𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢

why are YOU here?

i rubbed my eyes, looking around. it's like i blacked out for a second, but when i check the time - it's 3 pm. fuck.
did i get knocked out?

'fuck...' i groan out, eventually strengthening myself up enough to step out of the car. i open the door, and look around. of course it's already dark-ish, it always is.
suddenly i come to the realization, eliana.

i gasp, 'ELIANA!' i instantly run to the other side of the car, opening the door. she's still knocked out.
'oh my gosh, no, no, no...' i shake her by her shoulders, 'WAKE UP!' i yell in her face. i can feel the tears stream down my face, how can i be so attached and worried about someone i haven't even known for a week.
her heart's still beating, and she's still breathing. but when it comes to the worst, that could stop.
instantly, i call for an ambulance.

'pick up, pick up!' i repeat to myself, but my call gets cut off by the other end as if i just got hung up on, i try again a few more times - but it doesn't budge. 'FUCK YOU!' i yell at my phone, then i scroll down and click on the first contact i see.

bill, could you please pick me and eliana up? we just got in a crash.

~

he was worried, i could tell. before i blacked out again, i saw the genuine terror on his face as he pulled up and found me and eliana there, stranded.

normally, i'd be worried if tom or georg picked me up. because you know, they're vampires. but this is bill, i believe he'd never hurt a fly.

i rub my eyes, my vision slowly coming back as my eyes flutter open. there's a bright light over me, i know where this is. the medical office at my school.
i don't understand, i thought i'd need to be admitted back to a hospital?

i shriek, gasping like i just came out of water. i jolt up, looking around.
'honey, calm down! you might cause strain on yourself.' the nurse worries, instantly walking over beside my frail body on the medical bench.
'why am i here? why am i not in the hospital?' i panic, 'where's eliana?'
the nurse holds my hand, 'you're going to be fine, honey. rest a little.' she completely dodges my question, 'i'll go get you a cup of water.' 

she comes back, i grab the cup of water and drink. it's ice cold, i'm really picky about my water - and this tastes like hand sanitizer was added to it. i set it down on the table next to me as the nurse opens the door.

i expect to see someone like gustav, bill even. or even eliana, with a few bandages.
but no.
all i see is...

is that tom?

my eyes widen, 'tom?'
'hey, delilah.' tom walks over beside my bed, putting his hand on the handles of it. 'are you okay?'
'i'm fine.' i sigh, 'why are you here? i mean, i appreciate it but it's... you.'
'true.' he shrugs and chuckles, 'you wouldn't expect me to visit you, would you? you'd be expecting someone like gustav...'
i slightly push him, 'hey!'
'and look, we're twinning.' he says, making me confused. he points to his headband.
'what do you mean?' i cross my arms, 'are you making fun of me?'
'no, obviously not. plus, don't stress too much.' he puts his finger on my forehead, 'your head will grow, and your bandage will explode.' he smiles.

wait, bandage?

'wait, what bandage?' i stutter, shaking my head in confusion. he hands me a mirror, then i look at it.

the side of my head is bandaged up, i look fucking stupid.
'no, no, no, no...' i worry, my eyes widening again as my eyebrows furrow.
i then can hear tom laughing, 'you look like a dumbass! it was so hard to just not laugh at you while i came in...'
i smack him, 'don't be rude, i just got in a car crash!'
then i remember, eliana. 'do you know where eliana is?'
'eliana, georg's girlfriend?' tom asks, 'oh. she's in the hospital, her injuries were worse than yours but she'll be fine.'

'HOSPITAL?' i yell out, shocking tom and catching the attention of a few people walking outside of my room, i can see them since damn tom left the door open.
'yeah, hospital.' tom crosses his arm, 'jeez woman, calm down.'

'how can i be calm? that's my friend in the hospital! i need to see her!' i panic, he shuts me up.
'calm down! she's not going to be in there for that long. plus you've known this girl for how long, since like yesterday?' he mocks me, but i can tell that even he's unsure of how long she's going to be in there.
'tom please! it doesn't matter how long i've known her, i still care about her! she's one of the best friends i've ever had an-' before i can continue my sentence, tom grabs my shoulders.
'delilah, please. calm down. she's gonna be fine.' my eyes start to sparkle, i wanna tear up. i just want to know if she's okay. but also, the way tom reassured me just made me feel something i haven't felt in a long time - but i can't pinpoint what it was.

~

surprisingly, tom's still here even after 20 minutes of complete silence.
i look at him, then look away. then i look at him again, ready to say something. i can't take this silence.

