"What's going on in there?!" Vienna shouted from the hallway.

The two children in the room jumped at the sudden noise, and looked over at the door as Vienna began banging on it.

"There are no closed doors allowed in this house without permission!" She said. "Open this door right now!"

B stared at the door then back to K. She looked at him timidly, trying to decide wether to stay where she was or go back in the closet.

"Let me in!"

K cradled her arm and looked at B, waiting for him to do something.

"I don't want her to see my arm." K whispered to him, slowly backing into the closet.

He nodded and stood up, carefully making his way to the dresser that was blocking the door. He quietly opened one of the drawers and pulled out a dark green long sleeved shirt, and tossed it to K.

"Put that on." He whispered.

B turned his head as she undressed and put on the shirt, looking down at his fingers as she did so. When K was done she threw her shirt at him, it landing at his knees. He rolled the burnt fabric up and shoved it under a pile of clothes in the bottom drawer, then closed it. Vienna suddenly slammed the door forcefully, pushing the dresser into B, hitting his head.

"Ouch..." He mumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"I can hear you." She said. "You have ten seconds to let me in."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, standing up. B pushed the dresser away from the door as quickly as he could, his bare feet slipping on the old wooden floor. Vienna opened the door almost immediately, standing there with one hand on her hip. B looked up at her expectantly, and slightly annoyed. She glared down at him.

"What's going on in here?" She asked, suspicious as usual.

B looked around the room, seeing K sitting on the ground playing with her hair. She had closed the closet door and the whole room looked normal. B looked back at Vienna.

"Nothing." He said.

She looked at K then back at him, squinting. "Why are you in here?"

He stared at her, saying nothing. Why should he have to explain himself to her? When she received no response, Vienna turned up her nose at B and walked away from the door, but turned back at the last second.

"Oh and K," She said, leaning in the doorway, some of her hair falling from behind her ears. "Keep in mind what Mr. Murphy spoke to you about downstairs."

B looked over at K, puzzled. What did he say this time? Vienna walked away, knowing that she had annoyed B. K said nothing and pulled her sleeve up, revealing her arm that was even more red than before. He stared at her, watching as she hissed in pain as the cloth stuck to her skin. She would probably need to wrap that up. B walked across the hall to his room and came back with a bottle of aloe vera and bandages. He sat down next to K.

"Give me your arm." He said, opening the bottle.

She reluctantly held her arm out to him, and he took her hand, pulling her a little closer. K watched as he squeezed the jelly-like green substance out onto her skin, and rubbed it in gently. B realized that he probably should've washed his hands before touching her wounds, but it was already too late. K whimpered as the burning feeling returned to her arm each time B's finger ran across her skin. She tried to pull away from him.

"Sh-" He hushed her, squeezing her hand.

B watched as her face eventually relaxed, and the burning sensation in her arm was replaced with a cooling feeling. She looked up and was met with his red eyes staring at her.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

She watched him as he began to slowly wrap her arm with the bandages. His messy dark hair fell over his face as he looked down, and she could no longer see his eyes. Murphy's voice echoed through her head. Has he hurt you yet?She watched how careful B was not to touch her wounds, slowly and gently wrapping the white gauze around her arm. She was confused as to why Murphy was so sure that B was going to hurt her. Sure, B was a little rough at times, but for the most part the boy was as gentle as a lamb when he was around her.

"Your therapist is still convinced you're going to do something bad to me." K said quietly as he ripped the end of the bandage.

B said nothing, and started to tape the ends of the gauze to hold it in place. K sighed.

"He's going to give you more medication."

B finished what he was doing and put his hands in his lap, staring down at the floor.

"I guess since he's seen my arm there is no way to make him believe I'm normal." B played with his fingers. "He thinks medicine is going to help... its just going to make me feel worse."

He began babbling, forgetting that K was sitting right in front of him.

"Everyone thinks they can just shove pills down my throat and keep me under constant supervision and tell me to sleep more and that it's going to make me normal... thats just going to make me feel like cutting my arm off even more..." B picked his cuticles, ripping the thin skin from his fingers. "They act like it my fault I'm this way, constantly scolding me and putting me down, it just makes me think lower of myself and I just keep getting angrier and angrier at everyone and..."

