Caleb was thankful to see the bus stop, not a five minute's walk from where they were now as he took quick steps, thundering past people who seemed to stop and stare and he knew they were looking at Will, but he didn't know why. Everyone seemed to know who she was and it rattled Caleb's core as he pulled her delicate with as much force as dared without possibly hurting her. These people were hurting her enough. "Caleb.. Stop.."
Caleb did so, for currently he couldn't say no to her, not with that break in her voice, which barely whispered into his ears, yet he heard the pain there. He'd never heard pain in Will's voice before. Not like this. Never had he seen the tear track down her face as faintly as the breeze stroked his skin. Never had he seen the ache in her eyes that made him want to drown rather than continue looking at her, but he couldn't look away from the mesmerising profile of Will that stood before him. She wasn't very strong in real life and she grew weaker in his dreams so that he needed to protect her, but Caleb was falling now; falling away because he didn't know what to do. "Will.. You have to-"
"My head hurts." Her head hurt? Was that it? Was that all? He was sure he could fix that and then it might all be okay, but he didn't have any medicines here and he'd have to- "I wanna go home, Caleb. Take me home."
Home. He was about to ask her where in Gods name she wanted him to take her, but she was already walking toward the bus stop, tugging him along as she gripped her tiny fingers around him as if he was going to fade away, but as soon as he felt it, he knew he was doing the same to her. He'd gone too far and taken a step out of his comfort zone, but now he realized that Earth wasn't his safe place. Heatherfield was. Will was. The guardians made everything safer and he just wanted to go home and fall asleep. But he couldn't sleep. There was a child attached to his hand. He stopped and pulled her in, remembering how helpful it was, just to feel someone's arms around you. "I am Will, I am."
...
"Elyon.." Cedric soothed, the girl had yelled out her frustrations and collapsed into him, weeping as the wind fell lifeless and the rain pattered out in bigger droplets that suited the wails she was emitting into him, unaware of his smile. "Shht.. Elyon.. It's alright.."
...
He let the driver click holes into the tickets once the bus had arrived, Will still shaking now as he pressed her into the crook of his shoulder, numbly trying to zone out the sniffles, which hit him like the tips of arrows; slicing and penetrating his skin with undeniable force. "Will, you know I could just-"
"H-he's gone now." Caleb frowned as Wil's lower lip trembled and he wish he could stop it. He wish he were allowed to just press one finger against her lips, just to end the quiver that was chilling him entirely. "I rem-member-er n-now."
He wasn't entirely sure what she remembered, but it didn't matter as he watched another tear slide down Will's finely rounded cheeks, which he realized were near white in comparison to his lightly tanned skin as he pressed his thumb against the tear, squashing it into mere salt-water on his hand. She didn't deserve to cry. It had almost annoyed him that Will never did, but he was glad that Will wasn't like this. He was glad that Will was strong and that he was the one who'd needed comfort when she'd been enflamed. He was glad that as small as she was in battle, she didn't ever need more than a hand. "Please don't cry."
"I'm sorry.. That you have to sit with me." It still sounded broken, but she'd held away any sniffles so that she was completely coherent. "I know you must be embarrassed, and I'm sorry that it's so pathetic when I cry."
Pathetic. He didn't think she looked pathetic, and he gave her a comforting smile as she looked at him, guiltily. As if she had done anything wrong. He could recall telling Will that it was okay to cry, and she'd laughed in his face, so it was probably better to say something else as he stared into a haze of cinnamon and coffee and let it slip out, caring as little of the consiquences as he would whether this were Will or not.. Not even hearing what he was saying, and not understanding why he was saying them. "You're far too beautiful when you cry. I don't like it because I feel like I'm asleep."
Anyone guess what Caleb does with Will when he's asleep? ;)