#andrew pretends to hate it but will snatch his hand back when he pulls away

[rekikiri]

andrew wears a bunch of rings, and one of them is a fidget ring (like the ones that slide) and when Neil is bored he just reaches for Andrew’s hand and takes it from him as soon as Andrew says yes

[ex-vengeancedemon]

Averting Disasters and Other Ways to Avoid Your Problems

Chapter 2

Characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentions of things that occurred in Angel: The Series season 5.

Main Pairing: Buffy x Spike

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Giles, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith, Dawn

Summary: Set in 2008, five years after Spike's resurrection at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy is living in Cleveland guarding the hellmouth. Spike has left Angel and company and is hiding out in Chicago. The Scoobies are scattered. When something starts going wrong with the slayers around the world, it's time to get the gang back together.

Masterlist & Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Cleveland, Ohio

Buffy woke up groggy. She was still in her bed. It was still dark outside. Her eyelids felt heavy as she squinted through the dim, struggling to focus. After a disorienting minute, she shook the fog from her head and glanced at her alarm clock resting on the nightstand, its only fixture. She had meant to decorate. She would....eventually.

The segmented, glowing red numbers on her alarm informed her it was four in the morning. That couldn't be right. Could it? Had she really only slept for an hour? Add sleep deprivation to the list. Whatever list that was. List of future problems maybe.

A light patter of rain beat down on the roof and decorated the windows with beads that shimmered with the occasional passing headlights. Buffy couldn't recall forecasting rain that night. It had been still and cloudless all night. Good patrol weather. A distant crack of thunder sounded and the windows vibrated softly. 

Buffy frowned as she swung her legs out of bed. When her bare feet hit the cold wooden floor she was irritated to notice a healthy coating of dirt scattered on the ground and clinging to her soles. She would have to clean it up later. It could wait. No way did she plan on going all vacuum crazy at four a.m. She wasn't that lost to reason.

The house rattled again with a closer shock of thunder as Buffy made her way downstairs. It was kind of nice. The storm. It broke up the quiet. Buffy reached the kitchen and snatched the kettle from the stovetop. She filled it with water without bothering to turn on the lights and switched the burner on. A quick cup of tea and then back to sleep. It was something her mom had done. If she woke up in the middle of the night restless, her mom would somehow know and... what did she say? She would say something. Buffy's hand slipped slightly and the kettle dropped the rest of the way to the burner. She jumped at the sudden noise just as some water that had spilled hissed against the now red hot grills. 

Buffy held a hand to her head and winced as she noticed a fresh bruise she didn't remember getting. She sighed as she rummaged through her cupboards looking for the box of tea bags. She didn't have to look too far. The cupboards were dangerously empty. A grocery run was definitely called for. The joys of living alone.

As she grabbed an old UC Sunnydale mug from the dish rack she noticed the answering machine was flashing green again. Another message. Someone needed to cut back on the caffeine. Then again, maybe it was Giles. Maybe the time was more reasonable in England. Buffy was too tired to think about the exact time difference. 

The tea kettle started whistling and Buffy redirected her attention, pulling the kettle off and fixing her cup of tea. She had never really liked tea. But her mom had drank it and Giles drank it and so it was just something she did now. She let the cup steep while she went to check her messages.

As she reached out her hand she noticed that her sleeve was torn. And it was her favorite shirt. Buffy picked at the ripped seam in the cute white top she had bought for Dawn's graduation. Her brows furrowed. Why had she worn it on patrol? She never wore it on patrol. She didn't wear it last night.

Buffy spun around, suddenly uneasy. But she heard nothing but the light taps of rain. The kitchen was dark and empty without barely even a slinking shadow. Moving quietly and deliberately, she made her way to every door in the house and checked the locks. Everything was locked, bolted, and chained. Just as she had left it. At least, she was pretty sure that was how she had left it. 

What was that thing her mom always said? Something to do with tea. Or had it been coffee? Hot chocolate? Something about tiny marshmallows?

A note a panic started to rise in the back of her mind, but it was impossible to pinpoint why. She made her way back to the answering machine and hit the button.

"Hey B," Faith's voice came through. "Look I-" Her voice cut off, then returned with a waver. "I don't know. There's just- something's wrong. I woke up in the cemetery last night. No idea how I got there. And you never got back to me... it's been a week. I need help. Call me."

Buffy's face paled and she staggered away from the phone. A week? A week since Faith called last. It couldn't be, she- 

She couldn't remember anything.

***

Chicago, Illinois

"Where's Willow?" Spike asked, more than a little irritated. "I'm sorry but your being on the case doesn't exactly strike me as reassuring. Where's the witch?"

Andrew had made himself comfortable on the one chair Spike owned. Bit of a cheeky bastard that one. Barging into someone's home and stealing his chair. Next thing he's gonna start raiding the fridge.

Andrew raised his hands. "Hey now, patience is a virtue."

"Don't have any virtues." Spike pressed off the wall and moved to grab his jacket.

Andrew gave another nervous grin. "Right. Well. She's in Cleveland. You know..." He seemed to struggle for words. "Working on it. It's a bit of a mess right now... well, everywhere."

Spike slung his coat on and began buckling his boots. "Does she know?"

"Willow?"

Spike looked up from what he was doing with a frown. "Buffy."

The name felt strange. He hadn't said it out loud in years. No one to say it to.

"None of them know what's happening," Andrew answered, his face darkening. "We haven't been able to risk informing them. At least, not yet."

Yet. Spike hated that word. Only reason to use it was to put off some horrible thing or another.

"Where's Giles? He have anything in that bookish brain of his that'll... help?" 

Andrew shook his head. "Not yet. But he's-"

"Workin' on it. Right," Spike finished, straightening up. "Guess it's time for a little field trip then."

Andrew's face brightened up. "Oh you're gonna love the car! It's got those special glass windows... you know so you don't turn into powder and all. And," he leaned in conspiratorially, "it's a total chick magnet."

Spike raised an eyebrow at him. "Right. So I guess it's just the burning dash to the car then. Brilliant." 

Spike grabbed Andrew by the collar and tossed him out of the chair towards the door. He stumbled a bit before catching himself on the door and shooting Spike an indignant look.

"Hey! That's Armani!" Andrew protested as he straightened his suit and walked up the stairs.

***

On the drive to Cleveland, Andrew had been able to more or less catch Spike up to speed on what they knew so far. The color commentary on his own life was a bit less than welcome, but Spike had refrained from socking him in the jaw so that was something.

So far, it seemed that slayers all over the world were having strange lapses in memory. It started with small things, forgetting they had called someone, forgetting to meet up for coffee. Small things. But lately, things had been getting significantly worse. Huge blocks of time - days, weeks, for some even months - had been lost. No one was sure why. The girls seemed more or less normal during the blackouts. As far as anyone could tell. But they had been getting more and more reports of the same phenomenon. Slayers were losing time. Andrew seemed cagey to say much more than that on the subject.

Willow was already in Cleveland where both Buffy and Faith were stationed. If something was going wrong with slayers, it seemed only logical that they'd both be feeling the effects. Although no one had been able to reach either of them for days.

Giles was already on a flight from London. Xander was apparently also on his way, not that Spike really gave a damn. Xander was all but useless in most cases. 

"So, anyone told Dawn?" Spike asked, breaking the silence that had fallen after Andrew had suggested a road game.

Andrew shook his head. Spike could almost say there was something like guilt there. 

"Why not?" Spike pressed. "Think she'd want to know if the big sis was in danger."

"Buffy didn't want Dawn involved in any of this stuff," Andrew replied. "We're just respecting her wishes."

"She's already involved," Spike muttered under his breath. "Not like there's an out for any of us now, is there?"

Andrew didn't respond to that last bit. Spike wasn't sure if he was just pretending he hadn't heard or if silence was his answer. Guess it was all the same.

The thought of seeing the gang again was... uncomfortable. He hadn't seen any of them besides Andrew since he had burned to ashes and been buried beneath the rubble of Sunnydale. They didn't know he was alive. She didn't know he was alive.

He had planned on telling her. Eventually. It just... he wasn't sure if fair was the right word. But it just didn't seem fair to barge back into her life. He was dead. They saved the world. He died. End of story. She was free to go off and live a semi-normal life with a normal guy. At least, that was the lie he told himself. The truth was always worse.

[foxy-exy]

23 + andriel 👀

Bloom (forget me not)

Prompt 23 from here: “No, we’re going to talk about this now.” (and tattoo artist/piercer Andrew AU also came from Syd!!) TW: lots of talk about scars i’ve been mia working on my very-close-to-my-heart and very-long-compared-to-what-i’ve-been-writing-lately aftg big bang fic (WATCH OUT FOR THAT PLZ) but syd hit me w/ tattoo artist/piercer andrew right when my need for just one (1) tattoo and many (MANY) more piercings was highest so here we are (also my aftg server was talking about flower tattoos on jean and i was like oh worm flower tattoos on aftg characters you say??? so they are also partially responsible) also i may have never actually gotten a tattoo before but this is definitely Not How It Works, unrealistic, unprofessional, and general bad clienting but shhh you can also find this fic on my ao3 here!

Andrew’s pencil scratching is the only sound in the parlor — he thinks maybe his phone died an hour ago and with it, his music playlist. He should probably get up and plug it back in.

The cat eyes glare at him from his sketchpad page, though, and he can’t leave the face half finished now. He swings his chair back around to look at the picture on the shop’s computer screen that he’s sketching. God, this cat is ugly. He wouldn’t want this cat as a sleeve, but what the paying client wants, the paying client gets.

He blocks out the nose and jaw, shakes out his aching hand, and glares back at the drawing as he leans back in the chair and shoves the pencil eraser into his mouth to chew on.

“Hey.”

Andrew sends his sketchpad flying and nearly tips his chair over to turn back around. Nobody ever shows up for random walk-ins this early, it’s why he’s usually the only one on the schedule. (They retain more clients when Andrew is not the one who talks to them. Because Andrew is, as Nicky puts it, an asshole.)

Neil Josten stands before him, dressed as plainly as ever in his standard gray sweatshirt and baggy jeans, looking bemused and out of place in the strange context of Andrew’s workplace. He is not a piercings-and-tattoos kind of person. He is a somewhat-friends-with-Kevin-purely-because-they-like-to-yell-about-sports-together-on-Andrew’s-couch kind of person.

“Thanks for not even setting off the door bells,” Andrew says coolly, around a mouthful of pencil eraser, and takes it from his mouth immediately after, because Neil is smiling a little, eyes on it.

“Sorry, I’m pretty quiet.”

“No, you aren’t,” Andrew says, and Neil’s lips twitch again.

He and Neil are distant acquaintances at best. Kevin shares Andrew and Nicky’s apartment for rent purposes as Aaron moved out months ago to live with his girlfriend, but Kevin and Andrew don’t share friend groups. Even so, it is impossible to ignore Neil Josten when he’s worked up and shouting about Kevin’s favorite teams being terrible.

“What are you here for?” Andrew clicks off the cat photo and pulls up their schedule — empty for several hours, until Kevin comes in for an appointment with somebody who wants some script work. He doesn’t know why Neil is here when Kevin isn’t working, they’re the ones who know each other.

“How much for a…a medusa?”

“Fifty.” Andrew eyes him. The uncertainty in his voice is clear, which is…interesting. “I didn’t think you were into piercings, or Kevin would have bullied you into at least three by now.”

Neil doesn’t answer, because his gaze is glued to Andrew’s arms — his shirt sleeves have ridden up to show the patchwork pieces winding their way up his wrists and forearms.

“And…” This comes out more rushed now, clearly the actual reason for the visit, “What about tattoos?”

Andrew pulls back down his sleeves. “Are you asking for pricing? I can’t give you an estimate without any kind of idea of what you’re looking for. Do you even know the style you want? Where you want it?”

Neil drags his eyes back up to meet Andrew’s. “You covered up Kevin’s old tattoos, didn’t you?”

Andrew folds his arms. Enunciates clearly because he’s never been one to beat around the bush. “Are you looking for a tattoo consultation or not?”

“Yes,” says Neil, and his mouth flattens, brows pinching.

“Glad to see you’re so very excited about it,” Andrew deadpans, opens up an appointment entry on the schedule and types in Neil Josten, tattoo consultation: Andrew Minyard. He snatches up his sketchpad and pencil from the ground and curls a finger at Neil to follow.

***

“You don’t have tattoos to cover up,” Andrew says, when Neil tentatively perches on the edge of the lounge seat in the private office. “What do you want?”

Neil tugs at the fraying cuff of his shirt and looks pained. “I just…I don’t know.”

“That really sucks, because you’re paying me to help you figure out specifics on what you want right now.”

“Can you cover up scars,” Neil mumbles, and Andrew freezes. And Neil must pick up on this, because immediately he says, “Never mind. This was a bad idea.”

Andrew catches Neil’s shirt hem before he can completely turn towards the door. “No, we’re going to talk about this now.”

“I changed my mind, it’s okay, don’t tell Kevin, I just thought maybe —”

“I won’t tell Kevin,” Andrew says.

Neil tugs at his hair.

“I can cover up scars,” Andrew says.

Neil looks back at him, and he is very pale.

And then, because Andrew is stupid, “I’ve covered up my own scars.”

Neil’s face does something very complicated, his hands shake a little, and slowly, carefully, Neil sits back down.

***

Neil doesn’t know what he wants, exactly, he says. He says he likes what he’s seen of Andrew’s work, which isn’t all that helpful.

“Abstract,” Andrew says, and Neil shrugs.

“Animals.” Shrug.

“Skulls,” Andrew says, with a hint of impatience.

“Anything,” Neil says.

“You’re my least favorite client.”

“Even that one with the lion back tattoo?” Neil asks, and he is smiling again. Teasing. Andrew knows that Neil was in the house when he was telling Kevin about that client and his ridiculous whining, but he hadn’t realized Neil had been listening.

“Yes, maybe you’ll overtake even him,” Andrew retorts, reaches for the binder sitting in the corner marked Andrew Minyard — full of his past work — and tosses it at Neil. “I can’t work with ‘anything.’ That’s how people get tattoos they regret.”

“I liked Kevin’s black rose,” Neil says, and flips through the book, lingering on a page with more floral designs. “But you do color, too?”

“That is a style I do, yes.” Andrew watches Neil’s fingers trace delicate petals and fights back a curious rush. “Scar tissue can be unpredictable when it comes to holding ink, and it can hurt. But I’ve had experience with it. Do you want something like that?”

“I like these,” Neil says quietly, and Andrew shoves his pencil eraser back into his mouth and turns resolutely back to his sketchpad so he doesn’t have to look at Neil looking at his work.

“Colored flowers,” he says, drumming fingernails against his paper. “Fine. What flowers do you like? Where would this be?”

“Forget-me-not? On my arm?” Again, Neil sounds uncertain, and Andrew turns a glare on him.

“If you want this, you want this. If you’re not sure, I’m not inking an inch of you.”

He decides he hates looking at Neil’s soft smile when he is on its receiving end. This is the first time it’s happened, and he thinks if it happens again, he should check into a hospital for heart palpitations.

“I want it. Here.” Neil rolls up a sleeve, and Andrew clamps his jaw shut as Neil taps a finger to his forearm, covered in circular red puckers of skin and the occasional, familiar raised line of white. Andrew forces himself to lean closer to examine the canvas with clinical detachment, and press his fingers to the skin, measuring.

“This big?”

“Yeah,” Neil says, and that’s that.

***

“Why the hell was Neil on your schedule?” Kevin asks very loudly from the front desk as Andrew lounges across the waiting room couch and doodles blue petals.

“Huh, Kevin, I don’t see how that’s really any of your business,” Andrew says, and scribbles out another draft.

“No, seriously. He’s never wanted anything before. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Contrary to what your ego says, not everything is about you,” Andrew drawls.

“Neil,” Kevin barks, and Andrew looks up to find Kevin with his phone to his ear. “Why did you come to see Andrew?”

Neil must apparently say something similar to Andrew’s sentiments because Kevin rolls his eyes. “You should have told me that you wanted something. No, I — he didn’t say anything to me. Neil —!” The last part is said to an apparently dead line, because Kevin pulls the phone away with a huff. “I don’t understand why he came to you without saying anything, I’m his tattoo artist friend.”

“Too bad,” Andrew says, and pulls out his own phone when it buzzes.

Thanks, is the simple text from Neil Josten. For not telling him.

Andrew doesn’t reply, but he tucks his phone between his elbows and pretends to ignore the warmth blooming in his chest as he flips the page and starts to shade another forget-me-not.

***

Do you like this? Andrew asks, and attaches a picture of his latest draft.

Almost immediately, the text is marked as Seen, but Neil doesn’t respond for a solid few minutes.

Finally, Andrew locks his phone again, irritated, and shoves away his sketchpad, feeling too jittery to sleep like he should be doing at — he checks the clock — 2 AM.

His phone chimes, and Andrew looks down at It’s perfect and thinks that having such a giant crush on his apartment mate’s probably uninterested friend is maybe really, really bad.

***

“Hey, Andrew.”

Andrew looks up from the fridge. He has been studiously ignoring Neil’s presence on the couch while Kevin chatters to him about the latest hockey wins. But Kevin has disappeared, and Neil remains, and Neil is…looking at him.

“I like it a lot. Like, fuck, really a lot.”

Andrew glares and slams the fridge closed. Neil’s smile only grows wider as Andrew stalks over to the table to deposit whatever leftovers he grabbed (that he most definitely did not look at) onto it.

“So, when are you free to ink me?”

Andrew’s going to die, and Neil Josten saying when are you free to ink me is going to be the cause of death.

“Tomorrow. 10 AM,” he grits out.

“Okay,” Neil says.

***

“Andrew.”

“Shut up.”

“Andrew,” Neil says again, shakily.

“Don’t.”

“Thank you.” Neil stares at the forget-me-not cluster blooming across pinkened skin underneath the plastic wrap, lips parted. Andrew wants to kiss them.

“Oh,” says Neil when he looks up, and Andrew is still too close, and Andrew would usually probably pull back but instead, he dips closer. And Neil would usually probably avoid physical contact like he does with everyone but instead, Neil kisses him back.

“Oh,” Andrew agrees, and starts to turn away, but Neil shifts with him, eyes too intense, and a finger hovers at Andrew’s collar to tug very lightly.

“When would be too soon to ask when you’re free again?”

“Has the tattoo bug bitten you already?” Andrew scoffs, and Neil looks down at his forget-me-not and nods. “You’ll have to schedule an appointment like everybody else. You’re lucky my schedule hasn’t been as booked lately.”

“Okay,” says Neil, and then, “and what about asking when you’re free outside of work?”

