Getting Surreal

When Becks woke up, two things immediately stuck out to her.

One, that she was in a bunk, even though she was pretty sure that when she’d fallen asleep, she was on the couch in the back lounge.

And two?

She was in a fuckton of pain.

This is it, she thought to herself as she lay there, I’m dying. This is the end. She lifted her arm to test a touch at her pounding head, but a bolt of agony shot through her the second her muscles moved and she dropped it and let out a gasp of pain followed by a groan of frustration. Taking a deep breath and counting to three, Becks sat up as well as she could in the bunk, hissing in pain as her vision blurred a little and she shot her not-as-injured arm up to cradle her head. She wasn’t positive, but she was pretty sure her skull might explode any second.

“Definitely dying,” she hissed out to nobody in general, her eyes screwed shut and her body tense but too scared to move a muscle as she waited for the pain to start abating. When it didn’t she resigned herself to her fate, choosing to just sit there until it swallowed her whole and she died.

She didn’t sit there wallowing in her agony long, though, before boredom set in. Actually, it took about two minutes for her to get so sick of just sitting still in the bunk that she dared a move to leave it. Unfortunately, when she went to grab for the curtain, her knuckles were met with a harsh hit with the wall instead.

“What the fuck?” She hissed in surprise and a little more than a little bit of frustration as her hand was now also ringing in pain. But she also said it in confusion. Apparently, she wasn’t in her bunk, she was in a bunk on the other side of the bus. That’s gotta be it, she thought to herself. That’s the only reason for the curtain and wall being flip-flopped.

So, she tentatively went for the other side where she figured the curtain would be and sighed internally when her hand was met with the rough fabric instead of another wall. Bracing herself for the pain she was sure to come and counting again to three, Becks tore open the curtain, took a quick look down to gauge how far the floor was, and rolled out of the bunk, landing unsteadily on her feet.

She did her best to ignore the pain and nausea that crashed through her system as she looked around. It was dark, and the bus was definitely moving. She realized with a frown that she’d missed the show-she wasn’t happy in the least about that. As Becks was pouting to herself, she heard a cough coming from the back lounge and turned to see light shining from under the door. Curious and with nothing else to do, she decided to go see who was awake.

---

Mikey was sprawled out on the couch in the back lounge reading when he thought he heard a thud coming from the bunk area. Ignoring it, he turned the page, stifling a cough, and kept on reading. He was about halfway through the page when the door suddenly opened and he looked up to see an unkempt Becks leaning against the frame.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a small smile, though his expression read nothing short of surprised to see her. “I, uh…hi,”

Becks gave him a grimace of a smile. “Hey yourself.”

“What’re you doing up?” He put down his book and sat up.

“I, uh,” she squinted through the pain in her head, “woke up, I guess….What time is it?”

“Uh…” he looked at the clock on the dvd player next to the tv, “almost four?”

It was then that she noticed that he was in his pajama pants and there was a pillow and blanket on the couch. “Are-are you...I…was I in your bunk?” She pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah,” Mikey stood and cleared his throat. “I, uh. I thought you’d be a little more comfortable in a bunk, but I didn’t wanna even try and get you into yours.” He gave her a sheepish smile. Top bunk and all, she could understand.

“And, what…you were gonna…sleep here?” Becks was baffled. This was too kind and she really wasn’t expecting this, and the pain in her head was causing the room to really start to spin when her heartbeat picked up a little.

Mikey shrugged in response and crossed the room to where she was stood in the doorway. “It’s no big deal,” he said, quietly.

“Mikey…” she sighed, frowning at the ground, not able to think of what to say to him. It was then that the bus lurched, and she lost her footing momentarily, but caught herself on the door, gritting her teeth as pain washed over her.

“H-hey,” Mikey touched her arm lightly. “You should sit down, you look like you’re in a lot of pain.”

Becks wanted to disagree and tell him that she was fine, but really, she wasn’t and she knew it. So, she slowly nodded her head, her good arm applying pressure to attempt to ease the pain, and let him guide her to the sofa.

When she was sat down and steady, he walked out of the lounge disappeared down the hallway for a minute before returning with a glass of water in one hand, and his fist clenched lightly in the other.

“Hey,” he said softly and Becks looked up at him imploringly. He gave her a comforting smile in return. “Here.” He opened his hand to her to reveal some medicine and she took it gratefully, popping the pills in her mouth then washing them down with the water he’d brought. When she was done drinking, he took the glass from her and put it on the small table at one end of the couch before returning to sit next to her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes closed as she tried to ignore the pain. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, very gradually opening her eyes as she did so.

“Anything else you need?” He asked, watching her closely for any sign of need.

“I, uh…” she already felt bad for stealing his bunk and now for imposing on his night, she didn’t want to be in his way anymore than she already was. Just as she was about to politely turn down the offer, though, her stomach decided it had a different opinion on the matter and started grumbling. Becks threw a hand over her stomach in surprise and blushed a little.

“Oh my God, you’re probably starving. You didn’t really eat today, did you?”

“Uhh,” her blush grew stronger when she couldn’t even manage a sentence at the moment.

“Stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.”

“No, Mikey,” she let out as he stood up and started walking. He froze at the door and looked back at her. “You-you don’t have to…” she stared up a look of utter vulnerability on her face as if to try and convey her meaning. He didn’t have to.

But Mikey just shot her another small smile and then disappeared for the second time, leaving her alone in the lounge.

Flustered, she huffed out a sigh before deciding she may as well settle in and get comfortable -well, as comfortable as she could until the meds started kicking in - and nestled into the couch and let her eyes slip shut again, waiting for Mikey to come back.

