DUO (II x ONE crossover fanfic)

CHAPTER ONE: Details

Bryce woke up in a hospital. But not like the bed in his usual nightmares on the Plane, he woke up in the chair next to a bed. Next to him was also Owen, who was sitting in a chair like Bryce. Liam could be found in the hospital bed that Bryce's gaze landed on.

A beeping rang through the room. Was this..? Yes, it had to be. The barely faded burn scar, the unconscious Liam on the bed, Owen right next to Bryce, and the tears. Oh, the tears.

But the tears didn't matter to Bryce. What mattered was the beeping. But it wasn't a repeated jarring noise that made anyone's ears hurt (or so Bryce thought), it was one continuous ring.

He had lost Liam. This was it, Liam was gone for good. Ripped away again, just like all those 7 months ago when Bryce got eliminated from ONE. Just about one of the only things keeping him happy at the time, cruelly kept for so long. He had to get back at Airy. No, not the world. Not the universe for playing with his emotions so much, Airy. He was getting his revenge on Airy.

Then he woke up, right in the guest room of Bradley's house. Liam was still lying asleep next to Bryce. Bryce soon began crying, just like the dream.

He tried his best to stay silent, as not to bother Liam, but soon he heard a shift. Liam turned over to face Bryce, who was, of course, sitting up crying.

"...Bryce..?" Liam called his name tiredly. Bryce almost had a heart attack as he heard Liam speak, as he looked over at him. God, those tired eyes were so charming to Bryce. "...Hey," Bryce replied shakily, nervously smiling. "What's wrong?" Liam asked, sitting up and putting a hand on Bryce's face, a teardrop or two collecting on his thumb. Bryce couldn't speak.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything," Liam said softly. "Just... Lay down. Take deep breaths, alright?"

Take deep breaths. Jesus Christ, those words weren't said enough to Liam. The words he was now screaming in his head, over and over. The screaming. The screaming and the crying and the--

"Liam?" Bryce found his voice again, although shaky. "You alright?" he asked. "I- uh- Yeah, I was just spaced out," Liam said, laying back down next to Bryce.

After a bit of a pause, Liam staring at the ceiling and Bryce staring at the mattress they lay on, Bryce finally spoke up. "Would you mind if I wrapped my arms around you?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, no, I don't mind," Liam said, looking over at Bryce. And, with that, Bryce shifted closer to Liam, wrapping his arms around him. Liam let out an exhale as he closed his eyes, and Bryce also let his eyelids drop as they both fell asleep.

Now it was Liam's turn to have a nightmare.

Liam stared into the mirror. The mirror in his childhood home. Liam didn't have his usual pins on, no, but instead the ones he had when he was younger. Much younger. He was his younger self again.

He stared in the mirror. His hands were small and dainty, but at the same time rough and covered in dirt. His limbs were thinner than usual.

As he looked in the mirror, the backpack in there did not look back. They moved on their own, seeming to tell something to someone outside the door. Quickly, they rushed out, and Liam felt his body get pulled to do the same, as it was forced downstairs by nothing.

"Leah, c'mon, you can't be spending so much time getting ready," his mother scolded, ushering Liam outside and into the car. "Sorry," he replied involuntarily. He hated the sound of his voice when he was younger. Wait, why was he answering to the name Leah? Oh, who am I kidding? I know why, Liam thought as he was dragged into the car.

He stared at his face in the outer mirror, and it almost mocked him as his face had holes ripped into it in the fabric of the backpack in the image in the mirror. Liam uncharacteristically paid no mind to it, and soon the eyes were torn off.

He woke up as the sun of the dawn peeked through the window. Bryce still had his arms wrapped around Liam, and it looks like Liam had wrapped his arms around Bryce, although he had no memory of doing it. His free hand was numb, and he accidentally smacked himself in the face as it's feeling returned.

He stared at his hand. It was normal again, along with his limbs. Although they were still... Thin, they weren't as thin as his younger self's limbs.

He sat up carefully, unzipping himself quietly and pulling Texty's computer out and zipping himself back up.

"morning" The monotone, text-to-speech voice said.

L: shhhh
T: what, you worried about waking your boyfriend up?
L: he's not my boyfriend
T: really? cuz im pretty sure he called you cute when he was drunk that one night
L: he what now?
T: oh and not to mention he literally told you he loved you and you said you loved him too
L: im sure he meant that platonically
T: you didn't say you meant that platonically
L: because i didn't
T: he didn't mean that platonically i can assure you
L: how do you know? did he tell you or something?
T: no, liam, he didn't tell me
L: see i knew it
T: i was being sarcastic
L: oh
wait what?
T: yeah he was trying to plan it for a while, when he was younger he always used to tell me he'd have a wonderful husband
L: when he was younger? what?

Texty hesitated to type any more.

T: uh nevermind forget what i said
L: no, im not letting you just gloss over that
T: well too bad

Texty shut off the computer, leaving Liam confused as all hell.