☂ 𝑶𝑼𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲.𝟏 ☂

11. A DREAM

Five groaned, his head pounding like steel drums as he attempted to sit up in the bed. He was never going to drink that excessively again. He blinked his eyes in order to focus them when he caught sight of Elaina sleeping in a wooden chair beside his bed. She had her legs crossed and was propping her elbow on her knee as she leaned her face against her hand.

Five could feel the corners of his lips curl upwards as he watched her. Her hair was obscuring his view of her face, so he leaned in to move the locks behind her ear. At his touch, Elaina groaned slightly, squeezing her eyes before they fluttered open. She looked up and saw Five up, which made her smile at him.

She stretched her arms. "You're up," her voice rasped a bit with lingering sleep.

"I am," Five replied, bringing his hand up to his head. "I don't know how, but I am," he grunted, commencing to rub it in an attempt to self-soothe.

"You're heads hurting?" asked Elaina knowingly, watching the boy wince slightly. "See, this is what happens when you drink 2 bottles of vodka to yourself," she commented, reaching over and beginning to rub the back of his neck to help alleviate the pain.

A hum of contentment left his lips as her fingers kneaded the base of his head. "Yeah, well, yesterday wasn't an easy day," he expressed, keeping his head down as she worked.

"I know," said Elaina sympathetically. "I saw MeriTech go up in flames,"

Five's brow furrowed at the memory. "I was right there. I had the crooked doctor with me and I was about to get the list of names of all the potential buyers for that eye. All gone,"

Elaina shook her head. "Do you think it was them? Hazel and Cha-Cha?"

"It had to be. The only question is how did they know?" wondered Five, raising his head and causing Elaina to cease rubbing his neck. "Thank you," he said, looking up at her and putting his hand on his neck.

"Anytime," she responded. "Luther should be back soon. He went out to get you some hangover helpers," she said, still seeing the scrunching of his eyes in discomfort.

"Good," he groaned.

"If it makes you feel better," started Elaina. "It seems like we both cope the same way when it comes to troubling matters," Five narrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion. She nervously chuckled. "I downed nearly a whole bottle of scotch after our little fight yesterday. If it wasn't for Klaus, I probably would've finished it,"

Five's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Then again, I might just have an alcohol problem," she shrugged with a smile.

He gave her a small smile while he shook his head, but shortly after his face went serious. "About that," he sighed. "Look, Laney, I'm sorry–"

She put her hand up to cut him off. "Don't be. I overreacted. I guess when you're a teenager long enough, you sometimes act like one," she chuckled humorlessly. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I tried to make you feel bad for trying to save the world for Christ's sake. All because I was the scared one," Elaina revealed, grabbing his hand. "So... I'm sorry," she apologized, staring deeply into his eyes.

He looked at her for a moment but didn't say anything.

Instead, he reached out with his opposite hand and stroked his thumb along her cheek. "You're forgiven," he smiled, his eyes trailing to her lips briefly before he furrowed his brows in hazy recollection. "You know, I had the most vivid dream last night..."

"Really?" questioned Elaina, with a small knowing smile. "Was I in it?"

Just as Five was about to answer, the sound of the knob jiggling alerted them of a new person entering the room. They both turned their heads towards the door to see Luther opening it.