Unlikeable You

Chapter Three

Daniel woke up with what he could only explain as a mild-to-severe headache—and god, he felt like s**t. He hadn’t even realized he was in the hospital, at least not until he tried bringing his hand up to rub his eyes. Wires hung from his arms and a heart monitor was on his right.

What happened?

“What the f**k?” he grumbled, wiping whatever sleep was left in his eyes. Daniel looked to his side to see Tyler, dead asleep, on the side of the bed. The boy’s head rested between his arms and he was sitting in a chair, his body rising and falling as he slept. A small smile grew on Daniel’s face. He sat up and stretched his arms, groaning and sighing afterward. His hand moved over to Tyler and he lightly rubbed the boy’s head. Tyler hummed in response. Then, slowly, he lifted his head. 

Tyler’s eyes were squinted, the slight puffiness and irritation of his eyes not going unnoticed as he let out a yawn. His eyes closed as he sat up some more. He remained silent. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but Tyler started to put his head down again, crossing his arms.

Daniel stopped him. “Tyler?” he called out, and the younger boy’s head rose again. It wasn’t until he fully sat up and made eye contact with Daniel that Tyler realized where he was. His eyes widened. He let out a small gasp, and his eyes glossed over with tears. Daniel chuckled. Tyler buried his head back in his arms, his face hidden from the older boy’s view. The room fell silent, and Daniel patted his friend’s head. 

“Tyler, can you tell me what happened?” he asked. Tyler mumbled something in response, but his position muffled the sound. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler clarified, adjusting his position so his voice was clear. Daniel let out a sigh and pinched the skin atop his friend’s hand. The latter winced and looked up at him with a glare. The tears in Tyler’s eyes subsided.

Daniel smiled. “I don’t know what you’re apologizing for. Nothing that happened was your fault… no matter what it was.” He tried to reassure Tyler, but the boy’s eyes glossed over once again.

“No, it’s my fault. You’re in the hospital because of me,” Tyler replied, rubbing his eyes. Daniel internally rolled his eyes at the response and rubbed the back of his head. Upon doing so, his hand came across something unfamiliar. 

Are these… stitches?

Daniel let the room fall silent as he tried to sort out his confusion. He tried to back-track to what had happened, and his eyes widened once he made the realization.

“Did that cunt hit me in the back of the head?!” Daniel was more surprised at the man’s crazy antics than angry. Tyler stifled a chuckle. Daniel tsked. “Oh, so that’s funny,” he half-mocked his friend, who silenced himself. Daniel let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m gonna get him back.” He started working his way off of bed, but Tyler stopped him by putting his hand on Daniel’s.

“You can’t,” Tyler said shyly, retracting his hand. 

Daniel tilted his head slightly and gave a toothy smile.  “Why? I’m fine.” 

Tyler let out a small scoff and smiled back. “I’m glad you are but—” he stopped himself. Before he continued, his smile sobered. “I’m saying you can’t... because they arrested my dad.”

Earlier that night, once the police had finally arrived, Daniel’s breathing was short. Tyler was panicked. Tears flooded his eyes and ran down his cheeks as they sat alone in front of his house. He was too scared to move Daniel, scared that he’d make the damage worse. But, more than that, Tyler was horrified that his father would come out to finish what he had started.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to move away from the body,” one of the police walked up to Tyler, placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but nodded and stepped back. The EMT took Daniel immediately. Tyler wiped his tears and faced the officer. “Can you tell me what happened here?” The officer looked the boy up and down cautiously, and Tyler couldn’t help but notice his hand lightly hovering over his handcuffs.

Tyler tensed. “M-my dad, he”—he choked on his words. There was a moment of silence, and he took a deep breath—“he hit him with a beer bottle. He was drunk.” Tyler paused. “He is... drunk.” The officer didn’t respond immediately, and the sounds of the ambulance leaving filled the silence. Tyler couldn’t help but feel relieved. He’ll be okay… Daniel is with professionals now. It’ll all be okay—

“And is he in the house as of now?” the officer asked. Tyler immediately nodded and began to pick at his fingers. The officer patted Tyler’s shoulder. He flinched again. “You can either stay here or one of my guys can take you to the hospital. Unless you have a car...?” Tyler shook his head. The officer smiled, removing his hand. “We’re gonna go take care of your dad, so if you want to leave, I recommend you do it now.”

Tyler nodded. Then, he did.

When he arrived at the hospital, Daniel had already been taken in. Tyler settled on sitting in the lobby, finding he had nowhere else to go. His phone was dead—it sat on a charger provided by the front desk lady. The only noise was whatever HGTV show was running in the background. Muffled sounds blurred into white noise in Tyler’s head. He sat, absorbed in his own thoughts (or lack thereof), unsure if he had been sitting there for seconds or hours. The only thing that zoned him back in was the sound of the hospital doors opening. When Tyler turned his head to see who had come in, Daniel’s mom was already walking towards him.

“The hospital called and said Daniel had been in some accident resulting in head injury, so I came over,” she said. Seeing her made Tyler’s heart drop. He felt sick; the calm in her voice was unsettling. “Are you okay?”

Tyler’s jaw slacked. Her question caught him off-guard. Her son was in the hospital and she was worried about him? Why wasn’t she angry? Crying? Panicking? Tyler looked at her with wide eyes. “How could you—”

“They said he would be fine, so I trust them,” she cut him off, already knowing his question. She sat in the chair beside him. “I had a feeling he was running to your house, and you being here confirms it. I don’t know what happened, but I want to make sure you’re okay, too.” Her eyes watched Tyler carefully, and he felt uncomfortable under her gaze. Why did she care? It was his fault Daniel was like this.

