Dragon Girls: A New World

Chapter Eleven: YES!!!

Despite being in a painful sleep, I'd been having a wonderful dream about vanilla milkshakes and kisses on the lips.

That is, until Echogreen started shrieking bloody murder in her sleep.

I jolted awake. "What?! Who drank the yaknog?!!!"

Echo sighed. "No one," she grumbled. I folded my arms, wincing as my bandages rubbed against my gash.

"Echo," I said, "I meant, what's wrong?"

Echogreen gave me an exhausted smile. "Paintsplash, you should know by now that I take things seriously."

"I know, I know," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Echogreen sighed and laid back in bed. "So what was the matter?"

Echo averted my eyes. "I..." she started. "I had a bad dream. That's all."
Is it? I thought. I knew enough about discomfort to know that Echo was keeping something from me. Her expression was one of relaxation, but under that façade was pain, fear, worry. I knew that look so well; I saw it every time I looked in a mirror. "You're lying," I accused. "You wouldn't sit straight up in bed screaming if it was just a bad dream."

"You're right," Echogreen admitted. "It was a nightmare."

I shot Echo a stern look, but her expression was so...broken, that I couldn't give her a harsh look. I sighed. "Fine. It was a nightmare." Echogreen looked at me, closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep.

Then someone yelled, "SURPRISE!!!" I nearly jumped out of my skin; it was Toothless and Diamondspirit.

"YAKNOG IS FROM THE DEVIL!!!" Echogreen shrieked, sitting straight up. I started laughing, but stopped abruptly. My side still hurt. Toothless and Diamondspirit chortled loudly.

Echo crossed her arms. "Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want."

Diamondspirit grinned widely, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "We will," he assured.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Echogreen asked.

Toothless shrugged. "To give you a few things, and to take you out."

"But the nurse said at least two more days!" I protested. I wanted to be with Toothless, but my side hurt still, and I was afraid Cinderpaw would come out and eat me.

"She said you improved rapidly since the last time she checked on you," Toothless stated. He sat on my bed and took my hands in his. "You two can go back to your dorms today."

I forced an elated gleam in my eyes. "Great!" I lied. Toothless shot me a sideways glance. A worried look came into his eyes. I guess he knew what I was up to.

Echo nodded, then seemed to space out.

"Wanna take a walk with me? We'll meet up with Paint and Toothless at my sister's diner afterwards. You okay with that, Echo?" Diamondspirit asked.

"What?"

"I asked if you would be okay going for a walk with me. After that we'll meet up with Paintsplash and Toothless' at my sister's diner."

Echogreen pondered this, then said, "Well, o-okay, Diamondspirit." Diamondspirit smiled.

After Diamondspirit and Echogreen had left the room, Toothless turned his attention to me. "Paintsplash..."

"Toothless, I don't wanna go. I'm...I'm scared. Of Cinderpaw." Toothless pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. He rubbed a hand up and down my back, rested his chin on my head. He ran his fingers through my hair. All tension that had been inside me before suddenly melted away, and I sighed contentedly.

"Paintsplash," he whispered, "I won't let her touch you again. If she does, she's gonna get a pummeling from me." I smiled. He was the best boyfriend ever. Toothless pulled me tighter, and I felt his chest shaking.

I looked up at him. He had tears in his eyes, and his breath was shaky. "Toothless..."

"Oh, Paint! You scared me so much! You were in a coma, and no one knew if you were gonna live or not, and--"

I kissed him. His lips were dry and cracked as if he hadn't eaten or drank in days. But it shut him up, and he needed to know that I was okay.

I pulled away and put my hands on either side of his face, running my fingers through his hair. "Toothless," I said, "I'm fine now." He bit his lip and nodded, looking toward the ground and blinking the tears out of his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Toothless asked me, "So...you'll come tonight?"

I laughed. "Only if you beat up all people who come to attack me."

----

Toothless and I strolled down the road, hand in hand. Toothless had been awfully quiet today, and he was beginning to worry me.

He really scared me when he said, "Paint...I've been thinking. About us."

"Um...considering the fact that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, that's not necessarily a good thing."

For the first time today, Toothless flashed me a genuine smile. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box covered in velvet.

"Wait..." My heart began pounding. "Are you......is that what I think it is?"

Instead of answering, Toothless walked around and kneeled in front of me. I put my hands to my mouth. "I was gonna wait to do it in front of Diamondspirit and Echogreen, but, I couldn't." He opened the box, and inside was a small ring with blue gems in it. "Paintsplash, will you--"

"YES!" I threw my arms around him and I could hear him laughing. He slid the ring onto my finger. I was a little sad, because I'd probably leave before we'd get married, and then I'd have to wait for Toothless to propose to me in my world. And Toothless...what about him?

This was quickly forgotten when Toothless pulled me into a kiss. It was long, passionate...tender. And when it ended reality felt like a dream. Toothless smiled. "Your lips still taste like vanilla."