The trio stood there quietly, London, who I haven't talked to really at all awkwardly stood shifting his weight from foot to foot. Aaron looked exhausted and Brandon stared at the ground as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Brandon sighed out then walked over to me, slowly reaching out then wrapping his arms over my shoulders shoving my head into his chest. I felt him start to breath harder then he let go, full out crying.

He sobbed as he held me, refusing to hide any of his emotions from anyone in the room. None of them seemed to care much though. They knew why he was crying and they didn't seem to give a shit about it.

His grip on me slightly tightened and he started to calm down, "Avery, I'm so sorry we couldn't help you through any of this so far. Your mother, your father, and yourself.."

Myself? The only thing I've done to myself that was remotely bad was vape. I mean, I did kind of starve myself for three days but I didn't purposely lack my food intake.

His words seemed to pull a cord somewhere in my chest. A cord that relived the feeling of painful emotions. The pain that's worth it.

Because the pain is the truth that they love you.

He was crying for me.

I stared at him, unable to comprehend what he was doing. The tears still flowed out of his eyes and fell down his cheeks, some landed on my hand and some fell on the bed.

The only time someone has ever cried around me were in school. When all of the stupid bitches of the middle school thought that crying would get them a boyfriend out of pity or make them seem cool because they had a "mental breakdown".

Sometimes they would start crying because a boy didn't ask them out to one of the most time wasting dances. It made me laugh all the time. How fucking pathetic it was to watch their horribly applied mascara run down their faces as they sobbed with like 8 other girls surrounding them. They would all end up talking shit about the poor dude that literally did nothing.

Honestly, if I had been a little confident in myself I probably would've told them to cry a fucking river for their precious little daddies.

Back to the crying thing, it wasn't just people didn't cry around me. I didn't cry around anyone either. Well, aside from yesterday I suppose.

My parents never gave me anything to cry about nor did people at school. The only reason I would ever allow myself to be in such a weak state was when I was alone in my bedroom contemplating life.

I would often stare at the box cutter I set on my desk that blended in the cluster of pens and pencils, or I'd find myself thinking of the heavy duty ropes my dad stored in the garage.

Brandon has eventually let go of his deathly tight grip on me. They told me that the doctor had decided to discharge me already as long as I took it easy and didn't walk into a wall.

Aaron and London had to basically drag Brandon out of my room so I could change. They brought me new clothes which made me rather uncomfortable knowing they went through my stuff even if it was supposed to make me feel comfortable, which it did since this gown was thin and cold. Lucky the outfit consisted of one of my favorite hoodies, a pale blue thick material with a simple picture of a city printed on the front and some words on the back. They had also brought my ripped black jeans and a random shirt.

The process of getting my shirt and hoodie on were a bit chaotic because it hurt my face but I managed. As soon as I opened the door to leave, they all looked at me. London was sitting on a blue bench right across the hallway and the other two simply stood next to him. Brandon's puffy red eyes beamed with a mixture of happiness and sadness. Aaron smiled without showing his teeth, although that seemed like a bit much for him to do even to other people and London looked back down at his fiddling hands and stood up as we all prepared to leave.

I wonder why London had even tagged along with them, it's not like I didn't appreciate it because honestly, I did. Even if he didn't care about my well being, the fact that he would still come made me feel better about myself.

Brandon took London's hand in his and they walked ahead of Aaron and I, Brandon obviously having more pep to his step than London.

A few times I would start to walk weirdly and trip over my own feet but Aaron would always be there to stop me from falling and keep me in check so I didn't die. As I happened to jerk my head around a bit much a dull pinch squeezed my face.

I kept apologizing to him but he would brush it off and ask if I was ok then continue our small talk, or his one sided talk. I was just nodding along.

He was talking about what happened to my dad around the time I lost consciousness, apparently the cops came before Reed smashed his face in completely and took dad into custody, but they also had to force Reed off of him which almost got him into trouble for resisting authorities. The paramedics showed up right as the police officers did.

A sudden pain ripped through my face, and I stopped abruptly in the hallway. A slight feeling of nausea passing through me.

Aaron noticed me and had stopped beside me to put a hand on my back but the other two finally noticed when I let out a pained groan. I heard London quietly ask what happened but no one knew, not even myself.

I shook my head, trying to show that I was fine and it would pass but the second I lifted my foot my legs shook and I started falling.

Aaron, however, caught me before I hit the ground, holding my arms.

"Can you drive home from here? I'll sit in the back and make sure he's ok." He was talking to the other two. Brandon agreed and started to head off to where I assumed the car was.

I thought Aaron was simply going to hold my hand like a child to the car but instead, I felt myself lift off of the ground as he started to walk to the car carrying me like a child.

The blood that wasn't currently leaking out of my face now warmly occupied my cheeks. The pain in my face had subsided to a muted pressuring sting as the head of my blush now took over any feeling in my face as well as my ears and neck.

During my panicked travel to the car in Aaron's arms, Brandon and London had been watching the whole time from the front of the car. They were both giggling and snorting about how cute we were as Aaron got me into my seat, my headache still noticeable as well as a blush.

Brandon had started the car and began the drive home, I started to feel the pain that had once mildly subsided erupt back into its full torture.

I unbuckled myself, ignoring the eyes of Aaron and Brandon and laid down so my head was placed upon Aaron's leg so I could attempt to sleep and ignore the pain.

He didn't seem bothered by the action at all and gently played with my hair until I fell asleep in the quiet car.