Schizophrenic Steve || ʙʟᴜᴇꜱ ᴄʟᴜᴇꜱ

Catching Up

Lately, Steve has been having trouble distinguishing what's real or just his imagination. It's been hard trying to get used to the pills, the side effects mainly withdrew a lot of mood swings.

And being busy with college, Steve has been staying up late nights. He got 4 hours of sleep on an average, 6 if he's lucky. His major is in criminology. The more he studied the more he realized how crimes can relate to psychology.

After all, most crimes aren't accidental.

This whole situation made Steve's head swim. One particular night he was up, studying as usual, exhausted and draining himself. Occasionally, Josh would check up on him.

Of course Steve carried a journal on him for multiple purposes. Some nights he would draw to ease the stress. He could barely think, he felt half asleep. Pen in hand, not sure what to scribble. Steve clicked on the pen a couple times and each time he clicked it got louder.

And more loud until Steve couldn't take it, he couldn't stop himself so he just threw it across the room. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, only to hear loud static noises ringing in his ear.

He shut his eyes tight and once he did he felt an overwhelming sense of fear. Like there was something near him that he wasn't aware of, and he kept hearing noises that weren't actually there.

It's so late, he's so tired. His mind can't adapt to this, maybe any normal mind could but not his. His breathing got more unsteady, he was starting to see colorful spots everywhere although his eyes were shut.

He didn't wanna open them in fear of any disturbing hallucination but things would most likely get worse if he didn't. He slowly opened his eyes and things were blurry, his consciousness descended. But everything felt real.

It was a sunny day, the grass was greener than ever and the sky was clear. There was a path of flowing white flowers, some sort of heavenly like scenario. It seemed like Steve was in his own story book world again.

He didn't mind it, after all this time feeling stressed and frustrated, this world felt like a breath of fresh air. He hasn't been here in so long, he forgot what it felt like.

If only he could stay forever.

One of the flowers was smiling at him, he glanced down and smiled genuinely. Another friend of his! He sat down on the soft grass and sighed. "Hey, Flower. It's been a while."

Soft wind swished by, brushing Steve's dark bangs slightly away from his face. "I haven't been here since high school, I think." He chuckled. "Can you believe I'm in college now? I'm an actual college student and I'm gonna be a detective! Like how I always wanted to be, like how Dad was. Remember Blue's Clues? The made up game I used to play? What a time."

He smiled recalling the sentimental memories. Even though they took place in a very strange time in Steve's life.

"Blue's Clues! I never forgot, also, how's Blue?" The personified flower beamed. "She's with Joe now, back home. He's doing a good job of taking care of her." Steve felt proud of his little brother. "Oh, how's Joe?" Flower asked.

Steve's smiled faded but never left, he shrugged. A lot has really changed. Things that he never would've thought of happening somehow became a reality. It's only been a week since the fight that made a significant change in their relationship. But maybe it made them closer, somehow.

"Joe is good. But um," Steve leaned a bit closer to whisper, "sometimes he needs a little help." He knew what he was implying and so did Flower. Not to throw shade.

"I'm sure things will be just fine. And Steve, keep chasing that dream of yours. Because when you use your mind, take a step at a time, you could do anything..."

"... That you wanna do." Steve responded happily, he was right. Flower beamed once more before the clear blue sky turned dark, the stars sparkled in an otherworldly way. All the flowers in the path flew up into the sky as the wind carried them away. Steve stood up and watched the beautiful sight.

The wind was getting stronger, leaves from trees started getting carried into the wind which got louder. The stars sparkled as shiny as they could be, everything was getting so intense. Steve shut his eyes once more, "Oh. Blue skidoo, we can too?"

After about 3 seconds (which felt like 10 for Steve), he felt like he got washed away into another place. His mind got foggy in an instant, he blinked a few times. His vision was very blurry.

Everything was quiet again, he opened his eyes and there he was. Right where he was before, in his dorm again. He drew a sharp exhale. The lighting was warm and dim. It took him some seconds to register the faint footsteps coming from outside his room. Josh opened the door to check on Steve. "Hey, I know you're studying late again. Just wanted to check in, also—when are you going to go to bed? No rush, of course."

Steve glanced over to Josh. After a moment, his face brightened. He got this warm feeling stirred in him, a spark glowed inside. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go to bed now actually. Goodnight, Josh." Due to him being sleepy, his voice was low, but soft as ever. Josh beamed at Steve's warmth, he seemed to be in a state of euphoria, experiencing a dose of dopamine. "Goodnight, Steve. Rest well."