It had been seven days since Erin had last seen Jay face to face. It had been a very confusing week for her, she honestly didn't even know what to believe. The day before she had poured her heart out to him about her past, and he had said that he didn't care and wasn't about to never talk to her again. Even that night, he texted her jokingly after she informed him of the name change in her phone - he had even asked her if she had anything planned. But then when she woke up the next day, to him texting her that he'd finished the next HP book and was going to sleep, she expected that she would've at least seen him that day. But nope, it was currently day seven and even though he had text her sporadically, she was still worrying about the reason behind his absence.
The morning after she had last seen Jay, she went outside when she heard voices in Jay's back garden, thinking he would be out there but he wasn't. It was Will and Nat sat at the table eating. Will saw her, "Hey, Erin. You okay?" he asked when he saw her.
"Yeah, not too bad thanks. Is Jay about?" She replied, casually. She hadn't been worried at that point, because she knew he liked to sometimes sleep in and he had texted her rather late, or early on so she just assumed he was asleep.
"No, he's not, he's actually still in bed. My mom said that he got up when she was getting ready for work looking for pain killers. He'd woken up with a headache and wasn't feeling himself, he's been sleeping ever since. I'll let him know you stopped by," Will told her and she nodded.
"Alright, thanks. I'll see you later."
"Bye," Will replied, waving as she went into the house.
She was worrying because why had Jay all of a sudden become unwell, especially with it being not even a full 24 hours since she poured her heart out to him about her past. She text him as soon as she got inside Just saw Will, he said you're not feeling too well. Hope you feel better soon xx - Erin. She pressed send and settled down on her bed and decided to just watch some stuff on Netflix to try and take her mind off of her overthinking, but that didn't work. She had spent the rest of the night worrying about whether Jay was truly as okay with what she'd told him as she let on. Unfortunately, she wasn't as surprised that he hadn't spoken to her, this was exactly how it went at school when everyone else had found out about her real past (with the exception of Kim, Adam and Kev). She constantly kept checking the text that she had sent to Jay to see whether he had even read it - because he kept his read receipts on for some reason. It still hadn't been read by the time she had gone to bed, he'd also not been active on Facebook since the day prior. The fact he also hadn't been on facebook made her feel a little bit better, hoping it meant that he genuinely was not well and not just ignoring her texts by not even opening them. But there was still doubt in her mind, which left her tossing and turning for over three hours before finally falling asleep.
Jay had been feeling like death, he'd fallen asleep after finishing the Harry Potter book but woke up 2 hours later with a headache starting. He tried to ignore it by just rolling over and going back to sleep, but that was probably one of the stupidest thing he could've done because he woke up later on by his headache getting worse. That was when he had got up and went to get some pain killers. He had told his mom that he wasn't feeling well and was going back to bed. She took him in a bottle of coke, a big bottle of water and more pain killers before she left, knowing that when he started like this, it was likely that he was going to be struggling for a while. He heard that she'd told Will to leave him be before she'd left but he barely even acknowledged her when she poked her head in to say goodbye. He did manage to sleep for another 5 hours, but that was when he woke up in even worse pain than he had been that morning. He slowly sat up in bed and saw the time on his clock was 14:32, so he knew it was definitely time for more meds. He quickly popped the pain killers into his hand and downed them with some water before drinking some coke as well. He knew exactly what this was, and it had been such a long time since he had a migraine this bad. He was hungry, but he knew if he ate anything, he'd probably end up throwing it all back up again. He wanted nothing more than to get up, have food, maybe spend some time with Erin, but he physically couldn't. He made a move to grab his phone to see if she had text him or at least text her saying he's sorry that he couldn't see her but he ended up running to the bathroom to throw up. He flushed the toilet and quickly rinsed his mouth before taking himself back to bed. Unfortunately since he had just taken his meds and then seen each one again as he threw up, he knew he had to take them again as his doctor had told him to do so in the past. So he grabbed his water, and took them one at a time but very slowly before lying back down. He knew by the pain that he's in that this wasn't going to be over quickly. He willed himself to go back to sleep, which thankfully he was able to do so relatively quickly. The next thing he knew, it was 19:18, his mom had poked her head in - using the light from the landing to make her way in so she didn't have to turn his big light on, "Are you ok?" She whispered to him, being careful not to be too loud. She quietly walked over to his bed, putting down the couple more bottles of water and coke she had bought for him, knowing he needed the sugar and the fluids.
