Destined To Explode: A Jephen Fanfic

6. The Awkward Sponge Bath

“You know, you’re supposed to give him a sponge bath to cool his hands and body,” Alahna said as she and Jess were washing dishes. The guys went to sleep for a few hours in preparation for the next show.

“Seriously?!” Jess exclaimed, only soft enough for Alahna to hear and giggle.

“Yes,” she said, “I’m actually a nurse,” just got a week off, so Garrett suggested I join the tour so we could spend more time together,”

“Really?! I mean- you’re a nurse, right? So, umm, can you…”

“Haha, okay, I’ll start the bath, just as long as you watch, learn, and finish it,” Alahna winked.

After the dishes were done, they prepared some warm water for Stephen’s sponge bath.

“So, how does this bath work, actually?” jess asked.

“You just take off his shirt and dab the wet sponge unto his arms, hands, back and abdomen, oh, and his face, too. That’s about it,” She explained.

~

(Jess)

Sometimes, being ‘the girl’ sucks, especially when you’re supposed to give a damn sponge bath to… ugh, this is just not part of my being a drummer.

“Wake up, Stephen, bath time,” I shook him gently, you know, like how mothers would wake their kids up.

“What?” Stephen asked sleepily.

“We’re giving you a bath, so sit up, you lazy pig,” I answered. Yup, I’m not really ‘the mother’; I’m more of an ‘I-can’t-believe-I’m-doing-this friend’.

“I’m not pig, I’m not fat,” he pointed out innocently as he sat up.

“Whatever,” I said, slowly taking his shirt off. Kill me now, before someone notices my red cheeks. I felt Alahna giggling as she started the sponge bath on Stephen’s hands.

“So, how long have you two been together?” she casually asked.

“What?!” we both said in unison.

“But we’re not together!” I blurted out.

“No, absolutely not!” Stephen added.

Alahna laughed, apparently. “Well, there’s certainly something going on between you two,” she said, finishing the bath on his back. She handed the sponge to me, for Stephen’s face, and abdomen. Jesus, take the wheel.

“It’s your turn,” she said as I hesitantly took he sponge.

“I don’t bite, Jeff,” Stephen smirked.

“I should be unpacking my things now, see you guys later,” Alahna left.

I gently dabbed the sponge on Stephen’s forehead, making my way down. He kept looking at me, so I couldn’t look back, I just stared straight to wherever the sponge is, apparently, and it’s now under his lips.

“What do you think of John O’? He asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked back and he raised his eyebrows.

“We’re good friends,” I shrugged, focusing on dabbing the warm sponge on his shoulders.

“Do you like him?”

“Not as much as-“I stopped myself from saying ‘I like you’ before I could come up with a safe comeback, but shit.

“As?” he curiously asked.

“Nothing,” I shook my head as I almost finished the bath on his Abdomen.

~

(Stephen)

That was just fucking awkward.

Well, she finished the bath and helped me put on a new shirt. When she mindlessly yawned, I noticed that even her eye bags had eye bags on them and I couldn’t help but frown a bit.

“What?” she asked, noticing the look I’m giving her as she checked my temperature, which probably dropped.

I made room for jess on my bunk, which was actually pretty big; too big for me, and I gestured for Jess to sleep beside me. I mean, I was gonna sleep anyway, so why not right? It was the friendly thing to do.

She raised her eyebrows. It’s not like we haven’t slept with each other before, I mean, we just slept! Nothing happened!

“What, are you gonna accept my offer or not?” I asked. She blushed and shrugged.

“Fine,” she finally said.

She laid down and slowly closed her eyes. I wrap my arms around her as I slowly sung “Just like Heaven,” feeling a load of dizziness as I drifted off to sleep.

~

(jess)

He is just not making this ‘stop-liking-stephen-and-get-over-it’ thing easy.

I’ve never felt safer, having Stephen’s arms around me. It felt like we were still little kids, not caring about anything other than simple things. I felt him pulling me closer to him, until I heard giggles.

GIGGLES?!

I opened my eyes to find everyone looking at us; silly grins were planted on their faces. I moved until Stephen woke up.

“What the fuck are you looking at?!” Stephen exclaimed as he awkwardly let go of me.

“Feeling better, Stephen?” Josh teasingly asked.

“Ofcourse, he’s feeling better, he’s got a CARING nurse!” Pat said and cracked up, so did everybody else.

Kill me now.