I jolt awake from another dream back at the hotel and drag a hand across my face, breathing heavily as my eyes scan the dark room in front of me. A flash of lightning goes off and I spot Nathan sitting up in his bed across from me with his head in his hands. I frown and take a deep breath, sliding out of bed and making my way over to him. I gently place a hand on his shoulder and he looks up at me, his eyes unreadable.

"What do you want?" he growls.

"Why are you so mad at me?" I ask.

"It's not..." Nathan trails off, "you wouldn't get it."

"Try me," I say, sitting down next to him.

"Look, man, I loved Melantha," Nathan sighs, "I loved her. And now she's gone."

"Yeah?" I furrow my eyebrows, "we both--"

"No," Nathan shakes his head and laughs dryly, "no, Gabriel. I meant I was in love with her. But I had to stay there on the sidelines the entire time as her best friend to fall back on. She never even noticed and I never had the courage to tell her, not even as she was dying. Isn't that pathetic?"

"How does this involve me?" I frown.

"Because," Nathan's eyes meet mine and he runs a hand through his dark brown hair, "she was in love with you. She only wanted you, but you never spared her a second glance. I guess...I guess that's why I got so pissed at you, but I can't help it. I watched her struggle countlessly and I wished that I could've been the one she wanted because I know I would've treated her like she deserved. I know we were all good friends, but...yeah..."

"I'm sorry," I grimace, "I didn't know..."

Is that why Melantha wanted me to stay away from Reine? Was she...jealous? Or did she actually have a genuine concern? Or perhaps both?

"Yeah," Nathan barks out in a laugh, "man, I know you didn't know."

"Sorry," I rub the back of my neck sheepishly and chuckle.

"What're we gonna tell her parents?" Nathan asks after a short while.

"Oh, shit," I breathe out, "I don't know..."

"Yeah..." Nathan sighs, running a hand through his hair again.

"Are we cool?" I ask, glancing over at him.

"Yeah," Nathan clears his throat, "yeah, I guess...it's just...it's gonna be hard, ya know?"

"Yeah," I smile sadly, "I know."

"It never gets easier," Shitau whispers from across the room and Nathan jolts in surprise.

"Dude!" Nathan shouts, throwing his pillow across the room, "way to eavesdrop!"

"Sorry," Shitau brings his legs up to his chest and sighs, "it's just that...I understand more than you know. And it gets pretty lonely...not being able to express the living hell I'm in."

"You understand?" Nathan laughs and runs a hand down his face, "how?"

"I know that I couldn't help Melantha, and I feel really bad about that," Shitau starts, "in fact, I've never been able to do anything right. Do you know how it feels to be a healer, to be able to help people, but never actually be able to do it? It makes me feel like I'm a complete and utter failure. I can't even save the people around me, the people I love."

"Reine mentioned you were...cursed," I start.

"Yeah..." Shitau sighs, his eyes downcast, "you could call it that. I personally feel more like it's a living hell than a curse, but what's the difference? To be so highly valued but not even capable of doing the one thing you should be good at, isn't that ironic? I've lost so many people in my life and had to sit back and watch them die. Either my abilities don't work, or something keeps me from physically using them. It just makes my anxiety and depression worse because the guilt, anger, sorrow, self-loathing, and bitterness overwhelm me."

"That sucks, man. I'm sorry," Nathan says.

"Last year, one of my childhood best friends, the love of my life, died in a hospital bed and I wasn't even there," Shitau clenches his fists in his sheets and hangs his head, "my shitty curse kept making me late by seconds, and then minutes, and soon enough...I was too late. I arrived right after she died. I guess I was allowed to watch them wheel her dead body away, but not actually get to see her in her last moments, not able to heal her. I didn't even know she was in the hospital until right then because wouldn't you know it, I dropped my phone down a storm drain. My sister told me when I got home that she was in a car crash and I ran to the hospital, but...yeah...you know what happened. So yeah, I understand. If anything, you're lucky."

"What?" Nathan splutters, "how am I lucky? You call this lucky?"

