Growing Pains

Chapter 8: Runaway

Red POV

It's not as bad as it looks.

Sure....

I'd been having nightmares and not telling my friends.
I'd been avoiding them to hide the black circles under my eyes.
And I hadn't gotten any sleep in what seemed like days.

The nightmares will haunt me, and I know it.

And to add on all that....

I might have run away from home...

and turned to a terrorist for help.

Yeah, this is not looking good for me.

"So kid," The terrorist says to me, "What are you doing here?" He growls menacingly at me.

"Well... um Mr. Dark Lord..." I stammer. "I... uh.. I need your help."

"You?" He raises an eyebrow, "You, out of all the sticks in the universe... you turn to me for help?"

"Well... you see..."

"Are you an idiot?" He blurts abruptly. "Oh I shouldn't have asked. I already know the answer."

I fidget nervously in my seat.

"Dark, are you being kind to our guest?" Chosen shouts from the other room. I've always liked Chosen. He was a bit intimidating, but both of Second's brothers are.
Guilt shoots through me.

Second... he must be really worried.

He was worried when Green and Blue disappeared and went exploring in the nether, and then almost died in the end. He was worried when Blue was captured by that witch(even though we didn't know it was a witch until it tricked us and turned me into a fish). And he definitely didn't like it when it was just us in the desert, starving, not knowing where our friends were. But, we had each other.
And right now he has the others.

And I can't go back.
I made a choice, and I'm sticking with it. I don't want to cause any trouble. I don't want danger.

I don't want to be a danger to my friends.

"Yeah." Dark rolls his eyes at his brother, and I snap out of my thoughts. "She's just being an idiot."

"Dark...." Chosen sighs.

"It's fine, Chosen." I say, before this ended up in a fight. It probably wouldn't, but you never know with these two. "He's right."

"See, Cho? I'm right." He grins.

"I should just go..." I stand up from the table, still in my soaking clothes.

"Go where?" Chosen asks, appearing from the kitchen.

"uh... home..?" I respond, lying. I'm not going home. I can't face my friends.

"How?"

"Oh."

The portal home is basically in the sky here in the stick universe. I can't fly. Both Chosen and Dark can. And I'm not going home.

Chosen takes a moment of silent thinking. He finally then says,

"I'll drop you off tomorrow morning. You can crash on the couch if you like."

"What?" I exclaim. He's Second's brother. And the last time I saw either of them was when they dropped Second off after he spent a week with them.

"Yeah Cho." Dark growls "What?"

"I mean..." He says with such authority I feel like I have to listen to what he says. "It's not like I'm going to make her sleep out in the rain."

"Cho... come talk with me." Dark stands up, and walks into the kitchen. Chosen gives me a look that says, 'Be right back.', and follow his brother.

From the dining room table I can hear their conversation. I'm guessing they've never had a private conversation before, because they are not whispering.

"She's not staying." I hear Dark say.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Throw her out on the streets?" Chosen says back, harshly.

"That would be better than letting her stay here!"

"Dark..."

"Ooo, even better idea! Fly her back to her home so she can live on that monster's PC!"

"For the last time, Alan isn't a monster. To them, anyways."

"Chosen. Send her home. I can live with Second. He's annoying, but all little brothers are. But have your little brother's best friends showing up at your door, asking for help.... now that's just weird."

"I know, I know, Dark. But we can't just kick her out."

"We could..."

"Dark!"

Dark sighs, and I hear a clatter from the kitchen. After a moment, Dark finally groans,

"Fine. One night. She goes back first thing in the morning."

"Great." Chosen says, and walks back into the dining room, where I am pretending I didn't hear any of what they just said.

"You can stay the night. But I'm going to bring you home tomorrow."

I nod my head, a plan forming in my mind.

"Do you need clothes?"

"No, I brought some." I hold up my backpack. Blue made it, and Yellow enchanted it so whatever was inside wouldn't be damaged. Besides my soaked attire, everything in the bag was perfectly dry.

"Good." He nods, then walks away. I could tell he was uncomfortable. I was a bit uncomfortable as well. I was apparently crashing on Second's brother's couch.

It wasn't like I was going to sleep. I don't want to wake up screaming. Especially with Dark and Chosen.

The late afternoon fades to evening. And I finally got to talk to Dark about what I wanted to talk about. I kept it short. And only let certain information slip through.

Finally Dark and Chosen go to bed after a 15th round of Uno, where Dark set fire to all the cards, and Chosen and I had to extinguish the flames.

I settle down on the couch in my favorite bunny pajamas. I pull out the yellow bandanna. It's not the original one I got from Monster School, but one Blue crocheted for me. I look at the other few personal items I brought.

A picture of me with my friends, a necklace that Purple made for me(That has a pig charm on it), a music disc Green gifted, a Reuben plushie Yellow and Blue gave to me, and my most prized possession.... A silver charm bracelet Second bought for me. 5 of the charms are just colors, to represent my friends. The others are animals, and a few are random funny ones my friends picked out.

Today wasn't that bad... A bit awkward, yes. But stressful, not-really. Besides running away, and all that. But otherwise, it was fine.

Around 4am, I pack my things, and change into clean clothes. I leave a note for Chosen and Dark saying I went to visit Purple in the city, and she would show me home. I was lying, of course. Purple is out adventuring in Minecraft, and would be back in only a few days. But they don't know that.

With the note on the kitchen counter, my backpack packed, and the yellow bandanna holding back my hair, I head out. Hopefully they don't figure out. But they will soon. Someone will come looking for me.

But for now, I had the entire stick universe to explore. No one to bother me. No one to disturb my thoughts. No Herobrine to haunt me with that stupid block.

I was free.

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Another chapter! And it didn't take me 3 weeks to publish! This one was really fun to write, actually ngl.
Hope you enjoyed it! Have a great day/night!

-Downfall_12

Word Count: 1143