I didn't mean to hurt you

Chase looked up as Calvin came in and dropped the shirt on the couch next to her. She reached over to it, and smiled slightly, picking it up and holding it in front of her. "It's fine! I'll just keep a blanket on my legs." She said, also not thinking about jeans or anything of the similar. "Oh.. Calvin it's okay! I just need a shirt really!" She said, upset that he looked so upset about not being able to find her some shorts. But he saw her tears, she bit her lip and closed her eyes (Well working eye) as he gently ran his fingertips under her eyes, and she gently pushed her cheek into his hand. "Did I ever tell you... about this woman named Nerezza? A long time ago.. she found me on the grounds of Hogwarts... and her and another boy.. they.. they.. used that curse of pain on me.. I can't even say it.. and.. and.. later... a long time after.. she found me again.. and gave me a scar... one of many now a days.. but even later then that... she gave me ANOTHER scar... and now.. it's a full loop around me.. the way it was given... and to this day.. for no reason.. it hurts.. it's in my mind, I'm sure, I've been to St. Mungos for it... I've taken potions, but it still hurts.. and I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to cry." She said, her hands moving out, and grasping his shoulders, her head falling forward.

"They still hurt.. and.. and.. it won't be healed... and when I get under great stress..." Chase could feel tears leaking down her face, and her abs contracted harshly, almost as though she was going to throw up, but she whimpered, softly, resting her head against his shoulder lightly, arms circling around his neck suddenly, and she started to cry gently. "I'm sorry Calvin.. don't feel sad... please don't be sad.. I'll be okay.. it's old.. it just.. Merlin.. it hurts still.. like.. like.. crucio all over again.." She whimpered and her grip tightened around his neck, knowing it was a bit better because she actually had a shirt on now. Even if she was still only in her short shorts, and was covered in goosebumps. Finally these random stabs of pain disappeared, and Chase slowly relaxed her grip, and lifted her head, sweat beading her forehead. "Can you make some pancakes Calvin? Please? I'm.. I'm so hungry.." She said and looked up at Calvin, small tears falling down her cheeks.

Nerizza, Calvin’s mind repeated, having recognized the name in some way, though he could not recall precisely where he’d heard the name before. It was a name that chilled Calvin to the bone, and therefore, he assumed that the woman who belonged to it was not the friendliest of creatures. He did not share this with Chase, however; he sat silently as he listened to Chase’s story with great concern, hugging her when needed.

Chase Moor had been through far more than was fair, Calvin decided. She’d been tortured, impregnated during her teenage years by a man whom was far from dependable, had been cheated on, and later, kidnapped. There was no healing technique or charm that could be used to heal the wounds that Chase had received, because they were far more powerful than any physical injury that Calvin had ever seen during his time as a healer. She was right there in front of him, begging to be fixed, but what pained her was just out of Calvin’s reach…. and it tore Calvin apart.

The young man held on to Chase, thinking that perhaps, if he held on to her for long enough, she would absorb his wellbeing and would be miraculously healed of the scars she wore. He would have given anything to make her well again; to rid her of her unending pain and suffering, but it seemed that such a task would require far more power than he possessed. So he held her near, and he refused to let go of her, even after her whimpering had quieted, and her grip had loosed; his arms remained where they were, gently embracing his weeping friend. “The world has done so much harm to you, Chase. I won’t. I promise. I will keep you safe, and I will try to heal you. The healers at St. Mungo’s may not have found a cure for you, but if I try – if I work at it every day, I’m sure I can find something!” he assured her, whispering softly in her ear. His words were honest – so honest, in fact, that the truth behind them could be heard as he spoke. So pure was his promise, that it was almost unnatural coming from human lips. “I will. You don’t deserve it, Chase. You don’t deserve to feel this pain… not alone.”

Calvin inhaled slowly, having nearly lost control of his own tear ducts once again, but he’d managed to stop himself just before his eyes had begun to water. He was becoming quite skilled at remaining composed despite the fact that his mind was screaming at him; screaming and crying because the world was not fair to his beloved Chase, and because he was useless and couldn’t fix her…

Calvin nodded, his lips twitching upward at their corners, “Yup. Sure. I’ll… I’ll go do that right now,” he replied, having decided that it was best if they both got food in their stomachs. “It will take just a second,” he added, and with great difficulty, parted from Chase to smile innocently at her, and to stand from the sofa. “Just a second.”

