𝙘hapter 𝙩hirty-𝙣ine
❛⠀not right now⠀❜
ROISIN MCLOUGHLIN had been to the offlinetv house enough times that she was able to, without a second thought, burst through the front door without knocking. it no longer shocked any of the roommates and was greeted with a chorus of cheers and warm welcomes, but axel was very clearly taken aback by the sudden swarm of people around him - thinking that he would have a few more seconds of fresh air as he waited outside. the girl didn't think of that, but she did notice his wide eyes. she didn't exactly ignore her friends, not entirely, but she knew that her first priority was the boy beside her.
"i get that i'm the most important person here," she joked loudly, drawing the attention to herself, "so i don't know why no one has fetched me a drink yet."
"no alcohol, remember?" poki shot a glance to toast, who gave her a large thumbs up before retreating into the kitchen with michael, lily chasing after both of them, sliding on the wooden floor with her fluffy socks.
the remaining two lost interest in them as soon as a video-game cheer was heard from the other room, poki and yvonne more interested in the tense game of wii-sports they were partaking in than the new arrivals. corpse was thankful for that, and let roisin know by squeezing the hand he was holding - and she responded by catching his eye. though they were so early into their relationship, they could communicate through mere glances: and he was telling her that he was okay.
but she still didn't let go of his hand, swiping her thumb reassuringly over his soft skin as they stepped into the living room. bodies were sprawled over the sofas, cups in hands very clearly full to the brim with alcohol, the smell drowned out by the automatic febreze spray that the house obviously set up for her. it made her smile. they thought a lot about keeping roisin comfortable around her biggest and most detrimental vice - and she thought of sean. how he would do the same if he were here. suddenly, her heart ached.
ignoring the sharp pain of missing a sibling, and best friend, the blonde cast her eyes to scarra. he had his focus trained entirely on the tv before him, his mii character swinging his arm back before releasing a bowling ball and hitting a near strike. the whole room tensed and hissed as the ball hit, but sykkuno clapped for him. roisin felt corpse's deep laugh rumble from beside her.
"who's next?" scarra asked, holding up the wii remote and surveying the room. "rae?"
"yeah, it's me!" the brunette girl sprung up from where she was cradling a can of beer, excitedly snatching the remote and taking her turn.
"we should hurry up so our new arrivals can have a turn." lily offered the older woman a drink, a cool glass of dr. pepper, before hugging her carefully. "it's nice to see you again."
"back at you, lily. i see you're enjoying the socks i got you." she gestured to the pink pattern of cats, and lily stared back wide-eyed, obviously not recalling when she was gifted them. "your birthday, honey. it's fine, socks aren't that memorable."
"i'd love some socks for my birthday." corpse chimed in genuinely.
"you would?"
"hell yeah. i love fluffy socks, superhero socks." he listed off of his fingers, one hand still laced in roisin's, "socks that have the days of the week on them."
"i have a lot of those." toast walked into the room, too, dropping on the arm of a chair.
"you always pair monday with, like, wednesday, though." poki scoffed.
"no, michael does that."
"that's true, he does."
a debate kicked up around them, michael denying all accusations thrown at him even as he took his turn at bowling. roisin thought it had to be some sort of skill - to hit a strike whilst fighting off his girlfriend and two of his roommates. the volume rose and rose to the point that the pair were lost in the sea of laughter, ushered wordlessly onto a sofa where rosie wasted no time tucking herself into corpse's side, the man slinging his arm over her shoulder. he briefly pulled his mask down so he could take a sip of her dr. pepper, and she caught his smile in the low light.
"ro, look at me!" rae called, raising her phone and clearly taking a picture of her. she made a point to inch away from corpse so none of his face would be in it - but it seemed as though the girl already had that covered, saying that she was zoomed in enough so he wasn't seen. "wow. that's a pretty lady."
"that's what i keep saying!" corpse nudged her with his elbow, and the fondness in his voice caught the attention of those in the room.
"not to pry, but... are you two a thing yet?" toast blurted out, handing off the wii remote to poki who smacked his arm on the way past.
