#but he's presented with an opportunity to rekindle a friendship

[bonefall]

Props to you for the family tree. I'm going through it in my rewrite and slowly wanting to just throw the whole thing out. I'm having to make some characters orphans bc if I didn't the family tree would have even more incest.

You're an absolute chad

I don't wish untangling the family trees on my worst enemy, it's why I always make sure to hammer in that my trees are 100% free and open for everyone to use as a baseline, if they'd like.

@troutfur for example is gonna use my RiverClan family tree for a rewrite project they're working on, and they found it was an important plot point to make sure Shellheart had a named parent (as my fixes actually swap Rainflower and Shellheart's parentage, making Rain the Apple descendant, creating a detail that Maple was targeting Rain just as much as Crooked). So they're doing an edit and using Blackbee as Shellheart's parent

So you can take my trees and un-do parts of it (make Ivy and Dove kits of Birch/White again), rename cats to your liking (Oatbell doesn't fit? Change the name!), or add whatever new OCs you'd like! I make them for BB but it's always been my intention that they can be used as a fandom resource.

I'm trying to get over the hump of Clanmew Day on the 17th so it's out of the way, because I'm actually really excited to start WindClan. I can't wait to work with some of those Missing Kits-- Rustlepaw and Drizzlepaw were FANTASTIC names and I can't wait to give them a buff!

[moonflower-ifs]

✾ DEMO ⚘ FAQ ✾ CHARACTERS ⚘

The fresh air coming from the sea, the lull of the little crickets singing in the wind, and the smell of flowers growing closer the nearer you are to your uncle's house… Everything is as you remember from all the summers you spent here, in the woods, on the beach, in the nearby town. As if the time has never passed, as if stepped in directly in your memories.

Isn't it quite ironic this almost melancholic feeling, considering how much you didn't want to come here, isn't it? As soon as you got the invitation to his birthday party, you were ready to refuse, to say no. Even Maribel's attempts to convince you hadn't been enough to budge you, until one day you did change your mind… Alas, it doesn't matter the why or the hows: all that's important now is that you're almost there.

In the place where all of your friends await you, maybe this will be an opportunity to mend what has been broken, to restore the threads that have loosened… or to cut them for good. Still, you can almost taste blood on your tongue, or is it in the air?

Moonflower is strictly rated 18+ with horror nuances and mysteries. It will deal with and/or have explicit content and themes (language, sexual, drug/alcohol use, violence, and more).

― FEATURES & MC CUSTOMIZATION

Customize your MC! Choose the name, gender, sexuality, appearance, and more!

Navigate the relationships of your "group of friends" and rekindle old friendships or crushes! Or let them burn to the ground! Maybe you could even play as a matchmaker… who knows?

Romance 5 of the main characters of the game! But be careful: you never know what'll await you.

Investigate and discover mysteries and secrets around you, some more hidden than others.

Who said memories can't hurt you? Probably no one.

But the most important thing is for you to try to survive this party. Don't let the atmosphere get to you.

(With the development, things could be changed, added, or removed.)

― CHARACTERS & ROs

¬ Ashton Moon, the actor ✾ he/him, 30 [RO]

You've known him since middle school and have been friends since, or better: he was your best friend / long-lasting crush. Now he's an acquaintance at best, if not a stranger in your life.

¬ Lucrèce Wray, the heir ⚘ he/him, 32 [RO]

You've always seen him as the long-time boyfriend and then fiancé of your childhood friend, at least until recently. Now he's just the jaded and cynical heir that is threaded in your life, for better or worse.

¬ Hazel Elwyn, the pharmacist ✾ she/her, 33 [RO]

Your childhood friend, who has been with you since you could remember. The constant presence in your life, except that now she's not as present as it used to be…

¬ Zane Scott, the photographer ⚘ they/them, 32 [RO]

They've been friend with Ashton long before being yours, but Zee wormed themselves into your life just fine. As of now, their absence in yours is palpable.

¬ Marilyn Casey, the singer ✾ she/her, 31 [RO]

You've met during a party in your 20s, as a friend of your friends, it was natural for you to see her around. Strangely enough, now she's the one who's more friends with you than others.

¬ Maribel Castillo, the waitress ⚘ she/her, 28

You were the one to introduce her to your group of friends. She saw you as her best friend, and she still does. Even now, she keeps trying to reach out to you, no matter what you do or try to do.

¬ Umberto Coiro, the rich uncle ✾ he/him, 58

Your dear rich and mysterious uncle, from your mother's side, who likes to share his riches with family and friends alike. He's invited you and your friends, to his birthday party, a quite late party, to say the truth.

¬ Camilla Evans, the cousin ⚘ she/they, 35

Your dear cousin, from your mother's side. She's the only other family member your uncle invited to his late birthday party. She might not be his daughter, but Cami is as mysterious as your uncle and as, if not more, enlightening.

― LINKS & EXTRA INFO

Characters References;

Ashton / Lucrèce / Hazel / Zane / Marilyn / Maribel / Umberto / Camilla;

Moonflower's Updates;

Other Ifs;

Normal Asks / NSFW Asks;

If the title wasn't enough: yes, there'll be a lot of flowers on here.

[snitchcrimsonwrites]

Maybe pt. 4

Pairing: Norm MacLean X Female Reader or OC if you squint

Former friends to a relationship?

Life is pretty easy in Vault 33 until you're trying to rekindle a former friendship and Raiders attack. Now, our main characters are trying to navigate newfound feelings, all while undercovering the mysteries of Vault 33. Stay tuned. Follows the main storyline of season 1; some events may be reordered for plot.

We were supposed to get the big Vault 32 reveal, but this chapter just kept getting longer, so I had to cut it off at some point. Sorry!

Part 1 Here. Part 7 Here Part 12 Here

Part 2 Here Part 8 Here

Part 3 Here Part 9 Here

Part 5 Here Part 10 Here

Part 6 Here Part 11 Here

The workday was over, and you were ready to get home and relax. You headed down the Vault corridor toward your residence, your mind already planning your evening. Maybe you’d watch a movie, you thought as you entered the pin code to unlock the door. The pressurized door mechanism opened with a rush of air, revealing your main living space. You immediately noticed something had changed since you left this morning. Huh, I don’t remember leaving you here. 

A single book rested atop your kitchen table; you didn’t recognize the cover. Puzzled, you reached for the book and flipped it open, trying to jog your memory; as you did, a folded piece of paper fell onto the table. 

The paper read, Courtesy of Overseer MacLean ‘s private library—our little secret. N

You flip the cover over and take a better look. You smile. Of course, it’s a Western.

__________________________

The day of Lucy’s wedding had finally arrived. Most in the Vault couldn’t contain their excitement and curiosity. Everyone was interested to see the results of Triennial Trade. Who was this 32 dweller who would be married to their community? The speculation was endless, but the residents of 33 would have to wait until the ceremony. 

Norm, on the other hand, was wrestling with a different conundrum this morning. He picked up the folded paper atop his dresser and opened it to re-read the contents.

Courtesy of Overseer MacLean ‘s private library—our little secret. N

For a sickeningly sweet gesture, I, (Y/N), owe you, Norman MacLean, one activity of your choosing. 

 You will ask her. Don’t chicken out, he repeats to his reflection in the bedroom mirror above the dresser. Whether to ask (Y/N) to dance at Lucy’s wedding has weighed on him for several days. Does she even want me to ask? Would she be embarrassed if I did this in front of everyone? Then what if I don’t ask? Would she be disappointed? This was all too much. Decision fatigue plagued him. He’d read the room. He'd go for it if she seemed interested and the opportunity presented itself. 

------------------------------

The residents of Vault 33 congregated in the atrium's main square, waiting for Lucy to make her grand entrance. Norm could hear little snippets of separate conversations blending into one. 

“The decorations look beautiful!” “I’m so glad the sunflowers bloomed in time for the ceremony. We were getting worried.” “Should I have done something different with my hair?” “Do you think he’ll get the hint and ask me to dance?” 

He glances around to see if he can spot you among the other vault dwellers; when he does, the room goes silent. Confused, he turns around to see the source of the crowd’s change in demeanor.  

Lucy’s appearance in the upper balcony quieted the crowd. 

Norm watches as she comes down the stairs into the main square to greet the onlookers. He can see everyone smiling at the sight of the young woman in her wedding dress, including his dad. 

“Dad,” she chuckles. Stepping forward so he can admire his little girl. 

“My little sugar bomb,” their dad says as he embraces her.

“Gosh, you look just like your mother,” pride exuding from his voice. 

“Yeah, I wish she was here.” 

“Me too.” 

“Were you scared?” “When you married mom?” Norm hears Lucy ask. 

“Me?” he scoffs. “Terrified. I’d never set foot outside of Vault 31.” 

“When did it go away?” 

“The moment I met your mother.” 

How Norm wished his mother could be here to see this day. While today is supposed to be happy, her absence creates a veil of sadness he can see behind Lucy and his father’s eyes. She was supposed to be here to witness her daughter get married, to see them both grow up. He tries to push the sad thoughts and focus on the moment. If he cried on her wedding day, Lucy would never let him live it down.

“From that moment on, Vault 31 was a distant memory.” Hank continued. 

“Overseer, it’s time,” Betty announces to the pair. They take that as their cue, Hank extending his arm to his daughter and the remainder of the group filing in behind them. Norm takes his spot directly behind his Dad and Lucy. You notice and follow suit a few steps behind. 

As the group approaches the vault corridor connecting Vault 32 and 33 opens with a whoosh, and they begin the walk that will change their lives forever. 

Norm shuffles ahead quickly to end up beside his sister. He can’t pass up the opportunity to engage in some sibling teasing.

“Must be nerve-racking. Your husband could be anybody.” 

“I’m aware,” Lucy retorts. Rolling her eyes at his teasing. 

“And as for his looks?”

“Who knows?” she replies. Norm is impressed; she seems remarkably nonchalant in her response. He decides to take it up a notch. 

“Big butt? No butt? But of course, they are just superficial concerns. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” 

“That’s right!” their dad affirms, looking back at his children, hoping they will give it a rest today, of all days. 

“And in that respect, he could be a cannibal or just like crammed full of tumors.” Norm barely gets the words out before Lucy swats him with her bouquet.   

“Norman.” Hank scolds. 

“Sorry, Dad,” Norm concedes. 

Finally, they’re outside the main entrance of Vault 32. Showtime. 

Hank checks his Pip-Boy and gives Chet the okay to open the gate. Norm was surprised at his composure, given the situation. Everyone in Vault 33 knows he’s down bad for his sister. He and (Y/N) expected at least some reaction from Chet today. 

Chet connects his Pip-Boy to the mag lock. Nothing happens. 

“Honestly…” Chet sighs.” It's a Textbook tumbler jam. It’s going to take some time to fix.” 

There is it, Norm thinks. He’s SO not okay with this. Norm snickers internally and turns around to catch your eye. You return his glance as if to say, we SO called it. 

Lucy steps over to take control of the situation, and after a few hushed exchanges, Chet relents. 

The alarms sound, and the door to Vault 32 rolls back, revealing the residents out from behind its cover. 

Norm watched as his dad stepped in front of the group from 33 to welcome their new guests. 

“Welcome neighbors from Vault 32.” He says with outstretched arms. “ I am Hank MacLean, Overseer of Vault 33.” 

A dark-haired woman steps forward in matching fashion. 

“Lee Moldaver, Overseer of 32. Thank you for your hospitality.” 

“Oh, we were sorry to hear of Overseer Jackson’s passing in your telegrams.”

“When blight hit our wheat, we lost a lot of good people, but this trade will help get us back on our feet.” 

Norm frowned as he heard the words leave the opposing Overseer’s mouth. Why did she have to phrase it like that? Disdain bubbled up into his throat. Moldaver’s words made this whole event seem purely transactional. He means he knows it IS a transaction between vaults, meant to keep those in the vaults surviving, but these were people, and that was his sister. His sister, whom someone loosely compared to a few bushels of wheat. Only he was allowed to comment on his sister that way. When he did it, it was just two siblings mocking one another; when an outsider does it, it’s a step too far. 

Norm was so caught up in analyzing Moldaver’s words that he missed the remainder of the Overseers’ exchange. Suddenly, a rather scruffy 32 dweller stood out before both groups—Lucy’s new husband. 

Overseer MacLean was the one to break the ice. “Now that we’re acquainted, if everyone can move into the main square of the atrium, we can begin the ceremony,” ushering everyone to move back through the vault entrance. 

Norm hangs back from the front of the crowd to walk back with you. 

“Lucy seemed particularly happy with her new husband,” you comment. 

“Yeah, she's a little too happy. I still hope he has one ridiculously unexpected flaw, like being massively afraid of the dark. So bad he has to sleep with the lights on or maybe a nightlight, just to make things interesting.” 

“You’re incorrigible,” you reply, shaking your head.

______________________________

The ceremony was completed, and everyone took their seats at the picnic tables in Vault 33’s atrium. You couldn’t help but look around and admire the decorations. The “outdoor” space always turns out lovely when decorated for weddings. It was the same with Steph’s wedding two years prior. 

You continue taking everything in from your seat, focusing to admire the various spots decorated around the Vault’s main space. You spy Norm at an opposing table with Vault 32’s Overseer. You suppose his dad might have placed him there strategically, perhaps as a political test; it wouldn’t be surprising that he’d want his son to follow in his footsteps as Overseer. That would be quite the sight. Norm had the potential without question; you weren’t sure he wanted the responsibility. He catches you staring and gives you an awkward wave back. 

You flash him a toothy smile in return. It’s becoming harder to ignore how much your feelings for Norm have grown. In just a few short weeks, you went from hardly giving him a second thought to having him consume your waking thoughts. While you two were generally ignoring each other, it was easy not to notice how much he had grown into his features, and you couldn’t deny you found them attractive. Handsome. Not to mention how he has always made you feel comfortable being yourself around him. No masking, no walls, just you. Would becoming more than friends ruin your dynamic? Was his friendship something you'd risk?

You didn’t get more time to dwell on your feelings as Overseer MacLean started his speech from atop the stage. You redirected your drifting attention. 

“Good evening, and welcome to the proud denizens of Vault 32. We are bonded not just as neighbors but by a shared duty. To keep the candle of civilization lit. While the rest of the world has been cast into darkness. Soon, if our measurements are correct, radiation levels on the surface are dropping fast enough that the next generation, Lucy and Monty’s children, will be able to recolonize.”

 Your fellow Vault 33 neighbors erupt into cheers and applause while the other Overseer, Moldaver? visibly tenses. Huh. Maybe she’s just as afraid of Reclamation as some of other dwellers. The whole concept is terrifying enough for people who have never left the safety of the Vault. 

Overseer MacLean continues as the volume from the crowd subsides.

“After 200 years, we don’t know much about what’s up there: desperation, violence, lawlessness. These survivors will need to be shown a better way. I’ll admit sometimes I’m afraid that mean old world will change us instead. But then I look at my daughter, who’s such a beautiful bride, and her new husband. And I am not afraid. I feel hope. To Lucy MacLean. And to this marriage. And to hope!” 

Another round of celebration emanates from the Vault dwellers, and he starts off stage—but not without one final decree: “Let’s dance! Hit it.” 

The command stirs the jukebox to life, playing “Some Enchanted Evening,” and the Overseer extends a hand out to Lucy for their father-daughter dance. 

♫ Who can explain it?

Who can tell you why?

Fools give you reasons,

Wise men never try. ♫

As you watch Lucy’s tender moment with her dad, you cannot help but feel a tinge of sadness for a moment you’ll never have. They’ve become fewer and farther between, but times like this really make you miss your dad. You continue to watch them pushing out the feelings of jealousy and embracing the joy you felt for your friend. 

Suddenly, they break apart. Urging another off to the side to join them. Norm. You see him shake his head disapprovingly but gets to his feet anyway; he knows a losing battle when he sees one. Soon, all three of them are on the dancefloor, embracing and swaying to the music. You think your heart might melt at the sight. 

♫  Some enchanted evening

When you find your true love,

When you feel her call you

Across a crowded room, ♫

As the MacLeans start to separate from their family moment, Lucy notices your presence off to the side of the dancefloor and flashes you a “stay here there, I’m coming to you” gesture with her hands as she heads in your direction. You embrace her in a celebratory hug when she makes it to you. 

“Congratulations!” you offer up enthusiastically. “You make a stunning bride.”

“Thank you! It’s all so exciting, isn’t it?!” she says, matching your tone. She shifts her position slightly, taking your hands and moving her mouth closer to your ear. In a whisper, she asks, “ I was hoping to ask if you’d do my brother the honor of sharing a dance?” She pulled back into your line of sight, completing the request with a signature Lucy puppy-dog stare. “Consider it my wedding present.”

“How could I say no to that?” you respond with a laugh. Still holding your hands and smiling ear to ear, Lucy ushers you back to her family. 

♫ Then fly to her side,

And make her your own

For all through your life you

May dream all alone. ♫

As the two of you approach, you can see Overseer MacLean gently elbow-nudging a mortified-looking Norm. 

“I saw (Y/N) by herself on the edge of the dancefloor and thought someone might like to invite her to dance?” Lucy says as she offers your hand up to Norm. 

“I’d be happy to,” he replies, taking hold of your hand to lead you onto the dance floor. With a surprising amount of flourish, he pulls the two of you into a traditional slow dance pose, his right hand in yours and left hand resting softly on your waist. Your bodies tucked unexpectedly close against one another. 

“Sorry about that,” Norm pips up, shooting daggers in Lucy’s general direction, which she returns, blowing him a kiss back. “You know how she can be when she gets an idea in her head—unrelenting.” 

“I don’t mind; I was actually hoping you’d ask. Your sister just guaranteed the odds.” 

