Effluvium //m.h.//

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//And although this town does flaunt all the stuff you need to feel at home, I plan on taking from it nothing. But then again there's you...//

I woke up at around dawn. George's room was nice. Especially the bed. Curling into his side, I failed to notice how our legs were intertwined. I did however, notice how his hand was stroking my hair and he was humming a sweet song I'd never heard before. It was honestly really comforting and sent me back to sleep.

I woke up, alone in the bed this time, to an unfamiliar feminine voice telling me she had made some food for me. Opening my eyes, I can face to face with a very pretty girl. Her clear blue eyes were smiling back at me and a bowl of what looked like steaming oatmeal was in her hands. It had a few slices of strawberry and some blueberries resting in the center.

"Oh, you woke up easily." She said. "I've made you some breakfast." Sitting up, I rubbed at my eyes and yawned silently. "You have a cute yawn." She giggled and sat down on the bed in front of me. Handing me the bowl, she brushed her long blonde hair out of her face. "I'm Liz." I raised the spoon with a little bit of oatmeal in it, not really bothering to smile. "Beda. Although I prefer Bee." I said, blowing on my bite to get it to cool down a bit before I ate it and burned the shit out of my tongue.

"That's a nice name. I think it suits you very nicely." I nodded, slipping the spoon into my mouth. "Well thank you. This is very good. Its sweet." Liz nodded, smiling at me. "Yeah, I didn't know how you took it so I just made it how my mother used to make it for me. There's bacon downstairs if you'd like some of that." I scrunched my nose up and shook my head. "No, but thank you. I don't really eat meat. It kind of makes me nauseous." Something sad flashed in Liz's expression, but she kept her smile there.

"You're a vegetarian?" I nodded, picking up another spoonful of the goopy breakfast. "Would you mind if I asked the reason?" She asked. I only shook my head again, keeping a relatively stoic expression. "No, not really. I'm not very strict with it, but sometimes when I eat meat I remember it's like... I don't know, muscle I guess?" I shrugged and took a bite. "Not sure why, but it makes me extremely queasy and I just like to avoid that. I love fish though, and every once in awhile a cheeseburger is nice."

Liz nodded. "Yeah, I understand. My best friend is vegetarian, but she's back in Texas now." I had a feeling we were stepping into a sensitive topic, so I stirred my oatmeal around a bit, nervously. "Different reasons I'm assuming?" She nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely."

There was kind of an awkward silence as I finished my meal, but she didn't leave. After I took the last bite, I looked over at the window. "You were sent up here to watch me, weren't you?" Liz froze at my question, but nodded nervously. I only sighed and nodded. "Yeah, it figures."

The silence continued for awhile, but this time she was the one to speak up. "Can... Can I ask what you and George did last night?" I turned my eyes to look at her and huffed bit, in an attempted laugh and shook my head. "Nothing, we just slept. I'm assuming he carried me up to his room after we fell asleep on the couch." Her eyes widened at my words.

"He actually slept an entire night? Without weed or alcohol or sex?" I nodded and looked down at my empty bowl, scraping the spoon around. I knew why he hadn't been sleeping and that hit very close to home. "Yeah..." Suddenly a pair of arms were wrapped around me. Immediately I tensed up, not expecting it. Liz obviously felt how uncomfortable I was and pulled away almost immediately.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" I interrupted her apology with a shake of my head. "Please don't apologize, its not your fault. Heartbreak is... Hard. For everyone involved and around them. There's not really a part of you or anyone aroumd you that it doesn't affect." Liz nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I've witnessed it... And gone through it, but haven't we all? Some people's stories are worse than others." I nodded, but didn't say anything for awhile.