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deepseavibez · 3 years

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Blindspot || KTH

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Blindspot [Taehyung x Reader]

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Genre - Best Friend; Fear of the Future; Nighttime Memories; Mixed Feelings;

Summary - She believed in more. In better. In bigger. That life was out there waiting to be grabbed with both hands. He's made it his sole purpose to remind her that simple moments were beautiful and meant to be enjoyed... and maybe, she would realize he was one of them.

Warning - (Slight) Angst; Anxiety; Unsure feelings; Fear of the Future; Fluff; Comfort;

Word Count - 4.7k

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🎶 - I'm Fine - BTS

TAE

‘Tae.’

‘Y/n?’ He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the time, ‘it’s 3am babe.’

‘... I'm sorry for waking you. Sorry. Go back to sleep, it's okay.’

‘Hey, no, no, I'm awake.’ Sitting up, he switched the phone to his other hand and rubbed at his eyes, ‘What's going on.’

‘It’s not important, I swear,’ he could hear her trying to mask her shakiness over the phone. ‘You can go back to sleep.’

He wouldn’t call her out on lying. He knew better than anyone when y/n was in a bad way. Once he asked her, specifically him, what was wrong, she would crumble and he wasn’t there to catch her right now. ‘Y/n. Come on, talk to me.’

‘I can't sleep.’

‘Yeah, no shit,’ he yawned back.

‘I'm so sorry for waking you.’ He could hear the trepidation in her voice.

‘You know better than to apologize for something like that, ‘ he chastised. ‘Babe, tell me about it. Was it a bad dream? Something keeping you up?’

----------

Y/N

You could hear shuffling over the phone as you searched for an answer. It was hard to put certain emotions into words. You only knew you needed to phone Tae, regretting it too late, when he actually answered. ‘I'm not sure,’ you started awkwardly, ‘I guess. I just don't know where I'm going.’

‘Do you plan on leaving me anytime soon?’ Already pulling your leg, he got you to roll your eyes.

‘No, of course not. I just mean, like, metaphorically.’

Things were a bit...confusing right now.

It had been a long time since you last had to deal with emotions this strong. The voices, getting harder to ignore. You had enough outside negativity to deal with, like family and some friends, all having this certain expectation from you.

It was new for you to rebel, to be who you wanted to be and feel how you wanted to feel without consequences. Choosing a life you solely strived toward, negating the tiny voice in your head saying you were wasting time and you were running out of time and you were not enough.

‘I don't know what I want to do, Tae!’ You burst out, the build up too long, the burden too heavy. ‘I don't have plans. I have a great job, I do. But I don't want to be a PA for the rest of my life and I don't know where to start, where to look, how to choose what I want to do.

I don’t have it figured out, it hasn’t fallen onto my lap, and when I look, I feel like I’m going to waste even more time looking.’

‘Y/n, you know you have a lot more figured out than you give yourself credit for.’ The huskiness of his sleep-leaden voice, comforted you. ‘You have money, a routine stable job, you've worked you way through university and graduated with honors.’ Taehyung did it without effort and he knew you would hear his gruff tone above all others, in a crowd, in a panic, as a voice of reason.

‘I know, and I keep trying to remind myself of that, but it’s just become unbearable. I am running out of time.’ Struggling to remain composed you spoke into the phone as if he was right here, ‘What if I'm still here in ten years, Tae? What if I don't ever figure out my purpose? What if I'm meant to just work and then die? I haven't lived! I haven’t seen the world. I’ve made everyone proud and now I’m the black sheep. I prefer it, It's just-,’

The sound of keys jangling cut you off.

‘Tae,’ you asked tentatively, confusion evident.

‘Hmm.’

‘What are you doing?’ You asked when he provided no further explanation.

‘Are you in pj's right now?’

‘Uh,’ you looked down at your white vest and underwear, just to make sure, ‘yeah, why?’

‘Miss y/n, I didn't know you slept in the nude.’

The protests left you immediately at his teasing, slithering heat under your skin at the very notion. ‘Tae! I am not sleeping in the nude, I have underwear on.’

‘Uh huh, what color are they?’ Your cheeks flamed in embarrassment. You could imagine his smirk, that dumb cocky, arrogant smirk.

He laughed, the sound gruff, infuriating you more, and causing you to giggle back. Because you were the butt of the joke, and you liked his laugh too much. Trying to be mad at him, even when play-fighting or harmless bantering, Taehyung, not a chance.

‘Listen,’ a seriousness settling between you, ‘get dressed, just sweatpants, and a shirt.’

‘Wait, what, why,’

‘Baby, listen for once. Just get dressed and give me five minutes.’

You looked at the blank screen, stunned. Your brain stuck at the word baby, and the effect it had. Your insides were mush, anxiety mollified, despite not knowing what he was about to do next.

‘Babe’, you knew, ‘babe’, you understood, that was normal, routine, best friend. But Baby?

You mulled over it as you discarded your vest, and threw on a loose Celine shirt. Pulling on your black sweats, a pair of socks and air force ones because who knows what this boy was up to, you stopped. You sniffed, once, twice, yep, that was Taehyung’s body wash, but what - oh, you tugged the loose collar toward your nose, yep, this was Tae’s shirt.

You composed yourself, almost deadpan at the small realization. When had he even stripped in your room and why weren’t you there.

Wrapping your messy hair into a bun, you restrained your mind from wandering further.

Your phone beeped from the bed and the screen lit up, a message popping up. ‘Look out your window.’

Peeping out you saw his black Jeep in your driveway. He popped his head out of the driver’s side window and did a two finger salute.

Shaking your head with a smile, you grabbed your phone and made your way downstairs through the house and out the front door.

‘What are you doing here,’ you asked as soon as he came into view. He looked good, white tee, black sweatpants, you matched, except for his leather jacket and red bandana.

He opened the passenger door on your side and leaned back, giving you a once over. His lips twitched as he rested his eyes on the shirt you wore. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he wanted you in his shirt. You raised your eyebrow playfully, refusing to give life to something like butterflies and heart-eyes when your best friend stood in front of you. Life was complicated enough.

‘You needed me to show up.’ He said it a matter-of-factly, but you knew he wanted to be there for you and you couldn’t, not feel grateful, and a little warm, that he would get into his car drive to you, all because you needed him to.

Not waiting for you to reply, he threw a jersey at you. ‘Its cold,’ his tone left no room for protest and he cocked his head toward the jeep, a sign to get in.

You wrapped it around you silently, not moving, not yet.

‘Well,’ his thumb curled around the top of the steering wheel as the rest of his fingers straightened out, his freehand rising to follow his question, ’Come on, get in.’

‘Where are we going?’ You would have gotten in, you would probably end up wherever he was going to take you anyway, but where was the fun in doing everything obediently. Even puppies had wild streaks.

He raised his eyebrow this time, a smirk teasing his cheek, 'You're brave every night, y/n. But not tonight, not while you're with me, come, trust me, wherever we go I'll keep you safe.'

You turned to close and lock the front door, breathing out slowly, as slow and low as you could, doing your best to work on the constriction around your heart; his words too wiry, too strong, too genuine to forget, too deep to ignore. It made you so... agreeable.

Getting into the Jeep, you felt different as you sat here now, in a seat you had been in too many times to count. It was probably the time and the circumstances. Yeah, some shifts were just because of the time, and the air and because it was silent and the dead of night.

You said nothing more, even though a few minutes earlier you spoke into the phone like you would explode if you couldn’t get the words out fast enough, you would be alone in your head, if you weren’t able to make him understand.

You jumped slightly, as you felt his hand close over yours, and pull it toward him to brush his lips along your knuckles. It was an absent action, maybe, because he stared straight ahead, didn’t spare a glance at you as you stared at the side of his head, making it look like he wasn’t even aware he was doing what he was doing.

Swallowing against the pounding of your heart, you chalked this up too. Night time was vulnerable, everyone was just a little more sensitive, you didn’t have to make it more than it needed to be.

Looking out the window you noted the lights and dark windows, empty parks and streets, doing your best to ignore the heat against your hand, the breath against your knuckles, lips not very far away, that were capable of a lot more.

With some effort, you faded out the intensity of his actions, and as your eyes adjusted you saw familiar figures, and buildings you had driven past numerous times. You knew where you were going.

He pulled up in the parking lot of his safe haven. In retrospect, your safe place should be entirely different, but you were safe with Tae, that said, his peace was where you found yours.

Jumping out of the Jeep, you noted how dark and looming the two story building looked. A huge sign reading 'Blindspot' the only posh part about this place, black metal roller doors, spray painted names across the walls, some of the neon colors standing luminescent against the moonless night.

One would think it was graffiti, but the community knew better, the ones that came and went, some that stopped and never left, knew having your name on the wall was a privilege.

He jumped out too, after grabbing something from the back. Carrying it toward you, you noted his knapsack, and a box of some sort.

Handing it over to you to hold, you took hold of them silently, as he pulled out the keys to open the locks and deadbolt.

You watched him, his actions purposeful but he was at home, knowing which way the locks turned, the catch on the bolt needing to be kicked out a certain way before opening fully; he'd done this a thousand times before.

Lifting up the shutters, the noise too loud for the silent night, he opened the door and guided you in, making you all too aware of his palm in the small of your back. Taking the stuff from your hand and throwing it onto the edge of the ring and he lifted up to close the shutters behind you.

You took notice of the extra shirt that falls out of the pile on the ring, one of your favorites of his actually, grey with black spots, sort of like a giant cookies and cream oreo mix.

The empty gym in front of you was a contrast to the busy days it had. There was a weight section, the bags lined up against the far wall hanging still, having no impact thrown at it to sway the dead weight, and the machines had their own floor upstairs, treadmills overlooking the balustrades to the floor below, by the ring where you stood.

The pool area, directly below you, in the basements where the changing rooms and showers could be found.

It looked small on the outside, but inside there were stories to be told, motivation, encouragement, brotherhood, friendships solidified in stone and a fair share of violent memories with broken bones, broken bonds and broken hearts.

Walls were packed with quotes, anatomy teachings and pictures, schedules, a dedicated to growing trophy case with medals and newspaper clippings, and pictures of staff, members, and the boss, with his best friend.

What Tae didn't continue, was the stereotype of the grunge masculine look that came with gyms. Outside may be black as night, but inside there was color everywhere - a world within.

The punching bags were each a different shade, green, red, yellow and blue. The ring bottom was black, neon orange ropes running along the sides in three consecutive lines, and your personal favorite, a giant pride flag hung on a hook outside his office door.

Toxic masculinity wasn't allowed in Taehyung's gym. You could be yourself, make your own lifestyle choices and still be a good fighter or just work-out. He took it upon himself to punch the teeth out of anyone that thought otherwise. This was what he'd always wanted to do and he made it more than just a place to get healthy.

There were four hours, two for the morning, two for the afternoon, catered only to women. Tae understood that men will be men, no matter how much you tried to change it. And comfort mattered.

Working out and exercising, as much as it seemed, like a chore, it could be enjoyable. It could be a social setting, helping people to open up, and cope, providing the best way for them to be themselves.

You helped him find a premises, helped him choose color schemes, and sat in on interviews. For legal purposes you were an advisor and owned a small share percentage. You didn't want it, but Tae insisted, you were especially grateful when the gym grew into more than you both had expected it to become.

'Y/n,' he waved his hand in front of your face, the action snapping you out of your thoughts.

'Huh, sorry, did you say something?'

He smiled comfortingly, 'Take the jacket off and your shoes.'

Scrunching your eyebrows, you finally asked, 'Tae, what are we doing here?'

'We are,' he started explaining as he ripped open a box in his hand, 'doing something I feel you need.'

Looking at you pointedly, he motioned his eyes to the jacket.

Shucking it off, you took off your shoes and redid your bun for good measure.

'It's strange isn't it,' you voiced out loud. He perked up at your food for thought, fingers fiddling with white tape. 'It's strange, that I know every corner of this place, but I haven't ever put a pair of gloves on.'

He raised his hand absently, a student raising his hand to give an answer, his gaze focused on yours as he did. 'That's because you've never had the need to, I'm here to protect you.'

Turning away, you caught yourself, before you let your heart show in your eyes. You've known Tae for so long, been his best friend for years, why now, why this feeling, this tightness in your chest.

You played it off, and walked over to him, socked feet padding against the wooden floor boards.

Taehyung clicking his tongue startled you out of your effort to feel normal; you found him staring at your socks.

'Y/n, I've told the guys this numerous times, you can't spar in the boxing section with socks. It's a slipping hazard.' No trace of the out of the blue romantic words, he bent down easily removing them from your feet one after the other.

It would be weird, if you weren't already so used to his skinship, his cuddling when he slept over, his hand straying over your shoulder on the couch, or brushing against your waist when he passed you. Yet, his thumb, on your ankle, his hand as he circled and held it, even for just the moment that he laid your foot down after taking off the sock, you felt… taken.

You wanted to snort, the wording completely off, I mean, he had a right over you, always had but-

He came into focus, looking up at you from where he sat, and asked lightly,' Do you wash these.'

Your mouth dropped open, as you watched him hold your purple socks in between two fingers, like it would bite him, or the smell would.

Your knee nudged at the side of his face playfully as you reached to pull him up. He took your socks, holding them properly now and put them in his bag, picking up the white tape he was fidgeting with earlier.

'So, will I be sparring with you today?' You were excited now. You had watched people vent and let themselves be free as they learned technique, let themselves be violent without consequences, the satisfaction on their faces after their sessions.

When he finally reaches you again he finds the catch and opens it out. White athletic tape, used to make arms and wrists stiffer, and to provide better grip, even with sweat and slick.

'No, not today. Let's focus on getting you worked up and tired. If you enjoy it, I'll gladly let you go toe to toe with me.' His eyes held a challenge, an underlying meaning evident.

Offering your hands up freely, he taped your wrists and fingers, you've seen him do it many times, just never on your wrists. Experimentally you shook out your fingers and bent and scrunched your wrist to allow for the right amount of tightness.

'Cocky, aren't you, Mr. Kim,' you side-eyed him.

He leaned into you, his breath teasing yours, 'I am the Coach here, y/n.' You blinked at the nervous fluttering in your chest, his intimidation, usually not directed so closely to you, doing something you couldn't explain, couldn't quite grasp.

Somehow, you should be scared, but it was, hot.

Leaning into him, breath for breath, you matched up, 'Then teach me.'

A slow smile broke out over his lips, playful Tae was back, it let you navigate things easier, you knew what to expect.

'So, I'm boxing the bag,' you deduced. 'I don't see why I need to tire myself out. I don't know how to do this.'

His palms closed over your cheeks, puffing your face up, emphasizing your pout. 'You are frustrated. You can't do anything about any of your emotions tomorrow, y/n. You have to be patient. You have to remind yourself it's a day at a time that gets you to your future. It will always be about patience.'

'Unfortunately, patience is overrated at something to 4am,’ you complained as he let go of your face and bent down to produce a new set of gloves from under the ring. Opening the zip of the bag, he pushed one toward you.

Shaking his head at your antics, not even phased, he strapped the gloves to both your hands and walked toward a bag. 'Come on, try it.'

'Color?'

'The yellow one.' He made to stand behind the bag you chose, and held either side of it, knees bent slightly in a defensive stance.

Feeling slightly out of place, and awkward, you huffed and punched the bag just to humor him.

You stared at it. The fucking thing didn't even move.

He burst out laughing at the comical look on your face.

'Okay, wait no,' he composed himself and came around you. His breath fanned your neck, giving you goosebumps, as he held your wrists and showed you how to punch. 'So straighten your elbow, like this, and pull it back in and see how the gloves are shaped, your forefingers curl above your thumb, so inside your glove your thumb shouldn't be in the fist.'

Nodding as you took in the new information, you did your best not to get distracted as he continued, all too comfortable in his element.

'When your wrist hits the bag don't curl it, let it face the impact head on. See, this is how you do it, so you don't break your wrist.' He made you punch the bag and showed you where your wrist was bending and how to keep it tight.

'Alright, baby,' that word, that goddamn word, 'you good to try again?'

Closing your eyes and swallowing hard, you nodded in answer and shook your head out of the Tae trance.

'Start with a simple combo this time, Jab, Jab, Uppercut, Hook.' You knew the names and their directions. Jab was straight forward, twice fast on the submissive hand as a set-up, the uppercut from downward into the abdomen or chin, depending, and the hook, from the dominant hand rounding off on the face.

'Think of it all y/n,' he encouraged, as he walked to his original position, 'the people, the words, the expectations, the beating up of yourself you do on a daily basis, and just go for it.'

Spreading your legs in a stance, aiming at the bag on his command, you clenched your fists and focused.

'Go'

----

'And breathe.'

Breathing heavily you fell flat to the floor, and stared up at the ceiling.

Sweat was in your eyes and your hair, but despite being in dire need of a shower, you felt oddly at ease. Tiny zings of exertion shot through your body as your lungs begged for air and you heard your blood rushing.

The roof was really pretty you thought, the wood positioned in long blocks to form and hold up the gable, grabbing your attention for the first time ever.

You blinked as Tae's face came into view, his hands resting on his knees.

He smirked cutely as he brushed your sweat slicked hair out of your eyes and off your face before reaching down to pick you up off the floor.

Handing you a water bottle, you let him manhandle you as he lifted your form to sit on the edge of the ring, launching himself up to sit next to, a second later.

'How do you feel?' He was proud of himself no doubt, after all, his plan did succeed.

You made a face at him, anyway.

'Hey,' he put both his hands up in mock surrender. 'It worked, didn't it.'

You cut him some slack, this time. 'Yeah, I feel icky, but definitely less worked up.'

---------

🎶 - Black Swan - BTS

TAE

Taking a swig of the water you had opened in your hand, he looks at the top of your head as he closes it and puts it away.

'Hey.'

She looks up at him, eyes hooded in exhaustion.

He smiles at her. Despite how much he loved her spitfire, she's adorable when she's not talking back.

He knew of the thoughts that crawled up her spine on a daily basis. He knew she had no plan, and it made her hyper that she didn't have one, but she couldn't make one because, what if she chose wrong.

He wanted to take care of her. He wanted to tell her that she could be whatever she wanted to be, and he would fly her across the ocean if she really wanted it; that she didn't need to worry about life so much because he would always take care of her.

'You're too sad.'

She scrunched her eyebrows at him.

'You have the whole weight of the world on your shoulders and you can't do anything about it.' He chose his next words carefully. 'I wish you could take a breather, and let a thought be a thought instead of picking it apart.'

He held up his hand to her when she made to protest.

'You know, things may not feel okay right now, with work, or at home, and in your head. But I've never seen someone adapt like you have. You bounce back, despite how much grit it takes.'

He took the gloves off her hand and carefully unwinded the tape on her fingers.

'I don't have answers y/n. But I do know you have me for a long time and I'm going to be here as you do your thing.'

Placing pressure on each finger he massaged the tightness out of it and flexed it for her.

'I don't know where you're supposed to go, if you were meant to leave and give me a round-the-world heartbreak, I'm not sure who you're supposed to be, I don't even know if you have a higher purpose, it wouldn't surprise me if you did, but you, y/n,' he heaved a sigh as he faced her, his gaze meeting hers, his next words the most important thing she'd need to remember,' you're a good you.'

As he met her eyes, her breath hitched. He heard it. He could see the flush in her face. He knew he was being honest. He knew he meant every word.

A half smile, a heavy acceptance, hands that were so easy to hold, eyes that were never anything but honest, a bond that all but forced a person to keep swimming. That was Taehyung to y/n. And that was y/n to Taehyung.

'You're a really, good you,' he reinforced. 'Right now, it works. I have a feeling it will work for a very long time.'

'I'm scared.' He could hear it in her voice. He heard it back when she was in her room too.

'Nothing is really set in stone, babe. And even though it does feel like you're running out of time, it's something you can't help. It's not what you want to hear but it's true.'

'How do I stop being sad?'

She was deflecting. But he had said it before, it wouldn't be gone tomorrow. Her anxiety and her fears, they will probably never go away.

She had the right way to go about it though. You get through it. Somehow. Some days it's a good cry, some days it's with a punching bag, and some days, it was with a best friend.

'See, now that's why you have me.' He answered confidently, as he put his chest out, his need to have her be okay, her smile, her laugh, his only intentions, his favorite thing these days.

'Oh really, you, why, because you're a clown.'

He feigned offense at the statement. 'Excuse me, I am not a clown, ask anyone that comes in for the 5am rush.'

She looked up at the clock in shock, it was really going half-four. She turned back to him sadly, 'I kept you up all night.'

'It was a fun night,' he replied, the teasing of many other ways to keep him up on the tip of this tongue, deciding against it, he looked away from her. 'You needed me, no amount of sleep is worth that.'

He didn't explain himself, he really didn't mind the lack of sleep. He could easily catch a nap in his office, or head home after half a day. But this, this moment with his best friend, that he wanted to be more, he knew he wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. He knew he'd do it over again too.

Pushing off the ring he grabbed the knapsack and handed her his shirt. 'Change out of that shirt, and use this one, you'll catch a cold, because of the sweat. And let's get you home, you need a hot shower, and sleep. I'll drop by for dinner after work too.'

Finally turning to her, he found she hadn't moved an inch, unshed tears in her eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled her toward him, sweat and all, and held her in his arms. 'You're first y/n, you'll always be first.'

A tender kiss on her head, his words rendering her speechless, and he knew uncharted waters were on the horizon.

This night, things that he'd said, the ways in which she responded, it was going to shift things for them.

But silence was comfortable for them. And she drank his share of coffee while he ate her share of pineapple, because he couldn't stand coffee and she hated pineapple. And he could hold her in his arms and she'd use his shirt while they slept.

It would start small, but he'd show her, the future was bright, she was deserving of more than she understood, she would be protected from her family and expectations and she would learn to remember, purpose or no purpose she wasn't alone, she never would be again.

#kim taehyung x you #kim taehyung x reader #taehyung #taehyung au #taehyung fic #taehyung fluff #taehyung angst #bts fics #bts aus #bts oneshot

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amiramorozova · 3 years

Text

Dual Summoner x the Darkling pt. 26

We kept moving as we made it to the market and I used a few coins to buy some food for our trip. I wanted to just go back but I knew Baghra could only hold him back for so long as we kept going. We made our way out of town as I knew my way sort of to get back out. I had my locket and knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

How far can we go before I get caught? I thought

The worry was always there and it wasn't going away as we made our way through the forest. I wasn't a tracker, actually, none of us were but we managed to make our way through. Baghra had provided a map in Nadia's bag to help us sort things out.

"Amira, is this safe?" Marie asked

"You could have stayed back there with Sergei." I said

"I.." Marie blushed at my words from what I could see at the corner of my eye "No, Amira. You're my friend and this is important."

"If he gets the stag before I do. My life as his wife won't possibly be pleasant." I said

I still couldn't tell them everything but I knew one thing no matter how it ended Aleksander was my soulmate. I would be with him no matter what happened but I looked at my wrist where his initials were and they were gone for now. I knew that I needed to keep my distance for as long as I could.

After so long Nighttime hit and we had no choice but to make due as we sat eating some of our supplies and working out a plan. We all were cold and I put my hands together to use the sunlight to warm us a bit before we decided to sleep grouped together so that we were protected. I couldn't sleep at first with everything but we had our Keftas so if we were shot at we could endure it.

When we got up in the morning we started to walk, eating some more food as we made our way. I knew that we wouldn't get far but we could travel as we pulled our hoods over our heads. I knew his guards were looking for us, for me in probably every city. I knew that we needed more supplies for our appetites as summoners were not going to last with short supplies. We found a market and the three of us decided what we wanted so we had a few days' travel while heading to my parents home.

We have enough and now we just need to get out of this town. I thought

As we kept walking we knew that there was nothing better than keeping our heads down. People didn't think much of a group of three going through the town and we kept our hands and faces concealed. We were outside the city and we headed for the forest like last time as I saw guards heading out of the town following our tracks but we'd covered our tracks going into the forest as I saw they were Alexander's guards.

So you are looking for me. I thought

"The footprints are heading out of town but the hoof tracks are heading to the next city." One of them said

"I don't think they're here, let's keep going to see if they are in the next town." The other said

We made our way through the forest as I looked at our map again as we decided to head to Keramsin instead of the next town. It was going to be a three day trip but we were ready to face whatever we had to. We kept our pace going but we made camp and took our time to do things. Marie had hunted her amplifier so she knew how to hunt but we had to do without a camp so I had to use the light to cook our food.

Not really sure this is good for us but I know we can survive. I thought

We ate but I still felt bad for the animal though we had a few things more to worry about we never really said anything. Somehow I'd been able to learn how to read a map but something was just pulling me to Keramzin and I just needed to figure out what. We slept but we had to take turns on keeping watch so we weren't entirely rested when we got back up and doing this for two more days was a pain. I smelled food though as we soon were close.

"We're close." I said

As we came to an opening we saw it was a festival and I was happy to see something I'd never been to before. We walked for a bit and things seemed fine until a woman grabbed my arm. I worried for a second as I looked at her but she seemed to be looking at my locket.

"Amira?" The woman said

"Who are you?" I asked

"I'm your grandmother Catalina." The woman said as she looked at my company "come with me."

We followed her to the house where she gave us shelter but I wanted to go out to the celebration to see what was there. She had us drop our bags and remove our jackets revealing our 2nd army keftas. My grandmother seemed to look at the three of us, my friends in blue Keftas with their inferni and Tidemaker design and my black Kefta with my dual summoner design.

"You girls are from the 2nd army. So explain why you're out of there." Catalina said

"they're with me, I had to run to get ahead of my fiance who wants the stag." I said

"Dual Summoner Amira, also known as Sankta Amira to the people." Catalina said

My grandmother gave us different clothes and styled our hair differently so that we were not spotted out like the others. She made me wear gloves to conceal my engagement ring and even though I didn't want to, she removed my necklace with the darkling's symbol which she examined seeing the metal it was made of. She also removed my bracelet saying that if I didn't want to be noticed as the Dual Summoner I needed to lay low without my gifts that the gloves would conceal my engagement ring.

"I do not agree with my son's decision to promise you to a Darkling but I will respect your decision to say yes." Catalina said

"I am capable of smooth talking to him if I see him again." I said

I thought that was the end and we would be going out but she went a step further leaving for a minute before coming back as she told us that her friend was a tailor. Having met Genya I knew what a Tailor could do so we all sat and she slowly made us look different so we could blend in even more. It worked well on Marie and Nadia but for me not so much due to Genya had worked on my looks a little bit so she could only modify my hair color to blonde and make my eyes look a different color. Honestly when I looked in the mirror I wouldn't recognize myself either so I knew the guards wouldn't even look twice at me.

cool. I can have a little fun. I thought

Grandma Catalina took us out and we were able to enjoy the festivities trying everything that was available to everyone. The bread tasted amazing and I knew that we only ate peasant foods at the little palace but tasted way better than I could have ever imagined. Still I was enjoying myself and felt truly free like I could do anything without being Grisha and worried about a Fjerdan finding me.

Night soon came and the three of us were a little tipsy that we ended up crashing at my grandparents place for the night. The tailor turned our looks back before we went to bed so that we didn't freak out if we had a bit of a hangover. I felt safe like I was with people who truly understood me and knew what it was like.

By morning our heads hurt but we managed to remember what happened as we came down to meet with them. I realized I never met my grandfather with everything going on so when Grandma Catalina was sitting at a table with food already prepared we noticed the man sitting by her.

"Amira, I see you're awake." Catalina said

"Thanks for letting us stay the night but we should be getting back on our way to my parents." I said

"No, you should sit and eat. I've taken the time to ask my son to come here." My grandfather said

"Jorge, be nice. she's on the run." Catalina said

Marie and Nadia convinced me to enjoy this time with my grandparents and we all sat having breakfast with them. I started to really take notice of soulmate markings cause I noticed on my grandmother's wrist was JS and on my grandfather's wrist was CDR. I realized that things were not as easy as they looked but we somehow managed with everything. Though I panicked when I noticed the AM starting to faintly appear on my wrist.

He's close. I thought

#general kirigan #aleksander morovoza #shadow and bone #grishaverse #shadow and bone fanfiction #darkling x reader #team darkling #darkling #the darkling #fanfic #ben barnes

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allstarsstorymode867 · 3 years

Text

ALL-STARS -STORY MODE- CHAPTER 19

Heya everyone!

Sorry for the absence of chapters, there are things good and bad in my life but that is not important right now.

The OC belongs to @mortal-kombattore-115

I like to thank @this-person-is-slowly-dying and her friend, AlphaKing and @sampoststuff for providing me artwork for this so give them credit guys. ^^

That being said, enjoy reading the chapter you are waiting for while I work on the 20th chapter.

-Chapter 19-

-Back to the All-Stars Group…-

“So there will be a great conflict in the future, eh?” Bruno had asked this while he fed the fire with the wood leftover after others had barricaded the house. “To hell and back it will be to your dimension eventually.” Dempsey said as he helped a captive Helghast making a grate to hang the skinned bear over the fire.

“Still, too much hell for what the Germans had done to us.”

“Can you explain what had happened in that war?” as the large Frenchman helps out Heavy with the creature over to the fire to tie it on a grate.

“To make a long ass story short,” Dempsey apperaded, as he and the Helghast managed to get the grate made from scrapped metal and pipes from the shed with the help of Ratchet who set it in the ground with rocks. “Blame the Germans.” with Ultimis Richtofen giving him a glare from the background with Primis Jin shaking her head.

Demoman walked over with a knife from a kitchen as the smell of sizzling meat and hearing bubbles erupting from the flames crisping on the skinned bear creature. Soldier had to pull the Scottish man back and whispered “You think you can prepare dinner for us?” with a little concern for him. “I mean, Engie and Pyro can cook good meals…”

“I can cook, Jane, I have cooked a lot of food for me ma, remember?” Tavlish smiled with his one good brown eye, looked at it, and the Soldier patted his back and said “Just remember to put spice on each piece if someone wants one.” and Demo nodded.

The meat was grilled by the fire on a grate, was curved and cut onto a plate and served to the people around the bonfire. Spice and salt was provided to several others who wanted it and they ate it with ease.

Some laughed and made jokes, others were keeping watch for any familiar or the unfamiliar threats as Demoman looked a little proud of himself, an friendly atmosphere with little laughter and he thought “All of this needs to have a piano music.” rather joking in his head with a chuckle.

Door opened slightly from beyond the group and they jumped a little as Bruno looked at the door better than anyone and said “Erron is awake.”

Frisk had led the patched up Erron to the bonfire and had him rested at a spot with Mugman looking at them, “Thanks, kiddo.” Erron muttered under his breath as Cuphead looked at Erron and said “Amazing that you had survived that-”

“A Panzer Soldat,” Erron interrupted, “That’s what I learned from an ugly ass octo-” he noticed Jin finally who was looking at him with an eyebrow, “...pus, hello.” he greeted, he seemingly… looked similar to a marine in the group but Jin simply shrugged it off as she then introduced herself “My name is Jin Huang, you’re Erron, if I am correct.”

“Erron Black, Jin.” Erron confirmed, holding his newly bandaged side, “I see you’re here in a tournament too?”

This confused everyone around him as Primis Dempsey asked “What tournament? What’s it about?”

“To think you would know about it by now,” Erron begins to explain, “from where I am from, there was a battle-to-the-death tournament event known as Mortal Kombat. The winner will be the last one standing to decide the fate of the earth realm. But in order to win, is to off the other.``

Others were confused but Frisk looked fairly worried and Primis Dempsey figured it out what it meant as he said “Do we have to…” to Erron who is dead serious about this.

“Yep.” he responded, as Jin was perplexed with a thought of the tournament, “Mortal Kombat…” as Erron looked at her with little interest. “I had heard from Frisk that you are a damned good fighter, right? In the earth- In my universe, we had those there in the other realm. But they are not the only ones, there are tough-ass fighters out there as well and I won’t be surprised that we are meeting one of them from the realms I belong to.”

“I am not but I have been taught to defend myself.” Jin said as she looked at him, “Yet, I can’t die without a fight if it does happen.”

“Oi reckon that and the reason our own had been kidnapped.” Sniper added with a nod, “Yet, so far, it worked for a while so far?”

“Fighting a giant flower, then extraterrisory soldiers, our teammates taken to another world and now this.” P!Dempsey recounted the events from before, “So that could be the theory for this shitshow happening.”

“Could be…” Radec had remained silent until this point, “A strange entity had somewhat cause us to be here, our leader had sent us here to investigate the power and to harness it-”

“Before the shitshow hits the fan with war following suit!” Soldier jabbed, pointing a finger at him as if he was the only one who has authority over their captives. “You pushed first and we pushed back!”

“Stand down, son.” Dempsey said loudly as the Soldier looked at him, grumbling something under his breath as he sat down. “Yet,” Erron broke the ice as he looked at him, “You guys are going to leave me to die here once you guys leave.” in an accusatory tone. Radec nodded and said “But it all went wrong and no hope of leaving this planet as the carrier was destroyed, we are all trapped here together all thanks to you.” as Everyone looked at him until Mugman piped up.

“Not entirely.” he said, Cuphead and Frisk looked at him and said “What do you mean, Mugs?” with an eyebrow.

“Rachet, Clank.” he called to them, “You had said you two came here by a ship of your own, right?”

