#distracting myself from what happened in the sprint

[veyronvenus]

HES MAKING FUNNY FACES AGAINNN

[roseglazedlens]

⦑ THE FUCKING DEAD ⦒ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

➠ series masterlist | 🔃girl’s route | 🔃boy’s route |

𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓┇𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑┇𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐅𝐈𝐂┇𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 LEON S. KENNEDY & CARLOS OLIVEIRA X AFAB GN! READER ADA WONG & JILL VALENTINE X AFAB GN! READER chapter synopsis: You are amongst the top five selected for this infiltration to take down Glenn Arias. An argument unfolds between the agents and you are forced to pick a side. chapter content: smut in next chapter, resident evil: vendetta spoilers, zombies, haunted mansion, explicit themes throughout this series. a/n: welcome to my second series!! (need to finish my first one oops) on a thursday one month ago, i thought to myself 'zombie threesome hehehe', then i took the idea and sprinted with it and this series is born. so, uh... zombiefuckers rise up?? « 3.3 k words | general masterlist | ao3 | reblogs appreciated! »

Millions are dying—Mass infections are happening across the globe swamping the streets with an unbeknownst fear. The symptoms of this virus are faint, indecipherable next to an x-ray of a man who is perfectly healthy. Not even the carrier themselves are aware of how the virus lies underneath their veins, dormant, until a click of button is pressed from a commander far away, then their symptoms worsen: a headache, a cold, veins turning purple as the poison hatches in them, spreading, until the only thing that can manoeuvre their limbs is the word: KILL.

That’s the greatest strength of this virus. Anyone can be infected, and maybe, you already are.

This product first reached the underground market three months ago. Called the A-Virus; a bioweapon succeeded in the market for its ability to infect targeted communities remotely and leaving no evidence on the perpetrator, which no other distributors had successfully produced before.

Engineered by Glenn Arias, the researcher sold over thousands of this bioweapon, becoming a billionaire overnight at the cost of lives lost from the whims of the rich. He supplied the wealthy and corrupted, like insatiable brats, with new remote-controlled monster trucks, who only aims to tear down families and have their victims beg mercy to a monster that will not speak reason.

Hence, this problem brought attention to a global scale, having the DSO come in alliance with the BSAA and other independent mercenaries to hunt down the vaccine and put a stop to Arias’ grand schemes. Handpicking five agents who are equipped with both experience and skill to combat a zombie attack on this scale of doom and urgency.

Those five agents are Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, and you.

A plan is already in place. A distraction concocted with your intel and the help of a senior researcher of all things bioweapons, Rebecca Chambers. While Arias is busy attending fake business meetings on the other side of the world, the five of you will infiltrate his private mansion to retrieve a concentrated sample of the A-Virus. Rebecca can use the sample to reverse engineer it into a cure and send her findings to facilities across the world.

The plan sounds brilliant in writing, but when you arrived his private mansion in Queretaro region, Mexico, something is off about this place.

Arias is a mastermind, you had been warned many times, in which you appropriately prepared all your best gear for this mission to treat it with utmost gravity. You’re thinking armed guards, well-equipped security, BOWs. But when the five of you pushed open the front doors of his mansion, it was quiet.

Empty. Not a single soul. Just five of you greeted by the whisk of wind through weakly hinged windows that somehow makes the humid air stick to your skin further. Did Rebecca get the wrong info? No one lived there. From what you heard when you were in town, not even the locals dare to venture anywhere near the odd gothic mansion on the top of the hill. They said it’s abandoned, cursed, rumoured to whisk away young children if they ever step foot inside.

It’s a story they say to stop the naughty kids, you remind yourself. It’s not haunted. And you’re not a kid anymore.

The inside is abandoned. Cobwebs lay thick between cornices and carved columns, the floors laced with a film of dust on the luxurious dark wood flooring, creaking with worn age as you take each step. Besides the chandelier, every single piece of furniture is either the same colour of black or red, or nothing else. The soft red velvet upholstery and the rug are made with the same fabric. And you can find the same dark wood in every corner of this house. It’s in the tables, the shelves, the chaise, the painting frames, and stone-like head sculpture whittled with the same exact dark wood, ridged the exact uniform way.

Then, you look at the wall. Black patches of mould smearing across the burgundy wallpaper like a crime scene.

Something creaks behind you. The hair on your arms stands up as you shiver, immediately followed by a wave of embarrassment. Despite the number of times you had taken down hordes of incoming zombies like they’re cardboard targets, why is a bit of wind freaking you out? It’s not a ghost, just old foundations, maybe mice, or wind kicking something off a table, like how every old house sounds like. You look around to see if anyone else catches you jumping at nothing, before Jill says, thankfully unaware of your worry:

“God, the smell. What have they done to this place?” Her hand flies over her nose as if that will help to shield any smell whatsoever. Unfortunately, the building is moulded far beyond salvageable that the stench lingers in every part of the mansion.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad. We get weeks-old corpses in body bags every day. It’s absolutely retching.” Jill’s earpiece fizzes into life, and she recognises the familiar playful lilt of Rebecca’s voice on the other side of the line.

“At least that’s refrigerated and contained, Rebecca. This fucking stinks.” Jill scrunches her face like she just ate something unpleasant.

“I’m sending my sympathies from my well-conditioned lab right now.”

Carlos appears from Jill’s behind, placing a firm, teasing hand on top of Jill’s shoulder. His wavy curls catch in the wind and his teeth glistens sparkly white. “Yeah Jill, got a problem with my natural musk?”

Jill shrugs his hand off, grimacing at his attempts at flirtation. “Take a shower first, then we’ll talk.”

In which Carlos laughs, holds his hand out at his heart as if it was just torn into shreds. “That hurts my feelings, Jill. Why aren’t you ever saying things like that to pretty boy over there?”

“I have a name, Oliveira.” The blond man turns around at the call of his nickname, familiar with the nickname, but it's not pleasantly received by him.

“I think pretty boy suits you more, Kennedy.” Carlos replies, a glint in his voice that hints something a bit less than friendliness between them.

“Ah, so you do know my name.” Leon quips back while staring directly into Carlos’ eyes, before getting cut off by Jill.

“I would, Carlos, but if I have to hear one more corny ass comeback from Leon’s mouth, I’ll throw myself out the window right now.”

“Takes a genius to get my humour.” Leon smirks.

Your eyebrows raise almost immediately to chime in. “Erm… I think we have different meanings for the word ‘genius’.”

Quiet chuckles ripple through the room. It helps that you have worked with these guys throughout the years and had come to know and get close to them—some a bit closer than just friends—but none of them are strangers by far. Usually, you would be working with only one or two of these guys, never in a big group like this, but it seems that everyone is already well-acquainted with each other.

You toss a glance at Carlos and catch him staring at you, smiling. Ah, you see now. Carlos must have been trying to lighten the mood because you had been jumpy ever since you had arrived. You nod at him, a silent thank you before the five of you venture deeper into the eerie atmosphere.

The goal is to arrive at Glenn Aria’s office. According to Rebecca’s intel, Arias hid a concentrated sample in a safe last time he was here. You will need Ada to crack the safe to retrieve the sample and deliver it to Rebecca. As you traverse the corridors, it twists and turns in different directions—whoever engineered this did not enjoy unexpected guests at all. But under Rebecca’s guidance, she walks you and your team through the labyrinth with ease and precision.

But unfortunately, not ease and precision on your part. You trip over your own leg and almost fall to the floor as you round a harsh turn according to Rebecca’s instructions, and Jill catches you right on the arm before you fall.

“Easy there.” Jill pulls you up the ground, and you regain some balance. “You good? Mind your step.”

“Why did I agree to babysit?” Ada speaks, finally, for the first time in this mission. Despite how quietly she spoke under her breath, her words abruptly cut through the air, and all attention is on her and the red sweater dress that curves into her frame perfectly now.

“Oh, I bet once you get your paycheck it will be worth it. Or will you be betraying us, huh, Ada?”

Leon smirks loudly. Ada’s face goes from tired to exhausted in one second. “You just can’t let bygones be bygones, can you?”

“That’s rich coming from someone who used to work for Wesker.” Ada’s heels come to a stop, and with a slow turn, she stares deeply into Leon’s eyes that speak a million threats without needing to be utter a word. Oh, and believe me, you do not want to be messing with Ada. You learnt that the hard way.

“Woah, guys. Let’s keep this civil. No need to get heated.” Carlos rushes to stand right between them as the duo glares at each other with passionate fury and resentment.

You nod, joining Carlos’ side to stand by him. “Carlos’s right. This is not the time to pick a fight.” But it falls on the deaf ears of Leon and Ada.

“Thousands were killed. I want what’s good for the people, and I’m not sure Ada here is on the same page.” Leon continues, adding fuel to the fire.

Ada lets out a disbelieved gasp in response, before recollecting herself and replying in her usual tone of calmness: “Someone has to pay the price. I’m just the executor.”

“Regardless of our motivations, we all are on the same side here.” Carlos attempts at resolution again, putting his hands up in between them, and fails embarrassingly once more.

The air is heated with hostility; Leon and Ada’s eyes are locked in a trance, a hazy spite that reigns their composure, that looking away from each other means forfeiting. You don’t see either of them walking away first, they are both prideful people after all.

“Uh… Jill? Some help?” Carlos looks around to find Jill, who is leaning against a wall, her arms relaxing by her sides, unphased by the fire stirring right in front of the crowd.

“Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Jill is merely waiting for either one of the parties roll over.

You feel speckles of flame through the two of them, as if steam is retreating over the top of their heads, burning not just them, but also everyone else in the room. Until the boiling point hits, and it erupts all in one second. The duo walks away, off to different directions in bitter adrenaline, until you and Carlos are just looking at each other.

“I guess we’ll take five. There’s a safe room up ahead.” Carlos is speaking, but you’re the one listening.

The five of you enters the safe room in silence. It is a storage room—despite its name, it’s quite large for a normal storage room—with boxes stacked on all ends that made the room seem smaller in comparison. A ceiling light illuminates the room dimly, but it isn’t enough to shade away years of old animosity from their past.

The lively conversations you had mere minutes ago is gone now. Just silence and awkward rustling as each of you sits in your own designated corner. Carlos and Jill find themselves a seat on top of a firm box. Leon and Ada giving each other the silent treatment, standing on farthest end of the room to each other. You are simply minding your own business, gathering materials to craft a flashbang to pass the time. Doesn’t hurt to have more supplies anyway.

There is a notable division on each side, an imaginary alliance that you choose to be on neither side. Until Leon crosses the boundary line, somehow making his way to you. He picks up an empty grenade case next to you, assembling the pieces together for your project.

“Sorry you had to see that.” A little guilt tugs at Leon’s voice.

“Not at all. I get why you felt that way.” Leon nods, a look of gratitude hanging softly through a smile. His other finger seals the flashbang cap and hands it back to you. “But you need to learn to control your temper. Especially when it comes to Ada.”

Speaking of Ada, a shiver runs down your spine suddenly. The feeling of someone sending laser signs and telepathic warnings towards you. You turn around towards the direction of the aura to find Ada, her back leaning against the wall, arms crossed without engaging or acknowledging anyone in the room. She stands by herself alone, and that’s how you had always known Ada—distant and in her own mysterious world. Not really a chatter, despite the number of times she had saved you in the past.

Ada does not look at you, but you can feel her glaring down—either you or Leon—with her entire body.

“Good to see the two of you getting along at least.” Carlos holds out two plastic water bottles to you two from a supply crate he found in the room, which Jill has finished downing two of them already.

You two gesture ‘no thanks.’ Ada does not spare Carlos a glance at his direction when he offers.

“You’re welcome, I guess.” Carlos says sarcastically, before taking in a generous sip from his drink.

There’s a moment of silence. Then, a moment of dry coughs; a squeak of footsteps, a joint click from a stretching neck. Then silence once more.

“I’ve had enough.” Jill slaps her hands on her thigh before pushing herself up from her seat. “You guys gonna keep acting like kids? Grow up, this isn’t high school anymore. Take your drama outside. If we’re gonna take down Arias, we have to get along. And yes, that means moving on from shit that happened… five years ago? Five years ago and you two are still hung up? Unlike you all, I’m actually looking forward to go home and get a decent shower, hopefully soon.”

You nod in approval as Jill speaks her mind, and you are glad at least the few of you have their priorities in order. Ada flicks her head away from Jill, but her silence is telling of how much she is thinking over Jill’s words.

“Leon, can you accept this?” Jill asks.

There’s a bit of reluctance in his voice, but he agrees anyway. “Fine.”

“Ada?”

Before Ada can respond, smoke is creeping into your vision, coming in quick. It merges into your view, obscuring it, and you whiff something artificial, some kind of chemicals that is piercing to your nose and eyes. You can’t help but wince, hands groping the air in attempts to find comfort in the person closest to you—anyone for that matter—to indicate you’re safe and is indeed not under attack. Your fingers find themselves in a fistful of someone’s shirt, muscles tensing tightly underneath the fabric on their shoulder cap.

“Leon. Is that you?” You cry out.

“It’s me. Stay close and don’t let go. It’s an ambush.” Leon pulls your arm towards him, securing your safety with his hand in yours.

There is some coughing through the air, faint panic in voices underneath the hissing of gas that seems to be coming from above. You hold onto Leon a bit tighter.

Carlos calls out desperately “Where are you guys? Is everyone okay?” as he flaps his hand around the smoke to stir it away. He finds you and Leon almost immediately, and looks down to your hands, finding them clasped tight against each other. Your hand lets go of Leon flying behind your back, but Carlos already saw it.

Jill is coughing deep from the smoke. “I-I’m here!”

“It seems like we’re all here.” Ada says, composed as ever despite the circumstances.

The smoke dissipates—until most of the fog fades away, escaping through the cracks underneath the door to the other side. Leaving the five of you standing in the same storage room darting eyes around, seemingly unharmed, and even more confused.

After what feels like a while later, Jill finally breaks the silence: “Huh. What was that?”

“No enemies.” Ada unholsters the pistol from her belt, inspecting the room and the door behind the room. “Clear on this side too.”

It’s strange. If this is an ambush, why isn’t there an attack?

Leon places a finger on his earpiece to activate his microphone. “Rebecca, come in. We’ve just been ambushed by some kind of smoke, but nobody’s hurt. Happen to know what’s going on?”

His earpiece buzzes into life. “Hmm, let’s see. From the architecture plans, I see the vents are connected to a lab below. It seems abandoned, there are no signs of anyone triggering an attack on my end.”

“Whatever it is, we need to investigate.” Leon’s voice is firm and serious. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

You swallow deeply, fear settling back inside you. “You think it’s a trap?”

“I think…” Leon pinches his chin. “…Arias knows that we’re here.”

Your heart drops—Bundle of fear, anxiety and stress springing back into your nerves as you probe at the possibility of Glen Arias knowing where you are. What you’re trying to do. Making sure you will never reach that sample despite your hardest wills.

“He shouldn’t. Rebecca, didn’t Arias get on the jet?” Carlos is also thinking too.

“Affirmative. Security footage showed Arias walking into his private jet, and it took off four hours ago. He should still be in the air. No signal of them making a pitstop anywhere.”

You hear black pumps clacking against the hardwood floor. “I’m getting the sample.” Says Ada, her foot is already halfway out of the door. “Follow me or not, I don’t care. I’m here for the objective, and only that.”

“And what if something happens to you?” Carlos asks, genuinely concerned.

“I’ll deal with it if it happens.” Ada waves dismissively.

“Ada’s right, we could be set on a wild goose chase.” Jill chimes in. “Millions of lives are dying. We don’t have time to waste.”

“I guess it’s just you and me then, pretty boy.” Carlos rounds his arm around Leon’s neck, bringing him closer in an almost choking grip, a little too close and tight to his liking. And with Leon’s history with Carlos, Leon refuses to believe this is just a friendly gesture.

Leon grimaces, removing Carlos’ hand over him. “So that’s it? We’re splitting up?” The answer is unanimous. “Fine. I guess we’ll cover more ground if we split up.”

Rebecca, through the other side of your earpiece, speaks: “Be careful everyone. You don’t know what kind of schemes Glenn Arias had set up. Please stay safe.”

“We’ll be fine, as long as we don't have any traitors in our team.” Leon says the word ‘traitor’ while maintaining eye contact with Ada. She ignores him, simply deadpans.

“Well, what about you?” Leon nudges at your arm.

You are faced with two options. Indulge in your curiosity and find the source of the gas, or stick to mission as planned? Both options will be dangerous. So who will you trust with your life?

[OPTION A] “I’ll follow the girls.”

[OPTION B] “I’ll follow the boys.”

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 thanks for reading! come check out my other works! —yours truly, rose. i love my beta reader @scar-crossedlvrs! series taglist: @j3llyd0nut @ovaryacted @daydreamrot @madcap-riflette @access--granted @obsolescent @briermelli @secretiveauthor @ghosty-frog @navstuffs @slowcryinginthedark @rentaldarling @lesbntired © roseglazedlens — please do not repost, plagiarise, or feed to ai.

[seonghwaddict]

private lessons — song mingi

in which professor song is the man everyone on campus longs for but only you get to have.

professor!song mingi x fem!reader. genre. fluff, smut. warnings. explicit sexual content minors dni, reader wears a dress, unprotected sex, student x teacher relationship (consenting and legal), dom!mingi, slightly mean but also soft dom!mingi, fingering, dirty talk, petnames (doll, baby, fucktoy/toy, plaything, slut, whore), degradation, praise, creampie, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, brief begging, cockwarming, sir kink. wc. 3.5k. rating. mature.

lilo’s notes. i have nothing to say for myself.

listening to. les, childish gambino

masterlist

you practically sprinted through the halls of the main university building, nearly running into various people idling around. checking the time on your phone, you cursed silently. the lecture had started half an hour ago and you hated being late, but it really wasn’t your fault.

your alarm hadn’t gone off and you ended up waking up a lot later than you usually do. after that, your bus just had to get stuck in traffic, a consequence of waking up late. and now you had to literally run for your life to get to the lecture hall, the door creaking as you step in, drawing all the attention to you.

“how nice of you to finally join us, miss L/N.”

you glanced at the source of the voice despite already knowing who you’ll find. professor mingi was your physics teacher. but more than that, he was tall and broad shouldered, wearing black slacks and a fitted black long sleeve tucked into the slacks, the sleeves rolled half way up his arm whose muscles flexed each time he reached up to push his thin-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. you could, by all means, call him one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen. many agreed, groups of girls and guys alike whispering over his attractiveness during lecture or ogling as they spotted him around campus during regular tasks. the only difference between you and them was the fact that you got to have him all to yourself behind closed doors.

bowing quickly, apologies rolled off your tongue as your cheeks heated up with embarrassment. “i’m so sorry, sir. there were some complications on my way here, it won’t happen again.”

a low chuckle left his lips and he waved dismissively, gesturing to the row of seats. “it’s quite alright, take a seat. you can stay after class for a bit and i’ll explain what you missed.”

you nodded silently and walked to an empty seat in the third row, cheeks burning and a tingling sensation pooling in your abdomen at the implications of his words. before you could stop yourself, you were reminded of what you did two nights before. you and him, tangled in his bedsheets. the vivid memory had your eyes widening and turning to your laptop to force yourself to take notes, missing the knowing smirk on his face as he continued the lecture.

truthfully, focusing proved to be a difficult task. every time you thought you could finally pay attention to what he was saying, your mind helpfully playing back images of previous encounters with him. you shifted in your seat uncomfortably, the heat between your legs distracting you.

before you knew it, he concluded the lecture and everyone was out of the room, leaving the two of you alone. you got up from your seat, walking down the small steps, taking your stuff with you and placing them on a seat in the first row for convenience purposes. his back was turned to you as he wiped words and equations off the whiteboard.

“eager to learn more, miss L/N?” he speaks without turning to you, the muscles of his arms under the shirt flexing slightly as he rubbed away all the writing with an eraser. you could hear the smile in his voice. “i must say, i’m quite impressed at your dedication to his subject.”

you chuckle softly and play along, walking to stand at the desk behind him, leaning against the wood. “well, subjects are interesting when you have a professor who gives you… private lessons.”

“private lessons, you say?” he turned around at that, the familiar smirk adorning his face as he saw you merely three steps away. three steps which he took slowly, standing in front of you. his eyes privately roamed over your body now, unable to do so in a room full of students he was supposed to teach. he liked the cute little sundress you wore, and he knew that you knew, suspecting that you wore the dainty light pink fabric on purpose. his hands brushed against your arms, eliciting goosebumps as he placed them on your waist, his voice dropping to a low whisper. “how about one right now?”

“are you sure?” you rested you hands on his forearms, looking around. “what if someone walks in?”

one of his hands leaves your waist to cup your cheek softly, thumb brushing over your skin. “no one’s supposed to come in here for another hour, it’s just you and me.”

you bite your lip nervously before nodding, relaxing in his hold. with your permission, he leaned forward, barely brushing his lips against yours before leaning it into just a peck, pulling back just as quickly to look at you for a moment. a second later, his lips were back on yours, the kiss remained gentle but there was a sense of urgency as his hand on your waist moved to your hips, kneading your flesh softly, and yours found themselves gripping his shoulders.

goosebumps ran down your spine as he groaned against your lips, his tongue swiping along your bottom lip before slipping into your mouth to explore. his thumb traced your jaw so gently as you pulled away from each other after several minutes, panting.

you looked up at him with round eyes, a giggle leaving your swollen lips. “we really shouldn’t be doing this here of all places.”

“yeah, you’re right,” he took a small step back after pressing a final kiss to your forehead, straightening out his clothes, “if you’re up for it, you can come back to my place later.”

a soft smile spread along your flushed face, nodding as you leaned up to return a kiss to his cheek. “yeah, i’d like that.”

“now,” he cleared his throat, slowly trying to regain his composure he adjusted the collar of his shirt. “if you’ll excuse me, i need to go prepare for my next class.”

“you’re excused, professor.” you laugh as you step around him to go grab your bag from the seat you set it on.

but before you could reach it, his voice called out to you again, making you stop in your tracks and turn to him, finding him walking towards you already. when he reached you, he cupped your face with both of his large hands and kissed you once again, more chastely than the kiss before. when he left your lips, one last kiss found itself on your cheek before he fully stepped away.

“okay, you may go now.”

several hours later the door to mingi’s penthouse fell shut as the two of you stepped in. as soon as the comforting click of the lock sounded, you were all over each other, lips latching onto each other, hands groping all over the place. after haphazardly kicking off your shoes and pulling each other’s coats off, you somehow managed to get to his familiar bedroom, all the while never pausing to breathe.

his whole place had a modern design, extending to the bedroom too. a big king sized bed in the middle of the spacious room, the wall on its right covered by a sleek bookshelf and two doors—one to the en suite bathroom and the other to his walk in closet—and the wall on its left was your favourite part. instead of yet another white wall, it was a large flor to ceiling window, offering a stunning view of the city. now the room was illuminated by the night life of the city and the moon. neither of you cared enough to draw the curtains shut; who would be able to see into the fifty-seventh floor of the building anyway?

mingi kept a hand on your hip while the other closed the bedroom door behind you before joining his other hand at your hips, his lips kissing and sucking at your neck as he slowly walked you backwards. your breaths grew shallow as he marked up your neck but he stopped when the back of your knees hit the bed, barely pulling back to mutter, “get on the bed, doll.”

you shivered at the husky tone, a slight rasp to his voice, heavy with desire. wanting nothing but to make him happy with you, you got on the bed, scooting back and laying down. his fingers quickly undid the buttons of his shirt, tossing it to the ground beside the bed before joining. he hovered over you and leaned over to turn on one of the lamps so he could see you better, taking off his glasses and placing them on the bedside table while he was at it.

“so beautiful, lying there for me.” he hummed, his hands trailing from your shoulder down the length of your arms, teasingly sliding down the straps of your dress until your breasts spilled over the fabric and you squirmed beneath him lightly. he leaned down to pepper kisses across your chest as his hands moved down to massage your thighs, letting his tongue slip out to tease your nipples as he passed over them, barely holding back a smile at your quiet whimpers.

he pushed the skirt of your dress up to your waist, nodding and humming approvingly at the matching pink panties you had on, eyes zeroing in on the wet patch practically begging for his attention. a groan nearly rips itself out of his throat at the sight, leaning back on his heels to watch as he lets his thumb brush over the fabric, making your thighs tremble with need.

“need my help, baby?” he cooed at you almost mockingly, letting his thumb press against your clit over the damp fabric for a fraction of a second.

“yes, please.” you breathed, breath hitching at his teasing.

“please what?”

“please, sir, i need you.” you whined impatiently, bucking your hips slightly.

mingi chuckled at your desperation, nodding as he lifted your legs to slide off your panties. “okay, doll, i’ll help you. i’ll take good care of you.” he discarded the panties, dropping them off the edge of the bed, and placed your legs down again, spreading them apart so he can look at your dripping folds. this time he couldn’t hold back his groan of raw pleasure, feeling his cock twitch in his pants. “so fucking perfect.”

you whined at his words, clenching around nothing and making more slick seep out of you. his eyes followed the clear string of arousal as it dripped onto his bedsheets.

“that’s it, doll,” he muttered, low and rough, “so perfect and wet for me and i haven’t even touched you, can’t wait to hear you scream my name. you’ll scream my name when you cum, won’t you, my love?”

as he spoke, his index finger dipped between your soaking folds and gathered arousal to barely run it over your clit. you whimpered and shuddered, unable to answer his question with more than a quick nod.

“mhm, i thought so,” he gradually increased the pressure of his finger on your clit, “but you better scream it nice and loud for me, okay? so i can hear that pretty voice of yours.”

you force yourself to answer, voice barely above a whisper as your hips shifted with each circle of his finger. “y-yes, sir.”

“good girl, so obedient,” he leaned down to press a fluttering kiss to your forehead before resuming his position, adding another finger to his work on your clit. “do you know what you are to me, doll?”

“no… tell me,” you bit your lips to hold back any embarrassing sounds you may make under his touch. but his other hand quickly came up to pull your bottom lip from your teeth before dropping to your hips again.

“i told you i want to hear your pretty voice,” he snapped, somehow still sounding caring even if he was scolding you. he continued, “you’re my toy. my prefect little fucktoy.”

and though your breath hitched and you looked confused for a moment, he could feel the sudden increase in wetness as his fingers stroked you, so he continued.

“because i want to fuck you until morning light, my love,” he slipped a finger into you easily, only feeling the stretch once he added a second finger, making your breath hitch and back arch, “my own fucktoy to play with whenever i feel like it.”

the idea had a knot forming in your abdomen as his fingers bent and brushed over your sweet spot with each thrust, coaxing you closer to your climax. with each dirty word he spoke, you felt yourself growing more and more aroused, and he could feel it too as you squeezed around his digits.

“fuck…” he cursed hoarsely, his thumb rubbing your erect clit perfectly as his fingers stroked your walls, “you’re so tight and worked up just from my fingers. i bet you crave to have my cock inside you, huh?”

your hands clenched and dug into the bedsheets, cursing softly as sweet moans left your lips. you nodded at his words, not trusting your words.

“yeah? want my hard cock deep inside you, filling up your drenched little hole?” he slid a third finger into your hole, making you choke back a moan at the stretch.

“ye- fuck… yes, sir, please,” you whined, eyes squeezing shut as his three fingers continuously pressed against your g-spot.

“i know, i know, my doll, my toy,” he cooed, his free hand stroking your thigh affectionately, eyes focused on every twitch of your face muscles, slowly watching you come undone. “you’re close aren’t you? go ahead and cum all over my hand. show me how much of a pretty little whore you are for me.”

as if his words flipped a switch, you tipped off the edge and did just as he said, your juices flowing around his digits and out of your hole. you came with a cry, your voice muffled as he pressed his lips against yours and swallowed every sound you made. his fingers slipped out of you but rubbed your clit a few more times to help you ride out your orgasm before pulling back completely, sitting back on his heels again.

mingi looked down at your pussy, humming at the sight of your fluttering hole and the release smeared sloppily between your thighs. “mmmm, well aren’t you quite the messy slut, huh? but i suppose that makes you a perfect toy, so responsive and obedient.” he brought his fingers to his lips, licking off your release hungrily, groaning at the taste as he watched you take deep breaths, still trembling from your climax. “calm down a bit and then i’ll fuck you senseless, yeah?”

you poured up at him, legs absentmindedly spreading wider, panting softly as you looked up at him with round eyes. “no, i’m ready now, sir, please.”

“really?” he raised a patronising eyebrow, clicking his tongue. “are you sure?”

“yes, sir,” you nodded quickly, “please, please, please, i promise i’m ready.”

he scoffed and leaned down, holding his body above yours with one hand in the mattress beside your head as his other hand expertly removed his belt and shucked off the rest of his clothes. you watched as his eyelids fluttered as he stroked his cock a few times, not taking his eyes off you, his lips brushing against yours as he spoke. “you’re so desperate to get fucked by your professor. what a pathetic little mess you are.”

he rubbed his tip along your folds, gathering slick before slowly pressing himself into your entrance. though you were familiar with his size and girth, having been fucked by him various other times, the stretch never failed to make you shudder, your head falling back against the soft bed as your back arches against him and you let out a wanton sigh.

“keep those legs spread, baby,” his whispered, hips stuttering as you clenched around him on his way in. when he bottomed out, he stilled, letting you adjust as his hand brushed one hair away from your flushed, sweaty face. “you take me so well, my love… such a good little plaything.”

once he’s given your signal, a breathless nod, he began to rock his hips against yours, pulling out before thrusting in. at first, it was slow, but when you gave him encouraging moans, he picked up his pace. your hands reach up to cup his face, pulling him down to kiss him. it was a sloppy kiss, all teeth and heavy breaths as the feeling of his cock driving into you with just the right amount of roughness to make your head spin.

when your lips parted, you looked up at him. his eyes fluttered shut and stayed shut for a few moments, bottom lip caught between his teeth, eyebrows furrowed with pleasure as you clenched around him rhythmically.

“thank you, sir,” you managed to whine our, voice barely above a whisper. you weren’t sure why you were thanking him, but the urge to be a good toy for him had you doing anything to get him to coddle you and care for you and fuck you so good for the rest of your life.

a deep chuckle left him, one of his hands reaching down between your bodies, brushing over a nipple before reaching your clit and rubbing in time with his thrusts. “just remember who you belong to, doll.”

“you,” you gasp softly at the combination of his cock inside you and his fingers on your clit, stimulating you and gradually building another climax.

“that’s right, maybe you aren’t just a brainless toy for me to fuck after all, hm?” he smiles, kissing your forehead, the affection a stark contrast to his degrading words. “you belong to me, and i intend to keep you satisfied and full. you’re full, aren’t you?”

you nodded quickly, fingers tightening in his shoulders as he gave you a particularly sharp thrust, “s-so full.”

he was entranced by you, lost in the feeling of you wrapped around him. he paid attention to ever breath, figuring out what you seemed to like. he angled his hips differently and watched as your eyes rolled back, jaw going slack as he hit that spot repeatedly.