He didn't even open his eyes, "No, I really don't feel good," He replied.
"Have you managed to eat anything?"
"No, I managed to throw up the coke and my meds within two minutes of me taking them. I did take them again because I remember what Dr Lewis told me last time when I kept throwing them up. It had been less than five minutes since I had taken them so I knew it was definitely ok to take them again. So I just had water, I don't think I can handle food tonight," He said.
"Okay, just keep on top of your meds and come and get me if you need me okay? I love you," She whispered, placing a kiss on his forehead before leaving his room once again.
"Will do. Night mom, love you too," He replied as she left the room. He sat up slowly and checked the time on his watch, not wanting to open his phone, knowing the screen brightness would probably cause the pain to increase even more than it already had. He took his meds slowly and waited until he felt his stomach settle before lying back down and going back to sleep.
He'd thrown up once more during the night because the pain had been too much, Will had even come out of his room to come and check on him. He helped him back into his room and went and refilled his water bottle again so he had enough for the rest of the night. "You ok bro? What do you think bought this on?" He asked, when he bought the drink in for him.
"I feel like shit," Jay groaned, sipping the water that was next to his bed from earlier. "Don't know what's bought this on either. Just one of those things, I suppose."
"Erin was asking about you earlier. I've told her you're not feeling well," Will said.
"Thanks, I've not even looked at my phone all day, barely been able to check the time on my watch without the pain increasing," Jay told him, and remembered about the book, he grabbed it and asked, "Actually, can you give this to Erin if you see her?"
Will took the book out of Jay's hand, "Yeah, I'll drop it round to her tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything tomorrow, mom has put me on Jay duty."
"Will do, thanks man," Jay replied and watched as Will shut the door behind him. He took a final lot of meds before going back to sleep.
Erin woke up in a weird mood, yesterday, she had been excited to speak to Jay about the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, maybe watch a few episodes of criminal minds or even go for another walk. She checked her phone to see if Jay had replied, and he still hadn't. Now she was beginning to think that he was definitely avoiding her. She sighed and went downstairs to get some coffee and some breakfast. Camille had noticed that Erin had been quieter than usual, she had an idea as to what it was, but didn't want to outright ask. So her, Justin and Erin all sat down for breakfast.
"So, are you going to see Jay today?" Camille asked once they'd finished breakfast and were cleaning up.
"No, I don't think so. He wasn't well yesterday so I doubt he will be around today," she replied.
so that's why she's not been herself Camille thought, "Oh no is he okay?"
Erin shrugged, "I don't know. I spoke to Will yesterday and he said that Jay had a headache or something. He's not texted since the other night either so I'm assuming it's bad."
"That sounds rough, I'll text his mom to see if they need anything. Are you still okay to watch Justin today? I know he doesn't really need watching much but I need to go out and none of his friends are about," Camille asked.
"Yeah, sure. Nothing else better to do," Erin replied as she put the last lot of plates in the dishwasher. "Where you off to?"
"Need to go into town and do some bits. I shouldn't be too long but I didn't want to leave him alone because you know what he's like," Camille rolled her eyes knowing some of the things he's got up to when she's left him alone before.
"Yeah, he told me about that time he and his friends climbed on the kitchen counter to reach the good snacks that you hide and he fell and cracked his head open," Erin laughed, just knowing how stupid Justin could be sometimes. "You go and do whatever you have to. I'm not going anywhere so you don't have to rush back or anything."
"Thank you, Erin, I really appreciate it," Camille replied. She quickly put the dishwasher on and tarted getting her things ready to head out.
