#(I guess I am half joking but seriously sometimes a collection of stories - whether they are overarching and connected or not - is enough)

[teddybasmanov]

Why is there plot? Why must there always be plot...

[wrenhyperfixates]

We Make a Pretty Good Team

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: It’s game night at the Avengers Tower, and you find the perfect partner in Loki. Warnings: ‘tis but fluff A/N: Just another self-indulgent, fluffy story. Hope you enjoy :)

Tag List: @lucywrites02​​ @frostedgiant​​ @lunarmoon8​​ @twhiddlestonsstuff​​ @lokistan​​ @lowkeyorlokificrecs​​ @gaitwae​​ @whatafuckingdumbass​​ @castiels-majestic-wings​​ @kozkaboi​​ @cozy-the-overlord​​ @birdgirl90​​ @myraiswack​​

Disclaimer: Gif not mine 

“First Saturday of the month. You know what that means,” Tony hollered to the Avengers scattered about the Tower.

“Yes!” Thor boomed. “Be prepared to lose.”

“Funny,” Clint laughed with a roll of his eyes. “I was just about to say the same thing to you.”

“What is happening?” you asked, somewhat bewildered, as the heroes came into the room. “What’s significant about Saturday?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s right. You just missed the last one. Every first Saturday of the month we have a game night,” Nat explained.

You’d been part of the team for just under a month, having officially joined on a Sunday. So, it was true that you’d yet to experience their apparently traditional game night. It sounded like a great deal of fun, though, especially because the Avengers had become your second family in the short time you’d known them. Well, you’d actually known Nat and Clint for years, since you all worked for SHIELD. In fact, they were a huge part of the reason you were an Avenger now. A few months ago there was a particularly dangerous crime ring, and they’d specifically requested you as backup. You’d clicked with everyone immediately and, numerous transfer papers later, here you were.

“Sounds exciting!” you told them. “What are we playing first?”

“Well actually,” Bruce said kind of sheepishly, “it’s not that I want you to sit out, but they’re all team games, and we don’t have an even number of people.”

“So we have a team of three,” Nat said, as if it were obvious.

“No way. That’s unfair,” Tony argued.

You bit your lip, feeling like maybe you were intruding on something you shouldn’t be a part of. It was their thing, after all, and perhaps there was simply no room for a newcomer. As they continued to bicker about whether one larger team mattered or not, you considered just slipping away. That’s when you noticed that there was someone missing.

“What about Loki?” you said. “He would make the numbers even.”

Much to your surprise, everyone burst out laughing. You nervously ran your sweaty palms on the legs of your pants and let out a small laugh, though you weren’t quite sure at what. Once their cackling died down, you dared to ask what was so funny.

“My brother never attends these games nights,” Thor informed you. “He isn’t one for group activities, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Well, have you ever invited him?”

“Once or twice,” Tony said. “Listen, if you want to try to make a social butterfly out of Reindeer Games, be my guest. In the meantime, we’ll work out a feasible way for us all to play.”

You rolled your eyes and scoffed a little, standing up to go find Loki. It was honestly ridiculous that they still treated him the way they did. Sure, he likes to be alone sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he likes being lonely. Not that he’d ever actually admitted to you that he was, but you knew. It was blatantly obvious in the way he sent longing glances toward the rest of the team when you gathered together. You always made sure to ask him over, an invitation he usually accepted. Everyone else had laughed the first time you’d done that, too. They’d only ever asked him a few times, and it was right when he was new and still so lost, so alone, so afraid. Why they took that to just be his permanent disposition, you didn’t know. Regardless of how insensitive they were to his situation, your inclusivity had brought Loki out of his shell a bit, and a friendship had blossomed between you.

A short walk later, you reached his door. You stretched out a hand, but hesitated to knock. Doubt gnawed at the back of your mind. Maybe he truly was not a fan of board games, and then you’d be interrupting his night. After all, he must have a tradition of his own if this happens every first Saturday. Still, you knew that was usually not the case, and steeled yourself against the uncertainty.

“Hello, my little mortal,” he greeted you, opening the door. “Is everything alright?”

“No.”

“What is it? Are you ill? Hurt?” he questioned, jumping into action and shepherding you to his couch.

“No, nothing like that,” you laughed, though you were touched by his concern. “It’s just that it’s game night, and we don’t have an even number of people.”

“Oh? And I suppose that you are asking me to join,” he mused as you nodded. “I am not usually invited, and I am notorious spoiled sport, just ask Thor.”

“Well, people say a lot of things about you, and they’re usually not true.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have to play if you really don’t want to, but will you? Please. For me?”

“For you, my little mortal, anything. After all, how can I resist those puppy dog eyes?”

You giggled and led the way out of his room, ignoring the thumping of your heart when his hand accidentally brushed yours. Nat and Tony were still bickering about the teams when you arrived, but were quickly stunned into silence when they saw Loki.

“Brother! Good to see you’ve decided to join,” Thor greeted, breaking the somewhat awkward silence. “Shall we begin then?”

First up was Cranium, and you could tell that everyone else was divided into their usual teams: Tony and Bruce, Clint and Nat, Thor and Steve. You rubbed your hands in excitement, ready for some friendly competition.

“Yes!” you shouted a while later, after you and Loki answered the final question right. “We win!”

Everyone else’s jaw hung open, shocked by how serious of a competitor you were. Not to say you were mean-spirited or gloated or anything, but it was obvious you took game night very seriously. Loki was a little surprised too, but he relished in the infectious energy of your feisty spirit. Not to mention he absolutely loved to be on the winning team.

“Congratulations, guys,” Steve said. “Don’t expect to get as lucky in the next game, though.”

The next game, apparently, was charades, which you and Loki absolutely dominated again. The two of you worked as a well-oiled machine, guessing the simple ones like sewing and the more obscure ones like whale watching with ease. Loki was also surprisingly knowledgeable about Midgardian movies and literature. The two of you high fived, having just edged out the competition.

“Wow, good job guys,” Nat congratulated. “Tony and Bruce usually win that one.”

“Way to rub it in,” Tony groaned, flopping back on the couch.

You could tell a part of him wanted to accuse Loki of cheating but, having no real evidence and not wanting to start a fight, restrained himself. Instead, he contented himself with just mumbling how much of an outrage it was. You, however, were on cloud nine.

As the next game was set up, Loki pulled you onto his lap, instilled with confidence after his latest wins. Of course, if anyone were to ask, he would just say he was saving room on the couch. It would have, though, been a lie.

“Ready for a clean sweep, my little mortal?” he whispered, his breath surprising cold on your ear.

“Bring it on!” you whispered back with a wink.

The last game of the night was Pictionary, and by now everyone knew you and Loki were the team to beat. Unfortunately for them, you got this win, too. The Avengers let out a collective sigh as you shouted a victorious whoop and hugged Loki.

“Good game everyone,” you said, starting to help clean up.

“What are you doing, my little mortal?” Loki questioned, half joking. “Do you not know the losers have to clean up?”

“Not sure that’s actually a rule, Rock of Ages,” Tony grumbled.

“Fine, I’ll help,” he replied, placing a singular piece back in the box. “There. Now it is time for our victory lap.”

Then he scooped you up bridal style using his superhuman strength and began running you around the Tower in his arms, both laughing the whole time. He finally brought you to a stop on the balcony of his room.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that right?” you said, still chuckling.

“Perhaps. But we deserved that after an excellent showing.”

“I guess so. As much as it pains me to admit it, we should probably go easy on them next time. We’ll just win one a night, ok?”

“That’s my little mortal,” he happily sighed, wrapping his arms around you. “Always looking out for others. Always looking out for me. Thank you for inviting me along tonight.”

“No problem. It was a lot of fun. We make a pretty good team.”

“Indeed.”

A comfortable silence settled between you, and you rested against Loki, whose arms were still wrapped around you. He felt more relaxed and happy than he had in a while. He knew he’d ask you out someday, but right now he was still too shy, this friendship still too new. One day he would, though, and he couldn’t wait to get there and to every day after.

[a-supernatural-writer]

hcs for poly! tlb with a fem! s/o who’s style is dark academia and is really blunt/logical and smart. she basically gives off a ‘mysterious, quiet, dark, critical’ vibe (she also doesn’t really know how to handle people who are extremely emotional and she doesn’t know how to soothe someone. she’s just really oblivious/clueless when it comes to others feelings). i’m so sorry if what i requested doesn’t make sense or if it was too much. i am seriously incapable of writing anything without making it look like an essay lmao. love your work btw 💕✨

Dark Academia Fem! S/O 

Poly Lost Boys x Fem reader

I had so much fun writing this! I love the dark academia aesthetic! And it made perfect sense and it wasn’t too much! Having a lot actually helps me expand and write more so thank you. And I’m the same, once I have an idea, I write a lot, so you’re all good! And awww!!! Thank you!!! 💗💗✨✨ I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy!

Okay, so you are very different compared to the large number of characters on the boardwalk. Your style consisted of button shirts, sweaters or turtle necks, dress pants or a plaid pleated skirts, cardigans or waistcoats, oxford shoes or even wire framed glasses if you wore them for seeing or just for the look. 

To say that you caught the boys attention would be an understatement. You seemed to stand out amongst the crowd and they became curious. You were a mystery to them and they love the challenge. 

Somehow, someway, after days or weeks later, you became good friends which soon lead to you dating four trouble making punks. It was tough on both parts, but it happened, and hey, you weren’t complaining. 

You were very blunt when you first met them, not really interested in them and more or less interested in the book in your hands. It took a lot of “accidental” run ins to even get you to hang out with them. 

You slowly opened up when they offered to take you out for dinner at a local diner. They’re constant joking soon had you letting out small, almost whisper-like giggles and tiny smiles that sent them into a frenzy. 

When you would start talking about yourself, your ideas of fun were different from theirs. You liked museums, opera houses, bookstores and going to theaters to see plays. The games you played were chess and cards, and the music you listened to was old. You were pretty sure they thought you were boring but you actually peaked their interest. 

After a while of being friends with them, they asked you out. You liked them and the only logical step was to see if you liked them the same way they liked you was to date them, so you said yes. 

In general, them having a girlfriend with a 1940s/1950s dark prep look was fun. David and Dwayne like it the most. Paul next, then Marko. 

David actually really likes picking out your clothing on most days. You have an extensive collection of clothing with material from cashmere to linen, all the colors consisting of browns, black, cream and even a little dark green. 

