Ride Or Die

I'm Not Living

I'm not living
.
.
.
Two months later -

"Paisley," Haley attempted to wake the lifeless body that lay limp on the bed. There was silence. A groan escaped Haley's smooth lips as she finally climbed onto the bed and lay next to her best friend who appeared she hadn't moved in weeks. "Paisley," Haley repeated herself once more. Paisley shifted slightly, but other than that there was no sign of life left in her fragile body. Not to mention, Paisley has been eating little to nothing now, the only time she does eat is when she is force fed by Jason who literally doesn't give her a choice. Her body looked to be withering away into nothing. "Paisley, you can't live like this forever."
Suddenly, the mess pulled up just the slightest bit and let out in an unfamiliar, manly tone, "That's just it, I'm not living."
Haley shook her head and placed her hand to her best friend's back where she rubbed small circles in a comforting manner, "You are most certainly not dead, Paisley James." Again, there was no response. Paisley was emotionless, she had cried out all her tears weeks ago and since been nothing but dull. The girl everyone used to read as an 'opened book' was nothing more than a blank page. "You can't barricade yourself in this dungeon forever, girl." Haley got up and made her way over to the curtains, pulling them back.
"Close. Them." Paisley's voice came out as more of a threat than plea.
-
"Pay?" Beau's voice flooded the room, a voice that Paisley would have at one point found exciting, but now she found it nothing more than irritating. The bed eventually sank in and the boy leaned down to kiss her forehead, yet she still lay there emotionless. "Paisley," He sighed, "You're gonna be okay. I promise, you're gonna get through this. You're gonna be okay for Branson." The sound of his name broke her heart into a million shattered and re-shattered pieces that would never fully form correctly again. "Get out." Her voice was low and demanding. How dare he mention that name?
-
Dalton tried. Haley tried. Beau tried. Kami tried. Laron tried. Sam tried. Micah even tried. No one got through to her, not like Jason at least.

"Baby," Jason filed into the room and went straight towards the bed where his everything laid in a sprawled out mess. She turned on her side to face him, the blank expression she had upheld with everyone else finally falling. It was like a clown that had a painted on smile during a performance, but then took off the make up and suddenly became a real person again. The walls she had built up to keep everyone else out just crumbled in Jason's presence. Even in a time like this, Jason still had that affect on her.
His chest muffled her soft cries as she griped his shirt for dear life. He hated seeing her like this, he didn't know how long it was going to last either. She would have to get better eventually, right? She would go back to the old Paisley. But even Jason knew in that moment that ever getting the 'old' Paisley back was merely wishful thinking. This experience changed her forever.
"You can't keep kicking everyone out, Pais, they're just trying to help." Jason tried to reason with the stubborn hot mess that laid in his arms. She shook her head only burying herself further into him, "I can't, J. I'm not strong enough." Hearing her say she wasn't strong enough not only made him tingle with anger but also ignited a spark him, "You're not strong enough?" He whispered, "You're one of the strongest people I know." She wiped her swollen eyes and looked up at Jason, "I'm not strong, I'm weak. I'm crying, only weak people cry."
Jason shook his head, "Crying is when you've been strong for too long."