Obsession

noun – 1. the state of being obsessed. 2. an idea or thought that intrudes on someone's mind.

Again, the dictionary seems wrong...

A day after I'd come to, the hospital said they would let me go, saying as I was awake and there was nothing wrong with me, there was little point my staying. My final day in the hospital I spent drifting in and out of sleep. The only thing I was aware of was that whenever I came to, he was sat at my bedside. Whenever I ventured to actually look over at him, he smiled at me. He had one of those 'million dollar' smiles. His teeth were even and pearly white, and seemed to flash at me when he smiled. "Good morning, my love." he often greeted me. "Feeling better?" But I closed my eyes and forced myself back into dreamland before I had a chance to answer. I knew he would think that I didn't like him soon enough, but I had an excuse considering I'd just miraculously survived a horrible accident that had murdered my bike. There was just the issue of everything else about this whole horrific incident... and the question of why I was not enjoying having the full attention of the hottest boy on the planet... Xandrell was really nice and caring, and the equivalent of a male supermodel. So then, why didn't I like this?

Welcome to Amy Wren's guide to 'why any other girls dream come true might be your worst nightmare.'

1. You do not want a boyfriend. You have never wanted one and you are not about to start now.

2. The fact that a super hot guy has just become infatuated with you will not give you any independence as a woman, so you'll have to kiss goodbye to girlie days with your friends.

3. Some of your friends have been known in the past to get slightly jealous when they see a cute guy walking down the street hand in hand with some unattractive girl, or sometimes, some ugly guy, and say the only purpose for cute guys is two words. 'Eye candy'. Therefore, you have to think about their reaction to some random hot guy who's suddenly following you around.

4. You are not pretty and therefore, he will show you up.

If any of the above apply to you, you should not have a seriously hot guy being obsessed with you, and should absent yourself from society in shame.

As you may or may not have worked out by now, with most of my problems, I come up with excuses to stop being sociable.

Eventually when a nurse brought in my dinner, I decided I couldn't pretend to be sleeping anymore and finally faced him.

"Good evening, star-shine." he greeted me this time as I sat up and pulled the tray towards me. "Sleep well? You look better."

I frowned at him. "I slept fine, thanks. How can I look better? I feel like crap. Do I look like that?"

"Uh..."

"That's what I thought. Do you have a mirror?"

He blinked and cocked his head on one side. "A mirror?"

"You know, a shiny thing you can see your reflection in..." He continued to look confused. I sighed and gave up, instead picking up my spoon and checking my face in that. It was worse than I'd expected. My forehead was covered in stitches, both my eyes were blackened and a scab was forming on my lip. My nose looked slightly crooked. I frowned and touched it lightly.

"Is there a problem, my dear?" asked Xandrell looking seriously at me.

I glared up at him. "Stop giving me endearments." I told him. "My nose looks a bit crooked... is it broken do you know?"

"I fixed it as best I could." said Xandrell frowning at my nose.

I blinked. "You fixed it? What?"

"Eat your food." he told me softly. "You need to get your strength up."

I glowered at him for a moment, before picking up my knife and fork and cutting up the gravy sodden sheet of lamb sitting on my plate. "You're not answering my questions."

"Some questions are better unanswered." he murmured.

"Maybe." I said defiantly. "But can you just tell me one thing. Why do you keep insisting that I'm your girlfriend?"

"Because I love you, and you kissed me." he said simply.

I blinked. "I kissed you?!" I cried. "I think you'll find it's the other way around!"

"Even so, where I come from, that essentially makes us lovers."

My mouth dropped open. "Come over here and say that so I can slap you!" I cried angrily. "That may be what happens where you're from, but here, I have a choice in the matter too!"

He chuckled lightly. He had such a beautiful laugh, it was like music. However I was not to be drawn in by that now. "I suppose now might be a bad time to tell you I'm moving in with you?" he said quietly.

I stared at him. "Care to explain why, or is it better if that question goes unanswered?"

"I'm an orphan and have nowhere to go and live." he shrugged. "And since I'm responsible for saving your life, your mother offered me a sofa. And besides, I feel I owe you for accidentally killing your pet to keep from hitting me."

I frowned. "My pet?"

"Your metallic monster." he said, also looking perplexed.

"Oh, my bike." I said sadly, looking down at the bed sheets

"Yes, that." he said nodding enthusiastically. "I take it you are in mourning for it, and that it was one of the few things you cared about."

"Few things?"

"Being that you are a human female, your hormones cannot allow you to care too deeply about many things."

My eyes widened and I felt an angry bubble swelling in my chest while he sat looking serenely at me, apparently under the impression he had said nothing wrong or that had offended me.

"You are really starting to irritate me you ignorant human male!" I snapped at him and pushed the tray of food away before yanking the sheet over me and rolling over in a feeble attempt at sleeping. It was impossible to sleep when I was this wound up. I heard him get to his feet and move across the room. The bed sagged a little to one side as he sat down heavily on it. I rolled over and looked up at him. His eyes were big and meaningful. "What do you want from me?" I groaned.

