#{[‘beep beep’ || dani texts]}

[moody-alcoholic]

Chapter 1 - The Job.

I just don't know when to stop, if I don't have like 20 projects going at once I get bored. I waited until I had a name though, no longer will I be titling everything 'untitled XYZ fic. It was actually my fiancée who came up with the name.

Work summary: 141 retired and decided to open a delivery company. Only it's not a delivery company, it's a cover for less legal practices. Need a creepy stalker out your life? Someone owes you money? You need to disappear to a new life? Special Delivery Service has got you covered, for a reasonable fee.

Chapter Summary: 5.5k words, Simon x reader, female reader, name used: Dani (this is just personal preference, I don't like using Y/N.) You accept a job offer to work as an office admin for a commercial delivery company. Only the job is not quite as it seems and you come to learn neither are the people you work for.

CW: mentions of abusive ex, alcohol, language, flashbacks of domestic abuse.

masterlist - next

AO3 link

Enjoy <3

You see the job listing towards the bottom of the page: 

Office admin wanted! To start immediately. MUST have a background in logistics.  Send CV to: Price@SDS.co.uk Competitive salary. 

It was short, sweet, to the point and the most promising job posting you had seen all day. You had a background in logistics, you’d just spent the last 3 years working as a supply chain manager. Mainly it was just organising warehouse deliveries but it was experience none the less. You copy the e-mail and send the CV, with a job posting like this you didn’t expect to hear a response back for a few days.

It was already 8pm you’d been applying for jobs all day. You decided to give up for tonight, the sofa and the TV were calling you. You head into the kitchen rummaging through the fridge to see what sad meal you would cook up tonight. You pull out a box of Chinese leftovers, they still smell good. You tip them on a plate throwing it in the microwave as you pour yourself a glass of wine. Turning the TV on channel surfing when your phone starts ringing, you go to pick it up. It’s not a number you know but you swallow your nerves accepting it in case it’s about a job. 

“Hello?” You say.

“Hello is this Dani” A male voice comes through the other end.

“Yeah,” You reply feeling nervous all of a sudden, you sip the wine. 

“You applied for the office admin job?” The voice says back. You have to think for a second, he can’t mean the job you literally applied for less then 10 minutes ago. You look back over at the laptop screen the e-mail still open.

“Hello?” the voice says.

“Yes, sorry yeah, wow I didn’t expect to hear back so quickly.”

“Yeah, we need someone to start immediately, can you come down for an interview tomorrow?” 

“Sure what time?” You ask, you need this job, you need to get back on your feet. 

“I’ll message you the time, and the address.” He says, you hear noise in the background sounds like a door slamming.

“Thank you,” you say as you hear the microwave beep. 

“No problem, see you tomorrow.” He says and hangs up the phone. You take your food out the microwave and flop down on the sofa tuning into whatever soap was playing on the TV. You’re halfway through your food when you get a text with the address and a time. 10am. You copy the address and put it into google, now is a better time then ever to find out about this company. Special Delivery Service, SDS, you don’t know why that makes you chuckle, it makes you think of DFS, the sofa company. The address is close by only a few streets actually, you could walk there in about 20 minutes, that’s convenient at least. From the looks of the website it’s a commercial delivery company. ‘Discretion is our specialty’ it says as you continue reading, there is not much info just how to contact them for a quote. The pictures are mainly stock images bar the logo.

You’d never heard of them before but it’s not exactly like you’re in the market for commercial deliveries, it has good ratings though, that means something. You throw the phone to the side turning back to the TV. This was good, this is a good start it’s what you need to move on, maybe even a fresh start. It feels like the right time, newly out of toxic relationship, made redundant, all in less then a month.

Maybe you could use a nice change of pace, or maybe you would go to the interview tomorrow and it will be a complete waste of time. Either way it’s a step in the right direction and at least your mum will be happy you’ve found a job, you’re pretty sure she was dreading the thought of having to financially support you until you were back on your feet. Now you were definitely hoping the interview would will go well, the thought of having to rely on your mother to support you was the worst. You would rather ask your ex, Lord knows he owes you one. You finish the food and lounge around watching TV until you start to dose off. You peal yourself off the couch heading into bed, a good nights rest will do you good, besides you want to make a good impression tomorrow. 

—————————— 

You get to the building early, it’s sunny weather for once and you can see the large doors to the building flung open. You peak in and see delivery vans, the whole place looks like it was an ex-mechanic shop. A figure catches the corner of your eye, he’s talking to another man walking across the floor, you can’t hear what they’re saying but the shorter man seems enthusiastic about something. Before you can get a better look they disappear out of your line of sight. You look over to what you assume is the customer entrance, and walk in. There is a man sat behind the counter, he seems distracted by something angrily typing on a computer. He sighs as you reach the desk, his eyes flicking up to you, he scoots back in the chair.

“How can I help?” He asks, his demeanour changing, he’s got a nice smile. 

“I’m here for an interview,” You say suddenly feeling nervous. He nods getting up.

“Yeah of course, come through.” He says opening a hidden door in the counter and you walk though. He leads you through to the main room it still smells of fuel, this place definitely used to be a mechanic shop, you can see the covered up pits on the floor where they would access under the cars.

Your attention is drawn to the sound of laughing and you see the two men from earlier stood round a coffee machine. The taller man has his back turned to you while the shorter man is chuckling, hitting the taller man on the back. His eyes move to you, he’s fit, well built, tanned skin, he runs his hand through his slick mohawk, you could have swore he just winked at you. You turn your attention back to the man leading you as you reach a metal staircase.

The second floor-if you can even call it that-is furnished with sofa’s and a kitchenette, you can see a dart board and what looks like a pool table. Looks like a cool place to hangout. You feel bad for not asking the man his name as he leads you an office door. He knocks and you both wait. 

“Come in!” a voice calls, you think you recognise it, its the same person you spoke to on the phone yesterday. The door opens and you walk in. You look at the man sat behind the desk, he looks older then the other people you’ve seen, his beard makes him look older then you suspect for some reason, you can see the bags under his eyes like he could do with long nap.

“Thanks Kyle,” He says as you walk in. Okay, his name was Kyle you’d have to remember that. He nods leaving the room closing the door behind you. The man behind the desk gets up as you walk over to him. He comes round putting his hand out for you to shake it.

“John Price,” he says as he nods at you smiling. You nod back.

“Sit please, coffee? Tea?” He gestures to the chair and walks back round the desk. 

“I’m fine, thank you.” You look up at him smiling as you sit down. His office walls are massive windows looking down on the room below you can see people moving around now opening the back of the vans. You look back up at him as he takes a paper in his hand. 

“3 years as a supply chain manager, studied business in college, pretty impressive.” He says putting the paper back down. 

“Thank you,” you say, not that it’s really that impressive the only reason you did a business course was to make your parents happy. You had no idea what you wanted to do when you finished secondary school. 

“So do you have any experience in warehouse management?” He asks leaning forward on the desk. 

“Well at my last job towards the end, there was a lot of inventory organisation and I was pretty much left in charge of clearing the whole place out before the business went under.” You say, you’re not sure if that’s what he’s expecting, to be honest with the little research you managed to do and the vague job posting you were not sure what to expect. 

“The jobs pretty simple. There are three main aspects, the first is the most important; the clients send us a list of good they need transporting, it’ll be your job to assign it to a driver then create the invoices, paperwork, the system is already pretty automatic. A lot of it is just data entry if I’m being honest.” You smile at him as he continues, so far it seems like a pretty easy job. 

“The second part is when a client sends a special request, the system is not set up to handle them yet so they can come through as errors, with just an e-mail address attached. If you can assign them to someone great if not forward them on to me. The system will let you know if a driver has available delivery slots.” You nod as he finishes, you could handle this, data entry, assigning jobs to people, easy. 

“Sounds good so far.” You reply. He nods. 

“The last part is just your general office admin work, you’ll man the front desk, answer the phone, the boys will tell you if they need supplies ordering that kind of stuff. The hours are standard 9 to 5, 5 days a week, we’re closed Saturday Sunday.” He says spinning round in his chair and taking some paper from the printer. 

“I live close by actually it’s really convenient.” You say. 

“That’s nice, if you want the job I have a contract ready, you can start tomorrow then you’ll have the weekend off.” He says spinning back round straightening the paper out. That’s sudden, the job did say start immediately though, and you really need this job. 

“Of course, that’s great.” You say smiling, hoping he can’t see your hesitation. He pushes the stack of papers towards you, you flick through the first few pages of standard workers rights. 

“You’ll get 2 weeks paid vacation a year, sick leave and maternity leave should you need it kick in after a month of probation.” He explains, pretty standard. You flick through it to the end page with the salary break down. Holy shit! 

“The job requires a certain level of…Discretion.” He explains. “You’re compensated for the inconvenience.” 

“What like I can’t tell people were I work?” You ask confused. He looks at you like he’s trying to think of what to say. 

“We have clients who expect their information to be handled, appropriately. On top of that some of your colleagues like to keep their work and home life separate.” He says eventually, you frown. That’s strange and he didn’t answer your question. You nod like you understand though, regardless you’ll take the 'hush money.' Especially since you’ll be making more then you’ve never made for what is basically a data entry job, and maybe having to answer the phone a few times. It almost seems to good to be true. You skim over the rest of the legal jargon and company rules. 

“Any questions?” He asks as you pick up a pen, you shake your head and sign both pieces of the paper, then hand it to him. He smiles signing it too and ripping off one of the pages handing it back to you. 

“One last thing.” He says hesitating for a second. “Do you have a criminal record?” 

“No,” you shake your head. He stands nodding and you get up too, as he walks round the desk, heading for the door to his office and you follow him. 

“I’ll get one of the boys to show you round before you leave.” He says opening the door.

“MacTavish!” He calls as you follow him out the room. You watch as a man appears at the bottom of the steps, it’s the guy from earlier who was laughing. He’s defiantly good looking there’s no denying it. 

“Come show our new recruit around.” He nods coming up the stairs. 

“If you have any questions let me know and I’ll e-mail you a full copy of your contract.” John says as he puts his hand out and you shake it. 

“I will thank you,” you smile and he heads back into his office. 

“John MacTavish!” The man says extending his hand out to you, he’s got an accent for a second you look at him confused.

“Another John?” You ask as you shake his hand. 

“Aye, most people call me Johnny though.” He winks. Now you’re sure he winked at you earlier. He walks round you over to the sofa’s and the pool table. 

“This is where we chill out between deliveries, or just in general. Do you play?” He asks pointing at the pool table. 

“Once or twice, at the pub.” You say. You’re still trying to pin his accent, Welsh or Scottish? You’re too embarrassed to ask. He comes back over to you and you see he’s walking with a limp, it’s especially obvious as you follow him down the steps and he has to grip the banister for support. 

“This is were we load the vans up with anything we need, toilets over there and next to them is the store room.” He says pointing to the rooms directly under the upstairs office. There are metal shelves filled with all different kinds of things from basic office supplies to what looks like medical equipment and machinery. The store room door is the only door you’ve seen with a key-code lock on it, makes sense. There is a long table surrounded by chairs and a projector against a far wall. You look over to see another man sat at the table typing on a laptop. 

“This is Simon, Simon Riley.” Johnny says as he takes you over. He’s wearing a hoodie pulled over his head and a black surgical mask. Maybe he’s a clean freak? Or maybe this was what John meant by ‘Your colleagues like to keep their work and home life separate.’ You extend your hand out too him as you approach. 

“Nice to meet you.” You say, he looks up at you for a second. His eyes are beautiful, a dark caramel, thick eyebrows and you can see strands of blonde hair peaking out from under his hood. He shakes your hand, his grip is firm, you swallow hard. He’s giving off a different vibe then the rest of the people you’ve met so far, you almost want to run away from him. 

“Don’t worry about him he’s always grumpy in the morning.” Johnny says leaning into your ear. Simon rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to typing on the laptop. John, Johnny, Simon and Kyle, you repeat the names in your head so they’re burned into your memory. Johnny continues his tour showing you round the main floor, you were right as he explained the building used to be a mechanics until they took it over. Before that it was an abandoned munitions processing plant from the second world war. The building did look old, stylish red brick, huge arched windows that let in a lot of natural light. The doors were even old on rollers, thick and wooden. The more you looked around the more it reminded you of the old workhouses you’d seen in history books. Johnny leads you through to the lobby, the only part of the building that seems to have been renovated in the last 10 years. 

“This is Kyle Garrick, we call him Gaz.” Johnny says as Kyle stands up and you shake his hand. He’s fit too, dark skinned, short hair and he’s got a lovely smile, London accent you can tell he’s local too. 

“This will be where you work.” Johnny says pulling the chair out. 

“I’m sure Price will give you the rundown tomorrow on how the system works, we’re still working on getting it up and running properly.” Johnny says enthusiastically. You nod looking round at the desk, there is a large printer/photocopier in the corner and a plant that looks like it’s seen better days. At least the computer is up to date and honestly you can work with this. 

“So nervous for your first day?” Johnny asks as Kyle sits back down. 

“Not really.” You say smiling. 

“Good lass, that’s what we like to hear!” Johnny says patting you on the shoulder. Scottish, definitely Scottish. Kyle chuckles as he goes back to typing on the computer. You feel like now is the best time to take your leave. You thank Johnny and tell them both you’ll see them tomorrow. 

“Wait a second lass, here.” Johnny reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a business card.

“Any questions drop me a message.” He smiles. You nod pocketing the card and heading out. You look back at the building as you leave seeing Johnny wave, you wave back awkwardly. Why would anyone care about keeping there home and work life separate when you work for a simple delivery company? You think back to Simon with the mask, maybe he’s just hygienic? Regardless it was a good job, close to home and good pay. You wouldn’t have to rely on your mum or your ex to get you through the month. At least that was a weight off your shoulders.  

—————————— 

Later that evening your mother calls.

“Hey mum.” You say as you reluctantly pick up the call, not really feeling in the mood for her energetic energy, especially after Johnny’s enthusiastic tour.   

“Hey sweetie! I was just thinking about you today and I thought I would call to tell you, Anne from church has a job opening at her son’s restaurant. You know Chris? He works at that nice Italian place, well I said you were looking for a job and Anne said she would put in a good word.” You sigh as you let your mother talk. 

“It’s okay mum I got a job today actually. I went for an interview and they offered me the job on the spot.” You say.

“Oh sweetie that’s amazing where is it?” She asks, you pause, maybe telling your over sharing mother about a job you were warned required discretion was not the best idea. 

“It’s just a small firm in the city centre, they were looking for a logistical analyst.” You say lying through your teeth. 

“Oh well that sounds fancy, I hope it pays well if you’ll have to be trudging into the centre of London everyday.” You hear her chuckle.

“It does mum don’t worry, I start tomorrow actually.” 

“That’s fantastic, I’m sure you’ll do great.” 

“Thanks mum.” You say smiling. There’s a pause on the line.

“Have you spoken to Joe?” She asks, you sigh. 

“No mother I have not spoken to him since we broke up.” You reply bitterly wanting to end the conversation now.  

“He’s been asking about you, you blocked him or ignored him or something but sweetie I think you should talk to him he misses you.” You sigh, of course he’s turned on your mum, your sweet mother who couldn’t hurt a fly and always sees the best in people. Even toxic abusers. 

“I’ll think about it mum, look I have to go I have an early start tomorrow.” You say.

“Okay well get a good rest and good luck for tomorrow I love you.” She says.

“I love you too,” you reply and hang up.

That night you dream of your ex. You’re still with him trapped in the cycle of wake, make him happy, work, make him happy, sleep, repeat. The verbal abuse, the physical abuse, the days he would lock you in the bathroom for hours on end.

You took the lock off the door when he moved out. You’re not sure why it just felt like the right thing to do. You bought a deadbolt for the front door and no longer sleep with the windows open, fearing he could scale the apartment building to get to you. That’s what he does in your dreams, he gets around all the precautions you put in place. You dream of him being in your space, questioning everything you do, insisting on checking your phone and e-mails, even your work ones. Anytime a male’s name came up he would grill you about it for hours, no matter what you said it always felt like he never believed you. But then he would make you feel good, take you to the bedroom and treat you like a princess and it was like he was a different person. 

‘He’s just protective sweetie’ your mother says. ‘He loves you.’ The bruises on your arm would say otherwise, wearing turtle necks in summer became your fashion statement for at least a year. ‘He probably doesn’t mean it have you tried talking to him?’ Your brother was no better, to busy with uni to care, too much of a mans man to understand. He’s gone now though and that’s what you have to remember, it’s easier said then done. 

 —————————— 

The next morning you show up early. Your body feels heavy after the restless night. You walk in seeing John bent over Kyle’s shoulder as their looking at something on the computer behind the counter. 

“Hey, maybe you can figure this out, we’ve been trying to get these documents to copy over and it’s just not working.” Price says as he steps back you walk round watching Kyle trying to drag and drop a file into a folder. An administrative error pops up. 

“Mind if I?” You gesture for Kyle to move he holds his hands up rolling away on the chair as you try again. You’re not the most competent with computers but you could probably figure it out. You try compressing the file first then moving it and it works. 

“What did you do?” Kyle asks.

“I think the file was too big so I compressed it, do you need it sent in an e-mail?” You ask looking at John.

“Yes please if you don’t mind.” You nod. 

“Coffee?” Kyle asks as he gets up out the seat heading into the main building. 

“Yes please.” You say turning to smile at him and pulling the chair over so you can sit down. Price explains how everything works as you get situated. He shows you the documents on the computer for how to answer the phone, and deal with walk in requests. The ‘system’ they have set up for assigning deliveries is basically just a glorified spreadsheet which is good, you can work with that it’s not too far out of your comfort zone. 