'why are you still here?' i question him.
he looks back at me, 'why not? it's funny seeing you with that bandage around your head.'
i roll my eyes, but then... a pang of genuine curiosity hits me.

'you never told me, how's you and eva?'

i can hear him sigh, 'do you ever have any other way of starting a conversation.
i scoff, 'oh, don't argue with me. i'm just curious, how are you and my ex best-friend going?' my voice is a little sarcastic.

'we're fine.' he replies, 'a good kisser, and very good in the sheets too.'
i gag just thinking about tom and eva together 'in the sheets', 'gosh, you're gross.'
'whatever.' he rolled his eyes, 'she's a bit clingy, don't you think?'

look, i'm a respectable young woman.
but what eva did to me just made me mad, so...
i guess just a little shit talking would be justified.

'yeah, too clingy for her own good.' i sigh, rubbing my head, 'she's nice, i guess... but she needs to learn how to fend for herself.'
'damn.'
'what?' i ask back to his sudden remark.
'i thought you two were like locket in locket, you hated me and my friends.' he scoffed and muttered, 'especially me.'
i chuckle, 'yeah, especially you.'
i smirk, and he smirked back.

maybe, just maybe ...
tom isn't as bad as i think.

'anyway,' he chuckles, 'how are you and gustav?'
'me and gustav? oh we're fi...'

i'm about to reply, until i remember...

gustav.

'GUSTAV!' i subconsciously yell out, causing tom to look back at me then out the window, thinking that i called out if he's here. i immediately get out of bed, putting my slippers on. for some reason, they took my shoes.

'woah, where are you going?' he asks, shaking his head and raising his eyebrow.
'to go find gustav! he said he needed to tell me something!' i yell at him, but not in a rude way.

sliding out of the room, i run through the corridor, clinging onto my plaid jacket. luckily i have a bodysuit on, so it's easy to run in. but these boots? they aren't doing me any justice right now.

gustav's a patient and nice person, i wonder if he'd still be at that one tree.

oh that tree, brings back a lot of memories.
even though tom quite literally tried to bite me there.
but when gustav helped me ... gosh, it still makes me smile thinking about it.

before i know it, i'm already at the hill.
but he's not there.
i don't blame him, it's not exactly the right time to be here.
i haven't checked, but it's about 3 hours after, my phone must still be in the room - i saw it when i woke up, but i didn't touch it. surprisingly.

i decide that i'm going to march right up to his door to see what he's going to say.

~

KNOCK KNOCK!

'gustav!' i call out, knocking on his dorm door.
there's no response, but there's definitely something going on in there.

i can hear chatter.
hold on.
is that a female voice?

it sounds like 'HE' hasn't heard me, so i decide to knock on the door one more time ...
till i decide against it.
let me listen in, who is he talking to?

'that's not how it works...'
'ahaha! gustav, it's fine .. we can hide it.'

hide what?
only two sentences from them, i'm already getting suspicious.

'we can't, i need to tell her today. i feel too guilty just to keep this from her.'
'you don't need to tell her everything, you know. this can be our little secret.'

i'm absolutely shocked by what i'm hearing right now. i know damn well that this man has NOT had any females in his dorm OTHER than me.
and by what i can tell right now, that's HIS voice.

but then again,
that female voice sounds oddly familiar...

'plus, i know her. she's stupid, she barely figures out anything... do you know how much i've done behind her back?'
i can hear him chuckle, 'oh really, like what?'
'make out with her ex, max, while they were dating. it was at her birthday, you know how she doesn't like parties - so after we celebrated her birthday, i went to a party with max and did him. plus, i was wearing a red lacy lingerie set and a tight black dress for him that night - he knew what he was getting himself into.'

i can't explain it, but i can hear them smirk.
then, i can hear their filthy lips clash together.
i gasp, but not loudly so they can't hear me.

first of all, what the fuck? gustav's hiding this WHORE from me?
also, i only know one girl who was wearing a tight black dress.
but as that realization is only just going through my head, he says it for me.

'awh come on, you know that girl has cried over you - eva.'
'gustav, don't pity her. she's a bitch. plus, weren't you supposed to meet up with her?'

i can hear gustav immediately stop kissing her as she mentions that.

'SHIT!'

i can hear him jump up, zipping up his damn pants.
gosh, if only the rooms were sound-proof...

i can hear him put his shoes on, running to the door.
i back up, letting the door crash open.

there he is, about to turn the sharp corner - until i decide to speak up.

'you're fucked up.'