𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves³

12│LEAN ON ME ( WHEN YOU'RE NOT STRONG )

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀɴ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʟᴇᴀɴ ᴏɴ ᴍᴇ
( ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ) ꒱


❝ THE COMMISSION NEEDED
TO BE PROTECTED ❞

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"This is just a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit," Five complained as they climbed the stairs. "There's no clear directives about crisis management. You know, Lila, I shouldn't even be here. I was. . . I was out. I was done! And yet, here I am, swept back into the chaos. Why can't I escape this hellhole?" He reached up and itched the back of his neck.

Alexa's gaze caught his action and her eyes narrowed at the familiarity of it. Lila remained oblivious as she replied: "because you love it."

They entered the open space of the atrium. As they crossed to the other side, a sound besides their conversation echoed in the room: the boy's fart made them pause. He held out his hands sarcastically. "My bad."

The British woman remained unperturbed. "Face it, Five. Apocalypse problems are the only things that get your heart pumping. Not even your pretty, blonde girlfriend could distract you enough."

The boy itched his neck again. "I don't know why people keep saying that. I don't actually like chaos. I don't want disorder. I. . . I want retirement. And I'd say that Lexa's pretty damn good at distracting me."

Alexa's face burned hot as Lila let out an amused chuckle. "Yeah, right. What? A normal life with groceries and taxes? You would die of boredom."

"That's not true!" the blonde cut in sharply. "We were just talking about this the other day. Five even said he wanted to cross things off on my list—"

"Ugh, you made a list? How cheesy is that?" Lila mocked her lightly.

She responded defensively: "yeah, well, you're even less cut out for domestic bliss than Five is."

They crossed the open space of the atrium and he opened the far door. The woman stopped  before she crossed over the threshold. "'Course I'm bloody not. Thank God!" Lila followed the pair and when she spoke again, she addressed the other teen: "I mean, maybe it's a tone thing? I don't know but you could really work on, like, the way you speak. It's very. . . irritating."

"I happen to like the sound of his voice," Alexa retorted defensively. The two women continued to argue about how  he could improve himself (or stay the same) as they climbed over the obstacles in the hallway. After his girlfriend's comment threatened to make his ears burn, Five opted to tune them out in favor of looking for the sign that they needed. 

The British woman glanced over at him the moment his expression changed. "Why are you smiling, you little pisspot?"

He pointed further down the hallway. "'Cause of that."

"Well, you could've led with that."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Five barely managed to slide the door open before Lila pushed her way past him. "Exsqueeze me."

Alexa was more patient as she waited for him to step through first. "You're excused."

"Operations Bunker," the British woman observed. She approached the security guard and put her face near the glass panel. The device glowed blue and let out a beeping noise as it registered her features.

An alarm buzzed. "'Unauthorized access,'" a cool woman's voice reported.

Lila backed away from the door. "We're screwed." She took finally took notice of Five's disheveled appearance. "Jesus, you're sweating like a dodgy shrimp on ice. What's wrong?"