Comatose

[Chapter 6]

'Za-Zaiden-' I push against his chest and he sighs backing away. 'Sorry. Old habits die hard.' He smiles putting his hands behind his head. 'I-.. I don't mean to be rude, But I don't know you that well yet..' 'Chill, I was teasing.' I put a hand behind my head and stare at the ground, feeling awful. 'I got an Idea, You wanna go on a date first?' I look back up and nod slightly, smiling at him. 'That'd be nice I think.' 'Then it shall be done.' I watch Zaiden leave and I go over to my bed sitting down. Might as well head to the gym and at least go running or something. I can't sit still for long. I grab my gym bag in my one good.. ISH hand and start heading down stairs before I greet my sister and head off. Of course not before her usual, 'No squats!!'  Threat. I shake my head and walk out to my car and head to the gym. When I get there I'm probably running and exorcising for about an hour when I get tired and go for a walk around the gym since I can't change what I'm doing. Usually I'd go do bench press or something but. Y'know. I start to look around and notice the door to the small dance room is open. Well it's what I call it anyway, It's actually pretty big. Mostly used for gymnast equipment as well as Ariel silk dancing and stuff. I never really looked so I decided why not and Head into it. As I'm looking around at some of the equipment, And I should probably add, I do only go to the gym when There's little to no people, Thanks to my social anxiety, I look up and see two pieces of the Ariel silk moving around. I tilt my head more up closer to the ceiling and there's a guy dancing up there. I sit to site before I watch him taking a break. That's until he slides down and I recognize him more clearly now I'm not a complete country away from him. 'Zaiden??' He takes a set of ear buds out and Nora runs over to him so he pets her and I get up to try and back out of the room. 'Ash, I already saw you.' 'Damn it... I didn't know you came to this gym.. I also did not mean to stare-' I hear Zaiden laugh and the sound echoes through the empty room sending a chill up my spine. 'It's okay, I didn't know you went here either, I usually come when the least amount of people are around so I can relax a bit more.' 'Me too, People are weird about certain things, I can Imagine how they'd react to your..' I clear my throat to think of a better word. 'Hobby.' 'Well it's just training. Why do you come here when you're alone?' 'I- Just- Because of social anxiety.. I don't like a lot of people staring..' 'Yeah.. People.' He then proceeds to make a weird gagging noise and I chuckle at him. 'Promise not to tell?' 'I won't tell if you promise you'll let me help you with it some more.' 'You can.. Dance Ariel too?' 'I used to be a dancer, Before I got a job anyway. And.. Well the in-..' I stop myself before I hear Zaiden get up and walk closer. 'You know I wouldn't judge you right?' 'Yeah, I just.. I can't talk about it without crying so I don't want to talk about it.' 'That just means you should be talking about it to someone, Anybody, Even a cat or dog.' 'I try but I stop myself before I cry and I don't.. want to..' 'Why..?' 'I just..' I feel my hands start to shake and I pull them into my chest trying to stimulate myself. Nora walks over placing a paw on my leg and I lean down hesitantly petting her and I start to calm down. Zaiden leans down a bit and stares at me. 'You still have pretty eyes y'know.' 'Gods shut up already.' I laugh and he chuckles before the room goes quiet again for a bit. I remember hugging Nora and then feeling Zaiden's hand on my back. 'I kinda like that you're really grumpy with me-' 'What?? Why??' 'Because you're not afraid of me, and you don't try to chase me because of my looks.' 'Most girls do that. I just really do not fucking care. I don't see the point. We all get old and wrinkly anyway, it's like they expect it to last forever, and if it doesn't they throw you to the side..' I hug myself again and Nora starts to paw at my arms. 'Did you teach her this..?' 'Yeah.. You're.. Not the only guy with panic attacks.' 'You-?' 'Yeah, I have some Issues.' 'If you want to talk about it-' 'Hypocrite.' 'What??' Zaiden lays down and starts laughing. 'I'll make you a deal, The day, IF we start to date, We manage a day and we can talk about both our issues.' 'I-' I sigh and stare at the ground thinking about it before I nod. Zaiden hesitantly moves a hand up to my face again and stares at me. 'I swear if you mention my eyes again-' Zaiden laughs and looks away moving his hands. 'You little-!' 'They're pretty! And any other comments might seem creepy.' 'Oh yea? Try me.' 'Okay, You're lips look really kissable.' 'I- Thanks but also-' 'See??' Zaiden sits up and gets up heading back over to the Silk ropes. I watch him for a few hours, before I realise what the time is. "6:47" 'Hey Zaiden! We should go home, It's already almost 7pm!' 'You can go I'll catch up with you tomorrow.' I roll my eyes and get up petting Nora and leave waving at Zaiden. When I get home I shut the door and head upstairs to take a shower. When I get out I hear a cluttering downstairs so I get dressed and grab my pocket knife before I quietly sneak downstairs. When I reach downstairs I turn on the light immediately turn them back off. 