Michael placed his phone down on his desk side table, and looked back over to Devin. He was tugging on Michael's shirt, asking for an embrace.

Michael reluctantly layed down, further under the covers.

"Devin?" Michael asked, after getting used to the feeling of Devin's arms around his chest again.

Devin pressed his forehead into Michael's back, saying "Yeah,"

It felt like they had started so many conversations like this, now. Devin was already expecting it to be about him, so he didn't try to push it off much. He already had that gut feeling that this was gonna be about his mental state, and he was ready to push it off. He already knew that it was probably gonna end badly, but he tried to push that off.

"Is it alright if I take you to therapy, sometime? I think it'll be good for you," Michael sighed, hoping that this wouldn't end horribly. He didn't want Devin to get mad at him, or lash out at him, or any of that.

But, to his surprise, Devin's arms just tightened around Michael's strong build, and he just nodded his head up and down.

Michael didn't know exactly how he should respond to that, and tried not to show his confusion too much. He was more relieved that Devin agreed than anything.

"Are you sure," Michael pushed. He didn't want Devin going along with it, just because he had suggested it. He wanted him to go.

"Mhm," He sighed again, "but we have school tomorrow, can we sleep now?" Devin asked.

Michael sighed in defeat, letting his body try to fall asleep.

He took his last breath, before they got slower, and deeper, and his chest rose and felt slower.

Devin didn't find sleep, all that easily, despite having taken more of the medication that he had originally told Michael.

He just wanted his body to sleep peacefully tonight, before he went back to the restless nights.

In the morning, when Devin woke up first, he found Michael changing into his school uniform. He looked over to him, for a second, confused.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, just a bit after my alarm goes off, I was just letting you sleep since you were restless all last night," Michael said, turning slightly towards him. Michael gave him a slight smile, trying to make him feel better.

Devin returned the smile, then looked down at his hands and legs tangled in the sheets. He sighed, pulling them off. He was now much more awake than he was before, although he still felt that sesgrfing rush of wanting to close his eyes, and lay back down on Michael's bed, under the comfortable covers, and fall asleep. He doesn't though, and painfully forces himself to get out of the bed.

"Can I go to practice, and actually play today?" Devin asked, as Michael handed him one of his uniforms.

"I guess, but I don't want you doing anything too extreme, your wrists... they're still healing some. Alright?"

"Okay,"

The cuffs of Michael's spare uniform pants were a bit too short, but with the socks pulled up, on underneath, they seemed to fit fine. The shirt fit around him comfortably, and, surprisingly, the jacket as well. It didn't take that long for the two to get ready and walk down the stairs.

His mom gave them both a bowl full of hot cereal, and Devin didn't want to be rude, despite his loss of appetite. He tried to avoid eating, even if it wasn't purposeful. Michael had picked up on this, and watched the boy's hesitant movements as he sat down on the stool to eat the food, next to Michael.

Devin didn't want to seem rude, and not eat the food that Bella went out of her way to make for him, so he shoved it down, trying not to think about it much, taking it in big gulps. But it felt like glue in his mouth. He couldn't bring himself to chew it, and didn't have the motivation to try. It was easier to just swallow it. He made sure not to take as big of bites, so he wouldn't choke, but not small enough ones so it seemed like he wasn't eating.

Nearing being done with the bowl, Devin had to start swallowing it down in chunks, feeling as if his stomach was going to burst from eating the bowl. Granted, it was the most he'd probably eaten in the past two days, but it felt like too much. Michael saw the way he was forcing his food down, to the point where he wanted to step in, and tell him he didn't have to finish the entire bowl out of gratitude for his mother, but Michael's mom got to it first.

"Devin, you don't have to finish the entire bowl, hunny," She said, giving him a sad smile. He tried to give her one back, shifting in discomfort as it felt like a rock was sitting in his stomach. He nodded, but shook his head that he was fine. He continued to spoon the hot cereal into his mouth, trying to be more casual about it.

After they finished eating (Michael actually finished the hot cereal, where Devin smashed it into the side of the bowl, giving the illusion that he had eaten all of it) and Micheal's mother wished them goodbye at the door frame.

Just as they left, Michael could hear Ren yelling at Xander from upstairs. It was something about taking his shirt. Michael chuckled and looked down at the ground, before giving his mom a hug, and then taking Devin's hand, leaving the front steps.

They walked to school, and stayed holding hands for much longer than Devin had expected Michael to hold on to him for. Usually, he would drop Devin's hand a couple blocks before the school came, so they wouldn't become suspicious of their other classmates, but right now, Michael just wanted Devin to feel comfortable.

Sure, he had been going to school the day after he took that break off, and yesterday was his day off, but this was the first time Michael had held onto his hand for.

