( gif by hazzawckd <3 )

words: 6014
playlist:
what you did — mahalia, ella mai. 

I turned off the shower, letting the last bit of the warm
water drip down my back with my hand rubbing the back of my head. I wrapped my hair up after doing a deep wash and opened up the glass shower door, wrapping the black and grey towel around my body.

I left Hobie's room two hours ago, and I did agree to go on this walk to get food with him. 

The things that have happened since the moment I woke up today were too much to handle for me. I spent the first half hour in the shower just in deep thought about so many different aspects of what we talked about today and what happened last night.

I couldn't go anywhere without scrubbing my body till it was red, bleeding just a bit. Hobie told me to meet him when I was done, not really giving me a specific time on when he wanted to meet, just to not come late.

I had no idea if I should bring the pepper spray I got at one of the gas stations we stopped at on the way here, a huge part of me didn't want to go with him anywhere. I don't know why he wanted me to come along, we can't even stay in the same room together without him wanting to kill me. The only reason I agreed was because a part of me was curious about what he had in store, so I tucked the pepper spray in my spall granny-pack I was going to bring.

Maybe today he can get over this vendetta he has against me and I can get some answers on what was the change.

We did have a whole conversation without him threatening me. I didn't appreciate him manhandling me in his bed but at least I can understand that he has standards and wouldn't harm a female, no matter how psychotic he is.

I only believed he didn't take advantage of me when I sat in the shower on the floor with my knees up to my chest and really thought about it.

I had texted Gwen about my clothes and she confirmed she did, even sending me a picture of my dirty outfit in the wash with hers.

I would have woken up with him by my side, but the eyebags under his eyes told me a different story. Gwen also said her and Rico often came to check up on me throughout the night and Hobie stayed awake the whole time.

I'm sure I would've felt some sort of discomfort waking up today if anything did happen to me, but I felt fine.

All of these reasons are convincing me to believe Hobie took care of me and was telling the truth. Nothing in my body was telling me otherwise but I could be hundred and ten percent wrong on this, but my gut was telling me to trust my instinct. And my gut was telling me to trust his words.

Plus, he told me to go to the doctor if I really thought he did something. Who would say that if they actually did something? That's just screaming to get caught.

I kept the towel tucked over my chest, wrapping my arms around my body as I poured a small bit of mouthwash into the cap to swish it around my mouth after brushing my teeth.

I spit and finish, putting some EOS vanilla cashmere lotion all over my body with oils down my face. I head to the door in my towel, dropping it once I get outside the bathroom door to let the cool breeze hit my body from the steamed filled room.

"Why didn't you tell me I wa–"

I let out the loudest scream, turning my head to the right of me to see Hobie laying against the headboard of my bed with his feet kicked up on my sheets. I snatched the towel backup just in time when Hobie turned to me at my scream, my notebook opened in his hands.

"Christ you have a fucking pitch." He sticks one finger in his ear to pretend and clean it out from my scream.

I stared at him with wide eyes and my chest moving up and down rapidly, trying to calm down from the intruder just sitting on my bed.

"Why the fuck–" I couldn't finish my sentence due to the fact I almost pissed myself. "What the fuck?!"

Hobie flipped through the pages again, not even giving me a second glance with a hum leaving his lips.

"How did you get in my room?"

"The house cleaning lady left the door open when she went across the hall to another room to change the sheets so I let myself in." He gave me a stupid look like I was asking a stupid question.

"Why are you here, though? I thought we agreed to meet in your room."

"You were taking too long." He shakes his head like I was the one in the wrong, but apparently slipping into a room that isn't yours was alright.

"Because I like to make sure I'm clean? Can you leave please?"

He looks back at the notebook, his head leaning on the headboard and his legs extended out and crossed over one another.

"Why am I in your book and next to.." He looks down at the name. "Spider–Punk?" He turns it around to show that it was in fact him next to the small sketch I drew of Spider-Punk when I first met him in the alleyway.

I strided over to the bed and snatched it from his hands.

"You just remind me of him." I murmur under my breath, putting the notebook in my backpack before zipping it up. I don't even want to know what else he looked or touched while I was in the shower.

"Why?"

"You two are annoying as hell."

"You're feisty today." I could hear the smirk from behind me.

