The Next Chapter

Chapter 56

Emery's POV

"I threw up on it so I put it in the laundry bin."

I walk over to it and grab the shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"You can't just throw it in there with the other clothes. It's vomit, it can't just sit there." I turn on the faucet and wait a few seconds for it to heat up. 

Jake slowly stands up and tries to grab the shirt from me. "I'll do it, it's... It's not your problem." He looks sick. 

"Sit down Jake. Let the pill start taking effect." He does as I say and I continue washing his shirt. I'm just rinsing away all the vomit, not cleaning it. He can throw it in the laundry later but as long as it's cleaner. When I'm done I squeeze all the excess water out and place it on the laundry bin to somewhat dry. 

"What about that?" He says and points to my shirt. Somewhere along all of this, I forgot that I also had vomit on my shirt. But what exactly was I supposed to do?

"What about it?" I ask.

"There's vomit on it and it's pretty. You better wash it before it stains."

"Jake I'm not taking my shirt off in front of you."

He starts walking out of the bathroom and stumble up the stairs to a room and then he comes back down again with one of his t-shirts. "Here." He tosses it to me. "I'll turn around." And he does. 

After going back and forth about what to do I take off my shirt and put on his t-shirt. As he said, I did like the shirt I was wearing and I didn't want it to stain.

"You can turn around now." I say and turn the faucet back on. 

I hear a, "Mhm." and look over to him, his head is leaning against the wall and he's watching me. 

For some reason, I start to feel nervous. I finish washing my shirt and put it beside his on the laundry bin. 

We're just looking at each other now. Complete silence. But it's not uncomfortable silence, just... Silence. 

After some time Jake breaks it by saying something I didn't expect, "What did I do wrong?"

"What?"

"What did I do? Where did I go wrong?" He says. "I loved you so much and it broke me when you came back with him." He pauses then lets out a small chuckle. "To believe that I actually thought that we would end up together. That we would get married. That we-"

"Stop."

"What?"

"You can't do that. You can't do that!" I say louder but I see his eyes close and his hands start rubbing his temples. "Sorry... Forgot you have a headache."  

How is he doing this to me? I get all soft and nervous around him but how?! We haven't seen each other for five years and still, he has this effect on me. Do I have the same effect on him? Should I even question that? I'm with Michael now, and we're happy. 

But then why am I thinking so much about Jake?

"Fuck." He suddenly says, still looking at me.

"What?"

"You've grown."

"Yes, as has everyone. That's kind of how time works."

He chuckles. "I know. But I can't call you shortie anymore." His head is leaning against the wall, still shirtless.

"Why didn't you put on a shirt when you gave me one?"

He looks down at his chest. "Don't know..." He looks at me again. "It's pretty hot in here."

I... I can't really disagree there.

"Something smells bad." He says. "Did you rinse the t-shirts?"

I'm glad he's not as drunk anymore, the pill really took effect. Now he just seems hangover as hell. Plus a little drunk but not as much. 

"Yes, I did." But he's right though, something still smells. I look at him. "Stand up."

"No. Why?" He groaned.

"Just get up." 

He does as I say and yepp, he has vomit on his back. Great.

"How the hell did you get vomit on your back?" I say as he hits down again.

"The fuck do I know." He says and then laughs. "Oh yeah. I threw my shirt over my shoulder, then washed my hands, and then threw it in the laundry bin."

"You- So you took off your shirt that had vomit on it, threw it over your shoulder, washed your hands, just to then grab the shirt that has vomit on it to throw it in the laundry bin?" I have absolutely no idea what he was thinking.

"Well, it sounds stupid now that you say it out loud." He gets up and walks over to the shower. A very unstable walk. "Will you help me here?"

"Help you take a shower?"

"I'll keep my underwear on don't worry." He says as he struggles to remove his pants.

"Look Jake, no. I'll call your fiancé and she can come and help you-"

"No! She's not coming." He says and mutters something I can't hear.

"Why? Why are you so against your own fiancé helping you? She loves you an-"

"Loves me? If she loved me, would she be fucking someone else?" He says, his voice a little louder and he rubs his temples again and sits down on the floor.

Is his fiancé cheating on him? Is that why he was alone at the bar today? Why would she do that? Why would anyone do that? Just tell your partner that you're not happy. No need to sleep with someone else and hurt people in the process. I got lost in my thoughts and then my focus went back to Jake, sitting on the floor with his pants half off.  I walk over to him and help him take them off, some of the vomit got on them too but there's not a lot so I put them in the laundry bin. I walk back to him and slid the door open to the shower. It's even bigger than I thought. Five people could easily fit in here and there would still be space to fill. 

"You don't have to stay. No need to pity me."

"It's fine. Wouldn't want you to slip in the shower and hit your head." I say and help him into the shower, he sits down in the corner where there's like a built-in chair. Well, not a chair but a place you can sit. 

This is so not the topic right now, but God... He looks amazing.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

I don't like to cut these chapters off like this but otherwise, they'll be too long, haha. See you later!