CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: SHIPWRECK

Not all addictions are rooted in abuse or trauma, but I do believe they can all be traced to painful experience. A hurt is at the center of all addictive behaviors.
-Gabor Mate

"Augustine you are totally Natsu! And of course, Law is Gray." I tell him, poking him in the cheek. "I mean, the way Bar said you two fight-"

"Daddy!" Interrupting me, Gus turns in his seat the table to shoot his offended look full force at the bear boy. "How dare you exploit mine and Gray's bromance for fun."

Bar sighs, unamused and used to it. "I don't know what you're talking about but shut the fuck up."

We're all playing chess, and of course I'm losing -which Conway finds rather amusing. I don't like him.

Jem and Clementine have the glass set, me and Gus have the Mario Bros set, Bar and Fen have the set me and Kace always used and Micah and Obsidian are using a regular wooden set.

"I miss Kace," I sigh, looking down at Bowser. "Ugh! And I hate myself too for making us meet only once a month. Like who does that?"

Turning in what appears to be genuine interest, Clementine asks "Who's Kace?" in a rather soft voice. Instead of dark like Micah's, her green eyes are a light mint.

"You're perfect." I accidentally blurt instead of giving her an answer. "I-It's weird." Instantly, due to embarrassment, my entire face flushes.

Wow, I'm not good at human interactions.

Shocker.

"I mean, not like perfect-perfect, that would be impossible, you know? I mean like, genuinely, like n-nice and a great thinker and you're beautiful, that's undisputed, the worst thing about your physical is just you're pretty short. I mean, I'm not far off or anything, but um yeah, and oh wow, I'm a fool-"

"Artemis," Micah calls me, who's across the table from me since we're switching seats to all play each other, making my mouth clamp shut. "You're rambling and being adorable."

Gasping, I huff at him. "That is rude! How dare you -I am not adorable. I am someone you should be afraid of -don't laugh at me! What is wrong with you?"

The broken boy only smirks, not offended at all. "Many things but apparently not enough to put you off."

And this guy is my soulmate?

Nice.

"Fuck you." I snap, my movements and words instantly going clumsy as my mind takes a turn down Dirty Lane.

"You already have." Micah bites out, snark coming out full force. "And I'm pretty fucking sure you liked it too, if your orgasms were anything to go by."

Ugh I wish he couldn't remember that...or at least, wouldn't make me all flustered by recounting it.

"Checkmate." Gus sings out into the middle of all this, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Me face planting into the table makes Jem more than obviously amused as he says, "Careful Ugly, there's only so much more you can to do permanently disfigure yourself and a massive dent in the middle of your face would do just that."

"Mouse, bad timing. Jeremiah, that's just wrong," Fen scolds them, making me glance up and smile at her. "And Rex...I have no words for you."

Micah nods smugly, turning back to me with a wink.

A wink!

"The a-audacity!" Clementine gasps out in my defense, turning to me with half-fake half-real sympathy. "I know what that's like."

"You have a bear boy, I have that demonic little shit." Me pointing out the differences makes Micah glare, Bar raise and eyebrows and Clementine to sputter. "Are you okay, love?"

"You talk to h-him like that?" She squeaks out in reply, eyes wide.

Frowning I nod, "Yeah? I'm not hurting his feelings, if I was I wouldn't be doing it. Given how much we fight, the bickering isn't bad."

"Plus it's kind of hot to see the mango obsessed good girl insult someone." The Demon adds, and I know it was purposely to rile me up because of the look he sent me but that doesn't stop me from falling for it.

"I am not a good girl!" Doesn't he know how many drugs I've done? "And I've already told you, a mango obsession is completely healthy and not harmful just like too many blue socks. What would you rather me be addicted to, cocaine?"

"And have you be ten times freakier? I'll pass, but thanks."

"Why you Demon!"

"Why you little Goddess!" My Micah mocks me, voice going up two octaves.

Rolling my eyes, I point out, "You're being more annoying than Jem."

He snorts, "Fucking impossible."

Now Jem scoffs loudly, interjecting himself in the conversation. "I am not that annoying, you guys."

"Motherfuckers...are you always like this?" Fen asks, rubbing her temples.

"I hope so." Augustine replies to her, grinning as he watches us. "Is that what me and Law sound like? Minus the orgasms."

"Yes." Conway, Fen and Bar all say at once.

The Obsidian pipes up, "It's weird to hear you cuss, AJ."

"Doesn't she cuss all the time?" I ask, assuming he's talking about Gus's AJ instead of me. Then I get it. "Wait I'm being dumb-"

"You're not dumb." The green eyed boy says, only for my best friend to say "You said it not me." at the same time.

"This is a shit show." The bear boy growls. "All of you be quiet, my babygirl has something to ask."

"Can she say it in one go?" Conway mutters, mostly to himself.

Absolutely annoyed by people who pick on others for having disabilities, no matter how small, I try not to blow up at him. Instead, to hopefully teach him I say calmly, "Don't you know how insensitive that is? Stutters can get worse if someone's mental state declines because of how much emotions connect to the way we speak. Every time you say something like that and she takes it to heart, you could be doing damage. Damage that could be permanent. If that was supposed to be a joke, it's not funny. Now either correct your behavior or get the hell out of my house."

