Scars Bleed Gold

Busted

"I'll be honest Mal; I really didn't expect something like that from you."

"Something like what?"

"What you did to that guy first and foremost, but also putting yourself out there for me. If it was anyone other than my best friend, this could have gone an entirely different direction. No offense Mal, but I kind of had you pegged for the timid type."

Mal looked away. "I had to help you."

"Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way. I really owe you."

"How about we just call ourselves even? You've done so much for me, haven't you?"

"Apparently not enough. Most of this stuff wouldn't even have happened if I was more careful in that library." I dryly said while getting up and stumbling into the kitchen, leaving Mal on the couch. Sitting on the counter next to my keys, presumably left by either Meghan or Gannyn before they woke me up, was a bottle of painkillers. I grabbed the bottle and twisted it open, dumping a couple into my mouth and chewing them up before swallowing.

I dropped the bottle back onto the counter and checked my fridge. Most of the food I had inside while not being much, was missing. Those mooks raided my fridge.

"Assclowns!" I growled and closed the fridge. I could afford to skip a meal anyways. I limped through the living room as Mal watched me curiously. I entered my room and reached into my pockets, dumping the contents onto my bed. My wallet, phone, now sporting a large crack on the screen, and the two knives I had bought for myself. I set one on my nightstand and shoved the other back into my pocket as I sat down, grabbing my phone and opening it. Several news alerts were in my notifications, all more or less related to my recent involuntary facelift. It was pretty popular from how much attention it was getting. There was even a picture of me, my yearbook photo of senior year.

"Five days. Five is all it took for everything to go down the drain. Could'a sworn it's been longer..." I scrolled through some more articles, among them was an obituary for the dead man.

"David Hunt found dead, family mourning, etcetera. Left out the part about him trying to murder us but whatever." I sighed and tossed my phone back onto my bed before heading back out into the living room. Mal was sitting on the couch right where I had left her, staring at the knife I bought her. The black blade was stained a murky red color. Her eyes flicked up to me and she scrambled to put it away. I pretended to not have seen anything and eased myself down onto the couch next to her.

"I think we could both use some relaxation; we've had a rough past few days." I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the available options. I settled on Locke & Key again, resuming where we left off. As the episodes progressed, Mal seemed to ease up, letting herself enjoy the show. Hours passed as we binged, only stopping for bathroom breaks. She needed something to help her relax. In all honesty, we both did. During one episode geared more towards tension and suspense, Mal scooted closer to me, grabbing onto my arm when a jumpscare happened. She let out a cute yelp and folded her ears back in embarrassment.

"Jumpy?" I asked with a grin, internally slapping myself for looking at her like that. She's just a friend, and not even human! Don't make it awkward!

"Shut up." She shoved me playfully.

As the sky darkened, Mal let out an enormous yawn. I stared wide-eyed at how far open her jaw came before it snapped back shut with a quiet clack. She must not have slept while I was out, the poor thing.