I instantly didn't like how the dorms felt the second I stepped inside, the others behind me probably feeling the same way by the looks on their faces. It was so empty here, so gray, and it seemed more like a prison then a sleeping area.
"I call top bunk!" Tobi exclaimed, running over to the nearest of the two bunk beds and climbing to the top.
I climbed up onto the top bunk opposite from Tobi, the beds just as uncomfortable as I assumed they would be, my face turning into a look of disgust as I actually laid on it.
Preston and Vikk made eye contact for a second before they chose beds, Preston going under Tobi and Vikk claiming the bed under me, quickly disappearing from my line of sight. I looked over at the other guys, watching as their facial expressions changed to that of disgust as they felt how rough the beds actually were.
"You would think they would give us better beds you know, I mean if they expect us to wake up at five in the morning they should at least make it so we actually fall asleep before then." Tobi muttered, trying to get comfortable on the bed and changing his position every five seconds.
"Innit?" I replied, laying down on bed and trying to see if there was a spot where the mattress wasn't as hard.
"Come on its not that bad." Preston smirked, easily getting comfortable on the rock of a bed.
"Yeah, that's only because you're used to this, I could actually afford a bed." I replied, changing my position so I was facing Tobi and Preston instead of the wall.
I heard someone gasp, and looking behind me I could see Preston glaring, his face getting increasingly red with anger as time passed.
"Yeah, we'll at least when I fell asleep I slept knowing my family was still healthy while yours are rotting in the dirt." He spat, laying down and avoiding my gaze. I sat on my bed shocked, my eyes growing wider as he finished. I could see Tobi looking at me with complete and utter shock, his eyes growing wide as we spat insults at each other.
"Listen here farm trash, at least I do-" I started, my face literally fuming as I talked.
"No, both of you shut the fuck up and get a fucking grip. Look, you guys were suppost to be a fucking team and you guys are here insulting dead family members. That's honestly fucked up. Now look, I'm going to go to sleep, I suggest we all do the same." Tobi interrupted, breaking our fight apart almost as quickly as it had started.
Vikk, who had pretty much fell silent the whole time during the fight, got up from the bed and entered my line of sight. His fingertips grazed the light switch, turning off the pathetic little light we had for our room before laying back down.
Everyone feel silent, the darkness engulfing us whole as we laid there, someone shifting every so often to try to get comfortable. My mind was away, thinking about the fight between me and Preston a few minutes ago.
Man, did I hate him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't sleep.
Maybe back we of the excitement of it all, the rush of being called in the center stage, the train rides, the camp, everything. Or perhaps the fear of nightmares that I would surely have if I closed my eyes, my worst fears at the moment being able to play out in my head like a movie. It felt like years ago, when in reality my fate was sealed only hours ago.
Or maybe I was to tired to sleep. My eyes to heavy to fall, my mind to tired to actually fall asleep. There was a point where I tried, tried counting, tried humming, tried thinking about things to help me fall asleep, but clearly that didn't work, my eyes still gazing off into the nothingness of the room.
Maybe I should try to listen, try to hear things around me instead of blocking the outside world out. Perhaps there would be crickets to sing me to sleep, or give me a new thing to think about.
I almost missed it.
I could hear the other people in my dorm sleeping, their heavy breaths filling the silence as they slip into unconsciousness. There's crickets outside my window, and the sound of patrols outside to make sure no one leaves. I almost didn't hear it, because its gone in a second and I wasn't listening for it.
A sob.
Someone's crying, a small sob escaping their lips before its gone, lost in the darkness and silence the dorm room brings. I can hear their muffled cries as they continue to cry, obvious to the fact that any ones awake to hear them. I can see Preston and Tobi from where I am, both of them breathing heavily, eyes closed as they drift into dream land. I don't think its either of them.
My heart sinks slowly as I realize that the only person left to have been making the noise is Vikk.
I'm not sure why I've been avoiding him this whole time, maybe its because I don't want our conversations to just be awkward thanks about that one night. Maybe because he reminds me of a child, a teenager perhaps, someone who doesn't belong here, and it crushed me that he is. And I still really don't want to talk, especially to someone who's crying, but yet I feel bad leaving him alone in the dark.
