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Derek Nurse spent his first couple months at Samwell bouncing from coven to coven. However, this wasn’t his choice. They always made that decision for him. Each time the coven would sit down and explain the same things as the one before:
We're just looking out for everyone. During the last ritual you spilled embers and lit the whole altar on fire. It wasn't always a fire but something always went awry. He had also tripped and broken talismans, dropped offerings, and accidentally summoned a malevolent spirit, ruining each of the rituals and spells. Your individual craft is strange as well. It doesn’t follow any of our traditions. We’re not really sure you belong here with us. Maybe you’d be happier somewhere else?
He had gotten used to the idea of being alone and was determined to not let it bother him, even though it actually bothered him quite a lot. Samhain was coming up soon and he wanted to participate, but he couldn’t think of any coven that would want him around for it; he’d probably screw up whatever spell they cast anyway. Instead, he decided that he would do it on his own. He didn’t need anyone else.
Derek figured a cleansing spell would be a good start. Hopefully it would get rid of the heaviness that had been weighing on him recently. He planned to do the spell a few days before Samhain so he would feel refreshed for the holiday.
He found a quiet place on campus, half in a pile of leaves, and set the candles up, lighting each and saying an incantation as he went. “Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit, I ask thee to cleanse my body of all negative energies.” He remembered the way he felt after each coven had kicked him out. It made him angry. After he lit the last candle he completed the incantation, “Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit, I ask thee to free and heal my body from all negative forces. Blessed Be.”
As he sat for the last half of the ritual his mind drifted back towards the anger he felt towards his former covens. He wanted to move on with his life and practice but felt held back by his inability to forgive and forget how they made him feel. His eyes closed, he shifted around trying to get comfortable. Without realizing it, he knocked over one of the candles with his foot. The flame caught a few of the leaves on fire, allowing it to make its way to Derek’s jeans. It took him several moments to feel the heat, but once he did he opened his eyes to see part of his jeans had caught on fire. He panicked, patting at his pants frantically to quell the flames. He blew out the other candles and gathered the rest of his things before he headed back to his dorm. Derek tried to walk quickly but struggled, something was wrong and his leg felt warm. He probably hurt himself again. He pushed through making it back to his hall. He fumbled with his keys, hands unsteady.
After he was inside, he was able to take a closer at what happened. He could see blisters through the hole in his jeans. His hands were hot and red, too. Adrenaline still pumping, Derek felt like he needed to do something but he couldn't focus on anything long enough to know what to do. He felt a tightness in his chest. The clinic on campus was already closed for the weekend and calling his parents wasn’t an option. His breath caught. The next best thing was to call someone he knew on campus. Shaking, he pulled out his phone. He tried to type a few texts, most of which were horribly misspelled an incoherent. Eventually he opted to just call his old friend from high school.
_/.\_
Shitty didn’t know what he was walking into when he arrived at Derek’s door. The poor kid had a hard time putting into words what happened over the phone. Shitty had also gotten a few horribly typed texts, as if Derek’s hands had been shaking as he tried to type them.
He knocked several times, before calling out, “Hey Brah, you in there?”
Silence.
“Derek?” Concern had risen in Shitty’s voice. “If you don’t answer this door I swear to fuckin’ everyone that I’ll bust through”
There was rustling inside the room. Shitty was hit with waves of emotion so strong he had to brace himself against the door. Finally, it began to open and Shitty immediately pushed the door open the rest of the way embracing Derek with the strongest hug he could manage.
“Dude, I haven't really seen you around campus. I wish I would have known. You know my deal, I could have helped you. I'm sorry I didn't try to check in with you sooner.”
He held the frosh tight. Derek’s body was tense, weight shifted to one side. He was holding his breath as if letting go meant the worst would happen. To Shitty the worst had already happened, because a friend of his was suffering in silence and didn’t reach out to tell him until it was almost too late. This was his fault and he let Derek down. He wouldn’t let him down again.
“I’m here for you, man. No matter what.”
They had been holding onto each other for several minutes. Slowly Derek had been able to take shaky breaths. Eventually he relaxed and let go of Shitty.
Only after Derek had relaxed and let go did Shitty dare release his hug. He put a hand on Derek’s shoulder, making him sit on the side of his bed. “Now my dude, you are going to talk to me about this and I am going to help you work it out.”
“I don’t even know where to start, man. I just wanted to practice my craft in a coven. I thought I would find people who cared after Andover, but it’s just more of the same. I’ve been kicked out of six covens. It’s fine, I guess. I’m good on my own.” Derek wiped his face. “I get that my craft is a kinda unorthodox but it fits me, man. I love being a witch and I love being able to practice however I want. I just get lonely sometimes.”
“M’dude, if you want to be part of a coven, join mine. We’re a bunch of weird fuckers that wouldn’t fit in a standard coven either. We’ve got each others backs. We’re a family.”
“Chyeah?” he smiled weakly.
“Chyeah. C’mon let’s go.” Shitty grabbed Derek’s hand, hoisting him off the bed.
Together they locked up his room and headed towards the Haus. Shitty had slung an arm over Derek’s shoulder and was going on about filling out applications for law school and all the exams he had to take. Derek was starting to feel better, laughing at Shitty’s jokes about how dumb all the law school acronyms were.
The walk was quick and soon they found themselves in front of the Haus. They were greeted with smiles, bro hugs, and pie. Derek seemed to relax with how welcoming they all were. He finally found somewhere to belong. A family to call his own.