"It's nothing. No big deal or anything," Anthony shrugged, even though it actually was a pretty big deal in his eyes.

"Doesn't sound like that..." Ben muttered.

"It's– it's not like I'm going to tell you why I'm crying, anyway," Anthony ranted. "so it being a big deal or not doesn't matter."

"Right..." What was wrong with this guy, really? Ben got up and started pacing again.

"Yeah, it is right," Anthony said, very defensively.

Whatever was wrong with this guy, Ben had learned by now that silence was the best strategy, and so he paced quietly.

Anthony enjoyed the silence. Now that he had stopped crying, there was no conversation going on and nothing was happening, he made the very wise decision to just go the hell back to sleep.

Ben still paced, getting more and more frustrated by the minute. He coughed. And then..., he bent down and coughed heavily. Not again. His chest hurt as he coughed and coughed.

Anthony was trying very hard to ignore that. It was very difficult, and he eventually failed. "Are you okay?" It was mostly just kind of judgemental and passive-aggressive, rather than genuine concern.

Ben was too busy coughing to respond. He grasped for air.