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42. the future
The last thing June expects to see when she comes back is Max on the hospital bed in a criss-cross position, holding three marbles in his hands. Treech is in front of him, fixing his posture, while Cas sits at the table with an amused yet interested look on his face. And yet, here they are, having a conversation about what she can only assume is juggling.
Treech looks up in surprise when she enters the room, relief written across his face. She looks tense, but the smile on her face when she approaches him and her brothers brings him some peace of mind. Surely she won’t be forced to leave if she’s smiling at him like that.
“What’s going on?” she inquires curiously, taking in the scene in front of her. She gives the marbles a curious look. “Did you bring those here?”
Max nods eagerly. “Yeah! I remember you saying he knows how to juggle, and I wanted to know how!” He exclaims with a grin on his face. “I can’t get it right, though. I’m doing something wrong…” He trails off, looking at the marbles as if it’s their fault. His eyebrows furrow in concentration before he sticks his tongue out in defeat.
“It doesn’t come naturally to everyone,” Treech quickly says. “And you keep on messing up the timing. You’re too fast.”
“Max being too eager to do something?” Cas leans back in the chair. “Shocker.”
June and Treech both have to stifle a laugh when they hear that, silently agreeing not to say anything further to upset the boy. Max pushes his bottom lip out and gives his big brother the stink eye, but Cas doesn’t seem to care or mind much.
“How did it go anyway?” Cas then decides to ask. He watches as June sits down on the hospital bed as well, only to be immediately tugged against Treech. Even in front of Max, he can’t seem to help but want to be near her. She really does calm him down, as the tension in Treech’s body subsides as soon as his arm rests around her waist. “What did mom and dad say?”
She sees Treech’s nervous stare and soothes him with a smile. “I’m staying here tonight. We agreed it’s probably for the best,” she says. Her gaze flickers over to Max, and she shoots him a sympathetic look. “But they did ask you to come home with them, Max.”
“Nothing about me?” Cas replies coolly, his lips curling up into a smile. “I’d ask to join your sleepover, but...”
“What?” Max looks in between his siblings and Treech. “Why do June and Treech get to have a sleepover and I have to go home?”
Cas sighs. “You’ll understand when you’re older,” he merely says. “But you probably shouldn’t keep them waiting too long. You know how they can be when things don’t go their way.”
Unfortunately, Max seems to really take after his parents when it comes to that. None of them deal with rejection in a way that could be considered, well, respectful. Their parents aren’t exactly used to people not wanting to be near them, and Max, used to being everybody’s little darling, is understandably unable to grasp the idea either. But to be fair, it’s not that June and Treech have anything against him. This is just not the time to have a little boy spend the night.
“That’s not fair!” He protests, his cheeks flaring up for a moment. “Tell them I want to get this right first, then I’ll go!”
While the twins share an exasperated look, Treech seems to be sensing the temper tantrum as well. But since he has more than enough siblings, he’s used to babysitting a lot more than he assumes June and Treech are.
“You know, you’re not all that bad at it. I’ve got a sister around your age, and you’re pickin’ it up faster than she was,” he says with a light smile adorning his face. It’s the first time June hears something close to an accent coming from him, and she perks up curiously.
Max’s sour mood easily changes when he hears those words. “You have a sister?” he asks, unable to hide his curiosity. The thought of Treech having someone around his age waiting for him makes him feel a little bit bad, but he doesn’t quite know why. “But she’s better at it now, right?”
“Right now, she could take you on easily. Ivy’s real clever; my dad calls her a little firecracker,” Treech explains, his eyes softening at the thought of his youngest sister. He clears his throat, trying not to get too emotional in front of the young boy. “You’re a smart kid; I’m sure you don’t need me to figure this out. Maybe you can even beat her one day; you just gotta pay us a visit.”
Max looks at the marbles in his hands and, with a sigh, shoves them into the pocket of his jacket. He has been in his school uniform all day, and honestly, he can’t wait to get out of it. His parents adore it, but he finds the fabric kind of scratchy and uncomfortable to wear. “I can figure it out while you’re still here!” He quickly says this, pointing a finger at him. “I’ll come back tomorrow, and I’ll juggle with ten marbles!”