His favorite thing to put you in is trench coats. Doesn’t matter what color it is, he just likes seeing you in them. Also, there are a handful of times that he has MADE you wear his trench coat. Yeah it almost swimmed on you, but he thought it made you look cute and it fit in perfectly with your look. 

Dark academia isn’t only your style, but it’s your way of life. David is the one that plays chess with you. You had to reteach it to him and pretty soon, the two of you had your own little set up in the cave that was always ready for a game of chess. 

David is sort of like you… in a way when it comes to others feelings. But deep down he knows that he really likes you and tries to show it the best he can. He took you to a theater to see a play that you were constantly talking about and so he took you on a date. You being you, didn’t realize that’s what it was until he told it straight to your face. Let’s just say you were speechless for the next hour. 

Also, when it’s just the two of you, deep inside the cave where your nest is, classical music is playing from your record player. It could be Beethoven, Tchaikovsky or Mozart. Whoever it is, David is the one that will listen to it with you the most. I think he really enjoys classical music and he enjoys it even more if the two of you are cuddling in your bed. 

Occasionally Dwayne would join the two of you. You would be sitting in between David’s legs as Dwayne sat in between yours, his head leaning back against your chest. It was like a cuddle pile… cuddle train?? Whatever you wanted to call it, it was cuddling while the three of you relaxed listening to classical music. And it was darn cute. 

Dwayne loves listening to you go on and on about any books you were reading at the moment. Whether or not it was nonfiction or even about any type of history. He was down. He lived through a lot and he knew about half of the stuff you gushed on about, but for some odd reason, it never bored him when you talked about it. 

He would be the one to get you new books, leaving you sweet little notes tied to them. Of course you thought it was just him being nice and thanked him for it without thinking there was any romantic meaning behind it. Yeah he was one of your boyfriends but it never really crossed your mind that way. He would just shake his head at your obliviousness and give you a small peck on the lips. 

Don’t ask him why, but his favorite look on you is a light cream colored blouse with a plaid skirt and Mary Jane shoes. Dwayne is a leg man so… he’s very happy when decide to show off some skin if you decide not to wear knee-socks or stockings with it. Even if you did wear them, he would still be attached to your side the entire night. 

Like David, Dwayne would bring you out to a lot of places that were opened late at night. If there was an art exhibition in town or even a museum that was open late, just say the word and he will happily drive you on his bike. Heck, David might even tag along. 

Also, late night bookstore dates… oh my heart, it’s too sweet it hurts. There are times that he does have to throw you over his shoulder when the bookstore is closing and you're pretty much refusing to leave. When he does that, you just stay frozen over his shoulder, not knowing if you should be blushing or cursing at him for carrying you like a sack of potatoes. 

If anything, you and Dwayne connect very well. You’re naturally very quiet and so is he. Not much is said between you two but there's a mutual understanding that can’t be explained. While the others are out causing trouble, you and him are on the sidelines watching hand in hand or your reading and he's just staring at you as you do so. 

Paul and Marko kind of give you whiplash. They’re loud and rowdy and definitely 100% opposite from you. But they interested you. They had a very chaotic outlook on life which made you ask many questions. 

Paul found your look sexy. He’s horny and you give off preppy school vibes, he’s living for it 24/7. Constant teasing of you giving him ‘private lessons’ which results with you whacking a book against the back of his head. But it doesn’t stop the reddening of your ears which doesn’t make him stop.  

This man is also your designated jewelry expert. You only wear some accessories and they're very simple. So you are very surprised when Paul finds you jewelry that is your style and collects it for you. You like leather watches, guess what, he’s got it for you. You want some fancy victorian looking brooches, he’s got that too. Simple rings with a single jewel in the middle, expect constant ‘will you marry me’ jokes, but he gets you the best.

Also, he’s not overly big into your music selection. He does try to get you into his type of music, which you only like very few and far between. But when you do get him to listen to your type of music, it’s only if you agree to listen to his music the next night. You guys come up with a system and decide to switch every few nights. 

Each of the boys have their favorite look on you and Paul's is when you wear a button-up of any color with a simple black tie, a pencil skirt and a pair of Dr.Marten boots. He especially likes the tie… for reasons. God damn it, you know the reasons, get out of here. 

He’s a very affectionate boy and he finds your looks over confusion some of the cutest shit he’s ever seen. Probably the first one to tell you that he loves you and you honestly like glitched out. Did you feel the same way? Yes, but poor little thing you doesn’t say it right away, but Paul knows that you aren’t really used to saying things like that without warming up to it. Which is okay. He knows even if you don’t say it. 

He definitely steals one of your blazers to put pins on it. Marko helps, putting a few patches on it that they both know you would like. It’s the one item that stands out in all of your clothing and you will wear it if they ask you to. 

Marko definitely thinks the look is cute and it suits you very well, but why no color?! You wear dark colors but nothing bright like the colors that are on his jacket. He tries to slip in some colorful clothing into your everyday look, it never goes as planned but you give him an A for effort. 

He loves how dark you can be at times though. You want to go to a local graveyard just because? Sure! Let’s go! He’s your designated graveyard buddy. You have many date nights there, looking at all the different gravestones and finding it interesting when you jot down some names in one of your notebooks. 

Speaking of notebooks, you have many of them. They were filled with notes from books you’ve read, real life observations or even just some random poetry and short stories that you wrote. Marko would go through them a lot and even sometimes draw little doodles or rough sketches that were thought up from your writings. 

When you spend nights down at the Boardwalk, your go to drink isn’t a slushie or a milkshake or even a soda. It’s coffee or tea. Yeah, and only Marko knows your drink orders by heart. None of the others seem to remember them correctly which you thank them for trying but Marko has got them all beat. 

Marko likes seeing you in sweaters and in your trousers or linen shorts with chelsea boots. If anything, when the two of you are alone, just wearing a knit sweater and shorts were perfect for him. He likes how cozy and warm you look. He’s very happy when he cuddles you and you are warm. 

Now when they tell you that they’re vampires, you think that they’re joking. Vampires aren’t real, they’re a work of fiction. Yes there was a real man named Dracula, but there was no way that they were actual vampires. 

Then they showed you hard proof and then there was no denying it at that point. Instead of running away, you were fascinated. You wanted to understand your boyfriends vampire ways that lead to you conducting extensive research and a notebook dedicated to them. 

They showed you everything about them, how they feed, to which you didn’t bat an eyelash of watching them feed one night. You were one morbid chick but they saw that as a plus that you didn’t react. You had graveyard dates for crying out loud, nothing really surprised them at that point.

Flying came next and they had a lot of fun showing you just how high they could go with you in their arms. You never screamed at the height, you were too caught up in seeing the overhead view of the town. You could get used to seeing a view like that every night.  

Then came the other things; how they slept before you came along, what actually hurt them and what didn’t. There was one time that you stared at their vampire faces for hours because you were taking notes on how their facial features changed. 

Soon you had to stock up on more turtlenecks because of the many bite marks they would leave behind from feeding on you if the weather was bad one night. It wasn’t tough adapting to their occasional feeding. A lot of your clothing already covered up your skin so it was easy to hide from people on your nights out. 

Not too long after, they popped the question. Would you want to be a vampire? Live forever, never grow up? Be with them for all eternity? You didn’t really need to think about it for too long, you knew what your answer was and so did they even if you didn’t say it out loud. You loved your boys and not much would change.

When you did change, it was entertaining for them to watch. You soon started taking down notes about your progress, comparing and contrasting your experience to their own. 

To the eyes of many, you became even more dark and mysterious. You had an aura around you that drew people in, it’s what got you your four vampire boyfriends, only now, it brought in your meal for the night.

[mae-the-4th]

London Gym - a Thunderbirds Are Go story

Author: mae-the-4th

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go (2015-2020)

Timing: Season 3, about Episode 18 Avalanche and Episode 20 Icarus

Warnings: none

Words: 1235

Author’s Note: It’s about time I did another Thunderbirds fic! I hate the ending at all and am not entirely happy with what I finished with, but we’ll see how it goes… Enjoy this in all its unedited glory! I know nothing about Wing Chun and Kung Fu, so if I get something wrong, I am so sorry and will try to fix it! The character of Jack Wallace is completely fictional. I don't own any characters except for Jack Wallace, an OC.

xXxXxXx

Jack Wallace was a fit guy. His black-and-red Wing Chun martial arts belt and his habit of going to the gym every morning proved said fact. He had gone to this particular gym in London every day for almost two and a half years – yet he had never seen this young woman before, although she seemed somehow familiar. Tall, lithe, with olive skin, black hair, and enchantingly green eyes, she was there before even he was, running on the treadmill. She stayed there for 3 hours, running at 10 kilometres an hour, no joke! She didn’t stop, didn’t slow down, didn’t stop listening to her music. It seemed she barely broke a sweat. She just kept on running, ponytail swinging, until she left. Jack made a mental note to ask her whether she was a marathon runner if he saw her again.

She was there the next day, again beating him to the gym. Instead of the treadmill, she focused on weights, lifting loads that usually would be impossible for a girl of her age and stature. After weights, she moved to the floor mats, completing push-ups, balances, squats, and many more that Jack didn’t manage to notice. Jack hit the showers quickly so he could ask her what her training regime was but just missed her. As he ran out the door after her, he just managed to spot her climbing into a pink car (pink! Now that’s a sight you don’t see every day!). She greeted the grey-haired driver and they sped off.

On the third day, the mystery girl was late – a whole hour late. It seemed very much unlike her (not that Jack really knew anything about her). The reason why was revealed when the large pink car pulled up to the doors. Out stepped the olive-skinned girl, pulling a shorter blonde out with her. The grey-haired driver followed at a respectful distance, warily eyeing Jack for a moment before flicking his eyes subtly around the gym. Jack didn’t even think about trying to talk to the mystery girl that day.

The day after, Jack found Mystery Girl on the mats, alone. She had a punching bag hanging in front of her – and it looked like she really hated it. Jabs and kicks repeatedly hit the bag, with sometimes less than a second in between the different moves. With a start, Jack recognised the style of fighting – Wing Chun, a style he was quite familiar with himself. After watching a few minutes, Jack realised that this was his opportunity to go talk to her.

“Wing Chun, right? Kung Fu?”

She stopped, turning to face him. “Yes. You know it?”

“Yeah. Don’t know much, but enough to get by in a fight. I think.”