He looks up at you, and his expression softens. You two fall into a comfortable silence, enjoying the moment and each other’s company. Swaying back and forth to the music, the world melts away behind you. It’s short-lived, though, as the Overseer makes his way back towards you and his son. 

“Sorry, I will need to steal Norm away for a second,” the Overseer states as he places a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Just one family photo, and I’ll give him back,” he reassures you with a wink. 

“Not a problem,” you manage, hiding your obvious disappointment. 

“Find you after.” Norm declares, keeping a loose grasp on your hand as the two of you pull away, clearly not wanting to let go just yet. 

You give him a nod, relinquishing his hand. 

♫ Some enchanted evening ♫

[stellocchia]

I'm thinking about MTT+Cross happy endings after Nightmare, so here's some headcanons I've got for that:

Horror:

With some help he manages to find his brother again and decides to move back in with him

Thanks to Killer and Cross who now both travel a lot, he and his brother manage to get Horrortale started on some sustainable farming (they visited specifically certain versions of Farmtale to learn how to do it)

With Color's help, he and his brother both end up being able to see a doctor for their conditions. Horror gets leg braces and a cane to help him walk, and a wheelchair for when he's in pain. And Papyrus gets some braces for his teeth and some supplements to help with the issues caused by prolonged starvation

Horror manages to figure out how to keep a portal to the Omega Timeline always open so he can visit his friends and they can visit him whenever they want (spoiler: that's often). It took him days of working on the machine in the basement, but he got it working eventually. And it's great also for his bro because he loves socializing and that's a portal to a whole new bunch of potential friends

At some point, unbeknownst to him, Killer haunts Undyne's ass until she gets her head straight again. They don't rekindle their friendship at all, but relationships between Snowdin and New Home become less hostile

He and the others have frequent sleepovers at his house, so Paps built a comfortable nest in the living room for that occasion and keeps it in pristine conditions at all times

Dust:

He settles down in a little cottage in the Omega Timeline with a big flower garden out front

With some encouragement from Color, Killer, Cross, Horror, Epic, and Delta (he needed a whole ass entourage to get some confidence) he decided to open a very small flower shop where he sells exclusively flowers he grows himself

He doesn't like to do the costumer-facing part of the job, but he likes the idea of people getting to enjoy something he helped grow and nurture (as he always felt like all he could contribute was suffering and death before), so he bears with it a but at the start. Eventually though, Horror's brother decides that that would be a great opportunity to meet plenty of people, so he takes over the costumer service

Dust is the one who visits Horror the most. Mostly because he's the one who is traveling the least. And also because he struggles to make new friends, so he's very reliant on his little social circle

He's also Paps' favorite (among Horror's friends) and he's literally the only one who is unaware of that

He gets an emotional support animal at some point. It's a spider. The little guy helps keep his crops parasite-free and Dust built it the fanciest spider enclosure ever so it can be happy when it's having some quiet time inside. He doesn't have a name for it, just calls it "Little Pal" mist of the time

Cross:

He's rooming with Epic in the Omega Timeline, though most of the time they're actually all around the Multiverse helping (or trying to do so and then getting distracted by something shiny or silly and getting lost for several days in weird little boutiques) different AUs

Whenever he is in the Omega Timeline, he busies himself teaching others self-defense techniques. He wants that guard training he got to do some good for someone

He and Delta have begun sparring together whenever they got some free time. They're bros, and Epic happily watches them from the sides because hot and sweaty dudes, you know?

After receiving some reassurance from Killer that it had been helping him, he actually went to see a therapist (this was quite a bit later down the line). He spent the first session closed off, but then Gaster was mentioned and he broke down crying, poor guy

Still, embarrassment, aside, it did help him and he decided to start pestering XChara to try it himself. XChara hated the idea and only agreed once Cross agreed to be present during the session (unlike XChara did during his, because my guy had just been dissociating hard)

He also started keeping a sort of diary, but sketchbook version. By the time he's finished with a certain page there is no white spot left on it

Killer:

He lives with Color and Delta, though, much like with Cross and Epic, they're often out and about helping AUs and just hiking and exploring the Multiverse

He and Delta get along like oil and water at the start. Things take a good while to get better. And they only start getting better once Color notices all the mind games happening between them and has a good long talk with both of them

He learns to sew and starts making clothes. At first they're a bit wonky, but eventually they get good enough that others start asking if they can get some made for them too. He has filled Delta's and Color's wardrobes especially, but Cross, Horror, and Dust also did not get spared

He also started experimenting with makeup and nail polish and temporary tattoos. Literally anything that allows him some self-expression that feels safe enough for him to do without Color's express approval (they're working on him seeing Color as a new owner, the progress is slow, even once he starts going to therapy)

He has several pets. They started off as only cats, but he has expanded to now have some bugs, birds, bunnies, and at least one puppy. He has issues. They're all his emotional support animals

He's still incredibly protective over Cross, Horror, and Dust and checks in on them routinely. Sometimes he just follows them around silently for a day and it is a little bit freaky, but they know him well enough to know that's how he shows affection and they don't mind

[kootiepatra]

#WolmericWeek2024 - Day 4: Nameday

(fic below; also available on AO3 )

Keimwyda looked around at the full room with an even fuller heart. If someone would have said to her even three autumns ago that her nameday would look like this one day, she would not have believed them. She also would have assured them that she needed no such thing. …And she could only imagine how her present-day-friends would upbraid her even now for saying so.

It was clear that the Fortemps had by no means offered empty words when they spoke of considering her family. The extravagant gathering tonight proved it. Edmont had only become ever more fatherly towards Keimwyda since she and Aymeric began courting, and he was properly horrified upon learning how long it had been since her last nameday celebration. He insisted on hosting a feast commensurate with both the hospitality of House Fortemps and the gratitude of his people to their savior. And so now, it seemed to Keimwyda that half of Ishgard must be here.

Most of the faces, she did, in fact, know. From Lord Francel, to Lady Laniaitte, to Hilda, to folks from the local branch of the Ironworks, the room was filled with people she had worked for and with. A few of the Scions had made the journey as well: G’raha, who of course was not about to pass up an opportunity to visit Keimwyda in Ishgard , as well as Krile, whose friendship meant more to Keimwyda than almost anyone, and Tataru, who was all too eager for an excuse to step away from Revenant’s Toll and rekindle associations she had made at the Forgotten Knight. The Leveilleurs were there, too—Ameliance and the twins had insisted on celebrating their friend, and had prevailed upon Fourchenault to join them with some paper-thin pretense of building diplomatic relations on behalf of the Forum.

But there were also many attendees whom she did not know, at least not well. She suspected she largely had Emmanellain to thank for that. He was not like to be contained when an opportunity to flex his social connections presented itself. But in fairness, with what Keimwyda had learned of Isghardian high society thus far, she figured it was scarcely avoidable. One of the high houses hosting a feast in honor of a noteworthy figure? Any noble families who caught wind of it (and did not wish to deliver a purposeful snub) were apt to seek an invitation.

Once it became plain during the planning that a small, intimate gathering was well and truly out of the question, Keimwyda had proposed a few invitations of her own: Firstly, as many people from Hilda’s watch as she could spare, as well as any Aymeric and Handeloup wished to include from the temple knights. Secondly, the laborers she had come to know in their efforts rebuilding the Firmament. And finally, her “little siblings” from the Firmament orphanage, along with a sufficient number of adult volunteers to wrangle them. If her nameday was going to be a spectacle, it might as well include those for whom it would be the biggest treat. And if it meant that the party would be less a formal ball and more a community celebration, then so much the better. She would certainly feel more at ease that way.

There was food and laughter and music and dancing and a steady stream of well-wishers desirous to speak to Keimwyda, from the polite acquaintances to the genuine friends to the socialites who very much wanted to be seen making overtures to the Warrior of Light. Keimwyda was happy. She was. She was honored by the gesture. She was glad to see so many people enjoying themselves and enjoying the Fortemps’ generosity. She smiled softly to herself as she reflected on how very far this city had come, and how deeply her heart had become knit to it.

Twelve help her, though, it was a lot . 

With each conversation, without even realizing it, she had been steadily drifting towards the corner of the room. Part of her hoped that maybe, just maybe she might fade out of the center of attention for a minute or two. 

She was just concluding another such chat—a woman breathlessly thanking her for saving her son’s life on the battlefield in an encounter Keimwyda could not remember and was not entirely sure happened—when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She sighed to herself as she relinquished her hope of a momentary reprieve, reaffixed her polite smile, and turned to greet yet another reveler.

She had not expected that reveler to be Aymeric, but gods , did she welcome it.

He studied her face with a sympathetic smile, and wordlessly offered his arm to her. She took it. So he led them outside, quietly slipping through the side door to the terrace. Aymeric had such a better and more-practiced sense for how these functions worked than she did—he managed to make good their escape without drawing so much as a single comment from other partygoers. Keimwyda didn’t know how he pulled it off. But then, she always did admire the grace by which he navigated events like this.

The evening air was, as to be expected, quite bracing, but Keimwyda inhaled it gratefully all the same. Warm firelight spilled from the manor’s windows onto the balcony. The just-rising moon crested the skyline before them. The roar of dozens of conversations dissipated to a gentle murmur behind them as the heavy door swung shut—the music, although greatly muffled, now the main sound permeating the night.

Aymeric silently took her a few more steps before disentangling his arm and turning to face her. She looked to him curiously, wondering what it was he wished to speak about.

But he did not speak. Instead, he just smiled.

He bowed deeply.

And he extended his hand.

Keimwyda wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry with relief as she recognized the invitation to dance.

So she just blinked back the mist and slipped her hand into his. He drew her close. She leaned her head against his. They swayed gently to the sound of the softened melodies wafting through the door—to have each other, to hold each other, for a stolen moment of quiet and peace as long as the cold night would allow them.

Happy nameday, my love.

[its-jaytothemee]

Until I Met You - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Scars

Pairings: Halsin x Tav

Word count: 4,015

Rating: Currently M, will be Explicit in later chapters.

Read on AO3

Previous Next

Summary: Tav and her companions set up a new camp in the Underdark and take the time to share some stories about their pasts, and their scars. Another potential addition to their camp makes an appearance. Part 9 of the slow burn fic. Halsin and Tav POVs

Tags: Slow burn, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual love confessions, eventual smut, light angst, implied past rape/non-con and abuse, graphic description of injuries.

A/N: Another fluffy chapter with some interactions between all of the companions. Next chapter will be out later today or early tomorrow :)

Halsin waited in the strange grotto the voice had called them into. The sovereign requested to speak to Tav once they arrived. He took the opportunity to observe the strange creatures surrounding them. The myconids were an incredible species, he knew of their existence but had never seen them in the flesh before. Their melodic way of speaking using the spores in the air captivated him.

Is this how the others feel when they communicate using their tadpoles?

Each myconid that passed him had different patterns and colors swirling in their fungal skin, almost as if the glowing sigils had taken on a life of their own. They were mesmerizing. This small refuge was a rare, welcome solace in the darkness. If only he had found this place all those years ago in the Underdark rather than the drow city.

His thoughts were interrupted when Tav hopped down from the overlook where the sovereign resided.

She looks exhausted already.

“I think we might be on the right track.” She called out to them as she rejoined the group.

“There’s apparently some duergar nearby that have been attacking. There’s a deep gnome here who had been captured by them to dig up some ruins. The myconids are protecting her, but the duergar attacked to try and drag her back.”

“Ruins…Like a temple?” Halsin blurted out.

“Not sure, but it’s our best lead. If we can help them take care of the duergar invaders, then they may be able to give us something to help.”

He nodded eagerly, his hope for a path to Moonrise rekindled.

This has to be it. Oak Father please, let it be so.

“Karlach!” Tav yelled. “Got you a present.” She tossed a pair of boots over at the tiefling.

“Oh, swish!” She threw herself onto the ground to put them on.

“Nothing for me, darling?” Astarion batted his eyelashes at her.

“Sorry, love. I can’t hear you over the jingling of all that jewelry you kept from the Zhentarim chests.” Tav batted her lashes right back at him.

Halsin loved listening to their easy banter, despite how envious he felt. Every day was filled with little jokes and flirty teases, and not just between Tav and Astarion. He was watching all their friendships grow each day and as much as he wanted to join in, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Except with Tav.

“I thought we could set up a camp nearby, stay close to the grotto? I figure we’re as safe as we can be here. At least this group of sentient mushrooms aren’t actively trying to kill us.” Tav gestured just past the entrance to the small village. The others nodded their agreement followed her.

Everyone tossed their packs down to claim their own space. Halsin went back and forth between his companions, helping them to tie down their tents and set up a camp. As he looked around at the different tents, he couldn’t help but feel out of place. Each person had their own little space, a small refuge that showed off their individual personalities. He just had his pack, and whatever patch of dirt he would choose to reside on tonight. In his haste to join them, he forgot to account for how unforgiving the environs of the Underdark could be.

Perhaps I will have to gather materials for a tent of my own.

“Heads up!” Tav’s voice called out to him just a moment before a large roll of fabric smacked into his chest. Startled, he fumbled with it for a moment before catching it in his hands. Upon inspection he found himself holding a bedroll.

“What’s this for?” He asked, looking around to see if anyone else was waiting to receive it.

“It’s for you. It seems to get pretty cold down here, I grabbed a spare one I found at the Creche.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, but I assure you–” Tav cut him off.

“If you don’t need to use it, that’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you could be comfortable is all.” She smiled at him and walked away without waiting for a response.

It was a simple act of kindness, one that he wouldn’t think twice about doing for someone else. Yet for some reason, it caused another stirring within him as he watched her walk away. Halsin wasn’t used to others considering his needs, especially when those others had a host of their own problems to deal with as well. While he talked with Tav the most, the others also made sure he was taken care of. They made sure he didn’t miss a meal, they offered to carry things for him, and tried to joke with him around the campfire. He knew that he wasn’t great company right now, yet they were looking after him anyway. Even though his mind was clouded and preoccupied entirely by the thought of returning to Moonrise. Almost entirely.

What space he had left in his thoughts always wandered back to Tav. Even now, his eyes were drawn to her as she made her rounds around camp. Her feet were dragging as she took the time to check in on all of her companions, yet she made time for each of them. She even took the time to talk with Withers, the strange undead who seemed to pop up wherever they camped. Lunari and Scratch trailed after her, each nipping at the other to vie for her affection. Right now, Tav was trying, and failing, to tie the canvas on the top of Gale’s tent. Her tired arms struggled with the ropes that held the structure together. Wyll came over and relieved her, allowing her a moment to rest on one knee.

Their day today hadn’t been overly strenuous, but he had a feeling that the past week or so was weighing her down. Being responsible for the wellbeing of a group such as this would be challenging on the best of days. To do so while also fighting a mind flayer parasite? The thought alone was overwhelming. His first few weeks as Archdruid were a vivid memory in his mind – the change in his relationships with those around him, the loss of so many peers, the loss of his mentor, the crushing weight of responsibility. The fatigue and doubt he felt those first ill-fated days in his position still followed him everywhere, and now he saw it in his new friend.

She was still smiling, but he caught a tiredness clouding her eyes that made the smile stale. The others were reaching out to touch her and she was once again subtly flinching away from them. She would wring her hands while talking, fidgeting with anything she could reach on her person. Halsin looked around trying to determine where she had set up her own tent but couldn’t seem to find it. Towards the entrance to their new camp, he noticed her bags lying on the ground, still packed.

Watching her exhaust herself for her companions gave him an idea. Maybe he couldn’t give her what she really wanted from him, but he could help give her what she needed. He hugged the soft bedroll closer to his chest, all of her other selfless acts on his behalf coming to the front of his mind. He thought back to the countless times before Tav that he wished that someone, anyone, would offer him the help he had so sorely needed. Karlach walked by and Halsin caught her arm before yanking his hand back from the heat.

“Karlach! If you’re done setting up, I could use your help.”

***

Tav was finally able to get back to putting her own things together. At this rate, they wouldn’t have any more time today to explore some of their new leads.

We’re moving too slow…we’ll have to make up for lost time tomorrow.

She rubbed her eyes with both hands, working hard to fight off the fatigue she felt pulling at them. Lunari was still trotting alongside her, wanting more attention.

Maybe I’ll just spread out my bedroll tonight without a tent. Or maybe I can sleep in Karlach’s. I don’t think my arms could –

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a familiar tent pitched close to the entrance of their camp. Halsin was just finishing the final ties on the posts as she approached.

“What’s this?”

He greeted her with his typical fisted salute over his chest. “Oak Father preserve you, friend. We thought that you could use some help setting up for the night.”

“We?” Tav looked around, confused. Karlach’s head popped out from the inside.

“Yeah, you were so busy helping everyone else that you forgot to set up your own tent.” She beamed at her from between the canvas flaps.

“I didn’t forget…” Tav rolled her eyes. Why was she feeling so upset and flustered? They were just being helpful.

“You’re welcome.” Karlach crawled out of the tent to stand next to her.

“Thank you, really. I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, I just don’t need everyone fussing about me.”

“Then it’s a good thing only Halsin and I are over here.” Karlach teased.

Lunari ran into the tent and flopped over on Tav’s bedroll, scratching her back on the soft fabric before rolling over to lay on her side.

“I guess you’re done for the night then.” Tav sighed as she let the tent flaps fall closed over the entrance.

“I think one more night of rest could do everyone some good. Give yourselves a fresh start in the morning, you know firsthand how dangerous it can be down here.” Halsin urged.