“I—” Tyler paused. His gaze fell to the ground. Did it even matter how he felt? “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have called knowing this was a possibility. That my father could do something so...”

“Stupid?” she said, completing the sentence. He nodded. “You said it yourself, Tyler. It was your dad that did this, not you. You shouldn’t be blaming this on yourself.”

Tyler looked up at her momentarily. “But I—”

“Mrs. Barnes?” a doctor interrupted, walking into the lobby. Daniel’s mom stood up and walked to them. Their voices began to fade as Tyler looked back at the ground. Once again, he had started to drown within his own mind. Only this time, he began thinking.

Tyler wondered if Daniel would forgive him as quickly as his mom had. Would Daniel just play it off with a smile on his face? Would he say it’s okay, but deep down, hold hatred for what Tyler had caused? Tyler was a burden; he’d been aware of that since the beginning. A burden Daniel decided to stay by? Sure, but a burden, nonetheless. Tyler always questioned why Daniel stayed by him—stayed as a close friend for so long. Pity? Maybe. Maybe Daniel felt like if he left Tyler, it’d be like kicking an animal while it’s down. Whenever Tyler was fixed... if he was fixed, Daniel wouldn’t have to stick by him any longer. If Tyler wasn’t, maybe Daniel would just leave when he’d had enough.

And maybe this was the last straw.

Tyler was scared for Daniel to wake up, for him to realize how much of a burden his friend was. To hate the burden he was. If he walked away, what then? Who did Tyler have? Daniel was the only person he could depend on… and Daniel knew that. That’s why he stayed by Tyler—because Daniel was the only one that could not only deal with Tyler’s father’s antics, but the boy’s own, as well. Without Daniel, Tyler would’ve been alone. He didn’t deserve Daniel, but no matter what, he couldn’t seem to let him go.

But now, maybe this was the perfect chance to.

Now, Daniel could be free. If Tyler left the hospital, there’d be no need for his friend to see him again. Daniel would hate Tyler; he’d finally realize that the boy wasn’t worth his time—that all Tyler did was bring him more s**t to deal with. Tyler could relieve Daniel’s burden and allow him to live the easy life that he deserved.

...But could he? 

Could Tyler really stand himself up and leave without explanation? Where would he go? Who would he be able to confide in? Would he just go home, never seeing the light of day again? And if Daniel showed up, would he just ignore the door? Could he ignore it? 

The thought made his stomach feel weak. His knees felt like they’d give out if he even attempted to stand up. No matter if Tyler wouldn’t admit it, even his body knew he couldn’t turn away from Daniel. He was the one thing that Tyler could hold onto, the one thing that could make him happy in this hell of a life. Even when Tyler thought he had run out of tears, his eyes welled up again. Once he had snapped back to reality, he rubbed them away.

This really was his fault, wasn’t it?

“Tyler?” Mrs. Barnes called out, looking as if she’d been trying quite a few times. The boy looked up at her. She smiled, gesturing for him to come with her. “We’re allowed to see Daniel. He hasn’t woken up yet, but I’m sure he’d like to see you when he does.”

Tyler nodded his head and stood up. His body trembled from his previous thoughts, but he still followed behind her as they made their way through the hospital. When they made it to the door, she stopped.

“Well, this is where my journey ends.” She chuckled. Tyler looked at her for a moment, confused, and she smiled. “Even if I’m Daniel’s mother—more so as his mother—I know he'd rather see you than me. Plus, I’m sure you’d rather be here than anywhere else, and I don’t want to intrude,” she explained, ripping away at Tyler’s facade. Before he could respond, she waved her hand. “Bye-bye, Tyler.” She walked away as he stood there, dumbfounded. After a moment, Tyler blinked the thoughts away and opened the door.

Inside, Daniel laid with his eyes shut, the steady beat of his heart showing on the monitor. Wires ran from his arms to fluid-filled bags and machines. He looked unreal. Daniel’s state made Tyler feel sick—he wanted to run away. He couldn’t, though; he had established that earlier. Instead, he took a chair and pulled it to the side of Daniel’s bed. 

He watched Daniel quietly for a moment and—contradictory to his liking—tears began to fall from his eyes. At first, Tyler wiped them away, but at some point, he gave up. There were too many to bother. They fell from his cheeks to his shirt, creating their own puddle as the cloth turned a shade darker. He grabbed Daniel’s hand and squeezed it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. With that, he let out a sob. 

Tyler allowed Daniel to get like this—he let it get this bad with his friend around. He shouldn’t have called. He shouldn’t have swayed Daniel into kissing him. If Tyler had just repressed the temptations he’d had for years, none of this would’ve happened. He was the root of the problem, and there was no denying that.

Tyler choked between sobs and released Daniel’s hand. He wanted to disappear. He wanted to curl into a ball and vanish from the world. Without him, Daniel’s life may have been perfect. Only if Tyler had just—

He released another sob and folded his arms atop the bedsheet. He didn’t deserve to be there—he shouldn’t be there. Tyler dug his head into his arms, and tears continued to puddle beneath him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled between his sobs. Tyler’s eyes squeezed shut, and his nails pierced his skin. He was so disgusted with himself; it was too much. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

This is all my fault.