She was sat on the couch, watching Friends. Justin had decided to stay in his room and play on his Playstation, so thankfully he wasn't bothering her. She heard a knock on the door and then went and answered it. She had been surprised to see Will on the other side, holding a book. "Hey, so my bonehead brother gave me this at like three o'clock this morning to give to you," He said, handing her the book.
"Oh great, thanks. How is he?" She asked, taking the book from him.
"Not good, I've not seen him like this in months. He gets really bad migraines and they knock him out for a good few days. He just sleeps, takes his meds and tries to not throw up. I went in when I heard him up and he said that he hadn't even been able to check his phone all day as even just the light on his watch was causing the pain to get worse. He will be fine though," Will replied.
"Wow that sounds really rough," She grimaced, "Cheers for the book. Tell him I hope he feels better soon."
"Will do. I'm sure he'll be fine in a day or two, it's rare that they last much longer," Will explained, "I'll see you later."
"Alright, thanks Will. See you later," She replied and shut the door behind him. She sat down on the sofa and looked at the book that he had just handed her. Surely Jay definitely wasn't faking it if Will was saying that he was really bad. She felt a little more at ease now as she knew that he wasn't avoiding her because of what she had told him, that there was genuinely a reason for his absence. She picked up the book and began reading.
Camille had noticed that Erin had been in a much better mood since she returned home, so when she walked into Erin's room after dinner, she saw that she was reading the next Harry Potter book, she knew why. "Did Jay come round this afternoon?" She asked.
She shook her head, "No, he has a really bad migraine and has barely left his room - Will bought it over and told me."
"That was nice of him," Camille replied. "Just to let you know that I've invited Catherine round for a few drinks. I ran into her in the shop. She said she'd have had me round there but with Jay not being well, she didn't want people making noise in the house."
Erin nodded, "Okay, have fun."
"Oh I will. Gin and gossip - what more could a woman want! Hank's going to be late too, so he probably won't be home until midnight, he's pulled an overtime patrol shift. I'll come and say good night when I come up. Enjoy the book," She said.
"Will do, have a nice night," Erin replied as Camille left and went back to reading her book.
About an hour later, she went to go downstairs to get herself a drink, she was just about to go down when she heard the two women talking about Jay. Even though she had an explanation for his sudden absence, she still wanted to listen in to see if there was anything else that she didn't know. She thought he may have told Catherine about what she confided in him, so she wanted to see if she bought it up to Camille. She sat on the top step, listening carefully.
"So how's he doing? Erin said he's had a migraine." Camille asked.
Catherine sighed, "He's really not okay. I hate it when he gets like this… He doesn't eat, he is very sick, loses lots of weight - which he doesn't have a lot of to begin with lets be honest - he's a bean pole! I'm just worried about him really," She explained. "He hasn't been this unwell in months. Last time he got one was around the time I found out about Pat. He gets extremely anxious and stressed, so he usually gets them when he is worried about something, or upset. But this time? I have no idea what's set him off. He's been sleeping well, eating normally and he's been really happy."
"Could it just be a one off? You know just a random migraine that has come from no where?"
Catherine shrugged, "Yeah, it could be… I don't know though, I think somethings happened. Someone's said something to upset him and I think I know what…" This perked up Erin's interest, she listened carefully.
"Who?" Camille asked, cautiously - hoping the answer wasn't going to be Erin - despite her being in a strange mood for the past two days.
"Well, Jay didn't tell me this - Will did. But the other day when Erin and Jay went to the park," She began, but when Erin heard this, she realised that it was her fault that he was like this, so she got back up and went into her room, not bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation as it would only upset her more. "They ran into his ex-girlfriend, Ally. Who, let's just say is one of the most vicious and vindictive girls you'll meet. I don't really know the full story about how she and Jay broke up - I mean, why would I? I'm his mom - but I think she's said something. Will told me that Ally took Jay aside and started accusing him of rubbing her nose in it - with Erin - despite them only being friends. I think something else has happened that he's not told Will - or that Will hasn't told me," Catherine sighed, "I'm not just saying this as an overprotective mom, but it's just, Jay has a lot of self esteem and confidence issues. He gets really anxious if people point out 'flaws' or well, just single him out about something. I'm convinced that Ally has said something to Jay to make all those feelings come back. He always saw himself as not good enough, because of the way Pat has treated him over the years."
