Finding You || Dylan O'Brien

sixteen (edited)

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"I can't see him." Astrid said, looking out the window.

"We've been driving down here for the past five minutes. There has to be something." he said.

"Well I don't...wait," She stopped the car in the middle of the road. "Is that..?"

"MINHO!" Dylan screamed.

Astrid pulled up on the curb as Dylan scrambled out of his seat. The cold hit him like a train. The large building cast a shadow on the damp road, making it all the more eerie. The street lights provided little illumination and Dylan could only just make out the tiny silhouette that was Minho's legs poking out of the pay phone nearby. He ran to him and his heart sunk when he saw.

Under the dim pay phone light, Minho was crying. His eyes were puffy, hair all over the place. There was a scratch on his cheek and he was clutching his wrist.

"Hey," Dylan said softly, crouching. "Hey, it's okay. Astrid and I are going to take you home."

Astrid's shoes clicked as she ran to them. She froze outside.

"It hurts." Minho sobbed quietly, head down. "Everything hurts."

"We have to get you home, Minnie. The cuts are going to get infected." Dylan said, taking his arm. "Come on."

"No!" Minho persisted. "I'm not moving!"

"Mate. I know you're not okay right now, but you need help. I don't want any repeats of-"

"Stop reminding me! Stop it stop it stop it stop it..."

Dylan sighed and stood, turning to Astrid for help. She bit her lip unsurely before approaching Minho. She knelt.

"Minho," she said softly. "Um, I...I know that you don't feel so well right now-"

"GO AWAY!"

She placed her hand softly on his shoulder. "I..don't...Look, Minho, I haven't known you for long, and I haven't seen you very much, but as far as I know you're a very happy person. It's weird seeing you...crying and I know it hurts...it hurts Dylan to see you like this. We need to get you home so your cuts don't get...don't get worse. And I...I'll make a promise, just for you. I promise that when we get home, we can put on a few movies and Dylan can give you the entire tub of ice-cream. How does that sound?"

"Maybe not the entire tub" Dylan interjected. "Maybe just ha-"

She shot him a death glare that made him sink. "The whole tub." She turned back to Minho. "Alright?"

Minho slowly looked up from his wrist. Dylan saw the hollowness in his eyes, like before. Like his life had been sucked from his body.

"Can we watch the Titanic?" Minho asked quietly.

She smiled, looking relieved. "Only if we get to watch 17 Again after that."

With a lot of wincing, cringing, complaining and clever come-backs, Astrid and Dylan managed to help Minho get into the backseat of the car. He went to sleep immediately. Dylan knew that he had been physically and emotionally drained. The drive was silent.

"Thanks." Dylan whispered after a while. "Thanks for helping."

She shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I've had plenty of practice with Bonnie"

___

Minho stumbled into the house and crashed onto the sofa. Astrid settled next to him whilst Dylan insisted on cleaning up all the glass, saying he didn't want to "be brainwashed by chick-flicks". As he swept up the floor of glass, Astrid and Minho watched their movies and ate their - promised - tub of mint ice cream. It wasn't until they finished all the ice cream plus a bottle of wine they had found in the kitchen and three movies later did Minho feel better. He went to sleep on the couch during the credits of "17 Again". Astrid pulled herself out from underneath him and went to the kitchen where Dylan was still picking up glass. The hallway was all clear of the stuff now.