daycare // hemmings

thirteen- mama liz

Luke rushed upstairs after Tobie, and when he saw Jamie crying in the bathtub, the puddle of what Tobie was sure was vomit but also a bit of blood around her feet, he almost broke down himself.

"Jamie.." He said, voice soft. "Baby, what happened?"

"I-I don't know," she said, eyes bloodshot from crying. Tobie turned on the shower and started rinsing the tub as Luke helped Jamie out of her small Green Day shirt, courtesy of Ashton. 

"Step in the tub, love," Luke said, holding her hand as she stepped over the side. Tobie plugged the drain once it was cleared out and Jamie sat down, still crying. 

They washed her hair gently and Luke let Tobie wash everywhere else. Jamie puked three more times, each time with blood. Tobie told Luke to call the doctor, that this wasn't normal.

"I don't have the doctor's number," he said. Tobie had Jamie wrapped in comfortable clothes and was carrying her downstairs. Ashton met her at the stairs, concern etched on his face.

"Who's number do you have?" Tobie asked. 

"My mom's," Luke said sheepishly. 

"Mama Liz can do anything," Ashton said, opening the door for Tobie. She carried Jamie out to the car and laid her down on her side, head in Tobie's lap. Ashton grabbed the passenger's seat and Luke hopped in the driver's. 

"Call your mom, Luke," Tobie said. "Jamie needs you." 

He sighed but nodded, dialing his mom's number and handing the phone to Ashton as he drove off- to where, Tobie didn't know. All she knew, (and really cared about), was that Jamie was sick, and that anywhere was better than where she was.

;

When the car stopped, Ashton sighed in relief. "Mama Liz."

"This is Liz's house?" Tobie asked, helping Jamie up and into her arms again. Ashton opened the back door for her and she stepped out, carrying Jamie up to the door behind Luke. 

He knocked on the door and waited, rubbing Jamie's forehead with his thumb. When the door opened a woman smiled, "Lukey! Hi, honey. Is everything alright?"

"Hi, Mum." Luke said, voice low. "Can we come inside?"

Tobie smiled shyly at the woman, holding Jamie a little tighter. She had blonde hair but it was a lighter shade than Luke's. Her eyes however were the exact same. Bright blue and happy.

Although Luke's weren't too happy right now.

"Of course, yeah come inside." She said, stepping aside. 

Tobie carried Jamie inside and kicked her shoes off, leaving them by Ashton's, who lead her to a room upstairs. 

"She's cool with me just going through her house?" Tobie asked as she sat Jamie down on the bed, taking her shoes off. Ashton fluffed the pillows for her and unzipped her sweatshirt before laying her down and kissing her forehead. Jamie started to whimper so Ashton sat next to her, holding her hand. When she finally closed her eyes he kissed her fingers and slid his hand out of hers, leading Tobie out.

"I suppose so. You're with me- she loves me." The curly-haired boy said. Tobie shrugged, uneasy, and Ashton gave her a bear hug, turning side to side. 

"It's fine, Tobie. You'll like her. Liz is chill."

Tobie nodded and stepped back. "Thanks, Ash."

"Any time. Now let's go- she makes wonderful tea."

;

Liz did make good tea- and Tobie wasn't a fan of tea. But man, she could live on this stuff.

She sat next to Luke on the couch but did not lean back into him. She was uneasy with Liz there, since Luke was her baby boy. She kept her eyes on her tea and only spoke when someone spoke to her. 

After an hour of this, Liz said something. 

"Tobie, honey, am I making you uncomfortable? I could make hot chocolate- do you even like tea?"

Tobie's head snapped up, and she could feel her cheeks flaring. "No, ma'am, I- uh, I just-"

"Will you calm down?" Luke said, looking her in the eye. "You're like on the edge of the couch. Do I smell funny?"

Tobie smiled, but Luke knew it was fake. He took her cup from her hands and pulled her back to his chest, addressing his mother. "She's nervous. Hasn't met you before, Mum."

Tobie squeezed her eyes shut, confused as to why she felt like she wanted to cry. She didn't look up at anybody and tried to focus on calming down. She blamed the weather- instead of it being nice and warm, it was raining. Pouring, actually.

"Tobie, sweetheart, did I do something? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Liz said, shuffling her feet. Though Tobie couldn't see, she figured Ashton had placed his hand on her forearm and took her cup, going to make another one for her, due to the clinking of cups and the mumbled, "Thank you, Ashton."

Tobie, shaking now, said the first thing that came to mind: "Jamie's not okay, is she?"

She felt Luke tense up, then put his other arm around her and rub her back, head on top of hers. 

"Jamie's fine, love, Mum's gonna take care of her." Luke shushed. He picked her head up and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's fine- do you wanna go upstairs? Lay down a bit?"

Tobie gulped and nodded, and he stood up, leading her to the stairs. He told Mama Liz that he'd be downstairs in a second, then followed Tobie up. He lead her to a door and kissed her head. 

"If you want to change, you can have a shirt or something. They're in the dresser. Try and relax, okay?"

Tobie nodded, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Your mum makes wonderful tea."

Luke chuckled and opened the door. "I'm downstairs if you need me."

Tobie nodded again, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you."

He blushed but smiled, trying to hide it. "No problem."

She walked into his room as he walked away and shut the door softly. She took a look around the room before smiling to herself- the room was very Luke.

The walls were blue and the floors were dark hardwood, but that wasn't what made it feel like home. The All Time Low posters and the life-size penguin in the desk chair did. The dog bed with the black lab laying in it did. The bed, freshly made in a style only moms seem to be able to do, and the flannels lined in the closet did. 

Tobie immediately calmed down. 

She took a flannel off the hanger and slipped it over her thin long-sleeve shirt. She knelt down and let the dog sniff her hand before petting her, guessing that this was Molly. When she went to sit on the bed, the dog jumped up onto the bed with her, and Tobie knew the dog wasn't going to hurt her. She leaned back onto the pillows, looking at the posters on the wall and listening to the rain outside. 

She felt bad for freaking out in front of Luke's mom. Liz was very relaxed, so there was no reason for her to feel anxious. But she really believed that Jamie was why. 

She'd become very protective of Jamie. And now she was hurt. Or sick. Or whatever the hell was wrong with her. 

Tobie didn't know when she finally decided to stop thinking, but she knew that eventually she did because she started to feel her eyelids droop and droop until they fell, her hand on Molly's head.