Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Twelve: Rainy Drive

You tiptoed across the carpet, taking care to be as light-footed as you could manage. The clock on the wall read 5:55am, and light was beginning to filter in from beyond the living room window. The room was grey still, you hadn't turned on a light.

You had lay awake for hours last night, unable to sleep with your restless thoughts. You felt you were going mad, that you'd be dead any day now for certain. You didn't know what was going on, nowadays it seemed you never did. Sick with grief and worry, the pop-tart you had forced down had been churned back up in the middle of the night - and you didn't bother trying to sleep again after that.

The masked man had seemed to disappear after he told you his 'name', which you supposed was more of an alias. Hoodie. It was dumb as fuck, but you supposed it made sense - the yellow garment was the most distinguishing feature of his getup, after all. At least you had something to refer to him as, other than fuckhead. Though, you weren't about to change his contact name just yet. You were still half-heartedly hoping he'd decide to fuck off for good, leave you to deal with Harry in peace.

Having Hoodie around felt like a ticking time bomb. You were worried that at any moment, he'd decide to show up and shoot you. And just like that, it'd all be over. He hadn't yet, though - he had even told you once that he wouldn't kill you. And as much as you didn't want to, you were subconsciously getting used to the idea of being constantly watched.

A part of you almost wished Hoodie would hurt you, so you'd have more of a reason to hate him blindly. That was why you were here, in your living room, trying to sneak out. You wouldn't let yourself grow complacent, couldn't become too comfortable. The idea terrified you - being stalked by Hoodie would not become the new normal, if you could help it.

You were going to find Jade. You knew where she lived, sure, but you'd rather not have the cops called to remove you if you went knocking on her door - Hoodie would probably shoot you. Instead, you'd have to take the diplomatic approach. Track her down, at college. And while you were at it, you planned on attending some of your classes. Really, you just wanted to feel normal (and not fail). School was still important to you, it might be the only way out of your fucked up financial situation, and therefore your only ticket to get away from this town - away from Hoodie.

You reached the front door without a hitch. Unluckily for you, though, the front door let out the loudest groan you'd ever fucking heard as you opened it. Well, fuck. Hopefully Hoodie wasn't lurking around a corner somewhere here. Strictly speaking, he hadn't told you that you weren't allowed to leave the apartment - in fact, he had actively encouraged you to leave yesterday. But you weren't going to make shit easy for him. That was why you had left your phone sitting on your bed, fully charged - with any luck, he'd assume you were too depressed to get out of bed today and leave you the fuck alone for once in his life.

Deciding that there was no longer a point in trying to be stealthy, you took the stairs down to the parking lot as your usual speed. There weren't many people milling around yet, but some early risers were heading out for their morning jogs.

You made your way around the corner of the underground parking lot, only to stop dead in your tracks. Your regular parking space was right by the wall you'd just rounded, you'd had no warning and no time to stealthily nope away. There Hoodie was, leaning idly between the door to the driver's seat and the wall, blocking your path. He didn't look up, probably not wanting to alarm any passerby with his mask. You knew he'd heard your footsteps, though. Shit.

You didn't want to cause a scene, but holy shit you'd just got the jumpscare of your life. "What the fuck, man?!"

Hoodie lifted his head at the sound of your voice, but didn't turn his head. Instead, he extended a gloved hand in your direction and wiggled his fingers expectantly. "Keys."