Andrew stares at him. “For?”

“What about a repeat of this kind of thing?” Neil gestures between them. “Or…lunch, on me?”

“Lunch, on me,” says Andrew automatically. “You just gave me a lot of money.”

“Okay,” says Neil again, and laughs. “Kevin’s going to be so pissed that he missed all this happening.”

“I don’t see why I have to tell him who I’m kissing,” Andrew says.

“You’ve only done it once.”

Andrew raises an eyebrow and fixes that grievous mistake.

Neil’s answering grin is not soft, just impish, but it does things to Andrew’s heart all the same.

[whitecatindisguise]

Give Him A Chance To Mend 2

To tell you the truth, I wanted it to be a fluff chapter. My mind had a different idea, so we start up with angst/whump at the beginning, before the fluff comes in.

And let me just say, I completely adore both Hector and Varian, and I can totally see them bonding over animals.

Anyway, enjoy~

------

Chapter 2: When Can We Do This Again?

It’s been two weeks since Adira and Hector decided to move in with Varian and his dad. Quirin and his son finally stopped freaking out at every sound coming from the house whenever they were together, adjusting to the fact now there were four people living in the house. 

The former Brotherhood members adjusted to the new life quicker than expected. Adira was always willing to help out the villagers in menial tasks, whether it was fixing the broken roof or simple collecting of crops. Hector, obviously, was quickly recognised as an animal person, and was often called for when the villagers needed help. He also served as a kind of scarecrow, scaring away wild animals before they can damage the crops. Although, he was generally seen talking them out, instead of actual scaring. It didn’t matter, really, as long as the village was safe. 

Varian himself was… trying. With Andrew sent away, far from the boy, he could finally relax and focus on healing, both physically and mentally. While his visible injuries healed rather fast, the wounds inflicted to his mind refused to do so, leaving scars that didn’t want to heal. Not once Quirin, Adira and Hector were woken up in the middle of the night, was it either by anxious Ruddiger or cries of the boy. 

Usually it was fairly easy to calm down the terrified alchemist, after he woke up from another dreadful nightmare. Sometimes, however, they spent the better half of the night, consoling the trembling boy. These were the times Quirin could see how broken his son really was, how the man who pretended to be his friend hurt him, if only to satisfy his own desire of justice. 

These were the times the man held Varian in a warm embrace for hours, whispering soothing words, feeling his small frame trembling under the pressure of his past. 

And these were the times both Adira and Hector hated how much time it took to travel to the Dark Kingdom and back to Corona. Hated, how long it took them to find the trail. Hated, how late they were to find their nephew. And hated, how long the boy was subjected to Andrew’s twisted ideas. 

It was the morning after exceptionally vivid nightmare. It took the three of the adults and at least fifteen minutes of constant shaking and calling, before the boy finally woke up, sweat-covered and wide-eyed. His breaths were short, whole frame trembling from the night visions. He didn’t speak of what he saw, and he didn’t need to. None of them fell asleep that night.

Hector was strolling through the village, his bearcats trailing behind. Villagers claimed before they moved in, wild animals almost every night threatened the village, stealing the cattle, destroying crops, scaring people half-to-death. Truth be told, Hector couldn’t fathom how much of it was true. Since he and Adira started living in Old Corona, he’d seen maybe two or three wolves. The only ‘wild’ animal he saw on the daily basis, was the little raccoon his nephew kept as a pet. Clever little thing, he must admit. 

Speaking of which, his trained eyes spotted the blur of grey on one of the apple trees. The raccoon snatched two apples from the branch, before climbing down and setting on Varian’s shoulders. The boy looked up from the book he was reading, seated under the tree, and smiled gratefully. 

“Thanks, bud.” He ruffled the raccoon’s head and the animal bumped against it, craving for affection. 

“You trained him well.” Hector spoke up, approaching the boy. Varian startled for a moment, relaxing when he saw his uncle. 

“I didn’t exactly train him.” He replied, smiling sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. Hector rose an eyebrow, surprised. 

“You can’t expect me to believe you didn’t teach him to do that.” The man crossed his arms and looked at the raccoon, happily munching on his apple. 

“I didn’t.” Varian repeated and shrugged. “I always shared food with him and took care of him. I guess he just learned to do the same for me.”

As if to confirm the statement, Ruddiger chittered and pawed at the boy’s cheek. Varian laughed at his uncle’s surprised gaze.

“He always does that when he tries to comfort me.” He petted the animal gently. “I guess, we just learned to understand each other without words.”

“Interesting.” Hector hummed and grabbed his chin in deep thought. So his nephew didn’t train the raccoon in any way, and still, the animal acted like a well-trained dog of some sort. 

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the most peculiar sound he’d ever heard. It sounded like… well, he didn’t know what it reminded him of, but he could feel the vibrations behind the sound. His green eyes looked for the source, and he was shocked to see it came from his bearcats.

The two, usually wild and aggressive if not put into place by the man, laid curled up against the boy, one of them unceremoniously showing its belly, which the alchemist was rubbing with a smile on his face. never before had Hector seen them acting like that. 

“What… what are they doing?” He breathed out in shock, mouth agape. Varian turned to meet his uncle’s eyes and cocked his head in question.

“Um… I do believe it’s called purring.” He said, stopping scratching, only to earn a playful pat in the hand, claws hidden. He chuckled and resumed his previous actions. “And this one just loves belly-rubs, don’t you?” 

The bearcat barked in response, a content smile on its face. Hector stood frozen, wondering what has happened to his animals. 

“What did you do?” He questioned. Blue eyes stared at him in confusion.

“Nothing? I think they saw how I pet Ruddiger and got jealous.” Varian answered. 

The raccoon in question jumped down from his shoulders and positioned itself against the other bearcat, both animals sighing in content and continued purring. Hector must have stared for too long, because Varian looked at his in puzzlement again. 

“You want to..?” The alchemist asked and it took the man a moment to realise he was asking if he wanted to pet the animals. The wild and dangerous animals he trained himself. The same animals which laid sprawled on the grass, looking like simple pets. 

“You shouldn’t spoil them too much.” He grunted, stepping closer and sitting down next to the boy. His hand hovered over the other bearcat, finally gently falling on its fur, moving gently. The purring intensified and it startled Hector and caused Varian to chuckle at his expression. 

“You never did that before, did you?” The boy asked as Hector once again slowly moved his hand against the fur.

“Not really. They don’t act that way around me.” He replied truthfully, a small smile creeping up his lips. “It’s nice, though. I never noticed how soft it was. The fur, I mean.”

Varian nodded and picked up his book again, one hand still rubbing the bearcat’s belly. They sat for few more minutes, before Hector got an idea.

“Have you ever ridden a rhino?” 

Turned out Varian never rode a rhino. He knew the basics of riding a horse, so at least he knew how to sit in the saddle. It took few minutes for the boy to adjust to the rhythm of the animal. Ruddiger sat on the alchemist’s shoulders, the bearcats running along. Hector sat behind his nephew, his arms securing him in place, making sure he won’t fall off. 

The man could sense the exact moment Varian finally got a hang of the riding. His shoulders relaxed and his grip on the man’s arms loosened. He took a deep breath, before turning his head slightly to face his uncle. 

“Can it go faster?” He asked and Hector grinned. 

With a quick ‘Hold on tight’ he clicked his tongue an the rhino shot forward. He could hear a gasp of surprise, before Varian laughed. They ran through the forest, trees and rocks swishing by. The boy spread his hands and laughed, enjoying the wind pulling on his hair. 

It was two hours later, when they finally got back, both grinning, adrenaline pumping in their veins. Hector got down first, Varian jumping down soon after. His legs wobbled and he swayed, the man steadying him quickly. 

“That was fun.” The boy smiled brightly at his uncle, pushing away and this time, he managed to stay on his feet. 

“It was.” Hector replied and patted the rhino. It growled and went towards the stables, where it slept. 

“I… thank you. I really needed that.” Varian scratched his neck and looked away. “Can we do this again?” He asked, eyes looked up to him, sparkling, a smile on the boy’s face. 

“Anytime you want, nephew.” Hector smiled back. He was probably getting too soft. But he didn’t mind that at all.

[bewitchingwitch]

Constellations pt. 17

First off thank you so much for all the support you guys have given me that have helped me get through this creative slump! It means so much to have friends like you that care enough to pull me up and motivate me to keep writing! I will try to keep posting regularly like I’ve done in the past for the future! And here’s the long awaited Constellations pt.17 I hope you enjoy it! If you wanna be tagged let me know below and comment what you think!

Word count: 3,049

Newt, Queenie, Jacob and all of Theseus' friends were seated around the table awkwardly watching the showdown that was happening in front of them. Theseus at one head of the table Tina at the other holding court. She was grilling him about not having anything of yours to use to try and find you. And he was arguing that he did have something it wasn't his fault it wasn't up to her standards.

"So all you have of her's is a small piece of fabric from the dress she was wearing?" Tina pursed her lips as she stared down Theseus.

"Give me a break Tina, when she got taken from the pub it was all a blur." Theseus sat with his arms crossed in the same judging position that Tina had. "I nearly died remember? But I found this piece of her dress on the bottom of my shoe. It's in good condition and it's something that she was wearing it's better than having like a random object." Theseus tended to match the tone of those he was speaking to. If he felt attacked he'd flip it and be twice as aggressive, he could have been a good lawyer, he was good at presenting his case. " I mean it's better than nothing right?"

Tina rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. "First of all you've both been to her house there wasn't anything there you could have taken-"

“You're really implying that I should have stole from her when I went to her house." Theseus raised an eyebrow.

"No I wasn't but if something happened to slip into your pocket like one of her lockets or family pictures."

"That's stealing Tina. And unlike you I don't commend any type of stealing. I wouldn't take what doesn't belong to me." Theseus had the hint of a smile on his lips in that he had her cornered or so he thought. Tina was also very good at presenting her case, she also could have been a lawyer.

"Really because from what you've told me you had no problem taking (y/n) from Newt." Her face was stoic and Theseus had a look of shock displayed on his.

Everything had gone quiet in the room, you could have heard a pin drop. Newt could feel Theseus looking at him but he kept his head hung low watching the bowtruckle Pickett dance across his knuckles and weave in and out of his fingers. Picket climbed up his arm and settled back into his pocket, blowing a raspberry at Theseus. Newt shushed him.

Tina knew she had won and didn't expect any type of argument. She pushed back her chair and stood up straight, extending out her hand. "Give it to me." Theseus bit the inside of his cheek to hold back a remark, not meeting her eyes he took his handkerchief out of his pocket and unwrapped it. Lying in it was a crumpled up piece of green fabric with spots of mud and tearing seams.

Theseus took it out gently and ran his thumb over the smooth fabric. Newt watched him do this and saw the slight sniffle he gave before he composed himself and handed it over to Tina.

Tina examined it taking note of its size. She muttered to her self as she took out her wand and used it to levitate the fabric in the air. She mumbled a spell and nothing happened. She snatched the fabric out of the air crumpling it and Newt saw Theseus flinch at this at the action and lurch forward. Theseus muttered careful as he wrung his handkerchief in his hands.

"It's too small and not enough significance is tied to it for a tracking spell." Tina kept crumbling up the fabric square and Theseus kept wringing his handkerchief wanting her to stop. Tina paced around the room thinking over what she would do to try and track you down.

Newt wouldn't let anyone know but he missed you dreadfully. He kept quiet because if he even talked about you he knew he would start crying. Big ugly crying when you know that someone has stolen a piece of you. Even thinking about you made him miss your gentle touches and your radiant smile. Your kind heart and warm eyes. Newt tried his best to keep himself from thinking of you. Directing his mind to mentally editing his book. But his mind kept wandering back to you. To finding you. Newt really wanted to find you. He needed to tell you how he felt, that you made him feel like he was enough. All his life he had been mocked for being different for being a little weird and yet you liked him despite that. You embraced his weirdness, you valued him as much as he valued you. You talked endlessly with him about his creatures and took interest in his work. It felt like you were meant for him and all these feelings were just consuming him. He needed to tell you that he...loved you.

But there was a small problem and it was his big brother. Theseus seemed to need you, to want you as much as he did. And while Newt had been mocked as a kid as far back as he could remember Theseus was always there for him. When he got beat up by older kids in first year Theseus beat those kids up. When he got ridiculed for being obsessed with magical creatures Theseus talked and assured him that those kids were stupid and they'd all be sorry when Newt became a famous Magizoologist. And now he could see how much Theseus was holding back. The way he wouldn't tell Tina that crumbling that fabric was like crumbling a piece of him. Of how he seemed to feel guilty and question if he really did steal you from Newt. All of this had Newt wondering if maybe he should keep quiet about his feelings and give selfless Theseus who gave up everything for Newt, his happy ending.

"I got it!" Tina suddenly yelled making everyone jump out of their seats and snapped Newt out of his thoughts. Theseus stood up.

"What?" He had put away his handkerchief in his pocket and it was all crumbled and wrinkled from all the wringing. "You know how to find her?" His voice was eager, searching for some hope that Tina could find you.

"Well maybe." Tina's voice went back to being flat as she talked to Theseus.

"Maybe!" Theseus raises his voice stepping forward. "You promised us a solution."

"And I have one I faintly remember a potion I was taught during my schooling years. You mix the belongings of the person you are trying to find along with a handful of other ingredients. It just might work."

Theseus clenched his teeth and looked down straightening his tie. "Excuse me did you say you faintly remember?"

"Well yes is been a decade or so since I was in school." Tina could sense the building of danger she had stepped back a step, in a defensive stance.

"And that it might work." Theseus took another step forward. "This needs to work and I understand if you don't care because I get it you don't like me. And I don't blame you, not many people like a ministry official, or a pompous jerk in the words you used to describe me when you were, what should I call it, messing with my brothers feelings!"

"Theseus, mate maybe you should calm down." Blaine walked over to back Theseus, Andrew and Diego stood up from their spots at the table. That had been playing some sort of card game, the cards laid face down now, long forgotten.

Tina look offended at Theseus remarks. "Look I don't even have to help you. And I did, I did it because Newt asked me. You are lucky I'm even taking this much time to try and find this girl. And for what what's so special about his girl who was supposed to marry someone else and then seduces two other men's at the same ti-"

It all happened so fast. Theseus surged forward and Blaine grabbed onto him trying to wrestle him back. But Theseus fought dragging him forward. "Don't you dare talk about her! Don't you dare pretend to know her!" Tina scrambled to get away stifling a scream. Andrew And Diego knocked over the table scattering the playing cards as they grabbed Theseus by his arms and held him back. Theseus was hysterical now. "We don't need your help! I don't need your help! I don't want help from a someone who is going to insult the woman I love!" The second he said it, the room went quiet. Everyone turned to look at Newt. Newt didn't say anything, didn't do anything.

Diego cleared his throat. "Theseus you need to relax." Theseus was still breathing hard, his hair wild. He was tried and stressed, the bags under his eyes and the forming stubble made him look ten years older. "Theseus." Diego relaxed his tough grip and placed his hand on his friend's back and his other hand on his shoulder. "You need to sit down." Diego quickly glanced down at Theseus' midriff and Theseus looked down too to notice the blood seeping through.

Theseus took a shaky breath. "Yea okay." He rested a hand against this stomach and pulled back to see dark red smeared all over. His head then lulled to the side and his body went limp. Diego slumped him up on one side and Andrew held him up on the other. Diego spoke up to break the silence. "Look I hate to ask anything of you but so you have spare room where I can change his bandages."

Tina still had a scared look in her eyes but she nodded slowly. "Yea, um, down the hall and too the left there's an old bed in there you can lay him on."

"Thanks." Andrew and Diego began to walk with Theseus slumped between them before they stopped. Diego spoke again not quite turning to face Tina. "Don't take it too personal amada. He's tired and worn the ministry has beaten every ounce of energy this man had. And having her go missing was just the cherry on top to break him. He must have been hiding that pain for a long time to rupture the stitches and spell I did that bad. I thought she could be good for him and if we don't find her soon I don't know what will happen to him." Diego started walking again and then down the hall, will a small shut of the bedroom door.

Tina tried her best to pretend that Theseus' outburst didn't happened. Newt had tried to speak to her but she brushed him off and scurried away to gather the ingredients for the potion. Queenie in the meantime had set up her cauldron over a low brewing flame.

Tina avoided Newt at all costs and he eventually gave up trying to talk to her and sat quietly near the overturned table. Queenie was at her sisters side handing her ingredients to mix as she recited the spell over the potion. She sprinkled in tea leaves and other herbs for the base of the potion.

Hear me well

And tell

Where to find the one we seek

Give us a peek

On how to track them down

I'll pay a sickle I'll pay a pound

For anything you can give

With every strength of ounce I live

Tell me where she is

Tina hadn't yet added in the part that was necessary to find you. As she had explained earlier it was key that the first part of the potion be broad enough to set up context. And next you specified the spell to try and find the particular person you're after.

The girl with the (y/h/c) hair

The one who whose dress had to tear

The one with the boy whose owned her all along

The one for which these two boys long

Who wants to change her fate

To find someone to save her before it's too late

With a family curse of the cat

In a wedding dress thou does sat

Crying about her tainted life

Crying about not wanting to be a wife

Tell us quick, you shall not fail

Help us fix this broken tale

As the spell ended a puff of teal smoke filled the room engulfing Tina. Queenie quickly handed her a mason jar and she captured all the smoke. It transitioned from blue to green swirling in the glass, fighting against it, wanting to escape. Once the smoke cleared Tina looked over the cauldron and inside swirling was the beginnings of an image. Newt stood up from where he sat to get a closer look. Andrew and Blaine had came back to see the status of the potion.

They all gathered around the cauldron to look upon the image. It was you in a grand golden house thrown upon a king sized bed a wedding dress crumpled around you. To the side of you there say a pair of scissors, in arms reach as if at any moment you would begin to cut the dress up.

Newt leaned forward and reached out his hand, entranced by your image. Tina smacked his hand away. “Careful. The part of the potion can lead us to her but we actually need the city and country she’s in before we can use it.” She scanned the image carefully looking for a location to help them find you. A woman entered the picture and she looked just like you, just older with grey hairs. She spoke but they couldn’t hear anything, you wouldn’t lift her head to look at her. She sighed and left but not before pacing a small piece of white paper on your lap. It was a wedding invitation and it gold lettering it said United Kingdom’s, Cambridge.

“Queenie write that down!” Tina ordered and her sister complied. Tina’s eyes scanned the paper and they went wide. “Dammit we don’t have much time.”

“Why what is it?” Newt spoke up his voice cracking.

“The wedding is tomorrow at 12pm.”

