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The reaper curled up in a ball on his bed. His knees were tucked carefully into his chest. This was completely abnormal. Having both of his legs on one side of the bed was asymmetrical.
He wouldn't normally lay on his side, but he wasn't sleeping, and symmetry had slipped his mind.
And it felt good to be curled up like that, he could hug himself that way. He could comb his hands up and down his legs and pull them in closer when they started to drift away.
Death the Kid was full of emotions, and about twice as much melatonin necessary than what was required to knock out a reaper. He kept drawing in sharp, cold breaths through his teeth each time he felt himself on the brink of tears.
With each passing breath it got harder and harder to breathe air in, and easier to exhale it. Each exhalation was shakier than the one before.
Kid thought about her all the time. He wondered what she was doing, what she was thinking about, and the worst question of all.
"Is she thinking about me..?" Kid whispered into his knees, immediately inhaling to prevent another breathless sob.
He'd never loved like this before. It was starting to create this ulcer-like hole in his stomach that hurt every time he pictured her.
"Liz..." Kid said her name out loud, just to see if he would feel a different emotion, perhaps joy, from the syllable.
Instead, his ears started ringing. He sniffled.
"I'm not gonna cry," he tried saying, feeling tears well up in his eyes right then. They clouded his vision, making the memory from earlier that day reappear in his head.
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"Liz..." Kid said with confidence, standing up straight and tall, "I like you. I like you a lot, and... I wanted you to know that."
"You like me? Like... you like-like me?" Liz turned around from the cabinet she was staring into, her eyebrows pushed into the center of her head. Frowning.
Kid felt the ulcer form, but continued to speak, "I like-like... you. I just can't... I can't stop thinking about you, it makes my chest hurt sometimes..." He gripped his lapels with a little too much force, "I can't stop... I don't know what's wrong with me..."
"Kid..." Liz tilted her head at him, slowly approaching him. He was about to start crying, and not in the way she was used to.
"Mmm...?" Kid lost his ability to respond coherently. His lips were sealed tight and quivering together. Dual tears streaked his face already, just from enduring the expression she laid on him.
"Kid, you're my meister. I can't... have that kind of a relationship with you. I just don't think it's a good idea," Liz placed a hand on his shoulder. Just one.
Kid didn't notice. Something hurt way worse than the stinging importance of symmetry, balance, and order. His heartstrings had snapped on impact. He removed his hands from his lapel and used them both to cover his mouth, pressing hard into his teeth through his lips.
Asking, 'why? why did I say anything? When I knew the answer, I still pressed for it.'
Liz had talked herself out of her harbored feelings for Kid, and watching him break down in front of her almost caused her to reconsider. But she didn't. Her fingers slipped off of his jacket and she exited the room in silence.
Leaving Kid standing there while he attempted to muffle his anguished sobs.
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And now Kid was in bed, suffering silently while wondering if Liz was thinking of him. If she had any idea what he was experiencing. If she had any idea how much he loved her. How he would give anything to hold her like how he was holding his knees to his chest.
Kid fell asleep in the fetal position, shaking every so often from a cold draft that blew in from his open window. He was too fragile to pull his blankets up over himself prior to falling asleep.
Liz heard his shivers and whimpers from the hallway, and she pushed open the door to his room to find him curled up and freezing. Kid's mouth was always open just a little while he slept, but he was usually silent.
The little pained sounds he was letting out were breathy, tearful, and heart wrenching. He could have been dreaming about being rejected all over again.
Liz palmed a few tears out of her own eyes before sitting down on the edge of the bed where Kid was, and using her sleeves to wipe his wet face.
He was so cute. She wanted to snuggle up right next to him and make sure he slept soundly, but she bit her tongue and pulled his blankets up over him.
Though she couldn't resist pressing her lips in the center of his forehead for maybe a second too long. Enough for the smallest smile to appear on Kid's face while he was sound asleep.
Then she left.