The End Of The World, But At Least I Have You||Mark Heathcliff X Cesar Torres

II

"You're new here, I've never seen you before." I turned back to look at the short haired boy. He was smiling at me. God I can never forget that smile. "I'm Cesar, Cesar Torres, I like your hair!" 

"Mark Heathcliff, and I like yours too." I smiled back at him. It was the first time in forever I had smiled. 

Cesar always gave me a reason to smile.

I woke up to the sound of sniffling. I rub my eyes sitting up a bit. "Cesar?.." The sniffling immediately stops. "Dude I know you're awake. Are you alright?" I look at him, he has his back facing me.

"Yeah.. I'm sorry for waking you." He sounded like he was holding back tears. "It's fine I was having a nightmare anyway."

I lay back down still facing him. "You wanna talk about it?" He asks, still sounding like he's holding back tears. "No, I'm alright. But are you? You sound like you're crying." I ask genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine.. I just- never mind." He begins to shake a bit. I pull the blankets over him again, before hugging him. "You don't gotta talk about it."

I hold him close. It's the least I can do. After a couple minutes he stops shaking. Still sniffling a bit. "Thank you Mark." He mumbles quietly. "You have no reason to thank me, if anything I should be thanking you. You do so much for me."

"Still. Thank you. For being here for me." I feel him relax. "Anytime." We soon fall asleep again.

I wake up again this time before the sun pouring through the blinds. The side where Cesar was sleeping is now empty. I sat up, "Cesar?" I call out getting out of the bed.

"Yeah?! I'm here! You okay?" I hear him shout from the bathroom.

"Yeah Yeah! I'm all good." I throw on my hoodie as Cesar walks out of the bathroom. "Good morning, Mark." He smiles.

I stretch my arms. That mattress was awful, "Morning Cesar."

"I got a call this morning from the hospital, I gotta head there later." I hum in response watching him make the bed. "But before that, I wanna treat you to breakfast."

I grin, "M'kennas?"

"Yeah they make-"

"The best waffles I know, you say it every time." I cut him off. He smiles rolling his eyes. "I do not, but what do you say? Breakfast?"

"Yeah I'm down." I respond. He nods, "Get ready I'll go start the car."

I get ready quickly. I can't remember the last time me and Cesar had breakfast together. During our Freshman year we'd always go together right before school started. Probably why we were always late. But it was so worth it.

I walk out to the car getting in. "You should let me drive the way back." I look at him as he begins to drive. "You should've said that earlier I would've let you drive instead." He laughs looking at me. 

"But then you wouldn't be my personal chauffeur anymore." He rolls his eyes again. "Oh yes, what a tragedy, I'd no longer be your personal driver." We both laugh.

We pull into a parking space and walk inside the establishment. The smell of maple syrup hits me. My mouth instantly waters. We walk over to an empty booth and sit down. 

Cesar sighs softly, laying his head back and taking a long deep breath. "You okay?" I ask. He nods. I've never really seen Cesar like this, he seems so unhappy and stressed. I really want to help, especially with all he's done for me.

"Cesar seriously, I'm your best friend. I won't judge you or something. I really wanna help." I try to sound as genuine as possible. "Mark don't worry, I'm just tired, you got better things to worry about especially after what you just went through." He smiles.