[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian.

[==========================]

-> [ARTISTS / SERIES USED]
- lilredbeany.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

Ashlyn: ["It fucking stings!!"]

The girl clenched her teeth in a bit of pain, tapping her feet rather harshly at the sensation on her cut arm. Y/N had cleaned and wrapped it, yes, but it still felt like the girl was dying on the inside thanks to the sensation. Speaking of which, the aforementioned young man sat with his back to the wall, both arms crossed behind his head — Thankfully, the phone still played music even with the frozen hour.

Opening one single eye, he just shot a lazy look towards the others — Tyler, Taylor, Ben, Logan and Aiden who worked together to create any sort of improvised weaponry they could to deal with the Phantoms outside. The last of which, in his usual crazy antics, followed Y/N's instructions closely, with him filling the bottle with medical alcohol from the bathroom's medkit, and stuffing a cloth inside of it.

Y/N thought for a second about tossing him the lighter, but a molotov and Aiden is the last thing he would want. Perhaps Aiden and a firearm would be even worse — Silently, he thanked himself for giving the other weapon he had to Ashlyn. Speaking of the crazed one of the group, Y/N opened a single eye after hearing a shattering sound, and noticed the shards of another bottle that Aiden broke to make another weapon.

Tyler scolded him, but thanks to his earphones, Y/N could not hear — Or care — about what he was saying. Instead, he just nuzzled the back of his head against the wall, and returned to his motionless state, not really seeing to pay attention to what the others were saying. Ashlyn, on the other hand, glanced towards Tyler, and recalled in silence the events that transpired of her scolding him just a while ago.

Ashlyn: ["Was I too harsh on him...?"]

The girl still held her shorts with quite the grip thanks to the stinging sensation she was feeling. As if sensing her distress, Aiden approached and offered a towel from the many stacked pieces of the ones that the hotel offered. Ashlyn picked it as he crouched at the girl's side — A silent nod of appreciation, she squeezed the piece of cloth with quite the strength, also gritting her teeth a bit from all of the stinging.

Aiden: ["I never took you for the leader type, y'know?"]

Ashlyn: ["...I'm not. But my parents are. They're both from the military"]

Aiden: ["Ah, I get it. So you're used to being told what to do in situations like this"]

Ashlyn: ["... Well, not like this"]

Aiden: ["So. You also know self-defense?"]

Ashlyn: ["I've took a few kickboxing classes..."] She trailed off, waving her arm around for a moment, humming ["Huh. Y/N is pretty good at this... I wonder where he learned"]

Aiden: ["If I were to guess, I guess he's used to hurting himself. Or, being hurt. He's very... Careful"] Aiden shot a glance at the silent, unmoving, and resting boy at the other side of the room ["Why else would he carry a gun, if not out of paranoia, am I right?"]

Ashlyn: ["... Yeah. Now that he mentions it, I never stopped to think about it... I guess I shouldn't ask anyways. I doubt he would say anything"] Ashlyn thought with herself for a few moments before glancing up towards Aiden, and standing up. On the way, picking up one of the metal pipes from the dismantled furniture ["How many of these do we have?"]

Taylor: ["Uh, 8. Including the ones we're taking off right now..."]

Ashlyn: ["So, enough for all of us to use without having to waste ammunition. Y/N still has his knife, so that's good"] She dropped the piece of metal on top of the rest again ["I'm glad we won't have to attract much attention with the shots"]

Taylor: ["It's been quiet for a while now..."] She spoke up, catching Ashlyn's attention ["Do-Do you think those things are gone...?"]

Ashlyn remained crouched near the twins, listening quietly to the outside. Her eyes fixated on the door, and her entire body shivered when she faced those red waves which came with the presence of the creatures. She just shook her head "no" to the disappointment of Taylor, who could not hear the scratching and the silent banging that Ashlyn was so attuned to.Speaking of which, she glared at the door again.

Ashlyn: ["We actually have some items to protect ourselves, so we're on a better position to talk things out..."] The girl hummed before standing up and looking around ["They're Still outside the door. I can hear them, but... Not in a normal way"] At the girl's words, Y/N removed one of his earphones ["Do you all remember how I said I had sensitive ears?"]

Aiden: ["Ooh, that's right! So, do you hear them outside or something?"]

Ashlyn: ["Sort of. They make a certain... Sound. I don't think you guys can hear it"]

Tyler: ["Right. Can you get to the point?"]

