Daniel

My eyes were stuck on the small scratch of the outside of the window. Had that been made by a bird? Or a stone? Or maybe the cold and the years had worn it out and then...

The sun tried to creep out of the light grey clouds, but I just turned around so that I couldn't see it anymore. The wall next to the dresser was a dark olive green or maybe brown. I wasn't sure what the colour was considered but it was...

A jolt of pain made me squirm and curl up even more. I tried to take a few deep breaths, as most of the times that helped. But my lungs quickly pushed out the air and I sobbed. It had hurt to even breathe in. Tears came to my eyes.

Light pressure on my hip made me look up and I noticed Omen had placed her two front paws on me, looking over from behind me. She let out a small sound that was something between a yawn and a meow. I wanted to pet her, but I was afraid that moving my arm would hurt me even more.

Some shallow breaths escaped my mouth and a sob shook me. I winced. Omen let out a small trill and moved down from my hip. I closed my eyes, thinking she would go away by when I felt her paws rest between my shoulder-blades I hissed from the pain that went through me.

"O-omen..." I softly called out; my voice not able to get louder.

Slowly, while keeping her claws in she started kneading my back with her paws, making me sob now and then. It hurt but it wasn't unbearable. It wasn't like...

I lost track of time; my mind too focused on Omen's two little paws on my back. She was purring loudly and gradually the pain started to fade. Or numb down. Or... it just stopped.

I was still sore all over, probably from having moved around all night long -or rather half the night-. Taking some counted deep breaths, I moved away until I was sitting on the bed. Without skipping a beat, Omen moved and came to stand on my legs. She reached up, slightly getting up on her back legs and rubbed her head on my cheek. Her purring had gotten so loud I let out a sound of disbelief.

She meowed again and I looked over at where her food bowl was. It seemed empty and I couldn't remember whether Ev had poured her food this morning. I couldn't even remember when he had left. It could have been days ago.

I pulled her in my arms and slowly dangled my legs over the end of the bed. I grunted and closed my eyes. Took a few deep breaths and tried to put weight on my legs.

I almost fell.

My shoulder hit the window and I rested against it. Omen in my arms protested, but the pain that was going through me had me hyperventilating. I moved around so my back was against the window, the pressure causing me even more pain and I started to slide down when Omen stuck her claws in my bicep. I hissed and looked down at her with a frown. My grip on her eased and she jumped down. I almost kept on sliding when I noticed that she went to her bowl and sniffled around. She was hungry.

She was hungry.

She was hungry.

I turned around placing both hands against the window and pressed my forehead against the cold surface of the glass. I took some deep breaths. I could do this. She was hungry.

Keeping both hands on the glass plane I moved sideways closer to Omen's bowl, that was placed next to the kitchenette. The bag with her kibble was in one of the lower cabinets of the kitchenette. Just thinking about lowering to open the cabinet door and pull out the bag made me shiver.

But I wasn't there yet. There was no point in thinking about that now. I still had to move. I still had to walk to it. I could only move in half-steps. Omen let out a louder meow.

"Yes, I'm coming," I said to her, even though she probably couldn't understand me.

My legs were killing me. Everything hurt. Why did everything hurt?

It felt like an hour passed by until I reached the kitchenette. I braced myself on the sink and breathed deeply, before lowering down to my knees. I opened the cabinet, but I couldn't lift the bag. I just couldn't. My eyes moved back to the bed. I had gotten this far and now I couldn't lift the freaking bag.

My fingers clamped up around the upper empty part and I somehow managed to pull it out. Then I dragged myself and the bag closer to Omen's bowl and with my fist, I pulled out some kibble to place in her bowl.

She had been eager and almost stuck her head in the bag opening, but I directed it to the bowl. Her little tongue stuck out and she licked my thumb that had some kibble residue on it. An amused breath escaped my lungs.

I watched her eat away for a few moments, the loud cracking of the kibble filling the room, and then I realised that Ev could be on his way back. I didn't want him to see me like this on the floor. I pulled the bag back into the cabinet and closed it.

