The trip back home was uneventful. Dream filled me in on the details of the agreement, a failsafe option in case of a war, in which the Badlands would assist us militarily should we get attacked, or attack Schlatt.
I'm not too sure about how that's supposed to help our current situation, and Dream's motivations in wanting to push us towards a war, but it's something, for now, and we can figure it out later.
Now, a couple days later, we're facing off in his room.
"Are you being serious right now?" I protest indignantly, standing next to his bed. He glances up from the chest he was rummaging through.
"Yeah." Is all he says, before he returns to whatever he was looking for.
"This is bullshit, you know that right? I've been here for fucking ages and you barely even let me out of the house." I say. "I'm going to the festival."
"You're not." He says, accompanied with a laugh to himself as he ducks his head, fiddling with something on the table.
"I am."
"You're not, I don't trust you anywhere near enough a giant crowd. I'm not fucking talking about it anymore either."
"Literally go fuck yours-"
"This is your fucking problem Rosie, I don't trust you because you never fucking behave." He interrupts frustratedly.
"Oh behave?" My eyes widen, crossing my arms over my body. "You want me to behave? How delusional are you?"
"I'm not delusional." He stands up. "You're going to stop pretending eventually Princess, it's only a matter of time."
I glare at him as he scoops up a bag, and sliding a knife into his belt.
"I'm not pretending Dream." I say, slightly louder, as he turns towards the door. "Just a little hint, when I start behaving, it probably means I'm going to kill you."
"Love you too Rosie!" He calls out, not even turning around, walking straight out of the room. I hear the front door slam shut moments later.
I walk into the living room with a huff. Punz is splayed out on the couch, only raising his eyebrows teasingly when he sees me.
"Trouble in paradise?" He deadpans.
"Ha. Ha. So funny." I sneer. "He's decided that I'm not allowed to go the the festival."
"I doubt you just let him tell you no."
"Course not." I roll my eyes. "Dickhead walked straight out the door when I tried to argue."
"Sapnap'll take you, you'll figure shit out." He shrugs, sinking down in the hoodie pulled up over his head.
"I don't think Sapnap is going to be able to negotiate the gigantic ego Dream has, I mean I'm not his fucking property, that he gets to decide who can touch it and what happens to it. I'm a grown ass woman and I'm begging a fucking man to go to a festival." I collapse on the other end of the couch, flopping down dramatically.
"I don't know if telling him to go fuck himself is what I'd call begging." Punz states dryly, looking at me pointedly. I roll my eyes right back.
"I'd rather be tossed off a bridge than beg for him." I screw up my face in disgust. "I'd never be able to live with myself."
"Oh you'd know he'd fucking love that shit." Punz grins annoyingly. "That's probably his fantasy, you, on your knees-"
I manage to prevent the rest of that sentence by lobbing one of the cushions on the couch at his head. "Shut up, you probably have some fucked up fantasies too, considering how disgusting your mind is."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" His smile grows tauntingly wider, and he nudges my leg with his foot.
"No, I wouldn't." I half laugh, kicking away the foot that keeps trying to poke my knee. "I've been through enough, I don't need to be scarred further."
"Don't knock it so fast Rosie, you never know what you might be in too."
"Okay, I am so over talking to you today, fix your disgusting attitude and maybe I'll come back." I stand up, stretching out my shoulders. "I'm going fishing, we need some for dinner."
"Great idea!" Punz gets up too.
"No, no you're not coming, I need peace and quiet." I say, pushing him back.
"Don't care."
He's out the front door before I can even begin my protest, and so I begrudgingly follow him out to the river. Eret built a little shed high up the river bank, that stores all of our fishing equipment, and I pull out two fishing rods, a bucket of bait, and a box full of hooks
I make Punz thread the hooks, while I dangle my legs off of the pier. It's the late afternoon, dappled golden light on murky water, muddy ripples spotted with sunlight and shadows from the trees. I pull off my socks and shoes, flicking up the cool water with my toes, letting the pine-scented breeze curl over the nape of my neck, and the points of my cheeks in a gentle caress.
