"Sorry for the late text; Iris took my phone from me for the day."

Irisviel had taken his phone on the condition that he would not text Diarmuid, but that wasn't really going to work, and she had noticed when all Arthur did was lay his head down on the desk and agonizingly wait until the class was over. After seeing that the boy was nearly hopeless, she returned the phone and then proceeded by scolding him on his anti-social behaviour. She kept urging him to make friends and continue being his previously fun self.

"Says I should make more friends to get mind off of everything."

"I couldn't play football today... I'm horrible."

He watched the black and white ball be kicked around as he sat on the bleachers, texting his friend and then leaning back on the seats. The image of Diarmuid trying to beat him at keep-ups was haunting him all throughout the day after that and he was having trouble keeping it all in.

Upon reaching his homeroom after P.E. in order for dismissal, the teacher greeted everyone with donuts because she had said it was her birthday and it was a time to celebrate. After taking three donuts, he had even put aside Diarmuid's favourite one, hoping that he could visit his friend later that day. Maybe.

"Hey! The teacher bought donuts for the entire class; you missed out on the strawberry one."

Fall was starting to creep around the city, making the evening cold and dark, but it seemed that ladybugs were still flying around, which was rather odd for the season. Landing on his jacket, the ladybug crawled about, hiding in the folds to be shielded from the strong wind gusts. It wasn't long before he got home, walking in with the critter on his shoulder.

"This lady bug walked me. I guess it wanted to escort me home, hahaha"

He opened his window after texting and collected the red bug from his jacket before letting it fly back into the cold night; a broken home was no place for a cute little insect. Sinking back on his bed, he wrapped a blanket around himself and tried to get as warm as he possibly could. The growl in his stomach had reminded him that it was time to eat dinner, but he had no motivation to actually cook something.

"I'm too lazy to make food so I'm going to make some instant noodles."

"I've only been eating instant noodles for 1 week now."

He was starting to regret that decision more than most things; he was feeling weaker, sadder, and unmotivated and the cold weather wasn't helping him at all. He had distanced himself from all his friends, so now he was truly starting to feel how lonely life could get.

"You coming back soon? I want to see you; can I go over today?"

With slight motivation, he stood from his bed and slipped into a jacket, preparing himself for the cold autumn evening. He would go over and check if Diarmuid was around, or even his father… he just hoped the Dia's mother would not appear at all.

The house seemed empty, the sales sign already up on the property… Arthur stepped up and rang the doorbell but the echo filled the house like a flood that he could even hear it from outside, "Maybe I should wait…" He mumbled, sitting down on the porch until his alarm went off. It was already quite late in the night and so Arthur stood, walking back home after sending a text.

"You weren't home... When can I go? How about a sleepover?"

When he got home, he was welcomed with the sound of crashing plates. A shiver ran down his spine and dread filled him—he should have just stayed sleeping in a park. Home was the biggest problem in Arthur's life, it was causing him anxiety and irritation.

The booming voice of Uther had the boy angry and beyond stable. There wasn't one day that the middle aged man would not pick a fight with Arthur and it was coming to a point where the blond just wanted to up and leave to as far away as his feet could take him. He wanted out. Out of home, school, life. He wanted it all gone.

"I want to be away from my father."

His anxiety came in the form of anger this time, irritation, irrationality. He just need to see one grey bubble among green and blue—just one.

"Please, respond."

With every passing minute he felt his heart swell and sink, the one sided conversation getting to him.

"You should at least respond to your best friend"

"Can you say something?"

"JUST SAY ANYTHING!"

He started to loose control, anger channelling through him along with the despair he had been holding in.

"ANYTHING! SPEAK! I'M TIRED OF SEEING NO RESPONSE JUST SAY SOMETHING!"

"YOU SAID YOU'D BE THERE FOR ME SO WHERE ARE YOU?"

Friends were supposed to support you, to help you when you were in trouble, "You promised me! We were best friends! What happened?" Arthur was screaming at his phone, throwing object around his room, destroying posters and undoing his bed.

"I AM TIRED OF THIS, DIARMUID. FUCKING RESPOND!"

"Say something for God's sake, jerk!" After his entire room was a mess he broke along with the many trophies he had thrown, "You promised me, Dia. How could you break our promise…? How could you ruin our friendship? Dia please, respond… I need to know we're still friends… please." Falling to the floor the boy began to weep, his voice cracking and the tears streaming down his face, "I'm hurting… I'm still hurting and you aren't coming back, are you? You aren't going to come back to me, are you? Dia, please… just please come back…"

"I'm so sorry, forgive me. Ugh... I'm so sorry."

He had trouble seeing the keyboard with his blurry site.

"I did not mean to explode. I'm sorry."

"I'm so sorry."

"Forgive me."

He stopped writing texts for n entire month. The festive season had hit the population like a wave and to people it seemed that Arthur was starting to cheer up. But he would lie restless for nights on end thinking of when he could see his best friend again.

"Snow fell today. Merry Christmas. Really wish you were able to come visit."

Festive days also brought melancholy when you lost someone you would usually spend years with.

"I'm sorry. Are you still mad at me?"

Looking over the texts he had written a month prior, he thought about what he had done. Shaking his head, he looked away and landed his eyes on his Wii before remembering his favourite game.

"What are you up to? Are you done Twilight Princess?"

"Have you eaten dinner yet? If not, go eat something."

"Sweet dreams."

Although he couldn't sleep, he sure hoped that his best friend could. At least Diarmuid didn't remember everything that happened and he didn't have to deal with people acting like he needed medical attention or something.