Beautiful Joy

24

Henry's POV

Moaning, and not the happy kind, wakes me. Remembering where I am, my eyes fly open and I sit up. Light floods into the room, the clock on her bedside table reading after 12. Joy isin't beside me in bed but a very hungover Kent lays there blocking the light from his eyes with his arm.

"Kent, wake up man".

He slowly moves his arm from from his face. He looks awful and confused as he takes in his surroundings.

"What the heck, why am I in here?" He sits up moving very slow. He looks down noticing he's only in his boxers. Holding his head with two hands I'm sure his head feels like he was hit with a hammer.

"Can you fill me in?" He says frustrated, as if  he has the right to be.

His back is to me, unable to see the hard stare I send his way. "Maybe because you were dumped on your front lawn piss drunk. Joy found you, probably saving you from dying in a puddle of your own vomit." That finally caught his attention, he turns to me.

"You begged her not to let your family know, so Joy, kind as ever, attempted to drag you in herself with her broken arm."  I pause for a minute to see if he recalls any of this but his blank stare shows he's clueless. I'm mad and want him to have some guilt or accountability for what he's doing so I continue.

"Eventually, she called me for help. It was raining but she sat out there with you. You know the girl, your little sister, who you've been nothing but a dick to. She then helped me get you in shower and clean all the vomit off."

His eyes meet mine and I finally see the Kent I use to know. The guilt is obvious on his face but he needs to hear this.

"She then demanded I put you on her bed because she was worried you might get sick again. She actually cares about you, don't ask me how, because you haven't given her a reason to."

The room was quiet, I could see the self loathing in his eyes. I don't even recognize my best friend anymore. When I saw Joy yesterday afternoon, she looked so sad and hurt. Someone like her should never have bruises on her beautiful face. I know it was an accident and that was the only thing keeping me from hurting my best friend.

"Look", he points to the bedside table where she left a note that says feel better and a bottle of ibuprofen.

"I don't know what to say. I'm not sure how it got this bad again, I thought staying off the pills would help but......I am just so angry all the time". He slams his fist on the bedside table.

"Dude, just take it one day at a time. First, take a shower because you still stink. Then do whatever you have to, to make it right with Joy."

He nods and then grabs the pills Joy left before exiting the room.

Looking around her room I feel like an intruder with Joy gone. I grab the sheets and blankets of the bed to wash for her before walking downstairs. I've spent half my time in this house so doing laundry is nothing new here.

After starting the load of bedding I head to the kitchen in search hoping to find Joy, but instead finding Sean and Paul.

Paul is draped on the couch watching some action movie, he says a quick 'hey' as I pass to go to the kitchen. Sean looks up from his computer, "sup Henry, what time did you and Kent get in this morning."