Work Text:
Murphy’s trying to run away from, well, everything. Things are finally starting to go good and he doesn’t know how to handle that. He’s doing well in school, he has a job he doesn’t hate, he’s dating Bellamy and Echo, he has good friends, he’s living with Miller off campus but still see’s David all the time, and Bellamy and Echo just asked him to move in with him. It’s all going so well and nothing’s wrong and he’s not sure how to deal with that, so he goes running. He doesn’t tell anyone where he’s going, he just gets up early one morning, careful to not wake Echo and Bellamy as he gets out of bed, and goes running.
Bellamy and Echo call everyone they know to see if Murphy is with them, but no one knows where he is, so they all stay home in case Murphy comes to one of them and Echo stays at her and Bellamy’s place in case he comes back there and Bellamy goes out to look for him.
Bellamy eventually finds him, running to keep up with him after he yells his name and Murphy just starts running faster.
“Murphy, what the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want to come back?”
“No.”
“Is this because of what me and Echo asked you?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.”
“Do you want to slow down?”
“No.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Well too bad.”
And Bellamy just grabs him, making him stop short.
“You gave me fucking shin splints, jackass.”
‘You gave me a fucking heart attack, jackass.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Well, you did. Echo, too.”
“I didn’t mean to do it to her, either.”
“Then why did you?”
And Bellamy still has his arms around Murphy, not letting him move, not letting him leave, not letting him run away again, not until they figure things out.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want to break up with me and Echo?”
“No.”
“Do you want to break up with one of us?”
“No.”
“Do you want to sit down and talk like reasonable adults?”
“No, but I will.”
And they sit on the bench, next to each other, not touching or talking, just sitting.
“Did something happen?”
“Not one thing in particular.”
“Do you know why you left?”
“Things are going too good. I always mess up everything without even trying, everything’s gonna go to shit eventually, I might as well make it go to shit now and save us all some time.”
“Barring you killing one of us, I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would make us stop loving you.”
“People have said that before. They still ended up leaving.”
“Well we’re not, I promise.”
“What if my mental health gets bad again? What if I have trouble even getting out of bed?”
“Well, first of all, it’s a very comfortable bed, I don’t blame you. Second of all, we have trays and laptops. We can bring you food and watch Netflix in bed.”
“What if I get stressed and snap at you? Say things like I mean them even though I don’t? Really mean and cruel things?”
“You’re a shit liar, Murphy, we can tell when you’re lying.”
“What if I get drunk? Or become a drunk?”
“We’ve all been drunk before. I’ll make you a Bloody Mary to help with the hangover and Echo will blare music and describe food in detail to torture you. And Echo’s insurance covers rehab, a few documents and you’re good to go to a shitty ass rehab that you’ll hate but will help you. It worked for Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born, right?”
“What if I don’t do good in school and lose my scholarship?”
“Echo and Lincoln have both graduated, I’m a Grad Student, Monty’s smart, there’s a bunch of tutors at school.”
“What if I don’t want to finish school?”
“Then you don’t finish school.”
“What if I can’t get a job?”
“Then you don’t get a job.”
“What if…..”
“You’re running out of excuses, Murphy. I love you. Echo loves you. All of your friends love you. Lincoln’s dog loves you. Face it, Murphy, people care about you. Unless you go into Witness Protection, you’re stuck with us.”
“What if I want to go into Witness Protection like in We’re The Millers or The Family?”
“Can all of us come with you?”
“Yes.”
“Than it sounds fun.
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
And they just sit there for a few minutes, watching everyone and everything, until Murphy grabs Bellamy’s hand and asks if they can go home now.
“Of course. Miller’s at your guy’s place waiting for you to stop being so dramatic.”
“No, I meant….. I meant with you and Echo? If the offers still on the table?”
“Of course it is.”
Bellamy leans down to kiss him on the top of his head and they get up to go home.
“Oh, yeah, Miller told me to tell you ‘You’re an Over Dramatic Twink’ and the O, D, and T are capitalized.”
“Okay, I changed my mind, we have to go see Miller first so I can kick his Twink ass.