Nightmares ➳ Connor McDonough/ Before You Exit Fanfic { edited }

Five

Gwen's POV

I stared at the brown wooden door that was merely an inch away from my face.

"You're such an asshole!" I yelled and stormed back into my apartment.

"Gwen? Are you okay?" Avery asked.

She had a glass of water in her right hand and the TV remote in the other.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to calm myself down. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep," she said quietly and turned on the tiny flat screen TV.

She flipped through the channels for a few seconds before she asked the question that I was expecting.

"I heard you yelling at someone outside," she said and I looked down at my bare feet. "Who was it?"

"Just our neighbor, he was being an ass," I replied, getting the remote from her and mindlessly flipping through the channels like she was doing.

She chuckled. "You mean the blonde guy?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked, wondering why everyone seemed to know him.

"I had a brief conversation with one of his brothers." she replied. "I think his name was Toby."

"What did he tell you?"

"Not much, you arrived before he could actually say something interesting," she said, grabbing the remote back from me and turning off the TV, since it didn't seem like there was anything good on at that moment.

She got a small amount of my burgundy-dyed hair and started braiding it.

My natural hair color is actually ash blonde but I found it too ordinary and boring. So why not dye my hair a rather daring color?

I wasn't brave enough for bright red so I settled on burgundy and I have no regrets.

"So are you gonna tell me why you hate him?" she asked and I nodded in reply.

I've been waiting for an opportunity to express my strong dislike towards him and now was my chance. But for some reason only nice words came tumbling out of my mouth. I couldn't bring myself to say anything bad about him. Of course, Avery could see right through me.

"I know that you hate him," she said, twirling one of her ash blonde locks around her index finger. "You don't have to hide it."

She let out a loud yawn and started walking to her and Tanya's room while I remained on the couch.

I felt myself slowly drifting to sleep, but this time I didn't fight it. I didn't have the strength to.

Connor's POV

I slammed the door right in her face and I felt a pang of — what felt like — guilt.

I looked at my brothers. Riley had his jaw dropped and Toby was shaking his head at me.

"You're such an asshole!" I heard her yell, followed by a few heavy footsteps and the sound of a door slamming really hard.

"You really are," Riley said, looking at me with no emotion at all.

"Who is she?" Toby asked, fiddling with the damp towel in his hand.

"No one important."

"Is she the reason you came home in such a bad mood earlier?" Riley asked and I nodded. Not finding the need to lie to them, considering they'll find out no matter how hard I try to hide it.

"She asked about mom and dad, didn't she? That's why you were upset," Toby said and I nodded once more. Feeling the sting in my chest when he said mom and dad.

Flashback

It was a chilly September evening and our parents were going on their monthly date.

"Bye Connor, take care of your brothers!" Our dad yelled as he got into the driver's seat of the car.

"Why does he get to be in charge?" Riley whined from beside me and I ruffled his hair.

"Don't be upset Ri. Soon enough you'll be helping your big brother take care of Toby," our mom reassured him as ten year old Toby pouted.

We waved goodbye at them and watched them drive down the street.

Once they arrived at the end of the street, another vehicle had slammed into them and I could make out the faint shriek of my mom, crying out in pain.

Although Toby and Riley had already gone inside, I had been watching the entire time, completely frozen. Completely unaware of what to do.

The events after that seemed like a blur.

The only thing that I remember clearly was a nurse walking up to me and shaking her head sadly.

End of Flashback

I was snapped back into reality by Toby throwing the damp towel at my face.

"I get that you're still extremely upset about what happened, but that doesn't mean you should be a dick to everyone you come across," Riley said and I flinched at the word he used to describe me.

Although, I knew it was true.

I wasn't exactly the kind of person who was all smiles and had a happy attitude all the time. I'd say that I'm the complete opposite of that.

"We're going back to bed," Riley said as he and Toby started heading into their rooms.

I just stayed there by the door.

I didn't want to go to bed. Sleep was the very last thing on my mind right now. So I did the only thing I could think of doing. I went out on a run and if ever Gwen would be going out on a run too, I was  actually hoping she would join me.

~

a/n: not actually satisfied with this, but at least now you know what connor's nightmares are all about. A vote or a comment wouldn't hurt, right?