“Ten?” Treech raises his eyebrows in surprise and laughs. “That’s a bit too ambitious, little twig. Not even I can do that.”
“Besides,” June interjects quickly, “Max, we don’t know how long Treech is staying. Maybe you should practice this at home.”
“And then, when you think you’re good enough, you come and pay me a visit in Seven, alright?” Treech offers. “We got more than enough room, and after how kind your sister has been to me, I’m sure my parents won’t mind.”
Truthfully, the thought of visiting one of the districts hasn’t really occurred to Max until now. He never gave them much thought. All his parents told him was that he shouldn’t want to go there and that the people there were barely even human. But Treech has been so nice to him, and he genuinely likes him. How can Seven be that bad when he’s from there?
He ponders his decision carefully, weighing his options to the best of his ability, but eventually caves in. “Fine!” He says. “But I'm taking June with me; she’s been talking about you like crazy! She’ll miss you!”
June stares at him, unable to come up with an answer because, as embarrassing as it is, she knows Max is right. Has she been talking about Treech that much? She’s not sure, but if even he notices, that means there’s some truth to it. It doesn’t make it any less embarrassing, though, and she avoids Treech’s curious yet amused gaze to the best of her ability.
Cas laughs out loud. “Funny that you’re saying that, Max. With how much you kept on talking about Treech, I almost thought you liked him more than June does,” he retorts. “I know he was your favorite, but—”
“Well, because he’s awesome! Everyone at school was cheering for him!” Max cuts his brother off and looks at Treech. “We all wanted him to win!”
“I don’t feel like much of a winner, though,” Treech replies quietly, earning a confused look from the little boy. “I’m glad I don’t have to go back.”
Max frowns. He knows Treech never looked happy in the arena, at least not the way he did before. If anything, he looked even more miserable than during the funerals the Capitol held.
“Well, you won’t have to,” June concedes gently, placing a hand on Treech’s shoulder. She smiles at him and resists the urge to kiss his cheek. She wants to, but if Max tells her parents, they might make the hospital staff or the Peacekeepers get her out, and that’s the last thing she wants.
Perhaps it’s better if her parents only speculate for now. She doesn’t want them to know the true extent of her feelings for Treech while she’s still here, and they might be able to take measures to prevent her from leaving. Because, as much as she hates to admit it, her parents have a lot more power than her in the Capitol. They’d definitely have the right connections to prevent her from leaving, and that’s the last thing she needs right now.
The little boy watches thoughtfully and thinks the scene in front of him almost looks strikingly similar. One of his sister’s hands moves up to caress Treech’s hair, and Max’s mouth gapes open in surprise. He has seen this gentle gesture more than enough at home, and he tilts his head to the side when June and Treech look at each other. It’s so tender that it makes his frown deepen.
All he can think about is how happy they look, just like his parents when they curl up on the couch together. The realization hits him at once, and he understands that he underestimated how close June and Treech really are.
To him, he almost has the impression that they’re a couple. But that’s not possible, is it? Max thinks back to Sejanus, who’s also a district-born boy. His siblings adore him, so if they can be friends, why shouldn’t his sister be allowed to have a crush on Treech? Why are his parents so against her spending time with him if it makes her happy?
His silence is suspicious.
Unaware that Max is coming to a profound realization at the moment, Cas clears his throat and stands up. “Well, think about what Treech said. You know where to go once you’re the Capitol’s best juggler,” he says half-jokingly. “Do you want to say goodbye?”
Max’s hazel eyes snap over to his brother, and even though he really doesn’t want to go, he needs time to think. He slides off the bed and walks over to look up at Treech with an appraising gaze.
“You mean it? I can come visit?” he asks just to be sure.
Treech’s eyes soften. “‘Course you can. Like I said, we got more than enough room,” he says. “Just wait until your parents allow it, or until you’re old enough. Don’t go runnin’ off on your own, you hear me?”
Max nods firmly, surely internalizing the older boy’s words. “Okay!” He agrees, watching as Treech’s hand moves closer until he’s ruffling his hair. He laughs, and as much as he wants to pull away, he can’t bring himself to.
