Trigger Warning: Discussion of Suicide

Song: I’m With You By Avril Lavigne

Pairing: Xiuhan

Word Count: ~800

Suggested By: charm_speaks19

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Minseok sighed as he looked out over the side of the bridge.  In the dark of the night, he couldn’t even make out the water below, but he knew it was a long way down.  A long way down. 

What was he even doing there?  It wasn’t like doing this was going to make things any better. 

His family wouldn’t care, and his friends—

“If you’re going to jump, could you do me a favor and throw me over first?”  Minseok’s body jerked slightly, startled by an unknown voice that broke through the silence of the night. 

“What?” he asked as he turned to the left, the direction from which the voice had arisen.  His eyes widened when he found the source of the voice.  There to his left was a guy who had to be close to his own age, seated in a wheelchair with a blanket across his legs.

“I said, if you’re going to jump, could you do me favor and throw me over first?  I can’t exactly get over by myself you see.”  The guy responded as he gestured to his legs as he sat in the chair.

Minseok blinked as he looked between the guy in the chair and the railing.  “You want me to throw you?”

The guy shrugged.  “Well, it’s not like I’ll be standing up and climbing over myself.”  He responded simply.

Minseok swallowed.  “Yeah… but, don’ you have someone who’d… I don’t know miss you when you’re gone.”

“I could say the same to you.”  The guy said back.

Minseok sighed.  “Yeah, but, I don’t have anyone, not really.  Not anymore.”

“You have me.”  The guy responded instantly.

“What?”  Minseok asked, surprised.

The guy raised his hands in a shrug.  “Well, I mean, if you’re not going to toss me over, then I’m going to just have to sit here and try to freeze to death while cursing the fact that you jumped first, so yeah, I’d care if you went over first.”

Minseok blinked.  “What?”

“Or you could take me back to the hospital first, I guess.  Then I at least wouldn’t have to curse your existence because really, I’m way too tired to push myself back to the hospital now.”

“You’re supposed to be in the hospital?”  Minseok asked, eyebrows raising.

The guy nodded.  “Yup, but let me tell you , that place is super boring, and well, I don’t know, I just wanted to go out for a bit, so I snuck out.”

“Like that?” Minseok bit his tongue, instantly wanting to retract the words, but the guy was already laughing. 

“You’d be surprised how easy it is to be forgotten in a busy place.”  He responded.

Minseok’s eyes widened.  He wasn’t surprised.  It was a feeling he knew all too well.  It was a lonely feeling.  “What’s your name?”  He asked.

The boy in the chair smiled.  “Luhan.  What’s yours?”

“Minseok,” Minseok responded as he stepped forward and moved towards Luhan, positioning his hands on the grips at the back of his chair.

“I take it this means you’re taking me back.”  Luhan said with a laugh as Minseok spun the chair around and began to walk them down the sidewalk of the bridge.

Minseok nodded, more to himself than to Luhan.  “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“And what will you do once we get there?”  Luhan asked, looking up at him.

Minseok looked down at him.  “I don’t know.”

Luhan smiled up at him for a second before sinking down into his chair and pulling up his blanket.  “Well then, just stay with me.”

“Huh?” 

“Stay with me.”  Luhan repeated.  “I’ve got lots of room.  You can even take the bed, I’m kind of used to chairs.”  Luhan said with another laugh.

Minseok blinked, surprised.  “You want me to stay?”  He hadn’t heard something like that in a long time.

Luhan nodded.  “Yeah, I do.  So will you?”  He asked, looking up with another smile.

Minseok found himself nodding.  “Yeah, I will.”

Luhan smiled wider.  “Great.”

---

Early the next morning, when a nurse stepped into his room, Luhan was already awake, watching Minseok where he had fallen asleep in a chair alongside the wall of his room.

“Who is that?”  She asked with an incline of her head.

Luhan smiled as he turned to her and let her begin to help him move to get out of bed.  “A new friend I met while I was out yesterday.”

The nurse laughed with a shake of her head.  “Yeah, I heard you went out again.  You know, if you’d just ask, we’d take you outside.”

Luhan shrugged.  “I like to know I can do it myself, and besides, it has brought unexpected benefits.”  His eyes drifted back to Minseok.

The nurse laughed again as a knowing smile appeared on her face.  “A friend huh?”

Luhan smiled back at her.  “That’s what he needs, so yes, for now.”

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Happy Holidays Guys <3