Had to split this in half, otherwise it'd be just south of 4,000 words. I'm hoping to post the second part early tomorrow, but who knows? Trigger warning- depression, hints of suicidal thoughts, mention of self-harm. Enjoy.

School is not the place I'm interested in attending today. I don't want to deal with assholes that have no idea how much bullcrap I've been through- assholes who'll call me entitled and ungrateful- when the harsh reality is that fame is a lot fucking worse than it sounds. They just make everything so much goddamn worse- bullies need to go the fuck away. I can tell Ratliff is fed up with them as well- it seems like they're the reason for his relapse.

"Text us if you feel bad, yeah?" Rocky says gently, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I nod silently, hugging them, then Riker, and finally Rydel- before getting out of the car and joining Ratliff on the sidewalk. He gives me a sympathetic smile, and I know that he doesn't want to be here just as much as I don't. I wrap my arm around his shoulders, and we glance at our siblings, before walking into the building.

I can feel instant glares on us- burning into me like stabs of fire. I ignore them, turning to my brother. "Walk me to D-hall, then you can go at the split, into A-hall?"

Ratliff nods. In a matter of minutes, we've reached the intersection, and he pulls away from me. "Don't hesitate to text me if something goes wrong. Ignore the assholes, alright?" I know he's talking about Ally, Trish, and Dez.

I give him a slight nod. "Don't cut. If you feel the urge to, text me, and I'll come. Promise you'll text me." He sighs, and I shake my head at that- looking him in the eye. "Promise me."

"Fine. I promise," he mutters tightly.

"Good. See ya after fourth, bro."

The day passes by quickly. A few taunts and jeers are directed my way- but what bothers me- is that even the freshmen have decided to start treating me like I'm the gum on their shoe. I mean, I'm older than them- they don't even know me, among all the other things wrong with this picture. Before I know it- lunch concludes, and I say goodbye to Ratliff- as we head to gym class. Joy.

The freshmen and sophomores have gym together- same with the juniors and seniors, so I don't get to have class with Ratliff. It's disappointing- what's worse, is the fact that Ally, Trish, and Dez all are in my gym class. It's inevitable that they're going to be staring at me the entire goddamn period.

Fucking sucks, but since we need five minutes at the beginning and end of the period- to change, we only spend thirty minutes actually playing the sport. Today- we're playing soccer, and I fucking hate it. It bothers me on so many different levels, and I can already tell that this period's gonna be hell.

When we're finally on the field, I volunteer for defense- mainly because we're playing against the freshmen, and I doubt they can get the ball onto our side. If they do, I'll be surprised.

The game begins- and for a good five-seven minutes, the ball doesn't even get in close proximity with me- just as I predicted. It's stagnant on the freshmen side, and I'm glad. No unnecessary exertion, my thoughts are company enough- it's harder to think and run, while trying to steal a soccer ball from someone.

"Austin! Block him!"

I snap back into reality, my eyes widening at the sight before me. A freshman- specifically one of the ones who was extremely rude to me this morning- is dribbling the ball straight to me- fire in his eyes, and power in his legs. I'm the only one in his line of movement, so I'm the only able one to block him. I rush forward, my long legs aiding in stride, but what happens next is unbelievable.

We collide, and I'm thrown to the ground- landing awkwardly on my knee, and hearing a sickening crack. White-hot pain sears up my entire leg- blurring my vision and distorting my focus. Stabbing, shooting pain is sending my pain receptors haywire, and I have to bite down hard on my lip- until the metallic and coppery taste of blood fills my mouth- to keep from screaming, and to keep the tears from falling.

A whistle blows, and thudding footsteps are heard- along with insults and catcalls. The insults just make my urge to cry stronger, but I push down harder on my lip, eliciting pain in another place. My gym teacher- Mr. Mitchell- drops to his knees beside me, worry radiating from his body, as he glances me over.

"Austin! That looked like a bad fall…are you alright?"

I swallow hard, forcing myself to nod. "I'm okay…" My voice comes out in a whisper, because I know that if I talk at full volume- my words will by punctuated by sobs, and there's no way I'm crying in public.

"I think you should go see the nurse- make sure you're okay. Can you stand up?"

I don't even want to think about standing, but I need to appear okay. I need to pretend I'm fine- then I can go inside, call Riker, and get picked up. I'll go to the doctor's, get crutches, and everything will be right as rain.

"Dez!"

My stomach sinks- of all people- he had to pick the one I'm semi-afraid of, mostly pissed at. Fuck that. I'd rather limp back inside on my own- wincing and trying not to break down in tears.

