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tvdstelenaforever · 4 years

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Law & Lust

TVD Imagine: Enzo St. John

Premise: Y/N is new to town and finds out her new employer is a vampire, not long later things take a surprising turn.

Theme: Mature / Smut (18+)

Other: Y/N goes by she/her and is human

Word Count: 4.5k

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this smutty imagine, the idea randomly came to me so here goes nothing :-)

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It was a dark night as Y/N stood in the poorly lit alleyway, trying to find her way back home. She was new to the area and wasn’t fully acquainted with her neighbourhood. It wasn’t just a run of the mill move but an overseas one. Y/N flew from the south of England to move to the southern United States. A golden job opportunity arose that she couldn’t decline, plus she had dreamed of visiting since childhood.

Mystic Falls seemed like a dainty cute town and Y/N hoped to meet some like minded people that also liked hiking, going on spontaneous trips and eating out. Y/N wouldn’t consider herself an extrovert but she certainly enjoyed socializing in the right doses. The people here seemed friendly enough so it encouraged Y/N to mingle a little.

She was just walking back from a coffee date, well not exactly a date as such, with a sweet guy called Matt. She didn’t get his last name but didn’t care enough as she doubted she would see him again. As Y/N continued on she could hear some shuffling noises from behind. Ignoring it, believing it was some sort of animal, Y/N hurried along.

After a couple of minutes the sound renewed. Paranoid now, Y/N turned to face the source of the noise. Before she could process what was going on, she felt herself being pushed against a fence. A scream escaped her mouth as the culprit tried diving in for her exposed neck. Y/N could feel her heart beating erratically as she tried to fend for herself, to no avail. This stranger was strong.

All of a sudden Y/N could feel her aggressors grip lighten and eventually leave and came face to face with a young man instead, who had dark hair and light eyes. “Are you okay, miss?” The handsome stranger smiled. Slightly disoriented, Y/N nodded. “I can walk you to your intended destination” he offered. Usually Y/N would be wary of any stranger and decline, but this man seemed different. Honest and safe. “Okay, sure” With that the pair headed off to Y/N’s new home.

As they approached the front door the young man hesitated. Y/N noticed and smiled softly. “Thank you for walking me back home” He returned the gesture and continued with her to the door. “Goodnight darlin’, stay safe” Before letting him go, Y/N wanted to know his name. “I’m Y/N, what’s your name?” With a grin, he said “Enzo, Enzo St John”. As he said his last name he emphasized it with a British twang.

“Oh, you’re from England too?” Y/N asked as her face lit up. He stayed quiet for a moment but shook his head, smiling sadly. Well, that was odd Y/N thought but discarded that weird feeling she felt. “Well thanks again Enzo”. Taking a step indoors and closing the door, Y/N took a peek through the side window and there was no sight of the handsome stranger who walked her home.

Sighing, she got ready for bed and tucked herself in snugly. Eventually after pondering the earlier incident, she fell asleep.

***

The following morning Y/N went to work at her new law firm. She was excited to start this new venture. Her boss had informed her that she had a meeting first thing that a.m. With a latte in hand, she walked through the shiny doors and found her way to her boss’s door. Upon entering, she nearly dropped the cup on the floor. Y/N’s eyes widened at her new employer. The one and only Enzo. Enzo St John. Wow, she thought, perplexed.

His eyebrows raised quickly at his new employee, surprised to see it was the damsel in distress from the night before. “Y/N, uh, welcome” The sudden pause indicated his surprise and Y/N blushed involuntarily. Enzo noticed but didn’t react. He suddenly felt awkward and looked away, motioning for her to sit down. “Emily will show you around and get you acquainted with the office. If you have any questions just ask her. She’s been my assistant for over 5 years now and is incredibly efficient and sweet, so you’ll have no trouble settling in comfortably” he started. “I was very impressed by your interview notes that my colleague sent me whilst I was away on a business trip, and I look forward to working with you”. Y/N smiled and thanked Enzo for his warm welcome. As the meeting ended and Y/N got up to grab the door handle, Enzo touched her hand to stop her from leaving.

Y/N blushed again, feeling flushed. What was he doing? She thought. She bit her lip as he kept still, awaiting his next move. Instead of perusing her, he pulled away. Y/N took an intake of breath before pulling the handle, finally closing the door behind her.

Y/N was still thinking about Enzo whilst Emily gave her a tour of the office. Emily seemed nice and as if she loved her job. I guess it didn’t hurt having Enzo as her boss though. He was eye candy as well as seemingly being a gentleman. Y/N would be surprised if she found out he was single.

Once Emily’s tour was over, Y/N sat at her desk reorganizing the layout and filling the desk drawers with all her essential items. The day flew by as Y/N sifted through all the paperwork and made all the appropriate phone calls. As it was time to clock out, Y/N arrived at the elevator doors. When they opened, Enzo was face to face with her. They caught eyes and he immediately looked away. He was nervous much to Y/N’s obliviousness. All she saw was disinterest and professionalism as her eyes followed him walking away.

Y/N was lost in her thoughts as she walked home that night. It felt colder than it was so she hurried along. Y/N wanted nothing more right now than to drink a warm cup of cocoa and watch some Law and Order. Law enforcement shows were her favourite. That was the main reason for her going down the law career route. She was a while away from working with law enforcement though but this was a great step towards that. Luckily Y/N also had duel nationality with the US so she could work with the government if she ever wanted to.

Y/N was slowly starting to drift asleep as the TV hummed in the background. She finally fell unconscious as her dreams filled her mind.

***

The weekend rolled over fairly quickly and Y/N decided to go for a walk around town to get familiar with the place. Loads of people were gathered in the parks and coffee shops, the weather permitting such occasions. Y/N smiled as she breathed in the fresh morning air.

Y/N laid eyes upon the Mystic Grill and ogled at it. Boy was she hungry right now. She decided to have some brunch and relax. Pushing the doors open, Y/N accidentally bumped into Matt. “Oh, hi Y/N!” He grinned. “Hi Matt” she replied casually. “It was nice hanging out the other day. I have some friends that you may like to meet since you’re new here. I’m sure you’ll love them” Y/N smiled, he was such a kind person. It looked like he was just being friendly which was good. Enzo was constantly in her thoughts that Matt was invisible to her in that way.

Effectively Enzo was just a stranger. Now her new boss. No way were they ever going to be an item. He was classy, highly educated, owned his own law firm, and extremely attractive. Y/N felt like she was totally out of his league. Not that she was below par but nothing special.

As Y/N was assigned a table, she looked over the menu, eyes glossing over the irrelevant details. Eventually she found the perfect dish, a mushroom risotto and white wine. Once her order was placed, Y/N twiddled her thumbs.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Emily’s number popped up on the screen as the phone kept vibrating in her hand. Oh, a weekend emergency at the office? Y/N wondered. “Hi Emily!” Y/N greeted happily. “Hello Y/N, how are you? There are just a couple of things Enzo needs to go over with you quickly. Do you mind coming in as soon as possible?” Ah, Enzo needed her to come help him with something? How peculiar, especially for a weekend. “Sure, I’ll be there as soon as I’ve finished my food at the Mystic Grill. I’m literally nearby, I can be there for half an hours time”. Emily thanked her before hanging up.

The food made it’s way to Y/N quickly and she ate it promptly. She paid the bill when she was finished with her meal and headed to the office. The place was deadly silent which felt odd, Y/N was used to a busy office. Once the elevator arrived at the 3rd floor, Y/N found Enzo’s office and knocked.

He opened the door and pulled her inside. Y/N was taken by surprise at the sudden movement. As he closed the door he eyed Y/N, feeling anxious. “What did you need help for?” Y/N asked, confused. “I can’t keep this a secret anymore” Y/N shifted uncomfortably on the spot. He waltzed over to her and stared deeply into her eyes. Her eyes bore into his, completely mesmerized. It was as if she couldn’t look away.

“Y/N, don’t freak out. You’re safe and I wouldn’t ever hurt you. I promise you. I have to tell you what I am. I can’t keep this a secret from you, especially since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since that first night we met” Enzo declared. “I, I’m a vampire” He said after a short pause. He pulled away whilst still keeping his eyes locked on hers as he suddenly bared his fangs. Y/N’s eyes widened but couldn’t move from her spot.

“When I stop compelling you, don’t run away” he said as he took her hand and squeezed lightly. Enzo finished compelling Y/N and awaited her move.

“But, how? What? I must be hallucinating!” Y/N exclaimed, heart racing at the speed of light. She did as he commanded and stayed put but wanted nothing more than to flee. She had never expected even in her wildest dreams to come into contact with a member of the supernatural. Something completely fictional. Yet not fictional at all.

“Why can’t I leave? Please, let me go” Y/N said quietly, eyes watering. Enzo could feel the fear radiating from her and wanted nothing more than to bring her in for a warm embrace. He was aching for her. “Like I said, I would never hurt you. I really like you Y/N. You’re smart, kind, intelligent, interesting, and beautiful” He said beautiful slowly, taking a deep breath.

This was everything Y/N wanted to hear before, but now that he revealed himself to be a vampire, Y/N felt scared. She wanted to believe him, but she needed space. “Please, just give me some space and time to process this”. Enzo sighed in defeat and nodded. “Okay, but please come back to me when you’re ready” He pleaded, placing a soft kiss on Y/N’s forehead.

As soon as she could move, Y/N bolted for the door. She ran outside, ran as far as her legs could carry her and cried herself to sleep once she arrived home, curling up on the sofa.

***

Work was filled with awkward silences between Enzo and Y/N, Y/N avoiding his gaze every time she came into contact with him. One night after work, Y/N went to the Mystic Grill for a drink. Once she got to the bar she ordered a bourbon whiskey neat. After 5 minutes a friendly face appeared. Matt smiled at Y/N and took the free seat next to her.

“Hey, are you okay? You seem a little off” Matt asked worriedly. “It’s that obvious?” She laughed sadly. He squeezed her forearm and offered her a sympathetic smile. “What’s troubling you?” He asked. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I tried”. Matt felt like he understood what she was insinuating but let her continue. “Try me”. Y/N took an inhale of breath, afraid of sounding crazy.

“I found out my boss is... a vampire” Y/N cringed at how insane that sounded. “Ugh I know, you don’t believe me do you. I understand. I wouldn’t have if you told me the same thing. I feel like I’m either going crazy or I’m living in a much scarier world than I ever imagined”. Matt kept silent for a moment, and Y/N bit her lip in anticipation.

“Let’s talk somewhere a little more private” and with that he took her hand and they walked to a nearby park and sat at a lone bench. “The supernatural are real. I’ve lived among them for years, and at first I had no idea. I actually, um, really dislike them. Sadly some of my friends are supernatural but that’s just the reality of life here in Mystic Falls. People you care about most are undead or some sort of creature. Take werewolves for example”. Y/N’s ears pricked up at werewolves and gulped.

“I know this is overwhelming but you’ll get used to it. Anyway, so who’s your boss?” He asked curiously. “His name is Enzo St John”. Matt raised his eyebrows, stunned. “I know him. He used to date my friend Bonnie. He’s good friends with Damon Salvatore. He’s one person that gets on my last nerve, he knows it and uses it to his advantage. Enzo is alright, but I haven’t had much contact with the guy. If he was good enough for Bonnie then he must be okay”. Y/N took all this information in surprisingly well, Matt thought.

“I just can’t believe it, it’s just so surreal! I don’t know what to think. Also what do you mean by Enzo being okay if Bonnie dated him?” She asked curiously. “Bonnie had an aversion to vampires like me but since she’s a witch, she eventually fell for another supernatural”. Wow, Y/N thought. “There are witches too?” She said in awe.

Matt laughed, she was definitely taking this way better than he did. “Yeah... and hybrids, sirens, doppelgängers, heretics among others”. “Oh my, this is overwhelming. I think I just want to watch some TV and fall asleep” Y/N confessed. Matt nodded in agreement. “If you need anything, just call me. Take care” he said as they parted ways.

It was a few days later and Y/N was in her kitchen preparing some leftovers for dinner. There was an unexpected knock at the door. Y/N wasn’t waiting for anybody but as she opened the door she froze. It was Enzo. Y/N was starting to accept that she was walking among the undead and beyond. It was still a shock but the initial feeling wore off. She finally felt okay to be in his presence.

Y/N held open the door for Enzo to walk in but he quickly hesitated. “You can come in Enzo, I won’t bite” She said, unaware of the pun. Enzo was surprised at her casualness. He raised his eyebrows at her and she realised what she said. She laughed, for the first time in weeks.

She went back to her food whilst Enzo sat at the island. Y/N had a nice house for someone who just moved to the area. The place was already decorated and felt cozy. She definitely tried to bring her culture with her and it showed in the decor.

“Why’re you here Enzo?” Y/N wondered. “I wanted to check on you to see if you were okay”. Y/N could tell that he felt on edge. “I had a chat with Matt Donovan a few days ago and he told me everything about the supernatural, and about you and Bonnie”, Y/N said the last part a bit quieter.

Enzo’s head snapped up to look at Y/N. He wondered what Matt had told her about him and Bonnie. They were a thing of the past, a flame blown out. “We used to date, yes. But we’ve moved on. It was years ago. I don’t want to talk about it” Y/N smiled knowingly, she could relate about not wanting to talk about an ex.

“Of course, I understand” Y/N offered, feeling sympathy for the vampire. Enzo used his vampire speed to come up behind Y/N and slid his arm around her waist. He nuzzled into her neck and kissed her ever so softly. “I want you” Enzo closed his eyes as he moaned into her neck. His body was pressed closely to hers, the warmth radiating from her back.

Y/N pushed her plate to the side and gripped the counter for balance. Enzo was satisfied that she was submitting to him. He slowly shoved his right hand under her skirt and rubbed circles on her clit. She moaned out, eyes closed tightly shut. “I’ve dreamed about doing this to you since we met the second time at my office” he whispered seductively. Y/N quivered under his touch and her legs felt wobbly. Enzo held on tighter and squeezed her hips.

He wanted to take her right then and there but wanted to prolong the sexual tensions. He wanted to hear Y/N moan out his name so he pushed the fabric of her panties aside and inserted a couple of fingers inside her. Y/N licked her lips as Enzo kept sliding his fingers in and out. Eventually his name escaped her lips and he smiled satisfyingly. “Does that feel good baby?” He cooed. Y/N nodded, unable to use her words. The intensity increased and Y/N gripped the counter tighter, knuckles turning white. Enzo let go and gripped her hands as he pushed his body into hers again. This time both of them let out a moan, Enzo close to Y/N’s ear. She shivered from the almost touch of his mouth to her face.

Immediately, Enzo carried Y/N bridal style upstairs to the bathroom. Y/N raised her eyebrows in question. Instead of answering her he smirked and kicked the door shut as he sat her down at the edge of the bath.

“Ever had sex in the bath?” He winked. Y/N hadn’t, and the idea turned her on. They undressed each other and Enzo caressed her cheek softly, in adoration. He gazed into her eyes for a second, looking for any hesitation. Luckily Y/N stared at his lips, biting her own seductively.

“Has anyone ever told you how incredibly sexy you are?” Enzo said with his voice hoarse. Y/N could see his erection emerging so she grabbed hold of his waist and shoved herself against his body so that their naked bodies were molded together. The unexpected motion made Enzo groan deeply. His sound made Y/N feel wet down below. She wanted him inside her asap.

Y/N climbed into the bath and laid down, arching her back and touching herself, hoping for Enzo to ravishingly devour her. He went in after her and gripped her hips to lift her onto him. As she sunk down her weight they both exhaled deeply, a soft moan escaping Y/N’s lips and a deep groan escaping Enzo’s.

Enzo moved very slowly at first, then quickened his pace. He wasn’t going quick enough for Y/N’s liking and she sighed. “I need you so bad, please go faster” Y/N moaned, eagerly awaiting more friction. “I’m the one who’s in charge here, darlin’” Enzo used that term again for the second time, but on this occasion it oozed sexiness. He kept his movement slow just to punish Y/N. She jerked her hips up, grinding hard. “Please baby...” Y/N stuttered, who was beyond desperate.

Since she was so needy, Enzo pushed into her roughly and she screamed out. She gripped his arms as he kept his rhythm fast. Y/N then wrapped her legs around his hips to get him to go deeper. Enzo wrapped his hand around Y/N’s neck with light pressure as he pounded into her. “Does that feel okay?” Enzo asked breathlessly. “Uh huh” Y/N whispered. Y/N could feel herself nearing her climax. “Babe, I’m so close” Y/N whined. “Hold it for me” Enzo demanded, he wanted to cum with her.

“Can I cum yet?” Y/N pleaded, she was ready to burst. Enzo’s lips found hers to drown out her moans as he quickened his pace. He was nearing his climax and was about to come undone. He grunted as they were both ready to release. “Oh, fuck...” They moaned together.

Once they were finished, they ran the shower. Enzo lathered soap in his hands and rubbed it on Y/N’s back from behind her and moved his hands over her stomach and inner thighs. She rested her head against his collarbone as he massaged her body. Once she was all rinsed off she returned the favor. After the water washed over him, Enzo placed both hands against the wall while trapping Y/N between his arms. He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “How do you feel?” He asked genuinely, hoping she felt finally safe with him. “Like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be” She smiled.

Enzo felt reassured and walked Y/N to her bed where they laid together in a warm embrace. Y/N fell asleep quickly while Enzo just kept her close.

The following morning Enzo was still by her side and she looked up at him with a sweet smile. “Morning my love” He beamed. It was the first time he used the word love and Y/N’s heart fluttered. “Morning handsome” Y/N said into his chest.

Going to work after they became intimate went surprisingly well and with no hiccups. Nobody knew of their affair and even if they had been obvious around each other, Enzo would compel suspecting individuals to become oblivious.

***

Weeks had passed whilst Enzo and Y/N got to know each other more in their spare time. One night they sat on Y/N’s couch and drank some wine. “Damn, you’re so beautiful” Enzo said out of the blue. Y/N smiled, her eyes lighting up. “You’re quite dashing yourself” Y/N laughed. Enzo bit his lip as he stared at Y/N’s.

Instead of replying, he grabbed her face and kissed her aggressively. Taken aback, Y/N pulled away to catch her breath. Their faces found each other’s again and Y/N sat on Enzo’s lap. A low growl escaped his lips as Y/N slid up his crotch, the friction of their clothes rubbing against their privates making them both aroused.

“I’m desperate, please fuck me” Y/N moaned. This surprised Enzo but excited him at the same time. They both undressed and stared at each other whilst doing so, eager to feel the burning desire building deep inside them to become ignited. “Are you going to be good for me?” Enzo asked dominantly. “What if I want to be bad?” Y/N cooed seductively. Enzo laughed, not expecting that response. “I’ll only fuck you if you’re a good girl” He replied more confidently. “I want it to hurt” Y/N blurted out, surprised at her eagerness. It wasn’t like her to be so adventurous in bed but Enzo ignited a deep desire to be wild. Enzo was equally stunned at her sudden request. He was going to start softly and work his way to being rougher. He just didn’t want to literally hurt her.

First Enzo shoved his fingers inside her and moved around, starting his handiwork. Y/N started moaning loudly. “You’re gonna have to stay quiet if you want me to let you cum sweetheart” Y/N bit her lip instead of answering. He really wanted to shove her against the wall and fuck her senseless.

He couldn’t wait any longer so he took her in for a kiss as he guided her to the nearest wall. He pinned her arms above her head and pressed his body to hers. She could feel his dick pressing against her inner thigh and leaned forwards so she could rub against it. “I told you I was in charge babe” Enzo said as he pushed her off him an inch. Y/N groaned in response, all she wanted was for him to be inside her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on every sensation he was giving her. He touched her core and hummed. “Gosh you’re so wet right now”

Enzo demanded that she turn around. She did as he asked and he parted her cheeks as he slid his cock inside her. She yelped out from the force of it but relaxed into him as he slid in and out or her wet center steadily. He pulled out so he could bring her to the kitchen counter. The cold marble sent shivers down Y/N’s spine as her back touched it. He resumed his previous position and continued pounding himself into Y/N’s core. He whispered in her ear “You’re all mine, moan for me baby”. Y/N happily let out her pent up frustrations, crying out in ecstasy.

“I’m about to cum baby, please let me” Y/N was in total euphoria. Enzo wanted to keep up his dominant persona but was just really into letting Y/N get what she wanted because he was so in love with her. “Let go for me” Y/N moaned several times as she came around him and clenched. Enzo groaned as he was reaching his own orgasm, the squeezing of her muscles sending him over the edge. They both panted from the intense fucking and fell limp in each other’s arms. Y/N started standing up but Enzo wasn’t having it.

“I’m not done with you yet” He said as he brought her close to him again. She didn’t know what he had in mind but awaited his next move. “Get down, now” Enzo ordered. Y/N’s doe eyes widened for a spit second as she obeyed. He used both hands to force her head to his member. “That feels so damn good Y/N” Enzo grunted as she took his whole length in her mouth. She gagged so he pulled out slightly. She then used her hands to pump him as he fucked her mouth. His own mouth hung open as he tilted his head back against the wall. He shook under her touch as she increased the speed. “I’m about to cum Y/N” Enzo gasped. Y/N edged him further as she wanted to hear his raspy voice curse out in pleasure. He grunted out repeatedly as he came in her mouth. His hot seed was falling down her throat as she swallowed. “You were so good babe, I’m still buzzing from that whole experience” He grinned.

Y/N took Enzo in for a passionate kiss and her tongue found his hungrily. When she pulled away, he grabbed her hand and placed his soft lips to them. “I love you”

She looked away for a moment which panicked Enzo. However when she turned back her eyes were watering. “Babe, are you okay?” Enzo asked worriedly. “Yes, it’s just that I love you too” She sniffed. Enzo’s heart felt full and he gave her an affectionate hug.

Y/N finally felt at home in Mystic Falls, but most importantly she found home with Enzo, her one true love. She smiled to herself as they fell asleep together, her dreams finally peaceful.

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red-riot-rat · 4 years

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Wing Love

Request: I think requests are still open? If so can I request Kaminari with an s/o that has a vampire quirk? Like she consumes blood to use her quirk and also has wings?

HEY HEY! request are indeed still open babes! i love this request anon

Kaminari Denki x Vampire quirk! reader

Genre: fluff

warnings: none

AN: your boy hasnt proof read this, he is very sorry..

Ah yes, the perfect day. It wasn't windy at all, the sun was out, no clouds in sight. The birds sang, and flowers grew. God, is was so perfect.

Well, maybe the perfect day for someone who, quite frankly, wasn't a vampire.

You ran down the street, a cloak covering your wings from the sunlight. No one payed any mind to you, they were quite uncomfy to say the least. It was an odder sight to see you run down the street instead of flying, but on day like this where the sun felt like it was burning holes into your skin, you can't expect anything else.

Your heavy boots clacked with every step, as you ran uphill. The last person you expect to start running along side you, is your boyfriend.

Kaminari Denki.

“Hey my immortal baby!” He panted. It sounded like he’d been running for a while to try and catch up.

Note, you're not actually immortal, maybe your boyfriend actually thinks you are or maybe it's just a little thing he's got. Why? You have no clue.

“Hey.” you greeted back, just as tired as he is. You both slowed as the hill rounded out, and he fell onto the ground.

“Aw, is my Chargebolt in need of a quick recharge?” you laughed at him as you leaned over him, hands resting on your knees. He fought to keep his breath steady as he smiled at you.

“Yes please.” he teased.

You held your hand out, and he took it with no hesitation. You pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.

You both stayed there, kissing each other in front of the school, forgetting that you were both late to class.

“HEY LOVEBIRDS!” somebody yelled. Kaminari jumped, and you looked up towards the voice.

Smiling at the voices owner, you waved.

“Hey Jirou!” you answered, ignoring the fact she called you ‘lovebirds’.

“Get up here weirdos!” she shouted.

You took the blondes hand again, and ran into the school. Your cloak flowing behind you, you looked beautiful.

Kaminari knew that, he knew you were beautiful. But for him to see it in person, amazes him every time. He's seen you almost everyday for 8 months, either through a facetime call, or in person.

But you're goddamn beautiful.

“You're so pretty!” he called out to you, as you ran down the hall. You giggled at his words, and he blushed. He loves hearing your laugh, especially if he caused it.

“Shut up, you gotta run faster!” you replied with another laugh.

You both ran a bit more, and skidded in front of the 1A class door. Kaminari leaned on the door, and smirked at you as smoothly as he could.

“Hey babes. I want to suck your blood..” he began. Your cringed slightly, ready for the punchline.

“And your t-” he fell to the floor with a loud thud, as the door slid open fast.

“Don't finish that Kaminari. Ew.” Mina said in absolute pure disgust. She switched her eyes to you and smiled.

“Deku wanted to ask you questions, and freak you out with his mumbling!” She said, with a giggle.

You laughed, and reached out a hand to the blonde sitting on the floor.

“Deja vu, huh?” he stated with his signature smile.

“I swear, Denki. I love you.”

“Heh, I love you too bat babes.” With that, he took your hand again, and walked with you into class.

You sat on Bakugou's desk, since he wasn't there. If he was, he would make a point to ‘blow your ass up’, his words. Deku asked question after question about your quirk stopping every once and a while to scribble something down, or mumble to himself.

“What blood do you drink?”

“Simple. Only the blood of animals, but only predators. Mainly wolves, but the blood is extracted in a safe way.” You can promise everyone that.

“Is it weird when you drink blood?” Mina chimed in.

You laughed, and confessed that when you were young your parents had to explain to you that not everyone drinks blood for their quirk to grow and enhance itself. You had actually freaked a kid out, when he tried your juicebox, and you casually stated it was just blood.

Deku spewed more questions, and as you answered them, the boys started to gather around. They had gotten bored, but frankly always get a kick out of Deku’s constant flow of questions.

“Can we see your teeth again?” the green haired boy stared daggers at your mouth, waiting for it to open. You smiled to show off your white fangs, and Kirishima smiled behind him.

He called you his ‘fang buddy’, as Midoriya switched his gaze from your teeth to his notebook. He drew your fangs in a nice little sketch, and didn't even give you time to compliment it before rushing back into the jig.

“What do your wings feel like?” Midoriya asked. He stared at you, and you stared at him blank faced. You opened your mouth but were soon cut off.

“Feels like leather, but softer. They feel really nice, and they’re sensitive to light too, so they wear a cloak in the sun. The edges of the wings feel very thin, and are darker than the rest of it.”

Kaminari stated. Your head spun on a swivel, and you stared at him. He was just sitting on the floor, scrolling through his phone.

Did he not realize he was spewing knowledge, some even you didn't know about?

He continued on as more and more of the girls huddled around to hear Kaminaris odd tangent on your wings.

“The top of their wings, they reflect a red kinda in the moonlight. They get really cold at night when they're out, but it's better than them being overheated in the sun.”

This was so out of the ordinary for him, for you. Whispers circled around you, as Mina stared her phone camera on you from a distance. She planned to send this to Bakugou.

“The base of their wings are dark and match the tips of them. They start just below their shoulders, and I think they said, it's about 25 feet from one wing to the other. ”

You grew red in the face as all heads turned to you.

“You know so much about them, it's so- so manly!” Kirishima cried, as Deku frantically scribbled everything down. You stared at the blonde on the floor, as his head slowly rose, and he came to realization what had just happened.

He didn't mean to let all that info slip, not that it was a bad thing. But he had spent so many hours with you, training, helping your sore wings, he just could tell someone the details of your wings from his brain like he was reciting poetry.

“Okay wait hold up… Mina don't send that to ANYONE yet.” He said as he turned to you, redder than you if that was possible.

“You know all that off the top of your head?” you questioned, taken back. He smiled sheepishly, and apologized.

“I didn't mean to let that slip, I'm sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing it!”

You stared at him in awe, and slowly began to smile from ear to ear.

“You're apologizing? And for what? That was adorable! I didn't know you knew that much about me, my wings especially!”

He rubbed the back of his neck and once again tried to be smooth, “What can I say my vampire babe? I would love to see those wings of yours-”

“Once again Kaminari, NO.” Mina stared at him.

“And that's on what?” she shouted.

“Periodt!” a few others from the back of the class shouted.

You laughed at him, and took his hand as you pulled him closer.

“I love you, and your few braincells that like to focus on my wings charger boy.” you smiled at him, as he grinned red like a tomato.