"I woke up zip tied to a bed, not even handcuffed. You didn't even have the decency to handcuff me." I grabbed a random pair of baggy sweatpants and a baby blue cropped top from my suitcase, no longer feeling comfortable standing in a towel with him in MY room.

"I didn't even have it with me at the time, it's on the bed underneath my pillow for special occasions. Also, your nexplanon card was on the floor and it almost got thrown out; you can thank me even though it says moodiness can be a heavy side effect."  

I shot my head over my shoulder and saw he was holding the small blue card that had the date I went on it and when I needed to replace it, literally reading it like it was a business card.

I stomped over and snatched it out of his hands too, holidng my towel firm with my other hand.

"You are so annoying!" I groan.

"Are you having unprotected sex because you wanted to get easy birth control?" He talks to me like a disappointed parent, looking at me with a hint of curiosity.

I walked away with the clothes in my hands, realizing he wasn't going to leave like I asked a plethora of times and there was no way I was going to physically be able to get him out.

I beelined straight for the bathroom, not sharing another word while slamming the door behind me.

"I wasn't going to look, you know." I hear him shout through the wall.

I locked the door and rolled my eyes, not wanting to say something mean back. Usually I was terrified of him and wanted to avoid him at all costs, but today he was royally pissing me off and was on a thin line with him today. As if he thought I would just get naked with him standing in the room.

I kept hearing an annoying ass banging against the wall, but I couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. My room or someone getting freaky in the room next to mine.

Once I was dressed and my hair braided back into two low braids, I put on some deodorant and light foundation, finally ready to go.

I opened the door back up and saw him lying on my bed with his body lying across it horizontally, a random yo-yo in his hand as he flung it off the wall off the ceiling.

He throws it to the ceiling, causing it to hit the ceiling and come falling back down towards him. I walked over to him, standing over top of him with his head upside down from the position he was in, reaching a hand out to grab the ball to make him stop.

"Ready?"  I mumble with a scowl.

He gets up off the bed, shoving one of the complimentary candies the hotel gave us into his mouth.

I slid on my black and white Nike dunks, clipping the fanny pack around my shoulder and chest.

"Why do you have this?"

"Because it's easy to carry around...?"

He grins and opens the door, gesturing for me to leave with his arm extended out towards the hallway. The smile was fake as hell, but I had no choice now but to follow. I didn't trust him or his actions today.

I walked past him with him trailing behind me, letting the door close on its own. I never would have thought that him and I would wind up in this position, walking to lunch. What would I even ask him? What do we even have in common? Not a damn thing.

We silently walked towards the elevator, the ball placed over my shoulder for him to reach over and grab out of my hands. Once the doors ding and we step in, the sound of the yo-yo hitting everything around me started to drive me mad.

I shut my eyes with a deep sigh leaving my lips, maybe if I pretend he isn't here it would work.

He repeatedly flung it towards my direction most of the time, purposefully letting it glide past the side of my head and back towards the palm of his hand like a kid.

"Where are we going?" I finally said to break the buzzing noise from the toy.

"Lunch." He replies shortly, the yo-yo becoming more important to him than my question.

"Yeah, I got that part. But where are we eating?"

He shrugs. "You tell me." He keeps it vague and it bothers me, the elevator rapidly dinging to the bottom floor to make the trip faster. "Don't you want to walk around the city?"

"Well yeah.. but you hate me."

He grins and goes to part his lips but the elevator opening causes him to shut his mouth, letting the stranger come in with his wife and kids. They were dressed for a day out, similar to us. We were on either side of the family, my hand gripping the railing in the elevator. I peered over at Hobie who switched whatever it was he was eating to gum, the yo-yo still being moved back and forth with his eyes closed; he didn't need to look where he was throwing it too in between the wall and his large hand.

The door shuts a few moments after causing everything inside of it to go quiet. I peer over at Hobie leaning against the wall across from me, a smirk on his lips with his arms crossed over his chest as he shoves his tongue from one side of his cheek to the other side. His eyes shut like he was in deep thought about something.

The older woman looks out of the corner of her eye to Hobie before shuffling her daughter closer to her when she reaches out for the yo-yo, the silence in here was deafening.

