𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚜 ❀ 𝙹𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚢

Sieze

D a n i e l

Christmas break was approaching fast and i could tell Zach was getting more and more stressed as the days went on.

i spent most of my time with Corbyn, he was improving greatly since i found him that day in the empty classroom.

his hair was growing back now and he smiled more. he had trauma therapy twice a week and i vowed that if Andrew Novelle ever showed his face again he would regret it.

Corbyn and I were at my house watching a movie, he had just gotten home from a therapy session and was laying against me, his comfort show, 'Luca' was playing on disney+.

"so... i saw something weird while i was waiting for you outside the center" Corbyn said breaking the comfortable silence. he began to sit up so i adjusted myself and turned to face him.

"oh yeah?"

"so... The reason you stopped talking to Zach wasn't really because he started dating Jonah, it was because you knew how jonah was...right?"

"did i ever tell you that?" i asked, corbyn shook his head.

"no, i just figured. but last i checked Jonah and Zach are still together right?"

"yea, surprisingly" it was surprising because zach was hormonal and so many other things not to mention he had boobs, and Jonah was gay and a douchebag.

"well, if the two of them are dating, then how come i saw Jonah and Kaya swapping spit outside the center?"

"wait what?!" i shouted sitting up straighter.

"don't yell bitch, i know you heard me. jonah and Kaya looked like they were about to commit injustice and have sex right there!" corbyn replied and i had to stop the grin that threatened to appear when i realized what he said. that was the first time he had sounded back to his normal self.

"are you sure what you saw?" i asked.

"if my memory and the feeling of nausea served me right then yes! i'm pretty sure i saw swimmer boy and miss bitch."

"okay... should we talk zach?"

"i dunno. he's been very stressed lately. do you think we should wait until after the delivery?"

"well that's not for another month so i don't know" i nodded. he was right, if jonah was cheating on Zach, my best friend shouldn't stay with someone like that,

"Well then when should we do it? would he even belive us?" I asked corbyn as he set all of our snacks on the coffee table and got comfortable.

"Maybe it would be better if he found out on his own..." Corbyn said and i had to admit he kind of had a point. Zach needed to see what kind of man Jonah was, he had to see with his own eyes or he might never believe it.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something else as well" corbyn started his voice holding a hint of insecurity. i could feel my heart speed up a little, afraid he would tell me he started self harming again, if he had i hoped he would trust me enough to let me know but at the same time i hope he's recovering well, he seems to be. but if i learned anything from helping corbyn heal these last few months its that he's very good at hiding his feeling and pretending everything is okay or that its not a big deal.

"Sure, you know you can tell me anything corbs" I said and he smiled a little nodding.

"This week I'm supposed to confide in someone...and i want to confide in someone, i want to tell you what happened. you've been there for me for so long i think its time you know what happened to me, why i fell so deep into my depression and anxiety, i-if you want to hear it that is..."

"of course i do! whenever you're ready corbs, ill listen to anything you have to say" and it was true, these last few months corbyn became the most important person in my life. And maybe I had developed a small crush on him. how could i not admire someone so strong, corbyn was the strongest person i knew.

"Well," corbyn started, "I'm sure you know that Andrew wasn't the best boyfriend and i want to tell you why. at first our relationship was great, he took me out and was sweet and always asked for consent and was just all around amazing. but then a couple months into our relationship, he started to get violent, at first it was small things like yelling at me over the smallest things, then it was shoving me roughly or smacking me lightly if i talked to much or did something the wrong way. but then he started actually leaving bruises on me, always where no one could see. sometimes he'd hit me so hard i couldn't breathe. he even cracked my rib once" Corbyn stopped taking deep breath, his hand rubbing his side, a gesture i found painfully familiar.

"it was one night, prom night actually. i was faded and I dunno if andy was sober or not and i didnt think to much of it because there was a possibility that while drunk i could've said yes... but he... " he stopped and i gave him a heartbreaking look.

"I woke up naked the next morning and when i tr-tried tot alk to him about ut he acted like it was exactly what i deserved, that it was all my fault, and it didn't stop there. if i told him i wasn't in the mood hed come after me anyway, he's ambush me in the shower or after practice in the locker rooms i just- i couldnt get away and i felt his hands everywhere even if he wasn't near me. funnily enough, it was jack avery who helped me." and that was as surprising as the other parts of the story,

"he caught andrew one day in the locker rooms while he was looking for zach. I was a mess. he had been beating me and-and forcing himself onto me Jack entered and beat the shit out of him. i had never been more grateful in my life. it was actually a few days before we learned of Zach's pregnancy. anyway Jack helped me that day and then on your birthday when we learned about zach, i went over to his house after you left me at home, i couldn't be there, the house gives me so many memories. Jack threatened Andy and made him leave town and i got the chance to thank him. I tried so hard to be strong and hold myself together but i just got bitter and anxious until you found me in that classroom, you know the rest" corbyn wasn't looking at me, he was picking at the skin on his hands, a sign of his rising anxiety.

"Do you wanna konw something?" I asked him, he looked at me "you are the strongest person i know" And a whimper of relief mixed with a sob left his mouth as he threw himself at me, what surprised me was his lips meeting mine. i was wide eyed and frozen as he pecked my lips and hugged me tight.

"Thank you for holding me together" he whispered and i felt my heart break. we were interrupted when my phone rang,

"Answer it, its okay" corbyn said wiping his tears, i did as he said reluctantly, it was zach,

"Hello?"

"Daniel?" i looked at the caller ID again in confusion.

"Jonah?"

"yeah, hey. you should probaby meet us at the hospital. Zachs water just broke"

•••

WHAT HES GONE INTO LABOR! it's kinda early! 😬

i hope you enjoyed!

as always thanks for reading.

-kc 🍜