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krystal-sylph · 9 months

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Forget You | Hoody x Reader

Warnings: Mild angst, mentions of murder

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"Jay?" you shouted, brushing a low-hanging tree limb away from your face as your eyes darted around the heavily wooded area. "...Tim?"

You were with them. They were right by your side not a minute ago. So what happened? Was it once again the Operator's doing? Tim had begun coughing quite violently before you were blipped in the middle of a forest without explanation, and that alone hinted that the awful being was somewhere nearby. But why would it choose you? And why bring you here? Was it trying to separate you from your friends?

You felt nothing; no oncoming hacking fit, no distortion, no queasiness or dizziness or memory loss. Did that mean it was gone?

"Guys!" You hoped that if you could yell loud enough, they would manage to hear you. It was unlikely; you had all been exploring Alex's old house, and the chances that you were even close to where that was located now were almost nonexistent. Doesn't hurt to try though, right? Cupping your hands around your mouth to extend the distance your voice would travel, you walked forward. "Jay! I'm over here, can you hear me?!"

No answer.

You weren't sure how you were going to deal with this situation. It wouldn't have been very smart to wander around aimlessly with no plan, yet you also didn't want to sit down beside a tree and wait by some miracle for someone to saunter by who would be willing to help you get back to your hotel. What other options did you have, though?

A rumble of thunder shook the sky, prompting you to lift your gaze, noticing the grey clouds that were forming above. On top of everything else, it was going to storm, too? Couldn't you ever catch a break?

Now with a more straightforward goal in mind, you quickened your pace, in search of a temporary shelter of any kind. If you had your phone on you, then you would have dialed Jay or Tim, but alas, you had foolishly left it in the car, not anticipating any extraordinary events taking place; you were merely there to dig around for more evidence regarding Alex and his suspicious behavior. You should have known something more was bound to happen.

Were you in Rosswood again, or another place entirely? There was no way of knowing for sure, not until you made it out, and you hadn't a clue as to how long that process would take. All you could do was soldier on and pray that it all went smoothly from here, without any more freaky incidents.

By the time you were able to see a building up ahead - shrouded by dead plants - it was drizzling, and you knew that would only last for a little bit before a full rainshower broke out, so you hurried to seek protection inside as soon as possible. You didn't need to catch a cold; that would slow down progress even more. The closer you drew, the more you recognized this structure, from the amount of fallen debris that coated the floor and the caved-in ceiling to the interior. This was the same place that the hooded man - the one dubbed 'Hoody' respectively by viewers of the Marble Hornets channel - came during Entry #68. Your theory was further confirmed when you stepped into a room on the right and located a dusty mattress, along with a blanket and a couple of water bottles.

This information made you feel uneasy. You were currently in his home - what little of a 'home' it was - and unless he had decided to move, he would be back. And what would you do then?

It was tempting to walk back outside and go about your merry way, but the fog collecting on the ground, paired with the thick droplets of rain that were now falling with purpose from the sky, made you think otherwise. Unless you were in imminent danger, you weren't going anywhere. If you were lucky, the storm would pass in a few minutes, and you could continue your long trek, far away from any cryptic, mask-wearing stalkers.

It was difficult to conclude whether or not the people behind totheark wished to harm you and Jay. They obviously weren't fond of Tim, but they had done nothing to imply they wanted the two of you to suffer, aside from a few unnerving warnings and threats, and the clear fact that they were watching you at every turn, which was creepy in and of itself.

You wondered who they were and how many of them were behind it. There was more than one, plainly - Tim when he suffered his blackouts, the hooded man, and somebody else, most likely. But who?

You thoroughly examined the whole property, even though there wasn't much left to examine, and found nothing of interest. The only thing he seemed to use this building for was to rest; not that you were surprised about that. His life, from what you had observed, consisted of little more than recording videos, uploading said videos, keeping an eye on everyone that had been involved with this mystery, hacking Twitter and Youtube accounts, and stalking around the woods. You couldn't really judge him for that, considering your existence had been limited to being on the receiving end of all of that aforementioned stuff and working to escape the clutches of the Operator, ever since Jay reached out to you concerning your boyfriend, who had, at this point, disappeared what felt like ages ago without a single word.

