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lovingmusicalmen · 3 years ago

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We're a Team (Pt 1)

Pairing: Dodge Mason x shy!female!reader

Summary: Y/N has been working with Dodge for a while now - she's one of the few people who he considers his friend in Carp Texas. Though as a result of her shyness, it's a surprise to Dodge that she's interested in participating in Panic

Warnings: Swearing, Panic events i.e. teenagers doing dumb stuff, alludes to abuse but nothing explicitly said just talks about rough family life (lmk if I missed anything!)

Requested: Yes/No

Word Count: 5,748

A/N: So yeah... this is the long awaited Dodge fic! I hope it's okay. It was all meant to be one fic for a few requests I got back when I opened then (apologies it's taken so long btw) but I was kinda losing motivation with it a little bit especially with how long it was and so I decided to split it up. It's gonna have at least one more part, but honestly it could be another 2 or 3 depending on the length and the direction I decide I want it to end in (torn between two options lmao) so stay tuned for them! Though part 2 isn't gonna be out for a little while yet as I've got exams coming up and also wanna work on part 2 for BWR. Remember to reblog, comment and everything - anything to tell me your thoughts! Requests are open at the moment so feel free to send them into my inbox :) and shoot me an ask if you wanna be tagged in future fics!

It would be wrong to say that it had been a shock for Y/N to see Dodge at the first Panic Challenge. After all, she had been working at the same time when Dodge had asked Heather about the town-wide tradition. But, it wasn’t something he’d ever seemed at all interested in beforehand - and she couldn’t quite understand, either, why he hadn’t simply asked her. After all, they were co-workers, they saw each other every day. She had even started considering him to be one of her closest friends.

So when she had heard him asking Heather about it, she had assumed he was just being nosy about the tradition, that his declaration of wanting to participate was just a way to convince her to give him the information he wanted. To her, Dodge just didn’t seem the type to get involved with anything like that - she had met Dayna, had been the first person in Carp who he had told the truth to about his sister’s accident. With all of that in mind, she couldn’t understand why he would actually want to participate in something so dangerous.

And yet there he was, walking towards her, flare in hand and eyebrows raised ever so slightly in what Y/N recognised as being a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“You know, this doesn’t really seem your scene,” Dodge commented. Y/N breathed a quiet chuckle and dropped her gaze down to look at the flare clutched in her own hand, embarrassed by the comment. “Wait - you’re… participating?” Dodge asked, only seeming to then notice that she, too, had a number scrawled on the back of her hand. Y/N shrugged in response. “You never said.”

“You never asked,” she pointed out with a little smile.

“How come?”

“Well… you know my family,” Y/N said awkwardly, finally summoning the courage to meet his eyes again. She gave him a half-hearted smile, seeing his expression soften in sympathy.

There was a reason why Dodge - usually so reserved and reclusive - would go out of his way to invite her over to spend dinner at his house with his family.

“Right,” Dodge agreed.

“What about you?” She asked after a moment’s silence. “Doesn’t really seem your thing, either.”

“Well, you know,” Dodge started with a half smirk. “It’s a long summer.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and started to laugh, though quickly quietened the sound when she noticed people beginning to look her way. She didn’t like being noticed. It was kind of her thing. With her aversion to social interaction and innate shyness, it was honestly a wonder that she’d managed to land a job at the cafe.

Dodge was still watching her her, watching her in that way that silmultaneously made her heart beat too fast in her chest, and also made her want to hide from the world forever from sheer embarrassment.

“You-“

“I-“ They began at the same time. Dodge laughed and Y/N coughed, gesturing for Dodge to go first.

“I was just gonna say - you look nice,” he said easily. Y/N couldn’t be certain in the moonlight, but she thought she saw a hint of pink on his cheeks.

“Oh - I - um…” she stuttered. Desperately wanted to hide, she decided. “I was just - I should probably start heading up.” She said, at a loss for what else to say. She gestured awkwardly at the cliff behind her and Dodge nodded, that soft expression still on his face.

“Right. Well - good luck, I guess. Make me proud.” He teased gently. Y/N just nodded, before disappearing off into the night.