Ashlyn: ["I'm trying to, you jerk! This shit isn't easy to explain!"] The girl scowled in her own thoughts, now looking at the wall again ["The thing is, because of how loud everything is to me, I hear... Phantom noises, as a side effect — Sounds that aren't really there. In the Sorrel Weed House, I thought I was hearing a Phantom Noise, and when I saw the monster..."] Everyone listened on as she trailed off, glancing at her open palms as if remembering the way it grabbed her, breathing down her neck ["I believed it was just a type of hallucination. But then, it grabbed me"]

Tyler: ["A hallucination that grabbed you, injured you, and all of us saw?"] He scoffed, crossing his arms and sitting against the wall ["And you thought it wasn't real?'"]

Ashlyn: ["Well, you thought it was a prank, and... No, nevermind. It doesn't matter now"] The girl gently tapped the steel pipe against her head, shutting her eyes ["Control yourself, control yourself... Don't whack him! What I'm getting to is that..."] She glared at the door, ponting right at it ["I can hear and locate them when the rest of you can't"]

Tyler: ["What's the plan, then? Use your magic hearing to save the day?"]

Ashlyn: ["... Hmm... No- Well, yes. But later. I think we should stay here for now so we can rest and... Prepare ourselves. Once we go outside, there is no telling what we may encounter"] The girl faced the entrance to the place, humming with herself at the hearing of the monsters outside ["And let's not leave the living room. If something happens, I don't want to be split up. There isn't much we can do now..."] Facing around the place again, her eyes locked, for a second, against Y/N's ["So I think we should focus on doing some mental exercises"]

Aiden: ["Mental exercises" as in...?"]

Ashlyn: ["Imagining yourselves in certain situations and seeing how you'll react"] The girl glanced down, remembering what her father had said, word by word ["When you actually do encounter a situation like the one you imagined, you're able to react faster. Anything that puts you one step ahead is worth doing"] She stood up from her crouching position, and looked around for awhile ["Any time you aren't sleeping, that's what you should be doing"]

Tyler: ["Yeah, great plan. Daydream and sleep with the monsters right outside the door"]

Y/N: ["Jesus fuck this guy is annoying"]

Ashlyn: ["We'll take turns keeping a lookout. Logan, is the time still frozen?"] The glasses-wearing boy looked at his cellphone, and then nodded at the girl ["Both Y/N and Logan noticed that the time wasn't changing about an hour ago. If time isn't working, then neither should alarms"] She thought for a moment, scanning the room in silence before facing the group once more ["Alright, we'll keep resetting a timer every hour, then. I'll take the first shift. Who wants to go after?"]

In silence, Y/N raised his hand.

For the stillness of the digital clocks, the hours went by incredibly fast. Taking the shift after Ashlyn, Y/N just nodded to the girl who immediately fell asleep after he took her spot. Glancing at how her head was awkwardly resting against the sofa, Y/N put a pillow underneath it, making sure to be careful as to not wake her up — And he also went around fixing the posture of everyone else who was sleeping in awkward ways.

After him was Logan, who looked at the door constantly with nervousness. Tyler and Taylor respectively afterwards, followed by Aiden and Ben. Throughout all of it, Y/N remained awake, his eyes open and fixated on the door. He just kept on doing the same thing — Shuffling through his gigantic playlist, and keeping an eye on the door every-so-often. Maybe once or twice he made small conversation with others, too.

A while after, when he had his eyes closed, Y/N opened them to stand up and face Ashlyn after the rotation of turns. However, instead of finding the ginger girl, he found himself staring at the ceiling of his room — Strangely, his gun, nor his blade, were with him. He just calmly sat up and looked around, not showing any signs of surprise. Just a little curious hum, he stood up and took a glance outside the window.

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

One blink, and then two. Ashlyn also sat up on her bed, feeling the dizzy sensation as if she was just shaken around in one of those carnival rides, a thousand times. A pained groan later, the girl rubbed her eyes after a few minutes of sitting in silence and letting the dizziness subdue itself. Turning to the side, her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Taylor, who slept so calmly it was like nothing, at all, had happened.

Ashlyn: ["Are we... Back in our room-"]

Ashlyn again covered her aching eyes. Putting a hand on her pounding forehead as if someone's hand was beating it from the inside-out. Her emerald eyes remained shut for minutes more as she tried to adjust, and rest this pain away, all to no avail — It seemed like it really wasn't to go away completely. But as it toned down, she raised her eyes to meet Taylor in the bed again, rubbing her head and looking at her arm.

