No matter how hard you try (Licorice cookie x reader)

Im so tired (p5)

(The song is dark red by steve Lacey)
(Haha, dark red, as in red velvet and licorice's crushing anxiety as depicted in this chapter lol)
Y/N POV
I open my eyes, sweating, looking around to confirm my nightmare was just that. Shit, forgot I was here. I slowly uncover the blankets and lift myself off the couch.
"Dammit." I mutter under my breath, as the pain shoots up my leg into my torso. I know I shouldn't be up and about, but it was so boring, staying in that couch, and anyways, I can try to be of assistance instead of being and absolute parasite to licorice. It seems I am just ruining his life while he sits there and takes care of me. God, why am I so useless. I decide to start by starting a load of laundry. I pick up a basket and throw a pile of clothes in it. I slowly open the door, looking left and right , then walk out once I confirm the coast is clear, but suddenly, my eyes are drawn to something else.
Wow, I think to myself, looking down the seemingly endless hallway. Even thinking about finding a place to wash clothes in this place was nerve wracking now that you see the size of this place, but I needed to help somehow. For licorice. As I get out of the room, the door loudly slams shut. I instinctively look behind at the door, and then around, and then at the door again. Good, seems like no one heard. I get a better grip on the laundry basket, before continuing to limp down the hall. The doors are all labeled, their purpose inscribed on a silver plate. The amount of rooms was absurd, there was seemingly a million different rooms, each with different uses,
except for a laundry room somehow. As you make your way down the hallway, you finally see a door labeled storage. Ahh! Maybe this will have some sort of washer. I open the door, and, lo and behold, an old beat up washer and dryer. Finally!! You open up the top of the washer, throw in the clothes a tide pod, mess with the settings, and then turning the machine on. The washer started rumbling, filling up the small storage closet with annoying clanks and bangs, but I couldn't care less. I slowly limp to the closet door, picking up the basket and resting it on my left hip, but when I open the door, the basket drops to the floor with a loud echo.
"GAH! You scared me half to death." I place my hands on my chest. The person in front of the door was the tall red man from earlier.  He seemed almost as surprised to see me as I was him. As I was about to say something, he looked as if he had something to tell me first, so I nod my head to indicate I was listening.
"look, I want to apologize for what I said last night. I didn't mean it like that, my emotions had gotten the better of me." The red guy bowed his head apologetically.
"It's completely okay! I understand how surprising that must've been to see, but if anything, you should probably apologize to licorice." As I speak, his head raises, before letting out a chuckle.
"Haha, yeah, I don't think so." The man crosses his arms, a smug grin on his face. "I might feel bad, but not that bad." I look at him, my eyebrow raised, causing him to slowly look down, as we sit in silence for the next minute.
"Well, look, it was great to meet you...." I lingered on the last word, hoping the man would tell me the answer.
"red velvet"
"Red Velvet!" I continue, "well, again, it was nice meeting you red velvet, but I really must continue on. I have chores to do." I slowly start limping past him, but suddenly, reds expression turns sour.
"I'm sorry, but you don't look in the bast position to be doing any of his chores, if he is forcing you to do them, then I will gladly have a 'talk' with him". Red velvet seemed very angry with even the thought of licorice being mean to another cookie, it was sweet, but you didn't want any "talks" happening today, so you shut it down.
"No! Of course not! I just wanted to help out in some way, to thank him for putting in the effort to help me!" I put a smile on my face, showing my words were genuine."and besides, why do you care wether or not he's making me do his work? I mean, it's nice but a bit unnecessary!"
"I-" red velvets face fills up with confusion, almost as if he's asking himself, why do I care about that? But before he gets too lost in thought, I quickly try to grab his attention by starting the conversation back up.
"Hey, I was kidding...well , about the last part at least...and anyways, If he tried to force me to anything, I could just punch him! Easy as that!" I chuckled, then look up at red velvet, who seemed to be satisfied with that answer.
"Though truly, I must get going! I don't want him to be worried if he wakes up and finds me gone, and I don't exactly want to be discovered by anyone else either!" I try and turn around, but before I do, red runs up to me.
"Hey! Why don't I help you along? You probably shouldn't be walking anyways"Red offers his shoulder, so i can lean on it, though with his height, he had to crouch down a tiny bit so you could properly put your arm around his shoulder. See, you weren't exactly short, but red velvet was definitely tall, and in all honesty, if this wasn't a castle, he probably would have a hard time even fitting through the door.
"Why, thank you!" I smile back at him, before we start to head down the hall. We make some small talk to pass the time. I sometimes drop little jokes here and there, which cause him to groan, but those groans are usually followed up by small laughs.
" you see, I feel very strongly about places that lack chairs."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, I can't stand it." I laugh as he sighs.
" you can barely even stand as is!" He looks back, putting on a semi-serious expression, before we both erupt into laughter at his attempt at a "joke". Time passed, and before we knew it, we were at licorice's door.
"Hey, if you need, I could take care of the rest of the laundry!" Red smiles down at me.
"Would you really?" I look back at him, my face lighting up.
"Of course, anyways, patrol won't start for another few hours so i might as well, also, everyone else will be up by the time it's done, and I don't think you would exactly receive a warm welcome if that's what your expecting..." He looks around as he explains, presumably to all the other rooms in the halls.
"Well, thanks a lot!! It would be a great help!" I beamed, "Though I should probably go inside!"
"Of course." He lets out a small smile before turning to knock on the door.
"O-one minute!" Licorice yells from the other side of the door, obviously distressed about something. After about a minute the door opens up and I see licorice glare at me. "Y/N!! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOU COULDVE BEEN CAUGHT" licorice kind of scream whispered, but suddenly, his eyes were pulled up to red velvet, before getting nudged to the side as red helped me onto the couch.
LICORICE POV
My heart suddenly sinks. Why do I feel like this. Like my heart is sinking , like there is a pit in my stomach, as if there is a million words I wants to say, yet I can't find one. It's funny, really, that I feel like this. That I'm so filled with emotions that I cannot explain. It's funny, is what it is.
FLASHBACK
(Time back: 10 minutes, pov: licorice)
As I am pulled out of a dream, not one too extravagant, just the normal chaos, well, mostly the normal chaos.
You see, usually when under stress, I get nightmares, and tonight was no exception. It started out fairly normal, I was just kind of there, I was patrolling the forest near the castle, the only odd thing being that No one was with me, as I usually bring batcat on patrol. It was actually kind of nice to be out there alone, but as it progressed, and as I got deeper in the woods, the sound of laughter appeared, and started getting louder and louder. I tried to turn around but the laughter wouldn't stop. I tried plugging my ears to muffle the sound, but it only made the sound louder. I tried to run away, and still, the laughter wouldn't stop. The laughter just got louder, and louder, until it turned into an unbearable ringing in my ears. Everything around me was going so fast, it was all a blur. I broke down, I couldn't take it, I couldn't breath, I couldn't stand, I couldn't see, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't...

