Hailey

After my third shower I was indeed feeling better, less lightheaded but in consequence a pounding ache tugged at my brain like gravity. But I finally was feeling my body as mine again.

I'd barely got memories of anything after the call tho, my mind when on and off, completely immobile and limp, and next I know I woke up in a hospital after a stomach pumping and feeling like shit. My mom was there, but not Nate. I wasn't sure if he went on his own, if the hospital didn't let him in or if my mother was the responsible of his absense. What she told me is that he'd stayed until I was purged and safe but didn't explained further. An inspector took notes of what happened and filled a report, promising to look over this Ryan whoever it was.

Kimberly was on the waiting room, which only made it even more strange that Nate wasn't and I couldn't but feel hurt by it. I got a couple texts form early morning telling me he was sorry and I woke up to a couple missed calls, but I couldn't reach him. Why wasn't he here? I was still shaken by it, by the powerless feeling clenching my guts, by the horrible burning feeling of Ryan's touch my skin only now, after showers and tones of scrubbing was beginning to erase.

I looked at myself in the mirror, foggy with all the vapor from the hot shower and shivered at the dark mark under my jaw. Disgusting. I forced my eyes shut, holding on the little relieve I finally got and blindly reached for the skin moisturizer, determined to wipe an possible trace left of him off me.

This morning we went to fulfil a proper report to the police station, complementing what the agent got last night. Kimberly come too to complement it, since the drink was originally for her. That made her the original target, as in a predetermined move and not just some perv on a club. They targerted her intentionally, and I was only a collateral damage. And that pic... I barely remember nor like I want to- but there was something about a picture that only stressed me further.

No, no. Don't think about it now.

I spread the moisturizer, the expessive one. Jut like I'd used the vip champu and those salts my mother keep on the top drawer for this last bath. My own homemade spa always seemed to relax me and this time it kinda helped as well. My muscles melting and this pressure in my chest erasing the more I forced my mind away from last night's events. A whole afternoon ahead of full peace.

It's done, it's over and in the hands of authorities, they will solve it. And nothing that bad happended, right? It could had gone a lot worst. I shouldn't be this dramatic, nothing happened...

I was applying the face mask when someone knocked the bathroom's. "Come in."

"Hails, look-" Shane stepped in, flinching at the vapor and his train of thought got interrupted and he frowned at me. "What is that?"

I rolled my eyes. "A face mask."

"Why is it green?" he grimaced disgusted. "Gross."

"You wanted something?"

"Oh, yeah, look." he showed me his fist and I had to double check, gawking as I took in the knuckle-duster there.

"Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Nice, isn't it?" he grinned maliciously proud and retreat it to eye it again. "Lex's brother knows a guy that is in a gang or something like that."

"A gang?" I stopped applying the mask, wiping the rest of the doug off my hand and turned to look at him, concerned. A frown tugged my brows at the sight of the iron ittem in his hand. "You shouldn't get involved with that kind of people."

"But they got me this." he scoffed and retreated his arm mimicking a punch in slowmotion. "See? Now I'm ready to break that moron's face."

"What?!" my eyed widened and I felt my heart doing a little flip in startlement. He couldn't be serious. "Shane."

"What?" he shrugged, scowling down at his hand. "Before leaving, Matt told me to take care of you."

Him? Take care of me? I didn't know if it was endearable or frustrating he was still playing the extra-protective brother from afar. Worst. He was passing such a responsibility to a fourteen-year-old.

"Hon," I took his hand, sliding off the knuckle-duster. It's weight heavier than I thought and pulled more concerned strings in my chest. "Thank you. Really, but you don't have to go 'break anyone's face'."

His lips pursed, looking down almost childishly as I left the weapon on his open palm and closed his fingers around it. "Mom said that guy tried to do something bad."

I pushed down the knot of nerves and unease that burned the pit of my stomach. "The cops will take care of it."

"But Matt said-"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." I didn't want anything to do with Ryan other than to fullfiel the report made. And much less I wanted Shane to have any kind of interaction with that psycho. "I really appreaciate it, tho." I ruffled his hair and cupped his chin, kissing his cheek and his face immediately scrunched in disgust, wiping my kiss and the little spot of green dough I left there.

"Ew. Hailey!" I laughed, turning to the mirror again and resuming the task applying a thin layer of face mask and put away everything. "Are you okay then?"

For what it's worth. "I am now." I smiled switching off the lights.

"Mhm." he fiddled with the knuckle-duster following me to the room shuffling his feet. "But I'm gonna keep it for now. Just in case."

"Shane, really, I don't want you to pick a fight with anyone. You know how dangerous it is? Even more with that thing. "

"Hey, you offend me, sis. Have you seen this?" he flexed his bicep -or he would if there was muscle to show off. "These are weapons on their own. I can protect you just fine."

I smiled sitting on the bed and opening the laptop, scrolling through netflix. "What, you want me to kiss you again?"

He scoffed. "Not even when you don't look like Shrek."

I threw him a pillow but he closed the door making it hit it instead. Idiot. I clicked the first movie on my list and relaxed back into the headboard, getting ready to let my mind disconect and hoping all those awful memories would drown.

