MAL stared at the simple yet modern entrance of Griffin's craftsman grey-colored mansion, sighing heavily in the process. Felix's neutral expression softened into a sad, thoughtful one as his arm stretched itself, touching her own to grab her attention.

"Aren't you going to get in?"

Only air came out as he mouthed his words, and yet she understood every attempt of him to speak. She needed to, or otherwise risk make him feel misunderstood.

"I will, I just..." Her head turned in his direction, and her gaze softened at the sight of him staring at her with doe eyes. Her breath hitched as she absorbed every feature of his, every little detail. His soft, long, blond hair. His plump lips, and upper lip were slightly larger than the bottom. His deep, chocolate brown eyes that she found herself drowning in, every single time she stared into them.

Everything about him was indeed perfect.

Maybe that was the main reason why she wanted their relationship to be official.

Or maybe the reason was how deeply she was in love with him.

Or maybe it was how he made her happy, enthusiastic, and keen on life.

Maybe it was just his mere existence.

"I just want to tell you something first."

His lips curved upwards into an encouraging smile, telling her to finish her sentence. She sighed once again, her hand entwined with his.

"Lately, some things happened. You know, some good, some bad. The only thing I'm sure of at this point is that I love you so much, and how I want to spend the rest of my life with you—"

And, much to her dismay, a loud thud erupted from the house across from their car. Griffin's house. The couple immediately shifted their attention towards the source of the noise, only to find someone slamming the door shut behind them and heading towards their vehicle.

Mal's eyes squinted through the tinted glass, allowing her to see who the person was. Familiar grey hair, along with an average-sized figure and casual clothes. The familiar BMW that she had just met with the day before.

It was Griffin's father.

It didn't take a detective to notice the man's furrowed eyebrows, his curled fists, along with clenched teeth. And the further she squinted, the more frustrated he seemed. The sight of him caused the couple's hands to let go, and for both of them to shift slightly in their seats, rather uncomfortable.

After the man was seated in the driver's seat and the engine started, the couple waited for the car to leave the driveway before they turned to each other. Felix nodded at her, encouraging her to continue her words, only to find Mal shaking her head in dismay as she unlocked the driver's door, already stepping outside the car.

"Let's just go inside, shall we?"

He wanted—no, needed—to call out for her, to tell her to wait for a few minutes, to continue what she wanted to say... His mouth gaped open, trying to let out any type of noise to grab her attention. Anything.

But, as expected of him, nothing came out.

His brain was too damaged for that.

His hand reached for the car door as well, clicking it open and inhaling the fresh air that dared to enter inside the car. Soon enough, he followed her lead towards the front door of the Gluck residence.

And waited as she rang the doorbell.

A few seconds passed by, dead silence overwhelming them both. Felix glanced at his lover, his hand entwining itself with hers.

"Baby, what were you—"

His sentence was cut off shortly as his lover knelt before the door, noticing that Griffin wasn't going to open up any time soon, then reached for the nearest flower vase—

—and pulled up a key. He assumed it was a spare key, knowing that Mal knew any sort of information that would help save Griffin's life if needed.

"Time to get inside." She muttered, her mouth forming into a smirk as she shoved the key inside the giant gold-painted lock on the side of the door.

It didn't take long for the door to open, revealing a medium-sized corridor that led to what they assumed was the living room. Felix sent the area a soft smile, noticing the porcelain cream-colored floor that matched the off-white walls, along with the basic yet calming sight of flower vases on small wooden tables at the entrance.

"Beautiful," Felix whispered as his lover shut the door behind them, causing her to glance at him with eyes full of stars, snaking her arms around his waist and hugging him for a few, long moments while they hurried up the spiral stairs.

"You're beautiful, sweetheart."

Felix's face broke into a wide smile just as the pair reached the top floor, soon meeting the sight of multiple rooms stacked beside each other, all with their doors shut. Mal gulped, taking nervous glances while realizing that she didn't know which room her friend was in, despite being familiar with the room as she'd been there multiple times before.

Maybe it was the sight of closed doors that made her wary?

"We're just going to guess which door is it," Mal began, causing Felix to slowly nod his head as his eyes scanned the corridor once again, "because I can't remember."

Felix unconsciously found himself stepping towards one of the rooms, turning his head to his lover and pointing at the doorknob.

"Maybe it's this one?" Mal questioned, taking note of his enthusiastic expression. "Alright, let's see."

Her hand stretched itself towards the door, soon twisting the knob and opening the door, revealing a familiar room. Its king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, with two wooden nightstands on each side, along with a dark atmosphere, simple furniture, and wrinkled clothes scattered all across the floor.

And on top of the bed was a limp figure, covered with a thick, messy blanket.

"You got it right, baby." Mal gently patted her lover's back before entering the room, followed by Felix, who sneaked his hand on the wall to search for any source of light.

Click.

Light soon filled the gloomy room, causing the figure on the bed to groan and cover his face with the blanket. The pair lightly chuckled and shut the door behind them.

