Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to your chest, music from your speakers blasting. You somehow haven't gotten any noise complaints from your neighbors yet. Not like you would even answer the door if they came knocking anyways. Being completely alone in a new city has made you a little paranoid about strangers.

You were just staring into space, letting yourself be swept away by the music. Mind so full that you might as well be thinking about nothing at all. Focusing on the lyrical themes of anarchy and hate. 

Dramatic, emo ass lyrics. The emotions are just so well conveyed, so strong , and it feels like they're singing to you . For you . You couldn't help but let yourself be sucked in by them…

You snap yourself out of it before you give into another parasocial relationship. You had started making an effort to not fall in love with anyone you thought you could relate to. Or who made a good joke. Or who looked at you for more than 2 seconds. You built enough strong walls after having one too many “go ask her out as a joke” pranks in high school. 

That was just one of the ways you got picked on. Being alternative, listening to different music from everyone else, and being socially awkward just made you an easy target. Not like any of those things really mattered, kids were cruel and would pick on anything that moved.

You're different now, well not really, but you're in a different city now so, same-same or whatever. It had been 3 years since you graduated high school when you moved out of your hometown.  

Being in that town was just too draining. Seeing the kids you went to school with would just bring back so many memories of crying yourself to sleep. Not to mention your dysfunctional, uptight family, breathing down your neck over every single decision you make, but never helping you make your way through life. Holding grudges sucked. You just needed to get out. 

Eventually you figured fuck it, you'd just do it on your own.

So that's how you ended up here, almost a year after you moved to a town a 5 hour drive away from where you grew up, blasting your favorite ‘please just let me dissociate.’ playlist, mentally preparing yourself to go to work.  

The only place that didn't care that you had been fired at every single job you worked at before, because you just couldn't be fucked to actually care about the minimum wage jobs, was a run down little diner. The skeevy owner pays you under the table and makes you give him your tips if you don't hide them from him, but at least it pays enough for you to live on your own. 

 A whole one bedroom apartment, not even a studio!

‘Winning, I guess ’

At least the people you work with are cool. The owner is a dick but the manager he hired is at least nicer, and you've kind of made friends with some of the cooks and other waiters. They even invite you to small music shows sometimes, well more like all the time, since one of them is somehow friends with every single person in a band in this city. 

It's only sometimes that you actually agree to go. 

Honestly you wish you were an extrovert. You love seeing live music, getting to hang out with people you actually like, not having to get drunk alone, sometimes you actually felt like you craved the positive interactions. It just takes you a while to mentally recharge after every outing and sometimes your work friends ditch you when they see their other friends, leaving you alone to feel self conscious in the crowded space. 

You don't blame them though, you'd probably do the same thing if you were them. Ditch the awkward girl who couldn't keep a conversation going and could barely make eye contact with people and- 

You roll your eyes at your own self deprecating thoughts. You really needed to stop pulling yourself down like this, you've actually been doing a lot better for yourself in this city. This is exactly what you needed, a fresh start, a new you.

You step off your bus and make your way the short walk to the diner, listening to music a little more upbeat, you don't need to completely dissociate while at work. 

‘ I need the money.’ you remind yourself 

‘I'll use it to go back to school. Or move again. Or maybe buy a leather jacket. I don't know. I'll do something cool with it .’

You really didn't know what you wanted to do. You spent so long dreaming about moving out of that shit hole little city that you didn't really make any plans for what you would do once you left. Honestly you kind of just thought you'd end up homeless, but at least you'd be homeless in a nicer town.

More recently you've thought about going to school to turn one of your many hobbies or interests into a career. But every time you think deeply about college you remember how much you absolutely hated high school, and the internal battle starts all over again. 

‘It's different, we’re all adults there, no one is going to even pay attention to you there.’ is what your rational brain thinks, but your irrational brain just thinks you're going to fall right back down to where you picked yourself up from.

Maybe you need therapy. 

 Actually not maybe, you've always felt you needed therapy. You weren't sure exactly what mental illness you had but you knew you had to have something . You've just never had the money or the caring family to see a doctor for your fucked up brain. 

Rolling your eyes at your edgy thoughts, you mutter “normal people scare me” in a goofy voice, trying to hype yourself for another day of customer service. 

 “(Y/N)! WE GOT 3 TABLES WAITING OUT HERE! LET'S GO” Hektor, the owner of the diner, yelled out from the kitchen towards the break room where you were putting your apron on. 

 “Oh my god do you ever shut up” you mumble to yourself

 It looked like your manager had the day off and Hektor had to actually do his job. Guess you don't get to keep your tips today.

 You walk out of the staff room, getting a couple “hey'''s from the cooks, giving them a smile before stepping out into the dining area and going about your tables. Trying to go on autopilot and think as little as you can, that usually makes the day go by faster.

It's just a small run down diner on a Tuesday evening so there haven't been a lot of customers coming in. Wasting your time 3 hours into your shift by cleaning random things that are already clean, when you hear that stupid bell ring, indicating a new customer walking through the door. 

You hear your co-worker and closest friend in this town, Megan, telling the patrons to sit wherever they'd like. You turn to see if they decide to sit in your section and, of course they do. 

 ‘ Fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off .’

You put away your task and make your way over to the group, grabbing three menus on the way. 

You stop at the end of the booth the customers chose to sit at.

“Hey guys, welcome in.” you start, in a monotone, robotic voice. A consequence of having to say that line so often. 

You place the menus down in front of them and look up at their faces. Three men, well, two men and one you would describe more as a boy. 

‘ Oh fuck, they're cute .’

You kind of feel thrown off seeing men here that aren't in their 50s, even more thrown off that these guys are actually attractive. Usually you hate college age guys, their aura you can only describe as “vibe ruining”. There's another reason you're scared of going back to school, you really don't want to interact with frat guys. Even though you know it's not fair that you think “frat” every time you see a guy your age. 

‘ Oh god, I'm staring.’

“Uh, what can I get you guys to drink?” you start, looking over at the younger man, realizing he is also starring, probably just confused by your long pause. 

“C-coke. Please” he says, jerking his head, scratching his cheek, and looking away from you, towards one of the men across from him with wide eyes, almost like he's trying to convey something to the other man. 

The other man made eye contact with the boy and raised his eyebrows at the boy, and then turned to you.

‘ What is going on?’

“I’ll just have a water, please.” he said, flashing you a charming smile, revealing a little tooth gap. 

‘ Alright tooth gap head ass.’

“And for you?” you continued, looking at the last man. 

You couldn't really tell if he was participating in the silent exchange between the other two, as he rubbed the middle of his forehead and dragged his palm down his face.

“Coffee…..please” he replied, joining the other boys in their hospitality.

“Great, I'll be right back.” you said before turning on your heel and going to get their drinks. 

”Idiots…” you hear a quiet mumble  from one of the men behind you.

Once you finish filling their drinks behind the bar top, you turn just in time to see the three turn their heads back towards each other, and the man who ordered the coffee looking between the other two men dumbfounded. You make it to their table just as the coffee boy finishes mumbling something to coke boy and water boy.

You set their drinks down in front of them, earning a “Thank ya’ darlin’ '’ from water boy, looking up into his eyes surprised by the sudden southern charm, seeing a sparkle in his eyes and again giving you a sweet toothy half grin. You smile a bit just from the awkward shock of being called "darling" by a hot guy who's under the age of 60.

You clear your throat. "Do you guys know what you're gonna have?" you ask, straightening up and pulling out your ticket book, still with a small smile. You look at the younger boy, who has his mouth slightly parted. 

He blinks harshly a few times, adam's apple bobbing, before he begins "I'll-I’ll-I’ll-I’ll” he paused to swallow again, “I’ll j-j-just have a cheeseb-b-b-burger and ffffries". You catch the beginning of another twitch before you turn to the other two.

"Club sandwich, please" water boy says, still giving you a goofy smile.

"Great, and for you?" you ask, looking up from your ticket book to coffee boy.

"I'm good with just this, love.'' he responds, and the other boys snap their heads to him. 

"Alright. I'll go put that in.'' you say simply, and turn on your heels towards the kitchen.

Megan was waiting in the kitchen for her table's food to be done, very obviously flirting with the newest cook, Sean.

"(Y/nnnnn)…" she calls out after you put your ticket in 

"Megaannn" you mimic right back. 

"Are you busy Saturday night?" 

‘No.’ "Uhhh… kind of, why?"

"Because Sean's band is playing downtown and I want to go! You should come with!" 

Your first instinct is to say no. Come up with an excuse to let her down easy, but while Sean started babbling about the lineup that night or something, you usually zone out while men talk, you accidentally started convincing yourself to go. 

You loved live music and it had been so long since you've been to a show. It's also been a while since you've had a drink that wasn't alone in your apartment, and you did actually like Megan… 

"Alright, I'll go" you said, suddenly cutting Sean off.

"GIRLS NIGHT!" Megan practically squealed, and threw her arms around you.

“Alright take this out Megan” Sean announced as he finished Megan's food. She picked her plates up and hurried them out of the kitchen.

Not really wanting to awkwardly stand around Sean, you grabbed the coffee pot to go out and check on your table. You make your way out to the three men again, they were all leaning over the table close to each other, discussing something quietly. They all stopped talking and sat up once you got to the table, and you leaned over the table to fill coffee boy’s mug.

"It shouldn't be too much longer of a wait" you assure them, trying to get them to talk some more to see if the others have southern accents. You weren't very close to the south so it was interesting to actually hear in the wild.

"Aw, that ain't no problem at all, darlin’." Water boy said "At least we got a pretty girl like you to keep us company." 

You let out a little huff-laugh "Well that's awfully sweet of you." You straightened back up and looked over at him, already knowing he was going to have that goofy smile again.

"I'm just tellin’ it how I see it" he smiled, crossing his arms on top of the table and leaning forward.

Wanting to switch subjects because you're not about to fall in love over a 30 second interaction, you asked "So.. are you all traveling through or something? We very rarely see new people come into this shit hole, and we’re pretty far from the South…" or at least far enough away where there shouldn't be a lot of young people with thick accents around.

‘ Dammit’ cursing yourself for slipping up and swearing, this is why you make yourself go on autopilot. 

"Ah, uh… yeah, we're here for work." Water boy replied first and took a sip of his water while the other two just stared at him. Kind of an awkward bunch

"Yea me too." you laughed at your own bitter joke, earning a chuckle from water boy and smiles from the other two. "I'm gonna fill this up for you, I'll be right back" you inform them, picking up coke boy’s empty cup.

"T-take your ti-ime" coke boy smiles up at you, drumming his fingers on the table.

‘ God damn, he’s fucking cute.’

You smile back before turning around. As you walk back behind the bar top you realize you had a genuine smile on your face, and you try to relax your face to shake yourself out of it.

 ‘ Alright fine, these guys can stay. But they’re on thin ice.’

Chapter Text

You sat at the bar and sipped your rum and coke, something Megan ordered for you to get you to loosen up a bit. She knew you were a little uncomfortable in the jeans and tank top that left a bit of your midriff exposed, an outfit she had picked out for you after insisting she come over to your apartment so the two of you could get ready together. She continually reassured you that you looked sexy, complimenting her fashion sense, trying to get you to keep the clothes because you "pulled them off better" than her, but that, nor the rum and coke, was really working. She really was a good friend.

Speaking of Megan being a good friend, you had no idea where she went. Probably talking to some other friends that are also here to butter up some band guy. The music scene is pretty tight knit in this city, everyone kind of knows everyone after going to enough shows. But you don't go to enough so this was usually how you ended up, alone sitting on your phone.

It's not Megan's fault, if you weren't so in your head about everyone else hating you you could also go out there meet new people, make new friends. You needed more drinks for that.

You finish your cocktail and set the glass down, continuing to scroll through your phone, putting off going to find Megan to say goodbye. The first band had already played, not really your thing, and sitting alone at a bar like this was just making you more self conscious. You were the only one sitting at the bar besides a small group of guys to your right, sitting at the far end, huddled in on each other.

You were zoning out a bit, just listening to the music the bar played between sets. You actually really liked this particular song, when to your right you had heard something just barely audible over the music.

"Brian? Brian are you listening to me? Hey… hey! Where are you going?? Brian? Hoodie??"

Suddenly there was someone next to you waving down the bartender 

"Could we get a refill here please, and one for me too" he called out

You finally looked up at the man because, hey buddy personal space. It was some guy about your age, really cute, and vaguely familiar....

"Well fancy runnin' into you again, (Y/n)." 

'Who the fuck is this and how does he know my name'

It doesn't click in your brain until you see the two boys behind him down the bar, both looking confused, one kind of pissed off.

'Oh yeah'

It was the guys that came into the diner on Tuesday, the one you have dubbed "water boy" standing next to you.

You put your phone back into your pocket. "Yeah, I guess it is fancy… um… actually I don't think I ever got your name."

He chuckled a bit "It's Brian"

"Oh. Well fancy seeing you here too, Brian."

"So, what brings you here?". He leaned down against one elbow on the bar top.

"Um, I work with one of the guys in one of the bands… and I got invited by a friend to keep her company."

"Doesn't look like your keepin' anyone company to me" He said, looking around for emphasis.

You sighed "Yeah, I'm about to get out of here.." you were about to stand before the bartender set two drinks down, one in front of you and the other in front Brian. "Well, I was about to get out of here…" 

Brian let out a small chuckle "Well sorry for keeping you hostage." he replied, right before someone came around the other side and continued for Brian.

"B-but we were looking for some-one to keep us com-company. One for me t-t-too, please." Another man says, waving at the bartender again. You turn to see Coke boy standing on the other side of you, smirking down at you and slightly wobbling, clearly not on his first drink of the night.

"Please, I'm kinda gettin' bored of this one's shit" Brian said, peeking up at coke boy.

"H-hey! Fuck-k-k off!" The bartender set a drink down in front of Coke boy, who picked it up and took a sip. These two were really attractive. You could tell at the diner but now that they were close to you and the drink you had was making you feel less awkward about studying their features, they were actually pretty hot.

Brian smirked before looking back at you, "So, what did you think of that last band?" 

"SSSSNOOZE FEST!" Coke boy shouted. You turned to see him shake his head back and forth a bit.

"Honestly, I'd have to agree." You said giggling, "I think my coworkers' band plays last, they're supposed to be really good."

"Oh really? You know, Toby actually came just to see that band." Brian immediately replied, nodding towards the boy on the other side of you.

Brian had slightly tousled light brown hair, stubble around his strong jawline that was thickest above his lip and on his chin. It was hard to really tell sitting down but he was tall , even with you sitting on a bar stool and him leaning down on the bar, he looked like he could be two heads taller than you. He was wearing a fitting black t-shirt that showed off his medium build, large defined arms, and pecs. He wore dark faded jeans and boots as well. His boyish smile was a huge contrast from his frame.

"Oh?" You turned to Toby, who was staring wide eyed at Brian, "I actually have never listened to them before, are they that good?" You asked Toby, studying him while he talked.

Toby took a drink, and then looked down at you, "uh-huh, yep yep, ye-ah they're g-gr-great. Yep yep. Been-n list-listening to them f-f-for a couple mon-n-nths now!"

Toby had darker brown curls, and some slight stubble along the bottom of his jaw. He also still had a large bandage starting at the corner of his mouth and covering almost the entire expanse of his right cheek. He had it on Tuesday too but you hadn't noticed how big it was until now that you could see more of that side of his face. He wasn't as tall as Brian, but he still had a good few inches on you, making you look up at him. He was almost a little lanky, having a smaller frame than Brian, but still defined muscles you can see under the band shirt he wore. He also wore messy, ripped black jeans and converse, fitting in here more than Brian was.

He took a drink again, and you took one with him. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself at least!" You were not about to let this conversation fizzle out.

"Oh-oh-oh. Yeah. Oh yeah I dragged th-them out-t with me to sssee this band play. Tim and I love live music."

Before you could reply, someone else had stepped behind you and cleared their throat. You turned to the third man standing behind you. Honestly he was a little intimidating and the look on his face didn't make that any better 

'Did they say Tim? '

"Sorry about these two idiots . Apparently I have to get leashes for them. Can you two focus please."

You let out a soft laugh, watching Toby step away from you. You can practically see the dog ears on top of his head being lowered.

"We'll see you around." Brian quietly said to you as he pushed off the bar and flashed you one last grin, before him and Toby followed the one they called Tim into the crowd.

As you watched them leave you saw Megan in a different corner of the crowd. Once you made eye contact with her she frantically waved you over, and you realized that the band had been setting up while you were talking to Toby and Brian. 

You got up from the bar and made your way over to Megan, making sure to bring your drink, right as the band began to play.

At this point you were glad you had decided to stay. The second band was a lot better, way more your speed. Megan had stayed with you the whole set, except for the few times she jumped in the pit to throw herself against a bunch of other sweaty people, and once when she went to get you both another drink.

She had pulled you all the way to the front with her, not like that was hard at such a small venue, and really got into the music. Once the set was done she gushed over every little detail, the guitar solos, bass riffs, and how hot the drummer and singer were up there. 

Once she calmed down she dragged you from the crowd to go "take a girl-piss" with her. Whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean.

On your way towards the bathroom you passed by the bar, and glancing over you saw Brian there, looking directly at you. He didn't look away when you caught him looking, and you decided fuck it, maybe he'll buy me another drink, really enjoying the buzz you had right now.

"Actually you go ahead, I'm gonna get another drink" you said, turning back towards Megan.

"OH! let's do SHOTS when I get back!" She exclaimed, jumping a couple times.

You giggled and pushed her towards the bathrooms, turning back towards the bar and Brian.

"You seem to be having fun all of a sudden." Brian greeted once you got close to him.

"Yeah, that set really gave me all of my energy back. They were actually really good." You replied, committing the band's name to memory to check out later.

"I could tell. You were cute jumpin' around out there." He smirked down at you. You felt your face heat up a bit.

' Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing'

"I'm surprised you could see me, I thought we were buried in bodies up there." 

"Such a pretty girl is real hard to miss." He replied, matter of factly, taking a sip of the beer he was holding.

You rolled your eyes and looked away, trying in vain to hide the blush on your face. "You're so full of it, Brian."

"Oh I mean it, you were so stoic at your diner the other day, but that little smile you had was like throwing a flash grenade at Toby." 

You snorted a bit, remembering when he snapped his head away from you almost every time you looked at him at the diner. "Really?" You asked, smiling at the ridiculous comparison. 

Just then the bartender set a drink on the counter. Brian picked it up and handed it to you

"Really. He wasn't the only one a little stunned either." He said, giving you a wide smile that showed off his tooth gap before taking another sip of his beer. You took a sip of your drink, another rum and coke, before continuing.

 "You know, you said Toby liked these bands but what about you? I haven't really seen you out there" you asked him.

"Oh, we just prefer to stay hidden. But I assure you darlin' I'm enjoying myself" he said, letting a bit of a southern accent slip through, suddenly reminding you of the thick one he had at the diner. 

'Is he actually southern or does he think he's being sexy?'

'Because it's working, it’s sexy.'

You giggle a bit, falling for his charming act and actually kind of liking that he called you "darling" 

'Oh god, maybe I am drunk.'

"Good, I'm just makin' sure you're not here to babysit"

That got a genuine laugh out of the man. "I guess it's a little bit of that too."

Just as you're about to ask what the deal with his accent is, you see Megan round the corner back into the bar.

It was like Brian sensed Megan coming when he quickly said "I'll let you do your shots, I've gotta' go find the boys" Brian said, giving you a half grin and leaving you to Megan. 

'Megan must've yelled "shots" pretty loud for him to overhear that. Guess I'm not the only drunk one'

You continued throughout the night with Megan. Once Sean's band came on she had pulled you right to the very front of the crowd. Coincidentally the man she pulled you up next to had been Toby, who, after you literally bumped into, looked down at you excitedly and playfully bumped into you a few more times.

He must not have been kidding when he said he liked this band. He spent the rest of the night jumping along to the songs, and even jumped into the small mosh pit with Megan during some of the heavier songs.The excited energy between Toby and Megan must've been getting to you because by the last song you were also jumping with the two.

You had ended the night back at the bar again. Megan had said she wanted to pregame for the after party she was having at her place. You for sure weren't going, sitting alone at a bar is bad enough, you didn't need to sit alone in the corner of a party in the same night. Besides, your social battery is at about 7% right now. You also weren't going to turn down another drink, judgment being fogged at this point in the night.

Megan once again left you, this time to go invite Sean to the after party. It had only been a few minutes before Brian approached you yet again, this time followed by Tim.

"So," he started as he came to a stop and leaned against the bar top, facing you, "are you going to this after party I'm hearing about too?"

You finish the last of your drink and set the glass down before turning to Brian. "Oh, no, I'm just gonna go home and crash." You smiled up at him, already feeling the sedative effects of the alcohol in your system

As you had turned to Brian you noticed Tim had stood behind you guys, arms crossed, but facing the opposite direction from you two. You followed his line of sight to the tiny stage, where the band was putting their equipment away. The only other people over there were Megan, who was making out with Sean near the back of the stage, and Toby, who was talking to the bassist in Sean's band. You wondered passingly if Brian was lying when he said he wasn't just here to babysit Toby, giggling to yourself about how funny that would be.

"Well that's too bad, we were kind of hoping we'd see more of you tonight…" Brian continued, pulling you out of your thoughts.

' Wait, huh?'

You turned back to Brian to see him scribbling with a sharpie onto the napkin that was under your drink. 

"Really?"

"Mmmhm." He responded, straightening up. He folded the napkin he had onto itself a few times.

 "Oh. Yeah sorry it was cool to hang out with you guys, I'm just completely drained"

'Idiot. What if he's flirting? Flirt back!'

"Hey, maybe I'll see you at their next show?" 

'Nice.'

He smirked at you, "Maybe, but, and I hope this isn't too forward," he slid his arm around your waist, not quite touching you, just narrowly hovering above your skin, "I think we'd like to see you sooner than that." and pushed the napkin into your back pocket. "No pressure" 

You stared at him, eyes wide, face feeling warm, and lips parted.

'Oh my god he is flirting.'

"Um… yeah… actually I'd really like that too." You replied, smiling sheepishly back up at him.

Tim coughed a few times next to you, and Brian looked over before looking back to you. "Get home safe tonight" he said as he offered you a toothy grin, and you didn't know if you were drunk or if he winked too. Then he then turned and followed Tim towards the stage.

You were officially at 1% battery.

You blinked a few times to try to get your brain to start producing thoughts again, before turning to the bartender to pay your tab. As you waited to grab their attention you pulled out the napkin from your pocket and opened it.

'Holy shit.'

He gave you his phone number.

A smile began to creep onto your face.

'He's actually into me.'

"What else can I get for ya'?" The bartender suddenly asked, making you jump a bit. 

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to pay my tab." you replied, stuffing the napkin back into your pocket and pulling out your wallet.

"It was already closed, guy payed it." The bartender said, nodding his head behind you towards the stage, before leaving to help another customer.

You turned to where the bartender nodded, looking at Brian, Tim, and Toby, now all surrounding the bassist.

Chapter Text

"Police are on day three of searching for Michael Cox, a local 24 year old man who was reported missing Tuesday night. Michael is six feet tall, with brown hair and green eyes. Friends reportedly last saw him at a local music venue and bar-" 

"This is so fucked up." Megan interrupted the reporter on the tiny TV that was set up in the corner of the staff room. You looked up from the TV, towards Megan. “He didn't even make it to my after party.'' Megan had come into the room to fix her lipstick, holding her small compact up to see herself.

“You knew him?” You asked. Honestly somehow Megan knew everyone in this town.

“Well yeah, he was the bassist in Sean's band. OH!” She suddenly exclaimed, apparently completely forgetting all about the missing bassist. She snapped her compact shut and focused on you, “did I tell you Sean asked me to go out with him next Thursday?” 

Sean and Megan ended up hooking up after her party last week, you learned nearly the second you walked into your next shared shift with Megan. Now they've been spending every free minute making out with each other in the kitchen. 

“That's cool. What's Sean gonna do without his bassist?” You felt bad for Sean, but also a little worried. It was scary being only two people removed from someone who's gone missing. You wanted to know a little more about what happened to Michael to ease your worries a bit.

“Oh who cares," well, so much for that. "Sean's taking me to a bar downtown, apparently his roommate is playing a show there that night and their band is really good- WAIT!" She marched up to where you sat on the old worn out couch, and leaned down to grab your shoulders 

"You should come! Invite that guy you were talking to!”

You had told Megan that Brian gave you his number when she had finally taken a breath while talking about Sean, and now it's like when she's not thinking about Sean she's thinking about ways to get you to see Brian. 

Honestly you haven't even texted him yet. As much as Megan wanted to insist that Brian had been all over you, you really just saw it as a bored guy who's friends ditched him, just like you were a bored girl who's friend ditched her. You were just around and easy to talk to. Besides, he didn't seem sober that night either, what if he regretted giving you his number?

'He'd probably regret giving me his number after a day of talking to me sober anyways.'

"I'm not inviting them, Megan. I haven't even put his number in my phone yet." You said, getting up. Your break was thankfully almost over anyways, and you really didn't want to have this conversation with her again.

You crossed the room to the small set of lockers that surprised you when you first saw them. It's still shocking that Hektor actually splurged on them. You guess it's needed when he'll hire just any creep.

"(Y/n)!" Megan threw her arms up, exasperated, "Would you grow some balls already! He was into you! How could you not see it in that smile he kept giving you!" 

"How could you even see that smile? You were sucking face with Sean the whole night." You sent her a side eye while putting your phone away in your locker, next to your backpack.

"Hey! We only started making out after his set." She said, shifting her weight to one leg and placing her fist on her hip.

"Whatever," you closed your locker, then turned and walked past her to the door. "The point is, you're blowing this whole thing way out of proportion. He was just a nice guy hanging out with someone whose friend had ditched her to go suck face !" You teased, trying to shut her up but also giving her a smile to let her know you were just being playful, before walking out the door behind her, and going back into robot customer service mode

'Just two more hours.' You reminded yourself, trying to shake off the admittedly attractive smile he had given you that night.

You were able to make it out without any more interrogation from Megan, practically dancing your way out of the diner. You just had to stop at the grocery store, which was luckily one of the stops your bus had between the diner and your apartment, where you would get your weekly groceries and a treat for yourself for having to deal with Megan all day.

You had gotten to the bus stop exactly one minute before it was set to arrive, and just your luck the bus was actually on time . The buses in this town sucked. When they weren't 10 minutes late they were 5 minutes early. Today must've been your lucky day.

You hopped onto the bus and paid your fare, before heading straight to the back where you always sat to be emo and pretend you were in a music video in peace. It wasn't until you were halfway to your usual seat when you looked up and saw a man sitting there. 

"Dammit. Not my lucky day after all'

His face was completely covered by a face mask and bright orange goggles, and you cautiously decided it might be best to keep your distance from him. You sat a few rows ahead of him, in the seats that were turned towards the inside of the bus, so you could see him in your peripherals. 

'I'm just being cautious'

'I'm not paranoid.'

'I'm being so normal right now.'

Suddenly remembering your earbuds, you pop them in and connect them to your phone, getting lost in your playlist. You stared out the window of the bus, zoning out a bit after the long day of work.

"Stop-stop-STOP." You nearly jumped out of your seat, turning to the source of the shouts that were audible even over your music.

It had been the man in the mask, and he had been twitching hard . Jerking his head to the right, and his right shoulder up, nearly touching each other. The twitching had only lasted a second past his shouts when he stopped. 

He raised his eyebrows and shook his head a bit before calmly reaching up a gloved hand and pulling the cord to notify the bus to stop. You hadn't realized you had been staring until he turned and looked directly back at you.

"S-sorry. Sorry," you quickly straightened up and pulled out an ear bud, "I guess I'm jumpy today, you just caught me off guard…" You laughed a bit, trying to ease the awkwardness of being caught staring at someone.

Suddenly he stood up, a little stiffly, as the bus came to a stop. "N-no b.d., see you aro-around." He said, stepping past you towards the doors. He pressed the doors open once the bus fully stopped, and then stepped off, leaving you confused as to what just happened.

You got off the bus a couple stops later, pulling your backpack around to assess how much room you had, you did not want to walk back to your apartment with arms full of grocery bags. 

You walked into the store and grabbed a basket, swearing you're only going to fill it up halfway this time. You pulled your list up on your phone and made your way around the store, just restocking some staples, and ended your trip in the snack cake aisle.

You debated between the different sweets, before reaching for your comfort treat, not wanting to experiment with new choices. Not like it would matter, they'd all rot your teeth the same and have that same classic plastic-y taste, and you'd have it no other way. You check your basket and compare it to your list before deciding you better quit while you're ahead, and turn to go back down the aisle. 

Instead of turning into an empty aisle though, you turned directly into a wall, stumbling back to get a comfortable distance away from that wall as soon as possible. In your haste you nearly tripped over your own feet before the wall caught you by the arm and steadied you. 

"Oh my god I am so sorry" you quickly get out, looking up to see who this wall was that had silently snuck up behind you. You pulled your earbuds out to take the probable yelling you were about to receive.

"No, no, please don't apologize, it was my bad." 

As you looked up, you realized the wall was one of the men you had seen at the bar last week. Not Brian, the other, grumpier one he was with. 

'Was it…Tom? Ted?'

"Oh, (Y/n), right?" 

'Well fuck, he remembers MY name…Why can these guys always remember my name better than I can remember theirs.'

"Uh, yeah. You were…Brian's friend…right?" 

"Yeah, Tim, sorry, I guess we never really properly met." He stepped back and bit and smiled.

"Do we shake hands?" You asked after a small pause, smiling at your own stupid joke. 

He smiled wider and offered his hand, which you took a little awkwardly. You weren't quite used to physical touch, especially after living alone in a new town for a year. His shake was gentle, which caught you off guard coming from such a big guy, and you finally were able to really study him for longer than a brief second in dim bar lighting.

He had straight dark brown hair, not long enough to quite touch his shoulders, but long enough to put into a small bun if he wanted to. He had strong, sharp features, and a short, dense beard. He seemed like he would be about Brian's height, but he had a much bigger frame. If he wasn't being so sweet right now you would be very intimidated. You should probably stop staring now.

"So, uh, are the other two here with you? Every time I've seen you guys so far it's been all three of you." You said, dropping your arm. 

"Yeah, I guess we care about eachother like that or something." He replied, rolling his eyes and smiling a bit, "No, Brian and Toby aren't here, they're…at work right now, I'm doing the shopping for the week by myself tonight." 

"No offense, but that's a lot of food for a week..." You said, eyeing his cart full of groceries. You guessed you didn't really know how much three grown men could eat, though.

"Honestly, it's mostly for Toby. That kid could eat an entire school cafeteria for lunch. That's the kind of food he likes to eat too." He said, gesturing towards the seat part of the basket, that had a few loaves of bread, peanut butter, and some lunchables. You laughed once your eyes landed on the lunchables. "I think I got everything though. You?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, I'm done too. I just had to get something for myself for putting up with a shitty day at work." You said, you had turned and started walking down the aisle, heading towards the registers. Tim followed, somehow he had managed to get a cart that you couldn't hear squeak across the whole store.

"I'm sorry to hear that, what happened?" He asked.

"Boss sucks. It's no big deal. So, you, Brian, and Toby live together?" You asked, not wanting to actually admit that your 'shitty day' was actually just your friend interrogating you about Brian.

"Yeah, we do, actually. We just moved here for a…job…transfer thing" Tim replied, leaning down on his cart's handle as you two walked.

Well, at least you're not the only socially awkward weirdo around now. "That's cool, how long have you guys been here?"

"Ummm…about a month now I think"

You both stopped in line at the same cash register, Tim motioning you to go ahead of him.

"Thanks…wow. You guys really are new here. I've been here for like a year and I still think of myself as new…" you replied as you unloaded your groceries on the belt, dropping your basket on the small pile on the floor.

Tim let out a small huffy laugh and continued, "A year? Really? It's only been a month and we’re bored out of our minds in this town.”

You stepped up to the cashier when the customer in front of you packed all their bags up and left, while Tim started piling his things onto the belt.

"So far the only thing I've found to do here is going to see tiny bands play in tiny bars." you laughed a bit, kind of upset with yourself for hiding out in your apartment for the past year instead of going out to find things to do so you would be prepared for the moment a handsome lumberjack appeared behind you in a grocery store and said 'Hey, I'm bored, have any places you wanna take me on a date to?'

"That's actually perfect, we all love music, especially Toby. It's been too damn long since we’ve been able to regularly see live music, that kid won't stop buggin' me about it." 

‘I'm so in.’

"57.83" the cashier droned out, drumming her fingers on the counter and staring out into space.

"On card, please." You pulled out your card and pushed it into the machine, before continuing with Tim.

"Well if you liked those bands the other night, my friend actually just invited me to another show. I think I still have Brian's number, so I can text him the details." You pulled your card back out and the cashier handed you your receipt.

"How about I give you my number too, just in case you lost Brian's?" Tim offered. You paused for a moment, turning and blinking at him, his eyebrows raised as he gave you a soft smile. 

‘He's flirting he's flirting he's flirting’

You willed your god complex to shut up for a second before softly smiling at him and pulling out your phone, opening the contacts app and handing it to him. You packed your groceries away in your backpack, proud you were able to just make them all fit, before zipping your backpack up. You turned to Tim to take your phone back from him.

"I called myself, so I have your number too. If that's alright…" He quickly added on the last part.

You giggled a bit and reassured him. "Yeah that's fine. I'll text you when I find out more about that show."

"Can't wait to hear from you." He smiled down at you. 

“Great, see ya’.” You slung your backpack around and waved as you turned to leave, smiling back.

‘Great?? Who the hell says great to that??’ You scolded yourself.

You decided that you were going straight home to tear your place apart to find Brian's number. 

Chapter Text

You were currently sitting on the bus on your way to your afternoon shift at the diner. At this point you had been staring at the text typed out in your message box for about ten minutes now.

Hey :) |

Good news; You had found the napkin with Brian's number written down on it when you got home last night - still stuffed in the back pocket of the jeans you had worn to the bar that same night. Thank god you were too lazy to do laundry.

Bad news; You had no idea what to say to him. Tim asking for your number last night had convinced you that maybe Brian really was interested in you. Although now if Tim went home and told Brian that you had given him your number, Brian would probably think you weren't interested in him . Which was very much not the case.

Why does this have to be so complicated?

You had been trying to come up with an excuse for waiting a week to text him since you left the grocery store last night. You wanted to be as casual as possible about this, act like any normal person would after getting a hot guy's number at a bar. Act like it was no big deal that you didn't text him for a week.

Hey Brian, sorry, I thought you just felt bad for me|

Hey Brian, sorry, I'm scared of you|

Hey Brian, sorry, I'm an idiot|

Hey Brian, sorry, I got hit by a car and have been on life support for 6 days. First thing I did when I got discharged was go to the grocery store to get the most unhealthy, sugar packed thing I could get my hands on. How have you been?|

'Why the hell am I overthinking this'

You pinched the bridge of your nose and cleared the text box, starting over again. You decided to try to pretend it hasn't been a week, and after taking a deep breath, you began typing again.

Hey :) its (Y/n), we met at that Neon Ghosthouse show last Saturday and you gave me your number. I was wondering what you, Tim, and Toby were doing Thursday night? I was thinking of going to another show downtown to support my friend's-boytoy's-roommate's band and Tim said you guys want to find fun things to do since you're new to town and I'm really sorry I never texted you but I was worried you would think I was weird after you got to know me and all three of you are really hot and I think you and Tim might've flirted with me and me and toby vibed at the show I really don't want 3 hot guys who might be into me to think I'm weird so I thought maybe I should just make a move now and |

You paused, blinking as you realized you were using your text message to Brian as a diary. 

'Christ, I'm down bad '

You turned your phone off and put it back into your pocket, then buried your head in your hands and thought through your strategy again. 

'They probably weren't flirting. People can be nice to you without being in love with you.' You reminded yourself, willing yourself to be a regular human about this. The bus chimed and called out your stop name in its robotic voice, signaling you to pull the stop cord.

'Six days until Thursday. I'll figure this out later.'

Well that was a shitty day. Your boss, Hektor, was in again. He was micro-managing every single little thing that passed under his nose, you not carrying enough dishes at once, one of the cooks not plating something in the ‘right order’, breaking up two waitresses that talked to each other for too long. It being a Friday night meant a lot of things for him to unreasonably get mad about. At one point it seemed like he was going to start screaming in front of the customers because an ice cube was dropped on the floor.

You already had your earbuds in and music blasting by the time you stepped out the doors of the diner. You made your way to your bus stop, about a block away from the diner. You rounded a street corner and flopped down on the bench at the stop once you reached it, letting your eyes close and head lull back immediately. You were just trying to let your mind go blank, decompressing from the stress. You had done way too much thinking for the day.

Just a few minutes later, once you felt the familiar breeze of the big bus stopping in front of you, you opened your eyes and grabbed your bag. Standing up, you finally noticed a figure standing next to the bench, someone who wasn't there when you sat down. Your music was pretty loud though, it wasn't surprising that you didn't notice him approach. 

