Cedric leaned quietly up against the door to his best friend’s room. Now that Andie had gotten out everything she wanted to say, the room was cloaked in silence once again - this time laden with a reluctantly optimistic melancholy rather than an oppressive gloom.
“…So, I know that you need time to get back up on your feet, that recovery takes time. And I'm sorry if I've been a little too… aggressive.” Andie was the first one to break the silence. Of course. “…but will we at least see you at school tomorrow?”
“I’ll -” Dyllan looked Andie in the eyes for a second before turning away again. “I’ll try… but it’s hard.”
“I know.” Andie smiled as reassuringly as she could. “We’ll be there for you, alright? If you need some help keeping up with your assignments, or need to leave early…” A flicker of a frown crossed her face before she shook it off. “It’s fine, okay? We understand, and we’ll do everything we can. Just… show up if you can. You’re our friend - we need you.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Once more, silence wrapped the room, now squeezing it with a quivering tension. Dyllan only watched as Andie stood up and left the apartment, heading back to her own house.
“…Hey.” For the first time since Dustin died, Cedric spoke directly to Dyllan. “I know that you’re a moper. You need to mope to feel better... and that’s okay. That’s normal.” He took a deep breath. “But… do me a favor, okay? When…” A brief pause held Cedric’s tongue, in one of the rare moments when the verbose boy struggled to find the right words. “When you’re moping, please… please don’t think the world would be better off without you. Not even as a passing thought. Because that’s saying the world is better off without all the people you’ve saved - better off without me.”
Dyllan opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t think of a thing to say. So, he simply nodded and shuffled back to his bed. However, as Cedric turned to leave, he could’ve sworn that he heard a muffled “thanks” from under the covers.