STAY WOKE ✔︎ || A. Grande

sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ

"What the fuck- how?! Is that even possible?" Ariana shrugged her shoulders with her eyebrows knitted together, "I have no idea, but I do know that I haven't been acting like myself lately. I snapped at Briar the other day, I'm scared that I might hurt and scare her again..." Ariana trailed off making Courtney frown. "Well you never know for sure unless you go and see for yourself."

"Courtney I don't think-" Courtney put both of her hands on Ariana's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You can't be scared to be with her, Ari. The more distant you are with her, the more she'll think that you're giving up on her. Be considerate. Remember that she's more sensitive than her demons." Ariana let out a sigh and nodded her head. "Alright. I'll go see her tomorrow." Courtney smiled and nodded. She patted Ariana on the shoulder before fully standing up and opening the bathroom door.

"You go first, madam." Ariana giggled and pretended to curtsy before walking out the bathroom, Courtney following behind her.

———

"Alex, please look at me." Dalton pleaded to his patient only to get a shake of the head. Dalton sighed and frowned. Alex was such a tough kid to take care of, but Dalton wanted to help him. He wanted the kid to get better.

"Alright," Dalton sat down crisscrossed in front of Alex who was currently crying out of fear and anger. His right hand was quickly shaking along with his body. He tried to control his hand, but there was no use. His hand had a mind of its own. "How about I get you some candy? What do you want? Gummy sharks?" Alex looked up at Dalton with a hopeful look. Dalton nodded his head in confirmation. Alex then smiled and nodded his head, his hand finally coming to a stop.

Dalton got up and went to the vending machine that was in the kitchen. As he was punching in the numbers of the gummy sharks, he caught sight of Ariana. His cheeks went to a strawberry red. Even though Ariana said that she wasn't ready for a relationship and she wanted to focus on her patient, Dalton couldn't stop his feelings for the Italian. He loved how devoted she was to taking care of someone. Never has he met a doctor that was devoted to helping true it patient. Most are in it for the money and that only.

"Oh! Hey Dalton! I didn't know you liked gummy sharks." Ariana said with a small giggle making Dalton blush even more. "O-oh no, these are for my patient. He really likes gummy sharks." Ariana nodded her head and sat up on the counter. "That's the same thing with Briar, but she really likes chocolate." Ariana explained making Dalton nod his head, "it's cute how every patient has their own love for things. Alex likes gummy sharks, Briar loves chocolate. It's cute." Ariana nodded her head in agreement.

"You know what else is cute?" Dalton looked at Ariana with a raised eyebrow. She got off of the counter and went up to Dalton, putting both of her hands on his shoulders making him blush even more than before. By now he probably looked like a bright red tomato.

"You." Ariana whispered before pulling Dalton into a kiss, taking him completely off guard.

———

"What... was that?" Dalton asked while buttoning up his shirt. Ariana didn't say anything, all she did was smirk. After she was done putting her clothes on, she walked up to Dalton  and put her hands around his neck.

"Let's never forget this moment. Agree?" Ariana asked with a raised eyebrow making Dalton nervously chuckle and rub the back of his neck in nervousness. "I don't know, Ariana. This isn't like you." Ariana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Whatever do you mean, Dalton? This is 100% like me!" Dalton shook his head while pushing Ariana's hands off of him.

"N-no... Ariana you would never act like this. Why aren't you with Briar?" Ariana shrugged her shoulders, "why should I care about her? She's a monster! She killed her mom, why should I be helping her. She's a waste of time..."

As Ariana continued to ramble about Briar, Dalton continued to realize that this indeed wasn't Ariana. He knew about Briar's demons. He knew that they could escape and he knew that one got in Ariana.

He had to save her.