Sometimes, it's Better to Forget Responsibility

Chapter 2

Molly tapped against the door near-inaudibly. “C’mon, Bear Trap, you’re going to have to knock a little louder than that for him to hear you!”
“I don’t wanna wake anybody up,” Molly murmured. She knocked a slightly louder, but not by much.
Giovanni scoffed. “If you want, I can get my bat out of the trunk and I can show you how to really get someone’s attention!”
“No, no!” Molly squeaked, holding out her hands in protest. She gave the door a good knock that time.
There was a long pause, and it seemed like no one would answer. Molly was about to knock again, determined to not give up, when the door opened. Sylvie stood there staring at them in tired confusion, until he recognized who was there. He looked up at Giovanni with disgust blatant on his face. “Oh, of course,” he sighed, “Only you could come here at this hour without being invited or me giving you my address.”
“Sorry,” Molly peeped looking at the ground.
“Molly?” Sylvie gasped, turning towards where he hear her from, “Oh, I didn’t- I-” He laughed nervously.
“Yeah, she’s here too,” Giovanni sneered, “So, yes, you did give us your address.”
“I gave her my address,” Sylvie scowled back, “I had no intention of you ever coming here.” He paused for a moment, looking between Giovanni and Molly in contemplation. “I suppose it’s alright if you’re her ride. Why on earth are you here so late, though?”
“To pick you up,” Giovanni answered matter-of-factly, “We’re having a sleepover.”
“No. Absolutely not,” Sylvie insisted at once, “Not on such short notice, and I’m especially not going anywhere with a known criminal. Shouldn’t you be on the run or something.”
“I’m more the ‘goes into hiding’ type,” Giovanni explained with a shrug.
Sylvie hummed doubtfully in reply. “I’ve got research to be working on. I’ve been working non stop since this morning.”
“Then take a break, jeez!” Giovanni retorted, “You can’t work away your whole life!”
“Exactly. I’m very busy,” Sylvie pointed out, “I won’t have forever.”
“There’s more to life than researching forever,” Giovanni growled.
“Like what?”
“Friends maybe?” Giovanni spat, exasperated.
Sylvie flinched. “Now your just making fun of- Wait.” He turned to Molly, and for a moment she saw a lot of hurt and loneliness on his face, but he composed himself and became the same, professional-looking boy she knew. “I suppose I can come along, but only if you let me have a closer look at your epithets,” he agreed finally.
“No!” Giovanni insisted, “No research aloud! You need a break!”
“Let me research or I won’t go!” Sylvie hissed in reply, “Molly, back me up here.”
Molly stammered. “Well, honestly Sylvie, I think you need a break too. You’ve been working and working and working… Does it ever stop?”
“Of course it does, I sleep sometimes. I slept just last night. A full four hours. A little more than usual, so I'm fine.”
“Four hours?” Giovanni exclaimed, "You at least sleep every night, right?"
Sylvie laughed condescendingly. “No.”
Giovanni paused in shock. “How often do you sleep?”
Sylvie shrugged. “Who knows.” Giovanni grabbed both his shoulders. “Hey! What are you-?
“Okay, nerd boy, that’s it! You are going to my sleepover, because-” he gestured to everyone in the room with a flourish “-You all NEED some sleep!”
“Put me down right now, or you’ll be the one asleep,” Sylvie grumbled, trying to pry off Giovanni’s hands.
“Please?” Molly spoke up, “I think it will be fun.”
Sylvie made of small noise of frustration, but lowered his hands in defeat. “Fine. But I’m walking there myself; let go of me!”
Giovanni let go cautiously, like the boy might run off the moment he loosened his grip.
“Thank you,” Sylvie told him coldly.
“C’mon, Sylvie, aren’t you just a little excited?” Molly asked him with a smile.
Sylvie replied with a dry, “I guess.”
They arrived back outside, the chilly air stinging slightly against their skin. Sylvie pulled up his hood with a small shiver. “Now,” Giovanni explained, “Bear Trap always rides shotgun, so-”
“What?” Sylvie interrupted, “But I’m older!”