'You couldn't wait to reach your room!?' 'Oh my gods! I thought you were asleep already!' 'I Just got back!' 'So did we-!' I turn the light back on. 'Wait Liz!?' 'HI.. Don't tell my brother-' 'I ain't a snitch, but also Why!? You're supposed to be telling my sister off! And please get off the kitchen counters.' Andrea picks Lizzy up kissing her and I roll my eyes switching the lights back off and going back upstairs. 'Ash! ASH! Leave the light on! ASH!' I ignore Andrea and shut the door before sitting on the bed and calming myself from the panic before I lay down. I hear the two laughing while they pass by my room. I sigh and lean over grabbing a pillow to hug and I pull my knees up to my chest. I feel someone sit down beside me and I jump up before I'm stopped by Zaiden who's leaning over me. I pull my ears back and start to panic before he leans down and kisses me. I don't pull away though but rather lean into him before he pins me down to the bed and I look up to see me father and I panic again before starting to try and get away from him. 'You're Gay right?' 'No! Ge-Get off me!! Leave me alone..!' I start to try and kick him off but I feel myself being unable to move before he leans down kissing my neck and I finally jolt upwards trying to breathe but I can't. I start to feel dizzy before I reach into one of my drawers grabbing an inhaler and using it multiple times finally being able to breath and I cough grabbing a pillow and starting to cry into it. I look up to notice that it's still night time so I shake my head and get up to go wash my face and I grab some shoes and a jacket before I walk downstairs and head outside to go for a walk. 'He works really hard too judging by his lack of sleep.' Andrea's friend's words come back to my head. Yeah sure.. Because of work.. Stupid stereotypes. My dad isn't even alive anymore! Why am I still afraid of him!? When I realize how long I'd been on my thoughts I realize how far from home I got before I turn around. As I start walking back I hear a rattling behind me. I keep an ear but keep my distance from it before I cross the street to see a group of people following me. And this is why you don't go on walks at 2 am.. I pull the hood up on my jacket and shove my hands in my pocket grabbing my pocket knife and when they start to get closer I pin one to the wall and trip a different one but Another one pulls me back so I fall to the ground. Well.. I tried. Hell here I come. 'hat is  little boy like you doing out so late?' One pulls my hood down and stares at me. 'Hey, Aren't you the pet shop owner??' 'It's not a pet shop-' 'How old are you??' '24..' 'Oh so you're just a nerd-' I growl but they just laugh before one of them pulls me up to my feet in a headlock with a knife to my throat. 'You shouldn't have fought back, Next time just accept your fate-' K I'm done with this bullshit tonight so I elbow the guy behind me and grab his knife before I hold it out towards the other two in front of me. 'Look guys, I've had a lot of issues today so let's just forget this happened.' The two of them laugh and I back away a bit so I'm slightly against the wall. One of them comes over to try and grab the knife so I knock him into the wall knocking him out while the other one tries to grab me so I just move away before I pin him to the wall. 'Last chance to Shove it.' 'You don't fucking scare me-!' I hear a growl behind me and the guy I elbowed is up again so I pin my ears back before my ears catch a growl from the distance and all of us turn our heads to the side where someone is stood with an Anubis hoodie on. The two guys that are still conscious start to panic and I get shoved into the wall before they run off leaving their buddy behind. 'Ow.. My fucking head-' I rub my head and use the wall to stand back up before I notice the hooded figure walking closer so I panic again and start to back up but trip and fall again before he pulls his hood off. 'Are you okay??' 'Zaiden! You mother fucking asshole!!' 'What??' 'You scared the living daylights out of me!' 'It was kind of more meant for the other two, I was hoping you'd recognize me easier-' 'How!? I was staring at a hooded figure ten times bigger than me!' 'I- Fair point,' 'I was fine.. I could've handled myself..' Zaiden holds out a hand and helps me up. 'I'm sure you could've, But it wouldn't kill you to have a bit of help.' I start to walk home but I realize I hurt my fucking leg now too. Great. Zaiden grabs me and starts to carry me bridal style. 'Ah- Zaiden!' 'What?? You're hurt, Supposed to have been resting, And now even more hurt, I have a right to. You're coming over to my place where I can watch you cause Andrea is doing a terrible job at it-' 'Because she's busy with your-!' I cover my mouth. 'I- My what?' 'Nothing-' 'Ash! I will drop you-' 'It's a surprise okay? You'll find out eventually.' 'What surprise??' 'A... Strange one.' 'Wait.. Lizzy wasn't home-' Zaiden stops mid sentence and goes quiet so I just sigh. 'You know don't you?' 'Yep.' 'Fuck.. I swore I wouldn't tell.. Fuck when I'm frustrated!' 'Why were you walking outside anyway? And for your information, You didn't tell, I figured it out myself. I sigh and look over to the side. 'It's.. Stupid. Just drop it. I just needed some fresh air.. ' 'Alright..'