"Do you really think something she said has caused this?" Camille asked, shocked at how sensitive Jay seemed to be - not that it was a bad thing, she was just shocked at how unwell he could become so quickly.
"Oh definitely. She's not very nice and Jay is so sensitive - if something she said caused him to feel insecure or anxious, he worries. He goes about his day to everyone else like normal, keeping it buried inside until he's alone. He won't talk about it because he hates feeling weak, and especially hates the thought of people seeing him as weak too. This one is very bad, he hasn't eaten in two full days and he has barely spoken to me or Will. He's pretty much slept - apart from taking his pain killers and trying to keep them down. I just hope he doesn't end up in hospital - which he has a couple of times - when he's become dehydrated due to being unable to keep anything down. Thankfully I've spoke to Will and he's said he's going to stay home all week while I'm at work just incase he needs anything. I just get so worried about him sometimes."
"Poor Jay, I really hope he starts feeling better soon.," Camille Sympathised, knowing how hard it was to see one of your kids sick and not being able to do anything about it. Their conversation soon moved on about Catherine's work and what she had been doing to the classroom and different displays she had been doing. They also talked more about Camille possibly returning to teaching the following year. Their night ended at around eleven, when Catherine decided it was time to go and check on Jay herself - even though she hadn't had a text from Will saying that he needed her - she just wanted to be there for Jay. Camille completely understood and watched her walk across to her house. She closed the door behind her and decided to go up to bed. She checked on Justin, who was fast asleep and Erin was also sleeping peacefully (or so she thought). she quietly closed Erin's door and took herself off to bed.
Ever since Erin had heard the conversation about Jay, she had been worrying. It had been her fault that Jay wasn't talking to her, he wasn't avoiding her because of what she told him - what she had told him had caused him considerable pain and now she fully blamed herself. She wished she hadn't told him - even if it meant that it came out in some god awful way during school. She would rather that than causing him actual physical pain. She spent the rest of her night tossing and turning - debating whether to text Jay again and apologise for what she'd done. She agonised over that for a good four hours. She ultimately decided against texting him, apologising because he still hadn't text her back from the other day. She didn't want to apologise to him, and him possibly get worse because she reminded him of all the awful things she had done. She couldn't see that she was being completely unreasonable. She wished that she could talk to someone about how she was feeling. She wanted to text Kim, but Kim was busy with her family. Besides, Kim would have no idea what she was talking about because she hadn't even told her about Jay - other than a new family had moved in next door. After feeling happier throughout the day prior, knowing that Jay was not avoiding her - she was back to the worrying and feeling like an awful person because she had caused this. If only she knew that if she had stayed and listened for a couple more minutes, she would've probably gotten a better idea of what was most likely the cause for Jay's absence.
Jay's day had been worse than the day before, he had barely slept, barely been able to keep water down and only just managed to keep his pain killers down. Unfortunately, they were not having the desired effect. He knew that if he didn't keep water down much longer, he would most likely end up in the hospital again. He had hoped since that he had managed to sleep the whole day before that he would wake up and be pretty much okay, or just suffer from a 'migraine hangover' as he hates to call it. But no, after his conversation with Will the previous night, he had slept for another 3 hours which was good, but the pain finally woke him up. With the pain being so severe he could no longer sleep, he spent the majority of the day lying in the dark, willing himself to sleep (it obviously hadn't worked). He was weak, he needed food but knew that there was no way he'd manage to keep it down. He hadn't told his mom about how bad he had been today - not wanting to make her worry (he was stupid, he knew. But he hated seeing her upset and worried). He still hadn't even been able to look at his phone, with the light sensitivity being pretty unbearable this time, so he once again hadn't been able to text Erin. It was around 4am when he finally managed to get to sleep - after two days of full pain killer doses, he was super woozy - and despite the pain, he managed to finally succumb to sleep after almost 24 hours of being awake.
