Some Days

When she woke up, all Lakelyn could register were the arms wrapped around her. She quickly opened her eyes, looking around the room in confusion. There wasn’t much to see and it was obviously a hotel but she couldn’t recall anything about how she got there.

Feeling the rise and fall of someone’s chest on her back, she gently shifted to look at whoever it was. Garrett’s brown hair was a messed up in that handsome sort of way and his expression was completely relaxed. Lakelyn immediately calmed down and allowed a small smile to creep onto her face.

She remembered now, the way Garrett had taken care of her and made sure she was safe. It was one of the kindest things anyone had ever done for her and although she was extremely mortified, she was happy he had been there.

Spotting her phone on the table across the room, she tried to sneak out from under his arms to check it. The moment she began to shift away though, Garrett’s hand flattened against her stomach and he pulled her closer.

“Where are you going Lay?” he mumbled, partly into the pillow and Lakelyn giggled quietly, suddenly embarrassed by the whole situation.

“I have to check my phone,” she whispered, self-consciously tugging at the bottom of the t-shirt he had given her to wear. It smelled like him and she was desperately trying to ignore the urge to shove it into her face.

“No you don’t. Just lay here with me,” he said, slowly becoming more alert. She looked up into his eyes and felt herself giving in. They were kind of blue and kind of green, a color close to teal, and from this close she could pick out a subtle red to his brown hair. She blushed when she realized how long she had been staring at him and looked down at his chest.

“Ok.”

She could feel him looking at her curiously and mentally shook herself. Why was she acting this way? He was just a guy. Thinking about the night before, she corrected herself. He was just a guy who knew that she was really just an emotional wreck and a fuck up. Shit. Honestly though, she was just relieved that he hadn’t questioned her about last night yet.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Garrett looked at her with his eyebrows scrunched and she nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, but it was strangled and not convincing at all. She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just act normal. It was typically so simple for her to act ok around people.

Lakelyn jumped slightly when Garrett began running his fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face. He frowned a little at her reaction and she gave him an apologetic smile.

As he continued to spread her hair out around her head onto the pillow, he leaned up a little, causing his t-shirt sleeve to ride up and she noticed the tattoo on his arm.

“Ryan Adams?” she asked, grinning. He flashed his white teeth at her and nodded, glancing down at the Cardiology symbol on his upper arm.

“Dude’s a fucking god. You like him?” His hands paused, still tangled in her hair and Lakelyn felt herself relaxing. She was totally confused as to why, considering the fact she just met him last night and he could have been planning to murder her, but she was. Something about Garrett made her want to just let all her walls fall down and while it was a comforting feeling, it also terrified her.

“That’s a dumb-ass question,” she said, rolling her eyes and he laughed.

"I know, I just had to be sure. If you told me no we might have had to end this friendship right here, right now.” He looked at her with a serious expression and she snorted. His hands resumed their work untangling her hair.

“How about you, though? I know you’ve got some ink,” Garrett said and laughed when Lakelyn stuck her tongue out at him.

He stared at her, waiting, and she groaned while sitting up.

“Fine. But I have a lot, so I’ll just show you my favorites.” When Garrett shook his head at that, she narrowed her eyes at him.

“I want to see all of them,” he said and shrugged at her. Lakelyn crossed her arms.

“You didn’t show me all of yours!” Garrett laughed and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

“You’re like a fucking kid Lay, just show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” Lakelyn laughed out loud, knowing he had phrased it that way on purpose from the smirk on his face. She shoved his shoulder before standing up.

He looked at her in confusion as she got off the bed and when she began to lift her shirt off his face went bright red.

“You, uh, you don’t have to…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and Lakelyn shrugged before pulling the fabric over her head. Garrett avoided looking at her for a couple minutes before finally letting his eyes slide onto her chest where she had birds tattooed across and down to her heart. When his eyes paused on her stomach, where she knew there were no tattoos, she looked down in confusion.

When she realized how clearly her ribs showed she quickly scrambled to cover herself up. Not only was it totally unattractive, it was humiliating. Sometimes she forgot how thin she had gotten in the past few years, she used to be proud of her body but now all she wanted to do was hide it.

Garrett noticed and frowned, getting up from the bed. She held the t-shirt against herself and stared at the ground until Garrett reached her and gently tilted her chin up. Her eyes reluctantly met his and he sighed when he saw their wetness.

Lakelyn shook her head, she couldn’t figure out why she was such a mess. She didn’t even know Garrett and she had already shown more of herself to him than anyone else in a long time.

Garrett seemed to sense how she was feeling and didn’t try to talk to her. Instead, he just pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother Lakelyn to have him touching her bare back. She knew he was only trying to comfort her and it honestly felt good. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had given her so much reassuring contact.

When the door to the hotel room opened behind her, Lakelyn jumped and tried to quickly pull away but Garrett held on tight.

“What the fuck?”

Lakelyn immediately recognized John’s voice and blushed, knowing he had full view of her naked, boney back. She squeezed herself as close as possible to Garrett and hid her face against his chest. He rubbed her lower back while answering John.

“Do you need something?” He asked it somewhat coldly and it confused Lakelyn.

“Yeah, my things, considering this is supposed to be my room too! But don’t worry about me; I wouldn’t want to interrupt you two.” John sounded extremely angry and she was glad she didn’t have to see the glare he was surely giving her.

“I told you that I needed this room to myself and you happily agreed.” Garrett sounded just as worked up and it was making her uncomfortable, especially considering she was the one to blame.

“But you didn’t tell me it was-… You know what? I don’t care. I’m just gonna grab my stuff and leave. You two can go fucking crazy.”

