scoobydoowantssancks

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Twenty-Three

Hey guys, I'm back now!

Thank you all so much for your patience, it means so much to me.

Anyway, please read on, don't let me keep you waiting! 😊

  As time dragged on, Shauna found herself growing increasingly more and more frustrated as she waited for the perfect opportunity to escape.

  She had underestimated Coach Scott back at the pit, hence why she was here now, tied up by her hands and feet. She couldn’t afford to make the same mistake a second time- Coach Scott might not let her live if she did, Jeremy or no Jeremy.

  For all Shauna knew, her son was the only reason Tommy’s brother hadn’t already broken her skull with a rock. If he dragged her body out of… wherever they were, and placed it at the bottom of a cliff, who amongst the group would suspect foul play if they found her? Most of them probably still believed Coach Scott had frozen or starved to death after leaving them behind.

  She had to be patient. She knew that. But as she saw the can of what could only be bear spray swinging from Coach Scott’s belt, it took all of Shauna’s willpower not to leap to her feet and grab it.

  But where on earth had he gotten the spray? It hadn’t come from the cabin.

  As Shauna looked around the cave, she saw other things placed around it. Little packets of food, and powders to put in drinks. A map and a compass. Various sets of… were those clothes?

  “Where’d you get all this stuff?”

  “I found it”, Coach Scott said. He didn’t elaborate, and Shauna knew why- he had already shared too much information with her.

  The coach turned away from her to crouch in front of the small fire he had made in the cave. He was cooking something on a tiny spit, and Shauna caught the undeniable scent of meat emerging from it.

  She felt her stomach grumble. She hadn’t eaten anything since Tommy and Natalie’s wedding feast, and even then, she had been far too upset to stomach more than a few bites.

  When Coach Scott offered her a small portion of the meat he was cooking, Shauna didn’t hesitate, ripping her meal apart with her fingers and digging in.

  “What is this? Some kind of bird?”

  “No. Bat.”

  Bat?! Shauna nearly choked, but all Coach Scott did was shrug as he stood on his crutches, looking down at her.

  “What can I say? You take what you can get out here.”

  He gave Shauna a hard stare. “But I guess I don’t need to tell you that.”

  Oh, fuck off, Shauna nearly snapped back, as she forced herself to look guilty.

  “Look, we… we didn’t want to eat Mari. Or Jackie either, for that matter. But… it was that, or starve.”

  She placed her bowl on the ground. “That’s all in the past now, anyway. We’re already gathering enough food to last us through next winter. We’ve got vegetables, Akilah is raising ducks, and… and rabbits…”

  Shauna trailed off. “You could… you could come back. I’m sure the others miss you. Especially… especially Tommy.”

  She saw a flicker of something cross Coach Scott’s face. Guilt? Hope, maybe?

  “If… if Tommy really knows where this place is, it’s only a matter of time before he comes here. This can’t… it can’t last, Coach.”

  000000000000000000000000

  She was right. Ben knew she was right. Tommy and the others were probably looking for Shauna, even now.

  For all Ben knew, Tommy was already making a beeline for the cave, with a horde of angry Yellowjackets following him.

  His time in isolation was over. Which meant it was time for Ben to make a decision.

  Ben began to turn away from Shauna, hobbling away.

  “Just… just let me think, alright? I just need to-”

  Then Ben was cut off as he felt Shauna grab the mace at his belt, and he knew what was coming next.

  Although no member of his family was aware of it, Ben had at one point been maced by the police at a gay rights protest, barely a year before Flight 2525 went down. He had had to call in sick at the school, claiming he was down with the flu.

  As the mace hit him at point-blank range, Ben felt the familiar burning sensation overwhelm him as his eyes shut far too late to protect themselves.

  “AARRGGHHH!!”

  Suddenly enraged, Ben grabbed blindly for the mace can and sprayed it right where he thought Shauna’s face would be, smiling grimly as he heard her yowl in pain.

  “OOOOOWWWW! WHAT THE FUCK, COACH, YOU FUCKING- MOTHERFUCK-”

  As both of them collapsed on to the cave floor, scraping at their eyes, Ben couldn’t help but wonder, as he coughed and spluttered for breath, how on earth things had come to this.

  000000000000000000000000

  In the aftermath, it was harder to tell which part of Shauna hurt worse. Her face? Her eyes?

  Whoever said wounded pride hurt worst of all had clearly never been maced.

  As Shauna choked and gasped on the floor, feebler and more helpless than a newborn lamb, she was vaguely aware of Coach Scott pouring water over her eyes to try and clean them.

  “What exactly was your plan?” The coach scoffed. “You’re still tied up.”

  Mace you and stab you before running away. 

  Probably best if Shauna didn’t say that out loud. Still, she did her best to glare at him through her swollen eyes.

  “Didn’t really have a plan”, she managed to choke out through her burning throat. “What can I say? I don’t feel much like dying today.”

  “Yeah, me neither”, Coach Scott snapped. “You know, I was gonna let you go.”

  “Yeah. Right”, Shauna scoffed. “Why the hell should I trust anything you say?”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  Shauna’s vision began to clear as she stared at the coach. She began to feel the tears pouring down her face. They were tears of pain, but still, she did her best to look as though she really was upset, and when she spoke, it was with all the venom she could muster.

  “You’re the adult of our group. And you… you let us down. You left us. You left me when I was giving birth to my son.”

  Shauna got to her feet. “Jeremy would be dead if- if-”

  If Tommy hadn’t stepped in.

  And as the words caught in her throat, Shauna finally realised that the tears in her eyes weren’t from pain after all.

  “Oh, my God. I left him. I left my son back there. How- how could I- why- no-”

  “Shauna, it’s okay”, she heard Coach Scott say, as she collapsed to the floor, the sound of her crying echoing throughout the cave.

  “Look, we’re going to go back there, it’s alright-”

  But Shauna wasn’t listening anymore, as thirteen months’ worth of emotions began to bubble up while she reached inside her bra.

  All the grief. All the pain. All the self-loathing and hatred and rage finally exploded, as her fingers closed around the knife.

  000000000000000000000000

  In times ahead, Ben would look back and wonder how on earth he couldn’t have realised the most obvious place for Shauna to hide a weapon.

  As the blade entered his remaining leg, right above the knee, it actually took a second or two for the pain to come.

  But when it did… not since the plane crash had Ben felt such agony, and he fell backwards onto the ground, screaming, as Shauna knelt down and tried to pull the knife out.

  “AARRRGHHH!” Ben howled, as he felt Shauna moving the knife around. Somehow, that hurt even worse.

  Lashing out in desperation, he managed to clock Shauna around the face as hard as he could, and he felt her stumble back.

  Ben rolled around on the floor, tears pouring down his face as he stared at the knife buried in his leg. Vaguely, he was aware of Shauna untying the ropes around her and running out of the cave.

  But Ben was in too much pain to care, and as he stared at the blood gushing from what had been a perfectly functioning leg only moments ago, he vaguely recalled something that Tommy had passed on from his lifeguard training back home, and began to scrabble for his belt.

  000000000000000000000000

  Shauna groped blindly through the branches in front of her, trying frantically to figure out where she was going.

  Would Coach Scott die from what she had done?

  Oh, God. What if he does?

  Truth be told… Shauna had been so busy fantasising about hurting the coach, she hadn’t even bothered to consider what might happen if she actually did.

  She didn’t have any siblings at home, so she couldn’t imagine what it must be like to lose one, but if the coach died… would Tommy let her live? Somehow, Shauna doubted it.

  It was as though a fog had suddenly cleared in her mind, as Shauna continued through the brush, branches smacking into her face despite her best efforts to keep them off her.

  She had to live. She had to, for Jeremy. And the only way to do that was for the coach to live as well.

  Shauna still hated Tommy. For Jackie, for Mari… for all of it. But it was because of Tommy that Jeremy was alive, and for that… Shauna owed him.

  Or do I? Shauna mulled it over as she continued through the woods. Jeremy had been nothing but trouble in the last few months, and if Shauna was being honest… she was tired of it.

  She hadn’t wanted to get pregnant. She certainly hadn’t wanted to give birth out here. If the plane hadn’t crashed, Shauna’s mother would have quietly taken her to get an abortion, and Shauna would have been off to Brown University after that, free to live her life the way she wanted to.

  Instead, she was out here, with a son she wasn’t even sure she wanted anymore, who viewed a murderer as a better parent than her, and Shauna felt the old anger towards Tommy return at the realisation.

  She had to play the game carefully now. She had to make Tommy think she was just a scared, vulnerable girl… not the threat to his position that she really was.

  The others viewed Tommy with a mixture of respect and fear… and love, of course, in Natalie’s case.

  But there was another in their group that they viewed the same way.

  Lottie. I have to get Lottie on my side. That’s the key, Shauna thought, as she finally came to a break in the woods, and saw the stream ahead of her, finally realising where she was… and where she had to go to get to the others.

  000000000000000000000000

  In the early afternoon, as Tommy walked around the clearing, carrying Jeremy as he continued to fuss, he was relieved to see Shauna finally emerge from the woods.

  “About time”, he snapped. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “With your brother”, Shauna replied, as she almost casually took Jeremy away from him, opening her shirt as she began to nurse her son.

  Jeremy finally quietened down, but Tommy was too busy staring at Shauna to notice.

  “You found Ben? W-where?”

  “Right where you left him”, Shauna replied, walking away, as she continued to nurse Jeremy.

  Oh, shit, Tommy thought. She knew. She knew that Tommy had known where Ben was.

  Fuck. FUCK. FUUUUCK! He screamed inside his head. How would the others react to this?

  As the rest of the Yellowjackets emerged, all of them sounding delighted at the return of their teammate, Shauna sat down as she continued to hold Jeremy, and told her story.

  “I fell in a hole, and I couldn’t get out, but Coach Scott… f-found me. He blindfolded me and tied me up, then took me to… a cave, I think? I’m not quite sure.”

  “A cave?” Van asked.

  “He took you prisoner?” Akilah gasped.

  “That’s so scary”, Gen said.

  “Yeah, but… I got away, and I came back here.”

  “Holy shit,” Van said. “I knew it. I fucking knew it. He has totally lost it!”

  “We don’t know that”, Misty said.

  “Dude. He tied her up and took her to his lair!” Van screamed at her.

  “I can find my way back”, Shauna said. “We can take a group; we can take all of us-”

  “Okay, Wyatt Earp”, Taissa scoffed. “What do you want to do, go capture him?”

  “Yeah. That’s exactly what I want to do”, Shauna replied calmly, as she got to her feet, still holding Jeremy.

  “He tried to burn us alive”, Shauna went on. “You really want to just leave him out there?”

  “We don’t know that was him”, Tommy said.

  “Funny, Tommy”, Shauna stared at him, but Tommy saw the gleam in her eye. “It almost sounds like you don’t want to know where your own brother is.”

  Yeah. She knows I know. It’s official. 

  Tommy groaned internally. “Alright, alright. Look”, he said, raising his hand.

  “Shauna and I will go. Alone.”

  “W-what?” Natalie said beside him, looking horrified.

  “I have known Ben all my life”, Tommy said. “He will not hurt me. I can convince him to come here.”

  “I’m going with you”, Natalie said.

  “You don’t have to…” Tommy trailed off as he saw the look in his wife’s eyes.

  She wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  “Fine”, Tommy acquiesced.  

  “I’ll go too”, Javi said, moving to stand beside them. “You might need help… bringing him back here.”

  “Sure, why not?” Tommy sighed. “Let’s just… get this over with.”

  000000000000000000000000

  “Hey.”

  Lottie looked up in surprise to see Shauna approaching, as she carried Jeremy.

  Lottie briefly wondered if Shauna was going to ask her to look after her son, before Shauna explained.

  “The others filled me in on what you were doing with Travis.”

  Lottie winced as she braced herself for the inevitable lecture. She never could have imagined what Shauna would actually say.

  “I… I get it, okay? I promise… it’s worth it, having a baby. It’s worth the nine months… and all that comes after it.”

  As Shauna gazed lovingly at Jeremy, Lottie tried and failed not to feel jealous. She had tried- so hard- to get pregnant over the last few weeks, but her latest period had come only that morning, providing irrefutable proof that her sessions with Travis had been for nothing, in the end.

  “I tried, Shauna”, Lottie said, and was surprised to realise how defeated she sounded. It triggered something within her, and before Lottie knew it, she was telling Shauna everything.

  “It doesn’t want me to conceive. Not with Travis, anyway. There is only one person here whom the Wilderness will let me bear a child with.”

  “Tommy?” Shauna said quietly.

  Lottie nodded mutely, looking away.

  Then Shauna leaned forward, and once again, said the last thing Lottie expected her to say.

  “I am tired of being invisible. I am tired of being looked over. If we find a way to… depose Tommy, so to speak… you could have him for as long as you wished.”

  Lottie stared at Shauna in shock, as the other girl continued to speak.

  “Truth be told, I can’t say I blame you. I… I saw him with Natalie. The night of their wedding. They were…”

  “Magnificent”, Lottie breathed, as she began to smile. “I… I saw them too”, she added, almost shyly. “They looked… they looked like gods.”

  Especially Tommy. Maybe… maybe he really is a god, in human form. Or at least the descendant of one. There are stories full of people like that, across cultures that have nothing to do with each other. Who’s to say they aren’t true, after all? It would explain all Tommy has achieved, while we’ve been out here. 

  What would it be like to make love to the descendant of a god? Lottie wondered, and as she did so, she felt herself moisten between her legs.

  Yes, she thought. I understand, now. Tommy has the blood of the gods in his veins. No wonder the Wilderness wants him as the father of the Child. Why would it settle for anything less? 

  “You saw them together?” Shauna asked.

  “Yes”, Lottie mumbled. “I must… I must have him. Just… just until I conceive. And then…”

  She trailed off, but she knew Shauna understood.

  000000000000000000000000

  Their group of four trudged through the woods as night began to fall.

  Well… five, Natalie supposed. Shauna was still carrying Jeremy, as he slept on her shoulder.

  Had Shauna finally gotten over her jealousy towards Jeremy’s preference of Tommy? Natalie hoped so. She really, truly did.

  Now that Coach Scott had officially been found… Natalie was scared. The most scared she had been in months, since she was chased across the ice.

  She was scared for Tommy. She was scared for their future. And she was scared that… that the brief moments of joy they had experienced in the wake of their marriage was about to be burned to ash.

  “Just so you know”, Shauna spoke up, “I know you guys all knew he was here.”

  Natalie saw Tommy grip the rifle tightly. Was this about to end in blood?

  Then to Natalie’s confusion, she saw Shauna smile.

  “I get it, alright? Just… I promise I won’t tell anyone, just as long as… he comes quietly.”

  Natalie let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding in. They weren’t the best of terms… but as long as Shauna kept her word, Natalie would take what she could get to keep her husband safe from harm.

  And the Yellowjackets were not above harming her Tommy, of that Natalie was certain.

  As they came towards the cave Coach Scott had been hiding in, Tommy held the rifle out in front of him as he stepped in.

  “I’ll go in first, okay? I’ll call out to him, and then the rest of you can-”

  Then Tommy was cut off as a violent SCREECH echoed around them, while Natalie clamped her hands over her ears.

  What in the fuck was-

  BANG!

  As the noise dispersed, Natalie saw that Tommy was pointing the rifle upwards towards the sky.

  “Just bats, I think”, he said. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy didn’t know what had made that sound. But it sure as hell hadn’t been made by bats.

  He shrugged it off. It was a problem for another day.

  Right now, the priority was getting Ben out of here without anybody getting hurt.

  Tommy gripped the rifle nervously as he entered the cave.

  “Ben?” He called out. “There’s no need to be afraid, it’s-”

  “Tommy?”

  Then as Tommy’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave, he saw the knife sticking out of his brother’s leg, and felt his eyes widen in shock.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Natalie saw her husband storm out of the cave, she was surprised at the look of anger on his face.

  “YOU COULDN’T HAVE MENTIONED THAT YOU FUCKING STABBED HIM WITH A KNIFE?!” He bellowed at Shauna.

  Unfortunately, his shouting woke Jeremy, who immediately began to cry.

  “You woke him up”, Shauna glared at him. “I wasn’t sure if I’d done it, I was half-blinded by mace-”

  “Ask me if I give a fuck”, Tommy snarled. “Nat, Javi… we’re going to need to build another stretcher. Ben is… not in any condition to walk, I’m afraid.”

And that's all for now!

I understand that this chapter wasn't as long as you're used to, and I'm sorry for cutting out so much stuff… but after reviewing the episode, I simply couldn't figure out a way to connect a lot of what happens in it to Tommy.

At the end of the day, this is an AU focusing on a character who doesn't exist in the show, so I had to cut and chop a lot of what happens in this particular episode. I think this episode was mostly filler, anyway, so it's not a total loss.

In all seriousness, though, who do you guys see as an actor worthy of Tommy? I know that I have described him in a certain way, but if you guys have any ideas, I'm open to them. On Wattpad, someone suggested Xolo Maridueña, who plays Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai (my favourite character btw, fuck Robby and his holier-than-thou attitude).

If you have visualised Tommy as anyone in particular, let me know 😊

If you've visualised him as yourself… well, I can't blame you for that, I suppose.

Anyway, we've got the trial episode next! Let's see what Tommy can do to change the outcome… if indeed he does.

Next chapter coming soon, both for this and the Shauna AU! 😊 ❤️ Can't wait for you to read them!

P.S. Tommy's not really the descendant of a god, by the way, in case that wasn't clear. Lottie's just… crazy.

[scoobydoowantssancks]

What I Am and What You Are | The Captain

MASTERLIST | AO3

Relationship(s): The Captain x gn!queer!ghost!reader (platonic), Alison Cooper x gn!queer!ghost!reader (platonic)

Summary: When you realise that you’re not as confident in your identity as you’d have yourself and everyone else believe, you’re surprised when the Captain is the one you end up confiding in.

Warnings: Brief mentions of a depressing-ass death involving a TBI (but I tried not to be overly graphic), mentions queerphobia and queerphobic parents, brief suicide ‘joke’/comment (but hopefully it’s not considered to be in bad taste). Basically, this is a mixture of angsty and fluffy. (Let me know if I need to add any)

Word count: 2.8k

(A/N: This is a self-indulgent comfort fic I’ve been working on over the past God knows how long. Being a closeted agender teen sucks, especially with the amount of transphobes and general queerphobes I’m around, which isn’t too many but I’d say one’s enough for me, thanks. Anyway, I’m sorry if this isn’t the kind of thing that you’re interested in reading.)

Keep reading

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Twenty-Two

Hey guys, welcome back!

Unfortunately, I have some bad news… I am going walkabout for the next couple of weeks, and will not be able to upload any new chapters while I am gone.

I will return soon, don't worry, but the next chapter will probably not come out until late July/ early August, give or take.

Anyway, read on and enjoy! Hope you like what I've got! 😊

“Help! Help! HEEEEELLLPP!!”

  “Stop! STOP! GODDAMN IT SHAUNA, KNOCK IT OFF!!!”

  Shauna stopped yelling, but her mind was racing. She had to play the part, she realised. She had to act like she was terrified, and then…

  “If you’re gonna kill me… just make it fast”, she said, bowing her head down.

  “If I’m gonna…” Coach Scott trailed off. “Jesus Christ, pull it together, would you?”

  After what had to be five months by himself in the wilderness, Coach Scott looked… better? Worse? Shauna wasn’t certain.

  He was certainly a lot hairier. Both the Scott brothers were hairy individuals, but Coach Scott was now sporting a full-length beard, and his hair was a dark, shaggy mess.

  “Just… hang on a second”, he said, and to Shauna’s surprise, he disappeared from her view.

  “Where are you going?” She asked. But Coach Scott didn’t answer, and Shauna heard the distinctive thud of his crutches heading farther and farther away from her.

  “Are you… leaving me here?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie woke a married woman wrapped in the arms of her handsome husband. Unfortunately, she didn’t wake peacefully.

  “WWWWAAAAHHHHH!!!”

  Jeremy’s cries echoed around the clearing, and when he didn’t stop wailing, Natalie felt Tommy disentangle himself from her and leave their shelter.

  It wasn’t long before he returned, carrying Jeremy, who was still grizzling.

  “Shauna wasn’t even in her shelter”, Tommy said, and Natalie could hear the disgust in his voice. “If a wolf or a fox or something had wondered in…”

  He trailed off, but the implication was clear.

  Natalie sat up and gazed at Jeremy, whose bright blue eyes looked right back at hers.

  “I guess Mommy wanted some me time, huh?” She asked him, holding a finger out to the baby, who grasped it in one of his tiny hands.

  Though Jeremy had to be six months old now, he still seemed so small to Natalie. So delicate.

  He may not have been her son, but Natalie was still determined to keep Jeremy alive for as long as they were out here. A pity Shauna didn’t seem to feel the same way.

  Natalie didn’t have much experience with babies, but she vaguely recalled hearing stories about new mothers suffering from ‘baby blues’ in the aftermath of childbirth. She was sure there was an official, medical term for it, but right now nothing came to mind.

  Maybe Misty might know.

  “Do you… wanna hold him?” Tommy said, motioning to Jeremy.

  Natalie swallowed. The last time she had tried to hold Shauna’s son, Jeremy had wriggled like an eel until he was back in Tommy’s arms.

  Still, she held her arms out, nonetheless. She had nothing to lose, in any case.

  As Tommy slowly settled Jeremy into her, Natalie let out a sigh of relief as no cries from him followed. Jeremy gazed up at her with a curious expression on his face, and Natalie started to smile. He really was a beautiful child.

  Eventually, Jeremy’s eyes began to close, and Natalie felt him settle down as she held him.

  “See? He likes you”, Tommy said, and Natalie felt her smile grow wider.

  One day, I will hold my own child like this. And I will never- ever- let anything bad happen to them, anymore than I would let it happen to you, sweetheart. 

  000000000000000000000000

  “If she was waiting until sunrise, she’d be back by now”, Lottie heard Misty say.

  After hearing Jeremy’s cries in the early morning settle down, Lottie had rolled over and gone back to sleep. When she had woken up again, she had left her shelter, only to be surprised by the group gathering in the middle of the clearing, everyone wondering where Shauna had apparently gone off to.

  Lottie had been even more surprised to see that Natalie was the one holding Jeremy, but as he began to fuss, she handed him off to Tommy.

  Jeremy didn’t stop whingeing, however, and they all saw him moving his head around the clearing, clearly looking for Shauna.

  “He’s probably hungry”, Tommy said. “I don’t think Shauna nursed him last night.”

  Tommy sat Jeremy down in the upright shoulder carrier, and started to feed him some of the berries they had, which had already been mashed up.

  At six months of age, they had determined several days ago that it was finally safe for Jeremy to start eating semi-solid foods. Unfortunately, he had proved to be a picky eater so far, and today was no different, as Jeremy turned his head away from the berry mush and kept looking around them, whingeing all the while.

  “I think he’s trying to tell us he’s missing Shauna”, Van said, and Lottie silently agreed.

  As she gazed at Shauna’s baby son, Lottie began to wonder what it would actually, truly be like for her to carry and birth her own child. The Wilderness wanted her to do it, she dared not dispute that, but… it was one thing to say, and quite another to do.

  It was a very daunting task she had ahead of her. Still, she would do what she had to do.

  “Alright, look, we don’t have any time to waste. Tommy and I will find Shauna. Is anyone else in?”

  Misty immediately stood up, raising her hand, but nobody else joined her.

  Probably sick of how Shauna’s been acting, Lottie thought, as she started to turn her attention towards Travis.

  I know we’re doing something wrong. Maybe he just needs a stronger dose. 

  Lottie saw Van and Tai begin to set off, as Travis followed them.

  “Hey, uh,” Travis addressed the two of them. “If you’re going looking for Shauna, I still know the woods really well. Can I come with you?”

  “Sure”, said Van, just as Lottie approached them.

  “You guys go up on ahead. I need Travis for something”, she said.

  Van and Taissa looked confused, but slowly walked away, as Lottie spoke to Travis.

  “You should take even more today”, she said, holding out the mushrooms. “I think it will… help.”

  “Lottie…” Travis looked away from her. “I don’t… I don’t know. Shouldn’t we help find Shauna?”

  Lottie resisted the urge to scream. We have to do this NOW. I don’t… I don’t know how much longer I can take it.

  After the orgasms she had had last night watching Tommy and Natalie consummate their marriage, Lottie was more than desperate to recreate the ecstasy she had experienced. Hearing Tommy work his magic on Natalie in the cabin’s pantry had been erotic enough, but to actually see it happening…

  “We all want Shauna home. But this is more important”, she said, practically shoving the mushrooms into Travis’ hand as she led him away.

  After seeing what Tommy was capable of in bed… Lottie couldn’t imagine that making love to him would be anything less than amazing for her.

  I suppose I could at least pretend that Travis is Tommy, she thought, as they arrived in their usual spot, Travis dutifully swallowing the mushrooms while they both stripped naked.

  It will make good practice for when I fuck him for real, and he makes me scream like Natalie. 

  With that in mind, Lottie enthusiastically mounted Travis, and as she felt him enter her, she began to rock her hips back and forth as she had seen Natalie do to Tommy, trying to recreate the magnificence of the previous night.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Where do you think she is?” Tommy heard Misty ask.

  “We know she’s probably hungry by now, if she left last night, and there’s a ton of berries up that way”, Natalie said, pointing ahead of them. “I say we head south.”

  “I agree”, Tommy said. Jeremy was in the shoulder carrier on Tommy’s back, and he was still grizzling in his ear.

  “Great idea! Decisive”, Misty grinned.

  Tommy hoped she would stop talking after that. Instead, Misty started to gab at about a mile a minute.

  “You guys know, if there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m a really great listener. And this is kind of like a road trip, so we can share stories, discuss the issues of the day-”

  “Yeah, you know a lot of the time when we go out hunting, we don’t really say anything. We kind of quietly just…”

  Natalie trailed off, but Tommy could sense the subtlety beneath her voice telling Misty to shut up.

  Misty didn’t take the hint.

  “People are starting to disappear without a trace. First Crystal, then Coach Scott, now Shauna-”

  “Crystal was your fault, Misty”, Tommy snapped. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten that.”

  Misty still didn’t take the hint to stop talking.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right. But… what about Coach Scott?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie saw Tommy’s head slowly turn around to face Misty.

  “What about him?” He asked her, in a tone of voice that was cold enough to freeze their ears off.

  Uh oh.

  “Do you think that he’s dead? Do you… do you think that he burned the cabin down-”

  “Misty, that’s enough!” Natalie said, as she saw the fire crackling in Tommy’s eyes. “We’re not talking about this, anymore. We’re here to find Shauna. That’s all.”

  She gently took Tommy’s hand, and they began to walk off in silence, ignoring Misty as she continued to trail after them.

  000000000000000000000000

  For fuck’s sake. 

  How long had Shauna been down here? She’d been busting to pee, so she’d quietly relieved herself in a corner of the pit she was trapped in, but now she just felt hungry. And thirsty, too.

  Shauna’s mind began to race. If Coach Scott came back, he would undoubtedly search her and find her knife. She had to hide it where he would never find it. But where-

  Then it clicked. Oh. Of course.

  Shauna quickly pulled the knife out of her pocket, dropping it down her bra.

  No man or boy would ever dare to look there. Do they even know bras can be used as pockets? I doubt it.

  As Shauna shifted the knife around, the blade caught the edge of one of her swollen nipples.

  Jesus, Shauna winced. Jeremy really sucked hard yesterday-

  Then for the first time since she’d fallen in, Shauna suddenly remembered her son. He would starve to death if she didn’t feed him soon.

  “Coach!” She called out. “Coach!”

  But there was no reply.

  “You can’t just leave me here! I’ll… I’ll starve to death. Jeremy will starve to death without me.”

  But nothing answered her, and Shauna began to get desperate.

  “Look, I never believed you burned down the cabin, alright? The others do, but I-”

  “What? What are you talking about?"

  Coach Scott suddenly came into view.

  “The cabin… burned down?” He asked.

  Shauna blinked. “Seriously? It burned, like, all night long. The bullets in the attic were exploding. You… you didn’t see it?”

  Coach Scott shook his head. “Honestly, I’ve been staying as far away from you as humanly possible.”

  Now that, Shauna could believe. But she did not, for one moment, believe that Coach Scott had not burned the cabin down.

  For months now, Shauna had wondered what caused him to leave the group that fateful day. Had he seen Tommy shoot Mari, as the others chased Natalie across the ice? Had he seen them eat their former teammate?

  Did Tommy have anything to do with Coach Scott leaving? Shauna wasn’t certain, but she felt like something must have happened between the two of them. Why else would the Coach have tried to burn his own brother alive?

  Shauna looked up at Coach Scott, as he continued to gaze down at her.

  “Stay here. Stay quiet”, he said.

  Then he shuffled off again, and Shauna groaned as she heard him getting further away.

  000000000000000000000000

  After a short break, Misty had started talking again, much to Tommy’s annoyance.

  “And, you know, does that mean that it’s any less heartbreaking? Of course not, but… if-if Coach Scott really was gay, then I guess we were never going to work out, anyway. Not like you guys. I probably should have mentioned this before, but your wedding was so beautiful. Well, I guess you still aren’t, you know, legally married to each other, but if we ever get back home, you can always-”

  Tommy stopped dead as he saw the snare in front of him, and he felt Natalie do the same.

  “-go down to the courthouse and get your marriage license there, though I’ll be honest, I have no idea how long the actual process takes-”

  “Yeah, we will, thanks for suggesting it”, Tommy said as he turned towards Misty, blocking the snare from her gaze.

  “Uh… maybe we should go this way?” Natalie said, pointing away from them as she tried to help. “I think that we might’ve-”

  “Look! A clue!” Misty said joyfully, as she saw the snare and bounded over to it.

  Then she turned around to face them. “Is something wrong?” She asked, innocently enough, but Tommy could sense the suspicion in her tone.

  “Uh… no. And that’s not a clue. We set it when we were catching game for the wedding feast. I guess it didn’t work.”

