The Tiffany Box- ONC 2021 Shortlister

21- Belonging

Ashlyn looked at Eli opening his box. She'd been given the couch after Haven whispered privately to Eli he wanted him sharing his room. The bed is big enough, Haven had said as he'd stroked Eli's hair. Eli was more than happy to accept.

Sitting in the living room, evening danced around them. Haven's candles had been lit giving the room an ethereal glow and the scent of spices. The kitten lay contently at Ash's side and played with a loose thread on her ripped jeans while Eli tucked the box away and held the button in his hand. "Ok, this is a one-time thing – me harvesting from you twice in such a small amount of time. It'll be a twice, maybe three times a week thing so you –"

"So my head doesn't explode?" Ash asked as she felt the kitten squirm against her.

Eli chuckled. "I'd rather we don't chance it."

When he brushed a lock of her hair away from her temple Ashlyn smiled. "I'm not flirting or anything but you've got soft hands."

Eli touched the button to her skin and blushed.

She felt the coolness of the button swiftly warm up. "It's nice to have someone, isn't it?"

"It feels good," Eli replied softly. Whenever he thought of Haven he felt like a puzzle piece slotting into the correct space.

"I hope I find that one day," Ash said as she closed her eyes, "that crazy little thing called love."

"You never know," Eli said in a low hush as he backed away to allow her to dream. "Love may be in the last place you ever thought it'd be. It's weird like that."

Giving Eli a nod, she closed her eyes and felt the grip of sleep come to her. Her dream came fast, like a runaway train rushing towards her. She saw a pair of twin girls playing in a vast field, wildflowers dotting the grass. The girls were wearing matching white dresses, their long hair fanning around them as they fell on their backs and giggled. Above them, the sky boasted cotton candy clouds. The scent of spring was strong as if Ash was there with them. When the first drops of rain began to fall, Ash felt them on her own skin. The dream began to fade as quickly as it came. Soon It became a part of Eli's button. When Ash opened her eyes she felt the sun still beating upon her, getting stronger by the second. "Eli," she uttered as a wave of brutal heat came over her like a suffocating blanket. Touching her fingers to her head she felt as though she were on fire.

Plucking the button from Ash's temple, Eli gasped. "You're burning up."

Before she could tell him she felt unwell, the room began to spin and then everything went black.

"It's not working." Eli stood with an icepack in his hand and looked at Haven with worry creasing his face.

Ash lay on the couch, her face flushed with fever.

"She looks so fragile," Eli uttered as he ran his hand over her forehead. "I shouldn't have harvested. Fuck! I'm an idiot! Twice in one day while she's ill." Cold water dribbled from the pack and ran down the cuff of his long sleeved top. When it pooled in the crook of his elbow, Eli swore again.

"It's not your fault." Haven stirred a teaspoon in the Osaricus tea. He'd added a few powders in the tea which he knew helped to bring a stubborn fever down quickly. Filling the spoon with liquid, he cupped the back of Ash's head and brought it up so that he could feed her a few spoonfuls.

"She's going to choke," Eli fussed as he knelt by the couch. His hand was turning blue from clutching the icepack so hard.

"No, she'll be fine," Haven gently replied.

Eli saw the faint swallowing motion from Ash. He had no idea how Haven was able to spoon tea into her while she lay unconscious, but he knew that what Haven was able to do, most were not. "Will she be ok?"

Haven looked up to Ash's cheeks which were sploshed with red. He saw her temples throbbing. When he set the spoon in the tea, he touched his palm to her heart and listened to the way her heart beat – slowly and dully. The beats felt pitiful. Haven reached for the icepack and took it out of Eli's clammy hands. "The tea will help her." Seeing the worry on his lover's face, Haven reached for him and touched his face with his free hand. "Hey, listen. She's pretty bad but I want you to try to relax."

Though Haven's touch was welcomed, Eli could not stop fretting. "Hayv, she passed out and her face looks like a tomato's. I'm aware that I've known her all but five minutes but let me worry a bit, 'k?"

"She's pretty cool, isn't she?" Haven asked as he touched the pack to Ash's forehead.

"It feels like she belongs here," Eli admitted sadly.

"Oddly, yes. She does." The pair fell silent. Haven's mind swarmed as his gaze lingered on their new friend. She did feel like she belonged there, like the cat had, like Eli had. Haven felt an overwhelming sense that he needed to protect them all.

The night bled over the sky. Silence came to embrace them. It would be hours until the new day came. 

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