The Ancient Homeland

17

You blinked away the last remnants of much-needed sleep, scanning the area around you as you registered what was going on. You were in the same room as before, but it was dimmer; the yellow lights along the ceiling paled to a soft glow now, to indicate that of nighttime. You glanced at your side and saw Cal in his chair, gently snoozing away with his face in his hand. You grinned at the relaxed look he had on his face... He was adorable. And deep down, even though you weren't going to admit it anytime soon, you knew that you wanted to wake up to that face; so you realized that you had to come up with a new reason every night as to why you couldn't sleep on your own.
Your smile only grew as you reached your hand up to brush the stray ginger locks that had fallen into his eyes. You were reminded of your injury though as a strong and intense pain shot up your back and up to your head. You winced and recoiled your hand into yourself.
After a moment of recovery, you chuckled as Cal breathed out a few incoherent words, making him even more infinitely cuter than he already was.

You figured that time wouldn't fly by if you laid there staring at Cal, so you did your best to slip back into sleep, but it wouldn't come. No matter how hard you tried, thoughts of the crash twisted and coiled into your restless mind, like a curved blade inflicting crescent-shaped wounds on soft skin. You sighed exasperatedly and mumbled a few curses under your breath as you acknowledged the fact that you wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.
    You softly lifted yourself to flip to the other side of the bed, flinching as another abrupt flare of pain shot through you like a lightning bolt. Once you settled, the brief sensation left just as quickly as it had arrived, provoking you to sigh once more, this time out of frustration.
After another period of quietness, your mind drifted to random thoughts, some fleeting, some lasting. It'd been a couple of minutes of you just pondering spontaneous thoughts when Cal once again popped into your head, but this time to stay. You smiled to yourself at the mere thought of Cal. Cutie-pie... You thought to yourself, a sudden blush and smile inching its way onto your face.

You laid there for a few more minutes, silently picking at your blanket with mild interest; your mind elsewhere as you poked and flicked at the tiny fuzz. You were startled out of your contemplations by Cal muttering slightly louder this time, a small whimper escaping his lips soon after.
"Don't go..." Cal whispered in distress. Your heart tightened at the thought of Cal being in pain, so you swiftly turned over in the cot to see Cal, and you barely registered the sharp pain that was soon becoming indifferent to you. Before you, Cal sat, eyebrows knitted together in trouble and lips pressed into a firm line of suppressed dismay."Master..." Cal called out, louder this time. Your heart broke at the sight, you knew what Cal was going through and you didn't want him to experience it any longer.
   You propped yourself onto your elbow and ignored the now fierce and insistent pain that pulsed throughout your upper body. You clasped onto Cal's wrist and squeezed firmly. It didn't work and Cal still mumbled painful words that were all too familiar. You emphatically shook the other, tears pricking at your eyes at the sight of a helpless Cal.
At the sudden pull, Cal woke up with a start, anxiety unmistakable on his face as he whipped his head around before looking at you. He smiled half-heartedly and wiped at his eyes. If it was to wipe away tears or to smear away the slumber from them, you didn't know. Cal seemingly registered what you were doing and immediate panic flashed across his face. He gently took ahold of your side and helped lay you back down, poking your nose in annoyance.
"Don't do that! You're not supposed to be moving..." He huffed out angrily, settling back into his chair with irritation. You rolled your eyes and flicked at his knee. "Good thing it's not morning or Cere would've beaten your sorry butt..." Cal trailed off with a mockingly threatening tone. You chuckled, a bright smile swelling on your face at Cal's playful tone. Cal chuckled too, gradually moving his gaze to you, an emotion you couldn't quite decipher this time present in his eyes. Soon enough, a hush ensued, and all at once you remembered why Cal was even awake in the first place.
You placed your hand onto his knee tenderly, a sudden surge of seriousness overtaking the atmosphere. Cal lifted up his gaze to look into your eyes, a questioning look in his soft eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it...?" You asked quietly, silently wanting Cal to confide in you, for him to prove that he trusts you. Cal's eyes became downcast at the question, a solemn look overcoming his attractive features.
   "I don't know Y/N..." Cal whispered so quietly that you had to lean forward to hear it. Your heart ached at the sight of Cal being like this, so you squeezed his knee in assurance.
  "Cal, I'm here for you. Nothing you say will make me leave you or think of you otherwise or be a burden or... Well, whatever you think about why you shouldn't tell me, is probably wrong. I'm here for you Cal like you are for me, and I don't want you to feel like you can't confide in anybody because I'm here. I'm right here. But... If you truly can't or don't want to tell me then I'll understand, but... I'm here for you Cal, through and through because..." You ranted on and on, your heart pouring out with every word. But you caught yourself at the end, almost saying some things that could, well, would have been disastrous. Cal looked at you now, a relieved yet quizzical look in his eyes. He smiled now, a warm and thankful smile as he grabbed ahold of your hand, squeezing it lovingly.
   "Because...?" He inquired, a teasing tone overtaking him once more. He rubbed his chin in thought as the words got stuck in your throat. You began to sweat nervously as you thought up a lie. You were almost finished forming one when Cal spoke again. "Is it because you love me???" Cal asked, a mischevious look in his eyes as he wriggled his eyebrows. Yes, no, well... MAYBE, WE'LL STICK WITH MAYBE!!! You shouted to yourself, you laughed nervously to cover up your short silence.
"Haha, I was gonna say, " You explained nervously, thanking God that it was just too dim to see the furious blush across your face. "it's because you're my best friend! Yeah, you're my best friend." You finished, the last part sounding like you were trying to rather convince yourself than Cal. Cal laughed his addicting laugh, a brilliant smile on his face as he looked back down at you.
"Sure..." He affirmed sarcastically with a wink, causing you to smack his leg in indignation.