Felix led Emmy to class and the day began. It was like that all day. Each friend walked Emerson to his next class and he held the hand of whoever was in his class. Kit and Ash felt the same to Emerson, a brotherly love which was still new to the broken man. His mother was his only family and she treated him poorly for practically his whole life. He never knew what family love felt like, yet he was getting that from the new group of friends he had met. 

By lunchtime, he was sitting between Cameron and Frankie, close to both of them and feeling much more comfortable as the group chatted away. Sebastian had brought them lunch again and had given Emerson a salad with a sweet dressing and pecans and cranberries. It was just sweet enough for him and it was light on his stomach, which was nice. 

“So, we have to work on that project for music arts class.” Felix pointed out. Ash and Kit groaned in annoyance.

Kit spoke first, after swallowing a bite of his burger. “It’s the end of the year project. The talent show isn’t for months. Plus! We have to worry about homecoming first.”

“Yeah. We have to get outfits for the dance and the festival. And we have to decide what the plan is for that weekend.” Ash added, shoving a chip into his mouth.

Emerson glanced at them before looking up at Cameron who was sipping a milkshake, watching the two younger ones chattering on. “What is homecoming?”

The soft spoken question brought everyone’s attention. It seemed the group was well attuned to Emerson’s soft voice already. Sebastian spoke up first.

“Homecoming is a festival weekend planned on the campus grounds. It’s a lot of activities and a dance on Saturday night. The festival is kind of a welcome back to school and a start to the football season. It’s next weekend.”

Emerson nodded as he understood. Cameron was gently caressing Emmy’s knee while Frankie held his hand. It was comforting for Emerson but he was starting to wonder if it was an annoyance and a burden on the two men. 

“So, we definitely need to plan for the festival.” Kit stated. “And we have to get dates too!”

Cameron rolled his eyes, speaking calmly. “I thought we were going as a group. Like we did before.”

“Well, yeah, but who will dance with who?” Kit asked, blushing faintly. 

Felix smiled brightly, wrapping his arm around Sebastian and pulling the man close. “I already have my dance partner, right babe?”

Sebastian’s cheeks colored red as he pushed Felix away, embarrassed as the group erupted in laughter. Only Emerson stayed silent, smiling softly but noticing the slight hurt gaze in Felix’s eyes. He really did like Sebastian but no one seemed aware of it except Emerson. 

