Way Down I'll Go

'Twas but a Dream of Thee

"Everything okay?"

Jo coughed and looked up from the brown dishwater to see Drew hovering by his side, his forehead creased with worry.

"Yeah," he said, not in the mood to have the conversation Drew clearly wanted to have.

There was silence for several minutes.

"You sure?" 

Drew's voice was timid, and Jo felt guilt coil in his gut.

"You can ask me anything, Drew. You don't need to be scared."

"I wasn't," Drew quickly replied, but Jo saw the relief in his eyes and the guilt deepened. "I'm just...you don't seem okay."

When Jo didn't reply he continued.

"You're working too much, you're not sleeping, you barely eat... You don't smile anymore."

"I smile."

"Yeah. The fake smile you use when you want us to think everything is okay."

"Everything is okay."

"It's you and Rachel, isn't it?"

Jo gave Drew a glance and sighed. 

"Drew..."

"Did you guys break up?"

"Not yet."

"Yet?"

Jo wiped his hands on the soaked towel and turned to face Drew.

"Remember when I said we were trying things out?" 

Drew nodded. 

"Well. We...tried things out. And I just don't think it's going to work."

"But you were happy. For the first time in, like...ever."

"It's more complicated than that, kiddo."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Jo. I can handle it. Just tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened, necessarily. I just don't think we're right for each other."

"So you come back from meeting her family with your face bruised up, won't talk about it, and then just happen to realize that you're 'not right for each other'?"

Drew's finger quotes irked Jo for some reason.

"Yep, you nailed it," he said, and it sounded short, even to him. 

Turning back to the dishes to hide his annoyance, he heard Drew sniffle.

Jo had heard his construction coworkers talk about the dreaded teenage years, but he'd never thought Drew would be susceptible to the same mood swings as other kids. The past few weeks had proved him wrong. The almost-14-year-old could snap between angry, sad, and silent faster than Jo could sneeze. To make matters worse, Drew had been giving him judgmental looks every time he skipped dinner and made sidebar comments about the bags under Jo's eyes: all things that Jo couldn't really argue with. Jo knew he was worried, but the attitude was starting to get under his skin.

Taking a deep breath and rubbing the tired out of his eyes, he dried his hands once more and pulled Drew into a hug. Drew's arms hung limply at his sides.

"What? Too old for hugs now?" he said lightly, stifling another cough.

Drew glared up at him, but then wrapped his arms around Jo, laying his head on Jo's chest like he used to.

"I'm sorry I've been so out of it, kiddo. I need to have a conversation with Rachel that I don't want to have, and I've been avoiding it."

Drew pulled away and looked up at him with pleading eyes.