Part 2
Aiden's PoV

He paced around his room, nervous and worried. Jesse... hasn't been answering his phone calls and texts. Where was he?

He glanced at his window. It was dark out and not too much of a problem. He went over to the window and pushed it open, letting the cool breeze wash over him. He took a deep breath, letting the air calm him down and clear his mind.

He had to find out what was wrong with Jesse.

He glanced behind him, ensuring that the door was shut before he put one leg over the sill and looked down. Not much of a drop, he thought before he jumped down, letting go of the side of the sill.

Oh god- this was too much of a drop- he thought quickly before he landed on the ground, right in his mom's flower bushes.

Great. He quickly scrambled out of them and brushed off the twigs and leaves. He looked up at his window, breathless but satisfied that he didn't make any noise. He started walking, trying not to make any sou-

And he hit right into the mailbox the moment he thought that.

"Seriously?" Aiden groaned as he rubbed his head, quickly straightening the box and running off before he caused any more ruckus.

He ran down the street and towards Jesse's house, making sure to stay on the sidewalks and avoid bright lights.

"Where are you.." Aiden muttered, looking down at his phone, hoping to find a message from his boyfriend. Nothing. He sighed and buried his hands in his hoodies, since it was cold.

Jesse had.. a bad streak of cutting himself whenever things got difficult for him.

But Aiden knew when to look out for the signs. Like when Jesse started replying later and later, or when he sounded listless and tired..

He loved the guy, no doubt about that. But it felt like Jesse somehow didn't love him back as much.

Aiden turned down the corner of the street, surprised to see that Jesse's house didn't have any lights on. Well, of course, it was nearly ten at night.

Maybe Jesse was sleeping.. and Aiden was being paranoid again. But something felt wrong.

He walked up to the porch and took out the keys from his pocket. Jesse's parents were out of town, Aiden knew. So that left Jesse's pet dog, Reuben, and his older sister, Jessica. (This is the real world, remember)

Aiden slid the key into the lock, turning it and a little uneasy at the silence. He had the key, because Jesse had made one especially for him during one of their dates. "So you can come in whenever you want." Jesse had joked as he passed Aiden the little blue key.

Never mind that now.. Aiden shook away the memory and entered the living room. Everything was so.. still. Except for that light in the bathroom.

He quickly made his way towards it and knocked. "Jesse? Are you in there?" he called.

His heart started to beat a little faster when there was no reply. Reuben trotted up to Aiden and sniffed at the door, whining and scratching it.

"Jesse, come on, open up!" Aiden knocked a little harder, trying not to panic.

**********************

Jesse's PoV

His eyes fluttered open a little, feeling dizzy. He looked down at his arm, where there was that deep cut he made earlier. Sticky crimson blood was all over the floor, and there were a million little cuts all over his wrists and thighs. And even across his stomach.

What.. happened? He didn't remember doing those..

Jesse flinched when someone knocked on the door, maybe that was what woke him up. "Jesse?!"

Aiden. What was he doing here?

"I told you I'll see you again soon, didn't I?"

Jesse sat up, trailing blood across the floor as he pressed his arm against his stomach to try to stop the bleeding.

"... Now you've got a choice Jesse. Either you reach up and unlock that door. Or you give up. And go to sleep."

"Jesse, please open the door!" Aiden's voice called to him as Jesse lifted his arm, to see that the blood from his stomach had soaked through his shirt, leaving lines of red across the fabric.

"..." Jesse shook his head, burying his head in his hands as blood continued to drip from his many wounds. In front of him was a penknife, stained with blood and it's edge blunt.

"Does it hurt?" he asked the voice.

But it didn't reply, making Jesse feel more alone. He reached out and took the penknife, turning it over in his hands.

Behind him, Aiden kept pleading for Jesse to open the door. Each knock making Jesse wince as the door shook.

"I'm worried for you, Jesse. Please just open the door! We can talk through this. Okay?" Aiden kept saying Jesse looked at the ceiling.

"... It's your choice, Jesse."

"And your choice only."

**********************

Aiden's PoV

The door unlocked with a faint click, making Aiden gasp and immediately open it, to see.. a bloody hell.

He froze, his jaw dropping.

"Oh god, Jesse what did you do?!" Aiden looked at his boyfriend, who was curled up in the corner, bloody lines all over his arms and legs. Aiden didn't care and entered the bathroom, kneeling in front of Jesse, who was sobbing into his arms.

"Jesse, please, say something." Aiden told him, trying to take his hands. The other boy shook his head as Aiden quickly and gently pulled the penknife out of Jesse's white knuckled hands.

"We have to get you to the hospital Jesse, please." Aiden tried again.

"Y-you know how I-I feel about hospitals." Jesse murmured as Aiden looked around at the walls, feeling scared as he stared at the words written in blood.

"Please don't make me go." Jesse whimpered, as Aiden reached out to touch the word, 'Help.'

There were smiling faces all across the tiles and some unintelligible words written in blood. He looked at the writing, which read: 'Voice in my head.'

"Jesse, why didn't you tell me anything?" Aiden whispered gently, turning back to the cowering boy, trying to make Jesse relax and allow Aiden to see the damage.

"I-I thought.." Jesse shook his head again, but after awhile, allowed Aiden to see his arms and legs.

Aiden reached out to grab a cloth, hanging from the rack and soaked it with water to wash away the dried blood and the bleeding wounds.

There were even some across his neck, Aiden thought as he wiped the wounds as gently as he could. Jesse never cut this badly before.. and the very thought made Aiden want to cry.

He couldn't stand seeing Jesse like this.

After almost fifteen minutes, Aiden gently scooped Jesse into his arms, bringing him to his bedroom and setting him down on the sheets, Aiden pulling up a chair to sit on while he continuously cleaned Jesse's wounds.

"My... my stomach." Jesse whimpered, lifting up his arm to show Aiden the rows and rows of lines.

"I know.. I'm sorry I hurt you.. I'm sorry I-I.. we could've avoided all this." Aiden felt a tear trace his cheek as Jesse weakly shook his head.

"My fault." he managed to say as he took Aiden's hand, "My choice. Like.. like.." he gestured to his head as his eyes started to close.

Aiden watched as Jesse relaxed, falling asleep against the pillows as he held his hand. But... he narrowed his eyes when he saw something strange.

He turned Jesse's wrist around to see..

Aiden's name.

Jesse had carved his name on his skin...

Aiden took a deep breath, running his fingers gently across the red lines and falling asleep, his hand holding Jesse's.

-End