𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒, ꜱʙɢ

30

It was the next day. After a night in the phantom zone the dusk prior, the group had finalised their plans for a couple nights forward, the night of the BBQ.

The group was sitting around the bus, finally having the opportunity to talk about Ashlyn's visions that day in the scuffle with Barron's group.

"So you think the phantom realm is influencing us?" Tyler asked, shuffling in his seat and setting his gaze on a thoughtful Ashlyn.

"Yeah. But I think we're impacting the real world, too." Ashlyn sighed, setting her gaze outside and observing a lost-eyed Dominique, who sat on top of one of the abandoned busses outside in the graveyard.

She sighed, looking away from Dom, and placing her gaze to the floor. Dominique. who pulled a cigarette from the pack behind her, lit it between her fingers, rolling it loosely between her fingertips and sighing, leaning back against the bus and looking toward the dawn-stricken sky.

"I'm worried about her."

Everyone looked toward Aiden, whose eyes danced from Dominique outside the window, to the group holed inside the bus as he kicked his feet against the rest of the bus's seats.

"What do you mean?" Taylor whispered out, her questioning gaze lingering over Aiden, who sighed, jumping down from his seat and starting to pace around the bus.

"She said some- uh." He paused, glancing back at Dominique's figure, whose back was against the cold metal of the bus, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the air.

"Pretty concerning stuff yesterday." He finished, clearing his throat as his smile fell off his face at the thought of what was said yesterday evening by Dom.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, his gaze falling on Aiden as he stilled slightly. The rest of the group looked toward Aiden with concerned frowns painted over their faces, the eyes flickering back toward Dominique outside.

Aiden's mind filled with passages of Dominique's voice fluttering over his mind, his brain flashing with memories from the day before.

"She said she didn't care anymore."

Everyone paused at the sound of Tyler's voice reaching their ears, shifting to look at him as Aiden huffed out, sitting back down against one of the bus seats and shuffling, trying to get comfortable.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked again, her voice growing slightly agitated at the stalling from the two boys. She was worried.

"If she lived or died. She didn't care anymore."

"Okay! I think the cooler is ready!" Ashlyn's mom sighed out, collapsing to the floor and comic tears falling to her eyes at the exhaustion at preparing such a meal.

Mike chuckled lightly, his eyes perking up to his door as he heard multiple knocks rasp against the wooden frame. He smiled, gesturing to the mother-daughter duo beside him that he'd get it.

He walked over to the door, twisting the doorknob and whirling it open to reveal a lonesome Dom, who had a small bruise over her wrist, which Mike caught before she could pull her arm down form the Doorframe.

She looked up to him with her soul leaving her mouth; she hadn't expected Mike to open the door.

Because. The last time she had talked to him was when she had beaten him bloody.

As she opened her lips to spew out an apology, she was interrupted with a palm meeting her hair, ruffling it slightly and a soft smile falling over Mike's face.

"Come in, sport."

She looked up to him, speechless with tears filling her eyes as she blinked them away, pulling her arm up to rub them away her heh gaze.

Without thinking, she collapsed into him, sniffling slightly and hugging her arms loosely around his back. Mike felt a softer smile paint his face, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back softly as she sniffled.

Seemingly snapping out of her trance, Dom pulled herself away, looking awkwardly toward the ground and shuffling her way past him, nodding her head softly.

In the past half an hour, all the friends and their families had arrived at the Banner household as everyone made their way out to the graves yard, each carrying a plate of food or a piece of equipment for the cookout.

"Look, a bunny!" Taylor Interrupted her mother's conversation with Mike, who looked over with a pretty gaze and confusion filled eyes at the sight of the rabbit eating peacefully on the ground.

"It's cute." She smiled lightly, comical flowers filling her aura as she looked at the bunny with a small blush coating her cheeks at her daughter's seemingly innocent interruption.

"I want to pet it!" Lily, Ben's cousin spoke up from Dominique's arms, who was interrupted from gushing to Ben quietly about how adorable she was.

She turned to the rabbit, a determined glint in her eye as she gazed over it and its silent munching of the grass blades infront of it.

"You want to pet it?" Dom asked lily, who smiled enthusiastically and nodded her head adorably. With a smile over her face, she handed lily back to Ben, who just looked at her confused.

The group gathered around as Dominique held the rabbit up to lily's petit hands, watching with a smile over her face as lily gushed about how soft its fur was.

"Do they not realise how late it is?" Tyler deadpanned, looking up from his phone with a scowl on his face as he watched the parents around the fire converse without a care in the world.

Dom laughed, Ben pulling his head from Dominique's lap as he silently groaned, flopping his head back into her hold as she ran her hands through his hair, a softer look over her face.

Aiden handed lily back over to her parents around the bonfire, walking back over to Dom who opened her arms for him, watching as he leaned down lightly, wrapping his arms loosely around her frame as she chuckled lightly.

"Her, we're just heading back to the bus to grab something. Don't wait up." Ashlyn spoke over her shoulder towards her dad, who just held out a thumbs up, smiling at her and continuing with his conversation with the other parents.

fin.
1043 words