Hollow Point

That night as they all got ready to go to sleep, the air was thick with paranoia and anxiety. Daelen shut the bedroom door softly, cutting off the uneasy snores of Scott on the couch. He turned to the windows, gently bringing down the shades, but not before he glanced out for any sign of disturbance. He turned to Noire, his whole frame tense and his expression grim.

Noire tilted her head. "Is it safe to go to sleep?" she asked, trying to get a smile out of him.

Daelen's expression remained stoic as he stared at her.

Blood rushed to her cheeks and she looked at the ground. "S-sorry, Daelen. Why don't you just try to get some sleep tonight?"

He blinked and looked away, his jaw tightening. Finally he whispered, "I'll have nightmares tonight, if I can sleep at all."

Noire patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Come sit, Daelen."

He dropped down onto the mattress beside her, his posture still rigid.

She wrapped her arms around him gently and kissed his cheek. "I promise, Daelen. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

A horrible shudder racked through his whole body. "Noire," he whispered. "There's so much you don't know. You can't understand."

"Then tell me. Help me understand." She pleaded with her eyes, clutching onto his arm.

He didn't look at her. "I... I'm sorry. I can't."

Noire sighed and turned the light off. "Goodnight, Daelen. See you in the morning." she said in a monotone voice.

"Goodnight, Noire." His voice cut through the darkness, though it was weak and tired.
--
Noire woke to Daelen screaming and trembling. "Daelen." she said loudly, shaking him in an attempt to wake him up. "Daelen!"

"No!" he yelled, struggling in an attempt to throw her off him. His skin was hot and sweaty, though he was shivering as if dropped into a blizzard with no clothes on. His eyes snapping open suddenly, Daelen rolled and fell off the bed where he lay still.

Tears developed behind Noire's eyes as she quickly got out of bed and knelt beside Daelen. "Daelen..what happened?"

Daelen sat up slowly, shivering all over. "I...It's so hot..." he whispered.

"Why don't you take of your shirt? I can go get a wet washcloth for you." She began tugging at his shirt.

A flash of fear streaked across Daelen's face. He scooted away from her. "No, n-no. I'm okay."

"Daelen, stop it. Just take off your shirt. You'll feel a lot cooler."

He hastily wiped sweat off his forehead as if she wouldn't notice. "I'm alright," he said in a soft voice.

Anger flashed over Noire's eyes. "Fine. I was just trying to help you. You can go help yourself then." She climbed back in bed and threw the covers over her head.

Daelen hastily pulled his drenched shirt over his head and it dropped to the floor with a wet slap. He hurried to the bathroom and closed the door.

As he quickly went to the bathroom, Noire caught a glimpse of large cuts covering his body. They ran along his back down his side. Some were so bad, they were gaping open. His chest was also infested with cuts, though these were smaller than the ones on his back. Even more tears filled her eyes. "The doctors must have done that to him at Hollow Point.." she quietly said to herself.

Daelen didn't come out until a few hours later, when he had calmed himself down and was almost completely sure that Noire would be asleep. He pulled on a clean shirt and went into the kitchen, where he sat on the stool with a glass of water and set himself for a long night.
--
Noire rubbed her eyes slowly, stumbling into the kitchen. She saw Scott nearly falling off the the couch, while Daelen still sat on the stool at the breakfast bar, a small puddle of drool by his mouth. She rolled her eyes and shoved his arm. "Hey, you. Wake up."

Daelen stirred, groaning something intelligible, but not waking from his deep sleep.

She let out an aggravated sigh. "I'll make you pancakes if you get up in the next ten seconds." she said quietly, poking his side roughly.

Daelen woke abruptly at her mention of pancakes. He lifted his head. "Pancakes? Where?" he asked groggily.

Noire smirked. "Good morning. I'll be making the pancakes right after you tell me what you were doing sleeping out here."

He looked away, not meeting her eyes. "Didn't want to wake you."

"Didn't mind waking me, though, did you?" Came Scott's muffled voice from under the pillow

She held in a laugh. "You shouldn't worry about waking me up, Daelen. I don't get a lot of sleep usually, so I'm used to being up a lot. Okay?"

"Okay," he replied, looking at her and smiling slightly.

Nodding, she strode over to the fridge. "So, what kind of pancakes do you boys want?"

"Chocolate chip!" came the muffled reply from over at the couch. Daelen just shrugged.

"Is that okay with you, Daelen?" She looked at him with concern, placing a hand gently on top of his.

"Yeah, of course. I don't really have a preference, is all."

Noire nodded and readied the pancakes, adding chocolate chips of different sizes to try and cheer him up. As she stood waiting for the pancakes, she grabbed a sticky note that was near her and grabbed a pen. In small writing, she quickly wrote, "I like you." on the note, in hopes she could get a smile from Daelen.

