Catching Feelings Ch. 03

Chloe, who was ever the practical one of the group, had turned on her phone camera to record some of the shaking and crying, in case Jasper tried to pull anything with the press.

"Don't record this!" Jeremy cried, trying to hide his face.

"It's just in case, Jeremy," she said as she put the phone in a place that could see him so she could come over to him.

"It doesn't matter what Jasper says to the press," Jeremy groaned. "I don't w-want my mental breakdown all over the blogs!"

"What happened?" Ethan asked.

"H-he trapped me, and he k-k-kissed me and...and...touched me, and I f-f-froze up," Jeremy cried through sobs. "I wanted to p-push him off, and I c-c-couldn't. So I c-closed my eyes, and tried to g-get strength to do s-something! FUCK!"

Ethan was looking closely at his hand as Jeremy explained it all. "I don't like the way this is swelling, Jer. You might have broken something. We should get you to the ER."

"I d-don't care," Jeremy said as he leaned back into the couch, his breath hitching.

"Okay, but I do," Ethan said and gave Jeremy a look.

"You can w-wrap it, but I'm not g-going," Jeremy replied and the resolute look on his face made Ethan sigh.

"Where are your meds, Jer?" Ethan asked.

Jeremy shook his head. "I don't r-remember. My room?"

"I'll find them," Chloe said and then disappeared into Jeremy's room.

"He's never going to forgive me," Jeremy complained, putting his good arm over his eyes as Ethan used what first aid supplies Jeremy had to wrap up his hand.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Ethan said. "What Jasper did is assault, and you reacted like most assault victims do. You froze. Jimmy can't fault you for that, and if he does, then he's a raging asshole."

"It's ch-cheating," Jeremy replied, and Ethan gave him a glare.

"Oh, so rape is cheating then too?" Ethan asked.

Jeremy looked away from him, not answering, and Chloe came back out with a medicine bottle. She pulled out the Xanax that Jeremy had been prescribed not long after the scandal had hit, and gave it to him before grabbing a water for him to rinse it down.

"Try and rest now," Ethan said. "Chloe and I will try to talk to Jimmy, tell him what happened. And then once you've calmed down, we'll take you to the ER."

"Whatever," Jeremy sighed. "I'm sure it's f-fine."

"Mhmm," Ethan hummed in an annoyed way and then helped Jeremy get up. Chloe went to shut off the recording, and they got Jeremy down the hallway.

He demanded they stop at the bathroom so he could try and shower. Ethan complained that he would have to wrap the wrist again, but Jeremy was in such a state of panic over not being clean that they couldn't really deny him. Chloe went to get fresh clothes while Ethan helped him get out of the ones he was in and led him into the shower. By the time Jeremy was done, he had scrubbed the skin raw around his mouth and dick. Ethan had to rewrap the wrist, but he did it, and then made him put some ointment on where he had scrubbed the skin so roughly.

Chloe and Ethan helped him get into the boxers and pajama pants she had brought in, and then led him into his bedroom where he let them put him into the bed. Chloe pulled up the comforter and it didn't take too long after that for Jeremy to fall into a fitful sleep.

"So, how do we find Jimmy?" Chloe asked after they shut his door to let him sleep.

It had taken a while to get Jeremy the care they needed to give him for now, so it was a little after dinner time.

"We could call him," Ethan suggested. "Or we could go to some of his haunts."

"Or his dorm room," Chloe pointed out.

"Let's try there first, and then go from there," Ethan said, and she gave a nod of her head before they headed out. Ethan had taken one of Jeremy's spare keys in case they would need it later, either to make sure he was okay or to force him to go to urgent care at the very least.

After Jimmy had calmed down some, Wayne had convinced him to come out to a party at the Pi Kappa Alpha frat house. He let them ply him with alcohol and got sloppy drunk, mourning his lost relationship. Wayne tried to keep things upbeat around him but the strain of it was starting to show in his eyes. He was furious with Jeremy and his friends for messing with his best friend's life.

Jimmy obviously wasn't at the dorm when they got there, and his roommate told them that he had gone with his football friends to a party, and told them where. They made their way to the Frat house, trying to decide how they wanted to do this. They stopped when they saw Jasper on campus though.

"Hey, do you want to do a little spy work, Chloe Cat?" Ethan asked.

