Sunshine -Redux - (Masky x Reader)

Chapter 25

"Clockwork, Toby, I assume you already know your assignments for the evening." Nat and Toby stood in front of the operator, awaiting to hear their next assignment. The two of them nodded, most of the time the two were just assigned border patrol, but that could change at any moment.

"Border patrol?" Nat asked, the operator simply nodded in response. The two were about to leave the office. The Operator stopped Nat, asking her to stay behind for just another minute. She stood in front of his desk, waiting in a nervous anticipation about what he wanted to talk to her about. She racked her brain for anything she could've possibly done to get herself in trouble. The operator's booming voice broke the silence.

"I assume you've been keeping (y/n) away from Timothy for me?" Nat nodded.

"Yeah, they ran into each other in the forest but it was purely coincidence, we were coming back from a kill and he was going out." The Operator folded his hands and hummed lightly in response.

"You know how I feel on the matter, I do not permit the two of them to be together for long periods of time, if you see the two of them together you report it to me immediately." She nodded once again. Nat had no trouble pretending to be your friend for the operator's wishes, she wasn't really one to get emotionally attached to people. She saw a lot of herself in you, hating to admit she didn't really mind being in your presence. However no matter how close the two of you had gotten the operator came first, and there was no changing that.

"If I think anything fishy is going on I'll let you know boss." The operator nodded, and motioned for her to leave. Little did the two of them know Toby was listening intently from behind the door. He knew Nat could be cruel but he didn't know she was this stone cold. Toby felt his heart sink to his stomach, he knew you and Tim would eventually try to reunite, and when you did it wouldn't be pretty. He had to go and warn you, if the boss caught them it would only end badly for you. He raced down the hallway to Nat's room, looking around only to see an open window.

"Oh no..."

Your headache and nausea was slowly starting to fade, Toby had given you some Advil and you finally felt a little bit better. You sat against the window, looking down at the quiet forest floor. Leaves began to turn color and fall from the trees, autumn slowly setting in. The air had gotten colder and the days had started to become shorter. You traced circles with your finger on the panes of glass, the bedroom was eerily quiet. Toby and Nat had been called away to go killing, and you had no one to pair off with. You waited in Nat's room as if someone was going to come rescue you from your boredom. As if like an answered prayer a rock bounced off the window, and you fell back landing with a thump on Nat's push carpet. You got back up and opened the window, looking down to the ground and locking eyes with Tim.
You felt your cheeks begin to heat up, and you quickly pushed any thoughts out of your head. Tim had dumped you, he probably just needed to ask you a work question. He didn't say anything, only motioning with his hands for you to come down. You shook your head, and walked back inside.

Tim threw another rock up into your window, and you ignored it. He kept throwing rocks over and over again until you couldn't take it anymore. Today had been an emotional rollercoaster, and the last thing you wanted to do was talk to your ex while you were still hung over. Curiosity ate at you, what could Tim possibly want? You finally felt yourself beginning to heal and here he comes crashing into your life again. You found yourself walking towards the window, and tried your best to fight it. But as much as you hated it you longed to be with Tim again, you wanted it more than anything in the world. He stayed planted in his spot, and you looked down at him. You climbed onto the window frame and jumped down, landing on your feet.
You looked up at Tim and the two of you stood there in silence, just staring at each other under the cover of darkness. His mask made it hard to decipher how he was feeling, and just like usual his body language was closed off. He turned around and began to walk away, and he silently motioned for you to follow.

The two of you walked through the forest together in silence, neither one of you daring to say a word. You reached the edge of the forest, stepping out onto a secluded dirt road. Once outside the forest Tim ripped off his mask and threw it into the dirt, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around you tightly in a warm embrace.

You froze, not knowing whether or not you wanted to push him away or give into his hold. You attempted to push him away, but his grip was too tight. You struggled, trying to free yourself from Tim's arms.

"I know you're probably confused... I'm sorry." Tim pulled away, and looked at you with sorrow-filled eyes. You wanted to be mad, you wanted to tell him where to shove his apology but you were totally and utterly speechless. You stared into his sad brown eyes, and the very sight tugged at your heart strings.

"I wanted to explain some things, it was never my choice to break things off with you." Tim grabbed onto your hands, holding them tightly in his own. He squeezed your hands tightly, and he looked down at the ground.

"(y/n)... This place does horrible things to people, the operator does horrible things to people." He looked back into your (e/c) eyes, he looked desperate and sad.

"And why should I believe you Tim? You've thrown me out on my ass before and why should I believe that this time is any different?" You pulled your hands away and crossed your arms, refusing to look at him.

"The operator told me that if I continued to keep you near me he'd kill you..." Tim ran his fingers roughly through his hair, sighing and looking at the ground.

"I almost lost you once, and I can't ever go through that again! When the rake almost killed you I thought I had lost you forever, I realized how much I needed you!" He gently rested his head on your shoulder, taking a shaky breath.

"I realized how much it would kill me if you were gone." Your heart cracked into a million pieces, and you couldn't contain yourself anymore. You felt tears begin to stream down your face, standing there silently feeling both relieved and crushed at the same time. You tried to convince yourself that you didn't need Tim, that you were better off on your own. But you should've known everything would be turned on its head.

"(Y/n)!" A familiar voice rang through the air. You turned your head towards the forest and saw Toby emerge from the forest. He leaned over, trying to catch his breath. He trembled wildly, and looked up at you, his hazel eyes filled with worry.

"Y-You..." He tried his hardest to catch his breath, you and Tim just staring at him. He lurched forward and grabbed your arm, trying to pull you back into the forest.

"You c-can't stay here!" You dug your heels into the dirt, trying not to be swayed.

"I can stay wherever I want!" Toby leaned forward and scooped you up in his arms, quickly tossing you back into the forest and looking over to Tim.

"What the hell was that?!" Tim stepped in front of Toby and picked up his mask, placing it back on his face.

"S-She can't be seen w-with you! S-She's gonna get h-herself k-killed!" He hissed. Toby marched back into the forest, leaving Tim standing there underneath the harsh glow of an overhead street lamp. He sat on the ground cross legged, and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He stared at them for a moment, he hadn't smoked in a few days. He took off his mask and tossed it to the side, lighting a cigarette. He looked down at his mask, feeling as if the black, soulless, voids on its face were staring into his soul. Like Masky was silently judging him from behind the barrier of his subconscious.

"Don't look at me like that... since when do you care about smoking?" He huffed and flipped the mask over, bringing the cigarette to his lips and softly blowing out a cloud of smoke. The cigarette smoke felt and tasted disgusting, and immediately regretted lighting it up. Smoking used to be his security, but now all he needed for security was you. Nothing was as good at making Tim feel secure than you, and you weren't here. He sighed and rubbed the lit end of the unfinished cigarette against the dirt, and tossed it into the road. He stood up and attached his mask to his belt loop, disappearing back into the forest.