Kill Me.

Callum bit back a sigh as soon as he slumped onto Lee’s couch. God, he was so tired. It felt like he’d been awake for days but he could at least be nice to the boy who had let him into his apartment. He’d rushed to his own place after the disaster that was his sister and her roommates and fell passed out soon after he’d eaten a sandwich. When he woke up he was already on the street, walking. Before he really focused on much, and was still wandering in a haze, he ended up at Lee’s apartment complex.

That he had Lee to actually go to was nice, comforting even. The blackouts he’d been having since childhood was getting worse and he couldn’t remember hours at a time lately. He only knew that it had taken an hour and a half to go from being passed out on his couch to knocking on Lee’s door. But he was here now, he told himself. He had to calm down.

“I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” Callum asked, suddenly remembering to be polite.

“No, no I was just watching TV. I need something more for my story though. I haven’t been able to get far lately.”

“Oh,” Callum said, nodding. “Well tomorrow is Friday the 13th. I’m sure you’ll get something then,” he said with a brief smile.

“You’re humor scares me a little,” Lee said and Callum forced himself not to tense, to just walk out of the apartment. He’d heard comments about how he was odd, different, scary for as long as he could remember. He didn’t care, usually, but Lee, sweet accepting Lee even unable to like him? That was a cruel twist he didn’t like. Was he really so bad? Callum found himself wondering until he glanced at Lee and saw that his eyes were sparkling, a teasing smile on his gentle lips. Callum relaxed, giving him a smile in response.

“Have you had dinner?” Lee asked after a brief silence and Callum nodded. Lee turned back to the TV, leaving them in an awkward silence. Another five minutes of it had Callum standing up.

“Hey, well I’ll see you tomorrow Lee. Thanks,” Callum said, not even sure what he was thanking for as he turned to walk out. Lee said a brief goodbye, standing to walk him to the door before frowning, shaking his head.

“Let’s play a game.” Callum was scowling before he even consciously realized it.

“A game?” he repeated, eyebrow raised and giving Lee a glare. He saw the boy swallow even as he nodded.

“Like… you know, Scrabble or Pictionary, or...Clue! Clue would be perfect.”

“You and your murder mysteries,” Callum said, smiling despite himself. Lee took that as an agreement because he was suddenly walking to a cabinet next to the TV, opening what Callum had assumed were movies. Instead it was mostly games with a couple DVDs and even a few VHS tapes crammed into it. He shook his head, chuckling quietly at the boy. He still seemed so young at times, impossibly innocent.

The older man walked to where Lee had put the board out on the floor and sunk to the floor. Lee gave him a brief smile before focusing back on the game he was setting up.

“Let’s make a bet,” Lee said as soon as he had slid the cards into the Confidential folder. Callum shrugged, urging Lee to continue as he grabbed Colonel Mustard and Lee snatched Scarlet. “If I win, you have to give me a hug. A real hug,” he confirmed with a bright smile. “If you win, I…”

“You owe me lunch tomorrow,” Callum decided with a shrug. The stakes weren’t so bad. He would never have agreed to it with his sister or her friends, but with Lee, it didn’t seem near as bad. Lee nodded eagerly, handing the dice to Callum.

Two hours later Callum was finally standing up, stretching out after sitting on the floor so long. That was the longest game of Clue he had ever played but Lee was completely engrossed the whole time, one of the few times his attention didn’t seem to wander. He had analyzed every card revealed as if it had every answer in the world on it, but it had paid off. He had won with one round before Callum had planned to make his guess.

“I have to get home,” Callum said, surprised to see it was nearing midnight. Lee walked him to the door with a nod, grinning when Callum started to leave. “Fine,” he said at the brief pout, holding his arms out to Lee. The younger boy wrapped his arms around him and Callum could hear the intake of breath that he was pretty sure was Lee smelling him. Weird kid. Callum shrugged it off with a smile despite himself and hugged the boy back, however briefly. “Tonight was fun,” Callum said, unable to mask all the surprise in his voice. He really hadn't thought he would enjoy himself so much, just spending time with someone else.

“It was,” Lee agreed. “Come by whenever, I’m always home. I have tons of games and no one to play them with since my parents moved out of the city.”

“I will,” Callum promised. He didn’t like the idea of little social Lee being bored and lonely at home.

“And take a cab tonight, please? Like you said, it’ll be Friday the 13th soon and you didn’t have good luck last time.”

“I will Lee,” he assured the boy before walking out.

Callum glared up at his door as soon as he heard the knock. If it was one of those idiots at the front asking him to do something- He shook his head, clearing the thought as he yelled come in. The first thing he noticed was that the person’s hand was thin, with a bracelet on the wrist he knew was Lee’s. That was odd. Since when did Lee knock and actually wait for an answer?

As the boy walked into the room Callum cursed, standing up. His gentle eyes were watering and his entire body was shaking when he stepped into the room.

“Shut the door,” Callum told him, walking over. He really hoped Lee wasn’t about to actually start crying. He hated it when people cried. It was so frustrating. “Lee, what happened?” The boy just looked at him, sniffling. “Did someone hurt you?” he asked, feeling himself tense at just the thought. No one had better have touched his... co-worker. Lee shook his head.

“I… Callum someone else is dead,” he whimpered, falling into the chair that was in front of Callum’s desk.

“What?” he asked, confused before nodding in understanding. “The killer?” Lee nodded frantically. “Was it someone you knew?” When the boy shook his head Callum frowned. Why was he so freaked out about it then? It was just another death. They happened all the time in the city. “Why does it matter then?”

“Matter?” he asked, looking up in shock. “Callum, that’s somebody’s life! Someone with a family, and maybe kids, and friends, and a future and it’s gone!” he exclaimed frantically. “And we were joking about it last night and I feel horrible.”

“Hey, Lee calm down,” Callum said, remembering to make his voice softer at the last moment. Soothing would work better than impatience, and he found that the longer he saw Lee close to tears, the more sincere his concern became. “I know, but it wasn’t like we were serious. This isn’t your fault.”

“I know,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It didn’t work though and Callum frowned as he saw the tears starting to rush down the boy’s cheeks. “Callum I saw the body… It was so bloody and horrible! I can’t… it was like a nightmare.”

“Lee,” he said quietly, sympathy coating his voice as he knelt next to the boy. “It’s ok,” he promised, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you should go home for the day. That had to have been traumatic.”

“I don’t want to though, ‘cause then I’ll think about it. I don’t want to Cal,” he said with a frown. The older man blinked, shocked by the sudden nickname.

“Take a deep breath. Do you want to talk about it?” He was surprised to say the least. He had assumed Lee had seen at least one of the victims before, just from the intensity with which he had written his story. Lee shook his head, pulling his knees into his chest.

“I… I just want to forget what I saw. I don’t know, can I just work in here today, maybe?” he asked, eyes timid when he met Callum’s. He wanted to refuse but how could he say no to the poor boy? Even he wasn’t that heartless.

“You need help getting your stuff?” Lee gave him a grateful smile but shook his head, standing up. “Just tell me if you need to talk.” Even as Lee walked out Callum was yelling at himself. Why was he opening up that door, and the one to his office? He didn’t want this Lee kid in his space, with his weak tears and shaking hands. But he did, Callum realized briefly. A part of him wanted Lee within sight, right now, just to make sure he wasn’t about to have a breakdown. Jesus. This kid was doing crazy things to him.