THROUGH TIME & SPACE ★ FIVE HARGREEVES X READER

CH. XIV

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RUN BOY RUN

"oh, no, don't look in their eyes,
'cause that's how they get you"

2019

"HEY, HEY... (N/N), WAKE UP. It's time to leave."

(Y/N) was woken up by the soft voice of Five, sounding low and dulcet as he had probably only risen a couple of minutes before her. When she managed to pry open her eyelids from the invisible weight resting atop of them, she found him standing, looming over her, with a hand on her shoulder to shake her awake. "Ugh... what time is it?"

"It's three in the morning."

"Are you freaking kidding me..." She groaned, trying to pull a pillow, a blanket, anything to throw at him for waking her up this early the morning. It was still dark out and she probably had only been able to get in two to three hours of sleep, but it would do for now.

(Y/N) found it odd that, despite Five having gotten out from under her when they were squeezed in on the couch, she still felt warm. She felt around to see what was doing this, when she realised she was wrapped up snugly like a burrito using a soft blanket Vanya had thrown over the couch earlier. She couldn't help but melt into the feeling of hygge.

It was obvious to have been Five's doing.

Speaking of him, his grin was nonchalant as usual, turning around to make for the door. "Look, I'm going to have to go. You can tag along if you'd like, but—"

"Wait... Shit!" (Y/N) snapped open her eyes and a sudden realisation glittered in them as she jolted up from her previous comfortable position and immediately scoured the room for something, causing the blanket to fall listlessly to the ground behind her. She was only hindered by a slight pain in her head from the alcohol from the previous night but continued to look around the room in search of something.

"What?"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit—" She hastily stumbled over to the kitchen with Five worriedly trailing behind her. When he poked his head into the room, he found (Y/N) fumbling her hand around in her jacket, that was hanging half on the backrest of a chair, pocket to her uniform.

He didn't even have time to ask, because as soon as he opened his mouth, the girl found what she was looking for. An orange prescription bottle, that had its label crossed off multiple times, was produced and popped open with ease as she poured out two shiny white pills into her palm, soon disappearing down the hatch of her throat.

Once it was gone and swallowed, (Y/N) lazily tossed the bottle back into the pocket and slumped her shoulders in an exhausted manner, hands supporting her from the sides of Vanya's kitchen table.

"What just happened?" Five's voice pierced through her thoughts.

(Y/N) looked up at him with an expression he couldn't read, which was very unusual. "You know those pills Dad used to make me take when I was a kid?"

"Yeah..?"

"They're those. I was clearly a little too tipsy last night to even remember them," (Y/N) explained.

"Those didn't look like the normal pills you took," Five moved towards the thrown bottle and picked it up, flipping it around to read the label.

"Well... You don't need to read too much into it." (Y/N) grabbed the bottle out of his hands and shoved it back into her jacket pocket as she pulled it on. But before she could move on with the conversation, Five stopped her.

"What were those pills, (Y/N)?" He said sternly.

"I told you! It's nothing. So just— chill out, okay?" She was a little taken aback by him calling her by her real name, rather than the one he always called her. (N/N). It was short, sweet and simple.

(Y/N) tried to push past the boy, slinking by with a hand in her pocket, only for it to be grabbed and held in place. She looked up to meet Five's gaze, which didn't look too happy. "You're not telling me something. Why?"

Defeat was a very submissive word. Yet, when (Y/N) sighed and wriggled out of Five's grasp, it was the only thing she could feel. "Fine. You really want to know?"

He immediately nodded his head.

"Okay... so I wasn't completely lying when I said they were the ones Dad used to make me take." (Y/N) leaned against the armrest of the couch for support, "I just haven't been taking them..."

"So what were those pills?"

She bit down on her tongue, knowing Five wouldn't like the answer she was about to give him next. "Klaus gave me them..."

"What?"

"L— Look! I have a perfectly good explanation."

"Well, then you'd better start talking."

"The ones Dad gave me always made me... uh— how do I say this..." She tapped a finger on her chin, then shrugged. "Basically felt dead inside. Then... after you left, Klaus gave me a few suggestions to get rid of the negative side effects by just... replacing the other pills..."

"So you're a drug addict?" Five frowned.

"No, no! Of course not," (Y/N) rolled her eyes. "Maybe before... but I just need this now, okay? These pills? They're what kept me feeling okay when you were gone. They made me... happier, I guess."

"That means you're not going to be high while we're going around, today, right?"

"Eh, hopefully?" (Y/N) tilted her head to the side cheekily before it turned grim. "So you're saying all that 'the end is nigh' shit was real, last night? The world's ending in eight days?"

"Seven, now, but yes." He corrected.

"Well, fuck..." She sighed, looking down at the ground in thought. Her eyes trailed over to the blanket now half-lying on the ground, half-hanging onto the seat. Oh, how she wished she could just snuggle up into her sheets and leave all these problems to someone else to fix. But then, she owed it to Five to help him. She had left him stranded in the future, even after seeing him using her powers, and didn't even try to bring him back. He went 45 years without talking to anyone.

"Agreed, "Five chuckled.

(Y/N) was still hesitant to say 'yes'. "So what do we do now?"

"I explained this last night, but I said I was going to the MERITECH building to find the owner of the eye. You're welcome to tag along if you'd like." He said as he opened the front door to Vanya's house as silently as he could. "C'mon, let's go." He noticed that (Y/N) wasn't following behind him, so he took a step back into the house, "you coming?"

"Well... I kind of promised Diego that I'd go out on patrol with him again tonight..." (Y/N) stood awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck in guilt.

Five's nose scrunched up slightly, "right..."

"But you've got this, yeah? Stay safe and I'll see you as soon as I can." She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder in assurance.

Five sighed, looking a little disappointed. "Sure thing," he nodded, quickly wrapping his arms around the girl's torso for a hug, but he pulled away before she could even return the gesture and looked away. "Same to you."

"Well that's definitely a first," (Y/N) chuckled. "Mean ol' Fivey wishing someone well? No wonder the apocalypse is coming."

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