“If you have any questions just call, there is a direct line to my office if you press 1 on the phone.” You nod trying to take it all in as Kyle comes back with a cup of coffee. 

“I didn’t know how you took it so I just did milk.” He says. 

“That’s fine thank you.” You reply, as he places it next to you. Then heads back. John tells you again to ask if you need anything then also leaves you too it. You’re looking through the computer making sure you defiantly understand everything when Simon and Johnny walk in. 

“Morning,” you say to them smiling.

“Morning lass, guess we didn’t scare you away yesterday!” Johnny beams, he seems to have too much energy especially compered to Simon who is still sporting his hoodie and mask combo. His eyes lock onto you as he walks through the lobby, his glare sending shivers down your spine. In a strange way, you’re not scared of him, more intrigued. He walks through the counter to the main floor without saying anything. 

“Sorry, he’s a rude bastard when he hasn’t had a coffee yet.” Johnny says.

“It’s okay,” you shake your head. You look through the window into the main floor watching Gaz open the large garage doors out to the street. 

“Hey, if we’re both around at 12 want to get lunch together? I know this great sandwich place down the road my treat!” Johnny says. You nod, he really has a way of putting you at ease with his palpable bubbly energy. 

“Right, I’ll see ya then lass,” he says and he heads through. 

The morning goes quick or maybe it’s because everything feels so new and foreign that it takes you a lot of concentration to make sure you’re doing it right. Before you even try to do anything you’re already calling John in his office about the names, instead of it being Johnny, Simon and Kyle, it’s Gaz, Soap and Ghost. Gaz you remember but the other two it’s a 50/50. John laughs and tells you Soap is Johnny and Ghost is Simon.

Each time you give them a job they stick their heads round the door to pick up the invoice, you try to make it a habit of printing it out as soon as you assign the job, so it’s ready when they come in. You purposely give Simon a job over lunch so Johnny is free, it’s a little cheeky for your first day but you wouldn’t mind spending more time with Johnny. 

When lunch comes around Johnny shows you how to set the phone to go to Price’s office and you both leave. The shop is right round the corner but by this time of the day it’s packed with people on their lunch break, you order your sandwiches to go and head back to work to eat them there. You’re both sat upstairs in on the sofa’s, it is nice up here and you can see down to the floor below you gives you something to watch while you eat. 

“How’s your first day been so far then?” Johnny asks.

“Fine, it’s just getting used to the system that might take a while.” You confess.

“Yeah, you’re doing great though, my jobs have been smooth and easy all day.” He says. You nod. 

“So how did you all meet?” You ask.

“Now that’s a story!” He says sitting up in his chair. 

“We were all military together, SAS.” He says. That explains the company name Special Delivery Service, you chuckle it’s cute, funny now you get it.

“Why’d you quit?” You ask. 

“Our time was up we chose not to re-enlist, it was Simon’s idea to start a delivery company, something easy we could do in retirement.” He says smiling at your interest. 

“Did you ever kill anyone?” You ask, but then immediately regret it, you don’t know if that’s an appropriate question to ask. Johnny just laughs.

“Someone's got to deal with the bad guys.” He says winking. 

“Don’t mean they didn’t fight back. Got a nice fucked up knee to show for it.” Johnny says slapping his left leg. That explains the limp he always has when hes walking. 

“Has John always been your boss?” You ask moving it away from killing people and being shot.

“Price, yeah he was our captain, it just felt right letting him continue to tell us what to do.” Johnny explains, chuckling. You nod listening to him talk about their life in the military, he’s careful not to go too into specifics, but enough for you to understand it seemed like it was quite a dangerous job. Johnny mentioned something about bombs at one point, that’s scary. 

“I bet you travelled a lot though?” You ask finishing your sandwich. 

“Oh yeah! That was one of the perks I guess, been all over the place, met some great people.” Johnny says naming a bunch of countries off. You watch as Simon comes back reversing the van into the bay. He jumps out and heads straight into the store room. That reminded you you needed to ask for the code. Johnny gets up checking his watch and throwing his trash in the bin. 

“Got a delivery to make, I’ll see you later.” He says heading to the stairs. You nod smiling. When you’re done you knock on John’s door before you head downstairs. 

“Come in!” He calls. You go in, for some reason you get this feeling like you’re back at school walking into a teachers office about to ask them for the key to the storage room to get more paper. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asks smiling, it almost immediately puts you at ease. 

“Good, I was just wondering, the store room, Johnny showed me yesterday but he didn’t give me the code.” You explain. Price nods his head. 

“You don’t need the code, it’s for the drivers only, it’s where we keep, sensitive equipment.” He explains. You nod feeling heat rush to your cheeks, maybe you should have asked Johnny instead saved yourself the embarrassment of this conversation. 

“Got it, thank you.” You nod leaving the room and closing the door behind you. What kind of sensitive equipment? You hadn’t seen anyone moving anything in or out of there, and you’re pretty sure you saw Simon go in empty handed just now. You’re just more curious then ever. You look down the steps at Simon making his way up with a mug of tea in his hand. You wait until he has reached the top of the stairs before heading down. You smile at him, you can’t tell if he’s smiling back with the mask but you’re assuming he’s not. You make your way back down as he walks into John’s office without knocking. 

The rest of the day seems to go by slower, your mind obsessing over the store room for some reason. It’s like an itch you need to scratch, you find yourself looking over to check it now and again. You get a few of those ‘special request’s’ John warned you about, you try to assign them but it doesn’t work. Clearly the system does not like it so you send them off to John. It’s almost like they’re encrypted, maybe you could figure out how to fix it and stop the system from freezing up every time it happens, a task for next week you think.

Jobs stop coming through around 3 and you spend the last few hours of your shift catching up on the other part of your admin job, then you find yourself cleaning the coffee machine. Johnny and Gaz leave early, apparently this is normal for Friday, you wish them a good weekend as they leave going out the vehicle entrance closing the garage doors behind them. You head to use the bathroom next, as you’re washing your hands you hear the door of the store room beep open and the sound of feet running in and out. You hear it open but you don’t hear it close.

You hold your breath, could it be? It’s open. You’re excited for some reason. You quickly slip out cracking the door. Sure enough the door didn’t fully close it’s stuck on the latch. Your curiosity gets the better of you, you can’t help it. You look round quickly, you don’t see anyone, you don’t hear anyone. You push the door open, it’s dark you can’t see inside. You take a step in and an automatic light flicks on. You gasp as you look around the room. It’s way bigger then you expected, so big there is enough room for a table in the middle. Each part of the wall is covered in weapons, knifes, somethings you don’t even know what they would be but they look scary.

The hairs are standing up on the back of your neck, it’s almost like your fight or flight has kicked in as your eyes widen. There are crates everywhere some open with what look like boxes of ammo. You let out a breath feeling fear rise in you, maybe it was airsoft? You move to look in one of the crates near the entrance. Nope those are real bullets. You shouldn’t have seen this you feel panic rising. This is bad and very illegal. You start to back out the room, slowly you’re trying to be as quiet as possible. Your body hits something, not something someone. You hear a sigh. 

“And what do you think you’re doing?” It’s Simon. You slowly turn his head is tilted to the side his brow creased as his gaze burns into you. Fuck.

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[lupinqs]

CHAPTER ONE ━━ Fractured Bonds

☆ ━ pairing: hopkins!paige x oc (dani callan)

☆ ━ word count: 4.2K

☆ ━ warnings: lots of angst (sorry), pretty dialogue heavy

☆ ━ links: my masterlist, take me to church masterlist

☆ ━ author’s note: okay i know dani may look like a bad person, but ntm on her yet!!! there is a reason i swear

THE LATE AUGUST sun hangs high in the sky, bathing the Minneapolis airport in a warm, golden light as Paige steps out of the terminal. When her eyes set on her dad and Drew, her face breaks out into a large grin. She hugs them, lets her little brother grip onto her leg, ruffling the boy’s hair. She’s home—and thank God for it. The summer was fun, of course, filled with basketball camps, tournaments, endless travel, and a nice week spent with her friend Azzi Fudd’s family. But it was a little bit exhausting, and, by the end of it, all Paige had longed for was to be home, with her family, with her friends, with Dani. Her heart races with the thought of finally being back in the presence of her best friend—well, she supposes they’re more than that now.

As soon as Paige drops her bags into her dad’s SUV and slides into the passenger seat, she pulls out her phone and eagerly clicks on Dani’s contact, calling her. She can already imagine the smile on Dani’s face when she hears Paige’s voice. The way her eyes would light up and that infectious laugh that Paige adores.

The phone rings once. Twice. Then a third time. And then…

“Hey, this is Dani. Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you!”

The voicemail beeps and Paige frowns, the joy and pure excitement she felt moments ago faltering just a bit. She didn’t expect Dani to answer on the first ring—the brunette isn’t one to be glued to her phone—but the voicemail still surprises her. Paige stares at the screen, before pressing the red “End Call” button.

Instead of leaving a message, Paige opts to text her best friend, assuming she’ll probably get a quicker response that way anyways.

Paige ❤️‍🔥

Hey I just got back home do you wanna do something later?

I really wanna see you I’ve missed you sm

Paige sends it, sighing as she drops her phone into her lap. She feels her dad’s gaze on her from the driver’s seat and she turns, seeing his arched brows. He begins to pull out of the parking lot as he asks, “Everything okay, P?”

“Yeah,” Paige replies, sulking a little bit. She knows she’s being a tad dramatic, but she can’t help it—this is the longest she’s ever been away from Dani and all she wants is to see the girl again, talk to her, hug her, kiss her… “Was just tryna get ahold of Dani, is all. I haven’t talked to her since, like, June. Do y’know if she’s back from camp yet?”

Paige remembers when Dani sent her that text about a week after Paige left, telling her that she was going to some summer camp for the next couple months or so and she wouldn’t be able to talk to Paige since they were taking her phone. The blonde had thought it was weird that Dani was even going to a summer camp at all—she’s always hated those things. But Paige had merely accepted it and told her to have a good time, all the while her chest aching at the thought of complete radio silence between her and the Callan girl for the next couple months.

“I’m not sure,” Bob says, rubbing his chin a little as he drives, keeping his eyes on the road. “Haven’t seen her around at all, so I doubt it. You seen her any, Drew?”

In the back seat, Drew perks up at the sound of his name, saying, “No… I wish I have, though. I miss her almost as much as I missed you, Paigey.”

Paige glance to the back, grinning at her younger brother. “Missed you, too, Drewski.” But then the blonde’s mind trails back her best friend, shaking her head as she says, “I thought she’d be back by now, though. School starts in, like, three days.”

“Well, if she is back, I’m sure she’s just getting ready for the school year again. You know, Paige, even though you don’t, she still has to do all of her college applications. That takes up time; she’s probably just focused on that,” Paige’s dad reasons, giving his daughter a reassuring smile. He’s probably not wrong; Dani’s always been the type of person that’s practically manic about her grades and anything that has to do with college, even though Paige knows she’s certainly smart enough to get into most schools that aren’t, like, Ivy’s, of course.

So, Paige nods absently to her father’s words, gazing out the window as the familiar streets pass her by. She knows she shouldn’t be so paranoid and weird about this, but something about Dani not contacting her or answering her call just rubs Paige in the wrong way a little bit. They’ve barely talked since that night back in May—before Paige had left for the summer—and, almost as soon as Paige did leave, things began to seem a bit… weird. Off. But Paige tries to shrug that feeling off, convincing herself that everything is gonna go back to normal once they’re together again.

Eventually, the car pulls into the driveway and the three Bueckers get out, hauling Paige’s bags inside the house. As they’re heading in, Paige sneaks a glance at Dani’s house. The lights are off, there’s no car in the driveway—it looks as if nobody’s home. In a way, that actually relieves Paige a little bit; it probably just means that Dani really is busy and has a valid reason for not answering Paige’s call or text.

When Paige finally has all of her things thrown across her bedroom floor, she collapses onto her bed, glad to finally be home, in her own space. She lays there for a long moment, before her phone pings. Almost immediately—and a little bit pathetically, Paige thinks—Paige jumps up, grabbing her phone, hoping and praying it’s from the girl she’s so longing to talk to.

But, when she sees the contact name, Paige’s face drops in disappointment.

Jalen Suggs

Yo, u were supposed to get back today right?

Thaliah and I are at the park rn getting some shots in if ur around u should come by

And then, another text from a different contact:

Thaliah Sommers ❌❌

p if you are back in town you better come hang with us!!!

we miss youuuuu!!!!!!

Paige smiles a little bit at the idea of seeing her friends after three long months without them. Still, she can’t shake the disappointment that the one person who still hasn’t bothered to contact her is the one person that she really, truly wants to see. Even so, Paige sends Thaliah and Jalen a response each, telling them she’s about to leave and she’ll be there soon.

She makes her way downstairs, calling to her dad in the kitchen, “I’m going to the park to hang out with Jalen and Thaliah!”

Bob just calls back, “Okay, be careful—oh, and be back for dinner! I’m making alfredo!”

“Will do!”

Paige opens the door and leaves her house, her long legs carrying her quickly to the nearby park where she and her friends have spent countless hours together over the years, playing pick-up games until the sun dipped below the trees. As she approaches, she spots Jalen mindlessly dribbling a basketball as he talks with Thaliah, who’s sprawled across a picnic table, legs stretched out.

“P!” Jalen calls as soon as he notices her. He pauses mid-dribble, face breaking out into a wide grin. Thaliah turns, too, standing from the picnic table, eyes alight as she waves to the blonde enthusiastically.

Paige grins back, the familiar sight of her best friends warming some of the ache in her chest. She jogs over, giving Jalen a bro-hug before wrapping her arms around Thaliah in a quick embrace. “Missed you guys,” she says, happy to be home.

“Missed you, too,” Thaliah replies, squeezing her back. “Summer’s treating you well, I see; cause, girl, you are tan! How’s it all been?”

“Exhausting,” Paige admits with a chuckle, pulling away. “But good.”

“Bet you’re glad to be home,” Jalen says, tossing his basketball from hand to hand.

“Yeah,” Paige nods, smile faltering just a little. “It’s good to be back.”

“Wanna shoot around?” Thaliah asks, already bouncing the ball off the backboard and catching it. She doesn’t actually play basketball—volleyball is more her scene, actually. Nevertheless, she’s always enjoyed playing with Jalen and Paige.

“Sure,” the blonde agrees, though her mind still seems to be elsewhere. She steps off the court, trying to push the growing anxiety and utter longing that’s been gnawing at her since she landed.

As they play, Paige finds herself half-listening to Jalen and Thaliah’s banter. Normally, she would have jumped right in, teasing and talking trash. But today, it seems like her brain has the capacity to truly only think about one thing: Dani. She wants to know why she hasn’t called her back yet, why she hasn’t even bothered to reply to Paige’s text. The silence eats at the point guard, tearing its nails into her resolve. Finally, she decides she can’t take it anymore.

“So, hey,” Paige starts, her tone casual, but the slight edge in her voice betrays her. “Do you guys know if Dani’s back from camp yet?”

Almost immediately, Jalen and Thaliah share a surprised glance full of raised brows and slacked jaws. That’s all it takes for Paige’s stomach to drop. Clearly, there’s something they both know.

“P,” Jalen begins, his voice uncharacteristically gentle, almost like he’s about to break bad news. “Dani’s been back for almost a month now.”

Paige’s whole body goes frigid, the basketball slipping through her fingers and bouncing away. She swallows thickly before asking, “What?”

Thaliah nods, expression sympathetic and a little reserved as she adds, “Yeah, she got back a while ago.” She glances at Jalen again before returning her eyes to Paige. “We thought you knew.”

“I—” Paige starts, but her throat seems to dry out. She gulps again, feeling as though there are claws tearing at her vocal chords, her chest, her insides, her everything, because—why hasn’t Dani told Paige? “No, I didn’t,” the blonde finally gets out, voice small, almost lost amidst the sounds of the park. “She didn’t tell me.”

Jalen scratches the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. “She’s been kinda… different, since she got back,” he mumbles, shrugging. “Really distant.”

Paige’s heart pounds in her chest almost as if it’s trying to crawl its way out of her rib cage. The shock of her friends’ words slowly begins to melt into confusion and hurt. “Distant?” she asks. “What do you mean?”

Thaliah shrugs, sighing. “Just like, she never asks to hang with us anymore, and if we try to initiate it, she always gives us some shitty excuse why she can’t go. Like, a couple weeks ago, we asked her to hang out and she said she was sick. And then we went to the mall and literally saw her there hanging out with other people.” Thaliah shakes her head in clear irritation, rolling her eyes a little.

“Who’s she been hanging around with if not you guys?” Paige asks, still trying to make sense of the situation.

“Well, I know she’s been with Serena Corren a lot,” Thaliah replies. Paige furrows her brows at the answer. Serena’s a cheerleader and not a very kind person—certainly not the type of person that Dani would willingly want to hang out with. “I mean, I guess it’s not that weird since Serena’s on yearbook, too, but like she’s such a bitch—so, it kinda is.”

Thaliah pauses, her and Jalen sharing another look that makes Paige’s insides squeeze together.

“Is that it?” Paige asks, eyes narrowing as they dart between her two friends.

Thaliah sighs heavily then, running a hand through her hair, not making eye contact with Paige. “Well,” she says slowly, and then she meets the blonde’s gaze. Thaliah’s eyes turn apologetic. “She’s dating Beau Hudson now.”

