Time-Bomb-

I stopped before I reached the block my house was on. I sat down on the sidewalk and caught my breath. It was cold and I could see the white clouds of my exhales in front of me. It was 7 pm. The sun was already completely set leaving me enveloped in complete darkness.
My phone rang from inside my pocket and I pulled it out just enough to see Vic calling. I rolled my eyes and declined his call. I wasn't mad at him. I was more so confused. He had to have been lying. But why? It just made so much more sense for what he was telling me to be the truth. It would explain him trying to get close to me. It would explain him knowing everything about me. Hell, it even explained the little sad glance he shot me the first day we met.
I looked at my phone again and I received a crap load of texts:
"Go home."
"It's late and dark I don't want you to get hurt."
"Kellin please tell me you're okay."
"You're about to get hurt."

I sighed and deleted everything. Although I didn't believe him I still stood up and walked back home just to be safe. I didn't make it ten feet, though, before someone was stopping me in my tracks.
"Mike?"
He smiled.
"Hey, last time I tried to hit on you I got cock blocked."
"Uh, what?"
"I mean literal hit."
I scrunched my hands into fists.
"Mike, Vic and I are on good terms. He doesn't want you to hurt me."
"And? He's still going to go back to school on Monday and have everyone treat him like a joke. Did you really think he deserved that? I don't care what kind of shit you been through; don't you think you should've taken that as a lesson to not put that kind of pain on someone else? You know how much harder you've made life for me? I'm obligated to protect him. He's my brother and now I have to deal with him two times as depressed than he was before. You don't deserve to be happy after what you've done to him. To my whole family."
"I'm sorry. I'll fix everything," I said trying to keep my composure. He was right, though. I really did hurt Vic. All of this time I kept telling myself he deserved it. I only did it so he would stay away from me. I only did it so I could stop having feelings for him. How could I be so selfish?
"Really? Everything? You'll stop Vic from trying to protect you? Because I don't think you can do that. You can't help him."
"Mike all I've been trying to do was ge-" my explanation was cut short by his fist on my face. I thought I heard something crack but I could've been mistaken.
"I don't care. All I care is that you get what you deserve, and you deserve to die."
"P-please. Don't stoop to my level. We c-can fix this."
He punched my chin shoving my head upwards and causing me to lose balance and fall on the floor with a thud. He kicked my ribs again and again and again. By then I knew I had broken some bones.
"Mike!" I wheezed.
"Shut the fuck up," he yelled and knelt down by my face
He punched my face left and right until I started to cry.
"You're not a murderer!" I screamed. It was almost incoherent but Mike heard me.
To my surprise Mike was crying more than I was.
"I just want my brother to be happy," he said while slamming his arms down on my chest.
I tried to talk more but the taste of blood overflowed in my mouth causing me to choke.

Mike stood up and looked down at me.
"Oh shit," he whispered.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, what did I do?" He voiced shakily.
"Help," I croaked.
"Fuck, man, I have to go, I can't get caught!" He looked at me one last time before he fled.
I could already feel myself slipping away. I was afraid.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and luckily Vic called recently so I was able to call him faster.
"Kellin?! Kellin are you okay?" He was panicking.
"Come get me," I whispered because at that point if I tried more than to whisper I thought my lungs would explode.
"I-I-I can't!" He cried,"I'll send an ambulance. I know where you are. Stay there. Everything is alright."
I dropped my phone without hanging up and tried to keep breathing but the blood in my throat slowed me down too much. So I stopped trying.

I blinked my eyes open. It smelled like disinfectant. I looked around with blurred vision. Everything was white. Was I dead? I was dead...
"Kellin?" I heard a sweet familiar voice call. I smiled. I must be in heaven.
"I thought I was a murderer, God, I'm glad I made it to heaven."
"What?" The sweet voice asked.
I smiled and closed my eyes to fall asleep.

*Vic's POV*

"Kellin? Kellin? Wake up. Please oh my god wake up!" I cried.
"Honey you're going to have to give him some time," the nurse said.
"He's been on and off for hours!"
"I know, Honey, usually that happens after a concussion. He's very hurt," it only made me feel worse.
I sighed and slipped my fingers in between his.
"He'll be alright?" I asked the nurse.
"He'll pull through. Are you sure you don't know how this happened?"
I looked at his soft, pale hand with a small purple bruise that ruined its perfection. Fuck Mike. Why they he'll would he do this?
"No, I don't know, he called me to come get him," I said.
I rubbed my thumb across his hand.
I looked to his phone on the table that was littered with notifications of texts from Taylor, Josh, and Andy.
Taylor kept asking where he was, if he was asleep, if he wanted to hang out. Josh asked where he was, probably because he wouldn't answer Taylor. Andy just left a mere "hello," probably still awaiting a reply. I brushed it all off. I was never very fond of any of his friends.
I tried to see what happened between Kellin and them in the future but I couldn't. I knew that I couldn't force myself to tell the future. It just came to me when it did, but I know it was all in my head somehow. Reading minds on the other hand could be controlled. I could only read minds when I was looking at the person. I'm sure people didn't like being stared at and I did it so often to these past five people. Six. I can't lose Kellin he can't be the sixth victim to this.
I looked at Kellin and tuned into his thoughts.
"Hey there," I smiled.
"Vic? Where are we? It's so cold," I looked around. I had no idea where we were. His dreams were always so random.
"Kellin it's time to wake up," I pleaded.
"What? What do you mean wake up? I am awake."
"No Kellin. You're in the hospital. You had two broken ribs, a broken arm, a dislocated jaw, a concussion, and you're littered in bruises."
He looked down at himself, he was flawless in his dream.
"I deserve it, right?"
"No, Kellin you could never deserve that," I frowned.
"Come here," I held my arms out to him and he walked in for a tight hug,"time to wake up."