~~

The week passed without any harm, though Emerson felt lonely at night in his simple quiet home. It was almost painful every night he slept by himself, but he relented that he would be able to see his friends in the morning. And like a vicious cycle, Emerson would feel happy all day until he closed the door to his home, feeling the walls of fear and anxiety close in on him. 

 ~~~Trigger warning: Panic attack mentioned~~~

It was Saturday when a new panic attack came. It had been some time since he was able to be around his new friends to calm himself. But now he was alone, laying in his dark bedroom as it was nearing midnight. He couldn’t call anyone, at least he felt he would just be a burden on them. The group had invited him over again, but he figured his presence might burden them so he declined, giving a false excuse that he had to call his family. 

He did call his mother, aware he had to report in once a month. The call had not been well. His mother berated him for firing the bodyguards and for being a worthless waste of space. Emerson stayed silent, sobbing quietly until his mother hung up. It was better than usual. He had no physical bruises or cuts, just mentally damaged again.

That was hours ago. Since then Emerson had curled up in bed, sobbing silently. It was now midnight when he had stopped crying, but Emerson longed for comfort. His mind seemed to remember that Sebastian had written down all of their phone numbers on the campus map he had gotten two weeks ago. 

In a burst of desperation, Emerson found the paper and grabbed his phone. Without hesitation he called Cameron. It was only when the phone started ringing that he felt a heavy weight of being a burden and an annoyance come back down on his shoulders. It was midnight and he was just bothering them.

“Emmy?” The low sleepy tone of Cameron entered his ears. Emerson couldn’t hang up now. “Emmy? Is everything okay?” Emerson could hear the shuffling of blankets in the background. 

“No.” He whispered faintly, feeling the rise of tears again. 

“I’ll be there soon okay?” Cameron responded, his voice clearer as Emerson could hear Frankie in the background though he couldn’t make out what he had said. 

Emerson felt a wave of panic. “No! Please… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called.” He hung up, feeling a panic attack coming on. 

It was rough like usual. He always felt like he was suffocating under the weight of being worthless and a burden. Why did he have to call? Why couldn’t he have just suffered in his own silence? His mother was right. All he was was a waste of space. A burden on his new friends. Emerson was sobbing now, curled up in his bed. His phone was forgotten, lost in the sheets. 

The sound of the front door opening didn’t register to the panicked Emerson. Nor did the sound of the bedroom door opening quietly. It was only when he felt arms wrap around him that Emerson freaked out. His eyes flew open as he thrashed around before focusing on Cameron. 

“Emmy! It’s me. Hey, hey, it’s just me.” Cameron exclaimed before slowly speaking softly. Emerson calmed immediately as his tear filled eyes stared at Cameron. “We got worried when you hung up. You sounded distressed. I had to come see you since we know you live alone.” Cameron explained before gently turning Emerson’s head. Emmy noticed Frankie was there as well. 

“The others are in the van outside. They… We want you to come over to Sebastian’s. We all think you shouldn’t be alone right now.” Frankie spoke softly as he sat down next to Emerson and Cameron. His heart felt a pang of worry and sadness for the broken man in front of him.

Emerson shook his head, feeling his thoughts still spiralling in his head. “But.. I don’t want to be a burden.” His words trembled softly as he looked at Cameron and Frankie, his tears still silently falling. 

“Oh Emmy.” Cameron hugged him close, resting his head in the crook of the man’s neck. Emerson’s body relaxed and he could feel his tears slowing down. 

“You aren’t a burden.” Frankie smiled softly as he held one of Emmy’s hands. “You are loved by all of us.” 

His words did wonders to Emerson’s heart and mind. He was loved. His heart calmed, though it was racing a bit for a different reason. The group loved him, yet Emerson felt a longing to be loved by the two men that were with him. 

“Will you come back with us? Just until school again?” Cameron asked, gently rubbing Emerson’s lower back. The two men were hoping they were calming Emerson down from the obvious panic attack he was having when they entered the bedroom. 

Emerson slowly nodded, practically melting into Cameron’s hold. He loved the comforting touch on his lower back. His eyes felt heavy as he glanced over at Frankie. 

“Can you pack him some clothes, Frankie?” Cameron spoke softly and Frankie nodded, reluctantly letting go of Emmy’s hand. 

In no time the three men were in the back of the van. Felix was driving them back to Sebastian’s. Emerson was resting against Cameron, though he held hands with Frankie who was curled next to his other side. ~~

In the morning, the smell of warm cinnamon woke Emerson up. He felt warmth surround him completely and felt like he was laying on a soft cloud like mattress. He opened his eyes, slowly becoming aware of two pairs of arms wrapped around him. The room he was in was perfectly clean, everything had its spot and not a single thing was out of place. The cream colored walls were decorated with only a few photos hung up. His eyes fell onto a sleeping Cameron on his left and a sleeping Frankie on his right. The two men were holding him, though Cameron’s hold was much tighter as Frankie seemed to loosen his grip during his sleep.

A soft noise from Cameron had Emerson shifting to look up at him. “Hey.” He whispered softly, his voice hoarse and low from waking up. Emerson smiled faintly, blushing softly as he glanced at the man’s arms around him. 

