I wake up from the sunlight hitting the skin on my eyes, sending an annoying signal to my brain telling me to get up. I am now in what I now call my room and recall last nights fiasco. Sitting up from my bed, I rack my brain for any details of how I got here. All I remember is that I hugged Hoodie and then woke up in my room.
Throwing my legs off the side of my bed, I continue the day as normal and get ready. With my hair in a bun, as usual, and comfy clothes ready to do training with, I walk out to face the rest of the crew. BEN is the first person I am greeted with as he pauses the video game to look back at me in the living room.
"Sup Girl. Heard you 'n Hoodz had a night." BEN states teasingly. I stop near him and just stare. How did he know about me and Hoodie being kidnaped? Surely Hoodie didn't say anything, right? "Worried about something, beautiful? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He says, turning back to his game. I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding. If Slender found out about this, he would definitely scold us majorly.
Sounds of gruff laughter comes from behind me as Jeff makes his appearance. "How did last night go?" he says, eyes locked on mine.
"Umm.. What?" I say back to him, shocked that he knew.. I thought BEN said he wouldn't tell anyone!!?
"So, tell me, who was watching who?" Jeff continues with a smirk, "Were you watching the criminals, or where they the ones watching you?"
"You're a criminal, Jeff." I spit back at him with venom in my voice. He is the second-to-last person I want to know what happened. If he knows that we messed up last night, that means ---
"Y/N, please come to my office, now." I hear a voice say in my head. AUGHHHHHH
"BEN! I thought you said you wouldn't tell ANYONE!!?" I yell at the blonde boy giddily pressing the buttons, enjoying my pain.
"I didn't say a word. You're partner in crime did though. Boy, don't you wish you had stayed with me last night, huh?" BEN says with a smirk plastered on his face, his eyes not leaving the screen. I roll my eyes and scoff, doing a heel turn and walking away from the laughing figures in the living room to the door leading to the one and only, Slenderman. More importantly, his wrath.
I cautiously open the door and see Hoodie standing next to Masky in front of Slender's desk. The room is big, but small at the same time, as all the furniture in the room is a little bigger than the normal person's belongings. Perhaps Slender knows a lot of people to tend to his height? I close the door behind me and walk up to Hoodie's side. He turns his head slightly to look who is next to him, then turns his head back to face Slender. Hmm. This is weird, I thought he would walk to the other side of Masky to get away from me. Perhaps he is getting used to me?
Masky is trying to explain the whole situation from last night, like an interpreter for Hoodie, who doesn't seem to speak much at all. Slender just nods along, as if he had heard this all before. It was now my turn to talk and explain it all. How much do I say? Did they say all the details of how Hoodie had to go out of his way to save me? My plan? HOODIE SLEEPING ON THE JOB?
I explain all the BIG occurrences and leave out the tiny ones, explaining more only if he had asked, which thankfully, he didn't. Masky and Hoodie had their, masks, glued to me as I spoke, and seemed to relax after I finished talking. Slender didn't seem to care as much as I thought he did, but perhaps he has a soft spot for me, being the new recruit that had been a part of his life longer than anyone else here. We all three were dismissed and sent into the hallway. Masky let out a breath of air and pulled me to his side as I was walking away.
"Thanks for not ratting Hoodie out on sleeping on the job. He had a rough day and couldn't control himself. If Slender found out, he would have been punished even more severely than he was this morning." Masky explained to me. Hoodie was punished severely?
"What? Why was he punished?" I say, looking back at Hoodie who is leaning against the wall. His head is turned down, looking at the ground with his arms crossed across his chest.
"Slender said that because of his lack of training with me led him to become weak. He yelled at him for letting his past with people get to him to cause tension around you, like with not coming with us for training, and that it had led you into danger. Slender also said that he was so mad about the blunder, that he was going to strip away his proxy title tonight." Masky explained to me slowly. My eyes widen as I hear all of this and I shake my head.
"no.. No.. This must be a mistake. He can't do that... Why- Why would he even consider that?" I whisper/yell at Masky, with tears brimming my eyes. His arms go to my sides to try to calm me down, not wanting to start a scene.
"He trained with BEN though?" I say, trying to think of ways to get him out of this mess.
"I train with Hoodie because we are the same type of fighters. BEN is more mechanical and electrical, while we are more hand-to-hand type of people. Though one could argue that two different people fighting could result in more creative thinking, having two of the same would make both learn more from a specific type of fighting." Masky tells me.
I shake my head furiously, declining everything he is saying, not wanting to accept anything. I slip out of Masky's grasp and turn to Hoodie. Trying to hide the anger and disappointment, I half say/yell at him. "How could this happen? YOU are the one he should keep. I'm the weak one here!"
