Missing in Action

Chapter 006

Jon never wanted to wake up. Groaning at the sun filtering into his room, he shoved his face into the pillow and then whimpered when his own noise made his head throb unbearably. His mouth felt disgusting, even worse than normal, and his eyes seemed swollen shut. He heard someone walking around in the room and sighed in relief to know that Spencer was here and that Spencer would take care of him. He forced himself to get up and brought both of his hands up to his head, massaging his scalp, hoping that it would ease his headache. It didn't help, of course, and only brought tears to his eyes. Why did so much fun have to hurt so bad?

"Spencer?" he whispered, slowly opening his eyes. He glanced at the clock and realized it was about 11:30 am. He vaguely remembered waking up around nine, sans headache. He'd thought that he had escaped the evil hangover and gone back into blissful sleep. Now he knew that it had just taken a little bit longer for his body to react. Oh, he felt like throwing up and he knew he would have the feeling all day.

"I hope you know you made a fool of yourself," Spencer said, coming out of their en-suite washroom. He glared at Jon, not even trying to keep his voice down. "And I really hope you don't expect me to sit beside you and help you put the pieces of your night back together," he added, narrowing his eyes at Jon before disappearing into the washroom again. Jon groaned and fell back onto the bed. He stayed still for a few moments before dragging himself up and getting ready. He needed to eat something and he needed to drink coffee. A lot of coffee. He had a feeling that no one was going to take pity on him today, especially considering Brendon had ditched them, Ryan hated him, and Spencer was being his no-nonsense self.

It took him longer than usual, but finally Jon was ready and he set out with Spencer to get some food in the cafeteria. "We're meeting Brendon and Ryan," Spencer said on their way down. Jon grunted, trying to walk without making too much noise. "I called them in their rooms and they agreed to come, but only because they wanted to see me. I told them you were too sick to talk, so that made them agree too." This was greeted by yet another grunt from Jon, making Spencer smile slightly. When they were in the cafeteria, Spencer got two plates and filled them with eggs, bread, bacon, and fruits. Jon got two black coffees and they made their way to their usual table to wait for their friends.

***

Ryan hadn't been so nervous about leaving his room before, not even on the very first morning he'd been there. If Brendon's reactions were wrong, Ryan would have to report back as soon as possible and then he'd probably be called home immediately. Home as a failure for his father to laugh of. Not to mention the fact that he'd have let down his whole nation. Due to these things, it was probably natural that he was taking as much time leaving his room as possible. He'd showered until his skin had started to wrinkle. And then he'd actually put on more makeup than necessary just to draw out time. He had fixed his hair five times too, for the same reason, and then tried on eight different outfits.

Now, though, he was already fifteen minutes late and couldn't really find any new excuses. He wouldn't have minded owning one of Brendon's numerous pairs of sunglasses, but the best he'd been able to find had been some odd little hat Tobias had insisted was 'stylish' but honestly looked like it belonged in a Mark Twain book. Or Charles Dickens perhaps. He'd put that on and the largest hoodie he had, too. Large only meant that it actually fit instead of being too small, though, and he still couldn't raise his arms too much if he didn't want his stomach exposed.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and left, locking it routinely behind him, and went with slow steps down the halls and stairs until he reached the cafeteria where he went straight for the food, deciding to deal with people only when he absolutely had to. He took a plate and stacked a small serving of eggs and bacon on before adding a pile of pancakes and syrup and some fruit. Then he poured himself some tea and put small containers of sugar and cream in his pockets before balancing his way to the table where he plopped down on the free chair without looking at anyone, making sure his hair covered his eyes quite well. "Morning," he greeted, trying to at least avoid acting like he had been a part of that conversation last night. Then he forced himself to raise his head slightly and look around on each of them, the blush actually coming naturally when he saw Brendon this time, before settling his gaze on Spencer. That, at least, he felt sort of safe with. "Sorry I'm late. Alarm didn't go off."