fragments → garmau • mcd au

[18] hospitality

I bang on the door for the seventh door, and finally give up. I turn around and lean against the door, sliding down and sitting on the wet porch.

It's nine at night, and I'm soaking wet.

It's dark, and I'm cold.

Thunder booms, and I flinch at the sudden sound.

My eyelids are drooping, and I'm coughing.

"I don't want to see you ever again, or you'll get it."

I lift my hoodie up to cover my blood-stained hair, and trying to bear the throbbing headache that accompanied it.

My stomach had a large bruise to join the rest of the scars on my body.

I feel light-headed and dizzy.

I suddenly hear footsteps and the door opens, my head slamming into the ground.

"Oh my Irene! Garroth! I'm so sorry! Come in, you're soaking wet!" She speaks, stretching her arm out. I grab it and pull myself up, and in the process my hood falls off.

"What?! Why is your hair blood-stained? Actually, tell me later. I'm getting you a towel." She closes the door after pulling me in and out from  the storm outside, before running up the stairs.

She comes down moments later with a white towel, and passes it to me. I start to wipe myself dry, and she stands beside me. She tip-toes, and starts messing with my hair.

She suddenly gasps.

"What?" I ask, and she looks at me worriedly.

"You have a huge scrape on your head." She shakes her head, and takes the towel from me.

"I have extra clothes that we bought, I took one outfit and payed for it when you were texting. Just in case of scenarioes like this. Go and shower upstairs in my room, I'll go and get the clothes." She orders, and I shake my head.

"I'm fine Aphmau, I-"

"No, Garroth. You're going to fall sick, and you have blood in your hair. Go and shower." She points upstairs, and I shake my head.

"It's fine, I-"

"You are going to go upstairs and shower, okay?" She says, and walks away. I sigh.

Is there anyway of saying no to this girl?

•••

"Garroth? Are you done? Levin and Malachi want to see you, they woke up." Aphmau says from behind the door, and I look at myself in the mirror.

I was wearing jeans and a blue jumper, and no shoes, which honestly didn't really matter. Of course Aphmau would choose this outfit.

I turn to the door and exhale, then open it. Aphmau is standing there, and she's smiling.

"You look funny when your hair is wet." She giggles, and I roll my eyes.

"Come on, they're downstairs." She says, and walks off. I follow her out of her room and downstairs, and both boys are sitting at the table and playing.

"Garr Garr!" Levin slams his small hands on the table when he sees me, and Malachi grins.

"What are you doing here?" Malachi asked, and I sighed. I felt Aphmau placed her hand on my shoulder and my heart raced, and but just for a second.

"Boys, that's enough. You said you wanted to see him, but Garroth is tired. He'll play tomorrow, okay? Goodnight." Aphmau smiled at them, and they nodded. They quickly got out of their chairs and ran back upstairs with their toys. Aphmau walked over to the table and sat down, and motioned for me to sit opposite.

"What happened?" She asked and pushed my hair out of my face. I sighed, and she frowned.

Here we go.

•••

"Oh my Irene." She gasped, tears in her eyes.

She demanded to know everything, so I gave her everything.

About my family, that is.

The attic, the car accident, my father, brother, chores.

Everything.

"S-S-So you... Your mother... Oh my..." She mumbled, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay. I'm fine. I'm fine." I move closer and wipe away her tears, and she shakes her head.

"You've been treated so terribly, it's just not fair!" She shook her head, and I took one of her hands. Warmth shot through me, and I smiled.

"It's okay Aphmau, I'm fine." I say, and she smiles weakly.

"Y-You can stay here. I-I-I have a guest room downstairs." She smiles, recovering from her slight breakdown.

"Thank you." I grinned, and she got up from her chair. I did the same, and she immediately rushed into me, hugging
me.

"I'm so sorry for you." She mumbled, and I wrapped my arms around her torso, hugging her back.

"I've made it this far, haven't I?" I spoke to the slightly shorter girl, and she pulled away smiling.

"You're strong." Her hand brushed against my cheek, and the heat returned.

She giggled and motioned for me to follow her, and I followed her downstairs.

"Here." She opened a brown door, leading to a plain room with only a bed, desk and chair.

"Thank you so much, Aphmau." I smile, and she hugs me again, but just a brief one. I walk over to the bed and sit down, while she walked over to the door where the light switch was.

"Sleep well, Garroth." She said, leaving the room and switching off the light.

"Goodnight Aphmau." I smile, and lie down on the bed. I use the blanket and cover myself, and the bed is surprisingly comfortable.

The room had air-conditioning, unlike my previous on, and I actually had a actual blanket, and not some thin sheet.

Thank you, Aphmau.