Chapter Text
How long has it been? It feels like Avery lost track of time ages ago…
Drifting in and out of his thoughts only became harder as the throbbing pain from his headache made thinking nearly unbearable. Avery wonders where Derek is as he reaches for the nightstand, his hand wanders aimlessly as he struggles to find the lamp.
Click!
The light burns as the lamp flickers to life, a warm yellow light drowns the room and does nothing but make his eyes water and his head hurt. Avery squeezes his eyes shut, wincing as the throbbing pain in skull his soars. The lamp is clicked off as quickly as it was clicked on.
He sits up with a sigh, black dots scatter his already blurry vision and make him feel almost dizzy. When was the last time he ate? Avery pushes away the sheets that pool around him and stands up on shaky legs, the quiet patter of socked feet against hardwood floor being the only sound in the room.
"My head hurts. Where am I going? It's dark, too dark, but the lamp makes everything burn. Where's Derek? Why did he leave me here?"
One foot in front of the other is all Avery can think about as he navigates the dark room, he bumps into his bed-frame and nearly trips over clothes that lay on the floor. It feels like years before he finally makes it to the door, but maybe that's just the exhaustion speaking.
It's bright when he steps outside the room. Not the burning kind of bright from the lamp, no. It's the kind of bright that leaks from the windows and seeps from the curtains, painting anything it touches…Avery looks towards the kitchen; he doesn't want to go in there, not after…whatever happened this morning, but the painkillers are in the kitchen and he never finished washing the dishes and—
Avery blinks and his ears fill with the sound of rushing water, his hands are cold and he can see a pile of green in the corner of his eye as it seeps onto the counter: dish-soap leaking from the bottle.
Confusion floods his senses. Water drips off his hands as he stares into the empty sink, watching as it slowly fills with water. His mind starts racing once again…
"When did I get here?"
Of course it had to rain today of all days, of course it did…
Derek walks home with his phone in one hand and two grocery bags in the other. He made it out of the store with easy-to-make food for Avery (he's not letting him back into the kitchen any time soon) and an array of snacks, because actions speak louder than words and Derek can admit that he's terrible at comforting others.
He stops at the crosswalk, pulling his hood over his head as the rain starts to pick up. The plastic grocery bags stretch at the handle, Derek sets them down so that they won't tear.
Cars blur as they speed past him, the rain coats the sidewalk in splotches, Derek looks down at his phone.
It's been almost an hour since he left the apartment. It's been almost an hour since Avery broke into tears while he was in the kitchen…Derek's thumb hovers over the screen, wondering if he should call Avery…
What if he's still sleeping? Avery probably wants nothing to do with Derek right now.
Derek sighs, he texts Avery instead.
avery :)
derek: hope ur okay
Derek blinks at the message with a look that can only be described as pure disappointment.
"Hope ur okay?" Yeah Avery, I know you had a breakdown in the kitchen this morning but I "hope ur okay!" No wonder Avery didn't come to him sooner !
Derek looks up from his phone, cars continue to zoom past him. It feels as if this is the longest green light ever…His phone buzzes.
avery :)
avery: hi der :P im fineee now! my head is still killing me tho :c
avery: r you gonna be home soon???
A smile spreads across Derek's face as he reads the texts. To say that he was happy would be a major understatement. Even if he doesn't believe that Avery is "fine," he's happy that he's at least awake. The traffic light switches to red as soon as Derek goes to reply. He quickly grabs the grocery bags and crosses the street, shivering slightly as the rain begins to soak through his hoodie.
But one thought circles his mind as he walks…
Didn't Avery leave his phone in the kitchen?
It probably isn't important, maybe he just went to grab it when he woke up…
Derek was greeted with the lingering stench of smoke from this morning and the familiar sound of running water as soon as he entered the apartment.
He froze in the doorway. Maybe Avery was just cooking again? Derek doesn't really know how he feels about that, especially after this morning…But then again, who is he to tell Avery what he can and can't do in the kitchen?
"Aves?" He places his sneakers by the shoe-rack and walks further into the apartment.
Derek cringes as he takes his next step, he hears quiet splash of water beneath his feet, it seeps into his socks, it spreads across the floor and clearly has been spreading for a long time if it's reached the living room.
He thought that Avery was fine. Avery texted Derek ten minutes ago saying that he was fine and that all he had was a headache, and while Derek didn't believe that Avery was completely "fine," he didn't think that he'd come home to a flooded apartment.
.
"There are footsteps in the house. I think it's Derek. Who else would it be? Why did he leave me here? How long have I been at the sink for? The footsteps are getting closer. I hear…water? On the ground, from the sink, on my hands. The sink is off. Why is the sink off? There are hands on my shoulders, there are hands around me, someone is talking to me—"
"Aves? Avery? Can you hear me?"
Derek asks, his heart hammering against his chest as he holds onto Avery. What if he's crushing him? What if he's crowding him? Just how long has Avery been at the sink for Why is he just staring?
"…Der…? Why— Why am I here?" Avery croaks out, his voice raspy from disuse.
"I- I…Aves, I don't know." Derek admits, pulling Avery closer. Why is Avery here? Why is he so confused? Why doesn't he know? Derek hates not knowing, he hates how Avery is shaking, he hates this so, so much.
"I'm sorry, Der…I didn't mean to—"
"Don't apologize, Aves…"
Avery lets out a watery laugh at Derek's response, it's only then that he realizes the tears making their way down his face.
"What? The apartment is flooded, Der! And- and we don't even have a mop, how are we gonna clean this up?"
It almost makes Derek laugh. Avery's been standing at the sink for god-knows how long and he's worrying about cleaning…There's something so painfully Avery about his response and it makes Derek want to cry. It makes him feel guilty, he shouldn't be the one crying, he isn't the one that's obviously going through something right now.
How are they going to clean this up?
"We'll just…place towels down or something, the floor is the least of my concerns right now." Derek says, he reaches a hand up to wipe away Avery's tears, watching as Avery's head tilts towards his hand.
"M'sorry…"
"I know."
"I- I don't know what happened."
"I know."
"It's gonna be okay…Right, Der?"
That, Derek doesn't know, and he hates not knowing that more than he hates anything else.
"…Yeah. It'll be fine, Aves."
He'll order a mop later