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“Oh my gosh- Auggie, I-I can explain!”
What was there to explain? The dark red blood was now burned into his retinas, the knife Winnie was holding was dripping more blood onto the ground.
The school's white hallway tiles were marred by the dark stains, with a large bottle of bleach ominously positioned next to the blood spill. The air was thick with a metallic scent, mingling with the sharp, acrid odor of the bleach, creating a nauseating scent that clawed at Augustine’s throat. He looked over at the body.
God, the body. There seemed to be multiple stab wounds all across the back, the what seemed to be previously yellow hoodie staining to be more of a dark orange-y colour. The skin - a previous peach colour turning into a more sickly grayish hue.
Augustine’s heart raced, pounding out of his chest as if he was running a marathon, even though he wasn’t scared. The blood made him look away, wanting to avoid staring at it unless he wanted to puke. He turned to Winnie to distract himself, but..
Winnie’s eyes, usually so full of happiness and laughter, were now wild, glistening with unshed tears that threatened to spill over. Despite the bloody body in front of him, Winnie didn’t seem bothered by it, only focusing on Augustine. The silver knife Winnie was holding glinting ominously in the harsh cheap lights of our high school. Did… Winnie do this? Why?
“Sorry, Auggie,” Winnie said, his voice sickly sweet, yet he could still hear some of Winnies fear in it. “He has been getting on your nerves for the past few weeks. I taught him a lesson! He won’t bug you ever again!”
Winnie’s words hung in the air, a twisted justification that sent shivers down his spine. Looking closer at the body, he finally started to recognize who was there.
Augustine had never been popular, only really getting around without bullies because of the fact that he was Winnie's friend. But Chase - one of the other popular guys around school known for his bullying - had decided it would be a good idea to try and pull “harmless” pranks whenever Winnie wasn’t around.
Those “harmless pranks” had often lent him with bruises, and it was clearly done on purpose.
Obviously, he had told Winnie. After the hallucination or whatever it was that mended their friendship, he had been more honest with Winnie then ever.
He never thought it would lead to this.
The wildness in Winnie’s eyes was unsettling, a manic glint that suggested- no, proved he was lost in a delusion of righteousness.
Winnie had done this all for him.
For him.
Augustine should be scared. He should, and yet.. It was Winnie. Winnie was everything to him and the thought of losing him again, even after everything Winnie has done was far more terrifying than the horror before him.
“Gosh, Winn.. you’ve made a mess.” Augustine’s voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes flickering to the bleach as his thoughts tumbled over one another in a chaotic whirl. He should be panicking, screaming, calling for help. But all he could think about was how to protect Winnie, how to fix this before it spiraled even further out of control.
He trusted Winnie more than anyone else. This was still his Winnie, he knew it. After all, he would do the same thing for Winnie in a heartbeat. Killing was not against his morals, not when it was for Winnie.
He took a step forward, only for Winnie to flinch. Augustine hated seeing Winnie scared, especially because of him..
“I’m not mad at you.” Came out of his mouth before his brain could even form the thought, yet it was true.
Now it was Winnie's turn to be shocked, Winnie’s mouth opening and closing like a goldfish before finally finding the words. “I-i just killed someone and you’re not.. Upset?”
Augustine's breath hitched in his throat. Winnie’s question hung in the air, filled with confusion and something darker, something desperate. Augustine could see the fear in Winnie’s eyes, the uncertainty. The knife had been lowered, but the tension in Winnie’s shoulders had not. He looked like a wounded animal, cornered and afraid, waiting for Augustine to lash out or abandon him.
But how could he? Winnie was everything to him. Augustine had known for a while that there was something different about their bond, ever since the car crash. Something that went beyond the usual confines of friendship. Every time Winnie laughed, smiled, overall just be himself, his heart pounded in his chest and all he could think about was how much he loved Winnie.
And gosh did he love Winnie. It went beyond just a simple crush.
