After the Earthquake

Part 6

The following day, Lyra-Rose raced through the front door of the house and called for Hazel in her sing-songy voice. "Hazel! I have a surprise for you!"

Without a second thought, Hazel rushed to the door, skidding on the hard floor in her socks. "What is it?"

"It's me. Duh. I just wanted you to come quickly." Hazel scoffed in disbelief and sadly drooped her limbs and head. She slithered her way over to the dining table and sat with Lyra there.

"What do you want from me this time?"

"A twenty." As Hazel went to smack her head against the table, Lyra put her hand beneath her forehead to stop the impact. "Ouch! I'm just kidding, Hazel. I came here to see you and ask how the house was coming along."

"We've literally only been working for one day, Lyra. How could it possibly be coming along?" She was still in a bad mood from last night, and her fight with Jordan had not made things any better.

"Okay, Chief. On the bright side, I brought you a chocolate bar." She pulled out just a couple of cubes of chocolate, and Hazel frowned at Lyra. "Sorry, I got hungry on the way over."

"Listen, Lyra, I'm really not in the mood. Are you going to be serious or not? You're free to leave at any point." Hazel rubbed her forehead with two fingers and dreaded going back to the house today. Her whole body ached despite not having to do much hard labour, and simply just because of the long hours they had worked yesterday. Especially due to her being inactive for weeks before, her body was not yet used to this. Although, perhaps the physical strain would help to distract her mind from other troubles.

"Listen, Hazel, whatever it is that you're upset about, you can say to me, okay? You know I'm always here for you."

Hazel suddenly felt guilty for snapping at Lyra, and she found herself bursting into tears. She could barely form a sentence, and yet she found herself letting loose to her best friend about everything that was on her mind. She went over the ins and outs of her argument with Jordan, and also the webcomic matter.

"Hazel, you should have told me sooner. Why have you been bottling it all up like this?" She went to behind Hazel's chair and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "It's alright, honey. I'm here for you." At this point, Jordan came down the stairs, and Hazel could hear the thud of his feet as he entered. He gasped as he saw the tears streaming down her face, but Lyra growled, "Get lost. This is girl time." Hazel found that she had never been more grateful for her best friend than now.

"I love you so much, Lyra. I don't know where I'd be without you." She found that her tears had soaked her friend's shirt, and she went to wipe it, but she found her head being gripped down. This was what true friends were for. "Have I ever told you that you're my favourite sister?"

This made both of them erupt into laughter, and although Hazel didn't quite feel done crying yet, she was very encouraged by the support of the people around her. She barely even noticed as Sierra slipped through the front door and signalled that she would go into the other room. "No, please, stay. I'm done crying, I just needed a moment to melt down."

She nodded understandingly. "Don't worry, we all have them. I'm always here to help you if you need it. I know that I haven't known you long, but I really feel like we're family now."

"I feel that way too." Hazel took a hold of her arm and pulled her into the hug so that all three women were close to each other.

With this, Dean and Jordan came down the stairs. "Is it safe to come down or will Lyra beat us up for intruding?"

The three girls let out snickers. "Come on, then," Hazel responded. "I suppose it can't do any harm to have us all here." As everyone took a seat at the table, a warm and tingling sensation rose in her body. Love.

"Hey sis, I won't have tea here tonight. We're going out for a meal." Dean looked down at the ground as he said this, which Hazel thought was peculiar.

"Oh, we are? Well, I suppose it won't do any harm. We do still have some extra money for takeaway and-"

"Hazel, I mean... we're..." He indicated to both him and Sierra and continued, "going out for a meal tonight."

Hazel kicked herself under the table for being so stupid. "Oh, right! Well, have fun, you two!" She couldn't help but to flash Dean a cheeky smile. His eyes widened and he shot her a look which indicated that if she made a big deal out of this, he was going to kill her. She was suddenly reminded of what Jordan had said the previous night, and as she glanced at him, he was simply shaking his head slightly and looked downcast. All of her anger flooded her again, and it was a miracle that she did not hit him there and then. She told herself to remain composed in front of Sierra and Dean, so she did not reveal what Jordan had said.

"So, where are you two going?" As she began to speak, and alarm rang loudly from her phone, notifying her that it was 8.30am and time to go to the house to volunteer.

"Saved by the bell," Dean laughed, with a wink towards Sierra. She laughed at his bold words.

***

During the day while they were working on the house, Jordan dropped a brick which Hazel passed him and it landed on his toes. He let out a small groan of pain, and Hazel soon forgot about their argument and rushed over. "Are you okay?" He nodded grimly and forced himself to stand up again.

"At worst, there'll be a bit of bruising. I'm fine. Pass the next one, please." Despite his brave words, there was pain in his voice, but no matter how hard she tried, Hazel could not convince him to go to the hospital. She was sure he had a look of pain on his face, but it was nothing she could challenge. They simply continued with the job in silence.

***

That night, Hazel overheard Jordan on the phone. "I know, I know." She edged closer to listen, though stayed behind the door so she could not be seen. "How am I coping? What do you mean? Of course it's terrible. Today was terrible. Honestly, I... I don't know how long I can keep this from her. Please, just... get back to me when you can." As he hung up on the phone, Hazel emerged.

"What is it that you can't tell me?" Jordan almost jumped out of his skin, but as she took a sneaky glance at his call history, she felt at ease again. "Oh, you called the doctor? I'm glad. What did he say about your toes?"

"Oh, they're um... they're fine. He said to just rest and see what happens."

"What is it that you can't tell me?" Her head tilted, and she frowned in curiosity. Something was going on here.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. It's just that I didn't want you to know that I had caved in and called the doctor, but I was in a lot of pain. I guess you caught me, huh?" Hazel was determined that he was still hiding something due to his unease, but she was not willing to push him any further. "Anyway, I'm going to settle. You should too. It's been a long day for both of us." He lightly planted a kiss on her forehead. "Oh, and Hazel. I'm sorry for what I said about Dean. He's a great guy, and I didn't mean it. I was just tired and in a sour mood."

She didn't believe him, but she was glad he had apologised. "Okay, I appreciate that." She just wanted the fight to end, so she was more than willing to forget about yesterday. "Sleep well."

"You too, my love." He watched Hazel walk up the stairs and held a hand to his heart. It was still pounding. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to follow her.