First chapter, yay!

A reminder that this book is mature (18+) and has triggering content. If you are easily triggered, do not continue reading this story! There will not be trigger warnings for mature/smut chapters (intimate scenes), only for chapters or sequences with very sensitive subjects. Read at your own risk.

Thank you, I hope you will enjoy!❤

Seizure © BTS_lifehacks

Do not copy or steal. All rights reserved.

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Jason looks down at the crumpled note in his hands where the supposed address of his new job and home is written. He has been searching around the entire city for about an hour now in order to find this building, only succeeding after asking a random passerby for help.

Now, he's staring at the old, gray building before him. It's worn on the edges, there's barely any paint left and the house-number plate has fallen down so it's only half attached to the wall. Talk about a fixer-upper in downtown New York. Jason doesn't know what he expected when he accepted this job-offer from his college friend, but it certainly wasn't this.

Home for mentally ill. That's what's written underneath the house-number, making it all that extra depressing. Well, he guesses the freaky outside is needed for a freaky inside. Jason is in the need of money and at the moment he's going to be thrown out of his apartment because he hasn't been able to pay the landlord for the past three months. This place was the only place that offered him a room to stay in as a part of his salary, so it was an excellent opportunity for him.

Apparently, they were in the need of helpers to take care of the mentally ill patients that are living here, but mostly in the afternoon or evenings, so he can still go to college without a problem.

However, this place seems to be even worse than his one-room apartment back in Brooklyn... but now he's closer to his college at least. Jason sighs and runs a hand through his rather long black curls before he walks up the steps. He knocks heavily on the door and waits for someone to open it for him.

He made plans with the boss of a section of the near by hospital online and was told to come today, even move in if he was ready for it. He's supposed to meet with some guy who's going to be his team leader. 

Suddenly, Jason hears someone talking and moving around behind the door and after a few minutes, it's finally dragged open. A guy, probably around 25 or something, gets into view. He has a smile on his lips that displays his perfect set of teeth, his hair is dark brown or almost close to black and he's rather tall. Overly handsome at that.

"Are you Jason?" he asks with a cheery voice, it's light and soft. He reaches a hand out for the younger to shake.

"Yes, Alex gave me directions for this house, so I hope I'm at the right place?" Jason asks and grabs the other's hand. Apparently, this house is in a cooporation with some other departmens in the healthcare system, so he wasn't sure which house to go to. 

"Indeed, we are very much in need of staff! I'm Joshua by the way, you can come inside," the so-called Joshua says and steps back so Jason can walk past him, escaping from the freezing November weather. Joshua encourages him to take off his shoes and coat before they walk further into the three-story house.

"So, you want to live here right?" the male asks, pushing open a door that leads into another small entrance. 

"Yeah, my bags will be brought here later when my friend can borrow his parents' car," Jason explains. He remembers the name of the team leader, which is Joshua. Therefore, it's probably a good idea to inform this guy about everything, since he's running things around here. 

"Amazing, you'll get a room on the third floor next to mine," Joshua instructs and takes them through yet another door. "I might as well walk you through the house. This is one of the common areas, there's one on each floor. This is the main one though."

Jason just nods and keeps following along, knowing that he's probably going to get lost the first few times. The place isn't necessarily big, but there's a lot of doors and rooms that can make it seem like the beginning of a maze. It's pretty filthy though and Jason can only sigh at that.

"This is the kitchen and over there we have two bathrooms, there are also bathrooms on the other floors," Joshua points to a door behind the kitchen area. "There are a total of five residents here, I will introduce you to all of them later today and help you through their files."

"How much staff is there?" Jason questions, considering that there is absolutely no one in the rooms they are standing in.

"It's just me," Joshua looks back at him with a smile, "and now you of course."

Only one staff member? No wonder they have been looking for employees. Jason nods and Joshua tells him to sit down by the table that is located in the middle of the common area. The elder enters the kitchen, which is open so Jason can still see him, where he grabs two glasses and a jug of water.

"Isn't it stressing, being the only worker here?" Jason questions and watches as the jug and glasses get placed before him. Through the email, Jason could sense that the place was in desperate needs for another worker... this is probably also the reason why the elder man would go as far as to give Jason a room. He didn't know Joshua was all alone though. 

