Verve | Elementals 3

3. Heath

Chapter 3

~Heath~

       My body felt extremely weak and I struggled to do something as simple as open my eyes. I just wanted to sleep forever, but my mind was telling me to just open my eyes. I couldn't. It was weird. I wasn't exactly asleep, but I couldn't get my body to do anything.

       Eventually, I could feel someone gently touch the side of my face and I heard a mumbled voice, but I couldn't make out what the words were. I couldn't even make out exactly who was talking. Simon, maybe? The hand on my face had a gentle touch, which was what Simon's touch was.

       As time went on, all the sounds in the room got more and more clear. Everyone's hear talking about different things, so I couldn't really pinpoint a certain topic. The only voice I heard clearly since it was the closest to me was Simon's. "Come on, Heath," he said quietly. "Please wake up. Please come back to me."

       It was the desperation in his voice that made me even more determined to open my eyes. It took some time and a lot of effort but eventually, I was able to do it. I looked at Simon, who immediately smiled as soon as he noticed I was fully awake now. There were a bit of tears in his eyes, so I decided to be a pest and say, "Don't cry. You're an ugly crier," as I wiped his tears away.

       "Shut up," Simon said before pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."

       I tried to rack my brain to figure out exactly what happened and why Simon seemed to be so worried about me, but I couldn't really remember anything. It didn't help that I still felt extremely exhausted and drained.

       Everyone else noticed that I was awake from whatever it was and also vocalized how happy they were that I was okay. Lincoln and Kailani gave me a hug, and Hailey punched my arm and told me not to scare her again.

       I fully sat up on the couch and Simon sat down beside me, hooking his arm in mine and resting his head on my shoulder. Marvin walked over and handed me a glass of ice cold water. I thanked him and basically chugged the whole thing as fast as I could.

       When I finished the water, I asked, "So what happened? My brain is a little foggy."

       "We don't know exactly how it happened, but the dark side was able to infect you with some kind of virus they made," Simon said. "You were fine one minute and then the next, you looked extremely sick. Keira was able to find the antidote but... We still don't know how the dark side was able to pull it off."

       "Yeah, I haven't felt their presence here in Ladera Grove," Jared said. "It's just... Weird how they were able to pull it off."

       "They're just lucky Simon didn't see it happen otherwise they would likely be dead," Lincoln said. "He gets scary with his powers sometimes."

       "Okay, jealous head," I said. "Who's the one that creates earthquakes all the time?"

       "I haven't done that in a while," Lincoln said, glaring at me. I just smiled innocently at him, happy that he still got annoyed whenever I brought up that he was a huge jealous head. Maybe he should just not be jealous.

       He even got jealous when I, jokingly, hit on Kailani even though he knew well enough that I was gay and very much in love with Simon.

       Kailani and Simon's dad, Peter, was actually here and he suddenly asked, "Sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop here and I just have to know. Simon, you're a lot closer to Heath now than you were when you all stayed with me. Are you two dating now? I thought you were dating Wendy."

       "Wendy and I realized we just weren't working out anymore," Simon said. "And then I started liking Heath so..."

       Even though I was still feeling a bit drained, I still wanted to be a pest so I said, "Simon realized I was way better than Wendy."

       Wendy didn't get insulted by what I said since she knew I was just saying it as a joke and didn't actually think I was better than her. If anything, I was starting to gain an inferiority complex ever since I found out I was the fire elemental. I felt a lot weaker compared to everyone else. But nobody else knew that. Except Simon.

       "Stop trying to start drama," Wendy said before she looked at Peter. "Don't worry, everything's all good between us. We're still friends."

       "That's good," Peter said. "It's great that you're all still good friends even after some relationships don't work out. You're going to have to make sure you all have that strong bond otherwise the dark side could use it to your advantage."

       It was still bothering me that no one knew how the dark side was able to inject me with some self-made virus without me, or anyone around me, noticing, but I was still too tired to think about it. I was unconscious the whole time everyone was trying to find an antidote, but I just wanted to relax right now.

       I looked at Simon. "Can I go rest in your room? I don't feel like making it all the way to my house."

       "Yeah, of course," Simon said.

       He came along with me to his room since I also wanted to snuggle with him for a bit. And talk to him about something that was on my mind. It had to do with my insecurities, so I didn't want to bring it up around everyone else.

       When we were both lying on the bed, Simon was able to tell that something was on my mind because he asked, "Is everything okay?"

       I sighed. "No, not really. I mean, I feel physically fine apart from being tired but... I'm just thinking about the virus thing. Why did the dark side target me? Is it because they think I'm the weakest?"

       "No, you're not," Simon said.

       "I am. That's why you're training me on our own time. I can't do anything about throw fireballs. They probably thought I'd be the easiest target."

       "Heath, you're not an easy target," Simon said. "I don't know why they targeted you, but it's not because they think you're weak. We never had to use our powers against them except for when Kailani and I was escaping their base. But it was just me and Kailani. They've never seen you use your powers, so they wouldn't know who the strongest and weakest is." Simon gently placed his hand on my cheek. "And you're not the weakest. It's not fair to compare our abilities when we all do different things. Would you compare your skill as a soccer player against someone's skill as a baseball player?"

       "I guess not..."

       "Exactly. So don't compare yourself. Please. I know for a fact that if we ever have to face the dark side, you will be a huge asset."

       I smiled at Simon. He always knew what to say to make me feel better. I rested my forehead on his. "I love you so much, Simon."

       Simon smiled back at me. "I love you too." 

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AND I LOVE THE TWO OF THEM.

i love all the couples in this book. they're all so adorable <3

also i'm still really glad i decided not to just pair up all the element bonds to be couples. it would have been too predictable, and i like how the bonds can be platonic instead of just romantic, exactly like heath and hailey. i love that mlm/wlw duo.

i mean what?