#but Do know that i have already done 7. 12. and 21. and have 22 in progress

[morgana-larkin]

And here's the next chapter of Mine! I'm almost done the next one shot that I will post on my patreon for paid and free members only. I won't tell you much but it falls under the topic of secret admirer. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Mine - Part 31

Summary: It's Halloween and Amelia gets frustrated at school the next day.

Warnings: Smut

Words: 5.3K

“Alright, this shouldn’t take long to fix.” Melissa says to Amelia in the break room. It’s Halloween and Amelia decided to go as the wicked witch of the west and some of the makeup came off before lunch and Melissa offered to fix it. Melissa has Amelia sitting on the couch while you warm up both you and Melissa’s lunch. 

“Mamma?” Amelia asks as Melissa starts doing the touch ups with the green face paint.

“Ya, Tesoro?”

“You and Mommy aren’t going to get a divorce right?” Amelia asks and Melissa furrows her eyebrows and you look over.

“No, mommy and I are happily in love.” 

“Ok good.” Amelia says.

“What makes you think that mommy and I are getting a divorce?” Melissa asks her.

“Well last night I heard these noises.” Amelia starts and everyone looks over. “And then I heard mommy screaming and you swore.” Amelia explains and Melissa’s face goes red as everyone tries not to laugh. You then put your head in your hands and groan and Ava starts laughing.

“Melissa and Y/n, I think you need to have a talk with your kid.” Ava says. “Although it’s so funny that your kid is unknowingly spilling some tea.” Ava adds.

“Sweetheart.” You say as you get up and go over to Amelia and Melissa. “So typically the noises you hear, followed by one of us screaming or swearing or both, it does not mean we’re getting a divorce. It just means that we’re playing a very adult game in our room.” You explain to her.

“What game?” Amelia asks.

“One that you don't need to know about yet.” You quickly say.

“Was it a fun game?” Amelia then asks.

“Oh, extremely.” Melissa says with a smirk and you flick her head. “What was that for?” She asks you and you raise your eyebrows. “I was just answering her question.” She tells you and she finishes fixing Amelia’s makeup. “And there we go, all good.”

“Thanks Mamma.” Amelia tells her.

“Not a problem, Tesoro. Come on, I’ll take you to the cafeteria.” Melissa offers and she gives you the makeup before Amelia takes her hand and she brings her to the caf. As soon as Melissa and Amelia leave, everyone bursts out laughing.

“Your kid spilled so hard.” Janine says.

“Alright. It’s not like me and Melissa having sex is new as we have 5 kids.” You tell them.

“Didn’t know you were so loud though.” Ava tells you. “Loud enough for your kids to hear.” She adds and you flip her off. Melissa comes back a few minutes later and everyone looks at her and she sighs.

“Alright, everyone go back to doing whatever you were doing.” She says.

“Or what?” Ava asks. “We already know you got lucky last night, which explains your extra good mood today.” She adds and you hand her your coffee mug.

“Here, you might need it.”

“To throw at Ava or to drink?” She asks you.

“Either one.” You tell her and Ava runs out. You then lean forward, closer to Melissa. “I told you we were too loud last night.” You whisper and she shrugs.

“Maybe, but it was really good.” She tells you with a smirk and you roll your eyes.

At the end of the day you were talking with Melissa and you see Amelia coming with Barb and she has a small bag of candy and a smile on her face. Melissa turns around and sees Amelia and she smiles and bends down.

“Hey Tesoro.” Melissa says and Amelia runs to her and hugs her. “Did you get some candy?” Melissa asks and Amelia nods as she shows her what she got.

“Aunt Barb allowed us to have a chocolate bar at the end of class.” Amelia adds and you both look at Barb.

“You let her have chocolate before you send her home with us?” You ask her and Barb nods.

“Yep.” Barb says with a smile before she walks away. “Good luck.” She adds and Melissa looks at you.

On the ride to the daycare, you both notice that Amelia is more restless than usual and you can tell the chocolate is taking effect. You see her bouncing her leg, tapping her leg with her hands and humming when she doesn’t know what to say.

“Are Nico and Cat going to go trick or treating this year?” Amelia asks.

“Yep, they are.” You say as you scroll on your phone. You all go into the daycare and pick up both sets of twins there and you and Melissa strap them into their car seats. 

“Are you ready to go trick or treating, my Ometto?” Melissa asks Nico and he smiles. 

“Ya, am I going to get to eat lots of chocolate, Mamma?” He asks and Melissa smiles and ruffles his hair.

“You’ll get a lot of chocolate and I’ll allow you to eat a couple pieces.” Melissa tells him and then she closes the door and gets in the driver’s seat. “How were your students today?” She asks you and you hum.

“They were distracted and just wanted the day to end, like every Halloween.” You tell her as you relax in your seat. “Were yours the same?” You ask her and she nods.

“Yep.” Melissa says as she stops at a red light and looks at all 5 of her kids in the mirror and she smiles.

You guys all get home and Melissa makes dinner for everyone as soon as you get back as the kids want to go out as soon as possible. After everyone finishes eating then you make sure everyone has a jacket and they’re candy bags ready, as well as a few garbage bags to fill all the candy with that you put in the stroller. You put Bella and Mia in the double stroller and Melissa is pulling the little wagon for when Nico, Caty or Amelia get tired, as well as have a place to put all the candy. 

Amelia wanted to do a costume theme with you and Melissa to the wizard of Oz. So Amelia chose to be the wicked witch of the west, Melissa is Glinda and you’re Dorothy. Then you have Caty dressed up as little red riding hood and Nico as the wolf. A couple weeks ago Melissa saw 2 adorable green fairy costumes that would fit the girls so she got them for Bella and Mia.

“This dress is so fluffy and hard to walk in.” Melissa says as you all walk towards the 4th house. 

“I told you to get your guy to get you a less poofy version of the dress.” You tell her.

“But this one is as poofy as the original.” She tells you.

“But the original Glinda didn’t have to walk to about 100 houses.” You say and Melissa crosses her arms. “Alright, how about you push the stroller and I’ll walk up to the houses with the kids?” You suggest and she smiles. 

“Thank you.” She tells you. 

An hour later Amelia empties her bag of candy into the garbage bag for the second time and then she runs up to the house with you and the twins. 

“Trick or treat!” All 3 of them exclaim and the woman puts a chocolate bar in all of their bags.

“Mommy I got more chocolate!” Nico tells you.

“I see that, what do you all say?” You ask.

“Thank you.” They all tell the woman and then they run to the next house. 

An hour later Caty is walking with Melissa, holding Teddy as she had enough socialising with strangers. While you, Amelia and Nico walk up to the next house, Caty spins in her dress and shows Melissa how it twirls. Caty ends up getting dizzy and Melissa catches her and picks her up. 

“You alright Dolcezza?” Melissa asks her and Caty nods.

“World was spinny.” Caty says and Melissa smiles. 

You get back with the kids and Nico empties the candy in the garbage bag. You see as Caty lays her head on Melissa’s chest with a smile and Melissa places a kiss on her head. You go to the next house and then Melissa hears one of the twins call out for her. Melissa walks in front of the stroller and sees Mia is falling asleep and Bella is looking at her. 

“Mamma.” Bella says. 

“What’s the matter my little one? Are you hungry?” Melissa asks her and Bella nods. Melissa goes into the carry on bag and pulls out a container of goldfish cookies and gives it to Bella. Bella then holds the container in her lap and eats the goldfish. Melissa then goes back to the carry on bag, and with one hand, as she’s still holding Caty, takes out a blanket and carefully puts it on Mia who fell asleep. “You really do love to sleep and sleep whenever, even when the household is noisy.” Melissa says to herself.

Another hour later Nico and Caty are both sitting in the wagon and you can tell Amelia is slowing down. Amelia comes from the house that she was just at and goes up to Melissa and hugs her leg.

“You done, Tesoro?” Melissa asks her softly and Amelia nods with a yawn. “Alright, let’s head back home.” Melissa says and you nod before you both turn around and start walking back home. About 10 minutes later and you both notice Amelia stops walking and just sits down on the sidewalk. 

“You alright sweetheart?” You ask her.

“Legs hurt.” She tells you and wipes her eyes tiredly. Melissa then goes up to her and picks her up.

“I’ll push the wagon, you push the stroller.” Melissa says and you nod. 

You both get home 15 minutes later and Amelia is falling asleep on Melissa, both the girls are asleep in the stroller, Caty is wide awake and holding Teddy while Nico is falling asleep in the wagon. You end up having to wake all your kids up and then get them all into their pjs. You put both sets of twins to bed as Melissa helps Amelia take all the green face paint off in the bath.

“Alright, and all the green is off.” Melissa says with a smile and puts the soap and cloth down. Melissa pulls the plug to drain the tub and Amelia tiredly stands up. Melissa gently wraps Amelia’s animal towel around her and picks her up. “Ready for bed my little Tesoro?” Melissa asks and Amelia nods as she lays her head on Melissa’s shoulder. 

Amelia falls asleep as soon as her pjs are on and Melissa tucks her in and kisses her cheek. She then turns the nightlight on, turns off the LED lights and then closes the door. Melissa quickly checks on all her other 4 kids and sees all of them are sleeping in their beds and cribs before she goes to the bedroom.

“How did it feel to take the dress off?” You ask her as she took it off before giving Amelia a bath. 

“So freeing. I don’t understand how women were able to move in dresses like that.” She tells you and you smile. 

“Were you able to get all the green off her?” You then ask and she nods as she walks up to you in the bathroom. You take a makeup wipe out and start taking off her Glinda makeup. “You make a beautiful Glinda.” You say and she smiles. 

“More beautiful than the original?” She asks and you nod.

“You’ll always be more beautiful than anyone.” You say as you wipe the blush off her cheeks to reveal her natural blush. You then wipe the eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara off her eyes. You cup her cheek and she wraps her arms around your waist. 

“You make a cute Dorothy, with the plaid dress and ponytails.” She tells you and you kiss her. 

You pull away to throw out the makeup wipe and then you kiss her again. She pins you against the bathroom counter and then she picks you up and you wrap your legs around her waist. She brings you over to the bed and lays you down gently.

“We have to be quiet this time.” You tell her as she kisses down your neck. She lifts your pj shirt up and wraps her mouth around a nipple and you moan out. Melissa takes your top off and puts it in your mouth to silence you and you look at her.

“Like you said, we have to be quiet. Don’t want to give Amelia anything else to say about our sex life.” She says and then goes to your other nipple and both of you let out a muffled moan. 

Melissa then trails up and starts kissing and sucking your neck while she moves her hips against yours. She then goes in between your legs, goes on her stomach, takes your pants off and then grabs your thighs. She then dives in and swirls her tongue around your entrance and you buck your hips. Melissa pins you down and then brings her tongue to your clit and you let out a muffled gasp. You put your hands in her hair and you see her burying her face in between your legs and making sure that you’re enjoying what she’s doing. She already knows what you enjoy though, as you’ve been together for 12 years, but she does enjoy your reactions. 

She then pulls away and replaces her tongue with her middle finger on her left hand and sits up. She then removes the top from your mouth and gets you to suck on two of her fingers on her right hand. You swirl your tongue around, making sure they’re all wet and you see Melissa looking at you with dark eyes, your juices on her chin and her mouth is slightly open from enjoying your tongue on her fingers. 

“My god, your tongue makes me want to pound into you with the strap but I can’t as you’re ovulating.” She says quietly and you notice her breathing is heavier and quicker. She then goes back in between your legs and runs her two fingers down your folds and pulls her finger away from your clit. “Remember before the kids when I used to spend about an hour between your legs, just eating you out, making you have multiple orgasms?” She asks and you nod.

“You're so damn good with your tongue.” 

“What did you used to say?” She asks as she sticks two fingers in your entrance and you gasp. “Didn’t you used to say that I would eat you right into heaven?” She asks you and you nod, unable to talk as she’s pumping two fingers inside of you, slowly but still feels good. “You’re always so tight for me, even though I fingered you yesterday.” She says as she’s almost knuckle deep in you. 

“Oh god.” You say a little too loud and Melissa takes her shorts off and puts them in your mouth.

“You’re the one who said we have to be quiet and yet you can’t be quiet.” She tells you as she goes harder and you buck your hips and grab the sheets. 

You try to close your legs when she starts rubbing your clit with her other hand but you can’t with her in between you. She then straddles one of your thighs and starts moving her hips, getting your thigh to rub her clit. You say an “oh god” around her shorts but Melissa is able to understand, used to having to put clothes in your mouth to silence you. Melissa can tell your orgasm is close so she curls her fingers inside of you and speeds up on your clit. You arch your back and shut your eyes as your orgasm comes rushing through you. Melissa pulls her fingers out of you as she’s still riding your thigh, trying to get her orgasm. She then leans forward enough to put her fingers back in your mouth, getting you to clean up your juices. She lets out a quiet moan as she closes her eyes and just feels your tongue moving all over her fingers.

“My god baby, your tongue feels so good.” She says breathlessly. 

She starts moving her hips faster, getting more turned on with her fingers in your mouth. You grab her left hand as it’s not in your mouth and lace your fingers with hers. She leans forward more to get more stimulation on her clit as she’s close and pins your hand to the bed with hers. You tense your thigh muscles and she lets out a squeaky gasp as she comes. She takes a few breaths as she lets her brain come back to her body before she gets off and lays beside you. 

She gets the cloth that it’s in the nightstand, as you two always keep one in there for moments like this, and she cleans both of you up. You take her shorts out of your mouth and put them beside you and see she’s still wearing her shirt. You look at the baby monitors and see that all your kids are asleep so you pull at the hem of her shirt. Melissa gets the hint and helps you take her pj shirt off. You throw it on the ground somewhere and then rest your head on her chest and wrap your arm around her waist.

“I should know better than to keep clothes on around you in bed.” She says and you smile.

“I like snuggling more when you aren’t wearing anything.” You tell her and she places a kiss on the top of your head.

“So do I. I just hope none of our kids get a nightmare so they don’t come here just to see both of us naked.”

“It’s not like it’s anything new, I’ve breastfed before with them in the room.” You say and she hums. “And you’ve bathed them while being topless many times.”

“That’s because they like to splash and I don’t want my pjs to be wet.” She tells you and you wrap a leg around hers. 

You then fall asleep in her arms right after that and she just feels you in her arms for a few moments before she closes her eyes. Before she falls asleep, she hears crying from one of the baby monitors and sees it’s one of the twin girls. She sees you start to stir as you hear the crying so she carefully gets you off of her, grabs the baby monitor and mutes it so you don’t wake up. She then grabs her robe, puts it on and goes to the nursery. She sees it’s Mia whose crying which is unusual as she usually sleeps through the night. 

“Hey my little Mia, what’s up?” She asks her as she picks Mia up. Mia then bites down on the tip of her sleeve and Melissa grabs a teething ring and hands it to her. Mia takes it and puts it near the end, getting some of her bigger teeth. “Got more teeth coming in?” Melissa asks as Mia lays her head on her chest as she chews on the teething ring.

Melissa tries comforting her as best as she can but Mia keeps crying when she’s put back in the crib. Melissa then sits in the rocking chair, trying to rock her back to sleep but it doesn’t work. So she quietly goes into the bedroom, hoping Mia doesn’t start crying, she grabs her phone and then goes back to the nursery. Melissa sits back in the chair and looks up ways to soothe teething pain. She then puts her phone down, grabs the teething ring from Mia and then massages the gum where the new tooth is coming in. Within a few minutes, Mia is fast asleep on Melissa’s chest and Melissa waits a few minutes before she gets up and gently puts her in her crib. She then grabs her phone and goes back into the bedroom, takes her robe off, unmutes the baby monitor and then crawls back into bed and cuddles you.

The next day right after lunch, Melissa is trying to teach a lesson but all the kids are restless and won’t sit still or pay attention. Melissa can probably guess that they had Halloween chocolate at lunch that the parents packed for them. 

“Alright class, let’s go outside and get that energy out.” Melissa says and all the kids put their shoes and sweaters on before she leads them outside to the playground. When she gets there she sees you and Barb are already there with your classes and the both of you are talking on a bench while watching your classes. Melissa’s students start running around and you look behind you and see Melissa there with her students. 

“Your class had a lot of chocolate at lunch too?” You ask her and she nods.

“Oh my god, they couldn’t pay attention for 30 seconds.” She tells you and you move over to let her sit next to you on the bench. 

“My kindergarteners wouldn’t fall asleep for nap time.” Barb says and you both look to see Amelia running around with a couple of her classmates. 

“Nice to know she’s making friends with her classmates.” You say as Melissa places an arm around your shoulders.

“Oh she’s a social butterfly. Talkative and social.” Barb tells you both. Amelia then notices Melissa is there as well and she runs up to you both with another girl. 

“Mommy, Mamma, this is Annie.” Amelia introduces her new friend to you both.

“Well hello Annie.” Melissa says. 

“The two Schemmenti’s are your mommies?” Annie asks Amelia and Amelia nods. “My sister is in the third grade, her name is Robin and she’s mentioned the two Schemmenti’s.” Annie says.

“Your sister is in my class.” You tell her.

“Do you have any sisters?” Annie asks Amelia.

“Ya, I have 3 sisters and a brother.” Amelia tells her and Annie widens her eyes. 

“You have a lot of kids.” Annie tells you both before they run off to the playground. 

“Wow, a 5 year old just said we have a lot of kids.” You say and Melissa chuckles. 

“Well I guess technically we do as most households have 2 kids, not 5.” Melissa says and you hum. “But I couldn’t imagine not having any of them.” She adds and you look at her with a smile.

“Well I hope so as it was a lot of work being pregnant with them.” You tell her and she smiles. 

“And I appreciate you going through it 3 times.” She says and then gives you a kiss on the cheek.

After half an hour, the sugar crash comes and you all bring your classes back inside. You’re all able to teach again without them getting distracted and the kindergarteners immediately fall asleep. 

You say goodbye to your last student at the end of the day and you look to see Melissa is helping with the shoelaces of her last student and you don’t see Barb and Amelia coming like they usually are. You furrow your eyebrows and you grab your things and lock your door and see they’re still nowhere in sight. You then look and see Melissa is making her way over to you with her purse and see she already locked up.

“We should probably go see what’s holding them up.” Melissa tells you and you nod before you go make your way to Barb’s classroom. You walk in and you see Barb sitting next to Amelia and Amelia is sitting at her desk, getting frustrated by something.

“Hey sweetheart.” You say and Amelia looks up before she looks back down. Amelia tries moving the pencil and then slaps it down on the desk with a frustrated sigh.

“Why can’t I do it?” She asks and Melissa walks up to her.

“What are you trying to do, Tesoro?” Melissa asks her.

“Trying to write the letter A.” She explains and Melissa moves the paper and looks at her attempts.

“These are pretty good, you’re almost there.” Melissa tells her.

“Most of the class was able to do it.” She says before she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.

“You’ll get it eventually, Tesoro, in your own time.” Melissa tells her softly. 

“She didn’t want to move from here until she got it. Saying she wanted to make you both proud.” Barb explains and you go over and bend down in front of her desk.

“Sweetheart, you make us proud everyday.” You tell her and you see her eyes get watery. 

“But I can’t write an A fully.” She says softly and Melissa holds her hand. 

“And that’s ok, a lot of kids aren’t able to do things at the same time as others, but they always catch up. Also, schoolwork isn’t everything, and you’re so smart in other ways.” Melissa tells her and Amelia looks at her.

“In what ways?” Amelia asks Melissa.

“Well you're an amazing great sister, you figured out quickly what to do if one of your siblings needs us if we’re in another room. You learned how to help me cook and bake very fast, which not even your mommy knows how to do.” Melissa explains and you look at her.

“What a way to throw me under the bus.” You mutter and Melissa hits your leg with her free hand. “Ow.” You complain with a pout and Amelia looks at you.

“Why can’t you cook?” Amelia asks you.

“Just not gifted in that area.” You simply tell her. “But you are.” You add and she looks down. 

“You’re also so smart socially, you always make friends wherever you go. Not a lot of people can do that.” Melissa adds.

“So even though I’m behind in something, you’re still proud of me?” Amelia asks Melissa and Melissa smiles and nods.

“We’re extremely proud of you, Tesoro.” Melissa says and tucks some strands of hair behind Amelia’s ear. Amelia pulls her hand away from Melissa’s and then launches herself at Melissa. “Oh.” Melissa says in surprise but catches her daughter and hugs her. Melissa stands up with Amelia in her arms and you stand up as well and Barb gets out of the chair.

“I do have to lock up so I can go home.” Barb tells you all and Melissa looks at her daughter.

“Ready to get your siblings and go home?” Melissa asks her and Amelia nods. 

At home you see Amelia is practicing the letters again and Melissa goes up to her with a blank piece of paper. 

“Instead of trying to draw on the lines, how about you try it without any lines?” Melissa suggests as you’re holding Mia and she has a teething ring in her mouth as Melissa told you about last night. 

You then watch as Amelia looks at the lines for the letters and then tries to write it on the blank paper. She tries it a few times before she’s able to get it and she gasps. Amelia jumps up and down and then looks at Melissa.

“Mamma, I did it!” She exclaims and Melissa smiles at her. 

“Ya, you did.” Melissa tells her and rubs Amelia’s back. 

At night you get into bed next to Melissa and you sigh. Melissa looks up from her phone at you and quirks an eyebrow.

“Something on your mind, Amore?” She asks you and you nod.

“Amelia learned some things really fast, like talking and reading.” You start and Melissa puts her phone down. “What if she learns other things quickly and the others feel like they’re not smart like how Amelia felt today?” You ask her and she thinks about it. “Or what if Amelia feels that way again because she thinks she has to get everything right away?” You add and Melissa grabs your closest hand.

“If that happens then we’ll fix it just like we did today.” She tells you and you look at her. 

“If it happens again with something you’re not good at then maybe I’ll throw you under the bus.” You say and she quirks her eyebrows at you.

“And what am I not good at?” She asks and you think about it and come up blank.

“That’s actually a good question.” You say and cross your arms. “Oh actually, you sometimes have trouble controlling your emotions.” You tell her and she laughs.

“That’s the best you can think of?” 

“It’s the only thing that came to mind actually.” You say and she smiles.

“How about the fact that I have trust issues?” She tells you and you furrow your eyebrows.

“Ok first of all, most people do, and second, are you helping me figure out a flaw for you?” You ask her.

“Ya. I mean I did point out one of yours to our 5 year old so why not?” She tells you. “What about that I’m not as physical as I used to be?” She tells you.

“I don’t know, you were pretty physical last night and the night before that.” You say and she laughs. “But see, you’re perfect. Both of us can’t find a flaw about you.”

“I’m not perfect Amore, I’m just perfect for you.” She tells you. “Just like you're perfect for me. I mean I think it’s great that you can’t cook which means I get to feed you and my entire family the most amazing meals. And I get to pass it on to my kids.” She says. “As well as you’re just as crazy about me as I am about you, and I find that perfect.”

“You know what I just thought that’s not really a flaw but can be used against you?” You ask her and she quirks an eyebrow at you. “You hate the show that Caty and Nico are obsessed with.” You tell her.

“You tell them that and I will divorce you.” She threatens.

“You’ve gotten so bad at threats since being with me.” You tell her and she rolls her eyes. 

“I say you’re perfect and you’re threatening to tell my kids that I hate their show?” She asks and you nod. 

“It can be used against you whenever I like.” You say with a smile.

“I’ve been such a bad influence on you.” 

“I think the skills I’ve learned from you are very useful. Where to swing a bat at an intruder, swearing in Italian at someone who pisses me off and they won’t understand a word I say, how to threaten people. And because I married you, I have connections all over the city.” You tell her and she hums. 

“I regret telling you about a few connections.” She says and you kiss her. 

“Let’s go to bed.” You tell her and then you both get comfortable. “Did you put a cloth in the fridge in case Mia gets teething pains again?” You ask her.

“Yep, there’s one in there. Top shelf next to the lunches.” She says before she puts an arm around you and pulls you up against her body.

“I hope you know that I’m not mad at you for pointing out I can’t cook, and that I love your flaws.” You tell her and you feel her hold you tighter.

“I know.” She says. “You weren’t serious when you said you’d use that I hate the kids show against me, right?” 

“Oh I was definitely serious about that.” 

“I hate you.”

“I love you too.” You tell her before you both fall asleep.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms 

@idonothingalldays-blog 

@sexysapphicshopowner 

@dvrkhcld 

@lilfartbox1

@ricejucie 

@unicorniusfallapatorius

@a-queen-and-her-throne

@sleep-deprived-athlete

@og-kxsh-420

@sasheemo

@midnight-lestrange

@thnxdg

@morgananyx

@cblanchetts

@that-october-night

@schemmentigfs

@italianaidiota

@olderwomenenthusiast

@ackleybloodybridge

@creaturesaphique

@cupldscntrl

@calliopetworld

@alwaysgoodnight

@yoyo-w

@fragile-angell

@upsidedowndanvers

@lissyganda

@sapphictacobomb

@dopenightmaretyphoon

@lisaannwalterlover

@rep-aj-lover

@m6niacs

@agathas-doll

@eliscannotdance

Let me know if you want to be added!

[starkglory]

Prompt List

Here’s my updated Prompt List:) Requests are open! You’re free to request for more than one prompt or mix different categories together:)

Angst

1. “How can we go back to being friends when we just shared a bed?”

2. “From the day we met, I knew I’d hurt you eventually/ I knew you’d hurt me eventually.”

3. “I’m good at hurting people. It’s all I’ve ever done.”

4. “I/ You deserve more than this.”

5. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

6. “I want you out of here, and out of my life.”

7. “Pull the trigger.”

8. “I can’t trust you anymore.”

9. “Forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

10. “You mean nothing to me.”

11. “I wish I had never met you.”

12. “Of course you didn’t love me, I’m such an idiot.”

13. “What about the plans we made?”

14. “Bearing your pain has always been my job.”

15. “What did you do to make your heart become so cold?”

16. “Remember how we used to be? Because I don’t.”

17. “How can you be in love with me when you destroyed all of my happiness.”

18. “I’m so tired of everything.”

19. “Why does our love feel like prison.”

20. “When I let go, run for your life.”

21. “I always knew you’d die in my arms/ I’d die in your arms.”

22. “Your eyes can be so cruel.”

23. “You thought I cared about you? Cute.”

24. “Do you even love me?” “I did.”

25. “For a moment, I got everything I wanted.”

Smut

1. “This isn’t love — it’s revenge, and you’re going to feel every inch of it.”

2. “If I wasn't inside you, l'd kill you."

3. “You can’t take it? You said you could take anything.”

4. “You moan like you don’t hate me at all.”

5. “I’m going to ruin you the way you ruined me.”

6. “Let me break you apart — then put you back together.”

7. “Keep your eyes open. Watch yourself in the mirror.”

8. “Tell me how wet/hard you are.”

9. “Did I say you could touch yourself?”

10. “If you safeword, we stop immediately.”

11. “No hands. Use your mouth.”

12. “You always get clingy after.”

13. “Stay still. I want to fall asleep inside you.”

14. “You’re dripping down your thighs.”

15. “You’re filthy. I love it.”

16. “You came. So what? We’re not stopping.”

17. “One more round, and then you can cry.”

18. “You came from just my voice? Pathetic.”

19. “We’re doing this right here. I don’t care who sees.”

20. “You don’t need to do anything — just let me worship you.”

21. “I fucking love you.” “I love fucking you.”

22. “You’re so beautiful. Don’t hide from me.”

23. “Let me kiss your scars, one by one”

24. “Your pleasure is my favorite sound.”

25. “You’re so good to me. Let me be good to you too.”

Fluffy/ Emotional/ Tension

1. “I think my heart has been yours since the moment I saw you.”

2. “I tried to ignore the signs, but falling in love with you is the loudest thing in my soul.”

3. “I never believed in soulmates until I met you.”

4. “I love you so much it hurts sometimes.”

5. “Let me be the one to heal your pain.”

6. “I’m falling for you deeper than I ever thought possible.”

7. “I can’t promise you the world, but I can promise you my heart.”

8. “I’m addicted to you.”

9. “I didn’t believe in love until your name became my favorite word.”

10. “I’m hopelessly yours, if you’ll have me.”

11. “Who did this to you?”

12. “You came.” “You called.”

13. “Every time I see you with someone else, it breaks something inside me.”

14. “I’m drowning in silence because I don’t know how to say that I need you.”

15. “If you walk away now, I don’t know if I’ll ever survive.”

16. “My heart is breaking, but it still beats only for you.”

17. “I’ve always been yours.”

18. “I wish I could go back and love you sooner, softer, better.”

19. “I don’t need you to say it back—I just needed you to know.”

20. “Tell me to stop.”

[back2bluesidex]

J-Hope Fic Recommendations (18+)

If you are already following me for quite some time then you should know that I am a massive masochist and I like to torture myself by reading and writing angsty stories. So, most of the stories that I recommended are angsty as well (might as well have sad endings). So please carefully read the warnings before proceeding. Have a happy reading.

And please don't expect much from me. There are several other rec lists far better than mine. The only motive I had behind creating this list to promote some of the stories, which I think are very underrated. especially angsty ones. These stories are beautifully written so.. I just wanted to let the authors know how phenomenal of a job they have done (As a writer myself I know how much this actually means). Thanks to these amazing writers and I am grateful that they decided to share their work here with us.

[Minors please stay away from my blog!]

Key: F - Fluff, A- Angst, S- Smut, Y- Yandere, *- Personal Favorite

Oneshots

1. Ash from his fire by @filmcrystal - A, implied S, cheating au

It will break your heart so please proceed with caution.

2. Forbidden Fruit by @deepdarkdelights - A, Y

This one deals with several triggering topics. Hence, read the warnings carefully. But I can say that you will love this twisted mafia Hoseok way too much!

3. Shadows by @borathae - A, exes au

One of the most underrated stories I have ever read! Yeah, it is very angsty and Hoseok is so cruel but... we all are masochist here. lmao!

4. Heaven sent by @aquagustd - A, F, S, f2l au

Sexy soccer player Hoseok is just another name for perfection.

5. Bound by @explicit-tae - S, kinda f2l

Talk abut BDSM! GOOOD Sweet Lord!!!

6. Jigsaw by @sunshinejunghoseokie - A *

I remembered crying after reading this one. So damn underrated that it physically hurts me!!

7. Delta Disorder by @bangtanintotheroom Y, S, Supernatural au

I don't usually read supernatural stuff but this demon Hoseok is way too sexy to skip!

8. Systems of Touch by @yeoldontknow - S, F, tiny A, S2l au

Beautifully written! The author used 100% of their capabilities to write this one. Perfectly drawn Professor Hoseok with a very attractive character of reader. Certainly a treat to read.

9. 2:00 AM by @likeastarstar - A, fuckbuddy Hoseok

Part of a series but can be read as a standalone. and Hoseok is a dick in this.

10. Love Quarrels by @mirahuyooo - A, F, mafia au

A cold yet soft mafia husband Hoseok chases behind his angry wife... could there be anything better than that?

11. The Hook Up ft. JK by @minisugakoobies - S

A little bit of a triangle.. but not love? if that makes sense.

12. Entelechy by @drmflm - suggestive (I believe)

Can't call this one angst and neither is this about Hoseok (he is there, don't worry). This one is more about the reader and her growth and it's beautiful.

13. Orgasms on the verge of a nervous breakdown by @sluttyandere - S, Y *

This is very dark and quite triggering, so please don't read unless you can handle those stuff.

14. For the night by @aseaofyoongi - A, S

I cried. that's all.

15. We Shouldn't by @beahae - S **

Hands down to one of my most favourite Hoseok smuts ever!!! This one has a Jimin follow-up so make sure to read that too.