“look at you, so beautiful and all for me to enjoy,” he purred, pressing down hard on your clit as he thrusted up into you at a bruising pace. you felt as if the wind was knocked out of you, confessing that you were so so close, to which he only smirked and pressed down on your clit in an intentional pattern. “cum for me, doll, let go.”

there was always something about the way he commanded you to finish that you couldn’t resist, seconds later another orgasm crashing over you as he continued his movements. you came with a loud moan, crying out his name incoherently just like he said he wanted. eventually, his hips slowed but you noticed he hadn’t finished, shaking your head quickly.

“no, please, keep going,” you practically begged, looking at him with glossed over eyes, “use me, sir.”

he growled out something you couldn’t quite hear, your fucked out mind perceiving everything as hazy as he drove his length into you slowly and deeply, bringing himself to a finish. it didn’t take him much longer to finish, painting your walls white with his release as his movements stuttered to a stop, groaning. you whimper at the feeling of him quite literally filling you to the brim with his seed, shuddering as your legs trembled from overstimulation.

a few moments later he lifts his head firm between your breasts. “let’s get you cleaned up?”

you shook your head, pulling him close. “we can do that in the morning.”

mingi laughed silently, kissing your jaw and nodding. his short washed out pink hair brushed against your face, tickling you. he pulled out of you, making you whine in protest. “patience, doll,” he teased you, moving you to lay on your side before lying down behind you, spooning you as he slipped his length inside you again and pushed in any of his release that may have seeped out. you sighed contentedly at the full feeling, pressing your back against him.

“i give this private lesson five stars,” you muttered through a stupid grin as his nose nuzzled against the back of your neck. you felt his chest shake with laughter behind you as he draped an arm over your waist.

“out of five i’m assuming, right?”

“no, out of ten,” you chuckled but gasped softly as his hand moved up to pinch your nipple without warning.

“out of five, right?”

“out of five.”

networks. @cromernet

taglist. @ad0rechuu @sankatchu @mlink64 @yeosangsbb @seonghwasbbgirl @likexaxdaydream @dreamingofyeo

[carooosa]

Enchanting Distractions

Summary: Tav (reader) has ADHD/is bad at setting boundaries when it comes to their party members. Astarion comforts them.

Word count: 3.5k

A/N: Semi-canon compliant, takes place after the tiefling party and literally right before entering Act 2. I barely proofread it so sorry in advance. I was feeling particularly upset at myself today and so this is what I wrote up.

The days had been starting to blur together as you made your way through the mountain pass. Tomorrow your party would step into the shadow-cursed lands, so it was decided to set up camp early for the night to ensure that everyone was well-rested and prepared. Tension ran through the camp, everyone on edge with the possibility of finding the cause of the tadpoles. Whatever happens tomorrow could very well be the end of your journey.

As everyone set up their tents, you began to look through your supplies, separating potions, arrows, and scrolls into piles to give to your companions. While organizing everything, the sound of Lae’zel and Shadowheart bickering caused you to lift your head. They had never gotten along since the beginning of this tadpole mess but after the Githyanki Creche their hatred for each other seemed to amplify.

“I would say that I’m surprised that machine was unable to get rid of the tadpoles, but then again, I wouldn’t expect gith to know what they were doing,” Shadowheart had taunted Lae’zel.

“The zaith'isk was tampered with! Githyanki technology is far beyond your understanding, and if you had something other than a tadpole in your brain, you would realize the mistake in your words,” Lae’zel shot back. She turned to herself before saying, “Useless istik, mindlessly following a false god”

“What did you just say?” Shadowheart said as she readied herself to attack.

“Your ‘goddess’ ordered you to steal a precious artifact from my people, and yet knowing that does not change your unwavering belief. A goblin has more integrity than you,” Lae’zel said as she continued to walk away.

“Shar is a real goddess, unlike the githyanki’s petty attempt at a goddess, Vlaakith,” Shadowheart yells as she begins to sprint toward Lae’zel. The fighter had already pulled out her sword and the clashing of metal rang through the air. You sighed, standing up from the mess that laid out before you, and ran towards the fight. Before you could intervene, Karlach had taken her great axe and held it out in between the two aggressors before berating them.

“For fuck’s sake guys, the whole point of setting up camp early was to rest for tomorrow, not argue and waste our energy on dumb fights.” As Karlach said this, Shadowheart cast gust of wind to push her opponent back, accidentally hitting Karlach in the crossfire. She had succeeded at causing Lae’zel to lose her grip on her sword but had caused that sword to slash into Karlach’s leg. The tiefling groaned as she kneeled to the ground, clutching her thigh.

You ran back to your bag and turned it upside down, dumping all the contents onto the piles you had started to make earlier, and rummaged through your items until you found a healing potion and some fire-resistant bandages. When you ran over to Karlach to heal her, Wyll was already yelling at the two women who had caused an unnecessary injury.

“Your recklessness has caused this bloodshed!” he sounded exasperated as you handed Karlach the potion, unraveling the bandages and starting to dress her wound, careful to not burn yourself in the process. “You both are distracted by your own prejudices and disdain for each other that the thought you may be hurting others in the process never crossed your minds. So caught up in yourselves, you have yet to see the irony of the words you throw at each other.”

Wyll continued his lecture as you focus on Karlach, watching her toss aside the empty potion bottle. “Thanks, soldier,” she says with a weak smile. She pushes herself off of the ground, causing Wyll to pause his lecture and rush to her side. “I’m fine, just gonna head to bed early,” she says while sidestepping past him.

You take a breath and start to think of how to address the situation that just happened when suddenly, Gale is by your side, anxiously fumbling with his hands. Realization overcame you and you tried to recall the last time you had given the wizard an enchanted item to consume the magic from. 

“I know now might not be the best time,” he starts, “but there really never is a good time nowadays, is there?” he finishes with a chuckle to himself.

“I should have an enchanted ring in my bag—“ you stop when you glance back at your backpack, contents strewn across the ground.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Gale says quickly. “Dinner isn’t going to cook itself!” He makes his way to his tent and you drag your feet back to your backpack, dreading the mess you’ll have to clean up. Sifting through the items, you create another pile of the things you already looked through. Focused on organizing, you don’t hear Astarion sneak up on you.

“My my, these are quite the… piles you have here,” he says while crouching down across from you. “What’s with all these arrows and grenades? Have you decided to try your hand in ranged combat? Because if so,” he pauses, crimson red eyes staring into your soul, “I’d be more than happy to give you some private lessons.” He bares his teeth, his fangs glistening. You’re tempted to take him up on the offer before you remember why you got those items in the first place.

“Oh, those aren’t for me. I’ve been picking up stuff here and there, and I figured before heading out tomorrow I’d give some to everyone. I was actually organizing everything,” you say, completely forgetting that you were looking for a ring, “and I was going to try and figure out what would be best for everyone to have, but since you’re here, you can pick whatever you want.”

“I can choose anything here?” Astarion asks with a smirk. You nod your head and he responds by picking up your hand and giving it a kiss on the palm, “Then I pick you, my dear.”

Your cheeks flush red as you stutter out a response. “That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Astarion had been teasing you a lot more lately, and while you didn’t mind, it had proven to be an extra distraction. 

He chuckled at your pout, caressing your face with his other hand, his thumb pressing down on your lower lip. You both stare at each other for a moment, before he sighs and brings his hands back to his side. “Well, if I can’t have you I guess I need to figure something else out.” He scans over the pile and picks up a necklace.

“Wait, not that,” you say while snatching the jewelry away from him. “That can restore one of Shadowheart’s spells, I should go give that to her.” You stand up and run off to find the cleric, not noticing the disgruntled look Astarion has on his face. He sighs and looks down at the clutter, beginning to sift through the items.

While making your way to Shadowheart’s tent, you hear Halsin comfort a whining Scratch. “There, there, I’m sure we will retreive it soon enough,” the druid says while gently petting the dog. “Ah, Tav, could I bother you for a moment? Scratch seems to have lost his ball in a burrow and neither of us can reach it. Would mind seeing if you can grab it?”

Scratch runs up to you and paces around you in circles before you lean down to him, “Of course I’ll help you out, buddy.” Without thinking, you set the necklace on a nearby rock, crouching down to the burrow and searching for the ball. In the shadows you spot it, deep inside the tunnel, and you reach your arm in. 

Your fingers are barely able to reach the toy, and you’re about to maneuver the ball out when Gale speaks. “Tav, I’m terribly sorry to ask again, but were you able to find the enchanted ring perchance?” The ball rolls out of your grasp, and you let out a long sigh before retracting your arm.

“Sorry, Gale, I got distracted. As soon as I get this ball out for Scratch I’ll go and get it for you.” Content with that answer he nods and walks off. Reaching your hand back into the hole, you push yourself against the ground, the extra leverage closing the distance between your hand and the toy. You let out a breath before throwing the ball, Scratch bounding after it.

“Thank you, Tav!” Halsin says as he runs after the dog.

Walking back to where Astarion sits rummaging through your things, Wyll interrupts you. “Tav, do you by chance have a fire resistance potion? I was wanting to give Karlach these flowers to cheer her up,” he says, holding the bouquet in front of him sheepishly. Although Wyll and Karlach had been foes in Avernus, they’re relationship was slowly blossoming into a gentle romance.

“That’s very sweet of you, Wyll. I should have one in my stuff.” You both head over to the piles of items that Astarion had started to organize. It would be nice to have someone think about me like Wyll thinks about Karlach, you ponder as you bend down next to Astarion, grabbing the fire resistance potion that sat buried within the clutter. “Here you go,” you hand Wyll the potion, “I think those will make her very happy.”

Wyll says a quick thanks as he opens the potion with his teeth, hastily pouring the contents over the bouquet and heading off to Karlach’s tent. Clearing his throat, Astarion asks “Did Shadowheart enjoy your gift?” he says with a slight frown and a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

“My what?”

He stares at you for a second, before elaborating, “The necklace? The one that you oh so rudely snatched from my hands.” He watches as your face scrunches up tightly trying to remember what he’s talking about before you gasp.

“The necklace!”

“Yes, the necklace,” he sighs.

“Where did I put it?” you say as you frantically pat down your pockets.

Astarion starts to tease you again, “Really, darling, how could you misplace something like that? I thought that necklace was important after you had yanked it out of my hand and ran off to Shadowheart.” He’s chuckling to himself when he notices the genuine frustration that is starting to seep off of you.

“I just had it. I was holding it in my hand. Where could I have put it?” you mutter to yourself, your breath starting to quicken. Dread creeps through your chest as you begin to mentally retrace your steps. “Think, dammit, think!” Tears start to form in the corners of your eyes, a lump taking place in the back of your throat. Astarion stood up and reached his hand tentatively towards yours, squeezing it gently to try and bring you back to the present.

Gale had made his way back over to you, seeing that you were near your things. “I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but I really do need that ring if you have it,” He says while clutching his chest. Astarion glares daggers at the wizard who is either oblivious or purposely ignoring your stress, but you don’t notice as your mind has drifted off.

Right, you think to yourself, I came over here to look for the ring. Without saying a word, you push away Astarion’s hand and sink to the ground, aimlessly pushing around everything trying to find the ring. Astarion studies you, the way your hands seem to be searching for the relic while your eyes glaze over and stare at nothing, until your hand brushes over the small golden circle and you grasp it firmly. You sigh and recollect yourself before turning around and jumping up to Gale, handing him the ring with a forced smile and laugh. “Sorry for the delay! I’ve been so forgetful lately.”

He takes the ring from your hand, clutching it tightly while absorbing the magic into his chest. When he opens his hand, the ring is broken into two. “Ah, apologies. Dinner should be finished soon. Thanks again,” he says with a bow before leaving.

You sigh before returning to the pile, starting to organize it once again. From the outside, people would assume that you’re just forgetful and easily distracted, most even finding your frantic and hectic demeanor cute. You can’t help but feel like a burden, requiring constant reminders to stay on task, feeling like you need to rely on others instead of yourself. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, either, but no matter how many times you repeated tasks to yourself, how many times you had written down what needs to be done, how many times you had try to will focus into your mind, nothing changed. It's always been like this, and now with the stress of the unknown ahead, you’ve been getting distracted more.

Astarion watches you, determined to organize the mess on the ground. When he first met you, you had brushed off your forgetfulness and laughed along with anyone who had made a joke at your expense. It had annoyed him to no end when you would walk into the same room, multiple times, that you had just looted. This aloofness only seemed to grow after you both had come to an agreement that Astarion could drink your blood in order to satiate his thirst, the only side affect being your increased mind-wandering.

After another 30 minutes of watching you return to the same room over and over to loot, he had decided that you both would search the rooms together, if nothing else to lessen the time it took at each town. He didn’t expect that during the extra, private time you both were now spending together he would begin to grow fond of you. While he would be working on a lock of a chest, you would grab a book and immediately become immersed in it. At first, he would use this time to pocket the most valuable items found in whatever container he had just opened, but as time went on, he had started to ask you questions about what you were reading.

It had caught him off guard when you looked up at him with excitement in your eyes as you explained the gossip in the diary you found, and he couldn’t help but become intrigued himself. Quickly, a new routine had started: while Astarion would loot and lockpick whatever he could get his hands on, you would find diaries, notes, and books to read outloud. He would respond to the especially vulgar and outlandish things you would recite with theatrical gasps and awes. One time, you had stumbled across a particularly sad letter from a person who begged their lover to wait for them, only for their lover to respond that they had never returned. A choked sob had escaped your lips when you finished the letter, and Astarion had quickly called you over to distract you.

“It’s about time that you learn how to use one of these,” he said while he pushed a lockpick into your hands. “If you’re going to stare at me while I do all the work, you may as well get something out of it.” He had been joking, but you hadn’t taken it that way. A wave a guilt and embarrassment had washed over you as you resolved to force yourself to learn what he was teaching you. It was all in vain, however, as every ten minutes when he would ask you to demonstrate, your hands would clam up and your mind would go blank.

“Darling, is it really that hard to focus? Or am I just that distracting, hm?” he had joked.

You wouldn’t look into his eyes, instead you had begun to fumble with the lockpick in your hands. “I’m sorry,” you had whispered, “I’m really trying.”

You had expected him to berate you or to even make a joke about how useless you were, but instead he had sighed and positioned himself behind you, placing his hands over yours as he talked you through the steps, yet again, of lockpicking. When you had heard the final click of the lock, you quickly turned to look at the man who had helped you. Inches away from each other’s faces, he smiled softly and brought one of his hands up to your cheek as he placed a gentle kiss on your temple.

“See? You can focus,” he had said while giving you a tight squeeze.

The sound of your sigh brought him back to the present, and he stared at you for a moment before asking, “Do you want me to go and look for the necklace while you do this?” You stop moving things around and just sit there, defeated. The necklace had completely slipped your mind, just like the ring. Your body begins to shake as tears run down your cheek. Astarion slowly kneels next to you, grabbing the potions and arrows from your hand and setting them off to the side. “Hey, it’s alright. Shh-shh-shh, there’s no need to ruin that beautiful face of yours.”

You start to sob quietly. Why was this so difficult for you? You were able to talk your way out of situations, fight enemies with ease, and coordinate a fighting strategy that used everyone to the best of their abilities, yet you were unable to do such simple things. You draw your hands to your eyes, pressing harshly into them to try and stop the tears that fall out. Astarion gingerly moves his arms around you in a hug, as gentle as he can muster as to not startle you. He squeezes you tightly and you stay like that for a while, before you’re able to croak out a simple question that leaves a pain in his chest.

“What’s wrong with me?” You move your hands away from your face and turn your head to look at him, expecting to see frustration in his eyes but instead finding something softer. It looks as if he’s genuinely concerned. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Tav,” he says quietly, barely above a whisper.

“Then why,” you say with trembling words, “why can’t I do such simple things? Why is it so difficult for me to remember what I’m doing, to not get distracted?”

Astarion sighs as he looks at you with his big, round eyes. “You are capable of much more than you know, my sweet. You were designated the leader for a reason. You’re brave, witty, and above all else, kind. You are so sickenly kind and patient with everyone, yet you don’t afford yourself the same grace,” he says as he rubs circles into your back. “You’ve been kind to those that don’t deserve it, but you’re never kind to yourself.”

“Thank you,” you reply meekly. You hated crying in front of your companions, but you found that you didn’t mind being comforted by Astarion.

“Besides, darling,” the vampire joked,” It’s hardly your fault that you keep getting distracted when there are six adult children who need constant supervision.”

“Don’t you mean seven?”

He pulled away from you with a gasp. “I think I am more than capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, you don’t need to see me for blood anymore then, right?” you teased.

Astarion squinted at you before his eyes softened and he pulled you into his arms again. You both sat like that for a while before he spoke, barely above a whisper, “I don’t only need you for blood.” Before you can respond, Gale’s call to dinner causes Astarion to push you up. “Go on, enjoy dinner.” You start to protest and gesture to the mess that still needs to be cleaned up before he cuts you off, “I’ll take care of it.” As he begins to sort through the items, he catches your eye before you leave. 

“I hope you know that I’m still expecting to see you tonight,” he says with a sultry voice. If you hadn’t gotten closer recently, you would take what he says at face value, a meaningless flirt to rile you up. But beneath his smirk you can see a hint of sadness in his eyes.

It will need to wait for another time as your stomach grumbles, and you remember that you had forgotten to eat lunch that day. You say a quick thank-you before running off to join the rest of the party, feeling more at ease about the adventure that lay before you.

[lacedinweb22]

watching her sleep ❦︎ Vampire Next Door ♱✮♱ Miguel O'Hara x reader prev part Miguel's pov

She shows up at my door accusing me of having been drunk, of stumbling into her apartment with bloody hands. She heard the screams. I keep my wounds hidden, forearms crossed over each other. 

I comb through my memory, trying to think of how it might have looked.

After I dropped off anomaly #1 at headquarters, and after my little talk with Jess, I lingered on top of the apartment building with the annoyingly heightened urge to protect the people who live here. No big deal.

There was a fight in the alley below and I told myself I wouldn’t interfere unless necessary. I watch for a bit, observing the two men arguing and throwing weak, drunk punches at each other. It looked like a fair fight.

I climb along the side of the building, heading towards my window sill, when I feel the need to check on new girl. If she’s bothered by the noise, I’ll interfere. 

I creep down slowly, looking through her windows until I reach her bedroom. There she is. Peaceful and beautiful. She’s laying on her side, wrapped up in her comforter. I hope she’s not too cold. It’s raining hard tonight. 

The commotion in the alley grows, and now she’s tossing and turning in bed, her slumber disrupted by these inconsiderate assholes.

That’s it. They’re waking up the whole goddamn building. 

I crawl down the slippery walls, then stop when my watch buzzes. It’s an anomaly and I’m headed right towards it. I get closer trying to scope what I’m going up against, then realize they’re … twins? 

I jump down, startling both of them into separating. They both look up at me, surrendering, giving me the exact same face of fear.  

“Huh, twins, you couldn’t find another spot to fight? You’re waking up the whole damn building!” 

“Holy shit! It’s Spider–”

“Shut up, let’s keep this brief. What’s the issue here?”

“He showed up at my place! He’s trying to steal my fucking wife, steal my life!” one man accuses, shoving at the other.

“He was in my bed! Sleeping next to my wife!” he slurs, drunk off his ass.

“I can fix this, but you’ll have to come with me,”

“The hell I am, this is my home. This man is an imposter … and who are you supposed to be? F-fucking creep in a onesie!”

“Your home isn’t here, bud. I’ll take you there. Don’t be difficult.”

He shoves me, lazily, then starts running. 

“You’re going to take care of him, right?” the original idiot asks, watching his alternate self run off.

“Coño,” I exhale, running a hand over my mask.

“Yes just … you stay here, okay? Here.”

I run down the alley and turn right to see the idiot sprinting for his life, but failing, drunk and stumbling. I shoot web at him and pull him towards me. He starts screaming bloody murder.

“Spider-Creep is trying to kill me! Someone–” I web his mouth shut.

I drag him back to the alley, where the original guy is standing, waiting anxiously in the rain.

“You can’t talk about this ever, okay? If word gets out, he– he’ll come back, and steal your wife. Got it? This never happened.”

“What are you gonna do to him?”

“Return him,” I mutter, distracted by the beeping coming from my wrist.

I look down to a flashing “LOW BATTERY” warning. It won’t be enough to make the jump.

“Fuck me. Change of plans. He’ll be staying at my place for ten minutes, until this charges up,”

“Gosh, Spider-Man, it’s been an honor to meet you!” he breathes out, bowing to me. 

“Yeah, uhh sorry for the stress … you caused … you. I’ll take it from here,” I mutter, throwing the webbed man over my shoulder. 

“Take care of him– me, take care of me!” he yells running down the street. I nod. 

I wait for the original to run completely down the street and around the corner, then slowly crawl along the building to my window. 

He doesn’t resist. He’s drunk and seemingly falling asleep. I finally lay him on the floor of my living room, and rush to my bedroom to charge the batteries. 

Once I’ve hooked it up, I head back to the living room. He isn’t there. I turn around, searching for the slithering imposter.

I hear a grunt then look around the kitchen counter to find him lying on the floor, cutting through the webbing with a pocket knife. 

“Estúpido, you’re going to need more than a pocket knife to cut through that.” 

His arms are glued to the side of his body, but he still squirms, threatening me with the short blade. 

He slithers towards the door, the door that has six different locks on it. I let him entertain me; the batteries are still charging and I need something to pass time.

“You’re drunk. Can you just sit still and you know, be drunk?” I ask, looking down at him kicking against my door. 

He bangs the door harder then starts to scream, muffled through the red webbing. “¡Cállate! For fuck’s sake–” I grab his feet and drag him towards the bathroom. 

He sits up, taking stabs at my ankles. My suit glitches, somehow reacting to his stabs.

“What the fuck?” I look down at the malfunction. 

I reach for the knife; he jolts his body towards me, stabbing at my grasp, his blade dragging down my wrists and palms as I pull away. He cut through the nanoparticles. 

“How the fuck is this happening?” I look down at the blood trickling down my wrists. 

“I’m trying to take you home, pinche güey! Do you not want to see your fucking wife again? Are you having marital problems? Fuck off.”

I shoot web at the knife, gluing it to the wall behind him. 

“¡Idiotas como tú me hacen odiar mi puta vida!” idiots like you make me hate my fucking life

“Cabrón, cabrón, cabrón.” I stumble to the sink, washing the blood from my hands. It’s bad. 

“¿Por qué lo intento?” why do I try?

He starts screaming again, his voice muffled, but louder. I close my eyes, hovering over the sink, holding pressure to the slashes on my wrists. 

I storm over to him and punch him hard enough to knock him out, soft enough not to kill him.

He’s awakened the whole building. I’m sure of it.

My mind wanders to new girl.

I shake my head at the urge to check on her, looking down at the blood on my suit. She’s fine. She’s asleep. Leave her be.

But, what if… 

I deactivate my malfunctioning suit quickly, pulling on normal clothes then head for the window. It’s still pouring. 

I climb over to her window, the rain drenching me. 

I stand on the fire escape, blood dripping down to my fingertips and onto the stairs. 

I feel the anger burn in my cheeks. Tonight has been a test of my patience. 

I look in. She’s tossing and turning still. I wipe the window, the rain blurring my view. Her eyebrows are knit together as she moves under her sheets. Is she … okay? Is she sick? 

The rain pours down. I slowly slide the window up. It’s unlocked. 

I slowly climb in. I know I’m in the wrong. I know this is fucked, but it’s instinctual. My body is on autopilot, out of my control, and now

I’m here 

in her room. 

and it’s too late to turn back.

I watch her turn over, muttering quietly into the sheets. She’s just dreaming. She’s okay. It’s okay.

She suddenly stops muttering, lying quietly, beautifully tranquil. 

Her state of slumber pulls a sigh out of me. All of the anger drips off of me, I’m cleansed of my frustration, and for a second, I feel as at peace as she seems to be.

I look down at soaked cotton, annoyingly clinging to my skin. My hair drips down onto my face, I comb it back, then notice the blood and rain mixing on my fingers.

I look down at my hands, my wrists bleeding down, coating them. Shit. 

I look up to find her staring at me through squinted, sleepy eyes.  

She turns to turn on the lamp. 

I leap out pulling the window down against the beating rain. My claws scratch the surface of the window as I pull it down, my guard still up. 

I stand away from the window, my back pressed up against the wall. I wait for a moment before slowly peeking back in through the fogged up glass. She’s sat up, looking at the corner I stood in. She takes a deep breath then lies back down, pulling the sheets over her, trying to fall back asleep.

I turn away, pressing my back against the wall. I wince at this mess of a night. 

I was watching her sleep. The anomaly twin was right. 

I am a fucking creep. 

✩‧₊˚

next chapter here

[definitelynotafurinasimp]

Would they catch you?

maybe trying to jump into their arms while they hold something wasn’t the best of ideas

characters: most adult/teenage characters

warnings: none

a/n: I always wanted to try something like this, so I decided to do a quick one to distract myself from how much stress school causes me atm.

also, these are my own headcannons for this type of scenario, if you disagree with any of those or have your own, feel free to write them down, since I love learning what others think of these characters that honestly kinda grew on me.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

The moment they notice you sprinting into their direction, shouting for them to catch you, they drop or put away everything in their hands. Once you eventually are in their arms they are finally able to let out a sigh of relief, happy that they managed to catch you this easily, and who knows, maybe a chuckle or two escapes their mouth as well.

Ayaka, Albedo, Beidou, Childe, Heizou, Kaeya, Lisa, Aether, Shenhe, Yelan, Kazuha, Xinyan, Zhongli, Thoma

They yell at you not to try it only to quickly drop everything once you actually leap into the air, easily catching you as you giggle to yourself as you enjoy the feeling being held, even if you can expect a big lecture afterwards.

Candace, Cyno, Eula, Jean, Keqing, Kuki Shinobu, Ei, Xiao, Lumine, Noelle, Kokomi, Gorou

While they prepare themselves as best as they can, the sheer force of your leap, coupled with your run-up and their surprise causes them to tumble backwards, falling onto the ground with you still in their hands. But while they may have landed pretty heavily on their butt, they can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of what just happened.

Amber, Bennett, Venti, Yanfei, Xiangling

Sure, they could catch you, but they did warn you not to do something so stupid and it would be a shame to get that new mug they just bought destroyed by letting it shatter on the floor. And while they’ll make sure to make up for it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to prepare for a sore behind coupled with a “I told you it was a bad idea” or even a smug.

Ayato, Faruzan, Mona, Rosaria, Sara, Scaramouche, Yae Miko, Ningguang

Panic sets in the moment they see you take off, and while they may try to catch you, it’s too late for them to lift their arms, causing you to crash into them before tumbling down together. Be sure to apologize a lot and to give them a much quicker heads-up next time… or don’t even try again to begin with.

Chongyun, Collei, Ganyu, Layla, Barbara

[dontlookatmytmntcollection]

First I Love You

Bayverse TMNT × Fem!Reader

This is self indulgent garbage I have made to keep myself distracted.

It varies from Drama to Fluff to Angst and Pre established relationship to a fucking year into being official to Y/N to she/her. No spicy tho. Good luck lol

-Raphael-

It wasn't panic.

It wasn't. He felt excitement. Raphael was bursting with energy. Stomach in knots, head pounding, chest pushing and pulling oxygen as if it was hard.

It wasn't panic. Leo concluded the huddle with a nod. "Let's do this!"

"Turtle power!" The group shouted. Turtle and human alike branched off in different directions.

Raph looked over at you.

"Raph, I-"

"C'mon people, let's go!" Vern called.

Raph didn't know what to do, heart racing and blood surging. Making him jittery. He half-heartly ran after his brothers.

He couldn't help but glance back.

You had taken a step back closer to Vern. You were watching them go, frightened. He understood.

He could die or get taken away- this might be the last he would ever see any of these people ever again. Last time he would ever see you.

"You don't have to do that." You had laughed, smiling as he lifted your couch.

"You're not gonna do it." He teased, watching your dog fetch it's toy happily.

"It's an upper east side candy shop." Raph explained one night. "I know you like sweets."

You gave him the biggest puppy eyes, smile ear-to-ear, holding the snacks to your chest. "You're my hero."

God, had he wanted to kiss you. He almost did one time. Almost spilled his guts when you blinked tiredly up at him. The scales of his arm were imprints along your face. Marks a movie lengths worth in the making. They wouldn't fade for several minutes. It was so cute.

Your hand grabbed his once. Tugging him to the edge of the water, in an effort to show him something. Probably. He couldn't remember. He hid his shyness under the banter. Soaking up the feeling of your hand in his.

Raph couldn't stop thinking about you, anymore. He knew you felt something too. He was more than happy about that.

But it wasn't meant to be. He knew better.

"We can't do this." Raph had whispered two days ago. Pulling his hand away from your fingers. Pulling away from what had almost been a kiss. "It's wrong."

Something numb fell over your expression. Blocking him out. It broke his heart as you pulled your lips tight. Looking down and nodding. "Okay."

Raph had faced impossible odds before. But this was bigger. Scarier. He knew there was a chance he could never make it. A good one if this plan doesn't go well.

No.

He needed to do this.

His feet started to do their own thing.

"Raph?" Donnie called. Confused.

You turned back around, suddenly swallowed up in Raphael's shadow. "Raph, w-"

"I love you."

Her eyes widened, staring up at Raph.

"I'm fucking crazy about you." He whispered, terrified. "I fell in love with you, and I'm sorry I-"

"Raph-"

"You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I've been wishing I could be the guy you deserve, but I'm not, so...so I just want you to know -"

"I-I love you too." She whispered, rushing forward.

Raph blinked. Relief overwhelming him before he could register what had been said.

"I love you so fucking much." His best friends small hands were quickly on his cheeks; the sensation like lightning on his scales.

It...probably wasn't the best kiss, in hindsight. He had done nothing but stare wide-eyed in disbelief as it happened, was happening, and happened.

She pulled back, her hands petting his face. His hands holding her head too. Her eye contact made his limbs go numb when she whispered, "Just come back to me, okay?"

Just come back to me.

"Uh...Okay."

She choked out a laugh, letting go of his face and pushing at his chest. "Now go get 'em tiger." It made Raph choke and smile back.

"Raph!" Leo shouted.

Ignoring Vern's expression of horror. Raph nodded to himself. "Okay." He said again. "Okay." He sprinted after his brothers on legs he couldn't feel, new energy driving him forward.

-Michelangelo-

You weren't naive.

You knew he wouldn't be accepted by most of your family. You knew that a few individuals might even be dangerous to Mikey and his family.

But the key word was most.

The newest generations, relatives your age, were much more accepting of many things. Within reason.