Newt felt his face drop. They really didn’t have much time. “We need to leave now.” He began to gather his coat and slip in on.

“Agreed.” Tina faces the group. “Everyone get your stuff we need to go as soon as I can find a port key to Cambridge.” She turned to face Diego. “You can leave him here if you want. He’s in no condition to travel.”

Diego gave a curt nod, but Theseus had other ideas. He had hauled himself out of his room and was leaning on the door frame breathing hard. “Theseus I swear if you don’t get back in that bed I will-“

“Will what.” Theseus coughed out. “Kill me?” He let out a sad little laugh. “Let’s be honest Diego this scar will do that job for you. And I don’t care if it kills me but I will see her again and stop her from marrying that man, if is the last thing I do.”

“Alright then.” Tina said as she began rifling things together looking for the right porkey. “You better get your stuff because we’re leaving as soon as I find it.”

Theseus gave her a curt nod as a thank you and began to put his suit coat and shirt back on with a little help from Diego. Pretty soon everyone was ready to go and stood around the dinning room table that had been uprighted. A beat up old handbag sat in the center. “All right on the count of three everyone grab the bag. We leave only once and if one of you doesn’t make it we aren’t coming back.” Tina issued her warning before beginning her countdown.

“Three. Two. One.”

They all grabbed hold and were sucked in. Newt felt himself spinning and a force trying to pull him away but he kept a tight grip. He heard a scream that sounded like Theseus, it was blood curling and Newt felt his stomach turn hoping he was okay, and hoping that it was just the sound of the wind whirling round them.

They all landed on their feet in the middle of a dark alley a couple lights flickering eerily. Newt turned rapidly looking for any sign of Theseus. He saw Diego sanding behind Queenie and Jacob and Andrew and Blaine on the other side of Tina. But there was no sign of Theseus.

“Where’s Theseus.”

Diego was in shock but responded. “He was just next to me.”

Tina screwed her eyes shut in frustration. “God dammit he must have flown off in the transportation.”

“What!” Tina’s eyes widened, Newt never lost his temper.

“Look it’s fine I think he might have still made it to Cambridge a couple miles away from us, but I’m not sure where.” She took out the mason jar she had stored in her pocket.

“A couple miles out, he’s injured and in pain he can’t be on his own right now.” Hey had lowered his voice but it was still angrier than usual.

“Newt.” Tina’s voice was gentler now. “We don’t have much time the sun is already beginning to rise. Pretty soon (y/n) is going to be walking down the isle. And if you want to stop that we need to go now.”

She crouched down on the floor and unscrewed the lid of the jar. The bluish green smoke trailed out in a hazy blob. As it moved slowly down the alley blue footsteps followed it leading around the corner. “The spell is short term. We need to move fast. Make your decision Newt.”

Tina has just put Newt in a position he didn’t want to be in. Newt would have to decide whether to chose you to his brother. And as he thought he already knew the answer even though he didn’t want to admit it. And as he walked after Tina around the corner he felt his heart weigh down with guilt.

Tag list: @hearteyesmotherclucker @theroyalbrownbarbie @hoodedbirdie @annyinlovewithkpop @c8n10n4o2-geek @martarosado @nanjaeminie @moisoverennyi-thestarlessone @profangirllex @gaenahelleborus @melodramaticmelon2118 @michellekstr @nctyong-xo @preppy-by-the-c @sweetlyshinylady @emo-plaidin @dreacantsleep @theetherealbloom m @lily2089 @mywckdmind @barbarachern @imbiandiwanttocry @ollyoxenfrees @newtslatte e @pettylady @februarycalum @justanotherenglisheducationmajor @feelthefeelingsinsideyou @ombriescent @ztinge @liloefuru u @babywizardoll @heckin-kat @thewitchmadness @bunnie-kookie @the-fandom-life-forever @missanonyma @frozen-blue-eyes @newletas @sassycassyhoneybee @spookysunflowr @justawriterwithdreams @spreaded-butter @dreacantsleep @constantdisgrace @madamnouiselle @pureawesomeness001 @hp-forever-generation @princeofsassgard @hereiamhereigo @coniumalces @hannah-mic @agusdoti @heliumblaze @koreancoffeeprince @theseus-scamander

[wc-ff]

I.

Sage stepped out of her now steamy bathroom, a large cotton shirt wrapped around her head in attempts to dry her freshly washed hair. Her eyebrows instantly furrowed at the sound of her TV playing the news loudly although it had been off when she first went into the shower.

Her footsteps halted and she began to take slow quiet steps through the small dark hallway that led to her bedroom, picking up the closest weapon she could find to defend herself with: her mother's priceless antique vase that sat on a stand against the wall. Her heartbeat began to pick up as she neared closer to her room, the blaring of her TV becoming louder and louder the closer she got.

Her breath hitched in her throat once she arrived at her closed room door, the vase present in her shaky hands, swallowing hard as she remained as silent as possible. She wouldn't dare pull the scary movie move by calling out 'who's there' as if someone who was trying to harm her would really answer.

Sage slowly reached for the doorknob, the bones in her wrists and elbows beginning to reverberate a low cracking sound under the pressure of her movements. She swiftly swung the door open, her arms ready to serve a crucial blow to the intruder with the large glass vase in her hands before immediately stopping to roll her eyes once she saw her best friend, De'Angelo, laying comfortably in her bed with his hands behind his head.

His eyes averted over towards Sage as he allowed a low chuckle to escape his lips. "Out of everything, you choose a damn vase? Ya mom's is gonna kill you for even breathing on that thing."

"Whatever." She waved him off with another roll of her eyes before going back out into the hallway to put the antique item back where she had found it before her parents could find out she touched it. She headed back towards her bedroom and removed the shirt from her head, her short blond locks becoming exposed in the process. "Did my mom let you in?"

Of course, she already knew the answer. She just wanted the proof on how he managed to infiltrate her bedroom in the short twenty minutes it took her to shower and wash her hair.

"She told me to keep my mouth shut so..." He trailed off, pretending to zip his mouth closed and lock it before throwing away the key causing Sage to giggle and toss the now soaking wet t-shirt at him. "Aye, aye!" He quickly jumped up to throw the cold clothing away from him, with it landing on the floor beside her feet.

Sage playfully stuck her tongue out at her friend as she grabbed the shirt from off of the floor and hung it to dry on top of her dirty clothes hamper so it wouldn't get that musty smell to it by being balled up. Her feet then carried her over to the side of the bed she favored most before plopping down onto the soft mattress, the silk sheets engulfing her body almost immediately.

De'Angelo soon moved over and laid his head on her lap which prompted her to begin running her hands through his low cut waves, something she always did when they were positioned this way. "You okay?" She asked, knowing the only time her best friend came to sleep over was when things weren't going too well for him at home and he didn't want to be alone.

"Yea, I just didn't wanna take the chance of turning to alcohol again... you know ma dukes hated seeing me drunk." He replied lowly, the playful tone in his voice had now shifted to sounding as if he was broken on the inside.

Ever since De'Angelo's mother had passed away, he spent more of his nights at Sage's house instead of his own. Her parents didn't mind because he was like a second son to them since he was a child and they could see how hurt and messed up he had become from his mother's death. Granted, he usually always informed Sage on when he was coming over so she knew something had to happen for him to pop up out of the blue and scare her half to death.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Her fingers continued to massage through his scalp as he shook his head no, earning silence from the both of them as the news persisted in the background.

Sage allowed the two to succumb to the quiet that had taken over the room, not wanting to push him if he wasn't ready. She knew that he would tell her eventually.

Suddenly, a topic changer popped into her mind as a wide smile formed on her face. "Oh! Angel, guess what?" She spoke cheerfully, calling him by the nickname she had called him since they were young. He responded by shifting his body so that he was now on his back, raising a curious brow at her. "Andrew asked me out. We're going on a date tomorrow night."

De'Angelo instantly scrunched up his face at her revelation. It's not that he wasn't happy for her, he just wanted it to be anyone other than Andrew. He wasn't someone De'Angelo felt was good enough for Sage. "Andrew? Andrew Denali?"

"That's the only Andrew we know dick head." She teased as she playfully flicked his forehead causing him to smack her hand away.

"Wow, so after all these years, Andrew Denali's getting a date before I do? Tragic." He shook his head in pretend disappointment, only earning another flick to his head.

Sage rolled her eyes and pushed his head from her lap causing him to sit up, eyeing her as if she had lost her mind. "Oh please, like I'd risk catching something from one of the hoes you like to mess with." She spoke as she stood up to retrieve her light blue du-rag from on top of her dresser.

Sometimes, she liked to wear one when she didn't feel like doing something to her hair since styling short hair wasn't as easy as most people thought. One wrong move and she'd be looking like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

"I think you've forgotten that I'm in a committed relationship now." Her best friend responded proudly which only caused Sage to roll her eyes as she tied a light knot in her du-rag so that a mark wouldn't show up on her forehead in the morning.

She wasn't jealous of his relationship in any way, but Chantell wasn't someone that Sage exactly favored. She had never met someone that complained so much in her entire life and the first time they were introduced, Chantell acted like a complete bitch for no apparent reason. Sage had actually been excited to meet her best friend's new girlfriend until she saw the look on Chantell's face once she caught sight of her.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Once the du-rag was secured on her head, she made her way back over to the bed to sit down next to him. "She's lucky you were there when we first met because you know I don't take too kindly to disrespect."

De'Angelo responded with an eye roll of his own as he laid back against her headboard. The last thing he wanted was for his girlfriend and his best friend to have beef with each other, but Chantell wasn't exactly a people person. She had actually been looking forward to meeting his childhood friend until she got out of the car and saw another woman come up to hug him. Her mood quickly went from sweet to sour in less than a second.

"Why do y'all have to do this every time you hear each other's names? It's been three months and it's getting old already." He exhaustedly ran his hand over his face, not even wanting to go down that road again. They had already gone over this conversation a plethora of times before and no matter how much he attempted to change the both of their minds, it never went through their thick skulls.

Sage simply stared at him for a few seconds with an expressionless face. "De'Angelo, honestly? Fuck that bitch."

His head quickly snapped in her direction at her words, a stern glare on his face as they both stared at each other never backing down from one another. Though, Sage was never the one that could stay serious when she needed to be and ultimately ended up cracking a smile causing De'Angelo to do the same as they both began to laugh hysterically at one another.

"Yo, did you see your face?" She chuckled out, holding her stomach as they both laughed even harder.

He playfully mushed her. "Fuck up. You get on my nerves bruh. Both of y'all."

Before Sage could respond, his phone began to ring loudly from his pants pocket causing him to fish it out, seeing his girlfriend's name flash across the screen which only earned an eye roll from Sage as she turned away and laid on her side, her back facing him.

With a small sigh, he answered Chantell's FaceTime call and her face soon popped up on his screen, a slight pout playing on her features as she sat in bed. "What are you doing? Why aren't you answering my messages, D?"

"My bad bae, I didn't know you were—"

"And whose house are you at?" She quickly interrupted him, her eyebrows furrowing as her face came a bit closer to the camera. "That doesn't look like your headboard."

He let out a low sigh. "I'm at Sage's house, relax."

Chantell's expression quickly changed from confused to angry as she immediately began to chew him out. "Without a shirt?! The fuck are you doing at that bitch's house anyway?"

Sage's eyes popped open as she had to bite her tongue to refrain from saying anything that might cause them to get into another argument. She usually wouldn't have even given her a second chance but she knew De'Angelo really liked Chantell for some odd reason. She personally couldn't understand why but she also didn't question it.

"Chill, I just need to talk and get some things off my chest. I was in one of my moods." He replied in a tone signifying that he was attempting to get her to calm down but it had only pissed her off more.

He didn't seem to realize that spending all of his time with another bitch wasn't something that she was okay with or something that was appropriate for someone in a relationship. She didn't care how close they were nor how long they've known each other. "So you go to her house when you could have easily came to mine? See, this is what I'm talking about De'Angelo. I'm sick of coming second to that bitch—"

Sage immediately popped up and snatched the phone from his hands causing him to instantly kneel up on the bed and try to get it back, struggling to grab it out of Sage's reach. "First of all, bitch, I'm gonna need you to watch your damn mouth because I haven't even disrespected you once for you to be calling me out of my name. Second, y'all have only been dating for four months, of course he's not gonna spill out his heart to you immediately and tell you all of his life's secrets. What he was going through tonight was something he barely likes to talk about with me so what makes you think he would wanna talk about it with someone he just met and doesn't even know if y'all are gonna last or not?"

Chantell was infuriated that this girl really had the nerve and the audacity to come at her when she was having a conversation with her boyfriend, not with Sage. She already didn't like the girl or her relationship with De'Angelo and this was just strike two of the reasons to make him stop being friends with her. Chantell didn't care about anything else, she wasn't about to let this girl punk her.

"Bitch, was I talking to you? No. Give my nigga back the phone before we have some problems, for real." Chantell retorted, her voice laced with an attitude as her neck rolled in this and that way.

De'Angelo continued to reach for his phone but Sage kept switching around the hands she kept it in and pushing him back with her elbow to make it harder for him. Though, her attention remained on his disrespectful ass girlfriend. "We already gotta problem hoe, and what? The fuck you gon' do?" Sage's hispanic accent began to shine through as she became more angry the longer she looked at this girl's face.

Chantell began to respond until the phone was quickly snatched back out of Sage's hand and De'Angelo instantly pressed the red end call button so things wouldn't escalate any further than they already had.

Not even a second later, his phone began to vibrate again with another incoming call from his girlfriend. He quickly declined it only to receive yet another call from her, it being clear that she wasn't about to let up. He decided to turn his phone on do not disturb with a low sigh. "Why would you do that?"

Sage gave him a look as if he had eight different heads and smacked her lips. "Don't even go there, you need to keep your dog on a leash because I could have done her way worse."

And it was true, she could have. While Sage and De'Angelo had never had something going on, he told her everything whether she wanted to hear it or not and Sage was willing to bet that Chantell didn't know about him slipping up with a frequent fuck buddy a month or so ago. She could have really hurt the girl's feelings but out of respect for her best friend, she wouldn't spill his tea just because she was angry or upset.

"You still ain't have to do all that though. I already told you how she is." He replied, running his hand over his face as he attempted to defend his girlfriend; something that angered Sage even more because she felt that she wasn't in the wrong.

If she hadn't been disrespected, she wouldn't have said anything to the girl. Yet here they are. "Me? You need to be telling her that!" She paused before she said something she regretted. She was sure she'd be over it by the morning, but right now, she didn't have time nor wanted to deal with the bullshit. "You know what? Just get out. Go to her place like she said because you're about to take me out of my character. I'll talk to you in the morning."

De'Angelo stared at his friend as if to see if she had actually been serious about him leaving but her body language clearly read that she wanted to be left alone. He simply nodded, angry and offended by her kicking him out as he scooped up his t-shirt and threw it back on over his body before leaving from her room without so much as a glance her way.

He knew that ever since he started dating Chantell, he and Sage had been getting into more arguments but she never went as far as to tell him to leave her house before. He didn't even feel the situation was that serious.

The last thing he wanted to do was hear Chantell's mouth too so he just decided to drive himself home; the place he didn't want to be at in the first place. It held too many memories of he and his mother together. Memories that he'd never be able to relive nor get back.

A sigh escaped from his lips as he stepped through his front door, the house still dark with the exception of the kitchen light on. He threw his car keys down onto the counter and sat at the island that had resided in the middle of his kitchen. The same bottle of whiskey that had sat on the island's countertop before he left still rested in the same spot.

He grabbed it with the quickness, the added stress from tonight doing nothing to help his situation. A bit of hesitation washed over him as he was about to open the bottle, his mother's disappointed face appearing in the back of his mind and tears beginning to cloud his eyes. He had never let anyone see him when he broke down like this, not even Sage and he wasn't even sure if the tears were of sadness or of anger.

Twisting the cap off of the glass bottle, he tossed it to the side before throwing back the whiskey, allowing the harsh liquid to slide down his throat as the burning sensation instantly presented itself in the back of his esophagus. After a few gulps, he slammed the bottle down as his eyes shut tightly and he had to clear his throat to rid himself of the pain that soon followed.

His body immediately warmed and when he opened his eyes, he could have sworn he saw his mother, her back rested against the counter with her arms folded as she shook her head at him. "Mom?" He couldn't believe she was actually there, the affects of the alcohol coursing through his blood being the last thing on his mind at that moment.

He closed his eyes again and shook his head—just to be sure that she was real and he wasn't just seeing things—but when he opened them up again, she was gone. The darkness overcame the space she had previously been in as De'Angelo buried his head in his hands, his heart falling to the pit of his stomach as he allowed the tears he had been holding back to now fall freely.

"Come back ma, please. I can't do this without you.”

[bards-witcher]

Wildtoonz (NS/FW)

So this is for a friend and is based off of a couple of ideas thrown around in the nsfw part of the bbs rarepair server, I hope you like it, even if it is kinda rushed :/

Also requests are still closed and I hope you guys respect that, just until I manage to write some of the prompts and make a significant dent in them :)

Warning: Explicit

.

With a sigh he pulled away from the hood of the car to grab the nearest towel and haphazardly wipe his now oil covered hands, a smile gracing his face as he heard his husband mutter a swear whilst he worked on the bike their latest client had brought in earlier that day.

When they had first opened their business they’d been told by multiple people, namely their competitors, that they wouldn’t last long in this town and that they may as well move on now.

However, they had long since proved them wrong, the both of them able to charm their way into the town people’s hearts making them quick favourites, offering discounts to those they knew were struggling with money at the moment as well as enrolling local school kids to help learn the basics of how to take care of their vehicles. They even offered part time apprenticeships to those who thought of becoming mechanics, taking them under their wing to help show them the ins and outs of some of the vehicles they worked on and earn a bit of allowance on the side.

Whilst they were glad for the interest and the extra hands around the shop, especially as their popularity grew and with people coming from several towns over to get their vehicles fixed by them, they knew that school was their student’s priority, so they always made sure they finished their homework before they even thought of joining them, and depending on their workload would even offer to help them out with some of the questions they were stuck on.

As it stood now though, it was a late Friday afternoon and it was just him and Luke in the shop, typically they didn’t take students on Fridays as they were more keen on starting the weekend, which left them to stay up late into the evening to get as much work done as they could before they shut up shop for the weekend.

With that thought he moved away from the car, having done nothing but stare at its components for far too long before he silently stalked his way behind Luke and wrap his arms around him, chuckling at his startled jump before the older man settled back in his hold, at least until he started to trail his still oil stained hands up under Lukes’ shirt.

