The Silence (GxG)

Chapter 9 - The Ceremony

▂▃▅▇█▓▒░ Kenzi ░

"Knock, knock..." A familiar voice rang through the walls of my small shack "You in here?"

I grunted loudly from my bed in response, not feeling like putting any effort into forming a coherent sentence right now. I must have gotten maybe an hour of sleep last night, consisting of many little micro naps when I could finally stop thinking. My mind kept wandering to Dee and the vivid chain of events from yesterday.

"Hey, sleeping beauty! I was starting to worry when you didn't show up before the sun started rising" She chuckled lightly, finally entering my bedroom and taking a seat on edge of my bed.

I rolled over to face the wall with another grunt, not really feeling like making any small talk with anyone today either. I can usually appreciate her constant efforts, but not right now.

"Not really feeling it, huh?" She asked, clearly reading the signs I'm throwing out.

"No" I confirmed, admittedly a bit more curt in tone than I had intended.

"I get it. I've been where you are a few times in the past- believe me, but you won't feel any better laying around all day and-"

"What should I do then!?" I snapped with an emotionless chuckle, turning to look at the dark haired girl properly for the first time today "Tell me, What should I do? Should I just ignore the fact that a kid died yesterday? That I completely choked?... I almost got you fucking killed, Grace!"

She leaned back a little bit with an arched brow, physically shocked at my sudden outburst, but then I felt my face grow hot as I realised what I had just called her. I sat upright, readying myself for a harsh reply since I know her name is a soft spot that I try to avoid on purpose.

"I'm, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't" She cut me off calmly before continuing, despite my confused gaze "You didn't almost get me killed. I'm the idiot who somehow fell on my own knife and couldn't save my own sorry ass. That's not on you Kenzi... You saved me"

I shook my head, trying to ignore the weird feeling that's tugging at my gut in response to her words. Instead of giving in, I focused on the plain facts of the incident.

"I choked, Blink!" I argued with her again, nodding slowly as if stating the obvious this time.

"You saved me" She challenged, louder and with more force this time

"If I didn't snap out of it when I did-"

"But, you did! So stop focusing on everything that you didn't do and try to think about what you did do for once!" She said as she became a little bit frustrated with me, throwing her hands in the air towards the end of her statement "You do a whole lot more than you give yourself the credit for you know..."

Although I was trying my best to ignore her sentiments and allow my pride to continue fuelling the outburst, I couldn't help but wonder why she even cares so much about how I feel. We've not known each other long and yet here I am, worrying about what could've happened to her if I didn't act yesterday, meanwhile she's trecking all the way out here alone just to make sure I'm alright today... I guess it just eases my mind to know that I'm not the only one who seems to care.

Finally, I gave up on the inner battle and let my pride take a back seat on this one. I let out a heavy sigh and nodded.

"You're right... thank you, Blink. I guess I've just spent so long numbing shit out that everything is hitting me like a truck lately"

"Don't thank me" She waved, standing to adjust her loosely tucked tee "You should probably try and get some sleep... You look like shit"

"Gee thanks, pal!" I chuckled, rolling over to face the wall and ignore the teasing smirk on her face.