Warning: please don't read this chapter if you're sensitive to any sort of self harm or abuse.

Even though a huge party was going on beyond Kevin's bedroom doors, it didn't seem to stop him from trying to go to bed. Kevin sleeping underneath the covers of his bed, pulling the covers over his head while Jackson was wide awake. 

Kevin had offered Jackson to sleep with him in his bed. Because his bed was so huge (considering it was a king sized bed) he didn't mind Jackson being in the same bed with him, but Jackson humbly declined since he couldn't even shut his eyes to get a mere second of sleep. 

Jackson was still worried about his stalker, staring at Kevin's locked bedroom door, like he had some sort of X-ray vision to try and see who was outside, but obviously that was impossible.

In the middle of Jackson's murmuring thoughts inside his head, he heard Kevin slightly mumble in his sleep which startled him at first, making him jump. At first he thought Kevin was awake, and shushed him to keep quiet as he tried to focus some more, but when Kevin didn't listen to him, he realised Kevin wasn't awake. 

As Kevin's mumbling continued, it slowly turned into like he was struggling. Jackson ended up thinking he was suffocating underneath his covers, quickly pulling the covers off of Kevin to try and free him from 'suffocating' but it was just Kevin sleeping. 

Jackson's eyes opened wide when he saw what Kevin was doing. Kevin was clearly asleep, but he was slightly shaking in his sleep, mumbling "no, stop it, please" over and over as he tossed and turned. His nails digging into his forearms as he was scratching himself, scratching himself so hard that he started to bleed.

Jackson wanted to wake Kevin up, but he didn't want Kevin hurting him if he woke him up. It was painful to watch Kevin hurting himself unintentionally and decided to try waking him up after a minute or so. 

Jackson slowly brought his hand down, lightly shaking Kevin's shoulder to try and wake him up, but just by the slightest touch, Kevin instantly woke up. "Wh-what's going on?!" Kevin asks, quickly sitting up and looking around his bedroom. 

"You...I think you were having a nightmare." Jackson points out, looking at Kevin concerned. 

"Nightmare...why do you say that?" Kevin asks, looking at Jackson confused.

"Well you were kind of talking in your sleep, and you were scratching yourself." Jackson points out, bringing his own hand up and placing it over his own forearm. 

Kevin raised one eyebrow at Jackson for a moment before looking down at the bleeding scratch marks and lightly started to swear. "Damn it" Kevin mumbles, standing up from his bed and walking into the washroom that was connected to his bedroom, Jackson following behind him like a lost puppy to watch what he was doing. 

"What were you dreaming about?" Jackson questions in concern as he watched Kevin turn on the water in the sink, bringing his forearm underneath and placing it under the running water. 

Kevin stared at Jackson for a moment before smirking lightly "you don't need to know what I was dreaming about, hey I thought you slept right after I did?" 

"You're changing the topic.." 

"Because I'm curious on why you're still awake. So, why're you still awake?" Kevin questions, looking at Jackson from over his shoulder. 

"I couldn't sleep..." Jackson admits, looking off to aside, now feeling slightly embarrassed. 

"So you were just watching me sleep the whole time?" 

"I wasn't watching you sleep...more like watching your bedroom door..." 

"What, you scared your stalker is going to come into my bedroom? Because I can reassure you the locks on my doors are safe. Have you seen the house I live in? With a house like this, we do have a decent security system." Kevin explains before turning off the tap and wrapping up his arms with bandages. 

"Is that why you always wear long sleeves at school? Because you scratch yourself in your sleep?" 

"I thought we were talking about you and your stalker?" Kevin asks, now turning around to face Jackson and pulling down his sleeves once he was done bandaging up his arms. 

"We started talking about you and your nightmare to begin with, you're the one who tried changing the subject." Jackson retorts, following Kevin as he watched Kevin now walk back into his bedroom. 

"Whatever, you don't need to know...now can you just get into bed and sleep?" Kevin asks, sitting on the edge of his bed as he fixed the bandages once again. 

