Knight In Shining Armor - An R5 Fanfiction

7. Bathroom Tiles

Riker P.O.V.

Red drops were falling on the white tiles behind the locked door.
"Ross, you have to get out." I was leaning against one of the walls, and Rocky was leaning against the bathroom door. Rydel came back, now with Elise and Ellington. When Bree and Ryland joined too, we were all together.

Rydel's lips were trembling, and her eyes were red.
"Ross," she started, and swallowed. "I'm really worried about you."
I heard a sigh from behind the door. Bree took a step forward, closed to the door.
"Can I talk to him, please?" We nodded. "Ross, I don't know what's wrong. I don't know why you're hiding and I also don't know what you're doing there. But just know that you are never alone. There are always people who love you and care about you," she said. During the last sentence, she looked around. I smiled. We heard a sound. The handle slowly moved down, and as the door was only ajar, Rocky lost his patience. He aggressively opened the door, exposing Ross.

His eyes were red and watery. His wrists were even more red. I could see a little piece of a razor, peeking out of his fist. He held it tightly, making the sharpness cut deeply in his skin. The blood dripped down on his arms, until they fell on his jeans.
Rydel screamed, and fell on her knees in front of Ross. The tiles made her bare legs hurt, but she didn't care. "Please let go of the razor," she cried. Surprisingly, he listened. He undid his fist, and the razor fell on the ground. Rydel took it, and handed it to me. Ross was still sitting there, staring at the ceiling. Rydel stood up and went to Rocky for comfort. She didn't want to be with Ell too much now, which was understandable.

I just heard about everything that happened. I could be mad at both Ellington and Rocky, but it would be a waste of time. I walked to Ross and helped him get up.
"We need to tell Stormie," Elise said.
"No, we can't tell her. She'll be too worried," Rocky almost yelled.
"Is there anything I need to know?" From the other side of the hall, our mom came walking. We tried to hide Ross, but she made our way through us.
"Ross?" Her voice broke and she immediately got tears in her eyes. Ross looked down. For a few seconds, we were all just standing there, frozen.
Rydel took a step towards Stormie. "Why don't we get some more stuff into the bus?"
They left, and Bree, Ryland and Elise followed.

Rocky, Ellington and I looked at Ross." We should sit down somewhere," Rocky suggested. After a little while we found some chairs.
"Ross..." he carefully looked at me. I looked into his eyes, which seemed darker than ever. The spark that was once there had disappeared.

Ross P.O.V.

I didn't want to look at him, but he made me. They didn't understand anything, but I didn't understand how they never noticed. I can't remember when it started. A few months ago, probably. That's why I always wear bracelets. I used to love singing and acting. I still do, because it takes me away from reality for a while. But once I'm back, so are the voices.
You're worthless. You can't sing. You're ugly. No one likes you. It takes total control.
Tonight I felt like I had found the perfect place to cut and I could do it more than earlier, which was nice. Seeing my wrists bleed made me feel good. I deserved this. I had forgotten about the blood and my wrists. It had dried, but the wounds were still stinging.
"Why did you never tell us?" Riker asked.
"Why should I?" I whispered. Word by word, his voice sounded louder.
"Because we're your family. We care about you, Ross." it kinda hurt because it was like he tried to rub in my face how stupid I was. Even though it was true.
I looked down again.
"You don't deserve to hurt yourself. You are an amazing person," Ellington said, so soft I could barely hear it.
"Why are you even talking?!" I yelled. "You're not even family!"
Without saying a word, he jumped out of his chair and walked away. What did I do?
"I don't think there's more to talk about now. Let's go find the others, we have to leave."
Rocky and Riker stood up and left, and so did I.