"Do tell," Chloe asked excitedly, and he whispered something to her before they went up to Jasper.

Chloe was fiddling with her phone, bringing up the camera to start recording while Ethan stopped in front of Jasper. "What are you still doing here?"

"Considering transferring," Jasper said with a grin. "What's wrong, can't find what you're looking for, Morrow?"

"I'll try calling him," Chloe said to Ethan and then brought her recording phone up to her ear so she could capture this conversation.

"Jeremy told me what you did," Ethan exclaimed, crossing his arms in front of him. "You gave him a panic attack, and possibly a complete nervous breakdown!"

Jasper just smiled at that. "Jeremy always was such a people pleaser. Always so afraid to make waves, and too afraid to fight back. Had I done that to one of you two, I'm sure I would have gotten a faceful of fist."

"You used that knowledge to overpower him and kiss him, and grab his crotch, which by the way, is assault," Ethan cried.

"No one is going to cry for the poor fag just because he couldn't fight against me," Jasper laughed. "Did you know his body was shaking so badly through the whole kiss? I bet his little boyfriend didn't see it though. His little boyfriend definitely didn't see the way he wrenched away from me like I'd punched him when I grabbed his dick too."

Chloe moved the phone away from her ear, but kept it up, like she was trying to cover the receiver. "You knew he was having a panic attack and you kept going?"

Jasper shrugged. "As I said, no one is going to cry for him."

"If you were smart, you'd be off campus before I found you again, Jasper," Ethan warned him, his voice serious and deadly calm. "Understood?"

Chloe turned off the recording and put her phone back in her pocket, and with great effort, kept herself from trying to scratch Jasper's eyes out. "No answer. Let's go."

Ethan pushed past Jasper, who didn't bother to follow them, and they continued on to the frat house. It only took them another ten minutes to get there, and it was fairly easy to find Jimmy and his crew near a pool table trying to play a game to cheer Jimmy up.

"Do you really think we'll need these recordings for this?" Chloe asked Ethan quietly.

Ethan shook his head. "I don't know, but we have it just in case." They came into the room and into the group before Ethan spoke first. "Hey Jimmy."

Wayne stood up quickly and got between them and Jimmy. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here right now," Wayne said threateningly.

Ethan gave a look that said he wasn't much affected by the threat, but before he could say anything, Chloe spoke up, "Two people got really hurt today and we're trying to make sure that it gets cleared up."

"Oh, so you're just here to clean up Jeremy's messes for him again?" Wayne asked derisively.

"Oh you're gonna want to take that back right the fuck now," Chloe said, starting to roll up her sleeves like she was getting ready to fight, but then Ethan's cold laugh made the entire group go silent and look at him.

Ethan took a step forward, and his normally cheerful turquoise eyes suddenly looked ice cold and dangerous as he held out his hand to Chloe. She gave him a sideways look and handed him her phone before she moved to stand behind him. She knew he wouldn't hurt her but getting in Ethan's way when he was this angry was always a bad idea. He had a tongue that cut far worse than his fists ever could.

Ethan stepped forward as he brought up Chloe's apps, not looking at Wayne yet, but standing very close to him. "I can appreciate that you're protective of your friend, Wayne. That's a very good thing, but before you stick that foot any further into your stupid fucking mouth, maybe you should shut up because I'm only going to say this once."

Ethan then looked up at Wayne, giving him an extremely cold smile that showed just how furious he was with the man. "I have to give you all a lot of credit. You're doing a great job of jumping to conclusions without getting facts. We're all incredibly upset that Jimmy got hurt in this, but he's not the only one who did. My best friend is currently passed out after having a panic attack when his ex-boyfriend stalked him here and sexually assaulted him in order to hurt Jimmy and gain control over Jeremy again.

"But don't let me tell you the truth." Ethan then pulled up the recording with Jasper Chloe had taken, and turned the phone and played it for them.

"He's not wrong about that people pleasing thing, by the way," Ethan said, his voice still hard. "Jeremy's dad basically taught him to do that from the womb, and any time conflict flashes up, Jeremy has his head down doing what will keep people calm and happy."

Then he pulled up the recording of the panic attack that Chloe had taken, and played it for the group too. Jimmy was too busy drinking and losing himself in that to take any notice that all of his friends were watching this video. Chloe had turned away when Ethan started playing that particular video, as it hurt to even just listen to it again. It hurt Ethan too, but he forced himself not to tune it out because it was a reminder of why he was so upset right then.