“You get me dirty again Ty an’ you’re sleepin’ on the couch tonight” He chuckled a little against the other man’s neck, letting Luke turn around his hold so that they were facing one another, his eyes wandering down to land on the other man’s lips which quickly turned into a smirk “Before you start makin’ out with me can you grab me a bottle of water”

He hummed a little at the interruption, leaning down to briefly press their lips together before he reluctantly pulled away from the other man, swaying his hips a little for the eyes he knew were following him as he walked towards the vending machine in the corner of the shop.

Without a thought he grabbed one of the handful of quarters they kept on top of the machine for the students who would come and work for them, making the brief note to replenish the cash for the coming week as he quickly selected a bottle of water and made his way back to Luke, who was now leisurely leaning back against the bike he’d been working on.

However, as he got closer to the other man, instead of passing the bottle to Lukes’ outstretched hand instead he held it high above his head whilst his other hand grabbed onto the older man and pulled him close, quickly planting his lips onto Lukes’ sp that the other man was too startled to stop him when he quickly coaxed his mouth open to allow his tongue to explore his mouth.

Finally, Luke seemed to catch up, the other man grabbing him by the hips to pull him closer and have their hips grind against each other a little, an action that caused him to let out a small moan into Lukes’ mouth, which turned into a long drawn out groan when he felt the other man’s hands move to palm harshly at his ass, his free hand moving to hold the side of Lukes’ face to keep them pressed together whilst his thumb traced the other man’s cheek as if her were something precious.

He was so wrapped up in his kiss with Luke that he was caught by surprise when he felt the water bottle be suddenly snatched from his hand, meaning he quickly pulled away with a shout, which quickly turned into a laugh when he saw the oil now covering Lukes’ face courtesy of his hand.

“What’s so fuckin’ funny”

“Nothin’” With that he used the same hand to lightly grab onto Lukes’ beard, gently tugging the other man closer to him so that he could kiss him again, but apparently Luke wasn’t interested in carrying on with their impromptu make out session as he pulled away from him again, a judging look in his eye.

He was unable to hold back his chuckle at the black oil that he could see not only covering the side of Lukes’ face, but also his beard, knowing that he probably had mere seconds to live before Luke would kill him for what he did, and yet he just had to watch as the older man bent down to check out his face in the motorbike’s wing mirror.

“You’re a fuckin’ bitch Tyler, you know how long it takes to grow a beard as nice as fuckin’ this and you just go out and ruin it”

“Quit your moanin’ old man, nothin’ a little hot water and soap won’t fix”

“You’re not gettin’ out of this so easily Tyler, now get back to your fuckin’ car, I want to get out of here”

He just let out a snort as he turned to walk away, already anticipating the harsh slap of a towel slapping against his ass, something that had become the norm whenever he was being particularly annoying, letting out a high pitched fake moan of ‘more daddy’ which earned a small chuckle from Luke and another slap on his ass.

With a sigh he returned to the open hood of the car he was working on and made sure to stick his ass out and sway it a little as he felt eyes bore into his back, a small smile gracing his face at the fact, he’d finished the car almost an hour ago but only kept up the act in an attempt to get the other man to do as he wanted.

First, he wasted a few more minutes fiddling around with wires and pipes, just a quick check to make sure that he was in fact done before he pulled back to grab a towel and wipe away the thin sheen of sweat that had formed on his face, then he turned his head to throw a quick grin at Luke who was still staring at him with a small smirk on his face before quirking his eyebrow in question.

Glad that he had the other man’s attention he bent down to grab the creeper board before moving to lay on it, adjusting himself slightly so that his legs were spread wide and caused his pants to stretch tightly across his ass before he pushed himself under the car.

As before, he knew everything was all good underneath having checked it hours ago, but once again he pretended to work for a few minutes before he was pulling himself out from under the car, a frown on his face as he turned to face Luke.

“Babe, can you come check under the car for a sec, need a second opinion on whether the shock absorbers are all good” He leaned his head up slightly to watch as Luke approached him with a sigh before the other man moved to stand between his still outstretched legs and lean over him and against the car to aim a questioning look at him.

“You don’t know how to do your job now?”

He simply rolled his eyes before he moved to sit up, Luke quickly moving out of his way so that he could stand before he quickly turned to corner the older man against the car “Well I’m not so used to older vehicles so thought it would be right up your alley”

“You’re already in my bad books, you sure you want to make it worse” His only answer was to wrap his arms around the other man’s waist, the fact that he could even do so showed that Luke wasn’t actually mad at him and he quickly moved to place light kisses along his neck “Besides, what’s in it for me?”

“My undying appreciation and a piece of this ass tonight”

“Oh please, I can get a piece of that ass whenever I want, you’re gonna have to do better than that”

“Well fuck you then bitch, you ain’t getting’ shit tonight” He felt Luke chuckle then, the other man calling his bluff when he felt a hand squeeze his ass, the movement causing his hips to move forward and grind against Luke’s a little and he couldn’t help but let out a small hum as he felt the other man getting harder below him “and fyi, this is Ms. Andrews car, you know the one who always bakes us a nice pecan pie when we do a job for her, imagine her thanks if I can call her now sayin’ she can pick up her car tonight”

Luke only stared at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing as if trying to catch his bluff, unable to stop his grin when the other man’s face quickly turned into a scowl “I fuckin’ hate you”

He chuckled as Luke pushed him away slightly so that he could move to lay on the creeper and get a look under the car, enjoying the sight of Lukes’ dick straining to get out of his pants far too much that he’s a little distracted when the other man calls out to him “Hey, Tyler, quit starin’ and get me a light, no wonder you’re unsure cause you can’t see shit under here”

With that he moved to grab the flashlight he had long since discarded on the floor a while ago, but not before he lightly kicked the other man’s shins, barely avoiding Lukes’ kick of retaliation before rolling the torch under the car and towards the older man.

He listened as Luke fiddled around under the car in an effort to inspect it, only to be met with a frustrated sigh “Think I can see somethin’ but can’t quite make it out, can you lower the car a little”

With a small smile to himself he moved around to the jack that was propping the car up, giving a quick shout to let the other man know he was moving it before he started to lower it.

As he kept lowering he carefully moved his foot to rest against the base of the creeper, keeping the older man trapped under the car as he ignored the shout to stop as he lowered the car further and further, the other man now struggling a little to try and get out from under the car, but his foot remained firm until the hood of the car was pressed lightly against Lukes’ stomach so as not to be too uncomfortable.

“Tyler the fuck you playin’ at?” There was no doubt in Lukes’ voice that he was pissed, and whilst normally he’d be a bit wary of the other man’s anger, he’s sure his bad mood will quickly dissipate after he finishes his plan.

“I just wanted a little fun, and so do you apparently” As he said that he quickly shucked his shoe off so that he could rub the sole of his foot against Lukes’ hard dick, humming a little as he felt it twitch beneath his touch.

“You could’ve just asked me asshole”

“And you would’ve said no, as always” He heard Lukes’ scoff beneath the car but they both knew he was right, wasting no time before he was knelt down on the floor and quickly removing the other man’s pants, chuckling a little at the small thrust Luke gave when his dick was exposed to the cold air of the garage “Plus you’ve got to admit this is excitin’”

“Well I wish you would’ve asked first cause I’d happily fuck you against any other surface in the shop”

“Fuck off Luke, I’ve begged you to fuck me across the countertop so many times and each time you have some bullshit excuse” As he spoke he was quickly unbuttoning his own pants and lowering them just past his knees before he straddled Lukes’ hips reverse cowgirl style.

“But it’s fuckin’ filthy in here-“

“and it wasn’t dirty when you fucked me behind some bushes in the park”

“That was different” He could hear the fight leaving the other man knowing that he had no ground to stand on, giving Luke no time to think of another argument before he gave his own dick a couple of teasing strokes, causing him to let out a deep sigh “What’re you doin’ Ty? Can’t I at least see?”

“You lost that right a long time ago, so just lay back and let me use you how I want” The answering curse was music to his ears as he reached back to slowly pull the plug out of him that had been tormenting him all day with a breathless moan, letting out a huffed laugh as he saw Luke give another testing thrust as the older man’s dick twitched at the noise.

“At least tell me what you’re doin’, you’re fuckin’ killin’ me over here” He mulled the thought over for a second before he decided it could be used to torment the man further.

“Well I just pulled out that plug you bought me on our anniversary, god you have no idea how hard today’s been with that thing inside me”

“Damn baby, didn’t know you wanted my dick that bad” He just rolled his eyes at the comment, whilst Luke was trying to be somewhat sympathetic, he knew the other man would’ve just teased him relentlessly if he knew, only making the torture worse “You take a moment to relieve the tension a little today? or have you been good?”

“I’ve been a fuckin’ angel and now I’m gettin’ my reward” He let out a gasp on a particular stroke of his dick before positioning himself over Lukes’ prone form, feeling the other man jump a little as he grabbed onto one of his thighs to balance himself before he leaned forward, his other hand reaching back to keep Lukes’ dick in place.

He tuned out whatever muffled response Luke retorted back to him, sure that he would just be chastised for using the plug without ‘permission’, not that he cared of course given how much time he saved not having to prep himself.

“Are you really gonna complain old man when it means I can do this” With that he slowly sat down on Lukes’ dick, biting his lip slightly in concentration whilst he let out a low moan, noting the small curses and strained groans he could hear from Luke until he was fully seated in the other man’s lap.

“Fuckin’ hell, how’re you always so tight” He huffed a laugh then as he slowly began to grind into the other man’s lap, small controlled movements that he knew would quickly drive the man below him crazy “Tyler, can you quit bein’ a goddamn tease for once in your life and ride me for fucks sake"

“You’re one to talk, only reason you’re here is cause you wouldn’t fuck me this mornin’” Before Luke could even think of protesting he quickly lifted himself before sitting back down, letting out a low sigh which was accompanied by a strained one from Luke before he repeated the action again “You know what it ain’t even matter, ‘m so close”

With that he quickly picked up his pace, making sure to angle his hips slightly so that on each movement down Luke would hit his prostate, not caring about anything else other than his own pleasure as it was with a handful of more thrusts that he finally came into his hand with a strangled shout.

Normally, he would feel somewhat embarrassed about having come so soon but given how he’d been on edge all day he couldn’t bring himself to care, especially when he knew that Luke was nowhere near finished so he could probably fit in at least another round.

“You’re not gonna leave me like this are you Tyler?” He scoffed a little at Lukes’ question that sounded a lot like begging to him, his only answer being to slowly grind back against the other man’s dick, and have it rub against his prostate, his own dick twitching half-heartedly a couple of times at the slight pleasure and pain from the overstimulation whilst he wiped his come covered hand on a nearby cloth.

“Do I look like a fuckin’ asshole to you”

“I wouldn’t know, I can’t see shit under this car you trapped me under”

He could only roll  his eyes whilst he continued grinding down on Lukes’ dick, with each passing comment from the other man he was more and more tempted to just leave him there instead “God do you ever stop complainin’, wish I gagged you before trapping you under there”

“Treat me well an’ I might even let you tie me up tonight” The offer accompanied with the slow southern drawl that Luke always played up when he wanted something had him shiver a little in anticipation, quickly making his mind up as he slowly raised himself so that only the tip of Lukes’ dick was in him before he quickly sank down.

The strained moan from Luke, accompanied by a small thrust of his hips that was all he could manage whilst he was still on the creeper board, he eagerly repeated the motion, making each movement slower and slower to try and wring out every last moan from Luke whilst he slowly started to get hard again.

Small, broken whimpers could be heard under the car as he ground back against Lukes’ thrusts into him, letting out his own breathless sigh when it caused the other man to rub against his prostate, until finally his own need began to eat away at him, and he quickly picked up the pace at which he rode Lukes’ dick.

The small groans and whispered encouragement he could hear from Luke only spurred him on further so that he easily reached forward to rest both hands on the other man’s thighs and used them to balance himself as he leaned forward slightly so he that he could really start moving his hips and pick up his pace even further, the slight change in angle with which his prostate was hit had him lose the will to do anything else but chase his orgasm.

He gave a final push then, putting all his energy into moving his ass over Lukes’ dick, the other man having long since lost any form of coherent speech and could only let out small moans and grunts as well as the odd swear.

He couldn’t be bothered to try and balance himself with one hand so that he wouldn’t make a mess when he came, instead watching as precum steadily leaked from his dick and onto the garage floor all whilst he kept thrusting his hips.

So far gone in his own head from pleasure that he didn’t know how close he was until his orgasm hit him, letting out a strangled shout of Lukes’ name, as if begging him for something more, as he came untouched onto the floor below him.

This time though, as much as he wanted to stay seated on Lukes’ dick and keep teasing him, he became overly sensitive a lot faster than the first time and it was with a hiss that he raised himself off of Luke, much to the protestations of the older man.

“Tyler, c’mon, I was so fuckin’ close, please” He watched Luke give a thrust into the air, begging for something, anything, hell he’s sure just putting a loose hand around the man’s dick will have him coming, but he wants Luke to hold out just a little longer.

“Jus’ wait, need a second”

“Need a second my ass, you ain’t gettin’ it up again for at least a couple hours-“

“I’m fuckin’ ten years younger than you, course I can get it up again, whilst you’re old enough to be my sugar daddy” Just after he finished speaking he noticed Lukes’ dick twitch a little, and he couldn’t help but smirk a little at the fact whilst he could hear the other man give a low frustrated groan “You okay there, daddy”

He watched as Lukes’ dick twitched again and now he couldn’t stop himself from wrapping a hand around the other man’s dick to give it a couple of small strokes whilst he spoke “How many years have we been together, and you didn’t tell me this shit”

“Didn’t want to weird you out”

“That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it but I’ll argue about it later” He heard Luke huff a laugh and he can feel the older man relax somewhat now that he knew he wasn’t going to be mocked for his kink, at least not yet, he definitely planned to use that relentlessly wherever they were to try and get a rise out of Luke, but that was for another time, and without another thought he quickly kneeled over Luke again and slowly started to push back out onto his dick, letting out a sigh when he was fully seated again “I wasn’t lyin’ earlier by the way, I already called Ms. Andrews and she’s supposed to be here in twenty minutes, but you know how early she likes to be, so you’ve got ten minutes tops before you lose the chance to come today”

He huffed a laugh as he heard a somewhat strangled moan from Luke accompanied by a twitch of his dick as he was playing more into his voyeurism fantasies, and he knew the very real prospect of getting caught meant that Luke wouldn’t last much longer.

Without wasting another moment, still sensitive after his last couple of orgasms, he began to slowly ride Lukes’ dick, hating that it took far longer than what he hoped to finally start to get hard again, but as soon as pleasure began to take over the painful edge he quickly picked up his pace so that he was all but bouncing in Lukes’ lap, the only sounds being that of their moans as they lost whatever little control they had left.

His breath hitched a little when Luke with his limited motion tried to fuck back up into him with each thrust, meaning he pushed just that bit further into him that had him breathless and moaning, kind of hating his trap now as he wanted nothing more than for Luke to simply lay him over the floor and pound into him, however he was so close now, he could tell they both were, which meant he now had to work double time to get them both to finish having no idea how much time they had left.

He could feel his orgasm begin to curl at the base of his stomach and this time reached a tentative hand down to loosely wrap around his dick so that each of his movements would have him loosely jack himself off, the feather light touch almost torturous, but quickly had him careening towards the edge.

With each move of his hips that had Lukes’ dick hitting his prostate he found himself closer and closer, and whilst he wanted to draw it out a little just to get Luke that little bit closer, he didn’t have the willpower to deny himself now “Luke, ‘m not gonna last, are-“

“Me too baby, jus’ keep goin’ and I’ll quickly be comin’ in that tight ass o’ yours” He huffed a laugh as he felt his dick twitch a little, precum now covering his hand that was still loosely jacking him off as Lukes’ words pushed him even closer.

“You like my fillin’ my tight ass don’t you daddy, after this I’m gonna plug my ass back up until you next want to fuck me”

“Shit”

“You like havin’ a cum dumpster husband, daddy?”

“Fuckin’ hell” With that he felt Luke start to come inside of him, his pace faltering a little as he wanted to enjoy the feeling of being filled for a moment, but he quickly picked it up as he chased his own orgasm, and sure enough it was with a handful more movements that he was finally coming too.

With a small shout, too tired to do much else he came into his hand to try and salvage the floor somewhat from his earlier incident, Luke doing most of the movement now as he grinded his hips up against him to keep the pressure on his prostate and coax a couple of more ropes of come from him until he finally relaxed back against the car with a content sigh.

“You ever gonna let me out of here bitch” Lukes’ comment got a short laugh from him as he settled further into his lap, grinding his hips down a little which earned a swear from the older man before he relented.

“And here I thought you’d be thankin’ me for some great sex, no appreciation these days huh?” Now it was Lukes’ turn to chuckle a little, a warm feeling settling in his chest at the sound as he felt the edges of sleep begin to tug him under.

“Don’t you dare fuckin’ fall asleep now Ty, Ms. Andrews is coming still, remember?” The fact quickly had him alert, looking at the time to see that she was due any minute now and whilst being caught in the moment was hot at the time, he definitely did not want to be caught now, they had a business to run after all.

Luke seemed to sense his distress, but the bastard could only laugh at his plight as he quickly reached for the plug he’d long since discarded, wiping it a little on his jeans before he slowly pulled off of Lukes’ softening dick and pushed the plug in to take its place, a small shudder running through him at the fact before he got up and off of the other man.

Careful with the hand still coated in his come he quickly pulled his jeans back up and grabbed a cloth to put over his come staining the floor before he moved over to the jack, and with a couple of quick movements, Luke finally moved out from under the car looking utterly dishevelled as he took in the room around him.

The older man then quickly got up and off the board to pull up his own jeans before approaching him, all the while looking at him as a predator would its prey.

Without breaking eye contact he raised the hand still covered in his come and with long stripes of his tongue began to lick it up, moaning a little when he heard the slight growl from Luke before the other man separated the small distance between them only to grab his wrist before bringing his hand closer to then lick at his hand himself.

He watched with what could only be a hungry look as Luke licked up whatever come was left on his hand, never once breaking eye contact with each other, and only when he was done did the older man pull him into a rushed kiss that he’s sure would have caused blood if it weren’t then for a tentative knock on the door, which had them quickly pull apart from each other before Ms. Andrews was poking her head around the door, a wide smile on her face as she came in, none the wiser to the activities that took place not even five minutes ago.

As one of their favourite clients moved to put her much anticipated pecan pie in their small fridge in the kitchen, all while rattling about some gossip she heard from a friend, Luke quickly leaned up to whisper in his ear whilst one of his hands ventured past the back of his jeans to grab at his ass before he felt long fingers poke at the plug he’d just put in himself, trying his best not to squirm and shiver at the touch.

