Stan POV
The world turned into a blur as I ran out the front door into the faintly lit street, afraid that if I looked back I would be met with the flaming eyes of my father chasing after me. My lungs ached along with my legs, begging for me to stop, but no matter how loud my mind screamed for me to stop, my body kept moving forward.
A hundred thoughts circled through my head, unable to make out a single one, all of them jumbled together into a screaming ball.
I could hear voices call out from behind me, but I couldn't hear what they were saying, too focused on the thoughts that wouldn't stop and the road that stretched out before me.
Oh my God, did that really just happen? I asked myself, looking back on the events that happened what felt like only seconds before. The scene of me tackling my father played in my head over and over again, fully processing what I had done.
At that moment, my entire body was surrounded by invisible flames, burning in my regret and self exhaustion from running for God knows how long. Overwhelmed by the sudden shame along with the fear from seeing what my father did to my father and learning the Y/N's traumatic past, tears that I had been holding in pouring from my eyes. As I cried, all the thoughts that were jumbled together became clear.
Oh God, what's gonna happen to me? To Stanford? To Y/N? I shouldn't have done that. Why did I do that? Why did Dad do that Mom? Shit, what have we done-
A cool droplet of water snapped me from my thoughts as it landed on my forehead. Finally out of my daze, I realized how badly my body hurt, slowing down until I collapsed on my knees, barely able to breathe. And just as I stopped moving, the droplets multiplied, growing in speed until it was as if little bb's were pelting my skin. Tired and soaked, all of my other thoughts drifted into that gutters of my mind, only one thought remaining:
I always hated the rain.
Ford POV
As we sprinted out of the shop, all I could think about was getting Y/N to safety, ignoring the pain that was seeping into my legs as I followed after Stan.
While we ran down the street, I made sure to never let go of her hand, letting her set the pace for the both of us (which I admit, was a bit fast for my comfort). And never in my life have I cursed my lack of athleticism as much as I did in that moment, the burning in my lungs making it almost impossible to breathe. But I couldn't let her down. I just couldn't. So I kept on going, for her sake.
"Stanford," she panted, squeezing my hand and glancing over at me, "are you okay?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but all I could muster was a cough, sucking in what little air was able to make it into my lungs. Even as I breathed in, I knew it wasn't enough for my overworked body, my vision turning staticky. One fumbled step and my face was on the concrete, it's cold surface contrasting my burning skin.
I wanted to lay on the ground and never get up, the exhaustion setting in as the adrenaline wore off, but to my misfortune, I was pulled back up to my feet.
"C'mon, I... I know you're... you're tired but we... we have to keep going," she managed to say between struggled breaths. "We... we need to ca... catch up to Stanley."
Before I was able to fully register what was happening, she was pulling me forward by my hand, now forcing me to match her speed. Ahead of us, Stanley remained strong, the distance between us growing as he ran harder.
"Stanley, slow down!" Y/N shouted with as much breath as she could, sending herself into a coughing fit.
Still, he didn't slow down. In fact, he ran faster.
"STANLEY!" I screamed, trying my best to run faster, only to be met with ground once again.
This time, however, I brought Y/N down with me.
She let out a shriek as she hit the ground, gritting her teeth as she wrapped her free arm around her body.
"Shit!" I exclaimed, immediately forcing myself onto my knees and letting go of her hand, which she now used to steady herself with the ground. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she hissed, pressing her forehead to the ground as she let out another cry, "just go get Stanley!"
I put my hand on her shoulder and grabbed her hand with my other gingerly.
"I'm not leaving you," I said as sternly as an out of breath kid could. "I'll never, ever leave you."
She looked up at me, her e/c eyes glistening in the dim street light and the faint glow of the moon the peeked from behind the clouds. Even in such a stressful moment, her eyes were always able to stir up the butterflies in my stomach, which only grew worse when she gave me a small smile. In return I smiled back, unable to break my gaze from hers.
That was until I remembered my brother, looking to the road and seeing that he was a small speck in the distance. I cursed under my breath.
"C'mon, we need to catch up," I helped her up, pushing up my glasses with my shoulder. "He's gotten way too far ahead."
"Yeah," she sighed, grabbing my hand and nodding. "Let's go."
