December

Avery's POV

It's been a few days since I left the hospital. I've been staying at Evan's childhood home across the street from mine. I couldn't go in it again, especially after finally coming home. I didn't need another mental breakdown.

Even though Evan had a guest room in his house, he made me sleep in his room so he could make sure I slept through the night. He let me take his bed while he slept on the floor. I felt awful, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Anything easily accessible that was considered a "sharp" was taken out of my sight and hidden away. I felt like a small child under his protection, and it slightly annoyed me. I know he wanted the best for me and wanted me to get better, but it was a bit much.

The third night of staying with him, I wasn't tired at all. I laid awake, staring up at the ceiling. Restless, I couldn't find a comfortable position to lay in. I tossed and turned, accidentally waking Evan up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes before staring up from the floor at me.

"Ave, why are you up? It's 3 in the morning." He groggily asked. I shrugged, hanging over the edge of the bed.

"I'm not tired."

"You're never tired." He sighed, getting up and crawling under the blankets next to me. Jokingly, he shoved the palms of his hands over my eyes. "Now go to sleep!"

I giggled, shoving his hands away. Evan's smile faded, but he didn't break his stare with me.

"Your laugh never changed." He whispered, "I don't think you changed much at all. It's nice."

I shoved my face into the pillow before laughing again. "I never had the chance to! I was locked away for two years, give me a break."

"But really, Ave... what's keeping you up?" He asked. I shrugged, sighing.

"It's dumb."

"It's not dumb if it's keeping you up at night."

I sat up away from Evan, placing my back against the wall. He frowned slightly, before sitting up as well.

"Well, for one... the fact that there was no funeral for my parents really has me upset." I said, fixing my sleeves of my hoodie and pulling at the ends of them. "It just makes me feel alone. I had them. That was it. Now that they're gone, any family we still have dropped all contact with me years ago. I only have you. I'm not complaining, at all. I'm really happy you came back, but what happens when you have to leave again?"

"You know that won't happen for awhile-"

"But it will. It didn't stop you last time. I was so excited for you, Evan. I really, truly was. Hell, I still am. But while you were making something of your life, being a big star or whatever, I was stuck here. Alone. My parents tried but gave up on me when I didn't show effort to get better. Now that they're gone, I wish I did." I said, not even close to tears, surprisingly. "It's going to take so long until I'm back on my own two feet... and it's sad. I'm 21 and can't fucking support myself, I can't live on my own, I can't do anything on my own because you have to watch me to make sure I don't hurt myself. Or worse."

There was a long, painful silence following my voice.

All Evan could say was, "I'm sorry, Avery". And I didn't expect much to be said anyway. I felt my eyelids get heavy, and I laid back down. Evan laid next to me again, this time his arm wrapped around my waist.

"I guess all you had to do was open up, because you seem sleepy now. It helps not having all that shit on your mind" He said. I just nodded, letting my eyelids fall shut before I fell fast asleep.