“We’ve already wasted too much time, I can’t risk us losing any more. We should at least scout a bit tonight first, get a feel for the nearby area, make sure there aren’t any Duergar still lurking nearby for an attack…” She cut herself off to fight off a yawn. There was a headache pounding against the back of her eyes and her arms might as well be made of ooze. Halsin and Karlach shared a look.

“I’ll uh…go check with the others.” Karlach shuffled away towards the center of camp.

“Tav…” Halsin placed a hand on her shoulder. His warm hand was a welcome comfort but made it much harder to fight the drowsiness pulling at every muscle of her body.

“You won’t be of any use to anyone if you push yourself like this. I know you’re desperate to find the source of these tadpoles, but it won’t matter if you die of exhaustion first.” His voice was firm, leaving little room for discussion, but it was also gentle and full of understanding.

“I don’t have time to rest, Halsin…” She trailed off again as another yawn broke through her defenses.

“I need you to trust me, my friend. This is not a fatigue that will go away easily, but one extra night of rest may help at least clear your head.” His hand squeezed her shoulder as he talked. The motion caused another wave of exhaustion to come over her.

“Fine, I’ll talk with everyone else first and see what they want to do.” She stifled another yawn and rubbed one of her eyes. Halsin seemed content with her answer and walked with her over towards the rest of their party who had gathered in the middle of their new camp.

They were talking in hushed tones, their eyes glancing back to look at Tav as she approached.

“Oh, hey soldier.” Karlach greeted her first. “Listen, we were having a chat here and we thought well, maybe…” Tav did her best to stay alert and fight her fluttering eyelids.

“We’re fucking tired, Tav.” Astarion blurted out. “I know it’s important for us to get these tadpoles out, but I do need my beauty rest.”

“We’ve been moving nonstop for days, we’re all exhausted and lugging all of our camp supplies every other day isn’t helping. Let’s just set up a camp here for a couple of nights, give us a chance to breathe while we follow up on some leads.” Shadowheart piped up from the back of the group.

Tav let out a relieved sigh. The truth was that she was also so fucking tired. She had just been worried that the others would want to keep pressing on, that she would be seen as weak if they took too many breaks.

“Of course. If everyone needs an extra night of rest, I’m all for it.” She smiled, seeing the relief she felt wash over her companions as well.

The morale of their adventuring party seemed to improve as they started prepping the fire and dinner supplies. Having an extra night to sleep off some of their troubles was evidently just what they needed. Once again, they were able to gather around and joke over their dinner.

“Okay, what about…scars? Who has the best one?” Karlach proposed.

“Oh, yeah that’s a good one. I’m sure we all have stories to go along with the scars around this fire.” Wyll laughed.

“Shadowheart, you start!” Karlach pointed at her.

“Well, I don’t exactly remember how I got the one on my nose, or the one on my elbow. But of course, this one is a symbol of my devotion to Lady Shar.” She proudly displayed the small, circular wound on her hand. Tav felt Halsin tense in time with her at the mention of Shar.

“Boring.” Karlach declared. “I’ll go next. See this large scar running down my back?” She turned around so everyone could see. A huge wide scar ran from her right shoulder to her left hip. Despite its size, it was still hard to distinguish between it and the maze of other scars that made up Karlach’s back.

“Giant fucking Orthon tried to cleave me in two. I dove at the last second and got myself a nice deep cut, but at least I was still intact. Luckily the landscape in Avernus is shifty. A huge sinkhole opened up and swallowed the bastard whole.” She let out a wild cackle at the memory.

“What about you, Astarion?” Karlach continued prompting their companions.

“Well, I think these scars speak for themselves.” He made a delicate gesture toward his neck, causing everyone to chuckle.

“Come on, you must have others!” Karlach prodded.

“No, I’m afraid this is all you’ll get from me, darling.” Astarion’s tone was flirty and light, but Tav noticed that his gaze became distant before shifting the attention elsewhere. “What about Lae’zel? You have lines and bumps and bruises galore, surely they come with a story.”

“I suppose. See these here?” Lae’zel pointed to a couple of scars adorning her stomach, “They were from a fight with another member of my Creche. He was my first kill.”

“How old were you?” Tav asked.

“I believe I was twelve years old.”

“Twelve?!” Everyone exclaimed at the same time.

“I know. It was indeed a shame of mine to claim a kill so much later in my life than my peers.” She hung her head slightly in shame.

The rest of them shared troubled looks. Every now and then a stammer or cough would break through the silence. Lae’zel shook away the embarrassment and continued her story.

“It was a necessity. Only the strongest warriors could fight in Vlaakith’s name. I was smaller than many of the other pupils. It caused them to underestimate me…but only once.” She had a cocky smile spread across her face.

“Badass!” Karlach hollered over to her.

“And you, wizard? Any other scars besides those swirls left by the magical orb?” Lae’zel pushed the conversation to Gale.

“Oh, erm, I suppose I do have a scar from the time I was sure I could invent a new and improved Fireball spell of sorts. You see, I took the somatic component from the traditional Fireball and added a verbal component from a Combust spell. Naturally, I was trying to combine the power of a traditional Fireball with the close-range capability of a Combust. Now of course, what I failed to include in my calculations was the fact that–” Gale was cut off by a fake snoring sound.

“Sorry darling, I haven’t slept a single night in my long life, but I do believe this story is ready to put me into my first slumber.” Astarion whined from beside him.

The rest of the group erupted into laughter as Gale rested his pouting face in his palms.

“Halsin! What about you, mate, give us a story with one of your scars.” Wyll called out to him.

“Oh, I’m afraid there’s little excitement from me in that department. My life as an Archdruid didn’t leave much time for adventuring or sparring.” Halsin’s leg was bouncing next to Tav, and his hands tightened on the utensils he had been using for dinner.

“Those four grooves on your forehead suggest otherwise.” Gale prompted.

“Just a simple wildshape altercation. It happens more often than you would think.” He chuckled lightly, but Tav could hear an uneasiness in his voice. She spoke up before anyone could ask him more follow up questions.

“Oh! Speaking of wildshape, I should tell you how I got this.” Tav pointed to her cheek and nose at the long, thin indentation residing amongst the forest of freckles. Halsin seemed to relax once she interjected. His leg stopped bouncing and he turned to give her his full attention, as did the others circled around the fire.

“So, there was this woman I was seeing named Sylia. She was one of the druids I fought with when I was with the Harpers. I had–” Wyll cut her off with a sudden outburst.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re a Harper?! Why didn’t you tell us? I’m sure you have loads of heroic stories.” His face lit up as his eager feet tapped the ground in front of him.

“Oh, I uh…” Tav was flustered all of a sudden, the Harper detail slipped out before she could stop it. “Not exactly, I…I left their ranks a long time ago.” Her voice quieted and she felt Halsin’s eyes on her.

“You left? Why?” Karlach turned next to her.

“The shadow curse.” She whispered. Halsin’s leg moved closer to hers, so they were just barely touching. It was a small gesture, but one that helped steady her breathing. “The fighting there…it was too much. I…I couldn’t stay after that.” She sighed.

As she looked around the fire, she was met with looks of understanding as everyone pondered their own invisible scars.

Another great move for morale, Tav.

Karlach spoke up again, saving the mood that Tav had driven into the ground.

“Well, that’s awfully lucky for us eh, soldier? If you had still been with the Harpers, you might not be sitting here with us. So, Wyll, tell me about that long scar down your arm.”

Tav smiled again and mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to Karlach.

“Oh, of course! I had been tracking a devil across the countryside –”

“Yes Wyll, we all know this one. Her name is Karlach and she’s sitting right there.” Astarion had a teasing grin on his face.

“You know, Astarion, if you’re getting cranky you could always retire early for the night.” Wyll shot back causing Astarion to stick his middle finger up in the air. “Now, it was a bone devil that had been terrorizing the town of Daggerford…”

Tav laughed and smiled along as Wyll told his story. At one point she could have sworn she felt Halsin’s hand lightly graze hers. They continued sharing stories about scars and fights as everyone started to excuse themselves one at a time. Tav, Halsin, and Karlach were the last by the fire.

“Alright, my friends, it’s been a lovely evening.” Karlach stood up and stretched her arms. “But I think I hear my bedroll calling my name.”

“I agree, love.” Tav stood up with her, her stiff knees complaining at the movement.

“Sleep well, friends.” Halsin smiled up at them from his seat.

As they were about to walk back to their tents, Tav heard a soft chirping noise and some rustling in the foliage nearby.

“Shh, Shh…wait.” Tav put a hand out to stop Karlach from taking another step.

After a moment, a small beaked animal peeked its head out to look at them. Its steps were timid as it sniffed the air and nudged some of the plates left behind after their dinner.

“The cub!” Halsin and Tav both whispered, trying to contain their excitement. She gave him a confused look, he hadn’t been with them when they fought the cub’s mother. He was giving her an equally confused look.

“He’s hungry.” He whispered to her.

Tav pulled a small piece of dried meat from the bag in front of her, making sure to use slow, careful motions to keep from startling the baby owlbear. She tossed the food on the ground between her and the cub, which it devoured.

“It’s okay…” Tav kept her voice soft and low, attempting to beckon the cub closer. Halsin let out a quiet, eager sigh behind her. It was almost within reach, the inquisitive hoots getting closer and closer...

“Oh my gods, look at its little beak!” Karlach cooed next to her. “C’mere you doll!”

The owlbear cub screeched, frightened by the sudden outburst, and turned to run back into the Underdark. Tav let her head drop as she watched the creature scurry away.

So close.

“Damn it! We scared it off. Poor little beaky fella…” Karlach was pouting now.

“We?” Tav asked, arms folded over her chest.

“Well, I hope he finds his way back.” Karlach turned and retired to her tent for the evening.

Tav kept her eyes focused on the bushes where the cub retreated.

“It will likely find its way back. Once you’ve fed them, they’ll want to come back for more.” Halsin was also watching the path the cub had taken, making sure that it was gone for the evening.

“How did you know about the cub?” She turned to ask him.

“I had seen it out with the mother some time ago. I was tracking them seeing as they were so close to the grove. Plus, it’s so rare that you see a mother and cub out of the nest together, I was thrilled to find them. So few get to study the family dynamics of owlbears.” She noticed a slight change in his demeanor as he shared this. There was a spark of excitement in his voice she hadn’t heard yet in their travels.

“How did you know about the cub?” He asked.

Tav was hit with a small spike of panic. “We uh, we sort of had a run in with its mother.” She admitted as she fiddled with her braid. “She attacked us, and we ended up…killing her.”

“And the cub?”

“The cub was there, I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt it. It’s just a baby, and I don’t know I thought maybe we could…I don’t know…get it to…follow us…to camp.”

“You thought you would adopt…an owlbear?” With one eyebrow raised, an admiring smile crept across his face.

“What can I say? I see an orphaned animal and I go all soft.” Tav threw her hands in the air.

He was still smiling at her, it was a sweet smile that made her heart flutter.

“Anyway, I uh, I should probably head to bed.” She kept her eyes locked on his. Tired as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to leave his company just yet.

“Of course. Sweet dreams…” He held his gaze for just another moment before turning away to go and sit by the fire. Tav had a fond smile on her face as they went their separate ways. She looked back over her shoulder as she reached her tent. Despite his insistence that it wasn’t necessary, she saw Halsin spreading out the bedroll she had given him next to the fire.

[leinterested]

Possible Batgirl Plot

Begins with Batman saving Commissioner Jim Gordon and his family from criminals, causing Jim’s daughter Barbara Gordon to become obsessed with Batman. On present day, Barbara returns to Gotham after graduating from college in computer science. She also practices gymnastics and martial arts. Gordon has recently had a heart attack and Barbara returned to help him recover. They have been estranged since her mother’s death in a fire. Barbara joins the Gotham City Police Department and wants to be on patrol, but Gordon gives her a desk job in order to protect her. Barbara dresses up as Batgirl for a costume party hosted by Bruce Wayne. Criminals led by Killer Moth crash the party to kill him, but Barbara stops them, which impresses Bruce. Someone later murders Killer Moth by setting him on fire. Barbara decides to investigate and uncovers a series of assassinations ordered by Killer Moth’s former employer, mobster Don Bressi, and executed by his enforcer Firefly. Firefly’s real name is Ted Carson and he is an explosives expert who reformed for the sake of his sick wife. After losing his job and his wife’s healthcare, Carson returns to crime to provide for her. During the investigation, Barbara flirts with firefighter Jason Bard, but later becomes involved with Tony’s son Tony Bressi. Batman intercepts Barbara on the street and tells her to stop before she gets hurt, but she refuses and later sets up a base of operations in an abandoned clock tower.

Barbara confronts Firefly after his latest attack, and he almost kills her. She contacts Batman for help, but he refuses, confident that she can solve the case on her own. Barbara finds out Gordon is on Firefly’s hit list and that Firefly accidentally killed her mother in a fire meant to kill Gordon. Her death is what caused him to retire. Barbara saves Gordon, but Firefly escapes. Batgirl finds him meeting with Bressi at an abandoned warehouse and they have a fight, which culminates with Gordon arresting Bressi and Batgirl having an opportunity to kill Firefly, but sparing him so he can go to jail where he belongs. Barbara and Gordon later reconcile, though he never discovers her secret identity. He offers to let her go on patrol, but she decides to stay in the desk job, since it allows her to access the GCPD database for her crimefighting. Tony leaves Gotham after his father’s arrest, and Barbara begins to rekindle her friendship with Bard. Movie ends with Batman recruiting Batgirl to be his new partner, giving her a new armored suit, and the two jumping off a gargoyle to patrol the city together.

>Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman’s mask and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn’s mallet are seen at the Gotham City Police Department evidence locker.

[useless-fanfictions]

Stroked By Madonna | Kurtbastian AU

Pairing: Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe Fandom: Glee Rating: explicit Tags: Cheerios AU, cheerleader!Kurt, explicit sexual content, dry humping 10,888 words | 1/1 chapters | completed Ao3 Link

Summary: The one where Sebastian and Quinn grew apart after he moved to Paris and now he's back in the 'States and wants to rekindle their friendship. Not much rekindling happens between those two because it felt like stepping back into each other's lives as if they'd only be gone a day. However, the boy in the Cheerio's uniform catches Sebastian's eye in a different way.

1

To say the Smythe’s and Fabray’s are friends would almost be putting it lightly. 

Judy Fabray and Charlotte Smythe had been childhood best friends - with their maiden names, of course - and had grown up and gone off to college together, where they both met their husbands. Different years, but still as wild college girls nonetheless. 

The girls had drifted apart due to two reasons:  one, when Greg Smythe had gotten ownership of his father’s law firm and the pair had to move well over two hours away; and two, when Charlotte had gotten pregnant with her oldest son. Judy had been fighting infertility and really wanted to support her best friend’s growing family but it was just hard, especially with the move. Then when the new parents popped out another child - a girl this time - not long afterward, Judy felt the tight clutches of jealousy. 

It wasn’t until four years after that when Judy had had her first daughter - Frannie - that she finally gave up on her old and gratuitous feelings towards the Smythe clan. Their friendship began to rekindle, which both of their husbands were happy about, for different reasons: Greg was glad to have his wife happy once again with her best friend, and Russel was glad that his wife had someone to keep her out of his hair. 

The thing that really sealed the deal of their reawakened friendship was both women getting pregnant with their youngest children at the same damn time. 

As in, Charlotte invited Judy out to lunch and brought the good news. To which Judy had responded with, “no, that’s what I wanted to tell you!” Both of them waving positive pregnancy tests like lunatics in a public setting. 

They went through every stage of their pregnancies together, every appointment was double-booked, and they went to a doctor in Westerville because Charlotte’s obstetrician was nicer than Judy’s had been. 

To say their children were destined to grow up as best friends was also putting it lightly. 

Sebastian smiled as he recounted all of their families’ history while he drove to Lima. It was a bit of a drive, but it was worth it - if the excitement that tingled up his arms and legs the closer he got to the stupid public school told him anything. He was on his way to see Quinn again after three years- holy crap, has it really been that long?

Yes, yes it has. 

He moved away to Paris when the two of them were thirteen years old because the opportunity had presented itself while his father had incorporated an international branch of his law firm that had a center in France. His maternal grandparents had been living in France full-time so he stayed a little longer than his parents had. Now he was back in the ‘States and one of the first people he got into contact with again after seeing his siblings was the one and only, Quinn Fabray. 

They had set up a little dinner-friendship-date thing for this Friday afternoon/evening because he hadn’t been officially enrolled at Dalton yet and had the day off still. He was to pick her up after her cheerleading practice and tell her all about his time in Paris. 

“Oh, Va te faire foutre !” Sebastian yells at the car in front of him that just cut him off in an attempt to pass him. “Is 85 on the fucking highway not fast enough for you, salaud ?!” He is barely aware of himself switching to French insults; they sound much more aggressive anyway, he decides. ( a/n: online translation: ‘go fuck yourself’ and ‘bastard’) 

He presses the button to roll his window back up - yes he’d rolled it down to channel his road rage, sue him - and flips his blinker on to pull off of the highway at his rightful exit. Surprisingly enough, Sebastian was able to learn to drive while overseas and maintain his skill over here - the main difference being once he got his American license (which is one of the first things that he did upon arriving home for the new school year) he is able to drive by himself. 

The freedom was astounding, to say the least. 

It’s not long after that he is pulling into a near-empty parking lot at McKinley High at quarter to five o’clock. Once parked, he pulls his phone out to let Quinn know that he is here.

From Sebastian: Sweetcheeks, I’m here so don’t make me wait :p

Her response isn’t nearly as teasing as his. 