I answered a few texts and get into TikTok, absent-mindly going through it as the film played in the background. All that tiredness finally settled in and I dipped more and more in the mattress. I tried so hard to distract myself, to unfocus, to relax or whatever but it was like a constantscratching in the back of my mind, tingling my skin... I shuddered. How long would I be feeling like this?

I snuggled closer in the pillows, inwardly yelling at myself to stop this martyrdom. Maybe being alone with my thoughts wasn't such a good idea. Rather than a chill afternoon for myself maybe I should had made plans with someone. I went through my contacts, but one sunday afternoon everyone able to make plans had already made them. How freaking amazing.

I was left to sulk on this loop of self pity and awkwardness as I both relived and forced my mind off last night. I was a freaking mess.

I was so plunged in this little enviroment I almost jumped out of my skin at a sudden knock. "Yes?" but the door remained shut to my surprised and next second a couple more knocks but they came from the other end of the room. Confused, I got up from the mattress, my muscles pulling at the new effort and I hesitantly approached the window, gingerly tugging the curtain. "Oh my God." I pulled it completely off the way and opened my window. "Are you crazy?"

"Hello to you too." Nate slid in, barely sweating and I popped my head out, seeing the pipe attatched to the side of the farm. Had this always been there? He'd climbed it?

"What if you'd fallen?" I could still feel the bumbing of my heart up my throat as I turned and saw his smirk. "What's wrong with ringing the bell?"

"Didn't thought your family would appreciate me coming after everything." to my mortification he brushed his finger against my cheek and my eyes widened having completely forgotten about the face mask until I saw the green in his fingertip. Oh my God! "And this?"

Under the slimmy dough, I blushed aggressively, turning my back to him so he wouldn't see me struggling to get it off with my hand.

"You weren't supposed to see that."

"Why?"

"Because... uh, because it's so unattractive. You'd want me to see you shave?"

"Shave?" he shrugged his shoulder. "I wouldn't care that much... It's tastes sweet."

I spun again just to see him tasting the mask. "Don't eat that!"

But that only seemed to humored him. "Aren't you bossy? Come on, it's not even that bad." Nate let himself fall in my bed, completely unbothered and even amused. "So, what does this make?"

I brushed the dough with the back of my hand but it was tricky to get off. "It smoothen my skin, clean blackheads and peeling..." I cringed at myself. This was the kinda of stuff you surely don't want your boyfriend to know about your skin. "Those gross things."

"When you say it like that, it almost sound like black magic." he chuckled, easing part of my embarrasment.

"Give me a second." a quick trip to the bathroom and I finally peeled the face mask off completely and throw it in the bin eying the results and satisfied it work kinda fine. Well, the minutes prescripted were almost done anyways.

I heard Shane and Ted bickering downstairs, none of them seemed to have noticed Nate's presence. When I came back in the room I made sure the door was locked and turned back to see Nate still in the bed, carelessly eying the same stuffed animal he won me in Halloween and claimed to hate. Somehow, his presence after radio silense erased part of the apprehension I'd been feeling. I couldn't help a small smile as I made my way towards him. The movie was playing on the playground but none was really paying attention to it; so I shut the laptop and left in the nightand.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I don't know." he disregarded the toy when I kneeled by his side and left me plenty of room to laid by his side. "I just wanted to see you." I grinned, snuggling to him so my head laid carefully over his chest and his arms secured around my back. Finally, I feel a whole new kind of safe right there, with his steady heartbeat into my ear and the way he softly brushed my hair. "How are you?"

"Fine." my throat closed as more flashes of last night fired in my mind. For the growing tension it suddenly spread over us, I could tell he was thinking back to last night's event as well. "Yesterday I..." Not even his reassuring palms brushing up and down my spine were enough to conceal the shivers as I was brought back there. "I-I couldn't move." Nate's hold tightened as he tensed too and I instinctibly snuzzled closer. "It was terrifying."

"I know baby." I melted a little as his lips pressed my forehead, warm spreading from my chest. "I'm sorry Ryan targeted you."

"I wasn't his target." I muttered softly into his shirt, my heart squeezing when he froze at my words. "Kimmy was. But I took her drink instead."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "We didn't thought it would be spiked."

He let out a sighed. "Guess no one would."

Guess he was right. His hand found mine over his chest and I linked our fingers, focusing on this warmth that spread from there and burned in my stomach. "Where did you go last night? They say you left the hospital-" My heart did a backflip as I take in his bruised knuckles, purplish and cut in some parts. "Oh my God." I sat up at once, stiff. "Nate, what-"

He rolled his eyes, pulling me down to him again but I could sense the tension in his whole demeanor, not as nonchalant as he was portraying. "You really thought I would just let them walk away?"

"But... but you got hurt."

"You too. Those shitheads had it coming."

I shook my head cuddling closer, my mind trapped in that back alley again, unable to move as they manhandled me how they wanted. "They said something about a photo-"

"They wanted to make a stupid photo to irk me. But don't worry about it." he kissed the top of my head. "It wasn't even that bad, they caught you..." he hesitate as I hang in anticipation, my heart stopping. "Whatever, those motherfuckers got a stupid pic but it's gone now."

