Before the Friendship Games: Sugarcoat

Neon sighed as left his room for dinner. He trudged downstairs to the kitchen and met up with his parents. The table was fully set and dinner was ready to eat. He sat down at the table, and looked at his food with a blank stare.

"Still down in the dumps." Cerulean asked.

"Of course I am," Neon replied. "Can you blame me? I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to speak to me again..."

Cypress put a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder. "Neon. Listen to me," he said softly. "You're talking like the two of you have broken up. Sure you made a couple of mistakes, but you have to have faith that she'll understand and accept your apology."

"You're father's right, Neon," Cerulean chimed in. "Besides, it's partially the fault of the damned competitive streak that's been instilled within Crystal Prep."

Neon shook his head. "Don't try to take the blame off of me, Mom."

Cerulean shrugged her arms. "I'm just saying."

"I think what she's saying," Cypress said, "is that you're placing too much blame on yourself. Yes, it's natural to feel bad about what you did, but you shouldn't let it consume you."

Neon sighed, putting his head in his hands. "I just keep picturing the look of hurt on her face. The tears in her eyes. It broke my heart...I made her bleed, for fuck's sake," he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "And of all the possible things to say to her."

"Neon..." Cypress said.

"Can we just stay silent for the rest of dinner," he asked in a hushed tone.

"O...okay, if that's what you want," Cerulean said reluctantly. Cypress complied, and the remainder of the family's meal was quiet. Once it ended, Neon cleaned up after himself then went straight up to his room. Cypress and Cerulean looked at each other, worried.

"Should...should one of us go up there and talk to him," Cerulean asked. "I haven't seen him this upset since his breakup with that monster," she all but spat the last word out.

"I think we should leave him be for the time being, honey," Cypress said. "He seems to to want be alone anyway."

Cerulean sighed heavily. "I just don't like being unable to help him, Cy," she said.

Cypress put an arm around his wife. "I don't either, Cassie. I don't either."

Neon closed the door to his room and laid on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling as he let his thoughts drift. Some boyfriend I am, he thought. I can't believe I let that goddamn tiebreaker get to me like that! He punched his pillow in frustration. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He shuddered and sniffled. Keep it together, Neon Lights! Haven't you cried enough already?! He hugged himself, trying to get his emotions under control.

There's only one person who can help me now. Neon sighed as he picked up his phone. He loved his parents to death. Truly, he did. But at times like this...

I need a friend. - Neon Lights

Within an hour, there was a knock on the front door of Neon's house. Cerulean and Cypress exchanged confused glances, and the former walked over to the door. "Who is it," she asked.

"A friend," said a voice that Neon's parents knew all too well.

Cerulean's eyes lit up, and she opened the door. "Royal," she exclaimed, "it's so good to see you!"

"Hello, Cerulean," Royal said. He turned his gaze to Neon's father. "Cypress," he greeted with a nod.

"Hey, Royal," Cypress said with a small wave. "What brings you here?"

"It seems Neon needs a friend, so here I am," he said as he spread out his arms.

"You got that right," said Cypress said.

"Oh, dear," Royal said, concerned. "How bad is it?"

"He's spent most of the day in his room," Cerulean said.

"Goodness, whatever happened must have been awful," Royal exclaimed.

"You don't know the half of it, Royal," said Cypress.

"Do you want a drink or something," asked Cerulean.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I must decline," Royal said, waving his hand. "There's a far more pressing matter for me to attend to." He quickly made his way upstairs to his good friend's room. He knocked on the door. "It's Royal, old friend," he said. Without warning, the door shot open and a pair of arms grabbed him, all but thrusting him into Neon's room. The door slammed shut. Royal Pin panicked momentarily, but then calmed down almost immediately once he realized who those arms belonged to. In front of him was a very downhearted Neon Lights, his mouth turned down and his eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Goodness, Neon...you look like a wreck," Royal said.

Neon sniffled. "Thank god you're here, Royal," he said quietly. "I...I fucked it up big time," he said, his voice cracking. He shot over to his old friend and let loose a fresh wave of tears, sobbing as Royal gave him a hug and words of comfort. Several minutes later, he shuddered and sighed, then looked up at his good friend. "I really, really fucked it up," Neon said. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. After a moment of silence, he told Royal the complete story from the last time they saw each other until he texted him. "I feel like such a goddamn idiot, Royal..." he said as he broke the hug.

Royal Pin's eyes were wide with shock. "My word, Neon..." he said.

"I know," Neon said, ashamed.

"I assume you want my opinion on the matter, then," inquired Royal. Neon nodded. "If I'm to be completely honest with you, I'd have to agree with your parents. You're going to have to give her some space. That was a pretty nasty old wound you reopened."

