Absolute

16

I got dressed. Or at least I know that happened because I was left frozen in the mirror as I looked at myself in this handpicked outfit. The handstitched hat. This could only mean one thing, and yet my brain couldn't allow me to accept it.

It was too much.

There was no way.

I couldn't breathe.

I gripped the porcelain of the sink and forced air into my lungs, unable to tear my eyes away from the hat, from the shirt. From my face that looked as if a ghost possessed me. After a minute of calming myself down, I managed to straighten.

If I could stand up to my father, if I could take Marie down, I could face what might be on the other side of this bathroom door.

But I still didn't move, even as I reassured myself of all of these things. I was brave. I was dangerous, I was wild. Trouble could be a coincidence. But they'd mentioned a Gabe... my heart didn't know what to do, and so I studied my hand until I found the faint scar, remembering the jagged one I'd likely left on his palm.

A knock against the bathroom door startled me bad enough to knock over a bottle of something. It crashed against the floor, and decided to explode. Blue goo spread across the tiled floor.

"Sang? Are you okay? Breakfast is ready..." Dr. Green's voice floated through the door like a soothing balm.

"Can you come in here?" my request freaked me out.

But then he was in the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself too quickly for me to see the outside. But I knew it would just be Nathan's empty bedroom behind him. I could hear movement in the kitchen, I could smell cinnamon.

He didn't say anything as he helped me clean up the blue goo. When that was cleaned, we were both sitting on our knees on the floor. He didn't know, but I felt like I deserved it, a punishment. It was strange, but I didn't think I could allow myself to rise.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, reaching out and tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear, smiling slightly at me. But when I met his eyes, I realized he was smiling at my hat, not me exactly.

My heart returned to overtime, and whatever my eyes held made his smile fall a bit.

"I'm scared."

He nodded at my words, swallowing before speaking, "why is that?"

"Is he here?"

Dr. Green's lips twitched, "Oh my Pookie, you're gunna have to be a bit more specific than that. There's several boys in this house very anxious to make sure you're okay."

At this my ribs resumed aching, but I ignored them, forcing myself to look Dr. Green in the eyes. Alpha bad ass, I reminded myself. You're strong, you've made it this far.

"Gabriel," I whispered, "is he here?"

If I wasn't so distracted, the smile that graced the young doctor's face would have had me blushing. As it were, he offered me a hand to help me up, and I didn't drop it when he meant to let go. His expression turned from delight to understanding, and he squeezed my hand.

"It's going to be okay, girl, you got this," he murmured into my new hat as he tugged me into his body.

I didn't resist as he wrapped his arms around me, trapping me in a hug. For a second, I was stiff, but my body relaxed slightly at his already familiar scent. He held me until I began to pull away, but he didn't release my hand, and I was confused but thankful for the comfort.

Together we made it out of the bathroom, out of Nathan's space, and into the hallway. Voices got louder, but they were all voices I could name. My steps got slower as we got closer to the kitchen, to the voices and the energy and the people I knew I was about to see. The person I was supposed to be seeing for the first time in what felt like forever.