Andrew's POV
Barrett sat in front of me as we lounged around my office in my new practice. I had purposefully kept from a few open slots in my schedule in case a few of my regulars needed me but ever since Liam and his boyfriends got a handle on their problems, I haven't had much need for them.
Now I used these open slots to catch up on paper work or to read new studies but today I used the time to grill Barrett.
The second my last client left for the hour I had waved Barrett in from the waiting room and now he sat here, being more quiet now that I've ever had seen him be. His eyes bounced around the room and I could tell his excited smile seemed a bit duller than usual.
"Why do I feel like I'm about to be interrogated," Barrett asked after a while of me staring at me.
"Does Jem have those nightmares often?"
"He would literally kill me if he knew we were talking about this."
"You're being dramatic," I said with an eye roll out of pure instinct until I thought about it. Jem wasn't like the other violent clients I had. As much as I didn't like the thought but I wouldn't be surprised if Jem has already killed before.
Still even if he's killed random people, I doubted he would hurt his own friend.
"No I'm not. He hates when people talk about it, or react to it, hell he doesn't even like people helping him wake up." Barrett sighed as he rubbed his face tiredly. "Please just drop it."
"Has he tried taking anything? I could get him samples if you think you could get him to take them."
"Listen, Jem isn't the kind of guy who accepts help, no matter how bad he needs it. Just let it go."
"Just sit here and watch him suffer? I'm not really in the business of doing that."
"Why do you even care," he asked, his wide eyes suddenly glaring at me. "You only got here a few days ago and before that you hardly even knew him. You don't get to play caring therapist just because you're here now."
My eyes shifted to the desk at those words.
Liam's boyfriend had said something similar to me when we were still in the adjusting period. I had thought I was getting better at coming off more sincere but I guess I still had room to grow in that area.
"It's been days," I sighed after a while. "Patrick and I haven't seen him since it happened. Have you and Devon even seen him?"
"I don't need to see him to know he's fine."
I huffed at his answer.
"You aren't going to let this go, are you," Barrett sighed after a while of me seething in silence.
"No."
Barrett scoffed at that, his eyes shooting around the room at random again.
"Please just do yourself a favor and don't bring it up around Jem. He always does this after one of his really bad nightmares. If you bring it up when he finally decides to come around, he's just going to take off again. He doesn't like people seeing him weak and in his head, this is as weak as he can get.
"Dev and I can't get it through his head that he's being stupid but when he finally gets his head out his ass, he's going to want to pretend like it never happened. Just play along. Let everything go back to how it was before and be happy that it will be over this quickly. These 'episodes' have lasted months before."
"I'm a therapist. I can't just sit there while someone is suffering from because of their own mind."
"You'll have to learn if you want Jem to come off his high horse and act like normal again."
My frown deepened at that but a sigh left my throat.
"And when it happens again?"
"You repeat the process and grateful that we had such a long stretch of peace before it happened again."
"I hate this."
"You and me both," he sighed. His eyes darkened for the first time since I've met him. He looked tired and worn out, his usual bright smile was nowhere to be seen. "But if we want Jem back, this is the best we can do."
Jem's POV
"Where did that new shipment end up going to," I asked as I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the itchiness to go away.
"It's in the Jamestown warehouse. Devon said we didn't need it at this one, apparently we had plenty," Ramsey said with a small eye roll.
He had never been a big fan of Dev but his dislike for my friend only increased when Dev did his job by telling him what to do.
"It's a good thing you listened to him then. Weed only does us so much good collecting dust in a warehouse. It's not selling as well as it used to here," I sighed.
Cops have been getting nosey around here recently. Some random dealers on the other side of town were busted and raided a few weeks ago and since then people have been nervous to buy from anyone.
"Yea but Theo says it's selling pretty well over there so at we have that going for us. Don't stress over it."
"I'm not stressing," I scoffed.
My head pounded at the loud noises that always seemed to fill the warehouse as I made my way to the door.
"How long has it been since you slept," Ramsey asked, his eyes giving me a skeptical glance before making his eyes dart away.
"I didn't know that was any of your business." A glare slipped out before I had a chance to stop it while my voice came out harsher than I would have liked.
"It's not, my bad boss. I'm going to go unload the truck."
I didn't have a chance to say anything else before he was taking off down an isle of boxes.
I always liked Ramsey well enough. He was a hard worker; honest as one could be in this kind of job, and was always joking around when time allowed it. I honestly made him babysit a lot of the new people, not only because I trusted him to know if they were an under cover cop or a rat from another gang, but also because everyone seemed to like him enough to respect him right off the bat.
Honestly if he had more of a back bone like Dev or Barrett he would probably have a room in my wing but he always allowed himself to be pushed away to easily. The only reason the other two stay around me is because they are too stubborn. When I push them they push back until we are tired of fighting and just let it drop.
I sighed to myself as I piled into my car.
My mind was on autopilot as I drove back to the house.
The drive was long it felt so short as my mind wandered. The headache I had been nursing for the past few days only got worse by the second but when I parked outside my house I forced my usual smirk onto my lips.
When I entered the house, people went bat shit like they always did. The guys hyped my up as if we were at some frat party and I had just showed up, chanting my name and offering me beers, knowing good and damn well I don't drink while the girls either barely batted an eye at me or threw a flirty glance.
I ignored all of them, only sparing a select few of my favorites a nod or a wink until I was finally closing the door behind me.
I sigh when nothing but silence fills the room while the cold air surrounds me. The heat from the warehouse had been suffocating me all day but as the cool finally fills my lungs, I feel myself relaxing.
My feet led me to kitchen and to my surprise no one was there. Andrew and Patrick weren't back from work yet which meant neither were Dev and Barrett.
Three sets of nails hitting the floor was enough to make me smile.
Charlie led the pack for once, one of Dev's socks dangled from his mouth while Nyx and Hades brought up the rear.
I smiled as I bent down to take the sock from Charlie's mouth before playfully bopping him on the nose with my fist. I watch as his puppy teeth latch onto my skin and bite down harshly.
"Ow," I gasped dramatically.
Charlie's eyes went wide before immediately letting go while Nyx and Hades let out a warning growl. They push past the small puppy each begin to examine my hand to make sure there was no real damage.
"You want to help me make Dev some dinner," I asked as I pulled on Nyx's ears playfully, earning me a huff while Hades turns his head to the side in confusion. "Let me rephrase. Do you want to snack on people food while I make Dev and Barrett food?"
His tail wags now as he takes his place to the left of the stove while Nyx takes the left. Charlie, still not quite understanding the ritual, decided he had better things to do than sit in the kitchen and took his place on the couch, gnawing on a random toy he had dragging out from the laundry room at some point.
The tension in my shoulders finally disappeared as I moved around the kitchen, every now and then giving Nyx and Hades a piece of whatever I was messing with.
Nothing but the sound of pots and pans moving filled the wing and for the first time in days, the pounding in my head eased.
Last updated Decemeber 16, 2021