Gold And Coal (Ryden AU)

1.7 ◇ Road To You

It seemed like life had suddenly taken pity on me.

When I got home, my father was slumped against the wall, snoring loudly, with two half-empty liquor bottles next to him.

I was incredibly relieved by the sight of him and completely ignored the fact that he was drinking away my hard earned money yet again, realizing I could go to sleep without any worries filling my mind.

Letting a small smile play on my lips, I pulled of my shirt and hung it up, leaving it to dry overnight. I then contently curled up under Brendon's jacket, snuggling into the soft fur that covered the inside.
While curled up in a ball, it managed to cover me completely. That made me realize how skinny I must be. The coat fitted Brendon perfectly, and he was a little shorter than me.

It didn't take me long to fall asleep that night, since there was nothing to keep me awake. My stomach wasn't screaming for food. My body wasn't shivering uncontrollably and I knew my father was safe in the other room.

It was the first night in ages since I'd slept soundly.

***

Of course it was raining again. That's all it did in this cursed city. Furthermore, the temperature was dropping day after day and while walking near lit streets, I could see my breath swirling up in the cold air.

Soon the rain would be replaced by snow.

I shivered at the thought, remembering last year. It had been a particularly cold winter and I swear I had been abnormally close to freezing to death.

No point worrying about that right now, I thought to myself. I was still wearing Brendon's coat, not having let go of it since receiving it last night. It was my most priced possession at the moment.

To distract myself, I hummed the tune of my favorite song my mother used to sing to me.

Tom he was a piper's son,
he learnt to play when he was young,

But all the tunes that he could play,
was, over the hills, and far away.

All over the hills and a long way off, the wind shall blow my top knott off.

I sang quietly, trying to keep my voice from quivering. It echoed through the dark streets, but stopped as I suddenly clutched my throat as a series of coughs errupted.

I felt like I was suffocating and it was terrifying. I desperately gasped for air between violent fits of coughing and sank to my knees.

No, no, I didn't want to die like this. That's not how I pictured it. It was supposed to be calming and painless. Not this terrifying.

The cold air scorched my throat even more, so I burried my mouth into Brendon's coat, hoping it would help.

It did, eventually, but by now I was lying on the wet ground, shivering both with cold and exhaustion, and most of all fear.

I didn't want to die like this. Lying on the wet, dirty streets in defeat.

I started as I felt a hand on my shoulder and immediately tensed up. This was bound to be my end. Who wouldn't take advantage of someone unable to get up. My grip on the coat tightened.

Please, go away.

I thought, shutting my eyes, hoping I could dissapear by doing so, which was a childish act.

"Are you okay?"

My eyes flew open again. What? How the hell was he here? Why did he keep showing up in places I least expected him to?

I opened my mouth to reply, but another series of coughs prevented me from doing so.

"Okay, okay, don't talk," he shushed me and moved around so he was facing my back. I felt his hands moving underneath me and grunted in protest as he hoisted me of the ground. I wiggled around in his arms, not at all happy with the situation I was in.

"Stop moving or I'll drop you," Brendon hissed. Oh, please do, I'm fine walking by myself, thank you very much.

Which was a lie, because alone the effort of trying to get out of his grip had exhausted me greatly so that I now no longer had any energy left and lay in his arms like a sack of potatoes, much to my dismay.

I didn't know where he was taking me, but I was far too tired to give it much thought. Because of his rhythmic steps, it was easy to drift into a light sleep, or probably unconsciousness in my case.

However that didn't last long because the next thing I knew I was being hoisted into a carriage and once it started to move, it was anything but rhythmic.

I started shivering again and the world became darker, the rattling of the carriage fainter, as I drifted into unconsciousness once again.

The next time I woke up I was being carried by Brendon again. As far as I could tell, we were far away from my usual surroundings. My head was slumped to the side, so through half-closed eyes all I could see was the floor.

But that gave me a great deal of information regarding my surroundings. See, in St. Giles, which I had to call my home, the ground was filthy, the puddles a very dark shade of brown, almost black, and the smell was obnoxious.

Here however, the pavement was clear, and out of the corner of my eyes I saw grass. I had never seen such healthy looking grass in my life.

I watched as we entered a building and I heard voices, but I was too far gone to understand what was being said.

I felt my shoes being pulled off my feet.

We ascended a flight of stairs.

And then Brendon put me down on a bed. A real bed. A proper bed. Not some filthy rag laid out on an even filthier floor, no. A bed. With a matress. And it was so soft.

A sigh escaped my lips as I fell into unconsciousness yet again.

~ I made a map to find you when you're alone, 'cause all my life's been a road to you ~