This chapter is set after episode 6: Follow The Leader
Bree's POV:
'What are you doing!?' I exasperatedly question Perry, who is grunting to herself as she attempts to drag out the only vacant chair in the sitting area.
'My pad ain't gonna furnish itself' Perry sasses back as she finds her grip and successfully moves the pale blue chair further towards the door.
'You can't just take our stuff whenever you feel like it!' I exclaim after her as I sit up from my slouched position. Why does she always insist on using everyone else for her own selfish needs? She shouldn't even be allowed to be a part of our team with the way she behaves. This is so.. frustrating! Why would Chase let her join us all of a sudden?! My hands clench the material of the sofa beneath me, forming into a fist as I stare after Perry, who appears to have chosen to ignore me.
'Hey.' Skylar's gentle tone catches my attention as she lightly bumps my shoulder with her own.
'Just let her have it Bree. It's not like any of us have ever actually sat in that thing anyway.' She reasons, her gaze also settling upon the smaller woman in front of us.
I respond to her touch almost instantly, all my anger disappearing in a second as I slouch back down. I guess she's not hurting anyone. Yet. I might as well try and put up with her..
'Yeah, okay fine.' I grumble, my eyes falling to focus on the table in front of me.
Is someone staring at me? I raise them again and meet the eyes of the smaller woman who is giving me a very un-Perry like look. It's almost as if she's.. Quizzical? Intrigued? By something. What's her problem with me now?
I furrow my eyebrows and open my mouth ready to make some snarky remark in response to her staring but the moment had passed. Perry has returned her attention back to the chair and there appears to be a quiet conversation which has formed between the other four members of the team. What just happened?
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Skylar's POV:
DING! DING! DING! DINGGGG!
My phone rings out with a series of message alerts into the silence of Bree and I's shared room. I sigh as I flick the ringer off of my phone and throw it down onto my bed. I seriously regret giving Perry my phone number.
I glance over to Bree's empty capsule which sits on the other side of the room. I wonder where she is, she vanished from the lounge early on while Kaz and Oliver were teasing Chase over his leadership skills.
Click.
My head swivels round to the sound of the door opening, Bree enters silently, closing the door behind her. She walks straight past me and up to my bed before falling face down onto it, the blankets beneath her cushioning her fall.
'Uuugh' her groans are muffled by the material her face is buried in.
'Bad day?' I chuckled softly, while taking a seat next to her motionless form.
Her head slowly raises from its previously fixed position in order for her to make eye contact with me.
'Something like that.' She smiles wryly.
This must have something to do with Perry's new involvement with the team. I know Bree has expressed on various occasions her dislike for the woman, but I was unable to sympathise with her until today.
'Perry?' I question, tilting my head slightly to the left awaiting a reply.
'Is it that obvious?' She huffs, moving her arms in an effort to raise herself into a kneeling position. She closes her eyes as she runs her hand through her brown locks, easing out any knots which had formed.
She's so beautiful.. Wait. What? Ugh now is not the time for this Skylar, focus on helping her, you can figure this out in your own time!
'Honestly? Yes. I mean I get that she can be.. Annoying.' I say as I quickly glance to my phone which screen is still lighting up from the series of messages pouring in.
'But she's not hurting anyone. What's so bad about her joining anyway?'
Bree's eyes fly open, her eyes locked on mine, a steely gaze filling them. Maybe I should've kept quiet.
'I mean, Y'know, she can't do a lot, she'll just be sitting off to the side most of the time, not really doing anything.' Bree's gaze still doesn't falter. Ok. Now I really should stop talking.
'That woman. Hates me. Skylar. She hates me. She goes out of her way to make my life a living hell. I've always been picked on the most by her throughout my life. Sure she picked on Adam and Chase, but I always seemed to bare the worst of it. And yes she picked on Leo, at lot, but they had a weird little frenemy thing going on, that was expected. But me. She's only ever insulted me as a person, who I am, what I do, who I like, all of it. And I'm sick of it. I want it to stop!' Bree rants, her voice breaking near the end as her steely gaze is replaced by soft tearful orbs.
I had no idea she felt this way.
'Bree. I'm so sorry.' I whisper to her, leaning forward to wrap her into a hug. She grasps onto my arms around her as her body shakes with sobs. We stay like this for a while until her breathing calms.
I untangle myself from her grasp to look her in the eyes. Her tear filled, red, puffy and yet somehow still breathtaking, eyes.
