One Life For Another

8

I can see that the skinny male has trouble with standing on his own two feet. Gerry and Thom let go of him and walk away. Leaving the male sinking to his knees. I get up and walk over to him. I kneel down next to him and lay my hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" The boy stays silent, his face hidden behind his arms. I bow my head, not looking at him anymore. Even this hurten boy doesn't care for me. I get up and want to turn around when the boy suddenly says, "Princess?" I turn back, finding the boy sitting straight up while looking at me. Then it hits me, it is Jayden. My eyes fill with tears as I kneel down again. "Babe", I can't say anything else because the tears start to roll down my cheeks. A moment later I can feel his thumb against my skin, wiping my tears away but it only makes me cry more. The thing I only dreamed of happend, or am I dreaming? Is Jayden really here? I let myself fall onto to my knees, letting the tears escape my eyes. "Princess, it is okay. I am here." What if this is all a dream and I wake up? Could I ever be happy again if this was a dream? Jayden ruffles my hair, "Princess, this is not a dream." I look at him through my tears and suddenly I realize that this is real. It only makes me cry more and I pull him in to my arms. "I missed you", my voice sounds broken. That is how I actually feel, happy, confused, broken and sad. "I missed you too princess." He wraps his arms around me and leans against my chest.

We stay in the same position for two hours before Jayden says. "Lets go to our room." I nod, get up, pulling him up with me. I help him to the room, lock the door and let go of him. He looks around and stops when his eyes find all the pictures of him on the door that leads to the bathroom. I look at it too and think of every night I spended in front of this door, thinking about him. "Babe?" "Yes princess?" "What did they do to you?" "They locked me in the basement, to punish me." "I saw you and the guys on the rooftop. Were you scared that they would throw you off?" "Yes I was baby. I saw you but I was scared that they would kill you too." "Were you scared to die?" "Just a little, I was more scared to leave you on your own. I thought they would kill you after I would die." I sniff and look at him. "Princess, I wanted to tell you that I love you at that moment but I couldn't because of them. It hurted so much to see you cry." "Babe I didn't know what to do at that moment and every moment after it. I have been locking myself up for days, nobody cared for me, I have been running for drugs, drinking and I have been broken by Nickkie's sudden death." "What happend to Nickkie?" "A day monster killed her one and a half year ago." "That is horrible. She was such a good person. But did Day monsters attack you?" "Yes they did baby, but I won every fight." "I am proud of you", a smile grows on his face. I stare at him, not knowing what to do or say. "Princess you said that in the past two years no one cared about you. Did nobody hug you or anything?" "Yes baby, nobody talked to me either." Jayden grabs my waist and pulls me in to his arms. "Now I am here baby and I will never leave you alone anymore." I start to cry again and hide my head in his t-shirt. Finally after two years I feel safe again. Jayden strokes my back, making me calm down slowly. Then he suddenly lifts me up and carries me to the bed. "What are you going to do babe?" "I am going to cuddle with you and then sleep." I smile, "Cuddling sounds like a good idea." Jayden nods and puts me down on the bed. The sheets feel cold through my t-shirt because I didn't sleep in the for weeks. I slept on the couch because every time I layed down in bed, I got reminded of Jayden. I could keep up with that for one and a half year and then I decide to sleep on the couch. I shiver at the cold touch and try to get up again. Jayden noticed me shivering, "Why did you shiver princess?" "The blankets are ice cold." Jayden leans with his hands onto the blankets, "Ow princess you are right. Didn't you sleep in bed?" "No I sleep on the couch since half a year, because I kept being reminded of you as soon as I layed down in bed." "Awh princess, don't sleep on the couch anymore and please stop running drugs." "I will baby, for you." Jayden lays down next to me before hovering over me. I stare up at him, his face change a little because he got skinnier. I close my eyes for a moment and open them again. "Babe is this real? Are you really here?" "Yes princess, you are not dreaming." He wipes some