What Are You Waiting For?

All summer, Nick was paranoid that his dad was going to come and beat him, even kill him. Riley and I did the best we could to keep him calm and make sure he knew that he was safe. It worked, at least while he was awake. When he was awake, we could keep his mind on other things, but when we would go to sleep, his mind was free to wander wherever it pleased, usually leading back to his paranoia.

I would try and keep him up so he would just pass out and not dream about anything, but that didn’t seem to work very well. He was so afraid to fall asleep that he started showing signs of insomnia. There were constant bags under his eyes and he was really jumpy about everything, failing to be completely focused. He’s really starting to worry me.

“Nick, you need to get some sleep.” I said softly, squeezing his hand, giving him a look of concern, though he wouldn’t be able to see it, since we’re laying in the dark, cuddled in my bed. Trying to get him to relax is another big thing I do, massaging his back, neck, shoulders, humming something soft, talking to him about pointless things, anything to keep his mind off of his dad so he can fall asleep for at least a few hours.

“I don’t know if I can.” He said softly, scooting closer to me.

“Just try, babe. It’s not healthy to do what you’re doing, living off of no sleep. Soon your body will be so exhausted that it won’t function right.”

He sighed and kissed my neck. “I know.”

I found his lips and kissed them tenderly. “Just try it. Right now. Lets go to sleep.”

I felt him smile against my lips as he kissed me again. “Okay.”

Nick turned so his back was facing me, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him right up against me. I used him as a pillow for the most part.

“I love you.” I heard him whisper.

I smiled and kissed his jaw line. “I love you, too.”

I was about to ask him something, but before the words passed my lips, I heard soft snores come from his mouth, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. He’s actually sleeping. I closed my eyes and followed his actions soon after. After that night, he had no problems sleeping, as long as I was there.

[School]

“Riley, come on, it’s time for school.” I heard Nick say after his alarm went off, and kept going off. “Seriously, do you not hear that?”

I felt him sit up and that’s as far as he got.

“What is it baby.” I said sleepily, almost dozing off again.

“Riley’s not in here.” He said, turning off his alarm.

I opened my eyes slowly, sitting up, yawning, and looked over at Riley’s empty bed. “Where would he be?” I asked.

“I don’t know, wanna search the house?” Nick asked.

“Sure.” I said, jumping out of bed, wrapping my arms around Nick’s bare torso and planting a good morning kiss on his lips.

We parted and smiled, walking out of the room. We saw the bathroom door closed, so we went to knock on it. “Riley? You in there?”

We heard a weak “yeah” from outside the door and we opened it, seeing Riley bent over the toilet, looking horribly pale. We knew why when we saw what was in the toilet.

“Oh hun, let me get your hair out of the way, you’re such a mess.” I said, going over by him and holding his hair out of his face while more came up and into the toilet.

“I’ll call his mom.” Nick said, walking down the hall.

“Sweetie, you look awful. What happened that you woke up with this?” I asked, rubbing his back as he started dry heaving, meaning he was almost done. I handed him a tissue so he could clean off his face a little.

“I don’t know, I woke up about a half hour ago, and this is all I’ve been doing from then til now. It’s horrible.” Riley said, his voice shaky and weak.

“Well, you’re not going anywhere today. You’re staying in bed with saltines, white soda, and a ton of good movies. Oh, and your phone, so we can call at lunch to see how you’re doing.”

“Ian, do you want to stay home with Riley and take care of him? Riley’s mom wants to know.” Nick asked.

I looked back at Riley. He smiled a little before it turned into a grimace. “I’ll be alright, I just need help getting to the couch and getting situated there. And you need to pick out the movies.”

I laughed a little, turning back to Nick, shaking my head.

“No, he’s going to school with me…” Nick said, walking back down the hall.

I leaned down to look at Riley, who seemed stable now. “Wanna move somewhere more comfortable?”

He nodded, and I helped him to his feet, throwing his arm over my shoulder while I kept mine around his waist. We made it to the couch, and I set him down, letting him lay down, draping two blankets over him. Nick grabbed a bucket with a little water in it and set it on the side of the couch, just in case. He also had a stack of about ten good movies, ranging from horror to romance. I grabbed his phone out of his room and set it down while Nick went to the kitchen to grab saltines and white soda.

“How’s that, hun?” I asked, kneeling down to his level.

“You guys spoil me too much.” He said, laughing a little.

“No, we care about you. Immensely. Now just holler if you need anything, okay sweetie? We’ll be upstairs getting dressed and ready for school.” I kissed his forehead, which was scorching.

He nodded, Nick and I going into their room to get dressed.

“I feel bad for Riley.” Nick said, slipping a shirt over his head.

“Oh, hun. No, no, no. That shirt with those pants? Are you trying to make a fashion statement?” I asked, digging through his drawers, pulling out a much better shirt. “There, that’s good. Anyways, I feel bad for him, too. I wish he would let me stay home with him.”

“If he really needs our help, he’ll call his mom and she’ll come home.” He said.

“I guess.” I said, slipping on my shoes and grabbing my backpack.

“Hey.” Nick said softly, putting his hand around my waist.

I looked at him and he pressed his lips to mine.

“Don’t worry too much. He’s going to be fine. It’s probably just a twenty four hour bug. He’ll be better by tomorrow.” He said.

I smiled and kissed him again before we left for the kitchen.

“Where’s Riley?” Kaedyn asked.

“He’s staying home, he’s sick.” Nick said, grabbing each of us a granola bar.

“Faker.” They spat.

“Shut up! He’s been up puking all morning, his pale complexion tells everything.” I said, following Nick and the twins out to the car.

They didn’t say anything, and we drove to school, feeling weird without Riley being squeezed in the back with us. I hope he doesn’t try and move around too much, that wouldn’t be good for him.

Nick squeezed my hand. I looked at him and he smiled softly. “Don’t worry.”

I smiled back and sighed, squeezing his hand back.

When we got to school, Ethan approached us, looking slightly confused.

“Where’s he?” He asked, looking around.

“Home sick.” Nick and I said flatly.

“Oh. Flu?” He asked quietly.

“Something like that.” Nick said, sighing.

There was an awkward silence between the three of us. I could tell Ethan wanted to say something.

“Hey, could I come over after school and see him?” He asked, sounding awkward.

Nick and I looked at each other, both of us confused. “Why?” We asked.

“I want to see him?” He said, sounding like it was common sense.

Nick and I looked at each other once more and shrugged. “Fine, you can come and see him. No shit talking, and no arguments. Otherwise your ass is gone.” Nick said, pointing at him.

“Alright, can do.” He said, smirking at us before walking off down the hall.

I sighed. Great. Another thing to worry about.