"...Billy? Billy!!..."
Ugh....
"...Come on, Batman, get up!!"
That dumb dream again.
"I swear, I will kick you! And this time, it'll hurt!!"

    And I was finally woken by the lightest tap on my shin. The lightest ever. It was like a baby kitten pawing at your knee. It was barely a kick. But the last time he kicked me I didn't feel it all, so I guess I should give him credit.

    He, that is, Julius, is literally the only person in the universe who I care about. I care for him, very much​. Mostly because everyone else generally is awful. And also because Julius is the best damn person in the world. And right now he's trying to kick me again. He must be getting tired.

"What's up, Robin?"I murmur from within my arms, where my head still rests. I peek from my arms, and see his grinning face.

Julius is attractive, I'm reminded. He'll probably make some girl very happy one day. With his slicked back brown hair and tanned skin, and big brown eyes, he's the cute type, especially with ow small he is. The kind of guy that girls wanna coddle. Which they've done before. Cooing over him and hugging them to their chests. Much to his discomfort...

They used to do that at least, before I told them to leave him be, and they scattered before they could be punched. I didn't care if they were girls. Dad says I should respect them, but I don't get why. It's not like I'm going to be marrying them or anything. I always kind of figure that me and Julius are just gonna be driving around the city in my Corvette​ for eternity. And wouldn't that be nice...

"It's time for the next class, sleepy head."He smiled at me from his wheelchair, straightening his leather jacket.

Man, I remember when he got that thing. I got one shortly after, despite not fitting any of the greaser requirements. I'm not from a poor family, in the least. Julius is. I think slicking back my hair is a waste of grease. Julius doesn't. I don't like fighting unless I have a reason. And I'm certainly not in a gang. I don't for at all. I guess I kinda just wanted to make sure I stayed with him.

But I remember as soon as he got to the counter, he found the buttons, I got him five, and he put them on his jacket. Since then he's been covering it in them. Every time he sees one he likes for sale, I get it for him, and he pins it to his jacket. I buy everything for him, by the way. He hates me for it. He's humble like that.

"You've got a free period this class, right?"I ask tiredly. He smiled and nods. I smile back, slowly waking up.

"Cool, I'm skipping then."I told him. His eyes widened.

"No way, you can't do that!"

"My pops will deal with them, Robin. Don't worry about ol' Batty."I assured as I stood. I stretched, my own white shirt and jacket riding up my back. I heard Julius sigh and knew he was rolling his eyes. But he wouldn't stop me because everyone knew it was true, especially him.

Dad didn't care what I did. 'Just don't do anything stupid.'Are his only instructions. So when I slacked off on my work, who cares. He had enough money to move me up to next year. I asked for something, I got it. Usually I got it for Julius, though. I don't care much about me. As long as I look decent.

I turned and saw him pouting. It was cute, but my hate for reading overrode it. And my overwhelming want to not be separated from my best friend. So I got behind him and pushed him out the door. I didn't bring anything to school anyways. He grumbled and allowed it, as usual. He only wanted what was best for me, which was both very appreciated, and very unwanted. It made me feel nice that he cared so much about my future, but also made me feel bad because I cared so little about my future.

Future. That was a word that scared me. I tried not to think about it. I want to imagine and I hope very much that me and Julius will be together for all of time, hanging out even when we're old, but Julius is the dreamer out of us two. I'm realistic. That most likely won't happen. But I can hope and pray that it will, though.

"Come on, buddy. We got a doctor's appointment in an hour anyway. It'd be better if I took you instead of you going by yourself."I told him, ruffling his slicked hair. He giggled, finally, which made me pretty happy, despite having grease all over my hand. He took out a comb and started to comb it back.

He talked about all sorts of stuff while I got him into the car. Mostly memories, he was reflective like that. 'Remember when we went into the bank and you punched a guy? That was great!!' 'What about that time when you went to some summer camp without me and got kicked out the first day?'He liked to reflect on the past like that. It made him happy, I guess. And when Julius is happy, I'm happy.

I guess I'm just weird like that. Finally we got there and he went in, and I had to wait outside. I wasn't family, after all. I just couldn't see him as family, anyway. He was my best friend, my most important person. Maybe that's because the idea of family is kind of messed up for me.

He came out looking sad. No longer the happy, bouncing boy I rolled into the room. The doctor looked grim.

"His days are numbered."

And this world came crashing down on me.

I went to him and I sat on my knees, I put my hands in his. And God, I was about to cry.

"What do you want to do, buddy? What's your last wish. I'll do anything for you, you know. Come on, anything, and don't give me that 'I don't need anything' nonsense. Come on, give me something."

He opened and closed his mouth, and finally he nodded.

"Billy, I want to see the world with you."