Rain
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It didn't take too much to send the boy running down the stair and right out the front door. Not a single shout to come back grazed Matthew's eardrums as he sprinted aimlessly, treks of salty tears marking the curves of his cheeks. The whoosh of air as he cut through it and the crunch and snap of whatever lay in his path were the only things that wiggled their way past the ringing in young ears. The cool breeze of the atmosphere breaking around him mixed with the light sheen of a cold sweat overtook his senses. His head pounded, the thoughts, the screaming, the emotions, all running high and fast in his head.
He couldn't take it. He wouldn't take it. He was done and there was nothing that could ever fix what plagued him at night, in his dreams, when he lay in bed, unable to sleep, when he spaced out in class, when he sat alone at lunch. These were his own little monsters that would never leave him alone. That couldn't ever leave him. Burdens that he had been entrusted with. Burdens that he was cursed to forever keep.
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Matthew inhaled, the cool droplets of water falling in perfect shining streams along his face. The air was crisp and hard, shocking him to life. The greyed sky and its shimmer of water cascading from its arms embraced the boy in its cold warmth. It appeared that even the sky was crying for him, he thought with a melancholy curl of his lips. Oh the irony. Must be becomes he had long run out of tears for himself.
He didn't know how long he was out there, but soon enough, he was numb from the cold and the sting of rain pelting into his exposed skin. But yet, nothing else had ever made him feel so... alive. To think he had tried so hard and given it his all in futile attempts to get people to like him enough to make him feel this way. It was just the cold truth that this was all he had left.
Matthew graciously accepted the twisted warmth of mother nature encircling his being. He was almost too far gone to notice when he was picked up and brought out of his beloved rain. Almost.
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"Mattie, please, oh god, Mattie please wake up." Sobbing. It was hot, too hot. He was sweating. And uncomfortably hot. "Please don't do this to me, Mattie, wake up, please!"
Violet-hued blue eyes slowly fluttered open, only to squeeze back shut and squint in order to adjust to the blaring light overhead. Despite the temperature of hell encasing him, Matthew shivered within the cocoon of quilts and blankets.
"Mattie! Oh god, Mattie, thank god, my Mattie, oh..." the voice broke back down into tears. A cool, yet comforting hand stroked the boy's cheeks, brushing the hair back from his face.
It was too blurry for the teenager to make out the face. The voice seemingly too distant for him to decide who it belonged to. Briefly, but with all the energy he could muster, a light smile graced his lips. But you'd miss it if you blinked.
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"Alfred, please, I'm fine, you're overreacting."
"No, Mattie, I insist. You can come stay with me, okay? I know I don't know much about your home life. Which by the way, you don't have to ever tell me about it you don't want to. But you're my best friend. And aren't I yours, too? Please let me help you, Mattie. I care about your well-being."
Matthew sighed, anxiously fiddling with the hem of his hospital gown and subconsciously picking at the patient bracelet snapped around his wrist.
"I appreciate your concern, Al, but I can't make you do that. I'd feel so guilty, just, please, it's probably better for my mental health to go back to a familiar home, ask my doctor."
Alfred frowned at that, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, maybe that's the best thing for you, but I'd barely call that shithole a home if I were you. I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks, Matt."
"Alfred, please. It's just easier this way-"
"Easier for who? Nothing will make my life easier than you living under my care so I know that you're safe at all times. It's more work for me to worry about you whenever you're out of my sight, you know that? I'm only comfortable when I know that you are."
Matthew bit his bottom lip, lightly chewing the plush flesh. He studied his friend's face for the longest time. He opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly snapped it back closed. He shook his head vigorously.
"No, no, no. Even if that's actually true, it would just make me feel guilty to burden you with a basket case like me. Don't argue with me anymore, Alfred. Just let me make my own decisions."
Alfred visibly frowned. It was too late for Matthew to register that Alfred was moving towards him before he was already grabbed by the arms and yanked to look right into sky blue eyes, only inches from his own.
"Look at me and tell me that you don't want me to care about you like I do, Matthew. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want me like I want you to."
Matthew could feel Alfred's warm breath, slightly quicker and more shallow than usual. He could almost feel Alfred's heart racing, beating nervously fast right out of his chest. Alfred was so warm. Just his entire aura. Matthew's instincts told him that he wanted nothing more than to collapse in the other's grip and rest his weary mind if only for a minute. But he held firmly on his ground, as much as his mind told him to just let go and let Alfred in.
"No, Alfred, I don't need nor want you to care for me. I can take care of my myself, goddamit." And with that, Matthew harshly shrugged off Alfred's grip, pushing past the other and out into the hall.
Alfred stood still in shock. But just this once, he allowed himself to cry once he heard Matthew's broken voice ask his stepfather to take him home.
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End.
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