With your boyfriends...predicament- it took some extra effort on your part to set up a meeting of some kind. A meeting in which both parties had nowhere to go but through the uncomfortable interaction. With no room for reactive actions. No access to immediate exits, phones, or weapons-

Good thing you were dating an actual angle.

Mikey could work a room so easily, it overwhelmed you. He had your siblings charmed within seconds; cracking wise while the first gawking and terrified reactions were water off his shell.

Now, your boyfriends social circle was that much bigger.

One thing led to another. Weeks went by, then months. It's how you two ended up here. You on your siblings couch curled up with a book. Chaos all around you.

"Aaand...boo!" Mikey leapt out from behind the doorway.

"AHHahah!" One of your neices squeeled and ran away, hands covering her face.

"C'mere, you." Mikey growled, his smile just as wide as he dramatically stomped after the four kids, his hands perfect T-rex claws. His shadow easily swallowing them as they hurried away.

"Mikey, you can't eat them!" Your nephew wasn't older than five, but he chased after the giant turtle man as they rounded the couch you were sitting on.

Mikey tackled your nephew to the ground expertly, the boy roaring in delight; getting tickled ferociously.

"Ahhh! Stopp!!" The boy was desperately trying to worm away from your boyfriend. "That hurts!"

Mikey let go, and the boy continued to giggle as he caught his breath, struggling to get up.

"Ya a'right?" Mikey smiled.

"AHHH!" One neice came out of nowhere, pouncing on Mikey's arm.

"Oh NOO!" Mikey cried as he fell expertly over, making the little girl laugh. Your nephew screamed in triumph, jumping on his shoulders.

The other two saw the action, and pounced.

"We gotchu!!"

"Oh no, oh no!!" Mikey whined, struggling carefully for their entertainment as the kids climbed on top of him. He went limp, a gross sound in his thoat.

The kids squeeled, tiny hands slapping him playfully. "We know you're not dead, Mikey!"

He didn't reply.

Your neice shook his shoulder. "My-ee?"

"RAH!" Mikey jolted awake, and they all screamed and scrambled away.

"Get back here!" He called.

The kids scrambled to another room, leaving you and your boyfriend facing each other where he was kneeling on the carpet.

"How are you doing?" Mikey asked, still smiling. He had glitter stickers all over him. And marker ink was all over his shoulder.

Your heart had swelled, closing your throat and misting your eyes. He looked good like this. Happy.

"I love you." You muttered.

Mikey jolted, his eyes blowing wide. "...W-what?"

"I love you." You repeated with a smile, voice breaking.

Mikey's jaw dropped, his hands lifting a little from his knees. "We're- I-I-I love you-"

"UNGUARDD!"

A pool noodle slapped Mikey's head from behind.

You laughed.

-Donatello-

"All done." You whispered.

"Thank you."

You didn't look at him, setting down the needle and blood-soaked fabric.

You and Donnie were sheltered in the lab. Curtain drawn. He sat maskless and blind in his chair. Hands clasped between his spread knees.

He'd been quiet. Avoiding your gaze.

You stared at what would be a new scar on his face. Down his cheek and neck. You mourned the marring of some turtle stripes under his jaw.

Blood was crusted between scales around your messy stitches; and you slowly got to work of gently dabbing it away. One hand on his other cheek to keep him still.

You couldn't handle it alone anymore. Hurt that had weld up in your chest suddenly surged. Your voice began working again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You whispered.

He didn't answer. But you felt a muscle clench under your fingers.

You bit your lip. Tears welling up at last.

Your proposal that fateful night hadn't been unique. At all. But the offer of another date night was ignored by him completely.

Ghosted. You had gone to April. Worried that something might have happened.

April's number apparently didn't exist anymore. Her face gone from her regular network. Nothing was said about it. As if you had made everything up.

You didn't have any other numbers. You didn't know where to find anyone. You'd begun to accept he had let you go. All of them. Suddenly. But they were gone, none the less.

You were not needed; and Donatello hadn't wanted you.

Then tonight, two hours ago; you'd received a mystery caller. Three times. Leo. Imploring. Needing more hands, because Donnie was down and out for the count. You had never heard the leaders voice like this.

Karai was now dead.

Everyone is home safe.

You felt tears finally spill down your cheeks. You pulled away, sniffing as you scrubbed harshly at your cheeks.

Donnie reacted to the sound as if shot.

"Y/N it wasn't -"

"You didn't tell me." You hissed. "That's all I need to know."

"It's not like that!" Donnie said urgently. "I couldn't -"

"I needed one text. N-not even that, just... something. Anything." You hissed. "I don't even ask for an explanation! Just saying it's unsafe to talk would have been more than enough. Y-you and I even have a safeword-!"

"I couldn't do that!" Donnie said. "They had tracked Splinter and April through our communications. My firewalls should have prevented the Foot from - I didn't - I didn't know, and I couldn't endanger another person I love the same way."

A person I love.

You gasped, chest heaving with built-up sobs. Physical pain struck you at his words. Shock. Denial. Two weeks. Nothing -

"You don't love me!" You choked. Insistant.

Donnie blinked, mouth dropping slightly open as he stared at you wide-eyed.

He took in a shaky breath. "Yes, I do."

You sobbed, squeezing your eyes shut as you scrubbed some tears away. "No, you don't, c'mon." It was the weakest you've ever sounded.

Donnie's hands snagged your elbows. Pulling you to face him so his hands could rest on either side of your head.

"You were in danger." His voice shook. "You were in so much danger - and I'd rather you think I left or was gone than ever - ever, see you hurt. Especially because I was too fucking s-stupid to protect you or my family."

You were silent. Staring at him like he was the last thing left alive.

He bit his lip, wet eyes sparkling with the most conviction you'd ever seen. "I love you so much. You're the best thing to ever happen to me, and I promised myself I would keep you safe, no matter what. If...If I could redo all of this, I wouldn't change anything." His voice broke. "It'll be different from now on, but...the thought of you somewhere out there hating me is better than the thought of you...not being here at all."

You hiccuped, face wet with renewed tears as you pushed forward. Kissing him.

-Leonardo-

Leo hadn't liked you at first. At all, really. Comes with the territory, you thought. You didn't blame him.

The trust built slowly every month. Half a year went by before you could easily call him your friend, and you were good friends.

The problem was that you had started crushing on him. Hard.

One night, Leo had stopped you; rain pouring down as he - very awkwardly...asking you out.

You could tell that he had been terrified. It made your smile that much wider. Because you were terrified too. Over the moon. Finally.

You later found out the guy had actually the corniest, cutest list of dates he had been hoping to take you on. All written in a neat, dorky list in one of his notebooks. When you confronted him - he couldn't meet your eyes he had been so embarrassed.

Leo had been the one to ask if he could kiss you.

You had fallen in love. Not quickly. But you had admitted to yourself - looking up into those pretty blue eyes - that you were crazy in love.

And yet...

Leo still hadn't taken off his mask.

You asked once. "Am I ever going to see you without it?"

"Hell no." He huffed at you while he set your house plant back down.

"Scared I might find out you're a turtle?" You scoffed. "I have some crazy news."

"Nice try, but that kind of show-" Leo reached above you to grab a cup, then pointed it at your smug grin. "Isn't for free. VIP only."

"I'm not a VIP girlfriend?" You were outraged.

The curiosity was always there. But you didn't push. You knew it would happen eventually.

That moment came a week later. When you ran your nails across his scalp.

You quickly did it a second time after his tiny noise of happy surprise. A gentle scratch. Only slight pressure to the green skin.

"What're you doing back there?" Leo twisted, peering up at you from where he sat on the floor infront of you.

You kept at it. Smiling as you switched between scratching and petting his scalp, adding a second hand. "Just touching you. That okay?"

Leo's eyes fluttered before he turned back to the TV. His shell between your knees.

As time passed, Leo's head lowered. His neck weakening. He obviously wasn't watching anymore.

"You okay?" You giggled quietly.

"Mm."

"C'mere." You pat your lap. "Turn around."

Leo did. He paused, facing you. You stared back, smiling before pressing a hard loud kiss to the side of his snout. Pushing his head slightly with its force, making him smile and laugh.

God, you loved that laugh.

Your hands opened and closed dramatically over his form as he slumped his head into your lap, curling up close. You nearly giggled at how large his head was as he rested his cheek on a thigh.

There was one problem....

"Hey," you whispered. "May I move the mask?"

Leo froze.

"I can work with it." You quickly said, cringing. "You're okay."

"No," Leo said. "No, it's okay. Hang on."

Your heart leapt into your throat in surprise. But you bit your lip. You didn't want to scare him as he sat up and used one hand to loosen the knot.

Leo pulled it off swiftly. Never looking at you.

You stared.

You had convinced yourself it wouldn't be a huge deal seeing his face. It was a small mask. How much could it really hide?

Apparently, a lot. You felt your brain adjust to the ridiculous fact that it had been unprepared to have so much green to look at.

Leo moved to lean back down. You stopped him. That's when he looked at you.

Leo's eyes hadn't changed a bit. You realized that they looked even more gorgeous like this.

You're heart squeezed.

You'd been dying to tell him. Now more than ever.

"Hi." You whispered, smiling and petting his cheeks.

"C'mon," Leo winced. "It's not..."

"Tell me it at least feels better off..." the backs of your fingers pet down his cheeks before you pushed your nails along each side of his head. Across his temples and then along his scalp again. "It sure looks better off."

His eyes rolled closed. He pushed further into the contact, a pretty groan slipping out.

He stayed there. Leaned a little bit forward as he sat on the floor. His head being pet and scratched from where you sat in front of him on the couch. You pressed a few kisses across brow and nose when you felt his weight going lax once more.

Then holding his jaw, you pressed your lips firmly against his forehead.

Leo signed.

This was it. Time to tell him. You took a deep breath.

"I love you." Leo whispered.

[weird-is-life]

Amnesia

Pairing: Steve harrington x fem!reader

Summary: You get hurt in the battle of Starcourt and suffer a memory loss. You forget the last few months, basically your whole relationship with Steve

Warnings: language, mentions of food, memory loss, mentions of blood, hospital, panic attack, use of y/n and pet names, so much angst, fluff, a few kisses

Words: 8.6k Masterlist

A/N: English is not my first language, so please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes

When you went to visit Steve at the mall as you did every day, you didn't even think anything could go so wrong as it did in a few hours.

As soon as you took a step inside the ice cream shop, Steve pulled you to the backroom of the Scoops Ahoy, an anxious smile on his face. The room was much more crowded than usual. Robin, Dustin, and Erica were there, heads put together in a heated conversation.

You knew straight away that something was not right. Steve tried to make you leave, but you stubbornly stayed there and somehow ended up unconscious in a Russian secret base a few hours later. You had never felt that amount of fear, as you had then.

God knows how you managed to escape from there. It was honestly a miracle since Steve and Robin were drugged.

But of course, you weren't as lucky as you thought you were. The kids stormed to the mall soon after you got out of the bunker, saying the Mind flyer was coming.

Steve tried to convince you to leave again, but there was no way you would have left all of them there.

"Please y/n, you can't stay here, you have to go!"

" No, I can't. I won't leave you here..." you argued.

" Please sweetheart, I can't have you here. What if something happened to you? I wouldn't be able to live with myself " he pleaded.

"And what if something happens to you? " you asked with worried eyes.

"I'll be fine as long as I know you are safe. Please, you need to go before it gets here" Steve was so close to just picking you up and carrying you out of there. But that wasn't necessary, you slowly nodded your head. The fear in Steve's eyes was enough to make you agree.

"Okay, I'll go. B-but promise me, you will be safe..." you had tears running down your cheeks. You were so scared for him and everybody else.

"I pro-" Steve didn't get to finish his promise, because the monster appeared in the center of the mall.

"Fuck fuck fuck. You have to run y/n, you have to get to my car and just drive far far away from here, okay?" Steve insisted.

"B-but the doors....it's right in front of it....how wi-"

"I'll distract it, so you can sneak away," Steve said it, like it was no big deal, "on three we run, okay?"

You didn't even manage to say anything and Steve was already running the opposite way.

"I love you," he said, right before he was gone, he gave you no time to say it back.

You did the only thing you could, you followed Steve's instructions. You carefully sneaked behind the Mind flyer, trying to be very quiet.

But something must have alerted it of your presence. It turned your way, away from Steve, reaching out for you.

"Y/N!" Steve yelled, but it was too late. The monster flung you against the wall, leaving you unconsciousness in a big puddle of blood.

Steve helplessly screamed your name over and over again. But you didn't move. He wanted to run to you, but Dustin stopped him.

"Let me go, Henderson!" he desperately tried to get away from Dustin's grasp.

"You will get yourself killed and that won't help her-"

"She is going to bleed out, I ha-have to get to her " Steve wasn't listening to anything Dustin was saying.

"Steve, don't you understand? Even if you get to her what will you do? The Mind flyer will kill you both. We need to get rid of it first" Dustin reasoned with him.

Steve wanted to argue, but he knew, that the only chance you had at surviving was by listening to Dustin. So he did.

When it was finally dead, he sprinted to your body. He was by your side in a matter of seconds.

"C'mon baby, open your eyes, c'mon sweet thing" he begged, tears soaking his face instantly.

"Steve we need to go!" he quickly picked you up in his arms and followed everybody outside.

-

The following hours were a blur for Steve. You got taken to the operating room as soon as the ambulance got to the hospital .

Steve wanted to go inside with you but he wasn't allowed to. So he sat in the hall in front of the room for hours on and on.

He was still dirty from all of your blood, but he refused to move from the chair, in case there were any news.

After the doctors were finally done, they told him everything there was to know.

Their words were like a knife to his guts. You hit your head pretty badly, loosing a lot of blood and sustaining a concussion. Your ribs weren't much better than that, a lot of them were broken along with your arm.

Steve listened to the news with dread, tears never left his eyes. It was like a nightmare.

"But she is going to be okay. I think she should be up after the anesthesia wears off," the doctor squeezed his shoulder in reassurance.

Steve almost fainted from the relief.

"Can i see her?"

"Of course, but only for a few minutes. She is going to be out for the night, she needs the rest."

But Steve wasn't listening to anything else after the 'of course'. He finally managed to do something similar to a smile and followed the doctor to your door.

You laid on the hospital bad, looking peaceful, but bruised. Your head was bandaged, arm in a sling but somehow you still looked pretty.

Steve sat down next to your bed, carefully taking the uninjured hand in his.

"Hi pretty girl," he reached out to brush a few loose strands from your face," you scared the shit out of me y'know? I thought t-that you... I'm so happy that you are okay," but Steve was looking at you and your injured body wasn't indicating that you were actually okay.

It pained him to see you this way, "I'm sorry, i'm so sorry, you should have never been there..." he sniffled.

Seeing you so hurt was like a hell for Steve. He wanted to swap places with you, he would have done anything to take your place. Anything.

He sat by your bed, talking to you, until the nurse came to ask him to leave," it appears i need to go. But i'll be here when you wake up, goodnight sweetheart, i love you."

He gave you a kiss on your cheek, there was no stopping the tears as he walked out of the room.

-

You woke up with a loud gasp. Nurses were around you in a few seconds, explaining everything and trying to calm you down.

You didn't remember what happened. You didn't know why you were in the hospital or why your whole body hurt so badly. Every single muscle in your body ached and your head was pounding like crazy.

The nurses told you not to move too much, so you wouldn't hurt yourself any more. They listened to your heartbeat, did some tests and left you alone for a bit.

And before you knew it, your parents were right beside you, weeping from the happiness of seeing you awake and okay.

Then they explained everything, but you had no clue what they were talking about. A mall? Big fire? Bunch of kids? Steve? Robin?

Half of the names, they mentioned were a big fucking question mark for you.

Your head started killing you even more from their confusing words. You were baffled, tired and in pain. And it definitely showed on you, because your parents were asked to leave, so you could rest some more and you were never so thankful for the sleep as this time.

Steve on the other hand was freaking out. When he came home so late at night, he took a quick shower and laid down for a short nap.

But the short nap turned into a long sleep. He woke up much much later than he wanted to.

After he saw the time, he stood up from the bed at once, swearing under his breath and rushed to the hospital. He didn't even get breakfast, the only thing on his mind was you. He hoped you were still alright, that nothing happened while he overslept.

He ran up to the room you were in and saw your parents leaving.

"Steve! What are you doing here? Didn't you go home? You should go get some sleep" your mom noticed him. Both of your parents looked even worse then him.

"I got some sleep, but i can't not be here-"his voice waivered," Is she-? "

"Yeah, she is okay, sleeping again."

"Again?" Steve questioned.

"She woke up a few hours ago, but she was very disoriented and fell asleep after like 10 minutes" your mom explained with exhausted voice. Steve realised, that both of your parents must have been in the hospital the whole night.

"Have you been here all night?" he asked them.

"Yes, we couldn't bring ourselves to leave just yet" your dad answered.

"You guys should go at least change home, i'll stay with her, i mean if it's okay with you?" Steve asked uncertainly, he hoped he didn't overstep.

"Okay with us? Of course, Steve. We would be very grateful," your mom said,"we'll be back as soon as possible."

"No need to rush, i'll look after y/n, i won't leave her side."

"We know, thank you Steve, see you soon" they waved him goodbye and left.

Steve stood with his hand on the door handle for a moment, even though he knew you were relatively okay, it wasn't easy for him. He needed to take a deep breath before stepping into the room.

Gathering enough courage, he walked in and sat down at the empty chair next to the bed.

"Hi beautiful," he took your hand, same as the day before and kissed it, "hope you're feeling better. I heard you woke up, I'm sorry, i wasn't here. I forgot to put an alarm last night, so I woke up too late," he told you.

You, of course, didn't respond and it suddenly made Steve miss your voice, not only your voice, you laugh, your eyes, just....you.

"I miss you so much, you should wake up soon or i might just go crazy" he laughed dryly, because it was only a few hours since you were smiling big at him and it was already too long for Steve, "you know what this reminds me of? That one time you refused to talk to me because i..."

Steve continued talking to you about the most random things or memories from your relationships. He was so focused on talking to you about this particular memory of taking you out for a picnic, that went horribly, because it started raining, that he didn't even notice you stirring awake.

He only realised, that you were waking up, when you squeezed his hand. He looked over to you and you were slowly opening your eyes.

"Hi, hi" he softly said. You finally fully opened your eyes and made a confused face .

"Harrington?" you tried to sit up, but Steve stopped you. "You shouldn't move too much. How are you feeling?"

"W-what's going on? Why are you here? Where are my parents?" you started asking him so many questions, you looked very perplexed.

There was something off about you, but Steve couldn't quite pin point what it was. You were looking at him somewhat coldly and distant and it made him fidget in his seat and feel uneasy.

" They went home to change, they should be back soon. D-do you remember what happened?"

"I-I-I.. no" you looked around trying to remember anything, but you remembered only some small bits of your mom's explanation from earlier? You weren't even sure, if those were real memories.

"You got hurt. The Mind flyer threw you against the wall, it was h-horrible" Steve tried to help you remember, but you looked so so lost.

"The mind flyer? What are you talking about?" you asked, hand on your forehead, because your head started to hurt.

"What do you mean?" You winced in pain," shit, are you in pain? I should probably go get the doctor -"

"No, i'm alright, i just... Why are you here Harrington?" you glared at him and pulled your hand from his grasp.

Wait, what? You glared at him, called him Harrington and pulled your hand away from him? Steve didn't know what was happening. He really hoped, you were still just confused.

"What do you mean, sweetheart? Where else would i be, if not here with you?" Steve smiled nervously at you.

"Sweetheart? Whoa Harrington, i don't know why are you here or why are you calling me a sweetheart, but you should probably leave. My parents could be here any second" you stated, still wincing from the pain.

"W-what? Y/N, this isn't funny" Steve heart was literally breaking from your cruel words. He hoped, that it was just a nightmare, he would soon wake up from.

"Yes, i agree, this isn't funny. If you think that just because i had some kind of accident and you came to visit me to the hospital, i will go on a date with you, you can forget it" every single word was like a hard punch to Steve's stomach. He felt like he couldn't breath.

"Baby, what are you t-talking about? We've been dating for a while now" he said with wide eyes.

"You can't be serious right now" you laughed, you had no idea what was Steve Harrington doing next to you, but you were 100% sure, you weren't dating him.

Steve was terrified. You were talking absolute nonsense. It was like you didn't remember him.

And then it hit him, you actually didn't. You didn't remember him. You didn't remember your relationship with him. You probably thought, he was the asshole, he used to be.

"I'm-I'm g-gonna get a doctor" Steve choked out and ran out of your room.

He grabbed the first doctor he saw and started explaining everything. The doctor listened to his ramble and immediately went to you. But not before he instructed Steve to stay outside.

Steve was burning holes in his shoes from all the pacing. He couldn't help but to worry the more time the doctor spent inside your room. By the time the doctor came out of there, Steve was an anxious mess.

"So? Do you know what's wrong?"

"Yes, it appears, that she doesn't remember certain time."

"A memory loss?" Steve voice broke.

"It looks like she doesn't remember quite a while. It happens sometimes, that after sustaining a head trauma the patients suffer a memory loss."

"B-but they will come back right?" Steve felt dizzy.

"I can't say. We need to run some tests, but there's always the possibility, that it's permanent. I'm sorry."

A big sick joke. That's how Steve felt, like the universe was playing a sick joke on him.

"So-so you're saying that she might not remember me, like ever?" Steve honestly felt like his whole world was being ripped apart.

"I'm sorry, i really can't say for sure. Hopefully, we'll have some more informations after we run the tests," the doctor said, giving him a sympathetic look before leaving him standing alone in the hall.

Steve literally couldn't breath. He felt so nauseous, he didn't know if he was about to pass out or be sick. He just knew he had to get out of there, to get some fresh air.

He quickly stumbled out of there. As soon as he was outside, he not so gracefully slumped down on the floor. He honestly didn't care about the looks that people were sending him. He was trying so hard not to panic, but it was nearly impossible.

You were his whole world, his most favorite person in the world, his best friend, the love of his life and you didn't remember him.

It felt so wrong, so fucking wrong. The look you were giving him, looking at him like he was just some stranger and not your Steve, was the most terrifying thing ever. It wasn't the monsters, the literal creatures from hell, but it was your unfamiliar even hostile expression.

Steve closed his eyes, willing the spinning of everything to go away. But the panic wasn't going away, Steve was about to throw up, when a voice spoke next to him.

A kind-looking older nurse was looking at him, "umm sir, are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine " he put on the strong face , the one he'd learned to forget around you.

"Miss y/l/n told me to find you, she wants to see you" she smiled hesitantly at him.

"Oh, o-okay," Steve wanted to get up from the ground, but his head was still spinning, so he sat right back down, "could you just give me a moment?"

"Sure, no problem, dear. Take as much time as you need" she gave him one last kind smile and left him alone.

It took him much longer than just a moment to pull himself together. Steve sat on the hard floor, the coldness of it kind of soothed his pain. Nothing hurt him physically, but his heart was literally bleeding.

He wanted nothing else just you. You to hold him close, to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. But there was no you. At least not the you, that he so desperately needed.

And you probably needed him more now than he needed you. So he picked himself up and walked the never ending (short) way to your room.

This time he didn't stop in front of the door, he just walked right in.

He found you sitting on the bed, eating some jello. A small smile crept up on Steve's face at the sight of you and the want to kiss your cute face overwhelmed him. But you noticed him soon enough and the strange expression was back on, leaving Steve to deal with the new reality. The reality that he couldn't just kiss you, because you didn't remember him.

"Hi" you said shyly.

"H-hey" Steve stuttered.

"I'm sorry for earlier, i know now, that you were telling me the truth-"

"It's okay, you couldn't know" Steve replied, looking everywhere else but you.

"Still, i can't imagine how hard this must be for you" gosh, yes it was so fucking hard for him, because you probably remembered him as a total dickhead.

"D-do you remember anything?" Steve prepared himself for your answer.

"I tried, i really did. But i.... I don't remember anything, i'm sorry. Last thing i remember is me and Nance driving to get her brother from some of his friend's house. I remember, that Nancy was so angry at him, that she kept driving in the wrong diractions," you chuckled at the memory, " i think she was angry, because someone else was supposed to drive him home, but i can't remember who... " you scowled as you were trying to figure out who it was.

Steve on the other hand was blinking quickly. He knew exactly who you were talking about.

It was Steve. Steve was supposed to drive all of the boys home, but he got held up by his parents. He was a little late, but he didn't forget to pick them up. And when he arrived at Dustin's house, you and Nancy were already there.

It was the first time, you and Steve met. He made a complete fool of himself, he was stammering over his words, flirting with you and at the same time badly failing at it. By some miracle, you guys ended up becoming friends and even with more luck, you said yes to a date with him a few months later. You should have seen him then, he was a mess, when he was asking you out. But all of that made the relationship you guys had.

So you remembering everything up until the most crucial moment of your relationship, the start of it, was even worse than it already was.

It was too much for him, Steve started hyperventilating and slowly sank to his knees.

"Steve! Oh god, what's wrong?" you were so concerned for him, that you didn't even think about your condition and sprang up from the bed to his side .

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong," you ignored the hot burst of pain in your head, hand and ribs.

Steve wasn't responding, he couldn't get the oxygen to his lungs, his vision was blurry and his chest felt very tight.

"Steve" you tried again and nothing,"C'mon talk to me." You were now fully panicking.

"I-I c-can't b-breath-" he barely got out.

"Shit, i'm gonna go get someone -"

"N-no," he shook his head. You didn't know what to do, but somehow your body knew exactly how to react, like you had done it before.

You took one of his hands and squeezed it lightly, letting him know you were there. "Steve, you need to breath with me, come on. In and out, in and out" you repeated the words over and over again. Steve got what you were trying to do and did it with you.

And it worked. His breathing slowly calmed down and he picked his gaze up from your intervened hands to your eyes. Realisation of what just happened struck him.

His cheeks went red from the embarrassment, you were the one, that almost died and he just had a panic attack.

"I'm sorry, so sorry" he stood up, making you stand up with him," you're hurt and here i am having a pan-... You shouldn't have gotten up from the bed." he blurted out. His hands were instantly under your knees and your torso, sweeping you off your feet and carefully setting you down on your bed.

You didn't even had time to react to it, because Steve started speaking," I'm sorry, i can't do this, i can't be here right now. I n-need to go ...This is just too much for me..." he carefully gave you a soft kiss on the forehead and left. Well not before, he bumped into your dad, apologised and ran out of there.

-

Steve didn't show up at the hospital for the next 2 days. He couldn't even get out of his house. Multiple people called him, he didn't answer, he ignored everybody and everything.

If you couldn't remember him, nothing else mattered to him. He didn't care about anything else.

So he drowned in the pain on his bed. But someone called him in the last few hours, so many times, that he just fucking unplugged the phone. Steve thought, that it was definitely Robin.

He also thought, that he was off the hook with her after that. That she would get the message, that he didn't want to see anyone, but he was wrong. It was Robin for godsake.

She came knocking, no not knocking, banging on his door. Steve ignored it, but when she started ringing the bell, too. He had enough.

"Go away" he muttered to her and went to close the door. Robin, the headache, that she sometimes was, put her foot in the doorway.

"Nope" she refused to move her foot even a milimetre.

"Please Robs, just... leave me alone" Steve had no strength to fight her now.

"No Steve, i'm no going anywhere. Because you are going to take a shower, get dressed, get in the car and drive to the hospital" Robin let herself in and glared at him with her hands on her hips.

"If this is all, you can go" Steve was just as stubborn as her.

"Listen, you need to go see y/n. "

"No, you don't understand. I can't. I can't be there, i just can't!" Steve sat down on his couch, running hands over his face.

"I know this is tough. I know it. I mean, she doesn't remember me, too. But the doctors ran some tests and said, that there is a very high possibility that her memories will come back. She just needs to do what she did daily and it may trigger them to come back. Meaning you need to go be with her, you two were always together" Robin reasoned with him. Steve opened his mouth to protest, but close it just as quickly.

"Okay" he murmured, already moving towards his room.

"Great! Go, i'll wait for you here. "

The drive to the hospital would have been quiet if it wasn't for Robin. She filled in Steve on everything he missed in the last two days.

Like how all of the kids came to visit you with hands full of gifts. It was a huge surprise for you, as you remembered only Mike. Robin told him, that they were very nice to you, answered every question you had and that you had fun.

Steve had a small smile on while listening to Robin's story, but he didn't say a word the whole ride.

Finally at the hospital, Steve thought about turning right back home. Robin must have sensed his nerves, because she caught his arm and dragged him to your door.

"Okay, be nice. I'll call you later," she spun around, ready to leave.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?" Steve panicked.

"Home? I have to go help my mom with... umm with a cake, bye !" She lied and quickly disappeared.

"Great" Steve sighed.

Steve, once again, just stood in front of your room, contemplating on what to do.

"Oh and one more thing" Robin was suddenly back at his side, opened the door, pushed him inside and closed it behind him.

"Oh, h-hi" your small voice greeted him.

" Hi" his features softened as soon as he took one look at you. You looked healthier and happier then the last time he saw you.

"How do you fee-"

"How are yo-" you both spoke at the same time, chuckling right after.

"You can go first," Steve said as the gentleman that he was.

"Thanks, how you've been?"

"I've been..." Steve thought about lying to you, but you always knew when he wasn't telling the truth," not great, but it's okay. What about you? Anything new?"

"I feel much better, the arm and ribs are healing, hopefully my mind will get better soon, too" you said, giving him a smile.

"T-that's great. " You two went quiet as he said it.

"Where have you been for the last two days?" you caught him off guard with that question, you thought of how it must have sounded and blushed, "i mean, given that you and i....t-that we are d-dating, i thought you'd come see me, that's all." You were blushing furiously by the time you finished. It was still very strange for you to thought of Steve Harrington as your boyfriend.

"Oh, i'm sorry. I just wasn't feeling well " yes, he lied this time and avoided eye contact with you.

"You know, your little friends were here," you changed the subject quickly.

"Yeah?"

"They told me all about you," you grinned at him.

"Did they now? Only good things, i hope" he bantered with you and took the now familiar seat next to your bed.

"To my surprise, yes" you blurted out, eyes bulging out, "Shit, i'm sorry Steve, i didn't -"

"It's okay, i understand. I was pretty much a dick" he chuckled.

"Yeah... I would never ever have guessed, that Steve Harrington is friends with kids" you teased him.

"Oh come on now, that's rude. "

"It's the truth" you giggled at his fake hurt.

"They're good kids, been through a lot" he told you and it was like his mind went somewhere else, somewhere darker for a second.

"I like them, they were fun to be with."

"Oh believe me, you wouldn't say that after knowing them longer" Steve said dramatically, "but i wouldn't have met you if it wasn't for them, so i'm grateful."

"Could you tell me about it?" you shyly asked him.

"About the first time we met?"

"Yes, please."

