This makes you all hate me, right^^

---

Three weeks ago

Michael felt dread growing in his stomach. There were only three weeks until Halloween, and he didn't know what he was going to do. Jeremy was probably going to go to Jake's party again since he was pretty much the hero of the school, even though he consistently insisted it was mostly Michael. Apparently, it was hard to accept a nerd like him could ever be a hero. 

It was lunch now, and Michael was looking for Jeremy so they could sit together. Thankfully, today he wasn't sitting with the popular kids, so Michael had him all to himself.

"Michael," Jeremy called out, seeing him for the first time. 

Michael waved back before running up to him. Jeremy had gotten up from his seat so they could do their handshake before anything else. 

"So," Jeremy started, sitting down in the seat he had previously been in. "Jake invited me to his party this year. What are you doing?" 

"I was planning on getting high."

"So, nothing new?" Jeremy chuckled. 

"No Jeremy. Nothing new." He blushed a bit as he looked at the adorable smirk on his friend's face. "Are you going to go?"

"Yeah, probably. Hey, you should come with me. I'm sure no one would notice. How about it?" 

Michael froze at the thought of it. He could never go back there. Even if the house had been burned down, Jake had just rebuilt it, so it was still the same house. 

"I-I'm fine. I have, um, stuff. I gotta go. Bye." He stuttered before running into the hallways of the school, not even hearing the confused yelling of his friend trying to get him to come back.

---

The rest of the day Michael avoided Jeremy. It was harder than it sounded because they passed each other in the hallway between almost every period. He would have had to find other ways to get to most of his classes. Jeremy was worried it was something he had said at lunch. When it was finally time to go home, Jeremy saw Michael running down the street toward his house. He chased him until he got to the shorter boy's home and walked through the slightly ajar doorway.  

"Michael?" He called out as loud as he could. Jeremy didn't hear anything. It was quiet. But he knew his friend was here. He called out Michael's name again, no response. He knew he was just trying to get Jeremy to give up by being quiet, but Jeremy could be stubborn when he wanted to be.

"Michael?" He was checking his room now. Nothing. He walked toward the bathroom and opened the door with a creak. "Michael?" 

Without missing a beat he dropped down to the floor and wrapped his arms around his friend. He just needed to be held. 

"What's wrong?" Jeremy whispered just loud enough for Michael to hear him. He knew just how to calm him down. 

Michael didn't even think before spilling the entire story. How he had had a panic attack, how it was because he was abandoned, and how he almost ended it all. 

They both spent the rest of the evening in the same position, Jeremy repeatedly apologizing. 

"I promise I won't leave your side again Michael. Never again."