And off we went running again, going as fast as our sore legs and lungs would allow. Not even a minute later it began to rain, at first slowly, and then with a wrath even God would fear. I couldn't see five feet ahead of me (due to the rain and my glasses that kept fogging up), clothes plastered to my skin, at least ten pounds heavier than I was a few minutes before.
"STANLEY!" Y/N suddenly yelled, letting go of my hand and sprinting ahead.
I stopped and took a second to clear my glasses so I could see, realizing why Y/N ran ahead. Stan was on his knees, and Y/ N was right beside him, wrapping her arm around him and trying to pull him to his feet.
Immediately, I ran to the other side, helping her lift him enough so that we could help him walk.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we hobbled down the street, Stanley's head bobbing from side to side.
Y/N said something, but because of the rain, all I could hear was a light mutter.
"WHAT?" I screamed louder.
"ALLEYWAY!" she shouted, pointing to the one closest to us.
It was barely touched by the rain due to two large parallel awnings, making it a perfect place to wait out the storm.
We made our way to the dry space, using the last bit of strength we had to force our way through the forceful storm while helping a dazed Stanley, who barely made an effort to carry his own weight.
Once we were covered by the cloth overhanging, we collapsed on the ground. I placed my cheek on cool ground, letting out a sigh of relief. The only upside of the rain was that it made the feeling of burning alive less harsh.
All that was to be heard was our labored breathing as we embraced the pavement. Coming down from our adrenaline highs, a few grunts and hisses and under breath curses joined the loud huffs and puffs. Other than that however, there was a collective silence.
It was at this point that I noticed a persistent throbbing at sole of my left foot. Well, I had been sprinting barefoot for at least ten blocks, so both of my feet were going to be in pain. But this pain was more violent.
I sluggishly rolled onto my back and sat up, not expecting anything big or serious as I examined the bottom of my foot. But to my surprise, I found that a small piece of gravel had punctured my skin and lodged itself in my foot.
Well, I guess that's what I get for not wearing shoes, I exhaled sharply as I grabbed as much of the base as I could, an electric surge of pain shooting through my body. I took another deep breath, and without thinking ripped it out of my foot.
"Fu-iddlesticks," I half-cursed, gritting my teeth.
At this, Y/ N rolled over and sat up on her elbows, tilting her head to the side.
"You okay there, Sixer?" she asked.
I chuckled. "I mean, okay as someone who just ripped a lodged rock out of their foot," I answered, watching as blood covered the rest of my foot.
She winced, shuddering as she saw the blood that now dripped onto the ground.
"Man, that's... shit that's gotta hurt," she stood up, stretching out her body. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't feel too great."
I laughed, grabbing my glasses and wiping them on my shirt.
"Why's that?"
"Well, I did fall from a second story building and then fell once again running at full speed. So yeah."
"Oh yeah, you're probably doing worse than me right now, huh?"
She shrugged. "Nah, it's just my ribs. It's not like their prone to cracking or breaking from extreme force."
I involuntarily laughed, freezing up once I realized what I'd done.
"Sorry," I rubbed the back of my neck and put my glasses back on.
"You're fine, Stanford," she sat back down with a grunt, putting her hand on my shoulder. "I meant it to be funny, you were supposed to laugh."
I nervously smiled, turning to look at her. I opened my mouth, but then I noticed something. Something I wasn't able to see in the dark of our room, something, something I should've seen sooner. It was the bruises on her neck. Bruises that looked all to similar to one's left behind after someone has been strangled.
Y/N POV
Ford opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then stopped. I was confused until I noticed him staring at my neck, where my mother's rage was now showing obviously. He looked up, searching for my eyes, but I bowed my head, my shoulders tensing.
"It happens sometimes," I responded vaguely, playing with my hands. "Usually when she gets mad."
He looked forward, pausing just enough to get his words right.
"That's... that's still not okay," he breathed out. "She shouldn't do that to you."
"Yeah, I know, but there's nothin-" I started, a sudden switch flipping in my head. "Wait, has Stanley moved or said anything at all this entire time?"
"N-oh shit!" he jumped onto his feet, cursing once the existence of his wound made itself known.
I walked the few feet he was away from us and rolled him over, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding in when I saw his chest rise and fall. While he was alive and semi-conscious, he was completely out of it, muttering gibberish and letting his open eyes roll back in his head.
