Christopher felt his heart pound as he imagined Paul beating him senseless. Of course, he knew that Paul couldn’t without getting his ass put in jail. When his mom left the room, he laid down, and he felt himself give up in a way. He just wanted to sleep. For once, he wanted to shut the world out and forget about Paul for a few hours. He sighed quietly and fell asleep again.

He imagined Paul looking at him in the face, sadness over his face. Christopher developed an eating disorder, and he wouldn’t eat anything, so he had easily become at least 20 pounds lighter. His clothes barely clung to him, his gray shirt, slightly falling past his collarbone, falling off his shoulder; his pants the only thing fitting him right.

He looked up at his image of Paul, seeing the look on his face, and he cringed at the thought of seeing Paul, the boy of iron, frowning at him.

Christopher woke up, gasping, his hair drenched in sweat. He was shaking terribly, and he heard knocking outside. He got up, and ran to the door, opening it, looking at the boy outside, covered in bandages. “Oh my god, Christopher… You look awful…” Paul…

“Paul…?” Christopher’s eyes widened, and he nearly did a double take.

“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m so fucking sorry.” Paul’s voice was shaky, but Christopher didn’t understand why.

“P-Paul… Wh-why are you sorry?”

“You saw the news, didn’t you? I’m sorry that they beat you up, I’m sorry that I left. L-Look… the… reason I did that… was…”

Christopher rocked nervously. “You like me…”

“I understand if you downright hate me, but… The reason why I did those things was because I was scared. I didn’t know what I was feeling.”

“Shut up,” Christopher said and hugged Paul tightly, not caring if anyone saw. “I don’t care about if you were scared or not… I collapsed that day because I didn’t understand my feelings, and I dubbed it as myself about to have anxiety.”

“I collapsed because I was so worried about you…” Paul hugged him back, and Christopher heard giggling.

Christopher turned around and saw his mom. “M-mom!” They pulled away quickly and awkwardly. His face turned bright red, and Paul coughed nervously.

“Welcome back, Paul.” Christopher’s mom said, smiling. “I swear, you two are cute.”

“M-mom!” Christopher stammered, his face getting redder.

“What? You never hugged Alandra like that.” Instantly Christopher lit up like Christmas lights, his face going so red it almost glowed.

Christopher hid his face, pulling his oversized shirt over it to hide. Paul laughed softly, gently hugging him from behind, closing the door. Christopher put his shirt down, his arms trapped under Paul’s. He gently grabbed his arms and looked down, flushing red.

“See? You two would make the greatest couple. If… it wasn’t the key factor to being bullied. But either way, y’know.” Mom shrugged.

Paul grunted in confusion, feeling Christopher’s side, feeling his ribs. Christopher’s mom flattened her lips into a line, and he gulped. Oh no… He felt his shirt getting lifted, and he looked away, as Paul’s eyes widened. “Christopher?! Wh-what did you d-do?!” There were cuts all over him, and he pulled his shirt down, getting out of Paul’s grip. Christopher was now looking Paul in the face, absolutely quiet.

Paul looked back at him, his eyes flooded with concern.

~~Paul’s POV~~

Paul looked at Christopher’s eyes, seeing pain and misery. It wasn’t all that new to him, but it seemed to set his heart into a flurry of anger. When he saw what Christopher had done to himself, it made him scared. Paul knew that Leroy had completely changed Christopher, more than he ever had. Paul froze into an expression of worry, not wanting to tell Christopher about what he had to do.

“Christopher… Why do you do this to yourself…” Paul cupped Christopher’s cheek, feeling himself come undone.

“…I-I…” Christopher whimpered softly, his lip quivering. “I-I d-didn’t want to deal with it, a-anymore!” Christopher broke down, hiding his face in his hands, crying his eyes out, shaking his head. His voice kept forming stutters. “E-ever since you left, th-they wouldn’t l-leave me a-alone! I-I was getting s-sick of it!”

Paul gently took Christopher by the shoulders, hugging him tightly. “It’s okay now…” No… It’s not okay… “No one can hurt you anymore…” I’m sorry, Christopher, “not even me…”

“P-Paul…? Wh-what do you m-mean?!” Christopher looked at him, moving his hands. “Wh-what are you saying?”