"uh," roisin, unsure, looked up at the man. he was oddly blissful for being in a situation that would normally make him anxious. maybe it was because they were surrounded by friends. maybe it was because he had his girl in his arms. maybe it was because things were looking up. his answer to her unspoken question was a mere wink that she spotted from under his dark curls. "we are. officially. but not, like, public officially."
"trust me, the public are already clued in." michael laughed, though his words were slightly jarring.
"shut up!"
"social cues, michael, we've talked about this."
"there are people who speculate and hope, but no one really knows anything." sykkuno diffused, the kindest smile on his face.
"i don't really care if people figure it out." corpse said, shocking almost the entire room into silence. "my entire identity is a secret, and there's... some part of me that wants to know the type of comments, i guess, when i reveal something."
"that makes sense." poki nodded in agreement, and roisin hid her furrowed brow behind her hand, tucking her hair behind her ear. why had he never told her that before?
"plus, i can flex that i have the most beautiful girlfriend ever, and i can threaten everyone who hits on her."
"alright, sweetheart." rosie smiled at that. she smiled at the fact that he was so comfortable. it was amazing to see. unexpected, but amazing.
liked by ── corpse_husband, jack_septic_eye, pewdiepie, & eight-hundred thousand others.
valkyrae ── just because this is a blurry pic doesnt mean i love you any less, ro
username ── even blurry shes so PRETTY
username ── onlyfans?
corpse_husband ── wow........ she single? Can you give her my number?
littlerose ── my boyfriend wouldn't be very happy about that
valkyrae ── i hate you two
username ── her and corpse are together and no one can convince me otherwise
pokimanelol ── STEP ON ME
littlerose ── bet
littlerose ── miss rae i love you i love you i love youuuu
valkyrae ── I LOVE YOUUUUUUU
username ── i want to be where they are rn
username ── rae stream among us again
jack_septic_eye ── Wrinkle brain!
littlerose ── big big wrinkle brain!
username ── I hate Littlerose
pewdiepie ── I miss the brown hair
username ── brown hair roisin make a comeback...
disguisedtoast ── TRUTH OR DARE TIME
lilypichu ── TRUTH OR DARE TRUTH OR DARE
michaelreeves808 ── I DARE YOU TO RECITE THE ENTIRETY OF THE BEE MOVIE SCRIPT
scarra ── Ro needs to come back and save this shitshow
username ── i WISH i was at their party
sykkuwu ── ROSIE COME BACK!
yvonnieng ── Ro is the only girl i trust
valkyrae ── yvonne this is my instagram post
yvonneng ── i said what i said
littlerose ── i know you guys all wanna praise me but like... i gots to pee x
on her way through the desolate halls lined with miscellaneous filming props and lighting rigs, ROISIN heard an upset voice streaming from one of the bedrooms - the door open only a crack, but enough for her to recognise the voices and become intrigued in their conversation... especially when she heard her name.
"frankie, you can't. not to roisin," the girl's voice was hushed, but the anger laced in her words could be heard from miles away. "not right now. not with her boyfriend in the same house. not after how you acted."
"i only acted that way- rae, you know i never meant to hurt her. i acted that way because... well, you know why, don't you? if i don't tell her now, there's no chance that i'll ever be able to tell her." frankie sounded painfully frantic, and roisin recognised the sound of her pacing. "you can see how happy they are together."
"and i'm not going to let you ruin that. you've been selfish about this for the past two months-" she could only assume that frankie went to interrupt the girl, since rae hummed in annoyance, "you have. incredibly selfish. you're gonna look at those two and think... 'yeah, i'm gonna take part in tearing that to bits.'"
"that's the last thing i want."
"no, it isn't. because you want roisin, and you don't care who you hurt on the way."
"of course i care! i-" frankie sniffled. "i hate feeling like this. like i'm not in control of my own words or-or feelings. i feel like the only way i can control it is by telling her."
