People Like Us: Part II [MxFxM]

Chapter Thirty-Five

River still wasn't eating like he was supposed to, and it was painfully obvious how bothered everyone was. His siblings gave him odd looks whenever their parents had to heavily remind or even force him, and he always chose sweeter foods, covering things in honey whenever he got the chance. His clothes were starting to fit less, becoming looser, and it wasn't like they were large to begin with. Basically, Charlie was worried. She was worried, and she was pretty sure Adrian was worried, and River's parents were definitely worried too.

After his appointment with the doctor, River had been mortified, and tried to hide from everyone, Charlie and Adrian included. She didn't get the full explanation on what happened apart from some sort of examination, and felt it might be better not to ask too many questions. River probably wouldn't have answered them anyway, with how little he was talking and how he was constantly trying to curl in on himself. It was awful to see him so upset and clearly in pain, especially when Charlie really didn't know what they could do to help. So far it seemed like things had only gotten worse, and Adrian had even taken to keeping some distance between himself and River, which was beyond surprising for him. Normally he was all for anything sexual, but Charlie supposed it sort of lost something when your partner was in pain and apparently bleeding.

The whole thing was nerve-wracking, and Charlie didn't like it one bit as she sat downstairs in the kitchen, slowly making her way through a ham sandwich. Varian was in there too, making dinner and something for River too, if the addition of the honey glazed ham was anything to go by. It seemed to be all River wanted to eat recently. Varian checked the ham in the oven before he walked over to the table, seating himself across from Charlie rather unexpectedly.

"Stuff on your mind?" he asked, Charlie looking up and shrugging a little.

"Just everything going on with River, lately," she said quietly.

"Yeah, us too. He's not himself right now." Varian agreed, lowering his voice to match Charlie's tone. "You and Adrian still leaving him alone?"

"Mostly, yeah. He doesn't seem to really wanna talk to anyone, even us, so we thought it would be best to give him some space."

"He'll need contact eventually, he's an affectionate person. I imagine he's still probably hurting though, and River tends to retreat when he's hurt or upset. Considering both of those things happened so recently to him, it's no wonder he's hiding."

"We'll be there when he does." Charlie said with a nod. "We just don't want to try and force our way into it, right now. We're both just, really worried like everyone else," she finished with a sigh.

"Yeah." Varian nodded back. "His doctor said that while there is blood present, there doesn't seem to be any signs of internal bleeding, at least none he can find without a scan. We think it's probably best that you, and mostly Adrian, keep from stimulating him as best as you can. If he really can't stop, then it's going to happen, we just, want to see if he'll heal without any first."

"I know Adrian's been trying, but, he's conflicted I think. On the one hand he doesn't want to ignore River, but he doesn't want to hurt him either. It's easier for me, I have school and the babies usually, but Adrian doesn't have much of a distraction, and I really don't think River does either."

"People want to help those they care about. If Adrian feels the need to get handsy with River, he could try seeing if rubbing the sore or hurting spots on River helps him, instead of jerking him off. It could satisfy the need for contact for both of them, hopefully." Varian said. "I'd give River pain medicine, but the longer he takes it, the more likely he'll have an allergic reaction to it, and we're running out of painkillers he can take."