Finally Wanted

Chapter Twenty-seven

Yes... I know that it's been forever since I updated. But it's here now!
Trigger warning for cutting and mentions of attempted suicide.

It didn't take long for the boys to tell Harry; actually it took longer than Corbin expected. So the next day, before Harry left for work, he came up to Corbin and silently gave him a hug. Albeit a little startled, he relaxed and hugged him back.

After talking to Harry about Luke and finding out that the two of them had been friends awhile back but had since grown apart, Corbin was a little more open to meeting him. Harry had completely supported his decision and immediately called Luke to set up an appointment.

While Corbin had agreed to meet up and talk, he was still brimming with nerves as he sat in their lounge opposite Luke.

"So Corbin, how have you been recently?" Luke asked, his hands wrapped around a warm mug of coffee, his blue eyes gentle and kind.

Corbin shrugged and rubbed his wrists. "I've been okay." He responded. Luke nodded.

"Thats good." He said. "how did your exams go?"

Corbin half-smiled. "They went really well actually." He picked at the loose threads on his jacket.

"Calum told me you got a perfect score on your Maths test." Luke said, a fond smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure next year Calum and Michael are going to want you to tutor them on that subject."

Corbin let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, they probably are."

They lapsed into silence for a few moments.

"Let's get serious for a moment." Luke said, placing his coffee onto the table and leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his knees. "I talked with the boy before we sat down and they told me that you've been having a difficult time recently."

Corbin looked down and audibly gulped. He knew that the boys had told Luke something, but hadn't been too sure what he had been told. Turns out, he hadn't been told anything about anything.

"Do you wanna tell me what that's about?" Luke continued.

Corbin rubbed his hands together nervously. He suddebtly felt nauseous. "Um, what-what did they tell you?" He asked.

"Nothing specific." Luke assured him. "They said you're dealing with some personal issues that have been going on for awhile."

Corbin smiled weakly. "You could say that."

Like smiled kindly. "I don't expect you to tell me what the issue is. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here." He said. "A year or so ago I had a case similar, very similar, to this." Something akin to regret flashed across his face, before it settled. "Unfortunately, it was a personal problem, and because of that, I couldn't see what was right in front of me."

"What happened?" Corbin asked, curious to know how the story ended.

"Well, I had a wake-up call when the boy slit his wrists and locked himself in the bathroom." Luke said, a regretful look on his face.

Corbin flinched and stared at Luke in shock. "He-he slit his wrists?"

Luke nodded gravely. "Yes he did. And it was my fault. I saw all the warning signs, I knew what he was going through, but I dismissed it because I didn't think he would ever resort to that." He said.

Corvin fiddled with his fingers for a moment.

"I-uh, I use to have a problem with that as well. It's been going on for awhile, um, the lads foundnout and tried  to help, but." He shrugged, his eyes cast down. "nothing really helped."