#camawrites

[cadetcama]

"It is 105 degrees outside and Ricky Bowen’s blood is boiling. Not literally. It would need to be at least 212 degrees for his blood to boil, and at that point his skin would have burned off already. He and Nini looked it up on a particularly slow (they both knew better than to say “quiet”) shift. No, Ricky’s blood is boiling because he’s barely even changed into his uniform and EJ Caswell is already preening. Like a rooster. Or a peacock."---Aka "the first responders au." Ricky's a paramedic. EJ's a firefighter, and even though they work in the same station, they can't stand each other. At least that's what EJ's telling himself.------GUYS @justowrites AND I DID A THING!!

After like a YEAR of planning, this passion project is finally live! It's a caswen first responders au and I CANNOT WAIT to hear what yall think - and just in time for the finale!

[cadetcama]

fight (for what we've worked for all these years)

Ace x Nancy

Nancy's been avoiding everyone and Bess and Ace have had enough. They try to figure out what's going on and to convince Nancy not to give up. (Post s3 finale)

wc: 3686

Read on AO3: [X]

--

Nancy Drew was avoiding Ace Hardy.

She had been avoiding him for the month following the events at the Veil, after the curse Temperance had put on him with her dying breath. Then they had a close call at his apartment, costing Ace his barometer and Nancy her heart, and so, Nancy had decided to double-down on her efforts to avoid him.

They needed space.

They needed distance.

Or else, she might end up being the death of him.

That was several weeks ago and Nancy was… well, not proud to say she hadn’t seen Ace since, but relieved he was still alive and her avoidance efforts seemed to be working.

The only reason Nancy was as good at avoiding Ace as she was was because she knew him so well. She knew his routines, his habits, his schedule. It had been a little tricky, learning his work schedule for his new job as assistant coroner, but she wasn’t a detective for nothing.

It helped that Nancy was spending nearly all of her time getting Icarus Hall habitable enough to be an office. It was on the outskirts of town, so it wasn’t like she was expecting a lot of foot traffic, but still. She wanted to make the place her own.

Horseshoe Bay was also a town small enough that if you didn’t see someone for an extended period of time, they were either out of town or avoiding you.

And however well Nancy thought she knew Ace, he always seemed to know her better, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Nancy walked into Nancy Drew Investigations one morning, exhausted after a night of hanging out in the cemetery looking for graverobbers (she refused to think it could be zombies. She wasn’t ready to live in a world where zombies were real), to find Ace and Bess sitting in her client chairs, clearly waiting for her.

“We’re closed,” Nancy said, tiredly, trying not to look at Ace. She wasn’t even sure who the ‘we’ referred to; it was very much a one-person business and they all knew it.

“How do you expect to get clients and stay in business if you’re closed during normal business hours?” Bess asked, looking far too awake for what was very much not normal business hours.

“Seems to work for the Claw,” Nancy snarked, setting her bag down on her desk.

“They’ve gotten a lot better at being open now that Jessie works there!” Bess shot back.

“More like now that we’ve stopped working there,” Ace muttered, speaking for the first time since Nancy had entered the room. Nancy caught herself about to look at him, wanting to catch his eye and exchange an amused look like they used to do, but stopped before she could really focus on him. Just having him in her field of vision hurt, so she refocused her attention on Bess.

“Regardless,” Bess pressed on, “we’re not here to talk to you about your business strategy.”

“Okay, then why are you here?” Nancy asked, dreading the answer. “If you need a third for some blood ritual, I’m gonna have to pass - my hand just healed and I’m really not in the mood to open old wounds.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy could see Ace’s jaw clench and she could tell he picked up on her double meaning.

“We’re here because we’re worried about you, Nancy,” Bess told her, standing from her seat. “You’ve been avoiding all of us since the Veil. Since Temperance.”

“I haven’t been avoiding anyone,” Nancy lied, hating it. “We all just moved on to other jobs. It’s what people do. I’m sorry my new job has kept me from game night.” She scoffed, trying to keep her emotions in check.

“It’s not that,” Ace spoke up. He stood up too but didn’t move closer to her, which Nancy appreciated. “We know you. I know you. Ever since Temperance–”

“You mean ever since I killed someone?” Nancy cut him a glance. It was supposed to be a glance, but the moment her eyes locked onto him, she couldn’t look away.

“No. I mean ever since you hesitated.” His voice was firm but his expression was soft. Like it was when he said he would wait for her to find the words. Or after they had found out her true parentage. Or whenever he looked at her while they were driving to New York to fight the wraith. Or so many other times throughout the last few months when he was worried about her but still there, still by her side, making sure she knew she wasn’t going through any of it alone.

She didn’t deserve him.

And he didn’t deserve to have her sociopathic, evil, great-aunt put a curse on him just because he was unlucky enough to be loved by her.

“I didn’t think hesitating before killing someone was a bad thing,” she said, trying for defensive. She needed to keep them at arm's length and in the dark. Fortunately, she mused bitterly, pushing people away had become a particular talent of hers.

“It’s not, but it’s not like you to hesitate.” Ace gave her a little shrug.

Bess looked between them as if she was trying to put a puzzle together, knowing there were pieces missing. She stepped between them, facing Nancy.

“And Ace seems convinced that your hesitating gave Temperance an opportunity to do something to you?” she said gently.

Cold dread filled Nancy. Her stomach dropped to her feet and she could feel herself physically recoiling. She didn’t mean to have such a visceral reaction, but she hardly expected for Ace to come so close to the truth. Especially when she had been icing him out for weeks. How had he figured it out?

“Oh my god, is he right?” Bess gasped. “He is!”

Nancy swallowed hard, shaking her head. “No, no of course not!”

“Nancy, please, you have a terrible poker face!” Bess rolled her eyes. “So tell us what’s going on, and we’ll start researching to see what the Historical Society can do to help!”

“No. No, you can’t,” Nancy croaked out, desperately. “You have to leave this alone.”

“Is that a joke?” Ace huffed out a laugh, clearly frustrated. “Nancy, if you’re in trouble, we’re helping.”

Another bolt of panic shot through Nancy. “No, Ace, Bess, please, you need to leave and just let this go. There’s nothing you can do to help, okay?”

“If you just told us what was going on, we could!” Bess cried. “I don’t understand why you won’t–”

“Because I’m terrified, Bess!” Nancy exclaimed. “Temperance was inside my head. She made me watch Ryan die and live for a month carrying that. And then… and then, just when I was moving forward.. when I.. I acted on feelings..” It took everything in her to not look at Ace over Bess’s shoulder, who was staring at her intently. “She killed him too.”

“Nancy,” Bess said softly. “That wasn’t real.”

“The curse was—is.” Nancy told her, blinking back her tears. “And everything else felt real. He died in my arms. They both did. And there was nothing I could do.”

“But Ryan isn’t dead! Because you took that piece of ax out of his neck and saved him,” Bess insisted, taking Nancy by the shoulders. Nancy tried to turn away, to break the contact, but Bess stood firm. Nancy slumped against her desk in exhaustion and defeat.

“So if you could save Ryan then you can save…” Bess glanced at Ace. “You can save him too.”

“What if we can't?” Nancy took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I held him in my arms as he died. I can’t go through that again.”

“You won’t.” Ace stepped forward. He was looking at her, and Nancy was prepared to see anger and resentment in his eyes, but it wasn’t there. Instead, it was just determination and… and something softer that Nancy knew naming would likely make a barometer break.

“You’ve saved this town and all of us so many times. You can do this too.” Ace nodded, firm in his belief in his words. In her.

“You don’t know what it was like,” Nancy told him, terrified that a single word going over the line could make the last several weeks of an Ace-less life all for nothing. “How happy I was. How good it was. Only for her to kill…” She swallowed, refusing to say the word that would make it real. But she knew Ace understood. He always did. “And then she said it wasn’t real. None of it was real, the good or the bad. You don't know what it was like,” she ended, firmly.

“I’d like to,” Ace said softly, taking a step towards her. “It sounds like something worth fighting for.”

“It was,” Nancy admitted, thinking back to how incredibly, blissfully, deliriously happy she and Ace had been that morning. At the start of forever. “But… it made me realize…” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say. “I can’t lose anyone else that I love.”

Ace rocked backwards as her words hit him. His face cycled through several emotions and idly, Nancy thought she heard Bess gasp. Ace was staring at her and she could practically see his mind working.

“I get that.” Ace gave her a half smile, his gaze steady. “But the people who love you don’t want to lose you either.”

Nancy looked at him through her tears, only vaguely aware that Bess was even still present. She remembered how safe she felt in his arms, how loved. How she had briefly considered letting Horseshoe Bay fall to a series of apocalyptic disasters just for a chance at having that for real.

“We know it hurts, Nancy,” Bess said quietly. “But we’ve got to try to beat Temperance once more. We can’t just let her win. Not like this.”

Nancy knew it was Bess who spoke, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Ace. “How?”

Ace took a step closer to her. “You just gotta figure out how to turn that pain into love.”

Nancy’s breath caught, recognizing the words from a different dreamscape. Nancy had yet to tell Ace, or anyone, about that conversation. And Ace bringing it up now… well, Nancy was too much of a detective and far too reliant on fact and evidence to believe it was a coincidence.

Maybe she could take back her destiny and be in charge of her fate once more.

She thought back to her conversation with Carson a few weeks earlier, his insistence that while he believed soulmates exist, he also believed it was possible to find love after a soulmate.

Looking into Ace’s eyes, Nancy realized… she didn’t want an ‘after’. She wanted ‘right now’. She wanted ‘future’. She wanted Ace.

Nancy had had a taste of what it could be like, the two of them together, and she wanted it again. Again, but more. Without the threat of him dying.

“Okay,” Nancy breathed after a long moment.

“Okay?” Ace asked, hesitantly, leaning toward her slightly.

“Okay, we can try to break the curse.” Nancy nodded, smiling slightly. Bess squealed and Ace’s entire face lit up. He looked almost as happy as he had in the fake reality Temperance had shown her. She hated to continue her thought, knowing it would wipe the joy off of his face. “There’s one condition though.”

Ace tilted his head at her, which she knew meant “go on.”