"Oh, (Y/N). Did you remember to take that medicine for your clap?" Hobie opens his eyes and stares straight at me, making my cheeks turn red.

My heart stopped for a quick second, the older gentleman in the elevator having to cover his mouth from an embarrassed laugh. The woman was not too pleased with his outburst.

I let out a fake laugh, nodding my head in response to him like I kew what game he was playing at.

"Nah, babe. I have to go and get your yeast infections pills, remember? They are at the same pharmacy." I reminded him.

His face drops and the man has to turn around to cover his face to stop himself from laughing so hard, more surprised by my comment the whole ordeal together. The woman makes eye contact with Hovie who gives her a fake smile, slamming the yo-yo onto the ground so hard it cracks just a bit.

I drop my head to the side, grinning to myself to contain my laughter.

The elevator door opened and the family booked it out the door in no time. I made eye contact with Hobie before walking out the door, throwing my invisible locks over my shoulder with my nose tucked to the sky, leaving him in my place as I headed towards the open doors of the hotel.

It wasn't long until I felt him behind him, his arm falling over my shoulders as I flushed me closer to his side as he placed his large hand atop my head and pulled it to his chest, continuing to walk us.

"You are so funny." He sarcastically states.

"You think I can't keep up or somethin'?" I was quick

"All I was stating that you had to keep your medication because you are a fun girl who likes to get around, but you had to say I have some sexual transmitted disease." He says with a grumble, annoyed but amused at how quick I was to defend myself.

I pushed his arm off my shoulders, giggling.

"Serves you right, sweetcheeks." I chuckle, walking towards the revolving doors and out onto the street.

I pressed myself up against the pole that helped move the door around, thinking it would just be me going around but the hard chest to my back made the door squeak, then shut. His hands came out in front of me to place on the glass door to keep us moving.

We got out the other side, the warm air hitting me from the afternoon sun. I turned around with my hand on my hip, shifting to one leg with a finger on his chest to stop him from walking away from me.

"What was the point in going in the same slot as me? We could have gotten stuck."

He grins.

"Whoops." He starts walking down the staircase to the sidewalk, leaving me in his path.

I stayed in the position I was in, letting out a sigh as I turned on my heels with my arms crossed. Since he had longer legs than me, I naturally quickened my pace to keep up with him. And in no time, I was right beside him.

I got up next to his side as we walked down the sidewalk together, the sun blazing down on our skin. The yo-yo stayed in his hand as he continued to play with it, never once did I see where the string wrapped around the inner part of it.

"Aren't you ever worried that someone will notice you while walking down the street?" I murmur to him.

He shrugs, his height seeming to have grown over the last time we stood side by side one another.

"Rather than the dick of a president who walks around with twenty cars and ten bodyguards to show who he is." He spits out with venom laced in his tone.

"Well, he is the president so I can see why." I trail off once I see him stare at me through the corner of his eye quickly, his pupils almost dilating. "But I kinda see what you mean.."

"Did you forget your sunglasses? I see you wear them every now and then?" I questioned after noticing his eyes were slightly squinted.

"Mmm." He hums in disappointment.

"Do you want to go back and get them?"

He shakes his head as we pass by a vendor with little sunglasses and magnets outside the store, spinning the rotating rack. "So," he starts while checking himself out with different glasses on his face. "Who's the boyfriend."

I froze on the other side of the rack, furrowing my eyebrows and wondering where that even came from.

"Why are you–"

"You got defensive when I assumed your unprotected sex. You also have that one birth control in your arm, that's like the safest one to have, right?" He answered before I finished.

"Maybe I just want to be safe when I have sex." I mumble in slight embarrassment.

"So you are a virgin?" He tilted his head over to the side to see me.

"No."

"Thought so."

He grins and pulls out a pair of black sunglasses like he already bought them, the same pair back at the hotel but cheaper here. The arms are just gold.

"So, who is he then? You don't give off the one night stand type of gal." He continued to ask.

"How do you know that? You just assume everything about my life without fact checking everything." I glance at the same glasses rack, pretending to ignore his stare.

"I'll have you know it happened at a party, I knew the guy." I murmured, walking over to the keychains in front of the store as he stayed behind me at the glasses.

