Healing a friend in need

Kaleigh yawned heavily as she woke from a dead sleep starving for breakfast. It was summer and her parents had already left to go to Venice, Italy after many arguments of allowing her to stay home. She hopped out of bed and quickly grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a white v-necked t-shirt. Afterwards she then proceeded to take a shower and change into her fresh clean clothes before heading downstairs to check the mail first.

"Food.... Or mail..." She said thinking aloud to her self before finally heading to the kitchen first grabbing a bowl and some cereal. "Food wins" She said laughing to herself. She finished her cereal and cleaned her bowl and spoon before putting it away. Kaleigh stretched yawning once more before sighing and sliding on her sandals to go check the mail in.

Walking outside, she smiled widely as the sunlight hit her face and she could hear birds chirpping around her happily. "What a wonderful day" She thought to herself going to the end of her driveway to her mail box.

He didn't know how he had gotten there exactly, but Jimmy knew that he must keep moving. Ever since he arrived back from Ireland, he had been plagued by a nagging feeling that he was being watched. As he passed a shop window, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of his reflection.

Cuts marked his face and his clothes bore all the signs of sleeping rough. Running his hand over his now stubble covered chin, he bit his lip in disdain at his new disheveled appearance. "Man alive...I need a shower...and a shave...and some wine..." Jimmy mused as he shook his head mournfully and trudged onward, his collar turned up to help hide the various scars and cuts that marked his neck, courtesy of the bushes and branches he had now been forced to call his bed.

Jimmy was so caught up in his own misery, he almost didn't pay attention to the very familiar and very lovely sight of Kaleigh ahead of him. "K-kaleigh??" he stammered timidly, his face flushed as he desperately wished he had cleaned himself up.

Kaleigh turned at the sound of her name being called and blushed brightly as she saw Jimmy McKenna standing right in front of her. "Jimmy.. oh my... what happened to you?" She asked quickly going by his side looking at the cuts and the blood on his face. "Wait tell me inside, come on let's get you cleaned up" She said taking his hand softly guiding him to her house as gently as she could. She looked at him all the while until they reached her door which she opened just by simply flicking her wand that she had been holding in her back jeans pocket.

"Come on Jimmy, this way" She said leading him slowly into her house and to her living room. "Take a seat, I'll go and get you some tea" Kaleigh said going to her kitchen and putting a pot on the stove starting the water for the tea.

Jimmy could barely get a word out of his embarrassed mouth as he was swept into her house. Blushing frantically at her touch, he finally managed to force words out of his mouth. "T-thank you...that would be lovely.." he stammered pathetically as he stood in her living room, not wanting to ruin her furniture with his disgusting rags. Even his trusted hat had seen better days, the edges horribly frayed as he ran it through his hands.

This break from running was all that was needed for the reality of the past few days to hit home. Tears leaked gently down his weary face as Jimmy bowed his head, not able to bear being seen in this state, especially not in front of someone like Kaleigh.

Kaleigh turned the temperture down on the water putting a few tea bags into the pot allowing it to settle. She walked into the living room to see Jimmy still standing in the middle of it. She walked up to him and gently put her hand on his arm trying to look at his face since he had his head down. "It's alright Jimmy. I'll take care of you." She said softly as she put her arms around him giving him a gentle hug, "How about I show you the bathroom and get you some clean clothes and a towel so you can shower and I'll make some food okay?" She said still hugging him softly.

Jimmy had his eyes closed, lost in his own misery when something warm brushed his arm. Looking up slowly, he could make out Kaleigh's face through the haze of tears. He could do nothing but let out a short gasp as she hugged him, his arms dropping uselessly to his sides as his face burned.

"O-okay..." was all Jimmy could say, his voice sounding weak and pitiful. Jimmy had always relied on only himself and as he gradually hugged her back timidly, he felt strangely happy that he was being taken care of for once.

Kaleigh smiled as he agreed and bite her lip softly as she felt his arms go around her to hug her back. She stayed like that happily for a minute more before taking a step back and grabbing one of his hands softly leading him to the upstairs bathroom. "This way hun." She said pulling him along gently. She opened the bathroom door grabbing and towel and placing it into his arms gently. "Let me go get some of my dad's clothes you should be able to wear them just fine. I'll wash yours for you once you are done showering." She said giving him a soft smile before walking to her parents room going inside it.

Kaleigh was gone for about five minutes before she came back with a pair of her dad's brown khaki shorts and a white fitting t-shirt. She walked up to Jimmy touching his arm again gently. "I uhm... wasn't sure if you wanted to wear my dad's uhm... underwear so I found his new pack... he hasn't worn it yet" She said blushing pointing shyly to the blue boxers ontop of the clothes. "The shower is pretty easy to work, pull the thing up on the faucet and turn the nozzle right for cold and left for hot." She said nodding to the bathroom. "I'll be downstairs when you've finished okay?" She said still blushing slightly.

Jimmy was in dream land, the pain of his rough living had already begun to wash away as he was lead to the bathroom. He gratefully took the towel in his grasp, nodding to show his thanks before stumbling into the bathroom.

He had barely taken off his shirt when he felt Kaleigh touch his arm again. Blushing hard, he swung around to face her, his hands instinctively covering his chest. Nodding to show that he had heard what she had said, Jimmy slowly took the clothes from her hands, smiling weakly but averting her gaze from sheer embarrassment. Murmuring his thanks, Jimmy slowly closed the door before undressing and hopping into the shower, eager to feel clean for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Kaleigh blushed as she walked downstairs after having stared at Jimmy's chest for a second Walking to the kitchen she couldn't help but notice how quiet he was while she was talking to him. She went and poured his tea into a mug adding some milk for good measure. Then she began to make some ham and cheese sandwhiches stopping at three, one for herself and two for Jimmy not knowing how hungry he was and hoped that two was enough. She sat down at the kitchen table setting a place beside her where she put two of the sandwhiches on a plate and the tea in front of it. She sat down and waited for Jimmy to finish showering.

Jimmy stepped out of the shower feeling nice and clean once more. The clothes Kaleigh had given him fitted Jimmy perfectly, suited him too. Ignoring what this said about his taste in clothes, Jimmy quickly got dressed and made his way downstairs.

Once there, Jimmy sheepishly sat next to Kaleigh, unsure as to what to do first, drink or eat. Noticing that he was looking like an idiot, Jimmy cautiously took a bite of one of the sandwiches, trying to hide how hungry he really was.