“Good. Then don’t keep your parents waiting, and go home,” Treech says, messing up the boy’s hair one last time. When he pulls away, his neatly combed hair is sticking up in all directions, and Max is already trying to fix it. “Last thing I need is for them to be mad at me.”
“You heard him,” Cas says, placing his hands on Max’s shoulders from behind. “Come on, I’ll take you there. You probably ran all the way here; I’m sure you weren’t even looking where you were going.”
“I totally was!” Max protests immediately. “I have eyes!”
"Sure, you do, little man,” Treech says amusedly, leaning back against the pillow. “Careful, don’t walk into the door.”
“I’m not blind!”
Treech waits until the other males are out of the room and then looks at June with the same amusement in his eyes, resting his head against her shoulder. “So you talk about me at home, huh?” he teases. “Wanna tell me what you said?”
June feels her cheeks growing warm and her heart still skipping a beat after she saw how naturally Treech converses with children. She knows she should have expected this, but to see him like this the same day he was taken out of the arena was the last thing she expected. Her fingers run through his still damp curls, and she smiles.
“Don’t worry,” she says reassuringly, and her smile widens. “I told them nothing but the truth.”
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Cas comes back alone, just in time for Treech to get his dinner from the hospital, which he gladly eats. The grilled chicken and rice make him feel better, and while it’s not a custard for dessert, the small pudding cup that comes along with it is a welcome treat anyway.
June and Cas stay for the time being, having dinner with him, and it’s surprisingly nice. He worried things might get a bit awkward with the three of them together in a room, but Treech quickly comes to realize that they make a good team. He likes June anyway and knew he’d like her brother, too, if they talked more, but he likes their dynamic as a group as well.
And the best part is that, somehow and for some reason, June’s parents give up. They must feel like they’re leaving their daughter in the lion’s den, and even though that’s far from the truth, there’s still a little bit of anxiety that comes with it anyway. Sure, she has had sleepovers with her former classmates and especially Sejanus more often than not, but this is still different.
It’s just the two of them. This is different from sharing a bed with a brother; she knows this.
Well, it’s not technically one bed. They pushed the two single beds together, and there’s more than enough room in between them, but neither of them is sure they even want that. But it’s still undeniably intimate, and it flusters her.
Treech feels like he’s constantly cold. He knows he’ll be going home soon, but there’s always a feeling of unease in the back of his mind, no matter what he does to distract himself. As much as he tries to act like himself before the reaping, he knows he’s only pretending.
And in the chilly, sterile atmosphere of the hospital room at night, he fears everything he has been trying to suppress since he was pulled out of the arena might catch up to him. Scratch that; he knows it will.
The nights in the arena were worse than the days. To some, it might seem like they were a much welcome break, but to him, they were hell. The arena was cold, especially in the tunnels, where it always faintly smelled of the sewers, too, and every movement made him jolt wide awake. At least he could count on his eyes during the day, but it was almost impossible after sunset.
To him, the nights were hell.
Yesterday around this time, he was sitting on top of the scoreboard while the summer’s first storm in weeks rained down on him. He was cold and drenched, and while the water might have washed away some of the grime on him, he knows there are some things it can’t wash away. The dirt might be off him, but the blood on his hands still sticks forever.
He finds some comfort in June. She’s aware of his struggles, and somehow, knowing she’s nervous as well, takes his mind off things for a little while. He can tell she hurries up when she’s changing into her pajamas, but he doesn’t say anything, instead joining her in the bathroom to brush his teeth afterwards as well.
Maybe he needs this — her presence makes him want to take better care of himself, too. As silly as it sounds, the thought of her being disgusted by him when he stops looking after himself is motivation enough for him to put in an effort despite how much his body aches to stay cooped up in bed all day and night long.
When Cas left in the late evening, he took Treech’s clothes with him to wash them properly. He promised his sister a change of fresh clothes for tomorrow as well, and she trusts him enough to bring her something suitable for the interview tomorrow. As much as she loathes the idea of going back to Flickerman and having to see Treech be questioned about the events in the arena, it’ll be over after this. A few more checkups, and once the doctor gives him the okay, he can go home.
