Feeling Faint (BxB)

Chapter 27

Ben's P.O.V.

A few hours later, I'm still sitting on the couch, Jay now fast asleep with his head on my lap.

River's still spaced out across from me, and Devon's sitting on the floor scrolling on his phone.

Devon lets out a sigh and sets his phone down, turning to face me. "Has he told Lex yet?" I shake my head. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised he told you. I wasn't sure he was ready."

Devon grimaces. "I'm not completely sure he intended to. He just kind of got fed up and burst out everything at once."

I look down at Jay, whose mouth is slightly parted and his hair messy from shifting around. I gently run my fingers through his hair. "He's just had a rough couple of days. I can tell he needs to talk about it, but I don't want to push him to if he's not ready."

Devon presses his mouth into a flat line. "It's not easy in the first place to get him to talk about anything serious. We've been friends for a long time now, and he still often bottles up his feelings around me. When I do catch onto his emotions, it's when he lets something slip because he's got so much pent up."

He looks away and shakes his head. "I don't know what he's told you, but something else happened last year that had him really shaken up. I always have a hard time getting him to talk about it, but I can tell he's still hurting."

I look down at Jay's sleeping face, which is completely at peace for once. How could someone so wonderful have so many awful things happen to them?

He stirs in his sleep, features flickering momentarily. He mumbles something and I have to lean in to catch the words.

"No, don't leave." My heart crumples and I look over at Devon, who's now back on his phone, paying no attention.

I run my fingers gently through his hair again, but he doesn't seem to calm down. Instead, he begins to toss and turn more, and then he's sweating slightly and talking again. Devon looks up with a frown.

"Should I wake him?" I whisper. However, as soon as the words leave my mouth, Jay shoots upright, suddenly awake and panting hard. His eyes shift wildly around the room in a panic until they land on me and he starts crying.

"Hey, hey. It's just a bad dream. Come here." I say, pulling him into my arms. He's worked himself into such a frenzy that his crying and gasping leads to a coughing fit. I rub his back in an attempt to calm him and whisper in his ear. "It's okay, I'm right here. It was just a nightmare, none of it was real."

I hold him as he slowly calms, burying his face into the crook of my neck with my arms wrapped around him. "How's your head?" I ask quietly.

"Still hurts." He mumbles. "Okay, do you want more medicine?" I ask. He lets out a small hum of agreement.

"Devon, could you grab the painkillers? They're in the bathroom cabinet." He nods and disappears down the hall.

River stretches, setting down his phone. "Are you guys hungry? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, we could order food or go out to eat, but I'm guessing Jay would rather stay here," I comment.

"We could go out..." Jay says.

"Are you sure you're up to that?" I ask worriedly. He dismisses me with a few flicks of his hand and sits up. "I'll be fine."

I watch as he blinks a few times in a row as if adjusting from a dizzy spell. I sigh. "If you're really sure," I say, knowing that the entire time I'm going to be worrying about him.

He nods and I catch a slight wince cross his face before he masks it.

Devon returns with more painkillers, handing them to Jay who immediately downs them. I frown as he stands unsteadily.