“Ace, you have to go to work and let me and Bess handle this,” she told him. He frowned, clearly not happy with the condition. Nancy pressed on, trying to explain before he could argue. “I know you want to help, but… it’s tricky, and it’ll be more helpful if we’re not worried about you.”

She wanted to tell him everything, that he was in danger and a single misstep from her could bring her entire world crashing down. She wanted to have Bess cast as many protection spells as she could over Ace while they researched. She wanted to send him home to patch things up with his parents, just in case, and to make sure he was somewhere safe and cared for while she and Bess worked. But she knew just asking him to not be involved was already pushing it, so she held her tongue.

Ace glanced at Bess, seemingly hopeful she would argue on his behalf, but his platanchor gave him a small shake of the head, showing her agreement with Nancy.

“Okay,” he relented. “You know, this just means I’m going to worry about you, though, right?”

“Surely you’re used to that by now,” Nancy teased, relieved he had agreed so easily.

Ace rolled his eyes. He glanced at his watch and sighed. “I do need to go to work. Connor’s got me on a short leash right now.”

“We’ll let you know what we find!” Bess promised cheerfully. Ace smiled at her as he made his way toward the door, pulling the keys to Florence out of his pocket.

“And when we figure out how to undo this,” Nancy began, stomach filling with butterflies, “I have a lot I need to tell you.”

Ace paused, the hand that was playing with his car keys stilled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nancy repeated. “Took me a while, but I’m ready to not avoid… And I finally found the words, if you’re still interested.”

Ace broke out into a grin, shoulders dropping as tension was released. “I can’t wait,” he said, his dimples coming out strong with his smile. They held eye contact for another long moment before somewhere, off somewhere in the depths of Icarus Hall, came the sound of shattering glass, which snapped them back to reality.

Ace gave her a nod before ducking out the door, Nancy watching him the entire way.

“Ready to get to work?” Nancy asked Bess, dragging her gaze away from the closed door.

“Tell me everything.” Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm, pulling her into a chair and taking the one opposite her.

“About the curse?” Nancy asked absently, her mind still replaying Ace’s smile.

“About the curse, about Ace. All of it!” Bess practically squealed. “I need to know - both as the new keeper of the Historical Society and as the number one Nace shipper in all of Horseshoe Bay.”

“The what?” Nancy asked, amused. She should have known Bess would be the best person to go to for help with this curse, regardless of if there was anything to actually be done about it. If Ace was constant, unwavering support and steadfastness, Bess was more of a cheerleader, enthusiastic to the end and always looking for the bright side. Just knowing she had Bess on her side, and that Bess was about to share the burden of knowing about the curse with her, made Nancy feel lighter than she had in weeks.

“Don’t worry about it.” Bess waved her off. “Tell me how this all started!”

Despite herself, Nancy smiled. “You remember when I was fighting Temperance and I hesitated right before I told everyone to run?”

Bess nodded in confirmation. Ace had told Nancy weeks ago that she wasn’t alone, but it wasn’t until this moment that Nancy truly believed him. She had wanted to, but it had been hard. But now Nancy knew she wasn’t alone. Not in any of it - in her feelings, in trying to break this curse, in life. She had people she trusted and could rely on, no matter what. So Nancy found herself, sitting forward to tell Bess absolutely everything in the repurposed Hall, left to her by her homicidal great aunt, feeling truly hopeful for the first time in months that everything really would be alright. That she would be alright.

After all, it did seem to just be a matter of turning her pain into love for her town. Her friends. Her family.

—--—--

Nancy wasn’t sure how she would ever be able to repay Bess.

It had taken several days. Several, agonizingly long days of research and consulting with various other members of the ‘Societies Historical’ across the country that Bess had befriended in her new role as Keeper.

But the truly impressive network of Keepers had pooled resources and knowledge until, finally, they had a solution that they were sure would work.

The countercurse itself required an intense level of steps and ingredients that Nancy didn’t even pretend to keep track of, content to let Bess run this show.

But sure enough, finally, Bess turned to her and smiled. “It’s done.”

“You’re sure?” Nancy asked, unable to help herself.

Bess nodded, her smile growing. “It’s over.”

Nancy sank back in her chair, letting the news wash over her. She felt freer and more relieved than she had in forever. She took just a moment to be relieved before jumping up and beginning to gather her belongings from where they had been scattered around the Historical Society.

“I have to go find Ace.”

“He’s at his apartment,” Bess told her, looking up from her phone. “And I’m calling Conner - Ace is sick and not able to come into work tomorrow.”

Nancy paused putting on her scarf to look at her friend. “What?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Bess said, rolling her eyes. “Were you planning on letting him out of your sight in the next 24 hours? Or are you not about to go to his apartment to jump him?”

Nancy gaped a bit. “I–I hadn’t gotten that far? I figured we needed to talk, first.”

“Well, whatever ends up happening,” Bess said, tapping away on her phone, “now Ace won’t have to worry about work.”

“Thank you, Bess,” Nancy said sincerely. “I owe you big time.”

“We’ll add it to the list,” Bess waved her off. “Now, go get him!”

Not needing to be told twice, Nancy left as quickly as she could.

Getting from the Historical Society to Ace’s apartment was a total blur. Nancy wasn’t sure if she had driven or run, but the next thing she knew, she was standing outside of Ace’s door, knocking.

The door swung open to reveal Ace, looking unfairly good in jeans and his lucky blue pullover. Idly, Nancy noted the appropriateness of the item under the circumstances.

“Hi,” Nancy said, breathless and suddenly aware that she had no plan.

“Hi.” Ace gave her a small smile and a once-over, as if checking her for injuries. He opened the door wider and stood back to allow her inside.

She shed her coat, Ace taking it to hang up next to his. She liked the look of her winter coat on the wall next to his.

If time had been moving in fast-forward when Nancy left the Historical Society, then now it was like time was on half-speed. Everything was in slow motion except for her heart, which was still beating like it was in fast-forward.

She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts together. She faced him and found him already looking at her, waiting.

“It’s done,” she said, borrowing the words from Bess. “The curse is broken.” Saying the words, both out loud and to Ace, let a weight off her shoulders.

“You did it?” Ace broke into a proud smile.

“We did,” Nancy confirmed, taking a step closer to Ace.

“So… that means…?” Ace asked.

“We can talk? Or…” Nancy took another step. They had never been big on personal space, but after several weeks of putting as much space between them as possible, Nancy was acutely aware of exactly how close they were.

“Or…?” Ace breathed, looking down at her, eyes wide and hopeful.

Nancy grabbed Ace’s jacket and pulled him to her, kissing him with everything she had. Ace responded instantly, his hands coming to rest on her waist and her neck, pulling her closer. Nancy’s hands traveled upward, one going into Ace’s hair while the other stopped to rest over his heart.

Nancy had thought that, as far as first kisses went, the one in Temperance’s fake reality had been pretty damn good. As close to perfect as first kisses could be.

She should have known that a woman who never truly loved anything wouldn’t have been able to get it right. Because however great that first kiss with Ace was, this one was better. Better than all of her daydreams and fantasies, supernatural in origin or otherwise, had been. Not the least of which was because this one was, finally, real.

She had Ace—flesh, blood, and a beating heart, with no games or obstacles between them anymore. Just far too many layers of clothing.

They broke apart far too soon, gasping for air. Ace rested his forehead against Nancy’s, eyes half-lidded as he looked at her.

“I’m a pretty big fan of talking, but that was a good option B,” Ace said softly. His thumb was slowly stroking her cheek and she could feel the heat of his other hand on her waist through her shirt.

“You know the best part?” Nancy beamed, giving him another peck on the lips.

Ace shook his head, returning the peck with one of his own.

“No barometers broke!” Nancy felt giddy. Not only had she been able to finally kiss Ace again, but she had reclaimed her fate, her destiny, her soulmate.

“I think we need to work on your barometer for what qualifies as ‘the best part’,” Ace teased, squeezing her hip lightly.

“You’re welcome to add evidence, if you want to change my mind.” Nancy brushed her nose against his.

Ace let out a guttural groan, his eyes darkening. “Challenge accepted.”

Before Nancy got lost in him again, she cleared her throat. “There’s still a lot I have to tell you.” She needed to make sure he knew that she still wanted to tell him everything, still intended to.

“But we have time?” He looked at her, checking in.

Nancy smiled and nodded softly at him. “All the time in the world.”

[cadetcama]

Deal With The Devil

Summary: Nancy has an idea for how to get Ace back from the shadow realm: make a deal with Temperance Hudson to help get him back. Bess isn't on board.

But it's Ace.

And Nancy would do anything to get him back.

Read on AO3: X

my first work for this fandom, so please give it a read and let me know what you think!!

--

“I think we need to ask Temperance for help.” Nancy announced, leaning back in her chair. They were in the Historical Society, as they had been for days, pouring over books, texts, websites, and anything they thought might help them figure out where Ace was, or what had happened to him. All they had to go on was security footage of Ace turning the key in the Copperhead’s lock before vanishing completely.

Bess’s head shot up from her own research. “Nancy, no! I told you: she can’t be trusted!”

Nancy sighed, turning away from Ace’s laptop, which she was using for research (she had told Bess it was faster than her laptop, but really, it just made her feel closer to Ace). “Bess, I believe you. And I don’t think she can be trusted either. But we’ve been trying to figure out a way to get Ace back on our own and we’ve got nothing.”

The duo had been attempting to piece together what had happened to Ace and how to get him back largely on their own. Nick and George had been helping where they could, around their packed schedules of managing the Claw, running the youth center, and taking care of George’s siblings, who were now out of school for winter break. Ryan had also stepped in when he could, but after being locked in the archives a week earlier, had declared he would be spending as little time in the Historical Society as possible. Which meant finding out what made Ace vanish was largely left to Nancy and Bess.

“It’s dangerous, Nancy.”

“It’s Ace.” Nancy said. “And we don’t know how much time he has left… wherever he is.”

Bess tried again: “Nancy, this is making a deal with the devil.”

“So was making a deal with Celia against Daniel West.”

“Which Ace was very upset with you for.” Bess pointed out, which Nancy had to acknowledge was fair.

