“It’s nothing.”
This is just a hasty vent ficlet :)
Fandom: TYO
Word count: 471
TW: Self h*rm, ED mention
It all started with one bad day.
Everything piled up on top of him, rick telling him he was useless, the others demanding he cook for them, falling behind on his uni work, it was too much for the hippie.
So he turned back to the razor blade he ripped out of a pencil sharpener.
He didn't want to relapse, of course he didn't, but with the amount of stress he was under he didn't know how he couldn't.
And he got away with it for a while.
The house went about their business, no one noticed when Neil cooked all their meals but never seemed to actually eat with them, or how when he did he ended up throwing up, claiming he was "just feeling a bit ill".
But when the scars are on you for so long, you forget not everyone has them.
Neil was washing the dishes, sleeves rolled up past his elbows. Rick stormed in, yelling about some woman in his sociology course, and how "ignorant" she was to him, though Neil wasn't following and didn't really want to anyway. That's when he noticed.
"It was ABSOLUTELY out of line! And another thing, she-" Rick paused for a minute, eyeing Neil's arm. "Neil...what's that on your wrist?" Neil jumped, immediately feeling his stomach flip. "Oh its- it's nothing, just a cat scratch, haha." Neil panicked, rolling his sleeves down. Rick walked over to him quickly, grabbing his arm forcefully. He pulled his sleeve up, revealing cuts up the length of the hippie's arm. "Neil..." Rick said, unable to think of anything else to say. Neil pulled his sleeve down self consciously.
"It's fine Rick, really, they're just old ones, I haven't even done anything in that long, I haven't I promise-" Neil rattled off, choking up at the end, eyes welling up with tears. "Neil, this isn't...healthy..." Rick said quietly. "I- I know but I've got it under control Rick, I have I swear!" Neil said, choking back tears. "It doesn't blooming well look like it!" Rick yelled. Upon seeing the hippie flinch, he suddenly felt guilty. "I'm sorry, it's just-" Rick paused, unable to find the words. "What can I do to help you?" Rick said finally. "I didn't think you would care..." Neil said quietly. "Why wouldn't I?! Sure you get on my nerves sometimes-" "all the time..." Neil butt in. "SOMETIMES. But I still care about you! I live with you!" He says, a little louder than intended. "I...thanks man..."
"If there's uh...anything you need...I'm here." Rick says, a little awkwardly, not used to showing affection to his flatmate. The two stand next to each other, unsure of what to say, until Neil pulls rick in for a hug. A genuine hug, not a courtesy hug, a real hug. And Rick, for once, doesn't object.