When No One Is Looking (adopted by Markiplier)

Chapter twenty-one: Sunset and Talk

     I rounded the corner to the park to see Elliot sitting next to a bench. A woman was playing Hey There Delilah on a guitar in the background. I hummed the tune as I walked towards Elliot, feeling like I was in a movie. "Hi." Elliot said.
     "Hey." I replied with a half grin.
     "Thanks for coming."
     "Why did you ask me to come?"
     "I wanted to say something."
     "Shoot." I smiled reassuringly.
     "I know that you want to know."
     Confused, I said, "about what?"
     "Why I'm sitting here like this." His voice cracked. "I have a brain tumor." His eyes filled up with tears. He was about to cry.
     "O-oh." I didn't know what to say. I wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, that I would be there for him no matter what, but I didn't know how.
     "I wasn't in school for three days, it spread to my lungs. He paused. I wanted for him to finish. "I'm sorry. I sound so selfish."
     This gave me a small burst of adrenaline. "No... don't you dare apologize."
     "That's not the only reason I came here." He smiled. "I wanted to say thanks."
     "For what?"
     "For inviting me. And," he paused. "Doing this. Being there for me. Helping me, being my friend. You're the first friend I've had here. I might not be able to go to VidCon, because I have to go to the hospital. Every week. I don't know if I'll be better in time."
     "You will." I said. "I know you will. I'm positive." He grabbed my hand, and held on to it like it was his life force. We were silent for a minute.
     "What if I'm not better?" Elliot asked. I could hear the pain and fear in his voice.
     "You will, don't think like that." I said firmly. The sun was setting. The sky was pink. I felt like this was like some sort of book someone might read, and that we should kiss or something. But, of course, we didn't. We just sat there watching the sun set. Elliot looked kind of nervous. I squeezed his hand to comfort him. My phone broke the silence. Elliot let go of my hand and I pulled out my phone from my back pocket. It was a text from Mark. "Come on home, we're having a bad time deciding what move to watch." I smiled. "I gotta go." I looked back up at Elliot. "See ya 'round. Keep in touch."
     "I will." Elliot replied. We waved goodbye as I headed home.