Sweet Emotion

Chapter 21

Monday, January 13th

It had now officially been six days since Joe was first admitted to the psych ward and since Steven had had surgery. Both were recovering well, though they'd both experienced their fair share of ups and downs in the week. Joe had been extremely recluse, barely speaking a word and referring not to interact with anyone, only perking up when Steven's name was mentioned. And Steven had been unusually quiet, only talking when he had something to complain about.

The only good thing that had come out of their entire stay was that Joe had been allowed out a few times to visit Steven, happily unaccompanied when they got to spend time with each other. They only got to talk for an hour at a time, but it was the best hours they'd ever spent together.

Joe would read magazines and books aloud to Steven, and Steven would happily listen, opening his mouth every few minutes so that Joe could feed him. He didn't need help eating, he could do it perfectly well, but he enjoyed having Joe taking care of him and loving him unconditionally. It wasn't exactly an ideal place or situation to be in, but it was perfect to them. And after a while of isolation, it was great to see Tom, Joey and Brad who now gathered around Steven who was propped in bed and smiling like he hadn't in ages.

"So Steven, how are you feeling?" Joey asked, his hands on his hips. "You got it pretty bad."

"I'm feeling-" Steven paused to let Joe feed him a spoon of yoghurt, the taste of strawberry tingling on his tongue. "better, but I still struggle to use the bathroom." He paused, ignoring the plastic spoon that was nudging his bottom lip.

"What?" Brad asked, concerned. "Do you need the bathroom?" He held out his hand to help Steven out of bed.

Steven shook his head, his brows furrowed. "No. I was just wondering, what happened to my 'Who The Fuck Is Joe Perry?' t-shirt? I was wearing it when I was...yeah."

Tom, Joey and Brad exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"What?"

"Umm... I- we found it- well-" Tom babbled, struggling to break the news to Steven.

Steven loved that t-shirt and he really didn't want to say anything bad about the state it was now in.

"Just tell him," Brad interrupted. "He's going to find out anyway."

"Find out, what?" Steven asked in confusion, looking around from Brad to Tom to Joey and then to Joe who was still holding the spoon, waiting for the signal that he wanted to be fed again.

"We- we found the remains in a dustbin," Tom finally admitted, pulling what was left off the t-shirt out of a plastic bag and presenting them to him. "It's seen better days."

Steven held the bloody tatters of his shirt in his hands, a singular tear trickling down his face and onto his sheet. He'd been gifted that custom-made t-shirt as a joke; he loved it almost as much as he loved Joe, wearing it at every opportunity he got, so to see it now in shreds made him indescribably sad. He flinched when Brad hugged him tightly, his face pressing into Brad's chest.

"It's okay, man," Brad comforted, stroking his hair. "If it makes you feel any better, we got you a present."

"What sort of present? Is it edible? This hospital food is what they eat in hell." Steven pushed his plastic tray away, fighting the urge to flip it off the table and onto the floor.

Joe raised an eyebrow, smirking as he folded his arms. "You liked the yoghurt."

"No, I didn't-" Steven's protest was stopped as another spoon of yoghurt was shoved into his mouth; Joe's attempt to shut him up. He smiled and cheerfully ate it, wiggling the plastic cutlery around in his mouth. "Okay, it was pretty good- but only because you fed me! Now, this present, I want it."