"Really? It hits that hard?"
"Mhm. Its ability plus a Life Orb makes Hyper Beam blow holes through almost anything, outside of Ghosts. But then, it has Shadow Ball."
"I see..." Alysa pouted down at her notebook. Drayton sat nestled against her. He was unsurprisinglykind enough to volunteer his experience against Kieran's team to give her some tips, and help her come up with a type of plan so she wouldn't be going into their battle completely blind. It was a few hours away in the afternoon, and Alysa has barely been able to think straight due to nerves.
Kieran's Porygon-Z was a giant worry, with a powerful move of its same typing plus near-perfect coverage moves. The rest of his team, especially due to dual screens support from his Grimmsnarl, wasn't having her feel great about anything.
"It's super frail though," Drayton mumbled, past the mash of chips in his mouth. He grabbed more from the bag he was holding. "Prime example of a glass cannon."
Alysa hummed in thought, adjusting the sleeves of Drayton's jacket around her frame and looking over towards the boy. He looked happy in a very cute way as he continued eating his snack, and she could see some crumbs tumbling off of him to get lost on or within her bed covering. That didn't bother her though, she did tell him before that she herself ate in her bed too often to care.
"How about his Hydrapple?"
"It's what you'd expect. A slow tank," he stated. "It's honestly not that threatening. Its weaknesses are exploitable. It's almost free I'd say, especially because Tera Fighting doesn't do much for it offensively or defensively." Drayton's face soured some.
"Easily the dumbest thing about it is its signature move. Out of nowhere, if all the heads feel like cooperating, it could deal insane damage."
He sounded very bitter. Her curiosity must've been obvious, as he soon explained.
"That's the biggest reason why I lost the title to him. He chose to send it out earlier rather than save it for last, and I got dealt three max power Fickle Beams. In a row. It let him turn the battle around, and let the rest of his team have a more fun time picking the rest of mine off."
Her eyes widened, incredulous. "Seriously? Three?"
"Yep. To this day, I feel like it was all deliberate too...like Kieran trained Hydrapple's heads to follow the main head's lead," he snorted. "I'm sure there's still clips you can find of our battle in the club's archives." The boy popped more chips into his mouth, but with a touch more aggression. The idea was initially tempting, but then she felt hesitant to try and dig up records of the old battle. The outside context she knew surrounding it made the entire event unpleasant.
Her thoughts went back to he saying Kieran's Hydrapple had weaknesses that were easy to exploit. Already by looking at the available information of it on her phone, she could think of various ways to deal with it using some members of her team. That was a small comfort. Alysa started to jot down a rough flowchart to start off with what Kieran's designated lead pairs could be, but she stopped upon suddenly being stricken by a terrible sensation in her gut.
It was followed by a very audile rumbling and bubbling. She grimaced. Drayton tilted his head.
"Hungry?"
"Yeah...I didn't eat breakfast. Too anxious."
"Aw, babe. You gotta eat." Drayton's smile made her feel strangely guilty, and it shot up when he rolled his bag of chips up to place to the side. He moved to slide off her bed.
"I'll see if there's something I can put together for you."
She wanted to tell him to not bother. To not look in her fridge. Alas, the girl became frozen by shame and instinctively huddled down into his jacket, watching Drayton go into her small kitchen area and open the door of the appliance.
There was silence, and nausea spiked. Without a word, Drayton merely closed the door, and then investigated the freezer. She lifted her notebook up to cover her mouth. Drayton closed that door. His next target were her cabinets, and sure enough, those were also vacant – at least of human-intended foodstuffs. There was plenty of pokemon food of course.
He closed them, walked back to the bed, and crossed his arms. She couldn't meet his gaze, but she could feel it drilling holes into her head.
"Alysa," he spoke with zero levity, "why do you have like no food in your kitchen?"
She didn't say anything right away. Alysa finally mustered up enough courage to look at him, and just as she was expecting, Drayton's expression carried none of his usual casual demeanor. He looked awfully serious more than anything.
"I've been...forgetting to go to the school store."
"For how long?"
"N-Not that long-"
His eyes became hardened. Catching the message, she chose to be honest, but thinking for a moment was required. She trembled as another strong hunger pang hit her.
"...Three weeks."
"Three weeks-" he repeated in disbelief, golden eyes now widening. "How much have you been eating everyday then?"
"Usually twice. Breakfast and lunch from the cafeteria... Unless you bring it up, I forget about dinner a lot."