When Y/N got to work the next day, Dodge is already there. She wanted to mention his jump - commend him on the extra points he had earned for himself. Ask him again why he was completing - no one, least of all Dodge Mason, would compete in Panic just for the hell of it.

But Dodge just greeted her as normal - with a smile, a quiet “morning”, and a mug of coffee slid across the counter to her. And she doesn’t know how to breech the topic anymore, not with the butterflies in her stomach, which are always present whenever Dodge would do something like that for her.

They get through the whole day dancing around the topic of Panic. Y/N couldn’t tell if Dodge just felt awkward about it all, or if he was worried she did - though he really ought to know by this point that she felt awkward most of the time.

She wanted to talk to him about it. Being as quiet as she was, she had never had many close friends while at school - not that she was unpopular, it was just… she was shy. She never quite understood how people worked and so struggled to get to know them. She had always known she’d enter Panic - she was as desperate to get out of her home town as everyone else. But she’d never been able to talk about it with anyone, not really.

And also, she just liked talking to Dodge about anything.

It’s not a surprise when the bell chimes and Heather, Natalie and Bishop enter into the diner - they weren’t not exactly regulars, but Y/N had figured that they’d be getting a couple of the other Panic players in today, especially after Dodge had gotten 25 points. Y/N offered them an awkward smile and gestured that she’d be over there in a moment. She could feel their eyes on her, sizing her up.

Dodge moved to stand next to her, his arm brushing hers as he reached up to grab a glass down from the shelf.

“You alright?” He asked, clearly picking up on her change in attitude.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Y/N asked. Dodge hesitated, looking at her, before placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“Alright.”

Y/N grabbed her notebook and headed over to the trio, giving them her best service smile.

“Hey guys - what can I get you?”

“Hey, Y/N!” Natalie greeted her cheerfully - the same way that she would greet Heather or Bishop for that matter. “We were surprised to see you there last night.”

Y/N cleared her throat, uncomfortable at the statement. She tapped her pen on her notebook as she measured out her response carefully. It wasn’t often that she was placed into social situations such as this.

“Yeah - well…” was the most she could muster up. She shrugged again. “It’s a long summer?” She offered, remembering Dodge’s joke from the previous evening. It seemed to do the trick, though, with the trio giving her polite chuckles in reply.

“Could we just get some chips to share and some water?” Heather asked and Y/N nodded, writing down the order to give to the kitchen.

“Sure - I’ll be right back with that,” she said, her words coming out more fluently now they had moved back into the familiar territory of her doing her job.

“Why do I feel like they’re watching us?”

Y/N almost jumped out of her skin at Dodge’s voice being so close to her, having snuck up as she was keying in the order.

“Sizing up the competition,” Y/N stated. “Everyone gets like this around Panic,” she gave him a wry smile. “Sometimes I forget you’re new in town.”

“I’ve been here for a year,” Dodge complained, leaning against the counter, waiting patiently for her to finish so that he could process his own order. Y/N shrugged.

“You’ll be new in town either for the rest of your life, until you leave or until someone else moves in. That’s just how it is here,” she reminded him.

“Guess I should’ve seen that coming.”

Shortly after putting his own request through, Dodge had disappeared into the back to organise the shelves, leaving Y/N out in front to tend to the customers. Just after she had served the trio of friends their chips, the door opened again while she was wiping down the counter just for something to do. She glanced up and froze at the presence of Ray Hall in the cafe. He walked straight over to the counter, ignoring her presence, and began to ring the bell repeatedly.

“Can-can I help you?” She asked awkwardly. She held back a shiver as Ray looked her up and down, sizing her up.

“Sorry, darling - I’m here for Dodge,” he answered, returning to ringing the bell, the sound aggravating Y/N, making her clench her jaw. Though, she had to admit that the strategy was effective as only moments later, Dodge had returned from the back room, looking equally pissed off. He grabbed the bell and moved it out of Ray’s reach and Y/N watched in satisfaction as Ray’s hand instead slapped onto the table. Not that it annoyed him, instead it caused his smirk to widen.