"Have a response, Wayne?" Ethan asked, crossing his arms in front of him and waiting.

"Yeah, get out. We'll make sure Jimmy hears the truth tomorrow but for tonight his heart is broken and we aren't about to let someone minimize that. I appreciate what y'all were doing here tonight, but we have to look after our friend and get him to bed. Neither of them is in any condition to do any rational thinking this evening," Wayne said tactfully but firmly. As he said this, Jimmy threw up into the punch bowl.

Chloe looked grossed out but Ethan just sighed. "I wasn't minimizing the damage Jasper did to Jimmy. That's what you were doing to Jeremy."

He didn't give Wayne a chance to reply before he turned and started to walk away though. Chloe looked Wayne over for a moment, her blue eyes sad and shining with tears as she took in his hard stance and the way he looked at them before she shook her head at him and walked away. She caught up with Ethan outside, and they walked in silence for a little bit until Chloe worked up the nerve to speak.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

"You know, every once in a while, I start to think wow, these people who didn't grow up with all of the big money issues are really cool and could be good friends, and then shit happens and it's a reminder of this very distinct divide, you know?" Ethan said, still fuming.

"I don't know that it's a money thing," Chloe commented.

"No, but it's a difference in the things we've dealt with," Ethan replied angrily. "Anyone in our circle would have seen what happened and gone, gee, that seems incredibly suspicious. Perhaps we should check to see what is actually going on!"

Chloe chewed on her lip for a moment. "So, what you're saying is that they don't have our lived experiences to be paranoid about every social interaction we go into. Is that really a bad thing?"

"It just means we don't meld well. They basically think we're freaks," Ethan grumbled, some of the steam going out of him. "Go home. I'm going to go to Jeremy's and see if I can't get him to the ER once he wakes up."

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," she told him when they got to the end of the sidewalk and gave him a hug, and then they split off.

