Rough

“Wait.. so all those changes..? I thought that she was trying out some weird fashion trend.”

“Chloe just didn’t bother to fix her physical appearance today, something about not wanting to waste time with being choosy over insignificant things.”

“How can you explain the intensity during class then?”

“...Chloe told me that she wants to do all she could with her remaining time… I guess that includes her grades.”

“Those flinches, the slight groan of pain during class. You’re telling me that those are the..? I just thought that she was whining over insignificant things like always.”

“Yes. At least it somehow managed to calm down, it was worse last week.”

“Last week?”

“Last week was horrible. Every movement seemed to hurt, she was feverish, she couldn’t even stand up before her legs would give out on and she'd topple to the floor. it was hard for her to even sleep.”

“She looks like she’s handling herself now though… Especially around you.” 

“She’s putting up an act near people, whenever she’s alone it’s so much more obvious. I also think that she’s getting used to it… much to my dismay. No one should get used to such pain. Then there is that thing where she doesn’t want the info on what’s happening to her to spread around..”

“Since we got the gist of it. What can we do to help?”

“Here’s what you can do…”

Chloe rolled her shoulder, her muscle stretching as she moved it around.  A serious look on her face as she popped her joints, she couldn’t stop the small sigh of relief at that.

Seriously, her bones kept on locking but it was nothing a quick pop couldn’t fix. The sharp pain that accompanied it was a bonus as it helped in jolting her awake. 

She yawned, leaning back on her chair just a bit and stood up. Bones popping as she stretched. A few minutes had passed, around fifteen? A glance at her watch showcased that she was correct. Which meant that she had another fifteen minutes before going back to the classroom.

"Hey, Chloe."

The blonde looked around, confused. Trying to see who had called for her before blinking when she heard a rather harsh cough from below her and her head properly turned. 

(Alix…)

The smaller girl that stood before her, crossed her arms, a conflicted look on her face. Hands would occasionally rub her hair before crossing once more. 

"You alright? I've been noticing that you've been…" Chloe turned the next of the words out, tilting her head in confusion. Wondering what the problem was and what the girl needed. She wouldn't usually come to her, not after…. A blink and the blond noticed something.

The girl's shoulders were a bit slouched, knees bent just a bit, unlike her usual confident stature. Cowering? But Alix was no coward. The pinkette didn't seem to be able to consistently look her in the eye, sure it would connect but then would quickly detach and glance elsewhere. Her foot would then do that tapping thing, where she would tap her toes against the ground that would then pick up speed the longer she was distressed.

Distressed… she didn't like that in pack. Pack happy, means great leader. Distressed pack, means bad leader.

(Bunny…. Eat?)

No. She is pack even if an estranged one. She has another, rude to eat.

(Make pack. Bunny…  be taken… we can…. Do.. whatever we want)

Chloe blinked before stepping closer and in one swoop, now had her arms filled with prey whose own arms instinctively wrapped around the taller girl's neck much to her sputtering shock. One of Chloe’s arms held the girl up and she glanced at her books, passing by them and grabbing a random one by the stack and started to make her way to her new destination. Not bothered by the extra weight on her, already used to carrying something or in this situation, someone. 

She had a whole weekend to do so with Sabrina.

"C-Chloe! What're you doing! Wait, when did you get so strong? You could barely lift a dumbbell!” 

A grimace crossed Chloe’s face, brows furrowing. The sputtering was starting to get annoying besides they were in a library, why is Alix making so much noise in a library? Jeez, and people say that she is rude. A quick kiss to the cheek -that just so happens to be a bit too close to Alix’s lips because the girl kept on squirming- later and the shorter girl finally shut up.

There we go, sweet silence. Who knew that those shows were right? Kissing does make people go shush. She had thought that it wasn’t true until she tried it on Sabrina when she went on those ramblings of hers that were rapidly becoming the norm.

