#plsread

Imagine you’re fifteen years old. Now imagine that all you’ve ever known is scalpels, white walls, tile floors, the smell of antiseptics and bleach, and the feeling of rough hands grabbing at you. The feeling of needles pressing into your skin and veins, filling your body with steroids and god knows what else. Imagine not knowing whether or not anything else is real and only seeing things about the outside world and social culture through newspaper clippings. Imagine your brain being electrocuted as you’re forced to run until your feet bleed. Imagine you’re only given twenty ounces of room temperature water and a package of stale crackers and some old ham to keep you alive most days. Got the picture?

That was the life (Y/N) lived. She couldn’t remember anything before the age of nine. All she could remember was needles, bright lights, constant nausea, and unbearable physical torture. Being cold most nights, because of course she wasn’t provided with a heat lamp. She told other experiments that she was just anemic.

It wasn’t a lie necessarily, she was severely malnourished, but it wasn’t because she was anemic that she was always cold. It was because she was a reptile. Well, kind of. She was ninety five percent human, three percent leopard gecko and two percent crocodile. She got the cool spots which looked more like vitiligo if anything, and she could go thirty minutes without blinking. She was medium height, around five six and maybe one hundred thirty pounds soaking wet. She was fast, and she had the potentially to be a malicious predator. However, it was hard to be predatory when you were used to being nothing but prey to weirdo scientists with god complexes and fucked up world views.

That takes us to present time. (Y/N) cramming herself into the furthest corner of her crate (where all the experiments were kept), hissing and baring her pointed teeth at the white-coat trying to grab at her. “Do not resist.” He growled at her, getting more erratic and rough with his movements. She kicked at him whenever he got close, and she packed one hell of a kick. Even after fifteen years, she’d never stop fighting. Which is why she was kept in a separate room all by herself, albeit still in a crate. She had been caught trying to plan an escape with the others one to many times. That tends to happen when you go without food or warmth or nourishment or education or normal socialization. “Die!” She yelled at the scientist. He sneered and slammed the door of her crate shut, hitting her toes as he did. She yelped and tucked them under her body, growling and frowning like a feral animal. She rocked back and forth, feeling frantic and sticky. She wasn’t dirty, but she felt like her skin was covered in glue. She scratched at her melanin splotched arms, her pupils widening and shrinking every once in a while.

She heard the heavy metal door slam open, and her head jerked up, expecting to see an army of white-coats storming in to grab her. But no. It was a blonde girl in ratty civilian clothes who looked like she hadn’t showered in weeks and had no clue what a hairbrush was. The girl ran over to her crate and began fiddling with the latch. “Can you walk?” She asked urgently. (Y/N) stared at her, wrapping her arms around her body tight and going on fight or flight mode. She looked feral, which she practically was. “Can you walk?” The girl repeated, louder. (Y/N) nodded hesitantly, glaring wearily at her. “Good.” The lock popped open and the door swung to the side, leaving the exit wide open for her. (Y/N) stayed, unsure if this was another simulation, another trick to lure her out so she could be tortured and chased again.

The blonde girl kneeled in front of her, trying to be kind, but failing. She was far too tough and in a hurry to have a motherly heart to heart right now. “Listen. We’re here to help you, okay?” She said, something extending from her back. (Y/N) peeked and saw that they were wings. An experiment. Just like her. (Y/N) slowly crawled out from the cage and stood, on edge and ready to pounce if anyone tried anything. “Hurry, this way.” The girl said, grabbing her by the wrist and rushing her through the door. (Y/N) could hear all kinds of commotion. Animal noises, yelling, metal slamming around, and now a loud alarm. Red lights flared up and illuminated the halls, causing adrenaline to pump harder through her body.

“Hurry, hurry! Up here!” The blonde girl ordered. They turned a corner and she saw all the experiments running up a ladder, lead by another blonde girl with wings. But she was in a lab gown. She was one of the experiments too, one that (Y/N) had tried to ally with. But she didn’t understand English as well as (Y/N) did. She saw more bird kids, overturned crates and surgical tables, and a look over her shoulder allowed her to see a rush of white-coats running straight for them. This was the one chance she had. She turned and took two steps before she slammed into someone. Her pupils immediately shrank into slits and she hissed, baring her teeth before scampering up the ladder, faster than most of the other experiments could. She was powered purely on adrenaline and now fear, fear of being caught.

