The Unexplainable You.

Part Eighteen. Portland.

His arms are warmer and stronger than I expected. I thought I was going to freeze in his arms, but they actually are warm, and it comforts me.

I close my eyes, the light searing though my corneas and doubling the pain in my head. For some reason though, I'm not ashamed of crying in front of him. I feel like after that day in my bathroom, I don't have to hide from him. He didn't hide from me, so why should I?

"Do you want me to get a nurse? He asks, his fingers tracing across my arms. I shake my head, the feeling alone draining me of the small amount of energy I have left.

Tears shiver down my cheeks, my chest heaving, shaking.

"Tell me," I breath, "Tell me a story."

I feel him shift around me, his arm around my shoulders. "Um, I'm not very good at storytelling, but I'll try I guess."

I give him a weak smile, curling deeper into his boney body.

"Um well, once upon a time there was a teen girl. Now this girl was named... uh, Denver. Yeah, her name is Denver."

"Denver?" I laugh. "What kinda stupid name is Denver?"

"No more stupid then Portland."

I scoff, wanting to argue with him but I have no clue how. Dang him and his amazing argumentative skills. And even me being on debate team, I suck at arguing. Maybe that's why we always lose.

*Harsh realization that I'm the reason we always lose*

"Anyways," He continues. "Denver has a best friend, his name is Pheonix."

"What is it with you and capital names?"

"Shut up,"

I laugh, sucking in a hard breath.

"Denver and Pheonix, they're buds, ya know. But secretly, Pheonix has a huge crush on Denver. But he doesn't know how to tell her, because he has a traumatic backstory and he doesn't want her to get hurt if something happens to him."

I grin, kinda seeing where the idea stems from, which makes me blush like mad. "I bet Denver has a crush on Pheonix too, but she wants to get to know him. Even with the weight he carries, she want's to carry it with him."

"Does Denver want to date Pheonix?" He asks after what feels like forever.

I contemplate his answer, knowing how I compare to the person he thinks I am. Because I'm so much harder to handle then the person he knows

"She doesn't know yet."

***

I end up falling asleep through his story, I tumble into the dark part of my mind that I try to forget.

"Where do you think he is? He said his party was going to be over two hours ago." Ronnie says as we set the table for our new years eve midnight dinner. A tradition between the four of us to eat at the strike of midnight. A first meal of the year, kind of. It's 11:46 and he's still not here, while the three of us have been at Alyssa's house for hours.

"Do you want to call him?" Alyssa asks me, plopping down on her pleather couch.

"I guess so."

I pull out my phone, dialing his number, but someone knocks at the door first.

"He's here." Ronnie laughs, opening the front door. What greets us though knocks the smile straight off all of our faces.

Levi stumbles through the door, gripping onto Ronnies arm, blood staining the floor.

wait.