She exited the academics area, arms still filled with bun and walked towards the media section where she knew where a bunch of bean bags were. There they could talk and she could finally relax, her body has been a bit of a pain for a while now because of her horrible posture. So relaxing with a… a grimace grew on her face as she tried to shift through her mind to see what their relationship was.

She shrugged. That must be why Alix visited her, probably to ask the same thing. A smile grew. So that meant that she’d finally have another one in pack! So nice. She hadn’t introduced the rest of the pack formally, so she’d have to do it manually. Respect and all that, it was nice of Alix to seek her out first.

The moment she had caught sight of the bean bags, her simple walk turned into a jog and before they knew it, she stood by the bags. She sat first, plopping the shorter and smaller girl between her legs, cracking open her book and starting to read on biology with the girl in between her and the book. Chloe’s chin knocked away the girl’s hat and nestled into pink hair, body comfortably slouching onto the smaller and much cuddler than a table form. 

“Chloe- what’re you doing? Wait, are you actually studying? I thought you usually made Sabrina do this for you-”

Chloe grunted, chin lifting up just so she could bump it against the side of Alix’s head. 

“What do you want? You don’t usually seek me out,” she questioned, chin going back to its old position and continued to slouch over the girl. Her fingers fiddling with the end of the page, arms wrapped around the girl’s waist as she flipped to the next page, eyes silently reading.

“I- erm…” The girl ducked her head and Chloe went with her. It was a bit of an annoyance, with how short the girl was but she was pack, it’d be proving a point if she were to get irritated. Alix then glanced over her shoulder, her eyes meeting those of Chloe’s as she squirmed.  “Listen- i can’t speak in this position.. It’s kinda embarrassing and we’re in public-.”

“Nah,” was Chloe’s simple answer, lips pulling up into a smile. Besides, if anything unsavoury came out of this, she’ll deal with it, like usual.

An odd sound seemed to escape Alix’s throat and the girl give up and instead of trying to squirm around like usual, she instead got comfortable. Her body not slouching but leaning onto the taller girl and Chloe shifted her body, okay with the new position as she moved back and deeper into the bag.

“I needed to study for that science test anyway…” Chloe heard Alix mutter beneath her breath as she crossed her arms, head leaning back and thumping against the front of Chloe’s throat. 

Her lips pulled up into a small smile and she nuzzled into the side of Alix’s head and continued to read. Huh, they weren’t going to talk after all. Her eyes narrowed a bit before shrugging. While it would be a hassle to stand up and grab the rest of the books she’d need, it didn’t bother her. 

Sabrina wasn’t around and Alix was free, who also needed to study anyway. So it was a win-win after all, she’d have someone around and Alix can study. Then she could ask if she wanted to join pack once again, she was going to be better than before so she would be much more worthier this time around.

(Pack…)

Next thing she knew, she was dozing off, the position she was in just a touch comfortable as a nice buzz settled around her body. Then she conked out much to the slight annoyance of Alix, who had to quickly grab the book as Chloe’s fingers slacked.

The girl shook her head and attempted to get up, however that was easier said than done and she couldn’t get out of Chloe’s arms. Her eye twitched and she tried once more, it then widened when the arms tensed and brought her even closer.

She knew that Chloe was a cuddlebug but she would never do so in public! Alix broke out in cold sweat, trying in vain to get out as subtle as she could but the more she tried, the more the arms would flush her closer to the taller girl.

She was red now, she didn’t know whether it was because of exhaustion or embarrassment. Head ducking when some people glanced at her direction, using the book to hide just who she was.

How did her simply asking how Chloe was lead to this!? She should’ve never sought the taller girl out. Dammit, curse her caring nature.

A groan escaped her and she glanced over her shoulder, wondering if she should wake the girl up. The idea got kicked out the window when she caught sight of Chloe’s face. Looking so much peaceful and a whine escaped her and she ducked her head into the book once more, ears burning.

She was regretting this so much.

She regretted it even more when Marinette, Alya and Sabrina found the two of them in this situation a few minutes later

“Help me..” she whimpered, pointedly looking away.