"Hey, Bryce. Are you awake?" Clay opens the door to Bryce's room.

It's very late. Clay just got home after a lot of crying. He can see Bryce lying in bed under the sheets.

"Bryce?" Clay whispers, hoping to talk to Bryce.

Bryce just lays there, awake, but with his eyes closed. He can't handle talking right now and doesn't know when he may be able to. Clay gives up and leaves. Bryce cries just a little, trying hard to hold it together.

THE NEXT MORNING…

"Hey, Bryce. You awake?" Clay knocks on Bryce's door. "It's almost 11." No response.

Clay opens the door. He sees Bryce's bed empty and made. He walks around to the bathroom. Empty. He takes his phone out to text Bryce.

CLAY: Hey. Where r u?

Clay waits for a while.

BRYCE: Went for a run

Clay takes a seat on the bed and just stays there, thinking.

9:58 PM…

Bryce walks into the house, sweaty and breathing heavily. Clay is sitting in the living room with his parents and watching some TV.

"Hey," Bryce says as he begins to walk past them.

"Hey." Clay's mom turns around. "There are leftovers in the fridge."

"Thanks. I'm god though." Bryce continues walking and Clay gets up, following him.

"You barely made it back before curfew." Clay tries to speak to Bryce but he just keeps walking. "Wanna watch a movie?" Bryce stops and turns around as they reach his room.

"Actually I'm really tired and need to take a shower. Maybe tomorrow." Bryce goes into his room.

4 DAYS LATER…

BRYCE: I'll b home late tonight. Hanging with the boys.

CLAY: That's the 3rd night in a row. We haven't actually talked in days.

Clay waits, but there's no response. He then closes his locker and goes to lunch.

"So you guys have only seen each other in class and in passing at home?" Tony leans into the table.

"Yeah. He keeps going to school early and letting me drive his car to school and back."

"That's at least nice." Tony is trying to look on the upside.

"Um, no it's not!" Hannah is getting sick of this. "It's a guilt thing. He's probably doing something bad, that he knows you would hate, and is trying to do something small to make it easier on himself."

"Wow!" Tony looks to Hannah, surprised at that.

"I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking." Hannah sits back, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Well… maybe it has something to do with his friends. He's been hanging out with them a lot lately."

"Maybe. You should go see." Hannah takes a chip from Clay. "Go check out practice, and see where they go afterward."

"Isn't that a bit crazy. Stalking him."

"No! It's more like…" Hannah thinks for a second. "Watching out for him."

"While that all seems… a bit on the crazy side, I'm not going to condone this." Tony stands up. "Just talk to him." He leaves the cafeteria.

"Or not…" Hannah smiles, quickly convincing Clay that he should do it.

"Fine."

END OF SCHOOL…

Clay has been anxious about this all day, but Hannah was right. He knew it. If he wanted to know what was happening with Bryce, he would just have to see it with his own eyes. So he first goes to the gym. No one is there. Then he checks out the weight room. No one if there. Then he hears some noise from outside. He goes out and sees most of the team walking over to the football field. He doesn't see Bryce with them. But maybe he's running late. Or maybe he's already on the field. He goes to the other side of the field and quickly slips in without being seen, walks up a few of the bleachers. He looks down at the field and the coach and rest of the team are there. But Bryce isn't.

He waits for a while, but he never shows up. He sees Zach Dempsey walk off the field. He runs down quickly to intercept.

"Hey Zach."

"Hey Clay. What's up?" Zach was always nice to Clay and he always wondered why they never became friends.

"Where's Bryce? Is he not coming to practice today?"

"Um… Bryce isn't on the team."

"What?" Clay's mind explodes.

"Yeah. Actually I haven't spoken to him in weeks, since before…" He gets awkward.

"B...bb… but I thought he talked to the coach?" Clay is getting confused.

"He did. He told coach that the doctors said he shouldn't be playing any sports. It's a real bummer. I was hoping if he joined the team again some of the guys would start laying off him."

"Umm…" Clay is still processing.

"I should get going." Zach smiles before running away.

Clay stands there as he processes everything. He was there when the doctor said he would be fine to play sports again. He was also there when Bryce told him he was back on the team. Then it clicks. Where has he been going? What has he been doing? Who has he been with?

He snaps out of it after a couple of minutes. He's in mission mode. His mission is to find Bryce and find out what the fuck is going on. His first thought is the shed. He basically runs there. It's empty and dirtier than usual. After that, he goes blank. Where would Bryce go? What does Bryce like to do? It comes to him that he doesn't really know Bryce. What kind of things does he like to do, besides sports? Where did he hang out with his friends?

So he goes home. He goes straight to Bryce's room. He sits at Bryce's desk. He waits. He doesn't move an inch. He sits there and waits until Bryce comes back. He rushes into his room covered in sweat. Only now does Clay notice how much weight Bryce has lost. It's not a lot, but it's enough to notice. Bryce doesn't realize Clay is there until after he closes the door and turns around.

"Oh!" Bryce jumps up a little.

"Nice to finally see you."