Devin was about to question Michael's touch, but before he could, Michael just sighed, saying "She posted that thing about us last night," He looked over to Devin, as a wave of confusion crossed his face. Michael looked forward again, their school coming up in the next block or so, and spoke again.

"That girl, I don't remember her name, but the one who was trying to get me to fuck her. Yeah, she finally posted about us dating. I looked at the comments, and they honestly weren't bad. Someone had tagged the two of us and said something like 'congratulations'. But there were some girls, I'm guessing the ones that had a crush on you, and came to all our volleyball games and stuff were upset, but nobody really cared. They really just put her down, telling her that it was right to "out us" to the entire school, so I don't think there is really anything to worry about, Devin."

Devin nodded, and Michael squeezed his hand. They walked the rest of the way to school, and walked through the hallways without getting a sour look from anyone, boasting both of their confidence. Michael let go of Devin's hand, letting him go to his locker, as he went to his.

"Morning practice?" Devin asked, putting his borrowed bag in his locker. Luckily, he had left all of his school stuff at school over his break, seeing no point in taking it home if he had forgotten. His bag, he had accidently left at his parents house (along with all of his other clothes, which is why he was using Michael's for the time being).

"Yeah, we better hurry up a bit, did you bring the gym clothes I packed for you?" Michael asked, earning a silent reply as Devin took the bag out of his locker.

"Got 'em"

"Alright, let's go," Michael said, as he and Devin made their way towards the volleyball gym.

They got to the club room, where they were ment with Nikolai, Wilhelm, Matteo, and Léo.

Matteo headed towards Devin, smiling at him. "You're finally back!" He said, giving him a side hug, and pulling him towards where Léo was still changing. The two of them looked over to Devin, smiling as he joined the conversation.

Michael smiles at the group, as they all stand together, changing, and talking like "old times", although it wasn't that long ago when they last had been like this. Only a month or two.

A month or two. That was a lot of change, and the entire situation was so messy, and confusing, it was nice to just have the simple routines back, although they would never go completely back to the why they were before.

"So, how've you been? Are you gonna actually play today?" Léo asked, leaning against his locker, done changing. Devin pulled the school uniform tie off of himself, before looking over to Léo.

"I think so, Michael's been pretty... uptight about that kind of thing, so I'll probably be able to participate in the runs, and tossing the pall up for people to set, or something like that," Devin said, carefully pulling his shirt off his arms, after unbuttoning his shirt, keeping his wrists out of sight from everyone else in the room.

Shit, forgot about that for a second...

He thought for a second, thinking about what he normally wears.

A sweater and sweatshirt won't do... but they'll see the cuts. Fuck.

He quickly pulled the shirt back on over his arms, then quickly grabbed at the bag, then left the conversation with Matteo and Léo to walk towards Michael, who was talking to Nikolai and Wilhelm. He grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards a corner wall, away from everyone else.

"How do I cover my arms up," He whispered, after letting go of Michael's arm. He felt the eyes of Matteo, Léo, and Louis, but tried to ignore them, as he silently was freaking out.

"Don't worry, I brought you a long sleeve under shirt, it's in the bag." Michael looked down, grabbing the bag from Devin's hands, pulling the long sleeved undershirt and handing it to him.

"Oh, thank you," Devin said, slightly blushing, as he grabbed the undershirt. Michael just smiled at him, before telling him to change in the corner where they were to make him feel more comfortable about it.

Although Nikolai and Wilhelm already knew about the scars, where Matteo and Léo didn't know, the problem was Devin didn't know that they didn't know. Michael, acting almost like a shield, made Devin feel better as he turned around putting the shirt off, then the undershirt on. He then grabbed the blue Marble Hills Academy High school shirt out of his bag, and pulled it on. He then turned around to see Michael had resumed his own changing, and had his own shirt on.

He watched Michael pull his shorts on, before snapping out of his gaze, and turning back around to pull his own pants on.

Once Michael had finished changing, he turned around to face Devin, seeing he was done too. At this point, everyone else had left the club room, and was probably already starting warm ups.

Devin and him left the club room quietly, and made it to the gym, before they became too cold in the weather outside.

Once they got in the gym, they were greeted by their coach Zybs. "Glad to see you back, Devin, we missed you again, like when you busted your knee a while back." He said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Michael, here, was too stubborn to let you play, I hear, I'm glad to know he's looking out for you, but we need you playing," He said, a bit irritated at Devin's second absence this year.

"Yes, sorry, I'll make sure that I will be able to play the rest of the season, I promise something like this won't happen again!" Devin said, a bit embarrassed.

"Now, Devin, I never did get the full story of what happened, Michael only told me you got hurt. What happened?" Zybs asked, giving him a firm look, meaning that he wasn't looking for any kind of silly jokes.