I felt a pair of strong hands rest on my hips from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder to stare at me through the little rack on the rack of keychains.

"You still talk to him?" He mumbles with a hum following.

I squirmed out of his hold with a pinch to his arm and continued to walk around the rotating display, looking at him from the other side. He kept a playful smirk on his face, still wearing the glasses.

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me the truth." He offers.

"Fine, I know where you are going with this. He wasn't my boyfriend, but my best friend's brother. After that night he vouched to never let it happen again, even if we liked each other. There was another guy, but it never went anywhere and I'm glad. Being friends was better for us." I explained in one breath, wrapping my fingers around a few little keychains that had my name on it.

"The other guy, he a jealous type?" He plays with a few of the key chains on the other side.

I think about how I never saw Shawn get jealous, the occasional stares when I talked to someone else and the whispers my friends would tell me how he went home with a scowl on his face when I got asked to the valentines dance, but him and I were never a ting; and I never wanted to ruin that, even if I liked that he got jealous about something so small.

"He can be, but we never got anywhere for that. We wanted different things, that's why I'm here and he is still in Washington." I exhale under my breath.

He chuckles, shaking his head.

"Ah love–the most poisonous form of self destruction." He grins, I didn't expect to hear anything more than a hopeless statement coming from him.

He starts to walk away, back onto the sidewalk with the sunglasses still on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows, placing the keychain I had in my hand back on the rack before following after him, letting my arms hang down at my sides.

"You know you have to pay for those, right?" I murmur while getting up next to him, his demeanor not changing when he realized what he did.

"I'm aware."

"That's stealing."

"It's not stealing if I am borrowing them." He shakes his head like I was the dumb one not understanding.

"You can't just–"

He stops walking and turns to face me in the middle of the sidewalk, his height towering over me as my stomach did a flip before I crossed my arms over top of them.

"Why do you keep telling me what I can and can not do." He says in a serious tone, my heart suddenly thrashing against my chest.

I glanced around to see where we in the middle of public, hoping no one stops to check on us, but a part of me did hope that.

"Don't look at them baby, look at me when I'm talking to you." He says in a low tone.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, shoving my tongue in the corner of my mouth as I stared up at his solid face as he seemed to not like that I questioned him.

"Sorry, I–I just wa–"

"Well don't." He cuts me off with strictness, making me feel small where I'm standing.

"Ight bru." I whisper in defeat, giving up on trying to help him stay out of jail, but fuck him and his career. He can rot in jail if they catch him.

He turns back around and continues to walk, throwing the yo-yo down to his feet and back. I kept my arms crossed because the little interaction we just had made me feel sick to my stomach. I'm trying my hardest to not get on his bad side, I thought we were making progress and having a normal conversation. BUt I guess I was wrong.

We walked silently for a second, the sun still scorching down on us. I was a few steps behind him and to his right, watching as he kept himself closer to the sidewalk, his jagged shoulders muscles contracted a bit as he walked. He had really broad shoulders, his waist tiny and narrow. The tight, black shirt he wore hugged his body in all the right places, tighter on his waist and a bit loose on his shoulders. HIs sweats were tight on his long legs, material around the ankles tighter. You could tell that he works out and keeps up with his appearance and health, he just has a shity attitude.

His stick and poke tattoos exposed some parts of his arms, going around his forearms and a few on the side of his hands. I could see the chipped nail polish on his pinky finger that was there the first time I saw him.

Since we were just walking to an unknown destination that he wouldn't tell me, I occupied myself with his appearance. He couldn't tell I was staring since I was standing behind him trailing, or he probably could sense my eyes staring but didn't care about that. I could see deep markings of cuts on the back of his neck, th4 back of his arms. I wondered where they came from and if he needed someone to talk to, but I was too nervous to even bring it up since that seemed like a touchy subject to even think about.

Since I was too busy staring at him hard that I started to zone out, I didn't even realize he made a sharp right into a little diner until his yo-yo came out and hit my foot. I turned behind him, hissing as I followed his steps up to the diner. Out front was a statue of Elvis and surf boards outside. I didn't even get to read the name of it until I was inside. It wasn't hard to miss, the giant neon signs said 'Rock Island Cafe."