You studied him while you stood. It was a big guy, with his hands shoved into the pockets of his tan bomber jacket, his dark hair pulled back in a bun, and a white mask with black features pulled over his face. You furrowed your browns together when your eyes landed on the mask. It was strange, but you weren't one to judge. You quickly looked away and stepped onto the bus. Paying for your fare, you went straight back to your usual seat, wobbling a bit as the bus started again.

You sat and looked forward, just to see the same man that was standing next to your bench sit down nearer to the front of the bus.

'Well at least he's not creeping on me …'

You pulled out your phone to kill time. Opening the list of apps you had open, closing them all one by one, until you got to the first app you opened that morning. Messages.

' Right…"

You opened the app, and it brought you right back to your unsent draft to Brian. You stared at it for a minute, re-reading it about 10 times. Trying to figure out how to say all that without actually saying all that . Your finger hovered over the text box, debating on whether or not you were too tired for this shit right now.

' Think of something witty. Charming. Funny. Something that doesn't make it sound like you were just released from the psych ward. Please god don't make it sound like you just got out of the psych ward.'

Just as you went to tap the box to fix your insane rambling of a message, the bus hit a particularly harsh pothole. The whole bus shook and you bounced in your seat a bit, almost causing you to drop your phone. You looked up and around, making sure the bus hadn't just flipped over or something, before realizing you had gripped your phone, touching its screen. You looked down at your screen to-

"FUCK!" 

You slapped your hand over your mouth. You looked towards the front of the bus again, seeing that the man at the front had, in fact, heard your shout, as he had his head turned slightly towards you.

"Fuck fuck fuck," you whispered to yourself.

You had accidently sent the message.

'Oh my god he's going to think I'm insane.'

You quickly typed out another message, desperate to make yourself sound less crazy. You were not about to fumble this.

Oh my GOD I am so sorry I did NOT mean to send that|

'No, try to save face. You're a cool, normal girl, and normal girls don't send things like that to guys that they're trying to convince that they're cool and normal.'

Oh my god this is so embarrassing but my friend just stole my phone and sent that| 

'What is this 8th grade??? He would never buy that.'

'Oh fuck .' He read it.

He's typing.

Back to plan one.

Holy shit I didn't mean to send that I am so sorry, please dont think I'm cra|

<You think we're hot? ;)

…

'No fucking way.'

You stare blankly at your phone for a solid minute. You just sent this guy a hysterical breakdown of a first text and all he cares about is that you called him and his friends hot. You laugh a bit at your phone before replying.

I swear to god i didn't mean to send that>

<So…. You don't think we're hot? ;(

'No fucking way he's being this cool about this. No fucking way he actually wants me to think he's hot.'

I didn't say that. what I am saying is can we pretend I didn't send anything past "what are you guys doing Thursday'' >

Please?>

You bury your head in your hands and take a few deep breaths, trying to bring your soul back into your body. Your phone vibrated, and you opened it to check the text.

<Give me a minute, let me ask the guys :)

'Holy shit I can't believe I didn't just destroy everything. Maybe he likes psych ward girls.'

You put your phone away and look out the window to make sure you didn't miss your stop. Even after a year of taking the same bus it's still kind of hard to tell where your stop is in the dark.

The masked man was still on the bus, looking out the window. He shifted and pulled his phone out of his back pocket, before tapping away on it. You resisted the urge to pull your phone back out, because you knew you'd text Brian back the second he texted you. You wanted to make him wait at least 2 minutes for you to get off the bus. You know, like a cool and normal girl. 

'No psych ward girls here, Brian!'

The masked man ahead of you put his phone back into his pocket and settled back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked like he had a long ride on here. 

You pulled the stop cord as your bus pulled up closer to your stop, grabbing your bag and standing up. Pulling out your phone, you finally allow yourself to see if Brian texted you back, you just couldn't help it. You walked up to the rear doors, a little weary of getting so close to the masked man, who was across and one row up from the door, and read the message from Brian while waiting for the bus to stop.

< Looks like everyone's free Thursday. When and where?

You smiled, going to your messages with Megan to ask her the details, before looking up to press the doors to the bus open and stepping off. You turned around to get one last look at that weird mask that guy was wearing, only to find the masked man staring right back at you before the bus sped off.

Chapter Text

You walked out of the diner with a little pep in your step, stepping out into the cool evening air. It was Tuesday evening after your slow morning shift at the diner. Lately you had been taking every free Tuesday you got to go visit local record stores. 

Honestly Tim was right, there wasn't that much to do in this town. There were some thrift stores you liked going to, there was a small theater that played classics every once and a while, a good amount of bars, and a mall about an hour bus ride away from you. 

There were also 3 different record stores you liked to visit, all within reasonable walking distance from each other and the diner. After accidently going to the stores three Tuesdays in a row, you decided to just make that your thing. And today was what you had been calling 'Record Store Tuesday'.

You walked down the sidewalk toward the closest store, still giddy from Friday, when you finally invited Brian out. After getting the full details from Megan, who was ecstatic when you told her you needed them because you were finally talking to Brian, you passed them over to him. You pulled out your phone and opened the text, like you had done about 3 times every day since he sent it.

< It's a date, we'll see you then ;)

You smiled like an idiot down at the text, before turning your music up and sliding your phone back into your pocket. He was probably just joking around. Maybe he's just a naturally flirtatious person and doesn't really mean it. Maybe he didn't realize how seriously you took the word "date".

'Or maybe he wants me.'

You smiled wider at your dumb brain and its dumb thoughts.

Rounding a corner and pulling the door open, you stepped into the first record store, "Ronnie's". Pulling out your earbuds, you were delighted to hear a Nirvana song playing loudly throughout the store. The older man that ran the store was behind the counter to your right like usual, cataloging a huge stack of vinyls on a table behind the counter.

He turned to you when he heard the bell on the door jingle, "hey there, (Y/n)." He said, smiling at you. He paused what he was doing, turning around to the counter and picking up his Monster to take a sip.

You smile back and walk over to the counter. "Hey Ron, have you gotten anything exciting in?" 

He leaned down on his elbows over the counter, "now, you know if I had I'd be keeping it for myself." He said, chuckling a bit.

You laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's fair."

"Let me know if you need anything," Ron called out as you turned to your usual back corner of the store, where your favorite genres were kept.

"You know I will." You replied over your shoulder, continuing on.

There was someone already at the genre you usually looked at, thumbing through each and every vinyl organized under the letter D. You waited for him to move on by browsing around some other parts of the store, but after about 10 minutes and him just starting on the letter G bands, you decided to just squeeze in the corner to the left of him. 

You browsed next to him for about 5 minutes, being almost as meticulous as he was while looking through the records so that you wouldn't have to be shoulder to shoulder with him. Eventually, he picked a record out of the stack, pulled it out of its sleeve, and held it up in the light to inspect. It was just then that he seemed to notice your presence.

"Oh. Hey (Y/n)." He said, still holding the record up in his gloved hands but looking at you.

You finally looked at his face. "Oh, hey... Toby, right?" You replied, turning fully towards him.

He carefully slid the record he was looking at back into its sleeve and tucked it under his arm, seemingly satisfied with its quality.

“Y-Yeah. Toby-y.” He said with a small smile. 

You politely smiled back, “you guys are really good with names.” You commented. You had the same funny feeling you did when you saw Tim at the grocery store, when he had also remembered your name even though you don't remember giving it to him. Or any of the three boys honestly.

Toby paused, looked you dead in the eyes and replied, “Brian and Tim talk about you a lot.” Then turned his head to the left in a jerking motion three times.

'Oh'

“S-s-sorr-ry. I shhhhhouldnt ha-a-ave said th-that…'' Toby said after a short pause, and went back to looking through the stack of records, putting the record he had under his arm away and moving on to the letter H.

His apology made you realize that your eyes were wide and your lips had parted a bit. Recovering, you continued looking through the albums as well.

“That's alright.” His statement was slowly sinking in, and a blush began to form with a goofy smile that spread across your face. You two continued looking through records for a few more minutes before Toby spoke up again.

"Are you look-looki-ing for anything sp-sp-specific?” He asked, clicking his tongue and continuing on under the section M

“Ummm… not really. I just like to visit record stores on a regular basis. Seeing what's new and all. There's a couple more stores close by here that I like to walk to after I'm done here”

“REALLY?” Toby suddenly shouted. You stopped flipping through albums and looked over, seeing he had also stopped and was staring directly at you, mouth opened. “C-c-c-an you take me?” He asked, getting his volume back under control.

“Oh, yeah, sure. The next one is just around the corner and-”

Instantly Toby grabbed your hand and marched out the door before you had the chance to say bye to Ron, who was still deep into cataloging. He probably wouldn't notice you leaving anyways.

Toby dropped your hand once you two stepped onto the sidewalk. “L-lead the w-w-w-way!" He insisted.

You nodded and turned, heading towards the next store. 

“So, are you looking for an album or something? You looked pretty determined to find something in there.” You commented as you two walked together down the sidewalk. Toby seemed to have to make an effort to slow down to stay at your side, over taking you a couple of times before he would stop to let you catch up. Damn him and his long legs.

“N-no, i j-j-just like to” he paused, bent and extended his arm a few times while shaking his fist. He clicked his tongue twice before continuing. “I like to vv-visit record stores in every cccity we move t-to.” 

“You good?” You asked, accidentally coming off a bit more blunt than you meant to. Now that you thought about it, the few times you saw him he would jerk around a lot. It was actually probably rude to ask but the question had already slipped out.

“Huh?" he looked over at you, genuinely confused.

You studied him a bit while you talked, finally being able to see him in proper lighting. His curly brown hair with light auburn highlights throughout had tussled a bit when he turned to you.

“Just, you were moving your arm a little violently there. It looked like it might've hurt.”

He had soft features, a softly pointed nose, a strong jaw but not angular. His stubble was the same as it had been that night at the bar. He wasn't quite as tall now that you were standing up next to him, but you still had to tilt your head up a bit to meet his eyes.

He looked back down at the sidewalk. “Oh, I have t-tourettes. I uh… have v-v-erbal and m-mo-motor twitches,” he said, twitching his nose up a couple times. Your eyes traveled to the large bandage still sitting on his cheek.

He began picking at the gloves he was wearing while he talked. “B-but don't worry. I also ha-ave CIP-CIPA, ssso I can't f-f-feel it if I hu-hurt myself.” He said, finally meeting your eye and giving you a small half smile.

You stopped checking him out to meet his eyes as well

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything…”

“T-trust me. P-p-people have said w-worse things to me…” he said, smile dropping as he looked back ahead.

You two walked for a few minutes in silence before curiosity got the best of you.

“Would it be rude if I asked about the bandage too?”

He smiled again, wider than the last time. “Y-yea. It woul-ld be a little rude.” He said, laughing a bit.

“Alright, then I won't” you replied simply, laughing with him.

The sun was almost set by the time you and Toby walked out of the last store. You had asked Toby if there was something you should be helping him look for, which turned into a 10 minute rant about every band that he liked. You had only heard of about half the bands, all alternative bands. It turned out you two were actually looking for some of the same albums. 

Apparently, record store browsing was usually something Tim joined Toby for. The way Toby talked about it made it seem like it was their special bonding time.

“NO. Tim is a hater. He-he only l-l-likes Devo or some-some shit.” This was the answer you got when you asked if Tim liked the same music as Toby. That then led into another rant about Tim being a music snob. You figured that must have been why Tim seemed so grumpy at the bar the night you and Brian properly met. Alright, so maybe it's not really their 'special bonding time'.

Toby was in the middle of ranking all of the My Chemical Romance albums, ep’s, demo singles, and live albums when he had suddenly paused, staring a something that caught his eye across the street. You were about to turn to see what had his attention, when he put his hand on your shoulder.

“Uhhhh, hey! I gotta go. W-we sh-should do thisss again sometime. Um, can-can I join y-you for next-xt record ss-st-store tuesda-ay?” He asked, harshly stumbling over his words as he rushed them out.

“Yeah, of course, it was actually really fun to have a buddy.” you said genuinely, smiling up at him. You usually like to get lost in your music while you walk through the town, but you actually enjoyed Toby's hyper energy by your side.

He stared at you for a second, eyes flickering down, before he patted your shoulder and turned to cross the street, pausing to turn around and call out. “Hey and we-we’ll see you Th-Th-Thursday  r-right? 8?”

You had actually forgotten all about the night you guys had planned for Thursday. "Oh right, yeah, can't wait to see you guys.” You smiled again, feeling the butterflies flutter back into your stomach.

He smiled back, “be sssafe getting home-home.” He said, before turning again and crossing the street.

You watched him a bit while heading to your bus stop. After he crossed the street, he approached and stood in front of a man sitting on a bench. He had a tan hoodie pulled up over his head, and it looked like he was wearing a black ski mask over his face.

'Huh.'

You turned forward and rounded a corner.

As you sat on the bench at your stop, you pulled out your phone for the first time since running into Toby. Your messages with Brian were still open. You read the text for the 50th time since he sent it, but this time you focused less on the “date” part and more on the “we” part.

Chapter Text

You stood behind Megan, who was currently digging through racks of push up bras. She once again insisted that you two get ready together for the show tonight. Not that you necessarily minded, girl time was nice every once and a while.

On the way back to her apartment, however, she decided she ‘needed something special for tonight’, and that's how you two ended up at the mall.

You didn't realize what Megan had meant until you followed her into a lingerie store. You admit, it did cross your mind a couple of times. But no, you were just going to meet three acquaintances, have some drinks, listen to some music, and then go home alone.

You were going to be a normal person about this.

You heard a loud gasp and turned back to Megan, just to find her holding a set up against you.

"This would look SO SEXY on you!" 

"I thought we were here for you…" You replied, taking the set from her and turning it towards yourself.

"I know, but oh my god look how this color stands out!!"

'It is a beautiful color…'

Deep royal blue cups that were about half the size they should be, instead replaced with black lace across the whole cup, and peaking past the edge of the band. It also had two extra straps, each connected between the cups and up to the main straps. It had a matching thong as well, royal blue with the same black trim poking out from under the waistband. 

'If Toby couldn't handle my smile then…'

"No." You turned away from Megan to go pretend to browse another rack.

 "WHAT!?" Megan followed you across the store, still holding the set.

"Come ON (Y/n)! You would look amazing in this! Don't pretend you wouldn't!" 

"I'm not. I just have no reason to get it."

"I can think of one good reason right now." Really you had 3 reasons, but you still hadn't told her about Tim and Toby. You didn't want to imagine the scene she'd make if you told her you were talking to three hot guys.

You finally turn to look at her. She was still right behind you, still holding the set but with her arms crossed, leaning her weight on one leg, and her head tilted with an extremely annoyed face.

"I told you Brian's not into me like that, '' you replied, copying her pose.

"He would be if he saw you in this!"

You roll your eyes at her and turn back around, continuing to browse the rack.

"Honestly Megan, I'm not that girl. Even if he was into me. Even if I were into him. I am not going to buy skimpy lingerie that I probably won't even look good in-"

"TRY IT ON!" She suddenly exclaimed.

You turned your head to see her bouncing on her toes and holding the set back out to you.

"At least just the bra! I really want to see you in it!" 

"Your gay is showing, Megan."

Suddenly she stopped, and her face went serious. "(Y/n). I'm about to get on my knees and start begging you to let me see you in this bra." 

You both stare at each other, deadpanned and silent.

Finally you let out a loud snort, and snatched the set out of Megan's grasp, turning towards the changing room. Megan squealed loudly, following behind you while she gushed about how perfect it'll be for you.

You stood and examined yourself in the mirror. You just wore a pair of shorts and the bra. You hate to say it but Megan was right, the color of the blue jumped out beautifully against your skin. The cups were padded, so it pushed your breasts up to create a dramatic cleavage, where the extra straps dipped down in between. The full cups had transitioned into lace so you could just barely see your nipples peeking out.

It actually made you feel sexy . 

You held up the thong in front of you, not about to try it on if you still weren't sure if you'd buy it. But god damn, this really would be a hot set on you….

"Can I see it yet??" 

Megan had been not so patiently waiting outside for you to make up your mind on the set.

"I look kind of slutty…" You replied, eyeing your barely visible nipple. Although maybe it wasn't so bad...

It was silent for a moment before the handle to the changing room started jiggling violently.

"PLEASE!" 

"Alright! Relax!" You replied, giggling.

You set down the thong and turned to let Megan squeeze in through the cracked door. The second she saw you her jaw dropped, and she stared at your cleavage in silence.

"Alright stop being so dramatic, how does it actually look?" You asked, shifting your weight to one leg and placing your hand on your hip.

Megan only responded by making a stupid fuck boy face, biting her lip and looking you up and down. 

"Megan!"

"Ok fine," Megan finally responded, smiling, "you wanna know what I think?"

You sighed. "Yes, Megan! Today please!" 

She smiled wider, "I think Brian is going to love this tonight." The thought of Brian seeing you in this made your cheeks heat up.

"Megan…" You started.

"What! What is so wrong with the idea of you hooking up with him!" 

"Maybe the fact that I have only interacted with him for a grand total of twice!" You threw your arms up in the air, before spinning around to look at yourself in the mirror again.

"And?? I only had like… three conversations MAX with Sean before he invited me to see his band"

"That would still be more interactions than I've had with them …" You said, sighing.

"...Them?"

You looked away from the bra, up at Megan's confused reflection of her behind you.

‘Fuck. Well… I guess I should tell her before she sees me with all three of them in 2 hours’

"Uh…. yea…. them…"

She crossed her arms across her chest, and tilted her head. "What do you mean… them?"

You looked away from her reflection, and began picking at your fingers.

"Well… um… Brian has two roommates, Tim and Toby, and I've ran into them both separately, and they kind of flirted with me, and now all three of them are coming tonight" 

"And why didn't you tell me any of this??" She asked, exasperated.

"Because it's not a big deal." You mumbled.

"Not a big deal? (Y/n)! Three boys that all live together want you and-"

"They probably weren't flirting! They could just be really nice!" You finally turn back around to look at Megan. As much as you want to believe her you really don't want to take it the wrong way and end up embarrassed and heart broken.

Megan put on the most serious and intimidating face you've ever seen on her.

"(Y/n). You listen to me and you listen good. I am going to find you two more sets. You're going to put them on and you're going to feel sexy in them. Then we're going to my place and you're going to put on the sluttiest clothes I own-" 

You opened your mouth to object, but Megan quickly put up her finger to stop you before continuing. "And you're going to look unbelievable in them. Then we're going out and you're going to show those three what they're missing. Got it?"

You sighed and turned back towards the mirror, getting one last good look at the bra you were wearing.

"Got it??" Megan asked again, more stern.

"Fine. Got it." You finally gave in, thinking about the reaction you'll get from the boys. Megan had great style so you knew you could at least trust her with that.

Megan dropped her façade instantly, squealing while she left the dressing room to find more lingerie for you.

'She better be right about this.'

You and Megan were currently walking to the bar you were about to meet the boys at. You look down at the text you received about 15 minutes ago.

<Hey, we're here. Gonna get some drinks so no rush. Can't wait to see you ;)

Of course Megan saw the text and absolutely flipped, insisting she had been right and how it was a good thing she made you go shopping with her. In the end you had bought the blue set, a red lacy set, and a thin black set.

"You're so hot." Megan commented, pulling you out of your thoughts as you stared into space.

You turned and smiled at her. "Shut up, Megan." 

Although you were nervous and felt a little out of place, you had to agree with her, you did look pretty hot.

You ended up keeping your dark distressed shorts on, and Megan convinced you to wear one of her black crop tops with a low neckline and long sleeves. The crop wasn't very short, but it showed a lot more of your midriff than the oversized shirt you were originally wearing. The neckline had dropped low enough to show the black lacy edge of the blue bra Megan practically begged you to actually wear tonight, leaving out the matching thong until you got a chance to actually wash it. 

You tried not to think about wearing something so flashy, even if nobody could see it. Except for the lace trim that peeked out from under your shirt's neckline, and the very visible extra straps dipping down in between your cleavage. You adjusted your shirt every once and a while to try to cover the lace up, even though it was in vain.

"I'm serious! I'm having heart palpitations over here!" Megan assured you.

As you two rounded a corner you could see the venue in front of you. Suddenly you had butterflies in your stomach at full force. You didn't feel like joking around anymore.

"Are you sure I don't look stupid? Be honest." You stopped and turned to Megan, holding your arms out a bit.

"Did you think the heart palpitations thing was a joke?" Megan asked, not slowing down her pace. "(Y/n) I'm telling you, if Sean wasn't in the picture I'd be trying to take you home with me tonight." 

You looked over to roll your eyes at Megan and instead caught her wiggling her eyebrows at you.

Laughing, you looked away from Megan and back to the venue that was only two buildings away now. You only just now noticed amongst the smokers outside, was Tim.  He was wearing a dark green, long sleeve button up shirt with dark blue jeans and heavy boots. Clearly trying to dress nice but still try to pass it off as casual.

You and Tim met each other's eyes at the same time, and you looked down to watch your feet instead. Megan had also made you put on a pair of her boots with a heel on them, and right now you were trying to focus on not tripping in front of Tim.

Once you were close enough you looked back up at Tim, and watched as his eyes slid up from your legs back to your face, while keeping his own face neutral.

You nervously adjusted your shirt back over your bra.

"Hey." He called out, smiling as you came to a stop in front of him.

"Hey." You replied, a little nervous. Nervous from the uncommon attire for you, nervous from the crowded space, nervous from Tim.

He took one last drag from his cigarette before stomping it out on the concrete.

"Uh, Toby and Brian are inside. I just needed a smoke, there's a lot of people back in there."

'Right…'

Nervous from Toby and Brian too.

"Yeah, apparently it's supposed to be a good line up tonight…" You made up.

Suddenly a hand shot in between you and Tim.

"Hi! I'm Megan!" Megan interrupted, making your world open up outside of Tim. Apparently Megan, always out going and never letting a conversation lull, wasn't about to allow this awkward tension to simmer.

Tim also looked surprised by Megan's presence for a second, before taking her hand and shaking it. 

"Hi. Tim." He replied a bit stiffly.

"Uh Tim, this is my friend Megan. She's the friend that invited me out tonight." You were really hoping Brian didn't show the actual text that you sent him to anyone, surely just a simple 'hey guys, (Y/n) asked us to go to a show with her!' Would have sufficed.

Tim smiled widely, before relaxing his face quickly and sucking his lips in, clearly trying to hold in a laugh.

'Dammit.'

"Right, the, uh," he snapped his fingers a couple times before pointing at Megan, "the one who's 'boy-toy's roommate' is in one of the bands?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at you.

Your face heated up at the direct quote of your text.

"Yep! That's me!" Megan replied, clearly proud of the title given to her. "And you must be one of the three roommat-"

Tim hadn't been able to hold in his laugh in anymore.

"Megan! Don't you have to go find your date ?" You interrupted her with mock pleasantness in your voice. You really didn't want her to give Tim the idea that you talk about the boys all of the time, really the only time you talk about them is when Megan is bombarding you with questions about them.

Megan gasped, apparently suddenly remembering the existence of her date, and patted your back before spinning around and darting inside. You smiled, proud of your ability to get rid of her like that, and turned back to Tim, who was still laughing.

"I didn't refer to you as "one of three roommates" when I told her about you, just so you know." You informed him, trying to be as casual as possible.

"Sure you didn't. C'mon, I'm sure the other two roommates are wondering where we are." Tim nodded towards the door, then turned around and pulled it open for you to enter first

It was the same venue that you properly met Brian at about two weeks ago. Immediately when you opened the door there were stairs to climb, where at the top you'd find the bathrooms and merch tables to your right, and a wide hallway with the bar along one side in front of you. The hallway then opened up to where the tiny stage sat, with some booths and tall tables scattered throughout out the other side of the room. 

You showed your ticket to the bouncer before following Tim down the hall.

“I'm gonna get a drink, did you want one too?” Tim asked, walking up to the bar.

“Oh, yeah, I'll just have whatever you’re having.” You usually just ended up drinking whatever Megan was drinking or handed to you.

Tim asked for two beers, handing you one and leading you down the hallway and into the open room. You two walked towards a more secluded table in the back corner of the room, where Brian stood wearing a dark red t-shirt and tan pants, and Toby bounced wearing some band tee and ripped black jeans. Brian drinking a beer, and Toby drinking something dark out of a short tumbler glass.

Toby saw you as soon as you entered the open space, smiling widely and waving you over as soon as you made eye contact with him, but almost as quickly as he saw you, his face fell a bit and his waving halted. Brian smiled as you approached, raising his eyebrows and smiling wider as his eyes flickered down and back up to your face a couple times. 

"Hey, I hope you guys weren't waiting here long," you said as you made it to the table, ignoring the looks they were giving you.

“Not at all, we got here right when I texted you.” Brian assured you.

Suddenly there was a chair pushed up to the table next to you, you looked over at Tim, who had been the one to push it up next to you. “You can sit if you want.” He gestured down to the chair, then took his place standing on the other side of Brian.

“Are you sure? I don't want to take the only chair," you turned to look around the room. Pretty much every other table had been taken or had chairs taken from it. It really was busy tonight, the bands must be good.

“Please,” Tim cut you off, gesturing down to the chair with his beer once again.

You smiled up at him and jumped up on the tall chair, Toby standing to your right, Tim to your left, and Brian right across from you.  "Thanks."

“So...” Tim began as you took a drink of your beer, “how has your day been?” 

“Oh, fine… I just went to work and then Megan brought me over to her house to get ready together.” You carefully avoided bringing up the shopping spree she took you on. “Most of these clothes are hers, actually.”

Suddenly remembering the too deep neckline on your crop top, you tugged it up a bit again, making sure the lacy bra wasn't sticking out. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Toby's head jerk a couple of times.

Brian gave Toby a glance and looked back at you. “Well you look incredible in them.” Brian leaned forward a bit. Toby jerked a couple more times.

You huffed a laugh. “Thank Megan then, I wouldn't have had the confidence to wear this if it wasn’t for her.”

“We’ll definitely have to thank her…” Tim said, almost a mumble. You looked over to him to see him staring towards the stage behind you. There must've been a crowd forming by now.

“Hey, what do you mean you wouldn't have had the confidence? You look unbelievably good.” Brian asked, looking genuinely confused. While the clothes were a bit more revealing than you were normally used to, and you still needed a bit of a pep talk for them, you actually were more referring to the lingerie that Megan made you buy. You still weren’t sure when any of the boys would see you in the matching sets.

The genuine compliment was a little jarring though, and your face began to heat up as a smile spread on your face. “I don't know, I'm just being dumb…"

“Yeah, you are.” Brian said, giving you his goofy, gapped tooth smile, and taking another sip from his beer.

You turned to look over your right shoulder at the stage, half wanting to hide your blush and half wanting to see how crowded the room was getting. You finally got a glance of Toby, who had his hand clamped over his mouth.

“How’ve you been Toby?” You asked, realizing you haven't talked to him yet.

Toby unclamped his hand from his mouth for just a second and immediately blurted out “YOU’RE SO SEXY.”

He signed and leaned on the table, burying his head in his hands, and jerking his shoulders a bit more.

You laughed, looking at the other two boys. Brian had his fist over his mouth, trying to hold in his laugh, Tim was still looking out into the crowd.

“I’m s-s-s-so-so, so sor-r-ry” Toby said, picking his head up and rubbing his forehead.

Your laughing had calmed down a bit into giggles, “It's alright, that was actually really flattering. You don't have to hold those in, you know? I’m not gonna be weirded out by them or whatever it is you're worried about.” You reassured him, not wanting to see him struggle with something he can't control just because you're around.

Toby finally looked back at you, a smile slowly spreading on his face, before his face dropped a bit again as his eyes flickered down and back up. At this point you could hear instruments beginning to play on stage. Toby looked over to Tim, and then back to you, straightening up fully and rubbing his gloved hands on his jeans. ”Wan-n-na go up th-there with m-m-me, (Y/n)?”

You turned back to the stage as the first band began to play. “Oh. Yeah, sure!” You turned to grab your beer, and looked up at Brian.

“You guys go ahead, we like to watch from back here.” Brian assured you, smiling down at you. You smiled back and glanced at Tim, who was still distracted by the crowd, before hopping off your chair and following Toby into the crowd.

This night had actually been way less scary than you anticipated it to be. You really couldn't believe you had been so nervous over this. You and Toby really connected dancing to the music together, sometimes he would turn and stare out into the crowd, focusing on something, but then would quickly turn back to you and flash a grin. 

After the set you two went back to the table with Brian and Tim, and conversation flowed easily as you all people-watched and the boys picked on each other. You noticed Tim had a slight southern twang to the way he talked, not quite as heavy as Brian's, with an actual accent that came out with certain words, but instead dropping southern phrases every once and a while. You got caught in a fit of giggles when Tim said ‘hootin’ and hollerin’’ while referring to a loud group of people a couple tables away from you guys.

Brian had stepped away to get a couple drinks for himself and Tim and had surprised Toby by coming behind him while the two of you were talking. Brian had thrown his arm around Toby, earning him a quick elbow to the ribs and a 'Jesus CHRIST, y-you sssscared the sh-sh-SHIT out of me- DADDY LONGLEGS.', causing you to laugh until you were nearly crying.

Something about the vibes between you three was just perfect. For once you felt like you could actually be open, you could come out of your shell.

You and Toby had finished two more drinks since the night began, again you just had whatever he was having, and were currently standing at the bar. It had turned out his drink of choice were jägerbombs. Safe to say you were pretty fucked up.

“I'm just saying! I didn’t think a little boy like you would have such good taste! In music or in al-co-holic beverages.” You said, enunciating the word ‘alcoholic’, then finishing the last of your third drink. Honestly you didn't really pay attention to what he ordered for himself this time, just interrupting his order to ask the bartender to make one for you as well.

“Little boy?!” He exclaimed, snapping his head to you with his eyes wide and a small smirk on his lips.

You giggled. "I mean yeah, when I first saw you I thought Brian and Tim were your guardians or something.” You couldn't hide the goofy smile on your face.

Toby laughed loudly at that. “Tim and Br-Brian wi-wi-wish they were ha-half the-e man that I am.” He leaned closer to you, sounding serious about what he said.

You smiled wider. “No offense Toby, but I find that hard to believe. I mean have you seen Tim?”

He smiled too, eyes flickering down to your lips. “I could show you.” He said smoothly, lowering his voice a bit.

You gulped, smile fading a bit as you sucked in your bottom lip, a little thrown off by how clearly he uttered that sentence. Your eyes flickered down to his lips as well as you slipped your hand into his, silently giving him permission. He grabbed your hand tightly and suddenly began dragging you behind him. You followed him down the hall, as he took a turn into one of the bathrooms. 

In a matter of seconds his hands were around your waist as he picked you up and lifted you onto the counter, pushing you back against the mirror.

“Holy shit,” was all you could get out before he crashed his lips into yours.

He settled himself between your knees, hands all over you. He was quickly switching between grabbing your hips harshly, wrapping his hand around your waist, and running them up and down your back.

You decided to just go with it, letting your eyes slip closed and snaking your hands up to hold the back of his neck. He moved his lips quickly and sloppily against yours, almost forcefully opening your mouth with his own. He slipped your tongue against yours, causing you to moan a bit. It was obvious he didn't have a lot of experience, and your lips would probably be bruised after this, but that didn't make it any less hot.

Your lungs had started to burn without oxygen and your head was swimming, drunk off him and drunk off the alcohol. Eventually you had to push him away so you could both catch your breath. 

He only took two breaths before he gripped your hips and pulled you to the edge of the counter so you were flush against him. He immediately ducked down and began kissing, sucking, and biting your neck over and over. 

“Oh god, Toby…” you moaned out, spurring him on to grind against. You arched your back and leaned your head back, pushing your chest up as he lowered his head down to your collarbones, nipping all along them. Your moans grew louder as you ran your hands through his hair, tugging it accidentally as he bit down particularly hard, causing him to groan against your neck.

He pulled back and looked down at you. “Still don't believe me?”

“H-huh?” You picked your head up a bit, unable to remember what you two had been talking about before he brought you in here.

Toby laughed a bit, softly mumbling something that sounded like gibberish, before grabbing your chin and kissing you again, allowing his other hand to rest on the small of your back, keeping you pressed against him. The kiss was gentle and slow this time, and the gloves he wore were soft against your skin. Apparently he had got all his energy out on your neck.

"Take it back." He mumbled against your lips, and ground up against you, making you gasp against his mouth.

He pulled back and looked at you, waiting for your answer. 

You blinked up at him, letting your hands slide down to rest on his chest. "What..?" 

He laughed and pulled you down from the sink. "You're dr-drunk." 

You giggled and leaned up into his mouth, "you are too." You said, kissing him a couple more times.

He pulled away and laced his hand into one of yours, pulling it down from his chest, "we need som-me, some water." He said, leading you out of the bathroom and back towards the bar.

You sat up on one of the stools once you reached the bar while Toby asked the bartenders for two waters. 

"I-m-m gunna g-go ask the b-boy-boys- daddy longlegs" he jerked his shoulder a bit, "if they want drinks," Toby said, putting his hand on the small of your back and smiling down at you. "I'll be-be right back."

You smiled back at him before he turned around and made his way back over to Tim and Brian. 

You looked forward, still a little dazed by the make out session, but even in your slight fog your eyes immediately landed on something over the edge of the bar top.

“Wait!” You called out. Toby immediately spun on his heels and looked back at you. You leaned over the bar and grabbed a sharpie one of the bartenders must have been using to write.

Once Toby got back over to you, you grabbed his hand, “I'm gonna forget if I don't do this right now.” You opened the cap and began writing on the palm of his hand. “It's my phone number, if you couldn't tell…” You released his hand once you were finished.

Toby stared down at his hand in awe, his mouth parted. “Sick.”

You burst into a fit of giggles at his statement. “Okay, go find Brian and Tim.” You said, pushing him a bit.

With a goofy smile he turned back around and made his way down the hallway.

The bartender brought you your water and you decided you should probably thank Megan for giving you the confidence to actually do this. You pulled out your phone and began typing.

hey thanks for convincing my dumb ass that these guys really did want to see me, I just finished making out in the bath|

"Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?" 

Your head shot up to the words. There was a man standing to your right, leaning on the bar, smirking at you. Torn muscle shirt, backwards hat - everything you would imagine if someone asked you to visualize an asshole, he was the walking embodiment.

"Oh, uh… no thanks." You said looking back down at your phone, hoping he would just go away.

"Oh come on, you're really gonna turn down a free drink? Anything you'd like. On me." 

"No, really, I'm good…" This guy didn't sound like he was about to take no for an answer.

"Alright. Then how about I bring you into the bathroom and you give me exactly what you gave that little loser."

You shot your head back up at him.  He was leaning in much closer to you now. Slowly you put your phone in your pocket and got up from the stool, wanting to get away from this guy as soon as possible.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about." You backed up a bit to put some more space between you two.

He took a step forward to close the gap you had just created. "Oh, don't play dumb now, whore. I don't care how much you ask for, I'm gonna take you into that bathroom, and you're gonna suck my co-"

Suddenly a fist flew out from behind your head, connecting right with the man's nose with a sickening crack .

"AH FUCK!” He had grabbed his nose and stumbled back a bit.

Not a second later you were pulled to the side by your waist and against someone's chest, letting you see that it was Toby who threw the punch from behind you. You looked up to find Brian looking down at you. 

"Are you okay??" He asked anxiously, worry written all over his face.

"Y-yeah…" You replied, looking back to the fight. At this point staff had noticed, and the bartender had started yelling to break up the fight.

The man had his hands over his nose, blood dripping down from between his fingers. Toby went to throw another punch, but right before it was about to connect with the man's temple, Toby was picked up and pulled back by Tim, who had just rushed down the hallway. 

"We should go, right now." Brian said, quiet enough so only you could hear, before releasing your waist. He placed his hand on the small of your back and hurried you in front of him and out of the bar. Once back outside you stopped to make sure Tim and Toby left with you guys, and they had, stepping out a few seconds after you and Brian.

"Come on, we don't want that guy to try to follow us." Brian said, motioning you to follow him.

"W-wh-why the-the fffffuck- PRICK- would you-ou pull mmmme away from tha-at ASSHOLE!" Toby spat back towards the building, Tim still dragging him along by his forearm behind you and Brian. Brian put his hand on your lower back again as you walked.

"Because I don't want us getting in trouble , Toby." Tim hissed.

"Tim's right, we're already going to be set back from this.” Brian mumbled over his shoulder.

“Hey I mean that guy started it, the most amount of trouble you'll get in is not being allowed back in there. If you get in trouble at all .” You tried easing the tension a bit. The boys were all suddenly very on edge. 

The three stayed quiet, so you continued, "Seriously if he tries to press charges or anything I'll tell the cops my side, he had it coming-” you turned back to Toby and paused. 

He looked furious . Tim and Brian looked a little upset but Toby looked like he was seconds away from ripping his arm out of Tim’s hold and storming back to the bar. He was staring out into space, his fists up, clenching and unclenching, jerking his head hard , and breathing heavily. 

