Mark and Aricka spent a lot of time together after Sean's death. It was funny-the pink haired boy and the-basically-rainbow haired girl sitting side-by-side in silence, her head on his shoulder. Fresh tear tracks on both faces. Both of them holding on to the other-one the best friend, the other, the girlfriend. "I-I can't." Aricka whispers.
"Can't what?" Mark asks. She hides her face in his shirt.
"I can't cope anymore. It hurts too much, Mark." she holds up her arms, and shows him the barely visible marks there. "I can't." he takes her hands and kisses her palms.
"Don't hurt yourself, okay? We can do this, together." her teary, blue eyes look at him, and he manages a small smile. "You can talk to me, you know. That's why I come over."
"It hurts too much to talk. I've screamed so much." Mark pulls out a journal or diary, whatever you want to call it-and hands it to her:
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"Then write it down. Write about what you feel. You love writing-here's an outlet. And then we can swap," he says, holding up a Five Nights at Freddy notebook. "This way we don't have to risk tears." Aricka grins, a real grin, the first grin she'd shown since the funeral, and hugs Mark.
