“What are your symptoms? Do you feel low all of a sudden? Dizzy? Anxious? Depressed?”
He felt all of that and more, but there was no way he could explain it right now. His feeble nod must have been enough of an answer, because a moment later, gentle fingers were combing through his hair. The relief was mild, but instantaneous. His spine loosened just enough that he was able to sink further into the sofa and take a deeper breath in through his nose.
“Alright, hon, I think you’re crashing. It can happen with ADHD meds, and it might just be how new you are to them, or it could be a dosage issue, or that this particular med isn’t right for you. It’s nothing major, and usually goes away in less than an hour, but there are some things we can do to help.”
Aspen moved their hand from his hair down to his shoulder and started pulling him up. “Get up, my darling friend, we’re going for a walk.”
Leon tried to push them off, but Aspen was impressively strong. Or maybe Leon was impressively weak right now. All he knew was that he would much rather sink to the floor than stand upright.
“I know, it sucks, but we’re gonna pump you full of some fun water and go for a walk or two around the block. We can bring your marshmallows–or! Even better! We can stop for ice cream or get you a smoothie or something.”
“No,” Leon growled as he fought unsuccessfully to remain on the couch. Aspen managed to get him into an upright position, and they held him up with a hand on his chest.
“Yes,” Aspen said, brushing Leon’s hair back from his forehead.
The gesture was so sweet, it made actual tears come to his eyes. James and Hailey were the only people he allowed to touch his hair, and Hailey only when she was practicing her haircutting techniques. The fact that not only was he allowing it but actually enjoying it with Aspen made a tear trickle down his cheek.
Of course, he had no way to put all these feelings into words, and as he opened his mouth to try, he was hit with another crushing wave of emotion.
“I miss James,” he whispered, and that was true and also only the tip of the iceberg, but as a second tear rolled down his cheek, he decided that was probably all he was going to say on the matter. He was so tired. And sad.
“Let’s call him! It’s close to the end of the workday. I’m sure he’s either heading out or getting ready to.”
Aspen somehow managed to keep Leon upright while grabbing his phone.
“I don’t want to,” Leon said, and he tried to fall to the side, but Aspen wrapped their arm around his bicep and hefted him up off the couch.
“Aspen–”
“Hon, I don’t want you to totally crash. Your afternoon was so successful, and I want to show you that it is possible to get through this. Lying on the couch isn’t going to help. If that’s how you handle crashing in the future, that’s your choice, but I’m not letting you do that today.”
Aspen practically dragged Leon across his kitchen to get their shoes. “Put your boots and coat on. We’re going for a walk, and I’m going to buy you whatever treat your heart desires–and if itdesires nothing, I’ll get you some kind of healthy smoothie with vitamins and antioxidants and all that shit.”
Leon refused to do anything but stand there, and Aspen gave a loud, disapproving huff before dropping to their knees. They picked up Leon’s boot in one hand and yanked on Leon’s calf with the other.
“You know, and I mean this very selflessly, I think protein might help. Maybe we’ll add some protein to our smoothies and check off my resolution for the day, too.”
“I don’t want a smoothie–and what the fuck are you doing?” Leon snapped, trying to shake Aspen’s hand off his leg as they tugged on him again.
“Helping,” Aspen said, with a shit-eating grin as they attempted to slide the opening of Leon’s boot under his foot.
“You’re not going to put my shoes on for me,” Leon growled, wiping his face with his shoulder and scowling down at his best friend.
“I sure the hell am,” Aspen said, knocking Leon’s shin with his boot.
“Aspen–”
They knocked his shin again, this time a bit harder.
“Oh my god,” Leon huffed.
He lifted his foot just to get Aspen to stop.
“Good boy,” Aspen said, easily sliding on his boot before picking up the next one.
“For fuck’s sake.”
Leon snatched the boot out of their hands and stuffed his foot into it. He leaned down to tie it, and when he stood back upright, he had his coat thrust in his face.
