Hope (House of wax x reader)

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ

30 chapters, hell yeah!  And I know it's technically 31 because of the Prologue, but let me have this god damn it!

And for this momentus occasion, I gift you the cursed image.  And while looking for it, only NOW did I find out the twins had the same fucking actor.  You'd think I'd find out with all the research I did for the dog, but NO!!

I'm a god damned idiot.

At the campsite, the group had a large bonfire going, two of the adults were off in the woods looking for more sticks and shit to throw in.  They were celebrating, the fire deserved to be as big as they could possibly get it!

Back at the site, the remaining adults were seated around the roaring blaze of orange and red flames, singing at the top of their lungs (and disregarding all ideas of harmony and sounding good in the process).

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LIZZIE," they all 'sang' in unison.  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!"

Everyone began clapping, and Lizzie smiled brightly.  There was no one here to be embarrassed about seeing or hearing this, so she was happily soaking up all the attention.  I mean, it's not every day someone turns 19.

"So Liz, what are you gonna do when you get home," the birthday girl's best friend asked.

"I don't know... call my boyfriend?"

"You better be keeping that PG," one of the men stated.

"Don't worry.  Lucas will kick my ass if I don't," Lizzie responded.

"That's just how you know he cares," the man told her.

"Shut up Nick, it's her birthday! Let her do what she wants," the friend argued.

"You listen here, if I spoke to my superior like that, I'd be-"

"Running laps around the base with the sack of sand.  We know," the friend groaned.

"Rita, seriously, it's fine," Lizzie tried to tell her.  "He's just looking out for me."

"You have Lucas for that!"

"Well, it's not like he can be around me 24/7, so he needs his buddies to act like spys.  Right Nick?"

"Lizzie, you better quiet down before you brother gets back," a new adult demanded.

"Babe, I got this under control," Nick tried to say.

"Nope.  Nuh uh, you ain't doing that," she interrupted.  "You don't got this under control.  Don't even act like it!  Besides, I'm getting a headache from you three bickering."

"Alright baby," Nick sighed, pulling his girlfriend into a hug.

"Yes Ms. Alicia," Rita responded, sass practically dripping from her tone of voice.

"Sorry Alicia," Lizzie apologized.

The last adult just sat there, watching.  They never really said much.  It was a miracle they had made friends at all, being as introverted as they were.  They had met Luke in Greece.  When the two got home, they found out they were stationed in the same base, and Lucas, being an extrovert, had greeted this person like an old friend.

From there, it was the classic tale of extrovert adopts introvert.  And as time passed, Lucas introduced this person to all of his friends, and brought them along for his baby sister's birthday. 

But just because they liked these people didn't mean they were confident enough to butt into a fight with them.

It was kind of funny to think about, honestly.  A big scary Marine, one of the toughest people on earth, was too scared to get into a fight with a bunch of teenagers.  Maybe because it was verbal, and they didn't get a shield?  Or maybe because they weren't actually all that tough?  They were just pathetic.