hit by a truck

who: kaysen and chance
where: thom's basement
when: morning

Kaysen was out. She was out for the count, and the count happened to last a lot of hours. Which meant it wasn't until morning that she even started to stir. All the night while she'd laid there, she hadn't moved a muscle, the drained unconsciousness caused from having pushed it too much kept her under and under deep. But eventually, she started to resurface, and she made a small noise, and moved slightly. God, that was uncomfortable. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Her eyes came open slowly, and she frowned, trying to focus on her surroundings. "...'sac?" she mumbled, totally not coherent yet. She wasn't even remembering what happened last night yet.

Chance was sort of... out of it. With everything that had happened the day before, the night before, and sitting against the couch next to Kaysen without sleeping much at all. Yeah, sort of zoned out was one way to describe it. But hearing Kaysen's tiny noise had jolted him from wherever he had gone, and he turned swiftly to face her, his hand reaching for hers again. "Hey," he said quietly, gently. "Isaac's okay. He's upstairs. He's okay, he and Thom both." It felt necessary to repeat it in case she didn't hear, or understand, the first time. She looked out of it still. "How are you feeling?"

She breathed deeply, still pulling herself out of her state. Her head rolled to the side and she let her eyes rest on him, and she tried to put together what she was seeing. "...Chance?" she asked. Wasn't he supposed to be home? Wait, what was happening? She didn't know if she'd ever felt so groggy and drained in her entire life. Probably not. She felt heavy. Like she couldn't sit up if she tried. Her brain wasn't working properly either, it was like the power was down. The cursor was blinking but there wasn't any programs running.

"It's me," he confirmed, inching closer to the couch, if possible, to be next to her. He reached out to stroke his fingers along her cheek, unable to help himself. The panic he'd seen when she collapsed in Isaac's arms... yeah, he wasn't going anywhere until he knew she was okay. She still looked so completely disoriented that he just wanted to tell her to go back to sleep. "Kaysen, how do you feel? Do you need anything? Water? Are you hungry?"

"Mm." she mumbled, frowning. She tried to sit up. Ha! That wasn't going to happen. She frowned and made a discontent sound. "I feel...like I've been hit by a train." she mumbled. She tried to wrack her brain for what the fuck was going on. When it clicked back, she gasped. She'd set the world on fire. Because Chance had been screaming. There were bad things. Vampires. Oh god. Her eyes went wide and she started trying to look wildly around--though she still felt so ungodly heavy. "Are you okay? Where's Isaac? Where's Thom? Are they okay? Did I set anyone on fire? Are you okay? Am I dead?"

His hands reached out to her arms when she tried to sit up. "Calm down," he told her gently, lifting himself to sit on the edge of the couch next to her. "No you're not dead. I wouldn't let that happen. Thom and Isaac wouldn't let that happen either. Everyone's fine. Thom and Isaac are upstairs. You didn't set anyone on fire," Chance told her with a small, dry smile. Vampires didn't count. And neither did his car. Which was... yeah. "Just breathe a bit, okay? Relax. Everything is fine."

She listened, and that made her feel slightly better. "You promise everyone's okay?" she asked in a small voice. She just remembered everything happening so fast. And Isaac was there, and he'd been holding her back, and Chance had been screaming, and--yeah. There was a whole world of badness, and then everything lit up. Then abruptly went black. God, she felt so weak and heavy right now.

"I swear to you," Chance said quietly. His fingers moved to grip hers and he lifted them to his lips, waves of relief flooding him that she was awake, and somewhat coherent. "What do you need? What can I get you? Water? Tylenol? You've been sleeping all night... ever since. Yeah. I mean..." He told himself to calm down and focus on her. That was important right now. "You were amazing last night," he finally told her, watching her face. "It still blows my mind to think about it."

"What did I do?" she asked. She skipped over her needs for the moment. Cuz one of them was she had to pee, but didn't know if she had the strength to get up yet. And that? Was embarrassing, and not something she wanted Chance to have to help her with. She'd rather hold it. Like, for hours or something. "You're sure I didn't hurt anyone?" Yes, it was a huge preoccupation with her, and it would take a bit to truly sink in. "How long has it been? How long was I out?"

"Since last night. I came over to see you after dark. You were outside with Harkin and your brother and candles and..." Charred bodies. "Some vampires jumped me as I was trying to get to you and... everything just sort of... lit up because of you. You did something well beyond manipulating candles, because there was fire everywhere. The only things you hurt were the two things that were about to rip my throat out. They went up in flames." As did a few trees. Oh yeah, and his car. But he wasn't going to tell her that part. "You sort of passed out after that. I was pretty sure all three of us were near having heart attacks when it happened."

