This is the last chapter. Thank you everyone for the support!
Leo expects the intervention that occurred the next day.
He tries to brush it off, to hide it, to say something – anything – that will free him from the suffocation of his housemates. But they're all persistent, especially his mom, who is crying hysterically and rocking him back and forth until he's crying like a baby, too.
"You were better," she mutters to herself, but Leo hears her anyway. "You were okay. I should have noticed. I didn't notice again."
Mr. Davenport questions him. Bree and Chase interrogate him, worry and frustration on their faces. Adam just watches trying to take it all in. Leo just cries and apologizes over and over. He's not sure who he's apologizing to, or what he's apologizing for.
He's eventually convinced to take his shirt off so everyone can see the cuts, both old and fresh. His mom holds him tighter. Bree gasps and backs off to stand closer to Adam, whose eyes are wide when he sees the full extent of the cuts. Chase stares openly, brows slightly furrowed, probably trying to calculate how many cuts there are, or when they were done, or something of the sort. Mr. Davenport lowers his gaze to the ground.
Leo just cries.
It takes a long time for him to start talking, to explain what he's been thinking lately, to explain why he's been rude. He's scared and he's angry and he's numb and he tries to convey this as clearly as he can but he stutters a lot and breaks down crying again every few minutes.
Once they've gotten the whole story out of him, and his mom has told the others that this has happened before, Leo is suddenly in the middle of a giant hug. Everyone is crying, even Adam and Chase and Mr. Davenport.
Leo might not be the smartest, the fastest, or the strongest, but he was loved. He's just glad that he's finally been reminded of that.