Chase sat numbly in Calvin's arms, tears falling, but content for the first time in such a long time. Content with someone who she knew would protect her, she knew would keep her safe, and there in his arms. And well.. she felt so safe, she could have fallen asleep right there in his arms, if not for her wish to eat, and the rumbling in her stomach, the wooziness in her head. She was starving.. how long had it been since she ate? Since she drank? Well.. she was sure he had been giving her water, for she wasn't THAT thirsty.. but.. it was when she was passed out, and she was pretty much parched now, and her stomach was aching, she was so hungry. So she reluctantly let him move away from her, her hand still in his for a moment longer, her eyes resting on his, and she was excited to see that she could see his outline through her hurt eye. Her site was starting to come back!

"Calvin..." She said carefully, her hand reaching up and grasping his again, touching his fingers, and staring at him as though he were some sort of god sent to her from heaven. "Thank you.. I just... I want to... thank you.." She said softly, her lower lip trembling, as she slowly let go of his hand, and she wiped away her tears with the neckline of the shirt he was letting her wear. It was a tiny bit baggy on her, and much to long, but it would do, he was a lot taller then her, so of course it was long, but she wasn't complaining it was clean. "After we eat.. I need a shower.. bath.." She said carefully. "I don't think I can take a shower.. but I can take a bath.. I'll.. I'll just need help to the bathtub!" She said and smiled at him, though the smile was still partly ruined by the tears that clung to her eyelashes and cheeks. "Can I just have some water too? No milk.. I think I need some fluids.. I'm feeling really thirsty.." She said carefully, not wanting to alarm Calvin, but knowing she needed some food and water, pretty quickly, or else her injuries wouldn't be her only worry.

“Oh, don’t thank me,” Calvin corrected her with a simple wave of his hand and smile following closely behind the hand gesture. What he failed to mention was that her smile and her laughter was all that he needed in return for his kindness; he felt he’d already said enough. It was better that Chase knew she didn’t need to do anything in return for the assistance that she so desperately needed.

Calvin stood from the sofa and twisted his body in the kitchen’s direction in the same movement – but he failed to untangle his legs before taking his next step, and stumbled forward, only just catching his balance before he’d fallen to his carpeted doom. “Alrighty then…” he muttered to himself as he righted himself once more, straightening his spine. “Pancakes,” he reminded himself and headed towards the kitchen cabinet.

Calvin and the act of cooking something was a horrific combination that was destined to go wrong – something which was made quite evident as Calvin stumbled from cabinet to cabinet, collecting the box of pancake mix, the sprinkles, and the syrup. He knew what he was doing, but that was not to say that he was capable of doing what he knew how to.

“OK, Chase. There are some clean towels in my room. I’ll grab them after you get something in your tummy,” he replied, his childish side peaking through the surface once more. It seemed that he was incapable of acting seriously for too long; his true personality was bound to show his face soon enough, and in all honesty, Calvin preferred that side of himself. He smiled as he finished mixing the pancake batter in a bowl, and poured it into the pan that he’d set atop the stove. “It’s so gooey!” he shouted over his shoulder, as though he felt that the information was far too important not to share with Chase.

Having momentarily returned his attention to Chase, Calvin spun on the spot to face her once more, smiling at her from where he stood in the kitchen, “Don’t move! You aren’t better yet. I’ll bring you your food; you can eat out there and watch something on the telly!” he informed her so to insure that she didn’t cause herself any more harm.

Chase smiled and attempted to straighten the blankets out around her feet, while Calvin, falling over just by trying to stand up, went over to make some pancakes. She wasn't sure why she trusted him with the cooking, but she was far to tired to care at that point. She may have gotten sleep, but it was neither peaceful, nor relaxing. She had just wanted to wake back up, instead of staying asleep and letting her body rest. Seeing as Felix Barker had tortured her all night long, over and over again. Chase smiled and reached forward, attempting to help straight up some of the potions on the table, but her nearly blind right eye, was making that impossible, and she nearly knocked over another bottle, before she realized that she wasn't quite ready to do anything of the kind.