"I just want you to see the real me." he said quietly. Hadn't I seen enough of that?! "Why would you think I am just another ignorant human male?"

He stayed by my side until I drifted to sleep, his hand caressing the side of my face, stroking my cheek with just his thumb with his feather-light touch. Ok, I admit, it was very relaxing, and for once, I felt somehow at peace.

I was walking through the park, and suddenly my bike rode out of the valley fully mended and perfect... but riding itself. Curious, I ran after it. It went amazingly fast for a bike with no rider, until it went through some long grass and disappeared. I was about to run after it when a new figure caught my eyes. Xandrell was stood in the middle of the long grass. I straightened up and called his name. He turned slowly to look at me. Then he raised his arms still slower and there was a sudden rush of air and a bright green light. I gasped and turned, beginning to run. I had no idea what I was running from, but I knew it scared the hell out of me. I saw Charlie running on the path along side me with James and Tasha on the other side. I grabbed Charlie's hand and Tasha's in the other while she grabbed James's hand and we all ran desperately, but whatever was behind us was coming on too quickly. Suddenly James vanished behind us with a yell. I pulled my friends on faster still, but then Tasha's hand vanished from mine and I heard her terrible ear-splitting scream ripping the air. I clutched Charlie's hand still tighter and pulled him after me, still running desperately. Suddenly, Charlie's hand vanished. I heard his horrible cry. Finally I stopped and turned to try to see what I was running from and then... and then...

My eyes snapped open. I felt my chest rise and fall rapidly, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. I took a deep breath and glanced out of the window. The early morning light was creeping shyly over the windowsill to smile into the room... a dream... all a dream...

"You were calling my name in your dreams." Xandrell said happily.

I glared at him. "Don't you sleep?" I asked. "Have you been sitting there all night?"

"How am I meant to sleep with you there?" he asked, still stroking my cheek with his thumb.

I sighed. "Enough with the mushy stuff." I told him. "Are you going to tell me why you're still here?"

"Nope."

"You're an annoying guy. Did you know that?"

He chuckled. "Yeah I know. But it's why you love me."

I closed my eyes and moaned out of frustration. "Correction." I said opening my eyes and forcing myself to sit up. "Look, I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything, but I don't love you."

He blinked at me. "How do you know?" he asked quietly, his face suddenly looking very hurt and offended. "I have saved you, been watching over you, stayed with you. Are you that shallow that you won't give me a chance?"

I immediately felt like a horrible person. "Well, when you put it like that."

"Exactly." he said, his face carefully smoothing into a totally expressionless mask. "Am I to be given another chance?"

I couldn't say no, especially after all he'd done for me. "I suppose so." I sighed.

He grinned at me. "Thank you, my love." I gave another groan.

I returned home later that day. Mum let me stay in my room for the remainder of the day, resting, and she locked my door so at last I had some privacy from him. I slept, suffering from a strange dream, involving Xandrell and a tub of ice cream, which he couldn't eat because I was looking at my nose with the spoon. However I woke the next day feeling so much better than I had the day before. I got up and quickly dressed before looking at my reflection in the mirror. The stitches in my forehead still made me look like some kind of Frankenstein's monster, and the flesh around my eyes was still glowing a black-ish purple. I suddenly noticed something else though. My nose, which I knew had been crooked the day before was suddenly straight, and actually looked better than before the accident. God that was weird.

'You looked at your reflection in a spoon' my mind reminded me. 'It probably looked like that any way.'

I pushed away my doubts and opened my bedroom only to be knocked to the floor by someone throwing themselves at me in a hug.

"Morning, my love!" chirruped Xandrell.

I lay where I was, wondering how much else that I'd hoped hadn't actually been there really existed. "Xandrell..." I said slowly, trying to keep my patience. "You are lying on a few of my bruises, so I'll give you two choices. One, you can get off me, and we can put this behind us, or two, you can stay there and I'll give you a bruise or two of your own."

Home seemed different now with him there. He followed me around constantly asking what I was doing. It was nice for the company, and I certainly got my chores done twice as quickly when I went out to put the washing on the line to dry, or when Mum asked me to do the ironing with him following me with the pegs, or folding the clothes. Also, the way he watched me when I worked. I saw more and more every day what my mother had meant when she said about his intense gaze. I really didn't mind him being there. There were only two times when I wouldn't let him follow me, into the bathroom and when I was getting dressed. Annoyingly, he kept trying to get around those rules too, sitting at the end of my bed, watching me sleep and then when I woke up, staying as still as a stone hoping I wouldn't notice him there. After one slightly awkward incident, I always checked the room for him now. And then one morning when I went in for my usual morning shower, I stepped out afterwards to find him there holding my towel out for me. God, did I scream.

It was only as I began to think I was fully mended, a week after the accident that the really hellish news came...

Mum had signed him up at my school for the remainder of the year...