The Faunus Girl

Comforting a Friend

Most of the night goes on with no disturbances, with Titian and Liam staying out of the room doing who knows what. Iberis still sleeps with his head wrapped, with an ice pack on and off every ten minutes, and with me sitting next to his bed making sure nothing wakes him.

Guilt claws at my insides as I look at my sleeping friend, "Why don't you hate me?" I whisper feeling my eyes itch with coming tears.

I grasp his gloved hand while I let my tears flow, "I don't know why you're so stubborn, but thank you. Thank you for being the some of the best parts of my day, and I'm sorry."

I bring his hand to my forehead, "I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry Iberis. I never wanted to put you in danger."

A soft knock comes from the front door, Titian would just open the door, so I assume Liam has come back from training to lecture me. I go to open it, "I'm really not in the mood for another lecture Liam."

I open the door to find Weiss in the hallway with a worried look on her face, "Weiss!? What are you doing here?"

She grabs my hand as she avoids my gaze, "You never came back! You never came back, a-and I couldn't leave to look for you because we were fighting. And..."

She looks directly at me, "And I wanted to make sure you were safe."

I look at her stunned, seeing that she had obviously been stressed about me and Iberis. I move into the hallway with her and grab her hands in mine. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. My Aura didn't run out until after the fight, but that blast did a number on Iberis. Liam thinks it's a bad concussion, and he should be alright after taking it easy for a few days."

She smiles, "I'm so glad, I didn't know what to think after I sent you to get Iberis. I just knew he needed you more than we did."

My ears perk, I had almost forgotten she helped me protect him, that she gave me the boost to save him. I wrap her in an embrace, "Thank you for that, I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if you hadn't sent me after him. You helped save his life, thank you so much."

She hugs me back, "It was my pleasure."

We separate as she looks at me with concern, "Is your team helping you watch him, it looks like you could use a break."

My ears lower, "No, it was my fault he got hurt, so I need to be the one who looks after him."

Her eyebrows bunch together, "Wait, what? But that's not true, if anything it's our fault because it was our mission. Regardless who's fault it is they're your team, you should all be here for Iberis."

I avert my eyes to the floor stepping back from the Heiress, "No...I was the one who wanted to go with you guys and he wanted to help me. If I wanted to keep him safe then I should've tried harder to make him stay here."

I feel myself go numb, "If he dies it will be my fault..."

Her hands grab my arms, "He's not going to die. Besides that's not true, who told you that?"

Tears prick my eyes again, "My team..."

Weiss holds my cheek gently, moving my eyes from the floor to her. "Listen to me okay, it wasn't your fault he got hurt, you couldn't have known we would be fighting a huge robot. You can't put that on yourself, and your team defiantly should be here to help you."

"Liam said that I knew what I did so I have to live with the repercussions, and Titian promised I'd get what I deserved soon."

She grabs my hands again, "Well don't listen to them, they're stupid. They've never been there to help you before, so you should ignore everything they say."