Untold
Chapter 43 - I'm With You Part XIII
Summary: None
A/N: Well, I'm actually proud of this chapter. The reason remains hidden from me, but the chapter just feels sort of...deep. And personal. You know? Well, even if you don't - in fact, even if you're mentally writing me off as a fruitcake right now (you wouldn't be the first person) - I hope you enjoy! :)
In the days to come, it would be hard to separate dreams from reality.
Lights always looked too bright, but darkness was comforting and soothing. Sometimes, I could hear what sounded like Toothless' growls, warning and protecting me in the same instant. I heard a lot of battle cries for a long time and explosions and bumps and crashes, noises that made me want to hide from the world.
And then there were noises of footsteps on thick wooden floors, of tense voices asking if I was going to be okay, and there was a lot of pain in those moments because people kept yanking at my wrist.
There was pain in other parts of my body as well and I felt somebody yanking on my left arm once. When I attempted to open my eyes to see who it was, I was rewarded with a blurry image of colors and a barrage of sounds that my ears couldn't yet handle. I closed my eyes again with a groan, and darkness overtook me once more.
And all throughout, the warm arms that encased me never once let go. And the moans of my dragon never once ceased. He constantly nuzzled and licked me, trying to get a response. I couldn't give him one from where I was. It felt like I was at the bottom of the ocean and water was clogging my ears, making every sound too loud, every color too vivid, every light too bright.
I could not respond to Toothless and allay his worries, but then I didn't want to. It felt almost nice that there was someone in this world who wanted me to be okay, and, selfish as it was, I never once tried to speak to him.
And I didn't want to let the arms that held me go, either. I didn't want them to let me go, so I clung to that feeling as well, the feeling that whoever held me was going to keep me safe. Just like Toothless, for some weird reason, this person cared about what happened to me, too. I didn't know why they cared. It wasn't like I was anyone special. It wasn't like they had any reason to care about me. They should have just stopped holding me. They really should have.
But the thing was, they didn't. Not once.
I snuggled down deeper into the arms, letting them rock me gently into oblivion, letting Toothless' moans of worry be my lullaby. My heavy eyes squeezed shut, and the blackness was once again my only companion.
When I next awoke, I was somewhere warm and quiet and dark. A few candles shed their light in the room, and a crackling fire burned somewhere behind me, bathing the floor in a streak of light, but besides that, it was darkness. And those same warm arms encased me, and a calming voice spoke from somewhere above me. The voice was strangely choked, like the speaker was doing his or her best to fight tears.
"Hiccup, I love you."
I inched open my eyes a bit. They loved me? Impossible.
Worried gray eyes filled with tears stared back at me. His voice was so distant. "Hiccup, please don't leave." I felt a hot tear drip from his face onto the back of my hand. I watched the teardrop with strange fascination as it traveled down the length of my hand, onto my wrist. Its journey tickled my skin.
It disappeared beneath a torn green sleeve. My sleeve? I wondered hazily, trying to turn my gaze back up to the crying speaker. I wondered why they cared so much. What did I matter? Why should they love me of all people? If I had given Toothless back the power of flight, then I wasn't worthless, but that didn't make me likeable. That certainly didn't make me loveable. Why should they care?
I closed my eyes as the light began to give me a headache.
"Please don't leave us, Hiccup," he whispered to me. "We all need you."
I squeezed my eyes tighter shut. For some reason, his tears made my own eyes feel a bit wet.
"I don't think Snotlout's gotten a full night of sleep since you came back." His voice was choked still, but he had a sad smile on his face as he spoke, I saw when I peeked up at him again. "He comes over all the time just to see you. Morning, noon and night he's talking to you. Come to think of it, I don't think he's eaten a proper meal, either."
A few tears began to trickle down my cheeks. Why should Snotlout care about me, either? He'd been nice to me, sure, but I didn't really matter that much.
"I'm pretty sure he'll only crash when you wake up."
I forced my eyes to stay open, wanting to speak with him.
He tugged the blanket up around me, tucking it around my chin.
I wanted to say something, but I couldn't even remember his name. "…Hurting…"
"You're hurting?" he whispered, drawing back slightly in surprise. "What's hurting, Hiccup? Where?"
"My…wrist…" My tongue felt thick and heavy when I tried to speak. "My wrist. It…it's burning." Tears began to gather in my eyes, from the pain. "It hurts so badly…"
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "We'll make it better, I promise."
I tried to lift my hand to take a look, but all I saw was a flash of white before his large hand encased mine, gently forcing it back down. "Let's wait til later to look at that, okay?" he whispered.
I wanted to protest, but my head was fuzzy and I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I wanted to fight the exhaustion, but I couldn't. So I closed my eyes and allowed him to tuck the blanket closer around me. I allowed my aching and burning wrist to be forgotten as I was swept back up into the sweet tide of sleep.
