Tangled in Love

Chapter 11

"Yes."

Maya timidly looked at Nolan, peeking at him through her peripheral vision. She could see his clenched fist beating rather redly and his Adam's apple throbbing and bulging rapidly, almost as if it wanted to break free from his throat. She noticed his jaw set in a straight, cold line, both layers of his teeth biting harshly against each other.

Suddenly, he moved through the kitchen door, banging it open, as if forcing his anger on it, the hinges broken and the door laying in its torn state. As he stomped his way out, his hands at his sides, the gasps from all the guests who saw the fallen door became background noise to Maya as she observed Nolan's red-ish, purple-black bruise forming on his knuckles.

Pulling the fridge door open, she yanked a pack of ice out. "Wait," she yelled at Nolan, running through the crowd to catch up to him. "Here's an ice pack for your knuckles."

Nolan made no notice that he heard her, continuing his way through the hallway. Maya sighed, throwing the bag to him. "Here," she yelled to him. "Use it if you want to. If not, leave it."

The last thing she saw before closing the door was Nolan alternating his glances at the ice pack on the ground and his now black knuckles, staring at it intensely.

"Hey," Havah's voice announced loudly. "I think it's time for everyone to start going... The party's over."

Whispers and glances were exchanged as they began trailing out the door, discussing the current turn of events. When Maya looked back, she only saw Annie, Havah, and Brennan.

"Hey," Maya softly whispered to Brennan. "You can go, too."

"That guy's a jerk, knocking your door down like that." He turned around, fire in his eyes. "I can go after him if you want."

"No," Maya stated firmly, pressing closer to Brennan so she could match their lips together. She felt Brennan's rigid body start to soften and she pulled away from him. "Go home," she whispered in his ear. "I'll see you later."

Brennan sighed, puffing out a breath of air through his thick lips. "Just one more kiss," he bargained, pulling her closer to his body and taking in her smell.

"No," Maya stated for the second time. "Go home." When Brennan saw the seriousness of her eyes, he sighed, pulling his coat on. "Fine, babe. Text me."

"I promise," Maya replied as Brennan walked over the fallen door out of the wooden door frame.

She slumped down on the brick-red couch, her eyes involuntarily closing, tired from straining them too far. So much had been happening since her day back and she couldn't keep up. After all, she had been in coma for nearly a week.

Maya was drifting off into darkness, her eyes fluttering between the state of conscious and unconscious, thinking back to Nolan. He was so cute today, Maya thought to herself, smiling sleepily. So cute... Like a teddy bear... A huggable teddy bear.

She suddenly felt something on her nose, something soft and and ticklish that nearly awoke her from her thoughts, but she kept her mind back on happy thoughts. Her sleepy state made it nearly impossible for her to grab it though, and thankfully it stopped tickling her nose as she landed in dreamland, having sweet, vivid dreams.

Annie was swishing a feather back and forth across Maya's neck, but with no result, she stopped. She sighed, disappointed that she couldn't get Maya to giggle and surrender. Oh what great fun that would've been! Annie thought to herself, cracking an evil smile on her lips. She lifted a light blanket filled with polka dots from the ground and dragged it over Maya's body, before rushing to help Havah clean up.