B felt a weird feeling at the back of his head, a feeling that stopped him from finishing what he was saying. Someone was watching them. He turned around, seeing a white face in the doorway that disappeared a split second later. He stood up and walked over to the door, pulling the person into the room and throwing them to the ground. It was A.

"What are you doing, A?" B asked, annoyed.

A was sprawled across ground looking up at B, afraid and at a loss for words. B got angry when he didn't answer and sat on his chest, holding him down by his shoulders.

"Why are you here, A?" B growled at him. "Why are you listening to our conversation?"

A said nothing still, staring up at him with his two blue eyes. B squeezed his shoulder hard, A shriveling in pain underneath him.

"V-Vienna told me to come up here!" A finally blurted out, trying to get from under B.

"I knew it! You're spying on me!" B shouted, pushing A down on to the floor as he tried to sit up.

"No I didn't... I'm just..."

"B!" K shouted from across the room.

He looked at her.

"He didn't hear anything." She assured him, pulling on her sleeve. "Even if he did... we can trust him, right?"

B looked back down at the blonde boy and he was just staring at him. She trusted him? He narrowed his eyes and let the boy up, still sitting on the floor as A stood above him. K could trust A if she wanted, B would never trust that boy.

"B."

He looked up and saw A holding a jar of unopened strawberry jam out to him.

"Here, I got this for you."

B looked at him funny. "You got that for me?"

He slowly took it from him and examined the jar. It had to be poisoned. But it was unopened. B looked back up at A, who was giving him a weak smile. How dare he look down at me like that, B thought.

"I hope we can be friends now."

Friends? He glared at A as he walked over to K, sitting down next to her where B had just been sitting.

Just what was he trying to do? B didn't want to be friends with A, he wanted nothing to do with him! B opened the jar and began to eat the jam slowly, watching as A talked to K. It was a trick. B is friends with K and now, all of the sudden,A comes out of literally nowhere trying to be friends with him? It would be easier if all three of them were friends, now that B thought about it, but no! He couldn't stand the thought of constantly being around A.

As he sat there, B felt this strange feeling come over him.

…

They took all of B's razors away, hiding all scissors, knives, mail openers, and any other sharp objects that he could possibly harm himself with. At first B thought he could handle it, he didn't need to hurt himself anymore. But that thought didn't last long. The urge, the prickling creeping feeling up his arm returned with a vengeance, and he knew he needed it. There was no escape.

…

B jumped the large metal fence, his two feet landing on the old concrete. He felt strange walking down the sidewalk, surrounded by people and sights he would usually observe from his window. Floating red numbers and letters hovered around him, confusing him as the names and faces mixed and overloaded his mind. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked with his head down, making his way to the general store that was around the corner from the house. He would have to be quick before anyone noticed he was gone.

He pushed open the door and heard the bell ring as he was met with the smell of tobacco and cheap plastic. B walked to the counter. He was there for one thing and one thing only: razor blades. A strange eleven year old boy buying loose razor blades. Odd.

"They're for my father." He would always say, making little to no eye contact with the cashier.

B could feel his face heat up as there was a long silence until the cashier said, "Alright."

He believed him. He believed him every time. When those blades got dull or misplaced or whatever, he would return to the shop and buy another pack.

"They're for my father."

They asked no questions and always complied, as if they were feeding his addiction. One afternoon as he was leaving the shop, a man offered him a cigarette. Cigarettes. They were so cool. Anyone who smoked them automatically looked cool. B loved the way the hot smoke filled his lungs, how warm it made his body feel. When he smoked too much he got light headed, and felt as if he could forget everything of this world. It was killing him and he knew it, but he loved it. Once he was sixteen he was able to buy his own cigarettes, and not rely on strangers to buy them for him.

B would sit in a window, whether it be in the attic or in his room, chain smoking to his hearts content. He wasn't supposed to smoke in the house but he didn't care. B liked the idea of his insides rotting, his exterior was already rotting away with all the damage he was doing to his skin. Nothing mattered to him. B filled his lungs with smoke and looked out the window in silence. It was December, and the ground was covered in a thin layer of white snow. B exhaled and took another long drag from his cigarette, a small shiver going up his spine. He eyed the snow, glad to be inside smoking than sitting in that white mess.

