Chapter 4
Both Scorpia and Kit were startled at Jade’s hoarse voice. Kit jumped to her feet, abandoning the chair and moving to Jade’s side immediately.
“I’m here,” Kit leaned over Jade so that the girl could see her. “You’re okay. We’re safe.”
Jade’s brow furrowed slightly as her eyes flickered around. She shifted in an attempt to sit up, a small moan of pain escaping her lips and Kit braced herself against the table so that Jade didn’t accidentally roll off of it.
“Kit?” Jade repeated slowly and Kit slowly helped her sit up some, knowing how unsettled Jade got when she couldn’t see all of her surroundings in an unknown place. “Where…”
“You’re with the Bone Reavers,” Scorpia piped up and Jade jolted, sucking in a sharp breath of pain as her head jerked to the side to peer up at her sister.
“Scorpia…” She breathed out, her eyes quickly flickering around the room to take it in. “How did I get here?”
“We pretty much carried you all the way here,” Kit replied. Jade leaned against her and Kit wrapped an arm around her shoulders to brace her and keep her upright.
“Right…” Jade’s hand cupped her side slowly. “It hurts more. But… but it also feels better?”
“They had to cut some dead tissue away,” Scorpia folded her arms, looking away before she plastered a smirk on her face. “I can’t believe that you had the audacity to nearly go and get yourself killed. Was the thought of returning really so bad that you would rather die?”
Jade missed the fact that Scorpia was teasing. “Sorry…” She drooped into Kit, letting out a soft sigh.
Scorpia’s grin dropped. “I didn’t mean it like that,” Scorpia neared Jade and ran a hand over her head, bracing the back of her neck for a few moments. In a much more serious tone, she continued, “We nearly lost you there.”
“Sorry,” Jade apologized again, her head lolling forward to rest against Kit’s shoulder, her eyes slowly closing again.
“Don’t be,” Scorpia sighed out, her face softening. It was the least murderous that Kit had ever seen her. “I’m just glad that you’re okay, kid.”
Kit urged Jade to lay back down after a few moments when she noticed that Jade had completely closed her eyes and was starting to lean on her more and more. Scorpia helped tug Jade off of Kit and lowered her to lie back down.
“Rest up, I’m gonna see what I can rustle up for some grub for you,” Scorpia told Jade, her tone soft before she glanced at Kit. Kit shrunk in on herself and Scorpia raised an eyebrow at her before she ducked out of the tent.
“What’s up with that?” Jade mumbled. Kit jumped slightly, having thought that she fell back asleep.
“Nothing,” Kit replied a little too quickly and then cursed under her breath. Jade opened her eyes slightly to peer up at her, traces of amusement on her face.
“Kit…” Jade sighed out with a small laugh.
“I… may or may not have accidentally told your sister that I love you,” Kit blurted out quickly. “I’m sorry, it was an accident, I didn’t mean to--”
“C’mere,” Jade grabbed Kit’s hand and tugged her closer. Kit stumbled slightly and leaned down just enough to let Jade loop an arm over her neck and pull her down the rest of the way. Kit could feel Jade’s flushed skin against her cheek, red hair tickling her nose as Jade held her close. “It’s okay.”
“Yeah?” Kit mumbled into Jade’s shoulder, her eyes slipping closed as she slowly started to relax.
“Mhmm,” Jade hummed, turning her head just enough to press her nose against the side of Kit’s head. “I’m not mad at you.”
Kit doesn’t think that she could handle Jade being mad at her at the moment anyway. She nearly lost Jade and the last thing she wanted to do was upset her.
“Kit?” Jade sounded slightly confused, running a hand over Kit’s hair and it took Kit a moment to realize that she was crying. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just so fucking happy that you’re alive,” Kit whispered and Jade froze before she pulled Kit closer. “I thought you were going to die. I thought that you were going to leave me alone.”
“Never,” Jade’s fingers gently tug at the baby hairs on the nape of Kit’s neck. “Where you go, I go. You can’t get rid of me, I’m like a leech.”
Kit let out a wet laugh, adjusting herself to burrow into Jade even further, well at least as much as she could while she was standing while Jade was laying on a table.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” Kit scolded, clinging to her best friend and soaking up her favorite scent in the world. “You’re not allowed to die.”
Jade’s lips pressed against the crown of her head. “As you wish, your highness.”
Jade was starting to fall asleep and Kit felt exhausted enough to do the same. She started to pull away just enough to grab the chair and pull it closer. Jade fell asleep fast and Kit adjusted the blanket over her, taking a seat at her side and gripping her hand before leaning forward to rest her head against the wood.
“I love you,” Kit breathed out quietly, Jade’s hand clasped in hers. She nearly lost Jade and she didn’t know what she would do if she did. She had wasted so much time pretending that she wasn’t in love with her best friend that it was almost too late to do anything about it. “I am hopelessly in love with you, Jade.”
Jade slept on, oblivious to Kit’s sappy love declarations.
“Where you go, I go,” Kit echoed Jade’s statement.
Kit's mother may know very few things about the kind of person Kit was but she had gotten one thing right.
Kit Tanthalos and Jade Claymore were attached at the hip and there wasn’t a damned thing anybody could do about it.