If You Miss It

4. bump

Three people, to be more specific.

Fuck.

He had the worst fucking luck.

Heart picking up its pace, he turned his head around, hoping that his dark blue shirt and black jeans would camouflage him with the clothes he was shifting through. Of course, it didn't work and soon enough, the three of them were coming towards him.

So, Dmitri did what any sane twenty three year old would do.

He ran. He fucking sprinted out of the store, all the way to the opposite side of the mall, entering another clothing store.

Heart roaring in his ears, Dmitri placed a hand over his chest as he panted heavily, heartbeat taking the place of silence now. Holy fucking shit, that was—

Before he could even finish his thought, he felt a hand appear on his shoulder, touch familiar, but not too familiar. Dmitri instantly whipped his head around, breathing still coming out in short pants, only to make eye contact with Zoya. And Tariq. No.

"Dmitri?" Zoya asked, eyes searching his face. "What's wrong with you?"

No, no, no. "There's— nothing's wrong," he stuttered out, itching to turn around to check if his siblings were behind him. "Everything is fine. Hi, Zoya. H-Hi."

Tariq nodded, humming. And at once, Dmitri knew that something smug was about to come out of his mouth.

"Nothing's wrong? That explains why you sprinted into the store and nearly knocked over an entire rack of clothes," Tariq stated, arms crossed over his chest. I fucking knew it.

"Shut the fuck up," Dmitri snapped, actually turning around this time. And there they were. His siblings, the people who tortured him his whole life. Those two were synonymous.

Fuck. What do I do? They're coming in, they're coming in, oh my—

Sighing, Tariq took Dmitri's hand, his touch burning into his skin. And fuck, Dmitri didn't know what was wrong with him; maybe it was the blood rushing in his ears that was dulling his senses, but he didn't tell him to let go. He just let himself be dragged by Tariq, all the way to the trial rooms, where the two of them entered the same room, Tariq shoving him down on the chair.

"I'm assuming that your siblings have something to do with the havoc that you were about to wreck in the store?" Tariq questioned, but Dmitri couldn't really reply, heart still going away at his chest, thump, thump, thump, louder, and faster, and more painful with each beat. "Dmitri."

That one word was enough to cause Dmitri's attention to refocus from his pounding heart and pounding head to Tariq standing in front of him. "I don't think I want to talk about this with you."

Nodding, Tariq crouched down so that he was at the same level as Dmitri, before saying, "Did they say anything to you?"

"Not your business."

"Kind of became my business, after Zoya decided to interrupt your little sprint into the store."

As much as Dmitri wanted to, he couldn't lie to Tariq, not at that particular moment at least. After all, Tariq had saved him from an incredibly shitty situation that would have ended in a broken nose and a visit to the hospital. Not for him, though.

So, all he said was, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tariq chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't be fucking dense, Dmitri, you're the one who went to college. Use that college graduate brain of yours, admit that you saw your siblings, panicked, ran into the store, and consequently ran into us. Wow, today's probably going really shit for you."