The second Nicholas walked into his flat, he knew that he was screwed. He shut the door behind him, slipping his shoes off, and trying his best to look away from the silhouette of his friend.

The room was silent, neither moved, neither spoke. A chill breezed past them, a remnant of winter lurking behind the windows while the storm outside was nothing compared to the internal hurricane that would soon take place.

Nicholas cleared his throat.

"Where are the sleeping pills?" asked Elijah harshly, standing up from the couch.

He gulped, but stayed silent.

"Nicholas," said Elijah, walking closer with brown eyes flamed with fury, "where are the pills?"

"I took them."

He watched his best friend fall apart. Elijah squeezed his eyes shut, gasping for breath, a hand clawing at his chest from the unbearable pain he felt, yet Nicholas didn't feel remorse. Nicholas didn't see the unraveling yarn spill into a pool of disasters. Nicholas didn't see how dark he had become.

Then he remembered Dina's words, and shame filled him.

"I-I'm sorry," stuttered Nicholas, anxiety rising in his bloodstream. The walls seemed to be closing in, trapping him to his everlasting chains. "I-I..."

Suddenly, arms wrapped around him. Nicholas stood frozen, his vision becoming blurry, time as still as stone. Elijah held him tighter, and Nicholas fell apart, pivoting into a mess of heart-wrenching sobs. He returned the embrace, letting his crystal tears fall on Elijah's shoulder.

"It's okay," whispered Elijah. "It's all going to be okay, Nick. I promise."

"I wasn't," he hiccuped, "thinking."

"Shh."

"I-It hurt. I couldn't d-do it anymore."

Elijah held Nicholas for a long time, soothing and comforting all his worries like the rain outside that washed all the impurities of the world away. He had never known the comfort of any type of love whether it be from his parents or friends or girls he used to like. Nicholas was a stranger to the concept of love, yet he realized that Elijah and Dina showed him true love.

"Nick, why?" questioned Elijah, tears brimming his own eyes. "You could have came to me. You could have told me. You could have confided your pain with me. Why didn't you say anything?"

Nicholas wiped his eyes, sniffling. "I didn't know how to."

His friend's brows furrowed.

"It's been so long. After my friends died in that accident in high school, I lost it. That was the start, losing my best friends and then told that I was the only survivor of that fatal crash was the chain I still keep around my neck. It still haunts me and the worst part was no one cared," he said brokenly.

Elijah stayed silent, listening to his best friend's grief and not knowing how to help.

"No one fucking cared that I was hurting, and life chewed me up again and again right after, refusing to let me heal. No one ever cared," whispered Nicholas, breath shuddering.

"I care."

His blue eyes widened. "What?"

"I care," smiled Elijah through his own tear-filled vision. "The world could hate you all it wants, but I will never hate you. I will never abandon you. I will never let you carry your burdens alone. I'm here for you, Nick."

It seemed as though Nicholas finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the rocks to keep the wall balanced, the friendship that destroyed his demons. For so long, Nicholas had no one to turn to, he had no one to rely on, he had no shoulder to cry on, yet he managed to keep one friend.

"Nick, are you crying?"

"Y-Yeah," he sniffled. "God, it's been so long since I heard that. So fucking long."

Giving him a tight smile, Elijah pulled away, holding Nicholas at arms length as he also shuddered from the harsh reality that Nicholas had written for himself, the reality where Nicholas died. Elijah, lips trembling and tears falling, gasped for his breath.

"Please," he begged, "don't take your life, Nick. Please, don't ever scare me like that. I thought I lost my best friend, and honestly, I want to slap and hug you at the same time."

"At least you didn't slap me," Nicholas lightly joked.

"Shut up, you bastard. You gave me a heart attack."

The boys chuckled through their tears, tumbling to the couch, where they leaned against it, relishing Nicholas's life after the string of death was so close to being cut. He was so close to tasting his sweet relief, his happiness, his end, yet one girl had managed to force him to struggle for air.

"What made you not..." trailed off Elijah, wincing from the memory of his fear. "What made you not... kill yourself?"

Nicholas paused for a moment. Dina's desperate sobbing and her arms circling around his waist, holding him close to her chest like she was afraid that if she didn't hold him tight enough, he would disappear. He remembered Dina's pain-filled brown eyes that whirled with wild panic. Nicholas closed his eyes.

"Dina," he whispered. "She stopped me."

Opening his eyes, Nicholas noticed the shock plastered over Elijah's face, his eyes wide and jaw hanging in disbelief. Lightly laughing to himself, Nicholas sent his friend a sad smile. After the day's events, it felt nice to have a little perfunctory interactions.

"She made me spit out the pills."

"Really?" asked Elijah.

Nicholas nodded. "Yeah, but I treated her terribly. I yelled at her for saving me."

A look of understanding crossed his friend's face. "Nick," he started softly, "you weren't yourself. She knew that."

"I shouldn't have yelled at her for helping me. Nothing can justify that. She's a woman who deserves to be respected, not belittled by me."

"Dina seems like a sensible girl. If she forced you to live, then she knew what mess she tangled herself in, and she didn't mind. Don't you get it, Nick? She did it out of love. She needs you alive as much as I do," said Elijah gently.

Guilt ate at Nicholas's conscience. He had put the very people he loved through a series of heartbreaks for his own selfish reasons. He made them suffer because he couldn't handle his father's words. For years, he had tried so hard to impress his parents or their circle of rich folks, yet all this time Nicholas was blind to his blessings.

"You really mean that?"

"Yeah," Elijah smiled. "Don't ever forget that you have people that love you, Nick. I'll always be here for you."

Although they were drastically different people, Nicholas knew that he had finally found his home, a place where he belonged.

----

Welp. That bromance happened.

How do you guys like the book so far? A lot has happened, I know XD

If you didn't know, my new book, PFP, is out and will have regular updates. If you're not into historical fiction, I recently finished HC, a mystery/thriller.

If you're bored of waiting for weekly updates, check those out. Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!