“Of course, we did but why did you ask?” Clank asked as Ratchet simply tilted his head to this. “You must have a radio on it, you can contact anyone far away from here, does it still work?”

“It does,” Ratchet answered as he simply shrugged but had a disappointed look on his face, “But the galaxy we are from is too far away from here, this is a Milky Way Galaxy afterall, there's a bunch of other galaxies in the universe.” as he stretched his arms.

“Or the next,” Clank added as he stood up and then chuckled when Ratchet turned to glare at him, “Mr. Masaki and Erron had said that this realm is what we are currently living in right now.” he further explained. “As for our ship, we can overlook the city, be your eyes and ears for any zombie coming your way.” Ratchet offered as Clank sat back on three bricks stacked on top of another.

“I agree with the strange talking cat lion alien,” Ultimis Nikolai interjected with a little sober voice even as it was slurred, “On the bright side, they can find Nikolai more vodka in this sh!t hole!” He raised the bottle and then drank it as the scarf Mugman was holding to patch the crack glowed cyan softly as he looked at him before looking away.

*You had no idea why this scarf was connected to Ultimis Nikolai…

A text hangs below his head as he looked at it before he looked at Frisk, who patted his shoulder in comfort. The look they had as if they knew whatever the newer text will explain, they would tell them about it.

Demoman yawned as he looked up the nighttime skies, the stars could hardly be seen because of the city’s lights but in this one, electricity that powered the city was all but gone after something had happened to it and the beauty of the stars and dust sparkled and smudged to regin the skies once more.

The moon is glowing softly with a few stars around it, a night silver ring of rainbow around it as the nearly glassy clouds covering it. “Demo?” Scout asked as he looked at him who got up and said “We should all get sleep, we can talk more in the morning, Lads.”

“I will take the first shift, then Bendy soon Richtofen.” Bruno had stated as he raised the hammer and placed onto his shoulder, resting it in place. “That’s a good idea,” Bendy walked with him to the captive Helghasts, “in case they had any funny ideas.”

“Oh ja,” Ultimis Richtofen said this with rather a sinister venom as he looked at the Helshasts with a wicked smile, “I vill gut zhem if zhey tried to escape.”

As the moon slowly sails in the clouded skies, everyone has made the parts of the backyard and the house itself as their spots for them to live temporarily. Half of them had set up tents in the backyard while U!Richtofen already had the shed to call his ‘cottage’ of his own.

Rest are resting in each rooms of the house 1145, Ratchet and Clank has the couch, Erron and Scout has the room with a bunk bed at the end of the hall in the upstairs, corporal had the master bedroom, Frisk had the side room with two bunk beds as it seemingly possible and sharing it with Cuphead and Mugman and lastly, the rest of the RED Team had the downstairs family room with one room but not the rest of them at the least, Sniper is at on the roof with a lantern on watch duty.

“Do you think that we have to fight each other?” It was Mugman who asked Jin that with a worried look on his face while Jin helped him onto the top bunk, with a blanket he had caught and wrapped himself with.

“Erron had said that as a theory, we don’t know about it yet.” Jin said as she adjusted the blanket he had and tried to be careful not to press the cracks and make them worse. “We need to know the reasons why we are here for a tournament.”

“And if it was the way to-”

“Mugman,” Jin had insisted, looking at him as she had a bit of a parental tone in her voice. “I will not let it happen if it is the only way, I promise you that I will protect you.”

“Really?”

“Do I ever lie to you? I am a fighter afterall.” she softly smiled as she lifted his chin up to face her, “Please get some sleep, Mugman, tomorrow will be better.”

Mugman slightly nodded and then laid down to get comfortable as Jin exited the room to find something to lay down to rest when she noticed something from the master bedroom that caught her eye before she could.

It was Primis Dempsey, he wasn’t wearing his coat and the boiler as they rested on a folding table close to him, sitting on a chair and holding a colt revolver in his hand as he stared at it. He looked at the window and then he rested his forehead on the cylinder and the rear sight with his eyes closed.

Something about this scene had her worried for the marine. She watched him raise his head back up to the window and he appeared to notice something on the window. Then he looked at the doorway, raised an eyebrow at the fortune sight before him.

“Jin? What are you doing over there?”

“I…” She said shyly as she walked in, “I wanted to make sure that you are alright, Dempsey.” she excused as she made her way to the dirty yet faintly clean mattress with a few blankets on it. He sighed as he walked over to the bed to sit down beside him.

“Thanks for doing that,” he said as he looked at the colt in his hand, “But ya really don’t have too, Jin, I am fine.” it was a lie and he and Jin knew that just the way he was holding the weapon. She reached out and then held the hand holding the gun, making him look at her.

“Mind if I ask why are you holding a revolver?” she asked as she and him looked at each other.

Dempsey knew that he wanted to do it with a weapon such as a colt revolver, that one thought, an idea, just swimming in the back of his mind for quite a little while but he couldn't let that side of himself show, not by a long shot and too stubborn to admit it. He simply shrugged and said “Just wanted to make sure those Lickers don't eat us in our sleep,” he excused, “You could never be safer than being ripped to shreds.”

Jin looked at him a bit more now and then she said softly, “I’ll stay.”

“Run that by me again, Jin?”

“I’ll stay with you.” in repeated herself, letting go him hand, she intended to stay with him to make sure that he doesn’t do anything too stupid, possibly to his own life, “I will let you be on watch if you want, do wake me up if you do see something.”

Tank looked down to face the revolver from Jin, looking a bit confused yet vacated from the conversion they had before he looked at her and nodded “Yeah, sure.”

Jin nodded as Dempsey got up to let Jin get into bed, she stretched her arms to prepare for the night as she pulled the sheets over her with P!Dempsey sat down on the bed again as he looked at her. She does have a nice…

“Not now, Tank.” his subconscious told him as he shook his head, “No time for feelings, lover boy.”

Jin fell asleep quickly after finding comfort in the blankets as Dempsey watched, letting out a soft sigh as he looked at the revolver again. He wasn’t the one to admit it but she had stopped him, he’ll give her that but he is a little worried about the Lickers he encountered however so it is a reason for him to keep watch.

He looked at the window again as the fire in the backyard had dimmed and smoke rising from where the bear was cooked. He has watched the window like a hawk for anything with a long tongue and teeth for an hour or two when Jin woke up with a sketch and got out of bed.

“Sleep well?” he asked as she sat down beside him, “Yes I have.” she answered as she immediately prepared to take the night watch, “It’s now your turn to get some rest and me taking watch.”

Dempsey looked at her and then looked at the revolver in his hands, he then looked at her again and said “Do you know how to use it?”

Jin simply nodded as she took it from his hand gently before he had got up to lay down the bed with the blanket over her, she looked over to the corporal and responded nicely “Sleep well, Dempsey.”

Dempsey softly smiled with tired eyes and then started to fight his way to get some sleep. A few minutes of this, his eyelids closed tightly, soon softened and he fell asleep soon...

The sound of gunfire and chains flying through the air, his boots were dusted in dirt as his two feet crashed onto the ground as he ran away from whoever it was he was running from.

“Sh!t sh!t Sh!t SH!T….!” he cursed loudly under his breath as he was losing air from his lungs, the sounds of the gun firing and chains flying in the air are consent; whenever he had to stop to catch his breath, the sounds returned and making him turn tail and running through an old western town that seemed abandoned since the 1800’s or after that century.

He skidded on the ground to turn the corner and then made it inside an nearby building that seemed like a shack. He hid inside the shack, on the wall and remained silent and watched a figure walking by: the one with a cowboy hat, a trench coat and weiding what appears to be a gun of a strange kind.

The pursuer walked by the marine without even noticing him being inside, Tank had sighed in relief softly and he got off the wall. “Thank god…”

He then walked towards the way he came in but chains suddenly appeared and stretched across the doorless frame, wrapping and blocking off his exit as he yelled out a curse word.

He feared that the man chasing had heard it happened too so he had to find another way out of the building as he turned to notice something that he didn’t see in this shack before he entered. A staircase that leads down, he softly breathed in and out before looking at the blocked off exit, then he shook his head at this.

With no other choice on the matter, he descends downstairs with slow steps on the steps as the setting sunlight creeps through the walls made from wood boards. He then turned to see what was in the basement itself of the shack. He muttered “Oh no…” as he got a look of what was in the room.

It was a stake in the center of the basement and on it were four rusted hooks, but they looked like they were sharpened to a fine point and crusted with blood, like it was used countless times with an animal of kind that had been hoisted onto it.

He had stood there to take in what he was seeing until the chains upstairs had been taken down and someone walked in. He cursed under his breath and looked for a way to hide which he eventually did through a hole wide enough for him to fit inside.

Footsteps were descending down the stairs and came upon the landing as he could see through the cracks to see who it was: The man with the gun came inside the basement and began to look around, finding someone inside.

“Where are you…?” an old voice called out from the man, banging on the creaking walls and pounding, “I know you’re in here!” He said as he used the bunt of the rifle to bash through the wall on the right of the basement, the sound had revirabated to Tank as he flinched but didn’t make noise, he was not going to give away his location.

After a long time, the man seemed to give up as he said “Well said… Have it your way then.” as Dempsey sees him going back upstairs with the shadow stretching out on the wall where the sun was shining before it had settled over the entrance.

Dempsey carefully slid out of the hole and looked around as he saw the hole the man in the trench coat had made with his coat. The chips and splinters were on the inside of the wall and some of it was hanging off the craves.

He slowly had put his hand into the hole his purser had made, feeling another wall from within, feeling cobwebs and wood from inside. The bunt of the rifle had made a bend on the wooden plank wall when he had his fingers to feel the bump the man had made out of anger and frustration.

“Jesus…” he muttered as he placed his hand through it, “at least have an therapist…” he sarcastically jabbed as he pulled his hand out of the hole but then jumped when an one claw wrenched out of the hole the man had made, it was pitch black and it had a tinge of orange on the tip as it had a bit of fur of the same color when it came out and made him yell in shock.

The claw happened to try to slash at him but he missed it just in time just narrowingly avoiding its attack, then he witnessed its shell cracked and then crumbed away, transforming it into… Chains.

It was a flash as the chains behaved like snakes controlled by their master and it shot forward towards as he turned to try to run but these metal linked strings had latched onto his right arm and coiled around it in a tight grip. “What the hell…?!” He pulled at the chains as he tried to break it but then he spotted another same claw came out of the first hole he was hiding in and it, like the claw, changed into chains and lashed out.

His left arm was grabbed and coiled by the chains behaving like a predatory snake and the next thing he knew, they pulled and his arms were stretched about as he screamed. The footsteps returned and there was the cowboy on the landing. Dempsey pulled desperately to get them to let go his arms but their grip was death-like as they were rattled and clacked.

“So that’s where you were boy,” the man then lifted his head up to reveal the rest of his face, Caleb the Deathslinger, his white and black eyes locked onto his target as he had lifted his jawbone upward, reconnected it to his skull with a crack that made Tank cringed at the sound of it. “Nowhere to run this time.” he muttered as he stood where he was as he lifted his rifle upwards him as he gotten a good look at it:

[Digitally drawn by Meaghan “Icefir” Halter]

The rifle had a reel with chains attached to it, with a lever to pull it and lastly, it had a very defining feature to it as the chains are connected to it: Some type of harpoon or a spear and it was aimed at him.

The hammer was heard smashing onto the barrel and the next thing he felt was a spear piercing through his abdomen and out his back as the pain was unbearable-

He jumped out of his sleep with a yell, eyes wide open and panting as if he was seeing hell far beyond him. He quickly checked his abdomen with his eyes locked onto it as he placed his hand on where the spear surpassingly made its mark.

No blood, no sign of t-shirt torn or penetrated the skin, flesh and bone. “Dempsey?” a soft voice had questioned worryingly, he turned to face Jin, she was looking at him with an unsettled yet concerned look in her eyes.

He looked at her for a good minute before closing his eyes and placing his hand on his forehead as sweat trailed down. “Are you okay, Dempsey?”

“I’m alright, it’s just a nightmare… that’s gotten worse.” he muttered as he looked in the other direction, Jin was a bit puzzled of what she could understand him saying under his breath. “Nightmare?” she said as she lowered her hand as he looked at something else in the room, an old pile of junk that is drawers filled with beads, strings, scissors and paint brushes with painting of any kind and other things. Like he had never said that but he did say “What time is it?”

“It was only 3 o’clock in the morning, Dempsey.” Jin responded as she looked at him a bit more, studying his movements, “Damn…” he sighed, “Just when I was getting some good night sleep too.” as he rubbed his eyes with his shaking hand with a soft groan.

Jin was worried for his mental health as she continued to look at him for a bit longer and said “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling fine, Jin.” he lied as he looked at her now with tired eyes as he let out a dry chuckle. But she refused to believe him as she saw through that sentence; a lie. A lie to keep his pride up.

“Are you sure about that?” she responded as she crawled onto Dempsey’s side, sitting next to him as he had his hands on the bed, planted onto the sheets as he was baffled by this. “I can see it in your eyes that you are… Distressed.”

Tank looked at the window to avoid but then in defeat, he let go of the breath from his mouth. “Like I had said, it’s a nightmare.” he confessed finally, Jin listened closely to what he had to say more. “It was me being chased and eventually being killed by a creepy-ass cowboy that looked like a zombie but smarter than that.” he then looked down from the window. “And he had a gun with a spear that killed me with…”

“If it’s connected to the war,” Jin rationalized as she had placed her hand on his cheek and had him turn to look at her, “If so, it could be understandable.”

His eyebrows furrowed upward and as he had his arm rested on one of his knees, “But something about it felt so real.” he mumbled softly to himself. Jin then said “There is no need to worry.” before wrapping her arms around the American. He was a little flustered when she did this but he found comfort in this and held her arm with one hand as he closed his eyes.

“Thanks.” he said, showing gratitude.

“No worries.” Jin replied with a gentle smile.

He was smiling softly himself but then they both flinched when they heard the door open, they were both ready to face whatever it was until they saw who it was: It was Erron who yawned as he rubbed his eyes.

“Hey Erron,” Dempsey sneered tiredly, “You almost scared us.”

“Evenin’, Tank,” Erron stopped to see Jin with him, he had dark circles around his eyes like he hadn't slept for a while but he had brushed it off and asked “Mind if I ask you two what you are talking about?”

“Nothing important, Erron.” Dempsey responded as he looked at him carefully, “Speaking of which, ya’ll looked like crap, Erron.”

“It was Scout’s fault for talking.” Erron complained as he had his thumb pointed at the closed door on his left as it left him and the Shaolin woman confused by what Erron meant by that. “But wasn’t Scout asleep on the top bunk above you?” Jin responded with a raised brow as Erron looked like he had run out of many cares to give anyway.

“Oh, don’t worry, he is asleep,” he answered as he grabbed the doorknob, opened it just a crack and what they were hearing was kinda humorous. “Heeeey, Pauling…. Do ya want to go on a date?” Scout murmured from the darkened bedroom with Erron holding the door open just a small wedge as he concluded “But he’s like a radio that can’t shut up.”

Jin giggled and face palmed as Dempsey smirked “Poor you” he joked as the Outworlder glared at them as he pulled the door close just as Scout mumbled out “Oh no, the dog has wings….!”

“Anyway, I was going to take a leak in the middle of the night anyway.” Erron explained as he let go of the knob and waved this off with his hand before he wrapped his arms together, trying to warm up as he walked into the darkened hallways.

“You should’ve got a blanket with you, dumba$$.” Dempsey sassily remarks as the man was fading into darkness as he replied “Yeah, whatever.” his response echoing in the halls.

The corporal smiled as he shook his head while Jin looked sighed and held her forehead, but then he looked solemn again as he looked down again as she noticed.

He looked aloof with himself, “Dempsey,” she responded as she placed her hand on her shoulder. He looked at her again then responded “It’s only a nightmare, I know-” but he was cut off.

“If you want more sleep then you would,” she offered, Dempsey’s mouth was aigbe a little bit upon hearing that, “if you had another nightmare, I’m here, understand?'' She sounded like a mother figure for someone that’s broken, broken nearly beyond repair but he had said nothing but nodded. “We have to do work at sunrise, try to get some sleep.” she said as Dempsey laid back down and fell asleep with Jin beside him, sitting upright on the bed.

Yet, Erron had lied about going to the restroom but instead had his hand over his mouth as his eyes locked onto the ground with furrowed brows. What he had overheard, he hardly ignored what Tank experienced in that nightmare.

He muttered “That can’t be Caleb…”

-In the morning light.-

Sun rose over the mountains that seemed to be close to the neighborhood in ruins and dominated by the forest trees as dawn bleeds anew with colors of purple, orange and sky blue dancing in the sky.

Primis Takeo placed the pieces of firewood into the dying campfire to warm up Heavy, and Sniper.

Bendy had to share a blanket with seemingly tired Bruno who was barely awake as they had been watching their prisoners, the Ink Demon looked concerned for the giant Frenchman as he had him wrapped in the blanket to get him warmth.

Scout was on look out of Ultimis Richtofen’s “Cottage” with Ultimis Nikolai was slubbed down, back on it and drunk as ever, vodka in hand as he hiccup. Ratchet and Clank are with Frank West, Raiden and Erron with the digitized map of Salt Lake City in ruins but it is now named Fallen City due to it’s population of the undead roaming in its streets.

“Hard to believe that they could do this much damage.” Erron muttered under his breath as he looked at the map, Raiden interjected “In most cases, an outbreak like this is common since the COVID-19 pandemic.” as he looked at him while pointing at where they were right now on the map.

“Actually, Raiden,” Clank intervened, “It’s only Utah that’s populated with the infected.” as the cyborg and kombatiant were confused by what the small robot had said. “How is that?” Raiden responds in confusion, “It should be an epidemic by now.”

“It could be but the place where I am from, something similar happened to Willamette is that the national guard had roped and blocked off every road leading into the town where the outbreak started.” Frank rationized, motioning Rachet to zoom out the city and they watched as the city was zoomed out to view the state.

It was Utah in nearly red color but it remained in its shape of that state, not once are any signs of the infection leaving it. “But this was unheard off, they said that it could stay in one city but not the whole state itself.”

“No sh!t, Frank.” Erron said as he looked closer at the map, small red dots were going close to the border of Utah but they disappeared upon reaching the line, “Whatever’s keeping the dead inside the state is not going to let them out.”

“Almost like a force field.” Raiden added. Clank nodded as Ratchet added “Still, it’s something to think about but keep in mind though…” as he pointed at a few blue dots leaving the state and a couple more dots entering it. “I am guessing those who are not infected are allowed to leave and go inside Utah as much as they want.”

“Almost like it was a strange type of spell quarantining the state.” Erron said as he watched the two different colored circles moving around in a few cities of the Beehive state. “With us survivors, it’s good that we don't have to worry about the dead coming out but if you’re a zombie, being trapped here will suck so much.”

“Frank,” Raiden said as he looked at him, “Do you remember how you got here?”

“Not too sure but I was outside the city before I met you guys, plus the way out of it was blocked off but there are other roads out of it if you’re asking.” he replied as he looked at the map once again. Having Ratchet zoom in again on the city.

[Map of Utah, from Google Search]

Raiden looked at the one lone black dot on Orem and pointed at it with a sharp metalized index finger, “That’s where we are right now but if we go along the line,” he said as he had his finger follow the line towards Cedar city. “It could have a road leading out of the state, then we could get out of this hellhole.”

Erron looked at Raiden and insisted “But to travel that far, we need supplies to last us about three days to get there. We need to find as much as we can carry on us.”

Frank West internally groans, again with the three day mark like the same scenes before. He face-plamed at this and said “Is there a train that can get us there?”

Erron looked at Frank West and said “There is one, but it’s in Provo and there’s all of them all over the place.” he then looked at Raiden, “Do you think you can clean that town up?”

Raiden remained silent for a moment but then he responded “You’ll leave them to me.” as he turned away and said “Find anyone that will scout the area, we’ll be leaving at sunset.”

“With pleasure, Raiden.” Erron nodded as he turned to walk away from the map as well with Raiden, leaving Frank West with the lombax and a small robot companion.

“Mr. West.”

“Hm?” he turned to face Clank as he was looking back at him. “You wanted to scout the area as well?” Clank offered as well, “You are a reporter-”

“As well as a freelance photojournalist and a teacher in a local college, Clank.” Frank added as he pointed at the camera, hanging around by an landrid around his neck and hasn’t been used in a while since he met the group of people from different worlds.

“Yeah, that, something like that is useful.” Ratchet said this as he crossed his arms, “Dempsey did say that there are mutations of those zombies like Lickers. If there are more, we need pictures of them.”

“Sounds like a scoop you wanted me to look into.” Frank smiled, liking this idea already but then he said “What if I accidentally ran into one of them if they heard me?”

“Hey Frank, that’s what our arteries are for.” Ratchet responded, “Most of us are armed to the teeth and neck deep in these infected people.”

“As for Lickers,” Clank added as he justered his finger upward, “Mr. Dempsey had said on the note he found that they will attack anything that makes noise so best to remain quiet when they are in an area with you.”

“Gotcha, Clank.” Frank said as he nodded, he then looked at the barbed-wire bat he had rested on an overgrown oak tree with vines draggling off the branches. He walked over to it and then picked it up and threw it over his shoulder and landed. “Right, I’m heading out first before anyone could scout out. Make sure they will bring back any stuff and food we could need.” Frank responded as he headed to the east gate that leads out of the backyard, opened it and then went out of it as it closed behind him.

Erron then turned to Ratchet and Clank then said “As for you guys, best to find the best scouts that can do this.”

They nodded as the map was turned off and then he helped Clank onto his back with a click before walking off as he placed his hands on his hips.

-Later on that morning-

There are a few willing volunteers willing to savage the area; Scout of course, Erron, Gordon Freeman, Soldier, Demoman, and Jin Huang. They are given a brief rundown on how they will be leaving soon but warn them about the mutations.

“So, we will have to find other resources for the journey ahead,” Erron explained to the group, Scout had swung his bat onto his shoulder and asked “And where are we going?”

“Cedar City is far from this city,” Erron answered, “Hopefully less zombies, the better.”

“Aren’t we going to wait for the others?” Soldier asked as he adjusted his helmet a little as Demoman looked at the Outworlder. “The Knight said that they are in another world,” as he places his hat back on and it is shadowed over his eyes, “Besides, he has an artifact that allows him to go from one realm to the next so they will be able to catch up to us.”

“Seems possible?” Jin commented as she raised a brow, “And I had to ask, what artifact is it?”

“I don’t know to be truthful,” Erron responded, “Most of us don't tell me about it but best have good faith that he still has it.”

“Plus, we are armed to the teeth,” Scout strugged, “we can take on those lickers.”

“I didn’t say there will just be Lickers, they could have other mutations.” Erron interjected that poke a hole in the young man’s bubble. “The science experts had said that zombies with parasites or viruses can mutate overtime, judging on how long this city had gone through over the years or so.”

Scout gulped with the thought, Erron then shook his hand to dismiss the conversion as he said “Very well, then, we haven’t got time to waste away. We gotta find something to survive on for the next few days or die stravin’.”

“Understood, Erron.” Jin nodded as Demoman looked at her but then nodded. Soldier then salutes this, “Remember before you're a$$es left; be careful out there.”

They nod to acknowledge before heading toward two different gates and going out back into the woodland neighbor and into the infested busy streets.

Jin, however, still struggled to comprehend how different characters could coexist with each other but she had to push aside her new questions and continued on forward. As they go on, she learns more about Gordon, Demoman and Soldier.

Gorden Freeman is truly a man with a few words, he had helped people in an accident as he had referred to as The Black Mesa Incident and led a rebellion against an enemy known as the Combine.

Demoman and Soldier are quite good friends and teammates actually, despite the American being obsessed with wars and bloodshed while the latter is working two jobs, one being a house cleaner and a flipping demolitions expert as a mercenary for hire.

They are quite smart to stay in groups as new breeds of infection are now more presentable, not just 115 zombies.

One infection had visible black veins, rarely ones without injuries but others are most bitemarks and scratches where the virus had spread. Another was riddled with worms, strange worms of alien origin and mutated into special types as their green vomiting counterparts had different yet same parts when it came to mutating.

The zombies, the non-eyes-glowing ones had eyes almost white yet they stumbled slowly, they will be resistant towards being shot in the head surprisingly but it will take 4 or more bullets or even stabs to bring it down.

They had gotten into stores and located non perishable items that strangely haven’t yet been perished yet despite how much time had passed by since what happened to this state in the U.S.

To cover more ground and to get more, they split up and told to keep an eye out for threats around the corners. Jin entered a community hospital and she had found modern medical equipment with an umbrella logo on each of them. The scene seemed to have a group of people researching brain samples before they were interrupted by something that she already knew what it was.

“We better need medicine for our journey ahead of us.” she whispered as she had a sack to stuff them in but when she’s all done doing so, Jin had found notes on a pharmacy desk, curious on what they would say, she picked them up and read them.

Umbrella Corps. Research Notes

The T-Virus had appeared when we had gotten here, it was thought to be destroyed yet we are trying to come up with the theory for its continued existence.

The virus that mutated white and red blood cells causing them to go black colored, the origin is unknown but it is referred to as The Black Plague Virus.

The parasitic worms, a neurological alien of unknown origin, can take over the host and control it. These “Devil Worms” as we call it and it is rather shocking they can merge together as they mutate.

The victims had similar symptoms to the rabies yet it appears that it had been weaponized, the virus of this type had been nicknamed the Green Flu due to it showing signs of a flu but soon they will become rapid overtime.

The unknown element had reanimated dead cells in the human body, making them, like the four other deadly pathogens, into literal zombies, finding documents of the same thing happening in the late 40’s as this element is referred to as 115 discovered by an organization called Group 935.

They were theories on how they are contained inside the state of Utah due to them unable to go outside as something is keeping them inside. It is unknown what is happening could be good or bad yet we could not know for now.

Further research is needed.

Jin was confused by the notes provided such similar information yet it is useful that it showed strange yet same symptoms of the zombification process. Violet behavior, headaches, sensitive to light and such more.

“This is strange…” she muttered as she folds the notes and placed them in her pocket for later, to show the others of her discovery. She was about to leave when she noticed something that caught her eye.

A mysterious hooded figure walked away from the mirror hanging above and walked out of the door calmly like it was a normal day. She turned to see the backdoor closing in time. “Wait…!” she said as she walked fastly towards it and then pushed it open and she found herself in an alley away that’s rotten away and nature crawling upward on the walls.

She looked on the left side, the end of the alley way leading towards the more heavily woods and on the right she saw the Ridden and Black Plague zombies, they were not looking in her direction but hissing and screeched at one another over a kill the other claimed. Similar to a pack of wolves when the alpha is defending its meal.

Jin covered her mouth to prevent the sound from coming out, deciding that she needs to leave and leave now. Moving slowly, she walked back to the door and tried pulling it open but it wouldn't bulge. She tried again but harder yet it still couldn't open from the second attempt. She was locked outside.

She turned to pay attention in the right direction, one of the Plagues seemed to sniff the air and then turned to the alley, its face was half-way ripped off, flesh and teeth showing as black veins sprawled across its features. It snurled upon seeing her as her thoughts were racing but she remained calm, not showing fear from what her masters taught her. “Looks like I am taking an alternate route…” she thought as she turned on her heels and then ran as she heard the screeches from the damned reined in the air. She ran into the forested area to lose them as both Ridden and Black Plague are flooding in the alley and making their way to the heavily wooded area but not without killing each other to get to it first.

They bite and scratch each other as some of them are overwhelming them and then devouring their flesh and organs that have been tainted with the virus or a parasite as the rest had managed to make it through the alley way and proceeded to chase her.

She was like a monkey on the loose upon release, she ran and avoided logs and used branches to swing over the terrain to outrun the dead. The sound of something else is hopping with her at the same pace as her but she was confused when she heard at least six pairs of feet on the ground or the branches.

Before she could turn her head to face whatever it was, that couplet had hopped into her vision, right in front of her. It was human but it lacked of hair on it’s head, it had four arms, two small as the other limbs are longer and it had a red pulsating organ on the bottom of its throat and collarbone as it has been missing a jaw to begin with and replaced with a lower part of the mouth with small sharp teeth.

Red eyes glowed as it snarled and crawled like an animal one side to the left then to the right a little. A worm with mandible spurts out of it’s one eye socket and into another as they bleed crimson tears down from its eyes as Jin cringed at that sight when she looked at the creature in the eye.

“Did the worms do that?” she thought as she pulled her hair ornament out, prepared to fight what this monstrosity is but it seems to know what it is doing. Getting on two feet and then doing something peculiar with it’s four hands as if it was a normal day of folding clothes but something was slimy and drooling in them then suddenly, it tossed the “ball” at her and it exploded.

She exclaimed as she tried to get away but her legs were caught in the mucky projectile and it climbed up to her stomach, pinning her in place while she stood. “What the hell…?!” she tried to pull at the clammy slime but it was like rubber and it stood on her while the screeching had reached her ears.

She looked up just in time to find the worm-ridden creature leaping at her, the two hands wrapped around her throat and neck as the other two are holding on her shoulders as she is doing the same with her own arms to push or try to push it away from her as she was choking, fighting for air.

It roared at her as worms fell out of it’s eye sockets and onto the ground, missing her face as she was losing consciousness but then, its side of its head had exploded with blood and brain matter spewed out. It stopped then fell with Jin in its arms as by now the slime had expired.

She gasped in for air as she heard a familiar voice calling out to her, “Jin!” and feet running over to her and then her arm was grabbed and being pulled up onto her feet. It was P!Dempsey.

“Are ya alright!?”

“Yeah, I am fine…” she rubbed her bruised neck as she looked at the creature, “It’s true what Erron has said about the mutations.”

The marine was looking at the corpse then shrugged a little, “A stinger like this one must be Licker’s second cousin, an ugly b@#$ too.” he sass-talked before the ‘Stinger” was slowly getting back up but was quickly shot down with another bullet with a gun.

Head was clearly devastated from the second bullet discharge, several worms crawled out and went into the ground as they groaned in disgust. “F*#$ing gross…”

Jin thought back about the notes she found and then worried that the others might catch up from the alley after their fight with each other. “Corporal,” she spoke up as he was going to leave, P!Dempsey looked at Jin with a raised eyebrow as she held up the papers and landed them on him. “I had found this from the hospital before I fled, I think there are not just two viruses here in this state.” she explained.

“Could be worth the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.” he said softly but then he heard faint growls from the tree lines. He gestures with his hand to get her moving as he muttered “We have to get the f#$% out of here…”

They turned and fled the area where the Stinger had appeared as the Ridden and the Plague were coming in.

-Suncrest-

From a frying pan and into an oven, that is what Jin could hear him mutter under his breath as he read one page after another. Apparently the deadly pathogens that can create the dead walked this earth and had each section separately after research on them.

“What is the matter, Tank?” she asked softly as the corporal placed the notes in his pouch and said “First 115 and now four more?” sounded angry, “Talk about dinner for the worms after they can…” he then shook his head. He wasn’t sure if this was even more worse than the previous universe they belonged in.

“Dempsey,”

“Yeah, Jin?” he asked, annoyed as he looked at her now.

“That Stinger, it had..” she was interrupted with the marine’s hand placed onto her shoulder and said “I know…” softly, “It’s one hell of a way to die.” and Jin looked down with her brows furrowed. She then looked at him and nodded wordlessly. He smiled softly and then looked around.

Yet, she can’t let go of the feeling peculiarly on how he was at the wrong place yet the right time, so she needs to ask while they are now continuing to walk down the street that is now halfway covered by dirt forming a path.

“Dempsey?”

“What’s up?”

“I like to know, how did you find me in trouble?”

He was usually loud enough to verbally question Richtofen or someone else loudly but he was oddly quiet but then he answered “Don’t like to copy Tak but I had a stinking feeling when you left. " as he scratched the back of his head."

Jin cocked her head to the side with little confusion yet interested, “You had sensed that I’d be in danger.” she said as she and him continued walking down the path. “You could say that.” he nodded as he looked at the tall trees, pine trees and oak trees that grew to climb the skies upon the ground and dirt.

“I like to call it a “gut feeling” in situations like that one back at the house.”

“Well, I am glad you listened to that “gut” feeling.”

Dempsey chuckled softly as he closed his eyes and turned his head away from the trees, “Yeah, this tank sure did.”

Jin softly smiled at this man as she had a tint of pink on her cheeks as birds above them chirped above them. This is a peaceful walk in the woods that is once a town before the walking dead of all five kinds showed up.

Yet, the feeling hasn’t shown up until when they are deeper into the forest and the air has gotten… colder?

Jin had felt the familiar temperature and held her arms together as Dempsey looked around as soon as he felt the wind had gotten colder than usual, “What the hell?” he muttered as they walked along but more aware of their surroundings.

Their feet crunched onto something soft, they looked down and saw they had walked into a bed of snow. “Why is there snow in the middle of summer?”

“The hell I know,” Dempsey had spoken the thought out loud, those the only thoughts he could think to say as he was caught off guard with what appears to be the change of the session. “Whatever’s happening is not a part of mother nature’s to-do list.”

He continued onward into the slowly falling snowflakes before a blizzard hit them both, “Holy sh!t!”

“Tank!”

The snowstorm had come along and the environment had transformed into a winter hell, Dempsey calls out to Jin ``Jin! Are you there?!”

