A/N: It made me very sad when Mercutio died. And I suspect it made Benvolio very sad, too. Can you not see the slashy possibilities? And I know that they didn't know Romeo was in love with Juliet. I tweaked it slightly to fit better with my oneshot. :)
Mercutio had always been impulsive. He'd always done things on the spot, just as he came up with them, as he fancied.
Benvolio regretted that he had done so this time.
"A plague o' both your houses!" said Mercutio angrily. "Your houses!"
"Good Mercutio, hold thee!" called Romeo after him as Benvolio picked up the smaller man and carried him towards the nearest building. "Mercutio!"
Mercutio was cursing Tybalt with his last breaths. "Mercutio, speak not, your breath could perhaps be saved," begged Benvolio.
"Ah, 'tis of no use, good Benvolio," murmured Mercutio. "This wound 'twill not let me stay here alive."
"No, Mercutio, no," said Benvolio, tears springing up in his eyes despite himself. "Mercutio, thou can'st not leave me!"
"Can'st I not?" asked Mercutio quietly. "Soon I will be gone, dear Benvolio, and thou will be alive. Can'st thou not live without my company?"
"I should sooner die than be forced to," said Benvolio.
"Such passionate words from one so peaceable! Dost thou truly mean it?"
"With everything I am," replied Benvolio. "Do not leave me, dear Mercutio, do not."
"Dost thou think I have a choice?" asked Mercutio bitterly. "O dear Benvolio, were that it were in my power to say, doubt thee not that I would."
"Mercutio, Mercutio, Mercutio," murmured Benvolio, a single tear running down his face.
"Do not look so sorrowful, good Benvolio," said Mercutio. "Thou art still alive, art thou not?"
"But what is there to live for without thee, Mercutio?"
"Weep not for me," Mercutio ordered. "Thou must not leave me with sadness aching. Thou must stay with me, and have a happy and light heart, for I shall remember most these last moment with thee."
Benvolio nodded. "Mercutio... I care not what thou might think of me, I have to–" And gently, he kissed the smaller man. Mercutio returned the kiss with what strength he had left.
"I love thee, Mercutio," said Benvolio. "As Romeo loves Juliet, that is how I love thee."
"And I you, dear love," murmured Mercutio. "I wish only that we had more time, that thou had done that far sooner than now."
"I wanted not to lose your friendship."
"Nor I yours, dear Benvolio," said Mercutio. "Bid me a last farewell, dear love, for my breath is fading and am I."
"Leave me not, Mercutio!" wailed Benvolio, unable to hold in the tears. Mercutio but smiled.
"Were that I had a choice, dear love. In Heaven will I see thee, and perhaps there we can begin again as we should have."
Benvolio only nodded. Mercutio, still smiling, kissed him again, and when he laid back and let out his last sigh, he still smiled.
Benvolio sunk to the floor, and wept.
