Running's Reward
(5.4 Taylor)
AN: I had a Worm fanfiction Bingo Card sitting on my computer for a while so I decided to start using it.
Taylor's lungs burned as she ran. Even as she struggled to breathe, she knew that the track team boys were closing in on her. The insects in her range squirmed as they soaked in her anxiousness and she just knew that Sophia had pointed those boys her way. It was hard for her to resist using her swarms to attack her pursuers, but if she did she'd never get a chance to become a hero. The PRT would lock her up and throw away the key.
Still, Taylor was thankful that she'd decided to take up running after she'd been released from the hospital. It was the only reason she had lasted this long. The flies marking each boy were just over a black and a half behind her.
Turning the corner she stumbled face first into a man's chest, the bright green of his shirt filling her field of vision. Large, rough hands flew up to her shoulders and steadied her as Taylor found herself looking up into the handsome face of a young man who looked like he was in his early twenties. His bright blue eyes were watching her with concern as she gasped for breath.
"Sorry, " Taylor panted, her hands unconsciously tightening her hold on his t-shirt as she drew up to her full height, about four inches shorter than her potential ally. Those boys behind her now just half a block away. "Was running. . . being chased. . . help me, please?"
The man's eyes widened and his hands slightly tightening on her shoulders before his face settled into a determined expression. "Of course, I'll help. Otherwise, I wouldn't be any kind of decent human being."
"Oh," Taylor gasped. He just said her words. The same ones she'd been born with across her chest in a handsome, masculine script. The ones that even now rested just above the pitiful A cups she called breasts.
The group of four teenage boys who'd been chasing her for blocks came around the corner then, somewhat winded but certainly in better shape that Taylor. They started to approach Taylor, mocking her loudly. Some of their insults they spoke were just repeated words from the girls at school, but somehow it worse to hear the boys discussing her body openly. Her face was burning as they came close enough to also be heard by the man holding her.
"Shut up," her soul mate snapped at them angrily. The boys stopped short when they realized they had found themselves faced with an actual adult. She shuddered, clinging harder as her soul mate pulled out a cell phone.
"You idiots should get lost or I'll be involving the cops." His words were harsh as he glared down her classmates. "I'm sure the police will be very interested in why you were chasing down a girl and what you thought would be happening if you caught her."
"It was just a joke, man," the eldest teen, a senior, snapped. "Whatever. I'm outta here."
The other three looked at each other, tense expressions on their faces. Then they were backing up and turning to follow the first teen in walking away, one of them leaning over to nudge another, "What are we telling Hess?"
Taylor didn't hear the other boy answer as she let herself practically melt against her soul mate's side in relief. He only sighed and watched the boys leave before glancing down at her, a hand gently rubbing her back to soothe her.
"Who is Hess?"
She grimaced, "Sophia Hess is a girl from school. She hates me for some reason. I don't really know."
"Oh," he frowned, dropping the subject. Then a thoughtful look crossed his face, "You know, I just realized that I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Robin Swoyer."
"Oh," she forced herself to relax before replying, "My name is Taylor Hebert."
Robin's dimpled smile brightened his whole face, catching Taylor off guard. "It's very nice to meet you, Taylor."
Taylor felt her face catch fire, but found herself returning the smile with a pleased grin of her own. "I'm really glad to meet you too."