Suddenly, it feels like the ground beneath Paige has been ripped out from under her. Paige stares at Thaliah, open-mouthed, hoping she’s heard wrong. “What?”

“Beau Hudson,” Jalen repeats, grimacing as he says the name. “P, you know him—Hopkins’ quarterback, a certified dick.”

Of course, Paige knows him. She’s known him since elementary school. She and Dani—and eventually Thaliah and Jalen—have been mocking Beau for years. He’s the type of jock that’s got more muscles than brains, the type of guy that throws himself at girls just because he can. And, the thought of Dani—Paige’s Dani—dating someone like him is completely unfathomable to the blonde.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Paige mumbles, shaking her head. Dani told Paige that she loved her just a couple months ago. She’d told Paige that even with the distance between them, they’d be okay. “Why would she—?”

“We don’t know,” Thaliah says quietly. “She’s just changed, Paige. I mean, the last time I talked to her it felt like she was a completely different girl.”

Paige’s mind spins, trying to piece together the fragments of information. Dani’s back. Dani’s dating Beau Hudson. Dani didn’t even bother telling Paige that she was home. Anger flares up, sharp and hot, but underneath it is something deeper, more painful. Paige feels hurt, deep and bone-crushing.

“She didn’t even tell me,” Paige whispers, more to herself than them.

Jalen takes a hesitant step closer, resting a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “Maybe you should talk to her. Find out what’s going on.”

Paige nods numbly, but inside, she’s a storm of raging emotions. She can’t seem to understand how things changed so drastically, so quickly. The Dani Paige knows—her best friend, the girl she’s loved for as long as she can remember—would never have done any of this. There has to be some kind of explanation, some sort of reason behind it all.

The rest of their time at the park is a blur for Paige. She plays, but neither her heart or head are in it, all too preoccupied with thoughts of Dani. As soon as she can, she makes an excuse to leave. It might make her a little bit of a shitty friend because she hasn’t seen Jalen and Thaliah in months, but she simply can’t help it. The pair offer her sympathetic smiles as she goes, but she doesn’t notice. All she really knows is that she has to talk to Dani.

She has to know why.

The late afternoon sun beats down on Paige as she walks along the sidewalk, staring at the cracks in the cement as she goes. They’re like her emotions right now—all cracked and crooked, a chaotic mess of confusion, hurt, and anger. A desperate need for answers.

She has no idea what she’s gonna say, and her brain doesn’t even bother trying to articulate something. Instead, it runs haywire, bouncing around in her skull as it attempts to make sense of all the information that is so clearly wrong. She’s half in denial, thinking that maybe Thaliah and Jalen merely read into things wrong, that perhaps Dani’s just going through a bit of a rough patch. Maybe Paige can talk some sense into her and maybe, just maybe, everything can go back to normal for their senior year. God, Paige fucking hopes so.

When she finally reaches the end of the street, standing in front of Dani’s house, Paige goes frigid. She stares, gaze flickering between the house before her and her own house right next door. Right here, in the small circumference that surrounds these two homes, holds so many important memories to Paige. She can picture her and Dani as kids, running between the two front yards, laughing and playing without a care in the world. She remembers the slip in slide their parents set up right here, the way she and Dani wore it out until there were holes in the plastic and wet grass sticking to their skin. She remembers playing fetch with Dani’s dog, Maverick, until all three of them had tired out, Dani and Paige laying on the ground with the golden retriever in between them. She remembers sitting on Dani’s front porch, holding her best friend and letting her cry into her shoulder after they found out Dani’s mother died. She remembers kissing Dani by the door in the dark until both of them could barely breathe, swallowing each other’s giggles.

But now, everything feels different. Darker. Dimmer. The house before Paige feels almost foreboding, like it’s guarding the secrets Dani’s been keeping from her.

Paige takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She isn’t sure what to expect, but she knows she has to face whatever’s waiting on the other side of that door, whatever hard truth she’s about to be exposed to.

Her hand trembles as she reaches out to knock. She has so many questions, so much to say, but, now, as she stands here, all of it begins to choke her. She swallows thickly, clearing her throat, before knocking twice.

A few moments later, the door opens. And there she is—Dani Callan, standing in the doorway, looking different yet heartbreakingly familiar. At the sight of her, Paige’s breath catches in her throat. Dani’s hair is pulled back in a messy bun, and she’s dressed in a simple tank top and shorts, but it’s her expression that strikes Paige the most. There’s a hardness in Dani’s eyes, one that the blonde has never been subjected to, a coldness that she’s never seen before.

“Paige,” Dani acknowledges, her voice flat, almost emotionless. She doesn’t step aside to let her in.

Paige swallows, her mouth dry. “Hey, Dan. Can we talk?”

Dani hesitates, glancing over her shoulder as if she’s considering closing the door. Then, she sighs, stepping back to let Paige in. Even so, her demeanor doesn’t hold an invitation—just an odd vexation. “Sure. Come in.”

The house is eerily quiet as Paige follows her best friend inside. It feels all wrong, like the silence is pressing down on her, suffocating. Dani leads her to the living room, before sitting down on the couch, posture stiff. Paige stays standing a few feet away, her arms crossed protectively over her chest.

“What’s going on?” Paige asks, trying to keep her voice firm yet she hears a crack in it. A tremble. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back? Why didn’t you—”

“Paige,” Dani interrupts, her tone sharp and cutting. It makes the words die on the blonde’s lips. “I don’t want to do this.”

Paige blinks, taken aback by the harshness in the brunette’s voice. “Do what? Talk?” she scoffs, shaking her head, anger creeping up. “You haven’t talked to me in months, Dani! I’ve been worried about you, I’ve been missing you nonstop—and then I find out you’ve been back for weeks and didn’t even bother to let me know?”

Dani looks away, jaw clenching. “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy?” Paige repeats indignantly. If anything, Paige has been busy, traveling from place to place, balancing basketball and everything else. And yet, she’d always, always make time for her best friend. “Really? You’ve been too busy to call me? Too busy to even text?” The blonde’s voice begins to rise steadily, the hurt and confusion she’s been holding back beginning to spill out. “I mean, fuck, Dani! We kissed! And you told me that you loved me. And—and then, what? You just disappear! I mean, what the hell is going on?”

Dani flinches at Paige’s words, but she doesn’t respond right away. She stares at the ground for a long moment, the room going completely silent. And then she finally glances up, eyes meeting Paige’s. There’s a flicker of something there—guilt, maybe?—but it’s gone as quickly as it comes. “That night,” she starts slowly, taking a long breath out, “it was a mistake.”

Paige’s heart stutters in her chest, almost like it’s about to fail. A mistake. For the first time today, the blonde feels her eyes begin to burn. She furiously fights the tears, refusing to cry here. Clearly, she’d only be embarrassing herself. “A mistake?” Paige whispers, shaking her head. “Dani, you’re not serious.”

“I am,” the Callan girl responds, voice flat. “It never should’ve happened. I don’t want that. I don’t want… you.”

The words hit Paige like a punch to the gut, and she steps back, heart thudding in her chest. “You can’t mean that.” She can’t. Dani told Paige that she loved her, that she was in love with her.

“I do,” Dani insists, her tone growing more resolute with each word. “Paige, I can’t be what you want me to be. I don’t want to be. I have a boyfriend now, and—”

“Beau Hudson? You hate Beau Hudson!” Paige shouts, her anger boiling over. She feels like every inch of her body is being scorned, flames burning through her skin and into her very being. “I mean, we both do! We always have. We’ve made fun of him for years—and for good reason! He’s a dick, Dani! And now, you’re just— you’re dating him? After everything we—”

“Just stop, Paige!” Dani cuts her off, voice louder than Paige has ever heard it. It’s full of emotion—though Paige can’t seem to decipher what emotion exactly—the most feeling the brunette has put into her words the entire conversation. “You need to stop. Whatever you think we had, it’s over. It’s done.”

Paige stares at her. She can feel it—over a decade of friendship, over a decade of Paige and Dani fading away. It’s been them; it’s always been them since they were five years old. And now, Paige feels that being ripped away from her, stolen. She fights for it. She wants it back. “But… why? Why’re you doing this?”

Dani looks away again, her eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. “Because we can’t be friends anymore, Paige. I don’t want to be friends with you. I just want you to leave me alone.”

Paige’s eyes sting again, but she blinks the tears back, letting the salt simmer in her eyes. “Is this because of what happened? Because of the kiss? Because of the I love you’s? Because if it is—”

“It’s not about the kiss,” Dani says, voice cold and final. “Or about the I love you’s. It’s about everything. I grew up—and I think you should, too.”

Paige gapes, and a roar of confusion tears through her again. “What does that even mean?”

“It means you’re clinging to something that’s never going to happen,” Dani replies, lips turning down into something between a frown and a scowl. “I’m with Beau now. I’m moving on. So. Should. You.” She says the words slowly and firmly as if she’s really trying to cement them in Paige’s brain. Paige blanches at them.

“Moving on?” the blonde repeats, the words shredding through her vocal chords. “You don’t have to move on! I’m right here! I want you!”

“But I don’t!” Dani shouts back. “Can’t you get that? I don’t want you, Paige.”

The point guard opens her mouth to argue, to beg, but the words won’t come. She feels like she’s drowning, like everything she’s ever known is slipping away from her, and there’s not a single thing she can do to stop it.

Dani stands up, crossing her arms over her chest as she stares at Paige with a look that’s almost pitying. “Please, Paige. Just go.”

Paige stands there for a long moment, feet planted, staring at the girl she thought she knew, the girl she thought loved her. But this isn’t Dani—not the Dani she remembers, not the one she’s spent her whole life with. This is someone else, someone who’s built walls so high and so thick that Paige can’t even begin to break through.

She turns away slowly, legs feeling like lead. She wants to say more, to continue demanding, to go up to Dani and shake her shoulders until the sense has been come back to her. But Paige doesn’t. Instead, she walks to the door, heart cracking with every step.

When she gets to the doorway, she pauses, turning back to look at her childhood best friend one last time.

“If you ever change your mind…” she mumbles, eyes traveling across Dani before landing on the other side of the room, unable to really look at her. “If you ever want to talk…”

But Dani just shakes her head. “Goodbye, Paige.”

Paige nods, stepping outside, the door closing behind her with a finality that feels like what might as well be the end of everything. She stands on the porch for a long moment, trying to process what just happened, but all she can seem to feel is a crushing sense of loss. Finally, the tears begin to spill over and a harsh sob rips through Paige’s chest. She doesn’t bother wiping the tears away, instead just lets them fall. Lets them carry the pain, the confusion, the heartbreak.

But even as she walks away, over to her own house right next door, there’s one thing Paige can’t let go of—the feeling that the Dani she knows, the Dani she loves, is still in there somewhere. And no matter what Dani says, no matter how much she pushes Paige away, the blonde refuses to give up on her. Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

[hoonieyun]

sherlock holmes

pairing: sim jaeyun x reader x park sunghoon

warnings: mentions of death, murder, blood, profanity, murder chase scene, stalking, like overall slasher movie vibes, 18+

pls ignore timestamps and possible typos lol part of this chapter is written pls read the written portions to understand the full story

wc: 1800

you walked with sunghoon up to jay’s hospital room, he had taken the box of pastries into his own hands so you didn’t have to carry it any longer, the cup of iced coffee you bought him in his other hand. “did you get any sleep?” you asked, looking up at sunghoon who had dark circles under his eyes, already finding the answer you were looking for.

“not much..” he murmured, as he pressed the button to call the elevator. you gave him a small lecture on how he should get some sleep and that you probably shouldn’t have bought him that coffee, to which you both chuckled as he promised he’ll try to get some sleep later that night. 

the elevator ride is short and soon enough the two of you are entering jay’s room which was silent aside from the occasional beeps and humming that came from the medical equipment. jay almost looked unrecognizable, his skin was pale and a bit sunken, hair was swept to one side, and you could see the bruises on his arms and neck. 

it made your body shiver seeing him like that but anger soon settled inside of you as you’re reminded of what causes this. “here, have some.” sunghoon says, taking a pastry from the box and pulling it into two halves, offering one to you. “no, hoon. i got those for you, you should eat; i already ate.” 

he gives you a small smile before taking a bite, a heavy sigh leaving his body as he slumps himself into a chair and stares at his twin brother’s sleeping figure just a few feet away. you walk over to sunghoon like a tug on your heart pulling you over to him, “everything is going to be ok, i promise.” you whisper, running your hands through his hair; to which sunghoon instantly relaxes at your touch. closing his eyes as he takes in this moment. 

“this might be wrong to say but–” sunghoon starts to speak but he’s cut off by your phone ringing. “sorry, hold that thought; it’s dani. hello?” you say as you answer the phone. sunghoon watches you intently as you take the call, walking away from him and pacing back and forth as you talk with daniella. he’s not sure what the conversation is about but he can tell it’s worrisome to an extent. 

“okay, i’ll see you in a bit. bye.” 

“what was that about?” sunghoon asks. 

daniella had just called you to let you know that she and detective irene and taeyong would be joining you all for an impromptu meeting about the murders after they’ve uncovered some new information that could lead to a breakthrough. “we need to get heeseung here, can you call him?” you ask and sunghoon nods, setting the pastry back into the box and dusting his hands off before grabbing his phone to call his roommate. 

“nothing.” sunghoon says almost immediately, which worries you because the conversation you had with daniella seemed to be somewhat urgent. like the detectives need all of you to be there to share this new information. “shoot him a text? maybe he’ll see it and head over here.. hopefully.” you mutter, taking a seat across from sunghoon as your leg tapped impatiently. 

what new information could they have found? daniella sounded like she wasn’t fully sure herself what the detectives needed to tell all of you but if they asked for you all to be there then it must’ve been important. 

🗡

after waiting for what seemed like the longest 20 minutes of your life, daniella, detective irene, and taeyong are filing into jay’s room. irene counts the heads in the room and furrows her brows, “you’re missing someone, heeseung?” she asks and you tell her that you tried to get in contact with him but couldn’t reach him. 

“what’s happening? why did you need to meet with all of us?” you ask, standing from your seat and demanding answers. you had grown impatient and felt aggravated of having to wait. 

“taeyong, have someone from the station see if they can track down heeseung.” she instructs her partner and taeyong quickly steps out to make a phone call. this was all unreal, your dance coach and art professor were actually detectives and had been undercover for the last few months, taeyong being for the last 2 years. 

“i wanted you all here when i said this because we have a possible lead on who the killer is and their motive.” irene says, hands on hip with a stern expression as she explains her new findings. 

“yn.. are you familiar with the name gong jiho?” she asks and you try your best to remember, the name did ring a bell but a faint sounding bell. one that you could hear from several rooms away but not clear or loud enough to find what room it was ringing from. you shook your head in response and irene sighs.

“gong jiho was the victim of a murder from 10 years ago, the murder case had a trial that lasted for 3 years until the suspected killer was put behind bars.” irene explained and it was all sounding too familiar and you were soon realizing why that name had any recollection in your memory. 

“is this some joke? you think bringing up my dad is going to somehow make any of this make sense?” anger in your tone as you take a step towards irene, sunghoon instantly grabbing onto your wrist to pull you back before you do something that you might regret. 

irene however, is unwavering, she doesn’t react to your sudden burst in movement; standing like she’s made of stone in her spot. 

“what is she talking about yn?” daniella asks. 

“10 years ago, my dad was accused of murdering someone. he worked at a construction company where they worked from morning until night– one day they had gotten careless and someone, not my dad, forgot to shut off one of the machinery and when jiho showed up for his shift, the machine malfunctioned or something but it burnt out overnight and had exploded when they tried to get it to start again. 

gong jiho was pronounced dead at the scene and when all of the workers turned a blind eye and refused to admit who did it, my dad took all of the blame because he was selfless and cared about jiho. 

so yeah, sure he’s in jail right now but he’s paying for the crimes that those cowards committed out of the kindness of his heart not because he’s a criminal.” 

tears were pooling in your eyes and when sunghoon notices this, he pulls you into his arms, rubbing your back and wiping the tears away. 

“be that as it may, yn. we believe that the person behind all of this is gong jiho’s son.” irene explains and when you turn around to face her, there’s a confused expression plastered onto your face. “that doesn’t make sense, at the trial jiho’s lawyer said he had no family besides his wife and she passed away a few years after the case was closed.” 

irene shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, “that’s what he thought too, but we’ve done some digging and jiho had a son who went into hiding just a few months after he died. we don’t know how he managed to stay hidden for so long but he slipped up and someone recently tried to buy back the property his parents owned.

his name is gong ilhan, 37 years old. we haven’t caught sight of him yet but we believe it’s enough motivation to come after you and your friends.” she explained as she hands you some documents filled with evidence they’ve gathered. 

“but why would he come after my friends? why not just come after me if revenge is what he wants? my dad is already in prison for something he didn’t do and he’s causing so much pain and terror for no reason.” your question hung heavily in the room, daniella and sunghoon sending each other knowing glances as if they knew you were on the verge of a spiral. 

every year during your dad’s birthday would be a hard time for you and your friends were always there to comfort you during those trying times and your actions right now mirrored that of how you’d act before you were able to get a better hold on your emotions in regards to the topic of your father. 

“i’m not completely sure, but all i can guess is that he doesn’t find it fair that he lost his parents and you still have yours. your dad is in prison and your mom is constantly travelling the world so he can’t necessarily go after them so–” 

“he’s going after everyone else i love…” you finished irene’s sentence and all she could do is nod in agreement at the solemn statement. 