I push myself to my feet, stumbling a bit- but getting my footing rather easily. The pain swells up badly, and I can barely stay on my feet- dizziness and nausea hit me like waves, and I do my best to straighten. Dez runs over, his eyes wide with concern. The action makes me scoff inwardly- he's the one that told people that I act entitled, why the fuck would he care about me?

"Take him to the nurse- make sure he gets there alright."

Dez nods, taking the nurse's pass from our teacher. I begin to limp back toward the school, my knee burning so badly. I can't believe I'm able to do this- it hurts so much. When we've finally gotten out of earshot of the soccer field, and right in front of the doors to the school building.

"You can go," I mutter bitterly. "I'm fine."

"Why? You need my help- you don't seem fine in the least," Dez replies, placing a hand on my back.

I growl and shake it off. "Because it's your fucking fault that this happened in the first goddamn place!" I'm cursing more than normal- mainly because the pain is worsening, and I can't let Dez see me cry.

Dez sighs. "I said I was sorry. You needed to know- you couldn't repair our friendship without knowing that."

"Just go, Dez," I hiss. "Leave me the fuck alone, and stay the hell out of my life."

Dez falls silent, shoving the pass into my hand. "Fine. I hope you injure yourself even further, you unforgiving dickhead. I fucked up- it's not like I killed someone."

"Oh, but you did," I retort. "You killed me."

He just glares at me, strolling back outside, and I turn around, heaving a deep breath, and limping into the locker room, and collapsing on one of the benches. I glance at my knee- and immediately wish I hadn't. Purple bruising is forming, and the appendage is already reddening and swelling up. It's twice the size of my other knee, and it hurts more than any pain I've felt in my entire life.

I'm not going to the fucking nurse- fuck that shit. I want my siblings. I want the pain to go away- yes, but I want Rocky, Riker, Rydel, and Ratliff ten times more. They can comfort me and calm me down- they're the best when it comes to doing that.

I slide my phone of my pocket, swallowing the lump in my throat. Fingers shaking violently, I type out a group message to my siblings, hoping they'll answer.

To: Rocky, Riker, Rydel, Ratliff

I got hurt bad in gym, fucked up my knee. It hurts so bad i'm nauseous and dizzy and feel like i'm gonna pass out. come get me? please i need you.

I press send, and lean back against the wall, clenching my teeth and squeezing my eyes shut. My phone beeps seconds later, and I grab it, opening the new message.

From: Riker

We're on our way, we'll get you and Ratliff. You doing alright? I'm so sorry, Aus…can I call you?

I press Riker's number, and put my phone on speaker. I don't even give a damn if someone finds me. It hurts way too much, and I can barely breathe through it.

"Aus? Love?"

Riker's use of nicknames seems to relax me immediately- it leaves me a bit calmer. "It hurts," I choke out.

"I know- we're coming. You gotta calm down- what happened, lil' bro?"

"Trying to play defense. Some kid who bullied me collided with me. Was thrown to the ground, landed awkwardly on my knee, and heard a crack. Hurts so bad…"

"Oh, love…" Riker murmurs. "Hold on. We'll be there in five minutes. Where are you?"

"North gym. Locker room," I whimper. "It hurts!"

"Shhh," Rydel whispers gently. "Calm down. We're pulling up now."

"Fuck…" I mutter.

"Alright, Aus. I'm gonna hang up. We're running in now- gonna ask the main office if we can come get you, because there is no way in hell that you are walking all the way down here. We'll pull Ratliff outta gym, too."

I nod, even though they can't see it. By now- the tears have began to streak down my cheeks, and I don't give a damn. This fucking hurts. If people poke fun at me for crying- I'd like to see them try to cope with the injury. It hurts.

The next few minutes are ones of painful agony- I'd just like to shoot myself in the head, because it hurts and I'm crying and begging for my comfort. My siblings. I can't say brothers- Rydel is my sister, but I love her so damn much, so siblings works fine. I just need them. I need the love, because I'm crying and in pain, and the emotional agony is still there- coupled with physical pain, it hurts badly.

I hear footsteps, and I pray to God that it isn't a student, or a teacher. The class period isn't over for another fifteen minutes, which is good- I don't need to have an argument right now- the pain has only worsened, if possible, and the tears rolling down my cheeks convey that better than words do.

The door bangs open, and I lift my head- almost crying of happiness. Rocky and Riker. Finally.

Thoughts? Yes, there is a reason I injured Austin- it didn't just happen to add more words to the story. You'll find that out in due time- don't worry. I got six reviews on the last chapter- thank you all. I'd love it if we could get up to 80 for this chapter? Possibly? Thanks in advance :)

-Neha