Terror of Being Alone

Jeremy had never dreamed of this day. In fact, he'd hoped it'd never come but of course, karma came back to bite him. He was afraid of losing Michael but he did. And he wasn't going to get him back. The pair had stopped at a 7-11 for slushies since it was freakishly hot that day and they wanted to cool off. Jeremy decided to stay in the car while Michael went in and got the cold drinks. But when Jeremy saw a man go into the convenience store that looked suspicious to him, he didn't mind. He could just be looking for something to cool himself off. Jeremy was wrong. Everything went downhill from the time the employee locked the door, trapping him and everyone else inside. Michael was holding the cups of artificially flavored ice and was watching by the slushie machine with a confused expression before that expression turned to terror and determination. The spectacled boy meet his anxious friend's eyes and shook his head, signaling to not move from the car. Jeremy could barely see inside but he saw Michael move in front of a woman and her newborn child and looked like he was yelling. But Jeremy would never get the sound of a gunshot and the shocked look on Michael's face before he fell to the ground, his face a mixture of pain and sudden weakness, out of his head. Jeremy scrambled to let himself out of the car and he ran to the glass door, tears pouring down his face. The guy left after about fifteen minutes, smirking at Jeremy as he ran inside and to Michael who was barely clinging onto life. The woman whom the boy had protected was apologizing rapidly towards Jeremy and how she should've been shot instead.

"Ma'am, it's alright. He always said doing the right thing was going to get you places and your child needs you so stop apologizing," Jeremy said gently. The woman nodded and gave him a sympathetic look before leaving.

"Jer, I'm sorry," Michael rasped with a weak smile.

"Micah, save your strength. The ambulance is on its way," Jeremy whispered.

"We both know I'm not going to make it."

"Don't say that."

"But it's true."

"Michael…" That's when Jeremy broke and started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hope to see you again, boyf…" Michael whispered, his eyes closing and his chest slowing to a stop as his heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing.

"I'll see you again, Michael. We'll see each other, riends," Jeremy said as he looked over the cliff.