TW/CW: mentions of trauma, broken friendships

(3rd Person PoV)

Apo held onto the bedsheets of his bed.

They felt tired, sick, upset, sad and overwhelmed.

"Do you regret it?"

"Well...I lost you so...yeah."

He buried himself under the covers.

Nonononono! I don't want to think about that! Leave leave leave! He thought, clutching his head.

He didn't want to think about what happened. He didn't want to think about Owen's visit.

"Don't you EVER say my name again! Don't speak it! Don't THINK it!"

"Owen! W-we can still be friends!"

Apo held back a sob.

He didn't even want to think about his last conversation with Owen before being sent to the prison.

He shook under the covers out of fear.

What's going to happen to him now?

Owen hates him, he is not particularly close to anyone else, Rasbi is sleeping and not visiting, Red is busy and Guts doesn't want to talk to him right now.

No one will visit me, Apo is starving for affection, even a simple friendly smile will suffice.

But that lever had to be pulled, had it?

NO! Don't think about levers!

Apo continued to tremble.

He curled up like a little ball and stayed like that.

Little ball...? I just want to shrink and be small. Being small sounds...nice, they thought.

(1st Person PoV: Owen's)

I went to my house and grabbed the key that Guts gave me.

I was thinking about what I was going to say to him. I didn't want to say the wrong thing but I also don't want to have my trust be tested by the others by being nice to Apo.

A simple 'I'm sorry' and 'I shouldn't have treated you that way' would be nice. It will be a quick in and out. I'll even give him some Apo-pie, I thought.

The gate was closed, but there was still someone out there.

I took a deep breath.

I'll just make my visit quick and then I'll prepare to get Magic out. She must be so scared in there if the monsters don't g- I thought but I immediately shook my head quickly.

I don't want to think about it.

I grabbed some pie and went to the prison.

My hands shook as I went down the ladder.

I went to the only room in the prison and knocked on the door.

"Apo? Are you there? I came to apologize," I started.

I heard some shuffling from the other side but nobody answered.

"It's me, Owen...I get if you don't want to talk to me but could you at least make a sound to show that you're listening to me?" I asked.

I heard some more shuffling and I peeked through to see a lump on Apo's bed.

Ok he's at least listening. Better get started, I thought.

"Look, I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I treated you. Looking back on it, I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have yelled, I should have at least...I should've...," I said but trailed off.

What should I have done?

"I-If you don't accept my apology, that's fine. I just wanted to let you know that...I don't hate you. I mean that, truly," I said.

"Umm can I enter the room? I have a gift to give you," I asked.

No answer.

"D-do you want me to leave your gift with Guts? I'll make sure that they'll give it to you. Or do you want it now?" I asked.

There was murmur from the inside.

I could have sworn he said, "want...nowww."

It didn't sound quite like them so I began to worry.

I turned the key in the lock and I entered the room.

"I'll put it here, ok?" I asked and placed the pie on the chair under the Tic Tac Toe board.

There was a small cough coming from the bed.

"Apo?"

No response.

My head began to buzz with worried voices.

They were yelling at me to go and check on him.

"Voices...should I....?" I trailed off but my voices were screaming yes and go check up on them.

You're the boss then, I thought.

I went over to the bed.

"Apo? Are you ok? Do you want me to go get Guts?" I asked.

No response.

"Apo...are you sick? Please answer me," I slowly shook the lump.

"..."

"Apo!" I raised my voice out of worry and pulled the blanket off of him.

"Are you ok? Are you sick?" I asked and sat on my knees.

He whimpered and buried his face deeper into the bed sheets.

"Apo?" I placed my hand on his shoulder. He felt warmer than usual.

"I'm sowwy," he murmured.

"Huh? What was that?" I asked.

"Sowwy Owen.....," he looked up and his eyes were filled with tears.

"Apo?" I asked but then he threw himself onto me into a tight hug.

He definitely felt warmer and he started to cough.

"Apo are you sick? Do you want me to get Guts?" I asked but they didn't respond.

He kept repeating the words 'sorry' to me but he was saying it in a more child like way.

Not like Oeca child but more like a three year old child.

Last I checked, Apo wasn't three....was he?

He buried his face more into my chest and started sobbing.

