Work Text:
Sitting alone in his room, Connor picked at the hem of his sleeves, curled up on his mattress. He hadn't dragged himself out of bed for most of the weekend and honestly, he didn't want to leave.
Between his mental illness, depression, and pressure from his family, everything felt so overwhelming and Connor couldn't do anything about it. He was mentally drained; getting out of bed to feed himself was a struggle.
“Connor?” a quiet voice came from the door.
“Go away, Evan,” Connor mumbled, slumping over onto his bed, his back to the door.
Please don't go.
“Connor, you haven't spoken to me in days. A-are you mad at me? I'm sorry if you did, I'm didn't—”
“No,” Connor interrupted. “I'm not mad at you. Go away.”
Please come in.
Behind the door, Evan was quiet. He hesitated, his hand hovering above the knob. Finally, he slowly opened the door, peeking inside.
“Can I come in?” Evan asked, his voice quiet. He didn't want to make Connor mad by overstepping his boundaries.
“Evan!” Connor shouted, sitting up in bed and twisting to face him. “I said go away!”
Silence fell between the two. Evan looked hurt, gripping onto the door frame like a lifeline while Connor seethed. Quickly, Connor's face fell upon seeing Evan's reaction.
He had hurt him. Like always, Connor had hurt someone else, someone he was supposed to care about.
“I'm sorry,” he murmured, curling up in a ball again and closing his eyes, trying to close out the world.
“I-it’s fine, I shouldn't have opened the door, I shouldn't even be here, I just thought—well I don't know what I thought—” Evan rambled, trying to think up a good justification. “I— Connor? Are you crying?”
Wiping his eyes, Connor shook his head. “No,” he grumbled, much more aggressive than he thought it would be.
“L-look,” Evan started, slowly walking into the room and closing the door behind him for privacy. “I don’t know what’s wrong or what’s bothering you, but maybe I could help—” Evan hovered near Connor’s bed. “I, uh, I mean that I’ve had some pretty bad days where I just wanted to crawl under the covers and never come out but, uh,” Evan pulled at his shirt nervously, “I was alone. And that feeling is terrible. You… you don’t have to be alone.” His voice was quiet as he took a few steps closer to Connor.
Looking up at Evan with wet eyes, Connor wiped his face again before leaning over the bed and hugging Evan's waist. Evan jumped slightly, moving closer to hesitantly wrap his arms around Connor's shoulders.
“Don't tell anyone about this, got it?” Connor demanded, a bite to his tone.
“Of course,” Evan replied, nudging Connor so he could sit down on the bed next to him. Connor sighed quietly, finally letting go of his protective barrier and leaning against Evan.
“No one's ever said that and meant it,” Connor mumbled after a moment. Evan stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. His fingers played with the folds of Connor's hoodie, letting him know he was still there and listening. “It's, um, nice. I guess.” Connor finds himself smiling. It was small and fleeting, but a smile nonetheless.
“Do you, uh, want to talk about it?” Evan asked.
“No.” Connor relaxed a little, stretching his legs out on the bed. “Can you stay here?”
“O-oh, yeah,” Evan stammered, stretching out on the bed as well.
They sat in silence for a while. Evan fidgeted nervously, worried he had said the wrong thing or that he was going to say the wrong thing. Connor had calmed down significantly, still on edge, but feeling better knowing Evan was there. He closed his eyes and Evan had worried he had fallen asleep.
He hadn't, however, fallen asleep, and when he opened his eyes, he turned his attention towards Evan, who's anxiety only grew under Connor's watchful eyes. He was about to speak up when Connor leaned up, pressing his lips to Evan's.
“Thanks for staying here with me,” he said, settling back against his pillows, still leaning into Evan's side.
“O-oh, yeah, o-of course!” Evan stuttered, his voice high pitched, cracking on a few words.
“Was that too far?” Connor asked, looking up at Evan.
“N-no, uh,” Evan flushed, “not at all. I was just… surprised.”
Evan placed his hand over Connor's in an attempt to reaffirm what he had said. Connor closed his eyes again, that faint little smile back on his lips.