Delusion [Discontinued]

Tearing At The Seams

"Nico." Will's voice tugged at the edge of my subconscious, "Nico, you have to wake up. It's time for you to get ready for school."

I groaned, rolling away from him, "Just let me sleep for five more minutes."

He laughed, running his fingers through my hair, they got caught in the tangles there, caused by a night of tossing and turning, of waking up to find dark figures looming over me or lurking around my room, they came in all sorts of different forms, taunting me, trapping me. Sometimes they seemed to have no purpose at all, sometimes they were just strange. Will never complained about having to chase them away. "Neeks, you say that every day and five minutes always turns into ten minutes and ten minutes turns into fifteen and then ten minutes after that your mom comes up here yelling at you to get up and then you have to rush around doing everything."

I sighed, "Yeah, I know, but I just don't want to go to school, Will."

There was a pause and I didn't have to look up to know that Will was frowning sympathetically. "I know, Neeks. . . but we have to go. You already missed two days this month."

I rolled over to face him, my nose was barely a centimeter from his, "I know. . ."

He smiled softly, "Hey, it'll be okay. I'm here for you. You know I'm here to protect you."

"I know." I whispered again, and Will leaned forward and kissed me softly.

"Okay, you have to promise me to get up and get ready right now. I have to go, but you know where to find me."

I nodded, Will always waited for me at the school's front doors, he was always there when my mom pulled up to drop me off. "I promise."

Will smiled and started pushing himself up, but I caught his wrist, pulling him back down to me to kiss him again, longer this time. He laughed and pulled away gently, cupping my face in his hand, "I love you."

I grinned, "I love you too."

He brushed his lips over the tip of my nose, making me laugh, and then he pulled himself out of bed and started making his way to the door, turning around to call one last goodbye before he shut the door behind him.

I shook my head, the ghost of a smile still on my lips, and then dragged myself out from under the covers and started my bland morning routine. Showering, getting dressed, combing through my hair carelessly, eating, brushing my teeth, all without Will there to talk to me. The Others and the Voices liked to crowd around me in the morning, they knew how vulnerable I was without Will here to protect me. It was often in the mornings when my parents found me screaming and crying, being attacked by figures they didn't believe existed. Their insane son, fighting off his "inner demons" in a way that was much more physical than they were used to.

My mom had noticed that Will wasn't around in the mornings a while ago, that he wasn't there to calm me down when I had these "breakdowns," that I didn't have quiet, teasing conversations with him over breakfast or argue with him about what we should eat (Will was always concerned about my health), and it had puzzled her until I explained that Will had places to be in the morning and he met me in front if the school.

"Where does he go?" she'd asked, frowning at me. I hated it when she talked about him, when anyone talked about him, actually, they acted like they were either humoring me or collecting data for an experiment.

I'd shrugged and told her that he'd never mentioned any specific place, but then I was frowning too. I'd never stopped to wonder where exactly Will had to be, I'd just accepted that he did, in fact, have to be somewhere. When I asked Will about it later, he'd studied me for a second like he was trying to make a tough decision and then he shook his head, "I'm sorry, Nico, but I can't tell you. I swore that I wouldn't."