Opposites Attract ↑↓ NorRay (TEMPORARY HIATUS)

Shared Coping Mechanisms

Norman's POV, 7:21 p.m.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my legs wobbling beneath my weight. Ray stood confused in front of me, staring. "I was getting a drink." He said, looking away from me.

He walked closer to me and grabbed my upper arms, pulling my arms in front of me. He sighed and looked me in the eyes. "I don't know what you're going through, but I get why you'd do this to yourself. I do it sometimes too, I'm not gonna lie to you." He said, pulling a flashlight out of his pocket and pointing the light at his wrist.

Scars were alined on his wrists, just like mine. However, his looked older than mine did. I opened my scars back up, and created new scars-to-be. "Norman, look at me." Ray said, shining the flashlight at himself.

His eyes were stained a dark green, almost black. He had a pale face, and his eyebrows were furrowed. "I'm not gonna tell you not to do this, because I've been told that before and it didn't work. But I think you should go to therapy like I did, it's what helped me stop." He suggested.

"Yes, I sometimes had the urge to keep doing it, but whenever I even really consider picking the blade back up, I would call my therapist and he helps me through it. I'm not forcing you to do anything, but I can give you his number in case you want to get at least a little bit of help at any time. I- If you want it, that is." He tucked his fringe behind his ear and pointed the flashlight at me as he finished speaking.

I hesitated for a minute. "I mean, like I said, I'm not forcing you to do anything." Ray stammered. I stayed silent before making up my mind.

"I'll think about it. But um... can you do me a favor?" I asked, playing with the strand of hair that curled up the side of my head. He nodded and gave a low hum. I let out a sigh before speaking.

"Can you go into the store and buy some bandages? I'll pay you back every penny, I just don't think I should walk back in there with my arms like this." I said, fiddling with the collar of my vest. "Oh, yeah... sure." He said.

I smiled in relief and watched as he walked away toward the store's entrance. Like 10 minutes later, Ray came out of the store with a plastic bag. "I also got you some rubbing alcohol and disinfectant spray, just in case. But I did get you 2 boxes of bandages and... a little bag of chips."

"You lost a lot of blood, so you should eat something." He scratched the back of his head as he spoke in his quiet tone. "But you don't have to pay me back. It's fine." He said and handed me the bag.

I held the bag as Ray and I stared at each other. "You do know how to do all this, right?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence. My eyes bolted at him. I shook my head, embarrassed.

"No, whenever I do this, I just leave it and wear long sleeves for a little while." I muttered, shuffling my foot in the rocky dirt. His fringe fell from behind his ear and right back into place as he sighed and stepped a foot closer to me, our faces now inches apart.

"Norman."
"Ray."

We stayed there, silent, as we looked into each other's eyes.
"LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, STUPID!" Ray screamed as he kicked my leg.

I whimpered, nearly shrieking as he did so. "That hurt." I said, laughing a bit. "Good, you deserve it." He smiled a smug smile.

"I'm coming home with you, so I can teach you how to do all this." He said. I nodded awkwardly. I sighed, and started walking home, Ray following close behind me.

"I'm sorry about today. It must have been really awkward at the hospital." Ray muttered. I looked behind me, and he was looking at the ground. I blinked a couple times.

"Don't apologize. I wanted to go, I just didn't expect all that to happen." I said, then Ray looked at me.

"Oh." He mumbled, still looking at me before he tripped on something. I shined the flashlight I was holding at him, and saw he tripped on steps.

"We're here." I said, helping him up.