The Leviathan's Rose

Chapter 3 - The King of Hearts

After Jamie's conversation with Saskia, he made sure to head to the infirmary to get another check-up.

Internally, he was thankful that he sustained the injuries he did. It could have gone a lot worse than it did. Spiders crawled up his neck when the memory of The Goat Man caressed his brain. He shivered beneath his plum uniform jacket. He shoved the thought down aggressively. He was not going to think about that, he refused to even dare think about how Leviathan's Leader could have possibly known his birthday.

His steps mingled with other's students as he waltzed to the infirmary. He was surprised to see Raphael sitting there, eyes puffy.

"Raphael?" Jamie asked softly. "What are you doing here?"

The boy sniffled, wiping at his runny nose with the back of his nose, his brows furrowing slightly when Jamie whipped out a white handkerchief for him. Raphael blew his nose loudly, a couple coughs following.

"I've been here since this morning." he said solemnly.

Jamie's dark brows shot up into his hairline. That would explain why he's still in his pajamas. Jamie noticed the dullness that smothered his usually bright eyed friend. Has he eaten anything today?

"You look pale, do you need some food?"

Raphael's eyes bore into Jamie's with surprise.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

Jamie pulled out the ham sandwich he'd opted out of eating when Ellie brought up Lottie being vegetarian and how uncomfortable she'd get.

"Thanks..." Raphael muttered. "So, why are you here?"

Jamie shot Raphael a glance.

"Ingrid threw a knife at me when Lottie and I confronted her in The Rosewood. It hit my arm and now they have to check up on it again." Raphael swore under his breath.

"Sounds wicked." he muttered.

Jamie huffed a laugh, raking a hand through his messy hair. "Yeah, it... hurt." Jamie took in the gloomy and concerned expression on his friend's face.

"It's just a check up. I faced worse injuries in Tokyo, and those are healing too. I'll be fine." he assured, a distant part of him wanting to make sure Raphael didn't stress over it.

The light streaming in through the infirmary windows illuminated Raphael's expression as a nurse walking in with a stack of papers with some pale yellow sticky notes.

"We've called your parents to notify them of your suspension period. It's your choice if you'd like to call and speak with them yourself. Notify the front desk or your house mother if you need to schedule it." the nurse said, her voice soft and gentle, almost like Lottie's when she's comforting someone.

Raphael said a quiet thank you to the nurse, cursing colorfully under his breath as he looked through the multiple papers and packets.

Jamie quirked a dark brow. "May I ask what's wrong?"

Raphael gave a half-hearted laugh. Why did Jamie have to be so nice, so polite?

"It's homework and a food list." he gulped. He inhaled shakily, "Looks like I'm suspended for the next two weeks. I'm going to be confined to a single person room too." he said, his voice cracking.

Jamie had heard of that before. When students needed to be under supervision during a suspension period, they'd be put in a one-person bedroom while teachers took turns watching them. He'd only ever heard of it, a warning that spread like a rumor.

"I'm sorry to hear that." he mumbled softly.

Jamie surprised himself with the words that flowed out of his mouth afterwards. "Do they allow visitors?"

Raphael gaped at Jamie, his jaw slack. When did Jamie suddenly care so much? Raphael had always tried to be a good friend to Jamie, even with how stubborn and stand-off-ish he was. It was like the roles had reversed. Maybe Haru is rubbing off on me... Jamie grumbled internally. He would not allow himself to be like that pillowy partizan. 

"I..." Raphael trailed. "I'm not sure. I'll have to ask."

Silence wriggled it's way between them. Jamie stared down into his lap. The caramel skin of his hands stretched and shifted as he flexed his fingers, the pads of them drumming slightly, his fingers arching gracefully over his school bag. A song played in his head, slow and steady. The melody pulsed through him like a second heartbeat. It wasn't often that he'd let himself slip into his musical mind. But it calmed him, imagining his fingers sliding and pressing into ivory keys. 

Though the song took a turn when the memory of what he'd seen in his bedroom mirror appeared. He went stone still. His fists clenched. Haru is not part of Leviathan, get that into your head.

Yet, for some reason, he didn't believe himself. Far back, in the dark lurking corners of his brain, part of him told him to not  trust Haru. But Jamie ignored that part, and he'd keep ignoring it even if it broke him.

~~~

"You know, I wasn't aware how many people loved you Jamie-Kun." Haru said candidly. 

Jamie's eyes shot up from his book. The library was quiet at this hour. Only the soft sounds pages turning and pencils writing could be heard aside from the low voices of students scattered about. 

Haru scrunched his nose, adjusting his glasses slightly.

A soft thump echoed throughout the pregnant air of the library and Jamie closed his book. 

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked cautiously. 

Haru shrugged his shoulders, his carefree demeanor shining through. 

"It's obvious people care about you. I just didn't realize how many people love you. Even if it's not romantically." Haru said, a fluttering laughter following. "You're kind of a king of hearts!"

A king of hearts... a king... a king of Maradova... Lottie being the queen- Jamie cut off his thoughts abruptly. He was not going to think about that again. Even if he liked the image...

"Haru, as much as I agree with you on some things, I believe you're wrong on this one." he said curtly. 

Haru shook his head playfully, the copper tuft of hair atop his head wiggling with the movement. 

"It's clear to see that people love you, or at least the different things about you. I've seen the way Lottie looks at you."

Jamie felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

THUMP!

No, there was no way. There was no way Lottie loved  him... right?

"I happened to be... dropping by the infirmary before you went in there. I saw the way that boy looked at you, the one you offered a sandwich too. Him and Lottie look at you in very similar ways. It looked like love to me. I can tell Ellie loves you in a platonic way, like brother and sister!"

Jamie's heart rate sped up, refusing to slow down. There was no way... 

"And then there's the obvious swooning affect you seem have on your classmates when you pass through the hallways-"

"What are you trying to say?" Jamie said sharply, irritation clear in his voice. 

Haru wore a look of surprise. 

"You're so harsh Jamie-Kun, but everyone still loves you. So why is it that you don't trust them? Why don't you open up to them like they do with you?"

In that moment, Jamie's wall of security he'd built up for so many years in his mind, started to crack.