She felt a gust of wind against her face and looked up to see three bird kids fly by her, through the narrow tunnel. She kicked off the last prong of the ladder and broke out into a sprint, following the other mutant kids like her instincts told her to. “Forward, forward! Don’t stop!” Someone yelled, she didn’t know who. Her legs pumped faster and harder, through the sludge of the tunnel. Had they been underground? Come to think of it, she’d never seen natural sunlight. She didn’t even know if it was real. She’d only seen it in books and scraps of newspaper left on the lab counters.

They broke out into an open area after what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. She leaned against a wall as her vision faded in and out, her head starting to spin from exerting so much energy on such an empty stomach. She looked around, and she realized she wasn’t hearing. The blonde bird kid who broke her out was giving a small speech, but (Y/N) could barely register it. Everything felt muffled and far away. The last thing she saw was the experiment kids who stayed to listen to the speech scampering off, and a questioning, accusatory look from someone that looked like a living shadow.

When she woke up, she wasn’t in a tunnel anymore. She was.. where was she? She sat up abruptly, flailing her legs and moving to stand on her own two feet, getting into a fighting stance. She looked around frantically, meeting the eyes of six confused and equally as beat up kids. “No need to have a riot. It’s just us. Just me.” The blonde girl from earlier said. She put her hands up in sarcastic surrender, and (Y/N) managed a frowned. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest and fall onto the floor.

She swallowed dryly and looked around. A table, a rug, a TV, a couch.. she was in someone’s house. Surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Who, to be fair, had just helped her escape from the lab. “What is this?” She managed weakly, her voice shaky and breathy. “Who are you?”

The kids shared a look, all varying in different reactions, then one stepped up. She was young, barely looked more than seven or eight years old. She had big blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She was kinda cute for being so grubby. “We’re.. the flock. I’m Angel.” She pointed at herself. “This is Nudge, Gazzy, Fang, Iggy, and Max.” She pointed at everyone individually. The one she had seen before she fainted was Fang. She hadn’t seen Nudge or Gazzy until that moment. She hadn’t seen Iggy either. She blinked, her pupils very slowly returning back to a normal size.

She didn’t speak, only breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling evenly. Out of all of them, Iggy caught her attention. He looked hopeful but vacant, standing stiff and weird. “What happened?”

She asked, returning her attention to the little girl. Max stepped up now. “We broke you out of the school.”

She said, and (Y/N) nearly rolled her eyes. She would’ve if she wasn’t still in shock. “I remember that. I mean.. where am I?” They all looked at each other again. She felt alienated. Covered in a cold sweat and in a ratty hospital gown covered in her blood and ashes and dirt, her feet crusted with sludge from the tunnel, her hair tangled. “Uhm.. Michigan-ish.” The little blonde boy, Gazzy said.

“Mich.. igan?” (Y/N) hadn’t heard of that. She knew they were in the United States, or at least she thought they were, because that’s what most of the newspaper clippings were talking about. She had the education of an average fourth grader, she only knew basic language and math skills, but nothing else. She knew nothing of history or science, only that science was bad. Scientists were bad. “It’s a state. A big hunk of land in a bigger hunk of land.” The kid explained. She nodded. He dumbed that down enough.

“You fainted when we were in the tunnels. We.. didn’t want to leave you there, so we took turns carrying you. Iggy said. She looked over at him. He was looking slightly to the left of where she was standing. Her eyebrows scrunched in the way they always did when something didn’t make sense to her. She walked over to him and saw him visibly stiffen along with the rest of the flock, who got into subtle defensive poses. She stopped and gazed up at his pale face, into his eyes. They were milky, cloudy. It clicked. “You’re blind.” She stated.

