𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 • Miguel Cazarez Mora

XII: BLOOD

That morning, Tatum woke up still wrapped in Miguel's arms. He was awake, on his phone. "Good morning," he said, looking down at Tatum, who was barely awake.

She stopped for a second, taking in the situation, before relaxing again. "Morning," she said. "What time is it?"

Miguel checked the time on his phone. "Seven."

"Shit!" Tatum exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running into the bathroom. Miguel laughed, walking out of the bedroom and into the living room, where everyone else was already awake.

"Nice sleep?" Mason asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah, actually."

"Where is she now?" Tristan asked.

"Getting ready for filming, I assume. What are we gonna do while we're waiting for her all day?"

"Nothing. We're gonna watch her filming."

"Surely that breaks some rules."

"Oh well," Tristan shrugged, "Anything for our girl, right?"

"Right."

"That's sweet, Tristan," Tatum said appearing in the doorway for just a second, before running out of the trailer.

Everyone was already on set when Tatum showed up, but Tatum didn't worry considering they were always early.

She was taken right into hair and makeup, where her hair was messed up and she was covered in blood. Very flattering.

Filming went by quickly. It was nerve wracking considering that this was 'the big scene', and all of her friends were watching, but she got by fine.

By the time they were finished, Tatum was sweating, covered in even more fake blood, and her hair was even more messy.

She walked over to her fitness. "You guys enjoy watching me film the same scenes a million times over?" She joked.

"You did great, Tatum," Tristan said, "But, you can't come to dinner with use when you're covered in blood."

Tatum rolled her eyes, playfully slapping Tristan as the group walked back to her trailer. "For the record, I think you rock the traumatised final girl look," Miguel whispered.

"I rock everything, Miguel," Tatum laughed.

"Can't argue with that."

For some reason, Tatum felt her heart skip a beat at the compliment? Did he really think she looked good in everything? Or was he just trying to flatter her? She ignored her feelings, putting it down to a joke.

She went straight to the bathroom and showered, scrubbing all of the fake blood from her face and her hair.

When she got out, she threw on the clothes she'd left on the side. It wasn't what she gonna wear to dinner, but she knew she couldn't walk from the bathroom back to her bedroom in a towel now that she had company.

She looked inside the shower, seeing all of the blood. She though she'd got over her fear, until it looked real. This want in a studio now. It wasn't on set, or in a little bottle in her dressing room.

She knew it was fake, but in that moment her brain and her body couldn't tell the difference between fake and real. She ran for the toilet, instantly throwing up.

She walked over to the shower, wanting to turn it back on to wash away the blood, but started shaking the second she got close. She started crying, looking at the red liquid. It seemed so real.

Most people thought that she was just grossed out by blood, but the truth was, it absolutely terrified her. She thought the phobia was gone, but it was evidently still there, and still strong.

All of the food was drained from her body when she threw up, and now all she could do was cry at the sight, not being able to peel her eyes away.

Drowned by her thoughts, she almost didn't hear the bathroom door opening. The crew really needed to consider getting locks.

"Oh my god, Tay, what the hell? Are you okay?" Miguel said, walking in and closing the door behind him, kneeling next to Tatum, who, at this point, was in absolute hysterics.

He looked over at the shower. He'd always thought that the phobia was silly, that Tatum was just being a coward, or was too easily grossed out. But now he realised it was more than that. There was something in her brain telling her that the fake blood was real. He couldn't imagine was she'd be like if it actually was.

He walked over the the shower, trying his best not to get wet when he turned on the shower head, washing all of the blood from the floor and down the drain.

"It's gone now, okay. It wasn't real. There's nothing to worry about. You're safe, okay?" He reassured Tatum. She didn't say anything. He attempted to touch her, to put his arm around her, but she batted it away with her hand. He figured she needed time alone. "Okay. I'll leave you. Just know you're safe, okay? Everyone's waiting for you, dinner's booked for 6:30," Miguel said, walking out of the bathroom.

"Is she alright?" Tristan asked.

"There was some fake blood at the bottom of the shower. I guess she convinced herself it was real. I washed it away, but she wouldn't even let me touch her. I think she's just in shock, she'll probably be fine in a few minutes. Maybe you should check in her," Miguel told Tristan. Tristan could tell whether or not the comment was shady or genuine, but he took Miguel's advice anyway, walking into the bathroom.

"You okay?" He asked Tatum, who'd moved from her space on the floor and was now staring at the mirror. She'd stopped crying, but she still seemed upset.

"I'm confused," she replied.

"Confused about what?" Tristan asked, "The blood? It was fake-"

"Not the blood, dipshit. Myself. My feelings."

"Oh, this sounds juicy, do tell. Does Tatum finally have a crush?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I've never felt like this for anyone. Not for a while. I don't know whether I like them or whether I just wanna become closer as friends. Maybe it's neither, maybe I don't like them at all and I'm just forcing myself so that it's not awkward for our other friends and-"

"It's Miguel, isn't it?" Tatum said nothing. "Look, I know for a fact that you don't hate him. You already got over that obstacle. I can't tell you whether or not your feelings are romantic or platonic, but what I can say is don't push him away. I don't wanna watch you shut people out, okay? That won't make anyone happy."

"I'm literally a professional at shutting people out, Tris. I don't know. He's so nice to me, it's weird. No one's ever been this nice to me. Except you, obviously, but with him, it was so fast. I mean, we hate each other for a whole year and then what? Two months and I'm sleeping in his arms?"

"You didn't tell me that," Tristan said. "I'm gonna leave you with your thoughts for a bit, but you really do need to hurry up." Tristan walked to the door. "Oh, and Tay?"

"Yeah?"

"He never hated you."

author speaks
okay so idk what to do about this whole blood thing. i wanna make a backstory as to why tay is so scared of blood. it was gonna be something to do with her dad, since i haven't mentioned him but i've mentioned her mom i guess she's just fatherless, but i also don't wanna make the book too angsty so lmk what you guys think i should do. should i give the phobia some backstory or just leave it as a random fear she developed? help!