Jem’s POV

I took the drive slowly as we pulled out of the restaurant’s parking lot. I knew I should be headed back home. Paperwork was piling up that I had been neglecting in order to get this meeting set up along with trying to find the asshole responsible for it but there was an itch in the back of my head that I couldn’t let go of. 

Dev and Barrett said nothing when I didn’t turn down the driveway. They simply leaned back farther in their seats, probably assuming I wasn’t ready to go home yet and needed a little drive but as we got closer to a certain home, they became more alert.

“Marking black SUV, following for 4 miles,” Dev said calmly as he stared at the offending car behind us.

“Unmarking blue sedan, turning off the highway,” Barrett said just as calmly as if the people in those cars would hear them and they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

The drive continued like that, done in utter silence unless a mark was being noted or unnoted.

When we pulled into the driveway, I paused.

“This was a mistake,” I told them, already putting the car in reverse. “We’re going home.”

“If this is where you want to be then it’s no mistake,” Dev said gently. “You’ve been working too much. A quick visit and short rest after today is okay.”

I wasn’t all that convinced but one look at Dev through the rear view said that if I didn’t get out of the car then he would. I nodded and put the car back in park before turning it off.

They didn’t bother escorting me to the door and I supposed I couldn’t blame them but without them pushing me, I simply stared at the door for a while. It took far longer than I would ever admit for me to pull my nerves together and knock but the answer was almost immediate.

Andrew stood in the doorway. He was wearing an old, well-loved, blue shirt and sweatpants. His hair was still partially wet from the shower he must have taken recently but he looked very much awake. 

“I didn’t know you were coming over,” he said with a bright smile.

“Sorry, I should have called.”

“Don’t be sorry.” His eyes drifted to the car that still held Dev and Barrett. “Are you not coming in?”

“I shouldn’t,” I sighed. “I just wanted to see you for a little bit.”

“Did something happen?”

“Not really, it’s just been a rather long day.”

“You look tired,” he said sadly, his hand coming up to brush the hair out of my eyes. I selfishly leaned into the warmth as he cupped my cheek.

“I am tired,” I admit and suddenly he’s frowning.

“When’s the last time you slept?” I had to genuinely think about it before I was able to come up with an answer.

“I think Monday,” I said though I don’t remember if I had actually slept or if that was a long blink I had at the desk and assumed it was sleep.

“That was three days ago,” he sighed. His hand pulled away and I found myself chasing it. His frown grew but he allowed the contact to continue. “Have you eaten yet today?”

“I think so.”

“What do you mean you think you ate?”

“It could have been yesterday.” He didn’t seem all that impressed.

“Come inside. You don’t have to sleep but I made dinner, at least eat.”

“Dev and Barrett-,” I start but he doesn’t let me finish. 

“Dev and Barrett are more than welcome to come in and eat too,” he said as he looked back at the car and waved them in as his other arm wrapped around my shoulders and led me inside.

Far too much of my weight was held up by him as he half dragged me to the couch. Dev and Barrett weren’t far behind and went straight for the kitchen when Andrew told them they were free to eat.

Had I given them time to eat today? We were up pretty early this morning at the warehouse, then we had a meeting with our drug lead, and then the meeting a few minutes ago. Surely I had left time for that. 

Seconds later a plate of pizza was being placed in front of me.

“I thought you said you cooked,” I asked as I looked up at Andrew. He had a small blush on his face as he sat down beside me. 

“I did, as to why pizza was ordered. Turns out hashbrowns and cauliflower don’t make the best casserole.” I smiled despite myself as I leaned against him. It had been a while since I craved touch this much but Andrew didn’t seem to mind.

Dev and Barrett sat on the other end of the couch. Dev holding a plate of the same pizza I had while Barrett worked his way through the casserole. 

“You don’t have to eat that,” Andrew sighed. “I know it’s not good.”

“We don’t waste food in this household,” Barrett said simply.

“This isn’t your household,” I sighed. 

“And Jem’s cooking is too good to waste,” Andrew said softly, his hands playing in my hair as I ate. Barrett only shrugged but continued eating.

I was only able to make it halfway through my serving when my eyes closed and threatened to not open again.

“Sleep,” Andrew said softly, taking the plate from my hands and coaxing me to lay down on his lap.

“Need to get home.”

“A little nap won’t hurt anything,” Dev said, just as softly as Andrew. “We’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.” I knew he was lying but Andrew was so warm and his lap was oddly soft.

“Just a few minutes,” I demanded as Andrew continued to play with my hair. 

“Just a few minutes,” he promised and I was out like a light.

Andrew’s POV

“How long has been like this,” I asked but my eyes never left the man sleeping on my lap.

He looked bad, which was rather hard for him to do. He was paler than usual, only a few shades above looking like he was bleeding out. His eyes drooped and fought him to stay closed every time he blinked. He had lost weight some home in the week since I had last seen him. 