He huffed. “Nooo. Really? I hadn’t noticed.” The corners of her lips quirked up in a little lopsided smirk and she turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself. She was malnourished, cold, and really tired. She faced Max. “Are there any blankets?” She asked. “Dunno. Is Cabin-ah-la-Michigan not good enough for you?” Max said. (Y/N)’s eyes narrowed. Max was.. joking. Being sarcastic. In a very flat, hard to tell way. (Y/N) liked it. She huffed out of her nose. “I’m a reptile. It’s cold. A blanket would be delightful.” She said, Max being visibly taken aback.

A slight smirk built on her lips and she turned to hide it. “Iggy, find her a blanket.” “Oh sure, send the blind guy to do it.” He grumbled. (Y/N) huffed a laugh again. That seemed to be the trend around here. Dry humor and sarcasm. It was refreshing. Better than listening to white-coats discuss what horrors they wanted to put her through that day. (Y/N) was on edge and shaking for more reasons than one. She didn’t know what to think of them, but they had saved her. She took a breath and told herself to just be cool.

“Thanks for saving me or whatever.” She said, crossing her arms. She saw Gazzy smile and try to stifle a laugh. She didn’t understand what was funny. “What?” She asked. “You’re acting like Fang.” He grinned. She glanced over to Fang, who was visibly offended and standing with his arms crossed. He probably had trust issues. Who wouldn’t in their case?

She looked away and down the hall to see Iggy returning with a blanket. “Found this in one of the bedrooms.” He said. She nodded and took it from him, immediately throwing it over her shoulders and sitting down on the floor, tucking her feet under her body and huddling down to preserve heat. They watched her like she was the only mutant kid in the room. “What?” She snapped. They looked away guiltily. “Nothing. You’re like, really pretty! Have you ever had your hair cut? Do-“ Nudge began, to be cut off by Iggy. “She’s a lab lizard. Do you think she’s ever been anything other than in a cage?” He wasn’t wrong, but the words hurt for some reason. Her face hardened and she angled it towards the ground. If she tried hard enough, she could glare a hole through it. Nudge’s face fell and she pouted sadly. She hadn’t considered that. She just wanted to give her a compliment.

(Y/N) heard Max elbow Iggy, and she assumed Max was scowling. (Y/N) rose from the floor, keeping the blanket wrapped tight around her body. She probably weighed the most out of all of them, having atleast some meat on her bones from her crocodile genes. “Do.. I stay?” She asked. It was silent. Six pairs of eyes stared at her. Well, five. Iggy was looking slightly near her again. Her face softened a bit and she immediately started burning with embarrassment. She angled her face towards the floor again.

“Sorry.” She uttered. “I’m sorry.” She said again. Nudge walked over to her with a friendly, understanding smile and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. (Y/N) pursed her lips and looked up at Nudge. “Let’s.. get you cleaned up.” Nudge said, trying to be polite, but her face told a different story. (Y/N) knew she looked like roadkill. It wasn’t her fault. She let Nudge lead her to the bathroom, which, miraculously, had running water. She informed the rest of the flock of that happily before helping (Y/N) undress and chattering her ear off.

“Your skin is awesome! And your eyes are so cool, the little black parts go so thin. How do you do that? What kind of reptile are you?” “Crocodile. And leopard gecko.” She answered, on edge. But.. Nudge was a girl, a mutant girl who seemed nice enough, so she accepted her help. “Have you ever even seen yourself?” Nudge asked, and she meant it as a joke. But.. (Y/N) hadn’t. Ever. Not in a mirror. Sometimes she’d catch very faint, ghostlike glimpses of herself on glass and the floors, but she’d never really seen what she looked like. Her prolonged silence made Nudge gasp. “Come, come look!” She insisted, pushing her in front of the sink mirror.

(Y/N) gazed at herself and gasped, running her fingertips across her face. Smooth but textured at the same time, like some sort of tattered silk. “That’s me?” She asked, mesmerized by her reflection. She was pretty. Splotches of tan skin were flung across her body like some sort of abstract art piece, her eyes were wide and curious, her pupils large for now. She shrank them and smiled, excited to watch it happen. She turned and turned, looking at her face, her neck, her chest, her hair, her shoulders, everything. Her hair was tangled and in desperate need of a comb, but it was fine. She was free and with people similar to her and she felt wonderful for the first time.. ever.

