Chapter Text
Winter break had come and gone quickly. At least it felt that way for Trey.
Between helping his parents out at their bakery for the holiday rush, dealing with his mischievous little siblings, and setting up for family festivities, every day felt like it rushed by quickly. He almost felt relieved to be back at school. It somehow managed to feel more like a break than being at home.
Above all, he was excited to come back and see Riddle.
Despite being within walking distance of each other during the break, Riddle's mom still held an iron-clad grudge against Trey and his family, so getting to see each other was out of the question. They couldn't even text with each other because Riddle was horrified she would sneak up on him or go through his things.
Needless to say, he had missed him. He didn't think of himself much as the romantic type. Getting so upset over being separated for such a short period of time seemed foolish, but it had been the longest amount of time they had spent apart since they started dating, so it definitely felt odd.
When he got back to Night Raven though, Riddle seemed a little … off.
It was fairly normal for Riddle to seem a little on edge after getting back from his mom's house, but he knew what to expect with that.
Riddle would get a little more mean, irritable in a way you could just tell he was ready to snap. Heartslabyul students learned to dread the first handful of days back from a holiday.
If he was considered a tyrant usually then in times like these he was more like a bloodthirsty dictator. No rule could ever be left unchecked. His rage was kept fueled by all the students who would make simple mistakes as they were attempting to adjust back to life at the dorm. Something that brought great frustration to all the students.
Trey hoped that this time would be different. After his overblot, Riddle had been doing so well at keeping his temper in check, but you never really know when it comes to his relationship with his mother. She was capable of setting off his temper in ways no one else could, and Riddle was never one to disrespect his parents, so that anger had to redirect somewhere.
He was right, this time was different. He couldn't take any pleasure in that fact though.
It was hard to describe, but Riddle seemed almost … lifeless, at least compared to his usually active self.
No light seemed to reach his dull gray eyes. That lingering irritability was still present, but it wasn't that tightly wound, about to snap kind of agitation, more like a string that had already snapped long ago.
He could see the way Riddle's eye would twitch, the way his brows would crease together, but there were none of his signature blow-ups. There was no yelling or threatening or collaring. At most, he would give strongly worded scoldings, but never anything more.
Trey thinks that's what's really bothering him, the quietness.
He really only spoke if it was something related to his dorm leadership responsibilities. Trey barely got anything out of him when he attempted to start up some small talk. He wasn't rude or dismissive, but it was like trying to talk to someone that just got off a twelve-hour shift at a grueling job.
He was exhausted. That was clear.
Trey tried to chalk it up to that. He knew Riddle's mom had a tendency of making him study late into the night. He figured that once the redhead got some rest he'd be at least a little better. That's why when he saw Riddle scurry off to his room the second all the dorm’s preparations for the new semester were done, he chose not to go and bother him.
Well, at least not for a while. When Riddle still hadn't reemerged hours later he got a little concerned.
He knew Riddle had skipped lunch as he had been busy all the early afternoon, and he had a good feeling Riddle probably didn't eat a decent breakfast before he left home. The thought of him skipping dinner as well worried Trey. Skinny as the boy already is, he really shouldn't be skipping meals.
Trey finally decided to go check on him. Mainly to make sure that he was doing okay, but also to see if he could convince him to come join him for dinner. It would be nice to just be able to sit down with him and talk for a minute. Maybe he would feel more up for conversation if it was just one on one and not in a bustling dorm hall.
He made his way up to Riddle's room. The activity in the halls of the dorm had died down, most students having fully settled back into their rooms. Once he reached Riddle's door, he noticed that there was no light coming from the cracks around his doorframe.
He felt a little bad, maybe he shouldn't bother him if he's sleeping. He probably needs it, but then again, sleeping on an empty stomach was no good either. That was only bound to make the housewarden more cranky.
He hesitantly and softly knocks on the door. “Hey Riddle, I just wanted to check and see if you're getting hungry.”
… Nothing.
Maybe he had left the dorm while Trey wasn't looking. He would be surprised if he hadn't noticed Riddle coming out of his room though.
He knocks a little harder. “Riddle, are you in there?”
… Nothing.
He sighs. Curiously, he reaches for the doorknob, rattling it just in case. To his surprise, the door was unlocked. He knows Riddle wasn't allowed to lock his door back home, he probably formed a habit of not doing so over the break.
He opened the door a tiny bit. “I'm gonna come in, alright?” After waiting for a short moment and hearing no response, he pushed the door fully open, gazing into the room.
