Studying (with) You

Path 2: True Words, True Feelings

It takes a few minutes but eventually Sandbar's sobbing ceases and the tears, which ran down his cheeks, stop forming. Slowly, the stallions removes his hooves from his slightly swollen reddish eyes. He stays silent as he tries his best to dodge the griffon's gaze, which is targeting the male in his arms.
"How are you feeling?", the griffon-boy asks but, for a moment he doesn't get an answer.
Eventually he can hear a weaker voice say something, accompanied by a few quiet sniffles.
"A bit better", Sandbar mumbles before staying quiet once more.
His mind is still a complete mess, a tornado of thoughts, fears, hopes and voices that reek havoc and disable his ability to think.
He hears how a sigh escapes the feather-covered male and his eyes try to catch a quick glimpse of his face, which, much to his surprise, shows a frown instead of the worried expression he had when he caught him.
"Good, so let me ask you... What were you thinking?! That was super dangerous and one of the worst ideas you've ever had! Not only is the floor as hard as rocks but, thanks to the box, there are so many sharp wooden flinders you could have landed on. You scared me half to death, you know that?"
The sudden outburst completely paralyzes Sandbar who, with a blank expression, watches how his classmate goes on and on with his scolding. Even the storm in his head, which, in comparison to the griffon's outburst, feels like a gentle breeze, begins to calm down as all the voices and thoughts get drowned out by the griffon's voice. After what felt like an hour of non-stop talking, Gallus sharply inhales to restore the air in his lungs, returning silence to the room and giving Sandbar a chance to analyze the words the griffon spat out and the meaning they carry.
Again I caused him problems and made him mad... I should have just left when I saw him and listened to Hotshot...
These thoughts torment his head and body, causing a stinging pain in his chest and a feeling in his stomach that could rival a stomachache in terms of unpleasantness. In an attempt to lift the sickening feeling, he attempts something he wanted to do for so long but never got the chance again until now.
"I'm sorry...", he begins to mumble with a shaking voice, much like the voice he used when he thanked his friend earlier.
Those words capture Gallus' attention and, especially the tearful undertone, push the anger he felt aside and make place for all the concern he has for the pony to return.
"I'm sorry...for everything... For not telling you... for annoying you... for not leaving you alo..."
Once again tears roll down Sandbar's cheeks and the words he tries to form get replaced with louder sniffles and sobbing as his body and mind completely relinquishes control. Gallus notices how the little spheres of water leave the stallion's eyes and feels how the pony's body trembles weakly, giving him another hint at how much his classmate is truly fighting with their current situation and with the past events, which he carried all this time close to his heart. Hoping to take some of the burden from him, he spreads his wings and uses one to gently brushes the two-toned mane while the other catches some of the tears and wipe them away. Sandbar, who notices the movement in his mane and the soft object pressed against his cheek, can feel how he slowly regains control over his body, stopping it from trembling and trying his best to reduce the amount of sniffling and the volume of his sobbing. Even though he is only mildly successful, Gallus' worry shrink when he becomes aware of the change in body-language but it does not stop him from continuing his treatment.
"Shhh... Stop saying nonsense like that", he whispers just loud enough for the pony to hear, "You and annoying me? Nonsense! Why would you even think that?"
The lack of mind-control prevents Sandbar from really thinking about what to and what not to say so he just vocalizes anything that comes his mind.
"I... y...", the pony attempts to form a sentence but only a few sounds come out accompanied by multiple, quiet sobs, "Ho-Hot...shot... he-
"Hotshot?!", Gallus almost yells when he hears the name of that well-known pony, who bothered him before, "That pony causes trouble wherever he goes! He should be called Hot Mess, would be way more fitting. What did he do to you?"
The unexpected raise in volume shocks Sandbar a bit, silencing him for a few seconds before he continues his stammering explanation.
"He... he told me... to stay out of... of your way... He said that you talked... to him about what happened."
Hearing all of this enrages the griffon even more, proven by how his claws begin to tremble and the way he clenches his teeth as he begins to mumble something under his own breath.
"I swear... When I see him I wi- No... That doesn't matter now"
He realizes that this is not the right moment to let his emotions get the better of him, not again. Slowly he breaths in and out to reduce the effect his boiling temper has and, luckily, he is able to control it and, finally, cool it down again, making rational thinking as well as appropriate talking possible.
"I'd rather face eight hours of detention before voluntarily talking to him. Before the exam he just kept on annoying me so I advised him to keep his muzzle out of our business, that's all. Why would you even beli- "
He swallows the last part of the sentence when the familiar flashback pops up in his mind, showing himself aggressively ordering the pony he currently holds in his arms to leave him alone and ending with a sound of a door being slammed shut. A flashback he had multiple times since then followed by the feeling of regret and self-loathing.
"Of course you believed it... After all, why wouldn't you have? After what I said and how I acted", the griffon quietly answers his previous question followed by an audible gulp, as if he just swallowed a rock he kept in his beak for a long time.
The conversation falls silent once again as the two males are trapped in their own thoughts. Gallus is busy blaming himself for how their situation escalated and is ashamed of his lack of actions and guts while Sandbar tries to understand the overall meaning of the recently spoken words. But something else gains his attention when the blue male continues to talk.