I Love You, Always

Chapter 6

The next two days are the worst days of my life. I spend Thursday and Friday at home puking my guts out and sleeping whenever I can. Derrick seems to have relinquished his bed to me once I refused to leave it. I feel too sick to feel bad about it. It isn't until Sunday that I begin to feel better. It's the first day in three days that I don't feel like throwing up every second.

When I wake up, I lie in bed for a few minutes in silence, waiting to see if I feel any uneasiness in my stomach. The only noise that fills the room is Derrick's slow, even breathing. I have no idea how early it is, but it must still be pretty early if Derrick hasn't left for work yet.

My bladder ultimately forces me out of bed. Once I finish using the bathroom, I brush my teeth, and head into my room to gather some clothes for a shower. I definitely need one after three days of not bathing. The only time I could bring myself to leave Derrick's room was to use the bathroom and even that would cause agonizing stomach pain. Showering had been out of the question.

After my shower, I feel much, much better. I head into the living room, my ears picking up the sounds of shuffling coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"Hey, how you feelin'?" Derrick's voice asks. As I come around into the kitchen, my fingertips trailing along the counter, Derrick's hand on my forehead stops me in my tracks.

"Better," I answer.

"No more fever. Looks like you're outta the worst of it. That's good."

Derrick's hand falls from my face and I maneuver to the fridge to grab some juice. There's a brief silence that ensues between us as Derrick goes back to doing whatever it was he was doing before. It's as I'm pouring a glass of juice that Derrick speaks again, breaking the silence.

"Hey, can I ask you somethin'?"

A bit of anxiety fills my stomach at Derrick's question. Hearing someone ask you that question never leads to anything good. I hesitate a moment before I nod. "Yeah, sure."

"Have you noticed Devyn acting different lately?"

I frown as Derrick asks that. He must be suspecting something to ask a question like that, and surely it can't be anything good.

"Different how?" I ask.

Derrick sighs. "Just, like, more grumpy than usual or anything like that."

I nod. "Oh yeah, definitely." I'm reminded of the last day I was at school this week during lunch when Devyn was being an ass. Granted, he did stand up for me, but still, he had been acting like a pretty big jerk before that. I think about whether I wanna tell Derrick about that or not. Part of me wants to, but another part of me knows I'm just gonna get Devyn in trouble, and at this point I'm mostly over it.

"It's on and off," I say. "One minute he'll be fine and the next he's being an asshole for no reason."

Derrick hums. "He's been that way with me too. Except the past couple days he hasn't talked to me much, just holed himself up in your room." Derrick sighs again. "Something's goin' on, but he refuses to talk to me about it."

"Maybe it's just the move," I say. "Maybe he needs time to adjust or something." I could see that. Devyn was way more upset than I was when Derrick first announced we would be moving. He wouldn't talk to Derrick for almost a week after.

"I thought about that, but I don't know. I think there's something else."

"Well, I could try to talk to him. Can't guarantee he'll talk to me either, but it's worth a shot."

A chuckle escapes Derrick. "He's so fuckin' stubborn. Hey—" I feel Derrick's presence grow closer to me and his arm brushes against my own just before his fingers push back my bangs. "You need a haircut. You should let me trim it tonight when I get home." He continues to thread through my hair a bit, pulling at strands and letting them fall through his fingers.