Ashlyn: ["No scratches..."]

She clearly remembered all of it, the entire night like it had happened not even one an hour ago — Let alone the sight of Y/N cleaning and wrapping her wounds. By all means, that had happened not even a few hours back, and yet, here she was: Completely healed. Like no Phantom had ever gotten a hold of her arm. She also recalled the sight of the one pulling her leg under the covers in this very room.

Ashlyn: ["Was all that really just a nightmare?"]

She rubbed her forehead — It couldn't be. Could it? She vividly remembered the scratch on Y/N's cheek, the gunshot that made everyone else flinch, the sight of him backing up as a Phantom approached him and the others. The dozens of other ones in the street below, the one they locked inside the room and then Y/N fought with. Even the one back in the bus during the "Nightmare" who also had her leg.

Ashlyn: ["... I'm staring to lose track of reality"]

Ashlyn: ["Alright, calm down. What was the last thing you remember? We were taking turns keeping watch, and the clock wasn't working..."] She recalled her thoughts, the small talk she had with Y/N, who then just remained on his own corner, away from everyone ["We used a timer instead., but now the clock's changed... 12:06 AM..."]

Taylor: ["Ashlyn... Are we back in our room?"] The girl slowly sat up on the bed, catching Ashlyn's attention ["Where are the others...? Are the monsters still-"]

Ashlyn: ["So it did happen! You remembered, right-?!"]

Taylor: ["Ashlyn, what are you-?!"]

As Ashlyn grabbed a hold of the girl, the two stopped talking almost immediately. It felt like the two had been thrown up and down, upside down, around, shaken, and tossed again — The dizziness returned even stronger than before. The two stood up, and rushed out of the room, almost kicking the door down, both of their room's, and their bathroom's, and instantly pushing the toilet's lid open with all their might.

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Y/N: ["So we're back here. 00:06. So I guess the time did pass, just we couldn't see it..."] Y/N sighed, rubbing his aching forehead and spitting out some more of the vomit before cleaning the rest off with the water of the sink ["Since everyone already went to check up on the girls, I think I should let Elio know I'm fine — At least, tell him to be on alert. Whatever that shit was, I doubt it would be only for tonight. Might make sure that-"]

— [YOU HAVE (ONE) MISSED MESSAGE] —
[FLORENTINO M/N CADAVERINI]

Y/N came to a stop at the sight of the message — For many, a simple figure of an emote waving its hand. For Y/N, a feeling so tightening around his chest, he could not help but turn his face towards the toilet and throw up again. Practically tossing his cellphone to the other side of the bathroom. Y/N groaned, taking off his shirt that he used to sleep, and tossing it away for a moment, tossing water on his own face.

Washing his mouth, scrubbing his teeth after flushing the toilet, and stepping into the shower, he just let his cellphone vibrate as someone called him. Ignoring it as much as he could, feeling that sweet, cold water made his entire body shiver thanks to its low temperatures. Running through the scars he bore, the tattoo on the back of his left shoulder — A pitch-black hand holding a human skull with a single red eye.

Y/N: ["The last thing I right now is to deal with that bastard..."] Sighing, Y/N leaned against the wall, letting the cold water fall directly on his face ["Why couldn't I have stayed back in Europe? Fucking hell, Y/N... I should ask Elio to buy me a stash..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Roomate: ["Tay... Ashy- ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?"]

One of the girls who shared the room with the aforementioned she just called wandered into the room, watching closely in, at first, curiosity, and then, worry. Nearly-passed out, Taylor and Ashlyn laid against the toilet, some more of their vomit dripping around their lips thanks to the fatigue they felt not allowing them to get it all cleaned up — Of course, thanks to the tiredness the two felt, they did not reply.

Aiden: ["Taylor! Ashlyn! Are you two in heeereee~?!"] He ran into the bathroom, smiling widely as the found them ["Ah! Found em"!"]

Roommate: ["Gah! What are you doing here?! Get ou!"]

Aiden: ["Oh, hey. Aren't you two supposed to be dead or someth-"]

Tyler: ["Move!"]

By holding his cheek, he pushed Aiden out of the way, and stared towards his sister. Finding her alive — If barely — made him breathe out in relief, showing the smallest of smiles past his exhausted little smile, the same went for Taylor who shot him a glance. However, losing a bit of his balance, he found himself needing to hold his back against the wall, again feeling the wave of dizziness just like Aiden at his side.

