Kris shook his head. "It's okay, its not your fault, dude. I'll walk with you, just in case." He heard what Paris mumbled and nodded a little. "Yeah, hopefully won't be home. I don't want him getting mad at you again, so let's go." He gave Paris one final, quick hug before getting up, still supporting Paris as he did so. He held onto him for a minute after they stood up, making sure he was stable, and that he wouldn't fall over.
Paris was a bit wobbly when he did get to his feet, looking unsteady. He was still trembling and pale, and his heart was pounding. He carefully followed Kris and climbed down the ladder with him so they could start walking back to his house. I really did cause him a lot of trouble… I feel so guilty… and mortified. It's so embarrassing…
Kris walked beside Paris in silence, his hands shoved in his pockets. He felt incredibly guilty about what had happened. I shouldn't have even brought it up…I feel so bad. I hope he's not mad at me…God, did I already fuck up this friendship? I should have kept my mouth shut…but I just…I just want him to be safe… The two of them made it out of the woods and out onto the sidewalk, where Kris stayed just as silent as they made their way to Paris's house.
Eventually, they made it back to Paris' house and Paris stared up at it with a nervous expression. He bit his lip a bit, his breathing shaky. He glanced over to Kris, realizing the other boy must feel guilty. "H-Hey, um… I'm sorry about all that… it really isn't your fault, okay? Um…" He was quiet for a moment, searching for the right words. "We should… hang out another time. Or I can text you… I feel bad for lying to you…" He said softly.
Kris looked down at Paris, glad that he finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "It's okay, man. Don't worry about it." He gave Paris a tiny, soft smile. "Yeah, let's hang out another time. I'll text you tonight, okay? Seeya at school." And with that, the taller boy headed back home.
"Okay… see you tomorrow…" Paris waved and sighed softly, hesitating another few minutes before he headed into the house. He managed to slip into his room quietly and pretty much passed out as soon as he lay down on his bed.
(Feel free to time skip to the next day aha)
Kris would usually stay up rather late again, but due to the lack of sleep from the night before, and what had just happened, he was pretty tired, so he ended up falling asleep fairly quickly. It was probably one of the first times he's actually woken up early for school. When he woke up that morning, he actually had a little time to himself, so after getting ready and eating something (since he barely ate the day before) he went up and sat in the treehouse for a while before heading to school. The school day was boring, as per usual, but he looked forward to both lunch and math class, where he would get to see Paris again. It was lunchtime once again, so Kris located his friend and sat down next to him.
"Hey dude." He said, pulling his headphones off of his ears and resting them around his neck. "You feeling a little better today?"
Paris slept a little late and had to fight with his father a bit before he sprinted to school. He missed first period, and he was still pretty stressed and exhausted. He really couldn't catch a break until lunch time, when Kris approached him. He looked up, his face a bit pale. "Oh, Kris… hi. I'm… okay." He replied softly. "I slept through my alarm so I missed first period, and my dad was pissed…"
(I tried to draw Paris but he looks a little too young asdghjk)
"Oh, damn…I'm sorry, man" Kris frowned, hoping Paris's dad didn't do anything too bad to him. "Hey, I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have brought it up. If you want, we could hang out again sometime this weekend, try and get to know each other more, and, you know, try and avoid all the bad shit." He really wanted to hang out with this boy more, and have it be more of a positive experience. Hell, I have problems of my own that I wanna get away from. Dad hasn't been home in days…I wonder where he is…
(I tried to draw Paris but he looks a little too young asdghjk)
(aww i love it! he does look kinda young, but it looks really good!!)
"It's fine, really… it's my own fault." Paris held up his hands, flushing a bit in embarrassment. "I-I shouldn't have freaked out like that over nothing…" Yeah, nothing… He looked away and sighed. "I'd be glad to hang out again… I'll try to be… uh… a little less weird." He laughed nervously, still avoiding eye contact.
(I tried to draw Paris but he looks a little too young asdghjk)
(aww i love it! he does look kinda young, but it looks really good!!)
