Sweet Little Birds (BxB Romance, Completed)

Chapter 12: Tofu Noodle Soup

From his blanket cocoon, Robin could hear insistent knocks on the door. He knew who it was, and he knew she wouldn't go away. Des' persistence was one of her best qualities, even if it was annoying at times.

His friend called on him from outside. "I know you're in there, Robin. Let me in."

With a groan, he rose from the bed, the warm blanket still swaddling him.

"I'm sick..." Robin mumbled, peeking out the slit of the door.

It was true, or at least it had been. After arriving home from the cataclysmic event on the football field--which seemed so distant now--he'd spent most of the night throwing up and now, two days later, Robin still felt under the weather. It appeared his body just couldn't handle the recent upheavals in his life. Although his condition was probably compounded by the fact that he'd sustained himself on crackers and cereal--which were all he had in his cupboards--for two days since he feared leaving the safety of his room. The outside world seemed impossibly scary and threatening.

He'd even texted and canceled the tutoring session with Tyler since he was convinced the other boy wanted nothing to do with him anyway. Whatever connection had existed between them, Robin had destroyed when he backed away. He couldn't bear looking into those green eyes, with their sweet promises of freedom, with the knowledge that it was over. No more awkward flirty encounters. No more accidental touches. No more soft marshmallow kisses.

Hiding forever seemed like a more appealing option.

"I know you're sick, Robin, you texted me about it." Des looked like the perkiest cheerleader, dressed in green running shorts and stripey knee socks and with her hair in pigtails. "And I'm here to take care of you."

Without asking, Des pushed past Robin and invited herself into his room. In her arms was a pot from which a delicious smell emanated.

While he sat down on the bed again, pulling the blanket over his head to shield himself, Des slammed pots and pans in the kitchenette. Soon she placed a bowl of piping hot soup in his hands and a bottle of ginger ale on his bedside table. "There," Des said. "Eat. It's tofu noodle soup. My own recipe."

Des was a good cook, probably on account of having proudly declared herself a vegetarian in junior high as a statement for animal rights. Learning to cook nutritious plant-based meals had become a necessity for her since the rest of her family hadn't made the same dietary choice.

Robin obliged her command, both because he was really hungry and because he could never say no to Des. The salty broth, creamy tofu, and slippery noodles brought life back into his limbs while the sugar and tang of the ginger ale lit a flicker of hope in his mind.

"I was worried for you," Des said and flicked her hand through Robin's unwashed and greasy hair. "I thought maybe you were sick again, like when you were a kid."

Robin shook his head while swallowing a mouthful of soup. "I wasn't sick back then," he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Des asked with a puzzled expression.

"It was all my mom," Robin explained in a matter-of-fact tone. After having gone over the events of his childhood in his head about a million times while wallowing under his blanket, he was by now accustomed to the horrifying reality of it all. "She made me sick. She gave me pills. She wanted to control me. I guess she still does."

He slurped up the broth from the bottom of the bowl and handed it to Des so she could refill it. The shock on his friend's face was apparent but she still made sure to tend to Robin's needs and got up to get him more soup.

"What do you mean?" Des handed Robin another bowl of soup and sat down on the bed again. "What is Liza trying to do?"

"She says she won't pay my tuition," Robin explained. "If I'm not... who she wants me to be. She'll take me out of school and I'll be stuck in that house, with no one around. Not even you."