Falling | BxB

-11- Red Lines

Miles sat in his car watching as the seconds ticked by on his watch. Rain pounded down hard on the roof of the car echoing through the interior. Seconds turned to minutes which soon turned to an hour. The school parking lot was completely empty by now. Not even the staff were still there. Yet Miles was.

He couldn't get what he'd done out of his head. If he never saw Jamey again it'd be too soon, yet he knew what she thought now, she thought they were game. That they had a future together, he'd led her on completely.

The sex hadn't even felt good, he'd been imagining it was Benny he was fucking the whole time instead of Jamey. That was the only reason he'd even managed it. He had to be careful not to scream the redheads name over and over again during it.

Now he was left feeling guilty, ashamed and worried. He'd been calling Benny nonstop since he got to his car. No reply. No response to the texts either. It made Miles feel uneasy for sure.

Making a rash decision he decided to drive to Benny's house, it was compulsive and it might seem weird or creepy, but he didn't care. He wanted to see the curly haired boy and make sue he was okay. but most of all apologise to him. He wouldn't directly tell Benny what for but he needed to say sorry at the very least.

Driving through the backroads he remembered the way just about, he made a couple wrong turns but eventually arrived outside Benny's house. It somehow looked worse than the day he'd dropped Benny off. The garden was unkempt and dying, the bricks the house was built from were cracked. One of the windows was even just a plank of wood, no glass whatsoever.

Gulping Miles hopped out his car stepping over muddy puddles shoving his hood up in irritation as rain showered his hair. He strolled down the dishevelled, cobbled pathway knocking loudly on the door.

A big, grumpy looking man answered after a couple minutes, he was slightly overweight, wore a white vest covered in sweat patches and shorts that weren't flattering on him at all. He had brown eyes, red hair and a similar facial structure to Benny, he had stubble looking messy dotted around his lips and chin, this must be his dad.

Miles also noticed hesitantly he was clutching a beer bottle in his hand the contents of which were dripping slowly onto the muddied up carpet.

"What do you want?" Mr Parker asked aggressively narrowing his brown eyes at Miles. His eyes seemed a lot more dull than his sons.

"I came to see Benny, is he here?" Miles asked calmly feeling his back beginning to get damp as the pouring rain soaked through his coat. It was an uncomfortable sensation so he was hoping Mr Parker would allow him entry sooner rather than later.

"Upstairs" Mr Parker barked emotionlessly opening the door wider so Miles could squeeze in, Miles entered taking his muddy shoes off then bounding up the stairs. The doors up here were all just as unkempt as the rest of the house, each one had holes in or dirty marks littered across them, He wasn't sure which room Benny's was but as he looked around he spotted a clue which basically confirmed which one it was.

Liquorice was sat gazing up at one of the doors longingly, the cone round her head was still there and she was looking pretty sorry for herself. Smiling sympathetically at the jet black cat Miles knocked softly on the door, he hesitated hearing no response so knocked again this time slightly louder. Still nothing, sighing quietly Miles then pushed the creaky door open.

The door squeaked open creating an eery noise like you'd find in a budget horror movie, the bedroom itself was a mess. Clothes were strewn about everywhere, there were holes in the wall plastering which looked like it had been ripped or punched. The tacky lampshade hanging from the roof lacked a lightbulb, The curtains were tatty and falling to pieces, it smelt like it hadn't been cleaned in months.

Miles spotted Benny as he glanced around the room, he was curled up on the floor his eyes tightly shut. he had one arm stretched above his head wrapped around a pillow and the over under the thin, dirty blanket that was draped over his skinny frame.

Stepping over to Benny quietly Miles sat on the edge of the bed, the bed itself looked relatively clean, but of course Benny's prick of a Dad wouldn't let him use it.

Liquorice ran around the room sniffing at Benny's hair then curling up behind him cutely. Miles smiled again at the kitty. It was clear Benny loved her and she loved him, even if Mr Parker maybe didn't, at least Benny wasn't alone.

Looking around the untidy room again Miles noticed Benny's phone on a small, possibly rotting wooden desk, the screen had multiple massive cracks running through it now. Those definitely weren't there when he'd taken Benny's phone to put his number in.

He picked up the phone noticing his own messages on the home screen, he felt a small pang of happiness as he read his contact name, Benny had placed a small heart emoji followed by a dog emoji there, however this also confirmed Benny hadn't even been looking at his phone. All Miles messages and missed calls were still on the home screen unopened.

Miles was about to shake Benny awake when he stopped staring at Benny dread filling him, his eyes travelled to Benny's arm eyeing it in horror. Red cuts ran up and down the boys wrist snaking all the way round, some were lighter than others but some looked fresh as hell.

Kneeling on the floor beside Benny, Miles quietly inspected the cuts. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he gingerly ran his finger along one of the deeper ones, it felt so crisp and horrible.

Staring down at the innocent face beneath him Miles couldn't help but feel even more guilty now. Benny was hurting this much and he hadn't even realised, he'd been too busy worrying about keeping himself safe to worry about how things might be affecting Benny.

Scrambling up slowly Miles sighed sympathetically not able to rip his gaze from Benny's wrist. Self Harm was something Miles himself had done a long time ago, His mom ended up finding out and getting him help, but it was one of the most difficult times in his life.

"If I can stop, you can too Benny, I'll help you" Miles vowed exiting the room with one last glance at Benny sound asleep on the coarse carpet.