I can't...

hear it anymore?

I couldn't hear it! I was relieved, but as I looked around, I didn't recognize where I was, but that was where the dream ended.
It was odd....to say the least...But for some reason, it stuck with me.
I get up out of my bed, realizing that I forgot to change last night.
Ugh... I needed to do a load of laundry anyways. I slowly make my way to where my laundry pile is.... Or at least where it should be.
"What the fu..." suddenly I turn around to face the now empty couch. "Y/N?!"
"Shitshitshitshitshit." My mind was racing. How, why, what, where? Did they just run away? Did someone find out and take them? Was this the work of the dark enchantress?? I mean, not that I care, if anything happens this is their own fault.... Who am I kidding it's all my fault.. Suddenly i hear a knock on the door.
"O-one minute" I yell over the door. After a minute of getting myself in order, that's when....
                 LICORICE POV
My heart suddenly sinks. Why do I feel like this. Like my heart is sinking , like there is a pit in my stomach, as if there is a million words I wants to say, yet I can't find one. It's funny, really, that I feel like this. That I'm so filled with emotions that I cannot explain. It's funny, is what it is. As I see his arm around them, helping them limp across the room onto my couch, I can only describe my feelings as.
Empty
Like a vacuum in a house with no carpets
Empty
Like a swear jar in a priests house
Empty
Like a depressing jelly donuts
Empty
Like my attempts to make people laugh with crappy similes
Empty...
Or was it jealousy.
Jealous over what.
Jealous over a random person I met a day ago.
Jealous over the man who spends all his time around cake hounds.
Jealous, maybe, if the bond
The feeling of friendship
The smiles on their faces
The way they laugh
The way they just seem to connect
The way I cannot
The way I want to
The way I long to
The way I need to
Nah, I'm probably just hungry.
"hey! Thanks for the help! It means a lot!" Y/n waves at red velvet.
"No problem! Just make sure to rest up!" Red velvet waves back before walking out.
Once he's gone, I turn back to y/n, who seems to be smiling ear to ear...why does this make me feel like this...
Why am I like this
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FINALLY! With a word count of almost 2000, I am done with the fifth chapter, and apologies if it's not the best, I tried to get it out as quickly as I could!! Anyways, I will probably go back through it once i take a nap, but until then, farewell