Ex-Heroes

Who do you miss?

(Hopes POV)

     I lean back away from Brian. He stares at me, curiosity written all over him.

     "I don't know why we still have to kiss right out here. I'm pretty sure Evan, Tyler, Marcel, Cole, and Mason already know about...... us." He says. I look at the leaf covered ground and start to kick at the leaves around me.

"Well, it's just a precaution. What if..... Marcel doesn't know and we just kiss right in front of him?" I ask him. He starts to smile at me.

"Your adorable you know that?" He asks me, a smile still on his face. I start to smile as well.

My brain keeps sending me so many mixed signals, telling me that I need to stay faithful to Craig, even if it's been what seems to be a month since I last saw him. It also tells me how there's no way in hell that Craig could even still be alive so I CAN be with Brian. When I think about Craig on some days, Brian revers to them as my "period" days cause I don't want anything to do with Brian, but when I'm thinking about Brian, we usually spend the day alone together.

"Want to go on our walk? You know to our spot?" He asks. I nod my head and he smiles at me before grabbing my hand. We start to walk deeper into the woods, enjoying the scenery around us.

"You miss (Y/N)?" He asks me randomly. I look over at him, he's practically staring at me. We stop walking and I let go of his hand.

"Of course I do. Do you miss Delirious, Or David, or Lui, or Even Craig." Just saying his name kills me inside. He darts his eyes away from me.

"I'm sorry, I...... I didn't mean it like that. God dammit I ruin everything like-" he cups both of my cheeks with his hands and brings me into another kiss. This is one of his his kisses telling me it's time to shut up without actually saying shut up to me. After a good 30 seconds he stops and looks at me.

     "Are you done now?" He asks me. I sigh and nod my head. He gives me a smile before pulling me into a hug.

     "How about we just start heading back to the house? You can finish reading that book while you're cuddling with me." He says looking down at me. I start to laugh.

     He looks back up and pushes me away from him, towards the ground specifically. He pulls out his gun from his back pocket and starts to shoot at the sprinter, missing each shot. The sprinter goes to me first since. It pins me down and I start to scream bloody murder. I push it away from me as much as I can. It finally goes still as Brian plunges his knife on top of it's head. He pushes it harshly off of me and helps me up.

     As I get onto my own two feet I embrace Brian as tightly as I could, not wanting to let go.

     "I want to go home now." I muffle into his chest. He takes a deep breath and he hugs me back.

I lay on the couch, my nose burried in Of Mice and Men. My head lays on Brian's legs while he reads an old gaming magazine.

     "So, you're telling me that you have never read this book before? Like...... ever? Not even for school? That's when I had to read it." I say looking away from the page and at Brian. He starts to laugh and shakes his head

     "No, never read it. Why are you reading it again if you already read it before?" He asks me. I shrug my shoulders.

     "Why smell the same rose if it still smells the same? Because the flower is beautiful, and it has a beautiful smell." I say. He starts to smile at me. I hear someone start to walk out of their room and walk into the hall. Cole walks into the kitchen and starts to go through the cupboards.

     "You know this isn't like the good old days when you can just go to the kitchen grab whatever you want to eat and then go back to your room to play video games." Brian says setting down the magazine. I fold the corner of my book and set it on the coffee table.

     "For 1, I wasn't coming in here to look for food. You probably forgot that it's MY day to cook dinner. And 2, there's no electricity or power so how could I be playing video games?" Cole asks. I sit up off of Brian's leg and lay my head on his shoulder now. It was as soon as I did that the door busted open and in ran Morgan along with Evan, Mason, and Tyler. Morgan starts to cry.

     "THE MONSTERS GOT UNCLE MARCEL!" She cries out. I look at Brian confused. Tyler picks her up and carries her towards her room. Mason follows them.

     "What the hell does she mean?" Brian asks. Evan wipes at his eyes and looks at the ground.

     "The..... sprinters got Marcel..... to save me." Evan says. I feel my heart stop. It got quiet in the room. No one daring to say a word, that was until Brian said something, breaking the silence.

     "A sprinter almost got Hope today. That's the third one I saw this week and it's not even Wednesday." Brian says. Cole snorts and stares at Brian now.

     "I wonder why. You always go back in the woods to make out with Hope and then come back like nothing happened. I swear when I was taking a nap yesterday I was woken up cause I could hear you two moaning." Cole says. Brian stands up and starts to walk towards Cole.

     "Keep talking, I fucking DARE you." Brian says. Luckily Evan got between the both of them before any punches where thrown.

     "How about you two stop acting like fucking high schoolers and act like adults for once." Evan says, looking back between the both of them. His eyes red from crying. Brian shakes his head and starts to walk away.

     "I'm going around the block. I'll be back before dinner." He says. Cole let's out a chuckle.

     "Don't forget your girlfriend, you know for round two." Cole says. Brian stops walking and turns around glaring at him before continuing to walk again.