Pancakes.. how long did they take to cook? She wasn't sure.. but she was super starving, and she literally turned around on the couch to watch him cook breakfast, eyes following the back of his head, as though trying to see the smile on the other side, her lips curling into a smile every so often, and she watched him, or what she could see of him, as he cooked breakfast, her nose twitching like an animal's, her eyes had an odd wild look, for she really was ravenous, and she couldn't remember a time before that that she had been quite so hungry.. well... to be honest she COULD.. but that was a time Calvin needed to know nothing of.. it was long past.. LONG past.. and she tried not to think about it anymore.. it certainly wasn't fair.. and it would only make him sad again.. and she didn't want him sad again.. she didn't think she could bear to see him cry again.

His smile.. it just warmed her heart like no other smile could do. His personality warmed her soul, and everything about him was like a candle, making everything else shine just a bit more brightly when he was around. Chase was so used to people who just brought every bad feeling come to life when you were around them, and now.. this candle in the darkness was leading her away from that. Leading her away from a horrid past, and into a future with someone she trusted, loved, and respected, even if he acted like a child in everything he did.

The smile that Calvin had found upon Chase's lips had intoxicated him; he hadn't seen that specific smile in what felt like ages, and to see it there again, gracing Chase's face without a hint of falseness about it, was more than Calvin could have ever asked for. He spun around again to face the stove, but he did so with a certain spring in his step. His every spastic movement had been amplified as he moved about the kitchen, sliding from left to right as he prepared Chase her breakfast - or, brunch, depending on how early Chase would have eaten under normal circumstances. Calvin, being a bit of an early bird himself (so long as he didn't stay up all evening) felt as though he could eat the entire box of pancakes before him, and it was for that very reason that he'd poured the entire thing into his bowl, and onto his frying pan. Calvin swayed his hips, dancing on the spot as he dug underneath the monstrous pancake with the spatula that he held in both of his hands. The pancake was so heavy that, for a moment, Calvin had feared that his spatula would break under the weight - but he managed to flop the thing over onto the pan before any such thing had happened.

Calvin was doing surprisingly well in the kitchen. Perhaps it was his determination to get food to Chase that made it possible for him to focus on the task at hand, rather than look away and catch the stove on fire - but whatever the case, he seemed to be doing well enough on his own for once. Reid would be so proud, and relieved that Calvin hadn't done any damage while cooking a meal. They would have to celebrate with a Batman marathon.

"Done!" Calvin squealed, sounding quite similar to an alarm. He slid his creation onto a plate, and began to scatter multi-colored sprinkles over the fluffy cake, followed by a dangerous amount of syrup. It was no surprise that Calvin had so much energy all the time, with the way he ate. There was nothing healthy about his food preferences, but it seemed as though he was completely unaware of that fact. Anything sugary was good in his eyes.

Calvin turned away from the stove, forgetting entirely about the red-hot burner, which he'd left on, and walked towards Chase - or, rather, skipped. "I made one big one. I'll cut it in half," he began, before correcting himself quickly, as though he'd made a terrible mistake, "unless you want all of it, because if you are really hungry than I can make another one for myself. I'll just open another box, if we have one." Calvin smiled innocently, holding the plate of food out awkwardly in his extended arms.

Chase watched happily as he sprung about the kitchen, making food, and doing surprisingly well. It was amazing, how much control Calvin COULD have, if he was determined, and it made her wonder what was behind all of the childishness, who was the man behind the kid, because sure this WAS Calvin, but... there were sides to him that he didn't like to show, and sides to him that only came out when need be.. like helping her, when she had apparated right into the middle of his living room, being supported by Jack, unable to keep her own weight anymore. Pale, and broken, bloodied, and weak, she had been a site, but it wasn't two seconds and Calvin was ushering everyone out of the room, and Chase had been set on the couch, and he had started working. She had no idea how long he had worked for.. but obviously he had concentrated.. and it made her happy.. that she could have had someone like him.. any normal healer would have given up instantly and reached for a numbing potion so that she could die in peace, but Calvin.. he had saved her, and she owed her life to him.