  Tommy shrugged, as casually as he could. But he had the sinking feeling Misty wasn’t fooled.

  “Yeah, he’s right”, Natalie spoke up. “This part of the woods was always kind of a bust for us. Let’s head east.”

  “But… I thought you wanted to go south, in case Shauna needs berries”, Misty said. The suspicious look in her eyes hadn’t disappeared, and Tommy started to get worried.

  “Well… there’s berries to the east of us, too. Come on, let’s go.”

  Tommy set off after Natalie, and he heard Misty slowly trudging after them. Tommy’s head was spinning.

  Neither he nor Natalie had laid that snare. And since they became the leaders of their group, they had made it clear to everyone that if they intended on setting traps in a certain part of the woods to catch game, the two of them had to be informed first.

  Nobody had told them about a snare being laid in this part of the woods. Which meant that either there was a Yellowjacket going around setting traps without telling them first, or… or…

  Tommy knew. Deep down, he knew who had set the snare.

  Ben is alive. 

  His brother wasn’t dead. He had survived the winter. When he told Ben to leave, Tommy had worried that it would be the last time he’d ever see him.

  In all his life… Tommy had never been so happy to be wrong. But he knew Misty suspected the truth- which made him decidedly less happy.

  Natalie turned around to face him, and Tommy saw her give a slight nod.

  He let himself breathe. It would be alright. As long as his wife was with him… Tommy felt like things would be okay.

  000000000000000000000000

  Van walked beside Tai, nonchalantly. Her mind wasn’t really focused on looking for Shauna, to be honest.

  She kept finding herself thinking back to Tommy and Natalie’s wedding. They had both looked so happy, and so beautiful, and the vows they spoke to each other had made Van cry like a baby.

  Briefly, her mind wondered to whether or not she could possibly do the same with Tai, while they were out here. Gay marriage was, of course, illegal back home, but out here, in the wilderness…

  Could it be done? Van found herself starting to get more and more excited at the possibility. It wasn’t like there was anyone out here to tell them no…

  “Shauna!” Tai called out. “Shauna!”

  Van groaned. Alright. Back to it.

  “SHAUNA!” She bellowed, but there was no reply.

  “Here, piggy, piggy. SOOEY!” She yelled, starting to laugh.

  “She could be dead”, Tai hissed, swatting her on the shoulder.

  “Well then, she won’t be offended”, Van shrugged. “And if she’s dead-”

  “If she’s dead, Tommy’s fucked”, Tai said.

  “What?” Van was confused. “Why?”

  “He’s the reason she ran off.”

  “Uh… what?”

  “I saw Shauna spit in Tommy’s soup last night before she gave it to him. He acted like nothing was wrong, and then he asked Shauna if there were no hard feelings about the game.”

  “Are you really still hung up on that?” Van smirked. “Come on, Tommy had a good plan. We beat you guys fair and square. And… Tommy probably just didn’t want to ruin things for Natalie on their wedding night. I know I wouldn’t, if… if…”

  Van trailed off, as Tai looked at her in confusion.

  “If what?” She asked.

  “Uh…” Van felt her face growing hot. Had Tai missed what she was implying?

  Van had been getting so carried away with the idea of marrying Tai out here, she had forgotten the possibility that Tai might actually say no to her would-be proposal.

  Would she say no? Van wasn’t certain… and somehow, that scared her.

  “If what?” Tai asked again. She still looked confused.

  “Um…”

  Then Van was saved from further embarrassment by a piercing scream, of all things.

  “AAARRGGHHH!” 

  It sounded like… was that one of the boys?

  “That’s Travis!” Tai said, as she took off, and Van followed her.

  She didn’t know what lay up ahead… but she still felt a sense of relief that it was happening. She was starting to get the sinking feeling that even if marriage was a perfectly legal option for them… Tai might still turn her down.

  But as they came to the source of the screaming, Van immediately wished she had gone the other way.

  Travis was rolling around on the ground, clutching at his head. Lottie was next to Travis, trying to soothe him… and both of them were naked.

  “What in the actual fuck?” Van asked. Were Lottie and Travis in a relationship nobody else knew about? Was this the reason for the constant ‘meditation sessions’ they had both been doing together?

  But… why? Why would they hide it?

  “AAARGHHH!” Travis screamed again. “They’re coming. No, no, they’re coming. No.”

  “Hey, talk to me”, Lottie said, crouching next to him. “Who’s coming?”

  “No, no, I don’t want to see them, no-”

  “Travis, tell me!” Lottie screeched.

  “No, get away from me!” Travis screamed at Lottie, shoving her back onto the ground and wrapping his hands around her throat.

  “Travis, stop!” Van and Taissa swooped down to pry the older Martinez brother off of Lottie.

  It wasn’t easy- he was terribly strong, but they managed to pry him off Lottie.

  As they did so, however, Van was surprised by Travis bursting into tears.

  “Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay”, she said, wrapping her arms around Travis as he cried.

  As Lottie stood up, Taissa rounded on her.

  “What are you doing to him? Hasn’t he been through enough?” She hissed.

  “It’s fine.” Lottie insisted. “He’s just learning to hear it.”

  “He is most definitely not fine”, Van said, still holding Travis as he wept in her arms.

  Lottie’s eyes blazed, but she seemed to realise that the ‘meditation session’ was over.

  “Fine” she said, softly. “I got what I needed, anyway.”

  Van was confused, but as she saw the mess between Lottie’s legs as she walked away to gather her clothes, she finally understood.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Tie that around your waist”, Coach Scott instructed.

  Shauna looked down at the rope he had dropped at her feet.

  As she tied it around her, she was surprised to see a ladder drop down into the pit.

  “Where did you get-”

  “Long story”, Coach Scott grunted. “Anyway, it doesn’t reach all the way to the top. That’s why you have the rope."

  Shit. He was right.

  Shauna started to climb the ladder, and as she reached the top of it, she felt the Coach pulling on the rope as she scrabbled for the top of the pit, slowly beginning to haul herself out.

  Once she reached the top, Shauna took her eyes off of Coach Scott as she reached down to start untying the rope- then instantly realised her mistake.

  She looked up, but the Coach had already barrelled into her, knocking Shauna to the ground.

  “Fuck!” How could Shauna have been so careless?

   Coach Scott might be missing a leg, but he was still a fully-grown man, and it didn’t look like he’d been starving in his time alone out here.

  He overwhelmed Shauna so easily it was honestly embarrassing, as he quickly tied the rope around her hands- and then again, around her neck.

  “What-what are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry”, Coach Scott sighed. “But you’ve already seen me. I can’t just let you go back to the others.”

  “But… but… if you didn’t even burn the cabin down, what are you so worried about?”

  “Like the truth would even matter to that mob”, the Coach snarled. “I know you guys killed and ate Mari. You really telling me I wouldn’t be next?”

  “Tommy’s in charge, now”, Shauna said, trying to keep her tone as pathetic as possible. “You’re his brother, he wouldn’t kill you-”

  “Tommy is not who he was before we crashed here”, Coach Scott said, and Shauna was caught off-guard by how sad he looked at saying it.

  “The Tommy I know would never have shot and killed a teenage girl… let alone cooked and eaten her.”

  He did it to save Natalie, Shauna thought. We all know that.

  But maybe the Coach didn’t.

  Perhaps I can use that, Shauna wondered, as Tommy’s older brother slipped a blindfold over her eyes, and began leading her God knows where.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Natalie walked back into the clearing with Tommy and Misty, she wondered about what to do next.

  Was Coach Scott still at the cave where Javi had sheltered during the winter? It was likely, but Tommy and Javi were the only ones here who knew where that was.

  Natalie knew Misty suspected something, but as long as neither of the boys talked, Coach Scott was, essentially, as safe as one could be, out here.

  “Hey, guys?”

  Natalie saw Javi approaching them- and was surprised to see how angry he looked, as he began to speak.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy listened to Javi tell him what Van and Taissa had informed him of, he steadily became angrier and angrier.

  Tommy already felt guilty enough at the death of Mari, but to drug Travis and use him for sex…

  It seemed as though Lottie had not let go of her nonsensical ‘Child of the Wilderness’ dream after all. Tommy had assumed she’d given it up after her so-called performance in the snow, but…

  “Where is she?” He asked.

  “Over there”, Javi pointed, and Tommy handed Jeremy to Natalie as he stormed off past the shelters- only to see Lottie offering what looked like a mug of tea to Travis.

  It didn’t take a genius to guess what was inside.

  “Have you no shame?” Tommy asked, making Lottie jump, to his satisfaction.

  He saw Travis look at him in relief, as he held- was that one of Akilah’s ducks?

  To each their own, I guess, but…

  Tommy shook his head as he eyeballed Lottie.

  “Give me that, right now”, he said, motioning towards the mug, and as Lottie handed it to him, he tossed the contents away from them.

  “Hey, what-”

  “NO!” Tommy shouted, holding a finger up to Lottie to stop her from talking.

  “I know what you’re doing. I know why you’re doing it. And it’s going to stop right the fuck now, Lottie. You are going to stop, right the fuck now. Because if you do not… well, I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else. Do you understand?”

  He saw Lottie swallow, then nod.

  “Good.”

  Tommy paused, then said what he hoped would drive the point home.

  “In case you have forgotten, it was you I was aiming for when I saw everyone chasing after Natalie. Try to remember that.”

  Tommy saw Travis’ face twist in confusion, as Tommy motioned for Lottie to head off. As she did so, Tommy gave Travis a short nod, and was relieved to receive one in return before he walked away, heading back towards where his wife waited for him.

  000000000000000000000000

  So… Tommy had been aiming for Lottie, when Natalie was being chased down? Travis hadn’t known that.

  Had Mari’s death… been an accident? Tommy had never talked about it. Maybe he would have felt like he was making excuses for killing Travis’ girlfriend.

  Travis heard Mortimer the duck quack softly, and he buried his face in his feathers as he felt the tears come.

  I wanna go home, Travis thought. Please, for the love of God, just let me go home. 

  He didn’t know how much longer he could take it out here.

  000000000000000000000000

  Lottie walked away, hanging her head in shame.

  I’m sorry. I failed you.

  Lottie hoped that Travis’ seed currently within her would take root, and bring the child the Wilderness wanted from her… yet somehow, Lottie already felt in her heart that today’s session would be a failure, like all the others before it.

  What on earth am I going to do?

  Lottie had to succeed. She simply had to. But she had to face the facts she had been denying herself for the last five months.

  Tommy was the only one the Wilderness would let her conceive a child with- hence why none of the sessions with Travis had given Lottie what she needed.

  It was so clear. So obvious to her.

  But she couldn’t have Tommy. At least not right now- he and Natalie would be watching her like hawks for the time being.

  I have to wait. I have no choice. I will bide my time and wait for my moment. Then, and only then, will the Child be conceived. 

  Lottie took a deep breath to calm herself, and walked back into the forest to meditate properly this time.

  She had a long wait ahead of her- she might as well do what she was good at in the meantime.

  000000000000000000000000

  After walking for a long, long while, Shauna felt Coach Scott direct her into… were they in a cave?

  Why’s it so warm? Shauna wondered, as the blindfold was removed from her eyes.

  She looked around the cave, gazing at the roots growing from out of the walls. Were they under a tree?

  “Where are we?” She asked.

  Coach Scott gave her a look, and Shauna instantly felt foolish for asking.

  As the Coach set a fire, Shauna felt the need to speak up.

  “You know… Tommy did kill Mari, yes, but… he did it to save Natalie. We- we drew cards to find out who would be sacrificed to save the rest of us from starving. I mean, I didn’t, I didn’t have to because of Jeremy, but… anyway, Natalie drew the Queen, and then-”

  “And then everyone chased after her, and Tommy saw them, and tried to shoot Lottie, but Mari got in the way at the last moment. Yes, I know.”

  “You… you do?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Ben cursed. How could he have been so stupid? Of course Tommy wouldn’t have told them what had happened between them. His little brother was still looking out for him, after all this time.

  How else could Ben explain nobody finding him for five months straight?

  If Ben wasn’t furious with himself for giving the game away, he would have almost been proud of Tommy’s resilience.

  000000000000000000000000

  Shauna was so surprised, she could barely speak.

  She had planned on using Tommy’s love for Natalie to convince Coach Scott that his brother hadn’t changed, and convince him to turn himself in.

  But this… oh, this was much, much better. Coach Scott hadn’t been at the hunt, so he could only have learned what he knew from someone else. And the only person he could have learned it from was… well…

  Shauna had not seen Coach Scott since he left the cabin the same day that the hunt had happened. Everyone else had said the same. But there was only one person she could think of who would truly not believe the Coach was responsible for what happened to the cabin. The same person the Coach would have headed for first, once he returned from looking for the very cave they were in now.

  The same person who had headed out with him to find it, that very same morning.

  “Tommy knows where this place is, doesn’t he?” She asked, and she knew from the look on Coach Scott’s face that she had guessed correctly.

  Shauna almost felt like laughing. For five months now, Tommy had known -exactly- where the man who burned their shelter to the ground had been hiding.

  If Shauna could get away, and pass on what she had learned… the Yellowjackets would see Tommy for the monster he was, and turn on him.

  Shauna felt the cold metal of the knife against her breasts, and winced in pain as she felt them swelling with the milk meant for Jeremy.

  “Coach, please”, she said, trying to sound as small and defeated as she possibly could.

  “My son needs me. He’ll die soon if he doesn’t feed from me.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Fuck. Fuck! FFUUUUUCCKK!

  Shauna was right. Jeremy would die without her to feed him. But if he let her go, the others would find him.

  Ben didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to think. 

  He could only hope that Tommy’s murderous intentions wouldn’t extend to his own brother, if they ever came face-to-face again.

  And by the look of things… that might end up being sooner, rather than later.

  000000000000000000000000

  As the day passed, Shauna still didn’t reappear, much to Natalie’s annoyance, so they had to make do with feeding Jeremy more of the berry and vegetable mush, along with a few sips of water.

  He still grizzled all the way up to bedtime, where he finally passed out from exhaustion.

  Of course, they couldn’t leave the infant alone in Shauna’s shelter, so Natalie and Tommy brought him into theirs for the night.

  As they laid Jeremy down, Natalie gazed into his little face, cooing as she looked at him.

  “He’s just so cute”, she said, then felt sad as she realised the difficult road ahead of them.

  “What if we don’t find Shauna? What if a wolf, or a bear got her? What if-”

  Tommy silenced her with a kiss, and Natalie melted into her husband’s embrace.

  “It’ll be alright”, Tommy murmured. “We’ll organise a full search party tomorrow, and we will find her.”

  Natalie saw him gaze at Jeremy, sleeping next to them.

  “His life might just depend on it.”

  As they settled down to sleep, Natalie listening to Tommy’s heartbeat in her ear, a sudden thought came to mind.

  “Hey, uh… I know we haven’t really talked about it, but… do you realise we’ve been out here for a year, now? Like… an actual year?”

  “Yeah, I know”, Tommy said. “I think it might actually be close to thirteen months, now.”

  Jesus.

  As they both began drifting off, Natalie thought back to all the craziness they had been through, the last year in the wilderness.

  She could only hope it wouldn’t be another year before they went back home. She didn’t know, of course… but she could always hope.

And that's the end for now!

Thank you all so, so much for your dedicated reading. I love you all for it ❤️

I will update the message up the top when I return. Don't worry, I won't be gone long!

All my love, SteamTrain52 😊 ❤️

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - What if Shauna was Tommy's girlfriend? (Pre-crash)

Hey everyone!

I have had had some thoughts about various alternate scenarios for my AU Yellowjackets story, No Ordinary Boy, which involves Natalie Scatorccio's relationship with Tommy Scott, my OC. Please give it a read if you haven't already done so!

What follows will not be as long as my original story, but they will still be pretty extensive summaries, that I can promise you. Ideally, I will try to keep it to one chapter per season.

If you have any requests, please don't hesitate to ask!

Our first chapter here involves what I believe would take place if Shauna had noticed Tommy before Natalie did.

Read on and enjoy! Let's see how it goes!

The first time Shauna saw Tommy Scott was in the parking lot of the local supermarket, getting out of a car.

  A car with a fully-grown deer strung right across the hood. 

  Shauna stared in shock as the young boy and a man who looked like an older version of him headed into the supermarket. She’d never seen a dead deer displayed so… openly.

  Her dad saw her staring. “It’s just a deer, Shauna. How do you think meat gets onto your plate?”

  He smiled at her, but Shauna was still too taken aback to reply.

  000000000000000000000000

  Shauna was surprised to see the boy from the parking lot in her classroom the following Monday.

  “Class, we have a new student”, Mrs Piper announced. “This is Thomas Scott.”

  She looked at the new arrival. “Introduce yourself, Thomas.”

  Thomas cleared his throat before he responded.

  “Uh… hi. My name is Tommy. I come from… well, North Carolina, then Kentucky as well, I guess. Nice to meet you all.”

  Except he didn’t say you all. He said y’all, and the Southern twang in his voice was so incredibly powerful, Shauna had no reason to doubt his place of origin.

  He quietly shuffled into an empty seat, and didn’t say a word for the rest of the class.

  Probably shy, Shauna thought. Why wouldn’t he be? We might as well be on the moon compared to where he comes from. 

  000000000000000000000000

  In the following three years, Shauna reckoned she didn’t say more than ten words to Tommy Scott, not even when his older brother became a soccer coach at the school.

  Tommy was… an oddball, that was for sure. He showed up on time for school, attended his classes and got good grades, but Shauna couldn’t help but notice he always sat alone at lunchtime, with no friends to chat and laugh with.

  She felt sorry for him, but didn’t really know what to do about it. Jackie was already becoming the most popular girl in school, and Shauna’s role as her trusty sidekick had long been cemented. Shauna played along, not wanting to stand out, but deep down, she resented living in Jackie’s shadow.

  Outside of school, the only things Shauna knew about Tommy was that he went hunting with his family. It seemed like that was all she would ever know about him.

  Until one day, only a few weeks into their final school year, she saw Randy ‘accidentally’ clobber Tommy with his backpack while heading through the halls, causing Tommy to drop his books. Ignoring the jeers and teasing coming from around them, Shauna found herself bending down to help Tommy.

  “Thanks”, he mumbled, as she handed him a textbook, already starting to head off.

  “Wait!” She called out, and he turned back to her, looking astonished at her even paying the slightest bit of attention to him.

  “Uh… you’re Tommy, right? Is… is your brother Coach Scott, by any chance? He was my soccer coach last year.”

  “Oh”, Tommy said. He looked like he was scrambling for something to say, before he spoke again.

  “Um… yeah, he’s my brother, yeah. Er… what position do you play?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Though the conversation was marked by awkwardness, Shauna left it feeling… happy, somehow. The happiest she’d felt in a long, long time.

  Over the last year or two, though Shauna doubted Jackie even realised it, their relationship had gone from bad to worse.

  Jackie thought she had everything figured out. She was going to Rutgers after they graduated, and she wanted Shauna to come with her.

  No, that wasn't quite right. She expected Shauna to come with her. She didn’t even bother to ask. In fact, Shauna was in doubt as to whether Jackie realised that there was even a possibility that Shauna didn’t want to go to Rutgers.

  She wished she had the language to say where she wants to go instead. But instead, she buried it beneath the smile she always wore when Jackie talked about the future. A future that she desperately wanted nothing to do with.

  In all honesty, there were moments where Shauna felt like she was going to explode from frustration, knowing that they drew closer to graduation with each passing day.

  She didn’t know what to do. What could she do? How could she say she wanted to forge her own path, without looking like the bad guy?

  Of course, on top of this all, there were the long-buried feelings Shauna had for her best friend, which she had had for years now. But she knew, deep down, that there simply was no scenario where they would work out. Even if Jackie felt the same way… Shauna was fed up with her best friend controlling everything in her life.

  She wanted to know the kind of love where she would be part of a team. Where she could count on the other person to have her back and support her throughout any difficult decisions life might throw at her. Would she ever know a love like that? Not if Jackie had anything to say about it.

  Looking back, she realised that she needn’t have worried. An opportunity would soon present itself, in the most unlikely of candidates.

  000000000000000000000000

  One Saturday, after accompanying Jackie and her nauseatingly arrogant boyfriend Jeff to the movies as the third wheel (a title she fucking hated, by the way), Shauna was dropped off at home, but didn’t go in.

  Instead, she set off towards the parking lot of the supermarket, and waited.

  She knew who she was waiting for, though she would never admit it to herself.

  Eventually, like clockwork, Tommy and his dad appeared in the parking lot with a dead deer strapped across the hood of the vehicle, just as they did three years ago, and almost every Saturday since then.

  Shauna had learned by now that after shooting whatever animal they caught, Tommy and his dad headed into the supermarket to pick up the necessary ingredients for cooking it.

  Quietly following them in, Shauna hid behind various stalls and people in the aisles, making sure that neither of the Scotts saw her.

  Eventually, the two of them headed towards the counter, waiting in line, while Shauna followed, quickly grabbing a bag of chips off the shelf so as not to appear suspicious.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Tommy?”

  Tommy turned around to find himself face-to-face with Shauna Shipman.

  “Er…. hi, Shauna. What- what are you doing here?”

  “Um… shopping?”

  She held up a bag of chips, and Tommy instantly felt his face redden.

  You’re in a supermarket, dumbo. What the fuck ELSE would she be doing here? 

  After introducing her to his dad, they talked for a few minutes while waiting for the cashier to receive them. Mostly about school, then where they hope to go to college.

  “You want to go to Brown, eh?” His dad asked. “Good school. You’ll need to study hard for that.”

  “I will”, Shauna promised, just as the cashier receives them.

  Afterwards, Tommy waved goodbye to Shauna as they head out to the car, and feels the butterflies in his stomach as she waved back, smiling.

  “She likes you”, his dad said, once they shut the car doors behind them.

  “What?” Tommy asked, feeling his face start to redden again. “How do you know that?”

  “I saw her in there. She was following us around. Well, not us. You. She didn’t take her eyes off of you. A girl only does that when she likes someone.”

  Not for the first time, Tommy wished he had his dad’s almost supernatural awareness of his surroundings.

  Of course, Jonathan Scott had thirty years of military training over him. But still, it was almost spooky to Tommy just how easily he had spotted Shauna.

  000000000000000000000000

  Shauna felt so happy and light on the way home, she was practically skipping. It wasn’t until she was walking into her room that she suddenly remembered what she had said to the Scotts.

  I told them I was planning on going to Brown. Which even Jackie doesn’t know. 

  Shauna clapped a hand to her mouth in shock. She had to get to Tommy as soon as she can, and explain herself.

  She didn’t think she could handle it if Jackie found out the truth.

  000000000000000000000000 

  The next Monday after school, Shauna waited anxiously by the gate before she saw Tommy walking up to it on his way out.

  “Hey”, she says to him. “Can we… can we talk?”

  Tommy looks startled, but accepted, as they started to walk off. They ended up sitting on a bench together in the park nearby, before Shauna explained the situation to him.

  “So… yeah. If you could just… not tell her, I’d… I’d really appreciate it."

  “I won’t say anything. I promise.”

  Shauna breathed a sigh of relief, before Tommy asked her the question she really didn’t want him to ask.

  “But… if you don’t mind telling me… why wouldn’t Jackie like the idea of you heading off to Brown? I mean… it’s not the end of the world. You could still keep in touch.”

  “You don’t know her”, Shauna snorted. “She has everything planned out for the future, right down to the last goddamn second.”

  She should have stopped there. She knew that.

  Instead, it felt as though a dam had broken within her, because for the next ten minutes straight, Shauna vented about everything to Tommy. Rutgers, Brown, Jackie’s popularity, her always remaining in Jackie’s shadow, ever since grade school. Years- and years- of playing Number Two to Jackie’s Number One, before she arrived at the part that hurt her heart the most.

  “Sometimes I think my own parents prefer Jackie to me.”

  Shauna suddenly realised she was crying, actually crying tears of frustration, as Tommy dug around in his pocket and offered her a tissue.

  Shauna wiped her eyes in embarrassment, trying to hide the fact that she felt… well, lighter. Like a massive weight had been lifted off her chest.

  “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

  “It’s okay. Really. Everyone needs to vent, every now and then. Keeping everything buried inside you… it never ends well.”

  Shauna nodded, before turning back to Tommy.

  “So anyway, that’s my story. What… what’s yours?”

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  As the weeks pass them by, Shauna got to know Tommy Scott, as they continued to meet up in various spots around town. His childhood, what he liked, what he didn’t like. Growing up with his dad in the Army couldn’t have been easy, but he seemed to have shouldered it with the tenaciousness Shauna was starting to realise he had within him.

  What they had between them was… nice. There was no pressure. No desire to keep up the façade that had slowly been dragging Shauna down over the years.

  Tommy was her own special friend, the first one she’d ever had with no connection to Jackie, and Shauna was surprised to realise how much she liked it that way.

  Jackie had no idea. No idea that Shauna was starting to build a life outside of her, that has nothing to do with her, and it made Shauna feel… free. So free. Everything clicked into place when she was with Tommy, and she knew she wanted to take it even further.

  Eventually, Shauna asked Tommy if he wanted to go to a movie she’d been wanting to see on Friday night, and he accepted. He bought the tickets, like a gentleman, and they headed in together.

  At one point, about halfway through, their hands accidentally touched as they both reached for the popcorn, and any form of resistance between them shatters as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

  Shauna met Tommy halfway as their lips touched, and from then on, she knew it was all over. They never stood a chance, really.

  They ended up making out for… Shauna doesn’t know. Five minutes? Ten, maybe? It was hard to keep track when you were sexually aroused. And both of them were most certainly aroused.

  When they pulled apart, both breathing hard, Shauna jerked her head towards the exit, the implication clear, and they speedwalked out of the theatre, neither one of them realising or caring that they were leaving the movie unfinished. After they made a stop off at a nearby gas station, Shauna held Tommy’s hand as they looked through the condoms.

  “Um”, Shauna heard him say. “I’ve, uh… I’ve never…”

  Oh. 

  “It’s okay”, she breathed. “Me… me too.”

  He smiled at her in relief, and she smiled back. Eventually, they picked a variety of styles and sizes, because why the hell not, and clambered back into Tommy’s car.

  “Pull over here”, Shauna directed him to a spot off the road where nobody would see them.

  Clambering into the back seat, they reached for each other again, and the dance began as their pants were removed.

  Shauna was so desperate, so eager for Tommy, the feeling of him sliding into her sent a jolt of pleasure from her head to her toes, and she finally understood how people could become addicted to sex.

  What followed was clumsy, as they fumbled against each other, but… sweet. It was so sweet it brought a tear to Shauna’s eye.

  Despite his own pleasure, Tommy focused on her the whole way through, asking if she was okay, asking what she wanted him to do. His fingers, long and crooked and perfect for the job, flicked and rubbed against her mound, and Shauna climaxed hard, screaming out her pleasure as Tommy found his own release.

  They laid there, wrapped in each other, before Shauna started to breathe again.

  “Thank- thank you”, she gasped. “I… I had no idea. None.”

  “Me neither”, Tommy said, as he turned his mouth to meet hers.

  000000000000000000000000

  He’d ruined her. She knew that. He may not have meant to, but Tommy Scott had destroyed any lingering feelings Shauna may have had towards Jackie, as a friend or even a potential partner.

  Every time she heard Jackie babbling away about Rutgers for the zillionth time, Shauna blocked it out. She just couldn’t take it anymore, and she was having trouble trying to find a reason to care. She was already thinking about the future- a future that involved Tommy, not Jackie.

  As she delved deeper and deeper into her first true romantic relationship, Jackie picked up on the change within Shauna.

  “Are you okay?” She asked. “You seem so… bubbly.”

  “I’m fine”, Shauna giggled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Jackie looked at her in confusion, but Shauna was already miles away, dreaming of the next moment she would have a chance to make love to Tommy Scott.

  It wouldn’t be far off. It was never far off, nowadays.

  The morning after their first time together, Shauna was tired and sore between her thighs, but still aroused, so she tried to masturbate in the shower.

  Unfortunately, her body knew her own fingers, and it refused to be fooled. Tommy had unlocked a level of pleasure within Shauna that she didn’t even know she had, and the orgasm that came her way in the shower was so pathetic, Shauna felt like screaming in frustration.

  Yep. He’s ruined me. And I want him to do it again. And again, and again, and again…

   She was still too sore, and her arousal was through the roof. A frustrating combination, to say the least.

  The next weekend, Shauna invited Tommy into her home for a ‘group study session’ for an upcoming Maths test they had together. At least, that was what they told their parents.

  Shauna’s mother made the critical mistake of stepping out to visit some friends of hers, so Shauna had the house- and Tommy- all to herself.

  It was even better the second time around, as they finally saw each other naked. In the moment before Tommy slid into her, Shauna grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look into her eyes.

  “I want you to fuck me like you love me”, she said to him.

  “That’s not much of a stretch”, Tommy whispered to her, and Shauna felt a tear come to her eye as he filled her again, so perfectly.

  000000000000000000000000

  The next month or two was a blur of ugly, sweaty, amazing sex.

  Shauna felt like she was on fire, some days, with how attracted she was to Tommy Scott. Every time she saw him in the hallway at school, she wanted to pull him into the nearest classroom and ride him until neither of them could walk.

  Her attitude towards Jackie changed as well, though as was typical of her, Jackie didn’t even seem to notice. Whether or not Tommy did it intentionally, he made Shauna realise just how sick she was of Little Miss Perfect, always droning on about Rutgers, about the upcoming Winter Formal, about leading the Yellowjackets to victory at Nationals…

  The soccer season hasn’t even started yet, Shauna thought in disgust. Can’t she give it a rest? Just this once?

  Then, to her incredulousness, about two months into her and Tommy’s relationship, which Jackie was still oblivious about, she brought up the subject of losing their virginities.

  “I think I’m going to do it with Jeff after homecoming next year. I really, really do”, Jackie said, beaming so brightly Shauna was taken aback.

  “You still haven’t… done it yet?”

  “Of course not”, Jackie said, looking shocked. “Your first time together is supposed to be special. With the person you’re going to marry.” 

