A/N: WARNING. This chapter gets very serious- Perry's part will be dealing with violations of the human body.
Aaron
After turning off my car, I slowly got out before looking up at the house in front of me. Before chickening out, I walked up to the front door and took a deep breath before I knocked onto the door. It took a few minutes for the door to open and when it did, I wondered if it was best coming here.
"What are you doing here?" Perry's mom asked while she stared me down. Funny, even though I despised this woman with everything in my body, it still made me sad seeing her without her son.
"I'd like to talk to you and hopefully your husband."
Her eyes narrowed as she leaned against the door behind her body. "He isn't here. You do remember that Perry doesn't live here anymore right?"
"I do, yes."
An awkward silence then passed. She probably thought I was an idiot. "So you have no reason to be here whatsoever."
She started to shut the door but luckily I was able to shimmy my foot in before she could break it. "Wait! Please, just hear me out." She then crossed her arms over her chest while she remained silent. When she didn't say anything for a while I took that as my only opportunity to talk.
"When you kicked Perry out, it really changed him. He changed from his normal bubbly and happy self to someone I don't even recognize. I'm not asking you to take him back- because honestly I wouldn't want him living with people who treat him so poorly. But you're still his family, and he's going through some really hard times right now. He... he got mixed up into the wrong things with the wrong people. I don't know what else to do, can you please help?" My voice cracked on the last word, I sounded so desperate.
She remained silent for a while, silently judging me. "Him, have hard times? I don't believe that."
"Please, I would never make any of this up. The person he's living with now got him addicted to... heroin."
A loud laugh suddenly filled the silence around us, making me look up into her eyes. "I always knew he would never do anything with his life. That's your problem, not mine. Wait until his dad hears about his son being a drug addict, he'll get a kick out of it!" With that she slammed the door right in my face.
What just happened? I wondered while staring at the door inches from my face. Turning around, I walked back over to my car before slowly getting in. After sitting in a silent car for awhile, I started it up and drove it home.
Honestly I didn't think his parents would actually do anything, but they still should've cared. Why didn't his mother care about him? My thoughts wandered back to Hugo and his dad; he really didn't care about any of them. I just can't understand how parents could act like that towards their children.
After Tate had forcefully thrown me out of the apartment, I had driven straight to Perry's house. I really had no clue what to do and obviously his parents weren't going to give a shit. I just wanted my best friend back.
After pulling into my driveway a little while later, my head landed on the steering wheel as I tried to calm my breathing. Feeling as good as I was going to get, my legs wandered into the house I knew so well. "Aaron?"
Turning around, my body relaxed when the smiling face of my mom was walking towards me. Her small arms were wrapping around my taller body as she kissed my cheek. "Hi mom."
"Oh honey, I missed you so much." She wrapped her arms tighter around me as her usual perfume made me sigh in happiness.
Ever since my dad died, my mom hasn't really been the same. She became worse when my sister died, leaving me and Andy. Since Andy can't even turn off a light switch without complaining, I knew it was my responsibility to look after her. My dad would've wanted that.
"Look what the cat dragged in."
Speaking of the whiner himself, I looked up to see Andy walking down the stairs. His blonde hair wasn't as spiky as it normally was, probably because it looked like he just got out of the shower.
"Oh look at this," my mom said while pulling Andy over to us and squishing us all together. "My boys are back. I missed you both so much." With that she kissed both of us, having to stand on her tip toes. Both of us clearly got our height from our dad, who was 6'7. My mom was just like my sister, both barely over five foot.
"Gross mom," Andy said while wiping the back of his hand over his cheek. "I just showered."
"You're fine," she warned as she narrowed her eyes. "Well boys, do you want to order a pizza tonight? I'm not up for cooking."
Following her into the kitchen I asked, "Want me to make anything?"
"Oh no honey, you just got back. Besides, you can help me and your Aunts tomorrow for Thanksgiving."
"Aunt Gina isn't coming is she?" Andy asked while grabbing an apple off of the counter.
Since my mom was an only child, she became super close with my dad's sisters. When he passed away they never left her side. They were basically the sisters she never had. "Now Andy," she said while putting her hands on her hips. For such a small woman she sure is intimidating. "There is nothing wrong with Gina; she's just been going through a bad divorce."
"She talks to her cats' mom. And she has five cats."
