A/N
sorry if the rapid updates are a bit overwhelming! i just got soooo excited to write these parts out!! so i kept going!
END A/N
"Honey...? Honey, wake up...!"
Paige yawns as he's gently rocked awake feeling completely drained. "Mm... hi?" he asks, rubbing an eye.
He's then suddenly being held in a crushing hug by none other than his mom. "Oh my god, you're alright," they breathe. "Oh, I was so worried..." They run a hand down the back of his head and keep it there, holding Paige impossibly tighter. "Oh, sweetie..."
"M-Mom...?" Paige struggles out. "What's—what's wrong...?"
Quinn loosens their grip a bit, enough for Paige to be able to breathe again. "Baby," they warble, tears in their eyes. "Promise me you'll never do anything like this again, okay? Please."
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Paige questions, worried. "You're starting to scare me..."
"You?" Quinn gasps, pulling back and looking their son in the eyes. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" They rub at their eyes. "I come home and my brand new box of razors is open and all over the sink. Then I come into your room to check on you, and you're passed out on the floor!"
Paige furrows his eyebrows, trying to remember what he was doing on the floor in the first place. And why his mom was worried over a box of razors that he didn't even—
Oh.
It all comes flooding back.
Everything that happened after he had come home, everything that was said since he had come home. And...
He looks within himself to see Leaf still caged, on the floor and breathing evenly, asleep.
Paige remembers everything that had been done after he came home.
"Baby?" Quinn asks, moving a hand to hold his cheek. "Promise me if things ever get that bad again, you'll tell me first, okay? You'll tell me and we'll work it out, okay?" They hold him close again. "You never have to do anything like that again."
"Mom, Mom, calm down..." He pushes away from them lightly. "I'm okay, I'm okay. I didn't—I didn't do anything." He pulls away enough to take his hoodie off and roll up his sleeves. "Look, see? I didn't—I wouldn't..."
"Then... why were all my razors scattered everywhere in my bathroom? And why were you on the floor in a heap?"
"I..." Paige bites his lip. How the heck was he supposed to explain his way out of this one? "I-I...."
"Paige, honey," Quinn smiles, water still in their eyes, "If you even have ideas of doing that, you come and tell me first. Okay? You can tell me anything."
"But..." That's not...
"No but's!" Quinn swallows their child in another hug. "Please, baby. I don't know what I'd do if I came home and I had lost you."
"I..." Paige sighs. Maybe he ought to just let this go for now. He could try and explain properly another time. "Okay, Mom. I-I'm sorry I..."
"No, it's okay honey," Quinn is quick to shush. "It's okay. I'll clean them up and then we can have dinner together and you can get to sleep on your actual bed, alright?"
"Alright..."
Quinn nods and smiles a watery smile before lifting up and holding out a hand for Paige. He grabs it and his mom lifts him up as well. "I'll start making something," his mom starts. "And you can do your nightly routine. By the time you're done, maybe there'll still be some stuff to do and we can cook together, okay?"
Paige nods sullenly. "Okay."
+++
The only word Paige can think of to describe his current situation is despondent. Everything seems far, far away as he moves like a ghost from one room to the next, class after class. Even when he gets to lunch, he stares down blandly at his food, uninterested in eating.
"Paige?" Bro asks suddenly, surprising the teen.
"Huh?" he blinks slowly.
"Y-you alright?" Bro frowns sadly. "Y-ou've kind of j-just been staring at y-our food th-is whole time. A-and you h-aven't said anything s-ince you—since you got here." He puts a hand on Paige's shoulder. "I-is there something—something you want t-to talk about...?"
Paige hums slowly, looking off to the side. Sue and Brandon are still in the middle of an animated conversation, talking about who knows what. They're going so fast, Paige can barely keep up.
"I'm... I'm alright," Paige lies. "I'm just... tired."
Bro doesn't look convinced, but Brandon asks him something and he gets distracted, answering before turning back to Paige. "L-look... I know—I know that—that the past couple of days haven't—-haven't been..." Bro bites his lip. "They've kind—they've kind of been shit for you, huh?"
Despite himself, Paige lets out a small laugh. Bro rarely swore, so it was always a bit funny to hear them do it. "It... has," he agrees. "But really, I'm fine."
Bro stares at Paige for what feels like forever. And then they say, "I-if you're sure, Paige." They then return to the conversation at hand, but Paige can feel their gaze on him for the rest of the lunch period.
+++
Thursday and Friday are a repeat of Wednesday, Paige blearily walking through his life. But on Friday, lunch is a bit different.
While he had spent the other two days "resting his eyes" until the bell rung, this time when he sits down at the table, everyone is pensive in one way or another, all twitchy.
"Hi...?" he greets warily. "What's um... what's up guys?"
"Dude," Brandon says stiffly, "What's up with you?"
"Nothing," Paige answers for what must be the umpeenth time in the past couple of days."I'm fine. Just tired."
Brandon stares long and hard at Paige. Then, with a certain tone in his voice quietly goes, "You are Paige, right?"
"What?" Paige blinks. "Of course I am," he waves off, putting his head down and huffing humourlessly. "Heh... who else would I be?"
He can't help it. After just a second of silence, he giggles. He giggles and giggles, tickled so deeply. Who else would I be? he asked, as if everyone currently here wouldn't know the answer to that question.
Of course, there's no way they'd know what had happened, but maybe that was for the best.
"Mm..." Brandon hums, but he doesn't press. "Well, you know... you uh..." He mumbles to himself a bit before continuing, "You haven't given me a note in a while!" He gently ribs Paige. "Don't you wanna write up another one so I can go back to delivering them? I don't wanna lose my job, haha!"
Paige stares blandly at Brandon, blinking slowly. "Maybe," is all he says.
"Paige," Sue speaks up, sounding serious as they thump the table a bit. "You have to tell us what's wrong if we're to help."
"Nothing's wrong!" Paige snaps, only to gasp at himself. He never yells at his friends like that...
Maybe there was something wrong.
It's not like you deserve the help, though, laughs some voice in his head. The worst part? It sounds like his own voice and not Leaf's, which is extremely distressing.
Suddenly, Paige stands up. "I don't feel well," he says tightly. "I'm going to see Ms. Tiseu."
"Paige, wait—" Sue tries.
Paige ignores them. "Bye, guys." He takes his untouched food tray and pushes it in front of Brandon, a silent offering. He then turns and leaves off to the nurse's office.
+++
Paige makes up a story about him slipping and hitting his head in the hallway,citing it as the reason he needed to go home as soon as possible. Ms. Tiseu knows about how fragile Paige can be, so it's a good enough lie to get his aunt to come pick him up and take him home.
"Mijo..." Carmen frowns as he buckles the teen in. "You've got to be more careful... We don't want to see you in the hospital again anytime soon, okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Carmen," Paige nods slowly. "Can we go home now?"
"Of course, sweetie." He kisses the top of Paige's head and goes to the front of the car, getting in and pulling off soon after.
Paige dozes as they drive, head swimming. He feels nauseous, but he can't place the exact reason why.
This was awful.