Mystery Girl smirked. “Okay. Let’s have a look, shall we?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know about you, but this punching bag doesn’t exactly hit back.” Jack furrowed his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes. “I’m asking if you’ll spar with me.”

“Oh! Right, yeah. Sorry.” Spreading his legs into an opening stance, Jack desperately tried to remember what he had been taught – and nearly got a jab to the face. “Hey!”

“C’mon! One of the first rules is ‘always be ready and expect the unexpected’!”

Jack grimaced. “Sorry. I’m ready now.”

Mystery Girl grinned. “Shall we start then?”

Somewhere amidst all the jabs and kicks Mystery Girl launched at him, Jack realised that he was seriously outmatched. She was an expert, as in the highest ranking you could ever be. His respect and awe for her increased massively every time she added another bruise to his collection. Her style was flawless, each move precise and aimed perfectly. Jack never had any chance of beating her and he could tell that she was toying with him, leading him around the mats. Finally, Jack found himself on the flat on the ground, pinned by her knee. Grinning, she stood back up and offered her hand. Grabbing it, Jack stood back upright.

“Thanks for the practice,” the girl said.

“Practice? That was a full-on work out!”

She shrugged. “Eh, I take what I can get. Most of my brothers can’t really keep up with me in terms of self-defense, although they’re much better than they used to be.”

Jack sipped from his water bottle, still panting. “Let me guess, you’ve been teaching them?” She nodded, drinking from her own bottle. “How many brothers do you have?”

“Five,” she replied, and Jack blinked in surprise.

A ring tone echoed in the quiet gym and Mystery Girl picked up her phone. Sleek and black with silver highlights, it was obviously heavy duty – and expensive. A holographic display lit the air above the phone, showing the caller ID. Calling – Lady Penelope. The picture was the young blonde from the other day, laughing with her head thrown back with a tanned blond man, Hawaiian shirt open at the neck. Mystery Girl picked up her phone and ‘Penelope’ appeared.

“We are right outside when you’re ready. Gordon is here too, surprisingly.”

“Really?” Mystery Girl said, wry disbelief on her face.

“Yes! Somehow, I got Gordon out of bed, but he is fairly grumpy, and I will need your help wrangling him.”

She smiled fondly. Jack found he really liked it, but a stab of jealousy ran through him. Who is this Gordon? Her boyfriend?

“I’ll be right there, Lady P. See you in a few seconds.” Hanging up on Penelope, Mystery Girl grabbed her rucksack and turned towards the door. “Bye,” she said to Jack with a flutter of her fingers. Minutes later, the same pink car from before roared past.

It was only later that Jack realised he still didn’t ask for her name. He certainly regretted it when he never saw her in his gym again-

-until she was on television two weeks later.

Jack was on the treadmills, straining for those last few kilometres, while watching the local news. There had been a recent world record broken – the world airspeed record, to be precise. Something had gone wrong though, according to the news, and International Rescue had stepped in to help. Jack only caught the end of the report, but it was enough to stop him in his tracks (while the treadmill was still running unfortunately, although he’d never admit it). The news channel showed four of the five Thunderbirds lined up, the members of International Rescue standing in front. Four young men for four Thunderbirds, baldrics silver, green, red, and yellow. Next to them stood two young women. One was blonde, clad in a gold dress and black jacket, her hand entwined in the yellow Thunderbird’s hand. Jack’s eyes widened as he recognised her as Lady Penelope. And next to her-

Next to Lady Penelope was Mystery Girl. Clad in dark blue-green and black, she stood with an easy confidence. The names of the members of International Rescue flashed on the holo-image. Scott Tracy, Virgil Tracy, John Tracy, Gordon Tracy, Alan Tracy, Kayo Kyrano.

Kayo.

Now everything made sense! Mystery Girl’s fitness ability, her friend with the chauffeur, her mention of her five brothers – blimey, her brothers were the famous Tracy’s. She was part of International Rescue, for goodness sake!! She was the elusive pilot of the rumoured Thunderbird Shadow! And Jack had met with her, talked to her, sparred with her, and didn’t even realise.

Jack left the gym in bewilderment, the treadmill still running.

xXxXxXx

FIN

[artificialqueens]

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Chapter 2 (Crygi, Jan x Nicky) - Joley

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Crystal had spent two days trying to figure out how to explain this new situation to Gigi. She considered testing the waters by joking about it, then thought maybe she should just rip the Band-Aid off and tell her outright. But any train of thought drove her right into a wall. And Jan wasn’t much help either.

“Maybe you could text her,” Jan had mused offhandedly. She was trying to help as much as she could – her suggestion was made while she was sitting in front of her laptop researching what actually went into planning a wedding, method acting, if you will. They were committed to this lie now, it seemed like there was no choice but to go all in.

“Text her?!” Crystal’s eyes were wide, she couldn’t possibly be serious. “I can’t just be like, ‘Hey Geege, Jan told Nicky we’re getting married lol T-T-Y-L and hope for the best.”

“Well, obviously not that, no one says T-T-Y-L anymore.”

“Jan!”

Jan sighed, spinning her desk chair around to face her. “I’m sorry, but I already have a lot of ground to cover. Telling Gigi is your job.”

Crystal threw her head back and whined. “But I don’t wanna.”

“Would you rather I do it?”

She quickly put her hands up in surrender. “No, no, I got it,” she assured. “She’s still at the studio, I’ll just… go there and tell her when she’s finished. I’ll call you if I need backup.”

“Get it done, sis.” Jan hummed before turning back to the screen, mumbling under her breath about how unreasonably expensive wedding bouquets are. “They’re flowers. Why would you pay that much for fucking flowers?”

And Crystal had hoped the walk she took from there to the studio would help her build her nerve, but she was hit with a new wave of anxiety the moment Gigi saw her.

Gigi waved her over, not straying from her work station. “I’ll be about another fifteen minutes or so, but you can just hang out if you don’t mind waiting.”

“Oh, yeah, no that’s fine,” she assured, sitting at one of the empty stations. On a normal day, she would enjoy watching Gigi at work. There was something almost magical about watching someone create art they were passionate about that Crystal found absolutely entrancing. Plus, it was Gigi – she could watch her read the phone book.

“So, what’s up with you?” Gigi asked casually, holding up two different types of lace against white fabric.

Crystal wasn’t sure what she opened her mouth to say, but she ended up blurting out, “We need to pretend to be getting married when Nicky comes here to visit Jan.”

That stopped Gigi in her tracks. She set the lace down and turned to face her friend. “I’m sorry, what?”

Crystal took a deep breath, feeling almost relieved that she had ripped the bandage off, but still worried that she wouldn’t be able to explain herself in a way that would actually get the other girl on board with this charade. “So… here’s the thing. Jan obviously really wants to see Nicky in person, but they haven’t been able to commit to a plan. So I, being the super smart person I am, suggested she tell her there’s an event coming up that she should fly out for. And… long story short that event is our wedding and now we’re along for the ride.”

Gigi blinked, taking the time to digest the information she received. “What the fuck, Crystal?” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Well, when’s the ‘wedding?’”

“In like, a month. Maybe two.”

With her lips still in a fine line, Gigi let out a strangled noise of frustration. “In a month or two,” she repeated, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “You know what? Fuck it, let’s do what we have to do.”

Crystal felt a massive weight lift from her chest and she exhaled deeply. “Really?”

“I mean, I’m never gonna let you hear the end of it, but yeah. Sure. Why not?” She shrugged. Glancing over at her dress, she decided she’d done enough work for the day. “I guess we better reconvene with Jan then.”

As she pushed herself back to her feet, Crystal still felt a little lightheaded. Sure, she was thanking every possible deity that Gigi was on board with this half-baked scheme, but now she would have far fewer chances to suppress and ignore her feelings. “Yeah, she’ll definitely appreciate that.”

When they did return to the apartment, Jan was still on her laptop in her room, deeply immersed in her research. It took Crystal and Gigi getting right in front of her for her to even become aware of her presence. “Oh, hey guys,” she greeted, setting her laptop next to her on the bed before looking at Crystal. “Did you tell her?”

“Very subtle, Jan,” Crystal retorted flatly. “But yes, I told her.”

“When did you tell Nicky to come here?” Gigi asked.

Jan shrugged. “I didn’t give a specific date yet. So, you know, work that out amongst yourselves. Also, you guys should get registered at some stores. At least that way if someone stumbles upon it, you could get like… a toaster or something.”

“I do love toast,” Gigi mused. “But I wanna know just how far we’re taking this. Like, are Crystal and I gonna pretend to get married? Do we break up? Or are you gonna wait til after you get Nicky in bed with you and then tell her the truth?”

“I… haven’t actually gotten that far yet,” she admitted. “I don’t think we should stage a fake wedding, though. Because then you guys are just gonna have to keep up the act indefinitely or get a fake divorce. We’ll work it out as we keep going.”

Crystal leaned against Jan’s desk, finally coming to terms with the fact that the three of them were definitely not backing out of this, that there was no chance of just scrapping the plan and calling it a day. “So other than that, what do we need to do?”

Jan picked her laptop back up. “We need to make a couple of invitations, I figure we could just get one or two free samples, just to send one to Nicky and keep one for our own records. Crystal needs to rent or borrow a dress, and we should probably go through the motions of planning a wedding without like, going fifty thousand dollars in debt.”

“Rings!” Gigi suddenly exclaimed. “What are we gonna do about rings? That’s a pretty fucking important part of being engaged.”

Crystal and Jan looked at each other, both of them searching for an answer, but there was the slightest bit of amusement in their expressions when it became clear that Gigi was now taking this as seriously as they were. “I’m sure we could get some convincing fake ones online. It’s not like she’s a professional jewelry appraiser,” Jan suggested.

“I’m not wearing something that’ll turn my finger green,” Gigi warned with a grave deadpan. “I’ll see if my mom has anything we can borrow. She has a collection of vintage and like, random, unique jewelry. I’m sure she’ll let me temporarily poach something off of her.”

Jan arched her brow. “So you’re gonna rope her into this too? Or are you gonna give her some other excuse?”

That gave Gigi pause, and she realized she was either going to bring another person into the party or dig all of them into a deeper hole. “I should probably just tell her,” she decided, the other two girls nodding in agreement.

“I would really like to watch this conversation take place,” Crystal piped up.

“Well, why don’t you guys do that? I’ve got a call with Nicky in ten,” Jan chimed in, looking at her phone.