He felt a hand grabbing hold of his own, he flinched and was going to get a knife out, believing it was another zombie but then heard her voice “Wait, I have you!”

He felt himself relaxed a little when he heard Jin, they sheided their eyes from the shooting snowflakes as they continued forward, “It is almost like that winter from the 1900’s!” he bellowed out as he was trying to find a sight or a road for them to go on. “It was colder than Northern France!”

“And it still is!” Jin stated as she too was trying as the corporal marine, “Do you think what might cause this, Tank?!”

“How the hell should I know-” they then bumped into something that caused them to fell backwards from, they looked up and saw a buff towering figure over them, it was frozen but it’s features are still visible; it was missing a jawbone and a tongue dangling out, its fists are too big for the normal human fingers to curl into one.

They both yelled and Dempsey got out his revolver to fire but then noticed the big hulk-like zombie was indeed turned into an icy statue as it appeared it was about to smash onto something or someone it was targeted.

“Hold on…” he got up on his feet as Jin stumbled onto hers as well, and as they looked around the area, they were barely able to see what else was around them; a horde of zombies, frozen into light blue statues as they appeared to have green vomit leaking from their lips. They way they are posed as if they were after something or someone they were chasing.

More of them are several common yet some are special, one of them had a long tongue as it looked like a frog trying to catch a fly almost similar trait to the Lickers, the other had claws and bleeding from the eyes as the hood had covered its head but its face where it was features shown and it was even being hold up by the ice sickle attached to a nearby building as if it was jumping towards something.

The other looked like it had been crying for a long time judging by the trail of tears on a creature’s features with long nails, long blooded sharp claw-like nails up into the air, ready to strike and like others around her, it was also frozen solid.

“They are…” Jin is finding the courage to speak up in silence besides the noise of the snowstorm, “They are all frozen.”

“You said it, Jin.” Dempsey nodded, zombies frozen in places that reminded him of the time that Nikolai had tried out the Staff of Ice for the first time back in France and it had frozen one of the 115 zombies. “It’s like back in Northern France, Jin.”

“Shh… Something is coming.” footsteps crunching in the snow from the south direction, they turned and ready to confront whatever’s the one responsible. The crunching snow made by two pairs of feet came closer as the figure had formed a shadow from the blizzard. It was the shape of a man and this human had glowing icy blue eyes peering from the hail of snow before stopping in front of them.

Dempsey said “Whoever you are, f*#$er, show yourself.'' With a threatening tone in his voice, the figure responded by raising his hand and then in one smooth motion, his hand traveled to the right shoulder and then washed it back down.

As if on command, the storm driddled and hastily stopped as light from the sun shined through once more, revealing the figure that dwindled in the blizzard. As the snow settles around them, the sun reveals this stranger quickly, he is wearing a blue zukin mask, a hooded cowl with a hat and blue ribbon flowing in the wind yet soon slowly handing it as it dies down. The jacket he was wearing had no sleeves and both of his arms are ice colored unnaturally but they moved just fine with no issue as blue and silver arm guards are strapped to them as well with fingerless gloves, blue wrap around his torso and black boots buried in the snow.

Jin looked at this man as he was staring at them with one scar over one of the eyes, his breath breathed through the mask as it provided four retringle holes as it was seen in the frost.

She walked beside the tensed man before her and then gently rested her hand over the barrel of the revolver then lowered it slowly down as he looked at her in confusion. Jin was certain that the situation would continue negatively.

“We mean no harm, sir, we are not one of them.” She spoke in a calm yet professional manner as she looked him in the eye as they changed colors; from icy blue to normal brown as their glow was lost.

“State your business then.” a deep male voice responded from the man as he stood down as a sign of being less of a threat. “We are only salvagers, looking for supplies to get the hell out of this sh!t.” Dempsey responded with his eyebrow raised.

The man responded “Then we are in the same scerno.” as he had his hand reached his zukin mask and then with little work, he removed it, revealing a beard that is black as a raven’s feathers. “I am Sub-Zero.”

“Sub-Zero, huh?” Dempsey is a little intrigued by the name this man had, “Mind saying why they call ya that?” Yet before anyone could say anything, a loud screech was heard and the couple spotted one of the zombies frozen running towards Sub-Zero. It was one of those hooded special zombies as its teeth are sharped and bared like a rabid dog.

“Watch out!”

Sub-Zero said nothing as the screeching zombie acting like a wild animal was running towards him and ready to strike but they seemed aware of what was happening as he turned and then grabbed this “Hunter” by the head.

It attempted to scratch his arm to break free but very quickly, the frost and ice spread all over it as it stopped moving due to cryo-hibernation the Shinobi had performed upon it as P!Dempsey and P!Jin watched on with astonishment.

And then in one go, Sub-Zero threw it onto the snow-covered road, upon impact, its body, head, arms, legs, hands, and feet had exploded into pieces all over. The head rolled over to Dempsey’s feet as he said “Holy sh!t…!”

Jin was a little shocked to see this happen but they now know why he is called “Sub-Zero.”

“Is this why, Sub-Zero?”

The man only nodded before putting his mask back on, and saying “There are much more things than this.”

“Still freezing the crap out of that freakbag!” Dempsey finally laughed a little, “How did you do that?”

Sub-Zero looked at him and answered “I and my brother were born with these,” as he shook his head at the marine, but then took a moment to examine the duo. They are from a different realm, in a past somewhere from what he could think of.

“Do you two know where you are from?”

“From ours?”

Sub-Zero nodded as he crossed his arms as he looked at them both while the two were standing there, recovering from what had transpired.

“We are from…” P!Dempsey wanted to say what dimension they are from, “1918. We’re from the first world war.”

He looked a little surprised, “We are from different realms, whoever did this must have a purpose for us being here..” he stated, Jin looked at Sub-Zero as her eyes narrowed, “Do you believe this might be a Mortal Kombat tournament?”

“Yes, I do.” Sub-Zero nodded as he turned around then walked away, Dempsey then followed behind him with Jin doing the same. “Hey, we have theories about this bullsh!t too.” he said as their feet were crunching upon the snow passing by the horde of frozen statues with the Green Flu.

“And they might be?”

“It could be the octopus-things called Apothicons that Doc called them, or that some kind of an experiment gone wrong the worst way possible.”

“Or could be Shao Khan or Shang Tsung.” Sub-Zero poked the holes, as he looked down at the ground slowly changing from snow to the dirt ground. “The latter could have done this.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Time to count the suffering.”

“I am sorry, Sub-Zero.” Jin apologized as Dempsey looked ahead as he asked “So, you stated you are born like this, is there any training for that?”

Sub-Zero slowed down a minute and turned his head facing the corporal, “If you are ever born a cryomancer, the clan, Lin Kuei, will train you yet I train you how to use winter’s power, and to control and tame it.”

Jin nodded understandingly, as a shaolin monk, she understood the warrior.

Sub-Zero then stopped himself, which made others stop in their tracks, “Stay quiet.” Sub-Zero’s instincts were quite right, Jin took note and got her hairpin out as Dempsey looked at them in confusion but soon heard voices faintly as he muttered “What the hell is that?” as he held up the revolver once more.

Sub-Zero shushed him and they slowly stepped over to the source of the voices and then kneeled down into the tall grass with P!Dempsey and Jin behind him. The tall grass are yellowish green and the height of grass itself goes up to an average human’s wrist but it was tall enough for an animal to hide, the grass was parted halfway for them to see who was talking, much to Tank’s confusion, and Sub-Zero’s surprise, there were Hyenas standing on their hind legs, holding sharpen boomerangs, bows and arrows, and other weapons that the humans would use. They are dressed in tribal african clothing that seemed to be a mix of 1920’s and medieval age.

They are speaking in an unknown language, a mix of Zulu and strange gibberish pouring from their mouths as they surround carcasses with arrows in them, bleeding from the open wounds. Upon closer look, Dempsey and Jin had realized that those were the strange bears Takeo had slain, faces that looked like tigers but had bodies of normal bears with long tails. patterns of tiger stripes placed upon their dark brown and white fur they bore. Then the other spoke in english “Do you think she will approve of the fest of living Tears?”

“The queen will,” the other Hyena responded as he gently kicked the tiger-bear’s head that had been called Tear. “She had said this once and not twice, the Untotens’ flesh is far too rotten and unsafe to eat.”

“Due to the five plagues they had within.” the other one said with a female voice as she had taken a rag that was used too many times to the point it was just a dark crimson fabric. “Humans weren’t prepared for the All-Five Outbreak 500 years ago.”

“Neither the same with Monsters.” their leader added as gotten a knife out, the one that appears to be made from bone and wood, walking over to one of the Tears’ corpses, “Yet, all five Untoten Hordes were stopped by the Tree of Life.” He spoke as he kneeled down and then stabbed the carcass.

Tree of Life?

Primis Dempsey had heard them wrong or… he had recalled a myth that his mother had recalled when he was a boy, he showed a little interest in his Irish heritage and Celtic religion his mother had tried to force upon.

Crann Bethadn is referred to as the Tree of Life by the Celtics in Ancient Times as they believed that the trees on Earth had several powers and were sources of all life we breathed into our lungs.

The symbol is preserved well for so many centuries by our people of Ireland.

We carry our deep roots of our heritage.

Primis Dempsey had averted his eyes away from the Hyenas to focus fighting that memory in his mind, bad timing to recall the past, bad timing he thought.

“Still, do you remember what our elders had told us over and over?” as several other Hyenas looked at the female hunter in their group, “About the forbidden water that was left behind after Humans and Monsters ascended.”

“Ah yes, Femina, we remembered.” the pack leader answered as he pulled out meat and muscle from a Tear and put it into a sack as blood dripped from the bottom. “Gods of the Old World had accidentally let the forbidden water fall down from the skies, our past elders drank from it and soon, knowledge had changed them the way we are now.”

The trio listened to them as the story behind the ordeal was unfolding, yet it was sickening: an zombie outbreak had happened with all five dangerous biohazards and it had been 500 years later afterwards but what caused it to happen? Then a thought came in Dempsey’s head: Broken, the one that Knight had talked about, might have something to do with it.

Something had done something unforgiving and appealing towards humanity and monsters had made his blood boil but he can’t let it burst out of him, not here, not now.

“The day that world has fallen, the Incident, Humans, Monsters, fled into the stars to flee the terrors.” the other Hyena nodded to the conversion, “Yet, from the previous animal kingdom, Gods of The Old World had given birth to us, Furthers, to watch over the world to wait for their return.”

“Yet, the queen is here so we will have no fear if they will attack or not.”

“I agree now, help me skin them.”

They watched in silence as Hyena Furthers had gotten out similar knives and started skinning the Tears, taking organs and flesh covered in blood as they were placed in sacks as blood dripped and poured from the bottom of the sacks and onto the ground.

All that is left of the Tears now were skinless, fleshly yet bones exposing carcasses. They then got up on their hind legs again like they were human beings and then walked away from the bloody scene.

They waited until the voices and footsteps had vanished in the distance, “We are safe now.” Sub-Zero was the first one to speak up as he and others got up from the grass as Dempsey looked to where the hunter Furthers had gone.

“What the f#$% is a Further?” P!Dempsey asked as he is now the one questioning this reality as Jin seems hinged by this discovery. “Do you remember that I said I had woken up in a house with talking animals, Dempsey?” she asked as he placed her hand on his shoulder, making him look at her with doubt for his sanity and Jin knew it.

“Those talking animals were Furthers as well,” she responded, “They had the bare intelligence of a regular human being yet they had developed their own language and cultures. They had worshipped the ‘’Gods of the Old World'' as their religion.” she explained as P!Dempsey stared at her.

“Holy sh!t..” he said with disdain, “Richtofen wasn’t kidding about different realities, wasn’t he?”

“Who?” Sub-Zero was confused about who Dempsey was talking about.

Jin looked at Dempsey and then rubbed his shoulder a little, he loosened up a little when he felt it with comfort. “Thanks, Jin.” he sputtered nervously aas he looked at her with comfort in his eyes.

Jin smiled softly but then heard Sub-Zero calling out softly to them, “You two, come over here.” as they turned to notice that he was kneeling on the ground, picking something from it, something glowing faintly of soft blue.

The duo walked over to the Cryomancer as he stood back on his feet while looking at the object in his hand. Without a word, he showed them both of what he had found on the ground. They looked to see that it’s a gem, an ocean blue crystal that is about the size of a quarter.

“I had found this crystal on the ground.” Sub-Zero said as he was looking at the crystal with wariness in his voice. “It was glowing faintly, I am sensing strange energy coming out of it.”

“Do you think this is nuts, Sub-Zero?” Dempsey asked out of disbelief and ignorance at first but the look in Sub-Zero’s eyes had told the different answer. “Oh, right.” he responded under his breath as he looked back down at the crystal once again.

Jin was looking at the inscallfincent crystal, resting in Sub-Zero’s palm as she felt like she needed to take a closer look, as if it was holding a secret that none of them don’t know yet. “Sub-Zero,” she spoke softly as her hand had started to lift upwards and going towards a crystal slowly, “Can I see it please?”

Sub-Zero was weary of what she was doing and was trying to get his hand from hers but she had managed to get the crystal away from the palm of his hand and it was a bit fuzzy soon afterwards.

One moment, she was with the two men in a forest with a small crystal in her hands but the other minute later, she was somewhere else entirely and laying on the ground. The day was nighttime as a hand came into her line of sight yet this hand is not her own.

This hand was wearing a violet purple glove with metallic claw armor on it as it was placed onto her forehead, it took a moment to realize that what is happening is that she is in a memory of someone and she is watching this from their point of view.

Flashback of Blood

The person she was witnessing had then got onto their feet as she had gotten a look of their attire. The ninja yoroi was pink colored with slight cleavage showing as this person is a female.

“Hmmm…” a woman’s voice groaned as it sounded like it was an echo, and looked around “The earthrealm is different now, must to find a few souls…~” she purred that made Jin feel on edge just by hearing this from her as she walked ahead from where she has woken up.

As the moon floated over the bloodbath and nearing those hours of sunlight rising, this woman had performed onto the undead yet she often let out a groan or a moan of disdain when she sniffed or looked at them as if they were not the one that she was hoping to find. What was she trying to find?

“Most of these mortals are undead… I wonder if this realm has warriors left?” she purred in strange interest as she dropped the Black Plague zombie onto the ground as a dark red pool formed from its devastated head.

She then heard twig snapped and she turned to see a Hyena Further with an arrow pointed at her, the moment she saw him and the next thing she heard was a dark giggle coming from the woman, the type was feral but with ill-intent and sounded like her prayer had been answered.

“You dare to raise your weapon to your ruler of Outworld?”

The Hyena Further looked a bit shock at first but didn’t have time to react when the woman lunged out at the helpless hunter with her claws out and Jin haven’t seen what had happened next but she did heard the hunter screaming that soon heard a gurgle as well as with crunching of teeth and flesh tearing apart that made her recoiled.

Soon afterwards, she saw two more Hyena hunters with bows and arrows on their person. One of them is a man and a woman hyenas as the female hunter looked concerned.

“Juju?” she asked, “What is wrong, we heard screaming.”

[Two comic strips are drawn by SamPostStuff on Tumblr]

A crunch only answered them, Jin turned to see what it was as they stopped and the other readied the arrow, willing to fight but they both froze in horror. Jin cringed at the sight before her.

The same hand was holding the corpse of their comrade before dropping it onto the ground with blood on its palm as Jin had gotten a good look at the woman’s face; it looked like something that any child would scream in terror in their dreams.

Her face was drizzled in blood as sharp needle teeth were on the outside of her lips and cheeks, forming a mouth, her eyes a golden yellow with short black hair flowing freely.

“She really is real…” she heard a male hyena mumble to his friend in pure shock, “Our queen.” is the only thing that he finished the sentence with.

The woman- no, this creature smiled grisly, “Ah yes, I am your ruler.” she spoke with such atrocious tempting bliss, “Your Queen Mileena.” as Hyenas are trembling in fear.

“W-We…” the lady hyena began to explain themselves with a catch of breath, “We are so sorry, we… We have no idea it’s you.”

“Or even say that it’s-” the lady hyena immediately covered her friend’s mouth before he could finish.

“It is only a shock,” She said as she understood yet the look of her eyes can seem like they would hold potential, “I will let this mistake go for now.” Mileena responded as she lifted up what looked like a windpipe and with one chomb, she ate it, blood flowed through her mouth and dropped onto the ground.

“But for now, I have something for you to do.”

That was the last thing she heard before everything around her had gone into white.

“Jin? Jin!”

A familiar voice had ringed in her eyes, Jin was on the ground and being held by a man wearing a familiar jacket, it’s Dempsey.

She was being held in his arms as she, Primis Tank and Sub-Zero as the sun was over them and in noon time. “T-Tank?” she spoke up in pure confusion as she placed a hand on her forehead, “What happened?”

“After ya took that crystal,” Dempsey started to explain the situation, “you just collapsed when it glowed for a little bit.” as Sub-Zero had removed his mask once again and held the crystal yet he’s making sure that it's as far from her as possible this time.

Jin seemed lost for a moment when she looked at them both, but then remembered back the dream she had for a short time with the woman, Mileena, and Hyena Furthers worshipped her as their ruler- a goddess even. As if she was the one they were waiting for god only knows how long.

But she has to know how long she was out like a light, how long was she dreaming exactly before that first, she turned over to Sub-Zero and questioned him, “how long was I out?”

“Only nearly an hour, Jin,” he answered.

“Yeah, while you were asleep. We had to pray it out of your hand since you were holding onto it tight.” P!Dempsey added further.

“I see…” she muttered softly as she looked at the ground again, the two men looked concerned now for Jin as the birds were chirping sweetly in the green and yellow trees around them as the wind danced smooth as butter.

“Let me guess for you,” Dempsey responded a bit more gently than usual, “You had a hell of a dream when you passed out.”

Jin looked at him with a slight jump from her stupor yet nodded, “How did you see?” Sub-Zero questioned her, “From the start of it, how much did this crystal have foretold to you?”

Jin with what little strength she had in her gut, she told them about it in little detail of the dream regarding the comprehensiveness of itself to them but she had noticed that Sub-Zero looked troubled when she had mentioned Mileena’s name, in fact, he looked like he never wanted to hear this name from someone else, ever.

Dempsey took notice of them as well as Sub-Zero had stood up and then walked from them a bit, giving them some space between himself and the two. “Hey, ya alright there?”

“I am fine, marine.” was Sub-Zero’s response.

“Ya sure, you seemed like you know this Mileena chick.”

Sub-Zero turned to look at them with his eyes glowing again but calmed down right away when he drew in a breath and exhaled it. “She was the creation of Shang Tsung, who was an ally to the former Emperor of Outworld itself.”

“Outworld? The one where Erron was from?”

“Erron Black?” Sub-Zero was surprised to hear that, “He was here as well?”

“Of course.”

Sub-Zero looks down for a moment, thinking of what is happening and how much of this revelation has unraveled itself. “There is going to be another tournament,” he thought without doubt but he is quite skeptical of what Mileena’s intentions are. He doubts she could be capable of doing this; kidnapping people from their own realms and into this one, unknown as uncharted.

“...Does anyone but us here?”

“I dunno.” Dempsey said uncertianingly, “All we know, that there most of us are from our universes alone or in a group that’s brought in this hellhole, Sub-Zero.”

Sub-Zero then turned his body to them both and responded “Mileena will be my responsibility to take care of, you two need to get back to your camp right away.” he then started to travel to the direction where he believed the Hyenas had gone too.

“Hey, where the f$%^ are you going?” he yelled after the shinobi who doesn't stopped walking, “I’m going to find their queen.’” as his arms are covered in frost.

Primis Dempsey was watching him go when he noticed that Jin was trying to stand up, “Ya think you can still walk?” he asked while he stood up, helping her onto her feet. “I think so, Tank.” she simply answered from her dizziness from the crystal's influence, legs wobbling like jelly.

She stumbled but she was grabbed by Dempsey when she nearly fell over, “Hey,” he said, “Don’t push yourself too much.”

“I wasn’t trying too.” she replied, holding on her arm while she’s trying to adjust her balance. When she got hold of her footing, she let go of the marine and then tried walking again but this time, one step at a time.

Still, Dempsey is walking beside her in case of her falling again while she was walking as they went through the way they came in, they walked past the tree line and back to the frozen graveyard of the green flu zombies.

They kept an eye out for anything that moved as they carefully walked past them as Dempsey noticed something that made him realize; the sun was hot enough to melt the ice on a hot summer day and the ones that had been turned into frozen statues were dripping water.

“They’re melting…” he muttered, catching Jin’s attention. “What?”

“These freakbags.”

Jin looked around and saw the ice that jailed them was melting into slush, even the big one, a hulking muscle with normal human legs and big arms that nearly overgrown its fingers. They noticed it was moving a bit by the minute soon afterwards a second.

They walked fastly past the major zombie as the ice was cracking as its arms were vibrating, it was going to break away from the ice in a moment and they both knew it just by looking at it. The popping and snapping of the cryogenic ice getting louder, before they knew it, Tank had said “MOVE!”

He pushed Jin forward as the ice finally gave way, soon afterwards a roar from the creature as its hands, now freed, smashes onto the ground, making the ground rumble under them and they stumble from the impact.

P!Dempsey got out his assault rifle and then immediately opened fire on the giant thing but as blood sprayed off of it’s pale too-much built body, it had no effect and that seemed to enraged the creature.

[Drawn by This-Person-is-slowly-dying and AlphaKing]

“Dempsey, get away from that thing!” Jin yelled as the big fella began to charge at the two on it’s knuckles and feet, similar to an angry gorilla ready to destroy whatever had tried to kill its mate and his kid.

He let out a curse and then turned to run from the beast, while they heard it growling. Soon, they heard the ground rumble behind them, Tank turned to see what was going on but soon regretted doing so because this thing had pulled a rock from the ground, hanging it over its head.

“Jin, incoming!” He ran faster and tackled Jin to the ground just as the big boulder was thrown and went over them, smashing onto a nearby car, even though it had aged over 500 years but it is shocking part of this is that its siren had sounded as they looked up. As if it does it despite the age of time.

Soon afterwards, the screeching of the damned was heard from a distance faintly but grew louder as they got back up and soon after he aimed at the incoming horde infected by the Green Flu Virus as he asked Jin “Run or fight?”

She looked at him confused but soon she was brought back by the big creature’s roaring as it was powering through the horde to get to them first before they did.

Dempsey repeated himself loudly.

“Run or fight?”

Jin has already decided on the answer already; she responded “Both.”

He had no time to argue with her so he and she turned to run towards a road, heading towards a hospital while an army of Green Flu zombies closed in the gap as they ran while Tank turned to open fire on them, splitting their heads open, painting the ground in red before turning to keep running.

“F#%^ off, you maggot-asses! Along with that Tank too!” He taunted them, but he is mostly taunting towards the now nicknamed big beast that’s catching up to them more than the horde.

Jin shook her head with raised brow as they reached the hospital, the glass of the doors was long since broken down long ago so they are able to get through them with no trouble but with each answers, it has pros and cons to solve any problems; the con was that there is no barricade to keep the riff-raff out.

Jin had got out her hair ornament from her hair but then she felt a nudge on her arm, she turned to see Dempsey holding a revolver, “Take this!” he ordered her as Jin used her other hand to take it.

“Ever use that gun?”

“I had never used it on a person!”

He fired on a couple of zombies coming closer, he turned his head to her and responded “Well, the best thing to do is to aim for the head.” he then looked at them, he had often felt safe with barricades but he knew that this time it's the opposite, the doors without wood boards and he does not like it.

“Sh!t… What should we do now?”

“I am working on it…”

Just when the horde and the Tank are coming closer, the intercom had rung to life and a new voice came through, it was a different male Australian accent like Sniper’s.

“Oi!” the voice called out, making them look at the intercom with shock and confusion, “Ya two are not one of the Green Flu bastards, are ya?” Then they heard a ding, they turned to look at an elevator opening up with the dimmed light glowing from its ceiling. “Come in the elevator if ya want to live!”

They looked at each other, then they turned to look at the incoming horde and the Tank that is posing through it like a runaway bull attacking anything that has red all over a group of people.

The choices were: Either be killed by the rabid horde and eaten or get in the elevator to where this voice is in one of the five floors.

They looked at each other again and then at the horde before they decided the latter: they ran in the elevator and Dempsey slammed the filth floor button and they readied themselves as the common infected ran inside as the doors hastily closed in.

They are watching them heading towards them as the moving doors closed up and hearing them banging on the doors as they go upward. They ascended upwards as the arrow slowly moved towards and crossed each number as the little moment of relief washed over them, “Holy sh!t….” he muttered, “Never seen anything like that…”

“The horde of the undead or that big creature that could rival a Panzer Soldat?”

“The big guy.” he answered, placing the revolver back in his Back-Pit device and holding his head a little.

“Still, do ya see what it has been doing?”

Jin nodded as she looked down at the ground. “It had thrown the zombies out of the way to get to us,” she softly said, “I can not imagine what it will do if it got to us.”

“Properly literally crush us with those arms,” he halfry joked, crossing his arms as he looks at the arrow going over to the number five, indeciting they are getting closer to the floor he selected. “Besides, we’re gonna be alright now.” he said it too soon the moment the elevator dings upon their arrival on the filth floor.

The elevator doors opened up to reveal their “savor”; a cyborg Carcassian man with device over his right eye or at least acted as his eye, a beard, wore no shirt but a strap that form an X across his chest with the device with glowing red glass, army green cargo pants and boots as he appears to be holding something behind his back.

With a smug smirk, he said in the same accent “Ya made the right choice.” before they heard what sounded like a pin being pulled and then he threw a container at them in the elevator before he had put on a gas mask.

The container they were looking at had exploded and a pretuid smell came from before them as they were trying to get away. “Dempsey watch...ou…” Jin had started to say but the smell had gotten to her that caused her to slur her speech and she fell onto the floor.

“Jin!” He ran over to her but his body started to get heavy but his mind was ordering it to keep going as he stumbled towards her as he was trying not to inhale the stench before he too fell down just inches to her.

The world around him had begun to spin as hearing had started to rung in his ears as the man walked over to them then knelt down while Dempsey watched. He chuckled while he looked at the marine as his eyelids were getting more and more heavy and soon, the world had been drowned in darkness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A soft moan left his lips as he suffered a suffocating headache, he felt like he had drunk too many beers while he had his hand stretched the back of his head as he muttered “Argh…. My head…”

He groggily turned his head over to look around as his mind wondered where he was right now and he saw Jin sleeping by his side, sleeping softly with her head on his shoulder. “J-Jin…?” he mumbled as his mind was swimming from whatever happened to him.

Inspecting her closer, her coat was missing as well with her hair pin and her hair was let down and flowed down her back.

As he tried to remember what had been transferred, he looked down to see that his coat and boiler were missing, as he was in his gray t-shirt.

The feeling had come back to him and came with it was metal and rust, at the base of his neck as he raised an eyebrow at this and had his hand reached to what it was and whatever it was it was around his neck.

He then had another hand on it as it dawned on him with distress; he had a collar around his neck. He turned his head at the wall and saw that he was chained to a wall before he looked at Jin and saw that she was collared as well.

He was on his knees and then grabbed her shoulders. “Jin! Jin! Wake up!” he said as he shook her by the shoulders as her sleep was disturbed, her head swayed as she groaned in strained breath as she opened her eyes and looked at Dempsey in confusion.

“Dempsey?” she groaned as her head was throbbing in pain as she held her head, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” he said as he noticed that her coat was gone as well. “But it has something to do with that guy, I think we have been ambushed.”

“What?”

“We have been ambushed.” he repeated himself, “Have we been captured?” she asked to which he nodded.

They looked around the room they are in, it was dark but the light is peering through the bars above them and only them, but it did luminated what room it is; the ceiling, the walls and floor are made from stone, with reddish brown and moss on the wall but they hardly could see through the darkness.

“I believe we were in a cell.” Jin stated as she looked at Dempsey. He said nothing but then he sat down beside her again and looked down, “In all honesty,” he started to say, “I had gotten myself into worse sh!t like this.”

“You’d been captured?”

“That and many things that I wished could be a nightmare.”

Jin sighed lightly as she lowered her head, “So do I.” as she held her forehead. “I wished the same as you.” while Dempsey looked at her again. He said nothing but looked at her. He looked at the chains and by the look of them, they haven’t been properly clean for a good long while.

There is something moving from in front of them, the peek through hole opened up and the eyes are peering inside looking at them with a contented look in their eyes.

“They’re awake.” The voice echoed softly in the chamber, those familiar, different eyes of a hyena is no mistake for the two to recognize, they heard the clanking of boots is heard from outside the cell and a voice, a distorted woman’s voice speaking to the Further as he looked at whoever she was. “Open the door please.”

“Yes, your highness.” the hyena complied as he hopped down from the hole, letting a bit of light flowing in for a moment as they heard something unlatching on the other side of the door.

The metal door scraped across the stone floor as the rusted yellow light poured in the room as a figure entered and the cell door closed behind her. The clicking of heels returned once more but this time towards them.

Soon, Mileena came into the light of the barred off hole in the ceiling yet she was noticeably different with a zukin mask as Jin had noticed. The corporal sighed and said “Let me guess, you must be Mileena, right?”

“Of course, you had it right.” she confirmed as he and Jin had backed up to the wall a little bit, leaving space between them and her. “Do you know where you are now, kombatants?”

[Drawn by Meaghan “Icefir” Halter]

“Your boyfriend, Mileena?” he answered sarcastically, as the chains rattled a little bit behind him with his hand fumbling on the floor for a stone piece that he could use as a weapon in case things could get messy once she got closer.

“Not quite.”

“Hyenas are your army now?”

A giggle as two out of five of her fingers rested on her mask, it was not a good sign as she continued.

“Much so, fair lady.” Mileena responded, “In fact, I am really joyful that they made me their ruler yet honored to have you both here. Even though what I am going to do next may seem… horrible.” she sounded a bit sad when she said this, the marine could mentally roll his eyes at this.

“Must’ve been one hell of an honor to be here, mind telling us what are you about to do to us?”

“Kano had brought this up, I figured that I could at least try-” Mileena had stopped herself when she looked over to him, hesitancy in her eyes when she noticed quite prequitrity.

“Hold a minute,” she started to say, “You looked familiar to me.” She leaned closer to him as he tried to back up but he went into a wall so he was trapped between it and her. “Did I see you before?”

Jin looked over in confusion towards Dempsey as he muttered “I am just one of those faces that just don't like being in a sh!t hole situation like this…!”

Mileena didn't seem to believe but she pulled herself away from him as she shook that thought away, “It doesn’t matter,” she simply replied to his statement, even if it’s barely audible from a man.

“In the next few hours, one will be taken and the other to the tournament.” Mileena explained, “One out of two of you here.”

Dempsey spat out “Like hell that we are going to,” as he gritted his teeth, keeping his eyes trained on Mileena, “You’re stuck here the same as us in this world.”

Another giggle from the deranged woman before this, he had enough of this and he said loudly “What’s so god damned funny?”

“Not too familiar with Mortal Kombat, have you yet?” she asked as her hands reached the back of her head and then began to untie the straps that are holding the zukin mask itself.

“Yeah, someone had told us about it.”

“Oh.” she said as she managed to untie the straps and then took it off. Tank’s eyes grew in shock and disgust but his voice didn’t go out of his mouth as usual, only silence rained down on him as he looked at Mileena before himself and Jin.

“Then you knew how it would end, didn't you?~” she spoke coldly as a tongue slithered out similar to a snake’s as the door opened once again behind her.

-Back at the camp-

Erron glanced over his shoulder for the group of savagers as they are arriving back but yet, he was a little concerned that Jin isn’t with them.

“Where’s-”

“It was a nightmare!” Soldier cuts Erron off, “Gordon had scared off all of the strange-looking deer!” as Gordon had an annoyed expression on his face along with Demoman as the Outworlder can clearly see.

Erron lets out a sigh, “What exactly happened?” to the only two men of the hunting group that are sanerer than this man with low intelligence.

“Gordon was being a quiet boy the whole time when he was hunting the deer. That's clearly different from normal but Soldier is the one who scared them off.” Demoman explained briefly while Gordon Freeman nodded at the end of it.

Another sigh, “I thought so.”

“But cowboy, have you seen Jin anywhere?” Soldier asked as he looked around the front yard, Erron was going to ask them that question in all honesty before he was interrupted.

“I thought that she was with you boys.”

“The lass was with us but we couldn’t find her.”

“Do you know where you last saw her?” Erron asked more.

“We had split up to salvage more items,” Gordon once again said, “I think she went inside a local pharmacy.”

Erron crosses his arms as Ultimis Richtofen came out of the background with Frisk in tow and loudly asked “Have you all seen zhe marine anyvhere?!”

“Wasn’t he here?” he asked with his hand on his forehead once again.

“I had sent Frisk to go find him but zhey couldn’t find him.” he informed them.

“Two people had gone missing.” Erron groaned in frustration, “Last thing anyone wants.”

“Zhen ve have to find zhem!” Ultimis Richtofen announced with pride, sounded less concerned, “Ve can’t leave zhis city of zhe undead vithout zhem, I cannot imagine zhe fates zhey are going through.”