Erin was in a mood. She'd snapped at Justin, Camille and even Hank when they'd tried talking to her. Hank had not been impressed with her attitude and grounded her immediately, telling her she had to stay in her room and only come out for meal times. Well, it wasn't exactly a punishment being sent to her room, where she had phone access, internet access, television access… it was more lonely than anything. She ended up spending the whole day in bed - watching friends - not even finding it that funny. She had barely any sleep the night before because she had been worried about Jay's reaction to her telling him what she had been through in her life. Camille had tried asking her what was wrong multiple times, but Erin had just told her that she was fine. Justin had asked why she looked so tired - and teased her about being up late talking to her 'boyfriend' - meaning Jay and that made her snap at him. Erin shouting at Justin had caused Hank to step in to tell her to cut it out and because of her attitude, she had to wash up the kitchen after breakfast. She had not liked that one bit and shouted at him too which was the reason she had spent the day in her room - not talking to anyone. When it was time for dinner, she didn't even come out of her room, opting to skip dinner and just sit and watch friends - she wasn't hungry anyway. She finally fell asleep again at about 20:00 after barely sleeping the night before. Camille had come up at around eight thirty to sneak her some food and saw her fast asleep, so she crept in, turned off her television and watched her for a minute. She had no idea what had caused her outbursts today, she had a feeling it could've been something to do with Jay - but she wasn't sure. She was glad that Hank was taking Justin fishing and camping the following day, so she planned to talk to her then. Hoping that they could have a talk about what was going on in her head without any interruption from the boys. She hadn't been like this since the first couple of months when she first moved in with them. She just hoped that Erin would talk to her about what was troubling her, she hated seeing her so upset. She took one last look at her sleeping on the bed, before pulling the door closed and going back downstairs so she could catch up with her husband.
Jay's whole day had been rubbish - even more so than the previous two days when this migraine started. If he was lucky, which it seemed like he wasn't - they usually died down around now. But no, he was worse than he had been in months. His mom was panicking about how he could no longer handle just water and how he was being sick more and more because of the pain. She was wanting to take him to hospital - but Jay really didn't want to go. Every time he went to the hospital with a migraine, he felt even worse. The bright lights, the noise, just everything made him feel like shit. The only upside to a trip to hospital was not being dehydrated and they usually gave him some decent pain killers which helped take away the pain enough so he could try and sleep. He'd barely slept most of the day so actually, a trip to the hospital might not be a bad thing. His mum came into his room and looked at him, "Come on, Jay. You have to go because you'll only get worse if we don't. I've called ahead to the walk in and they have a room for you ready. So get some clothes on and come downstairs, we need to get going."
He nodded, "Okay. I hope they can give me something else for the pain as these meds aren't working much now."
"I'll see you downstairs," She replied and left his room so he could get dressed.
