It's been about a week.

Evan had finally had the time to reflect on his actions. It was rather difficult to try and work on all of his emotions on his own. After all, he was trapped in his own mind, constantly trying to reflect while being bombarded with negativity.

It took him a whole week to come to terms with his emotions which were thrown all over the place. He realised that he needed to improve a lot as a person. Most, if not all, of his problems were because of his own insecurities or mental illness. He needs to try and reach out instead of bottling these feelings out.

Of course, he knew that one week would not be enough to properly sort out his emotions and his behaviour for the past eighteen years of his life. To say that would be absolutely bizarre. Everyone has their own pace of solving their own emotional burden, and everyone has their own ways of dealing with it. Even if they do deal with it, it does not mean that everything will automatically change.

Everything tales time to heal. It completely depends on both the person and the situation to decide how quickly they heal.

Changing is a natural process, and it takes time to change a person and their behaviour for the better. Evan has not completely dealt with his own problems at all, but his mind is clearer than before. He could make wiser decisions than before.

For the first time in almost two decades, Evan had awoken fresh. He has a clear state of mind. He could wake up without feeling as much of the despair creeping in his mind. He could wake up, noticing how lovely the butterflies outside glided about, as the warm sun shone on his skin.

He sat up in bed, actually feeling capable of smiling in anticipation of the day ahead of him. He threw the blanket off his legs, turning to the side and letting his legs drape over the side of the bed. He stretched out his arms, hearing the loud cracks from his elbows as he tilted his head to stretch his neck. He yawned, feeling the fatigue wash away as he stood up.

He marched over to the door, excitedly turning the knob and walking out, seeing his mother outside his room, with a plate of food in her hands. She glanced up, noticing that Evan has a smile on his face, which was unusual for him.

She raised an eyebrow, as Evan greeted her with a sense of excitement. She was confused with the sudden change in attitude. Usually, Evan would not even put up a smile. In fact, she would usually be the one trying to give Evan some enthusiasm. She would then receive a fake smile, which she would then qualify as Evan taking note of her words to improve.

To see Evan waking up with a smile usually meant that he had talked to Connor the night before, or that he had something going on. Naturally, as a concerned mother would, she questioned Evan's sudden joyful expression.

Of course, she was absolutely happy that Evan found happiness, especially if that happiness was also because of someone else. It was just unusual, is all.

"Evan, honey," Heidi cautiously approached, "what's gotten you so happy?"

Evan gave Heidi a smile, taking a relaxed breath. He shrugged, casually uttering a 'I don't know' and walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the school day. Heidi was a tad bit infuriated that Evan had decided to shrug her off, that was true. However, she figured that Evan himself probably did not have an explanation for it.

Thus, before Evan could March off to the bathroom, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, whatever it is, I am so glad to see that smile on your face again."

She waved him goodbye, and left the house for work. Evan sighed, finding himself more relaxed than ever before. He marched into the bathroom, getting ready.

—————

Evan shut the front door of the house quietly, hearing the soft click of the door shutting. He inserted the key, twisted and double checked that the door was locked. He turned around, seeing the roof overhead covering his face from the sun.

He steps forward, stepping into the sun with a bright smile. He could proudly present his outfit. He wore a gray T-shirt and a blue flannel patterned button up over. Yellowish khakis that covered his legs and converse. His hands clung onto the straps of his bag, one of the hands gripping onto the fidget cube gifted to him by Connor.

He soon started walking onto the sidewalk, feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin and the loud sound of stone as his foot taps on it with every step. Unknowingly, he held his smile while walking.

About halfway towards the school, he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He immediately jolted, turning his head to discover that Jared had somehow bumped into him on their way to school.

"Evan, hey!" Jared greeted excitedly. He gave Evan a wave, which Evan responded with a smile and a wave. He greeted Jared back, his enthusiasm matching Jared's. Jared looked at Evan's face, raising his eyebrows and giving the same confused expression just as Heidi had.

"Are you okay, bro?" He asked, instantly reaching his hand forward and placing it on Evan's forehead, examining for any fever. Evan chuckled, playfully swatting his hand away.

"J-Jared," Evan replied, smiling, "I'm fine!"

Jared seemed skeptical of Evan's answer, but he kept quiet and let Evan off. Of course, he had been worried that Evan might be on some sort of drugs. Evan was never this happy about anything. He was the type to be nervous over everything.

Then, his mind went to Evan and Connor. If Evan had been on drugs, the first person he'd suspect would be Connor. This made his blood boil, and his hands balled into fists. He felt anger towards Connor again, but he forced a grin so that Evan would not suspect him.

"You…" Jared drawled the word, deciding his tone of voice and choice of words carefully, "…are happier than usual?"

Evan listened to his words, and had a moment to himself. Was he never this joyful around his friends before? That's depressing, if you think about it. He has not been happy around his friends, to the point where they find it unusual. Evan turned to Jared and shrugged.

"I-I don't know, m-maybe I'm just r-really happy to—um…to be okay?"

Evan noticed Jared's suspicious glance, so he tried to change the topic at hand. It wasn't as if he had anything else to add to this conversation either.

"S-so…um…how's your weekend been?"

Jared seemed to have liven up by that statement, and started to talk about his day. He went to talk about his recent gameplay, trashing some players in a game Evan has never heard of and frankly doesn't care about. He seemed to have glint in his eyes, his genuine expression of joy radiating off of him. He could not help but smile, listening to him rant about his exciting weekend.

As Jared talked, Evan took the time to just look around and take in his environment. It was nice to finally be mentally stable enough to glance around and smile at the nature around him, rather than to be glaring at the ground as his hearts pattered as quickly as his footsteps while he rushed to school, clouded by thoughts of uncertainty.

