Becca woke up and began to get ready for her day. Elias was still in the Infirmary so she had the room to herself last night. Elias. He was probably still mad at her. Becca let out a sad sigh. Bringing the old Elias back would be really hard. Becca knew if she didn’t do this carefully she could lose him forever. She was done getting ready and walked towards the infirmary. She took a deep breath as she prepared herself to see him again. He probably didn’t want to see her. She reached for the door handle and suddenly it opened with Elias on the other side.

“H-hey.” She said.

“Hi.” He smiled. “You ready for the day?”

“W-wait you’re not mad at me anymore?”

“Nope.” He continued to smile as he walked past her. But his eyes were even more empty than last night. Did her outbreak last night really help him?

“Oh. Ok. Well even if you’re not I’m sorry for what I said.”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyways when is your second battle?”

“Tomorrow at noon. You?”

“Tonight at 1900.”

“Tonight?!? Don’t they know you almost died. They need to give you time to recover!”

“Meh. What happens happens I guess.”

“There’s a difference between ignoring those that insult you and ignoring the walls they put up that shouldn’t be put up.” Aaron’s voice rang in her head.

“No Elias! You can’t just let them do that!”

“Who am I to challenge it? I’m completely fine with doing it this way because there’s nothing I can do change it.”

“You haven’t even tried to confront the person scheduling this!” Becca began to raise her voice.

“There’s no point in trying.” Elias said calmly.

“No Elias you don’t understand! You’re letting them stop you from achieving your dream, you can’t just back down!”

“NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” He snapped. “I NEVER EXPECTED TO GET THIS FAR IN THE FIRST PLACE. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD BUT I’M STILL ALIVE SO I’M STILL GONNA KEEP FIGHTING THE SYSTEM!”

“YOU’RE NOT FIGHTING THE SYSTEM. YOU’RE LETTING IT CONTROL YOU!”

“UGHH! JUST SHUT UP BECCA! JUST GO AWAY ALREADY! YOU’RE GETTING ANNOYING!”

“NOOO!” Becca began to cry while yelling at him. “I’M NOT JUST GOING TO LEAVE YOU BEHIND! I’M YOUR FRIEND!”

“WELL SOME FRIEND YOU ARE! JUST GO AWAY!” He stormed off. Becca closed her eyes. His eyes just became even more empty. She collapsed on the ground and began to hug her knees.

“There’s no easy way to bring him back Becca. No matter how angry he gets or hopeless it seems to bring him back. You need to keep going for him.” Georgia put her hand on Becca’s shoulder. “You can’t just tell him how much you care. You need to prove it to him over and over again. Sometimes tough love like you’re doing right now is the best way to do it.”

“T-thank you Georgia. I’m just scared that I’ll mess up, and he’ll be gone forever.”

“I know. Right now he’s going to keep pushing you away. He is going to keep getting a harder and colder shell. But the colder something becomes then the easier it becomes to crack. This is the shortest part of bringing someone back, but it is also the most difficult and most people give up after they start being pushed away. Trust me on this Becca. The more he pushes you away the more you need to pull yourself to him. But tough love isn’t the only way to pull yourself back. It works and sometimes is required like it was now and last night. But there are other times where you need to be gentle with him too. Sometimes when the moment is right. You just don’t say a word. You walk up to him and you just give him the tightest hug he’s ever felt. Another gentle way is again not to yell back at him. Keep a calm almost quiet voice. You tell him how much it is that you care. You tell him how much he means to you. It needs to be so gentle that you’re using all of your strength to dig down and spill everything out in front of him that you can’t even stand. On the ground trying to stay audible as your tears continue to steal your voice while you just lay all of care and affection on him. Those gentle moments are rare but they are powerful. Tough love is like cannon fodder. You constantly throw it at the frontlines to try and break them. You continue to crack that shell. Then when you feel like there’s an opening you send in the giant. The gentle soft voice that will make that opening even larger. Throw tough love until it cracks then show your gentle spirit to make the crack even bigger. It will be hard. Most people throw tough love all the time even when a crack is formed and then they lose their chance at getting them back. But it will all be worth it when you can pull him back together.”

“T-thank you. I’m doing all I can to break him again.”

“You’re doing a good job so far. But it only gets harder from hear.”

“H-how do you know all of this?”

“Because I was in a similar state to Elias. I hated the world and believed everyone was against me. But Aaron never gave up on me. I kept pushing him away trying to get him out of my life. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get rid of him, and I’m glad that I wasn’t able to.” She grabbed a small necklace she wore. “He saved me. Brought me back to the world. Now I owe everything to him. I love Aaron. He’s my hero.” She blushed. “He can read me like a book. Knows what I’m thinking about the moment he looks at me.”

“Do you think... Me and Elias will be like you and Aaron?”

“I know you two will. But let’s get your mind off of him for a while. Watching people fight is always fun!”

“Yea, that’s true!” Becca followed Georgia to the arena. They watched many fights go down some were short and boring but some were long and exciting. Eventually the arena was closed since it was time for lunch. Becca went through the lunch line with Georgia and they sat down at a table. After a little Becca spotted Elias. He was sitting alone. Georgia followed her eyes and spotted him too.

“Go to him.” She smiled.

“Y-you sure. What if we make another scene?”

“What do you find more important, being his friend, or causing a commotion?”

Becca nodded and stood up. She headed towards Elias. “C-can I sit?”

“Doesn’t matter to me.” His voice was still cold. But his eyes still void of anger. Void of anything.

Becca sat across from him. She could feel the tension between them could be cut with paper. “I-I’m sorry. About what happened this morning.”

“Why would you be?”

“I got you upset, again.”

“Uh huh.”

A long moment of silence past.

“Do you still consider me your friend Elias?”

“Does it matter who I could consider a friend if everyone just leaves anyway?”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

“If I had a penny for every time I heard that.”

Another long moment of silence.

“If it means anything, I still think you’re my friend. Even if right now you hate me.” Elias didn’t say anything in response. He just put his hands on the table and looked at them.

Becca gently placed her hands on his and laid her head on top of them and closed her eyes. She was expecting him to pull his hands away and leave. However, she felt something laying on top of her head. Elias had placed his head on her’s. Becca smiled. This was one of those gentle moments that Georgia had talked about.

They stayed in this position for a while. Even when lunch was over and the arena fights had resumed. Neither of them moved. “You promise you won’t leave?” He broke the silence raising his head to look at her and she also raised her head to look into is soulless eyes.

“Even if someone offered me the world.” For a split second she thought she saw a glimpse of emotion in his eyes. But it was gone before she could confirm if what she saw was real or a trick of the light. “I’ll always be here for you. When you lose. When you win. When life keeps trying to pull you apart. I’ll be right there to pull you back together.” She could feel her emotions getting the best of her again and her voice began to break. “Even when you don’t want me or need me. I’ll be right here. I will never leave your side.” She placed her hands on her head to wipe her eyes that began to flood again. Elias stood up and moved over next to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I want to see you grow... I want to see you conquer the challenges life puts in your way.” She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “I want to see you be truly happy.”

Elias hugged her tighter and wiped away her tears. “I can’t do any of those without you by my side. So please... don’t break your promise.” His eyes were still void. But his voice was full of fear and sadness.

“I won’t.”