"Hi, Dad. What's up?" I picked the book I kept forgetting to return. The librarian would ban me if I didn't do it today.

"I am good, listen Ty wanted to speak but she had to run to office and I thought I would do it."

"Sure dad." I locked the door and stepped out on the street, the mild evening sun instantly warmed me up.

"It's Trev."

My brisk strides came to a halt. "What happened?"

I had to do a lot of explaining to my parents after Trev had ratted me out on my cringe kissing exploit. I promised them it would not happen again.

To keep my word, I stopped my casual enquiries about Trev. I never brought him up when we talked and whenever I visited them I didn't so much as say hi to him if we crossed paths.

But none of this was easy. I was very aware of how much effort I had to put to stay away. All of his pictures that mom shared were part of my priced collection. The last one was his high school graduation picture. A big dopey grin and an even dopier cap that did nothing to hide his golden curls-he looked marvelous.

"He's been feeling low. You could hear it in his voice. Can you check on him?" Dad said.

"Are you sure it's that bad?"

He sighed very audibly, "I thought the same thing a few months back, I told Ty not to make a mountain out of a molehill. He was in a new place, new college, new friends. He must be feeling overwhelmed. But then after six months you would think he'd be back on his feet. He is not. Today he wouldn't even say more than a word. We're worried. You know Mrs. Marshall, she's practically blind to the boy's emotional concerns. We can't be like that."

"Okay, send me the address." I could go tomorrow and just casually ask about school and stuff.

"Don't you know?"

"All I know is he's enrolled with Riso University." Which was an hour drive from where I lived.

"I'll send the dorm room address. Just make sure he's okay. And maybe ask him what's going on. And call me back. "

"You want me to go now?"

"Yes, Jake. Weren't you listening?

I sighed. "Okay. I'll update you. Bye, dad."

An undergrad-freshman would have better things to do than talk with his old friends from back home.

But not Trev.

He never treated my parents like they were old or old friends. Neither did my parents. They went to his graduation and gifted him a Mac book.

I went back into the house and dropped the book and picked my car keys.

****
The security was non existent, I got into his dorm block without any hindrance. His room though was another story.

I didn't know how to open it. And there was no answer for my knocks.

"Hey, how do you open this thing?" I asked, flagging down a boy on skates.

"Oh, all the doors in this floor are shit. You just shoulder in." He threw back without stopping.

I pressed down on the handle and pushed with my shoulder. It took me three tries and the door flew open like it was never stuck. And banged shut when I stepped in.

The first thing that hit me was the stench. It would have made a lesser man gag. But not me, a half doctor. The second thing was the darkness. I grabbed the nearest wall, searching for a switch.

I gave up when nothing was close by and walked to the opposite wall targeting the window.

Uneasiness crept in. If Trev was here, he must be fast asleep. There was no way he could have missed my noisy entry. And the Trev I knew, wasn't the type to sleep in the evenings.

Blessed sun light poured in when I released the locks and pushed the window screen open.

There was a single cot pushed to the wall, which was empty. There were scattered trash and articles of clothing on the floor like any dorm room. A hamper full of dirty laundry sat on one corner. And a desk and chair sat on the other.

Nothing was clean. Not like how I imagined Trev's room would be.

Should I wait or leave?

My heart stopped when I realized that the hamper was hiding a hunched down human form with a mop of golden hair.

Oh, fucking fuck!

I ran to him and kneeled down, "Trev?" I shook his limp body, suddenly all the bad things that could have happened started coursing through me.

I checked his pulse. His breathing was strong and stable, but that didn't rule out anything.

"TREV!!! Wake the fuck up!" I pulled his eyelids back, his eyeballs moved around in lazy circles.

Water.

I went to the desk and grabbed the half empty water bottle, my hand knocked of a pile of books, sending the heap tumbling down. My eyes zeroed in on the pill bottle that rolled on the floor with a rattling noise.

My knowledge of medicines were not full fledged, but as I read the composition and the patient name, I knew.

Trev was on some unprescribed medication that numbed his neurons. In other words, he was taking illegal drugs. There were still pills left in the bottle. So hopefully he took only one. If not he would end up with a very bad ulcer.

I splashed some water on his face, trying to revive him. Except a small twitch, he didn't budge.

"TREV!!!" With all my might, I shook him.

"Whaaat..." A feeble moan escaped.

"How many pills did you take?"

When he didn't reply, I screamed in his ear. "HOW MANY PILLS DID YOU TAKE?"

His eyelids fluttered, brows scrunched up. "Ho."

"Open your fucking eyes!" I pinched both his cheeks.

"Jeessus. Sstop." He tried to swat my hands away but his arms barely moved to his command.

"WAKE UP! HOW MANY PILLS DID YOU SWALLOW?"

"HAAAH." He yelled, but sounded like a dying frog.

"What's your name?" I pinched the end of his eyebrows, repeatedly.

"OOOW." His eyes opened a crack, his right arm came up, trembling, to rub them.

"What's your name?"

