Bück Dich [Revising]

Chapter 13: The Domino

RICHARD'S POV

"Well, what should we do about this?" Oliver asks as he glances at each of us, patiently waiting for a response.

"I think we should go into therapy and talk this through and thoroughly." Schneider states with a worried look.

"That might be our best option considering the situation." Paul chimes in.

"Well, we aren't supposed to know any of this. I feel like it's best to keep quiet until they tell us." Oliver responds, not looking at anyone in particular.

"I'm not too sure what to do. Till's my best friend and all, but he's gone too far with this one. Something needs to be done." I add in. "I feel...like...Till needs to talk to someone in person about this."

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Richard." Paul replies with a slight frown.

"I know Till. He needs to be told straight out."

"Yes, that's true, but this isn't any of our business." Oliver says while placing a hand on the back of his neck.

"Richard has known Till longer than any of us. Maybe he should approach him this way?" Schneider hesitantly says with a scrunched up look on his face.

"Yes, but Till probably already received an earful from Flake." Oliver responds, this time with a hand out.

"He did actually. Flake said some pretty out-of-hand things. All were understandable in his situation though." Paul claims.

"Whatever the case may be, I think Till needs to be told something by us, his friends." I enforce with some determination in my voice.

"I still don't think that's a good idea." Oliver persists.

"What if...I send him a text?" I suggest to the others who listen attentively.

"There's a slight issue with that. His phone might not work." Paul states as he glances in my direction.

"Why's that?" I interrogate.

"Flake sorta threw his phone and smashed some of the pieces on the screen."

"I'm sure it still works. Flake isn't strong enough to destroy phones." The four of us chuckle at the reality of the statement before going back to our seriousness. There's a moment of silence between us before we go back to the topic at hand.

"What will you tell him?" Oliver questions as he raisesan eyebrow.

"That we're all concerned but upset with his choices but that we're here to support the both of them." I respond as he reach over for my phone.

"Should we call Flake first and talk with him about this? We don't want to catch Till in a bad mood." Oliver cautiously says. I turn over to look at Paul. He seems to be lost in thought over who knows what. Schneider appears to be beyond disappointed. I don't blame either one for handling thisdifferently.

"You're right. I'll call him first." I say after a brief pause. I search my contacts and find the one labelled Flake. I call him and patiently wait for him to pick up. After a while, he finally answers. My worried but controlling nature soon grabs a hold of me and my emotions. I find myself becoming impatient with Flake as soon as the phone call starts.

"Flake, where are you?" I blurt out rather rudely.

"I'm somewhere. Why are you calling?" The sack of bones responds with a hint of sass.

"We all need to talk about what happened." I reaffirm. The others in the room only glance up and look away with anguish filling their thoughts and emotions.