blood and dreams

Visitors

The next morning, Ray and Henry hung out in the man cave. Henry was still in Ray's hoodie, slouched on the U shaped couch doing nothing. Ray was on the opposite side of the couch, facing him, doing something on his phone. 

"Anything you wanna do today?" Ray asked, looking up from his phone. He figured Henry might just want to stay in the man cave and rest, but checking wouldn't hurt. 

"Nah, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave here yet. Maybe we should just stay here and watch a movie or something." Henry responded. 

Ray was right. He smiled weakly, glad he could provide a safe space for Henry. 

"Sounds like a plan" Ray said, now smiling big at Henry. Henry even smiled back. Ray noticed he had bags under his eyes though, and was slouching so much he was sliding down on the couch. Ray got a notification on the monitors. Someone was knocking on the doors to the store upstairs. He looked at the camera footage. 

"Hey Hen, Jasper and Charlotte are here. Probably to see you." 

"Nooo tell them to leave" Henry whined, sliding further down until he was basically laying down. 

"You can't keep shutting them out, they just miss you and wanna make sure you're okay" Ray tried to reason with him. 

Henry didn't look convinced.   

"Come on, it'll be fun, they can watch a movie with us." Ray went on. 

"Ugh okay fine." Henry gave in, a small smile forming on his face as he realized things were maybe going back to normal. A little closer to normal at least. Ray pushed the button to unlock the doors. A few minutes later, Jasper and Charlotte were walking out of the elevator. Charlotte walked over and gave Henry a hug. 

"How've you been?" Jasper asked Henry. 

"I've been alright." Henry said, giving Jasper an unconvincing half smile and shooting Ray a knowing look. Jasper and Charlotte joined Henry and Ray on the couch. Ray moved closer to Henry and put his arm over his shoulder, silently reminding him he was there for him. There was an awkward silence between the four of them. They were all in their heads, thinking. Henry's thoughts were the only ones that were torturing him though. 

Everyone in this room knows I cut myself. They're all being distant now cause of me. I knew I shouldn't have let them know, everything's messed up now  

He leaned against Ray and put his head on his shoulder. Jasper and Charlotte shot him sympathetic looks. He didn't want them to sympathize with him. He didn't want them to feel bad for him. He just wanted everything to go back to normal. 

"Hey, how about we watch a movie?" Ray said, breaking the tense and awkward silence.  

"Ooh, yeah good idea!" Jasper said, glad Ray broke the ice. 

They chose some random funny movie that they knew couldn't possibly freak Henry out. Ray hoped it would distract Henry from reality for a little. Henry didn't lift his head off Rays shoulder once the whole time. At one point in the movie, one of the characters fell and Ray could feel Henry flinch a little. Thankfully everyone else was laughing and didn't notice, but Ray squeezed Henry's side a little bit. After the movie ended, Henry was about to fall asleep. Charlotte noticed him blinking slowly. 

"Have you been sleeping okay Hen?" She asked. 

"Not exactly" Henry answered with a small laugh. Before Henry thought Jasper must've told her about the nightmares, but now he was fairly sure he didn't. She seemed like this was new information to her. Jasper and Ray shared a meaningful look. 

"It's fine you guys" Henry said, slightly annoyed at how sympathetic everyone was being. 

"Anyways, how's Piper doing Charlotte?" Henry said, hoping to change the subject. 

"She's good! We've been having a lot of fun together." Charlotte answered. 

"Good. Have you guys talked about what happened?" 

"A little. She's doing really good though, I don't wanna pressure her" 

"I'm glad, I'll try to see her soon." Henry said, hiding his sadness. He couldn't bring her to the man cave and he was too nervous to leave the man cave himself. He wasn't sure how to see her. After a little more awkward small talk, Jasper stood up.  

"We should probably get going" Jasper said. Jasper and Charlotte both gave Henry a big hug before leaving. 

"See you guys soon" Henry said, as they walked into the elevator.    

Once they were gone, Ray patted Henry's back. 

"You did good. Im proud of you kid." Ray said. Henry just hugged him. They pulled apart and slumped onto the couch. 

"You saw the way that act around me Ray. They're so scared of hurting my feelings that everything's different. They're treating me like I'm broken." Henry said. 

Ray wrapped his arms around him and held Henry's head close to his chest. They stayed like this a while. 

"You're not broken." Ray said softly in Henry's ear. 

Ray felt the weight of Henrys head against him. He could also feel Henry's chest rising and falling slowly as he breathed. He looked down and saw Henry sleeping right there. Ray carried him up to his bedroom and layed him on the bed. He looked at Henry as he slept, noticing his sleeve got pushed up a little. The sight of the healing gashes on Henry's arm made Ray's heartbeat spike. He rolled the sleeve down gently and covered him with a blanket. He could feel tears in his eyes. 

"I love you Hen" Ray whispered to him as he left the room quietly.