Chapter 18

Adam's POV

“Kyra, calm down,” I say soothingly, rubbing comforting circles onto her back. “It's okay.”

“N-No, it's not okay! That jerk thinks I'm meant to be with you!” Kyra spits. Then she bites her lip. “Erm, no offense...”

“None taken,” I assure her. “But, honestly, why do you hate the idea so much? After all, it's just an idea. It's not real.”

“W-Well- I just-” She sighs. “I don't know. I just don't... I don't want to lose Lauren. She's literally everything to me, and I kind of like to think that we'll spend the rest of our lives together, but... Well. Obviously that can't happen if she's dating Ty and I'm dating you.”

“And the Skylox can't happen, either, with that arrangement,” Lauren adds as she walks out of the downstairs snack room and into the game room while skillfully carrying three plates of chocolate chip cookies.

“Oh my gosh, you were not supposed to hear that,” Kyra says, blushing and trying to cover her face with her hands.

“Aw, but it was sweet!” Lauren coos, setting the plates down in front of Kyra. “Here. I know from my seven days of knowing you that brownies calm you down for some reason. Oh, and, by the way... I like to think we'll be together forever, too.”

“Aw! The feels!” I squeal, clapping several times and grinning giddily.

Kyra rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I'm calmed down now, so should we go get Ty?”

“Probably. What was he even doing?” I ask.

“I don't know. He pushed Sadie upstairs,” Lauren shrugs.

Kyra growls. “Her name is not Sadie, it is Satan.”

“How rude! I thought we were friends, Kyra!”

We spin around to see Sadie standing at the base of the stairs and frowning. Her makeup is slightly smeared, and there are a few tear tracks on her face. Ty is standing behind her, looking reluctant and regretful.

“U-Um, I, uh..,” Ty stutters before stopping to clear his throat. “She, um, she had no where else to go... I was planning to kick her out, but... well... uh... she came all this way from, like, Florida or something to visit me, and, erm, I felt bad...”

Kyra and Lauren growl in sync, but I just raise an eyebrow.

Honestly, that is one of the sweetest things I have ever seen anyone do.

Seriously! I know for a fact that Ty hates her, and yet he's letting her stay here (even though it's not exactly his house) simply because it's the right thing to do. Ty is, like, the sweetest, kindest, perfectest person in the entire world. Gosh, I really love him.

A-As a friend. Obviously.

Obviously.

“Please? I-I promise not to bother you anymore,” Sadie insists, wiping her eyes and getting mascara on her hands. She doesn't notice; or, if she does, she doesn't do anything about it.

Lauren, though I know she hates Sadie almost as much as Ty does, bites her lip and look over at Kyra. “Maybe we should let her stay... I mean, she has no where else to go.”

Kyra glares at her, but then Lauren gives her puppy eyes, so she sighs and gives up. “I... I guess... Sadie, you have to swear that you won't be a horrible jerk to us like you have been. You can't mess with any of our relationships again, you can't trick us, you most certainly cannot offer us stress balls. Got it?” she asks harshly.

Sadie nods, her eyes filling with what must be happy tears. “Thank you, you- you don't know how much this means to me,” she whispers. Kyra nods a 'you're welcome,' and Lauren smiles at her. She smiles back at them, and then she spins around and encases Ty in a hug. His eyes widen, but he hesitantly hugs back.

She doesn't let go.

“U-Uh, Sadie?” he asks quietly. “Could you maybe please let go?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, Ty, I'm so sorry!” she quickly pulls away, smiling at us sheepishly.

“Right. Well, uh, I guess you can take my bed-”

“No!” Kyra says, shaking her head. “We have more than enough room for her, you don't have to give up your room, Ty. After all, this house is freaking huge. There's another bedroom down the hall from yours and Adam's.”

“Thanks again,” Sadie says softly, and then she heads up the stairs, probably to move into her bedroom.

Ty sighs with what I'm guessing is relief. Then he heads over to the TV and turns it on again.

“Woah, hey, wait!” Lauren shouts, causing him to put down the DVD he was holding and turn to her with wide eyes.

“What?”

“We never talked about this self-harm thing!” Kyra yells, jumping up. Ty winces and shrinks back a little, and I quickly move towards him.

“I-It's okay, I talked with him, and besides, I don't think he's really comfortable with talking about it..,” I trail off. He lets out a shuddering sigh and leans into my side, and I wrap my arm around him.

“Oh. That's okay,” Kyra assures him, backing up a bit.

“No, don't think we're done here,” Lauren says, shaking her head. Ty and I tilt our heads in confusion. “We have to go get rid of your- well, whatever you use – used – to hurt yourself.”

She starts up the stairs toward the closest bathroom, and Ty's eyes widen. “No, wait!” he shouts, ducking away from me and running past Lauren. She gapes at him as he stands at the base of the stairs, holding out his arms to keep anyone from walking up them.

“Ty,” I scold him, walking over. Kyra tsks at him as she follows me, and he frowns. “It's alright, you aren't going to need that stuff anymore.”

He glares at me. “Adam, I can't just stop, okay? I need to do these things, they... they hold me together, and I can't lose them.” Tears build up in his eyes, and I find myself internally freaking out. I don't wanna make him cry! I hate it when Ty cries, especially when it's my fault!

“We're going to help you stop, alright?” I tell him. “We'll be right by your side the whole time. You need to learn that there are other ways to deal with your pain.”

He huffs, and a tear slips down his face. “But there aren't other ways of dealing with my pain, Adam! Nothing else takes care of it like a knife does!”

The thought of Ty putting a knife to his skin makes my stomach flip, and not in a good way. “Ty, please,” I beg. “Sadie isn't going to be a jerk anymore, so now you won't even have a reason to cut!”

He glares at me again. “I have plenty of reasons,” he spits.

“Like?”

“Like... Like it takes away the emotional pain of being so worthless. Like, it takes my mind of things. Like, I deserve it.”

“Ty, no!” I gasp, stepping forward and immediately yanking him into a tight hug. “You aren't worthless, and you definitely don't deserve that kind of pain, or any pain at all!”

“I am. I do,” he whispers brokenly.

“No, don't ever say that again!” I practically growl as I pull out of our hug, and his eyes widen. “You are beautiful, you are perfect, you are worth the world to me, Ty!”

“Thank you,” he sniffles, pulling me into another hug and burying his head in my shoulder.

I just let him cry.

*several hours later*

Ty's POV

“Stupid idiots. They just don't understand you, do they? They don't understand how worthless you are. They pretend that you're wanted, that you mean something to them, but really the opposite is true. They just don't understand how you deserve to feel the slit of pain across your wrist and watch the blood drip down your arm.

“They just don't understand!”

☼☼☼

So. WHO DO YOU THINK IT IS!? MAUAHAHAHAH

jk it's obvious im bad at writing mysterious stuff ugh

so yeah

baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!

good notch i suck at formatting this thing gosh dangit im gonna go murder a chair or something