The Moment I Said It

Alice panted harshly, cradling his now soaked through sleeping shirt protectively against his chest. He gave the towering giant a withering look with glassy eyes. Breathing was a chore. All he wanted to do was to lie down and go back to sleep, if only the nightmare wasn’t waiting for him there too.

Jason had pulled the punch a lot, actually. Alice knew he could have shattered him with that single blow. As it was, he knew for certain something had broken. He was bleeding somewhere, but he didn’t quite have the wherewithal to figure out where.

That’s what you get for being a douche. Alice thought grimly to himself, as he moved to stand, summoning his pride and what little strength he had left. Jason watched him struggle with an impassionate eye. Alice could only manage to get into a seated position, still curled over his body, one hand reaching awkwardly behind him to find some purchase, something he could grab onto to force himself up. There was nothing.

Alice let out a noise stuck somewhere between a growl and whimper. The bile rose in the back of his throat, making it even harder for him to catch a breath. Jason’s fist was still curled, hanging tensely at his side. He took a step forward, casting part of his massive shadow over the much smaller man. Alice panicked, letting his defensive position slip if only to propel himself backwards. He didn’t get far; the intense ache in his chest stole the fight out of him before he could get too far away.

Instead, he laid backwards as Jason assumed position over him, standing tall and imposing.

“I was wrong,” Alice said in a strangled tone, angry at himself, angry at Jason, and irrationally angry at the blood pooling in the back of his throat, threatening to choke him. “But don’t think you can do this and be any better then him.”

Jason didn’t move, or otherwise acknowledge that Alice had even said anything. Alice turned his head to the side, and spit out a mouthful of salty fluid, conveniently avoiding Jason’s gaze while he was at it. He was afraid to move otherwise, knowing now that he wouldn’t get far, and might only anger Jason in the process.

Finally, the undead killer leaned down, grabbing a fistful of Alice’s collar, and yanked him violently upright, almost to his feet. The sudden movement almost cost Alice his consciousness, and he latched onto Jason’s jacket in pure instinct. Using the man as a support, Alice bent over as much as he could with Jason holding on to him, and coughed up the contents of his stomach, vaguely noticing (but not really caring) that he managed to unintentionally get most of the mess on Jason.

As the fit continued to wrack his frail frame, he felt Jason hook a hand into hair. When his breathing finally stabilized, Jason used his grip on Alice to pull him fully upright. Alice hung pathetically, but managed to fix Jason with the most seething glare he could muster, knowing full well that he was in no position to really put up a fight.

They stood like that for a minute, locked in a battle that had no words, no punches, and no victors.

Finally, Jason’s threatening stance seemed to soften. He loosened his grip on Alice’s scalp, gently tracing a path from behind Alice’s ear to take a firm, supportive grip on his shoulder. Alice managed to keep his balance as he did this, keeping Jason an arm’s length away, though he still needed him for support.

Jason drew him in, gripping Alice about the waist with one hand, and with the other rubbed, tight, soothing circles in the small of his back. Being pressed up against Jason hurt, but Alice didn’t dare try to lean away.

Jason apparently forgave him. Alice didn’t know what to think.