Blame

The human male screamed for the girl. She stopped in front of the bathroom door and asked if she could come inside. "Yes, he is covered. You can come in and help me with this huge bastard." By this point, Ivaylo was conscious and glaring at him.

They supported him on both sides into her bedroom. She began to tend to Ivaylo's wounds patching him up. Her human companion leaned on the wall, arms crossed. taking an aggressive stance, so he would be ready to intervene anytime, but right now just observing them. Ivaylo tried to push her away. "Just don't bother me or your boyfriend will get more jealous."

The human guy sneered at him in disgust. "You are nasty!" and left shutting the door behind. She flinched by the sound. "He isn't my boyfriend. We are cousins." Ivaylo learned something new. For some reason, it lifted his gloomy mood a little and allowed her to continue caring for his wounds.

He was watching her every move. Suspecting her from trying something shady on him. Instead, she made the effort to be as gentle, as possible, disinfecting the deep gash. She noticed the scar tissue. He was probably doing it for a long time. What inner demons does he have, to be driven into these extreme actions?

She looked up at him and their eyes met for a second. Ivaylo averted his gaze. As she was done with the knot of his bandage, she helped him to lay down covering him. Ivaylo was silent. Why did she help him?

The alcohol was slowly leaving his system but a fever began to rage instead from an incipient infection. His breathing became rigid. The young girl stepped out of the bedroom. "Are you done with him? We should leave." She was left baffled. "He still needs some help. He is running a fever..."

The human male grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake with her. "STOP THIS NONSENSE ALREADY!" He shot a glare through the crack of the open door at Ivaylo, who was watching them through droplets of sweat rolling down his face.

The girl harshly brushed him off and stood her stance. "Keep your prejudice in check! He is innocent..." The man grabbed her arm, pulled the sleeve, and levered her forearm in front of her face. "Does this mean INNOCENCE?!"

She averted her eyes from his. "That was an accident... He was injured and scared." Her cousin continued. Out of anger, he ripped the buttons from her shirt by pulling it down on one side revealing long claw stripes on her left shoulder. "Was this also an accident?!"

Ivaylo's eyes got hypnotized by those scars. They looked painful... She sighed and fixed her shirt and then pushed her male cousin out of the apartment shutting the door behind. "Go back home! We will talk later." She leaned with her back on it and slipped down to the ground.

She was frustrated, but she knew, he was just overprotective. She touched her clawed shoulder for a second and then just stood up and fetched a small plastic bucket. She walked into the bedroom. Ivaylo was following her with his eyes.

She dropped a hand towel soaked in cold water on his forehead. From the nightstand, she pulled some medicine. "Can you eat these?" She showed him some pills for high fever. He recognized them and nodded. The girl dropped one of the pills into his mouth and followed with a glass full of water.

Ivaylo obediently swallowed the medicine and laid back down. She sat down next to his bed watching over him and changing the hand towel occasionally. Ivaylo was slowly drifting into the dreamland.

After an hour, she broke the silence. "I believe you... I believe you didn't do it." Ivaylo instantly woke up by those sentences looking at her with bewildered eyes. His heart skipped a beat.

"You do behave rudely but still, you keep your respectful distance... mostly... and give me more money than the rent or food costs. When I tried to return it, you always managed to stuff my pockets or purse with it. Jokes on you, I do that same and just keep the real expenses." She smiled at him.

"You believe me?! Do you think, I give a damn about that?!" He turned his back towards her. Ivaylo didn't want her to see, that it made him tear up a little from happiness... that at least someone believed in him. The towel slipped from his forehead by doing it.

She leaned over and picked it up and caressed the top of his head. He could feel that touch long after. "You should sleep now." The fever went down. The sound of the door closing made him return to his previous position with his forearm over his blushing face. The memory of the kiss popped back into his mind.

"Oh god! I behaved like a stray dog in heat..." he whispered to himself. But still, she stayed, cared for me, and even believed me... Ivaylo's hand slipped and touched his cheek, where she touched him with the handkerchief.

It was so gentle and that scent... God, damn! Why is that so irresistible?! Why must she be a human?! Why not a beast kin?! Anything, just not a human... His heart was torn between those thoughts. She wasn't that bad... for a human, but he felt like he was actively betraying his own ancestors and species by thinking positively about her.

His mind drifted to his grandparents and great-grandparents, who fought with the humankind for freedom. He blamed himself for being this weak coward and ditching his own kin for a lousy human. NO! He can't be like this. He shook off all those thoughts away.

Ivaylo decided to take a week-long vacation and recuperate at his parent's house. Should he tell the human woman, that he is going there?! Why should he?! He just uses her for shelter near his office on the outskirts. She will manage by herself like she always does.

But for sure, he should contact that human supervisor. It will be better to lay low until that stupid misunderstanding that transpired blows over. He doesn't need to lose his job or take the blame because of some weird human woman at work.