Texas Girl (Pt 42)

Enjoy :) didn't take too log because it just sort of came easy :) x

Justin's POV
My eyes eased open naturally. No blinding light from the window, no Mother yelling for me to get up, no buzzing alarm clock or ringing phone. I woke up on my own terms, and nobody else's.
Drew lay beside me, still prisoner to a deep, emotionless sleep. I immediately placed my hands on her, the feeling of no warm body beneath my fingers an unfamiliar one. I smoothed my fingers over the warm skin of her abdomen, shuffling closer to press my lips to her lower ribs a few times, silently travelling down to her hips. She smiled softly through sleep, making me smile too, until her smile dropped suddenly, replaced with a wince of pain. And a noise. A groan.
I sat up and leant over her body, holding myself back as I gently shook her awake. I wanted to yell at her to wake up, and shake her until those gorgeous grey eyes flew open, but I didn't. I kept my tone soft as well as my touch. "Drew, wake up".
It seemed to have worked, as her eyes softly eased open. "What's wrong baby girl?" I asked quietly, not wanting to startle her still half-unconscious-self.
I lifted her up, cradling her to my chest as her small body shook beneath my fingers. I brushed the wavy red hair out of her eyes, seeing tears forming amongst the shadow-like grey.
"Did you have a nightmare?".
"No" her voice was choked up and quiet, barely audible.
"Then what's wrong?".
"My... My head... Hurts" she drew in sharp, ragged breaths between the words, almost as if the sentence was too long to manage. "Do you want some painkillers?".
"N-n-no. It's n-not like that. It's not a headache. It's... Pain... In my skull" she cried, her hand pressing down on the top left hand side of her head.
I'd think I'd experienced that, nothing serious, but I knew what she meant. A headache is just pain in general. Your head thumps, pounds and bashes. Whereas if it's not a headache, your head doesn't hurt, your skull does. It's more of a sharp, aching feeling in the bone.
I'd only ever had it for a few seconds, when I'd hit my head on something stupid like a door or a glass wall, but Drew's pain was totally unprovoked, and lasting a while. It made no sense.
She sobbed into my shoulder, eyes squeezed shut and cheeks tear-stained. That couldn't be helping. She was all hyped up and crying. I lifted her chin up, forcing her to open her eyes and look into mine.
"Don't cry, ok? You need to calm down, give your head a break. It'll go in a bit" I soothed.
"You promise?" she asked me hopefully.
I couldn't promise anything. I had no idea if it would go or not. I was just doing what I thought would help. But the look in her eyes begged, pleaded and craved for me to make the pain go away, and I really, really wanted to.
"I promise".
Oh I'm such a liar.

