am i unhinged or just hangry

As the scene in the video unfolds, his daughter clings to her mama and sniffles, rubbing her eyes with her small hands. Your hand can be seen in the video removing Atlantis’ small hands from rubbing her eyes and brushing her short purple hair strands off her face before wiping her tears with your palm.

Atlantis’ lips quivered as she needily mewled in the video, “Dada…”

“Dada will be away for some time, Atlantis.” It was your firm voice. 

“Want Dada…....Ayel…....” She rubs her eyes again, still sniffling. “Ayel” was her own way of saying “Rafayel” since she still cannot pronounce all three syllables of her dad’s name yet. Rafayel almost teared up on how his daughter's longingness can be heard from her wobbly voice. He doesn’t want to think about how much pain his baby is going through.

“Ayel.....…Ayel........” Her small hands can be seen on camera tugging on your shirt, begging for her dad. Each utterance of "Ayel" sounded progressively sadder. Rafayel’s heart broke completely. He knows how children tend to seek comfort from their parents during a fever, especially when they feel pain.

You gently caressed her head and kissed her hot forehead to soothe her, as seen in the video. “Dada will be back very soon, love.” 

“Mum…” Your daughter curls up and hugs your chest mellowly as you rock her to sleep and whisper sweet nothings to her ear, the toddler’s yearning for her dad still not satisfied.

When the recording ended, Rafayel’s lips quivered and his chest tightened as he traced his daughter’s face through the screen with his finger tenderly and longingly. How desperate he is to hold her in his arms and coo at her softly to ease the pain and comfort her.

mc: i had to give her one of your clean shirts that had your cologne on them so she could smell your scent. she hugged and held onto it until she dozed off only then she could sleep

Your revelation caused Rafayel’s heart to clench tighter. His homesickness caught up to him too. Badly.

rafayel: in tears rn my poor baby im coming home as soon as possible curse this n everyone i mean it

rafayel: take care of yourself too ok cutie dun starve yourself rest and sleep properly hold on just for a little longer and ill be there with you and our lil cutie

rafayel: ill call later when shes awake i love you please tell her im omw home and dada loves her too ill be by her side 24/7 when i come back i promise

rafayel: hope she feels better soon

mc: sure message me when you're free. i love you come home safely

Rafayel truly did not give a fuck if he had to pay triple the standard travel fee to rush back home to his wife and daughter. Thomas—who was also concerned about his client's daughter, and as a father himself—didn't stop Rafayel from running off anymore when he found out he wants to go back right away because of Atlantis' fever. The overseas exhibition that required him to stay for another day be damned, he could not withstand another day anymore knowing back at home his wife is restless and his daughter is crying out for him and in pain without his presence. Even so, he didn't forget to gather a few souvenirs for the both of you.

***

whoever disagrees that rafa deserves a married + family life w us lk this after everything he's gone through is not safe around me thank you

Caleb's tall figure emerges from the kitchen door. Your shoulders hunched up upon hearing the seriousness in his voice. Shoot. You cursed yourself in your head. You composed yourself and did your best to stand up straight.

“Why are you still up? Aren't you tired from travelling all the way here from Skyhaven?”

“I just finished washing the dishes. Gran was worried sick about you all night. If i hadn’t put her to sleep she’d be up waiting for you ‘til sunrise.”

Guilt rushed in your veins. He closed the distance between the two of you and you almost flinched when he stood there right in front of you. You averted your eyes and tried your best to act normal. You were thankful at least that the main lights were out and only the dim lit ones were on. You pray he doesn’t see your wounds and bruises all over.

You cleared your throat, not minding your aching limbs. “I just went drinking with friends after work. It’s been a long day and I’m really tired.”

“Really…” He lifts your chin with the side of his finger. “Do you always come home with a busted lip when you drink with your friends? 'Cause if you do, I might have a little chat with them.”

“I… How did you see…?” You cover the corner of your wounded lip with your hand. Does he have night vision?

“20/20 vision is required in the field of aviation.” he motioned you to sit on the sofa. You would’ve protested if your legs didn’t feel like it was about to give out any time.

You sat yourself down on the sofa. You hear Caleb fumble something from the cabinets before he follows and sits beside you. He pried your face towards him while holding your chin and looked closely at the wound at the corner of your lip, his expression hardened as he examined your face.

