Chapter Text
We never really could keep her long.
She weaved in and out of his house often, texts sent through group chats and fleeting conversations. He'd wake up to her on his couch one day and the next she's flying out his front door. Often, he'd get a text from Gem saying she was crashing at her place before bolting to who knows where.
Impulse just hopes that she's safe.
It was raining out, heavy drops that pounded against his windows. It was odd for the middle of the summer, but not out of place for his old town. He had the TV on in the background replaying a game he had missed to deal with Tango and Zed. He doesn't blame them, it wasn't their fault anyway. His back was to the play, just listening in as he stood barefoot in his kitchen attempting to find something for his dinner. He really needed to go to the store to restock it, didn't know when the last time he did that was.
Eventually, Impulse settled on leftover chicken from a BBQ the pack had held just a few days ago with some broccoli. Ren was the one to cook it, boasting how good he was at grilling. Impulse wasn't gonna deny that sentence. He padded his way through the open doorway connecting his kitchen and living room to sink into his couch. Impulse slung an old scratchy quilt around himself, hiking it up over his shoulders to trap in warmth from the drafty house. His house was cold when rain came, not well insulated, so he always had a few extra blankets lying around. People like Cleo somehow also ran cold, so he had a few that smelled particularly like her. Their cheap strawberry shampoo sticking to various fabrics.
He didn't get far into his dinner before he heard a knock on his door. Impulse was just hungry, really, all he needed was his dinner and the game in the background. However, the back of his mind curled at the thought of spending it all alone, so he gave in and set his plate down on the coffee table next to his phone.
He glanced at his phone, no new messages, especially none from the group chat the pack held. Good. Kinda.
This did mean he had to search for his remote to pause his game to go to the door. He debated leaving them in the rain for a while, they could wait. However, Impulse felt that was unkind and unreasonable. Pausing his game he heaved himself off of the couch to approach the door, slightly nervous about who—or what—stood on the other side.
He was met with dark hair staring at his porch flooring. Her watery eyes met his own, he was quick to school his expression. It was Pearl drenched in water from the heavy rain, eyes puffy and her nose sniffley. Impulse didn't like that detail, nor did he like how her clothes were hanging off her frame. They were drenched, clinging wetly to her skin. It was then his brain chose to realize she had only a t-shirt and shorts on, no jacket or sweatshirt.
“Pearl?” Impulse had questioned.
She stood and stared at him before snapping out of it a second later when her features went a little more slack. “I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here so late. I got caught up in the rain and-”
Impulse held his hand up for her to stop talking. “You're drenched,” he opted to state the obvious plain and simple. She nodded in response and he sighed, moving out of the way so she could enter his house. The smell of rain clung heavily to her scent as she stood on his welcome mat, toeing off her shoes. He quickly closed his door and stumbled into the next room to grab a spare towel.
Returning, he could properly see her now, her face turned to the TV with a frown. “Pearl?”
The way she took so long to respond made his brain snap at him. While she wasn't pack, she was a very close friend of the pack, and by proxy, Impulse's inner workings. He slowly draped the towel over her shoulders and guided her to his couch, sitting her down and sinking down beside her.
“Impulse I… I messed up, I really did.” Tears started welling in her eyes again, spilling over just a second later when Impulse didn't respond. “I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't mean to at all.”
This left Impulse confused, worried, and panicked all in the same moment. He took a deep breath, he needed to keep his head clear for this. “Do you want to talk about it?” It was a plain and simple act, letting her drive the conversation instead of taking over himself. He frowned when she shook her head, and he held his arms out for her.
Pearl crashed into him moments after hesitation, melting into his warmth. She was still damp and shivering as she cried into his shoulder. He felt her tears slipping down his neck, but he could care less when the person in his arms made them. She was thin, a result of living without a pack for a long time. That information made his brain itch, he felt like she was already part of the pack and that he needed to feed her. It made him upset that she still wasn't part of their little group, but he supposes that's part his fault.
He took his hand and carded it through her brown hair, loosening the strands as they form curls at the end. It's still damp, but it's drying quickly. Impulse settled into a steady rhythm, a slow hum rising from his chest as he felt Pearl droop in exhaustion.
Impulse, after a long while, layed down on the couch and settled in. Hauling the old quilt over their two bodies, he thought about how he'd message the pack in the morning. He thought about telling Gem, excitedly, how Pearl came to him. He thought about how she was still shaking, her lanky form curling tightly on top of him, and how he held her closer. He thought about everything that followed as sleep stole his mind, steering it as the rain pitter-pattered against his windows.