glitch | jack hughes (rewritten)

chapter 71

disclaimer: blood and violence. Stay safe<3

josephine lee

I've been good and by that I mean I haven't been testing Brendan's patience. I've been paying him on time and I've been quiet. Nothing has been leaked, my friends seem okay except for the fact that they're all randomly texting me all the damn time. I can't respond once without them sending back seven short messages or three long ones. 

I'm just tired. I don't have a lot of energy to keep up and it does make me feel guilty that I'm slipping through their fingers but I just need to focus on staying alive for the meantime. When all is said and done I'm sure they'll appreciate someone who's alive rather than someone who is dead. 

As I get ready for the day I look at myself in the mirror and study the way I'm healing. My scars are looking better, but I still have to wear tights and boots to cover them up. Never in my life did I think I would be hiding my body from the world to this degree but also I never thought I'd be getting haunted by my ex-boyfriend. 

He lingers around the room at every show, on the street, and in places where I think I'm finally okay. In his defense, he did tell me he was going to make my life a living hell, and he sticks to his word because not a day goes by where I feel safe or even happy to be alive. Being alive means another day of enduring his stupid fucking mind games and being hurt by him.

But being alive means getting to see the people I care about again. I'm holding on for them. 

I button my jeans getting ready to leave when the door whips open as I'm changing my shirt. Luckily, I have a bra on and my shirt is halfway down my body but that doesn't stop my heart from racing. My worries in this situation are that someone might've seen my scars or that Brendan is becoming bolder. 

After yanking my shirt down I look over my shoulder and feel my heart slow down when I notice that it's just Theo. His eyes basically pop out of his head and it makes me sick that he might've seen something he wasn't supposed to. "Jesus, Jos, as your brother, I'm genuinely asking, when was the last time you had a meal?" He asks, taking in my entire appearance. 

My weight loss, thank god he didn't see. 

"I am eating. You've seen me eat." I say, pulling my Adidas on. He sighs softly before shaking his head and telling me that a few plans have changed. "I've cleared it with Marjorie, we're just going to a diner. You and me." He says with a soft expression on his face. I agree to the plans and grab my coat along with my bag. 

Once we're both out of my hotel room I close it, putting the key back in my bag before we head down to the lobby to walk to the diner two miles away while everyone else heads to the venue. I tug my coat together and feel my teeth lightly chattering as Theo talks about how fun touring has been. 

"You know I've always had fun with you, but it's like to a whole new level." He smiles, opening the door to the diner. I walk inside with my arms crossed and my hoodie over my head. Theo tells the young woman how many of us will be dining and without another beat she grabs two menus and walks us over to a table in the corner. 

I scan the menu thinking about what sounds the best right now, hoping that I'll even be able to keep it down. Pancakes sound so good right now even if they aren't Dad's. I decide on those with a coffee since I need all of the energy I can get. Once I've decided I close my menu and set it at the edge, waiting for Theo to come to a decision. 

I watch him look through each option before closing it abruptly and deciding on pancakes. He sets his menu right beside mine and smiles at the waitress approaching us. "Are we ready to order or do you need more time? She says, darting her eyes between the two of us. We let her know that we were ready and ordered what we wanted before handing her the menus.