'I'm sure Perry never meant to single you out like that. From what I've learnt after being trapped in mission command with her this afternoon, it doesn't seem like she hates you. I think she enjoys the rivalry between you all. Y'know, I would even go as far as to say that all of this is her weird, icy hearted way of saying that she cares about you guys.' I tell Bree, gently tucking a lose strand of her hair behind her ear.
'Do you really think so?' She sniffs, looking at me, her eyes shining with hope.
'I do.' I smile at her, which causes her own smile to form upon her face.
'Thank you Skylar. You're the best.' She leans over to wrap me in a hug of her own. 'Not to mention an incredible team leader.' She whispers into my ear, causing a blush to bloom across my face as she tightens the hug.
Oh Bree. What are you doing to me.
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Bree's POV:
I give Skylar one more heart warming squeeze before letting go of the hug.
Why do I already miss her contact? Snap of out of it Bree!
Sending one last smile her way, I shuffle backwards off her bed and head towards the door. I pause with my hand on the handle as I turn to look at her.
'I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?' I ask her as I begin to open the door.
'No thanks, I'm alright.' She sighs as she turns her attention towards her phone screen which is still alight on the bed.
I nod, despite her no longer looking at me, and slip out of our room. I close the door gently behind me and make my way towards the kitchen.
I open the cupboard to find it completely empty. Again. Kaz and Oliver. I groan into the emptiness of the room and stalk out to the terrace. There I find Kaz and Oliver in front of a tower made out of a mixture of kitchen appliances. Plates, cups, toaster, bowls.. everything. Noting how the two superhero's haven't noticed my presence yet, I clear my throat.
'Oh hey Bree.' Kaz chimes as he turns his attention from the tower to me, Oliver doing the same.
'What's crack-a-lackin?' Oliver asks, nodding his head and shoving his hands in the pockets at the back of his jeans.
'Dude.' Kaz says, making eye contact with Oliver.
'I told you not to say that again.'
'What!' Oliver whines, removing his hands from said pockets.
'It's not my fault that I'm cooler than y-'
'You're really not.' I interrupt, trying to bring their attention back to what's really important. Their stupidity.
'Would the two of you stop stealing all of the things from the kitchen. I'm sick of it! And would you please give me a glass.' I chide, putting my hands on my hips and glaring at them both.
The two of them seem to shrink under my tone, causing a sense of victory to wash over me. They both hang their heads and mumble their 'Sorry''s before Kaz removes a glass from their tower and reluctantly hands it over.
'Good.' I snatch it from his grasp and swiftly turn around as I head back into the penthouse. I smirk to myself as I remove the orange juice from the fridge and fill up the glass. Finally. They actually listened for once.
I put away the carton and close the fridge before spinning on the spot and looking for the closest chair. I really should use my mom-like voice more often. I still can't believe it worked on them as well as it does on Adam and Chas- Uh oh. I freeze as my eyes land on a small stumpy figure, sat on the opposite side of the table.
Perry. What does she want now? I swear if she tries to insult me I'm gonn-
'What? Got a problem with my face or something? Quit staring.' Perry snaps as she takes an obnoxiously loud slurp from a smoothie cup she seemed to materialise out of thin air.
I snapped out of my thoughts and brought my own drink up to my lips. Eyeing up the other woman carefully. 'What do you want?'
'Me? Oh I don't want nothing. Well definitely not from someone like you anyway.' She retorts, taking another irritatingly loud slurp from her drink.
Right that's it.
'Perry would you jus-'. She raises her hand to silence me, something which I obeyed out of instinct rather than compliance. 'I'm proud of you.' She interrupts.
Wait what? Maybe Skylar was right after all.
'You are?' I ask bewildered, this is a new side of her, something I've never seen before.
'I am.' She states, punctuating her words by slamming her empty smoothie cup on the table. 'Now. Are you gonna just stand there or sit and hear me out?'
This has to be a trap. She must want something. But I might as well give her a chance.
I slowly sink into the seat to my left so I'm sat opposite her, suddenly a wave of nostalgia washes over me, it's like being back in her office at mission creek all over again. I knock myself back to reality as I signal for her to continue on.
'Manipulating others, your friends even, to get them to do what you want. Thats very cunning. Something I would do, although, being a professional, I would get much more out of it than a mere cup.' She smirks at me, motioning to the drink still in my hand.
Of course that's what this would be about. I should have know better.
'Well I did learn from the best.' I humour her as I take another sip of my drink. 'Is that all this is about?' I question.
'Welllll, now that I've got you all sat down and comfortable here, I'd quite like some.. information.' She leers, leaning slightly closer towards me over the table.
I knew this was some sort of trap, and to think I almost believed she cares about me.
'About what?' I ask nonchalantly as I choose to ignore my thoughts and the facial expression of the woman opposite me while taking a gulp from my glass.
