Conflicted (Boyxboy)

74

It was pretty much evening when I next stopped to worry about the situation with Erin. Which made me feel so bad. How could I let myself be distracted in my friend's time of need?

It's not like we were doing anything particularly interesting either, in fact we were still in the same area almost.

We had just reached a little green strip of land with large trees along it in the middle of a quietening street, when I looked at my phone to check the time.

I then realised it was unbelievably close to when Erin was supposed to go in and get his test results. A pang of unbearable anxiety hit me hard  and I went to sit down on a lonely bench as Alex was harassing someone's dog out on their evening walk.

I stared down at my phone screen in anticipation, gulping and frowning.

I didn't notice when he joined me, but I looked up after a while to see Alex just sitting next to me watching me in concern, the only sign of hyperactivity he showed was his constantly tapping foot and flickering eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked and I gave him a small smile.

"Just...waiting for something." I replied and he frowned.

"A message?" He asked and I nodded.

"As in test results or something? Are you okay?" He asked as his eyes widened.

"It's not for me, someone else."

"Something is wrong with Erin?"

"How did you come to that conclusion so quickly?"

"Well, he's the only other person apart from my brothers you know enough to be worried about, to be honest."

"....Good point, kind of. I mean I could be the sort of person that cares about strangers so..."

"Well you've been off all day so I'd be concerned if you cared about strangers that much"

"Sorry." I apologised before sighing and rubbing the side of my face.

"Is it really serious?" He asked quietly and looked at me with an anxious expression.

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry..."

"He's your friend too, despite you arguing all the time." I stated when he just stared at the ground with an upset expression on his face.

"Maybe, don't tell him that though" He commented with a small smile.

I looked back at my phone screen and stared at it intensely, waiting for it to vibrate and beep at me.
Its broken screen has never been more annoying.

"Is he going to text you after he gets them or something?" Alex asked after a few minutes.

"He'll message me eventually, I don't really know how long it will take." I replied before biting my lip.

The evening air was kind of cold and I couldn't stop shivering, making me feel ten times worse.

"We should probably go back soon." I stated without much enthusiasm.

"It's fine, I'm not cold!"

"Well, good for you."

"Oh." He commented with a sheepish grin and I rolled my eyes at him.

He then wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.

"Um, woah." I tensed but he just smiled at me warmly until I gave up and leaned against him. He is very warm, so I'm not complaining.