My life was predictable. It was almost like reading some poorly written novel by some unknown author. Some crappy mystery where you knew who the murderer was. Some shitty thriller where you knew the twist before the end…

No. Better comparison. My life was the definition of Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And it had. When I came to the clinic, I was not aware that we'd actually be paired up in rooms. In fact, that notion actually seemed like it could be problematic. What would happen if both started to have withdrawals at the same time? What then? Obviously they'd be irritable beyond reason, but what if they started to actually fight each other? Surely there would be a blood bath. Not to mention, withdrawals or not, some of these people didn't seem to be exactly stable. This was a free clinic after all. A lot of the junkies here had turned to drugs from some other underlying mental illness, not just for sheer recreation.

However, I chose to be selfish. What about me! Some tweaking junkie I was sure I could deal with. I'd ignore them, I'd leave the room. I wouldn't care if they spoke to me because they simply do not exist to me right now and anyone with a brain could take the hint that I didn't want to fucking talk to them. Not this guy, though. Not Axel. Because my life is one big fucking joke to whoever the hell is up there, Axel was my roommate. The one who didn't know what personal space meant nor did he know when someone didn't want to speak to him. The annoying, persistent redhead was my roommate. My roommate for two months.

I must've stared in horror for a good while before my brain actually clicked into action. I spun around on my heel to talk to someone - anyone - about this little problem. I'm sure there was no high tech code that programmed two people to a room so I couldn't see why I couldn't be switched out. I nearly smashed into the attendant from earlier, dread washing over me even more. She didn't seem like she would see eye to eye, but… she must've had a heart somewhere, right? I mean, she knew Axel so she must've known what he was like!

"There's a problem," I began instantly, backing up while mumbling an apology to her. She was looking at her clipboard again, not even acknowledging my existence. "There's no way I'm rooming with him," I finished almost desperately, gesturing towards the redhead, who feigned hurt, as if I had to prove a point on who I was talking about.

"Yes, you are. Change into your scrubs please, Mr. Strife." That's it? I pushed my hair back stressfully and shook my head. I could feel my anxiety rising again, but why wouldn't it be? I was probably going to be molested in my sleep by this guy.

"But-"

"Change into your scrubs please, Mr. Strife. I have many more I must attend to. Come on now." Was she serious? She wasn't even going to hear me out? I looked around the room for the bathroom, or something to change behind. Nothing.

"Don't be shy, cutes. Nothing I haven't seen before." My face heated up as I heard Axel speak from behind me from the bed by the window he seemed to have claimed without my input. I scoffed quietly as I turned to shoot a glare in his direction. That wasn't the problem. Unless he was some kind of alien, which at this point would not shock me, I was positive he had the same set up as I did. Hell, I had no doubt that he had seen another guy naked before too. Just because he knew what was under my clothes already didn't mean it made me feel comfortable to just strip in front of him while he stared at me like I was his prey. Scratch that, stared at me like he was some dirty old man and I was a Catholic school boy.

I increased my grip around my scrubs and bit my lip as I turned away from him, facing the black haired attendant in front of me once more.

"Don't have all day, cutie!" Axel teased, yet again, from behind me. I whipped around so fast the room spun and started to snap at him. Thankfully, so I wouldn't get a black mark on my record already, the attendant jumped into action before me. She stomped over to Axel's bed and pulled him up by his arm, much like she had done earlier. She lead the gangly redhead to the door before effectively shoving him out into the hall.

"Privacy, Axel," she scolded sternly, placing her hands onto her hips. I could still see the red spikes that belonged to Axel, but, for the most part, the attendant was blocking any view from either in or out of the room.

"You've got to be kidding me!" the pervert cried out in exasperation causing me to sneer. Definitely going to get molested in my sleep…

I took the mostly empty room, even with its door open and the attendant standing with her back to me, as an opportunity to change as fast as possible. By the time I she had finished arguing with the stubborn Axel and turned back around, I was done. I doubt I have ever changed that fast in my life before. Handing my clothes to her, I tried to fix my already messy blonde hair into a somewhat presentable look, shooting a glare at Axel who poked his head into the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Strife." She smiled at me. She fucking smiled. And here I thought that this woman was incapable of doing such a thing. My feelings about her were flipping back and forth so much that I was confused on if I liked her or not, but it certainly seemed she was on my side. Maybe Axel just did that to people. Pissed them off. I could definitely see it. I had only known the guy for a few hours and I wanted to claw his eyes out. Besides, she practically saved me from giving Axel a strip show so, naturally, I smiled back.

"You're welcome… uhm…" Okay, so I didn't really know her name. Trying to get in the good books without knowing her name was a bit of a stupid move, I'll admit.

