The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

65. Just Friends

At the end of the day, as you're packing your things to go home, an arm wraps itself around you, and smell the familiar faint scent of body spray. You look over to see Scott looking away from you, whistling as if he's oblivious to what he's doing. You chuckle and he slowly quiets down and glances at you. He says, "Oh hey, (Y/N), I didn't see you there. But I guess while you're here, are you doing anything this weekend?" You look at him in amusement and say, "Yeah, I've got this orgy to attend. Why?" He blushes, "Well after the orgy, are you doing anything?" "I guess not." "Well then maybe you'd like to come with me and do something?" "Sure. Why not?" His eyes light up and he lifts you into a warm hug. You see his tail wagging crazily. The words 'he won't mind' fill your mind again, causing you to grip him harder. You watch his tail wag until you see a shadow, and you look up to see Valerie. She points to a blank card in her hand, signaling she wants yours. A few tears unwillingly flow through your eyes and you grip Scott even tighter. You say, "I c-can't." Scott asks, "Hm? You can't what?" He turns around a little and sees Valerie, saying, "Oh hey Val, how's it-" You interrupt, "I'm s-sorry, Scott.. I c-can't write you a c-card. I want to b-but, I don't even know what to s-say." You bury your face into his shoulder, not wanting anyone to see your face. He steps into a classroom and shuts the door, setting you into a desk. He asks, "Do you have the card?" With a trembling hand, you reach into your pocket and hand it to him. He looks at it's emptiness and rips it apart, tossing it into a recycling bin. He looks at you, "Did that make you feel better?" Your eyes dart between him and the recycling bin, as you try to process your answer. You say, "Kind.. Of?" He smiles and grabs your hand, saying, "You don't need to write me a card. I already know how much you care about me. And if it makes you feel better, I won't write you one, okay?" He puts his hand up to your face, and wipes away your remaining tears with his thumb. He begins to move his hand away, but you grab it and hold it to your face longer, enjoying the feel. His smile grows as he caresses your cheek with his thumb. After another minute, once you're calm, both of you leave the classroom to greet Valerie. She's leaning against the wall looking at her phone. Once she notices you, she puts it away, saying, "So?" Scott speaks for you, "Um, they're not writing one. We talked about it, and we don't want to." "We?" "Yeah, I'm not writing one either." "But you already-" "No I didn't!" Scott grabs your hand and quickly rushes out of the building. He gives you a ride home, making sure to drop you off at the end of your street, and you collapse in bed, not having to worry about any notes anymore. Except for one.

The last day of the week has finally arrived, and after yesterday, you feel pretty refreshed. You get ready for school, and leave the house, saying a half-assed goodbye to your mother. As you walk to school, a car drives up right by you, and gives a honk. You look over, and once the window rolls down, you see Brian's sleepily smiling face. Polly, in the front seat, says, "Heyyy whore, you wanna another ride to school?" You chuckle as you nod your head and get into the back seat. It feels like it's been forever since you've been in the back of Brian's car, yet nothing has changed. It's still a mess, as expected from him. You guys end up having some extra time to stop somewhere for a quick breakfast and then you arrive at school. As you're walking with Brian and Polly into the school, you notice Damien heading your way. He greets Polly and Brian, and holds Brian's hand as you all walk silently inside. Once the bell rings to dismiss you to your lockers, you make your way to yours. As you approach however, you notice a note taped to it with a black rose. You slowly reach up to it and remove it from your locker. You almost don't want to open it because you don't like the idea that Scott could've written it, especially since he made a point that he wouldn't. However, just ignoring the problem won't solve anything, so you open it. And inside, there is a handwriting you've never seen before. It's very curly and pretty, so much so that it's almost difficult to read. You're able to barely make out the words in it though and it reads, "Meet me in the library at lunch. I need to talk to you." Geez, what is it with people and having meetings in the library at lunch? You're almost suspicious of the note, but then again that's never really stopped you before. If this person claims they need to talk to you, then you can't let them down. So, with a small feeling of dread, you await for lunchtime to begin.

Your 4th period bell rings, and you pack up your things to go to your locker. You grab the things you need and once again make your way to the library. Much to your anxiety, as you walk in, you notice there are a couple of separate groups of people already in there, and most of them are making out. You look around for whoever wrote the note, and you notice Hope sitting by herself at a table. She has a pair of earbuds in and she's reading a book. You don't normally see her by herself, so you can only assume she was the one who wanted to talk. And if she's not, you can just use her being alone as an excuse for talking to her. You walk over and lightly tap her on the shoulder, causing her to jump. You quickly retreated your hand as she looked up at you with a nervous face. She says, "Oh, it's just you." She places a bookmark in her book and removes her earbuds. She folds her hands together and stares at the table blankly. She closes her eyes and with a frustrated expression on her face, she says, "Please. Have a seat." You sit across from her and wait patiently for her to speak. She lets out a heavy sigh, opens her eyes, and says, "Alright. I'm bad at this kind of stuff, but I don't have your number, or any other way to contact you, so I'm just ripping off the band aid now," she looks you dead in the eyes, "I like you." You are slightly taken aback by her words, but as you think about it, it almost makes sense, but she hasn't finished speaking. She continues, "And obviously, I can't have you. I need you to understand, this isn't a permanent thing, and this isn't some weak-ass attempt at winning you over. I just think you have a right to know, so you can decide whether or not you want to continue being my friend." You think about what you wanna say, because you should obviously say something. The only thing could say though was, "Why?" She lightly sighs again and says, "Whenever you beat me at that drinking game that one time, that was awesome. And then you absolutely dominate dodgeball every day, and when you're having a good time, you look so happy, and I can also tell your powerful. And that's just a few things. So, how bout it? Do you hate me?" You reach forward and grab her by the hands. You tell her, "No. That's stupid. You can't control how you feel, and as long as you don't try to get in between me and Scott, I have nothing to hate you over. I've had crushes on friends before, and they've been so scared of me flirting with them that they never even gave me a chance to be my friend, and it sucked. So I'm not gonna do that to you." She smiles, "Thanks. I feel a lot better now." She pulls her hands out of yours and pulls out a little box, and hands it to you. She says, "Happy Valentine's Day." You open it, and it's a box of chocolate. "Thanks," you tell her. She says, "Can you go now? I need time to myself." You wordlessly get up and leave, going downstairs to the cafeteria. You enjoy lunch with Scott and the Wolfpack, hoping that Hope has some closure now. You admire her strength for being able to admit that to you, and you spend the rest of the day joyful that you really are surrounded by people who care about you.