“And we are coming too!” Cuphead said this as he ran out but was stopped at the last minute by Demoman as he picked him up by the handle of his head and turned him around towards the house as he said “No more getting into troubles, and more staying put where it is safe.” as he points at the opened door as Cuphead moaned in disappointment and walked back while Demoman and others watched.

Soldier looked over to his friend and said “You are much more different than you usually are.”

Demoman only chuckled as he shook his head.

No one had failed to notice but the air had gotten cold all of suddenly as they felt it. “Hm?” U!Richtofen muttered as he looked around, “Zhe air is getting colder all of sudden?”

“Doc, it’s impossible,” Demoman stated, “This city was once a desert, ya know.”

“Oh blah blah blah, zhis place can have winters as vell.”

Erron somewhat remained quiet as he was staring something before them, “Frisk, get behind me and into the house.” he commanded, as he shushered them to go inside as others had begun to notice.

“Kuai Liang.” Erron said as he watched Sub-Zero walk over to the group as his eyes were trained on Erron Black. “Erron Black.”

They both stare at each other, Erron had his hand on the handle of his revolver, ready to pull it out of the hoister as frost is visible on the shinobi's hands. “You do understand that I didn’t come here to fight, Erron.”

“I do know that fact,” Erron said as he had his hand up to stop the others from advancing further, “And let me guess this, you don’t remember how you got here too?

“Yes.” Kuai bows as Frisk, Cuphead, Mugman and Bendy are watching the encounter from inside the house, looking worried and concerned of what’s to come.

“Hallo uh, Kuai Liang, is it?” Ultimis Richtofen had spoke up as he walked to stand by Erron for a moment as he looked at Sub-Zero, “You must’ve seen a man und woman by zhis point before you came here, am I right?” he questioned, “One vith brown hair und jacket, zhe other with black hair, fairly pretty skin?”

“You must be speaking of Dempsey and Jin.” Kuai Liang answered as he looked at the German, “I assume they are with you?”

“Oh ja!~” he happily said, “Zhose two teammates of ours, do you seen them?”

“I had left them behind in Suncrest when I had to follow a group of Further Hyenas to see if Mileena was truly here.”

“Mileena is here too?” Erron looked at Sub-Zero who had dropped that bombshell on him, hoping this was just a joke but it’s true as he nodded. “And she leads the what?”

“Further Hyenas.” Kuai answered, “And appearty, it's not just hyenas that are affected by this “Forbidden Water.” they spoke off. They became somewhat an intelligent animal humanoid species after something horrible befell onto the earthrealm or this earthrealm is what they had made their home now.”

“Do they know what caused this?”

“The Incident, involving all five different plagues that includes the one you are currently facing and an entity they called “The Broken.””

“Oh!” U!Richtofen chimed in, “A woman had told about zhis lady but not in full detail about her.” as Sub-Zero looked at him once again. “Has she said anything about the Broken.”

“If she had- Haha!” the Doctor triumphed with delight, “She had taken at least 12 of us avay into another plane of existence or in your vords, another “Earthrealm '' you called it. Und zhis Broken vould drive zhem into insanity or death if I had to put in more details.”

“I will share what I have learned later,” Sub-Zero looked at Erron once again “Are there other warriors here?”

“A bunch,” Erron shrugged, “All of them are different worlds and timelines but it could be enough to bring this bloodthirsty daughter of Shao Kahn down.”

“Und most of us were from our own universes ve called home,” Ultimis Richtofen as Erron raised the revolver a little threateningly but it does seem to silence the Doctor by this much.

“I see.” Kuai nodded, “we must need a plan before we could jump into battle.”

“Ya know, for once, you could be right.”

As being said, Kuai was led into the backyard as others were getting ready to leave the city as the kids were peeking outside to watch others meeting the newcomer. “So, you had met them after encountering a different infection type?”

“But of course,” Kuai answered Bruno’s question, “But I wanted them to be out of harm's way when I did find her.”

“Can you take us to the last spot you left them at, at least?” Scout said with chagrin, “We just lost enough already.”

Sub-Zero made an ickle in response and spoke in a threatening tone “We are getting to that point, young man. Show patience.”

“Are you saying that one of your- their own were captured?” Radec asked as he and his remaining men were being watched over by Takeo while he was keeping a close eye on them while he was cleaning his sword.

“I fear so.” Kuai responded as he crushed the ickle into small pieces, “And you must be Mael Radec from what I am told of.”

“Colonel Mael Radec,” Radec corrected, as he stood up and he was a little bit intrigued that this ninja could barely reached his height, “Our homeworld is Helghan and as off right now-”

“They are trapped here with us,” Takeo interrupted as he had a rag that seemed to be used multiple times to count as he cleaned off the blood crusted onto the blade. Sub-Zero looked at the samurai and he somewhat resembled Hanzo in a way but in World War I form.

Takeo continued “And yet, we had a solution to escape this hell together, uninfected and unharmed.”

“Tak’s right about that.” Frank added “Since for some reason, these zombies can’t literally get out of the state of Utah, as if something is keeping them inside.”

“A tree’s spell…” Sub-Zero muttered as he looked down at the ground and yet, it was audible barely for Frank West to hear.

“What’s that?”

“It is nothing.” he shook his head, as Ultimis Richtofen walked over to him, “I am zhe most curious of you, Mr. Liang,” he said as he looked at the man of ice as he looked at him with an raised brow.

“From vhat I see from you, zhe frost on your arms und hands vithout any trouble at all!” he exclaimed as he took a hold of his arm to get a better look as if he was inspecting a snore or something else that could be intriguing.

“How do your arms vere at normal temperatures instead of breaking apart?” Ultimis Richtofen squeezed his bicep a little to feel the difference, the muscle felt soft yet it is the normal type of soft when you could feel when you squeeze the skin and muscle on your forearm.

“It is only magic, Doctor Richtofen.” Sub-Zero only answered as he pulled his arm away, “I am a cryomancer as I had trained to control the ice magic.”

“I see.” Ultimis Richtofen placed a finger under his chin, he now looked more fascinated by this fact. “Und how do you train?”

“I was the student before I became the grandmaster of the Lin Kuei.” he replied as he turned away and then walked away from the German as he felt like he needed to get a healthy distance away from that man as far as possible.

Something about him was.. Unhinged, he thought.

Others had gathered, talking about something to do after they rescued their allies and escaping Fallen City as they are getting their weapons while Erron is discussing the plan as Kuai will lead them to where he had met Dempsey and Jin.

Sniper and Demoman are talking about what they should do with their prisoners if they make it out of the city infested with the walking dead, then something else that caught his attention however.

“Did ya notice that one of them was missing, laddie?”

“One was missing?” Sniper looked up to have his eyes facing Demo’s only one with stupefaction.

“There were seven of them last night when Bruno took over Bendy’s nightwatch.”

Sniper raised a brow and looked over the Demolimation’s Expert to look at the giant Frenchman and then looked back to Demoman.

“Did one of them escape while on his watch, Talvish?”

“I doubt that, Snipe.” Demoman answered, “Jin had said that she found him slowly regaining consciousness when she found this.”

“Regaining his nongs?” Sniper quizzed, as he tilted his hat a little to rub his fingers on his forehead, “Was his noggin hit by one of them?”

“Ah no,” Talvish shook his head no, “No bruise or a cut on his head whatsoever when she checked on him. Whatever happened to him must’ve been slippery like Spy was.”

“Mate, that is impossible,” the Australian refused to believe his teammate. “If he was knocked out, there could be a-”

“No no no, Sniper,” Demo shook his hand to halt him from speaking his thoughts out, “He had recalled he felt something plunging into his back before he blacked out.”

Kuai Liang didn’t hear the rest as he was already going to find Bruno as he is peculiar about it. He didn’t have to waste time to find him to see if it is true, he may not be with them on the night it happened but he needs to check on what he believed to be an injury. It didn't take him too long to find him when he checked at the withering apple tree and found him sharpening the knife.

“Bruno.” he got his attention as the large man looked at him, the carasian raised a brow and said “Oui, Kuai Liang?”

“Please understand that I am only curious but I heard you’re knocked out while on watch but you were not hit in the head.”

Bruno said nothing but he did nod that confirmed Sub-Zero’s suspicion, the cryomancer walked over to the giant with the understanding look on his face and went behind him as the Frenchman looked at him with further confusion.

“What are you doing-?”

“Do you remember what you felt before you passed out?”

Bruno only responded by looking down, “It felt like something had stabbed me in the back. Like a bee sting.”

“A bee sting, you say?” he said as he pulled the collar of his shirt down a bit as the Frenchman tried to look over his shoulder.

“I do not give you permission to search me.” Bruno interjects but Sub-Zero relents as he pulls it down a bit more and he sees something on the bottom of his neck, near the right shoulder on the tanned skin: It’s a small red dot. It was small enough as if a syringe had poked through and into the flesh.

“What are you looking at?”

“A sting dot,” Kauai answered as he looked at him, “A stab wound small enough to be an injection.”

“I was injected?” Bruno turned to look at him, “With what, exactly, Kauai Liang?”

“Possibly a drug enough to knock a person out yet only someone could be quiet and quick enough to plunge a syringe into you without ease.”

Kuai then had his fingers on his chin, the stable hair brushing against them gingerly, “It could be one of these ‘’Helghast” prisoners you captured.”

“It’s impossible, Kauai Liang.” Bruno denied, “All of them were asleep when I took a watch after the dinner last night.”

Kuai raised an eyebrow at this, looking at the giant before him and asked “If it is not one of them, then who?”

A raven cawed from behind them as they turned to see it flew over to a shed with the old wooden double doors as they were opened just a crack yet the raven was able to wedge between and go inside with no trouble.

Kuai signed Bruno into staying quiet as they unhurriedly walked over the shed on alert as each step drew them closer before they could know it but they stopped when a smell of death hit them both.

Bruno reinched from it, he knew what he was smelling, he was too familiar with the death before and after his time with a gang of thugs and this was a smell of the recently deceased, not the rotting decayed corpse of a zombie.

Kuai knew what Bruno believed to be too as he saw his hand stretched out and then grabbed one of the doors and then pulled it towards them, letting light flood inside the interior of the shed and the sight that greeted them was desolate and horrid.

It was one of the prisoners but what happened is just a grim death. Nothing to say but they noticed the man was stripped of the chest plate and cut open in the chest. Bruno gagged from the sight and turned from it as Kuai did the same with his eyes closed in uncanny disgust.

Bruno looked at him with hairs on the back of his neck raised and said “I think we now know what happened to him.”

Kuai nodded as he said nothing, something like this had the part of him believing it could be one of a Tarkatan or Mileena would do but the other part of himself had believed it could be someone else. Before the latter would say anything, U!Richtofen yelled for anyone to hear.

“Come on now! Ve are now going to get zhem!”

The two men looked at each other, not saying anything but exchanged looks before they walked away from the shed, silent after what they found. It’s going to take a good courage to tell others what they have discovered yet they are worried whoever disembowled him will be still with them as they know.

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thetomorrowshow · 3 years

Text

unless you take your army back ch. 4

First - Previous - Next - Read on AO3!

okay so I’m moving to college this week!!! My updates will probably be delayed or sporadic until I figure out my schedule, but I will definitely not stop writing :)

cw: temporary paralysis, blood, injuries

Crutchie twitched into wakefulness when he heard noise, and was almost instantly annoyed. Had he slept right through the whole day? He’d wanted to practice walking some more before anyone got back, had only been planning on napping for a few minutes. With the commotion around him, it sounded like everyone was already returning.

Crutchie cracked open his eyes to see Jack, sitting in that chair that he’d taken over for the past week. He was drawing something, the tip of his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth.

Around the room were a few of the guys--Mush, Blink, Buttons, Henry, Romeo. Romeo had been returning home earlier than normal, falling right into bed and lying there until Jack made him leave so Crutchie could redress his wounds. In moments of quiet, when Jack was dozing in his chair, Romeo would creep over to Crutchie’s side and whisper about how badly his head was pounding, how he felt dizzy and tired. His head had been hit pretty hard in the riot, so it wasn’t exactly surprising. The others were all still nursing various bruises and scrapes.

Jack looked up now, dropping his art as he saw Crutchie was awake. He looked bad, to be honest--his hair was sticking up awkwardly under his cap, eyes swollen and face grimy. Crutchie didn’t ask about it, just nodded to him.

“Hey, Crutchie,” Jack sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “How ya feelin’?”

Crutchie shoved away the irritation at being asked that again. Did Jack expect his answer to change just because he took a nap? He ignored the question, stretching out a little bit, relieved to find that stretching almost felt good.

“Romeo,” Crutchie called past Jack. A hand lifted from Romeo’s bunk. “How’s ya head?”

“Better ‘n better,” Romeo called back. “Think I’s just about good as new!”

Crutchie wished he could say the same. He felt like he was going to fall apart every moment he was awake, and even some of those when he was asleep. He hadn’t been having nightmares, exactly--just a vague sense of fear, death around the corner. Exactly like how the Refuge had felt. Maybe that did count as a nightmare, even if he never saw anything.

“Crutchie, I gotta have a meetin’ with the boys,” Jack interrupted his thoughts. “I didn’t wanna leave afore you woke, or wake you up. I brought ya a sandwich, here.” Jack handed him a small bundle of paper, presumably wrapping a sandwich. Then he left the room, beckoning for the other boys to follow without even letting Crutchie thank him. Romeo groaned, but rolled out of bed and followed.

They were going to have a newsies meeting . . . without him?

Crutchie frowned as he unwrapped the sandwich. He really wasn’t all that hungry, despite the only thing he’d ingested being the coffee from this morning. He was still a newsie, even if he couldn’t do the job lately. Wasn’t he?

This . . . this hurt, more than the stinging lashes on his back, more than the sharp pain in his chest when he breathed, more than the sickly aching of his bad leg. He’d been present for every newsie meeting ever since he started living here, and they were just going to have one without him?

Jack had always made sure to include him in everything. Even when some of the other guys didn’t make the effort, Jack did. And now Jack was purposefully excluding him. Just because--because, what, he couldn’t walk? That had never changed anything.

He really had to get back to work. Soon. They had to be leaving him out of it because he wasn’t technically a newsie, right? He felt bad even thinking that. Of course he was a newsie, he always would be. Newsie meant more than a career--at least, it did to him. Maybe none of the others thought of it the same way.

Crutchie morosely picked at his sandwich, putting tiny, manageable pieces into his mouth. The swelling of his face had almost completely gone down, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to move his jaw. Nor did it mean he wanted to eat at all.

Maybe they just didn’t want to disturb him? That was decent of them, he supposed, but not at all what he wanted. He wanted to be involved, prove he was getting better, see the guys and laugh with them again.

Unbidden, an image of the Refuge on that calm day popped into his head. All those boys, worked to death for no purpose, celebrating in what ways they possibly could while Snyder was out of the building. They included the sick, the hurt, the broken.

Now Crutchie was actually getting a bit annoyed. They weren’t even going to try to hide their meeting, or ask if he wanted to participate? He wasn’t a child. He could assess his own limits and make good choices. In fact, if Jack had just told him straight out that they were going to have a meeting and what it was about, and invited Crutchie to join them, he probably would have turned him down in favor of rest.

Jack hadn’t said that, though. Jack had left, taken everyone else with him, had mentioned it offhand like it wasn’t important at all. What kind of friend--brother--did that?

Crutchie rewrapped the sandwich as well as he could manage, his fingers trembling as usual. He was so sick of this. Sick of barely being capable of any fine motor skills, sick of not wanting to eat, sick of sleeping the day away. He hated feeling so weak. He hated the others seeing him so weak.

Mind made up, Crutchie sat up the rest of the way from his reclining position. His entire body ached, and for the first time in a long time, Crutchie wished he had a drink to numb it. He shook the thought away after contemplating it for a moment. He didn’t need another problem to deal with, another expense to owe. Not to mention, there was no way he’d get it past Jack.

His crutch was still within easy reach, but placing it under his arm reminded him uncomfortably of the cut there that was now stiff with dried blood. He probably shouldn’t irritate it anymore, should probably take the empty room as a chance to clean the wound and rewrap it.

Crutchie didn’t do that. Instead, he stood up.

He almost doubled over immediately. How was the pain that much worse than it was this morning? He hadn’t been doing anything, just sleeping. Wasn’t he supposed to be feeling at least a bit better?

He didn’t back down, though. Crutchie straightened his back, breathed in and out for a few moments, then swung forward.

His bad leg dragging against the floorboards shot needles of pain up through his body, but his knee trembled and gave out when he tried to lift it up. Dragged on the floor it was.

Just the one step had made his entire body break out in a light sweat, but still he hobbled forward. This step was easier than the last. His back stung with the stretch of his shoulder, fingers trembled around the grip of his crutch. He could do this. He hadn’t survived the Refuge just to not be able to cross a room. The next step was going to be easier still.

It wasn’t, but it wasn’t necessarily worse. Crutchie’s good leg wobbled from lack of use and fatigue, his breathing so heavy that he imagined he could feel his ribs scraping together. That would explain the pain, right?

The door seemed to be forever away. Crutchie took another hop toward it, then another, then a third in quick succession, almost trying to outrun the exhaustion that was beginning to fill his bones. He dimly registered that under his right arm, up against where his crutch chafed, was sticky. That was probably not very good.

Crutchie paused for a moment, his head pounding in time with his pulse. He could do this. He looked around, trying to distract himself from what felt like his body failing. The room wasn’t all that dark, even though the sun had completely set outside. Only one of the windows was still open, the one that led out to the fire escape right next to the bed that Crutchie had been spending the week in. A few candles or lanterns were scattered around, giving the room a familiar nighttime ambience.

Crutchie took another step, breathing in short gasps--the smooth wood felt like spikes underneath his bum leg, his chest was tearing apart from the inside out, his back had to be on fire, every single part of his body was aching and trembling.

One more step sent his legs collapsing from under him, his body slamming into the floor. Crutchie cried out quietly, shoving his fist into his mouth to muffle the sound. Not that it really mattered. There was no way that fall went unheard. The bedframe closest to him was still shaking from the impact.

He wasn’t sure that he was going to be awake in time for anyone to find him, though. Black was encroaching on the edge of his vision, increasing with every agonizing thrum of his injuries. Something sticky was dripping down his back, sticking it to his shirt, but Crutchie didn’t have the time to consider it before the world was completely black.

He wasn’t quite . . . asleep, though. He couldn’t surrender to the darkness yet, some hidden reserve of energy fighting for any thread of consciousness. The pain of his body was distant, something separated from his current state.

There was a crashing sound--the door?--then a sea of gasps and shouts and bangs and so, so much noise. Crutchie couldn’t move a muscle--not that he’d really want to, that would hurt. Still, he wished he could’ve given some sign to Jack that he wasn’t asleep. Jack, who was now brushing his hair away from his eyes.

“Crutchie,” came Jack’s frantic voice, “Crutch, can you hear me? C’mon, bud. It’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“Whaddya think?”

“Well I dunno, or I wouldn’ta asked!”

“Shuddup, Jack’s tryna focus!”

“Crutchie, please wake up. What were ya tryna do?”

I am awake, Jack, Crutchie desperately wanted to say. I’m fine. But his mouth wouldn’t respond to anything he tried. He was limp, yet frozen in place.

“Should I get a doctor?”

“See anyone here what can afford one?”

“He’s breathin’,” Jack said, so close that Crutchie could feel his breath on his cheek. A fist wrapped around Crutchie’s wrist and he panicked, tried to wriggle away from whoever it was about to drag him to his next torture session. He didn’t move at all, though, and the hand was gentle and pressed against one spot of his arm for several seconds before pulling away.

“Pulse is sorta quick I think, but his skin’s too warm. Albert, he--” Jack’s voice broke-- “help me get ‘im ta bed?”

Strong arms scooped him up, and once again Crutchie tried to throw himself away from them, his heart racing with fear. Once again, he could not move. He was half aware of who was touching him, and why, but the other half of his brain was too far in the shadow to realize that it was safe, that they were helping him.

Soon enough, he was laying on something soft and Crutchie almost let it overtake him, almost gave in to the darkness pulling at him. A feeling of--shame?--rose up, though, making it impossible to let go.

He hadn’t even made it across the room. Maybe not even halfway. He’d wanted to go to their stupid meeting, surprise them by being functional, insist that he could go out and sell at least for a little while tomorrow. Jack would never let him now, not after this stunt. Not after this failure.

“He’s bleedin’ through ‘is shirt, Jack, see?”

“I see, Blink, no need to call it to the world.”

“I’ll get the bandages, where they at?”

Crutchie’s heart seized. He couldn’t let them fix him up, they’d see! They’d see everything, all the lashes and cuts and marks from beatings. He’d seen how upset and uncomfortable just his visible ones made them, he couldn’t--he didn’t want--

Jack’s voice cut through his thoughts. “No, he wouldn’t want that. He’d be real mad if he woke up ta see we’d done exactly what he said not to.”

“So what we gonna do, Jack?”

“Jackie, somebody’s got to help Crutchie. If none of us can afford a doctor, somebody will have to do it. Who do you think Crutchie would want to do it?”

“No one, he ain’t wantin’ no one! He ain’t even let me do it, Davey, he don’t want us seein’!”

Jack sounded unbearably upset. Crutchie tried for what felt like the thousandth time to open his eyes, but his lids were just so heavy. Why was Davey here? Wait, Les was here too, he’d heard his voice earlier. They were included in the newsies meeting, when Crutchie himself wasn’t?

“Isn’t there anyone--”

“Katherine. But she’s--wait--Race--”

“Yeah?”

“Head down ta Medda’s, see if Kath’s there for a show. Bring ‘er back if she is, got that?”

“No problem, Jack!”

A door slammed distantly. Crutchie took a break from trying to force his body to move. It would hurt a lot if he succeeded, anyway. Maybe he should just sleep.

Someone was holding his hand, gently, rubbing his knuckles, and Crutchie wished he could squeeze their hand. Anything to show he was okay.

He wasn’t okay, though, was he? As he thought about it, the pain that had been distant and disconnected mere moments ago was becoming clearer and sharper. Why? Couldn’t he have a moment’s reprieve? Couldn’t he just get better already?

“Crutchie, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me?”

He wanted to, couldn’t Jack see that?

“Did he move?”

“Yeah, a little. His face, y’know?”

His face had moved? How had he managed that? Nothing had seemed to change--maybe his eyelids had twitched from his ceaseless attempts to open them.

The pain was spreading, bringing back every memory of how it came. Crutchie didn’t want to cope with it right now. He didn’t want to feel. He didn’t want to hear Jack pleading with him to wake up. He just wanted darkness.

Finally, Crutchie surrendered to the sleep pulling on his bones. He could rest for a minute, before trying to open his eyes again. Jack would understand.

It felt like forever until Crutchie could hear their voices again, but he still couldn’t move. In his mind it felt like he was drowning, thrashing about just under the surface. Each time he struggled to move, he just sank lower and lower, until he was full-on panicking, freaking out entirely while never outwardly moving a muscle.

It was mentally exhausting, and after some time, Crutchie had to take a moment to rest or risk losing this little taste of consciousness. He wasn’t quitting, he told himself, trying to placate his mind. He just needed a rest. As he did, though, it felt as if he rose, just a tiny bit, closer to the surface.

It took a few tries, but Crutchie forced himself to stop struggling. He relaxed as much as he could, and the longer he waited, the faster he rose--until--

With a release of air that almost sounded like a groan, Crutchie opened his eyes. Immediately the talking ceased, and Crutchie registered that there were several faces crowding around him. He blinked a few times: Jack, closest. Then Albert, Davey, and Henry, a little further down. Crutchie opened his mouth a few times, swallowing away the dry feeling as well as he could, then spoke.

“Hey?”

There were sighs; Jack’s head dropped to his hands, Albert rolled his eyes, Davey stepped away.

When Jack looked back up, there were tears in his eyes. Crutchie shifted uncomfortably, then gritted his teeth when his injuries all reminded him of their existence. Davey returned with two glasses of water, one of which he handed to Jack, the other he pushed against Crutchie’s mouth. Crutchie accepted it without complaint--he wasn’t sure that he could make his fingers grip the glass right now.

After he finished drinking and Davey had placed the glass somewhere on the floor, Crutchie met Jack’s red-rimmed eyes. Jack stared at him for a moment.

“What in Manhattan was you thinkin’?”

Crutchie cringed. What had he been thinking? Well, he’d wanted to be a part of the meeting, but now he wished he’d gotten over his anger. How was Jack ever going to believe that he was good enough to be a newsie now? Shame rose, bile-like, in his throat, as he opened his mouth to speak.

Jack cut him off before he could even say anything. “D’you know how much you scared the guys? What made ya think you could walk, ‘specially without help? How did ya get the idea into your pointy little head that it was somehow okay? Tell me what you was thinkin’. Tell me ‘xactly what thoughts led to ya doin’ somethin’ so stupid.”

Maybe he would, Crutchie thought with a prickle of irritation, if Jack would shut up. Jack kept on talking, though.

“Ya know ya made Elmer cry, right? You coulda been dead, for all we knew. We was so scared and you wouldn’t even wake up!”

“Jack--” Davey started, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder, but Jack shrugged him off. Other than the three of them, the room was empty. Albert and Henry must have left at some point.

“It ain’t been a week since you was in the Refuge--” Crutchie flinched, Jack didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in his gesticulating hands and beginning to pace in the small space beside the bed-- “and here you is, tryin’ ta walk like it ain’t happened. Ya can’t even walk normally, how the he--”

“I was tryin’ ta go to the meeting,” Crutchie burst out, face red. Yes, he was ashamed of it. No, he did not need Jack jumping down his throat like that. “I-I miss seein’ everyone,” he added. It wasn't a lie, not exactly. He did miss the guys, a lot.

Jack paused in his short pacings, looking down at Crutchie with his mouth wide open. “Why didn’t ya say nothin’?” he asked loudly, as if Crutchie was slow. “I coulda brought everyone up for a few.”

Crutchie snorted, his face still burning. “Not like you gave me any time ta say anythin’. And I don’t want everyone up here, I wanted ta go to the meeting.”

Jack waved him off. “You don’t really wanna go to it, y’ain’t even workin’ right now, it woulda put ya ta sleep.”

Who was Jack to tell him what he did and didn’t want to do? And yes, Crutchie wasn’t working right now--he was still a newsie, he still got to go to newsies meetings! Right? Did Jack not see him as a newsie anymore?

“I still wanted ta be there,” Crutchie said stubbornly, trying not to show that anger was steadily overtaking his embarrassment. “I wanna know how the sellin’s been goin’ after the strike, wanna know if they’s seen any o’ my regulars, wanna know how the Delanceys are treatin’ everyone--”

Jack’s face went white. “Yeah, well, ya don’t need ta know,” he said brusquely. “You’s in bed all day. There’s nothin’ you can do about it.”

Crutchie’s fingers twisted in the blanket laying over him. The aches were vanishing as anger pumped through his body. What was Jack’s problem? Everything he was saying was just confirming Crutchie’s fears, that they no longer wanted him to be a newsie, only saw him as a burden. It couldn’t be true, right? Clearly Jack was thinking it.

“Ain’t everyone you, Jack,” Crutchie argued, shifting so that he was sitting up more. “I can decide for myself what I want, I don’t need you to tell me--”

“Oh, so you don’t need my help?” Jack cut in, disbelief written all over his face. “Ya’d be a-okay if I just stopped bringin’ ya food? Stopped payin’ rent for ya? Kicked you outta my bed?”

“Well, since you clearly don’t want me here--”

“Okay, can we maybe--” Davey tried to interject.

“This don’t concern you, Davey,” Jack spat. “Brothers only.”

Davey looked a little hurt, but instead took the glass from Jack’s hand, which he had been waving around for emphasis.

“One’d think you was tired of everything I sacrifice ta keep ya safe,” Jack continued. “Maybe you should try doin’ it all yourself--”

“Maybe I want to,” Crutchie interrupted, his face going red as his anger grew. “Didja ever think about that?”

“Yeah, well, ya can’t, so get over yourself and--”

“Yes I can! I’s perfectly capable of--”

“No ya ain’t, ya just--ya just collapsed while tryin’ ta cross the fu--”

“I’m not a child, Jack--”

“Yes you are!” Jack yelled, his face redder than ever. “You’s just a kid! You don’t deserve none o’ this, you oughtta be in school and with parents, and no bum leg and no Snyder, and someone who can actually take care of ya, someone who can stop freaks from attackin’ ya--”

Jack broke down, his knees buckling as he fell into the chair beside the bed. Loud sobs tore from his throat as he hid his face in his hands.

Crutchie ran a hand across his own face, shocked to discover tears of his own. He was fuming, madder at Jack than he had ever been. Even looking at him made him want to scream in frustration. The only other option was Davey, though, and Davey looked so uncomfortable Crutchie thought he might die from it. So Crutchie stared at Jack, wishing his eyes could set fire to Jack’s newsboy cap through the heat of his glare alone.

Crutchie swallowed repeatedly, trying to get his voice to a place where he wouldn’t yell at Jack. Finally he spoke, voice shaking. “You’s always said I’m just as capable as anyone else. Why is that suddenly not true?”

Jack drew in a shuddering breath, but didn’t say anything. Crutchie waited for a moment, before huffing and turning his head to look out the window. It was too dark to really see anything, what with the candle on the post of the bed shining right against the glass. Still, though, he stared at the glass. The adrenaline from the shouting match had begun to exit his system, leaving him very sore all over.

“I jus’--I don’ want you gettin’ hurt,” Jack choked out. Crutchie remained resolute in not looking at him. He hated it when Jack got protective like this, but usually it only lasted for two days or so after Crutchie had been sick or pushed around by one of the Delanceys. And sure, maybe the Refuge was on a bit of a larger scale than either of those, but that didn’t give Jack any right to treat him like--like a kid, like Les, or Elmer, or Boots, or any of the other littles. Come to think of it, actually, Jack would probably treat them just normal-like. Jack was still letting them sell, even after the riot. It was only Crutchie, only the kid with the crippled leg. When was that stupid leg going to stop defining his capabilities in Jack’s eyes?

Crutchie decided to try a different angle. “Why didn’tcha even ask me if I wanted to go ta the meeting?”

“Crutchie, I couldn’t--”

“No, Jack,” Crutchie interrupted. “I’s been doin’ nothing but lie in bed all day. I can handle a newsies meeting!”

“It ain’t that I think you can’t--”

“News ta me, it certainly sounds like--”

“You couldn’t come because the meeting was about you,” Davey burst in. He gave Jack an apologetic glance before turning his focus on Crutchie. “Jack didn’t want ta hurt your feelings by talking about you in front of you.”

Crutchie’s heart felt like it stopped. So this was it, wasn’t it? The decision on whether or not he was going to be able to work. Whether or not they would need to kick him out. Crutchie couldn’t decide what was worse--being thrown out onto the street in his condition, or knowing that he was just so pitiful that they couldn’t bear to do anything but keep him inside all the time. “Oh, so you was gonna save my feelings by talkin’ about me behind my back?” said Crutchie dumbly, his mouth moving of its own accord. “Real smart, Jack Kelly. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, you bein’ so considerate-like.”

“Ya don’t understand,” Jack managed, running a hand under his nose. “It ain’t like that, it ain’t--”

“Oh, well feel free to jus’ tell me what it was like,” Crutchie said, gesturing with a wince as he noticed that under his arm was sticky and pulled painfully. “Go ahead.”

“I can’t--”

“Oh, I’m too weak ta know, huh? Just a kid, like you said--”

“Crutchie, I don’t--”

“Which makes it so much better, huh, makes it all--”

“It was the Delanceys!” Jack shouted, spit flying. He took a deep breath and pulled at his hair, knocking his cap to the floor, tension in every line of his body. “They was--they was bein’ rude.”

Crutchie scoffed. “The Delanceys? I can handle them. I can take them any day.” He didn’t mention the sick feeling that lined his stomach at the mention of them. The last time he’d seen them, they’d practically bashed his head in and dragged him off to the Refuge. Still, he’d never known the Delanceys to be particularly kind. He could deal with their insults.

“They . . . were bein’ a bit worse than rude, Crutchie,” Davey said quietly. Davey glanced at Jack, whose face was in his hands again. Jack shook so badly that Crutchie thought he was crying again for a moment. When his face reappeared, though, it was clear that it was barely-restrained anger.

“They said they was gonna kill you,” Jack growled. A tear rolled down his cheek, unnoticed. “They--they was gonna hunt you down, and get you, and--” Again, Jack couldn’t seem to go on. Davey laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Crutchie, we’re scared for you, that’s all,” Davey said placatingly. “At the meeting, we were trying to work out a way for you to keep selling papes but stay safe. We should’ve invited you, that’s for sure, Jack just thought you’d be too tired.”

Crutchie didn’t speak. The sick feeling in his stomach had spread to his head, making it feel gross and backwards and like he was going to throw up. He was fine, he was alive, but for the first time in a very long time, the Delanceys actually struck fear into his heart.

Luckily, he was spared from having to say anything by a knock at the door. Race poked his head around the corner, an apologetic look on his face.

“No sign of her,” Race called to Jack. “Need anythin’ else?”