"It was.... -it was when you and Nancy went to pick up Mike from Lucas's house. I was the one, that was supposed to drive them home, but i was running late. So when i got there, you were already there," he took a deep breath, before he continued, "i remember, that as soon as i saw you, my mind literally went blank. You looked so fucking beautiful and i think my mind stopped working after seeing you, because i flirted with you, well i tried to flirt with you and it went terribly," he laughed,

"You basically scoffed at every pick up line or compliment i said and i thought, that was it, that I messed up everything right there. But somehow we became friends anyway," Steve had a fond smile the entire time he spoke.

"I wish i could remember it" you said and his fond smile turned to a pained one just as you said it.

"Y-yeah me too" Steve whispered, you could clearly see the sorrow, that he was drowning in. You thought about something to say to get that godawful look off of his face.

"Steve" you sweetly said his name.

"Yeah?"

"Could i... Could i maybe give you a hug?" you didn't know what went over you to ask him that, it was probably the big hurt puppy eyes.

"S-sure" were you trying to kill him? His heart almost leaped out of his chest from the thought of having you so close again.

He catiously closed his hands around your body, trying not to hurt you, because of all the injuries. The hug felt very familiar and safe, like your body recognised, that it was Steve. Your Steve. And It made you feel even worse for Steve.

"I'm sorry," you said.

"For what?"

"I just wish i could remember" you felt Steve suck in a breath, "No matter, how hard i try, everything is just pitch black." You explained.

"It's okay, it's not your fault-"

"I know, i just... I want to remember."

"There's nothing you can do, we just have to hope they will come back, right? The doctors think they will," Steve slowly (unwillingly) let you go, but still didn't move away from you.

"They also think i should get back to my normal routine."

"Yeah, Robin told me" Steve responded.

"I guess that means i have to hang out with Steve Harrington everyday" you joked, well Steve hoped it was a joke, he couldn't really tell.

" I promise you, I'm not an ass anymore. I'm much much better. You did go on a date with me, so that has to mean something" Steve convinced you.

"Relax Steve, i'm just kidding" you giggled at him.

"Oh. Right" his cheeks slightly reddened.

"Soo, what do we normally do every day?" you questioned, intrigued to know the answer.

"It depends-"

"Wait, before you start, could you go buy me a snack? The hospital food sucks" you sheepishly said.

Steve eyes warmly looked at you, before he stood up, " i'll be right back."

"Take the money from the table and can you get me K-"

"Kit kats and M&M's? Yes" he was gone, before you even got to question how the hell he knew what you wanted, leaving your money intact.

He came back with hands full of snacks, didn't waste the time and began telling you everything.

-

You spent one more week in the hospital, before you were cleared to leave. Steve visited you every single day. He always came with hands full of snacks and stories. Stories about your dates, about him, about your relationship.

Hearing everything about the things you did and not remembering them was frustrating. But it made you realise, why you had said yes to a date with Steve.

This Steve couldn't be more different than the highschool version of him. You learnt, that Steve was very genuine, attentive, funny and so so sweet. He constantly made sure, that you were comfortable. Like at any sign of discomfort or pain, he was up on his feet, asking if you needed a doctor, if you were feeling okay. You never felt so cared for like you did with Steve. It was honestly even overwhelming in a way.

And the pet names, god. They were actually killing you. Every time he called you by something other than your name, you were blushing madly, trying to contain the unknown feelings in your chest.

And naturally, he was the one, that drove you home from the hospital. He opened the door for you, carefully helped you in his car, drove so slowly, so nothing would hurt you and helped you out of the seat. He even offered to carry you to your room, which earned him an amused no from you.

He carried your bags in your room and left. He wanted to stay, but your mom was home to take care of you. So he gave you the absent minded forehead kiss like he always did. You didn't think, that Steve actually realised, that he did it. You didn't mind it tho, the butterflies in your stomach were a prove.

Steve left with a smile on his face, pretending that his heart wasn't actually bleeding every second you didn't remember you loved him. It was so fucking tough for him to see you without the love and adoration in your eyes.

But he pulled through anyways, he would have done anything to get your memories back. Even if it meant he would have to suffer, he didn't care, he would gladly go through hell for you, if it meant you'd remember. You were worth it, you were his everything and he needed you back.

It didn't take Steve long to call you.

"Hello?" you answered the phone.

"Hi sweetheart, i know i literally just left, but i forgot to ask. Would you like to go see a movie tomorrow?" he blurted out, making you smile," you don't have to if you don't feel like it. It's probably stupid idea, given you've just got out of hospital. Forget i - "

"Steve," you cut his rambling off, "i'd love to."

"Really?" Steve happily asked.

"Yeah..."you bit your lip to stop the ridiculous smile.

"Great, i'll pick you up around 6?"

"Can't wait" you stated.

"Me too, i'll see you tomorrow, bye sweet girl" you were glad, that Steve couldn't see you right then, 'cause you were blushing like crazy from his nickname.

"Bye, Steve."

-

"So, what movie are we going to see?" you stood close to Steve in the line for popcorn. Steve hand was protectively on your lower back.

"Some rom-com, ugh i forgot the name" he shamefully admited.

"It's okay, i'm just glad we are going out, i don't even remember when was the last time i went to cinema" you chuckled.

"A few weeks ago" Steve mumbled out.

"What?"

"You went to cinema a few weeks ago," Steve smiled fondly at the memory, " somehow we ended up watching a horror. You claimed, that you wouldn't get scared, it wasn't even supposed to be very scary."

"And wasn't it?"

"God no, it was too much even for me. We left like 15 minutes in" Steve said and you laughed.

"You can't be serious" you responded.

"It's the truth, i literally had to stay with you for the night, you clung to me like a koala for the whole night, not that i'm complaining" he joked, making you laugh again.

"Why would we go see such a movie?"

"I don't know, you wanted to see it and i can't say no to you" Steve grinned at you.

"Well, i hope this movie is okay."

"It is, i double checked it with Robin" he assured you.

"Good." Steve bought a huge popcorn and coke for you. He tried to buy like 5 more sweets for you aswell, but you stopped him and pushed him towards the screening room.

You took your seats in the very last row and watched the movie in silence, exchanging glances every few minutes. Halfway through it, Steve eyelids started to get heavier and heavier, until he was completely out.

You looked at the sleeping boy next to you and smiled. He looked relaxed, so you let him get the sleep, he clearly needed.

The movie was soon over and everybody was leaving, except for you and Steve.

"Steve, Steve, come on, wake up" you shook him awake. He slowly woke up, completely disoriented.

"Uh, shit. Did i fall asleep?" he groggily asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Yeah, but we need to go, the workers are starting to clean here. "

"Yes, we definitely should" Steve stood up, took your unharmed arm in his and carefully guided you down the steps, making sure, that you wouldn't fall. You learned, that it was always like this when you were with him, he never forgot to make sure, that you were okay.

He didn't let go of your hand even after you were away from the stairs and you found yourself wishing, that he wouldn't. Even if you couldn't remember Steve, your body definitely did. It was like your hand was made to fit perfectly in Steve's.

"Did you enjoy the movie?" Steve broke you out of your train of thoughts.

" It was good, but i certainly understand why you took the nap" you teased him.

"Sorry, guess i'm just a little tired" he yawned.

"I can see that" you softly looked at him, "are you sleeping okay?"

He nodded his head, not convincing you even a bit. But you thought, he'd say what was on his mind when he wanted to.

"Okay." You walked to his car, still hands joined together.

He let go of your hand and opened the door for you. You already missed the warmth and weight of his hand in yours.

You resisted the urge to reach for it again, when he sat down in the driver's seat. I mean, Steve would have been more than okay with you reaching out to hold his hand. He also thought about doing it, but didn't, he was the same coward as you.

So you both drove in silence, radio the only noise in the car. Steve parked the car in front of your house in no time and walked you to your door.

"Thank you for going with me" he timidly smiled at you, " I'm sorry, that I fell asleep."

"It's okay Steve, i had fun tonight even though you slept through half of the movie" you declared, making Steve chuckle.

"Goodnight sweetheart " you opened your door, ready to go inside, but in the last second you turned on your heels and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

" 'Night Stevie." You disappeared inside, leaving a stunned Steve behind the closed door .

-

Steve spent all of his free time with you since you'd left the hospital. He came to you straight from work everyday, barely stopping at home to at least change his clothes. He took you on dates, on walks or just stayed in your house, talking about whatever.

And every day he asked if you remembered anything, your answer was a sad no everytime. Until one day, the day Steve invited you to a game night at Robin's.

"Y/N, we are already late. What are you even looking for?" Steve stood in the doorway of your room for like 5 minutes, looking at you as you searched for something.

"This one green sweater..." you murmured, still frantically digging through your closet.

"Green sweater?"

"Yeah, the one with the smiley face on it, remember? You gave it to me" you so casually replied, not bothering to even look up at Steve, who suddenly got a lump in his throat, "what d-did you say?"

Yes, he gave you that sweater, but it was before the accident, at the time you still remembered him.

"I said, that I can't find the sweater you gave me" you finally looked at him, the sweater in your hand and saw his big grin.

"Oh my god" he crossed the room in like a second, lifted you up and spun you around in his arms.

"Steve! What are you doing? Put me down" you giggled.

"Sorry, sorry" he lowered you to the ground, " but don't you realise?"

"Realise what?"

"You said, that it's the sweater, i gave you.."

"So?"

"I gave it to you before the accident" Steve's smile never left his face.

"Oh my god" you mirrored his reaction, "maybe i'm getting my memories back!"

"Gosh i hope so, do you remember anything else?" Steve tried to surpress his excitement, he didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing.

"No.... I'm sorry." Your happy face fell.

"Hey, it's okay. You remembered this little thing, it has to mean something good, right?" Steve caressed your cheek.

"It's just.... It's really frustrating hearing about everything i did or we did together and not remembering it" you explained with a cute pout, eyes a bit shiny. Steve didn't even realise how tough it was for you, too. He was too caught up in his sadness to notice it.

"Come here" Steve pulled you close to his chest, forcing his pained mind to shut up.

"We will get through this, you'll get your memories back. And if you won't, then i'll make sure to recreate them with you again" he whispered to your ear, holding you tightly.

"You're so cheese" you sniffled with a giggle.

"Only for you, pretty girl" he said with no hesitation, " c'mon now, Robin is gonna kill us for being so late."

"C-can you just hold me a little longer?" you shyly asked him.

"Of course, however long you want" Steve would never pass a chance to hug you, ever.

"Thank you" you said to his chest. You two didn't move from the embrace for a lot longer than Robin would have been happy about. Eventually Steve place a gentle kiss on the top of your head and moved you both to his car.

-

Over the course of the next days, you didn't remember much else, only some bits, but nothing big. And if you tried too hard to think about it, your head started to hurt.

"Don't do that" Steve frowned at you from the side of his bed.

"I'm not doing anything" you defended.

"You're thinking again."

"So I shouldn't be thinking?" you raised your eyebrows.

"You know what i mean" he rolled his eyes at you.

"I can't help it, it's on my mind constantly. Maybe if i think hard enough, they'll come back" it was getting worse for you, than it was for Steve. You weren't dealing it very well and Steve didn't know why.

"The only thing you'll bring yourself is a headache. "

"Right." You sighed and got back to your book. The furrow was still on your forehead, so Steve came up with an idea.

"You need a distraction" he announced, " let's go, get up"

"What kind of distraction?" Steve didn't reply, he went to his gramophone and put some Billy Joel on.

"Would you do me the honor and dance with me, my lady?" Steve offered you his hand and wiggled his brows at you.

"Steve, i can't dance!" you laughed at his manners.

"You think i can?" he pulled you up from the bed, "it doesn't matter if we can or can't dance, it's supposed to be a distraction."

"Steve, i really don't-" Steve put the music louder, shutting you up.

He put both of his on your lower back and started to move to the rythm of the slow song. And you let him, you wrapped your hands around his neck, laid your head on his shoulder and moved with him.

You didn't even know how long you stayed like that, just enjoying each other's presence. You didn't know most of the songs, but one.

Your picked your head up, when it started playing, smiling big at Steve. He had an expressions full of love on, making your pulse quicken suddenly. It wasn't the first time you'd seen him looking at you like that, but somehow it felt different. It felt more real. Maybe it was because your feelings, made it so different. You felt this very raw feelings, that made the breath hitch in your throat.

At one point looking at each other, he started to lean in as if to kiss you, but hesitated. Steve didn't want to make you uncomfortable. But you knew that, so you kissed him instead.

You pressed your lips to his, making him gasp. It took him a second to realise what was happening, but not too long. He kissed you back fiercely, so longingly, with so much affection, his hands squeezed your sides softly. You were thankful for his embrace, because you definitely lost your stability when his soft lips kissed you back.

You broke apart, when a loud thunder rumbled outside, lips swollen and both out of breath. The lightining and the thunder made you jump up in fear.

Steve spoke first, "shit, it's raining heavily, " he looked with concern from his window.

You still stood at the same spot, too overwhelmed by your emotions. You didn't know if it was from the kiss or the fact, that you hated storms.

"Hey, hey, hey," Steve immediately noticed the change in your behaviour, as always and took you hand" you okay?"

You nodded, "i just don't like storms."

"I know baby, but don't worry, nothing will happen. I'm right here, yeah?"

"I don't want to get in the car in this weather" you frowned at the window.

"We can wait a little, see of it passes or-or you can stay here. I h-have a guest room, you could sleepover. But it's totally okay if you want to wait, it's up to you" he rambled again.

"I think i'd rather just stay here, it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon, " you quietly said, worriedly looking at the storm, "i'll just call my parents to let them know."

"Great, are you hungry? I'll go make sandwiches" Steve smiled at you, happy that you were staying. He was mostly alone in this house, only exception was when you were with him.

"Sure, i'll put on some movie. "

"Take a look in the closet, you have a few things there. You should find something more comfortable to sleep in" Steve instructed and one look at your jeans was enough to agree with him. Altough, the few things as he said were like half of the closet.

You found some pyjamas, put on a movie and made yourself comfy in Steve's bed, waiting for him. Steve appeared a few minutes later, sandwiches in one hand and drinks in the other.

He sat down next to you and you pressed the play. The food and drinks were gone fast, leaving you with full tummy and heavy eyes.

Your tried to stay awake, but there was no fighting the sleep. Your head fell on Steve's shoulder, Steve just chuckled at you, put an arm around your sleeping form and tugged you closer to him.

You stayed like that until the movie was over. Steve then tried to as quietly as he could get away from your hold to go to the guest room.

"Where are you going, Stevie? " you broke out of your sleep.

"You can stay here, i'll go to the guest room." He said as a loud thunder made you jump again .

"Stay, please" you pleaded silently. Your voice was barely a whisper and Steve knew by your tone, that you were scared.

"Okay, come here, sweetheart" he got back under the covers and hugged you. You held him like your life depended on it, but Steve couldn't complain. He finally got a full night sleep that night, no nightmares of that horrible day in the mall walking him up. You couldn't complain either, Steve's hands around you were your safe place.

-

Steve got up before you in the morning. He was already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast when you woke up.

You quietly crept up on him and hugged him from the back, kissing his cheek sweetly.

"Morning, handsome!" you cheerfully greeted him. Steve reaction wasn't the same. He almost burned himself on the pan when you kissed him for the first time, the second time was when you called him handsome.

"Are you making pancakes? God, i love you" you kissed his cheek again and took a seat at the table. Steve stood frozen with a spatula in mid-air.

"Steve?"

"Steve?" you repeated, standing up again and coming up to him.

"You feeling okay?" Steve didn't know what he was feeling. Relieve? Excitement? Content? Happines like he could cry? Probably all of that.

"Where was our first date?" Steve blurted out, eyes full of hope.

"What? Stev-" you didn't understand why he was asking that.

"Where was it?"

"I-" it suddenly clicked. It was like a fog was lifted in your mind and you could finally see clearly all the memories.

"At the coffee shop. You spilled a tea all over the table, ruining both of our cupcakes. But it wasn't a bad day, i enjoyed it and did go on the second date with your clumsy ass. " There was no stopping the grins, that formed on your faces.

Steve started peppering your face in kisses, laughing madly.

"Steve stop, it tickles" you laughed, too.

"Nope, never" he chuckled loudly," never gonna let you go again."

"Is that a promise?"

"Oh definitely. Fuck, i-i can't believe you remember" your laughter died down, the realisation brought tears to both of your eyes, "h-how is it even possible ?"

"I don't know, maybe... maybe i just needed a kiss, like some princess" you joked.

"Is that so? I should have kissed you right away at the hospital then, no?" Steve literally radiated with joy, the spark in his eyes fully back.

"You should have" you agreed teasingly, "but i would have punched you, even with the broken hand."

"Oh god, you totally would. You were looking at me with such a disgust" Steve frowned at the memory.

"Sorry baby, but you can't blame me, i thought it was the old you" you ran your hand through his hair.

"I know pretty girl, i'm just so glad, you're back. I don't know what i'd without you. "

"You'd be fine. You had me falling for you again, you know?" you chuckled. Steve made it so, even too easy for you to fall in love with him again.

"Really?" he affectionally brushed your cheek.

"Yeah..." you bashfully replied, " i think, i'd learn how to love you every time."

Steve passionately kissed you, " Fuck, i love you so much. "

"Love you, too" you hugged him, hiding you face in the crook of his neck. Steve closed his eyes, he finally felt whole again, he felt at peace. He had you in his arms and that was all he ever wanted.

You started to pull away, but Steve wasn't letting go, " where are you going?"

"We need to call everybody-"

"Later, now just stay here" Steve mumbled into your hair, tightening his grip on you.

"Okay" you softly responded, feeling his tear fall down on your cheek .You stayed like that, 'till you limbs started to go numb and the food was burned. But you didn't care, you were just too happy to think about anything else, than yourselves.

...

...

@lokiofasgard616 @mrskeery-mclaughlin

@manuosorioh @gitchygitchygooo

Hi guys, thank you so much for reading. This took me way too long, but it's here finally. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Feedback is always appreciated.

Have a great day and stay safe everybody. Peace out ☀️

[babytarttdoodoo]

Jamie’s afraid of making a big deal out of being hurt after everything that happened in season 1 - he doesn’t want everyone to think he’s being a prick again. But then one day either in season 2 or 3 he actually is genuinely hurt badly (the reason is up to you) but doesn’t tell anyone and shows up to practice anyway. It’s bad enough that he collapses on the field and that’s when everyone finds out.

I could have made this so much easier on myself and literally just written the conversation at the end. As it is, I started hating this about a third of the way through.

I hope that's just hyper-criticism of my own work and that this is still an enjoyable request fill.

---

It wasn’t like he’d done it on purpose.

A lack of sleep, a dark hallway, and a half-forgotten set of steps had all converged into a little tumble in the middle of the night. That was all.

A bruised side. A knock on the head. No big deal.

That’s what Jamie had told himself as he’d inspected the damage in the mirror. He would be fine. He could put his kit on at home and wear a beanie to cover up the dark smudge of skin at his temple.

No one would notice. No one needed to know. It would be fine. Hardly the first time he’d pushed through an injury to stay in the game, was it?

He didn’t need to miss training. He didn’t need to turn up at Nelson Road and tell Ted he couldn’t play. Just the thought of trying to do so sent a thrill of unease through Jamie that he wasn’t keen to examine too closely.

So he took some ibuprofen, slowly and stiffly got changed into his Richmond gear, and called a taxi to get himself to the training ground late enough that no one had time to question his appearance.

(Driving was out of the question. He could admit that.)

Roy all but sneered at him when he stumbled in - that wasn’t anything to write home about, though. He caught a few looks from the others and had to wave Dani off on their way out to the pitch but, otherwise, Jamie was able to keep his head down and not draw attention to himself.

Drills were awful. Just stretching out his legs had him biting his tongue against making any pained sounds. When they started lunging, the hot-sick pain in his side necessitated swallowing down bile.

Sprints weren’t the worst, though Isaac definitely noticed he wasn’t starting from a crouch as he normally would. Then Nate had them doing a coordination exercise, hopping sideways and throwing balls between each other.

Lifting his arms was bad enough. Then each hop jolted Jamie’s whole body and made his head throb.

He managed, somehow, but Jamie wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He was being slow and clumsy. He was being useless. Fuck.

Panting, sweating, and trying not to throw up, he hovered at the back of the group and prayed no one called him out. No such luck. 

“You alright, mate?” Colin had sidled over while Ted called out their scrimmage teams. He was speaking quietly, which Jamie appreciated, but frowned at him with an unusual level of seriousness. Shit.

“Course I am.” Jamie forced himself to straighten up and smile. It felt wrong on his face. Too many teeth. “Just got a stitch. Didn’t drink enough.”

Colin looked doubtful, like he was about to question him further, but Jamie pushed forward to accept his yellow vest from Beard and positioned himself as far away from the Welshman as he could.

He was careful to stay in the formation they were practising, though. No sense in fucking up training for everyone more than he already had.

Roy hollered “WHISTLE!” from the side of the pitch and everyone lurched into action. Running around wasn’t so bad and Jamie soon lost himself in the game, following the movement of the ball and players with a preternatural instinct, ignoring any pain as the inconvenient distraction it was.

The few times the ball came his way, he took control of it as if by second nature, barely having to tell his feet what to do as he passed to Dani, then to Sam ten minutes later.

He was being a good teammate. He was playing like he was supposed to. And then he heard someone shout his name.

Jamie didn't need to look around to know that the ball would be sailing through the air towards him. He didn't need to deliberate about what to do. He would catch the ball on his chest and send it to Sam again before Richard could make it close enough to tackle. It was the only option to get it in the net.

He didn't need to think about it. He just did it.

And his sore, battered ribs only crossed his mind when he jumped up and twisted mid-air.

The yelp of pain was completely involuntary and Jamie would have been horrendously embarrassed by it if he hadn’t immediately crumpled into a heap on the pitch.

Something had grinded in his torso. It fucking hurt. It felt wrong.

He distantly registered the sound of an actual whistle over the rushing white noise in his ears as he lay gasping on the damp grass. A hand grasped his arm and Jamie realised Richard had skidded to his knees beside him, ball forgotten.

“Jamie? What’s wrong?” More hands were on him, trying to turn him over, but the slight pull sent another wave of sick pain through his side and he keened, curling up further to stave off the harm. “Merde, get the medics.”

“Colin’s already gone.” That was Isaac, a lot closer than he’d been less than five minutes ago, defending the box on the other end of the pitch. “He’ll need a stretcher if we can’t move him ourselves.”

“Fuck.” The notion of needing to be carried out of training brought Jamie back to himself. “I don’t need… Fuck it. I’m fine.”

“No, you are not.” Sam was standing over him as well, Jamie realised as he tried to force himself up to his knees at least. Most of the team were looming around, actually, and Ted broke through their little huddle right as a spike in pain brought up the vomit Jamie had been desperately holding back all morning.

“Hoo boy.” An American accent could really cut through the crowd, apparently, since Jamie had no problem hearing that low exclamation over twenty or so sounds of disgust.

Someone stopped him from pitching forward into his own sick and Jamie finally, limply, accepted help back upright onto his own shaky legs. Ted’s hands were one of the several pairs supporting him and Jamie could feel the humiliation and shame rising up in his gut like another bout of nausea.

“Sorry, coach,” he mumbled, even as he let Isaac put a secure arm around his waist. Sam tried to prop up his other side but Jamie shied away with an apologetic shake of the head. “Ribs. Don’t- Can’t lift me arm right now.”

He silently begged the younger player to understand, to not take it as yet another personal slight. Because Sam Obisanya was a much better person than Jamie would ever be, he only took a firm hold of Jamie’s elbow instead, face belying nothing but concern.

“Okay, folks, let’s give him some room.” Ted shooed gently at everyone not currently vital to keeping Jamie vertical. “You fellas got a good hold of him? We can get a stretcher out here, tout sweet.”

“Don’t want a fucking stretcher. I can walk.” Jamie bit out, choosing not to acknowledge how heavily he was still leaning on Isaac and Sam.

“Well, son, I’m not all too keen on taking your word for that right now.”

Ted’s tone didn’t change at all from the pleasant, practical way he’d just addressed the others. He didn’t raise his voice even a little. Jamie still felt the admonishment like a physical blow and hung his head with a wince.

“We’ve got him,” Sam spoke up. “Treatment room, right?”

They made an awkward threesome, hobbling off the pitch behind Ted and down the tunnel. Colin jogged out to meet them with a medic in tow and (surprise, surprise) Roy peeled off from the other coaches to join the entourage hustling Jamie towards the now-not-haunted medical suite.

Settled uncomfortably on the edge of the reclining bed, with a hovering audience whose eyes he couldn’t meet if he tried, Jamie numbly answered the medic’s questions about his pain level and location. He allowed her to gently remove his hat and examine the bruise underneath, went through the concussion tests without complaint, and was even honest about when he’d last eaten or drank anything.

When she pulled up his shirt, there was more than one sympathetic wince around the room. A quick look down confirmed that the bruise, though still quite small, had deepened in colour since he’d last poked at it and his skin looked oddly swollen around the area.

Even the barest methodical prodding with careful fingers made Jamie flinch and hiss through his teeth. The medic (Jennifer, Jamie vaguely recalled) hummed thoughtfully.

“Two are definitely broken. You’ll need to stay off the pitch for a few weeks, at least.”

The prognosis tightened Jamie’s throat like a hand was clamped around his neck. 

“Weeks? Nah, fuck that,” he choked out. “I were playing fine until I took the chest ball. I can still score.”

“Are you actually thick?” Roy demanded, loud and angry as per usual. There was something wild in his expression as he stepped closer to the bed. “How fucking stupid do you have to be to try and play with broken fucking ribs.”

“Fuck off, you won’t even coach me,” Jamie snarled at him, all attempts at mending bridges forgotten in the wake of pain and frustration. “Don’t act like it matters if I play hurt or not. I’ve done it plenty times before.”

“Alright, alright!” Ted cut in between them before Roy could retort with whatever words had conjured up that twisted, outraged look on his face. Nothing good, Jamie was sure.

“Roy, why don’t you take five, okay? In fact, let’s clear the room. Y’all got things to do, I’ll stick with Jamie while the good doc here gets him set up with what he needs.”

Even with Ted partially blocking his view, Jamie could see Roy was about to argue. Surprisingly, it was Isaac’s hand on his shoulder that seemed to take the wind out of his sails.

“Fuck! Fine!” He shrugged the hand off and pointed damningly at Jamie’s face. “But you’re not putting a toe out on the grass until I say so, you bloody fuckwit.”

With that, Roy stormed out of the room, sending the door bouncing off the wall with the force of his exit. Jamie’s teammates followed much more sedately, all with looks back over their shoulders and quiet murmurs Jamie couldn’t discern.

“Here.” He jumped slightly when maybe-Jennifer reappeared at his side with a bundle of items. “Drink this and take two paracetamol. Hold the ice pack to your side for twenty minutes. If the swelling hasn’t gone down, I’ll send you home with a few extras, okay?”

“Thank you kindly, doc,” Ted answered for him. “I’ll make sure he stays put for a bit.”

“Not a doctor,” she corrected mildly but gave Ted a smile and nod. “I’ll need you to sign an incident report and there’s some insurance paperwork to go through. I’ll go get the ball rolling on that and check in later.”

Jamie didn’t really like the way they were talking around him, rather than to him. He liked the idea of being alone with Ted after having caused a scene and an extra load of work for him even less. Still, he couldn’t think of any reason for the medic to stay and just watched her walk away, gently closing the door in her wake.

“You should probably do as she says,” Ted said softly after a moment of quiet, indicating the bottle of water and packet of tablets. “Doesn’t strike me as the ‘take it or leave it’ kind of advice. Rarely is, from those of the medical persuasion, even if they don’t have a fancy title.”

Moving like he was underwater, braced for the other shoe to drop, Jamie silently went through the motions of taking the painkillers. He tried not to move in any way that would agitate his injury but his hands were still shaking by the time he reached for the ice pack.

“Oh, here, let me…” Ted stepped in closer, his own hands outstretched, and Jamie flinched violently. The sudden jolt caused his abused ribs to make themselves known all over again and a small shout fell from his mouth unbidden.

“Alright, okay, no touching, got that memo, loud and clear,” Ted rambled on while Jamie waited for his vision to clear from the haze of pain. When it did, he noticed his coach frozen in place, hands still hovering in midair and significantly less threatening than moments before.

“Sorry,” he croaked, embarrassment and discomfort robbing his voice. “Didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”

“Now, hey, no. That one’s on me.” Ted glanced around and pulled up a chair to sit near Jamie’s knees. “How’s about you get that ice where it needs to be and you and I have a little heart-to-heart, that sound okay?”

Jamie nodded and gingerly wrapped the frozen pouch in the towel provided before applying it to his side. The relief was almost immediate and he felt his shoulders relax from the tense position he hadn’t even registered amongst everything else.

Ted clearly noticed too, since he smiled up at Jamie. There was still a furrow between his eyebrows, though.

“Ain’t it great when stuff helps the way it’s supposed to?” he started and Jamie tried not to let the dread of what was coming show on his face. “You know, when you’re sure that, in theory, something should do you good but you’re not quite bought into the reality yet? It’s a damn good feeling when the bet pays off.

“Course, sometimes it goes the other way. The thing that’s supposed to help you doesn’t do anything at all. Or, hell, it just makes everything worse…”

“I’m sorry,” Jamie blurted out again in a panic. “I weren’t trying to do that. I swear, I know I’m not supposed to mess up training or nothing. I… I…”

“Whoa, whoa, Jamie!” Ted’s smile had dropped clean off his face. “I think we’ve got some wires all muddled up here, somewhere. I’m not fishing for an apology. Matter of fact, I’m kind of wriggling on the end of the hook, myself.”

Jamie really, honestly tried to wrap his head around that one. He failed. “What?”

“I’m sorry, Jamie,” Ted told him firmly. “We all knew something wasn’t right with you out there today and let you play on through anyway. That’s no bueno. If you can’t rely on your coach to help you out when you need it, well, then, that’s not a sign of a very good coach, is it?”

Jamie stared at him, dumbfounded. “But… I didn’t tell you I were hurt.”

“There is that,” Ted agreed easily, nodding and settling back in his chair. “And I’d sure like to hear how you got knocked around so good in the whole twelve hours you were out of our sight. Any particular reason you didn’t share that with the class this morning?”

“I…” The hand that wasn’t holding the ice pack to Jamie’s ribs started picking at the disposable paper sheet on the bed. “I fell. Down the stairs at me house. Last night. I. It didn’t hurt too bad, I thought.”

Ted hummed. “Well, you see? Accident like that, it ain’t anybody’s fault. And you felt okay after?”

The excuse hung there so temptingly that Jamie was almost inclined to think they were back to mind games. He could tell Ted that he’d been sore, but fine, up until he got out on the pitch. But that would be just another lie, wouldn’t it? And all lying had done for him today was drag more and more people into his shit.

So, instead of agreeing like he so desperately wanted to do, he shook his head slowly.

“No, no I weren’t okay.” He swallowed and looked down at his shoes, dangling just shy of the floor. “Couldn’t even drive myself in, could I? But I thought being here and acting normal was better than… better than saying I couldn’t train today. More important.”

“Oh. Now, that’s another thing to chalk up in the ‘no bueno’ category, I’m sorry to say.” Ted’s voice had softened again but Jamie couldn’t bring himself to look up. “Jamie, if you’re hurting, ever, practice or no, I’d really rather you say so. Nothing’s more important than that.”

“Team is,” Jamie objected quietly. “Being here is. I don’t got anywhere to get sent back to now, do I?”

That sullen admission hung in the air. Jamie heard Ted suck in a breath.

“Okay. Alright. Could you do me a favour and try to lift that handsome as all heck face of yours up, just a smidge? I’m getting the feeling eye contact is going to be real important here.”

With very few options of avoidance available to him, Jamie forced himself to meet Ted’s gaze. His expression bore a startling resemblance to Roy’s wild-eyed reaction before, which did nothing to set Jamie’s mind at ease.

“Jamie, when you turned up to practice last season and said you weren’t going to train, I assumed you were mad because I benched you. That sound about right?”

The player nodded, ready for the familiar prickle of shame that clawed through his chest at the memory.

“So you weren’t actually hurt? Or did I get that wrong?”

Jamie shook his head this time, then clarified: “Were being a prick.”

“Alright, that’s fine. Water under the bridge.” Ted scrubbed a hand over his face, looking relieved for some bizarre reason. “Can we agree, though, that there’s a difference between someone pretending to be hurt, for whatever reason, and someone actually being badly injured? That a middle ground we can settle on?”

“Yeah…” Jamie agreed cautiously.

“Outstanding.” Ted took a deep breath. “So, let’s just take a little hop, skip and jump from there to how things might’ve played out a little differently today than they did last year?”

“Oh.” Jamie blinked a few times, processing. Slotting that bit of logic into the missing gaps of the day. “You’re not angry at me for missing training?”

Ted’s face broke back into a genuine, if tired, smile. “No, sir, I am not angry at you for that. Or for any other reason, while we’re on the subject. I am… mighty disappointed that you didn’t feel like you could come to me, or even call when you took your little tumble. But I think maybe we can both agree to do a little better next time, how about that?”

He held out his hand for a shake - his left, in deference to Jamie’s occupied right. That small concession alone was enough for Jamie to wordlessly grasp Ted’s palm with his own in a firm hold.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

“I know, Jamie,” Ted assured him. “That’s all any of us can do.”

[pedrito-friskito]

strawberry wine - joel miller x fem!reader

during - part eight

series masterlist | main masterlist | read on ao3

hope is a dangerous thing.

a/n: it’s heeeeeeeeere. full disclosure - it might be a few days until part 9 goes up; as far as I know, tonight’s ep shows some flashbacks which means I might have to do a bit of revamping! plus I really don’t wanna burn myself out with this one, there’s still so much ground to cover!!

word count: 4.5k

warnings: MY BLOG IS 18+, MINORS DNI, angst, canon-typical violence and injuries, death, blood, yearning, nightmares, mentions/allusions to sex, if I missed something let me know.

✨follow @friskito-library for updates on new works/chapters!✨

The days bleed into months, and before you know it, the snow comes. Winter.

You haven’t left the mall. Or, haven’t been allowed to leave the mall. Every time you cross paths with Cowan, it’s the same conversation.

“Let me through the gate.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

You’re nothing if not persistent, but you try your best to make yourself useful. You and Deanna have formed some kind of friendship, and you help her out as much as you can. At first, you don’t know much about treating injuries besides the bit you remember from an old first aid course, so you pay close attention to her movements, handing her supplies when she needs it, taking her orders in stride.

She was an army nurse, you learn, and lost her husband long before the outbreak. “Just as well,” she told you, a sad smile on her face. “He barely came back to me after Vietnam. I don’t think he could have survived this.”

They never had kids, but she tells you her niece and nephew may as well have been her own. “They live in Cape Cod, on the coast.” Her face went dark. “Lived.” Then she looked at you. “You remind me of my niece, you know. Fierce little thing.”

She teaches you how to dress wounds and clean them, when something needs stitches and when glue will do, how to stretch the materials you have left as far as possible. When injured soldiers show up after the first snow, she puts you to work.

Cowan’s among them, a ricochet bullet in his shoulder. Deanna hasn’t shown you anything like that yet, and you balk a little as he pulls off his gear, blood pouring down his arm. “Wait here.”

You sprint across the floor to where Deanna is literally elbow-deep in another soldier who clearly hadn’t been as lucky as Cowan. “What d’you need, kid?”

“Nothing,” you say quickly, spying a pair of forceps on the table nearby and grabbing them. “Just these. I’ll come help you after—”

“You go take care of Nicky,” she orders, her voice almost stern. “You don’t leave his side until you know he’s all right, you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

You sprint back to Cowan, finding him hunched over, hand pressed to his arm, blood staining his knuckles. You grab a pair of scissors from the tray beside you, hooking your arm under his shoulder and getting him upright. “Fuck!” he shouts, and you grit your teeth.

“Sorry.” You cut away his t-shirt, pulling the fabric from where it’s wedged between his fingers, and his other hand curls into a fist on the table. “What happened?”

“Bunch of runners,” he breathes out, and you yank his hand away from the wound quickly, replacing it with a thick scrap of towel, pressing your hand into his shoulder. He winces, tipping his head back. “Came right up over the fence.”

The corner of your mouth twitches. “I told you that chain link wouldn’t hold forever.”

“Yeah, yeah, you should run the world.” He meets your gaze, holds it. “You ask me to let you through the gate again, and I swear to god—”

“I wasn’t going to,” you say quickly. It’s not entirely the truth, but it’s not a lie either. “But I want to help, if I can.”

The towel has already soaked through with his blood, and it makes your gut twist. “Help?”

“Teach me to shoot,” you say. You’re trying to distract him, and grab his hand, pressing it against the towel. “Hold this.”

“Bat’s not enough for you?”

“No, but the rifle I found in the sporting goods shop upstairs will definitely help,” you reply, grabbing the forceps and wiping them down with a bit of antiseptic. “Especially once I get out of here.”

Cowan stares at you, that hard gaze he’s become famous for. “Why d’you wanna get out of here so bad? You’re—”

“If you tell me I’m safe here, Corporal, I’m leaving that bullet in your shoulder.”

He actually laughs. “God, you are something else, you know that?” 

You freeze, for a moment. Suddenly, you’re standing in your kitchen, in Austin. Joel Miller is handing you a bouquet of daisies and telling you you’re beautiful and kissing your cheek. The memory catches you off-guard, and you only come back down to earth when Cowan squeezes your wrist, peering at you.

“You good?”

“Yeah,” you reply instantly, shaking your head. “We need to get that bullet out.”

You hold up the forceps, bracing your hand on his collar. “This isn’t gonna feel great, is it?”

“Well, it sure as hell won’t tickle,” you admit. “Is this the first time you’ve taken a bullet?”

“No. Second.”

“Pull this away, when I say,” you instruct, tapping the back of his hand. “I gotta be quick.”

“Have you done this before?”

You lift a shoulder, a nervous little laugh falling out of your mouth. “I watched Deanna do it a couple weeks back. It was in the guy’s gut though, not his shoulder.”

“Did he live?”

You go quiet. “Move your hand.” He hesitates. “Now, Cowan.”

He moves his hand, pulling the towel away, and you push the forceps in. The air seems to go completely still as you fish for the bullet. Cowan’s face is screwed up in pain, both hands curled around the edge of the cot, white-knuckled. “Did the guy live?”

“No,” you admit finally, feeling the soft clink of metal hitting metal. Bingo. “But we found a bite on his leg after, so the internal bleeding was probably the better way to go.” You twist the forceps, and he hisses in pain. “Tell me about the first time you got shot.”

“Are you trying to distract me?”

“Is it working?” you quip, and he actually smiles.

“It was basic training,” he starts, and you nod, focusing on his shoulder. The forceps pinch around the bullet, and you pull ever so slightly. “My buddy and I were just fucking around. He didn’t know the thing was loaded.”

“He shot you on purpose?” you ask, brows raised. You pull a little more, making sure the grip holds.

“Not on purpose,” Cowan replies, and you can feel his eyes on your face. “We were just kids, then. Just screwing around, trying to fill the time. And now…”

“He still around?” you ask, prompting him further. “Your buddy.”

“I hope so,” he replies. “He moved to California, after we finished basic. I really hope he—motherfucker!”

You pull the bullet all the way out with a flourish, dropping the forceps onto the tray and grabbing a fresh piece of gauze. He hisses again when you press the new gauze to his shoulder, and you scoff. “Baby.”

“You just pulled a bullet out of me.”

“I’m aware,” you throw back, pressing a little harder. “I still think you’re a baby.”

He gives you the signature Stare before glancing down at his shoulder, taking over the pressure you’re holding, and you step away to get an actual roll of gauze. “Meet me at the south entrance tomorrow, and I’ll teach you.” You turn back, your brows raised. “To shoot, I mean. Bring the rifle. You have ammo?”

Your jaw nearly drops. “Yeah, managed to find a few boxes.”

“Good.”

You nod, unable to hide the grin that pulls your lips. “Good.”

+

They’re somewhere near Nashville. He thinks; Tommy’s been navigating, Joel’s just been following his brother. The weather has held up mostly, but now they’re holed up in some shack Tommy found in the woods, hiding from the rain. It’s been constant, nearly three days now, and Joel can’t fucking sleep.

He hasn’t slept well since they left Austin, not that he expected to. The few beds they’ve found have been heaven, but every time he closes his eyes, the dreams come, and he’s reliving that night all over again. Doesn’t matter how many days go by, and he knows it doesn’t matter at all how much time passes. He’s never gonna forget.

He took first watch, told Tommy to get some shuteye and parked himself on the front porch, watching the rain slide of the metal roof, pooling in front of the shack, running downhill like a river. There’s mud caked on his boots, and he feels dirty down to his bones. It’s been a few days since they had real shelter, though, and he revels in the silence, being away from the main roads.

But the silence lets his mind wander, and when that happens, it lands on you, more often than not. Sarah is always there, in the back of his head, the sound of her voice forcing him further, but when he gets a moment alone — a rarity now — he lets himself remember you.

Your last conversation still haunts him. The fear in your voice, the way you’d sounded so out of it when you first picked up, and he’d brought you back down, focused you. Patch yourself up. Take what you can and go. Get the hell out of Boston.

I’ll find you, baby.

Sometimes, the hope invades his heart like a disease, branching through his limbs and making his chest ache with it. He has to hope that you made it out, that you’re alive somewhere, that your paths are leading straight towards each other. Every time they come over a hill or turn a corner, he feels that tug in his gut, a quiet promise that this time, you’ll be heading straight towards him, a big smile on your face.

But Joel knows that hope is a dangerous thing to let in, to nurture. As hard as he wishes you alive, he knows the opposite is more than likely. He sees it when he does manage to get some sleep, nightmares infiltrating his brain until he wakes up panting, the phantom feeling of his daughter’s blood on his skin melting away far too slowly.

Right now, he’s forcing himself to remember the good.

That last week, before you’d left for Boston. He took you to that open field every night, almost, held you in his arms, kept you close and never let your mouth get too far from his. He’d buried his face in your neck and memorized the smell of you, the feel of you, the taste.

You pulled on his hand, led him away from the truck and into the open field. You laid down in the grass side by side, the sound of crickets and the soft wind the only thing you could hear. He’d leaned over you, cupped your cheek in his palm, rubbed his thumb over your bottom lip. You kissed his fingers, giggling when he rolled himself on top of you a moment later, his mouth chasing yours.

He planted his hands either side of your head and you reached for his belt, dragging your hands down his chest. He could feel your heartbeat, when he pressed himself against you, the twitch of your knees along his ribs as you held him closer. That’s how it always was between you two, who could get the other closer, how much could you pull until the space between no longer existed?

Joel still remembers the noise you made when he pushed into you, right there in the grass. The way you’d dug your nails into his back so fucking hard it made him moan louder, the sound echoing through the night. The blissful smile on your face as the pleasure ripped through you, and Joel felt it, the tightness of your body, the way he could taste it on your tongue.

God, he loved you so goddamned much.

A clap of thunder yanks him out of his head, and he flinches hard, the gun in his lap sliding onto the wooden porch. He’s on his feet in a moment, shoving both hands through his hair, and without another thought, he steps out from under the shelter of the roof. The rain pelts him instantly, soaking through his clothes, making goosebumps rise on his arms.

It feels good. He tilts his face towards the sky, feels the water drip down his arms.

He hears your voice, in his head. What you said that night, under the stars, laid out on his chest, your eyes glassy. “I won’t ever stop thinking about you, Joel Miller. Not for a million years.”

He never should have let you leave Austin. Not in a million years.

+

Cowan stays true to his word. He teaches you to shoot, not just the rifle you’d stolen from the mall, but other guns, too. Shows you some tricks with the hunting knife you’d found in Dean’s bag, even teaches you how to build a fire. You stop asking him to let you through the gate, and he stops giving you the Stare. After a few lessons, he starts bringing you along on patrols. You carry the rifle and the bat, the hunting knife strapped to your thigh. The temperature is dropping, the snow sticking consistently, and the UPS jacket you’d stolen months back comes in handy, keeping you warmer than you expect.

There’s not much conversation to be had between you two, and when you do talk, it’s light shit. You avoid the subject of families, partners and the like. You mostly talk about music, and you laugh the hardest you have in a long time when Cowan admits to you that he’s seen the Backstreet Boys in concert three separate times. You’re bent in half with laughter, tears in your eyes, and he starts laughing along with you.

The laughter stops, however, when you circle back to the mall. There are four trucks outside, and the hair on the back of your neck stands up when you see Deanna step through the doors. Everyone else who’d been inside, faces you recognize, people you’ve met, they’re all coming out of the mall. Deanna has blood on her scrubs, a strange look in her eye.

“McCoy!” Cowan calls once you’re close enough, and a soldier turns. “What’s going on?”

Both the soldiers step to the side, and you make a bee-line for Deanna, swinging your rifle onto your back. “What happened?”

The older woman looks shaken, and she grabs you once you’re close enough, her hands digging into the sleeves of your coat. “T-Tim,” she stutters, and your brow hardens. You know who she’s talking about;  Tim, his wife Marcy, their two kids. Their cots weren’t far from yours in the department store. You’d helped their youngest son, Henry, when he’d cracked his forehead on the tile, tripped on his own feet chasing his little sister, Emily, around the mall. Hell, you’d had dinner with them just the night prior, you and Tim had made the kids giggle slurping your noodles. “He just…” Deanna trails off, and fear twists your stomach in an iron vice.

“Are the kids okay?”

She nods furiously, still holding onto you tightly. “But…but Marcy, she…he just…” She looks back towards the mall, gestures for a moment before clapping her hand over her mouth. “I’d never seen one up close before.”

Deanna collapses into your arms, and you hug her tightly, half worried she’s passed out, but the worry passes when you feel her hands fist in the back of your jacket. Over her shoulder, you see a soldier leading Henry and Emily outside. Henry still has a bandaid on his forehead, and Emily is clutching his hand, tear tracks on her face. Your heart aches.

“I’m gonna go with them,” Deanna tells you, pulling away after a moment, and you just nod. She jogs after the kids, and you turn back to where Cowan and McCoy are still talking. Cowan has a hard look on his face, and his jaw tightens as you approach.

“What the hell is going on?” you ask, crossing your arms over your chest. “We’re supposed to be safe in the mall, Corporal. That’s what you said. I could have been halfway to Texas by now. Hell, I could have been in Texas by now.”

“I know what I said,” he bites back before heaving a sigh. “We got an update, from FEDRA HQ.”

You lift a brow. “And?”

He glances at the stream of people still filing out of the mall. “The fungus, the thing that’s causing this, it’s in the food. We need to check everything that was in the mall, everything that was handed out. Production dates, expiry dates, it’ll give us an idea of what needs to be destroyed, but—”

“But there’s a chance everyone in there ate something contaminated,” you finish, swallowing back the bile that rises in your mouth. “There’s a chance we’re all already infected.”

Cowan’s throat bobs. “Yes.”

“What do we do now, then?” you ask, jutting your chin towards the people filling the street outside the mall. “Where do we go? Standing around here like this, it’s just gonna attract them.”

“There are buildings that have been deemed safe,” McCoy tells you, and Cowan just nods. “The quarantine zone has been marked off. We take everyone there, separate you for now, keep an eye out for anyone changing.”

Cowan nods. “Check everyone for bites, again.” He meets your eyes for a moment before calling for two other soldiers. He starts barking orders, and you turn to McCoy.

“I thought the city was the quarantine zone.”

He shakes his head. “Too much space. FEDRA gave us the borders, showed us where to go. The walls’ll go up soon, and we’ll be that much safer.”

You balk. “More chain link bullshit?”

McCoy shakes his head again. “No, ma’am. Bricks. Guard towers, barbed wire. The whole kit and caboodle.”

You swallow hard. Shit.

+

The chain link stays up. The walls of the quarantine zone press deeper into the city, and as promised, you’re shuffled into apartment buildings. There’s still blood everywhere you look, damaged ceilings, broken windows. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but the building itself is intact, and that’s apparently good enough for FEDRA.

They put you in separate units, the number of survivors taking up less than half the building. You stay with Deanna and the kids. Emily clings to your side, her arms wrapped around your leg more often than not. She hasn’t said a word since you left the mall.

The soldiers patrol the streets and the hallways, and after a week, six more people turn. They’re put down without a second thought, their bodies carried out of the building. The food supplies are carted from the mall to a warehouse within the new zone limits, and everything that was given to you is taken back for inspection. It’s a lot of waiting, of pacing the floor of your new home, of trying to come up with ways to distract the kids from what’s happening.

Shortly after you’d been evacuated from the mall, they’d brought out Tim and Marcy’s bodies, and your hands had started to shake violently when you saw the blood on Tim’s face, the deep gouge in his wife’s throat. Bullets in both their skulls. It had all happened so fast.

And you’d been eating the same things they had.

The worry gnaws at your stomach. You’d protested, at first, when Deanna insisted you come with them. You couldn’t explain it, couldn’t bear to see the pain on the older woman’s face deepen when you admitted you feared the worst. She still managed to pull it out of you, later that night, after you’d put the kids to sleep in the only bedroom, the pair of you sitting at the kitchen table.

“If it happens, it happens, kid,” she said, gripping your hand tightly. “And we deal with it. That’s all we can do.” You’d nodded, and she’d reached into her bad, producing a bottle of gin. “Something to take the edge off.” You nodded again.

A week passed, the six were put down, and you were safe. Your mind started to wander. Trucks filled with construction material arrived at the edges of the quarantine zone every day; you could see them from the apartment. More FEDRA soldiers, some venturing into the city to find usable materials. Soon enough, the wall was starting to take shape.

And if the wall went all the way up, that meant you were never getting out of Boston. Never getting the opportunity to find your family, or Joel.

But, the wall has only just begun, which means there are still holes in the boundary, and with more soldiers assigned to the quarantine zone itself, that means the chain link is left unguarded, for the most part.

They announce curfew hours and the consequences for breaking those hours, and you start planning. Collecting things, weapons and food that won’t spoil, refilling your first aid kit. You take what ammo you can find, nicking a few boxes from the FEDRA tents when no one’s paying attention. You still have the maps from the bookstore, your hastily-drawn path still marked on the pages.

You wait for nightfall, and you run.

You leave Deanna a note, tell her you’re sorry, tell her you’ll try to send a message that you’re safe, once you are. The kids are fast asleep, and you kiss their heads before you go.

Your path through the city leads you right past your apartment, and your heart nearly stops. The entire front of the building has been exploded inward, no doubt a result of the bombings. If you look hard, you can see the edge of your living room, behind the twisted rebar and broken bricks. You want to linger, but you don’t, the shout of an Infected pushing you forward, gripping the bat tightly.

The construction of the wall left a lot of tools laying around, and it was all too easy to find a pair of large wire cutters. You found a piece of chain link in an alley within the quarantine zone, and tested it out. Sure enough, a clean cut.

There are still patrols along the chain link, but they’re more sporadic. The guard posts have been dismantled, dragged further inwards, set up again along the new walls. You see a soldier pass by the spot you’re aiming for, and wait until he’s completely out of sight before bolting across the pavement to the fence, pulling out the wire cutters.

You have one foot through when you hear a familiar voice.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Cowan’s kept his distance, since you moved into the building. It bothers you and doesn’t at the same time. But in a way, you got what you wanted from him; you’re more confident that you could make it beyond the fence now. Especially with the rifle strapped to your back.

Your head drops, and you pull your leg back out, straightening and turning on your heel towards him. “You really thought I wouldn’t try it?”

“I really didn’t think you were this stupid,” he shoots back, and you scoff, rolling your eyes. “I’m serious. You will die out there, why don’t you get that?”

You grip the chain link, the metal rattling beneath your shaking fingers. “I can’t just sit around here for the rest of my life, Cowan.”

“So you’d rather waste it, out there?” He gestures towards the fence with his rifle, to what lays beyond. “What good will that do? You’re smart, you know there’s a good chance your family is dead.”

“But until I know—” you start, and your voice betrays you, cracking on the word. You swallow hard. “Why can’t you just let me go? What difference does it make?”

His strange dark eyes narrow at you. They’re blue, you’ve come to learn, but a dark shade that sometimes looks black. “Come with me. There’s something I want you to see.” You open your mouth to protest, and he lifts a hand. “Come with me first; if you still want to leave afterward, then I’ll take you through myself.”

You stare at him for a long moment before slinging your bag from your shoulders, pulling out a length of rope. You thread it through the split fence, yanking the metal back into place and tying it off. Once you’re done, you get back to your feet, and when Cowan turns to leave, you follow.

He takes you back to the quarantine zone. A few soldiers shoot you looks, since you’re out past curfew, but Cowan waves them all off. “She’s with me.”

You keep following him, heart hammering in your throat as he leads you into one of the buildings they’ve cleared out. Down a long hallway, a few more soldiers giving you looks, before Cowan ducks through a doorway, waving at you to follow.

“What is this?”

There are tables everywhere, cords spilling out of boxes, hooked along the walls. On the walls, all sorts of maps and notices, FEDRA orders staring back at you. A soldier sits in the middle of it all, headphones hooked over her ears, twisting the knobs on a gigantic radio, adjusting the antenna. When she sees you and Cowan standing there, she pulls off the headphones, a grin on her face. “Hey, Nick.”

“Melissa,” he nods, and juts his thumb towards you. “Can you set it for the Austin base? And give us a sec?”

She just nods, her face falling slightly, and twists more of the knobs. Her brow furrows a bit until she gets the right frequency, and then she gets up out of her chair, holds the headphones towards you. “Hit the red button to talk, and let go once you’re done, or else they can’t talk back.”

“Thank you,” you say, taking the headset from her. You look at Cowan. “What is…?”

“It’ll connect you with the FEDRA base in Austin. You can give them the names, of the people you’re looking for. They’ll be able to tell you if they’re in the shelters there. If they’re not there, there’s no telling if they’re alive or dead, but at least you’ll know if they’re safe or not.”

Your brow furrows. “Is that supposed to be reassuring?”

“I can’t reassure you,” Cowan says bluntly, and as you sink into the chair, he perches on the desk beside you. “No one can. The world is a fucking minefield, and while yes, I’ll admit you’re a good shot and you clearly know what you’re doing with that bat, you will die out there. If your family isn’t still in Austin, I can almost guarantee you, they are dead.”

You rip your eyes from his face, turning your gaze to the radio, the little flashing lights and the knobs. “You don’t know that.”

There’s a hand under your chin a second later, and Cowan turns your face towards him again, drags your eyes back to his. “I meant what I said. If you still want to leave, I will take you through the gate myself, no more bullshit. But talk to the base first. Find out if they’re still there before you throw your life away on hope.”

PREV | NEXT

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 24 ~ Good Mourning

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 2

✧ Word Count : 6.1k

In this chapter ~ An unexpected death occurs, leaving everyone heartbroken for the man's fate. However, the group decides to honor his last wishes, leaving Randall alive though they would still take him far away from the others to ensure everyone remained safe. Though it proves to be more difficult than they had planned as the man had seemed to escape. But the whole thing left a pit in Rose's stomach as she couldn't help but form distrust from a certain man whose face was written in suspicion.

After an hour or two had passed and the sun was finally gone, Daryl got up and left, saying he was going to help Rick and Shane take care of Randall before the chance was gone.

But the thing was, I was doing exactly what Dale said we would all be doing, hiding out in the tent in hopes I could forget the events happening just a few hundred feet away from me. Cowering away as if that would ease myself about the situation at all. I had only been sitting there for a few minutes, my leg bouncing from the anxiety and my mind racing at the possible things that could go wrong. Distracting myself with things around the space wasn't helping, in fact it was only driving me more wild if that were even possible.

The book I had originally picked up to read wasn't doing much, none of the words sticking with me as I only seemed to scan the pages with my eyes. My sketchbook wasn't a good option either, not being able to come up with a single new idea to draw as there was a physical cloud towering over my head. It was useless.

Eventually, I couldn't take sitting there any longer by myself, so I got up to my feet and headed outside the tent to take a walk and stretch my legs for a while. I slowly headed in the direction towards the field where Daryl and I had talked just a few moments ago, enjoying the silence and somewhat peaceful night, a few crickets chirping softly in the background.

But I paused suddenly and slowed down when I spotted a figure walking a good distance away from me, only squinting my eyes momentarily to see it was Dale seemingly doing the same thing I was. Taking a walk far from the shed. My steps stopped for a moment as I debated with myself if I should go up to him or not. Would he want to talk to me? Probably not, I had just argued with him over something he was so sure about, and I knew that it hurt him.

So I decided to just leave him be as I turned myself to move in the opposite direction. Though right as I was about to step away, I stopped again when I saw something slowly sneaking up on him from just behind his back. The realization hit me quickly that it was a lone walker and he had yet to hear it and turn around.

I broke out into a sprint without a second thought, getting out one of my knives to throw at it before it could reach him. I wanted to stop and aim at the dead thing, but it was too dark, and I was still too far away, so I just kept running. But the walker was only getting closer, inching its way further before I even had a chance at reaching him. And Dale still hadn't flinched, had hardly moved a muscle as he somehow didn't hear the noise creeping up behind him, and I panicked.

"Dale! Move now!" I yelled at him.

He turned around swiftly upon hearing my voice, his eyes widening once he finally saw the monster, beginning to fumble with the shotgun in his hands to fire. But he wasn't fast enough. The walker landed on top of him in an instant, a gunshot firing not a second later as the man's finger no doubt hovered over the trigger, before he let out a loud and deafening scream. That only made me run faster, pushing myself further even though my lungs started to burn, and my legs wanted to give out. He couldn't die. No way in hell.

He kept screaming in fear and pain as I finally got close enough to throw my knife directly towards the walkers head, just barely striking it towards the right side before it fell limp on top of him immediately. I ran the rest of the way over to him, shoving the body off of him before letting out a gasp of shock at what I saw before me. He was laying flat on his back in excruciating pain, as the walker somehow managed to tear his stomach open to shreds.

How could it have happened so fast? His blood was spilling out and coating his white shirt so quickly and drastically, it was all so hard to comprehend as I couldn't peel my eyes away from him.

My hands instinctively went up to cover my mouth, getting down to his level quickly to try and calm his heavy and panicked breathing. His eyes were wide as he couldn't even speak, the pain being too unbearable to even try. But my head turned around quickly over my shoulder, hearing the others shouting and rushing towards us through the tall grass blindly with flashlights in their hands as they tried to spot us.

"Over here! Guys!" I yelled as I stood back up, waving my hands to flag them down.

Once I saw the flashlights heading closer to us, I knelt down on the ground by Dale's head again, starting to whisper reassuring things to him in the calmest voice I could muster. But even he could tell how hard I was trying, how hard I was pretending that everything was going to be okay.

Daryl was the first one to make it over and he stood over us there in shock for a few seconds before kneeling down right beside me, telling Dale to hang in there.

Then almost everyone seemed to come over all at once. Rick, Shane, Lori, Carl, Glenn, Andrea, and Carol all looked at Dale in horror seeing the state that he was left in. They were all frantic as they stood there with wide eyes, Rick freaking out the most out of everyone as he snapped to the first person he saw.

"Hershel! Get Hershel!" Rick yelled.

Andrea was on Dale's other side in an instant, holding his hand as she sobbed. I felt warm tears start to pool in my eyes as well, looking down at him with nothing but regret forming in my stomach. I should've thrown my knife sooner, but I was too far away. I should've yelled sooner, but he barely heard me to begin with. On instinct, I grabbed Dale's other hand as my tears began to fall and I bowed my head, while Hershel seemed to get here in only a matter of a few minutes. Probably seeing how frantic and panicked Glenn was as he was the one to rush back towards the house.

"What can we do?" Rick asked desperately.

I heard nothing from the older man as he pondered about what to do, but in the back of my mind I already knew the answer. I sighed and gripped his hand tighter, feeling Daryl begin to rub my back from next to me although I could barely feel a thing. Barely hear a thing other than the slight ringing in my ears, the adrenaline beginning to wear off as my hands slightly shook.

"Can we move him?" Rick asked when Hershel didn't respond.

He only shook his head, "He won't make the trip." he muttered.

"We have to do the operation here, Glenn get back to the house!" Rick yelled.

"Rick!" Hershel yelled to get his attention. When I didn't hear him say anything else, I looked back up just in time to see him shaking his head with a sad expression, telling us that there was nothing we could do. Cries began to erupt from all around us as the realization sunk in, knowing what we would have to do next, slowly breaking my heart at just the thought. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, how I wish we could've been closer, or how I wish we hadn't argued as much in the end. How I wished we would've just listened to him and his reasons, instead of this all unfolding instead.

"I'm so sorry Dale, I'm so sorry." I whispered, knowing it was all I could think of to say to him.

He was in so much pain he didn't respond, but he tried his best to form a smile and squeezed my hand in reassurance. Though it didn't last long as he cried out once more at the sensation, tears reforming in the corners of his eyes as he tried not to yell too loudly.

"He's suffering, we have to do something." Andrea pleaded as her gaze snapped back and forth between him and everyone else surrounding the scene.

Rick turned back to us and let out a shaky breath, struggling to take out his gun and aim it at Dale's head. He couldn't bring himself to do it and I understood completely. How could you even prepare for something like this, shooting a man we all cared deeply for just for him to finally be at peace. It was horrible. I then suddenly felt Daryl's hand leave my back as he slowly stood up to walk over towards Rick. He gently took the gun out of his hold with a nod and took his place silently instead, pointing the gun towards his head. Dale started to look up to see what was happening, but I quickly stopped him.

"No, no Dale, look at me. Just look at me." I said as I squeezed his hand again.