He blinked, "Marshall. Trevon. Trevon Marshall." He said pausing after each word, like speaking was an ordeal.

"Good. What day is today?"

"Go away." He whispered.

I pinched again. "What day?"

"Thursday."

"Very good. Did you take any pills today? Think before answering."

His eyelids fluttered, I ruthlessly pulled them back.

"Yes."

"Whose pills were they?"

"Steven's"

That was the name on the pill bottle. "Okay, when did you take the pill?"

"Afternoon."

"How many?"

"Half a pill."

I sat down in relief. "You fucking asshole."

"You... mister, watch... your... words." He mumbled closing his eyes.

I pulled him into my arms, "you stupid fucking idiotic dickheaded shit eating asshole."

"Hey..." He hissed and went back to sleep.

****

I spent the next two hours cleaning his room. When mom called, I told her the truth.

"Oh... I knew! I knew he is depressed. Isn't he?"

"Mom... stop jumping into conclusions. He could be simply experimenting."

"On a Thursday afternoon?"

"Yes, mom. He is in college for fucks sake. He could do anything he want on a Thursday afternoon!" I snapped, mostly I was trying to convince myself. I couldn't digest the truth in front my eyes.

"Fine. Darling?"

"Hmm?"

"Please don't leave him alone."

"I won't."

I ordered some food and waited for Trev to wake up. As I watched his sleeping form, I noticed the heart breaking changes in his appearance. My Greek god looked like he hadn't had a meal in a month. His eyes were sunk in, surrounded by wide, dark circles. His skin had lost all its healthy glow, even his hair-the bouncy beautiful curls, always dancing like the hair had its own soul- looked lifeless.

Around seven o'clock he stirred from his sleep.

"Hey, buddy."

He stared at me for half a minute before saying, "it's you..."

"Sorry to disappoint, get up. I have food. Your favorite."

He groaned and turned on his side. "I'm not particularly hungry."

"You will be. When you finish your shower, your stomach will growl."

"I'm not taking a shower."

"Wrong answer." I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at me, "you smell very bad."

His hands came up to hide his face. "Jesus in heavens. I can't deal with you at present."

"You don't have a choice. Actually you do have two options. Either you take a shower now or I'm packing you up, taking you to my place and soaking you in the tub for an hour."

He peeked through his fingers, "I choose option two." It was just a murmur.

But it was enough to put a brake on my thoughts. Those four words underlined a lot of underlying problems. What happened to him? I forced a smile, "okay. Then let's go. Get up, put that shirt on. Everything else needs disinfectant."

He got up in an instant. "Okay."

In ten minutes, I had a truck load of laundry and a very quiet Trev in my car.

I lived in a residential neighborhood. It was a little far from my university, but I liked the rent and the two bedroom house and the library which was just a few blocks away.

Trev stayed quiet even after we reached home. No point in forcing him to talk. I stopped in the middle of the living room and pointed at the stairs that led to the bedrooms. "I'll make the guest room ready, the master bedroom's tub is bigger though, so use that, you'll find the bath salts under the sink. The fourth step on the staircase—"

"—has a hole." He finished with a small smile.

Well, my bad house repairing skills must have been a hot topic among Trev and his friends.

"Yes, so watch your step." I left him to look for fresh sheets and blankets. Mom had bought a couple of extra sets for me, just for these kind of situations.

Trev took his sweet time with the bath, the first load laundry was almost done when he came down in my pajamas. The pants were an inch or so above his ankles, but not very odd or anything. His hair was still wet and dripping. He looked like a drenched puppy, a very tall puppy.

"I'm hungry."

I laughed. "Let's feed you."

As I spread the dinner, he looked around the kitchen and inspected the fridge. It might have been up to his standards or too low for him to bother since he didn't make any comment.

"What's this?" He asked sitting down, poking his plate with his fork.

"Grilled salmon and veggies. It's all became soggy though." It was almost eleven, I ordered it around seven. So it wasn't looking very appetizing.

My taste buds resigned a long time ago. If the food didn't smell funny, it was eligible for my plate.

"I thank you for thinking about my preferences for the meal." He said before placing a spoon full in his mouth.

"You're welcome." I wanted to add, You look like you were starved. I swallowed those words with a chunk of salmon.

We ate in silence. I was relieved to see that he finished his portion without a speckle of waste.

I was tired, tomorrow would be a long day starting from five thirty. But we need to at least figure out what he was gonna do tomorrow before saying goodnight.

Trev beat me to it. "I suppose you warrant an explanation from me." He said putting the trash away.

"I'm in no hurry." I offered.

"That's a lie."

I sighed. "It's very late, I'm completely beat. You're not looking any better. Why don't we save the details for tomorrow evening? There's a library just around the corner, you can use my card and spend the day there, if you want."

His eyes lit up with a fire I was very familiar with.

"What kind of a person are you, to leave your guest to entertain himself in your house? You should be ashamed. Isn't it your rudimental duty to make the guest comfortable and happy? How could you think of going to class, leaving me all alone in a strange house with rickety staircases?"

I guess I'm not going anywhere tomorrow.