“My three braincells work only for you babes!”

AN: kid has no idea if this is good or not... spare me

#kaminari #kaminari denki #kaminari x reader #kaminari denki x reader #denki #denki x reader #denki kaminari #denki kaminari x reader #mha #mha x reader #bnha #bnha x reader #my hero academia #chargebolt #chargebolt x reader

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savannah-lim · 4 years

Text

Sink Your Teeth In || Savannah & Carrington

Timing: Current Location: Teeth Parties: @savannah-lim and @carringtonblackwood Content: Just vampire shit Summary: Savannah goes exploring in dangerous places again.

Savannah’s ex-wife had been a huge Dracula fan. She’d even taken her to Whitby on their honeymoon so they could sit on the very bench Bram Stoker had once occupied. This town reminded her of Whitby, in some ways. It was a seaside town, although in New England rather than England itself, and it had a fascinating obsession with the Macabre. Recently, Savannah had started to figure out that there was a pretty good reason for that.

She wandered through the area she'd come to learn was (affectionately?) nicknamed Freak Alley, looking for somewhere to have a drink. She was sure someone online had told her to stay out of these kinds of places, but curiosity was her best friend and biggest enemy, so she walked right in, heading into what she assumed was a goth or punk themed bar called 'Teeth'.

People looked at her a little strangely as she walked in. Maybe she wasn’t dressed appropriately. “Sorry, I forgot my black leather jacket and velvet top hat,” she said to one particularly gawpy patron as she took a seat at the bar, then she turned to the bartender. “Hi, I’ll have a Gin and Tonic.”

Carrington was having… A Night. Whether it was getting better or worse was still up for debate. Five of his six current clients had called that afternoon to cancel their appraisal walk-throughs, Walter - the fucking ungrateful, orchid-ruining excuse for an oversized Venus fly-trap - had nearly taken his hand off when Carrington had fed the vampire watermelon his biweekly meal. And to top it all off, someone had scratched his Aston. Which would cost an arm and both legs to have fixed. So Carrington was in dire need of a distraction.

Which ‘Teeth’ was more than happy to provide. Carrington was currently enjoying a very good buzz - thanks to a bottle or two of top-shelf fae blood - when something… unusual yet strangely familiar caught his attention. As well as the attention of every other vampire in the room. There was a human sitting at the bar. A human that wasn’t an employee, and therefore not under the owner’s protection. So it didn’t take long for the vultures to start circling.

The woman’s scent finally registered with his intoxicated brain about the time he finished his drink. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…” Tomorrow's headline was already flashing through his mind: FBI Agent Orders Gin and Tonic in Local Bar, Gets Exsanguination Instead. Of all the fucking nights…

“Hello again,” he said, slipping up beside her and ordering another bottle of blood. “How’ve you been? And why, might I ask, are you all alone in a place like this?”

Savannah had felt several dozen eyes on her. Eyes she had chosen to ignore. The bartender looked at her like she was crazy, but shuffled off to fulfil her order. She looked at the menu on the wall behind him. None of these seemed like normal drinks. Maybe they all just had fancy names. A shiver passed down her spine as someone brushed past her in the crowd, a sixth sense she couldn’t quite explain. But when someone took the seat next to her, Savannah was relieved to see it was someone who wasn’t a stranger.

She paid and tipped the bartender as he returned with her drink. “Carrington, hello.” Nobody was looking at him strangely in spite of him wearing regular clothes as well. Perhaps she was missing something. “I’m well, thanks.” She took a sip of her drink. “A place like this? Just because I’m not covered head to toe in tattoos with painted black fingernails, doesn’t mean I can’t find these sorts of places charming,” she teased, giving him a small grin. “But you can fix the ‘alone’ part if you want.” She cocked her head at him. “Did you just order blood? Was I supposed to use a code word or something, you know, to blend in?”

“That’s good to hear.” He eyed her curiously. The first time they’d met, Carrington had been absolutely certain she knew shit-all about… well… anything to do with the supernatural. It was why he’d compelled her to forget what she’d seen that night. Though things could and did change quite quickly in this town. Perhaps Savannah was one of them. Either way, Carrington’s curiosity was piqued.

He returned her grin with one of his own, one side of his mouth slowly lifting as he realized she was serious. And if one were observant enough, they might notice that Carrington sported a set of rather sharp canines behind his lopsided smile. He likely couldn’t have put them away if he’d tried, considering his current state. But oh well. In for a penny and all that.

“Oh, I think you’ll find the charm goes much, much deeper than just the aesthetic…” Her casual invitation earned her another slow grin. “I think I can handle that.” The asked after drink came a moment later, and Carrington’s fingers paused against the bottle. He glanced at her, trying to decide how to answer in a way that wouldn’t send her running for the hills. Finally, he settled for the truth. She was here wasn’t she? “Yes.” The word was said with a slow, almost lazy candor as he lifted the bottle to his lips. “And no. But... if you wish to blend in…” There were still several sets of eyes on them as his arm slipped idly across the back of her chair. “I could show you how.

Savannah hadn’t even finished her first drink yet, but it was clear Carrington had already had a few. She decided to drink quickly in order to catch up. She had a feeling this was going to be an interesting night. “Fae Blood,” she read from the label. “Well, that’s not very nice.” Savannah waved the bartender down, much to his irritation, and ordered a second gin and tonic and a whiskey on the rocks. “Seems I have some catching up to do.” She finished her first drink almost in one long gulp, eyeing Carrington with curiosity.

“You’re being strange,” she said, but her tone was one of interest and intrigue. She swore she could see the strange shape of his teeth beneath the dim lights. “Blending in, how?” she asked, curious to know what he’d be showing her. “I’d like to find out.”

Carrington was well into his cups. Which explained why he didn’t bat an eye as she read the label on his bottle, other than to give her another playful smirk. “Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. Besides…” He leaned towards her and pointed to a tiny bit of writing on the label. “‘No Fae were harmed in the making of this willingly-donated, generously compensated, and promise-free product.’” As if that should explain everything. And maybe it did.

“By all means.” He watched her down her drink, raising an impressed eyebrow. The sweet smell of whiskey drifted towards him, and Carrington ordered one for himself, with a shot of A-negative. “Am I?” he asked. Her continued acquiescence was slightly surprising, but Carrington didn’t mind. Not one bit. “By doing what every other human that comes into a vampire bar comes there to do…” He gave her another curious, crooked smile, eyes slightly hooded as the implications of what he was suggesting - along with his sharply pointed teeth - made themselves unmistakably clear. “And I’d be more than happy to oblige.” His fingers drifted up her arm to ghost over the line of her neck. “Do you trust me?”

Savannah had to be dreaming. This whole thing was almost as beyond belief as everything else she’d seen in White Crest so far. The idea of a vampire bar wasn’t strange. What was strange was that he should be so brazen about it, that he should be so open, even clearly a few drinks deep. “Why would I possibly want to try that?” she asked. She wasn’t a vampire, so she could only imagine it would taste awful. “I have my own.” She downed her whiskey and lifted the second gin and tonic. This would catch up with her soon. Maybe once it did, this would feel less bizarre.

“How forward,” she snickered, almost a little embarrassed that this situation was - dare she say it - kind of hot. A therapist would have had a field day with that. “I’m not sure I’m drunk enough yet,” she said, her breath hitching in her throat a little turning her words into something of a sigh. “But you can show me around while I get there.” She leaned into him, whispering. “And no. I don’t trust anyone. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do something foolish.”

Carrington had no reason to hide what he was. Not here. Though his track record of making good choices when partaking of fae blood - he usually avoided it for a reason - wasn’t very good. Outside these walls, however, his identity was no one’s business but his own. And a very few trusted individuals. He opened his mouth to tell Savannah that the comment had been… well, somewhat rhetorical, but his attention quickly slipped to watching the line of her throat as she downed her drinks.

“You asked,” he grinned, letting his fingers play over the slope of her shoulder. The way her breath hitched made Carrington’s fangs ache ever so slightly, but he was more than happy to grant the request to show her around. Before he could start what would hopefully be a very short tour on the way to something far more entertaining, she was suddenly very close. Again, she managed to surprise him with her answer, and again, Carrington didn’t question it. Instead, he laughed, the sound a low, genuinely pleased hum as he turned his head to whisper, “Good girl…” into her ear. He didn’t elaborate on which of her comments he was alluding to (it was both, actually), but pulled her and onto the first leg of the grand tour.

A good bit later, Carrington’s head lolled towards Savannah. “Are we there yet?” he asked, grinning drunkenly, fangs on full display at this point. “Or well… are you there yet? I was there… oh-” He held up two fingers for her to see. “- three drinks ago.”

Savannah swallowed. This was bizarre in a way that somehow made sense. It would have been beyond belief if not for the fact that it was so sensible and obvious. Savannah had no scepticism left in her. Carrington wasn’t trying to hide anything. He wasn’t a stranger trying to lure her backstage. She quivered, almost embarrassed as he whispered the words in her ear.

She decided to see where this went, no commitment one way or the other. She explored with him, danced with him, had a few more drinks with him, and gave a low laugh when he finally asked the question. “I think I’m getting there.” She swung on his arm a little as they danced, twisting herself into his arms. “Tell me something,” she said, figuring now was her best chance to get some honesty out of him. “What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t found me at the bar?” she asked. In spite of being pleasantly drunk now, her curiosity hadn’t shut off. Savannah turned back to him, hands on his shoulders.

“Can you be gentle? Can your friends?” she used the word loosely. There were several humans in the bar. Savannah could see that now. She’d passed the human blood bags and the fang bangers that were either paid to be here or came for their own thrill and enjoyment. They seemed to be having fun, but Savannah didn’t doubt there was a seedier underbelly to all this. Accidents happened.

Her shiver didn’t escape his notice, but Carrington simply tucked that particular tidbit away for later. After that the evening was a blur. A pleasant one, if a bit strange. But only strange because he couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have to hide a part of himself from a human acquaintance. Whether out of fear of losing a friend, or fear for his own safety. Neither of those things had even crossed his mind this evening. Savannah was… taking it all in stride. Without any evidence of a nervous breakdown in the near future.

So, as was the theme of the evening, Carrington didn’t question it. He simply endeavoured to take things as they came for once. Her laughter vibrated against his chest as she spun around, and he let his other hand slide around her waist, holding her against him as they danced. “Excellent…” he smiled against her ear before letting his lips drop lightly to her shoulder. He stayed there as they danced, enjoying her warmth and her scent along with his own pleasantly drunken state. “Anything…” he murmured to her query. Though when it came, the question wasn’t quite what he expected. Nonetheless, the evening had thus far thrived on honesty, and Carrington was loath to change that.

“Perhaps nothing,” he told her quietly. “Or perhaps someone would’ve fed on you. Without your consent. Or worse.”

Her next question didn’t have a black and white answer. She’d seen the varying degrees of human/vampire interaction around the bar. Though some things weren’t meant for public display. How could she not be curious? “In general? Yes,” he said, and meant it. “We’re all capable of being gentle. We’re not much different than humans in that sense. Some good, some bad. Most somewhere in between. ”

Carrington dipped his head towards her shoulder again. “As for myself… I’m always gentle…” His lips - along with a barely there, feather-light hint of fangs - brushed her skin as he smiled lazily. “Unless you ask me not to be...”

Savannah's next shudder wasn't so pleasant. Fed on. Or worse. Those certainly weren't the most desirable of outcomes. "Well, thanks for coming to my rescue," Savannah teased, her words dripping with irony. She remained close to Carrington, paying specific attention to his lack of heartbeat. His body was a little warm, perhaps from the bottles of blood he'd been drinking like light beers. If she hadn't already known already, she wouldn't have guessed he was a vampire. She'd have to get smarter about that.

She exhaled, continuing to casually dance with him as he explained his species to her, at least in the vaguest of ways. She'd try and find out more later, she was sure, once she wasn't so very distracted by the feeling of his skin on hers and how good he smelled. "Good to know," she murmured against his jawline as he promised to be gentle. She swallowed the lump in her throat as his teeth scraped against the shell of her ear.

Fuck. She was an idiot.

"Then I guess we'd better go back to your place."

#paras #with: carrington

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tastyliltina · 4 years

Text

SnackInc 1/?

A/n: This has been sitting in my drafts for a while and I've been meaning to post it...kind of a worldbuilding thing I made back when Fern was still a newer character of mine. Not really sure if I'll continue it or not, but the basic premise is that Fern works at a corporation that commissions humans out to be used as snacks for more feral giants/predatory creatures. This keeps random attacks on humans down and helps settle cravings the giants might have. Fern's a pretty well known snack but fell on hard times and had to resort to more shady deals outside of the corporation. So...yeah, have a worldbuilding thing ;;w;; If you enjoyed and want a story for yourself, feel free to inquire about commissions!: tinascommissions.carrd.co/ All stories are on sale 50% off until Dec. 10th! Now, onto the story! ~~ Fern stumbled through the street, clutching his wad of cash. Thick, warm liquid slimed his clothes as he moved away from his client. The giant looming behind him chuckled, and Fern turned to face the beast.

“Look, man…” Fern sighed, trying to brush back his hair. “Keep this quiet, alright? Don’t want it getting around I’m offering this...service to random giants on the street.” He thumbed through the payment, ensuring the bills were all there. Once he was sure, he glanced back up to the grinning giant.

Pearly peaks of white shimmered in the moonlight. Something about fangs in the dark was much more terrifying. Still, Fern held his ground.

“Heh. Whatever you say, morsel~.” A tongue traced over smiling lips, and Fern rolled his eyes.

“If that’s your best compliment, I’d hate to see an insult,” he muttered. The giant scoffed, but straightened. Deals like this weren’t appreciated among watchful eyes. Departures needed to be discreet.

Fern sighed. He watched his client stalk away, and tried to grasp what little pride he had left. The fact the ground shook with every step the giant took did little to help. Being treated like food for a quick cash grab...how humiliating. Still...money was nice. And with more wealthy clientele, maybe working in the food industry wasn’t so bad. Turning, Fern descended into the dim alley. He shivered as the drool clinging to him reacted with the wind…. Getting home would be hell.

Slowly, he traversed the desolate streets. Runoff from a recent storm splashed beneath his feet, though hardly drew Fern from his thoughts. With the money he’d gotten from tonight, he’d almost be able to pay off rent. If he did that, maybe he could find some more high-end clients. Spending night after night in another mouth, in another reckless giant was getting old. Most of the bastards didn’t use mints... Others liked to bite. At least through SnackInc, he got the clinets that cared about their treats a little more...he missed the days of pampering.

But damn, having extra cash felt so, so good. Fancier outfits and attending clubs where the high-end clients frequencted wasn't cheap. The reassurance dinners would be easy was well worth a few showers, he supposed. As long as rates didn’t spike, maybe there’d be enough for something hardy. A soup, or...maybe just burgers. Either sounded fine, as long as it wasn't a steaming bowl of ramen.

Soon enough, Fern found his apartment. The building was silent as Fern ascended the stairs. He supposed that made sense at this time of night. Just as he slid his hand into his pocket, Fern heard a rustling behind him. He stiffened. Giants and humans alike knew not to visit the others' living quarters, especially this late at night. It wasn’t worth the jail time or the fees. Some, though…

“Easy, pal.”

The voice was calm. Casual. Fern blinked. He turned, and was met with a pair of golden eyes. The rings of yellow peered down at him, squinting in the dark. Fern didn’t miss the reptilian features on the creature before him, and felt part of his blood run cold. Reptiles were the worst for rando attacks.

“What.” Fern snipped. His tone wasn’t aggressive enough. Fern didn’t care. He didn’t want to be yelling at a giant he didn’t know, especially one that knew where he lived.

“Said easy, man,” the giant continued. He was small, green-skinned and husky. Scales patched across his face, and a black sweater draped the giant’s torso. Unlike Fern, he appeared calm and collected. “Not gonna try anything. Just wanted to know where the nearest gas station was.”

Fern raised a brow. Oh. Though he didn't know if he trusted that answer or not, Fern could take it. He lifted a hand, pointing south. “‘Bout five miles that way. You can’t miss it.” The giant followed his gesture, squinting again. Then, he nodded.

“Cool, thanks.” Instead of leaving, or moving at all, the giant remained seated. Fern furrowed his brow.

“Well...okay. I’m-I’ll be going,” he mumbled. The giant nodded, not seeming intent on leaving. Fern felt something twist his stomach as he stepped into his place. That had been...unnerving, almost as much as approaching random giants to get them to eat him.

Slowly, Fern stepped into his living room. He flicked on the light, and was greeted with the familiar sight of...mediocrity. Beige walls, a beige couch, dirty carpet. Even the flickering light emulated half-assed effort. But, this was home. For now. Fern stretched, sighed, and made sure to lock his door behind him.

He sauntered down the hall, the thought of a shower making everything a little less horrid. Clean clothes, a clean bed… Even with the uncleanable stains of previous occupants on the mattress, sleep sounded so wonderful right now. Fern stepped into his bathroom. He stripped, tossed his clothes aside, and turned on the shower. God, hot water felt good.

Several minutes and layers of body scrub later, Fern scooped his soiled laundry up. His nose wrinkled at the stench of unmasked slobber. He tossed the clothes in the washer, ran a hand through his hair, and returned down the hall. The bed creaked as he collapsed into it, the scent of occupants past filling the air. Fern didn’t care. By the time the smells registered, he was already asleep.

Fern woke up to the sound of his alarm. He groaned. Another day, another customer to please. Sitting up, he snatched the offending device from his nightstand. Who was on the calendar today…

Wait. Fern’s eyes scanned over his clientele list. There was a new face among the regulars... Green skin, yellow eyes, red Mohawk...damn. It was the giant from the other night. Fern grimaced, setting his phone down and rubbing at his face with a sigh, taking a moment to collect himself.

Normally, the ones that approached Fern outside of business were scouting for fresh meat after some kind of falling out. They were the ones that made this job hard. Fern stood, looking over his calendar. For today, at least, there weren’t any taken slots. He had that much. Maybe he could do some cleaning? Cleaning sounded great.

He stood. No point planning the day without getting it started, he supposed. Fern stretched, sighed, and ambled down the hallway. He scouted the kitchen for food, and settled on some bacon and eggs. There was always a sense of pride that came with making his own food. Fern stepped up to his stove, twisting the stove knobs.

Soon enough, a steaming pile of eggs and bacon littered a paper plate. Fern grabbed some silverware, once again checking his schedule for today. Nothing new. He rubbed his chin, opening the file of his newest client. As expected, there wasn’t much available. Most clients went by a first name basis, and the majority didn’t include any other information but a phone number and place to reach them. Fern wasn’t sure how the new guy found out about what he offered, but decided to shrug it off.

Breakfast was quick. Fern took his time cleaning his plates, wishing he didn’t have to go out to the store today. But, one couldn’t get by without dish soap and food. Fern was too much of a neat freak to live a day without one, and food wasn’t a necessity when some clients bought him dinner before having him for dessert. He trudged down to his bedroom, throwing on a simple sweatshirt and jeans.

Fern slid out of his apartment, slipping his hands into his pockets. The jingle of keys signified him locking his door before he peeled away from the familiarity of home. Human-sized creatures traversed the narrow sidewalks, hustling and bustling to and fro. Fern didn’t miss the stares of those passing him. Word got around. Some people looked to him with admiration, being able to take on such an important, and yet demeaning task. Others scowled at him, and some took things to a physical level. Fern ignored those that bumped into him without saying anything, reserving his battles for those that had the guts to say something and make a scene.

Walking to the market never took too long, one of the perks of living in a small town. The building smelled like cinnamon, a warming reminder of the chilly air outside. Fern slid in with a small crowd. He headed for the cleaning section first, rubbing his hands together as he searched the shelves for his usual dish soap.

“Hey.”

The voice snapped Fern to attention. He blinked, turned, and smiled at the familiar face behind him. Kenny stood with her hands in her pockets, oversized sweatshirt complimenting her ripped up jeans. Fern relaxed. It was nice seeing a familiar face, even if it was of a cranky and potentially crazy bitch.

“Hey, Ken.” Fern nodded. He took pride in the ability to shorten her nickname without getting shanked. Kenny stepped up next to him, sliding her hands to her hips. Unlike Fern, Kenny had a more vanilla career. She was a well-renowned tattoo artist. Fern’d debated going to her for a few years, but didn’t know if their history justified her making a few creative decisions while he was under her needle.

“What brings you to market? Finally decide to crawl out of your slimy cave?” Kenny’s voice lowered. While she wasn’t a friend per se, Kenny was one of the few people Fern opened up to about his career choice. She’d never given him a hard time about it. If anything, she almost seemed in awe...or disgust, it was really hard to tell as far as Kenny was concerned.

“Ran out of soap,” Fern shrugged. “Can’t go without it,” he paused to pluck a bottle from the shelf. “Got a new client today. Some giant approached me after a rough one last night… Had to scrub myself for hours, the guy had way too many drinks before he gave me a call. Starting to think he ate me on a dare, y’know?” “Shit man,” Kenny shook her head, somehow without disturbing her loose bun. “I still don’t get how you deal with those assholes day in and out. Doesn’t it get...I dunno, gross after a while?”

“It does get gross, but really...someone’s gotta do it. If not me with all the magical guards in place, then it’d be someone else, or no one at all. And we know how big folk can get if they don’t get their...fix.” Fern tried to hide the bitterness in his tone, but he could still feel it in his voice. Anyone who didn’t live under a rock knew how bad things got before the Snack business stepped in. Disappearances, random attacks on towns… Even if it wasn’t a well-liked profession, it was an important one in order to keep the peace among different species. “But, there’s perks,” a crooked smile plastered Fern’s face. “Don’t gotta worry about a giant trying to mess me up, y’know? I’m...valuable.”

Kenny scoffed, “Valuable my ass,” she shook her head and sighed. “But yeah, you gotta point. Still...”

“Don’t you go worrying about me,” Fern laughed. “You’ve got a badass persona to keep, y’know?” He yelped as Kenny’s hand whacked the back of his head, but snickered at the fuming woman. She crossed her arms and sneered at him.

“Oh, shove it up yours.”

“Sorry, only know how to go down, I’m not into that-” “Fern I swear to God if I didn’t like you I’d shove my foot so far-...you know what, fuck it.” Kenny grabbed the back of Fern’s sweater, and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back. A dull ache spread along his back and head, and he groaned.

“Nice...seeing you, Ken…” Fern mumbled as he pushed himself up. As usual, Kenny’d vanished into the crowd. Fern expected as much. Kenny never liked being forced to admit she had other emotions besides anger and rage...Fern liked to tease it out of her when he could, even if the result was almost always the same. Rubbing his head, Fern grabbed the soap from the shelf and headed towards checkout with a chuckle.

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stellarstacey · 5 years

Note

How about Eddie is Werewolf (because of his body tho) and Buck Is Vampire (because His tall and always fricking hot, young and nice) Fell in love because, of course Christopher. They both afraid hurting each other, but one of them Confessed, or maybe Buck find out from Chris changing ryes to grey or fangs, love your work sis😋

Buck was new to the whole vampire thing. He was newly turned and didn’t really have the maturity or the wisdom that his sire Athena had. Athena had warned him enough times about sticking with one’s own kind. That the other supernatural creatures in hiding were not to be trusted. One werewolf bite was all it took for a vampire to die. Buck played with his daylight ring and sighed. What was the point of being a supernatural creature if you couldn’t talk about it? Athena was the only vampire he knew and it wasn’t like he could join a facebook group. Buck had heard rumors though…From the one vampire that Athena had been talking to on the phone, Buck had eavesdropped on the conversation with his super human hearing. There was a pack of werewolves living in LA. Buck was stocked. It was freaking werewolves how cool was that! Buck had ended up figuring out where they were located by snooping in Athena’s office. She would rip the fangs straight out of his mouth if she ever found out. Buck had spent a few hours watching the pack. They were small in numbers. They lived in an apartment complex and went on with their normal day to day lives…how boring. Buck could smell they weren’t human though. One day he was watching from the Starbucks across the street, when the smallest of the group, a boy with curly hair chased after his ball into the street.

“Christopher!”

Buck used his vampire speed to grab and move the child before the bus could run him over. Buck placed the child in front of the man who had screamed for him and bolted away. Buck came to a stop in an alleyway. Buck closed his eyes and before he could move, an arm slammed into his throat pinning him to the brick wall.

“Who are you?” The voice was a deep growl that made him shiver.

Buck opened his eyes and stared into the most molten brown eyes he had ever seen.

“Buck.” He choked out and the man tilted his head and inhaled.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Why is a vampire sniffing around my pack?” He growled pushing his arm deeper into Buck’s throat.

“You know I don’t need to breathe right? I’m dead.” Buck wheezed and the man glared.

“Why are you watching us?” Buck frowned. “Morbid curiosity.” Buck coughed and the man’s glare turned darker.

“You know I could kill you with one single bite, leech.” The man stated darkly and Buck blinked.

“Chill, dude.” Buck hissed and the man frowned in confusion.

“You’re a newborn?” The man whispered in surprise and Buck rolled his eyes.

“I hate that term. I’m a grown ass man.” Buck mumbled as the grip on his neck loosened.

“Why are you here?” The man asked again and Buck sighed.

“I was curious…I only know one other supernatural being…my sire. I wanted to see what werewolves were like…you guys are kinda boring.” Buck huffed and the man blinked and bit his lip.

“Boring?” The man asked slightly offended.

“Very.” Buck muttered and the man snorted.

“What did you expect?” The man raised and amused eyebrow.

“Angry shirtless men. I watched Twilight and I feel robbed that none of you have taken off your shirts yet.” Buck grumbled and the man bit his lip again.

“You saved my son.” The man whispered and Buck shrugged.

“I was a firefighter before I was turned…Saving lives is what I do. Did…” Buck said rubbing the back of his neck.

Athena is the one who saved him from the burning building…

“Not anymore?” The man asked and Buck shook his head.

“I’m dead…apparently that means I gotta lay low for a while.” Buck huffed and the man snorted.

“Eddie. Eddie Diaz. Alpha to the Raven Hill’s pack.” Eddie held out his hand and Buck shook it.

“Alpha? So you’re like at the top of the chain of command? That’s cool.” Buck mused and Eddie smirked.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s very dangerous. One bite and you’re dead.” Eddie told him and Buck shrugged.

“I like to live dangerously. I used to like being choked in bed.” Buck winked and Eddie bit his lip again.

“Why did you tell me that?” Eddie asked with a small frown and Buck laughed.

“Because you’re hot and I kinda want you to think about me in that very sexy but compromising situation.” Buck grinned and Eddie’s frown deepened.

“Give it a few decades and you will understand why Vampire and Werewolves don’t mix.” Eddie told him and Buck rolled his eyes.

“I was never one to follow the rules. You wanna go out sometime?” Buck asked casually leaning against the wall of the alley.

Eddie ran a hand through his hair. “You really shouldn’t be here.” Eddie whispered but took a step closer.

“You said that already. I’m not scared of you. I’m a pretty good judge of character.” Buck smirked and Eddie’s eyes flashed red.

“You sure about that, chulo?” Eddie’s voice was a deep growl as he pinned Buck to the wall.

Buck eyes turned black as small red veins appeared under them.

“Bite me, lobo.” Buck licked a fang and Eddie blinked.

“You’re going to be trouble…” Eddie whispered before snapping his neck.

–

When Buck woke up, he was a few miles away in a park. He frowned with annoyance. He went to grab his phone and felt some paper in his pocket. He pulled it out.

Stay Away…Next time, I won’t be able to resist.

Buck smirked…He would change Eddie’s mind…He had eternity to do it after all.

#buddie

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joaquinwhorres · 6 years

Text

Bottle Rockets (Sweet Pea x Reader)

Summary: You don't need feelings. You don't need friends. You need to stop obsessing over the fact that Sweet Pea is spending his summer with Josie instead of lighting bottle rockets with you.

Based on Request: hello!! could you maybe write something where the reader was a northsider friends with sweet pea and he kind of ignored her while he was with Josie for the summer and now the reader is ignoring him and he's feeling miserable because he misses his friend (and maybe has actual feelings for her)? thank you 💚

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 14,976

Author’s Note: This goes so far beyond the original request, but I started writing it, and the story just took life. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. [Insert normal begging/plea for feedback in asks and reblog form]. Also, I tried to capture some of the Sweet Pea we saw flirting with Josie. Hopefully, there was some success.

