Chapter 14: XIII. SICK
Hayden was sick.
The sight of him broke Rose.
He was sleeping presently, eyes closed and lips parted slightly.
He looked beautiful even then.
When Raven had set out that morning with Matt, her heart had been all over the place.
Beating, pumping, thumping, skipping.
She was all over the place.
Matt was silent the whole time, probably realizing that the best thing he could do for her was leave her be.
It was surprising to him,...seeing Raven visibly worry.
It was obvious in her eyes, in her stance, the way her hands trembled.
He felt something in him squeeze painfully.
She really, truly likes him.
The walk from the bus stop wasn't long. Raven walked side by side Matt, a stride at a time.
And when her hands would brush his, she'd realize, with her heart tightening in her chest longingly, that Matt's hands didn't make her heart skip.
Hayden's touch made her jump.
It made her feel like electricity was coursing through her, heat would spread warmly across her body and her senses would go haywire.
And for the life of her, she couldn't fight the want for more.
And she'd inch her hands closer towards his, her pinky brushing his, ring finger sliding against his.
He'd falter in his step, breath shaking the slightest.
And Raven would smile.
But she wouldn't stop, she'd link each finger through his, not stopping until she could feel the coolness of his palm against the warmth of her hand.
And then it would be her turn to falter.
But now, Hayden was sick and she couldn't quite control her longing.
Her sanity was in the linking of their palms, in the curve of his smile, in the way his eyes raked over the chapters of his book.
And when he left, he'd taken it all away.
......taken her sanity away.
****
Hayden had never told her about where he lived before.
And Raven was beginning to understand, with Hayden's shyness, why he'd left that bit out.
The area wasn't all dilapidated, but it was far from beautiful.
There were walk ways filled with leaves, like they hadn't seen the presence of a gardener in years.
The buildings around had chipped painting in some places, and bare concrete in others.
There were a few decent buildings, though. But even they weren't in the most inviting colours.
'Why would you paint your house black?' Raven thought.
Matt stepped closer to Raven, rising to his fullest height.
Raven chuckled, "what are you doing?".
Matt looked a bit surprised, considering those were the first words she'd uttered after exchanging pleasantries when they met up.
Matt looked a bit embarrassed, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose to hide his face from her.
"I-I'm sorry. It's just the neighbourhood. I thought---" He trailed off, pausing when he saw Raven's grin.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Quickly, he turned away from Raven, unable to stop how much he felt, and afraid to let her see the extent of it.
Raven, oblivious to his ordeals, couldn't help but have a good impression of Matt.
It seemed Hilda was the only rotten egg in their group, after all.
She knew he'd only stepped closer to her because he felt the need to protect her incase something happened.
It was admirable.
"Don't worry. I'm not scared", She told him, and she meant it.
Honestly, she didn't think she could feel anything else at that point.
Not when every thing in her being screamed of longing.
She just wanted to see Hayden, and she honestly, didn't feel bothered about what she had to do to get there.
On another day, without the urgency of her emotions, she would be terrified quite frankly.
It wasn't that she was immune to danger, or that she was exceptionally brave.
It was quite simply, as she was beginning to realize, that her feelings for Hayden were a tad bit stronger than her fear.
It took a while, and a minute of her convincing Matt that they were lost, before they found Hayden's building.
It was one of the decent ones, a two storey apartment building.
This one wasn't coloured black at least, it was painted a startling ox-blood shade of red.
Hayden lived in Apt 3 according to the address, on the middle floor.
Raven's legs felt like lead, climbing up the building. She could feel each step in her heart, each ascent in her veins.
Her body thrummed, nerves rattling, speeding, tumbling.
But the stairs weren't as long as she wished they were.
It was funny really.
All along, she couldn't wait long enough to see Hayden again, but now, barely metres from him, she wanted time to pause, to play slowly.
She couldn't really focus, she'd stopped hearing, a ringing noise in her ears as she stood at the last stair, unable to complete the journey to Hayden's door.
She could see Matt knocking repeatedly.
No one had come to answer the door.
Hayden......
Matt had his hands in his pocket, dialing someone.
Hayden......
Matt's phone wasn't on his ear anymore, he was back to knocking.
Hayden......
Someone finally came to answer the door, wrapped in a blanket.
Raven would recognize that tall figure anywhere.
"Hayden!"
She didn't know how her legs carried her to the door, just that they did.
And when the door swung open, she was immediately in.
But Hayden wasn't smiling.
Hayden wasn't laughing.
No,.....
Hayden was falling.
Matt barely held him up in time as he fell to the floor.
"Lord, he's burning up".
And just like that, Raven came back to reality.
She was instantly at Hayden's other side, supporting his weight.
Immediately his skin touched hers, a weight lodged itself in Raven's throat, her eyes tingling.
Hayden was sick.
The trio trudged along, Matt and Raven struggling.
Hayden had fallen asleep in their arms, his head lolling over.
While he was lanky, Hayden was very tall, making the ordeal particularly arduous.
Fortunately, the apartment was tiny and apart from the small living room, there was only one other room with a bed.
Matt sat Hayden on the bed, lay him down, and then went to retrieve the blanket which had fallen near the door.
Raven stood to one corner, the tear she'd been holding finally landing.
Her voice was barely audible as she called, "Hayden?".
She got no response from him.
Just little grunts as he tossed on the bed, clearly in discomfort.
Hayden....
****
~Ameenah
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone