Author's note: In which Tai struggles with Amy's growing independence, and Joe finds himself in need of Izzy's help. Now, I know I promised Amy talking about Jerry, but that part is already over 8K long, and this bit is almost 6K long. I didn't want to blow out people's attention spans with a chapter that would have ended up being about 17K long by the time I finish writing what happened. But it will be up very soon. Thank you so much for your patience.
Jerry and Amy, Pt 2
"Hey, Tai! Taaaaaaiiiiiii! Hey! You're too fast. Wait for me!"
Tai glanced over his shoulder and sighed. Amy was running towards him as fast as her pudgy little legs would take her, but her top speed was less than half of his, and he wasn't in the mood to slow down for her. His brand new soccer ball was glinting in the sunlight in his arms, and he couldn't wait to get to the park and dirty it up properly. It was great to have new equipment, but there was nothing more embarrassing than being seen with a ball that made it look like he didn't practice, not when his favorite sport was involved.
He considered taking off at full speed and losing her, but she could probably guess where he was headed, and then he would have to deal with clinginess and tears when she caught up. He reluctantly came to a halt on the sidewalk, tapping his foot impatiently as his cousin approached.
"Why are you following me?" he asked as she finally came into speaking distance. She bent over and huffed for a moment, panting heavily, then stood up and crossed her arms.
"So we can play." The unspoken duh weighed heavily between then, and Tai scowled at her.
"I'm playing soccer," he pointed out, gesturing towards the ball pinched under the crook of his arm.
Amy blew an impatient raspberry at him. "Well, yeeeeah."
Tai grunted and slid a finger under the band of the goggles around his head, plucking it irritably. "Yeah. And you don't like soccer. You should go do some girl stuff that you like."
Amy squared her shoulders and frowned, stepping right up to him. She was taller than him, which he found embarrassing and frustrating, but his mom always said that girls grew faster, and he would shoot past her one day. But, for now, she was bigger, and it was so annoying.
"Girls can play soccer, too, Tai."
"Yeah, yeah," he replied easily, not caring enough to argue. "But you don't like soccer, so you don't want to go with me. Go play with someone else."
"I do so want to go with you!" Amy shot back, stomping her tiny foot.
At this point, Tai was genuinely confused. "Why do you always follow me everywhere, even when I'm doing stuff you don't like?" he asked, tilting his bushy head. Amy froze for a second, then rocked awkwardly on her feet.
"Because I like you." She chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds- she was always doing that, and it made her cheeks move like a chipmunk's. "You're my favorite person in the world." Her hands moved to her elbows, and she bent over slightly, as if she was trying to console herself with a hug. "But... But I guess... You don't want me around, so..."
She didn't cry, but her voice wavered, and guilt settled over Tai, making him shift uncomfortably. All at once, he could hear his mother's voice in his head, intermingled here and there with his protests...
Tai, your cousin is coming over today. Let her play with you and your friends, alright?
But mooom! She's lousy at sports, she always holds us up, and we don't want a girl around. My friends always complain about it.
Tai! I know it doesn't seem like it now, but you'll forget all about those boys someday, and Amy will still be very, very dear to you.
Why? Just cuz she's related to me? I'm related to her brother Jesse too, but you don't make me play with him.
No, silly boy. Amy will always be dear to you because she adores you, more than anything else in the world. More than I've ever seen a child love something before. I don't think I can make you understand this, but... If you push her too far away now, you'll regret it one day. Try to remember that, okay?
Tai didn't understand it, but he suddenly felt a little like crying, himself. But that was for babies, so he forced a smile and put an arm around Amy's shoulders, standing on his toes to do it. "Sorry, Amy. 'Course I want ya around. I was just afraid you'd be bored, is all."
Amy tensed, then stared into his eyes for a long moment, and Tai fought to keep his fake smile in place. It was really weird, but sometimes, when Amy looked at him, he felt like she could see his insides, could read his thoughts. And, sure enough, she blandly declared, "You're lying."
Tai felt a muscle twitch with surprise in his face, but he managed to shake his head calmly enough. "It's okay, Tai. I'll forgive you if you play with me."
"I'm not lying," he lied grumpily. Here he was, trying to be nice to her, and she went and called him a liar!