Davey walked away to talk to Race, leaving Jack and Crutchie alone. Crutchie tried to swallow away the bad feeling, but Jack took his hand, completely distracting him. For a moment, Crutchie considered shaking him off, the embers of anger that had been left when the mention of the Delanceys had doused his chest flaming up, but it was clearly an olive branch of sorts. Jack wanted to forget the argument for now. Crutchie could at least do that.

“I-I’m sorry,” Jack muttered. “For goin’ all--y’know. A minute ago. You don’t deserve that. It was just . . . so, so--hard, and wrong, ta--ta come in here and find ya out, and on the floor--” Jack turned away, his voice choking up.

“I was awake,” Crutchie said, gripping Jack’s hand as hard as he could. Jack looked back at him, confused. Crutchie wasn’t entirely sure why he’d said it--had he been awake? He hadn’t been able to move or open his eyes. And yet, he was certain that he could remember almost everything that happened before he slipped away. Maybe he was just trying to make Jack feel a bit better. “Yeah,” he added self-consciously. “I sorta . . . heard everything? I jus’ couldn’t move, right? I’m better now, just . . . felt a bit like I was all wrapped up in a blanket an’ couldn’t escape,” he finished, blushing a bit. That was a stupid comparison.

Jack watched him carefully for a few moments, his thumb running along Crutchie’s knuckles. “Heard o’ that, didn’t know it was real. Sorry about that. That’s--real bad. Terrible, that feeling. I’ve heard, I mean. I haven’t--yeah.”

Crutchie nodded. He could guess where Jack might have seen or heard about that. He tried to swallow past the sick feeling in his throat, only succeeding in making it drier than ever.

“How d’ya feel about finishing that sandwich, huh?”

Crutchie blanched, shaking his head with jerky movements. Literally anything would be better. Jack frowned at him, but nodded.

“All right, I trust you,” Jack said. Crutchie looked him in the eyes, trying to forget about the apple he’d tossed out the window just this morning. “But Katherine ain’t around, so either I or you is gonna have ta fix you up.”

Maybe literally anything wouldn’t be better. Crutchie sighed. “I got it,” he replied, feeling weariness settle into his bones right alongside the pain. “I’ll let ya know when you can come back in.”

He was still mad at Jack, though not nearly as mad as he was at himself. What kind of idiot went and got himself all bloodied up trying to cross a room when he knows he’s hurt? Crutchie just took a shallow breath and allowed Jack to help him into a sitting position. Whatever kind of idiot that was, Crutchie was stuck with him for a while.

#newsies #livesies #newsies live #newsies fanfic #newsies fanfiction #crutchie morris #jack kelly #mas writes #< i'll try to tag every chapter with that #i love writing arguments #i'm terrible at having them but they're just so easy to write #all of my characters have rage just beneath their incredibly polite facade #every character i have ever written is ready to throw hands at the slightest provocation #but otherwise they are very kind and do good recklessly!!#just wait until you see chapter ten lol #anyway see you whenever!#love you guys

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wwitbeyondmeasure · 4 years

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Summer at the Burrow / r.w. fan fiction

Previous Chapters

Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions

Chapter 10: You Would be Fine

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and support for this fic, it means so much to me :) Get prepared because this chapter is a lengthy one (about 4,200 words I think...oops). Also, the gif has nothing to do with the chapter I just thought Ron looked really cute lol. Okay anyways enjoy!!!

You were fine. Really you were.

Every time Hermione or Ginny gave you a concerned look while passing, you could easily plaster on an "I'm-good-everything-is-good-thanks-for-asking" smile onto your face.

In reality though, your heart hurt ever damn day.

About 2 weeks ago, Ron broke your heart. Under the oak tree outside, he told you that whatever happened between you was a mistake. Mistake. So instead of moping around for the rest of your summer vacation, you tried to be happy. During the day time you would laugh and joke with the Weasleys, help make meals, finish your school work, and do chores. But at night is when you finally let yourself feel your heartbreak. Once everyone fell asleep, you would creep down the stairs and sit underneath the oak tree, and cry.

It was therapeutic, kind of. With each passing night, you felt better. Yes, it still hurt seeing Ron's freckled face every morning at breakfast. And it still made your skin and body ache when he accidentally brushed up next to you in the tight kitchen. But you were okay.

You knew that if you let Ron fully see how heartbroken you were, it would change the dynamic between you. You were best friends, and nothing more. No matter how much you loved him, that's all you would ever be. Instead of jeopardizing the friendship you had come to cherish so greatly, you simply suppressed your love for Ron so you could maintain it. And it was working, king of.

The night after your heartbreak at the oak tree, you started treating Ron exactly as you had before you came to the Burrow, before you had let your emotions run wild. He reciprocated this and before long, you were best friends again. You played Quidditch on each other's team, joked around with Fred and George, tried the newest Weasley Wizard Wheezes products (though you stayed away from the love potions), and played wizard's chess together. Although your heart still skipped a beat whenever Ron leaned closer to you, everything was back to normal with your best friend.

Over the past 2 weeks, you had been alternating between sleeping in Ginny's room for sleepovers, the bed in the attic, or the couch in the living room. Ron didn't offer his room to you again, which made you sad but you understood. If you were alone with him late at night when your emotions were high, your cover of "nope-i-don't-love-him-we-are-just-best-friends" was going out the window. So you stuck to your usual 3 beds.

That morning, you had awoken from the attic bed bright and early. Hermione had been getting the girls up at 8am for the past 2 weeks so that you could finish your school work early in the morning and have the rest of the day to relax. Although you hated her every morning for this, you were glad she had such a strict regimen because you had all finished your homework yesterday. Now, for the rest of the summer you were homework free.

By now you were so used to waking up early that it was no longer a surprise for anyone to see you help cook breakfast with Mrs Weasley. Besides Hermione, you two were usually the first awake and in the kitchen right away. This morning was no different as you padded down the creaky wooden steps into the kitchen.

"Good morning Mrs Weasley," you greeted her, tying an apron around your waist. There were four aprons in the Weasley house; a floral one designated for Mrs Weasley, a dark blue one for Mr Weasley when he would attempt to use a muggle grill, a plain white one for whoever decided to help cook, and a yellow one with stars for you. Mrs Weasley even spelled your name, y/n, on the edge in elegant cursive.

"For my newest child," she has said when she showed it to you. She pinched your cheeks, the way she did with all of her kids, and the action almost made you tear up. You threw your arms around her in a tight hug and thanked her profusely.

Mrs Weasley smiled approvingly at you as you started on the breakfast. As the usual morning rhythm took place, you cherished the routine of cracking the eggs, putting them in pans, flipping them, and then doing the same thing again and again.

But soon, Mrs Weasley's voice broke the silence. "Sweetheart, what happened with Ron?" she asked.

Your head snapped up from the frying pan, your eyes meeting Mrs Weasley's. She looked at you with motherly concern, and for some reason you couldn't look at her loving face and lie to her.

"I don't think he feels the same way that I do about him," you stated, turning your attention back to cooking.

Mrs Weasley huffed. "Well, my son has never been the sharpest boy, as you know," she said. You giggled, though you were still sad, and she smiled at you. "Maybe things will change honey," she told you, "love happens unexpectedly."

Before you got the chance to reply, thundering footsteps sounded from the staircase. You whipped your head around to see the twins barreling down the steps, practically tripping over one another in their hurry.

"Where's the fire?" you asked.

Fred ran across the room, picked you up around the waist, and spun you around.

"Percy's home! His work is called off for the week because of his birthday!" He shouted excitedly. You laughed, swatting at him with your spatula until he set you down.

"I didn't know you two were so excited to see your brother," Mrs Weasley noted, fixing her sons with a stern and skeptical stare.

"Oh mother, we're not," George replied.

"We're excited to mess with him for a week straight," Fred added with the largest grin you had ever seen.

As soon as the words left his mouth, more of a promise than anything else, the front door swung open and in entered the most prestigious Weasley of the house. With his rigorous work schedule, you hadn't seen Percy once this entire summer. But now, here he was, standing in the kitchen in a three piece suit with a pocket watch and shiny black shoes at 8 in the morning.

"Hi Percy," you said, trying your best not to laugh at the long tail of his suit coat.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Fred asked, his face shocked as he took in Percy's outfit. George's face was bright red as he held in his laughter.

"This," Percy said, unironically spinning so everyone could see his outfit, "Is traditional Muggle-wear. As I climb higher in the Ministry's success ladder, sometimes I have to encounter Muggles, so I must dress accordingly. This particular suit was a gift from one of my many clients."

He turned to you and you tried to wipe the teasing smile off your face. "Y/n, this is what muggles wear to their jobs, isn't it?" he asked.

You schooled your features into seriousness. "Oh yes," you responded, "definitely."

At that moment, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione stumbled down the stairs, looking like they had just woken up. Everyone stayed up late last night playing nighttime Quidditch (an especially difficult yet fun game considering the fact that you can't see the bludgers because of how dark it is).

Ron froze when he saw Percy standing in the kitchen, his shoes so shiny they were reflecting the kitchen lights into the eyes of anyone who looked at them.

"Bloody hell, what happened to your clothes?" he asked incredulously. Him and Harry shared a look and then burst out in laughter.

Percy's ears turned pink at the tips as he huffed before sitting down in one of the chairs around the kitchen table. You and Mrs Weasley decorated the center of the table with plate after plate of delicious warm breakfast food. Proud of your hard work, you took off your apron and sat down next to Percy.

Ron sat down next to you as the others joined the table.

"For your information, Ronald, your girlfriend says my clothes are the proper Muggle attire," Percy said, glaring at his little brother.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ron responded, his ears turning pink now too.

"How's Penelope?" you asked Percy before you could let yourself get too caught up in the fact that you really wanted Ron's response to that question to be different.

Percy smiled at the mention of his longtime girlfriend, who had been a Prefect at Hogwarts with him. "Oh she's fantastic," Percy said before launching into a long-winded story about Penelope's latest project she was working on at the ministry. Words such as "top-secret" "highly important" and "imperative job" floated past your ears.

Ron leaned closer to you and mumbled in your ear, "I wish you hadn't asked him that."

"Me too," you whispered back, giggling behind your hand.

As breakfast began, you were proud of all the compliments you received on your cooking. Waking up early to cook with Mrs Weasley was a part of the day you always looked forward too, and the compliments only made you feel better about it.

After everyone finished eating, and cleared their plates, chairs scraped against the wood of the floor as everyone prepared to go about their daily business.

"Wait!" Percy shouting, using his wand to spell everyone back into their chairs. "Nobody leave this table until we discuss my birthday party details."

Theses past few weeks your brain had been so focused on Ron that you had forgotten Percy's huge birthday party that was taking place at the Burrow next week. From the guilty expressions of everyone else around the table, you could tell they had forgotten too.

"I want this party to be perfect," Percy said. "My bosses are coming to this party, as is Penelope, so I will not tolerate any shenanigans." He fixed his eyes on the twins and gave them an icy glare. "I mean it, no funny business."

Fred and George saluted him, shouting "yes mother" before jumping out of their chairs and running to their room. A memory flashed in your head from the beginning of summer. The twins were showing you fireworks in their room, "special fireworks for Percy's party" they had said. There was definitely going to be some shenanigans taking place.

Increasingly interested about what kind of pranks the twins were going to pull on Percy, you excused yourself from the table and followed them upstairs. You were about to knock on their door before it swung open and Fred dragged you inside.

"Can I have a sneak peek?" you asked them giddily as soon as the door closed behind you. Apart from the twins, you were the most excited about their funny products and pranks they always pulled. You knew Percy's party wasn't going to disappoint.

Instead of reciprocating your excitement, the twins traded nervous glances.

"What is it?" you asked them. You felt a strange sense of deja vu to the time when they picked you up to drive you to the Burrow in the beginning of summer. They were hiding something from you then, and they were certainly hiding something from you now.

"So we take it you're not going to tell Ron about your unconditional love for him anytime soon?" George asked, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face. Fred was ringing his hands nervously next to him.

"That is correct," you responded flatly.

"Well, you see," Fred began, "When we ordered these special fireworks for Percy's party, we assumed you two would be dating and in love by the time of the party. And the thing is, there's no refunds on the fireworks, so we kind of have to use them." He spoke so fast that the words were tumbling together in your head.

"Okay...what does that mean? What do the fireworks have to do with Ron and I?" you asked, getting increasingly more upset by the moment.

The twins must have sensed your anger because they traded a quick glance before assuring you "Okay, never mind, love, everything is under control," Fred promised.

"Yep, totally under control," George said, steering you out of the room. You didn't even register what they were saying before you were standing in the hallway.

"What aren't you telling me?" you asked, eyes narrowing into a glare at the twins.

They both gulped nervously.

"Don't worry about it, y/n, everything is fine. Percy's party will be full of lots of laughs and fun," Fred promised, before promptly shutting the door in your face. Once again, you got deja vu.

And with that, you left the twins room, feeling even more confused about your relationship with Ron than ever.

...

The next week was frantic, hectic, and insane as you all scrambled to prepare for Percy's big party. Decorations needed to be made, food needed to be cooked, and you totally forgot to get Percy a present. After a day trip to Diagon Alley, you had returned home with a bag of more owl food for Dite and a magical watch for Percy. Despite all of the high energy and excitement in the house, the twins words still weighed on you. The party was quickly approaching and you had yet to "confess your unconditional love" to Ron. What would happen if you didn't? You didn't even want to think about it.

It was the night before Percy's party, and you were in the garden helping Bill string up lights around the outdoor tables. You and Bill had been spending a lot more time together over the past week. Bill had always opted to help you in whatever decoration or cooking you were tasked with for that day. Although you could tell that made Ron grumpy, you tried to ignore it. Your feelings were confusing enough without trying to unpack Ron's jealousy at the moment.

You wobbled on the chair you were standing on as you tied the last string of lights around the nearest tree branch. After you finished, you put your hands on your hips and took a look around the garden. It looked amazing. 10 tables were arranged in a neat circle around the yard, completed with white table clothes and centerpieces with Percy's photo in the middle. You bought a couple packs of muggle Christmas lights to hang from the trees to illuminate the area, which Mr Weasley was very happy about. He spent about 2 hours asking you about the mechanics behind muggle electricity.

There was a long table for the buffet to be served at and a short circular table for Percy's gifts to be placed on. At the corner of the garden the twins had set up a firing booth for the fireworks. To be totally honest, the decoration fit more for a wedding than a birthday party, but Percy wanted things to be perfect, so the family followed his decoration ideas to a tee.

While being distracted by observing your handiwork, you weren't really paying attention to what was happening behind you. This was unfortunate because Harry and Ron were practicing disarming charms right behind you.

"Y/n, look out!" you heard someone yell behind you. Whipping around towards the voice, you saw a red ball of sparks sailing towards you from the end of Harry's wand. How did Harry always manage to accidentally attack you?

You dove from your chair to avoid the sparks, and were fully expecting to land roughy in the grass. Instead, you felt strong arms wrap around you to prevent you from hitting the ground. You looked up to see none other than Bill Weasley as your knight in shining armour.

"Thanks," you said quietly.

Bill didn't let his arms drop from around you.

"Anytime," he replied with a grin. His arms were still wrapped around you when you heard angry footsteps marching towards you.

"Get your hands off her, you prat," you heard Ron's voice say. Bill's arms dropped from your sides as you both turned to face Ron.

"Calm down, Ron," Bill told him.

Ron glared at his older brother. "Stop flirting with her, she's my best friend," he said sternly.

Your heart hurt. You wanted Ron to be jealous because he liked you, not because you were just his best friend.

"He can flirt with me if he wants." The words were out of your mouth before you could even filter it.

Ron's gaze snapped towards you and you almost had to take a step back from their intensity. "Do you want him to?" He asked you, his voice strained.

The answer was easy. No. You knew you didn't want Bill to flirt with you. He had been your first crush and he was beyond attractive, but he wasn't Ron. The only person you wanted was Ron. You said those words not because you wanted Bill, but because you wanted Ron to stop acting possessive if he didn't even love you back. It just hurt too much for him to act like your boyfriend if he was never going to be.

"Ron, I'm sorry," Bill said, mediating the situation. "I know you and y/n have something together, I shouldn't have overstepped. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

It won't happen again.

That's exactly what Ron told you after the night he had taken the love potion. The night that made you believe that maybe he did have the same feelings for you. But in the end, he regretted the moment that you had loved so much.

It won't happen again.

Tears crowded your vision and you tried your best to blink them away, you were not about to cry in front of him and show him just how much power he had over you and your emotions. But soon there were hot tears slipping down your cheeks and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

Bill and Harry exchanged nervous glances as you and Ron just continued staring at each other. They both took a couple steps away to give you and Ron the space you needed to hash things out. Ron was breathing heavily, obviously still angry from the flirting between you and his brother. But you were angry too, angry that he didn't want you the way you wanted him.

"I don't want you flirting with my brother," he said, his intense gaze never leaving yours.

You rolled your eyes, "It's not your choice if I do."

Ron bristled at your comment, taking another step closer to you. You could practically feel the heat and anger radiating off of him.

"You know, you've really been pissing me off these past couple weeks," he said. "You prance around making breakfast in the mornings, but in reality all you're doing is trying to get with Bill. It's so fucking frustrating! I'm your best friend, we were supposed to be together every day you visited, but instead you found someone better to spend your time with."

God, he was thick. You told him that.

"I'm not trying to get with Bill, you dumb git!" you shouted back. Why couldn't he see that he was the only one you wanted. Bill hadn't even crossed your mind this summer, your heart was too full of Ron as it is.

At this point, you were practically nose to nose with him, your shouting words bringing you closer and closer towards each other.

Ron mimicked you from earlier and rolled his eyes. It was beyond infuriating. You set your jaw and clenched your hands as you tried not to yell more.

"Oh of course you're not. You just spend every waking moment with him and barely hang out with me, but sure you're not trying to get with him," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Now it was your turn to get angry. "Oh really? I'm the one to blame right now?" You shouted at him. The words were hot rolling off your tongue.

"You're the one who treats me so poorly! You cuddle me in your bed, and then run out the next morning. You almost kiss me and then act like it didn't happen! You told me what happened in your room was a mistake," the last sentence flew out of you, the anger just boiling and boiling up towards your breaking point.

Even though you knew it wouldn't do you any good, you kept talking. "Don't you dare try to put blame on me for this summer going to shit, because it's not my fault Ron! It's not my fault you're jealous of Bill, it's not my fault things aren't the same between us, and it's not my fault you don't love me back!"

Both of you froze as the words left your mouth. You wanted Ron to say something, needed him to say something, but he remained silent. You couldn't read his emotions and it was going to drive you crazy.

Ron stared at you, his eyes full to the brim with turbulent emotions that you couldn't read. All he did was shake his head.

"I don't want you with Bill," he finally said.

"You're not my boyfriend! You've made that perfectly clear!" You shouted back, your voice cracking halfway through the sentence.

Ron raked his hands through his messy hair, obvious frustrated. "If I were your boyfriend..." he started. "If I were your boyfriend... I wouldn't...." He glanced up at you and the words stopped forming at his mouth. You had tear streaks on your face and your eyes were still watery. The look of you must have shaken him too much for him to continue speaking.

"But you're fucking not! So stop acting like you are, because it hurts too much," you responded, all the fire gone from your argument. Instead it was replaced with a sad silence, the only sounds were the rustle in the tree branches and your occasional sniffle.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said, taking a step closer with his hand out to you, almost like he was thinking of reaching out to you.

You couldn't do this. You couldn't stay there, letting him reach out to touch you. It was clear he didn't love you back, so you couldn't stay and let him hold you when there wasn't any hope. You backed away from him, shaking your head as tears continued to fall down your cheeks.

"You did. You do," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. If not for Ron's body suddenly becoming stiff, you would have thought he didn't hear you.

"Y/n, please..." he began, but no words followed. You shook your head again before turning and running back inside to the Burrow.

Nobody moved when you entered the dimly lit house. The family was sitting around the crackling fire, chatting with one another. But all talk stopped as soon as you entered.

Hastily wiping the tears from your eyes, you tried to make yourself presentable.

"Sweetheart," Mrs Weasley said with that loving tone of hers only a mother could have, "are you alright?"

You nodded, despite the fact that you knew none of them believed you.

"I'm just a little tired is all, I think I'm going to head up to bed," you said, before climbing the stairs as quickly as possible.

As soon as you entered your makeshift room in the attic, you slammed the door shut behind you. You couldn't even make it to the bed before you crumbled onto the ground, your back pressed against the door. Drawing your knees up to your chest, you buried your head in your arms and let yourself cry.

Sobs racked your body as you replayed the conversation from outside. Ron didn't want you. He didn't love you back. He was angry and jealous, but he still didn't love you back.

You stayed there, pressed against the door for the next hour. Everyone headed up to bed at some point and Hermione and Ginny came to check on you. They explained how Harry told them about what happened outside but you just asked them to let you be alone for now. Being the good friends they are, they listened to your request, but not before Ginny promised to "beat Ron to a pulp for hurting you" the next morning.

Even Harry came to check on you. He was visibly uncomfortable, crying girls were never his strong suit (as you could remember from his first kiss with Cho Chang) but he still managed to give you a comforting hug. You thanked him and he left almost as quickly as he arrived. You got ready for bed in a trance, your eyes now swollen from the crying. Slipping on your pajamas, you barely noticed you were throwing on the vintage band shirt Ron had gotten you for a gift earlier. This only made you cry more. Dite landed on your shoulder as you lay in your bed. She affectionately pecked your ear and nuzzled her feathers against your cheek.

"I'm okay, Dite," you told her, petting her soft feathers. Your fingers traced the black heart on her head. Ron bought you an owl named Aphrodite, with a heart literally on her feathers, but he couldn't even tell you he loved you. These mixed signals made your head and heart both throb.

You fell asleep fitfully, waking up every couple of hours and tossing and turning in bed. Tomorrow was Percy's party, and you had to be okay for it. You couldn't let Ron know just how much he had hurt you. You would be fine tomorrow. You would be fine, just like you had been these past few weeks. You would be fine.

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stones-x-bones · 3 years

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Pretty Weird Problems || Milo and Bex

TIMING: Last Night PARTIES: @wickedmilo and @inbextween SUMMARY: Bex runs into Milo on a midnight walk and the two decide to stop skirting around what they both already suspect. CONTENT: Domestic abuse mentions, internalized homophobia, Medical blood

Bex was having a good day, and good days usually led to good nights. She’d opted to go for a walk through the Commons, enjoying the fact that it was no longer so flooded. They’d even managed to get the fairy lights that lined the gazebo working and Bex cut across the field to stroll over to it. Mina was busy this evening and Bex had needed a distraction, and what better way to distract herself than taking a nice, long walk. She’d...walked really far, actually. It was strange how free she felt. She’d rode the ferry across the canal and walked all the way from the station to here, without missing a beat. Being normal felt so-- normal. No aches in her body, no fear about being seen, no worries about having to go home and wondering which set of hands was waiting for her. No, she could just go out and do what she wanted, live her life. Live the life she’d always wanted. She finally had everything she wanted.

She wondered if it would all go wrong at some point. That was something that would happen, especially here, especially to her. But, for now, she’d enjoy it. She circled back around the gazebo to the little rock archway and started down, when she heard a familiar voice. It was hazy through her drunken mind, but she recognized it. Moving quickly through the brush, she turned and came upon the boy that had helped her out not too long ago, by swiping a bottle of alcohol for her. She beamed, she couldn’t wait to tell him she was normal. And if she could get what she wanted, maybe he could, too. “Milo!” she called out, waving, “It’s Bex. What’re you doing here?”

Milo had been on the phone to Rio, talking about next to nothing as he cut across the common in a bid to make it home. There was plenty of time before the sunrise was due, but sometimes it was a nice change of pace to sit in the apartment he shared with Harsh. They would cook together, or watch tv, or even pay Summer and Quinn some attention. The older vampire had become a comfort, though he would never admit that out loud. When things were beginning to overwhelm him, he felt safe with Harsh. He felt capable. White Crest, as always, had other plans for him though. And despite having just left Orion’s home, he begrudgingly said goodbye, ending the call as he turned to face whoever had called his name. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, it didn’t take him long to notice Bex. She looked decidedly more upbeat than the last time he had seen her. He wasn’t sure whether that was due to the lack of alcohol in her system, or something else entirely. Glancing up at the sky, as though double checking it was dark, he caught her eye again with a quizzical grin. “How could I forget?” He teased, crossing the distance between them both so that she would no longer feel the need to shout. “What are you doing here?” He countered. “Isn’t it a bit late for a walk?”

“No, I don’t really think so,” Bex said, shrugging. She looked back up and to the sky, fading quickly from sunset oranges to nighttime blues. “I mean, maybe, but the Common is pretty well lit and safe at night. Usually. Back when the portals were open, it sure wasn’t, but that’s all over now! Just a strange bit of gravity fluctuations and occasional snowfall,” she pointed out, grinning. “And I guess the constellations are all whacky, but there’s not much we can do about any of those.” Even if everyone else she’d talked to had been rather distressed about it all, she was finding it hard to be. Not when everything felt good, great. She brought her eyes back down level with Milo’s and smiled. “If you’re worried about me, you don’t need to be. And I uh-- never properly said thanks for last time.” It was still a blur in her mind, stumbling drunk in the park, then being walked back to his apartment and laid in a bed. When she’d woken the next morning, she’d crawled out of the apartment, wincing under harsh sunlight and pretending like she wasn’t curious about his ‘don’t look in the fridge’ rule. Her curiosity had always seemed to be a bane, but like this, it felt more like a boon. Asking questions didn’t get her in trouble anymore. At least, not with her parents. “You never answered my question-- are you just out for a walk, too?”

It wasn’t the first time Bex had said something Milo struggled to keep up with. He only knew about the portals through the experiences of others. Whatever was happening with gravity, and the weather hopefully wouldn’t affect him. Deciding not to ask too many questions, lest he accidentally tempt fate and start floating up towards the sky, he laughed quietly. “White Crest can be really fucking weird.” He muttered, glancing up at the stars himself to see if he might notice any difference in their arrangement. “I mean… it’s probably better to just ignore it, right?” He was only half serious, but it had proven to be a rather efficient coping strategy. Especially when he was faced with the supernatural, things he still didn’t understand, or feel familiar with. Turning his attention back to Bex he was glad to see she seemed to be taking the same approach of acceptance. If something happened to them, they could deal with it. Until then, how was worrying going to help? Returning her smile, he hurried to brush off her thanks. Taking her home to sleep off the alcohol had been far easier than first anticipated. As predicted there was human food in the fridge which he had encouraged her to eat before sleeping. And she had been more than respectful of the boundaries put in place to stop her from finding anything distinctly vampiric. “We’ve all got our shit to deal with.” He shrugged, letting her know he wasn’t about to baby her because she used alcohol to deal with her baggage. Wasn’t he guilty of doing the very same?

“And I trust you.” He added. “If you say you’re okay, you’re okay.” It was the very least he could offer her. He had been told so many times that he had problems, even after adamantly denying the fact. It was important to feel heard, to know you could trust the person you were with. “I mean- you look okay. Good-” He corrected himself. “You look good.” He caught her eye, his smile growing in response as he properly took her in. There was something different, a weight that seemed suddenly absent from her shoulders. “Your question? Oh-” He laughed, pushing his glasses further up his nose. “I actually just left a friend’s house, so kind of? I’m supposed to be walking home, but if you’re up for some company I wouldn’t mind a midnight stroll.” He prompted, secretly hoping she would take him up on his suggestion. He wanted to know why she looked so content, what had compelled her to call out his name. “You can tell me about how miserable it was trying to get home with your hangover. That can’t have been fun.”

“I don’t think ignoring it is really the right answer, no,” Bex said, wringing her hands together, “but knowing what you can and can’t handle is probably a good idea around here.” Her eyes went back up to the stars, and the distress they’d originally caused her was still there, floating just above their heads, millions of billions of miles away. Stars didn’t move. But she had to remind herself that that also meant she wasn’t capable of moving them, either, and therefore nothing could be done. Especially when she didn’t have magic anymore. And she didn’t want it anymore. She smiled. “True, we do, but, like, sometimes we can help each other out with our shit, you know? At least, I’d like to be able to be someone who can help others out, like how you helped me out. It was-- nice, not having to go home for a night.” And it was nice, now, to be able to go home to a life that didn’t threaten her every moment she did something wrong. “Well, thanks, then. For trusting me.” Not many people did, in that way. She’d always been too naive, too ignorant, too “out of the loop” as far as the supernatural was concerned.

She let out a gentle chuckle, in stark contrast to the ridiculous laughter that had consumed her while she’d been drunk. “It’s fine, I know what you mean. I feel good, too. But sure! Yeah, I wouldn’t mind the company. I was just gonna kinda walk around here, maybe towards the lake. Where the night takes me.” Even if she’d been reminded several times that the lake was dangerous and now, without her magic, maybe even more so. She didn’t really care, though. “Oh, god, please don’t make me recount that tale. It was miserable. More so because it was so damn sunny out. I’ve never hated the sun more so than that morning. Or...afternoon. I don’t remember what time it was, just that once I got home I slept the rest of the day.”

Milo laughed, unable to help himself. Despite strongly suspecting Bex was more than human, or at the very least somebody who knew about the supernatural, the idea of her being able to help him with his problems didn’t quite feel believable to him. Even his closest friends couldn’t take away the pain or the trauma. And apparently there was nothing he could do about the constant thirst for blood. “No offense, but I’m not sure what you could do to help me with my shit. Ignoring it has proven to be a pretty reliable mechanism.” Maybe not always, but on the few blissful nights he had been able to drink and forget, he almost, almost felt normal. Human again. And that was as close as he seemed to get to being genuinely okay. A smile tugging at his lips despite the bitter nature of his thoughts, offering Bex a place to stay had been the obvious course of action. He hadn’t considered the fact that he might be helping her beyond ensuring she was safe. “Oh, I- it wasn’t a big deal, you know?” He brushed off her comment with a shrug. “I just- you didn’t want to go home so… I wasn’t about to make you.”

Watching her carefully, curious to understand why trusting her was something she felt the need to thank him for, his smile began to grow. He really did enjoy her company, he wanted her to know that. “You don’t need to thank me for trusting you.” He insisted. He figured he should probably thank her for trusting him too, for not going through his things, or trying to look inside of the fridge. But that would only draw attention to the strange rules he had put in place, and he wasn’t sure that would be a very smart move. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He added, hoping she could see he was being sincere, while simultaneously diverting the conversation. It didn’t take a genius to realise she was going through a lot, and everyone deserved a break from their struggles, regardless of how they managed to achieve that temporary escape. He laughed again at her reaction to her hangover being mentioned. But this laughter came easily, it was a product of good company. Of memories that were tinged with underlying emotion, but happy on the surface. He could look back on them with a strange sense of fondness. “Yeah, me and the sun don’t exactly get along.” He admitted. “I’m sorry about the blackout curtains, I guess they can make it pretty disorientating when you leave the apartment during the day…” Shit. He realised too late that he had essentially done exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Maybe he hadn’t drawn attention to the fridge, but he had just reminded her the entire apartment existed in a perpetual state of darkness. Nice one, Milo.

Bex had never thought that she was all that good at making friends, but that was back when fear had dictated her every move. Fear of if people might judge her for how she was born, fear of if they would find out about her magic (although she hadn’t called it that back then), fear of if she might hurt them or them her. Fear of if her parents wouldn’t approve and they’d get taken away before she even got a chance to grow close. But that was before, and this was now, and maybe she liked the idea of being friends with Milo, because he was sweet and he was helpful, and she liked that she could make him smile in a way that seemed almost relaxed. “Well, if you ever do think of a way, anything, really, just lemme know. I’d like to, you know, pay it back somehow. Even if it’s just a small thing.” She was quiet for a moment, her face drawing pensive for a moment. “It was a big deal, for me, at least. Even if it wasn’t for you.” She smiled again-- whatever the situation was back then, it didn’t exist now. “But we don’t have to talk about it.”

She perked back up, smoothing her hands along the fringes of her dress. It was one of her dresses that her mother rarely approved of, except at gatherings where she could catch the eye of some rich politico that could help the family. Bex liked it because she felt nice in it and she looked good in it and she’d wanted Mina to see her in it. “Thanks. I hope things are going well for you, too. There seems to be a bit going on around town, huh?” She shrugged, trying not to less the curious questions in her stomach bubble up. Her tendency to run her mouth and ask too many questions had been a downfall for her quite a few times. “Do you like, work overnights or something?” she found herself asking before she could stop herself. She didn’t want to automatically assume anything, but not being out in the sun, having blackout curtains, and an aversion to people looking in the fridge gave Bex a few too many questions.

Milo wasn’t necessarily touched by the sentiment, many people had said similar things to him in the past. He was touched by the fact that Bex obviously meant what she was saying. There weren’t many people he felt like he could genuinely approach with his problems, but despite only knowing each other for a night, and maybe half of a day, Bex was quickly becoming one of those people. A rather impressive feat, all things considered. “I’m not making any promises.” He teased. “I have, uh- some of my problems can be pretty weird.” His smile faltering as he noticed his company’s expression shift, he fell silent again, giving her the space she needed to feel comfortable. “Oh…” He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting her to say, and the rush of emotion that followed her words was unexpected. Not for the first time he felt the unusual urge to protect her, to keep her safe. Was this the way Dani used to feel about him? Before he changed? Before she stopped loving him? He cleared his throat, feeling awkward in the face of such unguarded honesty. “You know the offer is always there… I mean- if you ever need a place to stay. You know where I am.” He might be taking a risk but he almost didn’t care. Her wellbeing was suddenly far more important to him than being sensible.

