verklempt
adjective
overcome with emotion

Neil's POV
Anger shook his entire body. From his twitching eye to his trembling legs, Neil's body was seething with rage. Hot, molten lava seemed to flow through his veins, and he couldn't stand it anymore. Neil didn't know how much more of Todd's strange behavior he could take. Todd was suppose to be his best friend, but they've never felt further apart in Neil's mind. It was as if miles and miles of rough, sea waters separated them. Neil felt as if he was getting pulled deeper and deeper out into sea, and he did not know if he'd ever find his way back.

Curling up into a tight ball, Neil began to cry. He cried long and hard as he desperately shoved his fist into his mouth to keep quiet. The tears flowed heavily down his face as his body racked with heavy sobs, but Neil could no longer close the floodgates. He was so tired. Drained. All he wanted to do was sleep for a thousand years, then maybe a thousand more, and never wake up. Wiping his face, Neil had gathered himself enough to change into his nightclothes and crawl into bed. Despite his exhaustion, Neil couldn't sleep. His mind was buzzing with all sorts of questioning thoughts. Why was Todd acting so cold towards him? Had he offended him somehow? What weights crushed his friend so that he couldn't just talk to him about it?! It baffled Neil to no end. He has been nothing but open with Todd. Todd has been the one true person in his life that Neil felt deeply connected to. Neil felt as if he could tell Todd anything...obviously Todd didn't feel the same. Neil squeezed his eyes shut as his heart twisted and pulled in despair. That's where most of his angry and grief was coming from. Todd felt like he couldn't trust Neil. That hurt more than words could describe.

Neil pretended to be asleep when Todd returned. From the slight sniffling, Neil could tell Todd was crying. Neil felt his heart ache more as he, in spite of his anger, found himself wanting to comfort Todd. He hated seeing him upset and this animosity between them could be eradicated if Todd wasn't so stubborn. But Todd refused to bend and Neil wouldn't force him. If Todd chose to wallow in his own problems instead of sharing them it was not Neil's fault. This insight did not, however, stop Neil from almost deciding right then and there to forgive his friend. Neil wanted this fight to be over. Hopefully, Todd would stop being such an ass soon.

It was early Sunday morning that Neil finally found relief in the sweet arms of Hypnos. Neil fell into a wonderfully, dreamless sleep and found it was not until mid morning when he awoke. He sleepily wiped the drool from his cheek as he stood out of bed and stretched. Flickering his eyes towards Todd's bed, Neil saw that it was left untouched and empty. Todd hadn't slept in it last night and was gone who knows where. A small frown adorned Neil's lips as he stared at the bed, a dark feeling twisted inside his gut. He needed to get away from Helton, now. Hastily, he threw on a green sweater and khaki pants before he decided he'd go see Violet. It's been awhile since Neil last saw her and he knew her radiant smile could pull him out of any funk, at least for a small amount of time.

Neil did not inform anyone of where he was heading. He did not care to go through the painfully slow process of getting permission to leave when he could sneak off now and come back without hassle. Of course his father would probably give some nonsense speech on how he couldn't jeopardize his chances at getting into a very good college and then go off to medical school, but his mother could possibly save him from that because she was so grateful he'd come to see them. Truly the only reason he even bothered with all of that was for Violet's sake. Without her, Neil wasn't sure where he'd be now.

'Without Todd where will you go from here?' His traitorous mind spoke.

This has also been a question that plagued Neil. He felt so lost without his friend, he wasn't sure where he'd go from here if they didn't make up. He felt sick thinking that they never would. Neil shook his head violently to rid himself of those unhappier thoughts. He didn't need to be thinking about Todd right now. At least that's what he tried to tell himself. Neil hasn't been able to get the blonde boy out of his head for awhile now despite numerous attempts to do so.

Getting tired of walking, Neil hitched a ride with an old man who was nice enough to drop him outside his neighbourhood. Neil walked until he came to stand in front of a red-brick, two story house. His throat started to tighten as every fiber in his being yelled out for him to turn back. He knew this visit wasn't going to end well; he could feel it in his gut.

