That Night (Tree Bros)

Chapter 2: Waving Through A Window

Evan's POV:

I had just turned off the light and got in bed and I hear a knock on my window.

"What?" I get up and walk over to it to see Connor on the other side. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, but I really had to wake you." He apologizes, starting to explain. "I can't be near my family tonight, it's just too much. None of them understand anything about me, and I feel like if I stay there tonight, I might do something bad. You're the only person who understands me, and you're basically the only person who's even remotely close to being my friend, and I knew you lived pretty close to my house. Can I... stay the night here?"

"Um... yeah, I guess..." I open the window, still wary of Connor.

"Thanks." The older boy replies, climbing into my room. "I'll just sleep on the floor. I have to get back home before my parents wake up; I'll try not to wake you when I leave."

"Do you need uh.. a blanket or a pillow or anything?"

"I'll be fine." Connor lays down on my bedroom floor. "Thanks. Night."

"You're welcome..." I climb into my bed. "If you need anything, or if you just want to talk, I'm right here, okay?"

"Cool."

"Okay, goodnight." I pull my blanket up over me and start to fall asleep.

~~~

I wake up a few hours later to the sound of crying. I sit up, looking across the room to see Connor sobbing and shivering in his sleep. I get out of my bed and walk over to him to check if he's okay.

"Hey, Connor... are you awake?" I ask. He doesn't respond, so I guess he isn't. I can't just leave him like this and I don't want to wake him up. I pick him up bridal style and carry him over to my bed. He isn't as heavy as I thought he would be. I don't have any extra blankets, and I'm not giving up any of mine, so this is the only way for me to get him to stop shivering. As soon as I crawl into the bed next to him, he rolls onto his side and pulls me closer to him. I want to move away, but he's actually pretty comfortable, and holding onto me seems like it calms him down a little, although he's still crying and mumbling a little in his sleep.

"I didn't mean to... I keep hurting everyone... m... should've died already... please don't hate me.... I mess up everything"

I suddenly feel like I have to wrap my arms around him. I want Connor to be okay. Maybe it's because he reminds me of myself, but I want to protect him.

"Connor, I'm here. I'm here; you can talk to me." He rolls over, laying on my stomach. I run my hand through his hair.

"Evan...?" He starts to wake up a bit.

"Shh. Go back to sleep. It's okay; you're safe."

He opens his eyes and pushes himself up so his arms are straddling my stomach. He looks seriously into my eyes. "Evan, I was going to kill myself. I had a bottle of pills and I was going to OD. I-I stole it from you while you weren't looking." He looks down, like he expects me to get mad at him for that. "I'm so sorry." He digs into his jacket pocket and pulls out my anxiety pills and my letter and puts them both on my nightstand. "Here."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Connor. Just go back to sleep."

He flops back down on the bed and closes his eyes. "Thanks."

I curl up next to him, not as worried about whether or not it's weird for me to wrap my arm around him while we sleep.