Juicy's POV:
Eddie has been acting really strange lately. He hasn't been eating anything properly. Never leaves his room. Always cries. It's actually starting to concern me. I love him. He's my best friend. So I want to make sure he's okay. My mind is telling me there's something really wrong that Eddie won't dare to tell us. And I need to figure it out as soon as possible. All the boys are here because we are filming some banger videos for our main and gaming channels. I ask the boys what they think is wrong with Eddie. "Guys. Do you know what's going on with Eddie? Like why he hasn't got out of his room for at least longer than a minute." I'm scared for what they are going to say. "Honestly, I have no clue, man. All jokes aside, I'm really worried for him." Mully says in quite a serious way. He is obviously the massive jokester in the group, but he has a serious side that makes my stomach drop every time I hear it. "I mean, all I've heard is sometimes muffled cries coming from his room on some occasions, but that's about it." Josh states with a straight face. He actually means it. So this isn't a good sign. "Narrator? Anything else to report about Eduardo?" Mully asks while using Eddie's real name. He sometimes likes to say his Mexican name in the most whitest way possible, and it makes us laugh, but not right now. "Actually, whenever he does come out of his room, I always see him wear a baggy hoodie. As soon as he sees me, he pulls the sleeves down and walks off before I can even ask him about it." Narrator explains. This isn't good. This could mean a million things. And none of them are good ones. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I yell as I shot up from my spot on the couch with my face buried in my hands. "What's wrong, Juicy? Why are screaming?" Josh asks with concern plastered on his face. "Do you not get it!? Eddie pulls his sleeves down every time he sees Narrator!?" I yell again, tears already falling down my face. I never wanted this to happen. To anyone in that matter. It breaks my heart. Especially when it's my best friend doing that to himself. "Boys. It means he is self harming. He's suicidal for fucks sake!" I scream and shout wishing this would be all be a twisted dream. It's not. This is real. And Eddie is the one doing this. Out of all people, why Eddie? I love him the most, and he means the most to me. All the other boys get it. I'm glad they do. "No, no, no! Why!? FUCKING WHY!?" I shout as loud as I physically could nearly punching a hole in the wall. Mully pulls me to the couch and helps me to calm down. It works, but I'm still thinking about what Eddie does to himself. "I have to talk to him about this. There's no other choice. He only listens to me. He only talks to me. He wants me. He needs me. I'm gonna speak with him. You boys stay here. If anything happens, have nine one one on speed dial as soon as I call for you. Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this." I say like it's a speech about something important. It really is. Eddie's life is on the line. I need to make sure this stops. Before anything serious happens. I walk up to Eddie's bedroom door and knock clearly. It doesn't open. "Eddie? It's me, Juicy. Just let me in. I need to talk to you." I say in a gentle tone. His footsteps are loud enough to notify me that he's alive and well. He creaks the door open, trying not to let everyone else see his familiar features. Except, his features are no longer what they used to be. His bags are way worse than normal. The soft brown eyes I always love to look at are a menacing black, and his figure is so skinny he looks like a stick. He looks underfed. That shouldn't be possible. He should be in good shape still. He hasn't eaten a proper meal in only four days. So he shouldn't be this skinny. He looked better than this a couple of days ago. "Can I come in please?" I ask in my gentle voice not making it seem I am trying to harm him. I hate seeing him like this. It's fucking heartbreaking. He only nods in response as he steps to the side and let's me in. I wasn't surprised to see his room a mess. The curtains looked like they haven't been moved in weeks and the bed sheets are ruffled into a makeshift lump from what it looks like. His bathroom door is wide open with the light on. My eyes land on the cupboard above the sink which is slightly ajar where I can see. "Eddie. I came to talk to you. I need you to listen to me and obey when I tell you to talk to me. No ifs, buts or maybes. You need to explain to me why you haven't been out of your room for nearly a month and have been acting suspicious to all of us." I simply explain. I made clear instructions and Eddie agrees to follow them. "So please tell me Eddie. Why have you been wearing hoodies for some time now?" I ask knowing exactly why he has. He doesn't say anything but does the thing that Narrator said he