Rock Bottom

Part title

The thing with depression is that it has a floor. A rock bottom. And finding that floor is like a blessing in disguise.

When you hit it, that rock bottom, nothing can get any worse. Life is as shitty as it can possibly get. It feels like you should stay down, to just wallow in that misery, but you find a reason to get up.

You always find a reason to get back up, no matter how hard it is.

Whether it's your parents you get up for, maybe it's a pet, a friend or maybe it's just for the sake of finding out what happens tomorrow. But, you get back up. You always get back up.

Lately though, it's been harder than usual.

"Hey, Y/L/N. Coming to find a movie for the weekend?" Steve greeted when you walked through the front door of Family Video.

He was leaning against the counter looking bored out of his brain and you mustered up a bright smile before walking over to him.

"Nah, just returning these bad boys."

You handed over the tapes of Risky Business, Footloose and Return of the Jedi, that your family had rented over the past week.

"Wow, never knew you liked such a wide range of movies." He commented, looking over the tapes.

"Well, I'm full of surprises, Harrington." You replied with a grin that you knew didn't reach your eyes.

Steve's brows furrowed a little as he looked over at you, seeing straight through the act.

"You doing okay?" He asked, his voice turning soft but serious and you nodded. "Y/N-"

"I'm fine. Promise."

It was clear that Steve wasn't buying it. You had been best friends since third grade. There was very little you didn't tell each other. Steve knew you better than most, but he didn't know about the scars across your thighs or fresh cuts under your sleeve.

The bell on the door ringed as another customer walked into the store, stopping Steve from asking any more questions.

"Hey, man." Steve called out, looking over your shoulder at the customer.

"Harrington, good to see you."

You froze recognising that voice instantly.

It was Eddie Munson.

You and Eddie had been dating for a few months now. Steve wasn't too keen on it at first, he was like a protective brother when it came to you, but he had warmed up to the other man rather quickly.

Eddie was a sweet guy. A little dorky and sometimes stupid, but in a cute way. He was unlike anyone you had ever met, but you had been avoiding him lately. You didn't want Eddie to see you like... like this.

Sure, you could fake it. Put on a bright smile, and laugh, and joke, and pretend everything was fine. You've been doing that for years, but you were just so exhausted. It was easier to avoid him rather than pretend that everything was okay.

Taking a deep breath, you masked your expression and turned around to find Eddie walking through the doors, his face lighting up when he spotted you.

"Hey, princess."

You smiled, "hey, Eddie."

He walked over to you, cupping the side of your face with his hand before kissing you gentle. For the first time all week, you found yourself genuinely smiling as you kissed him back.

"I haven't seen you around lately." He said, pulling away from you, his hand falling to your shoulder. "You're not, like, avoiding me anything, are you?"