Whit, since last night, has been feeling a sense of unrestraint. It makes his hands and heart jittery. With this familiar, yet new sensation coursing through his veins he feels like he could do anything so he had taken it upon himself to skip school. When his morning alarm clock had gone off rather than getting ready for school he had simply changed his clothes and walked out the door to go see Benny. His goal is to have a date with both Benny and Laurel, but he knows very certainly that Laurel would never consider skipping school unless he has Benny with him to convince her so his first stop is the shitty apartment complex that Benny lives in across town.

When Whit arrives though he finds Benny in the midst of crying. Benny had awoken earlier than the sun and with the permeating darkness had been overcome by an indescribable sadness that left him curled in a cocoon of blankets and pillows on his living room floor.

“Benny?” Whit pushes his feet forward to Benny and kneels beside him, “Are you alright?”

Benny sniffles and looks up at him, “Yes, no… I don’t know…” The tears streaming down his face are as black the winter morning. “I don’t know why I’m crying. Isn’t that stupid?”

Whit frowns sympathetically, “It’s not stupid.” He reaches forward and pulls Benny into a hug, but Benny resists to him.

“Don’t I’ll get… whatever this is that I’m crying all over you.”

Whit sighs and pushes Benny’s hands aside to bring his head to his own chest.

“Sometimes, you are really mean Benny.” Whit says. “Do you think I care about getting whatever on me when you’re so upset and very clearly in need of a hug?”

Benny sniffles again and mumbles into Whit’s t-shirt, “Sorry, sorry.” Benny gives into Whit and squeezes him tightly to help feel not so alone anymore.

“You’re okay.” Whit tries to soothe him while gently running his fingers through Benny’s short blond hair.

“I don’t think so.” Benny whimpers, “I think I’m broken.”

“You’re not broken.” Whit reassures him.

“Yes, I am. Why else would I be the way I am? I’m sad all the time and I can never do anything right. Everything that I touch I always end up ruining. I make you guys worry about me so much and I’m such a burden on everyone. I’m supposed to be an adult, but I can’t even go through a single day without having an anxiety attack or wanting to just stop existing.”

Whit grabs Benny’s face and stares deeply into his dark blue eyes made even darker by the black tears, “Listen to me, you have never been and never will be a burden. You are not broken, it’s everything else that’s broken. You are the most kindest, thoughtful, sympathetic, and empathetic person that I know and you are perfect the way you are. I love you the way you are. And if Laurel was here she’d say the same thing.”

Whit watches as Benny’s eyes fill with even more tears, his breath catches in his throat as he’s overcome by another bout of intense sobbing. Whit holds onto him tightly and lets him cry into his shoulder. Even when Benny’s tears finally subside they stay in their positions for an unknowable amount of time.

“Thank you.” Benny says after a while. He lifts his head up and stares at Whit, “Hearing you say all of that means a lot to me.”

Whit smiles in the way only he can, “I meant every word of it too.” No longer filled with black tears Whit can see the veins running through Benny’s eyes are shot through with green, but even as he sees this the green fades away. He kisses Benny’s forward and twines his fingers through Benny’s hand. “Now, back to the original goal.”

Benny wipes his face clean with his free hand and with a smile asks, “What is the ‘original goal?’”

“You, me, Laurel, and a date.”

Benny raises his eyebrows, “That’s never gonna happen. Laurel’s not going to skip her classes.”

“Listen, if we have to we’ll kidnap her.” Whit says dead serious making Benny laugh.

“Why do you even want to go on a date right now? Why not just wait until school is over?”

“Because I was puking up black gunk last night and now I feel like I can do whatever I want and that includes dates in the middle of a school day.”

“Oh my God, you were puking black stuff!? Are you okay?”

“You were just crying black tears, are you okay?” Whit asks both seriously and sarcastically.

Benny pouts, but before he can say anything his phone starts beeping urgently at him. Both boys blink and stare at the electronic device sitting on a cardboard box next to them. Benny reaches over and opens the text message.

After a second he says: “Well, I guess you’re getting your date after all. Laurel’s asking me to come over to her house.”

“Holy shit, really?” Whit grins ear to ear. “I wonder what she wants.”

Benny purses his lips in thought, “I guess we’ll have to go over and see.”