“And he’ll probably be upset with me for this too. But at least he’ll be here and alive to be upset with me.” Nancy finally understood what Carson had meant when he told her she took a piece of everyone with her when she went running into danger. Ace hadn’t meant to leave or be put in danger, but he had taken a part of her with him when he did. And she wanted him back.

Bess was quiet for a moment. “She’s going to want something, Nancy. Favors from Temperance Hudson don’t come for free. And whatever it is, it’s likely going to be something bad. She’s already taken your blood without asking. What will she want when she can ask?”

“I know, Bess. I know!” Nancy ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “We don’t know what she wants, but our best bet at stopping her is with Ace. We need him.”

The I need him went unsaid, but Nancy could tell Bess knew.

Bess took a deep breath before standing up. “Then we better head to Icarus Hall.”

Nancy stood as well, grabbing her coat to follow Bess out of the archives room. Neither noticed Ace’s laptop snap shut as they turned out the lights behind them.

The ride to Icarus Hall was quiet and tense, neither passenger seeming to know what to say. The only sounds were the static of the radio and the car engine. As the car crested a hill, the radio suddenly picked up signal of an oldies station.

STOP! In the name of love! Came blaring through the speakers, causing Nancy and Bess to jump at the sudden noise.

Before you break my heart, think it over

“Sorry about that,” Nancy muttered, turning the radio off entirely. “That hasn’t happened before”

Bess chuckled weakly as they turned onto the drive of Icarus Hall. They parked right out front and stood at the front door for a moment.

“Do we knock?” Nancy asked, having rarely actually been invited to Icarus Hall, let alone showing up to ask for help, so Nancy doubted her usual method of breaking and entering (with more entering than breaking) would be appropriate.

“There’s a doorbell.” Bess reached out and pushed a button Nancy hadn’t noticed before as deep gothic-sounding bells rang out from within the Hall.

“Why.” Nancy said flatly. Bess just shrugged.

The doors swung open dramatically to reveal Temperance Hudson in her new face.

She gave them a once-over. “Nancy Drew. Bess Marvin. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We need your help.” Nancy forced out. Temperance gave her a cool look, waiting for her to go on. “It’s about Ace. He—”

“I can’t make him fall in love with you.” Temperance shook her head, turning to walk into her home. Nancy and Bess hurried after her.

“That’s not—” Nancy took a deep breath. This was somehow more frustrating than she had imagined it being. “Ace is missing.”

“That sounds like a job for Agent Park.” Temperance went back to whatever she had been doing at her desk. “Sometimes people leave.”

Nancy grit her teeth in frustration. “Not Ace. He vanished. Supernaturally. And we can prove it.”

Temperance looked at Bess, who took her cue to elaborate, explaining about the lock of the Copperhead’s cage and how they had found both pieces of the key, which Ace had tried to repair... before quite literally vanishing off of the security cameras of the Historical Society.

“We’ve figured out he’s in some sort of… shadow realm?” Bess shrugged. “But we’re not sure how to get him back.”

“And what do I get out of it?” Temperance quirked an eyebrow.

“Other than foiling some plan of Beckett Dow’s?” Bess asked sarcastically. “Noth—”

“I would owe you a favor,” Nancy cut in. Temperance looked at her and Nancy could tell she had Temperance’s interest.

“Nancy—” Bess said, warningly but Nancy gave her a reassuring nod. Or, at least, Nancy had been going for reassuring, but doubted the gesture hit its mark, because Bess kept going, whispering frantically. “Nancy… Ace is my plantanchor, and I want him back just as badly as you do. But is it worth writing a blank check for a favor? You don’t know what she could want in return.” The “it will likely cost you your life” hung in the air unspoken, since outright saying it would tip their hand at knowing Temperance wasn’t to be trusted.

Nancy looked at Bess and saw the worry in her eyes. Nancy knew Ace would be livid with her for this deal, but she had told him once that she couldn’t lose him, and she meant it.

“It is to me,” Nancy said simply. Bess’s shoulders sagged, knowing there was no changing Nancy’s mind; they were too far in.

“And is it just him you want?” Temperance looked thoughtful.

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, unsure.

“Well, if Ace vanished when he turned the key, then the person who let the Copperhead out is likely also in this… shadow realm, too.” Temperance explained. “Do you want them back too?”

“Hannah,” Bess whispered. Nancy was torn between being glad Ace wasn’t alone in the shadow realm and embarrassed that she hadn’t realized Hannah would also be there. Hannah, who Nancy wasn’t sure they could trust since she let the Copperhead out, but also was going to be an invaluable resource as they tried to stop Temperance from doing whatever she was trying to do.

“We want both of them.” Nancy said, firmly.

Temperance smiled. “Then let’s get to work.”

[cadetcama]

!!! "i mean... i-i'm cool with sharing the bed if you are." for caswen !!!

Ok this was really fun to write so thank you, anon for sending it in!!

(This one is rated T because of one swear word and suggestive themes so just heads up!)

--

Ricky Bowen didn’t like making decisions. This was a well-known fact. He was a ‘go with the flow’ guy because the flow tended to mean someone else would make decisions for him. That being said, there were moments and situations in which he would steadfastly make a decision and stick to it.

One of those decisions was deciding to never share a room with Big Red. It wasn't anything personal against his best friend, but between the CPAP machine and the noise machine, and Red’s general snoring, Ricky refused. He wasn’t someone who needed a lot of sleep in general, but he did need some and that would be impossible if he shared with Big Red.

Which was normally not a problem, except for this… high school theater conference thing that the drama club had been invited to perform an abridged version of Beauty and the Beast at. Which meant they got to go on a (partly) school funded trip and stay for a long-weekend in a hotel and go to different workshops and exhibits to learn new things about theater and acting while surrounded by other drama dorks from across the state and Ricky had never been so overwhelmed in his life and that was saying something.

Miss Jenn had done the room assignments and, understandably, put Ricky and Big Red together. Which led to Ricky spending the entire bus ride begging her to switch him with anyone else (okay, it was really more like ten minutes before he got distracted by a game Hot Seat but still!) before Miss Jenn told him: “These are the room assignments that the school approved. If you end up sleeping somewhere else, I know nothing about that.” Which admittedly didn’t seem like something a teacher should be saying, but then, as they were getting off the bus at the hotel, she leveled a conspiratorial look at him. “EJ’s the only one without a roommate – I’d start there.”

EJ, as it turned out, was surprisingly easy to convince. All it took was Ricky explaining about the CPAP and jungle noise machine (that had wolves howling somehow? Ricky was still confused by that), and EJ agreed.

“Having my own room was supposed to be a senior privilege, but,” EJ sighed dramatically, “I suppose I’ll make the sacrifice for the good of the show.”

“Oh, thank God,” Ricky sighed in relief. “My next stop was getting Carlos and Seb to let me crash with them, but no one wants that.”

“No, they don’t.” EJ agreed, looking over to the couple in question. “Still not sure how Miss Jenn managed to let that one slide.”

Miss Jenn eventually gave everyone the keys to their rooms and sent them on their way. It took several cycles of waiting for the elevator before they managed to make it to their floor, but finally, Ricky let himself and EJ into their room. EJ switched the lights on and they both froze as the door swung shut behind them.

They were expecting two double beds, like Miss Jenn had assured them would be in every room, but instead they got a king-sized bed.

One bed meant he and EJ would be sharing more than just a room.

Probably.

“I mean…I-I’m cool with sharing the bed if you are,” Ricky stammered, unable to look away from the bed.

“Really?” EJ turned to look at him.

“I mean, it’s pretty big right?” Ricky offered, facing EJ, but still avoiding his eyes. “If you’re not cool with it, that’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor. Or in that chair—” he pointed to an armchair in the corner.

“You’re not gonna sleep on the floor, Bowen,” EJ sighed, dropping his bag on the floor.

“Really?” Ricky asked, hopefully.

“The bed is plenty big.” EJ allowed slowly, and it was like Ricky could see the gears turning in his head. “And you’re our leading man. We can’t have you getting a shitty night’s sleep before we impress everyone in the state with our Beauty and the Beast.”

“How selfless,” Ricky joked, throwing his bag in the corner.

“I play for the team to win! But sometimes that means I, personally, have to lose,” EJ teased, grinning.

“Yeah, because having to share your enormous bed is a real hardship,” Ricky rolled his eyes and flopped into the armchair, not quite ready to get on the bed yet.

“Hey, it might be!” EJ leaned back against the pillows of the bed. “You might be a secret cuddler and I’ll wake up being spooned to death.”

“Please, if anyone’s being spooned, it’s me,” Ricky said before he could stop himself. “Being the little spoon is the best.”

EJ gave him a look Ricky couldn’t decipher and Ricky suddenly felt like the room was on fire. He was itching to move but he didn’t want to be the one to break eye contact with EJ. Because that would mean… something, right? Finally, EJ smirked a little and said: “Noted.”

Was it too late to go back to rooming with Big Red?

--

hope you liked it!! Thanks again for sending in a prompt!

Send me a prompt + pairing!

[cadetcama]

“wow... you look... you look amazing” + caswen, please! Your writing is fantastic 💕

Aww Anon, thank you!! I wrote this one in like an hour, and honestly, I might take it and expand on it into a full story because...well... it was just fun to write!! Anyway, I hope you like it!

--

Ricky was over Nini, he really was. They had broken up a few weeks ago, the stress of long distance becoming too much and both wanting to focus on enjoying the high school experiences, and not feeling like they had to be tied to their phone in case the other called. It had sucked, but in all honesty, it was the right call and Ricky knew it. He was happier now and he knew Nini was too because, despite it all, they were still friends.

So yeah, he was over her. But that didn’t mean there weren’t times he missed being in a relationship and nothing made that more apparent than prom. He had survived school with various promposals and the drama of who was asking who, what colors were being worn, and, of course, who was going to what florist for corsages (Ricky didn’t even know Salt Lake had that many florists and yet…).

The drama club had taken pity on the few members of the group that were single (which was really just Ricky and EJ) and decided to go as a group, meeting at Ashlyn’s to take a limo to the prom venue. And because Ricky and EJ were the only two members of the group who didn’t have a date for prom…they became defacto dates in all of the planning. Ricky was glad that he and EJ had become friends enough to lean into the joke of it, going far enough to color coordinate their tuxes and lapel flowers.

