His mother and father texted him.

But he would worry about that later. He needed to talk to Klaus.

He excused himself from the table, and walked towards the house's front door. Michael got up to follow him to the door, but Devin placed a hand on his chest. "Give me a minute, I'll be right back,"

Michael gave him a worried look, but nodded slowly. He still didn't like being away from Devin, but didn't want him getting annoyed. Devin needed space, as well. Michae walked back to the kitchen, and his mom started a quiet conversation with him.

"What really happened with Devin? You know I don't mind him staying, but why?" She asked, leaning forwards to keep her words quit.

"Huh?" Michael asked, a bit surprised. "It's... nothing, really,"

"Michael, I'm your mother, you can't lie to me," she said, giving him an unamused look.

"Okay, I know, I know, he's just... not getting along very well with his parents. He doesn't.. well, I don't want him staying alone with them now,"

His mom gave him a smile, and he gave her a questioning look. "What...?"

"No, no, I just think it's really sweet," she said, looking down at the counter tops. She reached her hands out to her sons, and cupped them in her own. "He's really bringing the best out of you, and I'm glad that you too met,"

He gave her a small smile, thinking back to Devin. "I'm... I'm glad we met too,"

Once Devin was outside, he dialed Klaus's number. He heard the phone ring once, and then the other line picked up.

"Devin?!" Klaus said, a mixture of emotions in his voice.

"Hey, uh, sorry for not answering your calls or texts," Devin said, a bit embarrassed.

"No, no, no, you don't need to apologize! It's fine, I was just a bit worried... since, well, you know." Klaus said, trailing off on his words. Klaus inwardly cringed, feeling a bit insensitive about his words.
Devin hadn't taken it that way, though.

"Yeah, well... I'm staying with Michael now," Devin said, wanting to tell Klaus what happened in his weeks absence of talking to him.

"Oh? Well I guess that's better than with your parents! And now you won't have to be alone all of the time, so that's another plus," Klaus said. He looked over his shoulder to Adrian who was clinging to his back. Klaus smiled at him, as he was listening in to the conversation.

Klaus held the phone away from his face, and turned around to kiss Adrian's forehead.

Adrian gave Klaus a smile and kissed his clothed shoulder, where his face was. Klaus refrained from giggling, due to the boy who was on the other line.

He went back to paying attention to Devin, although he had been silent the entire time. Klaus was waiting for him to speak.

It was a bit longer until he spoke again. "Yeah, it is nice, I guess," Devin said. But something about his voice was wrong.

"What is it?" Klaus asked, a bit of concern slipping into his voice.

"Oh- nothing! Well... he's treating me as if I'm fragile. And we can't... like we can't even kiss! I guess... it just feels as if he doesn't want to do stuff with me cause he doesn't like me, if that makes sense." Devin said, dropping his voice real low, so if anyone was listening, they hopefully wouldn't hear that.

"What do you mean? Of course he likes you like that! I've heard that he isn't very affectionate to you, but he still cares about you! He's letting you stay at his house, and he probably wouldn't do that for someone else," Klaus said, trying to point that fact out.

"Mmm," Devin said, trying to believe his words. He couldn't though.

"So... what happened?" Klaus asked, curious as to why Devin hadn't talked to him in the past weeks.

"What do you mean?" Devin asked, zoning back in Klaus's words.

"Oh, well, why haven't you talked to me? What happened? Were you okay?" Klaus asked, thinking about all the possible reasons. But, he was just thankful he could hear Devin's voice to know he was okay.

"Well... I started... ya know, cut- started hurting myself again," Devin said, and only silence came from the other line.

He held his breath waiting for Klaus's response.
"Devin... you really don't have to do that, alright? It will get better, I promise. I know that it sounds... stupid, or cheesy, or like just plain bullshit, but it will." Klaus said, after a long pause.

There was a pause from Devin, now.

"I know... and, afterwards... Michael..."

"He what?" Klaus said, trying to prompt him.

"Well, he called me on the phone, and came to my house when he... knew I was hurting myself. But I locked myself in the bathroom, and he had to look for the key! And then he got into the bathroom, and we just sat there in the tub hugging, and he was telling me things! And I... he's been clinging ever since, and I love it! I absolutely love how he's been! But whenever I try to do," Devin was cut off by hicks, as he sucked in a breath. Fresh tears rolled down his face, and Klaus let him talk.

Klaus's face was etched with worry, making Adrian worried too.

"Whenever I try to push it further, he makes us stop! And, and he says it's because of my mental state, and wants to wait until I'm better, but- but what if it's not! What if he's saying that because he doesn't want to be with me! And he's pretending... and—"

"Devin, listen to me, that's not true. And I agree with him, it's probably a good thing that you don't do those kinds of things right now. Honestly, you don't need to worry,"

Devin nodded slowly, although Klaus couldn't see it. Tears were still running down his cheeks.

"God, I'm really fucked up!" He yelled, digging his nails into his palm again. The same sharp pain ran up his palms, making him flinch.

"Devin, no! No you're not! God, I wish I could hug you right now, but I promise. You aren't fucked up, okay? You're in a bad spot mentally, right now, and Michael is just trying to look out for you, alright? I promise he's not avoiding it because he doesn't want to do that kind of stuff with you, okay?"

Again, Devin nodded.

Klaus assumed this, since silence was heard from the other line.

Klaus felt Adrian's arms tighten around his waist, assuring him that everything was, and was going to be fine. Klaus could only hope.

"Can you please go to Michael, and just hug him,"
Devin took a deep breath, thinking about what Klaus had told him to do. It was a bit of a strange request, but Devin was okay with it.

He really needed a hug.

But he couldn't go back into the house with red, puffy eyes. Or tear stains on his cheeks. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

"A-alright," he whispered, wiping away gently at the tears. He didn't want them to be even more red and puffy for when he went back inside.

"Okay, call me if you need anything, I'll swing by to see you tomorrow if that's alright? Then we can really talk, not just over the phone," Klaus spoke, squeezing Adrian's hand.

"Okay, bye Klaus, thank you," Devin smiled, again, although Klaus couldn't see him.

"Of course, anytime you need me. Bye, Devin,"

And then they hung up.

Devin slipped his phone back into his pocket, and then continued rubbing the tears away. He sat down on the porch steps, thinking about nothing. He zoned himself out, and it wasn't until there was a knock coming from the inside of the door.

Devin jumped, expecting to see Michael standing there to check on him.

But when the door was opened, Clement was standing there, fearful of the state Devin was in, and the conversation he just overheard. He knew he probably should go get his brother, but he didn't want to.

alrighty another chapter, shorter this time, they tend to differ a whole lot

with love,
—aa