  Marry?! Shauna nearly choked. Jesus fucking Christ.  

  Was Jackie stuck in the dark ages, or something?

  Shauna’s mind briefly drifted to Natalie Scatorccio, the burnout of their year, who had probably fucked half the boys in Wiskayok by now. She certainly didn’t believe your first time should be special.

  She won’t have Tommy, though. I’ll rip her head off if she tries. 

  Though Shauna was thoroughly enjoying her new relationship with Tommy, marriage hadn’t even crossed her mind. Why would it? She had too much to do.

  Besides, Tommy was adamant about going into the Army after graduation, like his dad had before him. Shauna had put it aside, at least for now. Her boyfriend was kind, and loving, and gentle, and sweet, and she wanted to enjoy their time together, however long- or short- it may be.

  From the day she told him the truth, Tommy had been nothing but supportive about her going to Brown University, and Shauna loved him for it. He loved her, but he wouldn’t stand in her way. What more could she ask of him?

  In any case, Jackie’s comment about waiting to lose your virginity had left her feeling upset, and the next time she and Tommy made love, Shauna gently held on to his face, kissing him softly all the while as he slowly thrust into her.

  “Are you alright?” He asked her, as she lay in his arms when they were done.

  “I just…” Shauna hesitated. “I don’t know how much time we have together, but… I love you. I promise I love you.”

  It was the first time she had ever said it out loud, and she felt the tears come to her eyes as Tommy gave his reply.

  “I love you too, Shauna Shipman. And I will love you for however long we have left.”

  “Oh”, Shauna whimpered, as Tommy moved to kiss her again.

  000000000000000000000000

  They continued their relationship in secret for two more months. Well, calling it a secret might have been stretching the truth a little. The rumours always flew thick and fast in high school, and one day in early November, a few weeks out from the Winter Formal, Shauna found herself confronted by Jackie at their lockers.

  “What are you doing with Tommy Scott?”

  “Uh… what?”

  “Taissa said she saw you sitting with him in his car last night. She said you passed right by her.”

  “Oh”, Shauna said, trying to laugh it off. “He was driving me home from his house. He’s been tutoring me in math the last few weeks. You know I didn’t get a good mark on that last maths test; he’s just helping me with the next one, that’s all.”

  It was true that she hadn’t gotten a good mark on their last maths test; she and Tommy had been too busy fucking each other to study. When it became apparent that their grades were going to slip even further if they didn’t pull it together, they had agreed to lay off the sex. Not completely, of course- just enough for them to spend time focusing on their studies.

  “Oh”, Jackie said. To Shauna’s surprise, she looked disappointed.

  “That’s a shame. I thought you had finally gotten a boyfriend. I mean, you could do better than Tommy Scott, of course, but still… I was actually looking forward to the idea of double dating.”

  Shauna should have felt relieved that Jackie had bought her lie, but the implied insult to Tommy only made her see red.

  “What do you mean, I could ‘do better’ than him?”

  “Uh…” Jackie looked surprised. “Well… you know…”

  She laughed nervously, but Shauna didn’t feel like joining her.

  “He’s just… weird. He doesn’t really talk to anyone, and he… well, I mean, he hunts all the time with his dad.”

  So what?

  Jackie had no idea that some nights, when his parents weren’t home, Tommy would cook dinner for Shauna. Actually cook for her. And he was good at it, too. The last recipe of deer meat he fed her, combined with various vegetables and spices, had made her feel weak at the knees.

  The memory of that night still made her smile, and she was in no mood for letting Jackie ruin it.

  “He’s not a bad guy”, Shauna said to Jackie. “He’s just… different.”

  “Okay”, Jackie held up her hands in surrender. “Jeez, Shipman. Relax.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy mulled the idea over in his head. Posters for the upcoming Winter Formal were plastered all over the school, and he really- really- wanted to take Shauna as his date.

  But how would she react? She hadn’t shown any sign that she wanted to make their relationship public.

  Deep down, however, Tommy was sick of hiding. It was ridiculous, what they were doing, though of course he would never say that to his girlfriend. They were doing nothing wrong… and though Tommy didn’t want to admit it, he was tired of everyone staring at him, whispering behind his back at how weird he was.

  Until he had started dating Shauna, Tommy had been miserable in Wiskayok. He had missed his friends in Kentucky terribly, but it wasn’t just that. Every friend he had had before Wiskayok was someone with one or both parents in the military, which created a kind of kinship you simply couldn’t find anywhere else.

  Certainly not here. Tommy didn’t know if anybody in his year, or even in Wiskayok in general, had a parent who’d served their country. It wouldn’t have surprised him if none of them did.

  As Tommy mulled over his thoughts, he brushed by Natalie Scatorccio in the hallway, who pointedly ignored him, much to his relief.

  That girl scared the crap out of him at the best of times.  

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  Shauna’s head was almost spinning as Jackie finally walked off. That had been way too close for her liking, and as she entered her next class, she found herself barely able to concentrate, she was so worried.

  In hindsight, it was probably only ever a matter of time before they were caught. Wiskayok wasn’t exactly a big town; though she and Tommy had been careful, they had also been lucky so far. And their luck wouldn’t last forever.

  Fleetingly, Shauna briefly considered breaking up with him, but then quashed the possibility, ashamed that it had even crossed her mind.

  She didn’t want to break up with Tommy, and they still had seven months before graduation. Plenty of time to figure something out.

  Then as class ended and Shauna walked out, she caught sight of one of the Winter Formal posters, and the wheels began turning in her head.

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  As Tommy heard their next English project would be a group assignment, he found himself letting out a groan. He hated asking people who weren’t his friends if he could join them.

  As everyone began to pair off, Tommy looked despairingly around him, waiting to find out who his partner would be. There was an even number of students in the class, so it was going to be somebody. But who?

  Place your bets, place your bets, everyone. Which unlucky bastard is gonna be paired off with the weirdo? Will it be Jeff Sadecki? Will it be Randy Walsh? Maybe Misty Quigley will have her turn- 

  “Excuse me.”

  The voice was so quiet, Tommy almost didn’t hear it. But he knew – instantly – who it belonged to.

  As he turned around to look at Natalie Scatorccio, he knew the surprise was showing on his face. When it came to group projects, she paired off with Kevyn Tan for… well, everything.

  But as Tommy looked around Scatorccio, he saw Tan with another student, a chubby boy whose name he couldn’t place. Ricky something?

  Oh. I get it. Your usual partner’s taken, so you had to ask someone else. That’s gotta sting.

  Scatorccio did indeed look quite upset. Had she and Tan had a fight, or something?

  Tommy decided not to ask. He needed a partner, and the burnout of his year was better than nothing.

  “You wanna partner up for this?” He asked her.

  Scatorccio’s eyes lit up, and she quickly sat down next to him before he could change his mind.

  “Thanks”, he heard her mumble.

  “No problem.”

  000000000000000000000000

  The next time Shauna was alone with Tommy in her house, she told him what had happened.

  “We were seen?”

  “Yep”, Shauna said, crossing her arms. “And based on the way things are going, it’s probably only a matter of time before it happens again, so…”

  She hesitated. “Would you like to go to the Winter Formal together? We can say you asked me to go, and then you asked me out on a date afterwards.”

  Tommy nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I bet my mom will just love fitting me for a suit. She’s been asking to for years now.”

  Of course, Shauna was aware that Helen Scott was the best seamstress in town. She could vividly remember Jackie screeching with delight when Helen fitted her for the dress she wore at Junior Prom.

  That particular dance sat at the back of Shauna’s mind for all the wrong reasons. At Jeff’s request, Shauna had been paired up with Randy, much to her disgust, and the moron had actually tried to kiss her at the end of the night.

  Shauna had turned him down as politely as she could, for Jackie’s sake, but it had been an effort for her not to vomit.

    000000000000000000000000

  Helen Scott was indeed thrilled when Tommy told her he needed a tuxedo for the upcoming Formal. She took several days to put it together, and even though Tommy was never a big fan of formal clothes, he couldn’t deny it fit him well, as he looked himself in the mirror.

  Huh. He’d always dismissed sewing as a hobby, but maybe it could actually prove useful in the future.

  “Hey, Mom?”

  “Yes, darling?”

  “After the Formal… would it be alright if… you taught me how to sew? I think… I think it could be good for me.”

  Helen Scott responded to this with enthusiastic delight, and Tommy wondered if maybe he should be careful what he wished for in the future.

  000000000000000000000000

  Though Shauna would never say it out loud, she thought she looked beautiful in her deep-blue dress.

  Tommy had clearly told his mother that she was his date, because when Shauna walked into her dress shop, Helen Scott’s eyes had lit up like firecrackers.

  “Hello, Shauna. So nice to see you! Well, come on, come on, let’s get you started!”

  “Er- I- uh-”, Shauna stammered, struggling to get the words out as Helen took both her hands, leading her towards one of the fitting rooms.

  When she and Tommy walked into the dance hall together, she saw everyone’s eyes turn to both of them in shock. Clearly, nobody expected them to be together.

  Nobody except Jackie, that is. The day after their agreement, Shauna ‘accidentally’ let slip to her that Tommy had asked her to the dance, to which Jackie had responded with every appearance of happiness, though Shauna knew her well enough by now to know that Jackie was trying to make amends for her criticism of Tommy.

  The night actually ended up being quite fun, with drinking and dancing and laughter all around, which culminated in Shauna having sex with Tommy in the back of his car. Twice. She couldn’t help herself- it really was an incredibly fun night.

  The next Monday at school, Shauna told Jackie that Tommy officially asked her out after the dance, and she had said yes.

  They two of them went on Jackie’s desired double date with her and Jeff to the local bowling alley, where to Shauna’s delight, she and Tommy absolutely crushed their opponents.

  Jackie gave off every appearance of being happy for Shauna, but once again, Shauna saw right through it.

  Jackie was terrified by this recent turn of events. Shauna had an official boyfriend now, one that was nowhere near Jackie’s social circle. Which meant Jackie couldn’t control him. Which meant Jackie might lose control of Shauna, too.

  If she hadn’t already lost control of her months ago, Shauna might have almost felt sorry for the person she now considered her former best friend.

  000000000000000000000000

  The soccer season officially began in the new year, and Shauna was pleased to find out that she had qualified for the position of centre midfielder for the Yellowjackets’ varsity team.

  Many of the other varsity players had been her friends for years. Taissa was another midfielder; Van Palmer was the new goalie. Jackie took the position of striker, to the surprise of absolutely nobody.

  The position that reaps the glory of another’s effort. Could you BE more typical? Shauna wondered.

  The new assistant coach of the varsity team was Ben Scott, Tommy’s older brother, who had been Shauna’s coach last year. He was as kind and gentle as Tommy, so Shauna had no complaints about his new position.

  To Shauna’s surprise, however, Natalie Scatorccio took the position of right winger. Shauna was aware, of course, that she had paired off with Tommy for the group English project last year. Shauna wasn’t in Tommy’s English class, so he had to pair off with somebody, of course. But did it really have to be the burnout?

  The project was long over, but Shauna had been discreetly keeping an eye on Natalie ever since- especially once Tommy told her that Natalie had actually been genuinely helpful during the project, for which they had gotten an A.

  Natalie Scatorccio was not an A student. C student, yes, with maybe an occasional B. But an A grade? No. Something was up, and Shauna didn’t like it one bit.

  Still, Natalie did prove useful throughout the spring, as the Yellowjackets began mounting victory after victory against rival schools.

  As their winning streak continued, Shauna and Tommy’s relationship continued to blossom. He really made for an excellent boyfriend- he was punctual, he came to every one of her games, he was smart and kind and polite to every one of her teammates at the parties and gatherings they went to- which Shauna wished she could be happy about.

  Unfortunately, as they drew closer and closer to graduation, Shauna began to see the end of her and Tommy’s relationship in sight. Despite her trying to convince him to at least attempt to apply for Brown, he was still hell-bent on joining the Army once they graduated.

  Unfortunately, in April this led to their very first fight at Tommy’s house, which ended with Shauna hurriedly leaving in tears.

  The next day at school, Shauna avoided Tommy as best she could despite his efforts to speak with her. Unfortunately, he knew where she lived, so after school he simply followed her home, knocking on the front door.

  Reluctantly, Shauna let him in, where to her surprise, Tommy presented her with a plan.

  “I’ll try to join a unit that’s close to Brown when I graduate from training. My dad still has some pull; he should be able to wrangle it.”

  “R-really? You… you would do that for me?”

  Tommy’s expression softened. “Of course I would, Shauna. I love you.”

  Shauna started to cry. “I love you, too.”

  She kissed him desperately, and before long they were fucking each other as hard as possible, Tommy bending her over the kitchen table and pounding her so viciously, Shauna could barely even breathe as she clung on to the table for dear life.

  It just felt so good when he fucked her. It was a good thing her mother wasn’t home, because Shauna spent the next hour or so screwing her boyfriend in every room in the house, begging him to keep going. His stamina never ceased to amaze her.

  Eventually, they ended up on the floor of the living room, stark naked and covered in sweat. How many rounds had they gone? Four? Five? Their clothes were scattered all over the place, to Shauna’s amusement.

  Shauna knew her mother would be home soon, but she had to have Tommy just one more time, so she asked him to carry her to the bedroom.

  Once he did so, though, cradling her ass as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, Shauna silently pointed towards her parents’ room. Tommy looked startled, but did as she asked.

  It was the first action this room had seen in quite a while. Though Shauna hated talking about it, her parents had divorced some time ago, not long after Tommy started attending Shauna’s school.

  Shauna knew it was wrong, but she loved the naughty feeling she got at doing it in the room where her father used to sleep.

  As Tommy tipped her over on to the bed and starts thrusting in and out of her, gently at first, then harder and faster at her request, Shauna’s mind briefly drifted to what her dad would think if he could see her like this, as the sounds from her and Tommy’s slapping flesh filled the room.

  You left me behind, Shauna thought, as she pulled Tommy down to kiss her. At least now I’ve found somebody who won’t. 

  Thanks to Tommy’s talented fingers, Shauna came fairly quickly, so when she heard Tommy about to reach his own climax, she had him pull out of her as she took off his condom and finished him off with her hands, closing her eyes as he came all over her face and chest.

  As Tommy stared at her in shock, she lanced her throat with his beautiful cock, swallowing what remained on it.

  “Jesus, Shauna.”

  “Just wanted to show you what you mean to me”, she shrugged, as Tommy shook his head in disbelief.

  000000000000000000000000

  As April became May, Shauna still hadn’t told Jackie that she had no intention of following her to Rutgers. She told herself that it was because she didn’t want to mess with the team dynamic, but she was lying to herself, and deep down, she knew it too.

  Although Jackie had repeatedly annoyed her nonstop over the last year with her incessant blabbering about a future Shauna didn’t want... she was still reluctant to destroy their friendship.

  Eventually, Shauna decided to tell her when and if she got an acceptance letter from Brown, so she put it aside and focused on the games ahead of them.

  Eventually, the day came when they played the final team standing in their way of going to Nationals, and Shauna was overjoyed when Jackie scored the winning goal at the last second.

  Tommy rewarded her for the team’s victory by sneaking through Shauna’s window and going down on her that very night, and Shauna felt like she was floating on a cloud as she came all over Tommy’s face.

  Right now, everything was perfect… and it became even more perfect when Tommy told her the following Wednesday after school that he was accompanying her to Nationals.

  Shauna was so ecstatic, she dragged him to the janitor’s supply closet and fucked him right then and there, screaming in joy against his mouth as he pounded her senseless.

  As they climaxed together, Shauna felt the condom within herself, and wished, desperately, that she could know what it would be like for Tommy to finish inside her without one, just once.

  Shauna put it aside and focused on practice that afternoon, where she was horrified to see Taissa breaking Allie’s leg… and guilty, too, for going along with Taissa’s plan to freeze her out.

  That Friday, Tommy drove her to the party in the woods. When he asked if she was okay, she asked him to pull the car over the side of the road.

  After Shauna tearfully confessed the truth to him, Tommy was surprised, but reassured her that what happened to Allie wasn’t her fault.

  Shauna was so grateful to hear him say it, she leaned over to kiss him desperately, then fumbled with his trousers. She needed a distraction to take her mind off of things.

  As Shauna sucked Tommy Scott off in his car, she wondered what life would look like for her without him. Nothing like it did now, that was for sure.

  Shauna ended up swallowing Tommy’s load down to the last drop, as her mind briefly drifted to Jackie. Her (former) best friend had told her earlier that week that she had finally lost her virginity to Jeff, then asked Shauna how things were going with her own boyfriend.

  Shauna knew Jackie was jealous. She tried not to show it, but she was. Shauna had told her back in March that she and Tommy had ‘finally’ lost their virginities to each other, and Jackie had been on edge ever since.

  She simply couldn’t stand the idea of Shauna doing something before her. There was no future where Shauna wanted to live with somebody who felt that way, and as Tommy restarted the car, Shauna decided right then and there that she and Jackie would not continue their friendship after high school, Brown or no Brown.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy drove her back home from the party, Shauna’s head was spinning, both from the alcohol and Jackie telling her for the millionth time how much she was looking forward to Rutgers.

  “Pull over.”

  Tommy did so, and they clambered into the backseat.

  Shauna simply couldn’t wait any more, as their clothes came off and their skin pressed against each other. A thought briefly crossed her mind about what would happen if the cops caught them completely naked, but Shauna needed to feel all of Tommy against her.

  When Tommy reached into his wallet for a condom, Shauna shook her head.

  “Uh… Shauna-”

  “Please”, she whispered. “Please, Tommy, just once. Just one time, please. It’ll be okay.”

  Tommy hesitated, then nodded, and as he slid into her with no condom to separate them for the very first time, Shauna felt a tear come to her eye.

  She rode him hard in the backseat, screaming and writhing like a serpent as she directed Tommy to suck her tits as hard as he could, and as Tommy climaxed inside her, Shauna felt the last of her feelings for Jackie die right then and there.

  The feeling of Tommy’s seed leaking out of her was so beautiful, Shauna asked him to do it again.

  As her breath fogged up the car window, her hands pressing against it while Tommy fucked her from behind this time, Shauna knew she had found the person she wanted to spend her life with.

  Still feeling a bit naughty, she asked Tommy to only put his shirt back on, and as they started the drive back to her home, Shauna sat in the front seat, still naked, as she leaned over and sucked Tommy off while he drove.

  He came in her mouth as they pulled into her driveway. But Shauna still wasn’t done with him.

  000000000000000000000000

  Breathing hard, Tommy tried to recover his senses as Shauna pulled her mouth off his cock, then shocked him by opening the car door and striding right towards her house, ignoring the fact that she was still stark naked. She was, of course, right out in the open, and though it was nighttime, she was still easily visible in the moonlight, which put her perfect ass on full display for Tommy as he saw his girlfriend walk towards her front door.

  Realising she wanted him to follow her, Tommy scrambled after Shauna as she dug around under the pot plant for the spare key, letting herself in as he came up behind her, carrying his pants and shoes.

  Once they got to her room, Shauna turned around and lay right on the bed, spreading her legs for him.

  “Again”, she said, as Tommy removed his shirt, sliding effortlessly back into his girlfriend, and making her moan like an animal as he began to thrust into her again as hard as he could.

  000000000000000000000000

  They ended up having sex three more times that night before finally passing out, simply unable to go any more. Tommy was still inside Shauna when they did so, as neither of them were able to move away from each other. Not that Shauna minded, of course.

  When morning came, Tommy disentangled himself from Shauna, only for her to pull him into the shower for one last, quick fuck before he left, throwing her right leg over his hip as he entered her again.

  Once they were done, Shauna quietly pulled her pyjamas on and followed Tommy out to the car to retrieve her clothes.

  After kissing her boyfriend goodbye, promising to see him soon at the airport, Shauna began the trip back to her house, stopping only to check the mailbox.

  When she saw the envelope from Brown, she knew what was inside. Even then, the knowledge that she had gotten in, that all her hard work had finally paid off, was a shock to her.

  Still, at least it meant the future ahead was clear. Of course, she would wait until after Nationals to tell Jackie. It would be foolish to do so before the competition was over.

  Shauna felt like she was in a daze, she was so happy. She had a boyfriend who loved her, and she had gotten into the college of her dreams.

  Unfortunately, Shauna was so overwhelmed with the knowledge of her success… she completely forgot about her Plan B pills, sitting on her nightstand.

  She would regret that, in time. She would regret a lot of things.

  But most of all… she would regret what their time in the wilderness would do to them. To her, to Tommy.

  And to Jackie, of course. Yes, her most of all.

In case you didn't realise, Shauna is a much, MUCH different girlfriend to Natalie.

Speaking of which, the circumstances behind Tommy and Natalie meeting each other in this AU are the same as when they met in my original story. I hope you enjoyed the glimpses into how things were between them before they began their relationship.

Anyway, that's the first part done! Hopefully I will be able to publish the next part soon! I will try to keep it to one chapter per season, ideally.

Let me know what you think!

[scoobydoowantssancks]

i brought you soup.

you're special to me.

Alice Cullen

Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs, GN!Reader

You never realized how much you took breathing for granted until the only way you could get air into your lungs was by gaping like a fish out of water.

You sucked air into your mouth, nearly managing to choke on nothing, and contemplated why life was so cruel. Sure, you were more than glad to have a chance to skip work, but it was at the cost of a stuffed nose and an itchy, raw throat. 

Shaking a tissue free, you blew your nose for what felt like the fiftyth time in the span of an hour. You groaned and weakly tossed the tissue into the overflowing trash bin before tugging the mountain of blankets further over your body.

Your mother had all but shoved the spoonful of medicine down your throat the second you finished breakfast, but you barely felt its effect half an hour in. You sighed heavily. All you could do was ride the wave until the illness finished its attack on your body.

"(Y/N)!" Your mother hollered from further in the house. "I'm off to work, but your friend is here!"

Friend?

What friend?

You squinted at the clock on your nightstand and frowned. All your friends were supposed to be at work or at school, and none of your coworkers had even bothered to check in through text or call. You forced yourself to sit up, ensuring to tug one of the blankets over your shoulders, and leaned back into the headboard. Was one of them skipping work or school and using you as their excuse or alibi? You rolled your eyes. It definitely sounded like something those idiots would do.

The door to your bedroom swung open, and you blinked your watery eyes until your vision cleared. No, it wasn't one of your friends skipping their biology class or calling off work to hang out. It was none other than Alice Cullen standing beneath your doorway with a big smile plastered on her face and a container in her hands.

You stared at her, half-certain you were having some weird fever dream, but then she walked in, her footsteps so light the floorboards didn't creak beneath her weight. 

"I heard you were sick, so I brought you soup." She explained casually, as if her popping by your house was a daily occurrence, and gently set the container of soup down on your nightstand before popping off the lid. "Courtesy of Esme, of course," She laughed, an absurdly airy and pretty sound. It sounded like an inside joke you weren't fully in on. "Butternut squash soup, just for you. She hopes you enjoy it since she doesn't get to make soup very often."

Why weren't you surprised the Cullens had a perfect immune system?

Smoothing out the underside of her dress, Alice took a delicate seat on the edge of your bed and crossed one leg over the other. Everything Alice (or any of her siblings) did was effortlessly graceful, delicate, like she was meant to be some kind of disney princess that'd put Aurora or Snow White to shame.

Her big, oddly amber eyes swept over your bedroom with curiosity, her eyes wide with curiosity and lips curled upward sweetly. Meanwhile, you racked your mind for the last encounter you had with the short girl.

Senior year at Forks, just the year prior, when she proved smart enough to be in one of the advanced classes despite being a junior. The first day of school, she'd floated into the first and only class you shared with her since the Cullens moved into your town. She looked blissful, always brimming with life and constantly smiling.

The others whispered about her, muttered how 'weird' she was in comparison to her quiet brother, Edward, and her aloof sister, Rosalie. If she heard the murmurs, she hardly showed it, and instead plopped down at your table with a friendly smile and a chirped greeting.

You barely interacted with her, though. At minimum, you spoke two words to her each day, almost always a hello and a goodbye. The only time you had fallen into conversation with her had been to complete a project, something quick and easy, but required listening to someone else's opinion.

She was warm and bubbly, but occasionally spaced out as if her mind grew occupied with something else that left her trailing off before she snapped back to reality. She was a little odd, sure, but harmless and much more approachable than the rest of her siblings.

You wouldn't describe her as your 'friend', really, but you couldn't blame her if she considered you her friend, given how the rest of the school population, apart from Bella Swan, treated her and her family. 

"Uh," You cleared your throat, bringing her attention back onto you. "Thanks."

"Of course." She nodded rapidly, strands of her wild, spiky, black hair shaking with her movements. Her head lolled to the side, and her peach-tinted lips puckered out pitifully. "Oh, you poor thing. You look really bad. Are you sure you don't want to check in with the hospital? Carlisle would be more than happy to help."

You shook your head and eyed the appetizing-looking soap. You were sure it smelled just as good as it looked, but your nose refused to clear long enough to catch a whiff. "It's just a cold." 

Alice hummed. "Do you want me to feed you?"

"Wha-" You startled, blinking at her rapidly as you wriggled your arms free from the blankets. "N-No, it's fine, I can- I can do it myself-"

"It's no problem!" Alice hopped up onto her feet, the big smile returning to her face. "I wanna do this for you. You're special to me, you know? Nobody is as nice to me as you were." 

That sounded incredibly depressing. You tried not to wince. "But..." You swallowed, as best as you could when your throat was hurting like hell, and gave a defeated sigh. "Alright." 

Alice's smile turned into a satisfied grin. "Great! Let me get a spoon and I'll be right back."

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Twenty-One

WARNING: This chapter contains a moment, and references to even more moments, that could very easily fall under sexual assault. Read on at your discretion.

Author's Note: I have had some thoughts about various alternate scenarios for this AU Yellowjackets. What would you guys think about me doing a spin-off of various "What If" chapters?

For example, "What if Tommy's girlfriend was another Yellowjacket, instead of Natalie?" Or "What if Tommy wasn't on the plane when it crashed?". Or even "What if Tommy was a girl?". What would her name even be?

Things like that. Ideally they would only come to one-page, bulletpoint summaries, but if you gave me your suggestions I'd be happy to write what I think would happen. Let me know if you want me to write any AUs to this particular AU.

Read on for the upcoming nuptials.

But be warned… this is the longest, most detailed chapter I have written yet, and what follows is DEFINITELY not for children.

You may think you understand where I am going with this. And you would be wrong. You would be so incredibly wrong.

Anyway, don't let me keep you waiting. Read on… if you dare.

“Travis?”

  Travis was startled by Lottie approaching him.

  “Um… yeah?”

  “Would you… would you like to join me? I was thinking of going to meditate in the forest.”

  Travis hadn’t done one of Lottie’s sessions since before the cabin burned. Lottie hadn’t asked him to join in since. Why was she asking now?

  “Aren’t Tommy and Natalie doing that with you?”

  “No, uh… I think they’re done with it. But… it might help you. You know… with everything.”

  By which, you mean the movement you started which ended with my girlfriend being cooked and eaten?

  Travis didn’t say it, though. He didn’t have the energy to do so, and he knew Lottie well enough by now to realise she wouldn’t leave him alone until she got what she wanted.

  Reluctantly, he followed her into the forest, where Lottie asked him to set up a small fire. Lottie produced a water bottle and a cup as the flames began to emerge from the small pile of sticks.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making tea. It’ll help to relax you. Would you gather some more kindling?”

  Travis set off to find some, and when he came back, the cup was already lying on the fire. It wasn’t long before the tea began to bubble, and the smell hit Travis’ nostrils.

  “What the hell kind of tea is this?” He wrinkled his nose.

  “It’s, uh… a mixture of sorts. Thought maybe I should experiment.”

  Something at the back of Travis’ mind was telling him something didn’t add up, but he shrugged it off. The others had seen them go off together. There was no way Lottie could poison him and get away with it.

  While a part of Travis would always hate Tommy for shooting Mari, deep down, it was almost a relief to know that there was a killer in charge of their group. It all but guaranteed the rest of them would behave themselves.

  The tea still tasted funny as he drank it. It was oddly… familiar? What the hell was this? Clover? Stinging Nettle? They had all drunk a lot of different teas since their time in the wilderness began, but Travis couldn’t quite put his finger on this one.

  As they began to meditate, Travis allowed himself to relax, and let his mind drift.

  Mari… Tommy… winter is coming… it’ll probably kill us the second time arou-

  Then Travis was dragged out of his thoughts as his head started to spin, and he realised what had happened.

  Shrooms. Of course. How could I be so stupid-

  The forest began to explode in a series of colours and shapes.

  “Ugggghhhh….”

  Travis tried to stand up, but fell straight back down.

  “What the hell did you do-”

  “It’s alright”, Lottie whispered to him. “Breathe. Just… breathe.”

  “Mngh”, Travis groaned.

  “Stop fighting. Let it flow through you. Connect with it.”

  Travis flicked his eyes towards Lottie, and to his astonishment, he saw that she was naked, her clothes scattered on the moss nearby.

  Travis could only stare at Lottie in shock as he lay down on the grass. He was so surprised and confused and overwhelmed by what was going on, he didn’t even notice Lottie’s hands unbuckling his trousers.

  But as he felt the warm wetness of her mouth descending around his penis, he threw his head back and moaned.

  What… what… 

  Then Travis looked around Lottie’s naked form, and saw Mari standing behind her as Lottie continued to suck him off. Travis gazed at his girlfriend in shock… then became even more shocked as he saw her nod in approval.

  000000000000000000000000

  Of course, Lottie had never done this before to anyone. She had, on occasion, practiced on a banana at home, and paid attention whenever she heard the girls whispering about it in the hallway. But she had never, ever, done it to another human being. Travis tasted… musky was probably the right word, and she was relieved when he was sufficiently hard enough for her to move on to the next step.

  Lottie knew enough to understand this would probably hurt for her, but she had to do as the wilderness willed.

  “Travis, I…” she began. “I realise this might be too soon. I know you’re still grieving Mari, but-”

  “It’s okay. She wants me too.”

