Silence. Darkness. Then a recorded voice, deep even through the tinny speakers.

"Don't worry too much, okay? l'll always be here to help you. I promise."

More silence.

A single, shaky breath.

"You bastard," he whispered. "You lying bastard. You left. You left without saying anything. You left us. You left me, and now I'll have to take care of them alone. After you promised.

"I hate you."

He deleted the file, deleted everything related to him from his phone. He'd take care of the rest tomorrow. Tonight, he needed the blissful blankness that sleep offered.

He laid the phone on the nightstand, curled up under the blanket to hide from the world, and cried himself to sleep.

He never saw the man standing just outside his bedroom door, eyes sad and dimples nowhere in sight as he listened to the heartbroken sobs.

He stood there in silence, hurting for the broken man inside. Hurting for his friends, for the friendship that would never be quite the same again.

"I wish I could have made him stay," he whispered before leaving, the sound of his footsteps fading away.

Everything was silent.

Dark.

Broken.

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