25. WHO'S IN CONTROL?

                                    

                                          
Frozen. Elaina was absolutely frozen. 
She felt as if she was nothing more than a stiff stone statue. As if she was suddenly staring straight into the immobilizing eyes of Medusa and her paralyzing serpent hair. Except, it wasn't the Greek gorgon that Elaina had unexpectedly come face to face with.
Her mouth went dry while her lips parted open, and yet, nothing came out.
Say something—
Damn it, say anything!
Five only stared at her, patiently waiting for her to speak. However, the longer he looked at her, the more his own thoughts began to swirl around in his cranium—not that he showed an ounce of it of course, with that annoyingly calm demeanor of his. His green orbs darted from her face down to the shirt she was currently wearing, his brows crinkling in silent question at the unfamiliar item of clothing that he could clearly tell wasn't her size. 
Still, he didn't utter a word about it.
Elaina could feel small beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead while her heart continued to spasm out of her chest. The tips of her fingers nervously began tugging at the tied hem of the shirt, suddenly missing the feel of her star bracelet, the one that now lay broken on top of Tony's night table. At this point, she started to wonder if she was even breathing as time felt like it was moving at a snail's pace.
How long has she been standing here like a speechless idiot?
Unable to tolerate the feel of his eyes on her anymore, Elaina dropped her head and placed her focus on her bloody hands. She's never felt this rattled before—especially around Five (or because of him). This feeling was so foreign and out of place, that the girl wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to act or even what to say right now.
Particularly with the way he scrutinized her with this indifferent look in his eyes. It made her feel small and, frankly, even more pathetic than she already did seeing how little her presence affected him while she felt she was seconds away from passing out.
All she wanted was for him to hold her and to tell her that he was joking.
Except she knew Five far too well to know that he doesn't 'joke'. 
The unexpected feeling of a hand landing on her shoulder made Elaina jump. Her head shot up to see that it belonged to Tony, he somehow managed to appear beside her without her sensing him. He kept his gaze forward as she gaped up at him, his stare was icy and aimed entirely at Five.
"What's up, pendejo? Do you need somethin'?" he questioned cooly, though it came out more like a challenge while the grip her had on Elaina's shoulder tightened protectively.
Five's eyes instantly fluttered in surprise, his head jerking backward unintentionally after watching the unanticipated interaction before him. Sure, seeing Tony was never ideal (frankly, Five tries to forget the jerkoff even existed the majority of the time) but that wasn't what caught him so off guard. 
No, it was Elaina—or rather, it was the way she subtly relaxed after realizing that the hand belonged to the bastard. Five's rounded green eyes darted between the two with a flash of bafflement. 
The raven-haired teen shifted on his feet uneasily, pulling a hand out of one of his pockets before meeting Tony's cold glare with his steaming one.
Five's lips went into a tight line momentarily before blurting out, "What's going on here?" he was unable to restrain the question or his finger from pointing between the two Mexican teens. "Is that his?"  sharply asked the boy.