"Sweetie. That's not nearly enough," Drayton sighed, shaking his head. Her embarrassment grew, but as did this other equally warm emotion...
"Do you even snack on anything?"
"...Outside of what's in the clubroom? No."
His arms dropped. "Ok. Battle plans can wait. We're going to the school store."
"Wha? Right now?"
"Yes. So get your shoes on, pretty girl."
"B-But-"
He pointed towards the referenced clothing items over by her door. Submitting, she quietly whined and nodded. Drayton watched her like a Braviary as she got up to slip her shoes on, then he did the same with his own. He made sure she had her keycard, and shooed her out of her dorm, closing the door behind him.
"You didn't need to do all this Dray-"
"Shush. Making sure you're taken care of is one of my biggest priorities."
The teen interjected, and while his tone was firm, the tenderness in it covered her in a veil. They were finishing up stocking her cabinets of boxes, bags, and containers of an assortment of foods. Aside from the general basics that could fit, her fridge and freezer was loaded with frozen meals able to be thrown in the microwave or oven.
"If not my biggest priority at this point," he added on, balling up the empty plastic bags to dispose of them in the wing's recyclable garbage cans later. Alysa took a breath to try and steady the rampant fluttering in her chest, hanging his jacket from the coat rack and going to organize a small pile of snacks on the counter. Not only did he take her to the store, he had her pick out anything and everything in the isles that she at least thought she'll eat. And, he paid for all of it. The bill around 300 BP, while not that pricey, sat heavily on her mind.
Mainly because, she shouldn't have needed his influence to handle her own business. Drayton seemingly picked up on these thoughts.
"Do you have a habit of doing this, babe? Procrastinating on getting groceries?"
"...Yes. Kind of."
"What do you do when you get hungry, then?" He leaned against the counter. "The cafeteria isn't serving meals all hours of the day."
Alysa bit her lip. "I usually...ignore the hunger pangs. Until they get too strong..."
She hadn't realized she was fidgeting with her fingers, until Drayton stepped forward to gently force her hands apart so he could hold onto them instead. Sparks shot up her arms.
"You ignore your hunger?"
Pink eyes sheepishly dragged upwards to meet gold brimming with concern.
"I've done it so much in the past, I do it without realizing anymore."
She unconsciously squeezed his hands a degree, in the same fashion one would clench a stress ball. He showed no signs of caring.
"Why is that?"
"...Half of the reason is stubbornness, like when I get so focused on something and I don't want to be distracted. The other reason...well..."
Here, she full on hesitated. The truth of the matter was far more serious, than she sometimes wanting to focus so much that hunger gets pushed to the back of her mind. She didn't know how she should explain it, or if she even should reveal anything more than she has. She didn't want to drop a bombshell on the boy, not without at least easing him into the topic.
"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay." Drayton interrupted the silence. His thin brows were furrowed in obvious worry, but his smile was reassuring. The tension building up lessened, but the same couldn't be said for her guilt. Alysa didn't want him to believe that she was uncomfortable being more open with him; that was far from the case.
"It's not that I don't want to. I don't know...how. And I think you'll get upset too..."
He wouldn't know it, but that latter statement was a rather big detail. She's had many opportunities to try and tell others in the past, but she had it set in her mind that nobody would care; because why would they? She was just some random child with no true attachments to any people. These days, now, Drayton was a different story.
His smile fell, and somehow, he appeared even more concerned. That convinced Alysa she truly was saying too much right now. She shook her head.
"I know I have bad eating habits. I'll...try to at least remember to eat more often."
"...I'd appreciate it." Drayton certainly picked up on her indirect attempt to shift the conversation's focus. To her relief, he didn't call it out, but his eyes did do a sweep down and up her body.
"At least three meals a day is best, but even eating snacks is better than nothing. I can remind you to eat, if you need that."
"It wouldn't hurt." The vulnerability creeping forward was kept at bay by his display of such care. Now Alysa was starting to grasp why it kept throwing her off: she just wasn't used to anyone doing things like this for her. How Drayton made it seem so normal for him to help her like this was mystifying. Was it truly normal for people to demonstrate such kindness?
He rubbed his thumbs against her knuckles. "I'll do that, then. Sorry in advance if I start to annoy you after a while."
His quip and smile returning made the air lighter. Drayton released her hands, and went to the fridge.
"Let's get something in your stomach now, eh? Pretty sure you're still hungry."
