He wasn't sure how long he slept, but when he woke up, it was dark outside and he could hear his parents talking in the hall outside his door. He could barely make out the words, and the more he focused, the harder his sudden headache pulsed behind his eyes.

"I'm worried about him," his mother said. "It isn't normal to stay awake for days because of nightmares."

"And Dr. Rothlesberger isn't helping?" his father asked.

Nico snorted. "She's making it worse."

"I don't know. We've only been going for a month, and I haven't seen any improvements. In fact, I think he's getting worse."

"That's not her fault, is it?"

"I don't think so, but she encourages him to talk about his imaginary friends. He still sees them, Chris, and now she's talking about them like they're real, too. I don't know what's best for him."

"Has he told you anything?"

"No. He won't talk to anyone. He's isolated himself, and now that he's...he's started self-harming, Chris, I'm scared. I'm scared we're going to lose our son. I don't know what to do."

Worms of guilt dug into Tyler's stomach, right into his cuts. He cringed in pain and closed his eyes, pressing his palm against his head to dull his migraine. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"And there's someone else now," his mother continued. Tyler could hear her sobbing. "He mentioned someone named Josh today, and he's never mentioned him before. Tyler said he's the one that gave him the knife. What if Josh is another imaginary person who's...who's trying to..."

Tyler knew what she was going to say. What if Josh is another imaginary person who's trying to kill him? He was afraid of that, too, to a degree. He was scared Josh wasn't real. He was terrified that the one person he could truly talk to wasn't real. He was terrified that he'd fallen in love with someone who didn't even exist.

"How pathetic," Nico grumbled.

"He doesn't know any better," Clancy said softly.

"I've been trying to tell him this for months. He knows better. He just pretends not to."

I can't help it, Tyler wanted to say, but he stayed quiet, listening to his parents.

"Dr. Rothlesberger said it isn't schizophrenia?" his father asked. "What about some kind of psychosis?"

"She doesn't know. Nobody knows. I don't know what's wrong with him, and I'm afraid he'll be like this forever, too scared to leave the house or go to sleep, never talking to anyone, never eating or drinking or taking care of himself, stuck with three imaginary boys for his entire life, until he..."

"Until he cuts his life short," his father said quietly. "You say that like it's inevitable. It's not. We'll figure this out, all three of us. He'll be okay."

He'll be okay.

Tyler held on to those words as tight as he could. His father knew he'd be okay. He closed his eyes again and tried to steady his breathing, and even through the pounding in his head, he quickly fell asleep again.

...

His headache didn't get any better with sleep. In fact, it only came back worse. When he woke up again, he could barely think at all, but all he wanted to think about Josh. Imagining his sunshine smile made him forget about the migraine in his head for just a moment and made him feel just a little bit better. He opened his eyes a little, grateful for the dark, and saw Clancy sitting at the foot of his bed, picking at the hem of his shirt.

"Hi," he croaked out, cringing.

Clancy's head snapped up, his eyes wide, but then he let out the breath he'd been holding. "Oh, hey," he muttered.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Nico said. "Unfortunately."

Tyler squeezed his eyes shut again and tried to relax, but the pain was debilitating, like someone was hammering ice picks into his temples. His stomach churned and he fought the urge to vomit, the cuts burning as his entire body went rigid. "I feel disgusting," he mumbled. He pictured Josh's coffee eyes and sunshine smile as best he could, but he could barely focus on one thing at a time. 

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Nico said.

"So?" he grumbled, still with his eyes shut tight.

"But you haven't done anything about it - any of it. You haven't even told him."

"Told him what?"

"That you think he's not real."

"I can't tell him that."

Nico snorted. "Then tell him you're in love."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Tyler shifted and gasped as a knife of pain carved through his eyes. It hurt to close them, but it hurt to look around, too, so he settled for a drowsy squint. 

Nico rolled his eyes. "Clancy, come here."

Clancy glanced at Tyler and slowly climbed off the bed, rounding the footboard to stand in front of Nico. "What -"

Nico suddenly grabbed his neck with one hand and pushed him up against the wall, and before he knew what was going on, Nico crushed his mouth against his. Clancy's eyes widened, big as saucers, and then he tried to shove Nico away from him, but he didn't budge. He tried to scream out in panic, but his voice was muffled by Nico's mouth.

"Nico, what are you doing?" Tyler hissed. He wanted to raise his voice, but his head thudded worse with every heartbeat. 

Watching them - hearing them made him sick to his stomach. Nico held Clancy's jaw with one hand, holding him in place as the other hand slowly tugged at the collar of his shirt, and then untucked one side from his pants and slipped up his bare back. Clancy squirmed in his grip, tears spilling down his flushed cheeks, but he couldn't break away. All he could do was helplessly push against Nico's body as the other boy caressed his waist and neck. 

"Nico, stop it," Tyler demanded. His voice cracked in fear, but he ignored it and sat up. His vision flashed red and he pressed his knuckles into his eyes to distract himself from the migraine. He wanted to help him, but he couldn't even get out of bed. 

Clancy glanced at him desperately, pushing against Nico's shoulders with everything he had. Nico shifted slightly, but only tipped his head and kissed him harder. They broke for just a moment, long enough to Clancy to let out a panicked cry, and then Nico smothered his words again, biting his lower lip and letting out a long sigh through his nose. 

Tyler stumbled out of bed, nearly throwing up as he fell to his hands and knees. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. "Leave him alone," he whispered. "Leave him alone."