Back in their room, so did Logan and Ben, and, of course, Y/N wasn't safe from it. He just leaned his head against the wall of the shower, sighing and trying his best not to throw up all over the floor. Gritting his teeth, narrowing his eyes, clutching his fists, etc. Poor Logan and Ben had no choice other than to fall at each other's side, trying their best to, as well, not end up throwing up all around the floor of their room.

And Ashlyn, of course, was no different than the rest.

◁━━━━━━━━◈━━━━━━━━▷
[𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘]

Tyler: ["... I still think we should go back to Savannah"]

Just like he was when we left him, Y/N continued eating in silence. Quiet, barely moving, both eyes closed and a cheek resting against his closed fist that held the fork. People walked around back and forth, seeing a lot more lively than the group of teenagers who had naught but dark circles and a semblance of exhaustion — You could even mistake them as the "cool" kids who were out partying too late, even.

If by "partying" you mean having the last 14 nights spent on a near-apocalyptic scenario where hundreds of monsters would hunt them, then yes. One hell of a party, indeed. Speaking of, thanks to the long nights awake, and the short minutes slept, Ashlyn couldn't help but rub her aching forehead at Tyler's words. She tried to come up with something while also incessantly tapping the soles of her boots in anxiety.

Ashlyn: ["... Alright. Let's take some time to think on it again and have a group vote later tonight"] She still bounced her leg up and down, very clearly distressed, but who could blame her? ["Even though this is the forth time we're talking about this subject..."]

Tyler: ["And why not after class?"]

Ashlyn: ["Because I have ballet practice today"]

Tyler: ["So what? Just skip it"]

Taylor: ["Uh, Ty... We have stuff to do after school, too"] The girl spoke up with sweat running down her cheek ["You have baseball practice and I have mechanics meeting"]

Logan: ["I, uh... I have to help with the flower shop today..."] Nervously, he rubbed the back of his neck while facing down ["My parents called me in to help, so... Yeah... Not much I can do"]

Y/N: ["Normal people having normal people's problems — Way to make me envious, y'all"] Y/N silently munched on his food while listening on, moving his eyes around ["Still, I guess it's nice to have something to chain us down to normality... As normal as a life like mine can be, anyways. Maybe I should order pizza instead of having Elio cook me something"] Y/N's attention was caught again by Taylor speaking up in her seat.

Taylor: ["See? Even Logan's busy, too. Even with what's happening, we can't just neglect school-"] "Someone who's sensible in this group? Wow" Y/N thought to himself ["I need the mechanics and you need baseball. Let's just wait until tonight, and then we-"]

Tyler: ["We aren't gonna get a future if we're dead!"]

Ashlyn: ["It's not just our future. If we drop everything to focus on fantasy-like events that we can't even prove, we're going to end up in a PSYCHE WARD!"] The girl turned to stare at Tyler, narrowing her eyes in a combination of dissatisfaction and seriousness ["Do you think that's going to make it easier, or harder, for us to set up any meeting events?"]

Y/N: ["How the fuck is no one else hearing what we're saying?"]

Aiden: ["She''s got a point, y'know? Generally we are what people would call "crazy"] He spun his index around the side of his head to illustrate his point ["And getting to the school late like we usually do, and looking like this, is not doing us any favor whatsoever"]

Tyler: ["Whatever..."]

Angrily, he stomped away... But returned for his sister.

To bring her with him, that is.

Ashlyn: ["It's not like I disagree with him. It definitely feels stupid to go to ballet when we'll be fighting for our lives later tonight"] Ashlyn sighed, still not having touched her food — As opposed to Y/N which had devoured his ["But still, we need to keep some sort of balance. Or else we'll end up ruining our lives in the real world, and the phantom one..."]

The day went by without much of a hussle from anyone — Who weren't sleeping, that is. Y/N forced himself to keep awake, repeatedly stabbing his own thigh with his pencil every time he was falling asleep. Painful? Yes. Effective? Also yes. Creepy to everyone else? Definitely. It's not like his tired gaze and cold eyes ever did any favors, anyways. Every-so-often Ashlyn would hit him up, ask something or two, and return.

And as the time went by, and the clock ticked, Y/N gazed at his cellphone inside his pocket to check it — That message was still there. A scowl, very briefly, making its way into his lips, he just pushed the thoughts aside and replied to the one from his butler instead. And as the school day was coming to an end, he stopped on the outside, watching most of the students board either the buses, or their parents' cars.