"Mrs. Cockblock," came Axel's snarl as he pushed past her in order to sit back down on his bed. I shot a glare at him for what must've been the millionth time already, but the attendant didn't even flinch.

"You can call me Mrs. Hunt-"

"She means 'Cunt,' cutie, and she will soon be the bane of your existence. Trust me," Axel, oh so kindly, informed me again, flopping down onto his back and clasping his hands behind his head. Mrs. Hunt merely rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. I could tell she had to deal with kind of behaviour practically daily. Her black hair already had a few grey strands and the tired bags under her brown eyes were just an instant indicator that she dealt with this a lot.

"Axel, you can zone out as you normally do, but I need to tell your roommate the schedule, so please shut up." Bitter laughter filled the room and I watched all resolve and energy simply drain from Mrs. Hunt's face. Axel sat up again, the bed creaking as he did so.

"We wake up at seven, eat at eight. Then we go through little designated schedules based on each individual that depicts whether we'll be doing group therapy, normal therapy, free time, or whatever the fuck else they have planned, until twelve. Lunch. At one we continue on with our designated schedules. Mandatory group therapy at three, for everyone. Imagine how fun that is. People crying and snivelling and yelling and bitching… Dinner at five. Free time from six 'til eight, which is when we get sent to our rooms, tucked in, and read a fairy tale. Lights out at nine. We do this for two months and then we will be all better! Right?" I blinked in confusion. I knew this would be his fifth time at the clinic, but I didn't expect him to memorize the schedule. I certainly didn't expect him to memorize the times, at least. I had to admit, I wasn't looking forward to all the therapy and doctoral shit I was going to have to do. I knew it had to be done, obviously, but I could already feel my heart pounding faster.

"Right. But your lights out can be now, Axel, if you're going to act like this," Mrs. Hunt stated flatly, not even trying to put up a fight with Axel anymore.

"Gladly," Axel hissed, already laying down on his side with the blankets pulled over his head. Mrs. Hunt must've picked up on my anxiety again because she gently touched my shoulder and smiled softly once more.

"You on the other hand are welcome to go to the activity room. Of course, you can always stay here as well."

Activity room it was.

I really did not expect anything special. Maybe a TV and some tables, but, I had to say, I was impressed. It wasn't amazing by any means, but, compared to what I imagined, it was pretty nice. The majority of the other people at the clinic were in there. Some were off just walking aimlessly and others grouped up for cards. The TV was already taken by a small group, which I had expected, and would most likely be taken for most of my stay, if not all of it. The small craft table in the corner kind of lowered my impression of the room, however. What was this? Kindergarten…?

I decided to read. Or try to. The room was a little on the noisy side, but it was certainly better than heading back to my room. Distancing myself from Axel allowed my mind to wander again. You know when you read a few pages of a book, but you don't really read it? That was what kept happening to me. I'd read about ten pages, get completely lost, and have to start over. With my immediate threat not around, my other worries began to start up again. I accepted the fact that I had to do this, but stupid little things kept popping in my head.

What do I say in group therapy? Do I blurt it all out or do I just sit and listen? Do I have to talk? Will they put me on meds? What about one on one therapy? Do I talk more then? Can I talk about other things and not just drugs? What if I don't like the food? What if I can't sleep? What if I get sick? Will they still make me attend the day or do I get excused? Do I get visitors? Can I go outside? Do we all shower together!

I slammed my book shut and rubbed my temples as I rested my elbows on the table. It was close to eight now and the amount of people in the room had dwindled significantly. The TV was on some news station, the droning voices relaying horrific and sad stories almost put me to sleep at the table. It had been about two hours, at least. Axel was surely asleep by now, right? I decided I would take my chances, anyways. I could always scream my head off if he tried anything in order to get someone's attention. Maybe then I could get a different roommate.

Axel was still asleep when I got in and I found myself releasing a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Turning off the light, I quietly made my way over to my bed that was pushed against the wall. I was careful to silence the creaking as much as possible, so I didn't wake up Axel, as I tried to get comfortable, but that was proving to be next to impossible. The mattress was lumpy, pillow flat, blankets scratchy… First night and I was already desperately missing my bed, my room, my life… I knew I probably wasn't going to be able to sleep, but I thought that I might as well try. It was better than thinking at the moment. I wondered if they would administer sleeping pills to a bunch of people who suffered from drug addictions. I felt like I could definitely use one right now. If I asked tomorrow, would they give me one? Or would they put me under lockdown for trying to obtain drugs? I growled a little to myself, pushing the heels of my palms into my eyes, and sighed heavily. My brain was running around again, swimming with stupid questions that I shouldn't be worried about, but was.

