Big Red's Pov:

It was Monday evening after a weekend full of shows and chaos. Luckily, the final two shows didn't consist of any last minute costume changes or wonderstudies. Ashlyn was feeling better and her fever went down after a good nights rest and time to sleep in on Saturday

I found myself in the local gym with Ricky, I needed to blow some steam off after quite a week of non-stop worrying, but I also had another ulterior motive as well

"Since when did you get so motivated to go to the gym"

Ricky teased while we were taking a much needed water break after a half an hour of bench presses and dead lifts

The answer was simple

"Ashlyn"

"Awe loverboy, trying to impress her?"

He swooned in a joking manor

"Please dude, do you really think Ashlyn would care how many abs I have or how big my biceps are? She's not into that, she just wants to be treated like a princess"

Ok maybe I was trying to impress her a little, but lets face it. I'm this scrawny little 5 foot 2/1/2 guy. I'm not sure if I can fully carry her completely on my own and she needs me to be able to do that now more than ever

"Well there's gotta be some big motivator because I've never seen you do that many deadlifts. I don't think I've seen you do a deadlift ever until today for that matter"

"Because I need to be strong enough to pick her up when I find her passed out on the bathroom floor or something"

Ricky's smile on his face faded as he realized I was not joking a single bit

"Oh, I'm sorry if I was being insensitive to her. I shoulda figured"

"Naw it's ok dude, but I'm serious. I don't know if I can lift her on my own"

"Practice on me!"

He suggested and now I could not tell for the life of me if he was being serious or not

"Oh hell no! No offense"

I replied chugging a half a liter of water

"Why? There's a technique to it, it's not just about muscle strength"

"I don't know dude, don't you think me attempting to pick you up bridal style in a public facility is a little weird"

"Dude, it'll be worse for you if you're trying to pick your passed out girlfriend up in a public setting and can't"

Yeah Ricky was right, that would not only be embarrassing but a disservice to Ashlyn. She deserves the best

"Ok, but only for Ashlyn"

I repeated

"You really love her"

He raved

"Obviously"

"Have you told her?"

"We tell each other at least once a day man"

"Just making sure you don't make the same mistakes I did"

"I know, Ricky you'll find your person"

"I guess. It's just still a little hard to picture that person not being Nini"

"It'll work out dude, some things happen for a reason"

"Thanks, anyways back to what we were doing"

He seemed to be straying away from the subject matter of his old relationships so I quickly dropped the subject and started attempting to lift him off the ground, but I wasn't successful. I figured I was flexing my torso too much at the waist

"Red you're going to blow out your back if you do it like that. You have to squat, get to her level. You might have to drop on your knees if she's on the ground"

"That's what she said"

A smile cracked on his face at my foolish comment

"DUDE!"

I snorted as a flash of water from the squirt cap on his water bottle hit my shirt

"RUDE!"

I replied laughing before we got back to what we were doing

"Practice with the barbell, bring it close to you. Never try and pick something or someone up from far away, dude you gotta get lower than that"

He kept correcting my technique as I went, but I had to admit, the way he was wording things had me cracking up and being the dork that I am

"Shawty got low low low low low low"

I sang out the famous lyrics from the familiar Flo Rida song

"DUDE STOP YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME"

His laugh filled the gym, at this point there were quite a few people staring at us

"This situation is embarrassing me"

I told him

"So we're hardcore embarrassing each other in public"

"We're two bisexual theatre guys at the gym what did you expect?"

Maybe we inherited that loud and chaotic theatre kid side from hanging out with Carlos and Seb too often

"Fair"

"Alright I'm trying again"

I repositioned to pick up the barbell the way I would pick up a human, adding weights once I did it successfully

"Alright, now do it on me. Please don't drop me"

"I'll try"

But as soon as I dropped down to pick Ricky up I found myself snorting out of laughter

"This is really hard to take seriously"

He joined in on my laughter for a while before I got serious again knowing that I needed to get this right for Ashlyn

"Alright"

I approached him using every tool that Ricky taught me and successfully lifted him, it took a while but I got it eventually

"There it is!"

