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Neon light pulsated with each beat of the music. As she shimmied her way through the crowd of humans and monsters, her eyes were drawn to the stage above the stairs. A familiar figure had taken it upon himself to DJ.
His bouncing form failed to notice the approaching monster as she crept up the spiralling stairs. “Seems you’re in a good mood, Cobalt,” she smirked as the nickname left her lips. Leaning against the mixing console, she chuckled at the boy’s shock.
Holt jumped; his hands stumbled on his disk causing a short scratching sound, which he quickly recovered from. He threw her a smile and a glance before continuing his music. “Well hey baby, didn’t think someone, like your fine self, would come up here to see little old me. Enjoying the show?”
Chuckling, the girl nodded. “Of course. I mean, The Holt Hyde is DJ-ing.” She leaned in closer to his ear and whispered, “how could it be anything but blazing?”
Holt’s spiked hair seemed to burn brighter at her words. He turned slightly to hide the faint blush appearing on his cheeks. Hurriedly turning back, so as to not mess up his set, he clicked his tongue. “Well naturally. I mean, what would you have without me if I had-”
The word choked him, clamming his throat shut. His hands froze. Holt stared into nothing with a terror etched into his features. Flashes filled his mind. A depending silence took over, and the guests mumbled in confusion. Smoke poured out of Holt’s skin and panic clutched the girl’s heart. Snatching his hands, she held them as the two disks spun again and the crowd cheered. They assumed it to be a build-up.
That contact of cooler hands was enough to snap Holt out of his trance, but the fear lingered in his eyes. “I-” he started before ripping his hands away from her and going back to the mixer. He flicked on a few songs to auto-play before silently grabbing her hand and pulling her down the spiralling stairs. Any question that spilled from her lips was ignored as they made their way further into the catacombs. Soon, the music was just a faint hum. Holt stopped. Letting go of the girl’s hand.
“Cobalt, what’s the deal?” she fumed, boring into the back of his head. Her glare intensified with each second her question went unanswered. His shoulder jittered and shakily exhaled. “If-” he began as his voice crumbled. “You and everyone else didn’t come in time… I-”
He finally faced her. Tears brimmed around his eyes as he stared at the ceiling, refusing to let them fall. Guilt kicked the girl’s gut, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his form. “It’s okay. I- We would never let anything happen to you, Holt. I promise.”
His head fell onto her shoulder as choked sobs soaked into her clothes. His arms delicately circled her as she rubbed her palm across his back. As his whimpers faded, Holt lifted himself up. The girl used her thumb to clean the streaks on his cheeks. Red rose to his face as he stepped out of her touch. “Sorry, I’m being dumb.” He let out a dry chuckle. The girl grimaced. “I shouldn’t have dragged you out for this sorry I-”
She cut off his rambling with a firm hand on his shoulder. His gaze was pulled to her serious expression. “It’s better to let out your emotions when something traumatic happens than bottling it up inside.” She gave a smile and ended on something lighter. “I don’t wanna hear some boy crap about it being manly to not have emotions or whatever.” She gave a fake angry expression while pointing before her lips curled upwards. They both chuckled.
“Thank you,” Holt whispered bashfully, his shoulders straighten. It seemed there was more he wanted to say, but ended it there.
Grinning, the girl patted his should before making her way back towards the party. “Come on, Cobalt. The party is missing its DJ.”
Holt jogged to catch up, and the two walked side by side.
“Oh, I also forgot.” The girl stopped and placed a hand on the side of Holt’s face. “You stopped me before I could.” Before Holt could question, the girl pressed her soft lips against the boy’s warm cheeks. His face turned completely crimson.
“That’s for Jackson.”
The smile was whipped from Holt’s face. Discontent grew inside him from his other-self’s name being casually mentioned. “What did he do to deserve that?” Holt seethed as they started walking again.
“He went through a lot with all the Normie school and jail stuff, so I thought he could use a little pick-me-up.”
Holt grumbled in response and shoved his hands into his pockets. Not as bad as what he went through.
“That being said.” She stopped again, causing Holt to become even more irritated at her actions. “I’m sure you had it worse.” Placing her hand under his head, she pressed her thumb to his chin and pulled his face down to hers. She whispered. “I think you deserve something bigger.” Pressing her lips softly into his, Holt could feel the pain and troubles melt away.
If this is what he got after, he might have to get into trouble more often.