A Little Less Lonely Now (boy)²

eleven

Simon's P.O.V.

School.

School.

S-c-h-o-o-l.

Ew.

We all know the only reason I'm going on this absolutely terrible Monday morning is to see Caden.

Caden.

My Caden.

Mine.

Right?

I should ask him. I should make sure all of this isn't a joke. Because if it is, then I might die of humiliation. Especially after that text last night. I wasn't even able to enjoy it, because I was so worried it wasn't true.

I swapped out the books I had with the ones I needed.

"Now where's that che-"

"Simon!" Caden was running towards me, at full force, and shoving people away. People switched their gazes between me and him. Too many stares.

"Caden? What? P-people are staring!" I was almost shaking.

"I don't care!" He hugged me and I felt something wet slip down my neck.

"Caden? Wh-what's wrong? What's going on?" He was sobbing harder. What ever it was, realization must have kicked in. I started out the front door and towards his car. Suffering through school wasn't happening anymore.

I stole the keys from Caden's pocket and drove to our park, trying to comfort him along the way. He laid in the backseat, still crying. When we got to the park I led him to a bench.

"Caden. Caden look at me." I grabbed his face and made his tear stained eyes look into mine. I can't allow my voice to fault, I must be strong. "What happened? Why are you crying so hard?"

"Simon. Simon it's my mom. She's sick. She's so sick." He sobbed a little harder. "We got the results last night and there's nothing we can do. She's so sick Simon."

"Oh, Caden. I'm so sorry." I pulled his face to my chest. I don't know what to do for him, but I did know how he felt. I could try to sympathize with him. "I know how you feel. My father died a couple years ago. What is your mom sick with?"

"Stage IV pancreatic cancer. It's metastasized. They can't remove it. They say she has only a couple months. Simon."

"It's okay Caden. It'll be okay." I could feel tears threatening to fall from my eyes, and I'm not strong enough to hold them back for long.

My tears started to mix with his. Silent sobs racked through his body, and we just held each other. We sat there for hours, even after we stopped crying, and held each other. I didn't ever want to move.