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Life was rough.
You had gone from a decent life with your parents, and two younger siblings, Rowan and Sidney to being in the middle of a custody battle because out of nowhere, your parents randomly decided to get a divorce and they both wanted you and your siblings. It was a long, messy year but when you were 16, your dad finally won the case. Good for him, horrible for you and your siblings. You didn’t want to leave your life and drop everything to move to Boulder, Colorado. What the hell is even in Boulder besides your dad’s side of the family? And why did you have to drop your life in Michigan for it? His side of the family doesn’t even reach out to you or your siblings and you only see them occasionally. Unfortunately, you had no choice but to go. The court and your father promised you that you and your siblings could visit your mom at the end of every month. At least you had that for now.
The moment the three of you boarded the plane, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. The fact that you all would have to start fresh, make new friends, and learn life in Colorado made you want to scream. At least your Rowan and Sid’s ages started with a single digit. They don’t have to deal with a bunch of teenagers judging them, making friends when everyone already has their cliches, and trying to find a sense of belonging. You let out a sigh. There wasn’t much you could do besides take care of them. You looked over at them but they were fast asleep already. You put on headphones, went on your phone, played your music, then looked out the window before eventually falling asleep as well.
When the plane finally landed and the three of you made your way out into the terminal, you saw your father and some random lady next to him. Must be his girlfriend or something. Roman and Sid ran to your dad's arms. He hugged them then looked at you. “Hey, how was the trip?” He asked you. “It was fine. Would’ve been better if we didn’t need to move out here…” you flatly said. “Well, we all can't have what we want. Look, I’m sorry but I promise you’ll get used to it in no time.” He spoke with a hopeful tone. “Yeah whatever, Dad. Who’s that lady?” Your eyebrows raised. “This is my girlfriend, Michelle.” Your dad turned to her. “Michelle, these are my kids, y/n, Rowan, and Sid.” Michelle looked at the three of you and smiled. “Hi guys, I’ve heard so much about the three of you! I’m your dad's girlfriend and I hope we can get along.” Your dad smiled and grabbed Sid and Rowan’s luggage. “Let’s get home. We don’t want to be in the airport all day, do we?” With that, everyone made their way to the car and started the journey to your dad's house.
On the way there, Michelle was talking to your dad and mentioned how a few months ago, some kid, who was around your age, had murdered his father, set his family’s house on fire, and was now missing. That little piece of her conversation stuck out to you. Why would someone do that? You were trying to figure it out but just pushed it off to the side. You’d investigate when you got unpacked and settled. After what felt like forever, you were finally “home”. It was a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house. It was painted grey and greyish green on the outside with lots of windows. There was also a forest right across the street. Your dad and Michelle showed the three of you around the house and your rooms. Rowan and Sid got rooms downstairs while yours was upstairs. While you were unpacking your room, you got a huge headache out of nowhere. It was probably due to the altitude change if there even is one. You took an ibuprofen and laid down to rest. After an hour, it mostly went away.
7 months passed, Rowan and Sid seemed to be doing great. They were thriving. In a way, you were too. You started in high school, made friends, started experimenting with different stuff with friends, and weren’t getting bullied (shocker). You and your siblings only visited your mom three times in those 3 months. Your parents had made new arrangements. So instead of every month towards the end of it, it was now every two months, towards the end of it. And some holidays. You didn’t really mind it. You grew to really love Michelle but you still refused to call her mom just because it felt weird. Another weird thing was you getting headaches every while.
One day, you were playing baseball with Rowan and Sid and their friends. It was going alright until one of their friends made the ball go into the woods. God damnit… You sighed and went walking to the forest. You were looking for the ball everywhere. It wasn’t here. What the hell? You figured an animal got the ball and ran off with it so you turned around and started heading back until you felt something hit you hard. “Ow! What the fuck?” You turned around and saw the ball on the ground. You bent down to pick it up then looked up and you saw a dude just standing there. You froze. He had brown hair that was slightly curly, snakebites, and he had a bandage on his cheek. He was wearing a greenish-slightly-brown hoodie with striped sleeves and a blue hood. He was fucking beautiful. Suddenly, he waved at you. You blinked and he was gone. “What the fuck..?”You gripped the ball and walked back. You didn’t tell anyone what you saw.