Punz casts a line, letting it enter the water with a tiny splash, before handing me the fishing pole. He casts the second the line, and sits down next to me off the edge of the pier. We sit in relative silence, just the swishing of the moving river and the leaves on the trees.
The fish are out in full force today, and we catch two pretty quickly, gutted and tossed in the bucket.
"Fundy taught me how to fish." I end up saying, not really to anyone in particular. Punz nods slightly in response. "Sam always said he would, but the lake was a two day trek away, so he said he'd take me when I was old enough."
"But you never got the chance." Punz fills in what I left unsaid.
I shrug. "Yeah."
Something tugs on the end of my line, and I jump up, shaken out of the quiet reflection. I reel in my line, pulling what looks like a cod out of the water. I pull out the pliers from the hook box, pulling the hook through its lip, and then jab a knife right up through his brain, just behind the eyeball.
"Nice." Punz says, passing me his rod and taking the knife to gut the fish. "He taught you well."
I want to laugh. "We've come a long fucking way from that."
He looks up, letting out a chuckle, and tosses the gutted fish in the bucket, then washing his hands out in the river and drying them on the rag. "Does Sam know what happened?"
"He knows I killed him, but I haven't had any opportunity to tell him about, well, any of it." I smack my forehead exasperatedly into his shoulder. "He barely knows about me and Dream, how the fuck am I supposed to explain that Punz?"
He cards his fingers through my hair, and I can feel, more than hear, his chest rumble with laughter. "I'm gonna be honest, I have no fucking idea."
I look up at him, shifting my chin into his shoulder. "I thought you were supposed to be good at all the talking-feeling shit."
He smiles down at me. "I've never been held hostage by my mortal enemy, who also happens to be the ex love of my life and had to explain it to my long lost brother who I thought was dead, so I don't know exactly what you expected from me."
My gaze shifts to a teasing glare. "Well what the fuck am I keeping you around for?"
He grins smugly. "My sex appeal."
"Mm you're not too bad." I tease, smiling back.
His eyes widen mockingly. "Not too bad?!" He repeats in fake outrage, then grabs my arms.
"No Punz- no, no, no, no!"
I scream as I'm flung involuntarily forward, smacking into the surface of the water, which is a lot fucking colder when you're tossed into it without warning. I push my head back up through the surface, spluttering out river water.
"You fucking bitch!" I cough out.
He laughs uproariously at my anger, shifting out of range of my hands as I try and hit him in retaliation. The fishing pole is long gone, pulled away with the current of the water.
"Fuck you asshole, you can get me a new fishing rod."
When he's sure that I'm not going to try and attack him again, he sits back down, watching as I smooth my drenched hair back with one hand, currently plastered down onto my face and in my eyes, while I cling onto the pier like a lifeline with the second.
He smirks at me. "So, care to revise your statement?"
I use the pier to propel myself over to him, and I cling onto his thighs, using them to keep me above the water. I end up crossing my arms over his legs, resting my chin on my forearms.
"I meant to say the you're irresistibly sexy and hot and handsome." I roll my eyes, tilting my head to lie on my cheek.
"Damn right you did."
He's leaning back, supporting his weight with his arms behind him, in that white hoodie he always wears, and dark grey shorts, which I am currently drenching the bottom of, with my dripping hair.
I remember another day, warm weather and clear skies, the early moments of my love for Dream. I remember his face, water droplets on pale skin, the valleys of his cheekbones, his warm arms around my waist, his skin on mine, butterflies churning in an unsure stomach.
Fuck.
I loved him so much.
How could I have been so stupid? So naive? So weak? How could I fall in love with him?
But then I think of moments like that, memories like this, and I think I might just fall in love all over again. It's a vicious cycle of hate and guilt and regret, and I just want him to be the one to feel this shit, because how, how is fair that I have to deal with this and he just gets to love me unconditionally in the way that he wants?
"Watcha thinking about?" Punz asks quietly, noticing my far off stare.
"Stupid shit."
"I doubt that." He says, lazily flicking a waterlogged strand of hair off my cheek. I look at him, and there's a silent competition between us to see who's going to blink first. Somehow, it's always me.
"Dream." I sigh. "When I loved him."
"Was he different?" Punz asks. "I can't imagine the current version of you and him ever being in love, not how everyone talks about it."