Augustine had always pushed those feelings down, convincing himself that it was just the intensity of their re-built bond. He told himself it was normal to feel this way about your best friend, that the quickened heartbeat and the way the world seemed to brighten whenever Winnie was near was just a sign of deep friendship.
But now, with blood staining the floor and a body lying lifeless at their feet, those feelings were impossible to ignore. The truth was glaringly obvious, and it terrified him more than the scene before him.
He loved Winnie in a way that defied logic, in a way that transcended every rule he thought he knew. And now, that love had been tested, dragged through the darkest depths, and it still burned bright, unwavering, despite everything.
“Upset?” Augustine echoed, his voice soft as he reached out to touch Winnie’s cheek. Winnie flinched slightly at the contact but didn’t pull away. “No, Winn. I’m not upset. I’m worried… I’m worried about you. About what this means.”
Winnie’s eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat. “Auggie… I-I didn’t want to hurt you. I swear, I only wanted to protect you.”
“I know,” Augustine said, brushing a stray tear from Winnie’s cheek. “But this… this is serious, Winn. We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. We have to figure out what to do next.”
Winnie looked down, his gaze fixed on the floor as he tried to steady his breathing. The wildness in his eyes had faded, replaced by a deep, crushing guilt. “I didn’t think… I just… I just acted. I was so angry, Auggie…”
Augustine felt his heart twist at the raw emotion in Winnie’s voice. He knew Winnie had always been protective, but this… this was something else entirely. It was as if the love they shared had twisted into something darker, something dangerous. And yet, even now, Augustine couldn’t find it in himself to turn away from Winnie.
“Winnie, look at me,” Augustine said, his voice gentle but firm. Winnie slowly lifted his head, his eyes searching Augustine’s face for any sign of rejection or anger. But all he found was a deep, unwavering love that made his heart ache.
“We’re in this together, okay?” Augustine continued, his hand still resting on Winnie’s cheek. “No matter what happens, we’ll figure it out. We’ll get through this.”
Winnie blinked, more tears spilling over as he nodded. “I’m so sorry, Auggie. I didn’t mean for it to go this far…”
“I know,” Augustine whispered. “I know.”
For a moment, they just stood there, the weight of the situation pressing down on them. The body, the blood, the bleach- it was all too real, too immediate. But in that moment, it was just the two of them, clinging to each other in the aftermath of something that had changed their lives forever.
Finally, Augustine pulled back, his mind already racing with what needed to be done. “We need to clean this up,” he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil inside him. “We can’t let anyone find out.”
Winnie nodded, wiping at his tears with the back of his hand. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. We can’t let anyone know.”
They moved in tandem, their actions almost mechanical as they worked to erase any trace of what had happened. The bleach stung their noses, the smell of it almost overwhelming, but they kept going, driven by a shared need to protect each other, to survive this together.
As they worked, Augustine’s thoughts kept circling back to one thing: the lengths Winnie had gone to for him. It wasn’t just a show of loyalty - it was a declaration, a statement that left no room for doubt. Winnie would do anything for him, even if it meant crossing lines that could never be uncrossed.
And Augustine realized, with a clarity that left him breathless, that he would do the same. For Winnie, he would burn the world down if it meant keeping him safe.
When they finally finished, the hallway looked almost normal again. The blood was gone, the tiles scrubbed clean, the body wrapped in an old tarp they found in the janitor’s closet. But nothing would ever be the same. The bond between them had been reforged in fire and blood, and now it was something darker, something unbreakable.
As they stood there, breathing heavily from the exertion, Augustine reached out and took Winnie’s hand in his own. “Whatever happens next,” he said quietly, “we face it together.”
Winnie looked up at him, his eyes wide and filled with a mixture of fear and relief. He squeezed Augustine’s hand, his grip tight, as if afraid to let go. “Together,” he agreed, his voice barely a whisper.
And in that moment, Augustine knew that no matter what came next - no matter how dark the path ahead - he and Winnie would walk it side by side.