Dodge glanced at Y/N, eyebrows raised, though she could only offer him an apologetic shoulder shrug.

“Can I help you with something?” Dodge asked, placing a menu down on the counter in front of Ray and stepping back with his hands on his hips.

One thing that never ceased to surprise Y/N was how Dodge’s attitude would change when he was speaking to her compared to speaking with anyone else - with her, he was sweet, funny, always trying to make sure she was okay. With anyone else, though, he became the mysterious, brooding character that everyone thought he was.

Ray made a big show of pretending to examine the menu.

“Yeah,” he dragged out. “Why don’t you go ahead and get me the fuck you?”

Dodge’s brows raised higher on his forehead and Y/N had to stifle a laugh at his expression. He glanced at her again and she rushed away to tend to a customer, giving them their space - also so that she could release her nervous laughter out of earshot.

She watched as they spoke - Dodge looking impassive, unimpressed, even, by whatever it was that Ray was saying. Ray let out a wheeze of laughter, though Y/N wasn’t sure if it was scathing or dryly amused.

It wasn’t long after that before Ray had left the cafe, shooting one final, cocky wink at Y/N.

“Everything alright?” Y/N asked, approaching the counter herself and leaning on her elbows in front of Dodge.

“Sure - Ray’s doing me a favour and warning me to drop out of Panic,” Dodge replied.

“Wow, how kind of him,” Y/N teased. “Didn’t realise he was so concerned about your wellbeing.” The corners of Dodge’s lips twitched at her words and he shook his head at her, rolling her eyes. He turned away, likely to try to hide his smile, though it didn’t stop Y/N from beaming at his back. “Did you see the movie theatre on your way here, by the way?” Y/N asked, changing the conversation slightly.

“I mean… I passed it?” Dodge offered uncertainly. Y/N rounded the counter, grabbing hold of the towel resting over Dodge’s shoulder and yanking it into her grip instead to have something to play with as she spoke in a lowered tone.

“You didn’t see the sign?” She asked, staring at her hands as she threaded the towel between her fingers. “I imagine that’s why Ray came in now - because he just saw it.”

“What’re you…” Dodge trailed off with a frown.

“The Judge’s have left the clue for the next trial,” she said, lowering her voice even more, daring a quick glance around the diner to make sure there was no one within earshot.

“What? When?”

“I guess it went up sometime last night - you must’ve missed it on your way into work today. It’s at the granary. I was gonna head there after work to check if there’s any information there for the time.”

“I can drive you - we get off at the same time anyway, right?” Dodge asked and Y/N nodded her confirmation.

“Thanks.”

The atmosphere when Y/N reached the granary that evening was electrifying. Dodge had offered to pick her up and take her, the two of them arriving together, but Y/N had said no - she knew what her parent’s reaction would be if she was seen leaving the house in the evening to meet a guy.

So they had gone their separate ways after visiting the location after work and figuring out the clue, Y/N promising to meet him there that evening.

As she had suspected, though, she arrived earlier than him, settling, as she almost always did, at the edge of the crowd. She surveyed her peers, picking out the other contestants among the sea of spectators. In doing so, she caught the eye of Natalie, who raised her hand in greeting.

Y/N gave an awkward wave back before leaning on the tree behind her, turning her gaze to where Diggins and Summer were standing and looking to be in deep conversation.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what the next challenge would be, what with the precarious plank so high up in the air. That didn’t mean that Y/N wasn’t scared, though, of having to step onto the platform. She wondered how many people would bow out here, at just the second challenge. She wouldn’t, and she knew Dodge wouldn’t either - and she supposed that that was what counted.

“Hey! Do you wanna come over and sit with us?” Y/N jumped at the sudden voice. She was surprised to see that it was Natalie who had approached her, having assumed that the awkward wave she had offered would have been enough social interaction for the other girl. But she was smiling kindly and gesturing back at where Heather was seated on the hood of a car. Heather offered a smile when she saw Y/N looking.

“Oh - I…” Y/N trailed off nervously.

