Overwhelming - Florence Pugh (ON HOLD)

Pursuit of Happiness

It was about 11 p.m. before the two friends got to break in their hotel room. When they finally walked through the door, Blake immediately flopped on the bed and groaned. She had the beginning of a hangover headache and had been awake for way too long. Lyric didn't even make it to the bed, instead choosing the couch as her sleeping arrangement.

Tomorrow would be the first day of activities for the two and the next day was scheduled to be the meet and greets, as well as the different panels. Knowing such, Blake decided to take a shower and set out clothes for Saturday.

45 minutes later, Blake stepped out and walked over to her suitcase, wrapped only in a towel. Or, she would've been at her suitcase had she not tripped over a sleeping Lyric's feet and fallen flat on her face.

"What the-" Blake got out, right before her nose smacked the carpeted floor, biting her lip harshly. She rolled over groaning, completely forgetting about her lack of a towel at the moment. She held a hand up to her face sitting up, not exactly surprised to feel some blood, only disappointed in her drunk self.

"Blake, why the hell are you naked next to me?"

"Your big ass feet is why, I think I have a bloody nose dude. Can you help me out a sec?"

Lyric sighed and nodded tiredly before standing up, albeit wobbly, and grabbing a box of tissues from somewhere in the room.

"Come to the bathroom, I'll be able to see a bit better."

"Can you help me wrap the towel back, please?"

The two slowly made it to the toilet seat, Lyric lowering Blake down gently. She grabbed a couple tissues and handed them to Blake, who grabbed them and then lowered her hand to put them where they were needed.

Lyric gave a sharp inhale. "Oh god. Blake..."

"I don't even want to know, do I?"

" 'Fraid not, it's not too pretty. I'm gonna clean you off, but it's gonna sting."

"Just go for it, honestly I think the alcohol is still in my system."

"One can indeed dream."

Blake wasn't worried about being hurt, she just hated blood. She had already tripped over her friend's feet, she didn't need to make her take care of a passed out bloody person on top of that. As Lyric pressed the warm cloth on Blake's face, Blake couldn't help but flinch back just the slightest on instinct. Lyric looked at her apologetically, but Blake just shook her head and gestured for her to continue.

One thing that Blake had been trying to work on was the fact that she flinched at nearly everything, especially if it involved someone touching her or nearly touching her. No one knew why, except for a few select people. Lyric is one of those people. As hard as Blake tried to suppress the movement, Lyric would always see and feel guilty about being the one to make it happen.

The flinching was formed because a culmination of different things, but the main one was that Blake's father and brother used to hit her. No matter how nice and calm and genuine they seemed to everyone else, she always saw the complete opposite when they were alone. It wasn't as bad as some people's experiences, but it left a decent mark on Blake's heart, mind and body. The three main words Blake would always think described her the most would be unloved, unwanted and broken.

Heart. Mind. Body.

It took a lot for Blake to even say anything to someone about what was going on and when she did, they didn't believe her until they saw that night's mark. Her dad was good. Even adults who she was close to didn't think he would do that sort of thing. This sent her into a spiral of not trusting anyone to get close enough to know about how deeply she had been hurt. Blake was doing better with telling close friends, sure, but it would still take time.

All of this was running through Blake's mind while she showed a blank façade. She had successfully zoned out from the world, not even feeling the pain of Lyric cleaning her lip. Apparently she had split it about half an inch down her chin.

Not that it mattered.

Not that she felt it.

Not that she felt anything.

"Blake."

"Blake."

"Blake!"

Suddenly, she was back in the bathroom with her best friend. Her surroundings zoomed in around her, making her dizzy. Blake closed her eyes for moment, willing the nausea away and looked at a very concerned Lyric.

"You haven't done that in a while, are you okay?"

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just spiraled a bit, but I'm back now. Thank you."

Blake hopped down from the counter, ignoring protests from Lyric. She grabbed her boxers and sleep shirt and crawled into one of the beds. Closing her eyes, she took a much needed deep breath.

Just take a second. Let it all calm down.

Blake opened her eyes, adjusted under the sheets until she was comfortable and turned out her light.

"Goodnight Lyric, I love you."

"Night Blake, I love you, too."