Simon's P.O.V.
Lachlan rubbed his chest, wincing a little as he arched back. That was the third or fourth time I had seen him do it that day and I was getting a little worried because if he was in pain and he wasn't telling anyone, then something was wrong. He was normally a little like JJ in that regard- if he was sick or hurting, everyone knew. He certainly wasn't as dramatic as JJ, but he tended to complain.
I had been watching him throughout the day. It happened a couple more times and got increasingly more obvious despite his attempts to hide it. Something was bothering him, badly, and it was getting more and more painful. If something really was wrong I knew it would be a fight to get him to admit it simply because he was trying to hide it in the first place.
"Lachlan! Simon!" Vikk called, catching our attention. He was in the living room, I think, and when Lachlan slipped from the barstool the both of us went to investigate. Vikk and the other two Sidemen house boys were in the living room, chattering about something or other.
"What's going on?" I asked curiously, flopping down on the couch. Lachlan closely followed, but it was accompanied by a wince.
"Do you guys wanna go out tonight?" Vikk asked us. Apparently it had already been discussed between the others because they looked at us expectantly. Lachlan went a little pale and bit down on his lip, only pausing for a moment before shaking his head and looking to the ground.
"Not tonight, sorry Vikk." He murmured, unable to look his friend in his eyes. "I'm too tired, I just want to sleep."
The moment he said that I silently agreed with him. I wasn't about to leave him home alone when he was in pain plus I really wasn't in the mood to go out and get drunk, so I decided to stay home with Lachlan. "I'll stay home as well, I've got editing to do. I'm kinda tired too."
Vikk nodded. "Alright. We're gonna go in about half an hour, there's leftovers in the fridge I think if you want them for dinner."
I think he directed the last part more at Lachlan than me, he knew I could get around on my own. Although I might have leftovers too, simply because I couldn't be bothered to actually cook a proper meal but still needed something to eat.
But the moment Lachlan thought he was alone, his mask just crumbled. I don't think he even noticed I was still in the room because he just put his head down on the table and groaned quietly. I watched for a moment because I knew that sound was a groan of pain- something was clearly bothering him.
I watched him for only another moment before speaking up.
"Lachy?" I asked him, startling him. His head shot up so fast I was sure it gave him whiplash, head spinning to face me. His eyes were wide with shock and maybe with pain. "Hey man, what's up? You've been wincing all day, I know you've been in pain. Is something wrong?"
He went pale again. Face turned away from me but I could still see him biting down heavily on his lip, probably debating whether or not to tell me what was going on with him. But even then, his face was still pinched with pain.
"Come on Lachy, I'm worried about you. I know you're in pain." I prompted.
Finally he sighed and placed his head back on the table, let out a pained sob. My heart jumped and I immediately rushed to comfort him, gently rubbing his back, but that was when he let out a yelp of pain and pulled away from my touch. I jumped back, startled.
"Lachlan?"
"Sorry." He said, in between large gulps of air. "I think... I think I've hurt myself. My ribs, I can't breathe, I don't know what to do-"
Alarm bells were ringing. My first thought was that he had done something to potentially crack or even break a rib, because struggling to breathe was not a good sign. I managed to stay calm.
"Alright, that doesn't sound good." I said, catching his attention. "Do you mind if I have a look? I don't know if there'll be much to see but I think it might be bad if you've been hurting badly for this long."
That was when he began to panic again. He shook his head frantically and pulled away again, tears flowing freely. He couldn't express what it was through the panic and it actually took him quite a few minutes to calm down enough to speak again. I didn't know if my words helped, but I tried.
"Hey, hey, woah, I won't look if you don't want me to but if it's that bad we might need to go to the hospital. Lachy, you're hurting bad. If you don't let me look, I don't know what I can do."
"Just..." He gulped. "Give me a minute, please."
I did. I sat back and tried not to leap in and comfort him as his breathing slowly evened out and his sobs faded into painful hiccups. I didn't touch him even as much as I wanted to, until he started speaking again.
"There's something I haven't told you guys." He managed to breathe. "I haven't told... anyone really. I'm scared, and I think it might be why I'm hurt."
"Please, tell me Lachy? You're hurt. I can't do anything if I don't know."
It took him a moment, but then he kind of just... blurted everything out.
"I'm trans." He said, words flowing like a waterfall. "I've been binding and since I've been here I haven't been able to take it off and with everything we did yesterday and how long I've been binding I'm scared I've hurt my ribs-"
"Lachlan!" I interrupted. "Stop, it's okay. It's alright, I don't care about that, but I do know you shouldn't be binding for days! We were out for almost 16 hours yesterday, please don't tell me you were binding for all of that?!"
He nodded mutely, face flushed with shame.
"Alright, we're going to the hospital."
"What?!" He exclaimed, eyes shooting to my face in shock. "What, no, why-"
"No, no arguing. You're struggling to breathe, you're in pain and I know you're still wearing a binder. Even if you've just bruised something, it'll be reassurance you haven't fractured it. Come on."
He tried to refuse again, but I stopped him. Even if it was just for the reassurance, I was taking him to the hospital and there was nothing he could do about it. The others didn't need to know.
----------------------------------------------
Well, turns out I was right. Lachlan didn't say much as he shuffled back to the car with tired eyes and an armful of prescriptions and advice, ice pack now melted. His rib was indeed fractured due to the excessive binding he had been doing over the last couple of weeks, and was given specific instructions to not bind for at least the next six weeks while he healed.
I managed to talk him through it, because the obvious conclusion from that was that he would have to come out to the rest of the Sidemen, as it was kind of difficult to hide. Videos was another problem, but we figured we could address that later.
The advice he was given was bedrest and ice, and to not do anything stupid. I figured he could follow those directions, he wouldn't deliberately disobey authority just because, like a certain other blonde, and he'd come to either me or Vikk if he needed help. Apparently Vikk already knew about it- not him being hurt, the other part- and had for quite a while.
Yeah, it would be alright. A few weeks of painkillers and awkward winces whenever he moved weirdly, and oversized hoodies to hide his chest, but it'd be fine. This news hadn't changed our dynamic, he was still Lachlan, and honestly it brought us even closer than we had been before. It would be alright, even if he managed to crack a rib.
