Cold || A Sincerely Three Fanfiction

Chapter 5-This Time...

Jared's POV

"Are you okay?" I was sitting next to be Evan on his bed. He rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He had been really anxious all day, making me worry a bit.

I mean, he was my friend. Friends worry about each other, you know?

I didn't really get an answer to my question. Just some muffled sobs. Evan was... crying? I know his anxiety can affect him this way. It has since we were kids.

I leaned down and wrapped my arms around Evan the best I could. Now I was really worried. He hasn't gotten this bad in years.

Evan turned toward me and buried his head in my chest. I let him do his thing and I held him until he stopped crying. I'm telling you, he was crying hard. It sounded like the sobs were hurting him.

Well, he wasn't crying anymore, so I asked him again, "Are you okay?"

He didn't say anything; I'm not sure if could. He did, however, nod. I accepted that as an answer, but I didn't believe it.

"Evan, I think you need to go back to seeing Dr. Sherman."

Evan up at me and mumbled, "N-no, Jared, I'm f-fine-"

I cut him off. "Evan, please. I can tell you're not okay. You need some help."

Evan sat in silence for a while. Finally, he said, "Fine. I-I'll go. But only b-because y-you want me t-to."

"Thank you." I was satisfied.

Evan just nodded. I hugged him again, tightly. He hugged me back.

"I'm gonna go home, okay? Will you be okay?" I looked at him, but I didn't let go just yet.

"Y-yeah. I'll be f-fine," Evan said.

"Alright," I said, letting go. "Text me if you need me, okay?"

"Alright... Drive s-safe, okay?" Evan looked up at me.

"Okay, Ev." I chuckled at his look of concern. But I became serious quickly after that.

I hugged Evan one more time before I left. I grabbed my stuff and went downstairs. I reassured Heidi that Evan was okay and hugged her quickly before I left.

I drove to my house and saw neither my mom's nor my dad's keys in the bowl by the door. I was a bit disappointed but I went to my room and turned on some music to block out to silence that took over. I did what homework I could, unwillingly, mind you, and went to bed.

Another lonely night in the Kleinman household.

***Timeskip***

I woke up and saw that I was home. I guess I should get ready for school.

So, I got dressed and skipped breakfast again. I makes me nauseous to eat so early in the morning.

I drove to Evan's house and rang the doorbell. I wasn't going to let myself in. I wasn't a jackass. Well, I am, but not all the time.

Heidi answered the door and let me in. Just like the last time I picked up Evan for school.

She went up to get Evan and came back down a moment later.

"He's getting dressed. Would you like something to eat, Jared?" Heidi turned toward the kitchen.

"No, thank you, Heidi." I still wasn't use to calling her that. Heidi. She was always "Ms. Hansen" to me.

Evan came down just then and we went to school. He didn't eat anything, either.

***Timeskip, because you don't care about the drive to school. ***

We got to school and went to homeroom. We walked in and I saw Connor in the back. He looked miserable. Well, we all were.

"Hey, Connor," I said as I sat down.

"Hey, Jared," he mumbled. "Hey, Evan. You better today?"

Evan nodded in response. Connor nodded back and addressed both of us.

"Are you guys ready to suffer through eight hours of torture?" Connor had a blank expression so I wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"I never am and I never will be," I answered earnestly.

Evan put his arm on the back of his chair and leaned on it. He looked as miserable as Connor.

Ah, yes! Sweet, sweet American school system.  The three of us started to talk about how much we hated said system but no one ever did anything to change it.

The bell rang and Evan and Connor went to their next class, leaving me alone. Connor did give me a fist bump before walking out, though.

***Timeskip to end of the day***

The final bell rang so I ran to my locker and out up my crap and grabbed my backpack and homework.

I was stuffing books and papers into my backpack when I caught up with Connor, walking down the hallway.

"Hey, man. Wanna ride home?" I fell in step beside him.

He looked down at me. Geez, he was tall.

"I'll take the ride but I don't want to go home." He looked over at Evan running toward us.

"H-hey, Jar, ready to go?" He was kind of trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah," I replied. "I was just asking Connor if he waned a ride. So what do you say? I always hang at Evan's for a while before going home, and you said you didn't want to go home, so..." I let myself trail off. I looked at Connor expectantly.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Alright."

I don't know why I was happy about this. But I said, "Yes! Alright, let's go. Evan, is you're mom home?"

"No," Evan said. "She's working tonight. She should be home around two in the morning."

Evan looked kind of disappointed. I playfully nudged his shoulder. "It's all good, man. I could stay the night, if you want. You know, keep you company."

Evan looked up. "Y-yeah. That'd be great. Thanks. Connor? Do you want to join?"

Connor looked at Evan. He seemed to think it over. "Sure. I have nothing else to do. Sounds fun." He did not sound extremely enthused.

"You don't sound so happy to be sleeping over with the insanely cool Jared Kleinman!" I flashed my cocky smile.

"Sorry," Connor said, looking down. "I'm actually really happy to be spending time with people outside of my family." Connor looked up and lightly smiled. Holy crap, he is adorable.

Wait. No! He's just a new friend. That's it.

I looked away and we walked toward my car. I drove by my house first and said, "I'm gonna grab some clothes, okay? Connor, do you need any clothes or anything?"

"Nah, I'm good. Nobody will notice me wearing the same clothes tomorrow," he said.

I had to agree with that. He wore the same thing every day anyway. I nodded and ran inside.

I grabbed a T-shirt, some jeans, and a flannel. I stuffed the clothes  into my backpack. I ran back outside and hopped into my car. Connor was laughing at something Evan had said. His laugh was one of the sweet wonders of the world.

I started the car, not asking what was so funny. Connor stopped laughing but still smiled and Evan seemed oddly proud of himself.

I smiled at the two of them, and drove to Evan's house. This is going to be a long night. But it will be awesome!