Chapter Text
Bam. The screen read, “You died.”
"Damn, damn, DAMN." Avery clutched his hair nervously and burst into tears. What was he supposed to do? For about ten minutes, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen, breathing heavily. Apparently, he was having a panic attack.
As soon as it subsided, Avery, with shaking hands, began searching through Derek's folder, hoping to find anything at all. And he found a letter. But it didn't make him feel any better.
He reread the letter a hundred times, trying to comprehend what was happening. d3rLord was dead. Derek was dead. There was nothing he could do about it; Avery just wanted to crawl under the covers and cry.
The last time he cried like that was when his parents rejected him after he came out. Since then, they stopped helping him in any way or paying for his education. Since then, Avery was in debt. Overall, his life hadn't been a bed of roses. His parents didn’t accept him, he had no friends, and only Derek saw something in him.
Said he was special.
These words were devastating. After all, d3rLord was most likely dead now. But suddenly Avery saw the second page of the letter with an address and an addition of "just in case." He slapped his face with his hand.
He's such an idiot! He didn't even see that damn next page!
With a nervous smile, he tied his dreadlocks into a ponytail, threw on the first clothes he could find, and ran out onto the street. Luckily, Derek lived in the same city as him. Avery was surprised, but it wasn't the right time to think about how lucky he was. He ordered an Uber.
When he got out of the car, Avery saw a tall apartment building. Without a second thought, he ran inside and started looking for Derek's apartment, which he found quickly because it was on the ground floor. He knocked on the door right away.
Silence.
He knocked again.
Silence.
Avery realized it was pointless and went back outside.
"Derek lives on the ground floor, so... I can climb in through the window!" Avery decided that wasn't a bad idea and set out to find Derek's window.
His gaze landed on one through which he could see a black-haired guy lying face-down on his keyboard. Realizing that every second counted, Avery smashed the window and jumped inside, ignoring the few scratches on his hands from the impact. Avery rushed over to Derek; as he lifted him up, he saw his face. He turned out to be a rather handsome Asian guy with ridiculously long bangs that suited him perfectly. Pushing those thoughts far from his mind, Avery checked his pulse. It was fine.
Then he looked around d3rLord's apartment and noticed how spacious and tidy it was. Everything was modern and minimalist. Quite his style. He also found a bedroom with a large bed. So Avery went back, picked Derek up, and carried him to the bed.
"I should probably call an ambulance," Avery thought anxiously. He felt in his pockets and realized he'd dropped his phone while breaking into Derek's apartment. He stepped out of the room and ran to the window, when he suddenly heard a voice from the open bedroom.
"Avery?..."