"Really?" she asked. She supposed it sounded like what she remembered. Only with more detail. "I...." she paused, then leveled her eyes on him. "What the fuck were you doing out in the first place?!" she suddenly cried, her mind latching onto that. "What were you thinking? You could have died!"

"Shh, Kaysen." He winced at her outburst, lifting a finger to his lips. He didn't need Harkin rushing down to the basement. "Hey... I know. It was stupid, but I wanted to see you and we hadn't talked in... like a day." God, that sounded pathetic on his end. He had wanted to see her and hold onto her while he grieved. But he didn't want to tell her all of that right now. She didn't need it, and the important thing was getting her feeling better. "But I'm okay. I didn't die. You saved my life." He lips quirked a tiny bit, despite everything. "You were fucking amazing," he repeated.

She did quiet a little and her expression kept fighting between concern and pissyness with as reckless as he'd been. She didn't think it was weird that he was worried after a day though, because she definitely got that bit. "I don't even know what I did. I think I might have been scary." she said, then she started to tug on him, wanting a hug. Though she couldn't sit up to give it to him so he'd have to go to her.

Chance leaned down to gather her in his arms, hugging her tightly. God, he didn't want to lose her too. For a few seconds last night, he had been terrified that he had - or would. "You were scary, but in a really kick ass kind of way. Harkin and your brother... the looks on their faces... I think we were all kind of in shock." He turned his face to hers and kissed her cheek. "Do you remember any of it?"

"Bits and pieces." Kaysen answered, biting at her lower lip. She also was trying not to like, cling to him too hard, but she wasn't managing it. "But it's coming back in bits. I remember...god I was so angry. And before you showed up, there was the screaming, because the vampires? They screamed. They screamed." she sounded shaken. Haunted, and that was because she was.

"They aren't people, Kaysen," Chance assured her, not minding the tight grip. He welcomed it and held her against him, his voice trying to be soothing. "They were undead blood suckers who would have killed all three of you. How many nights have they made innocent people scream? You did the right thing." He pulled back, though not enough to release her, but just enough to look at her properly. "Why were you out there?"

She listened to him and part of her knew he was right, but at the same time, she had a fear growing in her gut. A little sore on her soul that was going to get worse, she just knew it. "I wanted to help." she said in a small voice. Distant. "I just wanted to help. I could, and everything's been so awful, so I talked Thom into helping with the perimeter spell..."

He rested his forehead against hers, resisting the urge to lecture and tell her how stupid it was. Not that she'd wanted to help, but that she had put herself in danger at all. "What if the perimeter spell hadn't worked?" Chance questioned. "What if they had been too strong for that? Or for you? You don't know what it did to me, pulling up to your house and seeing you outside. If you had been hurt, I don't know what I would've done."

"Thom's really good at this stuff. He...there's my hoodie, and we looked everything up, and he only picked a spell he knew he could do." Kaysen assured him. "And if it hadn't worked, I would have set the first ones on fire and we would have run for the house. And just...at least I was behind some kind of a spell, you were just out. One of us was attacked by vampires last night, Chance, and it wasn't me." she said, giving him a tighter squeeze. "So don't bitch at me when I took precautions, and you didn't."

Stupid Harkin with his stupid magic and shit. There was no need for jealousy, because Thom's spell had worked, obviously, and Kaysen was okay because of it. Chance sighed, closing his eyes and holding her. Chance wanted to tell her he had precautions. It was called being resurrected. But yeah... no. That wouldn't go over well. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to see you last night. If I hadn't, you'd probably not have knocked yourself the fuck out. Just... I wish you would have told me what you were doing."

"I didn't know if we were talking." Kaysen admitted, looking upset. "And I figured you might be upset or worried or try to stop me or something, but it's not your decision. And you could have called? I mean...we've got phones and I..." she hugged him again. "What if you'd died? You think seeing me outside was awful? I heard you screaming! I saw you get dragged back!"

"I know... but you hung up on me," he reminded her, his tone still completely calm as he pressed against kiss to her nose and cheek. "I didn't think you'd want to talk to me, or you'd not answer and I thought if I came over, you'd sort of have to see me. I know it's not my decision what you do, and you're right, I probably would have tried to stop you, but if you had been adamant about it, I would have at least been there with you." Chance sighed, hugging her again, thinking they were probably going to end up squeezing each other to death. "I didn't die.. and I'm sorry that you had to see that... but I'm okay."

