Well...This Is New - 60

His hand paused from where he had been petting Maddie's soft, black fur.
"What?" He asked softly, pretending he hadn't heard me.
I repositioned myself in the water uncomfortably.
"Can you tell me what was wrong?"
He turned back around, looking at me.
"I..." He sighed. "First of all, it was not you. You did not say anything. And I didn't like, cry. I teared up."
"Um, you were crying," I said firmly. "There were tears. And your eyes and face were red...and--"
"Well it wasn't you," he insisted. "It was just...I...I'm tired of people judging me for not going out with you."
I swallowed. "They don't--"
"People that don't even know me judge me," he said. "Like...I'm tired of it. I'm tired of all of those people. And Tom. It infuriates me that you're still friends with him. Like I'm not saying you can't, but like, he's so mean to me--"
"He's only mean because he wants to protect me," I sighed. "He thinks you're hurting me."
"Well it's not my fault," he snapped.
"I know it's not."
He looked at me with those blue eyes, flickering from the lights of the hot tub.
"I hope you realize..." I looked into those eyes, my love burning deep in my heart. "How much...that upset me. I was devastated. I almost threw up. I couldn't sleep..."
He looked at me. "That's really depressing."
"Just never cry again. Okay?"
He smiled.
"N-no," I shook my head. "I'm serious. There is like nothing that freaks me out more than what I saw last night. Please, never cry. Like, never. Please."
"Em, I said horrible things to you last night," he said. "You shouldn't have been worried about me crying. I was so nasty. I tell you all the time that I don't mean any of the stuff I say to you. It's only supposed to hurt you. And I thought that would be like, some sort of comfort or something. And now I'm like, how on earth is that supposed to comfort you, knowing I'm deliberately trying to hurt you?"
I looked down at the water. "I do the same to you."
"But why?" He demanded. "Why do we need to hurt each other? Why do I feel the need to cause you pain?"
I swallowed hard, looking up at the stars. "We're not talking about me, right now. We're talking about you. You shouldn't worry about people judging you. They only judge you because you're different. And that's a good thing."
I looked at him. His pale skin. His blue eyes. His soaked brown hair.
He is different, I realized. And that's why I'm so in love with him.
"I just wish they'd leave us alone," he said softly.
"Well they're not going to," I sighed. "But don't let it bother you, please. Please don't ever cry again. Like never. I can't deal with it. I can't."
"I didn't cry."
"Yes you did!"
He laughed. "I was just really upset. Like don't worry."
We kept talking, but when Sally came out, both of us shut up at the exact same time, looking away from each other.
I didn't know why we both felt like we didn't want Sally to hear us...but...
That's just what happened.