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

21. The Day After

You slowly regain your consciousness, but your eyes are still closed. You slowly open them, and the light in the area is blinding. As your eyes slowly adjust, you look at the area you're in. You notice the messy room, the alarm clock on the side table, and the multiple posters on the wall. You're back at home, in your room. It's almost noon. You sit up on your bed, and look around. Nothing seems to be out of place. Your head hurts really bad, and you can still smell alcohol. That was enough confirmation for you to know that the party the night before wasn't just a dream. It really happened. The only problem is that you don't remember how you even got home. You get out of bed and go to the bathroom to at least brush your teeth. When you enter, you pee really quick and grab your toothbrush and start brushing. Looking in the mirror, you notice you're wearing Scott's jacket. You don't know when, but he must have given it to you sometime last night. Once you finish brushing your teeth, you take a deep sniff of the jacket. It smells amazing, as always. You make your way to the kitchen, preparing to look up some hangover cures, when you notice something in the drive way. It's Scott's car. You slip your shoes on, and go outside. You look in the car, but he's not in there. You look around the area, and there seems to be no sign of him. After looking for a few minutes, you decide to go back inside to cure your hangover and continue looking for him after that.

You read that bananas can help ease the pain of your hangover, so you grab one to eat and head to the living room. When you get to the living room however, you see Scott on your couch, asleep, covered with a blanket. It's the same blanket you use in your room all the time. You also notice he has a teddy bear, the same one you used to love as a kid. You take a seat on the nearby ottoman, and watch him sleep for a little bit. He looks so cute, cuddled up in a blanket with a teddy bear. You lean in a little closer, and whisper, "Scott?" He doesn't respond. You whisper again, and he still doesn't respond. Assuming he's still asleep, you slowly move your hand towards him. You put your hand behind his ear, and start lightly scratching the area. As you do this, he begins nuzzling into your hand, enjoying the feeling of being scratched. After another moment, you stop. You lean a little closer, studying his face. He's softly smiling, after the scratches. You gently put your hand on his cheek, caressing it slightly. After no reaction from him, you lean in and kiss his cheek. Even though no one was there to see it, you still felt your face blush from embarrassment. You stand up, grab the tv remote, and sit down in a chair. You start eating your banana, and scroll through the tv guide to find something to watch. You pick a show, and start watching. Once you finish your banana, you end up falling asleep.

"(Y/N), sweetie? Are you ready?" You slowly and sadly nod your head 'yes' to your mom. She grabs your hand and the two of you walk to the car. She buckles you into the back seat and she gets in the driver's seat. She starts the car and drives away from the house. After the 15 minute, silent car ride, your mom pulls into the parking lot of a building. The sign suggests that it's a funeral home. Your mother parks and the two of you get out of the car. She carries you into the building. With a stern face, your mother carries you to the middle of a room with a lot of benches and you two sit down in one. As you pass by, your mom's side of the family looks at the two of you sadly. Your dad's side of the family however, looked kind of angry. Soon after taking your seat, a man at the front of the room begins talking. After another long time, people started getting up and passing the big box in the front of the room. Your mom's side of the family got to go first. As you get closer, you see some pictures of your brother. You don't say anything. You just look away from it. You know whatever is left of him is in that box. The memory of that day still haunts you. Looking back at your mother, you notice her face is blank. You can't see any emotion in it whatsoever. After the service, your mom takes you back to the car. She starts it and happily says, "Okay, sweetie. Are you ready to see our new house?" You slowly nod your head, but in reality, you're not. You don't want to move, but you have to. You liked your old house, but you were being forced to move. Because of your dad. Because of the murder of your brother. You think back on the few memories you had together. He was your best friend. And now he's gone. You knew he genuinely loved you, and he made you happy when your mom and dad fought. But now that he's gone, will anyone be able to make you happy again? You hear your mother speak. "Honey, what's wrong?" Snapping back to reality, you notice the tears on your face, and in a split second, you start bawling.