(“They’re called boutonnieres, Bowen.” EJ had told him when Ricky had asked about it. Specifically, Ricky had asked where to buy one because Google had overwhelmed him, and he figured EJ would know. “And don’t worry about it – I’ll take care of the boutonnieres. Just make sure your shoes are shined and ready for dancing.”

“You can’t shine Vans, EJ.” Ricky rolled his eyes.

“Ricky, I swear to God, if you wear Vans to prom—”)

So now, here Ricky was, walking up to Ashlyn’s door after his dad had dropped him off, suddenly nervous, feeling like he was about to pick up someone for an actual date, rather than meet up with EJ and their friends for a group thing.

He suddenly felt like he needed to have brought flowers or something. Showing up empty-handed felt...wrong somehow. Brushing that feeling off, he rang the doorbell and was almost immediately greeted by Kourtney.

“Ricky Bowen, did you comb your hair?” She looked shocked, but she was smiling, so Ricky took it to be a compliment.

“I always comb my hair,” Ricky groused, trying not to feel self-conscious. He had spent longer on his hair than he ever had before, styling it and combing it back so it was parted to the side and laid relatively neatly. “I just…didn’t use my fingers this time.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” she told him, stepping aside to let him into the house.

“You look really great.” Ricky told at her, and she smiled at him. He was, unsurprisingly, the last one to arrive. Everyone was milling around Ashlyn’s living room, chatting and getting excited for the night ahead.

“Ricky’s here!” She yelled and the room cheered, clearly ready to take pictures and move along with the day.

“Finally, Bowen! You were supposed to be here—” EJ trailed off as he looked at Ricky, seemingly at a loss for words. Ricky understood the feeling. He had seen EJ dressed up before but… there was something different about this. “Wow... you look... you look amazing,” EJ told him, his voice suddenly soft.

“Yeah?” Ricky grinned, willing himself to not blush, then stuck his foot out. “Look, no Vans!”

“You’re wearing dress shoes.” EJ smiled at the brown shoes Ricky wore that the man at the store had assured him would match with his dark grey suit. Ricky was suddenly feeling quite proud of himself.

“Oh my God, you two MATCH!” Carlos’s voice broke through their little bubble, reminding them of their audience.

Ricky was feeling self-conscious again. “EJ insisted. We spent forever at the tailor’s,” Ricky shuddered at the memory of trying on suit after suit. In the end, they (EJ) decided it would be best if they matched, as inverses of each other. Ricky was in a dark grey suit with a navy vest and tie, while EJ was in a navy suit with a dark grey vest and tie. Both had white pocket squares.

“We thought it’d be funny.” EJ shrugged, “You know, like a real date.”

“As opposed to this,” Gina gestured to the two of them, “which is…?”

Ricky and EJ glanced at each other. The official line was they were going to wingman each other and buddy-up so they wouldn’t feel alone surrounded by all of their coupled friends. But there was a difference between partnering up and…whatever this was… friends didn’t go to this level of effort to coordinate, right?

“Fun?” Ricky offered, at a loss. EJ nodded, seemingly good with it.

There was an awkward pause before Ashlyn jumped in: “speaking of fun, let’s go ahead and take pictures! The limo will be here soon!”

That got everyone flurrying into action, talking over each other and making decisions about pictures. Ricky took a step forward to join in the chaos but stopped when EJ grabbed his wrist. He looked at EJ questioningly.

“Here’s your boutonniere,” EJ reached out and affixed the white flower, wrapped with green ribbon to Ricky’s lapel. EJ wore the same flower on his own jacket. They stood quietly for a moment before EJ spoke again, quiet enough for only Ricky to hear him. “And seriously, you look great.”

“My stylist deserves most of the credit.” Ricky quipped, giving EJ a pointed look. “But thanks. You look great too.”

--

And there it is!! Hope you liked it, anon!!

[cadetcama]

Royal Flush

A short nace drabble!

Nancy and Ace discuss a potential name for their baby.

Read on AO3: [X]

---

“I had an idea,” Nancy announced as she walked into the kitchen. Ace was standing at the counter, making dinner and wearing a Kiss the Cook apron that Ryan had gotten him a few years earlier. It had been intended to be a joke gift, but Ace wore it every time he cooked.

Ace stopped his chopping and put his knife down, a smile playing on his lips. “A dangerous, awful idea?”

“What have I told you about quoting the Grinch when it’s not December?” Nancy sighed, unable to keep the fond expression off of her face.

Ace took a step closer to Nancy, reaching out to pull her closer to him, his hands resting on her swollen belly. He cocked his head to the side dramatically, pretending to think. “That it’s one of the reasons you fell in love with me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Hmm, we seem to remember that conversation very differently,” Nancy commented, rocking back on her heels to get a better look into Ace’s eyes. They had been together for five years, married for two, were expecting their first child, and Nancy was, as cheesy and cliché as it sounded, still surprised how often she got lost in his eyes. How easily she could forget everything just by looking at him, especially when he was looking back at her like she was the greatest thing he had ever seen. (Which Nancy had to admit was more often than not. She also had to admit she didn’t hate it.)

“So, this idea?” Ace prompted, after a moment.

“Yeah.” Nancy cleared her throat, her thoughts coming back to her. “It was a name idea for the baby.”

“Names are good,” Ace agreed, idly rubbing small circles on her stomach.

“They are. And kind of a requirement.” Nancy smiled.

“Only if we want this kid to be like everyone else in the world,” Ace quipped with a lazy shrug.

Nancy gave him an exasperated look because they had had this conversation before. Several times. “Ace.”

Ace ducked his head in concession. “Right. So, your name idea?”

Nancy took a deep breath before responding. “Jack.”

“Jack?” Ace looked at her, puzzled.

“Jack.” She nodded firmly, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She really liked the name, but if Ace didn’t, then it didn’t really matter. This was a name they would be saying a thousand times a day for the rest of their lives. They both needed to like it.

Ace nodded slowly and Nancy could see him turning the name over in his head. “I like it.” He smiled at her. “What made you think of it?”

Nancy swallowed. “Well… you’re Ace,” she began slowly, not looking at him, picking at a nonexistent thread on his sweater.

“I am,” Ace agreed, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“And ‘King’ seemed a little presumptuous,” she continued.

“A bit.” Ace reached out and tucked a strand of Nancy’s hair behind her ear. Nancy looked up at him.

“And I didn’t want to go with a number. Like some Doctor Who character.” Nancy wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Ace interrupted, “It’s just the one character. It’s the regeneration that’s got the number.”

Nancy continued like he hadn’t said anything, having long ago learned when to let Ace talk about science fiction and when to not. “Which left Jack.” She stated with a shrug.

Ace was looking over her shoulder, off in the distance, nodding slowly. After a moment, he spoke quietly. “Yeah, I think I like it even more now.”

“Yeah?” Nancy felt a sudden relief, tension leaving her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Ace confirmed, looking back at her. “But I do have one question.”

“Okay?” Nancy prompted, unsure where he was going with this. Though, in all honesty, she should have expected questions. They were Ace and Nancy; asking questions was kind of their thing.

Ace gave her his most mischievous smile – one she sincerely hoped their son would inherit. “Does this make you the queen?”

Nancy laughed, shaking her head at him. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

“Absolutely,” Ace said emphatically, leaning forward to give her a long kiss.

They broke apart after a moment and Ace looked thoughtful.

He saw Nancy’s questioning expression and explained, “An Ace, a Jack and a Queen. Soon enough, we’ll have a full house!”

“Okay, let’s focus on getting this one out before we start talking about having more,” Nancy told him, moving around him to start grabbing plates for their dinner. “And you know it’d be a royal flush!”

“I can’t wait,” Ace said softly.

[cadetcama]

“We thought it’d be funny.” EJ shrugged, “You know, like a real date.”

“As opposed to this,” Gina gestured to the two of them, fighting a grin, “which is…?”

OR

Ricky Bowen and EJ Caswell were the only two members of their friend group who didn’t have a date for prom…so, they decide to go to prom together, as a joke. Things quickly get out of hand.

--

I expanded upon the drabble I wrote for a prompt a few weeks ago and finally finished it!

[cadetcama]

hi cama!! the prompt “you... sorry, you just got a little something on your face... here, let me get it for you.” for caswen or gini?

I just did two caswen so I went with gini for this one and I hope you like it!

Gina loved being an unofficial Caswell. She really did, but there were times when being in one big happy family with Debbie, Dennis, Ashlyn, and (more often than not) EJ got to be a bit too much for the girl who spent most of her life as a lone wolf.

So, she took a page out of Troy Bolton’s book (because unlike Carlos, she had seen HSM 3) and would often spend a Saturday or Sunday in the deserted school, practicing her dancing. Was that allowed? Not really. Did anyone care? Also, not really. Since East High didn’t really have a dance studio, so Gina took to using the bomb shelter to dance her troubles away. Not that she really had troubles right now – things were about as great for Gina as they had ever been, but that was beside the point.

So here she was, on this Saturday afternoon, again running the choreography for Be Our Guest because she again had a solo dance break in it and wanted to make sure she nailed it. And after running it several times in the bomb shelter… she thought she might as well go into the theater and practice on the actual stage. Plus, if she was being honest, Gina just loved being on stage, even in a totally empty theater. There was a quiet power to it that made her feel alive.

She let herself into the theater through one of the stage side doors. The stage itself was mostly taken up by different set pieces from when the crew had been making them. Gina made her way to the center of the stage, prepped her music to start on the right beat, and then one of the set pieces moved.

Gina screamed.

The set piece screamed.

Except it wasn’t a set piece. It was Nini. Nini who should be in Denver at her fancy acting school and most definitely not in East High’s theater.

“What are you doing here?” Nini shrieked, pulling her earbuds out, and dropping the paint brush in her hand into a can of paint. Paint brush?

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” Gina shot back, pulling her headphones off.

“I’m painting sets!” Nini took a step toward Gina.

“What? Painting sets? At East High?” Gina was somehow more confused. “Shouldn’t you be in Denver?” She knew Nini came home for the occasional weekend but didn’t remember Nini mentioning it. Not that they talked regularly or anything but… they did talk. They were friends, after all.