Ricky cheered and gave me a high five. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be

~

Back in the locker room, I whipped out my phone to check in with Ashlyn and noticed I received a new Instagram follow request from the user, @helplyn. The profile picture was one of Ashlyn's childhood photos that we've laughed at together. "Eight year old me looks so done with everyone's bs already, look at that eye roll!", she'd say.

"Ricky sos!"

I called him over

"What is it?"

"She made a finsta, when a girl makes a finsta isn't it usually a cry for help?"

"I'd be more concerned if she's drastically changed her hair. That's what Nini said, if a girl suddenly dyes or cuts her hair it's a red flag"

But her newest post showed a selfie of her with blue front strands and a darker, almost brunette hair base

"Red flag then, fuck"

I quickly commented and showed him

"I don't blame her for making a vent account with everything going on with her"

"Do you think I'm reading into it?"

Just then I got a phone call from her

"Hey you said to call me, I'm ok. Really, Gi and I were just enjoying an afternoon with no rehearsals and we got a little carried away"

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure. Ricky over here said if a girl suddenly changes her hair she's probably going through crisis"

Ashlyn burst out laughing

"Since when did Ricky Bowen know girl code?"

"I guess he heard it from Nini"

"That's too funny, thank you for checking in. I promise I'm good"

"I love the hair by the way. You truly pull off everything"

"Thank you! We'll be back to being gingers in love after my shower tonight though. It's washable hair dye"

"You look gorgeous either way. Love you!"

"Love you more, talk to you later!"

"Let me know if you need anything"

"Of course"

"Bye, love you"

"Love you too"

"Ugh you guys make me feel so single"

Ricky commented after I hung up

"Sorry mate"

~

It wasn't until Thursday that things started to act up with Ashlyn's health again. She texted me that morning that she was staying home and you have to know with her, if she stays home for any reason, it's bad

"Hey! Won't be in school today, not feeling the greatest. Parents are taking me to urgent care to make sure there isn't anything viral going on. I'll text you when I get home. Have a good day, love u lots❤️❤️❤️"

I replied within seconds

"Oh no! Sending love and fingers crossed for good news or at least some answers. Feel better, call me when you can. Love you too😘"

As soon as school let out, Gina and I rushed to Ashlyn's house but she looked at me with a face of almost fear and stopped me as soon as she got to the door

"Shhhh"

Gina pressed her ear up against the window and we listened in on her two parents fighting, trying to make out bits and pieces of the conversation

"Our daughter is not a drama queen! She's not looking for excuses to get out of school. Maybe you should be caring about her own health more than you and your brother's stupid family image!"

"Then how come she's been blowing us off more than ever lately, she's been argumentative, agitated, her grades are dropping, she's constantly goofing off with Gina who we agreed to let stay with us for one semester, not two years. I think she's a bad influence on her and Cash feels the same way with his son-"

Tears started welling up in Gina's eyes and I immediately dragged her away from the fighting and hugged her

"I knew I wasn't wanted here. I knew it, all I do is cause problems"

Her voice cracked and the tears started freely flowing

"Gina, Ashlyn loves you, EJ loves you. East High wouldn't be East High without you, this is your home, you belong here"

"But apparently I don't because Ashlyn's father and EJ's father apparently don't want me to be associated with two people I love and care about so much. I just don't understand what I keep doing wrong"

I hugged her tighter, no close friend of mine or my partner's was getting away with viewing herself as a mistake because of Ashlyn's overly conventional father

"Nothing, you've done nothing wrong. Ashlyn's said herself that she's felt a lot less alone ever since you started living with her"

"Yeah but apparently the rest of her family thinks of me as a burden and doesn't think I should be with EJ"

"I can promise you Mrs Caswell does not think that, Mr Caswell has always had a stick up his ass for some reason. He viewed me as just another distraction from school at first and he's still just starting to warm up to me one year later. You can't leave now, she needs you, we all do. You're a part of this family"

"What if they kick me out?"

"I don't think they will, and if they do then you both can steal my older sister's empty room at my house. She's in college now and has her own apartment"

"Really?"

"Of course"

She wiped her tears off with her sleeve

"Thanks Red, we should go check on her. This on top of all the sudden health issues, no wonder she's so stressed lately"

As soon as we opened the door we walked into an almost screaming match

"You guys need to stop, this is just stressing her out to the max. She has enough going on right now to worry about as it is!"