From Quinn: Fucker, come out to the stadium. practice is still going

This makes him stop for a second because what? Who the hell did she think he was? Quinn was one of the very first people he’d come out to as gay-

(young, almost-teenaged them sitting on her bedroom floor while their moms were gossiping in the living room, and Quinn had been talking about the boy who was in the 8th grade that she liked and he carefully told her about the boy he liked, she was barely phased) 

-and so why did she now think that he would want to watch a bunch of girls prance around in short skirts? Sure, he found it easy to get girls’ attention - it was mostly the height, he’s sure - but that doesn’t mean that he wants their attention. 

As much as he’s bitching to himself, he does get out of his car and walk towards the school. He leaves his jacket because the sun beating down warms his skin instantly, leaving him in dark jeans, converse, and a simple t-shirt. He presses the lock button on his key fob once he’s a couple of steps away and turns towards the side of the school where he hears a loud whistle and a mixture of voices. 

What is he supposed to do? Sit on the bleachers and just wait for her to finish? He rolls his eyes mentally and squints around the corner of the building and isn’t surprised to hear music and a section of the squad going through a routine. Just like he’d imagined, short skirts were popping to show off as much skin as possible, considering they’re all minors. 

Sebastian sighs and walks himself over to the bleachers. He’s glad that he’s not wearing lighter pants because these public bleachers are bound to be filthy and if they get too dirty he’s making Fabray pay for them. 

All thoughts of his distaste for his seating arrangement completely evaporate when he looks up at the same moment that she spots him. Her arm shoots up in an enthusiastic wave and he can’t help the smile that bursts from his lips and his hand comes up in a returning wave. God, he’s missed her. They both have grown up and even though he’s seen pictures of her over the years, it is nothing like seeing her in the adorable red and white uniform, and holy shit- when did she get boobs and an ass? He might be gay, but he isn’t blind to her attractiveness. 

He shakes his head fondly at her when she stops bouncing to make a face at him, to which he instantly sticks his tongue out at her. She’s called away by her coach after that and she gathers with a handful of the others on her team. 

It looks like they are wrapping up their practice and so Sebastian settles back into his seat and just looks around. There are a lot of red-and-white-adorned children on the field, some stretching, some running through bits of their routines, a lot are chatting amongst themselves, and others are just sitting on the ground. 

Sebastian is sitting on the second row of the bleachers and about ten feet from the first small group of cheerleaders who are helping each other stretch. He is pleasantly surprised to find there is about an even amount of guys on the team than there are girls. One in particular, whose Sebastian’s eyes are drawn to the moment that he kicks his foot high up into the air, is hanging around a group of three others - two girls, another boy, and himself. 

One of the others, a bigger, dark-skinned, and curly-haired girl, catches his foot mid-swing and shoots her arm straight up above his and her heads. He reacts and moves gracefully and ends up balanced on his one leg placed firmly onto the turf and his other leg pointed straight up to the sky so that he was bent at a 90-degree angle. 

Sebastian gasps out loud;  goddamn , he thinks, he is flexible.

It’s not just the pose - that he is still holding and not even shaking a bit - that makes Sebastian not want to look away, but it’s how effortlessly he’d not let his friend surprise him by the move and just twisted into position. 

Part of Sebastian knows that he’s a cheerleader and he shouldn’t be that surprised at the athleticism, but another part of his can’t help but track the slight bow in his back and then the bulge of his crotch as he drops his leg back to a regular standing position - Sebastian feels his ears heat up from more than just the sun. 

Then his eyes trail up to the boy’s face and fuck, he’s beautiful. And not just ‘hot guy’ beautiful, but pretty. His hair lays fluffy and limp across his forehead and his round cheeks pull up in a smile and his chest heaves with his laughter. He’s so different than anyone else that Sebastian has been attracted to - he usually goes for tall and muscular - but he can’t really pull his eyes away this time.

That is until the boy looks his way and forces Sebastian to duck his head down and his cheeks to redden embarrassingly. He shrinks down in his seat a little, barely even noticing the grit under his ass from the dirty fucking bleachers, and looks up again to resolutely find Quinn. He wonders if she is ready to go because it’s usually not Sebastian who is found staring open-mouthly at boys but the other way around. 

Instead, he watches her march back out onto the field right as the coach is bringing the megaphone up to her mouth to bark out orders on how to start the next number. 

He groans and rubs a hand down his face irritably. 

2

Unaware of how much time has passed, Sebastian finally sighs in relief when he hears the coach dismiss the entire team. He stands up reflexively and dusts off his pants and steps down to the bleachers. 

Sometime after Sebastian had arrived, an older man - possibly a father of one of the girls or something - had come in from the other side of the bleachers and sat down a respectable distance away. The two of them walk down the metal steps now, Sebastian follows him to the gate on the fence that opens up to the field itself. 

He takes about ten steps on the turf before he hears her, “Sebby!!” is all the warning he gets before he suddenly has an armful of Quinn Fabray. 

“Heyy!” he laughs loudly, squeezing her tightly. He takes a few deep breaths and she smells disgustingly like grass, sweat, and hard work, but underneath all of that, she still smells like Quinn. Which is a stupid thing to think because he hasn’t seen her in years, but God, she is amazing and he has missed her so much more than he’d realized until this moment. 

“Fabray, get off your boy toy and get packed up!” A voice from behind her barks. 

The two of them look up when a bunch of fellow cheerleaders laughs - including The Boy and his friends, Sebastian realizes much to his own chagrin - and his eyes flit to the sneering Latino girl who’d made the comment. 

When he looks back at him , though, his face is twisted into a not-so-pleasant look, but Sebastian doesn’t focus much on it before Quinn is yelling again.

“Oh screw you, Lopez,” she says, stepping out of the embrace to face their crowd. She still had a matching stupid grin on her face and so he thinks that it’s all friendly here. She reaches back without looking to pat his chest and taunts, “You’re just jealous because none of your boys look this good!” 

He doesn’t really stop touching her, his hand resting easily on her shoulder, and isn’t surprised at the ooo’s and aaa’s that they are rewarded with at that comment. He feels his cheeks heat up again when he looks around he notices more than one pair of eyes turned to look at him. 

“Oh please,” Quinn waves them away, “we’re not together so just calm down.” 

She finally walks away to go get her things and he is left to stand there awkwardly while he shoves his hands in his front pockets and rocks on his feet. One of the last pairs of eyes to leave him, Sebastian notices, is The Boy’s. 

If he was more confident, he would have followed Quinn into the throng of people leaving and chatted with a couple of them, except that he really isn’t that confident being at this school. So he stands as off to the side as he can manage and scuffs his sneaker against the ground, hoping that Quinn doesn’t take too long. 

“ Fendi jeans, what are you- obnoxiously rich or something?” 

The high-pitched, silvery voice makes Sebastian’s head snap up. He meets iridescently blue eyes and raised eyebrows in a judgemental look. He’s standing alone in front of Sebastian and without his friends, but the taller boy can see the couple of them walking towards them - including the one who’d grabbed his foot earlier. 

“I… uh,” he says elegantly. “No?” 

A puff of laughter leaves his chest and he brings a hand to his hip, body cocked with sass and confidence and damn, ok. Sebastian has no idea what to say or do. 

“Please,” the boy says, “ Fendi jeans go for like 500 dollars apiece, I’d recognize the brand anywhere.” 

Sebastian dumbly looks down at his own pants and his tongue suddenly feels too big in his mouth. And what the fuck was happening to him? He was breaking boys’ hearts left in right before he came back to America (finding that he was growing into his looks quite nicely) so why could he barely speak in front of this one? 

“I guess, I got them from like... My grandparents?” he needed to stop ending everything as a fucking question. He’s sure the boy isn’t attracted to bumbling idiots like he’s acting right now. 

“Grandparents, huh? You a trust fund baby then?” His friends have caught up to him and one stands on either side of him, the other a girl no taller than he is with black hair and blue streaks and a round, Asian face. 

He feels like they’re backing him into a corner, despite standing out in the open. Why were they so intimidating; get your game face on, Sebastian! he reprimands himself. 

“I suppose if you're friends with Fabray, you’ve got some money,” the larger of the three friends says while she reaches up and pulls a strand of hair away from her forehead to tuck behind her ear. 

He’s not exactly sure what that means. He doesn’t know them enough to judge their glances at one another. Were they talking shit about Quinn and the Fabray’s? Or were they somehow congratulating him? He’s more confused than offended at this point. 

“Kurt, Mercedes, leave him alone,” Quinn thankfully comes to his rescue. 

She comes up and grabs his arm, which he dutifully offers to her, and they turn to walk away. She has a half-full duffle bag thrown over her shoulder and a swish in her hips as they walk to the open gate that leads to the parking lot. 

Sebastian is about to open his mouth and ask her how she’s doing and how she gets along with her fellow cheerleading mates when the same light-pitched voice calls out from behind them.

“You can’t bring such an eye candy to Cheerio practice and not introduce him, Fabray!” 

A semi-nervous, semi-flattered laugh bubbles from Sebastian’s throat and he turns his head back around to look back at the three that they’d left. 

Quinn laughs out loud and turns fully back around to address them, the pair stops walking as she cups her mouth and screams back, “Kurt, this is Sebastian!” She points at Sebastian and then back at Kurt before going back to cup her mouth again, “Sebastian, that is Kurt! There, you’re introduced, bye guys!” 

She waves enthusiastically and the two of them head back to his car. Sebastian only glances back once to see that the boy- Kurt was still watching him walk away. Quickly, he ducks his head forward again, stumbles over nothing, and asks Quinn how she’s been to distract her into not teasing him about it. It works. 

3

Two hours later and the pair of close friends are sitting down at Breadstix and reminiscing about their childhoods and catching up with one another while they enjoy their meal. After the Cheerio practice ended, Sebastian had driven Quinn to her house so that she could shower and change for their “date” while Sebastian chatted pleasantly with her mother. 

“Make sure and tell your mom that I miss her, you guys should all come over for dinner sometime!” Judy had said excitedly, clapping Sebastian lightly on the back. 

“Of course, I will,” he responds. 

And when Quinn had come down the stairs from her bedroom, in a simple dinner dress with her hair blow-dried and curled, and a light face of makeup on, the two waiting for her were both awed by how beautiful she looked. 

“Oh, you kids look so good together!” Judy had cried out when Sebastian offered his arm to her again in mock formality, having put his jacket back on to piece together his outfit nicely. 

“Mom,” Quinn says warningly, knowing just what her mother had meant by the comment. 

The two mothers may have fantasized about their son and daughter growing up together and marrying and bringing them kids so that they could be grandmothers to the same children. 

Sebastian officially coming out wasn’t a shock to really anyone, but that didn’t stop any of their parents or older siblings from making their wishful comments of the two of them. And it’s not like Sebastian didn’t understand, they do look gorgeous together - and if he ever needed a surrogate then Quinn would be his first and only choice because people are right, they’d make some fine babies together. 

Now out again with his best friend, the comment is nowhere near the front of his mind. He is focusing on the girl in front of him instead. 

The girl who just swung her leg up to kick him square in the shin with her pointed, closed-toed heels and was saying his name accusingly, “Sebastian! You can’t say that in public.” 

Sebastian laughs with her, “why not? It’s what happened.” 

“Don’t tell me you forgot how sensitive us Americans are,” she throws her head up high and to the side. He nods and sees that her knack for the theatrical is still very much in tack. 

“Please,” he rolls his eyes. “I’m just as American as you are, unfortunately. And anyway, the French are all proper -” he throws his head up like she did to mock her, “-it’s the Brits that are vulgar.” 

“No,” she laughs a little louder than the environment would condone, “that’s just you. ” 

He ignores her thrusting a finger in his face and smiles at her fondly. They carry on with the conversation for a little while and then lull into a natural silence as they finish up their meals.

“So, uh..” he reaches up and scratches at the back of his hair for a second. Then he drops his hand and fiddles with the sleeve of his jacket. “...what do you think of that Kurt kid?” 

She stops and scrutinizes him for a second and he keeps his face as frozen as he can, squinting back at her. 

A family with a small child has just been sat two tables down from them and the kid does not want the height chair at all. She is kicking and screaming her way out of it. Sebastian switches his gaze over to watch the child for a long moment or two, trying not to blush under Quinn’s silent judgment. 

“I don’t know much about him other than he’s kind of a little prick,” she finally says. 

If Sebastian had been taking a drink he’s sure that he would have spit it all over the place. “That’s abrupt,” he comments. 

She merely shrugs and pushes around a couple of the leftover penne noodles from her pasta on her plate. “You’re not thinking about going after him are you?” 

“Not really, no… I’m just curious about him is all,” Sebastian goes back to messing with his sleeves. “Wait, I thought you guys were friends anyway?” 

She shrugs again but looks up at him this time. Her eyes have always been pretty. “The whole team are ‘friends’-” she brings her hands up to form air quotes with her fingers, “-but we all break off into our own groups and kind of secretly hate one another. I personally don’t have anything against Kurt, but he’s not exactly the friendliest either.

I do know that he and Santana-” at his raised eyebrow she explains further, “-the bitchy Latino, got into it a couple of months ago and now neither of them are talking to each other really. It really makes competition hard sometimes, especially because he’s a flyer and she’s really one of the only ones that can throw him up to do most of his stunts-”

Sebastian holds a hand up to stop her while simultaneously saying, “wait, he’s the one you throw up into the air?” 

Quinn nods. “Yeah, one of them, he weighs like 90 pounds soaking wet,” she answers him smoothly before continuing with what she had been saying, “and Sue, our coach, has been trying to get them to work together again so that he can perform a double-flip-kick at our first competition next month. But then last week she dropped him and he claimed that it was on purpose and nobody really thinks we’re gonna be able to do that move again because they can barely stand to be near each other.” 

So that was the harsh look from earlier, Sebastian thinks to himself. He’s glad it hadn’t been directed at him, though. 

“So do you have any other, uh... Spinners? Float-?”

“Flyers,” she corrects him.

“ Flyers , do you have any more of them?” he asks. 

Quinn takes a drink of her water before answering, “Yeah, we do. Just none as good as he is, unfortunately. Even I’m not to his level.” 

Sebastian raises a hand to his mock-shockingly opened mouth and gasps loudly to put up an exaggerated act. He teases her about the comments, she insults him back, and then the conversation moves on. Despite the way they have drifted apart these past few years, they pick up like barely any time has passed. 

And it isn’t until later that Sebastian really even thinks about Kurt at all again, once he’s back in his own room in Westerville and has nothing else to do other than think. He’d been able to recognize the brand of his jeans without really inspecting them and he’d had such an air to him that just screamed confidence. He wonders how much more to the boy there is. 

Right before he’s about to turn over and shut the light off by his bed, his phone buzzes three times. 

From Quinn:Hey, you should totally come to our pep rally next week.we’re doing Madonna songsAnd Kurt is going to be singing ;P

4

Sebastian eases into Dalton Academy without an issue at the start of the next week. The uniforms weren’t the most comfortable thing to wear, but not the worst thing he’s worn by any means. 

His classes were a lot - his first-hour professor had piled on the homework and told him to track down another student’s notes so that he can finish the unit that they are in with the rest of the class, so he tracked down this kid named Wesley and borrows some of his notes - and the kids weren’t really inviting, but making friends isn’t something that Sebastian is bad at. Or dealing with preppy assholes.

So school was going okay for him and he catches up rather easily in his math and science classes, having learned from far more advanced instructors overseas, and so he does have Friday afternoon open for the McKinley High’s pep rally that was happening the last couple hours of the school day. With the drive as well, Sebastian will have to attend his early morning classes and then ditch the rest of them. 

Is it the best way to give his teachers a good first impression of him? Absolutely not. Does he care? Not really. 

He makes sure that it is okay with his parents that he does this, of course, and they aren’t thrilled about his missing school but they really enjoy the idea of him going to support Quinn so he sweet talks them into letting him go the night before. 

From Sebastian: parents agreed to let me go, see you tomorrow!

He texts Quinn that after dinner with his parents once he’s raced up the stairs to his bedroom to finish up one of his assignments. Her response comes a little while later,

From Quinn:okiedokie ill let Kurt know, hahaha

He’d tried to tell her to shut up when she first teased him about it and she agreed that if he really wanted her to stop that she would, and he thought the issue was resolved. But then he thought it would be a great idea to ask about him again while they were on the phone the other night and she told him that she couldn’t not tease him now. So he suffers her teasing in exchange for more details on the boy. 

From Sebastian:I will hurt you, Fabray

He grins playfully and tosses his phone onto his bed so that he can focus for the rest of the night. Having been buried in his bedding, he doesn’t hear his phone go off at all. 

Once he’s showered, teeth are brushed, and skin moisturized, he crawls into bed and sees that he has two more texts from Quinn and a third from an unknown number. Quinn’s texts were threats that were much more explicit than his were and he responded with a winky face and the word promise? 

Joking with his best friend was nothing, but the new text made his heart leap into his throat. 

From Unknown:Got your number from Q, she said that I should look for you at the rally tomorrow. 

Sebastian read and reread the text about six times before the words really sunk in because holy shit- had Kurt sought out Quinn for his number? Or did it come up in casual conversation? Why had he taken his number at all? All he could think about was Kurt’s comment from the day that they met: Kurt had called him eye candy . 

But then a small voice crept into the back of his mind as he was drafting a response to the mystery number and it reminded him what Quinn had said about not really knowing or talking to Kurt a bunch, so why would she give out his number? 

He quickly deletes the unsent text and pulls up his and Quinn’s conversation. 

From Sebastian:Who did you give my number out to and why are they texting me?

Of course, it’s too late in the night because his assignment had taken a lot longer to complete than he thought it would, so he knows he won’t be getting an answer tonight. He settles for just not responding for now until he gets an answer first and he can claim that he hadn’t checked his phone for the rest of the night if the person asks. 

He tries not to think about Kurt for the rest of the night while he drifts off to sleep. 