"I don't know..." 

"You're safe with me, how many times do I have to tell you that before you believe it?" Kevin asks in slight annoyance which Jackson could hear in his voice. 

"Okay, okay I'll go to sleep now." Jackson answers, getting into Kevin's bed and laying down, staring at the ceiling which had a chandelier hanging from it. 

"Good" Kevin mumbles before laying down in his bed on the other side and having his back facing Jackson as he went back to sleep. 

Jackson glanced at Kevin once more before closing his eyes and trying to go to sleep. 

Max and Ryan on the other hand were already outside of Ryan's local church, where like he said before they held parties every other Sunday for the church kids to have a 'fun time.' "Max, please let's think about this once again, you don't really want to go in there, do you?" Ryan questions, looking at Max in a pleading matter. While having the fresh breeze hit his face while they walked to the church, it slightly brought Ryan down from his miner dunk state (not that he was very drunk to begin with.) Ryan had come to his senses once finally getting to the church and was trying to do anything for Max to change his mind. 

"We...we're already here, why the hell wouldn't we go inside now?" Max questions in a chuckle, pointing his index finger towards the church, wanting to ruin a party for a bunch of church kids. 

"Because I uh...just thought of something, we can go to your house! Yeah, I can take you home so you can sober up. Huh, what about that?" 

Max shot a glare at Ryan, almost spitting as he shouts "why the hell would I want to go home?! To go to the monsters den, I think not! I just want to ruin a party, and you're not going to let me do even that?" Max questions in anger before turning around and walking towards the church. 

Ryan looked at Max in horror, quickly following behind him in a scurrying matter, grabbing a hold of Max's arm to stop him. Once Max felt someone grab a hold of his arm, he turned around, pushing Ryan so hard he ended up falling onto the ground. "Don't touch me, you're fucking gross." Max spat in anger, glaring at Ryan once again before turning around and now heading directly into the church with Ryan not being able to stop him this time. 

Ryan looked down, biting on his bottom lip, still in some sort of shock that Max had pushed him. He knew Max wasn't in his right mind because he was drunk, but it still hurt him that Max would push him, even when he thought he was slightly starting to get closer to him. For some reason the more Ryan thought about it, the more his heart started to hurt. 

After a moment Ryan had realised Max had actually walked into the church. He got up at the speed of light, bolting into the church but Max was no where in sight. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Ryan repeats to himself over and over again, running through the church to try and figure out where Max had gone. 

Max had already reached the bottom floor of the church. It really wasn't too hard to find where the 'party' was going on. Gospel hymns could be heard from upstairs, so Max just followed the music. "Oh hello, you're...new here" one of the chaperones say, his words slowly going slower and looking at Max with an uncomfortable expression on his face, because the closer he got to Max, the more he could smell the alcohol roaming off of him. 

Ryan practically jumped down all the stairs, seeing Max already interacting with someone, having a heart attack where he stood. "Max" Ryan didn't mean to shout, almost catching everyone's attention. Ryan ran up to Max, grabbing a hold of his arm once again (hoping he wouldn't push him this time) while saying "come on Max, we should leave." 

"Oh Ryan, you finally came?" The priest asks, walking up to the two boys with a smile on his face. 

"Oh, Father...I'm sorry I was just passing by, I'm not here to stay. My...uh my friend wanted to check the church out before we continue on our way home." Ryan explains in a fake laugh, trying to divert the priests attention off of Max. 

The priest kept the same smile on his face, nodding to Ryan before looking at Max. Max had a glare in his eyes being semi held back by Ryan. "What's your name, son?" The priest asks, now bringing his attention onto Max. 

Max stared at the priest for a moment before answering "you don't need to know my name. Wh-what is this stupid place anyway?" Max questions while looking around. By now the priest could tell Max was drunk and was able to smell the alcohol from his breath. 

He kept the same smile on his face, looking back to Ryan as he says "maybe your friend should go home and get some rest. It is getting late for the two of you." 