Then I tried to pull myself up on my feet. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I had expected. Maybe the pain was starting to go away. Time always seemed to help. Maybe it had been a couple of days since Ev left and I was getting better now. What had he said before he went out? I couldn't remember.

I washed my hands by the sink and then turned around to look at the bed. I seemed so far away. And my back hated the idea of going to lie back down there. I pushed myself away from the kitchenette and barely managed to grab the top of the chair to keep me up. I pulled it back sloppily, trying not to let it fall and then I heavily sat on it.

I shivered as my still-sore body complained about sitting down so hard, but I rubbed my temples. I had made it. I had gotten out of bed. I had given Omen food. I was sitting by the table. A chuckle and then a sob broke free and I wiped away fresh tears. I had done it.

I looked around the table, Omen still crunching from behind me. Ev had left a drawing on the table, a design of a bleeding flower. I looked at it for a second, but then my eyes moved to the laptop. I thought about it for a second, but then I reached out and mechanically booted it up. I just needed something to pass my time. I just needed something until Ev came back. I just needed something.

My eyes moved through my recommended videos and then I froze. My hand moved on its own as I clicked on one of the videos. It wasn't a game. But it was from one of my favourite creators. He seemed to be holding onto the camera and his voice was rather calm and quiet. He wasn't in his usual set up and I couldn't help but let his words sink into me.

"...and in those times I don't have an anecdotal piece of advice or words that are gonna fix your problems or even likely to make you feel better but if it does bring you any solace just know that I really honestly truly believe that you can get through it," he said and the key that was pushed in the front door made me change the video even though this one wasn't over.

Ev came inside, Omen greeting him with a trill and he almost jumped when he saw me sitting at the table.

"Oh, you're awake!" he exclaimed and smiled at me.

"Yeah, I got up a little while ago..." I said with a nod. I hated how awful my voice sounded. It sounded like I had been crying. I cleared my throat.

He didn't seem to notice it, or he masked his awareness really well and took off his shoes. While still leaning down he picked up Omen and went to grab a glass and fill it with water.

"So, where were you?" I asked, trying to be as nice as I could while doing so.

"My friend needed me to take her to a doctor. She's fine, but I just stayed with her for a little longer to make sure she was okay on her own," he replied. "What were you up to?" he asked nodding at the laptop before.

"Oh, I was just about to watch a video. If you need the laptop or..."

"No, no, no, use it freely. I just want to take a shower and I think I'll try to fall asleep for another hour or so," he said, drinking the water and setting the empty glass in the sink. "You can also use my headphones if you want to. Even though the sound doesn't really bother me," he added. I nodded and smiled at him. He then turned around and opened the fridge. "God, I ate a doughnut a little bit ago but I'm still hungry. I think I'm done drinking tequila..." he said with a shake of his head.

"I've never had alcohol," I muttered, making him look up at me.

"Wait really?!"

"Well, it wasn't legal until this year..." I noted.

"True... I guess... well, you're not missing anything spectacular. It's... honestly, it's just a bad choice, but I'm not exactly the right one for a lecture on the topic," he said.

He decided to give up on looking for something to eat and instead went to the dresser to grab some clean clothes. I watched him as he left his keys and threw his jacket on the bed and then headed toward the bathroom.

"Hey, uhm... Ev?" I started, drawing his attention and making him stop just as he grabbed the door handle to open the door. He hummed for me to go on. "Do you have a pair of scissors somewhere?"

"I must have... eh... I'll look for it later if you don't mind. Why?" he replied rubbing his cheek.

"I wanna cut my hair."

He raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"I'll look for it. And uhm... I don't know if you want to, but I'm going to get some dye to do my hair tomorrow. If you want to change the colour, I can get something for you too," he went on. I looked at him for a second and then gave a small nod.

"I'll think about it."

A/N: The quote written in this chapter comes from this video: 

https://youtu.be/-SJywvgaJEI