Anya shook her head as she watched the boy scratch away at himself. It almost made her panic more, if that was possible. "No, don't..." she trailed off at the first sight of blood and took a gentle hold of his wrists so that he couldn't hurt himself anymore. "No one is going to go, not any time soon. Att is going to live until he's old, the doctor will be fine, and so will I," she murmured quietly as she gently squeezed his wrists, though she could feel herself spiralling as the boys face screwed up. She didn't want him to cry. God, please say he wouldn't cry. She didn't want to s The him like that.

At first, when the girl grabbed his hands, he tried to pull away, but after a moment gave up and leaned against the girl tiredly. He was trembling now, his breathing jerky and harsh. What was wrong with him? Why was he so messed up? This wasn't fair to the girl...she needed help and support too, and instead she was just trying to help him. She deserved so much more than this, but he couldn't calm himself down enough to even be someone to lean on. He needed to fix himself, he really did, he needed to make himself better....but was that even possible? He didn't know. He didn't think so.

Anya furrowed her brows slightly at the bit when the boy leaned into her... and all she could think to was lean away from him... and she hated that. She wanted to sit there and hold him, to be a comfort to him... but she couldn't do that right now. She was scared that if she did that she would start crying and she wouldn't be able to stop.

(super short I'm in the run)

Sage noticed the girl shift away from him slightly, and he couldn't say he blamed her. He sat up, and after a moment let him fall over onto the bed. He knew he shouldn't ask her for help...she needed help too. He supposed they were both just in need of help they couldn't give. Of course, if the girl asked him for help and curled up with him, he'd be fine with them laying there grieving together. But it didn't seem like that would happen. Which...he supposed them not being dependent on eachother was probably a good thing. Though, once she left he wants sure what would happen. She'd be taking Att with her...it would be like losing them too.

Anya croaked out another apology to the boy when he flopped down again. Really, all she wanted to do wand wrap him in her arms and let him know how sorry she was... let him know that none of this was his fault, and that she didn't mean to let it come out that way. But she just felt so... lost. She couldn't help him if she didn't know how to help herself. Luther was her best friend since she was young... and he was just gone. There'd never been a time when he wasn't there, and that was... scary. This was the first time in about nineteen years she'd been without him, and her world just seemed empty to her. But it wasn't... she had Sage and Att and her parents and the doctor... and she needed to know how to be with all of them now, too.

Sage shook his head when he heard the girl's apology and just took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He hoped it'd be at least comforting to know he would do what he could to help her, and holding her hand was admittedly a bit comforting for him. Just ...knowing she was there, even if she couldn't do anything but simply sit there and be a comforting presence in the room. He did feel a bit better just having her there...she didn't have to do anything, he couldn't ask that of her, but the knot in his chest did loosen knowing she was there. Att helped too, and so did the doctor.

Anya bit the inside of her lip when she felt him give her hand a little squeeze... he was trying. She could see that, even if he was hurting he was still trying. She had to try for him, too. She had to be there for him as much as she could... because this had hit her hard, but everything would hit Sage harder... no matter what it was. After a moment or so, the girl let herself fall onto the bed, still holding onto his hand gently. She and Att were planning to leave the next day... and she didn't want to leave things so still before that.

Sage scooted so that their sides were light touching once the girl flipped down next to him. He could tell she wanted to help...but she was in the same situation he was. Had she ever really dealt with grief like this? He couldn't recall a time where she would have had to, and he knew the girl well. It was an important lesson to learn, but it could easily break someone. The girl was holding his hand still, which was good or he'd have started scratching again. As it was, his fingers moved slightly before he forced them to be still. The girl didn't need him to be doing that. He could hold himself together until she left.

Anya felt the boy shift so that their sides were touching... and she could see his fingertips twitching, waiting until he could start scratching away at his skin again. It made her chest tighten again, and that all too familiar lump returned to her throat again... and it wasn't going to leave. She tried to swallow it down, but it hurt, and eventually tears started to roll down her eyes again... she didn't know why. She couldn't make it stop. Maybe it was the thought of Sage hurting himself like that... because she'd made him think this was his fault. No, she didn't want that. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to stop the tears again, but it didn't work... they just got heavier. "Sage-" she paused for a moment before shaking her head and trying one last time to stop the tears that were starting to stain her face. "When we go, please don't hurt yourself... please?" She asked quietly as she rolled onto her side and went to take his other hand gently in hers.

Sage barely noticed the girl start crying, though eventually it was a bit harder to miss. He looked over at the girl when she spoke, and looked down at their hands. Could he make a promise he didn't know if he could keep? He'd already broken one...would she forgive him if he broke another? Would he forgive himself? He hadn't forgiven himself for the last promise he broke ...no doubt it would be the same way. But...he could promise to try. To do his best, to try and stay strong. He bit his lower lip and looked back up at the girl's face and sighed. "I can try," he promised, his voice a whisper but a flicker of his stubborn nature flickering in his eyes for a brief moment.