So maybe my anger did slip out near the end there, but nobody else with good morals is complaining.

That's a good sign.

Conway nods, fists clenching on the table but he doesn't say or do anything else.

"One way I taught myself to be someone others can trust is to, when I hurt them, offend them or do anything against their best interest when it could have been avoided, is to apologize for it." I explain to Conway, hoping he gets the hint. "Being intentional to reflect if you actually hurt someone is something you should always do, even if you think you know them well enough that they'd tell you if you did. Apologizing, even if they don't accept it, is a great way to make yourself into a respectable person."

The boy, without much regard, gives me the wary kind of a nasty look. "Are you saying I'm not respectable."

Tilting my head I slowly nod, not wanting to set him off. "I thought that was obvious, I'm sorry."

"Are you insulting me or trying to help me?"

Smiling, I shrug. "Listen dear, sometimes you have to criticize someone, sometimes harshly, for them to realize things about themselves they wouldn't see otherwise. I've only known you for a day, so I can't say much but yes. I'm doing both, because you're being an insensitive prick to an amazing person but I also know you can change."

"Therapist," Jem coughs out, pretending not to speak. "Therapist."

Ignoring him for the most part I continue to stare him down until Conway winces -turning to glance from his 'best friend' to the baby orange.

"Sorry."

Measly apology, but progress is progress and progress leads to improvement. So I leave it alone.

Conway excuses himself to the bathroom, probably just to get away.

Nobody likes being called out.

"T-Thank y-you," Clementine says, her own body seems to make a point with her stuttering.

Bar nods to me, brown eyes grateful.

"What was your question? Ivory." Micah asks, breaking what probably would have grown into a awkward silence.

Not fair! Why does only he get to say her name?

I know he likes Clementine, seeing as he interacts with her, protects her and make sure she's heard. It's good for him, to be branching out and meeting new people -ones he can like and tolerates. Especially ones so accepting.

Clementine looks between me and my Demon, confusion flooding her features. "You guys f-fight?"

Practically everyone besides me, Jem and Micah seem to tense up at this -an odd look going through them all.

"Oh. Micah's teaching me how to fight, so I can defend myself so we practice a lot. And-"

"Wait!" Fen interrupts, surprised. "You mean physically fighting?"

"Yeah? Is that, um, wrong or something? We don't actually hurt each other, he definitely doesn't hit me and never leaves bruises or anything. I cry if I do it too hard, I don't really know my own strength yet." Giggling nervously, I fidget with my queen -Bowser Jr. "With practicing so much comes shit talking, especially when we run first because we race but he always wins and rubs it in my face."

The bear boy thinks for a second before looking to Micah. "And that doesn't scare her any?"

"At first she was jumpy and flinched a little," Just by the tone of his voice I can tell he didn't like that at all, which I didn't know. "But she doesn't now. AJ knows I won't hurt her."

"You should have seen her try to fight Kace though!" My best friend, sounding happier about my unease than he should be. "Couldn't even see him stand straight before she was running away crying."

"Hey!" Offended, I pout at Jem. "I didn't cry."

"Who's Kace?" Clementine asks again.

Oops.

Not about to restart that whole fiasco again, I jump at the chance to answer. "He was a patient at Grey Estate and is my friend, we see each other once a month. He's amazing and loves chess."

She nods, raven black hair falling in front of her making Bar smile lightly to himself before moving it back behind her ear.

They're goals.

"Can we play something more fun? Like...Shipwreck or Monopoly or something?" Jem asks, standing out of his chair to stretch.

Soon we all agree, and gather in a circle. Jem rolls the dice first, one of my giant sketch books out to act as a number guide.

Rolling an 11, pretty much everyone's eyes drift to the board but having invented this game with Jem I easily look to my best friend for direction.

Eleven is Would You Rather, so Jem decides two things and everyone in the group has to choose one. The catch is you have to do whatever you pick.

"Hmm," Jeremiah hums, looking around the group with a teasing tone before his eyes land on me. "Would you rather all tell AJ to fuck off or flip Clementine off."

Raising my hand causes Jem to nod at me, letting me know I can question him. "First of all, I feel like this is highly prejudice because the only person who might even consider flipping her off is her own brother. It doesn't really bother me, but you are an asshole. Secondly, how do I tell myself to fuck off?"

"I dunno, go look in a mirror and tell yourself it?"

"I don't like mirrors!" I pout, banging a fist in the ground though it barely makes a sound. "I demand justice-"

"Hey Baby," Micah cuts me off, making my wide eyes flick to him and instantly smile at the look in his dark eyes. One of his hands raise to the back of my neck, squeezing it gently before his thumb brushes against my neck making goosebumps rise along my skin. Then he leans in, and whispers, "Fuck off." in my ear.

All I can do is gasp and sputter out a mess of words.