“I know you must be waiting for Dodge - but we can keep you company,” Natalie said in a teasing tone, taking hold of Y/N’s arm. Y/N gave a sharp intake of breath at the unexpected contact and instinctually moved away from the touch. She saw a look of brief confusion flit across the other girl’s face.

“Sorry - yes. That would be nice,” Y/N stammered, forcing herself to smile.

“Where is Dodge, anyway - did he not work out the clue?” Natalie asked as they walked over to Heather.

“Oh - he did. He just…” Y/N shrugged helplessly, unsure of how to explain Dodge’s mannerisms to her. “He had some stuff to do this evening,” she settled on at last. “And besides, he likes to arrive to things on the dot,” Natalie and Heather both laughed at the comment before moving into their own conversation. Y/N just sat there, vaguely following their words and nodding along when it felt appropriate. But her thoughts were with Dodge - what she told Natalie and Heather wasn’t untrue, Dodge did like to arrive to things exactly on time, but even knowing that never did any goof for her nerves as she always felt he was cutting it just a little too close. Especially for a game like Panic, where one wasn’t offered second chances.

Sure enough, just as Diggins called for everyones attention, Dodge slipped into the crowd. Y/N gave a sigh of relief, allowing his words to wash over her - again, she had already pretty much figured out what would be going on in this challenge. As always, her entire focus was on Dodge Mason, who was scanning the crowd, his typical public-scowl on his face.

It was an expression that softened, just minutely, when he caught sight of Y/N. While he didn’t give her a smile, he did offer a quick nod of his head.

She was just a little ashamed to admit that that acknowledgement was all that she needed to calm her nerves and allow her to focus on the challenge again. She watched as Drew climbed the ladder and gave a shaky breath as the tower shook the slightest amount. Fingers clasped around hers and she looked over to see Heather looking equally terrified. Y/N squeezed the girl’s hand back, the two of them letting out simultaneous sighs when Drew made it to the other side, whooping loudly.

“Next up: Y/N Y/L/N!”

And just like that she couldn’t breath again. Suddenly, all eyes were on her, the exact thing that she had spent almost all of secondary school trying to avoid. Her legs were wobbly as she stood from the hood of the car, responding to Heather and Natalie’s encouraging smiles with a grimace.

She began to walk, staring at the ground and wishing that it would swallow her up. When she reached the base of the ladder, she forced herself to look up again, trying to ignore the shaking of her hands as they gripped onto the first rung. Dodge had come out from the shadows again. He offered her the tiniest smile in the world.

‘You got this’ he mouthed.

Y/N set her jaw and began to climb.

If she was being honest, she didn’t remember much of her actual crossing of the ledge - one moment she was at the top of the ladder, refusing to look down, dimly aware of Diggins giving her a countdown. The next moment she was on the opposite podium, legs wobbling a little and feeling as though at any moment she would fall down the ladder as the applause of her peers rang through her ears.

When she reached the bottom, she barely registered Diggins calling out for Shawna to begin her run. Her breath was still just a little too fast, her eyes a little too wild. Then - a gentle hand clasped ever-so loosely around her wrist and a slight tug pulling her to the side of the crowd.

“You did good up there,” Dodge told her, voice lowered. Y/N offered a weak smile.

“I… don’t really remember doing it at all,” she admitted as the crowd erupted into yet more cheers - Y/N imagined it was a result of Shawna finishing her crossing.

Dodge chuckled, shaking his head.

“You okay?” He asked. “You’re still shaking a bit.”

“Yeah - just.. adrenaline, I guess,” Y/N shrugged awkwardly, reaching up to run a hand through her hair.

“Well trust me, you didn’t look nervous at all. If I didn’t know you, I would’ve guessed you were in your element.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Y/N laughed, elbowing him. Dodge joined in on her laughter, though much more quietly, something soft in his eyes.

There was a sudden loud gasp from the crowd around them, drawing Y/N’s attention back towards the competition. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was Heather’s turn and she had slipped, falling to her knees on the plank. Y/N stepped forwards instintively, though she knew there was nothing she could actually do to aid her maybe-friend. Dodge’s hand shot out, though, and clasped around her wrist, pulling her back towards him. She felt the weight of his chest behind her.

