Status: Work In Progress
Life's a Bitch, but I'm Friends with Her Sister
Chapter 10
Rian's POV
I can't blame Alex for running out of the shop like that, I really can't. I wasn't going to leave him alone completely, but I was going to give him some time to cool off a bit and collect his thoughts. I know that if I'm going to confront him about his cutting and his home life that I need to be extremely gentle with him, almost as if I was handling a new born puppy.
Along with these thoughts came something else, I need to cheer him up after he's explained, if he'll explain to me. I know he'll be in a right state when he's managed to get everything out, so something to cheer him up slightly wouldn't be a bad idea at all. I studied the CD shelf the two of us had been looking at and saw the Good Charlotte CD Alex had quickly discarded on his exit out of the shop. Bingo. If music doesn't cheer Alex up I don't know what will. I looked into my wallet and grabbed out ten dollars, rushing over to the counter to get the CD and put my plan into action.
I was right when I said that Alex needed time to cool off. By the looks of things, he was sat in the back seat of his car still and his eyes were red rimmed, a clear giveaway that he'd cried as soon as he arrived back at the car. I slowly walked over to the car and gently tapped on the window to get his attention. Alex's head shot up and he looked rather startled at first, but quickly relaxed when he saw it was just me. The look of relaxation was gone when he remembered what had just happened in the music shop.
"Can I come in?" I asked timidly through the car window. I could see Alex contemplating it in his head but then gave in and reached into the front of the car to hit the unlock button, granting me the access to join him in the back seat.
"Hey now, sh, it's alright, it's nothing to cry over, I'm not gonna flip out on you or anything." I told him with a small smile, throwing my arm over his shoulder so I could bring him closer into me.
"You're n-n-not?" Alex managed to get out with, still sniffing.
"No I'm not, now can you tell me why those cuts are on your arm? And don't give me any bullshit Alex, I'm not stupid and I can tell when you're lying." I said in a gentle voice with a hint of strictness there so Alex could see that I wasn't messing around here. Letting out a sigh Alex began.
"It started when my brother died." Alex explained "He was the favourite child, the golden boy, I was the second best. He always got more than me. More love, more treats, more praise. So when he died mom and dad were devastated, obviously. That's when it started, they started drinking everyday, it wasn't too bad at first, just comfort drinking, but it got to the point where everyday they'd come in from work and just hit the hard stuff, leaving them beyond wasted by the time I set foot in the house later that day since they both work night shifts in their jobs. Obviously, they had a lot of rage and anger pent up since my brother's death, and I guess they took it out on me..." Alex trailed off. I looked over to see him tearing up so I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
"It gradually got worse, to the point where I started self harming. I cut myself every night Rian, that's how bad it is. I go home, get verbally abused by my mother, escape to my room for five minutes then get physically abused by my father, cut myself for the rest of the night and throw up whatever small amount of contents remains in my stomach, it's a vicious never ending cycle..." At this point Alex was full on sobbing into my chest so I just sat there holding him and rubbing soothing circles into his back for about five minutes while he calmed himself down.
"I don't know where the confidence to say that came from but you have to swear not to tell anyone Rian." Alex mumbled into my chest.
"I promise, I'd never dream of it. And hey, guess what." I said with a grin on my face, knowing my little surprise would cheer him up straight away.
"What?" Alex mumbled into my chest once again.
"Look up." I instructed. As he did his face changed from pained to pleasantly surprised in a matter of seconds when he saw the CD in my hand, the same one he was longing eyeing in the shop earlier that day.
"For me?" Alex questioned, followed by a small excited squeak when he saw me nodding. Alex then pulled me into the most bone crushing hug I'd ever received, and I've hugged Zack before.
"Thank you Rian, for everything today." Alex said looking up at me with a small smile.
"No problem bro, no problem at all."
I can't blame Alex for running out of the shop like that, I really can't. I wasn't going to leave him alone completely, but I was going to give him some time to cool off a bit and collect his thoughts. I know that if I'm going to confront him about his cutting and his home life that I need to be extremely gentle with him, almost as if I was handling a new born puppy.