🗡

“we’ll be in touch if we find anything soon, don’t hesitate to give any of us a call if anything comes up” irene says as you all bid her and taeyong goodbye. 

it was still weird that taeyong turned out to be a detective this whole time. he had been working undercover at the school to keep you safe and because he believed that this case wasn’t finished even though the district attorney had closed it. 

he kept a close eye on you and when wonyoung had been murdered at the beginning of the school year, irene took the spot of the art professor who was put on paid leave for the school year so she too could keep a close eye on you. 

“this is so fucked..” you whispered, massaging your temples from all of the information that irene provided. 

daniella was in the corner of the room looking through the different files and papers that irene had left you all with, none of which made much sense to any of you. “god, why was she telling us all of this like we’re going to solve it, the fuck do we look like? sherlock holmes?” she mutters and it causes you and sunghoon to laugh. 

the three of you laugh for a few minutes like you had no worries inside of you. like there wasn’t a murderer who has been terrorizing you and your friends for the last few weeks and for once, in a really long time, you forgot about it. 

but the terror was still there. looming in the shadows and waiting for the right time to appear and make itself present again. 

waiting for you all to put your guards down so that the next time the killer strikes, the victim wouldn’t end up in a hospital but instead a casket. 

back - masterlist - next

detective's notes: number one suspect has been identified as "gong ilhan" aged 37, son of gong jiho who has ties to y/n's father who is currently in prison. motive for killings: revenge. ilhan has yet to be found but we have a detective keeping an eye on possible leads that can help us find ilhan.

copyright 2025 - present © hoonieyun all rights reserved all writing here is fiction & not in any association with characters mentioned. if you enjoyed reading this please consider reblogging and following <3

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[msoregano21]

Back to the Past Ch. 10

Hours later, Tara stood in front of the time machine, now a mess that was shoved to a corner of the lab. She searched through the parts, holding each piece up at a time.

"Maybe if I put this together with this…and connect it to that thing…ugh, how am I going to stick them together?…Super glue?"

The clattering sounds of the parts being shuffled through made her unaware of Tucker coming down the stairs behind her.

"Super glue? Really?" she said to herself. She smacked her head with her palm. "Come on, Tara! Think, think, think!"

Tucker smirked. He tiptoed up to her.

"Okay, maybe not super glue…maybe a hot glue gun? Wait, isn't that the same thing? Ugh! This isn't paper-mache, Tara! Oh man, if this is the best I can think of, I'm never getting myself back home…"

"Aaaaahhh!" Tucker gave a deafening scream.

"Aaaaahhh!" Tara screamed back, triggering her into her ghost self.

"Hahahahaha!"

Tara turned around.

"Tucker!" she said and changed back to her normal human self. "That wasn't funny!"

"Yeah it was! Oh, come on. Don't look so angry. You know that was funny."

"Not when I'm working!"

"You did the same thing to me last night, remember?"

Tara blinked, then dropped her hands, curled up in fists, from her hips.

"Ah, crud."

"Exactly. Anyway, you seemed too hard on yourself just now. You'll get out of here, just leave it to your parents. And, if worst case scenario you don't, you're always welcome to be the fourth member of our group."

"Ha! Really?"

"Yeah! You're pretty awesome. And you've got a good sense of humor."

"Huh. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

"Yeah! Oh, I got my jacket back. Thanks."

"Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything," she said with a smile.

"Uh huh," he said, catching on to her teasing tone. "So how did it get in my room, on my bed?"

"Probably sprouted legs and ran over there?"

"Oh yeah. Totally plausible."

Tara laughed out loud with Tucker.

All of a sudden, her face dropped.

"Hey, we're good, right? From yesterday?"

"Yeah, we're good. I'm sorry I stormed off like that. It was really immature. Let's just forget about that, okay?"

"I'd like that."

"Great! Great."

"So, what are you doing down here?"

"We’re actually all looking for you. I’m going to send Danny a text right now that I found you."

He pulled out his phone and quickly texted a message.

“Wanna hang out until they get here?” he said.

Tara grinned.

xxxxxxxxx

"Wait, wait, and you and Vanessa still ate it?"

"Yup!"

"Wow, Tara! You two are a fearless duo!"

Tara laughed. “Hardly! But please don’t ever try to cook turducken ever again."

Suddenly, Danny, in his ghost form, and Sam appeared in front of them.

"Hey guys!" Tucker said. "How are ya--"

“Tara, run!” Danny said.

“What?” Tara said.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a door unlocking and opening.

"Danny! We're home!" Jack yelled.

"My parents!" he whispered. “I saw them on my way here!”

"We gotta hide her," Sam said.

A loud thumping of footsteps came from above them.

"And fast!" Tucker said.

"Danny? You down there?" Jack's voice rang from the top of the stairs.

"Uh, yeah, dad. Right here," Danny stammered.

Creak, creak, creak! Jack headed down to the basement.

"Tara! Quick! Turn yourself invisible!" Tucker said.

"Uh, right!"

Bink!

Jack hopped off the last step.

"Danny!…aaaand Sam and Tucker!" he said.

"Hey there, Mr. Fenton!" Tucker said, with nervous enthusiasm. "H-how's it going?"

"Going good, Mr. Mayor. Going good. Hey, why are you sweating so much?"

"Oh, me?" The pitch in his voice raised. "I'm not sweating at all! Am I sweating, Danny? Nah, I just ran over here, that's all! Or maybe it's the heat! Phew! Anyway!"

Behind a very confused Jack, Sam signaled a zipper-like action across her mouth and Danny made quick cutting motions with his hand against his throat.

"Anyway…" Jack said. He then turned around to Danny and Sam, who quickly stopped their signals and put on angelic, smiling faces.

Maddie suddenly came running down the stairs with a beeping Fenton Finder in her hands. Dani quickly followed.

"Jack, I'm getting an ecto-reading in our house!"

"What?!" He looked at the screen with Maddie.

"Are-are you sure it's not just a reading of me? Or Dani?" Danny said.

"I've already got your DNA in the Fenton Finder, as well as Dani's. There's no way it could recognize any of you as a threat," Maddie said.

Dani tugged on Tucker's shirt until he bent down to her level.

"What's going on? What's the Fenton Finder picking up on?" she whispered.

"Tara."

"Oh, crud!"

The alarm on the gadget suddenly became fainter.

"It's moving! Follow the GPS!" Jack yelled.

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Dani rushed up the stairs.

"Kids, wait up! I want to take the first whack at the intruding ghost! Maddie, grab the weapons!"

The teenagers reached the first floor of the house.

"Spread out!" Danny said.

They nodded and ran to cover different areas of the house.

"Tara?" Danny whispered as he searched the living room.

Sam walked around the kitchen. "Tara?"

Dani and Tucker went upstairs.

"Tara!" Tucker said as he crossed the hallway.

Dani opened the door to her room. She sighed with relief.

"Tucker! Tucker, get over here! I found her!"

From underneath the bed, Tara poked her head out.

"Thank goodness it's just you."

"Did you really think hiding under the bed would keep you from getting caught? Your hair was sticking out! Whatever, you've just gotta get out of here!"

Tucker ran into the room.

"I'm so sorry," Tara said as Tucker helped her up. "I panicked. I didn't know where to go."

"That's okay, Tara. We just gotta figure a place where you can hide until we can come and get you."

"It's upstairs!" Jack boomed.

"Eep!" Tara squealed.

"Let's go!" Dani whispered.

Tucker pushed on Tara's back and moved her out of the room. Dani opened the door to Jazz's room at the end of the hallway.

"Come on, come on, come on!" she hissed. She quickly shut the door once Tara ran in.

Jack and Maddie finally reached the top of the stairs.

"Now, where is that little runner?" Jack said.

"Ghost directly ahead. Walk forward," spoke the Fenton Finder.

"Dad! Hey! H-have you guys tried looking in my room? Or-or-or Danny's room?" Dani stuttered.

"But, sweetie, the Fenton Finder isn't telling us to go left or right. It's saying to go straight," Maddie said as she walked with Jack towards the end of the hallway.

The beeping sound of the Fenton Finder became more rapid.

"We're getting warmer!" Jack said.

"It's in Jazz's room!" Maddie said, and she grabbed a cannon-shaped weapon from her back.

"No, wait!"

"Get out of the way, Tucker!" Maddie pulled Tucker away from the door.

"HIYAH!" Jack busted the door down with one kick and ran inside.

The room was empty.

"Ghost is out of the homebase. Thank you for using the Fenton Finder."

"What? Well, where is it then?!"

"Oh, let's just forget it, Jack. If it comes back, I'm sure one of our ghost-fighting kids will get it," Maddie said with a disappointed look.

"Aww! But that's no fun."

[jasmariswonderland]

beep... leave it to you which of our ocs you wanna combine

Recieve a text from my muse!

(Rolled a 16, so a helpful text for Leroy!)

"Hey! I won't be at the club meeting this afternoon, Vil is testing Dani again and I once again have to mediate. But I'm leaving the ingredients for that potion you and I discussed with Rook. Let me know how it turned out, and PLEASE try not to cause any explosions this time, okay? TTYL!"

[bcdgirlsclub-a-blog]

@untouchablcs continued from x

[text: marek || sent]: are you also thinking that we should see each other again soon? [text: marek || sent]: because i’m thinking that.

[ocean-blue-whump]

▶️ Lorenzo, cook dinner for your lovely wife. You know what to wear.

Sara, thank you for making me cry laughing.

For those who don't know, this is for the AU where Lorenzo never went to WRU, never became Sunny, and married Danielle Hammond, @justplainwhump 's OC.

“Sway” by Michael Buble

CW: PG-13 related teasing/flirting, happiness, not whump.

***

The burner ignites with a faint whoosh. Lorenzo sets the pot of water down, tapping his wedding band against the plastic handle. He steps away from the pot, doing a little twirl so the bottom of his apron lifts up a little. 

He’s wearing nothing but a pair of tight boxer briefs, a black apron with “Kiss the Cook” written on it, and a thick leather collar, black with silver buckles. 

He hooks two fingers underneath the collar and snaps a picture, texting it to Dany with the caption, “Getting hot in here.” She won’t respond. That’s half the thrill, knowing she’s reading it and, presumably, getting very irritated. 

Lorenzo stands on his toes to reach a box of spaghetti from the cabinet. He salts the water and dumps the noodles in, humming happily. 

He leans over the counter to read the recipe again. He only briefly skims it before deciding to put on some music. “Play ‘Enzo’s Sexy Kitchen Music,’ please,” he says to the device. 

The screen flashes once before the song “Sway” by Michael Buble starts blaring. Lorenzo shakes his hips as he melts butter in a skillet and adds some shrimp. 

The oven beeps, and, still swaying his hips and shoulders, Lorenzo takes a detour on his way to lean his phone up on a nearby countertop. He sets a timer and rushes to position, opening the over door and bending over, arching his spine and smirking at the camera. Once that’s over, he slides the bread into the oven and sets another timer. 

Fuck. That picture…Dany’s going to flip. He’ll be pinned on the counter in seconds when Dany gets home, her fingers pulling on the collar and his hands in her hair… Lorenzo grins and presses send. 

He adds some chopped garlic and a sprinkle of sage to the shrimp and butter. He uncorks a bottle of white wine and pours some in, followed by a generous sip for himself. God, he wishes Dany would hurry home. He covers the pan and takes the pasta off the burner, draining the water. 

He runs his wet hands over the front of his apron, feeling his bare chest, his muscles underneath the thin fabric. He hopes Dany’s sitting in her office going wild right now. 

The thought spurs him on, and he twirls around the kitchen, dancing with an imaginary partner before coming to stop in front of the stove. He adds the shrimp mixture, whipping cream, and parmesan cheese to the spaghetti, mixing it until it’s perfectly combined. He tops it off with some lemon, salt, and pepper before sliding it to the side. Now all that’s left is the bread. 

And Lorenzo has a horribly wonderful idea. 

He grabs a spatula out of a drawer and leans over the counter, the marble digging into his hips and forcing him to stick his ass out. He sets up the phone so it captures his body from his knees up, his body bent at a 90 degree angle. 

He looks positively scandalous, his underwear tight over his well-built ass, the apron dropping to reveal his side, the collar, god, the fucking collar. The drama if someone were to see him would be explosive.

He clicks record on his phone. Stretching out languidly on the counter, he smiles lazily. “Hello, Danielle,” he purrs. “Hope work is going spectacularly.” He tilts his head so his diamond earring and the collar are on full display. “I have to say, I’m getting very needy.” With one hand, he pulls on the collar, and with the other, he brings the spatula down on his ass, hard enough that the sound echoes around the kitchen. A little moan escapes his parted lips. “See what you’re missing? I’m all collared up for you, I’m all yours.” He spanks himself again. “I’d hurry home if I were you, Danielle. I’d hate to have to get started without you.” With one final spank that pulls quite the sound out of him, he turns off the video and sends it to Dany. 

This time, he does receive an answer: three angry emojis and the note “from her assistant.”

Lorenzo laughs, spinning in a circle. He’s got her now. They’re going to have to reheat the pasta tonight. 

He’s a little sore from the hits, but in a good way, a way that makes him feel content and happy, ready to get on his knees for Dany or let her do it for him. 

Ever since that night on the yacht, he’s been hopelessly in love. He’s got his wedding ring and the collar and he loves being Dany’s more than anything. 

He shoots Dany a text, expecting her assistant to answer, but instead he gets an automated response. “I’m driving and can’t come to the phone now.”

Lorenzo cheers. He can’t wait to get out of this apron and get Dany on him. 

His timer for the bread goes off, and Lorenzo struts over to the oven, pulling the baguette out and settling it on a tray. 

The fresh aroma wafts up to him, he smiles and starts cutting it into slices, all of varying sizes. Hopefully Dany doesn’t get a speeding ticket on her way home. That would be horribly inconvenient. He hears the garage door rumbling open and his heart soars. She’s finally home. 

Lorenzo perches himself on the counter, pulling one leg up to his chest and to the side, resting on the counter, keeping his legs spread. He lets the other leg hang down, lets the apron cover him. He sticks out his chest a little bit, musing his hair with one hand. 

He hears the door open and his heart is racing. He spreads his legs a little more and tilts his head seductively so Dany can easily grab the collar and tug him around. 

He hears her voice before he sees her. 

“Diamond boy.”

A shiver runs down his spine. “Danielle. Welcome home.”

[mymadmedleyw]

Doppelgänger

(fanfiction | ao3)

plays after 'More Than You Could Chew'

some referring to that, but not necessarily needed for this

---

That was one thing there was a town nearby that was occasionally filled with ghosts. And there was one thing too they even had ghosts in the neighbourhood, and since she was aware of that, things made a strange turn, but altogether Hannah tried to see everything as once those had been. And that meant, she most of the cases forgot to calculate the ones a floor upper were those named entities – or at least, one of them, because Dani was a completely another case.

Once someone had told Hannah, the weirdest thing wouldn’t be in her life to see with her own eyes something paranormal, and she would find almost natural to get to be friends with inhuman beings… she surely would have said, the one certainly skipped a few medicines to take in time. But life – or afterlife – was like that now, and curiously, there wasn’t any strangeness with that – mainly that usually she forgot to calculate them as not entire humans. Though about the teen girl, she couldn’t blame herself, but about him… until no disturbing note came, or an unknowing enquiring about something that was supposed to be obvious, Hannah saw him too as a one hundred percent human.

Strange life this was now. Maybe that was because, mostly her – their – life didn’t get involved into any ghost stuff – mostly… so then, she lived a life as it had been before (that was not entirely true, but they lived a life, they always should have lived). It was just sometimes interesting to think about…

Hannah got into her hand his phone, opening the message she just a moment ago heard beeping, to note an unnatural status update. After all, it was bizarre to imagine, the only people she was texting back and forth was in truth a ghost. Life changed so much, on that she smiled funnily and read the text.

‘Gonna be late a bit. If Dani arrives first, tell her, pizza is in the freezer.’

Hannah shook her head and replied. ‘Don’t you think, it would be easier leaving her notes, instead to text me every single time? And pizza? Seriously?’

Not even a second later, the answer came. ‘She is a teen. Every unhealthy is more appreciated than anything else. So, pizza is perfectly fine. And no, I know she goes immediately to your place if I am not around – if she is not hanging around with my younger version…’

‘I can feel your tone, Dan… long day?’

‘Annoyed, rather. Can’t phase those wires through the walls, it’s never-ending this way. We can’t even finish a small section by the end of the day with this pace...’

‘Welcome to the humans, ghost boy.’ Hannah typed then, putting down her phone and turning back to finish the dinner. She heard the beep again, but she didn’t have to guess much to know the content, it was either ‘I frigging hate humans’ or ‘I still abhor humans, even if there are a few I tolerate’. Yes, life now was not usual, but at least she was saved from the weirder parts.

After a few minutes, as the sauce smelled good, she turned off the stove, searching after Tris. And as she took a quick glimpse towards the clock on the wall, she satisfied smiled, they were in time for the animated movie she had seen a day earlier, advertised. And luckily, since then, she checked the subtitle for that was available too. Perfect program for consuming dinner, and as Dan had said, Dani would arrive earlier than him, there was enough pasta for the teen to join them too.