“Are you uncomfortable?” Cameron spoke softly, not wanting to wake up Frankie. He didn’t want to make Emmy uncomfortable either and would remove his arms if he had to.

Emmy shook his head, moving closer to Cameron without much thought. Cameron chuckled softly before shifting so Emmy could be close to Frankie as well. 

“Are you feeling better?” Frankie’s scratchy voice entered their ears and Cameron watched Emerson turn to look at him, surprised that Frankie was awake.

“I do. Thank you.” Emmy’s soft voice was quieter than usual. Cameron assumed it might be due to crying so much and sleeping all night. Emerson felt his face heat up as Frankie nodded and snuggled against him closer. 

Being surrounded by the warmth of the two men was overwhelming to Emerson. It wasn’t bad, but it was new to him. It didn’t seem to bother the two men that they were sharing the bed with Emmy. Frankie soon fell back asleep, his head nestled in Emerson’s neck while his arms were tighter around Emerson’s waist, on top of Cameron’s arms. 

Cameron chuckled softly before sighing and resting back against the pillows. “Sleep some more, Emmy. The others won’t bother us.”

Emerson glanced up at Cameron, his cheeks red and eyes heavy with sleep just at the mention of being able to sleep more. 

In no time, the three were snuggled with each other in a peaceful sleep. It was around evening time when Sebastian came into his room and woke up Cameron. Dinner was going to be ready soon and they all knew Emerson needed to eat. 

Sebastian left and Cameron gently woke up Frankie before the two gently woke up Emerson. It took a while, but Emmy did wake up slowly to Cameron holding him upright in his lap and Frankie playing with his hair, which made Emmy want to go back to sleep. 

“Ah, no, Emmy. Stay with us.” Cameron chuckled softly as he swatted Frankie’s hand away, stopping the hair play. “You need to wake up, lo-.. Sebastain’s mom is almost done with dinner and you need to eat.” Cameron was thankful that the observant Emmy wasn’t quite awake enough to notice the slight pause. Frankie noticed though and looked at him curiously. 

At the mention of food, Emerson woke up, feeling his stomach growling for food. “Okay.” He whispered before looking at the two men. There was a conflict rising in his mind. Emerson didn’t want to walk, but he also didn’t want to burden the two men. Plus, who would carry him?

“Come on.” Cameron smiled softly, glad that Emerson was up for eating. The taller male gently picked up Emerson, acutely aware at how light the man was. Cameron carried him bridal style as Frankie walked beside them. Emerson’s mind blanked as the conflict was settled and his face heated up in embarrassment as they all entered the dining room and kitchen area. 

All the others were around the table while Sebastian’s mom was finishing the cooking. They had all been chatting about the upcoming homecoming festival before the conversation stopped and all eyes fell on Emerson who was being held by Cameron. The silence and gazes embarrassed Emmy and he turned, hiding his red face in the crook of Cameron’s neck. Cameron chuckled softly as Kit and Ash cooed at how adorable Emmy was.

“Emmy, I’m glad you are feeling better.” Sebastian spoke first as Cameron set Emerson down in a chair and sat down beside him. 

Emmy nodded, smiling faintly as he shyly stared at his lap. “Thank you.”

“Oh, don’t thank us at all. Sebastian told me you were living alone.” Mrs. Pearce stated as she placed a large pot of chicken noodle soup in the middle of the table. The kind smile she gave Emerson made him wish that his mother was like that towards him.

Dinner was full of small talk about homecoming and the school festival. Emerson had just listened, not wanting to talk as he didn’t know much about homecoming. After dinner, Sebastian and Felix washed up the dishes while the others relaxed in the living room. Some reality show was playing on the large flat screen, but Emerson was more focused on the large orange tabby cat curled up in his lap. Pumpkin was a lazy cat who slept a lot. Emerson couldn’t help but think that if he were a cat, he would be Pumpkin. A lazy cat who slept as much as possible.

Cameron and Frankie sat on the couch near him, but not close like they had been that morning. Ash and Kit were commenting about the show, arguing about the couples. Emerson decided to focus onto the conversation and the show as the cat hopped off his lap in search of food.

“Okay, but Kelly and Tavi are the best couple. They have the best drama!” Kit exclaimed as the two aforementioned people showed up on screen. Emerson was a bit confused as the woman seemed to talk negatively about her supposed fiancé. He figured the show was something about couples meeting and getting married in a set number of months.

Ash shook his head, tossing a throw pillow at Kit who caught it in the face. “You are so wrong.” He was extremely dramatic and pointed at the screen just when a new couple appeared. “Saeyon and Jamie are the best. They are the cutest and I know they will stay together after this.”
Kit rolled his eyes and settled back against the coffee table. The two men were sitting on the floor. “I am not disagreeing with that. I just think that Kel and Tav are way more interesting to watch.”
“You just aren’t a romantic. Sae and Jamie are the sweetest. Did you see how in the last episode he picked her a flower during their hike just because he thought she would love it. It was absolutely amazing.” Ash sighed dreamily as he clasped his hands into his chest, his cheeks colouring faintly as he imagined someone specific to do something like that.

Emerson shook his head as he stood up, wanting to go back to sleep. He walked over to Cameron and grabbed his hand, tugging the man to get up and follow. His gaze landed on Frankie who was looking at the two curiously. Emmy waved him to follow as well, holding his free hand out. It didn’t take long for the two men to follow Emmy back to the room they had been in before, which was possibly Sebastian’s room.