Breath of Comfort

yeah. More conflict and turmoil and what not. Enjoy. If possible.

He seemed so helpless as he sat there drinking his water. So vulnerable. So afraid. So…alone. His eyes were cast down, staring at the carpeted bed sheets as if they were some sort of creature waiting to swallow him whole. Once he had slipped back into a deep sleep, Crane and picked him up and brought him to my home. I knew Dusty wouldn’t care, and everyone else’s parents were home and in bed. God knows the last thing we needed was to be caught brining home a semi-dead guy.

“Dude, you should seriously call the hospital,” Dusty pronounced for the third time. We had tried to get him to go, but each time he refused by shaking his head and mumbling something inaudible.

“No, I’m fine,” Devon hissed coolly. “I don’t need a damn doctor.”

“Are you sure?” I asked him, wrapping my arms around my chilled shoulders. The cold had finally taken an impact on me once I was no longer worried about him. Well, I was still worried, but I was also cold, and me freezing to death wouldn’t help him get any better.     

I placed my hand on his shoulder for comfort. When I did this, he cut his eyes towards me with a dark glare. I recognized that hollow, angry stare from the hallway that morning. However, when we were in the bathroom trying to revive him earlier that night, he had looked at me with soft admiration. It was such an intense look I remember blushing violently and turning away from him, breathing rapidly and out of beat.  But the piercing ice within his eyes showed no sign of that warm, adoring gaze.

“I. Said. I’m. Fine! Idiot,” he growled fiercely. I removed my hand and stepped back, frightened and inflamed by his harshness. I opened my mouth to argue, but someone else beat me to it.

Before I could calculate how he got here, Draco grabbed a fistful of Devon’s bloody shirt and shook him violently. The rage in Draco’s eyes was matched evenly by the ice-cold hatred in Devon’s.

“I don’t give a s**t how fucked up you are, you better watch your mouth and show a little respect. Don’t ever talk to my girl that way again! Got it?”

Devon fell silent. He looked at me with an apathetic expression, allowing no sign of emotion to break through at all. He just stared.

“Draco, I-” I stepped forward to break up the mess but Draco wouldn’t allow me to come between them.  

Draco looked at me and smiled grimly. “It’s ok, baby. Step back, please.”

The gentleness in his voice made me quiver with affection. Giving no thought to my stubborn nature, I slightly nodded and stepped back, allowing them room to quarrel to their heart’s content. Draco wouldn’t hurt him. Right? I asked myself. I believed he wouldn’t, but the anger he portrayed contradicted my beliefs.

“You’re girl?” Devon finally spoke. His voice matched his eyes in emotion; Zero.

“Yes,” Draco growled savagely, “My girl.” I noticed his emphasis on ‘my’. I couldn’t help but swell with pride at those words. ‘My girl’.

My man.

Devon chuckled dryly, his dark hair covering his eyes as he hung his head in what I assumed was amusement.

“What’s so funny, prick?” Draco exclaimed.

“You’re girl. Right,” he responded fiercely. “Put me down, you Slytherin wannabe. I’m through with you idiots, I’m going home.”

“You stupid little son of a b***h!” Draco raised his fist and began to bring it down on Devon’s face. Raven screamed in the background as the impact of Draco’s raw anger sent me flying across the room. I could feel the blood pouring from my mouth as I skidded across the carpet, scratches and burns forming on my exposed skin. I cried out in pain and curled onto my side, cradling my injured jaw in my hands.

“Jade!” A symphony of panicked voices erupted into the air. I could barely make out what they were saying over the insufferable ringing in my ears.

“What the hell did you do to her!”

“I didn’t mean to! She jumped in front of me…Oh my god! Jade!”

“Jade! Say something!”

I made out Dusty’s massive frame leaning over me and could feel his hands on my back, trying to sit me up against the wall.

Essie, Raven, Crane, and Draco each paced frantically as I struggled to breath.

“Oh my god! Jade! Baby, are you ok?” Draco cried, his voice and eyes hysterical with fear.

“I’m fine,” I choked. “Just a little sore.”

“You f*****g idiot!” another voice screeched. It was overflowing with fear and anguish, clearly the most panicked in the room. I turned my head towards the source, surprised to see Devon hovering over me. His eyebrows were furrowed in a manner that blanketed his forehead with worry lines and wrinkles. The only eye I could see-due to the hair- was glazed over and full of sorrow. He grabbed my shoulders and placed his face dead even with mine.

“Why did you do that?” he screamed. His breath washed over my face, allowing an ocean of comfort to sweep over me before I surrendered to the arms of darkness.

Author's Note

I assume it's obvious but just in case: "Juliet" jumped in front of Draco when he was about to punch "Romeo".