Hannah aimed at the room of her daughter, the door slightly opened. In the small gap, she could see Tris was drawing, lost in her thoughts. For a moment, Hannah wondered to leave her alone a bit, and not disturb her, just as she didn’t like much until she wasn’t finished with one masterpiece, but then she frowned at a detail. Everything was just as it was supposed to be, but there was something eerie with the moving of her daughter, but yet Hannah couldn’t tell what. Maybe it was how the pencil was held? Maybe it was the hair or just…

Hannah stepped in, with goosebumps on her skin. The kid immediately looked up to her, as if hearing her moving before she could have got into the sight. In most cases, Hannah naturally waited as Tris ended with making any drawing, just as during that time, her child wasn’t focused on her surroundings and Hannah would have just scared her with an unexpected appearing in front of her, but right now… it was as if she had heard her.

Hannah crouched down in front of her, signing. “Everything is okay?”

The girl stared at her with wide eyes, confused. The bafflement was unmistakable in the brown gaze. Hannah saw as the small child opened partly her mouth, then closed it back, frowning, like trying to say something, but remembering a moment later to something. No, it was exactly as it seemed: Tris tried to speak, recalling then that she shouldn’t have done that – more like, she didn’t suppose to.

By that, Hannah’s eyes fell to the drawing in front of the kid that wasn’t hers, paling on the paper at the two identical blonde girls standing next to each other. The colouring of the right one was familiar, but the other was neater, not done by a child at age six, too perfect, too-

Then it came back, like a jolt, what exactly made her froze, Tris – this Tris – was holding the pencil in her left hand. Her daughter was right-handed! Hannah immediately grabbed the doppelgänger’s wrist, squeezing it as hard as she could. “Where is my daughter?!”

The kid, or whatever it was, winced by the unexpected shouted words, gaping, but then swallowed, shaking, and scared. Good, Hannah noted, it meant she terrified the being. For a second, the copy, stuttered, unable to form the words, but then in fine managed to let out a piece of coherent information.

“B-b-bathroom, she went to use the bathroom.”

Hannah narrowed her eyes to the familiar tone, but it must have been just about finding it unnatural hearing ‘Tris’ speak. And on the other hand, she hardly believed any word to it. What if her daughter was kidnapped? What if this impostor was playing Tris for a while and she- and she didn’t notice it until now?! Several awful scenarios rushed into her mind, the next ones always scarier than the previous ones and… but then something moved behind her. Hannah immediately whirled around, still keeping a tight hold on the copy.

Well-known brown eyes stared at her puzzled, and dread built up in her by that. What if this was a doppelgänger too? What if- But then the kid, the exact form of her child in a second version raised her hands, moving in the air. It needed a third repeating while Hannah could comprehend the question. ‘Mom, why are you holding Dani like that?’

“Dani?” Hannah gasped, frowning, feeling her thoughts numbs for an entire second. But then, slowly it pieced together as she took a peek at the drawing again, then back to the girl next to her who still looked like her daughter, except her eyes were now bright blue, tears forming in them by the panic.

“I’m…” the kid tried, biting her lips, explaining to her. “We just… we were just playing…”

Hannah right away dropped the captured arm, seeing through this all and identifying too the voice. “Dani? Oh my god, Dani! I’m so sorry!” she apologised, gazing at the slowly dissolving mark on the small wrist. “You scared me out! Why are you look like Tris? Are you out of your mind? I should have attacked you! Or actually, more than now! Why on earth did you-”

The girl flushed in shame slightly green, uncomfortable by her freaking out, mumbling hundreds of apologies under her nose. But then in a flash of light, she changed back to the natural outlook: black-haired, slightly pale-skinned fifteen years of teenager form. “I just… I was just trying to practise shape-shifting. I didn’t mean to scare you out, I should have warned you at least, before doing it, I’m sorry….”

To that, Hannah pursued her lips, feeling the youngster's discomfort. In a second, her fear, and anger faded away, and only the empathy remained. She reached out a hand for the half-ghost, helping her up, then she took a worried look at the squeezed wrist. “How is your hand?”

Dani massaged it, shaking her head. “It’s okay, don’t worry. I heal fast, but really, you are frightening.”

Hannah cracked a smile, at the note. “I know Dan is teaching you ghost stuffs, but here is an advice about humans: never ever stand between a mother and her child, we are capable to turn feral.”

The teen giggle, though forced, still a bit shocked by the just happened scene. “Believe me, I’ll never do that again. You were scary as hell.” by that, Dani crouched down, to be in the right level to the one and only Beatrice, giving back to the kid the coloured pencil. Tris seemed a bit disappointed by the changed outlook of her playfellow, but then with a smile accepted the situation.

“Can we still play if Dani is Dani?” Tris signed to her. Hannah took a look at the teen, but then nodded.

“Yes, but after dinner. Her brother will be late, Dani is eating with us.” Hannah explained to her, then turning to the half-ghost girl. “Dan wrote, he will come later. Would you like to eat with us until then? I made spaghetti.” she offered, eased by her beaming, though hided reaction.

“Pasta sounds good…” the teen agreed.

“Okay.” Hannah relieved nodded, recalling suddenly the youngster’s other option for dinner, but then before they could have left the room, her eyes stopped again at the drawing. A gentle tug reminded her, that Tris was holding her hand, just as the kid was doing it when she didn’t want to ‘tell’ anything, but still wanted to make her mother to know she was opened to communicate. This way was easier too to note the other with a bit pulling if one of them would have liked to ‘say’ something. Hannah was aware right now, the tugging meant impatience, and Tris was on to end dinner as fast as she could to then return to playing with the ghost girl.

Hannah crouched down, and faced her daughter. “Could you make the table? I’d like to have a word with Dani,” she asked the child. Tris glanced at her worried, then looking at the teen. “I won’t scold her, don’t worry.” Hannah smiled at her, for that she got a doubting gaze. “I promise, she copied you well, I thought it was you. She is very talented.” she ensured the blonde girl. After a long second, Tris released her hand, hugging her, then left them alone. Hannah stood up and turned to the teen.

“I’m in trouble, right?” Dani winced. “I know I should have-“

“Not that,” Hannah cut it, getting the drawing from the ground and examining it. The two girls were drawn by Tris, it was clear, only the colouring differed as those were done by different people. “You scared me, yes, but, it’s not about that…” Hannah put it down to the desk, searching for the teen’s eyes. “I just didn’t know you can shape-shift. I mean… Dan tells me everything,” to that, Dani visibly furrowed, “yes, I am unfortunately informed about everything, maybe I know more than you do, or… no, I think that’s true. Luck on me, huh?” she tried to joke, but then turned the discussion to the serious part. “He doesn’t know about it, right? About that you can shape-shift.”

Dani made an uncomfortable face, but then sighed, shaking her head. “No, he doesn’t know about it.”

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Hannah asked, but immediately corrected herself, reminding she not just once got she was trying to act over him like a mother – that was not a bit funny, that they were nearly around the same, but Dan provoked it, she had to admit, so then it was all his fault and she just couldn’t help on it, especially counting how much he asked her help during any issue. “I mean… it’s not my task or to decide, because it’s ghost-related, and I know I can’t really understand it, but…”

Suddenly the teen crossed her arms, running her nails on her upper arm. “I- I think, I’m afraid how he would react… the last time…” the teen bit in her lips, taking a deep breath, “the last time, he shape-shifted, he uh- formed as he had looked as younger, and I- I didn’t react to it well, I was very mean with him.” Hannah frowned thoughtfully at the words. She was aware Dan was hiding from the teen that his current outlook was not real, a shape-shifted form too, but-

“I don’t think he’d react to it wrong.” Hannah tilted her head. “Besides… you were really good,” she let out an encouraging smile to the struggled teen. “he would be better proud, I am quite sure about it.” to that, the half-ghost cheek turned bright green. “Though, a bit of constructive criticism, if you allow me: you should work on your observing for that. Tris is right-handed. And don’t try to talk if your formed base is deaf-mute. You tried to answer me.”

“I was panicked!” the teen defensively raised up her arms. Hannah had to laugh at the honest reaction.

“All right…” she patted on the youngster’s shoulder. “It was nice work though. Would you like to keep on with the practising?” Hannah inquired. Dani sheepishly gazed at the floor. “It’s okay… I won’t freak out.” she told, to that a challenging smirk curled up on the girl’s face, at the same time as the light appeared, changing the human form into a- “Okay, this is not how I meant, Dani,” Hannah blinked at the exactly mirrored outlook.

“You should have clarified the details about allowing me to practise it.” the half-ghost chirped in Hannah’s voice, rushing to the kitchen for the earlier mentioned spaghetti. Hannah pinched her nose, taking in a breath, then blow it out slowly.

“This is completely normal…” she shook her head, imagining for a thought they should have got worse upper neighbours – though, undoubtedly not less weird – but then she joined to the kitchen too, just shrugging as Tris’s eyes widened to the second version of her around in the room, assuming, at first sight, she was the doppelgänger. A moment later, after enjoying a bit her bafflement, Hannah explained to her in signs the situation, making it clear who was the impostor, her daughter’s just amazed grinned, following with eager eyes Dani in her mother’s form.

It was odd, but life right now was just like that, which meant letting a ghost-girl, in her outlook serving dinner, with clear enjoyment about it on her face. Weirdly, but only by that Hannah realised how much it look great on her smiling over something, that earlier she hadn’t done very much. Yes, life changed, since these two had moved in the house, but this was the new normal now. So then, Hannah got in her hand her phone too, on to text the brother Dani was at home, cracking a smile on the not read the message from earlier. ‘Frustrating species, that’s what you are.’

‘You better shape up, Dan. Dealing with ghosts as human are more tiring, believe me, and I am not complaining as much as you do.’ Hannah typed back; the reply immediate came – sometimes she didn’t even dare to take the question of how could he be so fast when among humans he had an equipment to hold back everything that meant being a ghost, including his abilities too.

‘Was that a pun? Really, Hannah? That day came too?’

‘Not everything is about you, ghost boy. That was an inside joke, you wouldn’t understand.’ Hannah sent, marvelling meanwhile ‘herself’ having a peaceful dinner with her daughter, then adding: ‘Dani is having dinner with us right now. I made spaghetti. I wouldn’t let her eat some frozen pizza. I know, she is a teen, but still. Seriously, you should consider counting me as a backup plan, if you don’t have time to cook. Another thing, you don’t have to pretend now to her you need to eat too.’

‘I’m not pretending as much as it seems, but fair enough… Above the lecturing (I noted it, by the way, you are on a very thin ice, Hannah, beware or you easily will slip on the ‘not tolerated’ list): thanks. Second thought, spaghetti? The recipe I gave you? You made it?’ Hannah had to roll her eyes at the leaking through excitement, not even a beat later, another one appeared on her screen. ‘That is, right? Could you save me a bit?’

‘No. And shouldn’t you focus on work?’ Hannah smirked as she sent the pointing out, deciding then to tease him more. ‘Those wires won’t connect themselves, you know…’

‘I hate you.’ it came right away. Hannah just snorted at it, but took a checking glimpse towards the two eating figures. There was hardly enough portion for her in the pot – yes, she definitely should have calculated Dani was a teen with an infinite stomach if something was really liked for her, not even adding to that the endless energy she had to refill due to the dual-existence and fighting ghosts…

‘I can make you another portion if you pick it up.’ Hannah offered. Her phone immediately beeped.

‘Oh, did I just forget to mention Dani is not a light-eater? Shame on me…’ now, she could detect the shit-eating grin behind the words, seeing clearly through her lie why she needed to make another portion anyway. ‘But okay, I accept the offer. I’ll try to finish within an hour. Oh, and I must warn you: I’m not a light-eater either, ghost or not, those recipes are the best. I’m glad I am able to recall those.’

And feeling that was the final word, Hannah put down her phone, turning back towards the two girls, and rather not letting out any comment about the very serious duel over the table within the right now two versions of her daughter in a contest about who could perform the ugliest grimace. Yes, maybe life basically should have been simple without being aware of ghosts, or become friends with two, but that case certainly wouldn’t have been as entertaining as it was right now witnessing twins of Tris in a fight, that was for sure. And it might have been strange, but Hannah didn’t like to change on this at all.

---

A/N: (some added notes reachable throught the links upper)

[chilling-seavey]

okay so abm, this might sound so weird lol but what about a little blurb where Daniel is just trynna call florence but she's not answering and he starts to worry and turns out she was just in a deep sleep cos she was so exhausted lol😅

I made this a little more angsty than intended oops

Friday, October 23, 2020

“Please leave a message after the beep.”

Daniel frowned slightly but waited for the tone before speaking into his cell phone, “Hey. I’m on my way. You said you needed help with a few things so…anyway, maybe you just missed the call. I’ll let you know when I’m pulling in. Text me. Love you.”

He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat of his car and turned the ignition to head down to her apartment. He kept glancing at his phone half the time, waiting for a text or call back but there was nothing. It was barely 6:30pm so she should have still been up and around. They did have a plan for him to come over so where was she?

Daniel was always an avid worrier and even only being her best friend, he was still feeling that nervousness in his stomach. He hated that feeling.

The whole drive down to her apartment he was met with no reply of any sort and he was starting to stress himself out. Once he was safely parked in the underground parking, he grabbed his phone to check the date.

With the girls was logged in for that evening at 6:30. It was 6:45.

He texted her that he was there before getting out of the car and making his way to the elevators. Daniel had his own key to the building which is how he was able to get into the underground parking and elevators without going through the lobby – he was over so often over the previous two years that the people at the front desk knew him well and permitted Florence to give him a key. But he still had to knock on her door on the twentieth floor, waiting impatiently outside in the hallway for an answer.

“Flora.” Daniel called, knocking again when there was no answer.

Silence.

He pulled out his phone and called her again, listening to it ring and ring and ring. Voicemail.

“Please leave your message after the beep.”

“I’m outside your door. Where are you? If you forgot we had plans that’s fine just please text me so I know you’re okay.”

Daniel waited a few more moments before knocking on the door again, his worry only increasing more when he heard Clementine’s little giggle from inside the apartment. Daniel’s eyes went wide and he crouched down, pressing his hands against the door and leaned in so he could speak to her.

“Clemmie? Are you there, angel?” he called gently.

She just giggled from the other side and he heard her little hands smacking gently against the wood.

“Where’s Mama, Clemmie? Can you go get Mama?” Daniel asked.

“Dada.” Clemmie giggled.

“Yeah, Dani’s here. Can you go get Mama?”

There was silence.

Daniel knocked gently again, “Clem?”

The nearly two-year-old had gotten bored of him and walked off into the apartment, leaving him stuck in the hallway. Daniel rushed to take out his phone again, dreading the worst, and dialled Florence one more time. Voicemail.

Daniel never took twenty flights of stairs so quickly – the elevator far too slow for his emergency he was dealing with – and burst out into the lobby. The man at the front desk looked up from his work as Daniel ran over, breathless.

“Hi.” Daniel panted as he leaned on the desk, “I need to get into unit 2004. I can’t reach Florence and her…our…her daughter is walking around but I don’t know where she is and I’m worried she fell or…something.”

“Alright, I’ll just to see some ID and ask a few questions.” The man said.

Daniel pulled out his wallet and slid over his drivers licence with shaking hands. His mind was whirling with every possible situation that could be happening as the man asked him for Florence’s full name, birthdate, and emergency contact. (He answered with ease: Florence Margret DiCaprio; April 23, 2000; Michael and Luke Clifford with secondary emergency contact as himself).

The man at the front desk accompanied him up to the twentieth floor with the master key and let him into the apartment. Daniel thanked him hurriedly before rushing inside.

“Flora!?” he called loudly, stopping to look in Clementine’s room and the bathroom on his way down the hallway.

“Dada!” Clementine came running, unbothered, and he scooped her up quickly.

“Florence!” Daniel shouted, fear nearly dripping from his voice as the apartment was empty. He helped himself to the master bedroom, toddler on his hip, and found Florence on her bed looking either dead or asleep.

He set Clementine on the side of the bed and gave Florence’s arm a quick shake, the front desk manager standing in the doorway and nearly ready to call 911 with how panicked Daniel was. But with a good shake, Florence was blinking her eyes open and looking up at her best friend. When she processed that he was in her apartment, she sat up quickly, rubbing her eye with her fist.

“What happened?” she mumbled.

“I could ask you the same!” Daniel said quickly.

“Is everything alright here then?” the man asked.

Daniel thanked him profusely and let him leave. Now alone, he looked back to Florence with pink cheeks and an almost angry expression stemmed solely from worry.

“Where’s your phone?” he asked.

Florence reached under her pillow where her phone had been tucked and she checked the time and saw her plenty missed calls from him, “I’m so sorry. I must have…fallen asleep.”

“Fallen asleep?” Daniel gaped. “Clementine was walking around the place! She could have…she could have gotten into something! Or hurt herself! And I thought you were dead!”

“We just went for a nap in here.” Florence said quietly, scooping up Clementine onto her lap. “Penelope fell asleep so I wanted to catch up on some sleep so…we went for a nap.”

“It’s 7:00! They can’t nap this late!” Daniel protested, and then hurried around to the other side of the bed to check on the baby. Penelope slept. He reached down to wake her so she wouldn’t have trouble actually sleeping through the night and she cried softly as he lifted her up.

Florence didn’t answer him, she simply sat on the bed and held her toddler and swallowed back her tears.

Daniel rocked the baby for a moment, holding the pacifier in her mouth until she took it and he wrapped both arms around her tiny body. He finally looked over at Florence who was avoiding him. With a sigh, Daniel sat on the other side of the bed with her and let his eyes linger on her face.

“Talk to me.” he ordered gently.

Florence’s nose scrunched up and she bowed her head and let out a small sob, “I can’t do this!”

“Do what?” Daniel asked, shifting on the bed to hold Penelope in one arm and console his best friend with his other, brushing her hair back from her face so he could look at her better.