"Okay, Tai," Amy chirped, and she started walking down the sidewalk again. Tai sputtered at her back for a moment, and then she looked at him over her shoulder and smiled mischievously. Tai couldn't help it; he snorted, then grinned, then laughed.
And then he jogged to catch up with her.
A Moment Later
Tai's eyes drifted open, and he groaned automatically, rolling onto his side. God, it feels like my brain cells committed suicide. No, wait. If they did that, it wouldn't hurt anymore. Would it?
"Ah, good morning, Sleeping Beauty. And to think, I was just going to start filling a bucket with ice and water... Pity."
Tai was facing the wall containing closets, but he knew that deep, sarcastic voice anywhere. "Fuck you, Matt."
"That was quite the groan, there," Matt continued pleasantly, ignoring the interruption. "Did we overindulge?"
"Again, fuck you." Tai rubbed his forehead and tried not to grimace. He had a habit of bragging about his crazy alcohol tolerance, and he didn't want to give Matt a reason to call him out on his current discomfort. But then, he had downed an incredible amount of booze last night.
"Tch. You're losing points for creativity, Tai."
"Fine." Without turning away from the closets, Tai raised his arm and flipped Matt off. Matt started laughing, but the sound was immediately muted, probably by his hand. Tai rolled over and raised an eyebrow at his friend, who, to his surprise, was already showered and fully dressed. "You're in a good mood," Tai said darkly. For some reason, most likely his headache, he had woken up crabby.
Matt smirked for a moment, then cleared his face with visible effort. Suddenly, Tai remembered the text his friend had sent him at the bar last night. Sora and I are going back to her room. A carefully worded message, meant to tell Tai as a roommate that Matt wouldn't be sleeping in his room that night, without directly saying why. The reason would make Tai jealous as a man, and Matt knew it. Tai snorted at the ceiling and rubbed his temples, trying to ignore his headache and annoyance. Despite Matt's tact, Tai was still incredibly envious.
Matt must have noticed the sudden dip in Tai's emotional state, because he hastily changed the subject. "Have you seen Amy? She wasn't in my bed when I came back. I came in pretty late, but I figured she would be pretty hungover, so I was expecting her to be here."
Tai's heart began to thud with panic, and he sat straight up in bed, ignoring the swirling feeling of pain in his skull. He looked over at Matt's side of the room, as if hoping to find that his friend had somehow overlooked a person in his bed. But there was no Amy, of course, and Tai's teeth smashed together.
Then, all at once, Tai remembered coming home last night. There was a weird pain in his chest as he recalled Amy's refusal to leave Izzy's room with him, but he dismissed it as baffling and unimportant. "You will not believe this, Matt," he growled, groping on the floor for his cellphone. "Izzy texted me last night saying that he was taking Amy back to the dorm, and when I got a hold of him he tells me-" His fingers brushed the device, and he grabbed it and straightened on the bed. "The little bastard tells me that Amy's sleeping in his bed!" Anger began to kindle anew within him, and its fires seemed to burn away his headache and fill him with a pressing need to get up and do something about all of this. Accordingly, he threw his feet over the side of the bed and began to pace around the room, texting Amy as he moved.
"You're joking!" Tai turned towards Matt and registered the shock on his face, and he confirmed with a grim nod. For a moment, the presence of an ally buoyed his spirits, but that feeling of unity and strength fell apart as Matt began to grin. "God! Good for her! I thought it would take at least another month for them to get together."
"I- Wait- Wuh?" Tai froze mid prowl and stared at his best friend, forgetting about the half-finished message he was writing. Confusion warred with anger, and he parked himself on the nearest bed, not noticing that it was Matt's. He was so overwhelmed that it was all he could manage.
Matt sighed and took a seat next to him. "Tai. Even though I knew you hadn't noticed... I can't believe you didn't notice."
"Notice what?" Tai growled, fuming at the amused indulgence in Matt's tone. Little snot had the balls to act all superior, just because he was a little better at reading people.
Matt shook his head, and it made Tai want to punch him in the face. But that would probably mean he had to wait longer for this information, and, despite his annoyance, Tai did want to know what his friend had to say. "Amy's been following Izzy around like a lovesick little lamb for nearly the entire semester."
