SHE

TEN

I woke up, inhaling deeply as I shot up in the bed.

"Babe?" Eden groaned, clapping weakly, automatically turning on the lights, "are you.."

I didn't hear the last word, running to the toilet, supporting myself by the toilet seat as I barfed all that I had left in my stomach, which was close to nothing at this point. I felt Edens arm grabbing my hair, just as it was about to fall in my face, the other softly running against my back.

Once my body finally stopped trying to force any leftover liquid from my body, I collapsed on the ground. This was taking the best of me, leaving me with no strength.

"Here," Eden handed me a glass of water.

I couldn't physically hold it with my hands, they were shaking too bad, so she put it against my lips, tilting my head a little. I washed my mouth with it, spitting it back in the toilet.

"Thanks," I said, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable.

Her eyes were full of concern as she took in my disheveled look.

"Baby, you should go to the doctor," she said softly.

I smiled, and it probably looked very weak, but hey, at least I tried: "I'm okay, it'll pass."

"Right, I'm taking you to bed," she dropped the subject, "can you walk?"

I tried getting up but failed miserably, Eden catching me.

She cracked a sympathetic smile, " I'll take that as a no."

Then she placed my arm around her neck: "hold on," she said, picking me up.

I smiled. My girl wasn't just the most beautiful person on the earth, but also a strong one as well. It still made me overthink it. Sadly, it only proved even more that she might have something to do with the mysterious "Quietus".

She slowly put me down on the bed, putting the blanket over me.

"You're burning up," she said after she had kissed my forehead.

I hummed in response a little too late as she was already walking away, my eyelids closing.

And so I fell asleep.

///

When I opened my eyes I felt relief pass through me as I realized the headache, dizziness, as well as the sickening need to throw up anything, had finally ditched me.

The delicious smell of waffles found a way to my nose and I finally felt alive, the smell making my mouth water in an instant. I hadn't had the desire to eat for days now and to have it back was quite refreshing.

I smiled, getting up from the bed and fixing my hair in a quick up-do.

"You do realize how much I appreciate you, right?" I grinned, walking in the kitchen, sincerity clear in my voice.

"I'll make a note of that, princess."

That wasn't Eden's voice, it was my dads and as soon as I saw him, I ran to him, tears in my eyes.

"Daddy!" I squealed in pure joy, hugging him.

"I'm here, beautiful," he was as happy as me, lifting me up, "missed me?"

He put me down, smiling as he gazed at me.

"More than anything," I grinned.

"What? More than your momma?" my mom chuckled, looking at the both of us from the kitchen doorway.

"Mom!" I squealed, this time running to her.

At this point, countless tears had already escaped my eyes.

"Don't cry, Ru," she said, wiping my tears away, kissing me on the cheek.

"You should take your own advice, lady," I laughed, wiping away her tears.

Dad was cutting up some strawberries, observing us with a smile.

"My two favorite women in one place," he winked at us.

"What's for breakfast?" I teased, "waffles, right?"

Some things never changed. No matter how much money owned or how much he knew, still the only thing he knew how to cook remained waffles.

"You better watch it, young lady," dad joked back.

"We're missing something," mom said, turning on "Freedom" by Pharrell Williams.

We all looked at each other, immediately starting singing and dancing. This was the families jam, as cringe as it was. Moments like this kept me going every single day between long periods of times I had to wait to see them again. Sometimes it would be weeks, but mainly months. After all the singing, dancing and cooking, we were finally eating breakfast.

"We heard about Kevin, Princess," dad said, looking at me, "why didn't you tell us?"

"It doesn't matter dad, I never loved him and never would. It would just end up to be a waste of my time, so the sooner it is over, the better," I shrugged, downing the coffee.

Mom and dad looked at each other, sharing a silent discussion and leaving me out of it.

"Ru, is everything alright?" mom asked, concern written across her face.

I stayed silent, unsure of how to answer.

"Princess, I know we haven't been here a lot and that you probably don't feel too good about it.." dad started.

"No, Dad, I'm alright, it's nothing I can't handle," I smiled in an attempt to reassure them.

The last thing I'd ever want is for my parents to feel guilty for having a successful business and doing their best to make my life as good as they can. All they'd ever want for me is all the best and that's why they tried their best to provide it for me.

"We can take some time off or -" dad started again, clearly more concerned.

"No, no, no. Don't do that, please. I'm telling you, it's fine," I repeated, getting up from the table, my voice a little too high.

Why was I so stressed? How come this was getting to me? It's not like anything big had happened.

"It's alright, Ru," my mom said softly, getting up and coming next to me, as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"No, you don't get it," I tried to say, random tears leaving my eyes.

"It's alright," my mom repeated, hugging me.

And that's all I needed to break down sobbing until I passed out.

I was never a person to admit when I was not okay. I was stubborn and strong. But I had my breaking point, just like everyone else. Only the problem was I held it all in until I just couldn't anymore. And when I couldn't, it exploded, everything. Now, there had only been 2 times when it had happened. The first being when my grandfather died and I'd tried to kill myself, the loneliness getting to me, and the second being now. I wasn't even sure, what was going on with me now though, unlike then.

As I woke up, I walked downstairs, scared my parents would have left already and I'd spent the time I could have spent with them sleeping.

"Oh, Ru, you're up," my mom smiled, and so did my dad, both of them cuddled up on the couch.

"Want to join us, princess?" dad asked, his eyes focusing back on the TV.

I appreciated how my parents didn't push it, because they knew it would make me feel way worse and instead of opening up, I would just close up.

"Sure," I sat on the ground, my head between their knees.

And suddenly an idea came in my mind.

"By the way, we have new neighbors," I said, "seems like a great family too. You should meet them."

"Oh, is that so? I guess we should introduce ourselves before we leave then," Mom seemed interested.

"There's this girl named Eden, she's pretty amazing."

I tried to sound like I wasn't in too deep with her, but it's clear it was way past that point.

"That's great, she sounds like a nice girl. Are you guys friends already?" dad asked.

"Yes, kind of," I shrugged, biting my lip, silence taking over the room.

I tried as hard as I could to push myself out of the comfort zone I was currently it, but it was pretty hard to break the silence and say something you'd never actually said out loud before, not even to yourself.

"I like her," I said, looking at the ground, knowing they'd figure it out soon enough anyway, it was too obvious.

There was a sound and "ow" that came from dad and I assumed mom had nudged him with her elbow to give some sort of response instead of staring at the back of my head with his mouth hanging open.

"Well," my dad started, sighing.

I couldn't help but be scared of what he would say.

"We're happy for you as long as you are happy," dad said, pausing in an attempt to choose the right words, "no matter whom it's with, princess."

I breathed out the breath I didn't know I had been holding in, sudden relief washing over me.

"We appreciate you telling us, sweety," my mom added, patting my head, "just remember, you don't need anyone to be happy, the most important thing is to be happy with yourself first, alright? I hope you'll introduce us with this girl, she must be quite a masterpiece if she had your head turned."

"Thanks," I nodded, "I'll introduce you soon."

Another silence. Another attempt to break the silence.

"By the way," I tried to keep my voice steady, swallowing rather loudly.

I turned around, facing my parents, wanting to see their reactions.

"Do you guys, by any chance, know anything about "the Quietus"?" I asked.

My dad and mom looked at each other, their expressions different.

And that's how I knew I was in deep, pardon my french, s**t.