"I've been tricked, back-stabbed and bamboozled. Treachery. Carnage. Blasphemy-"

"Fuck off." Fen says bluntly, meeting my eye. Bar follows suit, so does Conway and hesitantly Augustine does too.

Obsidian apologies before and after flipping his sister off, but she doesn't even blink in offense.

"I guess I really do need to go fuck off then," I say to myself, looking to Jem in time to see his smug grin form.

It's then all eyes shift to Clementine, making her gulp.

Gently, as if afraid she would hurt him, the baby orange takes her boyfriend's hand and shifts it so he's flipping her off.

Too busy staring for a solid five seconds, when he realizes what his girl has done Bear tugs his hand away from her and contemplates for a split second before smirking. "I did this morning, Babygirl."

Clementine flushes red, gaping at him but the bear boy only chuckles and kisses the top of her head.

"My turn next!" Gus shouts, grabbing the dice before rolling a nine. "Nice!" He pauses, frowning to himself but his intelligent eyes are far from
confused. "What does that mean?"

Staring at him, I decided not to say anything or show that I know he's not as Happy To Lucky as he wants people to think.

That must be exhausting to keep up.

Jem explains it to him. It's Seven Minutes in Hell or Heaven with the person two away on your right or two away on your left. You get to choose which direction, but who you pick gets to choose the destination. Of course, you don't have to kiss or touch the person if you choose Heaven but you do have to get locked in a closet.

Plus Hell is so much more fun.

Augustine has to choose between either me or Clementine. Jem and Fen are next to him, and sadly can't be picked.

"Potato Queen, I choose you." Gus sings, standing up and twirling into the center of the space. "I assume you choose Hell, seeing as one day you plan to steal that sour dickbag's crown and rule it."

Clementine giggles, nodding. She doesn't look intimidated at all as she steps in the ring, it's then I bother to notice that her knuckles look a lot like Micah's.

Wow.

She's the whole package.

How is that fair to anyone else? People like that can't exist, it's simply a disadvantage for the human race.

Her and Bear have to have a million kids and make the population a more attractive.

Getting ready and to prepare himself, Augustine makes a stoic face that screams "I am a fucking God!" at the entire group. Micah makes this face, so does Keagan and I bet on my life so does Bar and Law.

For some reason, most of their moods flip in mere seconds as they see how dark he really is but I can't understand how they didn't know that look is always there. He just hides it well. Anyways, he can only hold the look for about five second when OJ is staring wide eyed at him. Gus bursts into laughter, clutching his stomach.

From there the baby orange laughs, which makes us laugh and soon we're all breathless and the two supposed to be fighters are floored and tearing up.

"Where did your muscles go there Augustine?" I giggle out, poking the leg closest to me. "You turned to jelly in ten seconds."

"Tell me about it," Gus grunts as he sits up, hazel eyes more alive then when he walked in. "I guess she wasn't ready for this jelly."

"Ah yes, being thic, a hidden weapon."

"You'd know." From beside me, Jem slaps upper thigh closest to my ass that he can with me sitting down
It makes me yelp, loudly.

I can feel Micah glaring over my head before I look up and see it, being pulled clumsily over his lap so his arm is around my shoulders and one of my thighs on his waist. "The only one here who can touch her like that and not get a black eye, is me."

That was kind of unexpected yet completely melt worthy.

"Demon?"

"Yea, my little Goddess?" Micah's voice is clearly a grumble, an unhappy, overprotective, grumble.

Pulling my head away from his neck I smile, leaning in to lightly kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

My broken boy grins, pecking me just as gently on the nose. "Welcome."

I know from then on that this will be a fun night, probably a long one too but it will definitely be one I remember.

Today I woke up, open my front door and was met with what I thought would be a day of sadness and looking over my shoulder.

But today, when I opened my front door and was met with friends it turned into what would be a day of laughter and kisses.

I know my life could be a lot worse.

But how can it get much better than this?

In case any of you want to play Shipwreck:

1. Spill someone's secret
2. Spill your own secret
3. Kill, kiss, fuck 3 the three people to your right
4. Person across from you asks you anything
5. Kiss someone or hug for 5 turns
6. Pay the person to your left $5
7. Remove a piece of clothing
8. Remove someone else clothes down to underwear, they cannot help
9. Seven minutes in heaven/hell (you choose) with the person two away from you on right or left.
10. Truth or dare person to your right
11. Would you rather
12. Group vote on what you eat

Role the dice, starting with the oldest person and moving left, and whatever number you have you have to do as said.
Then, if it is someone other than yourself who's involved with the number you picked, spin the bottle and whoever it lands on is who you do it with.

Rules:

1. If you don't do something, than the group decides on a punishment and you have to do that or do the original truth/dare.
2. During seven minutes when you pick the other person they decide if it's in heaven/hell if you choose the hell part you stand in the middle of the group and try to pin each other down. First one with wrists on floor for 5 seconds, loses.
3. Don't force anyone to do anything involving touch, triggers, harm to themselves or money that they aren't willing to do.
4. Whoever takes the most punishments at the end of the game pays for pizza/food of choice by group.
5. Don't be a dick about it.