𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 [𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

party poison

The next day, we woke up bright and early. Well, not bright. Just early.

"What time is it?" (Y/n) whispered. I glanced out the window to see it was still pitch black outside.

"No idea. Probably three or four," I said, standing up and stretching.

"Did you sleep okay? You can go back to bed, if you want," she said, sitting up.

"Nah, I'm good. It's funny, we said we were having a slumber party and then we fell asleep at eight thirty," I said with a breathy laugh. I didn't want to be too loud.

"I guess kicking that monster's ass really took it out of us," she said with a smile. I walked over to the light switch and flicked it on, filling the room with light.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I said, walking into the small bathroom.

"Don't slip and die in there!" (Y/n) exclaimed. I smiled and closed the door. I turned on the water and ran my hand under the shower head. Not too contaminated, nice.

After my shower, I took a long look at myself in the mirror. I looked a lot better, I didn't look super malnourished anymore. The bags under my eyes were almost gone, and I had regained the color in my face.

It's almost as if being with (Y/n) made me a better person. A more healthy person.

Well, I was also eating normally again. We all ate meals together, so it got me to actually eat three meals a day.

I stepped out of the bathroom to see (Y/n) reading a magazine and chewing gum on the bed. She was dressed and ready for the day, her hair in two braids.

"Hi," I said, sitting next to her.

"Hey," she said with a smile, closing the magazine.

She was wearing a black tank top, black ripped jeans, and a (f/c) flannel.

"You look cute," I said.

"Thanks Mikey. You do too," she said, kissing my cheek.

"So.. are we, like, a thing?" I asked awkwardly.

"I guess," she said with a shrug. I couldn't help but smile. I think I was, oh god, falling in love with her.

"Cool," I said, breathless. I didn't want to sound creepy, but I was already smiling like an idiot.

"(Y/n), Mike! Get the fuck out here! We're ditching this popsicle stand!" Helena yelled, knocking on the door.

"Already?" I asked, glancing at the clock. It was five in the morning.

"Helena said she wanted to get up bright and early to leave. Since we keep getting ambushed and stuff," (Y/n) explained.

"I guess that makes sense. How does BLIND keep finding us, anyway?" I asked.

"No idea," (Y/n) said with a shrug.

"We should get going," I said, grabbing my backpack. I sling the backpack over my shoulder and walked out of the room, (Y/n) trailing behind me.

"I'm not taking the elevator again," she said. I chuckled and turned the corner, passing the elevator and going to the stairs.

"Race to the bottom?" I asked.

"Hm... I dunno, I'm pretty fast," she said with a smirk.

"Is that a challenge, (L/n)?" I asked.

"I don't know, Wheeler. Is it?" She asked, taking off down the stairs.

"Shit!" I yelled, running after her. She giggled as she quickly ran down the flights of stairs.

I gained up on her after about four flights, I could tell she was losing steam. We had two flights left, and we were neck and neck.

She won. I'm ashamed to say I lost to her. Barely! I was just a few stairs behind. Pfft. I let her win. Yeah, that sounds believable.

"I am the stair master!" She yelled, throwing her arms up in the air.

"You certainly are," I said, hugging her and lifting her off the ground, spinning.

"Will you two dumbasses hurry up? We've been waiting for you for ten minutes," Roxy exclaimed. We didn't realize we were right in front of the exit, and everyone was waiting for us outside of the cars.

"How did you get down here so quickly?" I asked.

"We used the elevator, duh. Let's go!" Roxy yelled. We followed her outside and went our separate ways in our separate cars. I wanted to invite her into the truck with me, but I didn't know how Max would feel about it.

I didn't want to make her feel like a third wheel. After all, (Y/n) would be sitting in the pickup with us. I suppose Max could've sat in the backseat with Nancy, but I didn't think of it then. Plus, Max liked to lay down in the pickup. I didn't want to make her mad.

"Do you love her?" Max asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Usually Max and I don't talk while we're driving. She usually sleeps, I usually look out at the scenery.

"What?"

"You know, (Y/n). Do you love her?" She asked again.

"I... don't know. I think so?" I said.

"What do you mean you think so?" Max asked accusingly.

"We started... dating, I guess, a couple days ago. I don't want to rush into anything," I explained. Were we 'dating'? We hadn't gone on any dates, so I didn't know what to call it.

"Mike, you're the only teenage boy for miles. Maybe even in the entire country. You have nothing to worry about," Max said.

"Well, what if she likes girls? Hm? You can steal her from me," I said jokingly.

"No offense, but I'm not interested," Max said with a laugh.

"She's just... ah, I don't know. I just want to be around her all the time. She makes me happy," I said. Max smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I get that. I just wish we were all still here," she said, fiddling with her tattered bracelet.

"Yeah, me too. It would've been so cool. The Killjoys are planning on going to Italy, and we were supposed to go with them," I said. Max looked up at me, confused.

"Why?" She asked.

"Helena's family is in Italy," I said.

"Yeah, but how do we know they're alive? Or if Italy is safe?" Max asked.

"Not sure. I guess it's just taking a chance, to be honest," I said with a shrug.

"I don't think that's a chance we should take, Mike," she said.

"What? Why? We can't stay here," I said.

"Yeah, I know that. But what if Italy is even more dangerous than here? What if her family isn't alive? Then what do we do? We'd be stranded in a country where we have no idea where anything is, and no idea how to talk to anyone. Face it, Mike. It's a stupid plan," Max exclaimed.

"It's not stupid!" I yelled.

"Oh, of course. Your precious little (Y/n) is going along with the plan, and you follow her on everything!" She yelled.

"I do not follow her on everything! Helena speaks Italian, and she's been to Italy. She can help us!" I exclaimed.

"What is Helena doesn't survive? Then what? Then where do we go? Did you ever think about that?" She yelled. I was silent for a minute. She had a point. "No? Didn't think so. Get off your high horse and think realistically."

"What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"I don't know, Mike. Don't ask me," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"This is a fucking nightmare," I mumbled.

"You got that right, buckaroo."