Just like he wanted it all along. But the thought of June staying here in the Capitol makes his stomach turn. He feels like he can’t breathe when she’s not around or when he doesn’t know she’s nearby.
When he climbs into the hospital bed and pulls the covers over him, he keeps his eye on her instead. He watches the way she gets into her own bed, a soft red hue on her cheeks, and feels his heart beating a steady rhythm inside of his chest. He swallows when she gets settled in and finally looks over at him, noticing the way he seems almost stiff despite the exhaustion in his eyes.
“Let’s get some rest,” she says softly, breaking the silence. As uncomfortable as the hospital bed is to her, she knows it must be heaven for Treech. She turns onto her side to face him, pulling the covers up. Her hand brushes over his cheek, and he relaxes bit by bit. “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” he admits, chewing on his lower lip for a moment. “But I’m also fuller than I’ve been in a long time. I don’t know what your brother was talking about; hospital food isn’t all that bad.”
She smiles. “That’s because Max is spoiled. He thinks anything that’s not prepared by a chef is bad.” She shakes her head, and her hand moves up slightly, brushing the curls out of his face. “But I’m glad you liked it. And the washing up makes it more bearable as well, doesn’t it?”
Treech nods, his voice a little hoarse when he speaks. “It helps,” he says. He hesitates for a moment when he looks down at his hands. It’s all washed off now, but it’s like he can still see and smell the blood on his skin from time to time. “But… I don’t think any water in the world can wash this off me.”
June frowns for a moment, immediately understanding what he’s hinting at. “I’m sorry,” she whispers quietly. Her free hand gently grasps one of his hands, and she sits up, looking down at him with soft eyes. “You don’t need to rush. I can’t… I wish I could tell you that that feeling will go away, but I can’t.”
She brings his hand up to her lips and kisses the palm, noticing the way his breath catches in his throat at the gesture. She sees him starting to tear up and realizes she might have accidentally broken the dam. But better now than later, she thinks. The longer he waits, the worse it might get.
“Treech?” she says, searching his gaze. Despite hesitating at first, he eventually looks at her, and the vulnerable look in his eyes makes her heart bleed. Even when he told her how he felt about her, he didn’t look this scared for her answer. “You don’t have to pretend you’re fine around me or act the way you did before all of this. I know I can’t fully understand what you went through, but we’re going to do this together. I promised you wouldn’t be alone, and you won’t be.”
He swallows harshly. “The only people that could understand me are dead, June,” he rasps out, and the tears begin to spill. “You… You say it like you really think things will get better, but they won’t. I’ll always be... I’ll always be this.”
The words hang heavy in the air, and she has to take a deep breath so she doesn’t burst into tears as well.
In his eyes, he’ll always be a murderer and a monster. He doesn’t need to say it out loud for her to understand what he means, but it doesn’t break her heart any less.
“I told you I’d support every single one of your decisions in the arena, Treech. That didn’t change,” she whispers, taking the hand off her cheek and giving it a gentle squeeze with her own. “I don’t think you’re a bad person or any of those things. And things don’t have to go back to the way they were. I don’t think they can anyway.”
She leans over and sees the way he looks at her hand when she brings it closer to his face. When she brushes her thumb over his cheek to wipe his tears away, she sighs. “One step at a time, Treech. Change doesn’t have to happen overnight, and in this case, I don’t think it will. And that’s okay,” she reassures him. “I don’t expect you to just bounce back to the way you were. You need time to heal.”
“They’re not even giving me that, though. I mean, they immediately want me to give an interview, and — I can’t—” He lets out a choked sob and buries his face in his hands. “I just want it to be over... I wanna go home…”
That’s enough for June to let her tears flow as well, although silently. She moves closer to him quietly, and the only thing he notices is the additional weight on his mattress. But before he can say anything, she carefully wraps her arm around his shoulder. He almost flinches, but his body responds to the warmth immediately and latches onto it, making him bury his face in her shoulder.
“Soon,” she reassures him softly. She doesn’t even know if he can hear her; his sobs are sending tremors through his entire body. She rubs circles on his back with one hand, running her fingers through his hair with the other. He’s shaking like a leaf, and she desperately hopes she can comfort him, even in such a small way.
