half the world away [ sweet pea ]

six

『 chapter six 』
honey tea and toast

WHEN he finally managed to stay asleep longer than a few minutes, Jackson slept for almost twelve hours. he was only woken up by the undying urge to vomit his guts out. as he hunched over the toilet, he felt a hand gently run over his back, and he gladly accepted the comfort. he assumed it was Lenora who'd come to his aid, considering how small the hands on his back were and the fact that the woman never seemed to sleep until it was past twelve.

Jackson pulled his bead from the toilet and slumped against the wall, and Lenora sat cross legged in front of him — confirming she was the one to rub his back as he emptied his stomach of all the Pops — and gently smiled. Jackson tiredly forced a thankful smile onto his lips. it was small, but Lenora noticed it and pat his thigh in acknowledgement.

"i haven't gone through withdrawal before, but my ex-boyfriend did. i helped him get through it with great difficulty," Lenora laughed softly, "we learnt that honey tea helped with the drug cravings and sleeping. can't say much for the stomach aches, though. made him shit more than a jar of laxative powder."

they both laughed at the last part and sat in silence for a short, comfortable moment before Lenora pat Jacksons thigh again and pushed herself to her feet.

"i'll make us up some honey tea and toast whilst you get yourself cleaned up. we can have a little almost-midnight tea party, yeah?" when Jackson nodded in agreement, she ruffled his hair gently before stepping out into the dark hallway. Jackson exhaled and pushed himself to his feet using the sink as help.

he leaned against the sink and stared at his reflection. he looked horrible. hair matted with sweat and dirt as it hadn't been washed in over a month. bags under his eyes so dark it looked like he was sporting black eyes. with shaking fingers, he lifted his shirt and found himself grimacing at pale, skinny body that was revealed. the drugs made him unexpectedly loose weight, as well as caused him to not feel as hungry, and Jackson often forgot to eat and regularly skipped meals. he fingered at the few ribs just beginning to stick out and that feeling of pathetic-ness washed over him again.

he'd been feeling it a lot more often recently and he fucking hated it. Jackson didn't know if it was due to the withdrawal or something else. he dropped the dark green shirt and pulled the mess he called hair into a bun, and after washing his mouth out with the mouth wash he knew to be Benji's, Jackson quietly tip-toed down the creaky steps and joined Lenora in the kitchen just as the jug finished boiling.

once the toast popped, Jackson put margarine on two slices and strawberry jam and butter on the other two before placing them on their respective plates and followed Lenora — who carried the tea — out onto the back deck where a glass table and a few camping chairs were set out.

after getting comfortable, Lenora handed Jackson his tea as Jackson slid the strawberry jam toast over to the woman. Jackson mumbled a quiet 'thank you' and held the warm mug in his cold hands as he took in the mouth-watering smell of the liquid.

Lenora was eyeballing his nails in the little light provided from the kitchen window just by the table before she let out a barely audible gasp and asked, "can i paint your nails?" Jackson laughed breathily from his nose and swallowed the tea sitting in his mouth before nodding and placing his mug down.

"go for it," he said and was unable to hold back his smile as Lenora happily jumped up and went to retrieve her nail polish from the bathroom. she reminded Jackson of Mastiff. just a little older and a little more colour added to her wardrobe.

Lenora came back with a yellow bag full of various nail polish bottles and a pack of cigarettes ("ever heard of killing one addiction with another? plus, helps with the drug cravings" was what Lenora had said and Jackson laughed and accepted a cigarette), and when Lenora tipped out all the glass bottles onto the glass table, she asked what colour he'd like to which Jacksom just shrugged and told her to surprise him.