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"i... im sorry." his voice is broken. eyes glazed over. stumbling over his own feet. theres definitely something in his system -- and it doesnt look consensual. hes bleeding from his nose, lip, arms, knuckles. a fight. isaac's analytical eye narrows.
"...what the hell happened to you?"
yumi's mouth opens, then closes again. before he can think through his response, another head pokes around isaac's form and looks through the door. larry's face immediately falls in horror and concern. moonlight catches a tear that builds in yumi's eye.
"i thought you were in tennessee," larry speaks after a long moment of awkward, worried, confused silence. "how did you... what the fuck is going on?"
yumi swallows. the fear rolls off him in waves. when he speaks, his voice is rough and brutal like he'd been screaming. "i... i was on a trip. san antonio. didnt- didnt know where else..." he trails off, and isaac guesses they won't get any more details than that. at least, not yet. he sways alarmingly on his feet.
they shuffle out of the way to let the poor guy in, but another voice from inside the house speaks and yumi freezes.
"yo, isaac, who's there? weird ass time of night for someone to come knocking. don't tell me it's one of those kids again-"
isaac cuts him off, his voice strangely serious. "its blake."
"what?" nick rushes up to the door and his face mirrors larry's concerned expression. "woah, dude..."
yumi has to swallow a sob. shit.
"i didn't- you- it's- i just thought, i don't know-" the more he speaks, the more painful it sounds. the words claw their way out of his throat like coughing up shards of glass. the three stooges in the doorway look endlessly worried. isaac speaks up first.
"come in. we're getting you cleaned up before anything."
☆
the house smells nice. isaac must've been cooking something when yumi knocked. he catches a glimpse of rice and noodles on the stove. with nick and isaac's help, he limps and stumbles dizzily over to their couch and his body goes slack once he's off his feet.
larry was sent off to grab first aid. isaac immediately starts cleaning dried blood off his hands with a wet cloth. nick sits nearby, awkward but supportive. yumi heaves a deep sigh, and isaac pauses. "...were you drinking?"
yumi freezes for the second time before he realises he has to respond. truthfully. "yeah, i- yeah. just a strawberry daiquiri." his eyes feel too heavy to keep open.
"that it?" isaac moves to start gently wiping down yumi's split lip. he doesn't wanna vocalise his accusations for fear of putting words in his friend's mouth, so he settles on "you're really off."
yumi's breath is slowing. his voice lowers to a whisper. "i... i'm sorry. i'm so tired..."
nick's face scrunches in worry. "yumi. look at me. look at isaac. stay awake for a minute, please."
he starts to speak in a sleepy response, but is cut off again by larry's appearance. he's got a small box of medical supplies in hand. "don't go towards the light, yumi." its obviously a joke, but there's definitely underlying worry. yumi just sniffles.
☆
his hands and face are cleaned and patched up while he disassociates. the sting of disinfectant keeps him awake, but barely. when he fades back in, hes got on isaac's shirt and a stolen pair of tanner's sweatpants. it's comfy. larry sits beside him, rubbing his arm gently, and yumi's not sure why he's allowing it. the other two sit nearby, patiently waiting for yumi to explain himself. he doesn't want to explain himself. he just wants to sleep.
"please just tell us what you took."
"i didn't take anything." he slurs. it's true, he didn't. at least, not willingly.
"we won't be mad. i promise. we won't kick you out. even if it's some hardcore drugs you made the dumb decision to do. please, blake." yumi winces when nick uses the real name. he never does that.
"swear... on my mom. i didn't."
that makes isaac and larry snicker. "on your mom, dude? it's over."
"at least i didn't swear on my dad."
"the one that you don't have?"
the whole room dissolves into giggles this time. yumi can't help an exasperated smile. damn, he missed this. when the laughter fades, isaac's the one to start the interrogation back up.
"please, dude. you gotta tell us so we can see if we need to get you in to a doctor or something. you really don't look good."
yumi chews his lip. he's gotta tell them. he has to. honestly, with the way they all look at him with so much concern and genuine worry, he's not sure he could keep anything a secret. the phrasing is the problem -- how the hell does he explain what happened just a few hours ago?
larry pipes up in the quiet. "just tell us, please. you know us, we only wanna help right now. cmon."
he swallows. then commits. "you, uh, you guys know what kinda drugs are used for... date rapes?"
the room goes dead quiet. he swears the crickets outside stop making that stupid annoying sound. larry stops rubbing his arm. yumi grits his teeth against the wave of embarrassment and terror. the world holds its breath.
at least, until isaac breaks it.
