Trust \\ KELLIC

11

"Are you alright?" I asked Vic as we walked up the stairs of the house. We had just gotten home from the hospital and I insisted that I would take care of him. I found out on the way home that he had gone for a drive because he was upset because of how I was acting, so now I feel responsible for all of this even though Vic reassured me it wasn't my fault. I knew better though.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" He told me for probably the third time since we left the hospital.

"I want to." I said. I watched him as he walked up the stairs. He could walk without any help but he was a lot slower and kept wincing in pain. The doctor had said that most of the pain should go away in a couple of days, but he'll still be feeling it for a while, especially with his ribs.

"Alright. Thank you." He said. We had both been being incredibly polite to each other because of the accident. We hadn't yet talked about where we stand with each other, but I had a feeling he would bring it up when we're alone. When we got to the hall on the second floor we walked down it and stopped. Vic had been staying in Mike's room, but I felt like he should rest in his own without Mike bothering him. I looked at him awkwardly.

"Um, come on." I said and nodded towards the door to our room.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I wouldn't want Mike bothering you when you're supposed to be healing. You know how he can get." I said and opened the door for us.

"Oh yeah." He said and laughed nervously. We went into our room and I shut and locked the door behind us. We both turned and looked at each other.

"So, I guess we should talk about, like, us?" I questioned. He nodded and kept looking at me, frowning.

"Maybe later. You look like you haven't slept in a week." He said. I looked away from him and down at my sock-covered feet.

"I haven't really. Well not much anyway." I said.

"Why not? Because of me? Like...like too sad to sleep?" He asked. I looked up again to be met with sad, regretful eyes. This wasn't his doing so I felt bad that he felt bad about it. I couldn't tell him the truth though.

"No, no it's not that. It's because of what happened with my dad. Every time I close my eyes I see him and...yeah, never mind. It's fine." I said.

"No, it's not fine." He said, getting a little mad. "When I heal properly I'm going to find him, and kill him."

"It's not worth the trouble." I told him.

"But-"

"Vic, don't. Just...I'm too emotionally and physically exhausted to argue about this right now." I said. He went quiet and nodded. I decided to change the subject.

"Look, let's just get some sleep now and talk about the serious stuff when we wake up." I said. I went over to the dresser and opened the drawer. I found him a shirt and tossed it to him. I turned back to the dresser to search for my own clothes, but out of the corner of my eye I watched him change his shirt. I wanted to gasp at the bruising where his ribs are, but I knew he hated when people made such a fuss over him and I knew he could handle the pain. He's always been tough.

I quickly got changed and then turned back to him and the bed. He was looking at me and chewing on his bottom lip, meaning he was thinking about something.

"What is it?" I asked. He looked at me blankly for a second and then snapped out of whatever he was thinking about.

"Nothing. I just love you a lot, that's all." He said. I wasn't expecting that and I wasn't sure how to respond. I was too tired to think of what I was feeling right now though. So I just nodded. I walked past him and got onto the bed on my side and pushed the covers back. I lay down, letting my body relax even though I was sure I wouldn't go to sleep. Or at least I would and wake up five minutes later to dreams of Craig.