Tai scowled at him and straightened his back, tapping his knees with his fingers. "I mean, yeah, she's definitely made friends with him. But it's not like she was into him romantically. Don't you think she would have said something to us?" He held his hands out emphatically, as if he had just settled the matter.
Matt edged back, snorted, and flicked some of his hair into place. "Tai. When has Amy ever been forthcoming with information, even to us? If TK had asked, he might have been able to wriggle some stuff out of her, but probably not enough to make it worth the effort. I have to pull teeth with her to even get her to confirm something I've already guessed."
"She tells us stuff!" Tai protested. "And anyway, how would your brother get her to talk more than I could? As if, man." He rolled his eyes and stood back up, falling back to pacing and texting Amy. Matt was crazy, obviously, and his methods would work better.
"You really can be an idiot, Tai," Matt sighed, and Tai paused long enough to shoot him a frown. "She may trust you more than anyone else, but TK gets her, even more than I do. And Amy responds to that."
"I get her!" Tai protested. His finger shook and slid, adding a trail of gibberish to his message. He cursed under his breath and deleted it.
Matt continued talking without acknowledging his outburst, and Tai recognized it as disagreement, which only pissed him off more. "I don't want to say this anymore than you want to hear it, Tai, but... Has it occurred to you that Amy may have reasons for keeping us in the dark about her love life?"
Tai came to a complete stop without realizing it. Muscles began to twitch in his face, and he had to calm himself with several slow, enormous breaths. Regret, guilt, and worry ate away at his rage, and he fell back beside Matt, feeling oddly empty and helpless.
A hand fell on his back, thumping it, then rested comfortingly on his shoulder. "Trust me, Tai. This thing with Izzy wasn't some kind of drunken mistake. Amy's been wanting it for weeks, even if she didn't openly admit it to herself. I've been watching both of them for a while, and I'd bet my bass that she's over the moon right now. Well, if she isn't puking, anyway." He frowned and glanced towards the door. "Maybe I should go check on her."
Tai dumped his chin into his palm and glared at Matt. "Okay, let's say that they have been into each other this whole time. Why didn't you tell me?!" His annoyance blocked out his dejection, and he was grateful for that much.
Matt's fingers tensed briefly around his shoulder, and then he withdrew the touch. Tai looked over and saw slight wariness in his blue eyes. A slow grin began to form across his face, his way of telling Matt that he could feel his apprehension, and that it amused him. And that amusement pissed off his best friend, if the narrowing of his eyes was any indication. "I was afraid you would either try to convince Amy not to pursue romance, or that you'd scare Izzy away from her. Or both. Because, again, you're an idiot."
"Because I don't want her to get hurt again!" Tai snapped, half rising from the bed. He failed to notice that he was entirely confirming Matt's predictions. Matt cocked an eyebrow at him, then sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Just how much are we supposed to interfere, Tai?" he asked, running his fingers roughly through his hair. His fingers came out glistening slightly from the gel. "First, we encourage her to be with Jerry. That turns into a disaster. Then, what, we cut her off from all other men, because the one we endorsed turned out to be a..." He broke off, and his face pinched into an incredibly disgusted expression. Then he took a deep breath, leaned closer, and held onto his shoulder again. "She's moving on. Healing. I never would have expected it to happen so soon. We should be happy for her, Tai. She chose Izzy on her own. She's never chosen anyone on her own, romantic or otherwise. Can you imagine how much he must mean to her? How much she must like him?"
Heat spread all over Tai's body at the mention of Jerry, and he cracked all of his knuckles without willing it. "What do you mean, she's never chosen anyone before? Sounds like new age mumbo jumbo to me."
Those blue eyes began to move in a rolling arc, but Matt cut off the motion midway. "She met you and Kari through her family, and, even though she annoyed you back then, you took her under your wing, because you can't seem to help yourself around girls that you feel some kind of relation or connection to. She let me in because I'm your best friend, and she trusts your judgment. I'm close with my brother, so she trusted him. She accepted Mimi when the other girls wouldn't, and Mimi practically bullied her into a friendship, even though Amy made it clear that she wasn't interested. She's slowly taking to Sora, because she's my- Because we're close to her. And I think Mimi's pressured her into treating Joe as a friend." He looked away and made an uncomfortable hedging sound. "And you know what happened with..."
