Through sickness and in health

2

"Hey mom I'm home" I smile walking inside. I kiss her on the cheek and wash my hands.
"Need any help?"
"Can you cut up the vegetables?" She asks, I nod my head walking over to the chopping board.
"Is Jason coming over for dinner?" She asks
"Uh I'm not sure. He's at practice now, he's been at bit off recently" I sigh
"What do you mean off? He's seemed fine" she says
"He showed up late to school today, he didn't eat any of the chocolate pudding the other night and we both know how much he loves your chocolate pudding" I laugh
"He's probably just stressed about practice you know how hard he works himself to be the best" she says kissing my cheek
"Yeah but we both know his history" I sigh
"Doesn't he have therapy every Wednesday night?" She asks
"Yeah"
"So he's going tonight. If he's having problems I'm sure he will talk to you and his therapist" she says
"I just worry about him"
"I know you do. We all do, you know he's like a son to your father" she laughs
"Yeah he does love Jason" I laugh

*~*

"So how was school?" Dad asks
"Good. Usual, boring" I shrug. The door opens, then I feel a kiss on my cheek.
"Hey sorry I'm late" Jason smiles at mom and dad.
"That's okay sweetheart you take a seat I'll get you your plate" mom smiles. He nods sitting down besides me.
"How did it go?" I ask
"What therapy?" He asks, I nod my head taking a sip of my water.
"Fine" he shrugs
"What did you talk about?" Dad asks
"Dad!" I say glaring at him.
"I don't know what you do in therapy I've never gone or spoken to someone about it! I'm curious " dad says
"It's good. It's just a bunch of bs. Talk about your problems like the people give a crap. We both know they're only there cus their getting paid" Jason shrugs. He thanks mom as she gives him a plate of tacos.

"Your good though?" I ask
"Never been better" he smiles kissing my cheek.
"You two remind me of me and your mom when we were younger" dad says
"You didn't know mom until after high school dad" I laugh
"So we were still young!" He defends
"Young and in love" mom chuckles
"How's baseball going?" Dad asks turning to Jason, he never forgets to ask. I love how my dad and Jason have a father and son like bond. I know Jason needs a father like figure since his dad bailed on him.
"Great. Coach has got us doing a bunch of conditioning and practice for the game on Friday" Jason says

We finish eating with a lot of talk about baseball and school.
"Jason would you like anymore to eat?" Mom asks
"No I'm good, thank you" he smiles sipping on his water. I look over at him seeing his plate with a decent amount of food still on it. That's not like Jay not to be eating.

*~*

"You look tired" I say as jay had his head in between my legs. We're watching outer banks, we have a strict rule that we can't watch it without each other there.
"That's what insomnia does to you babe" he smiles kissing my hand.
"I'm worried about you" I whisper, running my hands through his dirty blonde hair.
"Why?" He asks looking up at me. I always loved his hazel brown eyes. Not many people have such beautiful eyes, i hate his eyes at the same time. I've always done this thing. When people don't show their emotions through actions or talking you can read it in their eyes. But jay is incredibly good at hiding his emotions from me, he's always got a wall up that barriers his emotions.

He's gotten better at talking to me about his feelings. A few months ago he wouldn't even talk about his therapy with me but now he feels safe enough to open up and complain about his therapist even if he's not telling me why he doesn't enjoy it. But that's the reason he had a therapist and not a girlfriend that is his therapist.

"I don't know" I shrug
"I couldn't help but notice you didn't eat much dinner. You didn't eat your chocolate pudding the other day which isn't like you. Normally your begging me for mine or going to get seconds" I laugh
"I haven't had much of an appetite recently" he shrugs
"That's normal"
"Or your not feeling very-"
"Lex, I promise you. I'm fine. I'm doing good. I'm happy, I'm on the baseball team and I'm doing great on it. I've got an amazing fucking girlfriend. I'm happy" he says sitting up. He pulls me into him kissing me.

"You do look exhausted though" I mumble, I run my finger across the dark bags sitting under his eyes.
"Way to ruin it" he sighs pulling away and lying on his stomach facing the tv.
"Jay"
"Babe, I'm sorry" I whisper
He shakes his head moving away from me.
"I'm just gonna-" he cuts himself off, putting his hand over his mouth as he runs to the bathroom opposite my bedroom.
"Jason?" I quickly scurry off my bed to the bathroom. He's hunched over the toilet, his body shaking as he throws up.
"Babe-" I sigh rubbing his back to try and soothe him.
"Don't-" he mumbles trying to push me away.
"Babe come on" i roll my eyes
"Can you go get me a glass of water?" He asks lifting his head from the toilet. His face is flushed, his body rising and falling fast as he tries to calm himself.
"Please?"
"Okay" I sigh, I kiss his forehead and walk downstairs.

"Hey mom" I say walking into the kitchen.
"What was that noise upstairs?" She asks as she does the dishes.
"Jason's throwing up" I sigh grabbing a glass of water and wetting a small towel with cold water.
"Is he okay?" She asks concern clearly on her face
"He pushed me away, he won't even let me help him" I sigh, I hear the toilet flush then the faucet run.
"Feeling better?" Mom asks turning to the stairs. Jay walks in nodding his head with a small smile and sitting on the stool at the counter.
"I'm sorry" I whisper to him. I hand him the glass of water and place the cold compress on the back of his neck. It breaks my heart seeing him like this. It takes me back to when he was lying in bed. Depressed and hopeless. He wouldn't get out of bed unless necessary, he didn't speak, he didn't eat, he didn't do anything other than lie in bed staring at the wall.

"It's the symptoms of the medication I'm on" he mumbles.
"Your anti depressants?" I ask
"Yeah. My therapist said when I started taking them I might feel a little drowsy maybe nauseous" he sighs
"But not throwing up?" I ask
"I'm working hard in practice it's just stress. I'll be fine after Fridays game" he says
"Yeah. That's what you always say" I sigh