Warnings: Language (there's always language). Underage drinking. Minor jokes about killing yourself (because of boredom). References to sex.

When it came down to it, it was all the Black Hood’s fault.

If it weren’t for him, the town wouldn’t have been so on edge and quick to shut down Southside High, ignoring years of hostility and prejudice and throwing over half of the student body into the already crowded halls of Riverdale High.

And while that itself was less than ideal, the situation would have at least been manageable if The Black Hood hadn’t murdered Midge. Because that changed everything.

That led to Fangs Fogarty getting arrested. Which prompted Ms. Klump to shoot Fangs. Which incited the riots and all of that wreckage. Which landed you in the seat next to Sweet Pea for the remainder of Physics.

The first day of the new seating arrangement came with little warning or fanfare—unless of course, you counted the fact that the trophy case was still cordoned off with caution tape and pretty much the entire student body all slipped on Southside Serpent jackets yesterday under threat of death from Veronica Lodge and Cheryl Blossom.

But still.

Walking into physics with your teacher mumbling “Your new seat is on the board—as if he knew he was about to cause the Riots - Part 2–was the first indication that shit was about to go down. Looking at the list of names, with you being placed towards the back right corner and seated next to a kid whose name you did not recognize should have been your second clue. Because you knew everyone who was supposed to be in this class. And maybe if you'd used a little bit of deductive reasoning, you would have known who you were sitting next to before the hulking mountain of flannel and leather dropped into the seat next to you.

"This is bullshit," he grumbled, slamming his books on the table and pushing them up out of his way.

It was Sweet Pea. Of all the people in this class, you were sat next to the angriest one of all. The one who hated Northsiders with every fiber of his being. So much so that he threw a trashcan through the trophy case.

And whose best friend was shot by his classmate's mom, a little voice inside your head reminded you.

You ignored her, as you normally did when she brought up irrelevant or otherwise inconvenient facts.

"What?" he growled turning to meet your gaze.

You blinked twice, unaware that you had been staring at him and shook your head giving what you hoped was a casual shrug. "I just didn't know that your name was--"

"Sweet Pea." His brow furrowed even more than it had a second ago making his face even darker if that was possible. "My name is Sweet Pea."

You rolled your eyes and looked back up to the front, your eyes landing on the projected seating chart once more.

The rest of physics passed by in silence between the two of you, Sweet Pea keeping his head bent close to his notes and you keeping your eyes trained on Mr. Flutesnoot so you didn't take note of any of the other empty chairs in the classroom.

The rest of the week followed the same pattern as the first day. You arrived first and took your seat. Sweet Pea arrived a little later and dropped angrily into his. The two of you would silently complete your work, pack up as quickly and quietly as possible when the bell rang and then dash off to your last class of the day.

It wasn’t until the second week of the new seating arrangement that things took a turn. When you walked into the class, all eyes were on you. You walked down the center aisle to your seat, still feeling the eyes of your classmates on your back. It wasn't until you took your seat and looked up at the board that you understood why they were staring at you.

On the board, in Mr. Flutesnoot's scrawling handwriting were two words: bottle rockets.

Your stomach clenched as you took hold of your pencil, opening up to a blank piece of notebook paper and staring fixated ahead, your face stony. Because of this, you noticed Sweet Pea enter the classroom and the way that everyone's eyes seemed to flick from you to him. "This is gonna be good," Alex Cabot whispered behind you. Hushed snickers dotted the classroom, and this didn't go unnoticed by Sweet Pea. He scowled at row after row of students as he passed them on his way to you. The look did nothing of course, not even dissuading the oggling as he dropped into the seat next to yours.

You looked over at him and then put your eyes back onto your paper as the bell rang. Mr. Flutesnoot came back into the classroom. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen," he grinned and you rolled your eyes. He always seemed like an announcer whenever he was starting class. "I hope you're ready for our final lab of the year."

"Unit-Bomber is," Cabot snickered. "She's been waiting for this day all year."

"Probably ready to finish off the school," his partner, Fletcher Foley, added and the two boys chuckled.

“And I bet her partner is just dying to help her.”

“They still haven’t repaired the banner he cut.”

You picked up your pen, grinding the tip down into your desk. Keep your mouth shut, you chanted in your head. They're not worth it. Keep your mouth shut. They're not worth it. You continued to chant it throughout Mr. Flutesnoot's instructions and mini-lesson on factors to consider during the design stage.

"Alright, talk to your partners and discuss. What materials are you going to use? Play with the simulators to design the nose cone and wings and any other modifications you may want to make. Yes, Mr. Cabot?"

"We can't make this into an actual rocket right. Like, substitute real gas for water?"

Mr. Flutesnoot narrowed his eyes in confusion as you pressed your pen tip even harder into the desk. "No, you can't use rocket fuel."

"Well there goes the Unit-Bomber's big plans," Cabot snickered. You slammed your pen down and turned to Sweet Pea.

"So, any ideas?" you asked, sort of breathless. He jerked a little in his seat eyeing you, as if suddenly aware that you were about to go off at any second.

He shrugged his shoulders with a small shake of his head, and you gave a tight-lipped smile, pulling a laptop in between the two of you. "Why don't you play with the simulation, and I'll research what materials will work the best?"

"She has to tell him what to do because he's too stupid to actually understand directions," the voice came from behind you.

You watched as Sweet Pea's face went suddenly white and then dark, a snarl growing on his face and his fist clenching. If he had been a bit faster, he might have threatened to rip their throats out if they didn't cut the shit or some other kind of barbaric and totally justifiable punishment.

But he wasn't as fast as you

"Hey, so, if you're going to talk shit about us, can you at least try to keep it down a little?" you asked, your voice a vitriolic sort of cheery. "Or, I don't know, make it vaguer who you're talking about? We just get kind of distracted by how bad you are at it."

The rage was wiped away from Sweet Pea's face, replaced with a suspicious confusion.

The two boys behind you looked at each other as if trying to decide who would respond to your constructive criticism of their assholery.

"Ok, you're confused. Umm, quick tips--" you started, hearing the classroom around you gradually grow quieter. "When you're talking about someone behind their back it usually means that they can't hear you. Not that you're literally behind their back."

Foley's face was now completely blank. Cabot looked kind of annoyed.

"And if you were trying to bully us, you usually don't target a gang member who can beat the shit out of you. So cliff notes version: shut the fuck up."

"Ms. L/N!" your teacher reprimanded.

"Sorry, Mr. Flutesnoot,” you apologized, turning back in your chair to focus on the work.

"Freak," one of the boys muttered.

"Just one more quick thing," you turned back around. "Your material's old. The whole Unit-Bomber thing is last year. This year I'm the weird bitch who does shit like this--sorry, Mr. Flutesnoot--and also, hating the Serpents and Southsiders died with the Black Hood. So if you can stop distracting my lab partner with your mediocre middle school bitching, that would be great."

Silence followed as the class waited to see if and how they would respond.

"Are you finished Ms. L/N?" Mr. Flutesnoot asked, crossing his arms.

"I think so. You got anything?" you asked, turning to Sweet Pea. He shook his head. "You guys?" Cabot flicked a finger. You swiveled back to face your rather put-out looking science teacher. "I'm sorry, I don't think it'll happen again."

Mr. Flutesnoot nodded. "Right, well. The next person who starts it back up is going to find themselves in Mr. Weatherbee's office."

"Ok," you agreed before turning back to Sweet Pea who was looking at you as if you'd suddenly turned into a werewolf or had just started speaking Dothraki or something. "So you're good with the simulator?"

"Yeah," he agreed, and the two of you began work.

To some extent, you expected there to be some kind of blowback from you snapping in class yesterday. Earlier in the year, a freshman had snapped on a group of juniors, and the phone footage had gone viral, spawning the hashtag #thehallsarenotyourplayground (which coincidentally had made quite the resurgence when the Serpents rolled into town).

So, you were fairly surprised that aside from a few whispers and the casual wide-eyed look from people who were in your science class, no one brought it up. It didn’t become a thing. The was no hashtag.

If you had to guess it was mostly because everyone else was sick of Cabot’s shit too and there were bigger and better things to whisper about.

Betty Cooper’s dad was the fucking Black Hood.

Veronica’s jailbird father was first gentleman of Riverdale.

Some weird shit had been going on in Greendale.

And Betty Cooper’s dad was the fucking Black Hood.

So, by the time you walked into science class at the end of the day, it was hardly surprising that Foley and Cabot glared darkly at you and the rest of the class watched vigilantly as you walked down the aisle to take your seat, only to find other things to direct their attention at when no words passed between you and Cabot.

You quietly went about drawing your notebook from your backpack, flipping the pages to find the notes you jotted down yesterday. Both you and Sweet Pea had made good headway on your specific tasks. In fact, so far Sweet Pea hadn't really needed any hints or oversight from you. You had given him control of the simulations primarily because you already knew exactly what shapes are the best, but he had come to similar conclusions on his own. One day and you were beginning to think that this partnership may actually work out; you wouldn't have to take over the project and do it all by yourself as per usual.

A stack of books dropped into the table signaling Sweet Pea's arrival.

"Hey," he greeted and you glanced up at him, your brows furrowed in slight confusion.

"Uh hey," you said still staring at him suspiciously. Greetings were not part of the normal. In all honesty, talking wasn't part of the normal.

He nodded before sitting down, looking as content as if the two of you had carried out a whole conversation as opposed to three words. Oooookay then, you thought to yourself, turning back to your notebook as Mr. Flutesnoot began class with the reminder that today was your last day of building the rocket and on Monday you would do launches. He finished his spiel, walking over to his desk to his usual hiding spot behind his computer.

You slid out of your stool without a word to Sweet Pea and walked to the front table, perusing the different materials and selecting the ones closest to what your research turned up.

"You know students used to set off real model rockets," Cabot said casually, sidling up beside you and grabbing the same material you had just grabbed for your fins. "Now they can't even trust us with matches because of you."

You rolled your eyes, picking up some masking tape. "I didn't use matches," you mumbled.

He snorted, bumping into you as he picked up some masking tape as well. "I'm still surprised they let you back. Then again, it seems like now Riverdale will let anyone walk through its doors. Bombmaker. Drug dealers. Gang members. I bet they'd even let that murderer back if Ms. Klump hadn't shot him."

You dropped the masking tape, picking up some duct tape instead as you glared at him. He smiled smugly. "Just stating facts," he said lightly, exchanging his masking tape for duct tape.

"Someday someone's going to kick your ass, and I can't wait to stand there and watch."

"Is that a threat?" Cabot asked, watching as you turned on your heel and headed back for your chair.

"Just stating facts," you threw over your shoulder. Besides, you thought to yourself. If I was going to threaten you, I would point out just how easy it is to torch someone's car.

You arrived back at your seat, slamming the materials down on the table. Sweet Pea looked up at you from his work with a questioning glance. "You good?" he asked.

"Fine. Ready to work," you answered, shaking off the comment and the strange feeling that came from Sweet Pea actually noticing your frustration this time. He nodded but didn't look entirely convinced until his eyes fell on Cabot making his way back to the table behind you. His face darkened, but you didn't have time for his anger issues. "Can I see what you've got?" you asked, pointing to the notebook. He nodded, pushing it over to you so that you could read it more easily.

As expected, all of his conclusions were accurate. "Good call with the fins," you said, nodding. "Not a lot of people think about making them different sizes in the simulator."

Sweet Pea furrowed his brow at you for a second before you scrawled onto the edge of his paper. Fucking with them. You drew an arrow pointing back at Cabot and Foley who had gone suspiciously quiet behind you, the same way they had all year whenever it came to listening in on your work with whoever your partner was. Sure, it was perfectly fine to treat you like shit, but you always listened to the girl who knew enough to get you a free day in science class. It wasn't incompetence that got you the name Unit-Bomber and everyone knew it.

Sweet Pea nodded, his lips quirking up into a distant relative of a smile. "Thanks."

"So, you cut these two the same size, and I'll cut the other ones into the short and the long one," you grinned back. Sweet Pea took the material from you and began tracing the shape he'd researched as you waited for the scissors and the pieces he was cutting to make them the same size.

You heard the whispers of Cabot and Foley behind you followed by the quick scratching out of something in a notebook.

"Perfect triangles?" Sweet Pea asked, holding up the fins for only you to see.

"Perfect triangles," you smiled. Taking one and using it to trace the pattern of the remaining two fins. There was more whispered argument behind you, and a devilish grin crossed your face. Sweet Pea shared the look.

Physics had just gotten fun again.

It felt like ever since they caught the real Black Hood, the student body of Riverdale High found any reason to party.

AP testing was over? Party to celebrate your brains no longer being molten lava.

Dr. Johnson went home sick today? Party to celebrate a sub tomorrow.

Kelly Gordon got a new haircut? Party to show it off.

Student Body President elections right around the corner? Party to influence the vote.

That was how you ended up in Cheryl Blossom's house at ten o'clock on a Saturday night with a beer in hand. You’d had a flyer shoved into your hand by Veronica Lodge, and with nothing better to do, you’d decided that after the Black Hood maybe you were someone who went to parties.

But even if you had suddenly become someone who went to parties, you still weren't the girl in the middle of the dance floor laughing and screaming and surrounded by a large group of friends.

You stood off to the edges of the dance floor, close to the speaker, attempting to give yourself permanent hearing loss and maybe destroy your liver while you were at it. It was easy to lose yourself in the base--to let it take control of your heartbeat and run through your blood along with the liquor. It only took half an hour for you to stop thinking about the sound waves and frequencies and to just have fun like a normal teenage girl out at a party.

You let yourself go until you finished your second beer, and you departed from the safety of your spot for a refill.

It would have been nice if you really had blown out your hearing.

Because maybe then, when you made your way out of the living room, you wouldn't have heard Ginger Lopez' not-so-quiet comment.

"She invited the Unit-Bomber?"

You paused, your grip around your beer can tightening.

"You know what they say," Tina Patel smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Every vote counts."

"I don't know, I think they could do without one," Ginger snickered and Tina laughed.

"Someone should keep an eye on her. The last thing Cheryl needs is having another house burn down."

You took a deep breath and started moving again, making sure to bump shoulders with a laughing Tina as you passed by. Based on the screams that followed in your wake, her drink had sloshed into at least one of them. You grinned, moving deeper into the house where hopefully the proportion of bitches was smaller.

Thankfully, it seemed like it was. While still heavily populated, everyone in the kitchen was for the most part too far gone or pre-occupied to worry about the black sheep in their midst. You headed over to the table where drinks were piled. On your way, Ben Button was pushed sideways, bumping into you so that you stumbled into the tall figure standing next to the drinks table.

"Shit, sorry," you mumbled, looking up at the figure who turned around and peered down at you. Your eyes widened slightly with shock, seeing Sweet Pea frowning at you. Taking in your face, his shoulders relaxed a little and his brow smoothed.

"Could have just said hey." It was hard to tell if he was teasing you or angry based on the look on his face. He wasn't smiling, and his eyebrows were raised.

"Hey," you greeted, tentatively, reaching behind him to grab another beer.

"Hey," he answered, turning to face you fully. The people next to him moved away a little and your gaze fell back on him. He looked down at you expectantly as if you really had run into him on purpose and now had to carry a conversation.

"So you’re supporting Andrews now?" you asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sweet Pea shrugged. "Toni invited me."

"Forced you to come, you mean." You immediately regretted the snarky and weird way the words sounded falling from your lips. He didn't seem phased at all but shook his head slightly with a shrug.

"What about you? Don't strike me as an Andrews fan."

"I came to be swayed. You know, see what my vote was worth," you nodded, taking a swig of your drink.

"And it's worth....this party?"

You shrugged. "Better than a cupcake."

He snorted and shook his head at you. A silence settled between you two, not altogether uncomfortable but not exactly companionable either.

"Well, don't let me keep you from your friends," you said, taking a step backward.

He rolled his eyes. "Topaz left with Blossom a while ago. I think they're upstairs." And Fangs was still in recovery. "But I guess you should get back to your friends."

You shrugged. "I came alone." There was a pause as his brow furrowed lightly and he gave a slight nod in response to the statement. "I don't need moral support to get drunk and dance," you added, punctuating the statement with a sip of your beer.

He snorted again, and you grinned, basking in the warm feeling of triumph. You had made Sweet Pea, The Angry Gangster, laugh. Twice.

This time, he fully nodded, his eyes running over your body. "So, since neither of us has any friends to get back to, maybe we should stick together? It might make this party a little less...shitty."

"This party is far from shitty," you scoffed. "Free booze. Decent music. And just enough jingle jangle to make most of the people here not assholes. This is as good as it gets on the Northside. Besides," you took a few steps away from him, heading back towards the music. "I'm happy being by myself. See you later."

He raised his drink as a goodbye, and you turned around, taking a sip of yours to try to keep the smile from tugging at your lips.

It took about twenty minutes for you to realize that Sweet Pea may have been onto something when he said the party was shitty.

It was a gradual shift. The music got louder, and the bodies got a little bit closer, pushing in at all sides until you couldn't help but brush up against somebody every time you danced. Everyone's eyes were glazed. Girls' voices got higher pitched, and boys spoke less. A bad feeling had settled in the pit of your stomach, but it wasn't until you felt the cool trickle of beer dripping down your arm from where someone had just sloshed their drink on you as they tried to pass that you realized this party was no longer the best the Northside had to offer. You turned your arm in front of you, looking down to assess the damage only to realize you didn't have a napkin. You heaved a suffering sigh, staring up at the sky before bringing your eyes back down to the party and catching Sweet Pea's gaze. You placed two fingers to your head, cocked the makeshift gun and pulled the trigger, your head jerking to the side with the force of the imaginary bullet.

A smile crossed Sweet Pea's lips as he tipped some of his beer onto the ground. You smiled as well before turning and heading closer to the speaker system and proverbial higher ground.

It was only fifteen minutes until the next hint that this party had taken a downward turn. While shattering your eardrums seemed inevitable, the earsplitting music seemed to keep most of the drunks away and provide you with a little room to breathe. You were even managing to enjoy yourself once again. And then your eyes landed on Sweet Pea.

Or rather, your eyes landed on the blonde girl who was writhing all over the front of his body. Every time he backed away she would follow, too far gone to process the rejection, judging by the way she couldn't keep her head up and her hips couldn't quite match the tempo of the music. He looked up with a face of disgust that melted away for the most part when he caught your gaze. Instead, he lifted a fist and pounded it into his chest several times before his head lolled to the side. You laughed at the brutal stabbing scene before dragging your attention away to continue dancing.

You managed to stick it out for almost another full twenty minutes before suddenly the song that was blasting out of the speaker next to you turned to "Shots."

You swore loudly. Not loudly enough to be heard over the dulcet does of LMFAO, but loudly enough for a drunk girl to look at you as if you were crazy. Your eyes quickly scanned the crowd and it seemed like his must have been too because you found Sweet Pea's gaze in record time. You threw back an imaginary shot before clutching your throat and slowly sinking down into the crowd. When you rose back up he was smiling. He jerked his head towards the kitchen, and despite the fact that you were moderately enjoying your time alone, you found your feet leading you off of the dance floor.

By the time you reached the kitchen, he already had two shots in his hand--courtesy of a wasted Reggie Mantle--and passed one to you.

"So maybe you knew what you were talking about when you said this party was going to be shitty if we didn’t stick together," you said, clinking your glass to his and throwing it back. The cheap Vodka burned on the way down, but it numbed you a little to the party.

“Of course I was.” He hadn’t even winced at his shot. He plucked the cup out of your hand, putting it back on the counter and grabbing two beers instead, passing one to you.

You cracked the can open, taking a sip—a watery chaser to the burning liquor. “Well,” you gasped slightly as you finished your drink. “At least you got the true Northside experience before it imploded.”

“Imploding isn’t the Northside experience?” Sweet Pea quirked an eyebrow.

“Aw," you put a hand over your heart. "You get us."

He exhaled a laugh, taking a drink, and a small silence settled between the two of you. “So, you still happy by yourself?" Sweet Pea asked.

You raised your eyebrows. "You know when you say it like that, it almost sounds like an innuendo.”

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he just inclined his head towards you.

You offered half a smile, shaking your head. "I'm always happy on my own. Not sure if you picked up on this in physics, but I’m not exactly a people person.”

“I don’t know, I thought it was generous of you to try to help Cabot and Foley out with their rocket,” he offered straight-faced.

You smirked and gave a casual shrug as you took a sip of what was essentially alcoholic tap water. “Anyway, I think you’re better off without me hanging around. You seem like you’ve been having a pretty good time on your own.”

He stared at you blankly.

“I saw you having a blast with Heather.” His face dropped and you burst into laughter. “Not into Northside girls?”

“Not girls like that,” Sweet Pea answered flatly.

“Shame, she seemed to really like you,” you pushed. “You’ll break her heart.”

“She’s not even going to remember any of it tomorrow.”

“I mean, that is kind of the point of drinking at parties,” you said, toasting him before downing the rest of your beer. His eyes narrowed slightly as he seemed to give you an assessing kind of look. You slammed your can down onto the counter.

“Well, I’m going to take off. Leave before the cops come,” you announced.

"Need a ride?" He asked, and you tipped your head sharply to give him a questioning look. He was staring down at you with an almost challenging look. You squinted your own eyes attempting to size up the offer.

Accept a ride home from a Southside Serpent? Bad idea.

Accept a ride home from your lab partner? Not as bad.

Accept a ride home from Sweet Pea?

You shook your head. "I’m sure you can guess what I’m about to say.”

“You’re good on your own?” He guessed disbelieving.

You gave him finger guns and to be honest you weren’t even sure you could blame it on the drinks. “I can walk from here,” you said, straightening back up.

"By yourself at this time at night?"

"Survived the Black Hood, so I’m feeling lucky. Besides if someone kills me it saves me the trouble of the massive hangover I'm destined to have tomorrow."

Sweet Pea shook his head slightly, his lips quirking into his almost smile. "See you on Monday, then."

"Maybe," you threw over your shoulder. This time you didn't even bother to hide the smile.

Your walk home was uneventful. As a result, the weekend was swallowed up by a massive hangover on Saturday and rushing to do all of your homework on Sunday. By the time school came around Monday morning you hardly felt ready or rested and judging by the other zombies roaming the halls of Riverdale High, the rest of the student population was in a similar situation.

The day passed in a slow and dull sort of misery.

Until physics.

“Grab your rocket and then line up by the door, we’re going out to the field.” Mr. Flutesnoot greeted. The majority of your chemistry class was already along the wall, and you headed to the back to grab your rocket and join the rest of the class.

Scanning down the line you looked over the different versions of rockets. Some basic but functional and colorful. Others sleek and potentially good enough to give yours a run for its money. And a few were true disasters.

Among this category was Cabot and Foley’s. Because not only had they listened to every last sabotaged direction that you and Sweet Pea has given them, but they hadn’t even followed them well.

The thing had triangle fins of three different sizes and slightly varying shapes. The weight was focused in the bottom of the rocket and the nose cone was sharply pointed. Sweet Pea had tried to get them to cut holes in the rocket, but realizing that'd be taking it a bit too far and even Cabot and Foley weren't that stupid, you'd corrected him. That said, when he had them tape the whole thing with several layers of duct tape, you'd shrugged and let it go.

“Grab your rocket and then line up by the door, we’re going out to the field.” Mr. Flutesnoot said from the entrance of the classroom. You looked up from the line, your eyes falling on Sweet Pea who was scanning the line for you.

You held up, Ophiocus, and he caught sight of your green bottle, coming down to stand next to you.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” you answered. He looked no worse for wear than usual. His hair curled above his eye in the way it usually did, and the dark circles that had been under his eyes ever since the riot seemed fainter if anything.

“How was your weekend?”

“Well, I’m here and breathing so you can guess how Saturday went,” you quipped. “You?”

“‘S fine.”

The bell rang and you waited for the sound to die down before you continued the conversation, but before you could get a word in, Mr. Flutesnoot started. “Alright, out to the field. Remember I expect you to walk through the halls quietly and respectfully.” You rolled your eyes but quietly trudged out behind the rest of your class.

“Did you see their rocket?” you murmured to Sweet Pea. He shook his head, stepping out from the line and craning his neck a little to see it. It wasn’t until the line turned to go out the side door that his eyes lit up and he fell back into step with you.

“You’re vicious.”

“I can’t wait to see it fly.” You flashed a crocodile smile.

Luckily you didn’t have to wait long. Their rocket was selected among the first ones to go, and when they brought it up for launch even Mr. Flutesnoot winced at the sight of it. When he backed up to set off the rocket you reached out and grabbed Sweet Pea’s bicep, squeezing it tightly in excitement. He looked down at you, and if your eyes hadn’t been fixated on the rocket that was about to go up, you might have noticed the warm amusement on his face.

“3-2-1,” you chanted along with the rest of the class.

The rocket made it up just a couple of feet before making a hard tilt and crashing down into the ground.

It was the worst one so far. And while the rest of the class giggled lightly at it, you roared with laughter at the looks of shock and confusion on their face, doubling over and clutching your sides.

“Ms. Y/L/N!” Mr. Flutesnoot admonished.

“I’m sorry,” you straightened, wiping the tears from your eyes and shutting your mouth to keep the next burst of laughter in at the looks of sudden realization and anger that flashed across their faces. “I know they worked hard on it,” you added trying to suppress a smile. Next to you, Sweet Pea snorted.

“Alright, well, let’s see yours then,” Mr. Flutesnoot said, as if your rocket would be a similar failure and teach you how bad it was to make fun of other kids in class.

You strode forward, handing him the bottle to set up before stepping back slightly to watch it. Sweet Pea moved up next to you.

The pair of you counted down along with the rest of the class, watching as the water poured out and your bottle shot up into the sky soaring far out over the field.

When it finally landed, a slightly shocked Mr. Flutesnoot directed Sweet Pea to measure the distance the rocket flew. And as he stood there watching Sweet Pea run out, you took the opportunity to turn to Cabot and Fletcher, both of your arms straight out in front of you, middle fingers high, one for each asshole.

But that moment was nothing to when, after Dilton came back with the distance his rocket flew, it was determined that your rocket was the top performer.

“Yes!” Sweet Pea shouted, punching the sky. The rest of the class offered some halfhearted congratulations, and you beamed at him.

“Congratulations the extra credit is yours,” Mr. Flutesnoot announced. “Everyone let’s head back in.”

“That was incredible. Fangs would’ve loved that shit,” Sweet Pea said. A glimmer of something shone in his eyes before the look passed.

“You know,” you said, casually. “This experiment is entirely reproducible at home.”

“Maybe the rocket, but how’d you launch it?”

“Bike pump,” you answered, simply.

He nodded, the grin reappearing on his face. Which slid off as Cabot pushed past, shouldering you. “Fucking Unit-Bomber.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Sweet Pea barked. Your eyes flicked up to Mr. Flutesnoot who was busy opening the doors to the school ahead.

“Why don’t you make me?” Cabot spun around stepping up into Sweet Pea’s face. Sweet Pea pushed him backwards, and Cabot pushed Sweet Pea. A few of the other Serpents in class noticed the scuffle and ran back to step in and crowd Cabot.

“Alright guys back in the building!” Mr. Flutesnoot called. Your attention snapped to him, seeing him craning his neck to see what was happening and who should be written up. Cabot held up his hands in the face of all the Serpents and under the scrutiny of your physics teacher.

Little bitch.

“Better a Unit-Bomber than a dumbass,” you remarked, walking past Cabot who was still held there by the rest of the Serpents until you and Sweet Pea were back in the building.

“You good?” Sweet Pea asked with a quick glance down at you as you rubbed your shoulder.

“Fine,” you shrugged, letting your hand drop.

His eyes remained on you, and you met his gaze, a strange and completely unwelcome flipping sensation in your stomach. You shook your head, stepping into the classroom, pushing the feeling down. You’d deal with this later.

The bell rang, signaling the end of physics and the fact that only one more class stood between you and the weekend.

“Hey, y/n,” Sweet Pea called out, stopping you on your way out of the classroom. You slowed down, waiting for him to catch up so you could walk out together. “I was thinking, do you come over to the quarry after school?”

You narrowed your eyes, looking at him suspiciously, ignoring the way your heart seemed to speed up a little at the offer. “Why?” You asked, drawing out the word.

“I got stuff to make a bottle rocket with Fangs. Thought we could use your expertise.“

You grew stiff and your face went blank. There it was. There was always something. “My expertise as the Unit-Bomber?”

