plausible invincibility || s.hyde ✓

two ✿ the rain song

          Evangeline swallows the lump forming deep in he throat and nods, holding her hand out for Steven to take hold of. "Fine. But only for a bit. I do need to sleep at some point."

          Steven grins madly, enthusiastically accepting her help and jumping to his feet again. He drags her towards the basement stairs, tossing his finished joint to the concrete and stubbing it out with his foot before kicking it under the bushes. "Don't worry, you'll sleep."

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EVANGELINE WAKES UP THE next morning in a bed she doesn't recognize—which is less like a bed and more like a cot—with an unfamiliar arm wrapped around her waist and a bearded face nuzzling her neck.

          The distant sound of pounding rain on the roof is comforting and Evangeline slumps against Steven's warm body, his arm instinctively tightening around her in his sleep. Although she had fully intended on staying no longer than an hour, they'd started out by watching late night TV which had turned into a long conversation and ended with her yawning so loud that Steven laughed at her. He'd offered to take her home, but she told him she probably wouldn't make it back awake.

Evangeline blanches as a small wave of nausea washes over her. She wrenches herself out of his grip to sit up on the edge of the cot and take a deep breath. Her movements stir Hyde awake. He blinks rapidly at the girl hunched over, fingers woven into the hair on her head and elbows rested on her knees. "Evie?" he says, his voice low and full of tiredness still. "Y'okay?"

Evangeline swallows and nods her head. She turns to look at him with a smile, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I'm fine. Just not feeling too well."

"Do you want some water?" Hyde runs a hand through his unruly hair and slips off the bed. Evangeline shakes her head and follows him out of his little room into the main area of the basement. "Breakfast?"

"No, thanks, Steven, but that's a little weird, yeah? And wouldn't Eric's parents care that I'm here?" Evangeline frowns and rubs her elbow absentmindedly as watches Hyde expectantly.

          Hyde shakes his head and laughs quietly. "They complain about having all these mouths to feed 'cause of our friends, but since everyone's been gone I can tell they miss 'em all. At least, Kitty does." Evangeline smiles at Eric's mom's name and nods. Hyde adds that she always makes too much anyway and they end up having a leftover night every week.

          "I'm gonna just go back to my grandma's." Hyde shrugs as Evangeline grabs her jacket and shorts off the back of the couch and slings her purse over her shoulder. "So, I'll see you again?" Her voice is hopeful as she peers up through her eyelashes at him.

Steven smirks and crosses his arms over his chest. "Maybe. I mean, I'll need my sweatpants back at some point." His eyes linger on her legs for a moment before sliding up her torso clad in a cut-off Zeppelin tee to her pretty face, her mouth forming an 'o' of surprise.

Evangeline looks down at her legs. She had completely forgotten putting them on before falling asleep. "Oh, yeah."

          "If I don't get them back, wouldn't be the end of the world," he says, stretching his arms out to the side and behind his back. "'Sides, they look better on you."

          Evangeline blushes despite herself at his cheesy comment and hides her flustered look by bending over to pull on her converse. When she stands back up, cooled off and ready to leave, Steven is still staring at her with one corner of his mouth quirked in a pleasant smile. "I'll bring them back. Promise." She crosses her fingers over her heart and gives him a smile of her own. With one last check of her purse to make sure she has everything, she opens the creaky wooden door to the basement stairs.