The Pond Of Flowers

Eight, Injuries And Beaches

Jason's mind slowly began to return to him. When he needed water desperately, everything became hazy. He vaguely remembered a tugging on his arm.

He got up and twisted the doorknob. It didn't open. He pulled and pulled, but nothing happened. He jumped onto the door and effortlessly pushed it out of the frame and onto the floor.

"Sheesh. You could have just unlocked it." He heard.

He turned around to see a girl he barely recognised. She was holding ice to her highly bruised ankle, there was a big bruise on her shoulder and her wrist was purple. She had a huge gash on her forehead, causing blood to cover most of her face and dyed her blond curls. After a double take, he realized that it was Elliana. His lip quivered.

"What happened?" He asked.

Elliana shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She said.

"Did...did I do this?" He asked, his lip quivering more.

"Well...yes, but it's fine. Nothing even hurts that much."

Jason knew she was lying. He took a step back. Then another. Elliana tried to follow him but her face contorted in pain and she looked down at her ankle. His vision began to get blurry with tears. He went to his comfort place. But as he began to take himself there he felt something on his hand. He arrived on top of his lighthouse with Elliana clutching his hand.

"Why did you come with me?" He asked.

Elliana looked at him sadly. "It's not your fault."

"How would you know!"

"It's ok. You wouldn't do it on purpose. I know you wouldn't."

"No, you don't! You don't know that! You don't know me! You think that you do, but I'm just this idiot who showed up at your door that you decided to help!"

She stared at the ground. She always seemed to do that. He saw a drop of blood hit the ground, and then a tear following it. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had. She hobbled away. He wanted so desperately to stop her, talk to her, but most of all he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her with the passion and admiration that had built up since the moment he had met her, and had grown so much he felt like it could explode. They had just met, but he felt like he'd known her for a lifetime. He could pull her back and kiss her right now.

But he couldn't. It would be clouded with blood, blood that he had created. He had hurt her. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"So, I don't know where I am or how I can get home, so I'll need your help with that." Elliana said.

Jason lifted his hand up and rubbed the blood off her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I did that to you. I'm so, so sorry." Jason said.

"Jason. It's not your fault." Elliana said.

Jason looked away. Elliana cupped his cheek in her hand and tilted his head back towards her. He blushed a little, but she kept a serious face.

"You're right. I don't know you well. But answer me honestly, would you ever hurt me on purpose?" She asked.

"I... well... I guess not... but relatively thinking..."

"That's all that matters to me."

"But what if I really hurt you?"

"You think that's possible?" Elliana replied.

She lifted her muscles into a flex and let out a low growl. Jason laughed. When Elliana noticed it, she scowled and growled even louder. He laughed even harder. It was the least intimidating thing he had ever seen, and the fact that she had blood all over her face and that he was over a foot taller than her wasn't helping. Elliana's arms fell and she laughed along with him. After a minute of watching her laugh, he stopped laughing along with her. He just watched her smile. It gave him a feeling he couldn't place. Eventually, she noticed and she stopped too. When she saw him staring at her, she blushed and turned away.