Another few days had gone by, and Steven hadn't heard a thing from Allison. He'd snuck onto his phone to see if there were missing persons reports but there was nothing but nothing.

His feelings were so hurt. He'd given her everything: his house, his money, his dignity just so she would love him. He missed her voice, even just yelling at him he'd— no. He was supposed to be working on himself.

Steven sighed, longing for something to entertain him.

Adam walked in with a spray bottle and blocked Connie's way to the bathroom. "We're not doing this anymore."

Connie scoffed and stood taller. "Get the fuck out of my way, Adam. I'm so much bigger than you, you little—,"

Adam sprayed Connie in the face. "No."

Steven didn't know if he should laugh or be mortified. Connie had been throwing up more he thought, and for some reason he felt guilty about it. Was he making her nervous by holding her hand all the time? Was she upset with him? Why harm herself when she could just harm him?

Connie scoffed many times, each one growing in disbelief. "Why would you do that?! Do you know how long it takes to do my makeup in the morning?!"

"You don't need it," He stated boredly. "No puking." She stepped to the side and he stepped with her, sprayed her and wagged a finger. "Watch your mouth when you speak to me."

Steven could see Connie was getting desperate, her hands were starting to shake. "Please, Adam just let me do it one more time," She murmured, stepping into his personal space.

Zinnias jaw dropped. "No way. She's trying to seduce him."

"Wish that was my trauma response," Sophie muttered quietly. "Instead of being afraid of everyone."

Steven watched curiously. Honestly he'd forgotten women could do that. A selfish thought crossed his mind but he barely could grasp it.

Connie flirted with him rather openly. She promised she would be good, even going as far as to proposition him if he'd let her off the hook until Adam snorted and pinched her cheek. "As cute as this is," He sprayed her once. "I'm gay, so," He sprayed her twice and stepped further into her personal space to make her step backwards. "No." He raised the bottle again and she hunkered down guiltily. "I'm not sorry, Connie. I don't want you to be throwing up anymore. It makes me feel terrible, and Hazel is losing so much sleep over it. It's not good for you, your throat has been hurting so bad and you've lost 10 pounds. This stops right now and I have a grand idea who can be my little snitch."

His eyes turned to Steven and he blushed. "Sorry for watching?"

Adam considered that. "I suppose it was nosy, but we did it in public so... tit for tat. Would you make sure to keep Connie out of trouble?"

Connie wiped the water off her face and sulked. "You're overreacting, it's not as bad as you think it is. Just let me do what I want!"

Adam opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. He dropped his head and pulled at his hair so hard Steven got concerned fast. "Echo. Please, don't do this."

Connie's eyes went wide and sad, she looked like she wanted to hug him. "I-no, Adam." She grabbed his shoulder and shook gently but he didn't respond at all. "Hey, she's not here. You were spraying me with a bottle of water, remember? I-I'll stop, I promise."

He pointed to the living room and she sat obediently as he dropped the bottle and turned to walk into the basement.

A distant bang sounded, then more rapidly and two pairs of footsteps ran into the living room to reveal Hazel and Jacob. "Where's Adam?"

Connie buried her face in her hands and started to cry. "I wasn't listening. I was antagonizing him and he went silent and it's all my fault!"

Jacob pushed past Hazel and ran down the stairs, but Hazel motioned for Steven to stay. "Connie, we'll be right back and you're getting another packet, missy."

"I'm sorry," Connie croaked.

Steven shuffled after him anyways, he wanted to be wherever Hazel was but he longed to bring Connie too. He wondered if Adam would accept a hug, because he seemed like he needed one. Allison had made him be silent on more than a few occasions, but mostly she just wanted him to always respond and be present. He couldn't imagine wanting to speak so badly and just physically not being able to.

Jacob had him in a hold when they got there. His eyes were bloodshot but he had a tight grip as he flailed. "It's bad. He's having flashbacks."

Adam struggled more and more, he seemed to have tons of energy to spare. "¡Echo, por favor, déjame irme!"

Jacob tanked an elbow into the jaw and sniffled. "You're gonna be okay, Adam. Te tengo!"

He didn't know what possessed him to do it. Maybe he was stupid, maybe he hoped Adam would hit him, but Steven knelt and wrapped his arms around the struggling man. "Oye, vas a estar bien. La lucha lo empeora, solo déjalo ir. Solo grita."

Miraculously, Adam stopped struggling and his eyes cleared as a new voice struck him from inside. Jacob let him go and he went limp as asked. After a moment he wrapped his arms around Steven, and screamed.

Adam screamed with all his might until he was nearly gagging with the force, over and over again, he screamed. Every time he seemed to calm down or try to speak, he couldn't.

He just screamed.

Hazel watched with tears running down his face, he hated to see Adam so upset he couldn't communicate, that his voice had been stolen from him and all he could do about it was scream. "Steven..."

He sniffled and hugged Adam tighter, having to shout over Adam's rage. "It's okay, Allison screamed at me all the time!" Steven gave him a short laugh and put a hand on Adam's head to stroke. "Oh, I speak Spanish."

Jacob nodded slowly, though his eyes were dark with worry. "How do we help him? He's not calming down! He's going to hurt himself!"

