It took two long months and a lot of encouragement from Ashton for Daniel to be able to talk to CJ again.
It was completely too long for both boys. CJ had no clue why Daniel wouldn't talk to him, and although he tried very hard to control himself he found himself asking Daniel twice a week to speak to him, but he didn't for exactly forty three days (CJ counted). Meanwhile, Daniel just wanted to talk to CJ and be his best friend again, but he simply wasn't emotionally stable enough. Phoenix and Rick both asked him all the time why he wouldn't talk to CJ, but he never answered. Every time they did, Daniel ignored them and let Ashton abruptly change the subject.
Finally, after those two months were up, Daniel texted CJ saying he was okay now, and they could talk. He still wasn't 100% over what happened, but he was coping well and Ashton and Jack both helped him through it.
And after a while, the Hospital Squad (the five boys that had been admitted and released named themselves this) was finally able to meet up. Daniel was going to face CJ in person.
CJ JOHNSON HAS BEEN ADDED TO "THE HOSPITAL SQUAD."
CJ: the hospital squad?
Phoenix: yes that's our group name u got a problem
CJ: no, it's fine lmao
Ashton: hi
CJ: hello?
Daniel: this is Ash, he left 3 days after me and he's hella chill
CJ: alright then. glad to see you're talking to me again (;
CJ: no fuck I meant (: I'm not a fuckboy
Phoenix: hello CJ !
Rick: sup tree man
CJ: sup emo
Rick: wow rude
Ashton: hello Rick + Phoenix
Rick: hi Ash (:
Rick: alright so now that we're all free and getting along we need to meet up, yeah?
Daniel: yeah
CJ: yeah
Ashton: yeah
Phoenix: hell yeah!
Rick: dammit Phoenix you ruined the yeah train
Phoenix: ):
Rick: smh. anyways, what days work for you?
Daniel: I have no plans this week whatsoever lmao
Phoenix: ^
CJ: ^
Ashton: ^
Daniel: wow I'm popular
Rick: I got shit to do Monday, but I'm free otherwise
Phoenix: Friday?
Rick: that works
Daniel: I'm good with that
CJ: sure thing
Ashton: yeah fam
Rick: then it's settled. Friday! what time and place tho
CJ: my place maybe? you have to meet my brother. my parents finally let me talk to him (:
Phoenix: YAY!! I'm happy for you!!
Rick: holy shit! that's awesome!
Daniel: that's great!
CJ: noon?
Rick: sure
Daniel: yup
Ashton: that's good with me
Phoenix: a'ight
Phoenix: wtf tho you guys are so chill it's always taken 3 years of back and forth making shit up or something to meet up with ONE friend this took 10 minutes
Daniel: we are cooler than all ur friends
Daniel: all of them.
Phoenix: well I knew that.
So, three days later on Friday at noon, the four other boys arrived at CJ's house, excited to see each other again. Phoenix, Rick, and CJ hadn't seen each other much, and Daniel had isolated himself from everyone but Ashton and Jack.
Ashton carpooled with Daniel, and Phoenix arrived right after Rick (they were both five minutes late, but nobody cared).
CJ practically jumped on Rick and Phoenix in "hugs." He went to do the same to Daniel, but stopped himself.
"You okay?" he asked, not wanting to make the shorter boy uncomfortable.
"Yeah, c'mere," Daniel grinned, pulling CJ into a hug that he never wanted to end.
Finally, Daniel let go so CJ could introduce himself to Ashton. They'd spoken via texts of course, but they'd never met in person.
CJ looked Ashton over. He looked a lot better than he did when he was in the hospital. The color had returned to his face, the volume to his brown hair, and he was still ridiculously thin but he didn't look as sick. Of course, CJ didn't see him when he was sick, but he didn't need to either.
"Great to finally meet you," Ashton said with a smile.
"You too," CJ answered. "Anyways, I want you to meet Zak, c'mon."
The boys followed CJ up to Zak's room, where the short brunette was sitting on his bed, reading a book.
Zak looked up and grinned widely. He didn't look at all scared of his brother, just happy to see him.
"Hey Ceej," Zak said.
"Hey," CJ answered.
"Who're they?" Zak asked, looking behind CJ to see the boys.
"Friends from the hospital. This is Daniel, Rick, Phoenix, and Ashton," he pointed to each of them respectively.
The word "friends" stuck itself in Daniel's mind. They weren't boyfriends anymore. They never were, really. In the two months of not talking to him, Daniel (with Ashton's help) was able to accept and deal with that. They were just friends, and Daniel truly and honestly was okay with it.
All four waved and said hello to Zak, happy to see that Zak wasn't in fact cowering away from his brother. There was no reason to keep them separate, because CJ would kill himself before he killed or hurt Zak, and Zak knew that.
And so, after Zak joined them, all six boys were able to laugh with each other and be genuinely happy for the first time in years. Nobody was sad anymore, nobody was sick anymore, and nobody would ever need to go back to the hospital again.
CZYTASZ
Medication (boyxboy)
General FictionDaniel's schizophrenia is getting out of hand, and his medication just isn't doing its job anymore. In hopes of fixing his mental issues, he's sent off to a mental hospital. There, he meets CJ, an incredible guy who may or may not be everything he'...