°you shouldn't have come along°

▪︎part thirteen▪︎

"So how did you find them?"

Her expression turned dark as her eyes clouded over in an emotion he couldn't describe. "Well uh...I found them after running away from the academy." She answered rubbing her arm as she went to sit down on the couch. "You ran away?" He repeated and she slowly nodded, trying to decide whether or not to tell him the one thing she had been keeping from him. Her trauma, her nightmare, her abuse. She bit her lip as he came to sit next to her.

"What happened?" He questioned and she inhaled deeply trying to hold the emotion from her voice. "I stayed two years after you left. But it wasn't the same without you. I was so alone. I couldn't stand it, I had to leave." She explained. He nodded showing her he was listening. She shakily exhaled, tapping her finger on her leg nervously. "I uh...well after you left Dad-he-he..." She trailed off unable to force the words from her mouth. She avoided Five's eyes, keeping her own locked to the floorboards of her apartment. "He um...once you left he wanted to find a way to bring you back. He thought he could do that through me. Since you were the last person I touched he thought he could use me to bring you back." She finally said.

Her hands were shaking now and her heart raced in fear. Five noticed and tried to reach out for her hand to soothe her. But she flinched away at the contact and he immediately retracted his hand. "He ran so many tests. So many experiments. So many formulas. It was torture." She said in a quivering voice as she bit harshly into her bottom lip to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "He locked me in a room in the basement, forbidding contact with the others so that I could keep your powers. It was like that for months. Months in the dark, alone and scared." She began to cry at this point digging her nails into her forearm as she tried to stop.

"The others didn't even try to help, neither did Mom or Pogo but I don't blame them. Dad was a monster. But I didn't even know the half of it. Not until I lost it. Your power." She sobbed. Five couldn't even speak. He sat beside her, unable to do a thing to comfort her. Anger and sadness and confusion all clouded his mind and left him speechless before her. Hatred burned in his heart as he heard of his father torturing the one he loved because of him. This lead to self hatred and guilt because it was all because of him. He also wanted to cry as he watched her break down before him. He wanted to bring her into his arms and let her cry into his chest. But his shock left him stunned and he found he couldn't move his body.

"Dad finally let me out saying that I could share dinner with them as long as I promised not to touch anyone. It was the first time I would see them in months and I quickly accepted making sure to be extra careful around them. But I wasn't careful enough. I accidently touched Vanya. I remember how silent it was in the room. Dad had already hated me before than but in that moment it felt like he was going to kill me. He put me back in that damn room. His tests got worse and more frequent, even though I didn't have your power." She said as her sobs racked her body.

"He grew angrier and angrier as nothing we did brought us any closer to you. I had prayed so much that you would come back and save me. I know it was stupid. You had already saved me so many times before and you saving me was the reason you were even stuck in the apocalypse. I started to believe I deserved what he was doing. I told myself I was the reason you were there and that it was my punishment. I spent years thinking this and I still do sometimes." She cried still not looking at Five. But she didn't need to, he knew that look in her eyes. The guilt. The shock seemed to release his body now and he cautiously reached out to her, pulling her close to his body. She immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and he rested his face into her neck taking in her familiar scent.

Her body shook in his arms partially from fear but mostly from her sobs. "I escaped, with Vanya's help, and I set out to find my mother. She had felt guilty for giving me up and took me in without hesitation. I'm so grateful for her and all shes done for me. Later I found that I had a younger brother, one that didn't have powers and was actually planned. I was happy. But without you it was like there was this space that wouldn't ever be filled. But now you're here and I feel alright. For the first time in so many years I feel ok." She finished pulling away from him. She stared up at his eyes, hers being tinted red from the tears.

"I'm so sorry. I can't believe you went through all that. I should've been there." He said and she shook her head wiping away her tears. "There's nothing you could've done. You already did all you could when you sent me back." She said forcing a smile onto her face. He looked at her amazed yet again by her strength. Like the many times before she had demonstrated that she was indestructible in both will and body and he couldn't help but cup her face in his hands.

"You're so breathtaking." He mumbled to her making her eyes widen slighty and her cheeks flush. "Everytime I look at you I'm left astonished." He continued making a small smile appear on her face. "There it is. That beautiful smile." He remarked making her giggle softly. She wiped the remaining tears looking back into his eyes, "How do you do this to me? I could be in the worse possible state but you can still make me smile." She questioned and he shrugged smiling. "I don't know but I'm glad I can." He answered in a low tone as their faces grew closer.

And in the next few moments something miraculous happened. In that quiet apartment, so late at night, they shared their second kiss. It was slow and tender, both of them wanting to make it last now that neither one of them was leaving. Y/n was much more experienced than Five but Five quickly caught on moving one of his hands to the nape of her neck to deepen the kiss while the other went to his waist. They stayed like this for what felt like forever yet it had only been a few seconds. Y/n arms moved to rest behind his neck and Five pulled her body closer to his, their lips not once disconnecting.

Their hearts both pounded as adrenaline coursed through their veins and anticipation of what could've happened years ago started to take place. However a meow drew them away from each other to look at the cat on the ground, who seemed angry at the two for not giving him attention. Five glared back at the cat while Y/n chuckled climbing off of Five's lap. "Milo what's wrong?" She teased picking the cat up from the rug that he sat firmly upon a few feet away. Milo continued to stare at Five as though demanding Five speak to him as well or else he wasn't fully included. Five stared right back not giving into the cat's games since Milo was the reason they had to stop.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, I just fed him so he shouldn't hungry." She said caressing the cat. "I think I have a pretty good idea." Five mumbled annoyed. She laughed a little at Five's childlike behavior before walking back over to him. "Well I see what's wrong now." She said as she sat down Milo. "He's jealous." She whispered leaning down to Five's ear making him shiver a little.

"I say we give him something to be jealous about." Five replied and she squealed as he pulled her back down into his lap.