Just The Way You Are (Jaime Preciado)

Chapter 1

"Amy!" Vic yelled, squishing me into a hug and cutting off my air supply. He let go and laughed as I struggled to get out of the hug. "Sorry but I haven't seen you in forever!"

I had just gotten to formally meet the guys in my brother's band a few months ago and they already treated me like a little sister.

"Hey," Mike was much more gentle as he hugged me. He gave me a kiss on the head. "How is our little Tony doing today?"

Tony had been sick for about a week. I was sure it was just a cold, but he was convinced he was on the verge of dying.

"About the same," I answered, watching as Vic and Mike took a seat on the couch and turned on the Xbox. They never wasted any time getting onto that thing.

Jaime walked in behind them and stopped by the door, awkwardly making eye contact with me and then looking at the floor.

"Hey," I said, smiling and holding the door open a little wider. He simply nodded and walked in, sitting next to Mike.

"I'll go get Tony," I said. "He's been feeling better so he should be able to come out."

Vic and Mike were too entranced by their game to listen to me, but Jaime nodded.

I went up to find Tony sprawled across his bed, half hanging off it. He was only wearing boxers and as soon as he noticed I had walked in he whined, "Amy. I'm so fucking hot help."

I laughed and shook my head, "Your friends are downstairs. Put on some clothes, or don't. It doesn't matter but go see them."

I knew he wouldn't like it but I walked over and fell on top of him. He gasped as all of my weight was suddenly on him then tried to push me off, "Get the fuck off me, woman!"

I laughed as I almost fell off the bed, but grabbed his arm, pulling him off with me. Tony tried to hit me when we landed on the light blue carpet, but I got up and ran down the stairs.

"What the hell?" Tony yelled running after me, but he was laughing too.

I run into the living room and practically jump into Jaime's lap. "Protect me!" I whisper, burrying my head in his shoulder. He sits there with his arms out, looking uncomfortable at first, but he smiles and wraps his arms around me anyways.

I looked up to send him a greatful smile then continued to hide my face. Tony breathed heavily at the bottem of the stairs, whining about how he was sick.

Mike laughs as Vic says, "Woah man. You get beat up by a seventeen year old girl?"

I look up and saw Jaime staring at me, "You're only seventeen?" He almost whispered.

I nodded, "Yep. Why?"

He shook his head. "You look older."

I laughed a little, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

He nodded and went back to being "Silent Jaime." I never had gotten that. In interviews he was always so outgoing. He was funny and pretty much never stopped talking. Whenever I saw him he barely talked.

"Whatever" Tony said. "I want iHop so that's where we're going. You want to go with us, Amy?"

"Nah," I said. "Boys day, right?" Actually, I didn't want to intrude on them.

"No. You should come," Mike said.

"Alright," I said. "I'm hungry anyways. Tony never has food in the house."

I went upstairs to change clothes. It was just breakfast so I put on a pair of sweatpants and my Of Mice and Men shirt.

When I went back downstairs, Tony had changed into jean shorts, Vans, and a blue button up with the sleeves rolled up.

"You ready, Amy?" He asked, letting out a small cough.

"Fuck yeah! Let's eat." I said, heading to the door.

"I call shotgun!" Vic yelled, running past me.

I just laughed. Mike drove, Vic got passenger, and I sat with Jaime and Tony in the back. When we got there iHop was packed. There was only one, small booth available so we all squished into it, but Mike ended up half in Tony's lap. I smiled at them as I pulled out my cell phone and took a picture of them for snapchat.

"Aren't you two cute?" I asked, showing them the picture. They both laughed as I captioned it 'relationship goals'.

After we ordered I turned to observe everyone. Vic and Mike were poking eachother with their forks, Tony was attempting origami on a napkin, and when I got to Jaime he was just staring at me, but then dropped his head and looked at his lap.

Damn. That boy was weird. I smiled a little, but then our food came and the smile turned into a wide grin when I saw my pancakes stacked high on the plate.

"Holy shit," I whispered. I hadn't even noticed how hungry I was until now. My stomach growled in agreement.

Jaime smiled at me as I shoved a huge peice of pancake in my mouth. Ain't nobody got time for small bites. I smiled back trying not to show the chewed up pancake. He chuckled and went back to his food.

I smiled and felt myself blush. That was embarrassing, but Jaime didn't seem to mind. I went back to eating, sloppily.

"Damn," Tony said. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Um," I stumbled. Everyone was staring at me. "I forgot to eat dinner last night. So I only ate lunch." I lied. Honestly I couldn't remember the last time I actually ate. It's not my fault, though. I get distracted and forget to eat.

Tony looked like he didn't believe me. He knew I had had problems in the past with eating disorders.

I ignored him and went back to eating, a little more gracefully, but I still felt everyones eyes on me. When I looked up Jaime was the only one who didn't look away. He gave me a look of confusion. I stared down at my plate for a while, not really feeling hungry anymore but rather uncomfortable.

***** Four Days Later *****

I was in a room I didn't recognize. The bed wasn't comfy but I really didn't want to get up. My body was stiff. What had even happend? I really couldn't remember. All I could feel is someone holding my hand.

"God damn, Amy," I recognized Jaime's voice almost whisper. "Whats going on with you?"

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt almost glued shut. And I couldn't move my body either. I felt weak. Too weak.

"I really can't understand her," Tony said. "I thought she said she was over this."

It was quiet until a woman's voice filled the void, "You're going to have to leave now. We don't want many people in the room when she wakes up."

"When will she be better?" Tony asked.

"Tomorrow we are expecting her to wake up," The woman said. "But for now leave her alone."

"How long had she gone without food?" Tony asked.

"We can't tell the exact number of days," She answered. "But it has to have been quite few days for her to pass out and now wake up. She was also dehydrated so that added onto her condition."

There was alot of sighs so I'm taking it that all Tony's friends were there.

"Alright," Tony said. "Let's go guys."

Someone touched my face and I felt a hot breath near my ear say, "Stay strong, Amy. Love you."