Death Sounds Like A Melody (Merome)

Chapter 17 - Without You

I listened to MoonDust the whole time while writing this....

Mitch's POV

I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. I've never been so petrified in my life. I'm curled up on the couch with Jerome in my house. I can't stop shaking in fear. After the cutting incident, Preston and I went to class. Now school is over for the day. Jerome runs his hands through my hair, trying to calm me down. He is helping me a lot.

I was wrong, Jerome's touch can calm me down. I think that trying to in a public place and with Ty watching me is a really bad idea. Just thinking of Ty is making me hyperventilate. I burry my head into Jerome's chest, trying to leech off his warmth. His warmth has always made me feel a sense of security. He places a long yet light kiss on my forehead.

"Shhh, it's ok biggums, I'm here." He whispers, trying to comfort me. I whimper and grip onto Jerome's shirt tighter. He sighs lightly and continues to run his fingers though my hair. Then, he starts to softly sing.

" Deep in the meadow, under the willow," my eyes widen at the recognition of the lullaby. In the Hunger Games, Katniss sings this to Rue when she died and to Prim before the reaping. Jerome's voice is like a harmony.

"A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise."

I swallow the lump in the back of my throat and close my eyes. If I just focus on his voice, everything fades away. All the pain, the memories of the past and horrors of the present, they all dissipate and the only thing left in my scary world is Jerome's voice. His voice is louder then any of my demons.

"Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."

My shaking has stopped and breathing has evened out a lot. I grip onto Jerome's shirt tightly. The two of us just sit there in comfortable silence. But then the sound of the doorbell ringing fills the silence. I become very nervous. What if it's Ty? What if he is coming to get me? Oh god, please no!

Jerome notices. "It's ok, I'll go check it out, you stay here." He says with a smile. I nod and get off Jerome so he can get the door. He disappears from the room. Anxiety fills my system. After what feels like an eternity, Jerome comes back in with a man following him. I look to see that it's dad.

Dad is here, he is back. I start crying and run up to him. I crash into him and cry onto his shirt. He starts hugging me too after a moment of hesitation.

Soon, the three of us are sitting on the couch. Dad looks at me worriedly. "Are you alright? What's going on?" He asks, taking my hand in his. I shake my head, looking down. Should I tell him everything? Would he look at me differently? "Please tell me Mitch, you can trust me." He says sadly.

I take a deep, shaky breath and look at him. "O-ok." I say, it almost coming out as a whisper. I look to Jerome who looks at me with sympathy. I take a deep breath yet again and look at dad.

"Ok, but first you need to know what happened back in Canada. Um, you remember Ty?" I ask. He nods. "Yeah well, um, we were at a party and we, well, kissed..." I say trailing off. "People got photos of us and posted it all over social media. Ty...Ty made it out like I forcibly kissed him. After that, school became a living nightmare. Uh, I would get beaten up everyday. Then Cary and Jace died, everything became even worse... But one day, I got pulled into the bathroom and...uhh." I stutter. Jerome rubs my back and I clench my fists, tears falling from my eyes.