Crybaby

He left

(Warning: mentions of blood and bruises and violence)

And then her hand flies over her mouth.

Troye.

He is crumpled in on himself against the wall.
His knees are pulled to his chest. His face is sprinkled in dark bruises. And his nose is seeping blood that must have been there for a while.
Perhaps the worst of all is his expression.
Tears pouring down his cheeks and the hurt and regret and absolute pain in his eyes.
"Oh, Troye." Her voice is whispery and barely audible as she rushes down to him.
"Oh Troye, Troye, who did this to you? Oh my god. Shhh"
She doesn't know what to do, and her wide eyes keep jumping from Troyes shaking shoulders to bloody jeans to broken eyes.
Alessia eventually just wraps her arms gently  around his shoulders. This lasts a few minutes until he finally speaks.
His voice is cracking and shaking.
"It was..... Sam. Johnny's friend. And another boy. And Kayla told th- them t-to. They cornered me. Th-ey... th.... He......"
Alessia gasps a little and runs a hand through her hair. Tears threaten to trickle down her cheeks but she holds them in for Troye.
"Did Johnny......?"
She asks quietly, her heart dropping.
"No. He pulled them off and whispered sorry."
A thought pops into the back of her mind.
"Wait, what about Jacob? I though he was with you."
Troye lets out an extra loud sob at the mention of his name.
Alessia immediately knows there is something that he isn't telling her.
" Troye, tell me what happened with Jacob."
She has to be a little firm.
Troye doesn't speak. He looks at the ground and tears fall silently on to the dirt that is already spattered with a little blood.
"Troye." She says gently.
"They saw the pictures. I ruined everything. The ones of me and Jacob. They saw them and took them and they laughed."
He is staring desperately up at her now.
"And then..."
The pain in his heart stops him.
He doesn't want to say it out loud.
"What happened." She whispers, holding his hand.
"He left me."
Troyes eyes are wide.
"What do you-"
She is interrupted.
"He found me like this...."
Troye begins to tell the story.
You can see his heart breaking in his eyes.
"He was so worried, he hugged me and called me angel and then I told him.
That was a mistake.
I told him that they knew about us, and he dropped m-me.
He was shocked at first, started to p-panick, and then..... he yelled at me.
He was so- so mad, Alessia.
I was clinging to his collar begging him not to leave and he.... Left."

Troye collapses even more.

She realizes it. Troye, the innocent boy, the little blue one they have all tried to protect with their lives,
He has broken.
I've failed.

Alessia can't hold her tears anymore. She lifts him off of the pavement and he buries his head in her shoulder, blood and tears staining her flannel.
She carries him home like that, to her house, where she lays him in bed and coaxes him to sleep through both of their tears.
She bandages him and gives him ice and still cries.

She falls asleep sitting next to his bed.

Crybaby would be there right now, but she is blissfully unaware.
She is excitedly getting herself ready to meet a certain boy under a certain snowy tree in the woods.
She is so elated. Until she meets Johnny like they planned.
When she runs up to embrace him and whisper sweet things to him, she immediately notices the way his eyebrows are knit and nervous.
"Crybaby, I'm so sorry."
He looks at her with sad eyes.
"What happened?" She feels the anxiety creeping into her system at his expression and words.
His expression says You don't know?
"Sam and Noah, they.... beat Tr-Troye up." He looks on the verge of tears. Crybaby feels her heart drop into her toes because this is much worse than anything she had expected him to say.
"Kayla must have some sort of connection because she told them to. I was too late to stop it from happening. I managed to- to- pull them off but.... Th- the damage.... "
Johnny looks at the snow covered sticks on the ground in guilt.
"It's not your fault. Th- thank you for telling me. And for pulling them off." Crybaby tries to keep her panic tears in and gives Johnny a quick hug before turning in the other direction and bolting.
She realizes that she has no idea where he is.
She runs to her house, sweating and breathing hard.
She trips twice on her way up the stairs, frantic and terrified.
She grabs the phone on her desk.shakily.
She hears a hushed "hello?" From the other end.
It's Alessia's voice. "Alessia, do- do you know where Troye is? I was with Johnny, he said-" She half speaks, half sobs the words.
"He is at my house, asleep. Maybe you should come over for when he wakes up."
Alessia sounds calm but Crybaby can detect the hoarse numbness of fresh tears in her voice.
"I'll be there in ten."
She says quickly before slamming the phone down and snatching a chocolate bar from her drawer for him.
Normally being beaten up in high school isn't written off as a big deal.
It is.
This is bad.
This is bad.
Crybaby only realizes her small mistake halfway there.
She mentioned Johnny. She was with him.
Alessia isn't supposed to know.
Crybaby knows she can trust Alessia but something in her twists nervously anyway

She arrives huffing and covered in snow at Alessia's door.
When it opens slowly, Crybaby nearly collapses back into sobs.
Alessia looks so shaken and hurt. Crybaby can't even fathom what she must feel like.
Until she steps in and lays her eyes on Troye.
Then it hits her too.
She kneels next to him silently.
His eyes are both bruised purple and he has a cut on his cheek.
His nose too.
There are bruises around his neck.
The tears have dried but even in his sleep he has a pained expression.
She pushes a curl gently behind his ear and sits like that for a moment, watching him gently breath.
Alessia eventually whispers the story Troye told her.
When she finishes, Crybaby looks up, and Alessia looks into her eyes.
First desperation. Then pain. Then anger.
"Jacob."
Troye whispers it in his sleep.
Alessia turns away and hides her face.
Crybaby can't help but let another sob slip out of her.
No.
No.
Troye can't be broken.
No.