The Midnight Crisis

Asher

As the school day went on, my anxiety grew. My legs couldn't stop bouncing whenever I sat down. To no surprise, Ethan noticed.

"Hey, are you okay?" he whispered to me. I gave a small nod, assuring him I was okay, but the truth was that my mind was racing with thoughts of William's death. I could hardly focus on what the teacher was saying through it all.

When I got home, Matthew was standing above the stove. There was a sweet smell floating around the house. I set my things down and walked over to Matthew.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Cooking," he answered flatly.

He was cooking? That's impossible; the stove is broken and I haven't been able to use it in years. It's the only reason why I've been eating take-out every day.

"What do you mean you're cooking? Did you fix it?"

He nodded. I looked over his shoulder to see that he was making pancakes. A small smile graced my face. This is probably the happiest I've felt all day, maybe even all week. After Will died, Matthew decided that he would stay here until his funeral to make sure I was okay until then.

"Wow, that's impressive. I've been trying to get that fixed but I just never had the time." I say. "And also, I want to thank you. For this," I said, guestring to wards the stove. "And everything else. I'd probably still be missing if it wasn't for you." His face flashed with concern, but it had a certain darkness to it. As fast as it had appeared, the emotion vanished. His face turned to a quick small smile.

"You're welcome, but you didn't need to thank me," he said it so quietly I could hardly hear him, "It's my pleasure, really"

"Huh? What'd you say?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. What do you want on your pancakes?"

I took a quick look at the kitchen counter. There was syrup, a small bag of powdered sugar, strawberries, a stick of butter, and bananas. He must have bought everything. With his personal money. I was about to walk over to my school bag and give him what I could, but Matthew grabbed me before I could.

"Don't even think about it." he said.

I sighed, about to open my mouth when Matthew interrupted me with his gaze. It was cold but there was familiarity in it.

"Syrup and bananas, please." I answered.

He turned back to the stove, flipping the last pancake onto a plate. "Go ahead, sit down. Breakfast for dinner, I guess,"he said with a small laugh. I sat at the small kitchen table, watching as he brought over two plates of pancakes and set one in front of me.

"You didn't have to do all this, you know," I said quietly, feeling a strange mixture of gratitude and guilt.

"I wanted to," he said simply, sitting across from me. "Besides, you need to eat something that's not from a take-out box for once."

I couldn't argue with that. After everything that had happened, my appetite had been non-existent, but somehow, the sight and smell of the pancakes made my stomach growl.

As I reached for the syrup, my hand trembled slightly, and Matthew noticed. He didn't say anything though, just watched me, his eyes soft but vigilant. It was like he could see through the thin walls I'd built around myself, but he didn't push. He never did. He just stayed.

After a few bites, the silence in the room started to get heavy, like the weight of everything I was holding back was catching up to me. The trauma of Will's death, the nightmares, the constant ache in my chest. It was too much.

I set down my fork, barely able to swallow the food in my mouth, my heart pounded, my mind racing back to the image of Will's lifeless body. My breathing became shallow, the panic rising up like a wave, threatening to pull me under.

"Asher?" Matthew's voice broke through the haze. "You okay?"

I shook my head, my vision blurring with unshed tears. "I—I can't stop thinking about him. I can't stop... seeing him like that."

Matthew stood up, walking over to my side. He crouched down next to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I know, Asher. It's gonna take time. You're still in shock."

"I keep thinking it should have been me," I blurted out before I could stop myself. The words in the air are heavy and raw.

Matthew's hands gripped my shoulders. "Don't say that. Don't even think about it.

"But it's true, though," I whispered, the tears spilling over my cheeks. "He's gone because of me."

"That's not true," Matthew said firmly, his voice filled with concern. "You didn't kill him . You didn't cause that tragedy to happen..

Asher buried his face into Mathews arms, his sobs choking him. He hadn't cried like this since his parents' deaths. I felt his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.

Matthew didn't say anything else. He just held me, letting me fall apart like he did in the mall that day.

BUZZZZZ

HELP MY DOG DIED AND I'M STUCK IN A TREE!!!-ETHAN

When I see the text message, it cracks a laugh out of me, which makes me sound like a mad man.

HEWHEWHEW HEWHEWHEWHWH EHAHHEW

-------------------------------------------

A/N: Again, thank you so much Eternal_Peace for helping me with these!