Just as Hazel was sitting next to Jacob to comfort him, Steven started to sing.

It was eerie; he hadn't sung in the presence of other people in years, but Adams screams eventually tapered out after one last sob and he stilled, listening.

Steven didn't know if they knew this song, but it was one of his favorites. Come Little Children was his favorite lullaby, he liked to listen to it before he slept or sing it in the shower because of the acoustics.

Stars, he really missed his acoustic guitar and his ukulele. His father had gifted him them both when he'd shown an aptitude for music like he did. He'd been so proud of his instruments. Allison had smashed them just to make him cry. He didn't even remember what he did wrong, maybe stare at her for too long yearning for their union again.

Adam breathed in slowly, then out again. He repeated it 11 times, then muttered, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Allison used to—,"

He shook his head. "It still doesn't make it right..."

Hazel watched Adam's eyes flutter, then his face go paler. "Adam, you've gotta stay with us. Please, don't f—," He sighed as Adam slipped out of the hug unconscious. "I don't know why I was gonna ask him to not do something he can't control."

Jacob rushed him to press a trembling hand to his sternum and rub. "Adam, wake up. P-please, I need you." It wasn't seeming to work and he choked back a sob. "Por favor, no tu mueras. Quiero pasar toda mi vida contigo, Adam."

Steven wanted to gasp. They were in love. He could hear it in Jacob's voice how deeply he loved Adam. It made sense, Steven saw them sneaking off together just to cuddle, sometimes with Jasmin in tow. An unfamiliar feeling somehow raced through him and took root.

He was... jealous.

Jacob sniffled and smiled. "You're back! Thank the stars you're okay."

"I-I'm okay," He repeated in what Steven could only call a monotonous and nearly robotic voice.

Shivers rolled up and down Steven's spine at that alone as Hazel pulled him up and departed, then tugging him toward the upstairs kitchen. "You look hungry."

He couldn't help himself. "Is he okay?"

Hazel hesitated and nodded, but it was weak and nearly meaningless. "He just gets like this sometimes. I don't blame him, I'd be angry if what he went through happened to me. Just needs a cooldown." He looked troubled for a moment. "I've just never heard him scream like that."

Steven sighed and grabbed Hazels hand. "I told him to. It helps and I really liked being helpful. Thank you."

He smiled tiredly at him, then pulled him into an embrace. "Now you know what it looks like on the outside, but I didn't want you to come and get triggered. It's why I told you to stay here."

"Y-you have to say, 'Steven, stay'," He explained sadly. "Otherwise it's too many words. I think Allison made me stupid."

Hazel thought back again to brain damage with a lot more concern. "You're not stupid, Steven. You're actually pretty smart. Can I take you to the doctor next week so we can look at your head?"

He shied away from his eyes and pressed his face into his neck to hide. "I don't want doctors to touch me. I-I just wanna stay here with you and Connie. What if she finds me?"

Hazel shushed and rocked him, eyes slipping shut. "I just don't have all the tools to help you yet, but I know a really great doctor we take people to. She's really nice."

Steven shook his head with a pout. "I don't want a female doctor. She'll hate me too."

"I think you need some food and a nap, Steven," Hazel chuckled, pinching his cheek. "You're getting grumpy."

He dropped his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Hazel wished he could have thought before he spoke, but those puppy dog eyes were driving him nuts. "Don't worry, it was pretty cute."

Steven blushed hard and stilled, like he was disturbed and baffled by that word being used to describe him.

Hazel smiled pleasantly. "I'll be right back."

He went to the bathroom and banged his head on the wall gently, pulling at his hair. "Get ahold of yourself, man! You're gonna freak him out!"

"I doubt it." He whirled and found Connie in the bathtub, not using it but just sitting and fiddling with her hair. It was getting frizzy from screwing around with it so much, but at least she wasn't purging. "I think he's warming up."

He stumbled out and started cooking without saying anything else. Steven was politely sitting, which he told himself was progress to freezing on the spot. "I'll make you something a little sweet, you're doing a good job lately." No matter how Steven wanted him to use terms one would use for a pet, he downright refused. Even if he was embarrassed to no end. God, why did he say it was cute? He should've accepted the apology and moved on.

Steven shifted enough that his gaze flickered to watch him press a hand to his still red cheek, then glance at Hazel curiously. "I think that made me happy," He whispered. "But I'm not sure."

Hazel grinned at him involuntarily. "Oatmeal?"

Steven nodded and added, "C-could we also cuddle?"

No. He would only continue to feed the bonfire inside of himself. "Absolutely, Steven. You a little chilly?"

Steven almost shook his head, but then he averted his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. I'm... cold."

He ate rather fast, it almost worried Hazel until Steven got up to grab milk himself. He poured a glass of it, chugged it and then chugged two glasses of water. "Okay."

He turned and pushed into Hazels arms insistently. "I-I'm touch starved. I'm tired."

Hazel tugged him downstairs too fast and pulled him into himself on the bed. He tucked Steven's head into his chest and squeezed him until he grunted and wrapped his arms around him to do the same. Steven mumbled something he couldn't understand, something giggly and airy...

And Hazel could swear to God he kissed over his heart before he fell asleep.