Tears

Leon could feel the heat growing in his face, could see the very edges of his vision start to blur. He had no idea why, but he could tell that he was about to cry. With every fiber of his being he fought back against it, but he could not stop them from coming. He could feel the water begin to pool in his eyes, and slowly drip down his face. He wiped madly at them, trying to make them stop, but they continued to poor from his eyes.

"Leon?" his girlfriend, Rachel, asked. "Are you ok? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying," Leon responded bitterly. "I don't know what's going on. My eyes just started tearing up for no reason."

Rachel sat up and turned to look at Leon. "You don't have to pretend, you know," she said. "Just because you're a guy doesn't mean that you have to be all strong and tough. You're allowed to cry."

Leon glared at Rachel through the tears that continued to fall from his face. "I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong. I don't know why I'm crying. I feel perfectly fine, other than the fact that my face is getting wet. There is nothing wrong."

"I don't believe that for a second. I can see the tears in your eyes plain as day, and you look upset."

"Yeah, I'm upset now," Leon retorted, "because someone keeps accusing me of things that I am not. I'm fine. The tears came from nowhere."

"Leon, you stop lying to me this instant."

"I am not lying!"

Rachel glared and frowned at him. He hated it when she did that. It was like she took all of the things that made her face pretty and discarded them for the moment whenever she did. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "I hate it when you look at me like that."

"Then tell me the truth!" she exclaimed. "I can see that you're upset, so just tell me what it's about!"

"If I was upset, I would tell you!" he practically shouted. "In fact, if I was upset, I probably wouldn't be crying, but instead would be throwing fits! I have no idea why I'm crying. Maybe I'm tired, and my eyes are drying out, so my body is trying to rehydrate them or something."

Rachel continued to pout, clearly not believing him. "Do you feel tired?" she asked flatly.

"Well... No, not particularly," he conceded.

"Then it must be because you're sad."

"I am not sad! If anything, now I'm just getting angry."

"You're mad at me for trying to help you?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, kinda!" he replied. "When you're trying to help me with a problem that doesn't exist and refusing to believe the things that I am telling you! In fact, if you're going to be acting this way about this, why would I tell you anything? Clearly you just wouldn't believe me."

"I'm not doing this anymore, Leon," Rachel replied, standing up and turning her back to him. "I'm leaving."

"Fine," Leon spit back, continuing to wipe at his eyes as she walked away.

Leon awoke with a start, his eyes stained with salt that had been left behind by his tears, and the pillow in front of him uncomfortably damp. He wiped at his face, but it had long since dried up. He looked beside him to see Rachel sleeping peacefully beside him. He let out a breath of air and slowly laid back down, adjusting himself so as not to be on the damp part of the pillow any longer.

"Stupid dreams," he mumbled to himself.