WC: 1,823
Trigger Warnings: suicide and domestic abuse
“I… um…” Paige mumbles, shaking his head. “Do you… do you ever have people speak to you in your head?”
Huh.
“Huh?” Brandon says aloud, taken aback.
Did Paige just… no. No, he couldn’t be serious. There’s no way he heard voices like Brandon did.
“I…” he starts, looking Paige up and down. “Are you messing with me right now?”
“What?” Paige cries, sounding sad.
“You’re messing with me,” Brandon repeats. “O-or you’re still getting those meds out of your system or something, right?”
There is absolutely no way Paige is like me, Brandon thinks to himself. He’s too… he’s too good. There’s no way someone like Paige would ever hear the things I do.
“Brandon,” Paige frowns sadly, “I’m being serious. There’s someone else in here. The week I don’t remember? They do. The person you were hanging out with? That was them taking over for me.”
What???
“You’re talking nonsense,” Brandon says, looking away. “Voices can’t…”
Voices can’t control you like that. Brandon frowns. He’s still being mean for some reason. He had somehow found out that Brandon has to fight for his mind sometimes and was now making a joke out of it.
…At least, that’s what the voices were telling him.
“You’re talking nonsense.”
“Brandon…” Paige warbles.
Oh, he’s just being cruel to you now! voices in Brandon’s head echo. Time to bounce!
“I’ll come back when you can think straight,” Brandon says suddenly, turning around.
Maybe you shouldn’t, They whisper.
…Maybe he shouldn’t.
“Bye.”
+++
The next day, Brandon stays home from school.
“I don’t feel well,” he had lied. “Stomach hurts.”
“Oh, mijo…” Carmen pouted. “I know you must still feel bad about Paige. You can stay home today.”
“Thanks, ma,” he had said.
He then proceeded to spend the rest of the day sleeping. When he wakes up later, it’s a bit after 4. His phone is ringing. He checks the caller ID blearily.
…It’s Paige.
Brandon silences the phone and drops his head back into his pillows.
Only for it to ring again a moment later. Again Brandon silences it and groans.
When it rings for the 3rd time, Brandon outright rejects it. Maybe now he would get the message.
Brandon is so… out of it. There was no way he could talk to Paige right now.
He’s awful for making fun of you, a voice whispers. You should kill him.
“I’m not killing my best friend,” Brandon muffles into his pillow.
But you should.
“I should not.”
You’re no fun.
“I wish you would die.”
Aw! C’mon Brandon, suicide’s not the answer!
“UGH.”
Brandon flips over and bangs his hands on his bed. Now these stupid thoughts had a sense of humor. Great.
“Leave me alone right now,” Brandon groans. “I don’t feel like dealing with your ass too right now.”
Blessedly, there’s no response. Thank god.
Instead, Brandon’s phone rings again. But it’s not the normal ringtone, it’s the one he has set for Bart.
This was odd. Bart rarely called. They preferred texting way more than talking. Yet here they were, calling Brandon.
He picks up. “Hello?” he says, voice a little raspy. “Bart?”
“Hey,” they greet. Their voice is a bit odd. “Can you come over?”
“Is something happening?” Brandon asks immediately, worry filling him. “Your Pop, he isn’t…?”
“No, no,” Bart assures. “Just need you to come over.”
“It was so important you called?” Brandon blinks.
“Yea,” Bart says simply. “See you soon.” And with that, the line goes dead.
Brandon sighs, getting up and looking out the window. It’s not hard, but it does seem to be raining outside.
Ugh. Well, looks like he’ll have to break out the rainboots.
+++
By the time Brandon makes it to Bart’s house, it’s pouring. His pathetic little umbrella threatens to crack at any moment.
“Bart!” he shouts, knocking on the door. “Bart, open up!”
He doesn’t have to wait for long before the door opens and Bart is pulling him in.
“H-ey,” they say. “Leave y-our stuff a-at the door and th-then come t-o my room.”
Brandon complies, leaving him in a t-shirt, sweatpants and no socks. He follows behind Bart.
Bart’s room is messy as always, a controlled sort of madness set in stone. The dark walls and dark carpet go together, dull furniture and chairs and knick knacks furnishing the room.
“Come,” Bart says, patting next to them on their bed. “Sit down.”
Again Brandon complies, but is wary. Bart was acting all kinds of weird right now. And they still hadn’t explained what this was all about yet.
“Hey,” Brandon waves after taking a seat a few inches away from Bart. “What um… What’s up?”
“I heard you and Paige are having a falling out.” they say, stutterless and confident.
Brandon blinks. “Um…” Why was everyone around him acting so weird all of a sudden? “I… I guess so. Who told you?”
“Paige.”
“Oh.” Yeah. That makes sense.
Bart’s voice changes again, now sounding a bit higher. “Do you wanna explain why you got Paige cryin’ to us on the phone?”
“Us?” Brandon asks, confused. He turns towards them. “What?”
“What you said to him wasn’t very nice, y’know!” Bart presses on. “You know, when you’re hurting someone for somethin’ you don’t know about, you end up hurting others too!”
“...Bart?” Brandon mumbles, pulling away a bit. “Are… are you okay?”
“We’re good.” Bart’s voice is deeper again, but not as deep as it should be. “Just a little miffed, I guess.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Brandon asks, looking Bart up and down. “Who is ‘us’? You’re not making any sense.”