Sweet Pea’s head snapped to you. “You think I’d say that?”

You gave a jerky shrug, looking straight ahead and continuing to your math class.

“Or do you just not want to be seen on the Southside?”

“Think what you want,” you said quietly, your throat feeling tight with disappointment.

Next to you, Sweet Pea bristled. “I asked because I thought you’d enjoy it but forget it,” he stormed off.

Guilt flooded through you. This always happened. Fuck. Things were easier when you just stayed by yourself. “Wait,” you called out, hurrying after him. “I’m sorry. I’m not... I don’t...” you ran a hand through your hair. “Can you give me a ride?”

Sweet Pea’s face remained stony as he looked back at you. You stood in silence until the warning bell rang. His shoulders didn’t relax. He didn’t ease up. Instead he said, “I’ll meet you out front after school.”

You were surprised when he actually pulled up and parked his bike out front at the end of the day.

You walked up to the bike. “Hey,” you said, softly.

“Hey.” The word came out short, and he didn’t offer anything else except for an intense stare.

Despite the fact that your skin tingled with discomfort, you refused to break his gaze. “Can we forget about how I was a touchy asshole who is apparently new to the concept of friendship?”

Sweet Pea snorted and visibly relaxed, shaking his head. “Get on the bike.”

You hauled yourself onto the back, wrapping your arms around his middle and trying to lose yourself to the feeling of the wind in your hair and sun on your face as he tore out of the parking lot and towards the quarry.

The drive passed mostly in silence. Slightly more comfortable than your other silences if only because you were fairly sure you’d have to lean up and shout in his ear for him to actually hear you. Instead, you occupied yourself by watching the landscape pass and ignoring the way your arms wound their way tighter around him every time he turned. Kind of like how, when you arrived, you fought to keep down the shock and outrage at his living situation.

He lived in a tent.

In fact, it seemed like most of the Southside now lived in tents. And it seemed like complete bullshit that the mayor or someone hadn’t spoken up to address the fact that half the town had lost their housing and were now living with minimal running water and plumbing.

If it weren’t for years of practice pushing things down, Sweet Pea might have seen it all on your face. But instead he looked at you and found only a blank sort of contentment. “Fangs!” Sweet Pea called, and out of a nearby tent popped Fangs Fogarty’s head.

He didn’t look like he’d been shot just a couple of weeks ago. His smile was bright and genuine even as he hauled himself up on crutches and hobbled out to greet you.

“Hey, what’s up?” He greeted, coming over to you. You moved a little faster to meet him halfway.

“Fangs, Y/N. Y/N, Fangs,” Sweet Pea introduced before disappearing into a tent. The introduction was hardly necessary. Everyone in Riverdale knew exactly who Fangs Fogarty was.

“Heard a lot about you,” Fangs said, reaching a hand forward and you shook it even as you cast a glance at Sweet Pea’s tent. Fangs chuckled at the look on your face. "You're one of the few Northsiders Sweet Pea thinks 'Isn't that bad.'" You snorted.

“Wow. High praise,” you said flatly, and Fangs full out laughed.

“For him? It’s about the same as declaring—“

“Shut up,” Sweet Pea cut him off, appearing with a couple of grocery store bags. “Or I’ll throw your crutches in the lake.”

“Whatever man I’m about to be off them anyway,” Fangs dismissed goodnaturedly but thankfully didn’t finish his statement.

“Sooo rockets?” you asked, changing the topic just in case Fangs decided he did want to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.

Fangs grinned, his eyes sparkling. “Yes.”

You wished you could have blamed how bad Fangs was at building rockets on the fact that he was injured. But given that most of his tasks were literally groundwork, it really came down to the fact that he was too excited and a shit listener. Without your constant intervention and shouting at him, the rockets would have turned out similarly to the SS Clusterfuck you saw in physics. As a result, it took twice as long to build the damn things than it should have, but eventually you had your rockets, Cobra, Viper, and Galileo ready to go on the launcher you talked Sweet Pea through building.

And while Fangs was a shitty engineer, at least he was funny and a good conversationalist and had just enough of a saving grace personality for you to not want to drown him in the quarry like you would have for anyone else.

“Mine first,” Fangs declared, pushing Cobra into your hands. You rolled your eyes and set it up, looking back at the boys.

“Ready?” You called back, and they flashed a thumbs up.

“Go!” You shouted, moving back towards them as Fangs pushed down on the tire pump, sending the rocket up. It was fairly impressive the thing went up at all.

He let out a whoop as if he had actually been a part of a real-life rocket launch. Behind the three of you there was some clapping. You turned to see Toni Topaz standing with Cheryl Blossom.

“Impressive Fangs,” Toni commented with a smile.

“Wanna set one off, Topaz?” Sweet Pea asked, holding Viper out to her.

“Nah, we’re heading over to Cheryl’s, I just had to grab a few things,” Toni shook her head, disappearing into her tent. It was hard to miss the way Sweet Pea’s face fell.

“Teaching them all your tricks Unit-Bomber?” Cheryl asked, quirking an eyebrow with a smug little smile. You glowered at her.

“Why? Looking for new ways to set your house on fire?” You shot back.

“Shit,” Fangs remarked.

Cheryl stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Toni who re-emerged from her tent. “Ready to go, babe?” she asked, looking expectantly at Cheryl. The redhead plastered on a smile.

“No need to be here when y/n inevitably blows up half the tents.”

Well, shit. Toni was making her soft.

You watched as they climbed onto their motorcycles and pulled away.

“I’ll say it: that was incredible,” Fangs said, looking over to you. “You out bitched the bitch.”

You shrugged, feeling significantly worse than five minutes ago.

“Why'd she call you the Unit-Bomber?” Fangs asked, genuinely. Sweet Pea reached over and hit him upside the head. “The fuck?”

“It’s what everyone calls me,” you shrugged, sitting down on the ground next to Fangs. “It’s Riverdale. You do one thing and suddenly that’s all you are. You guys know that.”

A shadowlike feeling settled over the group as the three of you looked out over the water.

“What’d you do?” Fangs asked, breaking the silence. Sweet Pea hissed words you didn’t catch. “What? She knows what I did. Half the town knows about your anger issues—“

“I caused an explosion during a unit final last year in chemistry. By accident,” you added.

“You are too good at science for it to have been an accident,” Sweet Pea commented.

You rested your head on your knees. “Well, it was.” You simply hadn’t known that the reaction would go that wrong and be that big. It had nothing to do with the fact that your boyfriend just broke up with you because you refused to tell him you loved him, so you canceled class because you wanted to go home, not sit behind him in chemistry.

The silence once more settled over your group, each of you in your own thoughts and miles away from the quarry.

That was, until Fangs spoke. “Well let’s blow some more shit up. By accident.”

"What are we doing today?" Fangs asked, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in his excitement. You rolled your eyes, continuing to unpack the contents of your grocery store bag onto the bank of the quarry.

After the first bottle rocket experiment, Fangs had insisted you come back to teach other 'actually cool science experiments.' "You can homeschool me until I'm cleared to go back," he'd suggested. And like a sucker you fell for it. Even after Fangs returned to school, you always found yourself climbing onto Sweet Pea's motorcycle and riding down to the quarry with them.

Out of habit. You told yourself. Because that's definitely why you did it. Habit. Nothing else.

As a result, there was a direct relationship between the proximity to summer and the frequency of you exploding shit on the Southside.

"Well if Sweet Pea remembered to get the brake fluid this time, I think we're ready for a real explosion," you answered, your eyes darting up to Fangs just in time to see the look of absolute glee light up his face.

"I have it. Hold on, it's in my tent," Sweet Pea grumbled, disappearing into his tent to grab the supplies. Neither you nor Fangs had let it go for the entire week that last Friday Sweet Pea had forgotten the crucial part of your experiment. As a result, the three of you had resorted to sitting by the quarry’s edge and just talking for five hours. It was boring, uncomfortable, awkward, and the reason you were thoroughly convinced that these boys may just be your best friends.

"Fangs," you directed, holding out the Dr. Bob soda bottle.

"On it," he chirped, ripping the label off of the bottle before unscrewing the cap and beginning to chug down the drink. You watched him, counting in your head as the off-brand soda slowly disappeared, stopping when Fangs finally pulled away. Half of the bottle was empty.

"31," you announced. "Best yet."

"I can do better," Fangs said, punctuating the statement with a burp. He handed the bottle off to Sweet Pea who had reappeared with the brake fluid in hand. He reached down, offering the chemicals to you, and you took it from him, your fingers brushing against his. Your skin tingled at the contact, and as normal, you swallowed hard and ignored it. Sweet Pea did too, instead bringing the Dr. Bob to his lips and gulping down the soda quickly. By the time he was finished, only a little remained in each of the pockets at the bottom. You took it from him, careful to grab it at the top and away from his hand and finished it off.

You also pulled out the notably smaller plastic water bottle and finished that by yourself.

"Alright," you gasped, putting the water bottle down. "I need you to fill the chlorine up until here." You pointed to a groove on the water bottle and let your shoulders drop when Sweet Pea took the bag of chlorine from Fangs. As always he stopped right when he was supposed to, placing the water bottle back on the ground next to you.

You offered the soda bottle up to Fangs, and he took it, swapping Sweet Pea for the chlorine.

"Fangs, I swear you better listen to me," you warned, rising up from where you crouched to point a finger at him threateningly.

"I always listen to you," Fangs scoffed, rolling his eyes and stepping forward towards the bottle.

"I mean it. This is actually dangerous."

"I mean it too," he agreed, but that damn glint was in his eyes, and you knew you were in for it.

"So when I say stop, you're actually going to stop pouring it into the bottle."

"Relax. Trust me," he soothed.

"No." Both you and Sweet Pea spoke the word at the same time, and Fangs face split into a grin.

"Ok, I promise I'll stop after you say stop," he agreed, and you nodded so that Sweet Pea reached out the bottle for Fangs to pour the chlorine in. You kept a careful eye on the mark you set in your head, watching as the chlorine fell to the bottom of the bottle.

"Stop," you instructed a little before the mark. The chlorine continued to pour.

"Just a little more," Fangs stated, his lips twitching into a smile.

"Fangs, stop," you snapped as the chlorine piled up over the mark.

"I am--"

Sweet Pea yanked the bottle away from Fangs and some of the chlorine fell out onto the bank of the quarry. He held the bottle out with one hand and punched Fangs hard in the arm with another. Fangs swore as he laughed.

"Give me that," you said, taking the bottle from Sweet Pea and glaring at Fangs. "You're the worst science student. You know that right?"

"You're saying that because I'm from the Southside," he folded his arms.

You shook your head, turning away to place the bottles even closer to the water. "I'm saying that because you're a moron. Sweet Pea, can I have the brake fluid?"

"Sometimes you're just as mean as Toni," Fangs complained.

"She's meaner. That's what makes her such a good replacement," Sweet Pea corrected.

You looked over your shoulder at Sweet Pea, your eyebrows furrowing. "Stop saying that."

"What that you're mean?" Fangs teased.

You stood up straighter, crossing your arms against your chest. "No, stop calling me a replacement."

"What should we call you then? An upgrade?" Sweet Pea smirked.

You shook your head, maintaining your serious expression and ignoring the way your stomach dropped at his words. While he had been making fewer and fewer comments about Toni (maybe due to the fact that she and Cheryl stopped by less and less), there was always one or two about how they didn't need her now that they had you. And you didn't like them. You weren't sure why. "You can't just replace someone Sweet Pea, that's not how it works. People are different."

The smiles fell from the boys' faces. "We know that," Fangs said, earnestly. "It's just a joke. Right?" He hit Sweet Pea in the shoulder who nodded. His face had a new look on it. Something you hadn't seen before and couldn't quite trace to a specific emotion or thought. You decided you didn't like it though. It made you squirm.

"Ok," you swallowed, tearing your eyes from Sweet Pea and turning around back to the bottles. "Bring me the brake fluid.

You didn't look to see who pushed the container into your hand, focusing instead on pouring a proportionate amount of fluid into each container and swirling it to mix it.

"Alright, step back," you instructed, and the boys followed you back to stand a few feet away, all of your eyes glued to the bottles.

The three of you waited in silence. Fangs leaning on your shoulder and Sweet Pea standing so close that if he were just a centimeter to the left, his arm would be touching yours. You waited as a minute passed.

"Fangs, you fucked it up," Sweet Pea commented.

"No," you turned, tilting your head up to face him. "Chemistry takes time."

He raised his eyebrows and moved a fraction of an inch closer so that his arm bumped against yours. You turned your attention back to the experiment and shifted to your left, leaning more into Fangs.

A new silence enveloped the three of you, this one slightly less comfortable than the last. So much so that twenty seconds later you were stepping forward towards the bottles. "Maybe I should have shaken them more---"

A whoosh of fire shot up from water bottle, flames shooting up to five feet high. You jumped, but before you could step back or react in any other way the soda bottle burst into flame with a roar, pieces of chlorine shooting up out of the bottle and whizzing past you. A hand wrapped around your wrist and yanked you back as the three of you scrambled away to escape the burning bottle.

To your left you could hear Fangs' uncontrollable laughter as you slowed to a stop, colliding with Sweet Pea. His arms wrapped around you to steady you, and you glanced up at him. "You good?" he asked, looking down at you with that face again. Your mouth seemed to go dry and the world seemed to spin, and one word rang through your head: out.

You stepped out of his grip, whirling on Fangs with your chest heaving, ignoring the way Sweet Pea's face fell.

"You almost killed me!" you shouted.

"I didn't tell you to step forward," he protested hands up, his eyes flicking from you to the smoldering remains of plastic. You opened your mouth to argue but instead laughter burst out. And then Fangs was laughing again. And Sweet Pea. And the three of you laughed until you cried and then you scavenged bottles from around the campsite to continue setting off explosions until it got dark.

You had taken to sticking around until it got dark after that. Most of the time the three of you would make dinner and eat together after the experiment, and then you'd talk until one of the boys offered to take you home.

Tonight, Fangs had let you know that he wouldn't be available to chauffeur you. "I have a rendezvous," he announced a little while after dinner, standing up from where the three of you had been stargazing.

"A rendezvous?" you repeated, leaning up on your forearms. "With who?"

"I don't kiss and tell, you should know that," he winked, and you rolled your eyes.

"Just make sure you don't get shot this time," Sweet Pea called out from his position on the ground.

Fangs flipped him off, turning to head over to the motorcycle, and you watched him go, a small spark of anxiety making it's home in your chest. You turned to look at Sweet Pea. "Do you know who?"

"Could be anyone," Sweet Pea shrugged, continuing to look up at the stars. You stared at him for a second longer, trying to figure out if he was deflecting or if he really didn't care before laying back down next to him.

It was tempting to push it. To see what he knew about Fangs’ love life. But something about the thought of continuing this conversation set off warning bells. Change the topic, the little voice told you.

"You know," you said, tucking your arms under your head. "I used to want to be an astronaut."

"Really?" Sweet Pea asked, turning his head to look at you.

"Mhmm," you hummed, keeping your eyes on the stars. "Back before I realized how much fun it is to blow shit up."

Sweet Pea snorted, returning his gaze back up to the stars. "Why?"

"They're so far away from all the bullshit," you whispered expecting to hear him snort again, but instead he was quiet. "And when I look at them, I don't feel so..." you trailed off, your chest growing tight with discomfort as you treaded close to the intimate. You abandoned the statement, taking a different route. "They just make you realize how small all of us are in the grand scheme of things. I like that." Sweet Pea was still quiet next to you and that tight feeling took hold of you once more. You'd shared too much. Gone too deep. You turned to him, fully intending to make a sarcastic comment--something, anything to alleviate the tension, but when you faced him you found that his eyes were on you once more, and your throat closed up, not letting any of the words that you'd planned get out.

"I like that too," he said. His eyes remained fixed on yours, and even though you desperately wanted to look away and back up at the stars or anywhere else, you stayed focused on him. Because dammit, you were going to keep this friendship. You would not self-eject. You would not break away. You would keep eye contact and continue the heart to heart even if it felt like you were being strangled by every prolonged silence.

"Can I ask you a question and you won't be on my shit for getting too personal?"

"Depends on the question," you offered a wavering smile before breaking your promise to yourself and staring back up at the stars, your eyes searching for familiar constellations, anything to separate you from the thoughts and the uncomfortableness of living in your own body.

"Do you really like being by yourself?"

You were somewhat relieved, and a wistful sort of sigh escaped you. "Mostly."

"Mostly?" Sweet Pea repeated.

"I can't do...I'm not a feelings person. It's easier to be by myself." You let a hand fall to the grass, twisting a couple of blades before tugging them out of the earth. "But it's not always...good."

Beside you, Sweet Pea started to laugh, and you swung out your fist, bringing it down to punch him in the stomach. The air left him in a quick exhale even as he continued to try to laugh. "You really are bad at feelings."

"Shut up," you grumbled, a prickly feeling on your skin. "I was being honest."

Sweet Pea attempted to pull himself together. "I know, just...you couldn't find a better word than 'good'?"

"This is why I don't do this shit," you grumbled pushing yourself up into a sitting position so you could get up.

Sweet Pea's hand darted out and grabbed your forearm. "Hey, I'm sorry, stay."

"Not unless we change the subject," you glowered.

The corner of Sweet Pea's mouth quirked up. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Tell me something embarrassing. Or don't. We can talk about motorcycles or movies or Hot Dog or anything else," you suggested, breaking from his grip and wrapping your arms around your knees.

Sweet Pea was quiet again, and you wondered if you could somehow disappear at this moment. You could just get up and walk away. Tell him that it was past midnight and you were tired.

"Can I tell you about this girl I like? Or will that make you uncomfortable?" Your stomach rolled, and you suddenly felt the urge to vomit. Instead you shrugged.

"As long as you don't expect me to tap into my romantic side and give some love advice, it should be fine." Your voice came out thankfully flat and sarcastic. You could practically feel Sweet Pea rolling his eyes.

"Like I need love advice from a robot," he scoffed, and you ignored the twinge of pain in your chest but didn't bother to hide the annoyance from your face.

If he noticed the fact that your spine straightened and you grew still, he didn't say anything. There was definitely no apology. Instead, he heaved a dreamy sort of sigh. A sound that quite frankly you should never have heard come out of Sweet Pea's mouth.

"Alright, Romeo, spill."

"She's just extraordinary," he stated simply. A part of you wished you had laid back down so you could sneak a look at his face, but you couldn't move. Instead, you picked at your nails, letting your science partner turned friend--probably best friend--spill his guts. "I don't know her that well...we just started talking a little in school, but I noticed her the first time I ever walked in Riverdale. She just has that sort of presence you know? When she walks into a room, people notice. And not just because she's beautiful. It's like, you can sense how confident she is. And she should be. She's the best at what she does, and I just know she's going to make it big one day, so I kind of want to take my chance now before I lose it forever..." he trailed off and you chanced a glance at him. He was staring up at the stars wistfully, and you looked back down at the ground, rolling a twig between your fingers. "I don't know. Even though she's a Northsider, she's kind of...intimidating. Hard to make a move on."

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest. "If she's intimidating, she's probably used to guys keeping their distance and never saying anything," you murmured. "Maybe take it slow. Play the long game."

"You know that almost sounds like love advice."

You turned back at him, throwing the stick you were twirling so it bounced off his side and onto the ground. He smiled and looked back up at the stars. “I don’t know. She seems more like a bold move type of girl.”

You shrugged. "I'm just a robot."

He didn't say anything. And despite yourself, you could feel your hopes slightly raise.

"But you think I should take a chance?"

Your heart beat faster. "Yeah," you whispered.

He nodded, thinking it over. “Maybe I’ll ask her in math or something.”

Your stomach dropped. You couldn't tell if it was in relief or something else. Because that would be wrapped up in your knot of feelings. What you could tell--what was factual--was that you and Sweet Pea did not have math class together.

That was the last time you saw Sweet Pea.

At least, it felt that way.

You started riding down to the quarry on the back of Fangs' bike, Sweet Pea meeting up with you later mid-way through the experiments. At first, you had made jokes that you needed him there in order to keep Fangs in line. After all, if he was gone, who was going to actually help you with the experiment?

But then he started coming just to watch the results of the experiments.

And then it started to take him hours to come back to the campsite, and he missed them completely, having to ask questions about just why there was rainbow covered foam everywhere or what had that charred out bottle even been originally.

And then he stopped asking about the experiments. By the last day of school he stopped coming at all.

It was the second week of summer before either you or Fangs talked about it.

The two of you sat by the edge of the quarry, covered in paint and the marks of your explosions littering the trees and the ground around you. It had been your most successful Post-Sweet Pea experiment yet. Presumably because Fangs was allowed to shake up the experiments and hurl ziplock baggies full of paint anywhere he wanted. The experiment was practically tailored to his destructive soul.

It was probably the post-chaos peace, the most disarming kind of quiet and calm there was, that made him ask.

"So," Fangs said slowly, looking over at you out of the corner of his eye. "How are you doing?"

Your brow furrowed in confusion as you turned to face him. "Good?"

He let out an amused exhale, shaking his head. "I mean with the whole Josie thing."

"Oh," you responded, still confused. "Also good?"

"Good," Fangs said, turning his full attention back out to the quarry.

You followed suit, watching as the water gently moved, the sunlight reflecting off the surface so that the water glittered. You tried to keep your mind focused on how beautiful the day was. How nice it felt to feel the sun on your skin. How peaceful the quiet was and how you didn't feel suffocated in silence when you were next to Fangs. Being still next to him was easy in a way it just wasn't with Sweet Pea.

"Why?" The word escaped. Lulled out of you by the calm afternoon and immediately your stomach clenched. You could see Fangs shift to face you slightly, his eyes running over the profile of your face as you purposefully kept your eyes out on the quarry, staying as still as possible.

Fangs shrugged, joining you once more in looking out over the water. "I just thought the two of you would be a thing."

Your heart stopped. Everything stopped. You’d been expecting it to some extent, but still. Carefully, you pushed down all of the feelings and discomfort that rose in your chest, keeping your mind focused on the moment you were in now, not letting it slide back to the night you and Sweet Pea stared at the stars or any of the times you rode on the back of his motorcycle, your arms wrapped around his middle to get to here. You focused instead on the facts.

Sweet Pea and you had never been anything more than friends.

You had gone into this wanting to be friends only.

Friendship was easier.

Friendship was safer.

"We're just friends," you said picking up a rock and throwing it into the water. "It's cool."

"Cool," Fangs echoed. He didn't say anything else, and after a while you let yourself be wrapped up in the silence too, enjoying just sitting with him.

You meant what you told Fangs.

You and Sweet Pea were only ever friends. Just friends.

You believed it with every fiber of your being.

Until you saw him and Josie at Sweetwater River.

While you spent most of your evenings with Fangs, destroying shit, causing mayhem and laughing until you couldn't breathe, you enjoyed spending the long summer days by yourself. Sometimes it was reading. Other times it was gardening. And on days as hot as today, you would go swimming, regardless of the risks.

You pulled your car in behind a maroon sedan, throwing the keys into your bag with your towel and heading down to the secluded spot on the river you favored. The fact that there was another car parked by the river wasn't too unusual. After all, it was the best parking space, nearest to where the river was widest and most of the high school kids and college kids home from break did their swimming. Your spot was firmly in the other direction, a narrow section of the river where it was a little shallower and therefore not quite as dangerous to swim alone in.

Due to the trees and brush surrounding the path, it wasn't until you were most of the way down to your spot that you saw them.

Laying out on a blanket, Sweet Pea hovered over Josie as she wrapped herself around him. You snapped your eyes shut, turning quickly and trying to block out the breathy sounds that were escaping her as you scrambled back up the path. You felt dizzy and nauseous. Even after you climbed into the front seat of your car and slammed the door shut.

You held on tightly to the steering wheel. So tightly your knuckles were white and your elbows locked into place and your back pushed against the seat of the car. And then you saw it again. Sweet Pea's hands gripping at Josie's chest as he kissed at the underside of her jaw. The look of ecstasy on Josie's face as she gripped tightly onto Sweet Pea's shoulders, his hand moving and cupping the side of her neck as he dipped his head to kiss along her collarbone.

You collapsed suddenly, your forehead banging against the wheel as you choked out a sob. Your body shuddered and shook with the force of your crying as you beat the wheel with the palm of your hand, every now and then missing the edge and startling the animals nearby with a honk.

It took a few minutes before you pulled yourself together enough to sit up, shoot off a text, shift your car into drive, and start back onto the main road.

It was another twenty minutes or so before you parked at the edge of the Sunnyside Trailer Park campsite.

"Hey, Y/N are you ok?" Fangs asked, coming to meet you as you slammed your car door closed, brushing past him as you stormed down to the riverbank, the plastic grocery store bag swishing and bouncing against your leg.

"Let's blow some shit up." Your voice was still gravelly, and you were certain your eyes were still red and wet. You may’ve even had a red mark on your forehead

To his credit, he didn't try to make you talk. He turned on his heel and followed you down to the river bank, following your instructions precisely before standing back and waiting patiently as you poured toilet bowl cleaner into the different plastic bottles. You walked backward slowly, your eyes on the bottles, only stopping when you felt your arm brush against Fangs'.

You watched as the bottles slowly filled with white smoke, the plastic expanding and elongating before finally erupting loudly, one after each other.

Fangs chanced a glance at you, concern and hesitation obvious as he stared at the tear streaks running down your face. You wiped them off with the back of your hand. "It's just the loud noises," you mumbled weakly, and he nodded, throwing an arm around your shoulder as you stared at the smoking remains of your bottle rockets. You stood there completely still for a minute, maybe two before you turned into him, allowing him to wrap his arms around you, holding you close as you sobbed onto his shirt.

Neither of you talked about that day ever again.

You found other conversation topics to fill up your summer. From Archie Andrew's court case, to Fangs string of unnamed conquests, to new methods of creating explosions, and once or twice the proposition that you should join the Southside Serpents.

You didn't go anywhere besides your home and the Quarry, and as it turned out, you liked your summer that way. It was safer. Better. No anxiety that you might run into anyone you didn't want to see. Which was why when Fangs invited you to come to Cheryl's end of summer pool party with him, you declined.

Because everyone would be there.

Fangs didn't try to convince you to change your mind. Because he was the best friend you could ever wish for. He didn't even tell you how in one week you were going to have to face the facts whether you wanted to or not. He nodded and mentioned offhand that Jughead had asked him and Sweet Pea to meet here in fifteen minutes. Which coincidentally reminded you of the chores your mother had asked you to do at home that you needed to get to immediately.

And that was why you were entirely unprepared to find Sweet Pea by your locker at the end of the first day of school.

"Hey," he smiled.

You didn't say anything, focusing on keeping your hands still, keeping your face straight, keeping your shit together. You raised your eyebrows, silently moving to open your locker. Sweet Pea turned, leaning his shoulder on the locker next to you.

"You look familiar. Weren't we lab partners or something last year?"

"Or something," you remarked quietly, putting your books back into your locker.

He snorted and ran a hand through his hair. "How was your summer?"

"Good," you shrugged. You tugged your backpack out, slipping it onto your shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Fangs told me about some of the shit you did." You hummed, closing your locker door and ignoring the way his eyebrows furrowed. "We should do a repeat tonight."

You paused, keeping your hand on your locker. "I can't."

"Hey," Fangs greeted, coming up to the two of you and hanging an arm over Sweet Pea's shoulder despite the height difference. Both you and Sweet Pea ignored the greeting.

"Why not?" Sweet Pea asked, shrugging Fangs' arm off of his shoulder.

Your eyes found Fangs' and then darted back to your locker. "I have homework for my AP classes already. Sorry," you said firmly and with noticeably absent sympathy. "I'll see you guys later." You gave them a brief tight-lipped smile before turning around speed walking your way to the bus.

You thought that maybe after the first week back your stomach would stop doing that dropping thing every time you saw him.

It didn't.

You also thought that maybe after the first couple of weeks you wouldn't want to throw up every time you saw Josie.

You still did.

Even though you knew she and Sweet Pea weren't together, you could still hear those sounds in your head which almost made it impossible to not puke.

But it did get easier to not think about it over a few weeks. You changed your seat in all of the classes you shared together, sitting in the front of the classroom, closest to the door so it was easy to scoot out. You ate lunch in the band practice rooms, primarily because it was easier to hide there than anywhere else and the band teacher had long since given up on enforcing school rules. You started to remember why you loved being alone so much.