“Oh…” Nini deflated a bit. “Yeah…I came home for a long weekend. Bought the plane ticket before…” she tailed off, looking at her feet.

“Before you and Ricky broke up.” Gina supplied. That had been a relatively new development, but not a surprising one. She knew Nini had initiated it and that Ricky seemed to be taking it well, but still, she couldn’t help but ask: “And how are you? After that?”

Nini shrugged. “I’m okay. Mostly it’s just weird trying to be friends again? Especially since I’m in Denver, it’s kind of like he got all the friends in the breakup?”

“Sounds brutal.” Gina said because she didn’t know what else to say.

Nini gave a dry laugh: “Yeah, that’s one word for it. I—It’s just he was the person I told all the random thoughts I had and now… I guess I just don’t know where to put them.”

“I’ll take them.” Gina blurted out before she could stop herself.

“What?” Nini took another few steps toward.

“I—I’ll take them,” Gina said because, honestly, she didn’t know why. It’s like she was watching someone else in her body. “You can send them to me. I’m not Ricky, but…I’ll listen and be that person. If you want.”

Nini was staring at her like she had three heads. Then, Nini gave her a smile, eyes softening. “I’d like that. For you…to be that person.”

They were standing right in front of each other now, face to face, and Gina noticed Nini had paint splatters on her face, presumably from Gina startling her. And because Gina apparently had lost all ability to control her words, she said, “you... sorry, you just got a little something on your face... here, let me get it for you.” She reached up and with her sleeve, gently wiped some of the paint from Nini’s face… only for it to smear and make things worse.

“Oh…” Gina grimaced.

They stared at each other for a moment before they both cracked up and started laughing.

“Sorry,” Gina apologized once they had caught their breath. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t apologize.” Nini beamed at her. “You’re my person, after all.”

--

Hope you liked it!

Send me a prompt + pairing!

[cadetcama]

" i knew you wouldn't go to sleep willingly, so i brought you some chamomile tea and a blanket. twenty minutes of shut-eye, okay? " + caswen?

<33333 I love u cama.

To no ones surprise but my own, this got out of hand... but I like it and I'm happy with it so no regrets!

AP test season was stressful. Ricky knew that. He knew it because he watched his classmates freak out for weeks before the tests even happened, stressing over DBQs and 3s versus 4s and other things that Ricky, a proud member of the ‘on-level’ classes, didn’t understand. Ricky didn’t do advanced classes and he was never as grateful for that fact as he was when he witnessed several near tears because of the stress.

Junior year was shaping up to be even worse because there were more AP classes available for his friends to take and… well… thanks to theater, he now had more friends to watch suffer. When it was just him, Nini, and Big Red, it wasn’t fun, but they survived because Nini was the only one taking AP classes, so the secondhand stress was minimal. But now that he had to see more people go through it, it was worse.

So bad, in fact, that Miss Jenn ended rehearsal early because… well, honestly because Ashlyn was so stressed about her three AP tests the following week that she yelled at Seb, who burst into tears and there was no coming back from that. Not today, anyway. But she claimed it was a ‘mental health day’ and sent everyone home to relax.

EJ in particular was looking so dead on his feet that Miss Jenn made him sit down while everyone packed up their things and called Ricky over.

“Ricky, honey, is there any way you could take EJ home?” she asked him, looking concerned.

“…uh...” Ricky glanced at EJ, who had dark circles under his eyes and was slumped in his seat.

“Miss Jenn, I’m fine. I promise.” EJ assured her, looking slightly to the right of where Miss Jenn was standing. “I’m good to drive home.”

“Honey, I’m not sure you’re good to walk to the car, let alone operate it.” She told him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Then she looked back at Ricky, expectantly.

“Sure?” Ricky shrugged. Big Red was taking Ashlyn home and it’d be easy enough to skate from wherever EJ lived to his apartment.

“Great.” Miss Jenn smiled at him before turning back to EJ, who’s eyes were half-closed. “EJ, sweetie, Ricky’s going to drive you home.”

EJ’s eyes flew open. “You want me to trust Bowen with my car?”

“I think right now, we all trust Ricky with your car more than you,” Miss Jenn said firmly, helping EJ stand. “Ricky, he’s all yours.”

Oh goody, Ricky thought idly, trying to guide the half-dead senior through the school. It was a little like herding a drunk cat. EJ was incapable of walking in straight line and somehow managed to bump into almost every person in the hall, despite it being after school hours and the hallways being mostly deserted. Finally, Ricky got him loaded into the passenger seat of EJ’s car, making sure his seatbelt was done correctly, before getting into the driver’s seat. EJ’s car was so fancy it had a GPS built in, so Ricky made it start directing him to the Caswell’s house.

They rode in almost silence until Ricky glanced over at EJ while stopped at a traffic light, expecting to see the senior passed out, but instead, found him furiously going through flashcards.

“EJ, what are you doing?” Ricky asked quietly.

“Studying.” He grunted back, not glancing away from his flashcards.

They drove in silence a bit more before turning onto the Caswell’s street.

“How much sleep did you get last night?” Ricky asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“I didn’t.” EJ said. “Too much material to go through.”

Ricky pulled into the driveway; a plan half-formed.

EJ was so out of it that he didn’t even notice when Ricky got out of the car and followed him into the house. EJ collapsed on a couch, still shuffling through his flashcards. Ricky wandered around the house till he found the kitchen and put his plan into motion. The Caswell kitchen was immaculate and Ricky almost felt bad going through it, but he was a man on a mission and would not be deterred. They had a fancy electric hot water kettle that Ricky got going before hunting down tea and a mug. It took a few tries to find, but he managed it. He put the teabag and hot water in the mug and made his way back to where EJ was going through flashcards so quickly, Ricky was sure he wasn’t even seeing them.

Ricky put the tea on the side table next to EJ before spotting a thick blanket across the room and went and grabbed it.

“Lie down.” Ricky commanded, walking back over to EJ.

“I beg your pardon?” EJ asked, finally looking up from his flashcards.

"You have to rest and I knew you wouldn't go to sleep willingly, so I brought you some chamomile tea and a blanket. Twenty minutes of shut-eye, okay?"

“Ricky – I can’t,” EJ tried to argue but Ricky wasn’t having it.

“You can. You look terrible and there’s no way you can do well on the test if you don’t sleep.”

“Is Ricky Bowen giving me studying advice?” EJ asked, incredulous.

“Yeah, we’ve hit rock-bottom,” Ricky laughed. “Now, sleep!”

“Yessir,” EJ said, keeling over onto the couch. He curled his legs up so he was basically in a ball, not even taking up the full couch, and closed his eyes. Ricky put the blanket over him and plopped down on the couch near EJ’s head. EJ burrowed into the blanket until all that was visible was his hair.

“You’re gonna stay till I wake up, right?” EJ asked, voice muffled by the blanket.

“Do you want me to?” Ricky asked, suddenly feeling uncertain. EJ nodded, slow and determinedly. “Then I will.”

“Thanks,” came EJ’s muffled reply.

--

Thanks for the prompt, friend! I hope you liked it!

Send me a prompt + pairing!

[cadetcama]

Luke and Julie break up and after being blocked on all social media (or so he thinks), Luke realizes he can still see Julie's spotify page. And that she's making playlists about the breakup.

(based on a tumblr prompt where character a & character b break up, and they block each other on everything but spotify. cue character a making a bunch of angry passive aggressive playlists and character b has secretly been listening to them bc they miss character a)

--

I finally finished this fic I’ve been working on since December! It’s based on this post and it’s got seven playlists that I made just for the fic! (And thanks to @billiejs for helping me figure out how to link them on ao3)

[cadetcama]

28 and your favorite jatp pairing?

Favorite pairing would be Julie/Luke, so here’s Jukebox + “I need you to peel five pounds of potatoes!”

(I spent way too long looking up different recipes for potatoes which wasn’t even necessary for the fic, but I do love potatoes so... bookmarking for later...) 

--

“I need you to peel five pounds of potatoes!” 

Luke skidded to a stop halfway through the door of the Molina house, his greeting dying in his throat before he could even open his mouth as he took in the scene before him. 

Julie was running around the kitchen like a madwoman, hair on top of her head in a messy bun and stirring maybe four different pots on the stove, a crazed look in her eye. 

“I--okay, boss,” Luke shook off his jacket and started for the sink to wash his hands. “Where’s the potato peeler?” 

Julie threw it at him, not breaking stride as she dashed around the kitchen, grabbing different ingredients, muttering under her breath in Spanish the entire time.

“Uhh...Jules?” Luke tried after a moment, picking up his first potato. “What’s going on?” 

Julie paused for a moment, looking at him, before deflating a bit, looking defeated. “Dad forgot we’re hosting Carlos’s baseball team’s end-of-season dinner, which is tonight, and he’s at the game with Carlos and Tía is out of town, so it’s all on me.” 

Julie hadn’t even finished speaking before Luke was shaking his head. “No, it’s not, Jules. You got me! And you got the guys. I’ll text them.” 

Julie deflated a bit more, but this time in seemed more like relief. “Really?” 

“Yeah!” Luke nodded enthusiastically. “Reggie’s a wiz in the kitchen and Alex and I can do what we’re told.” Julie shot him a look. “Alex can do what he’s told; I will chose to follow directions for an afternoon,” he amended.

“Thank you, Luke.” Julie said softly, smiling at him. 

He beamed back: “Of course, Jules. I got you.”

-

Thanks for sending it in! This was fun to write

Send a pairing + number!

[cadetcama]

“I mean, I’m bringing you, my ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, as my boyfriend to help me piss off my mom’s homophobic boyfriend at the dinner celebrating her divorce from my dad, who will also be there, so I’m not really sure what I’d consider to be off-limits?” Ricky noted. “What about you?”

EJ snorted. "Fair enough."

--

Or, Ricky needs a fake boyfriend for a family dinner and EJ volunteers.

[cadetcama]

for the prompts - jukebox + 100 “When I come back, that better be exactly where you found it!”

Ooh thanks! 

-- 

“What are you doing in here?” 

Luke froze at the sound of Julie’s voice.

