Rewrite Some Lines

"Okay, so. You have seven bags of luggage and a massive carry on while I have three bags and a laptop case? Is that right? I feel like I'm forgettin' something." Evan had a thin piece of paper in his hand and read out loud the items they had packed for the one way trip to the Big Apple. "Skye? I know you've already bought the tickets, but are you sure ya wanna go so far away?" He tapped the side of one of her bags with his toe, looking over the mound of suitcases in front of him.

"Of course I want to go! You'll be coming with me, silly. And now that you're out of school finally we can do whatever!" Skye grinned and slid off the bed from which she had previously been perched. "I love big cities. I've been to New York once before anyway, so it's not like going to be my first time there or anything. And I actually do have a friend up there, and she promised to show us around." She sat on the floor in the middle of her bags and unzipped one for a moment, shoving her tiny hands inside and digging around for something.

Evan rolled his eyes and let out an impatient breath. "You do realize you've only been to New York via video games, right?" He gave her a pointed look when she scowled at him. "And I have a feeling this person you know is one of those...internet friends. Am I right?"

Skye through her arms up in the air and fell back over on her butt. "Jesus, Ev. Don't be such a spoil sport. I'm sure it'll be just fine. I've known her for a long time. I even know what she looks like, so there!" She stuck her tongue out at him and pretended to dust off her hands.

"Okay then," Evan mumbled, making the wise decision to forget this entire conversation less he and Skye start a fight just before being stuck together on a plan for a few hours. Let alone stuck in a foreign city with no one but themselves for company in a vast network of people.

--

"Oh hey, we're finally boarding!" Skye announced happily, skipping a little as the line for their flight began to dwindle down to the last few people getting on. They had been delayed for almost two hours at that point, and Evan was on the brink of splashing Skye with some hot coffee to rid himself of her. When she gets bored, she makes she everyone else is just as miserable and hateful as she is.

"Thank God," Evan mumbled under his breath, picking up both his and Skye's carry on bags in either hand, and following closely behind her. "I'm not sure how I feel about planes," He began once he got inside the surprisingly roomy cabin. "I mean, I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but I've never been in a plane before and I don't know how I'll handle the movement and all that..." He looked around now, having shoved away the bags into the overhead compartment but not yet taken his seat.

Skye looked up at Evan from her spot in her window seat and rolled her eyes, reaching out to touch his leg in what was supposed to be a comforting manner, but it only served to make him internally panic further. If she had to console him, it meant he was not going to be alright. At least, that is how things worked in his head. "You'll be fine." She stressed, moving her hand now to pat the seat next to her, as if to say 'sit down and shut up, you big oaf'.

Evan followed her unspoken orders and sat down in the seat, accepting the other half of blanket Skye had and draped it over himself, scooting as far back into the seat as he could and leaning his head towards Skye, almost snuggling with her.

As Skye expected, Evan nearly shit himself when the plane took off, repeating the line 'Oh God, we're not going to make it off the ground!' too many times for her to keep track and clung to his chair and or Skye once the plane was actually in the air for about ten minutes or so, at least until the shock wore off and he promptly fell asleep.

She shook her head, looking down at her best friend with amusement dancing in her eyes. Sure, he could change his outward appearance to look all tough and macho - which she did not mind in the least - but on the inside, Evan was still Evan, the dorky lanky kid with far too much enthusiasm for getting himself into ridiculously dangerous situations.

Skye turned her head slightly, moving her hand over to pet Evan's hair and move it from his eyes and forehead before she pressed a chaste kiss to the spot, afterword letting the hair fall back into place. She used to joke about how he was an emaciated superman, what with those slight curls on his forehead, but now he could be the real deal.

She smiled, ruffling his hair some more and pulling his form closer to her own, his head now resting somewhere between her shoulders and her breasts. She knew he loved her in his own way, even if he did not show it outwardly very much like she tended to while also getting on his nerves in the long run.

"You are a good person, Ev." She whispered into his ear after a moment of deep thought. "Don't put yourself down for making bad choices. We all make mistakes." She said a bit later, a half smile half frown marking her lips now as she pondered various things. The sky had fallen dark some time ago, and despite the talkative people in the cabin all around her, she felt herself lolling off to dreamland.

--

"I swear I am never getting in a plane again!" Evan bellowed, making a number of people around the couple turn back and wonder what in the world was going on. Nosy people, Evan thought, scowling at them and making them scurry off to their destinations. "I hate planes, Skye. Hate them." He grumbled, carrying and rolling giant mass of luggage behind him with ease. His hatred for the plane and the lingering adrenaline from the mildly shaky landing fueled his actions.

Skye looked over her shoulder quickly, pouting her lips and twirling around to face him, her hands making their way to her hips. She stood there for a second, her hips cocked to one side in a very sassy manner before she spoke. "Stop freaking out, Ev. You lived through it. You are okay. For once all the luggage is okay. You are no longer in danger of the plane crashing and killing everyone. From this point on, just worry about getting held up by muggers or something, yeah? Now c'mon, we need to check in at this extended stay place I got for us." She spun back around and hurried on ahead, attempting to catch a taxi out from the airport, which was significantly harder than it should have been. Even did not say a word for the entire ride, but instead chose to sulk like a baby.

--

Once they arrived at the hotel and settled in with their mass of combined luggage, Evan promptly claimed a bed away from all the windows and doors and flopped over on it, assuming falling asleep where he landed. Skye had come in to ask him if he wanted to catch the complimentary breakfast in the morning, but was only greeted with the site of him lying limply in his bed. "You don't handle stress well, do you?" She said, sitting off to the side of him and patting his stomach like one would do to a small child. "You're a dork, you know that?" She asked him, smiling a bit when he rolled over and curled up into the fetal position.

