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Avery hit his head against the plastic of his cheap desk, not knowing if he should cry or yell. He repeated the last line of Derek’s goodbye note in his head over and over. “Im not as smart as you Derek, I can’t tell what’s a puzzle and what's genuine,” Avery whispered to himself. The sounds of the new year fireworks continued to blast outside, drowning out his quiet voice to anyone who may have heard.
Avery stared at the blinking cursor at the end of Derek’s goodbye letter. He knew it would eventually fade away once his computer died. He wondered how much pain Derek must be in right now, if he was not already dead that is. The thought was grim, but Avery knew it was probably the truth.
It had been less than an hour since Derek pushed his minecraft character off the edge of the platform in the odd ‘eye room’. Avey had no idea how much longer Derek was standing there, before whatever was going to happen actually happened.
“It was hard enough to find you in a game, I don’t know how to do it in real life.” Avey hit his head against his desk over and over, he wanted to feel the pain that came with it. Maybe it was because he knew Derek was going through much worse, or maybe he knew deserved to feel the blood dripping from his lip.
He looked at his screen, the blue lights burning into his eyes. Nothing had changed on the stupid google doc.
Google doc.
Avery realized he could see the owner's email on a google doc. He quickly moved his mouse over the share button, but hesitated to click it. He did not know why it was hard to do such a simple action. Just click the left side of his mouse and maybe he could get some useful information. But it was so hard.
Maybe a part of him did not want to save Derek.
Maybe it was best to let him die without the hope he could help.
How could Avery even help in the first place? Whatever the king did to Derek was almost certainly nothing that a doctor could help with, so what could Avery do?
He shook his fears and finally clicked the share button. The small menu blinked alive and Avery saw his Email.
𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙠.𝙃𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙨01@𝙜𝙢𝙖𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Avery let up a small smile. Derek was so lame for using his name for his Email address, Avery almost found it cute. He quickly looked away from the screen, embarrassed, despite the lack of an audience.
He pulled up another tab and googled the name, hoping there would be at least something on him. To Avery’s luck, google managed to recognize the name, in fact, there was a decent amount of information on Derek.
Graduated valedictorian in highschool, goes to a college on scholarship, history major with the best grades the school had seen in decades. Avery adored how smart Derek was, he was so amber. Avery was smiling at his screen as he kept scrolling, forgetting why he came there in the first place.
He watched a clip of Derek’s speech at graduation, finally getting to hear the man's voice, and see his face, his beautiful German face. He was entranced by the screen, looking at photos of Derek, reading about his accomplishment, and listening to clips of his voice.
One photo caught his eye, it was one of his graduation ones, but he was holding a small bouquet, it was cute. But the thing that caught his eye more was the flowers, Avery felt as if he could recognize them. Long, blue, drooping, they felt so familiar. Avery could tell he had seen them before, but where?
The church. He finally remembered the flowers he was planting at the graves. The Blue orchids that made him forget who he was looking for, now reminding him of what he was doing. “I said I wouldn’t forget again—” Avey took in a sharp breath, trying to stop the tears he knew wanted to come, not sure if it was from the pain in his head, or the sorry feeling he felt in his chest. “—I’m so sorry Derek…”
He quickly switched tabs trying to avoid being distracted again. Something about the distraction did not feel normal, almost cosmic, or unhuman. Avery did not know much about that stupid King, but he knew he could probably blame him for the distraction.
He typed up the name of the collage google said Derek went to. The joy that came over Avery’s face when he saw it was only an hour's bus ride from where he lived was something that could not easily be mimicked.
He left his computer open as he ran out the door, not even bothering to put on real shoes, leaving himself in a pair of bunny slippers he bought as a gag. He rushed to the nearest bus stop as he repeated the information to make it to Derek's college in his head.
The air was cold but the sky was filled with beautiful, colorful lights. The fireworks Avery thought he would miss were lighting the way to the bus stop. Not too long after, the bus finally arrived.
Avery tried desperately not to nod off as he hit the road, knowing he would almost certainly miss his stop if he were to fall asleep. The hour was long, but Avery kept himself distracted as he ran through every idea he could possibly use to figure out how to find Derek once he got there.
Avery pushed his palms against his eyes, he really wished he was smarter, he could not let Derek die like this. He looked down to his shoes, the pathetic pink bunnies looked back at him. It made him laugh a little, lightening the mood, helping him calm down.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Avery mumbled to himself. He determined that his best chance at finding out what dorm Derek lived in would be to just ask the students nearby. He had no back up plan so he just had to desperately hope this would work.
The bus slowed to a stop, as it did every ten minutes, but this was the stop Avery rushed off of.
