Tweetie

39

Hazel woke, her head heavy and aching as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her. She was exactly where she was hours ago, between Fox and Leo on the couch, though, she had drifted, her head rested against Leo's arm as Fox slept soundly beside her.

What time was it? Had she been asleep the entire time? It seemed as though the silence around her engulfed everything. She found herself accidentally staying into the night.

"You're awake?"

She turned, feeling the vibration of a voice shake her awake. Her brown eyes met a set of blue ones, Leo's. He glanced down at her as she shuffled away from his shoulder, sad to leave her comfortable position but too awkward to stay.

"Sleeps not easy, unfortunately," she whispered, her voice sweet and soothing yet filled with exhaustion. It was so gentle it could bring butterflies to a person's stomach without them even seeing her. "Why are you still awake? If Joel's asleep, it must be late."

"I don't know," he shrugged, his voice as soft as hers. If it weren't for the unbearable silence of the room, they probably wouldn't have been able to hear each other at all. "I've just been thinking about stuff."

"Is everything okay?"

He nodded, glancing around as a few shuffles were seen through the room.

"Want to go outside? We could probably talk better out there and there's so many of us in here, it's getting kinda warm."

"Please," she smiled, glad he had suggested it. He nodded again, pushing himself up while she followed after, unable to see the figures on the floor. "Uh... Could I hold your arm? Just so I don't lose you in the dark or step on anyone..."

"Go ahead," he chuckled softly, feeling her smaller hands wrap around his arm, her body close to his as he realised that perhaps she was a little more frightened of the dark than she let on. At least when she had to move through it. Who knows what could be hiding in the corners. God knows how many dark buildings she had to search and found potential attackers hidden inside. That type of thing certainly brings some fear.

Carefully, they stepped across the room, both of them remaining totally silent until they found the stairs and reached the top. She continued to hold his arm, still roaming through the dark until the front door was opened and they stepped outside, lowering themselves to sit on the step in the garden where the chilly air prickled their skin.

"I can breathe," Hazel gasped, dropping next to Leo. "That room smelled of chemicals and sweat, I didn't even notice until now."

"Right?" He agreed with a nod of his head and a laugh before falling silent again, glancing up at the cloudy sky, watching the dark puffs of nature high in the sky drift past the vivid moon which shone down over them.

They stayed like this for a moment, watching the time pass by until he turned towards her, noticing her gaze lifted to the cloudy sky and a small frown appeared.

"...Are you alright? Seriously?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." She turned, glancing down at her lap with tired eyes. "I'm fine, just stressed... Maybe a little overwhelmed. It'll pass." She spoke, surprised she had even admitted it. "But what about you? You aren't letting that whole shoe thing get to you, right?"

"No, not really," he rubbed the back of his neck, leaning against his knees with his elbows. "It's nothing, it's just Amelia's way of retaliating for what happened with her and Ryan. It did look like I was forcing him to end whatever that was. Not that they actually had anything going on to end."

"That's hardly fair. She can't retaliate to every bad thing that happens in her life, she'll never survive the real world like that."

"Right? She'll find that out eventually though. For now, I think I'm fine, I can handle a pair of stolen shoes. They were crappy old ones anyway." He turned, a smile forming on his lips as he watched Hazel, only able to see her features because of the light the moon cast onto her. "Thank you though, seriously. It's nice being able to actually talk about it properly... The guys are great, they just handle things a little differently."