5

Sebastian tries not to bounce his leg while he drives because of the one time he’d accidentally tapped off of cruise control and almost caused an accident on the freeway, but he almost can’t help it now so he forces his left leg to bounce and can use his right to drive. It’s a nervous tick of his and the closer he gets to Lima, the faster his leg shakes. 

The pep rally starts promptly at 2 and it was now ten minutes after 1 o’clock and he had about twenty minutes until he was pulling up to the school. He was meeting Quinn a little bit before for some pre-performance snacks and company. He had no idea who “company” was but he tried not to think about it, hence the leg shake. 

He hadn’t gotten a very productive response from her this morning about the text from the night before. Their text conversation was short but simple. 

From Quinn:idk i had a couple of people ask for your number, it’s probably brittanyShe’s a little nosy sometimes but harmless

From Sebastian:you did tell them all that I’m not interested in girls right?  

From Quinn:no, seb, i sent an army of girls your way with high expectations just so i can watch them all get disappointed

From Sebastian:veryyy funny 

From Quinn:I try to be. i gotta go, morning practice

From Sebastian:but wait, did you give my number to kurt?fabray answer me quinn!I hate you

Obviously, he doesn’t really hate her, but he had been off-center all morning because he kind of wants to respond to the text message but he definitely doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. So instead, he continues to ignore it and hopes that whoever sent it won’t be too upset with him. 

He stops at a dollar store in Lima on the way to the school to pick up a few snacks - ones on the healthier side like trail mix, crackers, and gatorade for Quinn and gets himself a box of candy because today has been stressful already - and then drives over to the same but much-more-packed parking lot that he’d gone to last time. 

He finds a parking spot and texts Quinn to let her know that he’s here. She tells him to walk around the West side of the building and meet her at an outside door to the gymnasium. He grabs his bag of snacks and does as he’s told, making sure to lock his car up. He is wearing a different jacket today - having stopped at home to deposit his Dalton blazer - and it was a little colder today so he kept it on. 

Once around the side of the building, he sees a door being propped open by a couple of students leaning against it. They are cheerleaders, a boy and girl, and Sebastian realizes that once he gets closer that the girl is the small Asian one that had stood on the other side of Kurt last week, but the guy she was talking to was tall and also Asian and someone he, thankfully, didn’t recognize. 

“Quinn’s just inside if you want to go in?” the boy nods towards the open door when Sebastian gets close enough, he hadn’t even needed to say anything. 

“Ok, thanks,” he nods to them and steps in through the door. 

It leads to the gymnasium where there is a fraction of the student body already on the in-door bleachers despite the pep rally still being a good 30 minutes away. Mostly it was parents and grandparents that were here way early. He sees Quinn sitting next to some other girls on the lowest bench seat next to the wall. 

Once she spots him she shoots up and skips over to him, her freshly pressed performance uniform hugging her frame perfectly. Sometimes he was jealous that she wasn’t all skinny torso and gangly limbs like he was, but ultimately he is proud that she has kept this nice figure since struggling with self-confidence in elementary and middle school. 

“Hey, you,” she says when she’s closer. 

“Hey, yourself,” he echos and wraps her into a hug. 

He shows her the snacks he brought and she snatches them up quickly, including his box of candy, and leads him over to the spot she’d been sitting with her friends before. 

“I know I did a poor job introducing him last time, but we hadn’t seen each other in like three years so you can’t hold it against me. But this is one of my closest friends, Sebastian Smythe,” Quinn says to the two sitting on the bench. 

They both raise a hand to wave at him and he recognizes one of them as Santana, the ‘bitchy Latino’ according to Quinn, and he guesses that they’re closer friends than she made it sound last week. 

“Seb, this is Santana and Brittany,” she finishes as she turns to sit down. 

Santana looks him up and down once and then turns to peer inside the bag that Quinn had taken from him. Sebastian just nods to them both and stands there, shifting on his feet. 

“So, twink,” Santana starts through a mouthful of his candies, “heard you were in Paris for the last couple of years. Anything worth noting over there?” 

Sebastian regarded her silently for a second before leveling her with a smirk and ignoring her irritating insults, “What and spoil everything for you? No thanks. You’ll get there… eventually.” He didn’t have to like her, but he did have to tolerate her for Quinn’s sake. 

“Calm down there, children,” Quinn says absentmindedly, focusing on opening the box of crackers. Brittany just laughs and watches everything unfold. 

After a beat of neither of them speaking, Sebastian relaxes when he watches Santana’s sneer turn into a grin. 

“You’re not that bad, actually,” she caves and sends him a solid nod which he returns with a barely repressed grin. Okay, so maybe he wants Quinn’s friends to like him. 

“Why don’t you have an accent?” Brittany asks, “and how do you know English?” 

Sebastian opens his mouth to answer but is interrupted by the static pop of the speakers throughout the speaker system in the gym that makes all four of them flinch. He turns around to investigate when he sees two more Cheerios in their uniforms with headset microphones on; it’s Kurt and Mercedes. 

“God, ‘fucking ‘course it was him,” Sebastian doesn’t have to be facing her to hear the eye roll in her voice. 

“Testing, testing!” echoes throughout the gym. It’s Mercedes who is walking towards the middle of the gym’s floor, Kurt is still standing by the tech panel and talking to one of the tech guys while holding his microphone away from his face. 

Sebastian watches as he says a couple more things, laughs - wait, his smile is strangely adorable actually - and then slides the equipment onto his head and speaks into the mic as well, voice echoing throughout the room. 

“Jesus,” Santana’s voice brings Sebastian back to the conversation he was having prior to the interruption. “Even his fucking voice is annoying, dramatic ass bitch.” 

Sebastian raises his eyebrows in surprise and catches Quinn’s eyes, who was munching on a cracker. Told you so, she mouths to him. 

He wanted to ask Santana why she disliked him so much but thought against it. This girl seemed to get angered easily and he didn’t really want to be the focus of such emotion. So he stays quiet and reaches for a couple of crackers just to give himself something to do. 

They stay and chat for a little while longer before the Cheerios’ coach comes out to collect everyone. Quinn directs him to a section of the in-door bleachers to sit that will put him in the perfect viewing position and he gives her a hug and part on the back for good luck. She smacks him on his ass and waves as she walks away. As Sebastian sits back down, he catches a disapproving look from an elderly woman who wasn’t sitting that far away from him. 

Pretty soon, more and more students began to wander inside and the stands started to fill up quickly. He got shoved up closer to the grandmother and he did his best to ignore her. 

Eventually, it got a little too warm for him to keep his jacket on comfortably, so he takes it off and puts it on the bench next to him. 

The school’s principal walks out onto the center of the floor with a microphone and addresses the school in a thickly accented, monotonous voice, “quiet, quiet children. I don’t have any announcements to make, so without further ado, here are your school’s pep band and Cheerios.” 

While he was talking, the pep band in full uniform had walked out onto the gym’s floor to stand around him. They all wore identical jackets and tall hats with extravagant feathers on top and carried their instruments. 

Now with the gym silent in anticipation, there was a pregnant pause before the cheer coach raised her megaphone up to her lips, “five, six, seven, eight!”

By the end of her countdown, the band had their instruments poised and ready to play. The opening notes of Madonna's “4 Minutes to Save the World” plays loudly and clearly. Sebastian knows the song because it’s one of his mother’s favorites and he nods along. 

When the beat of the drums come in, the band swings their instruments about and moves perfectly synchronized. Sebastian was glad that Quinn had sat him here because he was up high enough without being too far away and but back far enough to get a nice semi-aerial view.  His eyes followed the movement of the band. 

That is until the line of Cheerios came out from either side of the opposite-facing bleachers. They were kicking their legs up with each step, perfectly in line with each other and the song. Sebastian watched them only for a second before his eyes flitted back to the band marching about. He couldn’t see Quinn yet so he watched most of the moving parts; there was just so much happening.

And then the vocals came in and Sebastian held his breath in anticipation. 

“Hey! Unh, come on,” Mercedes rounded the center aisle that the band made, voice singing out loudly. Right as she came fully into view, Sebastian’s eyes were instantly attracted to the boy next to her. The moment her voice stopped, his began. 

“Come on, girl, I’ve been waiting for somebody to pick up my stroll!” 

Sebastian felt his heart leap into his throat again as his eyes and ears focused in on the absolute force of nature; anyone could see that Kurt was entirely in his element and fuck, did he look good doing it. 

Then he dropped down into a squat with a pronounced grunt before popping back up to slide into the next dance move. 

And Sebastian knew that it was part of the song, having heard it around the house before, but god damn did that noise resonate within him. He started to think of other reasons Kurt would be making noises like that and no, no, no, he needs to shut that train down right now. 

While he was having his mini-mental breakdown, he looked away from Kurt while Mercedes sang and found Quinn in the throng of female Cheerios who were moving well with the beat. He did take a moment to appreciate the hard work that would’ve had to have been put into a number like this because they all moved fluidly together. And then all of them, the dancers, the band, and the singers, swung their hips back and forth in a well-practiced move and Sebastian was right back to watching Kurt. 

“I want somebody to speed it up for me, then take it down slow.”

It’s the way he put enough emphasis on the first word for it to come out almost growl-like that has Sebastian spreading his knees a little reflexively while he feels some heat rush down south. Fuck, can’t get hard here, goddammit, he thinks hopelessly while watching the group perform a small patch of choreography that Kurt was in the middle of doing while he sang, which only contributed to the breathy air in the tail end of his next line. 

And when he dances his way up to the front of the crowd, past the dancing female Cheerios, Sebastian really does hold his breath then, getting a glorious look at his slim hips as they jive and rotate in time with the music. 

Then he is thinking about the song and if it had a slower, more sensual beat, how differently would Kurt be moving? He feels his cock twitch in his pants. In a moment of blind panic, he reaches down to where he had set his previously-discarded jacket on the bench next to him but hesitates because no, he wasn’t getting hard to the point that it was noticeable yet and maybe it would go away. 

When he looks up at the performance he’s met with Kurt’s fierily staring right back at him. 

While swallowing the little bit of moisture that he has left in his mouth, Sebastian clutches his jacket tightly in an effort to bring back his steely control, but his eyes won’t look away from Kurt’s glance. 

Something in Sebastian’s chest is warming up and maybe it’s lower than that because he’s pretty sure it’s arousal but fuck if he can stop the fluttering of his heart and the tingling in his legs because holy shit look at this boy on the floor with a voice that melts and dance moves that rival that of an exotic dancer. 

Get yourself together, Smythe, he mentally cautions but doesn’t really focus on, he’s too busy watching Kurt. 

Then someone behind him stands up too abruptly and a sweatshirt sleeve or book bag strap hits him in the back of his head and he startles and looks away for just a second of clarity; the rush of the crowd and people around him come back into his focus and he looks down and shit he is explicitly hard right here, in a crowd of people. So he does pull his jacket into his lap and resolutely does not look at the elderly woman he is sitting next to. 

He looks up in time to watch both Kurt and Mercedes hold each other’s eye contact while they straighten up from a crouched position, both belting out their words. Sebastian is really zeroing in on how those ridiculously bright red - he’s glad Dalton is more subdued  - pants hug the rounds of his ass perfectly. 

(fuck)

Oh god, then the next set of moves rely heavily on the dancers’ hips rotating and Sebastian would give anything to be on his knees in front of Kurt right about now. 

But then he catches a glimpse of Quinn as the entire group shifts and she quirks an eyebrow at him, which means his arousal is probably all over his face. He slaps his palms to his cheeks and runs his hands up and backward, ruffling his hair wildly, he knows.

On top of the embarrassment that is staining his cheeks pink, his body is running hot with how turned on he is and how much he would rather be putting pressure on his crotch to get some- any - friction there to ease the pressure. But goddamn is he not going to jerk himself off in a crowded, school-sanctioned event. That isn’t even his school for fuck’s sake!

He’s here to support Quinn. He needs to find her. 

“Time is waiting!”  

His voice is getting more and more breathless the longer the dance goes on and fuck does Sebastian wanna hear more of him gasping into the microphone. 

(Quinn. Quinn. Quinn. Quinn-)

“No hesitating!”

Oh, Christ, he bends down low and grinds his back in Mercedes’s. As he pushes himself back up - both of them pushing into one enough back-to-back - his hips pump forward with the beat. He is positively humping the air in front of him-

Sebastian whimpers, fucking whimpers when his gaze trail back up the dancer’s body to meet his eyes again. He’s not singing right now but his mouth is open because he’s panting -

(fuck, fuck, fuck)

Son of a bitch, he thinks and presses down on the jacket in his lap and his hips automatically jerk forward.

Kurt looks away to stare back at Mercedes while they continue to sing. As much as he is taunting (or whatever the fuck he’s doing to) Sebastian, he is also so focused on this number and the ease within him to just perform. 

Which, of course, only makes it so much harder (pun not fucking intended) for Sebastian to think of anything except his arousal that is still climbing. 

The entire room is buzzing, most people are out of their seats and jumping around, and with the music, the singing, and the screaming and cheering, he’s sure any noise or movement he makes will be lost in the throng of people. 

So he shakes his legs a little to spread the jacket out thinner onto his lap and presses his hand harder into his crotch and tries not to scrunch his face too much when the pleasure hits ohsogoodyes .

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock!”

Kurt and Mercedes are finishing up their final notes, circling each other while the female Cheerios behind them thrust and dance hard enough to make their skirts swish and they show more skin in ways that would be attractive to anyone but Sebastian because he only has eyes for Kurt. 

Then he’s turning away from her, mouth opened and panting, chest heaving, as the band finally lets their instruments rest and the music stops. All of the dancers take a collective breath and hold their position for a few more baited seconds while the crowd eats up their performance with even louder cheers and whistling. 

Sebastian blinks and finds Quinn, stopped not that far behind Kurt and she, thankfully, isn’t looking at him. He lifts his hand away from his lap and rubs the bottom of his palms into his eyes. God, how had he gotten so turned on so quickly? 

Then Kurt’s face turns towards him and his expression of awe quickly morphs into something darker. With hooded eyes and a smirky twitch to his mouth, Kurt tilts his head to the side a little bit and his eyes slide a little south to where Sebastian is about ninety percent sure where his crotch is in Kurt’s sights. 

It makes him want to put his hand back, to show Kurt exactly what he did. 

(you’re in a public place)

But Kurt’s eyes, the filthier part of his mind screams back. The bedroom eyes that are being cast his way make Sebastian want to hit the floor on his knees and worship every part of Kurt that the boy will let him- and damn, don’t those images look good? That confident look on Kurt’s face twisted to seem absolutely possessive as Sebastian looks up at him from the ground. 

Then the coach is walking onto the floor and the dancers are starting to peel away from their position and the crowd is melting back into their seats. Sebastian really hopes that another performance isn’t about to start because he isn’t sure if he’d be able to withstand another onslaught of emotions like that. But he watches Kurt and Mercedes walk out of the gym, using one of the side doors that he came in through actually, and his head clears a little to focus on what the coach was saying.

Turns out there is more to the pep rally - having gone to all private schools, he didn’t really know what to expect, to be fair - and there were other performances but none that featured Kurt. As grateful as he is for that little detail, he does want to see more of the cheerleaders.

Then there is a small break while the football team is introduced, one at a time, each making some weird, smart ass gesture or act to try to get their friends to laugh. By the time it is over and the remaining Cheerios - which included Quinn - had finished a smaller routine without music to wrap up the football team’s introduction, Sebastian was back to a respectable flaccid state, even if his underwear stuck a little uncomfortably to his skin in some places. 

Just in time, it seems, because Quinn is marching up the bleacher and plopping down next to him with a barked, “move!” to the kids on his left. 

“So,” she leans over and says, “what did you think? Was it enough for your private school ass?” 

Sebastian laughs at the joke and brings a hand (not the one he’d been using earlier even though they’re both just as clean) to her back, ignoring how warm and kind of damp with sweat she is. He pulls her into his side in a little one-armed hug before answering, “yeah, I did actually. There was so much… energy.” 

Yeah, sexual energy, his brain supplies unhelpfully. 

6

Quinn has to leave for the final Cheerio’s number, which does have Kurt in it but only as a backup dancer-

(which doesn’t stop you from watching him)

-with some of the other male cheerleaders that he’d seen on the field last week. He tells Quinn good luck and she smiles and waves at him once she’s on the gym’s floor and marches over to her teammates. 

For a split second, Sebastian is terrified when Quinn walks over and places an arm on Kurt’s shoulder. She leans in and says something real quick that he smiles at and then she is walking over to her friends - Santana and Brittany. He does a damn good job of convincing himself that it was merely to congratulate him on his performance earlier because the interaction had been so quick. Honestly, if he hadn’t been watching out for the two of them, he would have missed it because it was so brief. 

It was a good excuse, he even almost believes it. 

After the last of the pep rally is over, the gym starts to clear out and get less stuffy. He catches sight of Quinn standing by a hallway that leads to what he assumes are the locker rooms. There’s one on either side of the opposite bleacher set, where the cheerleaders had danced their way from at the beginning of the Madonna number. She is waving at him to come to her, so he stands and follows the remaining students off of the bleachers. 

He heads across the gym and through a thinned crowd to where she is. She walks further into the hallway and disappears behind one of the doors and he hopes that it’s not a girls’ locker room because even though he’s gay, doesn’t mean he’s comfortable around naked or close-to-naked girls. He still doesn’t hesitate to follow her, though.

Until he sees Kurt leaning against the wall of the hallway, previously covered by a little bit of the bleachers that stuck out. He stumbles over his next step and Kurt looks up and meets his gaze. 

To avoid any awkwardness from his staring, he mumbles through, “Kurt! I-uh, liked your perform- you were great out there, actually.” 

