Trigger warning: verbal abuse (bullying), physical abuse (fighting), mentions of being okay with dying (I don't know how to describe this sorry, it's not suicide), mentions of blood, angst. Please be careful reading this chapter if this is triggering for you. You have been warned.

For anyone who thinks he can't read the chapter, there's a short description of what happens in the chapter at the bottom. Read that if you're not comfortable with reading any of the topics mentioned above.

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The day started off grey and rainy. Clouds have gathered and the whole world seems to have a black-and-white filter on top. Felix is glad to have a car on hand. He wouldn't want to wait in the rain for a bus that is never on time.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who had a car and although the school provided some parking spots, it wasn't nearly enough for all the other students, including Felix. He parked his car further away than normal and ran to school, to avoid getting wet. He heard his mom's voice in his head: "Put an umbrella in your car. That way when it rains, you always have something on hand."

Yeah, so much for that advice.

Arriving at school, everyone seemed as gloomy and (almost) depressed of the bad weather as him. He meets Morrow at his locker and they have small talk. It's nothing really, they're talking about some grades they got, classes they need to attend today, and some other random stuff. If you would ask Felix what exactly they were talking about, he couldn't tell you. But he liked it. He enjoyed being around Morrow.

He heard about the rumors much later on. How she was a troubled kid at her other school and how she was always a "weird-looking" kid. If they were true or not, Felix didn't really care. Morrow was his hope in his world. Something real. Something kind. And he would do anything to keep that realness and that kindness in his life.

'What are you spacing out for?' Morrow waved her hand in front of his face.

'Huh?'

She squinted her eyes at him. 'You've been standing there for like 2 minutes. Don't be a weirdo.'

He laughed, grabs the books he needed, and slammed the door of his locker closed. 'You know me. Just my head in the clouds or something.' Morrow doesn't seem to believe him but, thankfully, let's the topic go.

The rest of the day was uneventful. He spends some time with Morrow's friends during lunch. They all stared at him like he was famous, but they were overall nice people. Stephanie (he thought it was her) was a bit loud but overall kind. Although the rest of the nothing happened, he still couldn't shake the feeling something was about to happen. Ben, T, or Oliver wasn't seen or heard from the entire day and it bothered him. Oliver hadn't spoken to him at all after the evening he came to the café. Not that he wanted him to, but still.

When the school day was behind them, he sighed relieved. Maybe his feeling was just wrong, years of paying attention to everything had him going paranoid. He heard that once someone knew a situation, he would deem it unsafe even if it was a safe situation. To that person, it didn't feel safe, because they hadn't experienced that situation before. Maybe that was going on now.

He waved "bye" to Morrow and walked to his car. It was about 5 minutes away from school and it started to rain again. His head down, and not paying attention to his surroundings appeared to be the worst mistake ever.

'Hey.'

The sound of Ben's voice made him freeze. The rain filled the tense silence. He could hear Ben's footsteps coming closer and he looked up. T was by his side, but he wasn't doing anything. Yet, at least.

'How was school?' He asked.

Felix tried to find the courage he had that day in the bathroom, but it had abandoned him. Fear spiked, Morrow was already on her way home, and no one else knew of his whereabouts. He was alone.

'Fine.' He said but his voice was wavering.

Ben snorted. 'Good. I hope you enjoyed the silence and calm of today.' He walked closer and closer taking T with him as well.

'Why can't you just let me be?' It wasn't Felix's courage that said this. It was just a desperate attempt at gaining more time. For what, he didn't know but still; gaining more time is always good, he thought.

'You see,' Ben started. 'I wanted to at first. You know, no one is enjoying this. I certainly am not.' He kept on walking towards Felix, cornering him like he was a predator and Felix was the prey. 'Constantly keeping you in check because you keep crossing the lines. If you could just listen, that would be great, for the both of us, of course.' 

Felix wasn't sure who "the both of us" was but he was certain he hadn't crossed any lines. He was always polite and kind to others. Felix didn't know why but for a second he looked up to Ben and he saw the smirk, saw the satisfied look on Bens's face when he realized he was poking at the right spot. Saying just the right things to make Felix even more unsure, and even more afraid. 

