★ YOU BELONG WITH ME ★
A LITTLE CRUSH

actually, it hurt. Cyno could feel something sharp digging deeper into his hip. He felt his own blood flow down his skin and he heard it drip onto the ground. But it wasn't the first time. He had already had some injuries, much worse. He would survive this. Somehow. What more important was that he would get her out of here safely.

»Sit down,« Maliah cleared her throat. She stood in front of him and snatched her backpack from his hands. »I can help you.«

He had known she would say something like that. After all, she had learned how to deal with injured people from Tighnari. And Cyno was really sure that she was good at something like that, but he couldn't let her touch him.

»No.« That was all he said about it. Most of the time that helped. Most of the time she was so frustrated that she didn't go into it any further.

»Jesus Cyno, I just want to stop the bleeding!« She sat down on her knees and dug two small bottles out of her backpack; inside was some kind of elixir. »I won't poison you.«

He wasn't worried about that either. He knew that Maliah wouldn't poison him, even if she sometimes seemed like she wanted to punch him in the face. But as he said, he couldn't let her touch him. Well, he could let her, but Cyno was convinced that it was better that way. If there was some distance between them.

Maliah sighed. »I just want to help you.«

He didn't wanted to sit next to her, but he didn't know how to convince her that he didn't need help either. Because he needed help. He couldn't clean and bandage his wound himself. So he sat next to her. A small smile appeared on her lips.

»But hurry up,« he murmured.

Maliah ignored his comment and calmly looked at his wound. With her delicate fingers she scented away the dirt around the wound. He winced slightly. Not because it burned like hell or because she hurt him. He winced because her fingers touched his skin. And he could only hope that she either hadn't noticed or just thought he was in pain.

»The ruin part was pretty crumbly. One piece is stuck in, well, in you really tight.« She said. »It will hurt when I pull it out and probably more blood will come out.«

»And?«

»Well, I just wanted to inform you.«

Actually that was pretty kind. But Cyno knew that she was always nice. At least to others. To him, well, she tried, but he made it difficult for her. Not because he enjoyed it or didn't like her! He liked her. More than he wanted or would admit.

»Like I said, this is going to hurt a lot, tell me a joke while i doing it, it will distracted you.«

He wanted to laugh. Nobody willingly listened to his jokes. And certainly no one asked him to tell any.

»You don't have to treat me like a child.«

»I don't. Tell me a joke.«

Maliah looked at him, waiting. She had her head tilted to the side and was smiling gently. Small children who were injured in the forest were certainly happy to be treated by her. She radiated calm, seemed absolutely nice and trustworthy. And he was also pretty sure that little boys had already fallen in love with those big, fairytale green eyes.

»You do realize that I'm used to this kind of injury?«

»Cyno, just tell me a little joke.« She emphasized his name. Not upset or angry. More desperate. And he kinda liked that. »I'll wait all night too, but I'm sure you'll have bled to death by then.«

Cyno found it increasingly difficult to not react at all to her comments. He found it difficult to suppress his smile or hold back his laughter. So he did what she asked.

»What kind of tea is hard to swallow?«

Maliah shrugged. »Don't know.«

»Reality.«

He had barely said it when she pulled out the piece of ruin. He really barely felt anything. Oh, she was really good at it. Not that he doubted her for a second. She quickly pressed a piece of cloth onto his bleeding wound.

»Understood?«, he asked. Because if he was going to tell jokes, he wanted her to understand them too. Or better yet, make her laugh. Maliah had never really laughed around him, but he had heard it once when she was talking to Candace and honestly, that was the most beautiful laugh he had ever heard.

»Reality, ty sounds like tea,« he added because she didn't answer him.

She nodded absently and pulled the cork from the elixir. »Yeah, I understood it even without explanation. Keep going.«

»What do you call someone with no body and no nose?«

She carefully removed the cloth from his wound. »No idea.«

»Nobody knows!« Again he had barely said it, as she poured the elixir over his wound. It stung, but only slightly, as he himself had to grin at his joke.

»This will help stop inflammation,« She explained and looked up at him.