16. Real or not real by @nmjoo-n - A, S, F **

Again one of the most exquisite Hoseok fics I have ever read!

17. Checkmate by @sunshinejoon - A, S

This was supposed to have a sequel but it is perfect regardless.

18. Do I wanna know - @yoongiphoria - A, f2? ****

Now, MJ knows how much I love this one. I often read this story and I never ever get bored of it! I love this to the core and you should too!

19. Scrap - @silv3rswirls - A, Y, S

Dark and sexy. Read the warnings carefully please.

20. It's a Promise by @sahmfanficbts - S, A, Arranged marriage au

Just read it.

21. Three by @hamsterclaw - S

Again.. VERY UNDERRATED!

22. Wonderwall by @kiara-ish - A with an open ending

Might not be for the faint hearted.

23. Infatuated by @bangtanfancamp - F

If you like high school love au then this one is for you.

24. Constellations of You by @persphonesorchid - S, F, established relationship au

This is so domestic that my heart almost exploded while reading!!

25. Burning flames or paradise by @/yoongiphoria - A, tiny f ****

MJ does magic.... that's all I can say.

26. Alone again by @archivedkookie - A, F

I loooove these kinds of stories. Just the right amount of despair with the right amount of hope... beautiful.

27. Feeling Good by @bonvoyagenoona - A, S

Everything I write about this will fall short.. so I will just shut up and let you enjoy the goodness.

28. Distracted by @dilfhoseokie - S

Ahem..

29. Drink Champaign in my airplane by @/bangtanintotheroom - F, S, F2l

Perfectly embodies a rich hot CEO friend Hoseok... a fun read.

30. Keynote by @missgeniality - S **********

MY MOST FAVORITE HOSEOK ONESHOT TO EXIST IN THE PLANET. yeah.. (this has a follow-up but I like this one better)

Series

The thing is that I don't usually read series. I just don't have that patience. So this list is pretty small and forgive me for that.

1. Transference by @dark-muse-iris - A, S, F, S2l *********************

[Completed]

I wasn't the same after reading this. I can't talk about this trantric therapist Hoseok, 'cause I will never shut up if I start.

2. Kanalia by @xjoonchildx - A, S, f (?) *********************

[Ongoing]

Honestly, who isn't a sucker for Lord Jung? You must be sick if you are not. (On a side note.. Kanalia is keeping me alive from jumping off trains on tough days)

3. Guarded by @/xjoonchildx - A, S, F, S2l

[Completed]

Mafia Hoseok with dogtags. I think that's enough of an introduction.

If you want to read the Hoseok stories I write, you can checkout my Masterlist.

[lace4forest]

The Chains Ages in Linked Universe.

I saw people talking about the Chains age in Linked Universe, and I have my thoughts on them.

I've done a LOT of research on the Links and how old they were, I even tried to figure out how long Legend was in Koholint for. (We go with old Canon because new Canon doesn't make since,(Footnote 1) but basically that's the last time we see Legend in normal Zelda Canon)

Anyways-

This is from Jojo's QnA doc on the Linked Universe Discord- ^^^

And this is my thoughts on their ages. Side note, I'm not going off of looking up their ages through google, I'm going off info you can find in game and cross referencing it with other games and the Hyrule Historia and Encyclopedia. Time was 9 in his game and that's about 20 years later so he would be 29. (Unless if we counting Majora's Mask, then he could be 30-32)

Twilight was a "Late Teen" (Also it does state hold old he is) so 17 making him 21 to 22.

Warriors is also "Late Teen" (He was a trainee at the beginning of the war) making him 22 to 26

Sky is also stated to be around 17 making him 18 to 19

Wild is 117 and this would make him either almost 118 or just turned 118.

Legend just became "Of age" in ALBW and that's 16 in his era making 17.

Hyrule we know is 16 making him 18.

Four is 15 or 16 in Four Sword, but he isn't "Of age" so probably 15. making him 17.

And we know Wind is 13 almost 14. (He said it himself)

I just find it very funny the Toons are the youngests. Age explanation and footnotes below cut.

Time - He is 9 at the beginning of his game and becomes an "Adult" 7 years later at 16. This is one of the times it proves that 16 is "Of age" in the Zelda series. We aren't sure how much time has passed between Oot and MM, so we can guess he's 29 to 32 (Making Link in MM 10 to 12 as a good guess.)

Twilight - It's stated in a guide that he is 17. His game also was originally supposed to be a continuation of Oot and MM in the Wind Waker style, with Time all grown up and living on his own. But they changed it to what it is now. So it's just 17+4 or 5 making him 21 to 22.

Warriors - There is no official age and you do NOT need to be 17 to wield the master sword. All we know is that he's "Late Teens" making him between 16 to 19. Making his age in LU between 22 to 26.

Sky - He is stated to be around 17. Making him 18 or 19 (Even if we say he's 16, then he would be 17 to 19.)

Wild - he is 117 years old. We know this. it's been "Less than a year" so he could be almost 118 or already be 118, he probably doesn't remember his Birthday, so there is no saying exactly. (His Zelda should know though. Maybe.)

Legend - SO. I feel like people are gonna fight me on this, but I got the math and hours of research to back it. At the beginning of ALTTP, some guards say that Link shouldn't be out here or that he's too young to wield a sword (Or even start learning to) In BOTW Wild got the Master Sword at 12-13. And people said he was still very young and a prodigy, which means he was already learning the sword by that time. and we also know that in BOTW they think of "Of Age" as 17 instead of 16, meaning they probably make them learn stuff when they are a little older. There's also the connection to Oot, In Wind Waker its stated that Wind is the same age as Time when he Defeated Ganon (Making Wind Canonically 16) And Twilight is the age of what Time should have been when he decided to settle down, making him 17, which leaves us with Legend's age. Most likely taking Times age from the beginning of his game. LONG STORY SHORT- In ALTTP Link is between 9 to 10. NOW. The Oracle games, Link is still a CHILD, so before "Of Age" (Aka less than 16) A LOT of people call him a CHILD and wonder why he has a sword! making him most likely around 11 or 12. Same things with Link's Awakening. (FOOTNOTE 1). Then we have ALBW. Link has a job now and is learning to become a smith. so most likely after his return home, as well as he needs to learn this stuff before becoming a full adult, but then again he lives alone, so we could accurately say 15 to 16. SO LONGER STORY SHORT. We can say 16 and be GENEROUS. Making Legend 17 in LU (but probably closer to 16).

Hyrule - It's literally a plot in his game he is 16, making him 18 in LU.

Four - He is a Child in Minish Cap (So less than 16) and same with Four Swords. He has to be older than 12 because he was given a sword willingly. So between 13 to 15, but we can be nice and say 15 in Four Swords, making him 17 in LU.

Wind -

I do want to say, it's literally stated in his game he is the same age as Time when he KILLED Ganon as an ADULT. It's just the art style of the game.... He JUST turned 16, so people are still calling him a child. (Like how people call 18 year olds children in rl) But also he does look 12 in game... ART STYLE WHYYYYYY (also thats what Twi was supposed to look like lmaoooo)

---

FOOTNOTE 1 - The Encylapedia has wrong information that's easy to disprove and I want to throw it out a window. It also switched the order of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, even though Oracle of Ages LITERALLY ENDS With Link taking the boat out to sea to head home, and LITERALLY Transitions to Link's Awakenings Opening. ITS THE SAME BOAT. I'm Gonna Cry- NINTENDO WHYYYYY.

[commandershepardvasfuckit]

An Arranged Marriage, part 31

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30

1.6k words

There’s a difference between knowing it’ll be 2.5 days of travel to Zen’s village and then truly understanding what 2.5 days of travel on foot actually feels like. At least Zen is trying to make it as easy as possible.

(I am feral over my own character, ask box is always open for talking about my writing or just monster fucking in general!)

--------

Two and half days was not an accurate estimate for how long it would take to get to Zen’s village.

“How much farther is it?” you asked Zen. He had warned you that it usually took him two and a half days to get to his village, but that was walking at his pace. At this point you were kicking yourself for not taking him up on his offer to borrow a horse for you from the royal stables. You had never ridden a horse before and did not want to look silly trying to learn how to on the fly, but that would have been preferable to all this walking at least.

“We are only a few hours outside the city, though at this rate it will take quite a bit longer to get there” he pointed out.

You groaned, somehow it did not sink in before when he told you how long it would take.

“We can stop and rest” he offered.

“We just stopped a little while ago. If we keep stopping so much we’ll never get there.”

“We will get there eventually, and I would rather take our time instead of having you drop dead, so how about we take a break?”

You grumbled your agreement and let Zen unpack some water and food for lunch. It was simple, just some dried fish and other meats, some fruit, and some incredibly dry, dense bread.

“I do not really like it either” he commented as he watched you gnaw at the chunk of bread, “It is an orc thing, and not very good, but it lasts well when traveling.”

You curled up on his lap after both of you were done with lunch, not caring that you were already overheating and Zen was always practically a furnace. Between the heat and all the walking you were exhausted. Without saying anything he leaned back and kept you against his chest until he was entirely laying down. You may have been sticky and sweaty, but he did not seem to care as you laid on top of him.

After an accidental nap and lunch you did feel a bit refreshed though, once more winding your way through the plains with Zen.

“There is a small village on the coast about a day from here, we could stop there and see if they have anyone sailing north we could go with” Zen said.

“Anything to speed this up” you nodded. He might have been used to all this traveling and walking, but you sure were not.

Zen ended up carrying you for a good portion of the rest of the day, though not until after you protested heavily about not needing to be toted around like a child. Regardless, it went much faster at his pace.

As the sun set Zen sat you down in the little cluster of trees next to stream that he decided would make a good camp for the night. Quickly he busied himself with lighting a fire while he sent you to refill the water skins in the stream. It was so quiet being so far from the city, probably the quietest the world had ever been for you.

The sandy, packed earth of the desert around the city had given way to patchy plains many miles ago, which in turn was now fading into a denser grassland with sporadic trees. While it had been just as hot all day, the temperature now that the sun was nearly down was not dropping as much here at least, the grass was able to insulate and hold on to some of the sun’s warmth.

Dinner was the same sort of basic meal as lunch, the two of you sat close together on the bed roll just relaxing. You had never been so tired even though you had only walked half of the day. Zen, while still tired looking, did not seem nearly as exhausted as you and was just happily leaning on you and resting his chin on top of your head.

You reached up to scratch his head, which just made him pull you onto his lap so he could nuzzle you a bit better.

You could feel your pulse rising in your throat, you had not been out of the city since you were attacked over a month ago and all those feelings were bubbling up. You knew for certain that Zen could protect you, that even way out here that he was more than capable of keeping you safe, but right now it was doing nothing to calm you.

“Hey” his voice was soft in your ear, “Are you alright?”

You just shook your head, unable to find words.

“Talk to me, I can tell something is wrong.”

“It’s just been a while since I left the city.”

Clearly he realized what you meant. He hugged on to you a little tighter, “I have you, I will not let anything ever hurt you again, I promise.”

You buried your face into his chest, trying to block out the world with the smell of incense and the sound of his steady heartbeat. He shifted about under you and laid down, pulling you on your his chest and covering you both with the blanket. Like this his tusks were holding up the blanket, making a little tent.

“I promise it is just you and me out here, and if anything gets close Tsov’ka will let me know.”

You nodded into his chest, not actually feeling any better but you appreciated that he was trying to reassure you.

Sleep did not come easy. Every little sound startled you back awake, which then also seemed to wake up Zen. Each time he would rub your back and sing to you until you fell back asleep.

Morning came too soon and Zen woke you for breakfast, the same simple meal as lunch and dinner yesterday. He looked tired, even if he would not admit it, as the two of you set off following the stream to the coast.

“Oh wow” you said. It was not like the rocky, cliff side coast that you knew back home. The water was not gray and churning, instead it was clear and smooth, and the beach was just flat sand littered with shells.

“Have you seen the ocean before?” he asked.

“Not like this, it’s so calm and bright.”

“Come, how about we walk on the shore then.”

You packed your shoes into Zen’s bag and walked where the sea met the land. Gentle waves ran over your feet while you kept bending down to pick up shells, the hem of your skirt was getting wet but you did not care, you were having fun. Zen held onto the shells you found, carefully tucking your newly found treasures into the pockets of his bag.

“I promise there will be more shells when went get to my village, we still need room in my pack for our clothes” he kissed the top of your head and helped you pack the last of your shells for now.

On the soft sand you quickly got tired as you struggled to keep from sinking into it with every step. Zen on the other hand seemed to have no problem with staying on top of it and soon you ended up with him carrying you once more.

In the distance the first few structures emerged from the horizon, steadily growing in size until it was a small village in the distance. It was not much, maybe a dozen or so houses right on the shore centered around a large fire pit, but it was civilization and possibly the chance to sail the rest of the way to Zen’s village.

Immediately several people flocked around the two of you, chatting with Zen in his tongue and looking at you with curiosity. After a few minutes you were both being ushered to sit down around the fire and being handed food, it was a nice change from the dried rations you had for the last few meals.

“They seem friendly, people you know?” you asked.

“I think I have met a few people here in passing, but no one I know well” he said, “But it does look like there is a few fishermen who planned on sailing north tomorrow morning that we can go with. It will not get us all the way to my village, but we will only be about half a day away then.”

It was nice seeing Zen interacting with everyone, people who were strangers he seemed to talk to like old friends. Periodically he paused to translate and fill you in, though most of it went over your head; updates on other villages or people, chatting about aspects of his culture you did not have analogues for, but it was all the same to you. Really you were feeling to tired to socialize anyway and it was just nice to see him looking so relaxed and happy.

He always seemed happier speaking his own language. He gestured with his hands a lot in his language, unlike when he spoke human common. His pitch and inflection seemed to vary a lot more than when he spoke common versus his relatively flat common, he was just so much more animated.

You leaned against him to get his attention, “Teach me your language.”

“Orcish would be more useful for you, more people speak it back in the city” he said.

“I want to talk to you, like this” you gestured vaguely around, “I like listening when you talk, I want to be able to hear how you really talk and sound.”

You could feel how hard he was purring just from where you where leaning on his arm.

He leaned his head down and nuzzled the top of yours, “Then I would be very happy to teach you.”

--------

Part 32

Tag list

@blushycadaver @mochalyluv @hazyspacefairy @littlelovebug98 @tufflepuff23 @lets-imagineastory @emonatural191 @after-laughter-come-tears @plathsotherib @krayziee @zaqnette @graveblanketgreen @lovingbadguys @nogoatsnoglori @bunnibabylilly @selfindulgenthoe @dij-ology

[whumpuary]

Welcome to Whumpuary 2024!

Whumpuary is a whump themed mixed-media creation event/challenge taking place in January.

This year the prompts came together through a community submission form and then a poll, where I picked the 53 most voted prompts! There are 15 numbers with 3 prompts each, plus 8 alt prompts. The dates are just meant to be a general guideline for those who want/need some structure in a challenge (e.g post every other day), but you don't actually have to create/post on those dates. You can combine prompts any way you want or just pick one of each number, do every single one or even all of them combined into one big creation (or just use one single prompt. That's already an achievement!) If you don't like any prompts of a number you can also replace or combine them with an alt prompt. The main or alt prompts don't have to be done in order.

Go here for more information, rules and the tagging system Go here for FAQs

The inbox is open for any questions!

Text version of all the prompts is under the cut

Whumpuary 2024 Main Prompts 1. (Jan 01-02) Captivity / Snow / Secret Revealed 2. (Jan 03-04) "Get away from me" / Collapse / Choking 3. (Jan 05-06) Used as bait / Stumbling / "This is gonna hurt" 4. (Jan 07-08) "Help me" / Lightheaded / Kneeling 5. (Jan 09-10) Can't move / "Stay. Please" / Kidnapped 6. (Jan 11-12) Exhaustion / Blindfolded / Old Injuries 7. (Jan 13-14) "I didn't know where else to go" / Bruises / Drugged 8. (Jan 15-16) Muffled Screams / Hostage / "You look awful" 9. (Jan 17-18) "Make it stop" / Restraints / Hair Grabbing 10. (Jan 19-20) Desperation / Gunpoint / Can't stay awake 11. (Jan 21-22) Blood / "Just get is over with" / Memories 12. (Jan 23-24) "You're awake" / Rescue / Unfair Fight 13. (Jan 25-26) Left to die / Barely Conscious / "I'm Fine" 14. (Jan 27-28) Flinching / Breakdown / Sleep Deprivation 15. (Jan 29-31) You're safe / Aftermath / Touch starved

Alt Prompts 1. Stabbed 2. "Let me see" 3. Recapture 4. Forced to watch 5. Headache 6. Gagged 7. "Do you trust me?" 8. Blood Loss

[devildomwriter]

Every “I Love You” Vol 1-4

Lucifer

22-C

Lucifer: “I love you. Truly and deeply.”

28-15

Lucifer: “I never knew I could feel this way. I never knew I had such passion inside me. MC…I love you.”

28-19 (2)

Lucifer: “MC, I love you. Well, we may not be on stage now, but I’m happy to say it again. As many times as you’d like. I love you, MC. Truly and deeply…”

38-9

Lucifer: “I love you, MC. Truly. As much as I’d like my memory back, and to remember everything that’s happened, there’s something I want even more… I want to know how you feel about me.”

38-9 (2)

Lucifer: “I love you, too. With all my heart. How many times have I told you that before? Because I want to tell you so many more times that my old self did. …In fact, no matter how many times I might say it, I feel like it will never be enough. I love you, MC. Kiss me. If I told you that I actually feel jealous of the old me, would you laugh…?”

40-22

Lucifer: “I love you, MC. There’s no need to say goodbye. Because we’ll see each other again. Soon.”

41-19

Lucifer: “I love you… It’s strange… We haven’t been apart long at all, yet it feels like it’s been a century. Why is that?”

Mammon

25-17

Mammon: “MC…! You’re the best! You never let me down, and it’s just…amazing! YOU’RE amazing! I love you, MC! More than I’ve ever loved anyone!”

29-12 (2)

Mammon: “I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I CAN’T STAND IIIIT!”

MC: “…?!”

Mammon: “I want to [CENSORED], [CENSORED], and [CENSORED] like there’s no tomorrow!”

33-14

Mammon: “Like, what it I accidentally let it slip that I love you, huh?!”

33-14

Mammon: “I love you so much it’s crazy! Like, so much that my stomach fills with butterflies and my heart jumps out of my chest! I think about you all the time, even when you’re not around! Like, I feel like I’m losin’ my mind!”

33-14

Mammon: “And I like you, MC. …I love you, actually. So, what about you? Come on, say you feel the same way, MC.”

33-14

Mammon: “Yeah…I love you too. Like, so much it’s crazy. I mean I love Lucifer and my other brothers too. I love ‘em to death, honestly. But with you it’s different. It’s special…”

43-15

Mammon: “Dammit! Like I could ever really say that to you! I love you MC! And I’ll NEVER break up with you, okay?! NEVER!”

53-9

Mammon: “I love you, MC! And I’d take you over money any day!”

Leviathan

48-4

Leviathan: “Um…listen, MC… …Thanks. I love you, too. And I really appreciate that you’d say that to me. But that’s also why I want to learn to take pride in myself. Because I want you to love me even more than you already do…”

48-9

Leviathan: “…Ugh, what do I do? I’m not so sure I want to let you go after all. You’d better leave before I change my mind. Oh, but make sure to come back once you’re done with whatever it is, okay? …I love you, MC.”

Satan

21-14

Satan: “Mm, it finally feels real now. You really are back. I love you, MC. Welcome home.”

42-10

Satan: “After all, you already have me. I’m yours, and you’re mine. Isn’t that right? I love you, MC…”

Asmodeus

13-20

Asmodeus: “Hehe, I knew that already. I love you too, MC. Though I think I’d rather have you tell me that while lying next to me in bed.”

19-70

Asmodeus: *sigh* “Oh, wow. All you did was kiss me, and I feel like I’ve died and gone to the Celestial Realm…! I love you, MC… I love you more than anything!

22-10

Asmodeus: “Mmhm… I feel the same way. I love you too, MC. I absolutely adore you!”

31-2

Asmodeus: “Hehe. I love you, MC. So much it’s crazy…”

31-2

Asmodeus: “Oh MC! I love you SO MUCH!”

32-19

Asmodeus: “Whaaat? You mean I can’t kiss you? Ugh, you’re so meeean! Still, I just can’t help loving you! I love you SO MUCH, MC!”

34-1

Asmodeus: “MC, does that mean you believe me? Hehe, you’re absolutely adorable. I love you so much, MC!”

39-18

Asmodeus: “I love you SO MUCH. More than words can describe…”

41-7

Asmodeus: “I love you so much, I can barely contain myself… Ugh, I can’t take this any longer…”

54-1

Asmodeus: “Wait, are you saying I don’t need to use my powers on you? You just find me naturally charming? Oh MC, you’re SO sweet! I love you to death!”

60-22

Asmodeus: “MC, you’re so adorable. I love you, and I’m going to miss you so much. It’s going to be unbearable…”

67-9

Asmodeus: “Hehe, thank you! Oh MC, there aren’t even words to describe how much I love you.”

67-9

Asmodeus: “I thought I’d use my butt to express just how I feel about you, MC. I love you, and I want you to know it.”

Beelzebub

45-18

Beelzebub: “Mm… …Okay, I was wrong. I don’t actually like you. I love you.”

46-19

Beelzebub: “You remember when I gave you my star, right? And now here you are giving ME a star… I promise that I’ll always treasure it. Always and forever… I love you, MC.”

69-17

Beelzebub: “Well, it’s the same with me. You’re always on my mind. I love you, MC…”

80-10

Beelzebub: “I’ve been waiting so long to do this… For it to be just the two of us alone… I love you, MC…”

Belphegor

20-11

Belphegor: “But even if you go back to the human world, I’ll always love you, MC. Because there’s no one else like you anywhere. Not in the Devildom, not in the Celestial Realm, not in the human world.”

41-14

Belphegor: “I love you, MC. You have no idea how much…”

55-18

Belphegor: “Come on, try to keep still. …Here, let me put my arms around you. I love you, MC. …I love you so much, it’s crazy.”

80-10

Belphegor: “I mean, I can’t go to sleep now. Not when it would mean missing out on this… I love you, MC…”

Simeon

52-17

Simeon: “Here, let me look into your eyes. I love you, MC… The question is, how do you feel about me?”

71-17

Simeon: “You know that one song that’s been really popular with everyone at RAD lately? Well, it sums up how I feel about you perfectly. It goes like this. “I was wandering, hurt, lost in an endless night, and you reached out to me… Nestled against each other, we wished that morning would never come. No one can know, no one can know. But I love you so deeply it hurts”…”

71-17

Simeon: “I can’t tell you how long I’ve been hoping to hear you say that. Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you, MC.”

Diavolo

56-18

Diavolo: “If you’d be okay with it, I’d actually like it if we could do this sort of thing more often. You know, spend more time together. I’m just going to come out and say it, MC… The truth is…I love you

56-18

Diavolo: “I love you so much. You’re so, so precious to me that I can barely take it. Can I kiss you?”

56-18

Diavolo: “I love you, MC. And I’m so happy to know you feel the same way about me. Thank you.”

56-18

Diavolo: “Well, even if you don’t have feelings for me, that doesn’t change how I feel about you. I still love you

80-14

Diavolo: “It’s hard getting you alone. After all, wherever you go, Lucifer and his brothers are sure to be nearby. But right now I have you all to myself… I love you, MC…”

Ranks

1. Asmodeus (13)

2. Lucifer/Mammon (9)

3. Diavolo (5)

4. Beelzebub/Belphegor/Simeon (4)

5. Leviathan/Satan (2)

6. Solomon/Thirteen/Barbatos/Mephistopheles/Michael/Raphael (0)

[snowysosturn]

Allies or Affiliates? - Chris Sturniolo Part 27

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Finale

Pairing : Y/n x dealer!Chris Sturniolo

Summary : Law student Y/n’s life takes a turn when she reconnects with Chris, her brief teenage flame who is now a dealer for a dangerous Boston drug gang. As their bond reignites, Y/n is drawn into Chris’s tumultuous world, where rival gangs clash and loyalty is everything. Balancing her love for Chris with her own ambitions, can their connection survive the chaos that threatens to pull them apart?

Warnings : MDNI, angst, cursing, mentions of death, mentions of murder, mention of guns, description of murder, description of shooting, description of dead body

The air on the deck was crisp, biting in a way that kept my thoughts sharp. The sky was dark, the stars barely visible behind the thin veil of clouds. I was perched on one of the chairs, hugging a throw blanket close around me. The tension in the air was suffocating, but the silence was worse. Every few seconds, I’d glance at my phone, hoping to see a message from Nate. 

The sliding door creaked open, and Chris stepped out. His footsteps were soft, deliberate, as he walked over and sat in the chair next to me. He rested his elbows on his knees, staring out into the darkness like it held some sort of answer.

"You should be resting" I said quietly, not wanting to shatter the fragile stillness.

Chris let out a hollow laugh. "Like that’s even possible right now." He rubbed his hands together, the motion slow and restless. "This whole thing.. it’s messed up, Y/n. More than I ever thought it could be."

I stayed silent, giving him space to speak.

"I’ve done a lot of stupid things" he admitted, his voice low, almost like he didn’t want me to hear it. "But this? Vince?" He leaned back, running a hand through his hair. "I don’t know how this ends. And Nate.. god, I’m worried about him. I just..I can’t lose him. Or you. And this whole thing feels like we’re walking a tightrope with no safety net.” 

I glanced up at him. He looked as drained as I felt, his usual calm replaced by something raw and vulnerable. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. Then, he turned to me, his expression unguarded.

“I’m scared, Y/n” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

It was the honesty in his words that caught me off guard. Chris wasn’t the type to show fear, not like this. “I am too” I said, my voice matching his in quiet intensity.

Chris ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands like he was trying to pull his thoughts together. “It’s not just about Nate or what happens tonight. It’s..everything. I’ve been living like this for so long, I don’t even know what normal feels like anymore.”

I shifted in my chair, leaning forward. “You’re not alone in this, Chris. You know that, right?”

He gave a hollow laugh, shaking his head. “Sometimes it feels like I’ve already lost. Like no matter what we do, Vince is always one step ahead. And now, Nate’s out there, and who knows what could go wrong-”

“Stop” I interrupted, standing and walking over to him. I placed a hand on his arm, grounding him. “Don’t go there. He’s going to be okay. You taught him how to handle himself.”

Chris turned to me, his eyes searching mine. “And if he’s not? If this all goes to shit?”

“Then we deal with it together” I said firmly. “We’ll find another way. But for now, we have to trust him.”

He looked down at me, his shoulders dropping as if the weight of everything was finally settling in. “I don’t deserve you, you know that?”

I gave him a small smile, reaching up to brush my fingers against his cheek. “You do. Even if you don’t see it yet.”

For a moment, we just stood there, the world around us falling away. Chris wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I could feel his heart pounding against my own, the rhythm erratic and raw.

“Thank you” he whispered into my hair. “For sticking with me through this.”

“Always” I murmured back, my arms tightening around him.

We stayed like that for a while, holding on to each other like it was the only thing keeping us from falling apart. But eventually, the sound of Chris’s phone vibrating on the deck table shattered the moment. It had nearly been 4 hours since Nate left.

He pulled away reluctantly, checking the screen. “It’s Nate.” he said, his voice tense.

My stomach dropped as I watched him swipe to answer, bringing the phone to his ear. “You good?” he asked immediately.

Nate’s POV

The drive to the docks felt longer than it actually was, the time reading 10pm. The streets were dark and empty, the kind of quiet that never sat right with me.

“You’re quiet” Willow said suddenly, breaking the silence.

I glanced at her briefly. “Trying to focus.”

“On what? You said this wasn’t unusual for you” she pointed out, tucking her phone away. “If you’re so used to going to this place, why are you acting so tense?”

I sighed, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Because this time’s different. I’m not picking up. I’m sneaking in to grab footage, if anyone catches me, I’m screwed. We’re all screwed.”

Willow stared at me for a moment, as if weighing something in her mind. “Would it be better if I called the cops? I mean no one knows my voice.”

“I mean, if you want to.” I shrugged. “Just make sure to put it on speaker so I can hear.”

She swallowed hard and dialed the non emergency number for the Boston Police Department, her fingers trembling slightly. As the line rang, she stared out the window at the street lights.

Finally, a calm voice answered. “Boston Police Department, how can I assist you?”

Willow cleared her throat, forcing confidence into her voice. “Hi, um, I need to report something. I don’t know if this is the right number for it, but I think there’s something illegal happening down at the docks.”

I glanced at her briefly, giving her a small nod of encouragement as she continued.

“What kind of illegal activity are you referring to, ma’am?” the dispatcher asked, their tone professional but curious.

“It’s.. drugs. I overheard some people talking about a stash being kept in a warehouse near the docks. I-I don’t know all the details, but it sounded serious, like a big operation.” Willow took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. 

“Do you know the specific location or the warehouse number?” They question.

“Yeah, um…” 

“Warehouse 7” I mouth to her silently.

 “It’s the warehouse on Pier 7. I think that’s the one. They mentioned it by name.”

The dispatcher asked for more details, how she knew this, if she’d seen anything herself. Willow stuck to the story they’d agreed on. “No, I didn’t see it myself. I just overheard it. I live near the docks, and some guys were talking about it at the coffee shop. They sounded serious, like it’s happening tonight or really soon.”

 “Understood. Can you describe the individuals you overheard?”

“Not really, sorry. I didn’t want to stare or get involved. They just seemed.. rough, you know? Like they didn’t want anyone overhearing, but I did. I thought it would be best to report it, just in case.”

“You did the right thing. Do you feel safe where you are, ma’am? We can have officers sent to your location if you feel threatened.”

“No, no, I’m fine!” Willow says quickly. “I just..I didn’t want to keep this to myself. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” 

“Thank you for letting us know. We’ll send officers to investigate Pier 7. If we need more information, we may call you back. Is this the best number to reach you?”

“Uh, no!” She says, starting to panic, her eyes darting toward mine. “I mean.. I’d rather stay anonymous, if that’s okay. I don’t want to get involved.”

“Of course. We’ll treat this as an anonymous tip. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.” The dispatcher says calmly.

“Okay. Thanks.”

She hung up the phone and took a deep, shaky breath. I could tell her heart was pounding, and she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins

By the time we reached the docks, the flashing red and blue lights were already bouncing off the dark water, reflecting like twisted, chaotic stars. Cop cars were everywhere, doors open, officers fanning out with flashlights, yelling orders to one another. The scene was total chaos, exactly what we needed.

Willow shifted nervously in her seat as I parked a ways off, hiding the car in the shadow of a large shipping container. “You think they’re finding anything?” she asked.

“Doesn’t matter” I said, scanning the scene. “As long as they’re here, Vince won’t be. Can guarantee no one will be down here for the rest of the night.”

She nodded, but her eyes lingered on the swarm of officers. “What now?”

“Now, we wait.”

We sat in the car for what felt like hours, the occasional flicker of a flashlight passing too close for comfort. Willow fidgeted beside me, playing with the drawstring on her hoodie. The air felt thick, like every breath I took was heavier than the last.

“Nate?” she said quietly, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you doing this? I mean really doing this.”

I glanced at her, caught off guard by the question. Her expression was serious, searching.

“Because I owe him.” I admitted, my voice low. “Chris got dragged into all this because of me. I’ve been in this mess longer than he has, shit, my family’s been in it longer. But Chris? He doesn’t deserve this. If there’s even a chance I can help him get out, I’ll take it.”

Willow was quiet for a moment, staring at me like she was trying to read between the lines. “You’re a good friend” she said softly.

I snorted, shaking my head. “I don’t know about that.”