Y/N: ["Hold on just a moment"]*

Hearing Y/N's words, Elio's hands relaxed against the wheel of the black SUV. For a moment, Y/N shot a gaze to the side, seeing Ashlyn and Aiden talking — Or rather, Aiden talking while Ashlyn hummed or nodded along — and some thoughts formed. He weighted the options, tilted his head here and there, before finally clicking his tongue. It was almost audible the "Why the hell not?" coming from his thoughts.

Y/N: ["Oi. You three"] Y/N called Ashlyn, Aiden, and Ben ["Want a ride?"]

Ashlyn was quiet, but grateful, calmly wondering where this was coming from — "I suppose he's just trying to be nice" Ashlyn thought with herself. Y/N hopped on the passenger seat as he always did, giving Elio a nod, which replied with one of his own while closing the glovebox on his side to hide away the gun in it. Y/N did the same. As Ashlyn, Ben, and Aiden hopped in, the first two were a bit taken back by Elio's scar.

Still, he just gave them a wide and bright smile over the mirror, also a gentle wave. Pleasantries were exchanged, but everything fell to silence really quickly — And to Y/N, not a very comfortable one. He cursed himself in his own thoughts for having invited the three to hitch a ride with him, especially now that he had nothing to talk about. At least, not in front of Elio that would warrant some major suspicions.

Aiden: ["... So, that project of Savannah"] He spoke up, catching the attention of the other four ["That thing of us going back there to study the city further is still up?"]

Ashlyn: ["Quick on his feet like usual, I guess. I don't know. We'll have to chat up the others, but I suppose I have nothing against it"] The girl just leaned back onto her sat, shrugging her shoulders ["Only problem would be to get a ride there or something"]

Y/N: ["Elio can take us"] It was now one of the rare times for Y/N to speak ["The car should maybe fit everyone. Plus any bags of food or supplies that we take with us as well"]

Ashlyn: ["I guess we'll need to see what Tay, Ty, and Logan think, then"] The girl leaned back, looking at Y/N through the mirror ["What'd you think would be a good time?"]

Y/N: ["For me, any time works. My family's out of the country, and I don't do much other than stay at home, and theater, anyways"] Y/N just shrugged, showing his usual indifference as he leaned his view out the window ["So I am free to go whenever you all are, really"]

Aiden: ["Hm? I thought he was your brother?"]

Y/N: ["No. Elio is my butler"]

Ashlyn: ["... You got a butler?"]

Y/N: ["Hang on. I gotta drop off some stuff, but I'll be back soon"]

Y/N stepped out of the car as it came to a stop. Taking the keys from his pocket to open up the door to his house, everyone just stared off in surprise at the sight — Marble steps and a luxurious garden. Intricate wooden doors, as well as it being the only house around. They just wondered how they had not seen this place, but Ashlyn did recognize it as being in the direction of her home as well as Ben's and Aiden's.

Aiden: ["Well, damn... Who would've thought that the quiet guy was a playboy"] He chuckled to himself, turning to face the scarred driver ["What does his parents do?"]

Elio: ["Family business back in Europe. His brother owns a couple of casinos back down on Vegas, but is out of the country to deal with his own things"] He spoke with a gentle tone, a very obvious Italian accent, and a small smile ["His parents sent Y/N to live with him, but he refused. Something along the lines of "wanting somewhere quiet"] He carried on, still keeping that same air and semblance of a gentle, but quiet grace ["Doesn't help that the only house his parents had in this city was one in an uninhabited, but usually-busy street like this"]

Ashlyn: ["... Well, I guess I can't fault him for being so distant, then. Must be pretty hard changing entire continents"] She silently wondered, watching the boy descend the steps — Still, she could not contain her curiosity ["And why did they send him so far?"]

Elio: ["I am not sure. Something like wanting him to study abroad — It was his decision to come, anyways. I was sent along since I've been his caretaker since his birth"] A joyful, almost nostalgic, giggle came from Elio's lips while he gently shook his head ["Of course, a 16-year-old teenager can't live on his own, so I was the best pick to come with"]

Y/N: ["Alright. Let's go"]

The rest of the drive was spent on silence for the people inside, but a very busy and cheerful radio. Something that varied so wildly, the trio on the back did not want to even think about Y/N's playlist — It would shift from Tchaikovsky to B.I.G, from Metallica to Franz Ferdinand, from random video game soundtracks to Mayhem. They just listened on, not really wanting to break the — Mostly — comfortable silence.