  The smile on Travis’ face took Lottie by surprise, but she quickly moved to straddle him before he could change his mind.

  Lottie had always visualised what her first time would be like. Before the crash, she had imagined it happening in her bedroom, with lit candles and rose petals and soft music, and a kind, gentle man taking her to heaven and back.

  This was about as far from that fantasy as one could get, and as Lottie felt Travis slide inside her, she winced in pain as she rocked herself above him.

  What followed wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad, either. It just kind of… was.

  Lottie had heard enough of Natalie and Tommy making love in the cabin pantry to know that sex could be magical with the right person.

  What she was doing with Travis didn’t feel magical. He lay there flat as a board while she rode him, and as she felt him climax inside her within a few minutes, Lottie felt… empty, somehow.

  Is this really it? This is what sex is supposed to be?

  Not for the first time, Lottie wished that Tommy was hers, to touch and kiss and make love to whenever she wished. He would not have been so passive, of that she was sure. She had heard Natalie’s moans far too often to think otherwise.

  As Lottie clambered off of Travis, feeling his seed drip down her legs, she backed herself up against a tree and used her fingers to finish herself off, while Travis continued lying where he was.

  Her orgasm eventually came, but was so small and dismal Lottie did not feel any less… the word dispirited came to mind.  

  Though she might be carrying the Child of the Wilderness now, it was hard to consider what had just happened anything less than a disappointment.

  Lottie sighed, then started to redress herself.

  If only I had gone after Tommy, back home. With him, this might have actually been… I don’t know. Fun? 

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie was in a daze of happiness as she held Tommy’s hand all the way back to the clearing. She was so excited, she started to jump up and down as they grew closer.

  “I can’t believe this is happening!” She said to him, then squealed happily as Tommy dropped the deer he was carrying, then swept her up into his arms and kissed her.

  “Me neither”, Tommy said, and Natalie wiped the tears off his cheeks as he did the same to her.

  As they arrived at the clearing, they saw some of the girls seated around the campfire.

  “Good job”, she heard Taissa say. “Do you think we should mix it with the rabbit tonight-”

  “TOMMY AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!” Natalie screamed at the top of her lungs, starting to jump up and down again.

  As a look of shock spread across Tai’s face, there was a moment of silence, before everyone in the camp started clapping and cheering.

  “So, you finally manned up and decided to make an honest woman out of her?” Van quipped at Tommy.

  “Actually, she proposed to me”, Tommy said.

  “NICE!” Van said, giving Natalie a high-five. “Good for you, Nat. Fuck tradition!”

  Natalie giggled, then started crying with happiness again as the group all started hugging her and Tommy.

  The rest of the day was filled with discussion about what the wedding would look like. Who would be the bridesmaids, who would officiate, what Natalie’s dress would look like.

  What would her dress look like? Tommy was the best sewer among them, but Natalie wanted to do this part herself.

  And also, she wanted to surprise him. With everything he had done for the rest of them, he had earned the right to be surprised.

  The next few weeks were a blur of preparation for the ceremony. Naturally, the girls wanted to be properly dressed up, so Tommy was busier than he had even been before. Many of the girls’ dresses had unfortunately burnt in the cabin fire, so Tommy was hard at work making new ones out of animal skins.

  Natalie wasn’t sure how she felt about a bunch of hormonal teenage girls parading around half-naked in front of her future husband as he fitted them for the dresses they would wear for their upcoming nuptials, but brushed it aside. It was her he was marrying, not them.

  Shauna wouldn’t join them, however. She had saved her dress from the fire when they had all scrambled out of the burning cabin, and though she wasn’t the only Yellowjacket to have done so, she was the only one to refuse the offer of a new dress, stating that she didn’t feel comfortable with Tommy fitting her for one. Natalie thought that was fair enough, but couldn’t shake the feeling there was another reason for it, one that Shauna didn’t feel like telling anyone.

  Even Lottie joined in, to Natalie’s surprise. She had spent the last few weeks doing meditation sessions in the forest with Travis, but every time the two of them came back from said sessions, Lottie seemed deeply unhappy, while Travis, on the other hand, was showing signs of life for the first time since Mari’s death.

  “I’m happy for you both”, Lottie said to Natalie. “You two belong together; we all know it.”

  “Uh… thanks?” Natalie replied. She was surprised by the change in Lottie’s demeanour, but pleased as well. Maybe… maybe she regretted all the craziness she was responsible for taking place during winter.

  Eventually, six weeks after the proposal, everything was ready. The decorations were hung, the food prepared… and Natalie’s dress was finally complete.

  000000000000000000000000

  The day started with breakfast, with Natalie sitting very close to Tommy, subtly rubbing her leg against his.

  Tommy struggled not to feel even more deeply for his soon-to-be wife. They had initiated a no-sex pact two weeks ago to save up for the big night, which had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it was all Tommy could do not to bend Natalie over the table, and from the look in her eyes, he could tell she wouldn’t be opposed to it.

  As the morning went on, he could feel Natalie getting even more excited, and he struggled to stuff down his own expressions of joy.

  They had decided to have a game of something called Capture the Bone to mark the occasion, and everybody gathered as Van laid out the rules.  

  “Alright everyone, listen up!” Van spoke. “In the spirit of things, the lovebirds will be our opposing captains.”

  She grinned cheekily at Tommy, who looked warily at Natalie. She was smiling like a cat who’d got the cream, but not in a nice way. The gaze in her eyes was distinctly evil, and Tommy knew she was looking forward to this.

  Sorry, sweetheart, but you’re not the only one here who’s competitive. 

  A plan was already starting to brew in Tommy’s mind, and he didn’t think his fiancé would like it one little bit.

  “As the neutral party, Travis will take this”, Van said, producing the bone necklace she always wore and giving it to the older Martinez brother.

  “He will go into the forest by himself and hide it. If you find the bone, all you have to do is bring it back to the circle of stones we made for your team, and you win. If you are tagged by a member of the opposing team before you can get to the stones, you have to give the bone to said opposing member, who will be given a five-second head start before you or any other member of your team can chase them. Everyone good with that?”

  Everybody nodded.

  “Alright”, Van grinned. “Captains, pick your teams.”

  Natalie went first. “Tai.”

  Taissa joined her, and Tommy knew who his first pick would be.

  “Van.”

  A chorus of ooohs went around as Van joined Tommy.

  “The couples are splitting up!” Van said dramatically.

  As the selections went on, Van subtly directed Tommy who to pick for their seven-person team, which ended up being Gen, Akilah and Robin, with Misty and Javi as well. Not bad, but not exactly a varsity team.

  In fact, with the exception of Van, Natalie had all the varsity players… and Tommy knew how much the varsity team hated to lose. Taissa, Lottie and Shauna certainly did not look like they were in any mood to lose today.

  Especially Shauna. Everyone had initially assumed she would be too busy looking after Jeremy to take part in the game, but she’d been raring to go from the moment it was announced, so at Lottie’s suggestion, the sleeping Jeremy had been handed over to Travis instead, who slowly shuffled off into the forest.

  The JV players Britt, Melissa and Julia rounded out Natalie’s team, and though Tommy didn’t know too much about them, he recognised the happy looks on their faces as Natalie picked them.

  They thought they were on the better team.

  Let’s see if we can’t make them regret that.

  000000000000000000000000

  “You looking forward to losing?” Natalie asked, grinning at Tommy while their teams began to head off.

  “I was about to ask you the same thing”, Tommy replied, making her laugh.

  “I’ll tell you what, though”, Tommy said, and Natalie was surprised to see his face turn serious.

  “Uh… yes?”

  “I’m willing to make you a deal. If you win… I kiss you. If I win-” and here Tommy grinned, “you kiss me.”

  “How about we kiss each other now, and then again after the game?” Natalie smiled at her fiancé, leaning in.

  “Sounds good to me”, Tommy said, and as their lips met, Natalie felt her desire for him surging through her body, and she started grinding against him hard-

  “Save it for later!” Natalie heard Shauna snap, and she reluctantly pulled away. Both she and Tommy were breathing hard, and Natalie saw his desire for her written across his face.

  Oh, God. Why did they have to make that stupid no-sex pact?

  In that moment, Natalie wanted nothing more than to push Tommy down onto the forest floor and ride him until neither of them could walk, but she stuffed her desire for her fiancé down as she followed her team into the woods.

  There was no time for lovemaking now. She had a game to win.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Travis carried a sleeping Jeremy in the improvised shoulder carrier, his mind wondered to the ‘meditation sessions’ he had been having with Lottie. On the one hand, he was getting to have sex with yet another gorgeous girl, the third one since the crash.

  On the other… both of his previous partners had ended up dead, then cooked and eaten by the group. Travis couldn’t help wondering if Lottie might be next.

  Though Travis had told Natalie he hadn’t seen Jackie sitting by the fire that fateful night, he had been lying through his teeth. In truth, the moment he had spied the Yellowjacket’s captain sitting outside, he had doubled back around to the cabin’s back door, hoping to put off the awkwardness developing between them in the wake of the doomcoming, at least until morning.

  When he had next seen Jackie in her fatally frostbitten state, the guilt he felt had been so overwhelming, he almost choked. He had barely been able to look at her, and after Tommy had stabbed Jackie to death, the relief Travis felt at avoiding any confrontation had immediately been followed by shame.

  With Mari, meanwhile… Travis knew they weren’t perfect. He knew that back home, Mari would barely have given him a second glance. He didn’t mind- if she was willing to have sex with him out here, Travis wasn’t going to say no.

  Travis had known Mari was firmly on Lottie’s side, but when she had set out with the others to hunt Natalie down, he had felt… disappointed, he supposed, that she couldn’t see how Tommy would react to them killing his girlfriend.

  And now, Natalie was Tommy’s fiancé. Travis had been surprised to hear she was the one to propose, but it seemed oddly fitting for Nat to do so.

  In their time in the wilderness, Travis’ long-standing crush on Natalie Scatorccio had never quite dissipated, but he knew it was no use. He would never have Natalie’s heart, not when she had so willingly given it to Tommy.

  Travis shook his head to clear it of his thoughts, as he placed the bone necklace on a tree stump, out in the open.

  Today was the day of Natalie’s wedding. He would try to keep up a positive attitude, for her sake at least.

  000000000000000000000000

  “You’re sure this will work?” Van asked.

  “Yes”, Tommy nodded. “Trust me, they’ll be too busy thinking you or me are the target to focus on anyone else.”

  “Alright then”, Van grinned. “Let’s do this.”

  Gen and Akilah stayed close to their stone circle, while the rest ventured out.

  “You guys stay here”, Van directed Javi and Robin, at a spot about a hundred metres from the circle, while she, Tommy and Misty walked slowly ahead towards a thick clump of brushes.

  Approaching the brush, Misty crouched down in them, while Tommy and his vice-captain forged ahead.

  “Keep your ears open”, Van said to Tommy, “if you hear or see anythi-”

  “I GOT IT!!!”

  Shit! Tommy thought, as he saw Shauna sprinting away carrying the bone necklace.

  “Jesus, already?” He said, as Van bolted in Shauna’s direction.

  000000000000000000000000

  Back home, Van had always grumbled at the wind sprints Coach Martinez had made her do with the others. She was a goalkeeper, for God’s sake. When the hell would she be sprinting during a game?

  Now she thanked her lucky stars for the Coach’s belief in team training, as she quickly chased down Shauna and tagged her.

  “Fuck!” Shauna snapped, handing over the bone- just as Tai, Lottie and Nat emerged from the brush, each spouting a chillingly evil grin on their face.

  SHIT. It’s a trap. They were waiting for us-

  “One Mississippi”, Tai began. “Two Missisi-”

  But Van had already taken off, and it wasn’t long before she heard all of them chasing after her.

  As she heard them get closer, Van saw Tommy emerge from behind a tree, then stopped, drew back her hand and flung the bone necklace at him, a split second before Tai’s hand came down on her shoulder.

  “Dammit!” Her girlfriend swore, as Tommy caught the bone and began to run.

  “GO, TOM, GO!” Van screamed at him, as the rest of the girls gave chase.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy made a beeline for the thick clump of brushes, and as he ran straight into them, he heard the girls not far behind.

  Shit, he thought. Let’s hope they don’t spot-

  “Tommy, here!” He heard Misty whisper nearby, and he headed towards the Yellowjacket’s equipment manager, holding the bone necklace out to her.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie saw Tommy disappear into the brush, then come out the other side not long after.

  What was their game? Natalie didn’t think it was a coincidence that the other members of Tommy’s team hadn’t been sighted yet. But where the hell could they be?

  Then to Natalie’s surprise, Shauna took off like a woman possessed, heading in Tommy’s direction. They were all fast runners, to be sure, but this… Natalie had never seen Shauna move like this before.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy zig-zagged through the trees, hearing the girls following behind him.

  Fuck, I hate running. Fuck, I hate running. Fuck, I hate-

  Then Shauna shoulder-charged into Tommy, knocking the wind out of his stomach. He stumbled, but managed to keep his balance, before Shauna wrapped her arms around his legs.

  “Ow!” Tommy yelled as he crashed to the forest floor. “Alright, alright, I get it-”

  “GIVE IT TO ME!” Shauna screamed at him, scrabbling for Tommy’s closed fist- before sinking her teeth straight into it.

  “WHAT THE FUCK, SHIPMAN-”

  Then Shauna pulled her teeth off of Tommy’s hand, and he realised his mistake as her brown eyes narrowed at him.

  Shipman. Jackie’s pet name for Shauna. Until Tommy killed her, of course.

  Oops. 

  He knew he had crossed a line calling Shauna by her last name, and Shauna… did not react well to it.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Natalie saw the two of them come into her view, she felt her mouth drop open.

  Shauna was advancing on Tommy, who was backing away, and punching every part of him she could reach while screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK-”

  “Oh, what is even happening right now?” Natalie heard Van call out, as the girls separated the two of them.

  “What the fuck, Shauna?!” Natalie screamed at the other girl.

  “He wouldn’t give it up!” Shauna snarled.

  “I was going to, and then you fucking bit me!” Tommy snapped back.

  She what? Natalie looked at Tommy’s closed right fist, which had visible tooth-marks on it.

  Jesus. 

  “Alright”, Natalie said, trying to diffuse the tension. “Just give her the bone, Tommy.”

  Tommy hesitated- and then to her surprise, he and Van started to smirk.

  “I don’t have it”, he grinned, opening both of his hands to reveal… nothing. Nothing at all.

  What in the actual fuck-

  Then Misty crashed through the trees, her eyes widening as she caught sight of them.

  “It’s fucking Quigley!” Shauna bellowed, chasing after the other girl.

  The brush. Of course. How could I be so blind? Natalie wondered, as she chased after Misty.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy chased after the group, watching as the girls drew closer to Misty, before Javi came into view.

  Tommy grinned, as he realised what was about to happen.

  Misty chucked the bone at Javi as Shauna drew level with her. Shauna didn’t break her stride, heading towards the younger Martinez brother, who threw the bone necklace ahead to Robin as the stone circle came into view.

  Robin chucked the bone to Akilah, just as Gen emerged, stepping into the circle.

  As Akilah threw the bone to Gen, who caught it and began to jump up and down, Tommy felt Van’s arms go around him, as he lifted the Yellowjacket’s goalkeeper clear off her feet and spun her around.

  “We win!” He yelled, grinning broadly.

  “That was fucking awesome!” Van said, pulling away from him. “How the hell did you even come up with that?!”

  Tommy shrugged. “Well, I fucking hate running, so I just thought ‘what’s the easiest way to do this without getting too tired?’ and went from there.”

  “Well, it worked!” Van laughed at him, as they approached the circle. “I hate running too, though, so I can’t complain.”

  As they passed by Shauna, Tommy saw the look of resentment in her eyes as he felt his hand throb.

  “No hard feelings?” He asked, holding out his hand for her to shake. But Shauna ignored his outstretched hand and stomped away, and despite the fact that Tommy had just led his team to victory, he got the sinking feeling that he may have made the conflict between him and Shauna even worse.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie was gutted at losing, but she couldn’t deny Tommy had had a good plan.

  As he drew up to her, she silently stepped forward and gave him the kiss they had promised each other.

  Despite the loss, it made her feel a little bit better, and she wound her arms around her fiancé’s neck as she smiled against his mouth.

  “We all good?” Tommy asked her.

  “Couldn’t be better”, Natalie grinned, kissing him again.

  As they started to head back to the clearing, Natalie reached down to take Tommy’s right hand, and she saw him flinch.

  Shit. She had forgotten about Shauna biting him, and quickly circled around Tommy to take his left hand.

  “You alright?” She asked him.

  “Yeah. More annoying than painful, really.”

  Tommy smiled at her, but Natalie still felt bad. He may have been acting as a decoy, but Shauna had still taken things too far with him.

  Natalie hoped that would be the end of it for today. She really, really did. It was her wedding day, for God’s sake, and despite her typical tomboyish approach to life, Natalie found herself desperately hoping Shauna wouldn’t do anything else to ruin it.

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  To say that Shauna was in a bad mood would have been putting it mildly. After everything that had happened to them… she just wanted a win. That was all.

  Just one win. Was that too much to ask? It was for Tommy Scott, apparently.

  As she walked into the clearing, she saw Travis standing nearby, holding Jeremy.

  Travis went to hand her son over, but Shauna ignored them both. She couldn’t even look at Jeremy right now.

  Stepping back into her shelter, she started to scribble in her journal as she felt the tears come to her eyes.

  How could I have ever believed I would make a good mother? How can my own son love a guy who isn’t even his father more than me?

  They all think he’s so PERFECT. Tommy fucking Scott. The murderer of Jackie and Mari. The brother of the guy who tried to BURN US ALL ALIVE. 

  Is Coach Scott even alive, right now? He must be. He knows everything about survival that Tommy does. And Tommy knows where he is. He MUST know.

  He’ll kill those who cross him, but hide those who would kill us. How is that fair?

  And Natalie’s even worse. She’s marrying a MURDERER, and she won’t hear a word against him-

  Then Shauna flinched as her pencil broke.

  “FUCK!” She screamed. That was my last one.

  Now Shauna couldn’t even write in her journal anymore, and the tears began to flow from her eyes as they dripped onto the pages below.

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  Natalie heard Shauna’s scream coming from her shelter, and flinched as it woke Jeremy, who began to cry as Travis held him. Jeremy looked around until his eyes fell on Tommy, holding his tiny arms out.

  Tommy reached over to take Jeremy, who chuckled happily, and Natalie felt the same pull in her gut she always felt when she saw them together.

  One day. One day, soon. 

  A little while later, Tommy was still busy with Jeremy, so Natalie, Van and Tai headed off to her and Tommy’s shelter by themselves.

  They had decided to have weekly meetings in the shelter to discuss what was going on, but today Natalie was impatient to get it over with. She was getting married in a few hours, and she wanted to put the meeting behind her as quickly as she could. 

  “The hunting’s still good”, she began. “The deer are running like crazy in the north valley-”

  “Have you seen anything else while you were out there?” Tai asked.

  “Like what?”

  Natalie was confused, but she saw Van and Taissa exchange a look, and groaned as she knew what was coming.

  “Like murderous pyro tracks-”

  “Stop,” Natalie snapped. Today? They were doing this today?

  She supposed that with Tommy not attending this particular meeting, they had finally seen their chance to ask, but Natalie didn’t want to hear it.

  “There’s no way that he’s alive.”

  “Nat-”

  “We’ve scouted every inch of this place for miles. There’s no sign of him. Either he starved or froze to death. I’m telling you, Coach is dead.”

  The girls quickly changed the subject, but Natalie was still angry with them for ambushing her.

  Eventually the meeting ended, and Van walked out, but as Natalie went to follow her, Taissa spoke up.

  “Hey, Nat. Can we talk?”

  “About what?”

  “This thing between Shauna and Tommy?”

  “Shauna’s in a mood, and Tommy’s just excited about tonight. It’ll blow over.”

  “It’s not like the game was the first time. I really think you need to talk to them.”

  “And what?” Natalie scoffed. “Tell them to start liking each other or else? Maybe I should get them to say one nice thing about each other?”

  She paused. “Come on, Tai. We have actual life or death to deal with here.”

  “That’s my point, Nat. Maybe out here, it’s all life or death.”

  Tai hesitated, then spoke again.

  “Don’t forget what happened to Jackie.”

  Natalie felt the blood rush to her ears. “Tommy’s not gonna kill Shauna.”

  “I’m just saying-”

  “Well, I’m saying that’s enough”, Natalie snapped. “I’m not discussing this anymore. Not today.”

  Tai looked like she was going to argue further, then sighed and stepped out of Natalie’s shelter.

  Natalie loved Tommy. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

  But Taissa had planted a seed of doubt in her mind, and as Natalie’s thoughts drifted towards Tommy and Shauna, they went from hoping Shauna wouldn’t ruin her wedding day to wondering if she and Tommy wouldn’t end up killing each other in the end.

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  As the afternoon became the evening, Tommy stood at the end of the makeshift aisle they had constructed, with the ‘guests’ sitting in the plane chairs they had brought through.

  Natalie had picked Taissa as her maid of honour, and after some thought, Tommy had decided to ask Javi to be his best man. His thoughts had briefly drifted to asking Travis or even Van, but eventually decided that Javi attempting to save Natalie’s life when the girls were hunting her had earned him the honoured position.

  Tommy was dressed in the same formal clothes he had worn at the doomcoming, but was also wearing a brand-new cloak he had stitched together from the animal skins. He was holding a second cloak, meant for Natalie when she joined him.

  He wondered how she would be dressed, as he stood nervously at the altar, waiting for Natalie to emerge. She had been very insistent that he not help her with sewing it together, and he knew that several of the girls had helped, but he couldn’t help but wonder if-

  Then Tommy’s thoughts were cut off as Natalie emerged, and he immediately began to cry at the sight of his bride.

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  As Natalie began to walk to Tommy, the happy tears running down her cheeks, she was almost relieved to see that he was crying as well.

  She was dressed in a mixture of colours, taken from the animal skins and various fabrics they had salvaged from the cabin fire, combining them to give her a sleeveless dress of white, green, and blue that reached down to her ankles. Her headband, meanwhile, had been replaced with a crown of daisies that stood out against her dark hair. 

  Tommy looked so handsome. Van had cut his hair earlier that day, and she had trimmed his beard as best she could.

  Lottie, of all people, would be officiating them, and as Natalie drew up to Tommy, Tai moving to stand beside her, Lottie began to speak.

  “Everyone be seated”, she called out, and as their ‘guests’ sat down, the ceremony began.

  “We will begin with the cloaking of the bride, symbolising the groom bringing her into his family, and under his protection.”

  Natalie stood still as Tommy wound the cloak he had made for her around her shoulders. It was a beautiful mixture of mountain goat and bighorn sheep wool, and she relished the comfort it brought her against the evening’s cooling temperature.

  “Thank you all for coming”, Lottie began. “Today we gather to celebrate the union of Natalie Scatorccio and Thomas Scott, a couple who need no introduction…”

  Natalie wasn’t listening to Lottie. She was too busy staring at Tommy, struggling hard not to break down in tears.

  Then Natalie realised everyone was staring at her, as she realised Lottie had asked her a question.

  “Nat? Your vows?”

  “Oh, right”, Natalie stated, flushing hard. “Um… Tommy. My Tommy. Before you… I had no idea where my life was going, if it was even going anywhere. You were the first person I ever met who made me think about the future, instead of staying in the past. I know I’m not perfect, and I don’t know what life has in store for us ahead, but I want you to know…”

  She trailed off, as the tears began to flow.

  “I want you to know that you are my best friend, my… the love of my life, and I never, ever, want to spend a single day on this earth away from you.”

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  Natalie began to choke on her sobs, and Tommy struggled not to join her as he prepared his own vows. Probably best to start with a joke.

  “Jeez, Natty, that’s a tough act to follow”, he said.

  He saw Natalie chuckle through her tears, and heard several snickers from the crowd as he began.

  “Natalie. Natalie Jane Scatorccio. You may not think you are perfect, but you are to me… you always were. Before you… I went to school, and I did my homework, but I never really… fit in, anywhere. You… you were the first person to make me feel like I belonged in Wiskayok, and you made me feel like I belonged there every single day.”

  He cleared his throat. “And even though we’re out here, now, I’ve… I’ve never really felt homesick. I… I miss everybody back there, I guess, but I never really felt like I was away from home. It took me a while to figure out why that was. But then, one day… I understood.”

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  Don’t say it. Don’t you DARE fucking say what I think you’re going to say. I am going to have a FUCKING BREAKDOWN if you say it-

  “You are my home, Natalie Scatorccio. And you have my heart… forever.”

  Natalie began to sob as she lurched forward. Fuck tradition- she needed him. She needed him now.

  As their lips collided, Natalie wound her arms around Tommy as he did the same to her, both of them kissing each other senseless.

  “Um… you may kiss the bride, I guess?” She heard Lottie say.

  Everyone around them burst out laughing, as Taissa handed Natalie a necklace they had woven together, while Javi gave one to Tommy.

  They had neither the resources nor the materials to make any kind of wedding rings, but Natalie didn’t mind the alternative. She had woven several of her hairs into the necklace, and she knew Tommy had done the same with his.

  Tommy clasped the necklace around her neck, and she followed suit, symbolising the final step of their bond.

  “Without further ado, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the-”

  Natalie stepped forward and instantly began kissing Tommy again.

  “Jesus Christ, guys!”, She heard Van call out teasingly. “We know you’re eager, but you still gotta wait until the end.”

  I’m not waiting, Natalie thought, as everyone burst out laughing.

  “The bride. You may kiss the bride”, Lottie said, in an exasperated tone, as Natalie poured all her love into her husband.

  Her husband. Tommy was her husband.

  Oh, my God, Natalie thought, beginning to cry again.

  How in the world did I get so lucky?

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  Tommy and Natalie held hands all the way the table, as night began to fall.

  His wife- oh dear God, his wife- looked so radiant, Tommy couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she smiled at him.

  His wife. Natalie was his wife. 

  They sat down at the head of the table, the girls bringing them the feast that had been prepared.

  Tommy and Natalie had been hard at work the last few days, catching all the birds and deer they could.

  It was probably unusual for them to hunt for their own wedding dinner, but at the same time… it made them feel like they had truly earned the right to celebrate.

  “I love you”, Tommy said to his wife, leaning in to kiss her.

  “I love you too,” she whispered back.

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  Shauna slowly approached Tommy, clutching the bowl of deer soup. She had been fully planning on saying she objected to the nuptials when Lottie asked the traditional question, but Tommy and Natalie had barnstormed right through that with their incessant smooching. 

  God, they were nauseating. Still, what she was planning now would have to do.

  Let’s see how Tommy Scott likes it when his perfect day is ruined. 

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  Tommy watched as Shauna approached him from the side, holding the bowl of soup.

  “Our first course tonight is braised venison stew”, Taissa called out.

  Tommy smiled, and reached out to take the bowl from Shauna- only to feel his mouth drop open as he saw a thin stream of saliva drop from her mouth straight into the bowl.

  What the fuck?

  “Enjoy it”, Shauna said casually, dropping the bowl in front of him.

  “What the fuck?”

  “What? What is it?” Tommy heard Natalie say next to him.

  Tommy turned his head towards her, fully intending to rat Shauna out- then stopped cold at the sight of Natalie’s face. She looked so beautiful under the firelight…

  “Yes, Tommy, what is it?” He heard Shauna say beside him, and though he wasn’t looking at her, he knew that she was smirking.

  She wanted him to complain. She wanted him to protest and bring the ceremony to a screeching halt.

  As he looked into Natalie’s worried face, Tommy couldn’t bring himself to do it. What he would have to do would be… disgusting, but he didn’t have it in him to ruin Natalie’s night.

  “Er… it’s nothing”, he said, swatting at the side of his head.

  “I think a bug just flew in my ear, or something. It’s gone, now.”

  Natalie began to relax, and Tommy breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Shauna.

  “Thanks for bringing me the soup”, he said to her. “I hope… I hope there’s no hard feelings about today? It was only a game.”

  He kept his tone casual so Natalie wouldn’t suspect anything, but turned his head away from his wife as he looked at Shauna, making sure to give her the biggest smirk in return that he could manage.

  You lost, dipshit. Walk away.

  He knew that Shauna had received his message as she stomped off, and turned to clink his and Natalie’s bowls together.

  “Bottoms up”, she smiled at him, and Tommy tried desperately not to think about the fact that he was drinking Shauna’s spit, as he tipped the bowl towards his mouth.

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  Natalie suspected that something had happened just then between Tommy and Shauna, but brushed it aside. There were more important things in front of them.

  Namely, the food. Everything was absolutely delicious, from the meat to the vegetables to the dessert, which turned out to be fruit salad.

  Of course, the fruit was almost entirely different types of berries, but Natalie didn’t mind.

  Everything was perfect. She couldn’t have asked for a better wedding, and as they finally retired for the night, Tommy surprised her by scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into their shelter, following the tradition of newlyweds crossing the threshold into their home.

  As soon as Tommy set her down, Natalie pressed her lips against his, their kisses steadily growing more and more passionate.

  “I can’t wait anymore”, she breathed against his mouth. “I need you. I need you now.”

  Tommy drew her into his arms, and before long they were naked and rolling around on their bed, Natalie winding her legs around Tommy’s waist as he pistoned into her, his mouth coming down to suckle her breasts.

  She buried her face into Tommy’s neck to scream out her pleasure, as she felt him finish inside of her. It always felt so good when he did that.

  After two weeks of abstinence, her climax was a powerful one… but she still needed more.

  “Wanna go again?” She whispered to him.

  “I wanna go until we can’t even remember our own names”, Tommy replied, making her laugh.

  Natalie bent her head to Tommy’s softening cock, cleaning him with her mouth as best she could while he moaned in response.

  “Do you want to go for a swim? We’ve never done it at night before”, she heard him say.

  Natalie thought about it. Yes, why not? At least out there, nobody would hear either of them scream… and there would be a lot of screaming to follow, or that Natalie was certain.

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  After they were certain everyone else had gone to bed, they put their socks and shoes back on, and wrapped their new cloaks around themselves for warmth.

