The Ivy Walls

Chapter 11

(A/N: This chapter briefly mentions self harm so if that's not for you then maybe don't read this chapter. Don't worry though, it doesn't go into detail so it should be fine but still, just wanted to warn you so you don't get surprised by it. You can still read the chapter if it's not for you, you can kinda tell when it's coming anyway.)

The group of seven were walking and making sure to keep turning right every time. As much as Fin hated to admit it, it was a good idea. The playful aura was still floating around as Teddi started speaking up to the rest of the group as she was only talking to Mickey and Gwen. "I think this is a good place to stay for the night, Dale and Mickey, why don't you two stay guard for the first half, Jesse and I can take over after that." She stated, everyone nodded in agreement, Fin just grumbled a quiet 'yes', still in a bad mood, but less so after talking to Owen for most of the day.

The group set up two tents, one night main tent where five of them would sleep and another smaller tent for the other two guards to sit under, It was basically just a roof to keep rain or any wind off them for the night. Dale and Mickey sat down in the guards tent and placed their weapons in their laps and next to themselves, ready for anything. The other five that were preparing to sleep each had a dagger under their pillows so they could easily access them in any emergency. 

After around two hours everyone but Dale and Mickey were asleep. The cold night air was crisp and turned into white clouds with every breath the two guards took. Dale shivered and zipped his worn red hoodie as high as it could to savour as much body heat as possible. Suddenly a warm wind ran through the maze, the creator must have complete control over the place and saw how cold the two were. Mickey started sweating at the sudden heat and took off his denim jacket and rolled up his long white sleeves.

Dale unzipped his hoodie but didn't take it off, although he was sweating a lot. "Um, aren't you gonna take off your hoodie? It's boiling, that Linwood fella must be able to control anything that happens in this place and probably has surveillance everywhere and made it really hot for whatever reason." Mickey pointed at a red flashing light way up the wall opposite them, a camera. Dale flinched at the mention of taking off his jacket but slowly did so, trusting Mickey.

As Dale slid the red jacket all the way off Mickey gasped. Dale's forearms and wrists were covered in scars, most very old but some were quite recent. Dale looked away, too ashamed to look Mickey in the eyes. "Dale...," Mickey whispered, concern drowning his voice. Dale refused to look at him still. "Dale, look at me." Mickey softly placed his hand under Dale's chin and moved his face to look at him. Dale looked up, tears were streaming down his face at the memory of why he put those scars there in the first place.

Mickey gave him a warm smile and pulled him into a tight embrace. Dale couldn't hold it in any longer, he began sobbing into Mickey's shoulder, unable to control his tears. He clamped his hands around Mickey and down over his mouth to silence his crying. His whole body was shaking as Mickey rubbed circles into his back and tried calming him down. "Shh, it's ok, it's ok Dale, you're fine, you're ok, it's all ok." Mickey put on the most calming voice he could to help Dale relax.

After about half an hour Dale was down to just sniffling. He was no longer hugging Mickey but still felt comforted by Mickey's motherly presence. "Thank you, sorry. I didn't mean to-" Dale was cut off when Mickey held up his hand, "Don't apologise when you've done nothing wrong," He said with a smile. Dale looked down with a small smile and nodded. "So.. are you gonna tell me why or is that too hard for you?" Mickey asked, not wanting to pry but wanted to help Dale get through whatever he was going through.

"I- um, I don't want to talk about it right now. Sorry. I'll tell you another time I promise." Dale smiled and looked up at Mickey. He nodded, "I understand, thank you." Dale paused, "Thank you? For what?" He didn't know why Mickey was thanking him, if anything he should be the one thanking Mickey. "For trusting me enough to show me and for feeling comfortable enough to say you'll tell me, even if it isn't now." He explained with a toothy grin. Dale couldn't believe how motherly Mickey actually was and held his mouth open in an 'O' shape. 

"What?" Mickey was confused at this reaction. "You are such a mum." Dale laughed. Mickey was shocked at the sudden change in demeanour but was happy to hear Dale laugh again. He dramatically faked a gasp and put his hand on his chest, "Why I never!" He replied in an old woman type of way. The two burst out laughing and continued their banter for a while. The temperature had dropped down enough for Dale to be able to put his hoodie back on without dying of heat stroke, and could even see a slight mist escaping his mouth when he exhaled again.

They were talking about which ice-cream flavour was the best when they heard the tent unzip and saw a tired looking Jesse and Teddi walk out, ready to take the rest of the guard shift for the night. "Morning." Jesse said groggily looking at his watch, it was 3:30AM. "Hey." Mickey and Dale replied in unison. They stood up and started walking towards the zombie-like two. "Jeez, you guys aren't morning people are you." Dale said, trying to lighten the mood. He succeeded a bit, earning a laugh from Mickey and Jesse but an angry glare from Teddi. "Yeah, but I'm still in a good enough mindset to cut your pretty little face off." She replied, clearly not happy to have woken up so early in the morning even though she did volunteer herself for it. 

"Aww, you think my face is pretty?" Dale asked sarcastically. Mickey laughed and Jesse internally agreed with Teddi on that, his face was pretty, but laughed at Dale's sarcasm. "Yeah and I'll cut it up if you don't get your ass in that tent right now.", "Yessir!" Dale dramatically stood straight and saluted, turned and marched robotically in the tent. Mickey was laughing his ass off by then, following dale into the tent. Jesse and Teddi were both laughing too. No matter how annoyed she was, Teddi could never stay mad at Dale. The rest of the night went smoothly. 

Not much happened when the group woke up, packed the tents up and ate breakfast, not even when they started walking. It wasn't until the middle of the day when something really interesting happened.

Oooh cliffhanger again! Sorry for not updating in literally ages, I kinda lost my motivation to write anything at all. Mental health is a bitch lmao. Anyways, this was a good chapter, sorta got me back into writing mode. A lot happened this week too so there was just a lot stacking onto why I didn't feel in the mood to write. I wanted to continue even though I wasn't feeling up to it because I knew I'd never feel up to it unless I started writing and getting the feel for it again ya know? So, sorry for the long wait, but I hope it was worth it :) Anyways,

Word Count: 1308