They Told You To Stay Away (Jalex)

A chance to make it alright

Chapter Twenty Two
Title from Painting Flowers by All Time Low.

Alex stood in front of his bed with his head in his hands. I felt like asking if he was okay, but I didn't want to startle him or make him think I'm weird. A few seconds later he went into the bathroom.

A few minutes later I heard soft sobs erupt from the bathroom.

It's eating at me.
I felt a knot in my stomach get tighter the longer I heard it. I don't want him to be in pain.

Suddenly the sobbing stopped.
My heart started to beat faster and I had a really bad feeling. My breathing was labored as I jumped up from my bed and rushed to the door, yanking it open.

Alex was on the floor of the bathroom with his shirt tied around his neck. He was pulling so hard his face was red. I saw tears in a stream down the sides of his face, and I felt like crying myself.

"Please stop, please, please" I begged. I watched as he physically loosened his grip "I know life isn't great, I know, and I know people suck and I don't know what happened to you but.. do you really want people to know you as the kid who killed himself with the sleeves of his shirt? I don't know who would.. I don't know if this is true but there's a reason for everyone and if you want to find out your reason in life.. I suggest you take the shirt off your neck" he started sobbing even harder as he took the shirt off his neck.

I immediately snatched the shirt from his hands and went to his drawer, keeping my eye on him as I pulled out a light blue t-shirt and threw it at him.

I noticed that his chest was covered in deep scars that were risen and purple. It made me cringe, but I'm still trying to catch my breath from my mini panic that I just had.

"It gets cold in here" he whined, even as he cried.

"You have blankets" I said, not completely trusting him with long sleeves.

I saw his arm, bandaged from the wrist to the elbow. I can't believe what he was about to do, it made me concerned at an all new level.

He put the shirt on and climbed in bed, still crying but his sobs subsided.
When I got settled in bed I gave him a few minutes before I started to talk to him.

I don't want to keep him away anymore.
I don't want to be afraid of being his friend anymore.

"Tell me about your mom" I said, seeing him as he was rather surprised at what I said.

I need to keep him distracted at least for now.

I watched as he shrugged, taking a moment to think "thick British accent, old, good cook, she's scared of spiders and snakes" He stated.

"British accent?" I asked.

"When I was eight we moved from London to here.. they don't get out much so they never really lost their accent.. I have school so I was more influenced by people" he explained as I nodded. I could tell the distraction was working, but it felt like more than that now.

I contemplated even talking about my own life, but I decided to. "My mom is a tall strict woman, she works really hard and she works late a lot.. she wears bright red lipstick and it's not very attractive" I said, adding the comment about her lipstick for amusement. I haven't seen her in a year. Alex chuckled a bit, which made me happy. "What about your dad?" I asked next.

"He's a rude man, if you don't believe what he believes he doesn't like you, when he's happy with you he's nice though" Alex spoke, looking around the room as he faced me.

"Both of my parents are like that too.. my dad is an even taller hardworking man who works late too, they aren't home much but it's nice because I get the house to myself.. and when they are home they're tired and grumpy" I said, laughing. I wonder if they're happy without me. Alex smiled.
"Do you have any siblings?" I asked.