Aside from the light sweeping in from the hallway, it was pitch black. All the curtains were drawn, there were no lamps, or candles, just darkness.
The open door let in just enough light that Trey could make out the dark outline of a curled up ball under the sheets. The strands of red hair peeking out from the blanket gave it away; Riddle was still in here.
“Riddle, are you alright?” He spoke, closing the door behind him and pulling out his phone screen to use as a makeshift flashlight.
Nothing.
He walked closer to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. Riddle remained exactly as he was when he found him.
“You really shouldn't sit in the dark like this. That can't be good for you.” He leaned over and flicked on the bedside lamp to the lowest setting.
Riddle whined sharply and quickly, pulling the blanket up even higher so no trace of him was showing.
“Do … you have a migraine or something? I can take you to the nurse, or I think I have some pain-relievers somewhere in my room.”
“Nnn” Riddle groaned. Trey couldn't discern if that was a yes or a no.
“You know it's probably because you skipped lunch. Come on, you need to eat something.”
Nothing. Actually, almost a concerning amount of nothing. The way Riddle was completely still freaked him out a bit.
“Riddle?”
… “Don’ want to” he mumbled.
Now that's very strange.
Yes, Riddle could at times be described as whiney; it's never that kind of whiney. In fact, if a student ever gave that kind of response to him, they would receive a finely worded lecture on stepping up and acting their age. It was completely strange to hear Riddle say something like that.
“You don't wanna eat?”
He didn't get a verbal response but saw the blanket shake in a way that looked like he was shaking his head no.
“You have to be hungry. It's really not good for you to tr-”
“Go away” he mumbled again, slightly louder this time.
Once again, he felt like it was strange. Yes, it isn't out of character for Riddle to speak harshly like that, but he couldn't help but feel the tone was off in some way. He must really be sick or something.
At Trey's lack of action, Riddle groaned again, adjusting himself in the blanket so that he was curled into an even tighter ball.
Trey sighed and stood up. “Alright, I'll leave you be for now, but in a little while I'm gonna bring you something to eat. I can't let you starve yourself.” He shuts off the lamp but makes his way to the windows, opening up one of the curtains. “You're not gonna sit in complete darkness though.”
He swears he hears Riddle grumble again, but it's so soft he can't exactly tell. As he walks out the door he speaks. “I'll see you in a bit.”
Nothing.
He stood by the door for a moment after he had left the room. A sense of uneasiness coursed through him.
He had seen Riddle power through all kinds of illness, never one to let himself fall behind. Hell, one time Riddle had a dangerously high fever and Trey still had to bribe and coerce him to get him to agree to lay down for a moment. For him to be willingly resting in bed it must be something really horrible.
Leaving him alone really didn't feel like the right move, but if that was what Riddle was adamant he needed, then Trey didn't want to fight too hard against it.
He had a little bit of faith that if things did get really bad, Riddle would call him to ask for help, but he still didn't want to go far. If he had left to go eat at the dining hall and Riddle called him, it would take a good while to actually make it back to the dorm, and he wasn't comfortable with the thought of that.
Lucky for him, he managed to find Cater in the lounge l, who was getting ready to leave for the dining hall anyway, so he just told him to pick up whatever looked good for him and something light for Riddle.
He sat in the lounge and waited, both for Cater to come back and for Riddle to message him with some severe medical emergency.
Hints of guilt danced at the edges of his consciousness. He knew that if Riddle was in his proper mind and was aware Trey was doing this, he would be displeased.
Riddle hated when he did this kind of thing, when he “treated him like a helpless child”, which was Riddle’s way of saying “when he worried about him”.
Trey knew there was a disconnect between them.
Riddle was good at caring for others but didn't really know how to accept any kind of real care for himself.
His upbringing taught him that leaving someone to learn to care for themselves and pushing someone to be the absolute best, most self-sufficient, version of themselves they can be was the kind of care he deserved and needed.
He didn't really understand that, to most people, being taken care of was something pure and sweet that every living thing needed. No matter how many times Trey tried to explain to him that it was okay to let himself be cared for, and it wasn't something to feel shameful for there was a barrier in Riddle’s brain that stopped him from believing for a second that it could have been the truth.
“If that were the truth ”, Riddle spoke to Trey one late night, when the tough walls around his psyche had been worn down by a long, exhausting day, “ then my mother would have raised me that way. She knows what's best for me. There was a good reason for every decision she made .”
And that was it.
The second his mother was brought up, the convention was over.
