𝔉𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤~ ℌ𝔬𝔟𝔦𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔫

19

As he placed you into his bed he noticed things he missed at first. The way your ribs could be felt as he gently placed your weak figure on the mattress. The heavy eyebags signifying the lack of sleep you'd had over the past months, your cheeks were sunken and you'd lost a lot of colour in your face. You looked like a corpse. As if you were moments away from death.

How could it get so bad? Leaving the apartment he checked one of the newspapers at the stall outside the apartment building. He felt his heart drop when he saw the date. Months. It'd been months since he was here last. He felt another wave of guilt when he realised your article wasn't there on the front page, he flicked through finding nothing. He was the subject of your articles. Without him there was nothing.

Pushing away his guilt he knew he had to better. He had to fix this. And he started by making his apartment a liveable environment.

~

Slowly regaining consciousness, you quickly realised you were in a bed and not with Hobie anymore.
Waking up you found yourself in an unknown place, you weren't sure where Hobie or where anyone was for that matter.
Climbing out of the bed you left the very decorated room navigating your way around the house.

"You're awake", a comforting voice spoke drawing your attention to Hobie.
You felt heat rise to your cheeks, you'd never seen him this way. So casual. With a fitted band shirt and looks fitting track pants. His relaxed expression and demeanour quickly changed as he made his way to you.

"Are you feeling alright?", he asked feeling your forehead for any signs of a fever. His voice filled with concern.

"Yeah. I'm fine", you defended taking his hand off your forehead.

He let out a hum of suspicion  before continuing.
"And you were 'fine' before you passed out as well", he added not believing your statement.

"Well this time I mean it", you joked.

"Oh right. Do you want anything to eat? Do you want a drink or anything?", he offered.

"I'm alright thanks though", you replied immediately getting a disapproving look from Hobie.

"Y/N. You need to eat something or at least have some water. People don't just pass out for no reason", he added before grabbing you a glass of water.

You took the water from him and drank a little to at least keep him happy.
"You should sit down"

"Hobie. I'm fine really. You don't have to worry", you continued trying to calm him.
"I do have to worry though Y/N you nearly died and. It was because of me", he replied you could hear the guilt in his voice. He looked so empty you couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, or if he felt anything. He sat down in defeated placing his head in his hands.

Sitting down beside him you leant your head on his shoulder, he tensed up for a moment, before wrapping an arm around you pulling you in close.

"I nearly lost you Y/N", he continued you felt as he ran one hand through your hair absent mindly.

Everything seemed to catch up with you all at once as you felt tears build in your eyes.
"I'm sorry Hobie. I'm so, so sorry"

"Why are you apologising for?", he replied cupping your cheek and making you look at him. His eyes gazed deeply into yours his endearing expression comforted you but not much.
You tried to find the words to say but each time you tried you were met with struggle or resistance.

"When I stepped off that building... I really wasn't sure if you would be there", you mumbled through shaky breaths. You saw his face twist back to one of guilt, he understood what you were saying.

When you stepped off that building you weren't sure if you were going to die. In fact you were more confident that you would've died. You didn't think he would come back. Things had made a turn for the worst. Ending things felt like the best way to go.

You'd lost your house, essentially lost your job, lost the love of your life.
Life had hit one it's lowest points one you didn't think you could ever recover from.

Wrapping both arms around you Hobie pulled you onto his lap, he held you close as if afraid that if he let you go you'd disappear.
"I'm sorry Y/N"
"I didn't think I'd be gone that long. They tried to stop me from coming back. If I knew what was happening here I would have come back in a heartbeat. If I knew what would happen I never would have left", he confessed his voice exposing his vulnerability.

"Hobie. Its not you're fault. I was the one who was too weak to go on. I'm sorry for everything and everything I'm putting you th-"

"Stop Y/N you can't blame yourself for this", he took your face in his hands making you look him in the eye. The sincerity in his voice reassured you. You could tell from his facial expression that he cared. Like really cared. For someone who came off as so cold. Someone who was so closed off. Protected his identity and everything about himself. For someone who pushed you away. You could tell he cared.

He wrapped you into a warm embrace. His hand running up and down your back in a comforting manner. You felt a light kiss on top of your head as he held you close.
Resting your head on his chest the gentle rise and fall of his chest and the beat of his heart was comforting.

Standing from the couch Hobie lifted you with him, you wrapped your legs around his torso to support yourself. He carried you over to the kitchen sitting you down on the counter.

As much as you tried to reassure him you were fine Hobie insisted on taking care of you and he continued to do so until he was confident that you were ok.

"So what did you mean by 'you don't live there anymore'?", he asked referring to your house.

You explained to him how they raised the rent on your house and with your articles disappearing they started calling you into the office less and less until you were only working a shift or two a month, you struggled to pick up another job. Places weren't hiring many new people with crime rate up. You ended up having to move in with Janice. Even with the two of you together rent was still difficult. Toward the end you only felt like a burden to her.

"Would Janice be worried about where you are right now?" He questioned. You hadn't even thought about that. When you left you were sure you weren't going to return.

You left her a note.

"Shit", you mumbled remembering the note you'd left for her. You hoped she hadn't found it yet. But she would still be worried about your whereabouts.

"Do you want to call her?", he offered handing you his phone

You took his phone dialling her number but your finger lingered over the call button.

"Can you take me there?", you asked handing his phone back. He gave you a nod.

Rather than your usual way of transportation with Hobie he took you to his car.

As you clicked your seatbelt on you told him directions to the house. Starting the car the sudden loud music caused you to jump. Hobie quickly turned it down as quickly as it started.

You chuckled a little at how the music had scared you at first.
"Sorry about that", he added before starting the drive.