“You don’t have any right to assume anything about me,” Vaughn muttered, sitting up straight again. He was frowning now, biting at the inside of his cheek as he did so. And he would stick with that statement. Kaz knew nothing about his life, he had no right to judge him.
"I'm not assuming, I'm stating. If how we've interacted so far is anything to go by, I'm pretty sure you would be happy to see me dead," Kaz grumbled. Of course he would, everyone would. Hell, he'd probably kill you himself if he had the chance, his mind hissed
“And I have reasons for my actions,” Vaughn growled. Yeah, he did. But he wasn’t about to tell Kaz about his mental illnesses.
"Everyone's got reasons, dumbass. So why do you act like you'd stab my eye out with a kitchen fork but didn't strangle me when you got the chance?" Kaz's voice went from angry to slightly choked as he spoke, and before he realized it he was trying to hold back tears. Fucking baby, his mind sneered. You only want to know because you want it to be him who takes the life out of those sad grey eyes.
“First of all, I don’t want to fucking stab you. Second of all, that wasn’t even you who I was wanting to strangle,” Vaughn snarled, hands clenching into fists. Lier, Finley. Look at you, you’re going to strike him again. Do it, you’ll feel better, the whispers provided.
"Think again, buddy. Kaon? He's the remnant of who I used to be. A secondary personality that split my mind because my puny little brain couldn't handle so much hate," Kaz spat, voice shaking ever so slightly. That's it, Kaz. Tell him the truth. Tell him you're a monster, maybe he'll think you're so crazy he'll put you out of your misery, his mind hissed giddily
Vaughn was extremely frustrated by this arguing. They could be doing and talking about so many other things, and here they were. “You are seriously trying my patience,” he growled. And it was true.
"You know what? This has been a great talk," Kaz said, his tone now noticeably choked through his anger. He stood up abruptly before beginning to walk quickly out of the cafeteria. You motherfucking coward! God damn it, you were so close! his mind spat. "Shut up," Kaz said aloud quietly. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, I don't want to hurt him," he said, his tone growing more and more choked by the second
Vaughn pushed to his feet, walking after Kaz. “You don’t just get to walk away from this like that,” he snapped. He reached out, hand closing around Kaz wrist in a tight, firm grip.
Kaz sucked in a sharp, stuttering breath, recoiling sharply. Images of his aunt beating him flashed before his eyes, and for a moment it wasn't Vaughn holding his wrist. He felt something click in his brain, and he knew if he didn't leave soon, Kaon would take over. "Let go of me," Kaz snapped, though the choked tone didn't help much
Vaughn’s jaw clenched, and his hand didn’t move from Kaz’s wrist. “No. Not unless you calm the hell down and come sit back down,” he hissed, grey eyes narrowed in a challenging way.
Kaz's eyes widened, their surface glassy with held back tears. He felt like everyone was staring at them, and it began to cause a suffocating pressure to build up in his throat. "I-I'll sit down, but not in here," he stammered, eyes flickering quickly from Vaughn's face to the multitude of people around them. "Not in here, please," he repeated quietly
Vaughn let out a slow, sharp exhale. He ran a hand over his face as he nodded slowly. “Okay, fine. Come on,” he muttered, pulling Kaz down the hall. Eventually, they arrived back at their room, and he opened it, only then letting go of Kaz.
Kaz felt like he was suffocating, the lack of people only slightly helping as they reached their room. He made a beeline for the bathroom, shutting the door behind him but forgetting to lock it. He stared down at his dog tags, a few tears beginning to spill from his eyes silently. He didn't want to do it, not with Vaughn so close nearby. But it was the only thing he could do to keep Kaon away. So he lifted the dog tags and dug one of the razor blades off the back of one of them, setting it on the counter and rolling his sleeve up. He unwrapped the bandages on one arm until he reached a patch of unmarred skin. He took the razor to it, hissing slightly as he made a small cut
Vaughn walked toward the bathroom, hand going to the knob as he pulled the door open. “Kaz, we need to ta- what the hell?!” He had started, but his tone grew to one of disbelief as he looked at the razor blade in Kaz’s hand. How the hell had Kaz managed to sneak in a razor blade?
Kaz startled, getting blood all over the sink as he jumped back, clutching the blade in one hand as he looked up at Vaughn. He didn't care that he was cutting his hand, he just cared that Vaughn had seen him. "Fuck off," he choked out, a few stray tears falling from his eyes as he backed up against the sink
Vaughn took a slow step into the bathroom, towards Kaz. “Kaz, just give me the razor blade,” he said in a cautious tone. He had been right about his assumptions. The whole thing about Kaz cutting to piss off family was complete shit. The kid was obviously seriously depressed.
"I said fuck off!" Kaz cried out, more tears dripping down his face. He held the razor blade tighter in his hand, and a drop of blood slid from his palm as it dug into his hand more. See? You can't get rid of me. Even he wants me- "Shut up!" Kaz seemed to yell at no one, shaking slightly
“Kaz, give me the goddamn razor blade,” Vaughn repeated, stepping closer to Kaz. He seemed distracted by something, and he was unsure of who he was yelling at. But he took a chance and lunged at Kaz, grabbing onto him quickly.
Kaz nearly screamed, dropping the blade as Vaughn grabbed him. He opened his palm slightly, more blood dribbling down his arm as he struggled against Vaughn weakly. He couldn't suppress the sob that wrenched itself from his throat, and he tried to back away from the other boy as much as he could
Vaughn kept his arms wrapped tightly around Kaz, pinning his arms to his sides. “Kaz, stop it!” He said, tone growing more serious. He could bash Kaz’s head against the sink, but he doesn’t. He simply half drags Kaz out of the bathroom, shoving him down onto his bed. “Lay the hell down and don’t move,” he snapped.
Kaz sniffled, freezing in place on the bed. Oh god. Vaughn was going to kill him. Or worse. Isn't that what you wanted you pathetic piece of trash? his mind sneered. Kaz made another ugly sob, fear pinning his arms to his side still instead of moving to cover his face like he wanted to
Vaughn turned away, walking back into the bathroom. He picked up the razor blade, walking back out into the main room. He thought for a moment, then headed over to the window, pulling it open. “No more,” he said in a stern tone, making sure Kaz watched as he threw the razor blade out of the window.
"W-Wait!" Kaz stammered, bolting upright as he watched Vaughn throw the razor out the window. You can't keep me away now, his mind sneered. You can't keep me away, and he made sure you couldn't, it laughed giddily. Kaz wrapped his arms around his knees, sobs wracking his body as he buried his face in his knees
“You can’t keep doing that to yourself,” Vaughn said, voice a bit louder than before. He went back into the bathroom, getting a wash rag wet in the sink before he crouched down. He began to clean up the blood that dripped onto the floor, jaw clenched tightly a he did so.