"You're lucky," Shitau says lowly, standing up from his bed and heading towards the door, "you're lucky because you at least got to hold the girl you loved as she died."

Nathan's breath hitches in his throat and his eyes fixate on the floorboards as Shitau leaves the room and I exhale heavily.

"I'm...gonna go follow him," I breathe out as I stand up from the bed.

"Yeah," Nathan nods, "that's probably a good idea..."

"Yeah..." I sigh, running a hand through my dirty blond hair as my feet shuffle across the room, the bottom of my powder blue pants lightly dragging across the floor at times.

I open the door to our room, shutting it quietly when I'm out in the hallway so as to not make any noise. As I'm walking down the hallway, I begin to hear quick breathing and my eyebrows furrow in confusion. I follow the source of the breathing to find one of our hotel rooms cracked open and a dim light shining underneath the door.

"Again, harder," Dimitri's voice comes from under the door and I stop in my tracks.

I pause, wondering if I heard that right and if the assumption my mind jumped to is correct, praying that it isn't and that I'm not about to walk in on something I'd rather not see.

"Shut up," Ayette breathes out, out of breath compared to Dimitri, "I'm trying."

"Oh, please," I sigh as I look up towards the ceiling, "don't let this be what I think it is."

I gently nudge the door open and sigh in relief when I find Dimitri and Ayette standing across from each other in the center of the room, Dimitri with both of his hands held up and Ayette hitting against them with her fists. Ayette spins around and raises her leg, attempting to kick at Dimitri, who catches her leg between his hands and pulls her in, making her fall on her back and he falls with her because she grabs ahold of the front of his shirt. The two start laughing as he hovers over her, holding himself up with his arms. I smile at the scene before me and close the door, deciding to leave them to their own business.

I continue walking until I reach the elevator, pressing the floor to the lobby once I step inside and I wait patiently for my floor to arrive. After a few moments, the golden elevator doors open with a hum, ding, and a click. I step outside and find Shitau sitting on a chair in the lobby, staring towards the reception desk.

"Are you alright?" I sigh as I walk over to him and he blinks, turning to face me.

"Oh, yeah..." Shitau shrugs, "I guess. I mean, I'm used to it by now."

"It?" I raise a brow.

"All this," Shitau waves to himself with a hand, "if you know what I mean."

"You know what?" a smile tugs at my lips and I grab his arm, hoisting him up, "I know just what you need."

"W--What?" Shitau's eyes widen as I drag him off towards the elevator.

"You'll see," I smirk and drag him into the elevator, releasing his arm as I go to press the button for the floor above our room, Shitau stumbling clumsily whenever I let go of him.

"Isn't that--" Shitau starts.

"Yup," I pop the 'p' and continue grinning.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open, repeating the same sounds from earlier. We step out into the small lobby area for that floor and I grab ahold of Shitau's arm once more, dragging him off to the left.

"Wait, we can't just--"

"I'm sure they won't mind," I cut him off and he sighs in defeat.

We arrive at room 201 and I raise my hand to the door, yanking on the golden handle attached to the golden room number plaque on the mahogany door. The door opens to reveal Ciana standing there in a lacy strawberry colored tank-top and a pair of pink pajama pants, a strawberry face-mask with white lace around the edges lopsidedly resting on top of her head.

"Yes?" she raises a brow, glancing between the two of us.

"I thought Shitau could use some cheering up, and well..." I start.

"Say no more!" Ciana grins and grabs ahold of Shitau's hands, pulling him in to her room.

Leave it to the most energetic person I know to be able to make Shitau stammer and blush, unable to refuse. I smile, knowing he's at least in good hands and Ciana winks at me knowingly as if to say that she understands. I smile gratefully towards her and as she pulls the door shut, I can hear her shouting something to Aislinn about getting ready to "par-tay!"

"Party? I don't think this hotel condones part..." I hear Aislinn's muffled voice come from behind the door as I start to walk off.

Now, to go get some much needed sleep.