Should Have Walked Away | Aarmau Vampire AU

𝔢 𝔦 𝔤 𝔥 𝔱 𝔢 𝔢 𝔫

"Hey," I croaked, trying my best not to cough.

Zoey, Cadenza, and Emmalyn turned to me in shock. I hadn't spoken since before I collapsed on the cobblestone of the square.

"Can I see Aaron?"

Their gazes softened and Emmalyn spoke up. "Aph, you should save your voice. . . It could be detrimental to-"

"Please," I wheezed.

They glanced at each other with small sighs before standing to leave.

Cadenza put her hand on my arm where it wasn't injured, giving me a soft smile I could barely return.

It was only a few seconds before Aaron peeked his head through the door, seeing me laying neck deep in the red water.

My hair was now back in a ponytail, courtesy of the girls after they had helped me wash it clean of blood — thankfully none of it was actually burnt as I had thought.

The purple of my vision had faded once a lot of the pain was numbed with ice, but the color remained in the corners of my sight. That is until Aaron came in.

"Hey," he said quietly, probably guessing that my senses were most likely on overdrive. He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right either.

My ears still rang dully which half blocked my hearing abilities. My eyesight was still slightly off, and I noticed that everything was slightly pink. Closing my eye told me it was only in my left eye, probably caused by a burst blood vessel.

"Hey," I wheezed, eyelids only half open.

He came closer and sat beside me outside the wooden tub.

"Y'know, I think right now is the only time anyone could beat you at an arm wrestle."

I coughed out a laugh, holding my palm over my sternum.

"Ok, ok, I won't make you laugh," he chuckled.

We continued talking while he held up to his promise - I didn't laugh hard enough for it to hurt. After a few minutes of this, however, he began to help me bandage my wounds.

"Ow," I groaned quietly. His fingers had brushed over the wound on my arm while bandaging it.

He had to bandage my whole right arm and blood was already soaking through.

Next he helped with a few smaller places he could get to while in the water, but all the while he didn't mention or look at my undergarments. He was either hyper-focused, concerned for my well being, or generally uninterested.

I highly doubt the last one. Not that I let him see much, even now when I could barely think about it.

"You think you can stand?" He asked me quietly, breaking the silence that had stretched for a few minutes now.

"I think I can try," I responded curtly.

Aaron nodded, putting my bandaged arm around his shoulder and I used my other less-wounded limb to lift myself up slowly.

I didn't get far before flinching, but he helped me distribute the pain onto him. Thankfully, I didn't fall thanks to my own will-power and his help.

After a few minutes, I was on the other side of the room while sitting atop the stone counter. Aaron was busying himself cleaning the bloodied rags for reuse. He quickly got to my right leg and wiped away the bloody water from my skin as well as the fresh blood from a large burn.