Releasing a depressive sigh, you leaned your back against the peeling wall, glancing at both exits with caution. What would you do if he did show up? Present your case? Explain you stumbled across this place because you were portalled away from Jay and Tim and you needed immediate coverage from the storm? Would he act aggressively?

The sounds of rain pelting against the roof became vigorous, and a cool breeze swept through the openings of the building, sending a chill up your spine. You pulled your hood over your head and wrapped your arms around your torso in an effort to conserve warmth. True; it wasn't freezing, but winter was still upon you, so weather like this only served to keep dropping the temperature.

A sopping-wet figure appearing in one of the doorways startled you out of your thoughts, and you stared with raised eyebrows as he stumbled further inside, coughing to force the water out of his nose and mouth, but it was for naught because of the mask he was wearing. You remained idle and silent, waiting to see if he realized he wasn't alone without actually spooking him - then again, you assumed it would catch him off guard either way, so maybe it didn't matter all that much.

He wasn't getting anywhere trying to gain the ability to breathe back with the dampened cloth over his face, so he gave up and yanked it off, holding it in one hand while he wiped excess moisture off his skin with the sleeve of his hoodie. His hair - darkened a few shades from the rain - hung low over his forehead. It had grown out since the last time you'd seen him, as did his facial hair. You doubted he had time, or cared enough, to shave and cut it.

He still hadn't taken note of your presence as he used the back of his glove to brush the water out of his eyes, and he was unable to hear your small gasp of shock, thanks to the thunderous noises emanating from all around you. Thoughts were zipping through your brain so remarkably fast that you had zero chance of holding onto any for more than half a second. There was one that kept surfacing, however - Brian. It was Brian. He was an active uploader of totheark. He had been watching you, probably from the start. Brian was the one leading you and Jay on a wild goose chase. Brian was the one who was stealing pills from Tim. Brian was the one continuously making your lives miserable for an extended period, taunting you. Being anonymous, with no desire to have such a dire secret revealed.

But he was here. He was alive. He was okay.

The last four years invaded your vision; all of the worry, the fear, the stress, the insomnia. All of the sleepless nights you had spent trying to find him. All of the potentially life-threatening situations you had put yourself in for his sake. All of the nightmares and anxiety you had about what could have happened to him, the 'what-ifs' you constantly asked yourself about the pain he may have been experiencing, where he was, what he was doing. And he was there the entire time, watching you.

Were you relieved that he wasn't dead, angry that he had the audacity to put you through that, or overjoyed that you could finally see him again? Even you didn't know the answer to that question.

Tears were collecting in your eyes by the time he craned his head to the side and caught sight of you standing there, and the moment he did, an expression of pure dismay shot across his face, and he took an alarmed step backward, probably attempting to rationalize this state of affairs and figure out whether or not he was hallucinating. He didn't bother stretching his mask back over his face; it was too late. He knew you had already seen him.

You held eye contact for what felt like thirty minutes until you gathered the ability to speak, once more, and even then, your voice was quiet and shaky. "You."

That single word was enough to snap him out of his daze, and he exhaled softly, eyes dropping in defeat. "Y/n..."

"It's been you...the whole time?" He parted his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he decided against it. "Brian...do you think this is a joke?"

Betrayal leaked from your sentence as a tear slipped down your cheek, and he met your eyes again, biting his bottom lip. "No. No, that...isn't what I think at all, Y/n."

"Oh really?" You scoffed, pushing yourself off of the wall and closing some of the distance between the two of you. "You know what I've been doing these last few years, huh? No - what kind of question is that, of course you do!" His shoulders flinched at the abrupt volume of your voice, but you were too blinded by inner turmoil to take note of it. "I have tried so freaking hard to find you for so long. The only reason I got involved with Jay in the first place was because you went missing without a rhyme or reason! And now I find out that you've been sitting on the sidelines just watching it happen?"

You tilted your head, never averting your gaze, and let out a tremulous breath.

"Brian...how could you do something like that? I thought you loved me. I thought you cared about our relationship. Or were you lying? Am I just a puppet in your weird little mind games? Do I mean nothing to you anymore? Did I ever mean anything to you?"

He shook his head in denial of your heartbroken words; it was easy to tell that he was trying to conceal his emotions, but you knew how to read every little sign, like how his hands clenched into loose fists, and how conflicted wrinkles spread across his forehead. "Of course I love you, Y/n. You're the most important thing in my life."

