a / n dedicated to @kyzzif for supporting my story from the beginning until now. thank you very much!
happy birthday to @Be-My-Destiel and early birthday to @amystiles21. it's going to be July 18th in less than three hours for me, so happy birthday! this is the last time i do this thing, so don't comment your birthdays. i don't have any more prewritten chapters, because i deleted them all and i'm going to rewrite them, so yeah :)
A N D I W I L L S T A Y U P
T H R O U G H T H E N I G H T.
A N D L E T ' S B E C L E A R,
W O N ' T C L O S E M Y E Y E S.
ELASTIC HEART – SIA.
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂
"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU."
I shrugged my shoulders, kicking a pebble with my foot. "Believe what you want, Jade," I supplied, plunging my hands into my pockets and watching the sunset.
"But..." she shook her head. She set her gaze forward and bit her lower lip. "Oh, well. Better luck next time."
I kept silent for quite a while, before groaning in despair. "I knew the answer was C, damn it," I growled under my breath, puffing out an irked breath. Frustration rippled within me as I kicked a pebble with all my might, causing it to practically fly in the direction of the lake. With one final violent kick, it landed into the water with a loud splash, causing Jade to wince.
She rested her head against my shoulders, pressing her thin lips together. "There, there," she reassured, patting my shoulder.
"Your hair smells like coconut," I mumbled.
A grin glossed her lips. "I know. I bought a new shampoo. It makes my hair so soft." She lifted a chunk of her raven black hair and peered down at it with narrowed eyes.
I ran my tongue over my teeth. "Your hair's already soft, Jade," I returned in a tone of irritation. I twisted around and scanned the area with a frown. "What's taking Kaedon so long?"
"Don't know," Jade answered.
I plopped down on a bench and rested my hands on my knees, awaiting for Kaedon's arrival. Minutes flew by, and I went to check the time on my phone when he appeared, his breathing erratic. "All the stalls were preoccupied," he informed us, leaning over and resting his hands on his knees. "I really need to go to the gym more."
"Shut up, you're already fit," I complained. "I've been gaining some weight, believe it or not."
"There's a difference between gaining weight and looking healthy," Jade pointed out, eyes flying around my face. "Ever since you met Blaze, your cheeks have these healthy glow to them. Right, Kaedon?"
Kaedon uttered a groan, shaking his head. "Spare me the girly talk, please. I already get enough of that from Maria." Although it was fleeting, a quick smile passed over his face at the mention of his girlfriend.
"Have you guys banged yet?" Jade asked with a wrinkled nose.
I made a face at her. "What's with you and interfering with our sex lives?"
She hoisted her shoulders in the motility of a shrug. "I'm your friend. I demand to know every single detail," she put forward.
"No, we haven't," Kaedon bit back, sighing. "And I don't care when we do, to be honest. I mean, I do care; I'm a guy. But I guess I'll have to wait."
"You guys are applying to the same university, right?" Jade quizzed.
A lazy smile stretched across Kaedon's lips as he ran a quick hand through his red hair. "Yup."
"Aw," I cooed mirthlessly, eyes glued to my phone. "And they lived happily ever after."
Kaedon narrowed his hazel eyes. "Kind of weird how it's hilarious when you think you're funny," he remarked.
"Suck a tit."
Jade shook her head in sheer amusement, coiling a lock of her hair around her finger. "Meanwhile, I'm single," she muttered.
"I'm single too, sister," I chimed in with a sigh.
"You're close to getting into a relationship, though," she pointed out.
"Out of the three of us, I've never been in a relationship," I reported with narrowed eyes.
Our staring competition was interrupted by the sudden ping that sounded off from Kaedon's phone. He tossed us a sheepish smile as he stood up, reeling off in Macedonian.
I gazed at his receding figure for a transient moment, before allowing my eyes to drift back to Jade's face. "Blaze will never be my boyfriend," I said, my shoulders slouching.
"Why?"
"I don't think he'd want to date somebody like me. He dates people like Kiera," I spat out her name, a bitter taste in my mouth at the mere mention of her.
Jade uttered a gentle laugh, thrusting a finger in my face. "You're so jealous," she mentioned, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.
