𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐬

TWENTY: want to be alone.

     

     JAMES COULDN'T REALLY sleep after, just kept trying to regain his memory. But nothing came to mind, this he was frustrated about when the nurse kept asking him questions. His first visitors were Jonathan, his mom and dad. He was relieved to see familiar faces but the moment a light shone on his face from the bedside table, he flinched and refused to let any of the three even touch him.

Joyce was hurt by this but just sat by his legs, just smiling sympathetically at him as Jim stood by her, holding her shoulder. "Kid, what happened?" He whispered and Jonathan looks at James with tearful eyes. The glossy look in them made James' heart drop. "Jon?" He says quietly and Jonathan looked down, sobbing as he covered his face. "We--we all saw what happened... James, the nurse said it's up to you to report it to the police or not." He said and James looked to his parents.

"James..." Joyce said quietly and James quickly looked away, crossing his arms. "No. I'm not just become some sort of fucking basket case again... I--I had enough of that all my high school years. And now--" "it won't be like that, kid." Jim spoke up, interrupting him. "Stop calling me that! I'm twenty-one years old!" He raised his voice then looked down, fidgeting with the hem of his blanket.

"I want to be alone..."

His next visitor was Steve. By himself. Holding flowers. "Hey." James said quietly and the boy burst into tears right away so he quickly sat up. "Steve, why are you crying?" He asked and Steve walked over, sniffling. "If I didn't say I wanted to go... you would've went home, right?" He said, meaning the party and James shook his head. "Come here." He gestured to Steve who went over, sitting on the edge as he adjusted himself, feeling pain spike up his spine but he ignored it.

"Don't think like that, okay?" He grabbed Steve's hand gently and the Harrington looks up at him in the eyes, tears rolling down his face. "But I'm right. It was my fault--" "it wasn't." James squeezed his hand then sighed, scooting back and leaning backwards. "I--I shouldn't have trusted them so easily. I shouldn't have said yes to smoking with Billy. Truth was I wanted to talk to you all night... but what Tommy said--" "please don't believe him. I never said anything bad about you, and neither did Jon... he mentioned it once and Tommy never let it go after." Steve sighs softly.

"Can... Can I hug you?" He whispers and James glanced over, he felt vulnerable but didn't say anything as he scooted to the side. "Get in here." He mumbled and Steve didn't waste anytime, setting down the flowers onto the chair as he carefully got into the bed. His touch is gentle as he reached out, wrapping his arms around James' shoulders.

James hugs back with his arms around Steve's waist, his head burying into the shorter's chest. Steve leaned back, rubbing his head gently as he sighed. "I'm so sorry." He whispered and James shook his head. "Don't apologize for something you didn't do." He mumbled and closed his eyes. "I couldn't even sleep." Steve sobbed and James pulled back, looking up at him. "What?" He says quietly and Steve just touched his shoulder gently. "I saw them... I saw what happened. We all did." He said with a choked up sob coming and James just looked down, sniffling quietly.

"All of you?" He whispers and Steve rubs his eyes, trying to get rid of his tears. "I had to get the others, I didn't want to fight off Billy on my own... I guess when I was getting them, he--" "don't." James says quietly, closing his eyes and Steve just shakily sighed. "I'm so sorry." He said again and James looks up. "It wasn't your fault, stop it. Stop blaming yourself. It was mine." He said and Steve just huffed, looking down. "I'm gonna kill him the next time I see him..." He said and pulled James in again.

James' next visitors came while he and Steve were still sitting side by side, watching tv. He had insisted on staying as long as he could just so James can have some company. Eddie and Rhys walked in quietly, the blond shutting the door behind him. "James." Eddie rushed over to his side and the Hopper slowly sat up. "Eds." He said quietly, sounding tearful as the Munson slowly approached him.

"Can I hug you?" He said, sounding cautious and James nods quickly, hugging the long haired's waist as Eddie hugs his shoulders, sniffling quietly in their hug. Rhys came to stand behind Eddie, watching them with an empathetic look on his face as Steve had his arms crossed, watching the two exes.

Eddie pulled back slowly and sat onto one of the chairs by the bed as Rhys settled on sitting against the little couch by the window, his arms crossed. "Have you... talked to the police?" Eddie said quietly and James shook his head. "Just a very annoying and talkative nurse..." He says in response, glancing away and Eddie took a deep breath. "Whatever you do, Jamie, we got your back. They're going down, all three of them." He says, nodding.

"I--I don't know if I'm ready for a big deal like that." James whispers and Steve looks at him worriedly. "Big deal? It--it's not just some burden for everyone else, we wanna protect you and we wanna see the people held accountable after what they did to you." The Munson says then looked at Steve for a split second. "Right?" He says and James looks at the Harrington right away with concern.

"It would be nice to see some justice brought to what happened, Jamie..." He whispers and James just glanced away, looking down at his hands that are once again fidgeting with the hem of the blanket. "You--you guys don't see me differently?" He whispers and Steve frowns. "Of course not, James." He said, grabbing one of his hands. "I would never..." Eddie said right away, sounding heartfelt.

"Those guys are dicks and deserve some serious jail time." Rhys spoke up suddenly, his arms crossed. Then he came to sit on the edge of the bed by James' legs. "You're not alone, you know? You have friends who obviously love you enough to gather up to save you. There's other people who've gone through this and know what it's like. You're not alone, and you're not a victim, you're a survivor." He said and James' eyes filled tears, covering his face as he let out a small shuddering breath.

"Sorry." He mumbled, wiping away the tears as Eddie frowns, staring at him. "We got your back... whatever you chose to do, report it or not to the police. We'll always be here to help." He says and James just nods softly, sniffling as he rubs his nose then leaned against Steve. "I'll have to think about it for now." He whispers and Eddie softly nods, glancing between his ex-boyfriend and Steve.

"When do you get out of this shithole?" He suddenly asked, glancing around and James shrugs. "Anytime, I guess..." He whispers and Steve just rubs his arm as one of his was wrapped around James' shoulders. "Well, then we should get the fuck out of here, right?" Eddie suggested, reaching out to grab James' hand. "I'm glad you're okay." He says and James sends a small smile to him.

 

 

  

  

 

  

  

 

  

  

 

 

authors note
gosh.
that's all i have to say

it's literally 1:30 am and i'm just now going to bed (i have a 9 to 5 job) but i was literally helping my niece with her hw?? idk why she didn't just do it after school when she got home. but anyway that's besdie the point, here's an update. (i actually proofread this one, what a shocker 😨😨)