“Looking for you?” Luke tried to shoot Julie a smile as if he wasn’t standing in front of her dream box.

Luke generally avoided Julie’s room, not because of boundaries or anything, but because he knew the pull of her dream box would be too strong and he didn’t need the temptation. Especially not since he found out how much glitter was actually in the box, making it almost impossible to get away with going through it without Julie figuring it out.

But his inspiration had been lacking recently and Luke knew Julie had a lot of gems hidden in the box so yeah he had been about to take a peak 

She quirked an eyebrow at him, unimpressed and clearly not buying it, so he decided to change tactics.

“I was hoping we could do some writing?” He jumped off the little ottoman in front of the bookshelf. 

Julie studied him for a long moment, Luke fidgeting under her gaze before she smiled. “Yeah, hold on - my songbook is downstairs, I’ll go grab it.” 

Luke grinned in relief and flopped into a beanbag chair. 

“And when I come back, my dream box better be exactly where you found it!” Julie called over her shoulder.

“You got it, boss!” 

Send me a paring + prompt

[cadetcama]

Rini and 7 ♥️

Almost went off the deep end on this one with BatB casting headcanons. I tried to reign it in, I swear, but some still made it in so here we are.. ANYWHO, I hope you enjoy, anon!! 

-

#7 - “I’m yours”

-

“Hey, can you help me get these off?” Ricky asked Nini. They were wrapping up rehearsal for the day which meant it was time for Ricky to take off his Lumiere hands. Ms. Jenn had insisted everyone rehearse with their character props as much as possible to make it look “natural”, which made sense but was also not entirely fair because while Ashlyn had to do rehearsal pretending to be a teapot and Carlos was a clock, Nini just had a hoop skirt and Seb sat in a roller chair the whole time.

And being Lumiere meant Ricky was a candelabra and that he couldn’t get out of the prop without help.

Fortunately, Nini had moved back from YAC and was willing to help him. She stood, undoing the straps that held the piece to his arm.

“Thanks,” he said, shaking his hand as soon as it was free. “I didn’t know my arms could get this tired.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Nini said absently, keeping her eyes on the Lumiere hands, which was taking her significantly longer to take off than usual. 

Ricky frowned. “Everything okay?”

“I just wish I had a bigger part than Babette,” Nini shrugged. Ricky nodded. He knew it had been a hard decision for her to move back to East High after just a few weeks at YAC, even harder still knowing she’d missed Beauty and the Beast auditions and was given a part Ms. Jenn originally wasn’t going to include.

“Yeah, I do too.” Ricky agreed. “But at least the scenes you do have are all with me! That’s fun, right?” Ricky put down his Lumiere “hands” to put his hand on Nini’s shoulder. He hated to see her down and was wracking his brain for anything that might cheer her up.

“Yeah, that is pretty fun.” Nini smiled, then paused. “Is it type-casting that we keep getting cast as romantic opposites?”

Ricky thought for a moment: “No I think it’s just Ms. Jenn recognizing the Jason Mraz of it all.” He waved his hand absently.

“And what does that even mean?” Nini was trying not to laugh. Ricky tried not to be too pleased at his success in cheering her up.

“I’m yours.” Ricky said simply. Nini looked at him, wide-eyed, so he continued: “She could cast me opposite anyone but its not gonna be believable unless I’m with you.”

“Hmm I don’t know about that…” Nini hummed, moving closer to him. “You’re a pretty good actor.”

“Yeah, well, I learned from the best.” He paused as she smiled at him then added: “EJ.”

Fighting a laugh, Nini made an indignant noise and hit him in the shoulder, saying “Punk!”

Ricky laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m just kidding. I owe it all to you!” Nini rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling, so Ricky counted it as a win.

[cadetcama]

jatp + 75

Oooh this was a fun one - I could’ve written a whole thing about it I made myself stop. 

75. “Guess who’s going to be a father!”

-

“Guess who’s going to be a father!” Reggie announced proudly, walking into the Molina’s living room.

Ray and Alex shot out of their chairs as Luke and Julie walked in behind Reggie.

“Mija, are you…?” Ray asked nervously, looking between Luke and Julie.

“God, Reg, you can’t announce it like that!” Luke groaned, running a hand through his hair.

“I—Reggie’s getting a dog!” Julie spluttered, shaking her head and totally unprepared for everything about this interaction. 

Ray collapsed back into his chair with a sigh of relief. “That’s great; I’m too young to be an abuelo.” The last part was directed at Luke, who held up his hands. 

“I-Okay, Reggie, we really need to work on how you deliver news,” Alex told him.

“I was going for dramatic effect!” Reggie pouted. 

“Well, mission accomplished,” Ray chuckled. “Now, Reggie, tell me about this dog!”

--

Thanks for the prompt! 

Send me a pairing + number!

[cadetcama]

What Team?

Also on AO3 - [x]

Got this idea a while ago and it wouldn’t leave me alone till I wrote it. So here we are, more than 5k words later. 

There’s some bullying in this and some mild homophobia, as well as fighting so be warned. It’s a happy ending though. 

No ships, really. Primarily EJ/Ricky/Seb friendship. 

Set in the middle of s1, post-1x06 but before 1x09.

-- -- --

He’s running late for rehearsal when Ricky stumbles across some kids bullying Seb. Ricky interveens but of course it doesn’t go exactly to plan.  -- -- --

Ricky was on his way to rehearsal when he heard it. Having stayed after class to talk to his chemistry teacher about the less than stellar grade he’d gotten on a quiz so the hallways were pretty deserted. No one wanted to stay at school for longer than necessary after all. Ricky was just glad he hadn’t put in his earbuds for the walk to the drama room or else he would have missed it entirely. 

“Just leave me alone.” A voice said, sounding broken.

Ricky paused.

It came from just around the corner and the voice was familiar so Ricky took a detour and came face-to-face with Seb, looking small and dejected. He was backed against some lockers and surrounded by three guys in letterman jackets, who Ricky recognized from EJ’s lunch table as being on the water polo team. 

“What’s going on?” Ricky asked, looking around at all of them. He could feel the tension and anxiety radiating off of Seb. Ricky took a step closer to Seb. He didn’t know exactly what was going on but he had a feeling it wasn’t good. 

“Nothing, man. Just chatting with our good buddy, Seb.” One of the three gave Ricky a grin and gave Seb a rough pat on the shoulder. Seb flinched and sirens went off in Ricky’s head.  

Ricky nodded, trying to figure out what his next move would be. It didn’t take a genius to figure out these guys were harassing Seb. 

The guy who had spoken stopped and looked at Ricky. “Wait, aren’t you that kid who busted EJ’s lip?” 

“So what if I am?” Ricky stood up a little taller, not that the extra half inch was going to do much to intimidate these guys who were all still at least a head taller than he was. 

Was everyone who played water polo this tall?

“So he had to miss a game because of that.” The ringleader of the three goons took a step closer to Ricky. “Refs were worried it’d open back up and you’re not allowed to bleed in the pool.” 

“Seems like a reasonable rule?” Seb said, quietly. 

“Shut up, Twinkletowne.” The ringleader snapped at Seb. Ricky glanced at the name embroidered on his letterman jacket. 

Chad.

Of course he’s a Chad, Ricky thought idly. He glanced at the names on the other two jackets as well. Alex and Tyler. Great. Now he knew their names. That helped him not at all. 

“Look, I’m sorry about EJ’s lip. I already apologized to him for it.” Ricky said. His fake bravado didn’t seem to work so he was going to try the diplomatic route and see where that got him. “But if you guys don’t mind, we’re late for rehearsal.” Ricky pointed to just down the hall where they could hear the drama club warming up. 

“Right. Rehearsal. For the musical.” Chad cocked his head at Seb. “So fabulous, right Sharpay?” 

Ricky didn’t like Chad’s tone at all. 

“I feel like you know a lot about High School Musical for a guy making fun of someone for being in a musical” Ricky pointed out. 

“You know what?” Chad took a step closer to Ricky, getting in his face.

“What?” Ricky asked, because he genuinely didn’t know what else to do. If he was by himself, he’d just make a run for it but he wasn’t about to leave Seb and it wasn’t like he could just yell “SCATTER!” and hope Seb understood what he meant. 

“I think it’s time you and Elsa over there go back to Oz or wherever you’re supposed to be.” Chad gave him a look, daring to say something. Ricky wasn’t a fan of musicals but even still, it physically pained him to hear them mixed like that. It wasn’t even close to being right. It took everything in him to not correct Chad and, instead, take a step backwards. 

“Sounds good.” He nodded, trying to squash his seething. “Come on, Seb.” Seb hurried by him and Ricky wasn’t even a step away when Chad spoke again. 

“Can’t wait to see you in glitter and sequins, you f—“ He didn’t manage to finish his sentence because Ricky’s fist had connected with the side of his face. Ricky Bowen was not one who turned to violence but he’d be damned if he let anyone say the word Chad was about to, let alone direct it at one of Ricky’s friends. 

Ricky heard Seb call out from somewhere behind him, but all he could focus on was the fact that there were now three very angry water polo guys on top of him and he was fighting for his life. Ricky managed to get a few good hits in. Or at least he thinks he did, everything was happening so fast that he wasn’t sure of anything. He was mostly just trying to minimize how often he got hit in the face, which was still a lot. He felt himself get thrown into the lockers and-crack! His head snapped back, hitting one of the locks. Ricky blinked and saw stars. Then he saw a fist coming straight for his face.

“Hey! Knock it off!” An angry voice cut through the fog Ricky found himself in. The hand holding him against the lockers let go and he dropped to the floor, slumped and trying to catch his breath. 

Principal Gutierrez was standing a few feet away, hands on his hips and looking livid. 

“What is going on here?” He asked, looking between the five of them. No one answered. “Alright, fine. Tyler, go get your coach and have him meet me in my office. Alex, go to the theater room and tell Ms. Jenn to do the same. You three,” He pointed at Chad and Ricky, “follow me.” He turned and marched off towards his office. The water polo guys grumbled for a moment then went their separate ways, following Principal Gutierrez’s directions. 

Seb hurried over to Ricky. “Are you okay?” He asked quietly, kneeling beside him.