“Just a few more days, and you’ll go home. After tomorrow, they’ll make sure you don’t have any side effects from the venom, and once that’s done, you’ll be able to leave,” she whispers.
He’s clinging to her like a lifeline, so much so that she almost feels suffocated. But she doesn’t mind; instead, she encourages him to let it all out. She cradles his head against her shoulder and just lets him cry, knowing he needs this more than anything. Eventually, his sobs quieten down and he ceases to tremble, although he still occasionally sniffles and murmurs something unintelligible.
She doesn’t ask. If there’s something he wants to talk about, she’s sure he will. Some things might even be better left unsaid for the time being, as they’re still too heavy to talk about. When the time comes, she’s sure he’ll confide in her, or perhaps even his family at that point.
“It must’ve been so hard for you, Treech,” she mumbles. “I’m so, so proud of you that you stayed strong in there. You won’t have to go through that again.”
A small whimper escapes him. “It’s always going to be a part of me, though,” he eventually says, his voice raw with emotion. He sighs, burying his nose in the satin fabric of her pajamas. “It’s like... I’ll never be just me again, you know?”
Her heart cracks, and she forces herself to reply before she cries even more.
“That I do understand. I used to be different, too. Before the war,” she replies quietly. “I’m not the same person I was back then, and I know our situations are different, and I know better than to compare the two, but... You’re strong. Stronger than I was. It’ll take time, and it’ll always be a part of you, but you’ll be okay.”
He closes his eyes, letting her words sink in. She’s right; their situations aren’t the same, but she knows what it’s like to suffer and to see someone you love dead. And yet, she grew up to become the kindest person he has ever met. His heart throbs painfully in his chest. He would have loved for them to meet under different circumstances. He would’ve liked her no matter what, but the thought of a life with her and without the Hunger Games makes him feel like he’s about to burst with longing.
It’s not fair. He wishes they could’ve met before the Games. If she likes him now, he knows she would have liked him as his truest, purest self before the Capitol got its hands on him. In another world, perhaps. The current one is cruel and merciless, but it did lead him to her. No matter the pain, he thinks he would do all of it again just because of her.
“The night after the interview,” he eventually says, surprising her slightly, “Reaper came to all of us. Apologized to us for having to kill us once the Games start.”
June hums, “Did he?” She absent-mindedly plays with his hair, brushing her fingers through it in a gentle caress that makes his eyelids flutter and a sigh escape his lips. “I don’t know... He seemed very insistent on protecting Dill.”
Even now, when she thinks back to the boy from Eleven, all she can think of is his protective and kind nature. He cared for Dill and formed something close to an alliance with Lamina in the arena, even if it was just for a while, and the memory of his makeshift morgue still brings tears to her eyes. Such a kind, merciful act just shows that the Capitol is exactly the kind of inhumane they’re accusing the people in the Districts of being.
It’s like their entire worldview is warped. She’s relieved, in a sense, to have been pulled out of the Capitol’s propaganda so early in her life. She doesn’t blame any of her classmates, but she can’t help but wonder what they truly think. People like Lyssie, Clemmie, and even Pup, with his growing care for Lamina, she knows they’re capable of empathy and kindness despite the environment they grew up in.
He shakes his head, but she barely feels it. “I know, but he did it anyway. He said when he wins, he’s going to avenge us or something,” he says. “Something about taking revenge on the Capitol.”
She raises her eyebrows. “And what did you say?”
Treech sniffles. “Nothing. I mean, I saw Jessup spitting in his eye, but... He trails off, letting out a hoarse laugh. “I don’t know. But it made me think because he was the only one there with a goal other than making it home, I think.”
He sighs, “It makes me feel like I should do something as well. Because I know that they’d have it coming and they’d deserve it.” He pauses for a moment, and when he continues speaking, his voice is a lot weaker, showing how defeated he truly feels. “But I just don’t want to. I’m just... tired, June.”
As much as he knows the Capitol would deserve it if he or the previous “victors” took revenge on them, he just can’t bring himself to do it. He feels like life has almost been sucked out of him, like he’s a shell of who he used to be. It’s one of those rare moments in which he desperately wishes there was someone else like him in Seven.
