Running Away-Travlyn

A Friend in Need-Ch.6

Katelyn's POV:

The sounds of the peaceful night surrounded me, my body finally able to rest safely. I drifted off deeper into the depths of sleep, feeling Travis leaning on me as we both fell asleep on the couch, both relieved to be able to relax.

A few hours later, I felt Travis against my side, stirring in his sleep. Still half asleep, I groggily awoke to find him tossing and turning in his sleep and whispering to himself. I felt my hand go over to my face, which was starting to warm up. I was blushing, again. I gently slapped myself, as not to wake him. Now I was really mad at myself. Someone having a nightmare is not cute, I continued to tell myself, but my heart wouldn't listen. Soon enough, Travis fell back asleep. Feeling satisfied yet again, I allowed myself to sleep.

I awoke to find Travis leaning on my shoulder. I can't describe it, but I guess the best way to describe it would be like a cat, snuggling against me. It was cute, the way he leaned on me and talked in his sleep.

Stop, I told myself, Maybe he's just cold, and nothing else.

Still, it was strangely comforting. As I daydreamed on, wondering about what to do next, a beam of sunlight shone through the window, waking him.

"Morning," I said, as I could feel my face flushing to a light shade of pink. It was't until he awoke that I noticed how close he was edging towards me. Pale skin has never helped me in hiding my feelings and embarrassment, and it wasn't helping now.

"What are you doing," I said, still unsure if it was rude to pull away, not sure if I wanted to. It was so strangely natural, and I was bordering on whether or not I wanted to pull away.

"Oh, sorry," he said back, blushing, "Is it bothering, I mean, is it rude? I honestly don't know, I've just been alone for so long, you know, its comforting to have another living human being next to me. It-it reminds me I'm not alone."

"Oh, no no no, it's fine, at least, I'm fine with it," I said, maybe a bit too quickly. I decided not to mention last night when he was tossing and turning, he seemed so happy, and I didn't want to ruin it. "But, what about your mom, didn't you mention that she is with you too?" I asked.

The smile on his face faded as he looked down at the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I, um, not supposed to bring that up?" I asked nervously. I started panicking internally, my heartbeat thundering faster and harder.

"No, it's fine, at least I'm fine with you asking it," he said, with a hint of a smile on his face, but it was a sort of sad humor, to lift up the sadness and loneliness. I was able to relax a little, but I saw something was wrong.

He continued on, "It's just that sometimes, she leaves for days and doesn't come back until late at night tired, and I never see her come in. She leaves food for me and notes about when she will come back, but every time she leaves, she leaves for longer and longer periods of time. Like now, she hasn't come back yet. I haven't even properly talked to her, she's just always so tired. And when I do see her, she's covered in dirt, with scratches and scars. I've never questioned where she goes and why, it's just been this way for almost as long as I can remember. When I was little, I would ask her, and all she would say was that she was fighting a fight of some sort, to protect the island. I never believed her, I always thought she was joking, but now, I'm not sure."

I nodded in response as he began to talk some more. Sometimes, in times like these, no words are needed, in times like these, you listen, and that's exactly what I did. In so many ways, I could relate to everything he went through and is going through. I could understand his want to have someone to tell and someone who would listen. Someone who would understand and could help.

And then, I realized that I was that person.