“Well, I do” she said, her voice firm. “And whatever happens, you’re not in this alone. Chris isn’t either. Y/n and I, we’re here. You don’t have to carry this on your own.”

I didn’t respond, because I wasn’t sure how. Instead, I turned my attention back to the cops swarming the docks, my leg bouncing impatiently. “They’re taking forever.”

“You want a distraction?” Willow said lightly, suggestive. 

I let out a small laugh, but it didn’t last. My eyes locked on hers, now distracted from watching the officers move deeper into the maze of containers and warehouses. Maybe this distraction could be a stress reliever. 

-

The clock on the dashboard read 2:11am, and the docks were finally starting to look deserted. After four maybe not so agonizing hours. The surge of officers now dissipated.

Willow glanced over at me, her eyes heavy with exhaustion but still alert. “Looks like they’re done.” 

I nodded, gripping my phone. “I’m going to call Chris, I’ll add you in too so you can keep us all updated about our surroundings.” I muttered, already dialing.

The line clicked, and Chris’s voice came through, groggy but instantly alert. “Nate? What’s going on?”

“Cops are gone” I said, keeping my voice low despite the empty surroundings. “I’m about to head into the warehouse.”

There was a pause on the other end before Chris responded, his tone sharp. “You sure it’s safe? They might’ve left something behind? Cameras? maybe even someone keeping watch.”

“It’s clear” I assured him, though my stomach churned with doubt. “Willow’s staying outside as a lookout. If anything moves, she’ll let me know.”

I heard Y/n’s voice faintly in the background, likely asking Chris what was happening. A moment later, he spoke again. “Just be quick. Get in, grab the footage, and get out. Don’t stick around for anything else.”

“I know, I’m not taking any chances. I’ll grab the timeframe we talked about and dip.”

Chris exhaled loudly, the tension in his voice palpable even over the phone. “Alright. Keep us on the line.”

“Will do” I said.

I looked at Willow, who was gripping her own phone, ready to keep us in check if anything seemed off. “You good?” I asked.

She gave me a faint smile, though I could see the nerves in her eyes. “Just hurry, okay?”

I nodded and stepped out of the car, the cool night air biting at my skin. The warehouse loomed ahead, it's dark silhouette eerily still. My footsteps echoed faintly on the pavement as I approached, every sound amplified by the emptiness around me.

Here goes nothing, I thought, pulling my hoodie up and tightening my grip on the burner phone in my hand. With one last glance back at Willow, who gave me a reassuring nod, I slipped inside the warehouse, ready to find the evidence that could finally bring Vince down.

Y/N’s POV

The clock read 2:17am. Hours had passed, and the only sound in the Airbnb was the hum of Chris pacing the living room and the faint noise of Nate’s rummaging around through the group call. Willow was on lookout, her voice crackling in every now and then to confirm everything was clear. I sat cross legged on the couch,trying to stay calm as Nate worked his way into Vince’s warehouse.

“You good in there?” Chris asked Nate for the fifth time, his voice low but sharp. He wasn’t pacing anymore, he was frozen in place, arms crossed, staring at his phone as if his gaze could somehow keep Nate safe.

“Yeah, man. I’m fine” Nate replied, his voice muffled slightly through the call. “I’m in the office now. Give me a second.”

“Second’s up.” Chris muttered.

I shot Chris a look. “Pushing him isn’t going to make this go any faster.”

Chris let out a frustrated sigh and dropped onto the armrest next to me. His knee bounced relentlessly. “You know what would make it faster? If Vince didn’t have the whole place locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”

I ignored him and leaned closer to the phone. “Nate, what are you looking at?”

There was silence for a moment. “It’s a computer, but-” He paused, and I could hear him typing faintly. “No. No, no, no. Shit.”

“What?” Chris and I said at the same time.

“They wiped it.” Nate answered sharply. “All the footage inside the warehouse is gone. Whoever cleared it knew what they were doing. Dates, files, everything’s been scrubbed.”

Chris cursed under his breath, shoving off the armrest to pace again. “This was a waste of time. I told you! Vince doesn’t leave loose ends.”

“No, wait.” I cut in, feeling the gears in my mind turning. “Nate, check the surrounding warehouses. Some of them might have external CCTV that points toward Vince’s place. If we’re lucky, you might be able to grab something there.”

“You sure about that?” Nate asked skeptically.

“It’s worth a shot” I said firmly. “Vince’s crew wouldn’t have access to neighboring businesses’ systems. They wouldn’t think to wipe that footage.”

There was a pause before Nate let out a small sigh. “Alright. I’ll check.”

Nate’s POV

I stepped back out into the cold night air, my burner phone clutched tightly in my hand as I glanced around the yard. I could see Willow’s silhouette across the yard, crouched low behind a rusted shipping container, her phone pressed to her ear as she kept watch.

“Willow, you see anything?” I whispered.

“All clear” she said softly. “But hurry up. I don’t like how empty it feels right now.”

I jogged to the warehouse next door and pressed my face to the side window. Sure enough, I spotted a small CCTV camera perched above one of the external doors, pointed directly at Vince’s place. 

Bingo.

I forced open the back door, slipping inside quickly. The office was just as empty and lifeless as Vince’s, dusty computers and monitors blinking faintly on standby. I moved to the system hooked to the cameras and noticed a flash drive connected, I opened it, praying this would work.

“Alright, I’m in” I muttered into the phone, accessing the drive and pulling up the camera’s footage. I scrolled back through the dates as quickly as I could, pinpointing the windows Y/n had told me to look for, the night Danny died, and the night of Danny’s funeral.

“Any luck?” Y/n asked, her voice anxious.

“Yeah” I breathed, watching the thumbnails pop up. “I’ve got footage of the warehouse yard for both nights.” I started the download, watching the bar slowly crawl forward.

“Thank fuck.” Chris said. “Get it and get out of there, Nate.”

“I’m working on it” I shot back.

Suddenly, the computer beeped at me, flashing a warning: Storage Full - Delete Files?

“Damn it!” I hissed.

“What’s wrong?” Willow’s voice broke through.

“The system’s full. It won’t let me pull more footage unless I delete something. It’s asking about tonight.”

“No.” Y/n said immediately. “Delete tonight’s footage. You don’t want a record of you breaking and entering.”

“Agreed” Chris said. “Get rid of it.”

I didn’t waste time arguing. I deleted the footage from tonight, watching it disappear off the list. The download finished, and I yanked the flash drive out, shoving it into my pocket.

“Alright, I’ve got it” I said, relief flooding through me. “I’m on my way back.”

“Be careful” Willow said, moving from her spot to meet me halfway back to the car.

We moved quickly, both of us keeping our heads low. When we reached the car, I slid into the driver’s seat and exhaled.

“Let’s get out of here. Please let there be something on this.”

Y/N’s POV

I let out a shaky breath as Nate announced he was heading back. “Thank God” I muttered, sinking back into the couch. Chris leaned against the back of the sofa, his jaw tense, but I could see the faint relief in his posture.

“They better get here quick” Chris mumbled. “I don’t like them being out there too long.”

“They will” I reassured him, though I wasn’t sure I believed it myself.

Chris sat beside me, rubbing his hands over his face. “You think we’ll actually get something useful off that footage?”

“I hope so” I said honestly. “If we can prove anything happened on either of those nights, it could link Vince to something bigger.”

Chris stared at the floor, silent for a long moment before muttering, “It has to. Otherwise, what the fuck are we doing all this for?”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Chris looked up at me, his expression softening just slightly. For the first time tonight, the fear in his eyes was clear. He looked vulnerable, something I knew he’d hate admitting.

“Chris” I said softly, “we’re going to figure this out. I promise.”

He let out a slow breath and nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

-

The clock blinked 4:00 AM in harsh green digits when Nate and Willow finally pulled into the driveway. I heard the car engine shutting off, followed by two car doors closing in quick succession. Chris was sprawled on the couch, his head propped against the armrest, mouth slightly parted as he dozed. The minute he’d heard Nate and Willow were safe and on their way back, he’d let exhaustion pull him under, like a switch flipping off in his mind.

I stood from the dining room table where I’d been pacing between mindless tasks, checking and rechecking my phone, picking at my nails. My gaze drifted to Chris, softened by sleep, his features free of worry, for now. I almost didn’t want to wake him.

“They’re back” I murmured, hurrying to let them in.

Willow stepped inside first, her jacket half zipped and cheeks flushed from the cold air. “It’s freezing out there.” she muttered, brushing past me toward the kitchen. “I need coffee or something warm before I keel over.”

Nate came in right after her, looking worn and tired, his dark hoodie pulled up and his face paler than usual. He didn’t say anything at first, just held up the USB drive like it was a trophy he’d earned.

“Got it.” he said gruffly.

“Thank God.” I let out a long breath, relief washing over me like a wave. “I set up the computer already, come on.”

Chris stirred at the sound of Nate’s voice, his brow creasing before his eyes fluttered open. He groaned quietly, shifting on the couch to sit up. “They’re back?” His voice was hoarse, thick with sleep.

“They’re back” I confirmed, leading Nate toward the small office tucked behind the kitchen.

Chris was on his feet in seconds, shuffling after us as he rubbed his eyes awake. Willow followed, cradling a mug of instant coffee she’d somehow put together in record time.

The office was cramped, but it had a decent sized desktop computer sitting on a small desk, just as I’d found earlier. The monitor flickered to life as Nate leaned down to plug in the USB. Chris hovered right behind him, resting his hands on the back of the chair as if he couldn’t trust himself to sit still.

“Please tell me there’s something” Chris muttered, his eyes glued to the screen.

Nate didn’t reply at first, clicking through the folders he’d saved. A list of video files appeared on the monitor, timestamps neatly arranged in order.

“This is from the warehouse across from Vince’s” Nate said, pointing at the first file. “The night Danny died.”

A tension filled silence settled over the room as Nate opened the video. The grainy footage appeared, a black and white view of the loading docks outside Vince’s warehouse. The time stamp in the corner read 11:42 pm.

I stepped closer, my breath catching as we all watched. The footage showed Vince’s warehouse, its doors slightly ajar, a faint flicker of light spilling out. Moments later, shadowy figures began to move in the distance - men. My stomach churned as I realized what we were seeing.

“There” Chris said sharply, pointing to the screen. “That’s them.”

The footage was grainy, but Vince’s hulking figure was unmistakable as he stepped into the light. Two other men trailed behind him. A small, tense conversation played out near the door, though we couldn’t hear it. 

“That’s Danny” Nate whispered, his voice tight with emotion. “It has to be.”

The figure stumbled into the pool of light spilling from the warehouse door. Danny was easy to spot, his smaller frame, the familiar way he carried himself even under duress. He turned to face Vince, his hands raised as if pleading with him.

“Jesus” Willow whispered, hugging her knees to her chest as she sat on the floor.

We watched, frozen, as Vince stepped closer to Danny. The camera’s view wasn’t clear enough to capture their expressions, but Vince’s body language spoke volumes, aggressive, domineering. He jabbed a finger at Danny’s chest as he shouted something, his movements sharp and jerky.

Chris’s breathing had grown heavier, his shoulders tense. I could feel the anger radiating off of him as the scene played out.

“What are they saying?” I whispered, though I knew no one had an answer.

Danny shook his head frantically in the video, backing away, only to be grabbed by one of Vince’s men. He was shoved to his knees, his arms pinned behind him.

“Stop it” Chris muttered, his voice low but pained. “Fast forward, man. I don’t think you need to see this.”

Nate’s hand shot out. “No. Let it play.”

Nate froze, his expression torn. For a moment, I wanted to say something, to stop this, to shield Chris and Nate from what we were about to witness, but I couldn’t find the words.

We watched as Vince crouched down in front of Danny, speaking low and slow, his face so close it made my skin crawl. Danny tried to twist away, but the men held him in place.

And then Vince stood, turned, and said something to one of his men. The second figure stepped forward, pulling something from his coat. The metallic gleam of a pistol caught hitting off the light.

“No” Nate said sharply, shoving back from the desk. “No, I’m done.”

He stood abruptly, storming toward the other side of the room, but Chris didn’t move. His knuckles were white where they gripped the chair.

Danny struggled, his movements frantic, but it was no use. Vince held the gun in his right hand, lifting it up point directly at Danny. 

My hand flew to my mouth as Danny’s body slumped forward. Blood pooled across the concrete, dark even on the grainy footage. Vince said something to his crew, and without hesitation, they began dragging Danny’s lifeless body toward the warehouse doors.

The footage went still.

The time stamp now read 11:53am.

A choked sound broke the silence, Chris. He turned away from the screen, pacing toward the window as he pressed the heels of his hands against his face.

“Chris..” I whispered, unsure what to say, my voice trembling.

Willow was crying quietly, hiding her face in her arms. Nate stood with his back to the room, both hands braced against the wall like he was holding himself up.

I swallowed hard, feeling my stomach turn as the full weight of what we’d seen settled on me. It was undeniable now. Vince killed Danny and the footage showed everything.

Chris t,urned back, his eyes red rimmed and his jaw tight. “We have him.” he said hoarsely, his voice raw with emotion. “That bastard’s done.”

Nate spun around, his eyes glistening with tears and rage. “Yeah? And what do we do with this? You think the cops are just gonna watch it and say, ‘Thanks, boys! we’ll handle it’?”

“We take it to someone who can help ” I said softly, stepping forward. “This is evidence. Vince can’t run, not from this.”

“Y/n’s right” Chris said firmly, his voice steadier now. “We get this in the right hands, and Vince goes down. No more running, no more looking over our shoulders.”

Nate dragged a hand through his hair, still breathing heavily. “And what if he finds out we have this?”

“We don’t let him” Chris snapped. “We keep it safe until we’re ready.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as we all processed what had just happened. The footage had given us the answer we’d been searching for, but it came at a price. Seeing Danny like that, helpless, scared, was something none of us could ever unsee.

I took a shaky breath, my hands trembling as I gripped the edge of the desk. “We’ll figure it out” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “We have to.”

Chris walked over, resting a hand on my shoulder. It was a small gesture, but the weight of it grounded me. I glanced up at him, meeting his gaze, hard and determined, but beneath that, I could see how deeply this had shaken him.

“We’re going to end this” Chris said quietly, his words meant for all of us. “For Danny. For us. Vince doesn’t win.”

Nate wiped a hand across his face, turning back toward the desk. “Then we start tomorrow” he said, his voice rough. “First thing.”

I nodded, though I knew none of us would be sleeping that night.

The four of us stayed there in the cramped little office, sitting in silence as the weight of what we’d seen hung in the air like a storm cloud. Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten ever so slightly, the first hints of dawn creeping over Cape Cod.

We had proof.

Now, we just had to survive long enough to use it.

a/n: ITS GOING DOWWWWWN

taglist: @mattybearnard @sturn-33 @ncm9696 @yourfavsturniologirl @crazy4jewel @sodakid1234 @stupendoustreewinner @lovealwayssturniolos @matthewsturniolosss @m4ttsmunch @loveexxx @ilusa @starkeyszn @wonnieeluvvr @dylnblue @valxrieq @maggot3647 @cigarettecemetary @ribread03 @chrisstvrns @bandasaruswrx @noplaceissafeanymore @amexiass @witchofthehour @mattssgf @jetaimevous @v33angel @ivysturnss @urmom69lol @ashlishes @watercolorskyy @sturnioloshottiekay @amelia-sturniolo3 @imjusthereforthesturniolosmut @pvssychicken @alizestvrnss @lvrsturniolo @bernardsbunny @spaghetti835928383 @marrykisskilled @sturnsxplr-25 @bxtchboy69 @vickytaa @anikaistg @matts-girlfriend @lvrsturniolo @sophand4n4 @ilovepurpledragons @mattsside @riasturns @sturnslutz @chrisstxrnsaxe @2prcntmilkluvr @trevorsgodmother @anonymouslyachrisgirl

[anime-academia]

It is somehow already November??! and I promised myself that in Nov I'd get back into language learning consistently again (since work - tutoring for uni - is done and I'll have time). I also promised myself that I would start learning Thai (because Jeff Satur and the Thai alphabet are both beautiful and amazing).

I won't have time for a lot of intense learning, since I am still working on my dissertation and it is my priority, so I've decided to kinda combine two langblr challenges I've seen! First is @/langvillage 's one sentence club and second, so I don't have to expend energy thinking of what to write, is @/spraakhexe2 's 30 day language challenge.

I have changed some of spraakhexe2's prompts because I don't think I have the ability or time for the more complicated ones lol, and my goal really is to just write one sentence every day.

The prompts are under the cut.

This is mostly just to keep myself accountable lmao, but anyone is free to do it as well lol (if you do, and esp if you're handwriting please tag me or smth, I'd love to see it!)

[1] Introduce yourself

[2] What is your favourite animal?

[3] What is your favourite song?

[4] What is your favourite movie?

[5] What is your favourite season (and why)?

[6] What is your favourite food?

[7] Describe your room

[8] What is your job/What are you studying/What language are you learning?

[9] Describe your morning or night routine

[10] What is your favourite colour (and what objects are that colour)?

[11] What is something that annoys you?

[12] What is your dream house like/what is something that has to be in your dream house?

[13] Write a grocery list

[14] Do you dream often? (Describe a dream)

[15] Describe a vacation (either one you have been on or would like to go on)

[16] What country/countries would you like to visit?

[17] What would you do with $1 000 000?

[18] What joke/idiom/phrase from your TL do you like?

[19] Is there a poem in your TL that you like/know?

[20] What superpower would you like to have (and why)?

[21] What is your favourite time of day?

[22] What is something you (have to) do daily?

[23] What is something you are scared of?

[24] What do you do to relax?

[25] Describe something you love

[26] Something you would tell your past self, or would like your future self to remember

[27] Favourite folktale/urban legend

[28] Favourite app

[29] What is your favourite book?

[30] Write a short paragraph - it can be a full intro in your TL, a little story, anything you want!

[tearyey]

Here is my list of demands for Nora that BETTER HAPPENED in tsc3

1. Seeing Jean go for a long ride on a open road by himself on his new motorcycle.

2. Jeremy reaction of Jean getting on or of his motorcycle(specifically in a evening light)

3. Jean taking Jeremy on a ride down the same road he goes down when one of Jermey bitch ass brothers does something again so he won’t smoke.

4. Jean sharing memories of Elodie with Jeremy

5. Jean starting to trust water again(like I was looking up on TikTok the south of France and do you now how much beautiful water and ocean that is there like wtf)

6. Jean telling Kevin he did not deserve what happened to him

7. Jeremy cutting all ties to his bitch ass family and views Cat,Laila and Jean as his family for now on.

8. Jeremy final breaking his goodie too shoes act and fight(like shoving or punching someone REALLY hard) for Jean

9. The foxes(or Trojans but I won’t really care if it’s them)reaction to seeing Jeremy and Jean

10. Jeremy and Jean going on a date(it can be on purpose or not I don’t care and if so then they not realizing til Cat yells and say” THATS TOTAL A DATE DUMB ASS” to Jeremy

11. Jean punching fraser after a game or something.

12. Jeremy confronting Kevin about his choice on the word “history”

13. The foxes being being present at the final championship game for the Trojans and seeing them win up close.

14. Kevin and Jean having serious conversation about their feelings and their not friendship.

15. Kevin hugging Jean in the locker room after the foxes and Trojans match

16. Neil being awkward when he greets Jean and Jeremy before or after the match because Andrew obviously told him they want to bone each other after his visit.

17. Jeremy singing with a pro team in the epilogue

18. Jean and Jeremy first kiss being after a motorcycle ride, and being the most tender, sweet heart felt thing ever.(I know why Andrew and Neil’s first kiss was not tender but Jean and Jeremy can AND WILL BE!)

19. Jean eating and/or cooking one of his old favorite French meals.

20. Jean,Jeremy, Cat and Laila going to Jean childhood home in France and Jean showing them where he and Elodie use to play( also I am not really convinced that Elodie is died because why would Stuart say it that way)

21. If Jeremy and Jean have a…you know scene then it be like literally right before the Foxes and Trojans match so Andrew can clock them of it. Haha

22. Jeremy jumping into Jean arms after winning the championship.(maybe they kiss here but i don’t think that would sit right with Jean so it would just have to be a head cannon.

23. Jean smiling.

24. Oh I almost forgot. JEAN GETS THAT FREAK ASS TATTOO OF HIS FACE. AND IT BE WITH A LASER. And i want Cat Laila and Jeremy be there all for Emotional support, and I want to see Neil and especially Kevin reaction. And it needs to be done after Jean set in stone with in his heart, mind and soul that he did NOT deserved what happened to him, none of it.

I have about 30 more but this is already too much.

[vettelsvee]

VEE'S F1 PROMPTS LIST (VOL. I) ⋆ I've been thinking of this for quite a while and I've finally decided to post this! So, if you want to, feel free to requests as many times as you want <3 ─ Drivers I write for: anyone (current F1 grid or retired). ─ Send me your requests via Tumblr Inbox (+ some idea in case you want me to write something specific). Just choose a number from the following ones and tell me the driver you want me to write about! ─ The ones in bold are already taken and will be posted as soon as possible

© VETTELSVEE (2025). please, do not steal, copy or translate my works. thanks for reading!

1. "Your face is so adorable. I bet the rest of your body is" ✅ "You want that book? I'll buy you the whole series" ↳ Oscar Piastri 3. "Darling, are you feeling well?" 4. "Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you" ↳ Lando Norris 5. "I might have slept with your robe when you were gone" 6. "If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you" ↳ Max Verstappen 7. "Here, let's share the blanket" 8. "You have to be quiet if you want to cum" ↳ Lando Norris 9. "But I want to hear you sing" 10. "I'm gonna fuck you until you beg me to stop" ↳ Max Verstappen 11. "Are you gonna be good for me?" ↳ Lewis Hamilton 12. "Don't get up - I'll do it" 13. "Star-gazing was a good idea" 14. "You look beautiful/handsome in the moonlight" 15. "I think I love you"

16. "I'll always be here for you" 17. "How about something warm? It'll help you sleep" (Oscar Piastri) 18. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway" 19. Don't be silly. I want to stay up with you" 20. "It's not morning yet" 21. "Have a nice nap?" 22. "You have sleepy stuff in your eyes" 23. "Time to wake up sweetie. It's a new day" 24. "You stayed up past your bedtime again, didn't you?" 25. "Why don't we take a nap together? We can be nap buddies" ↳ Carlos Sainz 26. "You're exhausted, honey" 27. "Are you blushing?" (Oscar Piastri) ✅ "Hey, hey, hey, don't let them say that. You're beautiful" ↳ Lewis Hamilton 29. "Yeah, you're cold. I'm giving you my jacket" 30. "It looks better on you anyway" 31. "You look pretty today" 32. "Can we get married already?" ↳ Lando Norris 33. "Oh, uh, hey. I just wanted to remind you that I love you" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 34. "We should compare hands, you know. Science" "What?" "What? It's not like we haven't done anything worse" ↳ Carlos Sainz 35. "You're cute" "What" "I said you look like a fruit" "That doesn't even make sneak" 36. "Yeah, okay, so what if I dreamt about kissing you? Don't we all do that to our best friends ...No? What do you mean no?" ↳ Lando Norris 37. "This sounds like you're flirting with me" "...I have been trying to do that for three years now" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 38. "You're the most important person of my life" 39. "Welcome to fatherhood" 40. "God, I'm never leaving your side again" 41. "I got the mirror so you can see yourself while I'm fucking you" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 42. "Don't touch me. Just watch" ↳ Sebatian Vettel 43. "What are you wearing?" 44. "Just watch them having sex with me. Maybe it'll give us some ideas" 45. "Your hair is really soft after you wash it" 46. "Ssh. Stop fussing. I'm just braiding your hair" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 47. "You smell really nice" 48. "You're my new pillow" 49. "We can talk over dinner" 50. "Don't be stubborn. Try it!"

[morgana-larkin]

Alright here's the next part of Just Tired! I'm almost done the suspended smut fic but I've been incredibly busy with all the roles and auditions. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

Summary: A dream causes you to end up having doubt about Melissa.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38

Just Tired - Part 39

Warnings: Manipulative Relationship (Mentioned), Fear of abandonment and Intimacy, Smut

Words: 3.4K

“This is the new bed frame that I put together yesterday.” Melissa tells Barb on Monday morning. You clear your throat and Melissa looks at you and quirks her eyebrow. “What? You want credit for reading the instructions? I did most of the work hon.” Melissa says as she puts her phone down.

“That’s because you wouldn’t let me help unless you asked for it. You told me to sit in the chair, read the instructions and if I tried to help without being asked then no s-” Melissa cuts you off by putting a hand over your mouth before you finish the sentence as everyone in the break room is listening.

“I think it’s for everyone’s best interest that you don’t finish that sentence.” Melissa tells you and you sigh. You then lick her hand and she pulls her hand back with a gasp. “Did you just lick my hand?” She asks as she wipes her hand on her pants.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like that’s the first time.” You say and she raises her eyebrows and widens her eyes as she looks at you. “What?” 

“Just tell everyone we’re having sex then.” She tells you and you quirk an eyebrow.

“Like they didn’t already know.” You say. “Besides, I think those pain meds are still affecting my filter.” You add and Melissa rolls her eyes. 

“Keep talking and I will break your other leg.” Melissa says and you scoff.

“You’d never.” You tell her and she raises her eyebrows as she looks at you. 

“Wanna test that?” She asks and you sigh.

“Not really.” You say and then continue eating the breakfast that Melissa made you.

“So Y/n, isn’t your arm cast coming off on Saturday?” Janine asks and you nod. “Are you excited? What are you going to do with 2 working arms again?” She asks and you look at Melissa with a smirk.

“Don’t you dare.” She tells you sternly.

“I’m very excited, and I honestly don’t know. I’m starting to get used to having only one working arm and leg.” You tell everyone.

“Well I’m sure Melissa won’t mind the break as you’ll be able to do more things by yourself.” Jacob says and you look at Melissa.

“I think the only thing you’ll be able to do more of by yourself is walk further as you’ll be able to use 2 crutches.” Melissa says and you hum.

At the end of the day, you say goodbye to your last student and you look over to see Melissa locking her door and walking over to you. Before you say anything she grabs the arms of your wheelchair and wheels you back into the classroom with a smile. She drops her things next to yours and then sits on your right leg and puts her arms around your neck.

“What are you doing?” You ask her and she smiles and then kisses you.

“Something I’ve been wanting to do all day.” She tells you and you smile. “So I was thinking that we go home, I make some food that will knock your casts off and then makeout on the couch. What do you think?” She asks you and you tilt your head.

“Knock my casts off? Don’t you mean knock my socks off?” You ask her.

“That is the saying but I thought knock your casts off would be funnier.” She says and you chuckle. “So what do you think of that plan?” She asks.

“Love it.” You tell her and she gives you a quick kiss before she gets off. She picks both hers and your things off the floor and puts them on the wheelchair handles before wheeling you to the door.

20 minutes later you sit down on the couch and let out a breath as walking with one working leg is still tiring and the kids were surprisingly energetic today. Melissa comes up behind you and wraps her arms around your neck and kisses the top of your head. 

“How about you take a small nap while I make dinner? I can tell the kiddos tired you out more than usual today.” She says and you lean into her touch.

“They were energetic instead of zombies today.” You tell her and she hums. 

“Well take a small nap, you’ll need the energy to make out later.” She says in your ear before she places a kiss on your neck and goes to the kitchen. 

You do end up falling asleep while Melissa starts cooking. Melissa ended up coming out to check on you while the food was cooking and placed a blanket on you. 25 minutes later she comes to the couch with 2 plates of food and places them down on the coffee table. She then goes on her knees and moves some hair out of your face and you flutter your eyes open.

“Hey hon, dinner is ready.” She says with a smile. 

“Did I really fall asleep?” You ask and she nods. 

“Ya, for about 40 minutes.” She tells you and you sit up. 

“Where did the blanket come from?” You ask as she sits down next to you. 

“I didn’t want you to get cold.” She simply says.

“It may be December but you keep the house quite warm.” You tell her as she gives you one of the plates and a fork. “You know I have noticed that you keep making meals that don’t require any cutting, thank you for that.” You say.

“Well I don’t want you to struggle.” She tells you as you both start eating.

An hour later Melissa has her head on your lap as you’re stroking her hair. Melissa has her glasses on and is on her phone as you’re watching the comedian that you put on. 

“Why don’t you ever put your hair in a braid or do a half up half down style?” You suddenly ask and she looks at you through her glasses.

“I never think to do that as I usually just keep my hair down.” She says. 

“I think you’d look good with a braid or another hair style.” You tell her and she hums and then sits up.

“Well if you want, then I’ll let you do any hairstyle on me.” 

“Really?” You ask her and she nods as she puts her glasses on the top of her head.

“I mean you are my girlfriend so you get access to things like that.” She simply says and you let out a chuckle.

“Well you know what I want to do to your hair right now?” You ask her with a grin.

“And what would that be?” 

“I want to mess it up while kissing you.” You tell her and she smiles. 

“Well that can be arranged.” She says and then straddles your lap. 

Making out with her seemed to change to her eating you out on the couch 10 minutes later. You’re fully naked while she’s fully clothed and she kept slapping your hand away when you tried to take anything of hers off, stating that it’s not about her pleasure tonight. She’s on her knees, on the floor, with her arms wrapped around your thighs as you have your right hand in her hair. She’s had to pin you down a few times as you started moving your hips multiple times.

“Do I have to keep you pinned down?” Melissa suddenly asks and you look at her. Her lips and jaw are full of your juices and some strands of hair stuck to her face. 

“Not my fault you’re so good with your tongue.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Might have to pin you down then as I don’t want to stop eating you out, you taste so fucking good.” She says before she places a hand on your stomach and continues eating you out. 

She brings her other hand to your clit and starts doing circles while her tongue is inside of you. She pins you down with more strength when she starts circling your clit as you try to move more. You wrap your fingers around her hair and you start pulling it up as you want to kiss her and Melissa seems confused at first but then gets the hint. She replaces her tongue with her fingers as she easily slips two fingers inside of you and gets on top of you as she continues pounding her fingers into you. She then looks at you with a smile as she starts feeling you squeeze her fingers.

“Are you gonna come all over my fingers like a good girl?” She asks and you nod before you bring her head to you and kiss her. Melissa kisses you for a few seconds before she trails down and starts kissing your neck as you’re right at your peak. She sucks on your neck right as you scream out as you come. Melissa kisses all over your neck and face as you calm down and you start giggling.

“You know I could have swore that the plan was to make out.” You tell her and she shrugs.

“Are you complaining?” She asks as she quirks an eyebrow and you shake your head.

“The only complaint I have is that I couldn’t touch you without clothes on.” You say and she sits beside you.

“Well if you want then we can go on the bed, I take all my clothes off and we can cuddle and you can touch me all you want.” She offers.

“Well I would definitely stop complaining.” You say and she smiles before she gets up and hands you one of your crutches. Melissa goes to the bed and takes her clothes off while you make your way to the bed and lie down.

That night you bolt awake due to a nightmare. You look over to your right and see Melissa peacefully sleeping. In your nightmare you completely healed and were able to do everything yourself again and so Melissa decided to leave you. You can’t say you never thought of what would happen once you were fully healed but this dream really has you thinking about it now. You know Melissa is enjoying taking care of you, she said so herself, so what happens when you get your leg cast off in a month? 