I start to climb down the ladder, the wood creaking with each step I take. I can see Preston and Tobi move around in their sleep with each step I take, the noise slowly starting to wake them. Stepping down the whole thing will surely wake them all up. I bite my lip before jumping down the rest of the way, landing to the floor with a small thud, my leg falling at a weird angle causing me to hiss in slight pain.
I can feel his stare burning into the back of my head and I turn around, his tear stained eyes barely peeking out from under the blankets he hides himself under. His bark colored eyes flicker to me for a second, a waterfall of tears rushing down his face as he hides himself from view, hiding his face in his now tear stained blanket.
I walk over to the edge of his bed, my ankle still hurting a little bit as I walk. He raised his head again only to show his eyes as he stares at my failed attempts to hobble over to him, my ankle still hurting like hell.
"I-I'm sorry, for waking you up." His whispers, his voice soft and cracking as he looks down, his dark eyes filling with more tears as he looks away. I awkwardly sit on the edge of his bed as we lock eyes, his looking so wide and child like but yet so hurt at the same time.
"Nah don't worry. I couldn't sleep anyway." I mutter, giving him a small smile as he dries his eyes with the back of his hand, looking at anything but me.
I silently start to swear under my breath as we sit there, both of us quiet in the silence. A part of me wishes it was Tobi who was still awake and not me, since he knows how to deal with these situations while I just sit here awkwardly not knowing what to say.
"So why were you crying?" I ask softly, his gaze meeting mine for a second before he takes in a deep breath and starts playing with the edge of the bedsheets.
"Well, my family for one. My brothers and sisters needed me, I made the most money out the family, they could die without me. And second off..."
He pauses, holding back a mangled sob before continuing.
"Im pratically dead. Im useless at fighting, I'll be the first to die and we all know it." He states bitterly, his eyes trained on the window and the stars outside. I run my fingers through my hair in stress, my fingers getting caught in the tangles.
"Well, at least you wont be targeted. Im one of the tallest people, theres no way im living. You have a better chance at living then I do." I mutter, his gaze turning towards me, his eyes showing something I cant explain.
He pauses, his eyes growing watery, the moonlight landing on the tears that started to pool in his ink colored eyes. He sighed, a small sob leaving his lips as he sits there, his mind in a much darker place then the nighttime could ever offer.
"Simon, im so scared. I dont wanna die." He cries out, his voice breaking as he starts to sob, his crys sounding so helpless and upset. I could feel my heart start to shatter as I sit here on the edge of the bed, the darkness hiding the majority of his face from view.
"Look, dont cry. It'll be okay. You'll be okay, promise." I whisper, trying to soothe the younger boy who cries begin to get louder.
I crawl over to where he is on the bed, letting him lay his head on my shoulder as he cries, my pale fingers running through his raven hair. His sobs grow softer as the night goes on until he's no longer crying, and the only sound that comes from his small frame is a few sniffles here and there. I continue running my fingers through his hair, not stopping until he's fully calmed down. I'm not sure if its a subconscious act or not, but soon his small frame is curled into my side, the tear stains mostly gone from his cinnamon colored skin as he looks up at me.
"Thanks Simon. For staying." He mumbled into my side, seeming already smaller then he already is.
"Its no problem." I return, getting ready to stand up and go back to my own bed. His eyes grow wide when I start to leave, fear glazing over his coffee colored eyes as he feels me start to leave, his grip tightening slightly.
"Can you stay? Please? I-I don't wanna be alone." He whines, his eyes growing wide and innocent as he gazes up at me, pleading for me to stay.
I sigh, running my hand through my hair slightly as I look down at him. I suppose staying couldn't hurt to much, after all I highly doubt I would get any sleep on my rock bed above. And besides, his pleads for me to stay seem so innocent and helpless that I don't have the heart to leave.
"Ok, but only for tonight." I muse, watching as he face lights up as we lay back down, his small frame curling into my side.
I can't help but look at him as he lays his head on my chest, his small frame looking even smaller against mine. He looks so peaceful, a small smile curved onto his lips as his eyes slowly started to flicker closed, his heart beat slowing down slightly.