"Then why have you been doing this?? Surely if you 'loved' me you wouldn't have sat back and watched me hopelessly look for you! You wouldn't have acted like some creepy douchebag that had nothing better to do than record nature documentaries with hidden codes and stalk Jay and me for months on end like some kind of methodical serial killer!"

"Y/n, calm down..." His tone was level, which only infuriated you more.

"'Calm down'? Are you kidding me!? How am I supposed to calm down? My so-called 'boyfriend' has been working against me for years, walking around with a stupid mask on, and I only now find out about it? You're ridiculous! You're freaking ridiculous!"

Despite the deep rage within your voice, the tears streaming down your face were unmissable, and your lip quivered. "I didn't want you to get hurt, Y/n. That's why I didn't say anything."

"Yeah? How'd that work out for you?" A clap of thunder erupted through the clouds, but you paid no attention to it.

He was silent for several long seconds, and his eyes fell before he finally pushed words out of his mouth. "I'm sorry..."

"'Sorry' doesn't fix anything!" You angrily kicked a light piece of wood that was laying as part of the pile on the floor, seething. "I hate you. I hate you so much! You're so cruel. You're so resentful and enigmatic and you're such a terrible person. I hate you. I hate you."

Your hands found your face as you crouched, allowing yourself to cry. The only thing that could be heard over the rain was your weak whimpers as you tried convincing yourself that you did hate Brian. Why wouldn't you? He'd given you nothing but grief. Yet your love was too strong for him; there wasn't a doubt in your mind that he was far too important to you.

He slowly made his way over, copying your body language and lowering himself beside you, where his hand hovered above your back, uncertain of how to approach. Unsure of how you would react.

The moment you felt physical contact, you leaned into him, locking your arms around his torso and burying your face in the wet material of his hoodie. It didn't matter. You didn't have the energy to stay mad at him. All you wanted to do was relish his embrace, for you didn't know when it would be taken away again. One hand found your hair while the other wrapped around your shoulders, and soon your weight sent you both colliding with the ground. You were too distracted to notice, especially since his body took the majority of the impact.

"I'm sorry, baby," he murmured, running his gloved fingers through your somewhat tangled strands of hair. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt like this."

"You could have asked for help." Your voice was muffled but decipherable due to the distance between you. "If you were in trouble, you could have told me. I would have helped you."

"I know, I know you would've tried. But this is bigger than both of us." Judging by his voice, he was barely managing to hold back his own tears.

"Then we could've conquered it together. Not by ourselves." You pulled away a bit to look up at him with glossy eyes, resting your hands on either side of his head. "Brian, you left me. You didn't even say goodbye. You just left. I was so worried. I was starting to think I'd never see you again."

Your voice cracked, and his expression further turned remorseful. "I didn't want to, Y/n. But I was told it was the best way to protect you. I just wanted you to be out of harm's way, be happy."

"You think I could ever be happy knowing you vanished one day without a trace?"

He appeared to be having trouble collecting a response. "I...I don't know. I was hoping, maybe, you'd forget about me eventually."

"Forget about you?" That sentence brought fresh tears to your vision. You shook your head shortly before pulling yourself closer, once again, holding him like he was going to evaporate out of thin air. "I could never forget about you. I love you."

He exhaled, his agitation fading as he tightened his grip on you. "I love you. I never stopped loving you. I promise."

"Then come back with me. We can do this together."

"Y/n...I can't do that."

Your stomach twisted, and the next words that left your mouth were nothing short of devasted. "Brian...why?"

"We're both in too deep." He propped his head on top of your own, and his breath was warm compared to his cold, dampened clothes. "It would be best if we just...kept doing what we've been doing. Without trying to maintain any extra contact."

With your heart breaking, you took in a shallow bout of oxygen to compose yourself, refusing to let go of him. "Please no. I can't go through this again. Please don't make me go through this again."

"Baby, I don't know what else to do. You can't stay with me."

"And what if you didn't have any say in that choice?" Your brows furrowed, and you leaned back to send him a decisive look. He gently shook his head as your idea dawned on him.

"No. No, you can't do that, Y/n."

"And why not?" His hazel eyes were benign as he brushed the salty droplets away from your face.