His stare is back to that icy seriousness that met Sebastian last week when they’d been talking about his jeans. One manicured eyebrow raises, but that is the only movement in the boy’s face for a few more pressured moments. 

(weren’t you following Quinn?)

“So what,” Kurt’s voice distracts him, eerily calm and bordering on judgemental again, “you can talk to me in person but not answer my text?”

Fuck, Sebastian thinks. It had been Kurt that texted him and he really did ignore the guy. Dammit, he wonders if it left any sort of lasting impression of him. His voice is quiet but there is a hint of persistent hysteria because he wants Kurt to know that he didn’t mean anything by it, “Well, I didn’t know who it was!” 

“Okay, fine,” Kurt amends the moment Sebastian’s done talking. His voice is still monotonous but his head is tilted down and he looks up at Sebastian through his lashes, “but now you’re going to act all innocent after eye-fucking me during my entire performance?” 

Hearing him swear shoots a thrill down Sebastian’s spine and after sitting through such a wired performance earlier, he’s sure that it would take nothing to bring all of that residual arousal right back to the surface of his skin. 

He beats it down as quickly as he can, even if his eyes widen at the statement, “ I was eye-fucking  you? No way.”

“Mmhmm,” and then Kurt pushes himself off the wall with a languid body roll and he steps closer to Sebastian, backing him into the hard surface of the wall behind him. “The jacket wasn’t as inconspicuous of a cover as you thought it was, by the way…” 

Sebastian gulps back the flood of saliva in his mouth and opens his mouth to speak but ends up only gasping a breath when Kurt’s arms come up to his and push him firmly in the unrelenting surface behind him by his biceps. His eyes reflexively look around them at the completely empty hallway - which didn’t make all that much sense because they were standing near the opening of the hallway and wasn’t this place just packed? 

But then Kurt squeezes his arms in a surprisingly strong grip and Sebastian is trying to string together a coherent response, “What was I supposed to do- let the grandma next to me see how hard I was?” He gasps louder when Kurt leans up and places a kiss on the exposed skin of the bottom of his neck, right above his collarbone. Fuck his neck for being so goddamn sensitive. 

His chest is heaving now but he keeps talking because Kurt’s not saying anything and shit, just anyone can see them and Sebastian is fucking pinned but he loves it so much at the same time. “You’re lucky you were too focused on the song to get hard.” 

He knows it’s a tad arrogant to just assume that Kurt would be turned on by Sebastian, but dammit he wants the focus off of him for a moment. 

Kurt leans up onto his toes and his breath ghosts over Sebastian’s ear, “I wasn’t too focused, my pants just hide things better.” 

And then they’re kissing. And oh yeah, he can definitely feel just how much they hide right now pressed against his thigh when Kurt rocks forward, fuck. Their mouths slot together so well.

“Kurt!” Sebastian whispers frantically. As much as he wants to shut his mind off and kiss the boy in front of him, he can’t stop thinking of their surroundings. This isn’t his school and just how trashy would it be if they were to get caught?

“Do you want to kiss me?” Kurt askes hurriedly, also whispering. He pulls back enough to talk but not enough for them to not be sharing air. 

“Yes,” Sebastian answers honestly. 

“Good.” 

Kurt pulls away, to which Sebastian slams his head back into the wall, and his hips jerk forward. When he peels his eyes open (when did he close them?) Kurt is smirking at him and he has half the mind to surge forward and kiss that look right off his face. He hates how boastful he is right now. But there’s also something so sweet about being on the edge of desperate for him right now. 

“In here,” Kurt nods to the door that sat two steps to Sebastian’s right. Kurt goes first and doesn’t look for a light switch, in fact, once Sebastian is past the threshold he is being pinned against the door while it slams shut. 

A groan is ripped from his throat as his arousal spikes, who would have thought that he’d have a little manhandling kink. 

“Shh,” Kurt murmurs, mouthing at his neck again. “You still can’t be loud.”

The way he says it implies that he’s perfectly capable of staying quiet himself, Sebastian deems to eradicate his poised posture as quickly as he can. 

Sebastian grips onto his bony hips and pulls them flushed and nuzzles over his cheek until their mouths are lined up again. Then he puts his skill and heart into rocking his world. Which actually just means pressing their lips together over and over (and over and over) again for a series of pecks that bleed into longer kisses until Sebastian is suckling onto Kurt’s bottom lip as the boy opens wider under the force of his gasp. 

Kurt is a surprisingly good kisser and gives back as much as he gets. Sebastian’s fingers twitch to press harder into the shorter boy’s body, but he doesn’t want to go too crazy right now. 

“Sebastian ,” he moans, rolling his hips forward and the taller of the two considers it a victory.  

The two boys kiss in the dark room a while until their lips ache with the force and their erections go just on the side of too painful to bear any longer. Kurt’s breaths are hiccuping pants in his ear where he’d just ended after kissing up Sebastian’s neck, and Sebastian has one hand gripping Kurt’s arm and the other wraps possessively around his waist. 

Fuck, the kid really does weigh nothing and doesn’t have much meat on his bones. How he hadn’t noticed in all of his leering, he’s not sure, but it would take next to nothing to pull him up and support him in just his arms alone, not needing a wall or something equally sturdy to support his weight. Just as Sebastian is contemplating moving into that position, Kurt speaks up.

“We should…” Kurt starts but trails off in favor of burying his face in Sebastian’s neck again. 

‘We should’ what? Continue? Stop? Take our pants off? Sebastian’s hand that is resting just above the smaller boy’s ass starts playing with the hem of his uniform’s top. He’s not sure how long they’ve been in this dark room - which Sebastian had quickly realized was a storage closet based on the smell of dusty, stale rubber - but he’s sure that he doesn’t want to leave anytime soon. 

“‘We should’ what?” he eventually voices out loud. 

Kurt sighs, not entirely a pleased noise, and pulls back a little bit to get a breath of air that isn’t saturated by the other boy. They’re not too far away, in fact, their lower halves are still very much pressed together and Sebastian can feel the little aborted rolls of his hips with every breath either one of them takes. 

Pleasure still zings up his spine, but his head is starting to clear now that they have taken a break from kissing. 

“Kurt?” 

There is a soft, almost chastise, kiss pressed to his lips, and Sebastian’s heart flutters. He’s never kissed a boy so sweetly before, it’s nice and he would like to keep doing it but he knows that their persistent erections - Kurt’s still pressed so intimately to his - won’t let things stay too innocent for much longer. 

(has it really been innocent though?)

Kurt’s hands slide up from his stomach to his chest and resting with his fingers bedded into his hair. He leans up and kisses each one of his cheeks while he’s sure they are both getting some pretty glorious friction. And then he whispers, “I need to go, but this has been fun…” 

He’s got one of his hands trailing down the front of Sebastian while his other hand grips the doorknob with enough strength to pull the door open while Sebastian’s weight stays heavily supported by it. 

Right as Kurt is about to step into the light that comes streaming in the more that the door opens despite the weight against it, his hand that was making its slow crawl down his body dances over the front of his once-again tented jeans. 

He moans and bucks forward, also in the motion of stepping forward to let Kurt out, and his fingers reach out to grasp the other boy’s wrist. 

The limb slips through his hand, but Kurt turns at the last second before he is fully standing out in the hallway and looks at Sebastian who is now standing in a little bit of the light pouring into the once pitch-black room. 

“You should text me back, maybe this can continue?” 

The way that his eyes drag down Sebastian’s body is enough to make the Dalton student want to pull his phone out right now, but he figures that might make him seem a little too enthusiastic. 

So instead he says, “I just might.” 

Kurt quirks an eyebrow at him before closing the door and bathing Sebastian in darkness once again. He stands there for a long time, willing his erection to go down before he can be seen by virtually anyone ever again. 

7

“So how was it?” 

Sebastian turns over to level Quinn with a glare from the driver’s seat of his car. He hasn’t put the vehicle into the proper gear yet so he has the liberty to let off the brake and moving his hand away from the gear shift entirely. 

“You fucker, you lied to me,” he tries to sound stiff but his face breaks out into a grin. 

“You’re damn straight I did,” she says, picking at her nails to hide the fact that she’s also got a shit-eating grin. “I’m a good wingman. And you and Kurt are cuties.” 

He just straightens in his seat and throws his head back and laughs. Now that he thinks about it, it is pretty stupid of him to think that he’d just follow her right into the girl’s locker room. “I can’t believe you,” he adds fondly. 

“You love meee,” she sing-songs. 

He rolls his eyes and pulls out of McKinley High’s student parking lot. 

They’re not driving for long before he can’t resist asking, “so was the entire thing set up?”

“Eh,” she says, stretching out a little in the passenger seat and yawning. “Kurt and I have been friends since he joined the Cheerios two years ago and he’s had a thing for you since I first showed him your ugly mug- hey!”

He reaches over and smacks her, accidentally clipping her in the boob, without looking away from the road. Her house wasn’t too far away from the school so he didn’t have to drive long.

“He’s clever, actually. He came up with the whole feud-thing between him and Sanatana to make it seem like we all weren’t that close.”

“So she’s not an actual bitch then?” Sebastian asks hopefully. Santana seems like a fierce woman and he wouldn’t mind being actual friends with her, he thinks that they’d make a really good team actually. 

“Who, Santana?” Quinn asks, a humorous hysteria creeping into her voice. Her next line comes out with a laugh, “Oh she is totally a bitch, but we all love her dearly.” 

“Oh.” It’s a couple more traffic lights later when he asks, “So why do it all? Why not just let Kurt and I meet and hit it off naturally?” 

“Please, you’re both too idiotic. And it was fun for the girls and I to trick you,” she says earnestly. 

They pull up to her house and the both of them get out. He’s not staying for long but he can’t seem to say goodbye just yet. After dinner, he will. 

Later that night, hours later and back in his own room, he drafts quite a few texts to Kurt. Should he sarcastically respond to his first text? Should he just start a new conversation? How much does he want Kurt to know that he knows? Should he keep the charade going for longer? 

So many questions, so naturally he just calls Quinn and she calls him an idiot for dwelling on it so much. She promises not to tell Kurt that he knows everything because he hasn’t quite decided what he wants to do with that information. Their conversation is short because it’s late and her father is pestering her to go to bed. 

Sebastian stays up a little later after that, almost too late to even send a text, and ultimately settles on something. He sends it before he changes his mind for the umpteenth time and rolls over in his bed and lets sleep take him over. 

[tulirps]

Pre Outbreak

Xochi and JC met through her aunt. As one of Val's favorite advisees, she'd asked him to personally give her niece a tour of the campus. They were both pursuing medical degrees, and her aunt figured he could be a good resource for her. At the end of the tour, they'd exchanged numbers in the event Xochi had any further questions. Occasionally, she'd take him up on the offer, but they didn't really reconnect until after the outbreak.

Post Outbreak

When Xochi got the idea to start conducting experiments, she knew she'd need another person to help her. Although she had the knowledge necessary to run mental tests, she didn't know nearly enough to perform physical ones. She remembered how kind JC had been when he'd given her a tour of campus and how he'd offered to help her if she needed anything. Though the circumstances of his offer were different, she figured it didn't hurt to ask. Though he agreed to help her, his ethics prevented them from making the progress she'd been hoping for. She recruited Klaus in an effort to speed up the results, but JC remained uneasy with their experiments. Aware that he would only hinder their progress, she changed the locks on their lab and ignored him until JC's younger brother arrived. In an attempt to get to the medical faction, Mikey was bitten. Knowing he had few other options, JC had begged her to help him, and she happily obliged. Mikey's injury presented endless opportunities. Not only could she learn invaluable information about preventing the turn, but she could bargain with JC who had been considering turning her in to their' faction leader. He agreed to keep her experiments a secret so long as she saved his life. She was successful in her efforts, securing her own safety and that of her experiments. Much to her surprise, the incident also allowed her and JC to rekindle their friendship. Though he did not return to working with them fully, he was given permission to occasionally assist her in the lab. The two began to grow closer, further developing feelings that they had been repressing for one another. After a dramatic confrontation, JC confessed his feelings, which Xochi accepted, and they decided to pursue something with each other.

Post Outbreak

When it became obvious that JC was unable to get the results she required from their experiments, she enlisted the help of Klaus. Much like herself, Klaus was eager to perform their experiments and harbored little care for the creatures they were operating on. While JC acted as a good influence on Xochi, Klaus drove her to be everything she knew she shouldn't be. After JC was no longer welcome in the lab, the two began hooking up on occasion. Although Xochi cares for Klaus a great deal, it never meant anything, given his dedication to Emba despite her zombie state. She sees Klaus as a true and genuine friend-- one of her very first, and would do nearly anything to protect him.

Post Outbreak

When Mikey was bitten, Xochi was the one to save his life. His older brother had begged her to help, and she'd agreed to do so. Her experiments led her to believe that amputation could prevent someone from turning after being bitten, but she had no proof until Mikey. When he woke from the procedure, horrified by both Xochi and JC. Though amputating his arm had kept him human, he was disgusted by the work they were doing to get to this point. Now aware of the budding nature of his brother and Xochi's relationship, he is trying to have an open mind and give her a chance to prove herself.

Pre Outbreak

Of her Aunts friends, Ruben was always her favorite. He was kind to Val when she was going through her divorce, and tended to treat her better than her own uncle did. Ruben also made an effort to befriend Xochi, offering her morbid history knowledge once he was aware of her interests. Over the last couple of years, he's spent a lot of time at their house, and Xochi has even taken classes from Ruben simply to have him as a teacher. Though she'd never tell Val, she secretly hopes the two of them will get together.

Pre Outbreak

Following her parent's murder, Xochi struggled to make friends. She spent a lot of her time with her aunt, which eventually led to her meeting Seth. As children of staff members, they often saw each other at work events. Despite how offputting she could be, he was kind to her, something she was incredibly grateful for. When she could not secure a date for prom, Seth offered to go with her. Though they were never close, she kept tabs on him after graduation.

Pre Outbreak

After her parent's death, her grandparents were supposed to take custody of her. When they decided to instead move back to their home country, her Aunt Valeria took her in. She'd always gotten along well with her, as the two had incredibly similar personalities. Val tried her best to help Xochi through her trauma, often at the expense of her own mental health. While their life isn't perfect, Xochi appreciates everything her aunt has done for her.

Post Outbreak

Val and Xochi have yet to reconnect, but knowing the kind of person her Aunt is she has faith that she's alive.

Pre Outbreak

Much like Ruben, Xochi knows Wellsie through her aunt. Although she's less familiar with Wellsie, she likes her enough. She spends a lot of time working in the library, so she sees Wellsie around outside of when Val is spending time with her.

[kanisema-blog]

Paul's laugh echoed across the crowded college quad, bouncing off the red brick buildings like a melody from a bygone era. Back then, laughter was the soundtrack of our friendship. We were Carmilla Kruspe, resident firecracker with a penchant for wild graphic design concepts, and Paul Graves, the star athlete with a surprising artistic soul. We were inseparable.

Our bond transcended the usual college camaraderie. We spent hours hunched over my messy desk, Paul meticulously sketching characters for my game design project while I critiqued his form with the ruthless honesty only a best friend could muster. He, in turn, was my biggest cheerleader, the first to plaster a goofy grin on his face at my most outlandish ideas.

But somewhere between stolen glances across the library table and late-night pizza runs, the lines blurred. One rainy afternoon, huddled beneath the library's awning, our laughter died down, replaced by a charged silence. My gaze locked with his, and in that moment, a million unspoken desires hung in the air. "Carmilla," he started, his voice a husky whisper, "I think..."

The sentence remained unfinished. A panicked student barreled through the doorway, separating us, and the moment evaporated like a wisp of smoke. The unspoken truth lingered, a silent storm brewing beneath the surface of our friendship. Our interactions became strained, punctuated by awkward silences and forced smiles. The laughter, the easy camaraderie – all gone, replaced by a suffocating tension.

Years blurred into a collage of missed opportunities and unspoken apologies. I threw myself into my work, the world of pixels and vector graphics becoming a refuge from the real world, from the gaping hole Paul's absence had left. His career skyrocketed, his face plastered across financial news channels, the CEO wunderkind. All the while, a part of me remained frozen in that rainy afternoon, forever yearning for what could have been.

Then, one scorching summer afternoon, fate intervened. I was presenting my latest design project to a potential client - a tech giant. As I walked into the conference room, my breath hitched. There, at the head of the table, sat Paul, his eyes widening in surprise that mirrored my own.

The presentation became a blur. All I could see was Paul, his familiar features etched with a mixture of emotions I couldn't decipher. Afterwards, in the sterile confines of the conference room hallway, we finally spoke. The years of unspoken words tumbled out, a torrent of regret and longing. "Carmilla," he said, his voice thick with emotion, "I messed up. I was scared."

Tears welled up in my eyes. "Me too," I choked out. In that moment, the years melted away. We weren't the naive teenagers anymore, but the pain of the past remained, a raw nerve exposed.

The path to reconciliation was long and arduous. We navigated the minefield of past hurts, learning to forgive and move forward. There were stumbles, of course, but this time, we faced them head-on, the foundation of our friendship, reforged with the tempered steel of experience, holding strong.

Our love story wasn't a fairy tale with a grand declaration. It was a slow burn, a rekindled ember that blossomed into a love story far more profound than the one we almost had. Today, as I stand beside Paul, gazing at the twinkling city lights from our rooftop garden, his hand warm in mine, I know our journey together, with all its twists and turns, has brought us to a place more beautiful than we ever imagined. We are no longer just best friends or lovers; we are partners, confidantes, two souls forever intertwined by a love story written not in grand gestures, but in the quiet moments of understanding, forgiveness, and the enduring flame of a friendship rekindled.

