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Viva kicked off her sneakers at the door and sighed in relief, Clay soon followed behind her and picked up said sneakers that flew across the living room.
"I call shower!" Viva darted to her bedroom and rummaged through her messy drawers for some warm pjs. Her room was a cozy type of mess. Not entirely disgusting. If anything, all the clothes on the floor were like insulation for her room!
She struggled for a bit to shove her drawer shut, but got it after a bit of tussling.
Clay yawned while placing their shoes on the shoe rack beside the door. Her chunky white Fila's next to his Dr. Martens. As things should be.
He slowly trudged to his room which was a polar opposite of Viva's. The walls were lined with strategically placed movie posters like Fight Club and La La Land.
They were placed with rulers to ensure they were evenly spread 4 inches away from each other.
He flicked the lights for his lonely floor lamp that gave off an ambient orange glow, lighting up his neat and fresh bedroom. The windows were always slightly cracked open to let the air circulate, and it was always a little cold in there.
He readied his own things for once Viva finished her shower, which wouldn't take very long. She took quick showers compared to his long meaningful ones.
Clay listened to Viva's usual humming as the running water bounced off of the bathtub. He found it comforting that she hummed and sang around the house. Even more so because she knew he didn't like when it was too silent. He said it felt dystopian.
He passed the time while catching up on his current sad read, "Every Last Word by Tamara I. Stone." Pretty interesting.
"Poppy's cut was soo gross!" Viva called out from the steamy bathroom while she slipped into a sweatshirt.
Clay shut his book and smiled. "Ugh, don't remind me!" He grimaced and propped his feet up onto the arm rest of their couch.
"I thought she cut her finger off for a second." He laughed as Viva emerged from the hallway into the living room.
"I think I would've been to blame for that."
She jumped over the couch and insisted to sit where Clay's head was. He lifted his neck slightly and let it back down into her lap.
"Your fault?" Viva leaned her head against the couch cushions. Her fingers twiddled with his large green curls.
He closed his eyes comfortably. This was their favorite part of the day. Almost everyday they'd sit together on the couch and just talk about whatever was on their mind. They'd switch off on who got to get their hair played with or scalp massaged.
"Something's up with her." Clay mumbled. Her hands soothed his mind instantly. They moved in meaningful patterns all across the right places.
"What do you mean?"
"The day Branch came back from the hospital. She was acting mad weird..." He yawned.
Viva's eyes narrowed in thought. She didn't exactly notice or recall anything about Poppy from that day, besides the fact that she didn't pick up the phone.
"I didn't notice." she shrugged, running her nails across his scalp.
"Naturally, I did." He said proudly, making her giggle. "So, I pressed her about it and she got hella tight and cut her- fuckin' finger off!" Clay laughed.
She snorted. "Seriously?" Viva began to trace her hands over his face and massage his temples gently.
"Nah she just wasn't paying attention but... I feel kinda bad. Like, I was prying into her business but I was tryna help..."
"It's okay, she'll open up eventually."
-
Poppy nuzzled her face up against her lovely boyfriend. He giggled tiredly, squeezing his arms around her.
"How's your finger?" He nodded towards her hand.
Poppy lifted it in front of them both. It was wrapped up in thick gauze and extremely wasteful amounts of medical tape.
"Good." She grinned, kissing his lips briefly.
He pulled away. "Does it hurt?" He took her hand in his and examined it.
"Yes." Poppy kissed him once again, running her good hand through his scruffy hair.
He grinned into her lips and reciprocated, securing his arms around her waist while they both laid tiredly in his bed, all wrapped up in the blankets.
"Do you need a painkiller?" Branch mumbled into her unstoppable kisses.
"Those don't work." She replied with her mouth still pressed up against his.
The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. His warm breath tickled her face the deeper they embraced each other. Branch wriggled one of his hands off of her waist to caress her cheek.
After an ungodly amount of time they spent having a hardcore tongue battle, they were finally worn out.
Poppy pulled her sore lips away from his and fell onto her pillow tiredly, giggling to herself and kicking her feet up all giddy. Branch laughed, pulling her to his chest in a comfortable cuddling position.
She laid quietly with her head on his chest.
