I'd rather be me and you

The Bad Day Made Better

I get a lot of questions, hard questions. Like why do you live with your best friends family and not your own? Why do you not talk about your sister? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

I don't answer them, I don't have to. It's nobodies business but mine and the people's close to me, no one else needs to know.
The story of how I ended up moving in with my best friend is a cautionary one and one I don't enjoy repeating. It's not bad, it's just not great either.

I wake up with a pain in my head, it's a headache from all the crying I did last night and I'm mad at myself for it.
I'm curled into a sleeping Damians side on his bed, I ended up there after sobbing into my pillow for an hour last night and not being able to sleep. He didn't ask questions, just moved his covers aside and pulled me into him, kissing my forehead and humming a soft tune till I fell asleep.
I look at the clock on the wall opposite our beds and realise it's almost ten o'clock, we should have been awake and doing school hours ago, but nobody's been in to wake us and the landing outside our room is quiet.

A quiet nock on the door jolts me out of my daydream, the door opens slightly to reveal a soft looking Barrett holding two mugs of what smelt like hot chocolate, "I'm sorry did I wake you?" She asked with a nervous smile.
I shook my head and sat up, careful to avoid jolting Damian, I take one of the mugs as she hands it to me and take a small sip, feeling the warmth flow through me nevertheless.
"Damians mum is coming to pick you both up in an hour. I'd have woken you both up before but it seemed better to just let you sleep. Sleep always makes me feel better."
"Mrs Hubbard is picking us both up? Why?" I asked, taking another sip of my drink. Mrs Hubbard is one of the kindest people I've ever met, she was so sweet to me when we spoke on FaceTime and seemed over the moon that Damian had me as a friend.

"I think her reasoning was that there was no way she was leaving you here alone when Damian was with her. She was informed about the situation by your mother actually." Barrett set the other mug down on the bed side table, "I'll be up to get you when she arrives." Then she made her way put of the door and left me with a still sleeping Damian.

I flopped back onto the bed, jolting Damian and effectively waking him up all in one movement. Instead of moaning at he rolled over to face me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in to a hug, "You sleep alright sweet?"
I nodded, I had been so exhausted from all the crying that my nightmares hadn't even infested my dreams, "Barrett just came in, she said your mum's coming to pick us up in about an hour. She made hot chocolate aswell."
Damian nodded and sat up, pulling me with him, "We better get up and dressed then."

Half an hour later I was sat on the floor in a pair of shorts and one of my numerous band t-shirts, while Damian combed through my hair and plaited into two French braids for me.
"You feeling alright JanJan? You're really quiet." My hair stylist/best friend asked squeezing my shoulder.
I hummed in response, "Just thinking."
"I know you're worried about Mar, and that's not a bad thing, but Jan you need to keep living your life aswell. I know for a fact she would want you too and once she's all better she'll be mad if you put your entire life on hold."
I leant back against his legs, "How'd you get so wise?" I asked, reaching back and taking his hand.
"I was born this way! Obviously!"

I snorted, choking out a laugh that quickly dissolved into actual giggling. Damian always knew how to make me laugh and at times like this, I was thankful for it.

There was a knock at the door and Barrett appeared, "Your mother's here Damian. Are you two ready?"
We both nodded, standing up and grabbing our jackets. My heart sores when Damian picks up the one I had painted the playbills for different musicals on, I was very proud of it.
"Come on Picasso," he teased taking my arm and dragging me out of the room, "It's time to formally meet my mother!"

Mrs Hubbard was a kind, worn looking lady with the same coloured hair as her son, they had the same piercing blue eyes and the same warm hugs.
"It's nice to finally meet you in the flesh dear!" She says to me, pulling out of the hug and smiling at me in a motherly way, "I've heard many good things from Damian, and your mother."
"You know my mother?" I felt my eyes widen and my cheeks go red.
"Yes, we went to school together."
That was new, she had never told me she knew the Hubbard's, even when I introduced her to Damian.
"Are we ready kids?" She then asked, looking at the way me and Damian clasped hands and smiling in a way that only a mother could, knowingly.

We arrived at an ice cream parlour about thirty minutes later, it was just outside the mall and was decorated with pastel colours, making it an incredibly cute building.
"I have some things to talk to the pair of you about, so I thought I'd bring you here for a treat whilst we talk." Mrs Hubbard seemed suddenly nervous and I felt my anxiety began to increase as me and Damian nodded and followed her into the shop, "What flavour do you pair want?"
"Chocolate!" Both me and Damian said at the same time, making his mother laugh and us blush.

"So, after talking to Dr Louderman and the rest of the team at the Home they've suggested you two go in for the last few weeks of Sophomore year at Northshore."
I almost choked on my ice cream, both of us? Northshore?
"They want us to go back to school?" Damian was the first one of us to speak and even he couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
"They wouldn't usually do this but according to them you two are very good for one another. As long as you stay together they don't see what the problem would be." Mrs Hubbard grinned and I couldn't help but grin back, I got to highschool and I got to do it with my best friend.

I looked at Damian who didn't look that happy, he looked sick, "Dame what's wrong?" I asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Jan, what if they start to bully you again? What if I get beat up for being gay? There's so much that could go wrong!" His eyes were desperate and glassy.
I took his hands in my own and looked him dead in the eye, "You think I'm not worried about that. I'm terrified, but you're the one that taught me to face my fears, to be happy with who I am. We can't possibly live the rest of our lives being sheltered from the bad things just because they might be scary or hurtful." I placed a hand on his cheek and wiped away the tears that had began to seep out of his beautiful eyes, "Love, I know you're worried, but we have to go in there with our heads held high and be strong because otherwise we'll never get better and I couldn't live with myself if we didn't."

After a moment of looking into his eyes and drying his tears I removed my hand from his cheek and took both of his hands again, "I promise you I'll never let them hurt you. I can't stop the bullying, no one can. But they won't touch you without knowing what it's like to have a broken nose."
He laughed and squeezed my hand tightly in his own, "Together?"
"Always."