Comfort

Shadows

TW: Mentions of suicide

Do you ever think about what it would be like to live in complete darkness? Calm silence with a beautiful dark. Comforting, like a hug where there's no distractions around and no pain. Tough shit. Because it always starts off with this celestial peacefulness, then a thunderbolt of intrusive light or a mini demon voice yelling from somewhere else in the building. And then you wake up.

'Who the fuck opened the curtains?' Seventeen year old Laura Day groaned. The pillow above her head flipped onto the floor as she lifted it up from the mattress. Morning rays shone directly into her half-blind and aching eyes like a laser beam of pain. She reached her hand out to the bedside table, feeling around for her glasses. Still unable to properly see, she relied on muscle memory to find her face. Rolling over onto her back, she retrieved her phone from the floor. 'Come on, find my face.' A slight vibration rolled off her device to her hand, facial recognition refusing to unlock it. 'Piece of shit.' She said with an exhale.

A knock on the door caught her attention. Half raising her head, Laura strained her neck to look over. Deep brown eyes floated into focus, followed by an amused smile and perfect white teeth. 'Good morning.' Peter sidled over to his bed, flopping down next to her and pulling her into a hug. 'You sleep okay?' Laura nodded and rolled further into his embrace, breathing in the coconut smell of his hair. She frowned.

'Did you use my shampoo again?' She asked.

'You left it here and I ran out so yeah. Sorry.' Peter said, resting his chin on her head. Sometimes, she swore she could spend forever just next to him. No words, just each other. And maybe food. Her stomach rumbled beneath the covers. Definitely food.

*******

'Why does the toaster have so many settings? It doesn't need that many. All you need is a button to say whether it's frozen or not, you don't need dials or levers or springs or this many buttons.' An infuriated 93 year old flung his burnt toast onto the counter, growling at his friend in frustration. 'Get a new toaster Tony, my toast is burnt.' Tony snorted into his coffee, revelling in the morning entertainment. He glanced up over his mug, greeting the teenage couple as they walked into the room.

'Have you heard of cereal before? There's lots of alternatives that don't include firery bread.' The young girl flicked her finger, sending the toast flying across the room. It landed with a satisfying thump against the wall, sliding down into the bin. Two years ago when she first discovered telekinesis, her cat had ended up the unfortunate victim of a hormone induced rage fit. Three photo frames and a vase were all but obliterated and she was grounded for the rest of summer. She twisted her hand anti-clockwise, summoning the cup next to Steve's plate. He started to protest, indignant, but gave up half way through.

Peter brushed his lips against Laura's cheek. 'My bus is nearly here so I gotta go. Will I see you later?' 

'Probably not. I think Sophie wanted to go see a movie or some shit. I'll text you.' She said through a sip. Lukewarm liquid surged to the back of her throat, coating her mouth with a bitter sludge. 'Eurgh! Steve, what is this?' Her lip curled up in disgust, slowly spitting it back out. 

'Coffee?' 

'Why does it taste like something died?' Laura slid the cup back over to him then turned back to face her boyfriend. 'Good luck with your algebra test, which you'll smash as per because you're like the smartest person I know.' She finished her sentence with a kiss before heading back to Peter's room, throwing up a peace sign behind her back.