You tried to read his mind, but the thoughts behind his eyes were far too difficult to decipher. He started cleaning the wound with a gauze pad and putting antiseptic ointment from the first aid kit.

Still avoiding eye contact, your voice shook while trying to find the words to say. When you opened your mouth, that's when everything went off like a word vomit. 

“Caleb, i’m sorry for worrying you. I can take care of myself. I’ve been a really heavy burden to you and I know you’re already tired enough as it is. I really, really don’t want to cause you any more problems.” you uncomfortably shifted, removed his hand on your cheek and turned your head away from him. “Believe me, I tried so hard to get off work without a scratch. But I’m also really not in the mood for nagging right now. You can tell me off as much as you want tomorrow morning, just not ton–” 

You were cut off when your he silently cradled your cheek with a gentle touch and made you look at him. Your mouth gaped when you saw how somber his expression looked, the shine of his eyes reflecting the dim lights that illuminated the living room. 

“Do you really feel that way?” Caleb’s voice cracked.  “You’ve never been a burden, nor will you ever be,” his sapphire eyes looked apologetic as he reassured you.  “I’m sorry about the nagging. I didn’t mean to. I just... hate to see you in this state. I would never want you to feel like you’re always being scrutinized. I know you’re doing your best and you’re exhausted. You shouldn't feel guilty about something you don’t have any control on, and I’m very sorry for making you feel that way.” He brushes his thumb comfortingly on your cheek.

“I…” you paused, not knowing what to say. You held his hand on your cheek. Your lips quivered before you finally went for it and hugged his torso. Your arms wrapped under his arms and around him, the side of your face pressed up against his chest, inhaling his cologne. It felt like a sanctuary to be in his arms.

Caleb looked down at you, immediately reciprocating the affection, wrapping his arms around you too.

“Hmm? What is this?” he caressed your hair.

“I’m just lucky to have you.”

“What, because I’m the only one you can talk to because you have no friends?” he jokes.

You looked up at him. “You’re the only one.”

The way you said those words caught him off guard yet he quickly pulled it together. “Yeah, yeah enough with the flattery,” he dismisses but he doesn’t mean it, wrapping his arms tighter around you and comfortably resting his chin atop your head. “There, there. I’m sorry for making you feel like you’re always walking on eggshells. I know well that you can't control the nature of your work. It was insensitive of me. If there’s someone I want to be, I want to be someone whom you can trust.”

You’d trust him with your life, anytime, anywhere.

You melted in his arms. You felt secured for the first time in forever you didn’t think you’d end up in your childhood friend’s arms tonight. You missed him so much. You wish he would just stay here with you and grandma.

You were completely oblivious to the fact that Caleb was just as head over heels to see you even back at Skyhaven that he stayed awake tonight because he can’t wait to see your face. There's not a single day he didn't yearn for you while he was away. Of course it pained him to see you hurt tonight.

“Promise me you’ll try not to get hurt as often.” Caleb’s large hands rubbed your back.

“Sure, in one condition.” You withdrew from the hug and faced him, feigning a serious face.

He chuckles, “You haven’t changed at all, pipsqueak. What would that be? Don’t worry about the chores and cooking. You can count me on that. Focus on recovering.” He gestured to the bruises on your body.

“No, not that.” You broke your composure for a second before returning to your dead serious face. “Promise me you won’t abandon me, ever. I want to see you everyday when I come home. I’d crumble if you vanished suddenly without a trace. I’ll bite you if you leave me.”

Caleb paused.

He pulls it together before smiling warmly. “...Okay. I promise I’ll never leave you, you can never get rid of me, anyway.”

He ruffled your hair and lifted his pinky to further swear. You stared at his pinky and immediately got the cue. You locked your pinky with his as a pinky promise.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

You held onto his word with every fibre of your being.

You shouldn’t have.

You both went to the convenience store but he said he’ll just wait for you outside. You grabbed convenience store food for the both of you. You didn’t bother to ask if he was hungry, you bought him food as an initiative. After you paid at the counter, you went out through the glass door of the convenience store and found Vinny outside. 