"This is not the kind of life I want you to have. You're better off jumping hotel rooms than you are sleeping in a decrepit shed every night, completely at the mercy of the elements."

"You think that's what I want for you?" Your expression changed into a desperate one, and you ran a hand through his hair. "Please just come with me. We'll do what we have to. But I'm not leaving without you beside me."

"Y/n...don't make this harder than what it has to be."

"Please, Brian. I need you. What do you expect me to do? Wait to randomly see you in your burglar getup or just sit around anticipating another upload from that stupid channel of yours? Is that what you expect?"

"You're in more danger out here than you are with Jay and...and Tim. I can look out for you there."

"But what good does that do if I can't do the same for you?" You lightly pushed on his shoulders. "Brian, we take care of each other. That's what we've always done. It isn't supposed to be one-sided."

"I...I just want you to be safe."

You were quiet for a minute. "Neither of us will be 'safe' again. Especially not with Alex running around trying to off everyone. You know that."

Behind his eyes laid deep hesitation, contemplating the pros and cons of each possibility, not leaving a single stone unturned. He was gazing through one of the paneless windows, mindlessly watching the rain cascading until it met the earthy ground, lips pierced together with conviction. "I have to stay here."

"Why?"

"I just have to. And you need to stay with them. It'll be safer."

"Safer, huh?" The mumbled comment left your mouth before you huffed and stood to your feet, placing your hands on your hips indignantly. "You're unbelievable, Brian. Frickin' unbelievable. After everything that's gone on, you still don't want to be around me."

"Hey." His expression changed into one of extreme offense as he, too, rose from the floor. "That is not the reason."

"Sure seems to be! You act like you want to 'protect' me but you wanna know what I think?" Not giving him an opportunity to defend himself, you further expanded on your exasperated ranting. "I think you just want to hide away from the world behind your mask and that dumb channel and not face these problems head-on. No, you just want to pretend everything will go away as long as you cryptically nudge us along a questionable path while simultaneously threatening us and hoping we'll get the clue and find a way to kill Alex! What kind of twisted logic is that?"

You shook your head in growing disbelief.

"You've changed, Brian. You've changed for the worse and I don't like it at all."

"Yeah? Well, life changes us sometimes, Y/n. There isn't always a light at the end of the tunnel. Reality is cold and barbaric and sometimes you have to adjust or it'll eat you alive. You'd think you would have figured that out by now."

Your teeth clamped down on your tongue as you restrained the tears that were trying to break free and you looked away because his hardened expression shattered your heart even more. This was most definitely not the same Brian you fell in love with. You weren't certain as to what he had gone through to give him this kind of mindset, but you knew it must have been horrible. That didn't excuse his behavior. You and Jay had gone through hell, but you never stooped to the level that Brian had. You still retained your morals. You acted like people, not soulless robots with unknown motives and awful execution of said 'motives'. You made the best of the cards that life had dealt you. The same, unfortunately, couldn't be said for Brian.

"The world likes to try so hard to break you down..." A discouraged sigh exited your lips as you hugged yourself. "I thought you'd be strong enough to resist it. So it wouldn't win. I guess I was wrong."

He didn't move, and it was difficult to read what he was thinking - or feeling - and you didn't wait around for a reply as you spun on your heel and ambled toward the door that you came through. You weren't going to leave, not until the weather cleared up, but you wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Simply looking at him made your emotions bubble up and threaten to spill over the surface. You couldn't handle this. Where did your sweet, caring, empathetic boyfriend go? Would he ever come back?

Allowing the doorframe to prop you up, you stared at the surrounding trees, breathing in the petrichor; a scent that would normally be relaxing, but given the circumstances, it did nothing to ease your sour mood. How did your life go so pathetically awry in such a brief amount of time? It was so perfect, you had everything you wanted. You had a plan, a journey to go on. You had someone who'd have your back at every turn, you had friends and a solid job. Now what? The only thing your 'life' - if you could even call it that - amounted to anymore was burying your nose in tapes and researching things that weren't even guaranteed to help your investigation. You didn't have anything else to do. Your one reason for becoming a part of this charade to start with had been brutally snatched away. He obviously didn't care. But did he ever?

None of you spoke for at least a quarter of an hour, and what he was even doing behind you was a mystery, but you weren't about to concern yourself with looking over your shoulder to see. It didn't matter what he was doing. None of it mattered. This whole thing was a lost cause. Why were you trying? Why were any of you trying?

