Here Comes the Plane

Request: Hurt/Comfort imagine about Merritt.

“Imagine…”: Merritt comforting you after Henley leaves the Horsemen.

You could feel yourself slowly drawing away from your fellow male Horsemen. No matter how hard they tried, you did not want to come out of your bedroom and into the apartment that you shared with Merritt, the fatherly figure you have wanted since you were five.

You could feel the knot in your stomach building larger and larger. It had only been a bit more than 24 hours since Henley walked away from the family that the five of you had created over the past year and a half. It was not the fact that Henley left that upset you so much. It was that she left without a real explanation, or a real good-bye.

“I’m tired of waiting,” she had told the four of you. “If The Eye believed in us and our abilities, they would have come for us by now. I’m sorry, but I’m leaving the Horsemen.”

With that, she turned, her hair wrapping around her like a red curtain at the closing of an act, and walked out the door, literally right out of your life. No hug. No kiss on the cheek like she usually gave you in a “be safe” manner. Just… gone.

As you sat on your bed, legs tightly pulled against your chest, forehead on your knees, you cried. The tears slid slowly down your cheeks, meeting at the base of your chin, and dripping onto your thighs. The loud, shaky, unbreathable cries had stopped after the first twelve hours that Henley was gone. Good thing, too, because you were sure your lungs were about to burst.

You heard the rasp of a knock on your door but did not feel the need to budge. The door was locked, the boys knew that. This was just another one of their attempts to coax you out.

“(Y/N),” called the soft voice of the mentalist from the other side of the wood. “Please. Just unlock the door and we can talk.”

“Go away,” you stated, closing your eyes tightly in hopes of escaping the world.

The sound of mumbled whispers and metal clicking against metal brought you back to reality too quickly. What were they doing? Jack would not dare to pick the lock.

“Sorry,” Jack droned out as the door slowly creaked open.

In the doorway stood the three Horsemen who stood by you, no matter how hard you tried to keep them away. Jack slowly stood from his crouched position while Merritt held a plate of fresh cookies for you. Even Danny, the pain in the ass he was, held a glass of water and ibuprofen. You touched your forehead, now realizing that you had a pounding headache.

“You need to eat,” Jack reminded you as he came and sat on the bed, rubbing his hand up and down your back.

Merritt brought the cookies over to you, setting them gently on the bed in front of you. He sat down carefully, taking one in his hand. “Open up the hanger. Here comes the plane,” he smiled, pretending to fly the cookie. You laughed, obeying him, and taking a bite out of the cookie. Your stomach grumbled for more.

Danny held out the water and pills for you. You smiled at him as you chewed the rest of the cookie. “Thank you,” you said. Taking the items he held, you swallowed them quickly.

“I’ve gotten used to your headache problems,” Danny smirked. “When you don’t eat, they’re the absolute worst to listen to you complain about.”

You chuckled lightly, nodding at the illusionist. You thanked the boys for their effort to help you. They smiled lightly, telling you that it is not helping when it is family. You leaned your head onto Merritt’s shoulder, feeling tired but not ready to drift off into sleep.

“Can we talk?” you asked Merritt, attempting to look up at him from your position.

He smiled, telling the others he would be out later. “Go ahead,” he said to you.

“I miss her so much, Merritt,” you cried, the tears building in your eyes again.

“Hey, I don’t want you to cry,” Merritt told you, pulling you away from his shoulder so you could see his face. “You will not cry, got it?”

You nodded your head, wiping away any tears that may be there. You sniffled as Merritt said, “I know it hurts, but you can’t let yourself keep crying.”

“I know,” you told him, playing with your fingers. “I just don’t get why- how- she could just leave us like that. I thought we had become a family.”

Merritt sighed, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to lay back on your bed. “I don’t know, baby girl,” he whispered as he smoothed your hair. “I could never leave the Horsemen, especially you.”

You looked up at him, his eyes filled with concern for you. “You mean that?”

“Of course,” he smiled, kissing the top of your head. “You’ve become the daughter I always wished I would have. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything in the world.”

You smiled, snuggling into his hold. Even if Henley was gone for good, at least you had the boys, especially Merritt. “I always wanted a dad,” you told Merritt. “I’m glad you came into my life, Merritt McKinney.”

You heard a small sniffle and knew Merritt was becoming emotional. Under all that “too sentimental for me” facade, he was a big teddy bear.

“Do you think you can start eating actual food?” Merritt asked after a moment, coming back into his fatherly role and grabbing the cookie out of your hand right before it could reach your lips. He bit into it, a whimper sounding from your throat. He smirked at you. “No more cookies until you eat something healthy.”

You giggled, hitting him lightly in the stomach. He faked a groan, pulling the two of you up and out to the kitchen where Jack and Danny were working on making your favorite food.