“Well, far be it for us to interrupt your sexy Skype session,” Gigi retorted with a soft laugh. “Come, Crystal,” she curled her finger, and the two of them left Jan to her own devices.

Jan waved them off before getting up to fix her hair and makeup in the mirror, then moved her laptop to her desk so she could look at the screen dead-on. When she saw Nicky calling, she beamed brightly as she answered it. “Well damn, what sort of runway are you dressed up for?”

Nicky laughed and looked down. Her hair was styled up in a bouffant and the normally straight locks were in gentle waves. Her makeup – which Jan knew she did herself – was immaculate beyond reproach. “Don’t jinx it, I had my friend take some headshots for my portfolio today. So, fingers crossed there are runways in the future.”

“It’s basically a given, I can just tell,” Jan grinned, her elbows propped on her desk and face in her hands. The look in her eyes was full to the brim with enamored adoration; even she was surprised that Nicky hadn’t picked up on her feelings. “And then I’ll get to say I knew you way back when.”

“Bitch please,” she scoffed. “If I ever get famous, you know I’m flying your ass out here first class. It wouldn’t be fun without my sweet Janice by my side.”

She blushed, her hands moving from her face to stroke her ponytail. Hearing Nicky call her ‘hers’ in any capacity had her heart ready to leap right out of her chest. It was times like that that made her wonder if it would’ve been that crazy for her to profess her feelings, if she was building all of this fear and anxiety over owning her feelings for nothing. It sometimes felt like a declaration of love was dancing on the tip of her tongue, threatening to slip past her lips.

But nothing was ever enough to get her over that hurdle. Her stubborn fear of rejection outweighed even common sense. So, instead, she kept it sweet and vague. “Well, you know I’ll always be there whether you like it or not.”

“I’m offended you think there’s a chance I wouldn’t.” Nicky scoffed playfully. “Anyway, what have you been up to today?”

“Oh, just… helping the girls with planning and stuff.” It was technically true, so she counted it as one less lie she was telling her. She found that the easiest thing to do was to just keep the focus off herself until she felt more confident in this charade. “It’s just boring details really. Have you been working on learning any songs lately?”

Nicky shook her head. “Actually, I was hoping to convince you to sing for me,” she cooed, batting her lashes in an over-exaggerated manner.

It was a look that Jan was an undeniable sucker for that look, and she was certain that Nicky had figured out that much. “I suppose I could do that. Any requests?”

Nicky tilted her head, taking a moment to think. “Can you do that one from Grease? The magic one?”

Jan giggled softly, knowing she meant ‘Those Magic Changes.’ The song had been buried in her repertoire for ages until she’d stumbled upon a clip of her performing it in her freshman year of college. She’d sent it to Nicky, just thinking it’d be a cute throwback of sorts, but her penpal absolutely loved it, and brought it up every time she could. She didn’t quite get it, but she was thrilled that there was something she could do that would make her so happy. “For you? Of course.”

Once Jan found the karaoke version of the song on her phone, she played it and sang along, serenading Nicky as she’d done a number of times. While it was night time in France, it was still late afternoon for her, so she wasn’t concerned about the volume. Though, even if it had been later, she probably would have risked it – it just wouldn’t be the same if she used her ‘neighbor friendly’ voice.

Nicky applauded cheerfully when Jan finished. Her eyes were bright and warm with the enthusiasm of a child who just heard their favorite bedtime story despite getting it every night. It simply never got old for her. “You’re going to have to sing me to sleep every night once we’re in the same time zone,” she mused.

“You know I will,” Jan smiled softly, her mind conjuring up the image of the two of them laying in bed together, cuddled up close after a long day. Nicky would hold her in her arms while she sang to her, then fall asleep in her embrace, knowing she would sleep soundly because she got to wake up in her arms. She already knew what she smelled like, thanks to her scented letters, and longed to be able to wake up to it lingering on her skin instead of soaked into paper, she just yearned for the day where none of her senses were deprived of the other girl.

“You’re so good to me,” she cooed.

“That’s right, now I’m going to remind you to take that makeup off.” She chuckled. “It’s like, a quarter to eleven where you are, I don’t want you falling asleep with all that on.”

Nicky snorted softly. “There it is.” She rolled her eyes fondly, then reached across her desk. “I came prepared for this,” she explained, holding up a pack of makeup wipes. And, just to assure her she was actually following through, she took a wipe out and began cleaning off her face.

Jan grinned triumphantly. “See? I knew I’d start to rub off on you sooner or later.” Of course, she was guilty of just as many bad habits, if not more. But that was beside the point as far as she was concerned. Either way, she watched until Nicky had finished cleaning off her face, and she almost found it unfair that someone could be even more flawless underneath the makeup.

“Okay, I’m going to get ready for bed before you lecture me about that too,” Nicky teased. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, bye!” She blew a kiss at the screen before they ended the call.

After the call ended, Jan closed her laptop and got up to look in the mirror. She stared at herself, silently questioning why she was like this, so hopelessly taken with someone that it clouded her judgement, that she let thoughts of her cloud both her waking thoughts and her dreams. It was as frustrating and painful as it was intoxicatingly addictive.

The only thing that pulled Jan from her train of thoughts was her phone ringing, and she nearly dropped it as she got it out from her pocket. “What’s up, Crystal? Please tell me this isn’t a crisis call.”

“No, no, everything’s fine,” Crystal quickly assured. “We’re at Gigi’s mom’s house and she invited us to stay for dinner. So I won’t be back for like… another couple hours, give or take.”

“Oh, okay, cool. I take it the ring issue was taken care of?”

Crystal beamed, admiring the ring on her finger as if Gigi had actually proposed to her with it. “Everything’s fine on that front, trust me. I have to send you a picture of this, you’re gonna die.”

Jan laughed lightly. “I’m sure I will. Go ahead, then enjoy your dinner. Tell Mama Goode I said hi.”

“Can do,” Crystal assured before hanging up, her eyes still trained on the ring. The ring itself was rose gold, the band carved with vine-like design. The diamond at the center was square-cut and surrounded by tiny, round diamonds. While just towing the line of being over-the-top, it had the sort of unique, quirky vibe that made it perfect for someone like her.

“It’s like it was made for you,” Gigi had told her when she picked it out. “It’s actually kind of spooky.” She had picked out a ring for herself as well, one that had more of an antique aesthetic that she appreciated. It was gold with diamonds embedded along the band, centering an ornately-bordered radiant-cut diamond. It wasn’t as flashy as Crystal’s, but she was drawn to the details in the ring.

When they put their left hands on the table next to each other, they noted that there weren’t any significant similarities between what they’d chosen, but both of their personalities seemed properly represented. “We should have a little hand-modeling shoot for this,” Gigi mused, figuring she could ask her mom for help with that as well. They had explained their circumstances right away, and much to their relief, Gigi’s mom had found their story to be very funny and agreed to help however they needed under the condition that she could retell the tale once everything was over with. Crystal was happy to agree to these conditions, while Gigi did so more reluctantly.

Crystal wouldn’t admit as much, but as she sat down for dinner with the Goodes, it felt all too right. Like she was just having a meal with her future wife and mother-in-law, the energy that flowed among the three of them was always so calm and natural, even-keeled and even quiet at times. It was a stark contrast from her own family dinners in both positive and negative ways. But when it came down to it, what stood out the most to her was that she felt so perfectly at home with them, she couldn’t help but wish this at least felt fake. It would be easier to bear when it was all over.

[missjanjie]

Signed, Sealed, Delivered | (2/?)

Title: Signed, Sealed, Delivered Summary:   Jan is in love with her French pen pal, Nicky. Her roommate, Crystal, is in love with her best friend, Gigi. A (perhaps ill-thought out) plan emerges: give Nicky a reason to visit by inviting her to Crystal and Gigi’s wedding. With a month to pull the scheme together, no one knows how this will end up. Word Count: 2.9k (this chapter) / 5.8k (total) Relationship(s): Sportsdoll (Jan Sport/Nicky Doll), Crygi (Crystal Methyd/Gigi Goode Rating: T (so far)

Read on AO3

and thanks to @janssports for beta-ing~

-

Crystal had spent two days trying to figure out how to explain this new situation to Gigi. She considered testing the waters by joking about it, then thought maybe she should just rip the Band-Aid off and tell her outright. But any train of thought drove her right into a wall. And Jan wasn’t much help either.

“Maybe you could text her,” Jan had mused offhandedly. She was trying to help as much as she could – her suggestion was made while she was sitting in front of her laptop researching what actually went into planning a wedding, method acting, if you will. They were committed to this lie now, it seemed like there was no choice but to go all in.

“Text her?!” Crystal’s eyes were wide, she couldn’t possibly be serious. “I can’t just be like, ‘Hey Geege, Jan told Nicky we’re getting married lol T-T-Y-L and hope for the best.”

“Well, obviously not that, no one says T-T-Y-L anymore.”

“Jan!”

Jan sighed, spinning her desk chair around to face her. “I’m sorry, but I already have a lot of ground to cover. Telling Gigi is your job.”

Crystal threw her head back and whined. “But I don’t wanna.”

“Would you rather I do it?”

She quickly put her hands up in surrender. “No, no, I got it,” she assured. “She’s still at the studio, I’ll just… go there and tell her when she’s finished. I’ll call you if I need backup.”

“Get it done, sis.” Jan hummed before turning back to the screen, mumbling under her breath about how unreasonably expensive wedding bouquets are. “They’re flowers. Why would you pay that much for fucking flowers?”

And Crystal had hoped the walk she took from there to the studio would help her build her nerve, but she was hit with a new wave of anxiety the moment Gigi saw her.

Gigi waved her over, not straying from her work station. “I’ll be about another fifteen minutes or so, but you can just hang out if you don’t mind waiting.”

“Oh, yeah, no that’s fine,” she assured, sitting at one of the empty stations. On a normal day, she would enjoy watching Gigi at work. There was something almost magical about watching someone create art they were passionate about that Crystal found absolutely entrancing. Plus, it was Gigi – she could watch her read the phone book.

“So, what’s up with you?” Gigi asked casually, holding up two different types of lace against white fabric.

Crystal wasn’t sure what she opened her mouth to say, but she ended up blurting out, “We need to pretend to be getting married when Nicky comes here to visit Jan.”

That stopped Gigi in her tracks. She set the lace down and turned to face her friend. “I’m sorry, what?”

