unlike the rest

nineteen

--hello uwu. playing "changes" by hayd is suggested rn--

The ends of his hair had been to knot up, his cheeks were glazed with shine from all the tears. He had looked like a train-wreck but didn't care.

He clenched onto Avery's shirt in his hands and pulled it closer. His sobs were muffled as he pressed his face further into the fabric.

This time it was all his fault. He knew the day was coming, the day where she would get hurt because of him. Yet he still nothing to prepare for it. Now his indifference would make him pay a price.

The guilt was worse than the tears. Nothing could remove his feeling of guilt after what he had just done. Why hadn't he done anything to prevent this? He had given up.

Griffin didn't pay any mind to the knock at the door, assuming if they really needed something they would just enter. And they did so. Griffin slowly lifted his head, Josi's bloodshot eyes and tear stained face met his. 

"Hi." She said quietly as she shut the door, Griffin just looked away. 

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she took a seat beside him. "This is not healthy." She said as she gently took the shirt from his grasp.

She sighed. Still no response. "...mm ok. Well, they finished the surgery and she made it through. Now we play the waiting game and see whether she wakes up or not." 

"Did the doctors have insight?"

Josi let out a shaky breath before replying. "They want to stay optimistic, but it isnt an 100% guarantee that she makes it through this intact. Or even in general."

He began to softly sob into the palms of his hand. Josi gently wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin onto his back. 

"Sophia and Katie are with her right now.. The-they're saying goodbye. They are all worried about you.."

He leaned his head against hers. "I'm not going." He said bluntly.

"Griffin-"

"It's my fault she ended up in this position. I don't deserve getting to say goodbye to her." 

"It's not your fault. There's no way you would've known this was going to happen-"

He cut her off, shaking his head. "You're wrong. I know of the danger that follows me, yet I still chose to stay with her. It was selfish, and I even let others knew I cared for her which only made it worse. It's all my fault. It's all my fault, Josi." 

She picked her head up as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her voice began to crack at every word. "Just- go say goodbye, Griffin. She would do the same if you were in that position. And you will regret this later on if you don't."

"Whatever. I'll say goodbye." He sagged his shoulders, letting out a shaky exhale. "But that's it."

Josi tugged his sleeve gently, standing up. "I love you. We all do. And I know it may not seem so, but everything will work out in the end."

The two knew she was just trying to comfort him. But unfortunately, there was no chance everything would work out perfectly in the end. It was fate that he was losing Avery tonight.

-

She paused just before the door, squeezing his hand gently. "It'll all be okay." She whispered before he opened the door.

Katie had been a mess. She was holding onto Avery's hand as she sobbed onto Sophia shoulder. Her whole torso shook as she weeped, Sophia's clothes had been stained from her tears.