Let's Not Talk About Tomorow

Ben

I awoke with Jake's hair up my nose, he was almost as tall as me now which proved to be a serious disadvantage when it came to hugging him or cuddling him. I sat up and stretched my upper body, smiling as I caught sight of Jon all cuddled up to Jake. It was almost as though the roles had reversed sometimes. It was as though Jake was the dad and Jon was the kid. I leaned over to kiss Jon on the cheek, his lips perked up a little.

"Benny" He mumbled sleepily

"Yeah, baby?" I sat on the edge of the bed and ran through my fingers through his hair "You look beautiful by the way" He blushed, a small smile creeping on his lips.

"No I don't, I just woke up"

"Yes you do, I'm right and you know I am. Give me a kiss" He giggled and sat up to loop an arm around my neck before kissing me. "I love you, cutie"

"I love you too" I scooped him up out of bed and carried him over to the wardrobe "Do your bandages need changing?"

"Yeah... Benny, I'm sorry. I'll never do anything like that again. I promise-"

"So you'll stop self-harming?" I interrupted, guilt flashed upon his face "I know you still do it"

"I'll try" He said in a small voice "I promise"

"Princess, I was watching a documentary a couple of nights ago about people suffering with mental health issues"

"Where are you going with this?"

"They trained them up to do the London Marathon-"

"No" He said abruptly "No no no no-"

"Yes" I interrupted "Every time you want to cut, you go for a run. Don't argue with me. I know you hate being by yourself so either me or Jake will go with you until you can build up the confidence to go out yourself. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yes" He eventually said "But what if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll try something new" I put him on the floor "Now get dressed"

I tugged up a pair of jeans and slipped T-shirt over my head before leaving the room to get Jon some clean bandages. When I returned, Jon was sat on the floor staring at his wrists, the bandages were lying on the floor beside him. He still wasn't dressed yet.

"Princess, c'mere" I reached down to pick him up by his waist, he snuggled into me "Let me wrap your arms up" I unscrewed the bottle of antiseptic oil and dabbed a cotton bud soaked in it over his healing scars. He winced and bit his lip. I wrapped the bandages around his wrists, tightly and secured them. "Get dressed"

"Benny, can I just wear a T-shirt of yours or something?" He pleaded

"You can wear your joggers and one of my hoodies if you have to" I sighed. He smiled and stood up and his tip-toes to kiss me. I stood in front of him, shielding him from Jake's line of vision if he were to wake up, as he pulled off his underwear and slipped on some panties.

Later, when we were halfway through breakfast, Jake finally slouched down into the kitchen to join us. His hair was a fluffy mess, still braided in tiny plaits, his eyes were still half closed. He sat down on the opposite side of the table, laying down on it.

"Wakey, wakey" I chuckled, reaching over to shake him gently. He groaned and swatted me away.

"Dad, go away" He mumbled, closing his eyes again

"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked

"Nothing, I just want to sleep"

"Go back to bed" I sighed "It's only 8, I'll let you have 2 hours max"