“Wow.” She muttered again, a smile on her face. Her teeth were sharp, her canines longer and pointier than Nudge’s. Her back molars were a bit more shaped for eating flesh, but her front teeth were relatively normal aside from the canines and such. “I know! Cmon, let’s get you in the shower before the water runs out.” (Y/N) nodded and stepped into the shower, gasping. She’d never had a shower. A real one. She’d had water thrown at her through the bars of her cage, but that’s it. She twirled around and around, letting the water penetrate her hair and slide down her body, down her legs, onto her feet. It felt great.

There was a lump of something in the corner. “Nudge? What’s that?” She asked. Nudge peaked into the shower and looked to where (Y/N) was pointing. “Oh, it’s soap! You rub it on your body and it makes you super clean and smell good.” She explained happily. She nodded. She knew what soap was, she’d just never been given any. She picked it up and did as Nudge said, rubbing it onto her arms and legs and stomach and hips and under her arms, all around. It made her feel slimy and weird. She scrubbed at her body for a while before letting the soap run off of her, opting to stand under the water stream for a while. As she ran her hands over her hair, there was a hard knock at the door.

“Hurry up in there! I have to pee!” She recognized the voice to be Gazzy’s. Nudge yelled back, “Go outside or something!” And it made (Y/N) giggle. She reluctantly switched the water off and reached for a towel, drying herself off with the help of Nudge, who wrapped her soaked hair in a towel for her. She sat inside of the sink as Nudge got through her hair, working out the snares and knots as gently as she could. (Y/N) felt like a brand new person by the time they were done. She barely recognized herself. Well, the version of herself she had seen before she showered. She felt even prettier. More alive.

She exited the bathroom with Nudge and let her lead her into the living room, where the bird kids had popped open multiple canned food items and some sodas they had found. They all, well, most of them, with the exception of Fang and Iggy looked up upon their arrival, and Gazzy’s mouth fell open. “Wow! You look like an actual girl now!” Max elbowed him, and (Y/N) stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She was in a huge button up and basketball shorts they had found in one of the bedrooms, her hair was still damp, she was still cold, and she felt soggy and out of place. “So uhm.. what now?” The flock shared a look. Fang shrugged. “We don’t actually know.”

(Y/N) pursed her lips. She didn’t want to be left on her own. She didn’t know how to survive in the real world. “We can’t leave her on her own.” Iggy said, reading her thoughts. Maybe he actually could. Who knew what powers they all possessed? (Y/N) looked down. She didn’t want them to leave, but she didn’t want to be a burden. She couldn’t fly. She weighed more than all of them, which meant they’d have a hard time carrying her long distances. Nudge put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“I’m with Iggy. She doesn’t know anything about the outside world! We have to help her. Can we keep her Max, please?” Max frowned and opened her mouth to protest when she caught Fang’s eye. They seemed to talk telepathically, Max getting gradually more irritated and Fang smirking when they broke their eye contact. He had won their silent argument. “Fine. But you have to pull your own weight, am I understood?” Max said, sternly. (Y/N) nodded eagerly and smiled, baring her teeth. Gazzy’s face immediately lit up.

“Woah! Those are awesome! What kind of reptile ARE you?”

He asked, genuinely curious. He walked up to her, inspecting her face. She opened her mouth wider for him, proud and happy that someone had a genuine interest in her and not in what would happen if they shoved enough metal prongs into her body. “Crocodile!” She said with her mouth open, so it came out sounding more like ‘crocadiiah’. “Cooool! I wish I was a crocodile!” He said. She smiled. “It’s cool I guess. But I’m always cold. I’m part leopard gecko too.” “What’s a leopard gecko?” He asked, gradually growing more and more interested. Nudge and Angel had gathered around her, and she saw Max from the corner of her eye. She looked on edge. Jealous? Maybe.

(Y/N) looked back to the three in front of her as a fourth kid rose and walked over, standing behind Gazzy. It was Iggy. “Uhm.. it’s a gecko with banana type spots on its body, and it can.. do this.” She turned and scaled the wall, climbing up to the ceiling. She could climb any flat surface, but she couldn’t hang upside down for too long. She would weigh herself down. “What? What did she do?” Iggy asked over the ‘ooo’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ of the other children. “She just climbed up the wall!” Gazzy exclaimed. Iggy nodded. “I can do this!” Gazzy said. He opened his wings and flapped them hard, propelling himself backwards. She smiled and hopped down from the wall, dusting her hands off. “Nice.”

