intoxicated i love you || xReader [SEQUEL] [COMPLETED]

three // young again - hawthorne heights

If I could find a way to turn back time,
I'd have to let you know:
I'm on your side.

~~~~~~

Y/N

Oh crap. I yanked my spear from the lion's mouth. I'd spent too much time trying to attack the brute's weak spot that I forgot about the mortals nearby. Idiot! A mangled body lay in front of the beast, splattered with blood on its loose limbs.

I hopped down from my spot on the lion's back. A small gasp escaped my lips as the sight of the girl was fully visible. She looked around the same age as me. I couldn't help but to wonder if I'd look like that if it weren't for --

"This couldn't be happening..."

I spun around with my spear, ready to attack. Other monsters could be near. Alas, why would the Nemean lion strut along the dark alleys of a maze?

Emotion took over my body as my vision fell onto a boy not too far out, shivering. Immediately, I hurried to him. If the beast had slaughtered the girl without a fight, who knows what troubles the boy had been inflicted with?

"This is impossible."

He rocked back and forth, clutching his knees like it was his only anchor to sanity. I wondered what mortals would think if they saw a friend killed by a beast. Did the mist cover that? Or was something more tragic stored in their memory?

It seemed only fitting if he was brought to camp. Keeping a tight grip on my spear, I tugged the boy up. I shifted much of his weight onto my shoulders, and even though he weighed more than me, I was stronger than most at camp.

I looked up at the sky. The movement of the large moon in the sky told me there'd be trouble if we didn't hurry up.

~~~~~~

"He's one of us," I confirmed, stepping into camp boundaries. Nico was already awaiting my return. I told him earlier that I had gone to get some air in the "abandoned" maze. He must've been encased in worry since I didn't return at my normal time.

Now he stared at the limp body hanging around my shoulders. "You said you were just going for a walk," he speculated, "not bringing back an unconscious stranger."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, stopping to put away my weapon. I moved the boy's body slightly off my back, trying to get Nico to help me support the weight. "I thought that too. Now grab a leg or something, would ya'? The guy's heavier than he looks."

Nico obliged with a sigh, coming behind me to wrap the stranger's arm around his neck. "Chiron's gonna freak," he smirked.

I nudged his shoulder through the newcomer. "Two months of kitchen duty, do you reckon?" I laughed shortly with a tinge of malice.

"Three," Nico said, grinning.

And somehow, between inside jokes and exchanges of laughter, we made the punishment of kitchen duty seem nonexistent.

~~~~~~

"What were you thinking, leaving camp at this time of night!?" Chiron exclaimed, almost spitting out his tea.

"Told you he'd take it well," I mumbled to Nico. He stifled a laugh, but then his face blew up with red after the stern glare Chiron gave.

"You could have been killed!" he shouted, spit flying near our faces. He stroked his newly shaven chin, frustrated with our foolish actions. "Imagine the downside of this!"

It was now that he had noticed the body sagging behind Nico and I's necks. The feeling of the stranger's hand around me gave me chills. It was the same feeling a got when --

"Who," Chiron commanded, "is that?"

Nico shrugged. "To be honest," he answered, "we don't know."

"Good grief," muttered Chiron. He trotted slowly back and forth. "Good grief, indeed."

"If it makes the situation any better," I included, "he passed out before realizing I brought him here."

"That's good," he nodded, coming to a halt. "What time is it? Still midnight? You two go to bed. Leave the boy with me."

"Thank the gods," Nico mumbled, immediately shaking the boy's arm off his shoulder. "This guy's heavier than he looks."

I laid the boy on Chiron's red couch, carefully tucking his limbs in comfortable spots. As I leaned back, I began to speculate his looks. He was definitely good looking, but then again, the majority of people I know are. His black hair was somehow wind-swept although outside was still. I could just barely remember the look on his face before he blacked out.

He was familiar. His aura --

Nico grabbed my arm. He led me to the door. We were almost out before Chiron said,

"And don't forget about your two months of kitchen duty. Teenagers."

~~~~~~

Even as I closed my eyes, exhausted, sleep couldn't seem to find me.

I see him everywhere. I see him in the Narcissus flowers at the outskirts of the cabin; I see him in the bottle of Coke and hot dog I pick at during dinner; I see him in the fire burning bright after we eat.

But somehow, I've managed to see him even more in the new presence of a stranger.