Joshua pours a glass for him and then one for himself before sitting down.

"It has been. It's not easy being alone when the people I'm taking care of can be very... difficult, so to say. That's also one of the reasons why it's hard to find people who will take this offer," he explains, "however, some of the patients here are really helpful, so I have managed so far. I was the one who wanted to start up this section, so I can't really complain." 

A small laugh follows. Joshuas voice is soft and caring, making Jason feel at ease almost immediately. He seems like a genuine person, he's very calm and mature compared to his looks (and probably age too). Still, Jason gets a little skeptical after running over the elder's words in his head.

"Difficult?" he asks. He didn't expect it to be easy working here, not when everyone living here is mentally unstable or ill. It's always hard to deal with people in such a way, just like at hospitals or nursing homes. But for the creater of the house to just say that word easily doesn't seem usual, but maybe he's just preparing Jason for the worst. 

Joshua smiles and grabs a folder that's lying a little from them. It seems like he put it out beforehand because he knew they were going to discuss this topic. He opens it up and takes out the first file.

"These are files over the boys living here. They are all in their rooms right now, but you will meet them later at dinner time. I thought it would be better to ease you into it, so I sent them away for a while," Joshua explains, skipping through a few pages. 

"There are no girls?"

"No, the government set out a law saying we can't mix the genders when working with mentally ill people. It's stupid but that's just how it is... for protection."

Jason hums and looks down. The first paper Joshua lands on shows a picture of a boy with blonde hair and big eyes, he has absolutely perfect skin and he's smiling brightly for the camera.

"This is Jimmy, he's bipolar," Joshua says. Jason has heard the term before, but to be honest he doesn't know that much about mental disorders. Joshua seems to notice his confusion and gently starts explaining the term.

"It means that he has days where he's on cloud 9. You know, full of energy, happy and energetic. Even if he was at a funeral, he would probably be running around and asking people to dance with him," Joshua chuckles, "but bipolar also means that he has days where he's the complete opposite of that. He hits rock bottom on those days and is so depressed he can't eat or sleep at all. This also makes him suicidal... that's why he lives here, his family couldn't deal with it any longer. He's placed on the first floor, it wouldn't be safe to have him close to a window from any of the other floors."

Suicidal? Jason sure doesn't hope he has to stop someone from trying to take their own life... the reality of this job starts sinking into him now and he isn't even past the first patient yet. He ignores it to his best ability and forces his attention back to the next paper Joshua turns to. It seems like the papers are placed in order of the floors.

"This is Noah." A boy with shorter brown hair and glasses is in the picture. He has a charming dimple smile and looks like a very calm person, but it's hard to determine solely from a picture. "He has PTSD. He was kidnapped and abused at the mare age of 10, making him see and experience things that would have messed anyone up... luckily he was saved when he was 20, though he was very sick..."

Kidnapped? Holy shit, this is a lot to take in. Jason stares at the picture, he wouldn't have known for a second what this boy had been through if he hadn't been told. He looks so mature and... grown up?

"He's mostly very relaxed, doesn't have episodes often. It's only sometimes with loud sounds or sudden movements he gets triggered. He's also suicidal and therefore living on the first floor," Joshua explains, "I think you will like him. He's the most calm one here," he chuckles fondly, trying to ease the heavy information he's dumping onto Jason. 

The next file shows a boy with completely black hair that's falling lazily over his forehead. He has a blank expression and in contrast to the others, he isn't smiling at all. Jason can see the top of his shoulders where he's wearing a black leather jacket. The only word Jason can seem to connect with this person is badass. 

"This is Simon. Don't get fooled by the name, he's a different breed," Joshua jokes slightly, "he has split personality disorder. His main personality is Simon, unfortunately, this is what many would consider his 'bad' personality. However, I know that Simon is kind deep down. Then there's Sim, he's the 'soft' side as many would call it. He's shy and very timid, he doesn't come out very often... mostly triggered when his family is accidentally mentioned."

Jason listens with curiosity, he can't imagine someone having different personalities. He knows people like these exist, but he has only read about them in books or seen them in movies. Still, he finds it quite weird, he can barely believe it.

