And the prologue continues! The plot will really start moving soon...with more drama!
Thank you for reading and the lovely reviews!

The two of them sat in Adria's living room, sprawled over the aging couch. It was after school, and as had become their habit, they were hanging out together. Soup commercials seemed to play on repeat, offering nothing new or inspiring the millionth time they were on. Riah played absentmindedly with strands of Adria's silky hair, bored green eyes following the actions on the screen. They glanced down at Adria, taking in his blank expression.

"You seem a little out of it."

Head resting in Riah's lap, the brunet squirmed. His body felt endless, heavy, and his lungs felt smaller. He tapped his fingers on Riah's knee in time to a commercial jingle.

"Stop it," Riah scolded.

Adria obeyed and pressed his cheek against Riah's belly, exposed beneath his navy shirt.

"I can hear your breathing," he remarked, grinning. He swiveled his head long enough to press an open mouthed kiss against Riah's stomach before climbing off the couch and then back into a sitting position, a cold, respectful distance away.

Riah watched him go with wide eyes, wondering what the hell just happened. The motion felt familiar, but he didn't dare ask aloud.

He was starting to think Adria wasn't all there.

"Adria, I thought that we agreed that..."

But he stopped short as Adria said, "My head hurts."

Adria began to cough. Only a little, at first, but more hacking followed. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in bright, wet blood. "I'm going to go wash my hands." Adria stood and crossed the room to the kitchen sink.

Another soup commercial played on the TV.

Riah stared in shock before jumping to his feet and crossing the room, hands finding the brunet's shoulders.

"Adria, what the hell?" he demanded, panic making his heart race. "Are you okay?!"

Adria held up a hand and swatted at Riah. "Stop," he wheezed between coughs. The sink was stained with splatters of red. "I'm fine. It's probably just pneumonia."

Riah stared at his friend for a moment, mouth moving, but no words coming out. He finally managed to find his voice, disbelief racing through him.

"'Just'?!" he repeated incredulously, fingers tightening unconsciously around the thinner boy's shoulders. "Dude, you're coughing up blood. And pneumonia?! You're not the least bit concerned about this?!"

Adria laughed a little, spitting out another mouthful of blood. The red oozed around his teeth, staining them. "I get it a lot," he replied, waving a careless hand. "It's because I'm so scatterbrained. I missed my bus the other day so I walked home in the rain. I didn't think it was that cold."

Riah couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're telling me...you repeatedly get pneumonia." Worried anger surging through him, the blond spun his friend around, pressing him back against the counter. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

A final trickle of blood escaped Adria's mouth, and he turned his head to spit it in the sink. "More last winter," he said, shrugging. "Like, I kept having to borrow one of my friend's coats, but then he went away over Christmas so I just sort of wore this hoodie from two years ago. I'm fine though, I get over it quick."

Riah's hold tightened even more as he leaned closer, surprise mixing with the anger on his face.

"You don't even have a fucking coat? Are you trying to die?!"

Adria raised an eyebrow. "You know I don't have any money, right? And it's not like it gets that cold here." He pointed at the black hoodie draped over the side of a dining chair. "That's just fine."

"Not cold, eh? Then how do you explain all the pneumonia?" His gaze followed Adria's finger before flicking back to him sharply. "And that is not just fine."

"It's only when I get stressed out and miss the bus or don't get a chance to go home and change."

"Which seems to happen an awful lot," growled Riah, eyes narrowing. "Why don't you take better care of yourself?"

"I'm busy." Adria slipped from Riah's hold and crossed the small room, opening the cabinet of glasses. He reached back to locate a clean one. "I have a lot of things going on right now." He filled the glass with water and took a sip, tinting it pink with the blood from his mouth.

"You're too busy to keep yourself from getting pneumonia? It's really not that difficult, Adria." He followed the brunet, placing himself in front of the other boy.

"I'm giving it a best effort, Riah," Adria returned shortly, rolling his eyes. He was starting to get very annoyed at his friend's reaction. Sure, it was nice that the blond was worried about him, but this was just getting ridiculous. "I'll be more careful in the future. Everything will calm down once school is over."

