The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

9. Pup Talk

Vera's right. You know she's right. You need to talk to someone, to let them know what's wrong with you. And Scott is the best candidate. You may not have known him as long as some other people, but you knew deep down he was the right one to talk to. You knew deep down, that you were in love with him. After your 4th period class, it was lunch time. After Vera talked to you, you regained some of your confidence to go back to the cafeteria again. As you entered, you saw many faces staring at you, as if everyone really did notice your disappearance from lunch. Everyone had a neutral face. Except for Vera, Brian, and Amira, who gave you faint smiles, Damien, who seemed pissed, and Vicky and Scott, who both smiled widely. You grabbed your lunch, and approached Scott's table. When you sat down, Damien approached Scott. "Hey man, Coach told us we need to find him." Scott looked at Damien, confused. "Find him? What do you mean?" "He told me he's missing and that only we, and no one else, can find him." "Oh no! That's awful! We have to find him!" And with that, Scott dashes out of the room. Damien looks at you, shrugs his shoulders, and walked away. You look down at your tray, push it aside, and put your head down, trying not to cry. Then you hear chairs being shuffled around. You look up, and see Vicky and Zoe are sitting with you. They stare at you, and you don't know what to say. Zoe breaks the silence. "Are you and Scott banging eachother?" Vicky screams, "Zoe!" "Well they should!!" You both stare at Zoe. Your face getting redder by the second. You look back down at nothing, and Zoe says, "... Do you.. Want.... To bang Scott?" Vicky facepalms, and you lose your patience. Before you do anything rash, you exit the cafeteria. They follow you, and try to talk. "(Y/n)!" You were angry. Impatient. As you lose your temper, you feel the area around warm up. "If your trying to ask me if I like Scott, then yes! I like Scott!" You literally burst into flames. "He's adorable! And sweet! And amazing! And.. And... I love him.." The fires die down, and cold air surrounds you. "And I don't have a chance.." Vicky and Zoe exchange a look. They both come over to you and give you a hug. Zoe says, "In all honesty (Y/n), I think you two would make an amazing couple. I'm not just saying that for the sake of my Spooky High fics, I very much believe it." Then Vicky adds, "If there is anything we can do to help, tell us." You think for a moment. "No.. There's nothing.. I just wish I could talk to him about my problems.." Zoe gets up. "Okay!" And walks off. "Wait! What are you going to do?!" But she doesn't listen. You and Vicky exchange a worried look, and continue your day.

In gym, you once again dominate in dodgeball. And this time, you don't even have to go to the nurse's office! After gym class, in the locker room, Scott starts talking to you. "That was a great game (Y/n)! You did so well, like always! Sorry I couldn't sit with you at lunch today, I HAD to find Coach and I couldn't find him anywhere! But it turns out he was in his office the WHOLE time!" "It's okay Scott.." "Anyway, I've been thinking. We should hang out sometime! Are you free tonight?" You begin to tell him you can't but.. "I'm sorry Scott I can't... I... Uhh... Have homework to-" "(Y/n) would looove to!" You turn around to see Zoe behind you. You try to make an excuse, buut... "When and where will you guys meet?" You look back and see Vicky too. Scott decides, "8 o'clock? The park?" You try to explain that is too late of a time, buuuut... "He. Would. Love. To." You see Vera, and suddenly think there MAY be a way. "Ummm.. Sure thing Scott!" The bell rings, and you make your way to science. You ask Vera what she plans to do. She winks and says, "Don't worry about it."

Later that night, at about 7:30, you are sitting in the kitchen, lying to your mom about how plain your day was, as she's doing dishes. All of sudden, something crashes through the window, and releases some gas. Then, Vera and Valerie jump in wearing gas masks, and put one on you. Your mother passes out, and Vera and Valerie take you out. You decide not to question them, because you don't want to know. They drive you to the park, and you see Scott. He's standing by a light, near a trail at the bottom of a hill. "(Y/n)! You came!" You get out of the car, and come up to Scott. "C'mon, let's go!" Scott grabs your hand, and starts you two running up the hill. As you run up the hill, you hear Vera call out to you, "We'll be here to pick you up whenever you're ready!" You knew you would never be ready, but you yelled back at them that you understand.

By the time you two reach the top of the hill, you are completely out of breath. As you sit there, dying, you look up at the view ahead of you. And you are mesmerized. You see the lights of the city, glowing. It's the first time you've really noticed how big and busy the city is. What makes it even better is that it's covered by a cold fog, obscuring yourself from getting a clear view, and instead it's just blurry. You look up the sky, and see an even better view. The fog isn't even there, and you see hundreds of stars, illuminating the sky. The constellations shining bright. It's absolutely breathtaking. You look back ahead of you, and see Scott. He's sitting on a picnic table, and he pats the area next to him, signaling you to sit down. You take a seat and look back him. The glow of the night sky is giving you the perfect image of Scott, being covered in a soft light. You hear Scott's voice. "Aren't they beautiful?" "Yeah. They are." "I love the stars. They're all so pretty. And different. And amazing." "I've never seen a better view of the night sky." "Yeah.. I come up here to think." "About what?" "Life. Sometimes, if I'm nervous about a game, I come here to think of strategies. Or if I'm scared of what could happen to a friend that got hurt, I think about ways I could help. Or maybe I'm just upset about something, and I need to think about how to handle it. No matter what's going on in my life, I come up here to clear my mind, and focus on how I can get better." Wow. After getting to know Scott, you have never thought he could have ever said anything that wise or insightful. But then you realized something. Why did he bring you here? "Scott.. Um.. Why did you... Why did you bring me here?" He looks down at you. His beautiful blue eyes make you feel relaxed. "Vera told me you needed to talk to me. I thought it would be best to bring you here." "Talk to you about... what?" "(Y/n).. You haven't been smelling like you're usual self lately. You usually smell like ashes, sprinkles, and toothpaste. But lately you've been smelling like shame, sweat, and existential crises. So I thought this place might make you happy, and let you talk about your feelings." You thought for a moment. Smiled, then frowned. "It.. Uh... It's.. I-it's. It's.. It's Damien.." Scott looked nervous.. "Did he.. Do something to you." "Yes. He hurt me.. With his words.." Scott says nothing. Instead, he hugs you. You start sobbing. "He's so.. M-Mean to me, and and and, and he bullies me, and tells me I don't be-belong here and, and that nobody loves me.. and, and, it's truuue!" "Nooo! (Y/n)! That's not true, plenty of people love you!" "It's not just that! My life is total SHIT!! My mom doesn't like monsters, so I'm not allowed to have friends, and my dad is verbally abusive, and I killed 4 people at my old school, and I have depression and anxiety, and I hate myself, and I cut myself, and I want to die so bad, but I'm not able to, and, and....." "Sshhhh!! It's okay.. It's okay. Calm down. Sshh.. Ssshhhh. I'm here." He starts rubbing your back. This is nice. Quietly sobbing into his shoulders. Feeling his warmth on you. Feeling his big hands comfort you. The two of you sit like this for awhile. After about 5 minutes, he pulls away. He looks you in the eyes. "I'll always be here for you. Polly will always be here for you. Vera will always be here for you. And so will Liam, and Miranda, and Zoe, and Calculester, and Valerie, and everyone. We'll be here. We love you. We appreciate you. We want you here. You are our friend." You muster a smile. "Thank you." Scott gets up, and retakes his original sitting spot next to you. You shiver from the lack of heat, and he puts his jacket around you, and you two continue to look at the sky.