DIRTY LAUNDRY

28

I was careful and cool, but they
tore me apart like a hurricane •

When I returned to the dorm room, I shut the door and let out a big sigh. I don't know if it was a sigh of relief or worry, I'm not sure. I just know I was glad Jack was okay and most importantly - that we were okay.
I took a shower and changed into my sweats and hoodie. I put the hood on and grabbed my keys, wallet and the phone. I wanted to be at the hospital as soon as possible.
I decided to grab some coffee and a quick bite on the way. With a donut in my mouth and a takeaway cup in one hand I struggled with unlocking my phone. Jack's mom called me again, when I was showering.

"Alex, honey!" She was relieved to hear my voice, I could tell.

"Yes, hi."

"Where are you?" She asked.

"I'm on my way back to the hospital. Are you there, is everything alright?"

"Yes, sure. I'm here, he's still resting. Listen, I need to talk to you, will you wait for me at the main entrance please?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be there in 10."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Okay. Bye!" I hung up and finished my donut. Downing my coffee like it's tequila I hurried to the hospital. I saw Jack's mom already standing there, sucking on a cigarette. Well, this was a first, I didn't know she smoked.

"Hi." I greeted her. She put the cigarette out and pulled me into a hug.

"Alex, it's so nice to see you. I'm completely wrecked." She confessed.
"How are you?"

"Don't worry. I'm shook, yeah... but as long as Jack is alright, I'll live." I replied.

"Tell me honey, did he ever try anything, you know... pill related?" She asked.

"No, never. I already told the nurse, he wasn't and isn't suicidal." I assured her.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'm sure, really. I'm familiar with this kind of behavior, I once had a friend that had uhm... issues. Trust me, I've dealt with many things and Jack just isn't like that." I explained. She was pretty out, I know how much she cares about him.

"Alright, I trust you. Jack is the happiest he's been since he met you, I'm grateful to you, I hope you know that." She said, putting her hand on my shoulder and I grinned. "I mean it Alex, you're a wonderful person and I'm glad Jack has you in his life."

"Awh, I know you are and I can't thank you enough either. You never judged me, you've been nothing but kind, I appreciate that very much Mrs. B." I thanked her again. She's a great woman and an even better mom.

"Thank you Alex, see... this is what I mean. You wanna grab some tea real quick? We can go see Jack later." She suggested.

"Yeah, I'd love some."

We went to the closest café to talk in peace. Mostly the topic was Andie and what we can do to prove she put drugs in Jack's drink. I told her about the picture, showed and sent it to her. I was pretty sure Andie took and messaged it to me, but we still needed more information. We needed proof. The plan was to ask Jack what he remembers and where he's been all night.
Jack's mom decided to file a report and get the police involved. He would also have to go through a test with the psychologist, to ensure that he doesn't have suicidal tendencies and isn't depressed. I already had Lisa in mind, knowing she'd help me for sure. We could ask around the campus and work around Andie. She knows her well, they've been hanging out for quite a while, she might have helpful information.
Jack's father actually apologized to me in front of his family and Jack at his hospital room and I gladly accepted. He said I was very welcome to come to the wedding and that he'd like to take me and Jack out for lunch sometime, when everything goes back to normal. I agreed to that as well. I knew he'd come around and again, my mom was right. I didn't expect for everything to be rainbows and butterflies but we were finally on the right path and I took what I could get.

Jack was feeling much better after another day at the hospital, so when he was done with the psych test, they let him come home. He asked for me to pick him up and for everyone else not to make a big deal out of it. I went for him alone, he didn't want to bother his parents, they had to work, May as well.
I packed all his stuff, took the bag and drove him back to our home.

"Here, you can set up everything for the movie, I'll make us some tea." I said and put his bag on the desk. He nodded and threw himself on my bed.

"It's good to be back." He sighed. "I mean with you. There is no home for me without you."

My smile couldn't have been wider. I took a seat on the bed next to him, as my fingers went through his hair. I missed that way too much. "You should've seen me, lifelessly lying in my bed, I thought the world was ending." I chuckled. "I missed you Jack."

"I missed you too babe. Can I tell you a little secret?" He asked. I nodded and he scooted closer, whispering. "I didn't leave this room for two days after you left. I wanted to text, call, email, everything. I even debated if I should drive up to see you."

I was a bit surprised, even though Jack is very loving and I'm sure we were both a bit too stubborn. "Why didn't you? I was checking the phone constantly. Mom almost had to drag me out of my room."

"Really? Wow. I wanted to give you space, I was sure you'd call me, come back to me eventually. I just didn't want to push you, I know it can make things even worse." He explained. God, he was so right but I had my stupid moment that I ended up regretting.

"That's exactly what my mom said." I pointed out.

"Yeah? Well momma Gaskarth was right yet again." He chuckled.

"God, if anything happened to you... Fuck, when they called me from the hospital, I thought everything around me was gonna burn down." I told him. "I couldn't go on without you."

"Oh, Lexy, you know I'd never purposely leave you. You mean too much to me." He smiled and took my hand. "I don't have a death wish, never did. I hope you know that I could never do something like that."

I nodded. "Yeah. If that bitch had anything to do with this, I'll make sure that she pays for it; properly this time."

"Don't worry. I'll beat you to it. She's gonna get what's coming to her." He assured. "Should've done it the last time she tried to screw me over."

"Did you try remembering? Anything ring a bell? What party did you go to?" I asked.

"I keep thinking about it, I think it was 3B dorm's party, you know... Kyle and his mates." He started. "I remember having a couple of drinks, walking around, wished a few people a happy new year, then I headed home and I bumped into Andie on the way out. She was drunk, she wanted me to have a drink with her, to new beginnings or some crap and she kept apologizing. I wanted to get rid of her so I downed the champagne she gave me." He continued. "Didn't think it would fuck me up."

"That bitch. I bet the champagne was drugged, unless Kyle or one of his friends wanted to take advantage of you." I sarcastically spat.

"Then it's all black, I don't remember anything until I woke up in a hospital. That's it." He said.

"Okay, that's enough information. I'll dig around, find out the rest." I was determined.

"Okay detective, if I can be of any help or assistance, let me know, cool?" He winked. I missed his sense of humor, no one I know is even slightly similar to Jack; he's just so special to me.

"Of course. Now if you would slide under the covers and prepare the movie, I'll join you with two cups of tea." I gave him a naughty look and winked back.

"For sure." He replied and jumped out of bed. He took his shirt off and pulled his sweats down. You can imagine my surprised face when I saw that he was standing there naked, looking at me like it's the last time and there's no tomorrow.

Yes, I took the bait and no, I did not make us tea. We didn't even watch the movie. All I was looking at was Jack's pre-climax O face and his pretty little mouth that kept letting out hot moans.

Fuck tea.