Brad then spent the next few days trying to cope with everything that's happening right now. He almost lost Tris, his father walked out on them and their family's financial state right now is in jeopardy.
He's always trying to be strong but he can't help to break down at some points. The curly haired lad has to worry about his family , his friends and the person he's seeing right now. All the stress and frustration from those things can surely break an already fragile 17 yr old like him.
"Brad?" he opened his eyes and saw Brendon looking down on him.
"What do you want kid?" he asked as he rolled over towards him.
"Can I sleep beside you?"
Brad then looked at the clock and saw that it's only 3:00 am. "Ugh fine" he replied and so his little brother happily climbed up the bed and hugged Brad right away. "Can't you sleep on your bed?" he asked his brother.
"I can't" Brendon replied and then buried his face on Brad's chest. The curly haired lad just closed his eyes and tried his best to sleep again. Brendon is more independent than kids his own age, he may have a strong front but Brad can see through it. He's bothered and it makes Brad even more feel bad since he knows he can't do a thing about it.
If only Tristan's here, he could tell Brendon the right words to make him feel better. If only Tris is here, he could make the situation seem a little lighter. If only he is more like him then he can help not only Brendon but also himself.
"Tell me a story"
"What story?" Brad asked.
"Any story"
Brad then proceeded to tell Brendon a short story that Tristan wrote back when they were in primary school. A story about how friends can conquer everything as long as they're united and well. Before he even noticed it, his little brother fell asleep. Brad smiled and then closed his eyes and shut the whole world out.
--
"What do you see in your hallucinations?"
Tristan took a deep breath and then looked at his therapist, he can see something moving behind him but he knows he can't tell, for as soon as he does, it will only mean more time to stay in here. And he just can't afford that.
"Nothing" he replied vaguely.
"You know I can't help you if you're lying"
"I'm not lying"
"Your eyes tell the different"
"Shit" Tristan thought to himself. Deep inside he knows he's getting worse and there's not stopping it this time.
"Now let's start again .. what do you see Tristan?"
"Ben ...mostly"
"Ben? Is it Ben Ringer?" the therapist asked and so Tris nodded.
"What is he doing?"
"He's staring at me" Tris answered just as tears started mounting on his eyes.
"That's all he's doing?"
The blonde haired lad's mind shifted back to the time he's in that classroom, how Bren's group pointed guns at them .. how they killed a lot of people.
"Y-Yes"
"What else do you see?"
"People , they are hurting so much"
"From a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate it?"
"10"
"How long is it usually before you realize that you're hallucinating?"
"It varies"
"How do you differentiate reality from Illusion?"
"I don't know" The blonde haired lad replied as he started crying. The pain is coming back, the pain he felt from that day is definitely coming back and there's nothing he could do about it. "So when was the last time you've felt like it?"
Tristan looked at the therapist with teary eyes and said "Here". Thankfully, their bell started ringing which means that the session is over. His therapist rushed over him and then helped him get up. Tristan started wiping his tears away just then.
"Are you alright?" she asked and the blonde haired lad hugged her very tight.
"Do you want me to help you go back to your room?"
Tris wants to say 'no' but he doesn't trust himself right now and so he accepted her offer.
---
"You slept with Victoria?" Brad asked Connor while they're hanging out inside James's room. "Yes" Connor replied and then started blushing.
"Dude that's great!. You're not a virgin anymore" James uttered as he and Caleb got inside the room after preparing some food. "I didn't wanna lose it on her" Connor then uttered. The curly haired lad then sat beside him and decided to give an advice to the newly sexed up man.
"Connor sometimes things happen and we control it ... but what matters right now is that ... you're not a virgin anymore!!"
Everyone then started cheering for Connor, even Brad. A few minutes after, he heard his phone ringing. "Excuse guys" he told as he got out of the room to answer the call. "Hello?" the curly haired lad asked.
"Brad?"
"Yes?"
"This is Tristan's mother"
"Oh hello Mrs. Evans" he greeted back while his heart started pounding. Maybe they found out he went there a few days ago to check up on their son.
"Are you free today?"
"Yes, why?"
"Can we talk?"
"Alright" Brad replied just as the call ended. What is it she wants to talk about?
---
The blonde haired lad then got back to his room, he sat on the side of his bed and saw Luke peacefully sleeping. Luke is always sleeping these days.
Everything is clear to him again, how he saw the bloody walls and the lifeless bodies of the people he used to know. There's no denying how massive the impact that event brought onto him. He just sat there and let the tears come out of his eyes.
"Hey .. are you alright?" Luke asked.
"Oh yes .. sorry I woke you up"
"No it's okay" the other blonde haired boy replied as he stood up and sat beside Tris.
"What did they made you do?"
"Just therapy"
"What did they ask?"
Tristan couldn't contain his emotions anymore and so he broke down on Tris. His new friend them held him in his arms just as the tears kept on coming.
--
James's house is much nearer to Tris that's why Brad decided to just walk towards there, and besides he and Connor did a morning walk towards their friend's anyway. While he's on his way, he noticed a familiar face looking at him. It's a girl and she just started waving. Brad, quite confused started waving back and so the girl approached him.
"Hey" she greeted.
"Hi"
Brad's clueless reaction gave an obvious response to the girl and so she prompted to introduce herself again. "I'm Courtney Scott" she uttered and then smiled at him.
"Hi .. Courtney" Brad replied and they did a handshake. He still cannot remember where he saw her , she's just familiar.
"You still don't remember me do you?" she asked and so Brad nodded.
"We dated for about 3 weeks"
"Keep going" Brad replied.
"We had sex 10 times during that duration"
"Keep going .."
"Wow ... how many times did you have sex?"
"I don't know .. sorry, I gotta go"
"Library sex for six times then at my brother's bunk for four times"
That's when it dawned on him, Brad can now finally recognize her. "Oh that's you" Brad answered and she started smiling.
"Yeah. So I just wanna ask you why didn't you tell me you're having a baby?"
But before Brad can answer that surprising question, she already kicked him in the crotch. "Asshole" that's all Courtney said as she started walking away . Leaving Brad to deal with the pain in his lower region.
---
Later that day, one of the nurses told Tris someone's there to visit him. He quickly got out of the room and went to the entertainment room where all the visitation happens. At first he thought it's his parents but after not seeing his Mum rushing towards him he knew it was Brad. But something is wrong, his heart is not beating fast.
It always betas fast whenever he's about to see Brad, even before they're just friends .. they just have this special kind of connection. "Who is it then?" Tris asked himself just as he entered the room.
"Brett?" he asked and saw his friend stood up and grinned at him.
"How are you Tristan?"
---
Brad then went to the Evan's residence after almost half an hour of enduring the pain in his 'Superman' area.
He knocked on the door and was immediately let in by Tristan's mother. Brad proceeded to sit on the couch just as Mrs. Evans sat right in front of him.
"I'm just gonna cut right through the chase okay?"
"Okay"
"I know about you and Tris"
"Dead" Brad thought to himself and felt his heart dropped.
---
That's it for this chapter guys .. what do you think? please vote and comment :D
And yes, what do you think will happen on the conversation Brad is having with Tristan's Mum? How did Brett find Tris? and what will happen to Connor and Victoria? Stay tuned ;) x