In the Span of a Breath

Chapter 6

It'd been a month since the night of the attack and Erin was going absolutely stir crazy. He stayed in his room most of the time lying on his stomach and doing class work: his mother and father were the ones getting his missed assignments now. He wasn't allowed to move too much and his mom didn't want him outside. Any visitor he got was only allowed to stay for an hour or so but it wasn't like he knew many people outside of Paige that wanted to come hang out with him.  Even Paige came over exactly thrice and stayed for about half an hour each time. The last time he came over ended up being a bit of a mess. A mess Erin wasn't quite sure was good or bad. His mind cast back to the day and he bit off a sigh.  

He was dozing on the couch, his mom at work and his dad in his study. A knock at the door jolted Erin into sudden wakefulness and Paige entered without waiting for an invitation. Erin huffed out a relieved breath.

"You scared me." He closed his eyes ignoring how his heart sped up.

"Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to." Paige smiled and ruffled Erin's hair has he walked past him into the kitchen. "You're mom make dukboki for you?"

"Rude! You just broke so many etiquette rules. You know my dad already doesn't like you too much. If he saw that-" Paige cut Erin off with the wave of his hand as he stuck his head into the fridge.

"Hey, no way. Paige you eat too much; don't eat my food!" Erin wined and propped himself up on his elbows. He watched Paige grab the container filled with dukboki.

"I wouldn't have done that had your dad been in here." He said off handily while he went to the microwave and popped in the full container.

"You couldn't possibly have known if he was in here or not. You just got lucky this time. But seriously don't eat it all. Mom only made it 'cause I begged her. Paaaiiiggeee." He knew he sounded petulant but he hadn't even eaten any of it due to the feeling of nausea after waking from a nightmare. And despite appearances Paige was capable of eating more than a team of teenage soccer players.

"Stop whining, you gigantic baby. I'm not gonna eat it all. You haven't eaten yet have you? Get over here and sit." He fixed two plates and set them on the table along with two glasses of water.

Surprised, Erin stared at Paige for a bit longer. Long enough for Paige to look over at him and cock his head to the side. "Coming?"

"Ah, yeah." He took his time sliding off the couch. While he was getting his feet under him he heard Paige hiss in pain and something metal hit the floor. The sound made him snap up to investigate and ended up having to lean on the couch as a wave of pain stopped his thoughts.

"You alright, Paige?" His voice was tight as he dealt with the pain.

"Fine, stupid. Don't strain yourself." Paige's voice sounded odd but when Erin was able to look up at Paige he was picking up fruit from the floor.

Deciding to tease a bit, Erin made his way to the table with a smile. "You dropped the fruit bowl? Way to bruise the fruit, dude. You know if you dented the bowl Mom is gonna-"

"Yeah! I got it, Erin!" Paige was crouched on the floor holding an apple. Paige's outburst was so sharp it made Erin startle. The younger teen's back was to Erin but he could see a slight trimmer through Paige's shoulders.

"I- I didn't mean anything by it." Erin stepped a bit closer and slowly bent to grab the sliver fruit bowl that rolled towards him. He shifted to stand back up when he noticed a bit of blood on the floor in front of Paige who still hadn't moved. "Is that blood? Are you alright?" his voice went up in alarm and he felt that familiar prickle of fear creeping through him anytime something reminded him about the attack.