It was… actually kind of hot. You were too drunk to think about how unhealthy it was, all you could think about was how nice it was to have someone so ready and willing to protect you like that. 

“Thank you Toby, I'm actually really glad you stepped in.” You told him, smiling a bit, though you couldn't completely shake the unnerved look on your face. You had dealt with guys harassing you a few times before, especially at the skeevy bars you sometimes went to, but something about this guy was particularly upsetting. Maybe because he wasn't taking no for an answer, maybe because he wasn't letting you step away from him, maybe because of the nerve he had to pull that in a crowded bar.

Toby snapped his head to you, apparently suddenly remembering your existence. His face immediately softened when he met your eyes, letting his fists drop, his jerking becoming less violent.

“L-like you ssssaid… h-h-he-he had it com-ming.”  He replied, looking down at the ground and allowing himself to be dragged along.

“Hey,” Brian began, getting your attention. That worried look was back on his face. ''Are you sure you're okay?”

You looked back over to Brian. “Yeah, just grossed out by that guy. I didn't like how close he was to me…”

Brian's hand dropped from your back. “He didn't like, put his hands on you or anything, did he?”

You shook your head. “No. I think he thought I was a prostitute or something.”

“He what?!” Tim suddenly spoke up. You turned to look at him and now he was the one that looked pissed. 

“Yeah, well, I guess he saw me come out of the bathroom with Toby, and was trying to get me to go into the bathroom with him …” 

Brian and Tim were now suddenly staring at Toby, a bit confused. Toby looked back up with the mention of his name, looking between the three of you for a couple seconds, before a smile slowly spread on his face. 

“Oh yeah.” Apparently he was just remembering the 15 minutes before he punched that guy, because he looked down at his open palm and smiled wider. Tim looked down at Toby's hand and very dramatically rolled his eyes.

Brian had come to a stop in front of a car parked on the side of the street and Tim finally released his hold on Toby's arm.

“Hey, can we drive ya’ home? I really don't want you walking home alone when you're drunk.” Brian asked

“Hey! I'm not that drunk!” you defend yourself, although you knew your answer was going to be yes. You were just trying to take a page from Megan's book and play hard to get. You knew these guys already had you wrapped around their collective finger, but they didn't need to know that too. Besides, it was true. You had taken the bus home by yourself way more drunk than this.

Brian looked at Toby for a split second, a smile breaking out on his face like he was about to start laughing. “Actually,” he stepped forward to open the passenger door for you, “I think you are. Get in.” He said, nodding to the car.

You rolled your eyes but still complied, getting into the car. Tim and Toby got into the back, Brian getting into the driver's seat. He pulled the car out into the street and you gave him directions to your apartment. You realized you should probably let Megan know you weren’t being kidnapped, and you pulled out your phone to quickly text her, erasing the text you had previously written.

< just letting you know im in brians car rn w tim and toby, theyre taking me home :) love u

“d-daddy longlegs- I'm-m sorry, (Y/n)” Toby said quietly behind you. You turned to look at him, his giddy look from outside the car replaced by a worried one.

“Don't worry Toby, that was kind of hot of you, actually.” You replied, just allowing the words to slip out.

Toby’s eyes widened, and Tim let out a loud snort next to him.

“You really are ‘that drunk’” Brian said, laughing at your bluntness.

“Leave me alone!” You shouted, laughing along with him.

"And Toby," Brian started, looking at Toby through the rear view mirror. "Can you at least drop the daddy part, I really can't keep listening to it come out of your mouth." 

"Y-you know th-th-that's just gonna mmmmake me say it more-more" Toby retorted, popping his mouth. Brian signed loudly, just making you laugh harder.

The rest of the car ride was spent joking with each other about the events of that night. Brian making fun of you for being drunk, Tim making vague jokes about you and Toby in the bathroom, and you telling them to fuck off. 

It wasn't too long before Brian pulled into the parking lot of your apartment. He stopped in an empty space and the three of them got out of the car before you could even get your seatbelt off. Your door was pulled open for you before you could open yourself as well. You looked up to see Tim holding it open.

“Damn, okay Tim.” You said, smiling as you got out.

“What?” he asked, looking confused.

“Just tell me you want to get rid of me, already.” You walked past him, giggling as you approached the building.

“I'm being polite!” He called out from behind you.

You laughed louder as you made your way to the front door, pulling your keys out from your pocket and unlocking the door once you got to it.

“Do you guys wanna come in?” You asked, turning to look at the boys.

Tim responded quickly, "We’d love to, but we have to go.” He said bluntly.

Your face fell a bit before Brian continued, “We have some work stuff we have to finish tonight.” He smiled apologetically.

“Oh…” You smiled back at him. “Well… can we see each other again soon?” 

‘Fuck playing hard to get’

They all smiled at that. “I’ll text you.” Brian assured.

“We uh, we really gotta' go.” Tim said to Brian, placing his hand on Brian's shoulder and looking at you apologetically.

“Alright, I'll talk to you guys soon then.” You smiled, opening the front door.

Brian and Tim said their goodbyes and turned. Once they stepped away a bit Toby stepped forward and placed his hand on the small of your back. “Hold on,” You turned back around, looking up at him.

He placed his hand under your chin and pulled your face up a bit, capturing your lips gently. The kiss was soft and only lasted a second, but it still made you feel dizzy. It also made your ears ring a bit. 

Toby pulled away and smiled down at you. He ran the hand that was on your chin along your collarbones. “You m-m-migh-t need to covvvver these up. S-sorry…” He smiled at you, not really seeming all that sorry. Apparently the bites and hickeys were already blooming, you could feel the tenderness on your skin under his fingers. 

“Talk soon.” He said, and turned to follow Tim and Brian. You smiled widely and finally stepped inside your building, the ringing and dizziness stopping as soon as the door closed between you and Toby.

Chapter Text

Groaning, you cracked your eyes open to find the source of what had very rudely woken you up. Sunlight was flooding in from behind your curtains and shining directly on your face. You squeezed your eyes closed again and pulled your blanket back over your head.

Quickly, though, you realized it wasn't just the sunlight that had woken you up, it was also the splitting headache you had.

You turned over and buried your head under your pillow, willing the headache away so you could just go back to sleep. It didn't work.

After a few more minutes of rolling around and trying to get comfortable again, you gave up. You desperately needed some relief from this headache. 

You threw your blankets off of you and got up, shuffling into the kitchen to grab some painkillers and a glass of water. It was strange, you didn't feel like you were that drunk last night. 

You had definitely been way more drunk before and hadn't woken up with a hangover like this. Megan had been sure to talk to you about drink safety the first time you went out with her, so you knew to be the one to get your drinks directly from the bartender, and you kept your drink in your hands the whole night, so nothing could have been slipped into your drink...

Maybe it was the jägerbombs, you had heard something before about how you're not supposed to mix your caffeine and alcohol.

After downing the painkillers you slid back into bed, wrapping yourself in a blanket cocoon while you waited for the drugs to take effect. You could already feel the headache fading slowly. You grabbed your phone off your nightstand and turned it on, seeing a text message from Megan, sent at 11:48 pm.

< IM SO HAPPY 4 U text me to let me know ur not dead plz :D

You smiled and sent a simple text back.

I'm alive. Love u bby>

You closed out of your texts with Megan to see your list of messages, Brian's next under Megan’s. He hasn't texted you yet like he said he would, but it was still early. Maybe he just wasn't awake yet, they said they had work to do after they dropped you off so maybe they were up late…

You check the time for the first time this morning. 1:23 pm.

‘Damn, what the hell.’

Fuck it, he had to be awake by now. You already waited a week to text him the first time, you weren’t going to wait again. You wanted to talk to him now. 

hey! just seeing if you guys got home alright last night>

Just a couple of seconds after you sent the message it was read. He was never on his phone when you were around him but still always so quick to respond to your texts. The realization made you smile softly. A message popped on the screen.

< Yes.

…

That's it. It's over. 

You don't know what you did, but you did something to embarrass yourself last night. Maybe it was something stupid you said. Maybe it was what you wore. Maybe it was making out with Toby in the bathroom. Yeah, that was kind of weird, wasn’t it?

You thought through every minute of last night. Maybe having to save you from that guy was too much. Maybe he wouldn't want to hang around someone that couldn't protect and take care of themselves. Maybe he wasn't into girls that went out to bars and got drunk.

You pulled your pillow over your head and screamed into it. At least your hangover felt like it was already gone, the splitting headache replaced by the milder headache of overthinking. Maybe he just-

DING

You threw your pillow off your head and snatched your phone, opening the notification. It was a text from an unknown number.

< good morning!

You stared at the text for a minute, wondering who the hell was sending you a good morning text in the middle of your breakdown. The first person you thought of was that guy who had harassed you, suddenly filled with paranoia that he was stalking you now and somehow he had gotten your number and-

< sorry i just remembered we didnt swap numbers. Its toby lol

‘Oh. right.’ You thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

You had written your number on Toby's palm just before getting dragged out of the bar last night. You knew you would forget. Well, at least Toby still wanted to talk to you. You responded to him quickly.

Oh my god i completely forgot to get your number too lol, good morning :)>

Toby was quick to read your message and text back, just like Brian usually was.

< we all had a lot of fun last night! Sorry i made it so we had to cut it short though

‘Well, clearly one of you didn't have much fun…’

Dont worry abt it! Please, like i said that guy deserved it>

<ya. He did. Honestly tim and brian had to convince me not to go back later that night to try to find that guy

Maybe that's why Brian was upset with you, Toby was probably distracting them from their work.

< anyways! I was wondering if youre doing anything tonight ??

You smacked your hand over your eyes, remembering you had work in a couple of hours. You should have booked the day off - you knew you weren't going to want to work today, whichever way the night would have gone.

Yea :/ sorry i work tonight, my next day off isnt until wednesday, we could hang out then if youre not busy?>

Again, he replied immediately.

< no record store tuesday? :(

Your heart soared at the fact that he remembered record store Tuesdays. It was something little but it was still sweet that he wanted to share your hobbies with you like this.

No im really sorry, i work until 10 on tuesday :(((>

< thats ok@!! Wednesday it is :) but let us know if youre free earlier, we’d really like to see you again soon

It was strange that Toby messaged you right after you messaged Brian - at first you thought maybe Brian might have told Toby you had texted him - but clearly Brian hadn't told Toby that he wasn't interested in you. You checked the time again and decided you should probably be getting up now.

Of course ill let you know! Im gunna get ready for work, i really need a shower. Talk soon!>

<cant wait ;)

You smiled at the text, not quite as worried about Brian anymore. You got up and got ready to jump in the shower.

You rounded the corner and approached your bus stop, about 2 blocks away from your apartment. You had tried to shake Brian's text for the past hour, but just couldn't, it was still on your mind. Your conversation with Toby had calmed you down a bit, you just still felt a little weird about whatever had happened with Brian. 

You decided you weren't going to do anything about it. You had only known him for a little over 2 weeks now, you weren’t about to start begging for forgiveness from this guy.

If he wants to talk to you, he will. 

' Whatever happens, happens.’

You were shuffling through playlists on your phone, finally landing on one to fit the strange bittersweet vibes of the day, when you looked back up and stopped dead in your tracks.

There was someone already sitting on the bench at your bus stop, leaning over with their elbows on their knees and their hands clasped together. They had been watching you as you approached 

It wasn't really a big deal that they were there, but there was something strange about the way they were dressed.

They were wearing a tan hoodie, with the hood pulled up over their head, dark, worn jeans, and heavy-looking work boots, along with black gloves covering their hands. 

All pretty normal, what had made you stop though, was the ski mask they were wearing. Where there would usually be holes for eyes was instead replaced with two, big reddish-orange splotches, along with a big splotchy frown right underneath. 

After a couple of seconds of the two of you staring at each other, they finally turned away, looking forward.

Luckily for you, your bus had just turned the corner and was almost at your stop. You really didn't want to wait at the stop with this person. You continued walking to the bench, stopping to just stand next to it, a little behind it so you wouldn't have your back to the person. 

Something about them was vaguely familiar but you couldn't quite remember where you had seen them before…

You only had to stand a couple of minutes before your bus pulled up in front of you. You waited until it came fully to a stop, still not wanting this person to be behind you. Once the bus opened its door and the person stayed seated, you hurried on, paying and going to sit in your usual seat. 

Once you were seated you turned to look out the window, back at the hooded person, trying to see if you could remember where you'd seen them before.

Right when you turned to look at them, they looked up into your window right back at you. Suddenly, it hit you where you had seen them before. The day you had gone to all the record stores with Toby, he had to abruptly end the day when he saw the same hooded person, sitting at a bench across the street from one of the stores. Toby had gone up and actually talked to this person. 

Did Toby know them? Was this person following Toby, and Toby had gone to confront him? After last night you know Toby isn’t one to back away from confrontation…

You and the hooded person stared at each other until the bus began to pull away. Right before the person was out of your view though, they raised their hand a bit and gave you a quick wave.

Your day at work hadn't been so bad, except for the uneasy feeling you had throughout the whole day. You didn't have Megan there to talk to today, but luckily Hektor wasn't in. Instead,  the sweet older manager, Angela, was there to take his place. She had made you feel a bit better, easily being able to tell something was off and letting you take the day easy, but you still hadn't told her about the person you saw. 

You actually weren’t really sure if that's what had made you feel uneasy throughout the day. Yeah, it was really strange to see, but they didn’t follow you, or say anything weird to you. They were just kind of… minding their own business it seemed. 

However, you were more uneasy over that text from Brian. Yes, still. 

You had told yourself it wasn't a big deal, and you knew you weren’t going to do anything about it. It was just a little upsetting to have no idea what you had done. Maybe he was more hungover than you had been, even though you hadn’t seen him drink very much. 

'Whatever, not my problem ' is what you told yourself throughout the day, but that didn't really work for very long. You, unfortunately, were really starting to like these guys. 

You were currently walking back home from the bus stop, almost home. You and Toby had been texting each other a bit throughout the day. Every time you had a minute to yourself, you would open your phone and see a text from him. 

Sometimes he had sent you a song he thought you would like, other times it was him asking you a question about yourself. Just cute, little questions, your favorite color, favorite food, favorite animal. Simple questions, but you still smiled every time he asked a new one. It was cute how genuinely interested in you he was.

After answering his most recent question, your favorite season, you closed your phone and slipped it back into your pocket. You took a deep breath, enjoying the nice weather. It was almost fall, and the cool, crisp air had started rolling in. 

It was late at night, a little after 10 pm, and the street was empty except for you. You stopped in front of the park that was across the street from your apartment building - just a large field with a few trees and some picnic benches scattered throughout - to cross the small, two-lane street. 

As you checked both ways for cars before stepping into the street, you saw someone standing at the opening of the alley beside your building. It was one of the masked men you'd been seeing, the one with the white mask this time. You couldn't tell if he had been looking at you, but as soon as you saw him he turned and retreated back down the alley. 

You looked down again and quickened your pace across the street. Once you were finally at your door, you quickly unlocked it, making sure it closed fully behind you, before you let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding.

As you climbed the stairs to your apartment, which was just on the second floor, you pulled out your phone to see another question from Toby. 

< do you like scary movies?

Chapter Text

‘Alright, these masked guys are starting to get a little weird. I mean, it's only September…’

It's not that you disliked Halloween or dressing up or anything, but why were these guys dressing up so often already ? You had been seeing all three of the masked men around a lot lately.

There was the first one, with the white mask and bomber jacket, that you saw on your bus ride home. Then, there was the second one, wearing orange goggles with an almost smile-like mask covering his mouth, that you saw on your bus ride to the grocery store. Finally, there was the last one, with the frowny ski mask, that you saw waiting at your bus stop. 

Hell of a coincidence that they all take the same buses as you.

You've seen them three days in a row now, the first day being when you saw the one in the ski mask at the bus stop, and later the one in the white mask in the alley behind your apartment.

The next night you saw two of them together, the one with the orange goggles and the one in the white mask. You had seen them in an alley near your bus stop on your way to work, talking to each other. 

Well, at least you assumed they were talking to each other. 

The one with the white mask had his arms crossed against his chest, and the one with the goggles had his hands stuffed in his striped hoodie. You could hear deep mumbles coming from the alley as you approached it, but they had stopped talking once you passed the opening of the alley. 

When you turned to see the source of the mumbling out of curiosity, the two were already staring back at you. You turned away, looking down at your feet and quickening your pace.

Then, yesterday you saw who you started referring to as ‘white mask’ sitting at your bus stop again. He didn't look at or talk to you, and he didn't get on the bus with you this time either. 

On all three of these nights, you also saw ‘ski mask’ sitting at a table in the park across from your apartment. The first time you noticed him was while you were shutting your bedroom window- the nights getting a bit too cold to keep your windows open.  It was dark, but you could've sworn ski mask's head was tilted up, looking back at you through your window. 

You closed your curtains after that, and haven't opened them since. 

The second evening you saw ski mask was you had walked past him- sitting at the same table- on your way home from work. He had been on his phone and didn't seem to pay you any mind. 

In fact, none of the masked men had ever approached you, talked to you (except for 'goggles' on the bus ride to the grocery store), and usually didn't even look at you, at least not that you could be sure of. 

Sometimes you felt like you could feel them staring, though. You would just get that strange, itching feeling on your back, like there were eyes glued to you. 

You had that feeling again this evening while you were at work. You turned to look behind you to find the three of them together, walking down the street across from the diner. 

They looked like they were going somewhere, the bigger two - white mask and ski mask - carrying duffle bags, and the smaller one - goggles - carrying a backpack. You only watched them for a few seconds before remembering the existence of the customer you were helping, having to catch up to write their whole order down.

You were walking home now, a little after 10 pm, once again having a closing shift. 

You haven't seen any of the masked men on your walk home yet, and as you rounded the corner with your building in sight, you didn't see ski mask sitting in the park like he usually did either. You breathed a small sigh of relief, continuing on. 

You were just a couple of buildings away from the park when the door of a dingy smoke stop flew open in front of you. A man stumbled out, almost tripping over himself and onto the concrete. The neon ‘open’ sign in the shop's window went dark, and someone pulled the door closed behind the man. 

“Yeah, FUCK YOU TOO!” The man shouted back at the door, steadying himself.

You stopped in your tracks, trying to quickly decide if you should just go around him or cross the street now. You turned to check the street. It was almost empty, except for one car driving towards you. You just had to wait a couple of seconds for the car to pass you and then-

“Hey!”  

You turned back to the man automatically. It would be alright, the car was going to pass you soon, and you'd run straight home. 

“Hey, you're that whore from the bar, aren't you?” He shouted, walking towards you.

‘Oh no.’

It was the man from Thursday night, the one that Toby had punched. Toby must've broken the man’s nose, as he had deep purple bruises under both his puffy eyes, and a barely scabbed-over and bloody cut across the bridge of his nose.

You began backing away from the man- just as the car you were waiting for finally passed you- trying to decide if running towards your building was really a good idea now. You didn't want him to know where you lived…

“What's wrong, bitch? Don't have your little guard dogs around? Huh? No one here to stop me from getting what I want now.” He suddenly charged at you, grabbing your clothes before you could even turn away from him. 

Your senses were immediately overwhelmed with the smell of alcohol. You let out the loudest scream you could muster, but it was quickly cut off when he slammed his hand roughly against your mouth. He moved his other arm to wrap around your torso and arms, crushing against your ribs.

You looked back over to your building, just a short sprint from you, you could easily make it if you could get him to loosen his grip for just a second . 

Hopefully this man was going to be too hungover to even remember where he was tonight.

He began pulling you backwards, into a slim alley beside the smoke shop. You tried to open your mouth wide enough to bite down on his hand, but it was pressed too hard against your mouth. No matter how hard you thrashed your head, his grip wasn't letting up.

He had almost pulled you fully into the alley by now, walking backwards slowly as he struggled with you.

Your next idea was to pull your arm forward as much as you could, and then slam it back into the man's ribs. You tried it a couple of times, but his grip around you was too tight to pull your arm forward enough. 

Thankfully, on the third blow, you were just barely able to put enough force into your attack, hearing some of the wind get knocked out of him. As he tried to recover, he loosened his grip on your face just slightly, but still enough to allow you to pull your face up and bite down hard on his hand. 

Just then he let out a garbled sound, and his grip on you loosened almost fully. You realized your onslaught had actually worked, sweet relief flooding you. 

You began thrashing yourself fully out of the man's hands, but before you could fully untangle yourself, something had ripped you away from him.

As soon as the man's hand was off your face, you tried screaming once again, panicked by the new set of hands on you.

Quickly, one of the new hands had moved from your waist to your mouth, replacing the man's crushing, rough grasp with a softer, gloved touch. 

Unfortunately for the owner of the new hands, using a soft touch on you was a bad idea. You immediately bit down on this hand just like you had the last, but this time you got no reaction out of your attack.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay, we-we’re he-r-re to help.” A deep, gravelly voice had whispered down to you. He then loosened his grip around your waist, allowing you to turn around and look up at him. 

It was goggles. He had his hood pulled up over his head, his brown curls peeking out, slightly covering his goggles that were shining bright orange under the street light. 

You didn't know what it was, besides a bad idea, but something in this moment made you decide to trust him. You calmed down just a bit, but you could still feel your heart thumping furiously in your chest.

"Let….go…of me…." You heard a pained wheeze come from behind you, the man that had originally grabbed you. You turned back around to see the man clawing at an arm that was wrapped around his neck.

Behind the man, and the owner of that arm, was ski mask, standing motionless and using one hand to pull his other arm tighter around the man's neck. 

You also noticed white mask, standing beside the two of them. He looked over at you before walking around to stand in front of the man.

"Who're you callin' fuckin' dogs?" A gruff voice said, which somehow sounded extremely similar to goggle's voice, but it sounded further away, like it had come from white mask. It was hard to tell who was talking when they were all wearing masks.

White mask threw a punch hard into the side of the man's jaw, before continuing to shout at the man. "Huh? Answer me!"

"You should g-go insi-inside. Y-y-you don't want to see th-this," Goggles said in your ear. He turned you to face the road. "Please don't scream," he asked, before finally releasing you. 

This time you didn't even think before booking it across the street. Behind you, you could hear the man let out a cry of agony, and white mask continuing to berate him.

Once you finally crossed the parking lot and made it to your building's door, you whipped your backpack around, furiously searching for your keys. You turned back around to see the man now on his hands and knees on the ground, with the three masked men surrounding him.

Ski mask had calmly walked around to the front of the man, and very suddenly swung his boot up, connecting under the man's chin. The man was forced up by the kick, crying out again and clutching his face. 

Once the man was up, ski mask harshly kicked him in the center of his chest using the bottom of his boot. This caused the man to harshly fall back, hitting his head on the concrete so hard it bounced . 

You quickly turned back around, fumbling with the keys you had finally found. You quickly opened the door, practically throwing yourself inside.

You turned around to pull the door shut firmly behind you. Looking at the scene across the street through the glass door one last time. 

Ski mask was now behind the man again. He was crouched down, holding either side of the man’s head, raising it a bit to make him watch as white mask stood beside him. 

White mask raised his heavy boot up, and quickly jumped, putting his whole body into slamming his foot down onto the man's ribs. 

You didn't know why you continued to stop, but you couldn't watch this anymore. It was only a matter of time before blood would start spewing. Quickly you turned and bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time. 

The adrenalin had started to wear off a bit, and you were shaking hard , dropping your keys in the process of trying to get your door unlocked. Finally though, you succeeded, yanking the door open and rushing inside. 

Once you were in, you locked your deadbolt and frantically searched for something to barricade the door. Anything that you could move by yourself right now could easily be thrown by any of those men, but you didn't care. You just needed something in front of the door now . 

You decided on your couch, quickly sliding it over. It was a bit heavy, but thanks to the fake, wood-patterned linoleum lining your floors, you were able to do it by yourself. You knew it wasn't going to stop anyone that really wanted to get in, but it still made you feel a bit better.

You ran to check all of the locks on your windows, making sure not to pull your curtains back fully. You didn't want anyone to see you and you knew you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from looking at the scene across the street, either. 

Once you triple-checked every lock, you grabbed a hammer - the best weapon you had - out of your junk drawer. You finally locked yourself in your bedroom, knowing full well you weren't going to be able to sleep tonight.

Chapter Text

You sat motionless in the dingy staff room, sunken into the worn couch. The news was playing quietly on the old tv, but you were completely zoned out, staring at the news with unfocused eyes. You mindlessly picked at the fraying fabric of the couch’s armrest, letting your thoughts run uninterrupted.

You had gotten zero sleep last night. All night you had just lied there, wide awake, staring at your bedroom door, listening for any sign of your front door or a window being opened. 

Your hands were still a little sore today from the tight grip you had on the hammer all last night. You kept it close to your chest in one hand, and your phone in the other, ready to call 911. 

The only thing you could think about all night and all of today was the image of the man in the white mask, slamming his foot down on the ribs of the man who had attacked you. 

You watched the image over and over. Imagined the sound of the crack. Imagined the man spewing out blood. Imagined how the crunch must have felt under the masked man's boot.

All you saw was that scene, over, and over, and over.

Why? Why had that man chosen you ? Why did you have to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, twice ? Who was he? 

Who were they ?

Who were those three men that, in your case, were in the right place at the right time?  Why were they so ready and willing to viciously attack that man like that? Did they know that man? The attack had seemed so… personal. Did he owe them something? Had they been there just to attack him? Or were they just a weird bunch looking for a fight?

Had your fighting back even done anything? The man had probably only let you go because the man in the ski mask had grabbed him. Then the man in the goggles didn't even flinch when you bit down on his hand… You were feeling weaker than ever right now. Mentally and physically.

A part of why you were feeling mentally weak was because you realized, in the early hours of this morning, that you found the masked men… kind of attractive.

To have a group come to your defense so willingly, no questions asked. The way goggles was holding you, securely, but still in a way that made you feel you had a choice. Like he would've let you go quickly if you had shown resistance, besides your accidental panic-bite. The way ski mask seemed like he wanted to make your attacker suffer. How personally white mask took it, like it was an attack on himself directly.

The way goggle's soft, gloved touch on your face and white mask's gruff voice seemed so familiar...

Do you just like seeing people get hurt? Or did you just like seeing that man get hurt? Knowing that he was a bad person, knowing what he was about to do .

Or were you just completely and totally fucked up?

'Yeah, probably that one.'

"In other news, local police are on a search for remains after finding a man's severed head early this morning," 

Suddenly, you were snapped back to the present, focusing on something other than the gruesome scene in your head and all of your questions for the first time today.

The video on the tv screen switched from the reporter to a crime scene. Yellow tape, photographers, police, white cloths, the whole shebang.

The only problem was, this was nowhere near your apartment. As the reporter called out the street name you recognized it as somewhere downtown, about a 20-minute drive from your apartment. 

‘Maybe it’s not his head, maybe another man had his head cut off.’ You found yourself thinking. 

You had no idea why you were trying to convince yourself that it wasn't that man. You also had no idea why the thought of it being someone else’s head was supposed to bring you comfort. You just wanted to be as far removed from this whole thing as possible.

"The head had been left unceremoniously in a dumpster, covered in bruising and with a broken nose." 

‘ Nope. That's definitely him.’

"The grisly scene was discovered early in the morning by a local restaurant employee," 

The video cut to the employee, describing how he had found the head. 

Why the hell would they take the head so far away just to leave it somewhere as careless as a dumpster ? Surely they didn't think nobody would open it.

"Police have yet to identify the victim, nor have they found the rest of the corpse's remains. If you have any information regarding the John Doe, please call our local tip hotline at-" 

Your alarm suddenly rang loudly, signaling the end of your break. You shakily stood up and switched the tv off. You needed answers. You hadn't seen any of the masked men on your way to work this morning, but the next time you saw one you were going to get your answers, and you didn't care about the possible dangers involved.

You stepped off your bus, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. You let the fresh air ground you, something you desperately needed- the anxiety was beginning to make you feel a little stuffy in your own body. 

You began walking, deciding to take the long way around the block to your apartment so you could avoid that alley.

The sun hadn't quite set yet, so you weren't too worried about the walk home, but It was still going to be too hard to try to walk past the alley. You wouldn't be able to stop yourself from looking at the blood stains that were surely left. You had just begun to shake the imagery that had been flooding your mind for almost 24 hours now, you didn't need to have it all come back so soon. 

You still knew you needed answers though, your questions had been eating away at you throughout the day. 

As you rounded the corner and the park came into view, you began searching. You picked up your pace a bit to get to the park quicker, just wanting to get this over with.

As you got closer, you found what you were looking for. Sitting at the same table he usually sat at under a tree- was the hooded man with the ski mask. He was sitting stiffly, looking forward with his hands clasped together on top of the table. You made a beeline for him, thinking through all your questions over and over, trying to prepare them.

As you made your way across the grass, he turned to look over toward you, watching you approach him quickly. You didn't stop or slow down from his staring this time, you were too determined to get answers. 

You refused to take your eyes off of him, almost tripping on a stupid hole in the ground, but you finally made it to him, stopping at his side. 

You studied him for just a few seconds. He seemed to be wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but he was completely clean of blood. Your eyes traveled along his covered arms- the same ones that were wrapped tightly around your attacker's neck- down to his gloved hands- the ones that held the man's head up, forcing him to watch as the man in the white mask stomped down on his ribs. 

No blood. Not a single spot on his tan hoodie.

Suddenly you forgot all of your questions. 

You looked back up at reddish splotches on the hooded man's mask. He had his head tilted as he watched you, like he was wondering what you were doing here, why you had actually approached him. You were beginning to wonder the same thing. 

Just then, you remembered one question. It was the most important one, but the one you also felt you already knew the answer to. You just needed to hear him say it.

"Did…" You took a shaky breath, eyebrows furrowing as you forced yourself to just get it out. "Did you guys...kill him?" You made out, voice barely above a whisper.

He stared up at you for a few seconds before finally answering your question.

"Yes." He replied, in a monotone, matter-of-fact way. Surprisingly, he had a much nicer voice than you imagined. Soft, at least compared to the voices of the other two men.

You took another shaky breath as all of your questions flooded back into your mind.

"Why?" You asked, sounding more nervous than you intended to.

You two stared at each other for a little longer this time, and as much as you needed answers, you couldn't wait for them like this. You felt like you needed to get all your questions out now before you exploded. 

"Who was that man?" 

No answer. 

"Did you know him or something?" 

No answer. 

"What were you guys even doing there?" 

No answer.

“And what’re you doing back here? What if someone saw the fight? What if they recognize you?”

Finally, the hooded man moved. He stood up from where he stiffly sat at the table, walking around it, and out towards the street.

"Hey!" You called out. 

"Why would you-" You lowered your voice as you jogged a bit to catch up to him, following him closely behind. "Why would you leave the head out like that?"

No answer. 

"I mean you had to have known how risky it was to have it found. Where’s the rest of him? Are body parts gonna just start popping up everywhere now?!" You asked desperately.

No answer.

You two had crossed the street by now, walking into the parking lot of your apartment.

"What’re you guys gonna do if you're caught?" 

No answer.

"...Who are you guys anyways?" 

No answer. He was starting to get on your nerves. 

You felt like you deserved these answers, being forced to witness the whole attack. You didn't go to the police or anything obviously, or he would've been caught by now. Didn't he trust you? Did the other two trust you?

You two had finished crossing the parking lot and were almost at the door to your building.

"Should I…. Should I be scared of you guys?" You didn't really know why you had asked that, the question had just slipped out of your mouth. Obviously, these men were violent but… they saved you, they probably even saved your life . 

You wanted to trust them, maybe it was because you had relied on yourself for so long, and you craved reliability from someone else for once.

The man stopped and immediately turned on his heel to look at you.

"No." He said quickly, still in a monotone voice but louder.

You went silent in shock at his sudden response. You knew you shouldn't necessarily believe his answer to your question, but something about his reaction made you believe he really didn't want you to be scared of him at all.

After a few seconds of the two of you staring at each other once again, he sighed and nodded his head toward your building door. 

You had only gotten two answers and your brain was already jumbled, so you figured maybe gathering your thoughts a bit more would be a good thing.

You signed too- a little more dramatically than he had- and walked past him, pulling your keys out to open the door. As you unlocked it you turned to him, still standing at your side with his arms folded over his chest.

"This isn't over." You told him, and you swore you heard him huff out a laugh before you walked inside.

Chapter Text

You finally had some time to yourself again, and were spending this precious time by doing some chores. Your place had become a wreck over the last week and your paranoia had been too intense for you to be able to do anything but work.  

Somehow you finally found it in yourself to clean today. Toby was going to want to hang out tonight and if that meant coming here then you really needed to put some work into this place. 

You stuffed the last of the trash into your overflowing trash can, sighing and pressing your knuckles into your back, stretching out your sore muscles. The dumpsters were outside, all the way at the far end of your parking lot, but you really did need to take this trash out…

Relaxing your back again, you slid on some shoes and threw a hoodie on overtop your pajamas. After struggling with the bag a bit, you finally managed to tie it up and pull it out of the trash can. 

You hauled the heavy bag out your door, shuffling with it all the way down the stairs, out the main door, and across the parking lot. 

Once you had finally reached the dumpster, you set the bag down in front of it. Grabbing the heavy lid, you lifted it with a bit of struggle, but finally managed to throw it up over the back of the bin. You bent over to pick the bag back up off the ground, and putting in all you muscle, you lifted it up high by the strings. 

Just as you were about to finally toss the heavy bag in the dumpster, you saw it.

A head. Placed at the very top, staring back at you.

The face was smashed and bloody. The nose was completely pressed flat to its side, eyes bruised and puffy, jaw mangled and dislocated, and chin smashed in.

Instantly, you knew you had to hide it. That was your first and only thought. No one could see this. If anyone found it they would get in trouble. 

You quickly threw your trash bag on top of the head, desperate to cover it up somehow. You didn't understand why a sense of dread overcame you once you let go of the bag, until something caused it to tear and burst open, exposing the contents and splattering you with warm liquid. 

What once was fast food wrappers and rotten leftovers from your fridge, were now body parts . Whole limbs, torn-up pieces of meat, organs and entrails. All dripping with bright blood. So much blood.

The blood quickly flowed out, soaking the rest of the contents of the dumpster. Looking down you saw the blood splattered across your body. Soaking your hands and stuck under your nails.

You needed to close the lid. Just close the lid and it would all go away. 

But as you looked up from your hands you realized this was wrong. Not you throwing a man's body into a dumpster, or trying to hide what had been done. What was wrong was you had walked outside at 11 am.

It wasn't morning anymore.

It was dark. 

The sun was gone, there were no more cars in the street, the light breeze that was blowing was gone, the air was completely still now. There were no stars in the sky, and the moon was gone. The only light was a street light on directly over you. You spun around, desperate to find some sign of life around you. 

The lot was empty around you, every car gone. The only thing left was a black pole at the very end of the lot, straight across from you, under the only other street light that was on besides the one over you. As your eyes continued to adjust to the darkness you slowly realized… It wasn't just a pole.

It had limbs. Long legs and long arms connected to a long black torso. There was a small sliver of red in the black. 

Bright red. 

Blood red. 

Dripping down into a pool at the bottom of the pole. At the top of the pole was a white oval. Almost shaped like a head...

Although it couldn't have been a head, because there was no face. Just completely smooth whiteness. 

You couldn't look away from the whiteness. The world had begun spinning around you, but you couldn't look away. 

The white oval tilted, and everything around you continued to spin, while your vision vibrated, and your ears rang a loud, high-pitched scream. Your limbs were numb, you couldn't even feel your body anymore. All you could do was stare.

You shot up straight in bed, still screaming. It took you a couple of seconds to realize what had happened. It was a nightmare. 

Gasping for air in a cold sweat, you realized the high-pitched ringing from the dream were your own screams. You had woken yourself up with them. 

You pulled your knees to your chest and buried your head in your hands, rubbing away the headache you had woken up with. You continued to catch your breath.

‘It was just a dream. Everything's okay,’

Honestly, the worst part about having that dream was that you didn't actually do any of your chores. You flopped back down in bed. 

It was surprising that you were able to get any sleep at all last night. You really must've been exhausted from not sleeping the night before.

You reached over to your nightstand to grab your phone, yanking it off the charger. Opening it to check the time, you had actually slept for a while. 11:31 am, and one new message from Bri-

‘Nope.'

You turned your phone off and tossed it down next to you on the bed.

‘Going back to sleep.'

You closed your eyes and rolled over, but it wasn't long before you saw the image of that…. pole… thing again.

Your eyes shot back open. Groaning, you pulled yourself up out of bed. You sat on the edge of the bed, stretching a bit, and considered your options. It was Wednesday, and you had the day off. You did actually really need to do chores…

DING  

You flinched from the sudden noise. You turned and glared down at your phone for scaring you, reading the notification on the lit-up screen. Two new messages from Brian.

You turned away and got up, deciding you really needed a shower to calm you down. You almost felt like you could still feel the blood on you from your dream. You got up to make your way to the bathroom.

DING

You paused for a second, before turning back around to get your phone. You were ignoring the texts for now, just going to play some music. You opened your phone to see a new notification, a message from Toby. You smiled at that, but knew if you opened his text, you would just open Brian's too. 

