The night was warm, too warm - it was scary to just stand where she was. The heat was intense and it flickered down the halls, lighting up the path. The girl shrieked as it moved so quickly, swirling around the house. "Papa!" she yelled, but the only thing she could hear was her own voice. Her lungs felt like they were shrinking as she coughed, her little legs trembling as she tried to make her way through the house.
Her stomach ached as she stumbled through the rooms. You wouldn't have noticed the tears dripping down her face, they dried instantly.
God, where were they?
Then there was a voice. A soft voice that was so loud, yet so quiet. "Amara," the orange blaze seemed to shout.
"Papa?" the girl asked, running to the fire.
amara shot up out of bed, her breathing heavy. she looked down at her sweat-drenched hands with the one eye she had open, and wiped them across the bed. there was light, but a different kind of light, and amara let her head fall back on the wall.
"are yous okay?" a voice entered amara's head, and she looked up in the direction of the voice. race was sitting at the edge of the bed, giving her a concerned look. amara's heart wouldn't slow, even a little, and she didn't have the capacity in her to stay calm.
"and yous suddenly care why?" she snapped a little sharper than she intended, tilting her head to look at the boy.
his eyes widened, not expecting her to fire back so quickly. he stammered, not really making any words.
amara broke eye contact, immediately feeling guilty. "wait, no, i-"
"it's fine," he said quietly, giving her half a smile, the first glimmer of a smile that she'd seen in two weeks or so. "i's get where yous is comin' from."
the girl couldn't reply, she didn't quite know what to say. she just let her head fall down, biting her lip. a sudden surge of emotions hit her, and she could feel her eyes well up. there was nobody else in the lodging house besides them two, but amara wasn't sure if she trusted this boy enough to cry in front of him. her tongue pushed against the roof of her mouth as she tried to stop tears. one let go, dripping down her rosy red cheeks. "i'm sorry," she finally said, looking up at him through one swollen eye.
"for what?" race asked softly, and amara wasn't sure if he was being kind because he had genuinely changed, or if he just pitied her.
"for the way we's met," amara answered, her voice croaking a bit.
the blonde narrowed his eyebrows, slightly confused. he didn't say anything, though, turning away a little to lean on the bunk bedpost as he thought.
amara let him think. she wasn't quite sure what context she meant either, and would rather for herself not to think about it. "why was yous out of 'ta lodging house so late?" she asked, the question suddenly hitting her in the face.
race turned back to her. "watching 'ta horses at 'ta racetrack," he replied, hoping amara would catch on.
she did, and the eye that was open lit up. "your name - is that why?"
race nodded, grinning wider than before. "ding ding, we's have a winner," he laughed softly, lying on his back and staring up at amara. god, she was pretty. his opinion on her hadn't changed, she was still a piece of artwork. but knowing her for just little bit longer gave her a little bit more depth.
she was like a painting. a painting of...let's say clouds. clouds are beautiful, and even thinking about them put you in a dream-like state. it was where the angels sat, for god's sake. but a painting of clouds is much more than just clouds. somebody painted those clouds. somebody looked up at the sky and the clouds and decided to paint them. somewhere, those clouds were in the sky. there was a life connected to the painter of those clouds. there were people that the painter loved and people that the painter didn't like. there were lives moving around the world, other painters painting pictures of clouds all around the world.
amara was like that painting of clouds.
a painting of clouds isn't just a painting of clouds. a painting of clouds has a backstory and life connected to it. it had things it experienced and people who loved it and lives that went on around it.
there was so much more to amara than just her beauty.
and it was something race admired.
race's mind crashed back to earth, and he looked over at amara, flipping up on his stomach. "do yous mind if i-" he gestured to her shirt, hoping he could help with the imjuries.
amara's cheeks tinted. her mind was yelling, "stop, don't you dare. god knows something will go wrong." but her heart was singing a different tune. she listened to her heart - like she very often did - and slipped her shirt up and over her head, leaving her in her singlet and her suspenders that had fallen down at her sides, still clipped onto her pants.
race made sure he didn't stare, though he couldn't help himself from gasping softly. her skin was splattered with those pretty purple marks - she looked like a flower bed. "hold on, i's won't be long," he said quietly, running out of the room to grab some things.
amara nodded, backing away from the wall a little. she yelped in pain from her leg, biting her lip. she tried to hide the pain, slowing her breathing.
