Dream Weavers

Chapter Sixteen

Aline woke up to sore ribs, an aching chest and a bruised jaw. She attempted to smile, but it was stopped by the pain. She didn't look at anyone. All she did was stare at her white sheets on the bed she was laying on. She moved her jaw, feeling sparks of pain up and down her face, making her eyes water.

She could already see the green and yellow flowers blooming across her pale skin, masking the freckles on her nose and cheeks. She curled her fingers in the sheets and lowered her head.

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to bend over. It hurt to do everything.

"Aline?"

Aline lifted her head slowly, meeting eyes with Hain. Despite her pain, she found herself smiling. "Hain." Kira and Jyra, along with Francis, were gone. She could see Quill and Hallee out in the doorway, speaking to one of the doctors.

Hain sat on a chair next to her bed, unsure of what to say. "Aline--" he started, then stopped.

"It's fine. I'm okay, okay? You're okay too, right?" Aline asked, reached forward a hand before pausing, watching him lean away. She could see the growing purple bruise on his left cheek. "Did you go back after you dropped me off here?"

Hain said nothing. He looked at her like she was an alien, his eyes cold.

Aline's voice cracked. "Hain, talk to me--"

"We can't be friends anymore." Hain pushed away her hand. "You know about my parents and I didn't want you knowing. It's gruesome, isn't it?"

"W-what?" she whispered, cradling her hand to her chest like he had just broken it. "No, I don't care--" she stopped herself by starting to cough, curling her arms around her stomach to stop the pain.

Hain narrowed his eyes. "We can't. You need to stop it. You have Quill and Hallee to protect you. I'll end up hurting Hallee and Quill and...you," he admitted, starting to stand up. "You heard Radin, Aline. My parents were...monsters."

Aline grabbed his hand, feeling her stomach groan in protest at her movement. "No! No," she whispered, making him sit back down. "Don't. Don't leave me. You're a great friend. Just as good as Hallee and Quill." She wanted to make him see that she would still be there for him. No matter what. She would be there for all her friends, she really would.

"No I'm not," Hain snapped, ripping his hand away. "I will never be a good friend. Good friends don't put their friends into danger. Good friends don't put their friends into dark alleys and watch them get the shit kicked out of them."

Aline listened to him and shook her head. She reached forward to touch his hand before he slapped her hand down onto the bed. She felt her breath catch in her throat, staring up at him like he'd just slapped her across the face.

Hain crossed his arms so she couldn't touch him again. "Stop it. You're an idiot. You're useless to me," Hain said, gritting his teeth. "You're ridiculous and too loud."

Aline widened her eyes as the words rolled off his tongue and into her brain. Her chest started to hurt and she swallowed, finding the air suffocating her. "H-Hain--"

Hain cut her off, trying to hide his eyes. "You're so damn touchy. You think a single touch is what it takes to help someone. Aline, it doesn't. I don't like being touched by you. Leave me alone. You're a fool for trying to befriend me. I never liked you," he spoke, his voice cracking at the end. "I hated being your friend."

"You're lying," Aline whispered.

Hain hated her. Hain thought she was too loud. Too annoying. Too touchy. She was two-faced. The claws were biting at her throat, ripping it open. She couldn't breath. She tried to focus herself on something in the room.

The monster was sinking its claws into her back, into her throat. It was crawling down her throat and into her lungs, into her brain, into her nose and mouth and eyes. All she could see was black in her mind. It was like she was completely shutting down.

"You're...you should just give up on your dream, Aline. You'll never be a Dreamweaver." Hain widened his eyes at what he said, but he soon fixed his expression, as if he never had been mortified with what he'd said to her.

Aline snapped her head up and pointed a finger at the door, feeling her arm shake. "Get out," she croaked. "Get. Out. I never want to see you ever again," she shouted. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she bent over beginning to sob. "You really are like your parents. Cold-blooded."

They were ugly sobs, heaving and choking and sputtering for breath. She could feel the monster's hands on her shoulders, coaxing her into more crying. She wanted to cry. She wanted to sob. She had to. She had nothing to spare for the monster except her tears and her snot and her internal pain.

Aline heard Hain exit the room, the door shutting.

Bending over hurt. It physically hurt her to be bent over like this, her arms wrapped around her ribs so tight that she was squeezing the living hell out of them. Her head hurt. It was dizzy and swimming and she felt faint. Her jaw ached with every breath she took. Drool dripped out of her mouth and soaked into the pristine white sheets. She was unable to swallow.

Her throat hurt. Her stomach hurt even more with each rib-cracking breath she took. The breath caught halfway in her throat and made her choke. Her jaw burned and her eyes burned. Everything burned.

What hurt more was the fact that Hain had hurt her. He had pierced her soul, destroyed her and tore her down to what she hated most--a sniveling, sobbing, whimpering fae. He knew that topic was sensitive for her, and yet he still decided to insult her and her dreams.

She could hear Hallee and Quill screeching at Hain. She could imagine his face right in her head, that annoyed look as they screamed at her, or maybe a pitying look as he explained why he had done that. Or maybe he just was ignoring them and flying away.

The worst part of it all was that Aline still wanted him near her. She wanted him back in the room so they both could apologize and they would be friends once more.

The worst part of it all was that she was going to try to get him to be her friend again.