The organ itself responded to him by growling loudly again. She hid her face at the sound of his chuckle.
Hours later, past noon, it was time.
Alysa walked with Drayton on their way up to the school's entrance. She had her team geared up and ready, but the girl herself absolutely did not feel that way. Her teeth grinded and she kept squeezing Drayton's hand. He made no comment, instead side-eyeing her with a softened look.
Her phone did chime with a new notification. She let go of the Dragon Tamer get it.
"What is it?" he questioned. The corners of her mouth turned up as she took in the device's screen.
"Just the others in the group chat. They're all wishing me good luck."
"Ah. I don't think you'll need luck," he grinned, "but hopefully things do go your way. No Fickle Beam bullshit."
She fought back an amused smile, slipping her phone back into her pocket. Hearing Drayton casually curse was funnier to her than it should've been. It did feel unexplainably in his character to shoot off whatever profanity he felt like.
Bright, natural sunlight greeted the couple as they exited the automatic gates, as did the loud volume of the spectators. Alysa was expecting to see the bleachers completely filled with students standing around the court's sides, but in this moment, it forced a pit to sink in her gut. What didn't help were multiple pairs of eyes zeroing in on she and Drayton.
Kieran himself was already present, and standing in the court's center with his arms crossed and eyes closed. The sight of him alone made her feel nauseous. Previous humor fled Drayton's face, but his voice maintained its softness.
"The Elite Four of us will be cheering you on, starlight."
She had to actively force herself to let go of his hand and not desperately cling to it when he stepped away to go sit with the others. The positivity she could feel from the faces of her friends at least gave her another confidence boost. Carmine was present, and while she wasn't screaming support with her demeanor, there wasn't anything overtly hostile about it either. Alysa was just surprised she was even there after what happened between the two of them, but she at least wanting to support her brother made sense.
Steeling herself as best as she could, Alysa went over towards the receptionist.
"Hello, Alysa. Are you ready for the match?
She huffed out air. "Yes."
The woman tapped at the counter's tablet. "Wonderful. Kieran is ready as well, so the two of you are welcome to start."
Turning towards where the boy was waiting, the force of Alysa's beating heart felt painful in a sense. Her steps were heavier as she approached him, standing in front. Kieran's eyes opened, and he regarded her in virtually the same way he always has – though he seemed especially aggravated today.
"I'll be honest...you've surprised me," Kieran spoke up, arms falling. "It felt like you came out of nowhere, attending our school and joining the club. Then, you went and climbed up the ranks...even defeated the Elite Four."
His brow wrinkled. "Now, you're trying to take my title. Do you even know how hard I've worked to get this? How much it means to me?"
Oh, she had an idea. Alysa didn't respond, actual appropriate words not coming to mind. Kieran went on, not reacting to her silence.
"Only the strongest deserves to call themselves a Champion. Power is what matters, nothing else. Prove to me that you're worthy of standing where I am."
That was what this boiled down to. Feeling like your efforts, your pains, mattered. That power is what made a person strong. Alysa could see the logic, but she could not shake the very pressuring weight that this all...didn't feel right.
She felt as if she truly shouldn't be standing on this court before him. Was it because of her low self-esteem? Or because she wasn't relevant to Kieran hardly at all? She still barely knew him, rarely talked to him. He was the head of the club, but he didn't feel like much of a clubmate to her. This was more of battle she was expected to do, rather than one she was truly invested in. As Drayton made her realize, she hadn't even put any thought at all into what becoming the new president would mean for her.
Kieran was so attached to his title, meanwhile she struggled to form any genuine interest in getting it. There was a sense that wasn't even hers to take. However, the point of no return had already been crossed. She couldn't turn back now. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.
"I just want us to have a good battle."
That was always her intention when it came to the sport, and that would never change.
Kieran's face twisted up that that, and she spied some other emotions slipping into his eyes outside of irritation.
"Take your place."
He turned around, and as if on autopilot, she did the same. The audience erupted into cheers. A numbness filled her being, one that dulled all her senses and allowed her mind to kick into overdrive. Normally, this happened whenever the stress she was bearing became too much and she shut it all out. Here, it would be beneficial at least. All she had to do was concentrate on the battle, and lead her pokemon.
Alysa didn't look towards her friends in the bleachers on the walk to the end of her court's side, in the fear of losing her composure.
"Welcome everyone, to the long-anticipated championship match! Let's not waste any time at all, and get right into it!" the commentator announced.
