I want to live

Chapter 12

Elijah's breathing was heavy and his heart felt like it would beat out of his chest. The pain still in his butt combined with the bruises, it made it a hundred times harder to continue running.

But the fear of getting discovered made him get numb to pain and run faster. He kicked in the door to the guy's bathroom and got into one of the stalls, not caring which one, he just wanted to get a place to hide in, not caring about the getting weird looks from the guys in there before him.

He curled himself into a ball and hugged his knees tighter towards his chest when the sound of the door was heard. "Don't look at me like that~ I saw him run in here." Jonathan's voice could clearly be heard in the -except for them- empty bathroom. "Hello...?"

As the group walked inside. The mentioned boy tried as quiet as he could to crawl up on the toilet so they couldn't see his feet if they checked under the stalls.

But of course, like in any other situation luck wasn't on his side and his food slipped making a gliding noise across the floor. "f**k!" He let the words slip and now he definitely didn't care if they heard him or not. "Leave me alone! How can you just chase after a person you don't know?” He leaned his back against the back, curling himself into a ball, somehow this made him feel like they wouldn't be able to see him and only hear his voice.

"We know it's you... Elijah, right?" Another voice was heard, this one was more reassuring and calmer than the last. The owner of the voice, being Roman, was trying his best not to let his voice crack. He felt so sorry for the boy and what he had to go through and properly all alone. "We meet you last night."

"Hyung~ maybe he can't remember!" A quieter voice was heard when the owner tried to make a sad attempt at whispering in a completely quiet bathroom where any sound will echo of the walls becoming four times as loud.

"Theo! ~ don't be so loud!" A quiet smacking sound was heard, and a whine followed slowly after. "RyRy-hyung~ don't be so mean~" "Do Not call me that!"

"Theo! Ryan-hyung! please don't do this now..." a high-pitched voice reached Elijah's ears, making him whimper.

They took pity on him; they know who he is... "Leave me alone." He checked out. "Being close to me with only get all of us hurt... Me and you..." He whispered the last part, thinking it would just make him sound selfish.

"What did he do to you, after you left?" Roman tried to get him to talk so he could determine where he was. He heard a whimper followed by sobbing coming from the stall farthest away, in the dark.

"I don't think you understand, this is properly all a mess to you, but I really love him," Elijah could feel a slight sting in his heart, well, it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. He didn't feel completely 'secure' around Luke, he didn't know if he ever really did. He hugged his knees closer to his chest as he bit his bottom lip successfully silencing his sobbing "I- I'm completely f-fine." And he knew that was a lie, he was scared shitless of what would happen if he got these people involved. Luke would kick him out and he would live on the streets for the rest of his life, properly starve to death if he wasn't kidnapped and sold to the black market.

His dark thought was the only thing in is his mind, so he didn't notice when a slight knock was heard on the thin door of the stall, he was hiding in. "Elijah?"

His eyes widen when he finally noticed how close the voice was now. He was now no longer capable to hide his crying and just tried to muffle them. „Why can't they understand that I don't need help...? „ He thought.

"We know you're lying if you really were okay your eyes wouldn't look like they were constantly in pain." The most talkative of the boys spoke up again. Elijah whimpered as he heard what was in his voice.

Pity.

Full of pity.

He doesn't like it when people pity him

He doesn't need it the pity.

He needs care and love. REAL care and love.

He wants to continue saying he's 'fine' but he just... can't... so that results in him just smiling weakly as he talks "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm used to the pain." He said numbly.

"I don't like when you said something like that. What he is doing to you is definitely not normal. It's not something you should get used to. It's weird and unhealthy. Why are you putting yourself in this self-destructing behavior at all?” That last word makes the end of Elijah's patient for them. He drops his smile as he looks at the door with a glare.

"I don't get what it matters to you if I'm fine or not!" His voice cracked at the end as he's not used to raising his voice.

The boys outside however were shocked to hear him yell out like that.

"We care about what happens to you!" Roman was now yelling to as he was beginning to become frustrated by the boy's behavior.

"Yeah like people like you wouldn’t even care a little bit if I ended up killing myself!" Elijah was shaking but he never minded it as he just kept yelling at the strangers.

Now Roman was getting angry „How can a person just throw away their life like it's nothing! What would his parents and friends think, they would be heartbroken! „ "Don't you DARE say things like that!?" Roman shoved his entire body against the door as he heard the lock give in, he continued this action as he was getting more and more furious.

The five others stood in disbelief as their oldest hyung was screaming and shoving his body against a toilet stall door in the school for some random person they just met yesterday.

But somehow, they knew they wanted to help him tear down that door and help the other as much as Roman wanted. And before they knew it the lock gave out and the older was storming in and hugging the other. "Don't ever talk about throwing your life away like that ever again." Roman's voice was now low and husky.

Elijah's eyes were wide as tears still spilled out of them. His voice was shaking, and it was hard to breathe. But he still tried to say. "P-Please Help me..." He hugged the other and cried into his shoulder.

“Please save me…”