She gave another polite smile as the three smiled at her, clearly wanting to ask a million and one questions. She opened her mouth to say something when Max’s voice chimed in. “I think it’s time to go to sleep. We have to head out tomorrow.” She said in a very stern, motherly tone. There were lots of whines and complaints, but a hard look had them shuffling off, albeit still complaining. She heard their scattered chatter, Nudge and Angel bidding her goodnight, and Iggy and Gazzy arguing over which bedroom they were gonna get. There were three bedrooms, which meant two pairs could share one each. That left (Y/N) with the couch.

She felt awkward suddenly, starting to fiddle with her thumbs. “I’ll just.. uhm.” She walked past Max with her head down and saw herself to the couch, sitting on it experimentally. She bounced on it a little, deeming it way more comfortable than the cold, hard floor of a dog crate. “Goodnight.” She said. Max paused in the opening of the hallway. She mumbled something before walking off, Fang following casually behind her. (Y/N) assumed, for the sake of her own peace, that Max had said goodnight back. She laid onto her side and stretched out, something she’d never really been able to do until then. She smiled as she tucked her arms under her head, making herself cozy.

That lasted about an hour before she was getting up, trudging down the hallway to find the blanket she had discarded. She grabbed it from behind the bathroom door where she’d left it and wrapped it snugly around her body before she began towards the couch. She sat upon it and stared at the floor for a little while, allowing her body to warm up. It wasn’t long before she began getting restless. Her body was tired, her brain wouldn’t go to sleep. She turned her head and peered down the hallway, imagining the flock fast asleep.

On a whim, she stood and went to the front door, tossing it open before gently shutting it behind her. She stuck the corners of the blanket between her teeth and scaled the side of the cabin, climbing up onto the roof. Once on top, she scooted onto the middle of it and lied down, keeping her blanket around her. She gazed up at the sky, the sky she’d never been able to see.

She saw the stars. Saw that they were real. Felt the real wind on her real, clean face, felt the wood of the cabin roof pressing against her exposed legs. She felt her brushed, clean hair around her, lighter than she could ever remember it being. She felt the soft fabric of the real blanket against her skin, and she smiled. She was free. Fifteen years of nonstop torture and mistreatment, less than basic human rights, and now she was free. In the real, open, fresh air. She closed her eyes and exhaled, feeling as if she wouldn’t mind if she died in that moment.

She opened her eyes and gazed upwards, beginning to count the stars. Despite being deprived of an education, she knew how to count. How could she not? That was all she was able to do. Count the steps, the lashings, the breaths, the floor tiles, the ceiling tiles. Four hundred twenty nine. That’s how many floor tiles there were in her confinement room. Three hundred fifteen ceiling tiles. Twenty lashings for failure to complete a task. One thousand two breaths in a mile. She knew numbers, understood them, better than anything. There was some rustling and she sat up immediately, bracing herself. Animals? White coats? Security? She looked around and turned to see broad wings and a skinny kid between them landing on the roof. The kid tucked his wings in and walked towards her, plopping down unceremoniously.

“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked. Iggy. She shook her head no. Then she remembered. A smile broke out on her face and she started giggling. He turned his head towards her, confused. “What?” He asked, she giggled. “Sorry. I just.. I just shook my head. And you’re blind.” He huffed a stale laugh and it made her giggle more. She couldn’t believe she forgot that about him. “Sorry. Yeah, no, I couldn’t sleep.” She said, tucking her knees close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, her blanket hanging loosely over her shoulders. “Neither can I.” He laid back, tucking his hands under his head. She didn’t respond. She looked back up to the stars and exhaled, loving the feeling of fresh air in her lungs and hair and against her face. “Want some.. whatever this is?” He asked. She looked over to him to see that he was holding a can of.. whatever that was. She was skeptical, it could be poison. Even if he wasn’t the one that poisoned it. It didn’t look very edible.

