blood and dreams

I need you

Henry felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was sitting in the man cave, watching tv while Ray was messing around with some device. He pulled his phone out. It was a text from Piper.  

Piper: wanna come hang out with me and char today? 

Henry stared at it, then dropped his phone onto the table without answering. He'd get to it later. 

Ray heard the thud of Henry's phone and walked over. 

"What's up?" Ray asked, sitting down across from Henry.  

"Eh, nothing. Piper wants me to hang out with her today." Henry said, sounding bored  

"Henry, you should go." 

"I know I should." 

"So go!"  

Henry paused for almost a minute. He knew he really should go. 

"Ugh, fine." Henry wasn't sure why he didn't want to go to Charlotte's house. She's one of his best friends. Piper is his sister. He should care about them, right? Henry just felt tired. Physically and emotionally. He picked up his phone and started to text back. 

Henry: yeah sure, I'll be there soon if that's ok 

Piper: yeah that's fine 

Henry insisted on walking there himself, but Ray didn't want to get a panicked call from Henry if he got scared or lost, or anything like that. He thought maybe that was overprotective, but better safe than sorry. Henry would go out on his own eventually. 

In the car, Henry leaned his head back on the head rest and closed his eyes. The last 2 times hed made this drive were to drop Piper off after the fight with his dad and to tell Charlotte his secret. Just seeing the road signs by her house basically gave him PTSD. 

The car pulled to a stop. Henry lifted his head up and looked over at Ray. Ray patted the top of Henry's hand and gave him a reassuring look. Henry's face was blank. He squeezed Ray's hand tight, then let go, opening the car door. He was halfway out the door when Ray said, "Call me if you want me to come get you at any point, ok?" 

"Gotcha." Henry said, walking to the door. He knocked 3 times. Charlotte answered, smiling. She hugged Henry and said, "Come in, Piper's upstairs." Henry walked inside. He heard the faint screeching of Ray's car driving away.  

Henry followed Charlotte up the stairs to her room. Piper was sitting on the bed.  

"Hey Henry." Piper said. 

"Hi." Henry replied, forcing a smile. 

Henry sat down on Charlotte's blue desk chair. His leg bounced and he looked around at the room. All he could think about was that time he came here with Jasper. It was like it was all happening again from the start. But it was different now. Pipers things were all over, not in a messy way but in a comfortable way. Like she'd always lived here. Henry knew that was partially his fault. 

"What do you guys wanna do?" Charlotte asked. 

"Ooh, let's play Wii party" Piper said. 

"Fine with me." Henry said shortly. 

Piper and Charlotte immediately got really competitive. Henry got the idea they did this a lot. They were so focused on trying to win they didnt pay attention to the fact that Henry wasn't really putting much effort into the game. He was spending most of his time wishing he weren't there. There really wasn't anything bad about the situation, but Henry felt uncomfortable. He scratched at his face and neck, leaving red marks. He felt trapped, like he couldn't breathe. 

Henry was used to this. He'd had anxiety his whole life, for obvious reasons. He knew how to hide it. So Henry tried to focus on the game, and the show they watched after it. He talked to Piper, and he asked questions, and he made jokes. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to himself. He wanted Piper to think he's okay.  

It worked for a while, Henry even almost got distracted a few times. After a while of this though, he got quiet again. He started off at the walls and thought about nothing but how stuck he felt. It was like he couldn't be at ease here no matter how hard he tried. He knew Piper and Charlotte loved him, but he still felt trapped. 

"Hey, I'll be right back." Henry said, walking towards the bathroom. 

Once he got in there, he quickly pulled out his phone and breathed frantically. He clicked on Ray's contact and started to text.

Henry: I need you I need you I need you I need you 

Seconds after seeing this, Henry saw Ray was calling him. He quickly declined. He couldn't let anyone hear him talking on the phone in the bathroom. Ray texted quickly after seeing Henry declined. 

Ray: I'm leaving now, stay calm 

Ray: Can you try to breathe slow for me? 

Ray: You're okay, I'm on my way, I'll be there in a few minutes 

Ray: I'll make up an excuse for Charlotte don't worry 

Henry didn't know how Ray knew exactly how to handle the situation. How he knew that he would need an excuse for Charlotte. Henry's best theory was Ray just predicted that Henry would get nervous or upset. That was probably why he told him to call if he needed him before he left the car. 

Henry exited the bathroom and sat back down. He said nothing. A moment later, Charlotte got a call. She picked up.  

"Hello?" Charlotte said. 

Henry couldn't make out what the other person was saying. 

"Oh, okay. I'll tell him.... Yup.... Bye." She said, hanging up.  

Charlotte looked over at Henry. Piper seemed confused. 

"That was Ray. He said he tried calling you but it wouldnt go through? Anyways, he needs you cause I guess something happened at Junk and Stuff? I don't know, he wasn't very specific. Anyways, he's gonna pick you up soon." 

"Oh- uhh- yeah, my phone must be on airplane mode or something- who knows?? Anyways, I should get my stuff, sounds important." Henry said quickly, stepping into his shoes. 

Henry quickly said goodbye to the girls and headed out the front door the second he saw Ray pull up. 

He got into the car as fast as he could and let out a breath of relief, grabbing Ray's forearm tightly. 

"Henry, are you okay?" Ray asked. 

"Anxious." Was all Henry could say, his breathing slowing now. 

Ray put a hand on Henry's shoulder, giving him an empathetic look. 

"It's all gonna be okay, Hen. Just relax, I'm here now. You're with me now." 

Henry's breathing slowed to an almost normal pace. 

"Is it okay if I start driving now, or should we wait here for a little?" Ray asked. 

"You can drive." Henry said. 

Ray drive to the man cave kind of slowly, probably not wanting to cause Henry any more anxiety. Henry wanted to be back there really bad, but he also got nervous when people drove fast, so he dealt with it. Ray didn't stop saying comforting things to Henry the whole time, even when he had calmed down. 

They got inside and Henry went straight to their room. He and Ray said down on the bed and Henry wrapped his arms around Ray. 

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess, I just really, really need you right now." Henry said, clinging to Ray. 

"Dont apologize Henry. I'm here for you always." Ray said, hugging Henry back. Ray knew how scary it was to feel anxious. He'd let Henry cling to him tightly for hours on end if it meant Henry wouldn't feel like that anymore.  Ray reached to turn off the lights, hoping Henry would sleep. Henry did close his eyes, but didn't loosen his grip on Ray. Ray didn't mind. He just played with Henry's hair until Henry fell asleep, finally free of his worries.