✓ lights /styles au/

32 Puffy

i can't hold you like this.

Josephine was hunched over the ring of the toilet, wrists bruising and fingers cramping up from how tightly she was holding on to the rim. She felt weak, having felt like she eviscerated her whole being. Another wave of nausea overtook her and she gave in this time without trying to swallow back the bile rising in the back of her throat.

She began to throw up all over again, stomach tightening and throat burning. At this moment, al she was puking up was water and acid.

She pulled away with watery eyes and blinked, knowing more was coming. Just as she leaned over again, a hand came up to pull her hair from her face.

"Food poisoning? Was it the pepperoni?"

She didn't even attempt to answer, more water clawing it's way up her system for the fourth time. She was exhausted. Didn't even know what time it was before she climbed out of bed and began spewing everything from her stomach.

"Shit," she heard Harry mumble. "Shit. Jo, move."

She made a face, pausing for a moment to catch her breath and wipe at her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater. He let go of her hair and she was beginning to think he was reaching for her arm to lift her up but he pushed her instead.

Harry nudged her aside and got down on his knees beside her, quickly flushing the toilet before letting out a choking sound himself.

Joey shook her head and looked away, finding the sight extremely repulsive. She was still so nauseous and the taste in her mouth was too acidic. "Harry move."

He stopped to lean back and she made a face, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see it.

"You're not even sick. You're-" she closed her eyes and swallowed as calmly as she could so as not to emit a reaction in her body that would trigger another disgorging episode. "You're not throwing up."

He put his back against the closed bathroom door. "You know when you hear someone yawning and you start to feel-" he stopped abruptly, eyes widening before sitting back up, this time actually emptying his stomach in the toilet bowl.

Jo went further back and stared at the wall until he was done. "That's disgusting."

"Thanks for holding my hair up," he said quietly, finding his spot again. He didn't look as physically drained as she felt.

She looked up just as he closed the lid and flushed the toilet. There were some strands that had fallen out to crowd his face but none of them were wet. His cheeks were a flushed pink, eyes teary and nose just a shade darker than the rest of his face. She decided he looked like a child. "You look pretty."

He put his hands on his lap, head facing her with a soft smile on his lips. If they hadn't just finished throwing up she'd reach over to kiss him. "You too."

Jo laughed as carefully as she could, still feeling sensitive. "You haven't felt my face," she called him out.

Harry stood to his feet, hand coming down to take her right arm's humerus in order to hoist her up. He went over to the sink and handed her her toothbrush before going for his.

They were both silent for a while as they brushed their teeth until she noticed that he was brushing in a circular motion. With her eyebrows pulled tight in confusion, she nudged his side with her elbow.