"Ah!" Alex sighed as it made him drop his books onto the floor. "IT's fine I guess." The male mumbled, looking up to see who actually ran into him. Why was the male looking so sad? He couldn't help but wonder.

He should be bothering with this.. But he couldn't help it. "H-hey, is everything alright?" He asked softly, knowing that he was probably just gonna say something like fine, but well, one could always try.. He reached down to grab his books before looking at the male, expecting an answer.

Viktor didn't seem like he heard him, at first. He only spoke after a few minutes of silently staring off into the distance. "I'm tired. I don't feel well. My mother is dying in the hospital. I'm in such a wonderful mood," he muttered absently before turning and ambling off, quite slowly, towards his first class.

He looked miserable. People were avoiding him in the hallways--he tended to get all kinds of violent and touchy when he was in a bad mood.

"Ah,.. I'm sorry." He said softly before he watched the other male walk away. Surely his mom was horrible, but that didn't mean all of them were and he actually felt sorry for the male.

Alex let out a soft sigh before he headed to class, slowly.

In class, he was rather distracted, trying to put the jock out of his head. Once he started caring, he might start caring too much and, well, people could take advantage of that.

By the time lunch rolled around, Viktor's mood had still not lifted. He was sitting alone at one of the usually unoccupied tables, away from his friends, and he hadn't bothered to get lunch. He had instead opted to lay his head down on the cool surface of the table and sleep.

No one bothered him. No one even came up to talk to him. His friends knew to leave him alone when he was like this...

Alex had noticed that, but decided not to bother him either right now. There probably was a reason why everybody avoided him right now.

But instead, he did stick a note into his locker when no one was looking, it read:

"If you want to talk, about anything really.
Meet me by the big oak after practice.
I'm sorry."

He had to remember he also had practice today. He joined the running team recently. He hated the outfits, but it was something where he could completely block out the world. It might sound strange, but it helped him with not losing his mind completely.

Viktor did get Alex's note. Thankfully, he'd been looking for an excuse not to go home all day, since he didn't have practice after school and he didn't have anywhere else, really, to go. When he read the note, he idly decided that attempting to talk to someone would go over much better at the moment than going home.

His father was at home. Viktor's father, Betelgeuse, was a businessman who was only home during the evening, about the time Viktor arrived home from school. He drank the moment he arrived home, and he was a menace to Viktor when his mother, Honeydew, was not around. Now that his mother was in the hospital, on her deathbed, there was nothing to stop the man...

So the moment school let out, Viktor huddled up near the big oak tree, his head resting on his knees. He just sat there, waiting for the other male to arrive.

After practice ad showering, Alex made his way to his locker, stuffing his books away before he wandered to the tree, where he had told the jock to meet him.

He sat down next to him. "Hey." He said after a few moments, looking over at the other male. He knew this must be hard on him. Of course he would be glad to get rid of his mother, but well, most people had better moms than he had.

Viktor made a soft grunting noise as acknowledgement, not lifting his head up from where it was resting on his knees. He was still very much upset, it appeared. It was rare to see Viktor in such a state, considering he was usually such a jovial and confident person. Seeing him in near-tears...that was new. The star of the football team didn't cry like some baby...no, he never cried!

But here he was...

Alex wasn't really surprised that he didn't do much. He bit his bottom lip lightly,the other didn't really seem to be in a talking mood. He knew it helped for him when people hugged him if he was upset about something. Well, depending on why he was. He wasn't actually sure how the male would react, but he didn't like seeing people upset about something.

He sighed softly, hugging the older male, lightly. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly.

Viktor's breath caught in his throat. Honestly, he hadn't expected the smaller male to hug him. He lifted his head slightly and glanced around, to make sure no one was around to see this. Then, he tentatively rested his head on Alex's shoulder, closing his eyes. He was accepting the embrace...it seemed to be making him feel a little less down on himself...

He still didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself to speak yet...if he spoke, there was a chance he might end up crying. And that, well...that was something he was sure the other male would never let him live down.

Alex was mildly surprised that that other let him hug him. He been expecting him to just shove him off. So things were already going better than expected.

He decided to let the other male do the talking if he wanted to. So for now, he'll just hug him and rub a comforting hand over his back. since he wasn't sure how the other male would reat to it actually. He was already pretty sur ehe was lucky that he didn't get hit when he hugged him.

Viktor remained in the other boy's embrace for the longest time. When he finally dislodged himself, it was because he had to sneeze and rub absently at his nose. He didn't appear to be in the best condition mentally or physically. He was exhausted, he was shivering...and was that a look of fear on his face?

"...I suppose I'm going to have to find somewhere else to live," he said, shortly, with a barely audible voice. "I can't live at home...not with just my father there." Viktor had no money. Based on how he always pressured people into forking over their money, it was easy to assume he didn't get much at home, and had never had much in his life...

Alex found t a small miracle that he was able to see the male like this. He was glad he could let it out, but did feel rather bad that it had to be this way for the other male. And he didn't look so well either, rather.. sick almost. He didn't say anything about it though, it was Viktor's choice.

He decided not to question why he wanted to move out of his home, he surely had a very good reason for that. "Do you have an idea where to you'd like to move then or a place you could stay?" He asked softly, looking up to him as he did.

"...No, I don't," Viktor replied, still sounding a little off and...broken, somehow. "I don't know where to go. I...I need somewhere to live. I can't get a job until school ends--I'm too busy with football. I don't have any money. My only options, really, would be to either move in with someone else or find myself a roommate and go rent an apartment together..."

He didn't seem to want to have to think about such a difficult thing, yet. He was eighteen, so he could move out on his own...but the stress from the current situation was making his head spin, and he couldn't think straight about anything so important as moving out on his own, or finding a place to stay...

((I'm sorry.))

Alex bit his lip lightly as he listened to the other explain and rubbed his back lightly, hoping it would help a little. "I could-" He cut himself off before he could say offer him a room, because he was sure he didn't want the male to come into his home and see what his life was like..

"-um, borrow you some money to rent an apartment?" He offered, or he could room with him.. But he decided to let that part out since the other male probably wouldn't want that. He actually hoped that Viktor would accept his offer since he wanted to something to help him out, it just didn't feel right to see him like this.

((Hello? o.o))

Alex bit his lip lightly as he listened to the other explain and rubbed his back lightly, hoping it would help a little. "I could-" He cut himself off before he could say offer him a room, because he was sure he didn't want the male to come into his home and see what his life was like..

"-um, borrow you some money to rent an apartment?" He offered, or he could room with him.. But he decided to let that part out since the other male probably wouldn't want that. He actually hoped that Viktor would accept his offer since he wanted to something to help him out, it just didn't feel right to see him like this.

Well, he could also room with the other, that would get him away from his mother.. "Or rent an appartment with you. My home situation isn't so great either." The boy said softly as he looked over at the other male. "I'm sorry, for being such an ass before." He mumbled.