Help Me

That Morning

Mikey

The first thing he felt was two strong arms encasing his body as his consciousness resurfaced.

He felt his face contort into a frown, stretching, but realising that he couldn't move. Sluggishly, he brought a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes, letting out a jaw-popping yawn once he'd done so. He stretched, groaning softly when it pulled the wound on his side, and when his knee knocked against another. Something light trailed slowly across his arm, and as he opened his eyes he lifted his head, smiling when he saw fingers running up and down his arm. Mikey followed the fingers, slowly moving his eyes up the arm, twisting his head to see the arm meet the shoulder, the joint of a neck, and Rye's peaceful expression as he let out a slow puff of air in his sleep. He smiled again, before nestling his head back down onto Rye's chest.

Of course it would have been Rye. But then he remembered what had happened. He'd passed out on the sofa after he...
After he'd told the boys everything. Absolutely everything. And they'd watched him have a panic attack...

Mikey let out a sigh, willing himself to fall back asleep. He hadn't been expecting the boys to react like that, with so much love and support. He'd expected them to run, just like everyone else had. But they still could, and that thought lingered at the front of his mind. There was always a chance they'd leave, or that Blair would kick him out.

There was always a chance that Rye would too, and that possibility hurt more than anything else. Mikey presumed that it would hurt more than being stabbed did. Because if Rye left... He imagined a knife sticking right through the middle of his heart, his whole life slowly slipping between his fingers as he tried to close the wound. A blank face on a body where Rye's face would have once been. An empty space beside him for the rest of life... Or perhaps four empty spaces. One for each of the boys. He wouldn't know how to function without them if they left. So now that they knew...

The ball was in their court, so to speak. But it was also in Mikey's. If he showed them he was okay, that he'd gotten over it, maybe they'd let him stay. Then maybe they won't leave him behind like he was used to. Although they all understood him better now, Mikey still had doubts. Doubts that he'd told them too much... Doubts that fuelled the rejection he was accustomed to seeing wherever he went.

He hadn't realised that his whole body had tensed up. At least, not until Rye's hand dragged itself from Mikey's arm and played with his hair. Turning slightly, he could see that Rye was still fast asleep.
Completely exhausted.
Shattered.
The bags beneath his friends eyes had faded somewhat, but Mikey knew that they were still present. The stress lines on his forehead were gone for now, but Mikey knew that the moment Rye woke up they'd come back. He then realised that Rye had a firm grip on his hand. Mikey squeezed his hand softly, nuzzling his head back into Rye's chest when Rye mumbled under his breath. The breath tickled the back of Mikey's neck, and he couldn't surpress the giggle, letting his hand drape over Rye's waist once Rye had let it go. With every breath, Rye's chest steadily rose and fell, lulling Mikey back into a state of drowsiness.

But it was Rye's heartbeat that grounded him the most, that told him that Rye was really there. It quietly, but consistently, echoed in his ear, and he unconsciously twisted his hand into Rye's shirt. The hand in his hair stilled then, before falling back down to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him close.

"I see you're awake Mike." Mikey opened his eyes and looked up, meeting Andy's gaze with a smile. "Yeah... How did you sleep Fovvs?" He whispered, sensing that they were the only two awake.
"Oh, like a dream." He replied, rather enthusiastically, and a smile grew across Mikey's face as he held back a laugh. Andy let out a rather subdued one, before a serious look glinted in his eye.
Mikey held his gaze, before letting out a shaky sigh.
"You've got that look in your eye Fovvs..." He trailed off nervously.