𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒

~Photographed memories~

D A M I A N

I sat down in the living room, Blake had followed Cooper upstairs. I flicked on the tv as I found something to watch, Xavier was sitting on the sofa, doing something on his phone.

After a minute, Blake came back down, the bat in his hand. He gave the bat to Xavier as he sat down.

It was silent for awhile, that was until Xavier decided to speak. "So like... why are you staying here?" He asked, causing me to look at him. "Just uh... just problems at home..."

"What kind of problems?" He pushed, I saw Blake glare at him. "Lay off, Xave. He doesn't have to tell you okay? The only person that deserves to know is Cooper, and I'm pretty sure he already knows."

"Does it have something to do with you being gay?" I felt my heart stop, he knows? How does he know? "Xavier!! The fuck!" Blake said, Xavier just looked at his brother before looking back at me. "H-how-"

"Stacey told us, pretty sure the whole school knows at this point. Sucks to be you man!" He said with a laugh, I felt myself blush. I held my arms around me, feeling very self conscious now. Of course Stacey would do that... she's always been out to get me.

Ever since we were little, I used to be the popular one. I had all the friends, girls wanting to date me and guys wanting to hang with me. That made Stacey jealous. So she changed, she wore sluttier clothes, put on tones of make up and made herself... appeal more to guys.

She stole my best friend from me, Charles. He was always there for me, he was my best mate and always had my back... or so I thought.

I had caught them one night, naked and well inside of each other in Stacey's room. I couldn't care less that my friend was fucking my sister... what hurt me was the fact that she had done it deliberately. She didn't love him, she just wanted to get back at me. But he was so fucking blind he didn't see it.

When she finally ditched him to go find someone else to fuck, he was heartbroken because he thought they were so in love. He tried to come back to me, to be my friend again. But I pushed him away, he did that to himself.

He then turned like Stacey, he was out to get me. He became my bully, the one that picked on me day in and day out.

Stacey has always ruined anything good I had, I'm shocked she hasn't managed to turn Cooper against me... but I also know that Cooper would never do that. He's to broken himself to ever try and break someone else...

"Of course she would." I muttered, tears brimming in my eyes as I realised that history would repeat itself. I saw Blake smack Xavier out of the corner of my eye, then they started to argue. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I stood up and left the room. "Great going Xave! You never know when to keep your fucking mouth shut do you?" I heard Blake scold his brother. "How is this my fault?"

I didn't stay any longer as I made my way upstairs to Cooper's room. I walked in, he was sleeping soundly. I wandered around his room, making my way over to his drawers. There were a bunch of photos scattered across them, some of him and another kid, others with myself, him and Felicity.

I picked up one photo, the photo I had taken. We had been hanging out here, it was just us three. Cooper and Felicity were sitting in front of the tv, but they weren't focusing on it. Cooper had been tickling Felicity, nuzzling her neck and making stupid jokes.

I had taken the photo when Felicity was laughing, her perfect white teeth showing as her eyes were alive with happiness. I could practically hear her laugh, it brought a smile to my face.

And Cooper... he had been looking at her while she laughed. He had a wide smile, his eyes sparkling with admiration as he watched her in awe. Just in the photo, you could see how much he loved her. You could see the longing in his eyes whenever he looked at her, the sadness whenever she wasn't speaking to him.

I felt my smile fall as I remembered watching her run away from him, I couldn't help feel like that was all my fault. I had pushed Cooper to do it... and it caused her to leave. Then at school, the way his eyes dulled when he saw Felicity with Zeke... I could practically see his heart break.

He hasn't been the same since, he's become so much duller, sadder, emptier. She had made him so happy, this photo just proved it. He was laughing so much, practically always smiling whenever she was around... but now, he barely laughs, and when he does it's usually forced. Along with when he smiles, it's forced... I haven't seen him genuinely smile since she left.

I looked over at my sleeping friend, even when he was sleeping, he didn't look at peace. He was still tense, his hands reaching out for something that wasn't there... for someone who wasn't there.

I remember when we'd stay over the night, we'd always find Cooper holding Felicity tightly, like she was his teddy bear and he couldn't sleep without her. He had a smile on his face, even though it was always buried in her hair.

He loved her, he truly loved her. Every moment with her, he craved. He was so happy and lively with her around... I could see it. All he wanted was her to be by his side, forever...

He moved around in the bed, trying to find her. It broke my heart seeing him like this. His hands patted the bed, reaching out for her, even though she wasn't there. I walked over, grabbing one of his pillows and placing it near him.

His hand hit the pillow, a small smile formed over his face as he pulled the pillow towards him, wrapping his arms around it and snuggling into it.

That was all he wanted, comfort. And that's what Felicity brought him, comfort and security. He was protective of her, possibly even possessive. And I could tell why, he didn't want to lose her.

He didn't want to lose her because he knew... he knew he wouldn't be the same if he lost her. And standing here now, watching him snuggle into a pillow... I know why he tried to hold onto her for dear life...

She was what made him happy, what made him laugh and what helped him sleep peacefully. She was his anchor, what kept him sane and what kept his demons away...

He didn't want to lose her, yet here he was. She is long gone and he is broken...

She broke him.