Chapter Text
His eyes struggled to remain open as he scanned the document, again, and again, and again, and again. Blue light burned into his eyes, and salty tears began to cloud his, but he refused to let up. Desperately, his eyes clung to every word on his screen, looking for something that stood out, hidden, but perfectly laid out just for him. As if it was just another one of the King’s mind games, a puzzle, for him to decide even though he was horrible at them. A message from Derek.
His body ached as he neared the bottom of the page once more, but he wasn’t prepared for those carefully crafted words. He’d reread it over a dozen times already, but those words always broke him the same. ‘Tell me what to do, Derek.’ Avery begged. ‘Please. Please, this can’t be the end.”
Eyes trained on the dreaded sentence, he was hopelessly trying to keep himself together.
Whatever you do at the crossroads. Keep going forward.
Deep in his chest, Avery could feel his heart shattering all over again, and aching with a newfound sorrow, black and bottomless. Then, the fans in his computer ceased, its low hum no longer filling the room, as his computer powered off from low battery.
Taken aback by the sudden plunge into darkness, Avery blinked rapidly, blinking away his teary eyes, and began scrambling for a charger. ‘No, no, no, no.’
He moved sporadically and without rhythm, as he shoved things off his desk just to fall to the floor and search the ground thereafter. The idea to turn on the room’s light never occurred to him. Instead, he allowed the nearby fireworks to explode light into his small dorm room.
To no avail, he got up to his feet with no charger and no hope. What does he do now? It’s New Year’s Eve and he’s halfway across the country, away from his family on the most important holiday of the year.
He played Minecraft for 15 hours straight. No eating, no drinking, and zero sleep from the previous night. Fatigue weighed down his body, as he swayed toward his bed, and plopped down to a seated position. ‘Was that… even real?’ He pondered, raking a careful hand through thick locks of his hair. ‘Am I even real.’
Okay. It was time for bed. Avery wouldn’t even be able to fight the sleep if he tried, his body was too worn out, and he didn’t have the stomach to fight it. Without any resistance, his body went limp and piled onto his bed, legs dangling over the edge as he drifted to sleep.
— — —
The morning was quiet with a hungover kind of silence, that even the birds knew not to disturb. Sunlight beamed into the room, completely unfiltered by the raised blinds of the window. Still passive and wrapped in his bed sheets, Avery laid motionless atop his mattress, his chest barely rising as he breathed, almost as if he were dead.
He finally turned onto his side, facing the wall as he breathed deeply. Slowly, a cold shiver inched up his spine and jolted him awake. His eyes shooting open as realization dawned on him like the morning's sunrise.
Ripping off his sheets, or rather, attempting to, he tumbled out of bed and rushed to his computer. Hair nappy from sleep, he ignored it along with his morning breath, as he tried to turn his computer on. Dead. He gave his dorm a quick once-over before his gaze fell upon a black cord peaking out from under his bed. ‘There we go.’
Bending down to his knees to reach the cord, he shuffled over to a nearby outlet to plug it in. Repeating this motion to input the other end into his computer. With it completely plugged in now, Avery pulled a chair to his desk where he swiftly dropped into the seat. He pulled himself closer toward the desk as he sat impatiently waiting for his computer to power on. Leg bouncing up and down in apprehension.
“Turn on. On, on, on, on, on.” He murmured under his breath. His right hand was tightening around his mouse, knuckles paling at the pressure.
After a couple minutes, his computer whirred back to life, the screen turning on seconds later. It stayed on the HP loading screen for a while longer, which began to wear out Avery’s patience.
He tapped his other hand on the desk in restless frustration. Immediately stopping when it began to transition to the log in screen, where Avery already had his fingers ready at the keys.
However, just as he was about to type in his password, smoke rose to his nose, then his computer exploded into light. It caught on fire. “No. Way.” Avery’s eyes narrowed, appalled at the sight before him. Mouth gaping in disbelief.
His computer sparked in response, mimicking the crackle of the fireworks last night. Realization burned into him when his mind finally caught up to the reality of the situation.
“CRAP!” He bolted for the kitchen to get the fire extinguisher. “CRUD, CRUD, CRUD!”
He rushed back into the room and began spraying the extinguishing agent with frantic hands. The fire was distinguished without retaliation. It hadn’t spread, so everything remained intact. With the exception of the now destroyed laptop that sat on his desk, and the evidence of the fire burned into a small spot on his desk.
He dropped the extinguisher to his side and fell back into his chair. He eyed the computer in pure dejection, feeling a headache burrowing behind his eyes. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to focus. Trying to think of a plan, what to do next. Was this the end?
Opening his eyes, he pushed closer toward the computer, inspecting the damage while dragging a finger along the screen. It had cracked from the earlier combustion, and was still warm from the just extinguished fire.
Letting out a heavy sigh, he let his shoulders drop as he began spinning in his chair. Despite the creeping dizziness he felt in his head, he kept spinning. There was nothing to throw up anyway.
Arms hugging his chest, he squeezed himself in an attempt to soothe his spiraling mind. His chair slowed to halt, facing his closet, empty with packed suitcases standing beside them. But all he could think of was Derek. Those despairing words reverberating in his mind shattering his heart.
“You’re staying?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t leave?”
“No.”
…
"Avery what’s in your inventory?”
How foolish, that in the end, it was a game of 2 truths and a lie that marked his failure.
Before he could spiral further, a knock sounded at his door. He turned in his chair to face his visitor who stood in the doorway, with his fist still resting against the open door.
“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”