•Lonely is more than an adjective• || A Number Five x Reader Story

Chapter 4 - Long time no see

The small dining room had never been as busy. Everyone was watching Five as he zipped around the room, opening cupboards and drawers.
"What's the date? The exact date?" Five broke the silence like it was nothing, completely disregarding the confused aura that had flooded the room.
"24th."
"Of what?"
"March."
"Good..." Five wasn't gonna explain himself without being forced to, was he? The others wanted answers, questions soon filling the kitchen, but all I could do was stare. Watch him move around the room like he'd never left. 17 years and here he was. He couldn't even blink at the changes around him, couldn't even acknowledge the people watching him in distress. It was too much at once. Dad dying; everyone returning to the house; Five... I stood up and just left, and of course no one batted an eye, all too focused on Five.

I heard the creak of a door I hadn't heard in years. He'd returned to his room, a wall the only thing separating me and the biggest uncertainties in my life. But I couldn't move. I couldn't move past that wall and get my answers, get my life back from the blue river that plagued my body. But even though I couldn't go to those answers, maybe they'd come to me. They wandered in with a short knock, lingering in the doorway in a school blazer and shorts.
"You don't seem to be taking this as well as everyone else." All I could do was scoff.
"I'll blame it on the eternity of hormones I've had to deal with." I turned towards him properly, pulling my eyes from the towering window and pulling my legs from the ledge lined with pillows in front of it. He seemed amused by my response, crossing his arms and leaning into the wall.
"What happened?" I turned my gaze back to the window.
"You saw the future. Didn't you find out?" I could feel the short amusing moment fade.
"There's only much one can find out in the wreckage of the world." Now wasn't the time to start blaming him for what happened, nor to give him anymore burdens than he needed.
"Everyone grew up and left, and... And I didn't. That's all." I knew it wasn't the answer he was looking for, but he took it and asked no more from me. He lingered for a moment before turning to leave.
"Five?" He paused, allowing his attention to drift back to me.
"It's good to have you back."

The water ran from the feathers shielding my head from the rain. The atmosphere was all but somber as I expected a funeral should be, but my family was anything other than normal. It was finally quiet, albeit the rain smacking against the cold ground. I could sit in this silence for hours, but it barely lasted seconds once Pogo started taking about Dad as his friend, as a good man. Diego couldn't stand for it, and Luther couldn't stand for him not standing for it. The fight broke out as quickly as the noise had started, Diego and Luther at each other's throats. I didn't want to sit through the noise again, so I turned and left, following shortly behind Pogo's exit. I wandered into the kitchen, shaking the droplets from my feathers as I walked through the doorway letting the noise cut off behind me as the door swung shut. Sighing, I made my way through the cupboards for something a little more lively, but I found such a significant lack of anything other than Dad's 'allowed' food that I gave up promptly. The doors swung open, noise filling the house again. I didn't have the energy to deal with it, so I decided the only peace I'd get was outside the house. I wandered into the yard and straight to the car. Surely I wouldn't get bothered there. I climbed in and just let myself lay across the back seat, drifting away into the silence.

The car started suddenly, jerking forward and knocking me off the backseat and onto the floor.
"Motherfucker!" My exclamation made the car grind to a halt, my head smacking the back of the drivers seat with a hard thud as I tried to sit up. My name filled the silence once the engine cut out and I finally got the chance to get up off the floor after some struggle to bend my wings back into place. I sat up, wings over the seat stretched into the boot.
"What are you doing sleeping in the car?" Five leaned over to look at me from the drivers seat.
"House is too loud. Sounds stupid I know. It's just hard to be around everyone." Five just nodded and started the engine back up, heading out of the drive and down the road.
"So, er... Where are we going exactly?"
"Coffee."
"Thank god." The rest of the journey was spent in silence, and all I could think about was how long it had been since I'd liked spending time with someone. Though I'm not sure this counted as spending time but baby steps I suppose. My attention was gripped by the sights around me. It had been so long since I'd been in a car, been outside during the day. The car stopped promptly in front of Griddy's Donuts. How long had it been since we'd all been here together? I only snapped out of my thoughts when Five opened his door, turning to me to see if I was coming. I quickly let the feathers fall from my back, collecting in the boot of the car until my back was featherless and the small flap fell over the two slots that allowed my wings through my shirt and blazer. I followed Five out of the car, smiling lightly as he paused to check my back.
"Took me years to figure out, but I was going crazy not being able to sneak out and not be noticed." I liked the way he took my answers as all he needed to know, my palm pressing against the door as I walked behind Five into the familiar shop. I sat to his right, staring at the sugar stacked shelves and the memories they held. A waitress walked out, but I didn't catch most of her words until Five ordered his coffee a little more maliciously than I'd expected.
"I'll, um, er... Just have a cappuccino. Thank you." The waitress, 'Agnes' her name tag read, looked confused, but proceeded to get the order either way. Five seemed to be waiting for something, but moved past it to ask the man beside him a few questions before he left with his eclair. Five remained quiet as we drank our coffees. The bell of the shop entrance chimed lightly, and Five nudged me.
"Get behind the counter when I move." I was confused to say the least, but nodded and let him take the lead as it so turned out there were several men with guns behind us. The ensuing situation led to me sitting behind a counter as I heard several snaps and cracks amid the flurry of gunshots being fired. It was over in seconds, and I peered over the counter once the commotion subsided to see a lightly out of breath Five and several dead men. I was mildly impressed, although slightly distressed by his nonchalancy towards the number of lives he'd just taken. He took something from the waistband of one of the men and sat down at the counter, only to start slicing open his own arm.
"He-hey! What are you doing?!" I moved down the counter to across from him, hands poised for action if he started seriously hurting himself. He gestured to the box he'd retrieved.
"Tracker." I was beyond confused, but I suppose he'd tell me what was going on in his own time. He pulled a small pill shaped device from his arm, dropping the knife to the floor. I quickly took off my blazer and ripped off my shirt sleeve, tying it tightly around the gash that now ran up his forearm.
"Thanks." I smiled, before following him out of the shop and back to the car, watching him drop the small device in a puddle.
"Come on, we'd better get you patched up."