The States

In Which Jules Is A Good Boyfriend

The only reason James has the will to drag himself out of bed is that he has a date with Julian today.

A date that they've had scheduled for over a month.

So he drags himself out of bed and into the shower and gets ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julian grins at James when he opens the door, and then James says hello and the smile slips off his face. His voice has dulled out into that grayish tint.

James looks fine because he's very good at looking perfectly okay, but the second he talks, Julian knows.

His expression must show it, too, because James winces. "Right. Synesthete."

"Bad day?"

James's shoulders tense. "It's fine, I'll be fine- let's just go-"

Julian hugs him. "We can stay in." He murmurs against James's throat. "It's okay."

He slumps a little against Julian. "I don't want to ruin your day."

Julian pulls back to meet James's eyes, to make sure he understands. "You aren't ruining my day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julian has to dig around in James's dresser to find his pajama pants because James just kind of shoves his clothes into drawers.

He does find them eventually, buried under a couple of t-shirts. They're James's favorite pajama pants, and he can tell because they're worn soft and comfortable. He's a little surprised there aren't any holes in them yet.

After that, he rifles through his overnight bag until he comes up with the pale blue sweater James always steals. He hands James both of them and gives him a little push towards the bathroom. "Go change."

James doesn't argue, or even attempt to flirt, which is just another sign of how bad a day it is.

Julian sighs softly and strips off his jeans, pulling on a pair of sweats. Then he pulls the comforter off the bed, dragging it into the laundry room so he can shove it into the dryer. The extra sheets are in the cabinet above the dryer, so he pulls down a set of those and goes to change the ones on James's bed.

James comes out right after he finishes dumping the old ones into the washing machine, sweater sleeves pulled down past his wrists. He drops his head onto Julian's shoulder, and Julian flinches a little when James's wet hair makes contact with his neck.

"You took a shower?"

"Before you got here," James responds quietly. Julian hums in response, running his hand through James's hair.

He pulls away when the dryer beeps, but James follows after him.

He almost smiles when Julian pulls out the comforter, which is a good sign.

Julian pauses halfway back to James's room, turning towards his boyfriend. "Have you taken your meds today?"

James tugs the sweater sleeves further down over his hands. He shakes his head.

Julian suppresses a sigh because he knows James will take it the wrong way, and then he drapes the warm blanket around James's shoulders before he kisses his cheek. "Go lay down, I'll get them."

The bottle of pills is in the key dish on the hall table, and Julian has given up trying to make sense of why James puts things where he puts them. The key dish makes him smile, though, because it's clearly Marisol's work. 

He snags a water bottle from the fridge before climbing under the comforter with James.  

"Can you sit up and take your meds?" Julian whispers. 

James sighs. "Yeah." His voice is still dull, but it's a bit greener at least. 

Julian hands him the pills and the water and watches as he sits up. He closes his eyes when he swallows them, and keeps them closed for a few seconds afterward.

Julian tugs him back down, and James lets him. 

He tucks his face into the crook of Julian's neck. "I'm sorry." 

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Julian rubs James's back the same way Lora used to do to him when he was sick. "Go to sleep, okay?"

James moves closer, tangling their legs together and putting a hand on Julian's side where his shirt had ridden up. He muffles a yawn against Jules's shoulder. "Alright."

"Goodnight." Julian pulls the still-warm comforter tighter around the two of them, kissing the top of James's head as he mumbles something that may or may not be night, babe.