burning - topper thornton s1 & s2

nine

"you okay?" topper whispers to the girl who was trembling, her hold on him tight. she slowly nodded in response. her head had stopped bleeding, but she was sure she had a concussion of some sort.

"dirty pogues, i swear." topper mumbles, staring ahead as astrid frowns slightly since she had once been a pogue.

"they're not that bad." she says to him,  keeping her head pressed against him.

"they threw you off a boat." topper deadpans and she sighs, knowing she won't win this argument.

"are you sure you're okay?" topper asks her.

"mhm." she hums in response, still shaking while she had her arms wrapped around his waist. she wasn't cold, it was just her body's natural response to pain for her to shake.

"i don't want to leave you alone today. can i stay at yours?" topper asks the girl and she nods, knowing the pair would have to hide from her family.

topper leaned down to kiss the top of her head before looking back at the water.

—

his lips connected with astrid's as soon as her bedroom door closed. no one was home luckily. the kiss became needy, his hands moving to her hips.

"top." she whispered as he trailed his lips down to her neck, a small moan leaving her mouth as he left a hickey on her neck. his lips moved to her collarbone which he sucked on slowly, her hand grabbing his shirt to pull him even closer if possible.

"we should slow down." topper whispered against her skin, making her gasp at the feelings it gave her.

"i don't want to slow down." astrid whispered, moving her hand under his shirt.

he picked her up and carried her to her bed, laying her down and kissing her once again before kissing her neck.

"hmm, trying to seduce me top?" she whispered as she looked up at him. he smiles, looking up at her again. he moved upward slightly until she could feel his breath on her ear.

"oh 100% darling." he whispered and she closed her eyes, chills going down her spine.

"i really like you." she said suddenly, making topper pause. he couldn't say it back because that wasn't how he felt yet. he silenced her words by kissing her, her heart throbbing in her chest now that she knew the boy on top of her didn't feel the same.

she knew it was soon, considering he had just broken up with sarah, but she had known the boy for a few years and had slowly grown feelings for him. she didn't want to make him uncomfortable

but she didn't want to stop.

—

"atlas!" a voice called for her brother and astrid sat up quickly. topper was still sleeping next to her as she quickly got dressed and ran downstairs as the booming knocks continued.

she opened the door, seeing a man in front of her who she didn't recognize.

"who are you?" she asked as he smirked at her. she had seen him around before, he was a drug dealer.

"the names barry, where is atlas?" he asked and she shook her head slightly.

"he's not home." astrid chokes out and barry's gaze hardens as astrid looked at barry in fear. she was scared of the way he was talking. he suddenly stepped forward, his hand wrapping around her throat tightly cutting her air supply off.

"n-no." she cried as he slammed her into the wall, his hand tightening slowly as she struggled to breathe, her hands trying to pry his from her neck. he dropped her after her face had turned red, making the girl gasp for air.

"tell your brother i want my money." he spat before turning and leaving.

—

astrid went to the wreck that night to get dinner for her family. topper had ended up leaving, not seeing the slowly forming bruise on her neck.

"i'm picking up an order for parkes." astrid said.

"okay, someone will be with you in a minute." the girl told her and motioned for her to go stand away from the door. her eyes landed on pope and his friends and her heart rate quickened, would they hurt her again? no, she knew they wouldn't.

but as she saw them dancing around and laughing she wished she could have been with them, she wished she had a good friend group like them.

"hi, order for parkes?" kiara asked, not realizing who the girl in front of her was at first. astrid looked at her, fear shining in her eyes.

"oh... um..." kiara says, unsure of how to handle the situation. her eyes landed on the cut on the side of her head and she wasn't sure how to feel about it since she had caused it.

"astrid! heyyyy!" pope said, obviously tipsy or possible drunk.

"what's up with your neck?" pope asks as the two other boys join him.

"n-nothing." astrid says and backs up slightly.

"those look like fingers marks." jj says and she shakes her head quickly.

"thank you for the food." she quickly says and grabs the bag, turning to leave.

"was it topper?" kiara asks and she freezes, turning to look at the group.

"no, he would never." she says and furrows her eyebrows.

"swear?" pope asks.

"i swear." she answers before leaving.

—

when astrid got home she made the excuse of being tired and not hungry enough to eat. her parents didn't think anything of it, but atlas saw the bruise she had tried to cover with the makeup she had in her car. he followed her upstairs.

"astrid." he called her and she stopped at her door, turning to look at him slightly.

"do we lie to each other?" he asks and she shakes her head slightly.

"then you'll tell me what happened to your neck." he states and her face falls.

"atlas- you- your friend came over." she stumbles over her words and he furrows his eyebrows, confused.

"barry, barry came over." she clarifies and his mouth falls open slightly.

"shit." he mumbles and quickly walks toward her, bringing her into a hug.

"i'm sorry. is there anything else?" he whispers and she shakes her head against him.

"no." she whispers as he holds her tight.

"i'll deal with him." atlas tells her and let's go of her.

"you do drugs?" she whispers, her voice cracking. he breathes in sharply and looks away from her.

"atlas!" she whispers, not wanting to alert her family. he glances around before grabbing her wrist lightly and pulling her into his room, shutting the door.

"yes. i do. happy?" he asks, annoyed now.

"no i am not fucking happy! you know what drugs can do to a person and- and you just don't care! you're so god damn selfish!" she says angrily and he squints his eyes at her.

"you do not get to scold me on my life choices." he says lowly and she looks at him in slight horror.

"yes i do! because you are the only sibling i have left and i will not lose another." she says, her voice cracking toward the end.

"you're not gonna fucking lose me, chill." he says, rolling his eyes.

"i don't know that atlas! apollo probably thought the same thing and look what happened." she tells him.

"don't talk to me about apollo." he says lowly.

"you're throwing your life away atlas. and i will not be here to pick up the pieces if you keep doing it." astrid tells him.

"then go! i don't need nor want you to care!" he yells and she steps back at his loud tone. his face falters as he realizes he just yelled at his sister. before he can say anything else she is out the door and running into her room, slamming the door and locking it.