"Get out," Landon tells him, his head lifting up and glaring at Noah.
"If she's your housemate she's my stepsister," Noah tells him, causing all the muscles in my stomach to make it their mission to get up the few things left in my body. "You can't come between us."
My heart instantly falls through the floor. I wish I wouldn't hear the true meanings behind his words, I wish I'd hear the same thing as the boys. No, I wish I wouldn't hear him at all.
"Sir, we need to check your blood levels more precisely," a nurse says and walks in, throwing a few questions into my head. "We need more details about your state to determine if you need a donation as well or not. What you did was dangerous, you gave almost the amount someone can donate per year and we have to check if you'll experience lethal or dangerous effects or not."
"Of course," Noah says, causing my breathing to stop.
He gave me blood. They didn't understand.
Tears fall down, and even though my wrists hurt, I force myself to grab my other hand, hoping for some reason it's gonna help me. It doesn't. I feel like I'm suffocating, but yet, the small amount of air that's left in the room, is the presence of the boys. I've never been more thankful for any of them.
"Fucking bastard," Isaac says, not even trying to be silent.
He follows the nurse out and my suffocating ends, but the air still isn't enough.
"He's the one that gave me blood?" I ask, my tears streaming down my face as I wait for someone's answer. Anyone.
"No," Parker says. His tone makes me feel stupid for asking, as if I should know to one hundred and twenty percents they'd never let that happen.
They'll never let it happen.
The room gets filled with new, fresh air, and I close my eyes for a second. It's unbelievable how much I feared the answer, how much the weight of it was heaving on my shoulders. I bring my hand to my face to wipe my tears, making sure to inhale as much air as my lunges can manage, as if to remind myself of Parker's confirmation, the one that let in all the air. To remind myself that I'm still alive and breathing, not buried, not suffocating, and definitely not with Noah's blood in my veins, keeping me alive.
"Then who did?"
Parker smiles at me and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall before saying, "What about you go and catch up with that nurse?"
My heart flips as I in one second glance at all the boys, seeing how Landon with the help of the wall gets up and covers his eyes with his hand, getting dizzy; blood loss.
He gave me blood. He saved me from Noah, he saved me from a lifetime of tears, nightmares and further attempts on hurting myself with the thought of Noah keeping me alive, Noah being the reason to my every breath when he's the one choking me. I can never thank him enough for this. Not because he's kept me alive, but because he without knowing it, saved me from Noah.
When he's about to take the first step towards the door, I throw myself at him, eyes raining and mouth open, grabbing his hand with both mine as tight as I can manage. He slowly turns around and looks first at his hand and then at me, just like the other boys.
I don't even know what to say. Thank you can't describe how I feel, I'm speechless. I can't bring myself to tell him anything, because there isn't even anything to say. I don't know how to thank him for what he's done for me.
He holds my gaze for a few seconds before lifting the corner of his lip into a smile, a really small one. He replaces his hand, now him being the one holding mine, and I don't even bother yanking it away or screaming at myself for letting him do that. He strokes the back of my thumb with his thumb and nods once before exiting, leaving me with three smiling boys, and what looks like an annoyed Isaac.
The boys don't ask me anything the whole time Landon is gone. They make some smalltalk about their exams and tests and essays, about Emma, Iona, Linda's girls, and Dylan even tries cracking one or two jokes, which I find myself laughing at. When Landon comes back, however, the smalltalk is over.
"What did they say?" Thomas asks when he with the help of a nurse sits down on the chair.
"Nothing," he answers. "Eat strawberries, drink coke, don't exercise, sleep much, stay hydrated. They're forcing me into a hell I can't deny."
"What did they really say?" Isaac asks.
"We'll give him a prescription on pills," the nurse starts correcting. "He needs a lot of iron, and we'll also give him an inhaler. Chances are his breathing can heave at times, and he will one hundred percent experience fainting, coldness, shaking, and fever. If he gets a fever or if you can't wake him up after he faints, call an ambulance. Don't leave him alone, and make sure he eats lots of fruits and sugar. We offered a night at the hospital, but he denied. It would be good for him, especially since we can't force him to receive blood."
