Preston's POV
It felt weird being by myself after spending so much time with everyone. Granted I had my family but with my siblings in school. And mom and dad always working. Rob in another country. Mitch and Jerome on the other side of my own. Vikk across the ocean. I missed the Aussies as well. I felt bad for Lachlan. We had all treated him like shit. Except for Jerome. But I'm convinced he can't be angry at any of us. I looked up at my screens. I had Skype open up on one monitor while I was editing some Thumbnails.
Preston – Hey Jerome how's it going?
Jerome – Oh hey dude. Uh. Yeah everything is going well. What about your end? Would be pretty lonely down there by yourself wouldn't it?
"Yeah it is kind of lonely but between Videos. And talking to everyone I guess it's ok. What's been going on?"
"Nothing much really. Lachlan flew over. Apparently shit has been hitting the fan pretty hard over there pretty hard. Or at least for him it has. We just got off Skype with Vikk and Caitlin. Apparently Michael has gone nuts and is pretty much begging for Lachlan so that was a surprise. Honestly. Dude. It's a really really fucking long story. And I don't really have the time to recount everything. And I feel like what I know. Still barely scrapes the top of it."
"Wow Jerome I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Yeah. No one did. You were all too busy ignoring or judging him on what was going on. So right now. I'm going to take Lachlan to the airport and wait for his flight with him. Which means I'll be gone for most likely a few hours. Bye Preston."
He had gone offline instantly and I felt kind of shit. I wasn't expecting that much hostility from him. It was almost like he was half blaming me for everything. But I didn't do anything. Did I? I went back through my messages with Lachlan and found a good majority of it was just him asking for help with something. But it eventually got to the point where there was nothing. WE haven't spoken in 2 weeks. What the fuck. I didn't even realise I had been completely ignoring him. But I can't apologise now. I'll have to talk to him later sometime. I did think of something though.
Preston – Hey do you know what's going on with Lachlan and Michael?
Rob – Not really. I didn't even know anything was going on with Michael.
Preston – What about Lachlan?
Rob – I really couldn't care less with how he was acting.
Preston – Rob. Lachlan has been going through a lot of shit. And we have been completely ignoring him. I feel bad.
Rob – You do realise he was basically making Michael cheat on Jay right. I can't fathom why he would do that though.
Preston – Robbie. I understand that but he is still our best friend. And I feel like shit. Do you know what's been going on with Michael?
Rob – No. He hasn't been talking to me.
Preston – He hasn't spoken to anyone. Literally. For almost 3 days. He wouldn't eat. He wouldn't drink. He wouldn't leave the bed or go to the toilet.
Rob – What? Why what happened?
Preston – I don't know. Jerome just sent me a message letting me know then. Lachlan is going over to him and is heading to the airport with Jerome now.
Rob – For fuck sake why is he going? Has he not caused enough trouble?
Preston – Apparently Michael has only been saying Lachlan. And home. I don't know what's going on. It's like he snapped. His mind went to shit.
Rob – Why didn't he.
Preston – I need to get a few videos done. I'll message you later.
I sat back in my chair wondering about Rob. Whenever Michael was involved he would always act coy and non chalant but I knew it would eat him up inside. He has always been like that. Even long before I met him. There was a set time when he wasn't even living on American time. He would be on Australian time. And it just became normal for him. I always wondered why those two never got together in the end. They would be so cute. But. I'm so happy Rob is mine. I love him so much. But I felt like he had always put Michael first. But why aren't I jealous? With Chelsea I would have slapped the bitch with no hesitation if she touched him. But why was he different? Maybe because I know he doesn't have any chance with Rob. And I feel like that is why. I don't know. I'll have to ask him that as well.
Time Skip
Vikk's POV
Caitlin Josh and I had decided to go and get Lachlan from the airport. Christian was going to come as well but thought it better not to. JJ was out with his Girlfriend anyway which left Simon at home. I wanted to stay with him but Simon basically kicked me out.
"Are we sure this will do something for him?"
"Nope. But it was fucking coincidental that Lachlan had that money saved up."
"It's not necessarily coincidental. It makes sense to have a private cache right? No one knows about it. No one can touch it. And no one questions it."
"Yeah but still. How long has he had that going?"
"Oh years I think he said."
"Alright. Did you tell Michael we are going to pick him up?"
"Yeah. He didn't say anything obviously. But he sat down at his computer and opened up Minecraft. So I guess he has been doing something."
"Alright. How far away are we?"
"I'm antsy as well Caitlin. But we are almost there."
Josh and Caitlin hadn't said anything after that. I had my phone out and was talking to Lachlan the whole time. He had landed about 30 minutes ago. And had been waiting for us. Though we didn't know when he was actually going to arrive.
Lachlan – I'm nervous.
Vikk – I know mate. We are as well. No offence but there is a bit of pressure on you. We are hoping you can get him to talk. Even just a little bit. That's all we want.
Lachlan – I just want to hold him.
Vikk – Lachlan your not really helping much.
Lachlan – I am. I am taking a chance that I'm not going to make an idiot of myself. That I'm not spending money flying over here. Costing you guys petrol to grab me. In the hopes that he will talk to me. Has he said anything to you or Jerome?
