Enmity (Empathy - Tome 2)

FIVE

Author's note: Trigger warning; very graphic scene at the very end of the chapter!

"What the f-" Josh's voice boomed from outside the bathroom. "Tyler, what happened? Are you ok?"

Tyler's head raised to stare at the door, as if he could see his best friend's face behind it. Was he ok? No, certainly not. Was he ready to share that and everything else that ran behind his face and above his throat? Tyler knew that he should... but in reality, he didn't even want to. What good would it do anyway? Josh didn't seem to care anymore, and even if he did, Tyler didn't want to be a burden.

"Tyler?" Josh banged with his fists on the door now. "Tyler, answer me!"

The boy looked around him now. Pieces of shattered glass filled the cold tiles of the bathroom where Tyler was sitting, his back against the bathtub. A couple droplets of blood painted the floor a bright red in some places, and Tyler's hands and feet were starting to sting. Had he been able to stand up, he would have seen the reflection of his face in the half-broken mirror, dozens of tiny cuts decorating his soft features.

"Tyler, if you don't answer, I'll-" the door banged open then, and Josh let out a surprised "Oh!" as if he had only just tried to open, thinking Tyler was locked inside. He wasn't. Tyler never locked the bathroom door.

In stunned silence, Josh stared at Tyler, sitting weakly against the tub, then at the floor, pieces of mirror blinding him like stars in the sky, then at the mirror, or what was left of it. Then, he let out a short sigh and, with his foot, cleaned out a small place next to Tyler, sweeping the shards of glass away in order to sit next to his friend. Tyler didn't dare to look at him.

They sat there in silence for a while, Tyler never leaving Josh's sight, feeling his eyes burn his skin where it didn't yet hurt from the cuts. The boy hid his head in between his knees, feeling the guilt and the shame rush over him. He wanted to apologize to Josh, but he also wanted apologies from him. For what? He wasn't really sure. For leaving him behind, maybe. Or for caring too much about the Gift, when all Tyler wanted was to forget about it.

In fact, Tyler realized, he was sick of it. Sick of always having to put other people's needs and desires before his own. Sick of this responsibility that lay on his shoulders to try and save as many people as he could. Sick of having these powers when all he wanted was to be... regular. He used to be proud of his Gift, but now he was just tired. So tired.

"Did that break on its own?" Josh finally asked, glancing at the broken mirror. But Tyler knew, Tyler felt that, behind these words were hiding others. Did you break it with your mind? Josh thought.

Tyler nodded.

"What happened?" the boy continued, as if sensing his friend didn't want to talk about his powers. "Is it because of Ethan?"

Tyler shrugged. It wasn't because of Ethan per se, although he didn't really like seeing him here. Ethan was like a ghost of the past, and Tyler didn't like his past to follow him.

"You were the one to tell me I needed to forgive him, didn't you?"

Tyler looked up, then, and sighed. Josh was right, and he knew that was coming. After their... incident in their senior year of high school, Tyler had indeed advised Josh to forgive Ethan, not because he believed Ethan had suddenly changed into a good person overnight, but because he knew that Forgiveness, in most situations, was the way to go. In that moment, Tyler only thought about Josh's wellbeing. "I did," Tyler let out in a breath. "Doesn't mean I trust him."

"Doesn't mean I do, either. But... did he deserve you jumping at him like you did?"

He didn't. Of course, he didn't. Tyler knew that. He was just the last straw in a succession of disappointments, angers and bitterness.