GyllenHolland: Cherry

Leaving

Month three. His last week in rehab. Tom couldn't wait to leave this place. He wasn't going to miss anything about this experience, except for meeting Paula. She was like a little sister to him. Something he's never had, but has always wanted.

"Are you crying again?" He joked. He sat down beside her at the pool and handed her a bottle of water.

"Shut up." Paula said wiping her tears. She took the water from Tom.

"You should be happy, we're finally getting to leave this place."

"Yeah, I know. But I started to like it here." She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes.

"Well we still have three days left. Maybe you should try to make the most of it." He said, trying to cheer her up.

The two sat by the pool side until they had to go back to their rooms. They hated how they were both treated like babies upon staying here. Tom said his goodbyes to Paula, and opened his door.

He had another visitor.

"Z- shit. I didn't know you were coming." He started picking up the dirty clothes that layed on the floor. He was tired of his visitors showing up unannounced. First Jacob, last month was Harry, and now Z.

"Tom it's fine. I seriously don't care." She stood up off his bed, and wrapped her arms around him. He melted into her chest. Z was warm, and the energy she gave off was calming.

"I heard you only have three days left!" She said, shaking her fists like they we're maracas. "I'm proud of you."

Tom's focus moved from his dirty room, to Z's eyes. "Why? It's just rehab."

"And not a lot of people can handle rehab. You should be proud of yourself."

He smiled. "What have you been up to?"

"Modeling, auditions, constantly worrying about you. Basically everything but sleeping." She giggled.

"I'm sorry, for making you go through this. You shouldn't have to worry about my dumbass." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Everyone goes through shit. Don't be sorry." She walked over to his bedroom window and looked out into the hallway. "Who was that girl you were talking to? She was cute."

Tom blushed. "She's um, a friend."

Z raised an eyebrow. "Does your "friend" have a name?" She quoted with her fingers.

"Paula." He folded one of his shirts and put it in his drawer. "We really are just friends. I'm still in love with J-" Tom stopped himself from finishing the sentence. Z cocked her head to the side.

"Has he... said anything about me?" He quietly asked.

Z started to look less confident. She didn't want to break his heart, but he deserved to know the truth.
"No, not really. He rarely speaks to any of us anymore." She sighed. "It's like he has these walls up."

Tom looked down at his bed again, breaking their eye contact. "Oh."

"The last thing I heard was that he called Harry, trying to ask if you were okay."

His eyes lit up. "Really?" He held tightly onto one of his shirts.

"Yeah. Did Harry not tell you?"

Tom thought back to when Harry visited him last month. He remembered him trying to bring up something about Jake, but he told him that he didn't want to hear it. "He tried too. I just didn't want to hear it."

"Oh, well yeah. He called and asked if you were okay, but apparently Harry hung up."

Tom huffed, saddened that he had no way of contacting him. Z soon left because Tom had to attend another group therapy session.

Actually, it was more of a farewell party. He had no idea what this get together would consist of, but it had to be better than regular group therapy.
~
By the end of the night he felt like he was going to explode. He ate two pieces of cake, a whole bowl of chips, and lots of candy. This is something he wouldn't have been able to do three months ago. His eating disorder was almost nonexistent thanks to rehab.

"I haven't been to a party since Junior year." Paula said.

"Just wait till you go to an actual party."

"We should go sometime." She replied, and she jumped into the pool, fully clothed.

Tom jumped back, the water almost splashed his very expensive shoes. "Paula! Do you know how much these are worth?"

Her head emerged above the water. Her mascara was leaking down her cheeks, and the glow sticks floating around the pool made her look like she was levitating. "I don't know. And I don't care." She swam over to Tom and pulled his leg. He fell into the pool. Water ran up his nose, causing tears to form in his eyes.

"Don't you hate me?" She said grinning.

"I'm getting pretty close to it." He laughed.

Once the party concluded, they were both soaking wet and freezing cold. Their clothes were drenched in pool water. They walked to their rooms and said goodnight to each other. This was one of the best nights Tom has had in a long time.