Clara had spent all day doing different classes and working through class routines and now the time had come for her to let off some steam. She had walked in the gym, in tight leggings and a sports bra. Starting off with stretches to get her warmed up then moving onto doing some crunches. She heard a noise come from the door and looked over, “What are you doing here?”
If there was anything Natalia knew her papa would argue with, it would be just this. Everything about the scenario was against all of his (and her own) rules, both because it way past her curfew and she going up to her room alone with a boy above all things.
She hesitated to follow her instincts, knew her anxiety levels would go off the charts in both scenarios, this one and if she’d left Will knowing he’d gotten hurt at the fight. But her need to take care of the other boy overran any kind of doubt to not trust her gut as she snuck him into the restaurant and pleaded with her brother to help bring Will upstairs.
While Wardo followed behind them, Natalia pressed Will against her, having him lean against her small frame for support as she wrapped an arm around his waist and guided his steps up the staircase. She held her breath to avoid smelling the blood that stained his shirt and felt dizzy the higher they went. It ran through her head how or why this boy, the type of boy she stayed away from, managed to enter her life and somehow make her change her completely even if it was just for a night. But he did, and she was hexed by a need to make sure Will was okay.
The instant they reached the second floor, Natalia gently sat Will sat down Feeling her heart beat fast seeing how bad the injuries were in the bright lights of her bedroom. Her throat closed up, and she struggled to instruct Wardo to sit down and watch him mumbling. “Don’t flirt with him.” as she waited for the older Cipriano brother to nod his head before she went grab the first-aide kit she hid after a particular incident with herself and the pizza cutter.
Each minute was a step farther away from her comfort zone, and with shaky hands Natalia looked into the mirror at the mess this boy made her. She asked herself why, before looking up at the ceiling hesitating to say a prayer. She knew why, and she hated herself for it.
Walking back, she looked over to Wardo who left the room to go back downstairs to the kitchen. She wet the towel she’d stolen from the bathroom, shaky hands unbuttoning his shirt as she gasped at the wound on his skin. Natalia bit her lower lip, trying to restrain herself as she took in a steady breath. She refused to look weak in front of him, especially when it was Will who was injured and not her. “You always find a way to worry me.” She said with a soft laugh, trying to ease the tension as she wiped the wound clean. She dabbed it with the cold water, cleaning up the blood as she whispered soothing words to Will and jokes to him. She kept a hand on his shoulder, rubbing small circles against his skin as she leaned in close to get a better view of the thing. Although she usually hated how clumsy as she was, she was thankful it made her familiar with having to have wounds cleaned up.
Once she’d finished, she retracted herself from the moment finding herself lost in it. The girl sat up and started to bandage him up making sure to ask him what was too tight, or what felt okay. Her voice shook like an earthquake at times, but Natalia found a way to steady it the more she focused on taking care of Will. The instant she finished she sat back and looked down at her work. It was an extension of herself in a sense, done with only her second-hand knowledge of how to actually tend a wound. But it was filled with enough care and attention to detail to look like a half decent job.
But it didn’t matter much, the only thing that mattered that Will was safe, and he was okay, and she was was happy with that. Sitting back down the moment she had finished, Natalia smiled at Will patting his knee. She could still feel her heart race, but she kept reminding herself that Will was okay and that’s all that mattered. “So is it going to be a norm you give me a heart attack every week because I want to prepare myself.” Natalia laughed. She got up and cleaned her hands, looking at the mirror with a small but tired smile. She snuck into her brother’s closet, took a sweater or two, and dropped it to Will’s lap before offering him a hand. “C'mon, I feel like you’re probably starving and I’ll be happy to make those muffins you like.”