It perplexed Trey a little. Since his overblot, Riddle had become a little more open to hearing critiques of his mothers behavior, but “a little” doesn't mean a whole lot when previously he wouldn't accept ANY critiques at all. Even alluding to her behavior being wrong was absolutely unacceptable to him.
Now, Riddle would at least listen when Trey would bring up any problems with her behavior, but that didn't mean he would accept the things he said.
It was something Trey just had to learn to accept, but how could he? How could he watch the person he loved so much struggle like that and do nothing?
“Yo space cadet” Trey jumped at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.
Quickly turning around, he saw Cater smirking. “Dude, did you really just stay here spacing out the whole time? I was gone for like an hour.” Cater maneuvered around the love seat Trey was on to sit next to him. “What, does Riddle have scurvy or something? You're making a face like he's dying.”
Trey looked at him unimpressed. “I don't think scurvy is a death sentence if that's what you're trying to get at.”
“Then Parkinson's? Scoliosis?” Cater teased.
Trey chuckled. “How are you oh for three? None of those are deadly diseases.”
“How am I supposed to know deadly diseases?” Cater groaned, pretending to be exasperated.
“Cancer is pretty obvious man.”
“OH!” Cater shot up. “That's what it was. I had a feeling scurvy wasn't the right word for that.”
They both sat and laughed with each other for a moment. Once the energy died down, Cater spoke up again.
“Alright, so for you I brought you a chicken salad and for Riddle, a vegetable soup. I didn't really know what to get, but soup is like the number one #sickfood so I figured it would be good enough, and it's kinda all that they really had.”
Trey takes the bags of food from his hand. “Thank you cater. I really appreciate it.”
Although Trey was very excited to see Riddle again, he was equally excited to see Cater again. Something about being with the wannabe influencer immediately lifted his spirits.
He figured that Riddle was probably still asleep, or just sulking in his room, so there was no rush to go bother him again. He let himself eat his own meal while catching up with the other third year. It was quite pleasant.
Once the conversation had died down though, and he started to worry about Riddle's soup getting cold, he finally parted from the other.
With his spirits now lifted, he made his way back to Riddle's door. As he expected, the edges of the door frame were still shrouded in darkness. The sun had gone down fully now, so even the window he left open provided no light.
He knocked on the door.
Of course, nothing
He knocked again.
For a moment he was worried that possibly Riddle had gotten up to lock the door, denying Trey any access to him again, but to his relief, when he tried the door knob again it opened without a problem.
Actually, when the light hit Riddle's bed, he realized the other had not moved from the position he left him in at all, not even an inch.
That brought Trey even more concern.
He retraced his steps from before. Used his phone as a flashlight, sat on the edge of his bed, and turned on his lamp to the lowest setting.
Riddle didn't make any noise in complaint this time. It worried Trey further.
“I know you're really not feeling good, but I bought you something to eat. It's just soup, so it shouldn't be too hard on your stomach.” Trey spoke as he prepared the meal, taking it out of its bag and setting up the spoon in the plastic container.
When Riddle didn't move, Trey sighed. “Please Riddle, you're really worrying me. Just try to eat a little for me, okay?”
Trey reached into the blanket so he could play with Riddle's hair a little. “Once you eat something I'll leave you alone, I promise.’
He didn't know if it was the physical contact or the promise to leave, but Riddle finally pulled the blanket a little from his face, letting his eyes show.
“That’s it. Come on, sit up for me.” He slowly guided Riddle to sit up against his pillow.
Getting a good look at Riddle, he was pitiful. His hair was every which way, his sleepwear was all twisted uncomfortably around his body, and worst of all, those lifeless dead eyes had returned.
It was like he was staring into nothing.
“Here.” Trey handed the bowl to Riddle, testing to see if he could hold it himself or if Trey needed to hold it for him.
Surprisingly, Riddle took the bowl just fine. He extremely hesitantly brought the spoon up to his mouth and took a bite.
The first handful of bites were very uncertain and slow, but eventually his hunger soon seemed to take over. He wasn't eating fast, but he no longer seemed nervous about it.
Trey knew he probably shouldn't, but he just sat and watched the other eat. They didn't speak, with Riddle in the state he was in he didn't seem up for conversation.
A little part of him expected Riddle to get agitated with him. Staring at someone while they were eating is horrible manners and Riddle was certainly the type to tell him such, but nothing ever came.
They just silently sat in each other's presence, Trey watching Riddle and Riddle purposely never sending even a glance his way.
Before they knew it, Riddle had eaten all but a fourth of the soup.
