Hey faeries! I did a collab piece with AzzOnTheOutSide, so I have bold and italics for this one! It makes me happier than it makes you, believe me. I'll revel in it for as long as possible. 
Months later, editing: it's lovely.

T/W: Attempted suicide, physical and emotional abuse.

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~ Demetrius' PoV ~ 

I shoved my hands in my pockets as I stormed away from my house. I didn't have a particular destination in mind, just anywhere that wasn't near that woman.

"And don't come back until you've decided to be normal!" my mother called from the doorway.

This only caused me to put in my earbuds so I could block out the rest of the world. It took a few tries to plug them in due to my shaking hands, but I eventually got it.

I could hear her screaming at me even through the music.

Faggot.

Inhuman.

Unnatural.

Monster. 

I shook my head. I knew exactly what Lysander would say if he were here. They don't deserve you if they treat you like that, he'd murmur. I was deeply regretting not asking him to be there with me when I came out to my parents.

I shook the thoughts away so I could figure out where I'd gone. I was on a small bike path near the river's edge. I smiled in spite of myself, all but sprinting to the bridge that stood proudly over the widest point of the river.

The smell of the water alone was enough to keep the thoughts of my mother at bay, at least for now.

I only realized that I was leaning over the railing when a gust of wind blew mist into my face. On any other day of my life I would have stumbled back, but right now the swirling black current beneath me looked very inviting.

I clambered over the railing carefully, debating the pros and cons of doing this.

On one hand, I knew there was no way I would be able to take this back. Any decision I made from here on would be final.

On the flip side, my parents wouldn't have to deal with me, my friends would have one less sarcastic, annoying bitch to worry about, and Lysander could finally find someone worth his time.

Lysander...

The name coursed through my head like a mantra. It was as if someone had set off a bomb inside of me. It burned and stung and tore me apart, but it wasn't anything I hadn't felt before.

Lysander. His face. His laugh. His voice. His smile. His hands. His lips- dear God, his lips. Every little thing about this beautiful person was more perfect than I could ever be.

And in that moment, I knew what I was going to do.

"Hey, honey, would you come talk to me?" a worried voice said from somewhere behind me. I shook my head.

"There's nothing to talk about," I responded blankly.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket just as I let go with one hand.

Might as well check it, I thought, hoping it wasn't one of my parents, despite the fact that it would be lovely motivation.

Lysanddeceit: Hey! How did it go?

He just couldn't let me die, could he? Didn't he know how much better he could do?

Lysanddeceit: You okay, baby?

And just like that, my brief streak of willpower ended, leaving me sobbing pathetically as I hauled my weight back to the safe side of the railing.

The person from before rushed up to me, wrapping their arms around my shaking form as I cried. When I'd subdued my sobs to occasional hiccups and embarrassing whimpers, they spoke up.

"What stopped you?" they whispered slowly, carefully even, as if I might fling myself into the river at the slightest provocation.

"A text from m-my boyfriend."

"Oh," they said.

"W-would it be okay if I asked him to come get you?" they requested tentatively. An unexpected sob wracked my body, and I curled into their arms.

I nodded, unlocking my phone with trembling hands and handing it to them.

"His n-name is Lysander," I mumbled. They nodded, swiping through my contact list before finding his name.

They held the phone to their ear for a moment before he answered.

"Hey, my name is May, I'm calling about your boyfriend. We're on the bridge next to Jefferson Street-" they held the phone away from their ear. "No! No, he didn't do anything, he's alright, just pretty shaken up. Mhm, yeah. Alright."

The woman -May, apparently- handed my phone back to me and pulled me into a gentle hug.

"M-my name is Demetrius, by the way," I said.

"Nice to meet you, Demetrius," May responded. "Do you want to talk about it? It's perfectly fine if you don't, or if you want to tell your boyfriend first, I just thought-"

"Yeah," I cut her off. "I'll talk about it."

I took a deep, shaky breath. The words weren't going to come out easily, that I knew for sure.

"I came out to my mom earlier. She's the kind of parent who'll send her kid to his room for yawning at the dinner table," I explained. "Super traditional, incredibly strict, and very homophobic. I'm very much not straight. In hindsight I probably should have prepared more for this, but it just kind of happened. I really wish I'd brought someone with me. Maybe not Lys, because she'd yell at him, but someone. Hermia, Oberon -hell, even Puck- just some kind of emotional support..."

I trailed off and leaned my head onto May's shoulder. She wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders after a consenting nod from me, and we sat like that until my boyfriend's car pulled up on the edge of the footpath.

Lysander jumped out, leaving the door open, and ran over to us. I shifted onto my feet, knowing that'd be the best way to stand when I met him. Almost instantaneously he crashed into me, wrapping both arms tightly around my neck.

"Oh my God, Demetrius, baby, are you okay?" he fretted. He held my face with both hands, looking into my eyes as if he could examine my mental state through my expression.

All I could do was nod, teary-eyed, and bury my head into the place where his shoulder met his neck. It felt like that was the only place I could breathe. There, I could bask in the comfort of knowing he was with me.

