A/N: Heyyy and welcome once again to another chapter! I know, I'm awesome! Like three updates in a week! I'm on a roll! Haha I should really stop with these intros, they're gonna lift my ego up too high and one of these days it's gonna explode like a souffle XD. Alsoooo ;) much needed Sotam action finally happens! Yep, I've def been procrastinating and Zed keeps interrupting, but I finally wrote some for you guys! Also, THREE REVIEWSSS! EEEEKK!
Review responses:
kiki: 3 thanks for letting me know of your opinion. Oooh, you live in Canada? I've always wanted to live thereeee! It seems like literal heaven compared to the stinky U.S*wrinkles nose*.
Sokeefe: Ooh nice idea! 3 I'll consider it ;). Aww sure thing. I MOST DEFINITELY WILL NOT QUIT!
ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Haha ikr. It's a big accomplishment for me. 2k word chaps used to be a thing of my dreams and yet now I'm actually writing em! Haha I've had that same conversation with myself multiple times with multiple food articles. Chips and salsa! I'M GONNA DIEEEE! That last piece of cake... I NEEEEEED ITTTT NOWWW! Then Yoda randomly goes in my brain, Need it, you do not. Aww thank you! Def trying and glad it seems to be working! :) *insert heart emoticon*
Also, ugh, before we begin (if you're still reading my a/n that is, I honestly don't blame you if you skip it), I'm *ugly cries* so sorry for the cringy chapters in the beginning! *sniffs* I reread a couple and yikes, it was cringe after cringe after cringe... :/ tbh I still write cringey stuff but holy crap, the cringiness was absolutely dominant... I wanna apologize for the crappy first chapters. Back when I first started this fanfiction I was young and- *someone taps shoulder* *turns around*
Cringy Writing: Correction, you STILL ARE! How old are you, sixty? How do you age so fast in a couple of months?
Me: Oh yeah. *ugly snort*
Cringy Writing: Also, if you write less cringy stuff then how come I'm still here?
Me: Shut up. It's because this chapter might be cringy.
Cringy Writing:
Me:
Cringy Writing:
Me: Okay it is. But hey, the cringy stuff is part of the charm, amirite, amigo?
Cringy Writing: You literally just-
Me:
Cringy Writing: I-
Me: XD.
Sooo yeah. If anyone has any advice on how to write less cringy, please tell me! Thank you for reading this extra-long a/n and let us begin the chapter! *fanfare*
18- Bunker Problems
"So let me get this straight. We go back home, we die. We go on the run, we don't see our families and stuff possibly for a long time, and still maybe die?" I breathe.
Tam wraps his hand around my hand and squeezes it. "Yes. But we have a better chance if we get as far as we can from San Diego."
I wiggle my wrist out of his hand and pluck an eyelash from my eyelid, staring at the thin black line on my thumb. I blow it, the lash skidding off my skin and gradually falling.
Another one soon followed. And another one. Eyelash after eyelash until Tam slapped my wrist and pinned it on my leg. "Hey, stop!" he said.
I ignored him and used my other hand, successfully pulling out two eyelashes in one tug. Nice.
"Stop!" he urged, yanking my other hand.
Now left with no free hand, my fingers twitch. "What?" I yell in an annoyed tone, staring at my trapped hands.
Tam took his hands off from mine and stared weirdly at me. "You need to calm down, Sophie."
I blink and fold my arms over my chest. "Excuse me?"
"You need to calm down," he repeated. "You're being too loud." He presses a hand to his temples.
With a huff, I raise an eyebrow haughtily. "Well I'm sorry. Am I disrupting your quiet thinking time?"
"Sophie, this isn't like you. I know the stress is getting to you." Tam wrung his fingers and leaned back in his seat, studying me with his stony silver eyes. "I know everything's not puppies and rainbows right now," he cringes, "but we both need to find a way to get through this. We both need to stay calm."
"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Zed shouts from the trunk.
I snort. "You're not a part of this discussion, Ed!" I reply brusquely. I buckle up my seatbelt and flash Tam a small smile. "I know, Tam. So what about that bunker of yours?"
"Oooh, a bunker?" Zed yips from the back. "I wanna come, too!"
I eye Tam strangely. "Is he a kid in a thirty year old's body?"
Tam lets out a dry chuckle. "I'd believe that, actually."
"I can hear everything you guys are saying right now!"
"We know," Tam and I say in unison. Our heads jerk around and we stare at the other for a long second before bursting into raucous laughter.
"Mi casa es su casa, welcome," Tam smirks, leading me inside a small broken building beside a closed diner.
He dragged Zed behind us, who was still attached to the chair. "Can I get off the chair now?" Zed whined.
"No," Tam calmly responds.
He pushes the door open and I rush inside, rubbing my arms to warm them up.
It was freezing outside and inside frankly wasn't much better. "Is th-there he-he-heating in h-h-here?" I chitter, and blink in amazement as Tam flips the lights on. They were faint and apparently very used, but at least they still worked.
"Hold on a minute," Tam warns me and drags Ed to a small corner of the room, double-checking all the knots that are holding him to the chair.
I look around the building in slight awe. It wasn't much really but it was cute.
A small lumpy armchair was positioned in the middle of the room, and there was a long table with a plastic tablewrap on it. The floor had a thin carpet and there was a mini fridge by the table, which had four chairs. One of which was lying on its side. "Broken," Tam elaborates when he notices my ogling of it.
He crosses the room, joining me by the door, which he immediately locks. It only had two locks and they weren't that fancy, but there was a small copper padlock on the door handle that was left on its hinge.
