Take me to church (Book 1)

47- Chris

A crisp, icy path causes an unstable ground for the boy walking along it, the air is incredibly thin and the cold tears through clothing to the skin.

Stubble litters the boys chin, his light hazel eyes skipping and scanning his surroundings. No matter how much his heart is pounding and how frantically his hands are shaking, he takes a deep breath and continues.

Recently he's been... Unstable and too angry for his own good. He's had a history of temperament issues but he's usually been okay with it. Ever since Dan started being happier and the friendship group had settled nicely, he's been perfectly content. However, all that shit started and stirred up the burning aggravation beneath his skin.

No one knows besides PJ, Emma and Louise, who the boy took his anger out on. Dan and Phil were not affected considering they were dealing with their own problems.

He's had enough of hurting people, and it's one of the reasons why things have been tense between the group.

Dan and Phil have split from the group, Emma and Louise also splitting which left PJ and Chris together. Louise and Emma would come by from time to time but mostly, it was simply a mess. It was a loose knot that was slowly unraveling.

And the other day, it unraveled completely.

After Chris and PJ spoke to Phil after Dan's accident, when Chris walked off, PJ of course followed his friend.

Chris lashed out, sick and tired of being used and always being the accessory of the group. He pushed and punched PJ, causing cuts and bruises. They were pretty severe and of course Chris apologised immediately.

Later that night, Charlie arrived at their door and spoke to PJ, having an in depth conversation.

Chris listened in and knowing PJ would have to see Phil in the morning to apologise, Phil would see the bruising and most likely presume it was Charlie.
They could say it was Charlie, to knock Phil out of forgiving him.

So, that's what happened.

Charlie, of course already predicted they would do something like that and decided to play along, for Chris' sake. He could see in the boys' eyes that he was going through thing's, so, decided to be the nice guy and take the blame.

Chris' footsteps die down as he slows walking up to the door of Charlie's house. He swallows thickly and contemplates his decision.

Before he can even choose, the door opens and Charlie raises an eyebrow at the boy, seemingly expecting him to arrive.

"Chris, it's nice to see you."

"Yeah."

The two exchange weary looks. Chris breathing out before stepping forward, his lips tinted blue from the cold and his hands tightly tucked into his trousers.

"Thank you, for not telling Phil about what I did to PJ." He says, still on edge about the situation.

Charlie shrugs and smiles. "You're welcome. Is that all you came to say?"

"No," Chris isn't at all surprised that Charlie knows something else is up. He's incredibly smart. "I need your help, with my temper."

"Ah yes, your little hissy fits."

"Shut up. It's starting to get bad again, as you saw, and since you've helped me before... I was hoping you could help me again."

Charlie licks his lips from the wind before stepping back from the door and gesturing Chris to go inside his house. The boy obliges, desperate for the safe warmth of the house, his teeth practically chattering and grinding against one another.