowing that I didn't have much money to my name, I pressed the button again. "I... uh, I don't have any money," I admitted, my face bright red. "And I didn't order a pizza."

The pizza guy looked confused too for a moment as he grabbed the receipt. "It says here it's already paid for," he told me as he read off the tiny piece of paper. "The orderer didn't leave their name, but they told us to hurry this to you... and they were pretty, uh, insistent. So please, take this pizza."

Someone ordered a pizza for me?

Aww, it must've been Mom! I knew that she really didn't expect me to eat that bowl of lawn clippings that she'd left in the fridge. What a prankster, haha!

"Sweet, okay!" I smiled as I pressed the red button that unlocked the entrance to the building.

It didn't take long for the pizza guy to ride the elevator up to our floor. When he knocked on the door, I barley had enough time to open it up before he shoved the pizza at me and literally sprinted away... I guess that's good since I didn't have any cash for a tip. I guess he's really busy today.

But hey, I got a free pizza! Bitchin'!

With a significant pep in my step, I rushed back to my room after snatching a can of Diet Coke from fridge (I need to watch my figure). I placed the pizza box onto my desk and flipped open the lid, already drooling over the sight of the delicious gooey cheese and bright red pepperoni slices.

"Thank God!" I prayed, snatching a slice out and loving the cheese pull that it had. I couldn't hold back the moan of delight as I took a bite of that mouthwatering pizza, feeling as if I hadn't eaten sustainable food in a million years. I even ate the crusts, I was so hungry!

A large smile plastered onto my face, I chomped down on this free pizza, grateful that someone out there was looking out for me.

— — —

[Dominik's POV]

"Thank God!" Max's beautiful voice sang out as he took a large bite of the pizza that I bought for him. Some of the red tomato sauce splattered onto his cheek, and I wished more than anything that he was here in Deutschland so that I could wipe it clean for him.

The video feed from the wolf babycam that was broadcasted onto my phone showed off mein Hase in all of his cute glory. It'd only been year since I'd last seen him, but already, my heart was threatening to explode out of my chest as I caught a glimpse at him.

My breath got caught in my throat as I looked over my boy.

It'd only been three-hundred forty-two days since I'd last seen the love of my life, but already, he looked like a new person. Max was growing out his silky, brown hair. It wasn't super long, but it now grazed the tops of his ears. Even from a tiny screen in my claws, I could tell that it would be soft to the touch and that it looked as if he carefully brushed it daily. He'd lost some of his baby fat, his face gradually thinning out and displaying his soft chin that he possesses. His skin was still clear, looking as if he were chiseled out of the world's most expensive, flawless marble. And his green eyes sparkled in the sunlight from (grr...) Canada's summer skies that filtered in through the window in the background.

Max is perfect.

Perfect in general, to be honest— but also, perfect for me.

I love how small he is, and how he seems to be the perfect height for me to wrap my arms around him so that I totally engulf him. And he's the perfect amount of happy-go-lucky, which completely contrasts with my usually gruff and heated attitude— and I already know that once he's home with me, we can use our two vastly different personalities to balance one another out. My boy's voice is perfect and even as he speaks aloud to himself reading those Japanese comics online, it was like I was listening in on the world's greatest opera. I can spend days on end just listening to my sweet Max speaking, and I'll soak up every word he says like it's gospel. My God, his laugh is perfect! I don't know what he's reading exactly, but it elicited giggles from him and I could feel the corners of my mouth gradually pull upwards just by listening to him. The way my boy's green eyes lit up as he read was perfect and I could get lost in those emerald gems for hours on end; and my inner wolf and me grew desperate to have them directly solely at us.

Mein Hase is perfect. He was made for me.

And the exact second Max is home with me, I won't let him go. I've already decided that I'll have to turn on whatever charm I possess in order to court him and to convince him to stay here with me in Deutschland year round.

I don't give a fuck what I have to do. I'll do anything if it means that I can keep my Max.

I love him with all of my being, and I have to do everything in my power to make sure that I'm the best mate in the world for him. I already fucked things up royally last summer, and now I'm being punished by having him refuse to visit me— um, I mean, visit Paul. But next year's another story. Max can't hate me forever... right?