Chapter Text
Art serves another set. Perfect form. Perfect practice. Just going through the action.
“Stop! That's enough,” Coach Anderson yells from the side of the court, getting up and walking to him.
“What’s wrong? Was it my form? Was it my feet?” Art questions trying to understand what problem his coach found so bad he made him stop.
“No, no, it was perfect. As always,” his coach says reassuringly, “are you okay, Donaldson?”
“What? No, I'm fine.”
“Are you sure? Because you look like you’re just going through the motions. You look like a machine; the passion, the fire, behind your eyes isn't there.” His coach says as he grips Art’s shoulders, searching his eyes looking for something.
“Oh… no, I’m just a little tired,” Art reassures his coach with a small smile.
“Ok… if you say so, but let's end practice here. I'll see you on Monday.” Anderson sighs in defeat, obviously not believing Art but knowing him well enough to know he won't get anything else out of him.
‘Shit,’ Art thinks to himself as he drags himself back to his dorm, running a hand through his hair.
The truth is Art is struggling. He is simply just… existing. He’s doing what he is supposed to, like going to practice, working out, and sticking to his meal plan (most of the time). Art loves the structure. Being told what to do, not having to make his own decisions, just doing as he is told and what is expected of him. It's worked up until recently.
Until Patrick started dating Tashi.
Patrick is an important part of Art’s system.
Patrick was the one who helped him with decisions, what shirt to wear, and where they should go for dinner. All the small decisions were made by Patrick, and Art never had to worry about them because Patrick always had them handled. Maybe it was because for 7 years they lived out of each other's pockets.
Art had gotten comfortable with their arrangement. Patrick was always close by to support him, and he always knew exactly what Art needed, sometimes before Art knew he needed anything.
Having your needs and wants met without you having to give a second thought was an addicting feeling. When Art first moved to Stanford for college and tennis, he struggled, but Patrick was still present and answered his messages quickly and stayed on the phone with Art for hours to talk about anything and everything when Art got overwhelmed with tennis, friends, and coursework. Patrick always knew what to say.
But after Patrick started dating Tashi, Art decided to take a step back. Art knew new relationships need lots of time and attention. He didn't want to cause problems for them, so he stopped calling and texting as often. He didn't want to burden Patrick with his problems when he had something else that needed his attention.
At first he was fine; he had more time to focus on tennis and his coursework. But he quickly realized he didn't know how to live without Patrick.
More accurately, he forgot how to live without him, especially after years of Patrick taking care of everything.
But he is fine; he is always fine. He has a structure that makes sure that all important things are taken care of. Sure, he’s lost a bit of weight, but he’s always been on the leaner side. Ok, so what if he feels more exhausted than usual, but it's only a temporary feeling. It will surely go away with time. Right?
It's only been 2 months since they had started dating. And it's not like Partick has said anything, so Art must be doing something right.
Art stumbles into his room and flops onto the bed face first, feeling the day’s activities take their toll on him.
With a great effort, he fishes his phone out of his pocket. He turns on his phone and sighs. As usual, no new messages from Patrick. Art sighs and closes his eyes as he drops his phone.
Art pushes the heel of his palms into his eyes
“Come on, Art, you’re not that desperate,” he says to himself, disappointed in his reaction to not hearing from Patrick.
Art pushes himself up from his bed and goes to the bathroom to go take a shower, hoping to wash the day off him and, hopefully, his disappointment in himself. Hopefully it helps to clear his mind.
Patrick hasn't messaged him in 4 days now; he hasn't even responded to Art’s message from the day before yesterday.
‘He’s probably busy with something or Tashi,’ he reassures himself as he dries his hair.
‘He probably forgot to reply; it wouldn’t be the first time. god knows he is unorganized.’ art thinks as he climbs into bed
‘Hopefully he hasnt forgotten about me…’ As Art closes his eyes
‘God, today was exhausting. Hopefully tomorrow will be better; at least it’s the weekend tomorrow’ he begs the universe as he drifts off to sleep.
*BANG BANG*
“Huh?” Art grumbles as he wakes up.
*BANG BANG BANG*
“Tf,” Art mumbles as he sits up and grabs his phone. The bright screen assaults his sleepy eyes as he looks at the time, 7am. He also doesn't see any notifications about any emergencies.
*BANG BANG*
“Jesus, what kind of person is banging on doors at 7am?” Art says to himself, getting up from his bed to answer.
*BANG BANG BANG*
“OK, OK, I’m coming,” he says as he reaches the door and opens it.
“Oh…,” Art says as he registers who was banging on his door.
“Good morning, Sunshine.” Patrick says as he is in front of Art’s door, pushing past him to put his bags down. The nickname warms Art heart.
”Really? ‘Oh’ , I thought you would be happier to see me.” Patrick continues with a cheeky tone.
“What are you doing here?” Art says with a smile as he closes the door, he closes the distance, and hugs his best friend.
“I came to visit my girlfriend and figured I’d stop by.” Patrick says as they pulled away for the hug, resting his hands on Art’s shoulders
Art’s smile falters, but he quickly fixes his face
“Oh… so you are using me cuz you need somewhere to crash, huh?” Art teases with a smirk, but he feels a bit hurt that his friend didn't come to visit him.
“Hey man, you know it’s not like that,” Patrick scoffs as he moves to sit on the bed, looking at his friend.
Patrick looks at his friend as Art looks at his phone. He can see what Tashi was concerned about. The eyebags under his eyes and the shirt that seemed to swallow his frame made it obvious that something was going on with Art. He thinks back to the conversation with Tashi
“Something is up with Art,” Tashi had told him over the phone a week ago.
“What?” Patrick says, now very alert, ”What’s wrong with him?”
“Come see for yourself,” Tashi says as she hangs up
Tashi was dramatic as always, but those words concerned him. He had noticed that Art wasn't messaging him as often, but Patrick assumed he was just busy. But now hearing this, Patrick was worried for his Art. So he packed up his car and drove down to Stanford.
Patrick is going to figure out what’s wrong with his best friend.