Toby would have to wait.

You stood in the shower until the water ran cold, allowing the hot water to relax your muscles. You were really tense after jolting yourself awake this morning. You got out and wrapped yourself in a worn towel, one you took from your parent's house before you moved. You picked your phone back up to change your playlist, but stopped once you saw the notifications.

‘ Right ’

You decided to deal with Toby first, opening the message.

< good morning :) 

Butterflies immediately fluttered in your stomach and a goofy smile spread across your face, just from the simple good morning text. 

You sent a “good morning” back, before finally gathering the nerve to open Brian's messages. Preparing for the worst, you took a deep breath to calm your nerves.

< Hey (Y/n), I’m really sorry. For not texting you like I said I would, for barely responding when you texted me, and for having our night so rudely interrupted on Thursday. We all had a really great time with you, we’ve just been busy with work stuff the last few days. I know that's a bad excuse and I could have at least texted you, but I don't have an explanation for that. Again, I'm sorry.

<If you're not too upset with me, Toby said you might be free today, can we take you out? Dinner?

You read through the texts about 4 times, while your face heated up and the butterflies got stronger. You set your phone down to collect your thoughts. You left the bathroom and walked into your room to get dressed. 

You were not expecting that. You thought he was going to break things off, tell you that you weren't his type, tell you that he realized you weren't what he wanted. Maybe even tell you that it was weird that he, Toby, and Tim were all into you, and you were clearly into all three of them, and that wasn't something that he wanted. 

But no. Not only did he ask you out tonight, but he apologized for making you worry. If he didn't have you wrapped around his finger before then damn you were fully hooked now. 

You finished getting dressed and went back into the bathroom to grab your phone, finally deciding on how to respond to Brian. First, you responded to the new text from Toby.

< are you still free tonite??,,

Yea i am :), brian said you guys wanna go to dinner ?>

Then, you responded to Brian.

I really appreciate the apology, Brian, i was actually kind of worried that i had done something wrong. And yes, im free, i'd love to go to dinner with you guys>

Brian began typing only a couple of seconds after your text was sent. As you waited for his reply, a message from Toby popped up at the top of the screen. 

Yes!! 

Brian's message popped up next

< You haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. Where would you like to go tonight? Anywhere you'd like, beautiful 

‘Damn! Okay!’

Another message from Toby popped up.

Pizza?

Not more than a second later another message popped up, this time from Tim.

Please don’t say pizza, Toby will eat it until he gets sick. Last time he ate three.

You opened Tim's messages to reply 

Three slices or… three whole pizzas?!?!>

You giggled to yourself imagining Brian and Tim having to sit and watch Toby eat three entire pizzas. 

< Three. Whole. Pizzas. He was in bed for like 2 days straight. Brian was really worried.

You burst into laughter.

< actually i think it was more like 3 and a half.

That only made you laugh harder.

Alright, then what would you like to have tonight, Tim?>

The typing bubble popped up for a couple of seconds, before disappearing, and then popping back up again.

Another notification popped up at the top of your screen, this one from Toby again.

So no pizza? ;(

You giggled, both at the text and the realization you were now coming to. These boys were probably all sitting on the couch together right now, texting you at the same time. That or they were just incredibly in-sync with each other. You opened Toby's text to send a quick reply.

Im sorry, i dont want you to get sick!!!>

You opened Tim's messages again right as he sent his text.

< im not picky, but im kind of craving burgers, if that's alright with you?

Sounds great :)>

You smile at his text, still leaving the decision up to you, not trying to be pushy. You open Brian's texts up again.

Burgers?> 

<Perfect, we'll pick you up. How does 7 sound to you?

You checked the time, it was almost 1.

See you then!>

You finally turned your phone off and set it down, smiling to yourself. Not only was Brian not turned off by you, but you were going on another date with the three of them tonight.

You had wandered into your living room and sat on your couch while you were texting the three. As you looked around your messy living room, the smile began slowly falling off your face as you remembered that all the chores you had done were just a dream. You had a lot of work to do before 7.

Chapter Text

You stuffed the last of the trash from your kitchen counter into your overflowing trash can. Sighing, you pressed your knuckles into your back, stretching out your sore muscles. You looked down at the trash. 

' Nope. '

You could take the trash out of another day. You pressed the lid down tightly on the trash can, deciding to just forget about it. You turned around, walking around the island that separated the kitchen from the living room in your tiny apartment. You turned on your sink and scrubbed all the filth built up from your day of cleaning away.

After having some breakfast you had managed to do your dishes, clean your bathroom, shove all your laundry in the hamper, straighten up your bedroom and living room, and vacuum the floor. The only time it was actually nice to live in such a cramped space was when it only took a few hours to clean your entire place.

You had taken a few breaks to text Toby, mostly responding to him trying to convince you that he didn't have a pizza problem, or sending you videos he thought were funny. A couple of times he sent selfies of him raising one eyebrow incredibly high and biting his lip before telling you how excited he was to “see your beautiful face again”.

‘ This dude’s such an idiot. Perfect.’

The only chore you hadn't finished was taking out the trash. Every time you even looked at the trash can, you would just see the images from your dream. Whenever your mind wandered while you were doing the mindless tasks, you would see the blood, or the organs, or the head, or the pole. You would remember how fast the world spun, or how violently your vision vibrated, or how you had been screaming so loud in your sleep that you had woken yourself up. 

You had distracted yourself for a while by playing some cheesy slasher film on your small TV- something you usually enjoyed watching, masked killers making you want to start giggling and kicking your feet. It worked for a while, you even stopped what you were doing a couple of times to watch the large man in the tan hoodie and black ski mask break down a door with his body, or lift someone up by their neck with one hand. 

It was obvious who the killer was from the first 10 minutes of the movie. The attractive, burly, sweet next door neighbor with brown curly locks and a lopsided grin that would make stupid innuendos about blood or death twice every scene. The final girl never saw it coming, too blinded by her attraction to the sweet boy next door bringing her flowers from his garden and giving her flirtatious looks over the backyard fence.

It wasn't very long before the movie couldn't hold your attention any longer, and the images came back. Especially when the movie would get particularly bloody. When an appendage got cut off, or blood splatter across the mask of the killer, or someone let out a loud screech, all you saw was your dream.

You were doing it again now, zoning out, letting your mind wander. You blinked harshly a couple of times and looked down at your hands, still under the water. 

No blood.

You took a shaky breath and turned the tap off, grabbing a towel to dry off your hands. You turned to check the clock on your stove. 5:43 pm. Brian said they would pick you up, so you didn't have to catch the bus or anything. You had plenty of time.

That didn't stop you from feeling rushed. 

You had quickly gotten yourself ready like you would on any normal day, because this was just another normal day. You were just going out to dinner with friends like normal people do.

Behaving like a normal person, you completely tore through your closet and dresser. You were desperately trying to find something that would meet expectations after wearing the low-cut top and heels the last time you saw the boys. That was until your eyes met the designated "clean laundry" chair in the corner of your room. 

Sitting right on top, freshly washed, were the three sets of lingerie Megan had convinced you to buy last Thursday. The blue, the red, and the black one. You stared at the three for a few seconds, weighing your options. 

1) Wear one, or 2) don't. 

It wasn't like any of them would see you in the set anyways. It was still just another normal day, and you were just meeting normal friends. One of which you've already made out with.

However you were feeling more confident than usual after the apology and subsequent date invitation from Brian. Toby had been hyping you up all day too…

You rolled your eyes, damning the two boys for making you feel so bold, and snatched the red, lacy set. 

Stripping and replacing your comfy clothes, you turned to look in the mirror. The lace was bright red and see through, no nude mesh underneath to give extra coverage. The bra had thin straps, the same bright red color, with a small hole in the middle of the band, between the cups. The matching thong was made of the same material, waist band arching over your hip bones.

You would kill a man in this set.

'Figuratively.' You quickly corrected, screams from the movie still playing on the TV punctuating your point.

Turning away from your mirror, you grab a pair of jeans to throw on. After much debate between an oversized sweater and a form-fitting long sleeve, you grabbed the sweater, thinking of the chill that had been blowing in the past couple of days. Besides, you needed that extra comfort over the revealing lingerie you wore underneath. Even if they couldn't see it, you could feel it.

Your phone dinged as you took one last look in the mirror. You snatched it off your bed and opened the text from Tim.

< we're almost there doll.

Before you could reply to Tim, a notification popped up from toby.

< ALMOST THERE

You giggled, replying to Toby, and then to Tim.

Tim beat u to it!!>

can't wait :)>

You looked at Tim's text, not being able to stop the blush forming on your cheeks from the little pet name he threw in, like a true southern gentleman.

' Friends. Normal friends.'

You looked up from your phone, back at your reflection in the mirror, then you turned to look back down at your bed, where the discharged form-fitting long sleeve shirt lay. You looked between the mirror and the shirt a few more times, and then turned to look out your window. The air was still outside, nothing blowing in the wind, so it shouldn't be that cold…

 ' Fuck it.' 

You stripped the sweater off, and pulled the shirt on. It wasn't too tight, but it hugged every dip and curve of your body. You thought you could almost see the material of the lace pressing against the shirt.

‘ I’m gonna make these dudes obsessed…’

You quickly turned away from the mirror before you could psych yourself out of wearing the shirt. You grabbed your phone, and went about gathering the rest of the things you needed. 

By the time you were sitting on your couch pulling your shoes on, your phone had dinged again. And then again. And then again. You looked down at the notifications, each from Brian, Toby, and Tim respectively.

< Hey, we're here. Take your time :) cant wait to see you.

<WE'RE HERE!! :D

<I'm sorry he keeps doing that. Take your time

A huge grin broke out across your face. These three were too damn cute.

Excitedly, you finished pulling your shoes on. Jumping up, you went into your bathroom to look at yourself in the large mirror one last time. 

You still felt the same about the shirt. Attractive, but somehow exposed. 

You sighed and forced yourself to tear your eyes away from the mirror. Going back into the living room, you gathered your things, grabbing your keys and making your way out the door. 

You hurried down the stairs and out the main door, seeing the boys parked right in front of the short pathway that led from the main door to the parking lot.

They were all out of the car, Brian leaning against the hood in front of the drivers side with his arms crossed, Toby in front of the passenger side, bouncing on his toes with his hands shoved into the pockets of his black hoodie, and Tim sitting on the hood of the car right between the other two.

They all smiled once you stepped out the door, Toby's bouncing becoming more intense, jerking his shoulder back a couple times.

“Hey guys,” you called out as you approached them, smiling back.

“Hey,” Tim replied. 

Brian nodded at you, and as you got closer you could see Brian's eyes traveling up and down your form, smile growing wider until you could see his tooth gap.

You came to a stop in front of the three, closest to Toby. 

“So,” you began. 

Before you could continue, Toby reached out and grabbed you by the waist, picking you up and spinning with you while stuttering out “Hi-hi-hi-hi.”

You giggled, but after the one spin he quickly set you back down, holding his hands up, palms facing you. 

“S-s-s-sssorry,” he said. He then clasped his hands together in front of him, composing himself. “Sorry.” He repeated.

You smiled widely at him, giggling again. “It's alright, I get it, I missed you guys too.” Now that you thought about it, you had actually missed them a lot . You forgot how calming their presence felt, and after everything that's happened these past couple days, you really needed these boys right now.

Your face fell a bit, remembering the fucked up week you just had. Brian must've noticed the slight change in your expression.

“Again,” he started, “I’m sorry for not properly texting, or calling you like I said I would've…” He pushed himself up from where he was leaning on the car, taking a couple steps towards you.

“And I'm sorry for not kicking his ass for being rude .” Tim interrupted, getting off the hood to block you from Brian, and stretching his back out. "We ready to go?” he asked, mostly to you.

You smiled at how much of an absolute cock block Tim was, but quickly brushed it off. “Yeah, uh, where are we going exactly?”

Both Tim and Toby responded together, except Tim replied casually while Toby sounded very excited.

“Red robins.”

"R-red robin-robins!!"

“I mean, if that's okay,” Brian said. “I know it's kind of a tacky place for a date, so if that's not your thing we can-”

“No!” You interrupted, ”that sounds great, actually.” Whether or not you really wanted to go didn't matter to you, after hearing Brian use the word 'date' again, you would go wherever they took you.

“Great, let's go. i'm starving” Tim said, rushing you all into the car.

Suddenly Toby snaked his hand into yours, leaning down and whispering “sit next to me” in your ear. 

You smiled up at him and followed him to the back door of the car, still holding his hand. Tim got in the passenger seat while Brian drove again.

Once the car was started, music filled the space, clearly something they were already listening to. It was a slower, dreamy sounding song, having picked back up at the instrumentals. A soft drum, guitar strumming, and piano keys, with some radio frequency noises throughout.

" How can-"

Brian suddenly flicked the radio off before it could continue. "Tim, put something on. Please." He asked, actually sounding a tiny bit flustered.

Tim pulled his phone out of his pocket, connecting to the aux, and began scrolling through his music. 

"I sw-ssswear to GOD if you put on Devo. I'm k-k-killing myself." Toby said, jerking his leg out and kicking Tim's seat. You couldn't tell if the kick was on purpose or not. You fought to contain your laughter.

Brian had pulled out of the parking spot and began smoothly driving out of the lot. 

Tim lowered his phone, turning around to glare at Toby. "I listen to other music besides Devo you know."

The two men stared at each other silently for about a minute before Tim sighed and turned back around. "Fine." He grumbled.

You snorted at the mini argument, leaning over to peek at Tim's music collection. He eventually landed on The Smashing Pumpkins, playing a random song. Toby sighed dramatically next to you.

"You know Toby, this band-" Tim began.

"If you lec-lecture mmmme again about how this band- this band is the reason the music I like-like exists, I p-p-p-promise you, I will throw myself out of thisss c-car." Toby stated, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Brian chuckled. "Tim, please don't make Toby jump out of the car while I'm driving." He said, smiling widely.

"Th-throw myself out of thiss car- Yeah! Old ass man!" Toby teased. 

Tim just sighed and looked back forward while you laughed at the conversation.

"So," you started once your laughs died down. "What have you guys been up to since Thursday?" 

"Working." Tim replied, "it's pretty much all we have time for."

"Mostly." Toby continued. Brian peeked up at Toby through the rear view mirror, then focused back on the road, keeping his expression neutral.

They all seemed to either be very blunt or go totally quiet whenever their work was brought up. You guessed nobody really likes to talk about work when they're not on the clock, though. Still, whatever it was they did must be taking up all of their free time. 

"What have you been up to, (Y/n)?" Brian asked.

You thought back through your week. It had been pretty boring, working and running errands. That was, until a few nights ago in the alley…

Since then you had locked yourself inside, clutching your hammer in your hand almost all of the time. You even brought your hammer in your backpack to work yesterday. You hadn't done much of anything the past two days, barely even sleeping. The black bags under your eyes growing even darker. 

"Yeah… just working too..." You didn't want to burden them with what was happening in your life. You were a big girl, you had to be able to take care of your problems yourself.

You turned to Toby, who seemed to be studying you with a worried look on his face. He gave you a weak smile. The light coming through the window hitting his face perfectly, rays from the sunset catching the auburn highlights in his brown curls. The dark circles under your eyes didn't seem to rival his, though.

"It sounds like you guys work a lot , you better be getting paid well for all of it."

Toby smiled genuinely at you, and Tim and Brian chuckled a bit.

"Our payment is that we don't get fired." Tim said, looking over his shoulder and smiling softly at you. The dark circles under his eyes were way worse than Toby's. How were you just now noticing this?

"That sounds shitty." You said, frowning at him.

"Yeah, well, you know how it is on this bitch of an earth…" Tim replied, smile falling a bit as he looked forward again.

"Have you thought about quitting? Finding a new job?" You asked.

"Constantly." Brian said. 

"Everyday." Tim continued. Brian looked over at Tim for a second before turning back to the road.

"Have you guys had this job for a while or something?" 

"Well…" Brian started. "Technically we're always on different 'jobs' but… we've had the same boss for uh… a few years now." 

"Almost eight." Tim corrected.

"Oh, wow… so… what is it that you guys do?" You asked, curiosity finally getting the better of you.

They all went silent at your question. Tim looking to Brian, Brian looking to Tim, Toby still studying you with a worried expression. 

Finally, Brian and Tim both spoke up, replying to you at the same time.

"Freelance?" Brian said, though his answer sounded more like a question.

"It's complicated." Tim said, in a very definite and conversation ending tone.

"And illegal." Toby added in, before jerking his head and arm a couple of times, then clicking his tongue and popping his mouth.

You had finally made it to the restaurant, Brian just pulling into a spot.

"Oh… like drugs?" You asked. You weren't really sure why that was the first illegal thing to pop into your head. Maybe it just seemed like the least scary illegal job to you. 

You should've taken this as a hint, told them to take you home and never talk to you again, but you were still under the calming influence that seemed to surround the boys. You felt so at ease around them that the alarm in you head shouting 'RED FLAG, RED FLAG' was apparently put on silent.

Before you got an answer though, the car was parked, and again the boys all got out before you could even get your seat belt off.

Brian opened your door for you, extending his hard for you to take. 

Smiling timidly, you accepted it and let him pull you up, giving you a toothy grin once you stood. You looked over the car to find Tim and Toby both grinning as well, clearly finding the drugs comment amusing.

Brian laced his fingers in between yours, and tugged you along towards the restaurant, with the other two possible drug dealers following closely behind.

Chapter Text

You sat in a surprisingly comfy booth, Toby on your right, Brian across from you, and Tim next to Brian. This night had been exactly what you needed, a distraction from all the crazy shit you've had to deal with lately. The boys were playing their part perfectly, keeping the night light hearted, somehow making you feel like you were exactly where you were meant to be. 

You knew it was strange to feel the way you did- having truly barely known these men- but there was something about them, like a fog that followed them and immediately came to surround you when they were near, that just made you feel right with them. 

You were in the corner of the booth, between the wall and Toby, and you never knew being completely boxed in like this could feel so safe . If a meteor were to fall through the roof of this Red Robins, you just knew these boys would protect you from it. Was this… love?

'Nah. Fuck that.'

You brushed your serenity off as being the work of the few drinks you had finished by this point. Brian had ordered a 'vodka blue chill' after you made a passing comment about how good it sounded, sliding the drink over to you once the waitress dropped it off in front of him. The drink really was as good as you thought it would be, and it wasn't long before Tim asked the waitress to refill your drink.

You were finishing the last of your third glass when, interrupting Brian and Tim's half-argument over whether or not "jalapeno dippers" should still be called "dippers" if you don't want to  dip them in anything, Toby turned to you and asked, "Have I told-told you how g-good you look tonnn-night?" You set your drink down and looked over, just to find him making that stupid fuck boy face again, eyes completely zeroed in on your chest. You snorted, almost choking on the drink that was still in your mouth. He dropped the face almost as quickly as he made it, giggling as well. 

"If you keep making that face it's going to stick like that.” Tim said, arms crossed, leaning back against his seat. His plate sat in front of him, absolutely obliterated . He must not have been kidding when he said he was craving burgers.

Toby had made the face multiple times throughout the night, earning a disapproving look from Tim every time without fail, a couple times Tim telling Toby that he was going to scare you away, or ruin everyone's chances with you. Toby's rebuttals were usually along the lines of telling Tim he "just doesn't get it" because Tim was "old".

Toby threw his hands up, half-shouting "I th-th-think it already HAS!" before dropping head against the table with a light thud. You giggled, rubbing his back.

All four of you had finished your food by now, you were just waiting for your check. Speaking of, you saw your waitress coming around the corner now, holding the familiar small black book with the check inside. 

You adjusted to pull out your wallet, opening it to grab your card. It was like Toby sensed what you were doing though, because right as you touched your card, your wallet was snatched from your hand. You turned to look at the culprit, who was holding your wallet up, as far away from you as possible.

"No.” He said firmly, pointing and giving you a stern look, as if you were a dog he found chewing something that you shouldn't have been.

"Toby!!" You exclaimed, leaning over him to try to pull his arm down. You struggled with him, but even when you put all of your force into tugging at his arm, he didn't budge, keeping it stretched far away from you.

You were about to argue when your waitress arrived, forcing you to pull away from Toby to save yourself the embarrassment of her seeing you practically laid across him.

"No rush guys, whenever you're ready." She said, placing the check down on the table - customer service smile plastered on her face.

"No need," Brian insisted. He grabbed the book and quickly shoved a few bills inside. He handed the book back to the waitress, telling her to "keep the change." and nodding up at her.

"Thanks, have a great night you guys." The waitress responded, smiling at the four of you one last time before turning to leave. Once she was far enough away from your table, Toby brought his hand back down, allowing you to quickly snatch your wallet back.

Tim stretched his arms up above his head, letting out a dad grunt, and wordlessly got up. The rest of you followed his lead, filing out from the booth.

Toby quickly grabbed your hand once you were both up. He had gotten progressively more bold with his touches throughout the night. What started with you leaning up against him turned into him leaning back against you, then his hand on your thigh, then his arm around your shoulder. A couple of times when you turned to look at him he leaned over, quickly capturing your lips with his for just a second. After the fourth time, Tim kicked Toby under the table, saying "We are in public." making you and Brian chuckle. 

Not that you minded the larger, protective frame up against yours. His touch was actually extremely comforting to you, his gloves soft against your hands. Maybe you were just touch starved. 

Speaking of, you had actually asked about his gloves earlier in the night, as you watched him eat his burger with them on. 

“Remember how I told you it would be rude to ask about the bandage?” He had answered, smiling down at you. You swore to yourself that someday you would get an answer about both the gloves and the bandage he still wore.

"Thanks for paying for me, you didn't have to do that." You said once you four stepped outside.

"Shut up." Toby responded immediately, twitching his head to the side sharply. "SORRY. sorry I didnt- I didnt mean to sssay that." 

"We wanted to pay for you." Brian said, interrupting Toby and turning to flash a smile at you.

"But you didn't have to-" you began to argue.

Tim cut you off this time. "We were the ones who asked you out, so we're the ones who are gonna pay," he said. "End of discussion" he opened the car door for you to punctuate his statement. You quickly got it, not wanting him to see your face as it began to heat up.

"Well. Thank you." You said once everyone was in the car.

"Trust me," Brian said, turning to give you a lopsided grin, "it was our pleasure."

You ended up back at your apartment, the boys joining you inside this time. Toby had almost immediately crashed once he sunk into your soft recliner. You could tell he was tired from the dark circles under his eyes, but this just proved that the poor boy must have really been exhausted. 

Tim had stayed back outside for a smoke. You let him borrow your keys so he could let himself in when he was done. 

That just left you and Brian, sitting on your couch together. Brian had his arm thrown across the back of the couch, behind your head, while you sat turned towards him.

"You know you guys don't have to hang out, you all seem pretty beat…" You commented, watching Toby lightly snore behind you. Brian seemed to be the most well rested out of the three of them, but that didn't really mean much considering the other two.

“It's alright, we’re used to it by now. Tim has insomnia so he can't really sleep anyways.”

‘Huh, guess that explains it.’

"I'm really glad you decided to come out with us tonight (Y/n). I was worried you would be too upset with me." Brian continued. You turned back to him, catching the apologetic look on his face.

You smiled up at him, "Stop apologizing Brian. I'm just glad you still wanted to talk to me." Really you couldn't have been mad at him, if anything you thought it would've been your fault if he didn't want to talk to you anymore.

Brian looked a little confused at this. "Of course I did, why wouldn't I? You're funny, interesting, absolutely beautiful… We almost had a fight over you when we first saw you." he said, cracking a smile. You just now realized his free hand had been on your knee, traveling up along your thigh. He looked down at his hand, eyes slowly traveling along your body, back up to your eyes.

You smiled wider, face heating up. "A fight? Really?" You asked, remembering the first time you had met them, near the end of you shift at the diner. There was no way he was being serious.

"Mmmmhm…" he continued, chuckling a bit, "Toby and I called dibs at the same time when we walked out of your little diner. We argued for a bit, then Tim called us idiots and asked what made us think you'd pick either of us." Brian returned to watching his hand travel along you thigh. "Course, we didn't expect to ever see you again, so it wasn't like we were takin' it seriously. Until I gave you my number at that bar." He looked back up into your eyes, smile growing.

You bit your bottom lip, trying to will away your blush. "I'm not doing a very good job at picking, am I?" You asked.

Brian laughed at this. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." You looked down, watching his hand slowly rub up and down your thigh.

"Have I told you how sexy you look tonight?" He asked. You looked back up to catch him smirking a bit and allowing his eyes to travel again.

"No." You responded simply, too stunned to flirt back with him, butterflies fluttering strongly inside you. This man was apparently not about to allow you to stop blushing.

"Well, you look sexy tonight darlin’.” He said as his hand began slowly traveling up your arm. You both had been leaning in during your conversation, only a few inches away from each other now. 

"Thanks…" You whispered, mentally scolding yourself for not being able to make yourself properly flirt back, eyes trailing down to his lips. “You're not so bad yourself…”

‘ Genius.’

He let out a breathy laugh, eyes flickering down to your lips as well, before he gently tilted his head and finally closed the gap. 

His hand had made its way up to your neck, thumb running around your jaw. This kiss was soft, his lips moving against yours gently, much different than the desperate and forceful first kiss with Toby. He actually pulled away a bit a few times to let you breathe, but only for a second before he closed the gap again.

It wasn't long before the kiss evolved. He ran his tongue along your bottom lip, and you quickly opened your mouth a bit, deepening the kiss. You raised your hands to run along his chest, that you could now tell was much more defined than it looked with his shirt on over it.

As he ran his tongue along yours, he began to re-adjust a bit, bringing his arm down from along the back of the couch to wrap around your waist, pulling you even closer. He slid the hand at your neck back down to your thigh. 

Before you realized what he was doing, he pulled away from the kiss and lifted you up by your waist. Pulling your leg with his other hand, he positioned you up on his lap, straddling him.

He laughed a bit at the shocked expression on your face. "Do you even realize how bad we want you?" He asked in a husky voice, suddenly serious. All you could do was blink at him as you felt your face heat up impossibly more.

Smiling at your dazed look, Brian closed the gap once again. He kept his arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you flush against him, while his other hand slid up your thigh to grasp your ass. You gasped at the sudden move, allowing him access to your mouth again. His heavy tongue slid against yours slowly. He wasn't rushing the kiss, very much enjoying all you had to offer him.

The two of you stayed like this, slowly making out, enjoying the feeling of your body pressed against his, the feeling of his hands wandering your body, gently squeezing your flesh every so often. You didn't pull away until you heard your front door creak open, and heavy footsteps walked inside. 

Jumping, you whipped your head around to your door, still a bit paranoid from what had happened in the alley just a few days ago.

"Ayo?" Tim said from your doorway, arms spread out as if to ask 'what the fuck are you two doing'.

You and Tim stared at each other for a few seconds, both in shock.

"Where did you learn that word?" You finally asked once your brain started up again, confusion about how the dad of the group knew this slang stronger than the embarrassment of being caught straddling Brian. 

Tim's eyes flicked over to Toby for a second, before he shook his head and quickly replied "doesn't matter." He stepped all the way inside, loudly shutting the door behind him, and making his way towards Toby.

"Jealous of her, Tim?" Brian asked, shit-eating grin plastered on his face. His hands were still resting comfortably on your ass, just waiting to continue.

Tim stopped and pointed at Brian in silence for a few seconds,  before simply responding, "shut up. Come on, Toby." He walked up to Toby, who was still fast asleep with his head leaned back in your recliner, a bit of drool sliding out the corner of his mouth. 

Tim placed his foot up on the legrest of the chair, pushing down to cause the back to shoot up to its normal position. Toby slowly cracked his eyes open, looking around a bit and wiping the drool off his face. He locked eyes with you, lazy smiling pulling up at the corners of his mouth. 

"We, uh..." Tim began, turning back toward you. "I'm sorry (Y/n), I got a… a call from our boss while I was outside," he gave Brian a serious look before continuing again. "We really gotta get goin'. Like, now." He nodded at Brian, then turned back towards your front door.

Brian sighed from under you, sliding his hands back to tap your thighs a couple times, signaling you to climb off of him.

A little disappointed, you complied, and flopped back down on the couch. Before Brian stood up, he leaned over to you and whispered, "I've been waitin' too damn long for this," a bit of his southern twang coming out, then cupped your cheek to give you one last soft kiss. 

"Come on, Toby," Brian called out as he stood. Toby seemed to have drifted off again, harsly blinking himself awake when Brian called him. Slowly, Toby stood as well, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his back loud enough for you to hear. You stood to see them out, following the three to the door. 

Tim stepped out first, followed by Brian.

"So... what're you guys doing this week?" You asked, leaning against the door frame, trying to come off as casual and totally not desperate while you basically asked them when the soonest you could see them again would be.

Brian looked over to Tim, who looked back at Brian, before Tim answered.

"We'll see you soon, beautiful, don't worry." He said, not fully answering your question, but the smile he gave you made you forget what you had even asked. Brian stared at Tim, eyebrows raised, a smile on his lips as well.

Toby walked past you until the hall, stopping in his half-asleep tracks to wrap an arm around your waist, pulling you close and kissing you. The kiss was harsher and sloppier than Brian's, but definitely not as desperate as the first kiss you two shared.

"Real soon, e-engel" he slurred with half lidded eyes.

“So then he was like ‘damn baby, you're perfect’. Can you believe that? He thinks I'm PERFECT! PERFECT (Y/N)!" Megan exclaimed, flopping down beside you on the staff couch. 

It was the first shift you and Megan shared in almost a week, and apparently you had a lot of catching up to do. She had been animatedly gushing about Sean to you during your whole break.

You had not been listening to her very well. You felt like you were still in a daze from last night. Everytime your mind began to wander it always ended up at you sitting on Brian's lap. You blushed just from thinking about it again, but happily welcomed it over your mind wandering back to the vivid, bloody dream you had the other night.

“Oh my god I can't wait for Saturday, you're coming right?” Megan asked, snapping you out of your daze.

“Huh? Where?” you blinked a bit, turning to look at Megan fully.

“To Sean's house warming party! Did I forget to tell you that part?” She probably did tell you, you really weren't listening very well. “Sean can't afford rent without Michael so he moved in with his drummer, Chris. Anyways, he's having a housewarming party and you should come! Sean said Chris knows how to party so it should be really fun.”

“Yeah, I'll think about it.” you responded automatically.

“There'll be driiinnnkkks!'' Megan tried to convince you.

You usually enjoyed being at home and spending time just by yourself, but it never took much convincing to go out with Megan either. Especially with the promise of free drinks.

You smiled at her, imagining said free drinks. “Alright, fine." You gave in.

Megan smiled back and stood up, seemingly satisfied with her work. 

“You should invite your boys too!” she suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at you. You smiled even wider back at her, happy that she gave you an excuse to see the boys again. 

“Oh! And did I tell you that Sean even went with me to buy plan B this morning? God, he's so sweet!” 

You snorted, "bare minimum, but okay," you said, pulling your phone out to text Brian, barely listening while Megan insisted that Sean does more than just the bare minimum.

hey megan just invited me to a housewarming party on saturday, do you guys wanna come? Its supposed to be crazy>

“I'm telling you this man is ADDICTED to me! I've won so hard with this one." Megan continued. 

Your phone dinged and you looked down at the notification. It was from Tim this time.

< hey love, sorry brians busy. I dont think we’re gunna be able to make it saturday, we’re super flooded with work

Your face dropped a bit, a little disappointed. You couldn't be too upset though, you had taken up so much of their time already. You figured they probably needed a break from you by now.

Dont worry abt it! I just thought id ask :)>

You stood up off the couch to go back to work, figuring you had probably been on break way longer than you should've been.

“SO, Saturday right?” Megan asked.

"I don't know, Tim just said no…" you said, going to put your phone away.

"Ok, so? Fuck them! Come without them!" 

You thought about it for a few seconds, trying to decide if it would really be worth it, but when you turned back to look at Megan's expecting eyes, the look she was giving you made you realize she wasn't going to let you say no. You smiled a bit, thinking about how much she wanted you to go with her. 

“Fine, I guess I'll still go.” you agreed. You could still have fun without the boys around, right?

Chapter Text

Tonight actually hadn't been so bad. 

Megan was right, Chris and Sean really did know how to throw a party. The house was practically overflowing with people, from the front yard all the way into the back. There had to have been at least 100 people packed onto the property. 

Even so, you didn't feel uncomfortable here. Everyone you had met so far had actually been really nice, and for once Megan never left your side, dragging you along with her to introduce you to someone she knew every 10 minutes. You swore it was like she knew everyone in this town.

You couldn't tell if she was bringing you along with her because she knew you didn't know anyone here, or if she knew you'd be nervous around so many people, or if she felt bad because the boys didn't come with you. You were still a little disappointed. You haven't heard from any of the three since you last texted Brian and got the response from Tim on Thursday. You tried to ignore your disappointment and just enjoy yourself tonight.  It had only been about a month since you met them, you couldn't already be obsessed like this. 

You found yourself alone for the first time tonight, Megan and Sean finding each other- after being apart for the whole 2 hours you two had been at the party- and disappearing together. You weren't sure where they had gone, just that Megan had gasped so dramatically that she made you nearly jump out of your skin- you were still pretty paranoid from the events of Monday night- then jumped up from the couch the two of you were sitting on, bolting across the house. 

After sitting alone and people watching for a bit, you were finally feeling the effects of being in a stuffed house, surrounded by strangers. You got up from the couch, deciding to just get some fresh air until Megan found you again. You made your way towards the front door, having to shove past a couple groups of people that were chatting or dancing.

There were a few people clogging the doorway, who moved for you after you let out a meek “excuse me”. You were a little surprised that they actually heard you over the loud music that filled the house, causing the annoying ringing in your ears to come back. At least the ringing was quiet this time. 

You made your way outside, looking around the front yard for a quiet spot, eventually deciding to walk around to the side of the house. Luckily, that seemed to be the one place that was empty.

You leaned up against the wall, letting your head fall back and your eyes close, taking a few deep, calming breaths. You could still hear the music and the distant laughter from the party, but could still feel yourself begin to relax. You pulled out your phone, opening your eyes to look down at your text messages, finger hovering over Tim's texts. It was pretty late, a little past 1 AM, they had to have been done with work by now.

You weren't even sure what you even wanted to say to him. Come join you at the party? Maybe. Breakfast tomorrow? Probably. Just fuck you already and get it over with? He was the only one you haven't kissed yet, and you didn't even know if that was what he wanted, but sure, sounds great.

' Maybe I should just go home…'

“Hey baby, what're you doing out here?”

‘ Christ. ’ 

You looked over towards the slurred voice that was coming from the backyard. A boy was approaching you, stumbling slightly. He seemed to be harmless, a smaller frame and not much older than you.

You opened your mouth to tell him you were just going back inside, but before you could even get any noise out, the boy's head was grabbed and slammed hard into the wall next to you. He instantly fell to the side, groaning and clutching his head as he lay on the ground.

The ringing in your ears was now piercing , catching your more off guard than the attack in front of you, and you stumbled back a bit into a dark spot shaded by some bushy hedges. You barely heard yourself shout “What the fuck?” over the ringing.

“Tim! What the fuck?” You heard a voice echo your own as the ringing slowly died down. You snapped your head up to the familiar voice, Brian walking around the house from the backyard, Toby following close behind.

You finally looked over to the attacker, and stared up at Tim as he let out heavy breaths, fists clenched down at his sides. He snapped his head around to Brian, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. Brian looked away from Tim, down at the boy on the ground.

"G-great, now what." Toby asked, looking between Tim and Brian. Looking more annoyed than anything, Brian stared at the boy writhing on the ground for a moment. Once he looked back up, he finally noticed you standing there, like a deer in the headlights.

“Fuck.” Brian breathed out, quickly stepping around Tim and towards you, expression switching from annoyed to worried. He gently put his arm around your waist, pulling you close to him. 

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Brian hissed out at Tim.

“Did you hear what he fuckin’ said? He fuckin’ got what was comin’ to him.” Tim growled out. His voice was deeper than usual, more gravely. His southern accent was more noticeable as well, voice coming out in almost a drawl. 

Brian ran his hand down his face. “Oh my god, he barely said like five words to her!" Brian almost shouted, extending his hand out to the boy on the ground, who had rolled over onto his back by now, still clutching his head. 

Brian seemed to notice that the boy was starting to move. "Fuck… Toby,” he started, “take (Y/n) home.”

“What?” You asked. The ringing in your ears was making it too hard to focus, everything was moving too fast. Your head began swimming as you stared at the boy on the ground.

“Really?” Toby asked enthusiastically from beside you. You looked up quickly, jumping again as you just now realized he was standing next to you. Toby smiled at Brian, then leaned down to put his beer can on the ground before stomping on it, crushing it under his boot.

Brian sighed. “Fuck.” He repeated. “No. Come on, let's go. Toby, make sure he comes with us. I'm not leaving him here alone.” Suddenly you were being pulled alongside Brian, Toby and Tim behind you as the four of you turned back towards the front yard.

“Where are we going?” You asked.

“We’re taking you home.” Brian replied.

