"You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!" - The Joker, The Dark Knight

"Emmy!" a familiar voice called, making me stop, foot hovering above the step. I paused and closed my eyes tightly, taking a deep breath before turning, "Can I ask you something?"

Griffin Cutkosky was staring at me from right outside his apartment, light blue eyes narrowed, head cocked to the side. I had been avoiding Griffin for the past few days - something that I'm sure he's taken notice of - but now there's nowhere to go. I'm stuck between the top step and Griffin, with no way to make up an excuse.

It's not that I particularly want to distance myself from Griffin. It's that I don't know how to handle him. I watched Griffin install a camcorder on his kitchen island before he was scared that someone had broken into his apartment and turned on his oven, and I don't know how to deal with that. I'm afraid I'll wind up blurting out that Griffin is taking paranoia to a new level and, quite frankly, freaking me out.

"Oh, sure," I smiled tightly, adjusting the straps on my schoolbag and walking up the last step. I dropped my bag in front of my apartment door and walked over to Griffin's, walking into his apartment when he stepped to the side, "What's up?"

Griffin paced the length of his apartment, tugging a vicious path through his messy blond hair with his fingers, pulling at the strands. The sleeves of Griffin's black button-up shirt were rolled up, leaving red, crescent-shaped marks along his forearms. I opened my mouth to ask if Griffin was even okay, but he cut me off quickly. 

"I'm sorry, I know we haven't talked the past few days, but I need a favor," Griffin tugged at the collar of his shirt, pulling the black material away from his neck, "My car is in the shop and Grant just called me because he got in an accident and I need a ride."

As much as I had wanted to spend some time away from Griffin - to think over everything that had happened - I couldn't say no to that. Griffin's brother had gotten into an accident, and I wasn't going to tell Griffin that I wouldn't give him a ride. 

"Oh God, of course," I said, grabbing my keys out of my bag and quickly stepping out of his apartment. Griffin followed me and I unlocked my door, tossing my schoolbag haphazardly into the room and switching it out for my purse, "Do you know if he's okay?" 

Griffin and I both left my apartment, quickly walking to the elevator and clicking the button for the ground-level. Griffin kept nervously tugging his fingers through his hair, cracking his knuckles, or playing with the buttons on his shirt. His dark belt was hanging out of the loops, hanging down the front of his khaki pants, but I didn't say anything.

"I don't know," Griffin swallowed tightly, Adams apple bopping up and down in his throat, "Grant just said he got in an accident and that he's home. He said he was fine, but I don't fucking believe that."

I had known Griffin long enough to know that his anger wasn't at Grant but at the situation, so I just sent him a tight smile, hoping that said all the words that I couldn't get out. I didn't know if Grant was okay - or even what happened - and I didn't know what to say. I couldn't assure Griffin that Grant would be fine because I didn't know.

We exited the apartment complex, taking long-legged strides to my car and getting in. Griffin plugged Grant's address into my GPS and we were off, neither of us saying a word. Griffin was fidgeting and mumbling things under his breath, and I just had no words to say. I turned the radio on quietly in an attempt to make the silence between us less tense. 

I was still caught up on the fact that Griffin had plugged the camcorder into his kitchen, but I tried to force my thoughts away from that. It was just hard to believe that the panicking, anxious boy next to me had been the same one to install a camcorder into his apartment to see if someone was breaking in.

Then again, there was a lot I never would have guessed about Griffin.

"Fuck!" Griffin snapped, slamming his fist against his knee. Taking a deep breath and pinching his nose, Griffin's eyebrows furrowed into a tight line, "Grant isn't answering my goddamn texts."

Turning down the volume on the radio until it was barely audible, "I'm sure he's fine, Griffin. He's probably just trying to process what happened."

Griffin's jaw clenched, the bones in his face popping against the skin, "He can process what my texts say," he snapped, posture sinking the second he spoke. Griffin dropped his phone into his lap and sighed deeply, dragging his hands down his face, "I'm sorry, Emmy. I just can't handle anything happening to him."

"Do not apologize," I said, flicking on my turn signal as I got into the other lane, "You care about your brother. That isn't a crime."

Griffin slouched down in his seat and I pulled up to a red light, hitting the brake and turning to look at the boy next to me. 

Griffin looked a mess, which was something I felt was more common with him than anything else. His hair was a mess on his hair, strands curling by his temples and falling into his eyes. The bags under Griffin's eyes were dark and prominent, looking almost equivalent to black eyes. He looked dressed for work - black collared shirt, khaki jeans, and a pair of dark shoes - but the buttons on his shirt were undone and his pants were hanging low on his hips, his belt practically hanging off of them.

I wondered if there was ever a time when Griffin didn't look so stressed and exhausted.

I tore my gaze away from Griffin and turned down the street the GPS directed me to, stopping in front of the address I had plugged into it. Grant lived in an actual, nice house, but my gaze was more focused on the car parked in the driveway. Grant must have backed in, because I was staring at a very dented and busted up looking front bumper.

"Shit," Griffin cursed, pushing open his door and getting out. Griffin jogged up the stairs to Grant's house and I got out, trailing behind him a bit, "Grant! Open the door!"

