Fan Behaviour ~ Solby (ON HIATUS FOR NOW)

7. Bail

"What's got you so down lately? I can tell it's not just what we talked about last time, Sam." She said, turning her head slightly towards Sam. "You know you can talk to me, right?" She looked back at the road. "I understand that you're going through a lot right now, but I just want to remind you that you're not alone. I'm here for you, Kat's here for you, Corey, everyone. We love you a lot, and, personally, it hurts me to see you like this." Devyn said.

Sam did not reply.

He was questioning whether he should tell her what's been going on. Developing an eating disorder, going back to older habits that he never thought he'd do again. He was just concerned for Colby.

"I'm fine, Devyn. I promise you. I know I can talk to you, and I really appreciate it. But I'm fine." Sam eventually replied.

Devyn knew he was lying.
But she didn't want to push it.

"Fine, we don't have to talk about it." she sighed. "But again, if you need anything, you know I'm here." she said, pulling into the mall's parking lot and parking her car.

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April 21st, 2021
2:29am

It had been 5 months since Colby and Jake got arrested. Sam could not stop thinking about them for a second. He even had dreams where he was breaking them out of jail, bailing them out, and, sometimes, even joining them.

Sam was legitimately considering breaking some law, just to be with Colby and Jake again.
Even though he knew it wouldn't have been worth it, and the chances of them being in the same cell were very low, he was ready to do anything just to see Colby again.

Within those 5 months, Sam continued quitting and joining new jobs, at different places. His mental health wasn't getting any better, which he knew was bad, yet he was so focused on reaching the $85k goal to bail out his... friends? companions? He wasn't sure what exactly they were to him.

Every day Sam would check his bank account, and see how much progress he had made, and how much he would need until the final goal. Currently he stood at 83,500$. He knew it would only take a month, maybe two, until he could finally get to see Jake and Colby again.

He was so tired, yet couldn't sleep at all. He would call his friends from back in Kansas nearly every night, just so he wouldn't be so bored. He had no new clips to edit, no ideas of his own, it was just him and his phone, every single night.
For months. And he was getting tired of it.

Sam stopped zoning out, flipping from staring at his wall again to laying on his back. He groaned and reached for his phone.

'2:30am' the time read.
"Goddangit." he mumbled.

There was no one around to hear him, anyways. He had no reason to voice anything out loud, or, on the contrary, keep anything in.

He unlocked his phone and dialed in Nate's - his friend from Kansas - phone number. Little did he know that Nate, along with Sam's other older friends, decided collectively to not pick up his calls late at night. At this point, pretty much everyone Sam was in contact with knew he wasn't taking care of himself properly. So they decided unitedly to help him, without him actually knowing.

He sighed as the line kept ringing, no response on the other end.
Eventually, giving up on the calls, he started scrolling through social media.

First mistake.

As he was scrolling through Instagram, he noticed that Nate posted a Story.
With his other friends from Kansas.

He knew Nate didn't owe him anything, but that image of Nate partying with other people and having the time of his life, while Sam was alone in his room, broke him.

He started weeping, as his chest heaved faster and faster. He started shaking uncontrollably, phone still in his hand, Instagram stories being passed by automatically.
Very quickly, the weeping became sobbing, and then full-on crying.

He grabbed his pillow and hugged it tightly, wishing it was somebody.

"They don't need me." he spoke into his pillow, continuing to cry, shutting his eyes, as he hugged his pillow even tighter.

He'd had many panic attacks in the past, and yet he never knew how to calm himself down. His heart kept beating faster and faster, you would think it was a ticking bomb about to explode.

His panic attack lasted ten whole minutes. He was exhausted, he was thirsty, hungry, and out of breath.
He wiped off the tears from his face.

"I'll see you soon, Colby." Was the last thing he said before he shut his eyes and fell asleep, knowing he would have to wake up early the next morning to get to his shift on time.