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Not long after you and Shark returned to the mansion, everyone started turning in for the night. No one was given any pajamas since the “family-friendly” heist outfits Marmalade handed out earlier were pajamas. You were never a fan of onesies, mostly because you tend to overheat in your sleep. This made you dread the inevitable Los Angeles hot night air and hope that Marmalade had really good air conditioning. Otherwise, this was going to be a long night of tossing and turning, and you all needed to be rested for the gala tomorrow night, too.
Good luck with that, you mentally deadpanned.
You walked into the guest bedroom behind everyone else, instantly noticing the pair of bunk beds. Sadly, the beds only had twin mattresses, meaning there would be very little room to share. Snake was already out of the question, he never bunked with anyone; Wolf wasn’t going to work since he would likely take up too much space on such a small mattress; and if Wolf wasn’t going to work, then Shark sure as hell won’t either. That left sharing a bed with the smallest members of the gang, Piranha and Webs. It’s not that you were against bunking with them, just that the positions would be awkward with them likely sleeping at the foot of the bed; you also worried about kicking or squishing them in your sleep.
“You guys don’t mind if I bunk with you, right?” you asked the aforementioned tropical fish and arachnid after they claimed their bottom bunk.
“Only if you don’t mind sleepin’ under Big Tuna,” Piranha replied with a smirk, pointing up at the painfully obvious dip in the mattress above as it tried to hold up Mr. Shark’s weight.
Upon hearing your conversation, Shark leaned over the side of his bunk and glanced down at you in confusion.
“You sure you wanna sleep down there?” he asked you.
“Where else would I sleep?” you inquired back with a shrug.
A slight blush crept onto Shark’s face as he looked away nervously, “I mean, you could…bunk with me if ya wanted…”
“Aww, is Jaws goin’ all soft for his girl? How cute!” Webs chuckled mockingly.
“I am not goin’ soft!” Shark snapped, his blush darkening, “Just tryin’ ta help, is all.”
“No need to, buddy. I’m good down here, I promise,” you reassured him, “But thanks anyway.”
Reluctantly, Shark stopped badgering you about the sleeping arrangements and pulled himself back into his own bed, but couldn’t stop worrying. After the conversation on such sensitive topics you two had on the beach earlier, he was concerned that your mind might still be riddled with bad thoughts. But he knew bringing it up again, especially around the others, wouldn’t help, so he kept quiet.
—
It was all just…silent. From the moment you stepped into the storm drains to when you set foot in the elevator, a horrible sense of isolation and dread hung over you with no sign of leaving. You don’t quite remember how you got here, it’s all really fuzzy. But something told you that whatever brought you here must be really bad, like a horrible argument over something unavoidable. The thought of the gang came to mind, as well as the fragile relationship you have with them. Had with them.
Why does it suddenly feel like everything you built with them was just…gone? Maybe because of the weird loneliness you felt returning to the secret home you shared with them; that had to be it, nothing else. There were not gone, they can’t be. They wouldn’t leave you that easily…Shark promised.
As the elevator hitched, you could barely wait for it to open so you could finally see the others and get rid of your odd sense of isolation. You froze in place. The lair was so much brighter now because the huge curtains that helped hide all the loot were now gone; they weren’t the only things missing. Everything was missing; the money, the disguises, the art, the furniture, all of it. The only thing left behind was the refrigerator, with a single photo still clipped to the door. Something made you walk up to the fridge just to look at this one picture, pinching a corner to pull it down for a better angle. It was the picture Wolf took of everyone for Snake’s recent birthday party, but something was off.
You weren’t in the photo. You definitely should be in there with them, though; it was taken only a few days ago, and you vividly remember seeing yourself right there with the whole gang.
Or maybe…you were never there in the first place. Up until the heist for the Golden Dolphin, you never helped on a single mission; you were just kind of there. Shark was the only reason you were allowed to stay, and how did you show your appreciation? By spreading your legs like some cheap floozy. It wouldn’t be the first time. Why would this be any different? How could you be so stupid? Of course he never saw you as a real friend, you were just an easy lay. And you already knew that the others couldn’t care less about your existence.
You dropped to your knees, eyes still glued to the photo of the family that went on without you; that never needed you, and never will.
You were always alone.
—
Your lungs filled from a gasp of fear and your heart started beating rapidly, responding to the stressful dream you just had. Fingers curled into the pillow, now stained with tears. Wide eyes darted around the dark room, illuminated only by the dim moonlight outside. Once your vision adjusted to the darkness, you slowly sat up to avoid waking your bedmates. Webs and Piranha were both still sound asleep, thankfully, as you sat up perfectly still to comprehend what you just dreamt up.
An excess tear ran down your face, reminding you of the turmoil of the fake scenario you witnessed. A fake scenario that was entirely within the realm of possible.