Not failing to notice the way she brushed herself off, seemingly putting the conversation behind her in preparation to move on, he nodded, taking a moment to contemplate her question. “I didn’t notice for a long time,” he scuffed his feet as he spoke, feeling ridiculous for being so oblivious now that he knew how obvious the Weird of White Crest actually was. “But yeah, there always seems to be a lot going on in this town. The chaos has become pretty hard to escape these past few months.” Would he ever be able to escape it again? He tried not to dwell on the question. “But you know… I guess it is what it is.” Lowering his gaze, the phrase never really helped him to feel any better, but every time he uttered it he found a part of him was secretly hoping it might. He only looked back up again when Bex mentioned the blackout curtains, and he cursed himself for being so stupid. Of course she was going to pick up on that. Of course she was going to be curious. “Oh, I… my roommate does.” It wasn’t technically a lie. Harsh worked nights more often than not, only sneaking out for the occasional day shift when the weather was dark, and gloomy. “I think it’s easier just to leave them up, his schedule can be pretty unpredictable so…”

“Good, you shouldn’t make promises,” Bex said, perhaps a little too excitedly for the topic. It was hard for her to not be happy right now, really. She had everything she ever wanted, and while it wasn’t much, it made her entire life different. Better. “Especially to people you don’t know-- know well.” She caught herself, giving a chuckle at the end of her sentence to try and cover up the slip. “Just cause, you know, sometimes people get weird about that stuff. Especially here. Speaking of which, I was kinda like that, too. Technically I grew up here, but I didn’t ever notice how--” she chewed her tongue a moment-- “strange the place really was until recently.” Until she started leaving her home regularly. Until she’d met Nell in that computer lab. But those details weren’t important. She didn’t even remember telling Milo about Morgan and Nell last time they’d been together, drunk in the park. “And thanks, for the offer. I won’t say it’ll never happen again, but I think I’ve got a good thing going now, so hopefully I won’t have to crash your pad again any time soon.” But in a town like this, she supposed it was a ‘never say never’ sort of situation.

“The offer is there for you, too, you know,” Bex said suddenly, noting the way the conversation shift had turned a bit tense. Maybe not tense, but sometimes people had secrets that they didn’t want to share, and Bex’s curiosity could be seen more as nosiness or digging into things she shouldn’t be digging in. She hated that idea, but people were allowed their secrets, no matter how bad she wanted to know. “Does he? That’s cool. It’s nice that you don’t mind the curtains, either, then. I’m such a morning person. And a night owl. Actually, I don’t really sleep much, but I definitely have never been able to sleep long in the mornings.” Even when she was laying next to Mina, wrapped in her arms. “Are you like, more of a night person, then? The two times I’ve run into you have been at night, which technically isn’t enough for a pattern, but it could be leading to one. No judging if you are! Of course not. It’s just that this place is kind of-- you know, dangerous at night.”

Milo had only been suspicious until now, but after hearing Bex warn him about making promises he would be willing to bet almost anything on her knowing about the supernatural. But how? She didn’t strike him as a hunter, although Dani had always presented herself as caring, and kind. If she was a slayer, wouldn’t he already be dead? So what? A witch, a mara, a werewolf? Or maybe even a human in the know? He wanted to ask, to sate his curiosity, but he forced himself to hold his tongue. “You’re not the first person to tell me that.” He said carefully, wondering whether she might out herself if he hinted at being a part of her world. Raising his eyebrows when she mentioned taking a while to notice the truth of White Crest, he ran over the implication behind her words. Had she been turned too? Was there any way for him to uncover that information without actively asking her? “I know how that goes.” He admitted, framing his words as casual. “Waking up and realising everything is just… different. It’s not an easy thing to navigate but… we’re still here.” He smiled at her, hoping she was right. He had never been the type to judge others but the idea of her being happy enough to no longer need her crutch was a genuinely nice one. One he was willing to root for.

Surprised to hear his own offer echoed back to him, he felt his demeanour soften. Every instinct in him was telling him he could trust Bex. It was so hard to remind himself that those instincts could possibly be wrong. “They don’t… they don’t bother me.” He said, debating how far he could conceivably push the conversation before he was being too open, before he was putting himself at risk. “I don’t really sleep anymore… but I used to sleep until noon when I could.” Not that he hadn’t tried more than once to do so again, the best he could achieve was a strange, trance-like lack of consciousness. He hated it. “Oh, yeah… I’m definitely a night person. I always have been… before I started partying I used to study at night.” He laughed quietly at the contrast in activities. “My life would be very different if I didn’t abandon academia.” A soft sigh escaping him, he caught his friend’s eye when she told him the town could be dangerous. He could still remember what it felt like, living in blissful ignorance. He missed it. “Believe me, I know. I kind of found out the hard way… but I appreciate the heads up.”

“Really? Well, that’s good.” Bex nodded slowly. Her suspicion was slowly being confirmed-- Milo knew something about the supernatural. She didn’t know how he fit in, but she assumed he had the same thought about her. How did they both fit in? And who would break first? It would be Bex, she knew that. Being a witch wasn’t as precarious as being something like a zombie or a werewolf. Something that people actively hated and hunted. Witch hunters, for all she was aware, were a rare and unnecessary occurrence. She wasn’t in danger of them. “You should listen to that advice, then. And also maybe even hold off on saying ‘thanks’ too much. My girlf--” the word stuck in her throat, like it always did, and she swallowed it, “--one of my friends told me to try and replace ‘thanks’ with ‘I appreciate that’ or ‘I’m grateful for’. They’re better to say, anyway.” Smiled, trying to brush off the mishap. It was strange to her that possibly telling someone she had magic was easier to swallow than telling someone she was dating a girl. “I think, for me,” she started off, brows knitting together a moment, “it was less waking up and just realizing it and more...finally admitting to myself that things here were different. Like, I’d always known, but pretended I hadn’t. But then things happen and you can’t really deny it anymore, you know? And so I admitted it,” she shrugged, “I think things technically got better after that, although sometimes it doesn’t seem that way.”

She examined his face as they walked and wondered what the strange curve of his brow meant as he answered her. She’d never been good at reading expressions on people, unless they carried anger. She tilted her head in contemplation. “You know, you can always go back,” she said, “to school. College doesn’t have an age cap.” Sometimes she’d wished she’d been able to wait to start college, but not because she was disinterested. But because her life had been messy back then, and maybe if she’d been smarter, had known more about the world, she wouldn’t have fallen into bed with the first girl who cast her an empathetic glance. She turned away, cheeks slightly tinged. “Yeah, me, too. I-- I take it you’re okay now? It-- I mean, physically? Whatever happened. Was it--” had something attacked him, too? Did he also have the sting of scars on his body from an ignorance that had left him vulnerable?

“I guess my friends are much smarter than I am.” Milo was only half joking. Even after suffering at the hands of the supernatural, he was reckless in his behaviour. Without Rio constantly pressing him to stay focused, to pay attention, he would probably be in a lot more danger, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that. “I try.” He admitted, being entirely honest. Trying meant he failed more often than not, but the warning was always there in the back of his mind. A knowing smile tugging at his lips as Bex stumbled over the word girlfriend, it was an act he had seen many times before, and one he knew not to interrupt. That didn’t stop his eyes from shining as he wondered who this ‘girlfriend’ might be. “My friend told me the same,” he thought back to his conversation with Orion. It was the first night he had ever spent in his house, and he held the memories very close to his heart. Falling silent to listen again, he dissected the explanation he was given in his mind. If she hadn’t woken up to a different White Crest then maybe she had been born into it. Surely it took Dani a long time to realise the way she was being raised wasn’t normal. Could it have been the same for Bex? “They did?” He asked quietly, hope lacing his tone as he wondered whether there was a chance for things to get better for him. Maybe one day he could fully embrace being a vampire. It could become what he was and not what someone had made him.

“Go back?” It took him a few seconds to realise what his company meant. He laughed quietly, shaking his head. “I don’t need to,” he explained. “I got my degree, you know? I did what my parents wanted me to do, even if it wasn’t in the way they wanted me to do it.” Hiding whiskey in his coffee during exams, and skipping out on morning lectures because he was hungover from the previous night definitely wasn’t a part of their plan. Neither was a degree in English Literature. But as far as he was concerned, it was an achievement, all the same. What would he study if he did decide to return? And how would he work around the schedules when the majority of classes took place during the day? Furrowing his brow, he forced the thought to the back of his mind. He had chosen his path, and it had led him here. There was no going back. “Oh- I-” He wasn’t prepared for the sudden change in direction, and his hand absentmindedly moved to rest against the scars on his neck. “That kind of depends on your definition of okay.” He murmured, thinking about Dani, how she saw him as a monster. Then Harsh, who told him he was dead, but being dead was simply an opportunity to start anew. Then Macleod, who insisted with vehement conviction that he wasn’t dead, he hadn’t died. Only changed. Evolved for better or for worse. “How did you find out?” He asked, uncharacteristically bold in his question. They had been dancing around the subject, but he wanted to know now, far more than he wanted to protect himself. Even if he wasn’t quite ready to give up his secret. “That White Crest was different?”

“They did? Oh, well, then, you should definitely listen to your smarter friends,” Bex nodded. Had she said too much? Did Milo know about the fae? Was Milo’s friend a fae? Oh, she hoped she hadn’t just exposed someone, even if she was curious. But the tone in his voice stopped her short of any other thoughts on the subject, when he gave the smallest response to her announcement that things had gotten better for her. It was hope, and it felt like it might strangle Bex. Should she tell Milo about Erin? Was that her place to? Was his pain anything like hers? Did he need saving like she had? She swallowed. “They did. Get better. But not easily. Not out of nowhere.” She lifted a hand to her ribs-- the injury was gone, but she could still remember the pain. Still remembered what it felt like when her head had hit the dumpster, over and over and over again. “I had help, too. So, if-- just, you know, so you know...it’s okay to accept help, if you need it.” Maybe that was the best answer she could give for now. She clasped her hands together behind her back as they walked and watched her feet a moment, shoes brushing against grass under the rubber soles.

“Well, you know, you could always go back and do what you wanted to, you know,” she pointed out. “Instead of what your parents wanted of you. But only if that’s something you want to do.” She didn’t much like his answer to her question, either. Things didn’t seem as at ease as she’d thought they were when she first spotted him. She bit her lip, then sighed. “I blew up a computer lab with my mind,” she blurted, suddenly. “Well, not my mind, technically. Maybe? I’m still not sure what magic actually comes from. My mentor says it’s from the soul or the energy inside of us, but if our bodies are our minds, then I guess technically it is my mind. From my mind. So, yeah-- I blew up a computer lab with my mind and after that, it was hard to deny all the things I’d known for so long but never wanted to accept.” She looked over at Milo. “What um...what about you?”

Milo laughed, nodding in agreement with Bex. “I don’t think I would be here if I didn’t.” He admitted. Maybe there was an element of exaggeration to his words, but the information provided by people like Rio, and Macleod was invaluable. There was no doubt in his mind that it might save him one day. Fingers still pressed against the base of his neck, he could feel the scars beneath them. A frown creasing his brow as he listened to Bex explain things were difficult, they hadn’t miraculously changed for her overnight, it was impossible for him to understand what she meant without a little extra context, so he nodded quietly. Letting her know she still had his full attention. “Help?” He asked, curious to know what kind of help. “Do you mean your friends?” Lowering his hand, chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip, he wondered what things would look like for him if they did get better. It was a vague concept, it could mean so many different things. “I don’t need help-” He insisted, breaking off as he reminded himself she wasn’t talking about his habits. Repressing the instinctive response, he forced down any part of himself that was becoming defensive. Bex clearly wasn’t about to order him to walk into an AA meeting. She was talking about something else. “I mean… thank you. But I think I’m okay… kind of, anyway. I have some good people in my life… when things get weird, they’re usually there waiting for me to freak out.”

Thinking for a moment, allowing a few beats of silence to pass, he realised with a start that he didn’t know what he wanted to do. For so long he had told himself he was content with working in the comic book store, couch surfing to avoid any form of genuine commitment. Even English Literature had been the easy choice, not necessarily the choice he would have made if he was a different person. If he had more motivation, a determination to do well. “Even if I knew, I don’t know how possible it would be to just go out and do shit.” He shrugged, brushing off his honesty before it could hurt him, before he could dwell on it for too long. But then Bex was distracting him with her own honesty, honesty he had prompted, but definitely not been expecting from her. It took him a few minutes to fully process what she was saying, but when he did he faltered to a halt, eyeing her with an even mixture of disbelief, and satisfaction. “Wait- what?” So not only was she supernatural, she had totally caved first. Was it wrong to feel so smug about that? “You’re a witch?” He asked, despite her just having confirmed the fact. “I…” He trailed off as she turned the question back on him, not prepared to answer it himself. But he owed her, he couldn’t exactly walk away after she had put herself in such a vulnerable position. A soft sigh escaping him, he steeled himself to tell her his own story. Or a part of it, at least. “Someone with fangs decided I looked like a snack… I guess they overindulged because…” He offered her a hesitant smile, revealing his fangs in the way Harsh had taught him to. He tapped one absentmindedly, wrinkling his nose. “Well, I woke up with these.”

Bex was a little perplexed at his immediate denial of needing help, clearly he needed help-- anyone in this god forsaken town needed help, if she was being honest. But just as much as she’d needed to understand that she couldn’t do things alone, so did he. She wouldn’t push it, it wasn’t a lesson she had the right to teach anyone, when she was still learning it herself. She nodded slowly. “Okay, well, if you do ever need it, just know I’m here. Don’t hesitate to ask. And--” she looked at him sincerely, genuinely hoping he understood that, even if they’d only known each other from two run-ins, she would help him. It was really all she wanted to do, help people. Understand things better so she could do that better. Understand this world. “I’m glad you have people there to help you. Having a support system is always good.” She wouldn’t have survived this town without hers, that was for sure. A subconscious hand ran across her chest. Kyle’s life would have been ruined had he actually killed her that first night. She wanted to make sure something like that never happened again. And it wouldn’t, now that her magic was gone.

“Why not?” Bex asked, not understanding the restrictions Milo might face without knowing what he was. She didn’t want to push, though. She turned away, even as he stopped in his tracks, and shrugged. “I prefer the term spellcaster,” she said, picking at a seam on her dress. And the proper wording would’ve been was a spellcaster, thanks to the wish. She didn’t feel like explaining that part yet, though. His hesitation brought her gaze back up. “I-I’m sorry! You don’t have to answer, I understand--” but then he was answering. Someone with fangs. A vampire. Bex felt her chest squeeze and she swallowed, trying to remind herself that vampires were people, too, and her one run-in with the woman outside the library wasn’t representative of all vampires. She had no reason not to trust Milo. What would Mina say? She shook her head. “Oh,” she answered, finally, “I-- that must be difficult, to-- to adjust to.” A pause. “But,, you know, night school is a thing. And there’s plenty of overnight jobs here. And-- I have a friend who’s also undead. They go to the butchers here to get food and they’re really good about it. And being discreet. Do you-- I mean the blood thing-- do you have enough? Do you get enough food? You drink animal blood, right?”

Milo looked at Bex as she paused, somehow everything she wanted to say was conveyed in her brief moment of silence, and he knew. He understood. “Thank you.” He said, his voice gentle and sincere. They hadn’t known each other for long but he felt as though they had more than a few things in common. Coping mechanisms, and trauma. The kind of things you could bond over. The kind of things that made you want to protect each other. When he had helped her into the bar, when he had stolen her that bottle of vodka, he had recognised something in her. Something that reminded him so deeply of himself. Even without the alcohol it was still there. He could still see it. “Do you have one?” He asked, remembering her mention of Morgan, and Nell. People she had been so sure she would never be able to see again. “A support system?” Making a vague gesture with his hands, brushing off her question as to why he wouldn’t be able to follow his non-existent dreams, he offered her a smile instead of an answer. “Spellcaster?” He echoed, using her correction as a way to move the conversation forward. Away from the things he could no longer do. “Is that personal preference, or just a general rule?” He was reminded of Macleod, the way she hated any terminology that referred to her as dead.

His smile growing somewhat as she hurried to insist he didn’t have to tell her what he was, keeping the information to himself would feel incredibly unfair, but he appreciated her attempt at making him feel comfortable. “No, no- it’s okay…” He did his best to assure her. “You were honest with me… it’d be kind of a dick move if I wasn’t honest with you too.” His hand moving once again to rest over the scars on his neck, he heard her heart rate elevate, but she made no outward move to imply she was nervous. He didn’t enjoy the idea of scaring people, and hopefully it wouldn’t take long for her to realise he wasn’t a genuine threat. But it still hurt, jut a little. “It was.” He agreed. “It is… I mean- I was thrown into this world I didn’t even know was real. The guy who did this to me, he left… I literally didn’t know anything.” A quiet laugh escaping him at the mention of night school, he shook his head. He couldn’t even begin to imagine going back to school. What would he achieve? What would he gain from doing so? This was his life now, and there was no escaping it. “I assume you mean Morgan?” He asked, at the mention of a friend being dead. “You mentioned her when you were pretty out of it… but I know her. I’m pretty sure she hates me.” His eyes shining to let Bex know he was half teasing, he thought back to his last conversation with Morgan and wondered whether there might be some truth to his words. They didn’t exactly see eye to eye. “Oh-” He was pulled out of his thoughts by the mention of blood, caught off guard by what felt like an incredibly personal question. “For a while…” He admitted. “I got lucky. I don’t want to out anyone but I have a friend with a habit of taking a blood bag or two from the hospital... It’s enough to keep me going.” Maybe more than enough, but he didn’t want to make Harsh sound like more of a deviant than he technically was. If he got the man into trouble then their collective supply would be in danger. “Everything kind of worked out…”

“I do have one, yeah,” Bex answered with a nod. For a while there, she hadn’t. Or, well, she’d rejected it, because she thought they’d be hurt by her family if she’d kept trying. They’d all been hurt, anyway, though, so it hadn’t mattered in the end. She’d made the wrong decision. But that was the past, and she couldn’t change that past anymore than she could change the way she grew up. “It was...rough for a while, i tried to do it without them, but it was a mistake. There’s--” she took in a breath, wrapped her arms around herself, “--I learned the hard way that I can’t protect anyone by keeping them away. Even if keeping close means they might get hurt, it-- it’s better that way. It really is.” And she was still learning that, too. Even now, with a normal life, a regular life, she was learning to accept people back into her life, despite the possible threats she’d be introducing them to. She shook her head, grateful for the change of conversation. ‘Nope, just a me thing.” She glanced over at Milo. “I think it’s all kind of the same meaning, but I just-- witch carries a weird connotation for me, I guess. I’m not pagan so I just...don’t feel right being called that.”

HIs next words made Bex’s heart constrict a bit. He was right, it was really only fair of someone to be honest with another if they shared something deep and personal. Her thoughts jumped to Eddie and his confession to her and she bit the inside of her cheek. She needed to tell him. He deserved to know, even if she could barely admit it outloud still. “Oh, I-- i did? So you know about her?” she was surprised, but not too surprised. She loved Morgan, of course she’d talked about her while wasted. She rubbed her hands together. “I-- I don’t think she hates you. I think it takes a lot for Morgan to hate someone. I’d probably know if she hated you, she’s not subtle about it.” It was her turn to falter and pause, and she felt herself take a small step backwards. “You-- so you--” her eyes went to his fangs, then his eyes, his hand still pressed over his neck, presumably where his scars were. She had some of her own, even if they hadn’t turned into a reminder of death. “You drink human blood?” ethically sourced, at least. Well, more ethical than getting it from a warm body itself. Stealing blood from the hospital wasn’t exactly the most moral thing to do, but morality, she reminded herself, was skewed in the supernatural world. She rubbed her neck. “I-- I should probably um, head home, though. It’s getting late and Mina is expecting me back soon.” She didn’t want to things to suddenly feel tense, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know how she felt about a vampire who still drank human blood, and she didn’t think figuring out here was the best idea. She liked Milo, she didn’t want to ruin that.

“That’s good.” Milo smiled, remembering how insistent Bex had been when she was drunk, determined to believe she couldn’t let people in. The fact that she seemed to have changed her mind felt important, and he was reminded of her telling him things were better now. Better how? What was suddenly so different? “I think there’s always a risk of getting hurt… or of other people getting hurt. Isn’t that just the nature of friendship?” And romance, though he could hardly say he was experienced in that particular area. “What matters is that you care, and that these people care about you too… that’s all you can ask for, really. Isn’t it?” Staying silent as his company began to explain why she preferred using the term spellcaster, he hadn’t been expecting to understand her logic, even he was determined to respect it. But he did understand. It was so similar to Macleod, and sometimes even the way he felt. Vampire had connotations too, dark ones, and ridiculous ones. Honestly, there was something appealing about the theatrics of sleeping in a coffin. He was almost sad that wasn’t a legitimate thing.

“I do, yeah. And you might have mentioned her.” He teased, catching her eye with an easy grin. “Only in passing, don’t worry. You didn’t tell me anything you shouldn’t have. You made it pretty clear you were friends, that’s all.” Laughing at Bex insisting Morgan didn’t hate him, he shook his head, remembering some of what was said during their last meeting together. If she didn’t hate him then she was about as close as a person could get before crossing that line. “Ask her about me, see what she says.” He wasn’t being entirely serious, but he had a strong suspicion the zombie wouldn’t have anything positive to say. Not that it mattered. If she wasn’t going to help him then he didn’t give a shit what she thought. Faltering at the sudden shift in the way Bex was looking at him, he saw her gaze flicker from his fangs, to his hand, and he realised he was still touching his neck. Lowering his arm, he retracted his fangs with a surprising level of ease, his own expression shifting too. “I do,” he said quietly, watching her with open concern, trying to ignore the way his heart was sinking. Maybe he was wrong, maybe she didn’t trust him in the way he thought she did. “I- what?” He cursed himself for being so emotional, but he couldn’t stop tears from stinging at his eyes. “I’m not- I wouldn’t hurt anyone... I swear…” He swallowed, unsure what he could say to make her believe him. If she was uncomfortable, he wasn’t about to force her to stay. But did she really want to leave because of what he was?

“Yeah,” Bex admitted quietly, “I guess it is.” Even if she still hated the thought of people getting hurt because of her, for her. But they returned the sentiment, and wasn’t rejecting their help hurting her? It was still confusing, but the one thing Bex did know was that being at Morgan’s, even if it put her and everyone in that house in possible danger, felt better than being alone, trapped in her room where people got hurt because of her anyway. She rubbed her palm against her cheek before folding her arms across her chest again, nodding. “Yeah, it is. And it’s-- a lot. But I know now I can ask for that. And-- I think everyone deserves that.” Even people others deemed bad or evil. No one deserved to suffer alone. She wasn’t even sure she believed her mother deserved that.

“Oh, good. Good. I...can run my mouth sometimes. I’ve been told it’s very unbecoming of me, but I don’t really care anymore,” she said, the last words bitter on her tongue. She swallowed it. Her heart clenched again, at the way Milo was looking at her. She was caught between her own trauma and her want to change, to accept people, to accept this world, and it felt sticky. She hated it there. But she’d forgiven Kyle, and he’d been the one to directly attack her. Fuck, she probably even forgave the wolf that attacked the Moose Caboose, even if everyone around her seemed to think that was wrong to do. “No, no! It-- I don’t mean it like that. I swear it’s not because--” she stopped herself, trying not to let the shame crawling up her throat tinge her words, “I just-- something happened to me. With a vampire. And I don’t want that to, to affect how I feel about you. I really don’t. But it’s-- you know, hard? I don’t think you’re going to hurt me, Milo. And-- and if you did, I know it would be an accident. I promise it’s not because of you. I promise.” She’d promise to a fae, too, but there were none around, and she knew Mina would chastise her for it. She offered a hand out to him, instead, in a show of faith. “I really do need to be home, though.” She held up her phone, “they get worried if I’m late.” Because of the one time she’d been kidnapped by Frank, but that wasn’t important to mention. He was dead, now, and her life was normal. Things like that just didn’t happen anymore.

Milo had a feeling Bex was talking more to herself than to him, so he allowed her to speak, listening patiently until she fell silent once again. It wasn’t something he considered very often, so wrapped up in the chaotic nature of his life. Friends used to come and go, aside from Dani who had stood by him for so many years. Only now was he beginning to realise how badly he had taken her for granted. Though he had new friends now, friends who weren’t about to abandon him because of something he couldn’t help, a part of himself he couldn’t ever hope to change. She was right. Everybody deserved to be cared for, to be surrounded by friendship, and unwavering support. Offering her a smile when she told him she had a habit of saying too much, he could definitely relate to that. His love of bitter quips, and sulking petulantly about his new state of being had resulted in him essentially outing himself on more than one occasion. “I can relate to that.” He admitted. “But don’t worry, you didn’t say anything you should be concerned about. And you’re right not to care. Screw unbecoming, just be who you are… there’s no point in trying to be anybody else. It’ll only make you miserable.”

His expression faltering when Bex hurried to insist her sudden desperation to leave had nothing to do with him telling her he was a vampire, he wanted to believe her, but he couldn’t. “No offense, but I don’t know how else you could mean it…” He muttered, letting out a quiet huff of breath. He averted his gaze, avoiding eye contact so that he could stare down at his feet. He should let her go, he knew he should. What use was there in trying to cling to a friendship as new as this one when she was so clearly uncomfortable now that she knew what he really was? Swallowing his emotion, he frowned, hesitantly catching her eye again. “No shit... something happened to me with a vampire too.” He pointed out. “I didn’t ask for this. You think I don’t know how hard it is to get over? Try waking up as the thing that attacked you…” Feeling his shoulders drop when she assured him she felt safe, part of him still felt worried she wasn’t being entirely truthful. But the sentiment mattered, the fact that she was even trying to assure him mattered. Allowing his anger to dissolve, he knew it was too late to take back his words. So he moved on. Caught off guard by the unexpected promise, a weak smile began to tug at his lips. “You know… you really shouldn’t make promises.” He teased, unable to help himself. He couldn’t think of a better way to alleviate the tension. Ignoring the phone as it was held out to him, he gently reached out to take her hand, linking their fingers for a brief moment, hoping to convey everything he didn’t know how to put into words. He was trying. He was good. He was a victim too. “You should, uh… you should get home.” He said finally, ignoring what was left of the awkward tension. “It’s okay…”

Bex gave a sigh of relief. At least she hadn’t outed Morgan or Nell. She never would’ve forgiven herself, even if it was to someone who wouldn’t use it against them. She’d never had problems drinking before, but those nights had been spent locked up in the library or her room while she cradled the bottle as if it were her only lifeline. She gave a short, self-deprecating chuckle before her lips curled into a thin smile. “Trust me, I know that.” She’d been miserable her entire life because she’d done just that. But things were different now, she reminded herself. Things were better.

Her heart sank, knowing that she’d already done more damage than she’d ever meant to. But Morgan had told her to not just ignore her trauma, that wasn’t good for her. And as much as she didn’t blame the vampire on campus, she still thought about the attack and what Dani had said. She wasn’t going to stop. And if she hadn’t, Bex would be standing with the same pain as Milo, or not here at all. She let him be upset, he was allowed to be upset. She hadn’t asked for any of this, either. She understood that feeling. “You’re right,” she said, “I don’t know how that feels.” But she did know how waking up after being attacked by a friend felt. She did know the fear of thinking she might wake like that, or not wake at all. She rubbed her chest. Smiled enough to try and brush off the feeling. “You can if they’re really important,” she answered. Squeezed his hand back, before pulling away. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Maybe next time we can just hang out somewhere nice. I know a few good places.” Her phone buzzed again and she glanced down at it. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” she said to him, a small tease, before she waved and headed off back towards home. She wondered what Morgan might think. She wondered what Mina might think. She wondered if, at the end of the day, it mattered. She liked Milo, and she wanted to be his friend. She owed it to him to try, at least.

#chatzy #chatzy: milo #wickedswriting #pretty weird problems #milo #domestic abuse tw #internalized homophobia tw #medical blood tw

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ghosttotheparty · 3 years

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the secret of red sea glass

AO3 The train is always louder than Lucas expects, even if he expects the most.

It’s even louder when he rests his head on the cold glass of the window, his head bumping with the rhythmic rattling and thumping as the train speeds past fields and fields, and villages and villages, and skies and skies. They change colour as he watches. After watching the cottage-covered cliffsides and the stretches of sand and crashing waves of his home pass by, he watches vibrant colours pass, more vibrant, more bright than his home in the South.

There are green and pinks, purples and yellows, flower-covered cottages, trees, shrubs, gardens, fields of flowers in the East. Lucas has only been a few times, painting some of the rich, stuffy old families that can afford mansions. And their portraits to be painted. He’d be lying if he said he did his absolute best on all of them. But he supposes he doesn’t really have to do his best on all of them. There aren’t many people who paint sit-in portraits and the few others who do cost more than Lucas, who’s willing to take any amount of money he can. He smiles at the flowers because no one is in the cabin to see him, remembering the flowers he stole for his mother. He’d presented them in a messy, crumpled, dishevelled bouquet, after having stuffed them in his jacket to hide them. He’d had to wear the jacket until he arrived at the train station in the South, and he’d already been sweating and miserable hat point, but it was worth it to see her face light up. He knew she’d suspected him of having stolen them, but she still placed them carefully in a vase on the kitchen table proudly, until the petals had all fallen around the glass. Lucas kept some of the petals and crushed them into flakes, which he keeps in the locket he wears around his neck. His mother still has a collection of flowers, now dead and faded, but still beautiful in her eyes.

After a while (he doesn’t know how long; there isn’t a clock and he’s never been able to afford a working watch), the brightness of the East changes to darker, richer reds and oranges that blur until the landscape looks like a sunset under the sky in the West. Though Lucas likes the exuberance of the East, he can also appreciate the more toned-down colours. They remind him of his mother’s hair, a rich, dark brown that shines red under the sunlight. Lucas likes when she goes with him to the beach, rare as it may be, and lets her hair loose. It flows in the wind like waves, glistening and sparkling like the water under the sun. (Everything he sees seems to make him think of her.)

He would paint it all if he could.

He clutches his bag to his chest, resting his chin on the softness of where he’s stuffed his clothes, and sighs, letting his eyes drift shut.

---

When he wakes up, it’s dark. And cold.

The window feels like a sheet of ice, and it hurts to pull his head away.

It’s too dark to see much, except flashes of white in the shadows of night, as the light of the train windows speed past mounds of snow. He pulls his bag closer, wishing he had a blanket or a quilt, and moves closer to the window, suddenly awake. He’s never seen snow before. He’s never had the opportunity, never had anybody in the North hire him to paint them.

Of course, until someone recommended him to the king.

Thinking of it still makes his stomach swoop, still makes a shiver go down his spine.

The king.

He’s going to paint the king.

And his family, of course, though Lucas doesn’t know how many people are in it.

The queen, he supposes.

He knows they have a daughter, an ambassador of some sort to foreign nations. He thinks he has other children, but nobody really knows. Safety reasons, he assumes. Maybe he’ll have to take an oath before he leaves. An I-swear-not-to-tell-anyone-about-your-children-whom-I’m-painting oath.

If there are others, he assumes they’ve never left the North. Lucas can’t imagine. Though, to be fair, he can’t really imagine living in the North full stop. It’s common knowledge that everyone here is rich, richer than Lucas could ever hope to be. (Part of him is glad; he doubts anyone at his status could survive this weather. He shivers just looking out the window, though it’s cosy enough inside the train.)

The snow outside looks like it’s glowing. Lucas can’t even see the ground outside, or the gravel under the train tracks. If there are hills and mountains and trees, Lucas will have to wait until the morning to see them. If the morning ever comes. He glances around the compartment, forgetting about the lack of clocks, and sighs, wondering what time it is. After drifting in and out of sleep, seeing the world in a way he’s only seen in paintings, time feels like it’s fluid, like it’s flowing and rushing, and Lucas has lost track. It could be midnight or it could be six am.

He supposes it doesn’t matter, though, when he arrives at the castle. Or rather, the time of day is definitely not the most important thing going on his mind.

The fucking castle.

Lucas stops thinking when he sees it outside the train window, snowflakes falling like flashes of white light, the castle looking like it’s glowing, like the light from the sky is being stored inside.

It’s the biggest building Lucas has ever seen, bigger than the mansions and manors Lucas paints in. He doesn’t know what he was expecting if he’s honest, but a part of him is saying Yeah, that makes sense.

Another part of him in angry. Angry that these people (because that’s all they are: other living, breathing humans just like Lucas and the others) are living in a home with more rooms that they can use, more space than they can take up, more food than they can eat, more air than they can breathe, and Lucas has friends who skip breakfast because they save food for dinner. One of Lucas’s shirts is a hand-me-down from his friend’s dad.

But he stares in awe, forgetting his anger. A few of the windows glow gold against the white, like the insides of it are on fire.

Lucas exhales, a slow Woah that fogs up the window, and he quickly rubs the glass with his arm, watching as the castle comes closer, becomes clearer. He briefly wonders how he would go about painting it. It would need lots of blues.

