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doused in tears 3

Notes

as usual same tws as before


Morning had arrived.

Oj opened his eyes, squinting due to how bright the sun was coming through the window. He was exhausted from the previous night, he could barely sleep because he kept thinking about what Paintbrush had said to him.

He also figured that Fan wasn’t feeling the best either since his roommate went missing. Oj didn’t want to bother going out, though, he didn’t exactly feel the greatest about talking to Paintbrush.

He felt bad, but he was actually pretty mad at them. He wasn’t gonna say that, though.

Oj finally got up out of his and Paper’s bed, standing next to it as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. He looked over to his left, Paper was still asleep. Oj smiled, he wasn’t gonna wake him.

Oj then looked over to where Fan was. He was…

Where was Fan?

Oj started looking around the room and then headed out of the room. He figured that Fan went back to his and Paintbrush’s room, so that’s where he started.

Oj knew the entire layout of his hotel; he knew who each room belonged to just by the texture of the door. Once he was at Fan and Paintbrush’s room, he opened the door to see Fan and Paintbrush sitting next to each other on Paintbrush’s bed.

The two looked at Oj. “Oh, good morning, Oj,” Fan said.

So, Paintbrush was back.

“Hey, you two,” Oj responded. Hesitantly, he continued with, “Welcome back, Paintbrush.”

Paintbrush didn’t respond verbally, they just waved back at him.

Oj didn’t bother to push them to speak. He noticed the large wounds all over them and decided they’d been through enough despite wanting to scream at them like they screamed at him the previous night.

Oj walked inside their room. “How are you guys feeling? I saw that you weren’t in my room this morning, Fan, I assume Paintbrush came home and you came back here?”

Fan’s expression went from mildly cheerful to saddened. He looked at Paintbrush, and they nodded in response. Fan got off the bed and walked towards Oj.

Oj became confused, “You okay?”

Fan started fidgeting his hands together. “I went out in the middle of the night last night to go look for Paintbrush. It took a while, but I found them, but they were in horrible shape. I took them back here and they got cleaned up and then we went to bed, but I think they feel bad for stuff they said to you,” he paused, “We watched a movie this morning since I offered to last night then forgot.”

Oj didn’t respond immediately. If what Fan said was true, not that he didn’t believe him, then he might as well get the hard confrontational conversation with Paintbrush out of the way.

Paintbrush audibly sighed from where they were, “Yeah, I… I’m sorry, Oj,” they said in a soft tone, “Genuinely, I’m really sorry about last night, and I know you’re probably mad at me.”

“No, actually, I’m not,” Oj replied. “I appreciate the apology, thank you.” It was true, Oj wasn’t upset about it anymore. He was still shaken up over it, but Paintbrush apologized and seemed genuine about it.

Paintbrush smiled a little. They sighed, then said, “I just… I kind of overreacted and… well, ran off and got myself into some trouble.”

“Don’t pressure yourself to talk about it, Paintbrush,” Oj said gently.

“No, no, it’s alright. I think you should know at least some of what happened.” They looked downward, a pained expression slowly growing on their face. “I haven’t even told Fan yet.”

Fan didn’t say anything, rather his face became just as pained as Paintbrush’s.

Oj and Fan proceeded to go over to Fan’s bed and they hopped onto it, intently listening.

Paintbrush stayed silent for a moment, then sighed yet again.

“Well… after I ran out the door, I didn’t stop running for… I don’t even know how long, maybe a good 10 minutes or so? I probably wouldn’t have stopped had I not tripped and fell. I ended up in a nearby forest,” Paintbrush stopped talking for a few moments, “I was still crying from when I was yelling at you, Oj, only now I was crying even harder.”

Tears started to well up in Paintbrush’s eyes. Fan seemed to notice this and said, “Paintbrush, you don’t have to…” but was cut off by Paintbrush shaking their head.

“And I guess, I…” They paused, wincing as a tear fell down their face. Shakily, they continued, “…found a sharp tree branch-.”

“You tried to hurt yourself?” Oj interrupted them.

Paintbrush, full-on crying now, nodded in response, causing Fan and then Oj to get up from where they were sitting and hug Paintbrush.

“I even tried to get rid of myself,” Paintbrush finished, their voice breaking the more they spoke. They then were sobbing uncontrollably to the point of hyperventilating.

Oj sat there next to his crying friend. He didn’t realize how severe the situation was, no wonder Paintbrush broke down last night. He couldn’t help but sympathize with them.

“It’s not… It’s not your fault, Paintbrush. I didn’t know how bad things were,” Oj stated.

“No, Oj, it is my fault,” Paintbrush retorted through sobs, “If I weren’t so angry all the time none of this would’ve happened! I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have come to-.”

“Oh my god, why can’t you accept my forgiveness already?!” Oj raised his voice. His interruption left Paintbrush in shock based on their facial expression. “Look… I’m not mad at you for last night anymore. You’ve improved greatly on your anger issues. You’re not perfect, obviously, but I can assure you that you’re calmer the majority of the time than you’ve been since the first Crappy Cliff. One thing I’d like to point out, though, is that you’ll never get better than this if you don’t work on it. And you committing suicide will not improve anyone’s overall mood.”
Paintbrush didn’t answer. They sat there, staring at Oj. Oj figured they were processing what he just said to them, seeing as they soon afterward looked down at their lap. They had small bursts of breathing due to them still hyperventilating.

“Oj’s right,” Fan spoke up, “I wouldn’t be very happy if I found out you weren’t coming back. I also think Lightbulb would be sad, too. You two were close, I think so at least. She’d be upset if you were gone.”

Paintbrush hesitated. “…I wouldn’t want her to be upset. I think that’d be the worst congratulations gift for her if she wins. Like, ‘Oh, hey! Congrats on winning Inanimate Insanity Season 2! Oh yeah by the way Paintbrush killed themself. But congrats!’” Paintbrush started chuckling but stopped when they realized neither Oj nor Fan joined them and shrank into where they were. “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Oj told them. He gently and playfully punched them in their right shoulder. “We’re just glad that you’re back.” He stepped away from Paintbrush, noticing the time on the room’s wall clock reading 12:28 p.m.

“Thank you, Oj,” Paintbrush simply told him. Their hyperventilating seemed to have subsided.

Oj walked to the room’s door. “I’m gonna get myself breakfast. You guys want me to get you something as well?”

“Yeah!” Paintbrush and Fan exclaimed simultaneously.

“Come to the kitchen then, ‘cuz that’s where it’ll be!”

Oj then went to get breakfast as Paintbrush and Fan followed him. He was happy that Paintbrush was here.


Notes

hehehe :3

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Pub: 17 Jun 2024 02:59 UTC

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