A Moment Too Soon (Yaoi boyxboy)

Yuichi

Their friend looked...sick. Unmistakable bags sunk under his eyes tiredly, and his eyes lacked a lively look. The aura that surrounded him wasn't very lively either...if anything, it was sort of painful. The way he was standing was a bit tense...He seemed kind of suffocated, like he was holding something down, despite his attempt to keep a smooth-like attitude in front of us. I watched as they continued to throw questions at him.

"Well, even if you lost your phone, you could have answered the door. Didn't your Mom tell you that we stopped by?" Elisa asked him. I could see the slightest amount of panic in his eyes as he thought of something to say. His hesitation wasn't much, so it would surely convince them.

"She did, but I was always busy doing things. I had relatives stopping in and such all summer." I was pretty sure he was lying, but he did sound like he meant it.

"You didn't even have a single day free to hang out with one of us?" Aiden sounded doubtful. I looked over his face as he suddenly gave up on trying to answer them diligently. His eyes looked away from them as he spoke.

"I'm sorry." He told them. He had been trying his best to keep them from worrying about him, but he just didn't want to keep up with it. It seemed like he'd lost the energy to. There was definitely something wrong, but there was no way I would ever be able to figure out what it was. I didn't know anything about him except his name. Elisa had never talked about him before, so I had no clue what he was like. Maybe I could ask Her. Hopefully she knew something.

I had to admit that I felt kind of nosy, but I was curious as to why he seemed so empty. Elisa usually hung around cheerful, fun people. Whatever happened to him couldn't just have been something petty like a break-up, or some dumb argument for him to be harboring so much pain. It had to be something much more tragic. My cousin and her friends sighed in defeat and then perked right back up.

"So, where were you headed?" Elisa asked. He glanced at her and then replied,

"Ah...just the park." He sounded hesitant to answer, like he didn't want us to join him. My thought was confirmed by his reaction when Elisa suggested that we tag along. He didn't say anything at first, but his face twisted up into an expression of annoyance and exhaustion. I could see that he was trying not to show it, but he was struggling. After a second of silence, he answered.

"...If you want." He began to walk away with his hands in his pockets. I glanced up at Elisa, and she gave me a glance back. She knew that He didn't want us to go with, but she followed him anyways. Instead of chirping more questions that would irritate him, she was cautiously speaking.

"Nowaki...are you alright?" She was trying to be gentle, but received the same tone.

"I'm fine." He replied briefly. He was probably aware that didn't sound very convincing, but he didn't say anything more.

"Are you sure? I mean, if you need-" Aiden tried to say something, but Nowaki cut him off by stopping and turning around.

"Actually...I'm going to head back home." I could tell he was on the verge of something. I wasn't sure if it was tears or an explosion, but it was something. He brushed past us, and everyone stood in their spots, looking at each other. I looked at them for an answer, but Aiden and Cheyenne only shrugged. Elisa was staring at him as he walked away. She looked...worried.

"Elisa?" I said. She sighed and looked over at me, then smiled.

"It's fine..." She said, turning away from him and walking in the opposite direction.

"...Is he always like that?" I asked her. She grew a bit wide-eyed and shook her head quickly.

"No, no! Of course not...he's actually very kind. A lot nicer than most people I know. It's just...right now he's having a bit of a rough time, that's all." She explained.

"A rough time?" I asked. She nodded.

"Something...terrible happened before school ended last year, and ever since then, Nowaki hasn't been the same...I guess he just needs time." She sounded sad. Before I could say something, Aiden spoke up, changing the subject,

"Why don't we finish showing you around? Then we can go to that new ice cream place next to the theater." The rest of them agreed and the matter was dropped quickly. I was even more curious now, but it was obvious that they weren't going to bring it up again. We began walking, and I glanced back at where he was walking. He had disappeared from sight, though.

What had happened to him to cause so much change?