Don't Move, He's Right Beside You

*YEARS LATER*


"Come on Brian!"
"YES! YES! I'M COMING!" Brian Haner answered, tripping on his pants that were half zipped on. He grabbed a t-shirt on his bed and ran downstairs where his dad was waiting for him.
"I'm ready! ...almost."
"Did you even eat anything? Don't skip breakfast!"
"Jeez dad... I'm not a kid anymore. Who cares what I eat when where why how with who."
Mr. Haner rolled his eyes.
"Hurry up. I got a lot of work today. And they hate it when I arrive late."
"What will I have to do? Ugh I hate going through those stupid probations."

The older man walked out of the house to wait for his son in the car.
"Pfft. As if I did want to work with a bunch of psychos, anyway..." Brian mumbled to himself, getting his shoes on.


***


"There we are." his dad finally said, pulling in the parking lot of the creepy-looking institution. Brian looked up at the huge building.
"Dad... why in the world would you want to work in a mental illness hospital, seriously."
"I should've counted how many times you asked." Haner Sr. replied, sighing.
Bri sighed as well and followed his dad inside. As soon as Mr. Haner stepped in, a nurse jumped on him.
"Doctor Haner. Thank God you're here. We have a problem in the room 305."
"What is it...?" Dr. Haner asked, following the nurse to the elevator.
"Hey! Dad?!" Brian asked, frowning, standing along in the hall.
His dad turned around and grabbed his forehead.
"Right... my son is here. Okay. Brian, stay right here for a moment, I have to..."
"Doctor, it's urgent."
"Yes. Coming."
And they disappeared in the elevator, leaving Brian to himself.

"Grrrreat."
He looked around. People were walking quickly in every direction. He noticed some girl behind the counter at the reception was staring at him. He smiled, causing her to blush and look down. He walked over and smiled at her again.
"Hello, hum..." He looked down to see a sign that said "Marissa" on her shirt. "...Right. Marissa."
She took a while to answer, distracted by the gorgeous boy's smile.
"May I help you?" she asked in a small voice.
He didn't know what to ask, so the first thing that came into his mind was to ask where the bathrooms were.
"Erm... Well... there are bathrooms further down that hall, but the men's bathroom is defective. So I'm afraid you're gonna have to make it to the second floor. When you get out of the elevator, it's right on your left."
"Okay. Thank you."
Damn, she was pretty. If he hadn't been gay.....

He stepped out of the elevator and walked through the halls, forgetting about the bathrooms. Identical doors were in rows on each side. Only the numbers on them made them unique. There was a small square-shaped window over each number, as well as a small crack lower on the door, probably used to feed the patients. He made sure he was alone and then surrendered to his curiosity. He slowly walked to a door to see inside. 206.

He hesitated before looking into the room. All of those horror movies taking place in mental wards scared him. He glanced inside, and saw a man sitting on the floor against the wall, with his head resting on his knees. He looked strong and tall, and his arms were covered in tattoos. Brian wondered why the guy sat on the cold floor instead of on his bed... Suddenly, the man looked up to him. Brian jumped and stared into those eyes. Those deep beautiful eyes. He then noticed his bottom lip was puffy under the lipring; he'd probably been hit.

The guy frowned and stood up abruptly, almost in a violent hurry, running to the door to stick his hands in the window. It was so small that you couldn't see anything inside anymore. The light was completely blocked out by his hands.

Brian lifted an eyebrow and backed up from the door slowly, understanding the message, and the patient collapsed back down to sit against the door. Confused as well as afraid, Bri quickened his pace to go back to the elevator, when suddenly someone grabbed his arm.
"My dear boy, what are you doing here?!"
"Hum..." he looked down at the old nurse, squeezing his brains for an answer.
He turned and noticed the tall guy from room 206 was in the window watching him.
"Oh, you must be Brian." the nurse added warmly.
"How... do you know?"
"Dr. Haner mentioned he'd bring you here... where is he? He left you alone?"
"Yeah ahah." he shrugged, a bit reassured.

The nurse asked him to help her distribute lunch to the patients until his father came back. Brian looked a bit freaked out, being there utterly unwillingly, but he agreed. He had nothing else to do, anyway. She explained to him how to serve the food: he simply had to slide the meal in the little hole at the bottom of the doors. He nodded.
"I'll be on the 4th floor, they didn't eat either yet. So... if you need me, you can get me there."
"I have to feed everyone on this floor?"
"Yes. Don't be scared, they can't hurt you." she smiled, rubbing his cheek like his grand-ma would do. He nodded again and watched her leave him with a little airplane-like wagon on wheels, filled with meals. He pushed it towards the end of the hall. He turned around and looked for the door 206. Somehow, that guy intrigued him. The said guy was still watching him, leaning his forehead against the window. He stared at Brian for a moment, and an honest smile that almost made him look shy finally showed up on his bruised lips. Brian smiled back, feeling slightly released.
"I'm hungry." the guy mouthed in the window.
Brian nodded and pushed the little wagon to the 206th door. He grabbed a plate and bent down to push it through the opening. Matt sat down on the floor to look at Bri through the crack, and he kind of smiled again.
"Hi." he said in a soft voice.
"Hi." Brian answered, not really knowing if he should talk to these people.
"Sorry if I scared you. I just hate how the doctors and everyone watch over me all the time."
"Oh. It's okay."
"Are you new or what?" he asked as Brian sat the same way in front of the door.
"Hum, my father works here."
"Oh. Dr. Haner I guess? You look like him, actually."
Brian nodded and studied the man's face. He had gorgeous green eyes; hence the black circles around them. Brian thought he was really pretty despite the fact he looked so tired and ill. He wanted to get in the room to sit and talk to him. He wanted to know what had happened to this oh-so-beautiful person. They stayed awkwardly silent for a moment, and then the patient sighed behind his door.
"Well, my name is Matt, by the way."
"I'm Brian."
Matt hesitantly snuck his hand through the hole and Brian shook it, smiling.

Randomly, Bri looked up to the wagon and noticed a couple of keys hanging on it.
"Do you think I can come in?" he asked without thinking, looking back at Matt.
Matt raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Hum... you can't get caught in here though... I don't think you're allowed to go into the rooms, considering technically, you don't work here..."
Brian stood up, ignoring what Matt was saying, and grabbed the keys. He looked around, and seeing no one around and nobody in the windows, he tried the bigger one in the lock and the door opened. He hesitated for a second but then walked in nervously, closing the door behind him. Matt remained on the floor and smiled up at his new friend.

"I'm glad I have someone to talk to, for once. Other than him..." he said truthfully. "No one ever cares whether or not you have something to say, in here."
"Oh... since when are you here?" Brian asked, biting down his lip, wondering if he should dare to ask what exactly Matt was in for.
"Hum, it's been three months, I think."
"Wait," Brian said, realizing what Matt had said earlier on, "other than whom?"
"Never mind."
Matt looked down and Brian sat down in front of him.
Brian lifted Matt's chin so that he meets his gaze, and suddenly he felt awkward for doing all this. A tear fell down on Matt's cheek, causing Brian to sigh and reach to hug him. Somehow, he could see all the suffering in this single tear, and without even knowing its causes or consequences, he felt the man needed help.

Matt wrapped his arms around him and whispered:
"No one knows he exists but me."

Brian held his breath for a moment, forgetting the whole sufferance he saw in the tear, and thought to himself: Dude... can you explain me why I walked in this room to hold this guy who has imaginary friends or something? He pulled away and frowned at Matt. Matt got up, sighed and sat on his bed.
"If you want to listen to me, I'll show you something no one ever saw."