This was requested by eccyuk - sorry for the wait, I hope you like it.
Third person...
Society states that girls should look and act a certain way - sweet and dainty. Not Y/N. Y/N is the biggest tomboy in town, and she prides herself on that. She also flaunts her fearlessness on the ice. With Fulton as her boyfriend and Portman as her new best friend, the Bash Brothers vowed to protect her on and off the ice - though she's had enough blood on her hands to prove that she can fend for herself in a fight.
Although she loves Connie and Julie (as well as her former teammate Tammy), Y/N has always felt a slight disconnect between herself and the others. They've never bonded over your typical girly things, and whilst she's glad about the things they share, part of her can't help but feel like she's missing out on something. Nevertheless, she's not ready to go out of her way to be something she's not.
With the Junior Goodwill Games still underway, some friendships are still building a foundation. Between the press, excessive practising, and the televised games themselves, it's been a chaotic, pressurised whirlwind. However, the Ducks finally have some downtime. Naturally, inner-team cliques split off with the odd newbie sprinkled in. The new dynamic duo has no idea what they're about to get caught up in.
The results of a string of locker room antics and face-off bets have given Connie and Julie something of a power trip. Nobody is safe when they have their instruments of torture in their grasp. Nobody truly knows their way. Today alone has seen its share of victims - and one is making an escape.
Oblivious in their shared room, Fulton and Dean stand by their beds as they play an unorthodox game of jenga with a tall tower of hockey sticks that they stole. Green Day plays at a reasonable volume in the background (for once) to allow them to talk to one another. Out of the blue, the sounds of distant screams can be faintly heard over the music. As it gets louder, the yelling seems familiar to the Bash Brothers.
"Is that -" Portman begins to question but is interrupted by the door suddenly swinging open.
"Y/N?" Fulton shares Dean's confusion as his girlfriend bursts into the room, stumbling through them and almost knocking the tower over.
"Hide me from the evil makeup monsters!" Y/N exclaims and quickly hides under Portman's bed.
"What?"
Confusion prevails as the aforementioned makeup monsters appear at the door, clutching onto lipstick and other makeup items that are alien to the residents. Slowly, things start to make a hint of sense to them - at least, they think so.
"Have you guys seen Y/N?" Connie asks the duo.
"Not since breakfast." Fulton covers for his girlfriend.
"Uh, I think I saw her running past a minute ago." Dean improvises.
"Which way?" Connie presses.
"Past the tree swing."
"Are you sure? Because you seem pretty invested in stick jenga." Julie is doubtful.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"She knows better than to hide here because it's the first place you'd look." Fulton jumps in with reason - though it feels slightly backhanded.
"You better be right." Julie is still not trusting as her and Connie sprint off.
Y/N's pov...
The clicking of the shutting door signals safety, however temporary. There's less room under here than I thought, but it was the first thing I could think of with no time on my side.
"They're gone." Fulton's hand appears in the darkness. I reach out and grab it for guidance.
"Watch the tower. Watch the tower!" Portman instructs with a twinge of panic for his creation as I worm my way out, free my dark green flannel from the splintered bedpost and back to my feet.
"It's fine." I roll my eyes at him. "Thanks." I turn to Fulton.
"Why were they chasing you with makeup?" My boyfriend quizzes.
"Because my scoring slump has extended to face-off bets. They already got Averman and a couple of the others. I've never run that fast in my life. I left Luis in my dust."
"You got that fight or flight speed." Portman comments.
"Yeah, but I did also shove him into a bush to get an advantage."
"I'd pay to see that." They laugh at the thought.
"You should see the other guys. The girls somehow made them look pretty." I scoff. "Kenny seemed to like it a little too much. Dwayne just let them have their fun - he's got sisters, so it's not his first rodeo."
"Well, you made it out alive. Wanna play some stick jenga?" Fulton tries to move things along.
"Sure. How'd you steal all these?"
"They keep 'em all in the same place - we just grabbed as many as we could and ran." Portman briefly explains.
"But why take goalie sticks? Trying to take those would be a suicide play."
"Exactly! Adds to the thrill factor."
"You guys are insane... I love it!"
Without missing a beat, I join the game with a laser focus. We go from random chatting and singing along to silently studying the structure as the others try to throw us off. Admittedly, I whack them with a freshly removed stick a couple of times due to their antics.
"I knew it!" Julie shouts as the door suddenly bursts open, making me jump out of my skin. "I told you she'd be in here!"
"That's the first and last time I give Portman the benefit of the doubt." Connie remarks.
"Hey, hey, hey! We can talk about this! Just put the weapon down!" I plead with my hands raised in surrender.
"It's not a weapon, it's an eyelash curler." Connie corrects me.
"No, it's an eyeball remover! And I'm not letting you take my eyes!" I stand my ground as the guys form a partial wall in front of me.
"Don't worry, you can't feel it." Charlie appears out of nowhere with a full face of makeup and red nails.
"What the fuck?" I stare with wide eyes.
"They got to you too?" Fulton attempts to stifle laughter.
"Looking good, Conway." Dean chuckles with a hint of sincerity.
"Thanks, man." He smiles. "You know, Y/N, a little bit of makeup isn't gonna kill you." His pointed comment riles me up and sets up his departure.
"Oh, shut up, Charlie!" I explode as he runs away.