“It’s okay - she’ll be fine, see? She’s getting up,” Dodge told her, breath tickling her ear. Sure enough, Heather was making shaky attempts to raise herself back up to her feet. Ray was sitting at the opposite side of the plank, lips turned up into a cocky smirk as he watched. It looked as though they were speaking with each other, but Y/N was sure that it couldn’t be anything good. Heather had made her opinion on Ray quite clear.

“I hate this,” Y/N groaned out quietly. She turned to bury her face in Dodge’s chest instead, not quite registering her own actions before she had already done it. She felt him freeze, before he slowly, hesitantly raised a hand to place on her back, holding her there.

“It’s alright - I’ll watch for you, let you know when she’s over.”

as it turned out, Y/N didn’t exactly need Dodge to tell her when it was safe to look again. Her peers let out a collective sigh of relief, which she was sure could have only been brought about by Heather crossing safely. But still, she remained with her face hidden in his chest up until he gave her a gentle squeeze and gave her a murmur of reassurance.

“Thank you,” she whispered, smiling awkwardly up at him.

He gave her a stoic nod in reply, opening his mouth to say something before being cut off by Diggins calling his name.

“Be safe,” Y/N called after him, as loudly as she dared, feeling the weight of so many eyes lying on her and Dodge. Dodge gave only a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement that he had heard her.

“Hey - come wait with us,” it was Natalie again, holding out a hand to Y/N with a kind smile. “Saw you were nervous when Heather crossed,” she admitted when Y/N finally placed her hand into Natalie’s, allowing herself to be pulled back over to their little group.

“Think I was more scared watching that than crossing myself,” Y/N admitted quietly, though Natalie laughed loudly at the comment.

“Yeah - figured you’d want some company with Dodge crossing now.”

“Though I think he’s gonna be just fine,” Heather added reassuringly.

“He was completely unfazed by the jump last night,” Bishop pointed out and Y/N smiled.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s gonna be-“ she cut herself off with a loud gasp, eyes widening in fear as Dodge stumbled and almost fell, catching himself on the pole with a single hand.

One more she was prevented from moving forwards by a hand on her wrist, pulling her back.

“It’s okay! You can’t help him, remember,” Heather tried to soothe her.

“No!” She desperately tried to pull her hand free - though what she would actually do if she were able to get over there, she wasn’t sure. When Heather had slipped, Y/N couldn’t watch. With Dodge, however, she was unable to look away. Stuck staring at him, feeling her breathing quickening with every moment that he spent hanging there, slowly managing to pull himself up.

She found it impossible to breathe until Dodge had managed to pull himself back up, rolling onto the plank, the muscles in his arms flexing and his jaw clenched determinedly. A dry sob wrenched itself from her chest, her body sagging in relief as Dodge stood up again and made it the final few steps to the end of the plank.

For the first time in her life, she didn’t care about the eyes on her, the moment that the grip on her wrist loosened enough, she pulled herself free and rushed over to where Dodge had just climbed down the ladder.

She stopped short, though, watching Dodge stalk over to where Ray was leaning against the side of his car. Her eyes widened as he slammed him against the metal, glowering at him. Dodge’s jaw was clenched harder than she had ever seen it before, his eyes calculating his next move.

“Dodge,” she whispered, certain it would go unheard. But no, Dodge glanced over at her and she shook her head minutely. Whatever Ray had done, it wasn’t worth it.

Dodge shoved the other boy away with a scowl, turning to face Y/N and begin to walk over to her.

“What, not even a kiss goodnight?” Dodge met Y/N’s eyes, something apologetic in his expression, before turning and throwing a punch at Ray.

Everything happened in a blur - one moment, they were throwing punches at each other, the sickening sound of fist meeting muscle. The next, the sky was alive with blue and red lights as sirens wailed.

Y/N froze like a dear in headlights, unable to move as she saw the policemen leaving their cars, shouting at all of the gathered teens to stop their movements. Then she was slammed into by one of her fleeing peers, falling to the ground with a groan, lifting her hands desperately to cover her face in the hopes it would stop her from getting hurt by the panicked movements around her.

