Pigment (Millard Nullings X Reader)

Day Four

What do you guys think of the new cover for the story?

"I'm absolutely famished," Emma said, after we made yet another loop around the house.

Instead of me walking sadly by myself this time, Emma had accompanied me, and we were just having a pleasant conversation.

We were five days into the Staying Indoors thing, and we have been taking mini walks like this every morning after breakfast. This way, we got our exercise in, and were able to figure out what everyone does in their daily schedule.

This normally involved seeing Fiona and Hugh making out in the weirdest locations (and being caught by the two of us); Enoch collecting a lot of canned food and hiding it in his sweater as he sneaks back into his room; and Bronwyn playing with the younger children.

"Wanna go get something to eat?" I asked, despite already knowing Emma's answer.

We made our way into the kitchen, and Emma grabbed some food. She threw a bag of biscuits at me, and I caught it with ease. Smiling, I imagined seeing Enoch's face when he would try to steal them later on in the morning, only to find them missing. It was kind of strange knowing what everyone was doing all the time. This must be why Millard did his journalling thing. I felt so powerful knowing everyone's personality patterns.

I wondered if Millard would have enjoyed walking around with me, just talking about whatever popped into our heads. He always knew what to say, and I absolutely loved hearing his voice. 

Now I kind of wished I knew where he was....

 "(Y/N), if I were to make treats tomorrow morning, would you have some?" Emma asked. "Whenever I put in the effort, no one eats them, and they're wasted."

I took a biscuit from the bag, and shrugged at Emma.

"Yeah, sure!"

A new figure stood at the kitchen entrance, and I looked to see who it was. My heart stopped for a bit when I saw Heather, who looked atrociously horrible. Her blonde hair was puffy and ratted, and she looked really, really tired. She had a blanket wrapped around her, and she gave me a sad look.

"Let's go, (Y/N)," Emma told me, and she scooped up some of the food in her arms. "We don't need to be here any longer."

Quickly, Emma made her way past Heather, and I followed. However, Heather grabbed my hand as I tried to squeeze past her, and I tried to avoid her gaze.

"(Y/N), I'm sorry," she whispered loud enough that only I could hear.

"Let go of me, Heather," I replied, ignoring her sad attempt to look me in the eye.

She did, and I followed Emma to the library. I hadn't seen Heather since the uh, the incident, and I didn't want to. There was no need for her to apologize for something she ever so fiercely meant.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, as we went inside the library.

I smiled at her, and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, well, since the kitchen is currently occupied, I was just thinking we could stay in here for a bit," Emma said. "We might even be able to snatch some books as we eat. If you want to, I mean."

"That sounds great!" I said, trying to sound cheerful.

We made our way to the fireplace, where a small coffee table sat, with two chairs on opposite ends. Emma swiped the books off of the table, and set down the pile of food she had.

"Let's see," she said as she sorted through the things. "Two bags of crisps, a box of wheat cereal, a box of crackers, and two boxes of biscuits."

"What a strange assortment," I joked, while immediately reaching for the biscuits.