Taking a good look at his face clearly with the help of the light from inside the convenience store, now you can see some of the bruises that weren’t noticeable a while ago because the evening sky was already dark, started showing in hues of purple-blue. You know those hurt, but he’s either numb or good at hiding pain.

Just like you. 

“Ice?” Vinny asked after he examined the bag you were carrying when you got out of the convenience store. The ice was in a transparent plastic bag while the food was in a translucent one so he didn’t see you bought two sets of them.

“It’s for your bruised face.”

He didn’t reply. 

Why do you care? 

He started walking forward with you following behind, trusting him to lead you to his home. You don’t know why you trust him this much either, maybe it’s because he has shown you a lot of proof that regardless of his grumpy attitude, he’s harmless. You have trust issues, but somehow you don’t sense any ulterior motive when it comes to Vinny, even if your first impression of him wasn’t all that.

Vinny stopped walking in front of a gate down a small neighborhood. You immediately get the hint that you’ve arrived at his house. Vinny held the keys to the gate, he was about to open it, but at the last moment, he hesitated. He thinks about the fact that you’re wealthy and his house isn’t really pleasant to be in for someone standing in a social class like that such as you. He’s insecure of his status, and he’s ashamed of you seeing the proof of it. He contemplates whether he’s making the right decision. There’s a big part of him that wants to back out and decide otherwise.

But then when he looked over his shoulder to you, there was no sign of discomfort nor displease. Nothing but your normal face, patiently waiting for him to open the gate. He snapped out of his thoughts and wordlessly continued to open it. The priority here is treating your wounds and not anything else.

When you stepped inside his home, there were a few scattered things, although it wasn’t messy. It’s warm and it’s home. You scanned the interior as Vinny searched for the first aid kit his mother had, avoiding to see your expression, because if you were disgusted by his house, he’d rather not see it, honestly. But you weren’t. Not in the slightest.

While scanning his home, your eyes caught a glimpse of a wooden framed picture. It’s Vinny when he was a kid, and an older woman behind him holding his shoulders, who you reckon is his mother. There was another person but it looked like the picture was cut and the person was cropped off the frame. His dad? You shrugged it off and stared at the picture intently, specifically at the young Vinny. He has the same fiery hair and hetero-hued eyes. His unique facial features are natural, after all. 

Quite a lively looking kid, he was. 

He’s cute.

Meanwhile when Vinny found the kit, that was the first time he laid eyes on your face ever since you got inside his house, although only one side of your face was available in his view, he could see your small smile while looking at the framed picture. He halted his steps while holding the box.

You envied how he looks with his mother. In the portrait, he looked happy regardless of his knocked off front tooth. His mother was, too. How you wish you could experience that. You cannot recall a Jo family picture where your smiles are of genuine happiness. You shook your head and diverted your attention to Vinny, the grown-up one, who was now carrying a box, the first aid kit.

“You’re quite cute when you were younger. I wish you hadn’t grown up.” You commented and sat yourself at the floor, opening the plastic bag of convenience store food. Vinny’s mouth set in a hard line. “Can I have that picture?” you pointed at the framed picture.

“No,” was his immediate reply. He sat down with you while still keeping distance, which you didn’t mind, and avoided your eyes. 

“Fine.” You glared at him. “Eat while you deal with your cuts.” You gestured to his food. 

Vinny eyed at the instant ramyeon and self heating rice. “It’s you who should eat, not me. I didn’t tell you to buy food for me, I’m not hungry.”

“You are now.” You faced the mirror on his wall behind where you were sitting while holding your glasses and disregarded him. “I’ve missed you.” 

Vinny accidentally broke his avoidant eye streak to look at you, because for a second there he thought you were talking to him. You held your glasses like it was a beloved living thing before discarding Jay’s spare one that you borrowed and putting it inside the protective case, and wearing yours. 

“Go on, eat,” you told him while still looking at yourself in the mirror. You also pointed at the ice to gesture to him to ice his bruises.

Eventually, after contemplating, he took one bite and then got the gauze pads and betadine bottle himself to treat his cuts. You observed him, he sucks a sharp breath and hisses whenever he presses the gauze pad on his cuts. He’s having trouble with it, because he’s pressing his hand on his own wounds too hard. You sighed.

“Give it here.” You got the gauze pad from his hand and threw it. “You’re too rough on your own skin.” Then, you got a pint sized cotton ball and dampened it with betadine solution.