»Got it? Body - Nobody, Nose - knows.« He saw the corners of her mouth turn up. Oh, she had to smirk at least a little. And Cyno mentally chopped it off as a small triumph.

»Here, it's against the pain.« Maliah handed him the other elixir. »It's a little sour, but you feel better afterwards.«

Cyno nodded. And while he drank it, she bandaged his wound. She placed one hand under his back and the other on his hip. She gently wrapped the bandage around him and Cyno counted the seconds until she was done. Her touch, the gentle random touch of her fingers, made him a little dizzy. He had known she had such an effect on him. He had known it all along.

But Maliah didn't seem to notice anything. She was highly concentrated. Fortunately. Because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to look at her. How her fairytale eyes sparkled and a few of the small, green strands flew out of her braid. There was a little sand on her face and she looked a little tired, but Cyno still thought she was pretty.

He had already thought she was pretty when he first met her. That was in Gandharva ville. She had brought Tighnari a few plants and when she noticed him, she introduced herself really cute. And Cyno. He had always had a joke ready, but not at this moment. He just stood there quietly and didn't say anything. Of course he had managed to say his name at some point, but that was it.

Each subsequent time he saw her he either avoided her or barely spoke in her presence. Because he knew very well that if he got to know her better, if he talked to her, which he actually wanted more than anything else, then he would no longer be able to concentrate on his missions. And his missions were important. He couldn't let her influence his judgment.

Only when her fingers were no longer touching his skin did Cyno manage to clear his throat. »Are you finish now?«

»What about 'thank you sweetheart for your help'«

Sweetheart. Yeah, she was a Sweetheart. But he couldn't call her that. Well, he could and he would, but then the wall he had built would start to crumble.

»I'm not gonna call you that.«

»Yeah, i know you hate me Cyno, but a simple thank you would be nice.«

Wait! What? She thought he hated her. He didn't want to achieve that with his distance. He just wanted to succeed in his missions, he didn't want her to distract him. Because he knew she would. Cyno took his task very seriously, he was the General Mahamatra he had to, and besides she had looked very busy in Gandharva Ville too.

»You think I hate you?«

»C'mon you don't look at me, you don't like talking to me and you always rolling your eyes.«

Oh, he looked at her a lot. When she came to Aaru Village and talked to Candace, he always came into town to see her. If he was in Gandharva Ville and knew she was there too, he would specifically pass by where she was. When he had to go to the academy and she was drinking tea and chatting with Kaveh, he always wished it was him in his place. He had even watched her dance. He had no idea why Nilou had wanted to teach her something, but Maliah had looked wonderful doing it.

»I don't hate you,« Cyno said. »I mean, yes, your talk a lot and you always in a happy mood, what is kinda annoying, but I definitely don't hate you.«

She packed up the empty bottles and looked him in the eyes. »Then why are you acting like you hate me?«, She asked gently.

Was he really that bad to her? He didn't want her to think that he hated her. He didn't hate her. He wanted her to know that. But he also knew that his wall would then begin to break. And that was exactly why he had been awake at night. He had thought for hours about whether he should really accompany her. He knew that it would be difficult to keep her at a distance. He knew that he had to talk to her and that she would be able to break down his wall.

But he hadn't been able to send anyone else with her. The one he trusted the most was himself. He was the only one he knew that under no circumstances would anything happen to Maliah.

»I don't act like i hate you.«

»Yes, you are! I really don't wanna hear your bad jokes but why do you say them even to Collie?« Because he liked to tease her. He liked to annoy everyone with his jokes. He enjoyed that. »You just told them to me because I said so.«

He never thought that would bother her. He had always thought that she generally didn't like him or even had no opinion of him. But no one who didn't like you behaved like that, or?

»That borders you?«

»No!« Oh, it borders her really! She was a pretty bad liar. She immediately turned away from him. »I just don't understand your problem with me.«

He had no problem with her. Well, actually he ad a little problem. He couldn't think clearly around her, couldn't concentrate on his cases. His heart beat faster when he was near her and he could hardly stop looking at her. His real problem was that he was into her.