"Good morning, Griffin!" Mal chanted, glancing at the clothes all over the room in disgust. Felix shrugged, then bent over to pick up some of the clothes, straightening them before folding them and setting them on the foot of the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Griffin groaned, his head sunk in the soft pillow before he took a glance at the couple, then took mental note of their mere existence. "Look who's cleaning my room. Even I didn't dare to clean it for over a week!"

"We can tell." Felix mouthed, his eyes fixated on the black t-shirt he held in his grip, causing the girl to giggle.

"How are you feeling right now?" Mal questioned, picking up a similar t-shirt and folding it in a matter of seconds.

"Like shit!" Griffin replied, finally throwing the blanket away from his face. "Are you sure I didn't drink that much last night?"

Mal hummed in reply, her eyes fixated on another piece of clothing on the floor.

"Then why do I feel like this?"

The couple shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out."

Griffin then gathered his energy to sit up straight on his side of the bed, pain shooting up his head in the quick process. He let out a groan, and covered his eyes with his veiny hands, taking notice of Mal's hand running up and down his back to reassure him.

"Did you... Um... Call anyone from last night?" He slowly asked, his hand unconsciously gripping the blanket in a weak attempt to cover his already clothed body.

"No," Mal replied, her eyebrows furrowed, "why?"

"Because if... You know," Griffin began, his head slowly rising from his hands, "if I'm feeling like this, maybe someone else is having the same problem?"

The question caused Mal's eyes to widen immediately, nodding her head ever so gently to let him know that she understood his point.

Maybe she knew that, deep down, he was right.

Of course, Mal wasn't the type to drink alcohol, and after Felix's incident, he was forbidden from drinking based on his doctor's orders. So, it was obvious that the pair didn't have the same problem.

But they knew, more than anything, that other people, including their friends, might face some problems due to drinking too much.

"Alright," she finally replied, pulling out her phone from her pocket and pressing on a few buttons. "I'll call some of them to check."

The girl then took a few steps back, getting out of the room before putting the phone close to her ear.

Felix then turned to Griffin with a bright smile, causing Griffin's heart to melt immediately as the younger waved at him. Griffin's eyes scanned the room one more time, a soft sigh escaping his nose at the sight of the now clean room. All of his t-shirts and pants peeked through the slightly ajar wardrobe, all in even squares or hung from a few wooden hangers.

"This looks nice." Griffin complimented, resulting in Felix sending him another bright grin. "Maybe I should tidy my room more often."

Felix nodded his head, then took a few steps towards the side of the bed, slowly sitting down beside Griffin. A soft, exhausted sigh escaped his nose as well.

"How are you?" He mouthed, turning to Griffin with a relaxed, encouraging expression. "Are you feeling any better?"

Griffin nodded his head, his fingers rubbing his temple in distress. "I'm fine now. But, maybe I should be asking you the same question."

The older turned to face Felix with a brief, side smile, encouraging him to reply and maybe tell the truth.

"I'm fine," the boy whispered, his eyes staring off into the distance. "Just tired."

"And why is that?"

Felix shrugged at that, unaware of the answer himself. His lover and his friends were doing everything so that he could feel happy, or maybe feel the least bit better.

But, the truth was, he wasn't feeling even remotely better.

He felt nothing other than depression, crippling anxiety, and a deep fear of abandonment.

And he knew that Mal knew about those terrible feelings of his.

"I... I don't know, Griffin." His voice came out inaudible, maybe it was enough for Griffin to take note of, but that was all he could let out.

"It's okay if you don't know," Griffin replied, his hand gently rubbing the younger's arm. "But if you're not feeling well, you should tell Mal right away, okay?"

Felix's expression changed from comforting to disappointed in a matter of seconds, his eyes staring at the floor beneath them, almost filling up with tears if it wasn't for Griffin's figure beside him. His lower lip quivered at the image of his lover, who was standing just outside the bedroom's door, and the constant worried expression that coated her face ever since the incident.

The memory of her standing beside the edge of the bed, tears running down her cheeks while saline slowly and similarly dropped into his IV to keep him alive.

The memory of her running her slender fingers through his long, soft hair to help him drift off to a peaceful slumber after a sudden, terrifying nightmare. Despite him blinking his eyes in a failed attempt to help himself go to sleep that time, he was still aware of her sparkling, tearful eyes.

The memory of her whispering the words 'I love you' over and over when she thought he was asleep, along with sweet nothings as she wrapped her arms around his frail, limp figure.

Ever since the incident, he had caused her nothing but pain, worry, and distress.

And he had no other feeling inside him other than guilt.

Before he could think of something else to tell his friend, the soft noise of footsteps rushed into the room, along with the heavy breaths of Mal. When the two looked in her direction, they both froze.

"Guys!" Mal began, her eyes wide with shock, her breath rigged and heavy. "I was just on the phone with Sadie. Apparently, Millie didn't come home last night!"