"can you come with me?" ethan asks, almost as if he's a little boy and has to go into the public bathroom with his mother because he still can't do it himself.
noelle nods slowly, not quite sure how to react. she follows him into the bathroom in her house. she took him there because she knew that her parents wouldn't be home for hours, and he seemed innocent enough. of course, she tended to be a naive girl at times.
when the two of them are in the bathroom with the door closed, ethan suddenly begins to slip his shirt over his head and noelle's cheeks turn red quickly, her entire body becoming warm. his back is to her, and when his shirt is off, there's blood all over his back, and she can't help but gasp and put her hand over her mouth.
"what?! is there something wrong?" the boy asks frantically. noelle's eyes travel over the bloodied spots on his skin that look like long strips that something was ripped out of, and she has the urge to throw up her lunch from only a few hours earlier. she puts her hands on ethan's shoulder, turning him so he can see his back in the mirror.
when he sees the mess, he screams. his scream is full of pain and sorrow, noelle isn't sure which one outweighs which, but she covers her ear due to the concern of her hearing.
when he's done, she uncovers her ears and meets his eyes, and they're glazed over with tears.
"are they really gone?" he asks, his voice quivering. noelle raises her brows in question.
"my wings," he states.
"are they really not there anymore?"
"wings?" she asks.
"yeah. they're these big feathery things...and they aren't on my body like they were when i was up there." he points to the ceiling, obviously meaning the sky. which he fell from, something noelle still can't wrap her head around.
"yeah...i guess they're gone." she swallows, but has no idea what else to say. ethan turns to face her, and picks his shirt up from the floor, and she notices that there isn't a speck of blood on it.
"do i have the rest of my body, at least?" he asks in an almost sarcastic tone, but she nods in his direction, staring at the black dress shoes on his feet. why is he dressed so nicely?
"is there somewhere i can sleep?" he asks the girl.
"but it's...only four o' clock in the afternoon."
"i understand that, but if you couldn't tell, i've suffered a great loss recently, and if you wouldn't mind, i'd like to isolate myself from others before i explode."
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