#glowering at each other over Eric's head

[ollierachnid]

I just know they cannot stand each other

[thrillridesz]

no other ▫ sunwoo

➳ pairing: sunwoo x older!reader ➳ genre: fluff ➳ word count: 2.7k ➳ requested?: yes

“Does this look good on me?” 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, it does.”

Sunwoo narrowed his eyes at Eric, who was sitting on the bed and clearly too preoccupied with his video game to pay much attention to whatever he was asking him. So much for having a second opinion from Eric. 

“Wow, your opinions are so useful,” he bit out each word in a sarcastic tone, feeling more irritated by the second as Eric waved a hand nonchalantly without even tearing his eyes away from the screen for even a millisecond.

“Don’t mention it.”

Before Eric even had the time to react, a pillow was hurtled towards his head at a speed that would make even professional football stars kowtow. Alarmed, Eric dropped his phone onto the floor with a loud clatter as he glared at Sunwoo.

“What was that for?”

“The least you could was give me your honest opinion. Seriously, I don’t think I’m asking for much here.” The latter replied dryly, his expression void of any form of remorse. “I didn’t ask you over to play games on your phone while I model in front of you like an idiot.”

Rubbing his face, Eric groaned, “All of this just for a date?”

Sunwoo glowered at his words and a steady, growing heat crept up to his cheeks.

“You know how much I’ve been looking forward to this date with y/n.”

“Yeah but still.” Eric shot back, picking up his phone and inspecting it for cracks. When he found none, he heaved a deep sigh of relief. “Man, if there were any cracks, I would have had your neck.”

“Oh please, I could you take out in a minute.”

Sunwoo had to resist the urge to shake him as he kept his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Sometimes, hanging out with Eric felt like he was voluntarily giving up years of his life while trying not to lose his temper. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the mirror and focused on his outfit. He can’t afford to get anymore creases on his forehead because of Eric of all people.

Red flannel, denim jeans and black converse sneakers. Scrunching up his nose in distaste, he asked, “Do you think I’d look better if I...” - he reached over to his cupboard and grabbed a black beanie, placing it over his head - “Wear it with the beanie or without?”

Eric regarded him for a second, pursing his lips as if deep in thought.

“Without. For sure, without the beanie.”

“Thank you,” Sunwoo rolled his eyes. “For being actually helpful for once.” Tossing the beanie to the side, he mussed up his hair and frowned as he scrutinised himself in the mirror. Seemingly unsatisfied, he flattened his hair again and noticed Eric’s incredulous expression from the reflection.

“This is honestly the first time I’ve seen you care so much about something.”

“Well obviously, you don’t know me enough if you’re saying that. I care about a lot of things.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Just not me, huh.”

“Yeah, nah. You’re not worth my time.”

Eric clutched onto his heart and wailed in a fake cry, “Ouch. I’m hurt.”

That was the thing about Eric. He was always able to make him smile no matter what. Smiling, Sunwoo quipped, “Stop being dramatic.”

“Why are you so hung up over this anyways?” Eric questioned as he laid back on the bed. “It’s just a date.”

Sunwoo stiffened. He couldn't possibly tell Eric that this was his first date ever. He would never hear the end of it. 

“Yeah, sure. It's just a date but it’s with y/n.” As he said that, his expression softened as his thoughts drifted to you. 

The two of you had met on his first day at school as a new transfer student. He wasn’t what you would call a model student and he certainly didn’t look the part. With a scruffy demeanor and unkempt hair, nobody had really dared to approach him. It didn’t help that there were rumours flying around that he had only transfer to your school because he had gotten in serious trouble in his previous one. 

Students avoided talking to him and teachers would regard him with caution and suspicion in their eyes. It wasn’t like Sunwoo cared all that much about what people thought about him but deep down, it did hurt a little although he would never admit it. As he packed up his stuff at the end of the day, his ears picked up on the sound of whisperings not too far from him.

“I heard he beat up a guy in his old school...”

“Really? That’s terrible....”

When he turned, the group of students jumped and immediately dispersed as if a single glance from him was enough to scare them off. Although there was an expression of indifference on his face, he gripped tightly onto the straps of his backpack as he made his way past them. It was almost comical how they inched out of the way while he walked by. The day had gone by quietly as humanely possible and not one single moment, did Sunwoo ever open his mouth to make conversation with someone else. 

“Whatever. Their loss,” He thought to himself, a bitter taste in his mouth. Rounding a corner, he walked smack into someone and various art supplies spilled out from the box the student was carrying. 

“I’m so sorry! I should have been looking!” You apologised, a flustered look on your face as you held your hands out to help him.

“You should really watch where you’re going.” He replied, frowning as he dusted flecks of dried paint from his sleeves. Bending down to help you pick up the fallen supplies, he got his first good look at you and nearly lost his balance.

Woah.