“What? But I'm not ready to go yet.” You whined a bit.

“Well I'm sure as hell not leaving you here alone and clearly M-... Tim can't be here right now.” Brian insisted. 

He pulled you over to his car, parked across the street from the house. He opened the back door for you, pushing you a bit to get you in.

"W-wait, wait," you started, about to argue, but before you could even put an argument together in your head, you slouched forwards, grabbing the door frame as you vomited on the pavement, narrowly missing your shoes.

Brian sighed, "Toby," he said gently as he moved away from you.

"W-why do I have-have t-t-to do all the wr-wr-wrangling…" you heard Toby say, but you couldn't pay attention to what they were doing behind you as a second wave hit you. Your throat burned as you took in lungfuls of air, willing the nausea to subside. 

"(Y/n), we-we gotta go, c-c-come on," Toby said, gently taking your hand off the door frame, guiding you into the car. You allowed Toby to guide you into the car, sitting down and letting your head lull back, the surprisingly comfortable seat making you feel better. You prayed the motion of the car wouldn't make it start up again. Toby climbed in the back after you and leaned over to buckle you in. Brian and Tim were already seated in front, Brian driving once again.

Everyone sat in silence for a few moments, before Brian finally spoke. “That was really stupid.” He spat out, looking over to Tim. 

“Well maybe he shouldn't have cornered her like that.” Tim said matter-of-factly, not showing any regret for what he did. You had no idea why he was acting like this, just last week he was yelling at Toby for punching a guy who was being way more aggressive towards you than this boy was.

A guy who actually cornered you on the street a couple days later. A guy who was beaten and dismembered. A guy you've had nightmares about. You wanted to use this night to forget, but everything seemed to be rushing back to you all at once now.

Brian groaned and turned the car on. You could hear some shouting coming from outside the car, louder and more direct than the general shouting still coming from the lively party. Apparently you weren't the only one to hear the commotion, the four of you all turning towards the noise. Three men and the boy had come out from the side of the house, the boy still clutching his head and pointing at Brian's car. 

“God fucking dammit.” Brian let out, and quickly reached over Tim, towards the glove box.

“Do you really wanna do that? Here? In front of her?” Tim asked before Brian could open the glove box. Brian froze for a few seconds, looking back at you out of the corner of his eye, then looking back up at Tim, before groaning louder. 

He sat up straight, quickly throwing the car into reverse, and then drive again, nearly hitting both the cars he was parked between. He was able to pull out into the street just in time before the three men could make it to the car, speeding off down the road.

“That was really, really stupid.” Brian said.

“You said that already.” Tim replied.

“And I don’t think you fucking got it the first time I said it, asshole .” Brian growled.

“I got it, I just don't care.” Tim said, rolling down the window and lighting a cigarette.

"What if they call the cops? Huh? What if they got my plate numbers? What then? I'm not leaving, not now.' Brian ranted, getting louder as he spoke.

"Oooo, scary," Tim replied, waving his hands in the air. "Then send the pigs. Oink oink, bitch." He took a long drag from his cigarette, blowing the acrid smoke out of the window.

“Just…" Brian peeked at you again in the rear view mirror as you watched the two men argue. His eyes flicked back to the road before he continued, "keep your mouth shut.” he snapped coldly.

Tim just waved Brian off, turning to face the window to hang his cigarette out of the car.

“H-hey…” Toby whispered to you, making you jump a bit. You forgot he was even there.

He grabbed your hands and held them as still as he could, making you realize you were shaking .

“Are-are you ok-okay?” he asked, looking down into your eyes.

“Um… like physically? Yeah.” You weren't really sure how to answer his question. You didn't really know how to feel right now, everything was still swirling around you as you watched your memories from the past week and the two boys fought in the background.

“A-and em-emo-emotional-ly?” he asked, looking even more worried that you were avoiding the question.

“I… I don't know.” You answered honestly.

Toby sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing on it, but kept silent for the rest of the ride. All four of you were quiet until Brian pulled into the parking lot of your apartment, stopping in front of the entryway.

“Toby, can you bring (Y/n) inside. Please.” Brian asked, the same cold tone in his voice from the last time he spoke. He looked straight ahead, hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had turned white.

Without another word, you and Toby quickly unbuckled and climbed out of the car.

“See ya’ (Y/n).” Tim suddenly said, breaking his silence. Brian snapped his head to Tim, and from what you could see of Brian's face, he looked pissed .

You shut the car door behind you without responding to Tim, storming off towards your building. Toby followed quickly behind you.

“(Y-y/n)... ssssslow d-d-own.” Toby called out as you heard the squeal of Brian's car peeling off.

You only stopped to pull your keys out and unlock the front door. You sniffled a bit, desperately trying to hold it all in. Toby came to a stop behind you.

“Hey-hey.” Toby said gently, grabbing your hands. You finally turned to look up at him.

“Are you crying?” he asked. You slipped one of your hands out of his to wipe the top of your cheeks, feeling the dampness on your skin. You don't even know when you started crying. 

‘So much for holding it in.’

“Yeah… yeah I'm fine…” You said, choking a little on your words as you felt a sob bubble up in your throat.

Hearing your sobs about to come on, Toby quickly grabbed you and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you. 

Just like that you were sobbing into him, clutching his shirt. You let the tears flow freely, not trying to calm yourself. You didn't really know why you were crying, you were just suddenly overcome with emotions. Maybe it was from all the violence suddenly popping up all around you, maybe it was from having to keep everything that you've witnessed the last few weeks to yourself. 

You just needed to let everything out somehow. You didn't want to burden anyone around you by telling them about the attack, or the dreams you had, or the men you've been seeing that had possibly killed for you. You didn't want anyone to worry for you. All you could do was simply cry it out.

You had a couple more nightmares over the past couple weeks. Not about anything you could remember when you woke up, you only remembered seeing that strange pole creature again, as well as the masked men a couple of times. You hated how uneasy you felt the morning after having those dreams.

Slowly, your sobs calmed to deep breaths and hiccups, small shudders running through you as you took in air.

“I-I'm so-rr-ry” Toby said gently. You pulled away and looked up at his worried face. He gently brushed his thumb across your cheeks, soaking up your tears.

You took a couple more deep breaths, pulling your keys out again and fumbling with them to find the right one.

“Can… can you come inside with me… please?” You asked Toby. His presence was so calming, so addicting. You just needed him tonight.

“Of course.” he assured you, “here.” he gently took your keys from you, unlocking the door and pulling it open for you. He followed you up the stairs and to your apartment door, unlocking that for you as well. 

“I kind of just wanna go to bed…” You said, making sure to lock your door behind Toby. “Can you come with me?”

“Ssss-sure” Toby assured you, smiling gently at you.

You smiled back and turned down your hallway, entering your bedroom.

“D-do you n-n-need some water-er or anyth-thing?'' Toby asked.

You turned to him, finally breathing normal again. “Yeah, actually… that would be nice.” 

He smiled and turned out of your room, leaving you to get changed. You grabbed some pajamas and went into your bathroom to clean up.

You looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were red and puffy, some makeup was smeared down your face, and you were still trembling a bit. You were a mess.

'I can't believe he agreed to stay the night.'

You washed your face and got changed, before heading back to your bedroom. Toby was already waiting for you on your bed, cross legged, sitting up with his back against your headboard. He was just wearing boxers and a black t-shirt, having stripped his black hoodie and torn jeans.

“I um, I h-h-hope this is ok-k-kay…” He said, a bit timid. 

You smiled softly at him, “Yeah that's alright, I wouldn't want you to sleep in your jeans anyways.” You turned off your bedroom light, letting the strip lights you had up along the top of your walls dimly light the room.

You crawled into bed next to him, pulling the covers up over you. Before you could lay back he threw his arm around your shoulders, then leaned over to your night stand, picking up the glass of water he had gotten for you. 

"Thanks,” you said, taking it and quickly downing the whole glass, just now realizing how thirsty you were. You probably shouldn't have been drinking alcohol without any water the whole night.

You set the glass down on your night stand, turning to lean into Toby. He laid the both of you back, pulling you to rest your head on his chest.

“A-are you sure you're okay? Y-you can t-t-talk to me,” he asked. 

You thought for a moment, trying to decide if you really could talk to him. You didn't want him to worry about you, but you just had so much on your mind…

“Things have just… been weird lately I guess…” You finally said.

“W-weird how?” He pressed.

You took a shaky breath as he began stroking your hair, encouraging you to continue. 

"It's just… I don't know. I've been seeing... weird things lately. I keep seeing these guys around… in masks. By the diner, or at my bus stop, or at the park across the street…" Or in your dreams, or killing someone in an alley. 

"They're kind of intimidating… I guess that's how I'd describe them. Do you remember that guy, the one from the bar that you punched?" You asked

"Y-yeah… um, yeah…. I-I rememb-beeerr." He confirmed, twitching his fingers and leg a couple times.

"Well… I think the masked guys might have…" You took a breath and swallowed, dampening your dry throat. "I think they might have killed him." 

Toby stopped stroking your hair for a second to jerk his shoulder under you, making you realize he had been relatively still tonight. He must have been trying really hard to hold back his tics.

He quickly recovered, continuing to run his fingers through your hair. "H-h-how- bastard- why d-do you th-th-think they killed h-him?" He asked.

"I um… I decided to ask one of them, after I saw a story on the news about a… a head that was found downtown…"

"Wait," he interrupted, "you… you tal-al-alked to one-to one of them? Wh-why would- why would you d-do-do that??" He asked quickly, tone intense as he stumbled over his words.

"I don't know… I wanted to know if they did it…" you said, only now that you said it out loud, realizing how stupid it really was to approach a possible murderer, who was hiding behind a mask, to ask him if you practically witnessed him in the act.

"D-don’t talk to them ever again." You looked up at Toby, who was staring down at you with a grave expression. He was really serious about these guys, like he had heard of them before or something. Should you know about them too?

' Maybe I need to watch the news more often…'

"Sorry…" You replied. You didn't quite know what you were apologizing for, you just felt bad for making him worry. It felt like a heavy weight was pulled off your chest for the first time in a week, but now you were starting to regret saying anything. You didn't want the weight to be picked up just to be dropped back down on someone else.

"Ha-have you sssseenn them a-a-a lot? Th-the masked men?" He asked

"Um… yeah a few times now…"

"Do th-th-they-ey talk to you?"

"No… not since I asked about… that man." You said, looking away from Toby's face again.

"Okay...good." He said. 

You two laid together in silence for a while. Laying here against Toby made you feel completely at ease, not worried about anyone coming to get you for the first time in a while. Not worried about going to sleep and having more dreams about that thing .

"Toby?" You began, suddenly remembering everything that had happened tonight.

"Hmm?" You felt his chest rumble under you.

"What happened tonight? I mean, why was Tim so upset?" You asked. You had a lot of questions about tonight. Why did Brian have to drag you out of there? Where did the boys come from? What were they even doing there tonight ? After they told you they "had work". Somehow, you were more worried about Tim than angry from all of your other questions. He was usually so indifferent, so collected, what the hell got into him tonight?

"That wasn't Tim." Toby said, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You quickly sat up, turning to look down at him. He had begun twitching again, extending the arm he was using to run through your hair, and jerking his neck in a way that made it crack. 

"What? What does that mean?" You asked, extremely confused. He spoke with perfect clarity, you couldn't have possibly misheard him.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry. I shhh-shouldn't have ss-said-d tha-a-at. I mean- fuck- I mean, I mean I didnt mmmmean to sa-ay-ay that." He said quickly, his jerking slowly calming down.

"Toby, what-"

"I meant to say h-he-he um, he has….. an-anger issues?" He said, interrupted you, rubbing his face a bit.

You stared down at him for a few seconds, before he put his hand on your head again. "Come b-back…" He said. You were too tired to fight against him gently bringing you back to rest your head on his chest. He grabbed one of your hands, lacing his fingers in between yours.

"I'm so-r-r-ry, it's just… really, re-eally com-p-p-plicated…" He said.

You were still buzzed from earlier in the night, "complicated" not sounding very appealing to you right now. Besides, you didn't want to talk about Tim behind his back either. You would just have to get the answers from him yourself. You sighed, letting yourself fully relax into Toby again. He squeezed your hand in his gloved hold.

"Aren't you gonna take your gloves off?" You asked, yawning.

"Umm… I uh... I don't know…" He said, sounding unsure of himself.

"I told you, I don't want you to have to hold anything back just because I'm around… I want you to be comfortable around me." You assured him.

He was silent for a couple minutes, flexing and relaxing his hand in your hold, before sighing. He pulled his hand out of yours and quickly took his gloves off, setting them down on the nightstand. He settled back into place, slipping his warm hand into yours again. You looked down at your joined hands, seeing his uncovered for the first time.

He had dark hair climbing from his arm up his wrist, and lightly sprinkled across his knuckles. Under the hair, his fingers and parts of his hands were completely scared. Some scars pale, some looking pink and almost fresh. You looked back up at him, trying to decide if you should ask. You already got him to open up to you, you didn't want to turn around and make him uncomfortable about it. Toby, however, didn't even wait for your questions. 

"I um… I u-used to... chew them… really bad w-when I w-w-was anxious… I-I'm b-b-b-better about it n-now," he said, a bit sheepishly, looking down at his scars.

You didn't know how to respond. You were just happy he was so willing to be comfortable around you, share something like this with you. You simply leaned up, capturing his lips in yours. He allowed you to lead the kiss this time, as you took it slow and gentle, savoring the calm that waved over you in the moment.

You pulled back once to take a breath, but before you could fully lean back in, Toby mumbled against your lips, “We should sleep now,"

You huffed a bit, but pulled back to lay on his chest again. He wrapped his arms around you to hold you closer, gently rubbing your back. The crying must have really taken it out of you, because it wasn't long before you drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

There was somebody close behind you. Someone big, warm, gentle . Hands dragging along your hips, lips kissing down your neck. Someone else was standing right in front of you. Someone in a mask. Thank god they were here, you needed them here. As they slowly approached you, you raised one hard to run through the hair of the person at your neck, and extended your other towards the masked man in front of you. Then there were another pair of hands, softly rubbing along your arm. It was so calming, you felt so safe and- 

You twitched hard. Jumping out of sleep, you quickly shot up to see what the fuck was touching you.

You whipped your head around only to be greeted by Toby, eyes wide, hand still raised where he was rubbing your arm, his other hand gripping his phone. You breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Sorry.” You both said in unison. You let out a soft laugh, flopping back down on the bed. It was just Toby, you were safe with him.

“I-I didn't mmmmean to wake y-you…” Toby started, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at you. “You j-just looked sssso pretty in your sleep…” He furrowed his brows at his own words, “I mean... I meant c-c-c-cozy.”

You giggled a bit at his correction, and before you even realized what you were doing, you leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. You both froze at your action, and you quickly pulled away, laying back down to watch as a lazy smile spread across Toby's face.

He leaned over you to place his phone down on your nightstand before asking, “W-were you dreaming o-or som-something? You-you jumped pretty hhhhard.” He brushed some of your hair off of your chest as he spoke. 

Now that he mentioned it, you remembered you had been dreaming. It was pretty vague, but it was definitely about to lead to sex. 

“Uhh… n-no um…” 

You tried to decide if it would be easier to tell him about your dream, or about your crazy paranoia. Small flashes from the dream were slowly coming back to you.

'Yeah, I’m not telling him that I’m dreaming about fucking guys in masks .'

“I’ve just… been really on edge recently…”

Toby tilted his head a bit, waiting for you to go on.

“Well… remember last night, when I told you about those masked guys that've been around?”

Toby raised an eyebrow at you, “Uh, yeah?”

“And how I think they killed a man?” 

Toby just furrowed his brows at you, like he was confused on why you would be worried about living in the same town as murderers. 

“I guess I should've mentioned that I uh… I think I watched them practically kill that man… across the street…” You said, looking down at your hands as you picked at the skin on your nails.

“Okay?” Toby said, still seeming very confused. 

You looked back up at him, “Okay?” You echoed in disbelief that he somehow doesn't see anything wrong with what you're telling him.

“W-well, what do you have to be worried about? I mmmmean the guy’s d-d-dead, there's no one to hurt-hurt you now.” Toby said confidently.

“Yeah but what about the actual murderers, they watched me run back here! They know where I live- ”

“You'll be fine.” Toby Interrupted you, voice soothing “I-I don't want-want you to worr-rry.”

“Yeah but-” you tried

“Shush” Toby interrupted you again. He slid an arm under you and pulled you tight against his chest. “No one is going to bother you ever again.” He said firmly.

He was being so nonchalant about it, like there was nothing strange about possibly watching someone be murdered right across the street from your apartment. 

Maybe… maybe you were being crazy about all this. Maybe he was right, and those guys weren't going to bother you. Whatever else the masked men ended up doing that night, they did save you from whatever that man was planning. And ever since the attack you went from seeing them a couple times a day to not at all in the past week. Maybe they skipped town, not wanting to be caught. You adjusted a bit to wrap your arms around Toby as well, melting into the hug.

“Okay…” You mumbled into his chest. You weren't sure how’d he be able to do it, but this boy believed you were safe, and you wanted him to make you believe it too.

Toby pulled away slightly, and gently placed his knuckles under your chin, pressing you up from his chest and searching deeply into your eyes. If you weren't still waking up you would be cringing about how cheesy he was acting.

“We don't want you to worry.” Toby said, brushing a piece of hair off of your forehead. Before you could answer, he pressed his lips against yours, causing you to melt into him all over again. He moved his lips against yours, gently for once, but the sweet kisses didn’t last long before his tongue was running against your bottom lip. You relented to him, parting your lips a bit to allow his tongue to sloppily, yet slowly run against your own. As soon as he felt your tongue, it was like he suddenly remembered he was lying in your bed, next to you, practically half naked. 

His demeanor changed in a second. Suddenly he was up, leaning over you, hands on either side of your head. He deepened the kiss, tilting his head, twisting his tongue along yours. He began running one rough hand down along your side until it was at the hem of your shirt, and ever so slowly , he creeped his finger tips under your shirt. You raised your hands to touch him as well, placing your hand on his left cheek to feel his stubbled jaw, and running your other hand up along his chest, feeling his collar bones and the muscles in his shoulders flex, spasming slightly every so often.

After just a short while of running his hand along the soft skin of your stomach, he seemed to take the hint from your soft touches that you wanted this just as badly as he did. He gripped your waist–tight enough that you knew you were going to have bruises from his fingertips in a  few hours–and adjusted his knee right between your thighs, yet not quite close enough to press against you. You weren't sure if he was doing it just to tease you, or if he just didn't know what he was doing to you. 

Whatever his intentions were, his adjustment made you realize the room was feverishly hot. As he pulled away from your lips and quickly dipped down to your neck, it hit you how fast everything was moving, and yet you had been waiting for this to happen for almost a month now. You didn't even know how badly you wanted this, how badly you truly wanted all three of these boys, until one of them was in your bed. Until one of them was skipping the sweet kisses and going straight for nipping and sucking, from under your ear all the way down to your collarbone. 

With your mouth finally free, you meant to take a fresh breath of air, but in that same moment Toby nipped at a spot so perfectly that a shockingly loud moan slipped from your lips.

“ T-toby…” You shakily whined out, running your fingers through his hair and allowing your nails to scratch and dig into his shoulder. This didn't stop his onslaught for even a second as he continued pulling the soft moans from you. 

The way he was angled, the edge of his bandage had been scratching against you, the tape slightly sticking up. You wanted this to continue, but the more you felt that slight scratching, the stronger your curiosity grew. It didn't take long for you to be more curious than horny. Wanting the moment to slow a bit anyways–you wanted to savor this more–you pushed against Toby's chest a bit, gently calling his name out again.

Your push did nothing against Toby's stubborn frame, but he took your cue, pulling back from you just slightly. "What's wrong?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing as he tried catching his breath.

"What's under the bandage?" You replied bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow at you, not being able to stop his eyes from looking up and down your body, running his hand down from your hip, along your exposed thigh. "Really? W-we got a mood going on- going on r-right now and it-it-it’s kind of a vibe killer." He said, chuckling a bit.

"Yeah, I wanna know." You said. He was right, the air was heavy around the both of you, and every second that past made you want him even more. You were practically putty in his hands right now, but you wanted to see all of him before you gave in completely.

Toby bit his bottom lip, thinking for just a moment, before he quietly sighed and pushed himself up off of you, sitting back on his knees. He picked at the tape a couple of times until he got a proper grip on it, slowly peeling it back. You began to see the pale, ragged lines of scar tissue leading up from under the bandage. 

Toby paused, "you're sure?" He asked again, furrowing his brows. “There's no going back after this…”

You slid your hands up his stomach, biting your lip as you thought for just a moment before replying, "yes Toby, I'm sure." 

Toby sighed again, and tore the bandage off, finally just getting it over with. You only caught a glimpse before Toby quickly collapsed back onto you, nipping at your neck once more. 

You gasped, half from the sudden bite, and half what you saw in that split second. You know what you saw in the glance though, and you knew what you could still feel, pressed against your neck while Toby angled himself to nip and suck under your jaw. The light, faded scar tissue on his cheekbones had led to a huge gash that destroyed most of his right cheek. It was big enough that you could see his top and bottom rows of yellowing teeth, as well as his gums. The corners of his mouth were just barely still connected to each other.

Toby didn’t allow you to process what you saw, hands pressed into the mattress beside your head again as he quickly adjusted his knee to press right against you, rubbing slightly.

“O-oh god, Toby,” you moaned out at the sudden contact, now realizing you were soaked. You wouldn't be surprised if you had soaked through to your shorts by now.

You were taken away from the moment when Toby's phone buzzed harshly on your night stand, causing you to jump a bit. However, you were quickly drawn back in by Toby when he slid his hand under your shirt again, slowly trailing up along your side. It was truly amazing how much restraint he was showing, you really didn't think he had it in him. 

His bites had finally slowed into gentle kisses, which he was trailing along one of your collar bones towards the other when his phone buzzed again.

“Ffffffuck off…” He mumbled against the center of your chest, finally making it to your other collar bone at the same time his hand reached the bottom of your breast. Before he could fully cup it, however, his phone buzzed once again.

Quickly, Toby threw himself up. “I-I sssaid FUCK OFF.” He growled, leaning over to snatch his phone off the nightstand. He only looked at his phone for a couple of seconds before he threw his head back, dramatically rolling his eyes and loudly groaning, “Fuckk-king COCK blo-ck.”

You stared up at Toby with wide eyes, waiting for him to just get on with it already. Toby quickly tapped something on his phone before he looked back down at you.

“Tim fffffeels r-r-really bad ab-about last night. He said he wants to explain if-if-if you’d let him.” He said, sounding really annoyed at the interruption, smoothing his hair back and out of his eyes.

You stared up at him, unsure of how to answer. On one hand, you were a little wary of Tim. You had no idea he had that kind of outburst in him. He always seemed so laid back, even when Toby attacked that man at the bar, Tim seemed pissed but he kept his cool, getting Toby out of there without letting his anger get the best of him. You were just shocked that Tim was even capable of something like this.

On the other hand, you really want an explanation. A real one, not the excuse that Toby gave you, and you want to hear it from Tim himself. You really liked Tim, and you didn't want to let yourself be scared off. Not without knowing his side of last night.

On a third hand that you somehow had, you couldn't stop yourself from staring at Toby's cheek–or rather, exposed teeth that were clenched together tightly.

Somehow, the gash in his cheek made him… so much hotter. Maybe it was being able to see him finally complete. Or maybe you were, again, completely and totally fucked up. You didn't care to figure out which it was. You sighed, pressing your hands against your eyes, trying to drive away the aching that was now left between your legs.

"Okay." You agreed, opening your eyes once you finally calmed down.

"Great-great, because th-the assholes’re outside now.” Toby said, quickly leaning down to give you one last kiss on the lips before he pushed himself up and slid off the bed, grabbing his black jeans and pulling them on

You rolled over and pulled yourself up as well, sitting on the edge of the bed. You stretched your tired muscles a bit before standing and going to your dresser, rummaging for some clothes.

“I-I’m gonna go let th-them-them in, alright?” He asked from behind you. You turned to tell him to go ahead, only to catch him making direct eye contact with your ass. He took his sweet time to meet your eyes, licking his lips to try to hold back his smile. You rolled your eyes and turned back to your dresser. “Go get them, Toby” You said, waving him off.

“Be-be right b-b-ack.” Toby said as you heard him leave your bedroom.

You found a shirt, a bra, and new underwear to change into, deciding to keep your comfortable pajama shorts on. By the time you had changed and brushed your hair, you heard Toby walking back into your apartment, the other two boys along with him.

"(Y/n)?" Tim called out from your entryway.

"In here." You replied. Leaving your bathroom, you turned down the short hallway and entered your living room.

Tim was standing in the middle of the room, hands by his sides as he stood a bit awkwardly. He was wearing the same clothes from last night, a black shirt that seemed a bit tight around his biceps, worn dark jeans, and heavy work boots.

With no greeting, you stopped a few feet away from him, crossing your arms to wait for his explanation. He smiled softly at you.

“Hey.” He said simply.

You frowned, tilting your head and shifting your weight to one leg, silently telling him to just get on with it already.

He seemed to get your message, sighing and relaxing his stiff shoulders.

“Im sorry,” he began, expression falling from nervous to one that looked truly regretful. He went silent after that, staring at you with the softest puppy dog eyes this giant, hairy man could muster. You glanced at the other two boys behind him, Brian rubbing the bridge of his nose, Toby staring down at the floor and leaning against the wall beside him, before you looked back to Tim again.

You only had to look at his expression for another second before you gave up, softening your expression and relaxing your form. 

“What happened Tim?” You asked, encouraging him to continue.

He crossed his arms, unable to meet your gaze any longer as his eyes darted down to the floor.

“Uh…” He looked over his shoulder at the other boys, Brian now looking at Tim with the same expression on his face that you had–waiting for Tim to just get on with it already–Toby still zoned out. Tim sighed, turning back to meet your expecting eyes again, finally continuing.

“I um… I have anger issues.” He said, wavering a bit.

You didn't miss the inflection at the end of his sentence. He was lying. Poorly, but still lying. You tensed up again, crossing your arms tightly across your chest. “Yeah,” you started, your annoyance growing, “that's what Toby said too.”

Tim furrowed his brows a bit, and threw a quick glance to Toby over his shoulder. Toby didn't seem to be listening to the conversation at all.

“Look,” you said, “I’m gonna be honest here. I actually really like you guys, but I’m already ignoring a lot of red flags. You guys are really secretive and cryptid. I don't know where you're from, I don't know what you do for a living, I don't know how old you are, and every time I try to get a simple answer out of any of you it's like I'm a cop interrogating wanted criminals. I’ve already let you into my life, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me into yours too.” You finally let out, not realizing you had that rant waiting in you. 

Everything you said was true though, the past few times you had been out with them you opened up more than you had with anyone since moving to this town. You told them where you were from, why you came here, your family–the parts you missed and the parts you were happy you were finally away from–, your hobbies, your passions, your struggles with mental illness. They knew where you worked, where you lived. God, you didn't even know how old these guys were. You were starting to seriously question your decision making skills.

Tim finally began to speak again. “It's just… It’s… difficult to talk about.” He said

“Is it like a mental illness thing? You know I wouldn't judge you for something like that.” You said.

This made Tim pause again, sucking in his bottom lip. He slowly looked over his shoulder once again, seeming to stare at Brian specifically. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds before Brian shrugged, mumbling, “might as well…”

Tim turned forward again, swallowing harshly before speaking. “Uh… have you ever uh, do you know anything about DID, or multiple personality disorder?” He asked.

You took a few steps forwards, leaning against your kitchen island. You thought back through your research of your own mental problems.

“Yeah…” You said, encouraging him to continue.

He took a breath, sounding a bit shaky. ”Okay uh. I haven't really been properly checked out… at least not since I developed it. Not that it would matter, there's no getting rid of this…” He paused, clearing his throat, “but I think that's… pretty much what I have. Sometimes there are specific triggers and other times it just… kind of happens. I’ll basically kind of… black out and then… someone else takes over. I have no control of myself when he's fronting. I can sometimes feel when it's about to happen, sometimes I can fight it a bit, but for the most part it's out of my control.” He finished, looking down at his feet. 

He paused often and seemed like he was choosing his words very carefully, but finally you had gotten something out of him. After a few seconds of silence while you tried to process everything he told you, he looked back up at you and blurted out, “Brian has it too.”

“Dude!” Brian said, jaw dropped slightly over Tim outing him. Tim turned to Brian, shrugging at him. “You're not gonna leave me out to dry like this!” Tim said.

You smiled at this, tensions eased a bit. Tim turned to you again, licking his lips a bit. “I’m sorry you had to see… me like that, we didn't expect you to be there last night…” 

Brian suddenly interjected. “And I'm sorry I pulled you out of there with us, I just…could kind of feel… my alter fronting, I guess, and I just didn't feel comfortable just leaving you there alone.” he said, stepping forward a bit, eyebrows furrowing. 

“What were you guys even doing there? I thought you said you had work last night.” You asked, crossing your arms once again. You completely forgot that you asked the boys to go to the party with you. You felt your face begin to heat up, the realization that you were rejected starting to take over.

Both Brian and Tim spoke at the same time. “We did!”

Brian stepped forward again, now standing next to Tim. “We were working,” he said.

“At a house party…?” You asked. The more they spoke the angrier you were getting. Did they think you were stupid?

“Yes!” Brian said. You waited for him to elaborate. He didn't. You looked behind him at Toby, still staring into space.

“Toby?” You called out. He blinked a couple of times, furrowing his brows before he looked up at you.

“Yeah?” He said.

“You guys were working last night? At that party?”

“Yeah. W-why?” He asked, confused.

“You guys were working. At a party.” You reiterated again, hoping to get some kind of answer out of any of the three. God, maybe they are actually drug dealers. Toby looked at Tim and Brian, not seeming to understand why you were asking, Tim avoided your eyes, leaving Brian to deal with your oncoming wrath 

“Yeah. Um, we were… selling drugs.” He said, almost like he was reading your mind. Even though he wasn't avoiding your suspicious glare, he wasn't sounding very convincing either.

At this point you had had enough of this. Clearly they weren't going to tell you anything, and trying to drag answers out of them was starting to pissing you off. You uncrossed your arms and stood up from leaning on the island.

“Alright,” you started, walking between Tim and Brian, towards your front door. “Go home.” You said coldly. You got to your front door, opening it for the boys.

Tim sucked his bottom lip in, not arguing as he walked out your door first, clearly wanting to get out of the awkward space as soon as possible. You had quickly picked this up about Tim, he gets uncomfortable very easily, and hates dwelling in it.

“I’m sorry (Y/n)-” Brian started from behind you.

You cut him off. “I gave you guys a chance to explain truthfully , and you didn't take that chance.” You crossed your arms over your chest again, holding the door open with your back.

“It's just… very complicated and honestly, we would be putting you in danger by telling you and-”

You cut him off again, “Brian, please just go. Not getting a straight answer is just pissing me off more.” You didn't know where this intense anger was suddenly coming from, you just knew you couldn't listen to them anymore.

Brian sighed, but finally walked out into the hallway, stopping right outside your door frame. You looked over to Toby, who seemed to just be watching everything unfold in front of him. He looked surprised when you turned towards him.

“M-me too?” He asked, eyebrows raising.

“Please. I just want to be alone right now.” You said, looking down at your feet.

“Okay.” Toby said simply, walking past you to join the other two in the hallway.

“I’m going to call you.” Brian said firmly, still stand just outside of your door, leaving you barely enough room to close your door firmly without hitting him in the face with it. 

You stared at the closed door for a couple of minutes, trying to piece together what had happened last night with what they had said today. You found it very hard to do with the horrible ringing in your ears. The ringing was happening more frequently, but with your shitty job paying you under the table, you had no benefits, and you didn't have enough money after paying rent to afford a doctor.

‘I really gotta start turning my music down…’

You took a deep breath, willing away the anger that still boiled inside you. You walked over to your window, hoping some fresh air would help. You looked out into the parking lot, seeing that Brian's car–at least you assumed it was his, you hadn't seen the other two boys drive it–was already gone. With a bit of force, you pulled the old, stubborn window open. Closing your eyes, you took in a deep breath of the crisp fall air.

Something caught your eyes immediately once you opened them. You furrowed your brows, squinting to see past the bright sunlight, at first thinking your eyes were just being slow to adjust. After staring across the street for a good minute, you realized what you were seeing wasn’t just a trick of the light. 

In the park across the street, under a tree– the one right behind the bench that the man in the tan hoodie usually sat at–was a pole. No, not a pole, but the pole from your nightmare. The one with the oval on top, and the red stripe in the center of it. It was different though, not as thin as it was in your dream. It had more of a humanoid shape, wider, with distinct shoulders and long arms reaching almost half way down its long legs. The ringing in your ears grew louder. 

You turned around, almost automatically, and went straight to your door, not stopping to slide on shoes. You quickly walked down the stairs, reaching the front door and throwing it open, letting your eyes adjust to the light again before you fully stepped out of the building. You squinted, staring across the street into the park. Suddenly, the ringing in your ears stopped, and the anger that had been over taking you a few minutes before was gone as well. 

It wasn't there anymore. The park was empty, nothing under the tree. You stared, confused. You weren't even sure why you went to go see it. Usually you were more of a “close your eyes and hope it goes away” kind of person. What were you about to do? Go up to it? To what? See it up close? Talk to it? And then what?

You blinked a few times, waiting for whatever that was to come back, but it never did. The park stayed empty. Still confused, you turned back around, making sure the door closed behind you.

Chapter Text

He had given you a few days to calm down, but Brian actually meant it this time when he said he would call you. The call came in on Thursday morning while you were on your first break of the day at the diner. You hesitated on answering, but ended up just letting it go to voicemail.

You were still a little pissed off with them.

Seriously, what was so wrong about letting you in? Even with all the shit you had been through yourself, you had no problems letting them have a glimpse into your life. Was your drug dealer comment not that far off? Were they actually doing illegal shit all day? You almost refused to believe they were capable of breaking that law. 

Sure, Toby was a little erratic, but he was practically the embodiment of a Golden Retriever, sitting at your feet and wagging his tail as he stared up at you and panted, just waiting for a command to go get someone who looked at you funny. 

Sure, Brian was charismatic enough to get away with something like that– he was big enough as well, a couple heads taller than you and clearly had some strength to him– but he was so soft and caring. If we’re talking in animal terms, Brian would be a Saint Bernard, big, soft, goofy, but still caring. 

And sure, Tim was intimidating to look at, but he was a big shy softy underneath. He liked who he liked and nobody else could be let into his circle. Well, he was usually a softy, but he said the other night wasn't him , and you believe him. Besides, having a personality disorder didn't automatically make him a bad person, so it didn't really matter in this sense. Tim would be like a Maine Coon cat, big, scary looking, but still a cat.

But even if they were criminals… would it really matter? If they were good to you and good for you, did it really matter to you what they did for work? Or in their free time? Just for fun ? You thought back to your previous love interests, real or fictional, and thought about how many of them had a checkered past, or had strange ways of making money. You always… kind of had a thing for danger. You guessed it wasn't really any different now. 

You pulled out your phone as you left your shift at the diner, intending to put on some music when you saw the notification for a new voicemail. Brian left a message for you after you ignored his call. 

You were a little giddy, yes you were still a little bit mad, but the animal analogies you made for the boys during the day made you start to miss them. As you walked down the street towards your bus stop, you dialed your voicemail to see what Brian had to say.

“You have one new message. To listen, press on- ” The robotic voice droned on. You pressed the button, playing Brian's message.

“ Hey (Y/n), I uhh… I'm sure you're still upset but… I really am sorry about all the cryptic bullshit we’re on. I want to explain, we all do, but… actually this would be easier to talk about in person.” He paused to take a breath, “ Listen, I've been missin ya’. Tim and Toby are workin’, but there was another party I'm supposed to go to tonight, and I was thinkin’... since we messed up your night on Sunday, that maybe you'd like to go with me tonight... Uhh… yeah, call me back and let me know. We’ll talk soon.”

“You have no more messag-” You rubbed your forehead as you hung the phone up, turning your music back on and sliding the phone into your pocket.

You didn't need to argue with yourself, you were going to say yes. Besides the animal analogies, you had also been thinking a lot about your morning with Toby. You really wanted to know how far Toby was planning on going, and honestly, you were getting pretty desperate to continue. 

You sat down at your stop's bench, and, pulling your phone out again, you dialed Brian’s number. The phone only rang twice before it was picked up.

“I hope you're callin’ to say yes and not just to tell me off.” Brian said, chuckling lightly.

You smiled widely, cheeks heating up a bit. It was nice being reminded that these boys seemed to like you just as much as you liked them. “Actually, I'm interested in this explanation you can only give in person.”

“Hmm… so you do want to see me tonight?” He asked. You could practically hear his shit eating smile through the phone.

“I guess I do.” You replied, imagine his cute tooth gap.

“Perfect, I'll come get you at 9, beautiful.”

‘Damn! Okay!’