"So a little advice, do not mention his family without reason, Sim tends to run away because he gets scared and it's not easy finding him again," Joshua instructs, "his final side is called Sina. This side is calm and rational, often comes out if Simon has to go to an interview or maybe interact with certain people. This is normally the person that's the main personality for people with split personality disorder, but something got mixed up with Simon, I don't know why. That's why he can be a bit of a challenge, but I love him nonetheless."

Joshua really talks about these people as if they were his kids. He seems to care deeply about them, more than just in a working manner. Since Jason believes all of these people are gathered in a house like this, it's probably because their parents couldn't take the responsibilty of a special needs child. Which means, Joshua might as well be their parent. 

"He lives on the second floor together with Hunter who looks like this," the photo shows a boy with a bright smile and messy, red hair. He's holding around his face with his hands, probably trying to look cute for the picture. A weirdo probably, Jason thinks.

"He suffers from severe ADHD, meaning he is an energy bomb. You can't have him sit still for more than 2 seconds and it's basically impossible for him to concentrate. He's the only patient that doesn't have home school. He fidgets a lot, but overall he's a good person. He is very physical, so don't get surprised if he hugs or kisses you on the cheeks when you meet him - that's just how he is."

Jason nods, he's not really a touchy person but he doesn't really mind it either. He just hopes it won't be too much, there's a lot to take in, in this household.

"And the final one, Travis. He's the one you'll probably be working mostly with... I have been considering sending him back to his normal college, which is where you also attend I believe," Joshua says, "he lives on the third floor with us."

Jason looks at the photo and from what he can see, he doesn't know this person. The guy has light brown hair that reaches his temples, his eyes are big but here they are totally empty from emotion. Like Simon, he isn't smiling or showing any interest in the camera. He's the one Jason is going to deal with? He doesn't look very friendly to be honest.

"He has seizures on a daily basis. There aren't certain things that trigger it, but it happens about two times a day where his mind totally blacks out. He can normally feel the seizure coming about 5 to 10 minutes before it happens, so he alerts us when it starts occurring. This means he spends most of his time in his room alone, he doesn't like social interaction much."

Great, Jason ironically thinks.

"When the seizure happens he can't see or hear anything, his body just shakes and he has to lay down every time. Often it's good to put pressure on his face and massage the back of his neck, it helps him calm down. You just have to make sure he doesn't hurt himself when it happens," Joshua says, he might as well tell the basics now, "after a seizure he can't really respond for about an hour and he always has a headache, so you just have to look after him there. Aside from that, he mostly looks out for himself."

"So, he's the one I'll be spending most time with?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, of course, I'll be there to assist and you have to get familiar with the other guys too, but if Travis has to get back in college, he will need you to be there. You don't have to be in his class or anything, you just have to be close enough so he can reach you when he has a seizure."

Jason nods and looks at the picture of the boy. It shouldn't be too hard to do that if this Travis guy can mostly take care of himself.

"He's generally very depressed and moody, but he isn't suicidal or anything like that. To be honest, I think he really wants to go out and experience a lot of things, but his seizures are holding him back," Joshua sighs, clearly feeling pity for the boy, "I hope he one day will be free from them and start living a real life as a teenager."

Jason looks down at the picture again. He can imagine it must be absolute shit to live a life where you have to be close to someone 24/7, just because your body can't function the way it should. It must really drain the life and energy from you.

"I hope this didn't scare you away, I could really use a hand," the elder male chuckles, "you'll get paid a fair amount and of course be free to take anything in the fridge and use as much water in the shower as you want."

It seems like a fair opportunity. He isn't scared away, but it's definitely not a job many people would jump head first into. It's not like he really has an alternative though, he needs the money.

"It sounds great."

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First chapter, what do you think?❤

IDEAS FOR THE VISUALS OF THE CHARACTERS:

I made these on artbreeder just to give some ideas for you, but of course you can imagine the boys just the way you want! This is simply to kick-start some of my readers' imagination in case they find that more comfortable❤ 

If you have your own images in your head, just skip to the next chapter, ly❤

JASON

JOSHUA

JIMMY

NOAH

SIMON

HUNTER

TRAVIS

ALEX

Some of them kind of look like girls hahaha but f*ck toxic masculinity! Anyway I hope it helped some of you out and that they weren't too bad💀❤