"Why?" Dylan asks.
"He's just above the line with a few numbers difference. He's okay to leave the hospital otherwise, but Miss Rivera has to stay for a few more tests before she can leave. If you wait for her, I'd guess you'll be free to go at one, maybe two."
"Thank you," Parker says.
She leaves, and not short after, it's my turn to do my tests, all the while rolling around in a wheelchair Dylan insisted on steering. Blood pressure, bandage change, prescription, kidney scan to check if Landon's blood still works for me or not, neurological tests, all kinds of everything.
"No action for you," a doctor says with my journal in his hands. "No adrenaline pumping stuff, no overwhelming stuff, no emotional and physical exhaustion and definitely no punching someone in the face."
The boys laugh and I bring myself to smile.
"Don't worry," Dylan says. "I've got the last part covered." He winks at me and I direct my smile to him.
"Drink as much water as you can, and a small glass of wi... oh, seventeen, right. No alcohol then.... Eat lots of fruits and iron rich meals. You'll experience fainting and all the effects this brave young man will go through as well, as the nurses told you, but you should be more careful. Change your bandage and sit down the second a drop of blood spots it, never stay alone, and focus on everything about twenty percents more than Mr..." he lifts the page and looks at the one under it. "Fernandez, giving the fact you... do you want to take this privately?"
"Um...," I start, not knowing why I'd want to take it privately. I'm curious, but I'm not sure if I want the boys to hear what he's gonna say.
Come on, it's fine.
"No," I say. "It's fine."
He doesn't hesitate a second later.
"Giving the fact you menstruate once a month."
He's pretty young. That was pretty bad. I'm blushing. The boys don't even bother to flinch. They're taking this way better than me. "Any questions?"
"N- no. Thank you."
"Then you're free to go. Since you're underaged we need a guardian to sign your papers, who can we call?"
I swallow. I can't find the energy to lie, that's how exhausted I am.
"Unfortunately," Parker comes to my rescue. I watch him with big eyes as he lies for me. "They've passed away. She lives with me, can I sign them?"
"Are you related?"
"It's a long story. Step siblings."
I swallow the things that threatened to leave my lips and scratch my thumb. Step siblings.
Noah is your step sibling, Parker can never be like him.
I hope.
"Sure. Bring your ID to the reception and we're done. We'll send you notifications for your monthly check ups, both of you."
He looks at me and Landon, smiles, and then exits.
"I've already signed them," Parker says and winks at me, a small grin on his face, as Isaac parks the wheelchair beside my bed. "Thought I might save some time when you were getting dressed." He's referring to the ten minutes two nurses struggled to dress a panicking me. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."
Isaac gives me a smile for the first time the whole day, something I can't blame him for, and holds out his hand.
"May I?" he asks, fear washing over me when I realize he wants to place me in the wheelchair. I nod, even though I wanna shake my head like a maniac, and he's a second later cautiously placing his arms under my knees and back, forcing me to swallow times over as I think about how intimidatingly close we are. He gently sits me down in the wheelchair, as if he's scared he's gonna break me, and I release a breath as I'm driven out of the hospital by Dylan.
"You better know how damn scared we were when we didn't care that Dylan would be the one driving," Thomas says, emphasizing Dylan's name, when we reach Dylan's car and they start arguing about who's gonna have the driver's seat. "Dylan."
"What are you talking about?" Dylan asks. "I care for the law more than Isaac."
"Says the one who was high when the cops caught him" Isaac defends.
"It was one joint!" Dylan screams, causing a few people to glare at us.
"That wasn't what they put you in a detention center for the whole night idiot. Your problems started when you offered a cop eleven grams of cocaine."
"Don't listen to them bestie," Dylan says and knees down in front of me, letting the car keys dangle from his index finger. "I am an excellent driver and I don't do drugs, I was joking with the officer."
"Yeah," Landon says with risen eyebrows. "Sure."
"But just as a safety measure," Isaac pursues his lips and snatches the keys from Dylan's hand.