“Make the most of your time now cause I’m gonna be owning your ass all weekend, if you’re able to walk Monday mornin’ then clearly I went too easy on you” The silent promise had him unable to keep back his shiver, and even now he felt his dick give a weak, painful twitch in his jeans until all of a sudden Luke pulled away entirely as if nothing had happened to go and strike up a conversion with their still gossiping client.

He couldn’t keep the small smile from his face at his prospective weekend plans as he moved over to the car to get it ready to leave, in the corner of his eye noting Lukes’ sly grin at him that had him working even faster so that they could get home sooner.

[hotvillaindaddies]

Andrews Can Suck It || Sweet Vee

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Veronica Lodge

Rating: There’s sex so, be an adult.

“I broke up with my boyfriend tonight,” she sighed, glancing up at him as he stuffed a few french fries covered in ketchup in to his mouth. 

Sweet Pea’s eyes jumped from his plate to Veronica’s face, widened to convey his surprise, his mouth full of food. They’d been sitting here for two hours, pretending like they were friends over piles of fries and milkshakes. He’d come here because he was craving a late night meal after his evening of drinking, and she’d ended up here because she wanted to be anywhere else but home. Neither of them had had a good night at the Wyrm. He first slid in to the seat across from her to annoy her, already enjoying the sass she gave off every other time he’d been around her. Eventually, they’d just started talking about shit like old friends, which was nice. They’d proved each other wrong, she wasn’t that stuck up, and he wasn’t that much of an asshole. Pea figured he’d end up liking her eventually. It was nice to see she felt the same.

Veronica shrugged a shoulder and stole another fry, sitting back against the booth seat. “I don’t love him, and I think not letting him go would only hurt him further. We’re better friends, even if we were good lovers.” She doesn’t know why she phrased it that way, but she still means it. Archie was an amazing friend, and every time they touched, it was magic. It just… wasn’t the magic she craved. Hopefully Archie would come around to think that as well, because she prayed their friendship would still exist after this. After all, there were plenty of other girls at Riverdale High that would be perfectly suited for the boy. It just wouldn’t be Veronica Lodge.

She chuckled when Sweet Pea had to knock at his chest with his fist a few times, his mouth full of french fries delivering instant karma from his rash decision to stuff his face. “You did the right thing. Can’t force yourself to love someone, just gotta feel it.” He shrugged his shoulder. “But what do I know? I haven’t been in love with anything other than this burger.” He punctuated that thought with a bite of his burger, making her laugh again. “If you’re not careful, you’ll choke. I know snakes usually just swallow their food whole, but remember, you’re a mere human man.” Veronica smirked and took a sip of her milkshake, wondering if she should order a burger as well. She’d gotten the basket of fries for the two of them to share, but the tall boy across from her swore he needed his protein as well.

Sweet Pea shrugged at her line, seemingly stolen from FP Jones, and stuffed more fries in to his mouth, not really sure what else to say to her. Just from their interactions alone, Pea was sure that Archie Andrews just couldn’t handle this spitfire. She was stubborn and strong, guarded but soft. He’d seen her fire and determination in school, and even though some of her attempts at being nice had been trash, she’d grown on him. He hadn’t forgotten she was a Lodge, her daddy snatching up his favorite places on the southside like wildfire, but she was also just a girl that lived in her father’s shadow, kind of like he did. She’d accidentally told him that she liked romance novels more than anything, and he hadn’t read any, but he was sure he could be the guy on the front of one of those books way more than Andrews could. Not that he was gonna tell her that. Instead he told her she’d needed to get laid more if she found that shit romantic.

Her eyebrow quirked at his silence, but he shrugged and kept eating, unsure of why he would even think he could be a leading man for her. She was Veronica Lodge, Northside Queen, Riverdale Vixen, Perfect Princess. Except, maybe she wasn’t. He was still figuring that out as they sat here. Either way, he was just a shithead from the Southside trailer park. He just didn’t amount to enough. His scarred knuckles and neck tattoo instantly disqualified him from the running.

Veronica snatched a few more fries, dipping them in his ketchup before shaking her head as she ate. “How come you’re not still at the Wyrm? I thought for sure you’d be partying til dawn with FP?” Sweet Pea shook his head, glancing around Pop’s before meeting her eyes again. “Nah. Got into it with Hog Eye over a game of pool. Figured I’d dip before FP tried to ground me or somethin.” He was still a little confused on why FP was suddenly playing daddy to any snake under the age of eighteen, especially when Hog Eye was Pea’s uncle. Hog Eye still owed him twenty bucks from last weekend, on top of the few grams of weed, and when he didn’t pay up for their newest bet, Sweet Pea swung on him. He’d mostly booked it out of the Wyrm and over to Pop’s because he was pissed and hungry. Nothing like a little family drama to light a fire under your ass. Again, something he didn’t plan on telling Veronica, she’d probably chastise him for not making Hog Eye put the money on the table first, and he definitely wasn’t going to tell her his uncle owed him some pot. Last time he’d let his no good uncle pull one over on him.

She smiled knowingly, understanding his hesitation to give her any more information on what went on in the Wyrm that she didn’t witness herself. The Serpents were protective of their own, and Sweet Pea had shown how loyal he was to them over and over. She knew he wasn’t going to tell a Northsider, much less Hiram Lodge’s daughter. They all knew what her father was up to, and for a moment, she realized just how lucky she was that Pea was even at her table talking to her at all. She would’ve thought he was much too proud for that. The way his jaw clenched made her thighs clench, the way he wore anger was more beautiful on him than anyone she’d ever seen, and as much as she hated to anger the boy, she filed it away to use for to her advantage.

By the time she’d snapped out of her thoughts, he’d had at least another handful of fries, and his burger was nearly gone. She was slightly surprised at how quickly he seemed to eat, but then again, he was over a foot taller than her and needed triple the food probably. “Let me guess. Too shady of an evening to share? Did you misbehave, Sweet Pea?” she asked, raising an eyebrow slowly. She was enjoying the easy banter between the two of them, easily pushing it to flirting. Sure, she’d just broken up with her boyfriend, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t flirt with the attractive bad boy across from her. If only she could be so open about who she was.

He nearly choked on the last bite of his burger. Usually, he was much more focused around women. He and Fangs had perfected their pick up game so they’d never go to bed alone if they didn’t want to, but for some reason, that one look from Veronica had more game than he’d ever possessed. A smirk played on his lips as he leaned forward, eyes dropping to her lips. “I misbehave always, Lodge. You should know that by now.” He swore her eyes got darker, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she looked at him. What was happening right now? Was he seriously flirting with Veronica Lodge? He hadn’t expected the tiny thing with a loud mouth and a mini skirt to catch his eye, but he was slowly seeing why she had every other boy at Riverdale practically eating out of her palm. He could understand why Andrews was so ass over feet for her now.

She plucked the cherry off of the top of her shake, pulling it from the stem slowly as they sat watching one another. Her nails drummed against the tabletop as she chewed, trying to decide what to do. Sweet Pea was hot, and hanging out with him had been pretty fun so far. She had drank just enough to feel confident and sexy in her sadness, and she was willing to make a few bad decisions. Even though, she didn’t think she’d actually call this a bad decision. It just seemed like the right one in this moment. She sighed, reaching across the table to pull his hand closer, turning his palm up so she could slowly trace the lines there. “Yep, says right here you’re a total rule breaker, Pea. Always misbehaving. I think I can fix that, I’ve got a pretty easy solution.”

Sweet Pea lifted an eyebrow, licking the grease from the fingers she wasn’t holding on to. “You some kinda witch, Lodge? Goin around reading my palm?” He watched her nod her head slowly, her reply of maybe making him chuckle. He should’ve known. He pulled her hand closer and kissed over her knuckles, eyes smoldering up at her. If she was looking for a rebound from Andrews, that was a role he’d willingly play. He wasn’t going to turn down a gorgeous girl when she wants to feel wanted. Especially not when he wanted her as badly as he did suddenly.

He fished out his wallet and tossed down a few tens, sliding out of the booth. Catching the surprise in her eyes, Pea held his hand out, cocking his head toward the door. “Let’s go, Lodge. We can try your solution back at my place.”

He drags her out to his bike, telling her to keep her legs off the pipes so she doesn’t burn herself. The last thing he wants is for his bike to put a mark on her skin before he does. He can tell she’s scared, so he just explains that she needs to hold on, and drives away from Pop’s slower than usual to let her adjust. Once they hit Main, he opens it up to normal speed and feels her tighten her arms around him, her squeals making him grin.

The trip to the southside is a quick one, so it’s not long before he parked his bike in front of his trailer in Sunnyside. Hoping that she wouldn’t turn her nose up at his humble abode, Pea led her up the steps and in to his house. The decor stood the same since his Aunt had died and left him with an absent uncle, with a few pieces of his own added whenever he felt like it. The couch was floral print, but hanging on the wall above it was a few framed pictures of Serpents doing various things, obviously an ode to the club his family loved so much.

Veronica found it absolutely charming. She’d thought she’d be walking in to a pig stye, some sort of filth that every teenage boy seemed to live in, but it was actually tidy, and surprisingly smelled really good. The candle in question was located on the coffee table, filling the space even without being lit. It smelled like sage, one of her favorite smells, making her instantly feel at home. “Surprised to see you have candles and throw pillows, Pea,” she teased, yanking on his hand before he walked too much further in to the house.

She slid her hands up his arms to his shoulders, pushing on to her toes to kiss him slowly, small hands cupping his cheeks. She loved that he still had to lean down to meet her lips, his arms going around her waist to hoist her up against him. She could feel the back of one of her heels coming off, but he seemed to be holding her up as well, so she let it slip off completely. “Sweets, couch,” she groaned against his lips, but he shook his head. His hands slid down her back to briefly squeeze her ass, then dropped to the back of her thighs to lift her up, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist as he started kicking his boots off.

Her lips attached to his neck, scraping her teeth against his Serpent tattoo to make him groan as he dropped her to the large bed. The bedroom was bathed in golden light from the street light outside, so he didn’t bother to flip on a light, just watched her shimmy against his grey bedspread. “Didn’t realize how good you’d look in my bed, Lodge. Though, I’d prefer to see you in less clothing than that.” He yanked his own shirt over his head, dropping it on the floor before he crawled over her to slide his lips along her jaw.

All she could do was whine, letting him pull the sweater from her body, his lips sliding down to her collar bone. Her bra was quickly pulled from her body as well, a gasp escaping her as his lips wrapped around a nipple. “You gonna tell me your solution to my troublemaking?” He asked, teeth pulling at the bud before glancing up at her. Her eyes were closed, head tipped back, lips parted in a silent moan. With that moan, she shivered beneath him, nodding her head.

“Yeah, was gonna make some sort of joke about you putting your hands on my body or something, this is so much better so just forget about that,” she answered, fingers slipping in to his hair to tug gently. She rolled her hips against his, smirking when she felt him hard against her thigh. “Might wanna ditch those jeans, Pea. And help me get rid of this skirt.” She pressed her lips against his again, tugging gently at his bottom lip for a little incentive. His laugh made her smile and open her eyes to scan his face, trying to figure out what he found funny.

“Are you really rushin me, Lodge? You can’t let go of control for a single second can you? Just lay back and enjoy, princess.” Sweet Pea picked himself up on his knees, reaching to tug the skirt down her legs once she’d unzipped the side of it. She seemed to be satisfied with his words, her body becoming liquid on his dark sheets. His smirk returned when he noticed her panties matched her bra, something he expected from the girl. He quickly rid her of those too, sliding down her body to lift a thigh over his shoulder, his tongue sliding through her folds slowly. The sound of her moaning was like music to his ears, only spurring him on to taste her further.

Her hold on his hair guided his tongue, letting her yank him to where she wanted to get a feel for what she liked. To stay a few steps ahead of her, he pushed a finger into her slowly, curling it slowly as his tongue lashed against her clit. He could feel the muscles in her thighs jumping, so he added a second finger, her whimpers turning in to sobs as she fell apart. Slowing his fingers, he let her come down easily, watching as her eyes fluttered open. “Damn, Veronica. Almost took clumps of my hair out, take it easy,” he teased.

Veronica pushed up on one elbow, letting her free hand slide through his hair gently, a satisfied smile on her face. “Let me make it up to you?” She raised an eyebrow, but he shook his head, surprising her by sliding off the bed completely. He reached into the drawer for a condom, ripping the foil open with his teeth before he rolled it on. She gasped when he lifted her body with one arm, carrying her further up the bed to rest against the pillows. She tilted her head to kiss him deeply as he pushed in to her, making her moan against his lips at how good he felt. Her arms went above her to hold the headboard as he thrust into her, and for once Veronica felt perfectly full, her eyes meeting his as he gritted his teeth to pick up speed.

She looked so damn good underneath him that he was pretty sure he might embarrass himself, but if he made it good for her, he was sure she’d give him another round or two to make it up to her. He found a steady rhythm for a while, letting his hands grip her hips tightly to guide her against him. Maybe he’d leave bruises, hoping they’d remind her of him later. Then he lifted a leg up against his chest again, opening her thighs further to thrust deeply, feeling her flex around him. Her moans were turning in to gasps, her whines turning to begging. “Please, Sweets,” she whined, rolling her hips against his, question cut off by a particularly deep thrust. He knew what she wanted, his thumb quickly finding her clit to rub tight circles until she was coming undone, clenching on his dick so tight he was thought he might die.

He thrust through her orgasm, chuckling as she pushed at his shoulder. “Lay back,” she demanded, waiting for him to roll, his hands settling back on her hips once she sank back down on to him again. Once she was settled, she gave him a little smirk before starting to rock her hips back and forth, her nails lightly dragging down his chest, making him growl. How had he managed this? His hands fell to her ass, guiding her hips until he couldn’t stand it anymore, forcing her on to her back again to give her a few deep thrusts, coming with a groan against her neck.

They both laid there for a few moments, trying to catch their breath again. She tapped at his arm, pushing him a little to get him to roll off of her so he wouldn’t crush her. “Damn, Sweets,” she panted, watching him push himself up to get rid of the condom. Once he’d crawled back on to the bed to lay down, she scooted against his side, head dropping to his chest to lay against him as her mind wandered. She felt amazing, thankful for the several orgasms he coaxed from her even after she’d been having a very shitty and long night. That magic she’d been missing with Archie seemed to manifest tenfold with Pea, making her head swim with thoughts that she was sure were related to rebounding so quickly. Maybe. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next with her and Archie, or what might happen in Riverdale, but whatever happened, she knew she’d be okay. That things would inevitably get better like they always did.

While her fingers traced nonexistent patterns on his stomach, Pea let his eyes rest, just breathing her in, still surprised by the wild turn of events this evening. He’d have swung on anyone who told him that he’d be naked in his bed with Veronica Lodge. Then again, she’d shown him just how totally different she was than what he’d thought she was like. Maybe some of these northsiders weren’t so bad. Or maybe it was just Veronica. His hand slid over her back slowly, finally opening his eyes to look down at her, a smile appearing on his lips when he noticed she’d fallen asleep. Not surprising, they’d both had long nights. It was nearly five am.

Trying not to jostle her, Sweet Pea reached for the grey quilt and tugged it up over the two of them, making sure his phone was plugged in next to the bed before settling in for the night. Girls didn’t usually sleep over, then again, none of them were this girl. So he’d let it slide. He liked the way she seemed to cling to him anyways. Slowly, he let himself fall asleep, one thought seeming to repeat itself. Andrews could suck it. He was keeping this one to himself from now on.

[allisonireynolds]

You’re Safe Like Springtime

"Neil knew he was being followed approximately 24 minutes into his midday run." //// In which a dog rescues Neil, or Neil rescues a dog, but in the end, Andrew ends up with someone to protect him for a change.

/Title from Troye Sivan's Lucky Strike/

read on ao3

As someone who trains guide dogs and helps with therapy dogs, the idea of Andrew and Neil getting a therapy dog was always interesting to me, so i decided to write a thing. Andrew is always picking up people to protect, and for a change, i thought it would be nice if there was someone to protect him (besides neil, of course, but some days, it's better to not be around people, and dogs really help)

 / / / / / /

Neil knew he was being followed approximately 24 minutes into his midday run. The blonde woman poorly disguising herself as a suburban jogger mom with a ponytail, hat, and matching tracksuit had remained a careful twenty feet behind him longer than coincidence, but what really sealed the deal was her partner, the man who had been jogging about ten feet behind Jogger Mom. The park was full of so many jogging paths that Neil knew two people keeping his pace and following his trail couldn't just be a coincidence.

The problem was he didn't know who they were from. He'd been keeping up with his payments to Ichirou, so unless he wanted to get rid of one of his most valuable assets, there was no reason to believe he was behind the attack. Stuart was attempting to actually connect with Neil recently, as in form familial connections, so that didn't make sense either. The only one left was a straggler left behind from his father's empire. Stuart promised to take care of them, but that was a task akin to removing the sand from a beach. Nathan Wesninski had innumerable amounts of henchmen and thrice the amount of enemies. Which meant they were all stuck hating Neil.

"Some people just don't get the memo," Neil muttered to himself, taking a sharp turn down a new path. He had all the park paths memorized, but he found himself taking the same one almost daily, which meant if these people were as good as the people who came before them, they would know exactly where he was headed. So he diverged.

He plunged through the trees, picking up his pace. Jogger Mom swore, running after him, shouting to her partner. His suspicions had been right. Neill tore through the terrain, switching directions seemingly randomly, but he knew exactly where he was going.

In the corner of his brain that wasn't screaming RUN in his mother's voice, he tried to figure out where Andrew was. It was around 1 which meant he was probably getting home from the gym about now. Neil would not lead these two would-be-assassins to his house, one of the few remaining safe places he had left. Andrew. He would not lead them to Andrew.

He could already picture Andrew's reaction to the situation. He was stupid for not bringing his phone. But if he had, they probably would've tracked it anyway, so maybe it was a good thing. Neil cut down another path and was suddenly spit out onto a busy street. Immediately, he stopped running and controlled his breathing. He tried to blend with the people streaming down the sidewalk, trying to melt into the hustle and bustle of the city. Jogger Mom and Partner skidded to a stop on the sidewalk behind him, breathing heavily. Partner swore again and spoke into an earpiece. So they did have more backup. No doubt waiting for the signal to move in and grab Neil while he was in the park.

As Neil passed by a tourist kiosk, he quickly snatched a hat and pair of sunglasses off a rack while the store owner was busy haggling with a customer and yanked a shirt off a hook without looking at the sizing. As he walked, he pulled the shirt on, it was too big, but it would throw the would-be kidnappers off. Next, he slid the sunglasses on and pulled the cap down low.