"(-/N-? (Y-N)? (Y/N)?" You open your eyes. You rub your eyes, and feel tears. You slowly open them, and your back in your bed, with Scott by your side. You have the blanket Scott was using earlier, and the bear he had too. He talks again. "Are you okay? I found you asleep on the chair, so I brought you back in here, and I sat down for a little bit, and I noticed you were crying and-" You interrupt him. "Were you watching me sleep?" Scott blushes and looks away, causing you to blush as well. You ask him, "What.. Happened last night?" He answers, "You gave a big long speech after you beat someone in a game, and you talked for awhile.. Until you passed out. I thought you would want to go home, so I brought you here, and then I got really tired, so I went to sleep here too.. I'm sorry." You get out of bed and give Scott a hug. "Thank you for keeping me safe." He slowly hugs you back, but this time, it's much more gentle. He's not crushing you with his pure strength. This time, it feels nicer. The two of you separate, and avoid eye contact. You notice it's already 2:30. Scott says, "Well.. I'll leave you alone now." Scott starts leaving, but you stop him. "Wait! Do you.. want something to eat?" Scott's tail starts wagging. "Yeah! Like what?" After you two discuss it, you decide to get some fast food somewhere. You bring it back home, and eat while talking to eachother about random things. After you finish, you ask Scott if there's anything he wants to do. After thinking for a minute, his head perks up, and he says, "Yeah! Come with me!" He leads you to your backyard, and gets on all fours, looking at the ground near a tree. He gasps, and bends down, grabbing something in his mouth. He runs back to you, and drops a stick on the ground. At first, you're confused. But then it clicks. You pick up he stick, and throw it at full force across the yard. Scott runs after it, and brings it back to you. After playing fetch for about an hour, the two of you go back inside to watch some TV. A few more hours pass by, and the two of you have dinner together as well. As you two are happily eating, Scott grows quiet. You look at him, and see he's staring at you with a smile. You cock your head to the side, and he starts to tear up. But he doesn't look like it's sad. Despite the fact he's on the verge of tears, he's still holding a genuine smile. Regardless, the tears still cause you to almost choke on your food as you say, "Scott! What's wrong?" He doesn't say anything. He just stands up, and hugs you. "I've never seen you so happy before." You push him away, and look into his eyes. You start to tear up as well. "What can I say?" You look at the floor. "You make me happy.." You start crying. You can't tell if it's because you're so happy that Scott's happy, or if your so sad that this happiness is so uncommon for you. Scott grabs your shoulders and looks at you. He looks in your eyes, as if he's lost. It seems he wants to say something, but he can't. As you slowly stop crying, you start to ask, "Scott, what-" But you're interrupted. Interrupted by Scott kissing you. He moves his hands from your shoulders to your back, and you cup his face with your hands. He pulls you in closer to him. His warmth surrounds you, and all you can focus on is him. Nothing else in the world matters right now. Just you and him. It lasts for about half a minute, and when your lips separate, you two still stay together. You rest your foreheads on eachother, as if you might kiss again. Sitting like that feels nice, and you could do it forever. Scott pulls away, and doesn't look at you, but says, "I.. I love you.. (Y/N)... You mean a lot to me. You're so nice, and funny, and smart.. And inspiring." "How am I inspiring?" He looks at you dead in the eyes. "Even with all the feelings you feel everyday, you still keep going. No matter what." You pay his head, saying, "I love you too." His tail starts wagging so fast it's just a blur. He picks you up and spins you around, laughing. You both finish your meal, and go back to the couch. You pop in a movie for the two of you to watch, and Scott makes popcorn, despite the fact you just ate. You spend the rest of the night watching movies together, sharing a blanket. Scott ends up heading home to get a change of clothes, and comes back to stay the night. The two of you go to bed together, holding eachother close. You ended up having the best sleep of your life, and have an amazing rest of the weekend.