Garbage || NovaHD

It Means What It Means

Aleks P.o.V.

"Whoa!" I gasped, slipping from the tree branch. I tried grabbing onto the ledge again, but my hands missed. 

"Aleks!" James leaned his whole body over the branch, and reached out to me. He grabbed hold of my wrist roughly, and I screamed out in pain from the pressure of being yanked. I looked down to see I was dangling far, far from the ground. "How come every fucking time I say watch out, you don't fucking listen to me," James gasped, struggling to keep a good hold on my wrist. I looked up at him, and gave him my best death glare. 

"I can take care of myself, thank you!" I shouted, anger boiling in my system. 

"Oh, okay, let me just let you go, then-" 

"N-no!" I breathed, swinging my other arm up and grabbing onto his wrist. "Please, don't!" James grit his teeth, anger apparent in his eyes. 

"I don't know how I'm going to get you back up," He growled through gritted teeth. I let out a small sigh, and looked back down, searching for a nearby branch. I cursed under my breath. The closest one was way to the left, and a lot lower from where I was. I might have to take a leap of faith... I looked back up at James. 

"Let go," I croaked, scared to jump. I dropped my hand from his.

"What?" James blinked in astonishment. 

"Just fucking let go! I can try and swing down to that branch," I nodded towards the lower perch. James looked back at the branch, then back at me, anger replaced with worry. I let my face soften, trying to strip myself of the annoyance burned onto my face. "I'll be fine, just let go." James hesitated before his grip on my wrist loosened, and I slipped from his grip, falling. I immediately reached out for the branch, and my arms wrapped around the bark. My body snapped around the branch, and I let out a muffled cry into my arm as my body went limp. I dangled from my spot, my back sore and aching from the weird angle I had been in for that split second. "F-fuck..." I grit my teeth, and looked down from where I was. I was closer to the ground, now. I closed my eyes, and dropped from the branch, and my feet made contact hard against the grass, making my knees give out. I fell onto my back, and looked up at the branch James was still sitting on. He peeked over the edge, looking down at me. 

"Aleks?!" He called, panicked. I waved, and his shoulders relaxed. "Jesus fucking christ, I hate you so much." 

"I know," I breathed, sitting up slowly. James hesitated before he carefully jumped from the branch, swinging onto the lower branch and falling to his feet beside me. He sat in the damp grass and sighed loudly. 

"You are the clumsiest person I know. You need to fucking stop that shit," He spat, gripping his chest. I shot him a look of pure venom. 

"Why do you care? Who cares?!" I held my head in my hands, pain shooting through my skull. 

"B-Because I don't want you to get hurt," I blinked, and looked up at James. His cheeks were rosy, but the angry look on his face did not leave. He clenched his jaw and looked away. My stomach suddenly started to do flips. I held it, thinking I was going to puke or something. I blinked again, staring at him. For some reason, I just wanted to hug him and tell him that I would be fine. He looked back up at me. "You're a fucking idiot, though." My stomach relieved, and the feeling of wanting to comfort him slid away. 

"You're an idiot!" I snapped, pulling my knees into my chest. 

"Wow, great comeback-"

"I don't have to listen to this!" I growled, but I didn't move from my spot in the grass. 

"Yet, you choose to stay," James smirked, leaning closer to me. I rolled my eyes, and punched his shoulder. He glowered at me, then pushed me backwards. I groaned as I laid on my back, too lazy and too weak to sit up again. James leaned over me. "So you're alright, right?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him.