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"WHAT WAS THAT?" Steve asked.
Valentina slowly opened her eyes to look at the white tile floor. She could feel the boy's gaze raining down on her. His chin grazed the tips of her hair, the strands that suffered from all the times she'd curled too hot or pulled too tight and were broken shorter. He didn't mind, he hardly noticed them. He just watched from above as her fingers came to fiddle amongst each other in front of her chest, and how that very chest was rising and falling synchronously with his own.
A heavy sigh left the girl's parched lips. She'd been silent for a while, replaying the events after last November that had led her down this spiral of addiction.
The cold tiles underneath her legs were startling, but in a good way. She'd been burning up ever since her last dose left her bloodstream, and the coolness of the floor provided clarity. her headache remained dull in the back of her mind, and to the front came a realization.
She needed help.
And with that, she became aware of what she'd known all along: she had people there to help her. Or, at the very least, Steve wanted to help her.
He was there, sitting behind her and letting her rest against his chest. He was there for all of it, every stage of her addiction, whether he knew she was high or not. He'd never given up no matter how many times she pushed him away.
Yeah, he wasn't there three years ago, but he was there now. Valentina needed to let go of the past if she wanted to grow. And in this moment, Valentina realized that she really did want to grow.
"I need to tell you something," she said quietly, trying to warn Steve that this was going to be a serious conversation. This was his last chance to bolt, to escape the bathroom and leave her alone on the floor. Part of her feared that he would leave, but the younger part of her knew he'd never do that.
"Okay," Steve started, sounding suspicious. He was expecting her to say something like, 'It's just been a long day' or even 'I don't know.' The last thing he expected was for her to give a genuine answer.
This was what he'd been wanting. All those times he checked on her, every time he asked about her leg, he wasn't trying to bother her or remind her of the situation. He just wanted her to open up. He wanted her to know he was there for her, and that even if they hated each other they could still love each other.
"Um..." Valentina began, but fumbled for the words to describe what she was about to tell him.
How does one go about admitting addiction? She'd already come to the conclusion herself that she was going to quit, so technically she didn't need his help for that. But she wanted it anyway. She wanted to lift the weight of her secret that'd been weighing down for eleven months.
"Shit, I need to sit up for this," she said, quickly removing herself from Steve's chest.
Steve faltered, wondering if he'd already ruined the moment. Still, he removed his hands from her arms and tucked himself into the corner of the bathroom. Valentina did the same on the opposite wall, pulling her knees to her chest while his stretched across the floor.
