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Aimsey had always felt alone.
His only family was his brother, whose abuse he’d had to endure for who knows how many long years.
Back in the demon realm, none of the other kids liked him. He was always sneered at and called a “human”.
The adults? They didn’t all know who Aimsey was, but anyone who knew him well enough to have the right to interact with him steered clear of him, and made sure their children followed suit.
And Scott?? Oh yes, the golden child. Wow, Scott passed all his exams with perfect marks.
Wow, Scott perfected something on his first try.
And wow, he can talk to anyone and get anything out of them.
Big fucking deal.
Aimsey hated it.
They hated the demon realm.
They hated their brother.
They hated school.
Everything sucked.
And honestly? The human realm was only a bit better. He was too demonic for them. Too chaotic. Too mischievous. It hurt, not belonging to any community.
Too human for one side, and too demonic for the other.
But he was getting better. They really were. They were sick of being the outsider. He vowed to belong.
And that’s what he tried to do.
But nobody appreciated it.
Guqqie was mad at him because they killed Glen, which was a totally stupid reason, because it was just a stupid horse!
And.. well. He screwed up again with the enchantment table.
Guqqie was the only person who really hung out with him, and they still managed to fuck that up.
That’s great. That’s wonderful. Good job, demon. Or human. Or whatever the fuck you are.
They were so mad at everyone.
It was one day, or night, as it was late around 2AM, that he woke up.
He had had a nightmare. A hellish one.
If you asked them to describe it, they couldn’t, but she’d try.
Screams filled the air as a fire crackled loudly, deafening everything except the screams. Guqqie was standing there in the middle of the fire, terror on her face.
Oli, Michaela, Nick, and everyone else were lying on the ground in different positions.
Suddenly, everything caught up to him.
He didn’t know why, and he didn’t know how it was related, but he knew it was his fault.
The exhaustion, and the pain, and the guilt of everything.
Sitting up and feeling sick, Aimsey slowly got up, feeling horrible.
Horrible demon.
Horrible human.
Horrible.. thing
The pranks weren’t fun. They weren’t funny. They weren’t cool.
Guqqie was right. All of it was for attention.
so what? Couldn’t a guy long for attention? That was all he asked.
I want to apologize. He thought, looking at the time.
He knew if they didn’t do it now, they would never consider it again. So they got up shakily, looking down at their pajamas and deciding to not bother to change. This was important.
A few minutes later, she was regretting it.
It was pretty cold outside. Just cold enough to make him turn around and head back.
But he didn’t. They walked towards Guqqie’s house, feeling as if their legs were made of lead
He reached the wooden blue door, and took a deep breath, before knocking twice
Just twice .
Maybe she wouldn’t respond. He felt guilty as he prayed she wouldn’t come to the door. Maybe he could go home and live happily knowing he tried.
He should have known his luck was never on his side.
The door opened a crack, and a familiar brown eye, the same eyes he’d get lost in for so long, peered at them before the door opened.
Guqqie stood there tiredly, pink hair tousled from sleep, looking at Aimsey curiously, but with a bit of hesitation as well.
“hi?” Guqqie said uncertainly. Aimsey suddenly hugged her, and Guqqie stumbled back, before catching herself just in time, and , a bit doubtfully, hugging Aimsey back, patting their back.
“Are you alright?” She asked.
Aimsey tried to nod, but they didn’t, instead just gripping Guqqie’s shirt tighter.
After a few moments, or seconds, or minutes, nobody could tell, Aimsey took a step back.
“Sorry, I just..” Aimsey rubbed his eyes. Guqqie shook her head.
“It’s okay.” She said hastily.
“Um, I just wanted to say sorry.” Aimsey said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Guqqie looked surprised.
“Y’know, for the pranks and stuff. They’re not funny.” Aimsey continued.
“Oh. That’s okay. Why the sudden change of heart, though?” Guqqie asked. Aimsey looked a bit embarrassed.
“Um. Had a nightmare.” He mumbled. Guqqie softened.
“Oh. Are you okay?” She said. Aimsey nodded, a bit hesitantly. Guqqie noticed this.
She was always noticing things nobody ever did.
He loved that about her.
Uh. In a “I love you as a friend.” way, obviously.
“Want to sleep here?” She asked, kindly. Aimsey nodded, but in his head, he wanted to say no.
He felt a bit scared. He’d never slept over at someone’s house before. Then again, this wasn’t a sleepover..
what was this? They didn’t even know.
Guqqie led them downstairs.
“I think there’s enough space on the bed for both of us.” She mumbled. Aimsey felt another jolt of fear. He tossed and turned a lot. What if he accidentally hurt them?
“Unless you feel uncomfortable.” Guqqie added quickly.
Against his better judgement again, Aimsey shook their head.
“It’s fine.” They said hoarsely.
A few minutes later, Guqqie was almost asleep on the right side of the bed, and Aimsey was on the left.
Aimsey had distanced themselves as much as possible from Guqqie, for his own sake or hers he had no idea.
Surprisingly, they fell asleep pretty quickly. There was something reassuring about knowing there was someone with him in the room, that he wasn’t alone.
Maybe he had a friend after all.