'Your feelings for Skylar.'
I freeze mid swallow, causing me to cough and splutter on my drink. My what? What is she talking about? Skylar's my... friend. That's all she is, right?
I stay silent for a moment, 'What do you mean?' Perry simply leans even closer forward while dropping the volume of her voice.
'I mean, how long have you had these.. feelings, for her.' She asks. 'I noticed the way you were looking at her early in the tunnel, how you acted like she was the only one there. And then later on when I was managing to work you up, which was far too easy to do may I add, she seemed to be able to completely calm you down with a single nudge. Care to explain?' Perry asks, rather intimidatingly if I do say so.
'Err, well I.. She's my best friend and we spend a lot of time together and stuff so Y'know, I guess she just knows me well enough and that.' I ramble, not really sure on what I was saying.
Wait why do I even have to answer her. Perry isn't in charge of me any more.
'Mhm.' Perry responds, looking as if she's not believing a single word of what I just said.
'I.. I don't have to answer you anyway. My personal life is non of your business.' I retort, jumping out of my seat and snatching my glass off the table as I head towards the staircase.
'Go ahead. Leave, don't answer me. You're just confirming what I already know.' Perry smugly waves me off over her shoulder.
What does she know? Come to think of it, what actually are my feelings for Skylar?
I pause at the foot of the stairs, and glance back over to Perry. I don't want to confirm anything that I don't know myself but what choice do I have here? I need to spend time with Skylar, I'm sure that will help me figure whatever it is Perry knows out for myself.
With that final thought I decide to continue on up the stairs and down the corridor to mine and Skylar's room. I rest my hand on the handle and take a deep breath.
Here we go.
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Skylar's POV:
I wonder what's taking Bree so long, she's been down there for a while.
I'm currently sat on the end of the bed reading the series of 100 messages sent by Perry. Maybe I should just block her number.
The sound of the door opening fills my ears as I raise my attention to the door. Bree walks in carrying a half drunk glass of what looks like orange juice and takes a seat next to me on the bed.
'Hi.' She smiles, before proceeding to raise the glass to her lips.
'Hi.' I laugh lightly, locking my phone and putting it in the pocket of my jeans. 'You took your time.' I comment, a smile of my own forming to match hers.
'Hmm' She replies, mouth full. 'Yeah, Kaz and Oliver took the cups again.' She replies once having swallowed.
That explains it.
'Of course they did.' I giggle, watching as Bree takes another sip from the glass. Now that I think about it, I'm a little thirsty myself..
'Can I have some?' I ask, surprising myself, as I motion to the glass.
'Hmmm. I don't know. I did ask if you wanted one.' Bree jokes as she moves the glass further away from me.
'Pleaseeee.' I beg, widening my eyes and pouting ever so slightly as I reach out towards the glass.
'Ugh fine. But only because you know I can't say no to you and the adorable little face of yours.' Bree responds, handing over the glass, a slight blush appears across her face.
I beam in thanks and swiftly raise the glass to cover up the light pink blooming across my own face at her words. She's so sweet.
I take a sip and return the glass, but not before watching how she bites her lower lip while staring absentmindedly in thought at the wall.
On taking the glass she downs the rest of its contents before standing and placing it on top of the dresser by the door. But instead of returning back to her previous seat she turns to look at me, smiling wide.
'Are you coming?' She asks suddenly, raising a perfect brow to punctuate her question.
'Coming where?' I ask confused, slowly raising from my seated position and walking towards her.
What's she talking about? Literally 10 seconds ago she was sat silently drinking orange juice and she's now suddenly decided we're going somewhere?
'On an adventure.' She beams, eyes sparkling in excitement.
A what? Where?
Before I can ask, she's taken my hand and whisked me out the door and down the corridor.
We run out of the building and down the streets of Centium city, hands laced together while laughing and smiling to each other.
Right now I have no idea what we're doing or where we're going, but here in this moment I realise that doesn't matter. Because I'm with Bree, and I know that when it comes down to it, I'll always follow her.
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Hey everyone!
I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story in nearly 2 years! I've had a lot going on but everything seems to have calmed for now!
For that reason I'm continuing writing again and I have full intentions on finishing this story!
Any updates may be fairly infrequent or irregular so sorry about that in advance.
I hope this longer update begins to make up for time lost and I hope you all enjoyed. It's going to take me a while to get back into the swing of writing again so I apologise for any errors or a lack in quality.
Thank you all very much for being so supportive and patient. Feel free to comment any suggestions or vote if you enjoyed.
Thanks again
-Em x