Once Upon A Moonlight✅ {BOYXBOY}

Chapter 29: You Can!

[IMAGE: FRED]

FRED'S POV:

I groaned on the sofa as I surfed through the various TV channels, nothing interesting me in the slightest.

Sam was upstairs in my room amongst a pile of paper as he worked endlessly on classwork, homework and revision. I wanted to stay with him- heck I wanted to spend every second with that boy- but Sam needed to concentrate and admittedly I'm often a distraction.

So, the hours ticked by with not a single peep from Samuel and finally, I got too bored to stand for a moment longer. I leapt up from the sofa and jumped over it towards the stairs. As I neared the door to my room I heard ripping. I opened the wooden barrier slowly at first but quickened my pace when I heard a whimper.

Sam was crouched on the floor clutching his head, worksheets torn in half everywhere. His arms shook violently, in his hand a scrunched up piece of paper was squashed. Hair covered his face but I could tell it was contorted into a look of pure pain.

In an instant, I had wrapped my arms around him and buried my head in his neck.

"Hey, it's okay. Talk to me, Sam."

Sam let out another whimper and rested his head on mine a little.

"I can't... I just can't..." He trailed off.

I didn't know what he couldn't do and I doubted he knew either. It was clear Sam's mental health had suffered as a result of the last couple of months. Despite us telling him that we're all here for him - Emily, my parents, his mother and me - Sam still kept himself locked away from most people. That was, except me.

"Do you want to take a break?" I whispered gently and he hesitated before nodding slightly. 

I took his hand and led him out of the room carefully. He kept his head down the entire time. Each step he took away from the paper cluttered room seemed to calm him just a little bit more. It meant the world to me that he trusted me enough after everything I had done. I didn't deserve his trust or the right to see his caring smile.

Once he was seated beside me his head was still hanging low. With my hand, I pressed it onto his chin and tilted his head up to face mine. Unshed tears soaked his eyelashes with a single tear on his cheek. I moved my thumb to his cheek and wiped it away. I took in Sam's appearance, how cute he looked in my 'cool' hoodie that was twice his size and his hands grasping the sleeves. He'd barely taken it off, the only exception being when it needed washing.

We didn't utter a word but I still felt as though we were talking. It hurt me to see him like this. He didn't deserve to be in this state. The person who deserved pain still ran free: Mike.

"I..."

I felt Sam sigh and sniffle.

"You can," I whispered into his ear and hugged him tightly.

"I just... I..." Still Sam stuttered but no sentence formed.

"You can, Sam. You know why?" I repeated and he shook his head against my arm, "Because you are brave, strong, amazing, beautiful and all-around incredible."

I pressed my forehead to his and hugged him tightly.

_-_

EMILY'S POV:

At last, the three musketeers were going out for the day. To say I was excited to hang out with Sam would be an understatement.

"Yo yo! Open up!" I said as I knocked on the door to Fred's house.