☂ 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟐 ☂

06. FINDING KING KONG

In the end, Elaina's tears did finally stop as she laid in her bed with her head on Five's chest, listening to his heart beat as they soaked in each other's presence. She hasn't felt peace like this in such a long time, it was just what she needed. It was something that only Five could provide her with. Five's hand stroked through the girl's hair lovingly, feeling the silkiness of it. If only this moment could last forever. If only they didn't have ten days to make it happen. Five looked down to see the peaceful look on Elaina's face and sighed -- he had no choice but to let her know what was going to happen.

"How long have you been here?" asked Five, breaking the silence between them as his fingers continued to caress her hair. "Your hair has grown significantly." he said, eye the ends as he played with them.

"That's what happens when you're here for almost a year," she said looking up at him. "I got here Christmas eve of '62. Landed in an alley by Commerce and Knox."

"Almost a year?" he repeated with an ashamed expression. "I'm so sorry, hon. I had no clue what was going to happen when we jumped through the vortex."

Elaina gave him a small smile and shrugged. "We all knew it was jump in the dark, you couldn't have known." she said softly as he just sighed. "Besides, I lucked out with the Mendoza's. They've been very generous letting me stay here with them."

"Mendoza's? Would that curly-haired woman be one of them?" asked Five.

Elaina chuckled softly and nodded. "That's Birdie. Super loving, possibly the sweetest woman I've ever met. Yeah, it's just her and her son, Tony."

"And that's that brown-haired teenager," pieced together Five. "The one that was on stage with you."

Elaina hummed. "Mhmm. That's Tony. Sweet kid, really."

"Yeah, from what I saw it seems he's pretty sweet on you." said Five, an unintentional edge to his voice that made Elaina raise a brow.

"Sorry, was that jealousy I heard there?" asked Elaina with an amused smirk.

"Of a kid? Never." Five scoffed dismissively, though his eyes averted hers, making Elaina shake her head.

Why were guys such liars?

"Okay, babe. Whatever you say." she giggled, making Five groan. "So how about you, huh? When did you get here?"

"I got here this morning, same place. It seems like that's where we all appeared."

"This morning? You got here pretty late." she said, her fingers toying with the edge of his blazer before her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'we all appeared'? You know where the others are?" she asked hopefully, only to see Five shake his head dispiritedly.

"It's just a theory. So far, I've only found you and Diego." he admitted, causing Elaina to scoff.

"You're off to a better start then me. I've been here 11 months and just recently found Diego, you found us both in a day. I should turn in my detective badge." she joked. "Unless he told you where I was, then that's cheating."

He chuckled at her last comment. "Actually, no. He decided not to tell me that piece of information. Elliot found that menu you dropped the last time you were in the alley, it led me here."

Elaina lifted her head to look at him. "Who's Elliot?"

"A conspiracy theorist that owns the TV & Radio store behind the alley. Apparently he's been keeping track of each of your arrivals. With me here, we're a complete set." informed Five.

"Wait," Elaina's eyes narrowed. "So you're telling me all I had to do was go into that damn store and I would've had all the answers? Shit!" she hissed in frustration. "I knew I felt somebody watching me every time I went to that alley. I figured it was just the racists giving me the stink eye." she murmured, looking away to the side as she cursed to herself.