A Foreign Love Song (Jake Bateman x Johnnie Guilbert)

9: Jake

I'd drawn a line in the sand a long time ago. I knew Johnnie was cutting, and that his promise was a lie. I knew that. But I also knew that it was time he stopped this. It'd reached it's limit. It was never safe to begin with, but now it's really not. He's all alone with his depressing mind and whatever hate is thrown at him without reason. No one intervenes, not ever. I'm tired of that, and I'm changing it today. 

I know I said that I was going to live with Johnnie whether he liked it or not, but I did have to double check to make sure he was kind-of okay with it. I'm not going to be a squatter or anything like that. Just morals.

So I trekked over to his house with all of the clothes I could stuff into one bag. It would have to do for now, but I wasn't planning on living with him forever anyway. Just like last time, when I came up to the door I was greeted by the barking of Johnnie's dogs. This time, his pug came to the door. Johnnie himself opened it, as I expected, wearing long sleeves despite the sweltering heat. His hair looked messier than usual, and he'd put no effort into making himself look nice at all. "Come in," He mumbled. I didn't know if he was making his condition look worse than it truly was, or if he really wasn't in the mood today. "You already know where the guest room is," He went on once I'd entered the place. He rubbed his left eye with the back of his hand. "What's the plan? Are you gonna try and keep me on lock down?"

I put the bag on the floor and shook my head at him. "I just want to stop you from hurting yourself. You can pretend that I'm not here for all I care."

He raised an eyebrow, not exactly following. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth, honest."

"Okay, whatever." He walked away from me, entering a room after he did so and shutting the door behind him. A part of me wondered if I should go after him, but I decided against it for more reasons than one. Then again, if I didn't go after him, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of coming here in the first place. 

But I didn't follow him. Instead, I brought the bag of clothes to the guest room. In it sat a single bed with a plain, pale blue quilt. Next to it was a white nightstand with one drawer. Aside from that, a closet door that was cracked open also was in the room. I put the bag down and noticed immediately that the clock next to the bed had dead batteries. I picked it up and went off to find Johnnie after all. "Johnnie!" I called, knocking on his door. 

"What do you want?" He asked, not opening it.

"Batteries!" I called back. 

"Then why don't you go buy them?" 

"Because I need an excuse to watch you!" 

He opened the door, shaking his head at me. "You don't even trust me."

"Not with your track record, no. The whole point of me staying here is to make sure that you're not alone. It won't work out if you're, well, alone."

"I guess we do have a problem then," He crossed his arms, leaning against the white door frame. Have I ever mentioned that his height is almost too perfect? I shook my head, not understanding the thought. "But if you don't trust me enough, I'll go on your little fucking trip to the convenience store."

Okay, now I know I've pissed him off. But it wasn't 'whatever,' either. I don't care if he hates me forever for doing this or not; it has to be done. "Great." I looked down at his shoes, which were already on and tied. "Let's go."

We returned from the store not but ten minutes later. It wasn't far down the road, and I found the batteries quickly too. After putting them into the clock, and setting that to the right time, I found Johnnie watching a movie. Or looking for one to watch at least. "I don't know what to watch," He complained. 

"Just watch Beetlejuice or something," I said, sitting on the sofa with him. 

"Are you gonna hang out with me all the time?"

"Do you want me gone?"

"From my house."

"That's not what I meant. I'm gonna haunt you here forever if I have to." I wiggled my fingers in the most ghostly fashion I could. "I meant do you want me to not be here now?"

"I don't care." He shrugged. "I'm not gonna tell you you can't watch a movie."

I sighed, disappointed that our friendship was being severed like this so easily. I wish that he wasn't so distant, but forcing him to not be will only make it worse. I guess if I want him to open up and feel better, at least a little better, I'll have to just give him a lot of time. Reflection time and other kinds. 

Johnnie slid his sleeve up his arm and scratched at the forming scabs over dark red lines. Deep red lines. "They won't heal if you scratch them," I whispered.

He glared at me, pulling his sleeve back down as he went back to picking a movie. As I'd suggested, he started Beetlejuice. "You're gonna make me go fucking insane," He muttered. I don't think he knew that I'd heard him though.