Scars Don't Heal When You Keep Cutting ♡ brusnop

Chapter Three

Just like I had promised, I meet Ben at his locker. When I approach locker 112, he's awkwardly standing there, swaying from left to right on his feet. I smile widely as I tap his shoulder, causing him to jump as his head snaps in my direction. My smile drops completely as I notice the state he's in.

Horror and sadness swim in his eyes as tears flow rapidly down his flushed cheeks.

My protective instincts urge me to pull the crying boy into a tight hug, but he gasps and moves out of my grasp. I flinch and step back a little bit, giving him room. He wipes his eyes before speaking as I watch the vulnerable boy, concerned.

"Sorry 'bout that," he sniffles, keeping his head hung low. "I'm fine, don't worry bout me." I sigh, my heart aching for him.

"You sure? You don't look it..." I ask softly. He looks up and smiles, but something's off about it. I assure him that I'm here for him and that he can tell me anything before asking if he's ready to come to my place. He nods his head eagerly, encouraging me to smile again. He's actually quite excited about hanging at my place while my old friends at my old school thought it was whatever. It's kinda cute, actually...

I turn to walk out the building with Ben closely by my side. We walked to my house in silence, the only sounds heard being Ben's occasional hiccups and sniffles from crying. I wanted to hug him so badly, but it's quite obvious that he's not one for hugs at all.

We finally get to my house as Ben finally stops crying. I would've told him to stop if he still was, I kinda gotta get him to meet my parents. They won't let him up to my room without them meeting first. Stupid? Yes. Do I have a choice? No. I don't think it would be a very good first impression anyways.

I pull my key out of my pocket and jam it into the hole with more force than necessary and twist before letting Ben in first. He hesitates for a moment, drawing more concern from me.

"You alright, mate?" I ask him. He looks up at me for the first time since we left school, quite awkwardly.

"Yeah, just never been in any house other than my own," he mutters quietly, looking back to the floor sheepishly.

I smile and motion for him to come in. "You're welcome here, don't worry! Worsnop's place is the coolest ever!"

With that, he hastily walks in. I chuckle at him and step in myself, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home! I brought someone with me!" I shout loudly so my parents would hear me from whatever room they're in. My loud shout seemed to scare Ben, seeing that he jumped back a bit and flinched. I sigh sadly and mutter an apology as I hear footsteps from the kitchen, and in comes a smiling Mom along with Dad, who was a bit surprised yet happy. Is the fact that I brought a friend home the first day of school really that great?

"Hey, Daniel! How was school?" I grimace at the use of my birth name. I specifically asked to be called 'Danny' a while back but he keeps calling my 'Daniel' instead. I let it slip, even though it irritates me.

"It was fine, I made a new friend here," I turn my head to look at Ben, who was staring at his shoes. He kept blinking at them, trying to fight back tears. I sigh softly again before looking back to my parents.