Heroic Acts

Twenty Eight

A/N: Warning, this chapter contains some pretty dark themes regarding things such as physical/mental abuse and/or sexual harassment. It isn't terribly graphic, but it's there. If you are sensitive to these things, please proceed with caution or skip over everything in between the centered, bold "***".  Thank you!

***

Buzz. Buzz. Bing! Buzz. Bing!

What the hell?

Darien opened his eyes to hear his phone buzzing and chiming and vibrating on the table. He looked over to see Seth snuggled up, still holding him close. On the other side of the room was Caroline, curled up under a mountain of blankets.

How aren't they hearing this? Darien thought. He slowly wiggled out of Seth's grasp, lightly letting his feet touch the floor before standing up all the way, moving over to the table on his tip toes. He yawned and stretched as he grabbed his phone, and rubbed his eyes as he unlocked it.

Notifications
34 Missed Calls: Andy
Inbox: 211 Messages
12 Voicemails

Darien held his head in his hand, briefly scrolling through the contents of his phone. Sure enough, they were all from Andy, the messages containing things anywhere from confessions of love to some pretty fucked up stuff. He didn't even bother listening to the voicemails, he just cleared out all of the notifications until they were gone. He stood there for a moment, contemplating what to do next. He read the most recent text in the message box.

To: Darien
From: Andy
8:23 am: I need to see you, I'm a fucking wreck, please, please allow me just a talk, Darien. Please.

Darien sighed and bit his lip, unsure of what to do. Finally, he hit 'reply'.

To: Andy
From: Darien
8:30 am: I wasn't ignoring you. I was asleep, I'm sorry.

Andy answered, almost immediately.

To: Darien
From: Andy
8:31 am: God, Darien, please come over. Please come talk to me. I need to see you. I didn't sleep a wink, please.

Darien looked over at his sleeping friends. He knew it probably wasn't the best idea, but he decided against his judgement.

To: Andy
From: Darien
8:32 am: Give me a bit. I'll be over soon.

To his surprise, Andy didn't reply. He stepped over to Seth and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake very gently.

"Seth?" He whispered. "Wake up for just a second."

"Mm, hmm..?" Seth groaned and opened one eye, looking at the sweet boy standing above him. "What is it, are you okay?"

"I.. um," Darien said. He was going to lie, and tell Seth he was going to a class, but he decided against it. No more lying. "I'm going to see Andy."

"Why would you want to do that?" Seth whispered. He then realized how rude his question might have seemed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Just please be careful, okay? I'll be here if you need anything."

"T-Thank you, Seth," Darien said, quite surprised with his reaction. He was worried he'd be questioned and convinced not to go.