After All, I'm Your Secret Admirer~!!

Ch42 - This is a Heinous Night

Fuck.

"Paige?" one of the Squeezes asks, but Leaf can't tell who. Their eyes are shut closed thanks to Paige, who's stuck in the past. "Paige, buddy, it's—"

They're reaching for him. Both Leaf and Paige can feel the sensation of someone coming closer.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Paige shouts, holding himself tightly.

"Okay, okay! No touching!" It sounds like Dani, but Leaf is a bit too preoccupied to care whether he's right or not.

"Paige," he tries. "Paige, it's okay. We're not there anymore. It's okay."

Paige's heavy breathing doesn't let up, though. Instead, he opens his eyes wildly to take in the current situation. The Squeezes are all standing a good distance from him, all with some sort of worried look on their faces.

"Paige...?" Sam says warily. "Turtle dove, what's wrong?"

Paige opens his mouth and shakes his head and cries and does anything else but answer.

"Let me in," Leaf urges. "Let me help."

"No, no, no, no!" Paige shouts. "Don't—I—" He's sobbing. "Dad..." he breathes, curling up on his chair.

"Paige, please—"

Paige sobs again, clutching his head. "No! No! You're—you're gonna—no!"

This was not happening. Paige's senses were too flooded with panic. Leaf doubts anyone would be able to get through to him like this.

So that meant it was time to wait.

Paige stays in the chair for what feels like hours, rocking back and forth. He cries and hiccups and calls out for his mom. Several times does Leaf try to slowly pry control from him, but it just spikes the anxiety and fear in the other each time with no leeway given. So eventually Leaf decides to sit back and hum tuneless songs, unsure what else he could do to help.

Eventually, Paige does calm down. But he's so exhausted, even Leaf can feel it.

"...G-uys?" Paige tries weakly, tears still streaming down his face. Looking around, he doesn't see any of the family anymore. "O-OJ?"

Almost immediately the Squeezes flock back into the dining area, causing Paige's fear to spike again. OJ must notice it, because he quickly goes, "Perhaps only I should be here right now." His parents share a worried look before nodding and walking away. Once they're gone, OJ smiles pensively and waves. "Hello, Paige," he greets. "Can you tell me where you are?"

A million answers bubble to the top of Paige's head. Here. There. Everywhere. At home. With Mom. With Dad. At your house. With your family. With Leaf. With you.

Ultimately, the teen just shakes his head and points to OJ, seemingly unable to pick from the fuzzy thoughts.

"You're here at my house, that's right." OJ smiles kindly, but there's sadness in it too. "Can you tell me what just happened?"

Paige's breath immediately hitches as the sound of shattering replays and reverberates in his head. He whines and clutches his head, shaking it more.

"It's alright, it's alright." OJ moves the slightest bit closer. "My mother dropped a bottle. It broke. Do you remember that?"

Paige nods shakily.

"Is that what scared you?"

Paige nods again, faster this time.

"Do you wish to talk ab—"

Paige shakes his head so hard it starts to make Leaf dizzy.

"Okay, that's okay." OJ inches closer and closer until he's close enough to touch. "Is it okay if I touch you now? I'm certain sitting like this can't be comfortable, and I'd like to take you to my room if that's alright."

"R-room...?" Paige mumbles, still kind of out of it. "Why...?"

"I can turn on my night light and put on soothing music and ultimately help you calm down better in there, I think," OJ explains. "How does that sound?"

Paige is silent as he thinks. Before long though, he gingerly uncurls and holds his hand out.

"I can take you?" OJ asks carefully, like he's still afraid the answer might be no. But, Paige nods slowly. OJ gently takes the other's hand and lifts him up, Paige rising with ease. His legs wobble though.

"Paige?" OJ asks, worry clear in his voice, "Can you get there on your own?"

"Let me help," Leaf urges, feeling relieved he can finally offer something to the situation. "I'll just walk for you, okay?"

Paige hums as an answer to the both of them and finally lets up his death grip on the controls, allowing Leaf to walk along with OJ into his room. He's still breathing weird when he finally takes a seat on the other's bed.

"Feel free to lay down and cover up if you wish," OJ smiles tightly. "I'll turn on soft classical music for you and leave the night light on as promised, okay?"

Paige nods and then begins to climb under the comforter. He's no longer trembling, but he can't seem to make his breathing even.

OJ walks around and does whatever he does, Paige's eyes having slipped closed the moment he was under the covers. Eventually, the music comes on and the buzz of the lamp's light turns off.

"I think that should be everything," OJ says from vaguely above them. Paige cracks open his eyes to look at him. "I've left water on the table as well as two aspirin should you need them. Me and my mothers will be downstairs, alright? Ah, here also."

OJ holds out his phone before placing it next to the water. "I'm not sure where your phone is, but I've removed the password from mine at the moment. Should you need anything, feel free to navigate to either of my mother's contacts and call, okay?"

Paige mumbles nothing words, only to clear his throat. "S-sorry..." he croaks. "I don't... "

"It's quite alright, Paige." OJ's expression looks a bit more relaxed now, probably because Paige is talking again. "Don't worry about it a bit, alright?"

"B-but..." Paige's whole body is wracked by a yawn. "But..."

"Rest," OJ says gently. "It's alright. All that matters right now is you feeling good again."

Paige frowns sadly. "I-I... I..." He shakes his head a bit. "I..."

"Don't push yourself, Paige." OJ bends down to be level with the other. "Everything is okay. You just need some rest."

"Mmm..." Paige hums pensively.

OJ reaches out a hand but stops short. "May I...?" he asks politely. Paige nods and OJ places his hand on the other's shoulder. "If you wish to apologize, do it after you feel better, alright?" He rubs the spot his hand lays gingerly. "Can you do that? For me?"

Paige stares at the other, some big ball of emotions bouncing inside of him like crazy. But he must not have the energy to act upon any of them, because all he does is nod with a small, "Okay."

OJ smiles fondly and stands again. "We're right downstairs," he reminds. "I'll come back up to check on you every so often, okay?"

Paige sticks out a hand and gives a limp thumbs up, eyes closing again.

"Wonderful. Rest well, Paige." The sound of the door opening and quietly closing happens shortly after, leaving Paige and Leaf alone.

"Paige?" Leaf tries.

"Sleep," Paige mumbles. "Talk. L'ter."

He sounds so tired, so out of it, Leaf relents immediately. "...Okay."

And so, Paige lays quietly until his breathing finally evens out. Leaf sighs, relieved that that was finally dealt with, only to immediately worry again.

Was that the first time Paige had ever experienced a flashback? He said he didn't have many memories of Mack before, didn't he? So why did he remember that so vividly, so suddenly? Even with everything put into place to cause such a bad reaction, shouldn't it have been Leaf freaking out? Not Paige?

Not knowing is bothering the teen, but with his brother now blessedly asleep, there's no way to get answers of any kind.

Ugh.

Well, he might as well catch some shut eye too, then.