New Beginnings

Chapter 22 : Nightmares and friends

Chapter 22 

Middle of the night...

Jeff POV

I woke up screaming. I instantly remembered Alex wasn't here, and I started crying.

I turned my head into my pillow, and curled up, shaking.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

I felt the bed dip down, and then a hand on my back.

"Jeff?"

I shifted a little, and turned on my side so I could speak to Sebastian.

"N-nightmares!"

"What was it about?"

"D-drowning!"

"Oh... Do you want me to go wake up Alex?"

"N-no! I d-don't w-want her t-to be m-mad at m-me!"

"Ok um... What can I do to help then?"

"C-can I p-please j-just have a h-hug!?"

"Uh... Yeah."

I sat up, and hugged Sebastian. He hugged me back, and I sort of felt safe again.

I calmed down, relieved it didn't turn into a panic attack.

"You ok now?" Sebastian asked as we pulled away from the hug.

"I think so... Wait. What's that?"

"What's what?"

I grabbed Sebastian's hand, and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt.

"Cuts! Why!?"

I don't know why, but it bothered me so much that he'd done that to himself.

"Jeff, I... I don't know why I did it..."

I started to cry again.

"Jeff, what's wrong?"

"You can't cut! It's bad! And it's addicting! And it's so hard to stop once you start!"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're being nice to me! And you saved me like 3 times! I know you used to bully me, but it's different now. Alex said to give you a chance, and then she changed her mind because of Nick, but you didn't even do anything! And then you're all alone, and I've been all alone for 14 years of my life, and it sucks! I know how it feels, and I don't know why they're being mean to you like this! But it bothers me!"

I looked up at Sebastian, and he was crying now.

"I want to be friends," I said, making him look at me again.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Jeff, that means so much to me, you don't even understand."

He pulled me to him again in a tight hug.

Months ago, I never would've guessed I'd be hugging Sebastian, yet here I am doing exactly that...

"Why did you do it?" I asked, pulling out of the hug, and looking at his cuts again.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. There's always a reason."

"What was your reason?"

"Bad thoughts in my head. I have depression, not just anxiety."

"Well... I have depression too. I don't know how much Alex has told you about me, but I have no idea where my parents are anymore. My uncle is my guardian, but he sent me to Dalton because he doesn't want anything to do with me. I thought I would finally have friends, and I would have someone I could trust and talk to. And then Alex changed her mind, and I just felt so alone. And I just... did it..."

"You can't. Alex always tells me to talk about it instead of doing it."

"I didn't have anyone to talk to."

"Well now you have me. I can understand better than anyone."

"That's true..."

"You can talk to me whenever you need to. Even if it seems like a stupid reason. If it's important to you or bothering you, it's not stupid. And I totally get that because I have those moments too."

"But won't Alex be mad about this? Her and Nick are so overprotective of you. I don't think they're going to approve of this."

"I don't care what they think! Lately, they've been treating me like a baby! They wouldn't even let me go to my own room alone! I'm really annoyed and I'm tired of it! I don't care what they think. If I want to be friends with you, then I'm going to."

"Thanks, Jeff."

"You're welcome."

"Are you ready to go back to bed?"

"Yeah, I think so... Wait!"

I wrapped my arms around Sebastian again.

"Goodnight," I said, as I pulled away.

"Goodnight, Jeff," Sebastian said, smiling slightly.

Sebastian got back into his own bed. I curled up in mine. And I felt really good. I didn't feel scared anymore, and I felt like I had solved all the problems in the world.

I'm positive I fell asleep with a smile on my face.