*Meanwhile*
"Benji! Benji…man wait up!! Benji c'mon slow down, talk to me, what happened?" Billy called after Benji as he quickly made his way toward his friend. Benji had no response, he kept his fast pace and hardly acknowledged Billy. "Dude…Don't shut me out, talk to me. What did she say?" Billy pleaded with Benji. The two stood in the pouring rain, Billy watching Benji intensely, waiting for some answer.
"I dunno Bill, she was just…disgusted with me. She thinks I did this to get back at her, as some sort of revenge for her wanting to be friends when I wanted more. GOD! I'm so pissed at Joel…if he hadn't said anything earlier…if he just kept his nose out of my business… Christ…If I hadn't listened to him, none of this would have happened. Me and Ry would be back at her place, she wouldn't be at a hospital, she wouldn't have almost died, and she wouldn't….hate me." Benji let the tears escape from his eyes.
"Benj…Joel, he didn't know, he was just looking out for you. He didn't want you to get hurt."
"I don't need him to `look out for me'…a lot of good he's done, now the person I could possibly have fallen in love with hates me, all because he was `looking out for me.'"
"Dammit Benj…I know your pissed off, but you're the one that wrote the fucking note! You need to calm down and go back there so we can work this shit out."
"There's nothing to fucking go back to Billy, don't you get it!?! I've lost Rylann, she told me she never wants to see me again….there is nothing to work out, she hates me…and I won't be able to look at Joel…"
"Benj…please don't be like that. Joel had no idea any of this was gonna happen…he just wanted you to be happy. He thought you were gonna finally tell Ry how you felt, how you feel…not blow her off and run away! This is all a BIG misunderstanding, the only way to clear it up is to go back there and talk to them…"
"No, I can't…not yet, not now…I can't handle this!"
"Benji…please, as you friend, I am begging you, just try. Be the strong one…go talk to them…Rylann loves you, she said it out loud in front of 4 other people. Nothing has changed, you love her, she loves you. Now go back there and tell her!"
"Billy, man, she may have loved me, but she doesn't any more…"
"No man, your wrong, she does love you…and it's your own fault if you loose her cause your being stubborn…you won't suck up your pride and face reality. Running away is what got you into this situation in the first place, and it's only gonna fuck things up more if you keep running! Love has its problems, man, you gotta learn to face them head on…if you love her enough, you won't let this stupid shit tear you apart!" Billy screamed at Benji and turned and walked back towards the hospital. Benji stood in shock…Billy never spoke up like this before, let alone screamed at him. Benji knew he was right, he knew he had to go back, he couldn't loose her. But did she really still love him?
*At the hospital*
"Billy, what happened, what did he say?" Jayde rushed toward a wet Billy as he stormed into the hospital, still angered from his argument with Benji.
"He's acting like an ass, he won't come back. He's blaming everything on Joel." Billy huffed as he threw himself down into a chair.
"What do you mean he's blaming everything on Joel? What the fuck does Joel have anything to do with?" Paul asked, obviously confused.
"He say's that if Joel hadn't talked to him, and got all those thoughts into his head about her "breaking him down", he never would have wrote the note, or left."
"But…Benji is the one who wrote the note, Joel was just trying to get him to tell Rylann how he felt, right?" Zandria finally spoke up.
"Exactly, Joel was only looking out for Benj, he hated seeing him depressed when he was without Ry…Benji totally warped what he was saying and ran away from the situation" Paul explained.
"That's what I told him, I told him it would be his fault if he lost her, because he was running away. It's what caused all of this to begin with, and it's only gonna fuck everything up more if he keeps running." As Billy finished, Jayde nodded toward the door as Benji, completely drenched from head to toe, entered the hospital. No one moved toward him and he made no contact with them. He continued past them toward Rylann's room.