"I got into an argument with Clay." She mumbled.
Branch's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Oh?" He turned his head to look at her. "What's that about?"
She hesitated. "He was... I don't know..." The more she thought about it, the less justified and more idiotic it sounded. "He was prying too much into my business and I got upset and he started getting angry so I got angry and now I have half of a finger." She laughed and buried her face while holding up her half of a finger.
Branch gasped tiredly. "He made you so angry you cut your finger off?" He stared at her with concern.
"No... I just wasn't looking while I was cutting those stupid oranges." She mumbled softly.
He stayed silent. As the night went on and Poppy was fast asleep, he tiredly laid awake trying to drift off. He felt bad for the both of them. For one, yes, Clay was the most mature brother but he was also stubborn and persistent, and he wouldn't let anything go without demanding an answer.
Poppy was too friendly, so friendly that she let people always get to her because she didn't want to make them feel bad. After a while of letting people step all over her, she'd explode into an emotional mess and then sulk about it because now she felt bad.
It was a never ending cycle.
-
Poppy walked home by herself the next morning, even though Branch insisted on walking her.
She soaked up the warm October air as she went along her merry way.
Her phone buzzed through the pocket of her overalls and played her Brozone ringtone embarrassingly loud.
"Yellow?" Poppy hummed, not bothering to check who it was.
"Can you tell me now?" Clay pleaded on the other line. He excitedly bounced on his heels while leaned against his kitchen counter.
Viva cocked her eyebrow, about to take a sip of her coffee which was more of creamer with a hint of coffee.
"Who—?"
"Shh! Sh!" Clay hissed at her.
Viva rolled her eyes, pinching the back of his neck as she headed into the living room and threw herself down on the couch. He flinched and whined quietly, his neck cowering.
Poppy sighed. "It's about Creek." she glanced around cautiously.
Clay gasped and sped off into his bedroom, slamming the door.
"Don't slam the door!" Viva shouted.
He pressed his back against the door, waiting for her words to spill. They sat in a weirdly long silence which was in actuality Poppy muting herself because she was sprinting into the confinement of her home.
She trudged up the stairs and heaved once the door opened, unmuting herself. Poppy gasped for air, choking on her spit.
"Hello?" He made a nasty expression.
"I— give me... a second..." She panted for another while. The excitement had gone down.
"Okay." She breathed in hard. "It's so bad though!" Poppy whined while abandoning her shoes at the entrance.
"I don't caaare." Clay groaned.
She sucked in a huge breath that puffed her chest up. "At the party Creek kissed me and when you dropped me off he was in my house and he begged for my forgiveness and I threw a vase at his head and then he grabbed me and didn't let me go!"
"Wh—"
"So I made out with him so he'd let me go and then I felt bad and I patched him up and then I forgave him! I forgave him!"
"You forg—"
"Then Barb came to check on me and he jumped out of the window and she found him and beat him up and he choked her and she beat him up even more and I heard something outside so I started shooting! Then I saw Barb and then Creek was almost dead beside her!"
"Poppy—"
"And we brought Creek inside and then fell asleep and I woke up to him stitching his face up and I helped him and he told me he was going to leave and not come back until he was ready and I said okay and I took him to the hospital and we said our goodbyes and I cried so hard I couldn't bring myself to see Branch that morning because..."
"Because—?"
"Because I took him to the same hospital Branch was in! A-And I felt so guilty! I couldn't do it! I couldn't do it!" Poppy wailed, her whole body was sweating and shaking like a leaf. She breathed unsteadily, the anxiety in her voice was louder than her words.
Clay's mouth hung open for so long it was dry. Her heart raced while she expectantly waited for his response. The silence was deafening. Clay set his phone down in utter shock.
"Say something please." Poppy slapped a hand over her face.
"You made out with Creek?" he spoke quietly.
Viva gasped from the other side of the door and screamed, immediately beginning to pound it down with her heavy fist. "CLAY! CLAY LET ME IN!"
Clay shrieked at her sudden appearance and threw his phone across the room as Viva bursted through. She looked at him with wild eyes.
"POPPY COME OVER! NOW!" Viva's expression was intense.
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