Saving Shaw

Eleven

The next morning I had the worst hangover I'd had in a long time. My genius idea was to go for an early morning jog. Mainly because I hadn't been to the gym in almost a week and exercise was supposed to energize you. What I didn't consider, was that people typically were very dehydrated when hungover and jogging just amplified the dehydration.

As a result, I puked twice during my half mile jog on the path Arrow showed me on my first night here. By the time I made it back to the house, I was ready to collapse and my stomach was rolling. At this point, I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the grass and waste away into oblivion.

Of course, fate wouldn't have that. While I laid on my back in the backyard with my eyes closed, I felt a shadow loom over me. "You didn't drink the water, did you?" Talon asked.

I opened my eyes to look up at him staring down at me. I groaned upon seeing his face. It was way too early for him to be in my presence. "As a matter of fact, I did," I informed him. "I just didn't keep it down."

Talon's eyes swept across my form. His eyes lingered on my bare midriff. I'd jogged in a sports bra and some cropped, spandex leggings. It was a typical outfit I wore when I worked out and I'd never felt self-conscious about it until Talon's judgemental gaze was on me. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to work out with a hangover?"

"Does it look like I make the best decisions?" I asked automatically.

That earned me a twitch of his lips and an excess of air blowing through his nose. One of these days, I would get this guy to smile or laugh at one of my jokes. For now, it seemed like he was too intent on holding back such an emotion from me. I would just have to try harder next time.

He held his hand out for me and I looked at it suspiciously. "Come on," he said, rolling his eyes. "I set up that desk for you. Let's get breakfast and I'll get you set up."

Either Talon felt a lot of pity for me or he was actively making an effort to try to be nicer towards me. Regardless of his intentions, I wasn't going to fight him on it. I was tired of fighting when it didn't get us anywhere. With that in mind, I took hold of his hand and he helped me up.

My legs felt like jelly as I followed him into the kitchen. "I'm just going to grab water," I said. "If you try to feed me, I guarantee that I will throw up for the third time today."

"You never eat," Talon said as he grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with water from the tap. "You've been here for almost four days and I've seen you eat twice. The first night you were here and you threw that up. Then last night when you were drunk and I'm not sure if that really counts," he said as he sat the glass down in front of me before going to the cabinet to grab a box of cereal.

I took a small sip of the water and hummed softly. "I'm pretty sure you told me I could starve myself the other day and you wouldn't care."

Talon didn't respond. He just busied himself by pouring a bowl of Shredded Wheat into a bowl with milk. He brought his breakfast to the counter and sat in a stool at the counter leaving a space between us. He began eating as if I wasn't there and for a second I felt as though he hadn't heard me.

"Your appearance is very deceptive, you know?" he said after a minute.

"So you've decided to stop judging me based on how I look?" I asked.

He chewed for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe," he said and then paused to take another bite of cereal while looking down at his bowl. "Or maybe I'm beginning to figure you out."

"Oh yeah? What have you figured out?" I asked expectantly.

"I think you're hiding," he said simply.