"Xay?" Xisuma yelled up the stairs. Xay had missed two days of school consecutive, he didn't answer his phone, and hadn't answered the door when Grian had gone to check on him for himself. This, of course, worried X greatly," Are you up there?"

Panic began to creep into X's thoughts. Why wouldn't Xay answer? Sure he didn't talk much, but he usually would at least message a "yes" or something. But nothing.

Xisuma walked up the stairs, trying to calm himself. He was probably still angry at X and didn't want to see him. That was surely it. It was the only option.

X knocked on Xay's door,"Hey? Are you in there?" No response. Xisuma finally took a deep breath and opened the door. Panic began to rise again when he saw a flushed Xay curled up in a pile of blankets,"Xay?!"

He ran forward and began shaking his brother awake. He grumbled, but opened his eyes,"what is it? I'm not feeling well."

"You missed two days of school and wouldn't answer your phone! I was.." he looked up at to meet Xay's eyes, but looked away," ...worried."

Xay shook his head,"I can take care of myself." He stood, only to be pushed down by Xisuma. He pressed the back of his hand against Xay's forehead, taking it back quickly.

"You should have messaged me to say you were sick. Stay here, I'll go get a damp towel." Xisuma walked out of Xay's room.

Xay again stood up and walked to his desk. He'd left his phone on the desk, he hadn't bothered to grab it. During the two days he had spent alone in the house he hadn't even touched the thing. He just continuously rotated through watching TV and sleeping, not counting eating and drinking.

He grabbed the device, then walked back to the bed. He plugged it up and powered it on. He was met with a variety of missed calls and messages from X. He's the only one that would care if Xay wasn't at the school after all.

"Xay, I told you not to get up." X said disappointedly. Why did he care? He ran off after their argument and tried nothing to fix the problem.

As usual he stayed silent. X just sighed and walked forward," You can take off your mask. No one needs to know."

Xay continued the usual starring. Usually it made people uncomfortable and they would leave him alone, it never worked on 'Suma. Maybe because they grew up together, not that he remembered most of it.

Xisuma let out a long sigh. He laid the towel onto the side table, then crouched down in front of Xay," Please. What happened to the angry boy that I grew up with? Or the one from the other day for that matter? We're twins, there's no point in hiding that from me."

"X, we're not talking about that right now." Xay sighed, looking away," I-"

Xisuma suddenly pulled Xay into a hug,"Please!" He began crying into Xay's shoulder,"I refuse to except that he's dead."

Xay sat stiffly in X's arms. His anxiety slowly built, not that he has going to do anything about it. Finally X pulled away, looking tearfully at Xay, but he didn't comment. He just stood and walked to the door.

"I'll have Grian drop by and check on you tomorrow. Don't bother trying to lock him out, I'll give him the house keys. Don't be too rude," he stated by the door,"I'm going to stay with some friends for the week."

Then he walked off again.

"I'll be at the school tomorrow." He said, hoping that X heard him and he wouldn't need to say it again. There was no confirmation, but he decided to leave it. There was no point.

***

The morning was terribly cold. Xay shivered in his coat as he walked to the school, luckily it wasn't too far. He moved as quickly as he could.

Maybe it was only this cold because it was 6am? Xay always got there early so he could avoid the usual people who bothered him. He arrive at the school and go to the art room with his favorite teacher, Mr.Smith. He wasn't particularly good at in the class but it was calming to be there.

Sadly, Grian also came to the school early as well. Xisuma probably told him to. He excitedly ran up to Xay, ranting about God knows what. Xay felt like crying. He should have just stayed home.

"Please leave me alone. You're just making me a bigger target" Xay rasped at Grian.

He looked hurt but nodded and walked away. Luckily no one was there yet. Running off Grian in front of others would just make the target on his back even bigger. That would just be a pain.

He walked behind the school. He quickly for the art room and knocked on the door. Smith opened it with a grin," it's been a bit since you came to visit me!"

Xay nodded, walking through the door that Smith now held open. He sat at one of the tables and laid it head down in his arms. Smith smiled at him and continued working on the painting that he had started about a week ago.

"You seem a bit stressed. I would ask what's wrong but you probably won't answer, so I'm going to make a guess," Smith joked, then turned away from the painting to look at Xay," Does it have to do with that blonde boy who was following you around on Tuesday?"

Xay nodded before laying his head back down. He was tired and cold, school hadn't even started yet. Smith turned back to the painting.

He continued working on his artwork,"Ya know, I think you making a friend would be good for you. Hey! Don't give that look, it's just a suggestion. You need someone to hangout with who isn't a teacher."

"Why don't you come up and try and paint something? It might help calm you down," Smith said, picking up an empty canvas. Xay shook his head.

Smith jokingly pouted,"Come now! Its just paint, the worst it could do is stain your clothes!"

"I don't need you realizing that I have no place in your room," Xay rasped, grinning widely. He wished that everyone was like Mr.Smith, then maybe he wouldn't have a large purple bruise on his ribs.

Smith grinned back, he always looked a little surprised when Xay spoke. Not surprising since Xay was known for being silent,"Come now! If you are alive and breathing you can make art!"

Xay shook his head but shook and made his way twords Mr.Smith.