Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 59: Guidance

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Guidance

Xaphile let out a sigh for the twelfth time, staring up at the sky as he lay floating on his back in the natural hot springs.

He'd found them at the edge of the island a little while earlier, and after stripping down, he'd limped into the warm water.

He'd kept his foot bandages on when he'd gone in, thinking he could change them once he'd gotten out of the spring for good, but they'd started itching after a few minutes.

In the end, he'd unwrapped his leg with shaking fingers.

What he'd found had surprised him: after cleaning off a coating of sticky brown goop, which was most likely the salve that Karla had mentioned, he'd found that all of the pustules on his leg had faded into deep scab wounds, with no poison residue left to make them glow bright green.

This pleased him, but he knew that Karla and Amelia would both insist on using more salve so he made a mental note to reapply everything once he finished up.

A thorough wash later had left him with no desire to get out of the hot spring.

So, now he was just lazing in it, staring at the sky with a dazed expression.

His long black hair drifted beneath him in swirling tendrils as he lay on the surface, not knowing how to feel, not understanding anything... reality was too overwhelming.

It felt like a dizzying carnival ride that wouldn't slow down enough for him to figure out what he was actually riding on.

He didn't know how long he remained there, drifting across the water, but at some point Vrael came into view.

His eyes flicked to the left and he righted himself, standing up when he noticed the halfling undressing near the edge of the spring. He watched as the eighteen-year-old slid into the water, letting out a sigh of relief.

When Xaphile wordlessly sank down into the liquid, Vrael looked right at him and after a moment of staring, he slowly waded over...

And moved right past him.

He blinked when the elf sat down behind him and leaned back until their shoulders were touching.

"Are you all right?" Vrael questioned. "You're in a right temper... I can feel it."

Xaphile blinked and momentarily remained silent, but when he realized how pointless hiding his feelings from the boy was, he sighed and closed his eyes.

"No, I'm not all right, not at all," he sourly muttered, letting out yet another sigh. "I will be, though... I just need some time to figure things out. Again."

"Do you want to talk or should I leave it alone?" Vrael tentatively asked. "I know you don't like people prying, so I won't... but I can't deny that I want to know what's eating away at you."

"It's... not something I want to think about right now," he reluctantly admitted. "Thank you for the concern, though."

"Okay," Vrael muttered, shrugging. "Whenever you want to, I'll be right here."

Xaphile's face contorted slightly for a moment... but then it smoothed out.

With a defeated sigh, he leaned back and gently rested his head against Vrael's.