ALPHABET SEX *CHARDRE* **Discontinued**

13: Dizzy Spells

Leo (3 months later)

Last day of school before Christmas. I take all of my books out of my locker, chucking them in my backpack at the end of the day. Almost everyone has gone home, only a few people linger in the locker hallways.

"Hey," Charlie says as I shove the last book in my bag. I zip it up, putting it on my back for the last time this year. "Are you busy?"

"No, why?" I ask. "We haven't talked in a while, Charlie, what do you want? After Aaron transferred here, you wanted nothing to do with me and, now he's gone, what do you want?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He asks, protecting his chest with one of his books. "I didn't want my mates to find out that I was hanging out with you, Nate and Aaron. When Aaron joined, they started spreading rumours, I didn't want to get involved and complicate things."

"You remained quiet because you didn't want to have to deal with the complications of love," I reply. "I told you I loved you, Charlie, and you left me."

A few tears stream down his face. "I'm so sorry, Leo. I didn't want to hurt anyone, I didn't want to hurt you. I still love you."

"How can I believe you?" I ask. 

"I did it to protect you, Leo," he replies, taking hold of my arm. "Please, I want to take you somewhere. You'll see why I'm taking you there when we get there."

"Is it safe?" I ask. He nods. He takes my hand and he leads me out of the school building, across the road and towards the park. We head down a path behind the park, leading us to the old graveyard. "Charlie, what are we doing here?"

"No one else knows it's here," he replies. "It's fine. I come here all the time. Ever since we broke up, I've been going on more walks and runs to lose some weight. I haven't even eaten in a while, nothing stays down."

"Charlie, how long have you been like this?" I ask.

"3 months," he replies, sitting down against a wall. "I've lost a lot of strength but I'm okay now." I sit down beside him. He's been deteriorating all this time. 

I shuffle closer to him and peck him on the cheek. "I'm sorry. Why are we here?"

"I thought maybe you'd like to have sex again," he says, turning to face me. "I'll understand if you don't want to."

"Charlie, we're in a graveyard," I say. "It would be disrespectful."

"Please," he begs, tears rolling down his face. "I've been ill for so long. I gave up. I gave up trying months ago. There was no point. I didn't have you." He rests his head on my shoulder. We stare out over the graveyard. Gravestones have been destroyed, names have been lost. 

"Charlie, you're ill," I reply. His cries turn into sobs. "I know it's really hard for you but you need to be in a better place, getting the help you need. I don't think having sex would be a good idea."

 "Leo, please," he pleads, grabbing onto me. "I need you."

"You need help, Charlie," I reply, holding onto him tightly. "You're deteriorating." His breath starts slowing down. "Charlie?" I check his heart rate. It's dropping. "Charlie, have you taken any drugs? What have you taken?"

"Mirtazapine," he replies, struggling. 

"How many have you taken?" I ask.

"7," he says, before passing out beside me.

"Charlie!" I kneel beside him and place his head on my lap. I try smacking him awake but it doesn't work. I have to get him to the hospital. I stand beside him, place my hands under his knees and on his back. I lift him up and struggle carrying him all the way to my house. I dump him on the sofa. "Mum, are you home? Nate? Anyone?"

"Your Mum went out, Leo," Nate shouts down. "What's wrong?" I sit down with my back against the back of the sofa, hyperventilating. "Leo?" His feet pound on the stairs. "What's wrong?" He asks, reaching the bottom.

"It's Charlie, he's passed out," I say. "He's on the sofa." I stop to take a few shallow breaths. "He took 7 pills of mirtazapine. He needs help. He needs to go to the hospital." 

Nate kneels beside me. "Okay. First, are you okay? What did Charlie tell you?"

"I'm okay," I say. "I don't know how long he's been on mirtazapine but he's been depressed ever since we stopped talking. Something is really wrong, Nate. Please call for paramedics."

"Okay, okay," he says, standing up and grabbing his phone from the dining table. He sits on the coffee table, facing Charlie. I sit down beside him. While we wait for the paramedics, I rest my head on Nate's shoulder. He wraps an arm around me, holding me close. "He's going to be okay, Leo."

"How do you know that?" I ask, shaking. 

"Shush," he says, pulling me into a hug. "He's going to be okay, he's in safe hands. How long has he been unconscious?"

"5 minutes," I reply. "Will he have his stomach pumped?"

"Don't be silly, it doesn't work like that," Nate replies, sirens getting closer outside. "He'll be given active charcoal, it'll get rid of the drugs he's taken that haven't bound to anything yet."

When the paramedics arrive, they take him away, Nate and I in the back with him.