The room felt like it was spinning around us, the only thing stable enough to prevent me from loosing my mind enough to hold on the reality was his embrace. "How... how was it? The picture?"

"Nothing baby, don't worry about it. You looked passed out, with him..." I shuddered and he tigthened his protective embrace. "But it's gone. I got it delated."

"For good?"

"Completely."

I nodded, breathing easier knowing there was nothing on that line out there of me. A wave of relief washed over me knowing it was gone. I brushed his knuckles, my chest a nasty turmoil. "You got hurt."

"I don't care."

"But you could had something more serious, some damage that forbid you from playing and then what? You'd lose you scholarship."

"I don't care." this time his voice sounded lower, deeper, and he slid his fingers through mine, squeezing and tilted his head to meet my eyes. "They hurt you, they hurt me. We're a team now."

Warmth spread in my veins like melted honey and something in my chest explote in the most delightful swell. "We are."

The hem of his lip twitched. "Then stop lecturing me about it."

"I don't meant it like that. It's just... You alone against, what? all of them?"

To my reassurance, he scoffed. "As if. Ryan never allowed them to step in. At least he has enough decency of fighting in equal conditions." his eyes darkened. "In this, that's it."

"You've fight a lot?" I wondered shifting a little to be able to fully look at him, laying sideways facing him but he kept his arm on my waist and the other hand helding mine.

"Not that much,"Nate frowned. "But sometimes... Sometimes he really hits a nerve. And I'm not gonna lie, I sometimes stir trouble as well. But yesterday he crossed the limit." his eyes darkened as my stomach twitched. "You need to sue him."

"We have." I nodded. "This morning. I would had told but you were-"

"-gone. I know." his brows pursed in the most cute-concerned way. "I could let it just lie down. I'm sorry. But your mother came and they say you were out of trouble so I couldn't just stay there."

"I... I get it." I wished he wouldn't had gotten in a fight over this, but if places were switched I knew I would want some blood too on whoever wronged him. I traced his bruised knuckles again, wincing just at the sight of them. "Did he got you?"

"A little..." but shook his head as I parted my lips and erased whatever I was about to say. "I mean it, don't worry about it. It's nothing I can't endure and you should had seen him." he added the last part with a malicious smirk.

"Cocky much, uh?" I smiled a little, taking in his chance to lighten up the enviroment.

"Always." he brought our joined hand to his lips and let them lingered softly there. "So you've sued him, haven't you?"

I bit my lip, focusing on this butterflies in my stomach instead of the apprehension of the episode and told him about this morning, about last night coming from the hospital. He took it all in with a nod, asking if I wanted to talk about it further but I for sure didn't want to. Instead we just laid there, cuddling whispering nothings. It was so easy to get lost in nothingless land when he muttered them like that, joking and chatting about everything and anything, melting the stiffness away.

We ended up remembering the camp trip our course took in sixth grade seeing I had the pottery art we made there on my shelves.

"Mine got lost." commented Nate not even sounding remorseful. "Or was it broken?"

"Well," I pursed my brows forcing my memory back all those years. "If I remember it correctly some of them got crushed misteriously..."

He chuckled, the vibrations making me shudder at the lovely sound. "Then definitely broken. Yes, Bear got mad at us for not pairing with him on the gymkhana and thrown them away."

"I'm not even surprised." I scoffed. "He's always been a sore loser."

"Yeah..." but the good mood faltered as he tensed, his gentle caressed on my back uncertain as I sense his mind going somewhere else, somewhere not really pleasant and thos wrinkles formed between his brows as he overthink.

"What?" I wondered softly but his frown just pursed cutely glancing down to our hands letting our fingers fiddle in that way that keep tugging my heartstrings. "Baby," I seek for his gaze and at the nickname I found it, much like the last time it slip out. It was almost funny how a word could both startle him and make that something else swirl in the green of his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Seth and I..." he shook his head, grimacing as if the thought was paining or uncomfortable and dropped my gaze again. "Last night we got a disagreement."

My stomach stirred, not having expected that. A disagreement? Seth and Nate? They were the everpresent duo, together forever and ever and in sync to mess around.

Yet, now that the main rush of last night was settling in, having been taken care of another thing budged my mind. The previous discussion we got last night was still hanging somehow over us, not exactly shrill, but like an unease that makes the air thicker. I stepped in for Kimmy, pushing his boundries on the matter and now, seing it in perspective Nate was in the middle of the storm, asking for him to meddle wasn't fair of me, but I also stood by what I said. Seth wasn't being fair to Kimberly and him sticking by his side was hurting her.

Was it what they'd disagreed about last night? We fought about it, maybe they did as well? I bit my lips glancing our hands as well, unsure how to approach it without stirring more trouble again. "Wanna talk about it?"

"You... you were right." Nate let out a short, dry chuckle in bitter disbelief. "He's been pushing Kimberly away and making it look like I was on his side."

I shook my head. "You don't have to take a side, I'm sorry about that. You were right, they're both your friends."