“Uhm.. what does it taste like?” She asked as she accepted the can from him, inspecting it. She looked at the contents and sniffed it. It didn’t smell that bad. “It kinda tastes like beef jerky and peas.” She nodded. She poured a bit of it into her mouth. It was too chunky to be soup, but that’s basically what it was. She chewed up the mystery meat cubes and nodded. It wasn’t great, but it was way better than the stale bread, undercooked chicken, and frozen pea diet they had her on at the school. Just enough of each essential food group to keep her from dying. She passed the can back to him with one hand and wiped her lips with the other, muttering a thank you.

“So.. what’s your story?” She asked. He was quiet for a moment. “I was raised in the school. They experimented on my eyes to try and give me night vision or something and.. clearly they fucked it up.” He said, motioning to his unseeing eyes. She nodded. “A scientist named Jeb Bacheldor helped us escape. He raised us in a mountain home and taught us how to read and stuff. Then he disappeared. We think he’s dead. These mutant werewolf things called erasers burned our house to the ground after me and Gaz blew one of their cruisers up.” (Y/N) turned her head towards him, intrigued, a smile playing on her lips.

“You blew up a cruiser? Like, made it explode?” She asked. Iggy smiled proudly, flaring his feathers as they spread out behind him comfortably. “Hell yeah I did. It was a gorgeous sound. Hit ‘em right on.” He was so happy about that accomplishment she couldn’t help but smile. “That’s awesome.” He smiled, getting a little bashful at the comment. She turned away and looked back towards the sky. “What about you?” Iggy asked, his voice softer than before. Almost whispering. He assumed it was a sensitive topic. (Y/N) shrugged even though he couldn’t see it, tucking her legs closer to her body. She was quiet. “You don’t have to tell me.” He said. She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I just.. I don’t have one. I’ve been there ever since I can remember. The.. the white coats say I’m fifteen years old and that.. they don’t expect me to live much longer.” She said, resting her chin on top of her knees sadly. Iggy was quiet. It was quiet between them for a while, only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves to be heard.

“I’m sorry.” He said. She shrugged again. “I just shrugged, Iggy.” He chuckled. “Thanks, got it.” It was quiet again until Iggy broke the silence. “You never told us your name.” He said. “Oh.” She hadn’t realized. “My name is (Y/N).” Iggy nodded, closing his eyes. “That’s a nice name.” “Thank you.” “I’ve never seen the stars before.” She said abruptly. Iggy opened his eyes and peered over in her direction. Why? I couldn’t tell you. “Really? Neither have I.” He joked. She laughed, genuinely, for the first time in.. ever, basically. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting.” She giggled, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. She looked over to see him smiling, seemingly proud of his jokes. “You’re fine. I do that to everyone.” “Yeah.” She looked at the stars again, she just couldn’t stop. They were so clear and felt so close. Like if she reached for one, she could grab it right out of the sky and hold it in the palms of her hands.

“They’re pretty.” She said, voice hardly above a whisper. There was a pause. “Will you describe them to me?” He asked. She looked over at him, surprised. “Has nobody ever described them to you before?” “No.” She found that hard to believe, and a bit sad. “Yeah. Yeah I’ll.. describe it.” She looked away from him. “It’s like.. the black spots on the ceiling tiles. The sky is so dark, it’s black, but there’s millions of specks of shiny white all over it. They’re bright and some are closer together than others. They’re little circles, not pointy like in drawings. They’re.. gorgeous. They kind of look like your freckles. Just white, and brighter.”

“I have freckles?” He asked. “Have you never seen yourself either?” He shook his head. “Only a few times. I don’t remember. I don’t know what I look like now.” There was a pause. That seemed to be their thing. Pauses of silence. “Do you want me to tell you?” She asked. He nodded. She turned her body towards him, gathering up all the details of him. His face, his body, his wings, his hair. Wanting to make sure she could describe him to him in perfect detail. “You’re tall. I’m sure you know that. You have blonde-ish red-ish hair.. freckles on your face and down your arms, a lot of them. Milky green-ish eyes, pale pink lips. They dip in the middle on your top lip like a bow.”