You pressed lightly under his eye. Vinny thought it’d hurt still, but when you were the one doing it, it didn’t. When Vinny registered the close proximity between the two of you, he looked away immediately. While you were focused on treating his wounds and completely oblivious, rather casual, to even consider just how close your face was to his right now.

Vinny opened his mouth while still avoiding looking at you directly. “You do have a sort of calling to always patch people up. I can do it myself. Stop doing things for me.”

Not even Sung, that little fucker, has touched his face in any context, yet here you are.

“I just don’t want to see you in the emergency room when you get an infection because you treat your injuries poorly.” You looked up at his eyes for a second and continued with the scratches on his cheek. “Besides, the reason I asked if you have a first aid kit is because I want to know if you have tools to patch yourself up. You’re the one who wanted me in your house.”

Vinny’s mouth slightly hung open in disbelief. “Because I thought you wanted to patch yourself up before you go home!”

“Whatever,” you dismissively uttered. 

His hunch while waiting for you outside the convenience store—strengthened by the ice—was right.

Both of you are here right now because you thought about each other’s injuries.

He thought of the conversation he had with Sung just a few days ago. “How is your stab wound, by the way?”

Your fingers halted as you were taken aback by his question. 

“It’s… fine, I mean, not fully, but the wound's closed. Although even if it’s already semi-healed, it sometimes stings when the weather’s cold.”

When you attended to his busted lip, he had the chance to finally look at you without you noticing because your eyes were fixated on the corner of his lip and you wouldn’t notice if he stares at your face. His eyes perceived your appearance in this closer look he was getting. Greyish feline eyes, long lashes, flowy dark hair. 

He thinks you look like somebody he currently knows, but he can’t point a finger who. 

“Done.” You finished securing the gauze with surgical tape. “You still gotta ice those bruises, though.” You sanitize your hand and pick up your chopsticks to go back to eating your ramyeon. “Don’t touch your wounds, wash your hands first. the E.R.'s cramped enough to deal with you when it gets infected,” you reminded him.

Vinny groaned at your nagging as you continued eating. He stared at you as you spilled five whole ketchup packets on your corndog. You clearly love ketchup, he can see that.

“Do they pay you in that hospital?” He asked while paying close watch to your weird eating habit.

“No, there’s no place for a high school student there. I’m just there because my mother wanted me to familiarize myself with medical procedures before I go to college. But then I became divergent from her sponsor and—” you stopped when you realized something. “The hospital training… Oh no, oh no, no. What is she going to say?” 

You anxiously sat and covered your mouth as you thought how you hadn't attended hospital training for weeks. 

“She’s going to kill me,” you mumbled, still anxious.

Beside you, Vinny looked puzzled. “Who?”

“My mom.”

“Oh.”

Vinny tried to read your facial expression yet he couldn't. Your mother must really be a problem. The fact that you were seriously willing to be stitched up by him, rather than go to a hospital where your mother would see you, already says a whole lot. Plus, the fact that you would have rather bled to death if he didn't come to your side, not because no one brought you to a hospital, but because no one convinced you to.

“Well, I gotta go home now.” 

You put all your trash in one plastic bag to toss outside on your way and stood up to stretch your back. You keep surprising him. You’re not even scared of walking in the dark. While cracking your spine, you lagged when you caught his eyes staring at you like you were an alien.

“What?”

He shook his head in disbelief. But then he also stood up and pulled his jacket off the rack. “Let’s go.” And then he left first. 

It took you a moment to realize what he was trying to do. You let him do it because you gotta admit, talking to him amuses you—unexpectedly. And teasing him? It feels good.

“Wait a minute, you’re going to walk me home now? That’s really something.” He ignored you. “Hey, I’m not done talking to you, Vinny.”

“You got stabbed a week ago. You got into a fight tonight. And don’t call it ‘walking you home’—it sounds weird.” He grimaced. “I’m not doing this because I want to keep you from harm. I’m doing this to accompany you while you deal with it.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” you said, obviously unconvinced. “What about your part time job?”

“It’s already late. I can’t come in now or I’ll be nagged.” Just thinking about how the lady manager’s going to beat his ass and nag him for skipping a shift already hurts his ears.