He could still hear Jogger Mom and Partner behind him. They probably didn't see him, but this street was easy to follow, so if he didn't step up, things would suddenly get a lot harder.

His salvation came in the form of a small noise from a scummy alley he was passing by. Peering down, Neil noticed a red leash leading into a large, taped shut cardboard box. Quickly, glancing over his shoulder, he crouched and nudged the box a little. The weight inside shifted, and then again when he had pulled his hand back. Whatever was in that box was alive.

Yanking back the tape, while still being hyper-conscious of his surroundings, Neil opened the box. Before it was fully open, the thing inside burst forward. Neil braced himself to jump back, but instead, the dog scrambled out of the box and sat in front of him, tail wagging on the ground. She seemed to grin at him slightly.

Neil's limited knowledge of dogs told him three things: one, she was still young, with the gangly look of a puppy, two, she looked like a lab, but different. The best way Neil could describe it was more boxy. And three, wherever she came from hadn't been a healthy environment. But he didn't really need dog knowledge for that. For starters, she had been taped inside a box in an alley, and second, a large, wicked looking cut ran down the left side of her face, her left eye was sealed shut, Neil wasn’t even sure there was an eye left, but there was too much blood and… crust for him to check. Also, he was on a time crunch. Jogger Mom and Partner were probably almost on top of him by this time.

The cut didn't take away from her friendly looking face and she seemed to like Neil enough, judging from the wagging tail, so he made a decision quickly.

"You help me and I'll help you, ok?" He asked the dog, picking up the leash. The dog smiled up at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

Pulling the cap lower on his face, Neil stepped out of the alley and immediately almost froze. Jogger Mom and Partner were about five feet away from him, back facing him, looking across the street. Quickly, but without rushing, Neil steered himself and the dog away from Jogger Mom. The best way to get away from them would be to get behind them. And lucky for him, they were looking for the son of a serial killer, not some badly dressed millennial walking his dog. And Jogger Mom wouldn't be looking for small details, she'd be rushed and possibly frantic after losing him. They wouldn't have expected him to change so quickly.

"I think I see him!" Jogger Mom hissed and Neil spun himself around and pretended to contemplate which magazine he should buy.

He was almost sure he was in the clear when a voice next to him said, "Nice dog." Neil peered out of the side of his sunglasses and felt his insides turn to ice when he saw Partner standing there. He nodded and mumbled thank you. Partner grabbed and paid for two bottles of water before chasing after Jogger Mom. Neil watched them disappear into the throngs of city goers and let out a breath.

"You're a miracle," he muttered down at the dog.

Half an hour later, he was unlocking the door to his apartment, dog in toe. Andrew didn't look up from his place on the couch, a tub of ice cream opened next to him with a spoon sticking out.

"You're late," Andrew said. Neil nodded, dumping his keys into the dish.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You left your phone at home, dumbass," Andrew continued, finally looking up. Whatever he was going to say next died in his throat as soon as he saw the dog sitting at Neil's feet.

"What the fuck is that?" He deadpanned. Neil wrinkled his brow.

"She is a dog. And she's been very helpful, so I think I owe her a favor." Andrew looked at him incredulously.

"I think you need to start at the beginning."

After moving to the couch, Neil recounted the day's events to Andrew, whose face didn't betray the slightest hint as to what he was feeling.

"Did they touch you?" Andrew asked.

"They didn't even notice me after I got the dog," he said.

"That's not what I asked," Andrew stated, deadly calm. Neil looked him in the eyes.

"No. They did not touch me. And you can thank the dog for that."

"I think I can thank them for being incompetent kidnappers," Andrew retorted, still looking at dog disdainfully. She smiled at him with one eye.

"Andrew, we're safe." Neil could see the emotions hiding behind Andrew's eyes.

"Sure. Safe like springtime." He responded. Just like Spring, safety was a fleeting concept, never lasting forever. Bright and sunny weather during the Spring could change at the drop of a hat to biting winds and gray clouds.

"But we're safe now." Neil stared directly into Andrew's eyes.

Andrew tore his gaze away first and looked down at the dog. "What the fuck happened to her?" He asked, grabbing her face, albeit gently, to inspect the damage.

"I don't know," Neil said. "I found her in a box. I don't even know what breed she is, let alone her name."

"She's a lab-pit mix," Andrew supplied. Sometimes Neil wondered just how many things Andrew had memorized in his brain, other times, he didn't want to know.

"I figured I at least owed her a visit to the vet, to look at her eye," Neil supplied. Andrew cut him a look.

"I distinctly remember you saying something similar about the cats. And now we have two."

"But you like those two," Neil countered. "Plus, the dog really helped me out. I'd probably still be trying to lose them. She really added to the disguise." Andrew gave him a dead stare and Neil smiled. They both knew he was grasping at straws. "So are you coming with us or not?"

Andrew wouldn't let the dog in his car, so they had to take Neil's car. The good news: the vet said she would keep the eye. The damage was just on her face, but with the right antibiotics, the infection would die and she would be fine, aside from scarring.

"She'll fit right in with us," Neil joked sardonically.

More good-ish news: she wasn't microchipped and didn't fit the description of any missing dogs. That, paired with the fact she was found abandoned meant that she was adoptable. Once the vet tech told them this, Neil looked at Andrew hopefully.

"What do you think?" Neil asked. Andrew just rolled his eyes. "It'll be nice for the cats to have a new friend, and I'm sure she'd be great at watching the apartment while we have practice." Andrew sighed.

"Fine. But if she doesn't get along with the cats, she's gone." Andrew almost needed sunglasses after Neil beamed at him. The vet tech left for a moment to get the proper paperwork and medicine and Andrew looked between the dog and Neil.

"437%," he said. Neil smiled softly.

"Was that for the dog or me?" He joked. Andrew shoved him lightly.

"This means a lot, Andrew," Neil said. "She really helped me out today."

"Shut up," Andrew said. "This whole day was just a lucky strike." As soon as he said that, he regretted it.

"That's her name!"

"What?"

"Lucky strike!" Andrew felt his stomach roll.

"We are not having a dog named Lucky, like every single suburban family in the country," he said.

"Fine. We'll call her Strike then," Neil said, undeterred. Andrew could see there was no stopping him now.

"Fine. Her name is Strike."

The vet tech returned with the papers and Neil got to work signing and filling out information.

"You know, when she's all healed, this dog would be an excellent emotional support dog," she said to Andrew. He looked at her with bored eyes.

"What?"

"It's just… I volunteer with training emotional support dogs, for trauma victims or people with PTSD, and this dog shows excellent traits. If you want, I can give you a trainer's number?" She looked a little intimidated by Andrew, so Neil had to give her props for speaking to him.

"What do they do?" Andrew asked. His interest surprised Neil.

"Well," the vet tech was gaining confidence. "Usually they just help their specific person, but it isn't uncommon for that person to also take the dog to hospitals. Or, if you reach out to the right people and get the right certifications, you can bring her to meetings with children, like court hearings or meetings with foster families."

Andrew nodded. "I'll take the card."

Honestly, Neil didn't expect Andrew to take the emotional support dog thing very far. But after a few months, he was proven wrong. Andrew went to all the classes with Strike and taught everything to Neil when he got home so he would know too.

The vet tech was right about Strike. She was amazing at reading people's emotions, especially Andrew's, whom she had gotten particularly attached to, despite Andrew still pretending he didn't like her very much. Once, on one of Andrew's bad days, when Neil was giving him as much space as possible, he noticed Andrew staring at a blank wall, Strike's head on his lap, his hand gently fondling her ears.

At that moment, Neil felt so much love in his heart for both the man he loved and the dog they saved and who had saved him.

Andrew began to take Strike everywhere. As an emotional support dog, she was legally allowed anywhere, but Andrew didn't just stop at taking her to stores and a couple practices. He talked with Bee and she connected him with people got him into courts with children, often victims of abuse. Having a man who could easily bench whoever scared them and a dog to offer support next to them often gave them the strength to testify.

On slow nights, when there wasn't practice or a game, Neil, Andrew, Sir and King, and Strike all sat together, watching old exy tapes and Neil felt like his family was more complete than it had ever been before.

[exceedinglyregular]

Prompt: Fun fact- Andrew can sing and often writes songs in his downtime. Fun fact- he is also hopelessly in love with one Steven Lim. After Steven moves to LA, Andrew is broken. His songs get sadder and the small collection of people who knows this are worried for him. Cue some help from Ryan Bergara, who also writes songs and sings- this time for Shane Madej, who he is moping after. The two help each other write songs, make a name for themselves, and find happiness in those they love.

I decided to interpret your prompt in a slightly weird different way. I apologise for my weird brain.

Also sorry about the tardiness, coming up with original lyrics is a lot tougher than I anticipated. Plus the story kept literally growing on me even though I wanted to keep it short and sweet.

(ao3 link for those who prefer: here)

Title: To the Tune of Your Heart

“What. The. Hell.” Andrew’s head immediately snaps around to look at Adam, those words don’t sound right coming out of his soft-spoken friend’s mouth. He’s flipping through Andrew’s notebook with a look of disbelief on his face. “Okay, some of these are downright depressing. Are you okay?”

“Not all the songs are from my perspective,” Andrew replies nonchalantly. He continues setting up the lights they needed for filming. Adam looks up, annoyed. Andrew sighs. “I’m okay. There I answered your question, now help me with this.” Adam obliges.

…

so i’m a liar, sue mei did what i had toyou never wanted to hurt mebut i did it for you

now you’re happy, without meam i the fool?i should be angrybut i’m happy for you

…

Ryan stares at his reflection in his phone’s blank screen, waiting… Yeah, seems like he forgot, no surprise there. Groaning, Ryan drops his phone on the pillow next to his head, and rolls over to where his laptop is. He lifts the lid and sighs. It’s looking like another solo brainstorm session.

Ryan clicks around aimlessly and accidentally opens a draft of a song he’s writing: ‘For You’. It’s incomplete, much like his life. Ryan cringes at his own thought. It’s been years but he’s still not over it.

Shane has a girlfriend now, and he’s happy. In fact, he’s so happy that he’s probably on a date with her right now, completely forgetting that he agreed to help Ryan out with coming up with ideas for their next videos. Ryan swears he’s not bitter, he swears he’s happy for Shane.

…

it’s not the samein two different citieswho can i blame?i just stood there and watched you leave

spinning round and roundwaiting for your calli’m still holding onnothing else matters more

if this is all there isthen i’m sorry to saythis is where it all endsthere’s no other way

…

This isn’t working. Andrew smacks his face onto the dining table, this is the fifth batch already. Adam has since been long gone, went home to get ready for work. Andrew lifts his head slightly, only to bring it back down onto the table. Hard. He repeats it several times, hoping the pain would give him some clarity of mind.

As fledgling YouTubers, the cards were already stacked against them. But now with his own ineptitude, Andrew’s certain he’s gonna delete the entire subscriber-base that he and Adam had worked so hard to build. Andrew groans, it’s loud and dragged out, and interrupted by a knock on his front door.

It’s probably Adam, having forgotten his jacket or keys or something. Andrew doesn’t care. He shuffles over to open the door, ready to make a snippy remark about Adam’s poor memory. But the words he planned dies in his throat as he realizes who’s standing there. It’s not Adam.

“Ryan?”

The man waves tiredly, a wry smile on his lips. Then his eyes suddenly grow comically large as he points at Andrew’s forehead.

“You’re bleeding!”

Andrew lifts his hand to touch his forehead and sure enough, it pulls back with a thick, bright red liquid covering his fingers.

“So I am,” Andrew states matter-of-factly, completely unperturbed.

…

i got a problemyeah, i got a problem with youdon’t pretend you don’t knowwhat’s the matter with you?

all i wanted to bewas just your friendand that would be the end of itbut you had to goand ruin everythingwith your stupid beautiful facewhat the hell

i got a problem with youi got a bone to pickdon’t pretend you don’t knowwhat i want from you

…

With Andrew all patched up, Ryan can finally relax. He tosses the towel he used into the sink, there is an obscene amount of red on the towel, the sink, and everywhere in between.

Andrew leaves the bathroom without so much as a ‘thank you’, eliciting an eye-roll from Ryan, even though no one is around to witness it. He follows his friend out to the dimly lit dining room.

“What are those?” Ryan points at the weird lumps on the table.

“They’re SUPPOSED to be giant cinnamon rolls.” Andrew sighs, and runs a hand down his face in dramatic fashion, decidedly avoiding the bandage on his forehead.

“Oh yeah, I see it now. I thought they looked like baked poop emojis… no offense!” Ryan gingerly prods the rolls, wondering if they would collapse on themselves as he did that. Andrew for the most part didn’t look angry, just tired.

“None taken. They did turn out pretty shitty.” Ryan bites back a laugh. “So what brings you here tonight?”

“Oh, the usual: boredom, loneliness, heartbreak,” Ryan replies, faux-cheerily. Andrew raises an eyebrow before giving a sympathetic smile.

“Yikes. Sounds bad.” Ryan simply shrugs in response, there isn’t much to be said about his situation, Andrew already knows most of the details. And reciprocally, Andrew had shared his own problems with Ryan. Critically, the one involving a certain someone whose name begins with the letter ’s’ and ends with the letter ‘Lim’.

It’s the main reason Ryan came over in the first place, none of his other friends can relate to his plight to the same degree that Andrew does. Granted, it’s still ways off from complete understanding but it’s better than nothing.

“How’s the side-business going?” Ryan asks as he flips through the notebook that was lying on an otherwise empty chair.

Andrew doesn’t answer verbally, only giving Ryan a weary thumbs-down. Scanning line after smudgy line, an idea suddenly dawns on Ryan.

“What if I helped you out? I may know jackshit about baking, but songwriting… I do know a thing or two.”

Andrew looks hesitant, he scratches at his beard absentmindedly. He’s the sort who would refuse to admit he needs help even when he’s completely and utterly at wit’s end. Closing his eyes, he sighs, tension leaving his body. Ryan knows he’s giving in.

“Okay, but I’m helping you too.”

“Deal.”

…

normally i can be cooland keep it togetherbut when i’m around youi can’t control myself

boy, oh boyyou just had to do me like thisjust one smile from youoh, and i melt away

…

“Do I really have to?” Andrew mumbles, he’s not exactly thrilled with this idea.

He and Ryan are in his living room, everything has been set up to film him performing one of his songs. They spent the past few weeks working on Andrew’s songs, some old, some new, but all Steven-related.

“Just trust me… even if you don’t post this online, you’ll be glad to have something to look back at,” Ryan assures him, while adjusting the lens on the camera to get the focus right.

Andrew pokes at one of the keys on the piano, the sound that it creates is shaky and uncertain, which is exactly how Andrew is feeling. Not many people know about this side of him. He’s always been too scared to sing in front of an audience, performing one of his original compositions is ever further out of the question.

What if he’s not good? What if people hate his voice? Or his lyrics? Ryan said he didn’t have to publish this online but… he can’t stop his mind from wandering into those dark thoughts. Worse still, what if HE hates it? What if he hates his own singing? His own voice?

A weight finds it way onto Andrew’s shoulder, pressing down so suddenly that Andrew jumps up, knocking his knees against the piano. Ouch.

“Hey, hey… relax. You got this.” Ryan’s smiling assuringly, he squeezes Andrew’s shoulder lightly. “You got an amazing voice, believe me… I’m actually jealous.” This line gets some laughter from Andrew, who shakes his head disbelievingly.

“Alright, here goes nothing…”

…

something’s differentmaybe it’s just mebut when you talkall i’m hearing isblah, blah, blah…

has the curse finally been broken?please let it bei’ve had enoughi did my time

…

“Nope, no way. ‘Bergara guitarrar’ is not happening.” Ryan is shaking his head so violently his glasses almost fly off. Shane merely laughs at his objection.

“I mean you don’t actually have to do it just because the hashtag is trending. I’m not going to force you to…” Shane trails off, a trying-to-look-innocent smile on his face. Ryan swears he can see the effort Shane is putting into trying to pop out a halo, and it annoys the hell out of him.

“What the fuck, Shane?! The entire reason you started the hashtag is to pressure me into doing it!” Ryan angrily snatches the bowl of popcorn out of Shane’s hands and stuffs his face with a handful. If he didn’t, he might end up saying something he’d regret.

“You got me there.” The playful energy in Shane deflates, as does his posture. Normally, this action puts a hole in Ryan’s heart but today it sits steeled, unpunctured. He needs to stay strong for this.

Ryan sets the bowl down on the table, one set of fingers clawing away at the popcorn, the other swiping across the trackpad on his laptop. The webpage is scrolling, slowly, but his eyes aren’t focused on the words. He doesn’t have the energy to read.

When he broke up with Shane years ago, he convinced the both of them that it’s because it wasn’t working. That Ryan didn’t feel the same way towards his boyfriend like he did before. But all of it was a lie. The real reason he ended the relationship was for Shane’s sake, the other man was still too uncomfortable with his own sexuality. Shane merely pushed onwards to please him, Ryan was certain of it.

He had initially though that Shane was just being awkward in a new relationship but as the months dragged on, it became abundantly clear that the whole experience was setting Shane on the edge. And that wasn’t what Ryan wanted for him, he didn’t want Shane to force himself to confront his bisexuality when he wasn’t ready. He didn’t want Shane to be miserable just so Ryan can date him, that’s a fucked-up relationship. Hence the break up.

It had initially devastated Shane but Ryan could see the tension in him dissolving over the next few days. Despite the uphill battle, they did eventually manage to return to being just friends. Ryan is certain that never in a million years will he regret his decision, but part of him still wishes that they can get back together. And that part has been getting louder and more insistent over time. Right now, however, all he wants is for Shane to go away.

Too bad the universe hates him, as Shane maneuvers around the dining table just to face him. He flips the chair around and sits backwards on it, leaning forward against the backrest. Ryan doesn’t look up from the screen but imagines Shane resting his head on his crossed arms.

“Ryan,” Shane pleads, sounding more tired than Ryan has ever heard him. “I just think it’s a waste to not showcase that talent of yours.” Ryan doesn’t buy it.

“Bull. Shit. You want to embarrass me.” His patience is running thin but Shane doubles down on his objective, much to Ryan’s chagrin. He leans in and lowers the lid on Ryan’s laptop, looking him straight in the eye. When Ryan refuses to maintain visual contact, Shane seizes the bowl and Ryan instinctually glares at him.