She assessed him again. “Your feathers are light brown and have white accents. Your eyebrows are neat and arched softly. You have a straight, small nose and it arches a little bit near the bottom. A Long, slender neck, a nice smile. Wide shoulders but a lean build..”

She didn’t mean to, but she started to get more and more flustered. The moment felt so intimate, she hadn’t expected it to you. She quickly turned away and cleared her throat, a blush rising on her cheeks. “Uh, yeah. That’s it.” She saw Iggy nod from the corner of her eye. “Nice. So I’m pretty hot, huh?” She chuckled, shaking her head. “If that’s what you want to believe.” She teased.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours, (Y/N) staring at the stars and Iggy just enjoying the fresh air, fluttering his wings every once in a while to shake out his feathers. The hour of the night started to weigh in on her and she laid back, tucking the blanket under her feet and chin. She didn’t plan on going to sleep on the roof of a cabin, but it’s what happened. She dozed off for a while, waking up due to being cold. It was in the earliest hours of early morning, maybe two or three. She sat up and looked to her side. Iggy was still there. She stared at him, at his chest rising and falling evenly. She weighed her idea, and the potential consequences. It was either freeze to death, go inside and possibly be interrogated by one of the flock members, or.. She crawled over to him carefully, making as little noise as she could.

Slowly, she lowered herself next to him. Not slow enough. He jolted awake and hit her in the mouth as he sat up, making her recoil. “Ow!” She yelped, holding a hand over her lips. She couldn’t be mad at him, but it frickin hurt. “What were you doing?” Iggy asked, a tinge of anger and suspicion in his voice. “I’m sorry. I was just cold.. I.. was just gonna lay with you.” She mumbled, running her fingertips over her lips as they started to swell. For being so skinny he packed one hell of a swing. She saw his shoulders untense slowly, but not entirely. “Okay. Don’t sneak up on me. Or any of the others. Sorry for hitting you.” He said. He lied down again, this time extending an arm for her to lay on. She scooted back over to him and lied down, tucking into the side of his body and using his bicep as a pillow. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but again, it beat her crate by a bunch.

Things are cooling down at the Mardy Caffe. The sun begun to go down, meaning her shift is over. As she went to the huge glass door to flip the "OPEN" sign to the other side that said "CLOSED",her phone starts ringing. She looks at the bright screen, smiling a little and picks up the call. It was her friend that was planning on yet another "adventure" as she calls it. While her friend, Bree McDow, was bragging about how fun it will be, she was cleaning everything behind the bar. She listens carefully to her friend's remarks about the place she wants to go, trying to figure out how cool that place must be in Bree's head. The begging continued for at least half an hour. The brunette was already finished with the cleaning part and she was then locking her workplace.

"Do I really have to come?" she says, trying to shut Bree's mouth that had been talking for the whole time. A question to which the woman on the other side of the call replies "Of course you do. I'm your only friend, remember?". They both went silent. It was true, she was her only friend and pretty much the only person she could trust. She wanted to say no, but she heard Bree trying to speak again so she only let out a sight. "Come on, Arabella. It's been almost eight months since that jerk broke up with you. Don't you miss having fun while clubbing with me and flirting with random handsome guys?". She couldn't help but laugh. "You said we are going to a bar, not a club. You know there's a big difference between the two" she says, trying to convince Bree not to go. Of course, she couldn't. Bree's stubbornness is as big as ocean's level. You just can not make her change her mind or to make her let you do what you want if she wants you to do something with her. After all, she was right. Ever since the break up with her ex-boyfriend, Arabella only hung out at her place when Bree would be coming over. She once was the social butterfly that everyone was talking to. Never missing a night out, flirting with a whole lot of guys, dancing to every song that came on, smiling at everyone and trying to hide her dark side. It was working, she was feeling much better. When she met her ex, she thought that he was the reason she is happy. She was so much into him and thought it was the same for him too. But it all ended up when she found out she was cheating on her for almost half of their relationship and he wanted nothing more than just be with the girl everyone had an eye on.

