your city gave me asthma // Wilbur Soot

eighteen

We're all silent for a few seconds until my phone buzzes. I pick it up and read the text.

Unknown Number: Hey Skylar!! This is Joey. I got your number from Matt so I could tell you happy birthday! I know were not close or anything haha but I felt bad not telling you so I hope you have a good day!!

I grin at the text and glance at Wilbur. "Aw, your friend Joey is so sweet."

Wilbur rests his head against mine as he reads the text. "Yeah, he's a good guy. Would never hurt anyone."

Me: awww thank you joey!! you're so nice!! you need to come hang with all of us sometime :)) us Americans gotta stick together

Joey: Hahaha definitely that would be great. You guys should come to my basketball game tomorrow at the school

Me: ooooo that sounds fun 🤭🤭 we might pull up.

"A basketball game?" Wilbur groans.

I put my phone down and kiss the stubble on his jaw. "You should support your friend. Plus, what else are we going to do? We always just chill in Matt's car or something. We might as well go."

"Mmm, whatever," He says, connecting our lips to shut me up. He sets his hand on the back of my head, keeping me where he wants me. I nearly get lost in him before realizing Claire is literally staring right up at us.

"Sorry," I mutter at her with a laugh. "He's hard to resist."

"So hard to resist that you're leaving me soon?" Wilbur whines, tucking a loose piece of hair behind my ear.

"Guess so," Claire says with a grin.

I roll my eyes and speak before Wilbur can snap back. "I'm going inside. It's getting too cold."

They both hop up quickly after me, helping me carry our blankets and snacks inside. Claire goes to the bathroom while Wilbur and I join the rest of the group watching a movie. He sits in the recliner and pulls me on top of him, cozily wrapping us in a fluffy blanket.

"You should grow your hair out more," I whisper as I run my fingers over his scalp. "At least the top. Make it super fluffy."

"It's already fluffy." He whispers back.

"Yeah, but fluffier," I giggle, pulling a curl down and letting it spring back up. "Just don't get a buzzcut."

"Mmm, no promises."

Claire comes into the room and sits at the end of the couch, holding my outstretched hand. Eventually, I feel her grip let go as she's fallen asleep on the couch. I glance away from the TV and at everyone, realizing they're all asleep. Even Wilbur.

I suddenly feel weird, the only conscious person in a room full of people. I don't like feeling lonely when I'm not alone, so I reach over and wake Claire up.

"I'm gonna go to bed." I whisper. "I wanted to stay with you for your last night."

She grins and nods, following me over to our room. Neither of us bother to change into pajamas and immediately get under my covers, lying next to each other. I'm brought back to the night before I left for London, staring at the ceiling next to Maddie, wondering how we would deal with the following months. I had no idea what the future held. I figured I would be ready to go home every single day, but now I don't know if I ever want to leave.

Wordlessly, I hold Claire's hand again before shutting my eyes, simply hoping that an easy answer will come to me.

I sit on my bed, finally doing my homework after a tearful goodbye with Claire. She took an Uber to the airport so I had to send her off from here. Wilbur just got out of his last thirty minutes ago, so he should be here any second. We're planning on going to Joey's basketball game together, where everyone else should be by now.

Right as I'm thinking of him, there's a knock at the door. I set my laptop aside and get to the door, gasping as I open it. Matt and Wilbur stand there, but Wilbur is beat up. His left eye is black, his nose stuffed with two bloody tissues, his lip cut open. There's a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his temple. Matt stares at me, perfectly fine, while Wilbur stares at the ground.

"Oh my God," I whisper. I grab Wilbur's hand and pull him in, Matt shutting the door behind us. "What happened?"

I sit Wilbur down on the bed and grab our first aid kit from under Marie's bed. Mom is a nurse, so I have a small idea of how to do some things. I try my best at cleaning up his face while Matt talks.

"We were getting cigs after class," Matt begins, leaning against the wall. "And in the shop, Eli was there. He recognized Wilbur before he even had time to react and immediately just started fucking attacking him. I was able to pull him off but he still did a good amount of damage, obviously. The cashier was starting to call the cops so we bolted in opposite directions."

"Why is he still in London?" I mutter. My paranoia can't even go away in another continent. "I'm so sorry baby. Why did he start fighting you? Does he even know we're dating?"

"Oh, shit," Matt sighs. "You don't even know."

"Know what?" I ask, moving my attention from Wilbur to Matt.

"When you were having your panic attack, Wilbur punched Eli right in the face. He had a bandage on his nose today, so I'm guessing Wil broke it."

"You hit him?" I look back at Wilbur. I know he gets protective of me, but I never thought he would just punch a guy in the middle of a fancy restaurant. It's what he deserved, though.

Wil just nods, staring at me with sad eyes. I want to kiss him, but I'm scared I'll hurt him if I do. I pick up his hand and kiss his knuckles instead before going back to work on his face. I'm only able to clean the blood off of his face, I can't take away the black eyes, bruises, and cut up skin. Thankfully, his nose stops bleeding and doesn't seem to be broken.

Matt leaves after a few minutes, but Wilbur and I stay sitting on my bed. I don't even care that we could get in trouble, I just want to sit and take care of him. He's silent, but curls up next to me, his head on my chest and arms around my torso. I put on a random movie for us to watch, staying quiet to let him relax.

Eventually, he falls asleep, lightly snoring. I turn off the movie and go on my phone, making sure the volume is off.

Marie: Hey I just heard about Wilbur is he ok???

Me: yea he's sleeping now. i feel so bad :((

Marie: Me tooooo. I can't believed he punched Eli the other night

Me: me. too. kinda hot tho

Marie: No you're right. I can't believe Eli is still here. Fuck Lacy.

Me: yeah i'll freak out if i think about it. how's the game?

Marie: Good, I didn't realize how good Joey is. They won by like forty points. He asked where you were......

Me: aw that's sweet

Marie: Girl.

Me: what?

Marie: You realize he likes you, right?

Me: no he doesn't. he's Wilbur's friend he wouldn't do that to him.

Marie: Oh you're so innocent. Joey knows you and Wilbur won't last when you're back in the states, but you know who will be in the states when you're sad? Joey. He's gonna jump on you right when you guys break up.

I look up from my phone and stare at the wall. What is Marie even going on about? First off, Wilbur and I aren't breaking up when I move back home. Second off, Joey doesn't want me. He's being friendly since we're both from the states.

Me: yeah no... he's just nice to me. either way, i don't want him back so it doesn't matter

Marie: Mhmm whatever. I'll be back in a bit.

Me: okay. stay safe. :)