Art not mine.
=~~~=

"G-Grand...mo-moth—"

You struggle to breathe out words.
Your knees felt week, causing you to fall straight to the floor, beside Edd's unconscious body.

The pills were scattered all unto the tiled floor.

"Pl-please stop this," You let out, "You're...you're destroying yourself, Edd..."

You inhale then exhale, trying to catch your breath.

You suddenly feel your heart rate quicken and so did your breathing.
Sweat began forming on your forehead and the feeling of dizziness came rushing in.

You wanted to cry, you really wanted to cry, but tears were surprisingly not coming out of your eyes.

Was it due to shock? Or because your sudden panic attack wasn't letting you?

Standing up, you rush out the door, running towards Grandmother Susan's room, but you end up bumping into someone in the process.

"(Y-Y/N)?! Are you okay?"

That thick Norwegian accent was enough to calm you down.
Anyone's voice was enough to calm you down, far from silence.

You were shaken up, finding yourself digging into Tord's chest for comfort.

"Are...are you okay?" He asks again.

"Edd...He—"

Your eyes find their way to Ell's room.
Out of all the people living inside this house, she's the one closest to him, not just by blood, but mentally as well.

She won't listen.

"He...what?" Tord asks confused.

"Too much...pills...he...o-overdosed on it..." You answer, although his arms wrapped around you firmly, you're heartbeat is still going rapidly fast.

"Overdosed?! Where?!"

"B-bathroom I—"

"Let's go!" He says, pulling you with him.

~

Ah...
A second time in the ambulance.
You keep telling yourself that you're used to it now.
But are you really?

'Edd...'

'Why are you doing this yourself?'

'It's...It's not healthy.'

The ride felt a lot more shorter compared to last time.

Was it because it's more serious this time?

They had opened the doors of the ambulance and the others started to get off.
But you felt frozen.

"(Y/N)...it's okay." Tom noticed your behavior almost immediately.
"G-giving false hope can...can only make it wo-worse, Tom." You mutter under your breath, wanting to believe his words so much but you're not letting yourself have high expectations.

Tom lets out a sigh and takes out his hand.

"Come on, the sooner we get there the faster we'll get out of this place."

You hesitantly takes his hand, it's sudden warmness spreading through your body.

Like before, he began to rub his thumb against your cold hands.
He knew just how to make you calm down.
He knew where the right spots are.
He knew you needed comfort.
He knew.

You smile unknowingly.

He cares after all.

You look down at your shoes.

~
"See, Tom? At least Edd worries about me! Why don't you?" You said to Tom. Tom is clearly not amused and continued to eat.

"If you're waiting for me to care, get food and smirnoff, it's gonna be a long ass time." He said.
~
"Your neck alright? It has marks."

"What's this? Affection?"

"No. It's just that it's so noticeable. You sure it doesn't hurt much?"

"And you sure that a demon hasn't possessed you into caring?"

"You can't possess something twice. It's common logic."

"C'mooonnn! Just admit that you love meeee~! It isn't that hard! Look! You're actually caring!!!"

"Jesus Christ. You act like such an adult to Matt and yet you come to me and start acting like a child."

"Not my fault that you're being so cold about it! I wonder who started this convo anyway?"
~

You find yourself chuckling.

It's like that cliché you find in books or movies...

At first, the tough guy pretends he doesn't care about the protagonist.
And then...something happens to the protagonist.
Right after, the tough guy shows that he cares.

You find yourself looking up at the boy, walking and guiding you beside him, holding your hand.

You squeeze his hand a bit, getting his attention.

"What? Are you feeling okay now?" He asks.

"Wh-what's this? Affection?" You give him a cute grin.

Red described his face perfectly. He lets go of your hand and shoving it back into his pocket. Don't...don't joke around like that. This situation is serious." He says.

"Right, right..." You say, looking in front of you. "B-but can I still hold your hand?"

He looks at you, not saying anything for a minute but lets out an exasperated sigh. "Alright. If it makes you feel any better."

You continue walking, until you, Tom, Matt, Tord, and Ell had to be excused to the lobby.
Grandmother Susan had to go in immediately, as she was considered your guardian.

"I...I need to go to the restroom."

You excused yourself from the silence.

Coming back, the boys were suddenly gone.
You were left alone with her again.

"Wh...where are the boys?" You ask.
"They all needed a restroom break somehow." She replies.
"Oh."

Ell sat at the end of the bench while you sat on the opposite end.

It felt like the awkwardness and the silence was slowly closing in on you.

After your last encounter, you really didn't want to have to do anything with her.
After your last encounter, you really didn't want to say anything to her.
You knew she didn't want to either.

But deep down, you felt guilty of the words you said to her. Anger was your main emotion that time. You wanted to tell her that you didn't mean it. You wanted to tell her that you were sorry.

...But you couldn't.

You were about to stand up to search for why the boys were taking so long, until you hear whimpering.
You turn back to see the brunette crying.
Head down and her fists were closed tightly.

"Why are you crying, Ell?"
"I'm sorry for the things I said."
"I wasn't that mad, okay?"
"What do you want to talk about this time?"
"Have you any clues on our investigation?"

Oh there was so many things you wanted to say to her.
Your heart clenched at the sight.
But you had to show that she deserve it.

She...does deserve it, right?

You let out a heavy sigh, walking back to where you were seated.
But this time, a bit closer to the crying girl.

"I'm sorry." You whisper.
"Me too." You were surprised to hear her reply. She looks up at you, teary-eyed.
"I never thought trying to protect someone I love would hurt someone else in the process. I wanted to say sorry so badly to you but I couldn't! And I—"

Not wasting time, you pull her into a tight embrace.

