Wanted by The Wanted | ✔️

|| FOURTEEN ||

"I'll be back soon," Oscar nods at us, an arm reaching for the bottom rung of the ladder.

I want to step forward and hug him goodbye and memorise everything about him but I just offer a curt nod back and direct my gaze to the ground. He climbs the ladder and with a final, fleeting glance, slides open the manhole cover. I watch him slip away.

Fifteen minutes later I find myself blankly staring at the cards in my hands.

"I WIN, BITCHES!" Trent grins and slams down his cards as I frown at them.

I still don't get this game. Earlier Trent had gone out and bought a bunch of games (and blankets) to entertain us as we wait the painstaking few days for Oscar to return.

"I don't get it," I frown, "I thought we're trying to get fours."

"No, we're trying to get four cards that have the same number but different classes. Like four two or four eights or four sevens. It can be four fours but it doesn't have to be."

I let my cards fly out my hands, "That's not even English!" I argue incredulously, "Translation, please?"

Trent groans and falls back onto a blanket he had sprawled out across the hard sewer floor, "Red, help me out here?"

As Red shrugs, leaning back on his elbows, Soren saves us from our misery, "Why don't we change game?"

I drag (A/N OH MY GOSH SO PUNNY AHAHAAHHA DRAG GEDDIT GEDDIT) a hand down my face exasperatedly, "Why are you guys trying so hard to keep me preoccupied? I want to sleep."

"You always want to sleep, Avyn," Soren nudges me as I scowl, "And besides, we're trying to bond. I don't suppose you have anything better to do?"

I hesitate for a second too long and he cuts me off before I can even begin to unlock my jaw, "See? Okay, let's play Truth or Dare."

Casting him a flat look, I sigh, "That's the most stereotypical and boring game you could have picked. What's happened to more inventive games that don't lapse into dirty dares?"

Soren's eyebrow perform a suggestive Mexican wave. I blink at him, unfazed.

"Just a couple rounds, come on, Avyn! Don't ruin my fun."

"How did you manage to get into a dangerous gang again? You're so childish and immature," I quip, leaning forward on my forearms.

He dismisses me with a wave and turns so we form a circle. I resist the urge to roll my eyes as he rubs his hands together evilly, one-eyed gaze scanning us before landing on Red, "Truth or dare, Red?" he asks, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Used to his friend's unique nature, Red shrugs, "Truth."

"Wimp," Soren notes, but the sparkle in his eye persists, "Fine, how many girls have you slept with?"

Red and Trent share a look.

He corrects himself as nonchalantly as possible, "Sorry, I mean guys."

"I'd say... seven," Red estimates, as blunt and unashamed as his fellow gang members.

I decide to chip in with a nagging question, "How do two guys even have.. you know? A banana doesn't fit into another banana like a banana fits into a... muffin," I question, disturbed at the images my sentence brings to mind and my terrible metaphors.

Red quirks an eyebrow, "You know, guys do have other holes."

I sigh as the game progresses, finding myself caught up in the game and almost mad at myself for loosening up. Letting out a laugh as Red dares Soren to jump across the sewer gap, I get up to watch with the others as we stand up to watch his attempt.