An Unspoken Thing [Davekat]

Shaking Rhythm

John's p.o.v.

The morning was fairly cold, and I wore my blue hoodie over my Ghost Busters T-Shirt. My black jeans were a bit too tight, and it fucking hurt to sit. I have no idea how Dave does it; how he can wear skinny jeans without suffocating.

I was listening to some pretty cool beats from my shared music player with all of the music from Rose, Dave, and Jade. My converse skipped on the pavement along the beat as it played through my headphones. I made my way to my class when I looked down the sidewalk to see Dave walking with his hands in his sweatshirt's pockets. I sped up my pace and got closer to him, trying to inspect his appearance.

He had a bandage on his face with the edges of a cut peaking through the ends. He had his hood sheilding his neck, and the bruises on his face were almost completely gone. I skipped up to him and walked next to him, appreciating the silence.

After a while of walking, he held out his earbud to me as our feet continued to move. I put my headphones around my neck and put his earbud in my ear. I listened to his R&B music for a while with our hands in our pockets and our steps going with the rhythm. We ended up walking around the campus three times, even after the bell rang we continued to walk together and listen to music.

Once we reached his class, I stopped him a couple of feet away from the door, out of view from his classmates. He looked me directly and I could see a clear view of his neck. It had purple finger marks around, and it was scratched.

I looked back up at him, and his expression was hard to read. He obviously knew I saw his neck, I think he just doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. But I want to make a deal out of it. He needs help, but I have a feeling that getting him help is going to be a little hard. Whoever is hurting him, they don't want to be known. And Dave doesn't want to tell.

"Egderp." Dave said, snapping me out of my trance. I looked up at him and saw his grin. "Thank you." He finally said.

My eyes started to tear up and my nose burned. I suddenly threw my arms around his body, I don't have any idea why I did it, but I'm glad I did. His arms wrapped around my waist and I tingled all over. His body under my arms was hard, and I could feel his heartbeat in my ear. I heard it beat in a steady pace, and then make a dull sound of strain every once in a while.

After a minute, I let go of him and looked up at him. "Dave..." I said slowly. I could feel my heart beat fast and my stomach churn. I don't know why but I was glad it did. "You are strong."

"What makes you say that?"

I laughed and scratched the back of my neck. "Showing up to school today when, obviously, you are hurt."

He nods his head, pressing his lips together.  He takes a deep breath and says, "I'd rather be anywhere instead of home right now."

"Yeah." I said, nodding my head too. His sentence made my chest sink. "But recently you have been cheering up more, what happened?"

"Well, uh." He smiled to himself and looked away. "I found something that makes me really happy."

"New hobby?"

"Nope."

I rubbed my nose because it was getting runny from the cold. "New music?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly."

"I don't know, like, a present?" I laughed.

I watched his face start to turn pink. "Yea. That's it, I found a present that makes me really happy."

When I saw his face change color and his lips turn into a sheepish smile, my chest stopped sinking and it floated. I was so happy that Dave is happy, but I am confused that each time his smile changes, it changes the feeling in my heart.

"That's..." I said slowly. Maybe I shouldn't ask what the present was, it's probably something that he wants to keep to himself, like a personal token. "That's amazing." I breathed, smiling brightly. I was holding the sides of his arms now, practically jumping around.

He turned around to his classroom's door. He started to walk towards it when he turned around and looked back at me, waving.

"Bye!" I told him. "Uh, take care of yourself, okay?"

He nodded. "I will."

Then the door shut.

The cool air made my breath come out as fog, and I rubbed my hands together. After rubbing them, I tested to see how hot they felt compared to my face. Much to my surprise, there was no difference. My face was just as hot as my hands, and my eyes widened.

I slumped against the wall and held the fabric of my shirt, looking down at my shoes. My hands were shaking; why am I shaking? Why does my adrenaline feel like it's going down a rollar coaster?

I opened my backpack, grabbed a granola bar, and ate it in two big bites, attempting to calm myself down. Then I ran off to my class.