TW: Complications of starving, letting yourself go.

Ryan Gerstemeier had gone insane.

Yes, the poor boy couldn't focus anymore. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel. He couldn't eat. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't even find the strength to get out of bed. He cried himself dry. The boy was skin and bone. He was a walking skeleton, probably incapable of walking on his own after a week and a half of nothing. It was putting a humongous dent in his health. Frankly, Ryan wasn't even sure what was real and what was fake, anymore. It hurt him to even open his eyes in the morning. It gave him piercing headaches, which would usually subside when he flipped over to the other side to escape the line of sunlight coming from his window.

If Sean were here, oh, if Sean were here, he'd be getting an entire pizza thrown at him. If Sean were here, Ryan would be heaving with laughter while Sean shoved a mozzarella stick in his throat while he made dirty jokes. If Sean were there, he'd be having a heart to heart with Ryan, looking him dead in the eyes and saying, "Come on, Ry. You can't sit here in bed for the rest of you life!"

But Sean wasn't here.

And Ryan was slowly killing himself.

And Zach knew it.

Zach just sat there, a room over, wishing that he had someone to talk to, but Peter was dead, and Ryan hadn't emerged from his room for a week and a half. Ryan hadn't made a peep for most of that time. Zach was feeling like he was failing as a friend, but all he could do was sit there and worry about the boy.

Ryan slowly found himself slipping into a black abyss. He couldn't remember the last time he had a sip of water, but his head ached, and his hand shook. His tongue was dry, and he couldn't even push himself up out of bed. He only saw how bad it was, once it was too bad to fix. Ryan felt like he was going to die in that spot. It was as if a switch had been flipped then and there. He hadn't had water in five days, and he hadn't had food in nine. Ryan was starving himself, and he didn't notice. He felt the days pass as hours, and the hours as minutes, all because he couldn't think of the damn initials. Let's face it. He isn't ever going to figure it out. There are plenty of people out there. For all he knows, they could be getting murdered on the other side of the campus, and Ryan just nearly killed himself trying to stop it.

His voice didn't work. Why would it. It was incredibly hoarse, and all he could manage was a silent whisper. Even that took half of his energy. "Z..Za—" A fit of coughs cut him off, still almost silent. "Za...a...a—" The amount of pain he was in when he finally found the last syllable was remarkable. It felt like thousands of tiny pins and needles. He needed his friend. He needed him, now. "Za..ach!" He managed

Luckily, Zach was listening for the tiniest sound coming from his friends room. He was almost like a distracted rabbit when they hear the predator. Off he goes.

And then the main problem.

Zach LeMense, you idiot!

He left his key at Ryan's last time he was there.

So he grabs a safety pin and goes to work.

Meanwhile, Ryan is seeing shapes on the ceiling. He was beginning to forget what he was waiting for. He just wanted to go back to sleep. But he was waiting for something. H couldn't remember what he was waiting for, and then he glanced at his bony shoulder and was shocked back to reality right as Zach opens the door.

Zach's heart dropped.

Ryan was malnourished, to say the least, and the room smelled rancid. He was struggling to keep himself awake on the bed. Zach freaked.

"Ryan!" Zach yelped. "Jesus Christ," He squeaked, nearly sprinting to help him. "Hey, bud, It's gonna be okay." Zach propped Ryan into a sitting position. He tilted his head, trying not to make his movements too frantic. He grabbed a foam cup and filled it with water and shoved to his friend. Let's face it, Zach was force-feeding Ryan. "What the hell, Ry?"

Ryan shot a glance up at Zach. "I... I don't know." He coughed, his frame tiny.

"When was the last time you ate?" Zach drew his eyebrows together, pursing his lips in concern. Ryan had, naturally, a lanky frame, before, but he was legitimately starving. It was painful to see, and Zach started realizing how long it had been since he had seen his best friend. It been a good 11 days. Zach nearly fell off the bed.

"I don't know." Ryan squeaked.

"Was it the murders, Ry?" Zach snapped, digging through a cabinet, tossing a package of saltines at hi friend and refilling the water. Zach was shaking as he stared back at his friend. "Did they cause this?"

Ryan looked down, almost ashamed. "Yes."

"Profanity." Zach snapped. He looked down. "They stressed you out this much?"

Ryan's breath hitched. "There were initials, Zach." Ryan shoved another saltine into his mouth, squinting at the thought. He looked up at Zach, hoping he could help figure it out.

"Initials, Ryan?" Zach sighed. "What's the deal with these initials. You never explained it to me." Zach felt annoyance, at that. He didn't mean to. He just felt clueless, out of the loop.

"Zach, think about it!" Ryan was still hoarse, but he couldn't figure out how else to say it than scream it. "Sean... he had PE carved into his arm. Less than a week later, Peter Eckard was killed, with NM there. Then there was Noelle. Don't you get it?"

And then Zach felt incredibly stupid. "What were Noelle's?

"PC. I've been trying to figure out who is next, but... but I can't figure it out, so I just devoted everything to figuring it out as I forgot about everything and—" Ryan gasped. "Zach, I know who it is," he whispered. "Oh, my God... Zach. We need to find Blake."

The only person he could think of with those initials was someone that Ryan was ashamed of for forgetting. The other Peter. Blake's twin brother.

"Zach, go."

And Zach did.

But when he opened the door, it revealed a sobbing Blake, just about to knock.

Zach and Ryan exchange a glance, before looking back to Blake.

"Peter?"

Blake collapses into Zach's embrace, hugging him so tightly it nearly cut off his airway, but he didn't mind, because every single person in that room knew what was happening, and this was the only way Zach could help.

Blake looked up, wiping the tears from his face.

"Peter."