WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT.

PLEASE READ THE BIT AT THE END!

Eli woke up ten minutes before his alarm, so he decided to check on Darius, who was in the spare bedroom.

His first day with them was quite odd. Darius was quiet, and would only speak if he was spoken to.
He did say thank you every few minutes though, and was being incredibly helpful.

He was a far cry from the energetic ball of chaos Eli knew.

Eli's spirit almost left his body when he saw an empty bed.
He let out a yelp, before hurrying to his parents' room.

"Mum, Dad!
Wake up!"

His Mum stirred, quiet groaning noises escaping her lips.
His Dad sat up immediately.

"What?
What's happened?"

"It's Darius!
He's not in his bed."

The next five minutes consisted of Eli and his Dad running around the house whilst his Mum put a jumper on.

"No, no, this can't be happening!", exclaimed Eli.
"How have I lost my friend?"

"I can't lose someone's kid!", yelled his Dad.
"That's a lawsuit waiting to happen."

The faint sound of rustling made Eli check the back door.
He noticed movement coming from near one of the bushes in the back garden.

He opened the door and hurried out, but not before grabbing a rake from near the door.
Slowly, Eli krept towards the bush, standing on his tip toes to make sure he didn't make too much noise.

When he got next to the bush, he reached his hand out to part it, but ended up dropping the rake in the process.

The sudden movement caused the rustling in the bush to intensify, and someone emerged from it.

"AHH!", screamed Eli, flailing his arms in the air.

His screams got louder when the other person joined in.

"BEGONE, BURGLAR!", he yelled, before picking up the rake again.

"No, no, wait, no!
It's me!", exclaimed the boy.

Eli's eyes widened when he saw who it was.
"Darius?
What are you doing out here?"

Eli finally got a glimpse of inside the bush.
He saw a sleeping bag, a phone and a water bottle.
A wave of realisation crashed over him. "Did you sleep out here all night?"

Darius' face went red with embarrassment.

"What's going on?", asked Eli's Dad, with Eli's Mum not far behind them.

"Darius?", questioned Eli's Mum.
"Why are you out here?"

Darius frowned, and looked at the ground.
"I'm sorry.
I'm really, really sorry.
It won't happen again!"

Eli and his family were shocked by the desperation in Darius' voice.

"Hey, no... we're not mad", said Eli, placing a hand on Darius' shoulder. "You just scared us, that's all.
Your bed was made and everything."

"Yeah.
I mean, I thought you were just an early worm but something didn't seem right", said Eli's Mum.

Darius sighed.
"I feel so stupid."

"Come on, whatever it is, you can tell us", said Eli's Dad.
"When I first started going to therapy, I felt like a right idiot.
And I'll be honest, I was really embarrassed when you came ours yesterday."

"Why?", questioned a confused Eli.

"Well he was there when I... hit rock bottom, so to speak.
I felt embarrassed seeing him again because he saw me at my worst", he explained.

Darius frowned.
"I'm sorry, I-"

His Dad shook his head.
"-No, no, don't be sorry, lad!
I'm only saying.
I felt stupid, but that feeling's passed now.
So yours will too."

Darius hadn't thought about it like that. Seeing as Eli's Dad opened up, Darius felt like he wouldn't be judged if he did the same.

"I... I snore a lot when I'm anxious or nervous.
Don't know why.
I just always have.
It drives my Mum crazy.
I was... I was worried that you'd get sick of it and throw me out.
Or, you'd just silently take it.
You've been so good to me, I didn't want to be an inconvenience."

Eli's face softened.
He hadn't considered that Darius would still be dealing with trauma from his time on the streets.

"Darius... is that why you've been acting so different?"

"You noticed, huh?"

"Well, yeah.
Only because I was expecting you to be more talkative.
You know, bite my ear off like you usually do."

Darius chuckled at this.

"Sweetheart, we don't care about your snoring", said Eli's Mum.
"Eli snores all the time!"

"Hey!", exclaimed Eli.

"Oh yeah, and I thought the battlefield was loud!", added Eli's Dad.

"Et tu, Brute?", asked Eli.

"I'm shocked, actually", said Darius.
"I didn't think Eli could snore!
I always imagined him to recite Shakespeare's plays in full when he sleeps."

Eli and his parents laughed at this, and Darius felt a warm feeling in his chest.

"We want you here for as long as you want to be here, Darius", said Eli. "Nothing will change that."

"Really?"

Eli's parents nodded, before giving him the comforting smiles that he really needed.

Eli placed his free hand on Darius' other shoulder.
"We just want you to be you."

Overcome with emotions and struggling to find the words, Darius just leaned into Eli's touch, and Eli just wrapped his arms around him.

Eli's Dad patted Darius' back, whilst his Mum gently rubbed it.

He didn't know he needed a hug so badly.
Although his parents did love him, he couldn't remember the last time they hugged him.

Darius also didn't realise how much Eli needed the hug too.
He loved Stanley.
Always will.
But he was grateful that he was staying with Eli.

As much as he tires Eli out at times, he really does appreciate how much he cares about him.

______________________________

Hi!

This chapter is a really special one for me to right. Since I planned it, I've been waiting for the time I get to write this.

In our society, boys/men/males are taught to be emotionless and strong all the time, and anything other than that diminishes their worth as a person. We're starting to see some healthy male friendships in the media, but there's still a long way to go.

It's this unhealthy narrative of toxic masculinity that makes them feel like they can't be affectionate to other males, or that they can't admit when they are struggling with their mental health.

We need to learn that friendships like Stanley & Darius', and the boy's entire friendship group ARE normal, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with men showing emotions.

So the next time some of your male friends are being affectionate towards each other, and someone calls it 'gay' or makes fun of them, let them know there's nothing wrong with them. Even if they're not your friends, try to pull them aside and tell them.

If you're quite shy, you can always just make sure you do your best to make sure YOU don't say stuff that could make them insecure.

And in regards to homelessness, it is an ongoing battle. If it's something you're interested in helping sort, make sure to do thorough research, and find some videos from ACTUAL homeless people to get their perspective on things.

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

yeonskosmos

-cherrysvalanxe

CaptainHermioneSwan

The_Slytherclaw

gillioddities

DoodleYeet

starryeyedturtle