“I don’t. Serious! I’m not saying this simply because you’re my friend, but you got a gift! You should unleash it onto the world!” Ryan waves a hand, physically dismissing Shane’s compliment with certain irritation. He has a point, those words are almost identical to the ones he told Andrew last week, but he refuses to let Shane win.

“Yeah, yeah… still not happening.” Ryan raises the lid of his laptop back up, he cracks his knuckles and begin typing away. “Can we just focus on the research?

Shane sighs heavily, nodding reluctantly. He has given up, for now… Ryan knows him better than to think that he has seen the end of this.

…

back to the startjust a stranger to you nowno matter what i doyou won’t turn around

finally got to know youthen you just had to leave mebehind with all these memoriesoh, what am i to do?

…

The videos were a huge hit, just like Ryan said they would be. Andrew absentmindedly taps his fingers on his knees, watching the numbers on his phone’s screen climb. People are still very much into it, he’s uploaded three songs now and with each one receiving more praises than the last, they aren’t looking much like a fluke.

Andrew locks his phone and tosses it onto the pillow next to him. He should be happy about the success he’s found with his music. The reactions he got were well beyond his wildest imagination. The channel tripled in subscribers, and the videos individually garnered more views than all their previous ones combined. All good news. Except that one no-news.

There’s still no word from Steven, they did still message each other sporadically since Steven moved to Los Angeles to chase his dreams of starring on the silver screen. But ever since the first song went online, it’s been radio silent, and the lack of anything at all is beginning to kill Andrew from the inside. Maybe he’s on a shoot and hasn’t seen it, Adam had supplied so helpfully but they both knew that the chances of that was slimmer than Jim.

When Andrew first met Steven, he immediately changed his mind on the whole ‘love at first sight’ thing. It sounds incredibly cheesy but it’s like a fog had been lifted and rays of sun came piercing through the walls he spent years putting up. The boy was sunny, passionate, bubbly, kind, friendly, and oh so beautiful. Still is. Andrew was caught so completely off his guard that even Adam immediately noticed, and that guy lives in his own little world.

If only Andrew wasn’t so shy and reserved. The entire first month that they worked together, Andrew said nothing to him outside of the occasional instructions on where to point the camera. Their entire relationship was professional and strictly business, despite Andrew’s numerous attempts at opening up. When Steven questioned his standoffish behavior one fine day, all Andrew could return was a seizure-like spluttering noise and some brain-dead mumbling. It was an embarrassing time for everyone involved. Adam often voiced his desire to have been elsewhere when that went down.

Yet somehow, Andrew managed to convince Steven that he doesn’t hate him, and convinced himself that Steven meant more to him than just a for-hire cameraman that they found on Craigslist. The latter was easy, because it was so true. The two had so easily became friends, even closer than he and Adam was. And on the deeper, darker end, Andrew was certain he has fallen for Steven. How could he not? The man would show up on Andrew’s doorstep with his favorite pizza when he made an offhand remark about being peckish. At midnight. The extent that Steven would go just to make Andrew happy was so great that… there are no words for it. Andrew couldn’t imagine life without Steven, it was undoubtedly the best time of his life.

Then it all came to a screeching halt when Steven broke the news that he would be moving to LA after receiving an offer from an agency. He was finally going to fulfill his dreams of becoming an actor. But it just had to happen just as Andrew had finally gathered up the nerves to confess his feelings to Steven. All those words he spent countless nights preparing fell off to the side as he pulled Steven in for a congratulatory hug. Everything went downhill from there. Even now, almost an entire year later, Andrew can still recall the very words he wanted to say.

He needs to get out of here, he needs some fresh air to clear his mind. Andrew picks up his phone and grabs a jacket off the side table that he’s certain belongs to Adam. Keys. Wallet. Socks. And slip into shoes. Ready to leave, he pulls open the door and immediately freezes. At the bottom of the steps is a human-like figure. The stranger looks up and… that’s not a stranger, at least not in the literal sense. Then again, these days, Steven had become so distant that he’s basically one foot into foreign territory.

Andrew’s throat tightens, he wasn’t expecting this and it’s clear from Steven’s expression that he wasn’t expecting Andrew to open the door when he did. The two men remain frozen for several beats too long, neither were sure of what to do. Steven’s the first to break the silence.

“H-heading out?” Steven asks shakily, as if he were freezing. Granted, it can be objectively considered cold but this is nothing for Boston. Then it hits Andrew that had Steven had probably came straight from LA, the difference in temperature is probably something he hadn’t immediately gotten used to.

“Yeah…” Andrew replies stupidly, uncertain on what exactly to say in a situation like this.

“I’ll come back some other time-” Steven starts turning away and Andrew’s heart seizes for a split second.

“Wait!” Andrew yells and Steven freezes mid-step like a scared animal. “Actually, I was hoping you could… come with? I’m just going out for a breather.” The fear on Steven’s face melts away into relief, his eyes are uncharacteristically reflective.

Andrew sprints down the steps so quickly that he couldn’t stop himself from lightly colliding into Steven, who pulls back hastily as if that slight bit of physical contact had burned his skin. The unspoken tension between them is growing thicker by the second… but Andrew knows one place that can fix this. If it doesn’t work, nothing else will.

“Little Joys?”

“That’d be nice.”

…

look at me and tell me there’s not a thingthat you see that’s pulling you in nowor maybe… there is

look at me and tell me you want thisone, two, three, leaning closer infinally… kiss me

…

Shane’s not talking to him. Ryan knew it was a bad idea from the very start. Sure, it got over a million views… but at what cost? This was so not worth it.

Ryan’s reading over the lyrics again, trying to find what could have possibly triggered such behavior in Shane. He even got Andrew, who helped write it, to look through. They both came up blank. But Ryan hasn’t stopped reading the words on his screen, trying desperately to understand what happened. This is so frustrating.

The front door slams, oh good, Shane’s home. Ryan hops off his bed and walks out to the hallway, looking to confront his friend, hoping that he’s ready to talk. But Ryan stops when his eyes land on Shane, he mentally backtracks but it’s too late for him to physically backtrack. Shane is storming down the hall, heading straight towards Ryan like a homing missile, he stops when he’s merely two steps away.

“Are you fucking with me?” Shane asks curtly, the look on his face a perfect marriage of anger and hurt. Ryan opens his mouth and leaves his jaw hanging, unsure if it’s a genuine question that he’s expected to answer. After a few more seconds of uneasy silence, Shane grunts, fierce. “Answer me, Ryan!”

“I-I… What are you talking about?” Ryan is stunned by the outrage he’s facing, he knows Shane is talking about the song but he doesn’t know what part exactly.

“THE SONG!!” Shane yells at the absolute top of his voice. The volume sends a shiver down Ryan’s spine. “Why are you fucking with me like this?!” The eye contact is bordering on lethal, and it lasted almost an entire minute before Shane breaks it and looks down. His entire body is shaking.

“I know I shouldn’t have pressured you into doing it, Ryan, and I’m really sorry, but… but-” It takes Ryan far too long to register what’s happening before his very eyes. Shane is breaking down, crying, choking on the tears he’s spilling. That’s what the shaking was. Ryan’s heart is breaking into pieces, his ribcage tightens as he forgets how to breathe. Then Shane delivers the final twist of the knife. “You know I still love you, why would you do this to me?”

The world goes quiet. There are no sounds apart from the rushing of blood in Ryan’s ears. Time stands still. The waves of emotion retreats, the winds stop. It’s the calm before the storm. Then it hits Ryan all at once like a freight train. He’s tripping over his thoughts… Shane still loved him? He didn’t trust his ears to have heard it correctly. When he finally recovers, he pushes his need to clarify.

“Y-you still love me?”

“Yes, I do and yet you…” Shane stops to steady his breathing, his chest shuddering as he does so. “You g-gave me hope and then immediately take it away. What kind of sick joke-”

“It’s not! I love you, I really do!” It’s Ryan’s turn to cry now, the years worth of bottled emotions come rushing out. “I didn’t want to break up with you but I just… I-” Shane cuts him off with a kiss. It’s desperate, it’s resolute, it’s familiar… Like listening to an old favorite song that you haven’t heard in years.

A sudden thought hits Ryan on the side of his head and he quickly pulls back. “Shit, what about your girlfriend?!”

“My wha- Irene?” Shane’s tone is incredulous, as if he cannot even grasp the concept that Ryan could possibly think that. “There’s nothing going on between us, never was… never will be.”

Ryan heaves a huge sigh of relief. Shane looks onto him with the warmest smile on his face, and the happiest look in his eyes. They lean in and kiss again, this time softer and more gentle. It’s an apology, it’s an affirmation, it’s an ‘I-miss-you’.

They have a lot to catch up on.

…

when did everything becomeoh so messybetween you and me

if we could turn time backwould you pick meover the city of dreams

…

A mere two blocks away from Andrew’s place, Little Joys Ice-Cream Parlor is one of he and Steven’s favorite hangouts. The amount of time they had spent there was staggering, they were on first-names basis with all the employees there.

When they step through the doors of the establishment, several heads turn to look, mostly the employees. There’s a mixture of smiles and nods as a form of greeting their regular customers. There are few patrons around, typical of a weekday afternoon. Andrew and Steven immediately head for the booth in the corner without so much as a second thought, it’s their usual spot.

Normally customers are supposed to go up and get their food themselves but as regulars, Andrew and Steven gets a little VIP privilege. One of the employees, Jennie, was wiping down a table earlier but seeing the duo take their seats, she happily skips over to their table.

“Hey! It’s been a while.” Jennie greets with a giggle, the soaked cleaning cloth in her right hand is dripping a puddle on the floor right next to her but she doesn’t seem to notice. “What would you boys like? The usual?”

Andrew’s not in the mood to think about exactly which flavors he wants, so he simply nods at her question. It seems that Steven’s the same way as he mirrors his action. Jennie strangely doesn’t notice that something is amiss with their behavior and accepts their orders and merrily makes her way towards the main counter.

They wait in silence for their orders to arrive, neither ready to speak. Normally they would be sitting so close that their shoulders touched, despite the fact that the booth can easily sit six people comfortably. But this isn’t normally, and right now there’s just enough space in between for Adam to comfortably third-wheel them.

But even at this distance, Andrew can still feel the tenseness radiating off Steven’s body. His own body is stiff, aching, and uncomfortable, despite the plush cushioning of the seats. He desperately wants to shuffle in closer, put his hand on Steven’s knee, lean his head on his shoulder, and make things okay again. Before he can do any of that, Steven breaks the silence.

“Are they-” His voice creaks and he forces a cough to clear his throat. Andrew watches as a million different emotions flash across Steven’s face, but he doesn’t recognize any of them. Steven rests his elbows on the table, hands clenched together. He presses his hands against his lips in a frown, sighing. Then finally he leans back and lets his arms fall at his sides, he doesn’t look at Andrew when he asks.

“The songs… are they about me?” A lump forms in Andrew’s throat but not before his heart found its way into his mouth. He wants to answer but his tongue is tied up, scared. What if this is it? What if Steven’s here to denounce their friendship? Andrew tries to reason, why would Steven fly all the way here just to tell Andrew that he never wants to see him ever again? That doesn’t make sense.

“Please tell me they’re about me. They have to be! I… I really like you and-” The urgent pleading tone that Steven has taken on forces Andrew to look at him. There are tears running down his cheeks and Andrew’s stomach drops, feeling guilty for inflicting this on his friend.

Of course, Steven feels that way about him, of course! Andrew wasn’t blind to it, so why was he so scared? He tries hard to push aside the dizzying feelings to try and confess, but his thoughts are jumbled and his mind is fuzzy. He just can’t find the right words for the moment. Unfortunately, Steven misconstrues his silence for something else entirely.

“Oh my god, of course they’re not. I’m so stupid, I flew all the way here on a stupid hunch. What was I thi-” Andrew brings a hand up to cup the side of Steven’s face, and Steven immediately shuts up. Pinky trailing Steven’s jaw, Andrew takes in a breath to prepare himself for what he’s about to do. When words don’t work, actions will. Steven’s eyes are wide with wonder and he opens his mouth to no doubt ask what’s going on, but Andrew cuts him off with a kiss.

The kiss is slow and tender, as if Steven is something fragile that Andrew’s holding between his lips. He had dreamt of this moment so many times but nothing can prepare him for the real thing. And even though the kiss lasted only seconds, when they break away, the tips of Andrew’s ears are searing hot. His breathing is shallow and his cheeks are warm.

Steven looks lost, like he’s still processing the last few seconds. Andrew can almost see the 'buffering’ spinner in his eyes. When he finally catches up, he’s smiling like the ball of sunshine that Andrew knows and loves. The serenity of the moment gets interrupted by Jennie’s untimely return with the ice-creams.

“Aww!” She just can’t help herself, can she? With her usual grace, she sets down their orders on the table. “Don’t mind me, you two lovebirds carry on.” She cheekily winks at them and saunters off.

Andrew shifts his eyes back to Steven and he’s in a shade of red that rivals a freshly-picked cherry tomato. The entire scene is just too much for Andrew and he just laughs, completely enamored by the man in front of him.

“You still haven’t answered me…” Steven pokes Andrew in the side with his finger. Andrew ignores him and proceeds to take a huge spoonful of his multiflavored desert. When Steven pokes him again, he simply raises an eyebrow and makes a noncommittal noise, earning him a third poke.

Conceding, Steven picks up his own spoon and scoops a little bit of each flavor from his bowl, mixing them up. Just as he is bringing the spoon to his mouth, he stops to take a look at Andrew’s bowl and makes a face, one that Andrew is all too familiar with.

“For the last time, Steven, red velvet is not simply adding food colouring!” Andrew mock-scolds, flipping Steven off. “Stop judging.”

Now they’re both laughing and everything in the world is right as rain, once again.

…

is this love?i don’t knowbut all i ever wanted is in front of me nowi’m stuckwhat do i do?i want to tell you that i love you but i don’t know how

i was stupid to let you goso crazily stupidi am crazy about you, y'knowso stupidly crazy

but i know better nowdon’t want us to be aparti just wanna sing it out loudto the tune of your heart!

Closing Notes:

This was supposed to be short. Yeah, didn’t happen… I have no self-control. Also, I’m realising I’m really into certain tropes.

[raging-violets]

12 Archie and Gabby

12. “We shouldn’t do this.”

-

Gabbygrasped the corner of the empty storage cart and wheeled it across the floor ofthe gym. She stopped every few seconds to pick up the balls she’d smashed overthe net, flicking them inside before heading to the utility room. She made ithalfway across the gym before the sound of the opening gym door caught herattention.

SeeingArchie, Gabby rolled her eyes. “Coach Clayton hasn’t run you into the groundyet?” She asked. She turned her back to him and kept going. Her footstepssqueaked across the floor. The only sound that broke between them was thesqueaking wheels of the storage cart. “Quit looking at my ass, Andrews.”

The door tothe gym closed. She heard Archie walking after her. He never seemed to take ahint. “I-I’m not—”

“Please. I’vehad Chuck and all the other hordes of drooling imbeciles on the football teamworking hard to get in my pants, I can always tell when someone’s admiring myassets.” Gabby turned and, keeping her hand on the cart, walked backwards tokeep an eye on Archie.

He lifted aneyebrow, folded his arms across his chest. Gabby forced herself to look away.She wasn’t so above everyone else that she hadn’t noticed Archie’s change overthe summer. “I thought you didn’t hang out with Cheryl anymore.”

“What doesCheryl have to do with this?”

She hatedherself as soon as the words came from her mouth. She knew she’d walked rightinto Archie’s plan. Pressing her lips together, she faced the utility room oncemore, increasing her pace. Archie simply followed her. “Cheryl has everythingto do with this, Gabby. It’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I haven’ttalked to Cheryl all summer.” Gabby pushed open the door to the utility closetand dragged the cart behind her. The wheels caught on the upraised threshold.She sighed, pulling harder. “I’m not BlackCheryl anymore or Black Cherry or whatever portmonteau of a lewd lesbian literotica fantasy people had about us. Now why don’t you join the football team and play withyourselves? At least you’d win something.”

“Gabby, I’mjust worried about you. After Jason–”

Gabbyglared, jerking the cart over the threshold, knocking it over in the process.Archie slipped into the room and knelt down, immediately helping her to pickthem up. She snatched the balls from his hands and forced them into the cart.With a hard shove, she pushed it away from her.

“Why don’tyou tell me about Jason,” she shot back. “You know, Jason Blossom? One of mybest friends? Who’s place on the football team you took—”

“—I didn’twant to take it,” Archie insisted. “That’s why I gave back his jersey, I couldn’t…”he licked his lips. “Look, I know how close you were to Jason and Cheryl and Ijust wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”Gabby said shortly.

“Gabby—”

Gabby’stemper flared. She hated Archie. Hated how he had the gall to sit there and askif everything was okay when he was the one keeping secrets. Secrets about everything. About Jason, about the fourthof July, about…

Everything.

“You’ve doneyour good deed for the day, Andrews. What do you want me to do? Flash you?” Shestepped toward him, grabbing the bottom of her tight volleyball jersey. Archieheld his ground. “Give you a blowjob? Worship you like everyone else has? Wantme to make your wild pre-pubescent fantasies come true?” She looked him in theeye. Stopped herself short of saying, “Or has Grundy already done that for you?”

She wantedto give him one chance. One. Last. Chance. To come clean.

Archie,instead, became angry. His eyebrows furrowed together. “I’m not the one whoruined this, Gabby,” he pointed out. “’I’m not the one who let Cheryl walk allover her. I’m not the one who was pretending to be something she wasn’t.” Hestepped toward her with each word until he was in her space. “You can’t blameit all on me.” His eyes flickered over Gabby’s face. “So why don’t you tell me,Gabby, what you know about Jason’s death? Why Cheryl would say she’s guilty.”

Gabbyclenched her jaw, forced herself not to respond. She could admit her part of everythingso long as he didn’t keep lying about everything else. She looked at her feet,steadied herself, then looked up into Archie’s eyes. It was like déjà vu, reminiscentof the year before when they’d study together, away from the prying eyes oftheir judgmental friends. A lifetime away they each desperately wished theycould get back to.

When thingswere easier.

Archie’seyes roved over Gabby’s face. He stepped towards her. A magnetic pull. A pullof destiny, perhaps. Gabby forced herself to stand her ground. Her feet didn’tmove, but her heart certainly did. It tattooed a staccato rhythm against herrib cage, upper half moving closer towards the red-head boy that managed tothrow her off-kilter.

Theirforeheads pressed together, Archie’s breath flooded Gabby’s face, quick andforceful through his anger. He tilted his head, a move to flick his fringe fromhis face. The movement made their lips brush together, just barely.

A stolenkiss.

