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The silence had lasted for a painstakingly long time, far longer than was supposed to be normal for him. Ash couldn't even bring himself to speak and neither did he even care to. He was curled up in the corner of the room, hugging his legs to his chest and staring at the floor. Tears slipped from his eyes and slowly trailed down his cheeks.
It had been a while since Ash last said a word and Gary knew that this wasn't right. It wasn't normal for Ash to be quiet for so long or even to be crying so quietly in this way. This moment drove home the horrifying fact that he had done something terrible.
Just watching him like this made him feel a deep pang of regret. His teasing had gone too far this time.
Why had he even said what he did? If only he had recognized the danger signs and shut his fool mouth before he hurt Ash.
"Ash... I'm sorry."
The auburn haired boy reached out to touch Ash's shoulder, but Ash shied away from his touch. Gary understood and stepped back, biting down on his bottom lip. How could he have hurt Ash so much that Ash would actually cry like this? Now he just felt awful.
"Gary, please, just leave me alone." Ash's voice barely rose above a whisper. He pressed his face into his knees and said nothing more.
Gary forced back the forming lump in his throat and turned his back to Ash. His shoulders were noticeably slumped as he walked away.
Ash briefly glanced up to look at Gary's retreating back. He reached up to rub the tears away from his reddened cheeks.