It took close to a minute before her brain caught up to what had happened. When she did, her immediate instinct was to shove him away, but he realised that he helped. She looked to him, not moving from where she was sitting, before looking around, expecting the door to be open. When she saw it closed, she just paused.

"I..." She started, looking back to the kneeling man ahead of her.

"Uh... hi?" She asked, obviously unsure of what it was that had happened, who he was, and what he was doing there. However, she did realise that he wasn't there to hurt.

Zeke was one of her closest friends, and she knew how he and his father felt. This man felt similar.

Warmer, though.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent before carefully getting to her feet. Overall, she was all right, but he could tell she was a little unsteady.

"I .. maybe?" She asked before sighing.

"How... how did you know I needed help?" She asked after a moment or two.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"Unsteady." Erica answered honestly.

"And weak. But... that might just be because the sun is up, when last I remember it wasn't." She then said with a sigh. "I don't even know how long it's been." She muttered.

"Regardless, thank you. Is... is there anything I can do to repay you?"

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"I... I have no idea." Erica admitted.

"I just..." She tried to say something else before finding she couldn't. Yeah, she was aware of things now and her brain was working, but it was still... not quite right. She shook her head to try and clear it, but that wasn't something that had gone too well. She found herself sliding down the wall again, her head swimming.

"Did not expect that..." she muttered

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica didn't have a chance to process it, didn't know waht to think of it all. She couldn't process it for a moment before just resting her head against his shoulder, the warmth she could feel being extremely comforting, along with helping to quell her curse even more.

She didn't even answer when he asked his question. It wasn't until he asked again that he got an answer.

"I... what?" She asked before he repeated. "Oh. uh.. bed."

"Up the stairs, door on the left."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent for a moment before just lightly grasping his hand.

".... Come back after?" She asked.

"Please?" She couldn't tell why she wanted it, not at all, but she wanted him to stay. She wouldn't beg him to, and would respect if he said no, but she did want him to.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"I... have no idea." Erica admitted.

"The past few days... they're just a blur." She added. "Hasn't... been this bad before." She let go of his hand, so that she wasn't holding him there.

"Go do what you need to. Thank you for your help." She said quietly before shifting to get comfy.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent before sighing.

"Not... not like you'd be stuck here for long." She commented.

"But... please." she then said. "I... I don't want to be alone."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"Thank you..." Erica said quietly as she did get comfy, half resting on him, half on the bed. In essence, his torso was her pillow. Her positioning also made it that he could feel her heartbeat, not that it was really anything of note.

Sure enough, though, it didn't take long at all before he felt, and heard, her breathing get more steady, and slower. Her heartbeat slowed, got more steady, more relaxed as well, and feeling it, knowing that he played a hand in that change stirred something deep within him, something that hadn't been even acknowledged for far too long.

The question, was whether or not it would be allowed to flourish, or if it was going ot be a case of him not taking the chance and suppressing it.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

The next day, she woke, surprisingly well rested, and looked around. She expected there to be someone in bed with her, and found herself rather shocked that there wasn't anyone.

There was no proof of anyone else having been there.

"... of course it was a dream." She lamented. She couldn't explain why she was so hopeful, as it wasn't in her character at all. She shook her head though to get back to the current anything, and got to her feet. She stretched, checked her attire (noticing she was still wearing the last thing she remembered, even though she wasn't sure when that was) and left the room. On the way downstairs, she heard her phone ringing, which caused her to pick up the pace, almost scrambling.

She found it under the shelving unit she had by the door, and noticed that Zeke was calling.

"... ?" She didn't say anything before just answering her.

"Hey Zeke. What's up?" She asked as she got to her feet again.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