Almost in command, the door swung open, revealing a disheveled and shocked looking Grant. I smiled tightly at him, but Griffin grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pulled him back into the house, letting the door swing shut behind them. I contemplated a moment before pushing open the door and following the two of them.

Grant was sitting on the couch and Griffin crouched in front of him, hands on his brother's cheeks as he turned his head lightly to the side. There was a nasty, purple bruise on Grant's cheek, but I could hear him quietly telling Griffin that he was fine. The slight trembling of his hands on his knees said otherwise.

"Did you go to the hospital?" Griffin said, dropping down fully onto the floor and putting his hands in his lap. Griffin looked up at his brother, voice more tense when he spoke, "Or call the police? What happened, Grant?"

Instead of answering, Grant turned to me and shot me a weak smile, "Hey, Emmy."

"Hi, Grant," I said back, voice tight. I had only met Grant two times and yet the sight of him looking bruised and exhausted was a heartbreaking one. I was so used to seeing Griffin looking close to collapsing where he stood, but Grant seemed so much more innocent than his brother. Grant looking anything but happy was a bit unnerving.

"All right, great, we've all greeted each other," Griffin snapped, snapping his fingers in front of Grant's face to get his attention. Standing up, Griffin put a gentle hand on Grant's shoulder, "What happened?"

There was a pregnant pause, then, the air tense as we waited for Grant to speak. Griffin's hand was shaking on his brother's shoulders, fingers digging into his shoulders in an attempt to stop the trembling, I assumed. If anything, Griffin looked more afraid than Grant, eyes locking on any space aside from his brother.

I just stood by the door, quietly waiting for Grant to answer. I almost felt like I was intruding - like I should have waited back in the car. Despite the persistent feeling, I also couldn't help but feel like I did have a right to be there. Griffin had dragged me into this and I felt like I had been pulled into his life enough to be there.

"It wasn't exactly an accident," Grant admitted, eyes locked directly on the floor. Griffin's fingers tightened on Grant's shoulder and Grant let out a squeak of pain and jerked out of his brother's grip. Griffin dropped his hand immediately, face flushing, "I crashed. Into a pole."

Griffin stepped back in surprise, but I couldn't help but think that it made sense. The damage to Grant's car didn't seem like he had been crashed into, and he had also gone right home after the accident. That means he didn't call the police, which meant that no one else had been involved. I was surprised at how much sense it actually made, even if Grant's statement still leave room for questioning.

Griffin walked to the other side of the room and stopped by the fireplace, gripping the edge of it until his knuckles turned pale white. Grant looked absolutely nervous in that moment; his face had flushed pale white, eyes darting around the room, fingers nervously twiddling with the blanket by his sides.

"Let me explain, Griff."

Griffin's back clenched, his shoulder blades pressing against the material of his shirt, "Please explain to me how you crashed into a pole, Grant, and sent me into a panic attack. Please explain this."

"It's not a joke!" Grant snapped suddenly, slamming his fist against the table in front of him. Grant looked over at Griffin, blue eyes iced over, "I was driving and suddenly I just drew a blank. I forgot my name, where I was, everything. It all slipped my mind. I crashed into the pole and when I woke up, it all came back to me. But for those few minutes I couldn't have told you my name."

My eyes widened and I put a hand over my mouth to keep any sounds at bay. Grant's story had chilled me to the bone and sent my heart beating a little bit faster. Grant's story was terrifying - I couldn't imagine suddenly drawing a blank on my entire existence, let alone while driving. I couldn't imagine how horrifying that must have been.

Griffin turned slowly, face drained of any color. The purple bags under his eyes seemed to stand out as he stared in Grant in horror, "Has that ever happened to you before?"

"I don't think so," Grant admitted, nimbly twisting his fingers together and keeping his eyes on the floor, "I haven't been sleeping much and I've just felt really stressed. I just don't know what happened, Griff."

Griffin stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants and walked forward, dropping down on the spot next to Grant. Griffin wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulder and squeezed lightly, pulling Grant into him, "I'm gonna stay here tonight," he said, "We'll see how you feel tomorrow and check out the damage on your car, okay?"

Grant opened his mouth to protest, but Griffin cut him off quickly. In a matter of minutes Griffin had sent Grant to get blankets for him, leaving just the two of us in the living room. Griffin stood up, an apologetic expression on his face as he walked over to me. Before I could say anything, Griffin pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, flicking through the bills before handing me a twenty.

"It's gas money," Griffin said, grabbing my hand from my side and gently opening my fingers before putting the bill in them, "Thank you, Emmy. I really appreciate this."

I reluctantly stuffed the bill into my pocket, already knowing that Griffin wasn't going to accept it back. So much had happened in the past half-hour, anyway, that I could barely wrap my head around it. I didn't know what to say. I still hadn't processed Grant's story or the horror of it, let alone what Griffin must have been feeling for his brother.

"Of course," I told him, standing between the doorway, holding my door open with my hip, "I hope Grant feels better. Be safe, okay?"

Griffin smiled bitterly, "I think it's a little late for that."

</ hi! so i've had this update written all day, but wattpad was dipping out and wouldn't let me post! make sure to leave your comments, love you all! :-) (also omg so many of you guys leave some really deep and amazing guesses!)