does. He pulls his sleeves over his hands so I can't see any part of his arm. "Eddie. I told you. Explain to me why you have been acting like this." I command still waiting for an answer. He yet again doesn't say anything. He turns his head away and I can see a small tear run down his cheek. I couldn't control myself from what I did next. I grab his arm and pull his sleeve up. Oh God.. This isn't what I wanted to see. He has a ton of cuts all over his arm. New and old ones. The sight nearly makes me feel sick. I feel tears prick in my eyes as well but I compose myself and hold them in. Why is he doing this? He shouldn't do this. I love him so much. Does he not know that? Haven't I not told him enough? Eddie still has his head turned so he isn't looking at me but this time is he crying much more tears. He is uncontrollably sobbing. I grab his other arm and I see those same scars on his other arm. "Why Eddie?! Fucking why!?" Is all I say. The room is filled with silence and the high pitched ringing in my ears. "Eddie. What is causing you to do this to your perfect skin?!" I yell loud enough for the rest of the boys to hear me. I lift his arms up to my face and kiss all over them missing his clean and healthy skin. He still doesn't look at me but cries even more than before. "This isn't like you. We all miss the happy and bubbly Eddie. We don't want this one. What happened to all the memory making moments and all the times we were having fun? We were all like a happy family. But then you fucking disappeared and hid in your room for a nearly a month without telling all of us. Not even me. And it hurts Eddie! It fucking hurts!! You're my best friend and I love you so much. You know that. All the boys know that. You are perfect just the way you are. We all love you so much. This group would be nothing without you. So please. Stop doing this before things get worse." He finally looks up at me with hope and desperation in his eyes. He wants to change. He wants this to be over. I'll help him. I'll go through thick and thin with him until he feels better. He needs to know that. We are still holding each other's hands. I didn't let go of them once throughout that whole conversation. He looks at me with his black and emotionless eyes before practically sprinting in my arms and hugging me so tight. I missed Eddie's touch. I really did. I can tell he really missed mine too. He lets out a massive breath he was holding and let out all the rest of the built up tears. My arms wrap around him tightly while one of my hands stroke his messy and tangled hair. I lean my cheek against his head before leaving a lingering kiss on his head. I'm making him feel something other than numbness. I've never held Eddie in my arms this tight and for so long before. This is for a good reason. He needs my touch. Or else this shit will continue. I don't want it to. It shouldn't and it never will. Me and the boys will make sure of that. We both pulled away from what felt like literally ages and stared into each other's eyes. I could feel the life being put back into Eddie. This feels right. This is the Eddie we all know and love. Well, the Eddie I extremely love. "Promise me one thing, Eddie. Never ever do this again. I mean it. And remember. You're perfect in my eyes. Always and forever." I lovingly say before leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead. He smiles from what felt like years, and it makes my hopes higher than they were before. We both walk out of the room hand in hand and cheer to let the boys know that everything is resolved. Once the boys saw Eddie, they all sprinted towards him and gave him an even bigger hug than what I gave him. Eddie had a smile on his face from everyone feeding all over him like he was a celebrity. But he's our best friend. We care and cherish him. Probably even more that his parents do. No, that's a bit of a stretch. We love him as much as his parents do.
A few months later:
Eddie is getting much better every day. His physical appearance is going back to normal, and his mental health has never been better. He has been going to therapy, taking antidepressants and eating normal meals again. I've never felt more proud ever. It makes me feel warm inside and has helped recover from what I saw scattered all over his arms. Speaking of, the cuts have been fading day by day, which is amazing. It looks like nothing ever happened. But we all leave it behind in the past. It's a memory we all forget instantly. He's even been hanging out with us a lot more and participating in the videos finally. We didn't want to tell the fans the real reason why he was off for so long, so we lied and said that he had to take a long break to come back to YouTube refreshed. It worked, and the fans understood. Eddie has never been better, and I'm proud of how brave he was throughout that agony that was depression and self-harm.