After spending four hours at the hospital, Jay was feeling a little bit better. They'd given him fluids in an IV, some stronger pain relief and some anti-sickness medication so he would feel better. Thankfully, the room they'd put him in had dim lights so he was able to feel a bit more comfortable, they had said he would be able to go home if he could keep down some fluids beforehand, and he was hoping he could go home sooner rather than later. His mom had gone outside to call Will, to tell him that they would hopefully be home soon so Jay was bored. He grabbed his phone - even though he hadn't even touched it for three days and opened it. He had a few texts from Mouse, but he had text telling him to get better soon as Will had been in touch with him. He then scrolled and saw two texts from Erin, one from the first day when he started with the migraine Just saw Will, he said you're not feeling too well. Hope you feel better soon xx - Erin. And another one, sent yesterday Hey thanks for the book. Will's told me that you're really not well - hope your migraine clears soon xx - Erin. He smiled, suddenly feeling happy that she had reached out twice. He quickly text back Hey, sorry when I have migraines I can barely look at the standby light on the TV, let alone a phone… I probs shouldn't be texting now but I had to go to the hospital - nothing bad, just dehydration. and they've got me on some pretty strong pain killers lol hence me being ok enough to use the phone haha. Hope you enjoy the goblet of fire - it's one of my faves ;) xx - Jay. He locked his phone and put it in his pocket just as his mom and doctor walked in - he was allowed to leave. He had been given some anti-sickness tablets and was advised to use hydration powders in his drinks for the next 24 hours. He was grateful to leave, he really needed sleep and his bed. Thankfully the meds they'd given him were stronger so were better for taking away his pain which would help him sleep in the long run. He felt absolutely rotten, so he just wanted nothing more than to go straight to bed. The drive home was quiet, as Catherine knew that Jay was struggling, so when they pulled up to the house, she helped him inside and told him to go straight to bed and she'd bring up his meds and drinks and leave them on his bedside cabinet for him. It was currently 2am in the morning, and she was exhausted, she was glad she wasn't needed in work the next day as she only needed to do some online training so she opted to do so at home instead of travelling into work. When she took in his drinks and meds, he was lying in the dark, she thought he was asleep so just crept across his room, using the light from the landing to guide her across his bedroom. "Mom, stop worrying about me. I'm fine," He whispered, poking one eye open and immediately closing it again as the light from the landing was bright.
"I can't help it, you're my boy. Of course I'm worried about you. You would tell me if there was anything worrying you, wouldn't you?" She asked.
"Yeah, I will. I don't really know what's bought this on, probably just random," He lied, knowing exactly what had bought it on as he had spent most of the past day when he couldn't sleep overthinking everything Ally had said to him.
"Yeah, okay. You're right, it's not like you're stressed with school or anything," She replied, knowing that he was lying but knew that he definitely wouldn't want to talk about it properly now. She leant down and pecked his forehead, "Good night, Jay. Come and get me if you need anything - and I mean anything at all. I'm working from home tomorrow so I can be here for you."
"Night mom. Love you," He mumbled, appreciating how she was being there for him.
"Love you too, son," Catherine replied before leaving his bedroom.
Waking up to a text from Jay saying that he had ended up in hospital was something she really didn't want to read. That only made her feel more guilty than she already was, she text him back even though she knew he probably wouldn't reply for a while - he probably never wanted to talk to her again. I'm sorry that you ended up in hospital! I hope you're home now and starting to feel better. Haven't read loads yet, but from what I've read, it's great! Hope you feel better soon xxx - Erin. She had actually slept quite well despite feeling anxious about Jay and how her story had caused him to get so unwell. She really couldn't believe he actually ended up in hospital. It was mid morning, so she decided to get up and face the music. No doubt Hank would lecture her about her attitude, Justin would probably try and wind her up about something just to get a reaction and Camille would probably give her a sympathetic look - probably already knowing what was really going on as she did speak to Catherine after all. She walked downstairs and was surprised to only see Camille in the living room watching morning TV, "Morning," She mumbled, on the way through to the kitchen.
"Morning, Erin. Why don't you grab your coffee and come and sit with me? The boys have gone off to the lake, fishing. It's just you and me until tomorrow," Camille shouted through to her.
Erin sighed, knowing that she probably wanted to talk to her properly about yesterday and ask what was bothering her. She quickly poured herself a coffee and added in the sugar and milk before going to join Camille in the living room.
"So, are we going to talk about what got into you yesterday?" Camille asked after a beat of silence. Not one for mincing her words, or tiptoeing around the subject, she just came right out with it. That's what Erin loved about her. She decided that she really should talk to her, because not talking to anyone was making her feel even more like shit. Camille had been there for her when everyone made fun of her once they found out her story, so she knew that she would be here for her now. That was what made her trust her enough to confide in. Just as she was about to speak, Camille spoke, "Is it because you've not been seeing Jay? Now I know there's nothing going on - I don't mean it like that. But you two have been spending a lot of time together recently and I know him being unwell and not able to even text you has probably left you feeling a little bit lonely."