By the time it was almost the end of the third week of school, you had once again perfected the art of being by yourself. Only caving every now and then to respond to Fangs' texts.

Life was better this way.

"Y/L/N!" You had been on your way to English when suddenly someone had grabbed your arm, pulling you to a stop. You jumped a little, turning to see Sweet Pea holding you by your bicep. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to class?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows at him and attempting to calm your rapidly beating heart.

"No," he pulled you over to the side of the hallway and you stumbled a few steps before ripping your arm out of his grasp.

"Let go, shit," you mumbled, turning your arm to look at it as if expecting to see some kind of damage.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Sweet Pea demanded, folding his arms as he stared down at you.

"I'm not. I'm going to class. Trying to get an education," you rolled your eyes attempting to push past him.

He stopped you, grabbing you by the shoulders and bringing you back to face him. "Cut the bullshit."

"Get your hands off of me," you snapped, your eyes darting around him to see other students slowing down on their way to class to watch the confrontation. As if you were a spectacular car crash for them witness and assess the damage. Sweet Pea let go immediately, but his face grew darker.

"What's your problem?"

"No problem." You shrugged, keeping your face closed off and distant.

"So you're pretending I don't exist for....fun?" Sweet Pea guessed. "That's fucked up, Y/N."

Your eyes followed the students who were now blatantly rubbernecking, looking anywhere other than Sweet Pea. "Like you can talk.”

"What's that supposed to mean?"

No emotion. No feelings. Nothing. Just facts. you chanted to yourself. Just state the facts.

"Just that it's pretty convenient you want to exist and be a part of my life now, but where were you this summer?"

"I was busy," he said exasperatedly as if you were some toddler who didn't understand why her parents went to work instead of playing with her all day.

"And now I am. Sorry I don’t fit into your schedule," you shrugged, moving past him and out into the hall. The warning bell rang. It was the surprising sound that made your eyes sting.

"I thought we were friends," his voice called at your back. You whirled around, finding him much closer than expected. So close that if you had wanted to, you could have easily stabbed a finger into his chest. But you didn't want to. You didn't want to ever touch him.

"Yeah, so did I. Until I sat by the quarry all summer with Fangs while you were busy fucking Josie all over town." You turned back around to head off to class. "Fuck off," you called over your shoulder.

"Did you have to yell at him?" Fangs asked, leaning against the locker next to yours. You looked up slightly startled from where you had been exchanging your books. "Because he's being a huge pain in the ass now."

"I don't want to talk about it," you answered, shoving harder on your binder to try to get it to fit inside.

"Of course not."

You glared at him but didn't rise to the bait.

"You told him you saw him and Josie?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it." You rotated the binder, hoping to fit it in the new way, pushing it until finally it slipped past the edge of the door.

Fangs sighed. "We didn't talk about it all summer. Give me this one conversation now."

"No." You slammed your locker closed, starting to walk away.

"This is why," he stated to your back, and you turned to face him, shocked to hear any sort of annoyance pass Fangs' lips. The words weren't heated, more exasperated. "This is why you two are so fucked."

You crossed your arms and remained silent.

"Neither of you will talk to the other."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Bullshit." Fangs dismissed. "You like him. He likes you. Discuss."

"Sweet Pea didn’t tell you? I’m just a robot. Nothing to discuss"

"You’re not a robot. You may not like to talk about your feelings, but it doesn't change the fact that you have them."

You felt indignant. At least you tried to hold onto that feeling even as your chin began to quiver. Fangs' shoulders dropped as he stared at you, taking a few steps closer.

“It’s not fair.” Your voice came out petulant and broken. “Why do I have to forgive him and get over it, and he gets to do whatever he wants. He ignored me for months but I can’t do it for like three weeks?”

“Are you really that petty?”

“Yes," you answered. “I don’t know.”

“Talk to him, y/n. Tell him about the day you went to Sweetwater River.”

“No. Never.”

“Then don’t. Just stop making me watch whatever this is,” he said, and with that he turned around and left you standing in the middle of the hallway.

You got fairly good at avoiding both Sweet Pea and Fangs after that. If anything, the confrontation with Fangs was a reminder of why it was always better to be by yourself. Even friends got too annoyingly involved for their own good. Analyzing you. Evaluating your emotions and your actions. Eventually everyone expected too much out of you.

And you didn't need that bullshit.

What you needed was to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and carry on without them. Like always. Show them you didn't need their approval. You didn't need their advice. You didn't need their presence in your life.

You were happy alone.

You were fine alone.

You would be ok alone

As soon as you showed them you didn't need them.

And that was exactly the opportunity presented to you by Veronica Lodge's invitation to attend her new speakeasy's opening night. It was also the reason you got dressed up as requested and put more than a minuscule effort into your appearance for once in your life. Because you wanted them to see that you were thriving own your own. And he could just eat his heart out that he had to live without you from now on. They. You meant they.

You pulled yourself from your thoughts, instead focusing on the details of the room around you. At how absolutely fabulous everything looked. The old-fashioned lighting. The velvet curtained stage. The classmates dressed in dazzling clothes. Everything exuded charm and class, and it was easy to lose yourself in the time capsule.

"Hey."

You turned to face the person who greeted you, ignoring the lurch in your stomach that you wished would vanish.

Sweet Pea stood there, hands in his pockets, staring down at you. He was dressed head to toe in black, his silky button-up shirt rolled up to his elbows and arms decked out with the usual bracelets he never took off. You couldn't help but notice the absence of his dog tags and wondered if he tucked them in for the night or left them at home. You hated yourself for noticing.

"Hey," you greeted softly, and he stepped closer, and now you couldn't help but notice that despite the fact he dressed up his hair was still a tousled mess, falling over his forehead in random curls.

Dammit.

"I didn't think I you'd come to this thing," he said with an exhale, stopping a few feet away.

"Why not? I like mocktails and music," you shrugged, swirling your own mocktail in your hand as if the action gave more authenticity to your words.

"Josie's singing," he answered simply. It took everything in you to keep eye contact.

"So?"

"I didn't think you liked her."

You shrugged, taking a careful sip of your drink. "I don't have any problems with Josie."

"Then why were you on my shit about this summer?" his eyes narrowed.

"Because it wasn't particularly fun being blown off all summer regardless of you were spending time with," you answered, tightly.

Sweet Pea crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow. "What happened to you like being alone?"

You paused, and his eyes glittered with triumph. Inside your chest, your heart constricted as if it recognized defeat as well, and the only honorable way out was through a sudden heart attack and death.

"Fuck this," you muttered, placing your drink on the bar and brushing past him to dart up the stairs.

He followed, pushing people out of the way in his haste to catch up to you. "Can you stop leaving every conversation I try to have with you?" he called at your back as the two of you rushed through Pop's and out the front doors.

You stopped and spun. "Why? There's nothing to talk about. I thought we'd hang out this summer; we didn't. Obviously we're not as close as I thought. We're on the same page now."

"Why are you so mad about this?" he shouted, stopping a few feet away from you.

"Why are you so mad I'm ignoring you now?" you returned, watching people scramble to get out of their cars and speed walk inside. As if they were running away from a bomb they knew was about to explode. Which might be appropriate.

"Because it doesn't make any fucking sense!" he held out his hands as if he wanted to strangle you but instead curled them into fists and shook a little.

"I missed you, you dumbass!" You blurted out, chest heaving as you stared at him. He took the confession in the same way you imagined he'd take a punch. A look of shock passed over his face as he stepped back towards Pop's and then seemed to regain his balance and took a step forward. Your shoulders dropped as the anger seemed to drain from you, leaving you with all of the feelings you'd been so careful to push down. "All summer. I missed you. And you didn't miss me because you had her," you continued softly.

"What?" He asked trying to follow your words as your face heated up like it was on fire, and you felt like you wanted to cry or throw up or explode into tiny bits. You pressed your lips together, trying to keep it in, keep it down. You offered a jerky shrug. "So what was this all some kind of revenge?"

You shook your head.

"Then why the hell were you ignoring me if you missed me?"

You looked away from him.

"Dammit, Y/N!" he shouted, and you turned back to him.

And in the next second you darted forwards swiftly putting a hand on his shoulder to help launch yourself up, standing on your tiptoes and leaning into him, pressing your lips to his. His hands caught your waist, almost reflexively, supporting you even though his lips didn't move. Didn't press into yours. Didn't open. Didn't do anything.

You pulled back, sinking down onto your heels. Sweet Pea didn't say anything. Or move his hands. Instead he looked down at you with an eyebrow quirked.

You had thought---You swallowed the thought, pushing it down with the other ones, and letting the feeling that you had taken a bad situation and fucked it up even more wash over you. Fucking feelings. Your lips moved, trying to make any sort of words, but every time you attempted to say something your voice caught in your throat. "I can't--" you finally whispered, attempting to take a step back and out of Sweet Pea's grasp, but his hands tightened on your hips.

His face still seemed angry. Maybe even more now than before you had kissed him. "You've been avoiding me because you have feelings for me?"

You looked down at your feet.

"How long?"

You shook your head.

"How long?" His voice was slightly angrier, and he gently shook you by your waist.

"Since we set off the rockets in class," you whispered, still refusing to meet his eye.

He exhaled a disbelieving kind of laugh. "And you let me feel like an ass for liking you? And then again for having a summer fling so I could move on from you since you were clearly not interested?"

It would have been nice if you could tell him that you had no idea he liked you. Tell him that you hadn't purposefully distanced yourself and tried to make it seem like you weren't interested. That you hadn't convinced yourself you weren't interested. Because then you wouldn't have felt like such shit in this moment.

"I'm sorry." Your voice was still quiet. "I wanted to save you from this."

"This?"

"Me. Being a disaster who can't feelings. This always happens. It's why I blew up a lab. It's why I'm alone. I'm broken, ok? Just let me avoid you, and you'll be better off."

"No." Sweet Pea said quietly, pulling you closer to him.

"No?" Your voice came out smaller than you wanted it to.

"Not this time. No," he shook his head.

"It'll just get worse."

"We'll work it out."

You felt the familiar claustrophobic panic rise in your chest. The one from the way he looked at you the first time you set off an explosion by the quarry. The one that had taken hold of you at the lake while you were gazing at stars with him all those months ago. You looked up into his eyes and found them fixated on you, and it all felt like too much. The fact that he knew you liked him. And he liked you. And you guys would be in a relationship. Together. And how could a robot like you ever deserve someone like him or even come close to making him feel as happy as you did when the two of you were running away from a soda bottle that was about to explode.

But the promise of more moments like those and not having to see him with someone else, the knowledge that to some extent he hated not being with you too, the feeling of having him stand close to you with his hands firmly on your body. Those things would be enough to push through this moment and maybe even the next.

"Ok," you whispered, looking up at him.

"Good," he nodded, bending over and capturing your lips into his. And it felt like bottle rockets. Not the thrill of setting one off and waiting too long to run away, but as if you were the water bottle expanding and expanding, full of longing and anxiety and happiness and other emotions you weren't sure the names of, and now, kissing Sweet Pea, you were exploding into a billion pieces, feeling everything all at once and enjoying every second of it.

#sweet pea x reader #sweet pea x you #sweet pea imagine #sweet pea #riverdale #riverdale imagine #sweet pea fic #riverdale fic #sweet pea fanfiction #riverdale fanfiction #cw riverdale #sweet pea imagines #sweet pea fics #sweet pea fanfic #riverdale fanfic

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schrijverr · 4 years

Text

A hunter and his angel

Dean and Cas rescue a woman from a vamp nest. For her perspective they’re the strangest duo she has ever met.

On AO3.