"Slender likes you better than me." He simply states. I shake my head with tears threatening to fall as he doesn't even move. His head is still pointed down, not even giving me any type of physical response.
"Why didn't you tell him that you helped me more in detail? He would have seen that you actually cared and he would have-"
"I couldn't tell him that." He says over my voice.
"Why? All you need to say is that you did lose your barrier around me and you-"
"Because he knows when I'm lying." He shoots at me. Lying? It wouldn't be lying if he actually did care for me.. Unless he doesn't. "Look, I know you think that because of last night that we are all buddy buddy now, but we're not. You are nothing but a blockade in my life here, and because of you, I lost the only thing I have going for me in my sorry excuse for a life. Just.." He looks up at me, voice rising with each word. I stand frozen in shock, not wanting to believe any word he is saying. "Leave me alone."
With those words, he turns away from me and walks away with Masky following close behind. They leave me standing in the middle of the hallway, shocked and a little broken. I need to fix this. Why is Slender so adamant on keeping me here? I have nothing to offer anyone, so why am I being forced to stay? What if I run away? Would they keep Hoodie here and forget about me, or would they make him leave also? I let these thoughts linger in my head for a while, before just letting all my anger show, and burst though Slender's office.
"WHY?" I yell at him.
"Why what, my child?" He asks, confused.
"WHY ARE YOU GETTING RID OF HOODIE?" I yell as I stomp over to his desk.
"Didn't they explain anything to you? I would have expected for them to-"
"I don't care that he may have messed up, but I'm still here. Besides, why am I so important? I am NOTHING. I have been nothing for my whole life, so why am I so important to keep here when all my life all I wanted to do is escape everything?"
"Because I can't let you leave here." He simply puts.
"WHY!?? WHY ME?"
"BECAUSE I CAN'T LOSE ANOTHER PERSON I LOVE!" He Shouts at me, banging his fists on the table as he stands up. His veins are protruding from his head, his facial expressions oddly clear and visually distraught. I take a step back and stare at him. I never knew how much he cared about me. Maybe I remind him of his daughter, or perhaps he genuinely likes me for being her friend, or maybe he... actually loves me? Nooooo no no no no no.... I keep backing up until my back hits the door. "Hoodie couldn't protect you and his inability to communicate is getting in the way of this system. Tonight he will be sent off, if he hasn't already ran off already."
I turn the knob and run out the door. I can only thing of just getting to Hoodie and trying to persuade him to try to stay long enough for me to think of a way to make Slender change his mind. I get to Masky and Hoodie's room and open it up wide enough for me to see Masky with his mask off, crying. His head immediately turns to me and gives me a shocked expression, but it turns into a small smile, as if nothing had happened. I shut the door and look around the room, ignoring the fact that I has seen Masky's face for the first time. He gets up to try to get me to stop looking for Hoodie and grabs me from behind, pulling me onto the bed to calm down. I shake my body to get out of his grasp, but he is much more stronger than me.
"Stop struggling Y/N. It's only going to make it harder for me to try to help you." He says, making me stop to turn to him, curiously. "He left so that he could go on his own terms. He didn't want anyone going after him, especially me. Believe me Y/N, I am more upset about this than anyone--"
"Then why aren't you going after him?" I said with my teeth clenched. If he wanted Hoodie to stay, then why is he doing nothing about it?
"Because he won't listen to me even if I left. Listen Y/N... It's been a while since you came here now, and some things has changed because of that. For one, BEN has lost a bit of confidence, but his persistence is still impeccable, if not more. Jeff hasn't changed much, but you can see that he has gotten better around you. Sally is beaming, Jane is more friendly, and I now have a new friend!"
"What's your point here? The longer we talk, the further Hoodie gets away. Unless that's your plan?" I say to him, pulling my arm away from him.
"My point is, Y/N. Hoodie has changed too. He may say that is still distant, but he isn't. I am his best friend, practically his brother. I know that you have broken something in him that made him not only break the barrier, but actually WANT to get closer to you," Masky says to me, "You may not believe me, but he was the one that requested for you and him to be together last night."
"What? But I thought he-"
"Hated you? No. He never hated you, he was just a little weird around you. He actually... Ah he would kill me if I told you this, but.. He actually really likes you. His head is just a little messed up, so he thinks that you would never feel the same, so he tries to keep distant. What is this called? Tsundere? Haha..."
Why would Hoodie think that? He is just accepting his fate to leave the mansion without telling me how he feels, after my whole scene of yelling at them to keep him here!? Of course I ... like him..? I need to talk to him. "Where is he? I need to bring him back."
"Well I know he is probably hungry, and when he was leaving I gave him a coupon for 20% off a meal for a restaurant a mile down. You might find him there." He tells me with a wink.
I nod and give a quick thank you as I run to my room to get a jacket. As I leave the house, Masky yells back to me, "Good luck."