Ryan gasped. He had dropped back down, but he had been awake for the impact. His hand still smoked where it held the key down. It was now pushed to the side at the edge of a pile of red soil.

The cord was broken once again, though Ryan could see the two ends slowly stretching to meet eachother.

Ryan remained on the ground, looking at the key. He had to destroy it, but how was he supposed to do it by himself? The last time he tried to do something by himself, he had released the key. When his friends offered to help him, he shut them out.

"This is fucked..." He whispered to himself. "This is so fucked."

He didn't know what to do. Should he keep following the hall of doors? Should he wait for Spencer, despite knowing Patrick was coming for the key? How was he even supposed to get home if he could destroy the key?

Slowly, Ryan found the strength to push himself up. He groaned with any weight added to the arm attached to the hand that held the key. It sent sensations of pain straight to his chest.

He had to get up.

He had to do this.

"Get up." He encouraged himself as he made it to a sitting position. He looked ahead, down the endless corridor of doors.

He blinked and, suddenly, it was all gone.

He was sitting on a crowded gray street of shadowy figures. The only disgusting feature they had were their eyes. They walked past without looking at him.

"My dream..." Ryan looked up, seeing smokey silhouettes of buildings and trees. He brought his gaze down and to his side. Familiar eyes looked back at him. A comforting set of bluish green. "You again."

The figure nodded slowly.

"Why am I back here?" Ryan looked ahead again. The figures were becoming more spaced out. Ryan's chest tightened. "Oh, I remember what happens."

A hand rested on his chest. He turned to look back at the figure with bluish green eyes. They looked encouraging. It was as if they knew what was going to happen too.

Ryan gulped. "Will you stay?" He could see more figures vanishing in his peripheral vision. "Please, stay with me."

The figure beside him tightened its grip on his shoulder before nodding.

Ryan turned to look back in front of him.

Brown eyes bore into his from a lone figure. It stood perfectly still, yards away.

Ryan wanted to melt right there. He remembered where this dream went the last time he had it... But things were different now. He wasn't trying to move forward, and neither was the figure.

Ryan rose to his feet, never taking his eyes away from the brown eyes that stared at him. "In the end... I viewed you as a monster." Ryan's voice cracked slightly as he spoke. With his last word, the figure began to approach.

"All that time we had..." Ryan brought his hands to his chest, "All those moments... Everything was tainted."

As Ryan continued to speak, cracks appeared in the figure's form. Light peeked through the darkness that made it up.

"So much of my life I wanted to forget because you were in it." Ryan's voice shook. He felt like falling to the ground again. He didn't want to face this. He didn't want those eyes to get any closer. "I felt so alone..."

The shadow of an arm looped with his. Ryan turned to the bluish green eyes beside him. They were pushed up, as if the figure was giving him an encouraging smile beneath the darkness.

Ryan smiled back. "I wasn't alone..." He thought of the all the times Patrick would slip into his room to leave a packet of goldfish or a bottle water when he felt too much to leave. He thought of Pete cracking the worst jokes just to try and get a laugh out of him. He thought of Spencer, wiping the tears from his face during their reunion. "I was never alone... Was I?"

Ryan turned back to the advancing figure. The cracks of light were bigger now. They continued to spread and grow, slowly revealing someone underneath the dark.

"You loved me." Ryan shut his eyes, "But you weren't the only one."

It was quiet around him. Ryan opened his eyes again.

Ryan was face to face with... Him.

He tilted his head at Ryan with curiosity. He had stopped moving just inches away from Ryan.

It was strange to see his face again, after so long of trying to forget it. It almost made Ryan want to rush to him for an embrace... Or to deliver a punch in the face.

Before Ryan could settle on his feelings, however, he stepped to the side and continued forward. Those brown eyes didn't give Ryan a second glance as they passed.

Ryan felt his knees buckle. It hurt. Despite everything, it hurt so damn bad. How could he just...

He began to fall, but something held him up. Ryan turned his head to see Patrick. He had a sad smile on his face as he supported Ryan.

Tears filled Ryan's eyes. "After everything..." He stumbled, but regained steadiness on his feet. "How can you still support me?" The tears spilled and began to race down his cheeks.

Patrick reached out. He cupped Ryan's cheek in his hand and used his thumb to swipe away at the trail the tears left. "Because he wasn't the only one that loves you." Patrick replied as if it was the simplest answer in the world, "You are still loved, even with his love gone."

Ryan shut his eyes to hold back more tears. When he reopened them, his surroundings had changed again. He was back in the endless corridor of doors. The only difference was that Patrick was really next to him, cupping his cheek in his hand.

Patrick looked tired. There was a thin circle of yellow around the edge of his iris, but it was mostly his natural eye looking back at Ryan.

Patrick's brow furrowed as he looked at Ryan. "Ry?" He asked, sounding as if he had just woken from a dream.

Ryan smiled back. "Hey, Patrick."

Patrick pulled his hand away from Ryan and held the side of his head. "What's going on?" He looked from side to side, "Where are we?"

Ryan sighed. "Those are both some heavy questions." He sniffled and looked down. How was he supposed to tell his friend he got him stuck in hell? "What do you remember?" He turned back to Patrick.

"I remember being with Pete." Patrick replied, brow furrowing deeper. "I remember... Waking up in the living room. I had sat up and something touched my foot..."

Ryan's heart sank as Patrick's eyes started to change. The yellow was expanding over his true colors as he spoke.

"Patrick?"

"I saw something that had fallen..." Patrick's voice was starting to change as well. The layers were returning. "I picked it up and it looked at me..." Patrick inhaled like he hadn't taken a breath in years. The yellow consumed his iris once again and his body stiffened. His head snapped towards Ryan, but his eyes looked past him. "The key."

"Shit." Ryan muttered with a gulp. He reached back, grabbing the cord as a growl grew in Patrick's throat. He barely had time to throw himself to the side as Patrick lunged at him.