in the night | the weeknd

nineteen

1 month later

Abel

"How is she?" Lamar asks, stepping into the apartment.

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. "The same," I answer, feeling a pang of hurt and sadness wash over me.

For the past month, Jasmine has distanced herself away from me. She doesn't talk to me at all. All she does is take drugs or sleep all day - she doesn't even sleep next to me anymore. Instead, she sleeps in the guest bedroom.

There's been multiple times that I've woken up to Jasmine screaming and crying in her sleep.

When I go to her to try and calm her down, she always pushes me away, not saying a word.

I don't know what else I can do at this point. Do I let her continue taking drugs or do I say something and what do I say? It seems like I can't make things right.

"Shit," Lamar says now. "Is she awake?"

I shake my head and flop down on the couch, lighting up a blunt and taking a long draw. "I don't know what I can do, Mar," I say to him now. "I don't know how I can help her. She doesn't even talk to me. Everything's changed. I hate it."

Lamar chews his lip, thoughtfully. "You have to give her time, Abe," he tells me. "She needs time to heal, so that she can move on in her life and be happy. Just be patient, everything will go back to normal."

I blow out a puff of smoke. "But how much time?" I ask. I start shaking my head. "I don't think she'll be able to move on from what happened, Mar. She sits in her room all day, taking drugs or sleeping. She's blocking out what happened to her."

Lamar nods, a sad look in his eye. "What about a therapist?" he offers.

I shake my head and scoff. "You really think I'd be able to get Jasmine to a therapist?" I ask as if he's stupid.

"Bring the therapist here," Lamar suggests, shrugging. "It'll probably be easier for her since she's home."

"Maybe."

Just then, I hear feet shuffling into the room. I look up to find Jasmine walking slowly into the joint living room and kitchen. She doesn't even look at us.

My eyes roam over her face and my heart drops at the sight of her. She's wearing a fluffy, white robe, which she tugs tighter around her body, as if it's about to fall off. Her hair is messy and I realise that the dark colour is starting to fade out.

Jasmine's eyes are low and red from whatever the hell she's been smoking. The smell of weed clings to her and it fills the room, making me feel sick. It's weird that my stomach churns at the smell of it, since I'm used to the smell.

"Hey, Jas," Lamar says slowly. "You okay?"

Jasmine doesn't respond. She just walks over to the fridge - almost tripping - and takes out a bottle of water.

Lamar glances at me, a worried look on his face and I breathe out heavily, not knowing what to do.

Jasmine starts looking through the draws. "Do you have any bleach?" she asks me, not even bothering to look me in the eye.

What the hell does she want to do with bleach?

Lamar shoots me another worries and confused look and I just shake my head.

"What do you want bleach for?" I ask. No answer. I bite my lip, feeling the sadness take over. I hate that she won't talk to me. It honestly breaks my heart. I sigh heavily, turning off the blunt. "There's no bleach."

Jasmine grabs her bottle of water and walks out the room, almost stumbling over.

I turn to look at Lamar. "I don't know what the fuck to do," I mumble.

"Go talk to her," Lamar replies. "Now. I'll leave. Tell me how it goes, okay?" He gets up and I follow him to the front door. We dap each other before he leaves.

Trying to calm down my nerves, I walk slowly into Jasmine's room. She's sitting on the bed, cross-legged as she starts to tip out the contents of a plastic bag. A couple of pills land on the bed and she takes one in her hand, ready to swallow it.

Jasmine flinches when I lean over and grab the pill out of her hand. She looks at me, a look of anger coming across her face, but she doesn't say anything.

"Please stop;" I say and Jasmine just stares at me with a blank expression. "I can't watch you do this any longer. It's killing me seeing you like this."

Jasmine clenches her teeth. "This is the only way I can deal with things!" she snaps. Her voice is a little hoarse, but of course it would be, she hasn't talke in a month. "You wouldn't know though, would you? You've never been raped! You haven't been through half the shit I have, Abel! So don't you dare fucking try and control me!" Jasmine bursts into tears and I feel my heart breaking at the sight of her.

I sit down slowly beside her and rest my hand on her shoulder, but she moves away quickly. "I'm not trying to control you," I tell her softly. "I just . . . I don't want you to keep doing this."

Jasmine looks up at me through the tears. "What else am I meant to do, Abel?" she sobs.

I just shake my head, feeling the tears running down my cheeks. I don't say anything for a long time. "Talk to me," I tell her. "Don't shut me out."

Jasmine sniffs. She edges closer to me and to my surpirse, she rests her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and she freezes for a second, but then relaxes, leaning in closer to my body.

It feels so fucking good to hold her right now.

"I don't want to be a burden on you, Abel," Jasmine whispers.

"You're not!" I say quickly. "I love you. Please just talk to me. And please, stop taking this shit." I point towards the drugs

Jasmine pulls away from me and looks up at me with red eyes. She slowly nods. "Okay," she whispers  "I'm going to do it for you." She takes my hand in hers and squeezes it.

I lean my forehead against hers,  cradling her face. "Thank you," I say and she nods.

"I'll do anything for you, starboy," Jasmine whispers, causing me to grin at the use of the nickname she gave me.  She lies down and pulls me with her. "Stay with me tonight. I'm done being alone."

"Okay." I smile at her and peck her lips lightly. Jasmine strokes my cheek, a small smile on her face.