Work Text:
1.34am
34 minutes past 1am. the pale light of your phone illuminated your face as you sat under the bustop shelter.
you glanced at the battery percentage.
1%
“fuck.” you muttered into the cold air, your breathe swirling around you in white trails. switching off your phone, you prayed you could hold onto that 1% until you got home.
you’d really overdone it this time.
the banging in your head was getting unbearable as you tied your hair loosely at the nape of your neck.
you had been out drinking with a friend who needed to drown a certain boy out of her system. on your walk (stumble) home, you had lent her your jacket and beanie, leaving your with a meer crop top and goose bumps covering your arms.
you tucked your red hands under your thighs, pressing them against the cold steel bench. you felt like hell. did you look like it? probably. looking around, you thanked god that this place was practically a ghost town; no one would see you.
pulling your backpack off your shoulders and into your lap, you rummaged through it.
“where is that godamn mirror?” you uttered through gritted teeth.
grasping your fingers around something, you pulled it out. it wasn’t your mirror, but your portable charger. fuck yes. it slipped your mind that you threw this into your bag on your rush out the door.
you fumbled to plug it into your phone. a harsh white light blinded you, a second later fading into your lock screen. you pulled down your notifications.
9:30pm niki
hey, you coming home soon? let me know you’re okay please
10:00pm niki
i thought you said you would be home for around now? are you okay?
11:20pm niki
where are you
just tell me if you’re coming home later
just reply
please
12:20am niki
i swear god y/n
please reply
12:45 niki
jesus fuck
1:10am niki
im loosing my mind
where are you
1:20am niki
im coming to find you
shit. you’d completely forgot you’d told him you’d be home for ten. what was wrong with you? why couldn’t you remember the simplest things? a pang of guilt surged through you. he must be so worried at home waiting for yo-
hold on. you re-read his last message.
“i’m coming to find you”
no.
he must be out now.
“oh my god” you breathed, jumping up from the hard metal. you had to find him quickly. you couldn’t let him search the streets all night looking for you. where would he go first? where would you usually go first? what if you couldn’t find each other? how can you let him see you like thi-
“y/n”
you turned.
there he was.
taking enormous strides with his tall legs, moving swiftly towards you. his shiny, dark hair still perfect despite the wind. his brown eyes were directly fixated on you, like there was nothing else in the world to look at. nothing but you.
he came to stand in-front of you. before you could attempted to make any kind of apology, he pulled you to his chest. with his arms around you, as tight as that, you were instantly warmed. he hugged you like he would never let you go.
“i don’t want to let you go.” he voiced your thoughts.
“i’m too scared you’ll run off and i won’t hear from you for hours again.” he spoke into your hair.
he pulled back and held you at arms length. warm hands gently gripped your chin. he tilted it in each direction. his eyes, pooling with concern, searched your face for anything that would tell him that you were in any way hurt.
“jesus christ.” he sighed
“what were you thinking? i was worried out of my mind.” he started
“why do you do this to me? how do you do this to me?” niki continued, his eyebrows furrowing.
your head snapped up.
“do what?” you questioned.
he ran his hands along his face and then through his hair, exasperated. he then placed them into his coat pockets, looking down.
“i don’t know, y/n.” he answered
pausing, he looked up at you; an expression that you couldn’t quite work out painted on his face.
“it’s like i’m addicted to you. when i’m not with you, i want to go to you. wherever you are. you never leave my mind. i’m constantly worrying about you. if you haven’t eaten, i want to feed you. if you haven’t slept, i want to carry you to bed. if your sad, i want to make you laugh because i feel like my purpose in life is to try to make you smile.”
he took a breath.
was he waiting for a response?
what should you even say?
you wanted to ask him why. why did he choose you to feel this way about?
you scanned his face. how did he care about you this much? what was wrong with him?
he was the sweetest person you’d ever met.
“i’m sorry” you whispered sheepishly.
“don’t apologise y/n” he responded
“just don’t ever disappear like that again, it makes my heart hurt.”
you nodded.