Page 131 of Saving the Halfback

I glanced at Lachlan, who was now counting pills on the table. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Are those mine?”

He held up a finger, shushing me as he counted, then he glared at me. “You haven’t taken any of these.”

I shrugged. “I used to take them, but they made me feel like crap, tired all the time.” I started eating, not wanting to admit how badly my father berated me for being so mentally weak I needed medication to sort me out.

Lachlan nodded, then shoved all but two pills into the bottle. He slid them over to me. Then he added more bacon to my plate and another heaping scoop of eggs. “You need more protein,” he said while pouring a glass of orange juice and sliding it over, “and some sugar won't hurt. The dry mouth bothered me the most, but gum helped until I adjusted. But you have to tell your fucking therapist this shit, got it? They will change shit up or adjust the dosage until we find what feels good.”

I stared at him, confused. “You… Do you take—”

“The same medication? I did. It didn’t work, so I’m on other stuff, but I know others that say it’s the shit that keeps them going. Give it time, a couple weeks at least, to get into your system. I think some are like six weeks.”

I continued eating as they both started making themselves a plate of food and joined me. “I mean, I figured football would help, if Coach hasn’t kicked me off the team,” I said. “Or maybe I can get a job, start a project.”

“Yeah, all that is fine. But remember this shit doesn’t just sort itself out. It’s a chemical imbalance.”

“What’d you say? I’m not messed up in the head, Lachy.” I ground my teeth.

“That’s not what I said. Even if you were, who the fuck cares? You are ours, one of us.”

“Stop talking like that.”

“Chase,” Ethan snapped. “That’s not what he’s saying. You are family, one of us. Bailey, Lach, Nolan, me, and you. Take your pills and get better.”

“Feelbetter,” Lachlan said, amending Ethan’s command. “You don’t need to get better at anything. If the best you can manage is a shower and breakfast, then so be it, but give the medication a chance to help you feel better.”

I pushed the food around my plate with my fork before taking another bite, swallowing around the lump in my throat. “Lach, I didn’t mean—”

“I know.”

“I just…” There was nothing else to say. Not now.

“I know.” At his tone of understanding, I took the pills and swallowed them with one gulp of orange juice. “We have your back, Chase. We aren’t your dad. We didn’t jump into that pool for him—we did it for you.”

We finished the rest of our breakfast while talking about the game tonight. I felt terrible that I had completely forgotten about talking to Bailey last night.

After we finished, I helped clean up, then followed the guys out. We were getting our shoes on when Lachlan pinned me with a look. “You’ll be at the game tonight?”

“Coach will bench me. He doesn’t let players on if they haven’t been to practice.”

“And?” Ethan said. “You come to support the team.”

“She’ll be waiting for you, in the tunnel,” Lachlan said.

What? How did he—

“She told me that she has a hard time going on the field, and she’s not sure she can do it if you’re not there. You better be there. I think you’ve turned into her lucky charm.”

48

Bailey

The pep talk Coach gave in the locker room did nothing to ease my nerves. This school was just as fancy as the last. It was clear they poured their money into their football facilities. But we’d played a school like this before, right? We played, and we—damn it, we lost.

I didn’t think pep talks were meant to calm the nerves, just redirect energy into something exciting, instead of frightening. It didn’t help me.

I kept to the back, as usual, while the team, getting hyped up and leading the way toward the field, was shouting and jumping.

The game tonight felt surreal. The ride to school on Nolan’s motorcycle had been a nice treat, a distraction from all things Chase, but standing here now just made me miss him more. No one would have my back on the field as well as he always did. I trusted my teammates, but considering how I’d gotten bulldozed during practices this week, this would be a disaster.

---