Without their white and powder blue Nash Cosmopolitan in the driveway, Neil was thankful he had some time to think about what he was going to say to his parents, as they were most likely on their way back from church. Sitting on his front porch, his mind raced as he went over every possible situation that could go down inside his house, both good and bad. The best thing to happen was he would spend time with Violet and be able to leave without talking to either of his parents. Neil nearly scoffed because he knew how unlikely that would happen. Of course the worst thing that could happen would be Neil's father giving him lecture about putting his chances to get into an Ivy League school in peril and not being able to see Violet at all. Neil's time to contemplate was cut short when his father pulled into the driveway. Neil stood and wiped off any dirt he found on his person. He didn't need to give his father another thing to lecture him about, appearance.

"Neil! You're here, you're here!" She shouted over and over again as she gleefully leaped into Neil's open arms.

Neil laughed and buried his nose in her dark hair, inhaling deeply. Gods he's missed her so much. He tightened his arms around her briefly before placing her snuggly on his hip.

"Hello Mother...Father," He greeted them before placing a kiss on his mother's cheek and shaking hands with his father.

"Oh Neil what a surprise this is! I can't tell you how happy we are to see you," his mother said as they walked into the house.

"I'm happy to see you all as well Mother."

Neil's mother fussed over him and Violet continued to cling to him, but his father did nothing but watched him with narrowed, calculating eyes. Neil gulped and quickly broke eye contact with him. He swore the man could read his mind sometimes. Luckily, his sister pulled him away to her room where they could play.

"Prince Neil, won't you tell me of your adventures? Pretty, pretty please!" She begged.

Neil grinned as looked down at his excited sister. "Of course my lady," he said in a posh tone.

Violet giggled and ran to sit on the floor so she could watch him. He told Violet all about his castle called Welton and the adventures that happened their. He spoke about the enthusiastic bard Mr. Keating, scuffling with the horrendous troll under-the-bridge Nolan, as well as tell stories about Knight Charlie. He told her all about the sword fights they had had and dragons they have slayed. He ended his act by acting out he had pretended to be killed by the dragon before stealing its treasure and sneaking away before it could stop him. Violet clapped and cheered as Neil bowed dramatically while saying, "Thank you, thank you!"

"What about Lord Todd?" She asked, her head tilting curiously to the side as the playful grin slipped off Neil's face.

"Lord Todd and Prince Neil aren't speaking right now," he said in a clipped voice.

Violet frowned and crawled meekly into his lap as Neil stared at the wall with a blank, closed off expression.

"Why not?" She mumbled.

Neil's arms wrapped around her back. "I wish I knew."

Their tender moment was broken by his mother when she came into the room.

"Isn't this sweet? Violet, I'm sorry dear, but Neil'll have to go soon."

"No!" She shouted as she pressed her face into the crook of Neil's neck. "No, no, no, no, no!"

His mother gave him a pleading look, and Neil sighed unhappily. He did not wish to leave Violet now, but he knew she was right.

"I promise I'll come back soon okay?"

"Pinky promise?" She asked, sniffing softly.

Neil smiled gently at her as he interlocked their pinkies. "I promise."

With one last kiss to her forehead, he reluctantly pulled away and followed his mother to his father's study. His father sat behind the desk with his fingers tapping restlessly on the wooden surface. His cold blue eyes burned into Neil, and he had to stop himself from flinching back. His father's eyes so similar yet so different from the ones Violet inherited. Her's were as bright and soft as the summer skies, yet his were as hard and cutting as steel. No warmth could be detected in such eyes, not as long as Neil could remember.

"I just wanted an update on how you were doing in school. You quit the annual like I told you?" His father's voice floated sharply through the air.

"Yes Father," he replied obediently.

"Now you're not doing any other funny busy that would be distracting you from your studies are you?"

"Of course not."

"Joe, why don't you try being a little nicer? Neil came all this way to spend time with us, not be interrogated."

"Neil doesn't need nice Carol. Nice won't get him into medical school."

With that, his mother did not speak up again. Neil felt numb as his father droned on and on about medical school and if he so much as sneezed in the direction of any extracurricular activities it would ruin his chances of ever becoming a doctor. His father's callous words faded off into the background as Neil became increasingly exhausted with every passing minute. Neil now felt as if a weight was tied to his ankles and he had been tossed into a lake. He was struggling so hard to breath. He didn't know how much longer he could keep his head above the surface.

He didn't know how much longer he wanted to.