Sticks and Stones (Sequel to Tough Luck) [CreatureHubAwards]

8

Song(s) of the chapter: Ed Sheeran: Thinking Out Loud (once again, listen to it with low low volume) and Birdy: Tee Shirt

*Aleks*

Happiness and excitement bubble in my stomach, making me feel as if my heart was in my throat. After a month of being on edge and sitting in the living room with either Kevin or James, I was finally going to be able to talk to Teagan. The whole scenario had an almost nostalgic feel to it, reminding me of the time before she was taken by the AKs.

Zander steps out from the room and looks me up and down before jerking her head toward the door. I stand up from my position of leaning against the wall and watch as she leaves without a word. We never did patch things up after the argument between us last month, but at the moment she was the least of my worries.

I had already prepared myself for any type of reaction to come from Teagan --negative or positive-- but the blank stare I received when I entered her room definitely wasn't on my list of ones I preferred.

My feet automatically carry me to the side of her bed, and her eyes follow my every move. The tension in the air was almost visible as silent as we both were. I bit my lip and considered backing right out of this room in the same fashion I'd come in.

As I'm turning around to leave, I hear the sound rustling blankets and barely have time to turn around before Teagan latches onto my torso in a tight embrace. The gesture stuns me for a moment, leaving me breathless and with widened eyes before I respond by wrapping my arms around her and resting my head on hers.

"My head just felt so...weird all the time, Aleks. It was so awful." Her muffled voice cracks and I begin swaying our bodies back and forth in a calming motion.

"It's okay, you're here now. As long as you're here you'll be safe." I whisper, not trusting my voice to withstand anything louder.

We stand like this for several minutes, just swaying side to side, before Teagan speaks.

"You cut your hair," she raises her head from my chest and reaches up, ruffling my shorter hair. I chuckle and pick up a piece of her own auburn hair.

"You look pretty different yourself."

A frown immediately forms on her face and she stares at the piece of hair I had touched. "They did that before brainwashing me into hating you guys. I tried to escape so, so many times, but they had the building so heavily guarded that escaping was unimaginable." She says in a voice that was just above a whisper.

"C'mere," I shuffle over to her bed and sit down, not releasing her from my embrace once, which causes her to laugh. "Do you remember if they told you anything before brainwashing you?"

She slowly shakes her head as she looks up at the ceiling, like she was trying to recall something. "The only thing I remember is me passing out from being shot and everything Monica told me."

I look down at my hands, twiddling my thumbs. "About that, I'm probably the reason all that bad stuff happened to you. I should've just let you turn back instead of being a nosy asshole and wanting to hear more of your mother's conversation."

Her lips lift up in a small smile before it disappears and a confused expression crosses over her face. "How'd you know that my mom was below us? You didn't even look through the vent."

A small bubble of laughter exits my mouth. "The expression on your face changed from being neutral to surprise to loathing. I just took a guess that your mom was one of the AKs below us."

Teagan nods without a word and lays back, me copying her movement soon after and placing my hands behind my head.

It was odd how everything went back to normal so quickly, although it seemed like forever when I would endlessly sit in the same recliner in the living room everyday and would ruffle my hair innumerable times and think about how badly I needed a haircut. Now, laying here with the slightly modified Teagan right beside me caused a surge of admiration to send my heart jumping.

She never asked for any of this. She probably never wanted to be abducted by a group of guys she didn't even know -- behind a Seven Eleven at that -- I mean how much shittier could her night have gone? She never chose to be thrown in the middle of all this gang business, we just up and said "so now you're going to be living here with little to no communication with your grandparents and sister." Yet she stayed strong and went along with everything like she was born to do this stuff.

"What're you thinkin' about?" She quietly asks, wrapping her arms around herself and turning toward me.

I glance over to see her staring at me, expecting an answer. "Stuff," I reply, the corners of my mouth automatically lifting up at the smart-ass comment I knew she was about to make.

She playfully rolls her eyes, "If I wanted such a nonspecific answer I would've asked Jordan."

Bubbles of laughter from both of us fill the air, completely dissipating any awkwardness from earlier.

"I'm serious." She says, still laughing.

"You must miss your grandparents and sister, huh?" I ask in all seriousness.

She lightly shrugs, "Kind of, but I know they're safe and it'd be dangerous for everyone if I were to go visit them so I push past the homesickness."

There goes the shudder of admiration again. I smile and reach out to grasp her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Come on, l'm sure you're hungry."

Her eyes light up as she smiles, looking at our intertwined hands. "Will there be waffles involved?"

I snort at her statement and stand up, "I'm sure we can figure out how to make you your waffles."

"Yay!" She gives a small fist pump with her free hand and stands up along with me.

"You never did give me a piggyback ride after you taught me how to shoot a handgun, or are you still a weakling?" She taunts, smirking at me with a glint in her eyes.

I narrow my eyes at her but keep a smile on my face. "Fine then, hop on." I crouch down and soon after feel her latch onto my back.

"Onward, noble steed!" She exclaims with a giggle.

If it was even possible, the smile on my face grew more.

This, right here, is exactly what I'd been waiting for for the last nine months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a.n.

Eyyy I'm back! Told you I wouldn't be gone forever ;) I honestly tried to make this chapter as great as I could and I think I did a a-ok job. I need your opinions on something: do you guys think that Teagan's recovering from the brainwashing too quickly? Should I have given her another chapter or so to recover? I love hearing you guys' opinions on how my writing is so don't hesitate to point out any mistakes or things that need improvement :)

I'd like to thank everyone who commented on the last part and supported my decision to take a break :3 I love you guys to the moon and back!

xoxoxo

Happy Valentine's Day!! If any of yall are alone then we'll all team up and make a band that writes songs bashing relationships :3

Too harsh? Eh, being single's harsh.

xoxoxo