"Yeah," Tai breathed. "Yeah." He rubbed his forearm and frowned at nothing. "I dunno, I mean, she talks to people if they're around. My teammates, your bandmates, the people in her plays..."
"Talking and befriending are two different things. You've seen her do little things for people who really need it, but then... You've also seen her reject them when they don't need her anymore. She does it as kindly as she can, but a rejection is still a rejection. And she doesn't readily share her deeper thoughts and feelings, not even with us. But, with Izzy... Did you know she asked him to take her roller skating that one time? She asked him. And I was there when she asked for his phone number. To us, it doesn't sound like much. To her, it's a big deal. We need to support her choice, Tai. Believe me, this is important to her."
Tai grit his teeth and frowned. Part of him did understand what Matt was saying to him, but it just wasn't sitting well. "But Izzy?" he said at last, shaking his head darkly.
"What's wrong with Izzy?" Matt asked, looking slightly surprised. "He's a good guy, if a bit socially awkward. But he treats her respectfully, and she's all smiles when he's around. What's your problem?"
"What's the problem?" Tai echoed incredulously. He snorted and held a hand out at Izzy's height, approximately five foot three. "If she's with him, she won't be around us as much. And how is he supposed to protect her? She's probably better in a fight than he is! I could bench press that shrimp." Tai clapped his hands onto his knees and scowled. "And anyway, even if he were able to protect her, she's not ready yet." He ran his fingers through his hair roughly, pulling it from the roots. "It's still too soon. So soon…" He hated to think of it, but it really wasn't all that long ago that Amy's smiles were all forced and fake, that she did everything mechanically, just trying to put up a front that everything was normal, that she felt fine. And it had hurt like hell to see her that way.
Matt slipped away slightly and crossed his arms, and something about his expression warned Tai that he was about to hear something he wouldn't like. "Okay. First… Please bench press Izzy someday." Tai blinked, then snorted and managed a small laugh. Yeah, that does sound like a plan. "Second, there's more to keeping someone safe than muscle. Izzy has other ways of dealing with things, like being a freaking genius, for one. Third, has it occurred to you that Izzy's body type may be a relief for Amy? You know she never liked how Jerry would pick her up and hold her against him. She hated being overpowered like that, and Izzy just doesn't have that option. Fourth, she decides when she's ready, Tai, not you. And lastly…"
Here it comes, Tai thought lazily as he watched Matt hesitate. His anticipation of a particularly painful bit of words had his harsher instincts rising. His hands gripped his knees, causing the veins to pop up beneath his skin.
Matt cleared his throat. "Lastly… I think you're jealous, Tai, and that's part of why you're getting so mad about this."
"Jealous?" Tai squawked. He was so surprised that his rising anger disappeared. "Jealous?! What the fuck! That's gross, man!" Matt snorted and held a hand out to Tai, shaking his head.
"Dumb-ass. Not romantically jealous, obviously. I mean… She's always seen you as her number one her whole life, and I think you don't want to lose that. We all… We regret it now, but we all wanted to see her be with someone in the past. But this thing with Izzy? It's different, and I think you've already figured that out on some level."
A strained sound slipped out of Tai, and his body seemed to freeze up for a moment. His brain was overtaken with memories of last night's dream, and he felt embarrassed heat rising to his face. Then he saw wide, confused eyes, heard Amy's voice saying, Go? I'm staying here. Frustration and something like sadness began to build up in Tai's chest, and he threw himself off of Matt's bed, moving towards his closet, ripping his shirt off all the while.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked.
"Shower," Tai grunted, not bothering to turn around. "I don't have time to listen to your crazy bullshit."
There was a pause, a sigh, and the sound of Matt rising from his bed. "Suit yourself, Tai."
Elsewhere, slightly later
Izzy was staring blankly at his monitor when the door opened. He swiveled his chair towards the entry, then slumped over slightly when he saw that it was Joe, looking flustered and rather unkempt.
