Valerie 🥀 • jb x bh

thirty

Valerie

I was just walking out of the shower after a long day when my phone started ringing. I was surprised to see 'Laura' as the caller ID.

"Hey Laura" I answered.

"Hey Val, are you free to talk right now?" She asked.

"Yeah sure" I said and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Honey, I really don't know if I'm supposed to talk about this to you but I really feel like you can help me out with this" She said and got me nervous.

"Sure, what's it?" I asked.

"I'm not aware if Justin has told you about this and I'm sorry if he hasn't but..." She trailed off.

"Laura, please don't hesitate, I know Justin hasn't ever been open to me but I know where he comes from, I won't be mad at him again about it" I said.

"Yeah....the thing is after Eve, Justin went through a major phase of PTSD, it was really bad; nightmares, daily anxiety attacks, depression even. But then as time passed by, he learned to control it to some extent, and I think it all started to wash away completely when he got with you" She said and I remembered how Justin once woke up all scared and drenched in sweat when I went to visit him.

"I d-didn't know it was that bad but I do recall him waking up from a horrible nightmare before we were in a relationship" I said.

"Yeah, b-but the problem is, I think its coming back again" She said.

"What?"

"Yeah, after you two broke up, Justin stayed here for a while, for some days he slept alone but then later started to sleep in Ava's bedroom and she'd tell me in the morning that he'd start breathing heavy and call out Eve. But after a couple of days he claimed that he was feeling better so he went back to his place. He comes over a lot now, more than he ever used to and never sleeps alone but Ava said that now instead of Eve....he calls you out" She said and my heart almost dropped in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh my God" I whispered.

"Yes, and I don't know how can you help me but I just wanted to let you know about this. He's my son Val, I've seen him live in that darkness and I don't want him to slip in that again" She said.

"No definitely not Laura, I'll see what I can do. Is he at your place right now?" I asked.

"No, he was here the whole day, he just went home, that's why I called you up" She said.

"Oh alright" I said.

"Thank you so much Valerie, I know how hard this must be for you but you're still doing this for him" She said and I sighed.

"Laura....no matter how much I deny it, just because I decided to stay away from him doesn't mean I don't love him anymore. We're not apart because we want to be, we're apart because we had to" I said.

"I'll talk to you later, I'll go meet him now" I added.

"Please don't tell him I told you about this" She said.

"I won't, don't worry" I said and we said our goodbyes and hung up.

I went inside my closet and quickly put on a sweater and pair of jeans before combing my hair and going downstairs and driving to Justin's.

Justin

I was lying on the bed and staring at the sky as it transformed into a color pallet of shades orange, purple and pink , blending together, as the sun was starting to set.