You bit your bottom lip, trying desperately not to giggle like a middle school girl who’s crush just offered her a stick of gum. Instead, you replied, “Can't wait.” before hanging up to let out said middle school girl giggle in private.

You had gotten ready quickly once you got home, only having about an hour. You took a quick shower to get the diners smell off of you, throwing on some dark jeans and a form fitting t-shirt. By the time you had pulled your shoes on, there was a knock at your front door. A bit confused– because the building's main door is usually locked– you got up to open it. 

Standing in front of your door was, unsurprisingly, Brian. What was surprising, was not only that he was dressed semi-nicely– besides his usual work boots, his dirty jeans were replaced with clean, brown pants, and he wore a white t-shirt with a black, short trench coat over top–, but also that he was holding a fucking rose . 

You stared at the rose, jaw dropped slightly, for a couple seconds before you met Brian’s eyes, your eyebrow quirking as if to say ‘ What the fuck is this?’

Brian smiled widely. "It's a peace offering, I guess." He said, handing you the rose.

You stared at the flower, still stunned. You let out a breathy laugh, "You're a dork." you said as you took it from him. Normally you would think something like this was too cliché– the handsome yet mysterious love interest picking you up for a semi-surprise date, dressed in a dark trench coat and holding a single red rose for you– but right now you were just trying not to twirl your hair and bat your eyelashes at him.

"I know. Ready to go?" He asked, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"No," You said, "I want that explanation first." You stepped back, opening the door wider to invite him inside. Brian's face dropped a bit, but with a sigh, he relented, following you inside. Turning around, you placed the rose down on your kitchen island, before turning back to Brian and crossing your arms, waiting for him to begin.

He stood in front of you, leaning on the island, still looking a bit worried, but he began promptly. "Well, you're not going to be very happy with this… I really can't explain what we do but… I'm gonna try to explain why we can't tell you." He said.

"Okay…" You said, encouraging him to continue.

Letting out a breath, he stepped forwards a bit, grabbing one of your hands to hold in his own. He watched his thumb run over your knuckles while he began.

"It would just be… really dangerous if we let you in. Or at least, it could be. We're not really, totally sure, but it would probably be very, very dangerous. Our boss and our work requires us to be… secretive. We don't really make friends, and we never stay in one place too long. We probably shouldn't even have gotten as close to you as we already have but… I'm gonna speak for the other two when I say we all really like you. I've never seen Tim talk to anyone the way he talks to you and… I think Toby would go on a rampage if we tried to take him away from you at this point.” 

His face was a little less serious now as his smile grew. “God, I brought you a fucking rose for christ's sake!" Brian paused to laugh, before licking his lips a bit and continuing. "I'm really sorry we’re having a hard time letting you in… we just don't want anything to happen to you." He fully met your eyes again, and you bit your lip while you took in everything he said. 

"Dangerous….how?" You asked, a little nervous.

He looked down at your hand in his again. "Well… we don't really know. I mean… nothin’s happened yet. Usually something would’ve happened by now that would scare you off from us, but he-... our boss, kind of… makes his own rules whenever he feels like it. But he hasn't said anything to us about you so… so far so good. We just know if we let you in, things could get ugly."

You snorted, not able to hold it in. “What is he, your mom?” You asked. Why the hell would their boss care if they had a girlfriend. 

‘This has to be some kind of HR violation or something.’

Brian smiled, letting out a small laugh, but his face fell quickly as he seemed to think about what you said. Maybe you weren't too far off…

He raised his head again, looking into your eyes. "I hope I'm not scaring you, that's the last thing I want to do." He said, urgency. His tone almost reminded you of the way the man in the ski mask responded when you asked if you should be scared of him .

"I'm not scared." You said, looking up into his eyes. It was the truth, you weren't scared. Brian's energy, just like Toby's, was so calming. Just being near him makes you feel protected. It was like the boys had an aura floating around them, and every time you stepped into that aura nothing could hurt you. You weren't sure how they did it, but you knew these boys were here to keep you safe.

Brian searched your eyes for a brief moment, smiling softly before reaching up to hold the side of your face, and leaning in to place a kiss on your lips. It was a short kiss, way too short , before he pulled back.

"I hope you can forgive us for this." He said earnestly. Maybe you were too trusting, but you couldn't think of any reason for you not to forgive them.

Although the house was giant, it was still somehow packed . It must have been a frat party, everyone in the house seemed to be about your age, and the college wasn't too far here. Brian had managed to find somewhere to park about a block away even though the street was filled with cars, and people, spilling out from the house and into the yard. A few other houses nearby seemed to be having parties of their own, or maybe it was all one big party weaving throughout the neighborhood. This place made the party you went to with Megan on Sunday look like a kids 4th birthday party. 

Normally this wasn’t your scene, all the jock guys and sorority girls reminding you of your high school bullies. Brian seemed at ease though, pulling you along with him through the house and pushing through groups of people with a tight grip on your hand.

The party must have been going on for a few hours now, empty bottles and cups scattered throughout the house. The music from a giant speaker in the living room was loud enough to hear from the street– playing the typical trendy rap and pop, probably from a playlist titled ‘Party Hits of the Summer!!’–, luckily nothing terribly difficult to listen to. 

As you got pulled into the kitchen, Brian seemed to find what he was looking for. The counters were full of huge bottles. The people at this frat must have been loaded with mommy and daddy's money, there were at least hundreds of dollars worth of unopened or half-drunk bottles of liquor, waiting for someone to get obliterated with them. 

You were ready to be that someone.

Brian pulled you with him to the counter, right beside a couple loudly making out.

"What's yer drink of choice?" Brian asked you, accent slipping out. It always caught you off guard when he would break out that southern accent. It wasn't super noticeable, but sometimes he would slur his words a certain way, or use a certain phrase, that it made you feel whiplashed between how hot he was and how cute he spoke.

You shook yourself out of it, smiling a bit, and looked over your options. There were an insane amount of choices, almost every bottle being unique, but it didn't take you long to find your favorite liquor. 

You reached over to grab it, taking care not to hit any of the bottles around it. 

"Ooo, nice," Brian said, grinning widely. He took the bottle from your hands and cracked it open, breaking the seal on the brand new bottle. He poured some out for the both of you into disposable cups, before slipping the bottle into one of the interior pockets of his coat. "Ours now." He said, smiling.

You giggled into your cup, taking a good swig. Brian took a drink as well, then placed his hand on the small of your back, leading you back into the main room.

You two somehow managed to find an empty, dark corner in the large living room. Brian leaned back against the wall, you leaning on your side right next to him. The lightbulbs in the ceiling light seemed to be replaced with purple lights, casting the room in a deep violet. There were two high tech looking machines drilled into the walls of the room, moving in circles as they cast different shapes and colors. All this party was missing were fog machines to be a complete sensory overload.

"Have you been to a lot of frat parties before?" You asked Brian as he started out into the sea of people.

He snorted, taking a drink out of his cup before he answered, "Film students don't get invited to frat parties very often, so no." He said, smiling down at you.

"You were a film student?" You said with a wide smile. Of course his goofy ass would have been a film student.

"Yep. Tim too. That's how we met, back at the University of Alabama." 

Finally you were getting something out of him. "So you two have known each other for a while then?" You asked, trying to get their age out of him too.

"Mmmhm. About… well, a long time." He said, looking serious for a moment before he turned to you and smiled, "It's been so long I stopped counting the years, I guess." He took another swig from his cup.

"And Toby?" You asked, trying not to let him avoid your question.

"He didn't go to college, I'm not sure he even graduated high school.” He laughed, “We uhhh… we met him ... a few years after college. We were put on the same job, I think we were kinda meant to train him, but we've been stuck with him since." He said, smirking a bit.

He was finally starting to open up to you, albeit slowly, you were at least cracking him open somewhat .

"Wait, what makes you think I went to frat parties?" He asked, raising one brow at you. So much for the age question. At least you got that they were all a few years out of college, though.

"Oh, well, I don't know, you just seem… confident here, I guess. This kind of stuff usually isn't my scene..." You admitted.

"Nope." Brian quickly corrected you, "I'm freaking out too, but," he paused to pull the bottle of liquor out of his jacket again, "that's what this is for, right?" He said, smiling his gap toothed grin at you and pouring himself another cup.

You quickly threw back the rest of your drink and shoved your empty cup towards him to fill up again, desperate to be on the same wavelength as him.

With no chasers to wash down the taste of the hard liquor, it didn't take long for you to get properly hammered. Brian had slowed down after his second cup, insisting that he would be driving you home tonight. That didn't stop you from craving more of the burning liquid. 

The both of you stayed in the same dark corner for most of the night, Brian only excusing himself a couple of times, saying he had to use the bathroom. He wasn’t gone for long before he returned to you, looking a bit flustered and complaining about how the house was only getting more packed as the night went on.

Eventually, the two of you finished off your bottle. Brian took your hand and led you back to the kitchen, saying that he wanted to take a couple more to keep. Clearly, whoever threw this party could afford it. The kitchen counters were even more filled than when you two had first arrived almost two hours ago.

"How'd you even find out about this party?" You asked Brain as his hands fluttered over the sea of bottles, trying to pick the ones he wanted. The two of you had been so busy people watching a giggling to each other as you watched the drunk party goers that you didn't even think to ask this question until now.

He paused and smirked at you over his shoulder. "Really? I'm pretty sure the whole town is at this party right now. I’m shocked you weren't invited here by anyone else." He said as he picked two bottles up, shoving them in his coat pockets.

"Yeah, I don't really go out a lot." You replied. It was sort of true, Megan invited you to go out with her almost every week– she always tried although you usually said no– but she was the only one. You didn't really have any other friends in this town yet.

"Well, that's surprising," Brian said, turning around to face you, "I would’ve thought you had guys clawing at a chance to bring you out with them." His eyes trailed over your body quickly. He had been doing that a lot tonight, now that you thought about it.

You laughed him off. "Well, you thought wrong, I don't really attract a lot of guys." You let out, alcohol destroying your filter.

He crossed his arms, tilting his head a bit, "You must be blind if you don't see the way some people look at you. Hell, we've had to beat two guys off of you!" He said, chuckling. He took a step forward, dropping his arms to place his hands on your hips. "You have a thing for attracting dangerous men, you know." He said, voice dropping low.

Everything he said went in one ear and right out the other as you stared at his strong, stubbled jaw and parted lips.

"I really wanna kiss you right now." You said, tilting your head up to him.

He chuckled again, "Do you mind if we do it back at your place?" he said, eyeing the other couple next to you, making out against the fridge so violently it looked like they might rip each other's clothes off in the middle of the kitchen.

You smiled at him, taking his hand as he quickly led you out of the house, back to his car.

He hadn't parked too far, the two of you only having to walk a few minutes to reach the car. He opened the passenger door for you before climbing into the driver's seat himself. He turned the car on, turning the volume of the radio up a bit as he pulled out, turning down the street. 

You watched the houses as Brian slowly drove past them, the whole neighborhood seeming to have joined in on the party by now. The street was filled with drunken college kids, spilling out of one house and stumbling to another, where more people spilled out to stumble to the next. Eventually Brian finally turned off the street, speeding up as you left the lively neighborhood behind you. 

You turned to watch him drive, one hand on the steering wheel as his other arm rested on the sill of his opened window. His hair ruffled slightly by the wind as he softly mouthed along with the different songs playing that you were barely listening to. That was until the next song came on.

You were surprised you recognized it so fast, but it was too unique to miss. It was the same song that played last week, when the boys took you out to eat. The strange song played out slowly with a soft piano melody and a steady drumbeat behind it, radio frequency sounds playing in the background. Brian swayed his head a bit as he mouthed along with the song.

Oh circumcise my love for you

It's far too vapid and nameless

I wanna be painless

He didn't seem to notice you staring, too focused on the song. It was sweet, watching him like this. You felt like you could stare at him for hours. The way his eyebrows quirked, the way his lips moved, the curve of his nose and the hollows of his cheeks. His cute fucking tooth gap. Everything about him was so perfect. The soft, mushy song was the perfect background music to the revelation you were having. 

You might love him.

You might love all three of them. Everything about these three mysterious men just seemed so perfect to you. Looks aren't everything, but that was definitely what drew you in in the first place. And now something about them successfully snared you . Even if you hadn't just finished a little over half a bottle of liquor by yourself, you knew you were too enraptured to back out now.

‘ I'm so done for .’ 

Oh euthanize my heart beat

Relax and pour in the concrete

The defied love meat

"What is it about you guys…" You asked quietly, more to yourself than an actual question for him.

He still heard you over the music, snorting and replying, "I don't know, we’re pretty fucked up. I guess you can tell." 

Pack your horror, ride the bus alone

Is that what it was? Why the men had appealed so perfectly to you, what drew you into them? Somehow you could tell that deep down, they were as messed up as you were? 

How can 

Cupid

How could you be so

Cruel

Or was it, like you had thought earlier today, the danger? The fact that you don't truly know them yet, or that you had a suspicion that there was something dark following them. Brian practically confirmed it when he picked you up tonight, they are dangerous. Was that what trapped you here? The danger, the mystery?

He turned to catch a glimpse at you, cracking a grin at his own joke, before looking at the road again, turning into the parking lot of your apartment.

Oh circumcise my love for you

It's far too vapid and nameless

I wanna be painless

Love soldier 

I want closure

And a dollar for the bus back home.

Chapter Text

The door had barely closed behind you before you were pressed up against your apartment's wall, Brian's lips moving hungrily against yours. He had asked if he could come in with you after walking you to your door, and you didn't have to think twice before saying yes.

You quickly threw your arms up around his neck as he shrugged his coat off. Without breaking the kiss, he leaned down a bit to set his jacket down gently as you heard the bottles– you forgot he had even slipped into his pockets from the party– clink together once they hit the floor. As he stood up straight again his hands slid up slowly along your thighs, then around to your ass. He gave a quick squeeze and, before you realized what he was doing, you were lifted up as he quickly pulled your thighs to wrap around his waist.

He pulled back from the sweet kiss just to pepper more along your cheek, down your jaw, under your ear, and finally down along your neck. He continued the soft kisses around the area, sucking gently every once and a while.

"Brian…" You whimpered as you ran your hands up through his hair.

"Hmm..?" He mumbled as he hitched you up higher so he could reach down to your collar bones, continuing his onslaught of kissing and nipping.

"B-bedroom… I want you…" It had barely been a couple minutes but you felt like you couldn’t contain yourself anymore. You didn't just want him now, you needed him.

He chuckled against you, pulling back to look you in the eyes. "That's a lot to ask." He said, smiling devilishly.

"Please…" You said, hands slipping down to his chest. You were practically burning for him right now, you almost wanted to beg.

His smile grew, and he leaned in to place a few soft kisses to your lips, "I want you too," he said between kisses, "believe me." He pulled back to look you in the eyes again, "but I don't want you to be drunk your first time with me."

You let out a disappointed noise, sucking in your bottom lip as you tried to think of a way to convince him. You weren't that drunk, at least the world wasn’t spinning around you yet.

He pulled away from the wall, carrying you through your apartment. "Besides," he said, "I don't have condoms, and I assume you don't either."

“Ugh, I don't care . Just pull out,” You whined again, leaning forward to place a few kisses along his jaw as you heard him kick aside your bedroom door. “I trust you.”

He leaned over your bed, dropping you down in the middle of it. “You really shouldn't…” He said quietly, seeming almost serious for a moment, until he smiled and said, "I would cream pie you." before crashing his lips into yours once again.

He leaned over you, boxing you down against the mattress with his hands on either side of your head. The kiss was immediately passionate and intense, his lips moving quickly against yours as he slowly worked them apart for him to run his warm tongue out and along your own.

You moaned against him, moving your hands up and down his toned chest as your lips moved feverishly with his. You adjusted a bit, kicking your shoes off, then raising your body and breaking the kiss so you could pull your shirt up over your head. You quickly laid back down and wrapped your hands around Brian's neck, expecting him to quickly close the gap, but he paused for a moment. Instead of continuing, he stared down at your chest, breathing heavily. You glanced down, not quite sure what the big deal was, until he spoke.

“Did you wear this for me?” He asked, a smirk breaking out across his face.

Confused, you looked down again before you realized what he was talking about. You were wearing the red lingerie set you had bought a couple of weeks ago. You completely forgot you threw it on after getting home from work earlier today. You weren't exactly expecting the night to turn into this , especially since you were still a little mad at the boys, but now you were very grateful to your past self.

“No…” You teased as you felt your face heat up. You bit your bottom lip to try to contain your smile. Brian looked back up at you, clearly not buying it, before quickly moving down. He grabbed the top of your jeans and, before you realized what he was doing, yanked them down your thighs to reveal the matching red lace panties. 

He looked back up at you, quirking his eyebrow at you. “Really?”

“Can you just fuck me already!” You said desperately, kicking your pants the rest of the way off.

Brian laughed before leaning down and kissing along your exposed hip bones, up your hip, across your stomach and between your breasts, before finally making it up to your lips, boxing your thighs in between his knees. “You're so drunk.” He whispered, placing a few kisses on your lips.

“I don't care,” You practically whimpered once he pulled back. “I just need something…” You could feel your inner thighs tingling and your core heating up with every kiss he planted on you.

"Yeah?" He breathed out. He slid one hand slowly down your side, resting it on your hip, before adjusting so he had one knee between your thighs, spreading them apart and holding you open. Slowing he brought his knee closer and closer to you, until he was pressed flush against you. 

“Like this?” He asked as he began to gently rub his knee against you. You let out a soft sigh from the friction, but it still wasn't anywhere near what you needed.

Brian leaned down into your neck, pressing a few soft kisses under your ear— right on a spot that made the nerves across your body light up— before whispering, "Answer me, princess." 

Between his soft touches and sweet words, your face had to have been bright red at this rate. "N-no…'s not enough…"

"No?!" Brian said, feigning shock as he pulled back from your neck. "Then what about this?" He asked, sliding his hand from your hip, over your stomach, and down your mound. Slowly, way too slowly , his fingers slid between your lips, rubbing you up and down over your panties. 

Fuck. You shakily sighed out again as he rubbed up and down. It felt nice, but the bastard was avoiding your clit, whether or not it was on purpose, you couldn't really tell.

Brian laughed softly, looking up into your eyes from where he was previously transfixed on his fingers. "You said it wasn't enough, but you're soaking . I can feel it through this cute lil' lace, baby." He licked his lips, looking back down to watch his fingers slide over your panties.

' Holy FUCK. This fucker is suck a tease. '

He was somehow doing nothing and everything to you at the same time. You reached up to tightly grab his bicep, squeezing as you wiggled your hips up to try to get the friction you really needed. Brian seemed to catch on though, because he quickly sat back so he could use the arm he was holding himself up with to place on your hip gently, while still using enough pressure to keep you still. He was definitely doing this on purpose.

" Bri…" You began to plead.

"Hmm? What's wrong darlin'? You have to tell me what you need." He said, smirking. His fingers continued gently along your folds, trailing up to circle around your clit just barely close enough for you to feel the fabric move against you.

"I already told you what I need!" You said between heavy breaths, pouting as your frustration grew.

"And I told you that's not what you're gettin' tonight, cutie." He said. God he looked so cocky above you, he knew exactly what he was doing to you right now.

"Then can you at least touch me… better?" You asked as you struggled to find the right words. Even with how little he was doing, you still had to hold back your soft moans. He was so fucking hot above you, holding you still as he worked his hand and stared down at you. The look he was giving you made you feel so small under him. Why won't he just take you already.

"Oh? Am I not doin’ good enough for ya’?" He asked. He seemed so amused by you right now. Asshole.

"Well N-no… I mean.. yes…I-" You stuttered out. He sure was doing something, it wasn't enough, but that didn't mean it wasn't good either.

"Here, lemme help you out." Just then his fingers finally  brushed lightly around your clit. It still wasn't much, but the surprise caused you to moan out louder, breath quickening.

"Or were you looking more for this…" He said, slowly slipping his fingers under the lace. You were absolutely soaked as his fingers easily glided between your lips, lightly rubbing at your clit after every few passes. 

Over and over he slid his fingers between your folds, up and down, then up and against your clit, then back down. When you thought the lightning bouncing around your body couldn't get any more intense, Brian's fingers finally slipped inside you, causing you to groan out loudly.

Brian hummed. "How are you still so fucking tight, huh?" He asked you, eyes narrowing as he drank up the sight of you.

You weren't sure what the fuck made him think you would be able to answer him, but you chose instead to just buck your hips up into his hand as the pressure he put on them with his free hand let up. You loudly moaned as the palm of his hand ground against your clit, his fingers perfectly pumping inside of you.

Your grip on Brian's arm tightened as you realized you were somehow already fucking close, your slick walls squeezing around his fingers . He was barely teasing you with light touches but you were already about to cum around his strong fingers.

“B- Brian ,” You let out through heavy pants as he switched his movements up, pumping in, then curling his fingers to drag out along your walls as he pressed his palm harder against your clit.

Brian looked up into your blown out eyes, the focus relaxing from his face as he smiled, cooing, “What? You're not already there , are you baby? We haven't even done anything yet. I still wanted to get a taste of you .”

That was it, that did it. You came around his long fingers as they rubbed perfectly against the sensitive spot inside you, palm pressing down fully on your clit. You shook, arching your back as your thighs squeezed around his hand. “ Fuck, Brian,” You moaned out for him.

He dragged out your high, pumping his fingers faster and pressing his palm even harder against your clit. Tears sprouted in the corners of your eyes as he continued to rub your sensitive body. Your moans grew louder and louder, but before they turned to screams Brian leaned down, pulling you into a heated kiss, tongue running along your bottom lip.

Your legs were shaking uncontrollable when you finally gathered the strength to press your knees up against his chest. He broke the kiss, slowing his movements just barely. “What’s the matter baby? I thought you said you wanted more?” He asked, as if he wasn't absolutely destroying you right now.

“Bri- Bri please , no more, no more,” You said, squeezing his arm with all of your strength. 

Finally he relented, and slowly pulled his fingers out from under your panties. He leaned back to sit on his knees, and you watched as he pulled his fingers into his mouth, casually sucking your juices off of them.

You stared up at him as you struggled to catch your breath, heart pounding in your chest. “God, you're so beautiful.” He said once he popped his fingers out of his mouth, smiling and standing up as if he didn't do what he just did .

You stared at him as he walked over to your dresser. Somehow he knew where you kept your pajamas, opening the third drawer to pull a shirt and shorts out, throwing them over to you.

“I'll be right back, love.” He said, disappearing out of your bedroom and leaving you to change.

You stared at the ceiling, still trying to catch your breath as you gathered the strength to change. Finally you managed to change without getting up, stripping everything and pulling your pajamas on. Brian returned a few minutes later with a glass of water, placing it down on your bedside table before stripping his shirt and pants, and sliding in on the other side of your bed.

He laid back, pulling the blankets over the both of you.  "Come 'ere." He said, pulling you over the lay on his muscular chest. Kissing you on the head, he quietly whispered, “Goodnight beautiful.” His onslaught had really taken it out of you, it only took a couple minutes for the steady drum of his heart beat to lull you to sleep.

Chapter Text

BANG!

You shot up with a start, frantically looking around your bedroom until your eyes landed on your bedside table. You quickly pulled the drawer open, reaching for your hammer inside while heavy footsteps made their way to your bedroom. You whipped your head around, watching your hallway as the footsteps grew closer. Gripping the hammer, you began pulling it up to your chest, debating on whether you had time to hide or if you should stay and fight… until Brian rounded the corner into your bedroom.

You let out the breath you were holding in, whispering “Fuck,” as you relaxed your muscles, letting go of the hammer and closing the drawer that held it. It was just Brian, you were okay. You had completely forgotten that you brought him home last night. 

“Hey, hope I didn't wake ya'," He said, smiling as he entered the room, holding a small plastic grocery bag.

“You scared the fuck out of me.” You said, flopping back down in bed. It had been almost two weeks since it happened– try as you might to push the incident out of your head, it still kept you awake some nights, clutching your hammer to your chest just like the night it happened– and you were still pretty jumpy. 

“Sorry,” Brian said with a chuckle, “I never noticed how heavy your front door was.” He dropped the bag he was holding down to the floor in front of your bed, coming around the side to lean over you and place a kiss on your lips. Butterflies shot around your stomach in an instant, but all too quickly he pulled back, smirking down at you. 

You smiled back up at him as you felt your face heat up. “What were you doing outside?” You asked, stretching a bit to try and wake yourself up.

“Oh, right,” He stood back up, moving to sit at the end of your bed. He leaned over and began sifting through the bag he brought in, before sitting up again and handing you a bottle of pills. “I got you some vitamin B, it helps with hangovers.”

“Aw,” You started, smiling as you read the label. “Thanks Bri.” You weren't really that hungover. Like you told him last night, you weren't that drunk. All your nights out with Megan had really hardened your liver over the past year. You still appreciated the sweet gesture.

“I uh… I got something else too.” He said, turning back around to lean over to the bag again. You heard him pushing the plastic away, then a couple tearing noises, before he sat up again. Turning back to you, he got up fully on to the bed, crawling over until he was on top of you. He leaned down into your neck, kissing slowly over and over, from under your ear down to the dip of your collarbones. 

You sighed against him as the hand that he wasn't using to hold himself up trailed along your side, over your hip and down to your exposed thigh. He squeezed your flesh as his kissing got more aggressive, slowly changing from soft pecks to nips as he sucked hickies along your neck.

“W-what else d-did you get?” You asked, holding back the soft moans that threatened to spill from your mouth. Brian sat up a bit to hold up a golden piece of foil between his thumb and finger for you to see. The foil read “Magnum” in bold black lettering across the front.

“Oh.” Was all you could say as you stared at the condom, feeling your face turn bright red.

“That is, if you still want to.” Brian said, leaning in to place a couple of kisses on your lips. “I won't be upset if you say no.” He whispered once he pulled back.

“No! I mean-I mean, yeah! I really, really still want to.” You quickly said. Of fucking course you still wanted to.

Brian's soft smile grew wider and he sat up again, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it down to the floor. You stared up at him, finally able to see his bare muscled chest. He wasn't completely shredded, but he definitely worked out. His well defined and smooth chest leading down to his toned abs, sitting above the V line that dipped below his jeans. 

You would have copied his actions, but to be honest, you weren't wearing a bra under your shirt. Without any alcohol in your system, you were feeling a bit of stage fright. You didn't have time to worry about that however, because Brian quickly closed the gap between the two of you, capturing your lips in a heated kiss. He allowed his hand to travel freely between your thigh and waist a few more times, before finally deciding on your thigh. He gripped the plush flesh tightly before yanking your leg up to hitch on his hip.

Quickly, he took advantage of your new position, breaking away from the kiss to look you in the eyes as he began grinding down harshly against you, rubbing perfectly between your legs. You let out a surprisingly loud moan from his action, raising your hands to run up along his toned chest. You raised your hips to meet his next movements, the both of you moaning as you rubbed against you each other.

Even through your pajama shorts and his jeans you could feel how hard he was already. Butterflies shot around your stomach as your whole body went hot with anticipation for him. "J-Jesus christ , Brian." You moaned out as he ground down again.

He chuckled against your neck, slowly moving his hands up your shirt, bringing the fabric up along with it until it bunched up over your breasts. He pulled back to get a good eyeful in before leaning down again to take one of your nipples in his mouth, sucking and flicking the hard bud with his tongue. 

You could feel the fucker smile against you as you moaned out, arching your back to push your breasts closer to his mouth. You trailed your hand down his stomach as he massaged your other breast with his large hand, gently trailing over your nipple every so often. Your hands finally reached his waistband, and you quickly worked to undo his belt. As much as you wanted to savor all of this, you just needed him so fucking bad.

You felt Brian moan against you before he pulled back, quickly grabbing your hands and pinning them up besides your head, intertwining his fingers with yours. "Already baby? I haven't even gotten started with you." He said, smirking down at you with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"I-" You began, but you were cut off when Brian sat up, grabbing your shorts and quickly pulling them down your legs, along with your panties. You pulled your knees up to allow him to pull your clothes the rest of the way down your legs before deciding fuck it , and sitting up to pull your shirt off as well. You relaxed back down, letting your legs spread around Brian's thighs.

He hummed, starting down at you as his eyes and hands traveled all along your body, finally falling between your thighs. "I'm so glad we waited for the sun to be up for this…" He said, grabbing your hips and pulling you closer to him, forcing your legs apart even more. He kept one hand gripping your hip while the other slid down to your already dripping pussy, rubbing slowly along your inner thigh while he used his thumb to spread your lips apart, watching as they bounced back into place. 

You whined as he toyed with you, instinctively squeezing your thighs together as much as you could to try to give yourself some friction. Almost as quickly as you had done it, Brian grabbed one of your thighs, pushing it back so your knee was to your chest. 

"Am I gonna have to tie these up?" He asked. You quickly met his eyes to find that he was not joking. Biting your lip, you quickly shook your head no.

"Then be good.' He said, letting go and continuing to toy with you. You let your leg fall back down with a huff and watched as he spread your lips apart again while lightly rubbing a finger around your hole. Once he gathered up enough of your slick, he slid his finger up, rubbing gentle circles around your clit.

Way too gentle . You bucked your hips up into his hand that was still holding you down, desperately trying to get more. He just snorted at you, ignoring your desperate moans and twitching just to continue teasing your sensitive skin. Eventually, however, he finally gave in, entering with one finger and pumping a few times before he slipped a second finger in.

He hummed again as he pumped his fingers in and out. "You're already so ready for me darlin'…" He said before leaning down to begin trailing kisses along your stomach. He reached his free hand up to massage your breast again as his kisses dipped lower, and lower, until they reached your pussy. Gently, he kissed your clit a couple of times, before suddenly sucking the sensitive flesh into his mouth, causing you to almost scream as his fingers curled up into you at the same time. 

He continued this way, kissing and sucking on your clit while his fingers worked their way perfectly along your delicate walls, his other hand toying your nipple gently. It didn't take long for you to get close to the edge as moans and curses fell freely from your lips, growing louder and louder. This man somehow knew exactly what you needed and where you needed it, he was like a fucking magician right now. Except he was hot.

You were about to let him know that you were close, when all at once his fingers roughly curled inside of you, and he sucked you clit into his mouth. You threw your hands down to his hair, grabbing tightly as your thighs shook and squeezed around his head. Your moans nearly turned into screams as you came hard around his fingers.

Just like the night before, his pace didn't let up for even a second , forcing as much of your orgasm out of you as possible. You tugged as hard as you could at his hair, breathily whining out "B-bri-Brian, Brian please , enough, enough." between gasps.

He slowed his movements, gently bringing you down before finally pulling away. "God you taste incredible." He said as he leaned over you, capturing your lips with his so you could taste yourself on him. 

He pushed himself up, getting off the bed to unbuckle his jeans 

' Oh god that was just the FOREPLAY' . 

He dropped his pants along with his boxers, and your jaw fell with them.

'OH GOD HE'S HUNG. This couldn't get any better.'

Brian grabbed the condom from your nightstand, tearing it open and rolling it down his hard shaft. He climbed back on the bed, positioning himself between your legs. "Are you ready darlin?" He asked as he rubbed his tip between your folds, gathering up your juices.

"God, yes." You breathed out. You were so worn out already, but seeing how big he was brought most of your energy back. You were very ready.

Slowly, he pushed into you, and you thanked god he made you cum first. Even with how slick and ready you were, you could feel him stretch your walls out around him. 

" Fuck you're so warm ." He hissed out. He leaned his head back, letting his eyes slip shut as he savored the feeling of you. You allowed your hands to explore Brian's softly sculpted stomach for a moment while the two of you adjusted to the feeling of each other, but it didn't last long before Brian slowly began grinding himself into you.

"O-oh fuck…" You softly moaned out. He felt fucking incredible inside of you. He leaned down, giving you a few soft pecks while his grinding picked up speed. He was holding himself back for sure , but it felt amazing as it was. You dragged your nails up his back slowly, accidently scratching him a few times when he hit your spot just right.  

After a few more strokes he sat up again, breathily mumbling "God, you're perfect." before properly pumping his cock fully inside of you. Your voice cracked as you moaned out loudly for him, but he didn't allow you even a second to recover as he grabbed your thighs to drag you flush against him, and began thrusting quickly inside of you.

Your body was on fire and the room quickly filled with the mix of your moans and softs gasps, Brian's heavy breaths and deep moans, and your skin smacking together.

"Perfect. Perfect little princess." Brian practically growled out, punctuating his words with deep thrusts that nearly caused you to scream. You swore he was practically hitting your cervix when he went deep like that.

He grabbed your hips tightly and he picked up speed even more . You were so close, practically seconds away from hitting your climax. As if he could hear your thoughts, one of his hands shot to your clit, rubbing the juices that pushed out around his cock up to the sensitive nub and holy shit this fucking guy knew exactly what you needed . Your thighs shook around him as he brought you closer and closer and—

You were torn away from the moment as a loud buzzing played against the nightstand beside you. 

"UGGGH." You practically growled out when Brian stopped everything he was doing, leaving you hanging there right on the edge. You were so fucking close and now you had lost it. 

He sat back, closing his eyes as he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead. Opening his eyes again, he quickly leaned over to snatch his phone, sighing louder as he read the name of the caller. However, instead of hanging up like he should have , he answered the call.

"What?" He snapped, putting the call on speaker and dropping the phone down beside your head. He leaned over you again

" Don't 'what' me, where the hell are you? You didn't even text me last night, I thought you were dead!" You heard Tim snap back on the other line. Brian had dropped back on top of you, kissing along your neck while Tim nagged at him in the background.

"You're so dramatic…" Brian mumbled against your neck. Slowly, he began pumping into you again, making you realize your orgasm wasn't lost and you were still very much close.

" What?? I can't hear you!" 

"Where is he?" You heard Toby ask boredly in the background.

" I said you're dramatic!" Brian said towards his phone, leaning up to grab your hips again, slowly working back to the speed he had set before. You stared up at him with wide eyes, mouthing his name in desperation, but you were quickly cut off by your own quiet moan as he found your clit again. You threw your hand over your mouth and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to hold back your orgasm until Brian and Tim were done fighting. 

" Oh my god. Whatever, shut up. How did last night go?"

You peaked your eyes open to catch Brian smirking down at you, like he thought this was funny or something . Dick.

"Last night went great." Brian replied, looking you up and down.

" Why do you sound so far away? Am I on speaker?"

"You sure are." Brian's movement on your clit grew quicker, and holding yourself back was getting harder. It almost seemed like Brian was dragging out the phone call on purpose.

" What? Why??"

"Because I'm with (Y/n) right now and excluding her would be rude. " He said, chucking a bit. 

"Oh. Hi (Y/n)." Tim said, voice immediately softening at the mention of your name.

"(Y/n)?? Still??" You heard Toby perk up in the background.

You took your hand away from your mouth, taking a couple deep breaths to steady your voice and replying, "H-Hi Tim." Perfect.

You quickly replaced your hand over your mouth as Brian began pounding into your sopping pussy even faster. You would be shocked if Tim couldn't hear the loud squelching through the phone. Somehow this thought was just bringing you so much closer.

Your free hand shot down to Brian's stomach again, but instead of feeling him up you were trying to get him to slow down just a little bit at least . You squeezed your eyes tighter as your legs began to shake.

"Listen Tim, I'm gonna have to let you go, (Y/n)'s about to cum around me and I think she wants a lil' privacy for it." You heard Brian say. Your eyes shot open because oh my GOD , just to see Brian's smile grow wider as he quirked an eyebrow at you.

You swore you heard Tim's voice hitch a little, but instead he quickly sighed out "Jesus Christ Brian." before the line went dead. 

Brian laughed, then quickly grabbed the hand you held over your mouth, pinning it down on the bed. 

All it took was a "Go ahead and cum now baby." in his deep voice before you were screaming, legs shaking violently as you came hard around him. He harshly rode you through your orgasm, but he wasn't far behind. Just a few moments after you his hips stuttered as he came and oh my god you could feel him twitch inside of you. 

Slowly he pulled out, laying down beside you as the two of you caught your breath. He recovered much faster than you did however, as after only a minute he sat up again, leaning over to give you a kiss and whispering "You're so beautiful." before he got up and left your bedroom.

He came back soon after, gathering his pants and putting them on. "I'm sorry, I really hate to do this but I think Tim and Toby actually need me." He said, leaning over you again to place a few kisses on your lips 

You smiled up at him, still in a daze while you replied," 's okay."

He smiled his perfect smile back and went to throw his shirt back on. "Do you need anything from me? Anything at all." 

"Mmm no, jus' need my heart to go back to normal" 

Brian chuckled at you, coming back around the bed to kiss you again. "Text me if you do. I'll call to check on you later." 

"Mmm'kay." 

He mimicked your 'mmm'kay', kissing you one last time and reminding you about the vitamin B he got for you, before disappearing from your bedroom.

Chapter Text

It had been a boring week since your morning with Brian. He had called you later that night to apologize for having to run out on you, apparently Tim and Toby needed him pretty urgently for some work thing, of course he didn't elaborate. His apology was genuine, but you couldn't hold your laughs in as Toby repeated “you pumped and dumped her…'' in the background. 