After that, I cradled Drew close to my body for an hour, whispering and kissing her for comfort, until she fell into a gentle, painless sleep.
I stood up, managing to take her in one arm, bicep at her back, hand under her legs, and pulled back the covers, slipping her warm body underneath before tucking her in.
I felt a deep grumble low in the pit of my stomach, and decided to quickly get breakfast, then head back up to take care of Drew.
As I jogged down the stairs, I heard the familiar noise of my Mother's gentle humming. She stood beside the cooker, making a full breakfast of pancakes, egg, bacon, sausage and some shop-bought croissants. God I love my Mother. I skipped over unnoticed, pressed a kiss to her cheek and plonked down at the breakfast bar.
"Ooh somebody's in a good mood" my Mother sang, glancing over at my secretive grin. "Nah not really" I sighed nonchalantly, taking a china plate from the middle of the bar and setting it in front of me, ready to tuck in to the breakfast that was about to be served. "Oh come on. Look at you. You practically scream hormonal teenager" she giggled as she flipped the fried eggs. "Mom! I do not!" I exclaimed, chuckling a bit at her sense of humour.
"We both know you got busy last night so don't deny it".
"I cannot believe you just referred to sex as 'Getting busy'. Who are you? Marvin Gaye?" I laughed at her. She's so... Motherly.
"So did you and Drew 'Get it on'" she giggled, continuing my earlier joke about Marvin. (He's a dude that sings about having sex and stuff. Google it ;).
"End of conversation Mother".
"You did!".
"I didn't say that".
"But you didn't not say it either".
Wow she's good at this. I suck at being nonchalant. I'm the least nonchalant person to ever walk the planet.
"So are you guys back together then?".
I knew she was going to ask me that. And the true answer was: I don't know. Yeah we'd... Done things last night, but that doesn't suddenly mean she's mine again, does it? She gave me no clue whatsoever this morning if she wanted me back or not. She'd had a bad head, and that was the only thing we'd talked about. Neither of us mentioned last night's events, she didn't so much as breathe about it.
"I don't know Mom" I grumbled, my joyful mood suddenly faltering.
"How don't you know? Didn't she say anything? Like, 'I love you' or, 'I want to be with you'?".
"No Mom, she didn't" I sighed, immediately fed up of the conversation.
"Well what did she say?".
"Can we just drop it? Please?" I snapped at her as she came over to the table, a pan of food in each hand. "Sorry" she stated, tipping the bacon out onto one plate in the centre, and eggs out onto the other.
I felt bad for snapping at her like that, but she was just making things worse. Drew probably didn't want me back, and would come barreling down the stairs any second saying that last night was a big mistake, and it would never happen again.
I kept my eyes glued on the staircase, waiting impatiently for Drew's footsteps, but they didn't come.
I sighed and got bored, taking a few pieces of bacon and shoving them into my mouth. The crispy, greasy food was like a haven right now. Like an oasis in the middle of a scorching desert. I needed food. Now.
I ate three eggs, four pieces of bacon, two sausages and drank three glasses of orange juice, then topped it off with a glass of milk.
And the strange thing about all that? I wasn't even very hungry. I was just eating for the sake of eating. Eating so I could take my mind off of her. Off of her smile, and her laugh, her adorable Southern accent and her amazingly perfect lips. I no longer wanted the taste of the savoury food. I wanted the taste of her lips. Like cotton candy and popcorn at the same time. Sweet, and warm and moist. Why couldn't I have them? That's right, because she's not officially mine. Not until she walks down that stairs and gives me some sort of sign. Some type of signal that lets me know she belongs to me, and I belong to her. All I had to do was wait.
Through the silence came a heart-wrenching scream. It came from upstairs. "Was that-" my Mom began to ask, but I didn't let her finish. I was racing up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time as I hurtled into my room.
Drew lay on the bed, crying her eyes out as her hands grasped at her head, tearing at her hair and scratching down her neck. "Drew!" I exclaimed, flying to her side of the bed, and lifting her up slightly. She could barely see me through the blinding salt-ridden tears covering her eyes, her mouth opening and closing in painful sobs. She choked out two words through the sharp breaths.
"You promised".
Now I felt bad. Terrible. Horrible. Horrific. "I know. I know I did baby girl, and I'm sorry, but we have to get you to a hospital" I ran my hands smoothly down her arms, my hands shaking as much as her body was. "No!" she began to protest, just as my Mother appeared in the doorway. "No, I don't want to go to a hospital. I'll be fine" her attitude suddenly changed when I mentioned the 'H' word.
Pattie's jaw dropped as she came running into the room. "What's wrong?" she gasped, expecting Drew to answer instead of me. "When she woke up this morning, she had a pain in the side of her head. It's much worse now" I briefly explained, glancing at my Mom, before returning my protective gaze to Drew. "Why didn't you tell me?" she breathed, brushing the hair out of Drew's tear-wet face before I could. "I didn't think to. I thought I could handle it" I blabbed, really wishing she would shut up so I could convince Drew to come to the hospital.
"Drew, you need to go to the hospital. I can see this is hurting you. A lot. I can't stand to see that" I tried again once more.
"No. Y-you promised it would stop, and it will".
"Who are you trying to convince Drew? Me, or yourself?".
I had won. She knew it. She began to whimper and shake her head. "I don't want to go Justin. Please don't take me there" she sobbed.
It was so difficult. She was begging me to keep her away from that place, crying and burying herself in my chest. "Drew you need to get a few tests done" Pattie said smoothly, a gentle smile on her face. Drew continued to cry and shake her head.
"Mom, pass me those shorts" I said quickly, taking one hand away from Drew to point at the faded denim shorts on her duffel bag. She flew across the room and returned with the clothing. I slid it up Drew's small body as she sniffed and tried to control her breathing. I didn't bother to tell her anymore, it would just upset her. I lifted her into my arms, bridal style, and carried her down the stairs, my Mom following swiftly behind. "I'll drive" she said swiftly, swiping the keys from the kitchen table.
"Justin! No please... Don't!" Drew wriggled in my arms, trying to escape from my grasp. "Drew, stop it" I told her, walking down the front steps as my Mom locked the door behind me. "Justin... I don't... Just please... Go back, take me back" she continued to sob, grasping at the air behind me as she willed to return to the house.
I opened the backseat door and set her in it as she cried. "Drew" I grasped onto her shoulders gently but firmly, my eyes serious yet loving.
"Trust me" <3