I can feel my eyes get heavy, and I start to unwillingly fall into the depths of unconsciousness, the last think I'm aware of is Vikks small breaths falling in sync with my own.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Aww, look at them!"
"Shut up, your gonna wake them up!"
I start to shift around in my sleep, a conversation slowly starting to bring me out of unconsciousness. My minds to tired to really make out who these people are, but all I know is that their loud, and their waking me up.
"Look at what you've done Preston! Simons waking up." Someone hissed, each person only getting louder as the conversation went on.
"Pfffttt roll calls in ten minutes anyway." The other huffed, both people seemingly close by.
I sat up and started to rub my sleepless eyes, tuffs of blonde hair slowly starting to fall in my face as I sit. Looking over a few feet away I can see Tobi and Preston, both of them stopping mid fight to look at me as I slowly started to wake up fully.
"Hey, I thought I had top bunk." I mumbled, stretching slightly as I sat, still not moving off the bed. I could see Tobi and Preston make sorta awkward eye contact with each other, Tobi glancing over at me nervously, sending my mind into a panic.
"We thought so to?" He says, although it comes off as more of a question then a statement, and its followed up with a shaky laugh.
"Wait then where's Vikk sle-" I paused mid-sentence, only remembering now that I had spent the night with the younger.
I looked down, the youngers head buried in my chest, his thin arms wrapping around my pale frame, his body moving up and down slightly with each breath. His eyes were still shut, his pastel colored lips in a soft smile as he was lost in dream land. He looked so peaceful, so different from the boy who I talked to last night.
"What were you guys even doing last night together?" Preston scoffed, a small smirk on his face.
"We didn't do anything. We had talked and feel asleep, that's it. Don't get the story twisted farm boy." I spat through gritted teeth, starting to move from my place on the bed.
Vikk started to wake up, my shifting and moving around starting to wake him from his slumber. His eyelids fluttered open, his cocoa colored eyes looking up at me innocently, quickly letting go of me to rub his tired eyes. He sat up, looking over at the tree of us expectantly as he tried to rub the sleep away from his eyes.
"What's going on?" He muttered, his voice showing that he was still half asleep. Me, Preston, and Tobi meet eye contact, me giving Preston a glare before answering the younger boy.
"They just were waking us up, roll calls in a bit, we should hurry." I said bitterly, eyeing Preston to him he merely smirked and turned away to go to the bathroom, leaving only the three of us in the silence.
"Oh ya, I forgot. Your guys uniforms came this morning, their right here." Tobi said quickly, picking up the two uniforms off the edge of Prestons bed and handing them up us, me and Vikk looking over at each other quickly before looking away.
"Ok, we have to hurry up, don't want to be late." Tobi informed us quickly, looking at me as if he wanted to ask me something more before he turned away and left the bedroom.
I looked over at Vikk, the smaller boy sitting on the edge of the bed looking over at the uniform in his hands, eyeing it down as if it was going to kill him. He glanced up at me quickly, staring for a second before he looked down again, looking rather unsure.
"Well, I guess I should thank you for last night. And well, everything else you've done for me." He said softly, following it up with a nervous laugh as he meet eye contact with me once again.
"Your welcome, I mean its not really that big of a deal..." I trailed off, not really sure where I was going with this, or what my point was at all.
He looked up at me, his chocolate colored eyes burning into my own, something lingering in them I could explain. He sighed, his pale lips forming a slight frown before continuing.
"No, like you don't understand how much I mean it when I say it. I really can't thank you enough, and I don't think you could possibly know how much it means to me." He said, his eyes looking into the nothingness, his mind obviously in a different place. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but he left me speechless, the right words not coming out.
He watched this, and offered me a soft smile before getting up and leaving the room, all signs of this conversation leaving with him as he walked off.
~~~~~~~~~
I bLOODY DID IT LOVE ME.
Yes, I know it took awhile, I'm sorry, fOrGiVe Me pEoPlE In tHe cOmMeNtS
I still feel disgusted with this. It was so much better the first time, I swear I didn't mean for it to be actual trash.
But anyway, I'm back. And stuff. Hopefully.
Anyway, bye, much love and thx for being patient with me <3
Anyway, bai!