Skye allowed Evan to sleep while she unpacked all the bags of clothing and put them in their respective places around the room. For the other things, like books and some kitchen equipment on her part and some computer parts and electronics on Evan's part, she just left what she figured she did not need and set out what they might use. Later, after busying around the room for about an hour, she sat down and called Kyng to thank him for paying for the room.

She managed to gather enough funds from her low paying job at a clothing boutique to pay for the two plane tickets, but she did not manage to get enough saved up for a place to stay as well so when Kyng found out he offered to help his little sister make a new start for herself. He was proud of her for actually breaking away from the family, as all the rest of them had failed to do and by now it was too late for the most part.

After a long talk about her future, Skye said goodbye to her brother and made a beeline for the bedroom, where her pajamas awaited her. They sat on the bed enticingly where she had left them previously, and she wanted so badly to jump into those then the bed, and then follow Evan off into the great abyss. She quickly turned to size Evan up, making sure he was still out cold.

When he failed to say anything, she hurriedly slipped her sweater top over her head, mussing up her hair in the process, and unhooked her bra. While reaching for her pajama top, she heard a low whistle coming from the other side of the room. She used her arm to shield herself as she spun around with a deep frown on her face.

"I should've known everything about you would be perky." Evan drawled, a crooked grin on his still sleep ridden face, his head propped up via a mixture of pillows and his own arm.

Even in the dark, Evan could see how deep red Skye's cheeks got. "Oh, shut up, you! You were supposed to be asleep!" She complained while turning away from his line of sight and quickly slipping on her top.

Evan shrugged and looked down at the blankets under him. "Why didn't you go to the bathroom to change?" He asked.

"I don't know...too lazy?” She shook her head and made a vague hand gesture. When Evan failed to respond, she sighed. "Turn around. I need to change my pants."

Evan chuckled a bit, shaking his head slowly. "Nope. I like lying on this side. Looks like you're outta luck." He smiled and made it obvious now that he was watching her change. He greatly enjoyed messing with her like this, though he was not so sure she felt the same way about the current situation, judging by her expression. "Go on, I'm waiting..." He said in a melodic manner, rolling the rest of his body to face her now.

Skye groaned loudly, throwing up her arms and grumbling something like "What am I going to do with him?" while she moved out into the bathroom to finish changing.

Evan let out another chuckle, rolling over on his back now, one hand on his stomach and the other behind his head as he watched the fan on the ceiling spin around lazily, barely making enough movement in the air to be considered a breeze. He supposed that was alright. It was still cold out, in any case. Though some movement in the air helped him get to sleep easier. He sat up a bit on the bed and pulled his shirt over his head, slinging it down around the end of the bed somewhere. He would find it in the morning. Just as he lay back down to continue watching the fan, a quiet voice sounded from the doorway.

"Oh, Ev. That scar still hasn't gone away..." Evan did not look over, but instead closed his eyes. On most days, the memory of that event was far enough back in his mind to ignore with little difficulty, on the best, it was out of his mind completely. But on bad days he dwelled on it, his scar welling up with the memory of the pain, still as fresh to him as the night it happened.

Though right now the scar only pulsed along with his heartbeat. His breath caught in his throat when small, cold fingers ghosted over his skin, earning him quite a few goose bumps over his torso. He propped his head up to study Skye's face as she traced along the various scars and markings from his past that branded him as a victim, though he had refused to be treated as such. "I wish this never happened to you." Skye mumbled, catching his gaze only for a second before returning her attention to his skin. "Nobody deserves to go through this."

Evan sighed, putting his head back against the pillow. "I like to think it made me a stronger person." He offered, having never really talked about the event before. Even the police were sketchy on the story, as Evan could not bring himself to say it was his current boyfriend who assaulted him. Partly from the shame and partly from the fear Jason would somehow find out Evan lived and come back to finish the job correctly the next time around. He shivered from the thought, and noticed the look of pity Skye shot him soon after.
He hated that look.

That was all he got for weeks after it had happened. He would constantly be asked if he needed anything, anyone to talk to, any help getting from point A to point B. Then once all the outside wounds healed and his leg set back right and he lost his limp, everyone forgot about it.

Nobody wanted to remember anymore now that they did not have the evidence glaring at them in the face. He resented all the people who treated him that way. Skye was not one of those people, though, and perhaps this is why he did not run away from her, even though she was a reminder of things passed.

Evan felt a pat on his stomach. "You should get some sleep. We're gonna get up early for breakfast in the morning then go out apartment and job hunting, okay? Then tomorrow my friend is going to meet with us to gives us a proper tour through the city." Skye smiled down at him, leaning over his body a moment to press a kiss to his forehead before getting off his bed and moving over to her side of the room and slipping silently under her covers.

"Goodnight," Evan told her, looking at her outline in the moonlight filtering in from the windows next to her bed.

"G'night," Skye mumbled back, her voice muffled by the pillows cocooned around her body.

Evan did not bother to get under his covers, as he enjoyed the feeling of the fan on his skin, cooling off his body. He idly let his fingers trace over the path where Skye's fingers had been, only feeling the scar near his ribs, though he knew where the others were well enough.

Sometimes he wished he could go to sleep and never have to wake up to this reality, but instead some alternate reality where he was always as happy and easy go lucky as Skye. But then, he reasoned, he would no longer be himself, would he? And really, once it all boils down, all a person truly has in this world is their sense of self, and once that is gone, what else does one have?

Nothing.