"I... I got hurt, and family stuff came up. I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I promise." He said, looking to Michael for reassurance, but Michael had left them to talk a little while ago when he saw Ricky and Lila getting into a slight fight.

Irihata nodded, before his cell phone rang in his pocket, causing him to pull it out, and turn away from Devin to talk to whoever it was that called.

"Devin, c'mere!" Matteo said, waving to get his attention. He gave them a smile, walking towards them. The entire practice, Michael made sure that Devin felt a part of the team, and like the team captain again, leading them in their stretches and drills, and letting him participate in some that wouldn't bust his cuts. He let him do quite a lot, though.

He just didn't want him to do his jump serve, otherwise he was able to set the balls for the wing spikers, and Michael (the ace) to spike. He had a lot of fun, and was able to let go of past worries, and just worry about setting the perfect ball for his teammates to hit. He was bummed out when practice was over, and they had to go back into the club room to change back into his regular school clothes. He waited until everyone left the room, Michael stayed behind with him (since the two of them had to pick up the gym, for one), and finally changed.

Michael had been taking good care of his wrists, and when he took the long sleeved shirt off, he looked down at them, hesitantly, seeing that they healed pretty well, a faint line, and barely their scab. Nothing was wrong, and it looked like everything was all in check.

"Hey, I could probably do my jump serve tomorrow, just to practice, since I haven't in a while, ya know," Devin said, pulling, and buttoning the uniformed shirt on. Michael looked over at him, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, I just wanted you to take it easy today... so--"

"Yes, I know," Devin said, giving him a smug smile. "Because you love me, Michael!" Devin teased, using a name that Michael hadn't heard in what felt like forever.

"Eh, going back to that, now are we?" Michael said, playing along as Devin closed the locker, and looked over at Michael. He saw it in his eyes, that familiar glint. The one of anticipation, and a need that wasn't satisfied.

"Kiss me," Devin whispered to him, "Michael,"

Michael looked at him, a smug look growing on his face, as he grabbed Devin's half-buttoned shirt, and pulled him closer by the collar. He pulled him in for a kiss, before reaching his hand up to Devin's hair, twisting his fingers into it, feeling Devin hum into the kiss.

Much to both of their displeasure, Michael pulled away saying "We have class, but you aren't off the hook,"

Devin blushed. Maybe it was using his old pet name for Michael. Maybe it was the fact that the cuts weren't noticeable anymore. Maybe it was the fact that his body wasn't as revolting, because of that. Maybe it was just because Michael wanted to.

Whatever it was, the two of them left the club room, rushing off to their classes, after they finished changing into their uniforms.

Devin's first period of the day was English, his least favorite class of the day. He didn't care for learning it, nor was ever planning on using it when he grew up. He'd rather be outside practicing on becoming the best setter the Marble Hills Academy High school has ever seen, and the Marble Hills High school volleyball team would ever have. He had to at least accomplish that before the end of the year. He had to at least accomplish that, or it would all go completely to waste. All the years, weeks, and days, and hours he'd spent trying to grow his skills would completely go to waste. He would be completely useless to the team.

He made it through most of the day, only half paying attention to what was going on around him.

Some kids got into a fight, on his way to calculus class. A couple girls started a bitch fit in the middle of the hallway, and their screams could be heard from the boys bathroom, on the upper floors. Devin had gotten an A- on his science test (which he had found completely useless), there was an assembly that was gonna be held in the gymnasium tomorrow for the second year's trip (one which Louis and Lev would be attending). A couple after school clubs budgets had been cut, taking the clubs away. A bunch of other useless stuff to clatter his brain with.

In the middle of his Japanese class, he was tapping his pencil on his book, thinking about what it would be like to be someone else, completely zoned out, until the teacher called his name.

"Devin Walters, are you awake?" She snapped, slapping her hand down on his desk, causing him to jump, and his eyes to widen.

"Sorry," He spoke.

"'Sorry' doesn't do anything about the past, just fix it next time." Her harsh words turned bittersweet to Devin, used to being talked too like this. His teacher reminded him so much of his mother, that it almost hurt. "Anyways, the vice principal has asked to see you in his office, someone has come to see you," She said.

Her voice was loud, and she was chubby. Devin nodded, confused. No one came to mind when he thought of people visiting him, but he went with it, following her as her ass bounced up and down, noticeable in her too tight dress. Devin didn't look there, though, but instead zoned out again, going by memory to get to the office.

He walked through the empty hallways, and past Michael's class, which had caught his attention. Michael saw him through the window at the last minute, and almost immediately raised his hand to ask for a bathroom pass. Devin just continued walking, not wanting to get into trouble for being five minutes to the office.

But Michael got out of the classroom, and sped walked down the hallway to catch up to Devin, but he was already gone. Haime sighed, having used the bathroom pass for nothing. He sighed, and walked to the bathroom anyways, half hoping that he would end up running into Devin there.

