The Escapists

;Friends;

However, Frank didn't speak out. No, he wasn't planning on putting her out of her miserable state and continue the sentence for her. He knew Susie better than (Y/N), so why wasn't he speaking up?

„ ...nice person. Or a somewhat decent person.“

„Pff“, a low chuckle left his throat as he looked to his side and broke his piercings eyes from her for the first time. "Don't bullshit yourself. You heard how she talked about you. She'll kill you if she had the chance.“

„But not because she wants to, right?“, now she got his undivided attention again as his amused smirked fell into a frown. „She clearly blames me for something. When you talked to her after you left, what did she say to you?“

„I didn't talk to her.“

Furrowing her brows together, the younger girl stared at her only company to see something that would betray his statement. Asking after the reason why she only got a quiet 'I don't know' with a shrug of his shoulders as a response.

„But you're friends. Why wouldn't you talk to each other?“

„There are just some things they don't need to know. Am I supposed to share my whole life with them or what?“

(Y/N) picked up her cup again, putting it to her lips only to realize the tea was long cold. „That's not what I was trying to say.“

Why did his presence annoy her so much right now? Was he too insensitive? Not empathic enough? Or simply not caring enough. He turned her words around the way he liked.

„But if you insist on talking about this: you're neglecting your friends because of me, aren't you?“, her (E/C) eyes bore themselves into his skull, eager for his answer.

Just how she predicted, the younger girl was met with disbelieve; shock even. But no words left him.

„No wonder she blames it all on me-“

„You don't know if she really thinks that way.“

„Then what other reason does she have?“, as soon as the question left her, she regretted everything voicing it out. The (H/C) haired just never considered rethinking her words before spilling them out. Susie had a thousand reasons to dislike her and all of them had something to do with (Y/N)'s personality. Just how often did she mock the killer for missing a hit? For not being fast enough?

Yeah, she hated herself too sometimes.

„Never mind. Are you still close to them though?“, she shifted her gaze to her tea again, having no desire to drink anymore. Thinking about the entity's realm seemed to always make her lose her appetite, even for tea.

„You're all about asking stupid questions today, aren't you?“, Frank clicked his tongue, an irritated expression on his face. „Of fucking course, doll. I'm supposed to since they're my friends. Don't act dumber than you are.“

And there it was again. Her head began to spin in circles and her heart pounded against her ribcage rapidly. The sugarcoated words stuck to the red organ more than she liked it. Her mind was like a house of cards; it could collapse easily by just a mere breeze from outside. And Frank was currently the storm for her.

It embarrassed her how he could disconnect her from the present situation without any difficulty. She didn't focus on what the meaning behind his sentence was as her head stopped at the new pet name she received.

„D-doll?“, how was she supposed to have a normal conversation when he confused her so much? Who was the last person that called her by a nickname? Were they genuine or just catcalling? Was he genuine?

„That's seriously the only thing that got your attention?“, the corners of his lips turned upwards; an honest smile visible on his features.

A minute passed with (Y/N) avoiding Frank's eyes, hoping a hole would form in the floor to swallow her completely.

Fuck.

He shouldn't be able to get her this flustered to the point where a lump formed in her throat and prevented the truth from leaving her. Why couldn't she simply respond with a yes or no? Why did she need to justify her every action, making it necessary to attach a whole speech to every word of hers?

(Y/N) had to concentrate on something else. Playing the previous conversation, before her complete shutdown, she noticed a little detail.

Don't act dumber than you are.

The (H/C) haired told herself that every day. But that wasn't the point. Important now was his constant encouragement. The acts of kindness, the display of care.

Why was it him? Why did she get these things from someone like him instead of a person closer to her? A family member, a friend. Maybe the people around her weren't that close in the end but Frank was.

I mean, what was that bad about him anyway?