"𝕀𝕥'𝕤 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟"

Dreads

Deimos unlocked the bathroom door, face puffy from hours of crying. The hallways were dark now, the pink light from morning fading into what is now a very dark maroon.

"Deimos?" A tired voice came from the makeshift living room. Deimos didn't answer.

"Deimos? Buddy?" The voice could be identified as Sanford as Dei walked past him on the couch.

"Wait! Deimos, tell me what's going on, you locked yourself in the bathroom for 3 hours!" Sanford got up to grab Dei's shoulder.

"Let go of me, man!" Deimos pushed Sanford away, Sanford looked hurt.

Sanford sighed, "Deimos... Please. I'm worried y'know." This isn't the first time Sanford had seen Dei like this.

Deimos turned to face Sanford, "Look man, I don't wanna talk about it. Just let it go, alright? Look, I'm fine." Deimos rose his hands to show he wasn't harmed.

Sanford just stared for a second, he knew he was lying, but decided not to push it more. Instead, he just brought Deimos into a hug.

"Heheh, alright man." Deimos patted Sanford on the back. Sanford let go. "I'm gonna go out alright... I uh, ran out of cigs." Deimos lied. "Can't it wait till mornin'? It's pretty dark out. I could go with you if it's that important." Sanford said, Deimos usually never goes out late, and never runs out of cigarettes. He could sense something was going on.

"No man, I'll be fine." Deimos patted Sanford's shoulder for reassurance then went for the front door. "I'll cya later, yeah?" Deimos smiled.

"Yeah, be careful alright?" Sanford was skeptical. Deimos hummed and walked out the door.

'He's lying to me.' Sanford thought.

He couldn't think of why. Was the trauma getting to him again? That could be the only reason, right?

Sanford thought about the times Deimos had cried right in front of him, he'd come to him because he had been having horrible nightmares of his childhood. But this time Deimos was pushing him away, had Sanford done something to trigger him? He couldn't think of anything.

Oh, poor clueless Sanford. If only he knew.

Deimos walked the streets of the deserted town, thinking to himself. Unfortunately for him, some bandits had spotted him in a store and we're quietly following.

He went into an abandoned building and lit up a cigarette, and became lost in thought.

'He thinks you're weak. It was all just an act he put on because he knows you're fragile.'

'What?'

'You're a weak little cry baby! Just another pathetic soul. They don't even need you on their team, do they? All you are is extra weight.'

'No... I'm not I- I have a purpose in that team.'

'You won't when they find out. They'll hate you even more than they do now, no one wants a weak queer on their team do they?'

'...'

'Y'know, you should just get rid of the extra weight for them.'

'What..?'

Suddenly, Deimos felt a presence behind him, and saw a bandit swing their makeshift hammer at Deimos, he dodged and took a few steps back. He was gonna have to fight barehanded.

The bandit swung again and Deimos dodged then tripped the bandit. He ripped the hammer from their hands and hit them with it, knocking them out. Another bandit tackled him from behind, taking Deimos by surprise.

'Go on, let them end it all for you.'

Deimos couldn't move, he took hit, after hit from the bandit. Tears streamed down his face, he didn't want to die, yet at the same time, he thought he was doing the others a favor.

The bandit rose a pocket knife, about to slit Deimos' neck, when

BAM!

The bandit fell to the floor.

In the doorway stood... Sanford? Gun still raised.

Deimos couldn't understand.

"Jesus fucking Christ Deimos! What happened?" Sanford lowered his gun and ran to Deimos, looking at his injuries. For the first time in a long time, Sanford felt as if he were going to cry. He tried his best to keep his composure but...

"God, Deimos" Sanford let out a shaky breath and the waterworks started. "I-i could've lost you..." Sanford gently hugged Deimos as he cried.

Deimos couldnt process what was going on.

Deimos was picked up bridal style, "Woah! What- what are you doing?" Deimos was blushing hard, he never imagined this would happen to him.

"We're taking you to doc." Sanford said, tears drying on his face.

HELLO OH BUT WONDERFUL READER!

I'm incredibly sorry I'm like 3 hours late to posting this or sum. I procrastinate 🙁

Anyways... I had a lot of ideas for this one, I dunno I might edit it! Anywho, I really hope you enjoyed and that this was as good as the last one, though I'm not sure, it's pretty rushed.

Cya next chapter, Reader!