DISCLAIMER : still don't own cheaper by the dozen.
To Srivania : Sorry but im not planning on this being a romance fic. You never know though, so keep reading :)
To the rest of my reviewers : Thank you for reading, and thanks for the compliments.
Mike stood shaking,scared. He was in a labyrinth, and it was dark. He couldn't see anything. He ran as fast as he could turning corner after corner, and each time coming to a dead end. He made it back to the center of the maze and saw Jake standing about 60 feet in front of him. He was facing towards him,"JAKE!",he screamed. Jake didn't hear him, he walked away from him and around a corner,deeper into the mess of walkways. Mike ran after him, but when he went around the corner he wasn't there. Jake was nowhere to be found. He looked all around but still nothing, "Jake?...JAKE! WHERE ARE YOU? Please dont leave me here by myself, Jake, PLEASE!", he panicked. In a flash he was no longer in the center of the labyrinth, but hanging off the side of a mountain. Jake suddenly appeared and walked over to where Mike was hanging. Mike screamed at him, begging him to pull him up, but it was as if Jake couldn't hear a word he was saying. He just stood there, staring at him, his eyes emotionless. His fingers began to slip, he couldn't hold on anymore. "JAAAAAAAKE!" he screamed as he fell. He was 2 feet from hitting the bottom where a pile of spikey rocks sat...
Mike woke up in a pool of sweat. He sat up in his bed, almost paralyzed. He had had nightmares before, but nothing like this. Jessica and Kim once had told him that all nightmares symbolized the dreamer's fears. Was he scared of Jake ignoring him? No, that wasn't it, Jake had always listened to him. The dream temporarily let him feel like Jake was feeling everyday, like he was invisible.
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Jake layed in bed awake. He couldn't get to sleep tonight, he kept reliving breakfast over and over again. He meant every word he had said. He heard a light tapping at his door, he knew it was Mike. They often woke each other up in the middle of the night when they couldn't sleep
He remembered last Christmas Eve when he woke up Mike because he was too excited to sleep. They had walked downstairs and saw there were many more presents under the tree than when they had went to bed. They sat there and shook every single present under that tree, guessing what they were. Then, they ate milk and cookies until they heard their dad upstairs, he was sleep walking. They had gotten upstairs and into their rooms just in time before their mom ran out of her room to wake him up
Jake got out of his bed and quietly slipped out of his door, careful not to wake up Henry. "Can't sleep",he whispered,Mike nodded,"Me either". They went into Mike's game and started playing videogames. "Jake, are you okay?", "Yeah, i told you, it was just a skateboarding accident", Jake replied assuming he was meaning his bruises. "Thats not what i meant, i mean are-well-you haven't been yourself lately.",Mike stammered. Jake stayed quiet. He didn't know what to say. "Uh, yeah. Im good.".. "But if something changes...",Mike started, "I'll let you know", said Jake finishing Mike's sentence. About 10 minutes later Jake said he was tired and went to bed. Mike was tired too so he set aside all his thoughts and went to bed as well.
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Jake was in bed, but still awake. Had Mike noticed his depression? Would he find out about him cutting himself? Jake was worried,not for him, for Mike. If Mike discovered Jake's self harm would he be able to handle it? He was really young, and Jake was scared he might blame it on himself. He would have to make sure that Mike knew not about his habits. He couldn't let that happen to him. Of course the obvious solution was to quit, but Jake wasn't willing to give it up. It was the only thing helping him get through his dark days. His lonely thoughts haunted him every second of every day, and it was starting to get overwhelming. Some kids at his school were on drugs to ease the pain, but Jake knew that was wrong. He knew what he was doing was wrong too, but atleast he couldn't have a stroke, or die from overdose. One day a goth kid at his school had offered him cocaine, and was curious but refused. Now he wondered what it would be like, if it really did let you let go of your problems, if only for a little while. He snapped himself out of it,no way in hell would he resort to narcotics, no way. His eyes sagged,and he drifted off to sleep. When he was asleep the only thing that could hurt him were his dreams, not that they weren't enough.
Sorry it took a little while. I hope you liked it. Reviews would be nice :)