"Jesus Christ, Demi, I was so scared! God, I t-thought you might have actually, actually done it! Do you know h-how terrifying it is to get a call like that? 'Hope you're having a nice day! Oh, by the way, the love of your life almost jumped off a bridge earlier!' I j-just don't understand why you would think you're that no one would miss you... That, t-that I wouldn't miss you..."

He paused to let out a choked sob.

"I-I just can't picture it, Demi," he murmured. "I can't picture h-having to live without you."

By now we were both breaking down, unable to contain the emotional turmoil brewing between us.

"I'm so sorry, Ly-" I started, but he cut me off.

"No! Demi, baby, don't you dare say that. None of this is your fault in any way, okay? If you start blaming yourself I'll have no choice but to shower you with affection until you realize how blameless you are!"

It was hard to tell whether he was laughing or crying. Probably some painful mixture of both.

"Lys, it is my fault. I didn't think, I never think! I-I just felt so alone," I started, looking anywhere but his eyes.

"My mom kicked me out," I whispered. The volume of the words I had spoken was so minuscule that I wasn't sure Lysander even heard me.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I should have been there with you, or I should have called someone. Ugh, why am I so dense!" Lysander said with a groan.

Now it was my turn to steal the blame. Oh, how the tables have turned!

"No, no Lys, you didn't do anything wrong! It was my mother, my mindset, and my choice-"

He cut me off again. This conversation felt like it was spinning me in circles.

"I think, as your boyfriend, I get at least a little say in whether or not you deserve to be here! It may be your life, but you're not the only person who would be affected by something like this!"

He ran a hand through my hair as I wept even harder.

"Baby, I don't know if you realize this, but a hell of a lot of people care about you. I know Helena would be absolutely devastated- you've been her best friend since before we met! Hermia would think it was something she did, the way she always does when something bad happens. Titania wouldn't be able to leave Oberon's side, knowing how shaken they'd both be, and I'd... Holy shit, I'd be broken."

I sobbed dryly, having dispelled all of my tears. My hands were clenched in Lysander's hoodie; his latched onto my shoulders.

"I'm sorry!" I repeated. I'd said this phrase too many times that day for someone who hated to apologize for anything.

"How could you not tell me?" My mother screeched, face reddening.

"I-I'm sorry Mom, I j-just didn't think you'd, uh, react well."

"Well no shit! You're disgusting, how could I react well!? Just... get out of my sight. Now," she growled, waving me off like she just couldn't be bothered interacting with me anymore.

"I-I'm sorry-" I stammered. She whipped around, a fire in her eyes that I'd only seen once before; when she kicked out my father for sleeping around at his office. Not before she'd left him with a few parting 'gifts,' though. I suspected he still had the slap mark on his cheek.

"Don't talk back to me, bitch!" she screeched, giving me a hard shove. I was terrified, knowing exactly what she was capable of.

Before I could even react, she punched me in the stomach, and I keeled. After that, it was a blow to the side. Then a yank of the hair. I stopped paying attention to where the pain bloomed in my body after that.

At some point I wound up on the floor. Being on the floor was so much worse. There was nothing I could do but take it.

"O-oh my God, Demi, i-is that blood?" Lysander gasped, bringing me out of my hellish flashback.

I looked down at my side, noticing the growing red stain on my side from where my mother's nails must have dug into my skin.

"Please don't tell me that was her," he said, shocked. I bit my lip and nodded.

"I'm going to murder her-" he started, but I quickly pulled him to me and pressed my lips to his. He melted against me, his anger evaporated.

"No, don't say that," I murmured, pulling away only slightly. "Please, I just don't want to think about her right now..."

"Do you guys need a first-aid kit or something?" May interjected.

Oh yeah. Forgot about her.

"I've got him," Lysander said, giving them an appreciative glance. "But thanks. For, you know... everything."

I broke away from my boyfriend to give her a tight hug.

"What he said," I grinned, pulling away.

She gave us a nod, parting with a simple "See you guys around, then."

As soon as May had left, I turned to collapse back into Lysander's arms. He hefted my legs up into one arm, supporting my torso with the other, and I clung to his neck as he carried me to his car.

Once he had accounted for and treated my many wounds back at our apartment ("Jesus Christ, Demi, we might need to get that checked out-" "No, please, I just want to sleep..."), we crashed into bed. Being both physically and emotionally exhausted, we really were a pair.

Our legs were tangled together, our arms were around each other, and he'd nuzzled into my chest, forcing me to rest my chin on top of his head. This was not an uncommon dynamic for us due to my height advantage.

He fell asleep almost instantly, as per usual. The feeling of his light breathing against my shoulder had lulled me into an unusual feeling of security. I was asleep in seconds.

"God, I love you," I murmured before my eyes fluttered closed.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤ 

AAAAAH I'M SO HAPPY I HAVE BOLD AND ITALICS 

IT MAKES EVERYTHING SO MUCH EASIER 

Anywho, pride month is over (and my procrastinating ass did NOTHING), my house is back to just my family, and I have a plethora of songs to glean inspiration from. 

Farewell, my faeries. May you always be bold in just the right places.