"Did you know he had to go to hospital last night? He text me at about midnight saying that he was in," Erin asked.
"Yes, I did know. Catherine told me that she had been worried about him, so decided to take him in. Dehydration - he hadn't even been able to keep water down all day yesterday," Camille explained.
"I think I know why he's had this migraine and been as bad as he has… I heard you and Catherine talking the other night…"
"Yeah, she's convinced it's something to do with his ex-girlfriend. She said they'd had words the other day and that she's not exactly a nice girl," Camille said.
Erin was confused, Jay hadn't really been overly affected by Ally's conversation. She shook her head, "No… It wasn't because of Ally. It is because of me," She mumbled, wiping a tear from her eye. She was willing herself not to cry but all of the feelings from the past four days, since she told him her story had bubbled up inside her.
"Hey, no. It wasn't because of you," Camille began but Erin shook her head again. She decided to let her speak. "It's ok, just tell me anything. I'm not here to judge, I just want to be here for you."
"Well, yeah he did speak to Ally… but after that I told him a little bit about Teddy and then I bit the bullet and just told him everything," She sighed.
"Everything?"
Erin nodded, "Yep. Everything. More than anyone at school even knows. More than Kim knows… Probably as much as you and Hank know. I wanted to be the one to tell him and him not find out randomly, you know like I said the other day."
"Wow, so how did he take it?" Camille asked, still shocked that Erin had told him everything there was to know - she still hadn't openly told her every detail yet - which she completely respected.
"He said that he didn't care, that it doesn't change anything," She replied, telling her what Jay had said. "He seemed to be fine with it - I think he had already kind of figured some of it out in a way, because he really did take it well. We went back to his and watched Criminal minds. But I barely spoke to him after that, and then I woke up to a text saying he'd finished the next Harry Potter book and would bring it round for me to read. That was the last I'd physically heard from him until last night."
"So you said he took it well? So how is this your fault?"
"I heard you and Catherine talking. She was talking about how he gets anxious and stressed and that's usually a trigger. I stopped listening after that because I just felt absolutely awful," She explained.
"Erin, love. Catherine is convinced that it was something Ally has said to him to be the reason behind this latest attack - or that it is just a random one. Now I know that you're probably overthinking this, and that's valid. You are scared of the rejection that you got when the people at school found out. I think you need to talk to Jay about this when he is better, maybe he was struggling with what he and Ally spoke about? Maybe he is a bit confused and upset about what you went through as a child and teenager. It's a lot to take in for any adult let alone a teenage boy. I know you're stressing and convincing yourself that what you told him has stressed him out so much he's made himself ill, but if and I mean if that's the case, then you two should have a real conversation about it when you see him," Camille said.
"I know, but I just don't want to loose him as a friend, I don't know what it is, but he's honestly the best friend I've ever had. I know we haven't known each other that long, but he is just so different to most of the other people I've ever met. We've got on from pretty much day one, we have similar interests, and our personalities are so similar. I think he's the first proper friend I've ever made - I know I've had friends in the past, and I love Kim, Adam and Kev - I really do, but they don't always get me in the same way Jay does."
"I know, he does seem to be a good kid," Camille said, "I know you're struggling right now, so how about we have a day of films to take your mind off of it? I mean, Hank and Justin are camping out tonight so we can just eat crap all day, watch some nice films and order a pizza for our tea - what do you think?"
Erin smiled, loving how Camille hadn't judged her. She actually liked the sound of the film day as it would hopefully take her mind off it, "Sounds good. Thank you."
"No need to thank me, that's what I'm here for. Anything to help make you feel better," Camille replied, giving Erin a hug. "Okay, so what are we watching first?"