"That's just her dealing with her ex cheating on her."
"That's just her being insane."
A smile spread across my lips when I saw my mom take the sprayer by the sink and start spraying Andy. "Hey!" I laughed with my mom as Andy grumbled out of the kitchen.
When it was just the two of us she looked me up and down, probably sensing something was wrong. Moms did always seem to know everything. "Are you okay Aaron? You don't quite seem like yourself."
"Yeah, just tired." With that I forced a smile onto my face. My mom already had to go through the trauma of watching my sister face an addiction. She didn't need to know about Perry. "I think I'm going to go take a nap. Are you sure you don't want me to make anything tonight?"
"Of course not," she said while walking over to me before kissing both of my cheeks. "It's silly to cook the night before Thanksgiving anyway. Go rest up, I'll let you boys know when the pizza is here."
Walking out of the kitchen, I made my way up the stairs. Passing the loud music from Andy's room, my eyes stayed forward when I passed my sister's room. It was still too much for my mom to handle; she might not ever walk into that room again, or clean it out.
Once in my room, I walked in before turning around to shut the door. Before I had a chance to shut it I saw one of our French bulldogs wiggling her way into my room. "Hey Pixie," I said while picking her up and kissing her black fur.
Walking over to my bed, I set Pixie gently down onto the bed before getting on top. My eyes stopped on a picture I had on my bedside table. The picture was taken from Halloween, with Perry basically hanging off of me in his burrito costume. That was also the night he made me smile.
Grabbing the picture, I gently ran my finger over the different colors and happy memories staring back at me. Come back to me Perry, please. With that I leaned back onto the bed, holding the picture close to my heart as my body finally drifted off to sleep.
**
"Do you think an intervention would work?" Looking up, I watched as Sebastian was looking at something on his computer while Cleo was watching over his shoulder.
"He probably won't even listen," I said while leaning my head back against the couch behind me.
"There has to be something we can do," Cleo said while basically shoving Sebastian over so she could type something.
Picking at a stray string on my jeans, I frowned while glancing around at my friends. Cleo and Sebastian were looking up ways to help someone addicted to drugs, while Hugo and Cameron were flipping through different books.
"That Tate guy has to be the one behind it," Hugo said while he angrily threw the book across the room. "Why else would Perry start doing drugs? He's always been scared of drugs, just like he's scared of the dark. This isn't him. We need to help him; we can't just let him rot away!"
"Of course we aren't going to let him rot away," I yelled while getting up and standing in front one of the nearby windows. "He's going to be fine. I can't lose him too."
Everyone was quiet for a while after that, all sitting around with our thoughts. I was brought out of mine when small arms were suddenly wrapping around my body. Looking down, I smiled at Cleo who was resting her head on my shoulder. Wrapping one of my arms around her, I glanced back out the dark window while sighing.
Glancing down at my phone, I saw it was barely six fifteen. "I need to go make sure he's okay," I muttered practically to myself. "I can't stand being an hour away from him, what if something happens?"
Turning around I saw three sad faces staring back at me. "I don't want you going alone," Cameron said while he stood up. "I'm going with you."
"If you're going so am I," Cleo said.
"Cleo, no. You're used to the fun and loving Perry, he isn't your best friend anymore. He's someone different."
"I'm going," she said firmly.
Grabbing my keys off of the coffee table, I started walking towards the kitchen when Cameron sighed behind me. "Fine but you have to tell the folks."
"Fine by me." With that she walked away, Sebastian's eyes staring after her.
"We're going too," Hugo said while nodding between him and Sebastian. "There's no way you're going alone."
Nodding, I started walking into the kitchen to see Cleo talking with Wes and Noah. Wes was looking skeptically at all of us, while Noah was smiling. "Of course you can go see Perry. Do you want any snacks for the road?" Noah asked while he started looking in the fridge. "There's still a bunch of leftovers from yesterday."
"I think we'll be good," Hugo said as Wes was still staring us down. Even though Cameron's parents were very nice, Wes still scared the crap out of me. "Come on guys, we need to go."
Noah came forward and started kissing Cleo and Cameron on the cheek, making me smile. "You guys please drive carefully," he said while wrapping his arms around me and then Sebastian.
"No worries Mr. Yeager, I'm an excellent driver," Sebastian said with a smile.
