• "I, I understand." Seemed to be all he could choke out. It took all he had to not break down on the spot. Everything was overwhelming- even breathing. He fought through it though, and shoved a surprisingly genuine smile onto his lips.

    "Oh. Before I forget," Seth piped up as he dug around in his pocket. His fingers connected with smooth, thick paper, and he produced two slim tickets of some sort.
    "I was gonna give these to you." He placed them in Rue's hesitantly upturned hand. "Kind of a waste for me to keep 'em." He added in a soft, sad whisper.
    They were tickets to front row seats at the upcoming Blood on the Dance Floor concert, and he had given up half of his monthly check from his mom to get them. The band was Rue's favorite, so Seth figured it wouldn't hurt if he treated his best friend to their concert.
    Rue could still go, Seth reasoned. Even if we aren't best friends anymore.

    If Rue had said anything, Seth hadn't noticed. He just smiled, and took a step to the side. "I hope you enjoy yourself." The blonde gave a short wave before walking past Rue, making sure his back was to the boy before he let his face drop.

    Everything ached, everything was just too heavy. His eyes burned, and his hands were shaking from inside the pockets where they had been placed. A painful loneliness creeped up inside Seth's chest, and he made to take a short breath.
    Ten years- ten years of friendship thrown out the window because SOMEONE just had to be a huge d**k every time he wanted to show his affection. The thought made Seth cringe.
    It was his fault, as usual. Always his fault. His dad walking out, his mom ditching him for 'business trips', Rue calling it quits when it came to their friendship. There was no one left.
    Wait! Seth perked up just a bit at his thoughts. There's still Crystal. She won't leave you. She'll wrap her arms around you and reassure you that she'll always be there, that everything is okay. That you aren't alone, that someone loves you.
    Compelled by the sudden whir of his mind, Seth found that his head was held high as he walked with an actual purpose, a destination. It made his trip, his fifteen minutes of thick, heavy silence, worth it. And when it was over, when he reached that dark blue front door, Seth couldn't help but smile. Maybe not a wholehearted, pure-bred smile, but the slight upturn of the corners of his mouth was as genuine a smile as the one he had given the love of his life not twenty minutes prior.

    Seth raised his hand. The left, he noted, his mouth twitching up at the corners again as he spotted the two macrame bracelets that, in the grasp of gravity, dropped down a of couple inches.
    Crystal made those bracelets.
    He had objected to wearing them when he was younger, but the girl had insisted they were special- friendship bracelets or something. Seth visibly winced at the thought.
    Still, he knocked three times. Three loud, crisp, solid raps against the stiff door. Seth shrank back from the door in question, and buried his hand in his pocket as he silently prayed Crystal's father wouldn't answer the door.
    He didn't. In his place was a short, bouncy, blonde girl who threw open the door with a cheerful smile that she lost almost instantly. She had a knack for noticing when Seth was in a bad mood, even if he put on the best smile he could manage.
    She saw through his current smile in a heartbeat- though, the poor, broken thing wasn't that hard to look past.
    "Seth," Crystal breathed, and he took a half-step forward. Her hands flew up to grip at the necklace Seth had given her for her birthday the year before. "I'm so, so sorry. My dad's home," The boy lifted his eyes, and quickly spotted a man sitting at the kitchen table that was placed up against the far wall.
    "You know he hates you..." The girl muttered, and it sent Seth over the edge.
    "Please," He choked out as he took a full step forward, and in to the house. Seth brought his hands out and wrapped them around Crystal's smaller ones.
    "I don't... want to... Be-" 'Alone' would have been the last word if all his nerve hadn't been completely lost. He dropped his hands, and took a step back.
    How stupid was he to actually believe she would just drop everything and comfort him? He wasn't worth the time. He wasn't worth the trouble.
    "Seth, are you-" She didn't have time to finish, for the blonde boy had cut her off with a curt "Nah," and a swipe to his cheek with the palm of his hand.
    "Seth," Crystal tried, but he took another step back and gave her a brokenhearted smile.
    "You're right. I, I should leave before your dad..." His voice trailed of, and he whispered a soft "Yeah," before he turned almost completely away from the girl.
    She breathed his name for a third time, and was cut off for the third time.
    "Bye, Cryssie." Seth grated out, trying not to notice the warm lines that rolled down his cheeks as he turned fully and exited the house.

    You're so pathetic, He scolded himself. You can't even keep it together long enough to get away from Crystal. You're such a- it was the Seth's turn to get cut off mid-thought.

    "What a f*****t!" He could hear Crystal's father shout, and follow up with a series of loud guffaws.
    "Dad!" Crystal snapped, before all sound was muffle by the slam of the dark blue door Seth had been so excited to see just minutes ago.