(a/n TRIGGER WARNING MENTIONS OF SUICIDE, if you are uncomfortable, please skip this part, it's not important to the plot, just adds to Lydia's background)
Premise: 5 year anniversary of Lydia's mom's death. Takes place obviously about 5 years after the last chapter, they're like 17-- soon to go on the merchant hunt
Song: Find You by Ruelle
Every year that her mother was gone, was another anniversary of her death. Each year they were hard but this year, it would mark the 5th year that Lydia had been without her mom. And between what had happened with Rafe, not that long ago, she was walking a very thin line between choosing to live and choosing to die
Her friends knew this year would be a hard anniversary, they just didn't realize how heavily it was weighing on the girl. Plus, they still had no idea what had happened with Lydia and Rafe.
Lydia gripped the steering wheel of the car she had saved up to buy for her birthday. Part of her couldn't believe she was even considering this, it took her two years to buy the car. But the other part of her was excited that she had come up with this idea, on the day her mother died
As she approached a green light, she did the opposite of what was expected, she stopped. Lydia had decided that she would spend the 5th anniversary of her mother's death playing chicken with other cars.
As the light flicked to red, a grin made its way to her face. She watched as 1, 2, 3 cars began moving through the intersection and she slammed her foot on the gas.
Meanwhile, the pogues were hanging at the chateau, waiting for Lydia to show up, so they could go out on the marsh. They wanted to distract Lydia, maybe even get her to smile, a little. When it had been over 20 minutes from the time Lydia was supposed to be there, worry set it.
"Why isn't she here?" JJ sighed, running his hands through his hair
"She said she was coming" Kie replied, trying not to panic
"Maybe she's just running late?" Pope suggested, even though he knew she wasn't just running late
"I think we should just go get her, maybe she's just moping" John B said
"It's worth a shot, right?" JJ shrugged
"Pope, you stay here. JJ you go by her house, and Kie and I can take the boat out, see if she's at the beach" John B planned
The group split off into their various roles, JJ quickly driving the van to Lydia's house. He peeked through the window of her room, noticing she wasn't there.
"Where the hell is she?" He muttered, turning on the car again, realizing her car wasn't parked in its spot
"She went into town a little while ago" Lydia's dad grumbled from the porch. JJ honestly hadn't even noticed the man, but was shocked that he even acknowledged him
"Uh, Thanks." JJ replied, quickly speeding off, knowing Lydia didn't want any of her friends interacting with her dad
JJ drove into town, parking the car at the wreck. He figured he could spot her car if he just walked around a little bit. His eyebrows furrowed as horns beeped at the intersection. He turned around, looking at the traffic jam. It was seemingly caused by one car flying through the intersection, while their light was red. It took him a minute to realize that the car causing it all, looked a hell of a lot like Lydia's. He ran up to the car, currently stopped at a green light.
"What are you doing?" He yelled, quickly getting into the passenger side
"JJ, get out of the car" Lydia responded calmly, almost too calm
"Not until you tell me what's going on. We had plans Lydia. Remember those?" JJ asked, confused as hell
"Plans change, JJ. I decided on a different way to spend the anniversary. Now, I'd get out of the car" Lydia warned, never tearing her gaze away from the green light
"Not a chance" JJ breathed, slowly catching on
"Your mistake" Lydia shrugged, watching as the green turned to yellow
"Don't do this, Lydia" JJ begged
"I've already made up my mind" Lydia sighed, slamming on the gas as the light changed to red
Lydia was heading straight into the intersection, ignoring the car barreling towards the drivers side
"Lydia!" JJ yelled, grabbing the steering wheel, sending them into a tree nearby
She winced as her head hit the steering wheel, "Are you serious?"
"Did you really expect me to let you kill us" JJ was shocked, not realizing how deeply she had been hurting
"You weren't going to die, the car was gonna hit me first, plus you weren't even supposed to be in the fucking car" Lydia was pissed
"I-" JJ paused, at the sight of Lydia going pale. She turned and quickly stepped out of the smashed car, emptying the contents of her stomach into the street.
JJ was quickly at her side, holding her hair. When she was finished, she pushed JJ away, standing upright by herself
"You're bleeding, Lydia" JJ replied, reaching to touch the cut, as Lydia took another step back
"Don't touch me" She muttered, one hand on her head, the other on the car to steady herself
She knew that she definitely had a concussion, her vision going fuzzy. But being the stubborn girl she is, she refused to let JJ know. At least up until the point where she passed out.
JJ grabbed the girl, carrying her bridal style back to the van. He placed her gently in the passenger seat and drove to the Chateau
Luckily, John B, Kie and Pope had regrouped at the chateau, and saw JJ pull up.
"What the?" Kie exclaimed as they rushed to the van where JJ was getting Lydia off the front seat
"What happened?" John B asked, following JJ into the house
"She was driving through red lights and I got into the car with her. She was about to get hit so I grabbed the steering wheel, we went into a tree and she hit her head, she was fine at first and then she just dropped" JJ frantically explained, grabbing the alcohol to clean the cut
"It's probably a concussion" Pope noted, "We need to try and wake her up"
As JJ pressed the alcohol to the cut, Lydia groaned, her eyes fluttering open
"Hey, I need you to stay awake for me" JJ told her, cleaning the wound
"Stop" Lydia swatted weakly at his hands, before Kie quickly took them into her own
"Just let him do it" Kie comforted
As JJ finished cleaning the wound, Lydia sat up, frowning
"Talk" John B said, pointing to her
"I miss my mom" Lydia sighed, that was really what this all boiled down to
"You have to let us be there for you, okay? You aren't in this alone" JJ rubbed her back
"I'm so tired of feeling like this" Lydia whispered
a/n
little bit longer one for you
our poor baby
also leave ideas because I'm currently running low, I'm sure I'll think of something but I like to know what y'all want
also if any of you ever wanna talk, you can dm me here or on my instagram-- it's the same username
xo
Haley
YOU ARE READING
Shells
Romance"You and I both know you haven't been okay in months" "So what? It doesn't matter. Not with all the other things we have to worry about." "See that's the problem Lydia. You don't give a shit about yourself and it's going to end up killing you. You...
