Big Book Of Sjips One Shots

Collapsing Stars (S)

TW: Teen!Cast AU

The backside of the school is nearly empty. Practices have been cancelled because of the rain, and most of the other kids who normally hang back are gone.

You and Sips sit behind the rises that line the football field, sheltered from the rain as you idly discuss how to best poison the school swimming pool.

You think that just cranking up the amount of chlorine would work- after all, no one goes swimming without swallowing some of the pool, you'd laugh.

Sips is under the impression it would be easier to kill everyone outright.

You won't admit he may be right.

You make eye contact over the cans of pop between you, and it's clear that whether it happens or not, you're in it together.

---

On the worn wood of your tree house is a half-empty bottle of pseudo-ephedrine laying between the two of you. It seems like there's always something there.

You're acutely aware of every breath he takes next to you, and you turn your head to look at him, his eyes open and staring, unblinking at the roof.

You wait.

---

Sips knows you aren't like him. The two of you are inseparable, sure, and you can, on a good day, finish each other's sentences, but sometimes he has this thirst for adventure that you just can't fill.

Until the day you turn eighteen.

You ask him how far the gas in his beaten-up car will take you.

Apparently, he's been thinking about it, too, because he doesn't have to think about the answer.

Approximately three hours from the town you called home, Sips pulls off into a gas station. You take the opportunity to stretch your legs and yawn, shaking the tiredness from your system.

He disappears inside and leaves you in charge of the pump.

You clench your hand down on it and close your eyes, leaning against the car and listening to the sounds of the highway.

He calls your name and your eyes snap open. A bottle of your go-to passtime drug comes flying through the air and into your hand. You snort a laugh as the pump clicks off and you shove it back into it's holder.

Sips refuses to give up the wheel, so it isn't until two AM when he's nearly falling asleep that you force him to pull off into an empty parking lot.

Neither of you are willing to spend money on the shitty motel down the road.

Instead, you both lay your seats back and grab the blankets from the backseat of the car.

You fall asleep with your hands clasped between the seats.

---

The morning is bright and warm, and your first thought is maybe you should ditch the plan to poison the pool.

He agrees, and you pull out your invisible lighter and click it. He holds an invisible book over the flame and makes the sound effect of it burning. The two of you chuckle and decide to head to the gas station next to the motel and use their bathroom.

Once you've both brushed your teeth and Sips has shaved, you head off again, munching on some of the snacks he'd grabbed the day before at the gas station.

---

You're not sure if you're going to end up going home or not, but it's been a few weeks and the cops haven't come banging on the car windows, so you figure no one's looking.

Luckily, Sips has done this before and knows how to spend your pooled money, and you'd stolen a couple hundred bucks from the safe under your dad's bed before even bringing it up to Sips.

When they hit a new town, Sips finds a bar to hustle pool in, getting at least fifty each time.

Well. Except the time he found out the girl he was playing was trying to hustle him.

Once in a while, you two decide you can afford a room at the local motel and share a bed, curled close together. Sips always takes the side closest to the door in a macho-man attempt at keeping you safe.

---

Maybe you'll go back someday and laugh at the people you went to school with, the people who alienated you.

But then, you think as you turn your head to watch Sips watch the road, they're the reason you met Sips.

And no matter what happens, you're in it together.

Credit to StardustDragon on Ao3