Product of Disasterology (Vic Fuentes) ✔️

Chapter 5

I sort of lied when I told Vic that I'd check up on him in a few hours. Because soon enough I found myself checking up on him just about every hour, dropping my normal chores just to see if he was okay.

The state that I had found him in honestly scared me to death, and I was afraid that it'd happen again for some reason.

I found out that the piece of wood that he used was actually broken off from the doorframe that led to the small bathroom, which was attached to the room that he was in. Of course, while he was asleep, I immediately searched for other possible sharp objects that he could potentially harm himself with, but couldn't find any. There wasn't even a mirror in the bathroom, so at least that was ruled out.

The fourth time that I checked up on Vic, he still seemed to be sound asleep. He looked peaceful that way. He had rolled around a few times, causing his comforter to fall on the ground, so I decided to pick it up and gently drape it across his body again, only to accidentally wake him up in the process.

"You're here." He whispered, sounding quite surprised by that fact. His eyes fluttered open, and he definitely didn't look as tired anymore as he did before.

"Told you, I never back out of my promises." I simply said, earning a small smile from him as he sat up. "Now tell me, why did me not being here affect you so badly?"

Vic's eyes shot up to mine, not expecting the question. He bit his lower lip slightly, obviously hesitant to answer me. "I just hate to be alone." He eventually said. "I know that I'm a danger to myself, but my parents think that I'm a danger to others too, so they put me in here. It gets so lonely, though."

I frowned as I looked at him. "Why would you say that?" I asked.

"Say what?" He looked confused now. Did I misunderstand him?

"Why would you say that you're a danger to yourself?"

Vic chuckled darkly. "Have you not seen what I did to myself?" Right, of course. "That wasn't exactly the first time either."

I was about to ask him to explain, but then he already spoke again. "Don't you ever worry about being alone for the rest of your life? Dying alone? I mean, I don't want to... If every living thing dies alone, then what am I doing here?" It was a serious question. A dead serious one. I could easily tell by the look in his eyes.

Sympathy washed over me as I looked at him. "I've never really thought about that before." I admitted.

"Well have you ever had a boyfriend? Ever loved someone?" Vic then asked me.

I shrugged a little. "Yeah, I guess. I used to have a boyfriend. I thought he meant the world to me, but he turned out to be a cheat. My mother was so disappointed; she thought we'd get married and everything. But nope, instead he broke my heart."

"I'm sorry about that." Vic whispered apologetically.

I laughed a little. "It's fine, everything happens for a reason, I suppose." And then it suddenly clicked. "Wait, is that why you started hurting yourself? Did somebody break your heart?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him slightly.

The sheer look of 'oh, busted' kind of gave away the answer. "No- I mean yeah, but I already did it before that happened. It just made it worse, that's all."

So there was obviously even more to it. And I felt sorry for him. Truly sorry. He seemed like an okay guy, not crazy at all like Jaime had said. He was just troubled, I guess.

"Well, whoever she was, she's stupid and a total bitch for breaking your heart." I piped up, although the words made me sound like somewhat of a child. "And you won't die alone, Vic. Give it time." I then added with a soft smile.

Vic snorted in response. "Right. I think I'd need to be able to leave the house if I ever want to meet somebody." He murmured sourly.

The thing I said next surprised even me. "Well, maybe you don't." I told him, not realizing the extent of my words until they'd already left my lips.

For some reason, that made Vic smile though, so I just went with it. We sat there and stared at each other momentarily until the silence was broken by the sound of Vic's stomach rumbling. Vic moved his hand to his stomach, clasping onto his skinny form as the noise continued.

"I think you should eat something." I informed him just a bit firmly.

"I'm not hungry." He retorted.

I sighed softly, giving him my best pout. His body told him that he needed food, so I wasn't having the whole 'not hungry' story. "Fine." Vic then groaned as he dragged himself out of his bed and slouched over to the dresser, pulling out a granola bar. "You know, I liked you a minute ago... and now I'm not so sure." He informed me as he unwrapped the poor excuse for food and bit off a small piece of it.

I giggled a little. "You'll appreciate me someday."

Vic then rolled his eyes and sat back down on his bed, holding the granola bar towards me. "Want a bite?" He asked. I simply shook my head, which earned me a pout and a frown. Two could play that game I guess. "So you're making me eat, but you can say no? That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

This was my turn to roll my eyes. "Fine." I groaned as I snatched the thing from his fingers and took a bite. He grinned and chuckled softly as he watched me eat it. There was a bit of a sparkle in his eye, and I found myself wanting to do literally anything to make sure that he'd always look that content.

"Happy now?" I muttered after swallowing my bite and handing him back the rest of the granola bar.

"Pretty satisfied, yes." Vic admitted proudly.

He then put the snack on his bedside table, which was a bit disappointing to be honest, but I didn't want to push him too badly. Baby steps, right? That he was actually talking to me about what was going on in his head was a big deal already. I suppose it could only get better from this point on.