"Hey!" Dylan exclaims.
"Calm your ass drama queen," Thomas says. "Jump in and do an Elise and Quentin."
"I'm driving," Isaac says and throws his hands up in the air.
"I'm shotgun," Parker quickly says.
"You two bro goals are doing it," Thomas orders.
I have no idea what an Elise and Quentin is, but it's really funny watching the boys argue about it like this.
"Dips on Quentin," Dylan tells Landon.
"Yeah, you wish," Landon says.
So they finally get in; Isaac driving, Parker beside him, me behind Parker, Thomas in the middle, and Dylan in Landon's lap, which I honestly think isn't the best thing to do with his current state. I'm having such a hard time containing my laugh right now.
"If I'd be a girl you'd be so on right now." Dylan says. I look at him and see him making faces and moving uncomfortably.
"Yeah, and then I'd start doing this." Landon says.
I don't see what he does, but the boys snort and laugh, and I blush a deep shade of scarlet, when Dylan exclaims, "Oh my God! Stop touching me!"
When Isaac parks the car, Landon isn't a second late to spit, "Get off me."
"You know," Dylan says, looking at him. "This is why you don't have a girlfriend."
"If my girlfriend's gonna be half as annoying as you I'll rather die alone."
"Frame it up and give it to me for Christmas."
"But...," I say when Dylan gets out and Isaac places me in the wheelchair, the same way as before. Shockingly it doesn't bother me as much as the first time. "Elaine. I thought she was your girlfriend?"
Elaine is his girlfriend, why does Dylan imply he hasn't one? Have they broken up? I don't get it.
I'm expecting him to tell me it's none of my business when I start regretting my dive into his private life, but after steadying himself with Dylan's help and focusing for a few seconds, he answers me.
"No, she's not," he says, his voice softer beyond every imagination. My eyes widen, to be precise. He's never said anything, to anyone, least to say to me, with that voice. "She... we're...."
"Their relationship is different," Parker says, giving Landon a wuick glance to silence him. Landon, who unlike me seems satisfied with the answer, looks down. Different?
I nod and I'm driven to the door, Dylan saying, "Welcome back", when we enter.
He grabs me by my waist and starts leading me upstairs before Landon rushes past us, his sudden action throwing him into dizziness. My eyes widen when he brings one hand to his eyes and tightly grabs the staircase railing before he falls down on Thomas who rushed up to him.
"I've got you," he says to him and puts his hand on Landon's back.
Dylan grabs my waist tighter for a second, making my breath hitch.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say, grabbing the railing as we continue, until we reach Landon and Thomas, who haven't moved for a few moments. "Are you okay?"
Landon brings his hand down and looks at me for a brief second before responding with his typical, "Yeah", and continues up the stairs. He's paler than he was just a few seconds ago.
He walks up the remaining steps with a pace that can't be healthy for him, as I slowly walk up the stairs, even though Dylan as gently as he can lifts me up all the time. I keep reminding myself that this is Dylan, ignoring the voice telling me I never in a million years would've thought it about Noah when I first met him either, and I find myself handling each step better than the previous one.
When Dylan lifts me up to walk up the last step, I see Landon shutting the door to my room as Thomas walks out of his and Dylan's. His eyes bore into mine for a second, and I swallow. Tears threaten when I remember Harris, how Noah killed him because of me and how those strips are left in my bathroom.
"Hayden!" Dylan exclaims, his grip around my waist tightening as I feel a few tears wet down my collar. "Calm down, calm down, I'm here, I've got you."
All images from last night come to my mind. Each one that flies by makes sure to hit one part of my brain, damaging it completely. I feel Dylan's arms sneak under my knees to lift me up when my legs go numb, my head hitting his chest.
"It's fine," he says, his voice the complete opposite of his usual self; calm, silent and serious.
"Take her to our room," I hear Landon say.
"No," I say and lift my head to look at him. "No, I... there's no n-"
"Take her," he says again, slowly, threateningly, as if he wasn't just in the hospital. I completely forget the voice he was talking to me with just a few minutes ago. "To our room."