Suddenly though he was in front of her, holding out the plate. There was a GIANT pancake on it, and Chase turned in her seat to look at the stove. "'We can share.. I don't think my stomach can take this much food anyway.. I mean.. it's been so long.. since I've eaten.." She said and was surprised at the truthfullness of the comment. She could barley remember the last time she had eaten. A few scraps of food and water from Felix had kept her alive.. but she had lost weight, blood, and life while in his clutches.. and well.. she looked like a cat that hadn't eaten for weeks, and was sitting there, mewling, hoping to be given some scraps. "To be honest. I don't remember.. the last I ate.. but I can't eat all of this.. not even if I was fully healthy." She said with a small laugh, but then froze, and looked towards the kitchen. "Is something burning Calvin?" She asked, sniffing the air, and turning to look at Calvin, unable to see much, but able to smell something was amiss.

“Burning?” Calvin echoed Chase’s words, and scrunched up his nose, sniffing the air in the very way she had. He too smelt something in the air that did not belong there; it was a foul smell, one that made the air feel heavier in Calvin’s lungs than oxygen usually did. He tilted his face upward and boosted himself up onto his toes, having come to the realization that the smell was strongest towards the ceiling. “But I didn’t burn anything!” he squeaked in his own defense, as though the air was accusing him of having made a terrible mistake. He had, of course, made a mistake, or else smoke would not have begun to gather above their heads… but Calvin was so very certain that he’d done everything correctly when cooking breakfast. It took him a long moment of thinking to himself in order for him to convince himself that there was a chance that he’d forgotten something. It had nothing to do with his pride, he simply could not believe that he’d made a mistake.

Calvin turned his head towards the kitchen to examine the room carefully – but he did not need to look for long; immediately, Calvin spotted the long, orange flame that had sprung from the pan he’d only just turned away from. His already, saucer-like eyes widened slowly as he processed the information that he’d just gathered. “Ooopsie,” he whispered to himself, speaking quietly so not to alarm Chase.

“Eat up! I’ll be right back!” he told her, speaking at a speed that was far faster than usual, which made his words quite difficult to understand. He set the plate of food down on the sofa, balancing it haphazardly on the very edge of the piece of furniture, before he darted back towards the kitchen hastily. “No, no, no, no, no,” he squealed as he ran, tripping over his own feet several times before making it to the stove – which he almost fell against as he neared it.

Suddenly, Calvin was quite fearful; he’d never handled the fires that he’d set in the past, as Reid was always there to deal with his mistakes… but Reid was no longer anywhere in sight.

Calvin forced his teeth together, causing his cheeks to rise slightly, and for the corners of his eyes to wrinkle in a way that made it appear as though he was just about to cry. “No…” he whimpered as he slid his hand deeper within one of the pockets in search of his wand; he knew what he needed to do, and he was not certain that he was brave enough to face the fire before him with a charm that he was not particularly skilled at. Chase is on the couch, and she can’t move from that couch without hurting herself, Calvin reminded himself in an attempt to push himself forwards.

It worked.

With trembling fingers, Calvin held out his wand at arm’s length, aiming directly for the fire that had already spread to the cabinets just above the stove. “A-a-aguamenti!” he shouted loudly.

His voice was followed shortly by the loud bang! of an explosion of water, which hadn’t erupted from the tip of his wand in the way that it was supposed to. Calvin groaned, lying on his stomach in the kitchen with his face pressed firmly against the hardwood floor. "I'm fine!" he assured Chase.

Chase looked up and realized that there was SMOKE now billowing from the kitchen, but before she could even attempt to stand up, he had balanced a plate so precariously, that she had to dart her hands forward to grab it before it fell over, and she knew she couldn't stand up after that. Even just a little weight on her legs was to much, and she would just topple right back over. But Chase was worried! She was seriously worried, the smoke looked like there may be an actual flame involved, and she was worried mostly because there was no fire alarm going off. No way to help someone else find out what was happening, just them.. alone in the flat, with a fire.. it was bad. "Calvin!" Chase cried out, and set down the plate in a bit better position. She looked around her for a long time, until she finally frowned, and pushed herself off the couch.

