Lightning

1: Excuse me. I am homeless, I am gay, I have aids, and I'm new in town

Props to you if you get that reference. I was just going to go with "new in town" but then I fangirlled and got caught up in John Mulaney...

Some key notes:This is the second book to the series, A New Hope. I highly suggest reading that before you continue. Also!! In this, Robin never died. He is still living in the forest with the merry men.

*this is told in Hope's POV*

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I was walking to Granny's when I passed Robbie. I was so used to running up to him and giving him a hug that I almost forgot. Tensions between us were still a little weird. I mean, what would you expect when you break up with someone you've dated for three years and you keep running into them, giving eachother no time to heal? I fully blame myself. A few weeks after the incident, I broke up with him. I didn't want him getting hurt because of me. Not after Conner. I couldn't let someone I love get hurt all because I maybe let it slip that I was dating him. Or I maybe let it slip that I love him, and I give someone leverage against me. I'm still healing and I'm trying so hard to repress my feelings. All I want to do is run up to him and kiss him and tell him I love him. No...I won't do that...

I had been going to sessions with Archie and they weren't exactly going well. I wanted to open up, I really did...but..some things I just couldn't open up about. All he wanted to talk about was Conner. Always him. But I didn't want to relive those memories. It's bad enough i'm not sleeping because of them. I feel like something's always out to get me and I hate it. According to Archie, that's normal after a traumatic experience. It's called hyper - vigilance. I feel like i'm drowning all the time. Robbie helped with that feeling a little. Made me feel safe. But I don't want to put him in harm's way so we broke up. And now the nightmares are back, more than ever. It's been two days since I slept and holy shit did I feel tired. I felt like I was going to collapse right on the sidewalk. I wanted to sleep so badly but every time I closed my eyes, all I saw were cage doors and felt the fire run up and down my spine as I was cut into....I think I need another session with Archie....

Tears stung my eyes as I walked past him into the diner. I saw Kyle taking the orders down of 5 kids. They had never been into town before. Weird. One had tan skin, dark black hair, and sea green eyes. The one sitting next to him had blonde, curly hair and gray eyes that reminded me of a storm. The third one had brown hair and eyes, complete with a brown beard. The fourth was what looked like a twin, seeing as they were identical with the fifth, just a little smaller. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and was tall. The other was an exact copy of the first brother, just a tiny but taller. They were laughing at something someone said, I wasn't exactly paying attention. I walked up to Kyle, ignoring the five people next to me, and hugged him. "How much is your discount for food here?" "60% if i'm working at the time I use it, 20% if i'm working that day." "Do you mind if I use the 20%?" "Yeah sure" "Thank you so much. You're amazing." I walked away, ignoring the fact that the brown hair/eyes person looked at me and whispered something to the black haired/green eyes one. I walked up to Granny and told her my order before sitting down at the bar thing and taking out my phone, playing a game. I felt someone staring at me and looked at the table, watching as one of the twins head's looked away.

I got my order and walked home, getting so lost in my thoughts I almost ran into someone. Why were new people here? Why did they whisper and why was one of them staring at me? I finally got home and went up to my room, not wanting to deal with human interaction while I thought about them.

I went upstairs and took out my phone and food when I heard the doorbell ring. My mom opened it up and started talking to whoever it was. It sounded like more than one voice. Weird... She let the people in and they started talking. Yup, definitely more than one person. I heard 5 distinct voinces. I crept down the stairs and saw what they looked like. Shit...the people from the diner. Did they follow me here? What were they doing? I heard them talking about my heritage. That should take them a while...

Hope. My name. Why were they saying my name? I listened closer and heard the word camp. Camp? What camp? Was I going there? Did my mom want to send me there? Why? What the hell was going on?