It’s not until he’s making his way down the halls, following two posh-looking men who are carrying his bags, that it really sets in that he’s staying here. Not for long, of course, just for a week or two to finish the portraits, but it’s still somehow absurd to him.

The men lead him to a bedroom at the end of a long hallway. They go in first, struggling and stumbling through a slightly-too-narrow doorway with his bulky bags, and he hangs back, watching worriedly and uncomfortably for a second before looking away.

There’s a corner just outside the room, leading to an open stairwell. It looks dark, and a little dustier than the golden, glowing parts of the palace Lucas has seen. He glances up, and in the shadows and nighttime it looks endless, like it leads into a void. Lucas wants to go exploring.

But his name is called by one of the men (he can’t tell which), and he goes back.

The room is dark, except for the faint streaks of light coming in from the window, gold reflections off the snow outside, but Lucas can see well enough to glance around. It’s small in regards to the rest of the building, and dingy, neglected and ignored. It’s still the size of Lucas’s living room.

His lips purse in that same frustrated expression, and he takes a deep breath. It smells old.

“You’ll be called for tomorrow,” one of the men says, and Lucas turns around. He still can’t tell which one said it.

“Okay,” he says.

The men nod and leave.

Lucas sighs again, and he’s almost sure the slight disturbance blows up dust that’s settled on the crackly wood floor. He finds a candle on the desk (which rocks when he touches it; one of the legs is shorter than the rest) and lights it with a pack of matches laying next to it.

Even with the snowlight and candlelight it’s still dim, but it’s bright enough for Lucas to navigate around the room. The floor creaks under his weight, and it’s almost eerie in the desolate silence of the hall. He wonders what the other rooms down the hall are for. More guest rooms? They must not have guests very often based on the maintenance.

He unpacks, carefully setting an easel against a chest at the door of his bed. He doesn’t put anything in the chest, deciding to set his suitcase on top of it, open and resting against the wall. The tubes of paint go on the desk, sorted by colour, and he sharpens the pencils, gathering the shavings into a little pile on the desk when he can’t find a bin.

He changes into his sleep clothes, setting his clothing in his suitcase after folding them neatly and blowing out the candle. When he lays down in the bed, he realises how cold it is. And that there’s no fireplace. He falls asleep shivering.

#i SAID i have too many wips #and i have an extensive list of things to draw #also wtwe is still in progress i promise #im too passionate about it to give it up #i dont have an update schedule at all tho be warned #i might update next week and i might update in a month #well find out when we find out #anyway remember to drink water and eat st yummy #and stretch your wrists and neck and take any meds you have #i love you xx #wtfock #skam nl #wtfock fanfic #skam nl fanfic #vds #van der stoffels #jens stoffels #lucas vdh #lucas van der heijden

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dimensiontripperhibiki · 5 years

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The End is Where we Begin

Crisis AU. Instead of Barry being told by the Monitor that he’s going to die in Crisis, Kara is told instead. She sets out to prepare herself and her family and friends for her ultimate demise. Supercorp. No actual character death in this by the way!

“Would you be okay without me?” The question came out of nowhere and having been engrossed in the movie they were watching, Alex did a doubletake and looked at Kara in surprise. “What?” “Without me.” Kara wasn’t looking at Alex. She was watching her own fingers fiddling with the blanket draped over the two of them. “Would you be okay?” Alex reached for the remote, pausing the movie. She’d known that something was wrong. Kara had been unusually quiet all night and she’d only eaten half the pizza she usually would. The other two were still on the coffee table in front of them. “You mean if you moved away or something?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess. You could say that. Or maybe if I wasn’t around for some other reason. Like if something happened to me. You know, the thing with Rein happened last year and I’ve almost died more times than I care to count since I became Supergirl.”

“Where is this coming from?” Alex frowned, turning more on the couch so she was facing Kara. “What’s going on?” Kara bit her lower lip, managing a slight shrug. Feeling Alex’s hand come to rest on her arm she felt her eyes prickle with tears. She quickly blinked them away. “Can you answer the question?” “Of course I wouldn’t be okay. How could you think that?” Alex shook her head in disbelief. “I’ve told you so many times, I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to you.” Kara nodded mutely, swallowing against the lump in her throat. “You’re kind of scaring me, Kara,” Alex admitted nervously. “Tell me what’s going on. Why are you suddenly thinking about this stuff?” “We both know it a possibility. I just have a bad feeling, Alex. Like something is going to happen to me.” “Like dying?” “Right.” Kara nodded in response. “And I just want to know that you’ll be okay so I can…” “What? Go gently into that good night?” Alex’s tone was slightly harsh when she spoke but there was no disguising the worry in her voice. “If thinking I’m going to be okay will help you do that then no, Kara. I won’t be okay. Not by a longshot. Losing you would destroy me.” Kara felt her eyes dampen slightly as she recalled the Monitor’s words to her. “Alex…” “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die.” “It’s not gonna happen.” Alex wrapped her arms around Kara from the side, drawing her close to hug her tightly. She pressed her lips firmly to Kara’s hair. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you.” Kara sniffled softly and nodded her head, letting herself relax into Alex’s gentle embrace. She closed her eyes as Alex’s fingers gently combed through her hair and after a short while she felt herself starting to drift off. It was only an especially deep breath from Alex that dragged Kara back into consciousness. “I think I’m going to get some sleep.” “Oh. Yeah, of course. Seems like you need it.” Alex gave a gentle chuckle when Kara elbowed her gently in the ribs. “Ow!” “Will you stay? I mean...stay with me?” Kara asked quietly as she pulled herself away from Alex. She bit her lip as Alex studied her closely but her nerves melted away when her sister flashed a warm smile. “Sure. Get ready for bed and I’ll put this pizza in the fridge for tomorrow.” Alex replied as she used Kara’s knee as leverage to push herself up off of the couch. Kara watched Alex for a moment before she got to her feet and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She went through her usual nighttime ritual before she padded into her bedroom and slipped into bed. “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die.” Kara stared at the Monitor, her expression blank as she tried to take in what he was saying. If she was honest, she was still stunned by the fact that he had appeared in the middle of her apartment, seemingly out of nowhere. “What does that mean?” “Something is coming.” The Monitor replied in his usual monotone drawl. “Something which will force you to make the ultimate sacrifice for those you love. And the billions of lives at stake.”

Kara was broken from her thoughts by Alex plopping down on the bed next to her. She turned over to face Alex, watching as her sister got under the blankets with her. A small smile tugged at her lips as she watched Alex shiver and try to wrap the blankets tighter around herself. “I hope you’re not going to steal all of my blankets tonight.” “You invited me in here, remember?” Alex grinned at Kara. “You practically asked for your blankets to be stolen.” Kara turned her face into her pillow to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. “Whatever.” She didn’t get a response from Alex and she looked up again to see that Alex’s eyes were closed. “Do you remember when we used to do this as kids?” Alex smiled softly at the memory. “You mean when you used to crawl into bed with me and I’d pretend to be annoyed about it for five minutes until I gave in?” “Mmhm,” Kara mumbled in response. “You’ve always been the person I feel safest with. Back when I had nightmares, nothing could calm me down like you did.” Alex opened her eyes to look at Kara, noticing the sadness reflected in Kara’s blue eyes. “Well, the feeling is mutual.” Kara felt her eyes prickle with tears once more and she moved forward, wrapping her arm around Alex’s waist. She buried her face in Alex’s chest to hide her tears. “I’m sorry about bringing that up before.” “It’s okay.” Alex murmured, her arms going around Kara. “There’s no limit to what you can talk to me about.” She felt Kara nod into her chest and waited for a moment before she continued. “I meant what I said though. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. You should know that by now.” Kara hummed in acknowledgment and Alex sighed softly. “Get some sleep. I’ll treat you to breakfast tomorrow. Deal?” “Leftover pizza is breakfast,” Kara mumbled before she pulled back just a little. “Pizza can be lunch tomorrow,” Alex smirked in response. “I’m buying you real breakfast.” Kara smiled warmly in response. “Thanks, Alex. You’re the best.” “I’m aware.” ---- The second Kara opened the door, Nia knew that something was up. Kara was wearing a weird, almost crazy smile on her face. “Uh...hi.” “Hey, Nia!” Kara’s voice came out a little higher than usual and she quickly ushered Nia into the apartment. “Thanks for coming!” “You’re welcome?” Nia asked unsurely. She heard Kara close the door behind her. A moment later the Kryptonian was brushing past her, hurrying toward the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink?” “A glass of water would be nice. Thanks.” Nia hung up her bag and jacket and ventured into the kitchen behind Kara. She accepted the glass of water offered to her with a small smile. “Thanks.” She took a sip, watching Kara begin to nervously fidget in front of her. Slowly, she lowered the glass and set it on the kitchen table. “What’s wrong?” “Am I that obvious?” Kara asked with a small smile. “We’ve been friends for a while now, right?” “Right?” “And...I like to think we’re close friends.” Kara continued anxiously, wringing her hands in front of her. “Like I am with Brainy, James, Lena…” She grimaced slightly at the last one. “Well uh...like I was with Lena. Not that I don’t want to be friends with her again. I do. I definitely do, I’m just…” “You’re rambling, Kara,” Nia said with a soft smile. She reached out, placing a hand upon Kara’s to stop her fidgeting. “What do you need from me? A kidney? Because I’m willing but I didn’t think you of all people would need something like that…” Kara managed a soft laugh at that and felt herself calm slightly. “I need a favor. A really big favor. And I need you to keep it a secret from everyone. Nobody can know.” Nia frowned at that but nodded for Kara to go on. “Okay, I promise.” “There’s this...person I know. Well, he’s not really a person, more like...a being. Like a god. Almost.” Kara answered carefully. “And he’s told me something about my future. I need you to tell me if it’s true.” “You know a god?” Nia asked in confusion. “Like Thor?” “No. Can we focus?” Kara gripped Nia’s hand back. “This is really important. Will you do it? Please?” “Use my dream powers? Of course.” Nia answered without hesitation. She noticed the worried look on Kara’s face. “There’s something else.” “He needs to be here,” Kara admitted, tugging Nia toward the couch. “To...sort of give you a boost. And so you can see what he knows.” “I guess it’s fine,” Nia replied, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was about to meet a god. “So you can just call him?” “I’ve never tried.” Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Uh...hey! Monitor?” She heard a gasp from Nia and opened her eyes to see the Monitor had appeared next to them. “Whoa. I didn’t expect that to work. You just appear when I call you?” “Not always.” The Monitor answered, briefly glancing at Nia before he turned his focus back to Kara. “However it is imperative that you understand the threat which is to come. And your role in preventing it. Therefore I will help you to see the truth. Along with Dreamer. Of course.” Nia sat down heavily on the couch. “You know me?” The Monitor nodded. “You too will have a role to play.” “Can we just get this over with?” Kara sat down next to Nia. “Very well. Close your eyes.” Kara glanced at Nia and reached for her hand, grasping it tightly. “Just in case.” She mumbled before she let her eyes close. She felt a touch to her head and she opened her eyes. She expected to see the room she had been in, but instead, she found herself in the middle of the street, people running past her. “Nia?!” “I’m here.” Nia appeared next to Kara, glancing around. “What the hell is…” Kara grabbed Nia’s arm, trying to back them both away as a wave of red rushed toward them. She barely managed to stumble back before they were engulfed. Everything turned black for a split second and then the next few minutes were a series of flashes. The DEO being wiped away. Brainy. Nia. James. Catco. Her mother. Kal and Loius with the baby. Alex getting caught up in the red mist as she tried to help people escape it. Lena struggling to find a solution until the very end. Over and over again, the scenario played out in different ways, finally ending with Kara herself flying into the red wave. Kara gasped as she was dragged back to reality and she quickly jerked her hand away from Nia’s. The Monitor was gone. “Kara…” Nia’s voice was trembling as she stared at Kara. “What the hell was that?” Kara opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unable to get her words out for a moment. “The Monitor was right. I-I have to die.” “What are you talking about?” Nia got to her feet, anxiously staring down at Kara. Kara’s fingers dug into the couch, inadvertently piercing the upholstery. “In the coming crisis, Supergirl must die. That’s what the Monitor told me. If I’m going to save everyone else, I have to sacrifice myself.” “Kara!” Nia exclaimed loudly, trying to break Kara from the trance she seemed to be in. She was relieved when Kara met her eyes but it did nothing to ease the panic she felt. “This can’t be right. There has to be something else we can do. Anything. You can’t just give up.” Kara bowed her head, trying to hide the tears that filled her eyes. “You saw it, Nia. All of those timelines. Billions of them. And there’s only one way to stop what happened.” “It can’t be!” Nia sat down on the coffee table in front of Kara. “W-We just have to tell Alex. Maybe we can figure something out.” “We’re not telling Alex!” Kara’s voice was sharper than she intended it to be as she looked up at Nia. “Not yet. You can’t tell anyone about this, Nia. You promised.” Nia gritted her teeth. That was a promise she wished she hadn’t made. “You can’t do this alone, Kara.” “I’m not alone. I have you.” Kara forced a smile to her face but it quickly slipped away. “Thanks for doing this for me. I know it couldn’t have been easy to see all of that.” “Kara, are you okay?” Nia asked gently, concerned by the way Kara seemed to be shutting herself off from what she was feeling. Or trying to at least. “I’ll be fine.” Kara lied, slowly getting to her feet. “I just need some time to process. Um...you should probably be getting back to work, right?” “Well...yeah but I can stay if you want me to.” Nia said even as she followed Kara to the door. “It’s fine,” Kara replied in a strained tone of voice. “This crisis isn’t coming anytime soon. We have some time. I think.” “O-Okay.” Nia took her things from Kara and watched as Kara opened the door for her. “I don’t like leaving you alone like this.” “I’ll be okay.” Kara’s voice shook as she spoke. “Alex will be back soon. I’ll be fine.” Nia wanted to argue but Kara seemed so opposed to letting her stay that she relented, her shoulders slumping. “We’re going to figure this out. We have to.” Kara nodded and watched as Nia walked out of her apartment. She didn’t give Nia a chance to turn around before she closed the door behind her. As soon as the latch clicked into place, Kara felt her knees weaken beneath her. She lowered herself to the floor, still clutching the door handle and finally let her tears flow, unhindered. She wasn’t ready. Alex wasn’t ready. She still had so many things she needed to do. To make amends for. ---- Lena glanced up at the sound of a soft knock at her office door. Her brow furrowed for a moment before the door opened and Kara walked in. Lena sighed and made a mental note to fire her new secretary. She got to her feet, closing her laptop. “Something I can help you with, Miss Danvers?” “Sorry. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by like this.” Kara said as she walked toward Lena’s desk. A few months ago, Lena would have rushed to assure Kara that she could stop by whenever she wanted. That she always had time for the reporter. “I must admit, I am surprised to see you stop by like this.” She gestured toward Kara’s clothing. “I thought you were more partial to red and blue now.” “I didn’t want to come over as Supergirl,” Kara answered quietly. “I do need to ask you something though. For work.” “So that’s why you’re here.” Lena was annoyed that she felt somewhat hurt by the revelation. She schooled her expression to not show it. “What is it I can help you with?” “I was wondering if you could help me with something.” Kara rested her hand on the back of the seat in front of her. She didn’t want to sit down and she was sure Lena wouldn’t appreciate the suggestion that she intended to stay for a prolonged time, but she needed to do something with her hands. “I was wondering if you know of anything that could make...something or someone disappear.” Lena stared at Kara for a long moment. “That’s all? You don’t have anything else for me to go off of?” Kara nervously bit her lip. “It’s um...like a red wave? And it wipes out everything in its path. Including people.” Lena briefly pursed her lips. “You’re talking about anti-matter. Only a theory of course but...theoretically, anti-matter could destroy everything it comes into contact with. Without exception.” Kara’s grip on the back of the chair tightened. “Is there any way to stop it? If it enters our universe?” “There’s no way that I know of.” Lena frowned at the sound of a creak. “Supergirl, you’re breaking my chair.” “Huh? Oh, sorry. I’m so sorry.” Kara quickly let go of the chair and stepped back. “I’ll replace it. I’m sorry.” Lena nodded slowly, not entirely sure what to say. She was still furious with the Kryptonian. Still hurt beyond repair but something wasn’t right. Kara could barely look at her. “Why did you need to know?” “What?” “About the anti-matter.” Lena walked around her desk to sit on the edge of it. “Is something happening?” “Maybe…” Kara replied faintly. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry. I’m acting...weird, right? I’m just frazzled and it’s been a long week. Sorry.” “Stop apologising.” “Right,” Kara muttered, cursing her lack of focus. She almost regretted not coming in her suit. She could have used the confidence boost. She was silent for a minute, trying to think of what else to say. “Lena, listen. I’m really sorry. For everything.” Lena frowned. “I thought I told you t-” “Stop apologising. I know.” Kare interjected before Lena could finish. “I just needed you to know that I’m sorry. I’m never going to not be sorry for what I did to you. And our friendship. I betrayed you and everything our friendship stood for. I just hope that you’ll be able to forgive me someday.” She watched Lena look away and figured that was her cue to leave. She didn’t want to push. She was surprised that Lena had allowed her to stay in her office for as long as she had. “I should be going. I’m…” “You’re keeping something from me,” Lena interjected, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She noticed surprise flash across Kara’s face. “You’ve lied to me enough that I know what it looks like now.” “I’m not lying to you. But there is something I need to tell you.” Kara said reluctantly. “And I will. I just don’t know how to say it yet. I don’t know if I even want to say it. To you or anyone else.” “If that’s the way you feel.” “I should go.” Kara said quietly. She waited for an answering nod from Lena before she turned and walked back to the door she’d entered through. She paused with her hand on the door handle. “Lena?” “Yes?” “Me coming to see you is never just about work.” Kara didn’t look at Lena as she spoke. “I miss you.” Lena opened her mouth to reply but before she could say anything Kara was gone, shutting the door carefully behind her. Sighing, Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. “A solution for anti-matter.” She mumbled to herself, slowly lowering her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at her laptop. She’d been working non-stop for what felt like weeks, barely giving herself time to eat and sleep. She supposed a break to work on a new project wouldn’t hurt. TBC (I think. If you guys like it. Just experimenting here!)

#Supercorp #Supergirl #Kara Danvers #Lena Luthor

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joe-mazzello-archive · 4 years

Text

Drops of Jupiter - Part Two

Summary: A story about how one extremely unassuming person became the most important person you had ever met. And then he broke your heart. And then you broke his. Only fair, right?

Word Count: 11k, I AM SO SORRY someone take google docs away from me

Rating: 18+

Warnings: dash of fluff, dash of angst, dash of smut, little of everything my friends

A/N: surprise! almost three months later, and we’re finally back with part two. this monster is going to be at LEAST another two parts. maybe three? we’ll see how wordy i get. i hope you guys enjoy. taglist is still open :)

As soon as you heard the comforting sound of the door clicking, you let out a shaky breath and dropped all of your clothes onto the floor. You glanced at yourself in the mirror; you were quite a sight. Stark naked, hair a mess. You looked absolutely fucked out. Your pussy throbbed with arousal, contracting around nothing. You took a deeper breath and attempted to put yourself together, the distant voices of Joe interacting with your other friends downstairs bringing you back to reality. Once you were as satisfied as you could be (considering you hadn’t been satisfied in that way), you made your way downstairs in what felt like a weird version of the walk of shame.

Joe, Rob, and the rest of the condo’s inhabitants were congregating in the kitchen when you made your awkward entrance.

“Sorry for the cockblock,” Rob said with a chuckle, causing you to roll your eyes. He always did lack a filter.

“It’s okay,” you answered with a shrug. “We’ll just fuck in your bed to make up for it.” Joe threw his head back and let out a deep belly laugh and you beamed. Any time you could make him laugh felt like a victory. Rob rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Still earning that nickname, Miss Chaos,” Rob countered with a smirk. You shook your head, trying to hide your grin while flipping him off.

“Well,” you said, slapping both hands down on the kitchen counter. “I still feel like shit from being fucking drugged and I haven’t eaten yet. So if you will all excuse me.” You shot Joe a quick glance, curious to see how he’d react, before heading towards the front door.

“I’m pretty hungry, too,” came Joe’s voice from behind you and you grinned at your success. Once you had both made it to the hallway, his arm snaked around your back to grip your hip and pull you into him. You giggled as your bodies bumped together as you walked. “Pizza?”

“Pizza.”

The two of you wandered down the street in search of the pizza place your group often frequented when everyone was in town. Once you reached your destination, you each ordered a slice and took a seat at a small table in the corner.

“Hey remember that time we tried to have sex in the condo and then everyone got back and we had to stop?” Joe asked sarcastically. You chuckled and rolled your eyes, gently kicking him under the table.

“Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday. Or maybe less than an hour ago,” you replied with a wink. Joe grinned back at you, and, fuck, there wasn’t a more beautiful sight than that man’s smile. You could stare at his face for hours.

“Well, here we are,” he countered. “Fully clothed. Completely sober. Not a roofie in sight.” You cringed and he noticed. “Too soon?” You chuckled.

“Considering it hasn’t even been twenty four hours, I’d say so,” you replied.

“What I’m trying to say is this is the first time we’ve been alone with no distractions,” Joe explained. You arched an eyebrow, curious as to where he was going with this. “So tell me about yourself.”

So you did. You told him about your family back in your home state. You talked about your job and told horror stories about customers you’d encountered. You complained about your roommate. You gushed about your favorite movies and tv shows. All the while, Joe listened. Like, actually listened. He asked questions and laughed along at your jokes. He brought up things that he had seen you post on social media over the past year and you were surprised he had remembered. His eyes lit up every time he learned something new. It felt different…you felt like you could be yourself with no hesitation. Nothing holding you back. It was freeing.

Then it was his turn. He passionately ranted about his life back home. He hated his job but it paid the bills. He was close with his family and had a ride-or-die group of friends he always got into trouble with. He dreamed of traveling the world, a passion instilled in him by his great aunt. He loved video games and his guilty pleasure was reality tv shows.

You were lost in him, transfixed on every word he said. You wanted to listen to him talk for hours and hours and hours. And you quickly realized you had. The pizza had long been eaten, the table long since cleared. The two of you decided to start heading back to the condo to see what the game plan was for the rest of the evening. But you didn’t want him to stop.

“Finish your story,” you requested, nudging him in the shoulder as you began your walk back to your building.

“Oh come on, I’m sure you’ve gotta be tired of me talking by now,” Joe replied, nudging you back. You chuckled and shook your head.

“Not in the slightest.” In fact, you’d never get tired of him talking. You barely watched where you were walking, you were so captivated by him. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. The way his hands never stopped moving as he spoke. The way he got excited whenever you’d ask a question he could answer.

By the time the two of you walked through the front door of your condo, he was excitedly recounting a story from his recent trip to Thailand. The two of you plopped down on your bed as he pulled out his phone, showing you picture after picture of the places he saw and the people he had met.

It suddenly occurred to you what made him so enrapturing. His passion. The man was so goddamn passionate. He was passionate in the way he told stories, so animated and full of life. He was passionate in the way he had kissed you, holding you close and giving it his all. He was just passionate about life. It was both attractive and inspiring. You’d never met someone so fervent and free in your entire life.

And that’s when you knew you were fucked.

No longer was this a hookup between friends, a quick little summer fling to tide you over. You had caught feelings. And as the man in front of you enthusiastically detailed his experiences in Phuket, a slight sadness overcame you. Because in a few days time, this man -- this beautiful, clever, funny, and passionate man -- would board a plane back home. And you wouldn’t see him for another year.

You were so fucked.

The sound of the front door opening brought you out of your trance. You both turned to see Dan and Matt entering, each holding a snow cone. Dan’s face immediately hardened at the sight of Joe. You jumped to your feet in an instant, passing by a confused Matt and grabbing Dan’s arm, pulling him out into the hallway with you and slamming the door behind you.

“I thought I made it clear that he was not welcome--”

“He didn’t do it,” you cut in, shutting him up. “I promise you he didn’t. There was another guy at the bar who did it. I’m certain of it.” Dan was still tense, a frown taking up residence on his face. You adored Dan. As the oldest of your friends, he had accidentally become the leader of the crew. He booked the condo, organized airport pickups, and attempted to rally your friends for group outings when he could. He was your big brother essentially, and you knew he cared about you. He had met Joe last year when you did, so who could blame him for not trusting his character? He didn’t really know him. You hadn’t before now.

“I just--” he began, taking a breath before continuing. “When I saw him try to get into your bed after you had passed out, I snapped. I didn’t want him to try anything.” You reached out and pulled him into a hug, being careful to mind the melting snow cone he still had in his hand.

“Thank you for looking out for me,” you replied before pulling away and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “I appreciate you. But Joe is one of the good ones.” Dan let out a sigh.

“He still needs to sleep in his own bed,” he argued. “But his ban has been lifted.” You enveloped him in another hug, this time forgetting about the snow cone. You squealed as some of the blue liquid dripped onto your skin and finally Dan broke, laughing at your reaction. You nodded towards the door, and the two of you rejoined the rest of your friends who were huddled around the living room, chatting about who knows what.

A hush fell over the room as you and Dan made your entrance.

“Hey, Joe,” Dan said, breaking the awkward silence. He nodded toward the hallway you had just come from. “Wanna chat?”

Joe shot you a look, almost as if he was asking if it was safe. You smiled and nodded, signalling that things were good.

“Yeah, sure,” Joe replied with a slight smile, getting to his feet and following Dan out, but not before giving your hand a quick squeeze as he passed. The touch brought that same heat to your chest you’d been feeling since that first night. Fuck, you wanted him. No, needed him. You two needed to find a way to get privacy while he was here or you were going to burst.

✧✧✧

After grabbing dinner as one big group at a nearby Mexican restaurant, everyone voted to skip the normal nighttime itinerary of heading out to the bars. What with your...incident...and the fact that everyone was exhausted from the first two nights of partying, the group agreed that it was better to have a relaxing night-in.

So you did what a huge group of nerds looking for a calm night-in did best: grabbed every blanket and pillow you could find, made a giant cuddle puddle in the living room, and queued up The Fellowship of the Ring.

You ended up sandwiched between Kayla and Joe on the couch, snuggled under a cozy blanket with a giant bowl of popcorn on your lap. As you watched the movie, passing around the popcorn amongst your friends, you found yourself sneaking peeks at Joe out of the corner of your eye every once in a while. How he could be so effortlessly good-looking clad in a plain t-shirt made absolutely no sense. You noticed him shift slightly and you snuck a peek at him again, only to be met with him looking directly at you with a smile. You felt your face heat up, knowing you had been caught. Joe simply rolled his bottom lip through his teeth and winked at you. And just when you thought your body’s temperature couldn’t increase anymore, you felt Joe’s hand come to a rest on your thigh under the blanket. Fuck, it took every fiber of your being not to jump his bones right then and there. But you kept your composure, letting the man trace gentle shapes across your skin with his thumb. And none of your friends were the wiser.

You hadn’t even realized you had fallen asleep until you felt movement next to you, bringing you back to reality. You had dozed off on Joe’s shoulder, who himself had fallen asleep as well, his hand still resting on your thigh. The movement turned out to be Kayla getting up to move to her bed, and you quickly noticed most of the room had emptied out. You turned towards the slumbering Joe and smiled. God, he was even gorgeous while he was sleeping. You reached up and gently caressed his stubble.

“Hey, you,” you said softly, trying not to startle him. His eyes blinked rapidly a few times as he took in his surroundings before settling on you and smiling.

“Hey, beautiful,” he replied, sending instant heat to your cheeks. How he managed to continue to fluster you, you’d never know. You pinched his cheek, causing him to crinkle his face at the action.

“Bedtime?”

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea.”

You stood up first, offering a hand to Joe and yanking him to his feet. He glanced around the room for a few moments, almost as if he was looking for something or someone, and you watched him curiously. When his eyes met yours again, in an instant he slid his arm around you and pulled you into a bruising kiss.

You kissed him back eagerly, a soft moan vibrating through your throat as you slid your hands up his chest. But as fast as he had initiated the kiss he pulled away, staring at you intensely for a moment.

“Walk with me,” he said before grabbing his phone and heading towards the front door. Confused and a tad flustered from the kiss, you followed him obediently, grabbing your own phone and sliding on a pair of flip flops.

Instead of turning left and heading towards his own condo, he turned right and pushed open the door to the stairwell. You had no idea where he was leading you, but of course you were going to follow him. You were right on his heels as he climbed up the steps, passing the other floors of the condo building before leading you to the last door at the top of the staircase, with red letters painted on it: ROOF ACCESS. With a smirk, he opened the door and gestured through it.

“After you.”

Eyeing him with a suspicious look, you passed through the door and out into the night. The warm breeze of the evening hit your skin and you relaxed instantly. You floated over to the railing at the edge of the roof and leaned on it, looking out onto the street below. The city was gorgeous and so full of life. The sounds of cars passing and people enjoying the nightlife echoed below you. You couldn’t help but smile. Joe leaned on the railing right next to you.

“I’m not having sex with you on a dirty rooftop, if that’s what you’re thinking,” you announced, breaking the silence. Joe let out a hearty laugh before placing a kiss on your shoulder.

“As much as I would like to eventually have my way with you,” he replied, sending a chill down your spine at the thought. “I just wanted to talk.”

You turned to look at Joe fully. He truly was breathtaking. The glow of the city lights reflected on his face, painting his skin in blues and pinks and yellows. You wanted to frame the image of him, standing there looking at you like you put the moon in the sky.

“I’ve got two more full days here before I head home,” he said, shattering the illusion. You turned to face the city once again and let out a sigh. Must he bring reality into this? Couldn’t he just be like you and enjoy the moment? Did he have to be so smart and responsible?

“I know,” you answered. “Is that what you brought me up here to tell me?” You raised an eyebrow as you eyed the man next to you. He chuckled at your question.

“I wanted to see...I wanted to ask you…” he paused, trying to find the words. “What happens once I go home? To us?”

You felt your chest tighten. It made your heart soar and break simultaneously. It made you breathe a sigh of relief that he appeared to be feeling the same way you did. He was worried what the future brought because he wanted you, too.

But honestly, you had been dreading this conversation. Not because you knew what you had to say and you didn’t want to say it. No, you weren’t looking forward to this talk because you had no idea what to say. You didn’t want this to end. The selfish part of you wanted to do this for real, to make him yours and let him claim you as his. But long distance was complicated and messy. You had done it before and it had ended poorly, and that guy had only lived an hour from you. Joe lived over 700 miles away. A two-hour plane trip. A fucking fourteen-hour car ride. That was the kind of relationship that took a lot of work.

And to make that commitment to someone you had only just started something with? It seemed crazy. Unrealistic.

But to say goodbye and end whatever the two of you were doing outright? It hurt to think about.

However there was always the third option: decide not to decide.

“How about this?” you began, immediately capturing Joe’s attention. “How about we enjoy ourselves the next two days? And then when you go home, we can just…take it a day at a time. We don’t make any commitments but we don’t end things altogether. We just...see where the wind takes us.”

Joe studied you for a moment, as if he was trying to get a read on you. Trying to see if there was anything underlying in your proposal. He took a step forward and reached for you, his hands settling on the exposed skin just above your shorts. You instinctively let your arms wrap around his torso as well, pulling him as close to you as you could.

“Sounds like a plan,” he practically whispered before placing a kiss on your forehead. You leaned up and placed a hand on his cheek, bringing his lips to yours.

Something about this kiss was different. While most of your other kisses had been fiery and passionate, exchanged in the heat of the moment, this one was slow and delicate. Like you were taking your time and memorizing the feeling of each other’s lips, knowing you had a finite number of kisses remaining.

You didn’t stay too much longer on the roof, the pair of you completely exhausted. As you both made your way back to the door to the building, Joe’s hand found yours, interlacing his fingers and squeezing. He held your hand all the way back down the stairs to your floor. As you approached the door to your condo, he brought your hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on your knuckles.

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

“Goodnight.”

You quietly slipped into the condo, knowing that everyone was probably asleep. As you collapsed on your bed, the events of the past three days ran through your head like a highlight reel. As each memory played back, you couldn’t help but think about Joe. In just three days he had woven his way into your life like no one else had before. And you couldn’t be happier.

You drifted off to sleep with a smile on your face, thinking of nothing but the beautiful man two doors down. And you couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking about you, too.

✧✧✧

Not waking up with a hangover was a marvelous thing. For the first time since the week began, you actually felt refreshed and ready to conquer the day.

But you were also insanely horny.

Not only had Joe invaded your life in the best way possible (you weren’t complaining by any means), but last night he had also invaded your dreams. Before you woke up, you had been enjoying an extremely arousing vision where Joe’s face had taken up permanent residence between your thighs.

And now you were determined to make that reality.

As you showered and got ready for the day, you wracked your brain for a way to get him alone without the worry of your friends interrupting you. You were exiting the bathroom, headed downstairs to hear what the plan was for the day, when you were greeted with a series of loud cheers.

“HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, MOTHER FUCKERS!” Matt’s booming voice rang out throughout the entire condo. You chuckled as you descended the stairs into the living room.

“Excited are we?” you jested as you plopped down on the couch.

“Fuck yeah! Let’s blow some shit up tonight!” Nick added, pumping his first into the air.

“Considering we’re in the middle of the city, I think we should just let the experts take care of the fireworks,” Kayla countered with a laugh as she took the seat next to you.