“Maybe physically,” Giovanni jeered under his breath.
“What was that?” Sylvie shot back.
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything,” Giovanni quickly answered.
Sylvie eyed him angrily for a moment. “I don’t really care, honestly,” he finally stated, “She can ride up front if she wants.”
Everyone settled into the car, Molly up front leaning against the door filled with contented sleepiness, and Sylvie in the back with his arms crossed in a pout. Giovanni wrapped his fingers around the steering wheel, a feeling of purpose filling him. The car began to take off, rolling smoothly down the streets of Sweet Jazz City. The bright lights and warm coziness of driving with people that understood her began to lull Molly to sleep, and before long, she was out. She wasn’t aware of when exactly they arrived at Giovanni’s house, or who carried her inside, but she remembered waking up for a few seconds, wrapped soundly in a fluffy blankets in a dimly-lit room, then letting herself fall back asleep. She felt safe.
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Sylvie and Giovanni stood in awkward silence in his room. Having just tucked Molly into the guest bedroom, Giovanni leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. On the other side of the room, Sylvie was standing with his arms crossed as well; it wasn't his usual condescending pose, it was more nervous, like it would protect him. His green eyes darted curiously over the room. Giovanni could almost see the cogs turning in Sylvie's mind.
"You always find something to overthink, huh, Nerd Boy?" Giovanni asked him.
Sylvie grumbled something too quiet to understand, but made no true retort. He looked down at the floor, curling and uncurling his toes in sudden self-consciousness.
“Oh,” Giovanni murmured in realization, “I guess that’s just what you do.”
“You wouldn’t get it,” Sylvie finally replied softly.
Giovanni nodded. “Yeah, I probably wouldn’t. Even so, it looks like something’s bothering you.”
“Well, for starters, I’d rather not be hanging out with you. I thought I’d be okay with Molly around, but it seems I did not account for her falling asleep before you.”
“Duh,” Giovanni interjected, “I know that! What I was saying is that something is on your mind, and you should, I don’t know, maybe talk about it or something. Aren’t you a therapist? Shouldn’t you know a thing or two about this kind of thing?
“You don’t know anything about it,” Sylvie snapped, “Leave it to the professionals, Crime Boy!” Sylvie thought that Crime Boy was a good retaliation to being called Nerd Boy all the time (It was not).
“Okay, I’m going to ignore the name calling,” Giovanni commented, “I might not have a degree, but I think I know enough to know something’s going on in that dingus little head of yours.”
“Well, it’s nothing I want to tell you, of all people!”
Giovanni shrugged in defeat. “Whatever. At least try and get some sleep if you really hate me that much.”
“No!” Sylvie exclaimed, “And I never said I- oh well, I guess I did say I hated you that one time… But I don’t really hate you. I just dislike the things you do and would rather not hang out one-on-one.”
Giovanni scoffed, “If you say so, kid.”
“I’m not a kid!” Sylvie shouted, his arms falling rigidly to his side, fists balled in sudden anger.
“Yeah, what’s up with that anyway?” Giovanni asked him.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not a kid,” Giovanni elaborate, doing an impression of Sylvie that did not sound like Sylvie at all. “Why? What’s the big deal? It’s not like the world’s ending or something.”
“It- I-” Sylvie stammered. He suddenly felt like he could not articulate a thing. “It’s just important to me. I don’t have to explain it to you.” His yelling had died down to more of a pouting tone. He crossed his arms in the same defensive way he had earlier.
“I’m just saying, give yourself some time to grow up, man,” Giovanni explained, “Do you want to be rushing around like this forever.”
“Yeah,” Sylvie admitted, “But I can’t, so I have to make the most of my time.”
Giovanni looked at Sylvie with utter concern. "What the actual heck are you going on about?"
"Time's not going to wait for me to take my time growing up," Sylvie explained harshly, "I have to do things as quickly as I can or else…" He trailed off, realizing he had been losing face, and composed himself. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," he admitted quietly.