She was very clingy right now. Which was...was this weird for her? She couldn't even tell right now. It might be. She wouldn't doubt it. She was just feeling so all the fuck over the place that she couldn't figure anything out. "I would have answered. I'm sorry I hung up on you, please don't ever do anything like that ever again, okay? I'm not gonna ignore you. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry..." she rambled. Because when he said it like that...it meant it was her fault. Because he'd thought she was enough of a bitch to not talk to him. And why was that? Probably because she'd given him every impression that she would be just that much of a bitch. So, all at once, she felt awful.

Chance pressed his cheek against hers before kissing her ear. It was like he had to kiss every inch of her face just to make sure she was still there. Because if he had lost her too... no he wouldn't think about that. "Don't apologize. I'm sorry... it was a rash, stupid decision. I was out of it yesterday, not really even thinking anything through. I promise I won't do it again, if you just promise me that'll you tell me if you ever decide to try something like that again. I want to be able to be with you in case something would go wrong." Harking and Isaac... they couldn't help her the way Chance could have. He pulled back to look at her. "I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I promise." Kaysen said, voice a little muffled as she buried her face in his neck and clung harder. "I'm sorry." she added again. And there was a mumbled string of other apologies as well. She couldn't get her head unstuck from how this had to be her fault. God, she could have gotten him killed. It was horrifying. On such a large scale. Fuck fuck fuck.

"Stop apologizing," he told her again. "It wasn't your fault, and more than that, you didn't let anything happen to me. If anything, I should be apologizing for forcing you to push yourself and ending up passed out all night." Chance felt a tired smile at his lips. This was what he'd wanted last night. Just to be able to hug her this way, even if she didn't know the full reason why he was clinging so hard. "Maybe we should both just stop apologizing and be happy nothing happened to either of us."

She nodded, though her mind didn't at all listen to that. She couldn't shut it off. What she did do was pull back and abruptly kiss him. And it was a desperate sort of kiss. Like she was now dealing with just how close she'd come to losing him, and that was bad. So she was trying to show that without risking flying into another babbling tirade she couldn't control.

The kiss sort of took him by surprise, but he welcomed it and kissed her back. He could sense her desperation and felt a bit of it himself. His hand lifted to brush his thumb over her cheekbone and then moved back into her hair. It was stupid now, whatever they had fought about. It felt tiny and insignificant compared to what happened to her yesterday, what had happened to Devon, what had been happening around town. What if she had been hurt last night, or killed, and the last time he'd spoken to her they had fought? So fucking stupid. He deepened the kiss, slowed it down a bit and just... felt. Because she was there, alive, and he was too - well, sort of - and that's all that mattered.

She kissed him back, and went with the pace-change. It was fine by her, she was happy to do that and make sure she felt it too. Reassure herself that he was there and fine and everything, even if she was stupid. Her fingers drifted up into his hair, and she noticed belatedly that she felt slightly stronger than she had when she'd woken up. Not fully up to par or anything, but she was better. Enough so she could do things like run her fingers through his hair.

The fingers in his hair felt stupidly good and all the tension in his body seemed to melt away. He wanted to just keep kissing her, in case it was somehow going to be the last time he ever would, but that kind of thought was simply not allowed and yeah... they were still in Harkin's basement. Chance moved his lips from hers to her jaw, trailing tiny kisses up and over her cheek and then her nose and back down to her lips. "You should get some more rest," he murmured. "You still look too pale to me."

She was back to clinging. "I feel kinda...heavy. And tired and everything but slow, and...I dunno. Never felt like this except when I was really little, and really really sick. But I'm not headachey or nauseated or anything, so it's not that." she attempted to explain. She wasn't sure how good a job she did though.

"I think you probably used up all of your energy last night, and then some. You've probably never done anything of that magnitude, have you? So it was probably a shock to your system. Maybe if you just rest and relax for a bit longer, you'll feel better." He hesitated briefly. "Do you want me to go find your brother? Or... Har... Thom?" He hoped she'd say no. He didn't want to have to pull away from her just to watch the other two fawn over her. Especially not Harkin. Or maybe he was just riding on irrational, unsubstantiated jealousy again and Chance clamped down on it immediately, waiting for her answer.

She shook her head. "No, I think I'm okay. Or I'll be okay...I probably just need some more sleep." And to pee. "They're probably both doing other shit right now too, and they'd just like...yell at me maybe. I dunno." She could picture them yelling at her for shit. Like 'hey, don't ever pull that shit again or you're getting strangled'. That she could definitely think of.

