Help Me (sequel to Save Me)

Chapter 143

Trigger warning bcos I love you :)

In the dressing room, Remington mindlessly scrolls through his phone until Andy talks up. "What did you say the other day?" He asks. "When you said the stalker is Holly's brother?"

Remington shrugs. "I said he's Holly's brother," he answers, "why?"

"Well how do you know?"

"I just do."

Andy raises an eyebrow. "You can't accuse someone until you have proof, honey."

"Are you defending him? He tried to rape me, Andy!"

"I'm not defending anyone. I'm just saying, you can't accuse Holly's brother until you are sure it's him."

"I am sure!" Remington insists, "it's him, Andy, I know it is." He sounds hurt, and Andy knows he's hit a nerve, but he isn't going to let Remington become carried away with this until they have solid proof of it being Holly's brother. He'd only feel awful if he got his hopes up with thinking they'd found the guy, and then it turns out it's not him at all.

The man sighs. "Look, I know you want to know who it is, sweetie, I get it, but you can't put all your money onto one guy, when it might not even be him."

Remington pushes Andy's hand off his knee. "But it is him!" He shouts, getting the attention of the others in the room. "It is him, Andy, I know it is! Why won't you believe me?"

"I do believe you. I believe that it could be him."

Remington doesn't like those words, and stands up. "I was nearly raped again and you won't even support me when I tell you that I know it's him! Would you believe me if he had actually raped me? Would you believe me if I tried to kill myself again?"

"Re-"

"Fuck off!"

The boy refuses to talk to Andy, and after the show, shoves past his husband with an angry expression, upset that Andy didn't believe him like he hoped he would. At nearly 3 am, they're back in the bus, and Remington won't go to bed. He sits on the couch and doesn't talk to anyone. At 4 am, he goes into the bathroom and spins a razor between his fingers, contemplating whether to do anything with it or not. He holds it against his arm and jumps when the door opens.

Johnny frowns. "Remington? Do you want me to get Andy?" He asks, unsure of how to deal with the situation.

"Why would I want him?" Remington says flatly, looking down at the razor.

"Because he can help?"

The singer rolls his eyes. "I don't need his help."

Johnny looks at the blade. "You're not gonna...are you?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay, maybe you could put the razor down?"

Remington shakes his head. "No thank you," he says rather rudely.

"Okay, I'm gonna get-"

"No! Don't get Andy. I don't need Andy! Why does everyone think that I need Andy?" His fingers grip the blade and he sighs. "I don't fucking need anyone," he insists, though he knows it isn't true.

The bassist looks behind him briefly. "But-"

"I don't need Andy!"

"Remington, just put the razor down."

The boy shakes his head violently.

"Andy!"

"Shut up! I don't want-"

"What the hell is going on?" Andy appears behind Johnny. "Remington?"

"Go away!"

Johnny pats Andy's shoulder and turns to leave, and Andy approaches Remington, crouching down. "Honey, I know you're upset, okay? I know you really need to know who he is, but you can't do it like this. I support you, sweetheart, with everything. You know I do. I will support you no matter what choices you make, because I love you, but I'm not gonna let you do this. Let the police find him."

Remington rubs his eyes. "If you support me in all my choices then you'll support my decision now, but you're not, so..."

"Look, I want to know who it is just as much as you, sweetheart, trust me, but convincing yourself that it's someone who it might not be is just gonna hurt more."

The boy looks down and then up at Andy. "It doesn't feel like you even care that I was assaulted. Do you care?"

"Oh kitten, of course I care. It breaks my heart to see you being attacked like that."

"Then why won't you just believe me now? I need you to believe me, Andy." His eyes tear up.

Andy pries the razor from the younger's fingers. "I believe you, baby boy. I believe that it might be Holly's brother."

"That's not the same!" He tries to grab the razor back.

"Just come to bed, you're tired."

"I don't want to!" He grabs Andy's wrist with one hand and tries to pull the razor from his fingers with the other. "Let me cut!"

"I'm not letting you cut yourself."

Remington clenches his jaw. "Why?"

Andy reaches up and puts the razor on the side, by the sink. "Because I care about you and I'm not gonna let you do that."

"Well if you cared then you'd believe me!"

"Remington, sweetheart, I do believe you. Look, I fucking love you so much and I'm sorry that we don't know who it is, but this isn't how to deal with it."

"Then how am I supposed to deal with it?" He accepts that he isn't going to get the razor back, and leans back against the wall.

"Come to bed. Get some sleep. You'll feel better about it when you're not so tired."

Remington hesitates, but then nods. "Fine," he mumbles, "fine."

Standing up and pulling the boy off the floor, Andy kisses his head. "Good boy."

"Don't think this means I'm not still mad at you, though." He lies in his bunk and, as usual, rests his head on Andy.

Andy strokes his hair. "Sweet dreams, princess."

"Yeah yeah, sweet dreams my fucking ass."