Author: greatunironic
Rated: PG-13 (hard subject matter)
Disclaimer: Er—no.
Feedback: It is much reminiscent of a Girl Scout cookie—addictive and delicious.
Summary: 450 words and Malcolm angst. Mmmm. Malcolm angst.
Malcolm had been fourteen when he did it. Mathew had been fourteen, too. He had known something was wrong with Matthew, but not what or how big. He just knew something was wrong at Matthew's house, that something had been wrong for a long time.
They met at boarding school and had been thirteen when Matthew tried to kill himself for the first time. It was the beginning of the school year. Malcolm had gone up to their dorm late one night and found Matthew lying on the floor. It took Matthew a few months to recover. Everyone tried to ignore what Matthew had done. But Malcolm didn't. He talked to his friend about everything: his depression, why he tried to do it. Matthew answered and told him everything; everything except how deep it went.
The year past, everyone ignoring what Matthew did, except for Malcolm. He thought for a long time about his friend's decision and depression. At the end of the year, Malcolm knew what he was going to have to do: he was going to have to let Matthew go.
And then they went home and summer past and they aged a year and they packed their bags and returned to school. Matthew seemed to be normal and happy again, but somewhat subdued. Malcolm's things had an extra weight. Because, Stuart Reed had a special cabinet that was always locked, that held things Malcolm wasn't allowed to touch; but Malcolm knew where the key was. He opened it and took a gun out; a gun with a silencer and one bullet.
He packed it in his bag and it stayed there, at the bottom, for a few weeks. One day, he got it out. Malcolm dropped the gun (the gun with the silencer and one bullet) on Matthew's books without a word. He was letting Mathew go. It was all he could do: help his friend go and not ask questions. He would let him go, he wouldn't ask questions; because it was all he could do.
Matthew's body was found with a single bullet through his head in his bed. The gun was no where to be found. A note that Matthew had written was in his hand. After the funeral, everyone began to force themselves to forget what Matthew did. But Malcolm Reed couldn't forget about Matthew Ziegler. The year past anyway and no one found the gun.
So he took the gun home, wiped away the prints and powder, put in a new cartridge, and put it back in the cabinet. He never told anyone. No one ever knew that Malcolm Reed helped Matthew Ziegler commit suicide.
The gun never left the cabinet again.
The End