Warning: talk of abuse

"Hey, Eli." My bag thumps on the floor as I take a seat and grab Eli's hand. "Cameron and Chase are with me. They wanted to see how you were doing."

"It's been a bit, Eli." Cameron straddles the chair next to me. Chase sits in a chair on the other side of Eli's bed. A faint smile graces both of their faces.

"What's up, Elijah?" Chase leans over and places his hand atop Eli's. "The guys and Holly send hellos."

"Everyone misses you." The small smile on my face quivers and falls. "I miss you."

Tears blur my vision as Cameron says something.

"I'm sorry," I blurt, standing up and releasing Eli's hand. "I need to step outside."

"Jack?"

I walk outside and collapse into a chair next to the door, hands templed over my mouth.

"I get it." Cameron sits in the chair next to me. "It's been nearly a week. You're starting to lose it."

"No, I don't think you get it." I resist the urge to stand up and leave. "I nearly lost him and now he won't wake up. I am about to lose someone I care for and I can't do anything about it."

"You're there for him as often as you can be for as long as you can be," Cameron says. "He'll wake up and when he does, you'll be right by his side."

"Yeah." I nod and swallow the lump in my throat. "Okay."

Cameron stands and walks back into Eli's room. I follow close behind. My eyes are drawn immediately to the heart monitor, following the thin green line.

"Cameron and Jack are back." Chase's eyes don't leave Eli's face, a smile in his voice but a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry I left." I sit down and take Eli's hand in my own again. "I didn't mean- I just- I'm sorry."

The three of us fall into silence. Beeps escape the heart monitor. Eli's fingers move slightly.

Eli's fingers move slightly.

"Oh my god, Eli!" I scoot closer to Eli's face, dropping his hand and moving mine to cup his face. "Eli, open your eyes. Please. I know you can hear me. Open your eyes."

A soft groan escapes his mouth. His eyes flutter open and the tears gathered in my eyes start dripping down my cheeks.

"Eli!" Chase squeezes Eli's hand, crying and smiling. Cameron slumps over and sighs in relief. A few tears drop onto his pants.

Eli opens his mouth to say something, then lifts his hand to rest over his eyes.

"Hey, hey, Eli." I reach out and pull his hand from his eyes. His mouth turns down into a quivering line, eyes blank as they study mine. "I'm here. It's okay."

"Do you want anything?" Cameron asks, lifting his head. "Water?"

Eli glances over at him and nods. Cameron jumps to his feet and walks briskly out of the room.

"We missed you," Chase murmurs, moving closer to the head of the bed. "I missed you."

I pull out my phone to text the group. Eli rests a hand over it, then takes it entirely and looks at the screen.

He turns it to show me and points at the date.

"You've been out for a week," I answer. His mouth falls open, then closes. He looks away from me and starts grinding his teeth. "Please look at me."

"I know, Eli," Chase says. "I know what you're thinking."

"No," Eli rasps, shaking his head. "No."

"You didn't want to wake up." I turn his face to look at me. "I know you didn't but you did and I couldn't be happier, Eli. You're still alive, still breathing."

Chase pulls out his phone and, judging by the many buzzes my phone releases, texts the group.

"Here." Cameron steps back into the room and holds a bottle of water out to me. I take it and pass it to Eli, resting a few fingers on the underside of the bottle as he lifts it to his mouth with a shaky hand.

"Thank you," Eli whispers. Cameron nods and takes a seat.

"I know you don't want to talk about this, but Darren said you could stay at his house," Cameron states, reaching out and patting Eli's arm.

"And if you don't want to stay with him you could live with me," I say. Eli shakes his head violently.

"Neither," he answers quietly. "I won't."

"I don't know if you noticed, but no one from your family is here!" Chase exclaims. "I hate to say it, especially right now, but your parents don't care about-"

"I know," Eli interrupts. "Okay?"

"You can't go back to your parent's house." I squeeze Eli's hand. "I know you don't want to bother us, but you aren't."

"I won't," Eli spits, eyes narrowed at me. "I won't."

"Would you like your parents to pick you up or do you want one of us to drop you off?" Cameron asks. "Do you want to tell them you woke up? Think they'll rush over here and embrace you?"

"Cameron," Chase growls, glaring at him. "Knock it off."

"No." Cameron leans closer to Eli. "If you call them will they answer? Do they even know you're in the hospital?"

"Shut up," Eli hisses. Tears start dripping down his cheeks again. "Shut up, Cameron."

"You can't go back there," he states. "You go back there and you'll end up back in the hospital on the brink of death because your parents decided to change their abuse from verbal to physical!"

Eli reaches out and slaps a hand over Cameron's mouth.

"Eli, what is he talking about?" Chase asks quietly. Eli shakes his head and glares directly into Cameron's eyes.

"Cameron, what the hell are you talking about?" I whisper, looking over at him. He moves Eli's hand from his mouth to answer.

"Eli's parents don't just ignore him," he explains. "They make him feel like shit. No matter what he does it's not enough. His dreams aren't going to come true. His dad dropped out of high school and he wants him to be a doctor. He wants to succeed so bad he's willing to ruin his child. His parents never show up to anything he does. They yell and scream at him. Eli is now numb to what they say to him."

"I said shut up!" Eli yells, shoving his hand back over Cameron's mouth. "It's not your place to tell people about that!"

"If I didn't, you would go back to that shithole and just end up right back here!" Cameron shoves Eli's hand away from his mouth. "I can't let that fucking happen!"

"You can go live at Darren's place," I suggest. "His sister is trans and he's one of the most accepting people to exist."

"I'm not going."

"There's no reason you should go back there, Eli," Chase says. "You aren't bothering us or annoying us. We want to help you, we want you to be safe and happy."

"This is my problem," Eli growls. "Not yours. You don't need to worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"How, Eli?" Cameron starts crying for a second time. "And when? After graduation? After college?"

"I'm going to take care of it, alright?"

"Eli, don't push us away." Chase squeezes Eli's hand. "Please."

"I'm not pushing you away, I'm telling you it's my problem. Not yours."

"It became our problem when you landed yourself in the hospital." I pat Eli's cheek then pull back my hand. "We're involved now, whether you like it or not."

"I'm telling you I'll fix it. I'll fix everything."

"You need somewhere safe to stay while doing that though." I lean back in my chair and smile despite my tears. "I have an extra bedroom at my place."

"I said I'm not going-"

"He'll stay with you," Cameron answers. "For a little while at least."

"Cameron!"

"You were going to march yourself right back into that house and I can't let you do that."

Eli huffs and blows his bangs out of his face. "Fine."

"Thank you." Cameron nods in satisfaction. "It's just for a little bit, then we can figure out where you're going to stay until graduation."

"I'm only doing this to make you happy-"

"The point of this is to make you happy." Cameron stands and brushes off his shorts. "Not us. So promise me you'll be happy at Jack's?"

"Alright." Eli sighs and nods. "I promise."

This is late I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ;-;

Question of the chapter: you guys still enjoying this story? Are there things I can improve?