SING ME TO SLEEP -- neil perry

chapter twelve: they'll never kill the thrills we've got

this chapter did take twice as long as the past few to get out, but it's my favorite chapter so far, so i wanted to give it some extra time. hope u guys enjoy!

"Are you okay? We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just need to know that you're going to be okay for the rest of the day."

Neil nodded gratefully. "I'll be fine. I'm really sorry. That hasn't happened in a long time and I didn't mean to make you a part of it."

"Neil," Todd said, "if you need someone to be there for you, I want to be a part of it. Please don't try to deal with these things alone. You can talk to me."

Neil looked sheepish. "I know, I just hate feeling like I'm a burden on the people around me."

"Trust me, I know what that feels like. I'm the second best child in my family, but I promise you, telling a friend when you need help - that's not being a burden."

"It's not going to happen again, but if it does, I'll let you know." Neil half-laughed while saying this, but he knew that it probably was going to happen again. His father's words were still echoing in his mind and it would be a very long time before he got them out.

Todd looked at Neil skeptically. "I'm going to be checking up on you." Neil was about to protest before Todd cut over him, "and no I don't care what you're going to say. I am checking on you."

Neil groaned and threw himself on his bed. "Fine, fine."

"I'm going to go down to get some breakfast, and then I'm probably gonna go outside and do some homework, do you want to come with?"

Neil considered for a moment, and then had an extremely sudden, very shocking realization. The auditions for the play were today. He had been practicing for hours and hours perfecting his intonation and memorization. He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten about his audition. He jumped out of bed. "No, so sorry, but I just realized I have an audition today that I'm going to be late to."

Todd looked surprised. "You were serious about that?"

"Of course I was serious, now can you pass me my sweater from the window?"

Tod spun around, his head whipping over his shoulder, grabbed the sweater and threw it to Neil. "What's the big rush? It's only ten and the auditions aren't until noon."

"I told Mr. Keating I would meet up with him to review before Mr. Nolan has to drive me to the hall. I'm thirty minutes late for that."

Todd's eyes widened in understanding and he opened the door for Neil, who grabbed his coat and dashed out of the room with a quick wave to Todd.

As he dashed down the stairs to Mr. Keating's classroom, he could feel the effects of last night washing over him. He was very lucky Todd had been there, without the knee in his back as Todd had been trying to get out of Neil's bed surreptitiously that morning, he probably wouldn't have woken up until noon, or later.

He knocked on the door rapidly, taking deep breaths and trying not to look too flustered as Mr. Keating opened the door.

"Come in," Mr. Keating said, greeting him with a smile on his face.

Neil stepped inside. "So sorry I'm late. I had a few complications and completely forgot to set my alarm last night."

"That's quite all right. It gave me more time to review the text and think about what we should do to review." Mr. Keating motioned to the seat on the opposite side of his desk and Neil sat down. "Now, which role are you trying out for?"