Chapter 8

"I'm doing good! Sorry about earlier, I think I was just tired. You see, I had a lot of homework and I was kinda stressed! ><"

Kevin sighed, feeling relieved that he wasn't the one who made Toby upset. He started typing, "It's good to know you're okay. I was worried."

He paused reading it over again. No that might sound too guilt trippy. He didn't want him to feel bad for what he was feeling. After all, since Toby was already upset, would he make Toby even more upset by saying he was upset? Is this even something to worry about? Why was he worried about this? Kevin stared at his screen as he thought of what to say. He settled for something like, "I'm glad you're okay. If you ever need help or are stressed out, I'm here."

"I know you are! I am always grateful for you being my friend ^^"

Kevin smiled, "Hmmm, is that so? I guess you're a good friend too."

"Hehe, you may pretend you don't care much for me, but I know how you really are! You secretly an absolute sweetheart!"

"Is that how I really am? Or is that what you want me to be?"

Toby didn't say anything for a minute. Kevin saw the text bubble pop up for a bit then disappear. Eventually, he wrote, "I believe that is who you are. Because that is the person I love most after all!"

They talked about how their day has been and what happened to them during those days. They then both said goodnight to each other, promising to meet up sometime in the week. Kevin went to the bathroom to take a shower and then brush his teeth. He stared into the mirror as he did that and noticed that he didn't look as bad as he usually does. Maybe not handsome, but not ugly either. He spat out the toothpaste and went to bed.

He heard a few beeps from his phone. He looked out the window and the sun was starting to rise. There was slight noise from people trying to get to work and people walking their dogs. He rubbed his eyes, annoyed that he forgot to turn on silent mode. Eventually, he decided to see what was the thing that woke him up. They were messages from Toby. "Hey since we didn't get to hang out much yesterday, we should hang out today!"

Kevin thought about it for a bit. While he was planning on hanging out with him, he also wanted to focus on working out or going for a walk that day. And he didn't want to feel like he abandoned Toby. He looked at the message again before closing his eyes to think for a bit longer. After a minute, he texted him "Alright I'll be there in a bit."

Working out can wait for another time, after all, they made a promise and he wanted to hang out with him. When he logged on, he noticed there were more players on than usual. As he was looking around to see what was going on, he suddenly was hugged by Toby.

"Hey! I miss you."

"Do you, now? It's only been a day or so right? You can't miss someone you just saw yesterday."

"Maybe that's true, but I love you! So I will naturally miss you all the time."

"...That sounds unhealthy."

They walked around the lobby and went to where all the update reports were shown. There were a few new games available.

"Hey! Look there is a fishing game now! That seems fun right?"

"Would it be fun? I don't know, that kinda sounds boring..."

"It's fine! It would be nice to try you know! Maybe you'll like it."

"Hmmm," Kevin rubbed the back of his head, "But look! They also have a new parkour race game! I mean think about how great these kinds of games are! Isn't it fun to go and jump at impossible heights? Or run at the speed of light? We can even go off course to look for secrets! Why do something you can do in real life when you can do something that can only be done here?"

Toby didn't say anything but instead just grinned at Kevin. Despite the fact that there was nothing evil about the look, Kevin could help but feel intimidated. He sighed and gave in. They booted up a 1v1 fishing game.

It was quiet. Whenever Kevin would turn to see Toby, he would see him with a bright smile and with twice the amount of fish Kevin had. Sometimes, he felt like Toby was cheating, but no he is just surprisingly good at fishing. The timer had about 3 minutes left. He saw a fish icon pop up and immediately tried to reel it in, but it had escaped once again. Toby had gained two more fish in the time Kevin had looked away. Impossible that couldn't be! He turned to look at his count, a total of 8. He turned back to Toby and he got 4 more! There were two minutes left, and Toby had a total of 25 while Kevin couldn't get anymore. Kevin thought, 'I might as well give up!' Looking back at Toby one last time, his total is now 35..! Soon the fishing game end, with Toby in a high lead.

After the game, Toby gloated about his victory. "Wow, you were pretty bad at that huh? I'm surprised since you're usually really good at games! Of course, it's normal to not be too good at some things so don't be too hard on yourself!"

"Oh shut it."

Toby grin, "If you need any help, I'll always be here! After all, I am kinda amazing you know!"

Kevin sighed, "I can learn by myself. Let's have a rematch after next week."

"Hmmm, how about in a few days? You are pretty quick at learning things, I don't think you even need a whole week. Of course, if you're worried, I may be able to lend you a hand! I'll help you in any way you need."

"Ahh no, it's not that, I was just planning on spending some more time offline."

"Why? It's not that fun outside of here. But also, there is so much to do here!"

"I know but..." Kevin scratched his face, thinking, "I guess it is because I want to be happier? Arjun is able to live a happy and stable life, so I want to be able to as well. I don't want to feel so tired and empty all the time, so I want to take steps to get better."

"But you don't need to go outside for that right? You can improve in here, with me." Toby grabbed Kevin's hands, "I am here, forget about everything else. I will be here for you."

"But that's not what I want. I don't want to depend on games or other people anymore. I don't want to ignore everything anymore."

Toby started shaking, "It's fine to depend on people so just stay here, okay?"

"Toby..." Kevin paused thinking of what to say," I don't want to rely on this place anymore so I'll be spending the day offline tomorrow."

"You don't have to do this though! Why go through all the effort anyway? What if it doesn't work? Why would you want to risk making yourself more miserable?"

"I know but this is what I feel is best for me. Toby, let's go take a break for today."

"You're not going to leave me right? Please don't leave!"

Kevin tried to get his hands free, but Toby squeezed them tighter. There were a few people nearby and they all started to stare.

"Hey. Hey. Toby, I'm not going to leave you, calm down."

Toby let go of one of Kevin's hands and started clawing at his throat. Kevin tried to get him to stop, but he immediately shoved him away.

"You don't need to get better, just stay here please! Forget about John or Arjun, he forgot about us! He doesn't care about us!"

"That's not true!"

"It is! If he cared he would have at least messaged us more often! You were always asking 'Where is John?' or 'Is John here?' He never gave you a message and made you wait and wait. Then he would show up for a few days before disappearing! He never even told you anything about himself! You didn't even know his name until recently! He never cared about you, why can't you see that!"

After Toby finished talking, they both paused. There were a few people around them laughing at the drama and some saying they were faking it. Neither of them paid much attention to it, only looking at each other.

After a long silence, Kevin spoke up. "Toby, let's both rest for today."

"...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Please don't leave me..."

Kevin slowly hugged Toby and patted his back. "I think it would be better if we rest and talk tomorrow, okay? Maybe clear our head."

"I'm so sorry... Please don't leave me."

Kevin didn't say anything and instead just back away.

"I love you. I love you so much. I know you like Arjun more, but I can be there for you! Once I graduate high school I'll move in with you. You won't have to work ever again because I'll make sure to feed you and care for you! Please, I'll do better, so please don't leave me..!"

"Toby, I promise I won't leave you okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow, so take some time to calm down okay?"

Toby didn't say anything. He stared into nothingness, like a corpse. Kevin tried to apologize but Toby didn't react. After a few moments, Kevin logged off.