Savior [Completed]

Savior: [Two]

Two: Nick

"They all like to say 'all good things must come to an end,' but why isn't there anything about bad things?" The two boys were sitting at the benches where all children waiting to be picked up were to wait.

 The smaller boy frowned for a second, then smiled. "There is, actually."

 "What?"

 "'No matter how long the night, dawn will break.'"

 His companion had livened up as he asked to hear what this proverb was, but seemed to deflate a little after hearing it. Nick’s expression asked him what was wrong, and he responded. "Oh, right. I'm not arguing there, but..."

 "But what?"

 "As in, dawn will break, there's no question there,” he said, turning up to look his best friend in the eyes, “ The question is, will the person always survive the night to see it?"

 Once again, Nick was taken aback. He’d never thought of it like that, and although Max was in big trouble…"Of course. That's what it means, that no matter how bad things are, they will get better, and you will be there to see it."

 "You're sure?"

 "I promise.”

 It seemed to suffice, at least to bring a smile to Max’s face. “How can you be so sure?”

 “I’m so sure,” he started, “because I’ll be there the whole way.”

 It had been a different scenario altogether, with a piece of paper with notes written on it being found with Max during some science test way back whenever, yet I couldn’t help but go back to that memory I had so strongly ingrained in my head. He’d been terrified about what his Mum and Dad would say when they’d come to pick him, hence the seemingly exaggerated references to darkness and surviving the night, and besides, at that age, any transgression feels like the end of the world.

 They’d just been informed through the phone and Mrs. Grey hadn’t said much, only that she’d ‘talk’ to Max about it, and at the time, being ‘talked’ to was a whole lot worse than being yelled at or even grounded.

He’d been so afraid that she’d be disappointed in him and think of him as a cheat.

Things had turned out alright after that, with Max bursting into a nervous explanation that he hadn’t mean to keep the paper on him as soon as Mrs. Grey had arrived, and his Mum smiling and giving him a hug before telling him that it was alright, and yes, she believed him, and just to be more careful from then onwards.

Which is rather irrelevant at this point, really.

Or is it? You’d promised you’d be there for him, but…

A single image of my best friend fast asleep in the school infirmary completed the thought for me. We’d been kids then, sure, but I’d meant the promise for always; not just a one-time thing.

I’d failed though.

The fact that I hadn’t seen that something was amiss till it was late was one thing, but the fact that he hadn’t even trusted me enough to tell me what was happening was what made it much worse. And it wasn’t even his fault – I hadn’t given him a single reason to want to confide in me. No, instead all I’d done was keep asking him if he were alright, as though he were my ward, and when it wasn’t that, it was about Lani, and why he couldn’t be just a little more receptive towards her.