Ships: Dean x Cas

Warnings: Canon level of violence against vampires

~~~~~~~~`~~~

Rachel was freaking out, she had been held hostage by maniacs for days and she wasn’t sure the maniacs were even human. They called themselves vampires and she had seen the fangs as they fed on her, but really, vampires? That would shake her world view a bit too much to think about right now.

But back to why she was freaking out, besides the vampires and the kidnapping of course. She was freaking out because two guys had just burst into the room and started hacking the shit out of her attackers.

Rachel wanted them to win, to get her out, but as she was looking she was fearing more and more for herself.

The two men were tall, one had hazel hair and the other hair so brown it was almost black. The hazel haired one had bow legs, but he moved with grace as he was beheading the “nest”. Yes, beheading, it was disgusting with blood spewing around everywhere. The dark haired one was slightly shorter than his friend, but his piercing blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he swirled his blade around effortlessly.

One by one the kidnappers dropped until there were four left. Hazel had just beheaded one, but in the process he had dropped his blade and before he could pick it up the next one was on him and driving him backwards.

He looked at his partner, who had beheaded one of them with the other too far away to be an immediate threat, and yelled: “Cas, knife!”

Dark hair, Cas apparently, turned and quickly threw the knife. Without breaking eye contact with his attacker he caught it and slashed the dude’s head off.

After that, he looked around with a smug grin on his face, not seeing the last one creep up behind him. Rachel wanted to scream at him, but she was gagged. He saw her distress and quickly turned around, but it was to late. The man had set his teeth into Hazel and was pushing him backwards.

“Dean” a cry pierced through the air. And Rachel distantly thought, huh, so that’s his name

Then Cas was sprinting through the room. Dean saw him coming and flashed the other a quick smile, despite the pain he must be in, before closing his eyes.

Cas had reached him and put his hand on the back of the attackers head. Rachel was just wondering what he wanted to accomplish with that when it started to glow. The man screamed in agony and fell to the ground with a loud thunk, his face turned to Rachel and she saw that his eyes were burned out.

The two men didn’t seem to care as Cas cupped Deans cheek and locked eyes with the other. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Cas hand glowed again and he pressed it against the still bleeding neck wound. When he removed his hand the wound was gone. Dean softly whispered: “Thanks, angel.”

“No problem, Dean.” Cas answered.

Then Dean broke away from him and walked over to Rachel. He squatted in front of him and she noticed the light freckles poking through the blood on his face and his beautiful green eyes. Cas came up beside him and lightly touched her forehead, somehow making her feel much better with the light touch. Dean started untying her as he said: “My name is Dean, this is Castiel. What’s yours?”

Stunned she answered: “Rachel, Rachel Dare.”

“Good job.” Dean said, taking care of the last knot, “We’re here to save you. It’s okay, just relax and we’ll get you out of here.”

Rachel nodded and answered: “What the hell just happened?”

“I’m gonna sound crazy, but vampires.” Dean said, “This nest of pesky little fuckers likes to have one feeder, so they’ll be less noticeable. Me and Cas only caught wind of them, because one of them went rogue and on a murder spree. We tracked him here, been in the forest for days, trying to find this God damned nest.”

“Don’t take my fathers name in vain, Dean.” the other piped in.

Dean rolled his eyes and said: “Yeah, yeah, whatever angel.”

Rachel chocked on her spit, connecting the comment and the pet name, and repeated: “Angel?”

“Oh, yeah. Vampires aren’t the only thing that’s new.” Dean said lightly, “Anyway, the way back to civilization is two days by foot. Are you good to walk or do you need to be carried?”

Rachel wasn’t really paying attention, because she was still trying to work through Deans comment about the supernatural. Dean seemed to notice and he said: “Just say when you’re ready to get out, okay. We’ll be over there.”

He pointed to the kitchen and moved out of view, dragging the other man along with a soft: “Just let her cope for a second, dude.”

When she looked up again, she saw Castiel and Dean dragging the bodies and heads outside and pile them up. She followed them with her eyes as they searched the house for lighter fluid and set the pile of bodies on fire. They moved in a casual manner, with an ease that scream familiarity with the actions. Rachel shivered as she thought about what that might mean for her.

When the pile was burning steadily she got of the chair and walked over to the two and asked: “Why did you do it? Come to save me, I mean?”

Both pinned her down with their gazes, but while Castiel just stared at her with confusion, Dean answered her question: “Because that’s our job. We hunt things that go bump in the night, that’s just our life.”

“You and an angel?” Rachel asked, not really convinced.

“Well, my brother as well, but this was an us trip. He was going to catalog the entire library, I mean who wants to do that in their free time?” Dean said with a fond smile on his lips.

Rachel just nodded, kind of weirded out by Dean. She turned to Castiel and asked: “Why would an angel come to back you up?”

Castiel opened his mouth for the first time since his scream, his voice was low and gravelly: “Because this idiot needs it if he wants to survive.”

“Dude, I had already twenty nine years of surviving without you, I was managing just fine.” Dean said in an offended voice.

Tiredly Castiel replied: “You were in Hell, Dean. I don’t consider that “managing just fine”.”

Dean ignored the comment as he exclaimed: “You did the air quotes right!”

That made Castiel grin with pride and Rachel was blown away by the duality of the two men in front of her. If she forgot about the blood on their faces, she could almost forget that they were chopping off heads fifteen minutes ago.

Dean and Castiel had already fallen back into casual conversation when she mentally checked back into reality. Dean took her being back into her awareness as a sign that they could get moving to get the Hell out of there.

As they walked Dean explained more about what had happened and the supernatural, he was a pleasant conversation partner and his lightheartedness kept her thoughts away from the horrors she had endured.

Castiel on the other hand was more of an enigma. He was content with being quiet and just adding some commentary where he saw fit, like cutting down on Deans descriptions of his own badass-ery and telling her something that seemed more truthful. Other than that he kept staring at Dean, with an intensity so strong that Rachel wondered how Dean couldn’t not notice or ignore it.

After an hour of walking Rachel was too tired, a combination of blood loss, lack of sleep and adrenaline wearing off putting her down. It was still light out and Dean and Castiel knew they couldn’t afford to stop, so without a complaint Castiel heaved her on his back and marched on.

Rachel awkwardly asked: “Don’t you mind carrying me, Castiel?”

“Not a problem.” Castiel replied, “And call me Cas.”

Dean now leaned into her sight with a shit eating grin and giddily said: “Angel strength, isn’t it awesome!”

After a few more miles passed beneath their feet and the sun had started setting, they decided to call it a night and set up camp. They built a small campfire and Dean pulled a bag of beef jerky out the duffel bag he had been carrying. He shared it with her, but Cas didn’t eat a bite.

Dean offered her his jacket to stay warm and Rachel protested: “I can’t take that, you saved me. I can manage a bit of cold, you can have it and stay warm.”

Dean smiled gently at her and with a nod to Cas he said: “I have my own heat source, don’t worry about me.”

Rachel raised her brows as her eyes flicked between Cas and Dean. She never would have pegged them to be that kinda guy, but it explained the staring and the cheek caressing. So, she accepted the jacket and relaxed.

Cas had made himself comfortable against a tree trunk and smiled at Dean as he settled down next to him. Dean asked: “You’re gonna be okay with being the look out?”

“I do not require sleep and I can see in the dark, I think I can manage.” Cas replied.

“Okay, just checking.” Dean said and laid down against Cas, he then complained: “Ugh, I’m all dirty and grime-y.”

“I can fix that, you know.” Cas said while raising two fingers.

Dean waved him away and said: “Dude, no. You don’t know how good it feels to shower all this shit off, besides I’m gonna get dirty again tomorrow, so it won’t matter either way.”

“If you say so.” Cas shrugged.

“I do say so.” Dean said and snuggled into Cas’s side, the angel rolled his eyes and swung his arm over Deans shoulders and carded his other hand through the short hairs, lulling the hunter to sleep.

Rachel smiled to herself throughout the interaction. These two men were so weird, first they were cutting off heads, then they were snarking at each other and arguing over little stuff, while still looking at each other like they hung the moon in the sky and now these two badasses were honest to God cuddling on the forest ground.

She might have been saved by weirdos, but they were cute adorable weirdos, who made her believe in love a bit. With a smile still on her lips she fell asleep.

The next morning she was woken by Cas shaking her shoulder. He asked her how she was feeling and she replied honestly that she was feeling much better than yesterday. Cas nodded at that, face still impassive that didn’t really change unless it was Dean, but with a kind voice he said: “That is good to hear.”

Dean fed her a bit more beef jerky and some M&Ms he had found in his bag. Then they were moving again. Dean complained that they didn’t have any coffee and Cas shot back that Dean had drank it all, so he shouldn’t complain.

The rest of the journey continued like that. Dean would make a comment, Cas would react with a mix of fond and annoyed replies or Dean would start a conversation about something random, completely out of the blue, mostly dragging Rachel into a discussion of some sort.

By the time the shadows became longer a parking lot came into view with as only occupant a big black muscle car. When Dean spotted, his face lit up and he exclaimed: “Baby! I have missed you. Are you okay?”

He checked over the car and Rachel chuckled to herself, of course Dean would love his car and talk to it. Beside her Castiel said: “You laugh, but try having to explain to him that it wasn’t your fault that someone else busted her tail light while you were out getting groceries.”

That made Rachel laugh more, which seemed to please Cas. Meanwhile Dean had concluded that there was nothing wrong with his car and ushered them all in, with Cas riding shotgun.

When they pulled onto the highway Dean said: “Cas already healed you, but if you want to get checked over we can drop you off at the hospital. Otherwise we can bring you home or to a family member.”

Rachel though about and said: “Can you drop me off at my parents place? They live a few miles from here.”

“No problem, just tell me where to go.” Dean answered.

It was quiet for a few seconds, then Rachel suddenly asked: “What do I tell anyone? Do I go to the police?”

Dean cringed at the mention of the police and said: “I’d rather you don’t go to the police. Otherwise just say you got kidnapped, but one had mercy or something. He freed you and you ran. You found the motorway and a nice couple picked you up and brought you home. You can’t really recall what they looked like, because of the shock and you don’t know what kind of car it was, just that it was black.”

Rachel raised a brow and said: “You came up with that just a bit too fast.”

Dean shrugged and said: “Lifetime of practice.”

They lapsed into silence once more and before Rachel knew it they were sitting in front of her childhood home. Dean opened her door for her, Cas right behind him. Rachel gave them both a quick hug and whispered: “Thank you for saving me. Take care of yourselves.”

Dean put his hand on her shoulder and said: “We will, you too. I know this is hard, but you lived, make the most of it.”

Both got back into the car and as Rachel walked away she could hear Dean say: “That was a job well done, I’d say. Now, how about we celebrate by taking a shower and maybe putting you angel strength to good use in there, if you know what I mean.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, but smiled. She wasn’t okay, but she was going to be. She looked over her shoulder one last time, waving goodbye at the weirdest duo she had ever met. They waved back and waited while she rang the bell, only speeding away once the door had opened and her mother had pulled Rachel inside.

#RR writing #Destiel #POV outsider #OC #dean winchester #castiel/dean #dean x castiel #castiel #cas #supernatural #SPN #spn fanfic #vampires #case fic

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yandere-daydreams · 5 years

Note

Can we have more about the Alice in Wonderland BNHA au pls

I love me some lore, so this is what you get for not being specific. Here’s the original post, and just for clarification, a ‘guide’ is just what I’m calling the people who ‘take care of’ Alices.

“Your ears are so ugly,” The girl whispered, keeping you pressed into her chest with an arm around her waist, her free hand running along the shell of your ear. She pinched it gently, and you did you best not to flinch. She seemed so excited when she was chasing you through the woods earlier… you didn’t want to see that smile again. “I could cut them off for you. You’d be much cuter without them.”

In front of you, Katsuki took a deep breath, fingers automatically falling to the loose chain of his pocket watch. You’d gotten used to him fidgeting with it whenever something got on his nerves, despite the clock haven broken ages ago. His ears (two long, pointing appendages that looked unnervingly soft) twitched, and the Chesire’s ears flattened against her scalp. “No ones cutting off anything, you freak.” He grabbed your hand, trying to drag you out of the unwelcomed embrace. “I found it first, and I’m not letting you carve anyone’s heart out again, Toga.”

Toga just pouted, grudgingly releasing you. Despite her submission, you couldn’t find any comfort in the new-found freedom. Instead, you twisted around to face her, letting Katuski pull you into his chest. “Wait, you do what to people’s hearts?”

“I take them.” The words were said so casually, it was hard to believe that they came from another human. Then again, you were starting to doubt that anyone in this hell-scape was anything close to ‘human’. “I sell them, mostly. Sometimes I give them to my friends, but no one seems to appreciate my gifts. I’m sure you would, though. Wouldn’t you?”

“I… I’m good, thanks,” You stuttered out, attempting to pull the White Rabbit down the narrow, forest path. Unfortunately, Toga didn’t seem to like that, appearing between you and your chosen protector. Stumbling back, you tried to keep a distance between yourself and Toga, her grin only widening as your attempt to escape became more desperate. “That’s not very nice,” She started, reaching out towards you. Of course, you did your best to avoid her, wary of the claws that seemed to emerge from her knuckles. “I might forgive you, if you ditch the Rabbit and come play with me. We’ll have so much fun, and I can teach you how to really enjoy Wonderland. It’s all so lovely, once you let-”

Katsuki growled, grabbing Toga’s collar and wrenching her away from your shaking form. “That’s enough. This one’s mine, and either you’re going to keep your tail between your legs and make a run for it, or I’m going to tell Midoryia where his favorite pin-cushion’s been hiding.”

Toga glared, digging her nails into Katuski’s wrist. “You wouldn’t. Aren’t we here to help each other, Bunny? Guide to guide?”

“You stopped ‘guiding’ when you starting cutting-up your Alices.” His voice was cold, colder than you’d ever heard it. Usually, Katsuki was always annoyed, but this was something more justified than his complaints about being late, or the petty disagreements he got into so often. This was something he could get violent over, actually violent. Toga seemed to notice too, baring her fangs as she averted her eyes. She dissolved into the air a seconds later, leaving you alone with the enraged blonde.

“What did I say about talking to strangers?” He asked, gritted teeth muffling his words. You bowed your head, not wanting to hear the same lecture again. But, that didn’t stop Katsuki. It never seemed to, honestly. “Everyone here is dangerous, they’ll kill you just for the hell of it. And you wear your… origins so openly, it’s like your begging for someone to come along and murder you. If I wasn’t here, you’d already be disemboweled, or beheaded, or worse.”

“What am I supposed to do? Just stand around and let people threaten me?” You didn’t mean for your voice to be so loud, but it was already too late. Katsuki gaze focused in on you, his hand cupping your chin before you could pull away. His nails weren’t as sharp as Toga’s, but it was still a threat. A rather effective one, at that. “Yes. You’re going to shut up and stay behind me. Whenever someone opens their fucking mouth, just run for it.”

Without thinking, you attempted to slap his hand away, but Katsuki just tightened his hold. You could feel blood dripping down your chin, pooling onto your chest, but Katsuki didn’t let-up. If anything, he only dug the short claws in deeper. “I’m the only thing keeping you alive, understand? And you better be grateful for it.”

“I get it! I don’t know what I’d do without you!” The words came out in a panicked, frenzy haze, with Katsuki seeming less than impressed, but all you cared about was getting him to calm down. Still, he took your hand, hauling you forward with a renewed urgency. “C’mon. We’re getting you home before that crazy bitch comes back. And don’t go anywhere without me, again.”

The temptation to run, or refuse, or do anything that might prevent further injury only grew as Katsuki tugged you forward. But… you really, really didn’t want to die. And as long as Katsuki didn’t threaten to slit your throat, he would be lesser of many evils. So, you took a deep breath, ignoring the throbbing in your cheek and taking your place by Katsuki’s side. It’s where he liked you. Nice and calm, where he could see you.

He’d keep you safe, for now. At least until you found someone more rational.

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aweebwrites · 5 years

Text

Nightwalker

“Jay's a little late, isn't he?” Cole says once Kai walked up next to him out in the training yard at the Monastery, the equipment put away for the day.

“He's not usually late…” Kai says with a frown. “Especially since he's just visiting his parents…”

“Maybe we should go look for him. It's getting dark…” Cole suggesting, noticing the sky turning orange.

“We can't exactly do that. He has the only vehicle not in the shop…” Kai reminded him.

“Crap. That idiot better have not gotten himself into any trouble…” Cole huffed, crossing his arms.

He was trying to act casual but Kai knew he was just as worried as he was.

“Dinner is ready.” They glanced behind them to see Zane taking off another of his countless floral aprons.

“Let's go.” Kai says, patting Cole's shoulder before they both headed in.

“No word from Jay?” Zane asked Kai as he walked beside him.

“Nothing yet. Let's just hope it's his parents holding him back…” Kai whispered, taking his seat next to Nya.

__________________

Jay groaned as he came to, his ears ringing and his head throbbing. And what was that god awful taste in his mouth? He sat up slowly, noticing that his body was pretty sore.

“Ugh… What happened?” He groaned, holding his head.

He looked around, noticing that there was something everywhere. The desert? Why was he out here? Where are the others? He heard a snap and quickly spun around- only to gawk at the mess of twisted metal that looked suspiciously like the Earth Driller.

Cole's gonna be sooo mad!

He froze, realising something. The Earth Driller was completely totaled, the front was an utter mess, smashed into a large, sandy boulder. There was no way he could have survived that! Did he jump out? He got to his feet and spotted the tracks in the sand smeared with a sickening amount of blood to… Where he was standing. Someone dragged him out of that wreckage. But- He was completely fine!

“This doesn't make sense!” Jay yelled, a little freaked out now. “Ok, ok. Let me stop and think. How do I crash?” He mumbled to himself, thinking back.

That's right. He was leaving his parents’ place after an over extended visit. He was jamming to Cole's tunes, speeding down the empty road- why did he think speeding was a good idea?- When… Someone walked into the road! He remembered swerving violently to not run them over and the headlights showed that massive boulder then nothing. No… Not nothing… He remembers being in a lot of pain, thinking he was going to die and then…

Someone tore into the side of the Earth Driller… With their bare hands. He thinks he passed out from the pain but when he came to, he was laying on the ground with someone hovering over him. He blacked out again and now just woke up. He reached up and touched his shoulder that felt weird, pulling his hand away immediately once he felt coagulated and hardened blood.

“Gross…” He grimaced, looking at his hand that had light smears of blood on it.

Now that he looked at himself, his gi was in shreds around his arms and legs. The stomach and chest area had a few major and minor rips too. And every visible part of him was covered with blood. Ok. Priorities: something freaky happened to him and he wasn't too keen to stick around any longer trying to figure out just what. He could walk back to his parents’ place and give them a heart attack looking like he did or, he could start the trek back to the Monastery and give his friends a fright.

They were likely to take the news better.

And so, Jay began speed walking away from the scene of the accident as fast as he could, heading towards the Monastery, the stars keeping him company.

___________

When he finally made it back, it was with confusion looking down at the very long, hiding steps down. Usually, he would feel tired just looking at it but here he was, having speed walked and climbed all the way to the Monastery without being slightly winded, without breaking a sweat!

“I hope Zane can explain what's going on…” He murmured before pushing the- usually very heavy but now light- gates opened.

“Jay!” He grinned to see his family suited up and ready to look for him it appears.

“Wait- what happened to you? You're hurt?” Nya asked, looking him over.

“I was.” Jay says, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Something really weird happened earlier…”

“Does it explain why your eyes are reflective?” Zane asked and now that he was paying attention, they were all looking at him warily.

“Reflective?” Jay whispered, reaching up to touch under his eyes. “I don't know for sure- look, let me just tell you guys what happened.” He says and they nodded.

“So I was driving the Earth Driller back from my parents when someone walked into the road. I had to swerve out of the way since I was going too fast and I crashed. Earth Driller? Totaled-”

“You wrecked my Driller?!” Cole yelled and Jay hushed him.

“That isn't even the craziest part! I was pretty hurt! Like, not gonna make it hurt and someone ripped open the door with their bare hands and pulled me out. I blacked out from the pain but when I woke up, I was all healed!” He yelled and Sensei Wu approached, looking him over with a hum.

“Can you recall what the person looked like?” Wu asked him.

“No. But they had long hair. Probably a girl. I'm not sure. They never actually spoke and they were gone when I came to.” Jay says, thinking back.

“This is the reason why you shouldn't shouldn't speed.” Zane lectured, torn between smacking him upside the head and hugging him tight.

“I'm just glad you're alive.” Kai says, relieved.

“You're an idiot, you know that?” Cole grinned as they walked over to where he was.

“I would hug you but you're making the rest of me turn green.” Lloyd says with a grimace at all the carnage he was covered in still.

“Take a bath so I can kick your ass for being so reckless.” Nya ordered, looking him over with a grimace.

“Alright, alright. I need one anyway. Imagine how it all feels.” Jay says then shuddered before heading into the Monastery, grimacing at the feeling of dried and partially dry blood all over.

“What do you think happened Sensei?” Nya asked as said Sensei watched him go.

“I cannot say for sure without further inspection.” Wu ssys, stroking his beard in thought.

“For now, I'm just glad someone saved him.” Kai says quietly before heading in after him.

They all shared a look before heading in too.

______________

“Huh. I'm still thirsty…” Jay says with a frown after finishing his 10th bottle of water.

“Drinking more water isn't recommended. Your cells will start to explode.” Zane advised from the couch, watching him.

They all were. While they had no doubt this was their Jay (each of them casually tested him without him realising it) but they don't know for sure what was done to him… Or what he was made into.

“I guess.” Jay says, looking over the bottle before dumping it. “I guess this has something to do with- ow!” He yelped, cutting himself off and everyone went on alert.

“My pongue!” He yelled, sticking out his bleeding tongue.

“Motormouth. Your tongue can't keep up.” Cole huffed, patting his back as he walked by.

“I'm no- huh?” Jay was confused.

“What is it?” Kai asked from beside Zane.

“My tongue… It's all healed.” He says after rubbing it against his teeth. “And since when did I have fangs?” He whispered, reaching up to prod it before wincing and pulling back his cut finger.

He watched as a drop of blood rolled down his finger, his eyes fixed on the small puncture wound that healed before his eyes.

“Cool! Super healing!” He grinned, his fangs glinting as he did.

“I wonder what other surprises you have for us.” Lloyd commented, resting his chin in his palm.

_______________

“Jay! Jay get up already!” Jay groaned as he rolled over on his bed, pulling the sheets up over his head even further, trying to block Cole's thunderous voice. “Jay! For the love of-” Angry footsteps sounded but Jay was too groggy to care.

“Jay. Get up. You need to take us to where you crashed the Earth Driller.” Cole says irritably as he tapped his foot impatiently.

“Fine! JEEZE!” Jay yelled, throwing the sheets back and hissing at the brightness of day. “Ow, bad idea…” He groaned, rubbing his eyes.

He then slid out of bed, yawning as he kept rubbing his eyes.

“M’ thirsty…” He mumbled, dragging his feet to the bathroom, Cole watching him go with a wary expression.

He actually hissed. Like cat hiss.

I should let Sensei Wu know…

______________

“Where's Jay?” Zane asked once Cole walked out to where everyone else was.

“On his way out. He actually hissed earlier. Like cat hiss.” Cole told them and Wu hummed in consideration.

“Alright. I'm here.” Jay says as he walked towards the door, wearing one of Kai's sunglasses to stave off the light burning his eyes.

“Hey! What do you think you're doing in my shades?!” Kai yelled at him as he stepped out.

“Cool it hot hea-” Jay reared back suddenly, hissing as he scrambled back into the shade, his hands red and severely irritated.

“What the heck?!” Kai yelled as they all rushed over to him.

“Jay, are you ok?” Nya asked as Jay looked at his burnt hands that were already regenerating in horror, the sunglasses sliding off his face.

“Yeah… But I think I figured out what that person did to me.” He says, looking up at them with red, slitted eyes.

__________________

“Vampire. Are you kidding me?” That was Kai, pacing back and forth.

“It makes sense.” Lloyd spoke up from his place leaned against the wall. “The eyes, the fangs, the healing. The most obvious thing is how he's always thirsty and of course: the sun.” He pointed out.

“But vampires don't exist!” Kai yelled, flipping down into the couch next to Nya and Zane.

“You did say that about the Serpentine and they did turn out to be real.” Nya pointed out.

“Look, Sensei Wu's checking his sources or whatever. When he's done, we'll know for sure. Right now, we should probably scan the route to Jay's parents for the Earth Driller before someone sees it.” Cole says, crossing his arms.

“Cole's right. Nya and I will go look for it.” Lloyd says, leaning off the wall. “You three… try to talk to Jay.” He says, glancing towards their room Jay chose to hole himself in before heading out after Nya.

“Rock paper scissors?” Kai suggested.

“How about we all go.” Zane says as he stood, ushering them towards their room.

“Go away.” Jay says before they even reached the door, looking down at his completely healed hands.

“Not gonna happen.” Cole says, sliding the door open, looking at Jay who was sitting in the far corner of the room on the ground.

“You guys don't get it.” Jay says with a frown, squeezing his hands into tight fists. “It's not even that I can't go out into the sun anymore. The abilities are cool and whatever but I'm dangerous! I'm so thirsty and it's only getting worse! Zane's safe but you guys and the others? Not so much.” He whispered the last bit.

“We don't know that for sure.” Zane pointed out. “What you may need might not be blood. And even if it was, Ninjago has a few blood banks we can visit.”

“Plus, I don't mind giving a few CCs of blood for a good cause.” Kai shrugged.

“Yeah. We've got your back. Vampire or not.” Cole says with a grin, sitting across from him, Kai and Zane following suit.

Jay looked up at them with large red eyes.

“Really?” He whispered, hopeful.

“Of course. We will always be brothers, no matter what.” Zane nods and Jay smiled a little.

______________

“The correct term is Nightwalker since these creatures are adept to nocturnal hunting.” Wu says, walking into their room some time later, a scroll in hand. “They originated from the Dark Island before it sunk but their numbers have always been few. To keep their species alive, they sometimes infect a human through blood. They indeed feed off of blood.” He informed them and Jay friends.

“But, the blood of animals is a good alternative. They- and in extension you- would need significantly more to control the thirst. A week without a meal and your Nightwalker instincts will make you feral.” Wu continued and they all gasped. “But we will not let that happen. The good news is immunity to the sun comes with time. In about two weeks or so, you will be able to walk outside as you please without getting burned.” He says, closing the scroll.

“Well. That isn't too bad.” Jay says, sounding and looking unsure. “Any uh… Any chance of me getting a meal soon?” He asked shyly.

“Right here.” Cole says, rolling up his sleeve and Jay looked at him alarmed.

“It's fine.” Wu approved. “You are able to get full after all. Roughly half a pint every day and you will be fine.”

“Half a pint? That's doable. Come on Jay.” Cole urged, sticking his wrist out to him.

“Well… If you think it's ok…” Jay unsurely, reaching out to take his worst, shifting closer.

He could hear his heart beating and he wasn't afraid, surprisingly. He leaned down and sniffed at his wrist for reasons beyond him before baring his longer fangs. A quick look at Cole and a nod made him move forward, sinking his fangs into his skin. Blood welled up into his mouth and- oh wow. It's really good… He drank eagerly, feeling the thirst starting to ebb away with more of the warm liquid flowing down his throat.

Cole watched along with everyone else, the initial pain fading into a feeling that made him feel warm and a little fuzzy. It wasn't as bad as he expected... Soon, Jay pulled his fangs back, swiping his tongue over the wound, making Cole blush as he did. Once he moved away, Cole could clearly see the two tiny pinpricks on his wrist, so small, they most likely won't even scar.

“Did it hurt?” Zane questioned, curiously.

“At first. Then it just felt… I dunno. I just felt warm all over.” He shrugged.

He still does actually.

“Thanks Cole.” Jay says with a small smile, eyes blue again but still slitted.

“Hey, it's no problem.” Cole grinned just as Lloyd and Nya returned.

“The Driller has already been towed. We spotted the tow company bringing it into Ninjago on the way. It looked gruesome." Lloyd says with a grimace as they walked in.

"What did we miss?” Nya asked with an arched brow, noticing the small gathering in their room.

“Quite a few things….” Zane says then began to fill them in.

Jay didn't care what Sensei Wu said. He's sticking with Vampire.

_________________

(It's hecking late but I managed to get a fic out! It was so hard picking one of the bajillion ideas I had. I might throw out some hcs for this and make it a series tbh. It might get shippy because I'm polyninja trash. Hope you enjoyed this Jay themed fic!)

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redhairdontcare732 · 6 years

Text

That Laugh: Fangs Fogarty x Jones! OC

Author's note: Short little blurb I couldn't get out of my head this weekend! Thanks to everyone who noted or liked the Riot Night from Hell two shots! It meant so much to me, and I was blown away by the response!

Fangs’ POV:

It was official, I was out of my goddamn mind.

Currently, I was watching the gorgeous dark haired beauty that I was fortunate enough to have been able to call my girlfriend for the last few months stand against the lockers at Riverdale High and laugh. My hands clenched unintentionally into fists as I saw her head fall back as she giggled her sweetest giggle, wavy jet-black locks cascading over her slender shoulders as she did so. Ordinarily, the sight of Jean Jones laughing would bring me nothing but joy, and normally I would feel a sense of pride like none other as I watched my mamita’s strong features break into that face-splitting grin that made me fall for her in the first place. But this time was different.

Namely, because I wasn’t the one making her laugh.

No, I was standing a few feet away with Sweet Pea and watching some Northside asshole lean in way too close to my girl, both with large smiles etched on their faces as Jean laughed. I felt my face heat up with a jealous flush as I listened carefully. Dating, and knowing, Jean for as I had, I knew every single one of her laughs. There was the little unintentional giggle that she had when a comment caught her off guard, her usual low chuckle that was usually directed at either Archie or Jughead, the adorable little snort thing she did when she was skeptical or sarcastic, the sweet giggle that indicated her slight embarrassment (usually when I flirted too openly in front of the gang); all were perfectly suited to her strong yet laid-back personality, and I treasured them all. However, there was one laugh that was by and large my favorite. It was the laugh that caused her grin to widen so far that her face looked as if it could break in half from the force and her entire body to shake slightly with it’s intensity. It was a loud, boisterous laugh of pure joy, and it was the only one where Jean actually let loose. Normally, she would either cover her grin with her hand or give a closed mouth smile when laughing; Jean’s front teeth were slightly crooked, and she was incredibly self conscious about them. No matter how many times I expressed how little those mattered, or how they didn’t actually look like she thought, she still covered them out of either habit or embarrassment. But when she laughed that special, forceful laugh she often forgot about her insecurity. It was one of the reasons why it was my absolute favorite. It was the laugh that, until now, I thought I was the only one who could coax from the Jones girl’s tough facade. Evidently not, because I was standing five feet away, fuming and watching as some mangy bulldog said something to make my girlfriend laugh that beautiful laugh.

Sweet Pea eyed the pair, eyebrow cocked in curiosity as he placed some books inside his locker. He then looked me up and down before rolling his eyes and sighing.

“Man just go up and talk to her, she’s your fucking girlfriend”, he said with a hint of exasperation. I shook my head, eyes never leaving the pair in question.

“Nah, wouldn’t want to interrupt whatever’s so god-damn funny”, I spat bitterly. Sweet Pea scoffed.

“This coming from the guy who ended up dating Jean only after a jealous fist fight with Chuck Clayton”, he replied sarcastically while slamming his locker shut. I tore my eyes away from Jean long enough to glare at my tall best friend.

“Hey, you and I both know Clayton deserved everything he got”, I retorted. “Besides, that’s not why Jean and I got together”. Pea chuckled.

“Yeah because all that time you spent pining after her from afar was clearly working”, he snorted. I punched his arm, eyeing my best friend with anger. He threw his hands up in surrender before heading down the hall and out of sight.

Sweets just didn’t understand. Everyone knew that Sweet Pea and I were a package deal; we were rarely apart, and I knew that we were seen as a dynamic duo as far as young serpents go. And as a duo there were certain roles that we naturally fell into: Sweet Pea was the tall, brooding asshole and I was the funny, outgoing foil to his personality. True, we both had our fair share of anger issues and sketchy moments (we were in a fucking gang for God’s sake), but everyone pretty much knew that Sweet Pea was the angrier of the two of us. That left me to be the funny one. The goofy one that lightened the mood and kept Pea in line when he needed it. I took my role in stride, and I prided myself on being able to make pretty much anyone laugh. It was like my identity at this point. None of that had really mattered as much to me before Jean though; it was the moment I first made that sexy, adorable girl laugh her most honest laugh that I truly fell for her. I took extreme pride in the fact that I was the only one that I thought could break down her walls enough to get her to laugh like that, and to hear her so casually use it around some Northside fuck was heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. If I didn’t have that, what did I have to offer her? She could be with some rich kid with far less baggage and issues than me.

