Her Curse...

13 ~ Lavender | Edited

     When I'd woken up, I saw Hailey weeping. It wasn't that loud, but I'd woken up from it. She'd reached out for our bags, her hand making its way to the pocket that had nothing but a pocket knife.
     Naomi's sister once had depression. So, maybe I assumed what she was thinking. Though I had a pretty good idea.
     "I know what you're thinking. Don't do it." I said, reaching out for her hand to stop her. Hailey looked at me, tears streaming down her face. She looked guilty. "Grey..." My name was said as a mere observation, nothing more.
     She hiccuped softly as she stared at me. "Don't do it. Please. I don't want to lose you." I said quietly. Something seemed to register in her eyes, and she nodded. Slowly, I let her hand go, and it fell down to her lap. "My parents."  Hailey sobbed, coughing a little. "C'mere." I whispered, holding out my arms for her. She crawled closer, collapsing into my arms and sobbing into my chest. Her tears soaked through my shirt, and I held her close as she continued to sob. "D-did I abandon my fa-" she was interrupted by a tiny hiccup, "-mily?"
     "How would you have abandoned them?"
     "I-I could've died. Bu-but I chose y-you instead of them-m."
     "I'm sure your parents would understand if you were following your heart. You did...follow your heart...right?"
      Hailey nodded slightly. "Then there's nothing to worry about." She moved closer to me, sniffling. "Mm-hmm." I rubbed comforting circles on her back and rested my head on hers.
     We stayed like that for awhile, until Hailey's sobs were reduced to whimpers and shaky breaths. "Can you tell me about them?" I asked. "Hm?" Hailey sounded surprised. "My parents?" She asked. "Yeah. What were they like?"
     "My dad had brown eyes like me, but he had dirty blonde hair. And he was pretty tall. He was really stubborn, firm, and strong, and my mom told me he hated big crowds like me, but he always told her he got over that. I got my hair color from my mom, and her eyes were green. She was only a little taller than I am right now...And she was really, really kind. She hated seeing anyone in pain, and my dad said that before he got her to believe otherwise, she thought she brought bad luck to everyone around her. My dad would go hunting in the forest around town a lot, and he taught me when I was little. I was never good at making snares, though... My mom would help to heal people when they got sick or injured, and sometimes she would be a sort of dance coach for Cardigan and her sisters."
     "They sound like they were good people." I murmured. "The best..." Hailey whimpered, pulling herself closer to me. "What were their names?" I asked. "Marissa and Silver Ghost." She replied. "I'm sure they're watching over you."
     "Not you?"
     "Do you want them to?"
     "I-I want them to watch over anyone I love. Especially you."
     "Then maybe they are."
     "Okay..." Hailey didn't sound 100% convinced, but she didn't say anything else for a minute. "Do-...do you want to go back to sleep?" She asked. "Yeah. That would probably be a good idea." I replied. "Okay... Goodnight Grey."
     "Goodnight Hailey." I carefully laid down so she was on my chest. "I like your heartbeat." She murmured, sounding like she was zoning out. I blushed, but didn't respond. Instead, I ran my hand through her long hair. Hailey shivered a little bit, moving even closer to me.
      Her breathing slowed after awhile, and I felt her drift off to sleep. I followed shortly after.

***

     When I woke up, I felt a hand gently caressing my cheek. The hand moved, so two fingers were gently brushing over my nose, then up to brush against my eyebrows, and down again to gently rest on the sensitive skin of my lips. I felt heat rush to my cheeks from the light, yet fervent touch.
     "Y-you're awake?" Hailey's voice asked. She sounded guilty, like she hadn't wanted to get caught. "Wh-what were you...doing?" I asked, opening my eyes, careful not to let her fingers fall. Hailey was looking at me from the side, her hand on my face, and a blush dusting her cheeks. "Sorry. Y-you just look really...really...cute wh-when you're asleep." She admitted, looking away, her blush getting darker by the second. But she made no move to take her fingers from my lips.
     I turned my face, just a little, and her hand slipped. A tiny, tiny frown formed on Hailey's lips, and I suddenly wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her close and kiss her until she smiled again. But I stayed still.
     "What about when I'm awake?" I asked. I could tell I sounded playful, but I didn't mean to, I was just genuinely curious. "You...when you're awake you're...you're even better." She whispered. "I-I...Thanks for last night...I would've killed myself if you didn't stop me."
     "I know..."
     "I'm sorry..." Hailey rested her forehead on my chest.
     "You're not dead. That's the good thing. I was there for you. That's also a good thing. Right?"
     "Yeah."
     I sat up slowly, and she lifted her head up. "We should start heading to Callo. Is that okay?" She nodded, giving me a short hug before standing up. "Okay. But food first." She said. I chuckled softly, "We have a bit of rabbit left over fro-"
     "YES." Hailey covered her mouth in surprise, before laughing. I laughed with her.

     And so we ate, packed up our things, and headed on our way. We followed the map Sora gave Hailey.
     "Grey...how much further do we have?" Hailey asked. "We can stop now if you like." I noticed how her steps were getting a little wobbly. "No! We have to keep going." She said. "Don't tire yourself too much, Hailey." I replied. "I'll be fine. Just an hour more until sundown. We should get a few more miles."
   "Okay." I didn't quite believe she'd be perfectly fine, but I kept quiet, because she was a lot stronger than I probably gave her credit for.
     "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked after she stumbled for about the third time. Hailey looked at me, and finally leaned her weight into my shoulder. "Just a little tired." She said. Once again, I wasn't totally convinced. "If you say so." I replied.
     To be honest, I just hoped she wasn't sick. And if she was, I knew I would blame myself.

Actually I think this is the shortest chapter of this book. But hey, I'm just done. I'm done. This chapter took me two days to do. And until I get Grey and Hailey to Callo I'm going to be really unmotivated because I ran out of ideas for WALKING-
Friggin WALKING-
So yeah. I'm out.
Later!

Edited! - 09.22.2020