Irish Oxytocin

Best Friends | 8

                            ❁ Chapter 8 ❁

It has now been a couple of weeks since the incident, and the night on the hill.
I stayed home from school for a couple days. My energy came back not long after, but the soreness I felt during that week was probably the worst physically pain I've ever been through. I could never get comfortable since everywhere I attempted to put pressure on was covered by bruises, cuts, or just achey joints. Overall, my injuries weren't as bad as my friends and family were making them out to be. If I'm being honest, I assume they were more afraid of how I felt emotionally after what happened. I've remained a strong mentality, though. The only thing I really feel is anger.
Everything has began to heal properly. All my minor injuries were almost gone, and only the biggest have remained. Jacob, Ethan, and Nolan took turns staying with me throughout the week after the fight. I don't think it was exactly over protection. The day after it all went down, I think I harassed everyone in my contacts for every hour I was awake. I was so bored just laying there in bed knowing everyone was out there doing something. So, alas, they came up with a plan to keep me company in shifts so everyone could finally be at peace.

Once I returned to school the following Monday, I saw a part of Nolan that I've never seen before. The Nolan I knew was always so hesitant around me, even when we were together during his shifts. We never brought up the night on the hill. Mostly, I think he didn't really want to talk about it. He was really vulnerable that night. Maybe not as much as I was, but it was more considering how closed off he has been since he arrived at Roosevelt. So for the sake of his ego, I never brought it up again. He didn't try to either, so I knew he didn't want it to be brought up again.
That doesn't mean I forgot what he said, though. He told me he was willing to try and let me in. And so far, I'd say he's trying pretty hard. On Monday, Nolan became hooked on driving me to and from school to avoid this ever happening again. He walked me to all my classes, and when they were over he'd be there waiting outside for me. He was always there, even when I needed to go to the bathroom. You'd think I'd be used to it because of Daniel, but absolutely not. Nolan is ten times more annoying than Daniel ever was.
He was stuck to my hip, and even when we weren't at school we were always together. That wasn't about the attack though. We were working really hard on our essay.
Kind of.

Well, I could blame it on the essay if I wanted to. That's how it started. I'd go over to his house every couple of days to work on the project, but it eventually turned into just hanging out at mine. Then after that, we were just hanging out at diners and in the cherry blossom field. I could sometimes still feel his hesitance to be around me, but he never told me no. It became a routine we both fell into. He'd pick me up from school, walk me to every class, stay close at lunch, and then after school he'd "drive me home."
Truthfully, I don't think he ever just drove me home straight from school. We never spoke about it. But if I went inside, Nolan followed. Eventually it wasn't about keeping me safe anymore. We were just together, always. As if the hours we spent together were never enough when school ended. I've been spending practically all my time with him.
Daniel hasn't said a word about it, and neither has Ethan. Sometimes Ethan and Jacob even join us on our adventures.

One night, we were all at this local diner until the early morning. Jacob suggested milkshakes and I begged Nolan to bring us. He was hesitant, as we'd assume, but we went anyway. I sat across from Ethan and sat next to Nolan. Jacob was on Ethan's right, and we just hung out for hours. Jacob brought a deck of cards so we played different games as we ate and drank items from the menu of the diner. Nolan had his hand placed on my thigh practically the whole night. I remember calling Ella to rant about it once the guys drove me home.

Daniel and Nolan have been taking turns cleaning my wounds. It depended on who I was with when I needed a bandage change. The majority of the day was obviously Nolan. He eventually just stopped reminding me when I'd walk to the bathroom myself to let him clean up whatever needed cleaning. Most nights though, it was Daniel. Right before bed. He never said anything as he did it. I don't think he ever knew what to say, so we'd sit there in silence for a couple of minutes as he replaced what needed to be. My stitches were out now, also. I had a nice scar on my forehead as a result. It was faint, though. Nolan did a good job.