Saving Me [MxM]

Chapter 07

Friday afternoon in November, two days before the twenty-fourth, and while Varian should have been excited for Thanksgiving Break and Nathan being there, his aching head wouldn't let him concentrate on more than one thing for a few seconds at a time. Currently, he was outside, trying to convince Epona that she did like him, and she did want him to lead her by her halter with her little foal watching from the small pasture.

The little colt that Andre had taken to calling Zephyr.

"Epona, I really need you to be a good example-" he cut himself off, hissing and pressing a hand to his temple. "Shit! Ow." he gasped, letting go of the halter and taking a step back, rubbing at his temple, which currently felt like it was splitting along the cranial cracks.

Epona snorted from her position, the halter dragging in the grass which was no longer bright green, but dark and dying. Winter was coming, and the air had a frigid bite to it, which had him shivering, despite the jacket he wore.

Closing his eyes, Varian took a deep breath to steady himself. A jab of pain at his temple again had him gritting his teeth and trying desperately to relax. It didn't work and his knees gave out, so he sank to the grass and cradled his head in his hands.

He couldn't work with this. It was too painful. As if in agreement, another jarring bolt of white hot pain hit him and he bit his lip, whimpering. Warm tears welled up beneath his lashes, and spilled over, down his cheeks.

In the next moment, a gentle hand touched his forearm, which was wrapped protectively over his head. Sniffing, he looked up to see the owner of the hand. Dressed in a light pink jacket and blue jeans, Jecklynn looked down at him, her dark eyes filled with concern.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him and gently gripping his arms, pulling them away from his head.

"Headache." he murmured, hating how shaky his voice was.

"Migraine from the looks of it." she replied, wiping at the tears on his face.

Varian pulled away from her. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest."

"You don't look like you've been sleeping much either." she said, getting up and offering him her hand. "Come on. You're going to bed. I'll put Epona and Zephyr back in the barn for you."

Varian didn't have the energy to protest as Jecklynn helped him to his feet and practically dragged him inside to his room, pushing him in and pointing at the bed. "Sleep. At the very least, take a nap. I'll be right back."

Varian watched her warily until she left before pulling off his jacket and tossing it on the floor, climbing into bed and pulling the blanket over him. With Venerra in school now, he could afford to sleep.

It wasn't long until Jecklynn returned, walking over to him and gently touching his shoulder. "Do you want me to wait around so I can get you up to get Venerra?"

"Sure." he breathed, wincing at another skull-splitting jab and burying his face into his pillow. The hand slid to his back and his bed shifted with more weight being added until he felt her lay next to him.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." she whispered gently. "Then I'll wait outside until somebody else shows up or three o' clock rolls around."

Varian nodded, mumbling something unintelligible as he tried to get his head to stop hurting enough so he could sleep. Eventually he was able to.

______________________________________________________

Nathan usually did really good in Biology, despite the constant headaches he had. They were usually fixed by ibuprofen though.

Not this time.