Lakelyn heard her phone buzz and reluctantly left the safety of Garrett’s arms. She ignored John, who was scowling at her from where he was packing up his luggage and read the alerts on her screen. Lauren had texted her and Rose had called her eight times throughout the past night. The most recent was an hour ago, at nine o’clock.

“Fuck.” She held her head in her hands and rested her arms on the table, no longer caring if the guys saw her shirtless body. Somehow she had managed to forget about her mother for a while, but now it was time to face reality again.

Garrett was immediately by her side and John snickered.

“What is it Lakelyn? Your little dancer boyfriend wondering where you were all night?” Lakelyn quickly stood up and faced him, tired of his arrogance and rude comments.

“Fuck you John! You have no idea what my situation is or why I am here right now. So, instead of standing there and judging everyone else, how about you grow up and. Back. Off.” Lakelyn had stepped forward in anger but when she noticed John staring at her stomach she narrowed her eyes. Garrett gently grabbed her arm and she looked at him.

“What the hell is that Lay?” He was squinting at her torso too and she looked down in confusion, knowing he had already seen her ribs. When her gaze landed on the bruises covering her hip, where her borrowed pants had slipped down she closed her eyes, hating herself for not remembering to at least keep that covered.

“It’s nothing.” She tried to quickly put on Garrett’s t-shirt again and hide it but he cautiously lifted the material up to look at her side.

“Shit. Who did that to you Lakelyn? Don’t even lie to me.” Garrett met her eyes with a fierce expression and she looked down at the spot. You could distinctly make out the finger marks. As his eyes examined her body, Lakelyn watched hopelessly as he began to pick out all of the scars and bruises, old and new, that were scattered throughout her skin. Realization filled his expression and he looked stunned, John's face not much different.

"What the hell Lakelyn?"

She stayed silent, not ready to tell them, especially John, about her mother. Garrett was burning a whole into her head so she turned to John, who was surprisingly looking just as concerned.

“Lakelyn, I’m goddamn serious. If someone’s hurting you, I need you to tell me right now!” Garrett was close to shouting. Lakelyn looked at him and shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter. Why do you even care?” She watched as Garrett sputtered at her question, immediately feeling guilty. He had done so much for her and now she was just acting like a bitch.

“We both know that I know something is wrong here and I’m worried for you, Lay! Ok? I’m scared over what is happening in your life, even though I just met you, and I want to do something. All I’m trying to do is help you, so please just let me!”

John was glancing between the two confusedly and Lakelyn put her hands on her head, tangling them in the roots at her scalp, and breathed out, closing her eyes.

“I’m sorry Gare, I have to go. I… I can’t do this right now.” Grabbing her bag, Lakelyn avoided both his and John’s eyes. As she reached for her phone, Garrett grabbed it first and typed something into it before angrily shoving it into her hand.

“My number. In case you ever need me.” Lakelyn could hear the underlying hurt and worry in his voice and she stared at the ground. It broke her heart to treat someone as wonderful as Garrett like this but she couldn’t tell him, she hadn’t told anyone else ever before and nothing had changed. Maybe one day, but not yet.

“Thank you.” Lakelyn hurriedly grabbed her shoes and was about to leave when she realized she was still wearing Garrett’s t-shirt and boxers. Garrett noticed her staring down at them and shook his head.

“Just wear them,” he said and Lakelyn met his eyes for a second, silently thanking him, before nodding and opening the door to leave.

As she jogged down the hallway, avoiding the stares, she heard the sounds of footsteps behind her and tried to hurriedly quicken her pace. When she reached the lobby, they grabbed her arm and she had no choice but stop. She was pulled to the side and John pushed her up against the wall, trapping her with his arms leaning against the wall.

“I don’t know why you’re like this or what went on last night, but you better get your ass in line and fix things with Garrett. You’re acting like a bitch and I can’t figure out if that’s just how you are or if something’s up. Either way, I’ve never seen Garrett like how he just was with you a couple minutes ago so it doesn’t matter; you need to make it up to him.” John spoke right in her face and she was shocked to hear him talk so severely about doing what was right for someone else. For once, it had nothing to do with himself.

Looking at his greenish hazel eyes and feeling his breath on her face made her freeze. Suddenly, she was overwhelmingly aware of how close he was. Garrett made her feel safe and calm but John was the complete opposite. He put her totally on edge.

“You do realize that I only met you guys last night, right? Technically it’s absurd that I am even here right now, let alone having to ‘make things right’ with either of you.” She crossed her arms, ignoring the guilt eating away at her and the pit in her stomach.

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Afraid of giving in, Lakelyn pushed past him and out the glass doors to hail a cab. She climbed in when one stopped for her and quickly shut the door, looking at John through the window. He was staring at her and she grit her teeth when Garrett appeared at his shoulder, still in his pajamas.

She told the driver where to go and sat back in the seat, switching between holding eye contact with the two musicians. They were both standing completely still, statues in the midst of all the people rushing by them through the hotel and she leaned her head against the window as the car pulled away. Why did she have to ruin everything?

Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out. It was from Garrett, he must have sent himself a message from her phone to get her number.

"Sandwich is in your bag. Eat it."

He was still looking out for her, the message proved that. Lakelyn sniffed as she found the left over half from the night before and scrubbed her hand over her face.

This was why she always felt alone, because she pushed away everyone who cared until they didn’t anymore. It would only be a matter of time until she lost the guys from The Maine too. For some reason, that idea hurt way deeper than she expected it to. Or than it should have.