You’re aware that the both of you are in a relationship now but you can’t help but remember how it was before. You remember the struggle you felt as Melissa was trying to deal with getting out of a manipulative relationship, what her life is now and figuring out what she wants. You know most of it isn’t her fault. She just got out of a bad relationship and it’s normal to struggle about where your life is going now. And you know that you offered to keep helping her even though you should have backed off when you developed strong feelings for her. The one thing you know you can blame her for is that she kept pushing you away and denying her feelings for you. That’s the thing that still bothers you and she warned you that it could happen again. You then think that maybe you’re in too deep and start backing up just in case she does leave you when you’re healed. You’re aware you still have a fear of intimacy and abandonment but neither of those have to do with this thought right? You then decide that you should test the waters, see how she’ll react if you start pushing away. You move a bit more to the side of the bed, away from her reach before you get comfortable and fall back asleep.

In the morning on the way to work Melissa keeps glancing at you. She noticed that you seem different today somehow but can’t quite figure out how. She wants to ask if there’s something wrong but doesn’t know if she’s misreading the signs. This morning you were already getting ready when she woke up so didn’t get her morning snuggles, you didn’t give her any kisses at all yet which you both usually give at least 2-3 kisses in the morning, you don’t seem interested in talking with her at all. She has no idea if you’re just tired or something else is going on. She wheels you to the break room and you ask her to wheel you to Jacob and Janine’s table this morning, while she’s confused about this request, she also thinks that you want to catch up with them as you’ve been sitting with her and Barb for a week.

By the end of the day, Melissa knows it’s not just because you’re tired, you were actively avoiding her and she doesn’t know why. Everytime she wheeled you somewhere, you wouldn’t talk to her, you didn’t text her and didn’t look up from your classroom one time just to see Melissa down the hall. At lunch you chose to sit with Janine and Jacob again and didn’t notice Melissa getting tense. When you got home you went straight to the couch as usual but before you could do anything, Melissa stood over you and trapped you on the couch.

“What’s going on?” She asks sternly and you look at her.

“What are you talking about?” You ask her and she raises her eyebrows.

“You’ve been avoiding me all day.” She tells you. “You barely acknowledged that I existed today and I want to know why.” 

“It’s nothing that concerns you.” You say and she straightens her posture.

“Doesn’t concern me? Y/n, you’re fucking avoiding me, I think this does concern me.” She tells you and starts pacing. “Like can you just tell me what’s going on? Is there something on your mind or did I do something?” She asks and you stay quiet. 

You really don’t want to tell her the reason as you think if you told her that you’re scared of her leaving you, then she’ll just leave you. You’re 25 and in your first relationship. You never had one before as you’re always scared of people leaving you but you took a chance with Melissa. You don’t want to screw it up with her but you wonder if it was a mistake getting into a relationship with someone who could just decide that she’s not ready yet and leave you while you have these fears. You look at Melissa and see she’s waiting for an answer from you and you let out a breath. You want to tell her what’s going on but you’re scared of how she’ll react. Melissa can see an internal struggle in you so she comes to sit next to you and looks at you.

“I can’t help unless you tell me what’s going on.” She tells you calmly.

“Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t want your help?” You ask her and she flinches at your tone and looks at you confused.

“Y/n, I want to help you with whatever you’re going through.” She says, trying to remain as calm as possible.

“You know, maybe I should just go back to my own house.” You tell her.

“Y/n, you’re here so I can help you while you heal. Why would you want to go back to your place?”

“Because I won’t be questioned there. Hallie knows when not to push it, you don’t.” 

“You’re my girlfriend, of course I’m going to push it because I care about you.” Melissa says, voice rising a bit.

“Ya I know I’m your girlfriend but for how much longer?” You blurt out and realise that you let it slip by accident.

“What do you mean by that?” Melissa asks.

“Nothing.” You tell her and look away from her.

“Y/n, can you please look at me.” Melissa says.

“I’d rather not.”

“Y/n, are you scared that I’m going to leave you?” She then asks and you look at her before nodding.

“But it doesn’t matter, I told you that it doesn’t concern you.” You say, already knowing that she’s not going to drop this so you speak again. “Maybe you should just bring me home so you don’t have to deal with my emotions. I think I got the hang of taking care of myself.”

“I’m not bringing you anywhere, you’re staying here.” She immediately says and you sigh. “And this very much concerns me. Why are you scared that I’ll leave you?” She asks and you take a deep breath.

“Before the accident you kept pushing me away and then all of a sudden you stopped. But you only stopped to take care of me. Once I’m healed then you’ll just push me away again. So might as well just accept that now and start to move on.” You tell her and Melissa is confused about what brought this on but then remembers your fears.

“I’m not going to push you away.” She starts but then you interrupt her.

“Yes you will, you said so yourself when you asked me to be your girlfriend.” You tell her. “I shouldn’t have said yes as if you push me away then I can’t handle that, I’ll just run away so I won’t get hurt again.” 

“Ok, Y/n, listen to me.” She says and you look at her. “You’re right that I kept pushing you away and I did say that I might do it again. But I was only doing it out of fear as well. I’m scared of fucking up, scared of repeating the same mistakes, scared that I’m too broken for you. I kept pushing you away cause I keep thinking that I’m not good enough for you.” She tells you and you go to speak but she puts a finger over your mouth to silence you. “When you got in the accident, I was afraid I could lose you forever and that made me realise that if I keep pushing you away, if I keep denying what I feel for you and what I really want, then I could lose you forever. My trauma and fear might spike at some point, causing me to get scared but I’m not going to leave you. I have you now and I have no intention of letting you go or letting you slip through my fingers. I know that if I ever let you go then there’s a very small chance that you’ll take me back, which is why I’m not going to let you go and stay with you for as long as you’ll have me.” She finishes and you don’t know what to say.

“I think you keep forgetting that this is my first relationship and I got with someone who I knew might not be 100% emotionally ready, and that scares me.” You tell her and you let her take one of your hands. “And you’re right, I more than likely won’t take you back if you let me go as I don’t want to get hurt again.” You say. “I had a dream last night, where I finished healing and you let me go. I know it’s not real but it made me think that it could happen. You might think you’re too broken but I’m not close to any of my friends and this is my first relationship because I’m scared of getting hurt. I’m terrified of being completely myself, even with you, as I don’t want to get hurt.” 

“What do you mean you’re not being completely yourself?” She asks.

“I’ve let it slip through more times than I would like but I’m really fucking clingy.” You say. “Everytime I catch myself being clingy, I pull back.” You explain.

“I know you can be clingy and I don’t mind, I actually like it. I got out of a relationship where it made me feel like shit and like I’m not good enough. Having you being clingy makes me feel happy as you want me near you all the time and that you’re not ashamed. Why do you think I wanted to announce our relationship like 2 hours later? You make me feel wanted and loved.” She tells you. “Please be yourself, completely. And please stop pushing me away.” She says and a few tears run down your face. Melissa moves closer to you and you lean into her and cry into her chest. “It’s ok, let it all out.” She tells you as she strokes your head and places a kiss at the top of your head. “I’ve got you, I’ve always got you.” She says softly.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms 

@idonothingalldays-blog 

@sexysapphicshopowner 

@dvrkhcld 

@lilfartbox1

@ricejucie 

@unicorniusfallapatorius

@a-queen-and-her-throne

@sleep-deprived-athlete

@og-kxsh-420

@sasheemo

@midnight-lestrange

@thnxdg

@morgananyx

@cblanchetts

@that-october-night

@schemmentigfs

@italianaidiota

@olderwomenenthusiast

@ackleybloodybridge

@creaturesaphique

@cupldscntrl

@calliopetworld

@alwaysgoodnight

@yoyo-w

@fragile-angell

@upsidedowndanvers

@lissyganda

@sapphictacobomb

@dopenightmaretyphoon

@lisaannwalterlover

@rep-aj-lover

@m6niacs

Let me know if you want to be added!

[dxncingwithastrxnger]

a heart that's mine completely (Obey Me!)

A/N: Day 4 done! Later than yesterday but I'm just glad I got it done cause I'm tired, lmao. Funnily enough, my brain kept insisting on making this one longer and if I wasn't on the verge of falling asleep, I probably would've made this longer. But alas, sleep is calling me, so I must hurry up and get this posted. Happy reading!

Pairing(s): Satan x MC

Prompt(s): 4. Satan

Summary: MC invites Satan to bake cookies with them and Satan's love for them grows even more.

Tag(s): Fluffy, suggestive/implied nsfw at the end!

Word Count: 656

Song Inspiration: Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson

Not beta'd, all mistakes are my own.

~*~

[Series Masterlist]

[Read on AO3]

[Author Masterlist]

~*~

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]

~*~

“You want…me to bake Christmas cookies with you?” Blonde hair shifts as the Avatar of Wrath tilts his head to the side in confusion, just like a puppy, ironically. “Why not ask Beel, or Barbatos, or Luke, or Simeon?” His words aren’t meant to be harsh or negative in any way. He’s genuinely wondering why he was chosen for this particular activity. Out of everyone, he’s not some baker or chef or foodie the way those other four are. So…why?

The human standing in front of him just shakes their head with a chuckle. “Because it’s one of my favorite Christmas activities and I wanted to share that with you. I figured it could be a chance for you to try something new and a chance for me to share a piece of myself with you.”

His eyes widen slightly before he smiles, his cheeks turning pink. “Heh. Well, when you put it that way, there’s no way that I can say no, now is there?”

MC beams at him in reply, embracing him tightly. “Good! I already have all the stuff we need gathered, so we just have to start putting it all together now!” And with that, the demon is dragged into the nearby kitchen, where many ingredients are already out and waiting to be put to use, just like they said.

Satan looked at everything before turning to the other. “Are these all from the human world?” He questions curiously.

They nod at him. “Yep! I wanted to make some traditional holiday cookies from the human world, if that was okay?”

The blonde demon reaches over and brushes the back of his hand down the side of their face. “I’d love to. Please, teach me.” He gestures to everything in front of them. “I’ll hang on to every word you speak.”

It was MC’s turn to blush now, shaking their head at him. “Well, we better get to it, then.”

A few hours later, they had multiple dozens of both sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, either cooling on racks or being actively decorated by both of them. Or, mostly just one of them, considering Satan couldn’t keep his eyes off of the human dancing around the kitchen and using a bag of icing as a microphone as they sang along to the human world Christmas carols filling the room.

They seemed so…free. And he found it absolutely mesmerizing. Do they really not know how enchanting they are? Who can focus on anything else when they’re here looking like that?

Satan thought he had been doing pretty well at attempting to focus on the task at hand, actually getting quite a few cookies done himself, but it seems his thoughts have caught up to him, as now he’s been caught red-handed, MC’s eyes locking with his as they turn back to their decorating station, a pretty blush lighting up their cheeks, which in turn causes the same reaction on his face. Well, too late to hide it now, he supposes.

Before he even realizes his feet are moving, he’s rounding the corner of the island and walking up to them, cradling their face and pulling them into a loving kiss. MC returns his kiss immediately, wrapping their arms around his neck. Satan sighs happily into the kiss, wrapping both arms around them and pulling them close. It’s MC who chooses to deepen the kiss and he’s all happy to oblige, feeling a sudden need to have them as close to him as possible. To feel all of them against him. And because of this rising need within him, all it takes is a playful nip to his bottom lip and he’s lost. He gathers his human up in his arms, their legs wrapping around him automatically, and quickly carries them out of the kitchen, heading straight for his room, the cookies long forgotten. No one will see either of them until the next day.

~*~

A/N: Satan, my love, please come romance me <3 Thank you all for reading!! See you for tomorrow's story!!

~*~

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[fiveisnumber1]

Timeless - Five Hargreeves X Reader

Main story parts:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38

A/N: Sorry, this took a bit. I was actually pretty close to finishing it before season 4 came out. Then I watched season 4 and fell into a rut for a bit because it was so disappointing and upsetting. Anyway, I finally got my energy to write back and have finally managed to finish it! Also, the title of this chapter is inspired by the song I'm Just Sayin' by Weathers so for any who are interested I'd recommend to go take a listen to it! Alright, thanks! Enjoy!

_____________________________________________________________

Pt 39 - Hate And Love Are Starting To Taste The Same

From where he stood, Five watched as you got into what he could only assume was Dean's car and drove off. Staying in place for a moment, he looked at the number you had written on his arm. Using a finger he traced over the little heart you had drawn. It was a nice detail. Even in one of your worst moments you still took the time to show him you loved him. Although, the more he looked at it, the more he wanted to rush to a phone and call you already. It wasn't an emergency in the normal sense, but he still needed you. He knew he couldn't call though. You needed your space, and he had to trust you'd come back when you were ready to. Seeing as you probably weren't coming back for a bit, Five pulled down his sleeve, turned away from the doors, and walked back to his siblings at the bar. The silence was awkward as he approached, but it didn't last as Diego snapped,

"You just let her go!?"

"I had no choice." Five responded flatly "Even if I held on she could've just used her powers to leave."

"And what if she gets hurt?" Diego interrogated

"I don't know..." Five answered honestly "I just have to hope that she doesn't."

"But you're her boyfriend!" Diego retorted "It's your job to keep an eye on her."

Hearing that comment, Five side-eyed Diego. It's not like he wanted to let you go. Like he had said, he had no choice in the matter. And Diego sure was one to talk. For so long he touted himself as this amazing older brother, this superior protector who was far better at keeping you safe than Five was, and yet these past few days he had done anything but protect you. You grieved your dead parents and he didn't pay attention. You got torn by a kugelwave and instead of helping you, he turned his attention to Stan. You left the hotel and he had no clue where you went. You cried over the fact that your friends got blitzed and instead of comforting you, he comforted Stan who was scared of your residual power. And yet even with all the evidence, Diego still had the audacity to blame Five for your lack of physical and mental safety. Even when he was doing everything he could to ensure the opposite. Maybe instead of blaming him, Diego should take a long look in the mirror given that you had still expressed your love for Five, but had just fully rejected Diego.

"First of all, that was also supposed to be your job, but as we can all see, you failed at that." Five reminded "Secondly, I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I forced her to do something she didn't want to do. She respects and trusts my decisions even when she disagrees. It's only right that I do the same for her."

Diego opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but what could he say? Five was right. In some way or another, he had failed you and now you wanted nothing to do with him. Diego closed his mouth knowing he had nothing to reply and instead looked at the knives you had tossed on the ground. Letting out a sigh, Diego slowly bent down to pick them up. One by one he placed them in empty slots in his knife holster and when he ran out of space he carefully pocketed the rest. Standing back up, Diego gave Five a mournful look before returning to his spot by the bar. Taking a seat at one of the stools, he took a long drink from his glass. Stan looked at Diego, not out of any concern, but because of all the shiny knives that were now on his person. Looking at Diego excitedly, Stan asked,

"Can I have them?"

"No." Diego snapped

Diego could see the startled expression on Stan's face. He didn't mean to do that, Stan had already been through enough today. Letting out another sigh, Diego placed his glass down and looked directly at Stan.

"I'm sorry..." Diego apologized before sadly adding "But no, you can't have them."

"But she said-" Stan began to protest

"They're not yours, Stan. They belong to (Y/N)." Lila sternly enforced "You can't have them."

Letting out an annoyed huff, Stan walked away from the pair and sat down at a nearby table, slumping low in his seat to show his disdain. However, neither Diego nor Lila paid it much attention. Sitting in the seat next to Diego, Lila put a supportive hand on his shoulder. Putting his glass down, Diego's eyes met Lila's and in them she could see so much sorrow. His fire was dimmed and it broke her heart to think that she had maybe been the cause of this. She loved him. Diego didn't know Stan wasn't actually his. It was just supposed to be an experiment to see if he'd be a good dad. She was never trying to push you two apart. She didn't even think it was possible. She couldn't stand to see Diego so broken. If she could, she was going to try and fix this, for the both of you.

"She'll come back around." Lila comforted

"I hope so..." Diego lamented

"She will." Lila reassured, "I promise."

As Lila attempted to comfort Diego, Five had walked back behind the bar again. Pouring himself a new glass of whiskey, since Klaus had stolen his first, Five took a drink from the glass before looking at his siblings again. There was an awkward silence as everyone looked around, but it was soon broken as Luther questioned,

"So that thing? It was?"

"A Kugelwave." Five responded despondently "And It's getting worse."

"And all those kids they're...?" Viktor trailed off, the concern evident in his tone

Five grimaced. Those 'kids' weren't just anyone, they were your friends, and if things had worked out they could've been his friends. Hell, with the way they treated him maybe they already were, and now he was down six friends too.

"They're gone." Five answered "And we can only hope that their souls are in a better place."

Hearing Five's response, the wheels in Luther's head finally started to turn. With all the chaos that had ensued from the wave, his thoughts had whipped back and forth trying to figure out what to think and do. But with things settled down, he finally realized that Lucas was gone. But not just gone, he was gone gone.

"Oh no, that thing took my son!" Luther exclaimed, "What am I going to tell Sloane!"

"What's there to tell?" Allison snidely remarked, "You're not his real parents."

Luther glared at Allison, disgusted by her comment. Lucas may not have been his son for long, but he was still his son. Sure, it was a surprise to him, and sure it took your convincing to agree, but Lucas was a good kid. And in those few minutes they were together Luther felt like he had done a better job as a father to Lucas than Reginald had ever done for Luther. He honestly wished he had gotten to know his son better and introduced him to his mother. Who knows, maybe the three of them could've been happy together. And anyway, just because Lucas was late-term adopted didn't make him his son any less. Diego had a surprise son and Allison wasn't doubting his legitimacy. And on top of it, Luther and the rest of his siblings were all adopted too so what kind of authority did Allison think she had on what counted as legitimate parenthood?

"Yes, we are!" Luther replied defensively "Don't talk about my son like that."

Seeing the budding argument between Luther and Allison, and wanting to avoid the topic of parenthood for Diego's sake, Lila interjected,

"Five, how long do we have?"

Luther and Allison side-eyed each other but quickly turned their attention to Five. Finding out how much time they had left was only marginally more important than the argument they were heading toward. Although the resentment was still evident.

"At this rate of escalation, if you factor in-" Five began to explain

"How long, Five?" Allison pressed, cutting him off

So much for Five letting them down gently. After all that happened, he wanted to at least be neutral about their possibly imminent demise, but if bluntness was what they wanted, bluntness was what they would get.

"Four, maybe five days before the rest of existence is blitzed." Five answered

His bluntness had the exact reaction that he was expecting as all of his siblings and Lila let out heavy sighs and stared off into space. He watched as Allison took a heavy drink from her glass before walking behind a nearby pillar to be out of sight. However, even though she was out of sight it did not hide the sound of her panicked breaths. Well, Five couldn't say he didn't try to be sensitive about it. However, there was still a feeling of defeat after all that had occurred. Downing his glass, he then crossed his arms on the bar before leaning down and resting his head on his arms. It's not like there was much else to do.

"We should've given them Harlan..." Luther mumbled

"Luther." Viktor chastised

"What about Harlan?" Diego questioned

The rest of the family looked over to Luther. What was going on with Harlan and why was it important to this conversation? Realizing that it was too late to take back his words, but also that he did not want to hide this information Luther explained,

"The Sparrows said if we turned him over, we could end the fighting, and then work together to save the world."

Hearing this information the rest of the group perked up. Why hadn't they heard about this before?

"But if we didn't-" Luther continued

"But we tried to make peace. Okay? And then the step-siblings from hell attacked, kidnapped you, and they tried to kill us." Viktor chimed in cutting Luther off "I mean, come on. We can't trust them. Working together would be like trying to defuse a bomb by pouring gas on it. It's only gonna make things burn down faster."

"But don't we need the big bad glowy thing in their basement?" Klaus chimed in

As Five heard those words, he blinked a few times in confusion. Was Klaus talking about what he thought he was talking about? All this time, did Klaus have highly important information that he hadn't felt necessary to bring up until now? Slowly, Five turned to look at his eccentric brother as he questioned curiously,

"Klaus, do you know where the Kugelblitz is?"

"Oh, yeah. I saw it. When I went to visit Dad." Klaus replied nonchalantly "It's in the old storage room where Mom used to keep all her luggage."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Diego interrogated

"I did!" Klaus exclaimed, "I told you!"

"You say stupid shit all the time!" Diego shouted back before quietly adding "...important stupid shit."

Five slammed the empty glass he had been fiddling with on the bar top and stood up straight as he looked at Klaus. His thoughts which only a moment ago were despondent and wondering how he would spend his last day, were now reinvigorated with some type of hope of fixing things. He couldn't bring the loved ones you lost back, but if he could get access to the Kugelblitz he could stop it from hurting you and maybe you could build a life together where you both learned how to be happy again.

"Of course. It appeared in the same place we did." Five spoke aloud

Five felt a little stupid for not realizing this sooner. Why didn't he think to check the house? It made sense that it would appear there, that's where the paradox formed. Exactly, where they first showed up. Plans ran through Five's head of the quickest ways to get access to the Kugelblitz and the most effective ways to eliminate it. The sooner they did this, the more chance there was for a future.

However, Viktor knew that the tide had turned against him now. Everyone was most likely going to use Harlan as a pawn to get to the Kugelblitz, but he didn't deserve that. He needed a way to keep Harlan out of this. Trying to put his thoughts together, Viktor walked away from the bar and closer to the front desk, but he wouldn't get the time to himself as Luther had already followed him questioning,

"Hey, why are you protecting this guy, huh? It's like Peabody all over again."

Turning around to face Luther, Viktor knew he needed to try and get him off his back. Viktor was metaphorically trapped in a corner and he needed to find a way out of this.

"Harlan is nothing like Leonard." Viktor defended

"Well, he's clearly got some kinda hold over you." Luther protested "Stop covering for him."

There was nothing Viktor wanted more than to leave the conversation, but that became infinitely more complicated as the rest of his family approached him and Luther. Five looked between the two of them. They had been acting odd ever since Luther had brought up the deal the Sparrows offered. Even though it was probably the best plan, it was obvious Viktor wasn't in favor of it because of what it meant for Harlan, but it seemed like there was more to it that Luther was trying to address. Trying to get a clearer picture of what was going on Five asked,

"Covering what? What's going on?"

"He didn't mean to hurt anyone." Viktor dismissed

"Really? You mean, when he did this?" Luther interrogated, gesturing to the cut on Viktor's face

The rest of the group turned their attention to the scar on Viktor's face and it was not pretty. How had they not noticed it earlier? Well, perhaps because of everything that happened, but still it was right there on his face. Granted, it was not as large or deep as the gashes you received from the Kugelwave, but it wasn't small either.

"Ow," Lila commented

"Wait, Harlan did that?" Five questioned

"That's it, I'm gonna end him." Diego threatened

Viktor looked around nervously at his siblings and Lila. He didn't want this to be happening. Every insinuation or accusation that Luther shot his way was just one more reason for the rest of them to be all in on giving Harlan to the Sparrows. Viktor couldn't let that happen, if he did he'd be failing Harlan. He'd be failing Sissy for putting her son in harm's way. He never meant to hurt anyone, it was accidental. He was innocent.

"Look, I know how it looks, but Harlan didn't ask for this. If we hadn't gone back to 1963, if I hadn't saved him-" Viktor tried to deescalate

"He killed Jayme and Alphonso, not you." Luther retorted angrily, "He's the reason we're in this mess, and he's our only way out of it."

Although at this point Five wanted a distinct decrease in interpersonal conflict, no matter what way he looked at it Luther was right. Every plan he had started with getting access to the Kugelblitz without Sparrow intervention or retaliation. And the only plans in his mind that seemed to be plausible for that were the ones where Harlan was traded for access. It was a trolley problem, but the choice was easy to make.

"Luther's right." Five agreed "If we're gonna have an iota of a chance of getting out of this alive, we need access to the Kugelblitz."

"There's only four of them left. We can just overpower them." Viktor retorted frustrated

Five looked at Viktor bewildered. That was a stupid idea. It might've been only four of them, but they were still an incredibly strong team. Did Viktor forget the last time they fought the Sparrows? They got their asses kicked unbelievably hard. Trying to fight the Sparrows again was like willingly signing their death certificates.

"What, and risk losing some of us in the process?" Five snapped

"What? Like your girlfriend?" Viktor retorted

Five's bewilderment morphed into rage. How dare Viktor insinuate that you were weak and would die if they all tried fighting the Sparrows. Not only was that not true since you, one, beat all of them on your own, but two, they LIKED you. Even if you fought on the Umbrellas' side, the Sparrows most likely wouldn't be willing to engage you in that fight given the prior reasons. And on top of it all now, Five was very willing to sacrifice Viktor if it meant you stayed alive. Any concerns that Five might've had about sacrificing Harlan went out the window the second Viktor made that comment.

"No. Actually, she would be fine." Five berated "Because unlike you and the rest of us, she was able to single-handedly beat the Sparrows."

Viktor grimaced at Five's comment. Viktor's words came out before he fully thought them through and now there was no way he was getting Five back on his side. He had to try though, right? Opening his mouth, he was about to speak, but didn't get the chance as Luther remarked,

"Yeah, but we don't have her help now because someone had to make her hate us all."

Anger filled Diego as he whipped to face Luther. He had never meant to upset you, and to have whatever mistake he made thrown in his face did not feel good. But since Luther wanted to keep score of what caused your anger, Diego would too. Stepping up to Luther, Diego shouted,

"You made the family comment!"

"Well, YOU pissed her off enough to think that way!" Luther shot back "How hard was it to say 'yes, I love you'?!"

"ENOUGH." Five yelled

This conversation was heading in a direction that he didn't want to go to. You were upset and that's why you left. There was no discussion necessary because everyone was to blame. If they didn't cause the Kugelblitz none of this would be an issue. But unfortunately, they did cause it so now they needed to focus on fixing the problem. With the two giant idiots now quiet, Five turned back to Viktor and let out a heavy breath before more calmly saying,

"Listen Viktor, Harlan is insignificant."

"You told me once that no one is insignificant." Viktor replied

Five went quiet as he heard his words thrown back in his face. He had said that because it was true. In the grand scheme of timelines and outcomes, anyone could affect what happened. But things were different now. Now, they were talking about one person versus the rest of the world. Yes, Harlan was significant, but he also wasn't. He was the key to getting in the door of the academy and saving the world but after that, in the grand scheme of things he didn't matter.

Viktor looked around at his siblings waiting for someone to say something, but no one spoke. In that moment, Viktor tried his best to appeal to the humanity in his siblings, by quietly stating,

"They'll kill him."

However, his appeal was met with blank stares from the rest of the group. However, it didn't mean they had thoughts on what he said. Speaking up, Lila stated the obvious fact of the matter, saying,

"Uh, so? We are talking about one person versus saving billions of lives here. I mean, is this really a debate for you people?"

"Hey, Little Britain? You don't get a vote." Viktor angrily retorted

"Lila lives in this universe too." Klaus finally chimed in "Besides, she's family now. Kinda, sorta."

"Thanks, kitten." Lila thanked

"I don't give a shit about the Sparrows," Diego interjected "But I'm not gonna let scary-ass Grandpa finish you off."

"Five days ago, he was just a little kid." Viktor pleaded "And what? Now I'm supposed to just decide whether he lives or dies?"

Although Five was still upset at Viktor's comments and was fully ready to hand Harlan over to the Sparrows, he still cared about his brother. And his brother cared about Harlan. It was difficult, but if they were going to save the world and all the people left in it they had to trade Harlan to the Sparrows. It was the only way.

"Viktor, we're down to ethical triage here, all right? We can't save everyone." Five explained gently "The kindest cut wins."

Stepping forward from the rest of the group Luther looked down at Viktor. This was difficult, but it was necessary. Viktor had always wanted to be a full member of the Umbrella Academy, do what they did, and now this was his opportunity whether he liked it or not.

"You always wanted to be on the team. This is what it is." Luther added, mimicking Five's gentle tone "Saving the world means making the hard calls."

"I hate this." Viktor replied quietly

"Yeah, I know." Luther sympathized before quietly stating "I'll go get him."

Luther started to walk past Viktor. He knew how difficult this would be for Viktor so instead of arguing about it, Luther internally volunteered himself to go. But before he could get too far, Viktor turned to face him.

"Wait, no." Viktor called before adding "Let me do it. He trusts me. I can convince him to come quietly."

Before anyone could protest his decision, Viktor had already walked passed Luther and gone up the stairs toward the room Harlan was in. With Viktor gone and the beginnings of a plan in place, the rest of the group slowly dissolved as most of them went their separate ways in the hotel until it was time to trade Harlan to the Sparrows. As the rest of his siblings and Lila walked off he stayed at the bar, pouring himself another drink and wondering where you went.

The thing was, you didn't really know where you were going. Driving away from the Hotel Obsidian, you made your way down the apocalyptic streets of the city. There were even more abandoned cars, missing posters drifted in the wind, and random items were scattered about the sidewalks. The world seemed to have no direction, but neither did you. Where could you go when the city you once called home was now a graveyard? Your brain was numb and while your eyes were on the road, you weren't particularly focused. It was as if you were driving for driving's sake. Trying to escape something, but you couldn't quite get away.

Physically you were alive. Your heart still beat, your synapses still fired, your organs were all in relative working order, but mentally, you had died. You didn't know where to go. Most places that came to mind were just another reminder of what you had lost. Your head spun as you thought of your friends. Their laughter. Their voices. You swore you could hear it, clear as day.

"Where are we going, (Y/N)?" You heard Addison ask

Hearing her voice, your eyes shot up to the rearview mirror only to be met with a set a deep brown eyes looking back at you. But with your powers, you could feel that no one was there. Quickly, you turned off into a side alley before parking the car. Closing your eyes, you placed your hands over them as you quietly said,

"I can't do this again..."

"Do what, (Y/N)?" Kenny's voice asked

You gripped tighter at your head as if that would make him go away, but you knew it wouldn't. And just like that, it was as if you were 13 again. Stuck in a new world, with no parents, no home, and all your friends gone. You were the one thing you never wanted to be.

Alone.

You had worked so hard to get the Umbrellas out of your head after you lost them. You pushed through night terrors and vivid visages of your beloved friends trying to return to some semblance of normalcy. You had pushed away the pain of their loss, half through brute force and half through the support of others like Grace, Eudora, and...Diego. But now, you had no strength to push through, nor anyone to lend you support. Yes, you had Five, but he had more important things to worry about, and so you were right back where you started. Sad, alone, and begging for the phantom visions of your lost friends to not hurt you any further.

Lifting your head from your hands, you looked into the rearview mirror again. Tears began to well up as you saw the faces of your friends in the reflection. You tried to find your composure, but could only manage to gain a few scraps of it.

"You're not real." You stated, your voice wavering

"Of course we're real," the vision of Lucas replied "We're your friends."

"I don't want this!" You shouted, the tears falling from your eyes

"But you want us enough to need it." Dean's visage replied calmly

Dean was right. You wanted your friends back so badly that your head was creating them for you. It was the same reason it did so when you lost the Umbrellas. It was supposed to be comfort, but it was still pain. And for as much as you wanted them back, you didn't have the strength to do this. It hurt too much. Your eyes shut as you held your head in your hands once more. Your hands covered your ears as your fingers gripped tightly at your hair. Curled up as best as you could in the driver's seat, you screamed,

"GET OUT!"

Things went quiet, and when you opened your eyes, they were gone. Slowly, you turned around to look at the back seat. It was completely empty except for a few items scattered about it. Unbuckling your seatbelt, you leaned over the console into the back as you picked them up. Lucas' sunglasses. Addison's lucky bracelet. Kenny's flask. Bren's leather jacket. You pulled Viktoria's phone out of your pocket and placed it in the pile in your arms. With each item, you pressed them against your chest, holding them close as you began to sob once more. This was all you had left of them. A car and everything in it.