"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. I am. But hey, Blaze was jealous of Axel yesterday, am I right?
Butterflies swam around my stomach at the mere thought of him. I genuinely enjoy his friendship, and I don't want to ruin it over a stupid bet.
I'll stop it all soon. I just need a little bit more time.
A third voice joined us. "That was my dad," Kaedon said, sighing.
"What'd he want?" Jade peered up at him with a befuddled look on her face.
Before Kaedon could reply back, my phone suddenly blared aloud. Excusing myself, I held a finger up and bounded away from them, raising my phone to my ear. "Hello?"
"Noelle," Langdon answered in a panic-stricken voice.
I paused in my tracks, my heart stopping. "What?"
"It's Blaze."
My breathing quickened at the implication. "What about him?" I rushed.
"He's in the hospital."
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂
"CALM DOWN, NOELLE."
"Don't tell me to calm down," I growled out, marching my way toward the entrance of the hospital. I burst through the doors and swallowed nervously, eyes straying to the front desk. My heart thumped against my chest as I quickly made my way toward it, Kaedon trailing behind me. Since Jade couldn't make it, she had quickly told me to keep her up with the details and to inform me if Blaze was okay or not.
"Can I help you?" the front lady inquired in a bland voice.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and opened my mouth to speak, but found myself at loss of words for a brief moment there. Thankfully, Kaedon came to the rescue as he lightly wrapped his arm around my waist and rubbed soothing circles onto my back. "Hi, we're looking for..." His hazel eyes darted to mine.
"Blaze Novak," I quickly rushed, wringing my hands together.
The lady assessed us with narrowed eyes, her fingers flying over the keyboard of her computer. Then, in the end, she tepidly raised a brow. "Relation?"
"Uh..." I glanced over at Kaedon, who nervously bit his lip. "Friends."
She frowned at us for a moment too long, before raising a finger. "One second."
Impatiently, I let go of a sigh as I drummed my fingers on the desk. The lady, named Glenda, glared at my fingers for an ephemeral moment, before sighing to herself. "You're free to go. He's on the second floor in room fourteen."
"Thank you!" Kaedon called as he steered me toward the hallways. I passed by a few rooms, attempting not to create too much noise as I jostled throughout the corridors. Then, I ushered Kaedon into the elevator and skittishly tapped my foot against the ground, leaning my back against the elevator wall.
Once the metallic doors slid open, I quickly shoved my way past the old lady and hurried down the corridors.
"Noelle!"
I bent my head to the side and captured a glimpse of Langdon jogging toward me, his face etched with worry. He reached forward and drew me into a hug, and I felt myself relaxing a little as I wrapped my arms around him. Once I pulled back, I quietly asked, "What happened to him?"
"Internal bleeding," he told me with a distraught frown.
"Because of his haemophilia?" I questioned, brushing my hair away from my face.
Langdon nodded, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. It was then that I noticed we had company; a few faces were familiar while others weren't. For example, I noticed Winston along with Blaze's brother, Ian, to one side. Beside him was his son, Ethan, whose face was scrunched up in concern.
Over to the side was a man and a woman, both of whom shared eccentric features that belonged to both Blaze and Ian. Upon my sudden realisation, I felt my stomach clench. It's Blaze's parents.
As I noticed them looking in my direction, I sent them a small smile. "Hello. You must be Mr and Mrs Novak, right?"
They both nodded imperceptibly. "And you're Noelle?" Blaze's father spoke up in a gruff voice. Blaze was right; his dad really is hot. I mean, as hot as a man can look around that age. Blaze shared most of his dad's features; for example, he inherited his green eyes and pale skin from his father, while his brown hair from his mother.
Ian looked like the living replica of his mother, whose ethereal beauty startled me. Although her tan face seemed fatigued and her figure was somewhat slouched, she still seemed like the living embodiment of beauty.
I nodded in answer to his question. "Yes, I'm Noelle. It's nice to finally meet you," I averred, maintaining my benevolent smile.
Mr. Novak smiled gravely. "I'm sorry we had to meet against such unforeseen circumstances," he said in a grim manner, green eyes roaming around my face.