"...Y/n." Your body language failed to convey that you cared about what he had to say. "If I could go back to that day in college, that day you looked so lonely and sad, when you were sitting by yourself at the back of the classroom...I wouldn't have walked up to you."

That one sentence was the straw that broke the camel's back, and tears barreled down your cheeks as whatever last bit of composure you had was chucked into the pitiful hole of sorrow that was your shattered heart. In other words: he wished he'd never met you.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this crap. This isn't what you deserve."

"Screw you, Brian." It resonated as a trembly sob as you pulled your hood back over your head to shield yourself from the storm. Suddenly, you didn't care about getting wet. All you knew was that you couldn't stay here. Not with him. "Screw you."

As you darted outside, your silhouette was soon shrouded by the cloak of fog, and the puddles collecting at your feet made clamorous splashes the faster you ran, though you didn't give much thought to how dirty you were getting. The sound of a voice calling your name was drowned out by the beating of your heart in your ears, along with the steady flow of static that was beginning to flood your mind.

You pushed through it for dozens of feet of distance until you slipped on fresh mud and failed to regain your balance, sending you plummeting to the messy ground rather violently. An onslaught of rain forced its way onto your face, up your nose, down your throat, into your eyes; you were too disoriented to try to sit up. Vision blurred, the darkness overtook you, and you couldn't fight against it any longer.

* * *

When you stirred, the first thing you took note of was how sore your back and shoulders were, and the massive headache that was making itself apparent the more you began to comprehend your surroundings. You noticed the distant thrumming of gentle rain hitting the glass of a window, you heard the low volume of a TV playing the audio for what sounded like a 90s show, and you heard the quiet chattering of two males; their voices were all too recognizable. The dim glow of a bedside lamp shone through the room, providing light to see by, and you gathered your bearings and compelled yourself to sit up, however uncomfortable it may have been to do so.

"Wait, wait. She's awake." You squinted and rubbed the back of your head, displeased when you felt how gross and stiff your hair was. "Y/n?"

"Tim?" You met his eyes, confused and curious. Jay joined his side, sitting on the edge of the bed to your left.

"Y/n, are you alright?"

"You mean other than feeling like I was just beaten by a giant tree limb?" Your gaze fell on your hands, then down to your clothes, cringing at the amount of mud that blanketed them. "How did I get here?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that." You shrugged cluelessly, eyebrows knitting together.

"Wouldn't you know? Weren't we just at Alex's house?" They sent each other a look. "Did I pass out or something?"

"You did at some point," Tim said, resting his forearms on his knees. "We just weren't around to see it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?" You skeptically shook your head, trying to put the pieces together. "Anything? At all?"

"No...? Just tell me what happened."

"I wish I could." Tim sighed and brushed his fingers through his hair. "That thing must have blipped you away right before it showed up to mess with us, because one moment you were there, the next you weren't. Jay was pretty out of it for a while so we loaded up and hoped you'd be waiting for us when we got back."

You raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding the situation.

"There was a knock on the door a few hours later and you were laying against the wall covered in...in that. Brought you inside and waited for you to wake up to see if you were hurt."

Well...that explanation was certainly perplexing and didn't answer any of your inquiries. Where could you have been taken? What happened to you to make you so filthy, and why were you aching so badly?

You didn't know.

And you doubted you ever would.

#marble hornets #hoody #hoody x reader #brian thomas #brian thomas x reader #female reader #marble hornets x reader #hoody oneshot

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krystal-sylph · 2 years

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A Cozy Night | Brian x F. Reader

I drew inspiration for this from a piece of fan-art that ♠️ Embrace Ace ♠️ made a while back (I tried to incorporate the link, but I couldn’t find it on their profile anymore). Anyway, it was an adorable picture that showcased Brian, Tim, Alex, Jay, and Jessica sitting around a campfire in the woods as Alex told them all a story - the story of Marble Hornets. So it was basically an AU that implied the entirety of the series was nothing more than a spooky story Alex made up to keep his friends entertained while they were outside spending time together. I loved how creative it was and just had to make it into a one-shot.