[alyssascorner]

Diary Entry #4

Title: Embracing Destiny: A Journey of Growth, Redemption, and Rekindled Love

Written by: Alyssa | 7/18/2023

Destiny is a concept that often divides opinions, but sometimes life presents us with situations that feel too persistent to ignore. For me, that situation was my on-and-off again boyfriend. Our journey together has been filled with ups and downs, doubts, and second chances, but amidst it all, a sense of fate seems to intertwine our lives. As I reflect on our tumultuous history and the personal growth we've both undergone, I've come to realize that perhaps destiny does have a role to play in our story.

A Teenage Love:

Our relationship began during our early teenage years, a time when emotions run high and maturity is still a distant horizon. We were young and inexperienced, prone to making mistakes and struggling to express ourselves. Although we dated from the ages of 13 to 15, our connection persisted long after, with intermittent flings and lingering feelings that refused to fade away. Fearful of getting hurt, I held back from committing fully, allowing past grievances to cloud my judgment.

Confronting Our Imperfections:

In retrospect, I understand now that I too played a role in the toxicity that tainted our connection. Like many sheltered teenagers, I struggled to navigate my emotions and often lashed out at those around me. My inability to acknowledge my own flaws hindered our growth as individuals and as a couple. I carried the weight of past grievances, unwilling to give him the opportunity to grow and change. It was a crucial lesson I needed to learn: self-reflection and acceptance are vital steps toward personal development.

An Unbreakable Bond:

Despite the challenges we faced, we found ourselves continually drawn back to each other. Even during periods of silence and distance, our bond remained unshakable. We became each other's confidants and best friends, providing unwavering support through thick and thin. As we transitioned into adulthood, life presented us with new hurdles, and we both embarked on personal journeys of self-discovery and healing.

Growth and Healing:

Recognizing the need for mental health support, I sought therapy and medication to address my emotional well-being. Learning healthier ways to communicate my feelings became a priority, and I gradually shed the toxic behavior of my past. It was a process, but one that transformed my approach to relationships and ultimately paved the way for our renewed connection.

Navigating the Present:

Over the past three years, we have rebuilt our connection from the ground up, establishing a foundation of friendship and trust. While our journey hasn't been without its challenges, we've learned to address our past wounds and communicate effectively. Though external opinions and past mistakes threatened to derail us, our commitment to growth and each other prevailed.

A Future Together:

Now, at 20 years old, I have made a decision. He is the one. We have devoted ourselves to each other and are ready to face whatever lies ahead. Our path is not without obstacles, and the journey toward marriage and acceptance from our families will require patience and understanding. We are taking it one day at a time, allowing ourselves to flourish individually before embarking on a lifelong commitment. The engagement may be long, but it is a testament to our desire to build a solid foundation for our future.

Conclusion:

Sometimes, life has a way of leading us back to certain people, testing our resilience and teaching us valuable lessons along the way. My on-and-off again boyfriend has become an integral part of my life, and our love story is a testament to growth, redemption, and the power of second chances. As we embrace our destiny, we recognize the significance of personal growth, open communication, and forgiveness in creating a strong and lasting relationship. Together, we are determined to face the future with courage, love, and unwavering commitment.

[romcombc]

Book Review for Hook, Line, and Sinker

I just wanted to hug Fox! I swear there were so many takeaways from this story, I don’t even know where to begin. So many people told me they liked Hook, Line, and Sinker more than It Happened One Summer and now I know why. The evolution of Fox in this story was just…WOW! I know, not the best way to describe it with easy access to a dictionary but that is what comes to mind. Like Hannah, journeying back to Westport was filled with memories, hope, and dare I say it – closure as we wrap up our journey with Piper and Hannah Bellinger. 

Welcome back to Westport, Washington! In the second installment of the Bellinger sisters series, the story shifts its focus to Hannah – the self proclaimed “supporting actress” to her leading lady sister Piper. Having just returned to LA to continue her work as a production assistant, she finds herself more alone than she has ever been before. Two years into her unrequited crush for Sergei, the director – Hannah isn’t sure where she is going in life and while music fills heart, mind, and is the embodiment of her soul – something else is missing. It doesn’t help that she has reconnected with Fox, a relief skipper she met the prior summer. Rekindling their friendship gives not only  companionship but a connection to a place where she had experienced one of the best summers of her life. Returning to work, she is surprised when a opportunity presents itself – Sergei needs a location suggestion for the movie as LA doesn’t feel right! What surprised her even more is when she opens her mouth and suggests Westport! She only suggested for her sister right? And her grandmother? She couldn’t possibly be suggesting it so she could see Fox. Fox who has essentially slept his way through the city of Seattle. Fox who clearly stated he didn’t do relationships. No – absolutely not, it was because she was just nostalgic. That’s it. It has to be – especially when she finds out Piper’s in-laws are going to be staying in the guest room and floats the idea of staying with Fox. 

Fox couldn’t be more thrilled to see Hannah again! She hadn’t left his thoughts since he met her the summer prior. That little fact is something he is determined to keep to himself. He couldn’t even imagine what the crew would say if they found out the player of Westport had a little crush. He gets a small taste of it when Brendon warns him to keep his hands to himself. Why doesn’t that surprise him. It’s how everyone has always seem him. Going to Seattle to get his rocks off, the butt of every joke, “Hide your daughters! Fox is on the hunt!” Doesn’t matter anyway, you can’t run away from the labels that have been on you since high school. He was no better than his father so why even bother. Maybe it was for the better, Hannah was his first female friend and he would only ruin things if it got physical. That’s just who he was. Why change now?

Hook, Line, and Sinker takes ALL the feels, wraps them in a beautiful bow, and waits for you to open it, gifting you with joy, laughter, heartache, tears, and hope. While I am sad to see this series come to an end, I couldn’t imagine it continuing in any other way.

Check out the spoiler-free review in the Facebook Group - The Romantic Comedy Book Club or the full review on the main website: https://romcombc.com/book/hook-line-and-sinker/

[kiveriah]

Azure Gleam - Dimitri

We get to see how a Dimitri with a present support network can be a good king since early on, and he could have reached a similar path in 3H if he had the same opportunities, I stand by that.

Pre-timeskip Dimitri is the same, the only thing that changes is that he was crowned sooner and those who were keeping their distance (Rodrigue and Matthias, Lambert’s best friends) are suddenly by his side, supporting him with more than thoughts. 

Plus all of the Blue lions leave the academy and follow him, expanding his support network even further. Unlike 3 houses in which everyone kept him at bay, they were closer than any other house, yes, but only Mercedes called him by his name, the others either was love or respect always refer to him by his title (or worse). 

Felix and Rufus are the worst offenders. Rufus was one of the people responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur and manages to kill his brother but to his regret Dimitri survives. And then he claims he is ‘scared’ of him since he was a child. He continues to taunt him until his death.

All of his family is either dead (Lambert, his mother) or has betrayed him (Rufus, Patricia/Anselma and Edelgard*). Rodrigue, Felix, Matthias, Sylvain, and Ingrid kept their distance.

But when they need to defeat Rufus all come to aid him and STAY with him as their king. The two most important changes are:

Rodrigue drops his title but helps him with Duscur (second father figure)

Felix becomes the duke and tries to advice him (rekindle their friendship but he stills calls him out, thing the others still have a little trouble doing)

We get to see Dimitri become more open, sharing the burden and trusting the Blue lions. Even if he is still plagued by his ghosts he now holding tight to the living. We reach a similar Dimitri than the one we get to see at the end of Azure Moon which makes me wonder, had he had a support network (he knew he could go back to) in 3 Houses how he did here, would his fate had been any different?

Bonus:

We already had hints in 3Houses about how the lost his eye and why he is so ruthless with Randolph but it is nice(? to get a confirmation in 3Hopes also.

See how Dimitri acts in 3 Houses after getting captured, tortured and threatened (with Dedue / possibly Rodrigue), he tried to follow the same modus operandi as his trauma VS in 3 Hopes he willingly gave himself as a hostage and what Cordelia is threatening him with.

We know Dimitri parrots what other think of him. When his uncle or Felix call him beast/boar he does not deny it, he never pushes back. He accepts all criticism at face value. This is the way he reacts with words and I think this is the way he reacts with actions, he is just parroting or recreating what he went through. It show how when the others took the first step to help him he open up/trust did too.

[richincolor]

New Releases

So many books are launching this week! Are any of these YA books on your TBR pile? What have you been reading lately?

Fireworks by Alice Lin

Seventeen-year-old Lulu Li has her last summer before college all planned out. But her plans go awry when she learns that Kite Xu, her old next-door neighbor and childhood friend, will be returning home from South Korea.

Lulu hasn’t seen Kite since eighth grade, after he left the country to pursue a career in K-pop, eventually debuting in the boy group Karnival. When Karnival announces that Kite will be taking a break from K-pop activities for mysterious reasons, the opportunity to rekindle their friendship arises.

Star-struck and nostalgic, Lulu tries to reconnect with Kite. As they continue to bond and reminisce over the past, Kite’s sister, Connie, warns Lulu not to get too close to her brother. The harder Lulu tries to deny her feelings, the stronger they get. But how could a K-pop star ever fall for a nobody from home? And even if he did, is there any way for their relationship to end but badly?

TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

When TJ Powar—a pretty, popular debater—and her cousin Simran become the subject of a meme: with TJ being the “expectation” of dating an Indian girl and her Sikh cousin who does not remove her body hair being the “reality”—TJ decides to take a stand.

She ditches her razors, cancels her waxing appointments, and sets a debate resolution for herself: “This House Believes That TJ Powar can be her hairy self, and still be beautiful.” Only, as she sets about proving her point, she starts to seriously doubt anyone could care about her just the way she is—even when the infuriating boy from a rival debate team seems determined to prove otherwise.

As her carefully crafted sense of self begins to crumble, TJ realizes that winning this debate may cost her far more than the space between her eyebrows. And that the hardest judge to convince of her arguments might just be herself.

Out There Into the Queer New Yonder Edited by Saundra Mitchell

To conclude the trio of anthologies that started with critically acclaimed All Out and Out Now, Out There features seventeen original short stories set in the future from fantastic queer YA authors.

Explore new and familiar worlds where the human consciousness can be uploaded into a body on Mars…an alien helps a girl decide if she should tell her best friend how she feels…two teens get stuck in a time loop at a space station…people are forced to travel to the past or the future to escape the dying planet…only a nonbinary person can translate the binary code of a machine that predicts the future…everyone in the world vanishes except for two teen girls who are in love. This essential and beautifully written collection immerses and surprises with each turn of the page.

Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months. And honestly? Their break up hadn’t surprised anyone. Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer, and they couldn’t have been more different.

Zyla was a cynic about love. She’d witnessed the dissolution of her parents’ marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only aim was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.

Kai was a serial monogamist and a hopeless romantic. He’d put a temporary pause on his dating life before senior year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.

Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla and Kai’s perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up… Or did they? Romantic, heart-stirring and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.

Empress Crowned in Red (Witches Steeped in Gold #2) by Ciannon Smart

Iraya, her revenge taken and magic unfettered, turns her sights on a bigger goal: freeing Aiyca for the Obeah. But first she must shed the guise of the rogue warrior and become the Lost Empress her people need.

Jazmyne has crowned herself the doyenne and is prepared to go to extreme lengths—and court ruthless danger—to prove to her people she deserves the throne.

But there is more at stake than Jazmyne or Iraya know: a new threat is awakening on the other side of the island that could destroy everything they’ve been fighting for. Trust is scarce, and betrayal a breath away. But Iraya and Jazmine once again find themselves turning to each other—after all, better the witch you know than the nightmare you don’t.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad by Natasha Deen

Let’s be clear. No matter what her older brother, Robby, says, aspiring screenwriter Tuna Rashad is not “stupidstitious.” She is, however, cool with her Caribbean heritage, which means she is always on the lookout for messages from loved ones who have passed on. But ever since Robby became a widower, all he does is hang out at the house, mock Tuna for following in their ancestors’ traditions, and meddle in her life.

Tuna needs to break free from her brother’s loving but over-bearing ways and get him a life (or at least, get him out of hers!). Based on the signs, her ancestors are on board. They also seem to be on board with helping Tuna win over her crush, Tristan Dangerfield. The only hiccup? She has to do it before leaving for college in the fall. A ticking clock, a grief-stricken brother, and a crush who doesn’t believe in signs. What could possibly go wrong?

If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So

Elsie has a crush on Ada, the only person in the world who truly understands her. Unfortunately, they’ve never met in real life and Ada lives an ocean away. But Elsie has decided it’s now or never to tell Ada how she feels. That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life.

In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn’t nearly as alone as she thought. But now she has a choice to make…

[farfromharry]

works: 33 , features writers: 29

last updated: 31st august. 2021

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

— @waitimcomingtoo

honey, i’m home

→ Summary: You’re not a normally an affectionate person but when Tom comes home from filming, you can’t keep your hands off him. He happily accepts your cuddles and fluff ensues

valentine’s day blues

→ Summary: In the midst of planning Valentine’s Day and his brothers party, Tom forgets your birthday

— @earthlyholland

falling with grace

→ Summary: Lilah’s a newly single mom, Tom is her charming English co-star 

no pants with his love

→ Summary: Tom never miss out on an opportunity to rave about just how much he adores you 

— @duskholland

the box

→ Summary: You feel a mysterious object in Tom’s pocket...

— @tomhollandd

one of the good ones

→ Summary: You’ve given up on the dating life after plenty of dates that’ve gone south the second they find out about your daughter, Caroline. But, your friends are getting married and that leads to you meeting Tom and he’s really not that bad. But is he different from everyone else?

— @lovableparker

you & i

→ Summary: Tom’s on his way to ask you an important question. The problem?  he’s not sure what your answer will be, considering the messy circumstances. 

— @parkers-gal

twenty questions

— @spacebarnes

youtube video

— @itsbeaconhillsbaby

city lights, pretty sights

→ Summary: Wandering through NYC late at night still in your premiere outfits; pizza, piggy back rides and cute scenes

— @mywldflwers

little white lies

— @arvinsescape

stupid waiters

→ Summary: Tom had a special evening planned and the waiter tries to ruin his mood.

— @bvttercupbby

take care

→ Summary: Tom’s been really over whelmed, over worked and over all exhausted recently so what better than his girlfriend to help take care of him.

— @wazzupmrstark

petals and thorns

→ Summary: Tom always brings you flowers when he’s thinking of you, and you want to switch it up and return the favor. Sometimes you just have to treat your mans.

— @thollandthot

finals week

— @imaginesmai

fluff alphabet

— @cali-holland

hubby

— @wizkiddx

tom asking your dad to marry you

→ Summary: Tom's terrified to ask your dad a very particular question question

— @parkers-gal

breaking the internet

→ Summary: Tom and reader are expecting a baby, and finally make it public. A few problems occur.. and the fans break the internet

breaking the internet, again

→ Summary: Baby Holland breaks the internet 

— @insidiousslut

twinkle toes , part 2 (links not found)

— @uglypastels

new beginnings

— @spideyspeaches

the prince and the archer

— @ptersmj

smoke and mirrors

→ (richkid!tom) Summary: Because of your mother’s insistence on a pristine family image and tom’s messy one, you deny your true feelings for him

— @celestialholland

the best birthday

→ Summary: Tom gets a few birthday presents on his special day, but this particular one is his favourite.

— @holyhell-tomholland

regrets only

→ Summary: Divorced parents rekindling an old flame? 

— @selfcarecap

the one

→ Summary: You find a ring in Tom’s room. You can’t let him marry her.

— @starryspidey

romantic

→ Summary: You and Tom are secretly dating and go on The Late Late Show to discuss your new film and some suspicious photos.

— @youandtom

in session

→ Summary: You've been Tom's therapist for seven years and he relies on you as a source of advice, support and friendship. But what has Tom up at 4 in the morning on the verge of a breakdown that he is desperate for your help?

— @mcumendes

love letters

→ Summary: The curly haired boy in your math class puts a sticky note everywhere and on everyone, and some day one of his yellow notes lands on your desk

— @angeli-marco-writes

despite

→ Summary - Tom is a fretful boyfriend at the best of times, and this is only exacerbated by your emergency admission to hospital, a great surprise to him after you elected not to tell him about your health issues.

— @veryholland

souvenirs of the heart

→ Summary: with Tom back home, things couldn't be better – until an accidental discovery leads to an unplanned turn of events

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Post Season 8 fanfic recommendations

Hey! So, I’ve been working on this for a while. I’ve read so many good Hyde/Jackie stories, and I feel like it’s a waste not to share them.

I tried to separate everything in categories, but some fics fit in more than one category and honestly it was just a mess. So I've separated them the best way that I could. I’m going to post the categories separately, and after I’m done I’ll make a masterpost with links to each of the categorized posts, as suggested by @springsteenicious and @those70scomics (thank you both for the help!).

Even though this is only one category, it’s still a long post, as I’ve said before, I’ve read many fanfics. I don’t know if I should edit this and add more stories as they’re out (for instance, I have a post season 8 story that I’m planning on posting soon) or if I should just leave things this way. Please let me know if you think I left out a good story or if you have any suggestions.

I’ve read and enjoyed ALL of these stories, they’re all very good. All the stories mentioned here are post season 8 stories. I’ll post stories that take place during season 8 next. I hope everyone enjoys it!

20 Questions by ShanghaiLily

Just after New Year's day in 1980, Jackie Burkhart decides to disappear from the basement to save her sanity. When Christmas rolls around and the Formans beg Jackie to attend their party, she ends up involved in an elaborate game of 20 Questions with Hyde that could change both of their lives.