soon, race was back, and he dumped a couple of things on the bed. "might sting," he mumbled under his breath, taking a cloth against the blood and dirt on her forehead to down her back. a couple of times she winced, and race took the cloth away for a second, checking she was alright. when amara nodded, he got back to work. as he focused, her tongue fell between his teeth, and she found it adorable.
after race was done, he took out some ice wrapped in a towel, putting it against her cheek. he grabbed her hand, raising it to her cheek. "yous' gonna need 'ta keep it there," race explained, letting go of her hand. they'd both be lying if they said they didn't wish that they would keep holding hands.
amara nodded slightly, and race grabbed a bandage. "i's gonna hafta wrap your leg, unless yous wanna be called crutch-ette or somethin'," he joked, making amara laugh softly. race's eyes light up a crystal blue, and he smiled. " 'ey, i made yous laugh."
"shuddup, or imma hafta call yous romeo too," amara shot back, her cheeks a rosy pink. she scrunched her nose up, and race could have melted there and then.
he rolled up the end of her pant leg softly, trying not to hurt amara. she whimpered a little, but nodded whenever race looked up at her. when it was rolled up to her knee, the blonde couldn't stop a gasp from exiting his lips. he bit his lip lightly. like her shoulders and back, there were deep violets painted along her leg, vines of scrapes connecting them all together. "oh amara," he breathed softly, regretting thinking of what might have happened if he didn't get there sooner.
amara couldn't take it, and she let tears stream down her cheeks. they poured like rainclouds in a thunderstorm. she wasn't just a painting of clouds anymore, she was the real thing. everything had been bottled up in her for so long, and they just slipped out. one after the other.
race jumped up, sitting beside amara. "hey," he said softly, cupping her cheeks to wipe away the rain that was flowing. the girl sniffed, embarrassed. race didn't mind.
"i'm sorry," the girl whimpered, choking on her breath. she wasn't a pretty crier, at least that's not what she thought.
"about what?" race asked gently, tucking her hair behind her ear. "yous did nothin' wrong."
amara took a second to try and breathe, but her throat hurt like hell when she tried. "i's a mess, all the time, and i-"
the boy interrupted her buy kissing her lightly on the forehead, letting her pull herself into his chest. he slipped his fingers into her hair, running through the ends. "yous don't hafta be so strong all the time, yous know that, right?" he reminded her, pulling away to look down at her.
"but i's ain't. i's ain't strong all the time. do yous see how badly i's got bet up by the delanceys? my bruddas wouldn't be proud," amara told the truth for the first time in a while, sniffing a little.
race wasn't really sure what to say. he felt like anything he said would backfire, so he simply stayed quiet and let her sob softly into the crook of his neck.
the pair of them sat like that for a little while, until eventually amara pulled away. "thank yous," she said softly, wiping her eyes.
"it's nothin'," race smiled a little, though amara could tell it wasn't.
...
race finally bandaged amara's leg up, and amara could almost stand up normally without needing someone's support - though she was rather good at faking it.
"i'd better go," amara admitted as race helped her outside, looking down at her feet. her cheeks were bright pink, and her heart was a-fluttering. "thank yous, again."
"you're welcome," race let her go a little, looking at her up and down quickly. "yous sure that you is gonna get home safe?"
"if m' bruddas don't tear m' head off when i's walk through 'ta door," she laughed, eye sparkling an emerald green. "i's will be fine."
"aight, if yous is sure," race grinned, sweeping her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
amara rolled her eyes. "what a charmer," she groaned, using their still intertwined fingers to pull him close so that their lips were almost touching. "just because i's got a bum leg don't mean i's can't play the game."
race's cheeks tinted lightly, lowering his voice to a whisper. "yous is even prettier up close," he mocked her, biting his lip softly.
"andddddddd i's goin' now," amara teased, shaking her head and backing away a little from him. "i'll see yous tomorrow."
"why not t'night?" he tilted his head with a cheeky grin, running a hand through his hair.
amara fake retched. "nope, nope, too much romance for once day," she laughed, scrunching up her face. "see ya, race," she began to turn around, but was interrupted by his voice.
"wait," he called out, running up to her, kissing her on the cheek before she could register what was happening. the boy stepped back, sending her a wink before running back into the lodging house.
amara didn't need to look in a mirror to know how pink her cheeks were, she could feel them heating up. she smiled softly to herself, looking down at the pavement as she hobbled off to brooklyn.