hair out of my face and kisses my forehead. "I want to spoil you baby, hug you all night long and make you the most delicious food I can make." "hm, I want that baby, because you should eat too." "You are right baby girl, I haven't eaten much lately, because they gave me food once a day. And it wasn't a lot either." "We will make sure that you will gain weight again okay?" "Thank you princess, but let me take care of you. You look skinny too." "Babe I barely ate, because I just couldn't. I didn't sleep much either." "I could barely sleep because I kept thinking about you princess. You were on my mind 24/7. I kept thinking what would she be doing right now, if she even is alive." "Now you know what I have been doing babe, did you imagine any of it?" "Only that you would be crying a lot. But I didn't expect you to drink baby. Were you that sad?" "Yes baby, I drank my sadness away." "Silly girl, you know how bad drinking is for you?" "I know, just wanted something to get happier." "It is understandable baby, but you shouldn't have done it." I look away from him, but he immediately grabs my chin. "Don't look away cutie, you did nothing wrong." He pushes my head in a way that I am facing him again. He slides his finger over my lips and kisses them after. I kiss back and wrap my arms around him. I can feel his love through the kiss, the feeling that I missed the most. He breaks the kiss after some time and starts to stroke my hair. "Baby girl you got prettier in two years." My cheeks heat up and I suddenly realize that I haven't heared any sweet words in a while. I smile at him and brushes my hand through his hair. It feels a bit sticky and stiff, probably because he didn't wash it in the time he had been locked up. "Baby did you ever get the chance to wash yourself when you were down there?" "Yes princess, but there was not much water down there. It was also ice cold water and there was no blanket to warm up under." "Awh poor baby. Go take a shower." "No baby, I am to tired to keep standing. My legs are to weak at the moment." "Okay baby, but let me at least wash your hair." "Would you do that?" "Yes of course. Just sit down outside of the shower cabin and lean backwards so the water won't drip onto the ground." "Lets do that princess." He sounds really happy. He gets up and walks to the bathroom. I quickly walk after him and push him down on the ground with his head backwards. "Stay like this." I walk into the shower cabin after taking off my shoes. I grab a bottle of shampoo, put it on the ground next to Jayden. "Ah a towel..." I step out of the cabin again and grab a towel. Jayden stay silent, he only looks at the floor. I wrap the towel around his neck and shoulders and get into the shower cabin again. A few seconds later warm water flows around and over my feet. I take the shower head in my hand and wet Jayden's hair while having my hand on his forehead to make sure that none of the water drops are falling into his eyes. I shampoo his hair, massaging it in softly. Jayden makes a soft hurten sound when my fingers touch a spot behind his ear. It feels uneven, almost like there is a cut there. I carefully push his ear aside a little, wipe some shampoo aside, revealing a 4 cm cut behind his ear. "don't ask questions about it baby, I don't know how I got it." I sigh a little and trace the cut with my finger. "Be gentle princess." I stop and only look at it. "Lets put some scar cream on that after we are done washing your hair." He nods, "but you got to be really careful and gentle baby." "Of course babe, I don't want to hurt you." I pick the shower head up again and wash the shampoo out of his hair. A delicious smell fills the bathroom, my pants get wet because of the water but I don't care. I turn the water off, wrap the towel around Jayden's hair and softly dry his hair a little. Jayden chuckles softly while waiting for me to be done. I put the towel aside, step out of the shower, almost slipping because my feet are slippery. Jayden gets up and pulls me of my feet. "Now we are going to eat!" I smile and wrap my arms around his neck. He starts walking, a little unstable. "Babe be careful. It might be better to put me down if you are not stable." "No, it is okay. I want to carry you because I couldn't do that for a long time." I want to say something back, but decide that it is better to stay silent. Jayden puts me down on bed, wrapping me in the blankets like a burrito. My arms are stuck, my legs too but it feels really safe. "Stay there princess, I will make food now." I nod and stare at the ceiling.