But he didn't.

Devin made it to the office, checking in with the desk lady.

"I'm Devin Walters, I was told that someone was here to see me," He said, looking around the room. They must be with the principal right now. He thought seeing no one that he knew sitting in any of the waiting chairs.

"Ah, yes," The lady said. She was thin, short, and looked very young, and had her hair tied back in a tight, but low bun. She stood up, placing a bundle of papers down, looking up at Devin for a second. They'll be out in just a minute, they are just finishing talking with the principal and the vice principal's.

"Okay," Devin said, growing more and more anxious. The woman pointed at a chair that Devin could sit in, to wait for them to come out.

And his question of who they were, was soon answered when he saw his mother and father walk out of the room, laughing at something his mother said. Devin's breathing stopped, and he was pretty sure that his heart had stopped too. The blood stopped flowing to his face, turning it a pale color.

His eyes widened when he made eye contact with his mother for the first time in over two weeks.

He looked at him, expression immediately hardening when she met his eyes. Her words came out a bit bitter.

"We've already talked with your principal, and vice principal, and have signed you out of school, Devin," His mother said.

"W-what?"

"We bought a new house, we're moving." His father finished, taking all of Devin's questions away, with that once sentence. He didn't think it was possible for his shortness of breath to shorten further.

"What?!" Devin said, standing up now. He met the principal's height, although he had stepped back. He didn't want to get involved in their family business, nonetheless.

"Come on, Devin. There is no use in fighting us, now come on, we've finished packing everything up, and the furniture is already on its way to our new house to be set up. By the time we get there, it'll be just like home." His mother said, harshly, grabbing his wrist. He gave into the touch, being pulled behind her, his feet moving against his own protest.

His mother and father brought him to the familiar car, and he got into the backseat.

"We've already had your locker cleaned out, and all of your school stuff is in the back seat." His father informed him, starting the car. Realization hadn't hit him until they were already an hour into their car ride.

I haven't even been able to say goodbye to anyone! Shit, shit shit, Michael is going to be so worried, fuck! How the hell am I supposed to tell him that I was defenseless when my parents came. Scared out of my mind when I saw them walk in, and couldn't do anything but listen to what they told me to do. Fucking hell!

Devin felt the strong urge to cry, and he looked over to his window, seeing the familiar land slip into unfamiliar ones.

"What school am I even transferring to anyway," Devin said, bitterly, speaking for the first time since they got into the car.

"Inarizaki, they have a good volleyball team, and nice girls there." His father said, throwing 'girls' in there, trying to rejog Devin's memory that he wasn't going to date, or marry a man.

He swallowed the large lump that was in the back of his throat as he thought about Michael. He really wanted to cry. He truly, with every piece of himself, just wanted to go back.

All in the daze, he followed them, completely out of it as he had gotten into the car.

"Let me out, I don't want to be with you guys! Let me out!" Devin said, tears now streaming down his face. His mother looked back at him, as his father kept his eyes on the road.

"No." She spoke, firmly. Her harsh words seemed to be squeezing his heart, until it was about to pop. That was how it had been his entire life. Empty promises, broken relationships, a fucked up household. "We are doing this for you, Devin. That Michael Ajello boy, you don't actually love him, he's poisoned your mind, and made you think you love him. You don't."

"Like fucking hell I don't!" Devin yelled, angered with his mother's words. She couldn't tell him who he loved, and who he didn't. That was up to him to decide. Not his parents.

"Block him." His father said, from the driver's seat. He hadn't said anything the entire car ride, up until now.

"Yes, Devin, I want you to block him, then delete his number. I don't want you contacting that disgusting boy ever again." His mother continued, after what his father had said.

"No!" Devin all but screamed, hoping that a driver in another car would see the way he was yelling and crying. But they wouldn't do anything about it anyways. It wasn't their business, and it would be too much work on their part to get involved.

"Don't make me take your phone from you, forever, Devin." She said, deadpanning. Wholly serious.

He sat silent. They would just be getting out of school, and getting ready for practice.

"Devin," She said, again.

He hesitated, opening his text with Michael. "I- mother, I don't want to block him," His crying soon turned histatical, until she took the phone from his hand.

"No! No, I... mother!" He yelled, trying to reach for it again.

"Sit down in your seat, properly, Devin. You'll distract your father, and get us into an accident." She said, opening Michael's contact. Devin watched as she hit the block caller with no hesitation, and then deleted his number from his phone, all together.

She went through this with every single number he had from that school, soon leaving him with only a couple numbers left in his phone.

She handed it back to him, and he felt completely empty. Now that that was all taken away, including Fischer, who she had never fucking met before, it was all gone.

Everything that he was living for?

Gone.

This was really incredibly long :'D

love you guys <3

-aa