Chance shot her a skeptical look. "Don't see why they'd yell at you when they were out there with you in the first place... watching you do whatever you were doing. You can't help it if it got away from you a bit." A bit - a lot was more like it. He brushed a bit of hair from her cheek. "I can go so you can get some more sleep if you want. I don't want to be like... a distraction or anything." Not when she needed to rest.

"Yesterday I couldn't do what I did last night." Kaysen whispered. She knew it. What had Charlie said? She'd advanced? Well yeah. Kaysen was fairly positive she had too. She didn't know when it had happened, but um yeah. "Stay here for a little while? At least til I fall asleep?" she asked. Then she paused. "...and wait, cuz I got to pee, and I might. um. I dunno if I'd make it there terribly quickly." She blushed a pained, embarrassed red, and she looked down, ashamed of herself on that.

"Then it seems like whatever you can do... it's growing and maturing, right? That's nothing to get yelled at for. Because once you're able to control it, it's going to be fucking cool, if you ask me." His lips quirked a bit and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll stay as long as you want me too. You need help getting up?" He could tell she was embarrassed, but he understood and wasn't about to tease her for it. Instead, he offered her his hands.

"Yeah but I could have set all three of you on fire." Kaysen protested, her fear there getting the better of her and jumping out before she could stop it. Then she nodded, and reached for his hands, unable to look up and meet his eyes. Yep. Here it was! Total shame. Even if he was being really good about it. She felt about to die.

"But you didn't," he countered, helping her up from the couch slowly. "You set just about everything but us on fire. So a part of you must have been able to focus, even if you can't remember it." Maybe. He really had no idea how fire elementals worked other than what she told him. All he knew was he didn't want her freaking out over it. "Want me to help you to the bathroom or do you think you got it?" He was ready to pick her up and carry her if need be.

She got to her feet and then leaned heavily on him, light headed for a few moments. Yeaaah headrush. Ick. Her forehead was against his chest for a second, before she drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Help me." she said. It took a hell of a lot for her to ask that, too. Maybe she needed a candle. Maybe she could draw off of that and just...recharge or something. She didn't know, she just felt like hell. And didn't trust herself to walk.

He held her against him until he was sure she could stand on her own. Kissing the top of her head, he nodded. "Okay. Where's the bathroom? Do you want me to carry you?" Which he might do anyway, if she was having trouble walking and he could get her there faster than she could probably move.

She shook her head. No, that was a little more mortifying than she could handle in one day here. "No, I can walk," I think "I just need help up the stairs." There was a bathroom near the basement steps. She could use that one. And she was hoping that maybe if she got a drink of water while she was in there, she could get that and maybe she'd feel slightly better. And if Isaac and Thom could be helpfully absent and not at all see her like this? That would kick ass.

He looked at the basement stairs, and then back at her. He slipped an arm around her waist to help her toward the stairs. "Are you sure? I can get you up there much quicker. You're having enough trouble just moving, do you really think you'll get up the steps in time?" Maybe appealing to the possibility of more embarrassment would have her cave so he could just carry her. The quicker she was upstairs, the quicker she could use the restroom and then lay back down and rest.

Oh god that was probably the worst thing she could think of right then. Oh god oh god oh god. Noooooo. "Um...maybe you could..." she squeaked, still unable to even entertain looking at him. Because juuuust fuck no. God.

He wasn't at all embarrassed by it himself and he shifted down to lift her up into his arms. "Wrap your arms around my neck so I can lift you up," he instructed, determined to move slowly for her. He'd had a feeling that that would have pushed her to agreeing, and he'd been right. Once she was able to go to the bathroom and get a drink, she'd probably be more thankful than embarrassed. Maybe. It was Kaysen, after all.

She did as he asked, still feeling like hell and like she was a weak little stupid kitten or something, and she felt heavy and ugly and oh...pretty much everything. There was a whole lot of bad there. Either way, she did ask asked, and closed her eyes, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Once he was sure he had her in a tight - but not too tight - grip, Chance placed a kiss against the top of her head and climbed the stairs carefully, but as quickly as he could. He was moving definitely a lot faster than they would have if she'd tried to walk. He was able to find the bathroom she mentioned near the stairs once they reached the top and as carefully as he had picked her up, he set her down. "You okay?"