"It is a bar. You know that I don't like clubs either. Come ooon, pleasee!" She gave up when she heard Bree whining like a little child she is. In the end, Arabella accepted her friend's offer and decided she will go with her. No words could describe the happiness Bree expressed over the phone. After she hung up, she went home and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have fun again.

____

"Bloody hell, you're such a lady. We're only going to a bar, Miles! It's not like you are going to meet the love of your life" a strong voice could be heard from the kitchen. The only one that wasn't ready was, of course, Miles Kane. He was always the last one to be ready, but this time it was early. Which was weird for him to see that the sun wasn't even down and Matthew already starting making jokes. "Oh shut up. The sun didn't even set and you already want to go to grab drinks. You have beers in the fridge, idiot", he fought back.

"We are going to walk there, Kane. Of course, he is mad that you are taking so long." said the last man out of the three, looking out the huge window that caught the perfect view of a wonderful colorful sunset. "What do you mean we are going to walk there?!" Kane exclaimed, looking over at him as if he committed a crime. It was almost a forty-five-minute walk to the place they wanted to go to since Kane lived on the other side of the center of the city. He had a car but they all knew they shouldn't take it since they are all going to drink for sure and no one wants a 200 dollars ticket for driving while drunk. Plus, they didn't really want to die. "Do you want to die while you drive back with almost an alcohol intoxication? I don't even think you are going to be able find your own car" Matt laughs as he looks over to Alex who was just taking a cigarette out of his now empty pack. Kane started mumbling something for himself that no one else could understand. Until he was finally ready, Matt went over to sit in front of Alex drinking a cold beer. He looked at his slicked-back hair and said: "So are you going to look for someone new tonight or are you going back to your own committed self?".

Alex grinned while inhaling the smoke that came out of the cigarette he just lighted. He started smoking when he was seventeen and he always says that it's one of the worst habits he has, but he never actually tries to change that. Everyone knows that Alex cannot put his eye on a lady for more than a week. He always says that they are not his type, or that he doesn't like this or that. It's been almost two years since he last been in a relationship that actually lasted a long time. But he was left for someone else, just as every other heart-breaking love story ends. He tells everyone that he moved on, and maybe he did, but his trust issues never actually left him after that episode. "Aren't we ~going out with the lads as we used to?~" he quotes Matt's saying from earlier, moving his eyes to him so he can analyze his face. "I mean, yeah, but you're the one to always flirt when we go out ~with the lads~, right? I mean, you're Alex Turner, am I right?"

"I don't know where you want to take that" Alex smiles, knowing exactly what point he was trying to make. Right before Matt could say something, Miles finally got ready and they had to leave. Alex got his black leather jacket, checked his pockets to see if he is missing something and then they left. They are making jokes about their other friends that could not go with them and about their college memories when they were hanging out to the place they were going to now. It's only been four years but it feels like everything happened ten years ago.

In about forty minutes they arrived at the bar and as they expected, a lot of people were already there. Most of them were outside smoking and chatting, while inside there were also a lot of people who were dancing. It was unexpected for people to start dancing while they were still sober. The three men found a table where they could sit and made themselves comfortable cause they were going to spend a lot of time in there. "I see that Kanes already spotted some fit birds, am I right?" Matt already went off joking about Miles looking around, cause he always does that. He is looking at every person he can see in a crowded place in hopes of finding someone he could go home with.

Time passed by when they found themselves starting a conversation over to the bar with a group of girls that were enjoying their drinks. There were four of them. Two blondes that were looking like two young models, a brunette that was looking around her as if she just woke up there and didn't know why she was there and a ginger girl that was really chatty and clearly a try-hard. None really caught Alex's eye, but he liked the energy the ginger girl had so he kept on making conversation with her. His sunglasses were now hung on the collar of his kind of loose shirt. It was his thing to wear sunglasses absolutely everywhere he was going to, no matter what hour. When he was about to order another drink, two women passed by. He suddenly became interested in one of them. Long black hair, falling messily on her back, wearing an oversized black denim jacket with black shorts and knee socks. He couldn't really see what shirt she was wearing but she surely reminded him of someone he swore he would spend the rest of his life with. He kept glancing at her for a long time, studying her movements and everyone who approached her. She seemed to talk to everyone, giving everyone different looks and glances.