Wilt and Ruin

Chapter Five - Crumble (Runn)

I slumped into the comfortable seat and sighed as my lower back throbbed. We'd been on our feet all day during the competition, taking pictures of everything and everyone. From time to time, I'd look over at King. At one point, his discomfort was evident. I snapped a couple more pictures then paused the line of people coming through my set. I grabbed a bottle of water, rushed over to King's side and draped my arm around his shoulder.

The girl stopped chatting and her eyes widened. "Are you okay, P'King?" I asked, leaning my face close to his cheek.

"A little tired."

"Here." I handed him the water.

"Thank you." He smiled, turned and kissed my cheek.

The chatty girl scrambled off the chair and left.

"Thank you." King exhaled loudly. "I'm trying to be different. The old me is in there wanting to tell her off. But I need these points to graduate. And I don't want to disappoint you."

"You won't disappoint me for standing up for yourself, P." I patted his shoulder. "Final push until the end of the day."

My finger had a bit of a blister on the tip by the time I exhaled again. But other than that, I was alive.

At one point, I winced, and King rushed over. He took my hand and lifted my finger to inspect it. Everyone in the room stopped to stare but I couldn't seem to get myself to pull my hand away. He knew on the injured flesh then led me to the side and a first aid kit.

Intently, King cleaned the blister then wrapped a bandage around it.

"Thank you, P." My voice trembled.

"You need to take better care of yourself, Runn." But he wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was packing the kit again. "I worry, don't you know that?"

"Um—P..."

He walked away.

As he walked by the girls, they fixed their hair and their boobs, but it was as though they didn't exist to him. I shook my head and scrambled to pack his things then mine. He'd taken care of my finger, the least I could do was give him one less thing to do.

By the time the competition was over, I was almost dead on my feet. King allowed me to lean on him as he escorted me to his car. We'd settled on driving vehicle—save the planet and all.

All I wanted to do was shower and crawled into bed. But my friends wanted to visit and I crumbled and gave in. King went into the kitchen and came back with drinks for all of us. Captain volunteered to order food, and we sat back, decompressing and waiting for the delivery

King seemed tired—a lot more than usual and I wished we were alone. I wasn't sure what I would have done to help him, but there had to be something. I stared at him until he met my gaze then set my drink down and exited the room. Down the hall, I waited, hoping he had read my expression and would follow. It didn't take long for his presence to fill the hall, making me look up.

Without speaking, I stepped forward and pressed my cheek to his chest, wrapped my arms around him and held on. For a while, I thought he wouldn't hug me back but eventually, he exhaled loudly and fisted my shirt at the back.

King held onto me like he had never been hugged before. It was almost as if his world was crumbling around him and my arms were the only things to keep him from getting pulled under. I said nothing. I allowed him to stay that way until he was ready to stand on his own again. When he did, he seemed almost ashamed.

"You've had a long day." I told him. "Sometimes, you need someone else to hold you up. For as long as you need me, P, I'll be there for you."

"For as long as I need you?"