Bruises- Modern Zelink- discontinued :(

Want

~I listened to that song pretty much the whole time I writing this. It's great. And it fits the mood of this chapter. Oh, and don't watch it if you're opposed to seeing a dead person. Also if you don't want spoilers for Doki Doki Literature Club. The picture is there so you can't see it if you don't want to. It's not relevant to the chapter lol~

~~~~~

"Link?" She knocked on the door. "Is everything okay?"
"Go away."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just- having a bad day, that's all."
"Oh. What happened?"
"I... it's nothing. Really. I'm just a clumsy idiot."
"Ah." She laughed. "So everything's normal?"

He laughed a little. "Yup. It's just a little more annoying today."
"Yeah, I understand."

She left.

It was more than the fact that he was just more of a mess today.
Well, it wasn't the clumsiness that bothered him. It was the fact that he was being clumsy.

He was terrible at everything, even the two things that actually made him happy. Playing video games and cooking.

And recently, he'd been terrible at both. He passed out in the middle of a game, and now he was cutting his finger and dropping everything while cooking. He probably would have burned himself if he was boiling or actually cooking something. And all he was doing was making salad.

He looked up at the mirror and saw his reddened, tear-stained face. Those sad eyes... it didn't look like him. He wasn't himself anymore. He lost himself years ago.

It was like he had sold his soul to the devil, but the devil was his father.
He sold his soul to protect his family. His real family. The only ones he felt close too.

Sean was... he was barely his friend. He knew nothing. He was more of a coping mechanism. Being used. Sean and Jordan and the others were what kept him from... from feeling like this.
And now he was losing that. He was losing that safety.

He could no longer use hanging out with friends as an excuse to leave the house.

School wasn't a safe place anymore, either. Everyone kept asking him about Mipha this, Mipha that. Couldn't they see that it upset him? Well, no. He pretended that it didn't affect him. That he was fine. That he didn't mind. That he didn't care. That nothing was wrong. That he had a perfect life. That his dad was nice. That his dad didn't hurt him. Hit him. Hate him. Insult him. Berade him. Kill him from the inside out.

So he couldn't use school events to get away. He couldn't take his time getting home.

He wasn't free. He was a slave to his father, a useless servant boy that he could command and beat. A boy that didn't need a father.

He was just a boy. A boy that wanted a home. A loving parent. Someone that wanted him. Someone that loved him.

<<×>>

Link had been in the bathroom for ages. An hour at least. This was more than just a bad day, wasn't it?

But the door was locked. She couldn't do anything about that.
So she just knocked on the door again.

"Link?"
"Go away. I don't- I don't need.. your help.. right now..... I just wanna... stop.. go away...."
"Link, something is wrong, isn't it?"
"Mmmm.... no. Nothing is wrong. In fine. I'm okay."
"No, you aren't. Open the door."
"I am fine."
"Link! Open up the door or else!"

She heard a crash from inside the bathroom, then the click of the door unlocking.
It opened up, revealing...
A mess.

That mess was Link. His face was wet and reddened, his eyes were red- from crying, she assumed- his hair was messed up.

"What? What do you want with me?"
"I just wanted to see if you were okay..."
"Obviously not! Are you seeing me right now? Have you... have you been pay...... paying atten........"

He fell forward, right into her arms. He was passed out again.

Again.

She didn't like that this was normal.
She didn't like that he was that upset over... over whatever is was that he was upset about. He had a million things to cry about, yet she never saw him cry. She saw evidence that he had been crying, but it always disappeared quickly.

He masked his problems with an air of confidence and stupid jokes. And he was good at it. A little too good. She didn't know until she practically saw it happen.

That was what she thought as she gently laid him down on her bed.

Something had to change.
But she didn't know how.
All she knew was that something bad could happen if nothing was done.

<<×>>

~shorter chapter than usual, but I felt like that was a good place to stop. Also, I really really need to finish that latin project lmao~