You didn't know how long it took to stop crying, but once you did, you felt empty again. At this point, you had given up on miracles, but you wished you could at least have something to distract your mind. Maybe if you got some air something would come along to distract you. You looked down at the objects in your arms. You didn't plan on going far, but you couldn't leave them behind. You had to keep your friends close. Carefully you placed the objects down on the passenger seat as one by one you placed them on your body. You put Bren's jacket on, followed by Addison's bracelet. Kenny's flask went into one jacket pocket while Lucas' sunglasses went in the other, on the same side you wore Addison's bracelet. They were in love, you had to keep the two of them together somehow. And then you placed Viktoria's phone back into your pants pocket. With all of them accounted for, you turned the car off and took Dean's keys out of the ignition.

Stepping out of the car you locked the driver's side door, but before you could walk away something told you to open the trunk. You were pretty sure you knew what was in there. The bag of money Kenny stole, the bag of fanfiction Viktoria put together, and the miscellaneous clothes that your friends had worn prior to the thrift store, and yet you still felt compelled to open it. Walking to the back of the car, you stuck the key into the trunk lock and opened it up, and while you saw exactly what you thought would be there, the was one more item you didn't expect.

Dean's bow and arrows.

The only time he ever took it off was to drive and for some reason going into the hotel was the one time he didn't bring it with him. You let out a sigh as you carefully picked up the bow and quiver of arrows. Granted, it wasn't his old bow, it was the one you gave him, but even for the one day he had it, it was his. And with this discovery, the three things your brother loved most were all in one place: his bow, his car, and you. But he wasn't here to be with them. It was your job to take care of it now. Anyway, with your knives gone, you needed a new projectile weapon so it seemed that this would be your best option. Throwing the quiver over your shoulder you attached the bow to it the way you had seen Dean do many times before. With that settled you closed the trunk of the car, locking it with the key once more before looking ahead. Walking to the front of the car, you patted the hood as you said,

"Stay here, Veronica. I'll be back."

And with that, you started to walk down the alley you had parked in and took a look at the surroundings. On your right, there was the backside of brick buildings and to your left, it looked like that of a warehouse. There was something familiar about this place, as if you had been here before. However, you had lived in this city practically your whole life so many places felt familiar. But this, this was different. It was uncanny. And then you saw it, a set of double doors that you had encountered before. This wasn't just any warehouse. This was the warehouse you almost died in at 17. Out of all the alleys you had pulled into, you ended up in this one. It was almost funny the way the world toyed with you. In your timeline, this place had burned to the ground, but in this one that had never happened and so here it was completely intact. You stood in front of the double doors and contemplated going in. You hesitated for a moment wondering if reminding yourself of that day would be good for you right now, but it wasn't like your day could get much worse at this point, right?

With a shrug of your shoulders, you walked through the doors and into the building. Light came in through the dirty and broken windows illuminating the copious amount of dust. Machines sat broken and the place was abandoned as ever. You wondered what happened in this timeline for it to be left in this condition. In your old one, it was still functioning just severely unsecured. Making your way down the halls you came to a large opening, and found yourself in the same room where everything had gone down five years and two timelines ago. It was still terribly humid in the place, but the air felt mustier than you recalled. Looking around, you could practically see the events of that day replaying in front of you.

Melted guns on flesh, arrows to organs, broken skulls, snapped necks, drowning from the inside, you remembered how all of it played out. You recalled the way in which your body tore at itself from overusing your powers, the current wounds on your forearm and collarbone mimicking the ones you got that day. And then over to the side of the room you saw it, the now-defunct and most likely empty gas tank. Unlike that day when you had rushed over, today you walked slowly, your steps echoing across the floor as you remembered the events that occurred. The last drug dealer alive threw his lighter into the tank and Bren didn't notice as he began to run beside it. You stopped walking and looked at the spot you now stood in. It was the same spot you had jumped over to and pushed Bren to the ground behind you. You mustered all the strength you had left that day to use your powers and protect him from the explosion. All you could recall was the terrified look on Bren's face and then everything went black.

A selfish part of you wished Kenny hadn't saved your life that day. If he hadn't then you would've never had to live without your friends. Never had to fight multiple apocalypses. Never had to grieve their deaths multiple times. Never have been left alone like this. But then again, you'd never want them to feel the pain that comes with the loss of a friend. You knew what that pain was like before you had ever lost them, and you would do anything to make sure they never felt that. Perhaps it was better this way, better for them to die together and you to be alone, rather than the reverse. The last thing you needed was your death turning your friends into the Hargreeves, although you hoped they knew how to stick together better than the Umbrella Academy. Nevertheless, it was an isolating situation as you quietly stood over the site of your almost-death.

However, the quiet did not last as you heard the sound of a door slam in the distance. With the sounds of footsteps approaching, you tried to use your powers to lift a nearby pallet so you could knock out whoever was coming, but all it did was make you feel nauseous. It didn't hurt you to use your powers, but you still needed time to recover from the last energy wave and surely you wouldn't last long in a fight. As the footsteps drew closer to the room you were in you knew you had no choice but to go for a more direct approach. Pulling out Dean's bow and an arrow you lifted it up and pulled the string back just as Dean would've. And as the figure rounded the corner into the room you were in you let the arrow fly. At rapid speed, the arrow shot toward the unknown figure and punctured straight into...the wall next to them.

"What the hell!" The figure shouted

Wait. You couldn't see the person, but you certainly recognized that voice.

"Benjamin?" You questioned, a mix of confusion and annoyance in your tone

You saw as he began to angrily march over to you. His expression was a mix of shock and exasperation. God damn it. You didn't want to deal with this asshole.

"You could've killed me!" Ben shouted angrily

"If I wanted you dead, you would be." You deadpanned

That wasn't fully true. You missed lodging the arrow in Ben's shoulder by about two inches. Dean had given you a few lessons on using his bow and arrow and while you were a decent shot you certainly weren't as good as he was. The only way you could match his accuracy was in your knife-throwing skills, but that wasn't an option anymore. However, that information did not matter because Ben didn't need to know it. What mattered was figuring out what his plan was though. If he was here, he had to have some type of motive.

"Why are you here?" You demanded

Ben stopped in his tracks as he heard your question. His attention locked on you as he retorted,

"I could ask you the same question."

Pulling out another arrow, you raised the bow up once more and aimed it at Ben. Since he was closer now, you were certain you wouldn't miss him this time. And while you didn't want to insinuate a potential fight, you needed him to answer so you could figure out if he was actually a threat or not.

"We both know how capable I am of killing you." You replied firmly "Answer my question."

"Fine." Ben spat "Just put the bow down."

Slowly, you lowered the bow and arrow, but you kept them in your hands, ready to raise them back up if necessary. You stayed quiet, looking at him sternly as you waited for his response. You watched as he took a moment to assess the situation, his eyes darting at the room, the bow, and you before he answered,

"Since the Umbrella Academy killed Alphonso and Jayme yesterday Fei has been sending out her birds to keep tabs on them. One of them spotted you coming here, so I came to investigate."

Your face filled with disgust at the way he spoke. He talked as if finding you here was some sort of retcon mission and the fact that you were possibly being tracked since yesterday did nothing to improve your mood. But then the actual words he said processed through your mind and your stern expression fell as a sad look overtook your face.

"Jayme and Alphonso are dead?" You questioned sadly

Ben looked at you. From where he stood your body language was more relaxed than it was a minute ago and while you still held the bow in your hands, he had a feeling that you weren't going to use it again. When Fei mentioned that one of her birds had spotted you out this way he knew he had to come find you. There was something about you that puzzled him and he wanted to figure it out. He didn't even care that Fei snickered at him as he rushed out the door to find you because he had to. But if he was going to find out why you were in an abandoned warehouse then it would be easier to do so up close. If he could see your face better, he could read you better. Believing that you weren't going to threaten him harm again, he slowly approached as he responded,

"Yeah. The weird old guy with the Umbrellas, Harlan. I watched him kill them."

Harlan? Wasn't that the little boy that Viktor had accidentally given powers to? It had been 50 years though so it makes sense he would've been an old man now. You wondered how he came to be in this area if he was from Texas. Had Viktor sought him out or did Harlan find Viktor? Either way, it was upsetting that two more losses had occurred even if you only knew them briefly. You looked at Ben. Unlike your Ben who you could easily read, this one was closed off. You couldn't tell if the death of his siblings affected him or not, but you weren't one to take familial death lightly. Carefully, you placed Dean's bow and arrow back into the quiver. Even if you weren't his biggest fan that didn't mean your sympathy completely went away. With sincerity in your tone, you said,

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to go through that."

Ben paused, the slightest look of confusion on his face. He couldn't remember the last time someone expressed sympathy toward him. He tried to wrack his brain for at least one moment, but none came. No one had ever told him that he didn't deserve to go through the things he faced before. He looked at you intently, your voice was sincere, but he wanted to see if your face was too. He thought that maybe this was just a ploy to get his guard down, but when he looked at you, your expression was soft and your eyes, they were sad, but not in the disappointed way his family had looked at him before. Quite the opposite, your gaze was apologetic. You were genuinely sorry that his siblings had died. He stared at you unsure of what to say and slowly began to step closer, but as he looked at you he began to notice details about you that he hadn't before.  Parts of your body were covered with gauze, your cream-colored outfit was splotched with maroon markings that he now realized were dried blood, and your eyes that were soft and apologetic toward him were red and puffy as if you had been profusely crying.

Seeing you this way, it was as if something ignited inside Ben. He could feel as his heart rate increased, the beat of it drumming faster than it did on any mission. He felt infuriated. Not at you, but at the fact that you looked this way. His hands shook slightly at his sides and he felt like he needed to go out and fight someone, but he didn't know who. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stand seeing you hurt like this. With a serious look on his face, and his voice firm and steady, he questioned,

"Who did this to you?"

Your sympathetic look contorted into a frown as you heard his question. Your wounds, both mental and physical, were fresh. The grief and rage of what had happened not to long ago still coursed through your veins.

"Blame the people who killed your siblings," You spat "Their selfish inaction is killing me."

Ben scowled. He already didn't like them, but knowing this made him even more disdainful. He couldn't explain it, but part of him wanted to march right into that hotel and start picking them off.

"The Umbrellas did this?" Ben questioned, vile in his tone

"The black hole caused by them existing in this timeline did this," You stated gesturing to your wounds before gesturing to your red and puffy eyes and adding "And their lack of initiative to stop it, leading to the deaths of my friends, caused this."

Ben's contempt for the Umbrellas continued as you elaborated on what had happened, but there was a part of him that felt a twinge of guilt. When Viktor and Allison came to the Academy to tell them that things were disappearing he initially dismissed them. Now that it had become a bigger issue he did recognize the threat, but he didn't really care about it until now when it had affected you. He wasn't going to open his mouth and tell you that though. Right now you weren't on good terms with the Umbrellas, so perhaps he could get you with him on the side of the Sparrows.  It would be nice to have someone competent like you by his side. And also the Sparrows could use your strength. But to do that he had to continue to build some type of rapport. Trying to keep the conversation going, Ben asked,

"So why are you here?"

"I don't know. I just kinda ended up here." You explained, "I guess there's something familiar about the place where my friends' and I's fates were almost reversed."

"Almost reversed?" Ben asked curiously

"When I was seventeen I should've died in this warehouse. In this exact spot actually." You answered, pointing at the spot on the floor where you both stood "Only reason I survived was I took a massive dose of epinephrine straight to the heart."

Ben's face dropped upon hearing your words. His curiosity washed away and his gaze turned to look at the floor beneath his feet. He was standing on the spot where you almost died at seventeen. His body tensed and there was a pang of familiarity in his chest as wicked memories he tried to forget played in his mind. Seventeen...far too young to experience a near-death experience.

"How?" He asked quietly, his gaze still on the floor

Typically, this wasn't a topic you shared with others, but before you could stop yourself though the words just tumbled out of your mouth,

"My friend Brendon, Bren, he- he didn't know the gas tank over there was going to explode. He didn't see the lighter go in the tank and-"

You stopped. Your brain rushed with the events of that day again except this time everything moved slower. You had made your decision to jump in front of Bren in less than a second, but thinking about it again you recalled the one other thought you had before you jumped in front of him. You looked off in the distance toward the defunct gas tank.

"When Ben died, I technically didn't even exist. I couldn't save him. I never got the chance." You explained softly "But I could save Bren. So I did. I wasn't going to let history repeat itself and I didn't care what it would cost me."

Ben's gaze left the floor and back toward you once more. His eyes did not meet your own as you looked off in the distance, but he could see the pained look on your face. Mournful, sad, regretful. Part of him wanted to say something to you, that he was sorry for what happened, that you shouldn't have had to go through what you did, but it felt like the words were caught in his throat. He didn't really know how to articulate it because feeling this way was discouraged by his father. He said sympathy was weak, and yet you were stronger and far more favored by his father than him and still you were kind. But before he could find the ability to say something he saw you open your mouth to speak and so he kept his shut.

"But it doesn't matter because he and the rest of my friends are all gone and I'm telling you all these things because- I don't even know why!" You exclaimed frustrated before quietly adding, "Probably because you're the only one around..."

As you said those words you looked back at Sparrow Ben and for the first time his expression had no anger in it. It was gentle and...sympathetic. You paused. The way he looked at you, it was the same way your Ben would when he was concerned about you. When everyone else was off doing their own things during each apocalypse he always sought you out and made sure you were okay. And he looked just like that.

"What's that look for?" Ben questioned, noticing the change in your demeanor

"You just...look like Ben." You answered quietly, gesturing toward him

Ben's sympathetic look morphed into one of frustration as he exclaimed,

"I am Ben!"

Your face dropped as you heard his outburst. Your sad look changing into annoyance. He certainly was NOT Ben.

"Not to me. You're not my Ben." You deadpanned "You're Benjamin."

You were so infuriating. His name was Ben, he was Ben and you refused to acknowledge him as such. Why? Why wouldn't you address him properly?

"Why won't you call me Ben? It's my name!" Ben ranted

"You've never given me a reason to do so. You've never done anything to show me you deserve the name more than him."

Ben frowned at your answer. Everyone kept talking about this other Ben. This seemingly perfect other Ben. Why? What was the point of bringing him up? He was apparently dead while Ben was right here. And yet they all compared him to this other one.

"All of you treat this other Ben of yours like he's so special." Ben complained

"He's only special to them because he's dead. If he was alive they'd treat him the same way they treat each other." You snidely remarked "Poorly."

Ben looked at you surprised. Your tone was filled with contempt as you talked about how the Umbrellas treated each other. He could see your point though, they weren't quite a united front when it came to things and seemed to constantly undermine each other. However, your statement only covered why this other Ben was special to the Umbrellas.

"He wasn't special to you?" Ben asked confused

You let out a sigh. Quite the opposite, Ben was very special.

"No, he was. But it's because he was my friend. We worked well together, I saw him when no one else could and he listened to me when no one else would." You explained softly "That's what made him special. Who he was, not the fact that he was gone."

You missed Ben. When you told the Umbrellas he was the only one who treated you like family, you meant it. You made him feel seen and he made me feel heard. You saw him, you spoke to him, you gave him the recognition and connection that he had craved for all those years he was stuck with just Klaus. And he heard you, he noticed you when your demeanor changed, he sought you out and always made sure you were okay when no one else seemed to remember to. You respected each other. You understood each other. You missed the Ben who was your friend, your family, but all you were stuck with was his abrasive, confusing doppelgänger.

Ben stood still as he processed what you had said. He honestly didn't know how to react to your explanation since you spoke so kindly of him. Well, this other version of him. He was special because of who he was? Ben had heard something like that before from his father, but that was in relation to his powers and what he could do with them. However, special in that context meant to show how he was above others. In yours, it was a term of endearment. You liked that Ben. You cared for that Ben. But would you ever see him that way too? Ben tried to shake the thought from his head. He didn't like how easily you found your way into his thoughts. It was distracting. He needed to switch the topic.

Just a few minutes ago you had mentioned the black hole causing trouble in the world. Allison and Viktor had brought it up to him and Fei yesterday morning as well. Of course that was before they actually found it in the basement, but he wondered with your abilities did you know where it was?

"So this black hole...do you know where it is?" Ben asked, his tone indicating the awkward change in topic

You raised an eyebrow at him as you tried to figure out what he was getting at. Why would he jump from asking about Ben to asking about the black hole? Was he trying to get information out of you or was he just bad at conversation?

"Uh kinda..." You hesitantly responded, "I can sense its direction when a wave hits, but I can't feel its location without one."

"Why not?" Ben followed up

What kind of conversation was this? Could you even call it a conversation with how weird he was? It didn't really seem like he had an actual plan coming here and was just winging it. You were curious to see how this would play out though, it's not like there was much else of intrigue going on in your life.

"Because it's a fucked up black hole. It doesn't play by the rules." You replied before elaborating "When a wave happens, the black hole is releasing the potential energy that had built up inside it and distributing it across the world. As it does this it sucks certain things in with it because it needs more fuel so it can continue to sustain itself. When it's doing that I can feel it because its energy is disturbing everything."

"So you can't feel it now?" Ben followed up

Was that not what you had just explained? It's not like you were using a lot of big words or technical terminology. It's like he wasn't even paying attention. Did he actually care for your answers or was he just looking at you with a stupid expression just because?

"Were you not listening? Without a wave, it's in a homeostasis of sorts." You explained slightly more exasperated "All of its energy is contained inside of it while the outside is normal. Well, my definition of normal."

Ben could feel a slight heat rise to his face as you asked if he was listening. He was. Well, at least he thought he was. He was looking at you, and he was watching you speak, but the words seemed to fade away a little as he watched you. But he understood now, and to demonstrate his understanding he stated,

"Oh, so it's a paradox."

Okay, maybe he was listening to you. But if so that just meant his face looked stupid in general which was certainly unfortunate for him.

"Yeah, something like that. Schrödinger's energy." You replied "But that is for the Umbrellas to figure out. I literally don't care anymore."

A silence fell over the room. You looked at Ben and Ben looked at you, but there were no more words being exchanged. The silence wasn't awkward though, it just felt empty. It felt like there were more words or at least there should be more words. Maybe it was because you were lonely, but part of you wanted to talk more. Having someone to talk to, even if they weren't your first choice of person, was better than being alone and far surpassed accepting conversation with the voices in your head. But with nothing else to be said, there wasn't really any point in staying.

"Well, this has been...interesting, but I'm going to go now." You stated as you began to walk away

Ben looked at you shocked. No, no you couldn't go. He had only found you a few minutes ago. You had only just started talking. He hadn't even gotten a chance to get his bearings on the situation yet and now you were leaving? Where were you going? The only place you had was Hotel Obsidian.

"You're going back to the hotel?" He questioned

"And run into the life-ruining squad? No thanks." You scoffed back, continuing to walk "I'll figure out somewhere else to go."

Watching you walk away he knew he needed to do something to stop you and before he could even realize he had said it, Ben blurted out,

"Go to the Academy."

Stopping in your tracks, you turned to look back at him. You were surprised he had called out to you, but it was a decent suggestion. At this point where else did you have to go? You couldn't go back to Kenny's, you couldn't go home, and you still weren't ready to face the Hargreeves at the hotel again. And so, all that was left was the one place you kept coming back to. The Academy. With a shrug of your shoulders, You reluctantly replied,

"Okay."

Ben looked at you shocked. He didn't actually think that would work. He thought he was going to have to convince you more to go there. He had already started forming his argument in his head to try and get you to the Academy, but now he was at a loss for words.

"Wait? Really?" He questioned confused

"Yeah." You replied bluntly before turning around and beginning to walk away again

Ben stood frozen as he watched you walk away. He hadn't gotten far in his planning and once again you had flipped his brain upside down. You were so unpredictable. He hated how he couldn't understand you. At this point, all he wanted was to be able to understand you. It certainly would help to dispel the confusion he felt every time he interacted with you.

As you continued to walk toward the door you could feel that Ben was far behind you. Glancing over your shoulder you noticed him still standing in the same spot you had left him in. Encouraging him to follow you called out,

"Hurry up you cephalofuck!"

Snapping from his trance, Ben realized not only how far you were but what you had just called him. Cephalofuck? Really?! Quickly, he started to make his way over to you as he shouted,

"Don't call me that!"

You didn't respond though as you walked out of the main room of the warehouse and back to the door to the alleyway. As you retraced your steps to the door you came in you could hear the sound of speed walking behind you as Ben shouted,

"Wait up!"

You kept going though, and when you made it to the set of doors you came through, you walked through them back outside. Taking a step off to the side, you leaned against the brick exterior as you waited for Ben to exit the building. After a few moments, one of the doors widely swung open and you watched as Ben quickly looked around for you. Catching your gaze, Ben trudged over to you, his hands balled up angrily and his classic scowl present on his face.

"You could've waited for me!" He complained

"I'm waiting now, aren't I?" You remarked

Ben paused. You were so frustrating! You made him so frustrated! He didn't even know what to say. He stopped for a moment trying to find the words, but through gritted teeth, all he could do was point and say,

"My car is that way."

The way he was pointing was in the complete opposite direction of Dean's car and you couldn't just leave Veronica here. It would be wrong. That was your brother's baby. That car is your first niece. Her father was dead, you couldn't just abandon her. You'd be a terrible aunt for that.

"Yeah, no." You rejected "I'm not abandoning the car I came in. You want me to go to the Academy you either have to drive alone or get in with me."

"How can I trust you won't just go somewhere else?" Ben inquired

"Where else do I have to go?" You questioned back

"I-I don't know!" Ben exclaimed frustrated

"Listen man, you can either learn to trust people or you can get in the car with me, but I'm not leaving it behind." You explained

Ben was perfectly capable of trusting people. As the rightful leader of the Sparrows, Ben trusted his siblings to listen to him when they went on missions. Ben trusted his father's judgment. Ben trusted that civilians would respect him went he went out in public. Ben had plenty of trust.

"Fine. I'll go with you." Ben relented "But only because I can TRUST that my car will be okay."

Oh boy. Reginald had really screwed him up, hadn't he? This Ben had no clue what genuine trust was. Genuine trust came with vulnerability and from what you saw, he refused to be vulnerable. Part of you wanted to explain to him what real trust was, but twenty-nine seemed a little too late for an outside intervention. Instead, you gave a shrug of your shoulders and nonchalantly replied,

"Whatever cognitives your dissonance, dude. The car's this way."

Turning away from him you walked down the alley from which you came and headed back to your car. The only sounds you could hear were that of your footsteps and Ben grumbling to himself behind you. You couldn't make out the words he was saying, but you could assume he was ranting about you. It was a shame you ran out of fucks to give just an hour ago, maybe if you had one you'd care to coddle his ego just like you had done with the rest of the Hargreeves. Oh well!

As you arrived back at Veronica, you used the key to unlock the driver's side door, but as you opened it to get in you saw Ben stop. His eyes looked over the car for a moment, before judgmentally commenting,

"This is your car? It looks old as hell."

Technically, he was correct. Veronica was a 1967 Chevy Impala making her quite old, but his tone of voice mentioning that fact was off-putting and offensive to you. Veronica ran better than most cars these days because Dean took such good care of her. She was his pride and joy and you weren't going to let his snide remark slide.

"Excuse you, Veronica's exterior might be vintage but she was built for street racing and she runs like a dream." You retorted "Also, this isn't my car. It's my brother's."

"How did Diego get a car so fast?" Ben questioned

You grimaced at his question. While he didn't know any better given that you had referred to Diego as your brother the last time you spoke, you didn't like hearing Diego being called that. He wasn't your brother. In your experience, a brother was someone who cared for you, and now you knew, Diego did not.

"Diego is not my brother." You spat before adding "This is Dean's car."

"Who the hell is Dean?" Ben asked confused

"My only brother." You remarked quickly "Now get in."

Ben had a few questions about some of the things you had just said, but he could see your frustration building. He wondered if offering to beat up Diego would appeal to you, but his gut told him not to push the issue. With a curt nod of his head, Ben walked to the passenger side and got in the car as the two of you silently drove back to the academy. Ben wanted to say something, but he didn't exactly know how. He didn't think you'd react nicely to him talking about himself and his accomplishments as part of the Sparrows, but he also wasn't sure how to ask you about well...you. Everything you had mentioned so far was either surface level or something that had upset you, neither of which he could build a conversation off of. Instead of talking, he opted to look out the window of the car as he watched the messed up remains of the city go by as you made your way back to the Academy.

It didn't take long, but soon enough the two of you pulled up in front of the building. Without saying much you and Ben both exited the car and headed inside. As you entered the foyer, you could see Sloane walking down the stairs and when she caught sight of you, her eyes lit up.

"(Y/N), you're back!" Sloane exclaimed excitedly, coming over and giving you a hug

"Hello, Sloane." You greeted, hugging her back

As she held you, you could feel her hug getting tighter, and while emotionally you felt comforted by being held, physically you were extremely uncomfortable.

"Augh." You groaned in pain

Scared she had hurt you, Sloane pulled back from the hug and when she took a better look at you, she noticed the bloody bandaging on your hand and face.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She asked concerned

"I'm fine, it's no big deal." You deflected

That was only partially true. You did feel better than you did right after it happened, and your injuries weren't actively hurting you, but the soreness that came with touching those injuries was still present. Your deflection did nothing though as Sloane pressed,

"No, you should have Grace take a look at you."

"I'll be fine." You deflected once more

"No, I insist." Sloane replied concerned "(Y/N), this is your home, please let Grace take care of you like she takes care of us."

With it seeming like she wasn't going to drop the topic until you agreed, you nodded your head and said,

"Okay."

Linking arms with you, she guided you upstairs to the medical room of the Academy with Ben trailing closely behind. Sloane didn't need to guide you, you had been here before and knew where it was. Nevertheless, you didn't pull away as it was comforting to have someone care. As you made your way into the med bay you sat down on the bed in the room.

"Let me go find Grace and send her here." Sloane stated

You watched as Sloane walked back out the door of the med bay and off to find Grace leaving only you and Ben in the room. He leaned against the wall next to the door, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked in your direction. Why was he still here? It didn't bother you that he was, but at the same time, you couldn't understand why he would want to stay. Your Ben always stuck around because he cared, but you weren't close to this Ben the way you were with yours. Did he care or was this some type of 'hero' reflex where he couldn't leave until you were deemed saved? You were sad and injured, but you weren't weak. You didn't need saving.

"You don't have to stay with me, y'know." You mentioned

After the words came out of your mouth you could see his face change. What was once a neutral expression dropped into that of a frown. It looked almost like he was hurt by your comment.

"Oh." Ben responded "Okay..."

You watched as he stepped away from the wall and walked toward the door. He looked back at you for a moment, his gaze lingering and his face still reflecting an emotion of hurt, before turning and walking away. Aw, man. You felt a little bad for sending him away. Maybe he was actually being nice and now you were all alone waiting for Grace to show up.

You sat for a few minutes in empty silence before hearing footsteps approaching. Looking at the doorway, you wondered if Ben had come back, but instead, you were met with an odd sight. It was Grace, but she didn't look like herself. Her wardrobe and hairstyle look almost cultish and she was missing an eye. As she approached she looked at you, but instead of the empty void you felt a few days ago there was something different behind her eyes now, but whatever it was it made you uneasy. You removed Bren's jacket and tied it tightly around your waist so that Grace could look at all your injuries including the one on your forearm.

You watched carefully as she undressed and cleaned your wounds, the peroxide stinging against your flesh as it seeped into what skin was still left open. At least most of the gashes were close to closing themselves. If there was one thing you appreciated most about your powers it was the regenerative factor. Carefully, she placed new, clean gauze over your injuries and when she was finished she turned away and quietly left.

After a moment you stood up from the bed you were sitting on and walked out of the med bay. Catching a glimpse of yourself as you passed one of the large glass windows in the kitchen you saw the blood that still stained your outfit. Since you felt better, you decided to use your powers to remove the dried blood from your clothes. Changing its state back into liquid, you pulled it out from the fibers of your clothing before floating the mass of old blood over to the sink and sending it down the drain. Now that you were all fixed up though, you weren't quite sure what to do, so you headed downstairs in hopes of finding someone in the house. Not Grace though. Someone other than Grace.

As you went through the hallways the Academy was quiet and felt empty. Even though there were far more people living here now than you had experienced while living here, it still felt so hollow. Walking down the main staircase you looked around the foyer before noticing Ben standing next to the fireplace, looking up at his portrait. Approaching from behind you attempted to initiate a friendlier conversation by jokingly commenting,

"Y'know, you'd be prettier if you smiled."

You watched as Ben slowly turned to look back at you. He seemed confused by your comment as he awkwardly began to smile at you, although it looked more like he was grimacing.

"I meant in the painting." You commented, gesturing toward the picture

"Oh." Ben replied, his grimacey smile dropped as he said "It was a serious portrait."

Walking over to him, you stood by his side and looked up at his portrait. He was so young in it. Granted he wasn't as young as Five was in his, but that didn't make it any better. His eyes were filled with sadness even if his face seemed neutral and his hand gripped the arm of the chair he sat in tightly. Charlie had done this painting and he always painted what he saw. You know that Charlie had mentioned in his journal that he didn't want to paint it given what you had told him about Five's portrait. And you could see why, it was nothing like Charlie's art style. It was somber and dark and what it represented was nothing that either you or him stood for. You looked away from the painting and toward Ben. His face was hardened as he looked at the painted version of himself. You didn't know what he had done this time compared to that of Umbrella Ben but you knew that he didn't deserve this as his consequence.

"Yeah, I know it was." You said quietly "I'm sorry you had to pose for that."

"Sorry?" Ben replied confused before stating "My father honored me with that portrait."

"Benjamin, I want to believe you're smarter than that." You replied "You and I both know, it's not an honor to have your portrait over the fireplace. It's a punishment. A reminder to not step out of line."

"What do you mean?" Ben questioned

"Five had a portrait too. Charlie painted it after he ran away through time, but it wasn't made in memory of him." You explained, "It was a reminder to the rest of the Umbrellas of what happens when you don't listen to Reginald."

Looking away from Ben, your attention turned back to his portrait over the fireplace. As you recalled it was the same spot where Five's portrait hand hung in the first timeline and that of your portrait too earlier in this one. You hated the fireplace portraits, they were nothing but a reminder of the control Reginald had over the Umbrellas, and now the Sparrows too.

"I hated looking at that thing, I thought about burning it every day." You commented

"Did you?" He inquired

"No."

Now it was Ben who looked at you, your eyes trained on the painting of him above the fireplace. The expression on your face was confusing, he couldn't tell if it was sad or angry. Perhaps both. He wondered why if you had hated Five's portrait so much you didn't burn it like you thought about doing. Personally, if he saw Five's portrait he'd consider burning it too, and more than likely he would follow through. Nevertheless, he was still interested in your answer as he questioned,

"Why not?"

"It was one of the only pictures where Five didn't have his mask on." You replied gently "I didn't want to forget his eyes...."

Ben scowled at your comment. Ugh. Why did you have to be so sappy about Five? What was so special about him anyway? Ben hated hearing about him from you. Ben didn't really know the guy, but something about Five just bugged him to his core. All Ben knew was that he was a jumpy little guy, probably the smartest of his siblings, and he was your...ugh...boyfriend. Whatever. Ben didn't want to think about him.

"Maybe you should've burned it if you hated it." Ben remarked

"Maybe I should've since having a portrait isn't a good thing." You replied before adding "The only good thing about your portrait being there is that mine isn't anymore. It's gone."

Ben's scowl faded away as he looked at you confused. Your portrait wasn't gone, it was just moved.

"It's not gone." He mentioned

"It's not?" You asked surprised

"No." Ben explained, "When mine was placed there it was moved to your room."

"Is that so?" You said aloud

All the times you had been at the Academy post 60s time jump you had never gone back into your room. It had never actually crossed your mind to go in there since you assumed someone else would've taken it, but looking back it made far more sense for it to still be there. The Sparrows were told that you would return like some messiah, so of course they would've kept your room untouched. Turning on your heel you walked away from Ben and back towards the foyer. You could hear from behind you as he called out,

"Where are you going?"

