A/N: Kind of depressing, hope it never happens, please r/r let me know what you think. Inspired by Goodbye To You by Michelle Branch which has to be THE most depressing song in all of the world. Choose your guy, he doesn't even have to be a backstreeter.
Please r/n/r. Standard disclaimer applies.







Goodbye To You





-





It was odd. He thought. Of all the places he thought it would end, a diner in some dingy corner of New York was the last place he’d expected. He’d always imagined it to be some dramatic, tense finish, or some tragic event that finally pulled them apart for good, not one too many differences over a melody and too few agreements on album names. He sighed and kicked at the pavement beneath him. He shoved his hands down into his jeans pockets, looking up at the moon as he shuffled down the street. He wasn’t entirely sure where it was he was going; it wasn’t back to the hotel, that was for sure, or to the studio either. He bit his lip, suddenly more worried and more scared than he’d ever been in his life. This was it. This was the end,



”Nothing lasts forever man…”


and he’d lost his direction. He stopped, looking around, back down the way he’d came. The others were nowhere in site, already long gone. He stared down the moonlit street a moment longer before turning back and continuing to wherever it was he was going. He sighed again, looking to his left, and then to his right as he crossed the road. It all seemed so pointless. Ten years, and all for what? For it to end in “Starvin Marvin’s?”



”I know…”


He found himself in a park, lit only by the moon in the night’s clear sky. He moved through the trees, walking in and out of shadow, finding himself a bench. He stared at it. “In Loving Memory of Ralph Etches. We Miss You.” He ran his finger along the engraving on the gold plaque, wondering if they should get their own bench with their own engraving. “In Loving Memory of the Ten Years Gone. We Miss You.” He thought. “I miss you.” He said. Already. He missed them already. He sat down heavily and took in a deep breath as tears pooled in his eyes. Ten years. And it was over. Over.



”We just don’t have it anymore…”


He leant forwards, heavily resting his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees. Ten years… Ten years that seemed pretend now. Unreal. Like a dream. Hours of recording, of just getting lost in the music, and in the melody and in each other. In what they could create together. It all seemed… pretend. He bit his lip in an attempt to hold in tears, suddenly feeling younger than he was, and more alone than he ever had been. Nearly everyday of ten years together. Ten years of always having someone to help you, and save you, and teach you, and… it was all gone.



”That’s okay…”


It was good, he supposed, in a way. They could go home… for good. And he knew that, somewhere at the very bottom of all he was, buried under all his wants and fears and needs, that that was a good thing. That he wanted to go home for good. Be with his family, and start his life over again, knew that really he was just scared… But… he didn’t at the same time, in fact, he didn’t at all, because he didn’t know it and he didn’t like change and he needed them. He was them. They made him. Of all things in the world, of all the people he ever knew, that he held dear, they were the ones he never wanted to lose, not ever. Not even over family and every other single person in the whole of existence, no one else mattered. He never wanted to lose them. And he had. And now he was crying. He was crying and alone and he didn’t know what he wanted, but he didn’t think he wanted this as much as he thought it did… because it hurt.



“So we’re agreed then…”


It was four am when he reached the hotel, he was cold and tired and stiff. His eyes were red and his face tear streaked and his throat scratchy. And he was alone. He didn’t bother to ask at reception. He knew they wouldn’t be there. One would be gone, one would still be out, one wouldn’t even bother coming back, and one was probably still where they’d left him, in the diner… alone. They were all alone now.



”Yeah…”


He took a deep breath. Watching the numbers increase on the wall of the elevator as it took him up to his floor. It reached number nine and he turned his attention to his shoes, not bothering to look up as he walked out onto floor number ten. Not bothering to look up when he passed their rooms. He knew why it changed, he understood now. Understood there was nothing he could do, nothing he really wanted to do. Everything had to end. He packed quickly, quietly, collected his things and put them away safely in his bag, before returning to the elevator. He clutched it tightly, as though it held all his worldly possessions, not bothering to put it down as he approached reception, still holding it as he checked out. He smiled, thanked the lady behind the counter and turned, heading for the door. There he passed him. Walking through the door in opposite directions. Their eyes locked and time seemed to stand still, but neither said anything. The goodbyes and been said, the credits had rolled. It was the end. There was nothing left to say. Not really. Not even to a brother. Then everything sped up again, and both were gone. One inside, and he outside. Into the cold, alone… on his way home. For good.



”See you around.”



~~



Of all the things I've believed in
I just want to get it over with
Tears form behind my eyes
But I do not cry
Counting the days that pass me by

I've been searching deep down in my soul
Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old
Feels like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend
And I said,

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

I still get lost in your eyes
And it seems that I can't live a day without you
Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light
But it's not right

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Ooh, And it hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time
I want what's yours and I want what's mine
I want you
But I'm not giving in this time

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to

The one thing that I tried to hold on to....
The one thing that I tried to hold on to....
The one thing that I tried to hold on to....

And when the stars fall
I will lie awake
You're my shooting star