Feeling For You (DNF)

Chapter 7: Concern

Author's Note:

Hey, everyone! How are you doing today?

Thanks for reading! All reads, votes, follows, and/or comments really help the story, so thanks!!! :)

Word count: 3,053

For this chapter, I recommend listening to Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers, Lonely by Imagine Dragons, I Just Wanna Shine by Fitz & The Tantrums, and/or Fire by The Score. 

⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS: This chapter has a few pretty heavy trigger warnings, so please make sure to check the list before reading if you could be affected!

Cold hands slapping my face, shaking my shoulders, a terrified voice calling my name-

"Augh!" My eyes fly open, and I flinch. The wooden floor is hard and cold underneath my back, and Sapnap's worried face is hovering over mine. Morning sunlight streams through my window, the beams of light highlighting the dust particles in the air. 

Morning? Since when was it morning? 

"Clay! What the hell?! What happened to you?!"

"I- what?" I try to sit up, but groan and let myself go limp. My mind slowly spins as I remember what happened. "Shit. I think I... passed out?" My body feels clammy, and something's wrong... my head is throbbing, a different kind of pain than the headache last night, and something warm is on my cheek. 

Feeling a pulsing pain in my temple, I probe the side of my head gently, and my fingers come away faintly bloody. "S-shit."

Sapnap leans closer, studying my face. "Oh god. Clay, you're bleeding, like, a lot. Should you go to the hospital?!"

"What?!" The hospital is the last place I want to be, the intensity of the emotions there would make the situation much worse. "No, I'm okay. I think-" moving slowly, I bring myself into a sitting position, my legs sprawled in front of me. "I think I must have hit my head, or something, when I fainted last night."

"Fuck. Clay, you've been bleeding and unconscious on the floor all night?"

I blink, feeling the stiffness in my neck. "I- yah. I think I have." 

Sapnap curses again, looking alarmed. "Clay, was this because of yesterday? I know it's hard for you to hide your... condition, but I didn't know it was this taxing."

"I was just tired, and yesterday was... difficult." I reassure. I flash back to George pulling away from me as I leaned in to kiss him, and I feel embarrassed and guilty once again. I rest my head in my hands, carful not to touch the area around my right eye, which is throbbing painfully and seems to be the source of the bleeding. 

Unfortunately, the surging worry is back. Sapnap's fear echos through me, and I feel my hands starting to shake as my mind amplifies his concern.

"Clay, you can't do this. You weren't even hiding it for three hours, and you were so tired that you passed out. How will you be able to do this all day, every day? You need to tell him, before you hurt yourself."

I ignore his words, to busy focusing on his emotions. Somewhat guiltily, I open my mouth, not wanting to offend my friend, but desperate for the worry to die down. "Sap, could you try to calm down? I'm sorry, it's just-"

He cuts me off quickly, noticing my shaking. "Don't be sorry, you can't control it. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I know better than to let myself loose control around you. I was just-" he rubs his face. "I was really scared when I tried to wake you up for breakfast, and you were unconscious on the floor, with your face covered in blood." He shudders. "To be honest, you looked dead. It was horrifying."