Shadows & Mirrors // f.hargreeves fanfic

:::: Six ::::

The two sat in tense silence as they watched the front of Meritech Prosthetics. Five could feel Nova's anger rolling off of her in waves. His guilt intensified and he tried not to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Nova had her arms crossed and a blank look on her face. It made Five uncomfortable. He knew how to handle angry or upset but this calm look on her face was dangerous territory.

"You should be resting." Five said quietly while looking over at the girl sitting next to him.

Her face was no longer pale. The normal color had returned and her cheeks and the tip of her nose were rosy from the cold outside. Five couldn't help but notice how alive she looked sitting next to him now. Especially compared to how dead and pale she looked bleeding out in his arms last night.

"You know I heal fast," Nova said not even looking over at Five.

"I don't know if you remember but you died last night." Five said in a tense voice. This time Nova looked over at him in confusion. "You stopped breathing and your heart it stopped beating but somehow Grace and Pogo brought you back to life."

"I didn't know." The girl said quietly. She studied the boy's face and couldn't help but notice he had put his walls up again.

He also had a look in his eyes that the girl knows all too well. Nova's eyes scanned the inside of the van until they landed on the duffle bag in between the two of them. Five seemed to catch on to what was going on a second too late. Nova had already snatched the duffle bag and ripped it open. Inside were multiple bottles of hard liquor.

"Nova..." Five started while reaching for the liquor. Nova held it away with a fierce look in her eyes.

"You're drunk." She spat and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm working." He stated and she scoffed.

"You said you were going to quit," Nova said angrily as she shoved the bottle back into his hands.

Five took the half-empty bottle and looked down in it trying not to feel even guiltier. He knew how much Nova hated when he drank. She hated alcohol in general ever since the accident she stopped drinking. After the accident Five tried to stop drinking too.

"I did quit." He said and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Then why are there bottles of liquor in here?" Nova asked as she leaned closer to Five. His eyes widened when she stopped only a few centimeters from his face. Five's heart raced at her closeness and Nova asked him quietly, "And why does your breath smell like alcohol?"

"Because I needed to forget." Five said quietly as he studied the features on the girl's face.

Even though his walls were still up she could see how he was really feeling in his eyes. Nova nodded slightly and sat back in her seat. She frowned slightly when she noticed how her heartbeat had quickened when she had been mere centimeters away from him.

"I hate it when you drink," Nova whispered as she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"I know and I tried. You know I did. I've been sober for a while. It's just last night..." Five said as he trailed off at the end. Nova looked up at him expectantly but he just stared out the windshield.

"Please don't shut me out," Nova whispered and she reached over to grab Five's hand. The boy looked down at their entwined hands and his stomach fluttered and there was a weird feeling in his chest. He hadn't felt this feeling since they were thirteen for the first time.

"I almost lost you last night." He said quietly and Nova squeezed his hand.

"Our lives are always in danger, you know with the Academy and the Commission. What made it different this time?" Nova asked.