But instead of responding, you flashed away to the upstairs hall. Walking down the corridor you passed other bedrooms before arriving at your door. Opening it up, you stepped inside, and if it wasn't for the distinct lack of time travel nausea you would've thought you were thrown right back into the 60s. Just like your room at the hotel, this place was completely frozen in time with everything still untouched in its place except for the distinct portrait that hung on the wall over the bed. It was your portrait. The one Reginald had commissioned Charlie to paint as a birthday gift to you. Stepping toward it you looked at yourself. Well, not really yourself, but the idealized version of you that Reggie wanted you to be. The version he made others, including the Sparrows, think you were. As you stood there looking at practically a stranger with your face, you heard as a recognizable voice commented,

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

Letting out a huff, you turned around to see Charlie sitting on the stool of your vanity.

"Oh jeez." You muttered before remarking "Let me guess, my brain sent you since I shooed the others away?"

"Well, one person is probably easier to handle than six." Charlie responded

"Hallucination." You corrected "Not person."

"Tomato, potato. It's almost the same thing." He replied

You rolled your eyes at the phantom your brain had come up with. While his presence didn't hurt as much because you knew he died of natural causes, it still didn't please you to have your mind playing tricks like this.

"What do you want?" You questioned

"To watch." Hallucination Charlie replied candidly

"Watch what?" You asked confused

"Watch that monstrosity go away." He answered pointing at your portrait "Doesn't take a genius to figure out you'd get rid of this thing the minute you got a chance."

While he was correct that you had been trying to get rid of this portrait ever since you had first saw it, you couldn't do so anymore. Sure, you and Charlie both greatly disliked it, but he had put in the time and effort to paint you. And now that he was gone all that was left of him were the works he created.

"I'm not going to get rid of it. You painted it." You spoke back

"Laaaaameee." Charlie's visage mocked "Can't believe my death made you soft."

"It did not!" You exclaimed annoyed

"Then destroy it- oh what's the word you taught me...oh right!" Charlie retorted "Shitwit."

"Rude." You muttered

"(Y/N), you and I both hate it, so obliterate it. Make sure that by the time you're done, there's nothing left of it. Because that's not you. It's the you Reginald wants you to be, not the one I know you are." Charlie explained

If it wasn't for the fact that you knew he wasn't there, you'd truly believe this was your friend in front of you. He looked like Charlie, he talked like Charlie, he was Charlie without actually being him. You watched as he got up from the stool and stepped over to you. His green eyes were bright and sincere as he placed a hand on your shoulder and said,

"If you're not gonna do it for yourself, then do it for me."

Even if he wasn't here you still couldn't deny a request from your friend especially when you knew that if it was actually him, he would've wanted this too. With a small nod of your head, you replied,

"Okay. I'll do it."

Charlie smiled at you and for a moment you actually managed to smile back at him. You turned away from him and went to open the window of your bedroom, but when you turned around to grab the portrait, he was gone. You let out a little sigh, but you couldn't stop now. Taking the portrait off the wall you began to shove it outside the window.

As you were doing this though, Ben walked into your room. He had assumed you had gone here based on the conversation you had in the parlor, but walking up here took longer than just appearing here like you could. As he entered though, he saw what you were doing and a sense of panic began to flood his system.

"Hey! Hey!" Ben shouted frantically "What are you doing!"

"I'm doing what I should've done the day this was hung." You replied back

With each hand holding one side of the frame you ignited the wood and watched as it spread toward the canvas.

"No stop!" Ben exclaimed rushing over to try and grab at the painting "When I said you should've burned it if you hated it I didn't mean this portrait!"

You didn't listen to his panic though and instead dropped the portrait out of the second-story window and on to the concrete of the courtyard. As it hit the ground, the frame broke into multiple pieces and the canvas ripped into a few parts. The flames that you had ignited slowly started to consume the once-grand painting until all that was left was flickering embers. You looked over at Ben with a neutral expression while he looked back in horrified shock.

"Are you crazy?! That was a masterpiece! It was an irreplaceable piece of art! You destroyed it like it was nothing!" Ben ranted

He couldn't believe what you had just done. That portrait was one of a kind. None of the other portraits that Mr. Anderson had done even came close to the quality of yours. Out of all the paintings in the Academy, including his own, yours was his favorite. It was colorful, and detailed, and lively. To him, it was like a bright spot in an otherwise dreary house and now it was gone. He looked at you waiting for some type of explanation, which he got in the form of you stating,

"It's what Charlie wanted."

Ben couldn't believe you. How did you know this is what Mr. Anderson would've wanted? Yes, Ben knew that you were his friend back in the '60s, but he died before you returned. How could you be sure that he would want his work of art to be destroyed? Surely, if it was up to Ben he wouldn't have destroyed it. It was a work unlike any other. If it was his painting, he would've shown the world how magnificent it was rather than leaving it in the shadows. Not knowing what to say to you, Ben gave one last look at the ashes of the portrait before walking away from you and leaving to go to his room.

You watched as he left, unsure of why he was so upset over the painting. It was technically your birthday gift so you could do whatever you wanted with it, but you didn't feel good upsetting him. Sure he was kinda a jerk, but he was probably just misguided by his upbringing, and once again, he looked genuinely hurt by your actions when you were trying your best to be nice. Was your grief making it difficult to be nice or was his background stopping him from accepting a little kindness? He was so back and forth that you couldn't tell. It was like there were two versions of him fighting inside for who got to be present in the moment, a kinder, gentler Ben versus the colder, more abrasive one. Nevertheless, you felt it was only right to try and smooth things over, again, given that he was more tolerable when he wasn't in a mood. Following his path, you stepped into the hallway of bedrooms and saw that only one was closed. Approaching the door, you knocked on it gently as you called,

"Benjamin."

"Go away." He responded

"Okay, yeah that's not how this works." You stated before phasing through the door

Ben turned around in his desk chair to look at you as he complained,

"God, what do you want?"

You didn't respond to him though as you took a look around his room. It was different than that of his room in the Umbrella timeline. First of all, this room was bigger than what your Ben had. It took you a moment to realize, but a wall must've been knocked down since half of this room was what used to be Viktor's in the old timeline. This Ben also had a poster of himself over his bed which is something your Ben definitely didn't. But the biggest difference was what covered the walls of the room. Instead of shelves of books and walls filled with notes, the walls were covered in art. Sketches, drawings, and a few watercolors were plastered across the space.

"I see why you're so upset about the painting." You said aloud "You're an artist this time."

"What do you mean this time?" Ben questioned irritated

"My Ben was more of a writer. He also read a lot. He just loved literature." You explained nostalgically "When he was alive we'd talk about the stories he was reading for hours. And after he passed I used to go into the courtyard where his memorial statue was and read his favorite books. I liked to think that he was on the other side listening and that neither of us was alone."

Ben went quiet upon hearing your response. Without even knowing it, you had stated the reason why he was so upset you burned the painting. Even though he hadn't met you until recently, he had enjoyed talking to your painting. He'd sit on the floor of your room describing his drawings and holding them up from time to time. Your smiling face in the painting was usually the only positive interaction he had, and just like you with the other Ben's statue, he liked to think you had been listening on the other side and that neither of you was alone.

Ben turned back around in his seat, facing his desk full of sketches once more as he tried to shove his feelings down. It was how he was taught to deal with difficulty. It was supposed to make him stronger according to his father, but usually, it just turned people away. He was difficult. At least that's what he had heard a lot from others before they left. He wasn't really sure if he knew any other way to be since no one stuck around to show him any different, but after years of people walking away from him, he was prepared for it to happen. And yet, he didn't want you to go. He wanted you to stay. Maybe instead of holding it in, he might just give it a try to say what's on his mind.

"Y'know you're wrong." Ben mentioned quietly "I'm not upset because I'm an artist."

"Why are you upset then?" You inquired

"Because that painting was the equivalent of your statue to me," Ben answered honestly

As the words left his mouth, you could feel your gut drop. You recalled how heartbroken you were when Luther and Diego broke Ben's statue. It was like killing your friend all over again, and now you had done the same to Ben. Sure you didn't know what it meant to him, but that wasn't a good enough excuse. You had seen him try to stop you and you kept going anyway. Oh god, what had you done?

"I'm so sorry, Benjamin." You apologized "I- I didn't think anyone cared about it."

"I did." Ben stated "But it's just a painting. I'll live."

"I'm still sorry, but we could make a new one. I see that your forte is drawing people." You commented trying to make things better

We? Ben was positive he had heard you correctly and you said we. Not he could make a new one. We could make a new one. Quickly, he turned around to look at you as he questioned,

"You can draw?"

Like everyone else you technically could draw, but when people asked 'can you do x thing?' they typically were asking if you could do that thing well. Your drawing skills were not on par with your piano, your dance, or your science abilities except for one instance and so you hesitantly responded,

"Uh...yes and no."

"I'm not sure I'm following." Ben replied confused

"The only things I can draw well are buildings and buildings interiors." You elaborated "But people, animals, plants- pretty much if it breaths I can't draw it."

"You were friends for years with an artist that my father deemed worthy enough to do all the portraits of the Sparrow Academy and you didn't pick up anything from him?" Ben questioned

His tone didn't sound condescending, but the question certainly did. Yes, you were friends with a talented and successful artist like Charlie, but that didn't mean it made you good as well. The only reason you could draw buildings and interiors was because that was a byproduct of your childhood. Maybe it wasn't his intention, but the question did make you feel bad as you looked at the art around his room.

"Uh, not particularly. While he would draw people or comic book characters I would be drawing rooms and buildings." You answered awkwardly "But with art of this quality that probably sounds pathetic to you."

Ben noticed your shift in demeanor. Had he upset you? He wasn't trying to. He was just curious. Jayme had always told him he had a tone issue though, but he never really understood what that meant until now. Trying to course correct Ben quickly shot back,

"No."

"No?" You hesitantly questioned

"Look around." Ben said gesturing to his art "You see any backgrounds?"

You looked around once more and he was right, there were no backgrounds it was all just people. All the faces were strangers to you though. Even with no backgrounds the skill he had in drawing people was still enough for you to doubt your own artistic ability. Art wasn't your main skill, you didn't practice it often like you did with your other talents, you just had muscle memory from copying your mom and enough upkeep to not permanently lose what you learned.

"You could still probably draw a better background than I could draw a portrait." You stated

"Is that a challenge?" Ben asked

What? A challenge? He thought your compliment was a challenge? How warped had Reginald made his worldview that not even a simple compliment could be accepted without the prospect of proving himself? While you knew it was probably a developed trait and maybe even a coping mechanism to hide some insecurity of his, it was still annoying and triggered your underlying competitive nature.

"No, I was actually trying to be nice to you since I had upset you, but fuck it, it's a challenge now." You remarked back "You draw me and the part of the room behind me and I draw you and the room behind you, and whoever has the better overall drawing wins."

While Ben felt awkward that he had misinterpreted your kindness as competition, he didn't mind this new outcome. He liked seeing the fire in your eyes about proving yourself. It reminded him of himself and he liked the feeling in his chest that he shared something with you.

"You're on." Ben replied, a smirk coming to his face

Turning back around he grabbed a sketchbook, flipping it to an open page before picking up a pencil and an eraser. Turning back around he extended it toward you for you to take. Once the items were in your grasp he stood from the desk chair grabbing another set of the same items before walking over to his bed and taking a seat. He watched as you pulled the desk chair closer to the bed and sat down on the seat across from him. Getting yourself settled, you looked toward him as you asked,

"Is there a time limit?"

"And rush the art?" Ben remarked back "No. Just draw until you're finished."

"Okay, jeez." You replied looking back down at the sketchpad "It was just a question..."

As you looked away, an awkward expression came to Ben's face. Did he really have that bad of a tone issue? He was just answering your question. Nevertheless, his attention turned toward his own sketchpad as the two of you began to draw.

The room was quiet as the both of you worked on your pieces, the only sound to be heard was that of pencils moving across sketchpads. Occasionally, each of you would look up from your papers, your gazes seemingly alternating as you both attempted to copy down the sight before you.

Drawing the room came easy to you. You had sketching the lines and angles of the bedroom and its objects down to a science. Every stroke of the pencil was intentional and the way you blended out the pencil marks in specific spots was methodic. You looked down at your hands and the dark graphite smudges covering your fingertips and softly smiled. Your hands looked like that of your mom's. Your mom the architect, the designer. Looking at your hands, it felt like a piece of her came back to life if only for a moment. But that moment was fleeting. Your drawing was nice to be sure, and if an average person saw it they'd probably be impressed, but it still wasn't close to the level of skill your mom had. And unfortunately, you'd never get to learn her tricks because she was gone.

Looking down at your drawing it was almost complete except for the blank oval in the middle of the page where you were supposed to draw Ben. You already knew this wasn't going to go well, but you still had to try. If there was ever a time for a hallucination version of Charlie to appear it was now, so he could give you advice on how to not fuck this up. But alas, he decided not to show so you were left to your own devices. Trying your best to remember what he would do, you started out with just a bunch of shapes in the general form of a body. Somehow, even though it was just shapes, it already looked bad. Your only hope was that by adding details it would somehow come together, so you started by drawing his polo shirt, his pants, and his hair.

And then you came to his face. You tried your best to capture his features, but with his head constantly being down looking at his paper all you could see was the right side of his face. Part of you wanted to draw an angry frowny face and call it a day but the detail-oriented part of you wouldn't let it happen. You saw as he looked up at you for a moment before turning his head back down, but in that moment you briefly caught sight of something on his left cheek. Leaning forward, you gently reached a hand out to try and tilt his face toward you, but the second your fingers brushed his skin Ben pulled back. With his gaze on you, you clearly saw what had caught your attention. It was a scar. Pulling your hand back slightly, you looked back at him waiting for him to say something.

But Ben didn't respond, he only looked at you shocked. The thing was, he wasn't shocked that you had touched him. Plenty of people had touched him before, whether it was his siblings in training, an enemy he was fighting, a persistent fan who just had to get their hands on him, or one of the girls at the clubs he would go to with Christopher, whose name he had forgotten right after they said it. He was no stranger to unexpected touch, but all those times it was aggressive, demanding, rough. But your touch, it was gentle.

No one had ever done that before...

"I just wanted to see it for my drawing." You said quietly

There was that sincerity in your tone again. Something about it made him pause and as his eyes darted over your face, he could see that your expression seemed almost worried, as if you were concerned you had scared him. You hadn't, at least not in the way you probably thought you did. It wasn't your action that had worked up his nerves, but the feeling he got from it. He felt fuzzy inside. Slowly, he leaned his face back toward your hand before hesitating. He wanted to feel your touch again, but for a moment his brain wondered if this was some type of scheme to catch him off guard. He looked at you once more, but your expression was the same worried look as you softly added,

"I wasn't gonna hurt you."

As you said those words Ben felt a twinge of...regret. It was an odd feeling since he had only felt this way a few times before, but the feeling was there. As your hand slowly began to pull back, he quickly leaned in, causing your fingertips to touch his scar once more.

You now looked at him shocked, your fingers pulling just centimeters away from his face, but quickly you realized what his action meant. It meant he trusted you. He trusted you wouldn't hurt him. It felt like a bit of a switch-up from the Ben you had interacted with thus far but, you were the type to reciprocate energy. If he was going to trust you a little, you could trust him back. Gently, you placed the tips of your middle and ring finger back on his cheek as you carefully traced his scar. Ben closed his eyes as your fingers brushed the permanent mark on his face. For once, he seemed calm.  You wondered if he had ever actually felt calm before. You knew from the Umbrellas that the life of a Hargreeves was not one that knew peace, and with the way the Sparrows were you could only assume the concept of peace was even more foreign and warped to them. As you looked over his scar you wondered how he got it.

"Hmm." You hummed

"What?" Ben asked, his eyes opening back up to look at you

"It's odd." You stated, "We don't typically do this."

"We?" Ben questioned curiously

"I've found it's rare for people like us, people with powers, to have visible scars." You commented, "Whatever happened, it must've been pretty bad to leave a lasting mark."

Ben looked down as he recalled the circumstances in which he got his scar. Even years after it happened he tried not to remember that day given its significance, but he couldn't help it. The memory flashed in his mind like a cruel reminder of his greatest mistake.

"Yeah...it was bad." Ben mumbled, "I failed."

"Was it the Jennifer Incident?" You asked

Ben looked up at you, the traces of hurt he felt from his memory quickly dissipating as he looked at you confused.

"No? I don't even know a Jennifer." Ben stated before asking "What is that?"

You looked back at him nervously. You had assumed that his scar was a different result of whatever happened to your Ben in the Jennifer Incident. Your Ben died, but this one did something different and managed to make it out with only a scar. But obviously from his response that wasn't the case.

"(Y/N), what's the Jennifer Incident?" Ben asked again

"It's uh-" You hesitantly responded "It's how Ben died."

"What happened?" Ben pressed

Pulling your hand back from Ben's face, you sat back in your seat, looked at the floor for a moment, and let out a small sigh. And as you looked back up at him, he could see grief in your eyes, similar to the look you had when he first found you at the warehouse.

"That's the thing. I don't know. No one would tell me anything except that it was a tragedy." You explained sadly

You looked around Sparrow Ben's room. You had to look anywhere but at him. He had everything of your Ben's. His face, his voice, his name, and yet he was still practically a stranger. The worst part though was that even though he was a stranger in your friend's body, you could see flickers of your Ben in him. There was his care and concern somewhere in there. His sense of understanding peeked through the bars of the tough persona Sparrow Ben put on. But it was the way he listened to you, that reminded you of Ben the most. It was so easy the way you could just start rambling to your Ben, and he sat listening and engaged, and somehow this one was the same. He was listening when no one else was.

"I asked Diego a few times over the years thinking that it was my age that was the issue. Y'know, don't tell a traumatized thirteen-year-old how their friend died. But when I got the same script over and over, I kinda stopped asking." You continued

"Same script?" Ben questioned

As you thought back to those times you asked you could feel a mix of emotions build in you. There was the obvious grief remembering your friend who was gone, especially when you were sitting across from someone who shared his name, and face, and currently a part of his personality you missed. Then there was the frustration that you never learned what happened. And finally the anger at the response that you were always given.

"Yeah." You scoffed before reciting in a mocking tone "It was a tragic accident. Ben died because we failed as a team. Nobody was responsible yet we all were responsible. Ben Hargreeves represented the best of us. Ben was the Umbrella Academy."

Crossing your arms over your chest your eyes finally met Ben's once more. The amalgamation of your feelings reflecting on your face as you complained,

"It's a bunch of avoidant bullshit if you ask me."

You looked away again as silence took over the room. Your mind wandering away from thinking about Ben's death and instead focusing on Diego's resistance to tell you what happened. All the times you asked, he could've just stated what happened, but instead, he always recited the same stupid script. Your eyes moved to the floor and your voice was low as you broke the silence mentioning,

"I guess he never trusted me enough to tell me the truth..."

As Ben saw the change in your demeanor he could feel a tightness build in his chest. It was similar to the feeling he got when his Dad would reprimand the Sparrows after a mission, but not quite the same. There was that feeling of something wrong, but less in a disappointment way and more of a drive to do something. He wasn't particularly interested in having you reconcile with the Umbrellas, they were assholes and the less you wanted to be around them the more time you would spend with him. However, he still felt inclined to do something. Trying to change the subject, he switched back to the original topic as he inquired,

"So what about you?"

"What about me?" You asked confused, looking back at him

"So you don't have scars?" Ben asked

"Oh. Typically no." You answered before explaining "When I was sixteen I tore up the entire left side of my face. It was really bad, but by the next morning it was like it never happened."

"What happened?" Ben asked

"It was..." You began to speak

But then you stopped as you recalled that day, the memories playing in your mind like a bad movie. As you shut your eyes you could hear Diego and Eudora's voices shouting at each other. You could see the anger on their faces and the hurt in their eyes as the fought. A chill ran down your spine as you remembered the cold downpour of rain that washed over you are you rode your bike away from the scene and you winced as you recalled the pain of your face scraping against concrete.

Ben watched as you winced and your expression filled with pain. He already could tell that whatever you were remembering, it wasn't good. It was the same way he'd react to his bad memories before he started pushing down the feeling. Shit. He was trying to make you feel better, not worse. God, why was he so bad at trying to be good? You made it look so easy.

"Forget I asked." Ben quickly dismissed

Opening your eyes, you looked back at him as you tried to push the thoughts away.

"No, it's fine. It was...it was an accident." You finished answering before redirecting the conversation "But I mean, I do have these few scars from earlier when the Kugelblitz tore into me. They've already begun to heal over though."

You gestured toward the bandages that covered your gashes. Your injuries didn't sting much anymore, but when you moved the parts of your body they were on you could still tell they were there. Pulling the bandaging off your cheek you showed Ben the scar that was there. You watched as Ben reached his hand out slightly before pausing.

"Can I?" Ben asked

You nodded your head and Ben fully reached his hand out to trace your scar just as you had done to him. In a way, you were like him the way you were marked by a tragic event. Your scar was noticeable but faded like his, but while his scar curved downward yours went across your cheek. However, he had his scar for years while yours was apparently only acquired this morning and yet they were the same amount of healed. He wondered why others' injuries faded away so quickly while he was stuck with a constant reminder of his failure. Then again, was it actually easier to move on from a failure by having all reminders of that pain fade away quickly or would that lack of healing cause more pain in the long run? Either way, you both had been hurt by life and it seemed like neither of you was quite as healed as you liked to think you were.

"It's so faded." Ben commented

"Yeah," You responded "It'll be gone soon enough, like it never happened."

"But it did." Ben stated gently

You looked at him. His tone wasn't harsh when he said it, on the contrary, his tone was actually empathetic, but it hit you like a ton of bricks. It did happen. You may not physically bear your scars but they were there. These moments in time that had hurt you were real. They happened.

"It did." You said quietly

As Ben looked back at you, his expression was neutral, but you could almost see the corners of his mouth curve up as he mentioned,

"Well, until then it seems we're matching."

"Yeah, I guess we are" You replied before asking "Should we finish drawing?"

"Huh?" Ben said confused

"Should we finish drawing or have you given up on competing?" You taunted, gesturing to the sketchbooks in each of your laps

Ben looked down at his sketchbook before looking back at you. He had completely forgotten all about drawing, but as he heard the taunt in your tone his competitive spirit came back in full force.

"Absolutely not." Ben scoffed

"Then get drawing, Benjamin." You remarked as you picked back up your sketchbook

As your head tilted down to look back at your drawing, Ben picked his pencil and sketchbook back up and began to draw once more. Finishing the details of the wall behind you, he started to work on drawing you, but as he did so he noticed details he hadn't before. He noticed the way your hair fell around your face and how you kept having to push a particular strand out of the way. He noticed the way your eyebrows scrunched and how you bit your bottom lip when you were thinking about something. He noticed the way sunlight from the window fell on you giving you a golden glow. He noticed you. And so he drew what he saw, but it was a tedious process as he felt what he had created wasn't exactly right. He wanted the details he noticed to reflect on the page, but it took time and time again for him to feel what he had created was good enough. His poor eraser had been absolutely demolished between all the revisions he had made, but at a certain point, he finally felt happy with what he had created. And when he looked up from his sketchbook he saw you sitting there twirling your pencil between your fingers.

Seeing Ben look toward you, you assumed he was most likely done as you asked,

"Finished?"

"Yeah." He responded

"Alright then, you go first." You commented

You watched as Ben turned around his sketchbook to show you his drawing and when you saw it you were highly impressed. The background of his drawing wasn't quite as detailed or emphasized as yours was, but it certainly showed his skill for perspective. Where he really focused his detailing though was his drawing of you. It was quite different from drawings you had seen of yourself before. Most of them had been made by Charlie, and while he was a master of realism he typically drew you very stylized, like a comic book character. Ben's drawing however was somewhere in the middle, it wasn't quite one-to-one realism, but you could definitely tell that it was you. A very pretty version of you nonetheless.

"Wow, the only other person to ever draw me was Charlie,' You mentioned, "Your style is so different from his."

"Why? Is it bad?" Ben questioned

"No, it's amazing!" You replied enthusiastically "If only you could pursue art full-time. I think you'd really go far."

Ben paused a moment. He never really thought about life outside the Sparrow Academy. The Sparrow Academy was his everything. He was always told that his only responsibility was protecting the world so the thought of doing anything else seemed farfetched. Did you really think he could succeed at anything other than being a superhero?

"You think so?" Ben asked sincerely

"I know so." You stated confidently

It was odd. The confidence in your answer made Ben want to believe you, but believing you that he could succeed at something other than being a Sparrow meant that the last 29 years of his life were mostly a waste. And that was a thought he didn't want to confront. Pushing the topic away, Ben replied,

"Okay. Your turn."

"Right!" You exclaimed as you looked at your drawing

You looked at the details of the room you had drawn and you knew they would make your mom proud. Not that she ever wasn't proud of you, she always was, but knowing you were able to mimic her passion if only for a moment felt good. But then you looked at your drawing of Ben and...

Fuck.

He looked like a poorly drawn anime character...if you could even call it that. It was only comparable to when the Ouran High School Host Club characters were drawn with less detail to be funny. Except they had done that on purpose, and you, you definitely had not. Why did you let your competitive nature get the best of you? Why did you agree to this? You knew you couldn't draw people. This was a bad idea from the start. Granted the room you drew looked great, but the messy figure in the center really retracted from it. Letting out a defeated sigh you slowly turned the sketchbook around to show Ben and watched his face go through a journey as he looked at it.

"You're right. You are good at drawing rooms. The details are lifelike." Ben commented

You could tell his comment was genuine, but you could feel him holding back more thoughts. Surprised that he hadn't outright insulted your work, you prompted him to speak,

"But?"

"I don't look like that." Ben remarked flatly

"I told you I'm not good at drawing people!" You shot back defensively "I can only do backgrounds."

"And I said the background is good!" Ben responded, "It's just I've seen better art of myself before..."

"You know what?" You questioned snarkily "You wanna know what you really look like?"

"What do I really look like?" Ben inquired sarcastically

Angrily you flipped to the next page of the sketchbook as you quickly scribbled a drawing on it. It was not detailed in the slightest, but it was far more accurate.

"Like this." You stated

As you turned the notebook around, Ben saw your new drawing of him. It was a crudely drawn octopus with an angry frowny face. Ha ha. How clever.

"I definitely don't look like that." Ben replied unamused

"Yes, you do." You remarked playfully, as you held the drawing up next to his face "Your face is doing the same angry scrunch now."

"Whatever." Ben dismissed before asking "So if art is my thing, what's yours?"

"Well, I'm good at a lot of things."

"Well drawing people surely isn't on that list." Ben joked

"Shut up!" You snapped before calmly adding "But piano is the one I'm known for."

Ben recalled moments throughout his life when he heard mentions of your musical ability. He remembered a time when he and his siblings were pressing keys on the piano in the parlor, and when their father heard he stated they shouldn't even try to learn because it wouldn't compare to your ability. There were also the times when Pogo played his classical music records and would tell the Sparrows of his memories of you playing piano for him when he was a young chimp and how lovely the music was. Your ability to play piano was always described as something incredible and he always imagined being able to hear it himself.

"Oh, right." Ben commented "I bet you play beautifully,"

Ben paused. That was weird. Why did he say that? Trying to move away from it, Ben quickly added,

"So I've heard at least..."

"I can show you." You offered

"I'd like that." Ben replied gently

Your lips upturned into a small smile. You liked being around him a lot more when he was kind like this. It reminded you of Ben. Standing up from your seat you extended your hand out toward him.

Gently, he took your hand. He sat still for a moment letting the electricity of your touch flow through him. Your skin was soft and so was the way you held his hand. Ben felt as you pulled his hand closer to you, beckoning him to stand. Standing up he looked down at you, a tender smile on his face and he continued to hold your hand. It felt like a bright warmth surrounded the two of you as you stood together. However, just as soon as he was standing, your hand pulled away and as you turned to walk away, the warmth of being close to you faded. Although you couldn't see it, his smile dropped for a moment. He liked being close to you.

As you made it to Ben's bedroom doorway you turned back to look at him only to find that he wasn't following you. Weird. You thought you were going to show him your piano skills. Your head tilted slightly as you asked confused,

"Are we going to the piano together or not?"

Together.

Ben perked up at that word. His small smile returned as he walked over to you and replied,

"Absolutely. Let's go."

But while you made your way down to the parlor, Five was stuck in the lobby of the Hotel Obsidian. After everyone had left, Five had sat and waited at the bar for the time when Viktor would bring Harlan down for the trade with the Sparrows. Even with Viktor's rude comments earlier, Five could understand the difficulty of giving Harlan up. Viktor cared for him and while that was nice it definitely wasn't worth sending the entire world down the drain over. Harlan had apparently caused some difficulties to the point that the Sparrows were willing to work with the Umbrellas if Harlan was sacrificed. And so he had to be. There was no other way.

Sipping on another drink Five wondered where you were. You could've gone back to Kenny's house since you always mentioned in your diary that it was the main hangout spot for your group. But then again, that could be upsetting since there were so many memories there. Or perhaps you had gone back to your childhood home. It was completely empty given the fact that your parents never got a chance to meet in this timeline, but maybe there was still some comfort to be found there. Or you were somewhere that he couldn't even predict. Wherever you were he just hoped you were okay. He couldn't stop thinking about worst-case scenarios and all the ways he could lose you, especially after finding out his Commission Founder self failed to keep you alive.

Five could feel his heartbeat pick up slightly as the words his Founder self had written began to run through his mind once more. Rolling up his sleeve he looked at the phone number on his arm. You told him to only call in an emergency. Did his worry for you, his need to hear your voice and know you're alive, constitute an emergency? Currently, nothing was wrong.

Except for him.

He felt like his head was being pulled in a million different directions. The apocalypse. Witnessing his death. Your safety. His siblings' antics. Trading Harlan. Anticipating what comes next. The challenges he faced, the worlds he kept creating and erasing in his mind, they were exhausting. It felt like he didn't even have a moment to spare for himself. A moment to think. A moment to breathe. Every time he got one of those they immediately slipped away. All he did was survive and even then, another version of him didn't make it. Would he?

Five tried to push the thought from his mind. He couldn't question it, he had to survive. He had to survive for the same reason he always did. You. Carefully, he pulled the ring he had found out of his pocket. Trying to calm himself, Five looked at the ring in his palm and envisioned a life of mundane joys with you. Grocery shopping, taxes, household chores, taking a walk in the park. God, it seemed so nice. If he had one hope, one wish, it was to be able to live a simple life with you. His mind wandered to thoughts of better days and simple times by your side, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Luther asking,

"Viktor come by yet?"

Pulled from his thoughts, Five looked up as he saw Luther walking toward the bar. Quickly, he shoved the ring back into his pocket. The last thing he needed was Luther seeing it and asking him questions.

"Oh- uh- no." Five replied trying to collect himself "Not yet."

"Well, I'm sure they'll come around soon." Luther stated as he finally reached the bar

Five nodded his head at Luther's statement, but did not have much of a response to add. His head was still trying to switch gears from thinking about you to thinking about the apocalypse again. There was a silence between the two brothers as they stood by the bar together. It wasn't particularly awkward, but it wasn't enjoyable either.

Luther looked around at the space. Just mere hours ago he had gained and then lost a son and then was told that he didn't know what family meant and that he was a selfish, stunted adult. So far, today was not great. Your words had stuck with him though. Did he know what it meant to actually be a family? Had the Umbrella Academy ever really been a family to each other? There was only one period of time where he truly felt connected to his siblings and that was when everyone was the same age and they had you as a friend. Your words were hurtful, but were they true?