Crystal took a deep breath, feeling almost relieved that she had ripped the bandage off, but still worried that she wouldn’t be able to explain herself in a way that would actually get the other girl on board with this charade. “So… here’s the thing. Jan obviously really wants to see Nicky in person, but they haven’t been able to commit to a plan. So I, being the super smart person I am, suggested she tell her there’s an event coming up that she should fly out for. And… long story short that event is our wedding and now we’re along for the ride.”

Gigi blinked, taking the time to digest the information she received. “What the fuck, Crystal?” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Well, when’s the ‘wedding?’”

“In like, a month. Maybe two.”

With her lips still in a fine line, Gigi let out a strangled noise of frustration. “In a month or two,” she repeated, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “You know what? Fuck it, let’s do what we have to do.”

Crystal felt a massive weight lift from her chest and she exhaled deeply. “Really?”

“I mean, I’m never gonna let you hear the end of it, but yeah. Sure. Why not?” She shrugged. Glancing over at her dress, she decided she’d done enough work for the day. “I guess we better reconvene with Jan then.”

As she pushed herself back to her feet, Crystal still felt a little lightheaded. Sure, she was thanking every possible deity that Gigi was on board with this half-baked scheme, but now she would have far fewer chances to suppress and ignore her feelings. “Yeah, she’ll definitely appreciate that.”

When they did return to the apartment, Jan was still on her laptop in her room, deeply immersed in her research. It took Crystal and Gigi getting right in front of her for her to even become aware of her presence. “Oh, hey guys,” she greeted, setting her laptop next to her on the bed before looking at Crystal. “Did you tell her?”

“Very subtle, Jan,” Crystal retorted flatly. “But yes, I told her.”

“When did you tell Nicky to come here?” Gigi asked.

Jan shrugged. “I didn’t give a specific date yet. So, you know, work that out amongst yourselves. Also, you guys should get registered at some stores. At least that way if someone stumbles upon it, you could get like… a toaster or something.”

“I do love toast,” Gigi mused. “But I wanna know just how far we’re taking this. Like, are Crystal and I gonna pretend to get married? Do we break up? Or are you gonna wait til after you get Nicky in bed with you and then tell her the truth?”

“I… haven’t actually gotten that far yet,” she admitted. “I don’t think we should stage a fake wedding, though. Because then you guys are just gonna have to keep up the act indefinitely or get a fake divorce. We’ll work it out as we keep going.”

Crystal leaned against Jan’s desk, finally coming to terms with the fact that the three of them were definitely not backing out of this, that there was no chance of just scrapping the plan and calling it a day. “So other than that, what do we need to do?”

Jan picked her laptop back up. “We need to make a couple of invitations, I figure we could just get one or two free samples, just to send one to Nicky and keep one for our own records. Crystal needs to rent or borrow a dress, and we should probably go through the motions of planning a wedding without like, going fifty thousand dollars in debt.”

“Rings!” Gigi suddenly exclaimed. “What are we gonna do about rings? That’s a pretty fucking important part of being engaged.”

Crystal and Jan looked at each other, both of them searching for an answer, but there was the slightest bit of amusement in their expressions when it became clear that Gigi was now taking this as seriously as they were. “I’m sure we could get some convincing fake ones online. It’s not like she’s a professional jewelry appraiser,” Jan suggested.

“I’m not wearing something that’ll turn my finger green,” Gigi warned with a grave deadpan. “I’ll see if my mom has anything we can borrow. She has a collection of vintage and like, random, unique jewelry. I’m sure she’ll let me temporarily poach something off of her.”

Jan arched her brow. “So you’re gonna rope her into this too? Or are you gonna give her some other excuse?”

That gave Gigi pause, and she realized she was either going to bring another person into the party or dig all of them into a deeper hole. “I should probably just tell her,” she decided, the other two girls nodding in agreement.

“I would really like to watch this conversation take place,” Crystal piped up.

“Well, why don’t you guys do that? I’ve got a call with Nicky in ten,” Jan chimed in, looking at her phone.

“Well, far be it for us to interrupt your sexy Skype session,” Gigi retorted with a soft laugh. “Come, Crystal,” she curled her finger, and the two of them left Jan to her own devices.

Jan waved them off before getting up to fix her hair and makeup in the mirror, then moved her laptop to her desk so she could look at the screen dead-on. When she saw Nicky calling, she beamed brightly as she answered it. “Well damn, what sort of runway are you dressed up for?”

Nicky laughed and looked down. Her hair was styled up in a bouffant and the normally straight locks were in gentle waves. Her makeup – which Jan knew she did herself – was immaculate beyond reproach. “Don’t jinx it, I had my friend take some headshots for my portfolio today. So, fingers crossed there are runways in the future.”

“It’s basically a given, I can just tell,” Jan grinned, her elbows propped on her desk and face in her hands. The look in her eyes was full to the brim with enamored adoration; even she was surprised that Nicky hadn’t picked up on her feelings. “And then I’ll get to say I knew you way back when.”

“Bitch please,” she scoffed. “If I ever get famous, you know I’m flying your ass out here first class. It wouldn’t be fun without my sweet Janice by my side.”

She blushed, her hands moving from her face to stroke her ponytail. Hearing Nicky call her ‘hers’ in any capacity had her heart ready to leap right out of her chest. It was times like that that made her wonder if it would’ve been that crazy for her to profess her feelings, if she was building all of this fear and anxiety over owning her feelings for nothing. It sometimes felt like a declaration of love was dancing on the tip of her tongue, threatening to slip past her lips.

But nothing was ever enough to get her over that hurdle. Her stubborn fear of rejection outweighed even common sense. So, instead, she kept it sweet and vague. “Well, you know I’ll always be there whether you like it or not.”

“I’m offended you think there’s a chance I wouldn’t.” Nicky scoffed playfully. “Anyway, what have you been up to today?”

“Oh, just… helping the girls with planning and stuff.” It was technically true, so she counted it as one less lie she was telling her. She found that the easiest thing to do was to just keep the focus off herself until she felt more confident in this charade. “It’s just boring details really. Have you been working on learning any songs lately?”

Nicky shook her head. “Actually, I was hoping to convince you to sing for me,” she cooed, batting her lashes in an over-exaggerated manner.

It was a look that Jan was an undeniable sucker for that look, and she was certain that Nicky had figured out that much. “I suppose I could do that. Any requests?”

Nicky tilted her head, taking a moment to think. “Can you do that one from Grease? The magic one?”

Jan giggled softly, knowing she meant ‘Those Magic Changes.’ The song had been buried in her repertoire for ages until she’d stumbled upon a clip of her performing it in her freshman year of college. She’d sent it to Nicky, just thinking it’d be a cute throwback of sorts, but her penpal absolutely loved it, and brought it up every time she could. She didn’t quite get it, but she was thrilled that there was something she could do that would make her so happy. “For you? Of course.”

Once Jan found the karaoke version of the song on her phone, she played it and sang along, serenading Nicky as she’d done a number of times. While it was night time in France, it was still late afternoon for her, so she wasn’t concerned about the volume. Though, even if it had been later, she probably would have risked it – it just wouldn’t be the same if she used her ‘neighbor friendly’ voice.

Nicky applauded cheerfully when Jan finished. Her eyes were bright and warm with the enthusiasm of a child who just heard their favorite bedtime story despite getting it every night. It simply never got old for her. “You’re going to have to sing me to sleep every night once we’re in the same time zone,” she mused.

“You know I will,” Jan smiled softly, her mind conjuring up the image of the two of them laying in bed together, cuddled up close after a long day. Nicky would hold her in her arms while she sang to her, then fall asleep in her embrace, knowing she would sleep soundly because she got to wake up in her arms. She already knew what she smelled like, thanks to her scented letters, and longed to be able to wake up to it lingering on her skin instead of soaked into paper, she just yearned for the day where none of her senses were deprived of the other girl.

“You’re so good to me,” she cooed.

“That’s right, now I’m going to remind you to take that makeup off.” She chuckled. “It’s like, a quarter to eleven where you are, I don’t want you falling asleep with all that on.”

Nicky snorted softly. “There it is.” She rolled her eyes fondly, then reached across her desk. “I came prepared for this,” she explained, holding up a pack of makeup wipes. And, just to assure her she was actually following through, she took a wipe out and began cleaning off her face.

Jan grinned triumphantly. “See? I knew I’d start to rub off on you sooner or later.” Of course, she was guilty of just as many bad habits, if not more. But that was beside the point as far as she was concerned. Either way, she watched until Nicky had finished cleaning off her face, and she almost found it unfair that someone could be even more flawless underneath the makeup.

“Okay, I’m going to get ready for bed before you lecture me about that too,” Nicky teased. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, bye!” She blew a kiss at the screen before they ended the call.

After the call ended, Jan closed her laptop and got up to look in the mirror. She stared at herself, silently questioning why she was like this, so hopelessly taken with someone that it clouded her judgement, that she let thoughts of her cloud both her waking thoughts and her dreams. It was as frustrating and painful as it was intoxicatingly addictive.

The only thing that pulled Jan from her train of thoughts was her phone ringing, and she nearly dropped it as she got it out from her pocket. “What’s up, Crystal? Please tell me this isn’t a crisis call.”

“No, no, everything’s fine,” Crystal quickly assured. “We’re at Gigi’s mom’s house and she invited us to stay for dinner. So I won’t be back for like… another couple hours, give or take.”

“Oh, okay, cool. I take it the ring issue was taken care of?”

Crystal beamed, admiring the ring on her finger as if Gigi had actually proposed to her with it. “Everything’s fine on that front, trust me. I have to send you a picture of this, you’re gonna die.”

Jan laughed lightly. “I’m sure I will. Go ahead, then enjoy your dinner. Tell Mama Goode I said hi.”

“Can do,” Crystal assured before hanging up, her eyes still trained on the ring. The ring itself was rose gold, the band carved with vine-like design. The diamond at the center was square-cut and surrounded by tiny, round diamonds. While just towing the line of being over-the-top, it had the sort of unique, quirky vibe that made it perfect for someone like her.

“It’s like it was made for you,” Gigi had told her when she picked it out. “It’s actually kind of spooky.” She had picked out a ring for herself as well, one that had more of an antique aesthetic that she appreciated. It was gold with diamonds embedded along the band, centering an ornately-bordered radiant-cut diamond. It wasn’t as flashy as Crystal’s, but she was drawn to the details in the ring.