Blaze's mother sniffled quietly, assessing me with bloodshot eyes. "We've heard a lot about you," she told me with a slight smile, raking a hand through her brown hair.
I returned the smile, wringing my hands together. "Hopefully good stuff, right?"
She nodded. "Certainly."
"Please, take a seat." Mr. Novak gestured to the seats behind me and I bent around, my heart sinking a little as I made out Kiera's short figure slumped down beside Winston. Oh great.
I had no choice but to sit in the only available seat -- which was in-between Kiera and Winston. My fans.
Kaedon, on the other hand, sat across from me beside Blaze's parents and quietly introduced himself.
Then, an excruciatingly reverent silence lapsed upon us, and I found myself slowly slouching down in my seat. I shut my eyes and prayed to God that Blaze would be okay, and that everything would go back to the way it was.
"Papa, what's wrong with uncle Blaze?" Ethan muttered, staring up at his father with wide, green eyes.
Ian pressed his lips into a thin line as he ruffled up Ethan's hair. "He's just a little sick. He'll get better, don't worry," he promised.
"Winston," I whispered, nudging him. His grey eyes drifted to me and he coldly raised a brow. "What happened?"
"Internal bleeding," he answered in a grave voice.
Yeah, we've already established that, I refrained from saying. "Where?"
Winston cleared his throat, gliding his fingers through his black hair. "In his throat."
I almost gasped at this comment. Almost. Only as I pressured myself to calm down by digging my nails into my palm, I puffed out a short breath. "How did it happen?"
"It began yesterday, to be honest," he responded quietly. "He said that he had some trouble breathing, and today he started vomiting blood."
I pressed my knuckles to my mouth, pursing my lips. "They hooked him up to a ventilator," Winston informed me in a sombre fashion.
"I hope he's okay," I whispered, more to myself than to him.
I noted the way Kiera's brown eyes kept flickering to the both of us, but I paid no attention to her. Alternatively, I furthermore scanned the area and gazed at a solemn Kaedon, a crying Mrs. Novak (I remembered her name was Denise), a grave Mr. Novak, an agitated Ian, and a frustrated Langdon.
"Where's Ahmed?" I marveled.
On cue, a familiar tall figure jogged up to us, disturbing the thick layer of silence that encased us. He breathed raggedly, his brown hair flopping onto his forehead as he inspected our grim expression. "Who died?" he breathed tenaciously.
"Blaze," Langdon answered without looking up from the floor. He realised the error in his reply and hastily fastened to correct it. "I-I mean..." he stuttered, just as Blaze's mother let out a loud sob.
"Oh damn," Ahmed muttered, a frown marring his features. After greeting Blaze's parents and Blaze's brother, his forehead thumped against the wall as he slanted against it and brought one of his legs to rest on the wall.
It was an entire hour later when a nurse finally traipsed toward us, a clipboard in her hand. Almost at once, everybody shot up from their seats and bombarded her with questions, their voices bouncing off the walls.
A sympathetic smile dotted her lips as she held a hand up, inducing silence to fall upon us. She cleared her throat, her eyes tentatively straying from one individual to another, almost as if she was afraid we'd attack her like a bunch of wild hyenas. "He's alive and breathing," she told us.
A collective of sighs of relief resonated across the room and I crossed my fingers together, closing my eyes in satisfaction.
The nurse, oblivious to this, continued on. I didn't bother listening to the rest, mainly because my top priority was making sure Blaze was okay.
My phone rang aloud, and I excused myself from the group and navigated myself through the corridors as I brought my phone to my ear. "Hello?" I mumbled, pressing a finger to my temple.
"Is he okay?" Jade practically screamed into the phone.
I didn't even bother acting out a cringe at her tone of voice. Rather, I opted to voice out a quick "barely."
"What happened to him?"
I found myself quietly explaining to her about the events that just occurred since the moment I stepped into the hospital. She listened intently, before furthering her questions.
"Have you seen him yet?"
"No," I sighed. "But I might before I head back home. I can't stay over; it's a school night."
"I understand," she murmured in a dulcet voice. "He's going to be okay, alright? Trust me on this."
"I really hope you're right," I muttered. "I have to go now. I'll talk to you later."