"Hey, Five?" Luther asked breaking the silence

"Hmm?" Five hummed in response

"Do you...do you think what (Y/N) said is true?" Luther hesitantly questioned

"Be more specific." Five replied, "She said a lot of stuff to a lot of people."

"The whole family thing..." Luther quietly replied, "You think she's right?"

"Well, I never think she's wrong." Five stated

Five's response wasn't what Luther was looking for. He wanted more of an explanation of why you would think that, and to his knowledge, no one knew you better than Five. He waited a moment to see if Five would elaborate, but when no elaboration came Luther pried harder,

"Yeah but like we are a family, aren't we?"

"In namesake I suppose." Five responded flatly

"What about beyond that?" Luther pressed "Y'know connection wise? We're siblings aren't we?"

"We are." Five answered before adding "But if what she said bothers you this much that means some part of you believes she might be right."

Luther shifted uncomfortably as guilt began to grow inside him. The feeling settled in his gut as he was forced to confront the reality of his relationships with his siblings and the way he treated them. And you.

"Maybe..." Luther replied, his voice low "I just...I don't understand what the difference is between her definition and ours."

While Luther may have forgotten what the difference between you and his siblings was, Five never forgot. That difference was what kept him going in his darkest of times. And if the truth of this difference would get Luther to reflect on himself rather than trying to get some type of relief for his cognitive dissonance out of Five then he needed to hear it.

"The difference is love, Luther." Five explained seriously, looking him dead in the eyes "We were raised on conditions and achievements and outcomes, but she was raised with unconditional love. We expect results from each other, her only expectation is to be loved back."

As he heard those words, Luther went quiet. His mind replaying moments with you from across his life. He recalled how nice you were when you were both children and the way you'd listen to his interest in space and encourage him to talk about it more. You constantly told him you were proud of him while his father never even uttered those words once. When Luther was happy, you were happy. He then thought about how you had acted when you were different ages. If he was cold to you, you were cold to him, and if he was kind so were you. You always gave back what you were given, but even so, you were still willing to help. You still cared. You always cared. But, besides Five and until recently Diego, they treated you like some type of stepping stone. You were a means to an end. There was no question about it...

You were right.

You had loved them and they just used you. They used each other. If they weren't a family then what were they to each other? What is family anyway? However, before the thought could eat at him more, Klaus sauntered up to the bar to join him and Five. Looking between his brothers, Klaus asked,

"What are we hanging around here for again?"

"Viktor and Harlan." Five responded, "Remember?"

"Oh right." Klaus recalled

Reaching over the bar, Klaus grabbed himself a drink before hopping on the bar top and sitting crisscross on it. A silence fell over the three Hargreeves brothers as they waited for Viktor, but it didn't last long as the ding of the elevator rang through the empty lobby. The trio looked out at the lobby and watched as Viktor began to walk past the bar. Seeing Viktor, Five walked away from the bar with Luther close behind.

"Hey." Five gently called out "It's time."

Hearing Five's voice, Viktor stopped in place. For the past few hours, he had been working out this plan to get Harlan to safety, but through it all he had forgotten to come up with what he was going to say. Freezing up, he could only stare at his brothers in silence.

Not seeing him with Viktor, Five looked back toward the elevators for where Harlan could be. He was an old man after all, he couldn't be far. But as he glanced at the back part of the lobby no one was there. Looking back at Viktor, Five asked confused,

"Where's Harlan?"

Still not knowing what to say, Viktor bluntly stated,

"He's gone."

Hearing those words, Luther immediately knew what had happened. It was honestly stupid of him and the rest of his siblings to think Viktor would do anything other than this. And in a way, this proved your point from earlier even more to Luther. You said they only cared to help each other when they needed something and that they were all selfish. Once again, you were right.

"You let him go, didn't you?" Luther stated

Realizing what was going on, Five looked at Viktor a mix of shock and disappointment on his face. How could Viktor do this? He was risking the sake of the world and the safety of everyone left in it for one insignificant person. This trade was supposed to be their entry into accessing the Kugelblitz and Viktor selfishly threw it away. If the Kugelblitz continued who knew what could happen to people? Who knew what could happen to you. Frustrated, Five turned his back to Viktor. He couldn't stand to look at him right now.

Viktor however was not of the same mindset. He knew his siblings would be upset, but it wasn't worth it to him to trade Harlan to the Sparrows.

"Harlan's death is not gonna stop the Kugelblitz. It's just gonna be another tragedy on a tragedy, and we can find another..." Viktor immediately defended "I will find another way."

"Well, congratulations, Viktor." Luther retorted "You managed to destroy everything. Again."

To Luther, your point of view was becoming ever more clear, and if there was any love between the Hargreeves siblings there certainly wasn't a visible amount of it. And just like you, he didn't want to be here anymore. He'd far rather spend his time with someone who actually cared about his feelings. Sloane. With an annoyed shake of his head, he walked off toward the front doors and out of the hotel.

Five watched as Luther walked away and for only a moment turned to look back at Viktor. He didn't have many words to say, but one thought did linger.

"I really thought you were smarter than that." Five said disappointed

With a roll of his eyes, Viktor silently walked off. Taking a few steps forward, Five watched as Viktor walked out the doors leaving the hotel. And then there were two. From behind him, Five could hear as Klaus sarcastically commented,

"Well! That went great!"

Five knew that Klaus' comment was sarcastic in nature, but it didn't stop the disappointment at how unfortunate this was. With one person's decision their whole entry into saving the world, again, was gone. Five wished that for once his siblings wouldn't stall or roadblock saving the world, but unfortunately, it seemed that was not something they were capable of. And while he already agreed with your opinion on his family, this just made him empathize with it more. Slowly turning around, he saw as Klaus took an actual seat at the bar rather than on it and reached for a nearby bottle of vodka. Feeling confused and defeated Five made his way over to the bar and sat in the seat next to Klaus. He watched as his brother grabbed two shot glasses and poured heavy-handed drinks into them.

"There." Klaus stated, sliding one of the glasses over to Five

"Thanks." Five replied

Today was a mess. Granted, most days of his life were a mess, but somehow today felt so much worse. He found out he created the Commission to save you, he found out that he was unsuccessful and you died, he watched you get torn apart by the Kugelblitz and lose all your friends, he watched your relationship with the rest of his siblings dissolve and you walk away from the Hargreeves family. And while all of those distressed him there was something about facing his own mortality that truly haunted him. Seeing his death forced him to confront his failures. If that version of him went to so many lengths to save you and the world and yet he still died old and alone, where did that leave him?

"I saw my future self die." Five mentioned quietly

"That's crazy. Almost the exact same thing happened to me." Klaus explained "But I didn't die, but I did, but..."

"He told me not to save the world. And then he died." Five spoke at the same time as Klaus

"I don't know..." Klaus added

"What do you think he meant by that?" Five questioned

Hearing each other's statements the two of them looked at each other with slight confusion.

"Well, shouldn't you know?" Klaus asked

"Shouldn't you know about your-" Five began to ask back

However, as he saw Klaus raise his shot glass he realized it wasn't worth it to ask and dropped the topic. Picking up his shot glass he gestured it toward his brother as he said,

"Salut."

"Well, up your ass." Klaus chimed back

Five shot Klaus a look as Klaus downed his shot, but instead of lifting his own glass up to his lips Five instead let some of his thoughts tumble out. Typically, he would tell you these things, but since you were gone he needed someone to listen to him.

"Klaus, I've dedicated my entire life to stopping the apocalypse. Apocalypses, plural. And he tells me..."

"Mm-hmm?" Klaus encourages

"That it's... it's, what? It's meaningless?" Five questioned aloud as he continued explaining

"Oh, well, I don't know anything- " Klaus mentioned as he refilled his shot glass

"Maybe that's his way of saying not to become him, but..." Five trailed off

Letting out a heavy sigh, Five finally downed his shot of vodka. Maybe the alcohol could help him feel better, but he doubted it. It numbed his pain, but it never made it go away. The only thing that could truly make him forget about his pain was you.

"Oh, you're really messed up about this, huh?" Klaus commented

He was more than messed up about it, he was pretty much wrecked by it. His founder self had failed his mission and died, and now here he was on the same path practically doomed to repeat history if he didn't find some type of way to change things soon.

"I've cheated time so much, I guess I just figured I'd somehow cheat death." Five elaborated "But it turns out, I die alone as a one-armed nightmare inside a bureaucratic hellscape of my own design."

"Spoiler alert!" Klaus exclaimed trying to lighten the mood

Five didn't pick up on it though as he was still stuck in his own head. Reaching into his suit pocket he pulled out the tattooed piece of skin he had cut off his Founder self, placed it on the bar, and remarked,

"Not to mention the trashy tattoo."

"Is this your skin?" Klaus asked intrigued as he poked at the cut flesh

"I'll be damned if I go out with an old man tramp stamp." Five retorted

"If you don't wanna end up like this guy, why don't you just do something completely different?" Klaus suggested enthusiastically "Completely different- Move upstate, lose your virginity, become an alpaca farmer. I think (Y/N) would like alpacas."

Five thought about what Klaus had said. He could do something different. And living on a farm with you did sound pretty nice. Just doing anything with you besides the apocalypse sounded nice.

"Yeah, I could. The timeline's malleable. We've proven that much. I could try and break the cycle, but-" Five began to reply before cutting himself off and asking "Wait what was that second part?"

"Don't worry about it. You'll get there on your own." Klaus reassured, "Listen, just keep your arms and extremities away from sharp objects, and don't join the Mothers of Agony."

"What?" Five asked confused

"The tattoo." Klaus explained, "It's the symbol of the biker gang, the Mothers of Agony."

Picking up his Founder self's skin he looked at the symbol tattooed onto it again as he questioned,

"You know them?"

"Like two timelines ago, they were...how do I put it?" Klaus elaborated "My farmacistas."

Finding this out, the wheels in Five's head began to turn. He may have lost access to the Kugelblitz, but maybe someone in the Mothers of Agony could help him out. If his Founder self had been marked with their symbol it meant there was at least one person there who could give him some insight on how to fix this mess. Rolling the tattooed skin up, he placed it back in his pocket as he stated,

"This is good."

Five began to step away from the bar, but before he could get too far he realized he had no clue where the Mothers of Agony were. Turning on his heel he looked at Klaus again who was already pouring himself another shot.

"Wait..." Five asked, "Where are they located?"

"Corner of Morgan and Grove Street." Klaus answered, "Pretty hard to miss with all the bikes outside."

"Thank you, Klaus."

Leaving Klaus behind at the bar Five quickly blinked outside the hotel. Rushing to the sidewalk he stuck out his hand and hailed an oncoming cab. Before the cab even came to a full stop Five had already opened the door and sat in the back seat. Slamming the door behind him, he looked at the cab driver and said,

"Morgan and Grove. Quickly."

Turning to look at who had just gotten into his car and requested a ride to the intersection of Morgan Street and Grove Street, the cab driver gave Five a once-over look. He was slightly confused as to why this finely dressed young man wanted to go to an unwelcoming biker bar such as the Mothers of Agony, but he didn't care enough to ask. With a shrug of his shoulders, the cab driver faced forward again and began to head toward the destination as Five headed to his next clue in the puzzle of saving the world.

While Five was headed off to his next destination, you had already made it to yours. Like usual the parlor of the Academy was empty. For something that was supposed to be the fancy equivalent of a living room it sure always felt dead in there. But off in the corner, you saw a familiar sight of the grand piano you'd play. As you walked over to it, Ben seemed to linger a few paces behind, but that wasn't really something you were focused on. Approaching the piano, you could see the lid was closed and covered in dust. How long had it been since someone touched this? Had it sat silent all these years? Wiping the dust away, you opened the lid and ran your fingers over the keys, not pressing any of them yet and instead admiring the feeling. There was something comforting about feeling the keys beneath your fingertips. Perhaps it was the familiarity, but as you continued to caress the ivories, your hand stopped at one specific key. You hovered over it for a moment, but with one press a single G note echoed through the parlor. From the corner of your eye, you could see Ben's head snap to look toward the piano, and as you turned to look at him a smirk came to your face.

"I see someone had an emo phase." You remarked playfully

"Emo phase? I don't even know what that is." Ben replied defensively

Instead of responding to him though you went back to playing the intro keys to Welcome to the Black Parade but stopped before the final note. Looking back over at Ben you saw panic form on his face.

Ben knew that if he corrected you, you would know that you were right, but at the same time, it was practically disrespectful for you not to play the song's intro in full. He tried to hold back and keep himself from correcting you, knowing that's what you wanted, but the frustration of the incomplete intro was too much as he demanded,

"Play the last note!"

"Ha! I knew it!" You exclaimed

You saw as Ben rolled his eyes as you played the final note of the intro and released him from his turmoil. Although now you were going to have to deal with his annoyance at finding him out.

"So is that all you know how to play?" Ben deflected

"Benjamin, do you realistically think that's all I know how to play?" You questioned rhetorically

"No." Ben answered

"Exactly." You stated, "Now, you can either continue sulking that I found out you actually might have some music taste or you come over here and listen to me play like you said you would."

Ben looked at you for a moment, watching as you pulled out the piano bench and sat down. You were worming your way further and further into his brain and he wasn't sure what to do about it. He wasn't against it, and he wasn't really fighting it at this point anymore, but it was still a little scary how you did it with such ease. Softly, you began to play the sound of an ambling melody as Ben finally walked over to you. Sitting down next to you on the piano bench he heard as you asked,

"Any requests?"

In that moment it was as if his mind went blank and he had never listened to any music in his entire life. He could say Welcome to the Black Parade, but he'd probably never hear the end of it from you if he did. With nothing else coming to mind he answered,

"Uh no, you pick."

"Oh, there's so many choices. Classical, musicals, modern piano covers..." You rambled as you tried to think

And then it hit you. The perfect song to fill this lackluster house with some vibrance.

"Have you ever seen Howl's Moving Castle?" You asked Ben

"No, what's that?" He responded curiously

"It's a beautiful animated movie. The story is touching, the art is incredible and the music, the music is iconic." You explained "The song I'm gonna play is from that movie. Now, it won't quite be the same without the strings, but I'll make it work and hopefully, you'll still like it."

"If you're as good as people say you are, then I'm sure I will." Ben replied

"I am." You stated confidently

A smirk came to Ben's face at your response. He liked your confidence. It was one of the many things he was starting to admire about you.

Looking down at the piano you took a breath and placed your hands on the starting keys and after a moment of silence, you began to play Merry-Go-Round of Life. Slowly, the beginning of the piece flowed through the Academy, it's enchanting sound filling the silent halls. Closing your eyes you embraced the nostalgic feeling you got from the song, and as it approached the first string part you used your powers to press more keys than your hands cover making it so that both the piano and what was technically the string portion could be heard.

But as you moved through the piece, duetting with yourself and bringing life to the joyless building, you could hear the sound of strings playing in your head. Specifically, you could hear the familiar sound of a viola playing the string portion of the song. Opening your eyes you look up and past the piano and there she was, Viktoria, standing there with a smile as she played her viola along with you. As you looked off to the left, you saw the rest of your friends, including Charlie, sitting on the couches happily listening to you play. You knew in your head that they weren't there, but for a moment you'd let your heart believe they were. A small, bittersweet smile came to your face as you let the music flow through you and played in honor of the friends you lost.

Ben listened in awe as the gorgeous melody of the song filled the air. Even though you were playing one instrument it was almost like he was hearing a whole orchestra given how many parts you were playing at once. As the music danced through the room, and Ben watched you perform with all your talent he could feel emotion build up in him, but once again he couldn't find the words to describe it. But he could feel it. The feeling was warm and made his chest feel tight and his stomach do flips. He didn't think about it much though as he focused his attention on you.

That was until he saw something move up above the two of you. Looking up toward the balcony above the parlor, Ben could see his three remaining siblings standing there listening to you play. Sloane smiled with a dreamy look on her face, Fei stood leaning slightly over the balcony railing as she watched intently, and Christopher slightly swayed to the music. And as the song crescendoed their awestruck reactions reflected Ben's own feelings as he knew they were recalling the same memory he had of their father from when they were children. But now hearing you play, Ben knew their father was right, your abilities were beyond compare. Even if they tried none of them would've ever gotten to your level of talent.

Swaying with the music, you closed your eyes and played with all the emotion you had in you. You put your entire heart into the piece, at least all that was left of it. And as the song came to its end you opened your eyes once more and saw all of your friends were gone. You could feel slight tears prick your eyes as your moment of peace slipped away, and you were reminded of the fact that they weren't there to begin with and they never would be again. All you had left were the phantom versions in your mind that both helped and hurt you each time they appeared. As you lifted your hands from the keys and placed them in your lap you heard Ben compliment,

"That was amazing,"

"Thank you." You responded softly

Ben could hear the hint of sadness in your tone. It was faint and perhaps if he wasn't paying so much attention he would've missed it. Nevertheless, it was there.

"What's wrong?" Ben inquired

Looking away from your lap and toward Ben you could see the concern on his face and you heard the care in his tone. You didn't expect him to notice such a small change in demeanor but it was nice. It was familiar.

"I'm fine, it's just a memory." You recalled "My friend Viktoria and I would duet the song together. She played viola so she'd take the string parts while I'd play the piano. I heard her playing in my mind, but I know she's not here."

He looked down at the ground as he felt a pit forming in his stomach. Two floors below you was where the black hole that took your friends and tore you apart was, but you had no clue because it wasn't actively giving off a wave. Part of him didn't want to tell you about it. He was finally having positive interactions with you, and he worried if you found out that this whole time the thing that had hurt you was right beneath your feet and he hadn't told you, there was a chance that those would stop. Then again you'd probably find out at some point either through your powers, his siblings, or your annoyingly persistent...boyfriend. Perhaps it was better if he told you. At least then he could say he was honest with you. looking over at you Ben called,

"(Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" You replied

"I want to show you something." Ben stated

You looked at him slightly confused. You had come down here to play the piano and now he wanted to go somewhere else? Seeing your hesitation, Ben added,

"It's important."

There was sincerity in his tone and you could see the serious look on his face. If it meant this much to him then you might as well see what it was. Nodding your head you replied,

"Okay."

"Follow me." Ben said, gesturing out of the parlor

Standing up from the piano, you closed the lid before following him out of the room. As you walked through the Academy, you made your way down the stairs, past the kitchen, and to the basement door. You looked at Ben concerned as he opened the door and began to walk down the stairs. What the hell was in the basement that was so important to show you? Cautiously, you followed him down the stairs and when you reached the bottom landing you could see a bright light glowing behind a wall down the corridor. You followed behind Ben as he walked toward the glowing light and as you rounded the corner you finally saw what he wanted to show you. You stood there in shock as you took in the sight of a bright burning orb floating in the air. It rippled and flared like a miniature sun and yet it wasn't really affecting anything right now.

"Benjamin...is that..." You began to question hesitantly

"The black hole? Yeah." He responded, "I thought you might want to know given well...y'know."

You looked at the orb silently. This thing had been the cause of most of your pain recently, both physically and emotionally. It was a danger to your existence and was continuously tearing apart your life. And yet as you, one anomaly, looked at another anomaly, you couldn't help be be slightly enthralled. You were born out of nothing and felt everything, and this black hole was born out of everything and felt nothing. The world was a sucker for balance and you and the Kugelblitz were opposite sides of the same coin.

Carefully, you walked closer to it. You knew it couldn't hurt you right now, as you described it to Ben, it was Schrodinger's energy, but you wanted to understand it more. As you stood about a foot away from it, you brought your powers to the forefront, rather than letting them linger idly in the background. With your back turned to Ben, your eyes glowed blue, and for a moment, it felt like nothing, but as you honed in a little more you could feel the potential energy of lying underneath the surface of the Kugelblitz. It reminded you of a pot of boiling water with a lid on top. From the outside, there wasn't really much feeling, but inside there was so much more going on. You could make out the feeling of the microbursts of energy beneath the calm surface and the way those bursts created more pressure inside. It scared you a little, how you were currently safe, but you knew that wouldn't last forever. Due to the "lid" it couldn't hurt you now, but the minute the Kugelblitz boiled over, it was gonna hurt again. And it was going to hurt a lot.

Slightly, you raised your hand toward the Kugelblitz to "feel" it better, but the moment you did so Ben grabbed your hand and pulled you back. But he was only able to hold on for a second before a rush of overwhelming pain coursed through his system causing him to drop to his knees. He grabbed at his head that now loudly pulsed as he let out a groan.

Your eyes reverted to normal as you returned your powers to the background. Turning around you looked down at Ben, as you reprimanded,

"Don't do that. Do you know how dangerous it is to touch me when I'm using my full abilities?"

"Do you know how dangerous it is to touch that thing?" He shouted "And what do you mean full abilities?! What the hell was that!"

"Literally the weight of the world. You just felt everything around us." You shouted back "My powers have an active and an idle mode. You could've killed yourself grabbing me when they're fully active like that!"

With his pain subsided Ben stood up from the floor and approached you. A look of frustration covered his face as he yelled,

"And you could've killed yourself if that thing decided to flare out! I was trying to protect you!"

You didn't shout back. Instead, you stayed quiet as you looked at him and in doing so you noticed something. The expression on his face that you thought was frustration wasn't actually such. It was concern. Genuine concern. yes, he had looked at you slightly concerned earlier in the day, but those times it still felt like he was trying to somewhat hide it behind some tough exterior. This, however, was out in the open. He was concerned and he wasn't hiding it...kind of like a friend would do.

"Okay." You responded calmly "It's an intriguing phenomenon, but I'll be more careful around it."

Ben paused. He felt good knowing you wouldn't get so close to the black hole but was confused by the fact that you weren't yelling back anymore. When he got into arguments with other people they just kept yelling until one person walked away, but you didn't walk away, you just stopped. It didn't feel like you relented either, you just calmed down and agreed. Was that normal for people? Because to him it felt...out of place. Not really knowing how to respond now, Ben replied,

"Oh. Okay."

You waited for him to say something else, but when nothing came you looked away from him and at the Kugelblitz once more. Ben mimicked your action and the two of you stood silently as you watched the glowing ball ripple. This was it, huh? The thing that was going to destroy everything.

"So does it hurt?" Ben asked breaking the silence "Feeling everything all the time?"

"It used to when I was really little, but not anymore." You replied "Well, except if Viktor uses his powers too much or that thing explodes. Then it hurts like a bitch."

"That sounds terrible." Ben remarked

Your powers weren't terrible, only the painful experiences that were a side effect of them. You loved your powers, they were an integral part of who you were and how you lived. Even when your abilities were idle you still felt everything and it was like the world was singing to you. For as long as you could remember the world was full of life and song and there was nothing you would trade that for.

"No. Excluding those exceptions, it's actually really beautiful. Everything has its own little hum and it's like a symphony that plays just for me." You answered, "What would be terrible is if it all went silent."

Your answer intrigued Ben. He certainly never considered his powers to be something beautiful. Until he learned to control his powers he found them to be mostly a burden, not that he would tell anyone that. And even now, they might not be a burden but there certainly wasn't anything beautiful about eldritch tentacles from a portal in his gut. If he could choose between his power or yours, he'd probably pick the versatile, deadly, and apparently beautiful one you seemed to possess.

"So what do your powers sound like?" Ben asked

"Oh well, it's less of a sound and more of a feeling. But it's like a loud feeling. Kinda like being next to a giant speaker-" You began to explain before cutting yourself off and saying "Actually, it would be easier to just show you."

Ben saw as you stuck out your hand toward him and looked at it hesitantly. He was interested in your offer, but not the associated pain that came with it. While it might not hurt you, it sure as hell hurt him and he wasn't sure if he was willing to experience that again.

Seeing his hesitation you could easily assume it was from the immense pain he had experienced only moments ago. Given that experience, he had every right to be hesitant, but you tried to ease his mind adding,

"It won't hurt this time, I promise."

Not getting a response from him though you extended your hand slightly closer to him as you asked,

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Ben replied gently, taking your hand

The word had come out of his mouth before he had even realized he said it. It had rolled off his tongue as if he had answered that question a thousand times before. The word came to him so easily, easier than it ever had before. Trust was a complex concept for him. The only person he truly trusted was himself. Even his trust for his siblings and father was conditional although some more conditional than others. And yet, as he looked at his hand holding yours, there wasn't a double in his mind that he trusted you without condition.

"Good. Now if you get lightheaded let me know. My friends didn't and they all passed out when I did this with them." You mentioned, "Also, if it starts to feel like your bones are vibrating out of your skin don't freak out, that's normal."

Ben's head snapped up from looking at his hand holding yours, as he quickly questioned,

"Wait what."

However, you did not hear his question though as you had already started bringing your power to the forefront more. The symphony of the world grew louder as you focused on emphasizing your abilities enough for Ben to feel them, but not to the point where it would hurt him. You were the only person who was cut out for fully feeling all that existed. Granted, it wasn't really a choice in the beginning, but it certainly was now and you wouldn't put that on another person unless they deserved it. As you slowly increased your focus you could feel the rhythmic hum of everything around you come together like an orchestra playing a song. Closing your eyes you peacefully embraced the feeling of it all and it was beautiful.

Ben however was trying to process feeling like his bones were going to vibrate out of his skin. You said that this was normal, but it certainly didn't feel it. As for his prior thought of wanting to switch powers with you, he immediately took that thought back. His heart was racing. Was he going to die? This was terrifying. More terrifying than his powers were before he learned to control them. How was this beautiful? But as he wondered if this would be over soon he heard you calmly say,

"Feel it, don't fight it."

He looked over at you. Your eyes were still closed and you looked peaceful as you took steady breaths in and out. He didn't know if he could stop fighting the feeling of his skeleton hatching from under his skin, but he was the one who agreed to this so he could try. For you. Closing his eyes as well, he mimicked your steady breathing as he tried to feel the same way you felt. For a moment it still felt like his insides were going to come out, but then the sensation changed.

Instead of one overwhelming vibration, it splintered off into a bunch of smaller ones. It felt less like an explosion and more like a blanket that surrounded him. Some of the vibrations were faster, and some slower, and yet they all came together in a coordinated way. And then he heard it. The loud hum you were talking about. You were right it was less of a sound than it was a feeling, but the longer he embraced it the more he understood your point. The way every feeling came together, it was like a symphony. It was your symphony and it was incredible. Opening his eyes, he looked over at you.

There was a peaceful smile on your face as the glow of the black hole reflected off your skin and as you held his hand he could feel that electric feeling rush through him again. And for a moment it felt like he couldn't breathe.

"I think I'm getting lightheaded." He stated

"Oh, that's enough for you then." You replied concerned

Quickly, and to Ben's internal disappointment, you pulled your hand away from him and put your powers on the back burner again. Looking over at him, you smiled as you commented,

"It's pretty right?"

"Very." He replied

Before you could say anything else, your stomach growled loudly and you could feel how empty it was. Huh. You were so distracted by the events of the day you totally forgot that you needed to eat.

"Hungry?" Ben asked

"Yeah. I haven't eaten since this morning." You replied

"Well, there's a diner a few blocks away." Ben suggested

"They got coffee?" You asked

"It's a diner, of course they do." Ben answered

"Alright, let's go then." You said

You took one last look at the Kugelblitz. You knew this thing, this frightening, intriguing anomaly, would be the cause of your demise, but you might as well make the most of the time you had left. And so ignoring the facts in front of you, you followed Ben out of the basement and back upstairs to go grab food at a diner. But as the two of you walked into the foyer to exit, you saw as Luther walked in the front door with Sloane. Whatever positive feelings you had just a moment ago quickly faded as you saw him. Your anger and annoyance came back in full swing as you watched him finally notice you. Part of you wanted to just turn invisible and walk outside the door, but the last thing you needed was Luther or Sloane stopping Ben because you walked out. Perhaps the two of you could get by them without an interaction. That thought was quickly disproven though as Luther awkwardly greeted,

"(Y/N). Hey."

"Luther." You deadpanned

It was obvious that you were still upset about earlier, and reflecting on it rightfully so. Granted, Luther hoped more of that anger was directed toward Diego although Luther did bear some fault. Trying to smooth things over, Luther began to explain,

"Listen about what I said-"

However, Ben could sense your annoyance. You didn't even like the Umbrella Academy members. You didn't want to see them, let alone talk to them. But beyond your annoyance, Ben could feel his annoyance grow too. You and him were supposed to be going to get dinner together and Luther had the audacity to stop you guys? Stepping forward, Ben cut off harshly,

"Does it look like she wants to talk to you?"

"Huh?" Luther replied, looking at Ben confused

You didn't want to do this. You didn't want to talk to Luther. Truly you didn't want to talk to any of the Umbrellas except Five, of course. He was the only one you weren't upset at because he was the only one who actually cared about you.  And this attitude that Ben was having about the situation wasn't desirable either. Sure, it was nice that he was supporting you, but you didn't need him to fight your battles. Especially when there really wasn't a battle to be had. Trying to avoid the situation, you walked past Luther to the front door as you called back,

"Benjamin, let's just go."

Ben gave Luther a dirty look before relenting and beginning to follow behind you, but right as you opened the front door you heard Luther call out,

"(Y/N) I'm so sorry about Lucas."

"Who's Lucas?" Sloane asked

"Our son." Luther answered

"What?" Sloane questioned confused

"I'll explain later." Luther said before repeating "(Y/N) I'm sorry about Lucas." 

And this was exactly why you didn't want to talk to any of the Umbrellas except Five because unlike him, they didn't get it. They didn't understand your pain, your grief, your anger. And they surely didn't understand that their apologies meant nothing now that it was already too late. Wasting your time with Ben was a decent distraction, but you still could feel that heavy, twisting feeling in your gut knowing that your loved ones were forcibly taken from you and there was nothing you could've done about it. You could feel emotion begin to build up inside you. Lucas spent his whole life through the good and the bad looking up to Luther and this is all he got in the end? A simple apology after he was already gone. Looking back over your shoulder at Luther, you tried your best to keep yourself together as you replied,

"Don't talk about him like you cared."

And with that, you walked out the door leaving Luther and Sloane behind.

"(Y/N)..." Luther called sadly

"Leave her alone." Ben remarked back as he stood in the doorway "Hasn't your family fucked up enough already?"

Luther wondered what Ben's deal was, but before he could try to inquire, Ben walked out the door pulling it shut behind him. Walking out the front gates of the academy, he made his way over to where you stood on the sidewalk. 

"You okay?" Ben asked

"Yeah, just caught off guard." You responded collecting yourself "I wasn't ready to face any of them yet."

"I can kick him out of the Academy if you want." Ben mentioned, "After all, it's our home, not his."

"Eh, it's not worth it." You rejected before stating "Let's just go eat."

And so the two of you walked away from the Academy and around the block to the diner

At this point, day had turned to night and a cool breeze blew down the city streets. The silence and the lack of life were even more evident at night compared to earlier in the day. It was eerie, but more so it was sad. As you rounded the corner of the block, you saw up ahead the place Ben was talking about. The neon sign might've said Greta's Diner, but you recognized the building immediately. It was Griddy's. Or at least it would've been if you were in the right timeline. You paused for a moment looking at the building as Ben continued to walk ahead. However, after a few paces, he stopped and looked back at you calling,

"Come on."

Picking up your pace, you caught up to him as the two of you made it to the building. Opening the door you stepped inside and took in the surroundings, getting hit by a wave of nostalgia as you realized they were the exact same. The layout, the color scheme, the entire vibe, it was all identical. 

"Well, this is the place." Ben stated before asking "Where do you want to sit? Booth? Counter?"