The birds sang their beautiful songs, flying away to the horizon beyond. The flowers around him danced in sync to the music of the wind, and he could feel the warmth of the sun slowly being masked by the cool breeze, creating a nice balance of both.

Of course, he still paid attention to Jared, as he excitedly spouted about his game. He just felt enticed by the beauty around him.

"…and he fucking ran towards the wall, bombing himself! Literally, what the hell!" Jared concluded, seemingly out of breath from trying to explain his excitement.

Evan giggled, happy to finally feel the bond between them as friends becoming this close. If you asked him a year ago, he probably would have told you that Jared would never be friends with him. He probably would have faked a smile, gripping at his shirt and thinking of many reasons to leave the conversation.

In fact, if you asked him a few months back, he probably would have been eager to leave the school. You would have probably noticed how he muttered something about how no one needed to know, and something about a tall tree buried deep in the woods.

It's interesting how quickly humans can change. Today, they would never have a bright smile on their face. They would have been the first to leave, disappearing into the crowd and never to be heard of again. Suddenly, a few months later, they walk to school happy, beside friends and genuinely grinning and feeling joy.

Evan was so very happy that it turned out the way that it did. Granted, he still has so many things to work through, so many things to try to fix on his own. However, he was the happiest he had been in a very long time. He has felt the more loved than ever before.

It did turn out okay.

"Evan, you okay?"

Evan blinked, surprised by the sudden call. He glanced towards Jared, who stared back with a worried expression. It took Evan a bit to realise that they were already approaching the school.

"Y-yes! I'm fine!" Evan responded, once again receiving the parental worry from Jared.

"You…were spacing out?" Jared asked, the worry for Evan's wellbeing evident in the way he was talking. Evan could only feel much more happy, knowing that he was loved.

"Y-yeah! Nothing to worry about! I-I was—um… I was just thinking!" Evan replied, trying to ease some of Jared's worries. Of course, that made it worse. Evan could only try his best to wave it off, while Jared sighed in defeat, and relief.

"Well, you let me go on for so long," Jared replied, regaining his signature grin and playful demeanour, "how about you? How was your weekend?"

Evan pondered over this question, and he realised once again that he has changed quite a bit. Usually, he'd think of some lie, which was similar to the truth, and yet not quite. This time, however, he was actually okay.

"I-It was nice! I managed to get some more s-sleep, a-and I did some meditating which really cleared my m-mind."

Jared smiled, noticing that Evan was less jumpy. He noticed that Evan had became much more relaxed, being able to talk to him without much of anxiety acting on him. Of course, that did not account for the fact that there wasn't really anyone near them.

"That's nice! If I can ask, what did you think about?"

They both walked towards the entrance of the school building, taking the first steps up the three-step stairs, when they noticed who walked beside them.

It was Zoe, Alana and Connor.

They were chatting about something, when Evan met with Connor's eyes. This made the whole party of two and three to stop in their tracks, exchanging glances with each other.

Zoe looked visibly distraught, as did Alana. They had been afraid that their meeting might spark another long term break. You could see Zoe panicking, and turning to Alana and silently speaking to her.

Jared looked upset. He was almost angered by their appearance. Evan noticed that Jared had been glaring daggers at Connor, which made Evan a little saddened. Jared, as a pseudo-parent, was upset that Connor had upset Evan, even though it was really the another way round.

"Evan, Jared!" Zoe exclaimed, nervous. She awkwardly waved to Jared and Evan, "how are you guys?"

"Fine, until he showed up," Jared replied, spiteful. This made Zoe shut up, clearly intimidated but Jared's vexing tone. Alana frowned, unable to understand how Jared had been so angered by something Connor had explained. She was frustrated with how childish Jared had been acting.

"Jared," Alana replied, as calmly as she could manage while maintaining a hushed voice, "can you please be more polite?"

Jared was about to respond, when Evan quickly rushed past all three of them and stood in front of Connor. He seemed to have a worried expression as he timidly approached Connor. Connor, who was silently watching the tension build up between the trio, glanced down at Evan, curious as to his next action. He was still excited to talk to Evan again, after a long and excruciating week. However, he respected his boundaries and stayed silent.

"C-Connor, a-are you okay?"

That really shocked Connor. Yes, they both had to do soul searching, but Evan had been the one who was clearly not okay. He tilted his head, curious as to what he meant by that.

"Y-You haven't been to school for the past week, r-right?"

Connor felt relieved. He actually expected this entire meeting to be much more awkward and to contain much more tension than ever before. Evan cleared all of the doubt so easily, and simply by talking to Connor. He gave a small smile, feeling his shoulders slump down.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Ev. You?"

Evan returned Connor's smile with his own, mentally giving himself a pat on the back for effectively diffusing the situation.

"Y-Yes! I'm okay! D-Do you want to t-talk about anything?"

He expected Connor to simply deny it, and let all of them continue their merry way, when Connor spoke up, affirming that he wanted to talk. Evan turned back to Jared, subconciously recognising that Jared would most likely disagree to them talking, only to find that Jared, Zoe and Alana had all disappeared.

His eyes scanned about, noticing that Zoe and Alana had been tugging Jared away from the both of them, with Jared putting up a fight. It seems that Jared had wanted to scold Connor even more than he had already did, but Zoe and Alana had managed to pull him out of it.

He sighed, turning back to Connor. He had also been watching Alana and Zoe carry an angry Jared into the school building. Evan noticed that, and giggled. Connor noticed the giggle and chuckled along, both walking side by side into the school.