The Freedom That Paper Gives

A Week Later...

CW: The following episodes heavily surround themes of bipolar disorder. This includes but is not limited to; depression, mania, not eating, self harm and suicide.

If you feel uneasy around subjects surrounding depression I would advise that you skip the next couple of chapters (marked mature). You will not miss too much in terms of plot. Check out my insta or Tumblr for a break down of those episodes.

It had been a week since Percy went to visit Marie. He messaged her every day at the same time to let her know he was thinking of her and that he hoped she was alright. She hadn't read any of them but while he was disappointed Percy wasn't surprised. He couldn't stop thinking about what was wrong with her. He thought she must be doing better because he could have sworn he saw her on campus. She hadn't been back to the cafe but Percy still took every shift going both to distract himself and in case she came. No one else seemed as worried as him that Marie was missing. They all told him that she sometimes disappeared but she would be back, but none of them seemed to know why. Percy had stopped trying to get answers out of Asha as she had made it clear she wasn't telling him anything. He had seen Byron a couple of times since but didn't feel brave enough to go over and ask about Marie, and he always felt guilty afterworlds because he knew Marie would for him.

But one good thing was happening, it was payday. His pay from all the extra shifts he had taken along with tips meant he could finally afford that blazer, he had asked the shop to save if for him a couple of days ago. He had been saving for this blazer for months and now he could finally buy it and wear it. It was old and tweed, a bit faded but Percy thought that added to its charm. He was lucky that the leather elbow patches weren't cracked or needed repairing but one of the pockets had given way on the inside, but he could repair that. It wasn't missing any buttons and fitted him really well. The next thing he would save for was to get it tailored to fit him perfectly.

Percy finished he morning shift at the cafe with his pay in his bank account on his way to finally buy that blazer, he knew the exact way to the store and with every step he could feel himself getting more excited. For many people this was just a blazer, nothing to get excited about but for Percy it was more than that. This was the first job his parents had let him get, this was the first thing he had saved for with his own money. This blazer represented a new era of freedom in his life, the start of his new dark academic aesthetic because he could afford it now. Finally Percy got to the store and looked in the window to where the blazer usually was.

And then he walked straight past, he had a better idea on what to spend his money on, and besides what's one more month to wait. No one had bought it the entire time that he had saved for it, why would they now.

Percy was outside Marie's door, rethinking every decision he had made recently. Well not every decision, he was sure that this was the right thing to do over buying that blazer. He just hoped she would like it. While Percy had dated girls in the past he didn't really know what sort of things to buy them, and he was sure Marie wasn't into the cliche gifts. Guys were generally easier to buy for, the majority of them had the same interests and brands and types didn't really matter. But every girl had a specific brand and product they liked. Percy had made sure that everything in the gift basket he made was eco-friendly, cruelty free and where he could supported some form of charity. The basket himself was second hand and the tissue paper recycled from his mother's collection she kept under the stairs for wrapping presents. He deliberated buying a balloon but he figured that if Marie didn't want him to know she was sick she wouldn't like a balloon, besides they're bad for the environment. He had brought her a card, a simple card with a drawing of a woman in a long red coat outside the Eiffel Tower on the front, blank on the inside. Nothing to suggest it was a get well soon card. Percy balanced the basket on his knee and knocked on the door, he really should have thought that bit through. There was no answer so he knocked again. This time the door was opened and it was Oscar who answered, towering over Percy. Percy couldn't tell if Oscar was trying to be intimidating on purpose or if he just was. Because Oscar really was the tallest person he had ever seen, and Percy had always thought of himself as tall. But this was something else.