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“What do you mean there’s only one bed?” Bossuet asked as he held the phone to his ear. ”I’m sure I specifically requested a room with double beds.”
Behind him, Joly and Musichetta met gazes, knowing that this could go in either direction, good or bad. It had already been a rough day, and none of them wanted to deal with this. Joly’s family had invited him to a get together over the weekend, and Joly, of course, invited his best friend, as well as his girlfriend to come with him. It hadn’t gone as planned, to say the least.
They’d reserved the room two days prior, since Joly and Bossuet both had a bad track record of waiting until the last moment to do such, and they’d often ended up staying far away from where they needed to be when travelling together. Bossuet, not wanting to get between the couple, suggested they get a room with two beds, rather than him share with Joly as he did at home. The med student had reluctantly agreed. Of course, Bossuet had taken to sleeping in the guestroom whenever Musichetta was sleeping over at their apartment, but Joly still missed his presence in the bed.
“Well,” Bossuet turned back to them a moment later, looking sheepish. “I somehow only reserved a room with one bed.”
“Can you change it?” Musichetta wondered, gently rubbing his arm. Though he was her boyfriend’s best friend, she still felt quite a bit of affection towards him.
“No, there’s a wedding party there this weekend, and they’re full to bursting.”
The three looked at each other a moment before Joly shrugged. “We can make it work.”
The room was smaller than any of the three expected, only a bed, desk, and chair as furniture in the chamber. Joly leaned on his cane as he examined the floor, frowning a bit. He’d already explored the rest of the room, and quickly proclaimed. “The bathroom here gives me anxiety.”
“What do you mean, dear?” Musichetta asked, furrowing her brow.
“He means that the interior decorating in here makes it look like someone’s smeared shit on the walls.” Bossuet responded dryly from the bathroom. “I’ve gotta say, even I know that’s not a good look.”
Joly snorted, covering his mouth to hide his smile. “As Bossuet said, the bathroom is a bit shitty.”
Musichetta rolled her eyes at the two as she set her suitcase in the corner. “Well, we’re only here two nights, so it can’t be that bad.”
“Unless there’s bedbugs.” Joly said cheerfully, tossing his shirt to the side as he reached for his pajamas, which had dinosaurs printed on them. Noticing both the others watching him with fond smiles, he furrowed his brow. “What? You’ve both seen me naked before, I see no reason to not change here.”
Soon enough, the trio had settled into the bed together, after some adjustments, since it really wasn’t meant for three people. Bossuet reached over to turn the beside lamp off as he yawned. “Bonne nuit, don’t let the bedbugs Joly wishes to adopt bite.”
His soft chuckling was cut short a moment later when Joly whispered loudly in his ear. “Eagle, I will become a bedbug and bite you if you don’t go to sleep.”
Unfortunately, this only served to make Bossuet laugh harder, and soon the other two had joined him, trying to stay quiet as it was late, and they didn’t want to bother anyone who may be able to hear them through the walls.
Hours later, Musichetta woke to the sound of muffled sobbing coming from somewhere within the hotel room. Her suspicions were confirmed as she felt around the bed for the boys, and there was only one other body. “Joly,” She whispered softly, pushing the wardrobe door open.
Joly, curled up on the floor in the closet, flinched away from her voice as she knelt to get on his level. “I’m okay.”
“Joly, you’re not,” Musichetta settled on the floor, reaching in to stroke Joly’s knee. He often tried to hide when he was feeling like this, after his parents had made him feel like he was a terrible person for having anxiety. Of course, in the time he’d spent with his partners, he’d gotten a bit better about not hiding when he was struggling, but it was still a challenge more often then anyone of them liked to admit. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” Joly murmured softly, leaning forward to rest his chin on his knees. “It’s just.. A lot.”
Musichetta frowned in concern and opened her arms to him, offering a hug. “Do you want to talk about it, or no?”
“I don’t know.” Joly crawled into her embrace, laying his head on her shoulder. He was trembling, and trying to hold back more tears.
“Why don’t you come back to bed,” Musichetta suggested, noting the way he winced as he stretched out his stiffened muscles. “It will be more comfortable that staying here.”
“I don’t want to wake Bossuet up.”
“Bossuet is awake.” The bald man yawned from the bed, stretching as the whispered conversation woke him. “What’s up, Jolllly?”
Joly shrugged, allowing Musichetta to help him to his feet. The day before had been a lot, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about what had triggered the panic attack.
Soon, Joly was squished in between the two, sighing as he wrapped a weighted blanket around his shoulders. “Remind me again why I wanted to come?”
Bossuet wrapped his arms around his friend, knowing from experience that whenever Joly went to see his family, something happened. “You wanted to see your siblings, nieces, and nephews.”
“Mmmm.” Joly hummed softly as he buried his face in Bossuet’s shoulder. He was slowly beginning to breath without hyperventilating, though he still shook like a leaf. “I don’t think I ever want to go again.”
“Why not?” Musichetta scooted in so that she could wrap her arms around the two as well.
“Everything always ends up bad.” Joly murmured, picking at one of the dinosaurs on his pajamas. “Last time it rained the whole time, this time Laurent dripped the water from the cooler on my head...”
He paused to take a breath and wipe at his eyes, Bossuet shifting to hold him closer. It was a well known fact that Joly disliked anything to do with water dripping on his head. It was a sensory no, to the point he wouldn’t even shower because it felt too much like rain. “And then, when Amélie threw up, it was too much...”
“She was just overheated,” Musichetta quietly assured him. “She’s not sick.”
“Logically, I know that.” Joly shuddered. “But I can’t convince myself that it’s the truth.”
The two others hugged him tighter, understanding that anxiety was just like that sometimes.
After a while, Joly calmed down enough that he felt able to pull away from the embrace, wiping his eyes as he settled back in between them. “Thank you for staying with me.” He murmured softly, and Bossuet and Musichetta exchanged a glance.
“We’ll always stay, Jolllly.” Bossuet softly cupped his chin, looking at him seriously. “Always.”
Musichetta nodded, laying her hand on her boyfriend’s knee. “We won’t leave you just because you have anxiety, Joly.”
Managing to give a small smile, Joly asked. “Even if I do adopt bedbugs and allow them to sleep in our bed?”
The others met gazes with a slightly horrified look at the prospect, but nodded. “Yes, even if you adopt bedbugs.”