Neon flinched, then sighed. "Yeah. I know," he said flatly, turning his gaze away from his friend. "I don't think I even want to look her in the face," he said. "It's bad enough I have the image of her with tears in her eyes, I don't want to make things worse..."

Royal smiled and put a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I know you'll do the right thing, Neon. I have faith in you...you need to have faith in yourself."

"You know what," Neon said quietly, "You're right." He said as he put his hand on Royal's. "Thanks, man," he said with a genuine smile. "You always know how to cheer me up."

"Anytime, old friend. Anytime."

"Speaking of which," Neon said as he pulled his phone out, "what time is it?" He checked the time on his phone and his eyes widened. "Oh, crap," he exclaimed. "I didn't realize it was that late!"

Royal took his phone out and looked at the time. "Oh dear," he said. "I had best be off. See you at Crystal Prep tomorrow," he asked with a smile.

"Count on it," Neon said, returning the smile.

"Excellent. See you then," Royal said with a wave of his hand, then closed the door. He walked down the stairs, filled with confidence. He has yet to let Neon Lights down, and he plans to keep it that way.

"Well," asked Cerulean, "how'd it go?"

Royal Pin gave Neon's parent's a smile. "He'll still be upset in the morning, but at least I managed to give him a needed boost of confidence."

Cypress smiled. "Thank you, Royal," he said as he extended a hand. "I don't know where our son would be without you."

Royal took Cypress' hand and shook it. "Thankfully, we never will," he said with a smile. "Goodbye, Cerulean," Royal said as he headed for the door, then closed it.

Neon got into his pajamas as soon as Royal left his room. He yawned, stretched, then sighed heavily. He took out his phone one more time and stared at it for a few good moments.

I love you. - Sugarcoat

Just give her some space, huh, Neon thought. That might be easier said than done. I might actually have to avoid her, and I don't like the idea of that. He climbed into bed, and yawned again. Here's hoping tomorrow is an improvement over today! He turned his bedroom lights off and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sugarcoat sat at the dinner table and stared at her food, taking a bite every now and then.

"Sugarcoat...how are you holding up," Crystal asked.

Sugarcoat sighed heavily. "Just barely hanging in there," she said in a monotone. "I really don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"

"If that's what you want," Sizzle said.

"Yes," Sugarcoat said with a nod, "it is." Her heart was still in pieces. How could he do that to her? How could he even say that to her?! The mere thought made her want to cry again, and she was quite sick and tired of doing so. She took another bite of her food, then continued to stare at her plate.

Crystal and Sizzle gave each other worried looks. Surely there must be something they could do to cheer thier daughter up. At the very least they can be there for her, for sure. But they wanted to do more.

In an effort to get Sugarcoat's mind off of Neon, Crystal asked. "So, what are your plans for tonight?" She almost immediately covered her mouth in shock.

"What are my plans tonight," Sugarcoat repeated flatly. She snickered at first, then giggled, then descended into a laughing fit.

"Are you okay, kid," Crystal asked.

Still laughing, all Sugarcoat could say was "Do I look okay to you?" Her laughter slowly died down as tears began to fall from her cheeks. "After everything that I've been through today, do you really have to ask?" She sniffled, then sighed. "Can we please stay silent for the remainder of dinner?"

"Sure, Sugarcoat," Sizzle said.

Dinner passed by quickly as silence prevailed through its remainder. Sugarcoat cleaned up after herself, then sighed heavily. She still couldn't get Neon Lights out of her head, and she still loved him. She couldn't possibly bring herself to sleep with another man, no matter how horny she was. The fact that this would be her first night alone in her room in months didn't help matters in the least. She shook her head slowly as she put the palm of her hand up to her forehead. Goddammit, Sugarcoat...stop thinking about him, she scolded herself. "I'm such a fucking mess," she said under her breath. She checked the time on her phone. I've still got a couple of hours before bed... She cupped her chin in thought until an idea came to mind. "Hey. Mom, Dad? Can we watch a movie or something?"

Sizzle and Crystal looked at each and shrugged. "Sure, why not," Crystal said.

Once the credits began to roll, Sugarcoat got up, walked to her parents and hugged them tightly. "Thank you. I needed the distraction," she said quietly. Her parents returned the hug, then said their goodnights as Sugarcoat went upstairs for the night. She closed her door and stared at her dildo collection, than averted her gaze. "Oh, shit. I can't even think about masturbating," she muttered as she put the palm of her hand to her head. She sighed heavily, then changed into her PJ's. She stared up at the ceiling until sleep slowly claimed her.

Sizzle ran a hand through his wife's hair as she cried into his chest. She eventually calmed down, then looked up at her husband. "I...I don't like seeing her suffer like this," she said. She grit her teeth as her sadness slowly turned to anger. "I'm going to have a chat with Neon tomorrow..."