I'm Only Human -- [Editing]

[7] Jade the Red Lipped Dragon

This chapter is dedicated to one of the best supporters I have! You've been so helpful and your support is the whole reason I wrote this chapter! I hope you enjoy it love! Thank you for everything!

For the first couple seconds of the morning Autumn had forgotten. When she peeked open her hazel eyes and stared at the ceiling, she thought she was home.

She had forgotten about Mark ditching her, about those who had died, about being shot, about her life being compared to a bug, and most of all, about Tate.

Nonetheless, when she sat up with a heavy yawn and that awful discomfort erupted in her abdomen, it all poured in at once.

The emotions, the pain, the suffering, and the agony. It was like a tsunami, a wall smashing into her.

She couldn't help but sharply inhale, the tightness in her chest making even this simple task difficult.

Eyes scanning her surroundings, she could feel the tears building up. The pain, emotionally and physically, was too much to bare.

She allowed the teardrops to fall, some clinging to her eyelashes while others raced down her rosy red cheeks.

It wasn't how she'd wanted to spend her morning. In the course of two days she'd cried more than she had through all twelve seasons of Grey's Anatomy.

And it wasn't a nice feeling. Autumn felt as if the lump in her throat would become a permanent defect.

A gentle knock sounded as someone lightly tapped against the door. Autumn rushed to wipe away the tears staining her face, working quickly to change into her strong facade.

Today was a new day. She had been spared by the council and had seen it as a curse. Instead, in order to survive, Autumn would have to look at it as a challenge.

"You can come in," Autumn squeaked, already failing her mission. Tate peeked his head in the room, his sapphire eyes falling on her flushed expression.

"Hey," his voice was hoarse.

"Hi," she shuttered as he entered the room. Though Autumn might have seemed flustered Tate was a pale as a ghost. He crossed the threshold into the room and practical drug himself over to her.

"How are you feeling?" Tate inquired as he plopped down onto her bed.

"Fine, you?"

"Just fine?" Tate deflected her question.

"Yeah." Her reply was short and he caught onto her hesitancy.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Autumn sighed.

"Yeah, I-uh . . . I just had thought that this was all a dream this morning." She shook her head in disbelief of reality.