“Be a single mom! To two under two! I…I can’t do it!” Florence sobbed. “I’m so sleep deprived I…I let my one-year-old roam around…what kind of mother does that?! They’re gonna take her from me!”

“No one is taking anyone. It was one mistake.” Daniel assured her quickly. “And I was right here.”

“And you’re mad at me.” Florence mumbled.

“I’m not mad at you.” Daniel sighed. He glanced down at Clementine who was staring up at him from her mother’s lap and he petted her hair before looking back to Florence. “You just scared the hell out of me. I thought you were hurt.”

Florence sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands, “What am I gonna do?”

“Come stay with the guys and me for a bit. Have six extra pairs of hands.” Daniel offered.

Florence sighed, “I can’t do that.”

“Then I’ll come here…I’ll help out more. I’ll sleep on the couch so you can have your whole bed to yourself and I can help out when Penny wakes up in the night.”

“You have school.”

“And I have a daughter.” Daniel retorted softly.

Florence kept her gaze down and Daniel shuffled up closer beside her and pulled her head to his shoulder. She relaxed against him.

“I promised you I wouldn’t leave you to deal with this alone, right? So here I am.” Daniel whispered. “You’re my best friend in the whole world and you happen to be the mother to my two favourite little girls in the whole world.”

“Just a few days?” Florence asked quietly. She hated to admit when she needed help.

“As long as you want me to stay, I will.”

Daniel only stayed for the weekend but that seemed to be enough to help Florence get back on her feet for a little while. His obvious drop-anything attitude was honestly the most attractive thing and maybe that was when Florence started to accept that she might be falling...

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[notgonnarememberthis]

find your way (back to me) - chapter seven

This update is a little more toned down than usual but don’t worry, this isn’t the end. This is only a bridge to act 2. My best friend and I have come up with a handful of devious ideas to still throw into the mix. I’m super excited to jump into the next portion and even more so by Prodigal Son returning in less than a week. Let me know what y’all think!!

“It doesn’t make sense.” Gil moves his gaze from Jessica in her hospital bed to Malcolm, pacing across the small room. Ainsley sits on the chair, eyes trained on mother and chewing on her nail but she nods almost absentmindedly at his statement. He’s been on this rant for an hour. Each second he grows more agitated. “When she came in she was angry Gil. Ask Ainsley, she was screaming ‘where is he’ and waving the knife.”

The unspoken sentence lingers between the siblings with a single gaze. I’ve never seen her like that. It’s not a shock, Jessica composed her anger around them, he remembers one instance. Where a poor reporter thought that ambushing her for an exclusive was a good idea. All while he had taken them out one lonely Christmas only 2 years after Martin’s imprisonment. She’d been icely polite until the man turned to Malcolm, asking him how he felt. Still her smile remained, at least until Gil coaxed the children away with the promise of hot chocolate and sweets. 

That night she looked lighter than she had in months.

“She didn’t see me.” Malcolm admits, maybe for the first time with the fear threaded in his voice. Ainsley’s eyes flash to him, concern twisting her brows. Gil knows that sight will haunt his nightmares for a while. “It wasn’t hallucinations. She knew where she was.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. But she sidestepped the divet in the tile that she almost twisted her ankle on last month.” Malcolm rakes both hands through his hair in frustration. “She knew she was at the precinct.”

“What about when she collapsed?” Gil speaks up now. “She begged me to find ‘him’ and said she got him out.” Malcolm pivots again, his pace picking up as his mind races. “She had to be talking about another victim.”

Ainsley’s breath catches then, a light flashing in her head. “What if she was talking about two different people?”

Malcolm gapes, Gil sees him swallow the lump that formed in his throat. “You think she saw the killers?” She nods turning back to Jessica. She takes her mother’s hand pressing her lips to her knuckles.

It’d been hours since the surgeries. The surgeons had successfully removed the bullet from her abdomen but infection was their main concern. The warnings of the extent of brain injury lingers on all of their minds. They won’t know more until she wakes. 

If she wakes.

Gil shakes his head at the thought. He won’t allow himself to think like that yet. Not with Malcolm and Ainsley in the same room, minds haunted all the same. “You two, go get food.” They both protest but he shuts them down with a single look. “Get me-”

“Black coffee.” The two nod in unison bringing a small smile to his lips. As they leave Gil allows the events to weigh on him. He runs his thumb across her scraped jaw biting the inside of his cheek. “Come on Jess.” He whispers into the room. “You gotta help us now. We can’t do this without you.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The incessant beeping is what pulls Jessica above the surface again. The first thing she realizes is that she feels very heavy. Her eyes don’t want to open, distantly she hears Gil’s voice calling to her.

It comes back all at once. Her escape, Freddy, collapsing into Gil’s arms. She hums, testing her voice. It aches and makes her feel like she needs to cough but she feels it rumble in her chest. Finally, her eyes open. It hurts like hell, blinking the dimmed room into focus. He leans over her, a smile on his face.

“Hey Jess.” He looks to the door. A thought crosses his mind before turning back to her. “Do you know where you are?”

“Hospital.” Detest laces her tone even through her slurred speech. She hated hospitals as a kid, then Martin came into her life. She grew an appreciation, and then hated them again in a twisted cycle. She cranes her head searching the room, “Where?”

“Ainsley and Malcolm went to get food. They’ve got Dani and JT with them as details.” She relaxes, tempted to fall back into the darkness knowing they are safe. “Do you want me to call them?”

She shakes her head, knowing Malcolm he’s been working for days straight, hardly a meal in between. If he’s getting food, then he needs to eat. “How long have I been out?”

“About 9 hours.”

“That’s the most I’ve slept in 20 years.” She jokes. The fogginess clears a little and she remembers. “Freddy.” She turns to Gil who immediately puts his hands on her shoulders.

“Hey easy.” His eyes jump to the heart monitor, the beeping increasing significantly. “Take it easy Jess. Is Freddy who you were trying to tell me about?”

She nods frantically. “I woke up and he was there. I cut us both out but he wanted to split up.” Guilt punches her in the chest. “We split up. I didn’t want to but he said it was our best chance. I heard a man scream and I ran.” The air feels too thin suddenly and the beeping just keeps getting louder.

“Jessica, look at me.” Her jaw snaps shut and she does. “Breathe with me.” He takes a deep breath in. She would laugh if panic wasn’t gripping her ribcage painfully. “Remember?” She nods slightly following his steps.

Panic attacks had become a frequency after Martin. Gil had found her stuck in the middle of them more than she cares to admit. She holds her breath, her head swimming. Letting it out ebbs the panic though the guilt still gnaws painfully. 

“Do you know where they held you? Do you remember?”

“Beverly Construction. The apartment complex being built, the one I was telling you about that I was thinking of bidding on.”

“Good.” He runs his thumb over her knuckles. “Do you remember anything else?”

“Yes.” She opens her mouth but the thoughts won’t piece together. There are images in her head but none of them make sense. The wreck, glass flying everywhere and the smell of smoke burning her nose. The darkness before being overwhelmed by white light. The glint of the knife reflecting her terrified gaze back at her.

“It’s ok. You’re still coming out of sedation. It may take a while.” She wants to cry. She knows she saw more. She knows more. “I’ll text Colette and her men will scan the construction site. They may not be there anymore but they may have left something behind.” She wishes it was enough.

“Mom?” Ainsley’s voice makes her head whip to the door. Her daughter’s lower lip trembles, “Mom?” In three steps she’s to her bed, the box of food thrown carelessly into the chair as she kneels by her side. Jessica tries to reach out to her but her arm only flips, the meds still battling her every effort to stay awake. Ainsley grabs her hand guiding it to her cheek so that Jessica’s fingers tangle into the blonde curls.

“Mom.” Malcolm’s whisper is almost immediately after Ainsley’s. Gil scoots aside allowing him room. He takes the food and coffee out of her son’s hands before they can slip to the floor in his rush to get to her. He mimics Ainsley’s actions but pulls her other hand to his lips, she feels his smile on the back of her hand. Tears of relief sting her eyes. 

“Hi.” She smiles at them both, her fingers brushing their skin. They’re safe, they’re here with her. She did it, she made it back to her family. She wipes away Malcolm’s tears as they come down his face despite his careful control. Ainsley tips first burying her head into her shoulder. Her hand is pinned, caught in her daughters grasp but she can’t bring herself to care.

Over their shoulders she spies Gil. With one look he comes closer, with one hand on Malcolm’s shoulders and the other on her head he joins the family embrace. Her guilt still weighs on her. She’s missing something, something important is gone.

Right now, though, her family is enough. They are enough.

[cluelesslychosen]

✜The Lost Spark✜

✜AU EVENT✜

“Mum said her shipment is going to take a while.” Momi turns to her younger siblings and pulls out her wallet. “She’s giving you guys ¥2000 each for lunch and other stuff. Don’t spend it all at once, okay?” Dani gives her sister a silent nod and takes her share of the allowance. Riley swipes the remaining money. “What about you?” He asks “You’re not coming with us for lunch?” “I wish, I’m going to help Mum carry the resin supplies. She’s got a deadline and needs to get the  sculpt and prototypes done fast.” Momi replies, tucking away her wallet and adjusting her bag. “You two are big kids.” She tells him “Besides, Dani’s with you and you guys know Shibuya station. We’ll meet by the konbini when we’re done, okay?” “But it’s so crowded,” Dani whines to them both “Can’t we stay with you guys?”  she pleads. “I don’t like the noise.” “I mean you could,” Momi replies “But you’ll have to wait until we get on the train to get a meal.” Riley rolls his eyes at both his sisters. “I don’t want to babysit Dani.” he groans, “I always have to babysit her when we go to Shibuya!” “You’re not babysitting her! The both of you are looking out for each other.” Momi asserts herself, crossing her arms. “The two of you wanted to come so don’t be giving each other grief, okay?” Dani shrinks herself and glances her eyes away from their sister. Riley scowls, shoving his hands in his sweater pockets. Momi takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Guys, please.” She begs, “It's only for a little while. Please, keep an eye out for each other. I’ll make it up to you guys when we get home, okay? We’ll text you when we’re done.” “... Whatever.” Riley scoffs before immediately turning away and walking down the hall. Dani stands beside Momi in silence before speaking up. Dani whimpers to her sister, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Dani.” Momi sighs, patting her head and ruffling a bit, “You didn’t. He’s… frustrated at a lot of things right now.” Momi then puts her hand on Dani’s back and pushes her forwards, “Go on, get something to eat. Mum and I will see you guys in a bit, okay?”

Ten minutes and ¥500 poorer, Riley sits down at a bench and looks at his food. Beef Omurice. Typical of him, being a picky eater he thinks to himself. He watches his older sister across from his seating.  He could tell from here she was having trouble with speaking and asking questions.

Whatever, she could do it herself. She’s not a baby, he tells himself as he shuffles his bag onto his lap to put away his wallet. Only to open it and see the round, white form of Calumon sleeping unaware in his backpack. Oh no. Not here!

“Hey!” He whispers and shakes his bag a little to stir the creature up. “Psst! No free rides!” The Calumon opens their enormous eyes and yawns before turning and giving Riley a small wave. If this were a cat, he’d find this adorable. But this was a digimon so-

He grabs onto the creature and pulls it out of his bag by the nape of their neck and glares at them. “Why do you keep bothering me?!” he hisses at them. They simply just tilt their head with a “Luu...”

He rolls his eyes with a scoff. before he can do anything the creature immediately escapes his grip and darts for his bento. Eyes hungry. “Oh no you don’t!” He holds their head in one hand while keeping his meal in the other. “I’m not letting you steal another bite of food!”

He pauses when he feels the eyes of the crowd peering in his direction. Riley can feel the judgement radiating from them as they stared. Pressing down on him like a weight while he feels his heartbeat quicken.

Too many eyes, he can feel their thoughts. He needs to go. He has to go. He needs air. Disregarding Calumon he shoves his meal in his bag and begins running from the bench and down the hall. Confused at his quick exit, Calumon floats on the spot before chasing after the boy, concerned. “Psst-” Dani pauses from her purchasing process, about to pay for her lunch when Kain whispers. In his Kyaromon form he fits in his partner’s backpack without others noticing. “Dani!” he whispers, “Dani, Riley's running off!” Uh-oh. Dani gives an apologetic bow to the cashier and places her meal down. “I’m so sorry, I’m not hungry anymore. Have a good day-” She turns and launches after her brother in the ever noisy crowd. The noise made her vision buzz but she pushed past that as fast as she could. Losing her brother in Shibuya would be a nightmare. She couldn’t let her parent’s down again. Riley runs. He ran past the crowds, not paying attention to where he was going. Soon enough, the sounds of people faded and the sounds of his footsteps echoed off the corridors. He takes his deep breaths in the cool air and as he recollects he realizes where he is. A corridor that was in preparation for a remodel. This hall was open but no one was using it. He rubs his face and leans against the plywood wall. Finally… Calm. “Caluu!!” Or not. The little digimon toddles over and rests on Riley’s shoulder. He scoffs trying to pull them off but their tiny claws cling onto his sweater. They let out a rather defiant “No!” in response and he lets go. Huh? They’ve never… spoke before and that caught Riley off guard. The digimon clung on with determination, fear and… concern? Why was he picking up concern? He stares at the little creature for a moment before replying. “Did you… talk-” Riley’s eyes widen for a moment when that familiar tell-tale feeling returns. Pins and needles shot up his legs and then his spine. The pressure building in his head as he grabs onto it. Calumon clutches onto the boy. They make concerned noises for Riley as he tries to steady himself. The lights in the corridor all begin to flicker in intervals. He squeezes his eyes shut. The wind inside dies to a whisper and the temperature plunges. Not freezing but it feels cold and wet like a late autumn rainstorm. There's silence. “No-No, just breathe, breathe-” Riley mutters as he tries to ignore everything. Until the sound of rushing water hits his ears and eyes snap open. Water rushes out from the other side of the tunnel, freezing cold, dark water. The warm lights turn a sterile white. His breath is visible as he tries to calm himself down but finds himself failing in every aspect. The episodes before were bad but never like this. This was different. Completely different! “W-What the hell is going on--” “Child… Oh, Child...” The voice creeps into his ears like a squirming worm. The word carried on a struggling breath. Lungs water-locked and gurgling. It paralyzes him, legs refusing to move as he feels his stomach churn. He knows he needs to run but that voice- He turns his head towards the rushing water. 

Three, large red eyes pierce through the darkness ahead. Before the rest of it begins to slither out the darkness. Sharp teeth glimmer in the lifeless light in a grin full of malice. His voice hitches in his throat. Body frozen, terror overriding every function. Before finally, finally he-

Dani’s digivice begins beeping in her sidepack as she runs down the hall. Kain pops his head out and jumps from Dani’s backpack, digivolving into his Impmon stage. “I got a bad feeling about this Dani!” He calls out as he runs beside her. They both round a corner and see the unfinished corridor. A terrified scream sounds from the corridor. A scream they both knew well enough by now. “That’s Riley!-” Dani charges into the tunnel with little hesitation. Kain hesitates but follows, Evolving once more into his Wizardmon state. They run through the hall as fast as their legs can go. The lights flickered, hurting Dani’s eyes. With each flicker the lights grew cold, the corridor grew longer. Space warping. Shoes splashing into rising water. The current makes it harder to traverse.

“Riley?!” Dani called out through the tunnel. Pause. A Scream. Running faster, filled with trepidation they move. As fast as their bodies can through the raging current. The scream gets louder. A blinking of lights, they reach the scene. Almost frame by frame. Riley is trying to dodge the digital monster’s limbs, splashing around in a panic. Calumon hides in his hood and cries out in fear. Claws grip onto his waist and he screams again. His eyes catch onto Dani’s, reflecting the fear and terror back. Kain moves without thinking, pulling his staff from his cape. A large fireball crashes into the squidlike demon. It roars in agony, clutching onto it’s face as fire takes it. Seeing this opening Riley bolts, trying to use the current to gain any semblance of speed. It feels as if a few feet are miles. His legs can’t seem to take a proper stride and he fumbles hard through the knee deep waters. “Riley!” Dani shouts at the top of her lungs, out stretching both her arms to him. She runs forward to him, not caring if Kain screams at her to stay back. Only keeping her brother safe mattered to her. Riley stumbles forward, water in his eyes and head pounding. He sees Dani running towards him. He forgets his resentment, his anger, his fear in this moment and he cries out for his big sister. Arms reaching for her. “Dani!”

So close. 

But they don’t reach. A tendril shoots from the darkness and wraps itself around Riley. Both Riley and Calumon are  wretched backwards. Riley’s goggles sent flying. Dani helplessly watches as her brother gets pulled away into the darkness. What she thought was darkness. What was a darkened tunnel was in actuality a rift of some kind. Seeing this, Riley struggles hard against his captor. As hard as he thrashes it’s not enough, only getting one arm free. He continues to reach for Dani in desperation.

“Dani! Help me! Dani!” He begs with tears forming in his eyes. The darkness consumes both the digimon and Riley. They disappear. Dani stands there, arms outstretched to nothing, water disappearing and air returning. But in her shock Kain jumps forwards. He holds out his hands and yells out, in rage. “Give him back, you Monster!”

 Magic sparks from his hands and he pulls his hands apart. The closing rift jerks with resistance. The Wizardmon struggles to hold the portal open. “Go Dani! I’ll follow you!” He yells back at his partner, still frozen. “Go! Now!” His words break Dani out of her paralysis. Her eyes drift to her brother’s goggles. With a nod she steels herself, takes a deep breath. Dani grabs onto Riley’s goggles. She had to get Riley back! She shouts in her mind and runs full speed and jumps through the rift. The moment Dani leaps through, Kain releases the portal and runs right behind her. 

