Gold Fever (m×m) ✔

XVIII: Testing a theory

《 ELIAN PHOENIX 》

It was a quiet night, with only the wind rusting the leaves and the call of a Barred Owl carrying over the babbling of the stream. I waited for Najwa to stay or do anything at all, but she just stood there still as a statue and stared up at me without blinking.

At least she was looking at me, so it had to be some sort of progress? I stared back at her, holding my breath and trying to come up with words, which had all eluded me en masse. I was rarely speechless but it was all too big and too meaningful, and I didn't know where to begin to explain it all.

I wanted to apologize, more than anything in the whole wide world. Out of all the mistakes I had made during my life, out of all the horrible things, taking Birdy from Najwa I regretted the most. But she had told me not to say I was sorry, so I didn't know what to do and I was starting to panic.

"Phoenix." Najwa whispered, at last breaking the silence. I had been holding my breath so long my lungs hurt, so I made myself inhale as much air as I could. She didn't go on, but somehow her saying my name was all I needed to free myself from the state of being tongue-tied.

"I don't know how to fix it." I admitted, still breathing in shallow huffs. "I don't know how I did it in the first place and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, but I want to bring her back. I'll do anything to bring her back."

When I met Najwa, she was in big trouble. Not as in running from the FBI scale of trouble, but she had hacked some big-ass company and gotten in touch with the police. I can't remember the company's name, but I knew they were sued around twenty years ago when their workers were found to be exposed to high levels of lead. Some of the workers got sick and the less lucky ones died.

Najwa's father was one of the casualties. She never talks about him, except she once said that she doesn't remember him. She was just a baby when he died, and she never even knew to miss him. Anyway, long story short, losing the man of the house plummeted Birdy and Najwa into poverty. They still got by, the company won the case and life went on.

If Najwa hadn't hacked the company years later, I might have thought she harbored no ill feelings about losing her father who she never had a chance to get to know. And yes, I know, that sounds like the background of a character straight from an action movie, but that's Najwa to you.

Anyway, she was caught and she got in trouble with the law. I was so impressed when she told me that, because all my life I had been surrounded with law-abiding people, whose biggest crime was to smoke weed or eat edibles in their friend's basement. Although, my friend Patrick did once get caught stealing candy from a corner store, so that's probably worth mentioning.

It was a pretty intense time for her, as you might imagine, but in the end she only got to pay some damages and live with a criminal record. I think it had something to do with Najwa being a first time offender and that the jury sympathized with her after hearing her father's story. When the judicial proceedings were over, she and Birdy moved to Charlotte to start anew.

"And I know you don't want me to say it, but I'm so sorry, so fucking sorry." I went on, full-on hyperventilating at this point, because conflicts aren't my idea of fun. "I want to fix it, but I can't do it alone. Please don't be mad at me anymore, I'll do a—"

"Phoenix, shut up." Najwa demanded in a choked voice, clutching her arms around me into the tightest embrace I had ever received in my life.

"But I.." I began, resting my chin on the crown of her head when our height difference made it impossible to do so on her shoulder. I hugged her back, but my hold was light and hesitant. "I really am sorry, I never wanted to hurt you like this. You're my friend."

"No, seriously, shut up." Najwa muttered, shaking her head underneath my chin before burying her face in the fabric of my shirt. Her shoulders were trembling now. "I shouldn't have said those things to you or throw that porridge or act like a fucking bitch. Phoenix, I'm sorry."

Then it was my turn to burst into tears. I've never been much of a crier, let alone allowing someone else to see me bawling my eyes out. Even though I know how toxic all that boys don't cry macho bullshit is, I guess it's still somehow instilled in my brain. But hearing those words from Najwa made me realize how tired I was, well past the limit of things I could handle.

"But everything you said was true." I sniveled, as pathetic I had ever been. Somehow we had ended up on the ground, sitting on our knees and still clutching each other like a drowning man holds onto a life-buoy.

"No, the fuck it was." Najwa swore and pulled back so that she could glare at me. "I was wrong."

"I'm sorry." I repeated, even as I knew there was no amount of sorries that could have possibly made it okay.

"Shut up." Najwa whispered and pulled me into another firm hug. She was full-on sobbing now, so it made me feel a little better about my leaking eyes. And nose, let's not forget that. "I love you, babe."

"Right back at ya." I murmured, and then we cried for a good long while. I think we both needed it, because I felt better afterwards. Minus the aching head, puffy eyelids and a stuffy nose.

"There's something I need to tell you." Najwa spoke with a quiet voice, breaking the comfortable silence we had fallen into. I glimpsed at her, my curiosity piqued. "Remember that guy from the mall?"

"How could I possibly forget?" I scoffed, thinking about my Walkman and the bruise on my side that throbbed for days to no end. "Why?"

"He.. he came to talk to me. Said his name is Aspen Gris..something? Apparently you turned his parents into gold." Then Najwa shook her head, clicking her tongue incredulously. "Turns out he really was after your life."

"Wait.. when did he tell you all that?" I asked, and I could feel my brows knitting together. I sat up straighter, feeling an urge to glance around like that Aspen Gris..something guy could be staring at us from some bush.

"Just now. He, or his dad to be precise, had this theory that he wanted to test and it was about.. Anyway, it's not important." Najwa leaned back, gazing at me under her brows, studying me. "He wanted me to kill you."

"What?" I exclaimed and now I was craning my neck to check the bushes. Then I started to scramble up. "Rio and Rain are sleeping, if he comes back, they won't be able to pro—"

"Phoenix, relax." Najwa cut me short and pulled me back down with her fingers around my wrist. I opened my mouth, frantic, to tell her we needed to go, but she just smiled. "I took care of it. Do you really think he can have the audacity to ask something like that and then expect to walk away like nothing happened?"

"Najwa.. what did you do?" I asked her, feeling a strange, crooked grin spreading on my lips. There was nothing funny about any of this, and I knew it, but I couldn't help myself.

"I kicked him in the ribs, obviously." Najwa huffed, a snort escaping between her lips. "What? You had to walk around with that terrible bruise, so it was the least I could do."

"Remind me to never fuck with you." I covered my mouth with my hand to hide the now creepy, all tooth on display, grin on my lips. I glimpsed at her shoes, grimacing when I thought about the steel toe cap colliding with ribs, muscles and soft tissue.

"Believe me, he won't be bothering us again anytime soon." Najwa swore, huffing out a breath of air. "And I made it clear to him that the next time he tries to kill you, I'll kill him myself."

"So, you're not going?" I asked very softly, barely able to meet Najwa's questioning gaze. I tried again: "You won't leave me?"

"Not ever. We're in this together." Najwa promised, smiling as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and leaned her head into the crook of my neck. Then she nudged my arm and said: "Come on, let's get back to the others before they start to worry."