You tracked William's phone, hunting him down with ease. You approached with caution however, not knowing what to expect.
"William, it's y/n. I'm here to help." You called calmly, causing him to jump as he turned to you.
"Oh- Jesus, you scared me." He huffed, you immediately noticed he had a few tears in his suit where evidently a knife had slashed though.. and a bit of blood staining around it. You felt yourself freeze as you felt for the knife that was in your boot— oh god. It was gone. Alex must've taken it after you tried to kill yourself to protect him and William. Now he has it... while he's unstable and dangerous. Dear lord...
"William... quickly go bandage yourself up, make sure you don't bleed out or something. Point me in the direction of Alex, I'll help him.." you said, and he silently nodded in response, seeming to know that he won't be any help at all if he's hurting. He showed you where Alex was, and you carefully approached. He was in an alley, sitting silently behind a large bin.
"Alex...?" You asked softly, announcing your arrival so you didn't scare him. You heard him jump and sniffle, and soon enough the small boy came into view. He was in tears, trying desperately to keep it together.
"Stay away, y/n... please... I don't want to hurt you..." Alex whimpered, you took a couple steps closer to him.
"You won't hurt me, Alex... it's alright. It's okay, I'm here for you.." you reassured him, testing your ground to see what would set him off. As you thought, he immediately began reaching for the knife beside him, without control. You saw his expression flicker and his eyes darken for a moment, he seemed devious and unpredictable. Like the world deserved to die, and he was going to be the one to do it. You took a step back, and his expression switched to normal again, only he was crying harder now.
"Alex..." you whispered, drawing your eyebrows together. The poor boy.... you felt so bad for him, he was scared and sad and so overwhelmed with emotions that it was preventing him from being strong and holding this other side of him back.
"Alex, love, it's okay. It'll be okay, I promise... whatever's wrong, we'll work through it together, okay? Just you and me. You're safe." You said, crouching down and kind of scooching towards him a bit, to seem as less of a threat. He tensed, but didn't reach for the knife again.
"I promise you, Alex... you're safe with me. You can tell me anything.." you cooed calmly. You knew jim and Harvey were lying. The way they looked at each other, the way they acted, the way they pretended everything was fine when it really wasn't... you knew they were lying about why Alex had snapped like this. You didn't know who and who not to trust anymore, sadly this boy was your best bet and he was inches away from killing you.
"S-stop.... please..." Alex begged through tears and sobs, curling up into a ball with his head buried in his knees. You didn't know whether he was talking to you or to himself, trying to control his split personality from switching back again. Nevertheless, you scooted towards him again, just in front of him now.
"I love you Alex, you know that, right? You're so special, you're one of my closest friends.." immediately the boy tensed up, then went completely silent. You froze, unsure of whether that was good or bad. Alex looked up at you, blank for a moment. Was this his bad side....?
"..... you.... love me....?" He asked quietly, eyes still teary. You smiled and nodded, trying to keep your demeanour calm although you were worried about whether he was okay or not.
"Of course, Alex. You're an amazing kid. I'd give you all the love in the world if I could."
His eyes went more teary, as he abandoned his knife and pretty much collapsed in your arms, hugging you tight. You immediately hugged back, knowing you had calmed him down enough to get him in his right mind again. It was hard seeing him like this, so sad and broken... he was so young, he didn't deserve all this pain. Yet sitting there, holding the small boy in your arms... you couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since anyone had properly told Alex that they loved him.