When they put their left hands on the table next to each other, they noted that there weren’t any significant similarities between what they’d chosen, but both of their personalities seemed properly represented. “We should have a little hand-modeling shoot for this,” Gigi mused, figuring she could ask her mom for help with that as well. They had explained their circumstances right away, and much to their relief, Gigi’s mom had found their story to be very funny and agreed to help however they needed under the condition that she could retell the tale once everything was over with. Crystal was happy to agree to these conditions, while Gigi did so more reluctantly.

Crystal wouldn’t admit as much, but as she sat down for dinner with the Goodes, it felt all too right. Like she was just having a meal with her future wife and mother-in-law, the energy that flowed among the three of them was always so calm and natural, even-keeled and even quiet at times. It was a stark contrast from her own family dinners in both positive and negative ways. But when it came down to it, what stood out the most to her was that she felt so perfectly at home with them, she couldn’t help but wish this at least felt fake. It would be easier to bear when it was all over.

[captainmazzic]

In Which There Is A Bit Of A Side Story Involving Jedi Master Heilon, And How He Came To Be At The Tribunal.

(This is the start of a short story detailing how Burdock Heilon came to meet Darth Aranea and a few other Sith, and culminated in him being invited by Aranea to observe the Enclave of the Sith Tribunal. I’m trying not to make it very long, probably only like two or three chapters, but I’m going to write it out in its entirety before posting it on AO3. Here’s the first few bits, because I was entertained and wanted to share).

“The other name was Cinaede?”

The agent nodded. “That is what Master Braga said. The Sith that was holding Master Ikalruq hostage mentioned a Darth Gallus and Darth Cinaede for exchange. When pressed for a single trade, he selected Darth Gallus.” She scrolled through her datapad, scanning for the relevant information. “Darth Gallus is apparently a Rodian Sith that Argent Legion picked up a few months back, Unit Jenth I think. He’s young, mouthy, and stupid, according to his interrogators. Nothing special. Stars know why this... Darth Belus... Sith picked him to return over the other.” She tapped the edge of her datapad. “But it looks like this Darth Cinaede is the same as the Cinaedus that Unit Peth picked up ages ago. Sith Assassin. Only got caught on the job because their target was in a house that caught on fire due to an entirely unrelated arson. Getting them in was ugly, if the report was anything to go by. They kept… ‘shifting around’, report says. They’re some kind of morphing amphibian. Eliminated Unit Osk single-handedly, and half of Unit Peth, before Peth managed to bring them down. I’m surprised they brought them in alive.”

Jedi Master Burdock Heilon leaned back in his chair and motioned for the datapad. “That is the purpose of these acquisitions, Agent Basrel. And one of Argent Legion’s major directives. To collect Sith alive for purging and interrogation.”

“I understand that, sir.” She shrugged as she handed him the datapad. “But if it had been my unit, I would have deemed them too dangerous to hold. Alive, that is. According to our sources, they’re one of the Sith’s best infiltrators and assassins.”

Heilon nodded as he inspected the screen. “We’ve had them in custody for…. How long now?”

“Eighteen Coruscanti months.”

“Have they cracked?”

“Not unless you mean jokes. Hasn’t given even a millimeter to our interrogators. Suggests tea parties and interior décor options instead. They’ve been driving our team mad.”

Heilon snorted and tossed the datapad onto his desk. “I think it’s time we started playing hardball with this one. There has to be a reason this Darth Belus wanted this particular assassin released. We’ll never know why he wanted Gallus, what’s done is done, but perhaps we can figure out why Cinaede is so important. Cinaedus. Whatever.” He slid his chair back and got to his feet, brushing imaginary lint off of his uniform. “Have the assassin transferred to Coruscant immediately, Agent Basrel. I will take over their interrogation personally.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * * * * * * *

The high security transport ship hissed and beeped as its landing thrusters aligned with the docking pad, deep inside the massive spike of a prison tower that functioned as a receiving area for high-risk prisoners. Burdock Heilon stood beside Agent Basrel with his hands clasped behind his back, patiently waiting for the two dozen guards to disembark with their dangerous cargo centered among them. Darth Cinaedus was bound hand and foot within a stasis field upon a repulsorlift, eyes blindfolded, mouth gagged, and ears plugged. Four guards stood at each corner of the lift with blasters trained perpetually on the immobile figure as the others guided the lift down the massive hall that led to the depths of the prison.

Heilon fell into step behind the elaborate escort, and raised an eyebrow down at Agent Basrel. “This Cinaedus is… er…”

She smirked. “Tiny little thing, eh?”

“Certainly not what I expected.”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. “Didn’t you study the files?”

He shrugged. “I read them, yes. End to end. Several times. But once you’ve seen one Sith, you’ve seen them all. Species doesn’t matter much once they are tainted by the Dark Side. I didn’t bother looking at their picture.”

Agent Basrel pursed her lips. “Oh, well then. You’re in for a few surprises then, I guess. I have some red tape to wrap up about finalizing the transfer, so I’ll check in later. Enjoy meeting your new Sith, Master Heilon. This one is… this one’s an interesting one.” She steepled her fingers to her chest before veering to the side and down a hall branching off of the main walkway.

Heilon shook his head at her retreating form and chuckled to himself. “Just one Sith. How interesting can they be?”

* * * * * * * *

The interrogation room was like any other. No windows and black floors, ceiling, and walls, with garish lighting and an ambient temperature just a few degrees too cool for whatever species it was trying to currently contain. A single bench in the same matte black ran the length of the back wall, just a little too narrow for an average-sized humanoid to be comfortable. On that bench the guards had placed Darth Cinaede – or Cinaedus, honestly Master Heilon still had no idea which one was the typo and which one was the actual name – and now those guards had just removed the blindfold, ear plugs, and gag. They took a step back to give Heilon some room, and he pulled up a rolling chair he had swiped from the receiving desk outside. “Greetings, Sith. I am Jedi Master Burdock Heilon. I will be functioning as your new interrogator.”

The strange amphibious Sith sitting before him flicked narrowed eyes up and down his form before breaking out into a wide smile. A gravely voice echoed his name in peppy tones. “Good morning, Jedi Master Burdock Heilon.”

Heilon smirked. “And how would you know whether it is morning or not? You have had no shred of contact with the outside world for the entire length of time you have been in custody.”

The narrowed eyes widened slowly to take up nearly half of the Sith’s face. “Oh, it’s always morning here on the Republic’s sunny and glorious capital world, the crown jewel of the galaxy, the beautiful and illustrious Coruscant. The suns never set on the grandeur of the Republic, after all.” Their voice rose into a higher, musical chirp. “Pleasure to meet you, Jedi Master Burdock Heilon, member of the Jedi Council, patron of Argent Legion. I’m Darth Cinaede. I suppose I have you to thank for having your division kidnap me in the first place.”

Heilon scoffed. “You were hardly kidnapped. You were apprehended on a botched assassination attempt, and have remained our prisoner ever since.”

“Successful.”

“What?”

Cinaede shrugged. “A successful assassination attempt. I killed my target, thank you very much. It was Senator Garrumn’s house catching on fire that was the botched attempt. I guess her constituents weren’t too happy with her either, if they were willing to resort to arson. I thought Jedi weren’t supposed to play politics, anyway. Why was a Jedi playing senator in the first place?”

A swift flick of Heilon’s hand and Cinaede flinched as though hit. He scowled and leaned forward in his chair. “That is enough out of you. I am your interrogator, not the other way around.”

He only received a lopsided grin in return. “Whatever you say, Jedi Master Burdock Heilon. You know, that’s really long. I’m gonna have to give you a nickname.”

Heilon ignored their jaunty words. “You say your name is Cinaede?” He waved over one of the guards. “Make sure we correct that in the records. There is an error regarding the name of this Sith.”

Cinaede’s head tilted to one side. “You got my name wrong? Seriously?”

Heilon again made a flick with his hand and clapped Cinaede’s mouth shut with the Force. “You appear as both Cinaede and Cinaedus in our records.”

“Mm-hmph.”

Heilon sighed and released his hold in the Force on their jaw. “What?”

“I said, that’s right.”

“…What?”

An enormous eye roll. “Cinaede is my name.” Those eyes suddenly narrowed as Cinaede’s jaw thickened and squared, and once again a gravely voice reached Heilon’s ears. “So is Cinaedus. They’re both me.”

Heilon blinked. “…Ah.” He turned to the guard and raised a finger as if to correct what he had just told her, but turned back to his prisoner instead. “Are you…”

Cin’s head tilted to the other side this time. “Seriously? Pixies of Patitite Pattuna, did I seriously get stuck with the one Jedi in the entire galaxy who’s never met an id-shifter?”

Heilon shook his head rapidly. “Of course I have, I just – ” he pinched the bridge of his nose and took in a slow breath. “Alright. So you’re an id-shifter. And obviously of one of the few species that is actually able to physically morph as well.”

“I’m lucky like that.” Cin’s bright smile returned. “And depending on which records you’re looking at, my species is called Lowen or Shaull. Look us up sometime. That’s about all the info you’ve got floating around on us. Homeworld’s labeled wrong too. Guess mucking up names runs in the fam.” They leaned back against the stark wall behind them. “I’ll make it easy on you, though, at least regarding me. You’ll know when I’m Cinaede and when I’m Cinaedus. I’m usually Cinaede, but I’m really not picky about pronouns. You can call me Cin for short regardless, it’s much easier that way. Just don’t call me Cinny. Classmates tried that when I was a wee acolyte. Didn’t work out for them. Pity, I was the only one who survived graduation that year.”

Heilon nodded as he pinched the skin between his eyes harder. “…Right.”

Cin’s smile turned into a shit-eating grin. “I am going to make your life so, so much harder, HeiHei. Can I call you HeiHei? Thanks. This is the blossoming of a beautiful friendship, HeiHei, I can tell.”

Heilon’s only response was an already-weary glance up at the guard, who he swore was trying very hard not to laugh behind her helmet.

* * * * * * * *

[writemoment]

Recovery Companion Pt.3

Writer: Ellie-Mae (Pen Name)

**Part: 3/5 Previous Parts: 1 - 2

Summary: Being the only girl stuck in a maze with boys, things get complicated. When y/n gets attacked, resulting in several injuries, she is assigned a companion during recovery. Will her quickly developing feelings for the tall, British boy be platonic or something more? And what will happen if or when he finds out?

