"November" - A Short Snippet (Patreon)

Vic's POV

It's been a long fucking year. 

June.

July.

August.

Then a blur. No - that's not quite right. A willful deletion. You don't like to think about it, so you can't think about it. And, yeah, your therapist would love to unpack that one, but right now? You're okay with leaving that black box untouched. 

You watch flakes of snow melt against the window. Funny how fast time passes - it was summer, then fall, and now the beginning of winter. You're full time again, and some things never change. 

But, some things do. 

Your family checks in on you more, for one. So do Ale and Kyle - Kyle and his earnest dimples. Out of the corner of your eye you catch him sometimes peeking over at you, as if to check that you're still here, still alive - and you get this strange tightness in your chest, like something's constricting and you realize that this must be what it's like, knowing that someone has your back. 

"What're you thinking about?" MC says, and you take a deep breath, find yourself back in the present, back in your bedroom - solid and real. 

You consider saying "nothing." That's what you - before the fall - would've said. But the MC's seen everything now, and there's no use hiding yourself from someone who's already been with you in rock bottom (the same with Dr. Grey - Peter - Dr. Grey, no...you don't have anything to hide from him either). 

"It's been a long year," you say, and they hand you a cup of tea and you take it, their fingers gently brushing against yours, and that feels solid and real too - their skin, their touch, like the ground. 

"Yeah." They sit beside you on the bed, and you blow on the mug in front of you, take a sip. 

"You wanna talk about it?" they say. 

"Not really." You clasp your hands around your tea, your thumbs running over the surface of the mug. "I'm just - "

You exhale, a soft laugh slipping out of you.

"I'm just really glad you're here."

They turn your face towards them, and you lean your cheek against their hand. They saw you, that day. They saw you - you - and even after you had to leave, they still called. 

"I'm really glad you're here, too," they say. 

"Thanks for the tea," you murmur. 

Their eyes gaze into yours. 

"I've got you," they say.