The moment we returned to the motel, Dorian, without wasting any time, led me to the bathroom in his room to tend to my wound.

   My mind was still refusing to come to terms with the fact that I was back here when Talise wasn't. While entering the bathroom, I got a glimpse of my eyes reflected in the mirror plastered against its wall. Although that was a few minutes earlier, I could still guess with firm confidence that they hadn't lost their sunken, red rimmed appearance. The only way they exhibited any trace of life was through the unscheduled tears that trickled down my cheeks.

   A sting rushed into my injured arm, suddenly dragging me back to earth and causing me to clutch it to my chest, releasing a hiss of pain.

"I'm sorry." Dorian grimaced as he raised his downward stare to meet mine.

   I merely nodded, not resisting when he took my hand and resumed cleaning off the almost dried blood around the wound and other parts of my arm and hand with a damp, lukewarm cloth.

   Glancing at Dorian who was crouched before my still frame seated on the closed toilet seat, I noticed he was still wearing his white shirt. The shirt which he'd ripped a part of to stop my bleeding arm while we were still in the van. His own arms and hands, as well as the remainder of the shirt he had on, had swipes of red across them. That, however, seemed to be the least of his worries.

   Dorian's eyebrows stayed pinched in focus as he used the cloth to wipe the parts of my body still tainted with blood.

   I stared down at his black locks of hair that were in my view. Its unruly nature led me to believe he'd run his hand through his hair multiple times when I wasn't looking.

"As we speak," Dorian stood from his grovelled position and walked to the bathroom sink while saying, "Camila and Aarav are brainstorming the various ways we can get your best friend back."

   After washing the bloodstained cloth, I watched Dorian as his hands rummaged through the top shelf beside the mirror. Eventually he grabbed a small, red box labelled 'First Aid Kit'.

   Assuming his previous position in front of me, Dorian opened the box and pulled out some cotton and a white bottle.

"I have to disinfect your wound," he said, with a tone low from what appeared to be remorse. "So, uh, sorry in advance."

   Like clockwork, my eyes squeezed shut from the burn that erupted when the methylated alcohol soaked cotton came into contact with my wounded arm. I chose to focus on the constant apologies from Dorian as the pain passed. Before I knew it, my right arm was all bandaged up and he let it go.

"Let's go see what Camila and Rav have come up with so far," Due to the fact that this was the first time I'd spoken since we got to the motel, my statement came off as soft croak. "If we want to get Tali back, we can't afford to waste any time."

   As I hopped off my seat and headed toward Dorian's bedroom, I could hear his light sounding footsteps trailing behind me.

"Of course," he said. "But we all agreed that it's been a long day, maybe you should get some rest first. You can join us later when you're refreshed."

"I don't disagree," I remarked, scanning the room for its exit. "But it's barely five o'clock. That's a few more hours to come up with the perfect plan and get some sleep."

   Dorian rushed from behind to face me, halting the steps I'd begun toward the bedroom door. But that only lasted for a moment. Avoiding his gaze, I brisk-walked around his tall frame, venturing nearer and nearer to the door until I could almost touch it.

   One minute I could see my hand reaching out for the handle, the next, I was facing Dorian after he grabbed that very hand, using it to turn me around toward him.

"Yes," he nodded to what I had said, keeping his hold on me. "But this doesn't apply to you. You can hear about the plan Rav, Camila and me come up with and contribute your thoughts tomorrow. Right now, though, you need sleep. Camila is already in her room read—"

"Stop it!" Heated rage inflamed my body as I snapped at him, yanking my hand from his with more force than necessary. "Stop trying to control and treat me like a child, just stop! How the hell do you expect me to go to bed when Tali is in that hellhole? She's being mind controlled right this very second, for goodness sake!"

   And with that I started toward the door once more, only for Dorian to be swift enough to block my movements. Shooting him my deadliest glare didn't seem to budge the determined look and stance he had to not let me go through.

"Do you think Talise would want you to be in this state?" His question held a stern edge and made his voice drop several octaves lower, but still managed to remain unkind.