He heard Nico sigh again, and then looked up to see Clancy finally rip away from him and fall onto the bed, sobbing as he scrubbed his mouth furiously with the back of his hand. Nico took a step and Clancy jerked hard enough to fall onto the floor. "Get away from me!" he screamed, scrambling behind Tyler.

Tyler dug his fingernails into his scalp and gritted his teeth. "Don't yell," he whispered. 

"Oh, calm down," Nico said, rolling his eyes again.

"Calm down?" Clancy shrieked. Nico took another step toward him, and he scooted backwards, jabbing a shaking finger at him. "Don't come near me!" Nico didn't even pause, and Clancy's voice grew more panicked. "Get away! Don't come any closer! I'm - I'm warning you!"

"What are you going to do, slap me?" Nico snorted. "Calm down, I was just giving a demonstration. Besides, you kiss like a dead fish."

"Stop yelling," Tyler begged, tears leaking from his eyes. His whole body shook with each breath, and the gashes on his stomach were on fire. It hurt to cry.

"You're disgusting!" Clancy screamed, pressing himself against the wall.

"Please be quiet." Tyler had to raise his voice to be heard, and white hot fire pokers drove into his skull. 

"A disgusting - disgusting pervert!" Clancy was completely hysterical, and could barely get his words out among his screaming. 

"Be quiet!" Tyler begged, slamming his forehead on the floor and staying there, his fingers in tight claws in his hair. "Be quiet!"

"You're hurting Tyler," Nico snapped, finally losing his cool. "Shut up and be considerate for once in your miserable life."

"You just kissed me like there's no tomorrow!" Clancy stood up and balled his hands into tight fists, but Tyler could feel the fear radiating off of him in waves. He was trembling and could barely stand upright.

"Please be quiet!" Tyler screamed desperately. He was going to die. His headache was going to kill him. 

"Don't ever touch me again! I said don't! Don't - no - stop it!" Clancy threw his fist at Nico out of pure desperation, but the other boy just calmly caught his wrist, grinning maliciously. 

"I can do whatever I want with you," he whispered. 

Clancy's eyes widened again, and the room went silent for a moment as his breath hitched in his throat. He couldn't speak. For the longest moment, Tyler couldn't breathe. 

And then the door burst open and his parents rushed in, and the world around him collapsed into chaos again. 

"Tyler, Tyler, baby, what's wrong?" his mother asked, kneeling down next to him and starting to gather him in her arms.

"Don't touch me!" Tyler and Clancy screamed simultaneously. The dissonance of their two voices made him shudder, and he only sobbed harder. "Get away from me! Get away from me..."

"What's wrong?" his mother asked again, the panic evident in her voice. "Tyler, baby, please tell me what's wrong."

Now, both Tyler and Clancy could only scream out incoherent phrases. Nico stalked Clancy around the room, watching in amusement as the other boy practically leaped over the chair and the bed and darted around them like a rabbit. 

Tyler dug his fingernails into his head until the new pain almost blocked out his migraine. Something sticky and warm collected under his nails and clotted in his hair, but he hardly noticed. He couldn't see anything. He could barely feel his body at all - just the agony. 

"He's bleeding," his father warned. 

His mother forced his arms down, and he tried to fight back, but the agony in his head numbed his entire body as Clancy screamed and screamed and screamed. Or maybe he was screaming. He couldn't tell.

"Tyler, please, talk to me," his mother begged, starting to cry again. He was tired of making her cry. "What's wrong? What's hurting?"

"I'm gonna die," he wailed, jerking away from her and hitting his head against the floor when he couldn't hold himself up. He couldn't even sit up. "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I just wanna die - make it stop, Momma, make it stop..."

"I know, baby, I know," she whispered in between sobs. "It's a migraine, isn't it?"

"We're out of medicine," his father said. "I'll go get a refill."

"It's too late; they won't refill it without another prescription. We've used all of them already." She held Tyler against her chest, laying his head on her heart and rocking back and forth. "If it's this bad, we have to take him to the hospital."

"I'm not going anywhere with him!" Clancy screamed, jerking a trembling finger at Nico. 

"Calm down, Clancy," Nico demanded. "Can't you see how much you're hurting him?"

"Make them stop," Tyler begged. He dug his nails into his hair again, and then into his arms when his mother pulled his hands down. "Make them stop. Make them stop. Make them leave me alone."

"We will, I promise," she whispered. 

"Mom, what's going on?" Maddy asked from the door, her voice shaking.

"We're going to take Tyler to the hospital," his mother said. 

Tyler felt someone gently lift him out of her arms and carry him out of his room. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his father's shirt, hiding from the light. Every step jarred him, like a hammer pounding against his skull. They were halfway down the stairs when he threw up, gagging and retching and sobbing. He thought for sure he was going to die. There was no way he could survive this.

He didn't know what was going on, but he exchanged arms again and heard his mother whisper soothing words in his ear as they rode in the car. She gently ran her fingers through his hair and down his back, trying to calm his screaming, and then suddenly he was passed over to his father again and rushed into the hospital. Everything was so bright, and he dug his knuckles into his eyes until he saw orange spots. He couldn't understand what they were saying. He couldn't understand what he was saying, either. All he could hear was his two imaginary friends screaming in his head until he wanted to claw his hair out and dig into his skull and tear his brain to shreds. 

Then they laid him on a bed and stuck a needle in his arm, and slowly, he began to relax as the pain subsided and the screams drowned in drowsy blackness. He blinked slowly, the faces of his parents blurring, and then slipped into unconsciousness.