It feels like static, cold static. It’s hard to move limbs, hard to see. Hard to breathe. Riley feels the void around him getting more and more cold. The humanoid creature continues dragging him and Calumon down. He swears he hears it laughing at him. Speaking in a language he doesn’t quite understand but he can tell what it’s thinking. It’s in the throes of victory. He has a child, he’s won. His master will praise him. Like hell he will!

He uses his free arm to hit the tendril as hard as he can. He didn’t care if the impact would shoot pins and needles down his arm “Let go of me!” He screams into the dark, hitting as hard as he can. Calumon clings to Riley before they hop off and begins to try and remove the tendril’s grip around Riley. A futile effort as the squid like monster snatches Calumon in his oversized arm. “PEST!” it shouts as it’s claws start crushing the little digimon. Calumon in turn cries out in pain from the bigger digimon’s grip. Hearing the tiny digimon cry out in pain seemed to awaken something in Riley. Something he can’t understand but he runs on instinct.

“Don’t--” Something feels like it’s burning in him. “You--” Something that he let go from deep within. “Hurt--” At this moment he didn’t care about the need to hold back. “Her!” There was no one else here. It was do or die.

His fist hits the digimon, burning white light sears the digital flesh of their captor. He screams out again in agony.  Holding this child was like holding a glowing hot stone. They try to bite through the pain but it's too much. The white light completely overwhelmed his body. Like a star in the dark and as intense.  Grappling onto the sea demon’s arm he screams out one last time. “Let us go!”

The light radiating off of him almost becomes flame like. White hot and incinerates the limb of the digimon. Data disperses as the light burns it’s arms away, running up and burning the left side. The digimon screams in complete agony to the point it rather drop its prey or die. It chooses self preservation. It darts away into the digital sea. It sounds like it’s screaming for forgiveness from someone but Riley can't make a word of it. His vision is going blurry.

Calumon, now retreats to the boy. They cling onto his hoodie and cry out to him but he’s fading. Both in a literal and figurative sense. His eyes glaze over as the light begins to fade away. Calumon knew they had to do something. Riley saved them. They had to save him back. They can’t last here, Riley definitely can’t last here. They close their eyes and the gem on their forehead glows. Calumon doesn’t know what they’re doing but all they do know is that they had to save Riley. Bring him somewhere safe. The remains of Riley’s light merges with Calumon’s. A force pushes them upwards. Away from the darkness.  

There's a brief resistance the closer they get to the light. Before it feels like they shattered through a glass wall. The small white digimon opens their bleary eyes. and sees now they are in the digital stream, the current of a network. Calumon feels relief before they lay themselves on the now unconscious Riley's body. They too needed rest. Unaware of what their power had done.

Wherever they drift too, it was better than the darkness they escaped.

[knamjooned]

study sessions (23)

» masterlist «

words: 942 warnings: suggestive content (no sexy times, though)

tagged:  @agustdez​ / @zxlla​ / @dreamcatcherjiah​ / @anothermisspark​ / @rjsmochii​ / @colourfulnightmare​ / @dinopowa​ / @yuusilverscar​ / @thisrandombitch​ / @mini-coop25​ / @xxxanimangxxx​ / @ephyra1230​ / @wystfulaster​

You woke up a few times in the middle of the night. Once when Namjoon had appeared at your door, another time when you needed to pee, and another when you thought you were going to vomit. Each time the sun was still down and your head was pounding. After dry heaving for a bit, you shuffled into the kitchen and got a glass of water in the dark. You sipped it slowly, stomach still rolling. Should you nibble on something? The thought made you grimace, and you decided to just keep sipping your water until it was gone.

Afterwards, you shuffled back to the couch where you had fallen asleep in Namjoon’s arms. He was still there, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, lightly snoring. Even though you felt awful, you smiled, still not sure if this was a dream or not. You joined him, lying in front of him on the couch, pulling the blanket over you. His arms automatically went around you as his hips pressed against your ass in his sleep. You wiggled against him, and felt him hardening. You were too tired to do anything about it, but it made you feel good to have that kind of reaction.

You fell asleep once again as Namjoon nuzzled your neck, still asleep.

An alarm was going off. You pulled the blanket over your head, whimpering. Your headache wasn’t as bad, but your body still was exhausted from the alcoholic beverages you had downed the night before. Your stomach had stopped throwing a raver, and that made it a little better. Namjoon’s warm arms squeezed you, then one lifted over his head to the side table near the couch. You stayed where you were as you felt him shift to look at what you figured was his phone. He grunted, sat the phone back on the side table, then wrapped you once again with his warmth.

“Do you have to go right now?” you murmured, mouth dry. He grunted again, burying his face into your neck, pulling the cover over both your heads.

“In about an hour,” he replied, his low voice sending a shiver over your skin.

“Okay.”

“How’re you feeling, baby?”

“Exhausted, dry mouth, not too horrible nausea, and a light headache.” You turned your head, stopping a hair away from kissing him. You probably had disgusting morning breath. Instead, you rubbed your cheek against his, then wiggled against him more, getting as close as you could.

“Hm, could be worse,” he said, kissing your temple. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Absolutely. I’ve known Dani for a good year and a half. It was nice to see her in person.” Namjoon’s phone beeped a few times, indicating a text. He reluctantly reached an arm up, having to let you go for a moment, then grabbed it. The blanket fell from your heads. Sighing, Namjoon kept his phone in his hand as he wrapped them around you once again. He squeezed tightly and kissed your cheek.

“I have to start the process of leaving.”

“Unfortunate,” you mumbled, slowly sitting up. Namjoon did the same, and you ended up sitting next to each other, both with messy hair and blankets around you. You grinned at him, then covered your mouth, realizing once again the probability of horrible breath. Joon laughed, cupped your cheek, then leaned forward and kissed your forehead.

“I can wait if you don’t take too long to do your morning routine.”

“I’ll be right back,” you hurriedly said, then shuffled to the bathroom. Quickly, you washed your face, brushed your teeth, went to the bathroom, then ran a brush through your hair. You were standing beside Namjoon once again within a few minutes. You wrapped your arms around his neck and stood on your toes, pressing your lips against his.

“Morning,” he murmured against your lips. With a sly look in his eyes, Namjoon reached down, squeezed your ass, and pressed your hips against his as he kissed you with an open mouth. You moaned and held on tightly as the kiss went on. Unfortunately, he pulled away too soon, causing you to pout and whine. He leaned his forehead against yours.

“Will you be able to stay the night soon? Preferably when I am completely sober so we can check out the dice.” You wiggled your eyebrows with a grin. He chuckled and kissed you quickly on the lips before pulling away. You hold onto his hand as long as possible as he walks toward the door. It was still very early, the sun just hitting the horizon as it began to rise.

“I’ll let you know. Let’s plan for Saturday night. Off the top of my head, I think it’ll be a good time. You start working at the company building tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’m a little nervous…” You took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Namjoon squeezed your hand, giving you an assuring smile. “I’ll be fine. Lina is picking me up, and we’ll be going together. She’s kind of my tour guide for a while.”

“Ah, speaking of Lina…” He dropped your hand and shifted his gaze away, looking guilty. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” you laughed.

“The only people who know about us are the guys and the main executives, along with our main manager….”

“I understand. I don’t mind, honestly. I’ll keep your story going, don’t worry, love.”

“Yeah. Sorry,” he shrugged apologetically. You grinned, amused at this whole situation, and pulled him in for a quick hug and kiss. He squeezed your ass once again as he kissed your neck, then pulled away. You pushed him out the door, laughing.

[jasmariswonderland]

BEEP for Dani and Joker?

Recieve a text from my muse!

(Rolled 9, so a concerned text)

Hey, dear. Are you feeling alright? You weren't in class this morning, I just figured you might have overslept but then I didn't see you at club meeting either. I asked Cater and he said he hasn't seen you since last night. Are you not feeling well? Please reply to this as soon as you can, otherwise I WILL be at Heartslabyul first thing tomorrow morning.

[bcdgirlsclub-a-blog]

@gcldthrone continued from x

[text: WINTER RAE || SENT]: cedes wtf are you talking about?? [text: WINTER RAE || SENT]: holy fuck those were SO not supposed to go to you

[waldbins]

💬🍺

💬 — my muse admits something.

[ 11:45 AM ] : hey dani[ 11:47 AM ] : i know we haven’t texted in a while but[ 11:48 AM ] : i had this crazy weird dream about you last night[ 11:48 AM ] : but not WEIRD weird fuck now you probably think i’m a creep[ 11:50 AM ] : forget that last message you probably didn’t even think it was weird of me

🍺 — a drunk text/voicemail.

“daniela —” his voice is harsh, but tired. there’s a bit of a rasp to it. you can tell he’s at a party through his end of the phone line; blaring music, the clinking of beer bottles and laughter. “daniela, wherethefuck are yooou?” the question comes off as more of a whine and it’s as if you can see his sad eyes through the phone. “it’s not fun without you,” he presses. “amor de mi vida,” the distant words come out of the boy’s mouth as if the last time he took a spanish class wasn’t five years ago. “come heeere. ven dámelo ma—” beep.

[morbid-mary]

What A Furry Ride

Chapter 5 Set in Episode 6

That next evening, Scott and his sister were just at the grocery store and are walking through the parking deck trying to find Dani’s car. “This isn’t it, lets go up to level four” Dani says. They climb the stairs to level four. Scott sighs heavily as they look around. “How hard could it be to find a green Nissan?” Scott asks. 

Scott sets the bags down, “Give me your keys.” Dani hands them to him and sighs. He presses the unlock button and a car beeps on the level above them. “Oh my god” Dani groans. The milk rolls out of the bag and under the car in front of him, “Crap.” Dani’s eyes widen and she takes off. “What the-!” he watches the milk bottle roll back to him. Scott scrambles to his feet and takes off.

Scott runs as fast as he can through the parking deck. He sees Dani up ahead, running full tilt. “DANI!” he yells as he tries to catch up to her. “COME ON!” her voice echos as she enters a lower level. Dani grabs Scott, yanking him in between two cars to hide. Scott watches Dani pull out her inhaler and inhale two puffs, trying desperately to calm down and breathe. Scott’s heart is pounding and he can hear his sister’s too. “Our heartbeats” he whispers. Scott pulls away from Dani and jumps from one car to the other setting off the car alarms.

He goes down the whole row and ducks behind the last car on the other row. He squeezes his eyes shut hoping the car alarms hides the sound of his heartbeat. His phone starts ringing and Scott jumps. “No!” he gasps trying to dig his phone out of his pocket. He hears someone jumping on the hood of the car he was hiding behind. They grab him and slam him onto the hood. It was Derek. “You’re dead” he says.

By the time the car alarms had stopped they had found Dani. She was bent over panting right now. “What the hell was that?!” Scott demands. “I need some new lungs” Dani wheezes from behind them. “I said I was gonna teach you I didn’t say when” Derek says. He does a double take looking at Dani. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not a fucking soccer player” she says, placing her hands on top of her head. 

Derek shakes his head and goes back to listening to Scott yell at him. “-You scared the crap out of me!” Scott yells. Derek looks at him, “Not yet” he says. Dani snorts and starts laughing. Scott glares at her, “I’m sorry, that’s not funny” she says. “I was fast right?” Scott asks. “Not fast enough” Derek says. “Okay, but the car alarms, that was smart, right?” Scott asks. “Until you’re phone rang” Derek says.

“Didn’t I tell you to turn your ringer off earlier? It’s kinda loud” Dani says. “Shut up!” Scott says. “Hey! Who ‘survived’ this little test? I did and I’m not even the person who has to learn about all this” Dani says. “Stop pitching a fit and listen.” she adds. Dani looks at Derek. “The floor is yours now” she says with a wave of her arm.

“Look, I am what I am because of birth. You were bitten. Teaching someone who was bitten takes time. I don’t even know if I can teach you” Derek says. “What do I have to do?” Scott asks. “You have to get rid of distractions.” he says. Derek takes Scott’s phone and holds it up. “You see this? This is why I caught you” Derek says. Allison’s name was on the screen. “You want me to teach you, get rid of her” He says.

“What, just because of her family?” Scott asks. Derek holds up his phone then turns around throwing it at the wall. “Wh-whoa, whoa!″ Scott says and his mouth falls open as he watches his phone smash into pieces. “Oh my” Dani says quietly and pulls the collar of her sweatshirt over her mouth. 

“You getting angry?” Derek asks. “That’s your first lesson” he adds. “You want to know how to control this? You do it through anger. By tapping into a primal animal rage. I can’t do that with her around!” Derek says. “I can get angry” Scott says, glaring at him. “Not angry enough! This is the only way that I can teach you” Derek says. 

“Now, can you stay away from her? At least until after the full moon” Derek asks. “If that’s what it takes..” Scott says. “Do you want to live?!” Derek asks. “Do you want to protect your friends, yes or no?” Derek asks. “Yes! If you can teach me I can stay away from her” Scott says.

Dani snorts, looking away. They turn and look back at Dani. “What” Scott says. Dani pops her tongue and the sound echoes a little bit. “I didn’t saying anything” She says, trying not to laugh. “You are buying us new milk” Dani says pointing at Derek. “Oh and by the way, why did you leave me?! How the hell did you know he was there?!” Scott asks, raising his voice again. 

“I don’t know, Scott. I just saw something looking at me and I was gone” She says, unable to hide her smile. “Why are you smiling?” Scott asks. “You’re just.. such a peach” She says sarcastically and keeps smiling. Scott rolls his eyes. “I’m just gonna start taking beach trips every full moon” she says walking up to them. “So while you guys are trying eat each other I’ll be sitting on the beach with a bonfire and a margarita” she says. She pats Derek’s shoulder and walks up to the landing that says ‘Level 3′. “Where’s the elevator?”

Scott was walking down Allison’s driveway after telling her why he hasn’t answered her texts through many, many kisses. He shoves his hands in his pockets and hear’s something in the bushes on the side of the house. “Derek?” He says. He takes a few steps closer. “Look, I know I said I’d stay away from her, but how else was I supposed to tell her why I wasn’t answering” he says.

He frowns when he doesn’t get a response. “Derek?” He says again. A pair of red eyes stare back at him, followed by a growl. Scott takes off running for the car and the alpha follows. Scott dives into the front seat and shuts the door. The alpha walks up to the car and slowly draws a spiral on the window.

Scott gets up to his room and closes the door. He moves over to the window and shuts it then closes the blinds. Scott reaches over, turning on the light and he jumps when he sees Derek sitting in his chair. “You seriously need to stop doing that” Scott says. “So what happened? Did he talk to you?” Derek asks.

“Yeah, we had a nice conversation about the weather” Scott says. “No he didn’t talk” Scott says, raising his voice. “What the hell is going on up here?” Scott hear’s Dani call from the stairs. Scott groans rubbing his face. “Nothing!” She shouts from the door. Dani makes her way up to Scott’s room and stops when she sees Derek. “Hey...” Derek gives a nod, “Hi.”

“So, what’s going on?” Dani asks. “I had a run in with the alpha” Scott asks. “Woah...” Dani says. “I-I’m fine, it wasn’t anything serious. I got in the car and was out of there.” he says. “Okay good" she says. Dani glances back at Derek for a moment. “Okay, well, I’m going back down stairs. You guys really need to work on not yelling at each other every time you have a conversation.” She says. 

Derek watches her leave and waits for the door to close. “Well, did you get anything off of him like an impression?” Derek asks. “What do you mean?” Scott asks. Derek presses his lips together and shakes his head. He was obviously frustrated. He stands up, “Remember you’re other senses are heightened. Communication doesn’t have to be spoken. What kind of feeling did you get from him?” Derek asks. 

Scott thinks back, “Anger” he says. “Focused on you?” Derek asks. “No, not me” Scott says. “It was definitely anger, I could feel it” he says. “Especially when he drew the spiral” Scott adds. “Wait, the what?” Derek asks. “He drew a spiral on the window of my car” Scott says.

Derek rolls that over in his head. “You have this look like you know what it means” Scott says. “No- it’s nothing” Derek says and brushes past Scott. “Wait, you can’t do that. You can’t just ask me to trust you and then keep things to yourself.” Scott says and sighs. “It doesn’t mean anything” Derek says and turns back to the door. “You buried your sister under a spiral..what does it mean?” Scott asks. Derek tries to come up with a response as he opens the door. “You don’t wanna know” Derek says.

Derek closes the door behind him and hears Dani laughing. He quietly moves down the stairs and looks around the living room. She’s not there. Derek frowns moving through the living room to the kitchen. He stops at the door jam, leaning against it. The oven’s beeping and Dani’s standing by the island with her laptop open. She’s Skyping Allison Argent. 

“Okay, okay, what do I do now?” Allison asks. 

“You pull it out of the oven, stupid,” Dani answers, laughing. 

“Wait, you’re oven’s beeping too?”

“Yes, get your brownies woman!” Dani laughs.

Derek folds his arms over his chest, watching Dani turn around, pulling a pan out of the oven and setting it on the island in front of the laptop. 

“Oh, this smells so good.”

“Scratch made brownies are always better than the box.”

“But the box is so much easier!”

Derek smiles, shifting his weight to his other foot, causing a floorboard to creak. Dani freezes, looking up from the laptop and to the door. She sees Derek leaning against the doorway with a nervous expression on his face. She smiles at him. 

“Hey, I thought you left already,” she says. 

