cigarettes and messy hair || Guzma x Reader

---->chapter 4.

--i'm gonna do my best description of po town, so bear with me while I try to remember how it looks.--

I woke up a lot earlier than usual, around 10:30. I was surprised when I woke up and checked my phone, and had to double check just to make sure my phone's time wasn't wrong. It wasn't, so this was officially the earliest I'd woken up in months, probably. 

A missed call from my mom showed up in the notifications. I sighed and went to click her number in my contacts. I held the phone up to my ear, waiting for the ringing to stop and for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey...mom..."

There was an awkward silence, and I expected her to start blowing up on me like she usually did. But....she didn't.

"Hi, hon...you haven't answered my calls. You didn't answer my messages either..."

I sighed, holding the phone slightly away from my mouth so she didn't hear. "Yeah...I'm sorry. I've just been...really busy lately."

I heard a noise on the other end, and it sounded like she was doing something, probably cooking. "It's...it's okay. I understand, what with everything that happened before you left, and..." 

Her voice trailed off. "I know, I just...I'm sorry I never answered any calls or messages. It's nothing you need to worry about, just keeping myself busy."

Of course that was a lie, the biggest thing I did in the past couple of months was go outside without coming home to cry, and that was rare.

"Oh, okay. I'm sure you're busy now, too...Thank you. Thank you for letting me know you're okay. I love you."

"I...I love you too."

I pressed the button to hang up, and sat my phone down. Just stared at the floor for a couple minutes. Something felt off in her tone. She was usually more talkative or at the very least, scolding me for not calling. Maybe she'd just given up on me. A lot of people had, it wasn't very surprising.

I stood up, stretching and following it up with a yawn. I walked over to the closet, the floor creaking when I did. I pulled out a t-shirt and jeans, assuming they were clean, and pulled them on. I cuffed the jeans, as I always did, and put on socks and my shoes. The doctor...maybe the nurse, had said something about gettting dressed like I was going to go out everyday, even if I wasn't, because it might make me feel more productive. Well, walking downstairs, I didn't feel any more productive, just slightly cold. So that was something, right?

I sat down on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV. Nothing good was on, as usual, so I turned it off. I got up, grabbed my bag, and decided to go on a walk.

I opened the door, the sunlight almost blinding. It felt nice, and for once, I didn't feel like the world was staring at me when I stepped onto the sidewalk. 

There were a couple weird looking people walking up ahead, laughing amongst themselves, and I...recognized their outfits. They looked like the people who had been harrassing that woman in the store, a couple weeks ago. 

I realized my pace had quickened, and I was closer to the people than before. I tried to distance myself, because...y'know, I didn't know what they would do. They were harrassing an old woman, so...yeah...probably not a good idea?

There weren't many other people around, I noticed, which was weird. Usually there were kids having battles on the side, or adults walking around with their kids. But there was none of that, not right now, anyway.