ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ (Gareth x Reader)

II

"Like, the Gareth Emerson? Like, the one who broke Jason's nose over... God I can't even fucking remember what it was over! But- it was a stupid reason... That one?" Hannah sputtered on like a car without an engine, more and more spilling out of her lips.

"Yes, that one..." You answered dimly, readjusting your bag strap on your shoulder. Your eyes focused on your shoes as the two of you kept walking to the lunch room.

Hannah's face dropped, eyes widened. She laughed from pear shock, "Oh... Oh my God, we have to tell Chrissy! This is... insane." Hannah finally stopped, grabbing onto your arm and leaning in, looking in your eyes.

"He's friends with the Eddie Munson... the King of Freaks! He's part of that- that cult. Oh my God." Hannah turned away, now muttering more to herself than anything, "he's- he's probably going to try to, like, initiate you into their cult. We can't lose you Y/N! We can't!" She fell into your arms, hand spread across her forehead.

You stumbled slightly, before rolling your eyes and pushing her back onto her feet. "No one's joining any cults, I can almost guarantee that."

Hannah giggled in response, finally pulling the both of you into the lunch room, "I know... I know... But hypothetically, if he were to bring up, um, what's it called again?" Hannah racked her brain for the answer, squinting her eyes and staring into the distance.

"DND," you replied, plainly.

"Yeah, D. and D, or whatever," Hannah threw her hands up, "how do you remember this stuff, anyways?" Your face flushed in response, a slight shade of pink dotting your cheeks. You shrugged, your face tight.

Hannah was too busy talking to pay any mind, "as I was saying, hypothetically, if he were to ask you to play D. and D. with them or whatever, with, like, robes and torches and shit, would you say yes?" She blinked her eyes, fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

You rolled your eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips, "how could I say no to an offer like that?"

After a moment, you and Hannah both burst out laughing. "You're ridiculously unfunny," she giggled. After it subsided, she looked down at her feet like an ashamed puppy, before asking quietly, "... what are you gonna do?"

You looked to the side, thinking for a moment, "nothing. I'm not gonna do anything."

Hannah looked up, her eyes wide, "what?! Y/N, what are you thinking? He's- He'-s a Freak!"

You shrugged, "he's just a guy, Hannah."

She shook her head in disbelief, letting out a quick laugh. Before a smirk overtook itself over her lips. "I'm telling your boyfriend!" She sang "boyfriend" in a sing-songy tone, louder than the rest of the words, before scurrying over to your designated lunch table.

"Hannah-" You yelled, an awkward smile on your face, before running after her.

As the two of you finally made your way over, Andy, Chance, and Jason made eye contact with you, all holding up their drinks and cheering. Chrissy looked over from sitting basically on Jason's lap, raising her eyebrow.

Andy had his elbows on the table, leaning in when the two of you finally arrived. You were both out of breath. "'Bought time the sluts finally arrived," Andy smirked.

"You can say that again," Hannah responded, leaning in and connecting her and Andy's lips. You looked away, making eye contact with Chrissy, who giggled. You smiled in response.

"So, guess what!" Hannah said, clapping her hands as she sat down. You rolled your eyes, "seriously? Hannah it's not this big of a dea-" You began, before being rudely interrupted.

"You know the finals' project for Mr. Widgers?" She began, a mischievous look on her face. Everyone mumbled something along the lines of a "yes," in response. You sighed, realizing that Hannah was now in full gossip mode and there was no stopping her. You set your bag down, sitting next to her.

"So, Y/N over here," she nudged you slightly, giving you a knowing look, before resting her chin on her fingers, leaning in, "got paired with someone particularly interesting." She enunciated each syllable, padding out her sentence. You looked away, shaking your head as everyone else leaned in, nodding along.

Hannah smirked, her eyes squinting and passing along all of them, "Gareth. Emerson." The group erupted in a roar, the boys all completely taken aback. Chrissy's mouth dropped open, "no way, you're lying."

Hannah leaned back, proud of her work, "nope. She told me herself, didn't ya'?" She nudged you again, and you nodded. You'd been avoiding eye contact with everyone until Hannah finally spat it out, but then glanced back, meeting Chance's gaze. In his eyes was a mix of jealousy and spite.

"That fuck-up?" Jason spat, leaning in, "bitch is a metalhead wannabe. Punched my nose in after I messed him up good." Andy interrupted, "it was fuckin' gnarly, dude!" Jason side-eyed him, before continuing, "I'd watch your back, Y/N." Jason glared over towards the Freaks' table, Eddie sitting at the helm.

"That's not all," Hannah wanted to cause more destruction, "she's not doing anything about it. Hear that, Chance?"

You flushed, everyone's eyes moving to you, "that's- she's taking it out of context. There's nothing I even can do."

Chance narrowed his eyes, "What if that little weasel tries to hurt you?" He huffed, shaking his head, "if he tries anything, and I mean anything, just call me, okay? I'll make that little freak wish he was never born."

Hannah smugly stated, "see? Telling your boyfriend helped, didn't it?"

Chance's face beamed at the word "boyfriend," being used to describe his relationship to you. He's had a major... thing, for you for months now. At every chance he got, he'd put his arm around you or touch you in a way that was a little... overly-friendly. He'd hit on you when you two had a moment alone. Or, when you two were both at a party and he was drunk, he'd ask you something along the lines of "c'mon, let's just fuck already."

You, however, had mixed feelings on the subject. You didn't want Chance to be that for you. Every time he slipped his arm around you, you would have something to go do. Every time he hit on you, you responded with an awkward laugh and quiet thank you. And everytime he drunkenly requested for you to sleep with him, you'd "need to go find Hannah," and be glued to her for the rest of the night. You couldn't outwardly tell him "no," as it was expected for you to get with him. But, you didn't want to have that kind of relationship with a guy like him.

Chance was, in all honesty, an entitled douchebag. And he wouldn't understand a lot of things about you, everything you... hide. Hell, no one in your socially acceptable dating pool would. But, the entire group was slowly nudging you to date him, each joking "boyfriend," and expectant eyes, and the social norm was slowly chafing away your unwillingness to just let it happen. You didn't want him to take your virginity, to keep touching you in overly friendly ways. It was just... uncomfortable.

"Friend," you corrected, pulling your lunch money out of your bag. "He's just my friend."

Chance's face fell slightly, but didn't move his eyes away from you as you walked away.