Old Friends (Wirt x Reader)

Chapter 23

You awoke and began to panic. You couldn't remember where you were. The room you lay in was unfamiliar, and you didn't know what was going on. As you let yourself calm down, you took in the scene around you and things came back. You were in your room. This wasn't the first time you'd forgotten. Almost every day since the strike you'd woken up in a panic, and every day you would have to remind yourself of what had happened.

You hadn't been going to school lately because of your sketchy memory and unstable emotional state. You hadn't seen Wirt since that night, and you'd only left the house for doctor's appointments.

Your brother was very supportive and sweet through all of this. He was constantly asking if you needed something, if your head was hurting, if you wanted to go out for some fresh air. You always answered him no. All you wanted to do was be alone.

Ever since the strike, you'd been slightly depressed. The doctors said it was normal and that it would pass, but that didn't help. The doctors were no help. They could only treat the symptoms. "Take Tylenol for your headaches." "Use mind exercises to help your memory." "Your stutter will go away with time." "The mood swings will subside with time." With time. With time. With time. Everything would pass with time.

You were mad at the doctors. At their answers. At the fact that they had no answers. Little research goes into lightning strike effects because so few people are struck. So who cares? Right? They can just be left to struggle the rest of their lives. There's only a few of them. Right?

You took a deep breath. This was just part of your mood swings. You had to settle yourself down. If only your parents could understand. Understand how terrifying, frustrating, and miserable things were. Almost every morning you woke up afraid and confused. You didn't know where- sometimes who -you were. You didn't know if you would be able to talk on any given day, or if your thoughts would become alphabet soup. Even when you could talk, you had a stupid stutter! You had a almost constant headache, dizzy spells weren't uncommon, and the doctors had no clear answer of what to do. You could only think of one person who would understand.

You stood up and got dressed. You left your room and shuffled down the hall to your parents' room. You found your mother sitting on the edge of the bed, reading.

"Mom," you squeaked. Hey, you could talk today, great.

She looked up and smiled. "(Y/n), how are you feeling today?"

"F-f-fine," you scowled at the stutter you couldn't control.

"How's your head?" She set down her book and approached you.

"F-f-" you switched words. "Okay."

Your mother felt your forehead and checked your pulse. She nodded her head in approval of her findings.

"Mom," you repeated.

"Yes, honey," she responded.

"I, I want to see Wirt," you told her.

She paused. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Th-th-that's why I asked you, isn't it?" you regretted the tone of your voice as soon as it came out. "Sorry, I just, sorry."

"No," she said. "It's alright." She thought a moment. "If his mom is okay with it, you can go see him."

You smiled. "Th-th-thank you, Mom."

Your mom called his mom and set up a time for you two to see each other that afternoon. You weren't hungry come lunch time, but your mom made you eat. You just wanted to talk to Wirt. It had been almost two weeks. You didn't even know how the strike had affected him.

As soon as the time came, you were at the door, waiting for your mother. She'd made you wear a big jacket because of the cold coming in with winter. She came down the stairs in her own big jacket and opened the door. You followed her out and walked with her down to Wirt's house.

When you reached his house, his mom answered the door, and Greg stood behind her. Your heart jumped with joy. The little guy's smile was enough to change any bad mood. You crouched down and greeted him with a hug. He told you something about his frog, and you just smiled. You'd missed him more than you realized.

"Wirt is out back," his mom told you. She and your mom sat and began talking, Greg playing on the ground near them.

You followed the familiar route to their backyard. They'd had many birthdays and other celebrations in the back, so you knew the way as well as in your own house. You pushed open the door and saw Wirt sitting against a tree. You smiled at the sight. It had been too long since you'd seen him. You walked over and sat next to him.

"Are you doing alright?" you asked.

"I haven't been at school," he replied.

"Neither have I," you told him. "You didn't answer th-th-the question."

"I've been.." he looked at you. "Not g-g-great."

He must have gotten a stutter, as well. It wasn't an unusual side effect.

"Same," you replied. "Th-th-the doctors don't help."

"They have no answers," he agreed. "Just g-g-guesses."

"What have been your effects?" you asked.

"The stutter, mild twitching of extremities, states of immobility, maybe something else," he answered. "And you?"

"Stutter, memory issues, mood swings, chronic headaches," you told him.

"Mom almost didn't let you c-c-come," he said.

"Mine was hesitant, as well," you replied.

"G-g-greg talked her into it," he informed you.

"He's so sweet," you smiled. You frowned a little as you began thinking. "Do you th-th-think th-th-things will ever go back to normal?"

"I don't know," he responded. "I want them to."

"Never th-th-thought I would miss school or th-th-the other kids," you said wistfully.

"The Unknown would have been better than this," he said.

"But we have f-f-family here," you protested.

"And all these other problems that were never part of the picture before," he said harshly.

"We can help each other th-th-through it," you tried to sound encouraging.

He didn't answer. You stood up. Talking with him started out fun, but he just turned it all around. His bad attitude was affecting you, and you didn't want to be upset.

"Here," you handed him a piece of paper. "Th-th-this is f-f-for you."

You had copied your poem off of the charred notepad onto a new piece of paper. You'd planned to give it to him today anyway. You walked inside, leaving Wirt alone outside. You sighed. With things this bad, it could only get better, right?