The black checkered floors, red leather booths, jukebox, teal walls, silver breakfast nook and table–this was a 1950's themed diner. Set to when Elvis was king and Marilyn was queen, both drinking coca-cola.

Music drowned out the restaurant mixed with the sounds of people's conversation, the red leather booths cushing the conversations they are all having. It seemed pretty bust in here, the sign in front of the door saying to seat yourself and to pay at the counter after your order was taken, that was all Hobie needed to see to find a booth in the back.

I slid into the booth directly across from him. Immediately I felt his ankles trapping mine on either side of them. I looked down, glancing back up at him with my one eyebrow raised.

"I'm a lot taller than you." he states with his shoulders shrugged, slouching back in his seat as he checks out the menu we both have.

My mind suddenly went back to the night we really did meet, how nice it was and how calm he was, and before I knew it my question fell off my lips.

"Why were you so nice to me the first time we met."

He looked over at me from the top of the menu, I could see his eyebrows raised from the glasses hiding his face but I knew he was weaving his mind to find a legit answer.

"You ju–"

"Hello! Welcome to Rock Island Cafe! The rip off version of the one in Honolulu, but still having the same love for the king and queen. My name is Bri and I'll be your server today!" She arrived at the worst time seeing as Hobie was about to confess something I wanted to know, my mouth going dry. "Can I get you two something to drink while you look over the menu?" She smiles down at us with a pen and notepad in her hands.

She looked right at me first, my mind swimming with a different answer for a different conversation that he and I were just having so I had no time to answer her right away.

"Just water with lemon, please." I spit out.

She nods and looks over at Hobie.

"Water as well." He rasps out. "Also she'll have chamomile tea." He says, causing me to be confused.

"I hate tea."

"And I hate how your fucking nerves are through the roof." He murmurs under his breath before closing the menu. "Always so on edge when you are around me."

Well when you are surrounded by someone the likes of you it tends to only be nerves in my body.

Be quiet, (Y/N)..

"Can we go back to what you were saying." I switch topics.

"Something about you drives me insane, maybe that's  why I don't act the same as I did that night." He says into the open looking the other way from me. "Honestly, that night was.. And I hate to admit it, but it was a fun night; but when you came here and I saw how you are when you don't have alcohol in your system, you are just... boring. I also broke my phone and didn't bother getting a new one for a hot minute. Consistency sucks." He chuckles, cockiness in his voice when he speaks.

"Who was Opium and Ozzy talking about when you said you had a night, do you have one night stands?" I ignored him, basically insulting me and tried to not let him get under my skin but damn did it hurt. His long eyelashes blinked a few times before he looked at me through the corner of his eye, blowing some air out of his lips.

"Yeah, something like that. I tend to keep my private business to myself, especially what I do at night. But if you are wondering if I use protection, don't worry baby. I use condoms." He winks at me, making me roll my eyes before leaning back against the booth.

"One, you and I will not fuck. So stop trying to slide that into every conversation we have. Two, have you ... not used condoms before? That's like the main thing they teach you in sex education."

"I do, but I get asked a lot to skip a condom every now and then. But I think it's just because these chicks want me to 'accidentally' get them pregnant just so they can be my baby momma and have me send them a shit load of money every month." He states in honesty.

"So why risk it by having sex?" I arch my brow.

"I don't fuck as much as they make it out to seem, I actually am very careful when it comes to sex. I would never want to bring a child into this world, especially with who I really am."

I looked down at the menu, reading some of the things they had on it. Hobie dropped the conversation after his last comment making me tuck that piece of information into the back of my head for further investigating another time we had a moment like this. I knew our waiter was going to come back any second so I needed to figure out what I was getting.

The cheese sticks and burger looked good, but do I really need all of that cheese so far away from my hotel room and bathroom? No. But would I get it anyway and risk it? Of course.

And just in time did our waitress come scrolling back with our drinks, placing them down in front of us.

"Okay, two waters and a chamomile tea! Have we decided what we're gettin'?" She turns to Hobie this time as I close the menu, glancing at him from the corner of my eye to see if he'll answer.

"I'll just have the deluxe ruben and fries." He states. "Also a vanilla milkshake."

"And for you?" She speaks in her same chirper tone.

"The burger and cheese sticks, I'll have a vanilla shake too." I say politely.