Wayne and the rest of the team stood there silently watching Jeremy's friends leave until they were out of sight, then Wayne rolled his eyes and turned to see what he could salvage of his best friend. They got him cleaned up and back to his room to sleep it off with a pitcher of water and a note by his bed to call Wayne when he woke up. Meanwhile, the team had a job to do.

~~~

Jeremy didn't wake up until very early morning, around five AM. He was groggy and out of it, and feeling the side effects of both of the medication and the panic attack. Ethan had fallen asleep on the other side of his bed and Jeremy's stirring was enough to wake him up as well. This time Ethan was much more insistent about the emergency room, and so Ethan was able to get Jeremy down to his own car and drove him to the ER. They were there for at least five to six hours, waiting on x-rays and then putting splints on a few of his fingers before getting a cast around his wrist. He had a hairline fracture, and they didn't want him doing anything to put strain on it.

"Fine my unfucked ass," Ethan said, and it was the first time since everything had happened that Jeremy had given him even a ghost of a smile.

They gave him pain medicine to take as well as anti-inflammatories and sent him home. Ethan got him something to take his medicine with as soon as they got back to the apartment, and then Ethan sat down to email Jeremy's professors to explain why he would be out for the next day or two. The pain meds were strong, and it wasn't long before he was back in bed and sleeping again, which left Ethan to sleep on the couch in the living room.

Jimmy woke up in his room, his mouth tasting like vomit and his clothes definitely different from the ones he'd worn to the party. He drank the water and called Wayne, who told him to hang out in the room today. He had arranged for Jimmy to have an excused absence from his classes for the next couple of days and had asked Jimmy's roommate to keep him in the room. Wayne stopped by a few hours later with swollen knuckles that he wouldn't explain except to assure Jimmy that no one had beat up on Jeremy.

Once Wayne had gotten settled in, they started talking about what had happened and why Jimmy was understandably upset. Wayne pointed out that he may not know the entire story and he should curb thoughts of breaking up until he'd had a chance to talk to Jeremy with an open mind. Jimmy couldn't make any promises but he said he would try.

The next time Jeremy woke up was because his wrist felt like it was on fire. Ethan and Chloe were both over at that point, and Chloe worked on getting some food made while Ethan got him his medicine. They sat around the table to eat, but Jeremy really only pushed the food around his plate.

"You need to eat, dude," Ethan chided softly.

"Yeah I know," Jeremy said and forced himself to eat a tiny bit, but his heart wasn't really in it. "I've been thinking about this whole situation, and how it feels like no matter where I go, it follows me. Maybe it's time to just stop trying and drop out. It's not like I wanted to study political science anyway."

"Your family would disown you if you did that," Chloe pointed out.

"I know," Jeremy agreed. "I'd probably go back to New York, try and find a job. I have enough know-how in those circles that I could find something decent. I could even get into the reporting side. I have more ins than most reporters. I could make quite a bit."

"So that's it? Give up?" Ethan asked, his turquoise eyes intense as they took in Jeremy.

Jeremy shrugged and pushed the plate away. "I'm not sure it's giving up so much as accepting the fact that being a gay son of a politician is impossible, and walking away from it."

"Please don't," Chloe begged. "It's been so nice having you close by. Forget football players, and let's just focus on having fun and finishing school."

"Does that mean you're done with footballers too?" Ethan asked her.

Chloe pursed her lips. "I'm not dumb. The man was never interested. Consider me done with the athletes. I'm honestly getting sick of casual sex anyways. It's not fun anymore, and some guys just look at me like used goods. I can just start dating in our circle, provided the guy meets your approval. If you two don't like him, then the guy will never survive."

"I guess that makes our bet null and void if she gives up," Ethan pointed out.

Jeremy just nodded his head. "I'm getting tired. I don't need you two babysitting me anymore."

Ethan sighed. "It's not babysitting. We're just making sure you're safe."

"Go home, go to class," Jeremy ordered. "I'm going to sleep and make some decisions. Thank you, though, for being here."

Chloe got up and washed the dishes before giving him a kiss on the cheek, and then the two of them left and walked across downtown and back to campus. They ended up accidentally stumbling upon some of the football guys, including Wayne, but as soon as they saw them, Chloe turned and went a different way, which made Ethan hurry to follow her because he wasn't entirely sure which way she was going. This way definitely didn't lead to their apartment.

Wayne had stopped to watch them approach and ended up watching them walk away. Wayne gave it some thought, but wasn't about to go chasing after someone who wanted nothing to do with him. Wayne and the team kept shadowing Jasper until he left town entirely, his arm in a sling and a rather gaudy neck brace making him look ridiculous.

A few days later, Jimmy perused the pawn shop, looking for the largest, gaudiest boombox he'd ever seen. He paid the man behind the counter and headed off across town. He got to Jeremy's apartment and put the Wham! CD into the boombox. He started blasting "Careless Whisper" as loud as the radio would go, holding it over his head.

Jeremy opened up the door, having been caught during one of his few awake times as he waited to be able to take another pill and tried to choke down some food, which wasn't his favorite thing to do right now. He looked like hell as he stood there with a bewildered look on his face. He had bags under his eyes, the cast on his wrist, and he looked pale and out of it as he stood there shirtless.

"Dude, you're going to get a noise complaint called in," Jeremy finally said while he tried to wrap his mind around this whole thing. Then he muttered, "Of course, if I break my lease, I guess a noise complaint doesn't matter."

Jimmy turned off the boombox. "So, um, why would you break your lease?"

Jeremy looked away from him. "I was considering dropping out, going back home to find a job."

"Oh, no, you're not doing that," Jimmy said, picking up the boombox and approaching Jeremy a little hesitantly. "I think we have a little something to talk about. Did you want to do that inside?"

"Sure," Jeremy replied and then moved out of the way of the door to let Jimmy come into the apartment before he shut the door again.

Jimmy set the boombox on the kitchen table and sat down tiredly. "Wayne tells me I'm jumping to conclusions about what I saw and I should hear you out before I go making any rash decisions."

Jeremy sighed and came over to the table and sat down across from Jimmy. "Chloe is the one with the videos that would tell you exactly what happened, because I'm not sure my word would be enough."

"If there's video proof, I'm sure your word is more than sufficient. Why don't you try me?" Jimmy asked.

Jeremy got back up and grabbed his phone before coming back to sit down, opening up his text messages and pushing the phone across the table. He had opened them up to the texts from Jasper, which had all gone unanswered, but it was clear Jasper had been messaging him for weeks.

The messages were all around the same theme. "We need to talk" and "I miss you" and "Jeremy, please answer me."