If I made some mistake and credited the wrong person, I apologize! I had first seen the image months ago (and actually wrote this right after lol, but on my Quotev account instead of Tumblr), and I had written down the original artist’s name so I wouldn’t forget. Maybe they deleted it, for some reason? Idk haha. But yeah enjoy reading! Brian’s beautiful and I’ll always be soft for him ^^

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“...And as Tim continued driving down the empty highway, he stared into the camera one final time. If one looked closely enough, they may have been able to see his eyes becoming glossy as the tears welled up. He released a shaky breath - one of relief or one of disquietude, we may never know - and spun the camera around, allowing the viewers to face the road when the car made a turn into nowhere. A moment later, the screen turned black, and there, fading across it in that familiar white font, were the words, ‘everything is fine’...”

Alex met the eyes of his five friends as the story, at last, came to a close, observing their mixed expressions. Some were eagerly looking on in anticipation, others didn’t seem nearly as interested but it was clear he still held their attention. After a few seconds of heavy silence, Y\n leaned forward and whispered, “...Is that it?”

Alex merely gave a small grin before standing to his feet and stretching his limbs out, as they had all been sitting on their respective logs, huddled around the warm fire for the past five and a half hours. Jay’s eyes widened at the implication and he restlessly tugged at his hat, making it obvious to everyone that he wasn’t satisfied. “But–but Alex, dude, you can’t leave us hanging like that! What happened to Tim and Jessica? Did anyone ever find Y\n again? You gotta tell us!”

“Sorry man, but my voice is shot for the night,” he replied, brushing the back of his pants off. “I’m ready to hit the sack.”

“But Alex…!” Jessica whined, clasping her hands together and giving him the classic “puppy-dog eyes”, to which he rose a brow. “I’m gonna be awake the whole night if I don’t know this stuff!”

“It’s up to interpretation.”

“No, but really! Did Tim actually escape from the Operator? You stopped on such an eerie note!” Alex didn’t say anything else as he turned and began making his way into his tent. Y\n smirked slightly at their persistent attitudes and raked her fingers through her hair.

“Say what you guys want, but I for one think it’s the perfect ending to an already great story.” She glanced over at Brian, who had been sitting beside her the majority of the time to see what he thought, receiving a dimpled smile and a nod.

“I agree.” Jessica crossed her arms incredulously. “Not every story has to have a dead-set ending to it. Sometimes, it’s better left up to the imagination.”

“Yeah, maybe for y’all, but I can’t just do that. ‘Imagining’ an ending gives me way too much anxiety.”

“Meh.” Jay shrugged and scratched at his arm. “I just like knowing what happened if I’m being honest. Maybe that stems from my being impatient…”

“Tim! What about you?” The male in question lifted his gaze briefly to acknowledge her before rising up and shaking his head in refusal.

“You aren’t dragging me into this weird little debate. I just wanna go to bed.” He brushed past the two that were already standing and rubbed the back of his neck, presumably because it was sore from the extended lack of movement. “Goodnight.”

The small group watched as he disappeared behind the cloth wall of his own tent; the only shelter that was intentinally set up away from the other ones. No one minded it though, considering Tim just liked the solitude. Jessica broke the short silence with a displeased huff. “Well, whatever. I’ll just write my own ending. C’mon Jay, you can help me so I won’t overwhelm myself.” Grabbing his hand, she hauled them in the direction of her tent while Jay sputtered out poorly-crafted sentences in agreement or objection, nobody could be sure. “Goodnight, guys! See you tomorrow.”

Y\n waved and bit back the giggle she felt tempted to release when Jay nearly tripped over a stray tree root, giving her yet another reminder as to why she needed to watch exactly where she was headed at all times, especially at night. She for sure didn’t want to stumble on something and break her nose - not only would it be embarrassing, but it would put a damper on the rest of the trip, and maybe end it altogether. That wouldn’t have been a preferred outcome for anyone involved.

Once the tent was zipped completely up, all was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the soft crackling of the fire and occasional, distant cries of the coyotes coupled with the chirping of cicadas. This was one of the many reasons that she loved to camp, and it only made the experience more enjoyable to have some of her best friends to share it with. She could tell that they were all having a relatively good time, even if ones like Tim wanted to complain about bug bites and mud. It was a relationship-strengthening activity that any number of people could do together, and that’s what made it so fun.