  They were both completely naked underneath the cloaks as they snuck out, both of them struggling to keep their giggles under control.

  Eventually they reached the stream, and Tommy felt Natalie’s hand slip into his.

  “Um, I don’t want to ruin anything, but… what really happened with you and Shauna?”

  Tommy hesitated, before he spoke. “Uh… she spat in my soup. Right in front of me. I didn’t want to ruin anything, so…”

  He trailed off. “I’m sorry for lying. I just didn’t want to upset you.”

  “Oh”, Natalie said softly. To Tommy’s surprise, she leaned in and kissed him gently.

  “I’m sorry that happened, but… thank you. It means a lot that you were willing to do that for me.”

  “I’d do anything for you.”

  “Me too, my darling. Me too.”

  Natalie kissed him again. “But just so you know… hearing that another girl’s spit ended up in your mouth makes me feel kind of… jealous.”

  She bent down to take off her shoes and socks, and Tommy felt himself beginning to harden again beneath his cloak.

  “Oh, it does, does it?” He smiled.

  “Yes, it does. Almost enough to make… well… stake my claim, so to speak.”

  Natalie untied the straps that fastened her cloak around her neck, and let it fall to the forest floor.

  At the sight of his wife’s naked body illuminated by the moonlight, Tommy felt like he was going to explode as he quickly stripped until he was as naked as Natalie.

  They laid the cloaks down by the water, and lay on top of them as Natalie mounted Tommy, riding him like a horse as she violently bounced up and down on top of him, her perfect tits jiggling like jelly.

  Natalie guided Tommy’s hands up to her breasts, encouraging him to squeeze with considerable force, moaning loudly into the night sky as he did so.

  Natalie began to rock her hips back and forth, and Tommy felt himself about to climax again.

  When he did, it felt as though he was flying through the clouds with Natalie, before he caught her as she fell into him.

  They both instantly started kissing every part of each other that they could reach, before Tommy felt Natalie step off him and guide him towards the water.

  “Time to cool off”, she whispered.

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  Natalie leaned her head back into Tommy’s chest as he ran his hands over her, touching every part of her body that he could reach as they lay under the softly running water together.

  The rhythm was so soothing, Natalie actually started to doze off… only to be woken in the most pleasant of ways as she felt Tommy’s magic fingers stroking her between her legs.

  “Oh, yes”, she whispered. “Oh yes, Tommy, please-”

  It didn’t take long for her to reach her third climax of the night, and as she howled her pleasure into the sky, her head drawing back against Tommy’s shoulder as they sat together in the water.

  As she came down from her high, Natalie was vaguely aware of Tommy carrying her in his arms back towards their cloaks, using them to dry her off before laying her down.

  “What are you-”

  Natalie questions turned to a gasp, then another howl as Tommy’s mouth disappeared between her legs, which he quickly dragged over his shoulders.

  Natalie lay back down and allowed herself to relax as he went down on her, sighing in relief, almost.

  It was so good. It was so impossibly good, what he was doing to her.

  As Tommy’s tongue traced over her sensitive folds, Natalie looked up at the night sky, transfixed by all the stars she could see. You certainly wouldn’t see this many come out at night back home. Natalie was so distracted, she almost didn’t realise she was about to climax again, as Tommy’s tongue was joined by his crooked, twisting, downright enchanted fingers.

  Two of them were in her cunt, but the third one…

  As Natalie felt Tommy’s third finger enter her… back door, so to speak, she threw her head backwards and arched herself clear off the ground as Tommy coaxed a clear stream of her ejaculate right out of her onto his face.

  “Oh, shit!” Natalie clamped a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t even know that I-”

  But Tommy was laughing, and Natalie found herself joining in as her incredibly sexy husband leaned over her face and kissed her, Natalie tasting herself on his tongue.

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  “Seems I should return the favour”, Natalie said to him, so Tommy leaned back onto the cloaks as his wife bent down to take him in her mouth, licking and sucking and nuzzling against him. She was always so good at this.

  “You look like a goddess”, Tommy said to his wife, and from the look on Natalie’s face, he knew he had pleased her.

  Natalie went down on him with abandon, bringing him deeper and deeper down her throat as she reached out to place Tommy’s hand on the back of her head, encouraging him to fuck her mouth.

  Tommy began to stand up, impressed by how Natalie’s mouth did not leave his length for a split second, and began thrusting back and forth, watching as Natalie took his cock over and over again in her mouth.

  There was saliva running down her chin, and the slurping, gagging sounds she was making grew louder and louder, but still Natalie persisted, until Tommy finally came with a load moan, Natalie swallowing all she had to give him.

  Even then, to Tommy’s shock, Natalie only continued to bob her head back and forth on his length, and eventually he had to pull her off himself.

  “Okay, okay. That’s enough.”

  She was a sight, to be sure. Various fluids were dripping out of Natalie’s mouth onto her naked body below, and Tommy reached his hand out to wipe some of them away.

  “How many is that?”

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “Do you want to keep going?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Me too.”

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  They took a short break in the stream again to clean each other. Natalie felt Tommy’s hands run over her breasts from behind, moaning softly as he pinched her nipples.

  “Harder”, she whispered, and he complied as she ground her ass against his crotch, beginning to hump herself desperately against him.  

  The water only came up to their knees, and Natalie found herself bending forwards.

  “Again. I need you again.”

  She felt his cock enter her from behind, and moaned loudly into the night sky as her husband fucked her standing up from behind.

  One of Tommy’s hands came down violently and repeatedly on Natalie’s ass, making her moan even louder as she felt the soft flesh sting deliciously, while Tommy pounded her silly, making her eyes roll back into her head.

  Then Natalie shrieked as she felt Tommy lift her legs clear out of the water, while he continued to bounce her on his cock.

  “Mnghhh! Yes. Yes! I love it when you use me”, she breathed at him.

  He carried her back to stand on their cloaks, continuing to fuck her from behind clear off the ground as her legs splayed out, dangling and jiggling helplessly.

  “Oh, God. Oh, my God-”

  Natalie words were replaced by a jumble of whines and incessant pleas, begging for Tommy to go faster, to go harder. 

  The slaps of their colliding flesh echoed through the woods, and the sound of their frenzied, urgent fucking made Natalie grow only wetter.

  “Mmmahhhh”, she moaned, stiffening as she came in Tommy’s arms again.

  As he slowly lowered her back onto the cloaks, he slipped out of her, then caught Natalie completely off guard as he bent down to kiss the sore, sensitive cheeks of her ass.

  Natalie giggled at his actions, but quickly turned over and pushed Tommy back down, as she moved to straddle him again.

  He still hadn’t climaxed, and his beautiful member was still hard as a rock. But Natalie was exhausted, and to her frustration, as she lowered herself down around her husband’s cock, she found herself lacking the energy to chase her final orgasm of the night.

  “One more. Please, Tommy, just one more time, please.”

  Tommy leaned up to take her in his arms, her legs winding around his waist as they found themselves in the lotus position.

  Natalie buried her head in Tommy’s shoulder as he bounced her up and down on top of him, bringing her arms around him as she did her best to press every inch of them together as she could.

  We are together. We are one. And we will never, ever be separated.

  Then finally, at long last, after what seemed like forever, Natalie felt her hips beginning to drag back and forth as she felt her final orgasm approaching. Judging by Tommy’s increasingly shallow breathing, he wasn’t far behind either.

  “Together”, Natalie whispered, and Tommy complied, their flesh smacking together as they came as one, both screaming and groaning as loudly as they could into the night sky, neither one caring if anybody could see or hear them.

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  Unfortunately for the happy couple, somebody had seen them. And heard them. And done a lot more than that, besides.

  When Lottie had seen Tommy and Natalie retire to their shelter, she had made herself busy clearing away some of the dishes, then pretended to begin settling down in her shelter.

  When she finally heard Misty’s soft snores sounding out next to her, Lottie quietly snuck out towards Tommy and Natalie’s shelter, waiting to see if they were going to have sex again.

  She didn’t mean anything by it- she just wanted to learn. The sessions with Travis had been… well, terrible if Lottie was being honest. He seemed so much more focused on his own pleasure than her own, and Lottie had yet to climax while he was still inside her.

  As if to add insult to injury, her period had come and gone without the slightest indication that it had even been interrupted.

  Whatever she was doing with Travis… it just wasn’t working. Lottie still wasn’t pregnant, after six straight weeks of trying.

  What if Travis was sterile? What if… what if she was sterile?

  No. No, that can’t be it. There must be something I’m doing wrong. 

  Lottie quietly approached the side of Tommy and Natalie’s shelter- only to freeze as she saw them heading out.

  Were they… sneaking off somewhere?

  Lottie waited patiently before following them at a safe distance. She didn’t know here they were going… but she knew what they were going to do once they got there. Everyone knew what newlyweds did on their wedding night.

  Eventually, Lottie saw the two of them approach the lake, as both of them removed their cloaks to show that they were naked underneath.

  Lottie froze like a statue. She certainly hadn’t expected that.

  As she saw Natalie mount Tommy and ride him, Lottie flattened herself against the ground and watched the two of them. They both looked so… beautiful, in the moonlight.

  Lottie felt the pangs of jealousy yet again as saw Natalie begin to rock her hips back and forth against Tommy.

  Huh. Interesting.

  She heard the two of them climax, and as they stepped into the stream together, Lottie began standing up to leave.

  Not much, but better than nothing-

  Then Lottie’s thoughts were cut off as she heard Natalie beginning to moan. Were they… going again?

  Lottie flattened herself against the ground again, watching and waiting to see… something.

  Their backs were to her, and she couldn’t see what they were doing, but she heard Natalie shriek again, and figured Tommy had done something to her. But what?

  Then the newlyweds lay back down, and Lottie saw… what was Tommy doing-

  Then Lottie’s eyes widened like two full moons as she saw Tommy put his mouth between Natalie’s legs.

  Oh- oh my-

  As the sound of Natalie’s moans reached Lottie’s ears again, she- oh, she just couldn’t help herself.

  Quickly, almost frantically, Lottie reached inside her dress to slide her underwear off her legs, then began to touch herself as she saw the artistic display in front of her.

  She had heard rumours of people doing this to each other, of course, but she’d never- she’d never seen it-

  Oh my god, it’s beautiful. It’s… it’s just so beautiful-

  Lottie’s fingers moved faster and faster as Tommy worked his magic, and the sound of Natalie’s final shriek triggered her own climax, as Lottie moaned into the ground.

  If any man did that to me, I’d never leave his side. Not for anything.

  Lottie began to come down from her high, as she saw Tommy and Natalie come together again.

  Lottie blinked. Again? They’re- they’re going again?

  She watched as Natalie took her turn giving Tommy pleasure. She was much better at it than Lottie was, that was for certain, and Lottie settled herself in to watch the show.

  She could certainly understand why Tommy had shown no interest in any other girl, if Natalie was capable of giving such pleasure.

  Finally, Tommy climaxed again, and as she saw him and Natalie move back towards the stream, Lottie stood up and began to walk away, clutching her underwear.

  It had been an excellent show, topped off with a very satisfying climax, and she was glad she had come to watch.

  Then as she walked further away, the sound of moaning filled her ears, and she turned around in shock.

  No. No way. No fucking way-

  Lottie sprinted back towards the stream, and saw- oh God, she saw-

 At the sight of Tommy standing in the stream, lifting Natalie clear off the ground and fucking her from behind, Lottie felt her arousal return tenfold.

  She reached down to slide off her shoes and socks, then grasped at her dress, pulling it upwards.

  By the time Tommy carried Natalie back on to the shore, fucking into her all the while, Lottie was completely naked as she knelt in the dirt, her fingers pumping into her soaking cunt so fast they had become a blur, as she saw Natalie’s legs splayed out, on full display for anyone to see while Tommy’s cock pounded into her.

  Lottie did not take her eyes off the rutting couple for a single moment. With her gasps and moans filling the air, and the wet sounds of her frantic self-pleasure echoing around her, Lottie was making so much noise the others might actually have heard her if they weren’t so caught up in each other.

  As Lottie heard Natalie climax again, she saw them stop.

  No. NO! She wanted to scream at them. I’m not done. I’m not DONE-

  Then Lottie’s frustration was replaced with relief as she saw Natalie mount Tommy again, and stuck her fingers back inside of herself as she resumed her frenzied masturbation.

  Eventually, she heard them both reach what had to be their final climax of the night, and Lottie let out a softened moan as she joined them, ejaculating right then and there onto the forest floor in a very, very satisfying conclusion to what, in the end, might just have ended up being the greatest night of her life.

  Quietly gathering her clothes and shoes, Lottie made the trip back to the clearing while still naked, her grin reaching from ear to ear.

  Tommy and Natalie might have had no idea that she had seen them. But Lottie knew what had to happen now.

  Child or no Child, I must have Tommy. Even if it’s only for one day, or one night… even one hour would be enough. But I must have him eventually… and I will.

  Even if I have to step over Natalie’s corpse to get him. 

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  Nobody had seen her leave. Nobody cared enough to see her leave.

  It’s over. He’s won. Even when Tommy loses… he wins.

  Shauna swiped away at her eyes as she headed deeper and deeper into the forest. She wasn’t leaving. Not really. She would never leave her son behind.

  She just had to get away. Just for a moment.

  Eventually, Shauna found a spot where she was sure nobody would see or hear her, then knelt down on the ground and began to sob as loudly as she could.

  I failed. I failed at everything, like I always do. And nobody CARES, Shauna thought, as her sobs echoed into the night sky.

  I’m invisible to them. I always have been. I always will be.

  Eventually, Shauna had no more tears to cry, and she started to breathe more evenly.

  Crying was thirsty work, and her throat felt dry as a bone. Was she close to the stream? Yes, it wasn’t far off.

  Shauna began heading towards the sound of rushing water, but in the moment before she dipped her hands in to take a drink, she heard what sounded like an animal moaning in pain, so she forgot about her drink and looked over.

  The two of them were at a distance, but Shauna knew who they were. Anyone in the group would know who they were.

  At the sight of Tommy and Natalie’s passionate consummation of their marriage, Tommy holding Natalie off the ground as he fucked her from behind, Shauna saw all the things that she would never get to do with her life, and started dry-heaving into the water below her.

  Furiously, she dunked her head in and angrily quenched her thirst, before heading off at a determined pace, beginning to cry all over again.

  It’s not fair. It’s not FAIR. Why do they get to have what I don’t? Why can’t I ever have something like that? 

  Though she had passed the point of hatred with Tommy long ago, Shauna could not suppress a surge of jealousy towards Natalie for marrying him.

  Back home, Natalie Scatorccio had been a drug-addicted, alcoholic burnout, whose life would have gone absolutely nowhere after graduation. Out here, she had everything she could want, including a husband who would most likely fuck her every day for the rest of their lives together.

  I hate Tommy Scott. I hate his GUTS. But oh my word, would I fuck him if I had the opportunity. I’d tie him down and fuck him until he begged for mercy- and then keep right on fucking him until I passed out. And do you wanna know why? Because any idiot will take hate sex over no sex any day of the week-

  Then Shauna’s thoughts were cut off as she felt the ground give way below her, and she screamed as she fell into the pit below.

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  As Ben heard the ragged moans coming from below while he approached, he was pleased to realise that he had finally caught something.

  Is it a deer? No, they don’t scream like that. Maybe a beaver? No, it sounds too big. Maybe-

  “Coach Scott?”

  Ben gaped. “S-Shauna?”

  Oh, this was not good for him. Not good at all, and as he continued to stare at the girl trapped in the pit below, Ben felt like his luck had just taken a turn for the worse.

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  Shauna stared at Coach Scott standing above her. She had at first thought that Tommy and Natalie had dug the hole to catch game, but now…

  As Shauna gazed up at the man who had burned down the cabin and tried to kill them all, she suddenly remembered the knife she had hidden in her pocket.

  She struggled to repress a smirk. Her luck had changed.

  And not for the worse, she thought. No, not for the worse at all. 

Soooo…. what do you think?

Did you really believe Lottie to be capable of something like this? To be clear, I am aware that what she is doing to Travis could easily be classified as sexual assault. Please try to remember that Travis is only sixteen at most by this point, and the show is set in the late 90's, when there was still a lot of misunderstanding around male victims of sexual assault. In writing what I did, I hope I accurately conveyed that Travis does not really understand that Lottie is assaulting him, and neither does Lottie, to be honest.

Ah, Lottie… what are we going to do with you?

Also, did you like the reveal of Shauna hating Tommy and lusting after him at the same time? They are complicated feelings to have, I know.

Congratulations to Tommy and Natalie! Hope you guys liked the slight allusion to Game of Thrones when Tommy gave her the new cloak.

Thanks for reading so far! More to follow soon!

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Twenty

Hey guys!

This next chapter will take place in between Seasons Two and Three, as it always really irked me that they jumped a solid five months ahead. At least, I think it was five months. I'm not quite sure.

Anyway, read on, and welcome back!

  As Jessica began to drive away from the school, she decided to call Taissa Turner. The would-be Senator would most likely want to know about the progress she had made.

  “Yes?” Taissa’s voice sounded over the phone.

  “I’ve interviewed all the people you asked me too. They don’t seem like blackmailers to me.”

  She waited, but there was no reply.

  “Should I… try interviewing the other survivors?”

  “Fuck.” Taissa’s voice was quiet. “Okay, fine, do it. Offer money, book deals… whatever you think is best.”

  “Alright. How many of you are left?”

  “I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to some of them in so long… maybe try Misty first? I think she’s closest to you.”

  “Okay”, Jessica said. She should leave it there, she knew that. But something about the way Principal Vance had acted… she couldn’t help it; he’d piqued her curiosity.

  “What about Tommy Scott?”

  There was a pause, and what sounded like a glass breaking.

  “FUCK!” Taissa sounded out. She didn’t sound so quiet now.

  When she spoke, there was an underlying tone in her voice that took Jessica by surprise.

  “Do not contact Tommy. I don’t care what else you do, but you do not go anywhere near Tommy Scott. It might end up being the last thing you ever do.”

  Jessica blinked. “Jesus. Okay, fine, but… why? Is… is he dangerous?”

  “Just. Don’t. Contact. Him. And for that matter, don’t contact Natalie either.”

  Now Jessica’s curiosity was boiling over into full-blown fascination. Who the hell was this guy?

  When she arrived at the place she was staying at, she reviewed the information she already had.

  On just about every testimony, every interview, at least one of the Yellowjackets was crediting Scott with their survival, stating that they would not have made it through their time in the Canadian wilderness without him.

  Especially Natalie Scatorccio… she seemed entirely besotted with Scott. Jessica remembered Vance’s words about how they had been dating at the time. Had they remained together, afterwards?

  Rather than heading over to Misty Quigley’s place, Jessica decided she would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find everything she could on Scott.

  Heading over to LinkedIn, she searched the name ‘Thomas Scott’ into the database. To her frustration, there were quite a few Thomas Scotts in there, but eventually she came across a profile where the man depicted matched the photos of the Thomas Scott she was searching for.

  Doesn’t look very threatening, Jessica thought to herself.

  Then she looked at his profile, at what he had done since the rescue, and felt her eyes widen as she gaped in shock.

  No WONDER they don’t want me talking to him. 

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy stretched and yawned as Natalie stirred in his arms.

  Ow, he thought as he cracked his neck. Sleeping in the sitting position was never a comfortable experience.

  “Hey”, he whispered to her.

  “Hey yourself”, Natalie mumbled.

  Slowly, the two of them rose up and started to move out of the plane, when Tommy saw something on one of the seats.

  Oh, my God. 

  Jackie’s winter coat was still bound up with rope, but Tommy still felt sick at what he knew lay beneath the wrappings.

  Quickly, he leaned down and picked up the heartbreakingly small package, storing it into one of the overhead compartments.

  “I honestly completely forgot we put her here”, Natalie said quietly.

  “Yeah, me too”, he replied.

  Stepping outside, they gazed out around them. The day was bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. It was hard to believe it had only been a single night since Tommy had seen the Yellowjackets chasing Natalie across the ice, before he…

  He couldn’t even finish his thoughts, but he knew what had to happen next, as he heard a pair of boots crunch in the snow behind him.

  “Tommy? What do we do now?”

  Turning around, Tommy gazed at Javi.

  “We have to get back to the cabin, see what we can salvage. The fire should have died down by now.”

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  As the cabin came into view, Natalie struggled to keep her emotions in check.

  There were a few smouldering flames, but overall, the fire seemed to have burned itself out.

  That was the only good news. The cabin was utterly destroyed. The roof was gone, the walls were wrecked… there was no chance of this place being a shelter for them again.

  What on earth could they do? Despite Lottie’s words, Natalie knew there was no telling when winter would end for them.

  What if another snowstorm sprang up? They would all freeze to death. Maybe they could seek shelter where Coach Scott had gone?

  Coach Scott just tried to burn us all alive. I somehow doubt he would be quite so accommodating.

  After dousing the few remaining flames with snow, their group slowly moved through the cabin, picking through anything they could use.

  The ammunition left behind had all exploded in the fire, it seemed. There was nothing but shell casings left. Luckily, not all of the pots and bowls were damaged. Nor the cutlery. Natalie was looking through one of the lanterns to see if it could still work when she heard someone speak.

  “Hey, guys? Come check this out.”

  Natalie turned to see Misty… pulling up a floorboard?

  “What are you doing?”

  “This floorboard is loose. So are the two on either side of it. But the rest are nailed together. Either it’s a design flaw, or…”

  Or there’s something underneath. 

  They pulled up the floorboards, only to see nothing but dirt beneath. Immediately, they started to dig, until Natalie felt her fingers scraping something solid.

  It took a few minutes, but eventually they pulled what looked like an old, large suitcase from the ground. There was no name on it, no identifying marks, but Natalie knew it had to have belonged to the cabin’s previous owner.

  “The guy who lived here must had stored this for emergencies”, Van said.

  As they opened up the suitcase, Natalie looked inside… and was disappointed by what she saw. A flashlight that turned out to not work anymore. Cash, which was utterly useless out here. Several sets of underwear, which Natalie could only hope had been clean when it was stored.

  Gross. 

  Then as they pulled more similarly useless items from the suitcase, Natalie saw something else. A book.

  Then Natalie read the title, and saw the pictures of man-made tents on the cover.

  Art and Architecture of the Ancient World.

  “Holy shit”, she whispered, as she showed the book to Tommy, smiling at she saw the incredulous look on his face.

  000000000000000000000000

  This is it. This is how we survive.

  Tommy opened the book up. It was even better than he could have hoped for. There were actual, honest-to-God instructions on how to build long-term shelters from forest materials.

  “I think our luck has just turned around”, he grinned, showing the book to the group.

  The mood for the rest of the day was definitely a good one, as they began gathering branches from nearby trees using the hatchets that had been salvaged.

  Though he didn’t want to give himself false hope, Tommy was starting to feel the tension of the previous twenty-four hours starting to melt away.

  If only the snow would melt with it, he thought.

  Fortunately, the meat shed had been untouched by the fire, and after a short discussion amongst themselves, they brought out what remained of Mari and cooked it, eating the last of the meat from her bones then and there.

  Looking around, Tommy could see the expressions on everyone’s faces. Their act of cannibalism was certainly not one to celebrate, but everyone certainly seemed more… relaxed? Was that the right word? Tommy wasn’t sure.

  Regardless, they had what they needed to build new shelters. The trick would be finding the right place for it.

  The map they had taken so long to properly put together was little more than a pile of ash, but there were a few pieces of paper that had survived the blaze. As Tommy shifted them over in his hands, he heard Natalie draw up beside him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to see where we can set up the shelters. We’ll need a spot that’s wide open, but close to water. Any ideas?”

  Natalie bit her lip. “You remember the space that’s close to the crash site? I think the stream’s not far away from it either.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s check it out.”

  000000000000000000000000

  The moment they drew up to the clearing, Natalie knew it would be perfect. There was enough space for all of them, and the stream was barely ten minutes’ walk away.

  The main problem, of course, was the fact that none of them had any idea when winter would end.

  Using the instructions from the book, they slowly began to construct the first shelter. It took hours, but eventually, as night fell and they travelled back to the plane for some sleep, Natalie felt as though, just this once, things were starting to go their way.

  The next day, she and Tommy set out early on a hunt, while the others travelled back to the clearing. Tommy had carefully counted the remaining rounds yesterday.

  “Only three hundred and thirty-seven left”, he said to Natalie as they walked through the woods. “If you get an animal in your sights… make sure there’s no chance of you missing.”

  “Got it”, she whispered.

  Neither of them expected to catch anything, after the dry streak they had had recently, so it was to their immense surprise when a full-grown doe crossed their path. After shooting it, the two of them sat down to wait the customary half-hour, before checking the deer was dead.

  Something had been bugging Natalie for the last two days, and now that they were alone, she finally had a chance to address it.

  “Was it really true, what you said the other night? Was… was something really telling you to get back to the cabin?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy hesitated. “Something just felt… wrong. I can’t really explain it. It’s… hard to put into words, but… yeah. I felt like something was telling me to head back, so I started running towards the cabin, away from Ben.”

  He cleared his throat. “To be clear, I still don’t believe in Lottie’s bullshit, but… yeah. It was definitely… yeah. There was something there.”

  “Dang”, Natalie said, and to Tommy’s surprise, he saw she was grinning.

  “Were you really running? It must have felt serious.”

  “Okay, yeah, very funny”, Tommy snipped, but Natalie’s giggle was already making him smile.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh again”, he said to her. “I… I missed you, you know? I know that doesn’t make any sense, we’ve been together every day here, but-”

  “No. No, I get it.”

  Natalie scooted closer to him. “I missed you too. I miss… I miss how things were before all this. I wish… I wish…”

  I wish we could go home.

  “I understand”, Tommy murmured, drawing Natalie into his arms. She stank a little bit, and felt hot and cold at the same time, somehow, but he tightened his grip on the girl he loved, burying his face in her neck.

  “I love you”, he murmured.

  “I love you too”, Natalie whispered back, as she craned her neck to place her soft, warm lips on his.

  000000000000000000000000

  Though Natalie had hoped beyond hope that winter would end soon, it still came as a shock when, almost two weeks after the cabin burned down, she and Tommy set out on another hunt, only to see grass poking through the snow.

  “This doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet”, Tommy warned. “We’re in the ‘false spring’ stage of the seasons now. A snowstorm could still happen any day.”

  Natalie nodded, but couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. As they continued to travel through the woods, she was delighted to see some edible plants beginning to rebloom, and they quickly dug them up to bring them back to the clearing.

  Thanks to the book, the shelters were beginning to take on a more proper shape now. They had decided to construct eight overall, pairing everyone off amongst the sixteen of them. Natalie had paired off with Tommy, of course, and was becoming more and more proud of their work each day. It felt like they were building their own little house. One where they could shut themselves off from everyone else and enjoy their time together in peace.

  Everyone was still sleeping in the plane, of course, as it was still too cold to stay in the shelters, but Natalie knew, with the worst of winter behind them, it would only be a matter of time.

  Tommy was still worried about snowstorms, of course, and Natalie knew he was right to feel that way, but as the days slowly passed them by, and turned into weeks… no storm sprang up to freeze them to death.

  The area around them was growing more and more green with every passing day, and the game was starting to return. The birds, the rodents… and of course, the deer. It seemed that almost every day now, Tommy and Natalie were bringing back food for the group, and everyone went to sleep with full bellies for multiple consecutive days.

  Tommy warned them to not take their good fortune for granted, and Natalie tried valiantly to bury the growing hope within herself, but she could see it. They all could see it.

  Winter was behind them. They had made it through.

  Finally, the day came where it was determined to be warm enough for everyone to officially move into their completed shelters.

  After they finished their celebratory dinner (comprised of deer, beaver, muskrat, and a healthy number of cattails) Natalie shut the shelter’s door behind her and Tommy, and turned around to face him.

  Barely a minute later, the two of them were naked, rolling around on the bed of furs they had constructed together. As Natalie viciously bounced up and down on top of Tommy, trying and failing to keep her moans under control, she leaned down to kiss his stubbled face, pouring all her love and passion into the boy she loved.

  As they finished, Natalie collapsed on top of Tommy, kissing him all the while as he kissed her back.

  “We made it, my darling”, she said to him. “We made it through winter together, like you said we would.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you”, Tommy replied. “None of us could have done it without you.”

  Natalie felt the tears come to her eyes as she kissed him again.

  She didn’t want anyone else. She refused to even consider falling in love with anyone but Tommy. When she looked at him, she saw everything she never thought she could have, lying within her grasp.

  Even if they never made it home… at least she would know what love, true love, felt like.

  000000000000000000000000

  As time passed, Tommy found himself wondering what had become of Ben. Was his brother even still alive?

  Ben knew everything Tommy knew about survival, but out there on his own, and with only one leg… Tommy tried not to let it show, but every time he and Natalie set out, he was secretly terrified of coming across his brother’s emaciated corpse.

  Of course, Tommy knew where Ben was staying. But Natalie was the only one who knew that he knew, and she hadn’t asked him where the location of the cave was. Tommy appreciated her for that, but the others had been a little harder to convince.

  The first day after the clearing had been discovered, Taissa had approached Tommy when he and Natalie dragged the dead doe back towards the group.

  “Look, I know… I know the last few days have been… crazy, but… do you know where Coa- where your brother might have gone?”

  “No”, Tommy lied. “We still hadn’t found where Javi was staying when I left him to… head back.”

  Taissa shifted uncomfortably, and Tommy made sure to keep his gaze on her.

  “I know what you’re thinking”, he said. “But I do not believe Ben burned the cabin down-”

  “The doors were jammed”, Taissa said, and Tommy got the feeling that, despite her speaking calmly, Taissa Turner was one wrong word away from exploding. “Can you explain that?”

  “No, I can’t, and I don’t care to try. But why on earth would he burn down the cabin with me inside? Would you burn your own brother alive?”

  “I’m an only child.”

  “Then I would not expect you to understand”, Tommy said shortly, dragging the deer past Taissa. “Ben didn’t burn down the cabin. End of discussion.”

