Falling

I was always there to catch him when he fell.

"Vik, please open up! What are you doing?!" I shouted.

"What do you care?" he snapped.

"Vik-" I started.

"No, shut up! You know, I actually thought that moving in with everyone would be fun. I didn't think that it would just result in everyone hating me," he sighed, letting out a small sniffle.

"I don't hate you," I promised.

"Ha, that's funny," he bitterly replied. Someone poked my shoulder. I turned around and saw Mitch holding out a key to me.

"This is the key to that bathroom. Go talk to Vik," he whispered, putting the key in my hand. I nodded.

"Vik, do you think I'm joking?" I asked as I turned the key as quietly as possible.

"What could make me think that you don't?" he retorted. I heard shuffling from inside. Did he hear me trying to open the door?

"Give me time, Vik," I answered, pushing the door open. There he sat, on the sink counter with a handful of pills in one hand and the bottle next to him.

"Get out!" he screamed, putting the pills down and trying to push my out.

"Vik-" I breathed. It felt like my throat tightened and it was getting harder to breath.

"Just get out!" he repeated, leaning all his weight on me.

"No, Vik, please-" I whispered with a shaky breath. Suddenly, Vik collapsed on the floor and started sobbing. I took a deep breath and sat on the floor with him.

"If you care about me, then you'd let me swallow those pills," he mumbled. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. I turned his face towards mine, but he kept his eyes focused on the floor.

"Vik," I said. I knew it was horribly risky to do what I was planning to do. He hesitantly looked me in the eye. "I can't. I wouldn't be able to live without you." Then I kissed him. And he just sat there. That's why I pulled back and just started cleaning up the pills.

"Lachlan-" he started.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I lied, turning around and giving him a fake smile. I went back to collecting the pills and putting them back into the bottle.

"Are you sure?" he continued. He put a hand on my shoulder. I gently shook it off. I continued to take all the medication from the bathroom with the intention to temporarily lock them away.

"I'm sure," I confirmed, walking out of the bathroom. Mitch would know where to hide these. At least I got Vik's mind off of taking those pills.

"Give me time, okay?" he said. I froze. Was he serious?

"Okay. And the guys don't hate you," I replied, looking for Mitch again.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I showed him that there were reasons to live if he looked in the right places.

"I'm sorry, Lachlan. I gave in again," Vik told me, a few tears escaping his watery eyes. I could feel my eyes starting to sting.

"It's okay, Vik," I choked out, my voice getting caught in my throat. I was pretty sure that I ended up getting more hurt than he did, no matter what happened.