Sleep… Sleep… SLEEP.

How come when you know you need to sleep, you can't? Even if you're tired? How do stupid thoughts, like the ones in my skull, keep people up, anyways? I rolled over onto my side to face the wall, pulling the covers up to my chin in a feeble attempt to get comfortable. My eyes definitely felt heavy, but I didn't feel like sleep would come anytime soon, not with this mattress, not with this roommate, not in this place. I rolled over again, slowly, the bed springs squealing underneath my weight. I grimaced, watching the lump on Axel's bed for any movement, relieved that he didn't even flinch. I silently thanked whoever was playing this sick joke on me chose to pair me up with someone who actually didn't snore. I stared out the window after a moment of making sure Axel wasn't going to wake up and watched the stars twinkle outside. I began to count…

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7...

…74. 75. 76. 78. 79...

I woke up to that annoying squeal from the mattress, opening my eyes finally when I realized that it was not my bed and the sound wasn't stopping. "Shut up," I hissed, rolling my head to the side to face Axel's bed. It felt like I had just fallen asleep and that probable wasn't far from the truth. I already wasn't a morning person, but to pair that up with a shitty sleep being disturbed was a recipe for disaster.

"Fuck off, kid…" A hush voice snapped back through the darkness followed by a sniffle. "Fuck!" Axel blurted suddenly which startled me enough to cause me to jump. I saw his silhouette sit up slowly, his hair sticking up in all sorts of directions from sleeping on it.

"What's your problem?" I muttered after he released a few more strings of curses. Even if he was uncomfortable, he didn't have to voice it so vocally, especially when I was trying to sleep. I heard Axel make a sound that sounded like a groan mixed with a growl, as though he was sick of hearing me talk already.

"Ever heard of withdrawals?" He shot back at me, making me feel a little bit stupid. Of course. Withdrawals. That made sense, I guess. I was trying to think back to my Drugs and Behaviour class I took when I was in university, scrambling to think of anything that had to do with heroin withdrawals.

Sweating, runny nose, trouble sleeping, muscle pain, agitation, anxiety…

Some of the symptoms seemed to fit the bill, at least. I sat up hesitantly, watching Axel hunch over and hold his head in his hands followed by a few low breaths. Watching him deal with this made me feel awkward, like I was supposed to help him some how, and I wasn't really looking forward to when the more advance stages of the withdrawal was going to start. By the looks of Axel, he wasn't either.

"Want me to get an attendant…?" I ventured cautiously, studying him for any outbursts he may have because now I wouldn't shut up. "They probably have some kind of medicine you can take, you know. To stop some of the symptoms?" A weak laugh sounded out from him as he kicked his blankets off of his legs with a deep sigh before returning to his hunched over position.

"I don't want that shit. Go to sleep." I barely heard him say anything, but did as he said even if I was little bitter about it. If he didn't want help, fine, but if he was going to keep me up all night with his cursing and tossing and turning I was going to force some pills down his fucking throat. He wasn't the only one in the room, after all. If he didn't want to take the drugs for his sanity, the least he could do was take them for my sanity.

I rolled back over, pulling the pillow over my head and tried to get to sleep again.

He kept me up all night.

A/N: Hey, hello, people, Miss Hart here. I would like to take this time to just cover a few things, alright? I don't do drugs nor have I ever done drugs. And, as such, I have never been to a rehabilitation clinic. I am basing the majority of the drug related things such as use and withdrawals as well as the time spent in the clinic around the experience my family has had. I am researching to the best of my ability, but I'm preferring to use the first hand experience I had witnessed and using their experiences in the clinics. Minus the creepy redhead and the boy-love-homo-ness, of course… Anyways, yes. So I am actually really sorry if this does offend anyone because they have had a different experience with either the drugs or witnessing the use of the drugs mentioned. Everyone is different, so I am just basing it off what I know.

Jeez, this is going to be a long author's note… I also wanted to extend my apologies if this triggers anyone or makes them upset, etc. etc. It really is not my intention at all and if you would like a squish to my bosoms in lieu of an apology, I will definitely supply. Addiction of any kind is just as hard on the person as it is to the people who care for them. I know. I've been there. So, lots of love to you guys and keep strong! 3

FINALLY. Seeing as I haven't done any previous A/N I would just like to mention that this story is written when I have time and, because it is summer, I have a fair amount of time on my hands. There are already about fifteen chapters planned and that only takes us to the middle of the story. There is no set update schedule, but if I will not be updating for a long time or if I do, god forbid, decide to abandon this story I will be sure to let you know. I hate not knowing what has happened to our beloved authors/stories! So, unless I die (please no!) I will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading, loves! xoxo