Jason wakes up to the feeling of something else in his room- he slowly brings himself to pry open his eyes and glances at the door to see Astrid leaning again the frame, watching him quietly.
"How long have you been there?" He rasps out.
She shakes her head lightly, a small shrug attached.
His eyebrows furrow, "Do your parents or your brother know you're here?"
His face shows genuine concern and she nods softly, he relaxes and flops back down onto the pillows, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.
"You can come in," He says tiredly, "I'm ninety percent sure I have a shirt on- actually I think I have jeans on. I don't remember taking anything off before going to bed last night."
He hums, tiredly starting to slip into sleep again and she walks in, gently sitting on his bed besides him.
She glances around his room, taking it in.
Trophies upon trophies lie on the display cases- books double stacked in his book shelf, wardrobe doors thrown wide open.
His room is clean for a boy his age- she would never have expected it.
She sees the yellow pill bottle on his desk, and the small packet of Xanax pills besides it and even if it hadn't been clear before- it was now evident that he wasn't as put together as he seemed.
She glances down at him, seeing he'd fallen back asleep.
It was restless and she knew he wasn't calm- he was wound up tightly, features tight and a permanent frown etched into his lips.
She quietly presses her hand shading his hoodie covered shoulder and his eyes open to glance up at her.
He gives her a half-hearted and sheepish smile, "Sorry."
She glances at him, eyes calculating him once more- and he swears he can feel her trying to read his very soul.
"What?"
Her gaze moves to the bottle of pills on the table, and he follows it.
"They're anti-depresents- though I'm sure you're already familiar," He says lazily, before his eyes widen, "I'm so sorry- I didn't mean it like that."
She shakes her head, gently patting his shoulder.
He lets out a relieved sigh.
"So...." He drawls out, "What's up?"
He doesn't know how he ended up telling her stuff about himself- what made him do so, but there he sits rattling off facts about himself as if he were a page in an encyclopaedia.
"I'm a twin- but you knew that," He sighs, "I love my sister and I would do anything to protect her. I can't imagine her getting hurt- or living without her."
And that seems to impact Astrid in a funny way.
She turns away from him, and he thinks she's lost interest until he sees her trying to stop her shoulders from shaking with inaudible sobs.
"I'm so sorry- did I say something? O-Or do something?"
She hated that people had to walk on eggshells around her- but she couldn't stop the tears in her eyes from flowing.
She was was a different but it's times like this she wishes that everyone would just treat her the same way.
And then he puts two and two together.
"The girl you were painting- her eyes were brown, not green like yours..." He trails, "Was that your sister?"
She nods lightly, but now she's hiccuping because she can't stop crying and as terrible as it was the hiccups were the only sound that he'd ever heard from her.
YOU ARE READING
Crestfallen » Jason Blossom. #wattys2018
Fanfiction"I haven't seen her smile, since the day of the accident. Jason, you are our best shot at ever getting her to talk again. She hasn't talked in two and a half years, and I heard her laugh when she was with you, do you know what that's like for me?" ...
