There was no chitchat on the way to my apartment, just a comfortable shared silence between us. If Jian was anybody else, I would've felt awkward in the silence, like I needed to fill it with meaningless talk. But not with him. Never with him.
Still, my mind was a storm of questions. Why? What? When? How?
We arrived at my unit. It was only then that I noticed my legs were trembling. My bones creaked with exhaustion. Not only did I work an entire shift today, but I'd almost just been hit by a fucking car. Needless to say, my body wasn't too happy with me right now.
My shaking hand fumbled with the key and I dropped it. "Sorry."
Jian picked it up. "May I?"
"Go ahead."
He unlocked the door and opened it for me. He was waiting for me to enter first. Even after all this time, he was still a gentleman.
I waddled inside and slumped on the couch with a sigh. My muscles were a jittery mess.
Jian stood patiently by the door. He was examining the living room.
Shit, if I'd known my long-lost best friend was going to randomly save my life tonight and then escort me to my apartment, I would've cleaned up.
"Hey, come sit down," I told him.
He sat beside me. He stopped gazing around the room and was focused on me now. "Nikolas, are you sure you're all right? You're not injured, are you?"
"No, I don't think so. Just shaken." I half-jokingly patted various parts of my body, checking for blood, but winced when I touched my knee. The fabric was torn and my skin was scraped. Turns out sweatpants weren't great protection from asphalt. "Ow."
Jian frowned in concern. "Where is your medicine cabinet?"
"Bathroom. Right over there." It hit me a second later that he meant to take care of the wound himself. "Oh, hang on, you don't have to—"
But Jian was already striding towards the bathroom. There was no stopping him once he put his mind to something.
He returned a moment later with a brown bottle of alcohol, a cotton swab and a bandage. He kneeled on the floor while readying the supplies.
"This will sting," Jian warned.
"It's okay."
I winced as he pressed the alcohol to my scrape, then sighed after the initial sting passed. A warm feeling manifested in my chest. It was nice to be taken care of.
"There," Jian said as he placed the bandage. "All better."
"Thanks."
He went to throw out the trash and put everything away while I sat on the couch wondering if I really was in a dream. I tentatively pinched my skin.
Nope. This was reality.
But how was this possible? Jian wasgone.He'd disappeared off the face of the earth. And now he was here, saving me from cars and tending to my wounds.
Jian sat beside me on the couch. The apartment was quiet.
"Do you, um, want some tea?" I asked, remembering my manners.
"That would be lovely," Jian said. "But don't push yourself if you're hurt."
"I'm fine now that you've taken care of me."
As if worried I'd fall again, Jian followed me to the small kitchen. I filled up the electric kettle, grabbed two mugs and tea bags and waited.