Frowning, Riah reached forward, gently wiping away a streak of blood clinging to Adria's chin. He didn't say anything.

Adria nodded frantically, eyes wide in reassurance. "Really, it will. I'll be able to sleep better hours."

"How much sleep are you getting now?" Riah's voice was soft.

Adria ran his fingers through his hair, tugging it back until his forehead was exposed. "Fuck, I don't know...week days it's usually, like...two maybe? Three if I don't have a lot of homework? I work the graveyard shift and then go straight to school."

Riah sighed, dropping his head. "You're gonna kill yourself, y'know that?"

Adria wrapped his arms around his body and dug his nails in until his knuckles went white. "I know. It'll get better when spring comes and we don't have to pay for heat."

The blond's voice was soft as he said, "Addy...if you need help, I can help you..."

The brunet shook his head sharply, a frown twisting his mouth. "No, you can't. You're part of a cult, Riah. If anybody needs help, it's you."

"I'm not the one getting pneumonia all the time."

"It's not all the time, I was being dramatic. Once or twice a season maybe? Only when I'm dumb. Which is a lot." Adria began inching away as quickly as he could. "I have a weak respiratory system."

Riah wasn't buying it, leaning his weight back with narrowed eyes. "Adria, I have never gotten pneumonia once in my life. Once or twice a season is practically all the time."

Adria felt his back press against the back wall of the kitchen. "If I were smarter, I wouldn't get sick. I wouldn't be so tired all the time and I'd be able to get a normal job." Breathing so quickly it was borderline hyperventilation, Adria dug his fingernails into the sides of his arms.

Riah's eyes widened in alarm, feet bringing him quickly forward. "Hey, hey, calm down. You're not stupid, okay?" Pale hands landed on bony shoulders, squeezing. "You just have a lot to deal with."

Nails still firmly planted in his skin, Adria looked away. "I have to be stupid. I mean, my grades dropped, and I can't stay awake in class anymore. It's fucked."

Riah offered a twisted, humourless smile. "That's kind of what happens when you're barely getting any sleep, unless you're some kinda genius...or not human."

"I'll never get into college," Adria whispered. "I mean, it's not like I can afford it anyway, but there are people with better GPAs than me that would kill to get into Berkeley or Amherst."

The blond was impressed, easily distracted from the matter at hand. "You wanna go to Berkeley or Amherst?"

Adria nodded, still refusing eye contact. "Yeah. I thought I might be able to get in, but I doubt it now."

"You realise there are scholarships, right? You could definitely get one."

"If they'll even let me in. Do you have any idea how competitive those schools are?"

Riah rubbed the brunet's shoulders, leaning closer. "Adria, you'll be fine. And I bet your GPA's just fine."

"It used to be better though."

"What is it now?"

Adria fidgeted. "Tell me yours first."

Riah shrugged, wrists resting on the brunet's shoulders. "3.1."

The brunet nodded, voice lowering. "I used to have a 4.0, but I started missing chem assignments so now it's a 3.8 or something."

Riah couldn't help it: he started laughing. "Ad, your GPA dropped by .2 and you're panicking? Your marks are still awesome!"

Adria moved uncomfortably, leaning back as if to fuse with the wall. "They turn away 4.0 students all the time."

Smiling widely, Riah swept pale hands back through Adria's soft hair, pressing cool palms against his temples. "They'll accept you, okay? Hell, they'll be beggin' you to come to their school."

Adria nodded, eyes fixated at the wall behind Riah's head. "I'm really tired," he whispered, suddenly. "Tonight, I get to sleep."

"Why not sleep now? Wouldn't bug me any. You could use it, right?" Riah's head tilted to the side, smile crooked.

"Okay," murmured Adria. "I haven't slept in...oh God, three days? Three days. I'm so tired." He shuffled over to the couch and crawled onto it. "Please don't go away, I don't want to be alone."

Riah hesitated before moving to sit beside Adria. The darker boy squirmed onto his lap and lay there, eyes shut, breathing evening rapidly. Riah touched his hair, wrapping it around his fingers.

On the television, a soup commercial.

