I Need You

Chapter 10

(T.J's POV)
Another week of school. After the thing with Rylee and I, I honestly haven't been able to sleep. I wish we could be more than friends, but I don't want to jeopardize anything between us.
I walk into school alone, the twins and Rylee left earlier than me. I see Rylee at her locker and walk up to her, "hey." She looks up at me and smiles, "hi." I shove my hands in my pockets, "um, I was thinking about taking you and the twins out after school, if that's okay." She nods, "yeah, where are we going?" I grin, "it's a surprise." "Ah, come on, T.J. Please tell me," she pouts. I chuckle, "you'll see. Patients." She huffs, "fine, do you want to tell the twins or me?" I shrug, "I can." She nods, "alright. See you later, then." "Yeah, bye," I reply and she walks off. Why are we acting so awkward with each other? We said we'd be friends, but we seem more like acquaintances.
I walk down the hall to my first class, hoping what I have in mind is good enough for her.
(Rylee's POV)
I don't like the awkwardness between T.J and I. I want to be able to just talk like everything is normal, to forget we kissed. Well, I don't want to forget it because it's probably the only time he'll kiss me.
I walk into my first class and am greeted by Elisa. "Hey," she smiles. "Hi, did T.J talk to you?" I ask. She shakes her head, "no, why?" "Oh, he said he's going to take me, you and Jake out after school, except he said the destination was a surprise," I tell her. "Hm, I don't know. Um, did you two ever fix what was going on between the two of you?" She asks. I shrug, "kind of. Now everything is awkward, and I hate it." She sighs, "it'll blow over. Did he fess up?" "About what?" I question. "About him liking you?" She asks. I chuckle, "you better be glad he did, because you would be dead, but yes, he did. We decided to just be friends." "Just friends? Are you crazy? You like him and he likes you," she replies. "Sh! I don't need the whole world knowing," I hiss. She winces, "right, sorry." The bell rings and class begins.
"Class, this here is Myles Taylor. He just moved here from Ohio. Myles would you please take a seat next to Rylee please, Rylee raise your hand," my teacher instructs. I feel my face get hot, and raise my hand shyly. "He's cute," Elisa whispers to me. I shrug. He has light brown hair, green eyes, tan skin. He looked fit. Yeah, he was very nice looking. He walks up and smiles at me, and I return it with a small one. "Hi," he greets, a smile on his lips, revealing his dimples. "Hey," I reply. "I'm Rylee." He chuckles, "yeah, I know. The teacher told me to sit next to you." I feel my cheeks warm and I look down, "right." "That's okay, though, now we've met formally," he says quickly, making me smile at him. He was sweet, I like him.
All throughout class, I kept catching him looking at me. Each time he'd just smile at me, then turn back to the teacher. I see a not thrown on to my desk from behind, and turn to Elisa, then back to the note. It read:
The hotty keeps checking you out. If T.J catches him staring at you he might have some problems.

