A White Room

Chapter 8

Chris was right when he said the first step to trying was succeeding. Chandler had to keep trying, and there were many times when even though he tried, he failed. There were days where he would yell at the therapist he was seeing in the facility, there were days where he practically had to have his medications forced down his throat. On those days, Chandler thought about what Chris said, and through that, he got better.

Through all the recovery, Chris was there as emotional support for Chandler, and once Jimmy found out as well, he was there all the time too. Chris and Jimmy couldn't wait for Chandler to go outside and see the world again. When the two weren't visiting Chandler or working, they were getting to know each other. They would text, go out for coffee together, and Chris would even review Jimmy's videos before they were posted. Through the weeks of Chandler's recovery, Jimmy and Chris built a friendship.

"Hey Chandler, what's up?" Chris said as he walked into Chandler's room at the facility. Chandler was smiling widely, something that happened more and more often as the days go by.

"I'm getting released tomorrow!!" Chandler shouted, jumping some.

Chris' jaw dropped, "For real? Like, no jokes?"

"Yeah! For real! I'll still have therapy every Wednesday, and be on medications. But I'll be out of here!" Chris quickly hugged Chandler close, a sentiment Chandler returned. Chris' stomach was doing flips. Both were overjoyed.

"Oh shit, Chan Jimmy is going to flip!" Chris exclaimed.

"Text him! Come on!!" Chandler shouted, excitement coursing through his veins. Chris quickly pulled out his phone and opened Jimmy's contact.

Jimmy

Hey, Jimmy guess what?

What is it Chris?

You ready to have Chandler back in videos?

Always, why are you asking?

"Jimmy really isn't the brightest huh?" Chandler joked, they both knew that Jimmy was actually very smart. Chris chuckled and noticed that Jimmy was typing.

WAIT! Is Chan being released?

Yeah. Tomorrow. You gonna be here to greet him with me?

Like hell would I miss the release of my best friend! Tell him I'm proud of him,
but I gotta go. Work calls.

Will do Jimmy.

"So, tomorrow you get to leave. What excites you the most Chandler?" Chris asked.

"Fucking seeing grass again, or the sky, or the sun, or anything besides the color white." Chandler said, half joking but was quite serious about not wanting to see white.

"Well lucky for you, it's spring so you should see all of that, and no snow," Chris said, smiling at Chandler. The thought of seeing Chandler out in the 'real' world was almost surreal to Chris. After all, everything Chris knows about Chandler he learned in these walls, beyond what Jimmy and Zach have told him which really wasn't much.

Chandler hugged Chris again, Chris hugged back. It was easy for Chris to ignore how his heart sped up and stomach twisted every time Chandler touched him. They both were so happy to have this experience together, and with it came some nerves. Like all exciting things, there was some nervousness. 'What if he decides he doesn't like me once around his old friends again?' Chris wondered. He hoped that wouldn't happen but nothing was certain about it. The only thing that was certain is that tomorrow, Chris and Jimmy would be standing there as Chandler walked out those doors. What a day it would be.

****

That night, Chris couldn't sleep. He lived in a modest sized apartment, paid for by his boring desk job he went to. All Chris could think about, even until late in the night, is what would happen once Chandler is released. After leaving the facility, and leaving Chandler in that room for the last time, Chris texted Jimmy.

Jimmy

So, after he gets out...What do we do?

I figured we should just hang out with him. Take him to lunch,
take him on a walk through a park, something like that since 
he likely won't want to be inside for a while. After that take 
him to his apartment, and yea, I have been paying for his 
apartment.

Knowing him the next thing he'll want to do is be in a video. 
He talks about it so much. 

If that's what he wants he can help with a video of me 

filling someone's yard with orbeez, hell you could be in
the video too if you wanted.

You think your fans would be fine with that?

Yea! I bring new people into videos all the time.
You should join us Chris, might make Chandler feel
better about suddenly coming back from a 2 year disappearance. 

Alright. I'll join.

Chris sighed, sure he had seen almost all of the videos but being in one was different. He had never been on camera before. But Jimmy seemed confident that Chris should join. Chris agreed to join the video a few hours before going to bed. Now, at 2 in the morning, Chris was thinking about Chandler. How cute he was when excited, how his stomach twisted whenever Chandler hugged him, how he would be able to think about Chandler for hours. 

Unable to sleep, Chris got out of bed and walked to his kitchen, making himself a cup of tea, hoping it would pull him to sleep. He wondered if Chandler liked tea, based on what he knew Chris suspected Chandler would like coffee more. The tea worked its magic, and shortly Chris was able to fall asleep on the couch. 

He awoke the next morning at 9 o'clock. 'Perfect,' Chris thought, 'Chandler is released at noon. I have 3 hours.' After a few minutes of waking up, Chris climbed into the shower. Washing up quickly before heading downstairs, he poured himself a bowl of cereal to eat. His mind started to wander back to Chandler again. Chris has realized that his mind always wanders there. Always to the man with the light brown hair and dark brown eyes, to the man who wore a white straight jacket when they first met, the man that had shown all of his weaknesses to Chris with no hesitation, the man that made his stomach tie up in a pretzel, and his heart race 80 miles a minute.

"Holy shit," Chris realized, "I'm in love with Chandler."