Vikk – You got him to talk when you came on camera. Before that. He hadn't spoken or done anything in days before then. I'm sure it will be fine. Just have faith dude.
Lachlan – Yeah. Yeah ok? Uh. This is going to sound stupid. But has Josh or Simon or JJ said anything about. Being in a house with gay guys.
"Lachlan said he wanted to ask whether you, Simon or JJ have said anything about having a house with gay guys. Basically what he is saying. Do you have a problem with him staying with Michael?"
"Is that what he said?"
"Yeah. Well he asked whether you had said anything about having to gay guys with three straight ones. But I know what he is talking about and he is asking if he could stay until he finds another place."
"In another country. He can stay with us and Michael. I don't know what's going to happen but I would rather him stay with each other the whole time. The more he helps him. Hopefully, The faster he will talk to us all again. I miss him you know."
"I miss his humour. He was a weird person. And it breaks up all the English in the house."
"True."
Lachlan – Vikk?
Vikk – He says your staying with them until Michael get's better and happier. And then it's up to you guys what you do.
Lachlan – That's not what I asked.
Vikk – But it's what you meant. It's fine Lachlan. We will be there soon.
Time Skip
Lachlan's POV
They had arrived and picked me up quickly. I will never manage to remember how fucking cold it is here. It's honestly ridiculous. We had not long gotten back to the house. I had made sure that Vikk, Caitlin and Josh had gone up stairs. Simon was probably in his room. Vikk had said that he was home the whole time. And he got a message from JJ saying he was staying the night with his girlfriend. I walked over to his door. Before stopping myself. What the fuck was I doing? I ruined his life. I ruined his relationship. I ruined his mind. I broke him. Why am I here? Well that's a stupid question. Because I still love him. I put my hand on the handle and turned it. Opening it slowly. I looked in and saw him laying on his bed. I looked over to his monitor and saw a red stone contraption for Sugar cane and Cactus behind it. He must have been farming. But right now he is out cold on his bed. Granted it is like 1 am right now. I put my bag down on the floor next to his desk before I slowly got into bed next to him. I put an arm around him and made sure I had a tight hold of him. He didn't wake up but I felt him toss and turn. He whined a little bit before whimpering slightly. He rolled over and put both his arms on my chest and snuggled his head into me. While I pulled him in closer. I heard him whimper again. He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips together. He must have been dreaming. I closed my eyes until I heard him start to cry.
"Leave him alone."
I looked down at him as he spoke. It was a little worrying. What was going through his head?
"Lachy."
He could barely make out my name before shedding more tears. I was genuinely worried for him now. I didn't want to but I had to wake him up. I lightly shook him. He grunted a little but otherwise didn't move. He spoke louder this time. Not quite a yell but louder then a normal speaking voice.
"NO!"
"Michael wake up please."
I shook him a little more violently as he started to cry. That wasn't a dream. That was a nightmare. He opened his eyes and jumped back as he looked at me. His eyes running with tears.
"It's ok. Everything is ok."
I had slowly put an arm out towards him. I wasn't sure what to do to be honest. I felt like I was half having to act like an adult comforting a small child. Then another part of me felt like I needed to keep him close to me like a person would console a friend during a really bad bout of depression. I could barely react as he jumped forward and hugged me. Pulling me back down onto the bed. I'm a little glad he didn't knock us off the edge. He pulled me down and held onto me tight. I put my arms around him instinctively and just held on to him. Neither of us said a word. No words were needed.
"Lachlan."
"I'm home buddy."
I looked down at him and watched him nod slowly.
"I'm."
He hesitated. As if trying to find the right words. Thinking it through.
"Don't think. Please for once. Don't think. Just talk to me. I won't say anything to anyone. And no one will ever know. Don't think. Just talk. Let it all flow."
"I made. Them hate you. They all hated you. No one liked you. And it was all my fault. Your friends hate you. Your parents hate you. Jay hates you. Everyone. And It's my fault. It's all my fault. Why are you here. They should have just..."
"Michael if I had found out they didn't do anything and just left you here. I would have came myself when I realised something was wrong. There is no way in the world your telling me that you would be better off gone. Don't ever say that to me. Or to anyone ok? I want you to really promise me. I'm not going anywhere. You are all I care about right now. All I want is to make you happy and make you smile again. Please don't ever forget that."
"Lachlan. They. Your friends. They won't."
"It's fine ok. Jerome is always going to be there. The others. Well then I guess my time being friends with them is over. My friendship with them ended when they started to distance themselves from me about a month ago. Michael I know what I did was wrong. I know that. But I may have been wrong. But that doesn't mean I still didn't know what I wanted. And I want you right now. And forever. Please don't kick me out. I don't know If I could take it."
"I won't. Even if I wanted to. I can't. Please stay with me. Don't go. Please don't go again. I don't want you to leave."
"Ok. I won't go anywhere. But you know when we are ready. We are going to need to talk. About everything. Ok. And then we are going to need to talk to Vikk and the boys. We have to. Ok?"
"Ok."