slowly closing the door, she slips inside zach's room. it was a beautiful mix of black, blue and red. the curtains were red, the walls blue and every other thing was a shade of black and white. if zach knew that she was here, he did not acknowledge her presence. she saw him, with his head in his hands which were bleeding mindlessly. she went up to him and sat down on his bed, next to him. she didn't like seeing him like this. it hurt her seeing him so frustrated and upset.

she did not know what kind of words would help him. she did not know how she could calm him down. words definitely wouldn't. she hugged him, her hands around him made him feel better instantly. he looked up, as she took away her hands. they look at each other, no words being passed in between them. she gets up, getting a blue towel from a chair that sat in the corner. she walks into the bathroom and wets a part of it. coming out, she takes his hands in her own as she works on stopping the bleeding.

the whole time, zach just continues to stare at her. her presence made it so much better for him. he sees her hesitate to speak.

"are you okay?" crystal asks, softly. his hands still in hers as she looks up to his eyes.

"i- i'm not." he sighed, looking away from her eyes, "it's complicated."

"that's fine. you don't have to tell me. just... just let me be here for you," she spoke, unsure of the words coming out her mouth.

he hugged her, laying his head on her shoulder as he cried. she just helped him, his tears wetting her hair that ran up to her chin. she rubbed small circles on the boy's back, calming him down by whispering comforting words in his ears. he soon fell asleep, still hugging her. she laid him on the bed, smiling at the boy with tear-stained cheeks. what did kay tell him that made him so upset? he for sure didn't deserve any of those words that spewed out of kay's mouth. he was one of the sweetest people. he deserved the best. not kay; not her. just the best.

"you know pretty boy, you really deserve the best of the best. and it may not be kay. but you'll find them soon. whoever it is." she said, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"it kills me to see you so hurt."

and with that, she made her way downstairs. all heads snapped to her, questioning looks on their faces. she sat down on the couch in between jack and daniel, still deep in thought about what kay might have said to hurt zach so deeply.

"well?" skylar questions, diverting crystal's attention from her thoughts.

"nothing happened. he was really upset and cried himself to sleep... you guys should check up on him after a while, he seemed really hurt."

"did he say anything? what happened?" jack questions, worried about one of his best friends.

"no, he just said it was complicated."

"does this... this happen often?" skylar questions.

"yeah, kay is really toxic. she makes up fights about the littlest of things and ends up screaming at zach non-stop," daniel answers.

"but he... he just goes back to her no matter how bad she hurts him," jonah completes.

"why?" crystal asks, not knowing why anyone would do that.

"i told you, their relationship is toxic as fuck. he doesn't see it. and if we tell him, he says we're trying to ruin it," corbyn states, sighing.

"yeah, he says that we're jealous but we're just looking out for him," jack says sadly.

"there's not much you guys can do. you're trying to help him and that's great but he has to come to terms with that fact himself." skylar says, trying to convince the guys that they're trying their best.

"i guess so," jonah says, flashing a sad smile at skylar.

crystal's phone rings, she looks over and the name 'CALifornia gurl 😘' flashed on that screen. she picked and put it on speaker only to hear screams from the other side.

"CRYSTAL NYX EVERLAIN AND SKYLAR HEMERA BROWN. IT'S ONE A.M. WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO? YOU HAD TO BE HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT!"

"oh shi- sorry bro, got caught up. we're gonna get home now. bye!" crystal said, quickly cutting that call.

"who's that?" jonah asked, confused at the name saved in crystal's phone.

"caleb. sky's brother. he just realized that we're not home. he and my brother actually used to live with us but moved out to share another house with my brother, levi and raymond, his boyfriend. they live in downtown area now, it's easier for them to head to work. i would move in with them but it's pretty congested because levi's boyfriend lives with them too."

before the boys could react, her phone rang again. this time the name that flashed was 'overprotecLEVI 🥶' she picked it up, sighing.

"crystal nyx everlain, listen up missy. you better get home soon. caleb already has his car keys ready and raymond is more than happy to drag along. so you be home in 20, or we're over to the WDW house. understood? good.with that the call ended and crystal got her things, followed by skylar.

"they weren't kidding. we have to be home now. well, see you guys later!" skylar says as crystal goes up to zachs room. she sees him and kisses his forehead.

"bye pretty boy," she says.

coming back downstairs, she says her bye's to the guys and heads out with skylar. she gets into the drivers seat and they head home in silence.

"i'm tired," skylar yawns as they reach the front door.

"same, let's just go sleep," crystal replies. and with that both crystal and skylar call it a night and head to their separate rooms. thoughts swarming in their heads. thoughts that they soon will realize are probably going to be there for a long time.