His gaze panned over at me, his breathing still heavy and his mouth agape. I didn't want him to be looking at the thing that was about to end his life. I could tell he was thankful for a lot of things in that moment, but most of all I think he was thankful to not have to suffer any longer, and not have to go through it alone. I kept my eyes on him the whole time, not being able to look away.

"Sorry brother." I heard Daryl say, a single gunshot following only seconds later.

His hand fell limp in mine in a split second and couldn't help the heavy breath that passed my lips as I ducked my head back down towards the ground. A part of me was grateful that he didn't have to suffer anymore, not just now, but in this world. He wouldn't have to fear anything ever again. He was at peace.

But that didn't make it any less painful for the rest of us. Gathering the strength to pick my head back up, I glanced back to them, seeing the broken and guilty looks on their faces, all of us having a moment of silence for the man we all grew to care about.

After witnessing the many depressing events, it only caused a very long and restless night. I couldn't fall asleep, whenever I closed my eyes all I could see was Dale suffering and screaming. Replaying over and over again in my mind. It was horrible, traumatizing for us all to watch him slowly pass, leaving only the burning image behind our eyelids. Daryl couldn't seem to fall asleep either with the way he constantly moved, and I couldn't even imagine how he was feeling. Being the one to put Dale down himself, it was surely weighing him down more than he let on.

We didn't say anything the whole night, though we both knew the other was awake. We just simply laid there huddled close to one another, listening to the calmness of the night. Both of us seemed to have a mutual understanding that we didn't feel like talking. We were just simply there for each other in silence, and right now that's all we needed.

But the next morning seemed even harder. That's when we had the ceremony for Dale, and all of us gathered around to listen and mourn the loss of someone else. It seemed like just a few days ago we were in the same small circle, gathered around for Sophia as we said our final goodbye. Now having to do it all over again in such a short span of time, it was a lot.

I tried my hardest to listen to Rick's words as he spoke about him but I couldn't seem to stay focused, spacing in and out, letting my mind wander while the guilt slowly ate away at me. I knew I shouldn't keep blaming myself for the losses we seemed to take, but how could I not? How could I not when I always felt like I could've done more.

The only thing I managed to hear Rick say is that we would honor Dale, and prove that this group isn't broken. I had a feeling I knew what he meant by that without him having to say anything else. Randall was going to live. At this point I didn't really care what we did with him anymore because of how much had happened. How much damage that one man had caused when he didn't even step one foot out of that shed.

After Rick was done speaking and minutes of complete silence passed over us, people slowly began to disperse back towards the house. Taking it upon themselves to process this in their own way. I picked my head up after a moment, glancing around to everyone who was left, and pausing when I saw Glenn. He stood completely still, staring longingly at Dale's grave with reddened eyes, more tears only building up and threatening to spill.

It hurt to look at him, to see how much it was affecting him. Everyone could easily see that Dale had grown to be a father figure towards Glenn, and the loss was only taking a toll on him in unimaginable ways.

Daryl hadn't moved from his place right next to me the whole time, even as the remaining people stood in silence, but I felt him subtly nudge my arm after a while. My eyes glanced back up to him enough to see him briefly nod his head away from the remainder of the group so we could talk. I followed him wordlessly as he walked in front of me, wanting to get away from all the depressing shit that seemed to follow us like the goddamn plague. But I knew in the back of my mind no matter how much I wanted to escape it; it would somehow always be there.

The two of us got a good distance away from everyone else, before he finally turned around to face me again, "You doin okay?" he hesitatnly asked.

I nodded my head silently, knowing that if I opened my mouth to try and speak, the floodgates would only open once more. During the whole small ceremony I didn't cry, not because I didn't want to, but because I was embarrassed. I was tired of crying, and I was especially tired of crying in front of Daryl. Somehow always managing to catch my not so great moments.

"Say somethin." he spoke in a soft voice.

Closing my eyes with a deep sigh, I muttered, "I'm okay."

But my voice cracking towards the end, just proved how much I wasn't okay. Not in the slightest. That's all it took and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face like a fucking dam that broke instantly. But upon seeing this, he didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me tightly in a hug, rubbing my back reassuringly. I let out a breath as I buried my face into his chest, crying quietly as I finally let everything out that I had been holding back. His chin rested on top of my head, his soothing voice echoing around the silent space.

"I know, I know. It's gonna be alright." he spoke softly.

I wanted to believe him more than anything even though the hope I once had was slowly dimming, I still nodded my head regardless.

After a few moments of being a complete mess, I got control of my breathing and was able to pull my head away to actually look him in the eye. He studied me with an emotion I couldn't quite figure out, although I could tell he was still worried. He was so incredibly patient with me, it amazed me.

"Thanks." I whispered as I wiped my cheeks.

He shook his head, "Ya don't gotta thank me. I just want ya to be okay." he said sadly.

"I will be," I reassured him, "I just need some time...and like...a shot of whiskey or something." I half joked with a breathy laugh.

He chuckled quietly before nodding his head in agreement, "You and me both." he said, "I was supposed ta go out with Shane, Andrea, and T-Dog to check the perimeter, but...I can stay if ya need me to."

"No, no it's okay. I'll be okay." I waved him off.

"Ya sure?" he asked.

I nodded my head, "Go check the perimeter, I'll see you later, yeah?"

He nodded with a small smile on his face, quickly looking behind me just past my head to see if anyone could see us, before pulling me into a gentle kiss. I gladly kissed him back, feeling my heart quicken at the softness of his lips. He then pulled back after a moment or two, and started kissing lightly all over my face until I let out a quiet laugh, attempting to push him away at the tickling feeling it left.

"Ah, music to my ears." he said with a full on proud smile.

My heart began to warm at his words, kissing him once more before we began to walk back towards the house side by side.

As the house began to come into view, Daryl squeezed my hand briefly before heading off towards the vehicles where the others were waiting for him. I found myself glancing around the farm after he left, scanning the area to try and figure out a way to pass some time without having to linger on the new loss too much. My eyes then landed on the pretty pink curtains flowing out of Beth's room, her window open to let in the slight breeze.

I felt myself smile as I made my way up the porch and into the house to head up to her room, wanting to check up on her. It had been a little bit since I had last seen her and I wanted to make sure she was doing better since the last time we spoke.

For the most part she stayed in her room, especially since every single discussion we would have about Randall, the kids weren't allowed to be in the room. It's not that we didn't want them to have an opinion on the matter, but we also didn't want them to have to hear every single thing that was said. Because believe me when Shane opened his mouth, it got ugly.

But other than that she would only come down for meals and to just get out of her room briefly every once and a while. Mostly keeping to herself after everything.

As I came up the last few steps, I saw her sitting down on the edge of her bed with the guitar in her hands, practicing a few chords I had taught her. I smiled a little to myself and approached the slightly opened door quietly, knocking a few times to bring her attention towards me.

She looked up and an instant smile broke onto her face, "Hi Rose."

"Hi hon." I greeted as I passed through the threshold.

Her smile slightly faltered when I entered the room further, taking a hesitant seat on the edge of her bed as she tilted her head a little towards me. "How're you doing?" she asked quietly.

I gave her a confused look, "I should be asking how you're doing."

She waved me off, "I'm okay, I promise. I was just asking you because you know... Dale. I can see how hard it's been on you guys."

"Oh." I muttered quietly with a nod, "I'm doing better, you're too sweet to check on me."

She smiled and reached out to grab my hand lightly, "You've practically been looking out for me since you got here...I want to look out for you too."

"I think that was the other way around. You were looking after me when I was shot, remember?" I asked.

"Well yeah, but I'm talking about after that." she said with a light laugh.

I smiled at her, "Well, I guess we just like looking out for each other, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess we do. And I don't plan on stopping anytime soon." she said, giving my hand a soft squeeze.

My heart warmed at her words, "Me either, hon." I said before glancing back towards the guitar that was now on the other side of the bed, not wanting to get all emotional again after the morning I already had. "You think you're ready for another lesson?" I asked.

Her eyes lit up "Yes!" she said, reaching over to grab the object quickly.

I began to teach her two more chords that were a little more difficult than last time, watching her struggle a little with it at first before she excelled. She was truly a natural when it came to this stuff, knowing in the back of my mind that it took me weeks to learn the things she's practically mastered in just a few days. Though she practiced a lot, I could tell that somehow this was her calling; music.

I also couldn't ignore the obvious progress she was making, not only in learning the new instrument, but also with how she was mentally. She seemed to be lighter than before, a little bit of life returning to her eyes when she looked at me that wasn't always there before. Even though she still seemed to be having a rough time with everything all at once, progress was still progress. And I couldn't have been more proud of her.

After practicing for far longer than either of us intended, there was a sudden knock at the door that made us both turn around towards the doorway to see Carl. Except the look he had on his face almost made me do a double take. His stance came off as nervous and jittery as he lingered in the doorway, not taking a single step inside as his eyes went back and forth between the two of us.

"Hey kid...what's up?" I asked a bit hesitantly.

"Uh..." he trailed off, looking towards Beth before back to me, "Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked me.

I nodded my head, slightly concerned, "Yeah," I said before turning back to Beth, "I guess we'll stop here for today, just keep practicing that one chord and we can go over more tomorrow if you'd like?"

"Yeah, I'd really love that. Thanks Ro." she said with a smile.

I nodded before getting off the bed, heading towards where Carl was standing. He didn't hesitate to grab my hand quickly and pull me out of the room and down the steps, almost causing me to trip. He didn't stop or pause until we were outside and far enough away from everyone else so no one could hear the conversation we were about to have. I was only growing more concerned than before as I watched him try to find the words to say to me.

"Carl?" I said to get his attention, "What's wrong?"

He sighed before slowly reaching behind his back, pulling out a gun that I recognized. It was Daryl's. He handed it over to me wordlessly and looked anywhere but my eyes.

"Where did you find this?" I asked him, seeing if he would tell me the truth.

"I...I took it from Daryl's bag." he muttered, his eyes staring down at his shoes.

Though when I didn't respond or say anything at all, he took a chance and looked back up at me. I could easily see the tears building up in his eyes as he admitted that, thinking I would be mad, but I easily could tell there was something else on his conscience. Something else that made my face instantly soften upon seeing him so upset yet trying desperately to keep it together.

I got down to his level to look him in the eye, "That's not it, I can tell. Talk to me kid." I said in a soft voice.

He then broke down, "Rose it's all my fault, it's my fault Dale died!" he cried, "I was out in the woods when I saw a walker that was stuck in the mud. I wanted to shoot it with the gun but then it got free, and I didn't kill it. It was the same walker that killed Dale. I recognized it, I got Dale killed!"

At this point my eyes were wide and he was a sobbing mess. It took me a second to process everything he had just told me, but I quickly put the gun on the ground beside me and placed both of my hands on the side of his face to wipe his tears away.

"Hey, hey, you did not get Dale killed. You hear me? None of us could've known what was going to happen, this was not your fault." I said in a soft voice.

More tears fell from his eyes, "But-"

"No, no buts." I interrupted, "You were not the cause of that. Please do not blame yourself, okay?"

He looked at me for a moment before nodding his head and quickly wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. I let out a breath as I hugged him back just as tight, wanting to do anything I could to keep him from blaming himself about Dale. I knew the feeling all too well and it wasn't a good habit to be picked up, and I could only imagine what it would do to someone his age. He was still just a kid.

He sniffled as he slowly let go of me, "Can you...please not tell my parents? They would kill me if they knew what I did." he pleaded.

I shook my head, "Carl, they have to know what happened. You had a gun." I said, watching his face drop drastically at the fear of getting into trouble. "Listen...I won't say anything to them, but that means you have to tell them yourself. Deal?"

He thought about silently it for a moment as he bit his lip in thought, before agreeing, "Deal." he said with a nod.

I nodded in return as I adjusted the hat on top of his head, my hand then landing on the side of his face to wipe any remaining tears that still stained his cheeks. But my comfort only seemed to make his lip quiver, wrapping his arms around me again as a clear weight was lifted off of him.

"Thanks for listening to me." he whispered gratefully.

"Anytime kid." I said before letting him go, "I'm always right here when you need me." I assured, brushing some of the hair away from his face.

He nodded before slowly heading back off towards the house. I watched him walk away for a moment before sighing to myself, looking back down to the ground and picking up the missing gun before I made my way back to our camp to put it back with his things. In the back of my mind I knew he probably noticed his weapon had been missing for a while, but I wouldn't make Carl tell him like I wanted him to tell his parents. The kid was always watching him with wide eyes as if he was slightly intimidated by him, and I didn't want to kill him or anything.

Though when I walked in the tent to put it back, I quickly noticed that he, along with the others, weren't back yet. Probably still circling around the property to make sure all the lingering walkers were being taken care of. With nothing else really to do to pass the time, I figured I would finally finish the painting of the house while I still had the chance. The weather was only getting colder now so I wanted to use as much time outside as I could.

I also just needed to distract and calm myself, and painting sounded the most relaxing to me right now. So I picked up my things and made my way back to the spot that I seemed to have claimed over the weeks, sitting back down to examine the house for what could be the last time. I worked quietly by myself as I finished up the small details with the paintbrush, a few others moving their belongings, walking in and out of the house catching my eye.

Just a few days ago, Hershel announced that he would allow all of us to move into their house for the winter considering it was getting a bit too cold to keep sleeping outside. It was very nice of him to offer, but I knew it was going to be jam packed in that place. There were a lot of us and not a lot of room the house had left to offer, but it was still better than freezing our asses off.

My thoughts stopped short however when I saw Maggie walk out through the screen door, before a small smile traced her lips as she began to walk over to me.

She took a seat beside me with a huff, "How're you doing babe?" she asked.

I looked at her with raised brows, "Babe? What are we official now?" I joked.

She laughed and shook her head, "Sorry, I used to call my friends that before everything. I don't have to if you don't wan-"

"No, it's okay." I assured and gave her a smile, "And I'm doing about as okay as I can be. How about you?"

She sighed, "I'm doing fine, it's just...I know Glenn was close to him. I feel awful watching him grieve and I wish I could do something to help him."

"We all just need some time to process it. It was a lot...I know it's going to be hard to move on, but we will." I replied.

She nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah, we will."

A few hours had passed in a flash before the group finally made it back from trailing across the whole acre, the day only feeling like it was dragging on and on. But the second they made it back, Rick wasted no time grabbing Daryl to take Randall out and get it over with before the day was over. And of course Shane had to run his mouth about that. Not only at the fact that we were now sparing this man's life, but also because Rick trusted Daryl more than he did his best friend. But again, they weren't exactly close like that anymore, in fact they were only drifting further.

But Randall, we weren't going to kill him, but we still didn't trust him enough to let him stay here, even if it was what Dale wanted, to give him a chance. We couldn't risk it. None of us really knew him and none of us wanted to know him, we just wanted him gone.

I stood on the porch next to Rick and Daryl, listening to their plan on where they were going to take him as  they looked down at their map. T-Dog had offered to go get him after he overheard part of their conversation, heading towards the shed in a flash. They had a truck loaded up right in front of us and everything, going on and on about how many miles they should drive out to make sure he wasn't coming back.

"You guys sure you don't want me to come with?" I asked suddenly.

"No." they both voiced at the same time without even missing a beat.

My eyes widened as I scoffed at the two of them, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned up against the white pillar, "Damn alright then, might as well put me on a leash while you're at it."

Rick chuckled and only gave me an amused smile, "Why would we put you on a leash?" he asked.

"Because you're both pretty controlling about this." I pointed out.

Daryl only scoffed as he began to fold up the map in his hands, "We just want ya safe, dar-" he started, but immediately stopped himself.

My eyes widened as I looked at him from just behind Rick's head, pressing my lips together to hold back the laugh I almost let out. Daryl's cheeks burned a bright red, and I could tell he was kicking himself for slipping up though he tried to just brush it off as he cleared his throat awkwardly. Rick looked at the man with a tilt of his head, attempting to say something, but T-Dog's voice thankfully cut through the painful silent air.

"He's gone!" the man yelled.

My eyes widened. I froze, genuinely wondering if I had heard him right. Oh but I did, Rick and Daryl's panicked expressions only resembled my own.

In a split second, the three of us didn't hesitate to take off down the porch, jogging across the large field to see for ourselves. T-Dog only followed close behind us, running beside us just as frantically as he didn't even have enough time to process the sudden sight himself. The door was open only a crack as we approached it, pushing it all the way open to see the shed completely empty, the handcuffs that were once on his wrists were still chained up and perfectly intact.

My mouth parted in shock as I scanned the small space top to bottom for any kind of indication on how he escaped, but found none. It seemed almost impossible.

The rest of the group was quick to spot us all lingering by the shed, only assuming the worst as they fanned out of the house to join us and see what the hell was going on. They all approached loudly, asking us question after question when we knew just as little as they did. Though I couldn't pull myself to listen to any of them as I racked my brain as to how he managed to get out of here when the door was locked from the outside. How he was able to slip his hands through metal handcuffs that were meant to keep anyone and everyone put right where they were.

There was no blind spot, no loose wooden board, no nothing. None of it made any sense, and it only caused everyone around us to panic.

"Rick! Rick!" a sudden voice screamed from the trees just beside us.

Everyone's heads whipped around at the same time towards the sound to see Shane making his way out of the woods, blood dripping heavily from his nose. His steps were heavy and fast as he made his way over to us, smoke coming out of his ears with how angry he looked.

"What the hell happened?" I yelled.

"He's armed, he's got my gun!" he said as his pace only sped up.

Carl then spoke up, "Are you okay?" he asked in genuine concern.

He shook his head, "I'm fine, the little bastard just snuck up on me and clocked me in the face." he responded.

Rick then turned around to the rest of us, "Alright Hershel, T-Dog, get everyone back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, Rose, come with us." he quickly instructed without a second thought.

I stepped up immediately, taking the gun Glenn was handing over and opening the chamber to check the bullets as the rest of them spoke behind me.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane said.

"Just let him go, that was the plan wasn't it? To just let him go?" Carol asked.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick snapped.

"No, don't go out there you don't know what can happen." Carol argued, genuine fear and concern filling her entire being.

But Rick only ignored her, knowing we couldn't just let this go. "Get everyone back in the house, lock all the doors, and stay put!"

Once Rick stepped forward to move, the rest of us followed right after that, walking right into the danger zone it seemed like from how serious this became. Zero to one hundred in just a matter of a minute.

But Shane looked back at me suddenly from his place next to Rick, locking his eyes with mine, and the sight was enough to send goosebumps rising on my skin. Though I held his gaze, trying not to show what had just happened, but he caught on quicker than I would've liked, the small smirk on his face instantly gave him away.

From the lone feeling I had, just by merely looking him in the eye, I could tell instantly that something wasn't right. Like something bad was about to happen.

~ Thanks for reading!

(Merry late Christmas!)

[inourtownofhawkins]

𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗, 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖎 (𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊)

Summary: Hawkins, Indiana, 1986. A dead end town where nothing happens. One night, Eddie Munson goes missing without a trace. He turns up two weeks later on your doorstep, covered in blood and no memory of the last two weeks. When you notice him acting strangely, you follow Eddie into the woods and discover his terrifying secret. But the most terrifying part to you? You can't bring yourself to stay away from Eddie. Whether you've realised you're in love with him or you're under his spell, you don't want to be away from Eddie for a single second and a deadly love affair begins.

Author's note: I doubt anyone's read it but this is a revamped (no pun intended) version of the fic of the same name on AO3 I wrote last year. I love that fic so much and felt like people on here would miss out on it as I haven't posted it here. If you'd ever like to read the original version, you can find it here! If any of you do choose to read it in it's entirety, please don't spoil it for others!

CW: 18+, swearing, character death, sex references, potential smut in later chapters, vampire!Eddie, blood, scenes that people may find disturbing.

Word count: 4.3k

Any hate will not be tolerated, constructive criticism is welcomed.

The alarm went off at 6:15 AM on the dot, its obnoxious and short beeping noise was the worst part of waking up, yet it was a necessary evil. You groaned as you reached out to turn off the beeping and hide back under the covers. You really weren’t in the mood to face the world or school.

You laid under the covers for another five minutes until you sighed, reluctantly pushing the covers out of the way, and sitting up. Rubbing your eyes, you groaned once more as you realized the glass next to you bed was empty. “Thirsty,” you frowned, climbing out of bed, and grabbing your glass to go downstairs and refill it.

Once you reached the kitchen, you stared out the window as your glass began to fill with water. You were completely lost in your own thoughts, distracted by a bird pecking at the grass. Suddenly, your felt a pair of hands on your shoulders, causing you to shriek and drop your glass.

Turning around to confront the culprit behind you, you punched your older brother in the arm. “Don’t fucking scare me like that!”

Stephen laughed loudly, giving you a quick hug. “I couldn’t help myself, I’m sorry. You’re so easy to scare.”

“You’re such an asshole.” You laughed, picking up your glass to drink what little water was left in it before turning off the tap. “How was work?”

Stephen sighed, filling the kettle, and setting it to boil. “Same old, same old. Jamie’s gonna take you to school if that's alright.”

You frowned as you put your glass down in the sink for washing. “Why can’t you take me?”

“Because, pipsqueak, I’m fuckin’ tired.” He poured himself some coffee before leaving the kitchen and disappearing upstairs.

It had just been the three of you for almost three years; your mom had died of cancer and dad was nowhere to be found. To keep food on the table, all three of you worked. Stephen worked nights at the powerplant, Jamie worked days at the general store, and you worked weekends and the odd evening at the diner.

It wasn't much, but you made it work.

“Y/N!” Jamie called out. “I am leaving in exactly seven minutes! If you’re not ready then, I’m leaving without you!”

“Shit!” You sprinted upstairs to hastily get ready for school. You frantically threw on an Evil Dead t-shirt, dark plaid mini-skirt, and old grey socks, forcing your feet into a pair of black boots. Additionally, you grabbed your denim jacket off the floor before picking up your backpack and hurtling yourself down the stairs.

Jamie stood at the front door, looking at his watch. “Only thirty seconds to spare, I’m impressed.”

You pushed past him to get out the front door, giving him a death glare before smiling. “Oh shut up, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“But for how long?” Jamie's expression went sinister as he opened the door for you before climbing into the car himself.

After climbing into the car, you punched his arm. “If you kill me on the way to school, you’d be doing me a kindness. Surely, you want me to suffer as much as possible.”

Turning the car on, Jamie pressed play on the stereo, Bronski Beat began playing throughout the car. “If I can't kill you, I'll just leave you with my terrible music.”

You groaned, sinking down into your seat. “You're too kind, sparing my life and giving me the gift of whatever this is.”

He smirked, shaking his head. “I am nothing but merciful.”

The rest of the car ride was silent as you tapped your thighs to the beat of the music, watching Hawkins fly past you. Yawning, you leaned your head against the window and tried not to fall back asleep. All the late nights were definitely catching up to you and it was probably time to sleep early for once, not that you’d ever actually do it though.

The car pulled into the Hawkins High parking lot and came to a halt, with you climbing out and grabbing your backpack.

“Stephen will pick you up tonight, as usual. I'll be home probably at about 6 with dinner, alright?” Jamie leaned over to make sure you could hear him.

You nodded, putting on your headphones and grabbing your Walkman out of your backpack. “I’ll see you at home.” You didn't bother waiting for a reply as you walked into school, pressing play on your music, Shout by Tears for Fears filling your ears.

Arriving at your locker, you ignored the “Hellfire’s Bitch” plastered all over it. You’d long since given up trying to rub it off as it would appear again the next day, you were used to it anyway. When it first started to happen, you’d always scream and cry about how much you hated it and how it wasn’t true, but now you wore the name like a badge of honour.

Better to be known as Hellfire’s Bitch than a slut, right?

While you weren’t an official member of the Hellfire Club, you were still pretty good friends with the members. After your mom died, they’d more or less taken you under their wing. They made you laugh again and remind you that you always had someone looking out for you, no matter what.

The only downside was being teased for being associated with “freaks” and having to deal with the constant fear of being beaten up by Jason and his band of loyal cultists. While you hadn’t been attacked yet, you knew it was coming at some point – you were 5’1”, you didn’t stand a chance against Jason’s 5’8” frame. You’d be toast in seconds.

You shrugged off those thoughts, grabbing the necessary books out of your locker and walked to your first class, not bothering to take off your headphones. You weren’t in any classes with any of your friends anyway, so there was no point in taking them off.

You breezed your way through the classes, never putting your hand up and taking notes if you needed to. Before your mom’s death, you’d always be engaged in classes and would always ask questions. But now? You didn’t see a point in doing anything but getting your work done so you could get out.

Once the lunch bell rang, you rushed into the cafeteria and looked around for your friends, only to have Eddie Munson stand on his table and stretch his arms out towards you. “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”

Blushing deeply, you laughed and made your way over to his table. “Alright, Romeo, you can stop with the theatrics now.” Placing your tray on the table, you flattened the back of your skirt and sat down closest to Eddie.

Eddie moved his chair slightly closer to you. “You’ll never guess who I’m gonna ask to prom.”

You looked at him and then at the rest of the table before back to Eddie, knowing that everyone except you knew who he was talking about. “I’ll guess Nancy Wheeler.”

Gareth almost choked on his food from laughing. “Close but not quite.”

You went silent for a few moments to think, the smile slowly growing on your lips as an idea came to your head. “Chrissy Cunningham? Fuck off, even I wanna sleep with her.”

The entire table sat up straighter at your comment, all of them instantly thinking of you and Chrissy making out in very little clothing. Several of the boys coughed awkwardly as they readjusted their jeans, causing you to roll your eyes and turn back to Eddie. “You’re such a bullshitter, Munson.”

Eddie put his hands up in surrender. “I’m not bullshitting, I swear.”

You laughed, opening your carton of juice. “I’ll believe you when I see it for myself.”

Eddie gave you a slight smirk, his eyes focused on your lips for a moment before returning to your eyes. “Don’t you worry, Juliet, I’ll prove it.”

You raised an eyebrow, licking your lips. “I’m betting on it.”

Gareth sighed, slamming his fist down on the table, causing you and Eddie to jump. “Either kiss and get it over with or stop eye-fucking each other, there’s kids around.”

You and Eddie moved slightly away from each other, coughing awkwardly as you took a sip of your juice. Talk at the table went to the usual next D&D session, you just sitting and listening to the excited boys, not knowing, or understanding anything that was being said. But listening to the excitement in their voices always made your smile.

The rest of the school day went by uneventfully and ended with you waiting outside the school for Stephen to pick you up. As usual, he was late. Everyone else had already gone home, leaving you to sit on the wall in front of the school with your headphones on, staring at the road and waiting for Stephen’s car.

A person stood in front of you, causing you to take your headphones off and look up at them. “Well well well, it looks like it’s just you and me, Juliet."

You sighed, folding your arms over your chest. “Why are you still here, Eddie? School’s over.”

Eddie almost frowned as he sat down beside you on the wall, ignoring your question. “Why are you still here?”

“Stephen’s supposed to pick me up. I guess he forgot,” you shrugged, grimacing.

“What’re you listening to?” Eddie took your headphones, pressing play on your Walkman before you could answer. You watched his face show little to no emotion as he listened to your music, his eyes focused on something in the distance, or probably nothing at all.

After a few minutes, he took the headphones off and handed the Walkman back to you. “Because you didn't give me a chance to answer before you listened, it’s Modern Talking.”

Eddie nodded slowly. “It's… different.”

You shook your head, laughing a little. “It’s okay, you can say you hate it.”

He narrowed his eyes, leaning his head in closer to yours. “Whoever said I hated it?”

“Oh please, I know you, Romeo. You don’t wanna be rude by saying my music is terrible, so you call it interesting, you’ve said that about anything you don’t like that I like.”

Eddie smirked. “So you think you know me?”

You raised an eyebrow, getting closer to him. “Of course I know you, we know each other very well.”

“Maybe we do, maybe we don’t.”

You moved away, brushing him off. “You never answered my earlier question, why are you still here?”

Eddie shrugged, fiddling with the ends of your hair. “I was about to leave when I saw you out here alone, I didn’t think you should be waiting for your bother alone... if he even turns up.”

You frowned. “He’ll turn up, he’s just running late.”

“I’ll tell you what; if he doesn’t turn up in the next 10 minutes, I will take you home.”

You thought about his offer for a moment before slowly nodding your head. “Okay, sure.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Eddie had offered to drive you home; he’d even done it a handful of times over the past few years. But you always felt guilty over him having to stay later after school to wait with you and then eventually drive you home.

While your brothers tolerated Eddie and accepted that he was a friend, they were still wary of him. Not because of any of the Hellfire “cult” nonsense, but because of Eddie’s reputation for dealing drugs and smoking almost constantly. It was the typical overprotective older brother routine that you’d had been forced to live with since your parents died.

Eddie lit a cigarette and blew out the smoke, being careful to not blow it in your face. You looked in his direction, taking the cigarette from him and taking a long drag, blowing out the smoke as you handed it back.

Almost hesitantly, Eddie took the cigarette back. “Okay, that was the hottest thing you've ever done, who knew Juliet could hold a smoke?”

You raised an eyebrow, smirking a little. “Surprised, Munson?”

He took another drag, processing everything he’d just witnessed. “I just pictured you as the good girl, never doing anything like this.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “We crash parties all the time, I’d hardly call myself the good girl.”

Eddie took one last long drag before throwing his cigarette away. “In that case, Juliet, the not good girl, I think it’s high time I take you home.”

You sighed, nodding as you picked up your backpack and jacket, making your way over to Eddie’s van with Eddie wrapping an arm around your shoulder. His arm dropped to open the passenger side door for you before disappearing to the other side of the van and climbing in.

You tossed your bag and jacket in before climbing in yourself, closing the door behind you. The van smelled of thousands of cigarettes, beer cans and cologne; while you wouldn’t call it horrible, it certainly took you by surprise every time you smelled it. You were sure the smell was strong enough to burn some hairs off your nose, not that  you’d ever say anything to Eddie about it.

The car ride was silent between you two, the only sound was Eddie’s stereo playing Master of Puppets by Metallica, Eddie’s hands tapping against the steering wheel. You’d heard him play the song a thousand times since it was released, it was cute in a way.

People always saw Eddie have this tough and scary exterior but once people ripped the surface away and go deeper, they’d see that he was one of the softest and kindest people in the school. Fiercely protective and loyal to those closest to him, he’d take a bullet for them if he could.

All too soon, Eddie had parked his van outside of your house and was waiting for you to make a move. You awkwardly picked up your belongings, knowing you should say something… anything but nothing came to mind. “I’ll see you later?” You blurted out without fully thinking beforehand.

It came out more like a question than anything else, and if Eddie could hear your thoughts, he’d be bombarded with loud screaming and being told you were an idiot repeatedly. You couldn’t understand why today of all days, you couldn't act normal around him.

Just say goodbye like a normal person, you complete loser.

