Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

It's Gonna Take A Lot To Drag Me Away From You

Day 3 – Patching Each Other Up

"I look around but it's you I can't replace, I feel so cold and I long for your embrace."

XxX

'Alright,' Vin said, dropping down onto the duvet with a heavy sigh of resignation, 'here's the deal. I think you're great. I mean, you're my best friend, and I love you and all that, but you already know it and there's no point in repeating stuff. But the point is, you're a bright and capable person, and I'd never doubt you for a second - but damn it you can be a dumbass.'

Zero ignored him, clearly both pissed off and embarrassed, but grudgingly let him lift up her mutilated fist and clean off the worst of the blood with a damp tissue. She didn't speak.

Naturally, Vin's head was buzzing with questions. First of all, what the hell happened? Second, why was she dripping blood all over the carpet, and third, why didn't she tell him about it? It was sheer luck that he turned up at her door asking about the math homework, and though she'd tried to get rid of him, he noticed that her pale cheek had been smudged with red. Then shit hit the fan.

'Was it Burt?' he asked, gently turning her hand over and prying her clenched fist open. There was a gaping, clotting gash on the heel of her palm, which suddenly began to bleed again with the movement. He wadded up a tissue and pressed it to the wound, clenching his jaw in an effort to stay calm. He wasn't going to get upset over this. Zero was her own person, and the last thing she needed was for him to get angry on her behalf. In all honesty, it would just annoy her even more. 'I mean, it's totally understandable if it was, but you don't always have keep trying to prove yourself with him. We all know you're tough, but sometimes you've just gotta walk away, you know?'

She didn't reply. Instead she just exhaled heavily, looking down at her other hand where it rested in her lap. Vin hesitated for a moment, having an internal debate about whether it would be acceptable or not, before tossing all reason to the wind and taking her hand in his own. His right hand held the bloody tissue to her palm, while his left held her other hand in a gesture that felt painfully odd to him. He wasn't sure what was wrong about it – like, they held hands all the time; it was practically an unconscious sort of gesture for them. But now . . .

'Vin,' Zero began softly, her voice scratchy and exhausted. 'You know I fight my own battles. And I know I do stupid shit, but I learn from it. It's just . . .' She trailed off and exhaled a little, eyes flitting up to meet his. 'Some stuff I've gotta deal with myself.'

Now that she would finally meet his gaze, Vin realised something. His stomach jolted with awful familiarity as his brain mulled over the expression on her face, the painful look in her eyes, and how she seemed . . . well, resigned.

'You were talking to your dad, weren't you?' he whispered, briefly squeezing her uninjured hand. Wariness flickered in her eyes for a second, before she grimaced slightly and nodded.

'We just . . . we just don't see eye to eye on a lot of things,' she muttered, looking down again. 'He's impossible.'

Now that the moment was broken, Vin looked back down at the wad of tissues and went back to cleaning up the gashes. 'But how . . .'

'I punched a grate,' she said, sensing his question. She seemed to think about it for a second, before quietly snorting with reluctant laughter. 'You should see the other guy.'

'I'm sure you made that grate regret its life choices,' Vin agreed, now folding up a tissue and wrapping it over her knuckles as a makeshift bandage. After wrapping another over the gash on her palm, he folded both her hands between his own. 'Well, I definitely think you've learned from this,' he said softly. 'Maybe check what you're punching, next time.'

'Fair enough,' she mumbled. She said nothing about the gesture, which was fairly intimate, even for them. Instead she just exhaled quietly and closed her eyes, finally seeming somewhat content.

Vin wasn't stupid enough to let this moment of peace get away. He loved those rare moments where they just sat quietly, only the two of them, and just . . . just were. The corners of his lips quirked upward slightly, and he took the time to notice every little detail about her. There were the obvious ones of course; the soft curve of her mouth, her angular cheekbones, the scar that ran through her right eyebrow, her upturned nose, the numerous ear piercings – most of which she had done herself under questionable safety precautions – sure, those details were pretty obvious to the common eye. But Vin, well he liked to look closer. He saw a second, tinier scar beneath her left eye, which was so transparent it was almost lost against her pale skin. He saw how impossibly long her eyelashes were, even if they were invisible without makeup. He saw those tiny changes in shape that kept her face from being symmetrical, kept her face flawed, and yet still noticed how impossibly beautiful she was. Well, that last fact was pretty hard not to notice, to be honest.

And damn it, he knew he was in love. He'd known it for years, and he wasn't an idiot so he kept those feelings hidden deep down where they wouldn't interfere with his inhibitions. And it had worked, for the most part – he could recognise that his feelings wouldn't be reciprocated, and was sensible enough not to do anything that would make him lose her. Some days it even worked so well that he could convince himself he didn't feel that way anymore; that she was his best friend, and that meant more than anything. But then she would do something dumb, like smile at him, and just like that he'd be hit in the chest with feelings like a freight train. It was impossible, really.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he noticed her hands, which were still clasped in his, squeezed back ever so slightly. Her eyes were still closed, and her face seemed near impossible to read, but that simple gesture spoke volumes to him. He knew exactly what she couldn't say, but desperately wanted to.

Thank you.

Smiling softly, he squeezed back. This, this meant more than anything else really could. And that was why he loved it. 

XxX

Chapter title - "Africa", Toto

Quote - "Every Breath You Take", The Police