Work Text:
What has she done to deserve this? Was the whole point of her existence to be hurt by everyone she encountered? Maybe she deserved everything that has happened to her. Maybe that’s why Price Tag left her…
Book finally thought she found a true friend but she didn’t. She didn’t know what she had done to make them leave her. Book only remembered waking up one day to find out Price Tag had blocked her and sent her one last message only reading, “Bye.” Nothing else besides that one word. Book was always scared of this happening, knowing what would happen if Price Tag had ever left her.
The entire day, everything Book looked at would remind her of Price Tag. Even the littlest things would remind her of them. She tried spending some time with her other friends, Winner and Nickel, but she couldn’t think of anything else but Price Tag. Book walked with her two friends, coincidentally being a few feet away from Price Tag. She looked over at them with tears in her eyes and surprisingly caught their attention. Price Tag looked at Book for a second before walking away, obviously not wanting to deal with Book.
Book wiped away her tears then caught up with Nickel and Winner. She tried acting like she was okay despite obviously not being okay, starting to zone out and eventually dissociating. All Book could do was overthink about everything she done that could’ve upset Price Tag. She walked away from her two friends, going back to her room in the hotel and locking the door so no one would come in. Nickel noticed Book was gone and began wondering where she could’ve gone to.
Winner noticed Book was gone as well, immediately wondering where she was. “Hey where’d Book go? Wasn’t she with us just a few seconds ago?” Winner asked Nickel with a bit of worry in their voice. “I’m wondering the same thing as you are. Hm well we could ask Taggy! They should know where Book is!” Nickel said so confidently, unknowing to the way Price Tag felt about Book now. “Hey that’s a good idea! I saw them on our way here so let’s head back!” Winner told Nickel as they both began walking back to the hotel to find Price Tag.
They both looked around for a few seconds before seeing finding Price Tag. “Hey Taggy! Have you seen Book anywhere? She was on a walk with us and-“ Nickel was cut off by Price Tag interrupting him. “I don’t know or care where she is. You can look for her all you want but don’t come to me about her.” Price Tag told the two of them before walking away, extremely annoyed. Winner looked extremely confused about why Price Tag hated Book all of a sudden. They were Book’s best friend after all, or at least were.
“Geez, what’s got them so upset. We were just asking a question!” Nickel told Winner in a pretty annoyed tone. Winner looked more concerned about what could’ve happened to Book and Price Tag’s friendship. “Nickel, go look for Book in her room at the hotel. I’ll see why Price Tag’s upset.” Winner said to Nickel, the two of them going to do what they were told.
Meanwhile, all Book had been doing since she got back to her room was cry in her bed then ripping all the pictures of her and Price Tag. Book was looking through her drawers to find more things Price Tag had either given her or reminded her of them. While looking, she found a small box that had a few sharp things in it. Book was already going into a depressive episode, not caring about anything anymore. She was laying in her bed now, covered in tears and hurting arms.
Nickel went up the elevator then walked to Book’s room. He tried opening the door but it was locked. He knocked on the door a few times but no answer, not even any noise. He looked worried but decided to leave Book alone for a while, if she even was in her room. Nickel went back outside to find Winner to tell them what happened.
Winner tried thinking of ways they could talk with Price Tag without upsetting them. They decided to try asking them about their current feelings and eventually ask about Book. “Hey Taggy, how are you feeling? You seem pretty upset today. Did something happen?” Winner asked Price Tag, trying to let them open up. Price Tag let out a sigh of frustration before talking to Winner. “I’m just really upset at Book. Mainly because of how clingy she’s been lately and it’s genuinely annoying me.” Price Tag said to Winner while deleting photos of them and Book off their phone.
Winner looked surprised at Price Tag’s response, not sounding like the Price Tag them and Book knew. They rubbed Price Tag’s back while attempting to comfort them. “Taggy, you know Book has an issue with clinginess. You don’t communicate with her well and that’s why she was most likely really clingy. Don’t you think that maybe you should… talk to her?” Winner told Price Tag while still comforting them. Price Tag looked at the ground for a moment, then nodding in agreement.
Nickel told Winner about what Book having the door locked on her room and not knowing if she was in it or not. Price Tag immediately realized how this was their fault and should’ve communicated with Book instead of just straight up blocking her. The three of them went up to Book’s room, knocking on the door a few times but no response. Inside, Book was laying on her bed not moving or acknowledging her friends knocking on the door.
Price Tag managed to pick the lock on the door and slowly opening the door, revealing Book just laying there and not even acknowledging the three of them standing in the doorway. Nickel turned on the lights to Book’s room, looking around to see how messy it was despite it only being a few hours since she locked herself away from everyone. Winner began picking up trash off the floor, finding Book’s journal in the pile. They handed it over to Price Tag since they’d know where it goes.
Price Tag knew Book wouldn’t talk to them so they started looking through Book’s journal, knowing it was wrong. They flipped to the most recent page and started reading it. The whole page was hard to read from the many tear stains but they managed to make out one sentence, “They were keeping me alive but now I can’t keep going. Hopefully I can be happy when I’m gone.”