Some Secrets Should Stay Secrets

Chapter 24

PJ stayed by Fresh's side, gently placing a cool rag on top of the pale skeleton's warm forehead. It felt like they were having a fever. Maybe that's why they were reacting the way they had been?

Sighing softly, the ink skeleton kissed Fresh's cheek. He was worried about him, but he refused to call his father. That damn bastard was the reason he wasn't there to help Fresh with the house, or make sure he was eating at regular times!

"I won't leave you again." The jock murmured, carefully taking the rag and gently dabbing it on the parasite's cheeks.

The weakened monster groaned in their sleep, shaking their head some. They were trying to wake up.

Fresh's hands twitched some as his soul sped up, he was trying to remember why he was in the dark, but it wasn't working. Had he forgotten? Hit his head? Did he just fall asleep?

"Hey, hey." A soothing voice called out, gently taking one of Fresh's hands. "It's alright, you're safe. Just take a deep breath and relax." The voice whispered in a rather loving tone.

Subconsciously, the parasite did as the other teen told him to. His eyes were still closed, but his senses weren't going into a horrible overload.

"That's it." PJ smiled some as he saw how calm his uncle was getting. "Just take deep breaths." He whispered, rubbing slow circles in Fresh's hand.

Blinking slowly, the parasite started to open his eyes. At first, everything was  a bit too bright and then everything became blurry before he finally could see right.

The magenta eyed skeleton coughed some, his body a little too warm for his liking.

"How much sleep have you gotten in the past week?" The calm voice whispered to the sick monster.

Fresh winced when he heard the voice though, looking over to the jock. Now he remembered. He had a panic attack because he was getting too paranoid. It didn't help that when the other had entered the house, they were were angry.

"W-What are yo-you doing here?" The parasite whispered, getting a soft chuckle as a response.

"I'm here because I haven't seen you in a while. I'm sorry that I scared you into having a panic attack, I didn't know you were there." PJ's expression softened, his words being genuine to Fresh's ears. "Now, please answer the question."

The pale skeleton closed his eyes, sighing some.

"M-Maybe... fifteen hours... Total?" He didn't really know, he had pulled a few all-nighters throughout the week.

A heavy sigh made the small monster to look up, a bit confused. The jock looked disappointed at his uncle.

"Fresh, you're running a fever now because you weren't sleeping right."

The smart skeleton shook his head, yet the action made him dizzy and somewhat nauseas. Had he really gotten sick?

"You haven't been eating well, either, right?" The tone was a bit rough and sharp, but it was still thick with worry.

Fresh winced and groaned. No, he hadn't been eating well. He had skipped an entire day of meal eating actually.

Another heavy sigh left the worrying nephew, who took the warm cloth off the other's bones and place it in a bowl of cool water.

"I'm staying by your side, understand? If you're going to be doing this to yourself when I'm not around, then I'm not leaving."

The parasite looked deep into those mismatched eyes of his nephew, seeing only determination and hard truth. There was no way that he would be able to convince the taller one of anything now.

Guess he had no choice but to stay in the town a little longer.