The Faithful and The Hopeless

CHAPTER TWENTY

"SHE up?" Keith asks as soon as he enters the room.

"No, not yet." Calyx acknowledges without looking up from his sketchpad. He has been sitting beside Rory since he arrived in their house at 6 a.m. He erases some lines and draws again.

"We're waiting for Archer, he's bringing Isla here with her clothes then we'll have breakfast, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Calyx nods, again without looking up but he hears the door close.

He pauses from drawing and compares his sketch to the picture of Rory that he took. He checks the details he still had to draw and continues. Hopefully, when he gives the finished sketch to her, she'll like it and not call it sad and dull like what she told about his painting. Not that he minded that comment of hers, he actually likes her insight. It's just this sketch is different.

Finally, Rory starts to stir from her position and her eyes slowly opens. When her sight was adjusted, she looks around the unfamiliar room she's in.

Her eyes catch him and hoarsely whispers. "Calyx?"

He looks up and meets her clueless eyes with his wide ones. He recovers and gives her a smile. "Hey."

"Where am I?" She still scans the room.

"You're in Billy and Keith's house. Specifically, in their guest room."

She pauses and blinks rapidly, bringing her hand on her eye and neck. She tries to sit up but winces when she felt the pain on her stomach.

"Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" He worries and lays down his pencil and sketchpad on the bed.

"It wasn't a nightmare." She comments, making him stop. "It was worse. It was real."

She becomes nostalgic about the scenes of yesterday. She shakes her head and dismisses it. Calyx doesn't know what to say and what to do, making him watch her carefully. She looks at him again, still laying on her back.

"I'm sorry."

He narrows his eyebrows. "What are you sorry for?"

"For making you involve with this. You didn't have to."

He shakes his head. "You shouldn't apologize for anything."

She smiles timidly. "And thank you. For saving my life."

"I barely did anything. Isla found you and she called Archer. Keith treated you and you're wearing Billy's clothes."

"I'm sure you did something." She giggles.

"That's not important. What's important is that you're alright." He states. "Has he been doing this to you for a while?"

Her smiles fades as she avoids his stare. He notices her discomfort so he adds.

"You don't have to answer. But I assure you that I won't judge and I'll keep it as a secret."

She looks up and stares back. Her eyes scanning his and she sees sincerity. She exhales. "Before this, the worst thing he did was grab my arms roughly. I ignored it at first until he does it often. I felt so secured whenever he'd hug me before but after that, every time he'd touch me, I would just flinch involuntarily."

He nods, understanding as he listens to her. "You don't have to be afraid. You're safe with us and we won't let anybody touch you."

A knock intervenes and the door opens, revealing Billy from the other side. He looks at Calyx but seeing that Rory woke up makes his eyes light up.

"Rory! You're up!" He marvels. "Well, I just came to call you for breakfast."

"We'll be right up." Calyx responds. Billy nods and was about to say something but Calyx glares at him, emphasizing what he said. He has his hands up as a surrender and closes the door.

He looks back at her and seeing that she's struggling to sit up so he offers his hand. She looks at it then up to him again with her eyes filled with worry.

"Just imagine that it's a railing or something else that you're holding onto when you're getting up." He proposes.

She looks back at it again and closes her eyes. She slowly brings her hand up and grabs his. He felt a sudden spark with her hand on his but for her, she only felt what she was imagining: A railing. She sits up and he helps her put her feet on the ground. Once she had stood up, she slowly opens her eyes as he pulls his hand away carefully.

He guides her out of the room and leads her to the dining room where Billy is preparing the table wearing grey sweatpants and pink apron while Keith is preparing the table. Their presence wasn't noticed since both of them are lip-syncing to Ariana Grande's test drive. Calyx shakes his head in disbelief but it brought a simple smile to Rory's lips.

He walks to the speaker and turns it off, earning an irritated scream from Billy but changes immediately when they saw her. Their faces instantly light up and greets her.

"Good morning, Rory." Keith acknowledges her presence. "Join us for breakfast."

She hesitated at first. She's been a burden to them, she doesn't want to be any more intrusion to their everyday lives. Calyx notices that so he pulls up a chair for her to sit, assuring her that she's very much welcome.

"Morning!" Billy greets her as he lays down a plate of sunny side up eggs.

He sits beside Keith while Calyx besides her but still kept a fair distance.

"I..." Rory starts, making all their heads turn to her but her head is hung low. "I don't know how to thank all of you. You saved my life. If there's any way that I can repay all of you, please let me know."

"Rory..." Calyx starts, fighting the urge to hold her hand but she looks up to him. "You don't have to repay for anything. You being healthy is enough."

Billy notices the sincerity in his brother's voice so he grins wide. "Yeah, it's not like we're in a mafia."

Calyx glares at him and Keith nudges him with his elbow because of what he said. She was about to ask what he meant but there was a knock on the door.

Billy stood up to get it. "That's probably Isla and Arch."

Keith lets them to start with their breakfast but the guests who just entered the room makes them halt. It was not only Isla and Archer who was there...