“I was just going to tell you goodnight before leaving.” Derek says, straightening up. He hadn’t intended to get caught watching her. He was just going to see what she was up to and leave. 

“Who is it?”

“It’s my friend, Derek.” 

“Hi Derek!” Allison calls. “Can he hear me?”

“Yes, he can hear you.”

“Were you really going saying goodnight or were you checking on me?” Dani asks, a gentle smile on her face.

“I-” Derek stops himself. He drops his head, running a hand through his hair. He scratches the back of head as he stares at his feet for a moment. Was he? Derek clears his throat straightening up again to find Dani still wearing that gentle smile.

“You can escape now,” She says.

Derek hesitates before giving a nod and pushes off the door jam, quietly walking back through the living room. “Goodnight, Derek” He hears her call as he reaches the door. “Goodnight.” 

At school the next day, Scott had one objective. Stay away from Allison. He’s been doing good about dodging her, but it was hard. He gets to his next class and sits behind Stiles who looked like he’d rather die than be near Scott. “Still not talking to me? “Scott asks. Stiles doesn’t say anything. 

“Can you at least tell me if your dad’s okay?” he asks. “I mean its just a bruise right?..Soft little tissue damage?” Scott guesses. Stiles still doesn’t say anything. “You know I feel terrible about it, right?” Scott says. Stiles remains silent. Scott sighs, “What if I told you I’ve been trying to figure this whole thing out and..that I went to Derek for help” Scott says.

“If I was talking to you I would say that you’re an idiot for trusting him. But obviously I’m not talking to you” Stiles says. Stiles pops his tongue and the bell rings. Stiles sits there itching and he sighs giving in. He spins in his seat, “What did he say?” They walk out of class together. “He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?” He asks.

“Yeah” Scott says. “Alright well correct me if I’m wrong, but every time you do that you try to kill someone and that someone’s usually me” Stiles says. “I know, that’s what he means when he said he needs to know if he can teach me” Scott says. “I have to be able to control it” he says. “Well how’s he gonna teach you to do that?” Stiles asks. “I don’t know” Scott says with a shrug. 

“When are you seeing him again?” Stiles asks. “He told me not to talk about it just act normal and get through the day” Scott says. Stiles pats his arm, “When?” “He’s picking me up at the animal clinic after work” Scott says. “After work, alright well that gives me till the end of the school day then” Stiles says. “To do what?” Scott asks. “To teach you myself” Stiles says. 

During free period, Stiles brings Scout out to the lacrosse field. “Put this on” Stiles says, hand Scott a special strap. “Isn’t this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?” Scot asks. “Yeah, I borrowed it” Stiles says. “Stole it” Scott corrects. “Temporarily misappropriated” Stiles says.

“Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate while he jogs so you’re gonna wear it for the rest of the day” Stiles says. “Isn’t that coach’s phone?” Scott asks. “That I stole” Stiles says, nodding. “Why?” Scott asks. “You’re heart rate goes up when you for wolf, right?” Stiles asks. Scott nods. 

“When you’re playing lacrosse, when you’re with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to controlling your heart rate.” Stiles says. “Like the incredible hulk” Scott says and smiles. “Kinda like the incredible hulk” Stiles says. “No, I’m like the incredible hul-” “Would you shut up and put the strap on?” Stiles says. 

Stiles binds Scott’s hands with ducked tape. “This isn’t exactly how I wanted to spend my free period” Scott says. Stiles finishes and backs up, carrying his athletic bag and lacrosse stick. “Alright you ready?” He asks. “No” Scott says. “Remember, don’t get angry” Stiles says.

Stiles hits him with the first ball. “Starting to think this is a really bad idea” Scott says. His heart rate was at 115. Stiles hits him again and again. “Remember just stay calm” Stiles says. His heart rate was now 130. “Stay calm, stay calm” Scott says to himself.

Stiles one hard ball after another at Scott. His heart rate keeps rising as he gets hit more and more. The last ball drops Scott to his knees, “Arghh!” Stiles stops. the phone was beeping loudly and Scott’s heart rate was 164. “Scott..” Stiles says. Scott rips the ducked tap and grips the grass. He was breathing hard and loud as he struggled to calm down. His heart rate goes down and Scott starts to mellow out. 

“Scott, you started to change” Stiles says. Scott looks up at him as he catches his breath. “My anger..it was more than that..the angrier I got, the stronger I felt” Scott says. “So it is anger then Derek’s right” Stiles says. “I can’t be around Allison” Scott says. “Why, because she makes you happy?” Stiles asks. “Because she makes me weak.”

Back in the locker room Stiles puts up his athletic stuff. “So you stay away from her for a few days you can do that” Stiles says. “Is it a few days or forever?” Scott says. “You know, this whole ‘women make you weak’ thing is a little too spartan warrior for me” Stiles says. “It’s probably just part of the learning process” he says. 

“But you’ve seen Derek..I mean the guy’s totally alone” Scott says. Stiles frowns, “Not exactly.” Scott turns around, “What do you mean?” he asks. “He’s got a certain hot chica hanging around him lately” Stiles says. He was talking about Dani. “She promised they were just friends” Scott says. “Yeah I know..it’s sickening” Stiles says.

“You think she cares about him?” Scott asks. “She’s the only person in town that likes him of course she does” Stiles says. ”Plus it’s Dani..woman’s got a heart the size of the freaking sun” Stiles says. Scott sighs and thumps his head back against the lockers. 

“All the more reason to keep her away from him. We can’t have a wimpy Derek when he’s trying to teach you. Especially with the alpha running around” Stiles says. It was a joke at first, but it started making sense. “What are we gonna do, lock her in her room?” Scott asks. Stiles purses his lips, thinking for a moment. “We could always try” he says. “Come on lets get out of here.”

In their next class Scott sits down at a desk in the back. Allison beats Stiles to the desk behind Scott. Scott looks at Stiles with a panicked expression and Stiles shrugs. He couldn’t do anything. Stiles sits down in the row next to them and sighs.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you all day” Allison says. “I’ve been super busy” Scott says. “When are you gonna get your phone fixed I feel like I’m totally disconnected from you?” she asks. “Uh..soon” Scott says. 

“Let’s settle down” Coach says, getting the class’s attention. “Let’s start with a quick summary of last night’s reading” He says. “Greenberg put you’re hand down everybody knows you did the ready” Coach says. “How bout uh..McCall” he says. Scott lifts his head. “The reading” Coach says. 

“Last night’s reading?” Scott asks hesitantly. “Did you do the reading or no?” Coach asks. “Um, I think I forgot” Scott says. “Nice work McCall. Come on buddy, you know I can’t keep you on the team if you have a D” Coach says. 

“How about you summarize the previous night’s reading” Coach says. Stiles checks the phone seeing that Scott’s heart rate was going up. “How about the night before that?” Coach asks. Scott lowers his eyes ans his heart rate climbs. “How about you summarize anything you’ve ever read in you’re entire life!” Coach asks.

Scott’s heart rate was up at 135 and Stiles starts squirming in his seat. “A blog? How bout uh- the back of a cereal box!” His heart rate was 145 and climbing. “Anything? Thank you McCall, thank you.Thank you for extinguishing any last hope I had for your generation!” He says. 

His heart rate was now 160 which is when he changed on the field earlier. His heart rate slows down rapidly. Stiles frowns at the screen. It was now 128. He looks over and sees Allison holding Scott’s hand. She calms him down.

“It’s her” Stiles says. Scott looks around as they walk up the hallway. “What do you mean?” He asks. “It’s Allison. Remember what you told me the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her right? About protecting her” Stiles says. “Okay” Scott says, following along. “Remember the night of our first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field” Stiles says.

“Yeah, I did” Scott says. “So that’s what brought you back so you could score. And in the locker room you didn’t kill her, at least not how you tried to kill me” Stiles says. Scott just looks at him. “She brings you back is what I’m saying” Stiles says. “But it’s not always true. Because literally every time I’m kissing her or touching her-” “-No, that’s not the same” Stiles says.

“When you’re doing that you’re just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex” Stiles says. Scott gets this grin on his face. “You’re thinking about sex right now aren’t you?” Stiles asks. “Yeah” Scott says, grinning at him. “Look, back in the classroom when she was holding you’re hand, that was different” Stiles says. “I don’t think she makes you weak I think she actually gives you control” Stiles says.

“She’s kinda like an anchor” Stiles says. “Maybe ‘cause I love her” Scott blurts out. “Exactly” Stiles says. Scott’s eyes widen when he realizes what he said. “Did I just say that?” He asks. “Yes you did” Stiles says. Scott smiles, “i love her.” “That’s great. Now before you go off and write a sonnet can we please figure this out? You obviously can’t be around her all the time.” Stiles says. 

“Yeah, yeah you’re right” Scott says. “Plus we gotta figure something out for your sister as well” Stiles says. “What- why?” Scott asks. “Because, If Allison is your anchor and everything what does that mean for Derek and Dani?” he asks. “What are you talking about? They’re just friends!” Scott says.

“I know, that’s the point!” Stiles says. “She cares about him, man. What if he starts caring about her..smiling and making her laugh, spending time with her, visiting her at work, ‘hanging out’, sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g” Stiles says, cringing. “Alright, alright..I see your point” Scott says. 

“She’s probably gonna become a distraction for him like Allison is for me” Scott says. “Hopefully not exactly like Allison is, though” Stiles says. “Yeah” Scott nods. “So going back to the locking her in her room idea” Stiles says. “We can’t do that” Scott says. “I know, I know” Stiles says and sighs. 

“We can’t stick her up in a tower like Fiona from ‘Shrek’” Stiles says. They walk a little ways up the hallway. “But Derek is Shrek..” Scott points out. “And Shrek saves Fiona..” Stiles says. They both look at each other. “We need a plan” Scott says. “We need a plan” Stiles repeats, agreeing with him.

Dr. Deaton hears someone enter the clinic, but it was closed. “Scott you’re late again” He says as he writes in a notebook. “I hope this isn’t getting to be a habit” Dr. Deaton says. He looks up from his notebook and sees Derek Hale standing in the doorway. “Can I help you?” Dr. Deaton asks. 

“Hope so” Derek says. “Wanna know about the animal you found with the spiral on its side?” he asks. “Excuse me? “Dr Deaton asks, confused. “Three months ago, the deer” Derek says and unfolds a paper, showing it to him. “Do you remember this?” He asks. There was a picture on the paper of a deer laying in the grass with a spiral on it’s side.

“Ah yes, it’s just a deer” the doctor says. “I didn’t find it, they called me to see if I had seen anything like it” he says. “What did you tell them?” Derek asks. “I told them no” Dr. Deaton says. Derek puts the paper away. he had this mean expression on his face.

“Did you hear that?” Derek asks. “Hear what?” The doctor asks. “The sound of your heartbeat rising” Derek says. Dr. Deaton frowns at him, “Excuse me?” “It’s the sound of you lying” Derek says. Derek reaches across the metal table and grabs the doctor.

Scott walks into the clinic and finds Derek grilling his boss. “What are you doing?!” he shouts. “Scott get out of here!” Dr. Deaton shouts. Derek sets him down and punches him, knocking him out. “Stop!” Scott shouts. “Look, when he’s conscious he can keep himself from healing, but when he’s unconscious he can’t” Derek says.

“Are you out of you’re mind?!” Scott says. “What are you talking about?!” Scott asks. “You wanna know what the spiral means Scott? It’s our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he wont stop killing until he’s satisfied!” Derek says. “You think he’s the alpha?” Scott says. “We’re about to find out” Derek says. 

Scott was cleaning the blood off his bosses cheek. The doctor was still out cold. Derek was pacing behind him for a moment then he walks up to Scott. “Do you have a plan?” Derek asks. “Just give me an hour” Scott says. “Then what” Derek says. “Meet me at the school..in the parking lot” Scott says. 

Scot and Stile drive up to the school and park in the parking lot. They climb out of the jeep. “This is a terrible idea” Stiles says. “Yeah, I know” Scott says. “Did you call you’re sister? We could use some back up” Stiles asks. “Yeah, she’s on her way” Scott says. “Just make sure we can get inside” Scott says.

Derek pulls up next to them and climbs out. “Where’s my boss?” Scott asks. “He’s in the back” Derek says. Dr. Deaton was unconscious still, but now tied up with ducked tape. “He looks comfortable” Stiles says. Dani pulls into the parking lot. “Hey, hey, hey what’s she doing here?” Derek asks. “I called her” Scott says. “Why?” Derek asks as she parks next to his camaro. “Why the hell does it matter?” Scott says and shakes his head. “See?” Stiles whispers. “I know.”

Dani climbs out and smiles. “Hey, how is everybody?” She asks. “Nauseous, physically nauseous” Stiles says. Scott elbows him “What?” Stiles whispers. Dani shakes her head, “Hi Derek.” She sees Dr. Deaton in Derek’s backseat. “Well if he isn’t the alpha then he’s definitely gonna need therapy” Dani says. Scott and Stiles start walking up toward the building. “Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Derek asks. “You said I was linked with the alpha, I’m gonna see if you’re right” Scott says.

Dani and Derek watch them get inside the school. “Well that was vague” Dani says. “They’re so dramatic” She says and shakes her head. Derek looks at her. “What?” Dani asks. “So are you” Derek says. She scoffs and swats at his arm. “Shut up” She says as he shakes his head. “I should be at work right now..” Dani mumbles. “Why did they call you?” Derek asks. “Who knows, they call me for everything nowadays” Dani says. “I’m in the middle of my shift and Stiles starts blowing up my phone” Dani says and sighs.

Derek looks at what she’s wearing. She must’ve come straight from work because she was wearing the white top, red skirt, tights, and a cardigan. “Aren’t you cold?” he asks. “I am freezing” She says, tugging the cardigan tight around herself. Derek starts to shrug off his leather jacket and her eyes widen. “Derek no, seriously I’m fine, it’s not that bad!” She says. He ignores her babbling and drapes his leather jacket around her shoulders. It was much too big for her but it was very warm. She chews her lip, slipping her arms in the sleeves. “Thank you” she mumbles.

Scott and Stiles find the main office. “Okay one question” Stiles says as they walk in. “What are you gonna do if the alpha doesn’t show up?” He asks. “I don’t know” Scott says. “And what are you gonna do if he does show up?” Stiles asks. “I don’t know” Scott says. “You said that a wolf howls to signal its position to the rest of the pack” Scott says. “Right, but if you bring him here does that mean you’re part of his pack?” Stiles asks. “I hope not” Scott says. “Yeah me too” Stiles says and sets up the intercom. 

Dani zips up Derek’s leather jacket she had on. The hem of the jacket was down at her mid thigh and the sleeves were several inches too long. She smiles and flaps her hands watching the rest of the sleeves wiggle from the empty space. Derek, leaning against Stiles’s jeep, watches her for a moment. “Daniella...what the hell are you doing?” he asks slowly. She giggles softly and looks over at him. She holds out her arms making herself look even smaller in the jacket. “I’m so tiny in this!” She says and bites her lip, letting out another giggle. Derek smiles at her for a moment.

Dani hears the intercom turn on and her giggles stop. “What are they doing?” she asks. A strange sound broadcasts from the intercom speakers. It sounded like a dying cat. Derek hangs his head, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Dani nudges him. “Is that Scott?” she asks. “Yes...” he says, disappointed. Dani busts out laughing. The pathetic howl keeps going making Dani laugh even harder. She snorts and Derek’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Surprising herself, she unfortunately laughs more, but at herself.  

Stiles was bent over the desk rubbing his head. “Was that okay? that was a howl right?” Scott asks. Stiles struggles to form an answer. “Yeah- uh- technically..?” he manages. “Well what did it sound like to you?” Scott asks. “Like a cat being choked to death” he says. “What do I do? How am I suppose to do this?” Scott asks. “Hey- listen to me” Stiles says. He comes around the desk and rubs Scott’s shoulders. “You’re calling the alpha, alright? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen wolf.. be a werewolf” he says. Scott nods and presses the button again. He takes in a breath and his eyes turn gold.

An animal-like howl is broadcast across the intercom system .It rattled the doors in the hallways. The locks on the lockers. The sound rattled and echoed off of everything it touched. Derek lifts his head and he looks around. Dani moves closer to him finding the howl a little unnerving. Stiles’s car windows starts to vibrate and she bites her lip. The howl starts to fade slightly, then stops. 

“I’m gonna kill both of you!” Derek says. “The hell was that?! What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?!” Derek says. “Sorry I didn’t know it would be that loud” Scott says with a small smile. His smile quickly fade when he looks at his sister. “Why are you wearing his jacket?” Scott asks. Dani quickly unzips it and hands it back to Derek.

“Whatever man, It was loud and it was awesome!” Stiles says. “Shut up” Derek says quietly. Dani rubs her arms as the cold quickly gets to her again. She suddenly got the feeling that she was being watched and her heart starts beating faster. “What’d you do with him?” Scott asks. “What? Derek asks. He turns around, finding his backseat empty. "I didn’t do anything” Derek says.

Dani’s heart was pounding now. She turns around and sees a large creature with bright red eyes running up behind them. “DEREK!” she scream and tries to pull him toward her, out of the way. The alpha digs his claws into Derek’s back and blood spills out of his mouth. The alpha lifts him up letting out a loud growl. Scott and Stiles scramble towards the building and they drag Dani with them. “NO!” Dani struggles against them. “Dani stop it!” Scott says as he drags his sister up the steps. If they didn’t get inside he would kill them all. The alpha throws Derek against the wall of the main building. “DEREK!”