Chapter Text
Avery awakens with a gasp. It's dark and he doesn't know where he is.
"It's dark. It's dark and my head hurts and I'm lying down and I don't know how I got here and thinking isn't helping at all and—"
He blinks a few times, a feeble attempt to get his eyes to adjust to the low-light, it doesn't help, though. The repetitive blinking only amplifies the throbbing headache that screams behind his eyes.
He rolls over, or at least he tries to, it feels as if the exhaustion is physically weighing him down. There's a blanket pulled up to his shoulders. Is it his? He's lying in a bed. Is it his? The headache makes it hard to think, but his mind persists, the swirling thoughts scream in tandem with the dull ache in his skull.
"My head hurts. My heard hurts and I don't know where I am. I can't see, it's too dark to see, my head hurts too much for me to see. Why does my head hurt? Why am I here? Did someone move me here?"
He could burn a hole into the wall with how hard he's staring at it. Is that even a wall? He doesn't know. Avery doesn't move, he lies still in bed as he waits.
The room is quiet as his head screams.
"My eyes are dry, the blanket is itchy, my head is pounding and I don't know why. I can feel the trail of dried tears that track down my face. Who moved me here? Where is Derek? Why did he move me here?"
It's dark and quiet and loud and Avery doesn't know where it all went wrong.
He shuts his eyes and tries to retrace his steps, wanting to at least remember how he got here. He doesn't come up with much.
He remembers waking up and he remembers making breakfast; It's like his brain runs head-first into a brick wall if he tries to think of anything that came after that.
He rolls over and sighs, almost surprised as he hears his own voice for the first time in what feels like hours.
"…How long have I been here for?"
To say that Derek was "worried" would be an extreme understatement.
It started this morning, or it started a few days ago, rather. In fact, Derek doesn't even know when it actually started to happen and that somehow makes him feel a million times worse.
Derek noticed it in the morning. The apartment was quiet, the only noise being the quiet rush of water from the sink…A sudden crash interrupted the silence, but the crash wasn't what worried Derek, no. It was the silence from Avery that worried him.
There was no muttered "oops!" or any joke about whatever the noise was.
It was just…quiet, and it is so unlikely for Avery to just be quiet.
Derek walked into the kitchen, stopping at the entrance as he saw Avery standing at the sink. Avery wasn't doing anything, he didn't look hurt, but he also wasn't immediately shooing Derek out of the kitchen, which is strange for him to not do.
"…Aves? Did something fall?" Derek asked.
Silence.
It was weird. Maybe the sink was too loud, maybe Avery just didn't hear him.
"Avery?" He stepped further into the kitchen.
More silence.
Derek frowned slightly. Avery is never this silent…He walked over to him, hesitating before putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Aves?"
Avery jolted as soon as he felt the hand, he took an immediate step back from Derek, staring at him with wide, confused eyes as he backed himself against the counter.
"What— Derek?" Avery asked, his voice was small, his voice is never small.
Avery looked confused, Derek was confused. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, the acrid smell of smoke and burnt food swirled it's way into the air; the stove was still on. Food was burning, the sink was filling up, a sob crept it's way up Avery's throat and Derek didn't know what to do.
Avery looked so, so confused as he wept, confused and exhausted, and Derek was stuck where he was for a few seconds.
Why did he just stand there? Why does he feel so guilty?
They must've been there for at least two hours. Two hours of weeping and Derek not knowing what to do, two hours of Derek attempting to comfort Avery while simultaneously wondering how this even happened. Avery didn't provide any answers and Derek didn't push for them. The other sobbed until he exhausted himself.
The silence was blaring as he walked Avery back to his bedroom. Derek drew the curtains after he set Avery down on the bed, the he kept muttering about his head hurting.
Avery was asleep as soon as he hit the sheets. Derek stood and just…stared at him for a few seconds. He couldn't tell how Avery felt and part of him hated that.
The morning started off normal. Avery woke up unreasonably early, he made his usual jokes…But that silence from the kitchen, that crash of a dish falling into the sink, it started something. It started something and Derek wishes he knew what it was.
The stench of smoke hit Derek like a truck as he left Avery's room, it practically stained the walls, crept it's way into any surface available. He'd have to clean up when he got back from the store.
The store?
Right, that's where he is…It's noon now, but Avery didn't get to have breakfast, plus Derek is completely fine with spending a little bit extra money on random things if it means that it'll make Avery happy.
He hopes he can make Avery happy.