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Delirious’s POV (Delirious is 15)
My cheek stings and my ears still ring from the sound of the door slamming. It’s official. I’ve been kicked out of my own home.
I don’t have anywhere to go, so I sit on the curb, I thought about going to my sister’s boyfriend’s house, but I don’t think Luke would take too kindly to a 15-year-old showing up on his doorstep at 10 pm. After all, he’s 18 already. So I just sit here, wondering what to do. Am I going to be homeless? I can’t legally get a job… A car pulls up, snapping me out of my thoughts. My sister climbs out and sees me here on the curb. She tilts her head to the side, curious. “Why are you out here?” she questions.
I shake my head. “Dad kicked me out. Told me never to come back.” She laughs, a tinkling bell that doesn’t match her sinister smile. “Finally!” she exclaims. “I’ve been telling him we needed to get rid of you for a couple years now! Hey, Luke!” A head pops out of the side window. He raises an eyebrow. “Dad finally got around to getting rid of the freak!”
Luke looks surprised. He gets out of the car, walking over to me. I flinch and shy away as he gets close. “Are… are you going to hit me too?” I say quietly. He freezes, a step away. He crouches, slowly reaching out to brush some hair off my face. I tremble with the urge to flinch, but stay still. He frowns as he sees the bruise around my eye. The small scars on my cheeks don’t look any better, I know. He stands up and walks over to my sister. “Who did that?” She smiles smugly and giggles-- the sound makes me sick to my stomach.
“I did, obviously! He totally deserved it, he burned my breakfast this morning.” The smile disappears, replaced by a scowl. The speed she changes with is frightening. “In fact, I don’t think he learned his lesson earlier,” she growls. She stalks towards me, and I scramble to get to my feet. I’m not fast enough, though, and she grabs my hood, keeping me from moving. I automatically bring my arms up to cover my face. But I never get hit. I hear a loud smack, and look up. My eyes widen when I see Luke, holding my sister’s arm. Her other hand is covering her cheek. She’s obviously absolutely shocked.
“Leave him alone. He doesn’t deserve this,” Luke tells her coldly. He releases her arm and gently ushers me to his car. “I won’t be seeing you again. Goodbye,” he tosses over his shoulder. During the ride to his house, I awkwardly shift in the seat, wondering why he’s doing this. “Luke?”
He glances at me for a moment. “Yeah bud?” No one’s ever called me that before…
“Well, I was just wondering, why did you do that? I mean, you don’t know me that well so why would you want to help me?” We stop at a red light, and he turns to look at me properly. “Because you shouldn’t have to live a life there, in a place like that. You deserve a good home and a family to come home to.”
The light flashes green, and he looks back to the road. “Does that make you my family?” I joke. Of course I don’t expect the answer he gives.
“If you like.” Tears come to my eyes. I don’t even know why I’m crying. Maybe it’s because he’s so nice, maybe because I have someone I can rely on now, maybe because the relief of finally getting away is setting in. I sit, one hand over my eyes and shoulders shaking as tears quietly roll down my cheeks. Luke gently pats my shoulder.
We get to his house and he helps me out of the car, keeping an arm around me. He keeps telling me to take his bed, but I sit down on the couch. I can’t sleep for a while, just laying there with my eyes shut. At some point I finally drift off.
✯✯✯Timeskip to 4 years later brought to you by bitchy sisters✯✯✯
(Delirious is now 19)
Luke sighs. Again. “I can’t believe you’re actually leaving. Stay in touch, Del, okay?” I groan. “I told you not to call me that! It’s Jonathan, Jon, or Delirious, okay? And I’m literally moving into an apartment fifteen minutes away.”
He chuckles. “I know, but you’re moving in with that guy.. Evan, right? And once you two get closer you’ll forget about me.” I glance at him before looking back to the road. “What do you mean ‘get closer’? We’re just roommates, Toonz.” We had started using these new names for each other when we started our youtube channels, a couple years ago.
He nudges me, and I can practically feel the radiance of his shit-eating grin. “Well, you know, two young adult males stuck in a small apartment, probably walkin’ around without shirts, somethin’s gonna happen!” I shake my head and snort to hide the pink trying to spread across my cheeks.
“Luke that would never happen. And besides I wouldn’t walk around without a shirt, you know that. He’s the only one who might and even then I doubt he’ll want anything to do with me. Although I’d be dying,” I mumble. I immediately regret the last sentence when Luke speaks up again.
“Oooh, is he cute?” I stare straight ahead at the red light, hoping he thinks that’s why my face looks pink. “He’s not cute,” I mutter. “He’s hot as fuck. It’s gonna kill me someday.” We pull into the parking lot before Cartoonz can say anything else. “We’re here, grab a couple boxes. He said he’ll be here to let us in.” I snatch my mask off the console and slip it on.
He raises an eyebrow. “Really? Mask? Does he even know what you look like?” I huff and lead him up to the door. “He has a general description, that’s good enough.” He snorts and shakes his head. “You idiot. Oh well, I get to meet the mysterious Evan.” It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Don’t hold your breath.”
I shift the box to one arm for a moment to knock on the door. A muffled ‘Coming!’ sounds from inside. A moment later the lock turns, and Evan pulls it open. Ad holy fuck he’s shirtless. “Oh, hey, Del!” he greets, not seeming fazed by his appearance. Luke glares sideways at me, then turns forward with a smile. “Hey, Evan, right? I’m Luke, aka Cartoonz.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you. Nice to finally meet you!” Luke grins at me. “Likewise.” I finally snap out of my shock. “He came by to help with my stuff,” I grin. “Come on Toonz.” As we walk down the hall to what’s going to be my room, he nudges me.
“Thought I wasn’t allowed to call you Del?” he smirks. “You can’t,” I scoff. “Oh so it’s only reserved for guys who walk around shirtless in front of you?” he snickers, setting down the box he was carrying. I glare at him. “Shut up.”
We walk back towards Evan, in the main room, and in my peripheral vision I can see Luke getting ready to say something. I clap my hands once. “Okay, Luke, thanks for the help but it’s time to go! I’ll take you home.” His grin widens. “Yeah, I should get going and let you two settle in.”
“I’ll be back in about half an hour,” I tell Evan as I push Luke out the door. He nods and waves. The drive home is full of Luke bugging the hell out of me, and me ignoring him. Finally we pull up to our-- his house. “Get out,” I laugh. He grins and pulls me from the car and into a hug, patting my back slightly.
Letting go, he turns and starts to walk up to the door. “Don’t forget me because you’re too focused on Evan!” he calls over his shoulder. I flip him off, grinning. “Like I could forget the guy who saved me. See you Toonz!” I don’t know how things will go in my new home, but no matter what I’ll always remember Luke. No doubt about that.