At first I lightly nudged him, hoping that would be enough to snap him out of his daze, but that did nothing. Starting to panic I picked him up by his shirt and began shaking him and saying his name. Desperate I resorted to extreme measures.
"Stanley, wake up!" I yelled, smacking him across the face.
He immediately responded, shoving me away from him and holding his face.
"Son of a bitch waffle!" he cursed, glaring at me. "What the hell was that for?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so so so so sorry," I apologized, covering my mouth. "I panicked because you weren't responding and that was the first thing that came to me."
I heard a stifled laugh behind me, only to see Stanford trying his hardest not to laugh but failing miserably.
"Well glad to see he's enjoying this," Stan rolled his eyes. "Also, whydya guys take so long to see if I was good?"
"It was only a minute," I lied, knowing damn well it was at least five.
He stared at me blankly, his soulless unblinking eyes and scowl unnerving. He did not move, he did not blink, he just sat there. Staring. It was a little concerning.
"Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty," Stan counted, looking at his empty wrist before looking up at me. "You see, that, that right there, was a minute. I don't know what bullshit counting system you were using, but it was not a minute."
I blinked, looking around shamefully and avoiding eye contact with him, caught red handed in my lying attempt.
"I know I'm not as smart as poindexter over there, but I'm not an idiot."
"Stan-"
"What if my face was in a puddle, huh? And you guys just, 'neh neh neh ,' while I'm literally drowning. What about then? Wouldya have cared?"
"Stan-"
"You guys really know how to show the love. I feel really, really cared for."
"Stan-"
"What?"
I sighed. "I'm... we're sorry we forgot about you," I elbowed Stanford, who was still laughing about the situation.
Stan stood up, crossing his arms over his chest, looking all indignant.
"Well you should be, I'm the best damn friend either a ya got," he smugly answered, pausing. "And I guess I forgive you guys."
My shoulders relaxed knowing everything was at least okay between us at the moment. I never liked conflict, and I always tried to avoid it. If I couldn't do that, then I would do whatever I could to make it right. After all, you never want to hurt those you care about.
The rain still tapped hard against the cloth awnings, small rivers forming where the street dipped down and met the sidewalk. The dim street was now radiated with light as the raindrops bounced on the ground in a steady rhythm like dancers following along to the tune of a silent symphony only heard in the mind.
I couldn't help but let the rain's pure existence steal my attention away from the matter at hand, guiding my mind down a path of peaceful thoughts. The rain always had a way of doing that, somehow finding me and gently soothing me with its soft voice and pulling me out of the ruts I always found a way of falling into.
Stan and Ford had a conversation that I didn't bother listening to as I walked to where the edge of the awning was and sat down. Mesmerized by the rain, I reached my hand out to touch it as if I wasn't drenched by it just minutes before, pulling it back once I remembered how cold it was.
Before long, the twins joined me in watching the rain, Ford sitting to my left, and Stan sitting to my right. None of us said a single word, but we all knew one of us was going to have to ask the question, allowing the rain to fill the space in the meantime.
After a while Ford sighed.
"So," he looked over at Stan and I, "what do we do now?"
I rubbed my eyes and shook my head.
"I... don't know," I admitted, shifting in my spot.
Another minute passed and the rain still carried on while our conversation didn't, giving us something to focus on while we thought.
"We could go to the cave where we found the Stan O' War," Stan suggested, kicking a stray pebble into the street. "I mean, there's probably no one in there and it's a dry place to sleep where no one would find us."
I smiled. "That's a great idea Stan, but let's wait. At least until it stops raining."
Ford nodded. "Yeah, I like that idea," he said. "I like it a lot."
So we went back to watching the rain, pretending like our lives weren't collapsing around us. Pretending that we weren't running for our lives. Pretending that we were okay. It was all a lie, and we were okay with that.
At least it was a comfortable lie.
A/N: Hey guys!!! I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, I had Covid (again) while writing it and I did write it on my phone, so there will most likely be several mistakes. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but at my current mental capacity, I cannot do that, so next week's chapter will definitely be longer. Also I'm sorry if the pacing feels slow, I promise, it will all make sense eventually and it will get faster. I'm just literally so exhausted and glad that I finally finished it. Again sorry if this chapter is literal shit, I tried my best. Alright, that's all folks! See you all next week!! Bye!!!