Page 24 of Hunting Ground

When I don’t move to walk away or stop looking, Adrien becomes more insistent. He grips me around the waist and all but drags me, no longer giving me the choice to look or not.

“Hey!” I yelp, glaring up at him as I stumble forward. “What are you doing?”

“Dragging you, since you’ve apparently forgotten how to walk,” Adrien complains. “It’s not a public show. You don’t need to watch, and I don’t need his screams to give me a migraine. If you won’t do it for you, do it for my delicate head.”

I can’t help my scoff as I look at him, incredulous. You’re claiming a migraine in an abandoned amusement park while holding a knife. I’m not sure that’s your strongest cover story.”

“Hell yeah I am. You ever had one, little monster?”

My eyes narrow and my look turns bemused. “Yeah, I have. And you know my name. You’re allowed to use it.”

Adrien’s grip loosens once we’re far enough away that the music drowns out John’s cries, no matter how hard I subconsciously strain to hear them. But he still grips my hand, making me feel like he’s lost faith in me not straying from our destination. The Ferris wheel looms in the distance, slowly turning, the cars swinging in the night air coming off the ocean.

I’ve never been a fan of ferris wheels, and tonight is certainly not the night to test my lingering fear. I shudder at the sight of it and hurry along, becoming the leader and all but dragging Adrien behind me.

But I have to stop when we get to the base of it, once I realize I don’t know where to go. My eyes flick to Adrien, and he barely hesitates before pulling me around to the far side closer to the rail.

On this side, I can hear the sound of the ocean crashing against the pier. Without music and sounds coming at me from every side, my head feels quieter almost instantly, and the pressure in my head that’s been threatening to become real pain eases.

Finally, I can think again. Though being able to properly assess the current situation feels like it has the chance of pushing me past my threshold for bad situations. My feet take me to the edge of the pier, where I can set my hands on the railing to stare at the water instead of the overwhelming cacophony of what’s going on behind me.

While I’m here, I can just breathe.

This is too much.

The hunters. The pier.

Them.

All of them, not just Ronan and Ansel. Adrien feels like a wrecking ball, crashing through my already fucked up night. Not that I think he’s a bad wrecking ball, exactly but still. He–

A warmth presses to my back and hands wrap around the railing to either side of my body. A head rests on my shoulder, and I realize by the familiarity of it, that Ronan is the one behind me.

“Hi,” I whisper, not looking at him. My heart twists in my chest again and my hands tighten. I want to look at him. I want to take days to look at the both of them. The bravery and adrenaline I’ve been running on seem to fade, until I’m leaning against his chest.

He leans his temple against my jaw, still resting his head on my shoulder. “Adrien is back there telling Ansel you’re a great kisser,” he tells me.

I blink.

Then I stare out over the ocean and let out a long, slow breath.

“I could kill him.”

“You could.”

“I think I’m gonna kill him.”

“He’s pretty hard to kill. Just a thought, before you take your trusty crowbar over there to swing a home run against his head. He’s like a cockroach.” Ronan turns and presses his nose to my neck, causing me to stiffen. “I’d watch though.”

“I didn’t mean to–”

“No one’s mad.” The words fall between us, though the meaning of them eludes me. “Okay, well, that’s not true. Ansel is pissed but only because I think he was dead set on being the one to find you, sweep you out of danger, and have you go all starry eyed for him before you can remember your last fight with him.”

Ouch.

My chest tightens around the memory and my hands loosen on the railing, falling to my sides. Ronan sighs and shakes his head against my neck. “No, don’t be like that. It was a long time ago. That has nothing to do with now.” One of my hands comes up to tangle in his hair and I turn to breathe against his temple.

Fuck, I missed my boys. Having them here feels like a fever dream, and some distant part of me wonders if I’m dead and hallucinating this.