She’d been left alone for a few minutes and was just humming one of her favorite songs to herself when she felt the couch dip next to her, signaling Mikey’s return.

“Okay,” he said. She opened her eyes and looked at him, vaguely noting he had a mug and a plate in his hands, but she didn’t take her eyes off his face. “I, uh…got you some tea, because I know that tea’s great when you’re not feeling too well and, um…” he gave her a look that was a cross between hopeful and sheepish and she almost wished she had a camera handy to capture it, “you don’t have to drink it if you don’t want, uh….actually, I don’t even know if you like tea, uh….”

“Mikey,” she cut his ramble short and gave him a smile, “I love tea. Thank you” she carefully took the mug from him not missing the light blush that was tinting his cheeks.

“Oh,” he said with a single nod, a happy and proud sort of smile on his face. “Good. Uh,” he held the plate up a little, and she finally looked down at its contents.

“Is that…?” Her eyes were wide and she glanced back up at Mikey, meeting his gaze. He nodded and gave her a very big, eye-scrunching smile.

“Oh yeah.”

“But, how?” Becks asked in awe, setting her tea carefully on the couch next to her before grabbing the plate with two, freshly microwaved tacos on it.

“That’s what lunch was and, uh, after you fell asleep here, I kinda went back to see if I could get you some because I knew it’d suck if you missed out.” He said it all quietly and with a shrug, not quite meeting her gaze.

Becks just couldn’t believe any of it. The fact that he’d given up his bunk for her. That he was staying up late for her and serving her. Oh, and the fact that he remembered she loved tacos and went through extra effort to get her some. It was almost too much.

“Mikey,” she whispered, her brow furrowed as she stared hard at her plate of tacos. “I…I….”

I what? She thought to herself. And she honestly didn’t know. She just wasn’t accustomed to being cared for so blatantly.

“Becks, it’s cool,” he said, settling in his seat and picking up his book. She looked up at him with an expression that bore a lot of emotions. “Just eat your tacos,” he added with a cheeky grin.

“Thank you.” She said earnestly before tucking in, not realizing how hungry she actually was until she swallowed the first bite. After that, she flat out devoured every ounce of food on the plate in just minutes before setting it off to the side and grabbing the tea, taking a few sips to wash it all down.

“Good?” He asked her, his eyes not leaving his book that he’d opened back up (even though he knew he had zero chance of focusing in on it at the moment) as she laid her head back against the couch and sighed. She turned her head to look at him, taking him in; disheveled, sleepy appearance and all.

“Perfect.” She answered.

“Good.”

“Am I, um…did you want me to leave now?” She gestured to his book. “I feel like I’m being an awful burden.” Mikey’s brow furrowed and he frowned at her.

“You’re fine,” he said, and tossed his book to the other end of the couch. “It wasn’t too interesting anyways,” he added, gesturing to his reading material and she smiled a little. As they looked at each other, Mikey’s gaze moved from her eyes to the side of her head where the bandage was looking a little worse for wear to the nasty bruise covering the upper portion of the right side of her face.

He couldn’t help his arm as it lifted itself in the air towards her. Nor could he help his fingers as they brushed themselves lightly from her temple to the top of her cheekbone, tracing the discoloration. “God, Becks,” he whispered quietly to her as his hand cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. “It looks like it hurts like hell.” He let his thumb start stroking at her cheek, now, and she hummed a little, cracking her eyes open again.

“It’s okay,” she whispered back. “Hell of a story, and…” her little grin faltered a little as she trailed off, averting her eyes from him and to her lap.

“And what?” He asked, needing to know.

“And I really don’t mind the treatment it’s getting me…” she felt the blush all but take over her face as she mumbled it out quietly. She wouldn’t be surprised if he could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks with his hand right there. When she finally chanced a look back at him, he was smiling this cute sort of vulnerably open-hearted smile.

She had never seen this smile on him before, but she fell in-fucking-love with it immediately.

Slowly, Mikey’s hand withdrew from her cheek and moved up to touch at the bandage on the side of her head where there was some red tinging the white. “We should probably get that changed soon,” he said idly and she nodded lightly in agreement. Then, he dropped his arm altogether before giving her a dopey sort of look and backing up into the corner of the couch. When he was comfortable in his seat with a leg thrown up on the seat, he looked back at her and smiled at her confusion. “C’mere,” he said with a child-like grin, patting the space between his legs.

Becks blinked in mild surprise before setting her tea down carefully and crawling practically into his lap, leaning against him. When she was settled, he reached over and grabbed the blanket that was laying along the back of the sofa and threw it over the both of them.

“Good?” He asked, double checking that she was fine.

“Mmhmm,” she answered nuzzling her head lightly into his chest. “Y’know, it’s funny,” she said. “You’re so scrawny and bony, but you really are comfy.”

“Oh yeah?” He laughed, reaching down and picking up her left arm, surveying the damage on her elbow. It was scabbed over and not looking its prettiest, but it seemed to be in better condition than her head.

“Yeah.”

The sat in silence for the next few minutes, Becks cuddled up against him, watching as he played with her fingers. She was content, she was warm, she was comfortable, she was full, and the drugs were really starting to take the edge off the pain. And she really, really didn’t mind being on the couch under the blanket with Mikey, watching his hands play with her own.

He really did have such beautiful hands.

“So…” he let out after a minute. Becks tilted her head back and looked up at him and saw a playful sort of grin on his face and a light blush on his cheeks as he looked right back. He would never admit to it, but he was relishing in the proximity. “Jet Li or Jackie Chan?”

Becks smiled instantly.