Crimson Abyss

Drop Dead

~.: "A Little Less Than Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me" :.~
~.: Fall Out Boy :.~

Why Don't You Just Drop Dead?

~.: Jasmine's POV :.~

Almost as soon as Alex and Cato had walked back into the store, Thalia was on her feet, marching indignantly right up to Cato, her index finger jabbing harshly into the muscular blonde's broad chest as he arrogantly smirked right back at her in response.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, buff asshat?" Thalia snarled, her bright blue eyes flashing with agitation as I exchanged an apprehensive glance with Johnathan who clings to my side anxiously.
"I don't see a problem, paperclip queen," Cato smugly retaliates, swatting Thalia's hand away from his chest while Alex visibly bristles at the rising tension between the two, "I'll have you know I saved your precious sister's life while she was getting you some new earbuds. She almost got her brains bashed in by a zombie," He growled, scowling irritably as Gale squeezes my hand reassuringly before crossing the room to intercept a possible physical fight and I catch myself staring at the way Gale's shoulder blades flex as crosses his arms over his chest.
"I thought we all agreed to stay put for now, Cato?" Gale sighs frustratedly, narrowing his stormy gray gaze at the muscular blonde, "You both could've been seriously hurt and we wouldn't have been able to help you. We went over this last time that you're supposed to tell us exactly where you're going before you disappear,"
Thalia is still fuming with fury as Cato shrugs nonchalantly, "Did my paperclip death threat not register in that thick head of yours, dumbass?" She snarls, shoving Cato backwards and causing him to hit the wall behind him, "Maybe I should show you instead since you're clearly too stupid to fucking understand," as she growls that, she yanks one of the many twisted paper clips she'd assembled into a weapon out of her leather jacket and I quickly rush towards the small group, leaving John on the couch.
"H-hey, calm down, Thalia!" I called out, standing at Gale's side who glanced briefly down at me, "We don't have to fight, okay? Just chill-"
Thalia turns toward me and flips me off agitatedly, "Don't tell me to calm down, Jazz! He almost got Alex killed and you expect me to chill? Fuck no!" She angrily snaps, turning on her heel to face Cato who's getting to his feet now and cracking his knuckles as he irritably squares his jaw and Alex timidly puts a hand on his shoulder but he shrugs her off, "This is all your fault, asshat." Thalia growls, her glare focused wholeheartedly on him as Cato approaches her.
"My fault?" Cato chuckles in a low intimidating tone and I grab Gale's arm meaningfully, jerking a thumb at the two while mouthing 'do something!' to which he furrows his eyebrows in irritation and mouths back 'like what?' as Thalia and the blonde come face to face, "Its not my fault that you're an overprotective bitch with control issues, Princess," Cato smugly growls, crossing his arms over his chest and evoking an enraged snarl from Thalia in response.
"Excuse me?" Thalia chokes in disbelief, flipping her hair out of her face, "Oh, hell no. You are so not talking to me like that. Ima rearrange your whole prick attitude right now," as she says that, Peeta comes rushing over, Johnathan trailing after him and I carefully scoop my little brother up into my arms while Gale rubs his temples in frustration.
"Guys, knock it off," Peeta is frantically saying, moving so that he's positioned between Thalia and Cato, "Cato was wrong to leave the safe area with Alex, but Thalia, a fight isn't going to fix anything, okay?"
Cato glares agitatedly at Peeta and shoulders him aside, "Stay out of this, Mallark," he growls softly, smirking broadly at Thalia, "She wants to fight me so let her. I'll make sure that this is quick and simple, Barbie clone, that way you don't break a nail," he cockily chuckles but just when Thalia is about to throw hands with him, Peeta catches her arm and carefully pulls her to the side, pinning her to the wall and I felt my eyebrows shoot up as I let out a low whistle of amusement at just how interesting things just got.
"Let go of me right now so I can scratch that stupid smirk off his face," Thalia growls, despite the spreading blush that's paining her cheeks at how close Peeta is standing but he doesn't move while Cato snorts in disdain, rolling his eyes agitatedly.
"No," Peeta murmurs in response, "Not until you promise that you're gonna calm down. A fight will draw attention to our location and another zombie attack is not something we need to deal with right now, okay?" He fixes Thalia with a firm stare and Alex looks like she's about to fight him for even standing so close to her older sister.
"Peeta has a point," I coughed softly, brushing against Gale as he smirks softly at me in response and my heart flutters at the sight, "I wish everyone would just calm down and relax," I sighed, running a stressed hand through my bangs before smiling reassuringly at my little brother.
"Why do they hate each other so much, Jazzy?" He asks in his usual small voice and I reassuringly smooth his hair out of his face as Gale follows after us now that Thalia and Peeta are preoccupied with Alex, "Did we do something bad?" He cocks his head innocently at me and Gale smiles softly, overhearing him.
"You guys didn't do anything wrong," Gale murmurs, meeting my gaze with that charming smirk of his and my heart jumps into my throat. God, he's so cute... No, stop thinking like that Jazz. Zombie apocalypse now, boys later.
"It's uh, getting late so maybe we should go ahead and get some sleep for tomorrow," I coughed awkwardly, tearing my gaze shyly away from Gale's while Johnathan whines in protest, "Do you guys have any sleeping bags..? I don't really wanna sleep near big buff and scary," I jerked my head meaningfully towards Cato who's dozing off with his head leaning back against the cushions, his well muscled arms crossed behind his neck in a leisurely angle while a soft snore escapes his lips and Gale nods in understanding, chuckling softly.
"Yeah, we've got two left," he sighs softly, leading me towards a pile of leather looking bags, "Sorry you had to deal with all this.. I promise it'll get better," he murmured as he hands me one of the sleeping bags and our fingers brush as I take it from him, "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?" I nod shyly in response while John looks curiously between the two of us, as though sensing my racing heartbeat and I quickly make my way towards the center of the room, far enough away so that Cato isn't near us, but close enough so that we're still near the group.
"Do you like him?" John asks as I set him down so that I can set up the sleeping bag we're going to be sharing together. I nearly choke in surprise at the question and instinctively shake my head despite my gaze going straight to Gale who's tidying up his own sleeping area while Alex, Thalia, and Peeta each take a seat on the couch carefully so as not to wake up Cato.
"What? No," I coughed awkwardly and Johnathan grins impishly at me as I motion for him to get into the sleeping bag, "I just met him and- that's none of your business. Now get in the sleeping bag and get some sleep." I awkwardly mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck as I sit beside him on the smooth linoleum floor. He climbs into the sleeping bag without protest, snuggling into it like a little caterpillar and I giggle softly in amusement.
"Are you gonna sleep too?" He yawns, closing his eyes as he finally gets comfortable and I shake my head, smiling softly as I run a hand through his hair gently.
"Nah, I'm gonna stay awake for a little while. Someone needs to keep watch anyways," I murmured softly and he yawns again before falling asleep. As the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest combines with the soft breaths he lets off, I turn so that my gaze is directed towards the entryway before noticing that Gale is watching me and I blush profusely as he gets up and sits beside me on the floor.
"I'll help you keep watch, just in case you fall asleep," he chuckles softly in amusement, noticing just how flustered his presence is making me and I find myself wondering if he's acutely aware of just how much he's affecting me.

****

Gentle nudging in my rib cage rouses me from my sleep and I grumble before sitting up and bonking my head against whoever's head is hovering close to mine with a yelp. The yelp belongs to Gale and I scramble shyly backwards, blushing profusely as our gazes meet.
"Sorry if I scared you," He coughs softly, rubbing the place where our heads had collided, "I woke you up because we can't find your brother."