"...holy fuck, dude."
then nick.
"do you know which one it was?"
then larry.
"did they actually...?"
yumi has to collect himself. tell the story objectively. just give the facts. otherwise, he'll burst into tears, and that might be the worst possible thing that could happen.
"no- no. they- he didn't... i got away. that was all the... blood. i fought for it." he takes a deep breath to clear the cloudiness in his head and flexes his sore, bandaged knuckles.
larry sidles closer until his side presses against yumi. he accepts the warmth without a word. the whole world is starting to spin again.
"night at the bar by myself. some guy... chatted me up, creepy as hell. i... hated it. turned him down. i didn't- it wasn't... i... i think i turned my back on my drink at some point. he got closer. weirder. fucking- touched my leg. i started feeling off, and tried to walk home. he... cornered me outside."
he screws his eyes up tight to fight the dizziness. nick pets his shoulder. "you're okay. take your time." he tries to sound calm, but his voice trembles with worry and anger. isaac is fuming. larry looks confused but concerned.
"he- he grabbed at me, tried to restrain me. i fought back. he... told me i was feisty for drugged meat. i finally threw him off and ran to a bus stop. got off at a familiar part of austin and... walked here. wasn't sure where else to go."
all of their faces soften.
"damn..." larry murmurs.
"good choice," nick nods.
isaac just clenches and unclenches his fist.
yumi blinks, hard. "i don't want to think about it. i feel sick."
they all nod sympathetically.
in the following silence, footsteps sound from the stairs.
"holy shit, yumi?" a familiar voice calls. before he can even process, he's tackled to the couch in a big tanner bear hug. he doesn't have the energy to fight it (but he probably wouldn't even if he could). "hey, t..."
isaac jumps to his feet to help if needed, but tanner pulls away before too long. he then gets a good look at yumi. "woah, what happened to you?"
he quickly swallows and looks away. larry winces. nick's apparently doing some very intense research on his phone. "ah... i, uh..." yumi looks to isaac for help. it was hard enough getting the words out the first time.
isaac reads him well. "he was drugged at some bar in san antonio. narrowly avoided actually being assaulted. were trying to figure out what's in his system."
tanner's face falls completely. he actually looks like he might cry. "...oh. oh my god. you- holy shit." he rubs a hand down his face and sits himself between nick and yumi. "like- actually? are you serious?"
yumi and larry both nod, with the former still refusing any eye contact. tanner almost looks more hurt than yumi. "oh god... what- what can i do?"
nick sets down his phone and interrupts. "it's looking like nothing too serious. the worst has probably already happened. we just gotta... wait it out."
"let him sleep then?" larry suggests.
"with surveillance," isaac agrees.
tanner curls closer to yumi with a fierce look. that settles that.
nick nods his head. "where d'ya wanna sleep? if tanner's gonna keep watch, you can both stay in his. or, you two can stay on the couch tonight."
something about sleeping out in the open after what just happened makes yumi's skin crawl. "...can we do your room?"
"course."
☆
the boys leave yumi and tanner with varying degrees of affection -- gentle arm rubs, shoulder pats, sympathetic looks. fuck their pity. nick and larry head off somewhere together, and isaac returns to the kitchen. together, yumi and tanner slowly hobble to his room. the stairs make yumi even more nauseous.
"goddammit..." he pants when they're finally outside the room. tanner shoots him a concerned look as he opens the door.
yumi is guided to the bed, then tanner sits beside him. whatever. the warmth is nice. his eyes start drooping shut and he doesn't want to fight it.
"you can sleep. i'll keep you safe."
yumi nods slowly. "...yeah? promise?"
"yeah. windows and doors are locked. nick and isaac will fight for you. i'm watching to make sure the drugs don't do any more damage. you're safe."
that does sound pretty nice. alright, he'll give in just this one time. he's been fighting far too much lately.
"okay. wake me up before it gets too late tomorrow. goodnight, t."
tanner nods, his eyes staying on yumi's face. "night, yumi. glad you're back."
right before yumi drifts away, he swears he feels a hand rubbing his back and soft humming.