As I thought more about Jean my anger started to fade and turn into a huge pile of self-loathing. Of course she would leave me for some other guy; I mean like Sweet’s said, I only really got her because she felt sorry for me after I beat up Clayton for her. She probably laughed like that around everyone, I was being delusional when I thought it was only for me. I bit the inside of my cheek thoughtfully, and turned away from her and that guy. I started to walk away, intending to skip the rest of the day in favor of riding my bike until things made more sense, but I was stopped by a familiar set of fingers lacing through mine. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking down slightly to see my girlfriend’s concerned face.

“Fangs? I thought you were going to meet me by my locker after 3rd like always”, she asked gently, confusion evident. I sighed, looking down at my feet as I desperately tried to come up with an excuse. Jean’s soft hand left mine, gentle pads of her fingers reaching upwards to my cheek instead, tenderly pulling my jaw upwards for my eyes to meet hers. Her crystal blue eyes were open wide, appraising my every move with worry evident in the pale, nearly grey irises. I internally groaned.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”, she asked after a while, clearly reading more into my silence than I had intended. I scoffed, taking a page from Sweet Pea’s playbook and deciding to mask the pain I was feeling with an attitude.

“Nothing, I just didn’t want to disturb you over there since you and whats-his-face over their seemed to be hitting it off so well”, I ground out, stepping back and slipping out of her hold, body tense with unspoken frustration. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”, she asked, confusion and concern still dominating her beautiful features. I huffed.

“You know what? Forget it. You were clearly having a freaking riot over there with him, so why don’t you just go ahead and get back to it”, I growled out. My feelings of insecurity and sadness had returned to anger, and I was actually getting pretty pissed. Jean took a step back, looking like she had no idea what I was talking about. I half expected her to slap me, scream at me, lecture me, or some combination of all 3, but to my extreme shock she did something I’d never seen coming.

She laughed.

And not just any laugh, my laugh. The laugh that still made my face flush lightly whenever I heard it and caused my legs to go a little wobbly. Her full on, ear splitting, belly laugh. Now it was my turn to look confused. Jean laughed harder than I’d ever seen before, stepping closer to me and throwing her arms around my shoulders. Her soft lips placed a light kiss to my cheek, and my hands naturally fell to the small of her back as she did so. I leaned back in order to see her face more clearly, puzzled expression clear. She gave one final giggle before smiling fondly at me.

“Are you seriously jealous of that random freshman?”, she chuckled lightly and I felt my face flush in embarrassment. “Babe, he was just asking me how to get to the library because it’s his first day. I was just trying to be nice!".

“Okay but what was so god-damned funny?”, I asked, trying to mask my own self-consciousness. “You were laughing like....”

“Like what?”, she asked, eyebrow cocked. I sighed and looked away for a moment before looking down at our feet once more.

“You're going to think it's stupid…”, I muttered, face flushing redder than a tomato. Jean's eyes turned sympathetic and she rubbed the small hairs on the back of my neck soothingly, causing chills to run down my spine. Man, even when I was this distracted she still had the craziest effect on me with just the simplest touch.

“Fangs, come on tell me. I won't think it's stupid”, she said gently.

“Well, it was just...I thought I was the only guy that could make you laugh like that…”, I muttered. Jean's eyes seemed to lighten a shade, and she placed one of her soft hands against my face. Her unimaginably delicate fingers stroked my tense jaw, and I found myself unintentionally leaned into her caring touch out of habit. Her smooth caress nearly made my mind go blank with contentment, and I had to shake myself back to reality before mentally bracing myself for her reaction.

“Baby you are the only guy who really makes me laugh like that”, she replied softly, fingers still dancing lightly across my jawline tenderly. I rolled my eyes.

“I'm serious Fangs. Do you know why I was laughing at that freshman?”, she asked sincerely. I shrugged, the confusion and hurt still prominent on my face.

“I was laughing because his attempts at flirting with me were so bad”, she continued, a coy smile breaking out from her beautiful features. “He was so awkward, and his jokes were so lame. I was laughing at the thought of getting to tell you about it after; I thought you'd think it was just as funny”.

“Really?”, I clarified suspiciously. Jean giggled lightly.

“Really. I honestly couldn't wait to tell you all about it once we met up, but then I saw you heading the other direction and I got concerned”, she reasoned. My eyes searched her face for any signs of deception. Her eyes were like two crystal clear blue pools, staring intently into my own full brown eyes with a look of such complete sincerity that I finally let out a breath that I didn't realize I was even holding. I groaned lowly before bringing her into a closer embrace; her head fell into my chest naturally, and my face found it's favorite spot in the crook of her neck. I felt all the tension and anxiety that I'd felt all morning dissipate, and my body finally relaxed as I held her close. I sighed in total relief.

“I'm sorry mamita”, I quietly murmured into her skin. I relished in the way I felt chills run through her body at my gentle admission, loving that I seemingly had a similar effect on her as she had on me. Although, I was still wholly convinced that there was no way that I affected her nearly as badly as she affected me. I mean, just her gentlest touch was still enough to turn me from a normal, relatively self-assured guy into a babbling idiot even after all the time we’d spent together. I honestly didn’t believe that the feeling of her soft body against mine would ever truly lose that spark that I’d felt ever since we first touched.

Jean sighed in contentment, hands gripping my body tightly as if she were still trying to convey her sincerity to me through her touch. I suddenly felt guilty that I’d even accused her of something so stupid and was thankful that my cherry-red face was hidden by her mass of inky-black locks. Recently she’d began wearing her gorgeous hair down more often, and I was internally grateful that today was one of those days.

“No Fangs, I’m sorry”, she practically whispered into my chest, the words dulled slightly. “I should have realized how that must have seemed to you looking from the outside”.

I shook my head against her soft skin, preparing to comment on how I’d completely overreacted and the fact that she did nothing wrong, but Jean caught me off guard when she suddenly removed her head from my chest. Her grey-blue eyes that I loved so much were turned upwards at me, a sparkle of determination and a look that I couldn’t quite place evident in their hypnotic orbs.

“I just wasn’t even thinking that you would assume that I could ever be interested in anyone other than you. I guess I thought you knew how I felt about you”, she admitted shyly. Her voice was low, but there was no hint of a waver, no uncertainty to be found in her words. My throat suddenly felt dry and my palms began to sweat.

“And how’s that?”, I rasped, unable to raise my voice to more than a whisper. Jean leaned into my face slowly, perfect pink lips reaching mine tantalizingly. Her mouth came so close to mine, brushing my own lips teasingly as she spoke but never giving me the connection I so craved.

“You make me feel things that I’ve never felt before”, she murmured against my mouth. “Ever since we’ve met I haven’t given any thought to any other guy, even when we weren’t together. It’s been you from day one Fangs, and I can’t even really put the effect you have on me into words. But if I had to give it a shot, I guess I would just tell you that...”.

My heart beat rang in my ears as every nerve ending in my entire body stood at attention, waiting for her to finish her thought.

“....I love you Fangs Fogarty. I have for a while, and I'm not sure if you feel the sa--”, Jean started, before I cut her off by bringing my hands to the back of her neck, pulling her mouth against mine roughly. My mind was practically imploding with the new information, and I couldn't help but stop her before she could say anything else or take anything back. Sweeter words had never graced my ears before than the sound of Jean Marie Jones telling me she loved me for the first time. The soft admission echoed in my head like the song of a victory lap, and I knew that I would be replaying this conversation to myself over and over again for a long time. I had known for a while that I was in love with Jean, but I never dreamed that she felt the same let alone that she would be the one to say it first.

Jean immediately reciprocated my advance, hands flying to rest on my broad chest and back, slender fingers and palms dancing gracefully across the leather covered flesh and causing goosebumps to run rampant under her gentle caress. My rough hands found their home in her tangled locks, running my fingers through her hair lovingly as I tried to convey all I was feeling through my touch. My tongue poked out to trace her plump lips, begging for the entrance that she readily granted. I poured all the emotions that had run through my mind all day-- hell since the day I fell for her-- into this one kiss, needing her to feel the love and relief I felt.

We remained like this for an immeasurable amount of time before Jean pulled away, head coming to rest across my chest once more her breathing ragged. I smiled in pride, placing tender kisses to her hairline as I attempted to regulate my own breath. I stood against the perfect creature that I was lucky enough to call my girlfriend, my heartbeat slowly returning to normal as I snuggled into her embrace.

“I love you too mamita. I love you so damn much”, I murmured fondly against her thicket of hair, smelling the comforting scent of her shampoo as I did so. I couldn't see her face from this position, but based on the sudden heat of my chest her face had flushed much like mine had been doing all morning. Deciding to look for myself, I pulled back marginally in order to get a better view of my favorite sight in the world. Her hypnotic eyes were as clear as I'd ever seen, and her smooth cheeks were broken out in with the most adorable pink tint. Her mouth was curled into a smile of pure contentment, and I took extreme pride in the fact that I was the reason for Jean's obvious happiness. I decided that this was my new favorite expression, and I internally vowed to make her look like this everyday for as long as she'd let me.

My trance was only broken by the beautiful girl's blush disappearing, and I watched as a sort of amusement that I’d learned by now meant she was up to no good overtook her features. Probably seeing the way my brows raised in silent question, Jean chuckled lightly before answering my unspoken confusion.

“So, you were really jealous of that freshman?”, she asked, eyebrows raising slightly and smile planted firmly across her face. Face flushing for what felt like the thousandth time today, I rolled my eyes in an attempt at nonchalance.

“How the hell was I supposed to know he was a freshman? Kid was almost as tall as Pea!”, I exclaimed. Now it was her turn to roll her eyes and she rolled her eyes before placing a quick peck on my lips.

“Again, how you could ever think there was someone I was into other than you is beyond me. I feel like I’m the clingiest girlfriend in the world sometimes”, she replied, seeming exasperated. I chuckled lowly.

“Mamita I have never, ever thought of you as clingy. Hell, if anything I want to be around you even more than I already am. So, by all means, be as clingy as your beautiful heart desires”, I joked, only partially kidding, as I planted a sweet kiss to her jawline. It was true, I’d always thought I must be the clingy one in our relationship considering I basically always wanted Jean near me, and if for some reason she wasn’t she was definitely in the back of my mind. It was nice to know that she felt similarly. Now it was Jean’s turn to blush once more, and my grin only widened as she did so. Seeing the way I caused a reaction in her never failed to bring me joy, and right now was no exception. Her blush faded as that mischievous twinkle returned to her eyes.

“Whatcha thinking Mamita?”, I questioned curiously. Jean bit her lower lip in anticipation as she briefly turned her head down the hall before facing me once more.

“Well, since I never really got to officially turn that guy down because I was too busy chasing after you, I was thinking it may be fun to go to the library and have you, ahem, stake your claim as it were”, she breathed more shyly than I'd ever heard. She bit her lip once more as she looked up at me through her dark fan of lashes, looking more devious and gorgeous than any one woman should have the right to. I blinked, not totally understanding what she was getting at. She’d sent my mind into a haze, and I had to physically shake my head in an attempt to clear the thoughts.

“I'm sorry babe, I don’t follow”, I answered, confused and completely turned on. Jean’s smile widened as her teeth finally released her now slightly swollen lower lip as they moved to my ear.

“I mean, I’m totally on board if you feel like you need to go show that freshman just how taken I am. Put your hand in my back pocket, kiss my neck, stick your tongue down my throat, ya know whatever you need to feel like he understands that I'm not interested in his pickup attempts”, she purred, breaths tickling the shell of my ear and driving me insane. “I'm nothing if not accommodating babe”.

I grinned down at her, feeling like my entire body was on fire as I stared deeply into her blue eyes, still twinkling with desire. I growled lightly, burying my face into the softest spot in the world: the crook of Jean's neck, just between her collarbone and the curve under her earlobe. Eagerly, I began laying soft kisses to the area before becoming more aggressive when I felt her shiver and lean into my touch. I'd found out during one of our more intimate sessions that it was one of the spots that drove my girl absolutely nuts. Naturally, I used this information to my advantage pretty much every day, and today was no exception. I swear I would never get over the way she seemed to turn completely limbless and lean into me for support once I'd started, nor the way her supple lips parted and let loose the sexiest moans I'd ever heard.

“Mmm, I agree completely mamita”, I rumbled lowly into her ear, teeth nipping at the soft skin there. Jean responded by moaning lightly, breathing out the sweetest sigh I'd ever heard. “Or, we could skip the rest of today and you could show me just how taken you are”.

Jean's eye darkened with lust. She smiled her truest wide smile, teeth and all, before tugging me down the hall and out of the school. I grinned as I let her lead me by our intertwined fingers and a sense of complete elation overcame me. To hell with being the only one to make her laugh, I wanted to be the only one that made her feel like this: wildly happy and mischievously sexy. She'd convinced me that I was somehow the only guy to evoke this side of her, and I was going to take my new role with pride. Guess it was time to start practicing.

#riverdale #riverdale imagines #riverdaleimagine #fangs fogarty #fangs fogarty imagine #fangs x oc #sweet pea #southsideserpents #archie comics #fanfiction #fanfic #jealousy #fangs jealous #jean jones #oc #serpent imagine

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sparkles-and-trash · 6 years

Text

Stalker, Chapter 3

A Sweet Pea x Reader fanfiction

“You keep on talking, shut it up You keep rubbing salt into the cut Broke the cycle, need to reconstruct”

Warnings: Abusive behavior (stalking), swearing, use of the homophobic f-slur, fighting, sexual content in later chapters

Word count: 3.K

Notes: Tag list is still open, let me know if you want to be on it! I might have lost control over it a little bit, so if you’ve asked to be added and aren’t on it on this chapter, let me know!! Also, I don’t dislike Chuck as much after the Carrie episode, but he was voted to be the guy Y/N doesn’t get along with, so ofc I made him worth not liking, so don’t hate me for that please, haha!

Ships: Sweet Pea x Reader, Kevin x Fangs (later chapters), Choni, Bughead, Varchie

Summary: Y/N is a Senior at Riverdale High with her best friends Kevin and Cheryl, and lives mostly on her own on the Southside of Riverdale. But when she starts getting weird notes, letters and pictures delivered to her, and as the feeling of being followed seems to be very real, she finds herself getting help from unexpected places and people to keep her safe, and to find out who is stalking her.

Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 -

Sweet Pea’s POV

Ever since Southside High shut down a couple of years ago, Sweet Pea had genuinely tried to stay positive about getting to attend Riverdale High.

The facilities were great, the classrooms had wifi, the teachers were mostly good, and the electives were interesting. He even joined the basketball team last year.

But, nothing is ever perfect, and the school was proof of that.

Because, with a great school, came great jocks and assholes, like Reggie Mantle and Chuck Clayton, who both were currently standing around Y/N, chatting casually.

It took every ounce of self-control Sweet Pea had to keep him from going over there and tell them to fuck off, but it did help that Y/N didn’t show any signs of being uncomfortable.

It wasn’t like he was jealous or something, but with everything going on with her right now, he didn’t like people he didn’t really know hanging around her.

Also, he might have a tiny problem with how she was laughing and smiling with her ex, but he didn’t have time to think about that right now.

As if on cue, Josie entered the room, and Reggie hurried over to her to give her a kiss and take her hand, and then they left the student lounge. It seemed like the lounge were emptying out in general, as next period was about to start, but Sweet Pea had a free period, so he decided to just stay seated where he was.

It seemed like both Y/N and Chuck also had a free period, as none of them left their spot by the vending machine.

Now, however, Y/N didn’t seem to be very comfortable anymore, and just as Sweet Pea was considering going over there to find an excuse to get her away from Chuck, her eyes met his, and she was clearly silently asking for his help.

Sweet Pea tried his best to stay calm as he rose from his chair and walked over to Y/N and Chuck, but he could feel the anger stirring trough him already.

Chuck was leaning on the wall, towering over Y/N and clearly invading her space, but with the vending machine in her back and the wall to her side, there wasn’t really anywhere for her to avoid him.

The way the other boy so clearly invaded her space without a care made Sweet Pea’s blood boil.

“Hey, Y/N, do you have a minute to go over that English paper that’s due tomorrow?” he asked as casually as he managed, and Y/N looked up at him with a relived look on her face.

“Yeah, of course, I-” she started, but Chuck cut her off before she could finish.

“Bro, seriously?” Chuck asked him, and gave a sly smile.

Sweet Pea raised his eyebrows at the other boy.

“Seriously what, Bro?” he shot back, a mocking tone on the “bro” part.

Chucks smile disappeared quickly, as he took a step closer to Sweet Pea, looking him up and down.

“Just back off bro, Y/N were clearly busy talking to me, so your English can wait.”

Sweet Pea clenched his fists and took a slow breath.

“Well, Y/N just said she wanted to go, so if you don’t mind?” he said, and felt Y/Ns hand on him upper arm, softly holding him back.

“He’s not worth it, come on, Pea.” she said and shot Chuck a cold stare, and Sweet Pea couldn’t hold back a victorious smirk towards Chuck.

Just as they turned to leave, Chuck grabbed Y/Ns arm, and she flinched a bit, making Sweet Pea see red.

“Come on baby, why don’t just work on the paper with that little fag bff of yours later, and let Snake Boy here figure it out himself?”

Y/N‘s eyes went from annoyed to straight up furious in less than a second, but she didn’t even have time to open her mouth before Sweet Pea had whipped around and grabbed Chuck by the collar, slamming him against the wall.

“What did you just say, douchebag?” he growled in a dangerously low voice.

Chuck raised his palms and grinned slyly.

“Come on, Serpent, it’s true, isn’t it? The Keller kid is, indeed, a fag, and-”

Chuck didn’t get to finish that sentence however, as Sweet Pea’s fist connected with his jaw.

He was honestly planning on leaving after one punch, but when the other boy recoiled and slammed his own fist into Sweet Pea’s face, he lost it.

The combination of him harassing Y/N and the straight up homophobia, was enough to make Sweet Pea forget everything else, and just throw himself into the fight.

Luckily, only a few more punches were thrown before Chuck was on the ground clutching his nose, and Sweet Pea felt a small tug at him free hand, and realized Y/N was still in the room, right next to him.

“Come on, Rocky, let’s get out of here before someone comes in and starting throwing blame.” she said in a soft voice, and tugged his hand lightly again, and he found himself following her out of the lounge and towards the exit.

“Did you drive your bike today?” Y/N asked him, and he shook his head silently, eyes still focused on their intertwined hands.

“Well, I drove, so we can take my car.” she said simply, and Sweet Pea once again found himself unable to use his words to answer.

After a little more walking, he realized they had came to a holt, and look up to see Y/N looking at him with a worried glance.

“Here,” she said, and gave him a paper tissue, “it’s all I have, but it’s better than nothing until we get to your place.”

Sweet Pea just stared dumbly at her for a few seconds.

“Your lip, Sweet Pea, it’s busted, and I don’t want you to bleed all over my car!” she said with a small grin, and Sweet Pea felt himself grin back at her, even though his lip did, indeed, hurt quite a bit.

He looked behind her, and realized they were standing in front of a big, rather old, black Jeep Cherokee, and he look back at Y/N with raised eyebrows.

“Wait, this is your car?” he asked, shaking his head slightly.

“Yeah!” she grinned proudly, giving him a gentle nudge.

“Now, get in!”

Sweet Pea did what she told him, and got into the passenger side as Y/N climbed into the drivers seat.

"Do you like it?”

Sweet Pea turned towards her and raised his eyebrows.

“What..?” he mumbled, feeling stupid.

“The car!” Y/N laughed, as she started the engine.

Sweet Pea smiled a bit and shook his head.

“Yeah, it’s... not what I expected you to drive, I guess. But it’s cool.”

Y/N backed out of the parking space a bit too fast for Sweet Pea to believe she actually had control, but to his surprise she didn’t bump into anything.

“Honestly I got it because it reminded me of Jurassic Park, you know?” she said, as she drove out of the school property.

“I fucking love Jurassic Park.”

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but laugh, which he instantly regretted, both because it made his lip bleed more, and because it made Y/N look all amused.

“What? Dinosaurs are awesome. You live at Sunnyside, right?”

Sweet Pea nodded, to both statements, really, and Y/N looked pleased.

“Good. I’m gonna stitch you right back up, just wait and see.” she said as she was slamming her hands on the steering wheel to the song on the radio.

“What?” Sweet Pea asked, suddenly unnerved.

“Relax, I’m joking, I’m not gonna stitch anything, but I will fix your face back up.” she said, and shot him a stern look.

Sweet Pea felt a mix between excitement at the thought of him and Y/N alone at his trailer, and terror because of... well, thought of him and Y/N alone at his trailer.

“You really don’t have to-” her started, but she cut him off.

“No, don’t even start!” she said, sternly.

“You just fought a asshole defending both me and my best friend, the least I can do is help you fix up your face again.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, but at the same time couldn’t hold back a smile.

He didn’t really mind time alone with Y/N, and every moment he knew she wasn’t alone and potentially stalked or hurt by the crazy person doing the stalking, was a good moment to him.

- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -

Y/N’s POV

Y/N was honestly already almost dead with embarrassment when she pulled her beloved Jeep up next to Sweet Pea’s trailer.

All that freaking dinosaur talk, what the hell was wrong with her?!

“Yeah, you can just stop right here, next to the bike.”

Sweet Pea’s voice luckily dragged her out of her trains of thoughts, right before she drove her car right into the poor guys trailer.

Yeah, maybe she wasn’t the best driver. Whatever.

They were both silent as she turned of the engine, and the two of the exited the car. Y/N walked a few steps behind him as he approached the trailer, taking a look around.

She had always been kind of fascinated with trailer homes, they looked so small on the outside and the inside was like... a house? Mind-blowing, honestly.

Sweet Pea cleared his throat as he turned the key around, and Y/N turned back to him, hurrying to catch up to him.

“Sorry it’s kind of messy, I wasn’t exactly expecting company today...” Sweet Pea mumbled, and Y/N waved her hand as if to wave away his words.

“Nah, it’s fine, it takes a lot to scare me.” she said as she followed him into the living room part of the trailer.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.” Sweet Pea mumbled into the now blood-soaked tissue.

Y/N shook her head as she plopped down on the couch.

“Nuh-uh, my aunt is like an actual hoarder, we’re talking an actual on TV level hoarder.”

Sweet Pea’d eyes widened for a second and Y/N grinned, pleased to have taken him by surprise.

“You’re joking, aren’t you?” he asked, and Y/N sat upright and pointed an accusing finger at him.

“I am not, there’s an episode to prove it! Now, leave my taxidermy loving aunt alone, and get the medical kit I hope you have somewhere, so I can do what I came here do to, huh?”

Sweet Pea chuckled and rolled his eyes, but turned around and disappeared into what Y/N guessed was the bathroom, before he came back out a minute later, carrying an actual medical kit.

“Great, look at you, being all prepared!” Y/N smiled, as she got up and gestured for Sweet Pea to sit down at the couch.

As she opened the kit and messed around a bit to find what she needed, she could feel Sweet Pea’s eyes on her, and tried her best to seem cool and calm.

“Did you know they think dinosaurs may have had feathers?”

Great job, Y/N. If he wasn’t into you already, he’ll no doubt be now.

Idiot.

But Sweet Pea didn’t laugh at her, at least not to her face, he just looked up at her with a questioning look on his face.

“Is that what you think about when you see my face, dinosaurs with... feathers?” he asked, and Y/N couldn’t hold back a grin.

“What can I say, you’re like... really tall, you know? And that fighting technique you showed earlier was kind of T-Rex like, really.”

Sweet Pea finally gave in and let out a laugh, quickly causing him to wince as he stretched his mouth so his lip, who had just stopped bleeding, started bleeding again.

“Fuck.” he mumbled, and Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I know I’m amusing, but I would be great if you could keep it together for like, two seconds, as I work.” Y/N said sternly, earning her a small smile from the boy in front of her.

They both fell into a comfortable silence as Y/N finished cleaning and and bandaging up Sweet Pea’s face.

“There!” Y/N proudly exclaimed a few minutes later.

Sweet Pea looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

“You’re done?” he asked.

Y/N nodded as she cleaned up the medical kit.

“Yep.”

Sweet Pea got up and touched his lip and sore cheekbone carefully.

“Thank you, Y/N, seriously.” he said in a low voice, looking at her with a genuine look that made her knees weak.

“Pfft, don’t worry, you know, you were helping me first, remember?” she said, way too fast, but luckily Sweet Pea seemed to have heard her.

“Still, I really appreciate it.” he said, and Y/N nodded.

“And that asshole has it coming, seriously, who still uses words like that today? And talk about not taking a hint, what an douche, seriously.” he added, and once again, Y/N nodded.

“Yeah, he’s not exactly my favorite person either, you know?” she said and shivered.

Sweet Pea looked at her with narrowed eyebrows.

“You don’t think he could be the on who’s stalking you, do you?” he asked, and Y/N shrugged.

“I don’t want to say for sure it’s not, but I honestly don’t see him bothering to do something like that. And, I’m pretty sure the football team have had several practises and games while this person must have been around me.”

Sweet Pea nodded, and leaned on a counter with a serious expression, while Y/N sat back down on the couch..

“Did Jones an Cooper figure anything out?” he asked, and once again, Y/N shrugged.

“I don’t really know, to be honest, I haven’t seen them much. Cheryl talked about asking everyone who was there last weekend to meet up Friday or something, to talk.” Y/N looked down at her hands, biting her lower lip.

“It feels kind of stupid you know, making such a big deal out of this, and getting so many people involved.”

Sweet Pea shot her a surprised look, and quickly moved across the room to sit next to her on the couch.

“Are you serious?” he asked, and she shrugged sheepishly.

“This person roofied you, Y/N! And follow you around, watching you in your home, that’s some scary shit, and you should not be dealing with that alone!”

Y/N sighed, before she nodded a bit and gave Sweet Pea a small smile.

“I guess you’re right.” she said, as she checked her phone, to see it was way later than she thought, and she sighed.

“I should really get going, it’s Wednesday, and that’s the day my mother pretends to care, so she stops by to check that I’m still breathing!” Y/N said as she got up from the couch, and Sweet Pea did the same.

“That’s... nice?” he tried, and Y/N smiled as she shook her head.

“I honestly think she’s just scared I’ll run away or something, and it’ll end up with her and Mr. Sleaze having to look for me.” she said, as she slowly headed for the door.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.

“Parents.” he mumbled, and Y/N nodded.

“You don’t say.”

They reached the door, and Y/N stopped with her hand at the handle, unsure of what to say.

“So, I... well, thanks for going all T-Rex on Chuck, Sweets.” she said, and Sweet Pea shook his head, a small smile on his face.

“Well, thanks for fixing my face and telling me about dinosaurs.” he said, and Y/N shook her head, smiling back at him.

“Well, I’ll... see yah?” she said, raising her eyebrows a bit and biting her lower lip.

“Yeah.” Sweet Pea nodded, a small smile on his face.

“And, you know... if anything happens, you can like, call or come over or whatever, okay?” he added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Thanks, Sweet Pea, I will.” Y/N answered, as she made her way out the door, and into her car.

The whole afternoon left her all mixed up with so much anger at Chuck, and so much awkwardness from herself, and most off all, the nice conversation with Sweet Pea, and the uncharacteristically sweet things he had said as she left.

In fact, Y/N was so giddy and exited she didn’t even notice the note someone had carefully left under her window wipers until she was parked outside her house, and even then, she was way too stressed about her mother being home to do anything but stick the note in her pocket.

That was just the first mistakes on Y/N’s part in the next few days.

taglist: @anotherr-fine-mess @purespidey @irishfangirlxx @jaazzzzz @hurricane--amelia @bellejeanx @poolpartyingwithjaws @enticinghell @southsidemistress @vinylrosess @riverdal-writter @abigailcavanaghhh @floralchlxe @h-e-a-v-y-l-e-a-t-h-e-r @oldwanderingsoul @secretlovexo @magicwithaknife @corgibuttscandoanything @chaarrlieeeeee @mellxander1993 @superhalsteads @citizenofmars @woeme @madaboutlili @ssserpentjes @blogpsych @celestialcastiel @pity-mee @k-is-cray @genius2050 @thewisebosomblog @blakesvaldez @mvmakki @aframeofbones @thatangrymardleschick @chipster-21 @maybeidontwannachooseaname @soutthhsideserpentt @styomi @kateintheuntouchedspace @talesfromriverdale @floralchlxe @acidparadox @bake-motherfucka-bake @dolansbeanies @riverdaleserpents04 @anninhiliation @knights0fkylo

344 notes · View notes

stereksecretsanta · 6 years

Text

Merry Christmas, @gryvon!

Merry Christmas! If this fic seems to end a little abruptly, that's because I had to cut the ending (roughly 3k more words) but when the gifters are revealed, I will add more when posting to my own archiveofourown account. <3

Read on AO3

*****

Cold as Ice

Derek raced past Peter and Laura, kicking up snow and snorting the powdery fluff out of his nose.

Cora snapped her teeth at his flank, making him skid through the snow to the left and nearly plow into a tree. She coughed a laugh and skipped away when he tried to bite her foreleg.

Laura and her wife Clara were ahead, keeping pace with Talia; Laura was eight months pregnant and had only been permitted to run with them on the condition that she kept out of the rough housing that usually accompanied pack runs.

Derek pounced on Cora’s back, using her flank as a springboard to leap onto Nick.

He yelped, all four legs going in different directions as Derek’s considerable bulk flattened him. He twisted enough to dig teeth into Derek’s foreleg, but he didn’t pull back. He whined loudly, high pitched around his mouthful of leg.

Derek growled and bit the scruff of his neck, giving him a hard shake until he let go. He climbed off him and sat in front of his snout, huffing smugly.

Cora crept up behind Nick, her belly almost touching the snow. Her eyes danced. She lunged and snapped her teeth around his tail.

He yowled and shot straight into the air; his paws actually left the ground as he spun to snap at her.

She danced back.

Nick tackled her, growling and snarling as much as he could. He’d been putting up better fights lately, but he was still the youngest of the four of them, and had never managed to get the upper hand.

Derek watched them wrestling eagerly, pacing back and forth.

His cousin Layla pounced on Cora’s back, only to get knocked aside by Nick. She skidded to Derek’s side. She rolled onto her stomach and whined loudly, annoyed they wouldn’t play with her.

Derek nudged her to her feet and lowered his front legs, keeping his tail in the air. He mouthed at her leg, not quite biting.

She was only fourteen, had only just started joining the older kids in the play fighting instead of tagging along with her parents, so he figured he’d go easy on her.

A few yards away, Peter and his sister Marissa were wrestling while Talia watched. Grant, Marissa’s husband, was chasing Bryan, Derek’s father.

Derek felt a rush of affection for his family and sighed, content.

Layla tackled him, her teeth digging into his shoulder so hard she drew blood. She yelped louder than he did, scrambling back and tripping over her own legs. She whined and crawled toward him on her belly, licking at the wound tentatively.

Derek snorted and nudged her back. The wound healed up on its own within seconds. He wagged his tail at her to let her know he wasn’t upset.

He managed one, halting step toward her when the air became charged. The fur on his back rose; he saw Cora and Nick’s doing the same. He turned in a circle, looking for the cause.

Peter went still, one paw on Grant’s chest, ears tipped forward. His entire body went tense.

Derek’s lip pulled back, baring his fangs. He felt Cora step up behind him, blocking Nick and Layla.

Something popped; the woods filled with the scent of ozone and blood.

A man stood in front of Derek, three feet away. He had blood on his mouth, throat, and left arm. He blinked at Derek but he looked more dazed than afraid. He grinned, baring bloodied teeth, held up two fingers, and rasped, “Hey,” in a voice that sounded like it hadn’t been used in weeks, before collapsing straight down in a dead faint.

Derek growled when Nick tried to creep forward. He bumped him back with his shoulder. He snarled when he tried to go around him again.

Cora whined and nudged Nick behind her, ignoring his irritated huffing and stamping.

Derek stepped forward, ignoring Peter’s warning growl, and bumped his nose against the man’s leg, but he didn’t move. Relaxing slightly, he sniffed. Fresh blood made his nose wrinkle. He shuddered and shifted back to his skin. He checked the man’s throat first, but the blood there was only smeared, most likely from his mouth.

Around him, the family had shifted back, too, and while he could hear them arguing, he wasn’t listening to the particulars.

He turned the man’s chin and checked his teeth—human, no fangs in sight. He moved on to the guy’s left arm, rolling the sleeve up until he found the source of the fresh blood. It was coming from a ragged wound on the tender flesh of his inner arm.

The man started shivering, but didn’t wake.

“Derek, take him to the house,” Talia called.

He looked up.

She was standing in front of Laura and Nick, while Peter and Marissa were blocking Layla and Warren.

“Talia, we can’t!” Peter snapped. “He’s a stranger.”

“He’s hurt.”

“He’s magic!”

Rona stepped closer, inhaling sharply. “Derek, pick him up and take him to a second floor guest room.”

Derek shrugged and scooped him up.

“Mom, the kids,” Marissa blurted anxiously.

Rona looked them over. “Laura, Clara, why don’t you take Layla, Warren, and Nicky out for some hot chocolate and lunch?”

“Grandma!” Nick protested. “I’m nineteen, I’m not a baby-”

“Oh, and I am?” Warren snapped.

“Boys,” Grant intoned.

“Nick, I need you to come with,” Laura said. “I’m too tired to walk around with everyone.” She grimaced and rested a hand on the swell of her stomach. They all knew it was an act, but they were all also mush when it came to the baby.

Nick sighed. “Fine,” he muttered.

“Derek, go take him inside,” Talia said.

“This is stupid. No.” Peter moved to block Derek’s path.