Felix's hands started to tremble, held by a thin string of his sane mind. He could never win this fight. It had been proven that day in the bathroom. This wasn't any different, the same people were here. Ben and T with the same purpose: to teach him another one of their "valuable" lessons. 

'Cat's got your tongue or something?' Another step closer, they were just one meter apart now. 'Or am I saying the right things?' When Felix refused to answer and stubbornly kept on looking to the ground, Ben grabbed his chin forcefully and made him look at him. 'Look at me when I'm talking to you. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?' He scoffed. 'Oh, wait. I forgot, my bad. Your dad walked out on your family, can't be expecting too m-'

Felix swung his hand, balled it into a fist, and hooked Ben right there. Ben's head swung left, staggering on his feet. He couldn't even finish his sentence, but Felix couldn't finish his thought. T's right hook came out of nowhere, although he could have seen it coming. Pain bloomed on his jaw, immediately followed by another punch to his nose. Blood immediately started running and his eyes teared up because of the punch. 

T wasn't even saying anything, neither was Ben. He was just watching them. Enjoying the sweet revenge. T kicked against his shin, making him collapse on his knees. Sharp pain like electricity jolted through his body when his knees hit the ground. T grabbed his throat, keeping him in place while he landed a punch on punch on punch on his face. He wasn't grabbing too hard, still letting him breathe but he didn't make it easy. 

Everything went too fast, so fast that Felix couldn't even begin protecting himself. He had lost count when T finally let go of him. His neck, throat, and face hurt. (Actually, his entire body hurt.) He slumped down to the ground, forcing himself to at least stay seated instead of collapsing on the ground. He knew that if he was down, he would not be able to get up. His right eye already started to swell up. He was dizzy and it was actually almost a miracle he hadn't lost consciousness yet. Although he considered it more of a curse. 

Ben said something but he couldn't hear properly, hearing a distant ringing in his ear. The rain poured on around them and the cool air and water brought him some relief, while Ben was talking. Breathing was difficult and hurt his windpipe. A low throbbing began in his head, the promise of a splitting headache. When he didn't get a response, Ben kicked against Felix's shoulder, making him fall down on the wet ground. 

His head hit the ground, but he barely felt it anymore. He knew he had to get up, had to defend himself. But his energy was drained, he was tired, couldn't see well, couldn't hear well, he was dizzy and he just wanted to go to sleep and possibly never wake up again. That would be great. He wanted to curl into himself, for protection but also for comfort.

He didn't understand why they couldn't leave him be. What was so "special" about that he needed that much attention? He never wanted this. A deep feeling of bone-rattling sadness clawed his way up to the surface, showing up as big tears. All the years of tension, of angst, of never knowing what to expect came bubbling up. The rain washed his tears away immediately, but couldn't help his pounding heart, his rapid breathing. His dizziness increased again and fog came up which clouded his rational brain. It also made his heart and breathing slow down. Maybe this was his body's way of saying: "I'll help you through this. It's better you're not conscious right now."

He noticed T coming towards him again, his gaze focusing on his stomach. His feet already went backward, ready to give a blow to his stomach, but strangely the blow never came. Shouts came through some of the fog, some of the ringing. He saw Oliver coming into view, although Oliver didn't pay him any mind. He saw bodies struggling with each other, but his brain was too tired to process everything correctly. For all he knew, he could also be passed out and he was just hallucinating. 

He was hallucinating that delicate hands came towards him, worried eyes directed at him. Yeah, he was sure he was hallucinating now. Only his mom looked at him like that, and he was sure his mom didn't have pink hair. Or maybe she dyed it like an hour ago. The hands brushed his hair out from his eyes and swiftly went over his neck. Swiftly over the bruises that were already beginning to form on his neck. Fingerprint bruises. 

The face of the owner of the delicate hands came into better view. 'Morrow...' His voice was hoarse, but she heard him. 

'Hey, just hold on okay. I called the cops and an ambulance. You're going to be okay...' She said a lot more, but his brain decided that the aching of his body became too much, too much to handle while he was awake. So, he passed out right then and there, held by soft hands, while the rain poured on.

- End of chapter - 

Hi, Author here. So, basically what happens in this chapter is that Ben and T fight Felix again. Things get pretty brutal, but luckily Oliver and Morrow come to the rescue. Morrow has called the police and an ambulance for Felix. He passes out in the end but is safe.