Jay had felt a little bit better today, he'd finally been able to eat some toast which pleased his mom as she could literally see the weight dropping off him after not eating for four days and throwing up as well. He managed to keep the toast down, so he felt that he was going in the right direction. The pain was now a bit more manageable, he didn't feel like slamming his head in a car door 24/7 so that definitely was an improvement. The light sensitivity was still bad, so once again he had just spent his day sleeping on and off in the dark of his bedroom. He was beginning to be extremely grateful for the fact that he had put up a blackout blind as well as blackout curtains when he moved in because they kept most of the sunlight at bay which helped him out so much. He thankfully had been able to sleep much of the day again and despite sleeping most of the past four days, except when the pain was far too bad, he was still exhausted and felt like he could sleep for ages. Thankfully having his mom home from work meant that she kept topping up his drinks without him even having to ask. He'd also managed to drink a bottle of coke today, which he was glad for as he hadn't been able to keep it down the rest of the week, and the caffeine and sugars definitely helped him feel better. At around 11pm, his mom came in one last time on her way to bed, "How are you feeling?" She whispered, carefully sitting on the edge of his bed.
Jay was wrapped up in his quilt and he popped his head out to talk to her, "I'm feeling better than I did. I'm just so tired and I just feel like shit to be honest. The pain's getting better but I'm still no where near back to my normal self. Think I just need to try and sleep it off for another day or two and try and regain some energy."
"I'm glad you're feeling better, I was worried about you last night," She admitted, "I hate it when you get like this, it really scares me. Just promise you'll focus on getting better and not get up and go back to normal too quickly - pace yourself."
"I promise, I'm going to take my time and not rush back doing everything. I've done that plenty of times before," He said, trying and failing to hold back a yawn.
Catherine laughed, "Night, Jay. I'll let you get some sleep."
"Night, mom," He yawned, closing his eyes already getting himself in a comfy sleep position.
The rest of the week had gone relatively quickly for Erin, after talking to Camille about her worries, she felt a little better. Though, she still felt guilty for putting all of her problems onto Jay, and telling him her story and everything she hated about her past. Her and Camille had spent the rest of the week mostly doing things together, to allow Erin to take her mind off of her thoughts. She had been texting Jay on and off more as he was feeling better - but struggling with the fatigue so had been spending most of the time sleeping and watching old friends episodes because he couldn't concentrate on much. Erin had nearly finished the Goblet of Fire, and was texting Jay her progress as she read because he kept asking. She was still worried about how Jay was going to go about talking to her when he was finally better. Her mind was going back and forth pretty much constantly, one minute thinking that she was overthinking the reason why Jay had become so unwell… but then he wouldn't text back for five hours and she'd get all in her head again, convincing herself that he blamed her. She couldn't wait until she could actually see him and talk to him properly, even if it meant that he didn't want to be her friend any longer.
It had now been seven days since she told Jay her story, and had last spoken to him in person and her mind still had not shut off. She woke up feeling sad again, she did miss him and just wanted to see him. She didn't understand why she was so upset about it all, he was just a friend after all, she'd lost plenty of friends over the years but there was just something different about the boy next door. He made it easy for her to just be herself and he made her smile more than she had in months, possibly forever. She sighed when she picked up her phone and saw that she had no new messages, he hadn't text her since yesterday afternoon, so once again the overthinking and self-doubt kicked in. She just hoped that he would get better soon because she knew how horrible it was to feel so unwell you lose a week. But she also hoped that they would be able to talk soon, because she was sure that they needed to really talk about some of the things she had told him, as Camille had said, some of the things were hard for an adult to process, let alone a teenage boy. She just hoped that their friendship wouldn't be effected by this and they could carry on as normal when he got better. When that day would be? She didn't know - she was letting him get better first. But all she knew was that she would accept whatever he had to tell her.
AN: Ok so I've had this planned for forever, was planning on having it posted like the week before xmas but ironically I had like a 4 day migraine and migraine hangover and it wasn't too fun :) Then xmas and boxing day weekend happened so I didn't fancy writing at all. So finally got it done - and before 2020 is over. Had actually planned on writing another chapter for the tattoo story before 2020 was over to you know, end on a good note but yeah that ain't happening lol #soz. Let us know what you thought :)