This story is almost entirely T rated, but there is smut in some chapters. The author placed a warning in the notes of the chapters that contain steamy scenes, so you can easily skip it if it makes you uncomfortable.

This story is complete.

71k words, 21 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna and Kelso/Brooke

After the End by araleebo

Who's to say what happens after the end? Jackie finally thought she could get her happily ever after with the guy of her dreams in the new decade. For a while, she was right. Then, the worst few days of her life happened.

This story is complete.

34k words, 6 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

All That I Got by AdriDee

After being an asshole to her during most part of 1979, Hyde decides it’s time for redemption. And to win Jackie back, he must work on himself first.

Their journey in this story is beautiful, and amazingly written. The story is complete.

122k words, 22 chapters.

Rated M for smut in some chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Fez/Laurie, Red/Kitty

Back to the 70’s by Wicked Chocolate

The 80s had barely begun before they start to crash around Jackie, maybe an Angel can grant her a trip back to the 70s and give her a second chance with Hyde. How will the events we know unfold now that Jackie has the knowledge and opportunity to change them?

Trigger warning: Major Character Death, kind of.

73k words, 10 chapters.

Rated M.

This story is not complete, but it’s worth the read.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna.

Also available on AO3

Back to Their Roots by Hart-of-Tree-Hill

Who doesn’t love a friends with benefits story?

Jackie and Hyde decide to have a no strings attached relationship after everything, but we all know those don't work.

This story is not complete and it makes me sad :( I still have hope that the author will update this someday. It kind of ends on a cliffhanger so it’s totally up to you if you want to read this or not.

13k words, 4 chapters.

Rated T, surprisingly

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Before The Summer Ends by 107derwent

Summer is stupid. It makes you act stupid. Makes you stupid ,

This story is complete.

4k words, 3 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Catch the Bouquet by heatherlea75

Fate has been unkind to Jackie Burkhart for too long. She has a plan to change that, and to obtain what is rightfully hers a glorious wedding. Though she doesn't know it, she needs a little help, and a surprising person is perfectly willing to offer it.

This story is complete, and it has an adorable sequel, called Pop The Question.

6k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Charm Bracelets and Lighters by Aaliamad

Set three years after the series finale. Jackie’s been living a new, fabulous life in Chicago, what she didn’t know was that Hyde was also living in the same city as hers.

They eventually run into each other in a nightclub and have a special reunion. Can things be different between them this time?

Rated T.

This story is complete.

72k words, 36 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Chasing Windmills by c00kiefic

Four chapter short story about their journey back to each other after season 8. To be honest I love all the stories by this author, but this one is definitely one of my favs.

This story is complete.

11k words, 4 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Daddy’s Home by Hyde’s Bride

Jackie moved to Chicago after she had nothing left for her back in Point Place, but after two years, something awful happened to her. A certain burnout wants redemption but she finds herself in the middle of a pretty complicated dilemma.

Trigger warning: rape.

39k words, 14 chapters.

Rated M.

This story is complete.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Red/Kitty, Fez/Laurie

Date Night by SwanseaGurl

Hyde has been trying to get Jackie back for a while now, but after everything that happened between them, she's not willing to give him another chance. But he's also not willing to give up on her.

One day, a drunk and lonely Donna tries to make a move on Hyde and Jackie witnesses everything, will it change things between them?

Donna's not a really cool person in this fic, so be warned.

Rated T.

This story is complete.

11k words, 5 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Everybody Must Get Stoned by ShanghaiLily

After new year's 1980, huge fights break out between Eric & Donna and Jackie & Hyde. Both feeling the need to escape their problems, Jackie & Eric drive the VC to Mexico. Who gets shot? Who flees the country? Who comes out of the closet?

This story is amazingly written. I always appreciate a good story with amazing Jackie/Eric friendship moments. It’s complete.

129k words, 29 chapters.

Rated T, with some M chapters. The author placed a warning before the sexy scenes in case you’re uncomfortable with it.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna. And if you have a soft spot for Jackie/Eric, you might like the beginning of the story.

Everyone Thinks I Dodged a Bullet by MonDieu666

When Hyde and Jackie are the only ones to see a murder, they're placed into witness protection. Living under the same roof is one thing but lines begin to blur when they're forced to pretend to be married and memories from the past begin to resurface.

This story is amazing and it makes me smile. And it’s complete.

69k words, 16 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Fatherhood by varietyofwords

The birth of Betsy and Kelso taking on the role of father has gotten Hyde thinking about fatherhood.

This story is absolutely beautiful. And it’s complete.

10k words, 6 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Fire in the Light by Noducksinpond

The eighties are almost ending and a certain couple is reunited.

This story is complete.

31k words, 14 chapters.

Rated M

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Kelso/Brooke, Eric/Donna

Heart Like Yours by PoetDameron

This is the first That 70s Show fanfiction I’ve ever read, and it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s based on the book “If I stay” and it’s amazing.

I’ve also read all of the other t70s stories by this author, and I highly recommend them.

Trigger warnings for drug use.

Rated T.

This story is complete.

139k words, 22 chapters total

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke

Also available on AO3.

Keep Me by 107derwent

Jackie and Hyde managed to be friends after all the crap that happened in season 8. She’s there for him when he needs her the most. Will that rekindle old feelings between them?

This story is complete.

20k words, 10 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Like a Rolling Stone by elphabacan

Ashleigh 'Ash' Burkhart is a typical teenage girl. She never knew her father, and never cared to. Until she stumbled upon a new record store in a Minneapolis Neighborhood....

Beautiful writing. This story is complete.

50k words, 16 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Mamma Mia! That 70s Show style by love.devil.movies

Inspired by the classic Mamma Mia movie. Jackie is in Hawaii for Eric and Donna’s wedding and she finds herself between three of her exes.

This story is complete (and it’s a super fun read).

26k words, 13 chapters.

Rated T

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna and Red/Kitty

Mired by Tandy

Five years after she moved to California, Jackie goes back to Point Place to attend an important event. She ran into someone special and it turns out that a trip down memory lane is not as simple as it sounds.

This story is complete.

22k words, 7 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Never Tear us Apart by MinaSeraphina

Unlike 90% of the stories I’ve recommended so far, this one focuses on the entire gang. Each chapter is focused on one of the characters and they all have their own storylines.

This story is complete.

14k words, 6 chapters.

Rated T

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Fez/Laurie

New Resolution by c00kiefic

Jackie is getting married and Hyde is not the groom. What happens when Hyde and the gang decide that they need to stop this wedding?

This story is complete.

16k words, 4 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Not a Thing to do but Talk to You by Willofthewisp

This story is not focused on Jackie and Hyde. It’s focused on the entire gang, and it’s beautiful.

It alternates between present time and flashbacks, but season 8 did happen in this story, that’s why I placed it in this category. It’s complete.

53k words, 30 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke

November Rain by luvcali

After a torrid encounter on Halloween night, 1984, ex-lovers Jackie and Hyde spend the next month reevaluating their past.

This story is complete.

373k words, 33 chapters.

Rated M for sexy scenes.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Brooke/Kelso and Fez/OC

Nowhere But Lost by Zenkindoflove

Hyde is cynical, depressed, alone, and would really like to keep it that way. But what happens when something inside of him resurfaces and is more than unhappy about his current living arrangements?

This story is complete.

52k words, 13 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

One More Time by CarouselUnique

Jessie Forman thought she knew a lot of things; who she could trust, who her parents were, even what was possible in the world around her. One snowy night, all three of these things change. Now, stuck back around 1978 - she's left in the worst situation possible to figure out where to go from there.

This story is a WIP, it’s been a while since it was updated, but I’m pretty sure the author is coming back to this story one day!

14k words, 4 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, past Jackie/Eric

Reelin’ In The Years by JoyfulHeartEO

I placed this story on the post-season 8 category, but there are some small differences that made me kind of lost in what category to place this. Season 8 happened, but Sam never left and Jackie and Fez never happened. It takes place on New Years.

Rated M.

This story is complete and it has a sequel, it’s called Crazy Love.

89k words, 20 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Red/Kitty

See Me, Feel Me by elphabacan

Hyde wants Jackie back, Jackie wants nothing to do with him after everything that happened. The boys find out about Jackie’s secret love for The Who, and while Fez and Eric fantasize about it, Hyde sees it as an opportunity.

This story is complete.

10k words, 4 chapters.

Rated M. Very much M. You’ve been warned.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Second Chances by Flowers_For_Flamingos

Hyde's life has snowballed since Jackie's death. He moved back in with the Formans, Donna and Eric live far away, Fez was who the hell knows where, and Kelso....Hyde didn't think about Kelso. But one cold rainy night, while Hyde is drunk he causes an accident that sends him spiraling back in time to almost ten years ago, when everyone still liked each other. When Jackie was still alive.

This story made me cry so hard. It’s beautifully written, please read it.

It’s a WIP (work in progress, which means it’s being updated).

32k words, 15 chapters for now.

Trigger warning: Major Character death

Rated T

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

She’s The Devil by starfalls

It’s Halloween 1980, and the gang takes an ill-fated trip to a party that leads to some major revelations between Jackie and Hyde.

I could literally picture everything happening in my head while I read this story and I laughed so hard during some parts. All the characters are on point.

This story is complete.

30k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna.

Stages by c00kiefic

I love everything this person ever wrote. Seriously. EVERYTHING.

Hyde’s there for her when Jackie goes through hell.

This story is not complete and it pains me. It has SO MUCH potential. Every now and then I reread it because it’s so good. I think it’s worth the read.

7k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna and Red/Kitty.

That’s My Baby by kezztip

Jackie focuses on her career after the disaster that was 1979, and moves to Chicago after getting an amazing new job. Before she left, Hyde convinced the whole gang to throw her a surprise party for her, so he could try and make amends. Jackie ends up leaving the party angry as hell, what she didn’t know was that she left the party with a special souvenir inside of her.

This story makes me laugh SO HARD. The author managed to write all the characters perfectly. Please read this.

This story is complete.

68k words, 23 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Red/Kitty, Brooke/OC.

The First and Only Mrs. Hyde by The Queen Of Wallflowers

As it turns out, Sam is Hyde's second wife. He married his first when he was six. Mrs. Forman has the pictures to prove it. Now he just has to make it legal.

Donna’s kind of a bitch in this story, so if you don’t like stories like that, this might not be for you. But I do think this is an excellent story.

This story is fluffy and just perfect in general. Please read it.

It’s almost complete, and I still have hope that someday the author will actually finish this.

32k words, 12 chapters so far.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also available on AO3

The Morning After by ShanghaiLily

Sequel to the one-shot Resolutions. Jackie wakes up in Vegas laying in bed with her very sexy ex-boyfriend and a tacky wedding band on her finger.

This story is complete.

59k words, 10 chapters.

Rated M for smut.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Fez/Caroline, Eric/Donna

The One with the Tee Shirt by c00kiefic

In which Jackie tries to get closure, Hyde's in denial and Donna plays middlewoman.

This story is complete.

18k words, 5 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

The Secret of Katherine by heatherlea75

Jackie and Hyde are keeping a secret from their daughter, one they fear will hurt her. When someone decides to tell her that secret, will it destroy her relationship with her parents?

Rated T.

This story is not complete, but it’s worth the read.

23k words, 8 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

The Sweetest Gifts by zeppelinandunicorns (myself)

It’s a known fact that post season 8 stories tend to be angsty, but this one is not.

This is a fluffly story that narrates Jackie and Hyde’s journey through parenthood. It will be part of a series, I got too attached to this universe, lol.

Rated T.

This story is complete.

26k words, 3 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The Wall by Tayi

The new decade begins and Hyde finds himself alone in the basement listening to the latest Pink Floyd album, and the song "Hey you" suddenly has a new meaning. Now as the days turn into weeks, it feels like the whole album is haunting him until it helps him fix the mistakes of the past few months .

This story is complete and it has a sequel, that it’s updated constantly. Its called Over The Hills and Far Away.

14k words, 16 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Things Change by shy1214

Jackie's life wasn't going well, she was alone and her friends were no longer actual friends. She had lost the love of her life and everything else, especially her once incredible confidence. A new strange friend might help her find it, and give her hope again.

This story has plenty of OC’s that crawled their way into my heart.

Donna is not a nice person in this story.

112k words, 28 chapters.

Rated T

This story is complete AND it has a sequel, it’s called Lock, Step and Gone.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde. And that’s pretty much it other than the pairings between the original characters.

Voulez-vouz by zeppelinandunicorns (me)

To celebrate her birthday, Jackie convinces Hyde to take her on a romantic trip, but Las Vegas wasn't exactly where she wanted to go, and she definitely didn't want to take the rest of the basement gang with her. Frustrated, Jackie thought that the trip was ruined, but Hyde's willing to make it unforgettable. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

This story is complete.

13k words, 5 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke

Also available on AO3

War Stories by Jenny7

It's 1980, and Hyde is more lost now than ever. When Hyde gives into the man and joins the Army, against all he's ever believed in, it will take friendship, family, and a love stronger than distance and time to get him through.

I was reluctant to read this at first, because c’mon, it’s Hyde, he would never willingly work for “the man”, but as I started to read it, everything made sense, and I fell in love with it.

This story is complete.

31k words, 24 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Mainly just Jackie/Hyde

Welcome to Jackie’s by TeaTimeAllOverTown

Jackie moves to Chicago shortly after season 8 to live out her dream. But when a happy, confident Jackie returns to Point Place will her past upset her future?

This story is complete.

38k words, 8 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Mostly Jackie/Hyde

What Lies Beneath by SophiesRoses

THIS STORY IS PERFECT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT RIGHT NOW.

Seriously.

This story deserves way more recognition, it’s one of my favorites of all time.

Trigger warnings for alcoholism, heavy drug use

Rated M because there are a few sex scenes, but don't let this discourage from reading the story.

This story is not complete, but I still recommend it. A lot.

119k words, 28 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/OC, Kelso/Brooke, Donna/OC, Fez/Laurie

Yet Another Season 9 by elphabacan

Picking up on New Years Day, the group has eight months before Donna and Eric leave for Madison. New faces, new stories, and many MANY changes are in store.

Rated T.

This story is complete.

94k words, 25 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Fez/OC, Red/Kitty

Post Season 8 one-shots:

Be Hers by c00kiefic

Hyde and Jackie talk while they’re on the road.

Rated M.

4k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Burn War Snapped by SkittleLvr79

Can an ultimatum from their friends lead to the end of a long, bitter feud?

Rated M. Very M.

3k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Canada by angelwithawand

They agreed not to talk about marriage in The United States. Luckily Canada is close.

Rated T.

418 words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Could’ve Been, Should’ve Been by propelled

Sometimes coming back home means facing the reason why you left in the first place.

Rated T.

5k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Deja Vu by 80sUnLoveChild

Takes place right after the season finale. The countdown is on, but who is kissing who at midnight and why does it feel like this has happened before?

Rated T.

3k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Fragile, Handle with Care by JadedAngel

A simple confrontation between Jackie and Hyde lead to, maybe not the perfect solution, but at least get them a step in the right direction.

Rated T.

6k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

How I Spent my Decade: Steven Hyde by 177istaken

Are memories enough? How Hyde spent the 80's dealing with his favorite chick.

Rated T.

1k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Just a Small Glimpse by AdriDee

A small one-shot about Edna’s thoughts when she sees Hyde and his family. I wouldn’t call this a sequel, but it’s the same universe of All That I Got, a multichapter story written by the same author.

Rated T.

1k words.

Pairings: Background Jackie/Hyde

Karaoke by 80sUnLoveChild

It's New Years Eve 1979, and as usual the Forman's are having their New Years party. Why oh why did Bob bring his Karaoke and why is Eric so insistent that Hyde sing?

This story is funny as hell, I love Eric.

Rated T.

5k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

New Years Day by legally_blonde

Takes place right after the series finale. Jackie and Hyde are cleaning bottles on New Year’s day.

Rated T.

2k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Reversed by SkittlezLvr79

Set in 1986. Hyde finds himself in a somewhat familiar situation but this time, he's on the opposite side of things from where he usually stands.

Rated T.

1k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

So far, this is all.

Stay by FreyReh

Everyone gets together again for Kitty’s 50th birthday and old feelings stir between Jackie and Hyde.

Rated T.

7k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Red/Kitty and Eric/Donna

Stoner’s Nightmare by Bunny1

What if season 8 was just a nightmare?

Rated T.

581 words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The Force by 107derwent

Eric’s back and the whole gang is back together, but some things are still missing.

Rated T.

1k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The One I Love by c00kiefic

“He’s been on Jackie’s bad side for so long that he’s forgotten what it’s like to be on her good one.”

Hyde sees the love of his life getting engaged to someone else and decides he’s not going to let that happen.

Rated M.

4k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The Princess and the Rebel by ForTheLoveOfFanFiction

Much of the damage of 1979 has been repaired; all except Jackie and Hyde. A trip in 1980 to see 'The Empire Strikes Back' makes Eric and Donna wonder if there is still hope for everyone's favourite princess and rebel.

Rated T.

1k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Donna/Eric

Zozo: A Journey to Understanding by zpplnchick

"You don't deserve a real tattoo. But if I were to get one, I'd show it to Fez before I'd ever show it to you!" Ironically, that's pretty much how it happened.

Rated T.

3k words.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Oh, just one thing, speaking as someone who writes, it would be really cool if you guys decide to leave a review (or a comment, if the story is on AO3) in the stories you read, especially the unfinished ones. It really motivates the authors, and receiving a compliment is always a mood lifter. I’ve seen some authors updating stories after years because of nice reviews, so... yeah, this is just an idea.

Next category: Stories that take place during season 8. I’ll post it soon.