"I'll be fine here, just gonna finish this."
"Alright, I guess I'll have to be the badass lone wolf-guy-alpha-male-thing."
"Yeah you should go, you just got tagged." She pointed her gun and shot a laser at the hostile. These kids were FAST.
"Alright, I'm gonna come back in a few minutes. We do have 15 so. Yeah. Ack HEY! Get back here!" Rhys ran off after the kid that was spawn camping him. Sasha stayed, without drinking her smoothie. She had a sudden load of pain in her stomach. It was overwhelming her, and it started so fast. She didn't really feel sick, but it hurt so bad she thought she was. She thought she was dehydrated, so she took a few drinks of her smoothie. Meanwhile, Rhys was getting lit up left and right. He couldn't even see most of the people.
"HOW?! Through the wall? God dammit!" He was getting.. pretty mad. And the little kids were only running about 300 miles per hour around him as he tried to focus on a target. They had to be on steroids, he concluded. He started to hide in the coves they designed in the maze. All that did was... well...
"Camper! Everyone on red, there's a camper!" A kid called for his team to surround Rhys.
"This isn't my first rodeo!" He called as he spammed his trigger to take out at least 5 red people.
"You noob! Get out of there camper!"
"IT'S A LEGIT STRATEGY!" Rhys screamed. He kept spamming the trigger down the one way path leading to him.
"Let's just go find someone else!" One of the kids yelled as they migrated out of the area. Rhys waited a few minutes to be sure. At least 6 minutes had passed, so he went back to look for Sasha. All he memorized was the familiar circular holes in the wall, signifying the green base. It was already taken out, so somebody had points that they could never view. Rhys had to go incognito. He had to keep.. a low... profile. He had to have hidden from at least 3 blue and the 5 familiar reds. The game was at 13/15 minutes, so he felt no need to be stealthy anymore.
"Sasha! I'm lost! Where are you?" He heard fumbling around the corner. When he peeped around, the recognizable face was there.
"Hey.. um. Rhys. We should.. go." She said as she began to walk quickly.
"What's wrong? There's still 2 minutes. I thought you wanted t-" She cut him off and pushed him to the side. The footsteps of a hyper child passed by them. Sasha peeked around the corner to make sure no one was around.
"Rhys. I'm.. bleeding." She whispered to him. Her smoothie in her other hand, she dragged him towards a darker area.
"W.. what do you mean? Your side right?" He asked.
"No.." She kept moving with an expression of . He stopped and pulled his arm from her.
"What's wrong, Sasha? You don't have to be scared to tell me." She let out a sigh and went under the light. Rhys was horrified.
"U-W-Um.. Wh..." He was speechless. The blood was a little more... down. Than her stab wound.
"Yeah.. we should.. go. You know how bad this hurts? It hurts. A lot." She sharply said as she made her way to the exit.
"I never said it didn't hur-.. We can't just walk out there. They'll freak out when they see... that."
"Well I'm open to suggestions." Rhys took a second. He stopped Sasha.
"What are you doi-" He took the smoothie from her and regretfully poured the drink on his T-Shirt, on his Jeans, and on some parts of his open skin.
"You're gonna owe me big time.. these were my favorite clothes." Sasha was taken back by what Rhys just did. She didn't expect him to do anything like that.
"Any of that left? It's gotta be.. believable..."
"No.. Nah. You'll be fine. Story is I bumped into you on accident." He lead Sasha to the exit. When they reached the door he was about to pound on it. Sasha placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Look.. I'm sorry this is ruining our day. I ruined a lot of things. I feel bad, to be honest. I wish I could stop the.. gah you know. Anyways, I just want you to know that it means a lot to do that to yourself. I'm probably not worth it an-" Rhys shushed her before she finished. He placed his palm under her chin and rubbed her cheek with his thumb.
"You need to trust me, y-you are definitely worth it-a-and you don't ruin anything... My day's gonna be fine as long as you're fine." He wanted her to know she wasn't an obstacle for him.
"You help me. Without even trying. Y..you should know that" She knew she wasn't an obstacle for him. Sasha pulled Rhys' head down to hers and their lips locked. They pulled away, gasping for air.
"W..We should.. Um.. Go. Door.." Rhys barely mumbled.
"Yeah... Door." Sasha repeated. Rhys pounded on it until someone answered.
"What do ye wan- oh. What went down in there? Better not be any bodies cuz I'm not cleaning a body.. Again." The guy that opened the door said. Rhys stared blank ahead. Sasha nudged his shoulder.
"OH! Uh... bump.. accident. Spil-" She nudged his side as she took over.
"Well I had a smoothie and he turned the corner, we were both in a rush. So we have to go now for obvious reasons."
"Alright. Better not be any on the floor."
"There's not. Bye!" Sasha called as they walked out of the waiting area and out the front door. They leaned against the wall next to the door.
"Rhys... I mean it. Thanks so much, it means a lot that you did that for me. I.. it may be the hormones. I'm not sure. I just feel like.. I don't know.."
"It's um.. No problem. Well-There is one problem. Explaining what happened to Vaughn and Fiona. They aren't gonna just see these stains and forget about them." Sasha's head fell down.
"We can tell them the same.." She said sounding distant.
"Yeah but they can tell the difference between... blood... and a smoothie. Especially in a well lit area." He wasn't wrong. Sasha and Rhys were really the only ones that respected privacy in their household.
"Yeah.. you're right. I guess the, truth?" Sasha said, reluctantly.
"Whatever we say-and whatever they say-I'll be there next to you. We should get you home though.. can't imagine that... is.. pleasant.." He replied.