Having been nearly two hours after midnight most people had already returned to their home or dorm, leaving Avery with less options of who to ask where to find Derek. He wandered the campus, feeling so out of place, looking for any signs of people still awake.
The first two people he asked told him to ‘f*ck off’, but thankfully the third person was actually helpful.
“Derek, Derek… oh yeah! He lives on my floor, I haven't seen him in a while though. Why? Do you know him?”
Avery let out a short sigh of relief as his bare arms shivered. “Oh thank God. Yeah I know him. He hasn't been responding to messages and I'm really concerned something might have happened,” Avery responded. It was not a full lie, but definitely not the genuine truth either.
“oh crap, well, I can help let you in if you want?”
“You are a life saver, man, literally.”
Avery followed the stranger to a large building holding many student dorms. He looked at the windows, most of them led to a dark room, but some were still bright with parties going on. One room in particular caught Avery's attention. It was mostly dark besides a bright computer screen angled just enough for Avery to see what tab it was opened to, a google doc.
Taking a closer look, Avery saw a man he recognized from the photos, slumped over on the desk. That was Derek’s dorm. He quickly counted the windows’ Derek’s being third from the corner, second floor up.
The stranger let Avery in, showing him to the stairs. He barely had time to blurt out a quick ‘thank you’ before dashing up the stairs, not sure if Derek would still be alive when he got there. He counted the doors from the wall.
One.
Two.
Three.
“Derek? You in there?” Avery asked in a volume just barely below a yell. He continued to knock, not knowing if he had time to wait for a response.
A low grumble came from behind the door, and despite hearing that voice for the first time only a few hours ago, Avery could recognize it anywhere. Derek was still alive. “Don’t come in, Avery,” Derek pushed out, the pain obvious in his voice.
Despite the warning, Avery began to try and force the door open. It was clearly made from cheap wood with weak locks considering the fact it only took him four hard hits for the door to let up.
Avery rushed in, spotting Derek instantly. He had fallen from his desk chair onto the floor, his back to the door. He ran up to Derek’s mostly still body and shook him slightly, hoping for any positive signs.
A small hiss came from the man as he begged Avery to stop. “Please… Get away…” Derek groaned. “He’s still here, he still wants you.” Derek refused to look anywhere close to Avery’s face.
“Who?” Avery questioned with a sense of urgency, completely forgetting what the past fourteen odd hours have been all about.
“The king, Avery.” Derek slowly tried to pull himself upright. The pain in his head reaching his whole body as he did so. Him being malnourished did not help. He continued to avoid looking at Avery once upright, slumped against the wall.
“I don’t care about the godd*mn king. I’m not letting you die.” Avery’s voice began to shake as he tried to blink away the burning sensation in his eyes. He held onto Derek’s shoulders, hoping to stabilize the man in an upright position. “Please, just tell me what I can do to save you,” Avery pleaded, begging Derek to be honest in his response.
“Theres only one way I don’t die, and I—” Derek began to cough up a bit of blood whilst trying to finish his sentence. “—I’m not letting you do that.”
Avery did not pull back in disgust as he usually would, he was too concerned about the man in front of him to care about the blood that would inevitably stain his clothing. “You saved me, it’s my turn to save you. What is it?”
“Me saving you wouldn’t mean much if I let you help me.” Derek let out a light chuckle and soft smile as tears finally began to form in his closed eyes. They weren't tears of pain, at least physical pain, but rather tears because he knew what would be coming next. He knew everything and because of it, he knew he could not stop Avery, nor himself.
“If you're gonna be a stubborn b*tch, will you at least look me in the eye?” Avery lifted up Derek’s weak head by the chin to align with his.
Instinctively, instincts Derek wished he never had, he lightly opened his eyes. They were a shade of yellow Avery knew he had seen before, not long ago in fact.
Silence overtook the room as Derek quietly wept, knowing what he had just done. What Avery had become because of Derek.
“Thank you, Derek. You were a good knight for your king.” The voice was calm. Unnervingly calm. The words flowed from Avery’s mouth with a voice that was unmistakably Avery’s, but it sounded nothing like him.
Derek was no longer in pain, but at what cost? The loss of a man who did everything he could to save Derek, who he knew nothing about. Derek knew everything about Avery, his thoughts, his feelings, his past, and his future, or lack thereof.
Derek knew there was no way to stop this outcome from happening, and yet he still cried like a child.
The 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 piloting Avery's body was already on its way out Derek's door. It looked back at the pathetic sight, crying against a wall, blood coughed up all over his shirt and mouth. “A king never loses, my Lord.” It smirked before turning back and leaving Derek all alone to think about what he had just done. A simple slip of his eyelid and the world would never be the same.