Minutes later, the SUV came to another stop. And though Elio was vocal about it, all Y/N did was nod at Ashlyn's thanks as the girl stepped off, and made her way out. Interestingly, Ben and Aiden also decided to hop off. After a bit of back-and-forth with himself, Y/N decided that, whatever they were talking about, was worth checking. Even if not related to the project, he just needed to get his mind off of that massage.

Ashlyn: ["... What are you three doing?"]

Aiden: ["Coming over. I decided it'd just be faster to get off here"]

Y/N: ["Elio and I can take you to your ballet practice if you want"] Though coming up with this excuse now, Y/N's face remained frozen ["Should save some trouble for your parents. Plus, my house's on the way as well. Sounds like it is only logical to me, no?"]

Aiden: ["Plus, in the case that there may be an emergency, we'll know how to get there"]

Ashlyn: ["Y/N can kinda understand, but still..."] Ashlyn scowled over her back ["These two really are getting more pushy"] She made her way to the door, opening it with a tired sigh ["I'm home! This is a pain..."]

Emma: ["How was school-"] She turned over to face her daughter, a mouthful of popcorn ["Aiden, Ben and Y/N are over? I thought you had ballet today?"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah. About that... Y/N offered to give me a ride since his home's on the way, plus his butler drove us here, and they wanted to talk a bit about the project on the time we've got left"] She reached for the popcorn on the sofa, getting a handful of it and sending it into her mouth, wiping it clean and swallowing before she spoke up ["Aiden and Ben wanted to see where the studio is, so it would also save y'all some trouble, too"]

Emma: ["... Come along?"]

As the trio of boys remained on the back, Emma and Mike shared a glance, almost as quiet as Y/N usually was. An exchange of glares and a nod later was enough for the couple to understand what they needed to do — And poor Ashlyn was not ready for it. The girl reached for another handful of the popcorn, silently thinking about all that's been going on, but as she was about to speak up to her parents once again...

Emma: ["Give us a second, please!"]

Aiden: ["Okay!"]

Ben gave a double thumbs up while Y/N just nodded. The latter of which picked up his phone and typed a message for Elio to hang on in the car because they'd take a while. All he got in reply was a quick "Si signore". Rapidly, he put his phone back in his pocket once again. Over on the other side of the couch, poor Ashlyn flinched, recoiling back the moment her mother practically got and spoke right to her face.

Emma: ["What is going on?!"]

Emma: ["That's what I'd like to know! Why'd you yank me over like this?!"]

Mike: ["Listen, I'm glad you're making friends, I really am, but... Aren't you guys getting a little too close, a little too fast?"] Ashlyn turned to face her father with a bit of surprise very much present in her confused and annoyed features ["I mean, two weeks ago it was like pulling teeth to get you to go to that field trip! Then you come back and all of a sudden you have not only Y/N, Aiden, and Ben, but THREE other friends cover over?!"]

Ashlyn: ["Well, they aren't wrong... I can't tell them that, though"] The girl, with a bit of sweat running down her cheek, glanced around ["Hanging out" is the best excuse we have for day meetings in the graveyard — Maybe even Y/N's garden since it is large, too"]

Emma: ["Are they bullying you, Ashlyn?"]

The girl looked between her parents, visibly, and understandably confused. For a second, she thought they were joking, but their tone, and their glares proved this assumption to be wrong — Very wrong. Shooting a quick glance over her shoulder, and Aiden who kept trying to make up small conversation with Y/N, who seemed as interested as ever, she turned to glance at her parents, simply raising an eyebrow.

Mike: ["You know, maybe threatening you to be friends with them?"]

Emma: ["Or blackmailing you? Do they got dirt on you, too?"]

Ashlyn: ["Why would they- No!"] The girl finally spoke up completely, narrowing her eyes ["You guys are just being paranoid!"]

Aiden: ["What are we talking about?"]

Aiden: ["... Sorry, got bored waiting"]

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 03/25/24]
[Word Count - 5.360]

I'm getting hyped up again. Fired up, even. "Why?" you ask? Well, the answer is simply because I am an overly-competitive asshole. And seeing two of my pals writing so much, and posting chapters back-to-back like they have, just fired me up to write — Because if I'm not first, then I am last. That said, they are some of my best pals, and I highly endorse these stories, and any of their as well, so please check out..

Light Your Heart Up II KILL LA KILL <- PL0TM4V3R1CK
I
GohanBlanko -> Silk & Cologne I Male Reader x Cindy Moon

And give 'em a follow while you're at it. Why not?