Talia caught him by the scruff of his neck and knocked him to the snow. “Stop that. Derek, now. Go with him, Cora,” she added. Her fangs were already out again, eyes flashing.

Peter snarled.

Rona sighed.

“Just let them fight it out, love,” Bennett said casually.

The air filled with snarls and snapping jaws.

Marissa sighed, too.

Derek shrugged at Cora and headed back to the house. He tried to keep the guy tucked in close to him, to warm him up, but he was worried about hurting his injured arm, too.

“Where’d he come from?” Cora opened the door for him, wiping her feet on the mat automatically.

“Thin air, as far as I can tell.” He wiped his own feet, too.

“I’ll get you some clothes.”

“Him, too, and some towels, if you can, please.”

“Sure.”

Derek chose the guest room furthest from the stairs for the moment. He set the guy on the bed and carefully stripped his wet, stained sweatshirt off. He stepped back; the guy looked pretty beat up.

He appeared badly dehydrated; he had dark circles under sunken eyes, and his lips, beneath the blood, looked chapped.

Derek couldn’t help that while he was unconscious, so he focused on his other problems.

The ragged wound wasn’t alone. All up his forearm were similar wounds in various stages of healing. It looked like someone with blunt teeth had been biting him.

Derek’s gaze snapped up to the guy’s blood stained mouth. “What the hell…”

Cora was approaching, muttering to herself about the laundry; she threw the door open. “Here, get dressed. If he wakes up and finds some naked guy hovering over him, he might freak out.” She’d thrown on sweats and a hoodie already; she had a pile of cloth in her hands.

Derek accepted the shirt and pants she’d brought him. “Could you get a bowl of water or something? And maybe some peroxide?” He pulled the shirt over his head. “If we have any.”

“We have rubbing alcohol from Andrew and Sophie’s kids, will that work?” She set the other things on the bed, next to the guy’s leg. She glanced dubiously at the wound.

“Uh, sure. They used it for the kids’ skinned knees, so it should be fine.”

Cora nodded and left to get it.

Derek used one of the towels she’d brought to dry off the man’s feet; they were bare and bright pink from the cold. He wondered where his shoes had gone, where he’d come from…why he’d been biting himself.

He observed his features, his bony, somehow delicate joints, the slight upturn at the tip of his nose, and tried to judge whether he’d be dangerous when he woke.

Cora returned with a bowl of water and the bottle of rubbing alcohol. She set both on the nightstand. “Need any help?”

“Maybe. Let me get the blood cleaned up, first.” He wet one of the towels and started with his throat. He paused when all the blood was off, towel hovering. “Hey, Cora,” he said as calmly as he could, “what does that look like to you?”

She leaned round his shoulder and hissed in sympathy. “Like a burn.” She moved closer. “Like a really…intricate burn.”

Outside, Peter’s voice raised enough for Derek to hear that he was still arguing against keeping the guy around.

The burn looked like spellwork, actually, burned into his skin. Derek tried to be gentle as he wiped the blood away, but it had seeped into the curving lines of the symbol and was proving hard to remove.

Downstairs, a door slammed open as the rest of the pack trooped into the house to get dressed and go wherever Rona and Talia had decided was best.

Derek moved on to his mouth, wiping blood from his lips, chin, and jaw.

‘Huh,” Cora said. “He’s kinda cute when he doesn’t look deranged.”

“He looks sick,” Derek said flatly, so he didn’t have to agree with her.

He looked young, too, maybe Nick’s age, or Cora’s, if he was being generous.

“Whatever.” She prodded his arm. “Wonder what happened.”

Derek grunted noncommittally and set to wiping blood off the wound. He checked the guy’s face frequently, but he didn’t so much as twitch. He frowned, but reasoned that this was probably due to dehydration.

“Here.” Cora opened the alcohol bottle for him. “Looks nasty.”

He took the bottle, wrinkling his nose at the scent. He looked at the bottle, then at the wound, and shrugged. He poured it over the wound.

The guy jack knifed up into sitting position. “What the fuck!”

Derek’s hands flew up automatically, sloshing more alcohol on the man.

He jerked his arm in protectively, his unfocused gaze falling first on Cora, then Derek. “Who…who…” His eyes fluttered and he slumped backwards.

Derek looked at Cora.

She raised her brows. “Okay.”

“Go get him some water, please.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as she left.

Derek got to work changing him out of his wet, bloody clothes, and into the sweats and sweatshirt Cora had grabbed from the dryer. He figured being changed by a stranger was better than being hypothermic, and worked briskly.

He was just finishing getting his ridiculously long legs into the sweats when Peter walked in.

“I have water,” he said sourly. He lifted the pitcher and glass he was carrying.

“I asked Cora to bring it.” He pulled the sweats up and huffed. He could only imagine how the shirt was going to go. “Thanks. You can set it over here.”

Peter crossed the room slowly, his gaze locked on the man.

“I thought you liked magic.”

“So I should automatically trust magical strangers who appear on our property? Of course.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Just set the water down. The guy can’t even sit up.”

Peter scoffed and slapped both pitcher and cup on the nightstand. “He’s older than I thought.” His gaze roved over the man’s bare chest.

“Jesus, Peter,” he muttered. He got to work putting the sweatshirt over the guy’s head.

“He could be dangerous.” He stayed back, arms crossed.

Derek tipped his head, listening as Laura grumbled and grunted her way into the car. Layla and Warren were bickering, and Nick was talking to Clara about where they should go. Doors slammed, an engine revved, and wheels crunched over gravel.

“Peter!” Talia snapped. “They’re gone.”

“So?”

“So get down here and help with dinner.”

He made a face. “She only wants my help because she can’t cook,” he muttered.

Rona said, “Peter Bennett Hale, get your tail down here now.”

He cast one last suspicious look at the guy before leaving the room. He was probably going to argue with Talia some more.

Derek was more than happy to stay up here and out of the way of the shouting. He and Laura used to fight like that, but they’d mellowed when they got older. Now it was Nick and Cora at each other’s throats all the time.

Derek sighed; he was pretty sure the wound on the guy’s arm should be bandaged, but they didn’t have anything like that on hand. He settled for wrapping one of the hand towels Cora had brought around it. It was still bleeding a little; he wondered if that was normal.

He shrugged and picked up the bowl of bloody water. If it was still bleeding later, he would look up what could be done about it. He turned to take the bowl to the bathroom.

A harsh, rasping gasp made him freeze. The man’s eyes fluttered open. He launched himself to his feet, running before Derek could stop him.

He waited, blinking as the man hurled himself at top speed through the first door he found. Derek pursed his lips and set the bowl back down, in exchange for the glass of water Peter had brought. “Hey,” he said in as low and soothing a tone he could manage. He walked toward the closet where the man had hurled himself, making sure he was seen and heard. “I’ve got some water here, if you want some.”

Wide, terrified brown eyes flicked up at him. He was breathing harshly, like his short journey had exhausted him.

Derek held the glass out.

After a moment of suspicious glaring, he snatched the cup. He sniffed at it before drinking.

Derek grimaced.

Someone who’d been lost wouldn’t run from help, wouldn’t check for poison in water.

Someone who had been held captive might.

“There’s more.” He gestured toward the pitcher. “You look like you could use some more.” He stepped back so he wasn’t crowding him.

The man stood, wobbling slightly, and stumbled for the bed.

“I’m Derek,” he said carefully, pouring more water into the glass. He watched as he guzzled down that one, too, and poured a little less the third time.

Peter was coming up the stairs, having slipped away from Rona.

Derek considered locking the door, but figured he’d just snap the lock and come in anyway.

He stepped in already glaring. “This is private property that you wandered onto.”

The man swallowed his next gulp of water. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He was clearly more afraid of Peter than Derek; he’d shifted almost unconsciously closer to him, keeping his face turned away.

Derek glowered at Peter. “It isn’t a big deal.” He looked at the guy. “What’s your name?”

“Stiles,” he muttered.

“Stiles should be more careful,” Peter said forcefully. “It was a big deal, since he almost ran into our dogs.”

Derek scoffed at the implication. The guy had fainted immediately. There was no way he’d seen any of them shift.

Stiles was staring at Peter with tired, sunken eyes. “I did magic to get here. I know you’re werewolves.”

Peter’s eyes flashed as he snarled.

Stiles cringed a little, but was clearly too tired to do more than that.

“Where did you come from?” Derek asked quickly. “Why’d you come here?”

He shrugged.

“Why were you biting yourself?”

He stiffened, then sighed. “I had to.” He closed his hand around the freshest wound. “I needed the blood for a spell.”

“Blood magic?” Peter turned wary, reaching out a hand to drag Derek away.

“It’s different; it was my own blood.” He touched fingertips to the burn on his throat. “My voice was taken away, so it was my only choice if I wanted to get out.”

“What did the spell do?”

“It took me to where I’d be safest.” He shook his head. “Couldn’t go home, my dad is human. The spell brought me to the next closest, safest place.”

“I’ve never heard of a blood spell like that.”

He glared, drawing himself up. “Using your own blood makes the magic and intentions purer, protective. Go look it up, if you know so much.”

“I will.” He glared, too, and swept out of the room.

Derek blinked. “Wow. I’m going to have to remember that. I’ve never been able to get rid of him so quickly,” he explained.

Stiles smiled a little, licking his chapped lips.

“Oh, here.” Derek poured him more water.

“Thank you.” He took a slow drink. “Could, um, could you tell me what day it is?”

“It’s the eighteenth.”

He jerked, fumbling the glass.

Derek lunged to catch it before it could hit the floor; Stiles scrambled back, cringing, as he caught it.

“You’re sure it’s the eighteenth? Of December?” he asked briskly, as if pretending he hadn’t flinched would erase the moment.

“Yes. If I had my phone, I’d show you.”

He yanked a hand through his hair, looking shaken up. “Gods, the eighteenth. That must’ve been her plan,” he muttered, almost to himself. “She was going to kill me in three days.”

“What? Who?”

He looked at Derek, eyes shuttering. “No one,” he mumbled.

Derek set the cup on the nightstand and straightened up. He didn’t want to be a dick, but if his pack was in danger, well, he would be. Anyone being a jerk was nicer than Peter being Peter, he reasoned, so he let his face half-shift, fangs and all, and lunged forward. He slammed his hand into the headboard next to Stiles’s face, snarling and baring fangs. “If someone is after you, you just endangered my pack, my family. We deserve to know who it is,” he growled.

Stiles’s heart hammered so loud Derek almost couldn’t hear it when he hummed, quiet and slow in his throat. His eyes flared bright green.

Derek flew off his feet, his shift melting away as he slammed into the wall opposite the bed.

Stiles stood. “I wasn’t trying to lead anyone here.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “She doesn’t want your pack—just me.”

“What was that?”

“Magic.”

Before Derek could try again, Cora came in. “Good morning, sunshine.” She had a sleeve of crackers in hand. “Mom says you shouldn’t intimidate guests, even magical ones, and that Peter is a bad influence.”

“I heard that!” Peter shouted from somewhere downstairs.

She shrugged and tossed the crackers on the bed. “What’s on your throat?”

He slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. He ripped open the crackers. “It’s a silencing curse. My…the person who had me took away my voice.”

“Why?”

“So I couldn’t do spells.” He carefully took a cracker out, but he didn’t eat it.

“Are they like Harry Potter spells?” she asked eagerly.

He smiled briefly. “No, there aren’t any magic words. Spells are…sounds.” His face flushed a little. “Humming and whistling are the most common ways to do magic. I never…I mean, I can’t whistle. I never figured it out, which was why I was such an easy target. Can’t do magic if I have no voice.” He stared down at his lap, reeking of shame and fear.

Cora pretended not to notice. “That’s so cool. Can you show me?”

His lips twitched up again. He held a hand out and hummed something quick and sweet, a tune Derek found strange but pleasant. A yellow rose bloomed in his palm, the stem curling out between his fingers. He held it out to her.

She took it, running her fingers over the edges of the petals. “It’s real,” she said with some surprise.

He smiled for real, a wide, happy thing that had Derek struck by how attractive he was, when he didn’t look hunted. “Of course it’s real!”

“Cora,” Talia said from the bottom of the stairs, “please come down here. Derek, stay up there. I’m coming to ask some questions.”

Cora sighed. “Well, see you later,” she said with a limp wave. She carried the rose with her, still admiring it as she left.

“Your sister is nice.”

“How’d you know she was my sister?”

Stiles made a gesture around his head. “Your auras. Siblings have a specific color around each other. Affection and annoyance at once, or something.”

“Huh.”

Talia stepped into the room.

It was strange; there was no way for Stiles to know she was an alpha, the way another werewolf would have, but he reacted as if he did anyway. He immediately closed his mouth and straightened his shoulders, dropping his gaze respectfully and waiting.

“Mom, this is Stiles,” Derek said, though she’d most likely heard already. “Stiles, this is my alpha, Talia Hale.”

“Hale.” He repeated it like a prayer.

She lifted a brow. “Have we met?”

“No, but we’ve probably passed each other. I’m Stiles Stilinski.”

“Like Sheriff Stilinski? From Beacon Hills?”

He nodded. “That explains why my spell brought me here.” He plucked at his borrowed shirt. “Look, I really didn’t intend to endanger anyone. She’ll kill my dad if I go back to him.”

“So you won’t go back,” Talia said simply. “You need to tell us what’s going on. We can’t help if we don’t know what happened.”

He hesitated, then nodded slowly. “She took me to drain my magic for herself on the winter solstice.”

“On the twenty-first?”

He nodded again. “I knew that was probably her deadline, so I was desperate to get away the closer it got.” He held up his left arm, shaking his sleeve back. “I saved up blood until I had enough for the blood spell to get me out.”

“How’d you preserve the blood?”

“I’m good at freezing stuff, even without doing spells.” He glanced at the mostly empty water pitcher; the water inside froze solid. “All I had to do was keep it frozen until I had enough.” He thumbed the older bites. “I didn’t have anything sharp, she wouldn’t risk it, so…”

“You bit yourself.”

He shrugged. “I improvised. I figured the ugly scars would be better than being dead.”

Talia nodded. “I see.” She looked around and took a deep breath. “This place has protections, but not very powerful ones. She’ll be able to track you eventually.”

Terror washed through the room, so strong and quick that Derek’s heart started pounding automatically.

“Now that I can do magic again, I can beef up the security,” he rasped.

Derek wondered what he wasn’t telling them about the time his kidnapper had had him. “How did that happen?” he asked. “If she silenced you, how’d you…how can you talk?”

“By the time I was doing my blood spell, I was too exhausted to do anything anyway, but the blood spell must have cleansed the curse while carrying me here.” He glared at his hands. “I tried using a little blood to get rid of the curse at first, but it never worked.”

“There wasn’t enough blood,” Talia said. She studied him. “You should rest more before you try any magic again.” She must have suspected he wasn’t telling them something, too, but she just went on, “I’ll have someone bring up some food, so you can regain your strength.” She looked at Derek before leaving the room, her expression unreadable.

“How long did she have you?” he asked, listening to Talia pause on the steps.

“Today’s the eighteenth? She…the…” He rubbed his eyes. “I was at school last on the sixth. She must’ve grabbed me then.”

“Did you know her?”

Stiles nodded. “She was posing as a substitute.” He finished his cracker and grabbed another.

Derek shuffled his feet. “Sorry for, um, for earlier.”

He smiled briefly. “Then I’m sorry for throwing you.”

Derek nodded. “You’re in school? How old are you?”

“Just some light classes. I’m twenty-three,” he added with a smirk. “I plan on doing something with magic, which colleges don’t exactly have courses for, so I’m taking a mixed bag of useful classes. Or I was. I’ve missed…several.” He grimaced, looking haunted.

“I’m sure they won’t fail you for getting kidnapped.” Derek lowered himself to the floor and sat cross-legged, because it was uncomfortable looming over him.

“Heh, yeah,” Stiles mumbled, and went silent.

Peter brought up some food and the message that Talia wanted him downstairs, so, reluctantly, he left Stiles under Peter’s care.

Talia, Bryan, Rona, and Bennett were waiting in the kitchen.

“He was being held captive by another witch,” Talia said. “I think he’s young, hurt, and needs help.”

“Doesn’t negate the fact that him being here is dangerous for us,” Bryan said. “We’ve got Laura to think about, plus the kids.”

“He hasn’t threatened anyone, but he might bring danger here.” Rona lifted her hands.

“He’s the son of the sheriff from our town.” Talia rubbed her eyes. “I’ve dealt with Sheriff Stilinski before. He’s a good man.”

“So you think we should help him?”

“Yes.”

“What if he goes after one of us? Laura?”

“He won’t.” Derek winced when they looked at him. “I don’t think he would. He seemed happy when he realized we were werewolves. He doesn’t think his kidnapper will bother us.”

“He liked Cora,” Talia added with a smile. “He’s afraid of Peter, he respects me. He’s not sure what to make of Derek.”

“He hasn’t felt threatened yet,” Bennett concluded.

“He felt threatened by me,” Derek put in. “I scared him.”

“He flinched.” Talia nodded.

“But still—you’d been taking care of him until that point. Let’s see what he does when someone he doesn’t know threatens him.” Bennett straightened his shoulders. As far as werewolves went, Derek had yet to meet one as intimidating in appearance as his grandfather. He was broad shouldered and muscular, with powerful arms and a stern resting face. On top of that, he stood at six and a half feet tall.

“Grandpa, I don’t think-”

“Let him go,” Rona said. She wasn’t keen on macho intimidation tactics, which she referred to as a disease of humanity, but she liked to let the men figure out they were being dumb themselves.

Bennett went for the stairs.

“He’s a witch,” Derek whispered. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to freak him out.”

“Hmm.” Rona didn’t look inclined to share her opinion on the matter.

“Where’s Aunt Marissa and Uncle Grant?”

“Checking the perimeter.” Bryan leaned against the counter, his shoulder pressing into Derek’s. He looked exasperated.

Upstairs, a door slammed open. “Dad, what-” Peter began.

Bennett roared. Stomping feet, then a bang! He yelped and the walls shook.

Derek ran for the stairs, tailed by Talia and Rona.

Bennett had plaster dust all over him; he’d gone partially through the wall across the hall from the guest room. “Non-lethal energy bolt,” he grumbled.

Derek looked in the guest room.

Stiles was swaying but on his feet, wide eyed and heaving for breath.

“Sorry,” Derek said quickly, crossing to him. He elbowed Peter out of the way and gently eased Stiles back onto the bed. “I’m sorry. They wanted to see if you were a threat to us. They won’t do that again.” He rubbed his shoulders automatically, feeling the chill through the sweatshirt.

Stiles’s gaze was dazed and empty, turned toward the door but clearly not seeing.

“Serves you right,” Rona said. “Scaring that boy like that. You’ll be fixing the wall, too.”

Derek stepped toward them, intending to close the door. Something tugged on his shirt, stopping him. He glanced back.

Stiles was gripping the edge of his shirt. He slowly lifted his eyes to meet his gaze.

Derek sat beside him on the bed. He stayed until he stopped shivering.

Cora, Peter, and Derek moved their stuff to the second floor that night. They were the best options, just in case anything went wrong. Plus, Stiles was most comfortable with Derek and Cora, and even Peter, to some extent.

Derek was walking back to his and Cora’s shared room from the bathroom when a small, wounded sound stopped him. He listened for a moment, then followed the noise to Stiles’s guest room.

He was asleep but restless, muffling cries into his pillow. He was curled up in a tight, protective ball. When he clamped down on another cry, Derek went to the bed and shook his shoulder.

“Hey, wake up. It’s okay, you’re just dreaming,” he whispered, rubbing his shoulder with his thumb.

Stiles shuddered and woke, opening eyes still streaming tears. “S-sorry,” he stammered. “Sorry, I was just…”

“Dreaming.” Derek looked around. “Do you want me to stay?”

He wiped his face. “No. Thanks.” He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest.

“I’m going to stay.” He sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall.

Stiles huffed but didn’t say anything at first. He picked at his sleeve, sighed, and said, “You could ask.”

“It isn’t my business.”

He glared at him.

Derek smiled.

He sighed and flopped backwards.

“If you want to talk about it, be my guest.”

He lifted his head just enough to glare again. “I feel stupid.”

“Why?”

He grumbled incoherently. “She used magic to torture me,” he said to the ceiling. “So she didn’t actually hurt me, but…it hurt.” He laid his palm flat on his chest. “She wanted to test my magic before she took it. Get a…a taste of it. So she tortured me to bring it to the surface and it just…feels like I didn’t really get away.”

“I’m sure that’s normal after an event like that.”

He nodded. “I guess.” He swallowed loudly. “I didn’t mean to…endanger your pack. I thought the spell would take me to other witches or something.”

“How could you know? You were just trying to survive. We like survivors.” Derek certainly did. He liked that this lanky, exhausted guy in front of him was a fighter, had gotten himself out when he saw no escape. It was just the wolf in him, he guessed, to appreciate people who fought and clawed for their right to live.

Stiles sat up. “She had me for days.”

“You still got out, by yourself, after all that.”

After a long moment of silence, he asked, “Where are we?”

“Oregon. My grandparents live here.”

“Not with the pack?”

Derek smiled. “No. The pack house was getting a little cramped, so they moved here. Now there’s two pack houses; the rest of us use this one during the holiday season.”

Stiles nodded. “Your grandfather was the alpha before your mother?”

“Nope, my grandmother.” He flashed a grin. “Size doesn’t mean much with us. Plus, Grandpa’s a teddy bear. Grandma’s the scary one.”

“Hmph.” Stiles clearly didn’t agree.

Derek shrugged, since that was fair.

After a while, Stiles started talking about his classes, his friends, a little about his father.

Derek wasn’t sure when he’d drifted off. He woke with Stiles’s head pillowed on his leg, curled up under a blanket he must’ve dragged from the bed.

Derek yawned fiercely and gathered him up. The sun hadn’t quite risen, so the room was still pretty dark. He stood, wincing as his stiff muscles stretched, and took Stiles and the blanket to the bed.

Stiles whimpered as he set him down.

Derek rubbed his face and crawled onto the far side of the bed. He was too tired to worry about awkwardness or whatever rules there were about sharing a bed with a stranger.

The next time he woke, Stiles had curled up against his side in his sleep; the sun had fully risen. He didn’t move for a moment, just breathing.

Downstairs, Laura was convincing Uncle Grant to make his specialty French toast to go with breakfast, and Warren and Layla were arguing over who forgot to shut off the Xbox the night before.

Derek inhaled slowly. He had always liked this part of holiday season, everyone crammed together with nothing more pressing than recipes to worry about. Members of other parts of the family—Bryan’s sister Sophie and her family, Grant’s three younger siblings, even Rona’s brother and his grandkids—would pop in now and again for a visit, and it always felt…good. Crowded and noisy but just where he wanted to be.

Stiles grumbled in his sleep, rubbing his cheek against Derek’s shoulder unconsciously.

A powerful surge of want had his stomach swooping. It wasn’t even physical, though he did find Stiles attractive; it was this: waking up with someone all warm and comforting beside him, with his pack just downstairs.

He sighed and gently nudged Stiles away.

He opened his eyes slowly, shooting Derek a groggily confused look.

“Good morning.”

He grunted.

He couldn’t help smiling. “Well, I’m sure it’ll get better once we go downstairs. My uncle is making French toast and there will definitely be bacon. Possibly pancakes.”

Stiles rubbed his cheek against the pillow. “Mm, I prefer waffles.”

“Heathen.”

He laughed, looking shocked at the sound.

“Come on, we’ll feed you.”

He sat up, yawning and running a hand through his hair. “How many people are here?” He looked wary.

Derek grimaced. “Oh, about thirteen, plus me.” He held up a hand. “My parents, my older sister and her wife, my two younger siblings. My mom’s younger sister Marissa and her husband and two kids. My uncle Peter, who you met yesterday, and my grandparents.” He smiled weakly.

“No pressure,” he muttered.

“You’ve met Peter and survived. Everyone else is cake.”

Stiles didn’t look convinced.

Everyone was still in pajamas when they got downstairs. They pretended not to notice them, which Derek appreciated. Stiles’s nerves were thick enough to choke on, so crowding him probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Good morning,” Talia said, brushing a hand over Derek’s head as she passed with a platter of eggs.

Nick came pounding in the backdoor, scattering snow all over the kitchen floor.

“Nick!” Bennett boomed.

Stiles shrank behind Derek.

“Wipe your feet!”

“Sorry, Grandpa,” he said breathlessly. “But look what I found!” He waved a piece of damp paper around with one hand while messing with his phone with the other.

Talia snagged the paper.

Derek leaned over to look at it. “Oh.”

It was a missing person flyer, for one Mieczysław Stilinski. There was a picture of Stiles in the center and several phone numbers below asking to be called if anyone had any information about his location.

Stiles made a low wounded sound. “My dad is probably so freaked out, this is awfu-”

“Nick,” Derek barked. “Hang up. Hang up your phone.”

“But it says-”

“Hang up the phone!” Cora shouted.

“We know wh-”

“Hang up,” Talia ordered.

Nick hung up on the third ring, looking confused. “What’s the problem? We found him, he’s missing, he just said his dad-”

“Is human,” Talia said. “He could get hurt. For now, we don’t contact him.”

Stiles sagged with relief. “Thank you.”

“Where did you find this?”

“Well, there were a lot of them scattered everywhere when I was walking around.”

Bryan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where were you walking around?”

“Just past the edge of the property. They were all over Edgewood drive.”

He sighed. “Nick, we asked you to stop wandering off the property without telling us where you were going.”

He shrugged. “Sorry.”

Derek rolled his eyes and led Stiles to the table.

Breakfast, even with a guest to put them on their best behavior, was chaos. Layla and Nick had both decided that Stiles was the most fascinating person they’d ever met and spent most of the meal chattering at him, until the food was gone.

Stiles didn’t seem to mind.

“But how do you know what song to hum for each different spell?” Layla asked.

“We have to learn them from books. Really, really old books.” He wrinkled his nose. “It’s not too bad.”

“Can you show me?”

He smiled. “Sure.” His gaze flicked around, stopping on the chandelier above them. He held his right hand out, palm up, and began to hum. It was a sweet, high pitched melody that lasted longer than the other spells Derek had witnessed him do. The lights flickered and shifted.

While they watched, the glow of the light flowed out of the fixture like a liquid, pooling in his palm.

Layla’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, cool. Can I touch it?” Nick asked, already reaching out.

“It’s hot, hang on.” Stiles touched a fingertip to Nick’s palm and hummed again, low and gentle. Then he poured the light into Nick’s hand.

He laughed delightedly, making Derek smile.

Bryan sighed from the kitchen. “Those were brand new bulbs.”

Stiles winced. “I can put it back,” he mumbled, flushing.

“Dad, come look at this, it’s so cool.” Nick grinned at Stiles. “Do you have to put it back?”

“Ah…no, but it would fade eventually.” He smirked and hummed again.

The light began moving, forming shapes from Nick’s cupped palms.

Layla gasped.

Stiles sat back in his seat, looking pleased.

Derek smiled at him, grinning wider when he flushed.

Cora returned from doing her portion of the dishes. “Oh, cool. Man.” She made a face. “I wish I could do magic.”

Talia sighed from the living room.

“You can,” Stiles announced.

The whole house fell quiet.

“Uh…what do you mean?” Derek asked gently, wondering if Stiles had hit his head at all.

Stiles smirked and held his hands out. The light in Layla and Nick’s hands shot back up to the chandelier. “Come here. I’ll show you.”

Cora put her hands behind her back. “Show me what?”

“How you can do magic. It’s okay. It won’t hurt.” He held his hands out.

She glanced at Nick, who nodded eagerly, before sighing and approaching. She eyed him warily before putting her hands in his.

He smiled and flipped her hands over so they rested palms up on his. “Okay, just hum this.” He went high, then low sharply, followed by a slow rise to high again for three seconds.

Cora looked slightly panicked. “But I can’t sing—or hold a tune.”

“That’s okay. Just do what I did.”

She nodded. “Okay.” She blew out a breath and inhaled slowly.

Stiles nodded encouragingly at her.

She started humming. It was off-key but otherwise mimicked the sound Stiles had made. Sparks shot into the air, just above their heads, pink and green and yellow. They twinkled and fell, disappearing like fireworks.

Stiles hummed again; orange, blue, and gold shot up.

Cora laughed and hummed, too: purple sparks joined Stiles’s. “Oh, my god! I did that?”

“Yep.”

“I did magic?!”

“Yes.”

“Can I go next?” Layla asked eagerly, elbowing Cora out of the way.

“He isn’t an amusement park ride,” Laura snapped. “Clara, can you bring me some oranges?” she asked sweetly.

“Sure.”

Stiles, who looked pale, winked at Layla and held out a ball of light to her. “Throw it at your brother,” he whispered.

Delighted, she cupped her hands protectively around the ball and ran to find him.

“That was either really mean, or really nice,” Derek said. “I can’t decide.”

“It’s just the magical equivalent of a snowball. It won’t hurt him, no matter how hard she throws it.” His eyes were a little glassy, like he’d overexerted himself.

“Come on, you should lay down.”

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re exhausted again.”

“I’m fine.”

Derek crossed his arms.

“He’s an adult, Derek,” Laura muttered. “Can someone get me an ice pack? I’m hot. I’m melting.”

Stiles grinned and stood. He waved Clara off before she could go back to the kitchen. He followed her to the living room.

Derek lifted his brows and followed a pace behind.

Laura was stretched out on the couch; her hair was indeed clinging to her temples with sweat. “Hey.” She grinned weakly. “I’d say I’m usually much nicer than this, but that would be a lie. I’m more consistent usually, though.”

“That’s okay. I’m not usually very nice either.” He held a hand out. “I heard you needed cooling off.”

She lifted a brow.

He wiggled his hand.

She lifted her own. Her brows flew up when they touched. “Oh my god.” She grabbed both his hands and pressed them to her cheeks. “Oh my god,” she moaned.

Clara laughed. “Alright then. Here’s your oranges, babe.”

Derek snorted. “I’ll go get you some ice water.”

“Uh-huh,” she mumbled distractedly.

He shook his head and went to the kitchen.

Peter was leaning against the island, arms crossed. “Should we be letting him near Laura?” he muttered. “In her condition?”

“She’s pregnant, Peter, not terminal. Plus, Mom’s out there. She isn’t going to let anything happen.” Derek hunted down the lid for Laura’s favorite cup.

“Something bad is going to happen.” Peter shook his head. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Go take a walk. I think you need some air.”

He scoffed and went to the living room.

Derek finished making Laura’s drink, thinking about it. Peter usually had a good reason to be paranoid, but he trusted Stiles.

Talia liked him, which was normally enough for him anyway, but in this case, his gut was enough, too. Stiles wasn’t there to hurt them.

Derek ended up in Stiles’s room again that night. “You’re safe here,” he whispered, holding onto him as he sobbed unreservedly against his chest.

“I know,” he gasped. He shuddered. “It’s like you’re warding the nightmares off.” He gulped in air until his lungs stopped working so hard. “I’m sorry.”

Derek squeezed him a little tighter. “S’okay. Want me to stay?”

Stiles answered, “Yes,” in a small voice.

The next day passed like the previous, almost identically; at dinner, Bryan had to hunt Nick down since he’d wandered off again. For dessert, they had homemade pie and Stiles, having regained more strength throughout the day, made tiny ice sculptures for everyone.

“So what can you do with that power, besides art?” Bryan asked. His sculpture was a tiny convertible, set on top of his plate. He’d been admiring the details for a few minutes already.

“I can freeze almost anything,” Stiles answered carefully.

“Even people?” Warren asked eagerly.

“Ah…I’ve never tried anything alive. Once in high school I froze the pool so we didn’t have to swim.”

“Cool.”

Grant rolled his eyes. “Finish your pie, kid.”

The only people Stiles didn’t speak to were Bennett and Peter; Bennett, he was still sort of wary of, and Peter…Derek wasn’t sure, but they seemed to be regarding each other as dangerous but not exactly immediate threats.

“It’s our turn to do dishes,” Stiles announced. “You let Derek and me skip dish duty yesterday and all day today, and I’m pretty sure we both ate.” He tapped his thumb against the edge of his plate pointedly.

Talia laughed. “Well, if you’re that eager, be my guest.”

“Thanks a lot,” Derek joked.

Stiles snickered and jostled him with his elbow.

“I’m going to get the fire pit going,” Rona said, standing with her plate.

“Can we do s’mores?” Layla asked.

Grant gaped. “Are you a bottomless pit?”

“Just like her momma,” Marissa said proudly.

“You boys join us when you’re done,” Rona said with a grin. “I promise to protect you from Bennett.” She ruffled Stiles’s hair as she passed.

Bennett said, “For god’s sake, Rona! I was protecting the pack! Stiles, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Okay.” He didn’t say anything else or move, though, proving that an apology wasn’t quite enough.

Bennett sighed.

While the rest of the pack trooped outside to “start the fire pit” which was Hale-speak for throwing sticks into the flames and acting like idiots, Derek went to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to help,” he said when Stiles joined him at the sink.

“Sure I do. Why haven’t your grandparents invested in a dishwasher?”

Derek shrugged. “Probably to give people something to do when there’s too many Hales.”

“Is there such a thing?” he teased.

Derek snorted. “Sometimes.” He set about filling the sink with hot, soapy water. While it was running, he got out a stack of towels. “For drying,” he explained.

“Ah. I’ve heard of this practice.” He ran his fingers back and forth across the counter. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being…safe.” He made a face. “For helping me. You guys could’ve just called an ambulance and been done with me.”

“Well, you are a witch. We magical beings should take care of each other.” He smiled.

“Should,” he murmured. “Sink is full.”

Derek shut off the faucet and started scrubbing. The rhythm was nice, side by side like this. It wasn’t as easy and familiar as it was with his siblings, but it was nice anyway. He liked listening to Stiles talk, even though he was obviously trying to distract them both. Something about the whole moment felt right, and Derek wanted to keep it forever.

“-and I don’t even really know you,” Stiles was saying, “but I just…” And then he turned Derek’s face with the hand holding the damp towel and kissed him.

A plate thunked back into the full sink, sloshing water across his shirt. He sighed and kissed back, and yes, this felt right, too, this was exactly where they were supposed to be.

Derek let Stiles drag him to his guest room when everyone was turning in for the night. He’d have ended up there anyway, drawn to the sounds of fear and pain, so he considered this just saving time.

They were kissing before the door closed all the way. He let himself be tumbled onto the bed, but caught Stiles’s wrists gently before he could grab for his pants.

“Sorry,” he said instantly, easing back.

“That’s okay. I just don’t…really do casual sex.” He shrugged. “I like relationships.”

Stiles nodded. “Okay.”

“But we can keep kissing, if you still want to.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I still want to.”

They made out languidly on the bed until Stiles slipped into sleep. Derek covered them with the comforter and curled up around him. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head and wondered what he’d say if he asked him out on a date. He smiled as Stiles snuggled closer. He’d say he had a pretty good chance.

#gryvon #stereksanta18 #*fic18 #*gifts18

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