Welcome To Night Vale (Stucky- High School AU)

Chapter 6: Days of Suffering

I didn't open my eyes immediately, but I was listening.

"Stevie, please, you're all I have, you're all I need. Don't leave me, please."

It was Bucky. I still didn't open my eyes, but I opened my mouth to speak.

"Buck, you idiot. I'm not gonna leave you."

My head was spinning and there was aching behind my eyes and at where my nose and my forehead meet. What was that called? Glabola? Wait, no glabella, I believe.

"Stevie, you're awake," Bucky said excitedly. "I was so close to taking you to the hospital."

"How ah, long was I out?" My words slurred.

"An hour, maybe an hour and a half," he said biting his lip.

"Not too bad, I've had worst," I lifted my head and looked around. I was in Bucky's room. Bucky's bed, to be specific. He was sitting next to me, by my hip. My hand was next to his. It looked like he may have been holding it, but quickly let go when I started to stir.

"Was it him?"

I must have looked puzzled. He then proceeded to say, "was it Shmidt? That did that to you?"

My silence was just confirmation.

Ever since high school started, Shmidt had been beating me up constantly. I always fought back, but it wasn't enough.

"I'm so sorry, Stevie," he pleaded with me. "I'll make sure he never does it again."

"Thanks, Buck," I told him. "But I can get by on my own."

"The thing is, you don't have to. I'm with you till the end of the line, pal."

I smiled at him. He kind of ducked his head grinning and said, "I'm uh, gonna go get something to clean you up a bit."

He disappeared around the doorway. I propped myself up with one arm and looked at the time. One thirty. School would be over soon, and I would be expected to be home at 2:30.

Bucky came back into the room with an ice pack and a wet towel. He started dabbing at the blood crusted around my nose and I held the ice pack to my swollen black eye. I hadn't realized how much it hurt at first. When Bucky was finished with my nose, he threw the bloodstained towel over the back of his desk chair and sat next to me.

"You really had me worried there," he said, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"Sorry," I grinned sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't scare me like that again, okay?"

"Okay yeah, I'll try my best."

We sat there awkwardly for about five minutes until Bucky broke the silence.

"Do you want me to take you home, or you could stay if you want, I don't know, it doesn't matter to me."

"I'll stay if you want me to, but I'll have to text my mom to let her know where I am."

"Okay. I grabbed your stuff before I got you out of there," he pulled my backpack out from under his desk.

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

After I finished telling my mom where I'd be, we decided to go downstairs and watch a movie.

"What movie do you want to watch?" Bucky asked, rifling through the movie cabinet.

"Disney?"

"Yeah, Disney, but which one?" He laughed pulling out a stack of around twenty Disney movies.

"Surprise me."

We decided to have a Disney Princess marathon, and we watched around 5 different disney movies. Of them was The Little Mermaid which was my all time favorite.

Bucky took me home around 8. My mom was sitting in the living room when I walked through the door.

"There's some pasta in the fridge if you're hungry and-" she stopped short when she saw my face.

She didn't freak out like she had when it first started. She stopped freaking out half way through freshman year, but no matter how bad it got, I forbid her from telling anybody. Telling any of the teachers or anyone at school would just make it ten times worst. She sighed and pulled me into a hug.

"You know, someday, we're going to have to tell somebody. He's not going to stop."

"I know, mom, it's just, if we tell, nothing's going to stop him."

"I'm sorry, honey. But if this happens one more time, I'm going to have to go straight to that principal's office."

"Okay," I said pulling away from her grip. Without another word, I marched upstairs and flopped face down onto my bed, ignoring the throbbing in my eye and nose.