(Ty ^^ I might try and draw him again but better aha)
Kris shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. It's…not 'nothing'. I can tell that it's…probably complicated…" He avoided eye contact too, looking down at his hands and the table. "But yeah, same here. Gotta admit, it's been kinda nice hanging out with someone for once."
"It's… uh… yeah…" Paris stammered awkwardly. "Bit complicated… weird situation. Nothing I can't handle. Yeah." He took a bite of his sandwich to shut himself up, not wanting to inadvertently give away information. Dad would kill me… and everything else would suck too. He sighed and closed his eyes, turning his face down towards the table. And I don't want to bother Kris. "Why don't you ever eat lunch?" He asked after a bit.
"Hm?" He looked up after having spaced out for a minute. "Oh, uh…I'm never really hungry. My meds usually take away my appetite, and I take 'em right before school, so I just never have an appetite 'till later." He rested his chin on his palm and absentmindedly drummed his fingers on the table, looking over at Paris.
"Oh… I only ever eat lunch." Paris shrugged a bit and took another bite of his sandwich, not seeming to realize that eating maybe one meal a day wasn't exactly normal. "What do you take meds for, if you don't mind me asking? You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Oh, I have ADHD." Kris stated, not at all uncomfortable with sharing it. "Honestly, the medication doesn't help much, I still struggle a lot, but it's better than nothing. Plus, my parents already spent a shit ton of money on it." And they'd probably get pissed if I were to ask to go back to the doctor for new meds…I don't blame them I guess, we're pretty broke… He found the fact that Paris only ate lunch kind of off-putting, but he decided not to mention it for now.
"Mm…" Paris nodded a bit, looking down at his fingers with a thoughtful hum. "I don't take any medication… I suppose I probably should, but I doubt my father would pay for anything like that." He shrugged and closed his eyes. "Ah, well. It is what it is, right? I'll just deal with it."
"Yeah…it sucks that you can't do anything about it though, at least not right now." He paused, recalling when he was first diagnosed. "They diagnosed me when I was real young, like, seven, and I've constantly been on some kind of meds ever since. I should probably get tested for some other shit too, but my parents probably wouldn't listen to me if I told them I needed more stuff diagnosed…so I guess I'll have to wait another couple of years. If I can even afford it then." Kris sighed, wishing he could at least see some sort of professional about his symptoms of anxiety and depression.
"Yeah… my dad's one of those… how to say… hyper masculine? I dunno. He says stuff like 'boys shouldn't cry' and he… doesn't approve of most of my hobbies. He thinks it's weak to cry or do girly things, and it's only been worse since he found that letter." Paris muttered, rolling his eyes a bit.
"Yeah, my dad is like that too…" Kris said, nodding, before hearing Paris mentioning something unfamiliar. Damn it, did I space out again when he was telling me about that or something? Or did he not tell me at all? "Huh? What letter?"
Paris paled a bit when he realized he'd mentioned the letter out loud. God, I'll have to tell him about that now… there's not really a good excuse or explanation for something like that… "Oh, u-um… I…" He stumbled over his words, not quite sure what the best way to say it was. "Well… a while back, I was… in a really bad place, a-and… I wrote a letter…" He said slowly, looking very nervous. "I-I didn't go through with it, obviously! But… I ended up keeping the letter, for whatever stupid reason, and… my dad found it. And there was… some incriminating stuff in there that just made everything worse… but it's fine! I'm fine! Everything is totally fine!"
"Oh…" Kris's heart skipped a beat when he realized what Paris was implying. "I'm…glad you didn't go through with it. I'm so sorry that you…were in such a bad place that you were gonna…you know, do…that." He cringed at himself, hoping he was saying the right words. "Don't worry, man. I won't tell anyone. I'm just.. glad that you're here and okay now." Honestly, he had no idea if he was 'completely fine' mentally right now, but at least he wasn't in a place like he was when he wrote that letter.
"Y-Yeah…" Paris laughed nervously and looked away, still very pale. "I'm… great. I'm doing perfectly fine now. I shouldn't have kept the stupid letter in the first place. I dunno why I did it… but it only made things worse. I should've destroyed it when I got the chance. Now my dad's always hounding me about stupid stuff like that and making me do stuff I don't wanna do."