They each snapped out of whatever trance they had fallen into when Riddle’s fingers accidentally fumbled against the spoon and caused him to drop it. The food in the spoon fell against his sheets, leaving a dark spot on the red material.
Started by his own mistake, Riddle sits up straighter and moves his legs, unintentionally kicking the container over the side of the bed, hitting Trey’s leg then ricocheting to splatter on the floor.
“Ah!” It was the loudest song he'd heard Riddle make all day.
“It's okay, I can help you clean it up.” Trey speaks gently.
Riddle still seemed upset. He was shaky and breathing rapidly. He quickly gets to his knees and crawls off the side of the bed, the opposite side from where Trey was sitting, and sinks down to the floor.
Trey can't see him there, which he assumes was the point of the action, but Riddle's attempts to hide are betrayed by the sniffles he was clearly trying desperately to conceal.
Trey sat stunned for a moment. He already had a feeling that whatever was happening with Riddle went beyond just being sick and this confirmed it for him.
He'd seen Riddle face horrifying monsters before and not even show a hint of anxiety. Riddle would never try to hide away and cry, especially over something as small as spilled soup.
Something was deeply wrong, and he didn't know what to do about it.
After considering his situation, he does all he can really think to do. Clean up the mess.
He got up and found the cleaning supplies Riddle kept in his bathroom. He started with the spill on the bedsheets, hoping tackling it first would make it less likely to stain, then he cleaned up the mess on the floor.
By the time he had finished everything, Riddle's sniffles had died down a bit but still remained.
Hesitantly, he walks around the bed to peek over and get a glance at Riddle. He knew Riddle chose to sit like this specifically so he wouldn't see him, so he was worried that trying to look would upset him more, but he noticed that Riddle was sitting with his face buried in his knees so it's not like he could see it anyway.
Trey maneuvers to sit next to him, purposefully keeping them about four feet apart so as not to accidentally upset the other. For a while they sit like that, the only noise being Riddle's sad little sniffles and whines bouncing off the walls.
After a few minutes, Trey finally finds the nerve to speak up “Hey, are you alright?”
Of course, Riddle doesn't acknowledge him in the slightest. The lack of a bad reaction, though, gives Trey the nerve to keep pushing.
“I just wanna know what's going on. You're kinda freaking me out.” He nervously chuckles, scratching at the back of his head.
He starts to notice Riddle's hands trembling. Shit did he say something wrong?
“You know I'm not mad at you Riddle?”
Riddle finally lifts his head from his knees a little and lets out a loud pathetic sob. It's high-pitched, and almost childish in a way, but it's so heartbreaking Trey immediately feels awful.
“I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!” Riddle's voice gets quieter and quieter with each apology, his breath fighting him. It was clear he was close to hyperventilating.
Trey reaches closer to rub the other boy's shoulder, but slowly he morphs the movement into a hug. Surprisingly to him, Riddle quickly latches on, both of his fists curled into an iron-tight grip on his shirt.
Riddle bawls loudly, only somewhat muffled by Trey's shoulder. It's horrifying. Trey’s only seen Riddle cry like this twice in his life. When they were kids and his mom found them eating tarts together, and after he had overbloted.
It was always painful to witness, but this time was much more horrifying as he didn't have any semblance of an idea as to what was causing it and that made it impossible to think of a way to fix it.
With no other ideas, he just continues to hold the other boy as he cries into his shoulder, trying to rub up and down his back to give him a little comfort.
He allows them to stay like that until Riddle has completely worn himself out. Even after that, he simply wraps both arms around the other as he can feel the other loosening his grip on his shirt.
When he realizes Riddle had fallen asleep, he very slowly picks him up and lays him back on his spot on the bed.
Luckily, he didn't need to change the sheets. The stain was already long gone, only being noticeable if you were really looking for it.
He wanted to stay. It killed him leaving Riddle like this, but he couldn't ask Riddle for permission and with how he was acting it was hard to tell if he was welcome or not, so he simply tucked the younger boy into his blankets and gave a small kiss to his head.
Once he had retreated back to his own room, Trey was beyond stressed. Absolutely nothing from today made sense, and he didn't have the slightest idea of how he should progress.
All he knew was that he was going to find a way to get the truth out of Riddle. Something horrible must have happened over the break, and he wasn't going to play pretend that things were okay and that he was totally fine while Riddle was hurting.
No matter how much Riddle wanted to beat around this bush on discussing this behavior, he wasn't going to let him deny it.