I hung up on her and pocketed my phone, before travelling back to my seat. "Where are Blaze's parents?" I asked Ahmed.
His brown eyes trailed to mine as he sank his hands into his pockets. "They're checking up on him."
My heartbeat sped up and I felt ridiculously silly. "Is he awake?" My voice was teetering on the brink of excitement and urgency.
Ahmed shook his head slowly, mournfully. "No," he responded, biting the inside of his cheek.
My face fell and I blew out a breath from the corner of my mouth. A restraining hand was laid on my forearm and I looked to my side to spot a worried Kaedon. "I have to go now. My parents are going mad," he informed me. "Will you be okay?"
No. "Yes," I said, reaching out and engulfing him into a hug. He lightly hugged me back and pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of my head.
"Tell me when he wakes up, yeah?" he answered as he started walking backwards.
I nodded my head, flashing him a quick thumbs up. Glancing back at the group, I stuffed my hands into my pockets and bit my lip. "I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee. Does anybody want one?"
Langdon raised his hand in the air. "Me, please."
I nodded. "Anyone else?"
"Me," Ethan piped in, grinning.
Chuckles resonated across the room, and I found myself smiling. Ian caught my gaze and sent me a grateful smile, to which I returned. I sighed and turned on my heels, only to be stopped by a familiar voice.
"I'm coming with you."
Kiera jumped to her feet and fell into step with me, her blonde hair bouncing with every step she took. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes as I dug my nails into my palm and marched ahead of her. Now was not the time for jealousy.
I paced into the cafeteria and filled three cups with steaming coffee, before placing them on a tray. While in the process of walking around, my eyes caught sight of a small store, and I absentmindedly shoved the tray at Kiera. Making my way toward the little store, I watched with fanatic interest at the gift cards, flowers, and stuffed animals situated around the store.
Out of their own accord, my feet carried me in the direction of the stuffed animals, and I plucked a stuffed koala off the shelf. I built my way toward the front desk and paid for the koala, before advancing back toward Kiera.
Kiera was in the process of glancing around the almost empty cafeteria as I built myself back toward her, examining the tray in her hands. She had made herself a cup of coffee too, I noticed.
I plucked the tray from her and jostled throughout the corridors with Kiera trailing behind me.
"I was there with him when it happened, you know," she told me after a few beats of silence.
I peeked over at her tepidly, lifting a brow. "Good for you," I stated with an artificial smile, before shoving a cup of coffee at Langdon's chest. He was caught a little off guard, before sarcastically raising it in the air and then bringing it to his mouth. Then, I passed one over to Ethan, who rendered me a shy grin. He placed the tray beside him as he plopped down beside his father and gulped down his coffee.
I blew on my coffee for a moment too long, before taking a short sip of it. My face scrunched up into a look of utter disgust, but I forced myself to gulp it down, despite its bitter taste.
I rubbed my palms on my jeans as Blaze's parents exited his room with grave looks etched onto their faces. I must've looked at them like a hopeful puppy, because they sighed and shook their heads. "He's asleep," his father informed us in a grave tone.
I dragged a palm down my face, sighing in utter frustration.
"Do you want to go see him?"
My head snapped in Mrs. Novak's direction. "Yes," I uttered, transfixed. "Thank you, Mrs. Novak."
"Please, call me Denise," she insisted.
I nodded my head and selfishly crept into his room. I was putting myself in an invidious position, but I couldn't help it, especially since I might not be able to see him until tomorrow. Or whenever they decide to release him.
My gaze fixated on his sleeping figure, and I skimmed his wan complexion. He almost looked...dead. I furthermore stepped into the room and plonked down on a chair beside him, inspecting his familiar face over and over again.
Forgive me, but I couldn't grasp the fact that Blaze was here in the hospital. It happens to the best of us, I suppose. I exhaled a lengthy breath as I raked my hand through his brown tufts of hair, eyes worriedly roaming around his pals face. Then, I placed the stuffed koala on the nightstand beside him, among all the other flowers and 'get well soon!' cards.
