wings ↣ w. worthington iii

20. realizations ✓

"I'm bleeding out, so if the last thing that I do is bring you down, I'll bleed out for you." (Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons)

Word Count: 1792

WHEN LILLI CAME TO, she was aware of about two things; the first being something pokey digging into her side, and the second being that she felt dirty and in need of a shower.

Lilli groaned as she sat up, looking at her right side. The thing that had been digging into her side was a sharp pinecone, and Lilli rubbed the stickiness on the side of her shirt in disgust.

Glancing around, Lilli noticed she was still in the small copse of trees. It was dark out, and it took her a moment for her eyes to adjust. When they did, she saw Peter slumped against a tall pine tree, in a deep sleep. Warren's back was to Lilli, and he was sitting at the treeline, peering out from behind the trees. Lilli hoped she had only been out for a few hours.

She groaned as she stood up slowly, her whole body feeling sore. The damned man had really done some damage, but she had done much worse to him.

Warren was sitting rigidly, and Lilli felt a pang of guilt. He had probably been keeping watch this whole time. "Hey," Lilli said quietly as she sat down next to him. Warren turned his head and looked at her, Lilli's eyes widening as he did.

"Are you okay?" He croaked, sounding barely awake. He looked half dead with deep circles under his eyes, tangled hair, and a cloudiness in his gaze.

"Good Lord, Warren, are you okay?" Lilli asked, internally freaking out. He did not look well.

"Yeah. Just tired," he mumbled in response, turning away to look up at the stars. He blinked slowly, trying to stifle a yawn.

"How long have you been awake?" Lilli asked, not really wanting to know the answer. Warren shrugged sluggishly.

"A while," he yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Go to sleep, I'll keep watch," Lilli said. She expected Warren to try and protest, but he gave no fight and simply collapsed onto her lap. Within a minute he was out cold.

Lilli sat and waited, watching the stars and trying to make constellations. She found one that looked like a smiley face, and named it Sir Smiley. As time went by, Sir Smiley slowly drifted away towards the horizon, making way for the sun.

Lilli ran her fingers through Warren's blonde locks, trying to tame his tangle of hair. She occasionally glanced back at Peter, who, although still asleep, looked a lot better than when they had first reunited. She was glad her hard work payed off.

A few hours later, Warren stirred. Lilli sat back and smiled at him as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning," Warren mumbled. "How are you?"

"I'm good. You?" Lilli sat up and stretched.

"Good. Is Peter awake yet?"

"No. He's out cold," Lilli glanced back at Peter who was still dead asleep. He'd had a few hours rest, but they really needed they moving. No one was sure where they needed to go, but preferably far away from Kezing's headquarters.

"I'll go wake him up," Warren sighed, seemingly having the same thoughts as Lilli. She nodded and sat back down, stretching her legs, while Warren woke up Peter.

Hearing them start to converse, Lilli turned and stopped stretching. The sun had started rising, and it filled their small clearing with early morning light. Birds were chirping and the scent of the pines calmed Lilli, and she wished the clearing wasn't so enticing so that she was more motivated to leave.