“I-I have to go a-again. M-my friend is protecting you now.” Christopher shook his head, pulling away. “I’m truly sorry, Christopher.” He kissed his head softly, leaving the home before anything could be processed. As he left and shut the door, it sounded like a gun used to end someone’s life.

Paul’s friend Kyle came running past and knocked on the door, the door opening immediately, Christopher’s mom looking at him. A few words were spoken, and Kyle went inside, the door shutting again.

~~Christopher’s POV~~

Christopher looked up at the boy, his face wet with tears. “You must be Christopher.” He smiled softly, and Christopher nodded, not sure whether or not if he made the right choice. “I’m Paul’s friend Kyle. He sent to me to be like...your bodyguard.”

“I don’t want one!” Christopher cried, tears still taking deathly plummets off his face. “I want Paul back!” Now at this point, you could say Christopher was acting like a child, but he had every reason to act like one.

“Christopher…” His mom said. “Paul isn’t coming back.”

“I’m sure he will. He...just wants his buddies to cool off.”

Christopher didn’t believe him and for obvious reasons. Strangers keep walking into his life, become known, then leave him behind when he needs them the most. He doesn’t understand why this happens, but he has never grown used to the feeling of getting left behind. It’s always been a surprise, even though he’s expected it all his life.

With Paul, since he stood around for awhile, Christopher thought that he wasn’t going to leave, so inside, part of him became attached and began to get used to the abuse he was receiving. He felt as though it was part of him, and he kept expecting it to be there, even as it was harming him.

Kyle, as Christopher figured out, was highly optimistic. However, there were some downsides to Kyle’s personality, as he would soon figure out in this tangle of emotions.

~Two Months Later~

As time passed, Kyle had decided to move in to make Christopher feel more comfortable. Of course, this only gave Christopher more discomfort, having someone you’ve only known for a few months just roll into your home like it’s no big deal. This made Christopher mad. He didn’t want some stranger to make themselves comfortable in his own home. His sanctuary in fact.

Home was the only place Christopher felt safe. Now? All that was whisked away by the sheer terror of the fear that everything was about to go wrong with him, and his life would spiral out of control into a bottomless abyss; where heartless beings would throw rocks at him made of ugly words and poke sticks at him made with pure threats.

Everything was about to go wrong. But not the way Christopher thought.

It was just him in his room, curled up on his bed on a weekend night, wondering how long still Paul would be gone. His mom was at work, and Kyle was silent. Christopher allowed his arm to hang limply to the floor, and he traced circles on the carpet, staring off into his own world made up of the only good things he knew.

There was a small knock at his room door, and he groaned quietly. “Come in.” Kyle came in and smiled softly, setting a cup of water on Christopher’s nightstand, sitting at the edge of his bed. Christopher instantly sat up, already feeling the air inside his room shift.

“I’m sorry if you don’t like me all that much, but I’m only here to protect you.” Christopher looked at Kyle as he spoke. “Here…” Kyle picked up the cup, passing it off to Christopher.

Christopher hesitantly took it and took a few drinks. It tasted funny to him, and he pulled away from the cup, feeling a gross layer of dust in the back of his throat. He set the cup on his nightstand roughly, trembling horribly. “W-wh...what did you...give to me?” His body began to shut down, and he fell back limply and crookedly on his bed, hyperventilating. He couldn’t move…

“Oh! I didn’t expect it to do that.” Kyle grinned. “Ah, look at how cute you are…” Christopher’s vision began to blur, and he closed his eyes, groaning in pain. His whole body felt as though it was on fire.

Kyle grabbed Christopher’s chin, and he cried softly as Kyle’s lips came into contact with his. No! G-get off of me! Christopher couldn’t speak, even though he knew it would help him out of this situation…

Christopher didn’t know what was happening until he felt his pants come off. I’m...about to get raped… Oh, my God… Oh my god! No! Nononono! Get off! No! The last thing Christopher could feel, was an unbearable pain as, what could’ve been prevented, began...