"Wake up" // JJ

14)"wake up"

Althea groaned as she woke up, her whole body burned and ached as she moved. It had been around four days since the incident happened, and the group were currently staying in Bristol for a few days after their gig last night. Althea had been sort of off with the group, she had spent little time with everyone apart from JJ, she just couldn't stay angry at him. The incident still remained a secret, she hopped that's how it would stay. Luckily enough, she had been given her own hotel room so she didn't have to speak to anyone. Her bruises hadn't healed at all since they first appeared, if anything they had just gotten worse. She would continue to wear long sleeved and baggy clothing until they began to heal. 

Althea slowly sat up, moving her legs off the end of the bed slowly as she rose. Her head spun as she sat up straight, causing her to groan and lay back down. She was definitely ill. However, with everything that had happened recently, she wasn't surprised. She had been carrying so much stress on her back that it had made her ill, this had only happened once before when she was doing her A-levels. She let out another groaned when she realised she was meant to go shopping with everyone today to relax. She slowly leaned over and grabbed her phone from the side, searching for JJ's contact. 

Althea

JJ, I don't think I should come today.

I can't get out of bed, I think I'm sick x

Around twenty minutes passed and she had received no reply from JJ, was he pissed off? She knew he was definitely awake as she had woken up a lot later than she normally would have, meaning she had missed breakfast. 

JJ and Althea had spend a lot of time together since he brought her back to the hotel that night, if anything they had been inseparable. They had spent almost every night talking until early hours of the morning before he would head back to his room. 

A few moments later there was a small knock on the door. Althea tell out a small whimper as she slowly made her way to the door, she really did look horrible. She opened the door and gave a sad smile when she opened it to find JJ. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked before coughing a little. She opened the door wider as he walked into her room. 

"You said you wasn't well, so I came to see you" He explained as he walked over to the kettle that was in the room, flicking the switch before starting to prepare some tea. 

Althea closed the door before flopping back into bed, wrapping herself in a cocoon as she was freezing cold. 

"How are you feeling?" JJ asked as he continued to make them both a cup of tea, hoping it would make her feel a little better. 

"Like shit" her voice was muffled from her blankets, her eyes closed as she spoke. "Aren't you late for the shopping trip?" She asked. She wanted nothing more than for JJ to stay with her, however she didn't want him to miss out on spending time with his friends. 

"I'm not going. We're going to have a movie day" He told her as he handed her a mug of tea. "Now move over" He said softly with a smile as he gently got into bed besides her. He gently placed his spare hand on her forehead. "Bloody hell, A. You're roasting hot" He told her, trying his best not to sound worried. 

"I'm freezing" She mumbled as she placed her tea to the side. She moved onto her side and cuddled into JJ, her arms wrapped around his waist. "You're always nice and warm' She smiled, giving a sigh of content. Althea and JJ were yet to talk about what their relationship meant, they were technically just friends who acted as if they were in a relationship. 

"Lemme know if you feel any worse, alright? Even if it's just the smallest thing" He told her protectively as he started searching for something to watch on Netflix. 

**********

"Foods here" JJ called softly as he closed the door of the hotel room. He had quickly gone out to get them some take away pizza. Throughout the day, Althea had began to feel a lot worse, despite the fact she was taking medication. 

JJ walked through the small corridor and froze when he saw the scene of the bedroom. Althea had fainted whilst he was out and was currently passed out on the floor. He quickly threw the pizza box to the side and ran to her side. 

"Althea, wake up" He said frantically as he gently shook her. "Wake up" He basically begged. Realising she wasn't going to wake up, he quickly called am ambulance that said they would be at the scene straight away. He quickly took off his hoodie and placed it under her head for support, unsure of what else to do. He decided to gently try and take off the dressing gown she was wearing as the ambulance crew had told him to make sure she didn't get too warm. However, he froze when her shoulders and arms became visible. The collection of tattoos on her body were once the main focus, however they had been replaced by the vibrant blue and purple bruises that basically covered her body. 

JJ felt broken, but overall he felt more guilty, guilty that he never noticed any of these marks before. Tears threatened to spill as he continued to discover more and more of her bruises. "What happened to you?" He whispered sadly with a frown. 

********** 

Here's the thing thats wrong with almost every romance story you will ever read. There always has to be a huge tragedy that eventually makes the couples bond stronger. This could be an almost death experience, one of the characters having personal issues that the other is miraculously able to fix, or something happens which ends in the couple being thousands of miles away from each other. On top of this, its always guaranteed that the story would include a hospital scene. Right now, JJ was living out this expectation. 

"How is she?" Katie ask hesitantly as she handed jj a coffee before sitting next to him. Until Althea woke up, she was only allowed two visitors. Meaning Katie was the closest person Althea had to a friend at the moment, she jumped at the opportunity to go with JJ. Her Mother had also been informed about the current situation, and was making her way to Bristol. 

"The doctor said she fainted from dehydration. They have an idea of how her bruises came, but they want a therapist to speak to her when she wakes up" He explained quietly, thanking Katie as he was handed a coffee. "Her mother is also traveling here as we speak" He added. 

Katie just nodded and sighed as she took in the sigh of Althea on the bed. "You couldn't have known" She reassured JJ sadly. "None of us could have, she hid it so well" She whispered. 

"I should have noticed.. I spent every second with her since I took her back that night" He replied straight away, his voice breaking as he spoke. "This is all my fault, I should have gone to see her when you said she went outside the club" He added as he put his head in his hands to hide his tears. 

"Shh, don't do this to yourself" Katie said softly before she gently pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back to calm him. "She's going to be okay" She whispered to reassure him, but also to reassure herself.

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I'm sorry for these few dark chapters! I promise after this patch i'll include lots of fluffy JJ to make up for everything:) 

Also,

Selfless lil promo: I just created an Instagram page for my film photography. If you have a spare two minutes, I would really appreciate it if you could check it out. Thank you:)

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Stay Safe! xoxo