"Yeah, let's go. I just hope nothing else happens because of me." Rhys pulled Sasha closer to his right side. They began the walk home, which would at least be 15 minutes. Sasha had to stop many times because of her cramps. At 6 blocks from their apartment, she was hurting so bad she was barely mobile. Rhys, with the blessing of adrenaline, was able to carry her about 4 blocks of the way. He had to stop when his arm became sore, when she insisted he put her down.
"No I think I can go the rest of the way. You're hurting an-"
"Stop. I can make it. I don't want you to. I'm fine."
"Last time you said tha-"
"I know what happened 'last time'. But this time it's serious. Thanks for the 4 blocks though, I can make the rest." Rhys reluctantly agreed to let her walk. They reached the front of the parking lot to see their car.
"Well, they're home.. What's the plan?" He asked.
"We should just tell them the truth to eliminate any drama. Let's just go, I'm going to bed." They walked in the door to see Fiona and Vaughn were watching TV.
"Oh, hey gu- Woahhh! What happened bro?" Vaughn asked. Fiona turned to see the same sight.
"Sash, is it the.. you know.." She nodded and looked down to hide her face. Fiona got up and approached them.
"Let's just get you to your room..." Fiona walked with Sasha to her room and Rhys followed.
"Why am I always left out! Would it hurt to just tell me what's going on for once? Seriously!" Vaughn called from the couch.
"Vaughn this is something you don't wanna be involved in, bro."
"Did- ugh. Were you guys killing people? Cause it looks like.." The sisters closed the door and Rhys waited outside. In a few minutes, Fiona came out. She pulled Rhys into her room, passing by Vaughn, which was muttering about how he deserved to be involved more. She closed the door behind her.
"So.. I take it you know what's happening. And it is unpleasant for us. So don't start that 'oh it's just bleeding' crap. There is a lot. And right now she seems normal, but you will not want be around her in time. Trust me there." Fiona stated.
"Alright that's.. um.. Why am I in here?" Rhys asked. He'd hardly been in Fiona's room. She never lets anyone except Sasha in there, so he was confused why he was in here.
".. You seriously. Do not want to be remotely close to Sasha while this.. cycle.. takes it's toll. She get's mad like so easily and she's going to go apeshit if she doesn't have chocolate and all that other good stuff."
"But you don't understand. I think she's going to be fine with me around."
"I don't think you're understanding. This time changes peop- girls. It will make them want to kill everything and anything. So don't try anything, all I'm saying."
"Fine, not sure what I would try but-"
"You can go now. Dismissed." Fiona basically meant to get out of her room, but she never says that. Rhys walked out... To head to Sasha's room immediately.
"Hey, bro. Please tell me what's happening!?" Vaughn called as Rhys walked by.
"You do not want to get involved. It's better that you stick to spaceball games bro." He replied as he entered the hall.
"Fine! Okay! I have an interesting thing you'll never know! He'll never know I'm holding in a pee so I can fini- ah dammit!" Rhys knocked on the door. He heard moving around and then her voice.
"C-come in." She called as she struggled to do something. Rhys walked in to see she changed her clothes.
"Oh. Hey Rhys. Sit." She said as he closed the door behind him.
"Hey Sasha. How are you feeling?" He said as he sat down.
"Eh. Shitty. But I'm glad you're here. I told Fiona what happened. She said she's not washing your clothes." She smiled and turned to lay down.
"So.. what'd she say?" Rhys asked as he fell backwards on the bed. He tilted his head to see Sasha had now burrowed her head into her arms. He rotated himself and crawled up next to her, wrapping his left arm from her waist to her stomach.
"I won't leave you. I-I can stay here if you want." She was now very obviously crying. He didn't want to see her in pain anymore, physical or emotional. He placed his head on her shoulder.
"You can tell me. I'll listen, I will. I'll help you stop crying... I will. It makes me want to cry when you cry. It does. Please talk to me, Sasha." She looked at him without moving her head.
"Sh.. she said you w-were probably gonna hide at times like these. When I need you." She said, trembling.
"You hardly cry. I know. Why would you believe her? I'm right here, I won't leave you." He said as he ran his robot hand under her side.
"Just.. I'm not sure. I may not look it, but I've never really had anybody to trust, Rhys. Fiona isn't gonna really count, she's my sister. I mean, August doesn't count either since..."
"You know you can trust me. Right, Sasha? Because, you can trust me. Fiona tried to tell me to stay away from you. But I'm too nice like that, even snuck into your room. I don't get toyed with, but toys get me'd. M-Okay that made no sense. Anyways, I can tell you that I will be here for you, you give me hope. I want to return the favor." At this point, Sasha seemed to have calmed down. She turned to face him, with her eyes bloodshot from crying. She had a grin on her face.
"Thanks.. It means a lot. I never liked to stab people's backs and steal from them. You and.. Vaughn showed up, and I thought we were going to do it again. And we almost did, but we must have gotten lucky."
"Yeah.. I guess so." They kept eye contact as they talked for hours. Sasha had to get up several times because of her cramps and changing the cloths, but that didn't stop them very much. They felt more and more bonded hour after hour. When about 12AM rolled around, Rhys reluctantly stood up.
"I better go.. to bed..." He said as he walked off. Sasha grabbed his hand as he walked past her.
"You wanna.. um.. stay in here tonight?" She asked, looking up at Rhys.
"Of course I will stay in here tonight." He replied. Her queen sized bed fit the both of them comfortably. They slept on opposite sides while facing each other.