Jay's P. O. V.
I blink open my eyes, looking around in confusion as I realize I'm on the bathroom floor. I slowly sit up with a groan, holding my pounding head.
I'm dazed and I have to think for a moment to recall how I must've ended up here. Oh... I fainted.
I gradually stand up, holding onto the bathroom cabinet for extra support. I grab my shirt and phone and shuffle into my bedroom to lay down for a bit.
My head is absolutely killing me, but I just don't have the strength to get up again.
I'm scrolling through my phone when a knock resounds on my door. Lex comes in with a bag of Thai food and sits by me on my bed.
She squints at me as I sit up and start digging through the bag. "You look pretty pale. Are you okay?"
I grind my teeth together as her loud voice echoes through my throbbing head. "For goodness sakes, whisper. I've got a horrible headache."
Her mouth forms an o shape and she switches to a softer volume. "Do you want me to grab anything for you?"
I nod, then wince as the movement jostles my head too much. "Pills and water?" I ask quietly. She nods and leaves the room.
I consider calling Ben, but my anger stops me. I'm just not ready to talk to him again, even though I don't feel great.
It would be nice to have him hold me... No. I push away my thoughts and try to focus on eating.
I've got to get myself feeling better for practice tomorrow. I'd tell someone I fainted, but it wouldn't make a difference. My dad would think I'm making it up and force me to go back to practice. For now, the best thing I can do is rest for the remainder of the day.
Ben's P. O. V.
I've been up all night again stressing about Jay's football practice today. He still won't respond to any of my messages or calls, but I suppose I kind of deserve it.
I step out of my car at the football field, the sky just beginning to brighten with the rays of sunrise. I pick my way through the dew covered grass, following the roughly drawn map Devon made.
I eventually arrive by a set of bleachers and stand just out of the way enough that I can see the field, but am still mostly hidden.
The grass is covered with guys in blue football uniforms and pads, lined up and stretching as a coach yells at them and blows a whistle that pierces through the quiet morning air. They all move into a circle and start discussing something that I'm not close enough to hear.
I spot Jay amongst them, a number 10 on his back, but something seems off about him. Devon is next to him and glances over at me to give me a nod.
The coach blows his whistle again and the group splits, everyone except for Jay setting up in a formation. The coach is talking to Jay, gesturing toward the track that surrounds the field. Jay gives him a nod and takes off running around the track.
Jay's P. O. V.
I start on some laps as the rest of the team works on plays. The coach wanted to ease me into practice today, but I'm starting to think even that might be too much for me.
I woke up with another horrible headache this morning and I'm just not feeling great. Of course, my dad decided to bring me to practice himself today, giving me no opportunity to skip.
I round another bend on the path of the track, breathing heavily. I watch the guys run the plays as my feet pound the cement.
Devon gets tackled to the ground by Quint just as I round the last bend. Quint has definitely been showing his headstrong attitude as usual. I'm surprised he and Devon haven't already gotten into a fight with the amount of tension between them.
I come to a stop on the edge of the field and can now feel my head throbbing even worse than before. My hearbeat seems to be echoing through my ears, a throbbing pulse rushing through my whole body.
I suck in a few shaky breaths and start my way over to the coach who's yelling out tips and blasting his whistle. I come up next to him, breathing heavily as I watch the team.
The coach notices me and does a double take. "Whoah Jay, you doing alright?" His eyebrows scrunch together.
"Running doesn't usually take so much out of you. Why don't you sit down and take a break for a bit, observe the guys and give out some tips? I'll be back in a bit, I'm going to go grab some things for drills from my office in the building." I nod and sit in the grass as he walks away.
I watch the team run plays for a while; they don't even seem to notice the coach left. At least, that's what I think, until Devon takes an especially rough blow from Quint in the shoulder, and all hell breaks loose.
Quint is shouting down at Devon, whose face is just as angry but is interrupted with a few winces.
I clamber off the grass of the sideline and jog over to where everyone has started to yell at each other. They've divided amongst themselves and have taken to two sides: Devon's and Quint's.
I put the whistle hanging around my neck to my lips and let out a sharp blast, instilling silence with everyone turning to look at me. It's a bit unsettling, since a good chunk of them seem to now be glaring at me.
"What on earth is going on?" I ask. Quint sizes me up with a smirk. "Oh look who finally decided to do his duties as captain again."
My mouth sets into a hard line and I ignore his comment, turning to the rest of the team. "4 laps around the track for everyone. Get moving!" They take off, a few mumbling under their breath.
I shift my gaze to Devon, who's still sitting in the grass and slowly getting up. "Not you. What hurts?"
He's holding his upper arm as he lets out a grunt of pain. "Shoulder." He gets up slowly. "I can still run though."
