Chapter Text
Your Wars Not Ended
“Last time I was over there, there wasn’t any food in his fridge. Just some spoiled milk.”
“There’s unopened bottles of medicine in his cabinets.”
“I walked in and the timer was going off and he couldn’t remember what it was for- there was fucking smoke coming from his kitchen-”
Julia pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to Jimmy and Davy. Of all things she thought they would be talking about at rehearsal, this had not been one of them. The other two were still talking but she tuned them out as she looked to the piano where Donny was walking Johnny through something on the sheet of music.
“He’s barely even remembering to come to rehearsal. We’ve been taking turns going to get him.”
She turned his attention back to Jimmy, the concerned look on his face making her worry even more. It always truly baffled her what Johnny could and couldn’t remember. One day he was rattling off a joke Davy had told him months ago and some days she could still see clouded confusion behind his eyes as he struggled to recall something that had happened the day before. But as of late, the things he was forgetting seemed to become more and more, almost as if the small memories he did have was slowly slipping away from him.
“The war might not have killed him but at this rate, he’s going to finish himself off.”
“The bastard is going to go up in flames or die from starvation.”
Both of the men looked at her, knowing their worrying matched her own. “So what do we do?” She finally asked. “He’s been living on his own for a year.” Julia protested weakly, trying to save some of Johnny’s dignity as she heard his laugh from across the room.
“Fuck if I know.” Davy sighed, reaching for the flask inside his coat pocket.
“I’ll walk him home.” She said slowly, never having done it before. “I’ll take a look around, see how things are at his place, and then I guess, we just regroup in a few days? You talk to the other guys, see what they think as well.”
*
“You’ve never walked me home before. Unless I forgot. I do that sometimes.” Johnny grinned as they walked down the streets of Cleveland, reaching Johnny’s apartment. “You see, my jeep flipped three times, three times- I’m telling ya! So I forget things.”
Julia smiled gently, having heard the same thing over and over from Johnny as the rest of them had. “No you’re right, I haven’t walked you home.” She laughed though it quickly disappeared as she reached out to steady him on the stairs as he stumbled, noticing the flash of pain across his face. Right. Jimmy had said to make sure he took his meds as soon as she got him home.
She waited as he patted down his pockets, looking for his keys, taking him three times before he found them in his back pockets. As he unlocked the door and pushed it opened, she followed after Johnny. “Welcome, to my humble-” He brow knitted in thought, a look that was all too common as he searched what he was looking for. Of course she knew what he meant but wanted to give Johnny time to figure it out but it seemed like nothing was coming as he shrugged his shoulders, kicking off his shoes.
As he made his way towards the kitchen, it gave Julia a second to look around his front room. There was already anything there that showed that someone lived here. The only mark of Johnny in the room was a drum kit shoved in the corner and an overflowing bookcase. From where she stood, some looked like paperbacks, the others almost looked like text books. She gave a shake of her head, knowing that what she needed to do right now was make sure he took his meds and had something to eat. Julia made her way to the kitchen where Johnny was standing in front of the fridge, once more his knitted look of concentration took over his face.
“You hungry?” She asked, taking her place next to him, frowning deeply as she saw the nearly bare fridge.
“I think I forgot to get groceries again.” Johnny simply said and it made her heartache with the way he said again. How often was he forgetting to get food? To actually eat?
“Why don’t you go grab your meds? I’ll look and see if I can make anything?” She suggested, watching the way Johnny lit up some, laughing as he pressed a friendly kiss to her cheek. His affection took her by no surprise these days, he was by far the most tactile of the band. Always laying a hand on someone’s back or shoulder, pressing kisses to her cheek, ruffling the other guys hair.
“Good luck with that.” He laughed, padding his way out of the kitchen and towards what she assumed was the bathroom. Letting her facade fall the moment he was gone. There was the spoiled milk in the fridge like Jimmy had said. A loaf of bread, jelly, and cheese. It was hardly anything at all to make food with and she hoped that there was at least something in his cabinets. But as she moved and opened the one nearest to her, she was met with nearly nothing once more. A pack of crackers, peanut butter, an unopened jar of mustard, and salsa. How he was managing to survive on this was beyond her.
Hearing the faucet running in the bathroom, she opened another cabinet and grabbed a plate down. Rummaging around his kitchen to make him a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It wasn’t much but there also wasn’t much to work it and if he kept them in the fridge, they should last him several days. Though she made a mental note to take him to the grocery store tomorrow. To get a few things that he would be able to either just grab and eat or cook without much effort.
“You could be a chef!” Johnny laughed from behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder as she finished up the sandwiches.
“Maybe I’ll show you how to bake one day.” Julia grinned, taking the plate and turning to face him. “Here, eat these. I made a few extra to hold you over. Did you take your meds?” She asked, watching him nearly stuff one of the sandwiches into his mouth, nodding as he swallowed.
“Meds have been taken. Between those and the food, I’ll be out in no time.” He grinned though Julia didn’t miss the flicker of pain either across his face. She leaned against the counter as he padded his way towards the living room, sitting on the couch. Julia couldn’t help but watch him for a few seconds, unable to even begin to imagine what went on in his head. The thought of not being able to remember things, to forget people and faces and names. That things as simple as going to the grocery store or eating or coming to rehearsal slipped his mind, that he couldn’t even remember the accident that landed him here or anything before that. In her mind, they were all heroes, they were all some of the strongest people she had met. But as she stood there silently, she decided that Johnny Simpson was the strongest of them all. He was fighting a war that none of them could have imagined.
It was finally the light buzzing of her phone in her pocket that pulled her from her thoughts, pulling it out to see it was from Jimmy.
Did he take his meds? It read and she shot him back a quick reply, fingers hovering over the keyboard, chewing on her bottom lip.
It’s like you said. She typed out. He hardly has food, and told me he forgot to go grocery shopping again. We got to figure something out. Julia sent Jimmy before pocketing her phone and making her way to join Johnny on the couch.