"Champion Kieran! Challenger Alysa! Send out your leads!" The referee requested.
He selected his Dragonite and Politoed. Her picks were her Galarian Rapidash and her Hydreigon. When she sent out her dragon, Alysa heard quite a number of cheers for him specifically. That scene with he versus Drayton's Archaludon had to have been a favorite battle moment from their club already.
"Now, for the coin toss!"
The small object was flipped, and the winning side was chosen: tails.
"Champion Kieran has the first move!"
Alysa's entire being tensed up, and her pokemon followed suit. Kieran tapped his foot in impatience, somewhat hunching his back down in focus.
"...Begin!"
—|—
The battle went underway, and explosively. Politoed's Drizzle immediately activating and allowing Dragonite to take advantage of it was a difficult start for Alysa, but to none of the Elite Four's surprise, she adapted immediately.
"Geez! She didn't even let his Dragonite do much!"
Crispin held his frying pan over his head to block some of the rain, gaping at Alysa ordering both of her pokemon to target the dragon. Combined super-effective attacks broke the usefulness of Multiscale, and allowed the challenger to score a knockout already. Kieran was not pleased at all, especially when Rei's Yache Berry activated and prevented a knockout from Politoed's Ice Beam.
"Smart. However, this is to be expected. Alysa has proven she is a highly competent trainer," remarked Amarys coolly. Lacey concurred, though she was extremely focused on just watching, as was Carmine.
Drayton observed with his arms crossed. They briefly went over towards Kieran's side, but his gaze remain fixed upon Alysa and her team. Memories of being in a similar situation on that court, but with he being the one who had the title, were fresh. Awfully fresh. He was genuinely worried Alysa might not be able to bear the pressure, but she was doing fine so far.
Paying close attention was essential, as both trainers scored knockouts one after the other. Thea went down to Politoed's Weather Ball, but Sally came in for a revenge knockout. When Porygon-Z hit the field, backed by Grimmsnarl's Reflect and Light Screen support, it did do what it did best. Rei, and then even Lulu, couldn't hold on after being struck by Hyper Beam.
Sally kept proving she was Alysa's biggest physical powerhouse, and still landed a decisive blow on the Normal-type, putting it out of the battle. Grimmsnarl succeeded in downing Mims after his Disguise was broken, but Tari finished him off. Sally dealt with Incineroar.
All that was left on Kieran's side was Hydrapple. It did something that Drayton was dreading...landing a full power Fickle Beam. The already worn out Salamence couldn't keep going after that. The boy grit his teeth.
It was just Tari left for Alysa. Drayton frankly didn't know what she was going to do now, but she keeping herself together helped him stay calm. When she raised her Tera Orb as Kieran did his, he was curious to see what Tera Type Tari even has.
Pink crystals glimmered in the light, as a heart-shaped jewel with wings emerging from it stood out on the dragon's head. Drayton supposed he should've known it'd be Fairy – and what a good type that was against Hydrapple. Gyro Ball would've hit too hard, if Tari hadn't already used Cotton Guard to boost his defense...yet the Altaria's stamina had already dwindled by a lot.
"Good thing Tari doesn't have to deal with Fickle Beam now..." Lacey clenched her hands.
"Moonblast!" Alysa shouted. Her pokemon screeched, forming a large ball of pink and white energy. The resulting super-effective hit, made stronger by the tera boost, made the multi-headed apple dragon cry out.
"Gyro Ball!" Kieran snarled. Hydrapple became cloaked in a white light, and moved at a fast speed upwards. Tari was hit and sent falling. He regained flight, but only just before hitting the court. The bird was heavily fatigued, as was his opponent.
"Both pokemon seem as if they can't go on for much longer! The ending of this mind-blowing battle is swiftly approaching! Will the League Club be receiving a new Champion?!"
"Moonblast!"
"Gyro Ball!"
With loud cries, both dragons meet with their attacks colliding. The explosion sent Tari crashing onto the court, and Hydrapple rolling backwards. The audience collectively held their breath. Unconsciously, Drayton dug his nails into his jacket sleeves.
Both dragons slowly rose, attempting to right themselves... but the Tera Jewels above both of their bodies shattered. Crystal shards flew into the air, the terastallization effect leaving the pokemon in a flash of light.
The boy's eyes widened, watching Tari and Hydrapple fall to the court at the same time. Neither rose.