B saw two figures run across the yard, one throwing a pathetic looking snowball at the other. B clenched his jaw at the sight. It was K and A. He watched as the blonde tackled K, and they both fell face first into the snow. Over the past few years the two had become closer, almost as close as B was to K, and it was making him uncomfortable. No matter how much B would try to isolate himself and K, A would always find a way to show up. They rolled onto their backs and he could see their lips moving, but couldn't hear the words that came out of their mouths. B watched as A took K's hand and said something to her, making her laugh. He tightened his jaw even more, his body tensing up.

"B, put that out."

Seeing A make her smile made B so angry. That should be him. K should be enjoying his company, not A's. The blonde took advantage of all the time when B was busy; he would snatch K away and B would be left with no way to stop him. A knew B hated going outside, so he and K would always spend time in the yard while B sat alone in the room. He heard laughing again. B just wanted to grab something nearby and hurl it out the window, hoping it would collide with A's big head.

"B!"

He crushed his crushed his cigarette in his hand, feeling the skin in the middle of his palm burn.

"B are you even listening to me?"

B puffed smoke out of his nose, looking over to his right. In the far corner of the room sat Murphy, staring at him with that same typical look. He had forgotten he was there.

"Are you feeling alright today? What were you thinking about?"

B stared at the man, slowing bringing his fingers up to his mouth and chewing on his nails. Murphy stared back at him with a blank face, not really expecting B to say anything, he never did. B looked back out the window and saw A helping K to her feet. He watched as they walked back towards the house; they would be in here soon.

"Who's outside?" Murphy asked, attempting to peek out the window from his seat.

"Nobody." B said, shoving one of his hands into his pocket.

Murphy looked at the boy. "So you're going to speak to me today?"

B sighed loudly and pulled out his pack of cigarettes, fumbling with one before he placed it between his lips. The man was aggravating him. B just wanted to sit in his window in peace and not be bothered by anyone. He wanted to enjoy silence for once.

"Don't you light another cigarette in this room, B." Murphy warned him, but it was of no use.

The boy stared out the window again, lifting his red lighter up to his mouth. As he puffed white smoke out of his mouth, Murphy let out a noise of frustration.

"If you don't put that out I'm going to have to take them from you."

"No you won't." B murmured.

"B, I am in charge of you, or have you forgotten?"

"No one has authority over me."

K and A suddenly walked into the room laughing, smiles on their flushed faces. K had her arm linked with A's, and she was buckled over in laughter. B clenched his pack of cigarettes, not wanting to look at them. He just couldn't, he knew it would make him angry. He would see the way they looked at each other, how happy the both of them looked, and it would just make him upset. He knew he couldn't possibly make K laugh like that. He sucked smoke into his mouth.

"K you're soaking wet, I don't know why you would roll around in the snow like that."

"A you threw me in the snow you're not fooling anyone."

It was annoying B. Why couldn't A just disappear? But then again, why was B so territorial over K? He was being kind of selfish. He heard the two of them laughing again. B turned to look at them and was met with A staring right at him. He watched K giggling, leaning on his shoulder for support. B exhaled a huge cloud of smoke into the air. Enough of this.

"B I wish you would just put that out!" Murphy shouted.

B pushed open the glass windows, a blast of cold air flying into the room. He sat on the windowsill and let his legs hang over.

"Close that window!"

He really couldn't take it anymore; he needed to get away from them. He looked over his shoulder at K, who was looking at him confused, before dropping down onto the roof outside. Murphy ran to the window, sticking his head outside.

"B where are you going? Get back inside!"

He ignored him and walked along the roof. It was cold outside, but B didn't care. He wanted to go to the attic and be alone. When B didn't respond, Murphy simply stuck his head back inside and closed the window. He fixed his glasses and stared awkwardly at the two teenagers standing in the middle of the room.

"What's B's problem?" A asked.

...

so this chapter is waaaay overdue and i apologize. Yes there was a kind of huge time jump in this if you didnt notice and sorry if it was a little abrupt? I hope this was somewhat enjoyable and thanks!