He hadn’t looked great then but that was mostly because he had been crying and was still tired. 

This wasn’t just tired though. This didn’t come from just sleeping a few hours or being busy all day at work. This was exhausted. This was going days without sleep and working yourself to the bone to get things done.

How could he have gotten this bad in only a week after swearing up and down to me through texts that he had been fine?

“A little over a week,” Dev sighed. “Some kids were playing with fireworks by the house. We all thought for a second we were being attacked. He hasn’t snapped back yet.”

“Has he been eating,” I asked, looking down at the ribs that seemed to be more visible now than they had been just a week ago.

“He says he has,” Dev said. “I’ve yet to see it. He keeps sending us away during the day so we won’t make him take breaks but it’s clear he’s not eating enough if he is.”

“He said he thinks he ate today. Did he?”

“No,” Barrett said this time, working on his second plate of casserole that I honestly don’t know how he’s choking back. “This is the first time we’ve had to sit down all day.”

“He’s not okay,” I sighed and to my surprise, they both nodded. Usually, when I pointed this out there was a whispered fight while Jem continued to sleep. Them saying they had it taken care of, me saying this wasn’t taken care of, and that it was enabling him to keep going. The fact that they agreed was beyond worrisome.

“We can’t get him to stop,” Dev said after a while. “Normally we can convince him to at least stop long enough to make us dinner. It’s a bit of a guilt trip but it works. And if that didn’t work we can usually drag him away but he’s started to fight us when we try. He’s never done that before but he actually managed to punch Barrett yesterday. I don’t know what to do.” 

“Hurt like a mother fucker too,” Barrett said, turning his head to show me the deep purple bruise on his cheek. “It’s happened a few times, us fighting, but we usually pull our punches. I don’t think he cares about anything other than getting this shit taken care of as quickly as possible.”

I didn’t have a good understanding of what was going on, that had been Jem’s condition and I agreed to it but I couldn’t allow this behavior to continue. The problem was, I didn’t know how to get him to stop either. If Dev and Barrett had already tried everything they knew, what chance did I have? 

The last time this had happened Patrick and I had set up a little date and he crashed the second he got comfortable. He seemed to be better after that but I doubt that would work this time.

“What can we do?”

“A whole lot of nothing,” Barrett said as he glared at the floor. He didn’t seem upset with the question as much as his own answer. “Keep doing what we have been doing and hope for the best I guess.”

“We could talk to him,” Dev said.

“He won’t listen to reason,” Barrett countered but Dev lifted his eyes to me.

“No, but he might listen to Andrew. We’ve been trying to get him to eat and sleep for the past week yet it took Andrew all of two seconds to get him to do both.”

“Exhaustion just wore him out,” I sighed. “It won’t work again for a while.”

“Maybe,” Dev agreed. “But we have to try, don’t we? He’s going to get himself killed.”

“I’ll try,” I said with another frown. “But don’t expect a miracle.”
Patrick picked that exact moment to step out of the bedroom. He had just taken a shower and now stood there in nothing but his boxers. His hair dripped with water that slid down his body and he froze as he looked around the room. Dev had the decency to look away but Barrett smirked.

“Dinner and a show,” Barrett teased. “Now that’s something I could get used to.” Patrick blushed a dark shade of red before disappearing back into the bedroom. 

“Why are they here,” Patrick asked with a light glare pointed at Barrett when he came back, this time fully clothed.

“Jem is here,” Barrett answered simply. “Where else do you expect us to be?” Patrick looked around again before finding Jem in my lap. He frowned. 

“Is he sick or something?”

“Or something,” Dev agreed.

We stayed up talking for a while, Barrett seemingly forgetting our feud in favor of trying to help Jem but after a while, the conversation turned casual as we waited for Jem to wake up.

None of us honestly thought he would allow himself to sleep for more than a few hours but when midnight rolled around it was clear he was out for the night.

“If I moved, would he wake up,” I asked as sleep called to me.

“For sure,” Barrett sighed. “And then we would go home and he would start working again.” I sighed and tried to move as smoothly as possible to get more comfortable.

“I guess I’m sleeping on the couch then,” I sighed. “There’s a spare bedroom if you two want to use it, only one bed though.”

“We’ve shared enough times on road trips,” Dev said as he stood up. “Mind if I grab a shower?”

“Go for it,” Patrick said as he pointed to the guest bath. “I’ll get you some clothes.” Dev looked each of us up and down before scoffing.

“I doubt you have anything that would fit me.” And he had a good point.

Barrett didn’t bother with a shower. He wasn’t as bad looking as Jem but he did seem exhausted. I could all but hear him face-plant on the bed.

When the house turned quiet I felt sleep call to me and let myself fall.