Page 121 of Under the Waves
Of course, I’d heard everyone gossip about the boy who looked like he was plucked straight from a poem, giving Clark Kent a run for his money, and boy were they right. As a girl whowasn’t exactly small, even I looked like a little mouse compared to him. I could barely see him through the bustling crowd, and I probably would’ve lost him if it wasn’t for the little tug of my elbow he used to keep me close.
When he found me by the door, I hadn’t known what to expect but it certainly wasn’t an unflinchingly calm guy wearing linen pants and a loose shirt with golden brown, slightly circular glasses. I guessed that was just Kai, though.
He nodded for me to follow him, and it only took around five seconds for me to get lost. We trailed through the downstairs hallway as music blasted from the speakers. Kai led me up the stairs, his long strides covering two steps at a time.
As we neared a fairly empty hallway where a singular white door lay, he gestured towards it, running his hand through his messy brown hair. “Just…help him, please, Poppy.”
I nodded as I stepped forward. My fingers hovered over the doorknob for a few seconds before brushing against the cold metal. I shivered but not from the cold.
Get a grip, Poppy. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart.
I looked over my shoulder to ask Kai something before I pressed my lips together again, noting his absence.
“Guess it’s just me and you, Spiderman,” I muttered beneath my breath. “Here goes nothing.”
I pressed down on the handle, jiggling it a little when it didn’t move. Leaning my forehead onto the wood, I exhaled. “Hey, Jasper, can you hear me? It’s Poppy. Could you let me in for a second?”
Shuffling sounds echoed under the doorway, followed by a few clicks before the door etched open an inch by itself. No light flooded through the cracks.
He was sitting alone by himself in the darkness.
I pushed the door open the rest of the way, holding my breath as I stepped inside, unknowing of what I might face.
“Wellsy?” He croaked, catching my gaze. His hunched over frame was shivering, pressed into the side of the bathtub big enough to fit two people comfortably in it. His usually sun kissed skin had paled compared to his flushed cheeks where strands of his hair were pressed up against, coated in droplets of sweat.
He looked at me like a scared little boy, the expression on his face near identical to Oliver’s, almost winding me as I let out abated breath.
Despite the terrified look in his reddened eyes, he was smiling brokenly at me, little dimples showing at the corners of his lips.
“I knew you would come for me,” he slurred, words merging together in a mumbled mess. “I knew you w-would find m-me.”
I hated how vulnerable he looked right now, clutching his knees to his chest with bloodshot, foggy eyes. Their usual golden-brown glow was riddled with words I couldn’t decipher. How small and scared it made him appear. It made me want to bundle him up in my arms and hold him until he stopped shaking.
No matter how painful it was, I couldn’t tear my eyes from his. I was completely and utterly captivated by the riptide of him, and I was beginning to think I would choose to drown before I untangled myself from him.
Instinctively, I walked over to him and crouched down onto my knees before him. I rested one of my palms on his knees, stroking gently, until three seconds later, he grasped it and clutched it in his hands frantically. His whole body was shaking so violently my own arms started vibrating with him.
I whispered, softly, “Hi, Jasper.”
“Hi, Poppy,” he whispered back, teeth chattering.
Gently stroking in smooth circles with my thumb across his skin, I smiled. “What happened here, Ridge? Where’s my favorite Spiderman gone?”
“H-he got d-drunk and f-freaked out,” he clattered between his teeth, a small droopy smile playing on his lips as he let his head fall between his knees. I’d never seen him so deflated before.
“Why did he do that?” I asked carefully, keeping my voice low. He’d never asked me about the words I kept locked away deep inside my chest before, and I never asked about his because sometimes, the hardest truths were better left unsaid…but for once, I wished they weren’t. I found myself wanting to know about all of his demons so I could help him fight them off.
Maybe—maybe,it wouldn’t be so terrible if he knew about mine, too.
Jasper sighed. “It happened again. I couldn’t breathe and I—I panicked. The room started spinning and I bolted it out of there as fast as I could. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,Wellsy. I feel like I’m broken. Do you think I’m broken?”
No. You are so much more than that, Jasper Ridge.
I swallowed down the words, slowly shaking my head. I didn’t know how we ended up this close—close enough that I could feel his warm breaths fan against my neck as goosebumps rose up to meet them. Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let him go. I’d never been one for hugs growing up the way I had, but I found myself wanting to do all of it with him. Anything if it meant wiping away the sadness in those dulling golden eyes.
He dragged out an exhale as he shook his head. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore. All that does is that you’re here now. You make it all quieten.”
“What?” I croaked, my voice feeling raw and unsteady.