After Midnight

Chapter 28

I remembered watching them haul Tommy and Barry away. I remembered driving very fast to the hospital. I remembered finding out that there were six people in the house. Link, Dan, Andy, Eric, Jason, and Rosie.

It still haunted me. All of it. It would never stop, this I knew for a fact. I visited Barry today. He didn't say anything, he just stared out the window.

He had a lot of stitches. And I mean a lot.

He had it worse than all of us. He would walk out of the hospital with more scars than all of us. Scars that no amount of tattoos can cover up.

I was there the day he was aloud to go home. He had his sleeves pulled over his hands and his shaking fist over his mouth. He didn't say much. I helped him walk up to his apartment and I laid with him for a while. He stared at the wall for a long time. His eyes were bloodshot and around them were dark circles, confirming that he hasn't sleep for a while.

"Barry", I whispered. His gaze stayed on the wall."They're gone now", I smiled at him, though he wasn't looking at me.

"They put-", He shook his head instead of letting me finish. He turned to me and kissed me hard. It surprised me, but I didn't say anything. I touched my fingertips to his jaw and he pulled myself close to him. I enjoyed the feeling of him. He was shaking, but his body was warm. It was a strange feeling. Him being here, I mean. It's been such a long time since he's been home and it felt so good just to have him here.

I didn't want this to end, but we both knew it had to. He pulled away and shook his head.

"You don't want to talk about it", I said."Do you?"

He shook his head.

"You spent a month there..", I put my hand on his cheek."You have to talk about it eventually"

He just nodded and rubbed his eyes.

"Whether it's me, or Dalton, or anyone else"

He just nodded again. And I sighed, because seeing him hurt was hurting me.
*
Later that night, Dalton came over to Barry's apartment.

"I'm sorry we took so long", Dalton mumbled."We just...wanted to get you out. And we couldn't do that if she didn't know how to fight"

Barry sat there with his fist over his mouth. He looked up at Dalton and nodded at him.

"He's not talking much..", I said, looking up and over at Dalton. He looked back at me and nodded. Barry pushed his hair to the side and smiled slightly at us.

"We're not going to make you say anything, but that was really brave..", Dalton nodded."What you did back at their house. You're brave"

"You came back for me", Barry said softly."That was a lot more brave than what I did.."

And we hugged. All of us sat there hugging for a long time. And I cried, and so did Dalton a little. And Barry still didn't cry. But he was very, very close.

That night, I came to the conclusion that maybe he couldn't cry. And that just hurt me more.

I wiped my tears and took a deep breath."We're a hot mess", I said. Barry smiled and Dalton laughed a little.

I had to go home that night, but Dalton stayed with Barry so he wouldn't have to be alone.

Dane walked into my room and sat at the end of my bed after shutting my door.

"How is he?", He asked.

"He's..", I tried to find the right words to say, but I wasn't sure there were any."Not the same"

Dane nodded."I wouldn't expect him to be", He sighed."How are you?"

I looked up at him and shook my head."I'm not okay. I feel like my world is crashing down"

"We all feel that way", He smiled and took my hand."You're not alone in this. We're all here. Were in this together. From now, till they're gone for good, we will be here"

"I don't want you to be there", I shook my head.

"I know", He nodded and hugged me. I hugged him back tightly."I don't know what to do"

I shook my head."You have no idea how much you're doing by just doing this"

We pulled out of the hug and he smiled sympathetically at me.

"We'll get through this", He said reassuringly.

I shook my head."They'll win", I whispered."They'll always win"
*
I woke up the next morning with a note by my head.

I really can't explain how sorry I am for what I have done to you. For what I am going to do in a matter of days. I never thought you would get involved. I never wanted to hurt anybody. I am so sorry.

I called Dalton and told him about it. He picked me up a few minutes after that and drove me back to Barry's.

"I just don't understand why they would leave me a note"

"Maybe they know you", Dalton glanced over at me."You know how the dance is this friday?", He asked.

"What about it", I asked.

"We both need to find dates. They know what we look like and they're expecting us to go together, so we need to go with different people"

I nodded slowly."I'll go with Tom"

"Okay. I'll ask Susan"

"Susan?", I asked. He nodded at me.

"Susan is Tom's cousin", He explained."She's very talkative, but she's cute. So I'll ask her"

"That'll be weird", I laughed slightly."Everyone thinks we're a couple, and it'll be weird going with Tom"

"I know", He shook his head lightly."Oh well", He shrugged."Its to stay alive"

I looked down."Survival", I whispered to myself.