“Define ‘okay’,” Ricky breathed. He was in pain. His ribs hurt. His head hurt. His face hurt. He could feel blood coming out of his nose. 

“I’m just going to take that as a ‘no’.” Seb carefully helped Ricky stand. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Do what? Get in a fight?” Ricky squinted at Seb, trying to focus on him. He used the sleeve of his shirt to try and stem the bleeding from his nose.

Seb shook his head. “Get involved. Those guys, they’re vile but… they’re harmless.” 

“Tell that to my face.” Ricky started walking gingerly towards the office, hugging his ribs. “How long have they been bullying you?” 

“They’re not bullying me.” Seb said quickly, not looking at Ricky. “Just giving me a hard time. And just since the cast list went up. But it’s nothing I can’t handle, I promise.”

“Seb, I hate to say this, but all of that was bullying.” Ricky told him. “And just because you think you can handle it doesn’t mean you have to. Especially not alone.” 

Seb was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been getting teased for different things my whole life. This wasn’t any different. Until it was. And so I didn’t want anyone to know. I still don’t. Please don’t say anything. I— it’s complicated.”

“Okay,” Ricky nodded as they reached the door to Principal Gutierrez's office. “Explain it to me later then.” 

They paused for a moment at the door when Ms. Jenn, followed by Alex, hurried up to them. 

“Boys! What happened?” She asked, looking them over. 

“It’s nothing, Ms. Jenn. Just a misunderstanding.” Ricky said quickly. Seb threw him a grateful look. 

“Oh, Ricky, your face! Seb, would you go to the nurse and get him some ice?” Seb nodded and walked off. 

Principal Gutierrez appeared at the door to his office and gave Ms. Jenn a serious look. “Come in,” He said. “Coach Reid will be here in a few moments and I feel as though we have much to discuss.” He paused and looked at Ricky, who was still trying to get his nose under control. “Try not to bleed on my carpet.” 

—

“I want him suspended!” Coach Reid yelled, pointing at Ricky. It had taken only seconds for the water polo guys to place all of the blame squarely on Ricky, as he had thrown the first punch, and since they were all leaving Seb out of all of it, it wasn’t like Ricky had much room to argue. But he was still trying: 

“Three of your guys rearrange my face and I’M the one who’s getting in trouble?” They were still in Gutierrez’s office. Chad and Ricky, front and center as the primary fighters (Gutierrez had seen Chad give Ricky a few good hits after all). Seb had been sent back to the drama room and Ms. Jenn was being uncharacteristically quiet, leaving Ricky to be the one to come to his own defense.

“You threw the first punch. It’s only fair,” Coach Reid spat. 

“How is three-on-one fair?” Ricky threw his hands in the air. 

“You know what, kid?” Coach Reid rounded on him, getting in Ricky’s face. Ricky was getting really tired of this. 

Fortunately, Principal Gutierrez cut in before Ricky could respond. “Alright, Coach, calm down.”  He stood up from behind his desk. “It’s after school and we all have things to get back to, so why don’t we all take a breath, and meet tomorrow morning to discuss consequences, when we’re a little calmer and when parents can be here.” He glanced at Ricky, who’s dad had been called but wasn’t able to get away from work. 

That didn’t bode well for him. 

Coach Reid clenched his jaw, but nodded. He wrenched the door open. “Let’s go.” He said curtly, and Alex, Tyler, and Chad followed him out the door, throwing Ricky dirty looks as they did. Tyler had a busted lip and Chad a black eye. Ricky would’ve felt bad about it if it didn’t hurt to breathe. He could feel the cut on the back of his head from where he hit the lockers, now mostly just dried blood. 

—

He and Ms. Jenn walked back to the drama room in silence. Ricky could feel the disappointment radiating off of her and it made Ricky feel sick.

Ricky hadn’t come out of Chad, Alex, and Tyler’s version of events looking very good and everything in him just wanted to go home but Big Red was his ride and he was in the drama room. 

He could hear Stick To The Status Quo as they approached which felt weirdly poetic to Ricky. He tried to go against the status quo by standing up to three jocks and look what happened. Ricky supposed he’d been going against the status quo all year by even auditioning for the musical. Even still, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret joining the musical or intervening to help Seb. He and Seb might not know each other very well, certainly not like he knew Big Red or Nini, but Seb was still his friend and that meant Ricky had his back, even if it meant getting into trouble or taking the fall for something that wasn’t strictly speaking his fault. 

Ricky was snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden silence that fell over the room as he and Ms. Jenn entered. There was a brief moment where Ricky felt like a deer in headlights before everyone started talking at once: 

“Oh my God, Ricky!" 

“Are you okay?” 

“What happened?” 

“Dude, your face!”

“Do you need a first aid kit?”

“It was just a fight.” Ricky shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. Really.” 

Ms. Jenn broke her silence with a tsk-ing sound. “No, Ricky it is a big deal.” She was as mad as Ricky had ever heard her, which just made him feel worse. And wonder why she had waited till they were in front of everyone to yell at him. “You made a commitment to this show and these people and you’ve just jeopardized it by getting in a fight. And possibly being suspended.”

The room fell back into silence as they reeled from Ms. Jenn’s outburst and the revelation that they may be temporarily losing their Troy. The entire mood of the room shifted from concern and curiosity to a palpable anger and resentment. Ricky wished the floor would just swallow him so he could avoid it. His eyes stung and he didn’t want to see disappointment in anyone’s face, so he stared at the floor and put his icepack on the back of his head. 

Ms. Jenn took a deep breath and continued: “Sweetie, I get that high school is a time full of testosterone and wanting to butt heads, but I need you to remember your decisions affect more than just yourself. Now everyone, get back to work. I’m going to go try to talk the principal into being lenient but I wouldn’t get your hopes up; I was already on thin ice.” 

She swept out of the room.

“I’m going to get my first aid kit.” Ashlyn broke the silence, seemingly just needing something to do. She started rummaging through her backpack. 

“You might get suspended?” Big Red asked him, looking concerned. He guided Ricky to a nearby chair. It wasn’t until he was sitting that Ricky realized how unsteady and lightheaded he was feeling. Ricky was struck with a wave of gratitude to his friend. Just Big Red being there made him feel better. 

“Yeah.” Ricky choked out. Ashlyn took the chair next to him, first aid kit in hand and handed him a wipe to clean up some of the blood. 

“For how long?” Seb asked quietly. The drama club was slowly forming a loose semi-circle around Ricky. Kourtney handed him one of the drama  handheld makeup mirrors so he could see what he was doing. He winced as he saw his face for the first time. He had a bloody nose and a busted lip, he knew, but he also had a huge black eye that was slowly forming and a bruise along his jaw with a cut on his cheek. 

“I don’t know. There’s gonna be a meeting tomorrow.” Rick swallowed. “Coach Reid wants my head though.” 

“Coach Reid? They were water polo guys?” EJ asked incredulously. “Yeah, you’ve got no shot. Gutierrez does whatever Reid wants. We’ll be lucky if you’re back in time for opening night.” 

“Thanks for the support,” Ricky said dryly, rubbing at the back of his head and hoping he didn’t reopen the wound. As if this whole thing wasn’t enough of a mess, now he might miss the show? Today was not his day. 

“How did this one happen?” Nini took the wipe out of his hand and started helping clean the cut on the back of his head, for which Ricky was grateful. 

“Combination dial on lockers.” Ricky winced as it stung. He didn’t love having an audience for this but he was glad he wasn’t having to do it alone. He was also glad one of Nini’s moms was a nurse and had her certified in first aid ever since Ricky and Big Red started skateboarding. 

“You might want to get concussion tested,” Nini murmured. 

“Ouch.” Big Red said grimacing. 

“Yeah, you should see the other guy.” Ricky tried to joke but it fell flat.

“Really, Ricky? You got mad at Ms. Jenn for jeopardizing the show and now you’re the one putting it in danger and you’re making jokes?” Kourtney shook her head. “That’s kind of hypocritical.”

“Seriously.” Carlos crossed his arms. “Your actions have consequences. Try caring about someone other than yourself.”

“Guys, stop it.” Seb cut in.

“It’s fine, Seb.” Ricky tried to wave him off. If they wanted to be mad at him, that was fine. He could handle it and…oh… okay, so he may understand part of why Seb didn’t want to tell anyone about the guys bullying him. It’s easier to just let people get their anger out of their system than fight back. That didn’t make it right though. 

“No, it’s not. It’s not fair. None of this is fair.” Seb walked over to him. “Have you seen your face?”

“What are you two talking about?” Nini asked, suspicious. She stopped applying first aid and stepped around from behind Ricky. 

“Nothing.” Ricky said quickly, looking at Seb. “We’re not talking about anything.”

“Yes, we are.” Seb gave Ricky a look before turning to the group. “I didn’t want Ricky to tell anyone because I was embarrassed but…he only got into that fight because he was defending me from those guys.” 

For the third time that day, the room went still.

“What?” Nini asked, looking between them.

“Those guys have been giving me a hard time since I got cast as Sharpay. Saying horrible things. They had me cornered and Ricky tried to break it up. So they turned on him.” Which wasn’t exactly true but no one had asked for Ricky’s version of events yet so he stayed quiet.  

Ashlyn and a few of the dancers looked close to tears. Carlos, Kourtney, and Rico looked murderous.

“Seb, why didn’t you say anything? Or tell anyone?” Carlos put a hand on Seb’s arm. 

“I’m not ashamed of who I am.” Seb swallowed, shaking his head. “And I know there’s nothing wrong with me and that things are changing but… this is still Utah. Still high school. I mean, those guys are going to get a slap on the wrist for fighting Ricky—“

“Wouldn’t call it much of a ‘fight’,” Ricky mumbled, moving his bag of ice to a different part of his face.

“—what would happen to them if I reported them for bullying? Nothing. Except maybe they come at me harder. I could handle what they were saying. Or… I thought I could…”

“If you’d come to us, we could’ve helped.” EJ said.

Ricky was on his feet in an instant: “Helped? How would YOU have helped? They’re YOUR guys, on YOUR team. You’re one of them!” 

