evan relapses into old habits after regulus dies, starts chainsmoking weed again and purging his food because he cant keep it down anymore.
barty sits there with him the entire time, pulls his hair back when he pukes, talks to him in bed when he's too sad to do anything—always there for him even if he doesn't know how to fix things.
one night, evan's sat on the cold bathroom tile floor, eyes puffy and hands shaking like hell. barty is right there next to him, his head leaned on evan's shoulder. two boys slumped against the ground feels like two boys against the world.
"we're a mess," evan somehow laughs, tilts his head back, and lets the florescent lights make his vision blurry.
barty shrugs. "still love you," he murmurs, voice low because it'll echo through the bathroom if he speaks up too loud, or break the rare air of peace around them.
it strikes evan that barty is not afraid, not afraid to love someone like him, a walking disaster. "despite it all?" he asks, unsure of what answer he's hoping for.
lifting his head from evan's shoulder, barty finds evan's gaze and gives him a sad smile. "because of it all," is all he says, and for a night, things feel okay. things feel okay because barty will love him forever.