"Yes, yes good idea" Ryan agrees with the priest, nodding as he wrapped one arm around Max and escorted him outside of the room but everyone was still staring at them.

While walking out, Max was obviously struggling to stay but Ryan was trying to push him out. "You-you're all going to die, your God isn't going to save you! Your magic man doesn't exist!" Max shouts, glaring at everyone but soon enough, Ryan had finally got Max out of there. 

Once they were finally outside of the church, Ryan glared at Max and questions "what's wrong with you! You didn't have to go in there!" Ryan says, Ryan never usually got angry, but he was slightly livid about it. 

"Leave me alone Ryan" Max says, now turning around and walking away, his head hung low. 

"Max...Max, where're you going?!" Ryan questions, watching Max walk away but Max just waved his hand, sort of like a 'whatever.' 

Ryan followed Max wherever he was walking to, and when Max finally stopped, he saw Max stopped at a park bench, laying down on it and tying to fall asleep, wrapping his arms around his body for warmth. Ryan bit on his bottom lip before walking up to Max and poking his arm hardly. "Max, you can't sleep here." 

"Why...why the hell not?!" Max questions in anger, opening his eyes and now sitting up as he was looking at Ryan. 

"You'll freeze to death out here, you know how cold it gets at night? Come on, at least let me help you get home. If you sneak upstairs without your parents hearing you then they won't bother you, right? Come on, please...I don't want you sick." Ryan says in sadness. Even though he was still slightly angry about what had just happened, he cared for Max's health as well. 

Max stared at Ryan, his mind wasn't fully thinking straight because he was still slightly drunk but shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, I'll go and sleep there" Max says, which surprised Ryan that Max had agreed so easily. 

While Max was showing Ryan his way to his house, Ryan was surprised to see where Max lived. Max lived in the ghetto side of town, bars on the windows and doors for people not to get in. You could hear arguing coming from his house just as they both approached the house. Empty bottles of alcohol and needles were visibly in the yard of their house. 

Ryan looked around, scared with the area he was in, he thought he was going to get jumped. Ryan was slightly regretting walking with Max all the way home, when he was walking back alone he didn't want anyone hurting him. 

When the two boys reached Max's front door, Max says a small "this is it" implying that this was his house and this is where they part. "I'll...uh see you" Max says, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly while looking at Ryan. 

For some reason, Max's face looked like he genuinely felt grateful that Ryan had took him all the way home. For some odd reason, Ryan's stomach was filled with butterflies, his cheeks were heating into a light pink and he started pulling on his fingers to try distracting himself from the weird feeling in his stomach. 

Max stared at Ryan for a moment, his eyes looking dazed because he was still drunk. Even though Max's eyes were dazed, Ryan still enjoyed looking into them, being mesmerised by them. 

The two of them staid like that, staring into each others eyes before Max went down, pressing his lips against Ryan's, slowly opening his mouth to push his tongue inside. Ryan's eyes opened wide in shock, he was tense at first, not knowing what to do before calming down and going along with it, kissing Max back, letting Max do whatever he wanted. 

Once they had finally parted which felt like forever after, Ryan looked at Max still in shock. Max smirked at Ryan, liking the expression he was making before saying "see you" once again, opening the front door and going inside his house. 

"Y-Yeah...see you" Ryan says, even after Max had walked inside his house and knew Max couldn't hear his response but still said it anyway. While Ryan was about to walk away, he heard the commotion inside getting louder, and was now directed towards Max. "Damn it Max...I told him to be quiet." Ryan says to himself, going to the window which was near the front door, kneeling to try and see what was going on inside. 

Warning: heavy abuse is in this part, so if you're uncomfortable with it, please wait for the next chapter

What Ryan could see is Max had fallen when he entered because he had tripped over a shoe which brought attention onto his parents who looked like total junkies. Just looking at Max's parents, Ryan felt bad for him. 

