It had been weeks since Melo had spoken to the Spelunkers friendgroup. Naturally, everyone was starting to get worried about him. He never really went more than a few days without talking to them, and even that is rare!
Once it hit 2 weeks, Milo knew he had to check up on him. His door had been locked for a while now, and now that he thought about it, he hadn't even seen them leave their room at all lately. Milo had a sinking bad feeling about this. He couldn't shake the dread and suspicion that something bad had happened to Melo.
He pulled up his phone, going to Sealliot's dms.
"Hey, Sealliot... Have you heard from Melo at all?" Milo sent, trying to see if he was just being abnormally paranoid or if his friends had also noticed their absence.
It took a while for Sealliot to respond, but eventually he did. "No, I haven't. They haven't really been online for like... a while now. Have you heard anything from them-?"
Milo's heart sank. He took a shaky breath before responding. "I'm going to check on him."
"Okay. Stay safe; and please do let me know if you hear from them."
Milo closed discord and paced over to Melo's room, completely zeroed in as he knocked on the door, his pace off and far too quick. He stood outside the door, tapping his foot anxiously for a solid 5 seconds before getting anxious and attempting to turn the doorkob, his hands shaking. It was still locked.
"Melo?! Are you in there?" His voice was shaky and anxious as he spoke. He couldn't tell if he was just overthinking or if he had a valid fear.
With shaky breath, he started pulling on the doorknob, putting all of his force into it. He knew Melo better than most people. Something was wrong. Horribly wrong. He tugged on the knob, only getting more vicious and determined as time passed by.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking. He couldn't focus. Eventually, he gave up and paced over to a drawe, pulling a screwdriver out. He wasn't the best with anything even slightly manufactural, but he knew how to take off a doorknob at least.
He paced back over to the door, instantly getting to work. His head flooded with thoughts.
What if they passed out and need help? What if someone got in the house and hurt them? What if-...
He fumbeld with the screwdriver faster.
While he was trying to get in, Nibbles came up to the door, brushing against his leg. He had been taking care of the cats ever since Melo mysteriously went quiet. Nibbles never typically was affectionate towards him, mostly sticking to Melo, but she had been spending abnormal amounts of time with him lately, instantly coming to lick him whenever he was sad or lay on him after a long day.
Like she was trying to comfort him.
Milo finally got the doorknob off, every moment feelint dreadful. It took him another moment to manage to pull it out of the frame. His hands were trembling and his breath was shaky as he finally got the door open, slamming it open as he ran into the room.
Around the room were various papers scattered around. Some had notes written on them, others were shitty doodles of stuff Melo had been working on.
There was trash scattered around the place, bags of barely-eaten food and boxes from packages all over the place. There were dozens of unopened letters on their desk.
Their blinds had fallen down somehow. Milo's gaze fixated on all of the little messages that they had left on them, some of which even being from him. They all blurred together on the floor, none quite differentiable.
The photos on their wall were crooked and some of them had fallen down, landing on their bed, alongside heaps of dirty clothes and plushes.
But none of that mattered to Milo.
Cause right there in the middle of the room was a sight that he never would have expected to see.
His vision blurred and he fell to his knees before he even knew what was happening, shallow breaths coming and going as any words he could have said got stuck in his throat.
Nibbles came in after him, brushing her head against Milo as he cried on the floor.
He couldn't see anything because his vision was blurred with tears. He choked back sobs as he grabbed Nibbles, hugging her and putting her on his lap as he trembled on the ground.
For once, she didn't fight it.
Milo couldn't even look up. He felt sick to his stomach.
In the middle of the room was Melo's body, laying lifeless with a bottle of pills next to them, completely empty.
The rest of that night was a blur.
The past few days were hard for him.
He didn't quite remember the sequence of events after he found Melo. Maybe it all went by so fast that he didn't process it in time to remember. Maybe it was his memory selectively blocking it out. He didn't know.
It was all hazy. He remembered family. Melo's family. He remembered his roommates-- Sealliot, Kitkat, Dae, Yumnum... He remembered them all arriving home at various times throughout the night, Sealliot being the first to drop everything and come home.
He remembered cops showing up. He remembered Melo's brother rushing all the way from another state to be there the second that he was told, arriving at damn near 3am.
The house was more lively than it had ever been that night.
Yet it felt more sorrowful than ever.
Now here he was, a week later, wearing black, sitting on a chair at their funeral service.
Thousands of thoughts had gone through his head the past few days, none of them good. He couldn't focus on anything for too long otherwise he would start spiraling again. The only time he was truely free was when he slept, and even then, the guilt kept him up most nights.
Why didn't he notice sooner?
How could he not see the signs?
Why couldn't he prevent this?
The reason they did this.
Milo pulled out his phone with shaky hands, opening Tumblr as fast as they could and scrolling to the date May 9th. Tears filled his eyes as he read his last post.
"hello i'm here to say that @mmelophobic has forced me to paint my hand green a couple days ago, and today they have forced me to paint my hand AND arm blue then red. DO NOT FOLLOW THIS GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Tears filled his eyes all over again. He could have prevented this. He could have stopped them.
If only he had paid more attention.
This was Melo's last straw.
Milo sobbed, rolling over in his bed and hugging his pillow tightly, the aching feeling in his heart being the only thing to keep him company.
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