Code: R |ONC 2024|

06

Emily

His hands are situated on my hips, holding me close as his head remains craned back with his eyes pinched shut. I can smell him again, and this time I've got a good feel of him. My thighs cradle each side of his hips, the firmness of his sit against my ass, and my palm grazes his exposed navel, feeling a glimpse of muscle instead of the vest.

Groaning, his body shifts beneath mine, and that's when his eyes snap open and his grip on me tightens. We must've been staring at each other for a long time because it's as if something snaps or clicks, and his palms slowly drag down my sides, leaving his fingers to stroke the sides of my thighs.

"Blondie. . ."

Shaking my head, I wriggle off him and wrap my arms around myself as I give him my back. "I'm sorry, the ride left me a little dazed. I didn't hurt you, right?"

There's silence, then shuffling and scuffing before he finally lets me know I didn't and he's fine. Awkward tension hangs over us, and I want to ask him things, like what that look was when I returned from the dead, but right now doesn't feel like the time. Not only that, but there's one more place, and then we're at my Settings.

Once I'm there. . . I'll be gone, and I'll never see him again. This means I shouldn't let myself catch any feelings, nor should I dwell on anything.

"Where to next, Blondie?"

Opening the Reader, I flick the map to the next slide, and a sigh comes from me. "Just Snapchat, I think we'll be alright."

Nodding, he pushes ahead, and I can tell that something is different with him, and I'm shamefully curious about what it is and how I can find out.

Pixel steps to the side to allow me the space to hop through the Gateway first, and when I do, it's nothing like I expected.

Bright yellow coats everything except the floor, and it's blinding. An ear bursting ring echoes through the room before a wave of vibrations brush beneath the soles of my shoes, and it sends tingles through my feet. A second wave comes, and then there's silence. Knowing what the sound means, I check the Reader for an update, and a message notification is quick to greet me, only it makes me feel as if a bucket of icy water has been poured over me.

Brendan.

Searching for Pixel, there's no sign of him. Calling out his name, there's no reply. Scanning the map, he's still on the other side of the Gateway. I'm about to head through when another wave of vibrations and ringing hits me. This time, they're constant, and it has me stumbling backward onto the floor. Hastily tapping the Reader, I try to find a silence button or a volume key, but there's nothing.

Tears start to bubble up as the noise turns into a powerful onslaught, and my head buries itself into my arms, shaking as I sob to myself like a baby.

"Please, please just stop. . . leave me alone," I whimper, my fingers digging into my sleeves.

Arms wrap around me, and a cry comes from me as I scramble away, the figure blurry through the moist screen. They lower, and I know it's Pixel, not a bad person or Brendan. I try to control my breathing, but they still come out in short, breathless gasps. Warm hands settle on my arms before they travel up for the pads of his thumbs to brush under my eyes, and there's a soft coo from him as he hushes me.

Hiccupping, I shake my head and try to tell him I'm fine, but he doesn't have it. His arms lace around me as he pulls me into his chest, and for a while, I don't do anything because I'm scared of how he will react, and I don't want him to leave me.

"It's OK, Blondie, let it out for me," he whispers against my hair, and like he asks, I start bawling into the crook of his neck.

My fingers clutch the material of his shirt, and the steady sway of his body rocking me is lulling me into a sated state, and then I'm relaxing in his hold as if I were ready to fall asleep.