It hurt.. a lot, but suddenly there was a rush of water, the smoke started to clear, and Chase could see water leaking out of the doorway to the kitchen, and she stumbled forward, tears nearly blinding her, and the smoke burning her throat. "Calvin! Calvin are you alright?!" She gasped, hand over her nose, leaning against the door frame weakly. There was something burnt and still slightly smoking on the stove, and Calvin lay face down on the wet floor, looking as though he had just been blasted off of his feet. "Calvin! Are you okay?" She gasped, and stumbled over to him, falling to her knees beside him and lifting his head up, hoping he was okay, hoping he hadn't been knocked unconscious, or been hurt badly, or been killed."Calvin! What happened? What was burning, are you okay?" She asked, knowing she was going to have to have help getting up off the floor, because there was no way she was getting up on her own steam. "Calvin! Come on love... get up, it's okay.. the fire is out.. or whatever was burning has been put out.." She said sounding a bit scared, as she glanced over to the stove, where whatever it was was still giving off a bit of smoke, but had been put out with the giant blast of water that had been shot out of Calvin's wand.

"Oh Calvin.. you're a mess.. we both need showers now.." She said giggling slightly, and reaching forward to help straighten his shirt, her own spongebob shirt was getting a bit wet, the bottom of it, was much to long for her, and she could feel it trailing in the little bit of water on the floor, most of which had disappeared by now, or was collecting into puddles. "Calvin.. how did you do this?" She asked, eyes wide, staring around the kitchen, and her hand went for her pocket, only to remember that she didn't have a wand to help clean this up, and even if she had, she probably wouldn't have been able to use it, how weak she was.. So she just sat there, on her knees, on the kitchen floor, weakly, and tired, her eyes wide, her body getting cold, and starting to shiver hard, in the air conditioned, wet room, and she looked at Calvin, worriedly, wondering if he would be okay himself.. he looked just about as tired as she was.

Calvin raised one of his arms off of the ground to wave towards Chase, making it clear that he hadn’t killed himself when he’d extinguished the fire – but she’d joined him in the kitchen before he’d had the chance to peel himself off of the floor. He rolled onto his back slowly; the force behind the blast had knocked his spine against the counter that he’d been standing in front of, and had, from what Calvin could tell, bruised his back. He winced slightly, though he attempted to conceal his discomfort.

“I forgot about the stove. I put it out with Aguamenti,” he began to explain, but as he spoke the incantation aloud once more, the wand that he still held firmly in his right hand sputtered, producing a small stream of water, as though it had to have the last word. He shook the wand dry.“I’m not too good at charms,” he added, though something so evident did not really need any clarification.

He gazed up at Chase for a moment, recovering from the accident – when he remembered the injuries that Chase herself had received, and the fact that movement greatly pained her, “Chase! You weren’t supposed to move!” he exclaimed worriedly, but the harm had already been done.

He pushed himself from the floor with his elbow, forcing himself upward so that he was sitting once more – but not without protest from his acing spine. “I’m sorry, Chase. I didn’t mean to scare you…” he apologized with a small, sad smile. “Are you OK? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” he asked her, and suddenly, the fact that droplets of water were clinging to every strand of hair in his head, and continued to roll down his skin, was forgotten; Chase’s wellbeing was far more important than another of Calvin’s mistakes. He shook his head, flinging his hair from his eyes so that he had a clearer view of his patient. She did not appear to be bleeding anywhere, but that was not to say that she hadn’t upset any of her internal injuries.

“Chase, I need to check your bandages, OK? Your worst wound is in your stomach, and I just want to make sure that the work that I’ve done on the injury is holding up,” he warned her so not to startle her when he gently lifted her borrowed shirt from her stomach. He brought his hand to one of the bandage’s corners, and slowly pulled the cloth away from Chase’s skin, revealing the bright outlines of the injury that had once been there. There was no remaining wound, but the healing that Calvin had done on it was quite similar to the act of stitching skin back together, and therefore, it could tear itself apart once more if Chase was to move too quickly, or to turn to sharply. “Your fine,” he informed her and removed the bandage completely, holding the blood stained fabric off to the side, “It’s healed, Chase! Just… be careful still. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he begged her, returning his eyes to hers once more.

Another sharp pain slithered along Calvin’s spine, forcing him to lean his head against the counter behind him for a moment in order to recuperate. “Just a few bruises,” he assured Chase, having caught sight of the concerned look within her eyes once more. “I’ll clean this up later. Did you eat your pancake?” he added while pulling at a portion of his hair, ringing it of the water that it had absorbed.