Pairing: TMR Newt x Female!Reader

Warnings/Rated: Mentions of suicide attempt, attack(s) on character(s), nightmares and fluff!!

Word Count: 4,571

A/N: Hey! Quick note here! So this story will have a bunch of time jumps from here on out so please watch for that. ALSO! I would like to start a new imagine series for you guys - Should I do another TMR or a different fandom? Message me and let me know your ideas!! I really enjoy writing for you guys and would like to continue doing so. Anyway, now you can enjoy the story.**

( Readers ) P.O.V.

To say that Newt and I have been spending a lot of time together feels like an understatement. We sit together during meals (whenever he isn't busy), no matter where I'm working, he collects me to help him do his rounds of The Glade and every night we are together either in his room or mine.

It makes me really happy to be with him and sometimes he's busy so I don't see him much at that time. It doesn't feel overwhelming because we do get breaks from each other. The only things that are bothering me are; Newt acts affectionate one moment then backs off the next.

And...Gladers are starting to notice how much time we spend together, questions and jokes are going around but they don't ever reach Newt because he's second in command - that leaves me to take all the teasing.    

Several weeks have gone by and Newt has been acting strange when we're seen together. I don't know if I should be relieved or hurt, I'm scared of these feelings that I have for him and I don't want to hurt anyone or be hurt.

I woke up this morning to a 'see you later' and a smile from Newt as he was walking out the door. He's been sleeping a lot better recently but when the nightmares hit, they're worse than the last.

One night after I woke him, I decided to ask him what was wrong, what causes the nightmares. He didn't look at me and gave me a vague answer "loss". Not wanting to upset him, I didn't push it or ask again.

I've gathered that it's probably something to do with The Maze, sometimes he cries out in his sleep. Stuff like "run!" "I'm sorry" and "leave me".

After he left this morning, I haven't seen him. It was already dinner and there has been no sign of him. I'm not worried, he's most likely with Minho and/or Alby. I don't worry about him as much anymore because I know that we will see each other every night.

Chuck and Zart sit with me tonight, we're discussing whether or not pranks would be appropriate occasionally around here. I mean, it'd be kind of fun and I'm sure everyone would be a good sport. We are all laughing about our stupid ideas when a boy named Jay comes up and takes a seat beside me.

I don't know him that well, he's just another one of the dozen boys around here that I don't hang out with. I basically stay with my main group of friends and keep friendly with everyone else.

Something about Jay feels off though, I begin to shift uncomfortably when he doesn't say anything to us.

I greet him, offering a small smile with Chuck and Zart following my lead. Jay doesn't acknowledge the boys and continues to stare at me, smiling. "Hey, y/n. I just came over to see how you've been doing." He continues to smile and I assure him that I've been fine.

"That's great. I've noticed you spend a lot of time around the second of command..." God, not this again.

"Yeah, he's a good friend. Like Chuck and Zart here, I like to stay close to my friends." I finish, gesturing at my company. The boys sit quietly, not sure what to do. Silence fills the air and after a few moments, my friends decide to turn in for the night.

After they leave, I finish my food and push it to the middle of the table.

Jay still sits beside me, staring. I uncomfortably smile and try to find a polite way to excuse myself. Sadly, I didn't get to that point. "So, it seems like you are the closest to Newt since he's around your age." I nod, I suppose that's true.    

"You and I are close in age." He slides closer and I lean away from him."Maybe you could become closer with me..."

He places his hand on my knee and I immediately stand up and excuse myself. He grabs me by my arm tightly and I push him off, only for him to advance on me. I pull my arm back and aim for his face but he catches my hand.

Seriously? Why am I always caught in these situations!? He smiles smugly at me but that soon disappears. Another hand suddenly pulls us apart and Newt is standing at my side.

Newt still has Jay's wrist in his hand and pulls him in close, "Don't ever touch her like that again or I will feed you to the Grievers." it's barely a whisper but Jay got the message. Newt shoves him back and the boy stumbles over himself before hastily leaving.

Embarrassed. That's all I feel right now. I don't need to be saved all the time yet I'm so glad he was here. I hold my wrist in my hand and cradle it to my chest. I whisper a thank you, feeling my cheeks flush.

Slowly and gently, he reaches out and takes my wrist in his hands. It's red and turning a light purple in small patches. Newt's face remains expressionless as he examines my wrist.

I pull it away from him, he sighs but doesn't say anything. Not knowing what to do, I told him I was tired and made my way to my room. Our room? I don't even know anymore, all I know is that I need a bed.

Not bothering to change my clothes, I get into bed and cover my entire body. Newt didn't follow me and after a while, I assume he went to his own room. God, I'm such an idiot. Why do I have to be the only girl here?

I thought I could hold my own but I guess that's only true when others are around. Then when I'm alone....I feel out of control, useless.

Out of nowhere, I hear my door open and slam shut. I throw the covers away from my face and see Newt looming over me. Before I can ask or say anything, he's talking and rather loudly.

"I can't take it anymore! I hate it, so much." he half shouts, looking at my confused face.

"You drive me so bloody insane, I can barely stand to be around you! And the worst part is, you don't even realize it."

My heart hurts and I can't think straight. Newt doesn't like me? Were we ever friends or was it just something he felt obligated to do? He keeps talking, not allowing room for me to speak.

"Most of the guys think of you like a sister, a part of our family but others...bloody hell, It makes me want to beat the klunk out of them!" Newt bangs his fist on top of my dresser, irritated. I'm not sure what to think, I'm hurt and confused.

His eyes meet mine, glossed over and I see pain in them. "All I want to do is keep you safe. I want to protect you and make you smile. I want you to never worry over anything and most of all..." He looks away from me, walking to the end of the bed.

"I want you to love me as much as I love you..."

What? My heart flutters and hurts at the same time. Does he really feel the same way I do? With all of my being, I hope he does. Gently, I stand up and walk over to Newt. My hand reaches his shoulder and he turns around to look at me.

Newt. My best friend, the one I love. He's here in front of me and even if this is just a dream, I want him to know that I love him. He looks at me as I scan his face, my other hand going to the back of his head.

"I love you, Newt." I whisper, leaning my face up to his. Although he doesn't move, my lips meet his and soon he's kissing me back. Both of his hands rest on my hips, pulling me closer.

Whatever hurt I felt before, it all disappears and gets replaced with the affection we both have for each other. I pull away, breathing heavily while smiling and Newt places a kiss on my exposed collar bone before hugging me.  We hug tightly for several minutes and I never want to leave this moment. Pecking his lips a few more times, we both head to bed and sit there, talking about everything we kept inside. Newt. The tall, blonde, British boy that I've been drawn to since day one. He's mine now and I, his. My Newt.

Now that Newt and I know we feel the same, so does the entire Glade. He didn't bother hiding it but didn't flaunt it either. I respected that, keeping our business to us. Still, if anyone messed with me, he made it known that I was his. Thankfully, no one has except for a smart comment here and there. 

"'Bout time you guys got together! I was starting to debate stealing her from you." Minho says, laughing.

Newt punches him hard in the shoulder, causing Minho to wince while a smirk creeps onto Newt's face.

A few days passed and we have been so happy. I was working with Chuck today and he wouldn't shut up, which I didn't mind. He was a bit nosy about my relationship but I answered most of the questions as long as they weren't too personal.

On our way to the builders to deliver water, Newt passed me and stuck a piece of paper in my hand. He smiled and winked at me, leaving without a word. Even though I was eager to look at the paper, I didn't want Chuck to know about or read it. I finally got a chance to open the folded note and it read

‘Meet me at the tower after work. - Newt' 

It took everything in me not to smile for the remainder of work but occasionally, I'd feel one spread across my face. So after work, I took a shower and changed into new clothes before heading to the tower.

When I finally reached the top, Newt was sitting with his back against the rails and looking out at the field that makes up most of our home. 

He must have heard me because he looks over, smiling and motioning for me to join him. Everything in front of me made me happy. 

A tan blanket was spread out and our dinner was placed on top. He had a lit torch setting inside it's holder, casting a warm light over everything. But most of all, Newt was there.

I sat beside him and he gave me a kiss, not a long one but gentle. My heart swells and I can't help but smile into his lips.

"I thought I'd try to take you on dates even though it's almost bloody impossible to be somewhere alone." He chuckles lightly and I reassure him how wonderful it is.

Newt always made me feel safe and always took my feelings into consideration. After our lovely date, we ended our night like always. Peacefully asleep in each others arms.

**6 months later **

"You really are a piece of work, Thomas." I laugh at him as he tries to come up with ways to get out of the maze.

"Listen, we've tried all of those things. Unless you have a map of the maze memorized in that head of yours, I'd leave the maze to the runners." I say this in a serious voice.

A few months ago, Newt woke from a nightmare screaming out my name and frantically searching for me. I calmed him down and finally got the truth out of him...

About four months before I arrived in the box, Newt had been a runner. I was confused on how that could be, with his leg and all. Newt was in a dark place, no hope left to be found in his mind.

One day, on a run, he climbed the vines of the maze walls and jumped off. He tried to take his own life but instead he landed on his foot - he fractured his ankle.

I started to cry when he told me, not being able to imagine a world without him. He told me he felt like a failure, like he couldn't do anything right, including his attempt. Minho found him and dragged him back to the glade. His nightmares are about that day. And he has a constant reminder of his failure, his limp.

However, the nightmares started changing when I came up. His voice seemed broken as he told me. "I started dreaming about you coming into the maze to find me..." Newt had never cried in front of me until that night.

"and a Griever gets a hold of you and I can't reach you. I can't run or protect you because I wasn't strong enough to fight for you. I never want that to become a reality, ever. And you're the only thing that keeps me from drowning in those nightmares." Newt finished and I straddled his lap and embraced him.     Quietly I told him that I was happy he failed and that sometimes being a failure is good when succeeding wasn't. We both cried silently and he told me the last secret he had.

"Y/n....there is no way out of the maze."

My mind snaps back to the present, I had forgotten I was talking to the Greenie. 

Thomas came up a few days ago. Newt was originally in charge of showing him around but he got called into a meeting with Alby so I got left with the job.

I hadn't gotten close with any newcomers since Aaron came up but Thomas is nice. He's helping me out in the gardens, he seems to be about Newt's age but he's not as tall as Newt.