I yelled as Mrs Caswell picked up on Gina's puffy eyes

"Gina honey, how much did you hear?"

"Too much"

"You two come here"

She guided us into the basement away from her husband

"If you don't want me here just say it to my face!"

Gina lashed out as Ashlyn's mother stayed surprisingly calm

"Gina, you're a part of this family now. I am deeply sorry for anything he says about you. I consider you to be a second daughter and this family wouldn't be complete without you"

Mrs Caswell wrapped Gina into a hug

"Then what's his problem with me?"

"He has a problem with anyone who distracts her from her schoolwork but you both are good kids that do everything you're supposed to and get good grades anyways. He's taking this way too far just because she got a few B minus's in Pre-Calc this week and went out on the weekend"

"For one it was tech week and probably the hardest and worst week of her life, and for two it's Pre-Calc. That stuff is not easy"

I said defensively, she has way too much pressure being put on her

"I know, I'm taking it with her. We're also in a really hard unit"

Gina replied

"Exactly, and she needs a break. Thank you, both of you for caring about her so much. Come here"

She wrapped us both in a strong, tight hug before I pulled away, longing to check on Ashlyn

"Can we go visit her right now?"

"Of course, she's upstairs in her room"

We found her sobbing into her pillow, wrapped in her blankets with a heating pad around her waist and low back. I sat on the bed next to her and put my hand on her shoulder, as did Gina on the other side

"Easy love, just breath"

"I get it if you want to leave Gina, this is no longer a safe escape from your own family drama"

So she must have heard all of what we heard

"Quiet, I'm not going anywhere. Your mom and I talked"

She said

"You're not?"

"Nope. Salt Lake is my home. It's the only place that ever felt like home"

"I'm so sorry it has to be this way"

"It's ok, none of this is your fault"

"I know, today has just been horrible and now this. Please don't take it personally G, my dad's issues with you aren't actually because of you, they're because of me"

"For no reason at all because you're lovely and kind, and smart, and hard-working, and I could come up with a few million more adjectives but I think you get the point"

I butted in

"No can you keep going? I need to hear some sugary fluff after today"

"Ok let's see, gentle, resilient, absolutely gorgeous inside and out, lively, brave, selfless-"

"I'm going to add some more"

Gina interrupted

"You have this side of you that's so naturally driven and powerful but also this sweet side that just wants the best for everyone you love and will go out of your way to give them that. I aspire to be more like you Ash"

"You guys are the absolute best, I'm so lucky and thankful for you both"

She smiled

"We're lucky and thankful for you as well. Do you want to talk about today I'm sure it's not just the fighting that's upset you?"

I asked her

"Yeah, it's a lot"

"First off, how are you feeling physically? Any better?"

"Not really"

"Fever? Pain?"

"Apparently not bad enough to be taken seriously"

Her tone was more than frustrated and annoyed, it was also very hurt

"What happened?"

I quickly followed up

"Basically the Dr. saw that all my tests were negative and that I have an anxiety diagnosis and proceeded to use that against me and more less tell me that everything I'm experiencing is all in my head. He also conned me into rating my pain lower on that stupid scale just because I had a straight face and wasn't showing it."

Medical gaslighting at it's finest. Riley has complained many times about co-workers who attribute to it and somehow they all seem to get off with just a talking to

"That's horrible!"

Gina gasped

"There's more, he basically told me that my off and on fevers are because I'm working myself up to that point. No consideration that there could be something physically going on with me"

"That's literally medical gaslighting and it's not okay. You should report that"

I stated firmly, it might not get anywhere but it was at least worth a shot

"I can't because my dad's siding with the doctor! That's the problem, it's one thing when a stranger doesn't believe you but it's worse when your own family doesn't!"

She started to cry again and I started rubbing her back while Gina grabbed the tissue box on her bedstand and moved it closer to her

"I'm really sorry love"

"Don't be, it's not your fault"

"We believe you, we will always believe you. You have plenty of people here to support and listen to you. Now is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Something to drink would be good"

"On it"

Gina took off to grab her some fluids which left me and my girlfriend alone together with a comfortable silence as she emptied her tears

"Thank you"

I handed her a tissue as she started to sit up

"Of course"

~

The next day she didn't look any better but was in school anyways. If anything she looked worse, extremely pale and shaky

"Cupcake, you look like you're feeling worse. Can I drive you home?"