I shake my head at him and point to an out of the way bench on another part of the sidelines. "Go sit down. I'll ask the coach what to do when he gets back, but I'm guessing you'll probably have to see a doctor."
He raises his eyebrows. "You're one to talk. I'm not so sure you should even be playing." He reprimands.
"It's not like I can do anything about it." I grumble, looking away. "My dad practically forced me to come, and he's not going to listen to a word I say if I try to argue."
Devon stares grimly ahead, pursuing his lips. "I guess. But still. There's got to be some way to go around him. If you'd go see Ben's dad a few more times, maybe get some tests done, maybe they could figure out what's wrong and we'd have a reason for your dad as to why you shouldn't be playing."
I shake my head. "I don't want to talk about Ben right now." I say quietly, avoiding Devon's gaze. "The coach is back. I'm going to go talk to him." I mumble, walking away.
Devon's P. O. V.
Jay has always been stubborn, today being no different. At this point though, shouldn't he realize he needs to look out for himself a little better?
He needs to go see the doctor again, even if he says he doesn't want to interact at all with Ben right now. I know that part's a lie though.
I can see on his face just how much he really cares for the guy, and I can tell this goes beyond a friendship.
Even that day at the restaurant when I first met Ben, I could tell that a good chunk of the time Jay was caught up in Ben's presence and not completely paying attention to what I was saying.
The funniest part is that I think they're both oblivious to the level of concern they have for each other. This is the happiest I've seen Jay in a while though, especially with the incidents of last year.
If anything, he's not mad at Ben, he's scared to get hurt again. But it's not my place to tell either of them that. I just hope the idiots don't take too long to figure it out by themselves.
I catch Ben's eyes, his body hidden partly behind the bleachers. "You okay?" He mouths. I shrug and wince in pain, gripping at my shoulder again. Mental note: don't do that again. I can tell something isn't quite right with it but I don't know what. Hopefully I'll be up and running again soon.
Jay's down the sideline, talking to the coach and gesturing at me before they both walk over.
"Why don't you both call it quits for the day?" The coach suggests. "Jay, make sure Devon gets his shoulder checked out. I expect one of you to update me. I'll see you guys after the weekend again, practice starts on Monday bright and early." We nod and head toward the locker room to get changed, agreeing to keep him posted.
I dig through my bag and pull out my phone, quickly telling Ben that we're leaving and to go before Jay spots him on our way out.
I get changed back into my normal pants with only a little struggle. I go to pull my jersey over my head and freeze, gritting my teeth in pain.
"Jay?" I say. He looks up from his phone. "There is no way I can get my shirt off right now. I can't move my arm without it being painful."
He comes over to me, looking thoughtful. "We might just have to leave everything on for now. If it's that bad, they'll cut off your jersey at the doctor's office. It's fine, coach has extras."
I nod and grab my things, being wary of my injured arm. "You were gonna ride with me after practice right? Do you wanna just drive my car for me?"
He nods and I give him the keys. We throw our stuff in the back and I carefully get into the car's passenger side.
We head to the hospital and end up waiting for a doctor. "Devon Kane." A nurse calls, and we head back to the room. They do end up cutting off my jersey like Jay said, but he's able to help me get my shoulder pads off so the doctor can look at my shoulder.
He does an x-ray and then goes off to get the results, leaving Jay and I alone. "Jay, I really do think you should go see Ben's dad again, even if you don't go with Ben or tell him about it; I won't force you to do that. I'll even go with you if you want." I tell him.
He looks up at me with a sigh and rolls his eyes. "If it means you'll shut up about it, then fine, I'll go." I chuckle and end up wincing.
"You know, your shoulder doesn't look great. I think it's starting to swell a bit." He says."Yeah, well it doesn't feel great either. Hopefully they can fix it."
The doctor comes back in with the results. "Alright, no broken bones, which is good. However, I'm pretty sure my earlier theory is true. Your shoulder is probably dislocated. I'll have to feel it a bit."
He comes over and starts prodding at my shoulder, and I have to bite my tongue so I don't yell out from the pain.
"Yep. Discolated. Which means, unfortunately, I'll have to pop it into back into place. I'm not going to lie and say this won't hurt, but it will feel a little better after." I chuckle dryly.
"Alright, on three. One... two... three." He pushes my shoulder back in and I cry out. "I'm going to go get you a sling. You'll have to keep it on for about 4 weeks, then come back and we'll see if you're ready to play again. Until then, no harsh physical activity, no sports. I'd also maybe look at getting a brace for when you start playing again." He leaves the room and I turn to Jay.
"That hurt like hell." I tell him, scrunching up my face. He laughs. "Yeah, I could kinda tell by the noise you made." We crack up, and the doctor comes back to us laughing. He doesn't comment on it, just fits the sling and tells us we're free to go.