She curled up tighter as a foot kicked hard into her stomach, her peers still stampeding around her. Hands gripped tightly around her shoulders, then, pulling her across the ground out of the masses.

“Can you get up?” Dodge asked, his voice panicked. Y/N nodded, unable to speak. She allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, Dodge’s arm wrapping around her waist and guiding her in a swift jog over to duck behind a car where Heather was waiting.

“Are you okay? You looked like you got kicked a few times,” Heather asked her.

“I’m fine,” Y/N managed to get out.

There was a help behind them and the three of them peaked over the car to see Natalie stumble. The three of them moved quickly, Dodge slipping his hand down to wrap his fingers around Y/N’s instead, Natalie looping her own arms over both Dodge’s and Heather’s shoulders.

“It’s my ankle,” Natalie explained.

“We need to get out of here,” Y/N said, squeezing Dodge’s hand. He looked at her and nodded, allowing Y/N to lead the way of their odd chain of people, her pulling him by the hand into the surrounding fields.

They didn’t let up on their staggering run until they reached a clearing, where they lowered Natalie onto a nearby stone.

“I’m gonna try and call Bishop,” Heather said, shaking a little from the adrenaline.

They nodded their confirmation and Y/N crouched down in front of Natalie.

“Can I look at your ankle?” She asked softly. Natalie nodded a little unsurely.

“I mean - you don’t have to,” she said, but Y/N had already began to examine it after her nod. She could feel Dodge watching her but she tried to push that thought to the back of her mind.

“It’s not too bad - looks like it’s just a sprain or just a twist. I’d bandage it if I could but…”

“I got it,” Dodge cut in and when Y/N glanced back at him, he was pulling off one of his socks. “Don’t worry - I’ve taken my monthly shower,” he added, seemingly picking up on the amused expressions on both Natalie and Y/N’s faces. Y/N looked up and met Natalie’s eyes, the two of them grinning at each other.

“Lucky me.”

“Your sock, Cinderella,” Dodge said, handing it to Y/N, who began to wrap it around Natalie’s injured ankle.

“It might hurt a little - but if we do this, it’ll hopefully stop it from swelling too much, and when you get home I’d ice it and if it’s still hurting take some painkillers,” Y/N advised, finishing up her handiwork.

“Did you take a first aid course at some point?” Natalie asked, and Y/N bit her lip, Dodge’s gaze feeling heavier than ever as it rested on her.

“Something like that,” she agreed.

“Bishop’s gonna drive around and pick us up,” she let out a sigh of relief at Heather’s sudden presence.

“Y/N - you need a lift back?” Natalie asked her with a smile.

“Ah - I can-” Y/N began.

“I’ll take her back,” Dodge cut her off. “Thanks, though.”

Heather and Natalie looked between the two of them before nodding, Heather offering her hand out to Natalie to pull her up.

“Well… we’ll see you around,” Natalie said. “And thanks again,” she added, nodding to them.

The moment that they were out of earshot, Dodge had crouched down to Y/N’s side.

“Are you okay? Heather’s right you did take a few kicks,” he said.

“I’m fine - I’ll ice it when I get home,” Y/N assured him. Dodge didn’t look particularly happy and Y/N tilted her head a little. “What?”

“Nothing - not… it’s not my place,” he sighed, straightening up and offering her his hand.

Y/N allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, stumbling forwards a little into his arms, finally feeling the ache of her torso begin to kick in.

“You going to be okay working tomorrow?” Dodge asked worriedly, his arm slipping around her waist, supporting her as they began to walk in the direction that he had parked.

“Sure - I’ve worked with worse,” she joked. Dodge’s jaw clenched and he shook his head. “Sorry - not funny,” an awkward silence fell between them. “Hey - were you okay earlier?”

“Were you? I heard you scream.”

“Well excuse me for being worried about my friend,” Y/N snorted and Dodge sent her a side smile.

“Yeah - Ray was being a prick. Shone a light up at me and I slipped.”

“I take back what I said earlier - it is worth it. Next time I see him I’m gonna punch him so hard that it’s me he’ll see in his individual challenge.”