Along with these thoughts came something else, I need to cheer him up after he's explained, if he'll explain to me. I know he'll be in a right state when he's managed to get everything out, so something to cheer him up slightly wouldn't be a bad idea at all. I studied the CD shelf the two of us had been looking at and saw the Good Charlotte CD Alex had quickly discarded on his exit out of the shop. Bingo. If music doesn't cheer Alex up I don't know what will. I looked into my wallet and grabbed out ten dollars, rushing over to the counter to get the CD and put my plan into action.
I was right when I said that Alex needed time to cool off. By the looks of things, he was sat in the back seat of his car still and his eyes were red rimmed, a clear giveaway that he'd cried as soon as he arrived back at the car. I slowly walked over to the car and gently tapped on the window to get his attention. Alex's head shot up and he looked rather startled at first, but quickly relaxed when he saw it was just me. The look of relaxation was gone when he remembered what had just happened in the music shop.
"Can I come in?" I asked timidly through the car window. I could see Alex contemplating it in his head but then gave in and reached into the front of the car to hit the unlock button, granting me the access to join him in the back seat.
"Hey now, sh, it's alright, it's nothing to cry over, I'm not gonna flip out on you or anything." I told him with a small smile, throwing my arm over his shoulder so I could bring him closer into me.
"You're n-n-not?" Alex managed to get out with, still sniffing.
"No I'm not, now can you tell me why those cuts are on your arm? And don't give me any bullshit Alex, I'm not stupid and I can tell when you're lying." I said in a gentle voice with a hint of strictness there so Alex could see that I wasn't messing around here. Letting out a sigh Alex began.
"It started when my brother died." Alex explained "He was the favourite child, the golden boy, I was the second best. He always got more than me. More love, more treats, more praise. So when he died mom and dad were devastated, obviously. That's when it started, they started drinking everyday, it wasn't too bad at first, just comfort drinking, but it got to the point where everyday they'd come in from work and just hit the hard stuff, leaving them beyond wasted by the time I set foot in the house later that day since they both work night shifts in their jobs. Obviously, they had a lot of rage and anger pent up since my brother's death, and I guess they took it out on me..." Alex trailed off. I looked over to see him tearing up so I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
"It gradually got worse, to the point where I started self harming. I cut myself every night Rian, that's how bad it is. I go home, get verbally abused by my mother, escape to my room for five minutes then get physically abused by my father, cut myself for the rest of the night and throw up whatever small amount of contents remains in my stomach, it's a vicious never ending cycle..." At this point Alex was full on sobbing into my chest so I just sat there holding him and rubbing soothing circles into his back for about five minutes while he calmed himself down.
"I don't know where the confidence to say that came from but you have to swear not to tell anyone Rian." Alex mumbled into my chest.
"I promise, I'd never dream of it. And hey, guess what." I said with a grin on my face, knowing my little surprise would cheer him up straight away.
"What?" Alex mumbled into my chest once again.
"Look up." I instructed. As he did his face changed from pained to pleasantly surprised in a matter of seconds when he saw the CD in my hand, the same one he was longing eyeing in the shop earlier that day.
"For me?" Alex questioned, followed by a small excited squeak when he saw me nodding. Alex then pulled me into the most bone crushing hug I'd ever received, and I've hugged Zack before.
"Thank you Rian, for everything today." Alex said looking up at me with a small smile.
"No problem bro, no problem at all."
♠ ♠ ♠
Hi guys! This is a little shorter than my usual chapters but I felt like it was necessary to end it there.WOW, WHAT'S THIS? ALEX IS UPDATING WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF MAYA'S CHAPTER? CAN IT BE? Yup.
Wow, so yeah, I'm getting on top of my updating now I'm settled into the new school year properly and I know how much homework I'll be getting a week roughly and yup, everything is falling back into place.
In other news, I SAW MAYDAY PARADE ON MONDAY. I cried twice. No regrets. Miserable At Best for obvious reasons and You Be The Anchor because it's my favourite song of all time. Yup.
So yeah, hope you enjoyed this update and hope it was a good enough follow on from Maya's little cliffhanger ;)