"Well, it doesn't really matter what she wants, does it?" I retorted. "She's not here! Ta-Talise is not here! S-she...she's n-not..."

   My speech became more and more inaudible as everything hit me all over again. Tali's last breaths accompanied by the distinct click of the Yunies' placement guns were nearly deafening sounds in my ears. The effect of this could be traced to my chest, which had only gotten tighter with every ticking second.

   So much so that I began to lose any feeling in my legs. With little faith that I actually could, I was able to hurry to the first place my blurred sight found, sitting on Dorian's bed right before my feet gave out.

   I wasn't even aware that my eyes still had the energy to produce and release more tears. They definitely showed me though. Profuse floods of tears continued to run down my face as Dorian sat beside me.

"I'm sorry for yelling," I spoke up after a while. "And being rude."

"It's fine," he replied.

   Aside from my sporadic sniffles, nothing but ghostlike silence filled the room.

"D'you want to know what I'm thinking?" Dorian eventually asked, giving my hand a light brush with his to get my attention.

   I merely shrugged, keeping my gaze trained on the floor.

"How on earth you were able to buy your hentai comic from Mr. Shin with a straight face. I mean, honestly, Beth. Reading that stuff gave me vivid dreams. And not in a good way."

   Before I could prevent my body from betraying me, a snort filled laugh escaped my throat. Despite all the tears and trauma, Dorian was able to make me feel less worse by saying the absolutely wrong thing.

Weird.

"Thank you for cleaning my arm," I said after a while.

"No worri—"

"Wait, I wasn't done." I followed that up with the most genuine smile I could muster. Sure I didn't feel like it, but he deserved that much. "You've been so supportive and I can't thank you enough."

"You know, you actually could..." The part of the mattress beside me sank as Dorian leaned his back into the soft material, "... by telling me how your hentai comic got past Mr. Shin. At this point, I'm pretty sure you robbed him to get it out of the store."

   Oh God. As if today couldn't get any worse. Why did I believe that I'd succeeded in evading questions on that after he asked on the rooftop while we tested the cameras days ago?

"Hey, you're not the only one allowed to have secrets," I, still seated upright, smirked down at him.

   Dorian released a melodic laugh, giving me a touché nod as he returned to a seated position next to me.

"Beth?" His voice was back to a serious monotone. "I want you to know that helping you is something I'd gladly do again. I don't want you to ever doubt that."

   That was the last push I needed to reach forward to wrap my arms around Dorian's neck and pull him into a hug. What I didn't realise then was that my move was at the exact time he was reverting to his lying position on the bed.

   Since my gesture and his act caught us both by surprise, we couldn't act fast enough to prevent our enjoined bodies from falling back and colliding with his bed.

   My wide brown eyes met Dorian's shiny green ones as our faces mirrored each other closer than ever. My hands were still around his neck, and it was only then that I came to the realisation of the feeling of a hand around my waist. His hand. It most likely occurred during an impulsive attempt to hinder our fall.

   My first instinct was to pull away. Especially since my heart had skyrocketed beyond the average beats per minute at this point. So obviously, this was finally the day embarrassment was going to succeed in killing me literally. With the way our chests were pressed against each other, the idea of him being able to feel the hard pounds released by my heart felt like a nightmare. He couldn't know how much this moment was impacting me.

   But then I found myself wondering why he didn't pull away.

   Almost on cue, I got my answer. Dorian's hold around my waist shifted to the upper part of my back at the very moment I'd reached his side and was ready to eventually pull away from him, becoming firmer and firmer. Soon his arm was fully draped across my shoulder, practically a deadlock at that point.

   Stifling the paralysing feeling of shock and a tempting smile, I adjusted my weight until my head nestled into his chest.

   His grip never strayed.

A/N: Heyyy, it's been a while! To anyone still reading this, know that I'm grateful! Please don't forget to vote and share your thoughts on this chapter! 

QOTD: What's new with you since we last did this?