It's the Little Things. (Cracker x Mute Reader)

It's an Adult Sleepover

You woke to the smell of smoke and sound of crackling fire. It hurt to open your eyes or breath. You stumbled out of bed, trying to get a grip of the situation. Your bedroom was filled with smoke and out in the hall you could make out flames licking along the walls and floorboards. It was unbelievably hot, your skin felt like it was burning along with the house.

Why did it take you so long to wake up? It made no sense that a fire would have to get this out of hand for you to notice it. You pulled your night shirt up to cover your mouth and left your room. You have to get out fast. It was getting hotter and the flames were getting out of control in the hall.

You got through the hallway, feeling your skin begin to blister from the heat. You were halfway to the front door when you heard a weak voice call out.

"(Y/n)... Mom... Dad..."

You'd forgotten. Your little brother's room was upstairs. He called out again, his voice punctuated by coughs and panicked crying.

"I'm coming!" You yelled as loud as you could, ignoring the pain that shot through your throat from the effort. "Hold on baby, I'm coming!"

The front door was in sight, but you turned around heading for the stairs to reach your brother. Your heart raced even more than it already was when you saw the condition of the stairs. They were falling apart under the flames, unusable. But they were the only way to reach him and he sounded worse by the second.

"Hold on, I'm almost there!" Your voice had devolved to more of a pained croak. Sweat rolled off your body profusely only to evaporate from the intense heat. You hurt from head to toe and we're starting to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen.

It didn't matter. You started up the stairs slowly, looking for the most stable remaining pieces while avoiding the fires that dotted them. Halfway up, the staircase groaned in defeat and collapsed, taking you down to be engulfed by the raging fire as you caught sight of your brother's horrified face. He was right at the top, just out of reach.

You woke trying to call out your long lost brother's name but the words escaped you as they always do. The sheets were a sweat covered, tangled mess around you from thrashing through the nightmare. Your body was hot and you were struggling to catch your breath. You hadn't dreamt of that night in a long time. It had your hopes up that maybe those restless nights were done. So much for that.

You untangled yourself from the sheets and stood up, grabbing your phone to check the time. It wasn't too late at night, a bit past 10:30. You'd gone to bed about an hour ago but now you were wide awake and frankly, not all that willing to go back to sleep.

There was a text from Cracker telling you he made it home sent about 30 minutes ago. Maybe he was still awake. You wrote out a good night text to him but hesitated to send it. With a shake of your head, you erased it and sent a new one.

<Are you awake?>

He was quick to answer.

🍘 <sleep is for the weak.>

You cracked a weak smile. He was always joking. You needed that right now. Picking up a smaller blanket and bundling it up in your arms, you went out into the complex hallway and knocked on Cracker's door, sending another text at the same time.

<Can I come in?>

The door unlocked with a click and opened. "You don't look so hot (Y/n)." He worriedly touched your forehead, pushing a few stray strands of hair to the side. "Come here."

He guided you in, leading you in to an apartment that was build just like yours, but mirrored and flipped. You sat on the large couch he led you to, still clutching your blanket.