Breathe Easy the Doctors Are About to Arrive

I sat at the dark wooden table that sat in Bryan's kitchen, as I rested my forehead against it's soft, cool surface. I felt like I had a fever, not a very bad one, but a fever nonetheless.

"Dude, you look really pale...do you need something to eat or drink?" Bryan asked as he walked into the kitchen to see me holding my stomach with my head down.

"I'm not hungry," I said softly. The thought of food made me nauseated. Bryan sighed and left the room, leaving me to be accompanied by only myself and my thoughts. I thought I was going to have to join them in the living room to keep from being alone, but just when I was about to get up Jessi came in.

"Randellll," she chimed softly, sitting across the table from me. I looked up weakly, trying to hold the substances in my stomach down with all of my might.

"You're gonna stay here until you get better..." she told me. It seemed like she decided it right then and there. I heard scuffled footsteps and Max appeared at the sink, getting a glass of water it seemed like. I payed no mind to him, as I waited for Jessi to continue talking. I closed my eyes and rested my head in my hand.

"I wish you would stop with this, Randi, I really do...I wish you could look at yourself and see..." after that, everything she was saying to me was a blur and everything sounded like I was under water. I let my head off of my hand to try and stop the dizziness and the nausea, but I felt my eyes fluttering to try to stay open as my head and body fell against the table in slow motion, it felt like slow motion anyway.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" I heard Jessi scream. That was the last thing I heard for a couple of seconds, until I felt my body being picked up in bridal position off the chair. I didn't care about where I was being taken or who was carrying me at this point, I was too weak to care. I just wanted to sleep, in a comfortable bed preferably. I didn't recognize the smell of the person who was carrying me, and I figured it was Max. I began to moan and whine a little bit and even cry. This is what happened when I was unbelievably tired I guessed. Not to mention I was in a lot of pain, inside and out. I gripped Max's shoulder as tight as I could, trying to get all of my tears out so I could just sleep. My eyes stayed closed the whole time, only opening to the darkness of his shirt every once in a while. Finally I felt a soft surface against my back. I just kept crying and crying and crying. Max held my hand, and I wondered why. He didn't know me from adam, but he was comforting me.

"Why?" I choked out softly inbetween sobs. I was asking why he was holding my hand, but I didn't think he got that. Max sighed.

"Is there anything I can do for you?..." he trailed off, studying me.

"Nothing," I choked out louder than I meant to. He flinched and began to walk out of the room. "NO!" I practically screamed. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't know Max, but at least he was company. "Stay...please..." I begged desperately. "Don't wanna be alone," I could barely talk, but I would do anything so that I wouldn't be left by myself. I felt like a little girl that didn't want her mother to leave after being dropped off at kindergarten. Max obeyed and sat back on the bed, leaning back against the side of my body. The warmth of his back soothed me and it felt so good against my sick body that I could already feel myself slipping out of awakeness.

"Are you sure you don't want Jessi to come..." I shook my head tiredly. I didn't want him to move, I was too comfortable. I fell asleep very quick, and I slept deeply and good for the first time in a long time.

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I felt breathing on my face and I woke up with a startle. I jumped back, knowing that it was a person but not knowing who. The sun was already up, I could tell. But the windows were darkened by black curtains, not letting much sun light escape their form. The person wasn't touching me, but they were so close to me that I could smell them and feel their breath on my face. I thought it was just another one of my temporary "guys" that I had slept with. But, I soon remembered what had happened before I fell asleep. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up at a sleeping Max.

"What the fuck," I half whispered, half moaned. I felt over my body hastily, to make sure all of my clothes were in their place. I almost wanted to do the same to Max, but I was afraid he'd wake up. I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I crossed my arms across my chest and cuddled into the bed underneath me, just staring at him in front of me. Max's legs twitched and I glanced down at them. His even breathing stopped abruptly and I brought my eyes back up to his face to have them be met with his sleepy ones.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked, yawning.

"I-I don't know..." I said, trying to find what to say to him.

"Why did you sleep with me?" I asked, a little bit annoyed. He didn't even know me and he ended up sleeping in the same bed as me. Maybe he was like everyone else.

"You asked me to stay with you so I did..." Max said in a careful voice. He smiled at me warmly and I surveyed his face. "I ended up falling asleep...sorry, I'll leave now if you want me to..." he started talking fast and moving his body to get up. I pressed my hand against his stomache gently, telling him to stay.

"We don't even know each other, what makes you feel the need to do these things for me?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows at him.

"I care about people too much, and Bryan and Jessi were way too freaked out to deal with you last night after you passed out," Max said, glancing side ways at me.

"Deal with me..." I trailed off, I let my mind wander and I started hitting myself in the head and growling in frustration. I couldn't take it, I didn't want my friends to have to "Deal with me". Max tried stopping me by grabbing my arms, but surprisingly I was too strong. He got on top of me and pinned my arms on either side of my face.

"That's not necessary," he said through clenched teeth, flinching away as I tried to move my arms out from underneath his grip.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"Not when you're like this," he stated confidently as he shifted his body atop of mine. I huffed out a sigh and glared up at him, finally giving up.

"What the fuck gives you the right to hold me down like this?!" I asked, my voice getting more high pitched than it usually was. Max smiled at me smugly, narrowing his eyes. I noticed how flawless and soft his face looked, how the metal in his face accented his skin gracefully, and I realized the position we were in. He was straddling my waist gently and pinning me down like so... and it made my stomach jolt. "You're so weird," I told him, studying him and the way he looked down at me.

"Why is that?" he asked, laughing and laying down again.

"Just everything that I've seen from you so far..." I trailed off, staring at his face again. "How you let someone who you don't even know wear your fucking clothes for instance..." I retorted. He smiled and tugged on the shirt a little bit.

"You look better in my clothes than I do," he chuckled. I blushed and my stomach got that forbidden feeling again.

"Riiight," I said, looking at him weird. "I don't know what the fuck kind of alcohol you've been drinking, buddy," I smirked. He furrowed his eyebrows at me like he didn't get why I was saying these things. "Pft, let me guess, I'm the hottest piece of ass you ever did see and you think I'm crazy for thinking otherwise about myself," I chuckled, glancing at him to see that he had a frustrated face plastered onto his usual happy, upbeat one.

"I'm not like other guys, I have more respect for you than that," he said kind of angrily. "You're not a 'piece of ass', you're very pretty Randi, and you have more potential than what you're doing with your life right now, and don't you dare let any asshole fuck face guy make you think otherwise," Max said, staring at my face with a stern look now. I swallowed hard and blinked softly.

"Thank you," I mumbled, trying to keep my body from trembling with intensity. Part of me wanted to reach out and hug him and not let go, but for the most part I couldn't move. My mind was flying wild with thoughts and feelings that I had never felt before, and I wondered what to do next. I just closed my eyes and tried to process everything very slowly. I felt warm arms around my hips and a face against mine. I swallowed hard again and squeezed him so tight I thought I might break his small form. He just squeezed back twice as hard.

"I meant every word of that," he whispered to me.

"Why are you doing this?" I mumbled into his chest.

"Because you need it" he said softly into my ear. I just squeezed him tighter and closed my eyes once more. I did need this, more than I knew.