Please Don't Cry || Goldric

Edric's POV

TW blood.

I sat down next to the crying boy, and they looked at me with confusion in his eyes.

"Hi," I said to them.

He gave me a weird look, wiping his face dry. "Uh, h-hi."

I sighed, staring into the night sky. "Rough night, huh."

"Yeah," He agreed.

They paused for a while, and then said to me, "I was only trying to help my uncle, but now I'm in even more trouble than I was before."

"I've got the same problem," I chuckled sadly, "I thought I could help my sister, but I ended up messing up at the worst time. I was never enough for my parents, so I had to be enough for my sister, but when it really mattered... I wasn't."

"Always the golden child from the outsider's perspective, but never good enough for the person who matters the most," The boy said, running a hand through their pale grey-blond hair. He relaxed his sitting position and looked into my eyes. "I'm Hunter, by the way."

I smiled softly. "Edric."

Hunter squinted and thought for a moment. "Blight?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "I thought so."

My eyes fell on their right sleeve, and my eyes widened with concern when I saw the upper half was soaked in fresh blood.

"What happened to your arm?!" I asked.

Hunter stammered, "W-well, my uncle was really m-mad..." He inhaled shakily. "He said he'd decide my punishment in the morning... I don't know if I can go back. But my entire life has been in the palace I can't-"

"Wait, hold up," I interrupted, "palace?"

Hunter froze. "I don't know why I'm telling you this... we only just met, you don't need to worry about some boy you found in the woods."

"Maybe not, but it doesn't sound like you've got a whole lot of people to talk to about your problems. I don't either, so it's nice to have someone to talk to who's going through something similar."

He thought about what I said in silence for a few moments. "I guess you're right," He finally responded.

"My sister has a girlfriend that our parents can't know about, since our parents aren't really fond of kids who take multiple tracks. She asked me to keep watch while they went on a date... I ended up getting distracted and our parents found out. My sister's the only friend I've ever had, our parents never let us hang out with anyone cool. So we stuck together. Recently she's gotten a bit more distant, especially with their girlfriend to hang out with. I've been trying so hard to bring our bond back, but it's not the same. I don't have anyone now, because when I tried to fix our relationship, I ended up messing it up even more."

"I wish I could have had something like that, a bond of that kind. Even if it's fleeting, I just wish I could've had someone to have grown up with. Someone going through the same struggles." Hunter said wistfully.

I smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah. It was nice while it lasted. But I feel like she's started thinking of it as an obligation, because if I don't have her, I don't have anyone. Who even are we without each other?" I pressed my face into my hands. "I dunno... I guess after you spend your entire life stuck with someone, you either get way too dependent on each other or you get absolutely sick of one another. Or both."

"It sounds like we've both messed everything up with the only people who've ever thought us worth their time," Hunter said.

 "Yeah, I guess so," I said, staring at his bloody arm. "I don't imagine either of us want to go home, huh?"

They shook their head. "Nope."

I grabbed his hand and dragged him to his feet. "Come with me, I've got someplace to show you."