"What the hell is wrong with this boy, coming home drunk again, wow an arrogant ass prick?!" His father shouts, forcefully bringing Max up by pulling on his shirt and throwing Max against the wall, which in result just made him fall back down again, supporting himself by being on his hands and knees, staring at the floor. 

"Oh-oh my gosh" Ryan says to himself, his eyes opening wide, one hand covering his mouth. The push definitely looked hard and it no doubt left a mark on the wall.

"You're a fucking piece of shit, you know that?! Coming home drunk, again, not bothering to bring your mother and I anything? We told you to get us some things before coming home tonight, didn't we? You were suppose to get our shit, you prick!" His father says, kicking Max's head upwards, heaving Max's whole body slightly flip so he was now laying on his back and his nose was bleeding badly. 

"I-I can't watch this, I can't" Ryan says, but for some reason his eyes were still glued onto what was going on. One hand still covering his mouth in shock. 

Max tried getting up, slowly raising his head. As he raised his head, he saw through the window that Ryan was watching it all go down and slightly smiled, now starting to laugh. 

"What, what're you laughing at boy, you're laughing huh?!" His father asks, now kicking Max multiple times in the side of his stomach. Once his father had finally had enough and was tired, he stared down at Max who was now bleeding from every direction and spits on him. "Go kill yourself so we don't have to deal with you anymore." His father says before turning around and leaving, going back to wherever he was before. 

His mother on the other hand rolled her eyes, following her husband into the other room. Max was still laying on the ground, his whole body pounding in pain. He couldn't move directly then. The most he could do was shake and twitch to try and see when he wouldn't feel so bad to completely get up and move. 

Once Max finally got the strength to move for himself, he slowly started to stand, holding the wall to support himself before making it to the stairs, holding onto the railing while going up the stairs. 

Ryan was still shocked but wanted to help Max. He didn't know what to do, but he slowly and shakily brought his hand up to the doorknob of the house, turning it to find that it was unlocked. He slowly opened it, walking into the house like he was a turtle to try and not bring any attention onto himself. 

 Ryan had finally got into Max's house successfully and almost ran up the stairs so he wasn't on the same floor as those people. Once he got upstairs, he looked at all the rooms in the house. Max's house kind of looked like a junkie house, which didn't surprise him much considering how Max's parents looked. 

Ryan followed the sobbing, where he already knew it was Max's, it sounded like Max. As Ryan slowly opened the door to Max's room, he poked his head inside where he saw Max staring at himself in the mirror, blood covering his face like he was in some horror movie, patches of blood seeping through his clothes. Mixture of blood and tears were pouring down his cheeks which broke Ryan's heart. 

At the same time, he saw Max slowly bring his forearm up, in the other hand held a razor. "NO, MAX!" Ryan shouts, quickly covering his mouth before entering Max's bedroom and closing the door behind him in case his parents came upstairs. 

Max looked shocked to see Ryan and put the razor down off to aside, his other arm dangling by his side. "What...are you doing in here, you can't be in here." Max says, he tried to stop crying to not show emotion towards Ryan. 

Ryan stared at the state Max was in and bit down on his bottom lip. "Come on, let's clean you up." Ryan says in a sigh, walking up to Max and putting one hand out to grab Max's hand but Max instantly brought his hand back, like he was a scared animal. 

Ryan was surprised by Max's action, he thought instead of showing weakness and being scared, Max would have thrown a punch, but he was backing away, not wanting to get hurt anymore then he already was. 

"I...I won't hurt you Max..." Ryan says, slowly bringing his hand down and holding Max's hand firmly, bringing him to wherever Max's bathroom was to help him clean up. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, I was going to add everyone in this chapter, but I didn't know Max and Ryan's part would be this long. Jake, Nate, Carter and Ethan are going to be in this chapter to continue off of their parts. If you want to see Max and Ryan in the next chapter as well, then tell me and I'll add them in the next chapter. Who do you want to see more of in the next chapter?