Macklemore Ends Suicide

==> Be Ben "Macklemore" Haggerty.

You are now Ben "Macklemore" Haggerty.

You and your best bro are spending your first night together in real life on your couch, pigging the fuck out on family-size bags of chips and a fuckton of soda (and let's not forget your precious AJ). You're also flipping through channels on the TV in front of you, looking for decent shows or movies that could be on. Lucky for you, Nagito didn't bring his Fight Club DVD along with him.

Nagito was wrapped in a thin red blanket, browsing on his phone whilst finishing off the bag of taco-flavored Doritos. You wander aimlessly through the same channels over and over, yet no good programming comes.

"Dude, there is literally nothing good on right now," you say.

"Ben, it's almost midnight. Of course there won't be anything good on TV at midnight," he replies, not breaking focus on his phone.

"I'm guessing you don't have Netflix, Nagi?" you ask.

"My friend Hajime does, but I don't know the password." this time he's unglued from the screen, looking at you.

God, his eyes are so amazing. You didn't even know that vibrant shade of swamp green could be a possible eye color. But then again, yours are an even more bizarre color. But still, the way his eyes shine, how it can tint to a slightly brighter swamp green color in the sunlight like it does, it's just so beautiful to you. You wish you could tell him that. You wish you could tell him everything you love about him, but that'll just sound creepy and gay. And Nagito "Not a Homosexual" Komaeda will obviously not be comfortable with creepy, gay compliments. Or at least, that's what you assume.

After flipping through the same channels for the fiftieth time, you turn around to see Nagito with a sad expression on his face. It almost looked like he was in pain. You could almost see the glisten in his eye that signals a tear is about to be shed, but he looks up at you and forces a smile. "Find anything, Ben?" He asks. You could've sworn his voice almost cracked.

You take a moment to answer. "Uh, no."

"Why don't we watch whatever's on, then? Adult Swim or Nick at Nite or something?"

"Adult Swim? You watch that stuff?" You didn't know Nagito was into shows like Family Guy or Robot Chicken.

"I don't watch it very often," he admits, "but if it's the only option at this point, it's fine with me." His tone grew noticeably exasperated.

You begin to become suspicious. What is he looking at so intently on his phone, and what is he getting so upset about?

"Nagito?" You ask as Family Guy begins playing in the background.

"Ben?"

"What're you looking at?" You ask.

Nagito's face flushes as he locks the iPhone."Nothing. It's nothing," he stammers. "I'm just texting."

You obviously know he's lying. (Well, not about the texting part, you know he's texting someone, but you know he's lying about it being nothing.) You eye him suspiciously through the collar of your thrifty fur coat, trying to pull his thoughts from his brain. Not surprisingly, you fail.

"Are you okay?" You inquire.

Nagito seems caught by surprise at the question. "Wh—yeah! I'm fine! Why would think I'm not?"

"Bullshit, Nagi. Bull-fucking-shit you're fine. I saw you were about to fucking cry a minute ago. Who are you texting?" You feel like an overprotective mother, asking him who he's texting.

"No one. I'm not texting anyone." He says, a defensive yet ashamed tone creeping into his voice.

You're starting to get angry. "God damnit, Nagito! Stop telling me bullshit and tell me what's going on!" You almost snap. You just don't want to see your best friend/possible crush like this. After a long pause, you see the Super High School Level Lucky Student's first tear.

"Ben.." He says, "I'm so sorry, Ben." He hands you the iPhone. You unlock it to see he left Messages open. You see his normal contacts; you, Yeezy, Amber, Hajime...and an unfamiliar number at the top. You open the conversation between Nagito and the stranger, revealing why he was now in tears.

He was being bullied and threatened by this number.

You scroll through what seems like an endless assault of threats and insults by this guy. Things like "I know your address. I can hurt you", "I know about you and your poor thrifter boyfriend", and plain mean stuff like "don't deny that you're a failure and always will be". You skim through as Nagito bites his blanket to keep him from sobbing uncontrollably.

"Nagi..." You begin, "how long has this been going on?" You ask in a hushed tone. A tear traces its way down Nagito's cheek.

"a month." It's barely audible, probably because he's close to having to choke back sobs. "Ever since they found out I was going to Texas to meet you, they've been texting me nonstop. I tried blocking the number but they come back with a new one. They call me gay and they've even said they're going to kill me." That's when he gives up on holding back tears and starts to sob. "And it didn't help my self esteem either," he says in between sobs.

You automatically know what's going on now. Why he's wearing a long sleeved shirt, even in the Texas heat. You reach over and gently pull up his sleeve, revealing numerous scars, several being fresh. You try not to gasp.

"Nagito, I..." you begin, but you can't think of anything to say. You lean in and hug your best friend, and he buries his face into your shoulder and starts to cry even harder than he was before. You don't care if his tears stain your shirt. You just want to make your friend happy again.

"Sometimes...sometimes," your friend tries to say, barely audible as he's still in your shoulder, "I've thought about ending it all, so they can stop, so they don't have to kill me, so that they can stop doing this to me."

"Do you have any idea of who would do this?" You ask. He shakes his head slightly, then sobs more.

You can't believe he's been going through all this. He shouldn't be. Whoever's doing this, you're going to find them, and snap their neck. You're mad, but sad at the same time.

"But.." He says after about a minute, "I just remembered how I'm going to see you, in real life, and that's the only reason I kept myself alive."

"Nagito..." You say. You can't believe you're about to do this. He raises his head to look straight at you, his eyes red and his cheeks wet from the steady flow of tears. "It's going to be okay." You take off your fur coat and kiss him, gently. It only lasts for a few seconds because you're afraid to do it any longer.

You both spend the next few seconds in a stunned, awkward silence.

"Ben..." Nagito finally says, "you didn't have to do that."

Uh oh. Did you upset him more from doing that? "Oh god dude, I'm sorry, I didn't even think of if you'd be comfortable with me doing that, I'm sorry—" you stammer.

What you didn't expect in that moment, was when Nagito smiled and chuckled. "I meant, it wasn't a requirement to kiss me, but it's still very much appreciated."

You stare at him for a moment. He... liked it? He appreciated it? "Well, you're welcome, Nagito Komaeda. If you ever need anymore kisses, I'm here for you," you say, smirking.

In short? This was the best night of your life.