Suddenly, Giovanni's arms were wrapped around him in a firm hug. He hadn't even noticed him cross the room towards him through all his ranting. Half of him wanted to push Giovanni away, but the other half of him- that horribly alone half of him- made him hug back instead. "I thought you hated me," he whispered, his voice strained.
Giovanni inhaled sharply. "No." He didn't know what else to say. How could he have just realized now that Sylvie had also been overthinking everything he had said to him? "I'm sorry."
Sylvie was silent for a few minutes. "Me too."
Giovanni didn't know what to do now. Should he let Sylvie go and have some space? But as he loosened the hug, Sylvie gripped at his sleeves harder, and buried his face into Giovanni's shoulder. "I'm sorry," Sylvie whimpered, "It's just scary…"
"What's scary?" Giovanni asked, feeling dread build up inside him.
"I don't want to live an unfulfilled life," Sylvie explained, and with a wave of shock Giovanni realized Sylvie was crying, "I don't want to be forgotten. Not after everything I worked for. But I don't… know… how. And it feels like I'm running out of time to figure things out always."
Giovanni was speechless. He had never considered that the world would go on without him, much less that he'd be forgotten. Even now, it didn't seem that bad to him; he'd be remembered by those who loved him, and who cares about the rest. He wouldn't say that to Sylvie though. That wouldn't change his mind, but it would probably feel pretty dang invalidating, and that was not Giovanni's goal.
"Honestly, I don't know how to fix that either," Giovanni confessed, "But I want you to know that I will never forget you, ever. In a good way, too, in case you were wondering."
Sylvie looked back up from where he had hidden his head. Giovanni could see tears clinging onto his glasses' lens. "Thank you," he squeaked, nearly inaudible.
"No problem, ki- Sylvie," Giovanni replied quietly, "Now, I mean it this time when I say it's time to sleep. You really need it. Trust me."
Too exhausted to argue, not that he wanted to anymore, Sylvie nodded in agreement. He could hardly keep his eyes open now that he had stopped crying. He knew strong emotions could make someone more tired, but he hadn't realized just how exhausting crying was.
Giovanni chuckled lightly. "Don't fall asleep here. I don't think I can carry you to bed too!"
"Mmm," Sylvie sleepily mumbled, "Where exactly am I sleeping?"
"Well, Bear Trap is in the guest bed, and I suppose my mom might see you if you slept on the couch. I guess I could let you sleep in my bed?"
"I'd rather sleep on the floor," Sylvie muttered.
"Or you could do that," Giovanni offered.
"I'd prefer that, in all honesty," Sylvie told him.
Giovanni whisked around his room, scavenging his closet and dresser for anything soft. He managed to somehow pull a blanket or spare pillow from every nook and cranny of his bedroom. It was rather impressive. He amassed it in a large pile in the middle of the floor. It was a nest of blankets and sheets all mushed together, overlapping and tangling with one another in a circular shape, outlined by fluffy pillows. 
"There you go!" Giovanni announced, gesturing to blanket-pillow amalgamation with pride. He saw that Sylvie had summoned one of his sheep while he was waiting, and was petting it absent-mindedly, and tired smile on his face. He stared out into space, no doubt thinking of some complicated psychology thing way over Giovanni's head. It was kind of endearing. It struck Giovanni that when he met Sylvie in the museum, he had only gotten to see one side of him, and maybe that side of Sylvie wasn't the best side. Sylvie seemed like a pretty nice guy to him now that they both weren't totally stressed out.
Giovanni gave Sylvie's arm a gentle shove, shaking him from his thoughts. "Hey. Your bed is ready."
Sylvie stared down at the clump of blankets and pillows. He grinned. "That looks comfy," he commented. Sylvie walked over to the blankets, and laid down in them, wrapping himself up in a blanket cocoon. His sheep followed him and nuzzled up beside him.
"Good night," Giovanni called to him, but Sylvie was already asleep. Then Giovanni turned off the light. He was tired too. God, taking care of these kids was a full time job.