And he would have liked to show her that, but how? He had at least made sure there was plenty of distance between them for his missions. But to be honest, when he was in the desert he still thought about her from time to time.

»I don't have a problem with you.«

»Is that so? You can't even look at me. Do i have something in my face that is so ugly?«

Okay, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to laugh a little. It was cute that it bothered her. That meant she wanted him to like her, right?

Maliah looked at him in surprise. »Wow you can laugh!«

»To be clear, yes I can certainly laugh and secondly, no.«

»No? No, what?«

He thought briefly about whether he should say it. Whether he really should reduce the distance. And then he was struck by curiosity. He wanted to know how she would react.

»Your face is actually quite beautiful.«

And now her cheeks turned red. Oh, she was sweet. And she clearly didn't hate him. Maybe she told herself this because she thought he didn't like her, but the truth was she wanted everyone to like her. And she didn't have to worry at all. Everyone spoke well of her, everyone really liked her. And he. Cyno was head over heels.

It was clear that he couldn't suppress it any longer, when he would spending day and night with her, but on the second day? He didn't thought he would give in so quickly. But there was nothing he could do about it, he wanted her. And now he had to somehow convince her that he was actually quite nice.

»W-what?«

»Your face is actually quite beautiful,« Cyno repeated. »So i ask again, are you finish?«

Maliah nodded silently. Wow, had he really managed to silence her? He had to make a note of that. Because sometimes, god, she talked so much! He liked her voice! But how could a person talk so much?

»Well, then thank you. We should walk through the ruins, maybe we'll be lucky and they'll lead up to a temple.« He tried to get up, but she shook her head and pushed him against the wall by his shoulders.

»Nonono! You should rest.«

»We don't have time for that.«

Because he was afraid that even more dangers could be lurking in the ruins. He didn't want to spend any more time in a place like that. He wanted to avoid any danger to her.

»You are hurt! Injured people should rest. You always have time for that. You're of no use to me if you die from your injury.«

Sometimes she spoke so quickly, so many sentences in a row that he found it difficult to understand her. But it was actually quite amusing.

»At least sleep a while, Cyno.«

He was starting to like the way she emphasized his name. She had said it more times today than in the entire time he had known her. But he shouldn't complain, after all it was his fault.

»What about you?«

»I keep watch.«

Cyno knew she was capable of it. Tighnari had trained her very well, but he also saw that she was tired herself. Besides, he didn't want her to be awake all alone in a place like that.

»Don't like this idea. More dangers could come from the tunnel,« He said. »How about this, i sit here, i don't move, I promise and you sleep a while.«

»Do i look so horrible?«

»You look tired.«

»But.«

»I'm good,« He interrupted gently. »Thanks to you, it doesn't hurt as much anymore.« A tiny smile formed on her lips. As if she was happy that he admitted that. She had a beautiful smile.

»Fine, but when you wanna sleep wake me up!«

Cyno nodded. He wouldn't wake her. At least not unless he really had to. He would let her sleep peacefully and make sure that nothing and no one would hurt her. And he would look at her. Not in a scary way! He just found her gentle expression as she slept peacefully sweet and very calming. And her soft snores were just as sweet. Of course he didn't know if she always snored softly or if she was just incredibly tired from the desert.

Because he had seen how tiring it was for her to walk through the sand. How difficult it was for her to cope with the heat. He had even seen longing for plants in her eyes. And of course, what she also didn't understand was the water distribution. But he had no problem giving her his too.

He watched her sleep for a while, but when Cyno grab one of the lavender melons he saw Maliah tense up. She no longer looked peaceful. She didn't snore anymore either. She narrowed her eyes tightly and small beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Her right hand began to twitch and her lower lip trembled. Was she cold?

Cyno pulled out the blanket and crouched next to her. She didn't look healthy. She looked bad. He placed his hand on her forehead and immediately pulled it back. Her forehead was burning hot. So it's better not to have a blanket. He reached for her shaking hand.

»Maliah?«

She didn't respond and that worried him. That worried him a lot.