SUBJECT NINE | KIRIN O'CONNOR

NINE

"I came back to the camp around twenty minutes before Raf and Seth. They found a bunker filled with food." Frances rested her head in her hands.

She felt exhausted. They had been interviewing her for hours. She just wanted to sleep.

One thing that she wanted more than sleep was to see Kirin, but she knew that wasn't something that she would be able to get.

"But more importantly to the boys, they'd found booze." She chuckled as she reminded the first night where they actually had fire.

They all sat around the bonfire and drank. But after it happened again, Frances chose to sit away from the boys and hide just in front of the woods. But she knew even then she wasn't safe.

D A Y T W E L V E

Kirin's head snapped up once he saw the girl walking back to camp. She was drenched, water dripping off her with every step she took. He didn't hesitate in rushing over to the girl.

His hands gripped her biceps and she practically fell into him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and held her up right before anyone was able to notice.

"What happened, baby?" Kirin whispered, his hand cupping the back of her head and pulling her into his chest.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Frances attempted to push herself away from Kirin. She didn't exactly want to be touched by anyone right now. She just needed space.

Kirin knew that the girl wasn't fine, but he allowed her to pull herself away from his grip. He took a small step back, but not too far because he was still worried about her.

"Phineas?" Ivan walked up to the girl.

Without thinking Frances span on her heel hoping to see her brother again. A smile beamed on her face, but it quickly fell once she realised he wasn't there.

"I'm fine." Frances muttered upon realisation. "Just need to get warm."

She broke away from both boys, leaving them both looking at one another with furrowed brows. She took a seat on one of the fallen logs that the boys brought over before pulling her hood further down so that she was seen even less. Frances could feel all the boys eyes on her as she tried to dry herself. But instead of snapping at them or breaking down crying like she wanted to do, she took in a deep breath and remained silent.

"Anybody hungry?" Seth question, making Frances head snap up. He offered her a closed lipped smile.

Everyone was ecstatic about the food that Seth and Raf had found, but the girl couldn't even stomach to look at it. Seth's eyes lingered on the girl, he watched as she squirmed slightly under his gaze, he cleared his throat to prevent himself from smirking.

"Oh my God, peanut butter." Ivan smiled at the jar in his hands. "A third tier nut butter, but I am not complaining."

"You found all this?" Josh questioned, looking up to Seth admirably.

Kirin took a seat beside the blonde girl, his knee lightly touched her, which made her quickly move away from him. He furrowed his brows, trying to remember if he did something to her, but nothing was coming to mind.

"Oh no, not me. Raf did." Seth pointed over to Raf.

Bo dropped the jar in his hand and rushed to wrap his arms around Raf. The smaller boy seemed startled at the hug, he didn't even get a chance to hug Bo back as his arms were trapped.

"But hey, stop burying the lede, brother." Seth chuckled, pointing to the box in Raf's hands.

"Oh, right. There's beer and more of it at the bunker." Raf placed the beer down in front of the boys. He then looked directly towards Kirin before saying, "Hey, Kirin. A lifeblood?"

Kirin didn't get a chance to response, Raf just threw him a beer, which he caught expertly. He went to hand it to Frances, but the girl shook her head.

She didn't want to eat or drink. She didn't even want to be at camp right now. But she knew that there was no way that Kirin would let her leave alone. The more she thought about it, she probably wouldn't feel safe leaving alone. Not again.

"Thanks." Kirin uttered.

"Guys, thanks be to Raf." Seth chuckled, his eyes flickering to Frances once again. She was the only one who hadn't grabbed something to eat or drink.

"To Raf." Everyone chorused.

Everyone began chanting the boys name, Kirin remained silent but a smirk was still present on his face. Frances noticed the way that whenever Kirin turned to look at her, his eyes softened. She felt guilty for shutting him out at that moment in time, but she just needed to think.

Nightfall soon fell and the boys were drunk, Frances was the only sober one out of the eight. She remained by the fire, thankful that her once wet clothes were now dry and she was able to warm up.

Seth came and sat down beside the girl, his hand instantly rested upon her thigh. She froze. She wanted to gain Kirin's attention and get him to pull her away, but he was laughing with the other boys.

"Hey, Frances." The way that her name rolled off of Seth's tongue made her feel sick to her stomach. "Do you want to go for a little walk, just you and me?"

The girl shook her head and his grip on her thigh tightened so much that she whimpered and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. His hands traveled up her body again, his hand trailing under her shirt and to the waist band of her trousers.

"Phinny." Kirin walked over to the pair, he wanted to convince the girl to loosen up and have at least one drink with him.

Frances instantly stood up, she reached out for Kirin's arms and steadied herself. The boy looked down at her with concern. His eyes then flickered back to Seth, before slowly pulling the girl away.

"You have to be careful, Franny." Kirin whispered as they walked close to the sea. "You can't let Seth know that you're a girl. It'll-"

"Seth already knows." Frances spoke up for the first time, her voice cracked from how dry it was. "He was the first to know."

Kirin came to a stop, he ran his hand through his hair. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. The jealousy he was feeling was unreal. He just hummed in response and walked away from the girl in fear that he would say something he would later regret.

Frances watched the boy walk away and let out a defeated sigh. She wasn't going to head back to the bonfire. Instead she headed to the tree line where she and Kirin had been sleeping recently and sat down.

She was thankful that her thoughts occupied her mind, she didn't want to fall asleep. Not now she didn't know who she could and couldn't trust.

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