A sudden jerking movement from above jolted you from your thoughts, both figuratively and literally, as Shark turned over onto his side while still deep in sleep. His offer to let you share his bed popped into your head, as the fear of being alone started creeping back up on you. Despite the fact that everyone else was in the same room, them being unconscious didn’t make you feel any less alone. But the thought of waking up Shark was also a little nerve-wracking. Sure, you’ve shared a bed with him on a couple occasions whenever you wanted to spend a passionate night together, but you’ve never actually disturbed him in his sleep.
Hoping against hope, you swallowed your pride and fear as you glanced over to make sure Wolf and Snake were also still asleep. Once you were certain they were still unconscious, you carefully stepped out of bed and stood on your tip-toes to get as close to Shark’s bunk as possible.
“Shark! …Shark!” you whisper-shouted, only to earn a couple snores in return. When he didn’t respond, you resorted to tapping his arm a couple times. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to work either. So, you stretched up even more on your toes, having to lean into the top bunk for balance, as you used one hand to shake him.
That seemed to finally do the trick, as it only took a few nudges to stir him into the waking world. With a snort and slight gasp, Shark’s eyes blinked open until they eventually squinted to see you in the dark.
“Wha…what is it?” he said groggily, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I just…I don’t want to be alone right now, and…” you tried your best to explain while still avoiding waking the others, but the fear and sadness on your face was quickly noticed by Shark.
“Hey, are you alright?” he asked with great concern, reaching a hand down to reassure you but pulling back at the last second. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.
Finally, you looked up at him in defeat, “I had a bad dream…”
His eyes widened a little at that, and he felt his heartstrings give a little tug as well. It was one thing for you to ask for help with trivial things like moving heavy objects or reaching things on high shelves, but this level of vulnerability was totally new for both of you. He wasn’t about to leave you on your own while wearing your feelings out on your sleeves like this, so he stretched his hand out again for you to take.
“C’mere,” was all he said, and that was all you needed. You put both hands in his one giant palm, and he curled his arm to lift you up onto his bunk. He scooted over as much as he could to make room for you, placing you flush against his chest and snaking one arm under your head and the other over your torso.
“Comfy?” he whispered to you, gently rubbing your back.
“Yeah,” you sighed contently, curling even further into him, “Much better now.”
“Good. Now, try ta get some sleep.”
You felt Shark place his chin atop your head, signaling that he was ready to try and go back to sleep. But you weren’t quite ready yet. Memories of your dream kept coming back, the fear of being completely abandoned overtaking you. Subconsciously, your discomfort was displayed through some restless foot-shaking; shaking that easily caught your new bedmate’s attention.
“You’re still upset,” Shark whispered matter-of-factly, keeping his eyes shut.
“What makes you say that?” you whispered back, still failing to notice your foot-shaking.
“Your legs get restless when you’re stressed.”
It wasn’t until he said this that you finally noticed your foot’s restless movements, quickly ceasing them.
“Is this about earlier?” he asked.
You squirmed a little in shame, “Would you be upset if it was?”
“No. Just worried.”
When you didn’t say anything, he shifted to look you in the eye.
“You don’t have to be scared. I promised I’d be there for you, didn’t I?”
“I know you did, but what about the others?”
“What about ‘em?”
“I’m scared that they’ll…convince you to leave me.”
“Aw, baby.” He paused to pull you even closer to him, trying to hug you, “That’s not gonna happen. I can promise you that they like you.”
“Really? Even Snake?”
“For sure. He don’t bicker with anyone unless he really cares, it’s his love language.”
“That’s kinda toxic.”
“A bit, but it doesn’t make what I said any less true. When I said I wasn’t gonna leave you behind, I meant it.”
Once again, he angled his head to look down at you while placing a reassuring hand on the side of your face. The tenderness in his eyes and touch was undeniable, and it practically made you melt.
“No matter what happens, I’ll always be here,” he finally said, taking you by surprise when he placed a loving kiss on your forehead.
Despite all the times you two had been intimate, you had never really kissed. Of course, you’ve given plenty of seductive kisses on each other’s genitals during foreplay, but never on your faces or mouths. Those kinds of kisses were just too romantic, so you never bothered. It wasn’t until Shark saw the deep shade of red in your cheeks that he realized what exactly he had done, and his face soon reddened with a blood-rush to match your own.
“S-Sorry, I kinda got caught up in the moment,” he sheepishly apologized, pulling his hand away from your head.
“It’s alright,” you quickly reassured him, grabbing his hand and pulling it back towards you, “I liked it.”
Just to prove your point, you leaned forward to give him the tiniest peck on the tip of his nose. The gesture left him even more flustered and flabbergasted, but his expression quickly went from shocked to lovestruck as he smiled back. Feeling much better, you curled into him and closed your eyes, finally comfortable enough to fall asleep.
You waited a little while after Shark got comfortable and went still again, before uttering just barely above a whisper, “Thank you, Louis.”