He couldn't stop the petals. He staggered over to the corner of the store, desperately glancing out the window across the hall in hopes that his best friend might see him. He had both of his hands clasped over his mouth, but the effort was futile. Red rose petals, of course they were.

Tom's eyes teared up, in both emotional and physical pain. He had always wanted for the boy to notice him, but now he wanted to disappear. Erase every trace of himself from this world. It was almost too much to bear. He shrank further into the corner, willing himself to pass out, lose consciousness, something, ANYTHING, to escape.

As if by miracle, someone was there, picking him up and carrying him back across the busy hall. His vision was blurry, unfocused. He somehow knew it was Edd, but the functioning part of his mind would not acknowledge the fact. Eventually he was able to breathe somewhat clearly again, but every few minutes he would cough up another huge batch of petals, sometimes even clusters; full flowers. Edd gently rubbed his back, half for comfort, half... pity? Regret? The words tumbled through his head, meanings swirling together until he wasn't quite sure of anything anymore. He attempted to swallow his sobs, a weak attempt at trying to be strong. But he only coughed up more flowers. His throat was nearly raw from his crying, aside from the clear effect of the petals.

He was in no state to work, Edd knew that. He took Tom home, not saying a word about the entire situation. 

---------------------

Matt sat on the practically oversized sofa in his living room, waiting for his sister to come home. She was on a date with her boyfriend again, what was his name..? Todd? Tony? Tori? 

Whatever it was, she was gone for the evening and he was bored. He was just considering rewatching the Return of the Insane Zombie Pirates from Hell series when his phone rang.

"Hello?"the person on the other end sounded unusually emotionless, considering his usual demeanor. 

Matt's eyes widened,"He is? That's horrible. I don't know what I would do if that happened to me. Of course I'll help him."

That wasn't entirely true. He did  know what he would do, and it was what he had done. He just happened to be an incredible actor, and his tendency to forget where he was, what he was doing, or who he was talking to helped a lot. It was easy to fake emotions when you could just forget everything else as well. He hated crying, and knew it made him look bad. He had an image to keep up, family status and all, and emotions were simply a burden. So he had not hesitated when offered the surgery.