Split

Setting Him Straight

I had woken up early and made Kevin breakfast, but he was still in bed at 11am. I knocked on his door and called to him but got a grunt in response. I left him to it, realising that he'd probably be tired, and watched TV.
It was almost 3pm by the time he got up and all he did was wander over to the sofa and sit next to me.
"Good sleep?" I asked, irritated that he'd wasted the majority of the day for himself and me.

He shrugged, "not really."

"I made you breakfast... I mean, it's cold now, but I could reheat it."

"I'm not hungry..."

I stood up and faced him, making him flinch away from me, "will you stop it? I'm trying to be nice to you and you keep throwing it back in my face! I know you're worried, but I am too! And I'm not moping around expecting everything to get better on its own!"

He was clearly taken back, maybe he'd never had anyone set him straight about this before, and then he frowned, "I'm sorry, but I can't just press a button and be happy again."

"I'm not asking you to be happy, I'm asking you not to be so rude," I stood my ground, wanting to make a point.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be. I just feel like I'm always in my own head. I can't think positively, I try but it doesn't work. I do appreciate you sticking around and looking out for me, the others tease me sometimes about how I act. I know I don't help myself, so I'm sorry. You don't have to stay here with me."

"You don't understand, I want to stay with you. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, and just because you're going through a tough time doesn't mean that I'm going to leave, but you have to give me something... talk to me, eat something once in a while, anything."

"I'm sorry, I will. Thank you."

I sat back down and he tilted his head back against the sofa. I did the same, facing him as he looked up at the ceiling, "are you thinking about them?"

He half smiled, "I do all the time. They're the only friends I have."

"Do you think we'll see them again?"

"I don't know. They've been gone for days, I don't know how that's possible. I'm still the same person... so I still need them. I'm just praying that they'll form again."

"Barry told me that you and Dennis used to be really close."

"Yeah, he was my first alter. He did everything for me, including take the beatings from my mother... he was my best friend."

"What happened?"

He looked a little uncomfortable, "as we grew up he started to become more interested in girls... which is fine, you know, I was too... but the older we got the worse he seemed to get. It started with just the odd girl that he'd take round the woods by our house, which was okay, but then he started to get obsessed. Not necessarily over the girls, but about the whole idea of girls. He scared a few, started trying to undress them and things when they weren't really into it... It got too much to handle, this is when most of the others were here too... we decided that it was best if he didn't have the light anymore."

"That's a shame, it seemed like you guys were close."

"Yeah, we were... to be honest I tried to protect him from it all... I didn't want to see what he was doing, but their whole purpose is to protect me... he definitely wasn't doing that... and when I confronted him about it, I lost hope in him. I was upset, sure, but he couldn't be running around with those kinda desires. It's not healthy."

"Did you know that I'm with him?"

"Yeah, I heard the others talking about it. They said he's a changed man. I take my hat off to you, you did something that I couldn't do. I'm... I'm glad he's happy now... if he comes back, that is."
His words hit a nerve and I closed my eyes.
"You really do care about us... don't you?"

I opened my eyes again and looked at him, "more than anything... you guys were my only friends... the only ones who understood me..."

"Even though they kidnapped you..."

"That's only I small detail..." I smirked.

"You know that's basically Stockholm Syndrome, right?" He raised an eyebrow and I couldn't help laugh at his serious expression.

"Whatever it is, I'm happy it happened!"

"I can see why they like you... You're just as crazy as the rest of us."

A smile lingered on my face, "I'm glad I finally got to meet you."

"Yeah, me too."