My lips pursed as I set my gaze on the ventilator covering his mouth and nose. His chest heaved up and down with each breath he took, and I observed as he marginally stirred in his sleep. I reached for his hand and laced my fingers through his, prompting him to wake up. Come on, come on.
My eyes darted to the clock. I only had two hours to spare before I had to head back home. At this rate, I don't even think I was allowed to be here. Visiting hours were probably over, but in that moment, I honestly couldn't care less.
Minutes passed by, and I found myself admittedly growing exasperated. "Wake up, Blaze," I hissed in a determined tone. When I came up short, I sighed and reached down to press a kiss to his forehead. "Me vuelves loco, you know that, right? Night, turd."
I pulled back and tenderly gazed at him, before clearing my throat and making my way out of the room.
"Is he awake?" Ian inquired, rising up to his full height.
I didn't miss the disappointed sigh that escaped Kiera's lips when I shook my head. I planked down on a waiting chair beside Winston and peered over at him from under my lashes. "Are you still mad at me?"
Winston bore an indecipherable expression to his face. He paused, then shook his head. "No. It's not your fault you like Blaze."
I almost denied it. Almost. But then I recalled that I supposedly had 'feelings' for Blaze, so I threw him a quick smile, "I'm sorry for using you, Winston," I added in a low voice, lest Kiera heard us like the eavesdropper she is.
"It's fine," he dismissed, extending his legs in front of him.
I regarded him with a small frown. "No, it isn't."
His knowing eyes bored into mine. "It is. Stop apologising."
A slow smile stretched onto my face and I nodded, gazing down at my hands. I knew that we weren't on good terms yet, but at least we treated each other like civil beings now, right?
All of a sudden, Ian burst out of Blaze's room with a wide grin on his face. I guess I was too busy with Winston to notice that Ian had stepped foot into his room.
"He's awake!" he proclaimed.
Denise and Brendon (Ahmed told me his name earlier), both jumped to their feet and practically tackled the door open, hastening into Blaze's room.
"Thank you!" Langdon cried to no one in particular, clear relief etched onto his face.
Ahmed rubbed his face and stared wide-eyed at the ground, while I twisted to face Winston with a grin. "Did you hear that?" I all but squealed.
Winston fed me a nod, a smile lining his lips. "Oh God, finally. I was starting to think he'd never wake up," he disclosed, running a hand down his face.
I bit the inside of my cheek as I squirmed impatiently in my seat, rubbing my palms across my jeans. Next, after Denise and Brendon spent nearly half an hour with Blaze, Langdon was the next to visit, followed by Ahmed and Winston.
Then, it was Kiera's turn. I felt myself fuming as I looked at her retreating figure. Tapping my foot against the ground, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Kiera to return.
My phone instantly began ringing, and I muttered a curse word as I took hold of it and brought it to my ear. "Hello?" I sighed.
"Noelle, where are you?" my mother's frantic voice came from the other end of the line.
"Blaze was rushed to the hospital today," I reported, pressing a finger to my temple. "I'm currently visiting him."
"Oh. Is he okay?" my mother inquired, genuine concern leaking into her voice.
"Yeah, look. I—," she cut me off.
"Come home right now. It's a school night," my mother chided.
I blew out an aggravated sigh. "I will, but—."
"No buts. Come home, or else."
And with that one final warning, she hung up on me. I was left standing there with slumped shoulders, disappointment roiling within me. The sound of footsteps sounded from behind me and I turned to face Kiera, glancing over her shoulder.
"He's asleep," she informed me in a flat voice.
My heart sank in devastation and I nodded, biting my lip. "Alright. I have to go anyway. Tell him I say hi." Rather than sticking around to listen to her reply, I wrenched around and saw myself out of the hospital, angrily kicking the floor with my foot.
Just great.
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂
"IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY."
I bit my lip and ran a quick hand through my brown hair, pacing around my room. "Should I or should I not?" I quizzed, tapping my chin thoughtfully.
"Where'd the usual, confident Noelle go?" Jade struck back, shovelling a few popcorns into her mouth. "The heart wants what it wants."
And right now, my heart desired to be beside Blaze.
"But what if..." I cut myself off, taking a deep breath and nodding my head. "Alright, okay. I can do this."