"Hello to you, too," Joe said grumpily, shutting the door behind him. "What's with the frowns and woe? Am I not allowed in my own room?"
"Feeling pleasant, aren't we?" Izzy said blithely as he straightened in his desk chair. "I apologize for my disappointment. I suppose I have something of an appointment with Amy, and I'm rather… antsy about it."
Joe scowled at him before collapsing into his own chair and closing his eyes. Izzy stared at him and noted that, despite it being after one in the afternoon, Joe still hadn't showered or changed out of his cowboy costume yet, except to remove the hat, neckerchief, and spurs. He looked exhausted and worn out, and, for a moment, Izzy wondered if Tai was correct, and Joe had been up all night with Mimi in an amorous capacity. But a man is generally not so crabby after a night of sex.
Nothing would be gained by beating around the bush, so Izzy went straight for the heart. "How was your evening?" he asked, scooting his chair slightly closer and focusing his attention on his friend. Joe grimaced and winced, then ran his fingers through his hair, which was slightly oily with want of washing. His Adam's apple slid downward as he swallowed hard. Finally, he leaned forward and held is head in his hands, still fussing with his hair incessantly.
"God, Izzy, I need your help," he groaned, and Izzy felt his brow jump up. What do I do? he demanded of himself. He was aware that he owed Joe for all of his recent concern, and he wanted to assist him, but, frankly, Izzy had his own problems to deal with today, and they were probably worse than Joe's.
"In what capacity?" he asked carefully. Joe drew his hands down his long face and sighed. His hands made twitchy little gestures for about half a minute, as if he were trying to illustrate his point with them, but Izzy had no idea how to translate the erratic motions. "Talking is generally more effective than charades, Joe."
"Fine," Joe growled, dumping his forehead into his palm. "Mimi wants sex, okay?"
Izzy felt his body freeze up, which was fortunate, because he was equally tempted to laugh and to scoff. Why was Joe bringing him these trivialities when he was still trying to work out why he woke up alone this morning? "I believe she'll notice if we switch you out for me," Izzy said, his tone bland and robotic.
"Ha, ha, ha," Joe drawled. "Could you do me a favor and take this seriously?"
"I'm sorry," Izzy said, his tone making it clear that he was merely apologizing out of politeness. "I can only assume that being intimate with Mimi is a desirable state of affairs for you, so I simply fail to see the problem. Could you elaborate?"
Joe crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, and Izzy noticed his poor coloring and the tightness of his facial muscles. With an effort, he set aside his annoyance and his troubled emotional state, sensing that Joe really did need him. Joe stalled by clearing his throat over and over and tapping his foot against the ground for a while, but something about the weight of Izzy's stare must have finally made him unsettled enough to get to the point. "I'm a virgin. She's not. I don't mean to judge her or say anything about her past, but it seems like she's… Like she's fairly experienced."
"Performance anxiety," Izzy summed up, nodding his head. A common enough problem. Although he disliked thinking of it, he could remember how nervous and uptight he was when he lost his virginity, and Shauna practically did everything for him that first time.
"It's more than that!" Joe snapped. "This isn't a bit of fun for me, Izzy! I'm already in way too deep here, and, and…" He looked away and fell silent, but he had already said enough to make his meaning clear to Izzy.
"You're worried she'll think less of you if you don't perform as well as some of her past partners." Joe made a strangled sound and buried his face in his hands, which was sufficient confirmation. That's something I didn't consider when Shauna came onto me, Izzy realized. He made a tight fist and placed it against his chin. Just another sign that should have warned me that I truly was not interested in her.
Izzy shook his head to clear out those thoughts, then focused on what he knew about Mimi. "Joe," he began slowly, leaning back in his chair. "While I can't say that I always understand Mimi, and while I also can't claim to always approve of her behavior, I do think that, beneath her self-absorption and vanity, she's a truly kind person. It seems to me that she's likely to patiently teach you exactly what she wants, and that you'll respond well, being intelligent and invested in the subject. It may take some time, but I trust that she'll be quite pleased with the results in the end."
There was a long, awkward pause, during which Joe stared (rather unnervingly) at Izzy. "Do you really think so?" he asked at last, looking hopeful and uncertain.
