There's a Certain Loneliness in Your Company

Ghoul and Glitch sat silently in Eight Legs while he drove her back to her place. He didn't understand why she wanted to go there, but he stuck to his word. He did as she said, not questioning her motives. Glitch was still getting her thoughts straight about the whole situation. Skyla was doing fine; it was just a matter of revenge now. She was so deep in her own thoughts that she jumped at the sound of Ghoul's voice as he tried to make conversation.

"Can you tell me what you're getting at your place?" His voice cut through the silence in the car.

"Not really."

"Can you tell me where we're going after your place?"

"Not really." She could hear him grinding his teeth but she sat facing forward. He blew out a jet of air through pursed lips, deflated.

"Okay." He tried not to be too annoyed but it was hard when he was being left in the dark about everything. She wanted to tell him, but she really couldn't. Telling him would mean letting him in on what was going on with ONE and the team she was a part of now. She couldn't tell anyone. She wasn't even supposed to be with her friends anymore. Why was ONE taking so many liberties with her? She hadn't questioned it with him, but after today's events she was reconsidering it.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and extended her legs out of the open window of the car, reclining back in the seat. Her head slid onto Ghoul's side where she let it rest on his shoulder. She felt him glance down at her and she smirked. She was glad she could be so comfortable around him. It made this trip a little bit easier. Though she was set on doing this alone, it was nice to have him for the ride.

"Why were you really hiding in the gun closet?" He spoke up once more. She closed her eyes and sighed. So much for a nice, quiet ride.

"I already told you."

"No, you didn't."

"I said I wanted to see you."

"You're lying." He said bluntly, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. She brought her legs back in the car and sat up to face him. He never glanced over at her, but sat patiently waiting on some sort of answer.

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"I told you I know when you're lying."

"Yeah?" She furrowed her eyebrows, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "If you think I'm lying, then why did you go with it earlier?"

"Because I trust you."

She cocked her head to the side in confusion. If anything, she should be the last person he trusts. He just admitted to knowing she was lying to him. She wasn't sure what angle he was going for so she sat in silence hoping he would elaborate.

"I can tell when you're being sincere. What you told me wasn't a lie, but it doesn't explain why you were hiding. Why would you hide from me?"

Her mouth hung open slightly, unable to find an excuse. Was he really able to read her that easily? She was embarrassed not only at how easy it was for him, but the fact that he was able to tell her feelings for him were real. She bit at her lip and turned to stare out the window, unable to think of any excuse this time. This is why ONE told her to leave everyone behind. It was too hard lying like this. She wanted to tell him, it even crossed her mind to even just hint at it. She knew she could trust him to keep her secret, but she didn't trust ONE to not hurt him if he knew she had told Ghoul. Instead of thinking of another lie, she stayed silent. She knew he was watching her from the corner of his eye when he sighed once more in frustration.

"I don't know what it is, and I don't know why I'm so set on trusting you, but when you have a gut feeling, you just go with it. You must be keeping it from me for good reason. I just hope you know what you're doing. When you're ready, you can tell me. I want to be able to help you."

"I want to." Glitch finally said. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the head rest. "Just not yet." She felt the car come to a stop and she opened her eyes. They were sitting in front of her place. She turned to Ghoul who was already staring at her. He gave her a half smile and reached over placing his hand on her leg.

"Whatever you need." He squeezed her leg and turned to look at her place. "Do you need me to go in with you?"

She fidgeted under his touch and bit at her lip. "I'll be fine. This will just take a minute." She thought she was ready to stand up to ONE and ask him what had happened, but now that they were here, she was starting to feel less confident. His hand moved off her leg and she looked at him once more for reassurance.

"Alright. I'll wait right here."

She did her best to appear calm, smiling back at him before stepping out of the car. She walked up to the front door and fumbled with her keys trying to unlock the door, finally stepping into her muggy apartment for the first time in what felt like days. She took a deep breath and held it as she reached over and flipped on the light, expecting ONE to be sitting on the couch or standing in the corner.

To her surprise he wasn't and she let out all the air she was holding. She cautiously walked through the front room, the kitchen, the bathroom, checking all the closets and corners along the way. She saw the door to her bedroom pushed closed and she felt surprisingly irritated. She had the courage to face him once again at the thought of him going through her personal stuff and walked up to the door, kicking it open. She took a few steps into the room without flipping on the light. She stared into the darkness, a smile creeping up on her face.

"You're not as clever as you think, you know?" She stated, crossing her arms over her chest, all her weight pushed to one hip. Suddenly the light flipped on. She didn't bother turning around.

"Toxic Glitch, if I didn't know it, I'd say you're getting better at this." His voice oozed into the room, sticking to her skin more than her sweaty clothes. She felt his presence as he walked out of one of the corners behind her and came to face her. "Sorry about earlier," he said, the sarcasm dripping from his words.

