Aspen skipped school the next day, mainly because of the fact that it wasn't the bad shrimp- it was some kind of bug, one that made her throw up anything she ate.
It was after school when Liam came, all ten seasons of Friends in his arms, along with a giant tub of orange sherbet and a bag of sour gummy worms.
He opened the door, quietly peeking his head in and grinning. Liam smiled down at his girlfriend, her body twisted into a weird shape under the covers. She groaned, flinging the blankets off of her face. "I said I was fine Mo-"
Aspen stopped, seeing Liam and she swallowed.
"Hey," Liam smiled, "You look better. Do you feel better?"
She gave him a look. "I'm contemplating whether or not I'm going to throw up on you, if that's what you mean by better."
Liam offered a sympathetic smile and showed her the DVDs. "So I know how much you like Friends, so I figured maybe-"
"Can you do me a favor?" she cut him off, reaching for his hand. He nodded, letting his fingers intwine with hers.
Aspen reached over to the nightstand, giving him a fifty dollar bill. "Can you go to Sinema and give this to Hayden? I accidentally spilled 200 dollars worth of drinks the other night, and I promised her I'd pay for them."
Liam's smile fell and he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Uh.. Yeah sure," he replied, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "But.. I need to tell you something I meant to say the other night.. It's about all the.. The chimeras.."
Aspen propped herself up on her elbows to look at him better. "What? You think you know one of the other eight?"
He studied her for a moment, blue eyes running carefully over her pale features and he swallowed. He really didn't want to tell her, didn't want her to get into it, didn't want her to get hurt.
Liam flashed a tiny, reassuring smile. "Uh, no.. No clue..."
Aspen squinted, tilting her head carefully at him. "Well then what is it?"
Liam suddenly looked away, his eyes lowering. "You know what? It was stupid.. N-nothing.."
But it was something. Something big. Something he knew he should have told her then, or he would regret it, but his mouth just wouldn't cooperate to form the word, the word that would change everything between them.
Hayden.
[•]
"I hate this," Hayden grumbled, shutting off her phone after texting Aspen a flat-faced lie about where she was, "Lying to her."
She turned away from the sink she was leaning against to look at Liam, who had his arms crossed over his chest, looking at his shoes.
"Yeah, well at least it's keeping her out of this," he replied, "That's all I want."
The corner's of Hayden's mouth twitched upwards. "You're a good guy Liam," she smiled, "Despite past experiences."
Liam laughed. "Does that mean sixth grade can be forgotten, and we can at least try to get along?"
Hayden narrowed her eyes playfully. "Get me through the night and we'll see.."
Scott and Lydia walked over. "You guys ready?"
"Ready for what?"
The door to the locker room quietly closed shut, all four teenagers turning around to see Aspen dressed in sweats, her hair falling in tiny ringlets around her face, blue eyes skimming over them carefully.
"Is anyone going to answer me?" she asked after a moment of silence, her voice rising steadily. "Liam?"
It took Liam a second to realize everyone was staring at him. He swallowed.
Aspen's eyes caught the bag that Scott had brought, a bad of chains. Her eyes flicked from Liam, to Scott, and back to the navy colored bag.
She stomped over, reaching inside and pulling out a thick chain and letting it clank against the others, looking back accusingly at them.
"What were you going to do with these?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. There was a challenging look in her eyes, mixed with betrayal as she put the pieces together in her head.
Scott stepped forward. "Brought them just in case," he told her cautiously. "In case of what?" she questioned. Lydia answered, "In case.. In case we can catch one of them."
"One of the Dread Doctors," Liam continued. Scott nodded. "If we can't make the school a fortress for Hayden," he gestured her way, "Maybe we can make it a trap."
Aspen's eyes flared with what both Liam and Scott knew was fury, or anger, and she dropped the chains back into the bag, the metallic sound ricocheting off of the locker room walls.
"So what?" Aspen asked, taking a step forwards, "She's the bait?" There was a ghost of a smile on her face, a cruel smile, that made Liam want to laugh and throw up at the same time. It was almost as if she wanted to laugh through the obvious betrayal she felt.
Aspen glanced at Hayden, who had shifted to the side, away from Liam and Lydia. She set her jaw. "So what you're saying is that.." she paused, her cold glare sliding over Scott, "That you're risking the life of my best friend, just so you can catch a freaking guy who wears a mask and has to breath through tubes?"
"I-I'm the bait?" Hayden asked quietly, looking around for reassurance. No one replied to her.
"Aspen," Lydia said, softening her voice even more, "We're here to protect her."
"Really?" Aspen spat at her sister, fists clenching at her sides, "Was I the only one that didn't get the memo?"
No one answered.
"Liam?" she said, her voice dropping to a softer, less harsh tone, "Y-you would tell me this, right? Why didn't you tell me?"