Now, only Y\n and Brian remained sitting outside, the lustrous glow that the fire emitted crawling across their faces as they both stared at it, serenity filling the atmosphere between them. “So…how do you think the story ends?” Brian suddenly spoke up after a couple of minutes, brown eyes not leaving the orange flames rippling in front of him. Y\n shifted her position a bit in an effort to get more comfortable and replied in a mellow voice.

“...I like to think that everyone that wasn’t outright said to have died turned out alright…especially cause, they deserved a happy conclusion. But I don’t know really.” She tilted her head up to look at him curiously. “You?”

He considered her opinion as the corners of his lips tugged upward, soon providing his own. “I’m an optimist, so I like your theory. But realistically speaking, Tim - story ‘Tim’, that is - likely went somewhere that he’d be alone and killed himself cause he couldn’t take the agony of losing his friends. And Jessica got sucked into the Operator’s clutches all over again. As for Y\n…” He sent her a cheeky grin, “she totally survived everything against all odds because she’s just that awesome.”

She rolled her eyes and playfully nudged him with her arm. “Uh-huh, sure.” Releasing a gentle laugh, Brian leaned back a little, using his hands to support his body weight so he wouldn’t tumble backward off of the log. They relished each other’s company, enjoying being one with nature in the most peaceful of ways. Without warning, Y\n allowed her head to rest on top of his shoulder and her eyes grew droopy. “It’s pretty, huh?”

“Beautiful.” He welcomed the physical gesture and wrapped his arm around her smaller frame, giving her the opportunity to snuggle closer. “We should do this more often.”

“Hm, I thought you’d like it.” She pulled at her jacket, hoping it would do a better job at conserving heat, as it was getting chillier the more the night progressed. “This is actually the first time I’ve camped out with anyone but my family.”

“That so?”

“I guess nobody else just wanted to be this far away from civilization. They were scared or somethin’.” He released a hum of understanding. “I don’t get that sentiment, though. I think it’s relaxing.”

“To be fair, not everybody grew up in a family that took frequent trips like this. I’m sure the idea of being miles away from any help in case something were to go wrong, or being hunted by some big predator lurking in the woods unsettled them.”

“Pfft, that’s amateur stuff.” She flinched when he poked her side and gave a chuckle.

“The point still stands.” They spent a total of fifteen more minutes sitting side-by-side, not quite ready to say ‘goodbye’ to each other’s presence on such a nice night. But alas, the lethargy was weighing down on both slowly, though Y\n was the first to show it with a squeaky yawn. Brian laughed and bent over to catch sight of her tired face. “You wanna go to bed?”

She was quick to deny the question. “No, no, I’m fine. Let’s just stay here a little while longer…” Her mildly slurred words were all the confirmation he needed, and he brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek.

“Y\n, you need to sleep. We’re going hiking tomorrow, remember? You can’t do that on zero energy.”

“I’ll…be okay.” Her eyes were almost completely closed, making it clear that she was content to just stay where they were sitting together, but Brian pushed her away gently so he could rise to his feet, then he took her hands and helped her up, much to her protest. “Brian…”

“Y\n…” he replied with the same querulous tone, prompting her to shoot him a half-hearted glare, and he smiled, giving her a good view of the gap between his front teeth. “We’re both tired. I’m sure you’ll konk out as soon as your head hits the pillow.”

She used the tip of her shoe to drag at the dirt and finally muttered a reluctant, “fine…” and Brian tousled her hair in amusement.

“Good. You can go wait for me in the tent while I smother out the fire.”

She did just that, taking off her shoes and instantly collapsing onto her sleeping bag. She had insisted that she and Brian share a tent as soon as he agreed to go camping with her with the claim that “it would be less baggage” and that it would be a way to stay warmer at night when it got cold, but she knew he probably suspected the real reason was simply that she wanted to be close to him as often as she could.

She knew that the fire was gone when the majority of the light leaking into the space vanished, and this was further backed up when Brian revealed himself and zipped up the entrance behind him, capturing the pair in pleasant darkness. She saw his silhouette lay down on top of his own thin bed and grinned to herself. He appeared to still be adjusting to get cozier, and she curled up into a loose ball, feeling safe. “...’Night, ‘Hoody’.”

He turned his head to glimpse down at her as he processed the reference before snorting and flopping onto his back. “‘Night, N\n.”

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