Songs and Screams (Pico x reader)

Chapter 2

Getting off the plane gave you the worst case of emotions clashing you had had in a while. On the one hand, you were glad to be off that noisy flying anxiety machine. On the other hand, you were now standing in a large crowd of people, all of whom were talking very loudly and rushing about around you. It felt like you were in the middle of a stampede. You mostly clung to the wall, trying to make your way to the baggage pickup before you missed it. You never fully knew what happened if you didn't pick up your bag, but you were sure it was nothing good. There was also the chance of someone just straight up stealing your bag which you were not in the mood to have happen.

As soon as you made it to the much less crowded bag pickup, you let out a sigh of relief, sitting down on the bench before your legs gave out from under you. Somehow, you made it before all the bags started coming out. You readjusted your earbuds, turning down the volume on your music so you could actually hear. The noise around you had been a bit too much for you earlier, so you had dipped into the nearest bathroom so you could put them on without the risk of losing them or bumping into people.

"Hey!" you hear a voice next to you and felt someone place their hands on your shoulders.

You let out a small scream, shooting up and spinning around. Standing behind you was Jessica nearly doubled over laughing. Her short purple hair fell over part of her face, covering her eyes. You glared daggers at her, your body shaking as you tried to calm down and recompose yourself.

"You- you asshole," you growled, tightly hugging yourself.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Jessica said, composing herself. She walked over and hugged you, rocking you from side to side slightly. "It's good to see you again."

You nodded, slowly hugging back.

"Unfortunately, we will not be able to meet the destiny couple tonight. They apparently made plans that I was unaware about," Jessica said, repositioning the two of you to where she had an arm draped over your shoulder.

"Eh, that's fine. It'll give me more time to settle in," you said.

"Yeah uh... about that. A friend of mine wound up overscheduling and needs me to take his place to babysit some kids. They're nice and honestly, I can keep them away from you if you need space, but we're gonna be picking them up on the way home," Jessica explained.

"A heads up would've been nice," you grumbled.

"I know, I know, but he told me right after you had boarded. I really didn't have much time," she said.

"Are the kids at least nice?" you asked.

"Oh yeah. They're hyper but they're really sweet. They can also beat grown ass men in rap battles which I can respect," she said.

You snorted, covering your mouth as you laughed. You wondered how old these kids would have to be to gain Jessica's respect like that. You had seen plenty of middle schoolers come up with absolutely incredible songs, so they had to be younger than that to gain that sort of respect.

You heard the loud, and ear grating, sound of the buzzer as the conveyor belts started to move. You watched as luggage started to move out from behind the rubber flaps in the walls and down the winding path of the belt.

You gently shrugged Jessica's arm off of you as you walked up to the belt, looking for your luggage. It took a few minutes, and some same bag different name incidents, before you finally got the bags you had brought. You followed Jessica out of the airport and over to her car where she put the bags in the back before the two of you got in.

"God I'm so happy you're here. Like, words cannot describe how glad I am to see you again," Jessica said, laughing a little as she started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

"Yeah. It's so nice to be back. In a way," you said, mumbling the last bit.

"Ah yes, how could anyone not miss the smell of cigarettes on every street, the constantly blaring sirens, and a bunch of weirdos who think they're the normal ones," Jessica joked.

You smiled and laughed, covering your mouth slightly. The two of you continued to talk and joke about how oh so fun it is living in the city. All the while, Jessica had city pop music softly playing from her car's stereo. Eventually, the two of you drove into a more suburban area. You remembered going trick-or-treating a lot in this neighborhood since they always gave out the best candy. It had definitely changed a bit since you had left. All of the houses were mostly the same, but you could tell some had gotten new owners.

"And we are here," Jessica said, pulling up to one of the houses. "You can probably stay here. I'm not gonna be going inside or anything."

You nodded and watched as she got out, walking up to the door and knocking on it. A few seconds later, the door slammed open and two little kids ran out, both of them hugging Jessica. They were both wearing Halloween costumes, one of them wore a skeleton outfit while the other had a pumpkin mask over his head. They talked with Jessica for a minute before an older looking lady with purple hair walked out and started talking to her as well. The kids ran over to the car and climbed in while Jessica continued to talked to the lady.

"Hello!" the two kids said in unison upon seeing you.

"Um, hi," you said, slightly forcing a smile.

"Are you one of Ms. Jessy's friends?" the kid with the pumpkin mask asked.

"Yeah, I'm (y/n)," you said.

"It's nice to meet you, new friend!" the kid in the skeleton mask exclaimed.

"It's nice to meet you to uh..."

"I'm Skid and this is Pump!" the kid with the skeleton mask said.

You smiled and nodded. They honestly weren't as bad as you thought they were gonna be. They were hyper, but that was a bit different from being annoying.

"And I am back. So, where do you spooky kids wanna go?" Jessica asked, getting back into the car.

"Let's go to the candy store!" Pump exclaimed.

"Alright! One candy store coming right up!" Jessica exclaimed, turning on the car and pulling out of the driveway.