“So do we have a gameplan for the day?” you asked as you wrapped your arms around Kayla and pulled her against your chest.

“I was thinking we could go for a swim in the river and then just hang out in the park for the fireworks show later,” Dan replied with a shrug, trying to play it casual as if he hadn’t been planning it all week. The friends that had gathered in the living room all sounded their agreements. You liked the idea yourself until you realized something: you hadn’t packed your bathing suit.

“I’d love to join you guys,” you commented. “But I will have to run up to my apartment to grab my swimsuit.”

And that’s when it clicked. Your apartment. You had a perfectly empty apartment a couple of miles north of the city. That’s how you were going to get your privacy with Joe.

“No worries, we probably won’t be heading there for a few hours,” Dan responded, pulling you from your thoughts. With a nod, you pulled out your phone to shoot Joe a text.

You: Want to go on a short adventure?

His reply was almost instant.

Joe: Should I be afraid?

You: Not at all, haha. I need to run up to my apartment to grab my bathing suit for today. My EMPTY apartment...if you catch my drift.

Joe: Drift definitely caught. I’m on my way over to you.

You took a deep breath, trying to contain your excitement. Almost seconds later there was a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it!” you shouted, way too enthusiastically, completely dropping your attempt to be casual. You yanked the door open to reveal the source of your sexual frustration that morning. He greeted you with a chaste kiss before stepping inside to say hello to the rest of the condo inhabitants. You snatched up your purse, keys, and phone before sliding on your flip flops and grabbing Joe by the wrist.

“We’ll see you guys in an hour or so!” you called over your shoulder as you practically dragged Joe out the door, eager to get on with the day’s events. You let Joe’s arm go but continued to head down the hallway quickly before being pushed against the wall, letting out an “oof” as Joe’s body covered yours.

“You seem to be in a hurry,” he commented, his hands sliding down your sides before settling on your hips. “Got somewhere you need to be?” You keened into his touch as flashes of last night’s dream played across your mind.

“Just want to get you alone,” you murmured, running your fingernails across his shoulder blades. Your lips connected as he pressed his body firmly against yours. “You trying to get me all riled up? Because I’m already at that point.”

“Oh yeah?” he mumbled into the sensitive skin of your neck. “Already?”

“Might have had a dream about you last night,” you sighed as you slid your hands around his neck to land on his chest. You felt him groan as he pressed his forehead to your chest.

“Okay, as soon as we get to your apartment, you are explaining the dream in detail,” he stated as he pulled away. You chuckled and grabbed his hand, lacing your fingers with his and leading him towards the parking garage.

Before you knew it the two of you were flying down the highway in your car with the windows rolled down, blasting music and singing along. You glanced over at Joe, still amazed at the man’s effortless beauty. He grinned back at you, and you felt that familiar tickle in your stomach. You couldn’t remember the last time you had felt this way about a person.

The song changed and you couldn’t help but smile as one of your favorite songs ever began to play.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere /

With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey /

She acts like summer and walks like rain /

Reminds me that there's a-time to change, hey, hey /

Since the return of her stay on the moon /

She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey /

Hey, hey /

But tell me did you sail across the sun /

Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded /

And that heaven is overrated? /

Tell me did you fall from a shooting star /

One without a permanent scar /

And did you miss me while you were /

looking for yourself out there? /

You sang along as you drove, feeling unafraid to belt out the lyrics. While other people sometimes made you feel self-conscious, Joe’s presence simply calmed you, letting you be yourself, free from judgment. You finished singing the pop song just as you pulled into the parking garage of your apartment building.

“I could listen to you sing for hours,” Joe commented as he climbed out of your car. You felt your cheeks warm once again.

“You flatter me,” you replied as you joined him on the other side of the car. You grabbed his hand once again before the two of you headed into your building and down the hall.

“So your roommate won’t be home?” Joe clarified as you both made your way towards your apartment door.

“Nah, she’s always at her boyfriend’s,” you explained as you came to a stop in front of your door, sliding your key into the lock. “Especially since today is the Fourth--”

Your words faded away as you opened your apartment door to reveal your roommate, her boyfriend, and two older adults sitting in the living room. Fuck.

“Oh hey!” your roommate greeted. You and Joe awkwardly entered the small apartment, fake smiles plastered on your faces.

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to be home!” you stated, trying to hide your annoyance at the situation. The one time you needed the apartment to yourself, she’s home. With guests.

“Oh yeah, my parents are in town for the holiday, and we’re just hanging out here for a little bit before we head to the park to watch fireworks,” she explained, gesturing to the others seated around the room who each waved at you. You gave a quick wave in response before remembering you had Joe next to you.

“Very cool,” you responded awkwardly as you started to make your way towards your bedroom. “Um, this is my friend, Joe.” Joe followed behind you, giving the group a quick wave as well. The group let out a chorus of greetings as the two of you finally closed the distance to your bedroom door.

You pulled Joe inside and closed the door, ending the awkward exchange.

“Well, so much for privacy,” you groaned, plopping down on your bed and throwing an arm across your eyes. When Joe didn’t respond after a few moments, you leaned up on your elbows to see Joe wandering around your room, a slight smile on his face. “What are you doing?”

“A person’s bedroom can tell you a lot about that person,” he replied before his eyes met yours. “I’m learning all I can about you.” You couldn’t help but mirror his smile. You sat up on the bed, reaching your arms out and making grabby hands at him. All you could think about was just touching him. He chuckled and stepped towards you, allowing you to pull him towards you.

“My diabolical plan to fuck you senseless in my apartment has failed,” you commented, your voice low as you ran your hands up and down his sides. Joe let out a long hum as he leaned down to rest his forehead against yours, his hands sliding up your thighs. You held back a whimper at his touch. Fuck, you were so fucking horny and you just needed this man more than anything.

“What if we’re just really quiet?” he proposed, his voice thick with want. You groaned as his fingers strayed closer and closer to the place you wanted them.

“I don’t know if I’m capable of being quiet,” you countered. “Besides, these walls are paper thin. I would know. My roommate and her boyfriend are not as quiet as they think they are.” You cringed at the memory, the night that made you add “ear plugs” to your next shopping list. “They did say they were heading to the park. Maybe we can just wait it out?”

“Fine by me.”

So you waited. The two of you chatted, you sharing stories about objects displayed in your room and him laughing along to those stories. You mutually decided to keep your hands to yourselves for the time being, wordlessly agreeing that it would only lead to more sexual tension. You both kept your ears open to the sounds coming from the living room, hoping to hear a shuffle of feet and a door closing to signal that you were alone.

But an hour later, laughter and idle chatter still sounded from the other side of the wall, leaving you and Joe bored, hungry, and sexually frustrated.

“Well, I have no idea when these people are gonna leave,” you suddenly announced. “So I think I should just grab my bathing suit and we can go grab some food before we head back downtown.” Joe let out a sigh next to you.

“I think that’s probably a good idea,” he agreed. You leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before pushing yourself off of the bed. You yanked open a drawer from your dresser and pulled out the first bathing suit you saw.

“Are you really planning on getting undressed and putting that suit on right now, in front of me, and expecting me not to jump your bones?” Joe asked incredulously, still sprawled across your mattress. You turned to face him with a giggle.

“I would never be that cruel,” you countered before heading into your bathroom and closing the door behind you. You let out a deep breath you didn’t realize you were holding. You couldn’t remember another time where you had this much sexual tension with someone before. You cursed the universe for presenting you with this beautiful, funny, charming man but not letting you have him the way you wanted.

After pulling on your bikini and throwing your street clothes on top of it, you rejoined Joe in your bedroom, finding him tapping away at his phone. He glanced up at your entrance and that familiar, contagious smile of his appeared.

“Shall we?”

The two of your made your awkward exit from the apartment, you squeaking out a “see ya” to your roommate and her company. You piled back into your car and made your way towards your favorite burger joint that happened to be halfway between your apartment and the downtown condo. The pair of you had realized you hadn’t eaten at all that day and were tearing into your burgers and fries when your phone buzzed.

Kayla: we’re heading over to the river now, so you guys can just meet us there

You replied with a thumbs up emoji and went back to devouring your lunch.

“Who was that?” Joe asked, his voice muffled by the fries he had stuffed into his mouth.

“Kayla,” you replied quickly, not wanting to pause eating for too long. “She said they’re all headed to the river, so we can just go straight there instead of back to the condo.” Joe finally swallowed and reached for his soda.

“Well I don’t have my suit with me, so we have to go back to my condo anyway…”

Joe trailed off as you processed his statement. Then, as if your brains were connected, you both suddenly came to the same realization.

Everyone was already at the river. That meant your condo was empty.

Fuck. Yes.

Your eyes widened as you looked across the table at Joe. His eyes had glazed over and his mouth hung open slightly. You knew that look. It was the same look he had given you when the two of you almost had sex the day before. You let out a deep breath before shooting Joe a quick wink.

“Well,” you said, breaking the silence. “I guess we better finish up and head back to the condos.”

The two of you finished your meals unhealthily fast and quickly climbed back into your car. The ride was brimming with anticipation, made worse by Joe making the tortuous decision to run his hand up and down your thigh as you drove.

By the time the pair of you burst through the condo front door, you were already attached to each other, Joe’s hands gripping your hips and your arms looped around his neck. Joe practically flung you onto your tiny bed before pouncing on top of you, his lips devouring yours. You slid a hand to his chest and gently pushed him away.

“Wait,” you said breathlessly. “Let’s make sure we’re actually alone.” Joe nodded before leaning back down to press a quick peck to your cheek.

“Good idea.”

The two of you split up, you taking the upstairs and him downstairs, searching for any signs that one of your friends was still lingering in the condo somewhere. After not finding a single trace of anyone upstairs, you smirked.

Finally. Fucking privacy.

“We’re clear up here,” you called out as you made your way back down the steps.

“Same here,” Joe responded as you turned the corner and met his gaze. You slowly walked towards him, his eyes watching you intently, waiting to see what you would do next. Your eyes fell to his chest as you gently ran both of your hands across the expanse of his cotton t-shirt. Your touches traveled up towards his neck before finally resting your hands on the side of his face.

“Fuck me, Joe,” you whispered before crashing your lips to his.

It was like a switch had been flipped. The two of you clawed at each other as your lips connected again, all passion and tongue. You practically floated back over to the bed, yanking Joe down on top of you.

Hands yanked at t-shirts and fingers pulled at zippers, and after getting momentarily caught in the straps of your bikini top, the two of you were finally naked, latching onto each other like you couldn’t bear to spend a moment not touching. Joe’s one hand cupped your jaw as he devoured your mouth, his other hand lighting a fiery trail of touches down your ribs, your hip, your thigh. While his touches were slow, like he was trying to memorize your curves, your touches were desperate and needy, running your hands along the expanse of his back before circling his neck. You just couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t stop touching him. The feeling of his bare skin against yours was ecstasy, setting your soul aflame. His long fingers found your folds, wet and aching to be massaged. A deep groan vibrated through his chest as he buried his head into your shoulder.

“Fuck, you’re fucking soaked,” Joe mumbled against your skin, his fingers continuing their exploration. You whimpered in response, completely melting against his ministrations. He painted your pussy with your own juices before centering in on the bundle of nerves that had been longing for his attention. The weight of his body kept your hips pinned as he worked, playing your body like a finely-tuned instrument; each knead of his thumb making you sing, filling the room with moans and whines. Two fingers slid into you with ease as his mouth worked to decorate your collarbone with dark marks, nipping and sucking the sensitive skin.

You were at his mercy, left to simply tug at his auburn locks and dig your nails into his back. The man stroked a fire in your belly, the pressure in your core building as every cell of your body cried out with pleasure. Your thoughts were foggy, but the same question from the first night plagued your mind once again: had it ever been this good before? How was it possible that one man had this innate power to flood your heart, your mind, your body with every good feeling in the world?

The edge drew nearer and nearer as Joe’s nimble fingers caressed and rubbed in all the right places. His breath against your neck, his hand gripping your shoulder -- the man was everywhere and you wanted nothing more than to drown in him.

You came with a yell, the noise from deep in your chest escaping like it had been trapped inside. Your walls clenched around those long fingers of his and your nails left little half-moons in his pale flesh, hips bucking hard against his hand. You hadn’t even realized you had squeezed your eyes shut until they shot open, eyesight blurry as rush after rush of bliss racked through your body. Your vision cleared, revealing two piercing amber eyes watching with you with intensity.

Jaw slack and chest heaving, Joe slowly eased his fingers out of you, pushing himself onto his knees, your thighs still trapped beneath him.

“That was the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen,” he growled, bottom lip rolling between his teeth. You let out a pleasant hum.

“You should probably make me do it again,” you countered with a weary smirk as you pushed yourself onto your elbows. You took the opportunity to shamelessly ogle the man straddling you, your eyes tracing a path down his chest to his soft belly before landing on his cock, hard and pink in his hand. Your gaze shot back up to Joe’s face, his eyes hooded as he stared back at you, leisurely pumping himself. “As sexy as you look right now, I’m going to need you to put that in me ASAP. I don’t even want to entertain the notion of us being interrupted again.”

With a classic Joe grin, the man leaned over to reach his discarded shorts, pulling a condom from his pocket. He rolled it on, the smirk never leaving his face as he felt you watching him. You were entranced by him, the way the muscles in his arm flexed as he fisted himself, the way he bit down on his lip, the way he eyed your body with hunger.

He leaned over you, steadying himself on his elbow while he lined himself up. Your hands found his biceps again, gripping hard as sheathed himself inside of you, twin moans reverberating throughout the condo. Pausing only for a moment to glance down at you, Joe gripped your thigh, hooking it around his hip before giving an experimental thrust.

Your whimper and the way you latched onto him harder must have given him the confirmation he needed. He began to move, grinding deep inside you, impaling you on his cock with each pump of his hips. His grunts mixed with your cries of pleasure as you suffocated in everything that was Joe. Your fingers curled against his scalp as you yanked him down to meet your lips, wanting him to take your mouth, too. He tasted like Dr Pepper and smelled like summer, and you willed yourself to memorize every detail because deep down you knew you were lucky to have this, to have him.

For what felt like hours, the two of you moved as one, clinging to each other with the ferocity of two people who were deprived of one another for far too long. Joe let go of your thigh, leaving soft blue spots behind before planting his palm flat above your shoulder. The new position drove his cock into you deeper and faster and you couldn’t help but cry out. Your eyes bore into his as he pounded into you, his own groans like music to your ears. You were nearing the edge once again, your own hips meeting his with more and more desperation.

“Joe,” you breathed out, the single syllable all you were capable of producing. He understood though, dropping back to his elbow and reaching between the two of you in the same motion. His thumb connected with your clit with a perfectly timed thrust and then...euphoria.

Loudly and roughly, you came, walls tensing around him like a vice. You thrashed against him while you experienced wave after wave of pure elation, but his pace never slowed. His thumb continued to work at you as his hips pistoned against yours. You weakly swiped at his hand to stop his strokes against your overworked bundle of nerves and he finally relented, his own thrusts becoming sloppier.

With a roaring groan, his cock throbbed inside of you while his hips stilled, his body going rigid above you. You watched his face in awe as he lost himself in his own pleasure, etching the image into your brain. And with a deep breath, he collapsed into you, and you reveled in the feeling of his bare chest pressing against yours.

The condo echoed with the sounds of heavy panting as you both came down from your shared high. Joe’s head nestled into the crook of your neck and you instinctively brought a hand up to run your fingers through his locks.

“That was...well worth the wait,” Joe mumbled into your skin, causing you to chuckle in response. Your laugh shook both of your trembling bodies and suddenly you were reminded that he was still inside you.

“Well, it would have been nice to have been able to do that all week,” you countered. You felt Joe smile against your neck before he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at you.

“To be fair, we did try,” he argued with a grin. That sent you both into a fit of giggles, and you couldn’t help but shake your head at the ridiculous situation the two of you had found yourselves in the day before...and earlier that day. You laid there in each other’s nude embrace for a few moments longer, soaking up the feeling, exchanging soft caresses and gentle kisses. You both knew that it was very likely that you wouldn’t find yourselves in this position again. At least, not in the near future.

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but you’re crushing me,” you finally said after another minute. Joe let out a mock scoff before slowly easing himself out of you, both of you wincing at the sensation. He came to a stand next to the bed, politely offering a hand to you. You smiled and let him pull you to your feet and into his arms. His lips were heavenly against yours, the soft and slow kiss a stark contrast to the ones that had been exchanged during your escapade.

“Not to ruin this wonderful moment,” Joe murmured against your lips, “but we should probably start making our way to the river.” You groaned. He was right, annoyingly so. It had now been a few hours since you originally left to get your suit. You were both supposed to be spending time with all of your friends, not just each other, no matter how much you wanted to.

You both got yourselves cleaned up and dressed before heading down the hall to retrieve Joe’s swim trunks. Your hand twitched as you instinctively felt the need to reach for Joe’s hand, but you opted against it, suddenly feeling sheepish. Even though the two of you had held hands several times already, and the man had been buried inside you mere minutes ago, holding his hand right then seemed too...intimate all of a sudden.

Joe changed and gathered towels for the two of you before you headed downstairs, out onto the bustling street, and down towards the park, feeling different.

✧✧✧

You didn’t even get a chance to swim in the river.

After all of the effort on your part, the group had decided they were done with swimming and headed to grab some food by the time you made it to the park. You and Joe linked up with Matt and Dan, both sporting their usual snow cones, and found a spot in the grass to lay out your towels and wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

Things were weird right away. You noticed it immediately. As your friends started to trickle over, they greeted you with muted smiles and limited words. Something was brewing, and you seemed to be the only one who didn’t know what it was. Joe, on the other hand, seemed totally unaware, as he conversed with your gaggle of friends as they all got settled on their towels and blankets.

You were exhausted by how much your head was swimming. Most of the week, all you could think about was Joe. You overthought everything you said to him, every time you two touched, every time he glanced your way. You were so caught up in thinking about what to do with this new spark in your life. You practically didn’t have any brain power left to even ponder why everyone was acting so weird around you.

Dan, in his big brother wisdom, seemed to sense your confusion and squatted next to you.

“You should talk to Kayla,” was all he offered before standing up and returning to his spot next to Herbie. You furrowed your brows in confusion. Had you done something to Kayla?

You got your answer almost instantly as the petite brunette in question stomped over to your growing group, giving you a quick glare before plopping down a few towels in front of you beside Nick.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Classic Kayla. If she had a problem with you, she should be the one to tell you what it was. But this was a textbook move for her. Make it abundantly clear she’s upset but not be grown up enough to confront you about it. You sighed and glanced at the back of her head in front of you.

You were suddenly overcome with a sense of loneliness. Joe was a few blankets away, wooing the small crowd with his endless charm and wit, not even paying you any mind. Dan had decided that you were only worth a single sentence explanation before separating himself. And now your closest friend, your confidant, your wifey, was giving you the cold shoulder.

As the sun began to set and the crowd in the park grew around you, you gazed at Joe. He was animatedly telling some story to Rob and your heart panged at the sight. You wanted nothing more than to burrow yourself into his side, to feel his arms around you. Despite your anxiety about what was going to happen once Joe left, you felt safe and comfortable with him.

You continued to stare at him longingly, feeling almost jealous of Rob for having Joe’s attention. You knew you were being irrational; you had spent hours alone with Joe today. It was only fair that everyone else got to spend time with him now. But the selfish part of you wanted him all to yourself.

But he wasn’t yours. Not officially. That was the deal.

You were roused from your thoughts by fireworks exploding above you. It was all too overwhelming. The mobs of people decorating the park. The eruptions in the sky. Dan. Kayla. Joe. The past few days had been a roller coaster full of ups and downs, and it was as if it was finally catching up to you.

You felt a tear escape. Shouldn’t you be happy? You were surrounded by friends, you were smack in the middle of a whirlwind romance. The weather was amazing and you hadn’t had to think about work or real life in days.

So why were you crying? How was it possible to feel so alone when you were completely surrounded?

You stubbornly wiped at your face, annoyed with yourself. You couldn’t even focus on the colorful lights across the evening sky, too caught up in your own bullshit to appreciate it.

Then you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“She’s upset that we ditched the group for so long,” Joe said, loud enough for you to hear over the crashes and bangs but low enough to keep it between the two of you. You didn’t look at him, even as he settled next to you and began to trace soft circles on your knee. “Herbie told me.” You pondered his words, shaking your head in confusion. “Her view is that this week is about spending time with all of us together. So the two of us disappearing for hours and hours just to spend time with each other was a lame move in her eyes.” He paused, most likely hoping for a response from you, but you didn’t say a word, continuing to be annoyed at yourself for crying.

“I get it to a point,” Joe continued. Fuck, you thought, this is the part where he says he regrets everything. You winced, silently hoping he’d let you down easy. “But today was like...the best day I’ve had in a long time.”

You finally looked at him and were greeted with Joe’s soft smile. He wove his fingers with yours and placed a kiss to your knuckles, and it was as if he kissed away every anxiety in your body. You instantly relaxed at the gesture, and just like that, you were back.

“You’re just saying that because you got laid,” you jested, nudging him with your elbow.

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Shut up.”

You pulled him in for a kiss, wordlessly thanking him for just...everything. For making the past few days incredible. For making you laugh. For giving you several orgasms. For just being him. For just being Joe.

Your lips moved against his passionately as you poured every emotion you were feeling into the kiss. Every giddy smile that tugged at your lips when he flirted with you. Every shiver down your spine each time his fingers brushed your skin. Every moment of feeling seen and adored.

When you finally pulled away, you were both breathless, foreheads pressed together. You couldn’t bring yourself to tear your gaze away from those chestnut eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul. Who gives a shit about fireworks when the most beautiful thing in the world was right in front of you?

The next hour passed by in a blur. You were too caught up in the feeling of Joe’s body pressed against your side, the feeling of his thumb caressing the back of your hand, the feeling of your shoulders brushing against each other’s as you walked back towards the condo. You could hear the rambling conversations of your friends around you, but they sounded miles away.

By the time you stumbled back into the condo, you were exhausted. It had been a long day, and you wanted nothing more than to cuddle up into Joe’s arms and pass out. It seemed like everyone was on a similar wavelength as you noticed the condo begin to settle down a lot earlier than usual. The awkwardness from the park had seemingly vanished for the most part; you assumed it was because everyone who knew why Kayla was upset with you had either forgotten about it or didn’t care themselves.

After grabbing a cup of water and heading back towards your bed to join Joe, you found he was not alone.

“We should talk,” Kayla stated, glaring at you. Your eyes immediately found Joe’s, his face offering nothing but sympathy.

He said goodnight with a chaste kiss to your temple and a squeeze of your hand before disappearing through the front door, leaving you alone with the angry brunette perched on the edge of your bed.

“I guess you’re done giving me the silent treatment?” you accused, dropping onto the bed and stretching out your legs behind her.

“Well I mean considering you ditched us all for like five hours today, I assumed you didn’t want to talk to me,” she countered. You rolled your eyes.

“Come on,” you grumbled, crossing your arms. “Can we be fucking adults here? Why is it so bad that Joe and I spent some time alone today? I mean you were the one who suggested I hook up with him in the first place--”

“It was a joke! I didn’t think you’d actually take me seriously! And now…” she trailed off. You furrowed your brow as you waited for her to continue. She turned to you, a pained look on her face as if she was dreading the words she was about to say. “I’m worried about whatever this is turning into.”

“What what is turning into?” you questioned, your brows remaining knitted together, trying to decipher what she was trying to say.

“You and Joe.”

Her confession did nothing to ease your confusion, so you simply sat there and stared at her, silently asking for further explanation.

“It just seems like...with the way you’re acting...I don’t know. It just seems a lot more serious than a quick fling.”

You pondered her words. There was definitely a truth to them; the status of your...connection with Joe was practically all you could think about. It was definitely beyond just a simple fling. But Kayla’s concern about it just confused you even more. It took several moments for you to finally respond.

“Are you...are you jealous?” You almost felt bad asking. Kayla had a long-term boyfriend back home. He hadn’t been able to get the time off from work to join the group during the yearly get-together this time. But her actions and words gave off an air of jealousy. Hell, she had said it herself: she was mad that you had spent time with Joe away from everyone else.

“No, not at all,” she confirmed, shaking her head. “I’m...I’m just concerned that this isn’t going to end well. One or both of you are going to get hurt.”

Of course you had entertained that possibility. Fuck, you’d spent most of the week overanalyzing everything about the situation. As hard as you were trying to maintain that this thing with Joe was casual, that you were gonna take it a day at a time, all it took was his hundred-watt smile to make you melt. This thing was what, five days old? But you had to face it, you had it bad.

But at the end of the day, if this whole thing was a mistake, it was your mistake to make.

You let out a sigh, your frustration with Kayla fading away.

“I appreciate you worrying about me,” you admitted, scooting closer to her on the bed, signaling you were backing down. “But Joe and I have talked about it. We’re not jumping into this head first. We’re gonna take it a day at a time.”

Her face revealed she wasn’t convinced. She eyed you warily, looking for something, you weren’t sure what.

“Just...be careful, okay?” she insisted, grabbing your hand and giving it a squeeze. “You know I love you a lot.” The frustrated frown that had taken up residence on your face ebbed away and you offered a soft smile.

“I love you too, wifey.”

✧✧✧

You were roused from your peaceful sleep by a buzzing under your head. With a groan, you flopped onto your stomach, pulling the vibrating phone out from under your pillow, revealing your boss’s name in big bold letters.

“Aaron, it’s eight in the morning, dude,” you grumbled into the phone.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I’m desperate. I know you’re supposed to be off today, but is there any way you can close tonight? Both of the other managers called out with the flu.”

You let out another groan, making sure your boss knew exactly how grumpy you were. Of course you would have to go into work. The last few days had been too good and the universe needed to balance itself out. After a long silence, you finally relented, knowing you really didn’t have a choice.

“I’ll be there at two.”

“Oh my god, thank you! I owe you lunch or something! Thank you so much.”

After hanging up with your boss, you let out another loud groan, knowing you were going to have to break the news to your friends. And Joe.

Fuck. You were gonna lose your last day with Joe.

You waited until the rest of the condo was up and moving, or at least relatively close, before letting them know, collecting your ragtag group of friends, Joe included, into the condo living room to break the news. Everyone was disappointed, as you expected, especially at the fact that logistically, you wouldn’t be able to come back to the condo after work, as you were supposed to work an early shift the next day. When your eyes landed on Joe, instead of disappointment, you were met with what could only be described as a focused glare.

As your gaggle of friends debated where they were going to go for lunch, you moved towards him, his concentrated gaze watching your movements.

“You look like you’re scheming, Mazzello,” you commented as you wrapped your arms around his neck. His arms looped around your waist, the two of you fitting together like puzzle pieces.

“What if when you leave for work, the two of us didn’t have to say our goodbyes yet?”

The plan was simple. The second you were off work, Joe would Uber up to your apartment where he’d stay with you before you would take him to the airport for his ungodly early flight. You’d be able to have a few more hours together before reality would kick in and the past few days of absolute joy would come to an end.

You were passed around the room as each one of your friends pulled you in for a hug, exchanging words of love and about how next year couldn’t come fast enough.

Joe helped you finish packing your suitcase and walked you to the parking garage, leaving you with a passionate kiss and a strong internal battle over whether or not to call your boss and let him know you changed your mind.

But instead you drove yourself home, throwing on some more work-appropriate garb and heading down the street to rejoin the world of retail.

✧✧✧

It didn’t feel like it was possible for time to pass so slowly. But each second was like a minute, each minute an hour. Customers were grinding your gears more so than normal. The associates seemed determined to anything except their jobs. It was oddly busy for a weeknight, meaning more to straighten up and a longer shift. And all you could think about was the night you had ahead of you the second you clocked out.

You could barely concentrate as you counted the night’s deposit. You barely heard the associates wishing you a good night as you locked up the door, your entire focus centered on determinedly tapping away at your phone as you walked towards your apartment.

You: FREEDOM

Joe: I’m on my way.

Two minutes later, you arrived at your apartment to find it completely empty and you sighed in relief. Another fifteen agonizing minutes later, you yanked Joe through your front door, his suitcase falling to the ground behind him. You kissed him as if you hadn’t seen him in days, instead of only a few hours. He kissed you back just as hungrily, holding you impossibly close.

Joe eventually collected his forgotten suitcase and the two of you settled into your bed, cuddling close as you recounted your stressful workday. He caressed your back and patiently listened while you complained, shaking his head lovingly at your overdramatic retellings of the events of your night. You ran your fingers through his hair as he told you about his day, telling you about the condo’s shenanigans while trying not to make you upset for missing out. At this point you didn’t care. You had Joe in your arms right then and that’s all that mattered to you.

After your third yawn, Joe suggested the two of you attempt to get some sleep before your early alarm would go off, signaling the end of your slowly dwindling time together. You burrowed under the covers as Joe spooned up behind you, his arm protectively wrapping around your middle. He whispered a soft goodnight into your ear, and as soon as you relaxed into his embrace, you were out like a light.

Somewhere in your dreaming you noticed something. There was a gentle tickle against your neck and shoulders. It was soft and you relaxed into the touch as if you were afraid it would disappear. You slowly began to come to and as your mind became more clear, it suddenly registered that the pleasant touch was Joe’s lips against your skin. You let out a soft moan as you stretched, arching into his kisses.

“We have a half hour until we have to leave,” Joe mumbled into your hair, his hands sliding up to caress your ribs now that he knew you were awake. You hummed in response, immediately understanding what he was saying. You gave your hips an experimental roll backwards against him, meeting with his rigid cock behind you and earning a growl in your ear.

In retrospect, it was silly of the two of you to wear clothes to bed, knowing full well you’d be stripped of them at some point. Clumsily and sleepily, the two of you shed each other of your sleepwear, the need to feel each other’s skin driving your actions. His lips found yours in the dark, greedily licking into your mouth like a starved man. His grip on you was like a vice as he rolled his hips against yours, his hard on trapped between your bellies. The pitch black of your room made everything more intense, it felt like that first night all over again. Joe was everywhere all at once, kissing you, stroking the heat between your thighs, massaging your breasts. When he thrust into you, locking his hips into place like he belonged there, you couldn’t help but whine. Every time was better than the last and you had a feeling this man was about to ruin you in the best way. No one was ever going to be able to bring you to pleasure like this ever again. The thought was both scary and exhilarating.

His large hands yanked you and pushed you where he pleased, and you gladly moved with him, his touch pulling nothing but pleasure. No matter what happened next, no matter what happened once the two of you got into your car and drove to the airport, you knew in this moment that you were his. You wanted to give yourself to him. You needed him to take you.

“Please, Joe,” you whimpered out. “Just fuckin’....use me.”

In an instant you were flipped on to your stomach and dragged to the edge of the bed, your feet hitting the floor, your body folded in half under Joe’s. He railed into you, groaning into your ear. You couldn’t make out the mumbled words against your skin, too lost in your own pleasure as he drove deeper and deeper inside you. You reached behind you to grip his wrists where his hands rested on your hips, holding on as if he’d disappear if you let go, as if this was nothing more than a dream.

You came with a loud moan, pleasure rushing through every cell in your body. Joe continued to impale you on his cock as you rode out your high, then with a strangled groan, he pulled out and panted your bare back with white streaks. He left you slumped over the bed, absolutely boneless and blissed out while he fumbled through your dark bathroom for a washcloth.

You let out a pleased hum as he cleaned you up, and again as he placed a gentle kiss between your shoulder blades. You pushed yourself up on shaky legs, turning around and reaching for Joe instinctively. You knew you had minutes left and you wanted to make sure you were touching him at all times. You looped your arms around his neck and kissed him, willing your brain to memorize every aspect of the moment, because you had no idea when or even if you’d be lucky enough to have him again. The softness of his lips, the way he pressed his chest against yours, the little noises he made as you pressed your lips to his neck. You etched it all into your brain before pulling back to gaze into his eyes.

“We better get going,” he said before pressing a quick kiss to your cheek. He smiled at you, but his eyes were sad, as if he regretted being the one to pull you both back to reality.

You threw your sleep clothes back on, uncaring of your appearance considering the sun wasn’t even up yet. You helped him make sure that he had all of his things, and then the two of you piled into your car for the last time.

You hummed along to your shuffling playlist as you drove down the empty highway, your car the only one for miles on account of the ungodly hour. One hand steered the car and the other held Joe’s hand tightly, your fingers woven together. No words were spoken; they weren’t needed. You both knew how you felt about each other. You both knew that this sucked. And you both were afraid of what was going to come next.

But you were in it together. Taking it one day at a time. That was the deal.

The song on the stereo changed to “Don’t You Forget About Me” as you passed the welcome sign for the airport, and you rolled your eyes at the spot-on song choice.

You slowed the car to a stop at the curb below the sign for Joe’s airline, hopping out to help him free his suitcase from your trunk. The two of you stared at each other for a few moments before Joe pulled you into a crushing embrace, tucking his head into your shoulder.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?”

You were a bit choked up, unable to get words out, so you simply nodded, hoping to whatever higher power there was that his words would ring true.

You reluctantly let go of him and watched him with a smile as he wheeled his suitcase through the doors before you, throwing a glance over his shoulder to see you waving back at him.

It wasn’t until you were halfway home that you let yourself cry.

✧✧✧

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