Nobody's Listening

E L E V E N

I followed Luke into one of the bathrooms in the Papadopoulos' house. He placed me in front of the sink and turned the water all the way to cold. I rest my hands in the cool stream. "How do your hands feel?" Luke asked softly, moving some of my hair away from my face.

I quickly assessed how I feel. "I hurt everywhere," I replied softly, tears pricking my eyes.

He sighed and gave me a hug from behind. His breath clung to my neck, and I shivered. "You'll be okay, right?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine. I've felt worse before." More tears came as I remembered my father's death. I had definitely felt worse.

Luke let go of me and reached into a drawer to pull out some bandages. "Okay, I'm going to wrap your hands up, because I don't want them to hurt anymore." He turned off the water and dried my hands off gently, making sure to pat them dry and not rub away any more of my skin. He wrapped them leisurely, making sure every bit overlapped correctly, leaving no spaces for infection to get in. He left my fingertips out, because they weren't burnt at all. When he's finished, he kissed each fingertip in turn.

I felt my face burn. I cleared my throat and he looked up, smiling. "Where is everyone else?" I choked out.

His smile broadened. "In the basement. Mesh and Cyd are playing a serious game of Little Big Planet, I think."

I laughed. "Cyd and I call that game 'Little Big Pain in My Ass', because her little sister used to play it all the damn time."

He chuckled. "Yeah, they kicked Rosie out when they found her playing it." He motioned for me to go first, and I started to the basement. He turned the lights in the bathroom off behind him, leaving us in a semidarkness. I felt Luke hover in front of me, and I could see his crooked smile brighten his face. "Do you wanna go downstairs, or somewhere else?"

I looked out the window at the end of the hall and suddenly yearned for fresh air. "How about we go outside? They have a swing set out there."

Luke's smile became devious as he dragged me out the back door. We raced to the swing set, and I got there first. "Sit down and I'll push you," he compromised, situating himself behind me.

I got comfortable on the little swing and pushed back. Luke grabbed the chains of the swing, right underneath my own grasp. He pulled back and let me fly forwards. I let my legs follow the old movements, and when I came back to his palms, he gave me a gentle push back against gravity.

We continued this for a few minutes. Luke's laughter danced giddily in the background. At the height of one of my arcs I let go and flew off. I landed clumsily on my feet and somehow ended up skidding on my side in the grass. Luke's laughter stopped abruptly and I could feel him perched over me.

"Dezzy? Dezzy! Oh God… are you okay?" Luke's voice seemed distorted.

I was shaking from contained laughter. I raised my head and let out a giggle. "Holy shit, that was fun," I murmured into his ear.

He sighed, his lip quivering. "C'mon, you're tired, let's get you inside."

I made an attempt at getting up but found that I couldn't. I whimpered into the grass. Luke wrapped his arms around me and held me bridal style. I stayed limp as he juggled me around to open the back door and shuffle down the stairs to the basement.

The last thing I heard was Mesh's triumphant yell and Cyd's angry swearing at Little Big Planet before I fell asleep.



"Is she okay?" Cyd's voice spiraled out of nowhere, and I could feel myself slowly seep out of unconsciousness.

I felt Luke's strong arms tighten around me. I quickly assessed my situation based on senses. I was on one of the couches in Cyd's basement. Luke was behind me, holding me protectively. I was curled comfortably into the bend of his body; my head was in the crook of one of Luke's arms. I danced along the border of consciousness, not bothering to wake myself completely.

"She'll be fine," Luke whispered, trying not to jostle me.

"It's been a rough day, huh?" Mesh's words floated from the general direction of the television, and it registered that he was playing Heavy Rain, based off the other voices in the room.

"You have no idea," Cyd said. "I thought she was never going to leave the hospital with me. She's so… distraught over James."

Luke's muscles tightened. "She really loves him, huh?" His voice was full of so much hurt, I almost felt like crying. I pretended to twitch in my sleep and I groaned. Silence fell amongst the others for a few moments.

"I don't know," Cyd replied unconvincingly.

Mesh scoffed from the other couch. "That's so fucking typical of girls. Always wanting to fix up the broken boys." A loud smack resounded through the room, and Mesh growled. "Oh, come on, Cyd. You know it's true. Why else would you be so attracted to me?" Another smack. This time, Mesh didn't respond to it. "Well, whatever. You know it's true."

"Humph," Cyd huffed. "Well, even if you're right, Mesh, that doesn't mean she loves him, necessarily."

"But she does like him more than me." Luke sighed shakily.

She sighed back. "I think with time, she'll realize what's better for her." There's a silence; Luke loosened his hold on me, calming down a little. Cyd continues. "I'm worried about her. I really just want the best for her. She's my best friend. And I honestly think that James could seriously have the potential to really fuck her up."

Another silence spread over the trio. I pressed myself closer to Luke, suddenly feeling cold. He pulled me closer to him and placed a kiss in my hair. "Do you think she'll give me a chance?" he muttered into my hair.

I imagined Cyd shrugging. "I think the fact that she's letting you hold her like that is evidence enough that she's willing to give you a chance, honey." There's a slight smile in her voice.

I let out a sad sigh. I didn't care to hear anymore of the conversation, so I let myself drift back into unconsciousness.