🍒: *• ., Cherry! ,. •*:🍒 || Bullet Train (Tangerine) x OC

Partners - 11

Tangerine reckoned he had probably been sitting there for at least five minutes, just staring at Cherry's limp body. Blood covered his hand and coated his rings, making them gleam red against the light of the aisle.  Her breathing was slowly beginning to steady, making him sigh in relief. He thought for a moment, wondering where he should go from here. The only thing he could think of was to take her back to where they were originally sitting. He remembered there was a first aid kit mounted into the side of one of the walls near the restroom there. Without disturbing her, he picked her up, letting go of her wound as blood began to flow from it again. Thankfully they weren't far from their car.

  Before he went to exit the car, he looked behind him and saw the bloody girl laying on the floor, eyeliner smeared down her face as she laid in her own puddle of blood. It made him shiver. The thought that Cherry could have, and would have done that to him had he not been able to fight back dawned on him. He could've been the one laying lifeless on that floor. Then he wondered why she hadn't ever tried to attack him again, even after he'd given back her weapon. The difference between the way she looked at him when they first met compared to the soft, kind eyes she shown just before she'd been shot was enough to explain it. She had grown to trust him, and in turn, got shot over his own idiotic actions.

  He couldn't stay here any longer, not with the way Cherry was bleeding out, so he left the car, practically sprinting.

  When he reached the car, he sat her in the seat across from the one they had been sitting at. After all, waking up to a dead guy with momomon glasses on probably wouldn't be so pleasant. Her head rested against the window as her arms sat in her lap. She looked so pleasant, so relaxed, as if she wasn't in a world of pain right now. Despite wanting to stare at her sleeping figure longer, he forced himself to retrieve the first aid kit from the wall at the further end of the car.

Tangerine took the bandages from the kit and set them onto the table, then got out some small shears and medication to numb the pain. Using his handkerchief again, he wiped the wound down to remove the excess blood that spilled from her wound. After that, he retrieved some cotton balls and soaked them in the medicine, rubbing it over Cherry's wound. Her body tensed up, but she still stayed unconscious. Slipping his arm behind her upper back, he leaned her forward so he was able to wrap the bandages the whole way around her stomach. He made sure to make it tight to prevent the continuous spill of blood. It wasn't a permanent fix, but it would keep her alive and that's what mattered most. He stared at her for a few moments, then down to her hand. His hand took hers, and he gently felt her pulse with his thumb. Her skin was soft, but freezing. It didn't surprise him. After all, she had lost quite a bit of blood. Looking off to the side, his eyes landed on his suit jacket that he had discarded on the seat a while ago. If he wasn't using it, he supposed he could lend it to her. Without disturbing her, he rose from his seat and retrieved it before pulling it over her shoulders, noticing how she relaxed after he did so.

  Soon after he sat down, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Looking to his side, he saw Cherry resting her head against him, her lips slightly parted as she breathed steadily. There was nothing he could do but sit there and be used as a pillow. He tried to deny that he liked the position of her head resting on his shoulder, his jacket draped over her shoulders, shielding her from the cold. It just felt right.

  Minutes after that, her eye fluttered open. It took her a moment to fully come to, but when she did, she was overcome with the soreness and burning of her wound, as well as the warmth she had welling up in her stomach when she realized she was leaning against Tangerine.

 

  "I'm sorry." I said, leaning away and concealing my red face with locks of hair.

  "Don't be." He began, "How do you feel?"

  "Better than before..."

  I trailed off as I looked down to my stomach, seeing it patched up. Also, I noticed his jacket.

  "Tangerine... Thank you."

  I didn't really know what else to say. Seeing this side of him was completely new to me. I couldn't tell if it was from the blood loss or not, but the way he was looking at me seemed ever so slightly different.

  I looked out of the window to see that the sky was getting lighter. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the early hours of the morning by now.

  "Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" I asked, looking away from the window.

"I'm alright, Love." Tangerine answered, despite the pounding in his head from where he had hit it.

The two of us sat there for a moment, Tangerine staring down at me as I fidgeted with my fingers for a moment before letting out a gasp.

"We need to go find Lemon." I said, standing up before wincing from the pain.

Tangerine put a hand on my shoulder, gently pushing me down back into the seat.

"I'll go look for him. You shouldn't be moving just yet."

"I can't let you go alone. Not after what just happened!" I said, worry lacing my voice as I spoke.

Tangerine broke at the sight of my expression and the way I had grabbed ahold of his arm, preventing him from leaving. He let out a sigh and stayed in his seat, looking at me as I stared back at him.

After thinking for a while, I finally gathered the courage to say what I had wanted to ever since he found me passed out. I swallowed, licking my lips as I looked up at Tangerine once more.

"If... I make it out of here, can we be partners? I-In the job I mean." I corrected myself with red cheeks.

"It would never hurt to have an extra pair of hands, and I'm sure Lemon would love for you to come with us..." He thought aloud, leaving out the part about how much he wanted you to leave with him and stay by his side.

"Also, it's when, not if." He corrected me with a smile.

I smiled back at him, feeling happier than I had in ages. Despite enjoying my job, I couldn't deny how lonely it was. There weren't many moments where I was with someone else, unless it was around my victims, that only cared about what was hidden beneath my clothing. I hardly considered them to be human beings. Never had I realized how much I needed someone to be around, anyone at all, until I had met the twins. I felt comfortable with them, safer than I did on my own. There was no way I could leave that behind. No way that I could leave them.

As I was about to lay my head back on his shoulder, I jumped to hear the sound of the sliding door open from behind us.

Tangerine put his arm in front of me, ready to protect me at all costs from whoever came walking down.

"Thank the fuckin' lord..!" A familiar voice ran out as they stepped closer to us.

It was Lemon.