A/N: Greetings! How are all of you doing?
Review Replies!:
ScarlettParker18: He will learn… eventually :) And it's always nice to read your reviews! Thank you for reviewing!
kwazii cat: Poor lil' Lloyd indeed. But on the bright side, you won't be the only one watching him!
Once the second Fritz Donnegan movie was on Jay walked to the edge of the room. "You'll be alright if I go make some popcorn?"
Lloyd nodded, pulling the blankets tighter around himself.
In the kitchen Jay threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave, pulling out his phone. He called Kai, mostly because he was the most likely to answer.
"Jay, what are you doing? I-"
"Kai, I need you to get over here, now."
"Jay I don't have time for video games-"
"It's not that! I'm at Lloyd's."
"Lloyd's?" Jay could practically hear Kai's frown through the phone.
"Yes, I'll explain when you get here. Contact the others, too."
"Wait! Did something happen to-"
Jay hung up, pocketing his phone. He peeked in on Lloyd - who hadn't moved - before pouring the popped kernels into a bowl. He grabbed a box of tissues as he brought the popcorn, just in case.
The opening credits were still playing. Lloyd gladly accepted the tissues, but didn't reach for any popcorn.
"Tell me what you think of the popcorn, I added a special ingredient."
Lloyd hesitantly grabbed a piece and popped it in his mouth. A confused look spread across his face.
"Can you taste it?"
Lloyd shook his head.
"You wanna know what it is?" When Lloyd nodded, Jay dramatically opened his arms, declaring: "air!"
That elicited a small, fleeting smile on the thirteen year old's face.
A loud knock interrupted the two.
"Jay? Why is the door open?"
Jay stepped away from Lloyd, setting the popcorn down. "I'll go see what Kai wants. Are you okay if he joins us?"
"Lloyd nodded, and Jay swiftly left the room to meet up with a worried Kai. "Jay, what's wrong? I told the others it was an emergency."
"Lloyd… Lloyd tried to kill himself."
"He WHAT?!"
"Shh! Not so loud! He's watching a movie!"
"He tried to kill himself and you put on a movie?!"
"Well what else was I supposed to do? He started sobbing and apologizing when I caught him trying to hang himself!" And oh goodness, that was finally catching up to him. One of his best friends… If he hadn't gone to his house to investigate…
Jay quickly raced to the nearest bathroom.
Kai rubbed circles into his back as he threw up, switching between that and watching Lloyd. He pointedly ignored the noose hanging from the kitchen ceiling. Eventually when Jay's hacking turned to sobs, and those sobs turned to deep, heavy breaths, Kai walked up to Lloyd, knowing Jay would be okay eventually.
"Hey, Lloyd, you doing alright?"
Lloyd's nod was not reassuring.
"O-okay… you hungry?"
Pulling the blankets tighter, the boy shook his head.
"Alright, you tell me if you need anything, okay?" He backed out of the room, keeping his eyes on the quivering figure of his friend until he was out of sight. "Alright, Jay, your job will be to tell people what happened when they arrive. I'll watch over Lloyd."
Jay shakily nodded, going to wait by the front door.
Sitting on the porch, Jay shakily took off the straps of his backpack, waiting for everyone to arrive.
Zane and Cole were first to arrive, but Jay insisted they wait for Nya - he didn't wanna have to explain this any more times than he had to. Once she arrived, he showed them the noose and explained what had happened.
"I mean, it makes sense."
They all stared at Cole.
"Think about it, it's only been three weeks since that Clouse guy killed his dad. It's a little early for him to have completely recovered, especially since for the first twelve years of his life it was just the two of them."
Zane nodded thoughtfully. "He also blamed himself for what happened, it's clear some of that self blame still remains."
"What, were you two studying psychology?" Jay joked nervously.
"Shut up, Jay."
Nya shoved past Jay and Cole as the two started glaring at each other, striding inside. The other three followed. She froze when she reached the kitchen. "You- you said this was here, but…" She inhaled sharply. "It's another thing to see it. I can't imagine what it would be like to… to walk in and… and just find someone on the edge like that…" She whirled around, tears streaming down her face. "Doesn't he know we CARE?!"
Her query was met with a sharp silence until Jay stepped forward, wrapping her in a hug. "It never hurts to remind him."
She nodded into him, pulling away after a long moment. "I just wanna kill the guy that did this to him so bad."
"Well, he's already dead."
They all glanced towards him. "What do you mean, Zane?"
"Do none of you watch the news?"
They all shook their heads.
"It was declared a suicide, although that was after an investigation that went on for multiple days. I suspect someone helped him commit suicide - if it even was a suicide. Personally I suspect it was murder."
Hope you all enjoyed!