Annoyance rose in Izzy, prompting him to snap something along the lines of, Would I have said it otherwise? But he knew that Joe was unsteady and upset at the moment, and Izzy was also emotionally strained, so he dredged up a smile from somewhere inside of him and nodded. Joe sighed and collapsed against the chair's backrest.
"Thanks, Izzy. I really needed to hear that. But, uh, you know… I really was trying to get some, ah, advice from you."
"Advice?" Izzy echoed, frowning slightly. He had hoped that the subject would close now, but it seemed like Joe wanted to take it in a new direction. "Didn't I just advise you?"
"Well, I mean, you know… Sex advice." Izzy's eyes must have popped, because Joe leaned closer and began to babble, his tone an odd mixture of strained and apologetic. "I know you don't like talking about Shauna, and I know you're going to object and say that she was with you entirely for her own ends, but really, Izzy. A girl that beautiful doesn't keep demanding sex from someone unless they're, you now… Doing it right."
Heat flooded to Izzy's face, and he gawked at Joe with his mouth hanging open. He was unable to decide if he was angry, embarrassed, or just plain confused. "You want sex advice," he said slowly, his voice sounding like a squeak. "From… from me." Joe managed a slight nod, and Izzy shook his head in response. "Joe. I'm a textbook example of the class nerd. One does not approach the class nerd for sex advice." And I would rather not talk about being intimate with Shauna, especially not when I have no idea what my status is with Amy.
Joe began to protest, and Izzy raised his voice. "Besides, the only one who can tell you what Mimi wants is Mimi."
"But…" Joe sighed and glanced out the window. "There must be some general things you can tell me."
Oof. My hangover headache is returning with a vengeance, with offspring besides. "Joe, I want to help you," Izzy muttered, half groaning the words under the strain of the pain in his head. "But… Can this wait? I'm afraid I have my own problems at the moment, and, while I acknowledge that I'm indebted to you, I truly don't think I can handle this right now."
Although he was staring into his lap, Izzy could feel Joe's eyes on him. "Now that I take a good look at you, you really don't look well," Joe muttered. The next thing Izzy knew, there was a hand on his forehead. "You're so clammy…! Are you alright?" Izzy opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as Joe began speaking again. "No, wait, didn't you mention something about having an appointment with Amy? In retrospect, that sounds kind of ominous. Did something happen with her last night?"
What's wrong with me? Izzy didn't understand it, but something about the concern in Joe's voice and the caring look in his eyes was rapidly eroding the shell Izzy kept around his emotions. His eyes began to burn and sting, and he began to blink furiously, looking anywhere but at Joe's face. Good Lord, I'm tearing up like a school girl at a sappy movie. What the deuce is wrong with me?
It's been too much, a voice inside himself answered. Just too much. All that arousal and hope and joy last night, then all of that confusion and fear and pain, that nightmare, being violently ill, wondering if I hurt Amy beyond healing… Panic and fear again when Tai came in… Hope and bittersweet affection when Amy laid back down with me…
Isolation, hurt, and confusion when she was no longer there when I awoke.
Fingers closed around his upper arms with uncomfortable strength, pulling him out of his thoughts. It took him a moment to identify the face hovering over his as Joe's. "Izzy, you're seriously freaking me out, here. You just zoned out and started tearing up. Come on, talk to me." Defiance must have registered on Izzy's face, because Joe made an impatient hand gesture. "Spare me the usual argument, Izzy. You obviously need to talk."
Something snapped inside of Izzy, and he felt like a champaign bottle flowing over as someone freed the cork. He bent over, buried his face in his hands, and told Joe everything in a nasal, robotic monotone. He was too wrung out to supply the proper emotional context, too overwhelmed to register how Joe was taking the story. When he finally stopped talking, when that last drop was shed, he felt oddly empty and used up, but undeniably calmer.
"…Wow," Joe muttered at last. He had stayed quiet during the whole story, and Izzy was grateful. "And… And she really wasn't there when you woke up?"
This seemed like an appropriate time to be annoyed, but Izzy just didn't have the capacity anymore. "She was not," he said blandly.
