Stay With Me - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 4

The homeless girl let tears run down her face, shaking her head.

"N-No... I'm fine. I don't need you." She breathed, pushing herself away from Miles and going to walk away, but Miles caught her as she gasped in pain and fell forwards - she was caught just before her knees could hit the concrete ground.

"Hey... you don't have to stay forever, alright? Just let me clean you up and you can have some of my old clothes to change into - something warmer than what you have." Miles said softly. "I may even throw in a pizza." Miles said and the girl cracked a small smile.

"Sounds like something a murderer would say to lure me in." She tried to joke and Miles let out a laugh.

"I swear, my weapons collection is only because they're pretty." She joked with a smirk, smiling when it got her to laugh but her smile dropped as the homeless girl groaned with pain and coughed - it sounded painful. "Please? Let me help you - it's freezing out here and you're hurt... an hour tops, I swear." Miles promised and Kath hesitated before nodding her head.

"O-Okay." She said and Miles breathed a sigh of relief.

"My name's Miles, what's your name?"

"K-Kath." She said and Miles smiled comfortingly.

"Hi, Kath... do you think you can walk? I live about five minutes from here once we get out of the park - we can tackle the stairs later when we get to my dorm." Miles said and Kath held onto the wall to keep herself standing, hunched forward so she was practically bent over double.

"Y-Yeah, I'll... I can walk." Kath said, but Miles was still unsure.

"Give me your arm." Miles took hold of Kath's arm, wrapping it around her neck so that she could hold Kath up and she wrapped her other arm around Kath's waist to keep her up and to keep her close and they slowly started to walk towards the exit of the park closest to Miles's dorm. "Do you have any belongings?" Miles asked softly, her heart breaking in her chest as Kath shook her head. She couldn't ever imagine being homeless, not having anything besides the clothes on her back - it didn't bear thinking about.

"I-It hurts." Kath mumbled.

"Yeah, it looks like it does... let me know if you need a break, okay? We can sit on a bench." Miles said and Kath stayed silent, trying to just focus on breathing through the pain that was burning through her ribs and it hurt Miles to hear how agonized it sounded. With every step, Kath let out a whimper, every breath was shaky.

"W-Why are you helping me?" Kath asked after a minute of silence and Miles looked over at her.

"Because you need help, and just because I have a place to stay doesn't make me any more entitled to help than you." Miles said and she noticed Kath start to cry, but the homeless girl was doing her best to hide her face - she obviously wasn't comfortable being so vulnerable in public or around strangers.

"I-I owe you."

"No, you don't." Miles said simply and they kept walking towards the exit, but Miles shook her head after another couple of yards and she led Kath towards a bench, making her sit down. "You can't walk anymore, I don't wanna push you - especially when there aren't any benches between the park and my dorm." Miles said, running her fingers through her hair and she sat beside Kath. "Here, you're still freezing." Miles shrugged off her own jacket, throwing it over Kath's shoulders to try and keep her warm. "I thought I gave you some money for a blanket?" Miles said and Kath kept her head down, her hair hiding her tears.

"Th-They wouldn't accept the money... s-said it was di-dirty... s-so I had to leave th-the store... th-those guys followed me, kn-knew I had money... I r-refused to hand it over and th-they took it by f-force." Kath got out, struggling to speak because of the pain. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"You're apologizing? Kath, no... no, none of this is your fault! I'll fill a duffel bag before I let you go, okay? I'll give you everything - clothes, some food, water bottles so you can fill them up over and over again from the water fountains for free - a blanket, medicine, bandages... Kath, please don't sit and apologize to me. I'm so sorry this happened." Miles's own eyes burned with tears, hearing Kath let out a sob - she'd been strong for too long. "I'm gonna call my girlfriend, okay? She has a car, she can drive us back to my place." Miles pulled out her phone and Kath looked over at her, doing her best to hide her tears.

"Y-You have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm gay," Miles said cautiously, unsure of how she'd react but Kath didn't react at all - she didn't think any differently of the girl who saved her, she was just terrified to have to trust someone else as well as Miles.

Miles called Amanda, holding the phone against her ear.

"They didn't touch you, did they?" Amanda answered almost immediately and Miles sighed.

"No, but I need your help... I need you to come and pick me up from the park." Miles said nervously, an arm around Kath to try and comfort her and keep her warm.

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