She nodded, but couldn't speak quite yet. She made her way into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it out of pure habit. Then she made her slow way to the toilet to take care of her business. Irrationally, she felt like crying. Everything was all over the place and she didn't know how to deal with it. But she felt better for getting the peeing-thing taken care of. Then she got up, and leaned heavily on the counter, staring at her reflection. She looked like hell too. Jeeze. She got herself a drink of water--and that actually did seem to help. She felt slightly stronger. So when she came back out, she was moving a little better. "...thanks." she mumbled to Chance, sort of half staring at the floor.

"You're welcome." He moved to put his arms around her again, not really caring if anyone happened upon them in the house and saw it. She looked a little bit better, but still too fragile in Chance's eyes. "Do you want to lay back down?" he asked, studying her face. He sort of wanted to pick her up and carry her back to his house so she could sleep in his bed. But given her own house was right next door, that really wasn't logical.

She nodded. "Yeah, for a bit. Are you going to stay for a while? Could you stay til I'm asleep? I'm sure you have to get home so your mom knows you're okay and everything, and I'll call you again later too." she promised. She gave him a light squeeze, wishing she could do better.

"I'll stay as long as you need me too," Chance assured her, realizing that was the second time he'd said that in a span of a day. He'd stayed as long as Jordan had needed him too. Both of them were important to him... their pain, their confusion... all of it he'd gladly place high above his own. "I called my mom last night to let her know I was here, so it's okay." He reached down for her hand to lead her back downstairs to the couch so she could rest.

She went with, though the going was very slow. She kept tight hold of his hand, though. Very tight hold. "...Chance?" she asked, voice soft. "Please take care of yourself, okay? Please? I'm...I don't ever want to think about you getting hurt or worse." She didn't quite know how to say what she was feeling, and right now she was feeling more fragile than ever.

He thought about what she said for a moment and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. They had been spending time together for quite awhile... and there was still so much she didn't know about him. That he'd put off telling her, or couldn't. He squeezed her hand soothingly. "I promise I'll take care of myself. I just... I don't want you to worry about me. I'll be fine. And the same goes for you, you know. I don't want to see you hurt either. Just watching you pass out last night was... bad. Whatever you decide to do, think it through... and be careful about it."

"I will." she promised. When they got down to the bottom of the steps, Kaysen stopped and put her arms around his neck, clinging for a long, long moment. She breathed in and out slowly, keeping herself as calm as she could, even if that wasn't that calm. She shut her eyes, and let herself relax a little. "...when this is over, I want us to talk. And that stuff? That stuff I couldn't hear before? I want you to tell me. And I'll listen, I promise. I promise. And I'll never hang up on you again."

He held her back just as tightly, his face buried against her hair and his hands rubbing up and down her back slowly. His eyes opened when she spoke, his hands pausing briefly on her back. "Okay," he replied carefully, pulling back to look at her, looking for any doubt in her eyes. "Are you sure?" She'd always been so reluctant to talk about it when he brought it up, so he'd just... stopped. But now she wanted to know everything and Chance wanted to tell her, despite being a bit terrified to do so himself.

She nodded. "Mmhmm. After this is over. We'll...we'll go someplace alone or something." Not that she knew where that could be. She'd suggest Sugarloaf, but they kind of tended to make out up there. Maybe there could be like...making out and confessions. It could happen, right? Or something. Sure.

He was suddenly beyond terrified, now that she wanted to know. He didn't know what her reaction would be. Would she start screaming? Run away and never see him again? No one really knew his extent of his abilities, not even himself. No one really knew he'd died except Jezebelle, and she was gone. "Okay, we can do that," he agreed, trying to sound confident about it. "When this is over. For now, you should lay down and rest some more." He his fingers through her hair before leaning down to kiss her.

She kissed him back, letting it linger, and she nodded. "Kay." she said. She even gave him a smile. It was tired, but very genuine. "Chance? You...you mean a lot to me." she said. She couldn't quite tell him she loved him yet because she had yet to define the word for herself, and she didn't want to tell him something just to say it. But she wanted to tell him something then, that was true. So she went with that. "...more than I think you know, or I've said."

There was a small smile on his lips as she said that, and it made him feel better. A little bit of light in all of the darkness he felt around him. "I do know," he told her simply. Even if she rarely said it, he knew she cared about him. And he didn't really expect her to say she loved him. He knew things with Kaysen required patience and time... and he was pretty sure he'd excelled at giving her that so far. He pulled her into one more tight hug, thankful again for having her there, alive and more or less okay. He was going to make sure that it stayed that way, no matter what it took.