The hurt in her voice made Liam's heart break. He should've told her. He should have told her.
But he didn't.
And now he messed everything up.
Liam reached out to put a hand on her cheek, hoping for a comforting gesture, saying, "I didn't want you to get involve-"
She had backed up quickly before he had even gotten to brush her skin. "Don't," she whispered, threateningly calm, and swallowed, "Don't touch me."
He noticed she was on the brink of tears now, the tiny droplets bunching at her lash line. She looked at the ground, seemingly trying not to cry, and he knew she wouldn't. She was stronger than anyone he knew.
"Aspen?" Hayden mumbled, looking up from her bag, "I-I left my pills.."
And suddenly Aspen's focus wasn't on the fact that she might have just broken up with Liam- it was on Hayden. That's all that mattered to her at the moment. Hayden.
Aspen bent over the bench where Hayden was standing. "Y-you have a bottle in your locker, right? Can you go get them?"
She didn't turn to Scott or Lydia for permission, like she normally would, only looked back up at Hayden.
Hayden nodded. "No," Scott spoke up, his voice cracking slightly, "I'll get them. What's your combination?"
Scott left with Lydia standing guard at the door, leaving Hayden, Liam, and Aspen alone.
Aspen sat with her eyes closed, trying not to dwell on that giant bubble in her chest, ready to pop with the first sob. A part of her wanted to believe they had kept this away from her to protect her, but the other part knew that maybe, maybe, they thought she'd do something drastic for the protection of her friend. It hurt thinking that maybe they, that maybe he, didn't trust her enough to let her know when her best friend might be killed. It hurt knowing that they meant to keep her out of it.
A loud bang shook her back to reality.
Liam looked up from the concrete, eyes flitting around to locker room. "Did you guys hear that?"
Hayden's eyes widened and she looked, scared, at her friend. "They're here, aren't they?"
Aspen took Hayden's tan hand and squeezed it, easing her way off of the bench. She stood next to Liam, peering around to corner. "They're in the school?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, noticing the difference in her eyes, the same difference that he saw every time her mood changed. They were a hard, unforgiving blue, filled with realization.
He ignored her question and crept around the corner. "Scott? M-Malia?"
The lights outside in the halls flickered and the door swung open slowly, revealing one of the Dread Doctors.
This was the first time Aspen had been up close and personal with the Doctors, and she wished she could stay with the view of them far away on that catwalk.
The bronze colored mask was even darker and eerier up close, the black circles (presumably for sight) void of any life and movement.
Liam backed up, putting his arms out over Aspen protectively, but she paid no attention to him, clasping Hayden's hand tightly as their backs met the lockers.
Just as the first Doctor was on them, the second and third walked in, staffs and strange instruments in their metal hands.
Aspen felt strong fingers tighten around her free hand, Liam's shaky fingers lacing with her's.
The frequency box that Parrish had set up was knocked to the ground, the cane of the first doctor settling on its surface.
"We are on a frequency you can't possibly imagine."
He brought down the cane on the box with enough force to send sparks flying with a loud crack, and Aspen flinched.
Somehow, Aspen knew this was it. This would be the last time she ever saw the high school boy's locker room, the last time she ever saw the high school, period. She knew there was nothing they could do.
They were as good as dead.
A/N:
Sadnesssss
I know I'm sorry but it had to be done :( It won't be long I promise
SEASON 5B RANT:
#ScilesIsBack :D YAY
KIRA MY BABY I MISSED YOU
THEO RAEKEN PINK SWEATER APPRECIATION (just sayin, it's hot)
COREY MY SWEET BALL OF SUNSHINE DONT B AFRAID OF SCOTTS FANGS OMG KILL ME
Gerard eating that flower........ no comment.
(HE ATE IT.)
"I still hate that tattoo."
"I know.." ;-; :) :)
WHAT IS MASON AND COREY'S SHIP NAME??? B/c I shIP IT SO HARD
BBY Liam you poor soul just tell Scott you sorry please and Scott foRGIVE HIM OLEASE HE's JUST A BBY
BUT REALLY CHRIS? YOU REVIVE GERARD, THE SOCIOPATH THAT TRIED TO KILL SCOOT AND LIKE, EVERYONE, WHO HAS BEEN BLEEDING FOR LIKE, MORE THAN 6 MONTHS AND IS SOMEHOW, MIRACULOUSLY ALIVE AND YOU CANT EVEN BRING ISAAC BACK FROM FRANCE
I need time to cry over Scoot and Stiles and Kira and Lydia and merEDITH (WHATS UP WITH THAT) and Momma Martin yellING AT STILES HER FUTURE SON-IN-LAW?
Yeah.. Hope you enjoyed! :)
<scotts_mccall>
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GERARD??? GERARD?