  “But- no, wait-”

  “He said that’s the end of, it, Tai”, Natalie snapped. “Leave it alone.”

  Taissa did not push the matter with Tommy, but he saw her talking to Javi later that day. Fortunately, Javi did not answer any of Taissa’s questions about where he had stayed, and as Tommy saw Taissa stomp off in frustration, Javi gave him a nod.

  Tommy was surprised, but nodded back. He had not expected to find an ally in Javi, but the young boy at least seemed to understand the bond between brothers.

  With that in mind, Tommy did his best to try and help Travis through his grief as time passed, but the older Martinez boy seemed to have entered the same catatonic state as when he believed Javi to be dead.

  Of course, there was no mistaking the fact that this time, the person Travis grieved was well and truly gone, and despite the circumstances that had led to it, Tommy felt an immeasurable wave of guilt whenever he saw Travis shuffling around the camp.

  He himself had changed as well, of course. He couldn’t gut an animal without being reminded of sliding the knife between Jackie’s ribs, nor pull the trigger without being reminded of the moment Mari had crumpled and fallen forward on to the ice, like a puppet with its strings cut.

  It didn’t take long for the nightmares to come, in the aftermath of that terrible day. Not long at all.

  000000000000000000000000

  As time passed, Natalie became more and more worried about Tommy. While some of their nights together would pass by peacefully, every so often, Natalie would be woken by Tommy thrashing around in his sleep, covered in sweat and shaking like a leaf, as she struggled to comfort him.

  One night was particularly bad, as Natalie woke to hear him scream right in her ear.

  “Tommy! Tommy, it’s okay, you’re okay-”

  “I missed”, Tommy said, tears running down his cheeks. “I saw them chasing you, and I kept firing, and I k-kept missing, and they caught up to you, and-”

  He dissolved into sobs, as Natalie rained kisses down on him, struggling to keep her own tears back.

  “It’s okay,” she soothed him. “I’m okay. I’m okay because you saved my life. You’ve saved it every day we’ve been together. Every single one.”

  Tommy’s breathing started to grow more even, as Natalie held him close to her.

  “Go back to sleep”, she whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I will always be here when you wake up.”

  She saw Tommy hesitate.

  “Sleep, my love”, Natalie whispered, and waited until she heard Tommy’s breathing even out completely, and she knew he had drifted off.

  She didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t a psychiatrist. She didn’t know the proper techniques for guiding someone through a traumatic event. How could she help him get past this?

  In the end, a potential solution would come from the last person Natalie expected, as she was surprised to be approached by Lottie, of all people.

  “I know we’ve had our differences”, Lottie said to her. “But… I want to help. Tommy needs to lead us. He can’t do that if he can’t sleep. I can… I can teach him to meditate, if you think it would help him.”

  Natalie hesitated. She didn’t trust Lottie. Despite her apparent surrender, Natalie still felt her skin crawl whenever Lottie was in her sight. But she wanted Tommy to get better, and Natalie decided to roll the dice.

  “Alright,” she said. “But I’m doing it with him.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Naturally, Tommy was sceptical at best when Natalie proposed meditating with Lottie, but he figured he had nothing to lose.

  At least Natalie would be doing it with him. Tommy desperately wanted their nights together to be a time of peace once again, not a time of him flailing around and accidentally hitting Natalie. That hadn’t actually happened yet, but Tommy figured it was only a matter of time, and if he did hit her… he knew he would never forgive himself.

  They were now approaching two months since the cabin had burned down, and as two became three, Tommy was surprised to find the sessions were actually working, as slowly but surely, he and Natalie began to enjoy sleeping together in peace again.

  Tommy had never meditated before, but he was surprised to realise how much he enjoyed it. It was just so… calming, and it showed in his demeanour.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie was thrilled at the changes she saw in Tommy. As they passed through the third month since the cabin burned, the nightmares Tommy suffered through appeared to dissipate, to her relief.

  Of course, Natalie had suffered through more than a few nightmares herself in the aftermath of her own teammates chasing her, but once she woke, all she had to do was burrow herself back in Tommy’s arms, and she would always sink back into slumber soon enough.

  In the back of her mind, Natalie was very much aware of how dependent they were becoming on each other, but she was just so relieved at Tommy trying to move on from the death of Mari, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  She never thought she would have Lottie Matthews to thank for bringing her boyfriend back to her, but life was full of surprises out in the wilderness, Natalie had learned.

  As the temperature warmed, the water in the stream nearby warmed with it, leaving the two of them to bathe together. It became quite common between them for Natalie to lie  in Tommy’s arms in one of the deeper parts of the river, moaning and grunting softly as he ran his hands through her hair, when he wasn’t carefully cleaning every inch of her naked body with the utmost precision, which would in turn lead to some extremely passionate lovemaking, either in the water or on the shore.

  In regard to food, things had never been better. Besides the generous amounts of game she and Tommy were bringing back every other day, they had started to grow a vegetable garden, and Akilah was beginning to raise a number of rabbits and ducks in the new animal pen they had constructed, using the invaluable book they had found as a guide.

  Overall, it seemed as though things were starting to settle down for them… though there was one problem yet to be solved, in the form of the new addition to their group.

  It had started small. One night, during their first week sleeping in their new shelters, Jeremy had been unable to stop crying, keeping Shauna up until morning.

  Tommy had entered Shauna’s tent in the morning to find Shauna passed out from exhaustion, with Jeremy wailing in her arms. Being the insightful person he was, Tommy had gently taken Jeremy from Shauna to look after, just until she woke. Jeremy had seemed happy enough with Tommy, so nobody paid it any mind.

  Nobody except Shauna, that is, who came bounding out of her shelter like an enraged mother bear and snatched Jeremy out of Tommy’s arms. Jeremy had instantly begun shrieking again, much to the frustration of everyone else, and Shauna had stomped back into her shelter, ignoring everyone else.

  Another time, they had all been sitting around a fire, eating their dinner, when Jeremy had begun to fuss. Shauna had opened her shirt to nurse him, but it wasn’t long before Jeremy started crying again, wriggling in her arms.

  Then the infant caught sight of Tommy… and to the incredulous surprise of everyone there, held out his tiny arms towards Natalie’s boyfriend. Shauna had looked horror-stricken, but Jeremy would not stop whining and fussing until Shauna reluctantly handed him over to Tommy.

  Once he was in Tommy’s arms, Jeremy had acted calmly for the rest of the night, before snuggling himself into Tommy’s shoulder and falling asleep. It was, without a doubt, the most adorable thing Natalie had ever seen, and she couldn’t help cooing at the sight of them together. Akilah had a theory that Tommy had imprinted on Jeremy somehow during the birth, like birds and dogs did with their young.

  “He probably thinks Tommy is his dad”, Akilah said to Shauna. Natalie was sure she meant it kindly, but Shauna looked wounded all the same.

  They decided to test it out the next day. Jeremy would whine and cry whenever one of the girls or the Martinez boys held him, but when Tommy picked him up, Jeremy gurgled happily, reaching up to grab Tommy’s nose.

  “PARP!” Tommy said, imitating a buzzer.

  Jeremy looked shocked for a moment, before starting to laugh, his giggles filling the air.

  “He’s gonna make a really good dad, one day”, Natalie heard Robin say next to her, as Jeremy reached for Tommy’s nose again.

  Yes, he is, Natalie thought, smiling as Tommy said “PARP!” again.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy looked over to see Natalie smiling at him, he felt his own smile reach his face. She would make a good mother one day; he was sure of it.

  In that moment, Tommy knew, without a doubt, that Natalie was the only person in the world he wanted to be the mother of any future children of his. But would they end up with children one day, way out here?

  As he had done before, Tommy concluded that having a child with Natalie made for a nice idea in theory, but the reality of their situation placed them far away from civilisation, with nothing even close to medical treatment if something went wrong during the pregnancy. There was no guarantee that either Natalie or any child of theirs would survive, whether in pregnancy, in childbirth or the aftermath of both.

  Tommy remembered learning in school about the high infant mortality rates during olden times, before the invention of modern medicine. Out here, they might as well be stuck right back in those times again.

  Tommy brushed his thoughts aside, as he cradled Jeremy. One baby was enough to deal with, at least for now.

  He went to hand Shauna’s son back to her, but as soon as she took him, Jeremy began to wail.

  Shauna’s face darkened.

  “I’m sorry”, Tommy said to her. “I don’t know why he-”

  “If he wants to be with you so bad”, Shauna snarled, “you can have him. I’m sick of this. You feed him. You bathe him.”

  She paused, then wrinkled her nose. “And you change him as well. God knows I’ve done it enough times.”

  Change him? Tommy wondered.

  Then the smell coming from Jeremy hit his nostrils, and he struggled not to gag.

  000000000000000000000000

  “It’s okay, we’ll get you nice and clean, yeah?” Tommy said, moving Jeremy away from the group.

  Natalie decided to check on Shauna, who had already gone back into her shelter.

  “What do you want?” Shauna snapped at Natalie.

  “Just… checking up on you. Are you alright?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? We’re miles from civilisation, my best friend is dead, and my baby prefers the guy who killed her to his own mother. Who wouldn’t be fine with that?”

  “Uh…” Natalie had no idea what to say in response, and the burning look in Shauna’s eyes convinced her it would be a good idea to leave.

  Things unfortunately did not improve as time went on, and they began their fourth month in the clearing. Jeremy would of course stay with Shauna overnight, or when it was feeding time, but otherwise he would always cry whenever Tommy wasn’t within his sight.

  Natalie knew having a child out here was a bad idea. She knew there was a very real chance that if she fell pregnant, neither she nor her baby might survive.

  But seeing Tommy carrying Jeremy around, swaddling him, or changing the various animal-skin loincloths they had made the young infant in place of diapers, or cleaning up any spit or puke that came out of Jeremy’s mouth, stirred something within Natalie that she had never felt before, as she considered the reality of their situation.

  She was aware that she probably wasn't thinking straight. She was also aware that Tommy might be unintentionally clouding her judgement. But all of a sudden, the idea of letting time slip through her fingers while they were out here felt absolutely ludicrous.

  Things might be good now amongst the group. But they all knew it was only a matter of time before winter came back.

  Who was to say any of them would survive it? Who was to say they wouldn’t begin to starve again, and resume their acts of cannibalism?

  Fuck it. If it isn’t now… it might be never. 

  And Natalie Scatorccio did not want to know what it would be like to die without ever knowing what it was like to be joined to another person, in a bond that had been considered blessed and holy long before civilisation had been created.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy carried a sleeping Jeremy around the camp, rocking him gently, he saw Natalie come up to him.

  “You’re so good with him”, she said, whispering softly. The look in her eyes was so tender and caring, Tommy felt himself smile at her.

  “I honestly have no idea what I’m doing half the time”, he confessed. “I wish… I wish I had instructions on how to do this properly.”

  “Pretty sure kids don’t come with a manual”, Natalie grinned.

  Tommy saw her jerk her head away from him. “Do you wanna… go on hunt? Stores are getting a bit low.”

  “Sure”, Tommy shrugged. Carefully walking back to Shauna’s hut, he placed Jeremy in his crib. Shauna, who was scribbling away in her journal, didn’t so much as turn her head in acknowledgement, and Tommy quietly left her alone. He didn’t want to make things even worse between them.

  As he set out with Natalie, his girlfriend started to ask about who they might train to be the next hunter of their group.

  “Taissa, maybe, or Van? I think with some practice they might get better at it-”

  “I’m not sure it’s such a great idea to train a new hunter.”

  “What? Why not?”

  Natalie looked confused, so Tommy explained the thoughts that had been swirling around in his head, whenever he had remembered the day of the hunt that had led to Mari’s death.

  “We both know it’s only a matter of time before winter comes back. Our food supplies will start to dwindle again, and everyone will get hungrier… and angrier, too. For all we know, someone might end up suggesting another card draw.”

  Lottie had grabbed the pack of cards when she was escaping the burning cabin, and Tommy got the feeling it wasn’t so she could play with them.

  “The group knows neither of us will tolerate the murder of the other. I know they can be… crazy… but they’re smart enough to understand killing that the two best hunters of the group may… put a dampener, so to speak, on their food intake.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. What… what about Travis and Javi?”

  Tommy hesitated, before speaking again. “Neither of them have hunted with us since the cabin burned down. They’re probably hopelessly out of practice by now. The group most likely knows they would make poor substitutes for us.”

  Especially Travis, Tommy thought. Their old hunting partner had not emerged from his catatonic state yet… though deep down, the idea of handing Travis a loaded weapon gave Tommy pause for thought, considering what he had done to the other boys’ girlfriend.

  They travelled on in silence for a while, before eventually coming across a deer. As they sat down to wait after Tommy shot it, Natalie started to speak again.

  Tommy never could have imagined, in his wildest dreams, what their next discussion would be about.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Um…” Natalie said, twisting her fingers. She couldn’t say it. Why couldn’t she?

  You know why.

  “What is it?” Tommy asked. His eyes were gentle, and his tone was soft, and it gave Natalie the courage to say what she needed.

  “I know… I know this might sound crazy. It might be reckless. It might even get me killed. But…”

  She swallowed nervously, and took a breath. “None of us know how long we have left. Not out here. None of us might make it through the next winter, and I… um, I…”

  She felt her face growing hot. “I don’t wanna die without knowing what it’s like for you to be mine. Truly, completely mine.”

  She saw Tommy’s eyes widen. Did he realise what she was about to say? She hoped so.

  “Thomas Matthew Scott… will you… will you marry me? Please?”

  She gazed into his eyes, holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy gazed at Natalie in shock. He’d always imagined, if they ever did get married, he would be the one to propose, following tradition.

  But Natalie had never been what one would call a traditional girl. It was one of the things he loved about her.

  And as he gazed into her beautiful blue-green eyes, he reached out a hand to run through her steadily darkening hair, while his other hand lightly stroked her cheek.

  There was only one answer he could give. Only one answer he would ever give.

  “Natalie Elizabeth Scatorccio… I will marry you. Of course I will marry you.”

  “Really?!” Natalie exclaimed, tears beginning to run down her face.

  “Yes. Yes, of course”, Tommy said, feeling his own tears come as he pressed his lips to Natalie’s, feeling her reciprocate with enthusiasm.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie started bawling with happiness as she pressed her lips even harder against Tommy’s, and it wasn’t long before she felt his hands begin to lift up her shirt.

  “And one more thing, just… wait…”

  “Yes?”

  “I want a baby, Tommy. I don’t… I don’t wanna die, not knowing what it was like to have one with you.”

  She gazed at him lovingly. “I know it stupid, I know we’re too young, but… I’ve seen how you are with Jeremy. You’re gonna make the best dad, I know it.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Despite the hopeful look on Natalie’s face, Tommy felt himself pause for thought.

  It was stupid. It was reckless. It was risky. And of course… they were far, far too young.

  But as he gazed into Natalie’s eyes, Tommy couldn’t bring himself to say no. Natalie had been through far too much, both in Wiskayok and out here, for him to refuse her.

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened. “Really?” She whispered softly.

  “Yes. Really.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie pressed her lips to Tommy’s again, and it wasn’t long before they were naked and writhing against each other on the grass.

  As she clung desperately to Tommy while he fucked her, Natalie wondered what it would be like to do this at home.

  We will get there, one day. Eventually.

  Natalie brushed her thoughts inside, and focused on making love to her fiancé.

  Oh, my God. Tommy was her fiancé. She could call him her fiancé now, not her boyfriend.

  The realisation brought a fresh wave of overjoyed tears to Natalie’s eyes, and as Tommy finished inside her, she gasped in ecstasy as she came in his arms in response, transported to a world where nothing existed but the two of them.

  Hopefully soon to be the three of us, Natalie thought, as Tommy’s lips descended upon hers.

  000000000000000000000000

  Lottie watched silently as she saw Shauna feeding Jeremy. He was getting bigger, that was for certain, but he still seemed so small to her.

  When it had been her turn to hold Shauna’s son, Jeremy had almost immediately begun screaming, and Lottie had quickly handed him off to the next person. The experience had not helped her confidence in regards to bearing her own child.

  But as she gazed at Travis, Lottie knew it was time. The wilderness had waited long enough.

  As she began to walk over to the older Martinez boy, Lottie checked once more for the psychedelic mushrooms in her pocket.

  What was about to happen wouldn’t be pretty… but it would, in the end, prove necessary for them.

So, what did you think?

Will Natalie and Tommy's happiness last? Will Lottie get her way with Travis? And what in the holy hell is going to happen with Shauna?

Next chapter coming soon! Can't wait for you to read it! 😊 ❤️

[scoobydoowantssancks]

Ecclesiastes | Lectio Divina

paring: charlotte matthews/fem!reader

summary: What you thought would be a sleepy Theology lecture turns into a class that pairs you with a Professor far removed from a balding man two years from retirement. Professor Matthews is captivating, disarming, and disturbingly insightful—and just after two weeks, you're already showing up to her office hours with questions you're not sure you want answers to.

wc: 5900

warnings: psychological manipulation/grooming, power imbalance, actual religious lecture content, y/n usage

a/n: this is just a psa that reader will be from a ROUGH background. think distanced from parents/siblings, financial troubles, history of abuse... it won't be a happy story lmao. it's also gonna be a sloooooooow burn on top of that.

ao3 / masterlist

PREV - I. RELIGION IN HISTORY

NEXT - III. FORTY DAYS IN THE DESERT

“Lectio Divina” is Latin for “divine reading”—an ancient Christian monastic practice of slowly, meditatively reading scripture to uncover hidden meanings. The method involves four stages: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

“I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” — Hosea 2:14

WEDNESDAY, WEEK ONE

"Welcome to History 372: Ecclesiastes and the Antichrist."

It's quiet enough in the lecture hall that you could hear a pen drop. People are confused, glancing around at each other like the other students would have an answer to… whatever the fuck is happening right now. To be fair, it's not entirely unheard of that a lecturer has some sort of problem that prevents them from teaching the semester, but you'd be lying if you said the timing didn't feel intentional. 

Maybe it has something to do with the theological nature of the course, but you can't help but feel her sudden appearance has some sort of divine reasoning behind it. 

You're pulled out of your thoughts by the squeaking of a dry-erase marker on the whiteboard, and your eyes refocus as you look at what your new professor is writing.

Faith as Historical Force: Martyrdom, Myth, and Social Control.

No one speaks as Professor Matthews turns back around, tossing the marker onto the podium beside her. Unlike most lecturers you've seen teach in halls similar to this, she doesn't use a microphone or anything to boost the distance her voice reaches. Her voice simply seems to carry through all corners of the room, the perfect volume for everyone to hear her comfortably. 

"Faith has started wars, shaped nations, and rewritten history. It's not just belief—it's action born of belief." She doesn't speak from a PowerPoint presentation or some prewritten notes, but rather just from the vast pool of knowledge she harbours from her years of research, among other things.

"Now. I want you to imagine being a Roman. Not a senator or a soldier—but something ordinary. A baker. A midwife. A farmer…" She emphasises specific points with small hand gestures at nothing and no one in particular, her calm, deliberate tone drawing you into a state of listening you had never reached in a lecture before. "You've grown up with gods who need appeasing, temples that reek of incense and animal blood," she continues, stepping carefully around the front of the hall as her eyes skim over the students. "And then—suddenly—there's this whisper in the streets. A whisper about a man who died like a criminal, but was raised like a God."

You're enthralled, and don't even realise you've been typing away at plot points until you glance down at your screen and see a few vague notes written on the Google Doc that you have open. You aren't left to ponder your confusion much longer before she begins speaking again, in that same serene voice.

"Now, Christianity was never meant to be safe. It upended everything Rome believed about power, order, and divinity. Where Roman religion reinforced hierarchy, Christianity levelled it. Masters were no greater than their slaves, women could preach, and the poor were sacred. I'm sure you can imagine that this was more than subversive in a society built on status—it was dangerous." 

Her voice doesn't quiet even as she walks to the opposite end of the hall, still floating around the air and surrounding you on all sides. "Refusing to burn incense to the emperor wasn't just spiritual rebellion—it was political sedition. Rome didn't care what you worshipped, so long as your taxes were paid and the empire was honoured. But Christians refused; they put their loyalty to Christ above their loyalty to Caesar. That wasn't just faith—that was treason."

"So, they would meet in secret. Bread was broken in catacombs and tenements. They called each other 'brother' and 'sister' regardless of blood or familial ties. If you were Roman, how would that look? Like a cult? A conspiracy? Something to fear?"

She makes her way back in the direction of where you're seated, her eyes sweeping the rows and lingering on no one in particular. But you can't help but wish they lingered a little longer when they pass over you. You can't help but want to be noticed.

"Belief, you can see, can be a kind of…" She pauses momentarily, considering her words before resuming her train of thought. "Revolution. It's quiet, at first. Until it isn't."

Her smile is disarming in a manner that would be dangerous if it were anyone else. For some reason, it doesn't seem dangerous when it comes to her. 

"Now. Let's talk about what happens when belief meets violence. When the state says 'submit' and someone says 'no,' that's when we get a martyr."

She resumes her place beside the podium at the front of the room, but makes no effort to hide herself behind it. Matthews lets the class see her open body language and welcoming expressions willingly, captivating in a way you can't fully describe. Your fingers continue to fly over the keyboard as she talks, almost fully transcribing her words at this point. "Martyrdom isn't just about something as frivolous as dying. It's about how you die—and how others tell that death. The moment someone chooses suffering over submission, they stop being a person and start becoming a symbol. Martyrs aren't remembered for their lives. They're remembered for their endings."

"Rome executed criminals all the time—publicly, brutally. It was meant to be a warning. But with martyrs, it backfired. The execution became theatre. Spectacle. And the Christians sure knew how to tell a good story." She laughs gently, the sweet sound encouraging you to let out a quiet giggle in return. 

Matthews spares a brief glance in your direction, her smile warming a part of your soul that you almost forgot existed between all the hardships you've faced in the past few years since starting your schooling. Her attention begins wandering as she speaks again, and that same feeling of wanting to be noticed returns.

"Jesus was crucified. So were thousands of others. But his story? That one survived. Because his followers didn't just mourn his loss in passing, they mythologised. Joan of Arc went to the stake as a heretic and rose from it a saint. Socrates drank poison not with bitterness, but clarity. These are not just victims. These are authors of their own endings. And their deaths, retold and reshaped, became much more powerful than the men who condemned them."

"So!" She clasps her hands together, taking a seat on an unused desk and looking out. "Ask yourself—what lasts longer? The empire that kills, or the story that survives it?"

A small wave of murmurs ripples through the class at that, people voicing generalised agreements and vague approvals at the way she voices her rhetorical question. 

"Let's pivot." Her tone shifts to something slightly more clinical, as if she were peeling back layers that have sunk into the bone over time. "We've talked about death. Let's talk about control. Not by the state or the church, but by the self. Or rather—the illusion of self-control."

"Think about fasting. On the surface, it's about… humility. Submission. Suffering for the God you owe so much of your life. But look closer. The ones who fasted the longest in the early Church—the desert fathers, the virgin martyrs—weren't invisible. They were revered. Elated. Their bodies became the very site of devotion. The more they withered, the more sacred they seemed. That isn't humility. It's leverage."

She stands up from where she was seated and continues her slow, gradual pacing. Her steps are almost methodical in nature, feet perfectly placed to draw the most attention to her form. "Whipping yourself in the name of holiness sounds almost absurd to the modern ear. But, in medieval Europe, flagellants marched through towns—bleeding, chanting, and most importantly, drawing crowds. It was a protest and penance wrapped into one. A body made grotesque becomes a message: We are suffering for a reason. You should be paying attention."

"And then, of course, we cross the line—Heaven's Gate, Jonestown, the Solar Temple. The body no longer sacrificed for reform or redemption, but for escape. Transcendence. These aren't just tragedies—they're ruptures. Acts so extreme, they force the world to stop and look. That's the power of the body. It speaks in ways doctrine never can. Because when belief becomes unbearable, the body becomes the battleground. And pain—witnessed pain—is political."

You haven't even noticed the fact you stopped taking notes, just like you never noticed the fact you started. Instead, your gaze is drawn to the way her necklace swings as she moves. It's a symbol you've never seen before, and a part of you almost wants to blurt out a question on its meaning and why it feels holy, but you keep your mouth shut for now. 

"Historically speaking, the surest way to make a belief system thrive… is to outlaw it."

"Rome tried everything—public executions, mass arrests, propaganda. None of it worked. If anything, it helped. Every time a Christian died in the arena, their blood wrote a louder story. Faith flourishes in the shadows. It clings to the margins. And when you try to burn it out—well." That same gentle laugh from earlier leaves her, and you swear you've never been more absorbed by a lecture in your life. "Fire spreads."

She tugs on the chain around her neck, adjusting the pendant to sit perfectly in the middle of her chest, and reluctantly, your eyes follow her lithe fingers. Her nails aren't painted, but they are perfectly manicured—a sharp contrast to the rest of her seemingly bohemian appearance.

"We see echoes of this today. Underground churches in authoritarian states. Fringe political movements. Extremist cells. Pressure doesn't extinguish belief—it crystalises it. Makes it purer. More urgent. More dangerous. And when you belong to something that isn't allowed—when the outside world calls it wrong, delusional, or even dangerous—it makes you cling tighter. It stops being just belief and it becomes identity. A kind of family. A refuge. A cause." A tense beat passes, her gaze sharpening for a moment. "Sometimes, all it takes is someone saying: you're not crazy. You're chosen. You were right all along. And that's how you build a movement."

Everything makes sense. It makes too much sense, and Matthews looks seemingly pleased at something you aren't quite sure of. That tension in the air drops, and her shoulders relax. Her voice smooths back over, and a warm rush of calm floods your senses. "Religion, at its most honest, is structure—a way to shape behaviour and reinforce hierarchies. Define who belongs—and who doesn't. That's not cynicism. That's design. Governments don't crumble because of riots. They crumble when enough people believe in something else. The people in power don't fear violence, they fear conviction in something that isn't them."

"Why do we build cathedrals with ceilings high enough to echo back our prayers? Why so much gold and grandeur when the gospels speak of poverty?" A moment passes as she lets her point simmer, nodding along to her own words. "It's not for the gods. It never has been for them. It's for the ones watching. Measuring. Controlling."

She opens up her satchel again, grabs a stack of papers from it, and places them on the same empty desk where she had sat earlier. 

"We build cathedrals not for gods, but for the people watching us kneel."

The class is silent as she glances around, an inviting smile on her face. She lets the atmosphere settle for a handful of seconds, allowing people to digest her words and lecture content.

She continues speaking when she seems to be happy with how long things have sat for. "To recap: Martyrdom is theatre. Faith is a performance. And like any performance, it demands an audience—this is where myth comes in. Myth isn't about truth; myth is about memory. It's about legacy. Who gets remembered and who gets sanctified. Who gets to become more powerful dead than they ever were alive." She clasps her hands behind her back, bowing her head forward for a second. "Religious power—true power—isn't just sermons or scripture. It's what people do when they believe. What they'll justify. What they'll sacrifice. What they'll destroy."

Another pause. Her eyes scan the room. Then—

"For your first written reflection, I want you to tell me about a time you saw belief—any belief—used to control or change a situation. It doesn't have to be personal, but it can be. Just… be honest. That's all I ask."

Matthews returns to the desk, quietly arranging the papers she set down earlier. "Please, grab a syllabus on your way out. On it, my contact, information on office hours, grading rubrics and a breakdown of course content can be found. I don't use Canvas. There is one for the class, yes, but all coursework will be discussed in class. Please, get in touch if you have any questions or comments. I promise I'm a good listener." Another one of those gentle laughs reverberates from deep in her chest, the class returning it easily. "If you plan to stay in this class, I expect you all to show up curious. That is how faith starts, after all."

With that, she takes her belongings and leaves the lecture hall rather quickly, as if she had somewhere far important to be than here. And, honestly? She probably does. You feel like you've been bewitched and left to deal with the aftermath.

When you eventually get your faculties back in order, you head to the desk to grab a syllabus, standing off to the side as you wait for other students to filter out and make idle comments to each other.

"She grades off class participation? Seriously?"

"At least she's open to extensions on assignments…"

"Anyone got some PDFs of the readings?"

"My cousin had her for a guest lecture last year. Dropped the class by the second week."

Despite yourself, being someone who usually hates classes that grade on attendance and participation, you find yourself memorising her office location and hours. Everything about what you feel is unlike you, but it just feels right to be in this class. Like you were meant to be here. Like she already knew you would be.

This is a History-Theology class. You thought it would be an easy A that would help you tie off one of your dual minors, but here you are, finding yourself getting invested in what she's teaching.

You make a mental note to attend her first office hours.

Just to clarify something from the lecture.

THURSDAY, WEEK ONE

Despite this being your third year on campus, you still use an interactive map on your phone to find your way around. Dodging between facility and students, you walk into Dickinson Hall with one hand gripping your phone tightly enough that one would think you were expecting someone to try and take it from you, the other wrapped around one of your bag straps.

It's a little tricky to find her office, and you find yourself getting turned around more than once, but you eventually manage to locate it. 

Her office door is propped open with an unlit candle in a stained glass jar, and the sound of wind chimes and gentle rain pours out into the hallway where you stand. As you move into the doorway, the soft scent of lavender wafts to you.

Sitting on the couch near the open window is Professor Matthews on what appears to be a brand new MacBook Pro, and she looks up at you with a soft smile as you enter.

"Y/n, correct? In my history three-hundred class?"

"That's me," you say, shuffling into her office as you tuck your phone into your back pocket. "Sorry. I know your office hours are only until four-thirty, but my last class doesn't get out until four, and it's all the way—"

"Please, don't worry about it." She shakes her head gently, gesturing to the hanging chair adjacent to the couch. "If my door is open, I am more than willing to talk with a student." She closes her laptop with a gentle click, putting it on the end table before clasping her hands and placing them in her lap. "What brings you by today?"

You place your backpack on the ground and take a cautious seat in the swinging chair, glancing around to ensure it doesn't show any direct signs of collapse. "Oh, uh, just…" You unzip the bag and pull your laptop out, cringing at the sound of fans whirring to life on the simplest task—literally just launching Windows—and try to find something to talk about while your ancient laptop tries to keep up.