Riah shifted a bit to get comfortable, letting an arm drape across his friend's chest. He could feel his ribs through the thin sweater, something that made him frown. Adria really didn't eat enough. At the rate he was going, he really would die.

Adria murmured in his sleep, shifting uncomfortably.

Riah's frown deepened, and he looked around for a blanket. Finding none, he sighed, biting his lip. Adria would sleep better in his bed.

Being careful to not wake him, the blond shifted out from under the thin body and stood up. Gently, he slipped his arms under the brunet and picked him up. It wasn't easy, since they had basically the same build, but after a few minutes of struggling, Riah managed to get to Adria's bedroom. It was hard not to just drop him on the bed, arms sore from the burden, but he managed it, pulling the comforter up over the his friend.

"Riah," Adria murmured, as soon as their bodies were no longer in contact. He shifted beneath the duvet and curled up in an attempt to be small. His body shook.

Riah bit his lip, debating returning to the living room. Finally, he sighed, sitting next to his friend.

Shifting again, Adria slithered up to Riah and wrapped his sleep-addled arms around the blond boy's waist. "Sleep with me," he mumbled, voice muffled and drowsy. "You're so warm."
Riah blushed, staring down at the half-asleep brunet. After a moment, he slowly lay down, letting his head rest on the pillow next to Adria's.

"Good night, Riah," he sighed happily.

Avoiding Adria's face, the blond muttered, "'night."

Riah woke to laughter. Mirthful, entertained laughter. He opened one eye and leaned up, instantly spotting a giggling Sofia. "Hi, Riah," she said, tucking a strand of loosened hair behind her ear. "Catching up on lost sleep, are we?"

The blond's pale face instantly flooded red. "S-Sofia! I, uh...this, um..." He glanced to the side, noticing the way Adria's arms were wrapped tightly around his waist. "Uh..."

"Let me guess: you were just tired."

"Well, um, Adria wanted me to stay with him while he slept, so..."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Of course he'd want you to stay with him. He works himself too hard, that boy." She shook her head and leaned against the doorframe. "You had better be treating him right."

Sensing the slight warning in her eyes, he quickly nodded. "Y-yeah! Of course!"

Sofia sighed. "Did you want something to eat, Riah? If you two came home together, you've been here a while."

The blond scratched his head, finally noticing the way his stomach was clenching. "Uh, sure...thanks."

Sofia motioned for Riah to follow her and padded into the kitchen. "What do you like, Riah? Food-wise. We have soup, pasta, chicken, and every Catalan sauce you've ever dreamed of."

Riah blinked, biting his lip as he closed the door to Adria's room behind him. "Um...whatever's easiest to make?"

After a moment of silence, Sofia let out a sharp laugh. "Easiest? I've been making these since I was old enough to hold a spoon. What do you want to eat?"

The blond shrugged, wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm not picky."

"You like garlic, right?" She crossed the linoleum to the cabinet and fished out a clove of the herb. "It's a staple."

Riah nodded. "Yeah, garlic's good."

"Chicken with garlic sauce it is then," said Sofia. She began moving through the kitchen with precision, assembling her tools quickly, efficiently. "Adria needs to learn how to cook. Can you cook?"

The blond's mind flew instantly to the compound's cafeteria. He'd never really had need to learn to cook himself. "I...don't know. Maybe?"

"Come here," Sofia ordered. "I am going to teach you how to make chicken in garlic sauce. You never know when it will come in handy." She motioned Riah over. "It's not hard, you'll get the hang of it in no time."

Slowly, the blond moved over to her, peering around her as she started preparing the ingredients. In the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered if this was what it was like to have a normal family.

She nodded at him and pointed at the wok sitting on the stove. It sizzled with olive oil. "Okay. So wait for that to heat up...I'll chop up the garlic, you put the chicken in when it's properly hot. Salt and pepper first though."

Green eyes flicked between the poultry and the wok. After deciding it was hot enough, Riah slid the chicken in, watching the oil pop and sizzle.

"Good," Sofia crooned. "So leave it like that for a while, then flip it. It's not that hard." She quirked her mouth and elbowed the blond boy in the ribs. "You're a smart boy."

Riah ventured the smallest of smiles.