Page 90 of Raise 'Em Up

Whatever it is, we’re not giving up on him though. We just need to find out what's going on, and then we can help.

It's not going to be easy when he doesn't seem to want our help.

EPILOGUE

Ifeel like shit. Whatever I ate the other day still doesn't agree with me. I’ve been puking non-stop for the past two days.

And when I’m not getting sick, I’m sleeping, cuddled up to one of my guys.

None of them are Lennox though. Just thinking of him makes me want to cry. I’ve cried so much over the past two weeks. Too much. It seems to be all I do.

I feel horrible because the guys hate seeing me upset, but I can’t help it.

He’s been gone for two weeks, and it feels like my world is slowly falling apart. I’m depressed, and so damn confused.

I don’t know what happened that made him want to leave. Why won’t he talk to us? Whatever it is, we can help him. Haven’t we shown that no matter what life throws at us, we will always have each other?

It started around a month and a half ago. He became distant and stopped talking, for the most part. Then it was the mood swings, and the recoil when we touched him.

I asked him what was wrong, if it was PTSD from the camp. He brushed it off, said it was nothing. No one bought it.

The more we pushed, the more he fought. It got to the point where we had no idea how to talk to him. Nothing was working, no matter what we said.

Then he left, and life has been hell for me ever since. We’re falling apart and I don’t know how to save us. I feel helpless and useless.

Now, on top of all that, I’m sick, and I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep.

We’re on the couch watching a movie when Colton’s phone rings. He pulls it out and I watch as his eyes widen. “It’s Lennox.”

That has us all perking up. “Answer it,” I urge him, adrenaline pushing my nausea to the side for the moment.

He does and puts the phone to his ear. “Len, hey, man.”

We can’t hear what he’s saying. I tap Colt’s arm. “Put it on speaker,” I whisper, but Colt stands and starts talking.

“Yeah, man. What's up?” Irritation fills me as he starts to pace, brows furrowing. “Are you sure? Okay. Yeah, I can do that. When? Now? Okay, yeah, I’ll be there in a few.” There's a slight pause and he looks at us. “Yeah, I’ll come alone.”

“What did he say?” I ask as Colton hangs up.

He runs a hand through his hair.

“He said he wanted to talk to me about something. That it was important, but he insisted that I come alone. That he didn’t want you guys there.”

“Like I give a fuck.” Mateo jumps to his feet. “We’re going.”

I move to sit up and feel a wave of nausea. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and get to my feet. “I’m coming too.”

“No, you're not. You're still sick,” Mateo growls.

“You're not my boss. I said, I’m coming,” I snap back, really not in the mood to be arguing with anyone.

“I don’t know,” Colton says, sounding unsure. “He said to come alone.”

“And what is he going to do? Run away if he sees us? I’ll tackle his ass and then kick it,” Mateo huffs.

“Let’s go.” I sigh, grabbing my sweater.

Thankfully, we drive to the gym, as I wouldn’t have had the strength to walk. When we get there, my heart is pounding. I’m a mess. I miss Lennox so much and all I want to do is hold him and tell him everything is going to be okay, that he just needs to talk to us and we can fix whatever it is.

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