Shattered In Pieces

+

"Guys...! come on, this sucks!" he complained as I held him back. Matt stole the ball from him before dunking it. All three of us were shirtless, sweaty and breathless. In a game of three way, I was ahead of Matt, and Matt was ahead of Johnny by a long shot. I caught the ball as Matt tossed it to me. dribbling a few times, I made a free throw shot. It went straight into the net. Johnny caught the rebound, darting around us to make the basket.

"Woo-hoo!" Ashley's voice made us jump. she walked over with a large smile on her face. Johnny flexed playfully, making her giggle. "Oh so strong baby!" she rubbed his arm gently. "And so sweaty!"

"We're all sweaty." Matt chuckled.

"We've got to hit the showers. You should come too!" Johnny winked.

"I'll pass..." she giggled."I actually came to tell Jimmy that Jill called." She held up her phone, offering it to me. I took it unsurely.

"Come play with me..." Johnny pouted.

"Okay, okay." She giggled, taking his hand and walking with him towards the showers. I shook my head as Matt watched them walk away in awe. I dialed Jill's number, leaning against the side of one of the buildings.

"Hello?" she asked quietly.

"Hey baby...what's going on?"

"Nothing..."

"Babe, tell me...what happened?"

"We made an appointment to go see a mental specialist." I could basically hear her roll her eyes. "So I'm sitting in the office, waiting for the door to open so they can ask me my life story."

I sighed quietly. "...Are you going to tell them...?" I asked softly, almost hopefully. If she took them, she would feel better.

"That's funny, babe." She sighed.

"B-but Jill...if you take them...you'll feel better..."

"I felt fine until I got suspended!"

"But you weren't acting fine, Jill..." I muttered.

".......What?"

"Jill...you...haven't been acting...like my Jill lately..." I mumbled.

"What have I been acting like then, James?"

"Never mind..." I sighed. She wanted to argue with me, and it wasn't worth it.

"No, don’t say never mind to me. Tell me what you're talking about! Please..."

"You haven't been acting right! You're always playing games with me! All you want is sex and to play! Nothing else!"

"I'm sorry I don’t want to fight, and that I'm a horny teenager." She growled sarcastically.

"Like I said, never mind. I'm going to go take a shower. Bye." I muttered.

"Jimmy! Please...I'm sorry... I really am....I can't help it..." she whimpered.

"Which is why you need to let these people help you. If you don't...I don't know Jill...I don't like it..." I sighed and ran a hand over my face.

"Oh....okay." she got quiet. Real quiet.

"I...I've got to take a shower...I'll talk to you tonight..." I mumbled softly.

She sighed sadly. "O-okay...will you come see me?"

"Of course...when?" I whispered.

"Six, so we can cuddle."

"Okay...I'd like that, Baby Girl. I love you so much, you know that?" I whispered.

"I love you too, Jim Jam."

I rocked back and forth on my heels a little. "...If you're allowed back...do you still want to go to prom with me...?"

"Of course I do! I want to be with my baby."

"Okay." I chuckled, "I want to be with you too. I want to show you my kick-ass dance moves."

"If you come over tonight, you can do that naked in my bedroom." She giggled.

"Jilly..." I had to play along, "Okay, I have no problem with stripping. But that's all..."

"Can we kiss too?"

"On the lips on your face, yes." I chuckled.

"I'd like that a lot, baby." She said shyly.

"Yeah...? Good. I'm glad. Just...please do me this one favor...and open up to these people..."

"But...that's what I have you for! So I can tell you everything!"

"Jilly...I can't help you like they can..." I mumbled.

"Sure you can....Kiss it better..."

"Jill...it doesn't work like that." A sigh escaped me deeply.

"I wish it did...so I could be in your arms right now...not in this office..."

"Baby, if you listen to them and actually do what they say...you will be."

"Okay...I'll try. No promises. Now go take a nice hot shower...thinking about me..." she whispered the last part with a giggle.

I shuddered violently, a knot forming in my throat. "I will. No worries." I chuckled, trying to keep my voice steady. "I love you, okay?"

"I love you too baby boy."

"Bye..." I hung up before heading unsurely toward the showers. I had to give Ash her phone back!

"What do we do now?!" Matt whined.

"Want to do me a favor?" I grinned, handing him the phone.

"Ew, no. I'm not walking in on shorty!"