I asked her at her locker in the morning. It wasn't even first period yet and I could tell by just looking at her that there was no way she was going to make it through the day

"Can't, my dad will know if I go home, it will go on my attendance records"

"Ash, you've got to think about yourself first. If you can't go to your house I can bring you to mine"

"He'll find out either way and be even more mad if I'm not up front about it and try and cover it up by going to your house. I'll live"

"Oh honey"

I shook my head with tears building in my eyes before pulling her into a tight hug

"I know"

~

I only had a few classes with her this year. One of them being our God awful 4th period health class with a teacher neither of us liked. We sat well away from each other due to his seating chart but I still kept and eye on her throughout class. It was only five minutes in that she leaned her head into her hand and her eyes started to droop

"Are you okay?"

I mouthed as soon as there was a glimpse of eye contact

She shook her head

"Go to the nurse"

Of course she refused, shaking her head again as I let out a frustrated sigh. She's too damn stubborn for her own good

Eventually she gave in and put her head down on her desk but not before Mr Harding noticed and yelled at her

"Ashlyn wake up!"

Her face was all read as she shot back up and mumbled an apology

"Go to the nurse"

I mouthed again but she just looked at me, shook her head again and did her very best to remain paying attention

Her attempt faltered with five minutes left until the end of class. Her head was down again and my heart skipped five million beats every time that teachers glance drew closer to where she was sitting. Of course she had to notice with only one minute remaining

"Ashlyn, that's the second time today that you've dozed off in my class. In a minute I'm going to call your parents. Do you understand? It's very rude to fall asleep in class"

"Yes Mr Harding"

She looked embarrassed, upset and hurt. I wanted to yell at him but I knew that wouldn't help the situation. At least she was saved by the bell before that phone call could have been made

I waited for her and pulled her aside in the hallway, noting the couple tears on her warm face that I brushed away

"Please just go to the nurse, I'll deal with your dad for God's sake. If he messes with you he's getting an earful from me and Mamma Red"

"But Biggie, everyone there is sick. That's the last thing I need is to actually get the flu or something on top of this when I'm probably immunocompromised as it is. Let's go, we're going to be late for class"

She grabbed my hand and headed towards our next class that we had together, which of course happened to be gym

And of course, because nothing can ever go right for her, the female gym teacher was out and our male teacher made the class a coed Pacer test day

"You've actually got to be kidding me. Today of all days?"

"Tell him you don't feel good and ask to sit out"

"I can't, I don't have a doctor's note. And I don't need to lose points for participation and have gym tanking my GPA. Just have the bathroom door open and ready"

I shook my head again and gave her the biggest hug, not caring that everyone else in the class was there probably watching. That was including Ricky (the only other friend we had in this class) who made his way over

"What's going on?"

Ricky joined in and hugged her too

"I- a lot"

~

The boys went first, Ricky and I did the bare minimum to look like we were trying and went off to check on Ashlyn on the sidelines. She was already on her stomach with her head down and she hadn't even gone yet

She only made it a few laps before she gave us that look making us both know to start sprinting towards the doors leading to the girls bathroom and hold them open for her. Ricky not being a fan of vomit decided to make himself useful outside of the scene and go look for some water for her. I stayed by her side keeping the hair out of her face and massaging her shoulder and back as usual

Except Ricky's not always the brightest bulb in the box, he came back with a vending machine water bottle and a bleeding hand. I could only guess that he stuck his hand through the slots trying to dig one out instead of just paying the super expensive one dollar or braving the girls locker room long enough to grab her own water bottle

"Ricky your hand is bleeding!"

Ashlyn looked up from the toilet and gawked at the bloody mess

"Yeah I tried to reach my hand through the vending machine and fiddle out a water bottle without paying for it. I was eventually successful though!"

He laughed handing her the water bottle with his good and as she rolled her eyes at him and cracked a smile

"You know there's no one in the girls locker room and the door's wide open, you could have just grabbed my hydroflask from my backpack"

"Ew no, it smells like a gallon of perfume in there"

"Well the boys dressing room smells like every type of body fluid and considering you two are in there, probably a half a gallon of throb mixed in"

We both snorted and crackled, she still had her cynical sense of humor even when she felt like shit

"Listen, you didn't have to come for us like that Ash"

Ricky joked back

"You know I love you both"

She graciously took the water bottle from Ricky and thanked him for his efforts

"We love you too, any better?"