Daelen looked down at the note, a smile tugging at his lips as he read it. Grabbing the pen from Noire, he swiftly wrote, "I like you more."

Giggling quietly, she grabbed the pen back and wrote, "There's no possible way you could like me more."

He smiled in response, and started scribbling out a reply. Just as he was about to write the last word, the note was ripped out from under him. He looked up to see Scott grinning down at him. "You know," he smirked, "Speaking is a much more efficient way to show your feelings."

Noire glared at Scott. "Fine." Turning to Daelen, she held his hands. "Daelen, I really like you." She turned back to face Scott. "See? It doesn't sound as cute when it's said out loud with you standing right there."

"Oh, but you forget, Noire. I live to make things more awkward than they really have to be. Now, I can really make the pancakes myself if you two need to get a room..." Scott laughed as he saw Daelen turn bright red.

"Aww, Scott. You're so mean to poor Daelen." She kissed Daelen's cheek gently before turning her attention back to the pancakes. "They're done. I hope you're both hungry." she said with a grin.
--
"Hey guys, you hungry?" Asked Scott hours later as they sat squished on the couch.

"Do you always think about food?" Noire said with a slight smirk.

"Of course. I'm a growing boy." He winked. "So are you?"

She nodded. "I think I could go for some Japanese take-out, if that's okay with you, Daelen."

Daelen nodded. "You probably shouldn't go alone, though."

Scott made a face. "Chill out, they don't know me, remember?"

"Okay, Scott. Just take my car and search around. I don't like any of the places around here though, so try and find something at least 15 minutes away." Noire slipped her hand into Daelen's.

Scott smirked. "Alright then. I'm going to call when I get to a place, so you'd better be there to answer it."

She scowled at him before throwing her keys at him. "I will be."

Scott winked once again before opening the door and sliding out. The door shut with a deafening click in the sudden silence.

Noire let go of Daelen's hand and shifted her seat. "So umm...what do you want to do?" she asked coyly.

Daelen blushed at the implication of her words. "I don't know."

Shivers ran down her spine. "We could watch a movie if you would like."

He looked over at her self consciously. "Sure...what do you want to watch?" he asked in a low voice.

Noire pointed to an unopened box that sat next to the TV. "There's a lot of movies in there. If you find anything that looks interesting, you can bring it over and I can tell you what it's about."

Daelen grabbed it and set it between them on the couch. "I don't know much about movies these days."

She blushed and looked at the floor. "Well, we could try to find something on TV if you'd like."

"Mhm," he replied absentmindedly, staring at her.

"O-or..we could find something else to do. It's up to you." she said as trembles ran down her body.

Daelen felt the tension of the situation and fought the urge to bolt. He couldn't just run every time things got uncomfortable. "I...uh...." He felt himself blushing fiercely. "Uh...like...w-what?"

"Oh.." Noire looked away to hide her face. "I thought you would have some sort of idea. I'm not really sure.."

Daelen slowly took her hand and put it against his cheek. He could feel his face burning, and he was sure she could too. He looked down, embarrassed, but didn't let go of her hand.

She smiled a bit and tilted his head up so she could press her lips gently against his.

He kissed her back, his lips turning up of their own accord.

Noire pulled away slightly, resting her forehead against his. "You know I really like you, don't you?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I know. I really like you too," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her again.

She kissed him back a bit harder, but pulled away within a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Daelen. I've never done this with anyone..I don't know what to do."

"I haven't either," he breathed. He leaned in again, kissing her harder as well, and hesitantly placing his hands on her back.

Noire slid her hand behind his neck, pushing herself closer to him. She parted her lips a bit, waiting for some sort of reaction.

Daelen froze, unsure for a moment. Slowly he pulled her closer, kissing her again until he realized her lips were open and obliged.

She quickly pulled away. "I'm sorry..I was trying to..I've never done it.." Noire hid her face in her hands. "I wish I knew how."

Daelen blushed and looked away. "I don't really...either," he replied, feeling completely awkward.

She looked back at him, before deciding to climb onto his lap. "I want to though." she said, hugging him.

Shivers shot up and down his spine as he felt her against him. He wrapped his arms around her, relaxing slightly.

Noire smiled, leaning up to kiss his nose softly.

Daelen smiled back, taking her face in between his hands and kissing her softly. He pulled back slightly, grinning sheepishly.

She grinned back, curling up close to him. "You won't ever leave me, right?" she said, her voice beginning to quiver.

He sighed, pulling her snug against his chest. "Never." he replied. But he couldn't help feeling that that wasn't true.