Hey, guys! This is my first Foxtrot comic. I read 'Broken Glasses' by Edward-Inkwell, and I liked it so much that I decided to rewrite it. All credits go to them. No beta for this story (there aren't many active betas for the fandom...let's change that!) so all mistakes are mine. One more thing: Jason is 14 and Paige is 17 or so.
Paige Fox didn't even have to turn on the light to know that Quincy had vomited all over her bedspread. This was the fifth time this month. All things considered, it was quite the rarity that it happened this often.
"JASON!" Paige yelled, storming down to her little brother's room and flinging the door open. He was laying on the bed, hands covering his face. As Paige moved closer, she realized that his hands were drenched in blood. And he was crying.
Jason, who hadn't cried since he saw Jurassic Park III four years ago, was crying.
"What's wrong?" Jason's head shot up. His eyes were red, his round glasses askew. "Get out. Get out and don't come back."
Paige's hands were shaking, but her voice remained calm. "Why is there blood on your hands? Are you hurt?"
"Didn't I tell you to leave?" His voice was watery, but she could tell that he was getting increasingly angry.
"Just tell me what's wrong, Jason!"
"Make me!"
"I'm not going to sit here and let you bleed to death!"
Jason glared at his sister. Suddenly, he flung his arms at her, and she grasped his wrists. He jumped away, yelling in pain.
"Jason, please. Were you hurt doing a science experiment? I won't tell Mom."
Jason's bottom lip quivered. "I wasn't hurt doing a science experiment. It's none of your business. I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say that."
Paige took her brother's hands. Worry was etched all over her face.
"I don't want your sympathy," Jason continued, tears falling down his face. "I'm fine."
"It's not fine!" Paige yells, suddenly angry. "Look at you! You could have died, Jason! Imagine how we would feel if something happened to you! How could you be so selfish?!"
Jason burst into tears and collapsed onto his bed. "I'm so sorry, you're right, it is selfish. But I can't stand it anymore. I want the pain to go away."
Paige knelt down and cradled her little brother as he wept. "Shh, it's going to be okay, Jace. I know it seems like this might be the answer, but it's not. Believe me, I would know." She rolled up her sleeves and revealed lines of scars. Some looked deep. Some looked fresh.
Jason's heart ached for his sister. He thought nobody understood how he was feeling, and there was someone who shared his pain under the same roof.
"It gets better," Paige continued. "Sometimes the days get hard and I relapse but things really do get better, and I'm glad I didn't kill myself because I'd get to miss out on so much." She wiped the stray tears off of her cheeks. "I guess I always put on a brave face and stuff but in reality, things aren't as good as they seem. High school is really hard and I haven't gotten into any of the colleges that I wanted to go to."
"You'll be okay, Paige. You're a good person."
"Bad things often happen to good people, Jason."
Later, they ordered pizza and played video games until Andy made them retire for the night. And as they lay on the floor of Jason's bedroom talking about nothing in particular, Paige realized that even though bad things might happen to good people, good things were bound to happen, too.