Still Here ~ A Sad MiniCat short story

Still Here

The light peeked through the thin blue curtains in Craig's room. It was early in the morning, the sun's rays streaking through the divide in the curtain. Particles of dust danced in the air like glittering magic.

The plain white walls made the tiny room feel even smaller. Even with just a dresser, bed, bedside table, and a chair inside. It felt too small for any normal person to be living in.

Craig sat on his bed, twisting his bracelet around on his wrist. He kept looking at the door and back down at his bed, expecting something to happen soon. He was always like this around this time.

Finally, there was a knock at the door and he snapped his gaze to the door, pulled out of his thoughts. The door opened and Craig gasped when he saw who was here.

"Tyler!" He stood up and hurried over to him, embracing the taller man happily.

"Hi, Craig." Tyler hummed in response wrapping his arms around him tightly. He liked seeing Craig happy and getting to hug him.

"Come on." Craig pulled away and took Tyler's hand, leading him over to the bed. They both sat down and looked at each other. The silence of them just staring at each other wasn't terrible. It felt normal. It felt right. They could just enjoy each other's presence without the need to talk. But today, Tyler broke the silence.

"How are you doing?" he asked softly, keeping all of his focus on Craig.

Craig shrugged. "I'm fine. Happier now that you're here. Did you see the rain today? It was pouring just a bit ago. Why are you not wet? You should be soaked if you just got here."

"I, uh, I got here a while ago...and I had an umbrella." Tyler responded quickly and moved on in the conversation. "Are you feeling okay today?"

"Tyler, I'm fine. I promise. What's wrong?" Craig furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side a bit.

"Nothing, nothing. Just checking. I care about you, dummy." Tyler smiled, it didn't quite reach his eyes, but Craig didn't seem to notice.

"Okay. Good. I care about you too." Craig flashed a huge dopey grin back. He scooted closer to Tyler on the bed and put his head on his shoulder with a sigh. "I miss you."

Tyler glanced down at him. "You what?"

"I miss you." Craig repeated. "You don't kiss me anymore and you moved out. Can't you just move back in? We were fine until you did. What happened?"

Tyler bit his lip and turned his head away, looking at the wall. Craig slowly raised his head from Tyler's shoulder and watched him quietly.

"Tyler?"

The taller one didn't respond, still staring off at the wall, lost in his thoughts.

Craig ran his fingers through his messy, disheveled hair and sighed. He leaned over and gently kissed Tyler on the cheek. Tyler was immediately pulled out of his thoughts and stood up quickly, looking down at him.

"Craig...I...I have to go." He told him.

"No..." Craig stared back up at him with glassy eyes, shaking his head. "No, no, no you always leave so fast. Stay with me. Please...please, Tyler." He begged him, shattering Tyler's heart into a thousand pieces. He couldn't stand seeing Craig break down. Not again.

"Craig, please, I really have to. I'll come back later. I promise." Tyler watched Craig stand up as he backed towards the door.

"No! You promised that last time and you left me!" Craig clenched his fists in frustration. He didn't want to go through this again.