"I think he was." I answer honestly. "I can't tell whether he changed, or I was the one that did, and saw him for who he really is."
I swish my legs lazily in the water, trying to avoid the obvious message sent by Punz's silence. He wins again though.
"But yeah, he was more normal, you know? He was- I just- He just loved me and that was it. Sometimes I wish it never happened, but then I'd still be that weak little girl in L'manburg." I shrug defeatedly. "Can't change it now."
"Do you miss that? Just you and him and being normal?"
"We were never normal, and it wasn't real. I miss being stupid enough to believe it was, at least everything was easier then."
"I don't think you actually believe that." Punz says quietly, and I let out a humourless laugh.
"I should."
"But you don't."
"I'll get there." I push myself up on his legs, raising my eyebrows. "And I'm not talking anymore, nice try though Punzie."
Before he has a chance to react, I drop myself down, grabbing hold of his ankle and tugging as hard as I can. He slides off of the pier with a grunt, flailing into the water next to me. I'm laughing as he re-emerges, blonde hair hanging over his eyes like a curtain, coughing up water.
He splashes me, and then stands up near the bank, tossing his soaked hoodie onto the pier. I whistle sarcastically.
"I know I'm just a sex god but you have to contain yourself Rosie." He laughs at my antics, diving back under the water.
"Sex god?" I repeat, as his head pops up next to mine. "You sound like an idiot."
"You couldn't wait to get me all wet-"
I cut him off by lobbing a handful of mud from the river bed at him, catching him directly in the face with a satisfying smack. He's deathly still for a second, bringing a hand up to his face and slowly wiping off the mud that's dripping down his nose and chin, before looking back up at me.
I start backing away extremely fast. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, Punz- Punz I didn't mean it!" I start to babble, clambering up the shallows, onto the bank.
"I'm sorry!" I screech, as he scoops up a fistful of mud and flings it, splattering it all over my back.
"You are not sorry!" He calls from the river, while I stand back up on the pier, peeling off my sopping, and now very muddy, shirt and pants. I turn around to see him staring at me, eyes dark, and it makes me shiver under his gaze, like I can feel his sight on my skin and it's setting it on fire.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm hot as fuck." I say, trying to shake the feeling in the pit of my belly, diving back into the water. I flick my hair back, as I resurface, rolling my eyes.
"No stupid comments Punz? My ego is skyrocketing."
It seems to snap him out of his trance. He clears his throat. "If you turn into Dream, I'll never forgive you."
I scoff. "If my ego ever gets as bad as Dream's please just shoot me."
"How do you manage that?" He shakes his head. "I'd lose my mind."
"I don't." I say, gliding through the water, propelled by lazy strokes with my arms. "It's a constant issue."
I swim near him, floating on the surface, kept up by my legs kicking beneath the surface. I'm used to the water temperature now, cold tendrils snaked around my ribcage, hugging the V of my hips with its chilled fingers. It laps at the back of my neck, suspending me in cool oblivion, murky water and the sharp smell of pine, the heavy dampness of rotting moss and waterlogged soil, the very earth clasping me in its beautiful grasp.
That is, until something very slimy and startlingly horrifying brushes my ankle and I let out an ear splitting scream that I'm pretty sure could be heard all the way in the Badlands.
"What the fuck!?" I shriek, clinging onto Punz for my life, legs wrapped tightly around his waist and hands clutching his shoulders with a death grip.
"What?" He laughs, but circling an arm around my waist all the same as I attempt to literally climb up him to escape from whatever disgusting, vile creature just touched me.
Did I say I like nature? I lied.
"Something touched me Punz." I gabble. "Something fucking touched my leg, get me the fuck out of here!"
"Jesus Christ calm down." He chuckles. "It was probably just a fish."
I grab his head, forcing him to look my directly in my wide eyes. "It touched me Punz."
He rolls his eyes, and starts to wade through the river, me still very firmly attached to his side. I refuse to let go, until I'm safely out of the water. "Since when were you so afraid of fish?"
"I don't like things touching me in the water, especially when I can't see them."
"Really? I thought you wouldn't mind, you love nature shit."