“Ricky.” Seb said, quietly and Ricky took a deep breath, sitting back down and trying to calm down and trying not to feel too satisfied about the chastened expression on EJ’s face. 

“Okay, I think that’s enough.” Ashlyn cut in as Ms. Jenn walked back into the room. 

“I agree, Ashlyn.” She nodded. “Principal Gutierrez is already gone for the day so no luck there. And I think it’s best if rehearsal is officially over for today. Everyone, go home and take some deep, cleansing breaths. Ricky, put some more ice on your face and I’ll see you tomorrow morning in Principal Gutierrez’s office.”

The room slowly emptied out as Ricky packed up the first aid kit and handed it back to Ashlyn.

“Thanks,” He told her with a smile. 

“I’d say ‘any time’ but I don’t want to encourage reckless behavior.” She smiled back at him. 

He ducked his head and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He followed her out of the room, where Big Red was waiting in the hallway and the three of them walked out of the school. Big Red and Ashlyn talked about props and Ricky just listened. 

They were nearly to the student parking lot when EJ jogged up.

“Ricky, how are you getting home?” He asked.

“I’m giving him a ride.” Big Red said before Ricky could speak. 

“Okay, I need to talk to Ricky, so why don’t I give him a ride home and you take Ashlyn home.” EJ offered. 

“Do we not get a say in this?” Ashlyn looked at her cousin. 

“Seriously, I think I’ve had enough “conversations” with water polo players today.” Ricky gestured to his face and Big Red snorted. 

“EJ isn’t going to hurt Ricky.” Ashlyn said, then turned to EJ. “Right, EJ?” 

“Right! Violence isn’t really my thing.” EJ shook his head vehemently. 

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Ricky frowned then stopped when it hurt.

“Just get in the car.” EJ said, exasperated, gesturing to his Jeep. 

“Fine.” Ricky agreed, shrugging at Big Red. EJ’s car looked more comfortable than Big Red’s which is the only reason Ricky agreed. (Well, that and the fact that Ricky was curious what the senior could possibly want to talk to him about.) 

They climbed into the car and Ricky gave EJ some general directions to his house before EJ just pulled out his phone to use the GPS.

They were silent for a few moments as they pulled out of the school parking lot before Ricky spoke: “So you wanted to talk to me?” He figured he might as well just rip the bandaid off quickly.

“Yeah,” EJ nodded, eyes on the road. “About what happened today.” 

“Why?” Ricky understood the drama club’s the curiosity about the fight but for EJ to go so far out of his way to talk to Ricky about it seemed odd. 

“Because you were right, dude. It’s my team. I’m the captain and I can’t just let it slide or look the other way. Not when they’re harassing Seb.” His hands clenched the steering wheel so tightly that EJ’s knuckles turned white. 

“And rearranging my face.” Ricky added as they stopped at a light.

EJ just shrugged, then laughed at the look on Ricky’s face. “I’m kidding. Yes, obviously, that’s not cool either. But in all seriousness, what they did was so far from okay and something needs to be done.” EJ took a breath and for a moment, it was as if a mask had slipped and Ricky was seeing the real EJ for the first time. His expression was raw and pained and Ricky could see how much this whole thing was affecting him and how he may have written EJ off too quickly.

“I agree.” Ricky nodded. “I just hope you have a plan, because the one I came up with on the spot did not work.” 

EJ snorted and then they were quiet for a long moment, both lost in their own thoughts. 

“I just don’t get how anyone could be mean to Seb.” EJ said finally. “It’s like being mean to a puppy.” 

“I know, man.” Ricky agreed. “The meanest thing I’ve ever heard Seb say was he didn’t “love the forest of boys idea”.” He air quoted. 

“Which, by the way,” EJ began, absentmindedly as he made a turn. “I was rewatching the movie and there was kind of a forest of boys in that song so we may have judged that idea too fast.” 

“What?” Ricky was thrown by the change in topic. 

“Forget it. Not important. We can come back to it.” EJ shook himself as though to get himself back on track. 

“I—okay,” Ricky agreed, still confused.

“Who was it? Who were the guys on the team?” EJ asked. “I know Alex was there, since he came and got Ms. Jenn, but the other two?”

“Uhh, Tyler and Chad?” Ricky said, hoping there weren’t multiple Tylers or Chads on the team since that was literally all he knew about them. 

“Ahh yeah, okay, I should’ve guessed Chad was involved.” EJ rolled his eyes. “Picking on smaller people makes him feel big.” 

“I noticed.” Ricky said, dryly. And EJ snorted.

“I just figured…it’s 2019… I didn’t think anyone would bully someone being gay, let alone for a part they got in a school play.” 

“I feel like that’s the entire plot to High School Musical right there.” Ricky pointed out. This had to be the weirdest day of his life. EJ Caswell was confiding in him and they were bonding (were they bonding?) over wanting to protect Seb. 

“True, but with bisexuality instead of being gay,” EJ agreed. 

There was a pause then: “I know we’re in Salt Lake City, but we’re not that conservative, right? Ricky said. “I mean, Seb’s religious family of farmers support him—“

“Technically, they’re ranchers.” EJ pulled onto Ricky’s street.

“Dude.”

“Sorry. Habit.” EJ explained. “I’m working on it.” He paused, pulling up to Ricky’s house. “It just makes me so angry.” 

“Hey, I get it.” Ricky nodded. “I threw the first punch because of what Chad said.”

“I just... I can’t believe these were my teammates.” EJ admitted. “I can’t believe they’d do something like this.” 

“What? You think Seb is making it up?” Ricky squinted at EJ.

“What?! No! Of course not.” EJ paused. “I just don’t like that people I called friends were capable of this”  

“So what are you gonna do about it?” Ricky asked since that seemed to be what this whole ride was leading up to.

“I’m... I’m going to talk to them.” EJ decided. “Tomorrow morning, at practice.” 

That was a little anticlimactic, Ricky thought. 

“Talk to them?” Ricky was bewildered. Maybe he had been concussed. 

“Yeah. They’re not total monsters. They did a bad thing, absolutely.” EJ reasoned. “But so have I and I owe it to them to have the same opportunity to learn and grow that I had.” 

“I hate that you’re making sense right now” Ricky started to shake his head, but it hurt so he stopped.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” EJ grinned wryly. 

“Why are you telling me this, though?” Ricky asked.

“Because I need you to know that I don’t agree with what they did. To you or Seb.” EJ said slowly. “And…I don’t know… I guess I kinda feel like we’re on the same team here.”

“The Seb Protection Squad?” Ricky grinned. 

EJ laughed: “Exactly.” 

“Thanks for the ride.” Ricky climbed out of the car. “Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” EJ nodded. “You too.” 

—

Thanks to the small miracle of Seb and Mr. Matthew-Smith dad talking to Principal Gutierrez about the terrible trio bullying Seb, the morning meeting to decide on Ricky’s (and the other three’s) punishment for fighting was mercifully short. It was decided that water polo guys would serve a month of detention, with Coach Reid, and a warning to stay away from Seb (and the drama club) while Ricky would do the same with Ms. Jenn. It was total crap, and exactly what Seb had predicted, but Ricky was relieved to not be suspended and, honestly, detention with Ms. Jenn was going to be great.

Seb had evidently given her a rundown of the previous day’s events and she had softened a lot towards Ricky. She had told him that his detention was going to mostly be helping with the musical - finishing sets and helping make props. 

Ricky was actually looking forward to his detentions. He loved being involved in any part of the musical that he could and thanks to his dad being a contractor, he knew his way around power tools and helping out the crew meant he got to hang out with Big Red more. It was the ideal detention scenario. Almost worth getting beaten up. 

Ricky was getting stared at a lot in the hallways, which he attributed more to his face being black and blue than any gossip that he’d gotten in a fight. Gutierrez and Reid’s weird dynamic aside, if most students heard that three water polo kids got in a fight with a theater kid, the default assumption wouldn’t be that the theater kid started it. 

When the lunch bell rang though, Ricky decided he wanted nothing to do with the cafeteria, people staring at him, and having to see Chad and his goons again, so he hid out in the drama room while Big Red went to get them food.

He was absorbed in a game on his phone so he didn’t even notice when EJ walked into the room and pulled up a chair.

“I quit the team,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“You what?” Ricky looked up, alarmed.

“I quit. I tried to talk to them.” EJ shrugged. “Tried to be civil and educate them. But they didn’t want to hear it. They’re choosing to be assholes. So I’m choosing to not associate with them any more.”

“How are you feeling about that?” Ricky was as surprised as EJ that those words came out of his mouth, but he chalked it up to the fact that Big Red had gotten Ricky into watching Dr. Phil.

“What? No. We don’t need to talk about my feelings. I did the right thing and that’s what matters.”

“Okay, well if you want to talk about it…” Ricky trailed off at the look EJ was giving him.

“No. I will not change my mind. I don’t want to talk about it.” He said firmly as Seb walked in.

“Big Red told me you were in here.” Seb sat down with them. “What are we not talking about?”

“EJ’s feelings.” Ricky told him, trying not to smirk.

“I don’t have feelings.” EJ said quickly. They paused, processing what EJ had just said then EJ amended: “I don’t have feelings about quitting the water polo team.” 

“You quit the team?” Seb stared at him, shocked. 

“Yeah, and it’s not a big deal.” EJ took a bite of his sandwich and refused to look at either of them.

“It’s okay if it is,” Seb said softly. “The team was three years of your life. Those guys are your friends.” 

“No, they’re not.” EJ shook his head and frowned. “I don’t want to be friends with people like them.” 

“Yeah, I don’t blame you. Chad thinks Elsa is from the Wizard of Oz.” Ricky leaned back in his chair. They were getting dangerously close to “feelings” territory so Ricky was trying to lighten the mood. EJ threw him a grateful look. 

“Did he really say that?” EJ shook his head. “What an idiot. I’m glad I don’t have to put up with him anymore.”

“Are you sure?” Seb tried again.

“Oh yeah. Forget water polo.” EJ waved it off. “You guys are my team now.” 

There was a moment of silence before Seb and Ricky erupted in laughter, soon followed by EJ.

“Too much?” EJ grinned.

“Just a little,” Seb grinned back and they started laughing all over again. 

--

There it is! Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!