"You know what I picked up on?" He says out of nowhere.

I looked up at him after handing the menus to her, giving her a soft smile before my attention was fully on Hobie.

"You are a very nosy person, I think you have asked a lot of questions since we really met."

I opened my mouth in surprise that he really just kept insulting me over and over, raising my hands in defense. "I'm just trying to make conversation." I said quickly.

"Okay, then tell me something you want me to know." He states, bluntly.

I sigh, trying to wrap my head around saying something that he won't use against me in the future or just in case he wanted to embarrass me.

"I am ambidextrous." I go very vague, something that doesn't really matter. "I like the color sunset orange and I hate mustard."

"That's a very weird talent, why don't you use both your hands then?" He questioned.

I shrug. "No idea really, I just prefer my right hand."

"What's your favorite color?" I cross my arms.

"I don't have one. I like a mixture of all of them together, y'know. There is never one set of colors that is my palette, there has to be a lot or else it wouldn't make any sense for me."

I see where he is coming from, that being the only thing I can really see him telling the truth.

"You don't seem like the type to be a fan of society and all things normal." I state while laying a few white cups in a line upside down, stacking them up on top of each other.

"You can say that."

"So tell me something you do like then."

"I like Spider-Punk."

I playfully give him a look, chuckling while shaking my head. "He is an interesting person, I met him once in an alleyway."

He seems confused, but intrigued by my words.

"You met Spider-Punk."

"Yeah, I hope I never run into him again. Everyone says they are supposed to be your friendly neighborhood spider, but I have seen nothing but bad reports about how he sucks at his job and what he does. I mean, who can shoot webs out of their hands and swing around the city? If you can do all of that, maybe my friend would be alive."

He suddenly whacks the small tower down aggressively so all the cups fly against the window and scatter all over the table. I jump at the sudden action, gasping out of nowhere.

He smacks his open hand on the table in front of my body and kisses his teeth, clenching them right after, leaning closer to me. He locks my ankles with his own sunglasses hiding the darkness in his eyes.

"Do you think someone like that tries to let people die? Do you think he purposely ignores people and their wishes to be saved?" He whispered in anger through his teeth, catching me off guard.

"What–no– I was just t–"

"Do you think because you had a brief interaction with him and read a few news articles about him makes you some kind of wizard on who he is as a person? You think it's easy for someone like that to be the center of everyone's attention?"

"Why are you so defensive about someone you don't even know? You don't even know who he is behind the mask, so what's the sudden defense for him?" I pushed him back a bit, kicking my feet out from the locked position they were in. "I'm allowed to feel some type of way because the day my friend died, she was calling out for this so-called Spider-Punk, we have our own opinions and you need to respect that."

The table goes silent, Hobie taking off his sunglasses for once. He places them down on the table, exposing his brown eyes that seemed to be softening a little bit. I looked at the food that was placed in between us, the waitress leaving right away when she sensed the tension between the two of us.

"I'm sorry. It's just a touchy subject when someone brings him up, family things. Not that I know him, but... Just know I know what it's like to be in his position with the world on your shoulders and everyone has an opinion on you."

He pulls his gaze from mine and grabs the soda bottle, struggling to open it just a bit. "Just try to stay in your line when it comes to topics you don't know all the facts about."

I let out a scoff that followed with a laugh and a shake of my head, he couldn't even be nice for a whole minute. I just stare as he struggles to open the cap again, his hand changing a lighter color from the pressure the rigids of the cap pushing into his skin.

I reach forward and place my hand on top of the bottle and his hand, causing him to freeze at my touch. He looks up at me and lets go of the bottle to hand over to me, letting me slip it out of his hand and bring it over to me.

I brought it up to my mouth, sticking the edge of the bottle cap against my sharp canine. His eyes fall to my lips, sucking in his lower lip between his teeth before I pop the cap off with a small jolt.

I grab the plastic bottle of ketchup and flip it upside down to squeeze onto the patty of my burger once the bun was lifted off. I furrowed my brows when I felt his eyes still on me, shaking my head. "You're welcome."

"I loosened it." He murmurs under his breath while looking down at his plate to eat.

I just roll my eyes and laugh into my hand, letting him have his little macho moment today.