Beautiful Crime ※ DogNut

eight

Adelaide didn't sleep much that night; either from the excitement knowing DogNut was back or from having Jared die right in front of her, she didn't know. But her night was a restless one – her dreams were mixed between seeing DogNut again and hearing the gun go off and Jared's death. In the end, the only way she managed to survive the night and get some sleep was to scream at her inner demons and fall into a world of darkness.

At breakfast, she was basically a zombie; she barely ate or spoke to anyone and everyone knew not to try to interact with her. Things like that usually happened whenever someone died, and it wasn't something people tended to talk about.

Giving her untouched food to another kid, she requested that once DogNut was awake and had been fed to meet her on the roof. After returning to her room to collect a book and a bottle of alcohol, she slowly made her way towards the roof to wait for DogNut.

Ignoring her book, Adelaide focused solely on the alcohol – despite how disgusting it tasted. It helped her forget all the bad things that happened. If only her parents could see her now; she'd turned into an insomniac with a dependency on alcohol to deal with her issues, they'd disown her in a heartbeat.

"Romeo and Juliet? Never pictured you as the literary type." DogNut's voice brought Adelaide back to reality from her thinking. He sat down next to her, her slightly battered copy of Romeo and Juliet in his hand.

Adelaide smiled softly, moving in closer to him, bringing the bottle with her and placing it between them. "Yeah, well, times have changed."

DogNut looked between Adelaide and the bottle between them, shrugging his shoulders as he mentally thought "screw it" and had a small mouthful. The disgusting tasting liquid hit his throat quickly, causing him to cough and struggle to almost breathe while Adelaide couldn't help but laugh.

"It takes some getting used to!" she laughed, taking the bottle from him and taking a drink from it before placing it down away from him.

"That is disgusting! Why do you drink that?"

"It saves water!"

The pair looked at each other and burst into laughter, unable to stop themselves. For once in what seemed like forever, they felt like kids again. Just two normal teenagers laughing and having fun without a care in the world. Adelaide wished it would stay like that but she knew that these fleeting moments of happiness were just that – fleeting, and sooner or later they would have to return to their normality of killing sickos and everyday fighting for their survival.

Their laughter died down soon enough and both were left in silence until DogNut spoke up again. "How've you been?"

The moment he asked that question, all trace of laughter was gone and Adelaide's demeanour changed almost immediately. Adelaide shook her head, looking out over London as she composed herself, trying to keep her emotions to herself. She couldn't explain it but whenever she was with DogNut, she felt as if she could pour her heart out to him and he wouldn't abandon her like she guessed most people would. "I've been okay... I'm basically the best fighter here so I guess I'm a badass now, I suppose."

Once DogNut noticed that Adelaide on the verge of tears, he placed an arm around her shoulders and brought her in closer to him. "Hey, you're okay. You're okay, I'm here."

Adelaide buried her face in the crook of DogNut's neck, clinging onto his shirt. Taking a shaky breath, she moved her head to rest on his shoulder. "I'm trying... I'm trying all the time but everyone's counting on me and it's so hard."

DogNut pressed a gentle kiss to Adelaide's forehead, his eyes closing as he rested his forehead against hers, his thumbs brushing away her tears. "I'm here now, you don't have to do this alone."