Tam taps my shoulder and I turn my head around impatiently, trembling from the cold. "What?"
He rolls his eyes and takes me by the hand, pulling me onto the armchair. "Sit down," he orders. "I'll see if I can get the heater to work again."
I shrug and sit down. The armchair had a musty scent to it, and it didn't look exactly new. To be honest I wouldn't have cared if it was a rough rock. I needed to relax.
I unzip my jacket and tug the sleeves off my arms. It snagged on my shoulder mid-pull and I groan.
The sleeves were honestly too tight and taking the jacket off was practically a full-on workout. With a couple of grunts and a lot of sweat shed, I finally got the dang thing off of me. Come to think of it, the purpose for taking it off was fulfilled. Blood was circulating throughout my body better than ever because of the effort put into removing it.
I still had a few goosebumps from the cold though, so I wrap the jacket over my body and lie against the rest. No ottoman to prop my feet on, but I had my knees pulled in against my chest so I could warm my entire body easier.
I watch as Tam struggles with the thermostat. He punches it a few times and stares at the bleak numbers on the green screen. "Need help?" I call from the armchair, smirking with amusement at the apparent difficulty Tam was having. He wasn't even trying in the right place. When there are issues with the heating, usually you check the main system, which is normally located on the walls of the building outside unfortunately.
"Nope!" Tam assured me, but he was glaring at the screen as if it murdered someone and started the zombie apocalypse.
"You sure?" I lounge back comfortably, a knowing grin spreading on my face.
"Fine! But do you even know how the heating works?" he asked.
I peeled the jacket off me and strutted over to the thermostat. "Dude," I say with a small sigh of disappointment, "clearly the thermostat is working fine. Look. It's showing the temperature of the room. That's what it's supposed to do," I inform him coolly. "Now if there's a problem with the heating, you don't check the thermostat. You need to go to the main outlet o-outside."
"Oh. I knew that," Tam quickly rushed to explain.
I roll my eyes while continually rubbing my arms to rid them of the annoying goosebumps that popped up once more. "Suuuure you d-did."
Tam grabs his jacket and slides it onto his arms with ease. Wow. I'm jealous. "I'll fix it," he states confidently, speeding out the door and slamming it shut behind him.
I smirk and walk over to the armchair, resting my arms on the worn cushions. "I give it five minutes," I tell myself.
"I give it two," Ed-with-a-Z put in. How he heard me from all the way across the room I'll never know. That guy is one creepy potato.
I tap my fingers on the rest, checking my nails casually as the time ticked. Checking my Samsung, it said four minutes had passed.
Just as I slid my phone back in its pocket, the door creaked open and Tam entered, panting. "I n-need your h-help, S-S-Soph-phie," he chattered.
I locked eyes with Zed. "Mine was closer," I state gleefully.
As I followed Tam outside, Ed grumbled, "Whatever."
The grass was crunchy with ice shards and frost. I tailed Tam to the side of the building. He pointed to a gray box attached to the wall, slightly unhitched on its side. It was opened already. "Th-there it is," he begrudgingly mumbled, fisting his hand and blowing softly into his palm.
I carefully squint and cautiously pick through a few wires. "Yup. A fuse blew," I conclude as I hold up the evidence- a broken coil of red wire. "You need to replace that."
"Can y-y-you f-fix it?" he stuttered, blowing into his hand again for warmth.
I sigh. "Temporarily I guess. But long-term you'll need a n-new w-wire," I explain, the wind whipping my hair violently over my shoulder. Gosh, it was way colder in Ensenada than in San Diego. I shakily take hold of the two separate fuses and slowly try to attach them. "Can you take the band out of my ponytail?" I ask Tam, gripping the wires steadily.
"Yeah, okay," he said. The wind now was slowing down and as a result, I felt less cold. The wind often would make all the difference. I felt his hands on my neck, his touch causing my breath to hitch as he tugged the band off, the ponytail unraveling and my hair fanning out.
"Thanks," I gratefully tell him and accept the band, holding the wires together steady with one hand as I grabbed the band from his hands and wrapped it around the wires, securing it tightly. "There...we...go," I mutter, twisting it and coiling it two more times as an extra precaution. I shut the door with a grunt and spin around to face Tam. "Should be all good now," I proudly announce.
Tam was staring at me with some unrecognizable emotion I'd never seen on him before.
"What?" I blink. "Is-is something w-wrong?"
"No, the complete opposite actually," he said, sounding stunned.
"Wh-what?" I stutter.
He takes a step then another and quickly closes the distance between us, throwing his arms around my back. "How did you learn to do all that?" he whispered in my ear.
I shrug. "I dunno. My dad-" I caught my breath, "at the zoo, they have problems all the time with the heating and air conditioning and stuff. Sometimes when my mom's too busy to help him, he calls me."
Tam wraps his hands around my neck and stares into my eyes.
Something in my stomach stirs and flips as I realize what emotion it is. Pride.
We stand in the cold weather not caring about the temperature. Our foreheads knock against each other and our eyelashes nearly brush. His flushed cheeks approach mine and our faces crush in the stampeding wind, lips conjoined. Our arms wrapped tightly around the other, warmth emitting from the proximity we were in.
Just two figures molded into one.
A/N: Hahahaaaaa did you guys catch the song reference hidden in this chapterrrr? O.o I wrote one line and I could NOT help myself XD. Not rlly a fan of Taylor Swift but I like a couple of her songs. Thanks so much for reading this far! The next update is really soon! *grumbles* stupid corona virus, making me bored out of my mind. But hey at least it encourages more frequent updates!1!
