𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑛

Despair

I woke up the next morning just laying down. I was too exhausted to even open my eyes, I just wanted to go back to sleep. Maybe never wake back up for a while. "Hey sleepy head" I heard from beside me. Their voice made them sound concentrated in something. I groaned slowly opening my eyes. I glanced to the side of me noticing Echo. "Passed out mid fight" she answered continuing to work on something. "Seems like the happens a lot now" I answered quickly. A sharp pain went through my throat effecting my speech. "O-" I let out not even finishing a full "ow". "Yeah... Whoever that was cut pretty deep into your neck" she said. I just raised my arm up in a sort of "how". "How are you supposed to talk? That I dunno-" she said finally turning to face me. I just frowned laying back down. "We killed majority of the withers except two, still making trouble. There's also no sign of Nightmare anywhere so that's a bit concerning.." she explained to me. I just stared at the roof a bit disappointed at the mention of Nightmare. "I'll leave you be" she said getting up from the chair. She went to walk away but I held onto her arm. She paused turning to face me. "What?" she asked as if I could answer. I just glared at her with a small annoyed expression. "Oh yeah- Um I'll guess, want..company?" she asked. I nodded letting my head rest on the pillow. "Oh- Alright.." she said walking back to the chair. It felt calming to just lay down for once.

One week later

I figured out Iina took us to their bunker until things calmed down. Throughout the week I just hung out with Echo slowly healing. There was still no sign of Nightmare for a while and around the bunker was just Stacy, Iina, Hela, and surprisingly Aether. I slowly starting talking again but not much. I just laid in my bed bored out of my mind. Echo had fallen asleep so I really had nothing to do. I sighed getting up from the bed. I put my cardigan on walking out of the room. I walked aross the infirmary to the bathroom. I looked through the cabinets trying to find a brush. I pulled out a bin of hairdye pausing. I put it onto the sink picking up a pack of red dye. I glanced up at the mirror then opened the box.
I brushed my hair out finally finishing. I gave my hair a final trim then just looked in the mirror for a few minutes. I smiled satisfied with the new look then put everything away. I grabbed out wipes cleaning up the sink then threw all the garbage away. I heard the door slowly open. "What's all that noi-" Echo cut herself off noticing me. I gave her a smile energetically waving. She just stood there clearly noticing the change. "I- uh" she let out basically speachless. I turned off the light to the bathroom then walked over to her continuing to smile. "The late night urge to dye your hair got to you huh?" she asked letting out a chuckle. I just nodded then opened my eyes to glance at her. There was a long silence which sort of unsettled me. I sighed then stood taller to reach her face. She cleared her throat stepping back. I paused realizing what I was doing then stepped back a bit as well. "I'm going to um- Go- Back to- Room" she said clearing her throat again. I just covered my face questioning what I was just trying to do and why. "I mean-" she said shrugging. I felt myself turning red but just let out a chuckle. "Not like, I mean like i-" she tried to explain. I stepped up to her pulling her head down to my level. I leaned in kissing her. She paused for a bit then kissed me back. I just continued trailing down her shirt. I came back to my senses feeling myself get pushed back a bit. "This is wrong" Echo finally said stepping back again. "Sorry-" I said realizing what exactly was happening. "You don't have to be sorry it's just..you're dating Nightmare-" she explained. "I know" I said nodding. "I wouldn't feel right with it" she finished. "I'm sorry.." I repeated not sure what else to say. "You don't have to be sorry" she repeated as well, "You should get some sleep though. How long did it take to dye your hair?". I just paused for a bit calculating the time in my head. "6 hours.." I answered. "Yeah so you've been up for 6 hours- You should get some rest" she said. I just nodded walking past her continuing to cover my face. She just stood there still staring at the floor.