Stress Relief

13: Hideaway

Holy shit. He really told him.

He held his breath, his heart beating in his ears as it dawned on him the words he said.

There was a shock in Chase's eyes he hadn't seen before, and it took up every square inch of his lungs. "That's why I was homeschooled." He continued. It felt good to get it off his chest. To tell someone, but the silence that followed unnerved him.

Chase's dropped jaw closed, and after a moment he picked himself up and scooted closer along the bench
"Are you doing any better?" Elijah didn't know what to make of the question.

"Yeah. Now at least." He shrugged, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I've been going to therapy."

Chase nodded, but his gloomy expression stayed firm on his features. "That's good."

He smiled briefly and wiped his tears. Sorries never really meant much to him. Elijah never liked hearing it because they never offered anything other than that. No offers to help, no words of condolence or comfort. It was always just a "sorry." Which made it mean all the more to him when Chase reached an arm out, invitingly and without a word. He took his offer and turned toward him. As Chase's arms wrapped around his shoulders, he sighed with a chin on his shoulder. The pressure of his grip was comforting. As if he was holding him together. Elijah couldn't put into words how glad he was that Chase was there in that moment. At some point he started to rub his back and it was only then he realized he was crying. Flashes of the shoving, the name calling, the hair pulling and whispering, the torment he endured for months and months from the sweet notes in his locker. And that fake fucking number.

And finally that night at homecoming.

Chase's voice slid its way into his mind, reverberating through his skull like the soothing beat of light rain. "You want to get out of here?" He talked quiet, like he was keeping a secret of his own.

"Kind of, yeah." His voice broke but he sniffed, wiping the tears with faulty breaths. Chase smiled and stood up, offering his hand to him. There was a sudden twinkle in his eyes that as Elijah looked up at, he recognized were almost the exact color of teal that dyed the thread of the hand-stitched flower on his jacket.

He took his hand, smiling, before being pulled to his feet. Grabbing their bags, they headed out toward the parking lot that sat parallel to the practice field. As they neared their cars, Elijah felt a hand on his arm stopping. Looking at Chase's hand, then up at him, he realized that he had other plans. "Follow me." Was all he said before he began to walk around the field.

"What?" Curiosity had him following him at his heels, and next thing he knew they were in front of the tree line that sat right outside school grounds, beyond the minuscule field that extended from a few faculty buildings.

Elijah stared at the wall of trees, then at Chase, skeptical. The blonde looked back with a smirk, starting toward them. "Just trust me okay?" With a roll of his eyes, he did.

It felt a little exciting, creeping through the trees right outside the school, like they were escaping from its cinder block walls and concrete grass in favor for the lush green trees and soft soil beneath their shoes. For a solid ten minutes Elijah stepped over stray roots and pushed his legs past bushes all without a word from Chase. "Where are we even going?" He asked finally.

"Just wait, we're almost there." Right as Elijah rolled his eyes at his lame excuse, he failed to notice a sneakily hidden tree root that the tip of his shoe caught on. He nearly fell flat on his face had it not been for Chase's back breaking the line of his decent. When he turned around Elijah gave him a glare and he laughed. "Sorry, I promise it's just up ahead."