Alex

When I finally came to, my head was pounding and my mouth felt like I had been eating sand the night before. Rolling over in bed, I glanced at the alarm clock to see that it was already afternoon. Well, I had missed my training session, that much was sure.

Slipping out of bed and pulling a shirt on, I headed downstairs to see Jake and Jenny passed out on the sofa together. I raised an eyebrow, noticing how Jake's arm was resting across her waist in a not safe for work way. So much for 'just colleagues'.

I essentially drank a small towns worth of water before my thirst was satiated. It was chased quickly by paracetamol to kill my headache, made worse by all of the windows in this damn house that let the light flood through. How Jake and Jenny were sleeping through this sunlight was beyond me.

There was a hastily scribbled note on my counter top.

Alex,

I've headed to Ray's to get Amelia early. Thank you to you and Jake for last night. It really did cheer me up.

- Angelica

Tucking the note into my pocket, I headed to the coffee machine to make myself a brew. 

Likely being arisen by the smell of coffee, it wasn't long before a rough looking Jake appeared. He helped himself to my coffee and sat opposite me, sipping on his mug and staring off into the distance.

"Angelica?" He asked, his voice rugged.

"Went early this morning to get Amelia." 

Jake nodded, returning to staring into the distance. 

I think this was the longest Jake had gone without talking about work in a long time. It was surprising, especially considering what had happened last night. I thought he would wake up hyperventilating this morning.

"I swiped these back from Ray's counter last night." Jake chucked my phone on the table.

"Cheat." I grumbled, switching my phone on.

The first thing I noticed about my phone was that I was low on battery. The second thing that I noticed was that I had a text. The third, that it was from none other than Dylan. Sent this morning at nine. It was now almost one in the afternoon.

"Fuck." I cursed, scrambling to open the text.

Dylan: Hi, I'm sorry about going radio silent all week. Are you free to chat today?

Wasting no time, I jogged upstairs as fast as I could while texting a reply. It made me feel nauseous moving this fast when I had spent the night before more intoxicated than I had been in years. It was worth it, though.

Me: I can be at the park fountain in twenty minutes? x

I had never showered so fast, scrubbing all of the grossness of last night off of my body. It helped wake me up a little, also. I didn't exactly want to show up to see Dylan looking like I'd crawled out of the sewer while still half asleep.

By the time I had finished showering, towel drying my hair, I had received a reply from Dylan.

Dylan: Okay, I'll see you there.

It was noticeable to me that Dylan had stopped sending kisses, which made my stomach twist in a bad way. I had a horrible feeling that this was a 'break up' chat of sorts and that killed me to think about.

Throwing on my most undistinguished outfit, I bounded back downstairs and headed straight for my garage.  The journey to the park wasn't long, but it felt like it lasted for an eternity. I was right on time for when I had told Dylan I would be there and sure enough there he sat, on the fountain edge.

He looked the same as he always did, sat there with his headphones on, bopping his head. 

"Dylan." I tapped his shoulder to get his attention through his musically zoned out state. 

He jumped, but quickly stood up to greet me. It was awkward. I wasn't sure whether I should hug him or whether that wasn't okay anymore. I felt a little lost.

"Hi, Alex." Dylan breathed, looking down at his shoes.

"It's good to see you, Dylan."

A silence settled over us and I waited patiently for him to take the lead. I wanted this to go the way he wanted to, at his own pace. So, I would just wait. Dylan took a seat on the fountain again and I followed suit, perching on the edge far enough away from him that we were not brushing up against each other. 

"I wanted to say that I'm really sorry if I worried you." Dylan began to speak, still looking anywhere but at me.

"Of course I was worried about you, but you don't need to apologise. You haven't done anything wrong." 

"I had a burnout episode and had to go home." Dylan explained, "Autistic burnout, it's called."

Suddenly a whole lot about Dylan made much more sense.

"Moving to Uni and having to adjust to this whole new life has just been a lot. It's like all of the routines and stuff in my life suddenly disappeared and I have way less time to do the things I love because I'm having to do law instead. My parents are putting so much pressure on me to do well when I can barely remember what was on the exam I sat because they think that at least if I earn a lot of money then nothing is wrong with me..."

"There's nothing wrong with being neurodivergent." 

I cut Dylan off because I wanted to make that very clear. I obviously didn't know what his parents had made him feel, but if he even remotely thought that they think there is something wrong with him, then that wasn't fair.

Dylan looked at me with a strange expression on his face before he crumpled and began to cry. It broke my heart to see him so upset. I wrapped an arm around his shoulder, bringing him into my chest while he cried. The poor kid looked exhausted.

"I'm sorry." Dylan snivelled, "My parents just act like it's some shameful thing that they're waiting for me to 'get over'. It's difficult."

Rubbing my hand across his back in circles seemed to help sooth him. I just nodded in understanding, knowing what it was like to have a difficult home life.I rest my chin against the top of his head, holding him to me like that. It felt good to have him back in my arms like this.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"I don't know how to put it into words." Dylan sighed, "Sometimes I just feel so exhausted by everything that I shut down. As if I can't function anymore." 

"I think that's understandable and I'm glad you took that time away from things. How are you feeling, by the way?" I asked.

Dylan pulled away from my chest and dried his eyes with the back of his sleeve, his cheeks still flushed.

"Better, now." Dylan nodded, "Still tired, though. I'm going to take it easy, I think."

"Well, let me know if you ever need a nap buddy. I'd be more than happy to oblige." I joked.

"I just might take you up on that."

Dylan flashed a weak smile at me and took ahold of my hand, beginning to play with my fingers. A comfortable silence settled over us but I had a thousand things running through my brain. I didn't want to overwhelm Dylan with questions, so I tried to push it down but I wanted to make sure Dylan knew he was safe with me.

"Dylan, if you ever feel like you need to leave a situation, you can tell me. No questions, no fuss; we will leave, okay?" 

He nodded and continued to play with my hands, tracing every vein and palm line with his gentle fingers. 

"How has your week been?" Dylan was obviously trying to change the topic.

Opening my phone, I typed in my own name and clicked on recent articles before passing the phone to Dylan. He read through carefully, his face an expression of shock. 

"Your poor sister." 

The park began to get busier as the afternoon sun warmed up and the stares quickly began to increase in frequency. Before long, we were being approached.

"Alex, I'm a huge fan. Can you sign this for me?"