I roll my eyes, and crumple it up. Finally, class is over and I walk out of the room. I feel someone tug on my arm and I turn. "Hey," Myles says. "Hi," I reply, smiling. "So, want to give me advice on who to and not to talk to?" He asks, and I chuckle. "I don't really know, I'm not one to be popular with a lot of people," I answer. "I'm kind of a loner." "We can be loners together then," he replies, nudging me with his elbow. "Um, there is Elisa, Jake, and T.J. They're my friends, I'm sure you'd-" "Rylee," someone calls. I look away from Myles and see T.J walk up. "Hey, um, T.J this is Myles, Myles this is T.J," I introduce. "Hey," T.J greets shortly before turning back to me. "Jake passed out today, I'm going to the hospital, I can't give you a ride back to the house." I look at him worriedly, "oh my gosh! Is he alright? Do you want me to come too? Did he get hurt badly? What's going to-" "Rylee, calm down. The idiot just didn't eat breakfast, he's fine, really. I'll try to be back by the end of the day to pick you up, but if not I'll text you so you know. Elisa is coming with me," he interrupts. I take a deep breath, "are you sure you don't want me to come?" He smiles gently at me, an emotion hidden in his eyes, "no, you can stay. I'll update you every hour or so. I'll see you later, okay?" I nod and hug him, "say hi for me, and tell him to not be so stupid next time." He chuckles and hugs me back, "sure thing. Uh, nice meeting you Myles." I take a step back and lift a hand to T.J when he leaves. "You two a couple?" Myles asks, breaking me out of my trance. "Who T.J and I?" I ask. He nods. "No, we're just friends," I answer, almost feeling my heart drop. He nods, "I think he likes you, more than that." "Does he?" I ask. "How do you know?" He smiles at me, "the way he looked at you, and the way his face lit up when you hugged him. Anyone with eyes can see it." I shrug, "I doubt it. We've just been through rough times together, it kind of made us close." He nods, "well, I guess we can sit together at lunch since your friends seem to all be at the hospital. Sorry about your friend, by the way."
I smile, "thanks, and yeah, we can sit together." "Cool," he replies. "Um, what class do you have next?" "Math," I answer. He grins, "me too."
******
(T.J's POV)
When Rylee hugged me, I felt like my heart was going to burst right out of my chest, I really hope she couldn't feel it. What bothered me was that Myles character. Something told me he had eyes for Rylee, and I didn't like it. 'Shes not your girlfriend, she's allowed to like whoever she wants,' I told myself on the way to the hospital, though I didn't want to believe it. I wanted Rylee to be mine, no one else's. But I can't have her, she doesn't like me like I like her. We're friends and it has to stay that way.
I pulled up to the hospital. Elisa had been quiet the whole way. I wonder if she's still mad at me for how I treated Rylee? I know I'm still mad at myself for it. We got out and hurried inside. "What room is Jake O'Connor in? We're his family," Elisa tells the nurse. "Room A105," the nurse answers, then smiles flirtatiously at me. I glare at her, but her smile doesn't faulter. "What if my family member was dying and you were flirting with me, what would you think?" I snap. She frowns then, "sorry. But it says here he only passed out, you shouldn't be too worried. My name's Sammy, what's yours?" I scowl at her and lie, "I have a girlfriend." She smiles, "she won't have to know." "I'll report you, and you can lose your job, so leave me alone," I spit back. "Come one, T.J," Elisa says softly, taking my arm and walking down the hall. "That girl was a-" "don't finish that sentence please," Elisa interrupts. I huff in annoyance and she chuckles, "so, who's your girlfriend?" I glare at her, "shut up." She just laughs more.
We walk into the hospital room and Jake is asleep on the bed. Figures. Elisa and I sit and then the doctor walks in. "Hi, I'm doctor Myles," he says. I hate his name. "Hi, I'm Elisa, and this is T.J, we're the siblings of Jake," Elisa speaks up. "Where are your parents?" Dr. Myles asks. "Our mother is dead, and our father. We don't know where he is," Elisa answers. "Well, are either of you over the age of eighteen? I'm afraid I can't diagnose if you aren't," he replies. "I'm eighteen, nineteen in a month," I answer. The Doctor nods, "alright. So, Jake here is suffering from a low nutrition level, normally seen in teens who suffer from anorexia. The thing is, he isn't underweight." "So, what are you saying?" I ask. He sighs, "well, I'm not sure what it might be. We'll have to run a few blood tests, then we'll get back to you." I nod, "can you do them now?" He looks to Jake, "when he wakes up, yes." "Okay, thanks Doc. We'll wait here until he does," I reply. He nods curtly, then exits. "I have to call Rylee, I told her I would," I say to Elisa. She nods and I walk out of the room and into the hall. I dial her number and press the phone to my ear. One ring. Two. "Hello?" She answers. "Hey," I reply. "Any news?" She asks. "They don't know. They're going to run some blood tests when he wakes up. The doctor said he has malnutrition like as if he were anorexic, except he's the perfect weight. Hopefully they can figure out what's wrong and deal with it," I inform. I hear her sigh, "I'm going to come, I don't-" "you don't have to, Rylee," I tell her. "I want to, I'm leaving now. See you in a few," she replies. "Bye." "Bye," I reply, and end the call.
A few minutes later, she walks into the room. "Why did the nurse at the front desk give me a dirty look?" She asks, taking a seat next to me. "What did you tell her?" Elisa asks. "I said I was a friend, why?" She answers. "Well, Mr. HotStuff over here had her flirting with him. He didn't like it so he lied and said he had a girlfriend. She probably thought it was you," Elisa answers, and she chuckles. "Well, what else was I supposed to do?" I ask defensively. "Told her you weren't interested? That might've worked just as well," Rylee answers. I roll my eyes, "it was the first thing that came to mind. Speaking of relationships, why does Myles act like he's head-over-heels with you?" Elisa chuckles and Rylee shakes her head. "Am I missing something?" I ask. "Nothing," they both reply. "He doesn't like me, we're just friends," Rylee answers. I run a hand through my hair, "I don't like him." "You don't even know him," Rylee argues. "I don't like the looks if him," I correct. She huffs, "whatever. Have they takes the tests yet?" I nod, "right before you came. He fell asleep almost right after."
There's a knock on the door and we all turn to the doctor. "Kids, I'm afraid I have some bad news," he states. I sit up on the edge of my chair, waiting for him to continue. "Doctor?" Rylee asks. "He has stomach cancer. The reason for malnutrition is because his body can't keep down the food. Has he been throwing up lately?" He asks. "Not that I know of," I tell him. "I didn't want to tell you, I thought I was just a stomach bug," Jake says hoarsely. "How bad?" I ask worriedly. "If we had caught it before it got too bad. With treatments, we should be able to get rid of it," he answers. "But, we didn't." The air in the room seem to disappear. I stand and walk out. I practically run down the hall and outside.
I lean against the brick wall, my hands on my knees and head down. I feel sick. "T.J," Rylee whispers. I look up at her, and take two long strides to her, embracing her in my arms. I bury my face in the crook of her neck, feeling a tear slip down my cheek. I never cry, never. But this is different. I feel her arms wrap around my waist and she hugs me tighter. "I need you-I need you to help me through this," I choke. "I will, all three of you. We'll get through this, all of us. I'll do anything I can to help. It's-it's going to be hard," she replies, her voice breaking at the end. I let out a shaky breath, "I can't lose him. I just can't." "We won't. He's strong, T.J, he's going to fight it. Both for himself and for you and Elisa. He loves you both," she states, her voice stronger now, like she's trying to convince both of us. Shouldn't I be the one comforting her? I guess we're helping each other. I need her, that's what I know, and I'm going to be there for her when she needs me. "I need you, Rylee. You're the only one that's able to keep me sane through this. I need you," I tell her. Her hold on me tightens, and I know that she needs me too. We need each other.
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THIS IS NOT THE END. I REPEAT THIS IS NOT THE END! There is so much more that needs to be covered, so much more that I have planned. Sorry I haven't updated in like forever. I hope to write the next chapter and get it up soon. Thanks for reading!