Just Friends. A Crabstickz, Kick The PJ and Jimmy0010 imagine.

Wooh, I finally got the first chapter out. I’d love to know your thoughts. - Crab-Tales X 

The outside air was freezing; still and crisp, it sent shivers over your dewy, freshly washed skin the moment you’d opened your back door. Hair dripping wet and water running down your thighs, you sprinted urgently, your numb feet dodging puddles as you clung tightly to the warm towel threatening to unravel at any moment. Your red dress; a statement of an outfit, hung proudly on your washing line. A stunningly vivid contrast to its dim and dreary surroundings; it carried with it the bright and hopeful optimism you held for this evening. Scrunching its soft fabric in your palm, you regretted instantly your decision to hang it outside. It was damp and cold to the touch, the weather; fickle and unpredictable as it was, hindered you further, it wasn’t dry and you were already so pressed for time. You hastily pulled it off the line, wasting no time in running back indoors. Your skin prickled upon entering, you shivered more, greeted by the stale, stagnant air that welcomed you, it’s scent and tepid warmth; something you’d become accustom to over the past two years.

Walking to your room, you heard the faint, steady hiss of the shower’s water pressure weaken before coming to a halt, the sudden silence seizing your attention. Surely Jimmy wasn’t done already, clean and out of the shower you occupied merely five minutes ago…

You heard the screech of the shower curtain rings along the metal rail, the squelch of wet feet on the bathroom floor. Shit, you needed more time.  You wanted – you needed to look your best tonight; you knew who was going to be there. Jimmy had mentioned his name amongst a few others, the sound of which captivated you the moment he said it and had been preoccupying your mind ever since. You’d be lying if you told yourself you didn’t by this dress specifically with him in mind, you so unashamedly had.

 Darting into your room, you closed the door behind you and draped your dress over the small radiator at the end of your bed.  You figured by the time you were ready, it’d be dry and you’d be prepared for the evening of awkward introductions and potential embarrassment ahead. Throwing your towel to the bed, you began the painstaking and rather tedious process of getting ready; a task that in your many years of experience, you still hadn’t managed to master.  

-

Hair waved, eyes shaded and mouth ajar; you thoughtfully applied your lipstick, dressed in nothing but your black lace underwear, your only matching set. Your intense concentration wavered the moment you smelt something peculiar.  An unpleasantly acrid smell wafted toward you; a familiar thick and musky scent you couldn’t quite discern. That was, until your memory was jogged, remembering the startling few instances you’d smelt it before. Something was clearly burning, the fabric of a particular red dress perhaps? You pivoted on the spot, turning around to glare at the radiator now causing a line of smoke to rise from the hem of your beloved dress.

Oh dear no.

Before you had time to react, Jimmy’s calm, collected voice requested your attention from the other side of your door.   

“Taxi will be here in five minutes Y/N.”

You didn’t even register what he’d said before bolting toward your smouldering dress and clutching the tarnished fabric between your lipstick smudged and mascara stained fingers.  

“Oh, shit, shit, SHIT. No!” You spat your words with such an urgent distress; you must have sounded terribly disconcerted by what he’d just said.

“Jeeesus Y/N, you’ve been in there ages, how much longer do you need?”

“Huh? No, my dress!”