"Just need some stuff clarified from yesterday's lecture, if that's okay?" Your laptop stutters as you try to move the cursor to open the browser, and your face flushes in embarrassment at the lack of technological prowess when compared to hers. "Just… the last part of the lecture. Once my, uh, laptop loads, I'll be able to tell you exactly what I need clarification on…"

Professor Matthews smiles as you fluster over your words, uncrossing her legs and standing, slipping on the sandals you didn't even realise she wasn't wearing. "There's no rush, darling. If it takes twenty minutes to ask your question, it takes twenty minutes." She walks to her desk and grabs a thermos and two mugs before returning to her seat on the couch. "While we wait, would you like some tea? It's tulsi, rose, and lavender. I find it helps me focus and find some inner stillness."

You glance up from your screen, eyes locking on the hand-fired clay mugs she places on the coffee table. "Oh, I… sure. I'm not usually a tea person… but it can't hurt?"

Her mouth twitches in amusement as she pours equal amounts of tea into each mug. "The fact that you are here, even after my office hours are supposed to be over, shows me that you want to learn, y/n. I am always available for an open mind." She looks up at you and places the thermos back down, taking her mug into her hand. She removes her sandals and tucks her feet under her legs again. 

You finally manage to open the document you had been using for class notes, scrolling down to the last line your poor laptop managed to save. "It was… uh." You laugh, a little too loud, then wince. "Right around when you started talking about being an 'ordinary Roman.' That's when my keyboard decided to give out."

Professor Matthews tilts her head, mug cradled gently between her palms. "Really? she echoes, almost teasing. "Stopped right then?" A faint smile curves her lips. "Interesting timing for a machine to give out."

"That's the moment many students stop taking notes, you know. Or realise they've been writing without thinking. It's strange how the body responds before the mind even catches up."

There's a pause—brief, but heavy enough to register.

"Tell me," she says, voice soft but deliberate, "what part of that lecture stayed with you most? Was it the image of bread being broken in secret? Or the idea that a whisper could start a revolution?"

She sips her tea and offhandedly adds, "Some students resonate more deeply with these things than others."

You freeze up, back straightening at how she shifts the conversation from the lecture to you. "Uh… the… uh… the part about religion becoming identity. Found family, someone saying you're not crazy, that part of the lecture."

"Why?" She leans forward on the couch, pressing her elbows to her knees. "What in particular made that part stick out to you?"

You blink a few times, brows furrowing as you attempt to find an answer for that. "It's… I don't know. Something about people finding each other in faith, despite all sides saying that faith is bad, I suppose?"

She hums at that, appraising you for a moment before responding. "You say 'I don't know,' but then describe to me how that part of the lecture speaks to you." She tilts her body slightly to give you her full attention. "You seem deeply thoughtful," she says, stirring her tea without sipping. "Not just curious—receptive. That's a rare quality."

"Oh, thanks?" you murmur, closing your Inspiron and tucking it away as though it were never there in the first place. "I get… really into certain topics. It helps keep my brain active, you know? Something else to focus on except… the shit I should actually be focusing on." An idle finger taps against the mug you didn't even realise you'd picked up, and you gingerly bring it to your lips and take a slow sip.

It definitely isn't tea you'd drink on a regular basis. Its taste makes you feel oddly… steady. Earthy, then something softly floral, and a faint bitterness that lingers like the end of a thought. You can't decide whether or not you like it, but you keep drinking it regardless.

"The start of this semester was way rougher than I thought it would be," you chuckle, trying to deflect the tension. "Work-study has moved me from the kitchen to the grounds team, so now I'm responsible for… all the manual labour stuff. I liked cooking, but…" You let the thought trail off, shrugging in place of a conclusion. "Not like I have much a choice."

"And yet… you still found time to come see me."

She leans back in her seat, that soft smile lingering on her face.

"Now, the rest of the lecture…" She waves a dismissive hand, letting out a quiet laugh. "Try not to worry about it too much. I get the feeling that you grasp things quickly. I have no doubts that you'll greatly succeed in this course."

I have no doubts that you'll greatly succeed in this course.

You fight a blush that creeps up your neck from her sudden praise, opting instead to let out a quiet huff of air in the form of a laugh. "Oh, well… thanks. I hope I can live up to that expectation."

Professor Matthews grabs her laptop from the table, trading it for her mug of tea. "I know you can. You strike me as an intuitive person, y/n. Don't let that go to waste."

A moment passes in relative quiet as she opens up her MacBook while you work on finishing your tea, the only sound disturbing the peace being the soft ambient sounds she has playing in the background.

When the mug is empty, you place it gently on the table with a murmured "thanks," and stand up as quickly as you can without drawing attention to yourself. You almost forget to grab your backpack in the fog that has seemed to find its way into your mind over the simplest things, but throw it over your shoulder all the same.

"You're welcome to come by anytime," she adds as you reach the doorframe. "Some students… resonate more with this material than others." She smiles—that same disarming smile that she displayed earlier today in class. "I think you're one of them."

MONDAY, WEEK TWO

"I hope everyone had a good weekend," Professor Matthews opens with, sliding her glasses off and resting them on the speaker's podium at the front of the lecture hall. "And I also hope everyone had time to complete their journal entry?"

She takes out a dry-erase marker and writes her email on the whiteboard. "If you could send it to my email as soon as possible, that would be wonderful. Ensure you have the course name and project name in the subject line, otherwise I won't receive it properly."

When she turns to face the class again, her smile washes over you like warm water on high tide, and you resist the urge to visibly relax upon seeing it. 

Your laptop struggles to open up Chrome, but you persist in spite of the circumstances and begin to type out an email with your assignment attached to the bottom of it. Before you can send it, Professor Matthews comes to a stop in front of your column of students and appears to look directly at you as she speaks. "However, I would like to hear some people speak in class today. Would anyone like to share a brief passage of what they've written?"

You shrink into your seat instinctively, your voice not wanting to share something personal to the class just yet, and you tell yourself Professor Matthews doesn't look away in disappointment when another student raises their hand to speak.

It's gonna be a long semester.

WEDNESDAY, WEEK TWO

"In The Gnostic Gospels, Pagels says that institutional religion tried to suppress…" You sigh, pausing the eyeliner you've been trying so hard to perfect before her class starts. With your free hand, you flick open the book you have on the bathroom sink and run your pointer finger down the page, pausing over a line you had highlighted. "Tried to suppress individual… spiritual authority by labelling it heresy. And I guess I was wondering…"

You trail off again, trying to think of a question related to that statement. 

"If someone felt like they were experiencing something real, something spiritual—but it didn't fit into a formal structure…" You hum, moving to put on your lipstick—a classic red colour that stands out against your skin—as you continue to muse on the question. "Does that still count as a valid belief? Or is it just… delusion without recognition?"

Your reflection stares back at you as you place the lipstick back on the counter and lean towards the bathroom mirror, dabbing off the excess with a tissue.

You don't quite look like the version of yourself you're used to seeing.

Well, you do, but only the version of you that goes out with friends or dresses up for a party. The you that effort is put into, not the you that puts on sweatpants and the first shirt you find to go to class.

The you that you want people to see. 

Or, maybe—just the version you hope she sees.

You meet your own gaze again, a little longer this time. Your lips look too red. Your eyes too open.

You don't look like yourself.

But maybe that's the point.

THURSDAY, WEEK TWO

You never asked the question. Not in class, anyway.

You told yourself it wasn't the right moment. That someone else raised their hand first, that the timing was off.

But, if you were being honest with yourself, you think that you just wanted her to hear it without anyone else listening.

You find her office door at exactly 4:29 PM, just in time to watch a student you don't recognize leave the room, saying something about how they appreciate the help. They pay you no mind as they walk off, putting their earbuds in and going about their day. 

When you peek into her office, she's sitting on the same hanging chair you were in last week, wearing a loose dark teal button-up and black skinny jeans that she partially hides under knee-high tan leather boots. 

Professor Matthews smiles softly at you when you knock on the doorframe, waving you in. 

"Cutting it close," she teases gently, not in annoyance, but rather a fond, amused way of speaking. Like you're something she's already grown used to. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show for today's office hours."

She gestures towards the couch with a flick of her wrist, that same casual grace she always carries. "But you know how I feel about open doors. If you're here, you're welcome."

You shuffle into the room, dropping your bag on the ground next to the couch as you take a seat on the plush cushions. "Oh, uh… thank you. I appreciate you making the time for me."

She laughs lightly at that, closing her laptop screen as she regards you. "Oh, please don't think of it as making time for you. I always enjoy speaking with students with a penchant for the material."

A beat passes before she rests her forearms on her closed laptop, clasping her hands together. "Am I correct in assuming you had a question to ask during the previous lecture? I could see the way your hand twitched when I asked if anyone had any questions, but you never asked. Why is that?" 

You wring your hands together in your lap, always so easily unnerved at how smoothly she shifts the conversation to you and your motives behind your actions.

"It just…" You shrug half-heartedly, glancing down at your hands. "I guess it just didn't feel like the right time."

A barely audible hum reverberates from her throat as she watches your mannerisms with a careful eye. "Interesting. It didn't feel like the right time? Why is that?"

"I think I just wanted to talk to you privately… I… the question just felt like something that would be better talked about between us, rather than the whole class?" You finally glance back up at her, although your hands never stop twisting and intertwining with each other. 

Your Professor nods, still paying close attention to your body language. "I see. Sometimes things need to feel personal to be understood, no?" She gives you a small gesture of her head, urging you to speak. "Go on. What's your question, y/n?"

The way she says your name makes a shiver go up your spine, and you swallow down the lump that's formed in your throat before you begin speaking. "Right. Yes. In—in The Gnostic Gospels, the author says that institutional religion tried to suppress individual… uh… spiritual authority by labelling it heresy. And I guess I was wondering that if someone felt like they were experiencing something…" You vaguely gesture to nothing with your hands before clasping them back together, subconsciously mimicking her posture. "Something real and spiritual, but it didn't fit into… like… a formal structure… does that still count as a valid belief? Or is it just delusion without recognition?"

"What a beautiful question," she praises you, tilting her chin up slightly. "But let me answer it with a question of my own."

"If someone calls it delusion, and someone else calls it revelation… what matters more? The experience, or who believes you?"

Your brows twitch as they furrow together, and you barely dodge her gaze as you look back at your hands. "I suppose… I didn't think about it like that."

You muddle over her question for a solid minute—in which Professor Matthews just stares at you the whole time—before finally coming up with an answer.

"I think the experience matters more. Obviously, there are always going to be people who don't believe in… well, whatever you believe in. That doesn't mean it should trump your beliefs or change your mindset simply because someone else doesn't have the same view as you."

A wide grin breaks her face, and she nods in approval of your answer. "That's a very brave answer." She says it softly, like it's just for you—not the sort of praise she gives freely. "You're right, y/n. Conviction doesn't need consensus. And often, those who believe most deeply are the ones who find themselves further from the crowd."

She drums her laptop with perfectly manicured nails, the quiet sound echoing amidst the soft sound of wind chimes and rain. "The prophets weren't followed because they were comfortable. They were followed because they were certain. That kind of clarity… it's unsettling to people who have never experienced it themselves."

She leans forward a fraction, voice warm and low. "Hold onto that instinct. Even if no one else affirms it, especially if no one else does."

Professor Matthews stands up from her seat and heads towards a bookshelf behind her desk, running her hand over the spines of various books before stopping on one in particular and pulling it out. She spins around and heads back to you, sitting on the unoccupied couch cushion. 

"I want you to have this book. I read it while I was working on my doctorate, and it helped me reframe some thoughts that I couldn't find grounding for." She places the book in your waiting hands, letting her hands linger a little longer on the cover than necessary. "It's not a theology book, not really. It's about finding structure in the chaos of belief. You might recognize parts of yourself in it."

When she pulls her hands away, you get an unobstructed view of the title, The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong. As your eyes roam the book that is very clearly well-loved and well-used, she continues speaking.

"You'll recognize her name from one of the assigned readings I listed in the syllabus. One of my favourite lines from her describes religion as ethical alchemy, which I think is a beautiful way to look at it." 

"Oh, wow, are you sure?" You run your thumb over the title gratefully before looking up at her with a soft twitch of your lips upward. "I can return it to you once I've finished reading, if you want? Although it might take a little, between work and studying while trying to have a social life…" The thought trails off into a self-deprecating chuckle, which is something that Professor Matthews doesn't return.

You look down at the book again in her silence, still feeling its weight in your hands. It smells faintly of lavender and old paper, but maybe that's just her office. You go to say something else—something polite and grateful—but she speaks first.

"Are you working a lot outside of class, then?" Her voice is casual, but her eyes aren't. "You mentioned balancing work and studying. That can be… difficult."

A brief moment of hesitation passes before you nod. "Yeah, I'm part of the work-study program. It's not terrible, just… exhausting. I haven't really had a full weekend off since the semester started."

Her expression doesn't shift much, but her head tilts slightly, like she's filing something away. "And you're managing alright? Meals, housing, everything?"

"I mean, yeah?" You shrug at that, gripping the book a little tighter. "I'm… fine. Just tight, you know?" You force a laugh. "Cup noodles and whatever's on sale kind of tight. But I'm used to it."

Professor Matthews leans into your bubble, close enough that you can smell the floral notes of her perfume. "Well. If there's anything you ever need…" She pauses, and for a moment, you think she might leave it vague, open-ended, but she doesn't. "—money, food, help with books. Don't be afraid to ask. I mean that."

Your heart stutters. The offer is warm and sincere. So sincere it doesn't even feel real.

You shake your head, smiling a little too hard, like it's a joke you've told before. "I appreciate that. I do. But I'm okay, really."

"Of course." Her smile doesn't change. "Just know that the offer stands."

You float out of her office, nearly forgetting your backpack, and sit on the front steps of Dickinson Hall, looking down at the book clutched between your hands.

You tenderly open Professor Matthews—or, well, your copy of The Spiral Staircase, and find a message sprawled in her pen on the first page.

Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you.

Just below that, in a fainter, older pen, the margin carries a different note:

Truth isn't what saves you. Practice does.

She didn't write it for you.

But somehow, it feels like she did.

a/n: "actual colleges don't run classes for all 16 weeks of the term" shhhhhh

[scoobydoowantssancks]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Nineteen

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of butchering a human body. Please think before you read through it.

With that in mind, welcome to the season finale of Season Two! So excited!

Well, don't let me keep you waiting! Read on!

  Travis paced back and forth on the cabin’s porch. Gen and Robin were next to him, Robin trying to stop Gen’s nose from bleeding. Taissa and Van had beaten the younger girl savagely before heading out to join the hunt, and Travis could hear Gen crying quietly as he looked away.

  He didn’t know what to do. Robin had been right when she’d said that Tommy would kill them all if they dared harm Natalie- and Travis had seen him take the rifle when he’d left to follow Coach Scott.

  Travis would have set out immediately to get Tommy to try and have him end this madness- but he had no idea where the Scott brothers had gone.

  If they get back here first, I’ll explain it to them. I’ll tell them we tried to stop it. And if it really comes down to it…

  Travis knew there was only one way this would end.

  If Tommy agrees to spare Mari, I’ll help him. I’ll help him kill them all-

  Then Travis’ thoughts were interrupted as he heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow, and he saw, to his disbelief, that Tommy and Natalie were approaching the cabin, Tommy carrying a snow-white buck on his shoulders, while Natalie held the rifle.

  What in the world? Travis thought.

  Had the two of them gone out hunting this morning? Had Travis somehow imagined Natalie drawing the Queen of Hearts? He was certainly hungry enough to have done so.

  “I’m sorry”, Tommy said, and Travis was surprised to see he had been crying.

  “For what?”

  Travis was confused. They had brought back food. What did they have to be sorry about?

  Then he heard more footsteps, and he saw the Yellowjackets approaching, carrying something on a pole behind them.

  Had they gotten another kill? Another deer, perhaps?

  But then Travis saw the shoes, hanging on the end of the pole. He saw the long, dark hair almost sweeping the ground.

  And then he saw the jacket. Jackie’s jacket, which had been taken off the Yellowjackets’ captain on the day they decided to burn her, only to immediately be claimed by-

  “Mari?” Travis said, his voice coming out in a sob.

  “I’m sorry”, Tommy repeated, letting the buck fall to the ground behind him.

  “I saw them chasing Natalie, and I-”

  THWACK!

  Tommy reeled back from where Travis had struck him across the face. The blow stung Travis’ knuckles, but he didn’t care, as he walked to where the Yellowjackets had placed his girlfriend’s body in the snow, and began to cry.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Are you okay?”

  Tommy felt Natalie’s hands come up to gently touch his face.

  “I’m fine”, he murmured. “Can I…”

  He motioned towards the rifle, and Natalie gave it to him.

  “Everyone inside, now”, he said to the group, pointing indoors. “We have… much to discuss, it seems.”

  One by one, the group filed in, and Tommy and Natalie followed behind them, standing in front of the fireplace.

  Tommy made sure to keep the rifle in plain sight, as he began to speak.

  “So”, he began, “I think we can all agree, things got out of hand. Yes?”

  He saw them nod, as he continued.

  “I don’t think any more of us want to die today. And… we don’t have to, if we don’t want to. We have enough food now to last at least the next couple of weeks. So… here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll… I’ll do what needs to be done with Mari. Nobody else has to be involved. Once we are done with her… we can make a start on the deer.”

  “No”, Lottie suddenly spoke up.

  Tommy frowned. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

  “We should eat them together. It’s only right. Mari died to serve the wilderness, and it rewarded us with the deer.”

  Tommy saw Lottie look out amongst the group. “We must show the wilderness our gratitude by eating them together. As one.”

  “You really are sick in the head, you know that?” Natalie spoke up, sounding more tired than angry.

  “Am I?” Lottie said. She seemed to have regained some of her old confidence in the wake of Mari’s death.

  Tommy saw her look at him. “How did you know to come back early? We saw you head out with Coach Scott. Why didn’t you wait and head back here with him?”

  She knew. Somehow, she had figured it out.

  Tommy grit his teeth. He knew his explanation would only justify what Lottie was feeling, but he couldn’t think of any excuse.

  “When we were out there… something felt off. Something was telling me to turn back. It got to the point where I couldn’t ignore it anymore, so I rushed back here, just in time to see you all chasing Natalie across the ice.”

  There was a shift in the room as he said the words. The girls were staring at him in shock, Natalie included.

  But not Lottie. She only smiled.

  “You see? It’s within you. I’ve known since the doomcoming.”

  Now Lottie turned back to the group.

  “The wilderness got angry when we tried to make our own way out of this, so it warned Tommy, knowing he would be the only one who could stop it. Then it sent us the deer to reward him for stopping it. Now… now we have food. Real food, enough to last us until spring, most likely. Winter will not continue for much longer after this, the wilderness won’t let it… but we must eat Mari and the deer together, to show it we understand the sacrifice that has been made.”

  Tommy saw the group exchange nods at Lottie’s words, and felt his heart sink.

  Incredible. Even when he won, he felt like he had lost.

  Goddamn you, Lottie Matthews. I should have shot you months ago.

  Then Tommy’s thoughts were interrupted as Shauna emerged from her room, carrying Jeremy.

  “What’s going on? Why is Travis screaming like that?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Shauna stared in disbelief as the girls explained what had happened, while Tommy headed out the door.

  The wilderness warned Tommy? The wilderness that he doesn’t even believe in?

  Over the last few months, Shauna had felt safe and secure in the knowledge that Tommy, at least, did not buy into all of Lottie Matthews’ bullshit the way that so many of the others did.

  Now, it seemed, even that was gone.

  Now even Tommy believes, and he killed Mari over it. How could he be so cold-blooded?

  If he was willing to kill Travis’ girlfriend for the wilderness… would he be willing to hurt me, too? What about… what about…

  Shauna gazed down at her son.

  No. NO. Don’t be stupid, part of her brain said to her. He wouldn’t hurt Jeremy. He brought Jeremy back from the dead.

  Ah, the other part of her brain said. But that was before he believed in the wilderness. Now, who know? And besides…

  Shauna grimaced. She couldn’t stop her final, intrusive thought. Why couldn’t she stop it?

  You never dreamed he would hurt Jackie. And yet, here we are.

  Shauna held Jeremy tighter as she crept back into her room, locking the door behind her.

  “Tommy will not harm one hair on your head, my love”, she whispered to Jeremy. “And if he tries… I will kill him, myself.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie followed Tommy out the door towards Travis, where he knelt in the snow, cradling Mari’s body.

  She saw Travis turn around. In that moment, the older Martinez boy looked so broken, it took everything Natalie had not to burst into tears, and she knew Tommy felt the same way, as well.

  Travis got to his feet, and Natalie watched nervously as he approached Tommy. She hoped he wasn’t going to hit her boyfriend again.

  But instead, Travis brushed past Tommy’s shoulder, crying all the while as he headed inside the cabin, and Natalie swiped at her eyes.

  It’s my fault. All my fault. Even if Tommy says it isn’t. 

  Whatever happened now… Natalie knew she had started something she had no idea how to stop.

  Silently, she helped Tommy carry Mari to the table where they butchered their kills, and piece by piece, Mari’s clothing was removed.

  As Van and Taissa helped them, Natalie could see tears in their eyes, and repressed a shudder. They didn’t look like the savage animals who had chased her across the ice no more than an hour ago, but that didn’t mean Natalie had forgotten the looks on their faces when they had done so.

  Would we be safer if Tommy had just shot the lot of them? Maybe. No, he didn’t have enough bullets. He would have run out, and those who were left would have killed us both.

  Oh God, Natalie thought, as her tears dripped into the snow. Why does everything have to be so hard? 

  As Mari’s body finally lay naked on the table, Tommy and Natalie covered her breasts and genitalia with cloths.

  Natalie gazed at Jackie’s jacket, lying in the snow with a bullet hole through it. She hoped that what had happened today wouldn’t start some crazy tradition, but she wouldn’t put it past Lottie to make some claim that wearing the jacket would doom you, somehow.

  God. Why are we all so fucked up?

  “You don’t have to be here for this”, she heard Tommy say.

  Natalie saw Taissa and Van start to move away, before Taissa opened her mouth.

  “I’m sorry”, she said to Natalie.

  “Me too”, Van mumbled.

  As the two of them walked away, Natalie shook her head in disbelief. They hadn’t been sorry when they chased her.

  “You… you can go”, Tommy said to her, and Natalie heard his voice break as he began to cry.

  Tommy. My Tommy.

  Natalie hugged him to her as he cried into her shoulder.

  “I’m not going anywhere”, she murmured. “I know… I know this will be bad, but I’m not leaving you.”

  She drew back to gaze at him, cupping his face as she wiped the tears off his cheeks.

  “I couldn’t help you with Jackie, but… I can help you with this. Okay?”

  Tommy nodded silently, and put his knife near Mari’s neck as they began.

  000000000000000000000000

  With Jackie, they had been fortunate enough to barbecue her. Tommy had never thought he would think that.

  Doing what they did to Mari was worse. Much, much worse.

  As they progressed, they had to take several breaks. At one point, Natalie broke away to vomit into the snow, crying as she did so. Tommy suggested once again that she leave, but she had refused, taking the knife from him and cutting into Mari’s stomach.

  They were so preoccupied with the grisly task in front of them, Tommy didn’t hear his brother approach.

  But then he saw Natalie’s eyes widen in front of him.

  “Coach Scott?” She whispered, and Tommy winced as he turned around to look at the shock on Ben’s face.

  000000000000000000000000

  “What happened?” Ben gaped at the pair of them. He had at first approached the pair eagerly, thinking they might have shot a deer. Then he had seen the deer lying still next to them, and thought they had actually managed to get a pair.

  But then he had seen the clothes on the stool next to them, with Jackie’s letterman jacket lying in the snow, and he realised what- no, who- they were butchering on the table.

  Quietly, Tommy led him away, to a place where they could talk in private.

  “What happened?” Ben asked again.

  Tommy sniffled, and hiccupped, as he wiped at his nose, leaving a trail of blood with his hands.

  Ben flinched. What on earth had his brother done?

  000000000000000000000000

  “Uh”, Tommy began, trying not to hiccup again. “The… the girls decided to draw cards to sacrifice someone to last us the rest of winter.”

  He saw Ben’s eyes widen, as he continued.

  “Natalie drew the card that said she would be the sacrifice, and she ran. I got back in time to seem them chasing her, and I aimed at Lottie. But Mari got in the way…”

  “You tried to shoot Lottie? What, just like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  Tommy shrugged, as he felt the tears come. He couldn’t even look Ben in the eye.

  “I heard Natalie scream for help, and I just… reacted. I didn’t think, I just… aimed and fired.”

  He looked at Ben. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t want to.”

  “I…” Ben started. Tommy desperately hoped that Ben would have an answer for him. Some way to absolve him of what he had done.

  But all Ben did was stare at Tommy like he didn’t even know him anymore, and Tommy knew the truth.

  He hates me. I know he does.

  “You…” Tommy began. “You need to get out of here.”

  “What? Tommy, no-”

  “I murdered Mari because I saw her and the others trying to kill Natalie. If I had gotten there too late…”

  I would have killed them all. 

  It was the truth. Tommy knew it was. He would have gone back to the cabin, loaded it with all the ammunition he could carry, and killed every single Yellowjacket who had gone after his girlfriend.

  He didn’t say the words, but he knew Ben had heard them, all the same.

  “It’s not safe here for you”, Tommy said. “You need to go back to the cave. I’ll… I’ll bring you food when I can, but you can’t be here anymore.”

  “Tommy-”

  “I’m afraid of myself!” Tommy shouted, the tears rolling down his face, thick and fast. “If any of them hurt you, I’d kill them all. Without hesitation.”

  He paused, and hiccupped again.

  “Please, Ben. Please. Don’t stay here. Don’t… don’t risk me crossing that line. I don’t want you to.”

  Ben stared at him. In sadness, in shock maybe? Tommy couldn’t tell.

  But at last, Ben turned around, and Tommy heard his brother crying quietly as he turned a corner behind the trees, and disappeared from Tommy’s sight.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie watched as Tommy came back to the table. He had been crying again, and she went to him, taking his hands in hers.

  “How did he take it?”

  “He’s gone”, Tommy said.

  “Gone?” Natalie blinked. “Where did he go?”

  “We found the place where Javi was staying. Ben’s going to live there now, just until… until things die down.”

  He looked at Natalie. “We can’t tell anyone, okay? Just… just in case…”

  Just in case the others get hungry again. 

  Natalie swallowed, and nodded. Briefly, she thought about convincing Tommy to take the rifle and the dead deer and head for wherever it was Javi had stayed. Could they live together, all three of them, in peace?

  But even as Natalie entertained the thought, she knew it couldn’t happen. Lottie and the others would find them, sooner or later. It was inevitable.

  As they turned back to the task in front of them, Natalie steeled herself for what was to come. They put Mari’s organs in the buckets, and set about taking her skin off her flesh.

  As it turned out, it was extremely difficult to remove human skin from human flesh, but they managed it, in the end.

  At one point, Natalie began to cry again, and reached her hand up to wipe her eyes. To her surprise, they began to sting almost instantly.

  “Owww”, she whined. What the hell? Whey were her eyes hurting-

  Then Natalie realised, and began to retch.

  It’s Mari’s blood. I just wiped my eyes with Mari’s blood on my hands. What the ever-loving fuck-

  She stood there as Tommy carefully cleaned the blood out of her eyes with a snow-stained cloth, and did her best not to puke again.

  Eventually, it was done, and they turned their attention towards the deer. It was becoming increasingly colder for them, so they settled for quickly taking out the organs, then skinning the animal, slicing off only a few pieces of meat to join Mari’s remains.

  They might have food now, but it would be unwise to waste any. No matter what Lottie said… there was no guarantee how much longer winter would last, and briefly, spitefully, Natalie found herself wishing it would last another month or two, if only to prove Lottie wrong.

  But even if that did happen, she’d find some way to say that the wilderness was displeased with us, and somebody else would end up dying, Natalie thought tiredly, as the two of them set off towards the cabin, carrying dinner.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy didn’t bother to look at the others as he entered the room. He looked at the saucepan, sitting in front of the fire. How many times had he seen Mari sitting there, cooking the pitiful amounts of their ever-dwindling supplies?

  Tommy shook his head to clear it, and placed the various pieces of deer and human flesh in the saucepan, beginning to cook it.

  As the smell of cooking meat hit everyone’s nostrils, Tommy heard the others shift with impatience, and rolled his eyes.

  Unbelievable. They chase Natalie down with the intention of hacking her to death and eating her, and now I’m feeding them pieces of their friend. And all they can wonder is how long it will take before we eat her.

  With that in mind, Tommy took a little longer than necessary to flip the meat and cook it on the other side.

  It wasn’t much in the way of revenge… but it helped.

  000000000000000000000000

  Lottie looked around as everyone ate their way through the mixture of cooked deer and human meat.

  Strangely enough, it might have actually gone better with a few cattails on hand. Lottie never thought she would miss the plants they had all grown tired of eating, but there you go.

  Eventually, they were all done, and sat around the fireplace in silence for what seemed like hours.

  Lottie gazed at Tommy and Natalie sitting together, Natalie resting her head on Tommy’s shoulder. Not for the first time, Lottie felt the pangs of jealousy within her at the sight of them. Unlike most of the girls in the room, she had never had a boyfriend back home. She had always been too scared. Scared that they would find out the truth about her, and leave her out of fear, or worse, disgust.

  If only I had gone after Tommy back home. If only…

  Well, it did no good to dwell on it now. They had to move forwards, not backwards.

  Now that she was full for the first time in weeks, Lottie was able to think more clearly. Did the wilderness really want her to have a child? Somehow, now that she could properly think for herself, it seemed pretty… far-fetched, to say the least.

  But Lottie remembered, clear as day, the voice telling her to bear the Child. If this was what the wilderness truly wanted… she had to be clever about it in the future. In any case, she did not dare bring the topic to light again. It wouldn’t take Natalie long to put two and two together, and figure out who the wilderness intended to be the father of its child.

