Door Fifteen

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

In that moment, I was feeling something different than before. No, I wasn’t going to magically fall in love with him in seconds, but what I was feeling was different than hate. I’ve never seen him with the gentle look he was giving me, but his eyes were telling me otherwise. He was still upset over the matter before. He wasn’t talking though, just watching me. The tears on his face were drying, but his eyes were still brimmed red.

The thought made me think of my bleeding feet. When he saw that I was looking at them, he froze and looked at me in disbelief.

“What were you thinking? Oh that’s right, you weren’t,” he snapped at me, the anger back in his face.

And he was back. Technically, he was right. I wasn’t thinking, but who would when you were dealing with him. He was being a hypocrite, but I needed to remind myself that he’s not okay. He may have never been.

“Well sorry if I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I jerked my head to the side in a sassy manner.

He rolled his eyes. “Guess where that got you. You’re not okay.” He threw his hands up.

“Phoenix, you need to stop trying to get away from telling me about what you’re hiding. I found you in a library full of broken things!” I was getting mad.

“At least let me help you first,” he sighs and runs a hand down his face.

He put a finger under his eye and catched a tear. I’ve never seen a guy with so much emotion, other than in movies, that is. He looked at my feet again and sighed. He stood up and scooped me in his arms. Why did I feel like the damsel in distress when he was the one who was just crying into my shoulder?

I leaned my head on his chest and listened to his shallow breathing. He was trying to be strong, but he could only do so much.

“Where are we going?”

“There should be a bathroom around here with a first aid kit, so I can fix you up. You seriously just get back from living homeless and riding a dragon, and you’re already hurt. You were serious when you said you were clumsy.”

“You finally figured that out?” I said with a small laugh.

“Nah, I was just trying to get under your skin.”

I narrowed my eyes and gave him my best glare; well as best as I could from the position I was in. I heaved a sigh again as we turned into a bathroom. He sat me down on the sink carefully and opened a cabinet. The red box was hard to miss.

I drew in a sharp breath when he touched my foot and brought it up to look more closely. His hands were gentle though. I winced when I saw the tweezers come closer to me. He tugged on his lip and looked me in the eyes.

“This might hurt a bit, just a warning.”

The fluttery feeling in my stomach was back. I wasn’t going to lie and say it was horrible, because it was quite the opposite. Was this why things didn’t work out with Collin? I’ve never felt anything like this for Collin; he was just a simple crush. The thing was I still didn’t know what I was feeling for this boy in front of me. Until today, I’ve strongly disliked him.

The constant pain in my foot intensified when he started getting the glass out. He was being tender with me, which I greatly appreciated. I wouldn’t want to end up like those book shelves and books.

“Phoenix,” I said as I felt the tweezers go deeper in my skin.

“Sorry, I’m trying.” He was telling the truth; I could see it in his face.