It was winter break. Normally I'd spend these two weeks hanging with the guys and chasing after girls but this time I had a clear goal.
I stormed into T's room. "Get up." I commanded.
He didn't even move.
"I said, get up, idiot!" I ripped the sheets off T's frail body.
This time he was actually sleeping, surprisingly. He hugged his arms close to his body and had his legs pulled up. He looked cute all curled like that. For a moment I debated waiting till he was awake but then I realized if he wanted to get back on his feet he'd have to sleep at a normal time.
I brushed his hair out of his face. I traced his little nose. Timothy smiled a little. It made my heart pound. He could still smile.
I looked around the room and found a glass of water on his nightstand.
"Sorry not sorry." I picked up the glass and poured it's entire contents all over Timothy's face.
He gasped and sat up. "Josh?! What the hell!" He pushed me which made me laugh.
"Morning, sunshine."
"What is your problem?!"
"For one? That you need to shower. I'm not being seen with you looking and smelling the way you do."
Timothy scowled at me. "What are you talking about?"
"We're going for a walk."
"No."
"Yes." I smiled. "In fact, I have lots of fun activities planned for the next two weeks so buckle up, kid."
Timothy was about to lay back down but felt the cold water on his mattress. "You're not funny!"
"I consider myself very funny actually. Now get up. I made breakfast. After eating that we'll go."
"Are you not listening? I'm not going anywhere."
"I will carry you if I must. Don't forget," I grabbed T's arm and squeezed a little too hard. "I'm much stronger than you."
T continued to glare at me.
"Now, will you take your shower alone or do you need help?"
✪
T ate quietly and slowly but he ate at least. He was still angry but he was clean and wearing a fresh set of his black hoodie and sweatpants combo. Granted, he didn't do his hair or makeup.
"How is it?" I asked.
Timothy answered my question with a glare and continued munching on his french toast.
After doing the dishes we were ready to go. I handed T his coat which he slowly put on and off we went. He also walked very slowly and his teeth were clattering the whole time.
"You seriously need to eat more. You look like a corpse."
"S-s-shut up." Timothy snapped.
"S-s-shut up!" I mimicked him.
"I'm.. cold. L-let's go back." T stuttered.
"Here." I wrapped a huge red scarf around him. "If we keep walking you'll be warm in no time."
"Josh! I don't want to!"
"I like seeing you suffer, remember?" I smirked.
T grabbed my wrist. "P-please. I'm tired and it's too cold.." A big gust of cold wind blew into our faces. Timothy cringed and his teeth clattered even more.
I pulled him into a hug, hoping my body would warm him up a bit. I just wanted him to see something other than his room. I wanted him to move his legs a little but he was right. It was ice cold and I wasn't sure if he could handle it now with how weak he'd become.
"Okay. We'll go back." I grabbed T's hand and led him back to the house. Then I saw my car in the driveway.
"Come on," I opened the door.
"Josh," T complained.
"Get in the fucking car, Timothy."
He sat down in the passenger's seat. I slammed the door and sat behind the wheel. I immediately turned on the heater.
"Where are we going?" Timothy asked when we were on the road.
"Well, I was going to take you to the woods but that's obviously not happening... Is there anywhere you wanna go? And if you say home I'll kill you, seriously."
Timothy remained quiet and leaned into the window.
"Fine. I'll choose. You obviously need to build up some muscle since you're weak as shit so we're going to the gym."
"Josh..!" T groaned.
"It'll be good for you. It might bring back your will to live!"
"Why are you doing this to me? I wasn't bothering you by staying in my room so I don't understand why you're going out of your way to-"
"Because I can." I smirked. "I told you, I have two weeks of inactivity. I won't have much to do except pester you. And it really is the highest form of entertainment."
T sighed and curled further into himself.
"What's the matter with you?" I asked.
"I just wanna go home."
✪
I practically dragged Timothy into the gym.
"Slow down!" He said as I pulled him by his arm.
"Hurry up!"
"You are so fucking annoying." He whined.
When we came inside everyone stared as we walked by. Not at me. I obviously belonged here. T, on the other hand..
I checked in at the register and took Timothy to a treadmill.
"This should be easy. It's just walking."
T had his arms crossed and he was staring at the floor.
I pushed him lightly. "I'm talking to you."
"Please don't make me do this."
"Get on the treadmill."
T gave me those sad puppy eyes. "Or else." I added.
He reluctantly stepped on the machine and I turned it on at an easy walking pace.
"That's not too bad, right?"
Timothy merely glared at me.
I turned the machine up a bit so now it was a fast paced walk.
"Josh,"
"Come on. You're not even running yet."
"And I'm not going to. This is pointless anyway."
"Have you ever considered that it might make you feel better?"
"Some exercise isn't going to heal me!"
"No, but it might help!"
"Nothing is going to help! I told you that already! It's been the same thing for all these years! No matter how it seemed I'm never going to get rid of this!"
Timothy tried to get off the treadmill but he slipped on the moving band. I caught him in my arms before he fell.
"Watch it!" I yelled.
Timothy pulled out of my grasp and walked off.
"Fuck!" I turned off the treadmill and followed after him.
"Timothy get back here!"
He turned around. "You know, I'd really like to hear what your 'or else' is. What could you possible do to me?"
I took a step forward. "I could beat you up!"
"Do it." He wasn't the least bit scared. His eyes were burning, defiant. There seemed to be some life in him again.
"I'm sure you'd love that." I answered after a moment of silence.
"Coward." Timothy turned away.
I grabbed his arm. "One more exercise. Then I'll take you home."
Timothy sighed.
"It's either that or you walk home. You decide." I shrugged. We were pretty far away from home and Timothy knew he'd never make it.
He gave in. "Fine."
We went to bench press as the last exercise. Since we'd kind of worked on legs and I wanted to balance it out with some core and arms.
Timothy watched all the muscled men pressing probably his whole weight and more. He looked very unsure.
"We'll start easy." I tried to reassure him. I selected the lightest weights just to start out.
"Alright, lie down on the bench."
T followed my instruction.
"Hands up. Hold them at about shoulder level. That's right. Now,"
I handed T the barbell. It immediately fell down a little. Guess it was heavier than he'd anticipated.
"Come on, that's nothing." I said.
"Are you kidding?" T breathed.
"Ten reps."
T sighed but he was able to do it without sweating.
"Alright, good warm up."
"How long-"
"We'll go up a size and that'll be it. Nice and easy." I took the bar from T and went to the weights to swap it out.
I heard someone talk to Timothy behind me. It was one of the guys that had looked at him weird when we came in.
"The fuck are you doing here, sissy? Shouldn't you be sucking dick somewhere?"
He pissed me off so bad. But I decided to keep my mouth shut. I wasn't about to start trouble now. I just had to focus on Timothy.
"Alright, all done." I came back up to him. T hadn't even paid attention to the man and he turned back to his own exercise.
"Alright, let's see if you can lift this. Arms out," I lowered the bar into T's hands.
"How's that?"
"It's heavy." T's voice was strained and his face was red. Now he was starting to sweat.
I smiled. "Good. Keep it going."
"Fucking fag can't even lift weights." The man was watching again. He looked so hateful for no reason at all. "Ay, what are you doing here, cocksucker?"
I'd had enough.
"Hey, shut the fuck up! Can't you see he's trying?!"
"Aww, are you his little boyfriend? Two cocksuckers in one day, now that's a disgrace."
"Did I not tell you to shut up?!" I pushed the man into a wall.
"Josh..!" T groaned. I looked back at him. The barbell was on T's chest, pressing down on him hard. He couldn't get it off even though he tried.
"Shit!" I rushed to his side and lifted the weight off him. He sucked in a big breath of air and sat up. His face was red and sweaty. He even looked scared.
"Are you okay?" I sank down to the ground and looked into T's eyes.
He was panting and shaking.
I grabbed a bottle of water.
"Drink!"
He drank from the bottle until it was empty. For once his eyes didn't look still and frozen. But more importantly, when he was being squashed by the weight he asked for help. This meant something. This meant that no matter what he said, Timothy wanted to live.
The lifeless hater ended up getting suspended from the gym and I got off with a warning.
We stepped into the cold.
"Did you feel that? The adrenaline of being alive? You can't tell me you didn't enjoy that! There's nothing better than sports!" I smiled.
"That was awful."
"So you say." I smirked. I gave T a light shove. "You did good for a rookie."
T nodded. "I don't think that man agreed."
"Well, he can suck it."
We got back in the car and drove home while listening to the radio. T didn't say anything. Which was to be expected. But I felt like maybe something had changed. This could be the start of him feeling better.
After a twenty minute drive we got back home. T came in behind me because he was incredibly slow and very tired. He wasn't used to moving so much anymore.
T stepped onto the stairs.
"Make sure you take a shower, okay?"
Joe came into the hallway. "There you guys are! Where have you been? I've been calling!"
"Oh, we went to the gym. I forgot to tell you, sorry." I said.
"The gym?" Joe was in disbelief. He looked at Timothy. "Did he..."
"I didn't do anything. T was the one doing all the work. You should've seen him." I smirked.
Joe looked at Timothy. He looked so surprised and proud.
"You? Today?" He chuckled cheerfully.
T shrugged and continued up the stairs.
"Uh.. dinner?" Joe asked. "In an hour." He was still unsure if T would eat it or not.
Timothy nodded. "Yeah.. okay."
That night T ate more than he had the day before. He was starving because of the work out. However small the steps, things were moving forward and I was confident he was getting better.