She Saved Me (Merrill x Reader)

Ditch Day

The next morning, you wake up and the sun is just rising. Your father, Will was a fisherman. He always got up around 4 to get to the pier so he was probably already gone. You get dressed into a tight t shirt and jeans and go out your window.

You run and grab your bike and know exactly where you're going. The sun was finally up and it was now 8. You had arrived in front of the house that Merrill was dropped at yesterday to see no other than her sitting on the porch, reading. You rest your bike on the ground and slowly walk to the porch. Merrill looks up at you as you step onto the stairs.

"Hi." You say. She looks back down at her book, subtly smiling and slightly bites her lip.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" She asks.

"Yeah."

"Why aren't you?"

"I didn't want to go."

Merrill looks back up and stares at you with her deep brown eyes.

"Why'd you come here?" She asked after a moment.

"You seem like you could use a friend."

"...Yeah you too kid." Merrill replied. You give her a tight lipped smile and she stands up and walks towards you.

"There's not a lot to do around here so-"  You began to say before she cut you off.

"Do you...want to come inside?" She asks, looking down and fumbling with her fingers. You smile and nod. She bites her lip, smiling and motions her head for you to come inside. You follow her through the door and through the hallway.

"Is Shellie home?" You ask. You had known Shellie for a while. She was friends with your father but everyone in town just saw her as a flirt.

Merrill shakes her head and replies "No." She leads you to a small bedroom with clutter everywhere. It was actually really comfy. There was a bed, a desk and pictures everywhere.

"I like your room."

"Thanks. You can sit if you want." Merrill replied, motioning her hand to the bed. You sit down and see a few drawings scattered on her bed.

"Did you draw these?"

Merrill runs, quickly grabbing the papers and she shoves them into a drawer.

"Yeah." She responded.

"They're good."

"Thanks."  She gives you a subtle smile and blushes. "So." She starts to say as she lays on the bed, on her stomach with her feet in the air behind her. "Why don't you want to go to school?"

"I'm just sick of it. The people, the classes. Just not for me..."

"How old are you y/n?"

"Seventeen. Well almost."

Merrill looks down and smiles then nods her head back up at you.

"I was seventeen too."

You couldn't help but admire the way her lips moved when she spoke, accentuating every vowel.

"When?"

"Five years ago when... I stopped going to school, got...wrapped up in some bad things...and people. You're young y/n. I don't want that for you."

You look back down and get up, continuing to look around her room. You see a polaroid camera sitting on a shelf and you pick it up.

"I was thinking of saving the film for important or meaningful things. Nothing yet though." Merrill said pointing to the camera.

"Cool." You replied.

For some reason, Merrill was making you kind of nervous. You had realized a long time ago you weren't interested in men. You've never been attracted to them. You've really only ever had your eyes on women but you've never dared to express or act on those feelings but Merrill was different. She'll tell you exactly how she feels and if she loves something or someone, she'll show it. She kept giving you these looks that you couldn't describe.

"Could I see your drawings?" You asked after a moment. "They looked really good."

"They're weird. That's what everyone says."

"I think all good art is weird."

A smirk tugs at Merrill's lips and she goes back to the drawer with her drawings. She takes a few sketchbooks and miscellaneous papers. She sets them down on the bed and you start looking through them.

You suddenly come across a paper with the date: 4/5/05

That was yesterday.

The drawing was of a girl with a flannel, black shirt and jeans. Exactly what you wore yesterday. Your hair looked the same and you wonder how she remembered your face so well. When Merrill looks over and sees what you're looking at, she rips the paper out of your hand.

"Hey!"

"Not that one." She mumbles, putting the drawing back in the drawer.

"Was that me Merrill?" You ask, blushing.
She slams the drawer shut and shyly looks back over at you. "I loved it." You say with a small half smile.

"Really?" She asked as her expression got softer.

"Yeah. Thank you." You replied, blushing even more. She smiled back and sat down, showing you a few more drawings.

"What's this one?" You ask, pointing to a drawing of a bird with a pin through its chest.

"I don't know. I don't really like to explain them."

You nodded and thumbed through a few more and shared a few laughs with her.
Merrill suddenly stands up as you remain on the bed, admiring more of her work and she snaps a picture of you with the polaroid.

"I thought you were saving that for important, meaningful things." You said as she was waving the piece of film so it will develop.

"I am."

"How is this-"

"It's the day I met my best friend."