The girl next door, - ᴛ.ᴋᴀᴜʟɪᴛᴢ

chapter thirty-seven.

• BEHIND BLUE EYES - LIMP BIZKIT

FIVE DAYS

»-☠︎︎-+>

☠︎︎ 𝚃𝙾𝙼'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

The last week was completely quiet.

Mario had split and was crashing at a friend's house after saying he needed some time to think. Mandy was in a state where her depression came back, and she wouldn't get out of bed.

Then Bill and I. We were terrified. Why wouldn't we be? Everywhere we went, we looked over our shoulders. It was only now I realised how many cars slowly drove by, and it scared me. Some would wind down their window and spit at us or tell us to cross the road faster; but that was normal. I was just paranoid that a gun would be pulled on us. So I kept Bill close.

"She's not talking." Bill sighed, approaching me and sitting on the porch. "To you?" I questioned.

"To anyone." He continued, glancing at me. "Have you tried? Any longer, and it'll just get worse, Tom." Bill said quietly.

When we first got back to Mandy's house, she was still in the clothes covered in Sebastian's blood. She was in shock. She turned to me and said, "he was alive. I think he was alive." She was freaked out and heartbroken. She literally went into hibernation. She didn't answer the phone, she didn't want to talk.

"Oh, trust me, I've tried countless times. She won't eat, won't talk, won't even look at me." I muttered under my breath, looking ahead before I raised my hips slightly to grab out a lighter and pack of Marlboro's from my pocket.

"Do I try again or..?" Bill raised an eyebrow. I looked towards him, my eyes squinting lightly as I lit a cigarette and pulled it from my lips. "No. Don't worry about it. Just go home, I'm gonna crash here for a little while and see if she gets any better." I mumbled.

Bill patted my shoulder, sighing as he stood up and walked off. I watched him carefully as I got up and took another drag of my cigarette before heading inside.

It was quiet. Mandy's father was nowhere to be seen after we told him. Probably down at the pokies.

But when we did tell him, there was another party. So, the house was a mess.

I stepped over the glass on the floor, stubbing out my cigarette and going upstairs before walking into Mandy's room and approaching her bed. I sat down beside her, watching as she shuffled so I could lay down. So I did. Face-to-face with her.

"Come crash at mine. Yeah? You just.. can't stay in here. It smells like piss, and there's so much other shit downstairs. Charlotte and Gordon left a while ago, too." I said softly, my hand going to her cheek. "And you need to eat something, Mandy."

Remember when I told you she got incredibly skinny? It's getting worse than that. I was scared she was choosing not to eat, that she felt she couldn't.

"I need you to eat something for me."

Mandy thought for a minute before nodding and slowly getting up. There were fresh needle tracks in her arm, but I didn't have the type of thought to confront her yet.

My fingers laced with hers, grabbing some clothes out of her closet before heading downstairs and out of the house.

»-☠︎︎-+>

☠︎︎ 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚈'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

Once we reached Tom's house, he told me to take a bath while he made something for me to eat.

I was standing in front of the mirror, the faucet running behind me with my hand on my collarbone and the other holding my phone. I went down my contacts and to dad's drunken messages cussing me out. Some, I couldn't even make out. The others, I couldn't say.

I sighed, shaking my head before I went to photos of Seb and I. For a while, I just looked through those.

My fingers pushed the phone closed, setting it on the counter before turning to get into the bath. The warm water casted over my lower body, making me sigh and rest my head against the wall before I sunk in completely.

I didn't know what to do this time. I had Tom, I had Bill, I was supported and cared for. I don't know why I still felt this dull. I just wanted my brother back to tell him I loved him, too.