The Bond We Share

Chapter 1

Despite knowing she's finally free of that god forsaken facility, that dream still shook her up. Just the mere thought of separation made her feel sick. Once was enough, her heart almost broke when she woke up in the hospital with no Isaac by her side - only complete strangers to take her away.

It's 3 a.m. She knows she can't go back to sleep after that.

Rachel slid herself out of the twin-sized mattress and quietly left her room, she needs to find Zack again, and just stay in his company to quell her fears. She shuffled through the small living room, and towards the adjacent guest room. The sound of TV static and muffled sounds can be heard from Zack's room, she can even see the glow of the television under the door. He's definitely still awake, even at this hour.

Her heart was racing, the memory of her nightmare continued to linger in the back of her mind. The sickness she felt to watch Zack fade away from her. Rachel nibbled at her bottom lip as she raised her shaky hand to lightly knock at his bedroom door.

Tap, tap, tap.

She didn't get a reply, Ray swallowed hard as she added a firmer knock at his door.

"Quit yer' knockin', the door's unlocked. Come in."

Still as blunt as ever.

Rachel opened the door to see Zack sitting in bed with the blanket bundled at his hips. He's not wearing his hoodie, as it was haphazardly tossed across the room - it's definitely his usual unorganized behavior. This is the second time she's seen his bandaged torso, and judging from the lack of blood on his face, he must've changed into fresher wrappings as she slept.

Isaac set the remote down, as he glanced at the girl.

"How come yer' up this late?"

Rachel's blue eyes shifted about, as if shy to admit the reason for being awake, "I-I couldn't sleep...I'm sorry."

Zack grumbled a bit, she's still the same person muttering unnecessary apologies.

"Do you mind if I..."

"Just spit it out, Ray," Zack grunted.

"Can I keep you company for a while?"

Isaac raised a brow to her strange request, even her shy demeanor seemed a bit uncharacteristic of her. Still, he gets this feeling in the back of his head like if he rejected her request, it would upset her. Well, he honestly couldn't blame her, they just reunited after several months of being apart. Zack sighed to himself, swallowing his pride to accept her request. He brought his bandaged hand out, and roughly pat at the empty side of his bed to give her room to sit.

"Come on..."

"I-I'm not bothering you, am I?" Ray asked.

"Ya' gonna hop in or not? You asked for company, now get yer' ass here," Zack huffed. "I'm not gonna ask twice."

Impatient too. Zack never changes.

Rachel quickly approached the large bed, and climbed inside, pulling the blankets over her shaky feet. Her face grew warm, she's slept beside him before back in the building, but that was mostly due to fatigue, and even to rest off minor poisoning. This was different. They're not in the building anymore. Not only that, she still felt a bit of reserved behavior around him, like she needed to reintroduce herself back to Isaac after being away from him for so long.

Zack could see her coy behavior, even he felt a little awkward to be with her again, but this was still Ray. This was still the girl he made an oath with. There was no reason to see or treat her differently. He noticed the girl was shaking an awful lot, the AC was cranked on, but he was sure it wasn't set to freezing.