Frowning, Joe rose from his bed, where he had made himself comfortable, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Joe? Joe, what are you doing?" Izzy watched, feeling a faint, far-off sense of alarm, as Joe ignored him and played with the touchscreen of his phone. Then he placed it beside his ear and tilted his head to hold it there.
"Hi, Amy," Joe said calmly, and Izzy gripped the armrests of his chair and half rose. Joe made an impatient hand motion, and Izzy grit his teeth and settled back down. "Hm? No, I'm fine now, thanks. My hangover died out a while ago. How about you?" There was a faint pause, during which Joe's brow began to press down heavily. "Really? Still? Are you resting? Well, make sure you drink lots of water. Oh, and I think Izzy is concerned about you." Izzy hissed his dissent, more towards Joe's heavy-handedness than the content of his words, but his friend ignored him, tilted his cell, and switched it to speaker phone. Joe held a finger up to hips lips, but Izzy didn't need the warning, and he frowned in response.
"Is he…?" Amy breathed, and Izzy half rose again at the weariness in her voice. "Ah, I should have left a note or something, but I couldn't help it. I was about to throw up, and then I didn't want him to see me until I showered, but I still don't feel well. I'd be really embarrassed if he saw me throw up."
Why? I saw plenty of that last night. Izzy considered it for a moment, then decided that such things were more uncomfortable when one was sober. "I didn't mean to make him worry… Can you explain to him, and tell him I'll call him when I feel better?"
"Let me give him the phone," Joe said, ignoring Amy's slight sputtering. Izzy shook his head and scowled as Joe handed over his cell, unsure of whether to feel grateful or put upon.
"Hello?" he muttered, switching the phone back out of speaker mode.
"Izzy…" Warmth and pleasure dripped from her voice, and Izzy closed his eyes automatically in response. She still sounded exhausted and sick, not to mention a bit uncomfortable, but her affection was still clearly evident. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there when you woke up this morning. I should have realized that it could worry you. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings. I just felt so sick, I-"
"It's alright, Amy," Izzy said, cutting off her anxious apologies. "It's alright. Would you like me to come look after you?"
There was a long, weary sigh on the other line. "I'm fine. Tai brought me Gatorade and asked about a million questions. Matt came in with lunch and insisted that I eat it, and, of course, I threw it up half an hour later. Mimi came by to fluff my pillows and gossip about Joe. Apparently, she- Well, that's their business, I guess. Uh… Sora's been playing music for me in the room all day. I really appreciate the offer, but I could use some quiet."
Izzy couldn't help but smile at the strain in her voice. Funny how what others saw as care could be seen as heckling when you just wanted some time alone. "I understand," he said, and he really meant it. "But… I do have to remind you about our agreement last night."
There was a strained silence that went on long enough for Izzy to ask if she was still there. "Yes," she breathed. "I haven't forgotten. I'll call you when I'm feeling better, alright?"
Izzy agreed, said goodbye, and hung up, handing the phone over to Joe. He pocketed it with a thoughtful expression.
"Mimi must have said something about last night to Amy. God. God." He broke off and licked his lips nervously, then shook his head. "Well, what can I do about it? I'm just going to take a shower," he said, heading towards his closet. "Anyway… I'm really glad you're with Amy now, Izzy. Congratulations. But, I wanted to say… Whatever it is that happened with Amy and her last boyfriend… I don't think it's going to be an easy conversation."
"No," Izzy said hollowly, swiveling his chair back towards his monitor. "I never thought it would be."
Author's Note: Joe really probably should have said more about Amy and Izzy getting together, but he has his own problems at the moment. I have to say though, boy knows how to get something done, doesn't he (at least when it's someone else's problem)? Respect.
Oh yeah, lol, Shauna and Joe definitely have different vocal conclusions about Izzy's romantic capabilities. Is Joe mistaken? Was Shauna lying, or perhaps exaggerating? Oh, the questions!
Poor Tai. He needs some time to come to terms with things. I can't say I blame him, given the circumstances. At least Matt is less hardheaded.
Anyway, next chapter is nothing but Amy talking to Izzy, so it definitely will NOT get put off again, I promise. I'm really sorry D: I have about 9K words written, so hopefully I finish it soon, because dude. Long chapter is long.