  Or did it? Lottie found her gaze slowly drawn to Travis, sitting in the corner. Javi was sitting next to him, trying to guide Travis to eat the last of the meat, but Travis was ignoring him.

  Huh, Lottie thought. She had at first thought the wilderness put Mari in front of her for the sole purpose of sparing her from Tommy, but now… now there was nothing to prevent Lottie from making a move on Travis. He was a hunter after all, the same as Tommy.

  We’ll see. We must give it time, Lottie thought. Maybe until winter ends. It can’t be much longer. 

  In the meantime, something needed to be done about Tommy. Lottie saw the rifle next to him, and as if he’d sensed her gaze, Lottie saw Tommy’s eyes flick up towards hers.

  In that moment, Lottie knew he was considering reneging on their deal, and shifted uncomfortably. What could she do, if he decided to put a bullet through her head, here and now?

  Nothing. Nothing at all.

  Lottie’s mind began to race. What could she do, to make Tommy Scott take his mind off of her? To make him think she was no longer a threat?

  Then as she thought, an idea dawned in Lottie’s brain, and she knew she had her answer.

  I must convince him that my connection to the wilderness is harmless. And to do that… I must make him think I’ve surrendered. It’s the only way.

  The only way to guarantee I even make it to spring, before Tommy Scott kills me in my sleep. 

  000000000000000000000000

    As the night progressed, Tommy was finding it increasingly harder to not jump to his feet and put a bullet in Lottie. And one in Taissa too, for having the idea that led to the card draw. Of course, then he’d have to put one in Van as well, but that might be for the best, at this point.

  Tommy had thought Van was his friend, but it seemed she was fully on Lottie’s team, now. A pity. Still, if it couldn’t be helped-

  “I never wanted to be in charge”, Lottie suddenly spoke.

  Tommy’s head jerked up at her words.

  “It chose me, I think, because… because I was the only one who knew how to listen. But I can’t hear it anymore. I think that’s because it doesn’t need me anymore.”

  Tommy saw her look out amongst them.

  “You all learned how to hear it. How to feel it. Maybe what it wants for us now is a leader who can help us survive for the rest of the time we’re out here.”

  Lottie swallowed. “And that isn’t me.”

  “Lottie, no”, Van said. Tommy rolled his eyes.

  “The wilderness chose who fed us”, Lottie said, as she got to her feet. “It’s already chosen who should lead us.”

  Oh yeah, one of your cronies, I’ll bet-

  “Tommy.”

  It took a moment for him to register that Lottie had said his name. Tommy looked at her in shock.

  “Huh?”

  “How else do we explain what happened out there?” Lottie started walking towards him.

  “We tried to kill Natalie. We thought that was what it wanted… but instead, it warned you, so you could come back and stop the hunt. Time and time again, it has chosen you. That’s how you got the moose out of the ice. That’s how you rescued Shauna and Tai from the storm. That’s how you brought Jeremy back from the dead.”

  Lottie gazed at him. “You weren’t even supposed to be on the plane. I thought it was just luck, all this time, but I think… I think you came with us because the wilderness wanted you too. Because it knew we would need you to guide us through everything.”

  Tommy gazed at Lottie in shock. Of all the things he’d expected her to say… this wasn’t even on the list.

  Lottie held out her hands, and Tommy realised she expected him to rise. Slowly, he clambered to his feet, and Lottie took his hands in hers.

  Then to his surprise, Lottie bent her head and kissed his knuckles, her lips warm and soft against his skin. She walked back to sit in her chair, and Tommy stared at her.

  Fucking weirdo. 

  Then he gazed out at the group, and realised they expected him to say something.

  “Uh”, Tommy cleared his throat. “Never thought I’d say this, but… Lottie is right. I wasn’t supposed to be on the plane. I only heard on… the Wednesday before, I think…”

  He gazed at Natalie, and she nodded.

  “Yeah, Wednesday, that my parents had extended their trip. I thought it was weird at the time, they’ve never done that before…”

  He had to play the game now, Tommy realised. He couldn’t scoff at the wilderness so openly anymore, not if he wanted to keep his new position.

  Warily, he looked out amongst the group. Gen and Robin were looking at him with relief on their faces, but on the others… he saw a mixture of fear, hate and despair amongst them.

  Tommy couldn’t blame them- he had just killed one of their friends. Again…

  But as he gazed at Natalie, who was smiling at him, Tommy had another idea.

  “I know that not all of you may wish me to have this position of power over you. I can’t say I blame you for that. I do not intend to act like a dictator, or God forbid, a King…”

  He hesitated. “Nevertheless, I know that not all of you may trust me… so with that in mind, I wish to elect a… co-leader, so to speak, one that you can all trust to check my worst impulses, not feed them.”

  He turned to Natalie. “I want you to lead beside me. Every decision that is made for the group… you and I will make together.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie gazed at him in shock. Tommy wanted her to help him lead them? She looked out amongst the room, seeing confusion and fear on their faces.

  She couldn’t blame them- only earlier that day, they had tried to kill her. They knew that Tommy loved her, and she loved him back. What if she asked him to kill them all?

  He could do it. We could do it, together. Then it would just be me and him. If it was just us, we would be safe…

  But Natalie brushed her thoughts aside. No, she and Tommy were not murderers. They would have to show them a different way. One that was better than Lottie’s…

  “I think that’s a good idea”, Lottie suddenly spoke up.

  Full of surprises today, aren’t we, Matthews? Natalie thought.

  Lottie looked out amongst the group. “It makes sense. Natalie can provide a link between Tommy and the team. And Tommy’s right… she can keep him in check; she’s done it before.”

  Now Lottie looked at Natalie. “They’ve both done it before, for each other.”

  Natalie felt her face burn at Lottie’s insinuation, but she shrugged it off as she moved to stand beside Tommy.

  “Fine”, she said, as she took Tommy’s hand. “We’ll lead you. Together.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Ben watched in disbelief from the window as he saw Lottie bend down and kiss Tommy’s hands. Then he saw Tommy speak to the group, before Natalie moved to stand beside him.

  They didn’t look like they were at odds with the group anymore. It looked more like… the group had accepted them as leaders.

  Oh, God, Ben realised. Tommy’s finally buying into Lottie’s bullshit. He actually thinks that the wilderness is a conscious thing, looking out for him.

  Ben didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t. But all the evidence was right in front of him. He had shrugged off Tommy’s murder of Jackie as a one-time thing, done solely out of mercy to help the dying girl.

  But now… Tommy had murdered Mari as well. And then he’d butchered her. He had seemed sorry about it when Ben had confronted him, but now, as Ben watched his little brother head off into the pantry, hand in hand with Natalie, he didn’t seem sorry at all. None of them did.

  My little brother is a killer, now. And they’re all following him for it. 

  Ben wept with despair as he started to shuffle away, carrying the matches and wood. An ever-darkening thought was growing in his mind, and he tried in vain to shove it down as it came across his thoughts over and over again.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy and Natalie slowly changed into their pyjamas, lying down exhausted as Natalie placed her head on Tommy’s chest.

  “Quite a day, huh?” She said, sleepily.

  “You’re telling me”, Tommy chuckled. He gently placed his hand under Natalie’s chin, turning her head to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

  “I love you”, he murmured.

  “I love you too”, Natalie whispered, leaning in to kiss him again.

  Tommy wondered what tomorrow would look like for them, as the new leaders of the group. He didn’t know what Lottie was playing at, but he knew she was up to something. Why else would she make such a turn from going against him every chance she got to suddenly proclaiming him as their leader?

  Just in case, Tommy made sure to keep the rifle loaded as he placed it next to him. You never knew- maybe Lottie’s sudden turnaround had been just an act, and she was waiting outside for them to fall asleep, holding a knife.

  But eventually, the both of them drifted off to sleep… not long before Tommy woke in shock, as he realised the smoke he could smell was not coming from the fireplace.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Shauna fed Jeremy that night, she tried in vain to not think about why, for the first time in weeks, she finally felt full.

  She understood that Jackie had been dying when Tommy stabbed her. She understood that Mari had been trying to kill Natalie when Tommy shot her.  

  But that didn’t make Shauna any less afraid of him, as she cradled Jeremy to her breast.

  What if her son got sick? What if he got injured, and nobody could help him, and Tommy’s only solution was to put a knife between his ribs?

  No. That cannot happen. That WILL NOT happen. I will murder him and Natalie before I let that happen.

  Shauna laid Jeremy down to sleep in his crib, but as he closed his eyes, she decided to cover him with Jackie’s jacket, which she had taken from outside.

  “When you grow up, I’m gonna teach you all about your Aunt Jackie”, she whispered to her son. “And how much she would have loved you.”

  Laying down to sleep, Shauna closed her eyes. But it seemed like she had only just dozed off when Jeremy began to cry.

  “What is it, sweetie?” Shauna rubbed at her eyes. “Do you need-”

  Then Shauna saw the room light up as the flames flickered outside. The adrenaline kicked in instantly as she scrambled to pack what she could, before scooping Jeremy up and rushing into the main room.

  000000000000000000000000

  “FIRE! FIRE!” 

  The scream outside jolted Natalie awake, and she quickly rose from Tommy’s arms to open the pantry door.

  “Oh, my God”, she stared at the flames burning outside, quickly moving to open the door.

  “Ow, fuck!” She reeled back, holding her burning hand.

  “The back door! Check the back door!” She heard Tommy yell.

  “It won’t open!” a voice rang out.

  Despite the heat, Natalie felt herself go very cold inside as she quickly put her sleeve over her hand and tried to open the door again.

  Shit. “It’s stuck!” She called out.

  “Javi, the axe! Where’s the axe?!” Tommy called out, and as Javi threw it to him, Tommy advanced on the door.

  “I’m gonna break it down! The rest of you, grab everything you can!” He bellowed, beginning to smash the door open.

  Frantically, Natalie rushed back to the pantry, hastily stuffing clothes into her and Tommy’s bags.

  Quickly rushing to pick up the rifle, Natalie felt cold again as she remembered the bags of ammunition in the attic.

  Fuck me. When the fire reaches the bullets…

  Natalie quickly shoved the thought down. When they had first moved into the pantry, Tommy had made sure to keep one sack of bullets with them, and Natalie moved to grab it.

  Fuck. She couldn’t carry it all. She didn’t have enough hands.

  But as she turned back, she saw Tommy appear beside her, and despite their situation, Natalie somehow knew they were going to be okay.

  “I’ll take them! You, go! Get out the door!” He yelled at her. Half-blinded by the smoke, Natalie stumbled towards the opening Tommy had made in the door with the axe.

  As she made it outside, joining the others, Natalie suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

  The first day. I left Tommy behind in the plane. And now he’s in there, where the rounds will start cooking off any second- 

  Natalie suddenly shuddered to a halt.

  No. Not again. You are NOT staying behind again, Tommy Scott. Not without me. 

  Natalie dropped their things in the snow and peltered back inside the burning cabin, ignoring the girls behind her as they cried out her name.

  Quickly rejoining Tommy, to his protest, Natalie coughed in his ear.

  “Tommy, the ammunition! The ammunition in the attic!”

  “I know, I know! It’s too late, we have to go!”

  Tommy carried the sack of bullets in one hand, while the other held the bearskin blanket Natalie loved so much.

  Before heading out, Natalie quickly bent down to grab a few more blankets that had been left behind, and a couple of pillows. Things were going to be rough for them without the cabin, and she was in no mood for sleeping out in the open without some form of comfort.

  As they rejoined the others outside, Natalie began to cough again, and she felt Tommy wrap the bearskin blanket around her as they gazed up at the burning cabin.

  Natalie looked around at the others, beginning to count. One, two…

  Eventually, she got to fifteen, not counting Jeremy.

  Fifteen? No, we’re one short. Coach Scott left, I know that, but-

  Then Natalie remembered Mari, and felt a new wave of guilt wash over her at the knowledge of what she and Tommy had done.

  What was left of Mari was hanging in the meat shack with the deer.

  What only that morning had been a living, breathing human girl, had now been reduced to organs in a bucket and strips of meat hanging on hooks.

  Jesus Christ, Natalie thought, as she turned her head towards Tommy.

  “What do we do now?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy thought. There was only one place they could go, really.

  “We have to get to the crash site. I know it’s not ideal, but…” he motioned towards the cabin.

  “Our shelter is gone. If anyone has a better idea, I’m all ears.”

  Nobody spoke up, and Tommy pointed in the direction they needed to go.

  “Alright, let’s go. We need to hurry, any moment now, the ammunition in the attic’s going to-”

  BOOM!

  Everyone jumped as a series of explosions began sounding from the attic.

  “Go! NOW!” Tommy bellowed, as everyone began to run.

  Truth be told, there was one other place they could go… but Tommy was in no mood to face Ben, right now.

  He had a sneaking suspicion that the fire had been no accident, and the only suspect he could think of was his own brother.

  But why the hell would he want to burn us alive? Tommy wondered, as he followed the others down the path.

  000000000000000000000000

  When Natalie saw the fallen plane finally come into view, she felt her heart sink.

  As far as shelters went, this wasn’t anywhere near as good as the cabin had been.

  It was Coach Scott who burned it down. It had to be. Why else would the doors have been jammed? 

  As they covered the openings in the doors with some of the blankets, everyone sat down in the seats of the plane, wrapping themselves as warmly as they could with what they had left. As Natalie curled up with Tommy, wrapping the bearskin around them for comfort, she listened to his strong, steady heartbeat, and felt an overwhelming sense of relief that despite everything the wilderness had thrown at them, they were still together, alive and well.

  Okay, ‘well’ might be a bit of a stretch, but still…

  Then Shauna walked past them, and Natalie was surprised to see she had wrapped Jeremy in Jackie’s jacket, of all things.

  Thought that thing burned with the cabin, Natalie thought, as she placed her head back down on Tommy’s chest, yawning as she closed her eyes.

Goodbye, Season Two, it's been a pleasure!

Thank you all so, so much for following the story this far. Words cannot express how much I appreciate it 😊

Anyway, we're two seasons down! Let's see what happens with Tommy and Natalie in charge, shall we?

Thanks again,

SteamTrain52 😊 ❤️

[scoobydoowantssancks]

Hello can I request adult shauna who gets obsessed with Callie's female friend (not a minor) because she's been very sweet and polite to her, basically complimenting and giving her attentions and shauna takes this the wrong way. Thank you in advance

Soft spots

Adult shauna shipman x fem!reader

Summary: Callie’s mom was just supposed to be another parent you made small talk with. But the more time you spend around Shauna, the more her attention lingers—too careful, too focused. She says you’re different. That you make her feel calm.

You thought you were just being polite.

She thinks you see her.

And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.

Warnings; shauna shipman.

notes; took my first one kinda seriously and been writing since you send the ask 😭 (UNEMPLOYED ALERT)

You’re not really sure how it started—maybe it was just good manners. You were raised to be polite, respectful. So when Callie introduced you to her mom, you smiled. You complimented her sweater. You said she had a calming presence.

Because she did.

Shauna wasn’t like other moms. She didn’t try to act younger than she was, didn’t ask prying questions or fake enthusiasm. She was… reserved. But aware. She looked at you like she was watching something important.

At first, you didn’t think much of it. She was quiet, thoughtful. Maybe a little tired. You figured she’d been through something. You didn’t ask.

But over the next few weeks, you started to notice things.

She’d always offer you tea when you came over. Sometimes snacks. She’d ask how school was going, or if you were still working that bar job. She remembered small details—things even Callie forgot.

“You’re always so sweet,” she said once, handing you a mug. “Most of Callie’s friends don’t even say hello.”

You smiled, a little flustered. “Well… you’re always nice to me.”

Her eyes lingered on you just a beat too long.

“Nice,” she echoed, like she was testing the word on her tongue.

You didn’t think it was weird—yet.

The first time it truly struck you was a quiet Tuesday afternoon. You were waiting in the kitchen while Callie changed for dinner, and Shauna was making something on the stove. You offered to help. She waved you off, but you stayed anyway.

“You’re very comfortable here,” she said without looking at you.

You smiled. “I hope that’s okay.”

Her hands didn’t stop moving. “It is.”

Then, quietly: “It’s more than okay.”

You laughed softly, unsure if she was joking. “Well, you have a nice energy. Kind of… grounded.”

That’s when she looked at you.

Really looked.

You felt it—like she was peeling something back in your chest, just by holding eye contact. It made your skin prickle.

“That’s a dangerous thing to say to someone like me.”

You blinked. “What?”

Shauna tilted her head, her expression unreadable. “I’m not as calm as I look.”

You tried to laugh it off. “Well… nobody is, right?”

She didn’t answer.

That night, you thought about the way she said it. The weight behind it. Like a warning. Or a dare.

You started to wonder if you’d imagined it—if maybe she was just lonely. You knew she had some kind of complicated history. Something unspoken in the way Callie changed the subject when it came to her mom. But it wasn’t your business. You were just being kind.

At least, that’s what you told yourself.

Until the texts started.

Not anything inappropriate. Just simple things. Check-ins.

“Glad you made it home safe.”

“Let me know if you want that recipe.”

“It was nice seeing you today.”

They were sweet. Thoughtful. Maybe a little too thoughtful. You replied out of courtesy, trying not to read into it. But every message ended the same way—some version of “You’re different,” or “You’re always so genuine,” or “People don’t usually make me feel this… at ease.”

It was flattering. But also… strange.

One night, Callie invited you to stay for dinner. You said yes. Shauna cooked. She barely looked at Jeff. Barely acknowledged Callie. But she kept watching you.

You felt her gaze on your hands, your lips when you took a sip of wine. The way she noticed your bracelets. The way she brushed past you in the narrow kitchen hall—just close enough for your arms to touch.

And then she said it.

“You know,” she murmured when Callie had gone to answer a call in the other room, “you remind me of someone.”

You tilted your head. “Good reminder or bad?”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Let’s say… complicated.”

You held her gaze, something unspoken crackling between you.

“Can I ask something?” you said.

“Of course.”

“Do you… always get this intense about people who are nice to you?”

Shauna’s expression flickered—surprise, then amusement, then something darker.

“I don’t usually notice people,” she said, her voice low. “But I notice you.”

You swallowed.

Hard.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” you added quickly. “I’m just—Callie’s friend. I wasn’t trying to—”

She stepped closer, not touching you. Just present.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

There was silence. Thick. Charged.

“Then why does it feel like I did?” you asked quietly.

Shauna’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe because you liked it.”

You left not long after that. Told Callie you were tired. Said you had work early.

You didn’t tell her what her mom said.

You didn’t block Shauna’s number, either.

Part of you wanted to. Part of you meant to.

But the messages kept coming. And you kept replying. Polite. Careful. Never leading her on—at least not intentionally. But maybe you were flattered. Maybe you liked the attention.

Maybe, deep down, you were a little curious.

Curious what it would feel like to be wanted by someone who looked at you like you were a secret she could keep forever.

[scoobydoowantssancks]

WISH YOU WERE HERE ! ℘ the Yellowjackets.

KK-TTIK !

the silence that follows is deafening. then somebody speaks up. "Do you....remember anything about her?" there's a beat of silence then— "Everything." another voice replies quietly, somberly. "I could never get rid of her. She's always under my skin."

"So don't tell them what you told me'' // ''Don't hold me like you know me"

OR

how the girls remembered you, in fleeting moments of happiness by your side.

[ (e.) AETHERO. /ˈē-thə-rō/ A celestial force or entity embodying the purest form of magic, emotion, and energy. ]

I MUST WARN YOU. THIS MEDIA IS RATED R:

canon compliant. slowburn. angst. comfort, then hurt. graphic descriptions of gore, violence. series of one-shots spanned out. omniscient dynamics. poly-ish yellowjackets. major character death. slightly suggestive but no smut.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

⤹ JACKIE'S DIVINE. ℘ play this tape here.

⤹ NAT'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ MARI'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ VAN'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ TAI'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ MISTY'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ AKILAH'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ MEL'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ LOTTIE'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

⤹ SHAUNA'S DIVINE. ℘ almost here.

a/n : finally got around to working on this ! who cheered ! I cheered ! reminder that my schedule is v inconsistent and loaded down w studies, so I'll post chapters either in sporadic bursts of motivation or like one after the other :3

TAGLIST : @theoreticalfreak @beaucate @f4riedimples @scatorcciosbabe @silkchiffoner @theworldscalamity

[scoobydoowantssancks]

sidelines|introduction

→van palmer x reader smau

summary- you’re a cheerleader for the wisayok high school yellowjackets, van has crushed on you hard for a while but never had the opportunity to talk to you until now.

about- fem!reader, jackienat established relationship, your bffs are jackie and lottie, vans are nat and mari , i think that is all hahah.

next

twt introductions ੈ✩‧₊˚

these are the main characters!! obviously other yellowjackets will be mentioned!! i just haven’t included them in the story (so far anyway)

[scoobydoowantssancks]

Peace

Lottie Matthews x fem!reader - Pre!Crash, lots of Jackie Taylor x reader (Childhood best friends).

Summary: In the fall of 1996, you return to your hometown, transferring to Wiskayok High School for a quiet junior year, that is, until you fall for Lottie, one of the stars of the school’s soccer team. Follows Junior year into Senior year, all the way up to the crash. (Eventual NSFW mdni)

a/n: The goal is to post this daily until Act IV. This is purely an indulgent fic. I haven't written or been back on tumblr since like 2022 so please have grace. I've just been literally buzzing with ideas for Lottie and needed them out.

Broken up into acts:

Act I:

Intro, Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven, Chapter eight, Chapter nine, Chapter ten, Chapter eleven

Act II

Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven, Chapter eight, Chapter nine, Chapter ten

Act III

Act IV

Act V

[scoobydoowantssancks]

morale compass ⟢

natalie scatorccio x fem reader smau ໑ৎ ׁ ׅ

˖ ◛ ⁺⑅ coach martinez is fed up with the yellowjackets being ignored. no one showed up to their last game — not even the cheer squad — and morale is at an all-time low. instead of sending jackie, the team captain, to ask the cheerleaders for support, he tells natalie to do it.

⚠︎ profanity, mentions of smoking, usual warnings bc i don’t know what to put 😂 and ningning as YOUR fc sooo

after the game. field’s clearing out. sky’s bruised purple, air sharp with sweat and cheap gatorade.

you’re sitting on the bleachers, half-scrolling your phone, half-waiting for liv to come back with her water bottle. the rest of the cheer squad’s scattered. you’re pretending not to watch her. really, you are.

but natalie scatorccio walks straight toward you. no hesitation. no warning.

you blink. “uh—”

“you showed up,” she says flatly. like it bothers her. like she didn’t ask in the first place.

you raise a brow. “coach made us.”

“sure.” her eyes flick down to your legs, then your lips. you catch it. she doesn’t even pretend to hide it. “and the gloss? also coach’s orders?”

your cheeks burn. “you’re annoying.”

natalie shrugs. steps closer. way too close. her hair’s damp at the ends, sweat on her jaw, wrists still taped. there’s a bruise blooming just under her knee. she looks like trouble. smells like it too — smoke and grass and heat.

“just wanted to say thanks,” she mutters. “even if you didn’t mean it.”

you tilt your head. “who says i didn’t?”

her jaw ticks. “your friends hate me.”

you lean in a little. “what about you, natalie? do you hate me?”

silence. thick. heavy.

she looks at you for too long. then smirks. “maybe.”

your stomach does something stupid.

you watch her walk away like an idiot.

𝜗𝜚 author ! i wanna finish this before i work on the other three smaus lmao

prev | next

[scoobydoowantssancks]

morale compass ⟢

natalie scatorccio x fem reader smau ໑ৎ ׁ ׅ

˖ ◛ ⁺⑅ coach martinez is fed up with the yellowjackets being ignored. no one showed up to their last game — not even the cheer squad — and morale is at an all-time low. instead of sending jackie, the team captain, to ask the cheerleaders for support, he tells natalie to do it.

⚠︎ profanity, mentions of smoking, usual warnings bc i don’t know what to put 😂 and ningning as YOUR fc sooo

you’re on the sidelines now. in uniform. hair neat, gloss shiny, pretending not to care. liv’s stretching beside you with an expression like she wants to strangle someone with a ribbon, and cath is holding her phone up like this is beneath her.

but you’re watching the field. and she’s there.

natalie scatorccio — all cut angles and sharp scowls. she doesn’t look like she belongs on a team. she plays like she’s fighting ghosts. but she’s good. fast. aggressive. you hate how focused she looks. hate it more that you notice how good she looks when she’s focused.

you try not to stare. try.

on the third near goal, the coach yells something from the bench and natalie yells back. not disrespectfully, just loud — and you can hear her from where you are. that raspy voice. that tone.

you’re chewing your gum slower now. leaning a little forward, hands on your knees.

liv nudges you with her elbow. “stop drooling.”

“i’m literally not,” you mutter.

“your pupils are doing backflips.”

“shut up.”

but when she scores — full sprint, cuts past two defenders, kicks like she’s punishing the earth — you forget to even clap. you just stare.

she doesn’t celebrate. just looks up into the stands. scans.

you look away fast. but not before she sees you.

𝜗𝜚 author ! guysguys pls do not mind the timestamps!! and also some tweets r their inner thoughts💜 anw i love that aespa has an ot4 photo of them wearing blue and yellow

prev | next

[scoobydoowantssancks]

morale compass ⟢

natalie scatorccio x fem reader smau ໑ৎ ׁ ׅ

˖ ◛ ⁺⑅ coach martinez is fed up with the yellowjackets being ignored. no one showed up to their last game — not even the cheer squad — and morale is at an all-time low. instead of sending jackie, the team captain, to ask the cheerleaders for support, he tells natalie to do it.

⚠︎ profanity, mentions of smoking, usual warnings bc i don’t know what to put 😂 and ningning as YOUR fc sooo

coach martinez calls natalie over at the end of practice, wiping sweat from his brow like he’s about to say something life-altering. she trudges across the field in muddy cleats and a stained practice hoodie, chewing the inside of her cheek like it’s a distraction.

he doesn’t waste time.

“you’re going to the cheerleaders.”

natalie blinks. “what?”

“i told jackie to talk to them last week. didn’t show. no support, no noise, no energy on the sidelines. you want people to care about this team? we need presence.”

“you want me,” natalie repeats, slow, “to beg the glitter cult to come to our game?”

coach nods, deadpan. “they’ll listen to you.”

“why? because i look like i’ve committed a felony?”

“because they’re not scared of jackie.”

natalie looks at him like he’s sprouted a second head. “do you know how much hairspray is in that room? i’ll walk in and drop dead.”

“then make it quick. ask. convince. threaten. i don’t care. just get them to show up.”

she shakes her head, mutters “this is so stupid,” and kicks at the dirt like it insulted her. still — she turns toward the gym, hoodie pulled up, boots crunching the grass.

she looks like she’s heading into enemy territory.

music blasts through the speaker system. the gym smells like body spray, sweat, and bubblegum. girls are mid-stunt, yelling counts and laughing between tumbles. you’re in the back, arms crossed, ponytail high, watching the choreography with critical eyes.

then the door opens.

natalie scatorccio walks in like a warning.

the air shifts. the music cuts. every head turns. there’s a brief, charged silence — like a bomb just got wheeled in.

natalie stands in the doorway, hands shoved in her pockets, chewing gum like she’s trying to hold back something violent.

you stare at her. she stares right back.

her voice cuts through the tension.

“sorry to interrupt your sparkle summit.”

a couple girls snort. you don’t.

she keeps going. “coach sent me. said you didn’t show up to last game. we’re supposed to have ‘morale.’ screaming girls and glitter or whatever. said i should ask.”

you raise an eyebrow. “and you listened?”

“i don’t listen,” she says. “i show up. big difference.”

you smirk a little. “and you picked me because…?”

natalie shrugs. “you looked like the least likely to tase me.”

there’s a pause. her eyes flicker down to your mouth, quick and sharp, then back up. you catch it.

“we’ll think about it,” you say, evenly.

she nods once. doesn’t say thank you. just turns, walks out, and pushes the door open again.

she glances back right before it shuts — just once.

and she sees you watching.

still smirking.

the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of practice. your muscles ache, and you're ready to grab a quick snack, but your mind keeps wandering back to the girl in the hoodie who just walked in like she was about to rob the place. natalie scatorccio.

you’d seen her around, of course. everyone had. the burnout. soccer player. skater. wild eyes. she wasn’t a stranger — she just wasn’t your kind of person. not that you were expecting her to show up at your practice or anything.

still… that whole conversation felt weird. why was she looking at you like that? like you were some puzzle she had to figure out. the whole “we’ll think about it” thing had been more of a reflex than anything, but the fact that she was standing there in front of you… it just felt different.

you put the phone down after reading cath’s last message, but you don’t feel the usual certainty. there’s something about this whole situation with natalie — the way she seemed so distant yet drawn to you — that doesn’t sit right. it wasn’t just about showing up for a game. was it?

the thing is, you weren’t sure if you wanted to stay away from her or lean in. she wasn’t anything like the others you dealt with, and that made her interesting. dangerous, maybe, but interesting.

𝜗𝜚 author ! here it is yayy

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[scoobydoowantssancks]

morale compass ⟢

natalie scatorccio x fem reader smau ໑ৎ ׁ ׅ

˖ ◛ ⁺⑅ coach martinez is fed up with the yellowjackets being ignored. no one showed up to their last game — not even the cheer squad — and morale is at an all-time low. instead of sending jackie, the team captain, to ask the cheerleaders for support, he tells natalie to do it.

⚠︎ profanity, mentions of smoking, usual warnings bc i don’t know what to put 😂 and ningning as YOUR fc sooo

introduction. ⊹

cheerleader. cherry lipgloss. glitter on cheekbones. natalie scatorccio.

burnout. black eyeliner. cigarettes. y/n l/n.

rats nest 🚬 (nat’s friendgroup)

modern mean girls 👙 (y/n’s friendgroup)

𝜗𝜚 author ! my FIRST smau ever😂😂😂🖕🏻 don’t let this flop pls (half joking)

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