Never Close Your Eyes

DTM 🐊 : C. 24

|| Chapter Twenty-Four ||

After fifty minutes of quietly sitting in the cricket-singing and frog burping music, (Y/N)'s soft snores of sleep broke the silence between the four humans.

"You know, kid, I use to have a wife." Sketchy started the conversation, his voice becoming deeper with the whisper.

In his conscious, Sketchy felt like he knew this kind of love between the kids; that he had not only experienced it himself, but he knew the look of it in their eyes.

He needed to know if it was true.

"Hm." 10K hummed in acknowledgment, accidentally grazing his rough fingertip along the shell of her ear as he played with the little strings of hair he was able to.

He was listening, truly, but he really only wanted to do the things he couldn't do when she was conscious. He wanted to know the touch of her skin after such a day, to know if it was still as soft or if he could feel the grains of sand.

He wanted to know if there were certain days her hair was always oily, or just always healthy and happy. He would never be able to do it in person, because once he looks into those (E/C) doe eyes, he melts.

He breathes the air she breathes like it's a toxic drug dealer and she's his favorite sell. At his simple action, (Y/N) huffed out a breath of air but never pulled herself out of slumber.

Her conscious knew she was safe with the people she surrounded herself with.

"I never knew what a healthy home felt like until she grabbed my hand and took me on an adventure with her."

The simple memory of someone so dear to him Pre-Z made the man smile of genuine happiness. He didn't need drugs to feel the sense of security when her mere image was enough to give him a high.

But if the drugs were a red-headed beauty with the palest skin of a vampire and deep brown freckles that stood out in comparison, then he would've gladly been the addict of that.

Features that weren't familiar in parts of the world, but for him, it felt like the only familiarity he ever had.

"Who knew the adventure included hunting down a waterfall that didn't even exist in that county."

"Drugs?" 10K randomly questioned, feeling like Sketchy didn't think he was involved in the conversation.

He looked up from studying the texture of her facial features, eyes now on the bearded con-man.

The salt and pepper beard moved stiffly with the small laugh of accusation, "God, I'm sure she would've wished that some times with her dyslexia. Sam was too good for drugs, and the only time I got a high was when she looked at me with this look of mischief."

Even now as he thought back to her, he could still see the twinkle in her eyes as if it was just this morning they had a Eskimo kiss in their shared kitchen. The shape and curl pattern of her hair moved with her body as she danced in their cabin.

The tube tops and long skirts always flooded her closet the most, but that's what he loved: her free spirit and mindset. Those green eyes always looked back at him, making him want to know what she wanted so he could do whatever.

Green eyes could've outshined that flame of hair on her head, but it was a good competition.

"I married her, because one look from her brought me down to my knees. I never knew the true meaning of love until she came."

He took a deep breath in for his next words that still felt like a open wound covered by a small bandaid, "Now she's gone, I forgot the meaning. Until I saw (Y/N) look up at you."