i hope he knows

As I sat in the beat up, wheezing car with soft music that brought back painful memories, snow slowly falling around the car and my parents fast asleep inside, not knowing i'd be home past curfew. It hit me. His words spoke with just purpose. It had been a long time since we had actually laughed or even simply talked and not tried to hurt one another. But rather we were ready and ultimately wanted the best for each other. For the first time in a long time we cared about what each other had to say, what was going on in each others lives. It was late but i wanted to hold on to the moment, only the porch light was begging me to come in. As he smiled and kicked me out of the car he expressed how much he missed this. How much he missed an old friend.
The new hair, new clothes, new hobbies, the pierced nose, the strange new "friends", even the drugs meant nothing to one another as we sat there alone. Remembering what it all once was like. It was all forgiven and forgotten. No longer foreign. It was as if it had happened in a blink of an eye.
It gave me no time to think. No time to worry. No time to judge him.
I realized how much I truly care about him. And not in the once innocent 10th grader love way, but the serious, but distance friendship sort of way. I missed him. The him I thought I once knew.
I miss him.
Now he is just a sad face in a crowded hall way. He walks with such ease, but I now know how he really feels. Anxious and alone. He looks as though he can't wait to escape the dull world we're all so used to.
I miss him.
The light that once filled his eyes is gone. A fuzzy memory.
I hope he knows I miss him.