 With his messy dark hair and tan skin, he's cute. I feel a connection with him but not like I do with Newt. It's different..

We keep on working even though we're basically finished, we try to stretch the work out until the end of the day. Thomas picks up a chunk of dirt and throws it at me, hitting me square in the forehead. That slinthead....

He barks out laughter, throwing his head back with tears in his eyes. I throw myself at him, tackling his form to the ground and smother loose dirt onto his face. Quickly laughing, I jump off and run.

Newt has been teaching me how to get stronger since we started dating, I had told him how useless I felt. Even Minho has been training me like a runner. Although I can run faster now, Thomas caught up to me near Homestead. I screamed, laughing as he spins me around by my waist.

"Put me down you slinthead!!" When he sets me down, I'm dizzy from the spinning. I nearly fall over but bump into someones chest before I can steady myself.

Oh, klunk. "What are you doing, love?" Newt says as he pushes me to stand, steadying my figure. Thomas and I weren't doing anything wrong, yet I feel guilty. Glancing over at Thomas, he looks as uncomfortable as I feel.

"Hey, hun. We're just goofing off since we finished with work. Clearly, things escalated quickly." I say, gesturing at the dirt stuck to our sweaty faces.

All I get is a hum in reply and Newt grabs my hand, leading me away. When I look back, Thomas is gone. I refocus on wherever my boyfriend is leading me, which apparently is in the Deadheads.

We get to a corner of the maze wall that's surrounded by trees and I get pulled down beside him. I look over at him, patiently waiting for him to speak.

Honestly, I can't tell if he's mad. Even with having been in a relationship with him for over six months and knowing him for almost a year, I can never gauge how pissed he is.

"Newt, are you okay? Please, tell me what's wrong." He doesn't say anything so I reach to turn his face to look at me but he pulls away. What the shuck? Feeling slightly hurt, I pull my hand back. Our hands are still intertwined but he sits away from my body.

I jump when he suddenly turns and begins talking, "Am I failing again?" He looks at me, still emotionless. I'm confused.

"I can't even find a way out of this bloody maze, I can't help look because of my shucking leg and I feel like I'm not making you as happy anymore."

No..no, he can't think that. "Please. Newt, please don't say that. You aren't failing, you never failed at anything good! We've had so many work on that maze and still no one knows. It's not your fault..."

I lay my hand on his knee, wanting so badly to comfort him. "And don't you ever say you don't make me happy. Because that's a bloody lie, you make me smile everyday and love me when I can't even love myself. You're mine and my feelings for you aren't going to go away."

Our eyes meet and he pulls me into a hug. I repeat myself, making sure he understands and doesn't forget how much I love him.

He pulls back and kisses me. Both of us smile and he says, "Good that."

After dinner, we sit around and catch up with our friends. Chuck and Newt are sitting at my sides, Thomas is sitting beside Newt and Minho. My heart flutters, making my cheeks flush when I feel Newt's hand resting on my thigh.

He doesn't mean anything by it, it's something he does unconsciously. It's just a reminder that I'm here with him but even after all this time, the love that fills my heart doesn't cease when he's around.

The hand on my leg squeezes gently which is his signal that he's ready to leave. We say our good-nights to the boys and head upstairs.

"Goodnight, lovebirds!" Minho calls after us.

I stick my tongue at him but he just holds his arms open to me. I quickly jump into his bear hug before continuing to bed. Newt and I just stay in his room now. The other room is vacant, waiting for some glader to occupy it eventually.     I'm changing clothes and standing in my undergarments when Newt comes up behind me, hugging me. He's so warm, I turn and just lean into his warmth. When we pull away, he runs his hand over my chest, over my scar. Quickly, I pull on one of his tank tops and a pair of shorts.

With a little jump, I flop onto the bed and wait for my boyfriend to join me. My eyes close and I hum in contentment. I feel the bed dip but slightly jump when I feel my stomach become exposed.

When I looked, Newt was shirtless and hovering over me. (He still is dressed from the waist down, you pervs.) Lightly his fingertips trace the deep scar on my thigh before he moves on. His eyes become glued on the big pink scar across my stomach. Gently, he places soft kisses across it.

I love this man so much, I didn't think I could ever feel like this. He looks up at me and begins to apologize but I just shush him by throwing a shirt at his face. He feigns irritation as he pulls the shirt over his head. I tug him beside me, kissing him to convey these feelings.

He still blames himself for not stopping Gally, but Newt's the reason why I don't have nightmares about it. We smile at each other and he wraps his muscular arms around me, enveloping me in warmth from his skin.

Huh? Where am I? 

I look around and I'm in some kind of room filled with screens. There are many people in here, all typing something into computers. I move closer to the screen to inspect and gasp. Newt.

 There in front of me, the whole Glade is broadcast and I see Newt running through the maze. That's when everything slows down. Newt, he's climbing the maze wall. No, no this can't happen.

Frozen to the spot, I watch as the love of my life jumps, breaking his ankle. 

Frantically, I start screaming, needing to find a way to help him. The people around me call out and suddenly two men dressed in black clothes drag me out of the room.

 Through the halls, I scream and thrash. Newt. He can't be dead. He can't. The guards throw me into a room and close the doors.

 Immediately, I'm up banging on the door. This can't be happening. Losing strength, I fall onto my knees and cry.

 Suddenly, the door opens and someone pulls me up. Thomas? I don't understand...

 "Y/n, we need to get you into the maze. Newt is alive but I don't think he will last without you going in. I don't know how, but we have to put you in there." Thomas talks fast but calmly.

 "How? There's almost no way that they'd put any of us in there. It's too risky. But whatever you have in that head of yours, if it'll get me to Newt...I'm in." After I finish talking, he tells me to follow him.

 “We need to get you in there soon but because of your outburst, they wouldn't consider putting you in right now. They'd just kill you."

I mutter a sorry, not sure what to say. Thomas just smiles at me, giving me a side hug. "It's okay, I understand. If that were you in there, I'd probably do the same thing. Anyway, we need to get their trust again before we try anything." 

 I agree with that, being killed won't help Newt. We come to a closed door and Thomas grabs my hand. "We can't do this alone though. We need to talk to Teresa."

Gasping, I sit up in bed slightly in panic. Newt jumps, clearly not used to me being the one with the nightmares. "Y/n, are you alright? What's wrong?!" Newt kneels in front of me, rubbing circles into my shoulders.

"Yeah, just a nightmare. It's okay, it was nothing." I tell him but my voice carries no emotion. What was that? And why was Thomas there and who the hell is Teresa?

Newt must accept my answer in his half asleep mind and climbs back into bed with me. He pulls me back to him but I don't sleep for the rest of the night. Who am I? The terrifying thought enters my mind and I can't shake it. What if that wasn't a dream? What if that were a memory...

All I know is that I can't tell Newt, not until I know for sure what's going on. Also, I have to talk to Thomas and see if he knows who Teresa is.

The next morning, I work with Thomas in the gardens again. I want to talk to him but Newt is here along with a few others. Thomas must have noticed because he calls me out on it.

"Hey y/n, you're being awfully quiet. That's a first that I've seen." He says as he throws another chunk of dirt at me and sticks his tongue out. I apologize and force a laugh.

Goosebumps rise on my skin as I feel Newt look at me. He must notice that something is off but doesn't choose to say anything in front of others.

'If that were you in there, I'd probably do the same thing.'

 Who is Thomas to me? And I to him?

With all my being, I hope that it was just a nightmare but the sinking feeling in my stomach makes me think otherwise. No matter how hard I try to think back to any kind of memories, I get super sick. When I think of my nightmare last night, I feel uneasy.

Something is happening and I'm not sure that it's going to be good. My eyes wander over to Newt, feeling my heart sink. In my dream...I called him the love of my life. I wonder...

"Hey, Tommy. Would you go get some more dirt instead of throwing it, yeah?" Newt throws a bucket to Thomas. After he leaves, Newt crouches beside me as I pick weeds from around the veggies.

"Y/n?" he reaches over and holds my face towards him. "You seem off today. What's on your mind, darling?" There's so much concern and love in those eyes, I feel guilty for keeping this from him.

"Nothing, really. Just thinking about the maze..." I trail off, hoping he assumes I'm talking about escaping.

"I'll be fine. It's just one of those things tha-"

Screaming. 

Newt and I jump up. There's screaming from the Deadheads. Oh, no. Thomas..

I grab a shovel and together we run towards the sound. We catch sight of Thomas running with Ben hot on his trail. Ben? He's one of our runners, he shouldn't be here around this time of day.

Ben tackles him and I feel the sinking feeling of remembering this happening to me a year ago. Newt passes me and I throw him my shovel, which he catches with ease.

With a quick swing, Newt slams the shovel into Ben's face. The swing was powerful enough to knock Ben back, giving enough time for the rest of the Gladers to catch up and secure him. I crouch by Thomas, he's not badly injured. I'm relieved that it wasn't as severe as my attack.

Alby comes up and commands the boys to lift Ben's shirt. The runner thrashes, screaming out as they tug up the clothing. There's a small puncture wound but that's not what makes me gasp.

From the small opening, dark purple and blue veins spread underneath the skin like the roots of a tree. At this point, Ben is basically foaming at the mouth.

"He's been stung, take him to the med-hut. I'll meet you guys there. Newt, follow me. Y/n, you have training from the medjacks right?" Alby asks me.

 I reply that I do and he orders me to take Thomas to the spare med room to treat his wounds.

We all follow our orders and I help Thomas over to the extra med room beside the kitchen. I gather some supplies, he doesn't need much help since he only has a few scratches, a cut on his head and a headache.

"Thomas, what happened? Do you know why Ben would attack you?" I ask, not looking up because I'm bandaging him.

He slightly winces and I whisper an apology. "It's okay. I don't know, I was gathering dirt like Newt asked then I started hearing twigs snap. Ben stated yelling at me, he kept saying things like 'this is your fault' and 'you're going to suffer like the rest of us'." Thomas finishes.

I drop the roll of gauze I had in my hand, looking up at Thomas. He asks what's wrong and all I can do is shake my head. Finally finding my words, I choke out quietly,

"Thomas...we put these kids in here..."

Part Four Here

A/N: Duh, duh, duuuuunnnn!!! Hey, hope you guys enjoy this! I will still be posting the next part this Monday so be sure to follow us and watch out for that. Thank you all so so much and I’ll talk to you all soon! - Ellie-Mae