"You left me there."

"You weren't fast enough."

"He had the gun on him. What was I supposed to do?" She was fuming.

"That's what you're supposed to figure out. I give you a task; you do it at any cost."

"What if it wasn't them? What if I was killed?"

"You're still alive aren't you?" He raised an eyebrow at her, only seeming amused by her anger, which made it worse.

"That's not the point."

"That's exactly the point." He emphasized his words, the end of each one piercing her. She sighed heavily through her nose and glared at him.

"What did you do to Skyla?"

"Skyla?" He practically sang her name, cocking his head to the side. Her skin crawled at the sound.

"Don't fuck around. You know what I'm talking about. What did you do to her? She can't remember anything."

"I didn't do anything." He mocked offense at her accusation.

"What you HAD done to her!" Glitch barked, correcting herself. He knew what she meant and she was sick of him playing dumb. Her fingers itched to reach for her gun and take him out.

"She'll be fine. I just had some questions for her."

"My friends are off limits!"

"And I told you to forget them!" He shouted back, taking her by surprise. He composed himself, but was more serious than a moment ago. She was still caught off guard when he flipped his switch like that. He cleared his throat and talked to her much quieter this time. "I told you one stipulation of being on my team was to forget the life you once had. You couldn't do that. I should have had you ghosted by now, but I'm trying something new, which I don't feel is necessary to share with you, understood?"

She had to bite her tongue while he spoke to her like a child. With some reluctance, she nodded her head silently. She would have to do whatever it takes to keep her friends safe if he was going to be in contact with them. If that meant just accepting the fact that they might be abducted once in a while, she would deal with it until she had a better plan.

"So she won't remember you?" Glitch asked, not looking him in the eye.

"I never met her, but she won't remember what happened, no."

"They didn't hurt her?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"On my word." He placed a hand on his chest, a strange gesture for him. She side eyed him and took a shaky breath.

"Just promise you won't hurt them."

"I promise.” He bowed his head, looking at her through his lashes. He straightened up and turned to leave the room without another word.

"ONE?" She called out his name, stopping him in the door way. He turned to look at her with surprise.

"Yes?"

She reached behind her back and retrieved something from under her shirt tucked in her pants. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed it at him which he caught with one hand. As he flipped it over, a smile spread across his face.

"You'll do fine, Toxic Glitch." His words were vile once more as he tucked Party Poison's gun into his pants, finally exiting the room. She closed her eyes and turned around to face the window, ignoring the sick feeling she had in her stomach. It was almost too easy to take it off Poison as she hugged him bye with him being so distracted by Skyla. She ran her hands through her hair, peeling it off of her neck. She tied it in a quick bun, feeling less claustrophobic. She began to gather up clothes to take with her but jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. She turned to see Ghoul in the door way and groaned.

"I thought you said you'd wait in the car?" She returned to retrieving clothes off the floor.

"I heard you yelling. Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine." She continued to throw dirty clothes across the room, searching for something wearable.

"Was someone else here?"

"No."

"Hey..." His voice was at her ear. She suddenly felt his hands on her hips causing her to jump up, turning around to face him.

"What?" Her breathing was quick as his hands stayed on her sides.

"Are you ok?" He asked once more. She realized how jumpy she was and tried to get ahold of herself. It was hard when she could feel his thumbs moving in small circles on her exposed skin.

"I'll be fine." Her voice was breathy, but she nodded her head with confidence anyway. His head tilted to one side as he inspected her. She knew that look too well already. He was reading her like a book. He knew she was lying, but in usual Ghoul fashion, he didn't press any further. She cleared her throat and took a step back from him.

"I-I just need to get some ... some things." She stuttered as she went back to searching through clothes on the floor. She scooped up an arm full and stood up; startled to see Ghoul was still right behind her. She gasped as he took the clothes from her hands and tossed them back on the floor. In one swift motion he backed her against the wall, threw her hands above her head, his face diving quickly toward hers. He stopped just centimeters from her lips, causing her to quiver. His eyes searched hers for something.

"You shouldn't trust me" she whispered, unable to hide the fear in her voice, trying to warn him. He licked his bottom lip and chuckled.

"I'll take my chances, love." With that, his lips found hers with a force she wasn't prepared for. Her fear quickly melted into lust as she found herself just as hungry for him as he was for her. She tried to pull her hands from his grip, wanting desperately to touch him. All of him. He released her and she went straight to his shirt, pulling it up and off of him. She began to kiss and bite down his neck and chest and back up again as she unzipped his pants. She pushed him back until he fell on the bed, quickly climbing on top of him, shedding her own clothes in the process. The heat in the room mixed with the panting and moaning and screaming was enough to cloud their minds and forget the world around them. For now.