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It was undoubtedly a school night, but Gabriel was still awake despite his parents wishes. He laid on his bed aimlessly scrolling through social media on his phone and finding anything that'll keep him up long enough to forget he even needed to sleep since he was a human being.
It started around 2 am when he suddenly was bombarded with texts and calls he didn't even have enough time to respond to or answer. The immediate notification sound made Gabriel jump as he tried to muffle the sound long enough for him to silence his phone, and even when it was silenced there was still a faint buzzing noise. He held his phone against his thick blanket.
Gabriel gave himself a minute to calm down before going to his messages app and seeing all 21 of his notifications came from Jeremy. With furrowed eyebrows he clicked on the contact to see random gibberish and words that made no sense until he got to the last message.
i'm sorry gabe i did it again
Gabriel just kind of stared in confusion for a second before his eyes widened and his heart functioned to operate properly. " Shit. "
" Shitshitshitshitshitshit— Shit! " Gabriel grinded his teeth, haphazardly riding his bike through the cool night of March as he raced to get to Jeremy's home. He lived just two streets away, but it felt like he was riding 100 miles around the world just trying to get to his house.
When he made it, Gabriel threw his bike into the front yard where Jeremy's mother had rose bushes. He'd have to apologize for that one later, but not in a dire situation as of now.
He ran to the side of the house where he always broke into Jeremy's room through his window, a ladder that wasn't put back into the shed being conveniently there for him. Gabriel would climb up to the roof and then slide open the window where Jeremy would always be waiting for him. Always. Unexpected visit or not.
This time when Gabriel slipped in he wasn't there.
He didn't even bother closing the window behind him as he searched through the room, rapidly but quietly to avoid being caught by Jeremy's sleeping mother.
Gabriel tip-toed out of the room and crept over to the bathroom, where was the first place he'd suspect Jeremy to be at in this whole ordeal, and he was right.
Jeremy was awkwardly sprawled out on the cold bathroom tiles, silently sobbing and holding his left arm out, where every single cut was exposed for anyone to see, a pair of broken scissors all the way on the other side of him near the door. Gabriel felt relieved to see that Jeremy was alive, but frightened from the current state he was in.
Gabriel crouched down to the floor pushed the scissors farther away from the both of them and began to tend to Jeremy, helping him up off the floor, which resulted in an immediate hug from the other, crying and slobbering all over his jacket.
" I'm here, " Gabriel whispered, " I'm here now. Let it allll out. "
That lasted for about three minutes before Jeremy began to reduce his sobbing to hiccups, letting Gabriel take hold of and inspect his arm with fresh self-inflicted cuts on it. He held Jeremy for a bit longer before getting up and sitting Jeremy on the edge of the bathtub, turning around to the cabinet hidden behind the mirror atop the sink and looking through it, knocking over acne products, medication, and hair product to get to the rubbing alcohol and bandages.
He picked both items out before taking a few squares of toilet tissue and leaking some of the rubbing alcohol onto it, crouching down and taking told of Jeremy's arm again, lightly dabbing onto each cut and looking at Jeremy occasionally to see any signs of discomfort.
" Does it hurt? " Gabriel asked, stopping for a second and looking up at the mess of a boy, " A bit.. " Jeremy only mumbled back, his nose clearly stuffy and vocal cords still trying to warm themselves up. Gabriel only nodded his head and continued to disinfect each wound before bandaging up his arm nice and tight. Not too tight, though.
When he was done, Gabriel quickly put the things back in place and threw away the tissue before stepping out into the hall where the scissors were. He picked them up by the handle and unwillingly inspected them. The blood had already dried up, and Gabriel thought he'd get sick if he looked any longer, and he didn't want to leave Jeremy waiting. He threw those in the trash too, before tying the bag up and setting it aside. He'd throw it out later.
Gabriel then helped up Jeremy from the edge of the tub and carefully lead the other to his room, no words being said throughout.
They both made it to Jeremy's room and Gabriel sat him down on the bed, sitting next to him and holding his shoulder, " I don't want her to see, " Jeremy mumbled. Gabriel must've given a certain look, as before he could even ask what he meant, Jeremy answered. " My mom. I don't want her t-to see the.. "
Before Jeremy could even finish his sentence, Gabriel took off his jacket and handed it to Jeremy—Jeremy looking at him confused, " You can wear it. The long sleeves should cover up the bandages. ". Jeremy didn't say anything else and took the jacket, slowly slipping it over both of his arms and tugging the ends so they made it past his wrist.
They both sat in silence for a bit before Jeremy mumbled, " ...Do you mind.. Staying the night? I-I don't want to be alone.. ". He got quieter every word he spoke, but Gabriel understood him. " Jer, I'll stay with you for as long as you want (before my mom finds out..) "
Gabriel smiled when Jeremy let out a small chuckle.
3:28, the digital clock read.
Both Jeremy and Gabriel were huddled up on the small twin-sized bed, trying to make it work as best as they could. Gabriel didn't mind being in an uncomfortable position on his bed, however. Jeremy was laid in a fetal position, still zipped up in Gabriel's jacket, and Gabriel was spooning him, hugging onto his stomach and resting his head on Jeremy's shoulder. It was silent. So silent you could probably hear what was going on somewhere in the other side of the world where it was day.
" I'm sorry. "
" Hm? "
Jeremy stayed quiet for a minute before moving his right arm to hold one of Gabriel's hands that was keeping him safe, " I'm sorry for making you deal with me.. For.. coming out so late just to help me. ". Gabriel could hear the strain in Jeremy's voice, as if he was going to start crying all over again. He squeezed his hand tight.
" Don't apologize, " Gabriel said, almost in a whisper like Jeremy's tone, " You were hurting. The least I could've done for you was this. "
They stayed quiet for a bit before Jeremy turned around to face Gabriel, embracing him in another hug, wrapping his legs around Gabe's waist before snuggling into his shoulder and tickling the boys chin with his raven hair.
" Thank you. "