And here we are with the next bit. I wrote this up recently as it just sort of came to me.
Odd tries not to think about the fact that his friends know. Mostly, they don't treat him any differently, though sometimes there will be lingering looks they pretend they didn't give and he'll pretend he didn't notice. Ulrich, of course, is the exception. He doesn't pretend that he doesn't know, doesn't pretend that he isn't looking out for Odd, and Odd appreciates it.
Mostly.
There are days, of course, when he doesn't. There are always those days. Ulrich handles those days as easily as always, using that forced calm to keep himself from reacting when Odd was especially... volatile. Not that he was really all that bad. Odd wasn't really violent, and Ulrich knows that. Even if Odd may have accidently thrown a few things at Ulrich (mostly but not always pillows), at least when he got back in his right mind he apologized profusely and picked up after himself. Especially since nine times out of ten it's something Odd owns anyway. The only time he threw something of Ulrich's, once Ulrich was certain that Odd was mentally stable he completely ignored him for a day and Odd isn't a hundred percent sure that Ulrich has forgiven him even now, four months later. It doesn't matter, because if there is anything that Odd is certain of, it's that Ulrich won't let him break. He doesn't bother to try and ask why.
Ulrich is the one to listen, always. He's told Ulrich countless stories, and he's pretty sure Ulrich has every one memorized. He's told Ulrich all about what it's like to grow up the youngest of six, and how much it momentously sucks to be the only boy among five girls. He told Ulrich about the times he'd been locked in the bathroom, he's told Ulrich about the time one of his sisters had actually hit him so hard he saw stars and got a concussion, he's told Ulrich about all the verbal abuse and the loneliness and how it felt to draw the blade against his skin and how there had been times he'd thought of what it would be like if he dragged the blades deep across his wrist, going to sleep and never waking again. He'd never been serious about the thought, never actually been close to committing suicide, but the thoughts came across his mind anyway. Ulrich listens to all of it and doesn't judge him for it. Ulrich has told him things too, but there are things that they will never tell each other, and they don't question that. They only tell those stories when the past comes back to haunt them in some way, usually when their parents are coming to the school or when they have to go home for a break, or, in Odd's case, when he's having a particularly bad day.
Most times though, their conversations revolve around school and Xana and who they like and what they're going to do with their friends. Odd is happy to find the days when he isn't so well are getting farther and farther apart, and Ulrich seems to be pleased too, though he never mentions it. The others have begun to take care in the words they say. The teasing is still there, but there are extra reassurances, more "you are very good at this Odd" and things like that they all pretend is normal. They all take notice that he sometimes wears shorter sleeves, as the red marks have faded just enough that he can get away with showing them without people realizing. It's his way of telling them he's fine, and today is one of those days. For some reason his friends spend more of the day paying attention to him. He wonders if it's a reward for not trying to hurt himself, decides he doesn't want to know and doesn't ask, but it's strange.
"Hey Odd, my mom made some rice balls and I'm full, do want the rest?" Yumi asks him at lunch, and he eagerly takes the food from her, grinning, and for once there is absolutely no joking here and there is a gentle, familial love he pretends he doesn't notice in her eyes. But he knows she loves him like she loves Hiroki, and that's a strange sort of comfort. He kind of wishes Adele, his youngest sister, loved him like Yumi does. He pretends he doesn't like the side hug Yumi gives him before she heads off to classes, but he's grinning with her the whole time and she's teasing him and it's so perfectly fun he can't help but give in and give her a quick hug back. It is very unlike them but it doesn't seem strange.
"Odd, how about I read over your history paper?" Odd had just finished it when Jeremy asked, and it isn't all that unusual- Jeremy isn't against helping any of them when they need it- but when he gets it back he's very surprised to find that Jeremy has gone above and beyond this time, giving him the information he needs, as well as the sources in an already prepared bibliography. All Odd has to do is rewrite the Jeremy like information into his own tone and he knows the paper will get an A, where before it might have gotten a low C if he was lucky. When he looks up to question Jeremy, he finds that Jeremy is looking at him with a fondness that he rarely sees, and Jeremy raises his eyebrow and Odd just accepts that Jeremy has decided to be extra nice.
"Hey Odd, do you want to go to the movies?" Aelita asks him after school is over. He agrees and they take off to watch a new movie he's been dying to see that he knows Aelita is only vaguely interested in and that all of his other friends aren't interested in at all. Aelita pays for everything- popcorn, drinks, and tickets- and they spend the whole movie laughing at bad special effects and cheesy acting. They get glares from more than a few people and told off once or twice for laughing so loud but they ignore all of it in favor of just having fun. They get themselves ice cream before they head back to Kadic, and Odd gives her a great big hug before she goes to Jeremy's room and he goes to his own.
"How was the movie?" Ulrich asks. He's at the desk writing something, probably for their homework. He turns to look at Odd, looking rather pleased.
"The movie was horrible. Aelita and I spent the whole time making fun of it."
"And then got ice cream, I see." Ulrich gestured to Odd's shirt, where he apparently managed to splatter some ice cream.
"Yup!" Odd grinned, not even bothering to get the ice cream off his shirt before taking it off so he can get ready for bed. Ulrich shakes his head fondly, and for the most part seems to ignore Odd until Odd is settled in his own bed, playing a video game because he doesn't actually want to go to sleep. It's like that for a couple hours before Ulrich finally stops whatever he was doing and he changes and gets ready for bed too. When they're both lying in their beds, Odd finally powers down his game and gets settled. He and Ulrich lay in silence for a moment.
"So Jeremy helped you with your history essay?" Ulrich asked.
"Yeah. I'll get an A on it. I'm lucky the teachers are used to me turning things in with every grade under the sun or else I'd be pulled in for cheating all the time." Odd grinned to himself as Ulrich chuckled.
"Yeah, I suppose you are lucky." There is silence for another moment. "We're happy to have you here, you know." Ulrich says. Odd turns toward him in the dark but he can't see Ulrich's face. Ulrich's voice is quiet, and Odd tries to imagine Ulrich's expression but doesn't really succeed. "I'm glad you're doing better, Odd. We all are."
"Yeah, I know." They don't say anything else, don't need to. Odd slips into sleep, feeling comfortable and happier than he usual.
I think I might end the series here. At some point I might add to it, but I have other projects and I'd really just like to bring this one to a close, at least for now. I might come back to it at a later time, but for now, this is it. Also, as a note, it is usually a horrible idea to use the silent treatment on someone with major self-confidence issues. I imagine that Ulrich wasn't thinking about it along those lines though. Despite what Odd thinks, Ulrich is not always a perfect caretaker, he's just another teenager trying his best for his friend.