Chapter 6

Knock, knock, knock.

Lina rushed to the door. Mrs. Murdo and Dr. Hester weren't there, so she was going to have to tell this person to come back later.

"Coming!" She called. She was about to open the door, but then she heard an "Ouch-OW!" She recognized that tone. It was Doon. She sighed and opened the door. Her first reaction was a jump to the site of him. He was clutching his wrist, rubbing it. The side of his face was red and he had quite a few bruises.

"Doon!! What happened?" Lina demanded.

"Uh, I bumped into a lot of walls…" Doon lied, blushing.

"You look horrible, no offence. How much damage did he do?"

"Uh, not that much. I just kept falling back down every time I tried to get up." Doon smiled.

Lina's face was serious, but at the same time, a look of pain appeared.

"Aw, d-don't worry about me-OW!" Doon cried as he tried to wave it off like he normally did.

"Of course I'll worry!" She exclaimed, "You're hurt!"

"Lina…" Doon complained, "I'm fine…AH!" He tripped but got back up, limping,

"See? Perfectly fine. No harm done!" He lied with a nervous smile.

Lina shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, helping him to the couch.

"I told you, Doon. You shouldn't have gotten into that fight," She said, looking down.

"Yeah, but it was for you. I didn't mind. I don't care if someone kills me, if it's for you, I'll be glad to take the blow any day." He smiled. A real smile, though.

Lina sighed, "But look what this got you, Doon! I don't want you hurting yourself over me!"

"Lina," Doon said his face serious, "I'm fine. Honestly. I came here to see the Lina I know. Not the one who worries over me. Whether I'm with you or fighting for you, I don't feel pain if it's for you. I only feel pain if your in trouble. And you nearly were. I didn't want to get you involved in that fight. Besides, you look a whole lot prettier without bruises and broken bones. Ouch…"

"Doon, what's broken?" She sounded alarmed.

'Oops, I shouldn't have said that…' Doon thought.

"No, nothing's broke-OW!!" He screamed again. Lina noticed him rubbing his bloody wrist. She jumped up from the couch to go gets so bandages and came back shortly. When she came back, Doon had that nervous smile on his face again. She sat back down.

"Okay, give me your wrist," she said.

Doon obeyed and laid his wrist onto her hand.

"Ow!" He cried.

"So, what happened?" Lina asked, "I mean, at the fight…"

"Oh, that? Well, I got a good punch to his stomach, but then when I tried to punch him again, he sort of grabbed my wrist, and well...'crack'…" Lina cringed, "He got a pretty good kick at my leg, which now hurts almost as much as my wrist. He was basically the bully I never had." He laughed, "But, yeah, he beat me up. That's why I have all these bruises… But I did manage to knock him out for a bit!"

Lina looked down.

'I was right, wasn't I?' She thought to herself.

"Hey what's wrong, Lina?" Doon asked as she kept bandaging his arm.

"So what happened?" She asked.

"What do you mean? I just told you-"

"I mean, how did it end!?" she demanded, "Who won?" She looked down again.

Doon moved closer to her and wrapped his hands around her, moving her closer to himself in a tight hug. The hug scared Lina, almost as if she was expecting to hear that Tick won.

"Who do you think, Lina?" Doon asked.

Lina couldn't tell by the tone of his voice. It wasn't happy. It wasn't sad. It was… empty. Doon let go and looked down for a minute. Lina was focusing on Doon's wrist, but when she looked up at his face, He was staring right into her eyes. They both paused for a second as he stood up from the couch. He forgot about his hurt leg and fell back down, only this time, right above Lina on her side of the couch. They're faces started coloring red.

"Who do you think?" He asked again, only he had a grin on his face. He leaned in and gave her a semi-quick kiss.

Four to One. Take that, Tick! Doon thought to himself, but his teasing thoughts were interrupted with the look on Lina's face.

"Someone's happy!" He chuckled, "This is the Lina I know!"

Doon barked out in laughter, followed by a really loud "Ouch!"

Lina hurried and got some more bandages, wrapping them around Doon's wrist.

"Ah, much better. Thank you, Lina." Doon said.

"U-uh, no p-problem…are y-you sure though? Y-your wrist looked p-pretty bad…"

Doon erupted into another fit of laughter and Lina stared at him, puzzled.

"Lina, my wrist is fine. I told you, nothing hurts when I'm around you. But that's not why I was thanking you for."

Doon gave her a short kiss. She kissed back in the little time they had before their lips parted.

"I was thanking you for that." He finished. He smiled a wide smile and got up, "Well, I'd better- AH! … Ouch…" Doon tripped again as Lina shook her head.

"Not yet. I'll get you some ice for your ankle." Lina said. Doon flopped on the floor. Lina came back with some ice and gave it to Doon. He held it to his ankle.

"Okay, mom, can I go now?" He laughed. Lina rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. But consider yourself grounded." She giggled.

"Aw! You're mean!" Doon whined.

Lina laughed, but then became more serious, "But Doon, make sure you don't do anything stupid like that again, okay?"

"It wasn't stupid, but if you say so, I won't." He promised. He walked out the door, waving with his good hand.

Lina smiled as she saw him walk out the door.