The moment you turned 17, your dad had forced you to get a job because he couldn’t keep giving you gas money every single time you wanted to go somewhere with your friends or siblings. You picked to work at a coffee shop. It wasn’t anything too special and the pay was decent. Plus your dad and Michelle never showed up at your job so you could get away with smoking there. You’ve been working at the coffee shop for 3-ish years now.
Currently, you and your co-workers just finished a rush hour. It was horrendous. You desperately needed a break so you went to find your manager. You went to her office and popped your head in. “Hey, Leslie?”. “Yes, y/n?”. “Uh.. I’m gonna take my lunch break.”. “Okay, have a good lunch! Make sure you use up those 45 minutes.”. First you went to get food, then you ate it. You still had 20 minutes left so you just decided to take the rest of the time as a smoke break behind the store so no one could see you. You pulled out a box of cigarettes, put one in your mouth, then switched the box for your lighter. You were taking long drags, just taking in the peacefulness. You even closed your eyes. You were so relaxed until you opened them.
The moment you opened them, the dude from the forest was walking up to you. “I-isn’t it bad to smoke?” His joints popped. You were immediately on edge. “That’s none of your business. Why are you stalking me?” You questioned him. “I’m not.” He smiled. “It’s just a… coincidence.” He fully stood next to you now. “Yeah as if. I remember seeing you waving at me in the forest like years ago and now you showed up to my workplace on my break.” You stared at him. “Aw cmon don’t be like that… this is my first time here and I thought you looked…fu-familiar.” His fingers cracked. “What the fuck do you want, what even is your name?!” you spat out. “Well if you want a meet and greet...” he looked at your name tag “Y/n, my name's Toby. I’m 19, I have Tourette’s, so don’t mind my tics. I wanna be friends and hang out with you, maybe smoke too…” Toby then took the cigarette straight from your mouth and into his, taking a long drag. “Okay? Hi Toby. I’m also 19. And you didn’t have to take my cigarette from me, I have more.” You pouted. “Yeah well, what’s the fun in that? Friends fucking…share right?” You slowly nodded in agreement. “Open your mouth.” He said to you. “Huh?” You raised an eyebrow. “Please, open your mouth, y/n. I w-want to show you something.” He pleaded, and you listened to him for some reason. You opened your mouth. He took a long drag of the cigarette but kept the smoke in his mouth, he then grabbed the side of your face and pulled you in, your lips connecting. He blew the smoke directly into your mouth. You closed your mouth, then blew the smoke right in his face. “Why’d you basically kiss me to show me that?” You were shocked. “Uh… why… why not? I saw my friends doing it. And I didn’t kiss you.” You just stared at him. “You basically did! If I went like this…” You gave him a quick peck on the lips. “You’re telling me that’s not a kiss?” You asked. “…Yes. It wasn’t a kiss, because k-kisses are with the tongue.” You couldn’t believe this idiot. “Who the fuck told you that?” You asked in disbelief. “My very annoying roommate, Jeff.” He said sheepishly. “Well he’s a fucking idiot and so are you for believing him. My lipstick is literally on your lips and your lips coming in contact with my lips counts as a kiss.” You looked at him like he was the dumbest person on earth. “Oh… well then, I guess I need you to correct a bunch of things Jeff told me.” He smirked. “W-what time do you get off of work?” He took another drag from your cigarette before putting it out on the ground. “I get off in another hour. You wanna wait on me for something or what?” You smiled. “Yeah, actually I do. I wanna f-fuc…hang out with you.” You quickly raised an eyebrow at that. “Um okay. You can wait by the counter inside or just anywhere. When I finish my shift, I’ll come over to you and then we can hang out somewhere.” He nodded and both of you walked into the cafe again. You went back to working and he was just on his phone maybe playing games. He was calling someone at some point but it looked like he got mad during it and hung up on whoever he was on the phone with.