Dance In The Rain

~25~ Rain

Possible Trigger Warning

Julianne's POV

The alarm goes off and I groan as Tate starts to get out of bed. "I'll do it, you've gotten the last three," I yawn as I get out of bed and restart the timer on my phone.

I walk into the living room where Holden is asleep on his stomach, and turn on the lamp.

"Holden," I whisper as I shake his arm softly.

His eyes flutter open, and when recognition hits he lets out a sigh and rubs his eyes.

"You guys seriously don't have to keep waking up every 45 minutes. I'm already feeling a ton better," he yawns.

"Yes we do. Chippy said it could get infected," I say as I unscrew the jar and start rubbing salve on his back.

Once I'm done with his back and hand him the jar so he can do the rest, he smirks as he kisses my cheek. "Thanks sweetheart. Get some sleep. I'll put more on in the morning."

I go back to my room and lay back down, immediately starting to drift back to sleep when Tate speaks into the stillness.

"This is the longest night of my life."

"I know," I agree drowsily. "But he'd do it for us."

"I know," he yawns as we both drift back off to sleep and wait for the alarm to go off again.

~*~

When morning comes and the alarm screeches for the hundredth time, Tate and I both decide to just get up. We look at each other, and it's obvious how exhausted we both are.

We get into the living room and Holden is still sleeping on the couch, but he's flipped over to his back and has a blanket draped over him.

"He must be feeling better," Tate notes as he grabs the salve and taps him lightly on his face.

"Flip over, Holden."

Holden throws his hands over his face and then stretches, finally opening his eyes up at Tate.

"What time is it?" He asks in a gruff voice as he looks over at the window with squinty eyes.

"7" Tate simply says as he makes a 'turn over' motion with his finger.

Holden looks back at Tate, and then me as he sits up, keeping the blanket close to his body.

"You guys seriously took turns waking up to help me last night?"

When neither of us answer, I can't decide if his eyes are watery from the little sleep, or something else as he nods. "Thank you."

He turns slightly so Tate can get his back, and then Tate and I go into the kitchen while he does the rest.

We get pop tarts out of the pantry and when Holden comes in, it's obvious that he feels a ton better as he walks more straight and his face isn't strained in agony.

"The marks are almost gone," he says in awe as he puts the salve on the counter. "I wonder how much longer I need to use the salve."

"You're doing it until Chippy tells us otherwise. I don't need her lecturing again," Tate says.

Holden laughs as he gets his phone. "I need to thank her again anyway. I'll call her."

"Now? It's 7am!" I say as I take a bite of my poptart.

"She's up. She gets up around 4 every morning," he says as he starts to call her.

"That's weird," Holden says a moment later when he hangs up the phone.