Bob knocked on the door frantically. His breaths were fast and tears ran down his face. He kept frantically knocking in the darkness.
"H-H-Hey lil' buddy, y-you doing alright?" He stuttered, choking on his tears. Behind the door was the room of his long-time friend and roommate, Larry, who had been dealing with bouts of depression since he was a child. As of late, the buck-toothed friend had been dealing with more intense episodes of depression, and stayed in his room more often than not. Bob had known Larry for years and hated to see Larry suffer like that.
Larry was usually light hearted and goofy, making everyone around him laugh and filming episodes of VeggieTales with his friends, but when the depression hit, he never even left his room (except to grab more packages of instant ramen to binge on). Bob also had dealt with his own share of depressive episodes but it hurt more to see the happy-go-lucky Larry crying all day in his room. Bob feared the worst when Larry went through these episodes, especially nights like these where he had nightmares about the things that Larry talked about.
This nightmare was one of the worst, his longtime friend and co-host hanging from a noose in a closet, his sleeves rolled up showing an army of scars invading his arms. A note placed upon a bed which said;
" I'm sorry,
I was never good enough.
May you carry on Silliness
without me.
- Larry "
Bob woke up sweating and sobbing. Thankfully, that was just a dream… Hopefully. Bob knocked again. "Larry, if you don't let me in I'm gonna go in for you, I need to make sure you're okay."
"Come in, Bob.." Larry sniffled. Never a good sign, but better than nothing. Larry's room was a wasteland, taken over by oreo crumbs and empty Cup-O-Noodles containers. Bob tripped over a wrinkled up shirt that read, "My Water Buffalo's The Slow One" on his travel to the inflatable mattress where a good friend lay, mummified in blankets.
Bob sat on the mattress next to the blanket cocoon. "You doing okay, Larry?" Bob asked. "Does it sound like I'm okay?" Larry choked, he sniffled again. An eye slowly peeked out from the covers. "H-hehh, I'm not doing too well either, could you come out from there? It's okay if you can't."
Slowly a little tuft of hair came out, followed by the rest of Larry. "Oh...oh no, oh no...did you have another nightmare about me?" Larry worried. Bob solemnly shook his head. Larry's eyes started pouring. Bob was his best friend, and to have him have nightmares about Larry dieing hurt him even more. "B-bob, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry I'm doing this to you! You must really hate me for doing this to you I'm not trying to-"
"Shhh…" Bob whispered, hugging Larry emotionally, "don't be sorry, it's not your fault. I know you can't control it buddy…" Larry's sobs increased to a full-on meltdown. Bob really needed that hug, and he knew Larry did too. Bob opened his eyes and looked at Larry while hugging him.
Larry was wearing a basic lime green hoodie, the sleeves rolled up. His arms had been taken over by small, soft cuts. They all looked pretty fresh, but none were deep. He was also wearing black leggings, also rolled up, his legs covered in similar cuts, though they had been there longer than the others. His pillow was soaked with tears, and his blankets laid in a bundle on his bed.
"Have you gotten another therapist yet, buddy?" Bob wondered. "No," the friend sobbed, "I've been too depressed to even attempt looking." Larry had been through an army of therapists, all across town. Unfortunately, all the Christian therapists kicked him out once Larry talked about his issues being gay. After so many homophobic therapists, he wondered if any would even take him if they knew about him being both LGBT and Christian.
Bob sighed. Larry was struggling really hard. Bob wished he could do something about Larry's depression...but what? They had tried about everything, and living in a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment was taking all their money and they couldn't afford a psychiatrist..
Larry cried for over an hour, Bob by his side the entire time. After crying for so long, Larry didn't have enough strength to stay up anymore, and fell to the bed. Bob gently laid the blankets before beginning to walk out. He reached the door and took a look at Larry.
He was curled up on the bed, hugging a certain plush manatee and making adorable noises in his sleep. Bob smiled, and walked back to the bed and got in. Larry turned to his side and began spooning Bob. The night was more peaceful than before.