"control it by not telling her. that's the strongest thing you can do."
feeling as though she went too far, intruded on too much, roisin silently edged her way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. her head was pounding alongside the music that yvonne had turned on, but not in the way a headache would slam the inside of your skull - the way you felt like your head was being rammed through a brick wall when you were trying to take in unexpected information.
roisin took a chip from an open packet, but she didn't taste it. if anything, it was bitter. she was too focused on the fact that there was no denying that frankie liked her. borderline loved her if she was going off of that conversation she eavesdropped on, and her strange behaviour over the past few months. she wasn't conflicted because she liked her back. no way. she didn't even think for a second about her romantically, knowing that axel, her boyfriend was sat on the couch, his arm still in the same spot above her indent in the cushions, waiting for her to return.
some part of her felt sorry for the girl. she was obviously going through something that no one was privy to. roisin had been there before, multiple times, and she was inclined to forgive her. then she remembered that she should never have heard what she said in the first place. she had to erase it from her mind. there had to be something to help erase it from her mind.
suddenly, her blurred eyes landed on the open bottle of vodka on the counter. she thought of how easy it would be to lose herself in it... but then she imagined the disappointment of all of her friends. the guilt they would feel. she imagined axel having to carry her home, and that thought made her feel ill. so roisin pushed off from the counter with shaking legs and a racing heart.
before she could even get a few feet away, she was walking absentmindedly into another body. they didn't even sway when she placed her hands on their chest. if anything, they relaxed. she didn't hear them or see them, but she knew who it was.
sinking into her abrupt hug, axel hummed contentedly. "you look really pretty. have i told you that yet?"
"at the hotel. also in the car, and again, now." she said. her words came out harshly, more annoyed than she intended. on the inside, she was melting at his words, but there were several more layers over that which hardened into ice.
"hey, hey. what's wrong?" he asked, rubbing soothing circles on the small of her back. when his fingers stuttered, she knew he had seen the root of her drastic mood change. "did you have any?"
"no. almost, but no." she admitted, "i was walking away when you came in."
"good."
she recalled the times olyvia had scolded her when she almost took a drink, recalled the times that olyvia scolded her for pretty much everything. to not get that response from a new significant other was positively jarring. "you're not mad at me?"
"rosie..." axel sighed. he placed both hands on her cheeks after pulling his mask to hang off of his ear. making sure she was looking into his eyes, feeling the warmth of his palms and really, really understanding what he was saying, he smiled, "i'm proud of you. i couldn't be farther away from mad if i tried."
"proud...? i-"
"yes, proud. it's a big step, being around alcohol. and it's a bigger step, resisting the temptation. so i'm proud of you." he confirmed, voice low and gravelly and so unbelievably warm that it sent a shiver through her whole body. she was silent, wide-eyed, not used to kind words from her partners. "i guess your ex never told you that."
"no. there was a lot of guilt-tripping and gaslighting... don't take this the wrong way, sweetheart, but i expected you to... i don't know, call me weak and say that i might as well drink because i'm useless anyway." roisin rambled. "it's no that i think you'd say that but-but it's all i've been told. you know?"
"i wish you didn't think like that, but i know it comes from past experience. i understand." he brushed his fingers across the side of her face, moving some stray strands of her messed up hair. "i'd never say that to you. ever."
"thank you." her voice was barely above a whisper, but he could hear her as clear as day. the smile that tugged at his lips made her heart flip in her chest, and she calmly surged forwards to capture his lips in a warm kiss. axel sighed contentedly. the feeling of him relaxing under her palms flat against his chest was endearing enough to make her giggle.
maybe that was the wrong move, since he guided her backwards until her back hit the wall, the sudden impact making her gasp into the kiss as it deepened. it felt too inappropriate for a public room, but the heat that sat in her stomach made it impossible to stop. roisin tangled her fingers in his curls, tugging on the locks as he leant down - one hand pressed up against the wall and the other fisted in her dress.
being in his arms, overheating and flustered, the girl forgot about the rest of the world. forgot about missing her brother, about returning to the internet, about the alcohol on the counter. more importantly, she forgot about olyvia and frankie. as long as they were together, she could barely picture their faces in her mind. he was her remedy for every hardship she had ever endured.
for axel, knowing that the girl under him was his and no one else's made the butterflies in his stomach multiply and multiply until there was no room left. he still found it hard to believe that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. regardless of that, he was the only one who knew that she had a small tattoo on the side of her breast, he was the only one who could say that he woke up to her kissing his face, he was the only one who could kiss her like that.
they would both be damned if they let anyone take them away from each other.