Eddie nodded, giving you a gentle smile, clearly not fazed by your strange reaction. “See you later, Juliet. And please don’t tell your brothers I let you smoke.”

You nodded, your insides melting at that damned smile. “Your secret is safe with me.” You nodded as you opened the door and climbed out. After closing the door, you gave him a salute before racing inside.

Once the door was closed, you instantly began banging your forehead against it repeatedly, cringing at every hit until you felt a hand on your forehead, moving your head away from the door. “If you wanted to crack your skull open, you’ll have to hit harder than that.”

You frowned, moving your head to see Stephen grinning beside you. Once you realised who it was, you instantly began punching his arm. “You were supposed to pick me up from school, asshole!”

Stephen raised his arms in defence before grabbing your fists to stop you from attacking him. “I know and I’m sorry, my alarm didn’t wake me up. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

You stopped fighting, your eyes narrowing. “Make it up to me how?”

He let go of your hands. “You can have whatever you want for dinner all weekend, and Eddie Munson can take you to school and pick you up for the rest of the month.”

You thought about his offer for a moment before nodding. “You got yourself a deal, you’re lucky you get to live another day.” You held out your hand and Stephen shook it, sealing the deal.

He smiled as their hands shook before his smile dropped almost as quickly as it appeared. “Did you smoke?”

Your eyes went wide for a moment before you bolted for the stairs, Stephen hot on your heels. He grabbed your ankle, pulling you down as soon as you reached the top step. “I’m gonna kill Munson!” he yelled.

“You said he could be my ride for a month! We had a deal!” You yelled back, trying to hold in your laughter as you lay on the stairs.

“That was before I knew he got you to smoke!”

You were just about to kick him in the balls to get him off, but the front door opened, revealing Jamie had come home with burgers. Stephen looked down at you, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “This isn’t over, you’re grounded for the rest of the semester,” then he walked downstairs to greet his brother.

Rolling your eyes, you turned over and stood up, slowly making your way down the stairs. At first, you thought it was all a joke but hearing your brother’s voice sound so threatening made you realise that perhaps he wasn’t joking at all and maybe you were grounded after all.

Arriving in the kitchen, you grabbed your Styrofoam box of a burger and fries from the greasy bag and grabbed a Coke from the fridge before sitting down at the counter to eat.

The three of you ate in silence, until Jamie spoke up through a mouthful of fries. “How was school?”

You shrugged, finishing the rest of your burger before answering. “Same old, same old, Stephen forgot to pick me up, so Eddie brought me home.”

Stephen shook his head, clearly annoyed that you brought it up. “I didn’t forget, I overslept. Do I need to bring up how you’re grounded for the rest of the semester?”

You looked down, playing with a fry. Jamie frowned, turning to the eldest sibling. “Why’s she grounded?”

“Would you like to say why you’re grounded?” Stephen asked, you shook your head. “She’s grounded because she smoked.”

Jamie raised his eyebrow slightly, directing his next question towards you. “Was it drugs or just a cigarette?”

“Cigarette,” you almost whispered, hanging your head.

“What do you mean “just” a cigarette? She shouldn’t be smoking anything!” Stephen almost yelled.

“You were her age once! You did far worse than her! Do I need to remind you why all your girlfriends were banned from the house? Or why none of mom’s jewellery was left to us?” Jamie fired back.

“It’s because I did worse shit that I want to stop her from continuing!” Stephen towered over Jamie. “If she isn't careful, she’ll ruin her life!”

“OH MY GOD, STOP PRETENDING TO BE DAD!” You screamed, getting off your seat. “No matter how hard you put on the persona, you’ll never be him.”

Stephen moved around the counter to stand in front of you, looking like a giant compared to you. “I don’t know if you noticed, kiddo, since that deadbeat left, I have to be. My life ended the day mom died. Both of our lives did, we had to look after you.”

“So this is my fault?” You laughed bitterly. “If you didn’t want me, you should’ve just shipped me off to England when Aunt Clara fucking asked.”

His eyes narrowed, his voice getting quiet. “You know what? Maybe I should’ve. Maybe then I wouldn’t be stuck in this fucking shithole with a little brother who’s a pushover and a little sister who thinks the entire world revolves around her.”

Before another word could be said, Stephen stormed out of the house and sped away, leaving you and Jamie to stare at each other and wonder what in the world had just happened. Feeling tears well up in your eyes, you darted towards the door and shakily grabbed your coat and put it on.

“Where are you going?” Jamie asked, walking towards the door after you.

“Out.”

“You’re grounded, remember?”

“So stop me from going out then.” You waited for a few seconds before nodding your head. “I’ll be back later, I just wanna clear my head.”

Jamie pulled you in for a tight hug, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “You’re not a burden to me, okay? Stephen’s just got a lot resting on his shoulders and I know he shouldn’t take it out on you, but he just wants the best for you.”

You nodded, hugging him back before letting go. “I love you, Jamie, and I’m sorry for ruining dinner.”

Jamie brushed you off. “Nah you didn’t, don’t worry about it. I love you too and go see Eddie.”

“How did you know I’d go see Eddie?”

“I was eighteen once before, I know love when I see it.”

“I-I don’t-” you stuttered, completely taken aback by your brother’s comment.

“I’ll keep your secret, don’t worry. Now go before it gets too dark.”

You gave him a smile before walking out into the dusk. It wasn’t too far to walk to Eddie’s, but it still probably wasn’t a good idea to walk it at that hour and alone. You shivered a little and wished you’d put on tights or jeans before leaving but it was far too late for that now; you’d probably borrow a blanket from Eddie when you were there.

After almost an hour of walking, you arrived at Eddie’s trailer. With a shaky hand, you knocked on his door. As you waited, you could feel the anxiety rising within you, almost making you cry; not over seeing Eddie, but the weight of the argument and what Stephen had said had finally hit you and it hit like a tonne of bricks.

Eddie opened the door with a wide smile. “Well this is a surprise, Juliet.” His smile dropped once he noticed you were on the verge of a panic attack. “What happened? Who do I need to kill?”

You shook your head, hugging him tightly, burying your face in his chest. Eddie closed the door behind you and hugged you back, pressing a kiss to the side of your head before gently scratching the top of your head, soothing you. “You're okay, nothing will hurt you here.”

Keeping your head in his chest, you breathed in the smell of cigarettes and cologne, both smells and Eddie’s words helping you calm down. Slowly, you came out of the hug. “I got into an argument with Stephen.”

Eddie nodded, pressing another kiss to the side of your head. “You get the blankets; I’ll get the beer.”

You nodded, grabbing blankets from the sofa and Eddie’s room before making your way up to the roof of the trailer, arranging the blankets to be comfortable to sit on and resting one on your lap to warm your legs up.

The pair of you always sat on the roof whenever you came over, staring up at the sky, looking at clouds and smoking during the day and looking at constellations, talking about your dreams and drinking during the night.

Eddie brought up a box of beer, passing it up to you as he finished climbing up the ladder himself. He settled next to you, getting two cans out and opening one before handing it to you and opening his own. “You wanna tell me what actually happened?”

You sighed before taking a sip of your beer, reluctantly nodding. “There isn’t much to really say. Stephen grounded me for the rest of the semester because I was smoking with you. He also basically said that I ruined both his and Jamie’s lives when our mom died, and he wished he’d sent me off to England.”

Eddie took a massive chug of his beer, clearly trying to contain his anger. “Your brother is an asshole, I’m sorry but he is. If he doesn’t apologize for saying what he said and ungrounding you, I’ll get my uncle to beat his ass.”

You shook your head, taking a long drink. “Don’t worry about it, Jamie has my back.”

“The offer’s always open, Juliet.”

You smiled at each other as you both fell silent, drinking your beers and staring up at the stars, the silence of the trailer park occasionally broken by a couple arguing or a dog barking. To you, it was nothing short of heaven to be under the stars with Eddie and dreaming of being away from home.

“Let’s get out of here.” Eddie said, breaking the silence.

You looked at him before looking at your watch. “The diner should still be open.”

“I was thinking more somewhere overseas.”

“So my brother shouts at me, I should flee the country?”

“This place is a dead end; we’ve been saying it for years.”

“So what’re we gonna do about it?”

He shrugged slightly. “You know I’ll follow you wherever you wanna go.”

You downed the rest of your beer. “What if I wanna go to Antarctica?”

He laughed, shaking his head slightly as he opened another beer for you, handing it to you. “In that case, Juliet, I’d better get my winter coat.”

You took the beer from him and took a sip. “Did you mean it? When you said you’d take Chrissy to prom?” You asked quietly.

Realising your change in demeanour, Eddie stroked your cheek with his thumb. “There’s only one girl I’d take to prom, and it’ll never be Chrissy Cunningham.”

With watery eyes, you looked at him. “Who’s that?”

Eddie smiled gently, leaning into you, as if he was about to kiss you but he stopped just before you lips, his forehead resting against yours as his dark eyes bore into yours. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s you.”

You opened your mouth to speak, but he placed a finger over your lips to stop you before continuing. “And since I do wanna take you to prom, there’s one very important question I must ask you. Y/N, my Juliet, may I take you out on a date tomorrow night?”

A tear fell down your cheek as you smiled, taking a few seconds to answer. “Edward Munson, my Romeo, you may take me out on a date tomorrow.”

[lily-fics-11]

Gorgeous

//Robin Buckley Fic//

*Reposted from my old account (@lilyfics11)

*not beta read

Gorgeous

Inspired by Taylor Swift’s song Gorgeous

It’s Friday and you are having a movie night at Steve’s place with him and Robin.

You are sitting on the couch, Steve is in the recliner, and Robin is sprawled out on the floor, even though there is a spot next to you on the couch. Robin has been acting weird the past few days, but you don’t read too far into it. She’s probably just having a tough week.

“Hey guys?” You call over the volume of the tv. “Can you pause the movie for a second? I have to go to the bathroom.”

Steve pauses it. “Y/N, you are leaving us at quite the cliffhanger,,” he says with a sigh.

“I promise I’ll be right back!”

Once you are out of earshot Steve addresses Robin. “What’s been up with you Rob? You’re acting weird.”

Robin moves to sit up. She crosses her arms and furrows her brows. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Obviously it’s not just nothing. Talk to me Robin,” he sounds genuinely worried about his best friend. She glares for a moment but her expression turns to a look of defeat. She runs her hands through her hair.

“It’s Y/N,” Robin sighs.

“Y/N? What about her?” Steve questions, but he sounds intrigued.

“It’s… It’s just that… oh god I’m such a mess. What am I even doing? I’m going crazy, that’s what. The thing about Y/N, I just… I have feelings for her.”

“Oh. Wow. You do? What about Vickie?” Steve is very confused. For the longest time Robin wouldn’t stop talking about Vickie from band. But now that he’s thinking about it, that all stoped somewhat abruptly. And the whole Vickie timeline just so happens to line up with something he’s been reminded of.

“Vickie, yeah Vickie. She was, I don’t know, I guess you could call her a distraction. I just had all these, ya know, feelings. Feelings for Y/N. But Y/N had a girlfriend. So I had nothing to do with those feelings but try and distract myself. So I focused on Vicky. She’s pretty. Not gorgeous the way that Y/N is. But Vicky is nice, and we have things in common, so why not? But I couldn’t just transfer my feelings from Y/N to Vicky, no matter how hard I tried.” Robin gasped for air after her exasperated speech came out in one long breath.

Steve is still confused. “So let me get this straight. Y/N and her girlfriend broke up months ago. You know she likes girls. Why haven’t you made a move? Why are you getting all worked up about it now?”

“Well, the other day, in the hallway, someone was flirting with Y/N, and I can’t go through this again.” Robins words are filled with frustration.

“What are you waiting for Robin?” Steve is encouraging but there is a sense of urgency in what he is saying. “It’s now or never.”

“Uhhhhh!” Robin nearly yells but she knows that Y/N isn’t that far away and she could be back any second. But she doesn’t bother to check for Y/N before covering her face with her hands and saying “She’s so gorgeous, I can't say anything to her face, cause look at her face!”

Steve is in fact looking at your face. Stunned. You are back in the room and confused. Robin had a crush that she wouldn’t tell you about. You knew that Steve knew who, but was sworn to secrecy. Robin said “her” didn’t she? You had no idea Robin likes girls.

“Whose face?” You ask.

Robin uncovers her face, and looks up at you like a deer caught in headlights.

Steve stands up “I need to go to the kitchen!” He blurts out and nearly sprints out of the room.

You sit down next to Robin and repeat yourself “whose face, Robin?”

Robin leans back on her hands and closes her eyes. Still no answer.

“Come on Robin, I know something’s up with you.”

Robin opens her eyes and you are met with a piercing blue gaze. There is tension in the air.

“The thing is Y/N, there's nothing I hate more than what I can't have.”

You are shocked by the abruptness of her statement. Robin has never been a woman of such few words. “You are going to have to give me more than that.”

Robin sits back up and crosses her arms.

“You should think about the consequences! The consequences of your magnetic field being a little too strong. You're so gorgeous, I can't say anything to your face! I’ve been such a mess because of you, Y/N. You've practically ruined my life over the past few months. You’ve ruined my life, by not being mine. You make me so happy it turns back to sad. I’m so frustrated, Y/N. And no matter how I feel about you, I'm still so furious at you for making me feel this way.”

Robin flops down onto her back, covering her face back up with her hands.

Her voice is a little muffled through her hands, “first you had a girlfriend, and now someone else is trying to get with you, I don’t want to do this again.”

Ever since you met her, Robin has been the one person you always wanted, but also one person you thought you could never have.

“Robin,” your tone is calm compared to hers, “would you please look at me?”

Robin arms fall flat at her side onto the ground and she looks up with a pout on her face.

“I would never have bothered with anyone else if I knew you felt that way.” Her eyes widen as you continue “I didn’t even know you liked girls. I’ve had feelings for you since I met you at Scoops Ahoy over the summer. But I cared about you too much to say anything and ruin our friendship. I wanted to keep you as close to me as I could. I wouldn’t have risked that for anything.”

Robin sits up and she looks like there are a million thoughts racing through her head at once. It was rare that Robin Buckley had nothing to say.

You reach out both your hands to her and she hesitantly takes them. You start to lean forward towards her, and she shifts herself towards you. The two of you are looking into each other’s eyes, the blue in hers barely visible around her widend pupils. Both you and Robin are unsure of what to do in a situation that had previously only existed inside your imaginations. Your hearts are fluttering with anticipation.

“Robin?”

“Yeah?”

You can’t take it anymore and you close the gap between you, your lips falling into hers. Her lips are a little chapped but they felt better than anyone else’s ever have. But before you can get too ahead of yourself you remember where you are and you start to pull away. The whole world had momentarily disappeared.

“Wow.” Is all that Robin has to say.

“Wow.” You repeat back to her.

You pull yourselves away from each other, a little awkwardly, maintaining eye contact and wide smiles.

“Well would you look at that!” Steve calls from the kitchen.

He sounds relieved and you are too.