Bart sighs. “P-Paige told us wh-at he s-said to you,” they explain in their normal voice. “It… it…” They play with their hands. “We related.”
“...?” Brandon is so, so confused. Related? What was that supposed to mean? “What, are you gonna tell me you hear the voices now too?”
Should’ve worded that better. Now they’ll know you’re crazy.
Brandon shakes his head. When he looks back up, Bart is looking deathly serious.
“I-if I say yes, w-ill you r-run away f-rom me t-too?”
Brandon’s face falls. “No,” he chuckles humorlessly. “No, no. You… You’re way too good to be hearing those horrible things.”
“H-orrible things?” Bart asks.
“You—You-you can’t hear things like me.” Brandon is panicking now, holding himself. “I-I… I’m such a bad… “ He stops and starts again. “They’re always so mean and they tell me the worst things in the world.”
There’s a light hand on his shoulder after a moment. “Brandy?” Bart murmurs. “A-are you having…” Their face grows pinched. “Are y-ou having s-s-suicidal th-oughts?”
Brandon blanches.
LOL! the voices laugh, like actually saying it. They got you!
“I-I…” Brandon stutters. “I…”
Bart crashes into Brandon, holding him tightly. “Y-you… y-ou nev-never t-old me…” They sound like they’re close to tears. “O-h my god, Brandy…”
“I’m fine!” Brandon insists, although he leans into the touch. When was the last time he’d had a hug? “I… I’m fine. What about you?” He pulls back, looking Bart in the face. “Don’t you… have the same thoughts?”
“No!” Bart frowns sadly. “I—Th-there are—” They groan and glance away for a moment. When they look back over, their eyes are intense. “There’s more than just Bro in here,” a light voice says in place of Bart.
“What do you mean?” Brandon begs. “First Paige tells me he hears things when there’s no way he’s got something as messed up as I do with me, and now you’re telling me my best friend is, what, several different people or something?”
“Essentially,” Bart says, shrugging. Their voice is slightly different again. “Like me. I’m Patty.” They hold out their hand.
“...”
“Aw, what? You’re gonna just leave me hangin’?” Bart… Patty…(?) scoffs. “Psh, whatever.” They drop their hand.
“Okay,” Brandon says, closing his eyes with a sigh. “Okay. Let’s… let’s try this again.” He looks at Bart. “Can you like, take this from the top or something?”
Bart nods and does as asked. They explain to him everything about themself, how their Pop affected them, and how they needed someone else’s help to get them through it all. How Maxine and Patty and Alex all answered the call. How Bart is more than just Bart.
“A-and you’re telling me that Paige has the same thing going on?” Brandon frowns.
“More or less,” Patty shrugs. “You’d know better than us.”
“Paige…” Brandon whispers. He’s suddenly reminded of Mack, Paige’s dad. He’d heard all sorts of stories from Paige about how awful he was in the past. How he’d throw things. How he’d threaten his mom. How he’d…
Brandon shakes his head. “Oh god,” he trembles, looking down at his hands. “Oh my god.”
“Guess you put something together, then?” Maxine asks.
“Mack was just as bad as your Pop,” Brandon despairs. “It—if you’re like this because of your Pop, then…”
“Yeah,” Alex nods. “Most likely.”
“Oh god.” Brandon holds his head in his hands. “I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Bart pats Brandon on the back. “Y-you have. But you c-an always go and-and apologize.”
“I have to apologize!” Brandon jolts. “I—I have to call him right now—”
Brandon feels around for his phone, only to blink. The image of it laying on his bed fills his head.
God damnit.
“Hey,” Bart says. “Don’t—don’t call him wh-ile y-you’re panicking. It’ll just m-ake things worse.”
“Yeah…” Brandon nods sadly. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Try waiting until tomorrow,” Alex says. “That should give you both enough time to calm down.”
“Maybe…” Brandon mumbles. “But yeah, I’ll wait. I left my phone at home anyways.”
“You can go and get it,” Patty shoos. “We’re done here anyways.”
“Oh.” Brandon says blandly. “Okay.”
“Patty’s j-ust being mean,” Bart says, rolling their eyes. “But seriously, th-e rain’s let up a bit. Y-you should get ho-me soon.”
“Okay,” Brandon nods. “I’ll… I’ll call Paige tomorrow and tell you how it goes.”
“You’ll go to his house,” Maxine insists. “No phone sorrys.”
“I’ll go to his house,” Brandon repeats, resolve steeled. “I’m… I’m gonna make everything right.”
+++
Brandon grabs his phone the moment he’s home. Even though he didn’t plan on calling Paige just yet, he might as well see if the other left a voicemail or something.
…And lo and behold, he did.
“—e doesn’t want to talk to me!” Paige wails on the message. “You messed it all up!”
What was this?
“I know!” Paige shouts next. “That’s the problem!”
Paige is quiet for a moment. Then, quietly, he mumbles, “...It’s okay.” He sighs. “Let’s see if we can think of some other way to talk to him.” The message ends after that.
That must’ve been right before Paige told Bart about the whole fiasco… It had sounded like one side of a conversation, but no one else was talking.
…Could it be…?
Brandon sighs and falls face first into his bed. He’d worry about it tomorrow.