A Moment Too Soon (Yaoi boyxboy)

Yuuichi

He was staring at his desk, frozen like that. He seemed kind of tensed, and I could tell that he was clenching his fists too tightly. His knuckles were white. Elisa must have realized he was crying at the same time as me, because I was about to nudge her when she tapped on him. He jumped a little when she got his attention.

"Nowaki, what are you doing?" She asked him, obviously worried. He opened his hands and looked at them. There were indents where his nails were digging into his skin, but he hadn't broke it open, thankfully. I watched him as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I don't know..." He stood after realizing there was nobody else in the classroom and picked up his things. As he pulled his backpack up Elisa spoke.

"Well, let's go have lunch." Elisa offered a smile, but he didn't look at her. Instead he only sighed and gave her a simple 'yeah'. She seemed okay with it though, and trotted over to the others. Nowaki stayed behind us as we walked. I felt kind of bad, so I stayed in the back of the group, sort of in between him and the rest. I was too nervous to walk next to him, but I didn't want him to feel completely alone. Suddenly, the group stopped as Cheyenne dug through her bag.

"I think I left my lunch in my locker, you guys. I'll just run and go get it." She was about to leave when the others chimed in.

"Oh, that's fine. We'll just walk with you." Aiden said.

"Yeah, there's plenty of time." Elisa turned to face Nowaki. He had stopped walking as well, and was a few feet away from us. "Are you coming with?" She asked him.

"I'll just wait." He said. He looked like he was too tired to walk with them.

"You sure?" Jacob asked him. Nowaki nodded and then Aiden turned to me. "How about you?"

"Oh...um..." My eyes flickered over to Nowaki, and then down at the floor. I couldn't just leave him standing here by himself. That would be kind of rude...he'd probably feel like they were ditching him, even if it was just for a moment. "I'll wait for you guys here, too."

"Alright then." Elisa gave me one last look as she headed down the hallway with them. I stood there looking at them until they turned the corner. After they were gone from my sight, I suddenly realized the position I had put myself in. What was I going to even talk to him about? Would he even respond if I tried speaking with him? I turned around slowly to face him.

He was leaned against the wall of the hallway, staring at his feet with his hands in his pockets. He looked like he was lost in thought. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not to say anything, but I thought I should at least try to strike some sort of a conversation with him. Even small talk would be better than the silence. Hesitantly, I opened my mouth.

"So..." I started. He glanced up at me and I felt the urge to say never mind and leave it at that. He didn't look like he wanted to talk at all. "Uh...have you been friends with Elisa for a long time?" I sounded nervous, but I couldn't help it. He was staring at me with a blank, dead expression, and I wasn't sure how to read it.

"I suppose." He looked away from me, down the hall.

"Did you guys meet in high school?" I blurted, still trying to keep the conversation alive as long as possible. I didn't want the air between us to get awkward while we waited.

"Yeah." He answered. I nodded.

"What about the others?" I asked. He looked back at me, and stared for another moment before answering.

"I've known Cheyenne and Aiden since middle school...but I met Jacob around the same time I met Elisa." He explained. I nodded and then said,

"I just moved here, so I only knew Elisa." I told him. He was back to looking at the floor, but I could see his face. He looked like he was ready to leave...like he wanted to go home really badly. I felt an ache start to grow in my chest again. He looked so hurt...like he was falling apart every second he had to stand here. It was sad to see a person in so much pain.

"She's...your cousin, right?" I could hear his voice starting to weaken, and he refused to look me in the eyes. He kept his gaze on the floor.

"Yeah. When I got here she introduced me to everyone." I said.

"...they're good people." He said quietly.

"They are." I replied. When he looked up at me, I gave him a bright smile, hoping that it might make him feel just a little bit better. But instead, I was given a slightly wide-eyed look. Suddenly, he forced his eyes away, bit his lip, and turned away from me.

He left with tears in his eyes.