We then started walking towards the front door. As everyone else left, Wes caught my eyes. I stared up at him, trying to keep all emotions off my face. He must've sensed something was wrong because he put a strong hand on my shoulder and said, "Remember Aaron, if you ever need to talk about anything please don't hesitate. I might not be your father but I care about all of you guys."
"Thank you Mr. Yeager." I gave him a small smile before walking out of the door and climbing into the front seat of Sebastian's car.
We drove mostly in silence, no one having anything to say. When we got closer to the apartment, sweat was starting to form on the back of my neck. The last time I had been here hadn't been so great, what if Perry still felt the same about me? I had practically poured my heart out to the guy, and he had stomped all over it.
After Sebastian stopped in front of the apartment, I started biting my bottom lip so hard it started bleeding. Instead of saying anyone, I grabbed a small piece of paper from the ground and started writing. After I was done I turned to everyone before saying, "I... can't go in. Please just follow me on this one."
With that I walked up to the front door before slipping the paper under the door. Walking back to the car, I sighed while shutting the door behind me. I needed Perry to slowly come back to me. If he didn't, I'd never have another chance.
Perry
Slowly getting off of Tate's motorcycle, I handed his helmet over to him before following him into the apartment. When he walked through the front door he suddenly cursed as he stepped on something. "What the fuck is that?"
Kneeling down, I grabbed the small piece of paper to see something very familiar written in a familiar handwriting. My eyes took in every line and loop of the words as they read,
Do make myself a suitor to your daughter. Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous. Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me. In the preferment of the eldest sister. This liberty is all that I request, that, upon knowledge of my parentage, I may have welcome 'mongst the rest that woo and free access and favour as the rest: and, towards the education of your daughters, I here bestow a simple instrument, and this small packet of Greek and Latin books: if you accept them, then their worth is great.
My breath caught in my throat when I read the passage, remembering the first time Aaron had kissed me. That seemed like such a distant memory now.
"What is it?" Tate's bored voice asked.
"Nothing," I said while quickly shoving it into my pocket before standing back up. "Doesn't even make sense, someone probably had the wrong apartment."
He shrugged before walking into the kitchen and started making a bunch of noise. When he was out of sight I looked back down at the piece of paper, my eyes suddenly starting to fill with tears. "Hey, you hungry?"
"No," I responded before Tate walked back into the living room, eating a piece of bologna. Ew.
"How about a smoke tonight?"
"I'm actually pretty tired, I'm thinking about turning in early. Night."
Quickly turning around, I made my way into my bedroom before falling down onto the mattress on the floor. Staring up at the ceiling, I sighed while closing my eyes. Visions of Aaron's brown eyes and soft brown hair started filling my head. For the first time in quite awhile I was able to drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.
*
A loud noise was suddenly jolting me awake, my heart pounding like crazy. Looking around the now dark room, I sighed when seeing a branch had just hit the window. Falling back onto my pillow, my eyes slowly closed again. They reopened a few hours later, to feel another body on top of mine.
Looking up, I noticed Tate was lying on top of me, naked. "What are you doing?" I asked, panicking when I couldn't get out from under his body.
"Shh just relax." His words were slurred and his breath was god awful, making me believe he had just been smoking.
"Get off," I said louder while trying to push him off.
Something sharp was suddenly poking into my arm. Glancing down, I realized he had injected something into my vein. Gasping, I tried to get away once again before my limbs suddenly felt like a million pounds. There was no way I was going to be able to get away from him.
With clouded eyes, I noticed he was slowly taking my pants off before he turned me over onto the bed. "Stop," I pleaded again. He didn't seem to hear me, or he just didn't care.
Even though I wasn't able to move, I could still feel pain. There was suddenly a lot of pain; so much my eyes were watering. Tate was then grunting and moaning like an animal as he wrapped an arm around my waist and hoisted me into the air.
"Please stop," I begged before feeling him quickly thrusting into me. "No- stop. Please, I'm a virgin."
He remained silent, obviously not caring that I was in so much pain. I was waiting, waiting for him. Tate continued making his weird animal grunting, as the rest of my body was becoming numb. I could barely feel my neck.
The next thing I knew, something warm and sticky was sliding down the back of my legs. I had no idea if Tate was still there or not, everything around me was becoming blurry. Before my eyes shut again I barely felt tears running down my cheeks as I thought, I'm so sorry Aaron.