I asked her while rubbing her sides but she unfortunately shook her head no

"I don't think I'm done"

Another bout came on and Ricky washed his bleeding hand and covered it with paper towels before waiting outside the stall with her water bottle (probably covering his ears because he's super squeamish with this stuff). She looked absolutely drained by the time she was done but wasn't passed out, at least not yet

But she did lean into me almost uncontrollably

"I know where you might be able to lay down that's not the nurses office or bathroom floor"

I suggested to which she gave me a wearily

"Hm?"

"The couch in Miss Jenn's office"

She groaned

"That's a long walk"

It was at the opposite side of the school, but I was now trained in picking others up (thank you Ricky)

"Can I carry you?"

"Can you? I'm not that light"

She looked a little uncomfortable, I tried to steer away from the topic as I know her build something that she's insecure about

"You're beautiful"

I reached down to pick her up while winking at Ricky who gave me a thumbs up once I had her in my arms. He held the doors for us as we made our way to Miss Jenn's office

It's safe to say she was a little freaked out once she saw me carrying a drowsy, half asleep Ashlyn next to a bleeding Ricky

"Oh my Gosh, what's going on!?"

"I'm fine, just need a moment"

Ashlyn muttered with her eyes closed

"Come on in, take all the time that you need. Do you want me to call the nurse"

"No!"

We both instantly shouted simultaneously

"Are you sure?"

"It's just that the nurse will want to see her and we're avoiding going down there because everyone's sick and she isn't that kind of sick, nor does she need to be"

I gently lowered her to the couch

"Well you're welcome to come here anytime"

Miss Jenn told us, giving me her winter coat that I wrapped around her and finding some heavy band-aids for Ricky's hand

"Do you want some ice Ashlyn? I've got some in my office fridge"

"That would be good, thank you"

Miss Jenn wrapped three ice packs in towels for her and I watched her put one on her abdomen and one on her low back which I expected, and then interestingly the third one went on a knee, somewhere she'd never complained about specifically before and definitely something concerning to ask her about later

"How about some hot tea?"

Our drama teacher offered

"Again, thank you so, so much"

"I'm really, really proud of what you put out there this past weekend"

Miss Jenn praised her as she stirred her tea

"I know you haven't been feeling well lately and I just want to let you know that if you ever need a break, whether it's an audition, rehearsal, tech week, heck even in the middle of a show, please let me know so the cast and crew can work something out so that you can rest. Your health is more important than a show"

"I appreciate that so much, it's just that a professional atmosphere won't tolerate me if I continue to be like this"

"Ashlyn honey, you need to take care of yourself. No job is worth destroying your body over. You're talented enough to make it there if you let yourself rest. Ok?"

"Yeah"

"What class are you guys in?"

"Gym"

Ricky replied shortly

"I'm going to call your teacher and let them know you're here"

~

We stayed until the bell rang and Ashlyn told us to go back to class

"Babe? You and Ricky can go to class, I'm good"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

I kissed her on the cheek

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"Feel better Ash"

I gave her one last rub on the shoulder before taking off with Ricky

"Thank you"

And I could have sworn I saw her fall asleep in that instant

____________________________________________

Merry late Christmas! I'm going to start my next chapter in season 3 story this week but I'm having a bit of a writer's block on it so it might take longer than usual. I find that I have a really difficult time starting chapters but once I get a good dig everything seems to flow better from there. Even though I'm a little late for the holidays now, there will likely be a Hanukkah/Christmas chapter in this story coming up. It'll be pretty lighthearted because it does get a lot more serious and I don't want to sugar coat anything :) stay tuned!

I loved writing the Gina/Big Red and Ashlyn/Ricky friendships in this chapter. We don't get to see the dynamics of these two that frequently in canon (really hoping we get more of them in season 3!!! They would make such good besties). I also switched the rating on this story to Mature just because I openly swear and will be covering some darker topics along the way of this story and I don't want to risk Wattpad taking anything down. I'll add tw's for any major topic as needed