Chapter 16

Being trapped in different places was getting to be a new normal for us.

Taking a closer look at the small room, it was plain and bare. The floor was covered with old dusty wooden boards. The walls had old peeling wallpaper. There was a single light on the ceiling that lit the room. A bed and wardrobe were the only furniture there was.

When I looked under the bed there was even more dust, but that was it. Everything seemed normal. The wardrobe has a few pieces of clothing and a blanket, but nothing suspicious, not even a false back. There wasn't a window anywhere in the room, and nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

“So, do we just stay here until we die, or…?” I asked.

"First of all, not funny. Second, I don't know. We can try breaking down the door I guess.” Fenton eyeballed the door frame and the lock. "What's your strength at?”

The moment of truth. At this point I felt more confident in my decision to tell Fenton a little more about myself, but it still made me feel nervous.

“I know it's shocking considering I look this fantastic, but it's not very high," I joked.

“Yes, yes, you look like Adonis, what level is it?" Fenton smirked.

"Oh…um, it's at three." I found a very interesting floorboard to stare at while I felt Fenton turn to glare at me.

“I must have misheard you, I thought you said it was three?" 

“...You didn't mishear me, it's three," I repeated.

“I'm being serious, Faust. I only have 15 points in strength, I was focusing on my unique skill and constitution.”

"Yeah, well, I'm being serious too." I grumbled. 

“What, how is that possible? You start with five points in everything." He was staring at me, boring a hole in my skull.

"Yeah well, I did things a little differently, I guess." 

Fenton walked over to me and tried to get me to make eye contact. “You're gonna need to explain that a little more.”

I turned around and sat on the bed. "The game gave me the option to take points from other areas…so I thought, why not?" 

“...What did you put them in?” He sat next to me on the bed. 

I still didn't want to look at him. I didn't know how he would react or what he would say. 

“I put everything in my unique skill, and then the game asked if I would like to move points from other attributes. So I did…I started the game with fifty points under my unique skill." I didn't know what face Fenton was making, I was busy staring at my feet.

“Well, that sounds like it was a stupid thing to do," Fenton laughed.

I peeked over at him. His face looked soft.

 “What skill was so enticing that you felt the need to dump everything into it?" 

"Luck?” I watched his expression turn from curiosity to confusion. 

“What do you mean, luck? That's really broad." 

I laughed, “I thought so too. I didn't know what they meant by it, so I thought I would see how far it would go…" 

“So, what does it do?" 

I explained to him the basics of the skill and the little I understood about it. He listened patiently and just let me talk. 

“...I think I can give other people some of my luck too…I don't know how far that goes though," I spoke hastily. 

When I finished he sighed and looked across the room, “for being so lucky you get into a lot of trouble. Chased by a Hellhound, attacked by a dragon, nearly killed and targeted by one of the most powerful guilds in the game, attacked by a monster…forced to pretend you're in a relationship with me. Are you sure the skill is Luck and not misfortune?” He laughed.

“Well, that last one isn't so bad," I smirked at him.

“Right, there isn't anyone else in the room. You don't have to lie to me like that." I could see the little cracks in the mask Fenton wore starting form.

I looked at him carefully, “It doesn't matter if I'm talking to one person or one hundred, I'm going to to say the same thing." 

He turned and I could see a blush crossing his face. “Yeah right…" 

“I'm serious. Out of everything that's happened since coming into this game…you're definitely the best.”

"That's not as romantic as you think it is,” he laughed. "This game has been hell, almost anything would be better than all of this crap.” He gestured at the room around us. 

"Aw, I wouldn't say that!” I threw myself back on the bed. "Clearly the ghost was just setting us up for the ‘only one bed’ trope.”

"Oh gosh! Stop it!” He smacked me a few times while the blush spread further down to his neck.

Looking up at him like that, I just wanted to touch him. This feeling was so good. I felt relaxed, despite everything that was happen. 

I swung my arm up and around him, pulling him down on the bed next to me.

“Hey!" He protested. 

"Just  put your feet up and relax a little bit._ 

He pouted his lips. This feeling…was new.

I stared at his lower lip that was curled out. Our eyes met for a second, I just wanted to pull him closer.

“Fenton…” 

His eyes suddenly looked a little scared. I stopped, I didn't want them to look that way…

“Let's get some sleep. We're already trapped…it's late, we can figure out how to get out in the morning.”

"Oh, yeah. I'll sleep on the floor…” he made a move to get up from the bed.

"Not a chance,” I pulled him back down before he could get up. I arranged us on the bed and pulled the covers over our bodies making a nice little cocoon. Wrapping my arms around him, I held him close. "Let's just stay like this for tonight.”

I knew my heart was beating out of my chest, based on how we were laying I knew he could feel it. 

"Ok…" he whispered.

A moment passed in silence before I remembered. “Oh, this is probably a good time for me to ask you…”

He hesitated, "ask me what?”

"About your life out of game. We're supposed to know each other right?" 

“Oh, yeah…what do you want to know?”

“Everything, just start at the beginning." 

“The beginning? Like day one? Geesh…I don't want to be the only one talking. You have to give me all the information I give you." 

“Deal. Now you start," I grinned. 

"To start, I'm eighteen, and I'm the youngest with three older sisters.”

"Wooow, the baby in the family!” I squealed. 

"Stop! I get that enough at home…how about you?" 

“Same age actually, I just turned eighteen the day the game came out." 

“See, your  luck sucks," Fenton smirked and peered up at me. 

“Yeah, yeah. It definitely  isn't the birthday gift I was expecting. I have one younger sister, and she normally draws me something…I didn't get to see her gift for me this year yet." 

“...I'm sure you'll be able to see it when we get out of here", he smiled. 

His smile was infectious. I didn't even realize before how negative I had felt about everything. Now, it all didn't seem that bsd. 

“Anyway, that's surprising, I would have thought you were an only child.”

"Ouch, what's that supposed to mean?" I tried to act overly dramatic, which elicited a cute smile. 

You're not wrong though. I was and only child for a while, my sister is only seven, so we aren't very close in age.”

“It still must be fun to have a younger sibling." 

“It’s not too bad…how about you?”

"Oh no, older siblings are awful. They gang up on you and won't leave you alone. They're all obsessed over trying to help me with college prep things and finding a school for my major.”

"What are you thinking about doing?" 

“... Something in the arts, maybe graphic design? I'm not sure.”

"...When we get out of this game we should hang out." 

Fenton peered up at me. “And what would we do if we met in real life?" 

“Let's see…” I took a second to ponder this scenario. "First, we could meet up at a coffee shop and grab drinks for on the go. Then we could go window shopping, or just go for a walk and talk for a while. We could catch a movie, and then get dinner afterwards. If we aren't completely tired of video games you could come back to my house and we could play for a while…”

"...That all sounds like a date…”

I pulled him a little closer. "I think it sounds fun.”

"...It…does sound fun." 

I couldn't make out his face, but I could feel his heartbeat. I hoped he was happy to feel mine too. We layed like that for a while. Eventually I hear his breath starting to slow and become more even. The light breaths were a cute lullaby.

We fell asleep holding each other, laying inside a locked room, in a haunted house, in some spooky ass woods, with our lives turned completely upside down by this game.

I felt really lucky at that moment.