Neil kicked the door to his room close, tossing his bookbag onto the floor. He ignored the mess of books and papers that came spilling out of it, throwing himself onto his bed and pressing his face into his pillow. Tears threatened to spill over but he held them back.
He wasn't going to cry over a stupid failed test.

He let out a muffled scream of frustration into the pillow, his face turning a blotchy red. After a bit, he rolled onto his back.

He had failed an important test. Plain and simple. It had counted for a good 50% of his grade. And he failed. His mother had been furious when he got home, the teacher having called the parents of the children who didn't pass. The failures. For a good 30 minutes, he had been forced to stand in the kitchen doorway as his mother ranted on and on, her voice louder than the chaos of noise she made while cooking. He never even defended himself. All it would do was get her madder anyways.

     He heard his phone ding from an incoming text message but ignored it. It was in his bookbag and he was too tired to go get it. It dinged again and he rolled his eyes, which hurt since he was on the brink of tears. It took the third notification to make him get up and grab it from his bag.
     He was surprised to see the messages were from Harrison. He wasn't unused to the teen texting him, he always found an excuse to do so, whether it be homework help or just wanting to talk out of pure boredom.

Harrison: Hi Neil, you feeling ok?

Harrison: Do you mind opening your window?

Harrison: Please?

Neil raised an eyebrow in question, standing up and walking over to the window. He pulled back the curtains and pulled up the window, peeking outside onto the backyard. He was even more confused when he saw Harrison standing in his yard, waving at him with a big grin and holding something behind his back, taking care to keep it out of Neil's sight.

     Curious, Neil crept out of his room, going as silently as he could past his mothers room. He felt his anger rise up again when he heard her shouting to presumedly his father on the phone.

"I will not tolerate him being a deadbeat like you!...No, don't tell me to calm down! His grade is dropping, dropping Carl and I bet it's because you don't make sure he studies whenever it's your turn to have custody!"

Neil stopped listening, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he rushed downstairs. Wiping the unshed tears away with the back of his hand, he stepped into the backyard, carefully closing the screen door behind him.

"Neil!"

He looked up at the teen in his yard, struggling to keep up a steady facade. He was not letting himself break down in front of Harrison of all people.

"What in the world are you doing here?" he asked, clearing his throat as his voice threatened to crack.

Harrison's grin turned into a sheepish smile and averted eye contact, staring down at the floor. "I, well, I noticed you looked kind of upset when Ms. Lingad told you that you failed the test-"

"I don't want your fucking pity if that's what you're here to give," Neil growled, hugging himself. Just the mention of the incident made him close to tears again.

Harrison quickly shook his head, frowning. "No no! I-I'm genuinely worried Neil! I know you don't fail a lot of things and that this might have upset you and- er," he sighed, "Here."

Harrison pulled out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back, holding them out towards Neil. He felt his face heat up as he looked down at the flowers, being held inches away from him. The action itself was heart-touching; The fact that all the flowers were Neil's favorite colors, a mix of yellow and red, made it even better.

     With shaking hands, he took the bouquet from Harrison, who immediately snatched his hand back to rub at the back of his neck, blush spread across his face. He was startled when Neil nearly tackled him in a hug, the bouquet losing a few petals as he hugged him.

"You are such a dork," he muttered, his anger at his mother all but being forgotten.

Harrison grinned as Neil pulled away from the hug, hiding his red face with the flowers.

"Yeah, but maybe I can be your dork?"

Neil smiled, laughing a bit.

"I don't see why not."