I will never understand him. I know where I stand with all the boys, but he is impossible. He was the nicest I've heard him ever just a few minutes ago, and now this? One moment it feels like I'm gonna step out of Dylan's maze any second, and the other, devils are keeping me out of it. He is the pure definition of impossible, and double standards.
Dylan takes slow steps towards his and Landon's bedroom, and the second he starts leaning down to put me down on one of the beds, I start panicking. My heart escalates and my eyes start flickering to all the objects in the room. On the inside, I'm a little girl who's hitting and kicking in water to stop herself from drowning, being fed on only adrenaline, but on the outside, I'm a shell, completely and utterly in Dylan's controle right now, and that scares me. Dylan is amazing, I'm embarrassed and ashamed of comparing him to Noah, but it's not my thing to controle. I've always been in Noah's controle, to this time be in Dylan's, is scary.
He smiles at me when the soft material of the bed hits my back, making it even harder to look him in the eyes because of the guilt, and then throws a thin quilt over me.
"Sleep," he says, a small hint of his usual voice there. "It's good for you."
"Thank you," I tell him. He gives me another smile and then leaves, but I don't go to sleep. I can't. I can't sleep in someone else's bed, after trying to kill myself, knowing fully well why I did it, so I slowly get up. When I'm about to take my step out of the room, I overhear a conversation I know isn't meant for me to hear.
".... can't stay here," Landon's voice reaches my ears. "She breaks just thinking about it, she can't. We'll let her stay in our room for a while and we'll do something about where we'll sleep, but I'm not letting her step inside that nightmare of a room."
"You didn't see her when we were walking up the stairs," Dylan says silently. "She nearly collapsed."
"I talked to a company and they could come in two weeks but that's too much, we can't wait that long. We'll clean it up ourselves. Dylan we need to do something, I.... she's m...."
It honestly feels like he cares about me, the way he's talking, but I know better than believing that. He does it every time, but then what? He acts as if my existence is the worst thing ever. He always does it. He doesn't care, he's just worried because of last night, and not even his worry is for me.
I'm cut off in my thoughts when he appears in front of me in the door, an eyebrow raised. "Don't you know it's bad to eavesdrop?"
"You don't have to clean the room," I say instead of explaining myself. "I'll- I'll fix it myself."
He crooks his eyebrows and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back lightly. He looks exactly like the usual, careless Landon. Not even his paleness can erase or even blur it.
"How, you mind explaining? With your hands?"
That got to me. I don't wanna admit something he can say is able to hit me, but it did, and I didn't like it. It hurt that he uses even this situation to mock me and get his will through. I didn't do it to gain attention or become his best friend, but I know that if I'd be in his place (which I hope I never will), I wouldn't talk like this. I'd at least try to be nice, even if I'd fail.
He walks away, mumbles something to a Dylan who's tightened his jaw, and then heads downstairs. Dylan walks up to me and forces a smile, also him looking ashamed, which makes me realize how bad Landon's behavior must be if even Dylan, his best friend, his brother, looks like he wants to break something, preferably something in Landon's body.
He's colder than ice one second, and the other one he's not warm, but at least tepid and decent. One second it feels like he genuinely cares, and the other one he looks like he cares more about a fly. He was nice to me after the party, he hugged me and seemed to be concerned about me and my well being when Noah showed up, he was nice after I saved Jordan, he got detention and talked to me, and he was nice in the hospital, when he went after the nurse. But then, there are times, like ninety eight percent of the time, that he makes me regret existing. He's rude, mean, and he doesn't seem to notice that even though he doesn't care, it doesn't mean that other people don't and don't get hurt every time he opens his mouth to speak.
Calm down!
I will never understand Landon Fernandez. It's just that simple, and to tell myself that he may care, is a lie. A big lie, bigger than my move to Phoenix.
~
Rude means leave me alone. Leave me alone means ignore me. Ignore me means keep your distance. Not because I don't want you close, but especially because I do.
~
Hellooo!
The boys?
Elaine and Landon? Can we guess it...?
How are things gonna end?
Don't forget to
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xoxoMichelle