Absolute

11

I don't think they meant to wake me up, but as soon as Silas moved, I was awake. I could tell without opening my eyes that they were trying to be careful, scolding each other in whispered shouts. They lowered me until I was laying on the couch itself, and only then did I realize I'd been curled up next to and on Silas.

If I wasn't so focused on playing sleep, I might have blushed. As it was, they all left the livingroom, leaving me alone. I waited a few beats before opening my eyes, only to find the tv off and all of the extra things that had been pulled out were put away.

I stretched out and sat up slowly, willing one of my new friends to walk in the room and find me awake, to tell me what the next step was. Because now that I was alone in Kota's livingroom, all I could think about were the many ways that things could go wrong.

Who'd even taught them to react and do things like this? To save strange people and treat them with such... care. The word was almost foreign to me. I started to feel uncomfortable.

My eyes darted around the room, finding family photos and random wall ornaments. My chest tightened. I looked away from the walls, eyes landing on the tv console and all of the many games and movies that were in the shelves around it.

I stumbled off the couch, my legs getting caught up in the blanket and then I fell down hard on the carpeted floors. But I couldn't see anything beyond my need to get out, get away. I crawled across the floor, fighting the blanket until I could get to my feet, and then I ran without thought.

I ended up in the kitchen, tugging open the sliding glass door to the backyard and managing to trip over the small divide, falling once again. Only this time I hit the pavement and caught myself on my injured hand, making me cry out in pain and frustration. My body was already shaking, and I was on my knees, getting up, when one of the boys spoke from behind me.

"Sang?"

I knew it was North by the way he said my name. I didn't want him to see me though.

"Go away, please," my words tripped over the urge to cry.

"Sang," the harsh edge in his voice was gone.

I heard as he stepped closer, closing the distance between us as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I flinched away, and hunched my shoulders closer to myself as I realized that he hadn't been intending me hard. My shoulders shook and shook with my emotions, tears streaming down my face as I hiccupped and tried to understand myself.

What had set me off?

"Why am I like this?" I sputtered, almost forgetting about North.

There was a deep intake of breath behind me, and then North's arms were wrapping around my body and he'd pulled me into his lap. The proximity didn't freak me out as much as it might have under different circumstances. As it were, I found myself falling into his embrace and using him for all the comfort he had to offer.

He stroked my hair and began talking to me in small short bursts of Greek. I wasn't sure all of the words he was saying, but as he repeated several key phrases around his other words, I found my body able to relax.

I wasn't exactly sure how long we remained like that. Long past the point of my body calming down, and even when I quieted, he continued. It was only when Kota knocked on the glass of his own back door did I realize North was rocking me and petting my hair back.

When Kota knocked, I looked over North's shoulder at him, and while North stopped petting my hair and speaking in Greek, he still held me tight and kept his rocking motion going.

"Are you okay, Sang?" Kota asked as if finding North, or anyone in this predicament, was normal.

I blinked, finding his question odd and my mind foggy. But I nodded anyways. I was okay, wasn't I?