Where Were You? (Merome)

Chapter 2

~Jerome POV~

"See ya."

I could tell that something was wrong with Mitch. He thinks he can hide things like this from me, but he can't. I know him way too well, I mean I've known him since 5th grade when we met!

~Flashback~

"Climbing out the back door didn't leave a mark..." I was walking through the hallways with my earphones blasting so that I could drown out all of my troubles. Suddenly I ran into some kid that was looking down at a schedule. Probably his. He muttered "so sorry" and was about to run away when I said

"What class you have next?"

"E-English, why?"

"Same here, you want to walk to class together?"

"O-Okay..."

~End of Flashback~

So that's how we became friends. Every day we sat together at the lunch tables, hung out after school and before school, rode the bus together, everything. Over time, Mitch became more open and happy and everything, but at times like this when something is bothering him, his shy side comes back out. He thinks I don't know and I'd like to keep it that way because if I tell him I can tell, he will try harder to conceal it and I don't want that. He really had a tough time lately, with his sister passing away from an accident. He was so sad and depressed for so long, but didn't he already get over it a long time ago? Is he even okay? I'd better go check on him... He might hurt himself.

I approached his bedroom door which was slightly ajar. I peeked in as much as possible without actually sticking my entire head in. He was sleeping, with the shafts of morning light shining on his calm face. My heart couldn't help but flutter when I saw him like that, so calm, innocent, and just so beautiful. That's right, I called him beautiful. Truth is, around 9th grade, I developed a huge crush on him. It started slow and I never realized it until about a year later, when Mitch moved away to Canada. He has moved back after graduation, and now he just became even cuter. How I haven't jumped him yet is absolutely fascinating. I stood there silently watching him through the crack in the door for who knows how long. "Fluffy?"

"Hey Adam, what you doing up so early?"

"The question that should be asked is what are YOU doing?"

"Nothing..."

"I know you were up to something Fluffy. Watching Mitch again?"

"Yeah he's just so cute."

"Okay then I'm gonna take a shower see ya in a minute."

"Kay."

Adam is the only one that knows about my crush on Mitch. To be honest I didn't tell him, he caught me watching Mitch sleep like I tend to do a lot when I can't. It was really embarrassing at first because he started saying "Merome is reeeeallll!" If I hadn't stopped him he probably would have had it across the Team Crafted house as "Morning News." Still, he was pretty supportive in terms of how I felt, him having a crush on Ty and all. No one else knows yet, and I haven't got the nerve to tell Mitch because I'm pretty sure he's straight. The last thing I need is to screw up our friendship.

I hear the shower turn off and I head downstairs to start making breakfast for the whole of Team Crafted that was staying at our house. Adam soon comes by with wet hair and a loose t-shirt accompanied by Jason, who groggily just dumps himself on the couch next to Sky. Soon, I hear the TV turn on and them arguing over the channel. As soon as I start frying the bacon, most of the members of Team Crafted start coming down. When the eggs and bacon were done cooking, I dumped them on plates and put the plates on the counter in the kitchen and yelled into the living room: "HEY COME AND GET IT!" I quickly grab one myself and watch everyone grab one as they swing by. Strangely, Mitch and Ty aren't awake yet.

I head on out with the rest of the guys and plop down on the carpet in front of the TV. "Hey, have you guys seen Ty or Mitch around?" I was met with a bunch of "Nope" and "They're probably sleeping." Being the nice person I am I decide to bring them their breakfast. First, Ty's room since he is the closest anyway. Like expected he's still sleeping. I shake him awake and dump the plate on his bedside table for him to eat on his own. Now for Mitch. My stomach has butterflies as I push open his bedroom door. I don't expect what I see next.

~Mitch's POV~

My tears have wet my pillow and now it's like a wet sponge. Now I just sit on the floor with my head in my knees and sob while I remember my sisters mangled body, her limp, lifeless face as she is put into the body bag. I've been clean for about a year thanks to the help of my friend Jerome. Jerome... I know he would be so mad if he saw what I am going to do next. I'll make sure he doesn't see this because it makes me sad if he is angry or unhappy. I love to see his beautiful smile... NO I can't like him that way! He's straight and so am I!

Shaking my head, I shove my hand into my duffel bag on the floor and soon pull out a shiny clean razor. Pulling up the legs of pants, I start to cut my thighs on where it used to have cuts, right on the scars. They were painful at first, but it felt like when I cut, I was letting out all of the pain and sadness I had inside me. It was like I was in a place with no pain for just a second. Now, I needed that bliss, if only for just a second. As I started on the 4th cut, the door opened and I turned to see the shocked face of Jerome.

"M-Mitch?"

"Jerome, it's not what it looks like..."

"What are you doing?! Stop!"

"Jerome I need this please... Leave me alone..."

He doesn't listen. He angrily storms over, plucks the razor out of my hand and hurls it out of the window. Hopefully no one sees that on the sidewalk... Then he pulls me up and drags me into the bathroom where he starts to clean my cuts. I'm really scared of what's going to happen after he's done. I can feel the anger radiating off of him right now even if he isn't looking me right in the face. Soon, after he bandages my legs he looks me in the eyes, his eyes blazing. I try to look away but he grabs my chin and yanks it back to make me look him in the face. Uh oh.

"I told you not to cut again!"

"Jerome please, I wasn't thinking straight I just couldn't help it.."

"I never should have let you stay on your own! I thought you were done!"

"Jerome it's not your fault, it's just me I need more control over my urges."

"Yeah. Starting from now, you're sleeping in my room again."

To be honest, my heart skipped a beat when he said that. I don't know why. Dammit Mitch! Stop thinking like that, get your head together! I was snapped out of my state of mind when Jerome said to come on. To my relief, Jerome acted like nothing happened, not showing a hint of the anger he had just displayed a couple minutes before. Dang he's good at hiding his feelings. I guess I'm okay at it since he can't really tell if I'm sad at times, like this morning when he came in. After I'm done eating, Team Crafted goes to record together while me and Jerome decide to record on our own later. I'm staring at the TV half-awake until Jerome shakes me back to reality. "Hey let's move your stuff to my room."