13 - lightning strike in a hurricane

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""in mah effin pawket""
-mickey, discord server

song to listen to: watch by billie eilish

warnings: mentions of death, swearing, crying, break downs, overthinking, this is the last chapter before the mall, have fun, don't cry too much yet we aren't at mia's death but we will be soon

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jennifer peters' point of view

"Listen, Josh, I don't mean to step on whatever super shocking revelation that you're having right now," I was on my overthinking bullshit. "And Deena, I don't mean to interrupt your angsty lesbian mission-that isn't mean to sound homophobic-but how the fuck are we going to tell Auntie Z all of this?"

"I mean-" Deena started to say something as we got out of the car, but I cut her off for a last minute correction.

"And by the way, I will not be breaking this news to her."

"Whatever, we'll...we'll all break the news, okay?" Deena formed it like a question, but I knew it was just a cover for an order.

I don't even listen to somebody's accurate order for a milkshake, fuck Deena.

"Except for me. You and Josh have fun-"

"Man, can we just get this done-"

"We're walking in the house, what do you want from us, Josh?"

"I wanted to be done with this shit ten hours ago."

"Don't you mean twenty-four hours ago?"

"Time's a construct, now brother and best friend, shut up and go to the bathroom."

My heart deflated as our back and forth argument about time and being done with life faded, and we could hear her. Sam. She was still growling, she was still...Not-Sam. How? It didn't make sense. We did everything we were supposed to do, so why is she still growling, and possessed, and trying to kill us all? That wasn't fair. This isn't fair. I need to see if Dad's still alive, Sam was supposed to be normal again, but she's still a lightning strike in a hurricane. My heart got blown up just a tad bit upon seeing both of my aunts standing in the bathroom door-frame, and then I realized both of them had knives raised.

"Oh, Jesus Christ-" I almost said some more colorful words after Auntie Mia said those three words, but I wound up being able to bite my tongue.

Keep it PG. For now.

"Auntie, what are you-" Why am I stuttering? I'm such a dumbass. "What are you doing here?"

She shouldn't be here. She should be at home, with her wife, and her daughter, and her beautiful dog Captain Tennille. She shouldn't be involved with this again. This isn't fair to her. Who called her? Auntie Z probably called her. She shouldn't be here. Neither of them should be involved in this. Nobody alive in 1978 should be involved in this, and what, now we have to tell both of them the worst news in the world? Even if it was the truth, it wasn't going to feel nice. She doesn't deserve to go through anything again. I need to protect her from this night and whatever it has in store.

Out of the blue, Auntie M wrapped me in a bear hug, one hand clutching the back of my head. I still wanted to panic, but at the same exact moment, it felt nice. This was nicer than the brief hug Dad had given me-Auntie M's hugs were always different. They provided an inevitable comfort to whoever was receiving the hug, and you just wanted to melt into her arms and never let go. That's how safe she made me feel. That's how safe she made anybody feel-it was the Mia Peters Effect, as dubbed by my father. She left a sweet kiss on my forehead, allowing it to linger for but a second before we parted from the hug to look at Auntie Z as she spoke.

"Look at her," Auntie Z rightfully complained. "I told you it wouldn't work! There's no ending it."

"Oh shit...you're Mia Peters?" Josh had a terrible way to go about timing.

Tears grew in my eyes as Auntie MiMi didn't reply, the subsequent silence that followed was enough to give anybody and everybody the heebie jeebies. Both of the women could sense that something had gone wrong-they weren't dumbasses. But now they were going to ask. Now we were going to have to tell them. I got a sense of deja vu, even though I'd never been in this sort of situation before. That's not true. There was one time in seventh grade, and I was in the principal's office, and for my own good, I'm going to pretend that trauma has blocked out the rest of the incident.

"What is it?" Auntie Z's voice was shaking. "What's wrong?" Auntie M's voice was filled with fear. 

She looked at me for an answer and I looked down, unable to meet her eyes. There was another five seconds of silence. I nudged Deena's shoe, trying to not shake too badly. I can't believe this is real. I went so far as to pinch myself, but instead of waking up comfortably in my own bed, I only felt a slight pain. Fuck.

"We need to talk."

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You could see Auntie Ziggy falling back into every romantic moment she had had with Nick Goode in 1978 as she fell onto her knees in shock. You could see Auntie Mia lost in memories of all the friends and lovers she had lost that night as she held onto the door frame so she wouldn't fall as well. It hurt to see both of them cry, to see both of them in any sort of pain. The worst part is, I didn't know what to do about it. Would they want to be comforted at this moment in time, or would they want to be left with their emotions? I couldn't figure out that answer.

"We need to kill Nick Goode." Deena was trying to move the night along, so I tossed a quick glare in her direction so she would give them their needed minutes of sobs.

I almost joined the sobbing crew when Auntie Mia moved down to comfort Auntie Z; both of my incredibly traumatized aunts were whispering words of comfort and reassurance to one another. I didn't bother to try and listen to them, as it felt like too much of an invasion of their privacy. Sure, we were all in the same room, going through the same things, but that wasn't entirely true. This was Deena, Josh, and I's first time experiencing anything like this. Auntie M and Z have seen this film before, and the ending was one that none of them liked. The feeling they felt began to resonate with me as we were all climbing in a car; I sat on Auntie Mia's lap and stared out of the window.

I had a distinct feeling that I wouldn't like the ending of this film.

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we're too close to the end for comfort imma kms (joke)

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