But there isn’t. He’s the first tribute from Seven that will come back home, and he hopes his family and friends know.
“You don’t have to do anything,” she quickly says, and she feels the way he shudders when her fingers brush over the hair on his nape. “Just rest for now. What you need is to heal and rest above all.”
His eyes flutter open, and he lifts his head slightly to look at her. There’s a huge wet spot on her pajamas now from his crying, and as much as he wants to feel self-conscious about it, the way she’s caressing him somehow makes him feel like he’s going to be okay. Her touch and words are like a balm to mend his wounds and aching body.
It’ll be a long, painful process. He knows it might be the exhaustion speaking to him right now, but all he wants is to rest, as she said. He needs it. Tomorrow will be painful again, but perhaps they’ll leave him be afterwards. They never showed an interest in the other victors as far as he knows.
They just dump the traumatized children back into their old lives, and that’s that. He wishes he could take revenge for the others, but he knows he’s in no shape for that right now. If anything, it would get him killed immediately, and that’s the last thing he wants. At the end of the day, he’s just a boy who wants to go home to his family again.
He misses his family: his mother’s hugs, his father’s kind eyes, his brothers’ jokes, his big sister’s kindness, and his little sister’s fiery spirit. And, of course, his niece. Will she even recognize him when he comes home, when he barely recognizes himself?
“You think my parents saw? The rest of my family?” he eventually asks. “We don’t have a TV, but... Maybe they’ve heard from others. Some shops at the market have one, and the word spreads.”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” she ponders aloud. “But no matter what, I think that you’re coming home will be the most important thing for them.”
“I don’t think they expected me to win. I just hope they know that I’m coming home soon,” he mumbles. “I’m just... scared they’ll treat me differently.”
June cups his cheek. “They might. But you’re still you,” she says. “To me at least. I didn’t doubt my promise to you while you were in there. Not once.”
Treech nods silently, and even though he begins tearing up again, he sits up a little bit straighter. All the crying has made his eyes puffy and red, but he leans in for the kiss anyway. He leans in and is about to reach for her cheek when he stops himself. His hand hovers there for a moment, and when she looks at him in confusion and leans her head into his palm, he lets out a shaky breath.
“Are you sure you still trust me?” he whispers quietly, fearing the answer more than anything else. “I mean… I’ve killed people with these hands and...
“I know,” she interrupts him quietly but with a surprising firmness in her voice. Her eyes soften. “But to me, your hands have been nothing but kind.”
As if for emphasis, she takes his free hand and runs her thumb over the calluses on his palm. She always liked how rough he felt against her own hand, but she doesn’t understand why. She searches his gaze and tilts her head to the side when she sees his eyes following the movement of her finger. She thinks he looks mesmerized.
“So yes, I trust you. More than anything,” she answers his question with a small smile on her face. “I know you’d never, ever want to hurt me, Treech. I trust you.”
He feels like the air has been knocked out of his lungs. For a moment, he just stares at her with his mouth slightly agape and his breathing uneven. A warmth spreads from his chest to his face and all the way down to his toes, intensifying tenfold in his stomach. It’s like her thumb on his palm is sending shockwaves throughout his entire body. He thought he knew what it was like to be starved, but this is a different kind of hunger.
There’s only one word repeating itself inside his head right now.
Love. This is love. There’s no other way to describe it.
He knew he liked her, but love? It’s such a big word with an even bigger meaning, but it’s the simple, undeniable truth.
The realization leaves him feeling both vulnerable, with a pit in his stomach, and happy at once. It’s a combination he’s not used to, but when his thumb traces her bottom lip and she sucks in a sharp breath, he knows it must be similar for her.
He doesn’t think any words can capture how he feels, so instead of wasting his time and embarrassing himself by stumbling over his words and saying something incoherent, he leans in to close the gap between them. He cradles her face with both of his hands, kisses her hard, and swears he’s going to explode when she doesn’t pull away until she’s breathless.
A little smile tugs on her lips, and even though she needs to gasp for air for a few moments, she ends up letting out a soft laugh anyway. He smiles, too, and tucks himself against her again.