"What's this? A...A Double KO?" The commentator's voice was thick with shock, and many people around reacted in the same way. Alysa gawked in disbelief, and Kieran looked the same, until a hand flew to his head to grip his hair. The two trainers recalled their fainted pokemon, Kieran visibly shaking as he did.
"A Double KO has never ended an official match! I'm...afraid we do not have any guidelines for an occurrence like this..."
Some League Club staff members came up to the receptionist, and they all headed into the structure behind the front counter.
"We ask for everyone's patience as we hold a discussion..."
"So, who won?" a girl somewhere behind the elites asked.
"I dunno. They might pick with a coin flip."
"They better not. That'd be such a dumb way to end it." Carmine addressed the students with a raised tone of voice.
Crispin sighed loudly, covering his face with his beloved utensil.
"Ughhh, what are they gonna do? We seriously don't have any rules about this?"
The steel elite shook her head, face troubled. "We do not. I suppose... it was never thought of as a feasibly possible incident."
"They do have to pick a winner here. Though, I'm not sure what criteria they'll go by." Lacey hugged herself. A heavy breath fled from Drayton's nose. First double knockout to ever finish a championship match...trust Alysa to keep wowing him.
He couldn't see her face as she had her back mostly turned to this side of the bleachers, but he could see she messing with her fingers yet again. Her anxiety was tangible in the air – easily detectable among the chaos. Everyone's only option was to wait for a verdict.
It felt like an hour, but around five minutes passed until the staff members returned out front. The commentator came back to the mic soon after.
"An official decision has been reached. We believe in the fundamentals of pokemon battling, regarding at least one pokemon needing to be left standing to justify a victory for its trainer. With that in mind, the victor of this match is..."
Silence fell over the area.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"...Champion Kieran."
There was an uproar. Drayton's hearing was overcome by a ringing sound.
"As Alysa was unable to defeat him with one of her pokemon remaining active, Kieran was not truly defeated, resulting in he keeping his title."
"I see the logic there..."
"Wooow, that's lame! All of his pokemon still fainted though!"
Drayton paid no attention to the reactions of dismay from his friends. All he could focus on was Alysa. She hunched inward, and he just wanted to get up and run over to the court-
"I knew it...! I KNEW IT!"
Kieran's composure was utterly gone, replaced by a mania that had his eyes as wide as dinner plates and his mouth twisted up. He looked like he was gripping his hair so hard, that he'd rip it out.
"I AM the strongest! Nobody here can touch me!" the boy addressed Alysa, releasing his disheveled ponytail. With every word, Drayton could feel ice spreading through his skin.
"You couldn't even keep all of your pokemon up! Only a WEAK and STUPID trainer can manage that!"
"What?!" Lacey put a hand to her mouth.
Countless voices collectively gasped. Alysa stiffened up, but seconds later, she darted off of the court whilst hiding her face. She passed the gates and vanished into one of the halls going down into the school.
"...We, uh, thank you all for attending this championship match..."
Many students were appalled by Kieran's words, and as the bleachers begun to be vacated, he received many dirty looks. Yet, none of them compared to the one Drayton had when the boy unintentionally made eye contact.
The Dragon Tamer was livid.
Overwhelming rage kept him rooted to the spot, burning muscles tensed. It also wanted him to go down to the court and do something he would absolutely regret later. Kieran, easily identifying the severe hostility, immediately ran off himself to flee into the building.
"Kieran's words were unjust," Amarys stated solemnly, despondent. Crispin looked a mixture of puzzled and upset. Carmine remained silent, craning her head down to where her long hair hid it from sight.
"Drayton-" Lacey's saddened voice speaking his name snapped the teen to full awareness. "Please go check on Alysa...!"
He hadn't realized it, but he was shaking. The boy said nothing in response, shooting up to his feet and exiting the scene at a quickened pace. His first destination was the Pokemon Center, and he ignored all who either stared at him or tried to get his attention. Minutes later, he reached the facility, and whipped his head around in search of the girl. She was nowhere to be found, so Drayton went to the next possibility.
He crossed school grounds and reached her dorm room shortly, steps nearly equivalent to stomping. When he got close enough, Drayton picked up on sounds that dumped a bucket of water on his fury.
Crying.
It was heart-wrenching. Gone for now was his anger, and a desperate need to comfort his girlfriend was born. He knocked on her door, causing the noise to cut into silence.
"...W-Who's there?" a scratchy voice that still maintained a gentle aura whispered.