Gabby’seyelashes fluttered, tickling Archie’s nose as he inched closer. Gabby forcedherself to exhale shakily, pressing a volleyball against his chest to givethemselves enough distance to back away. To keep a good, solid distance betweenthem. Gabby dropped her forehead forward, just pressing against Archie’s neck,then stepped back.

She liftedher eyes to his, unwavering as she shook her head. “We can’t do this,” shesaid.

Archieblinked back at her. A crease appeared in his forehead. His chest heaved up anddown. He planted his hands on his hips, licked his lips. Gabby knew what hetasted, a brief hint from the from moment their lips were together. Salty from thesweat that dripped down, exerting himself from football practice.

“Gabby—” hestarted.

Gabbybrought herself to her full height, rolled back her shoulders, rolled hervolleyball in her hands. She stopped it, slapping one hand against the side of theball. The sound echoed in the equipment room, making Archie briefly close hiseyes and step back.

“Why don’tyou talk to Grundy about it?” Her words turned low, whispering accusation asshe taunted, “You seem to be real goodat that.” Gabby taunted.

Gabby leftthe utility closet, but not before seeing the hurt and fear that flashedthrough his eyes. Now he knew how it felt.

[Kiss Prompts List]

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

So that was quick. I’ve asked a couple of people in this fandom who I like about it and they’ve all said they’d be cool with/want this first part of this Grundy killing Jason fic now. Just a few changes to cannon I’ve made past the killer in order to put in what I think is better timing than the show’s rushed plot, Bughead and Archieronnie never happened romantically (as well as that, sorry guys, they’re my brotps not otps) and Valarchie hasn’t happened yet. Also I’m going to put a warning for self harm here because even though it’s not explicit in my opinion, it is a small part of it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and all respectfully put comments are appreciated, whether they be positives or constructive criticism.

It all started when images of the gun found in FP’s apartment were released. Archie recognised it straight away. For days he pretended that he didn’t, but deep down he knew it had been the same one Betty had shown him just weeks beforehand. Problem was, Veronica did too.

“We need to tell them Archie. We need to say that we were there and that there was no gun. That we know where the gun came from.”

Archie hesitated. He had long since accepted that Grundy or Jennifer or whoever she was didn’t love him. That he was nothing but a cheap piece of meat to her. But that didn’t mean that he was ready to talk about it or expose it to the world. In a moment of desperation, words spewed from his mouth.

“What about Betty? She was the last one seen with the gun. If we say it wasn’t there when we got there, people will think she put it there. Or even Alice. It doesn’t take a genius to see FP and Alice have their issues and the Coopers hate the Blossoms. Seems like the perfect people to set FP up.”

He regretted it immediately. More so when he saw the glare on Veronica’s face. It was rightfully there of course. Betty was meant to be his friend and he had just used her as a scapegoat. Deep down though, he knew she’d understand. She seemed to be the only one of the group that backed down about Grundy after she had left. Before he had a chance to apologise, Veronica cut in.

“That’s why we need to tell them Arch. Regardless of who did it, Betty’s fingerprints are all over that gun. Alice wants us to come and explain that Betty didn’t have the gun when Jason was killed. That she stole it from Grundy,” Veronica paused for a moment to recompose herself, “Plus, what about Cheryl? Her twin brother was murdered. Don’t you think she deserves to know who did it?”

The redhead shuffled his feet. Words kept coming to him, but not the right ones. He started to stutter as he searched for a way to explain why he couldn’t bring himself to come forward. Veronica was right though. He couldn’t even fathom how it would feel to have the person he loved most be shot and not know who did it. God knows he wouldn’t be able to cope if that was his father or Jug. His mouth began to open but nothing came out. Veronica bit her lip, placing her hand on the redhead’s shoulder.

“I know this isn’t easy, especially not for you with Grundy did to you. And I get it’s not fair that I’m asking you to reveal your secrets or even that this happened to you in the first place. But it’s also not fair that Cheryl is struggling either,” Veronica’s voice cracks under stress, “I need to do this for her Archie. I won’t bring your name into it if you don’t want, but you need to know that I will be going to see Kevin’s father this afternoon with or without you. And I can’t force you to come, but my story would be a lot stronger with you there.”

A silence overcomes the pair. Both teenagers attempt to say the next word, but nothing comes up. Eventually, a buzzing is heard from Veronica’s bag. She opens it up, grabbing her phone out and staring back at Archie.

“It’s Betty. I should go.”

As she begins to walk away, Archie stares. Sentences begin to fill his head, overwhelming him, but none are said. Instead, he just watches as Veronica disappears into her car, leaving him alone with nothing to do but battle with his thoughts.

***

A loud thump is heard throughout the Cooper household, followed by crashing and banging. Clothes go flying everywhere and among it all, Betty finds herself breathing heavily.

“Come on, it’s got to be here. Please tell me it’s here.”

Objects continue racing across the room until suddenly there’s silence followed by one final thump. Tears start streaming down the blonde’s face as she places her arms around her legs and begins rocking. As she looks around, she notices a broken perfume bottle that had fallen in her carelessness. She begins to grip her fingers shut, looking away and attempting to focus her mind on something else… anything else. But as her thoughts started to consume her, she found herself picking up the glass, unaware of the voice calling out to her.

“Elizabeth Cooper, what have you done to this hous… Elizabeth!”

All within what seemed like a flash, Alice had come racing in, snatching the glass away from Betty. The woman found herself opening her mouth to scream, but forced herself to stop. Instead, she wrapped her arms around the young girl. Between heavy breaths, Betty began to form sentences.

“I screwed up mum. You were right. We never should have let her go.”

A look of confusion spread across Alice’s before realisation set in. She let out a sigh, standing and helping Betty to the bed.

“You were looking for the gun... FP was meant to get rid of it before the cops found out. Archibald and Veronica were meant to go today and confirm the gun wasn’t there when I sent them, but Veronica’s having a hard time convincing Archie to go.”

Betty’s eyes widened as she began to shake more. Her anxiety spiked, leaving her unable to comprehend past the first sentence.

“Mum! My fingerprints were on it. He’s going to turn me in, isn’t he?”

As Betty continued rambling, Alice tried to grab her attention. With a final shout of the teen’s name, she grabbed it.

“Your fingerprints aren’t on it anymore. We scrubbed it clean… which also means that rapist’s prints won’t be either. Part of me hated doing it because god knows I’m the first person who wants her in prison, but I had to keep you safe. FP gets that. He knows what it’s like to have kids, he’s not going to dob in a child, especially not a friend of Jughead’s.”

Betty gave a wary look.

“I thought you and FP didn’t get along. Why would he help you?”

Alice just smirked before chuckling. She stood up, walking towards her closet as Betty sat with a clueless look on her face. After a few moments of searching, Alice pulled out a jacket.

“I suppose a snake doesn’t shed its skin after all.”

Betty’s mouth dropped. Thoughts continued to race through her mind until she realised that it all made sense. Everything from her mother trying to not have any reminders of her past to the supposed bad blood between her and FP and even the way her mother had thrown that brick at her father. It was all because she used to be a serpent. A playful smirk covers Betty’s face.

“And you had the nerve to call Archie a bad influence.”

“Who better to know than someone who used to be one,” Alice laughed before biting her lip, “You were right though. He didn’t deserve what that so called teacher did to him. Neither did Jason. They don’t deserve it coming out like this either, but sometimes what people deserve and what’s right don’t line up. I hope Veronica can get him to see that.”

Betty shared a small smile.

“You should tell him that. I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing it.”

Alice let out a sigh before looking over at Betty.

“Maybe I will one day… just like maybe you’ll forgive yourself one day for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. Jason was dead long before that night. And just like Archie is a child, you still are too, even if you forget it at times. Fred, Hermione and I made the call to let her go, you had no power to do so. I could have gone against your wishes, but I didn’t, so you shouldn’t bare any of the responsibility for us making that decision.”

“I should call Veronica and check how she went with Archie.”

Betty’s attempt to cut in was unheard as Alice gave a stern look in her direction.

“I mean it Elizabeth. You need to let this go. You’ll end up tearing yourself and your friendship with Archie apart if you don’t. Don’t think I haven’t notice you have barely said a word to him since the images of the gun were released. He needs you now, especially if Veronica can convince him to go to the police, and if you can’t be there for him, you need to tell him that.”

Betty doesn’t say another word. Instead, she just walked out, heading to her own room. Upon entering the room, she pulls out her diary. After several attempts of writing about her day, she caves. Ripping the previous page out, Betty feels herself starting something new.

“My dearest Archie…”

An hour turns into two as she finds herself finishing the letter. She turns her attention to her phone, searching through her messages until she finds Veronica’s name. Moments later, plans are made to meet and Betty all but runs out the door to head downtown, but not before going past the Andrews’ household.

***

The afternoon passes without Archie realising, and before he knows it, he’s getting calls from Fred asking where he is. He slowly feels his feet scraping across the ground as he pushes himself to go home. When he gets there, he sees Fred standing at the door.

“I’m sorry dad. I just… lost track of time I guess.”

Fred remained silent, instead handing Archie something from his hand.

“Betty came past today. She seemed awfully upset. You know, the two of you haven’t spent much time together lately, is there something you want to tell me?”

Archie bit his lip before shaking his head. Giving one last glance in Fred’s direction, he scurried inside, rushing upstairs into his room. His eyes scan the room before finding their way to the window. He slowly realises Betty has closed her blinds, a typically un Betty thing to do. Well at least it was until the images of the gun came out. Since then, anyone within a ten mile radiance could feel the awkward tension between them, leading Betty to avoid him at all costs. Archie wasn’t quite sure what had happened. Maybe Betty blamed him for what happened to Jason like he did himself or maybe she just didn’t know how to bring it up, he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that it was just like that dance night all over again. He had lost his best friend and couldn’t do anything to fix it. He stared back at the letter before grabbing his phone.

‘I got your letter. Sorry I wasn’t here. I was busy’

The redhead laid on the bed, unsure of whether he should expect a response. His eyes glanced back over at the letter before a buzzing noise made him stiffen in shock.

‘I know. Spoke to mum and Veronica about the situation. You haven’t read it yet, have you? If not, I want you to before answering’

Moments of hesitation passed before Archie ripped the letter open. Upon first glance, he noticed places of smudged writing caused by teardrops. A wave of guilt and fear succumbed him as he accepted that this was probably the end of their friendship. He took a few minutes to compose himself before starting to read the letter.

“My dearest Archie,

I have written this letter because things haven’t been good between us since… well, you know. When it came out, I got scared and I ran and that wasn’t okay. But worst of all, I pretended like there was nothing wrong… I told you nothing was wrong like I did after I admitted my feelings to you, even though we promised never to do that again. But you’re not blind and I never should have treated you as such because I know that you know something isn’t right between us. And I don’t know how long it will take to make things better between us, or if it can even happen, but I have to try.

I want to say that I am sorry. I’m sorry that I cared more for our friendship than your safety that night I fought with mum to let Grundy go. Deep down I knew she was right and that it was best for everyone, yourself included, if that woman could never hurt another child again. But as usual, I got scared. Scared that I was going to lose you and everything we had, romantic or not. So I did what I thought you wanted, even though it wasn’t the right thing.

I’m also sorry that you were in that position in the first place. I should have been a better friend. I was in a position to help; to listen after your parents got divorced or to fix whatever went down between you and Jug last Summer. Maybe if I had, you wouldn’t have felt alone to the point of going to her for help. Maybe if I had, she wouldn’t have been able to hurt you. But instead, I was so wrapped up in Polly that I didn’t even realise you were suffering. So I’m sorry.

And I suppose that leads us to where we are now, or at least why I’ve been ignoring you. I know I haven’t dealt with this well. Ignoring you isn’t right, but honestly, I can’t bear to look at you, not after the part I played in hurting you. And that’s not your fault, it’s something I need to overcome. But honestly, I don’t know when the day that that comes will be.

Until then however, I want to support you. I know mum and Veronica want you to talk to Kevin’s dad about Grundy. I agree you should, but I also want you to know that I will understand and accept if you don’t. I know it can’t be easy and I know that I wouldn’t be ready to do this had it been me, not right now anyway. So regardless of what you choose, I will support you and do the best I can to stand by you, now and for the rest of our days, because I love you and I know you love me, even if it’s in a different way, and that’s what people who love each other do for each other.

Stay safe,

Betty.”

Archie shakily put down the letter. A sigh leaves his lips as he attempts to hold back tears. Grabbing his phone, the redhead skipped over his messages and went to his contacts to call the blonde. Before Betty is able to say anything at all, Archie felt himself cutting in, the shakiness taking over his voice.

“It was never your fault. I could… I should have come to you for help when I needed it.”

“I’m your best friend though Arch. I should have known and checked on you, especially seeing as I know how hard it is for you to ask for help.”

The redhead bit his lip. Even throughout everything they had been through, he never fully realised how much Betty was willing to be there for him, for everyone, despite the fact she was struggling with her own battles. A hint of guilt began to creep in as Archie felt himself not only comparing his problems to hers but realising how little he did to help her knowing what had happened.

“You were busy with Polly though… I’m sorry by the way. I don’t know if I ever said that when it was happening but I guess I feel the same way about that as you do about this. I should’ve done more.”

“It doesn’t matter now, Polly’s home safe. What’s important in this moment is helping you. Are you coping okay?”

Archie paused for a moment before speaking. While only momentarily, the silence caused the redhead to feel even more guilt towards those around him.

“I feel terrible for Cheryl. Everyone’s doing what’s right for her and I’m here being selfi…”

Before the redhead was able to finish, Betty cut in.

“No, you’re doing what’s right for you. Cheryl is going to get the answers she needs. We’ll all make sure of that. But you need to look after yourself too Arch.”

A silence hit before Archie speaks again.

“Thank you Betty… I never meant it you know? That time when I said Jennifer was the only one who was there for me. I know now that you were, even when preoccupied. I think… I think I’m going to try get some sleep. I love you Betty Cooper.”

“I love you too Archie. Stay safe.”

And with that, the redhead hung up the phone, heading back over to the bed to lie down. However, despite the blonde’s words running through his head, he found it impossible to sleep. His thoughts kept running back to Cheryl and the guilt he felt for not seeing Kevin’s father. The morning slowly set in before Archie realised he still hadn’t slept. He slowly stood up, lagging his way through the house to grab his clothes and head out the door.

The walk to school seemed tedious. All of them had since Veronica started driving Betty. All the dogs barking, cars honking and whatever else happening at the time had all turned into static noise as Archie just focused on putting one foot in front of the other with nothing to distract him. Veronica had of course offered Archie the same opportunity, but he turned it down. Better than making things worse with Betty. Though after the previous night, he had considered asking Betty to walk with him today, but the blaring 8:15 on his phone told him it’d be too late.

As the redhead walked through his classroom doors, the first thing he noticed the paired setup. A low mumble left his lips as he remembered the experiment they were conducting for their lab report was happening today. He raised his eyes, scanning the room. Betty’s eyes met his, giving an apologetic look as she continued working with Jughead. In front of them was Veronica and Ethel, both of which seemed too involved in the project to even notice his arrival. Across the room, Valarie and Melody sent him a quick smile before Valarie hinted at the desk behind them. As he looked closer, he noticed red hair flowing between the girls. A pang of guilt hit him as he began to head over.

“Mind if I join you?”

Archie wasn’t sure what was more fake, his smile or the one the girl gave back. Without answering, the girl moved her bag off the stool and signalled to him to sit. After a few moments of silence, Cheryl gave out a sigh.

“You know, you changed over the Summer, Archie. More so since that music interview Valarie told me about.”

In the corner of his eyes, Archie noticed Valarie moving her arms around, hinting at Cheryl to stop. He sighed before forcing a chuckle.

“It’s alright Valarie,” he said, “Honestly though Cheryl, it’s just been a difficult few months for us all… I’m sorry, by the way. About Jason. I wish I had done more.”

Cheryl shook her head.

“Don’t be ridiculous Archie. If you hadn’t told the police you were out there that day, the police would still be looking into my parents and me. And now that Veronica confirmed that you and her went past Jughead’s dad’s place and saw the gun wasn’t there, he’ll have to say where he got it from. That, or any fingerprints found on the gun will. We’re going to know who killed Jason because of you. That’s more than I could ask for.”

Archie froze up. Blinking a few times, his eyes found themselves scanning the room again, searching for Betty. Unable to find her, he tried to think of something to say, to no avail. After a few breaths, he looked back at Cheryl and stuttered.

“So, you think FP isn’t involved at all? Not that I want him to be, but he’s Jughead’s dad you know? I don’t want Jughead getting hurt by him again.”

“That’s fair,” Cheryl started, “But no I don’t. Well not past getting rid of the gun. My parents do, but it makes no sense. I mean I know Jason and Jughead didn’t get along, but not to the point of murder, and any other reason seems flawed because Jason was worth much more to Jughead’s dad alive than he was dead.”

A tapping sound could be heard as Archie attempted to stop his legs shaking and his thumbs pressing over the rest of his fingers. Hoping to avoid Cheryl noticing, he quickly jumped in to talk again.

“So, do you have any guesses on who did it then?” Archie started before realising what he said, “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate, I just meant…”

“It’s alright,” Cheryl cut in, “The truth is I’ve had so many guesses since his body was found that I just wouldn’t know. The Coopers, the Lodges, my father’s investors; it’s not like my family has its shortages of enemies. And yet none of them were right. The only one left is her.”

Archie blinked his eyes in confusion. Then, as a string of thoughts started forming in his head, Archie found himself holding his stomach in a hope not to bring up his last meal.

“Her?” he asked.

All at once, it seemed like Cheryl shut down. Archie watched as she turned her head away, unsure of what to say next, until she finally found the words.

“Never mind, I’ve said too much. Just forget about it.”

Before Archie had a chance to respond, the bell rung, prompting Cheryl to grab her things and all but run out of the room. Taken aback, Archie sat frozen for a moment before grabbing his things and heading out of the room. Upon entering the hallway, the redhead grabbed his phone out and searched for Veronica’s name.

‘Why’d you tell Cheryl about the gun? I thought you said you were going to keep my name out of it.’

Archie waited a few minutes, but no reply came. He decided to head to his next class. As he went to walk through the door, his phone buzzed.

‘I’m sorry. It just kind of came out when Alice and I went to the station. In all fairness, I only said ‘we’ saw there was no gun. Cheryl guessed I meant you. She doesn’t know anything about Betty or Grundy.’

Despite having walked through the door, the redhead did a 180, turning around and leaving. Once outside, he leant against the wall and answered the text with one final message.

‘She knows a lot more than you think. Meet me at Pop’s after school. Don’t bring Betty, Kevin or Jughead.’

***