120 Heartbeats [ThePack/ Sidemen]

Ch.1 - [76] Broken Pieces - Bruchstücke

Music tip:
Zedd – True Colors
(look at the beginning of the chapter!)

120 Heartbeats

Chapter 1:
76. Broken Pieces

Pairing: slight Bajanless/ Mitchless
Genre: Drama, Friendship
Words: 1396

"Mitch?"
No answer.
Not even a movement.

"Please talk to me."
A silent plea. In vain.
Desperation. Anger. Worry.

"You have to eat something."
How in the world was he supposed to deal with this?
How was anyone supposed to survive something so crucial?
The tears welled up in his eyes and once again Rob stared at the ceiling to compose himself. He didn't have the right to cry or scream about the injustice of it all. Only Mitch.

Nonetheless he had not cried about it once – not in their presence at least. Still a state of shock? Two days had passed since he had called them with a voice none of them would ever forget. They had moved heaven and hell to get to their friend in need as fast as humanly possible.
Even Lachlan and Vikk were here.

But with every passing hour their grim determination crumbled.
They had never been in a situation like this before. What should they do? Was there even something they could do or was he long past the point of no return? Jerome refused to hear about it, Mat as well, but Rob couldn't blame Mitch.

If something like that would happen to him, to his-
No. Don't even think about it.

"They wouldn't want you to-"
A mistake. He stopped himself, but not in time.

Suddenly life was breathed into the motionless body on the bed and within a second Mitch was standing in front of Rob.
"How DARE you mentioning them in front of me?!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" he helplessly tried to stop Mitch, but the screaming continued. Maybe it was for the better. Nothing was worse than the dead silence and the aimless stare they had to endure ever since their arrival in Pennsylvania.

"What do you expect me to do?! Go back to normal just like that?! Are you even thinking straight? You want me to be all cool about it? Alright-"
Mitch backed off and grabbed his phone, then furiously typed something and shoved the screen into Rob's face a second later. Twitter. A short text about what had happened. He paled, but it was nothing compared to the deadly skin color of Mitch right now.

"Are you satisfied? Is this what you expect me to do?"
And suddenly the screaming turned down.
Anger made way for an emotion Rob wasn't ready to face yet.

"Because I have no clue."
A whisper. A broken smile.
And then the tears appeared in the once beautiful brown eyes, now dulled by unbearable pain.

"Tell me what to do, Rob, please."

"Mitch-"

"What am I supposed to do now?"

A broken sob.
Mitch pressed a shaking hand onto his mouth to stop himself, but he wasn't strong enough to keep it up anymore. After 48 hours his mind was finally crumbling. He went down onto his knees, unable to carry the weight any longer and Rob followed him in an instant to pull the trembling body into his arms. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the others appearing at the doorway. All of them.

Every single one wanted to help.
No one was able to do so though.

"Please."
Another sob, this time louder and unmistakable.
Mitch glanced up and Rob stopped breathing, as he saw the look in his friend's eyes. A gleam of hope. Doomed to fail.

"Tell me it's just a nightmare."
Mitch's whispered words and his single plea broke his heart and Rob finally gave in to the tears threatening to spill over. He wanted to give Mitch the whole world and more, he wanted to leave nothing undone to bring that pretty smile back onto his pale and shattered face, but there was no force stronger than death itself.

"I-"
He opened his mouth, but wasn't able to break Mitch's heart all over again. The pieces that were still left of it. Mitch though knew, of course he did, because he was smart, thought logical about situations and after all... he didn't believe in miracles. The fire in his eyes died as fast as it had come and with a strangling sound he let himself being pulled back into Rob's warm embrace.

"It should have been me."

All movements ceased and the temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees. Their eyes rested on Mitch, who had his head buried in the crook of Rob's neck and allowed him to pull him into an even tighter embrace. When no one replied to his morbid words, he continued.

"They weren't supposed to visit me. But I insisted on it."

Even though the tears were still streaming down his face, Mitch's voice was eerily calm and Rob threw a panicky look towards Jerome. He was crying as well, of course he was, they all were, but the heartbroken look in his eyes that rested on Mitch's slim body told Rob enough to know that Mitch would always bear those thoughts, no matter how much their friend would recover over time.

And then, between all the shards and broken pieces surrounding them, Rob came to a viral conclusion.
Mitch was too precious for Rob to just let him waste away, shattered by life itself and unable to take another step forward without a helping hand. Someone, who would stand by his side even in the depths of hell, who would pick him up again and again despite all odds. Someone like Jerome, but then again not, because it simply had to be more at this point...

He glanced up at Jerome.
They shared a long and meaningful look.
A single nod. An agreement.

"Mitch?"
The sobs slightly lessened and Rob took it as a sign to continue.

"You will never be alone, you hear me?"
The grab of Mitch's hands on his dark shirt tightened visibly and for a moment his friend held his breath.

"How can you be sure?"
The fear radiated off of him and lost in the need to simply protect Mitch, Rob gave up all restrictions and placed his lips on the warm skin of his temple. And just like that the clenched and trembling muscles relaxed under his touch and Mitch was finally able to take a deep breath.

"We can't."
It was Preston, who knelt down by their side, watched the broken boy in front of him with a desperate look and then put his arm around Mitch's back and leaned his head against the other's.

"But we will stand by your side no matter what."
Vikk. He appeared on Mitch's other side and grabbed his shoulder tightly.

"We will help you to overcome this one day."
Matt.

"We will be here for you every step of the way. Like we always do."
Jerome.

And suddenly they were all on the ground and surrounding Rob and Mitch, who still clung to the former as if he was about to drown in an endless sea of sorrow and regret. But the invisible weight upon his shoulders started to lift, mere inches only, enough though to keep him going for the moment.

Another sob.
He took a deep breath. Lifted his head. Never let go of Rob.

"Thank you."
They smiled at him full of hope and love, and then a fine smile appeared on his pale lips, while he was unable to express how thankful he really was to have them by his side. Then it broke, the memories returned and another wave of tears clouded his vision, as Rob pulled him back into his protective embrace, ready to show Mitch how serious they were.

"I will never let you go."
A whisper. Only meant for Mitch's ears.
Oblivious to the world around him Rob let go of the tension, the fear and the anger, to embrace the emotions buried deep inside of his aching chest.

"I will make you laugh again. You will love and cry and scream, but you will never regret anything in your life ever again."
An agreement. A promise.
Mitch accepted it and the gentle kiss pressed onto his cheek.

And at some point the sobs finally subsided and completely exhausted Mitch leaned against Rob and closed his tear-filled eyes.
"Just... stay here please."

"Always."