"Drayton, sweetheart."
His voice was subdued, but still loud enough to have been heard. There was shuffling behind the door that grew louder, until the lock clicked and it opened. He was greeted by pink teetering closer to red, and a freckled face slick from tears. Alysa didn't say anything, instead rushing forward to cling to him. Her face pressed into his chest, and she let out another sob.
He held her close, and used his legs to silently urge her to step back into her dorm. He closed the door behind him.
"I'm..." she inhaled, muffled. "I-I'm so sorry for disappointing you."
His nose wrinkled. No way in hell was he letting her headspace go there.
"You didn't disappoint me. At all. You battled well, Alysa." He ran his fingers down the fluff of her hair. "Kieran only won because of a technicality."
He couldn't hold back the venom that laced his name.
"It shouldn't have even been that close!" she cried. "But, losing isn't what got to me. It's...what he said..."
The elite coaxed Alysa to follow his lead, walking them over to her bed, where he sat down. He pulled the girl onto his lap. She moved her head from his chest to his shoulder.
"What he said wasn't true, and he only did it to patch his own ego." Drayton nuzzled her head, and slowly rubbed her back. To him, there was the glaring fact that Kieran did an awful lot of heavy-handed projection. But that wasn't the first time he's done something which came off that sense.
"You aren't weak or stupid in any way."
"...I...I still feel like I failed my pokemon..."
"You didn't. Kieran isn't a shining example of what a trainer should be like. Whether he meant what he said or not, don't let him get to you."
Something that he himself was starting to fail at, Drayton recognized.
Kieran's behavior change was jarring at first, but it turned into an aspect of him that he grew to expect. It became easier to let the kid run his mouth, look up past his nose at him as much as he wants, and let it all roll over his back like water. It was even satisfying, not giving Kieran the reactions Drayton knew he wanted – similar to how he deals with Carmine in that sense...but how unnatural the Champion's behavior was still stuck out. This wasn't the true Kieran. Whoever had leeched onto the identity of a Champion was a pitiful imitation of him.
Keeping that in mind helped Drayton to not get too angry. Too upset. But that all changed when Alysa came into the picture.
It was kind of funny how hard it had set in over the course of he knowing her, but he detested she getting mistreated in any way. No matter who did it. Carmine was lucky he thought twice and didn't confront her over she picking a fight with his darling because of him – though he still got back at her in a less direct way. Kieran was very lucky he fled from the court when he did, and Alysa's wellbeing was a far greater priority versus hunting him down.
She was far too gentle, too sweet, to have to deal with things she shouldn't; even though he knew she was stronger than she came off as. That didn't change nor alter the need to protect her...doubled by he becoming more and more suspicious that she's been through too much in her life already.
Drayton found himself laying a kiss to the top of her head and having his lips rest against her, wanting to soothe her distraught state however he could. For her to find comfort in him and his presence, like she has many times before. He was glad to see she was beginning to calm down, as her sobbing quieted. The two sat in silence together, Alysa's face hidden in the crook of his shoulder, until she shifted.
"Sorry for making a mess of your shirt..."
"It's no biggie. I can always wash it."
She pulled back, revealing that her tears have finally stopped flowing. The boy leaned in to kiss her forehead, and tenderly dragged his lips down the ridge of her nose. Her eyes briefly closed and she gripped him tighter, but a little smile had slowly formed – just as he hoped.
"Can you stay here with me, for a while?" she asked at a quieter volume.
"I'll stay for as long as you want me to."
A promise. She visibly brightened more at that, and their temples came to rest against one another. He was content to sit like this with her, until one or both of them felt like moving to a different position...
...His phone suddenly ringing made them both jump. It was rare for he to get calls, instead of texts. One of his arms cradling Alysa's back to prevent her from falling, Drayton used his other to reach into his pocket and pull out his Rotom phone. He checked the caller ID.
A jolt ripped through his chest. The teen instantly muted the device, and tossed it to the other side of Alysa's bed.
"Who was that?" she asked, curious. He feigned a casual smile.
"Just a spam call. Nothing important."
The answer was good enough of one. To his relief, Alysa didn't question further, and laid her head against his shoulder. She doing so allowed her to miss the grim look that appeared on him. He resumed rubbing her back, to continue comforting her and now himself.
... ... ...
It was his grandfather who was calling him.
Surely it wouldn't be for anything good, and he didn't want to deal with it right now.
Alysa needed him more.