All three of you are laughing together, the previous tension gone.

~~~~~

I’m still new to sharing my writing so I would love to hear what you think:)

[sethcertified]

「 GREEN IS THE COLOR ! 」 . . . 📁 [name’s] version

the outsiders : dallas winston

wrd count : 1.3k

⊹˚.⋆ synopsis . . . [name] gets jealous when he witnesses dally flirting with a pretty, redhead girl

⊹˚.⋆ starring . . . dallas winston & male reader

Dallas Winston was a flirt. That was an undeniable fact. I was aware of this fact when we started dating. Maybe going along with him despite knowing this made me stupid. Maybe it just meant I was in love. Maybe it meant both.

I had seen him run his mouth before to all types of girls; greasers and socs and hoods alike, but I never had any fears of him cheating on me.

Even now as he chatted up some redhead I had no fears of him cheating on me; just crippling jealousy.

She was a real pretty gal, and I could see why Dally had decided to make her his target of attraction for the night. She was practically any guy's wet dream.

Cherry was her name. Suiting with her long, silky mop of dark red hair. I had my doubts if her hair color was real with the vibrancy and youth of the color, but hearing the same wonder leave Dally's mouth in such a crude manner made me gag at even considering the thought.

My foot bounced against the ground as I remembered the scene that happened a few moments ago. More specifically I remembered the words he uttered to her.

"Are you a real redhead?

But that was just the start of it. The way he got close to her as he spoke was the first bubble of envy to boil up in the pit of my stomach. Even the way he drew out the words as he spoke to the gorgeous girl fueled my ever-so-growing jealousy.

I knew his charm was working on her too as the scene played before my very eyes. The way she giggled and tried to hold back the smile as he flirted with her was telling.

"How can I find out if it's your real red hair?"

His fingers twirled the said hair around, and my fingers gripped the metal seat roughly.

"Is this the same red hair that you have-" Dally pointed down at the girl's crotch before his pointed finger up to her face, "on these eyebrows, too?"

A deep frown covered my face. They looked good together. Better looking than Dally and I for sure. These thoughts were clouding my mind as second after second passed. With a shake of my head, I stood up from my seat next to Johnny and left the destination of my friends, and the soc girls entertaining them.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but | was sure it had to be far away from them. Small feelings of guilt built up in me for abandoning my brother Ponyboy, but he had Johnny to keep him company. I just couldn't bare to see the flirting fiasco between Cherry and Dally.

And that's how I got here; against a rackety, old fence while my mind danced with entanglements of Cherry and Dally. The reasonable option was for me to go home, and pass out on the couch, so I didn't have to deal with my relationship troubles, but my yearning for Dally to find me and rid me of this envy trumped my logical thinking.

The ground was rough, and the sky was painted with billions of stars. As embarrassing as it was those things were my only source of company as the hands-on my watch flew by in a circular motion. The sight of my watch was just making me feel shittier as the minutes flew by.

Standing up with a shove against the old, beat-up fence I began to tromp away from the drive in movie theater. Dally wasn't coming to be my Prince Charming and save the day no matter how long I waited for him, so what was the point in waiting any longer?

My fingers trailed across the lining of the fence dragging against my movements trying to distract me from my troublesome thoughts. All wanted was to get home as soon as possible and then cry myself to sleep.

"[Namel!"

My name? I turned in the direction of the shout with a small boost in my mood. Maybe Dally did come for me after all?

My dream was proven true as I caught sight of a sprinting denim-clad Dallas Winston. His hair flopped and flew against the wind as he dashed straight at me.

Dally's large hands held my shoulders like they were his lifeline as he caught his breath trying to soothe his aching abdomen from the run,

"What-what are you doing?"

"Walking home? Did you run the whole time trying to find me? You're sweating like a pig!"

"Only for you, sweetheart."

"Oh, please," I rolled my eyes at his cheeky words.

Dally recovered from his hunched-over position and was analyzing me with his dark, firey eyes. I didn't dare to make eye contact with him. One of the reasons I fell for the dangerous boy was his ability to read me with just a split second of eye contact. I was well aware that if he saw the look of envy in my eyes he would connect the dots in mere seconds.

"God, man. You gave me one big scare back there. How many times do we have to get it through you Curtis brothers' heads that walking alone is dangerous for guys like us!"

"Dally, please save the lecture for another time.

I'm going home no matter what. I don't care what those Socs do to me on the way."

"Don't be stupid! You saw what they did to Johnny."

We shared a hard look at the mention of Johnny's recent attack. He was jumped by a group of Socs, and since he was a total recluse only really speaking with Ponyboy or Dally.

"You're right. I'm sorry." | looked down at my feet as I anxiously awaited his response. Dally wiped the sweat off his brow, "It's fine. Just don't do it again, man. The boys and I were worried about you."

"Speaking of the boys where's Johnny and Ponyboy?"

"They left with those socs girls. Johnny told me to back off from them. Can you believe it? Johnnycakes telling me to back off!"

Did Johnny notice my departure? Johnny was pretty observant... I gave the quiet boy an internal thank you. Without him, Dally wouldn't have come to find me, "You need to give Johnny more credit, Dal. He has his moments.”

Dally stuffed his hands in his pockets as we began walling in unison. As much as I should've been upset or mad at the man; his presence was a blessing to be around.

"Yeah, he does. Johnny's a good kid, you know.

Him and Ponyboy." Dally turned to me with a smirk, "Pony gets it from you."

A small smile placed itself on my lips, "You are such a smooth talker."

Dallas interlocked our hands as he stopped our walking movements, "Johnny saw you leave earlier. Think it's why he told me to back off."

I blinked at Dally unsure of where this conversation was going. He continued, "That redhead girl? She meant nothing to me. As bullshit as it sounds coming from a guy like me, you're the only one for me. You're my boy."

"Really?"

I smiled bashfully at Dally. His usual hard demeanor was gone, and I could feel myself falling in love with him all over again. Dallas Winston was not one for apologies, yet he could push past his pride and be vulnerable with me just to give my envy a break.

"Really."

I gripped our interlocked hands tighter as I leaned in for a kiss. Our foreheads touched as our lips danced together in a slow, stubborn waltz of forgiveness and understanding.

Our breathing mingled as we pulled apart. His breath tainted mine with the taste of Coca-Cola. Cherry would never get to enjoy the taste of Dallas Winston and his Coca-Cola lips and as petty as that made me I was more than glad to embrace that fact.

✎ notes . . . yes, this is a repost. tumblr deleted my old acc >:( ﹒⟢ ˚ ⊹ 🌪 ﹒⟢ ˚ ⊹ d.v.

©️ sethcertified 2023

[olivescales3]

The Forgotten Legends of Chima Episode 2

Check out episode 1 [here]!

Laying down on the ground, the lightened gloom strikes at us by the moon, tinting our surroundings with various monochromatic shades of purple. 

No matter how much Cragger counts the stars, or how much we spend time blathering about our lives, the purple moon sits still in the spotlight, stagnant; nighttime has never been this slow and peaceful.

Everything seems serene– it's impossible to not feel refreshed, absorbed by the calm, soothing wind.

I notice Cragger get up, ripping off the grass with his feet. He stands still, stiffening his body into a square, although moving his tail side by side, as he crosses his arm and mumbles.

Unable to hear him properly, I reach out to him in anxiety,

"Hey, Cragger… what's the matter?"

He lifts his lip, exposing his gums, "I want to leave", he replies.

Instinctively, I seize his hand onto mine, out of fear that he rushes away from me, yet, even then, I might lose him– my vision is dim, we don't have enough light near us. The worst part is… that I don't even know where we are.

Cragger… please don't go. You'll hurt yourself.

He growls, rasping his voice in an unusual tone, "Why are you grabbing me? Can't I walk around for a second?"

I try to drag Cragger down, but he agitates his hand, making me lose my grip.

"Please, stay! I don't want you to—"

An unfortunate event happens, as my friend runs towards the unrecognizable horizon.

No… not again! Why can't he stop abandoning me like this?...

I don't want to be alone. I don't.

Why does he need to be so reckless?

…I won't let go of him. This world is too dangerous.

I push my paws forward and sprint with the speed my feeble legs can gather, the wind flies on my fur, everything around me blurs uncontrollably—

Thud!

I crash onto the ground. Cragger's shouts echo out of nowhere, hiding light whimpers of nervousness, blending in with my cries.

The moment we shut our lips, leaves crunch from the distance. I turn around, and for a millisecond I encounter a wolf, with pitch black fur, staring at me, with a long, macabre snarl, as if it's smiling. It pounces at me—

I fling my blanket across the room, gasping for air, as tears flood out of my eyes. Paralyzed, I can't cry for help. I'm alone, afraid. Each word I utter turns out as sobs. My rapid breathing suddenly starts to strangle me. Am I spiraling out of control? 

A gentle touch falls upon my shoulder; my dad, who pants as if he just ran a thousand miles, squeezes me comfortably between his arms.

"My son! What happened? Your hands are cold…", Lagravis whispers.

My ribs clamp, heart pounding stiffly.

Without self control, I end up shouting, "Wolf! The wolf jumped at me!"

Blood pressure skyrockets.

Head feels light.

Pain spreads throughout me. It irks me with its adrenaline.

Dad pets my head, and, despite my panic, his soft paw pads warm my chilling skin. I lean onto him, in for a hug. It feels good.

My breath… is returning back to normal.

Phew– I meditate, breathing in the fresh air in my room. 

…What happened? What? Was that even real?

He looks at me, confused. Of course, he asks if it was a nightmare. It probably was, thank goodness.

There's no need to lash out like this.

"Laval.", he holds my hand, "Was there anyone else in your dream?"

Ohh. No, no, no. No. I don't want to make my dad worried. I don't want to hear about the incident, but lying is not an answer.

"I dreamt about Cragger running away from me."

Dad itches his chin. He's going to piece everything together. He'll take my nightmare seriously.

"I see… It's normal to relive our worst fears during our sleep. Don't fret, my son. I'll take care of everything."

He tucks me on my bed and kisses my forehead.

It is now morning. I look at myself in the mirror to distract myself: my red mane is starting to grow into little tufts, which means that in the near future I will no longer be a cub, but a teenager.

I tidy my sapphire blue tunic and put on my golden belt, locking it with my lion-faced buckle. My pale tan fur, after the nightmare, has become frizzy. Petrified amber eyes highlight the sickly dread on my muzzle. My paws are trembling. 

I relax by the windowless stone arch. The view of our city from the temple is amazing and comforts me a bit; I can observe the forts forming a hexagon shape, the agglomeration of housing glued to its corners, and the tall, spherical towers at each edge. The center of the Lion Temple is bustling with animals from all tribes to visit the monthly Chi Market to sell their products. At this angle, everyone inside our kingdom looks like ants. 

I might as well leave my room and take a breather.

We're sitting on the first step of the Lion Temple's entrance. The sun shines on Cragger's scutes, as the light spreads along the grassy plains, which feeds the plants and makes them grow. Spring is a beautiful season, where Chima blooms with all kinds of colors.

Today's a special day, better than the ones before– an eventful morning like this means that there is going to be a Speedor Race! We're not old enough to race yet, and I unfortunately can't ride my Speedor for fun either, but my buddy has another idea.

"Laval, my papa is going to do something huge today!", he leans near my ear and whispers, "He's been practicing his tricks for this race. Want to see?"

"That's nice. I didn't know your dad went on Speedor Races at such an old age!.."

He stares at me, twitching his jaw hinge a little.

"Uh… Cragger, are you alright?"

He giggles, "I'm aight. It's okay. Don't mind me."

I see… His body is intact. No scratches, no wounds. It's like… nothing ever happened… but I doubt that he forgot about it, speaking such bittersweet words.

After a few hundred steps, we reach our destination, where its horizon is cluttered with Speedorz bolting left and right, in and out of our view. The animals here drift around the scattered obstacles with a tilt so tight that they seem to skim over the earth's surface; at first glance, such skill is admirable and desired by many, although we're quickly reminded that these racers are amateurs– their try-hard tricks backfire in style, as they're thrown out of their bikes.

Heavy rumbling trembles our eardrums and attracts us to a huge stone ramp pointed in our direction. It's too late to do anything now, we've been standing on its track without noticing. The sounds strengthen each passing second, while a vehicle sprints from afar whilst racking up momentum– and, in a matter of seconds, before we were given time to react, our gaze redirects towards the smirk of the scaled driver, as they propel their rectangular Speedor off the ramp, gracefully crossing the sky above us whilst gushing away a streak of dust on top of our heads. Mesmerizing.

I'm unable to take my eyes off this mysterious motorist, though the spectacle ended just as fast as it started. Knowing we're surrounded by nonprofessionals, the first thought that has come to mind was an assumption about this performance being a mere hobbyist's fluke, had the pilot not revealed himself as Crominus.

Yikes. Bold of me to dismiss pure skill as luck. Better than being crushed by a fool's bad attempt at tryharding.

His curved posture might fool you, but, despite the short and fragile appearance, Crominus is a healthy and humble king. He waves at us with a welcoming smile.

"Papa! That was crazy! Would you teach me this trick, please..?", Cragger climbs onto his dad's lap and hugs him.

"Hey… you know you got to wait, eh? At my age, I only got my Speedor when I was an adult.", the father cackles, "You have no clue how much time papa took to get this good! Lucky for you, I'll show you my super-duper secret techniques when you grow up."

They both laugh and crack jokes, untroubled about the incident. I'm glad Cragger is unharmed and continues to be a joyful kid– Crominus doesn't mind his son's lack of manners, nor does he expect maturity from him. 

It's all about his dad now… Hmph. Does he even have a clue about the incident? Speedorz this, Speedorz whatever, biggest race of all time… Haha…

A soft breeze caresses away my soft mane tufts, shoving away the water from my tear ducts, and, standing here, the background blurs beneath the water lacrimating off my eyes– meanwhile, they tussle, one running after the other. In silence, I hold my hands together and tap my toes, awaiting their return.

Enough time has passed, I think, because the area is emptying by the minute, the drivers are rushing at the stronghold as their unicycles whip further down the road in a hurry up to the main gate. until only the three of us remain. Then, a bunch of lion guards start to gather the objects lying everywhere, marching throughout the circuit like ants, skipping to and fro.

Groanings call my attention to an unusually short lion, crouching down in front of a boulder. He manages to latch onto the giant rock, pushing down his tendons to extend his claws, but it seems that the disproportionate size of the object counters the feline's strength. Sometimes, big muscles aren't enough– you'd need another pair.

In between the mass of workers, marches my uncle, who's in charge of the guards in my tribe. He observes his employees' work and compliments each and one of them with pats on the back. He manages to notice the struggling lion; with his much needed help, he comes to the rescue and shoves his claws on the bottom of the rock while chanting a rhythm, as to hint a cue for when the worker should lift.

"C'mon boys, let's do this quick. The race's starting pretty soon.", warns Lavertus after he gets up, signaling with hand claps.

My uncle turns around and our gaze meets– be it joy or worry, he wasn't able to resist ignoring me, though it's not like he would choose to do that anyway; the last time we were able to play with each other was a week ago! I stretch my arms and shut my eyelids in hopes of a hug, a head pat, or any kind of attention I can receive, but I'd really like a hug.

Lavertus!

Come here!...

And yet…

I've only felt the same emptiness as before, of the wind embracing my body and arms, caressing my short fur, only to seep away and roam back to its ephemeral trail.

To spy with my little eye, to witness my uncle's grin dissolving by each step, might've been a mistake.  I turn around, unfortunately Crominus' glee begins to dissipate in synchrony, his posture slouches even further.

Lavertus' tail whips sideways. Crominus' golden teeth shine with the slightest amount of brightness. I imagine their heartbeats gushing at an all time high whilst they fixate their energy into a threatening staredown; no one wants to say anything, intimidated by another one's thoughts. Courage must arise for the silence to be broken.

My uncle has always been outgoing. However, his eyes are now hollowed by… chagrin? No– it's not anger, but displeasure; his well-built chocolate body tenses up in reflex, he sticks out his claws out of his paws in disgrace.

The crocodile king leaves his Speedor, grabs his staff that was tucked on the vehicle, then pushes it down on the ground.

With such qualms seething from the two adults, intoxicating the ambience with distrust, I wonder… What happened between them? Why express such childish attitudes in public?

Actually, why would my uncle have personal issues against the king of the crocodiles?

By coincidence, the guards' work was already done, and they disappear without a trace. Lavertus' time here has ended. He, however, persists still, growling in murmurs.

My toes freeze, my lips shut tight, chills run down my spine. I can't move. Adrenaline paralyzes each of my nerves while it drowns my blood, climbing throughout my veins up to the skull. My head feels light.

The clean blue sky showers the horizon with clouds, which patch shadows on us, sewn decaying light into intricate patterns.

Cold scales touch my hand and clutch my torso. Its soft cold soothes my body, meanwhile I observe the staredown. Thank you, Cragger.

"What are you doing here..? Shouldn't you be elsewhere, Crominus?", Lavertus snarls.

Crominus doesn't reply, doesn't utter a single word, neither does he twitch a muscle. Instead, he seems too immersed in his mind, as if this situation didn't concern him much.

Finally, he lowers his head,

"Yes, I suppose…", he sighs, "Please excuse me. I shall now take my leave."

He pats my head prior to departing, his face drowned in sorrow as he walks to his Speedor, just when Cragger waves at me with his trembling arm, hiding fear under an awkward smile– his mouth lifts a bit, though he's interrupted by the rumbling noises of Crominus' unicycle. He waddles behind his dad at a slow pace, before I'm able to move or react.

Suddenly, Lavertus locks my neck on his arm, then later plays with my hair, showers me with lion kisses; he's laughing without a care in the world, seemingly relieved about the clean, empty space, like a burden was lifted off him.

Despite these distractions, I've witnessed, all by myself, my friends climb up the stairs and merge with the mass of visitors, until they reach the fortress' gate. Afterwards, the sculpted lion head raises high, leaving space for the swarm to be eaten by it as they go through the entrance. 

Lavertus rubs his knuckles on my head with force and laughs. I roar in reflex,

"Ugh! Stop it, you goof!"

He lets go of me, his face miserably attempting to hold his grin.

As he throws his hair backwards with his paws, Lavertus' mane flows out of his head and neck, reaching his shoulder blades; it waves right at the tips, resembling the perfect shape of a sand dune molded by the wind. Even with this disheveled look, he's the opposite of dry, as he's constantly overflowing with personality and character. No wonder my tribe respects my uncle's wit and charm, but sometimes he can go a little too far. Oh– this isn't about the unceasing amount of lionesses who swoon over him. I'm referring to his nonchalant nature, a trait that is something rare among lions, and one that he overuses a lot. To see him tense is beyond improbable.

"Buddy, you're grumpier than I thought...", he whimpers, "Exactly like my brother."

"Why wouldn't I be? Did you even pay attention to your actions? My uncle would never do something like this— "

He pushes air out of his nostrils, forcing his muzzle to fold upwards, "Kiddo, ignore what happened, please. This issue doesn't concern cubs– don't butt in adult matters, okay?"

Really? Does he think he can get away with these kinds of excuses..? Adult this, adult whatever, blah blah, they make me feel like I'm not good enough to be a prince. It's just that… I haven't heard such words bleed out of Lavertus' mouth. Not even once throughout my life.

"Anyway, 'bout your arm…", he murmurs in a sudden change of subject, "I understand how you feel. We couldn't find enough clues about the perpetrator, though I believe you were attacked by a rogue animal."

I sigh, "It's alright, uncle. I won't feel bothered as long as nothing else happens."

He kneels before me, caressing my cheek with one of his paws, subsequently giving me a warm grin.

"Okay, buddy! The race is about to start in a moment, so I'll leave you there."

The Coliseum is huge, its beige color contrasts well with the lush grass that corners it. There are a few gates perforated into this amphitheatre, which are all linked to race tracks that cross every biome in Chima. Although the exterior is quite barren, everything changes up when you're able to rush inside the megastructure: dark granite canopies cover the first few inches of the entrances, with one of them built large enough to support the metal gong behind me, used to signal the end of a race; seats for thousands of animals molded onto the canopies; artificial waterfalls garnish the circuit with blue light reflected from the sun; the floor and it's coherent, exquisite patterns are made out of cobblestone, delicately chiseled to help Speedorz slide and overflow with speed. 

At this height, we can monitor the racers, cornered by more than thousands of spectators, whilst being able to watch the entirety of one of the racetracks.

Cragger and I embrace each other in excitement, hopping in circles. After an entire month of waiting for this moment, we're finally here, inside the Coliseum! We hop, dance, shout and sing, frolicking around the gong and Eris. She crosses her arms while grunting.

Dad stops our happy moment with hoarse coughs, as he lays his back on a stone throne, then rests his head atop his hand– meanwhile, the other paw holds an open book, flipping pages by the thumb. I hear the paper swoosh and my dad grunt under his breath.

Shouts arise from the crowd, catching us in surprise, after Crominus gets off his Speedor, waving at the viewers. The other racers enter the Coliseum seconds later, mounted on their stone bikes.

Before the competition starts, a white eagle flies off to the skies, revealing his famous orange goggles and his loyal blowhorn– that's Equila!

"Why, hello everyone who's watching this amazingly exciting Speedorz Race today! Very glad to see that a lot of animals are gathered here, because—", he dashes towards the participants, "a very special guest is on his way!"

Eris pulls my hand close to her, shaking her tail feathers, beak open wide.

Equila points at a shiny blue Speedor that's far away in the distance and screeches:

"Dom De La Woosh!"

Clapping from all corners of the audience reverberates with the strength of waves hitting the shore; it is as if the folks here witnessed some kind of miracle. I mean, he could be considered one. Dom is the only peacock in Chima and the best Speedorz Racer alive. His bright, flashy feathers and style, in addition to his unique personality from the extinct Peacock Tribe, make him beyond iconic– he's is an image.

The peafowl starts running his unicycle all over the  place, blowing kisses to the crowd, before the event even started.

"Bom dia meus amores!", he says, "I am absolutely flabbergasted to see all of you who came to cheer me on!".

Flowers are tossed at him and he catches all of them in a fell swoop, even placing one on his beak for extra pizzazz. They shower Woosh with confettis, love, attention, as they chant his name in a thunderstorm of excitement; Uncle Lavertus told me once that this kind of hype has always spread like wildfire since the dawn of time.

He almost beat the peacock in a big race once; I doubt he really did that, as he's the only testimony about this great achievement.

Dom returns to the starting line, flashing his attention-grabbing blue and green feathers. Meanwhile, all of the participants are in order, latching onto their Speedorz– some of them are grinning, a few are chit chatting, others seem focused.

As Equila counts down to one, his high-pitched voice leads everyone to jump and shout in excitement. Cragger and I are quite anxious, and I imagine that they also share the same feeling as us. The race feels like it's taking forever to start.

Wait— 

Even with all of the excitement and hype, my gut itches me with an unnerving sensation. Something's wrong, I can feel it; everyone becomes silent in point blank, and Lagravis' page flipping gets louder, before he shuts his book closed.

I turn around to look at the animals around me– Eris is gone!

The crowd's movement and noises explode the area, overwhelming me as I attempt to spot my friend.

I'm finally able to catch a glimpse of someone running towards the racers. As I push Cragger's arm, we both have the same reaction: our mouths drop wide open.

Everyone freezes in silence, again; not all animals have the courage to interfere with an organized event, especially one that's this big.

Equila strips off his goggles of orange tinted lenses, clenches his blowhorn near his beak, and screeches:

"Wait– wait! What are you doing, Eris? Get back here!"

Needless to say, we had already caught on that Eris was missing… but what she's doing right now is absurd!

"Damn it, Phoenixes!", he murmurs in vain, as the megaphone that's hung on his back exposes his frustrated mumblings to all of us, "I– I meant… Eris, stop that, right now! Lagravis is witnessing all of this, you know that!"

Amongst all of the animals watching this mess, Eris is on the racetrack getting her wing signed by Dom de La Woosh himself. Equila swoops down and snatches Eris off the ground. I don't know if Dom knows how to tackle fan service, or if it's just his eccentric and carefree personality. Maybe both.

Between the moment Equila begins to fly over the arena, Cragger tugs the raptor's left leg, pleading to hover above the race with him. He hugs the hatchling, still holding onto his megaphone, and returns to his place. Eris and I do the same, by holding me with her claws mid flight. 

She's returned to her place, followed by a light intervention from my dad; he knows that my eagle friend isn't mischievous, and that one warning will suffice. What a privilege!

At this height, we're able to spectate the racers; they sprint over the humid dirt, avoiding the obstacles in their way. 

A puddle of mud, camouflaged on the ground, splatters as one of the riders crosses through it– he loses control of the Speedor and spirals head first onto a tree.

Meanwhile, Dom sways between the tree trunks in a perfect rhythm. With his constant speed, he drifts along a sudden turn to the left. The others are way behind him, playing safe.

Chi awaits inside big stones in the middle of the road. The peacock snatches each and one of them—

Until Crominus flies from the curve onto first place, using his Chi to dart towards a ramp, projecting himself onto light boulders. Part of the obstacle course, Chi crystals cascade from them upon contact. The crocodile picks them up seamlessly.

"What a spectacular turn of events!", Equila shouts, "Who would've imagined that the king of crocodiles could surpass the legend himself, La Woosh?"

The crowd's cheers explode, as Equila describes the unforeseen; Dom has lost his lead against the other racers. They follow suit and pick up the remaining Chi.

Though, the end is still yet to come– he maneuvers left and right to regain speed.

A lion bumps his bike onto another participant and sends them flying at Dom's direction. In a pinch, he twists around before the Speedorz could collide. Such foul play!

All of the competitors waste their crystals, causing them to flock near Crominus at high speeds. He slows down– and they clash against each other. The vehicles crash everywhere. By then, a massive cloud of dust has started to cover the scene.

Equila accidentally drops his goggles in disbelief.

"No way…! The king of the crocodiles managed to eliminate his opponents!", he gawks.

The crowd cheers, clapping their hands at an improvised tempo. Now, only two racers remain.

La Woosh surges from the dust– he giggles while he dashes through the pile of leaves scattered around.

Vines swirl on and on, falling from the lush jungle, threatening a mighty slap if one dares to get on its way. Timing is necessary to get over this.

Dom and Crominus weave a trail on the ground between the vicious vines. A big one hits the crocodile's bike, shoving him straight to the side– the spectators scream in horror. Fortunately, this was not enough to take him off his vehicle.

Beyond them is their last trial: a trap. If one of them were to fall into this lake near the finish line, it's game over.

The peacock doesn't hesitate to propel himself forward at steep stone, and, with his speed, he defies gravity in a marvelous spectacle of skill, flying as the wind rushes through his feathers.

Crominus, however, has a trick up his sleeve; he uses his Chi to dart at the bridge above the waterhole—

but it was too late.

Dom has already pulled the trap's lever, making the bridge fall down and throw the crocodile off his unicycle at the last second.

Bang! Bang!

Guards hit the gong with enthusiasm– flags rise from the towers, before the harmonious toot of the trumpets begin to flow a melody. The race has just ended, and now is the time to start celebrating this amazing victory. 

"Amazing!", Equila squawks, "In an astounding turn of events, Dom de La Woosh has come first place!"

My friends and I land on the ground in the middle of the arena, where the winner stands victorious, blessing everyone with grateful good wishes. He's showered in roses and confetti by fans, an act of unconditional love, phenomenal passion that's able to unite animals from all tribes.

Lagravis walks down the canopy; he orders his workers to bring the Golden Chi, reward for finishing the race in first place. They march in formation: one guard is in front, holding the magnificent prize, Longtooth and Leonidas follow behind him while wielding decorated spears, and the rest remain behind.

My dad grabs the Golden Chi, whose sparkle shines so bright it resembles the sun, preparing himself to begin the ending ceremony.

After breathing in fresh air, he says:

"La Woosh– as always, the skill you displayed today was astounding. It was a tight match, and yet you managed to outsmart your opponent."

The crowd cheers, satisfied with the resolution of this beautiful competition, and while it was fast, it lasted enough to have an impact on all of us.

The gray-maned lion sighs in relief.

"I, Lagravis, king of the Lions and protector of the lion temple, hereby bestow Golden Chi, a powerful and sacred present created by Mount Cavora. Use it well, use it wisely."

He hands the crystal over to Dom, who proceeds to bow and blow kisses to his fans, before accepting his prize.

The peacock cries, "Thank you, obrigado, my loves! I wouldn't be able to continue my passion if it weren't for all of your constant support!"

Bang, bang!

Brave soldiers hit the gong once more, marking the end of this event– its booming noise spreads around the air, and, upon hearing its echoes, the audience starts to leave their seats, going down stairs, as they form a rockslide of throngs that accidentally block out everyone's exit from the Coliseum. Dom, however, noticed this craze and hopped on his Speedor, but in vain. We're surrounded.

Gunshots thunder nearby.

I lose sight of Eris, but manage to hold onto Cragger.

The swarm of fanatics escaping the arena jostles us around amidst steps and pitterpatters, as they clomp and run after the glorious winner, who's running away from this mess with his Speedor.

I can't help but look behind me– there, a small gap opens; a tall, pale olive green crocodile smirks, his arm pointed straight at the sky, as he's holding a gun. His macabre amber eyes show no remorse at all, his smile grows more sinister while our gaze meets.

Cragger snatches my hand. Together, we squeeze in between the crowd, shoving the animals away from us, and notice a breach to the outside slip— now is our chance!

I push my friend forward, then I latch onto his tail– our bodies fly through this mess, and with our vision cleared out, we find ourselves holding onto Dom's vehicle.

The cocky peacock, now terrified, croaks from the top of his lungs; he loses control over his bike, which starts to whirl around at high speeds, almost shaking us off it.

Swoosh!

A strong turn to the right lifts me and sprinkles sand into my eyes. It burns and scratches my eyeballs to bits. Trying to get the stuff out of my eye, I end up letting go of Dom–

Wind blows on my back as Cragger pulls me by the collar.

"Carambolas! Why pounce on my precious Speedor?", Dom shouts.

"Uh– duh! Why shouldn't we?"

I giggle after Cragger's defiant speech. I mean, we had no choice, after all. 

La Woosh rushes straight into a bush, covering our faces with a bunch of flowers that block our view. Wooden sticks and dead leaves crunch as the wheel spins, small birds flap their wings at the sight of a speeding vehicle turning at each lush tree.

Desperate, Cragger shakes the driver and fiddles with his feathers, in an attempt to pressure him into parking somewhere– after we get smacked by long vines and tree branches.

Ah. To be surrounded by greenery instead of tumultuous fools feels so, so nice.

"Uh… Dom?...", words spill out of my mouth into a full stop.

He's static, face deep inside the humus. A humiliating scene for the best Speedor racer ever, for sure. Cragger kneels before the blue fowl, contemplating the fall of the last remaining master of the craft. Then, he attacks the body with tickles.

Dom rolls around and play-wrestles my friend.

Meanwhile, the light dims from inside the forest, followed by rattling fronds. They diffuse penumbras all over the tall grass, even beyond our view, before its colors fade away in the distance.

A mysterious sound howls out of the faraway depths– it grows louder as the moon emerges from the sky, cornering our eardrums in a sound barrier.

It's followed by a stampede of wolves that obstructs our path, they dash and crawl without regard to the trees and shrubs in their way and form a muddy fog of black and gray pelts.

Though, one of them sits still, menacingly staring at us. That wolf snarls, their bare fangs drip with blood, and their elongated body twitches, with their fur void of color while brimming purple shine of the moon, stained with gore– it's the image of a vile creature unaffected by this chaos.

We jump on Dom's Speedor and he drives as fast as he can. This is too dangerous– no, everything after the event became dangerous.

He manages to run around the gaps left between the animals, but they close down quickly and leave us with no other choice but to run over a few of them.

A harsh turn to the right forces us out of the mob, but the wolves sprint behind us. We're being hunted!

"Dom! I don't think we can flee from them much longer", I shout from my trembling throat, "They're after us!"

"And what am I supposed to do?"

We look behind us for a second; they're getting closer in less time than we expected.

Cragger squeals, "Use your Golden Chi!"

"You're crazy! I'm not going to do that—"

They begin to gallop at our pace, and one of them latches onto our vehicle.

Dom plugs in his Chi without hesitation– the Speedor speeds like crazy in zig zags, and we get hit by whatever is obstructing us. It rumbles on the bumpy road, but manages to keep its ground.

By a miracle, we find ourselves further near the grasslands. I can see Mount Cavora from here! Now's our chance!

From the top of my lungs, I growl desperately, hoping my cries can be heard nearby.

Dom brakes his Speedor in a drift, which kicks behind a cloud of dust that flinches the wolves cornering us– but this doesn't stop them from approaching in large numbers.

Fog seeps from their eyes. I can see the shine reflecting on their pupils… Their foam drools off their teeth, and their howls echo from the distance, as these menacing creatures crawl on the ground, penetrating their claws into the dirt.

I can't do anything, neither can my friend. We are surrounded, alone, afraid, defenseless.

That's unfortunate.

As I close my eyes shut and squeeze Cragger between my arms, despair seeps into my thoughts and reality.

Sweat drips from my shivering paw pads, freezing at the touch of my friend's cold scales.

if this is my final moment, then so be it.

"Halt! You fiends, stay away from my son!"

This loud, tenacious roar catches the wolves off guard, ceasing their rabid intimidations on the spot.

A swarm of small lion tanks rumble at high speeds, shooting their Chi lasers on everything in sight, as growls and barks screech from around all corners, muffling down the cracking bones of those dead wolves who flew amongst the clouds and crumbled underneath tracks.

The night sky brightens at every spark of light bolting out of their cannons and sizzling the canines' pelts, but a few of the victims manage to jump on top of lion warriors, as if their bodies haven't been mutilated to a crisp.

Loud rumbles shake us– Dom places himself in our front, hiding us from harm behind his giant and glamorous tail feathers.

We're trembling, confused, afraid.

"Woosh, there is no time to waste! Jump!", Lagravis' voice shrills in agony.

The peacock grabs our arms to lift us both, one at a time; seconds after my body is raised, when his plumage brushes off my face, the view reveals itself, with piles of wolf corpses scattered everywhere, drowned under their rancid blood. The damp moon hazes the horizon.

I turn my head around: Eris and Lagravis are standing on his Royal Fighter, he's stretching his hand to grab me.

After my friend is rescued, Dom hops onto the vehicle and hugs us for dear life. We're petrified, from head to toe– eyes shrunken and mouth shut, as we wait for this hell to finish. I hide my face on Woosh's feathers.

This… this is a nightmare. I don't want to be here, their excruciating whimpers haunt me…

Lagravis, while resting on the Lion Temple's throne, presses his fingers against his eyelids in absolute disdain, as I hug his leg, sobbing and trembling. 

We couldn't get enough sleep, even after dawn. The blood, the pile of corpses… all of it kept me awake. I've never seen anything like that, and I wish I didn't.

It all happened so fast; the gunshot, the hysteria, the bloodbath– so many tragedies, and yet… How come? Why?

"My lord", Longtooth kneels before my dad, visibly worried, "I am not in a position to give my input, but…"

"Go forth. Tell me about your findings."

The bodyguard gets up, then walks up to us, before bowing in gratitude.

"There have been two consecutive incidents in the past few days. Isn't that suspicious?"

Dad sighs, his hope gone thin– he can't argue, because that statement wasn't false. Instead, he nods, though in aversion, as he snarls and sticks his hind claws out.

"Yes, that is true. It has only been two nights since my son was attacked.", he stares at point blank, and, in a quick turn, looks at Longtooth with an earth shattering expression, "Are you implying that they're correlated?"

An ominous silence establishes itself in the Throne Room, the harbinger of chaos, a warning. It drowns us in fear, the one that lives inside our anguishing anxiety. Though, it gives us time to think, to plan ahead.

"I believe so. The gunshot was fired by one animal the day after that, and even if we don't have clues about who did it, it's obvious that both actions were made as a threat."

Ah– I've seen this perpetrator before, maybe?...

I add, muttering, "Yesterday, there was a pale green crocodile in the middle of the crowd… He had a long grin."

Lagravis' golden eyes water, as he leans his body to pick me up and places me on top of his lap.. An emotional smile spreads across his muzzle.

He pats my head, silently sobbing, "My son, I'm truly, truly sorry for what happened. I'll make sure to solve everything, whatever it takes."

This morning, my dad decided to inspect the Wolf Lair. Guards caught me by surprise while I was playing with Cragger, and I had no choice but to leave. My friend, who had insisted on following me, hopped onto their vehicle.

The land is barren, lifeless– so arid, in fact, that I can feel its dust grate my feet. My lungs ache a bit everytime I breathe this dry air, but maybe that's because everyone is tucked inside their base, except for Wakz and Winzar, his trusted escort.

Lagravis raises an eyebrow, as he places his hand behind his back.

"Let me ask you a question, Wakz. Have you noticed anyone missing last night, after the Speedor Race ended?"

The elderly wolf tenses up– his ears and tail stiffen in opposite directions, a sign of alertness; he makes eye contact with his guardian, who replies with the same reaction.

Dad takes a step closer to Wakz, glaring at him with the coldest, piercing stare I've ever seen.

After a brief moment of doubt, Winzar approaches my father, stretching his chest, not afraid of the king's presence. The patches of black hair on his muzzle and muscular build are already intimidating enough, even if he's covered with velvety gray fur.

"Your Majesty, do not treat our elder like that.", he growls.

Wakz pats him on the shoulder, "Hush… now is not the time."

He tilts his head downwards, losing himself at the sight of the dry dirt; a million memories seem to flash before him, as he pants in disbelief, unable to move. Terror consumes him whole, desperate by sorrow.

"Lagravis… forgive me for not knowing sooner. Wilhurt is on the loose."

"Wilhurt? Are you serious? He's been gone for years– this isn't a mass murder, but a hundred wolves gone rogue!"

Lagravis covers his face, pinching his nose bridge. Dumbfounded, he huffs; an incident like this surely couldn't be caused by one individual– a force beyond our imagination needed to be what caused this. Wolves can't just snap out of the blue, right?

"Your son was attacked the day before, Lagravis."

Cragger holds his arms together, waving his tail in fear. He's upset enough to leave me and join Wakz' side.

"But I'm asking about yesterday's bloodbath!", Lagravis slips out of his mature mannerisms, folding his face into a macabre yet horrified snarl.

"How hard is it for you to understand that you are threatening Chima?", he raises his voice, failing to maintain his composure, "How could you let all of this happen?"

Wakz pants, hugging Cragger. His entire body is trembling, closed up in dread, as his pale yellow eyes stiffen after that sentence.

"Your pack, Wakz. Think about the hundreds of wolves that died yesterday! They're wreaking havoc all around our lands, and you're here, refusing to do anything!"

I nip my dad's tunic, pressing my tears onto it.

Is… is there a way to stop them? Are we even able to end this war, finish it all without pointing fingers at each other? There needs to be a solution, somewhere. We can't sit still the entire day and expect problems to disappear by themselves.

Dad's tone returns to normal, "Wakz. I will send my guards to monitor your lair. From this day onwards, we will scout every nook and cranny of this place in search of the missing wolves."

"That'd be of great help, if you didn't just accuse our elder of treason!", Winzar barks, holding himself to no lunge on my dad.

In a matter of seconds, Lagravis grabs my hand, ready to leave, as he glares at him. 

"Soldiers, keep an eye on them. I don't have time to waste."

While the moonshine barely manages to spread on the ground, the training area's horizon is painted by its soft light– the painted battlefields shine bright, echoing blood red paint. 

Besides me is the armory, crammed onto the walls of the Lion Temple, where each and every armor produced and displayed has been delicately forged to perfection. Weaponry such as saws, scythes and spears were left here by soldiers after their scheduled training.

"Hey kiddo, right behind you!", this loud, sharp voice emerges from the distance.

I turn around and find myself face to face with my uncle. His disheveled hair looks heavy, falling onto his shoulders. 

He runs at a mannequin, picks it up and brings it over.

"What about we train while your dad's busy? You can't be defenseless for the rest of your life, you'll make Lagravis worried."

My arm is still hurt, I can't go on like this. It… it has been too much.

An itch crawls all over my fur, as the unnerving sensation transforms into the abominable sickness from that time at the Fangs.

"Sorry… I don't want to.", I stutter, "No– I mean, I can't. My body feels weird."

He leans towards my face, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. Seems like he's looking out for signs of illness.

When he gets closer, my skin begins to frost; the cold sweat dripping from my snout bothers me, it tickles and it stings my nerves, so I lick it.

He pokes my snout, "You can't fool me out on this one, buddy! I know you're just nervous. C'mere now."

I equip a silver light armor Lavertus grabbed from the armory, then Lavertus lends me his sword, a Royal Valious, one of the four legendary swords of the Lion Tribe. 

Its magnificent black blade bounces the sunlight off into the faraway sky, reflecting my face onto its shine. No blacksmith in Chima can recreate this beauty without black leochium– a raw, scarce material extracted from the few mines in the middle of Chima. It is actually so strong, it can only be molded in extreme heat, with fire combusted by Chi. Due to its rarity and sheer power, only a few of the Lion Tribe's royal family possess this weapon.

I wield the weapon, admiring its uniqueness and surprising weight. It pushes my wrist down a bit, but I hope this doesn't matter much.

"I'll teach you how to swing that sword with your weak hand."

He kneels, points his wooden sword upwards, before slashing downwards with one hand, then pushing the wood up to the side.

"Repeat after me, Laval."

In synchrony, we kneel, then slash with our sword from down to up—

The hilt of the weapon is heavy enough to pressure my hand from pulling it upwards, which makes me fall and cut the mannequin in an ungraceful manner.

With a mediocre final result, the unrecognizable mannequin remains frozen, unaware that its insides of cotton scatter away into the ashes of a corpse.

Its only purpose was to embody the fragility of oneself, a weakness that forces our soul to remain captive inside us: life's ephemeral existence. It is by no means alive– but it's supposed to represent an animal, the enemy, as a target, one that's waiting patiently to be killed. If this sword, prized heritage from my family, is capable of obliterating this doll, then what could it do to someone else? Why am I being trained to murder people?

Is this what strength truly is? Destruction? I don't think I can do this – every fiber of my body paralyzes at the mere thought of it. 

Lavertus worryingly looks at me, "Yo, buddy…", he murmurs, "are you okay? You look pale."

I breathe deeply. What should I do?...

"Uncle Lavertus, do you think that there's another way to solve problems without resorting to violence?"

I let go of the Royal Valious, and it bounces a fee times before sinking into the dirt ground.

His muzzle falls open, eyebrows skyrocket; he's clearly never seen me like this. 

He sighs, "I know I'm a commander… but war really rubs me the wrong way, you know?"

He itches his head, shaking his tail sideways.

"But if someone tried to attack us, we'd have no choice but to defend ourselves. That's what my brother ordered me to do, teach you to—"

"...Why? Why do we need to use brute force? Why can't I be the Lion Temple's shield? If this is how it is, I'll leave."

Taglist: @fenth-eiria @aspiringfictionwriter @deadhunter-series @jasper-the-menace @tigeryasou @olive-riggzey @fretgoon

(@rekinus20 and @the-lesbian-demon-queen1 I unfortunately couldn't tag, but I'll try to fix this soon).

[quickspinner]

Even Superheroes Need a Hand

Normally I don't do great with word count limits (or word count goals) but I thought the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers minific challenge might be a good chance to try getting some mojo back. Instead of checking my word count I did a timed sprint, but apparently I gave myself a little too much time because I still came out well above word count.

I also kind of fizzled out at the end, not sure exactly where to go (probably should have rewatched the NY special bus scene, but I was too lazy).

But, I figure any writing is better than no writing, right?

No edits, just brain dump.

Fictober prompt Day 1: "It's not too late, let's go."

Even Superheroes Need a Hand

She was panicking. She could feel it in the way her heart felt like it was shoving up into her throat and choking her, still beating wildly the whole time. She was so stupid, she knew better, why did this always happen, why couldn’t she be on time for just one day—

Think. She needed to think. Solve the problem, that’s what we do right? Marinette put one hand on her purse, but guilt stopped her. There had to be another solution, Tikki wouldn’t like it if she just—but what else was she supposed to do? A taxi—did she have enough money for a—

“Marinette?” 

Her head snapped up, and she found herself staring up at Luka, who was standing with one foot on the ground and the other still on the pedal of his bicycle. His brow furrowed in concern even as he looked at her. “Weren’t you supposed to go on your school trip today?” he asked. “I thought that’s why Juleka left early, to catch the bus.”

Marinette slumped, ashamed, and whipped her hand away from her purse to rub at the back of her head. “I—” Even as she stuttered out an explanation, she could see Luka taking in her suitcase and putting together what must have happened.

Her babbled explanation was cut off by the click of his kickstand as he got off of his bike. “Come on, it’s not too late, let’s go.”

“What? But Luka—” Marinette began protesting, even as Luka was loading her bag on the luggage rack. “You can’t ride all the way to the airport!” 

“I could try,” Luka grinned. “But I think I can catch the bus before it come to that. It couldn’t have left too long ago, right?” He was still moving, even as he was talking, and Marinette took the pink helmet he handed her without thinking.

“Luka, I can’t ask you to do that—” she began, but he was already straddling the bike again. She took the hand he offered without thinking, climbing onto the bike seat. “You can’t catch up to a bus—” 

“In this city?” Luka snorted. “Bet you I can. Hold on, though, it might not be the smoothest ride.” 

“This is insane,” Marinette moaned as she put her arms around his waist. “You’ll be late for school!”

Luka just shot a grin back at her and started the bike with a hefty push. “Here we go.” 

Marinette moaned to herself, and held on tighter. 

The ride was a blur. It was hard to see much beyond Luka’s back anyway, and between the crisis and the bump of the bike Marinette’s brain was too rattled to process what was going on. Luka whipped into alleys she hadn’t even known were there a heartbeat before he turned, and Marinette clamped her teeth to keep from squealing and distracting him. He didn’t have much breath for talk, anyway, and some corner of her mind found the time to be impressed, not only at how well he knew the city’s back ways, but at the way he was thinking on the fly to find them a route that would, she hoped, eventually intersect the bus. Then they hit another bump and Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, clinging to Luka and praying for heavy traffic on the main roads.

“We’re going to make it,” he told her as her hands tightened on his shirt. “Don’t worry.” 

Marinette laughed weakly, and as a downhill slope gave him a chance to glide, he looked over his shoulder and shot her a reassuring smile. 

She had to smile back.

She was too overwhelmed in the moment to take in everything that was happening, but that night, she would call him, babbling apologies, promising him pastries, and anxiously asking how long it had taken him to get home. He laughed at her concerns, admitted he was a little sore but he had taken his time getting home, stopping by some shops in that area of the city. He’d gotten his mom to call him in sick, so as long as his classmates didn’t rat him out, he wouldn’t be in too much trouble.