You grinned. “What difference would it make if I got mobbed or if we get mobbed together? Do you think you’d make a difference? What confidence you have.”

Vinny flashed a sinister smirk. “Then at least they’d suffer more by fighting the both of us.” 

You stopped your tracks. If you think about it, apparently Vinny has this subtle… protective instinct. You don’t know if he’s like this to anyone else. Just like when he could’ve left while you were sleeping after you were taken to the hospital, but he stayed true to his words and waited for you to wake up before leaving. Another instance was earlier when he put himself in front of you to shield you from your attackers. And now, this.

He looked back at you with his heavy-lidded eyes that always made him look arrogant. “Well? Lead the way, grumpy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why? You have unpredictable mood swings, and unresolved anger issues. It suits you.”

Childish he is, comparing you to one of Snow White’s seven dwarfs. He’s learning to make childish clapbacks. 

You threw an empty plastic bottle at him, which he swiftly dodged. Fooey. “You talk as if you’re not like that.”

“At least I don’t abruptly switch between being non-verbal and angry.”

You bit your lower lip in annoyance as you restrained yourself from how badly you wanted to smack the back of his head. He should be thankful, you were considerate enough not to, given his injuries.

“I told you we should’ve gone for the shortcut. It's your fault. Who are those guys, anyway?” Not bringing up how those guys knew you, too. From your past.

“Guys I once fought with.”

“Thanks anyway for letting me in your house—without me initiating it.” you said, highlighting the last phrase to make a point. “You’ve done a lot of favors for me. What do you want as a reward? Don’t ask for a girlfriend, I don’t have anyone to string you with.”

He looked straight ahead and breathed. “The charm is enough.”

“Charm? What—oh. That.” You realized what he was talking about. The cat charm. “Cute isn’t it? Looks like you. I didn’t know you liked it that much.” 

Vinny clicked his tongue. 

“That’s just a trinket, not a reward. You know, like, a promise of ‘I'll-see-you-again-soon-and-I’ll-give-you-something-better.’”

Vinny furrowed his brows, “Why do you think every favor done for you obligates you to give something back in return?”

“Well, that’s how I was raised.”

“Were you raised in chaos too and it became the reason you can fight?”

“I only fight people when I need to defend myself.” You kicked a small rock out of the way. “I once initiated a fight with a male classmate but that was three or four years ago, because he was extremely sexist. 'Kept making comments about what I do.”

The anecdote piqued Vinny’s curiosity of what happened next. “What happened after?”

“Oh, he dropped, transferred to another school, and got home-schooled,” you continued the story nonchalantly.

A moment of silence.

“What did you do?” Vinny looked at you suspiciously.

“What?”

He expectantly waited.

After seconds of a staredown, you were the first one to cave in. “...I accidentally broke four of his ribs,” your voice gradually grew smaller with every word.

Vinny’s expression went like he just heard a crime confession. He knows he's deemed a savage. But you? you’re also something. Part of him wants to grin because of how normally you told a story of something unhinged.

“Serves him right,” he quipped. That sexist jerk deserved more than just getting his ribs pounded, he thought.

“So, take my offer. Let’s fight each other next time.”

Vinny groaned, “Is this still about Jay? I didn't even know him yet at that time.”

“He got impeached from being Student Body President and got a suspension. Because of that, the workload I have as the Vice doubled because of you, just so you know. I’ll only let it slide now because my body is sore, but I’ll get you back for that.”

You really held a grudge at him for that. For both you and Jay.

“I can walk and take care of myself from here, thanks.” You faced him when you reached the corner to your apartment.

Vinny stopped his steps to look at you. 

“Someone might see you and… tell my mom,” you voiced out before he had the chance to ask.

He opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it again. Another time. He didn’t say another word before turning back to walk in the opposite direction to find his way home.

The corner of your lips rose. “Hey, Vinny!” you shouted while his back was facing you at a distance.

His head panned back to you.

“Thanks! I’ll give you back the favor somehow!” you followed while waving your hand. “Let’s fight next time! I’ll use you to wipe the floor!”

He rolled his eyes and turned his back again to continue walking. Your mischievous grin impossible to wipe off.

Out of your sight, Vinny kept his genuine amused smile—often mistaken for a maniacal grin—to himself.