After assuring you he would not be “pumping and dumping again”– his words– he went on to remind you how "loud you were" and how "fast you came", all while Tim loudly scolded him and Toby whined about how "lucky" Brian was in the background. You hung up on him half way through the teasing, earning yourself an apology text.

<Sorry beautiful, just couldn't keep it to myself. Been thinkin about that body of yours all day. Can't wait to see it again ;)

Asshole.

The four of you had only kept up through texts since then, everyone being too caught up with work. Tim had mentioned the boys were on a big job this week. He didn't explain past that, only sharing that when they weren't working, they were sleeping.

You couldn't complain too much though, it gave you time to finally catch up on some chores and errands. It was nice, you were missing the alone time anyways. Besides, you had seen a lot of the boys the past month.

You smiled to yourself as you thought about Brian's text, and the "me next" text you received from Toby not long after. You were just finished doing your dishes when a strong breeze blew through your open living room window. The mid-October weather was finally rolling in, bringing a chill in the air and turning the leaves to deep browns and vibrant oranges. You shivered, pulling your rubber gloves off before turning to your living room to shut the window. Your shitty apartment didn't have very good heating, but thankfully the windows were thick enough to keep most of the frosty air out.

You pulled the old window harshly, slamming it shut before wrapping your arms around yourself. You stared outside, giving the wind a dirty look for making you cold. The nerve. You were about to turn around to get a sweater, when something in the park caught your eye. Again.  

You had gone almost two weeks without seeing it, and you were just beginning to think you had finally shook your weird visions. Guess not .

You stared out the window at the strange creature. It was standing exactly where it was last time you saw it, motionless under the same tree in the park. It was cloudy out, so it definitely wasn't the light playing tricks on your sensitive eyes this time. The longer you stared, you realized you didn't feel curious like the last time. You weren't drawn outside to see the creature up close. No, the only way you could describe what you felt now was terror as all of the hairs on your body stood on end and your heart beat sped up the longer you looked at it.

The fucking ringing was back too, louder than it had even been before. You gripped your window sill tightly, staggering a bit as you felt bile rise up your throat. A sharp pain shot through your head, almost like it was splitting open. You finally found the strength to step away, moving as quickly as you could to your bathroom. 

You dropped down to your knees in front of the toilet, emptying your lunch as you retched into the bowl.

" It's real. That's not a hallucination. It’s real. "

The words were practically being chanted in your head. You knew that wasn't actually what you thought. There was no reason for you to believe the incantations, but for some reason that's all you could think as you coughed and spit up bile into the toilet.

You sat there like that, coughing and spitting until the headache and ringing finally softened. 

You shakily got up, riffling through your medicine cabinet until you could find your pain killers. You quickly swallowed them dry, worried that if you drank water you wouldn't be able to keep it down.

You shuffled back into your kitchen, averting your eyes from your window as you snatched your phone off the counter. Pausing the music that was playing, you opened the first contact you could find, which was a text message notification from Tim. Forgetting whatever conversation the two of you were having before you started doing the dishes, you quickly pressed the 'call' button next to his name.

The phone rang three times before he picked up.

" Hey, what's up?"

...What was up? You weren't really sure why you had called him. What even happened? You hallucinated, and had a panic attack, you guessed. You weren't sure you really wanted to tell him that though.

Your vision somehow felt choppy, fading in and out like your brain was trying to catch up with what you were seeing. The headache you still had seemed to move to one side of your head, causing your vision in that eye to briefly go white. What the fuck was happening?

"I um… are you guys busy? Can you come over." You asked, voice shaking a bit.

"Oh, yeah sure, right now?" He replied.

" Y-Yes, please."

"Okay, yeah, we'll be on our way in a few. Are you alright?"

You sniffed as tears made their way down your cheeks. "Uh… I don't know, I… I saw something and I think I had a panic attack and I just… I'm still freaking out." You let the words fall freely from your mouth.

"Hey hey it's alright, we're walking out the door right now, okay? Just… go lay down or something, alright? We're ten minutes away." He assured you. You heard him quietly say something in the background, but your mind was still too hazy to catch it, the ringing still too distracting. You went into your bedroom, pulling the blankets back to lay under them. Thank god your curtains were shut in here.

"Okay… I'll see you soon."

" Alright, l-... uh, see you soon." He said before you both hung up.

It had been 10 minutes on the dot when Tim called you back, asking you to let them in. By now the ringing had stopped, and your headache had calmed to just a dull throb. You pulled yourself out of bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants to pull on– you had grown accustomed to not wearing pants while you were home alone– and making your way down stairs. 

You pulled the main door open, immediately being greeted to a strong hug from Toby. 

"I m-missed you!" He said. You tightly hugged him back, relaxing as you rested your head against his chest. Making them come over was definitely the right thing to do. You opened your eyes, peeking over Toby's shoulder at the park across the street.

Nothing. You knew it wasn't real. You looked up to Brian and Tim standing behind Toby, both seeming a little worried, but still smiling down at you.

"Missed you too…" You mumbled against Toby's chest. Again, what the fuck happened? You felt so drained after that episode of whatever that was. Why did that stupid hallucination make you react so physically this time? You were seriously considering finding a psychiatrist right now.

"Come on Toby," Tim said, pushing him a bit. Toby, apparently, wasn't done with the hug. Instead of releasing you, he picked you up by your waist, carrying you up the stairs with Brian and Tim close behind.

The four of you ended up watching movies the rest of the day. Tim had offered to grab some snacks from the corner store down the street, bringing back some chips, drinks, and a couple bags of candy. You laid back on the couch eating your chips, head in Toby's lap and legs on Brian's lap, with Tim laying in your recliner.  

You had been watching the movies intently and listened to the boys talk about their week, trying to let them distract you. They luckily didn't press you on what happened, you didn't think you had it in you to explain. Something in you made you dread even thinking about it. You just wanted to act like it never happened.

Tim had passed out almost an hour ago, and the mix of Brian soothingly rubbing your legs and Toby running his hands through your hair made you drift off a couple of times as well. That was until you harshly twitched yourself awake, either from seeing that thing behind your eyes when they were shut for too long, or from the anxiety that still racked through your body.

The credits were rolling on the second movie of the night when you started to drift off again. Toby leaned over you, placing a kiss on your forehead before smoothing your hair back down. You blinked a couple times, shaking yourself awake again.

"I'm sssssso hungryyyyy." He whined, directing his complaint to Brian.

"Okay? Go find something to eat then." Brian replied.

"I can't! (Y/n)'s on m-m-my lap!!" Toby shot back.

"She's on my lap too!" Brian said, gesturing to your legs.

Toby leaned over, eyeing Tim on the other side of Brian, still asleep. Brian turned to follow Toby’s line of sight, seeming to get the hint. He leaned over as much as he could without disturbing you, and pushed at the recliner with his finger tips.

Tim must not have been in a very deep sleep, because it only took a couple gentle rocks to shake him awake.

"What." He snapped, not opening his eyes yet.

"Toby's hungry." Brian replied.

Tim cracked one eye open, giving a very unimpressed look to Brian.

"I'm hungry too." Brian relented.

"Yeah actually I haven't eaten all day." You chimed in. Well, besides the lunch you threw up earlier. 

Tim rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue as he stretched, letting out a loud dad grunt, and stood up.

"Alright, what does everyone want then?" He asked, going to grab his tan bomber jacket off the hook by your door and shrugging it on. 

"Can we get pizza? There's a place like a ten minute walk from here, I can show you where it is!" You asked, getting up off the couch. You were hoping a walk would bring some of your energy back. Fresh air would probably make you feel better too.

"Yeah, sure." Tim said, pulling his boots on. You slipped some shoes on as well, and turned to grab your keys off the island. Toby had quickly stolen Tim's recliner, and Brian was already flipping through the movies you had available on your tv. "Be right back." You told them, before turning and walking out the door with Tim.

He held the door for you as the two of you stepped out into the cold night air. Tim followed as you crossed the parking lot, checked for cars in the small street, then crossed over to the other side.

"Have you been to this place before?" He asked, walking beside you.

"Mhm," You replied, "they're really good, quick too." Tim hummed in reply, shoving his hands into his pockets as a breeze blew past you. You really should've grabbed a coat.

A pit formed in your stomach as you realized you were approaching that alley. You had been avoiding it ever since that night, opting to walk on the other side of the street. You were in such a daze today that you completely forgot you would have to walk past it on the way to the pizza place.

You quickly switched places with Tim, slowing down for him to walk ahead, then stepping behind him to walk on the side closest to the street. You were trying to be nonchalant about it, but he unfortunately still noticed.

"You alright?" Tim asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he watched you get back up to his speed. He seemed to be walking at a leisurely pace, but his long ass legs made you have to power walk next to him.

"Oh, yeah uhh… I just don't like walking past alleys at night…" You said, looking down at your feet as you crossed your arms in an attempt to keep yourself warm. Hopefully he wouldn't press, you didn't really want to talk about it, but these floodgates were starting to crack.

"Oh. Why not?" 

‘ Dammit. ’

You decided to just let it out. You needed to get something off your chest today.

"Um… I-...I was kind of… attacked here, I guess. This guy, actually the one Toby punched on our first date at that bar, he was coming out of that shop back there," You pointed behind you to the smoke shop and paused while Tim turned to look. "I think he got kicked out, so he was already pissy or whatever. Anyways… I was walking past on my way home and…"

You paused again to take a shaky breath, shivering a bit– whether it was from the cold air or the memory, you weren't really sure. "He came up to me yelling, I don't really remember what he said, and then he grabbed me and started dragging me back into the alley. I don't know what would've happened if these other guys didn't show up. They pulled me away from the guy and let me run home."

You were snapped back to the present with something warm and heavy being placed on your shoulders. You looked up to see Tim in just his black t-shirt, without his jacket, which was now hanging loose on your frame. You hadn't realized while you were so deep in your memory, but you were shaking.

"Thanks…" You said, sliding your arms into the jacket. It was pleasantly warm, filled with the scent of earth and smoke. Tim’s scent.

"Do you remember what the guys looked like?" He asked, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. 

“No, well, they were wearing masks so I don't know what they looked like…” You replied.

“Oh… uh… do you remember what masks they were wearing?” 

Of course you did, they were everywhere . "Yeah. The one that pulled me away was wearing orange goggles and a guard over his mouth that had like metal bars on it or something, and another one had a black ski mask with a splotchy, orange frowny face, then there was the one with a white mask with black on the eyes and mouth. He was the angriest one." You said, looking down to pick at the loose threads on the sleeves of Tim’s jacket, watching white mask break that man's ribs with his boot in your head again.

"What makes you say that?" Tim pressed.

"He did the most damage. And was the loudest. Ski mask mostly just held the guy down." 

‘Mostly.’ You couldn't forget the way he kicked the man under the jaw, probably shattering a few teeth. You examined the sleeves of the jacket a bit more. It was pretty worn, little splotches of dark stains, small tears and scratches in the material here and there.

"Uh… I don't know if goggles did anything, I locked myself inside before I could see too much." You continued.

You heard Tim quietly chuckle to himself, but he stopped when you looked up to him. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to have nicknames like that for them." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

You laughed with him. It was pretty funny, giving innocent little nicknames to possible murderers.

“Hey, now that I think about it, the guy in the white mask was wearing a jacket just like this…like, same color I think.” Every time you had seen him was such a blur, or you tried to avoid looking at him all together, but you could swear that-

“Huh. that's weird.” Tim said, a bit bluntly, stopping to pull open a door for you. You looked up to see a bright neon “Pizza” sign hanging above you. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts you didn't even realize you two were already here. The warm savory scent hit you like a wall, finally giving you something to think about besides savage beatings and cryptids outside your window. 

"Well, I'm really sorry that happened to you, I can only imagine how scary that would've been." Tim said quietly while the two of you waited to make an order.

"It's alright, I'm still here at least, right?" You said, more so to try and cheer yourself up. Tim just smiled softly down at you.

You let Tim order, opting to have the same thing he was having, and went to sit on a stool in front of a bar top that sat against the front window. You pulled your phone out, opening a text from Toby letting you know that Brian picked the next movie and to "hurry your ass up!!'

You smiled at the text as Tim came to sit next to you.

"Toby told us to hurry up." You told him.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he has a patience problem." He said, unimpressed.

You shoved your phone in the jacket pocket, turning to watch the cooks put your pizzas together. It didn't take very long for you to zone out, staring at the wall as the scene you tried so hard to forget wormed its way back into your mind.

“Do you want to talk about what happened today?” Tim asked, snapping you back to reality.

“Hmm? Oh, no… not really…” You responded, a bit bluntly. No, you really didn't. It still somehow just felt wrong to talk about. Like that thing would spread to other people if you brought it up or something.

“Okay.” Tim replied simply.

"Have you seen them before?" You blurted out. It was quiet for a moment until you turned to Tim, catching him staring at you with a blank expression. He furrowed his brows a bit before answering.

“Uh… no… no, I haven't. I'll ask Brian and Toby though, maybe they have…” He said, turning to watch your pizzas get shoved into the large oven.

Well, that didn't make you feel much better. Tim hadn't seen the masked men before, you weren't sure if Toby had seen them, but he didn't say anything if he did. You asked Megan a few days ago and she hadn't seen them around either. She had asked Sean for you, but it was no luck, he hadn't seen them either.

You huffed and turned to rest your elbow on the counter, watching cars drive by outside as you thought. It had been about two weeks since you had seen any of the three men now. You were seeing them almost every day at one point, maybe this meant they skipped town. Killed that man and left without a trace, the only one to see them being you. You hadn't even heard any news stories of the killers being looked for, it was like everyone in town forgot about the severed head that was found in a dumpster. You wished you could forget too…

“I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, (Y/n).” Tim said, pulling you from your thoughts, “They didn't hurt you, right?”

“No…” Why was that always the question? If they hurt you, you still would be locked in your bedroom right now, clutching that hammer.

“Good.” Tim said, voice hardening a bit. “We’ll keep an eye out for you, okay?” 

You turned to catch the smile on Tim's face, quietly replying “Okay.” and smiling back at him. Well, You had two vows of protection now, so at least there was that.

Chapter Text

You woke up this morning in the most beautiful way possible, in a cold sweat as you jumped out of sleep with the piercing sound of ringing in your ears. You had another nightmare about the strange faceless creature that was refusing to stay the fuck out of your dreams. You thought the nightmares would be boring by now, but after your encounter yesterday, this dream was especially unsettling.

It wasn't like anything crazy even happened. You were just standing in what seemed to be a large open field, trees lining the edges, it standing among the trees. You just stood there, staring at it, the two of you completely still as you stared at each other. What scared you enough to wake you up was when you started fucking walking towards it.

You got a chill up your spine just thinking about it. The primal fear that ran through you when you thought about getting close to that thing was almost indescribable. 

You closed your eyes again, trying to shake the images out of your head and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the quiet darkness of your mind only seemed to make it worse. You sighed, flopping over on your side as you tried to get more comfortable, only to be met with Toby— sleeping comfortably, splayed out on his stomach— nearly making your heart jump out of your throat. 

" Right'.

In your groggy state you completely forgot you asked the boys to stay with you last night. Well, more like practically begged. You just couldn't be alone after your anxiety attack from that hallucination, and especially not after dark.

And that's what it was, that's all it was. You refused to believe that thing was anything more than a stupid hallucination. Maybe it was from stress, maybe you're dehydrated, maybe you had some undiagnosed bullshit surfacing, who fucking cares . All you knew, is it was just a hallucination, and if you just didn't acknowledge it, it would go away.

After you and the boys had finished your pizzas last night, and you couldn't keep your eyes open any more, Toby and Brian followed you to bed. Tim was left past out on your recliner with a blanket you threw over him before leaving.

You had fallen asleep with Toby on your right, head against his chest, and Brian on your left, cradling you against him as he ground against your ass every so often. Thank christ for your king sized bed— a parting gift from a family member you actually liked. Right now, it was really coming in handy.

As the ringing subsided, it was seamlessly replaced by a growing migraine. You sighed, gently moving from under the blankets and sliding out from between the boys. You crept out of your bedroom, slowly shutting the door behind you, and making your way into the kitchen to get some painkillers. You flipped the light on, jumping as you found Tim already up and making coffee.

"Help yourself." You said, passing him to grab a cup. He was just wearing boxers and his t-shirt, he must've stripped his jeans in the middle of the night.

"Sorry, I probably should've asked," he said as he finished pouring his cup. "But I made some for everyone."

"It's fine, I'm just fucking with you." You assured him, smiling before you swallowed a couple pills, chasing them with water.

"What're you doin' up?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I had a nightmare and it gave me a migraine." 

'Please god let these painkillers work fast.'

You filled your cup with more water, wanting to see if your dehydration theory was true. 

'Are mirages even real? Or is it like a trick of the light thing? Whatever…' You finished your water anyways.

"Oh yeah? What about?" He asked.

You thought for a moment, leaning the counter beside Tim, but ultimately decided, ' fuck it, he deserves to know if he just slept in a crazy person's house."

"I don't even really know. I was just in this field, kind of standing there and staring at this… thing… it was um, tall and lanky, with a blank white face. I woke up when I started walking towards it. And now I feel… fucked up I guess." You told him.

Tim stared down at you with a blank expression, staying silent for a few minutes before finally responding, "wow… that's uh, pretty weird." He seemed… almost a little unsettled from what you told him. 

' Maybe I should've kept it to myself…'

"Yeah well, it's just a dream…" You said, trying to ease the tensions.

"Right, of course." He agreed, sipping his coffee.

You grabbed a mug, pouring yourself a cup as well. "What're you doing up?" You asked. 

"Oh uh, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep… I have insomnia, so once I'm up I'm just up." He replied.

You nodded, remembering when Brian told you about Tim's insomnia the last time you commented on how tired the boys all looked. "That sucks."

You watched him suck down his coffee, the way his jaw relaxed and Adam's apple bobbed, seemingly desperate for the caffeine. He ran his fingers through his dark hair, smoothing it back out of his eyes. His hair had grown a bit since you first met, it now brushing his shoulders. His beard had grown as well, more bushy and unkempt than it was a month ago. God why is he so hot.

"Yeah well… gotta play with the cards you're dealt with, I guess." He grumbled, furrowing his brows over his dark eyes. Eyes that seemed to just pull you in… 

God, you just woke up from a fucked up nightmare and now you were listening to Tim tell you about his insomnia, why are you all worked up now.

' Fuck it.'  

You knew there was something there between the two of you. You could feel it in the way his voice softens when he speaks to you, the way his eyes would linger along your body, the way you could feel him watching when your back was turned to him. 

Did he think you weren't interested? Was he just too reserved? Did he just not want to share you with Toby and Brian? 

Whatever it was, you certainly weren't going to sit here and let this spark flicker out. You set your coffee cup down and quickly turned back to Tim. You weren't quite sure what suddenly made you so bold, but you needed to just do it before you chickened out. 

You stepped up to Tim as he lowered his mug from his lips, cupping his cheeks and quickly closing the gap. Tim was rigid for a moment as you tasted the bitter liquid on him, working your lips against his own. It took him a few seconds to snap back to reality, quickly fumbling to set his mug down. Once he managed to get the cup out of his hands without spilling it anywhere, he slid his arms around your waist, making you gasp and he pulled you closer.

You melted into his touch, allowing your jaw to open with his as the two of you quickly explored each other's mouths. As tired as you both were, there was nothing slow or lazy about the kiss. It was desperate, you both wanted this.

You pulled away to catch your breath, and in the same moment Tim picked you up, spinning around to sit you down on the counter. You grabbed his shirt, quickly pulled him close between your legs as he cupped your cheek with one hand, his other squeezing your hip.

"I've been waiting for this…" He mumbled.

You let out a breathy laugh, replying, "all you had to do was ask."

Tim scoffed, smiling as he leaned into you again. The kiss was becoming more passionate than you expected, tongues dancing along each other as your bodies pressed closer. You truly were only planning on a small peck, something to let him know you were interested, but now Tim's hand was slipped under your pajama shirt, slowly sliding up to cup the bottom of your breast. 

Tim pulled back from your lips, leaning down to whisper in your ear, "I want you, right now." His hand that had been sitting on your hip had slowly begun making its way into your shorts, and was now in your panties, brushing along your mound as it traveled further down. He kissed along your ear, gently moving up your jaw.

Your face was burning as you grabbed his large bicep, feeling his fingers slowly push past your folds. You moaned out quietly as he breathed deeply over you, fingers just barely teasing your clit.

"Spread your legs more." He instructed firmly, squeezing your breast for emphasis. 

You did as you were told, spreading your legs wider to allow Tim better access to your pussy. His fingers quickly found your clit, rubbing light circles around it.

"This is all I've been thinking about, ever since we saw you at that diner in your cute little apron. I wanted to see you wearing nothin’ but that apron, teasin’ me with your perfect ass." Tim's fingers slipped lower, gathering your slick up and allowing them to glide softly between your folds.

"God, you're soaked. " Tim sighed, "you get me too worked up darlin’, it's dangerous."

You bit your lip, trying to keep your moans inside as Tim rolled your hard nipple between his fingers. Was this really what he's been thinking about since you first met at the diner? You didn't even realize these guys liked you this much until like two weeks ago. 

You were caught off guard when Tim suddenly slipped his fingers in you, going straight for curling and pumping as he worked to find your sweet spot. You moaned out—a little too loudly— and gripped onto his shoulder tightly in an effort to ground yourself.

Tim stopped playing with you for a moment to pull your arms up, and quickly slid your shirt off your body. He returned both his hands to your hips, leaning down to suck and kiss your nipples. Your threw a hand over your mouth, desperately trying to muffle your pleas. 

Tim adjusted his hips against yours, making you realize that he was hard, his cock practically creating a tent in his boxers. You looked down between your bodies, trying to gauge how big he was. 

Tim quickly caught on to your stares, smirking as he whispered in your ear, "do you want it as bad as I do?" 

He didn't let you answer before roughly pulling you to the edge of the counter, settling flush to you as he rubbed his bulge against your covered pussy, creating a visible wet patch on your panties.

"G-god, yes!" You moaned out as he rutted against you again. 

“Then maybe you should go get a condom.” He whispered. He stepped back and pulled you down from the counter, giving your ass a smack as you hurried to your bedroom.

Pushing the door open, you tip-toed to your nightstand. You slowly pulled the drawer open, ripping a condom off of the strip that held it as quietly as possible. You gently closed the drawer again, checking to make sure Brian and Toby were still asleep— which they were, although how Brian could sleep so well next to Toby's deep snores was beyond you— and tip-toed your way back out of the room, closing the door as quietly as you could behind you. 

You made your way back into the living room, finding Tim sitting on the couch with his arm lying along the back, shirt already missing. You walked around the couch, stunned to find his cock already pulled out over his boxers as he stroked along it. It was huge , not quite as long as Brian's, but it was thick . 

Tim didn't waste any time, grabbing you to pull you on top, straddling him. His hands immediately found your hips as you closed the gap again, kissing him passionately. He allowed his hands to travel your body, but mainly focused them on your ass. He grabbed at the flesh, sliding his hands up, then back down, softly spanking then squeezing where his hand landed. Your hands traveled down his bare chest, just ghosting over his hardened cock. That gave you an idea. 

You got up, sliding off the couch to sit in front of Tim. A devilish smile grew on his face as he watched your hands grasp his cock— which was a little difficult, it being too girthy to fit your hand all the way around. Slowly, you began pumping it up and down. As you worked, you realized that maybe this wasn't such a good idea— you had no idea how you were going to fit your mouth around this thing.

Tim sighed as he let his head fall back. "God baby, you're goin' to drive me crazy…" He said, pushing his hair back. 

That gave you just the encouragement you needed to take this all the way. You felt your face heat up as you leaned forward to lick up Tim's shaft a few times, stopping to kiss the head. Once you felt you were warmed up enough, you slowly took him into your mouth. Tim let out a groan and placed his hand in your hair as you sucked gently on the head, working yourself to take him deeper. 

Once you decided you had reached your limit— almost half way down— you slowly began bobbing your head up and down his length. Tim's panting became quicker as you took him, moaning every so often when your tongue moved against him or when you sucked a little harder. Gently, he pushed your hair back from your face, guiding you up and down.

"Alright," he eventually breathed out, "get up here. I need to fuck you." 

You pulled off of him with a loud pop, and quickly got to your feet. You watched him as he tore open the condom and smoothly rolled it down his cock. Good thing Brian got magnums, these boys really needed them. 

Tim tugged you forward by your waist band, bringing you closer to pull your shorts down your legs, along with you underwater. He then kicked his boxers off before pulling you back on top of him. You ran your hands down his chest feeling his muscles. While he wasn't as cut as Brian, and he definitely had a lot more hair, you could still feel the rippling muscles under Tim's skin. He looked like someone that could throw a couch through a window, so you weren't surprised that he felt like it too.

Tim placed his hand on the small of your back, pulling you flush against his chest, and went straight for your neck, peppering kisses under your ear. You moaned out, shakily reaching behind you to grab his thick cock, and slowly pressed it into you, sinking down on him.

Tim leaned back as you both moaned out, feeling him slowly spread you open. You only took him about half way before you paused, taking a couple deep breaths to steady yourself. Tim's hand slid around your back, pulling you flush against him again, while his other hand grasped your ass, encouraging you to move.

"'S big…" you mumbled, gently bouncing a couple times.

"You can take it… I know you can." Tim said, already panting. Having to wait with you wrapped around him must be frustrating him.

You sighed out as your movements picked up speed, thighs shaking as you struggled to not sink fully down on him. You still needed some more warming up. As if he could hear your thoughts, Tim reached down between your bodies and began rubbing circles around your clit, causing you to moan. You continued bouncing on him, your moans mixing together, until you finally slid fully down his length, ass smacking against his thighs.

"God, baby… '' Tim trailed off. He was so sexy like this, eyebrows furrowed over his half lidded eyes, lips parted, hair tousled, hands gripping your waist tightly as he guided you up and down his shaft. Suddenly you felt a sharp sting as he landed another smack down on your ass, causing you to moan out unexpectedly.

"W-we… should be… quiet…" You quietly said between pants and moans.

"You're the loud one here" Tim teased, smirking up at you as he landed another loud smack to your ass. "Brian was right." 

You felt your face heat up more than it already was as you whined out, "shut up!" 

Tim smiled wider as his eyes traveled down to your breasts, bouncing in front of him. He quickly took the opportunity, pulling you close and leaning forward to suck one of your nipples into his mouth, flicking the bud with his tongue.

"Fff- fuck… Tim, I'm… I'm gonna cum." You said, feeling the knot in your core tighten and the wetness between your legs drip down, adding to the noise the two of you were creating.

Tim moaned around your breast, then pulled back to look you in the eyes. "Then cum, I wanna feel it." He said, voice so deep it was practically a growl. 

That was all it took to make you burst around him, leaning into his neck as you moaned out. Tim's grip on your hips grew tighter, bouncing your body for you as you tensed and shook. 

"Mmm, fuck, you’re amazing." He groaned it, moving you harder down on him. It only took a couple more bounces for him to still, moaning as you felt him twitch, condom growing warm as he came. 

Tim wrapped his arms around you, hugging you close and rubbing your back as the two of you came down from your highs. You pulled back, about to tease Tim for being so open with you all of a sudden, when you heard your bedroom door creak open. 

Tim's eyes grew wide, blissful face suddenly hardening, and quickly picked you up and sat you down next to him. He grabbed the throw pillow from beside him and quickly covered his crotch. You followed his lead, grabbing the blanket from the top of the couch, pulling it up to your chest and turning just as you heard Toby's voice from the hallway.

"Oh. There you are. W-what are you guys doing u-u-up" He asked, making a popping sound with his mouth as he stretched, twitching his shoulder.

"Nothing.' You and Tim replied in unison.

Toby shared blankly at the both of you for a moment before his jaw dropped, seemingly putting two and two together. "Hey, I s-said me next!"

Chapter Text

The four of you sat at the small dining table shoved in the corner of your kitchenette, eating spoonfuls of some off-brand cereal. You hadn't made a proper grocery run in a while, and since you usually skipped breakfast anyways, this was all you had to offer. 

After your morning with Tim, you had crept into your bedroom to get dressed. Brian was already awake, pulling his clothes on. “Told you you were loud.” He teased with a stupid smirk on his face.

You quickly grabbed your clothes and slammed your bedroom door behind you, going to the bathroom to change. You didn't care if he’s already seen you naked, he doesn't deserve to see that right now. Besides, changing in front of someone almost felt more intimate than actually having sex with them. 

Breakfast was quiet besides the occasional spoon scraping along a bowl. It was a little strange, usually at least Toby was blabbering, but even he kept to himself, shoveling cereal into his mouth while he scrolled through his phone. Maybe they were really hungry. You felt a little guilty for being a bad host and not offering a proper breakfast.

You heard a spoon clink on a bowl a little louder, and looked up to find Tim staring at Brian. His eyes flicked to you for a moment before going back to Brian. He licked his bottom lip, letting his teeth drag across it, before speaking. “I think we should tell her.”

You heard a dull thud from under the table as Tim let out an annoyed “Ow!” while Brian stared semi-confused daggers back at him. 

“I'm serious Bri, I think she should know.” Tim said, leaning down a bit to rub his leg.

“Why? Why would we do that?!” Brian said quietly, as if you wouldn't be able to hear him from across the tiny table.

“Because… she's already met…” Tim's eyes flicked to you again, then flicked back. “The uh… assholes.” He finished, raising his brows at Brian.

“No crypticity in my home.” You interrupted before taking another bite of cereal. As entertaining as it was to watch them bicker, you weren't going to just let them talk about you like you weren't right there.

Brian and Tim looked at you, then back to each other, Tim's eyes almost pleading. Toby continued eating, completely tuned out from what was happening in front of him.

“So?” Brian asked.

“I think she should know what she's dealing with there…” Tim replied

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Brian finally relented, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess...”

Tim turned back to you, took a deep breath as he leaned on the table, and got straight to the point. “(Y/n), the men in the masks… those are us. Er- not us but… our 'alters’, I guess is what people call them.”

You blinked back at Tim. “Wait… what?” You asked.

“Remember when Tim said that we have multiple personality disorder?” Brian cut in.

Oh my god.

No, it can’t be-

“The guy in the mask is… technically me, and the one in the hood is Brian. It’s kind of stupid, but they call themselves “Masky” and “Hoodie”.” Tim said, pointing at himself and Brian respectively.

You let out a small laugh, “That is kind of stupid.” you said. You didn't know how you were laughing at this, while your heart began to pick up in your chest and a pit opened up in your stomach. Maybe you were in shock.

“That's what I said!” Toby said, giving Brian and Tim an “I told you so” look.

You looked over at Toby, realization setting in. “Wait, so then Toby is… goggles?”

‘Obviously’ You thought to yourself, although you were somewhat hoping the answer was no.

“Yes.” Tim replied.

Fuck.

“But he doesn't have DID, that's just… him.”

“Yeah, I’m n-n-normal.” Toby said, leaning back in his chair.

“Watch it.” Tim warned.

“Wait a minute,” Brian started, “Toby, you were there when she saw them?”

“Uhh..yeah?” Toby replied, not seeming to follow.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell us then??”

“Hey, yeah. Why would you even let it happen at all?!” Tim joined in.

“I-I don't know! I d-d-didn't think you guys would ever tell her sssso I didn't think it mattered.” Toby said, throwing his hands in the air. “A-assholes.” He jerked his shoulder back hard before continuing. “Even if she found ou-out, I wanted to ssssee th-th-that guy dead as much as M-M-Masky and Hoodie did.” He shrugged.

You sat, trying to take in everything that they were saying, but Toby's words, “ I wanted to see that guy dead” seemed to snap you back into reality.

That man was dead. And these guys did it .

You cut off Tim as he began to scold Toby again, “You guys really did kill him…” You knew It was the masked men ever since you saw the story on the news, but now it was confirmed. You felt… strange, conflicted almost. Like the weight that had been on your shoulders for the past two weeks was lifted, but the knot in the pit of your stomach tightened further. Relieved, but for the wrong reasons.

“Well, I think Toby did it, if you're looking for someone to blame.” Brian said casually.

“D-Don't just throw me under the bus!” Toby shot back.

No one was coming after you for witnessing a crime you shouldn't have seen. The men responsible were merely sitting in your kitchen, eating bowls of cereal that you poured for them. You were just housing murderers, that was all.

“From the state that guy was left in, that was definitely you Toby.” Tim chimed in.

“Why did you… his head was left in a dumpster…” You blurted out.

Tim turned back to you, seeming to have forgotten you were still there. “Oh…uh.. Toby?”

“Oh-um-Hoodie did some research on the g-g-guy after we-” Toby paused as he took in your expression. You must not have been hiding your feelings very well, because Toby began pausing every so often to censor himself. “A-after we were… finished with h-h-him-him. He was on a ssssex offender r-r-rrregestry. A few girls made posts a-about… what he did. Th-th-they said he had a ‘wingman’.” He made air quotes when he said “wingman”. “SSSSSo we left the head in the dumpster behind the place his f-f-friend worked at. We wanted him to see it.” Toby finished his sentence clearly, voice dropping lower. “And f-f-for those girls to get some peace.”

“I was back just in time to deal with the rest of him.” Tim continued. “He's deep in the woods somewhere. No one’s gonna find him.”

You sat with this information for a bit. He was a bad person. A terrible person. He deserved this. The men in your kitchen were still murderers. At least, just Toby was.

“Anyways, the point was, yes, we know about the guys in the masks. And we know how dangerous they can be, even if they're still… us.” Tim said, dropping his gaze down to his hands.

“If you see them again, just don't talk to them, alright? Call one of us. Or maybe just Toby. if you see one the other is usually close behind.” Brian finished.

Your gaze fell to your hands as well, taking this all in. They were blatantly telling you that a part of them, a part they had no control over, was dangerous. Yet you sat here and listened. You allowed them to sit with you. You should be screaming, crying, kicking them out, deleting their numbers and telling them to never speak to you again, maybe even call the police, something . While you knew you should be doing all of this, you didn’t. You didn't even want to.

You were snapped back to the present when you heard a chair loudly scratching against the floor. 

“(Y/n), I saw some CDs in your room, can you show them to me?” Toby asked, extending his hand to you. Brian had already made work of gathering the dishes, Tim standing as well, grabbing the empty coffee mugs.

“Oh, yeah. Sure” you said, standing up.

“I think she's seeing him .” You heard Tim say quietly behind you as you followed the murderer down the hall and into your bedroom, alone.

You didn't notice that your door had been locked until you felt Toby's arms wrap around you from behind. You had just hit play on your stereo, an album Toby asked you to put on playing loudly, when you heard him whisper in your ear. 

“We're finally all alone…no one t-t- to bother us…can you guess what I want to do with you?”

Goosebumps broke out under his breath, heat flooding under your skin as you realized what he meant. He didn't wait for your response, quickly turning you around to catch your lips with his own. The kiss was quick and desperate, making you feel how long he had been waiting for this. 

You reached out, wrapping your arms around his neck to steady yourself. This just encouraged him more, and he leaned down to abuse your neck with sucks and bites. You moaned out quietly, suddenly remembering you weren't the only two in the apartment.

“Toby, Tim and Brian will hear…” You reminded him.

At that you felt one of his hands leave your hip, and the music on the stereo slowly rose until you couldn't even hear the sounds of Toby's mouth below your ear. As soon as Toby's other hand made it back to your hip, you were lifted up, and you quickly wrapped your legs around Toby’s waist for stability. He carried you back to your bed, dropping you right down in the middle of it before continuing his desperate assault on your lips.

This was wrong. This was so wrong . You had your hands wrapped around the neck of a murderer while you made out with him. You were letting a murderer practically pin you down to your bed. Your bedroom door was locked, keeping anyone who could help you trapped on the other side. You should be freaking out, running, screaming, jumping out your window, something . Instead, you slid your hands down Toby's chest, feeling the lightly toned muscles, abs just starting to push through his skin, sharp v line leading into his boxers that were peaking over his jeans. 

You pushed his shirt up slightly, but Toby quickly took the hint, sitting up to pull his shirt the rest of the way off. He copied your movements, running his hands from your shoulders, down over the peak of your breasts, along the curve of your waist, onto your hips, and finally landed on the hem of your shirt. He quickly pulled it off for you. 

“I'm not wasting any more time,” Toby mumbled, and quickly pulled your sweatpants and panties down to your ankles, leaving you exposed to him. He pulled your legs straight up, leaning them both against one of his shoulders, where he held them still. Using his free hand, he quickly unzipped his jeans, shoving them and his boxer down slightly. 

He pulled his dick out, half hard already, and quickly pumped his veiny shaft while he stared down at you squirming below him. “G-god you're so ffffucking heiß. So ein heißes kleines Ding unter mir” He mumbled over you.

You were too entranced in watching him stroke himself to question what he said, until you felt him begin to poke between your thighs. 

“C-condom…” You said, pressing a hand against his stomach to stop him. 

“W-well where are they- they?” He asked, continuing to  press his cock between the fat of your thighs. You threw your arm out, just barely able to reach the knob of your nightstands drawer, and pulled it open. Toby wasted no time grabbing a condom, ripping the package open with his teeth so he could keep his other hand secured around your legs.  