A peaceful silence sets in, and once his breathing has calmed down a bit, he closes his eyes and listens to the steady thumping of her heart. He knows his own races just as well, but with the way she’s holding him, there’s no way for her to know that. Being in her arms just feels like the most natural thing in the whole world to him.
Here in her arms, the pain caused by the absence of Lamina's sniffles, Tanner's and Mizzen's laughter, and even Coral's jabs feel further away than ever. His anguish is silenced, even if just for a few moments.
When he looks up at her, he almost thinks she fell asleep. Her eyes are closed, and she looks so peaceful, her chest rising and falling slowly with every breath she takes. Not that he would blame her, but when her fingers begin caressing his hair again, his eyes soften. The question is at the tip of his tongue, and he tries to swallow it down at first, knowing now might not be the right time. After everything, he knows she’s exhausted as well.
But in the end, his fear and insecurity get the better of him.
He swallows, feeling the way his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “June?” he eventually asks, his voice barely above a whisper. “What is… What are we?”
He hears the way her heartbeat speeds up and suppresses the urge to smile when her eyelids flutter and she looks down at him, the emotions in her eyes mirroring his own. Vulnerability, uncertainty, hope, longing — it’s like a punch in the gut, but in the best way imaginable.
June averts her gaze for a moment, trying to find the right wording, but when he tucks a finger under her chin and makes her face him again, she swallows heavily at his expression. His dark, warm eyes are filled with fear, desperate longing for an answer, and hope.
“What… What do you want me to be?” she asks in response.
She knows better than to play dumb. They'd crossed the boundaries of normal friendships a while ago, both emotionally and physically. At least she can’t recall ever having a friend that she’d kiss or miss this much when he’s not there to be with her. But she also doesn’t want to force anything on him. Not now, not when he needs to heal.
Treech’s expression brightens. She gave him an opening and an option — that makes all the difference.
“I… I might be getting ahead of myself here, but... He trails off for a moment. His cheeks grow warm, and he hopes she can’t tell.
“I just... really want you to be mine,” he says after a while. “I know it’s crazy. We haven’t known each other for more than two weeks, but...”
He sighs. “The thought of you treating another guy like this makes me sick.” He lets out a nervous laugh. “Is that okay?”
“Yours?” she echoes hopefully, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Like a... girlfriend?”
“Yeah,” he breathes out, smiling at her. “My girl.”
June smiles in response; her heart skips a beat, and despite how tired she is, she feels like every fiber of her body is on fire and wide awake. She cups his cheek, noticing the way he feels warmer than usual and feeling less insecure about her red face in an instant. She could cry out of happiness, but she knows she has cried enough for today. She feels all dried out.
This is what all those romance novels have been all about. The blissful, euphoric feeling when you know your feelings are reciprocated and you might have a future together. Reading about it is nothing in comparison to the real deal; she knows that now.
“Yeah,” she says. Her thumb trails over his cheekbone, and her smile widens when he beams at her. “I’d like that very much.”
Treech leans in again to kiss her, albeit softer this time. He rests his forehead against hers, and even though his face hurts from all the crying he did, his cheeks hurting from smiling so much is a pain he’d gladly take.
“Really? Just like that?” He questions in surprise. He traces the shape of her dimple with his finger. “You’re sure?”
She shoots him a look, and he laughs, a bit of doubt in the back of his mind. “Just making sure I’m not dreaming, sweetheart. Are you sure you thought this through?”
A light laugh escapes her lips as well, and she nods in response. “I have. More than once,” she admits.
She bites her lower lip before she says, “No matter if you had asked me or not... When they let you go home, I’m leaving too."
ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ
but for you,
i'd leave it all
ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ
i apologize for the rollercoaster of emotions
i NEEDED a scene of treech and max interacting for real. i edited this chapter a few days ago and realized i never wrote this fully, so the entire scene with max is more recent than the second half of the chapter
yay, treech's trauma! but at least they're official now!!! after so many chapters, it's about damn time lmfao. and we got the L-word drop! not out loud, but it's something!!
and tysm for 7.7k reads!!!<333
have a nice friday!!<33
memes!