Story belongs to anicajeann on ao3! Enjoy reading!
You lifted your bandana off your face to take a breather, sweat stuck to every part of your body. You didn't bring a water bottle to the protest, thinking the weather would just be mild. But nope. You had been walking for two hours straight in 90 degree weather, the sun practically cooking your body.
There were much more people here than you had expected, the streets were flooded with diversity. Signs and fists were being held up in the air and people were chanting different phrases loudly. It was truly something out of a movie.
The national guard was here too. Police were now multiplying by the hour. And a bunch of store windows were boarded up with wood.
"Do you want to cool down for a bit? We can sit for a while," Alex said to you as he held his hand out. You nodded, grabbing onto his hand and letting him pull you through the crowd. He brought you to a sidewalk with some protesters who were also cooling down, they were wiping sweat off their foreheads and chugging water down.
"You should back and protest," You said to him. You lifted your shirt up a bit to wipe sweat off your forehead, a breeze flowed against your skin cooling you down a little. "And are you not hot under that thing?" You gestured towards his suit. His excessive armor seemed so bulky and uncomfortable, you probably would die of a heat stroke in it.
Alex shook his head, "I'm fine. And I don't want to leave you here." He glanced around, seeing police throw tear gas into a crowd and push protesters away from the cop cars. He scoffed and wanted to run over there and punch the police, he watched as people sprinted away from the cans of tear gas.
"Go and protect people or something, I'll just meet you back in the crowd." You looked up at him, wondering if he even felt the heat at all.
"Will you be able to find me?" He asked you.
You chuckled, "Of course. You're tall and you always stand at the front, I'll be able to spot you." You smiled. You watched Alex cross his arms, debating with himself whether or not to leave you here. He looked around you at the other protesters before nodding.
"Don't be too long, if you get in any trouble call me." He says. You nod, pulling your phone out just so he could see. He does a thumbs up and walks away, looking back at you a couple times to make sure you were still there. You saw him disappear into the crowd, his tall stature soon faded into the sea of protesters.
You sighed, hoping the weather would maybe go down a bit. Your clothes did not serve you well, the tight skinny jeans only made you feel even more sweaty, and your tshirt was a pretty thick material. What you hated the most was the fact that everyone around you had water but you were too afraid to ask any of them for some. Your social anxiety seemed to be the thing holding you back.
But you laughed to yourself, social anxiety ? You were just yelling at cops a couple minutes ago. Yet you couldn't seem to muster up enough courage to ask a stranger for a sip of water.
"Hi there," You heard someone next to you. You looked up, your gaze being immediately met with somebody. Their suit seemed strangely similar, except whoever this was, they had dreads sticking out from under the helmet. "You look hot."
"Oh uh-"
"Oh! No, no I didn't mean it in that- that um, way. I meant like-"
"No I totally get what you're saying." You smiled, this person had the same helmet as Alex, except theirs had a Go-Pro on it.
"Yeah," They chuckled, "I meant like, hot from the sun. Like overheated. But I'm not saying you aren't attractive or anything."
"Thanks, and yeah I am feeling pretty sweaty right now." You laughed, you blushed at the compliment. You watched the person prance over to somebody and ask for a water bottle, the person handed them one and he came back, handing the bottle to you. "Oh thanks."