I wasn't particularly nervous about going over to his apartment, but for some inexplicable reason, I had a very bad feeling about this. It surged within me in the form of ripples, and I had to shake my head in order to snap out of it. With my chin held up high, and my shoulders squared, I snatched my purse and slung it over my shoulder.
"Tell me how it goes!" Jade called after me as I closed the door behind me. I gently crept down the stairs and poked my head through the entrance of the kitchen.
"Mamá, I'm going to go visit Blaze, okay?"
My mother sighed, muttering something in Spanish under her breath. With one flick of the wrist, she gestured for me to leave and I abided by her rules, exiting the house and bounding toward my car.
I wiped my palms on my jean shorts, before taking a deep breath and starting the engine.
Fifteen or so minutes later, I arrived at Blaze's familiar apartment. Thankfully, they had let Blaze out of the hospital yesterday -- after keeping him there for two days solely to keep an eye on him.
The afternoon sun cast a warm glow on my face as I jogged up toward the front doors and pushed them open, eyes rambling around the lobby. Two teenage girls were seated on the couch, and upon my dramatic entrance, they lifted their gazes and fell silent.
I paid no attention to them as I raced into the elevator, standing beside a middle age woman who coincidentally pressed her finger down on the button that led to the third floor. As soon as the metallic doors slid open, I worked my way toward his door and rapped my fists against it.
All of a sudden, the door flung open to reveal a flustered Kiera, who froze at the sight of me. She slightly closed the door, regarding me with her brown eyes. "What're you doing here?" she breathed out.
I disregarded her existence and stood on my tip toes, attempting to look past her. "Where's Blaze?"
She pursed her lips. "He doesn't want to see you."
I raised an eyebrow, a dry laugh escaping my mouth.
Before I could curse her to hell and back, a third voice joined us. "She's right, I don't."
What? My eyes snapped to a stoic looking Blaze, and I took a deep breath. He's joking, right? "What..." My eyes strayed to Kiera, who confidently held my gaze. "What're you talking about?"
Blaze lifted an eyebrow coldly. "I don't want to talk to you," he stated.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" My patience wore thin as I looked at him for what seemed to be forever.
Kiera gazed between the both of us, before cutting in with a gentle voice. "Noelle, maybe you should leave. Blaze needs to rest—."
I cut her off with a steely voice. "Was I talking to you? No. So shut the fuck up."
Then, I looked back at Blaze helplessly, feeling utterly mortified. Kiera's finally getting what she wants. Is her boyfriend not enough for her?
"Don't talk to her like that," Blaze snapped. He started to close the door, but I quickly tossed my foot in-between the doorframe and the door itself, challenging him with a disgruntled gaze.
"You either tell me what's wrong, or I stay here all day. Choose."
Kiera slowly backed out, and I internally sighed in relief.
"Nothing's wrong," he told me, "I just realised I'm wasting too much time on you. You're not worth it."
Is this about the bet? No. It can't be.
I drove myself to calm down as I dug my nails into my palms. "Something's wrong. I'm certain there is. There's no plausible reason as to why you'd suddenly end your friendship with me."
Blaze uttered an aggravated breath. "Is it that hard for you to grasp the fact that I don't want to continue spending time with you?"
I crossed my arms over my chest indignantly. "Yes."
"Then that's your problem, not mine," he rejoined, eyes narrowed and lips turned upward into a scowl.
"So you're just going to end your friendship with me just like that?" I asked in a quiet voice.
Blaze nodded heartlessly. "Yes."
"And you're never going to speak to me again?"
He shrugged. "I can live with or without you, Noelle. You're not a big deal."
My heart painfully clenched in my chest, but I wasn't about to get down on my knees and plead him to forgive me. Instead, I felt anger course within me as I stared at him through narrowed eyes. "You're an asshole, you know that? Either way, it's your life and you can do whatever you want. But I swear to God if you came back one day demanding that I forgive you and that you want to repair things, I will literally knock your teeth out."
His green eyes slightly widened at my declaration, but then, with whatever shreds of confidence he had, he nodded and slammed the door shut.
Huffing, I spun on my heels and marched down the corridor, fighting back angry tears.