Once he finally rolled the condom on, he continued pressing his cock between your thighs, quickly gathering up the slick that gathered there. Thanks to Tim, you had been wet and ready practically all morning. From your kitchen counter, to your mug of coffee, to your couch, and to Tim himself, they each had you rubbing your thighs together at the recent memory. 

You moaned quietly every time Toby’s cock pressed a little harder, rubbing deeper between your folds and against your clit. You thanked god Toby turned your stereo up if this was all it took to get you to moan. 

Toby kept mumbling sweet nothings– in English and in the other language he apparently spoke– as he watched himself disappear and reappear between your thighs. It took you whining his name–because oh my god if he didn't get on with it already you were going to explode– for him to remember there was so much more for him to enjoy than just your thighs. 

“Awe, I'm sorry baby, i-is there something you need-need from me?” He asked, smirking down at you. 

“Please,” you whispered. 

Toby leaned closer to you, practically bending you in half, and whispered back, “Please what, angel? T-tell me what you want. I need to hear it.” 

You whined quietly at the name as you felt more slick gather between your thighs, but you needed him way too much to be bashful right now. “Please fuck me…”

Toby chuckled down at you, sitting up again to angle himself into you. ”Th-that's what I thought, engel.”

In one quick motion, Toby pushed himself half way into you. You choked out a little “oh” and quickly grabbed a tight hold of his shoulder. From the position you were in, and the angle he was at, all the bumps and ridges of his cock rubbed against your velvety walls perfectly .

Toby had his head thrown back, mumbling curses to himself as he sat still. Whether he was allowing you to adjust or trying not to cum himself, you were very grateful for the pause. It barely lasted longer than 30 seconds, however, before he began pumping into you quickly. 

He hadn't fully bottomed out, thank god, but you were instantly screaming. The mixture of Toby continuously rubbing against your g-spot, and your thighs squeezing your lips against your clit was almost too much for you to handle. Soon you weren't able to make any noise at all, barely able to breathe as your lips were fixed in a silent scream. 

You were either being tortured in heaven or pampered in hell. 

Toby, on the other hand, continued his soft ramblings down to you. His pace had not let up since he started, and he was slowly pushing himself deeper into you with every thrust. Just as you thought you were about to pass out, Toby leaned over you, capturing your nipple in his mouth.

You jolted a bit in shock, arching your back as moans finally escaped you again. “Toby, please…” You let out as you felt your orgasm creep up on you. It barely took a few more flicks of his tongue before you were bursting around him, still barely able to let out a noise as Toby continued to abuse your g-spot.

Toby soon followed, the spasming of your walls around him too much for him to take. He moaned against you, hands clasping hard onto your thighs as he jerked his shoulder up a few times. He pulled back from your breast, running his hands up and down your legs as he let his head lull back. Eventually he pulled out, letting your legs fall down to the bed on either side of him.  

You were dead. Completely and totally drained by this boy. Any worries you had today were gone, your mind blissfully empty. You were just about to pass out when you heard his voice again.

“Did you squirt?”

You practically shot up, following Toby’s line of sight to between you legs, where a small yet visible wet patch sat on the sheets between them.

Your eyes shot back up to Toby's in shock, expecting to find him mortified. Instead, a wide smile was slowly growing on his face.

Oh no.

“W-w-wait ‘till they hear about th- this .”

Chapter Text

“I'm just walking home now, you guys done workin’ for the day?” You spoke into the phone as you stepped off the bus, finally free from the hell hole that pays your rent.

“Me and Toby are, yeah. Tim’s still out somewhere. How’s your day been?” Brian asked on the other end.

You thought for a second before answering, “I don't really wanna talk about it…” 

Honestly, it was shitty. It was a Saturday, so it was packed. Your boss was there, so it was stressful. Megan wasn't there, so it was boring. Every time you greeted a new table, someone in the group would try you. As the grand finale, Hektor pulled you into his office at the end of the day and told you your hours were being cut. As if you weren't already barely making rent.

“Awe, I'm sorry. Wish I was there to make ya’ feel better…” Brian replied. You smiled to yourself. Just talking to him was already making you feel better.

“I wish you were too. When do you think you guys are coming back?” 

“ Well, hopefully in the next couple’a days. We just have one more thing to wrap up.” He said, voice dropping a little lower. He always sounds so annoyed at his job, he must hate it as much as you hate yours.

“Good… I miss you guys.” It had been over a week since they left for some job about an hour away, Tim getting the call the day after the three of them stayed over at your place. Of course they didn't tell you what it was, just that they needed to stay in that town until the job was done. They weren't all that far away, but after being spoiled with their almost non-stop company, it felt like they might as well be in another country.

“ We miss you too sweetheart, ” he paused to chuckle. “ Don't tell him I told you this but, Tim said your name in his sleep the other night. ” He laughed louder.

You felt your cheeks burn up as a grin stretched across your face. “Tim talks in his sleep?” You asked, barely able to contain a giggle.

“ He does now, I guess.” 

“That's so cute.”

“ Yeah, he's adorable.” Brian agreed.

“Alright, I gotta go, I'm gonna take a shower and get some dinner.” You said, wedging your phone between your ear and shoulder as you unlocked your front door.

“ Oooo, take some pictures for me, yeah?” 

You rolled your eyes, brushing him off with a simple “Goodbye Brian.” and quickly hung up before you could say what your brain was telling you to say. ‘Love you’.

Nope, you guys weren't there yet. You did, you knew you did. What was the saying? ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’ or some shit? Well, it was true. You had been practically day dreaming about them this whole week. 

You dropped your bag on the floor, locking your front door behind you and bee lining it towards the bathroom. You had been thinking about this shower for hours now. Your scalp was itchy and the feeling of the sweat stains getting cold in the breeze was making your skin crawl a little. Turning the water on, you quickly stripped down and jumped in. Closing your eyes, you let the water relax you as it ran down your head and back. 

You scrubbed your scalp as your mind wandered to your other day dreams. Technically it was still about the boys, but not the ones you knew so well. You thought about the other side of them. The ones who wore strange masks and stalked around outside of your apartment. The ones who were so brutal in the way they protected you. Yes, that was the way you chose to see it.

You still heard the little voice in your head saying to stay away. 

They'll hurt you. They don't know you. You don’t know them. Stay away from them .

Yet you chose not to listen. You shooed those thoughts away in turn for more positive ones.

They helped you. They protected you and didn't care about what it could cost them. Men in masks are so hot.

You quickly finished what you were doing and got out of the shower, wrapping one of your nicer bath towels around yourself. You dried your hair out, using your fingers to comb out knots out as you watched yourself in the mirror. Your eyes fell along your form, then down to your phone on the counter. Biting your lip, you told yourself not to do it as you grabbed your phone anyways.

You dropped your towel just a little, until your nipples were just barely covered, then wrapped yourself tighter, allowing the shape of your hips and waist to show through the towel. If Brian wanted the whole show he'd have to come back and get it himself.

You angled your phone towards yourself in the mirror and snapped one picture, then quickly opened Brian's messages and sent it to him. You put your phone back down on the counter and left to get dressed, not wanting to see whatever embarrassing shit he’s going to reply with.

You got dressed comfortably, but warm. You got paid this week so you were treating yourself to some take out from a place a couple blocks away. After getting dressed you went back to get your phone, opening it to see two messages, one from Brian and one from Toby. Opening Brian's text, you got pretty much what you expected to get

<Aw cmon princess you gotta let me see more than that

You rolled your eyes to yourself as you sent a reply.

Come see it for yourself.>

You opened Toby's text to find,

<Lookin good sexy

With a couple heart eyes and sweating face emojis.

That bastard showed Toby the picture too. You dropped your phone in your pocket, pretending to no one that you were mad about it. You grabbed your wallet and a tote bag to put your food in before your face could heat up any more.

You stepped out of the restaurant with your food in hand. Throwing the hood of your jacket up, you made your way back down the street towards your apartment. You weren't too far away, maybe 10, 15 minutes if you were being slow. It was about twilight, the sun having just barely set, the street lights just turning on, a few people still out on the street. You were finally comfortable enough to be outside and not be on constant edge. Comfortable enough to let your mind wander to more pressing issues. 

You couldn't believe you almost told Brian you loved him. He would think you were crazy, right? He would have to, you felt crazy for even thinking it. Maybe you're being too clingy. You have been texting them all almost non-stop, although you hadn't called, that was Brian doing the calling and-

It all happened in seconds. You were passing by a thin alley as the air from your lungs was suddenly pushed out and the color drained from your face as you were roughly grabbed around the waist and pulled back.

Again. Why. Why another fucking alley. They're not here this time. Fuck.

You were roughly shoved against the brick wall of a building. As soon as you looked up, your mind immediately silenced. It was Tim. No, he was wearing the mask. This wasn’t Tim.

“What do you think you're doing out here all alone?” He asked, holding you by your upper arms against the brick wall. His voice was… different. Rougher, more commanding. He must smoke more when he's… like this. You were close enough to see his eyes through the dark holes in his mask, narrowing down at you.

“You're lucky I was out here, what if you got hurt? What would we do?” He said, hands slowly trailing down your arms. 

“I'm sorry…” You said, still stunned as your brain slowly caught up. “Why are you here?” They were supposed to be in another town…

“I've been here… you just haven't seen me.” He said, his hands now moving from your arms to your hips, slowly squeezing them. “Or maybe you've been avoiding me, is that what you've been doing?”

Realization sets in as he holds your hips. There have been times the past few days where you felt the familiar tickle of eyes on your back, or heard faint footsteps behind you as you walked down the street. You brushed it off as left over paranoia, but maybe your senses were right.

“I’m… not supposed to talk to you.” You said, eyes falling to his chest, covered in a black band shirt. He wasn't wearing a jacket, even though you were practically shivering in your warm clothes. Maybe it was him making your shiver.

“Aww, how cute. Such a good girl doin’ what she’s told.” One of his hands slid up, grabbing your jaw with calloused fingers and tilting your face back up to his. “I guess they didn’t think I would do whatever the fuck I wanted.” In a flash, his mask was moved to the top of his head and his lips were smashed against yours. The boys were right, this wasn’t Tim. And the other guy, Hoodie, probably wasn't Brian either. It took you actually being in front of the man to fully understand exactly what they meant. The kiss was rough and feverish, and you struggled to keep up, but once you figured out how, he pulled back all too soon.

“What are they so scared of? They think I'm gonna hurt you or somethin’? That didn't hurt, now did it baby?” He asked as he grabbed your hips again, tugging you closer to him. You shook your head ‘no’ quickly, trying to catch your breath as your heart sped up.

“Good, if I could smell your fear there’d be no stoppin’ me.” He leaned in, breath tickling your ear as he continued. “But I can smell how wet you are, did ya’ know that? Hoodie was right, it’s intoxicating.”

You shivered again in his hold, eyes dropping to watch his hands as they inched towards the button of your jeans.

“U-um, T- I mean.. I mean Masky…” You started, eyes drifting to the beam from the street light, barely a foot away from the two of you.

“What's wrong baby, thought you weren't scared of me.” He popped the button open and quickly yanked the zipper down.

“I'm not.” You said quickly, meeting his hungry eyes.

“Then what is it?” He said as his fingers trailed along the line of your pants, just begging to dip inside.

“Nothing…” You barely let out. God you missed this. Just a week and you missed this. You pushed your hips forwards a bit, trying to give him the hint. This was okay, right? It's just Tim. Well, no, its not, but-

“You're so cute. Speak up.” He nearly barked out.

“ Please .” You whined, trying to match his volume. Fuck it, you can have this internal battle about your morals later, you were way too turned on by this masked man cornering you in an alley right now.

Masky smirked down at you before finally sinking his fingers down into your underwear. His fingertips quickly found your pussy, sliding between your lips and feeling all the wetness that had gathered there. His chest rumbled as he hummed in satisfaction. 

“That's what I like… did ya’ know we've been watchin’ you? You give quite the show from that window of yours…you could make a career out of that.” You quietly gasped and grabbed on to his arm as he swirled the tips of his fingers around your clit, his fingers moving slowly but feeling perfectly rough against you. “Hoodie finally gets to use that camera outside of work.” He chuckled softly.

Sick. You were sick . You should have pushed him away a long time ago, but here you were, shaking as you got off to his words. You could barely believe how close you were already . He slid his hand back down, just barely hooking two fingers inside of you, pumping them as much as he could in the tight space he had.

“God, I can't believe how long it took Tim to get inside this sweet pussy. He's such a coward, isn't he baby?” Masky leaned in as he spoke, inhaling against your hair. Your thighs shook as your ground up against him, you were so fucking close.

Just like that, he pulled his hand out from your pants. “H-hey, hey no!” You sighed out as he stuck his fingers into his mouth, sucking your juices off of them. 

“Mmm, if I weren't so busy I’d have to get a taste straight from the source.” He pulled his mask back down, and reached out to do your pants back up. “But really, I shouldn't be here.” 

“Oh my god, Masky please. I was so close!” You said, still slumped against the wall.

“C’mon, you're going home.” He grabbed your hand, pulling you upright before throwing his arm around your shoulder and leading you out of the alley, towards your apartment.

“Why!” You whined against him.

“I told you why, I have to go, and you shouldn’t be walking alone at night anymore.”

“Come inside with me…” You suggested, crossing the street into your parking lot.

“What part of ‘I'm busy’ are you not picking up here?” He asked as he led you to the front door.

Ugh. Seriously? Edging someone in an alley and then making them go home alone ? Fucked up. 

You turned to him, biting your lip as you thought about begging more, but before you could say anything he raised his hand, your tote bag in his grip.

“Besides, you need to eat.” He said as he shoved the bag towards you. You took the bag and he quickly turned around walking back towards the street.

“Oh, and (Y/n)?” He said, turning back to you. “You belong to us. Don't let those assholes tell you that you can't see us.” He practically commanded, then turned again as he left you standing at your front door, soaking through your panties. 

Dick.

Chapter Text

Ok, so you postponed the moral internal battle. Instead, you went inside, ate your food, and enjoyed the rest of your night with the vibrator you kept in your nightstand, getting off to the thoughts of that damn mask.

Was it okay to want to fuck Masky? Who knows! You already had sex with Toby almost immediately after being told that he had killed a man. That was another moral battle you were ignoring. 

Were you a little scared of the boys now? Yes. Was the dick still fire? Also yes. 

It was a little comforting to finally know what actually happened that night. Well, sort of. You still didnt really know why the boys were there. The way they talked about that man almost made you feel like they had been following him for a while, just waiting for the right moment. You hadn't asked, and you were kind of scared to know.

At least you knew now that the people you had been so worried about for weeks were just Tim, Toby, and Brian. You actually were soothed by that, somehow. From what you heard, most of the time those close to…. dangerous people- you didn't want to use the other word to describe them- are least likely to be in danger. Emphasis on most of the time.

Besides, Masky and the other one, Hoodie, didn't seem so bad. If Masky wanted to hurt you, he had the perfect opportunity last night. He was kind of an asshole, sure, but he did the opposite of hurt you.

You were in way too deep to back out now. You loved these freaks.

You had considered telling the boys what happened last night when you got home, but ultimately you decided against it. You didn't want to stress them out even more while they were working. What would you say anyways?

‘I saw Masky’? You don't text them every time you see a bird outside. 

‘Masky just fingered me in an alley'? Brian might burst a blood vessel. Toby would just be jealous. 

And what would Tim be able to do anyways? That's if he were even back yet. You weren't really sure how long the other sides of the boys usually stuck around. Brian and Tim did ask that you tell them if you saw Masky or Hoodie, but really, was it that big of a deal? You've been seeing them around for a while now.

No, you decided you would just wait until they were back in town to tell them. Then you would grill them about whether or not they were actually out of town, because clearly Tim was not .

You actually hadn't spoken to them at all today, deciding that maybe you were being a little clingy recently. Instead you spent some much needed time catching up with Megan, listening to her squeal about how Sean started calling her his girlfriend. You barely got a word in- luckily she forgot to grill you about the boys- but it was still nice. You hadn't realized how desperately you needed girl time in your life until you were finally getting it. 

After promising to make plans with her soon, you brought your very full hamper down to the laundry room in the basement of your building. The old machines were way too small to fit your entire hamper, and all the other machines were being used. Not wanting your clothes to be stolen, you spent nearly the rest of your day watching your clothes spin, still ignoring that moral battle as you tried to focus on the book you brought down with you. 

Once they were finally done, you hauled your clean clothes back to your apartment. You popped a CD in your radio and began trying to get through your clothes as quickly as possible so you could do anything else. Thankfully, it didn't take long before you were left with just one small pile of underwear and a couple bras. You gathered everything and just shoved it all into a drawer. 

As you tried to make it all fit, you noticed yet another thing to remind you of the boys. Shoved to the very back of the drawer was the black and blue lacy bra Megan had made you buy before the first date you had with them. You originally had Brian in mind when she convinced you to try it on, and he hasn't even seen it yet.

Hell, you haven't even worn the full set. At least not in more flattering lighting than the harsh fluorescent bulbs of a retail store. 

You pulled the bra out and dug around to find its matching thong. Stripping down, you pulled them both on, just wanting to make sure they actually looked good and you weren't just horny when you bought them. You turned to the full length mirror leaning against your wall, yet another piece of furniture you found amongst some garbage cans outside. It had a few chips in the glass, but hey, it was free. 

And yeah, Megan was right. You looked hot . You were so nervous the last time you wore this that you really tried not to even think about how you were wearing it, but you felt good in it. You turned a few times, seeing how it fit in different angles, before fully turning around to check out your ass. You posed your legs in different ways, running your hands along your sides, fully enjoying yourself. That was until that familiar ringing crept into your ears. 

You faced forward, rubbing your temples to try to urge it away. You had gone one full week without it and you thought it was finally gone for good. It was actually starting to worry you. You opened your eyes and stared out your window, weighing the pros and cons of going to see a doctor.

It didn't take long for your eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. You squinted, stepping closer to your window. You were barely able to see him against the dark backdrop, only the eyes of his mask illuminated by the nearly set sun. And the blinking red dot of his camera on the table in front of him. 

It was Hoodie, sitting exactly where he sat every time you saw him in the park. You watched him, eyes flickering between his mask, and the camera in front of him. Did he always have that? You had never noticed it before…

Slowly, He raised a finger up and made a twirling motion with it, urging you to turn around for him. Something Masky said to you last night suddenly popped back into your head.

‘ You give quite the show from that window of yours.’

They like a show huh? Fine, you'll give them a fucking show. 

Slowly you turned around, flipping your hair a bit to let it flow along your back. You watched yourself in the mirror as you moved to the beat of your music, praying that you looked just as good from the back. You slid your hands up and down your sides, then down along your hips, teasing the straps of the thong a bit. Then, while swiveling your hips, you reached behind you, using your fingertips to jiggle your ass.. 

You weren't really sure what you were doing, but surely anything you did while dressed like this was good enough. Slowly, you bent over, giving him full view of your ass, then arched your back as you brought yourself up again.

You kept your eyes on the mirror the whole time, until you caught a glimpse of your nightstand, the drawer that you kept your toy in slightly cracked open. You bit your lip, thinking something that he was going to love . You turned around again, making sure you still had your little audience. Hoodie was now leaning forwards on the picnic table he sat at, his gloved hands intertwined together under his chin. You smirked before stepping out of view, grabbing your vibrator from your drawer.

It was small and cheap, but it did the job. You sat down on your bed, making sure you were in view of the window. Your window was long, covering most of your bedroom wall except for a few feet on either side, and came up about two feet off the ground. You really got great natural lighting in this place, and apparently a great view of you masturbating if you sat near the end of your bed. You're going to have to remember to keep your curtains shut from now on. 

You grabbed one of your pillows to prop you up a little. Slowly, you laid back, pulling your feet up, and spreading your knees apart. You grabbed your vibrator, turning the base to turn it on. You started by just teasing yourself, rubbing the tip of the toy over your covered nipples, then slowly sliding it over your pussy, feeling it through the thin thong. You weren't able to keep that up very long before you just focused directly on your clit. 

Even without the direct friction, you were insanely turned on. You never thought you'd be doing something like this, but apparently these boys brought something out that you never knew you had inside of you. Once you couldn't take it anymore, you pulled your thong to the side, sliding the toy against your pussy before slowly pushing it inside of you. You pumped it in and out, not able to get the same feeling of the real deal but again, it did the job.

You shook, moaning out to no one as you fucked yourself. Using your free hand, you reached down to rub your clit, just thinking about the man outside your window. God, you haven't even met him yet. He better be enjoying this as much as you were enjoying yourself.

You arched your back up, pumping your hand as fast as you could while your arm burned. Yeah, definitely not as good as the real thing, but soon you felt your walls spasming and clenching as you reached your peak. Moaning loudly, you slowed down your movements, riding out your orgasm as your thighs twitched and your hips bucked up. 

Pulling the toy out, you laid there for a moment, catching your breath as peace washed over you. Until you realized what you just did. You shot up, eyes landing on the table across the street. 

He was gone. Both him and his camera. What was with these guys and leaving while you're in the middle of something? Whatever. 

You got up and pulled your curtains shut, taking your toy into the bathroom to clean it off. That was when you heard two loud knocks at your front door. You paused, dropping your toy and peaking out of the bathroom, towards your front door. You stood there for a minute, waiting to see if they would go away.

Nope. Two more loud knocks sounded out. You grabbed your thin robe off the back of the bathroom door, wrapping it around yourself as you walked to your front door, heart beating out of your chest- both from what you had just done and from whoever might be at your door. Once you finally reached the door, you peered through the peephole. 

It was him, standing motionless, hood still up. You bit your lip, but didnt think twice as you reached for the lock, unlatching it and slowly cracking the door. He didn't waste any time to push inside, grabbing the door and closing it behind him. Before you could say anything, he grabbed you by your upper arm, pulling you behind him towards your kitchen. Once he reached the island in your kitchen, he roughly tugged your robe down your arms, leaving you standing in front of him in what was practically lingerie.

You watched him as he stared down at you, taking the site if you in. He wore what he was always wearing- beaten up heavy work boots, frayed dirty jeans, a tan jacket, black gloves, and his dark ski mask. Being practically bare in front of him while he was dressed so rugged just made you even more wet that you already were. 

He grabbed your waist, tugging you closer to him as he slid his hands down your sides. You allowed your hands to travel as well, sliding up his chest. You opened your mouth, not quite sure what you were going to say yet, so all you let out was a simple “Please”. Apparently words didn't matter to him, that was all he needed to spin you around, shoving your hips against the counter. Roughly, he pressed down on your back, bending you over.

You whined out as you heard him messing with his belt and the zipper of his jeans.

”H-hoodie,” you started, only to be met with a sharp smack to your ass. You bit your lip as he grabbed the band of your thong, shoving them down your thighs. You turned to look over your shoulder as much as you could with his hand still on your back, and watched as he pulled the bottom of his mask up halfway, just showing you his mouth. You caught a glimpse of his familiar tooth gap as he let out a heavy sigh, but there was no emotion on his face. 

He wasn't wasting any time, as soon as his mask was up, he disappeared below your sight, quickly burying his face in your pussy. You moaned in shock, squeezing your eyes shut as you struggled to stay on your tiptoes. He ate you out like it was his first and last meal, quick but surprisingly precise. He ran his tongue up and down your lips, then dipping it in as far inside of you as he could, then back out again. You could hear him breathing heavily behind you before he finally leaned in to suck on your clit. You bit down on your fist, really trying to not scream so close to your front door. 

At the pace he was moving his tongue, it was getting really hard to stay quiet. Once he was fully satisfied, he stood up, grabbing your hips to pull your ass flush to him. He already had his cock out, and he only rubbed the tip between your lips once before he shoved into you hard . You moaned out from under your fist, scratching your counter as you tried to grab onto anything .

“C-condom, condom!” You urgently let out, although you really didn't want him to stop. He grunted from behind you, but complied, pulling out. 

“Where?” He asked in a familiar voice. Yep, this was definitely Brian, just… missing something.

“Um… nightstand, top drawer.” You replied, a little breathless.

Again, he didn't waste time. In just a few seconds he was back, holding the piece of gold foil. You heard the sound of a wrapper being opened from behind you before he pushed back into you, continuing at full speed. 

It really didn't take long for you to get close again, his bruising pace and you already being worked up working together quickly. You were biting your fist hard trying not to scream, almost not being able to hold it together as he reached around to roughly rub your clit. 

Your orgasm was hard , way better than what you got from that shitty toy. You used both hands to cover your mouth as you moaned loudly into them. Really, the last thing you wanted was your neighbors to hear you cumming. 

He didn't stop there, grabbing a fist full of your hair as he railed you against the counter. You went limp in his hold, drooling on the counter as he used your body, babbling small pleas. He was much more quiet than Brian, just barely grunting every once and a while, but clearly much more susceptible to teasing. This man was worked up after that little show you gave him . 

You felt like you were on the verge of passing out when his movements finally began to stagger, slowing down as he grunted behind you before coming to a stop. His hand slid from your hair, traveling down your back. He stopped to trace something in the center of your back, before he pushed away from you.

You heard the snap of the condom being pulled off and hitting the floor, then his buckle jingling. You felt him lean over you slightly before he pulled you up by your jaw, twisting your face towards him so he could catch your lips in a small, sweet kiss. A total transformation from the way he was handling you just a minute ago.

All you heard after he let you go were his heavy footsteps as he walked away, then thud of your front door closing. You were left there, fucked out on your counter, questioning your morals once again.

‘ Brian's going to be so mad.’

Chapter Text

“Wh-whats up, b-b-buttercup?” Toby’s tired voice rang out once he answered your call. He let out an exasperated sigh before continuing, “sorry. Hi.”

You smiled. “Hey, where are you guys?” You asked, half to invite them over, half to see if he might slip up. Out of the three boys, Toby was probably the least likely to be able to keep a secret.

Tim had texted you last night to tell you they were “coming back into town” this morning. You didn't really believe that they had left at all, not after your encounters with Hoodie and Masky in the last couple of days. You were trying really hard not to be crazy about the whole thing, like, did it really matter where they were? You guessed not. It's not like you were their girlfriend anyways. But it still meant they lied. Was their work really so secret that they had to lie about leaving town?

You hadn't seen either of the two masked men since Hoodie practically invited himself into your apartment– not that you had any complaints. God, you knew Brian had a rough side, but you didn't realize he had that in him. And Tim? Damn.

“W-We're just driving ba-a-ack to our motel.” Toby let out a yawn. You checked the clock on your oven. 2:14. Did they just wake up?

“Everyone say ‘HI (Y/N)’!” Toby shouted sternly away from the phone. You heard two faint, also tired, “hi (y/n)”s before Toby continued lazily. “We've missed you.”  

“I missed you guys too, can you come over after you get back?” You asked, glancing around your living room. Clean enough.

“You read my mind,” Toby said. “We'll just drop our ssssstuff off ‘n shower, ‘kay?”

“‘Kay, see you soon.” The two of you said your goodbyes and hung up. The smile that reflected back at you from your dark phone screen was bittersweet. Now you had to think of a way to ask them where the fuck they actually were these past two weeks.

The two of you sat on the edge of your bed, you straddling Toby’s lap, and Toby taking in big handfuls of your ass. It only took about an hour for the boys to be at your building's door, hair still damp from their showers. Toby was the first one inside when you opened the door, pushing past the other two to pull you into a tight hug. Once you brought them into your apartment, Toby quickly dragged you to your bedroom.

The two of you made out sloppily, missing the feeling too much to keep it romantic. Toby slid his tongue in your mouth as you let out little whines from his grip on your ass. Toby broke away from the kiss first. 

“God, I thought about this every ffffucking d-d-day.” He breathed out, fighting against the twitch in his shoulder as he tried tugging your sweatpants off. You got the message, jumping off of him to pull your bottoms down, along with your panties. After these two weeks you needed this just as bad as he did. 

He didn't bother taking off his jeans all of the way. He fumbled with the button, finally pulling it apart, then yanked the zipper down. He let his– surprisingly– already hard cock free over the waistband of his boxers. He leaned forward and tightly wrapped his arm around your waist to drag you back on top of him. You climbed back on his lap and leaned over, just barely able to pull the drawer of your nightstand open with the tip of your fingers, and grabbed a condom.

Toby snatched it from you, ripping it open with his teeth– sloppily spitting the wrapper out of his mouth and letting it flutter to the floor– before rolling the condom on. You steadied yourself by grabbing onto his shoulders as he grabbed tightly onto your hips, dragging you to hover over his cock. He didn't even let you sink down, instead using his thumb to guide himself, and then quickly shoving his hips up.

“O-oh god, Toby,” you moaned out. You didn't get a second to catch your breath before he began sloppily drilling up into you. He used your hips to hold you still as he watched himself pump into you.

“Fuck angel, I missed you. I mmmissed you so much-so much.” He groaned. He slid his hand up your back, pulling you towards him as he pressed his face between your breasts. He kissed the center of your chest over and over– drooling from the wound in his cheek– then quickly trailed over to your nipple. Using one hand to hold your breast still, he wrapped his lips around your hard nipple, sucking gently as he laved his tongue up and down.

Finally, he trailed back to the center of your chest, running his tongue between your breasts over and over again. You couldn't contain your moans as you grew closer to your orgasm. Fuck , you missed him.

“God baby, I love the feeling of your heart beating on my tongue.” He growled, his voice dropping low. His hands shook as he grabbed your hips harder, pressing his fingers into the flesh. He rolled his hips as he thrusted, rubbing perfectly against your g-spot. You shot your hand down between your bodies, rubbing small circles around your clit as your thighs began to shake.

Toby let go and leaned back on his elbows, watching you grind yourself down on him as you tried to fuck yourself as well as he did. “Ffffuck, I want to cum on you. I fucking need to see you covered in my cum, bitte e-engle.”

Your hips stuttered as you hit your peak, “fuck, toby…” you moaned as you came around his cock. You slowed your movements down, riding out your orgasm, but Toby still wasn't finished. He shot back up, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you flush against him. Quickly, he bounced you up and down against him, holding the bottom of your ass. You bit his shoulder, trying your hardest not to scream as your mind clouded over with over stimulation. “I'm so fucking close.” He growled in your ear.

“W-wait,” you breathed out. Giving him everything he wanted was the only thing you could think about right now. Toby slowed down, loosening his grip just enough for you to pull yourself off on him. Quickly, you dropped to the floor, taking his cock in your hand and peeling the condom off of him. Toby’s mouth dropped open, but he got the message, brushing your hair off of your face and replacing your hand with his. He only had to flick his hand over the head of his cock twice before he was cumming onto your face. 

“Fuck-fuck, du schöne vvvverdammte hure.” He moaned out, eyes rolling back. 

You sat back as Toby stared at the ceiling, catching his breath. Once he finally looked back down at you, you licked up some of the cum that had landed on your lip.

Dazed, Toby stared at you, still breathing heavily. “I'm going to do everything I can to keep you with us.” He said, in the most serious tone you'd ever heard come out of him.

“Ok. Where were you guys?” You said, crossing your arms on the small table. You hadn’t had time to think of a way to put it lightly. Toby.

“Some little rinky-dink town near the state border, we told you that, right?” Tim replied from across from you, furrowing his brows. On your right, Brian leaned his elbows on the table, scratching behind his ear and he silently stared down.

“Right… but you weren't.” You stared Tim down as you spoke, like you'd be able to read his thoughts swimming across his eyeballs. Unfortunately it wasn't working, but you were still going to try.

“What? What do you mean?” Tim leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table too. His voice didn't waiver, he was good at this. For a half a second, you caught him shooting a glance to Brian, who was now peeking up back at Tim.

“I mean, I saw you. Both of you.” You replied bluntly. “Well… not you, I guess.”

Tim's shoulders slumped, seeming to give up. Brian finally looked up at you, his brows furrowed now too. 

“Are… are you sure? We weren't here, whoever you saw had to just look like-” Brian's voice was confident, but you cut him off quickly.

“No, I very much got uh… up close and personal with them.” You prayed your face wasn't growing red right now. “Masky came up to me. Hoodie… well I think he wanted me to see him too.”

“So… they know about you then.” Brian said, his face dropping.

“Great.” Tim grumbled, staring out your living room window.

“Don't divert the conversation.” You snapped. “Why did you guys lie to me?”

Just then your front door slammed shut. Toby sauntered in and dropped down into the chair next to you, absolutely reeking of something earthy.

“Hhhhey, what'd I mm-miss” He said happily, apparently failing to read the room.

The smell that stuck to his clothes distracted you for a moment. “Why do you smell like… a skunk or something?” You asked him, getting up to light a candle.

“Oh! I found a joi-n-n-nnnt while we were wwworking!” His smile grew. 

You turned to him, eyes wide. “You… smoked a joint that you found ?”

“Yyyyyes. Good shit.” Toby leaned back, relaxing in his chair as he let his head fall back. “Sucks, he could've been my new-new dealer.”

“What if it was laced with something!?” You asked, voice rising with concern. You weren't totally sure if that could even happen, you'd only really heard about it in TV shows.

Toby thought for a full 10 seconds before replying. “Awesome, I hope it is!” He said, letting his eyes slip closed. At least his body seemed more calm, his twitching a little less violent than usual.

“Ok, whatever, they know about her, we just need to tell them not to see her anymore.” Brian said, completely unconcerned with Toby. “I’ll talk to Masky, you talk to Hoodie.” He told Tim nonchalantly.

You sat back down at the table. “Guys-”

“I don't know how to talk to that man.” Tim said bluntly. leaning back in his chair with his arms still crossed. “You know that.”

“Listen, I just wanna know where-” You tried again.

“I-I could talk to them, ya’ know.” Toby interrupted.

“Toby, adults are talking.” Tim said.

“HEY!” You smacked the table, finally bringing their attention back to you. “Where the fuck were you guys for two weeks??”

The boys went silent, exchanging glances amongst each other.

“Listen, I get it. I'm not your girlfriend or whatever, and you don't have to report shit to me, but I know you weren't out of town and I really don't appreciate the lying.” You rushed out, balling your fists up.

“W-we did go out of town this morning to-” Toby was quickly cut off by Brian.

“Take care of the rest of our task.” Brian shot a look at Toby, whose mouth was still hanging open.

Tim leaned on the table again, running his hand through his hair. “Alright, listen. Yes, we were still here. We just… we get so involved in our work that most of the time… the other two come out. Especially when it's more… difficult tasks.” You clenched your mouth into a tight line. He was obviously choosing his words carefully, but hey, it was a start. 

“We don't want to make plans or something and have it cut short by them. Or accidentally run into you when it's… not us. We didn't want them following Toby over here if he came over either. It was just better to keep our distance this week. But clearly it doesn't even matter anyways.” Tim mumbled the last part of his speech bitterly. “I'm sorry that we lied. We probably could've found a better way to tell you.” He said, truly looking upset about the whole situation. 

“Yeah, you could've.” You said, voice softening. “I could’ve handled the truth.” 

Tim's face fell even more, clamping his mouth shut and sucking in his bottom lip. Brian took in a shaky breath. Toby's lips and eyebrows began twitching. 

The explanation made you feel better. You got it, the boys didn't like– or trust– Masky or Hoodie for whatever reason, so you couldn't be mad at them for lying. What Tim said made you a little sad though. It was just better to keep our distance .

How often would it be better for them to keep their distance? This was just two weeks but, what if next time it's not? What if it's months? What if next time they actually do leave town, just to make sure Masky and Hoodie stay away? What if they decide it's too much work to have to avoid you, and they just cut whatever it was that the three of you had off? You bit your lip as you felt your throat tighten.

Not their girlfriend, not their girlfriend, not their girlfriend.

“What were they doing when you saw them?” Brian suddenly asked.

You tried calming yourself as you looked back up. “Oh uh… well Masky was just… hanging out in an alley I guess? And Hoodie was… recording me from my window.” You mumbled out the last part

Brian jumped up. “WHAT? YOUR KIDDING RIGHT?” He shouted, pressing his palms to the table and leaning forward. “That was a joke, right??”

“You didn't know he was recording her??” Tim asked, just as alarmed.

“Don't you watch those videos?” Toby asked, confused.

“I haven't fucking had to!” Brian said, throwing his hands up. 

“Did you know about this Toby?” Tim asked. 

“Of course not!” Toby threw his hands up too.

“Masky did…” You muttered, tracing your finger tip along the wood grain of the table.

“Ohhhhh,” Toby snapped his finger, “that explains it, Mmmmmm-asky hates me. Maybe Masky and Hoodie watch them t-together.” He said absentmindedly as he started up at your apparently very interesting ceiling.

“Oh god.” Tim let out in a distressed huff, sliding his hand down his face.  

“I'm smashing that fucking camera.” Brian said, stepping away from the table.

“NO!” Tim and Toby stopped him in unison

“Guys, it's really not that big of a deal, I'm uh…. I'm kind of into it…” You said picking at your cuticle. That night was actually insanely hot, you'd barely been able to stop thinking about it.

The boys went silent from this, just staring with raised brows as your face flushed, probably more red than you could even imagine.