"I have fault in this too...I made Edd cry and you were just trying to protect him...then I expected you to listen to me after what happened. You had good intentions..." You say.

"Edd got hurt so much when he was only a child. I'm scared of him experiencing it all over again. I'm scared that if he were ever going to experience heartbreak, he would lose it. I...failed in protecting him..." She says.

"No you didn't, Ell—"

"HE HAS DEPRESSION, (Y/N)!"

Ell pulls away vigorously. She notices her tone of voice and immediately apologizes.

'Was that what he meant by "stirring sadness"?'

"I thought he could manage it because he always said that he was fine. At least that what I thought." She goes to looking back down. "I never knew that one day he would just go ahead and pull this against us. I never knew that he was so deep into the hole he was in that he'd actually do this to himself..."

Her eyes lighten up a bit at your worried face.

"I never looked into it but...you two would make a cute couple." She says.

"Wait, you had just been talking about how he's been suffering but now you're saying we look good together?"

Ell puts a hand on your shoulder, "Think about it, (Y/N). You might not know it but...Edd, he's changing because of you. In a good way I mean. You probably already know that he likes you. Maybe you're the one who can help him up to his feet again. Help him to get better."

You look away from her intense gaze, "I...I don't know, Ell. I'm not sure about how I'm feeling yet." You say, putting a finger on your lips. Reminiscing back to the time he had suddenly kissed you out of nowhere.

Ell lets out a tired sigh, "Alright, boys. Get out of the trash bin. Do you really think I don't see you?"

You look at the supposed 3 trash bins, where Tom, Matt and Tord's head suddenly pop out, earning some glances from bystanders.

"You guys were eavesdropping?" You ask.

"Eh...not really. We were finished doing our business and I wanted to sit inside a trash bin instead of a chair and the two followed after me for some reason." Tom explains it so nonchalantly that you almost believed him.

You look at Matt and Tord, who were nodding their head rapidly.

"But I see you two made up finally!" Matt notices Ell's hand on your shoulder.

You make eye-contact with Ell, and she smiles at you, you smile back.
"Yeah, I guess we did." You say.

Tom was about to take his seat next to you again but Matt beat him to it. "Can I sit next to (Y/N) this time?" He asks Tom. Tom gives him a confused look but nods anyway.

"Aww, do you want my hugs again?" You say, ruffling up his ginger hair.

"If I do, will you give me some?" He replies.

"Um, if you are relatives with a boy named Edd Gould, you could now visit him in room 27, I repeat. If you are relatives with a boy named Edd Gould, you could now visit him in room 27, thank you."

A voice on the speaker had interrupted you from giving your hug to Matt.

Worried, the rest of you hurry to the room quickly, leaving Matt behind.

I ' m m o r e i m p o r t a n t , r i g h t ?

Now that you're focus is back on Edd, you look at the others around you.
Something just made you think about the present you're living in.

W h a t ' s w r o n g w i t h t h i s f a m i l y r e a l l y ?

Tom's heartbeat couldn't get anymore quicker. It felt as if the room was a 100 miles more out of his reach.

E d d , w h a t t h e f u c k w e r e y o u t h i n k i n g ?

Ever since you told Tord what happened to Edd, Tord couldn't even relax his own muscles. Like you, he had been shaken up. This wasn't Tord's first time in losing someone dear to him. He'll make sure the same pain won't happen again. He'll make sure the others don't have to experience what he did.

I w o n ' t t a k e y o u f o r g r a n t e d t h i s t i m e .

You arrive into the room.

One step in and you already hate it.

It gave off the same vibe as it did last time.

And you don't want to re-experience that.

You see Edd, in the same old hospital bed they use. But this time, more wires were attached. Doctors were entering then reentering from time to time. You see Grandmother Susan sitting and watching the sleeping boy.

"Grandma, hows he doing?" Tom was the first to speak up.

"I don't know. Is it good news that he woke up or is it bad news that he doesn't know who he is?" Grandmother Susan asks.

You could just sense the melancholy in the atmosphere of the room.

"That's just not possible! Amnesia?! From a bunch of pills? Are you kidding?! Maybe it was just really sudden so his brain just momentarily forgot some things?" Ell says, not buying the things Grandmother Susan is saying.

Grandmother Susan nods. "It is likely. Though, for it to be confirmed, he has to wake up again. But it seems we won't be able to know right now." She gestures to Edd, sleeping peacefully.

You walk up to his bed.

You caress his cheeks, then ruffling up his hair.

"You might not know it but...Edd, he's changing because of you."

Your eyes found their way to his lips.

Edd was always one to respect your space and privacy.
He respected your feelings.

"Edd, can you hear me? It's (Y/N). How are you feeling? Pretty good?"

~

(Y/N)?

(Y/N)! Yeah, I do hear you! I'm doing well but my stomach disagrees.

"(Y/N), you know? The one that you suddenly kissed out of nowhere?"

Yeah...I remember. I can't believe you didn't get mad too.

"(Y/N), you might wake him up from his beauty sleep."

I've already had enough beauty sleep! They gave me sleeping pills for God sake!

And just like that, the scent of (Y/N) was getting further and further away.
Wait! Come back! At least give me a goodbye kiss!

Ugh. Aaand...back to the silence we go.

"Edd, you kissed her?" I hear Matt's voice now.

Yeah I did...

"Oh...is it alright if you um—uh...nevermind. I hope you wake up soon."

The sound of footsteps fade away too.

Seriously, what's with everyone's problem of me kissing her?

I gave, I gave, and I gave.

. . . W o u l d i t h u r t f o r m e t o b e a t l e a s t  s e l f i s h f o r o n c e?