“Calm down, spitfire,” Dodge laughed. “I’m alright - Ray’s just an idiot. He’s nothing I can’t handle,” he assured her, opening the passenger door of his car and helping her in.

Natalie comes by the diner the next day after they had closed - Y/N was wiping down some tables, walking gingerly as too much movement caused sharp pains in her bruised torso. Dodge was at the register, cashing up for the evening.

When the knock came at the door, they shared a look of equal confusion. Dodge went to open it while Y/N backed up a little - the movement instinctive.

“Hi,” Dodge greeted, sounding surprised.

“Hey - can I come in?”

Y/N relaxed upon recognising Natalie’s voice. Dodge looked back over his shoulder at her and Y/N just shrugged her shoulders.

“I need to talk to you - in private,” she said to Dodge, and Y/N caught the glance she threw at her as she took a seat on one of the stools at the counter.

“Y/N-“ Dodge began, frowning at Natalie and crossing his arms over his chest.

“That’s alright - I can go take stock,” she interrupted. She shot Dodge a smile and tossed the rag she had been using to wipe the tables with at his face, biting back a laugh when it hit him in the face. He rolled his eyes at her but she could see that he was trying his hardest not to smile.

It didn’t take her long to organise the backroom for the evening - truthfully, it had been a slow day anyway and so she had actually already begun to do it near the end of her shift. So instead she took a seat on one of the counters, pulling out her phone and idly playing a game as she waited for Dodge and Natalie finish talking about whatever it was that Natalie wanted.

“Hard at work, huh?”

Y/N looked up and shot him a bashful smile, shrugging her shoulders and pocketing her phone.

“In my defence, it was already mostly done.”

“We’re done out there too - come on, I’ll give you a ride home,” Dodge held out his hand and Y/N took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. To her surprise, though, he didn’t loosen his grip, instead tightening his fingers around hers as he led her out of the cafe, only letting her go when they were actually outside so that he could lock up after them.

“What did Nat want anyway?”

“To team up - she spied on my mail and found out that I’d reenrolled this year. Threatened to get me kicked from Panic if I didn’t team with her,” the way he said it was so nonchalant that Y/N did a double take at the words.

“Shit - well… are you alright?”

“Yeah - why wouldn’t I be?” Dodge asked, seemingly surprised at her concern.

“Just… I guess I figured you wouldn’t want anyone knowing stuff like that, especially with Panic going on,” another thought occurred to her, heightening her concern. “Does she know about Dayna?”

Dodge’s jaw clenched just slightly and he refused to make eye contact as he gave a subtle nod of his head.

Y/N hesitated before swallowing down her nerves and insecurities and grabbing Dodge’s hand again, squeezing it tightly. He looked over at her and she tried to give him a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure she won’t tell anyone else - especially if you two are working together now,” Y/N said gently. Dodge nodded his head, forcing a smile onto his own face.

“I told her you’d be an ally too.”

“What?” Y/N asked, surprised.

“I said she didn’t get a choice - that we’d already agreed to split the money if either of us win anyway so I told Nat that she’d just have to be on board with you being part of our team too.”

“But we didn’t-“

“I know,” Dodge agreed. They pulled to a stop outside of his car and Dodge faced her properly. He hesitated for a moment before lifting his free hand to cup her face ever-so gently. “But… I hate the thought of you being stuck here with your family for another year. I was always going to split the money with you - we’re a team, alright?”

“Dodge…”

“I hate to say it, but I’m not going to take no for an answer,” he said, a teasing edge to his tone. “I… I care about you - you have to know that by now.”

“I just…” Y/N bit her lip, looking down at the ground and she drew a shaky breath, thinking over his words as best she could with how close he was in that moment, the warmth of his hand still on her cheek and how she could feel the tenderness of his gaze lying steadily on her. It was hard to think of anything at all - impossible to try to force out any words.

“I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Dodge said after a beat too long without a reply. He went to pull away from her and Y/N bit the bullet, tugging him back as close as she could and pushing herself up towards him, her free hand curling around the back of his neck to pull him into a kiss.

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