𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐬

♡︎12♡︎

When I got to work the next Tuesday, Nemuri's face was beaming with a smile of giddy anticipation. 

"What's up?" I asked.

"Go change and I'll tell you when you get done."
She probably thought it was weird that I brought my work clothes in my backpack and came in wearing sloppy T-shirts. But I still cared more about what my brothers thought than what she did. And I didn't live in my mind. . .or whatever she had said. I lived in a house full of guys who loved to make fun of me. I walked out after changing and looked at her expectantly. 

"Okay, close your eyes," she said.

Playing along, I closed my eyes.

"Ready? Open them."

I did, and she held up a check for a hundred and fifteen dollars. It was made out to me. "What's this?"

"Your cut of the makeup session we did the other day."

I took the check and stared at the number. And here I thought I was going to tell Nemuri I didn't want to do it anymore. But if I could make over a hundred bucks just sitting there, I could handle it. It meant I'd be able to pay off my dad quicker. 

"We did so well, we're going to hold at least two more classes and see how it goes." She pulled a flyer out from under the cupboard and handed it to me. On the upper right-hand corner of the flyer was a picture of me in full makeup. 

"Whoa. What's that?"

"Your picture. I thought you were okay with it. It's the one we took the other day."

"I just thought you printed off a few for my. . .family. . ." I would not mention my mom again. It really was eating me up. ". . .to see."

"Did she like them?"

"Yeah. They were great." That wasn't a lie, right? 

"I apologize. I should've asked you. It just turned out so well, I offered it to Mina."

I stared at the picture again. It was just a dumb flyer. Hopefully, no one would recognize me. My friends and brothers weren't exactly in the market for makeup. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

That night I couldn't sleep. My brain kept spinning. It was only midnight, earlier than my normal middle-of-the-night waking, so when I looked out the window and saw the light on in Katsuki's room, I texted:

Katsuki💥🧡
12:14 A.M.

You
Up?

Katsuki💥🧡
Yeah, see you in one minute
Read @ 12:15 A.M.

He texted back almost immediately. 

I heard his back door shut right after mine. We arrived at the fence together. He leaned his shoulder against the board and I could smell his deodorant. It was a sharp, clean scent. 

"What's up?" he asked.

"Feeling restless." I sat down, back to the fence, and listened as he did the same. 

"No run again today?"

"No."

"Are you out here every night you don't run?"