"It's ok. I'm here, I'm here. You're safe with me," I assured him, running my fingers through his hair.

(This is all platonic by the way)

"S-sowwy. I'm sowwy," he sobbed.

"Shh, shh. It's ok. I'm here," I muttered.

"Owen? Are you in there?" Someone asked.

"Owen?" There was another person.

Guts and Silvia went into the cell.

"What's going on? Is Apo crying?" Guts asked.

"I'm not sure. I came down to apologize to him and to give him a gift. Then they started to say sorry and began to cry. I'm not sure what happened," I explained.

Apo stopped crying but he continued to hug onto me tightly.

"Guts...I think he may be sick as well. He feels warmer than usual," I said.

"Is he?" They went over to us and felt his forehead.

"Guess you're right. I'll ask Soup to see if she has any medicine for him. It may be a fever," they said.

I stood up with Apo in my arms and went to place him in his bed.

"No go! No go!" Apo said, shaking their head.

"Huh?"

"I don't think he wants you to let go," Silvia noted.

"He's acting more child like. I don't know why or how," I said.

Guts went over to eye level with Apo.

"Hun, Owen is going somewhere but he'll come back. Ok? He won't be gone," they said in a soft voice.

Apo sniffed.

"Guts...why are you speaking to him like that?" Silvia asked. They sounded confused but not weirded out. Just confused.

"I think I may know what's going on. I'll explain it to you later. Anyway Owen, Graecie is looking for you. The gate is open now," Guts explained.

"Huh really?" I asked.

"Owen, please promise Apo that you'll come back! I think that he wants you around especially now," Guts said standing up to face me.

I was a bit intimidated by them but then I looked at Apo.

He was still coughing and he was now silently crying, tears rolling down his eyes.

I placed my hands on his shoulders.

"I'll come back. I need to do something. I'll get you more Apo-pie. Would you like that?" I asked.

They sniffed and nodded.

I ran out of the cell and went up to ladder.

"Oh hey Beks," I said casually as she passed by me.

I could have sworn that she rose an eyebrow at me and her face turning pale.

Graecie was pacing around near the entrance of the gate.

"There you are! I was worried," she said as I came up to her.

"Sorry I was...paying a visit...," I said.

Graecie's eyes soften and she turned her head to face the Gate.

"The Second Clearing right?" She asked and I nodded.

We're going to get you out of there Magic. I thought.

A/N: first Outsiders book let's go! That SMP is severely underrated, you should check it out if you have the time!

If you like Maze Runner, role play SMP's, lore, angst, then you'll definitely love the OutsiderSMP.

Like I said before, all of this will be platonic. CC!Owen has said before that C!Owen is aroace so no romance. Do not sexualize any scene at all! This will be a platonic book with fluff and angst, ya know the usual. Any nicknames will be strictly platonic.

I'm going to go off the rails with canon lore because...reasons...specifically with Apo for reasons I will not spoil. However some lore will most likely be the same.

If I misinterpreted age regression, I'm sorry and can anyone tell me if I'm writing it wrong politely. You can give me tips on how to. I'm not a little myself but I have been given it some thought. Mainly when I feel stressed out and I just want to lay on my bed and watch cartoons like Blue's Clues if I can find where to watch it. Yes I'm admitting that much, Blue's Clues was the thing! (The old one that I grew up with at least)

Also I'll be minimizing the swearing for both characters and author's notes.

I'm hoping I don't offend anyone with this. If any of the Content Creators are uncomfortable with this, show me proof and I'll take this down.

Also I won't be mentioning any kicked out members unless their character has canonically died and have not been kicked out due to problematic reasons. That's to respect the Content Creators who wished to not see them mentioned. So far, I think it's just one who got kicked out due to problematic reasons. Not their character but creator themselves. I won't be mentioning who but you check out Twitter somewhere where it's mentioned.

Also pronouns. Tell me who goes by what and we won't have any problems due to my mistakes.

Sorry if I sounded aggressive in this, I hope I didn't come out that way. I'm just passionate.

This is the longest author note I have written at the end of a chapter and I have been here a while. Also I know I have other books to work on but I felt like writing in this so yeah!

So yeah I think that's all I have to say for now.

Cya in the next one -Flare