I slipped out of his dream and waited for him to wake up.
A few seconds later his eyes fluttered open and he looked at me confusedly.
"Why am I in a hospital?" He thought. I heard his thoughts as if he were talking out loud. If I wanted to I could look away and not hear anything, but I wanted to know what he was thinking.
"Hey, Kellin, you got in an accident," I tried to say soothingly.
"With Mike?" He asked.
"Yeah, uh, please don't tell anyone I promise I'll pay for every last penny if your hospital bill, I've been saving up," I said.
He looked down at his hand and saw my fingers intertwined with his.
"That's sweet of him," Kellin thought.
I pulled away to make it look like I wasn't reading his thoughts but he tightened his grip.
"Don't let go," he whispered and looked at me with his droopy pale blue eyes.
"I won't," I said.
"Uh, you received a few messages while you were asleep. Should I reply to them?"
"Yeah, I don't want anyone to worry about me," he said.
I read out the messages and he told me to tell everyone he was in a car accident but that he was okay and he was going to get some rest. I had already called the group home the minute after I called the ambulance to inform Stacy of what happened. Of course she couldn't leave her post because she had another 11 children to take care of, but I told her I'd make sure Kellin was okay. She did seem genuinely concerned. I think she secretly cared about the kids.
I looked at his blank expression and thought about the first day I saw him. When I walked into that calculus classroom and saw his blank expression that I could easily see behind. That was the second I knew he was the next person I had to protect. I didn't even want to help him, not after the other five I tried to save starting freshman year, when I somehow could just suddenly read minds and tell the future. It sounded so stupid. It was stupid.
I remembered what Kellin first thought of me. Annoying. I tried to avoid him after that but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not after knowing that he was going to die so soon. I still had no idea how. All I had was a day. It was enough for me at that point. I just knew I had to protect him. After finding him writing the dream he had about me during lunch one day, I took a long hard look at him and learned everything about his past. His sixth birthday, which was his best memory because both his mom and dad were they and they bought him what he wanted most at the time. A notebook and pen. His now prized possession. I learned about his parent's disappearance. Then it came up again when I visited him yesterday and he fell asleep only to dream about them like he did so often. I felt so bad for him. I felt so bad because he lost so much and he's only fourteen. I wanted to prevent any more pain from coming his way. Obviously, I wasn't doing so well and I beat myself up for that. I'm so useless when it comes to helping. That's why I lost the other five. I frowned.
"Vic looks so cute when he's lost in thought. I mean. No. He's not cute. Who am I kidding he is so cute. Look at his lips. They look so soft. I bet they'd feel even softer if they were pressed against mine. But I can't kiss him. I'm with Taylor. I can't leave her I can't just throw away all that I've worked for so far. I'll wait a while. Maybe a few months. I need some good right now. Then I could date Vic? But.. He said he only kissed me so I could like him. He doesn't like me... He just... Cares. Why does he care?" I listened to his stream of consciousness but looked away because I couldn't handle him. Why wouldn't I like him. Of course I liked him. In fact... I think I loved him. I did. I loved Kellin. This was the first time I ever had feelings for the person I could read. There was something different about Kellin. That's why I needed to save him. I loved him. I would put my life before his. I would die for him. I will die for him.
I rubbed his forehead with my hand and caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes and inhaled to savor the moment.
"I really like Vic," he thought.
I smiled softly.
I really liked him, too.
"Get some sleep, Kells. It's best that you rest. You'll heal faster. I'll be right here if you need me."
"Thank you," he whispered.
I was assuming he was in a lot of pain. When he tried to speak he wailed from the pain in his ribs. I could only imagine how painful two broken ribs could be.
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I played with the little curls in hair and and kissed his forehead.
I wish I was there to save him when he needed me. I could have prevented Mike from hurting him if Mike didn't get someone to corner me. I had been trapped behind a fence in an alley way. It was horrible. All I could do was clutch my phone and hope that Kellin would be okay. And I knew he wouldn't be. He wasn't. He isn't okay.
"It's almost 9pm I know you have school tomorrow, visiting hours are almost over anyway, you should go home. He'll be alright.
I nodded and slipped my hand out of Kellin's. I took a napkin and wrote a little note for him. I moved his phone closer to him and put the napkin note over it. It read:
I'll be back tomorrow after school. Don't worry. Tomorrow will be better. After all, you told your friends I'm cool. Maybe everyone will leave me alone. Thank you so much. See you tomorrow.
-Vic

I left the hospital and drove all the way home. When I walked through the front door my mom asked how Kellin was. She knew everything. From my psychic abilities all the way to how much I care about Kellin. What she didn't know was what Mike did. I told her it was a car crash too.
"He's pretty mangled up," I glared at Mike who was watching from the kitchen counter, "but he'll live," I turned back to her.
"Mom I realized something."
"Yes, hijo?"
"I love him," I whispered.
"I know," she smiled. She knew?
"It's obvious, I can tell from the way you talk about him, because that's the way your father used to talk about me when we were young and in love," she smiled and the corners of her eyes crinkled. I loved her smile. I looked at my dad and he nodded in confirmation.

After a while I walked upstairs and went to bed. I remembered Kellin's insomnia and thought about how much I neglected how lucky I am to be able to sleep. I rested my head on the pillow and slowly drifted asleep with thoughts of Kellin's beat up, but still beautiful face circulating my mind.

Notes