"I never got the chance to do a lot of swimming in lakes and rivers and stuff. I mean my Dad taught me at the lake but we only got out there a couple times in the summer. I'm not used to it."
"Fair enough." Punz mutters, as he stands up on the bank. I unhook my legs to go and collect my things, but he decides to fucking throw me over his shoulder instead.
"Punz!" I smack him on the back. "Put me down, for fucks sake!"
"Nope." He chuckles, bending down slightly to pick up the bucket of fish, and then turns, heading up back to the house.
"Punz!" I try and get his attention, but he's now choosing to ignore me. "Punz, what about our clothes?"
"I'll get them later." He says. "You know you're not supposed to be out of the house after sunset."
Ah yes, the stupid, bullshit rule Dream instated to exercise his control over me. "It's not even sunset yet!" I complain, now hanging limply over his shoulder, while he carries me back.
"I literally don't care."
"I hate you."
"Funny, I don't recall you hating me when you were begging me to save you from a literal fish, like five minutes ago."
"We're going to pretend like that didn't happen." I say pointedly. "And you're not going to tell anyone about that."
He snickers. "I am absolutely telling Sapnap about it."
"No!" I try and prop myself up, but his arm comes away from my hips to swat mine out from under me, making me flop back down, hanging over his back in defeat. "Punz I'm fucking serious, do not tell Sapnap."
"Oh I think I will."
"I think you won't." I kick up my legs, but to no avail. "Don't you dare tell him."
"What's in it for me?"
"What- what's in it for you? I won't kill you in your sleep, how about that?"
"Nah you love me too much, try and think of something better."
"You grossly overestimate how much I like you."
"Oh really?" I can feel him shake his head to himself. "Tell me about how much you don't like me while I'm carrying you, soaking wet and in your underwear, back home."
"I didn't want you to carry me." I huff.
"You climbed on top of me." He points out.
"Yes, and as we've established, something touched my leg and I was caught in a moment of weakness."
"Whatever you helps you sleep at night." I can practically hear him roll his eyes.
We reach the house, and Punz opens the door, dropping the bucket of fish on the kitchen bench, and finally putting me down on the floor.
His hand lingers on the side of my waist, cold fingertips on delicate skin, and one of my hipbones are pressed against his, and he's closer than he's ever been before, and I don't feel sick, or trapped or scared, I feel longing, a want to lean forward and close the distance in between our lips, even though I know I shouldn't, and this is probably a bad idea, but he's looking down at me with the same expression at the river, and it's twisting up the pit in my stomach, and I can't take it.
He doesn't move, just watching me, letting me lean in and-
"Oh whoops!"
"Eret!" I squawk, stumbling backwards, almost tripping over my own feet.
"What were you two doing?" Sapnap's gleeful cackle reaches my ears moments later, and my cheeks are almost on fire with how much they burn in embarrassment.
"Nothing." I glare at him, and he just looks me and my lack of clothes up and down, evil glint in his eye, flickering between me and a shirtless Punz, both soaking wet.
"Why are you naked?"
"I am not naked." I shove past him. "I'm going to my room, and I swear to god Sapnap, and you Eret-" I turn to point back at them. "If any of you bring this up again, I'm actually going to stab you."
"What did I do?" Eret yells behind me, while Sapnap sniggers annoyingly. Punz's face is an identical red to the blush I feel on my face, and I feel slightly bad at leaving him at the mercy of Sapnap. Oh well, better him than me.
I try not to think about what the hell just happened, and what I almost did.
--------
A/N Well hello everyone.
Lots of people comment about changing the title of this from a DWT x OC, and I just want to let all of you know that while that relationship will always have a place in this story, I don't see that as a restrictive label and will do whatever I want, which means, anything is possible.
Also, not a hugeee amount of character in depth analysis today, it was kind of a fun chapter, but I think it's important to note how Rosie has started willingly telling Punz information about her past, it shows how much their relationship has progressed, and how much more comfortable and open she is with him!
To all of you who reached out in concern at me being missing, thank you! I don't want any of you guys to worry, I just needed I break from everything and am now back and better than ever! Hopefully the next chapter should be out much sooner.
I hope you enjoyed!
Oopsies x