"He's right, Y/N, you're being dramatic." Connie sides with him.
"Come on, Connie, you know how she feels about this stuff." Fulton stands up for me.
"Yeah, but she's the one making the bets." I wish she was lying, but I thought my luck would've turned by now.
"And she keeps getting out of them." Julie chimes in.
"Maybe you didn't hear her properly." Dean shrugs.
"It's the same thing every time."
"Well..." The boys struggle to keep fighting for me.
"Okay, okay!" I cut in with no plan. "If you can pull a goalie stick from the tower without knocking it over..." I can't believe I'm about to say this. "Then I'll do it." I sigh.
I grip onto Fulton's hand, already regretting opening my mouth as Connie and Julie look at each other and roll their eyes.
"Fine." Julie volunteers herself to retrieve what was stolen from her.
Myself and the Bash Brothers shuffle to the side and let Julie survey the scene. The blades are so wide and the placement is so awkward - nobody could successfully remove one, right? The anticipation is killing me. I'm gonna be sick. I lean into the guys, hoping they could break me out of here if things go wrong.
Julie studies it carefully before finally grabbing the outer stick closest to us. It's times like this that I forget how to breathe. I watch on in fear as the stick slowly slides from its position. The tower wobbles slightly as the blade gets wedged in the gap. There's still a chance. Assessing the situation, she repositions and continues to draw. Next thing I know, the stick is free in her grasp. Shit.
"When will I learn?!" I scream before trying to make a break for it.
"Nope!" Connie blocks the door.
"Please."
"You said!"
"Y/N, just do it this once, and you'll never have to again." Julie corners me, and the guys drag her back a little.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Fine. Make it quick." I give in.
"You're actually letting them do it?" Fulton seems surprised.
"I don't have much of a choice, Fult. They'll keep hounding me until I do."
"Don't worry, loverboy, we'll bring her back in one piece." Connie teases and escorts me back to their lair.
"Good luck!" They call after me.
The short journey to their room feels like the walk of shame. I want to run off and find Fulton, but I know they're anticipating another escape. The instant I enter the room, my eyes are drawn to Guy's bright red lips. What am I getting into?
As I take a seat and stare at my reflection in the small mirror for a final time, I hear the door locking behind me. I'm past the point of no return. Connie and Julie dump out multiple bags of products and tools. It all seems excessive. At least they're letting me choose colours.
In the end, they just do black nails, black around the eyes and deep purple for the lips. However, they slap on a bunch of other stuff before we get there. God knows how much powder I've inhaled. It felt as if they were trying to take my eyes out with the eyeliner and the eyelash curler.
Looking in the mirror, I don't recognise the girl looking back. It's not that they did a bad job, it's just really different. I'm not convinced I like this change. I'm sure I don't have to tell them that - it's written all over my face. Connie tries to make it better by saying Fulton will like it, but that's what scares me most.
With that suffocating process over and photos taken for their entertainment, they send me off alone to reveal their work. I knock on the door and urge them to turn around until I say. With a deep breath, I give them the go-ahead.
"Okay, turn around." Portman quickly spins around, but Fulton is hesitant.
"Oh, shit! I'm surprised you let them live long enough to do it. I like the purple. Oh, black nails! That's so cool! I'm gonna go see if they'll do mine!" Portman rushes out with an odd rush of excitement.
"Okay then... Fult?" I can't read him as he stands and stares.
"Whoa... you look amazing."
"You think so?" My heart sinks.
"Totally."
"Thanks." My lowly tone and gaze on the floor signals discomfort.
"What's wrong?"
"I was scared you'd say that." I try not to tear up as I get in my head. "This isn't me, Fult. I can't breathe with all this crap piled on my face. This entire thing is so uncomfortable for me. And you liking it just amplifies my fear that not being a girly girl makes me lesser. That you'd like me better this way."
"Y/N, you'd look amazing in full zombie makeup.I don't care if you're not a girly girl - I like you best the way you are." He reassures me, holding my hand as he does.
"I was worried it'd be like in Breakfast Club when they gave Allison the makeover, and everyone liked her better looking completely different." I wipe away a stray tear.
"No way! She was way better before, too."
"Right?"
"Come here." He pulls me into a warm embrace.
"I love you."
"I love you too - the real you." Fulton's words give me a moment of relief.
"My face feels horrible." I grimace as I pull away. "I like the nails, but that's all I'm willing to keep."
"Yeah, they're cool." He mimics Portman's reaction.
"Wanna get Connie to do yours while I get Julie to help me wipe this crap off?"
"I kinda do." We both laugh at his surprise before heading to the girls and an empowered Portman (thanks to his new nails).
I hated this experience more than words can say. I'm glad I finally got it out of the way though - the cat and mouse game would've gone on forever otherwise. However, I definitely won't be doing it again.
Hey, everyone. I know I've been gone for a while, and I really doubt I'll be here too much going forward (I will still update, just not as much as I used to). I've really been struggling mentally and feel like it's only getting worse paired with physical pain. I'm closing requests for the foreseeable future because I don't have much motivation and put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to requests.
A lighter update. I went to a Blink-182 concert recently and I'm going to a Fall Out Boy show on Sunday (I've been waiting 7 years to see them and it's the only thing keeping me going). I also got a new tattoo. Those of you who have read the Tribute chapter might remember the tattoo from the ending. Well, I finally got him.