"Yeah. Same." Bryce throws his shirt off, wiping sweat off his forehead.

"How was practice? Where did you and the guys go?"

"Practice was the same as always. We just hung out at Zach's."

"Really?" Bryce is just waiting for Clay to leave so that he can hop in the shower. "Well, that's interesting because Zach told me he hasn't spoken to you in weeks and unless you've got new invisible powers, I didn't see you at practice." Bryce just rolls his eyes and walks into the bathroom. "Don't walk away from me!" Clay is furious and follows him into the bathroom.

"What're you doing?" Bryce turns to Clay.

"Just tell me the truth!"

"Just leave!" Bryce pushes past Clay and into the room.

"No! I'm not leaving until you talk to me! I'm sick of this! For too long you've been acting weird and lying to me!"

"I don't need to tell you everything! It's my life!" Bryce throws his shirt back on.

"Where are you going?"

"Back out for another run."

"No!" Clay steps in front of the door. "No more running. Just face me. Be a man!" Clay doesn't know why he says it and regrets it instantly as he can tell it triggers something in Bryce.

"Be a man?" Bryce shouts loudly. "You've got to be kidding me! Just because I love you does not mean you know me or have the right to know everything about me!" That's the first time Bryce has said that word, but it's not how either of them wanted to hear it.

"Why not? Why can't you?"

"Because if I tell you… if I…" Bryce starts having trouble breathing but quickly calms himself down. "If I tell you then it brings you into all of this. It makes more trouble for you."

"I can handle it." Clay steps towards Bryce, but he takes two steps back.

"But I don't want you to. You're happy. You're actually flourishing since that stupid text was sent out."

"You were doing well too."

"No, I wasn't! I never was!" Bryce turns around, taking deep breaths in and out.

"Bryce…" Clay is starting to worry about him.

"I'm sad." Bryce turns around, tears in his eyes. "I'm lonely. I feel so alone all day. Everyday." His throat is closing up and hurting as he holds back the tears. "And you can't possibly understand. That day when it all came out you had Tony right away. Then you had your amazing parents hug you and support you. I had no one. My dad hurt me and my mom just watched. I lost all of my friends. They all watched as I was in pain. They didn't care. No one did." Bryce stops, turns around and takes a second to breathe. "And for a while I there I actually thought about dying. How simple it would be to die and end-all of my pain. I thought about it every second of every day. But then…" Bryce turns around, a few tears slowly falling down his face. "Then It seemed to get better. It felt like things were getting better."

"Because it was. The first day of school went perfect."

"But it didn't. It was perfect for you. You met Hannah. You had Tony. I had no one. I was alone. I was being stared at. I was being made fun of. Every corner I turned I heard whispers." He wipes his eyes with his shirt. "And it all came back. All those thoughts. All the pain."

"But you're not alone. You have me. You always will."

"But…" Bryce gasps for air. "It's not enough. And I know it sounds awful. But I need more. I need my family. I need my friends."

"Hannah and tony are your friends."

"No, they're not. They're clearly your friends. I'm just the boyfriend of a friend. I don't need pity friends. I need people who know me. People who like me for me." Bryce takes a seat on the bed. "You wanna know what I've been doing. I've been running. Running a lot. I've been running because it is the only thing that makes me feel anything. When my adrenaline is rushing it all feels good. It's like a drug. And when I'm not running, all I want to do is die. I want to go to sleep and never wake up again."

"I can help you through. Just let me help you." Cla tries getting close to Bryce, but he quickly jumps up and steps back.

"Stop it! Please! Stop trying to help me!"

"Why? Why can't I help you? I love you!"

"And that's the problem!" Bryce is freaking out, his heart racing. "You're doing amazing. You're even thriving. And I'm just a weight holding you down. That's why I haven't spoken to you! That's why I've been avoiding you! If… if I put all of this on you it won't help me, but only hurt you. And I can't do that to you."

"That's not your choice." Clay steps forward again, this time Bryce stays still but is shaking. "I choose to help you. You can't change that." He touches Bryce's hand and that freaks him.

"No!" Bryce pushes back Clay and quickly scrambles to his closet, taking out a duffle.

"What are you doing?" Clay is freaking out as he watches Bryce shake and throws clothes into the bag. "Bryce! What are you doing?" Clay grabs Bryce's shoulder, but Bryce quickly whips around and pushes Clay back and onto the bed.

"Stop it! Stop trying to help! It's not your job! It's no one's job!" He zips up the bag. "It's over."

"What?" Clay stands up.

"We're over. I'm going to go. I'll come and get my stuff later." Bryce walks out of his room and into Clay's parents.

"What's going on? We heard shouting." Clay's mom sees the tears coming down Bryce's face.

"Thank you guys for everything. I've really appreciated it." He looks at them once more. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about everything." He rushes past them and out of the house.

Clay's parents walk into the room and rush over to Clay who's on the floor, huddles up against the bed and crying. They both go down and begin hugging him.

"What's going on?" Clay's dad looks at the clothes thrown all over the floor.

"He… He's…" Clay is having trouble breathing, his throat closing up the more he cries. "He's gone."