You looked around the place as memories rushed back to you. You remembered a few times with your friends, crowding the seven of you into one booth to enjoy some late-night pastries. There were the times when Eudora would take you here for a quick breakfast before dropping you off at school. And then there were the most important memories of this place. Your times with Five. You remembered sitting at the counter next to him on the day he returned back into your life, and those few nice moments before this apocalyptical cycle started. And then there were all the times you spent here as kids. You could practically see the younger versions of you and him sitting at the booth in the back corner. You with your jelly donut and him with his plain glazed one. You recalled the way the world would just fade away as you sat and talked for hours, day after day. It was nice. You missed that. 

Turning your attention back to Ben, you answered his question saying,

"Table."

It's not that you couldn't sit at a booth or the counter with Ben, but those places were special. If you were going to sit there then you should be sitting there with Five. Nevertheless, you walked over to one of the many open tables in the place and sat down across from Ben. While Griddy's, or well now Greta's, was never the hot spot to be, it never felt deserted either, but right now this place was a ghost town with only you and Ben in it. For a moment you even wondered if there was anyone working here before you saw a server finally walk out from the back. As she rounded the corner from the kitchen she looked surprised to see you and Ben there, but put on a nice customer service face as she approached the table. Seeing her customer service face, you felt bad for being here. You should've just tried to deal with Luther's presence and ate at the Academy rather than making this waitress serve you in the middle of a global crisis. It was too late though as she already had pulled out her notepad and greeted,

"Welcome to Greta's, what can I get started for you?"

"Coffee. Cream on the side." Ben stated before adding "Pork roll, egg, and cheese. Salt, pepper, ketchup."

"Okay." The waitress replied writing everything down before asking "And you?"

"Um, coffee and a plate of disco fries." You answered before quickly adding "And one jelly and one plain glazed donut please."

"Alright, I'll get that started for you two." The server replied, "I'll be right back with a coffee pot."

As the server walked behind the counter to get your coffee, you looked over at the booth in the corner again and thought of your boyfriend. As much as you needed this time away from the Umbrella Academy, you still hated leaving him. The only positive was he hadn't called yet which meant he probably wasn't in danger. Although, you wished he had a cellphone so you could call him instead of waiting for him to call you. Maybe that wasn't a good idea though. You were pretty sure he didn't know how to work a smartphone, and if his reaction to that vending machine that wouldn't give him a snack was any indication, a smartphone given to him probably wouldn't be functional for very long. However, that didn't stop the feeling in your heart of wanting to be with him. You loved him and you missed him. 

Soon enough the waitress brought back a pot of coffee, some cream, and two cups, placing them on the table for you and Ben. You gave her a polite smile before grabbing the pot and pouring some coffee into both, pouring slightly less in Ben's to make room for the cream he wanted. When you were done pouring, you placed the coffee pot off to the side and as Ben poured cream into his cup, he inquired,

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." You replied

"Where did you learn to draw so well?" Ben questioned "I mean buildings so well."

You elected to ignore his correction knowing that he was bad at talking and probably didn't mean it as a slight. But as you thought about the answer to his question you smiled knowing exactly why you were so good.

"My mom." You answered softly as you reminisced about her "She was an architect and interior designer. I always watched her drawing buildings and room interiors so that's all I ever practiced drawing too. I like to think I got pretty good at it, but it'll never beat her drawings."

Ben didn't expect your answer. You were so intertwined with that of the Umbrella Academy that he forgot that you weren't part of it. But what intrigued him the most was the way in which you spoke. You responded softly, but there was a reverence in your tone and although there was a smile on your face there was a sadness in your eyes. You missed her. He wondered what it was like to miss your mom. Ben had no memories of his birth mother since he was adopted right after he was born and Grace was never really a mother to him, just a maid. What was it like to have a mom? What was it like to have a parent you wanted to be around and be like? Was it nice? It seemed nice. 

"Do you want to be an architect like her?" Ben wondered

"No, I didn't really share my parents' passion for buildings." You explained candidly "My dad was an engineer. My parents owned an all-in-one architecture, construction, and interior design firm. They loved creating buildings, but me? Not so much."

"So what do you want to do?" Ben inquired curiously

A question that used to be so simple was now so loaded. You didn't know what you wanted to do anymore. You wanted to graduate high school, but you never existed in this timeline. You wanted to go to college with your friends, but none of them were around. You wanted to have a life with Five, but that seemed like it would never happen. You wanted to be fully happy, but how could you when everything was so wrong? There was nothing for you to want anymore, only things you wanted. However, that was too much to put on someone who had only known you for a few days. 

"My dream was to go to college and major in Chemistry with a minor in Physics. Maybe minor in music as well." You answered "I wanted to figure out a way to put my powers to good use. Solve some unsolvable problem. I wanted to help people."

"Wanted?" Ben asked confused before continuing "Why can't you do it? Is it money? I can pay for you to go."

"That's sweet of you, but-" You began to reply

"But what?" Ben pressed

"Benjamin, the world is ending." You stated matter-of-factly "There's no time for dreams anymore."

No time for dreams? No, there had to still be time. The world hadn't ended yet. There had to be a way for him to fix this. He was Number One of the Sparrow Academy after all. He was born and raised to save the world. There had to be a way he could make your dreams a reality again. 

"Isn't there time to stop this?" Ben suggested

"Pfft, to even try we'd need the Sparrows and Umbrellas to work together and that's like trying to mix oil and water and then setting it on fire." You scoffed "At this point, my only hope is that I die in one piece."

"Don't say that." Ben protested "You never know, maybe it'll work out."

You looked at him curiously as you replied intrigued,

"I didn't take you for an optimist," 

"Sometimes we find reasons to be." Ben replied sincerely

Before you could say anything else though your food had arrived. And as you heard your stomach growl once more you knew it was time to eat. But while you and Ben quietly ate your food, Five was struggling not to voice his opinions to his taxi driver. 

Even with Five expressing the need for speed on the drive, it still took a good bit of time to get from the hotel to downtown where the bar was. Between the cab driver's insistence on following traffic rules plus all the detours that had to be made to avoid the droves of abandoned cars, what should've been a 20-minute ride at most took closer to an hour. And with each passing minute, Five grew more frustrated. He needed to get to this bar. What if the person he was looking for wasn't there by the time he got there all because of this specific cab driver? Like most other things there wasn't much Five could do but it was still quicker than walking to the place. From a block away, Five could see the glowing lights of the bar sign and headlights. However, instead of continuing to drive, the cab pulled off to the side of the road and parked the car before looking at Five in the rearview mirror.

"This is as far as I'll take ya, kid." The cab driver said, "Those bikers ain't the neighborly types."

"Fair enough." Five replied

Five didn't mind walking the rest of the way, he had already wanted to get out of the cab 20 minutes ago. Pulling out some cash, Five handed over the owed amount for the ride to the driver before opening the door and leaving the car. He watched from the sidewalk as the cab driver quickly turned around a drove off leaving him alone on the street. From down the block, he could hear the sound of revving engines and rowdy shouts. Well, at least he knew for sure he was heading in the right direction. With his hands in his pockets, Five walked away from where he was dropped off and towards his true destination. As he approached the bar, he walked through a crowd of bikers and their motorcycles outside.

"What you doing here, baby?" One woman asked

"You lost?" Another man called out

Five ignored their judgmental glares. He one, was tired and didn't care, and two, had far more important things to worry about than some drunk bikers. Stepping up to the door he passed the painted Mothers of Agony sign in the doorway and entered into the building itself. Walking up a set of stairs he was met with the sight of a stereotypical biker bar. The interior looked like that of a warehouse that just had a bar, chairs, and stripper pole plopped into it. The floors were concrete and covered in dirt and the walls were littered with posters of motorcycles and neon signs. The dim lights and cigarette smoke created a warm haze in the room that was only broken by the spotlight on the pole dancer in the middle. This whole place smelled like a mix of beer and piss and the glares from the patrons did nothing to improve the environment. Those glares however were not intimidating to Five like they probably hoped. He could kill them before they even realized they were dead. At this point, they were just getting in his way. At the far back of the room Five could see a door that said members only, and if anyone was going to help him understand what was going on it wouldn't be one of the brainless drones out here. Making his way through the leather-wrapped crowd, he pushed open the members-only door and headed toward the figure in the center of the room.

"I've been looking for you." Five called out

As the figure turned around though Five's confident demeanor shifted as slight confusion took over. The figure standing before him was Pogo. What was he doing here? Five never got the chance to see if he was around the academy because he and his siblings got their asses handed to them and then thrown out before they could really explore, but he had assumed that Pogo was still there somewhere. This didn't seem like the type of place he would be unless something had happened. He could only wonder what that was though.

"I don't tattoo children." Pogo replied

That wasn't quite true. He did for a certain price and if they had a decent level of respect for the process, but whoever this was Pogo had neither the time nor patience for them. They looked of age to tattoo, but who did they think they were barging in like they owned the place? And what kind of young adult nowadays chose to wear a suit, and especially to to a biker club? Whatever the case was, Pogo didn't want to deal with him.

"Swell, I'm not here for the ink." Five retorted "I'm here because you and I have a mutual friend. Sir Reginald Hargreeves." 

Pogo let out a sigh as he turned back around to continue working on the person he was tattooing. He had no care for Sir Reginald Hargreeves and whatever mess that followed him around. He had spent too long caring about that man and he wasn't going to start again now.

"Whatever he wants, I'm not interested." Pogo dismissed

"I don't think you understand. I'm one of his children." Five explained seriously "From another timeline."

Although Five couldn't see it, Pogo's eyes went wide. Another timeline? No. There was no way that this was possible. Regaining his composure, Pogo looked back at Five and chuckled snarkily,

"Another timeline?"

"As crazy as it sounds, you and I have met before. Back in 1963, when you were a diaper-wearing chimp in dire need of a manicure." Five reiterated as he pulled down the collar of his shirt "I don't know if you remember, but I have a scar to prove it."

Pogo looked at the young man before him. If what he was saying was true then wouldn't he be of an advanced age by now? All this gibberish was probably just some twisted scheme to get him back to the academy. But the academy was no longer his home, this is where he belonged now. Giving a slight nod to his friends in the room they began to inch closer to the young man before him. As his friends surrounded the boy on all sides, Pogo looked directly at him.

"If what you're saying is true, I'd be talking to a man well into his sixties." Pogo retorted "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've had a very long day."

Grabbing his things, Pogo turned and walked away. This boy and whatever his deal was weren't his problem. As Pogo walked away though, Five stepped forward calling out,

"Pogo, you need to listen to me."

But before he could get to Pogo, the other men in the room stepped close and surrounded him, stopping him in his path.

"Time to go home to Mommy, lil guy." One of the bikers remarked

Was that supposed to scare him or something? It's not like they could do anything to him. They were just a bunch of drunk bikers, but he was Five Hargreeves. Former superhero, former assassin, time traveler, your boyfriend, Five Hargreeves. Looking back at the guy who spoke to him Five mocked,

"Or what?"

Before any of them could say anything though he had already blinked out of the room and outside to follow Pogo. As he looked around the lot of motorcycles he saw Pogo's figure quickly riding away on one.

"Shit." Five said aloud

Looking around he saw another biker, his motorcycle turned on and ready to ride off. Quickly approaching him, Five shouted,

"Hey, I need your bike. It's an emergency."

However, the man on the motorcycle gave Five a snarky look as he retorted,

"Think you have me confused with someone who gives a shit."

"Give me the bike or else." Five shouted back

But the man did not listen and instead began to ride off down the road. Stand where he was left, Five looked at the biker who had ridden off and quietly said,

"Okay."

This wasn't what he wanted to do, but he needed a ride immediately if he was going to keep up with Pogo. With a running start, Five blinked onto the back of the motorcycle of the guy who had driven away. Placing his hands on the guy's shoulders, Five forced him off the bike before taking control of it himself. Steadying himself he looked around for Pogo and once he had spotted him up ahead he floored it so that he could keep up. As he followed behind Five knew one thing, this was going to be a long, stressful night.

As for you, the night felt quite calm compared to where your day started. The pain and grief of losing all your friends hadn't vanished. In reality, it still hurt a lot, but at least for now, you were distracted. There were only so many days until the world ended and perhaps if you could distract yourself until then, maybe you could at least co-exist with your pain. After you and Ben finished eating, he paid for your meals as you made your way back to the Academy. You and Ben walked down the sidewalk idly chatting with each other, your voices being the only prominent sound in an oddly quiet part of the city. As you ambled back, you playfully bumped into him as you attempted to push him into the empty road. Seeing what you had done, Ben smirked before bumping back into you a little harder toward the building you walked next to. Back and forth you went bumping each other, first just using your bodies but then incorporating your powers for some extra strength. With one tentacle Ben shoved you toward the nearest building and laughed as you phased through the wall to avoid crashing into it. Popping back out of the wall, you looked at him as he continued to laugh and with a flick of your wrist, you sent him stumbling off the sidewalk and into the road. As you watched him struggle to stay on his feet you began to laugh back at him.

But then, you felt the energy of the world changing. It was no longer peaceful and calm, something was growing and quickly. Your gut dropped and your laughter stopped as you looked off toward the Academy just two blocks away. You knew what this feeling was and you knew how this ended. You froze, adrenaline coursing through your system, but fear keeping you paralyzed. Each energy wave was worse than the last. The pain was immense and the injuries you sustained increased each time. Oh god, what if this one took you? You told Five you would come back to him. You couldn't leave him like this. You loved him. All you had wanted was a little time. Why was there never enough time? You wanted to run away or hide or do anything you could to protect yourself but the terror of the unknown immobilized you. All it seemed like you could do was wait for the black hole to burst.

As Ben regained his balance, he noticed that you had stopped laughing. Looking over at you he saw you frozen in place your eyes trained forward down the street. Looking off in the distance he tried to see what it was that caused you to freeze, but there was nothing there. Something wasn't right. He could feel it. Quickly, he rushed over to you and saw the terror in your eyes. He could feel his heart start to beat faster and he asked,

"(Y/N), are you okay?"

Hearing Ben's voice, your eyes finally peeled away from the road ahead to him. As you looked at him you saw the sincerity in his eyes and you heard the genuine concern in his voice. And even through your panic you saw him. You saw Ben. The one who sought you out. The one who paid attention to you. The Ben who cared for you. He may not have been the same Ben, but he was still your Ben. He was your friend. He was the family the rest of Hargreeves couldn't be. If this was going to happen, at least you knew you'd have someone who cared by your side.

"Whatever happens, promise you won't leave me." You quickly stated, a begging-like tone to your voice

Leave you? He wasn't going to leave you. You were different and fun and he liked talking to you. He didn't feel pressured to be anything with you. You were kind, but you called him out in a way that no one else could. He liked having you around. Leaving you would be the last thing he'd want to do.

"I- I don't understand," Ben replied confused

You were running out of time. The wave was coming and it felt powerful. You didn't know if you'd make it through this one and you didn't want to be alone. You were terrified of being alone. You needed a friend. You needed Ben to promise you to stay. Stay like he always had. Grabbing at his shirt, you looked at him desperately as you shouted,

"Promise me, Ben!"

Ben.

He was Ben.

You called him Ben.

He looked at you, and although your face was frightened your eyes were earnest and sincere. He was Ben. He was your Ben. You wanted him to stay with you and he was going to do just that. He was never going to leave and nothing in this world was going to keep him from you.

"I promise." He replied softly

You gave him a weak smile, but it didn't last long as the energy you felt build up finally burst. Your head whipped back as you saw the giant wave of energy rushing toward you. Your only hope was that the pain would be over quickly. Closer and closer it came, causing you to feel sick even before it hit, and then just like that, it tore through your system. You felt an unbearable ripping sensation spread through your body, like blades cutting you from the inside and out. As you felt your body giving out from under you, you thought of Five one more time before everything went black.

It was as if the world moved in slow motion as Ben watched you go from standing with him holding onto his shirt to letting go and falling to the ground. He tried to reach out to catch you but he wasn't quick enough. Immediately, he dropped to his knees on the ground next to you and gently shook your shoulders as he called out,

"(Y/N)?"

But you didn't respond. You didn't even move. His heart began to race as he looked over you. All your wounds that were practically healed were now reopened and spilling out blood, and on top of it, there were new, worse wounds as well. You looked pale and when he reached out to check your pulse, he found one but it certainly wasn't strong. Oh god. No. NO! He couldn't lose you. He had just started getting to know you. Just started getting to be around you. You had only moments ago called him by his name. He promised he would stay with you, but he couldn't just let you go. He had to save you. Quickly, he scooped you up in his arms and ran down the blocks toward the Academy. There you could get the treatment you needed. As he made it to the Academy he practically kicked down the door to get in and as he stood in the foyer, with urgency in his tone, he shouted,

"HELP! HELP!"

Quickly, Luther and Sloane ran from the parlor into the foyer where Ben stood. The two of them looked at him and saw the urgency in his eyes before noticing what was making him so panicked. There in his arms was you, limp, pale, and bloodied. It was an awful sight to see you in such a condition.

"Oh my god!" Sloane exclaimed, "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Ben replied, pained unease in his tone

Luther knew what had happened though. It had to have been the same thing that happened earlier today. Nothing else could tear you apart like a strong molecular disturbance and the Kugelblitz was the only thing capable of doing so as of late.

"It must've been another kugelwave." Luther explained "Because of her powers it tears her apart. I saw it happen earlier today."

Ben looked at Luther before looking back at you. That's right, you had mentioned when he found you in the warehouse that the black hole was tearing you apart, and down in the basement you had made the comment of being in immense pain when the black hole explodes. He felt stupid for not realizing what had happened and even stupider for letting one of the people who caused the blackhole point out what was wrong. But as stupid as he felt that didn't matter right now, what mattered was getting you the help you needed. Ben scowled at Luther before turning his attention to Sloane.

"I'm bringing her up to the med bay." Ben stated before commanding "Go find Grace."

But Sloane didn't move. She couldn't as she stared at your unconscious form. You might not have been dead, but you certainly looked it and it hurt her to see you in such a way. No one had been as nice to her in her entire life as you had been in the few moments you were with her. She didn't know if she could call her siblings friends, a lot of times it felt like they were just coworkers, but you were the first person she felt was actually her friend. She couldn't help, but gently reach a hand out toward you, but Ben took a step back and held you closer to him. Looking up at her brother she could see a mix of anger and fear on his face. She had never seen him look like this before.

"SLOANE, GO FIND GRACE!" Ben shouted "NOW!"

"Uh- right- okay!" Sloane stuttered before running off with Luther in tow

With Sloane and Luther attempting to find Grace, Ben rushed up the stairs of the Academy and toward the med bay next to the kitchen. Gently, he placed you down on the bed in there as he waited for Sloane to arrive. What was only a few moments felt like forever as Sloane finally appeared with Grace. Giving a curt nod to Sloane, he turned to look at Grace, her cultish look and missing eye weren't an appealing sight for someone he was hoping to take care of you, but she was the best resource to help. It's not like he could take you to the hospital. At this point there probably wasn't enough staff and surely they would ask questions he wouldn't be able to answer.

"You need to help her. Immediately." Ben commanded

"Of course." Grace replied, her tone cheery but flat "Please leave the room so I can have space to work."

No. He wasn't going to leave. You had asked him to stay with you and he was going to do so no matter what.

"What? No. I want to stay here." Ben complained

"C'mon Ben, look at her, you need to let Grace work or she's going to get worse." Sloane mentioned before offering "If you want we can keep the door open."

He didn't want to leave the room, but Sloane was right. You were looking worse by the second, and you needed help now. At least if the door was open, he could watch Grace to make sure she did her job and nothing else. No matter how much he hated it, it was the best option for now and so he relented,

"Fine."

He gestured for Sloane and Luther to leave the room and once they did so he followed them out making sure to leave the door wide open. While Luther took a seat at the kitchen table, and Sloane started making a pot of coffee, Ben went back and forth between pacing the kitchen and standing in the doorframe of the med bay to watch Grace work. Five minutes became ten, and ten became thirty, and with each passing minute Ben worried more about if you were okay. Surely if it was nothing serious Grace would've been done by now, right? He could see her taking care of you, cleaning your wounds, stitching up gashes, giving you IV fluids, but why was it taking so long? He paced around faster, his head turning to look into the doorway every time he passed by.

As he aggressively paced, Luther and Sloane sat together at the kitchen table just watching Ben. Sloane had never seen him act this way before. She recalled times when he was more vulnerable as children, but his exterior grew harder as he got older, especially after the incident when he was 17. It had been a very long time since she had seen him so concerned about someone other than himself. Perhaps you had found a way to get through to him like no one else could. You certainly were the nicest person the Sparrows had encountered, besides her sweetie pie of a boyfriend of course.

Luther however wasn't as surprised at Ben's reaction. You and Ben had always been close. The relationship between you two wasn't the same as between you and Five of course, but if there was anyone in the family you trusted as much as Five, it was Ben. When Five was busy doing solo training with Reginald, it was always Ben who sought you out. When Ben, unfortunately, fell to the wayside of their father's favor because he didn't like using his powers, you always noticed and stuck up for him. Whenever you spoke, Ben was always intently listening to every word you said. When others didn't have the time to spare to be with him and his literature discussions you always showed up for him. It didn't matter what timeline or what Ben it was, that care, connection, and concern were still there.

The three of them were quiet as they waited for Grace to finish with you, the only sounds being Ben's pacing and the sipping of coffee. But after what felt like forever, Grace finally stepped out of the med bay and into the kitchen. Some blood covered her clothing and her face was relatively expressionless as she looked at the group.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ben immediately questioned

"She is unconscious, but she is stable." Grace explained, "She needs rest but given her current vitals her chances of waking up in the next 12 hours are extremely likely."

The three Hargreeves all sighed a breath of relief as they heard that you'd be okay, but once Grace was out of the way Ben went quickly back into the room and stood by your side. Your wounds were closed and bandaged, there was more color in your face, and minus the stains on your clothing, all the blood you bled was cleaned up. You were injured, but you were okay. Without leaving your side Ben used one of his tentacles to grab a chair from the kitchen table. Bringing it back into the room he placed it behind him before quietly sitting down next to your bedside. Gently, he took one of your hands in his, holding it just as gently as you held his before. He kept his eyes on you, but in his peripheral, he could see as Sloane and Luther entered the room.

"I'm going to stay with her until she wakes up." Ben stated

"Grace said she's going to be okay." Sloane replied, "You don't have to stay."

Yes he did. He did have to stay. He promised you he would and he wasn't going to break that promise. You were terrified when you had passed out. You needed someone to be there for you when you woke to tell you that you were safe.

"I'm not leaving her." Ben stated

"Ben, it's late. I think you should get some rest." Sloane explained

"I said I'm not leaving!" He snapped

Sloane and Luther looked at each other shocked at his outburst, but since it seemed like there was no convincing him to go, it was best just to let him stay.

"Okay..." Sloane quietly said, "Well, Luther and I are heading to bed."

"Then go." Ben remarked, waving them off

Taking Sloane's hand, Luther began to walk the two of them out of the room to leave Ben be, but as they began to head out Sloane whispered,

"What's gotten into him? I've never seen him like this before."

"I don't know, but it's not for us to figure out." Luther whispered back

Ben's eyes darted over to the doorway as he watched the two of them leave. They may have thought they were quiet enough, but Ben heard them. And while Luther and Sloane may not have known what had gotten into Ben, he sure did. All throughout the day it became more and more obvious to him why he was acting the way he was and there was no amount of forced obliviousness or emotional redirection that could deny what he knew now.

He loved you.

He was truly, madly, deeply, undeniably in love with you. It wasn't until he experienced the very real possibility of losing you that it all finally clicked. Ever since he met you, you had consumed his thoughts. When you walked in the room he couldn't think straight and when you looked at him you made his stomach do flips. When you spoke he was completely enthralled and when you touched him, he felt electrified. You were smart and talented and caring and gentle and beautiful. For the first time in a very long time, when he was with you, he didn't feel like Number Two, or Number One, he just felt like Ben. You made him feel this way, and he never wanted to let this feeling go. He looked at you softly, a smile coming to his face as he quietly said,

"I'm not leaving you."

Carefully, he brought your hand, which he held closer to him, and placed a gentle kiss on top of it.

"I promise."

[tgmsunmontue]

Season to Taste - 38/42 WIP

Explicit Hangster - Celebrity Chef Bradley and Naval Aviator Jake Seresin who have a relationship spanning the globe before they realize how tightly bound they are to one another.

PROLOGUE/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (interlude) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (interlude) 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (interlude) 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

CHAPTER THIRTYEIGHT

                Time speeds up and drags at the same time, the way it always does for him when he’s flying and hyper focused on achieving all the goals laid out in front of him. They manage to hit the target, get up and over and then it’s an utter shit show that makes him fairly sure he’s not going to be able to cope with any fireworks for a couple of years. Then Maverick is covering him and going down and all he hears on the comms is the scramble to see a parachute and the denial to go back. Orders to return to the carrier.

                God fucking damn it. He might not like the man very much, but he does respect his skill.

                Can’t leave him exposed like that.

                Can’t have that on his conscience.

                And he’s disobeying orders to do it as well.

                Fuck this is maybe the most stupid thing he’s ever done.

                He manages to shoot the helicopter out of the sky, blows out a breath and pulls at the throttle, has a sinking feeling in his gut because he’s already out of flares and unlike him, the others are likely closer to the carrier than they are to him. Without any air cover, the sheer number of SAMs along with other bogeys in the air he’s already pulled the ejection handle when the SAM hits his jet. It doesn’t stop the blast from hitting him, propelling his body further away. He feels the heat from the explosion and hopes like hell he still has enough altitude to safely land without his body crumbling in on itself or leaving him with broken legs and incapable of doing anything.

                “Fuck. I’m so sorry baby…”

                The landing is rough, branches of trees scratching him up as he falls through them, but he doesn’t care because they assist a little in breaking his fall. A miniscule amount.

                He’s alive.

                It’s not all that matters but it’s better than so many alternatives.

                It’s a miracle. Not one of the ones Maverick had listed off, but a miracle all the same. But he’s alive and well and actually… well is probably a stretch. He’s in enemy territory with no way out. His survival training kicks in and he starts stuffing his parachute back into its bag. The material may come in handy later but he also doesn’t want to leave out a giant fucking flag to any aircraft that might be around as to his location. He pulls out an empty pouch and fills it with snow, seals it and shoves it back into a side pocket of his flight suit, knowing it’ll melt and give him something to drink soon enough.

                First things first.

                Find Maverick.

…            …            …

                He doesn’t need to look very far, because the man is running and looking at him frantically and Jake holds his hands up in supplication.

                “I’m fine. All in one piece.”

                Then Maverick unceremoniously shoves him to the ground and Jake just stares up at him.

                “What the fuck?”

                “What were you thinking!”

                “That I didn’t want you to die on my watch. Sir.”

                “I saved your life! You’re meant to be back on the carrier. Safe.”

                “Well. I’m not. I’m here…” Jake provides, clearly stating the obvious but feels like it needs to be said as he stands back up and brushes snow off himself. Maverick is frowning and Jake recognizes that look. “You got a plan old man?”

                Maverick huffs in annoyance and Jake shrugs, because he’s alive and that’s still better than he thought he’d be ten, fifteen minutes ago. He doesn’t get why the old man is angry at him, he saved his fucking life, and if he makes it out alive from this he’s probably facing disciplinary action at the bare minimum. Well, he can always work on the farm and Leo will make sure he won’t starve at least.

                If he makes it home.

                He sucks in a breath then and refuses to think about any scenario where he doesn’t make it home. It’s defeatist and it’s not his normal thought pattern, so easy enough to ignore. For now. They walk through the trees, using them as cover but also the snow is lighter and any tracks they leave are intermittent at best, although not for an experienced tracker. He can tell Maverick wants to talk, has been trying to talk to him since that first day. There is no-one else out here though, no one that Jake can use as a distraction, so he’s going to have to just grit his teeth and make nice.

                “You married Lieutenant?”

                The question surprises him and he finds his hand go to his tags where Leo’s ring sits.

                “No sir. Am engaged though.”

                “Hmm. What’s their name?”

                “Leonardo. Leo for short… Going to make him a Seresin.”

                Maverick stops walking and turns to look at him, frowning at what he’s said and Jake doesn’t have time to get in his face about any homophobia the man might have. Leo’s well rid of him if he is.

                “Uh. Is your… head feeling alright Lieutenant?”

                “I… yes sir?”

                “You did just get shot down…”

                “So did you sir.”

                “Hmm.”

…            …            …

                Ice’s face and name flash up on the screen of his phone and he swallows, already nervous because Ice doesn’t call, not without good reason. Or bad reason. It hurts to talk but if there’s bad news he will be the one that will want to break it to Bradley.

                “Bradley…”

                “Ice…”

                “You… sit down.”

                “Oh god… Jake.”

                He wasn’t sitting, but his knees give out and he hits the floor

                “And Mav.”

                “What?”

                “They… fuck… classified.”

                “Who are you going to get in trouble with?”

                “President.”

                “Oh.”

                “They’ve both been shot down…”

                .

                .

                .

                Everything is dark.

                .

                .

                .

                “Bradley… Leo… svegliati…”

                .

                .

                .

                He throws up.

                Can’t stop shaking.

                “You look like shit.”

                .

                .

                .

                “Come on, we’re going to North Island. Your zio bought us tickets…”

                .

                .

                .

                He doesn’t know what Vi gives him, but it knocks him out.

                Makes the whole world feel hazy.

                He doesn’t care.

                He’ll wake up when the nightmare is over.

                Or he just won’t wake up.

…            …            …

                Maverick is fucking insane.

                Jake’s worried about concussion and whether the man can even remember how to fly.

                Then again, if Maverick’s only lost his short term memory he probably remembers how to fly a plane older than Jake.

                Okay.

                Insane but also a man who deserves the legendary reputation he has.

                Jake wonders if Leo will forgive Maverick because he’s saved Jake’s life.

…            …            …

                “He’s alive. They’re both alive. I think your Uncle Tom wants to kill them both, but they’re alive and back on the carrier and apparently apart from some mild scrapes, sprained ankle and a little concussion they’re both fine.”

                He’s shaking again, and this time the tears are of relief, he feels like he has been put through an emotional wringer non-stop. While he cries Vi holds him and eventually he falls into an exhausted sleep.

THIRTY NINE

[remy-white]

Theme: Subtly Smut Dialogue

1. "Your breath hitched when I got close. Are you sure you want me to stop?"

2. "Every time I touch you, it's like I can feel you unraveling under my hands."

3. "Tell me to walk away, and I will. But something tells me you won't."

4. "You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you."

5. "Do you trust me to know exactly what you need?"

6. "You don't have to say anything... I already know what you're thinking."

7. "I've been waiting for this moment all day. Don't make me wait any longer."

8. "Look at me. I want to see everything you're feeling."

9. "You're trembling. Is it the anticipation or just me?"

10. "I can feel your pulse racing under my fingertips. I wonder how much faster it can go."

11. "Stay still. Let me take care of you."

12. "You're making this impossible to resist, and you know it."

13. "Patience. I promise it'll be worth it."

14. "You can feel it too, can't you? The tension between us?"

15. "You've been teasing me all night. Now it's my turn."

16. "Don't hold back. I want to hear everything you're feeling."

17. "I've been thinking about this moment since the second I saw you."

18. "You know what you're doing to me, don't you?"

19. "Let me show you exactly how much I want you."

20. "You're going to drive me mad with just one more look like that."

21. "I like it when you challenge me. It makes this so much more fun."

22. "Every time I touch you, it's like you're melting into me."

23. "I could watch you all night... but touching is so much better."

24. "You don't even realize what you do to me, do you?"

25. "You're mine tonight. Don't even think about leaving."

26. "One more second of restraint and I might just lose it."

27. "I know exactly what you want, and I'm going to give it to you."

28. "Don't look away. I want to see the moment you can't take it anymore."

29. "You have no idea what you've been doing to me all night."

30. "Let me feel how much you want this."