The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 30

John POV

Sera had only slept over for one night, the night after he'd confirmed his mental illnesses. He would've wanted her to stay longer, but there was still the fact that she wasn't technically supposed to be there... He couldn't go to her room, either, not with Elaine there.

His nightmares hadn't fully gone away even with Sera's help. They hadn't bothered him while she'd been there, but once she was back to her own dorm, he was back to jolting awake and attempting to convince himself that everything he'd seen really wasn't real. However, he was getting to be a lot better about calming himself down. Now, he had the reassurance that Sera would be there when he got to school, that she would be ready to support him if needed. Just that knowledge sent waves of relief through John when he was woken by a particularly bad dream. He may not have been perfectly fine, but this was improvement enough.

Sera seemed to have a plan to stop these nightmares, too. She'd brought it up when they'd been getting boba after school, something that John could finally do again now that she was here.

"John, why did Blyke leave your room in the first place?" Sera asked when they sat down, causing John to frown and shrug.

"Shouldn't you be asking him that? He probably was worried I'd try to attack while he was sleeping or something," John told her with a sigh. She stared at him with her dark blue eyes, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. Am I missing something here?

Sera shook her head at his confused expression. "You're not attacking anyone anymore." John continued to stare at her. "So, why is he still gone?"

"I-I don't know," John stammered, unsure of why they were talking so much about Blyke and his thoughts.

Sera finally helped spell it out for him a few minutes later. "How would you feel about Blyke moving back in?" John stared at her for another minute before his eyes widened in recognition. Oh, so this is what it's all about. She wants him to move back in.

He shrugged in response. "I don't really care either way."

On the inside, though, he thought that maybe having someone else again wouldn't be so bad. After all, when Sera had stayed, he'd slept loads better than before... Although Blyke wasn't even half as close to him as Sera was, he still wouldn't be too bad. He'd respected John before when they'd shared a room, and even tried to be nice to him. Though I didn't pay that back well... He bit his lip. "Blyke wouldn't want to."

"Have you asked him?" Sera pointed out with a raised eyebrow. John bit his lip. That's true, I haven't... "He's not against it."

A week later, John stood in the doorway of his apartment with Sera as Blyke appeared in the hall in front of them, carrying a few duffle bags and talking to Remi. Isen trailed behind him, glancing nervously at John as they approached. He's still scared of me. John sighed. It would take a lot for everyone to accept him again, it seemed.

"...Do you need help?" John asked Blyke after a minute, eyeing the bags he was carrying. The other boy stared at him as if shocked that he'd spoken before finally answering and breaking the awkward silence.

"No, otherwise I would've asked one of them... although I'm not sure Isen would actually agree to carry anything," Blyke responded, motioning to Remi and Isen behind him. Isen frowned.

"Hey! I'm not that lazy!" Blyke and Remi both looked at him and Isen deflated. "Okay, maybe I am. But I'd still help you out!"

Blyke ignored this comment, stepping up to the apartment. Sera and John moved out of the way so that he could enter. Isen followed a few minutes later, shrinking down fearfully as he hurried past the two god-tiers. John could hear Remi sigh from behind him as if tired of Isen's cowardice.

Remi, Blyke and Isen entered Blyke's old room first, Sera and John not far behind them. Although Sera walked inside, John hung behind in the doorway. It felt wrong to be here with the people who'd hated him so much, even if Blyke hadn't done anything to suggest that he was still against him... On the contrary, he hadn't glared at John once. He hadn't done much else, either, besides giving him a few sideways glances as if evaluating him. Blyke did this again now, causing John to frown and wonder if he should just leave the room entirely.

Apparently deciding John had passed, Blyke set his duffle bags down on the bed and glanced around the room. He smiled.

"Yes, my own space again." Isen frowned at Blyke's comment.

"Was my room not good enough for you?" He asked. Blyke and Remi exchanged a glance that told Isen all he needed to know. He crossed his arms. "Hmph."

"He used to talk in his sleep," John heard Blyke whisper to Remi under the pretext of unpacking his bags. She hid a giggle behind her hand as both of them glanced over at Isen.

John and Sera left the room a few minutes later. They hung out in John's room for a bit, Sera helping John to catch up on some homework (he'd missed a lot and didn't understand anything that was going on in class). Finally, when they heard Isen and Remi leave Blyke's room, Sera decided that she should head out, too. She was just about to open the door when John called her back.

"Wait. What should I do?" John asked her in a panicked whisper, glancing at Blyke's open door behind them. "He hates me." Even if he hasn't acted like it yet. Maybe he was just putting on a front for his friends... He didn't do that before on the roof, though. John sighed. He didn't like trying to figure out what the others were thinking.

Now you know how it felt when Sera was stuck wondering if you still cared, a voice in his head whispered. He winced, pushing it out of his head. No. I'm not going to go into that again. It would just get bad if he did.

"He can see you've changed, John. I know you aren't sure, but I talked to him about it, too... He'll at least treat you nicely," Sera reassured him.

"How can you be sure of that?" John asked her. A dangerous gleam appeared in Sera's eyes as she glanced back at Blyke's door before looking John straight in the eyes.

"Because if anyone hurts you again, they're not going to get away easily." She didn't flinch, staring at him with a stubborn gaze for several minutes after she'd spoken. A part of John was worried by this sudden change of attitude, but it was a bit like he'd acted... he'd become Joker to protect Sera, after all. He had a feeling that Sera wouldn't lose control like he'd done then, though. The rest of him just felt a sense of reassurance that she was there, that she would protect him. He trusted in her. She wouldn't let him down, even if he'd hurt her. If she thought that Blyke understood him a little better now, then she was right.

He'd have to finally start over with the redhead, just like Blyke had tried to do with him when they were roommates the first time.

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Hey! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to be going on a trip. There won't be updates for the next two weeks because of this. Next update for The Blazing Rebellion will be Friday July 15th!
-ILoveWriting186