He always did have many admirers and have been on the receiving end of quite a few confessions, all of which he appreciated but did not reciprocate. None of them have ever managed to get him to feel how you made him feel within seconds. As you smiled at him and reached out to take the sketchbook from his hands, Sunwoo felt a jolt of electricity run through him when your finger briefly touched his. That beautiful, kind smile of yours did things to his heart and for a moment, he thought himself to be crazy. 

What is this feeling?

“Thank you! I’m really sorry about that by the way, I guess I wasn’t looking. I’ll see you!” You said with a sheepish smile, wrapping your arms around the large box piled high with brushes, palettes and drawing materials. The box was clearly too big for your frame and you struggled to get a proper, firm grip around it. The contents inside the box were dangerously close to spilling out as you balanced it precariously in your arms. He stood stock still as he watched you walk away before he shook himself back to his senses. 

“W-Wait!”

Since you couldn’t turn back without risking everything from falling out again, you could only crane your head back. 

“Yeah?”

Sunwoo willed himself to approach you although his legs were starting to feel like jelly and his heart was pounding so furiously against his chest. This was the first time he felt so nervous around someone else, yet there was also a strangely warm feeling he couldn’t help but crave already. 

When you looked him in the eye, he actually felt his heart stutter and there was short pause as he struggled to find words to say. 

“Can I help you?”

“I... No, I was just wondering if you needed help with those?” He asked, holding out his hands. You beamed at his offer but shook your head.

“It’s alright! I’ve got this. Thank you so much for offering though,” you replied, heaving the box up a little higher when a paintbrush slid dangerously close to the edge.

“I insist.” He smiled shakily.

Sunwoo later found out that you were a part of school’s art club and even though he didn’t have an ounce of artistic talent or drawing skills in him, he put his name down on the sign up sheet anyways. Seeing you at every art meet would be the highlight of his day and after that first run in, you had recognised him and struck up a conversation with him before he could talk to you. Internally, he was glad that you did because it meant that he wouldn’t need to worry about messing up in front of you yet on the other hand, his heart was almost bursting with anxiety. 

The two of you grew close as the days passed and because of your friendship with Sunwoo, people started being less intimidated by him. People were starting to talk to him or even invite him out on outings. If it wasn’t already impossible, he felt himself liking you more and more as the days went by. Before long, he found himself working up the courage to ask you out. 

This was a tricky thing for him since firstly, he had never been on a date and secondly, you were older than he was. When he had told Eric, the one person he trusted second to you that he harboured a crush on you, the man had burst out laughing. There was a certain sort of stigma in school around liking a senior if you were a guy yet Sunwoo didn’t care. Why should age be a factor in liking someone?

When he had finally worked up the courage to ask you out, he almost chickened out at the last minute. What if you rejected him? What if he somehow messed this up? Sunwoo wasn’t a guy who easily got shaken or afraid but when it came to this, he would honestly have much rather leap off a cliff than go through the jitters of it all. 

One can only imagine the sheer joy and relief he felt when you uttered the answer he so desperately wanted to hear from you.

“Yes. Of course, I would love to go on a date with you!”

Call him a drama king but it was like fireworks erupting around him when you said yes. You know that feeling when you ace a test when you thought you had messed it up once and for all? That was exactly how he felt. That joy was short-lived however, as he realised with a start that he had to now impress on the date.

“I just really want this date to go well.” Sunwoo declared firmly, straightening and giving his reflection a final once over. 

“Alright, dude. Good luck!”

Grabbing his keys and fixing his shirt, he asked absent-mindedly, “What’s the time anyways?”

Eric squinted at the time displayed on the digital clock at the bedside table. “It’s 1:16pm.”

Wait... What?

Immediately, the colour disappeared from Sunwoo’s face as he turned to look at the time. The red digits on the clock stare back at him and he felt his stomach churn. He was supposed to meet you at 1:30pm at the cafe!

“Oh. Oh, hell no. I’m late!” He shrieked frantically as he made a mad dash for the door, almost tripping over his own foot.

“Classic. I’ll just carry on with my game,” Eric yawned, picking up his phone as the door closed behind him.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Crouching over with his hands on his knees, Sunwoo could hear his heart beating in his ear as he gasped for air.

He might have busted a lung but he didn’t really care. As he panted, he whipped out his phone to check the time.

1:45pm. Fuck. He’s 15 minutes late to the date.

Quickly, Sunwoo pushed open the door to the café and his eyes immediately brightened at the sight of you sitting at a corner near the window. Mentally, he willed himself to calm down as he tried to steady his breathing. His hair was sticking in all directions, his entire body was sweaty and his face was red and blotchy from exertion but he didn’t have a choice. He had to make do.

“Y/n!” He called out, voice slightly trembling from his nerves.

You turned around at his voice and smiled, causing his heart to clench. Why do you always have to look so beautiful? It’s not fair. You always look so effortlessly amazing and he’s just a sweaty, nervous wreck whenever you were around.

Grinning brightly, Sunwoo started towards you. He should really have seen the guy incoming on his left but he realised that a little too late when he felt the boiling hot chocolate drink spill out onto the front of his shirt.

It took him a split second to react and with a yelp, he probably made himself look like a total clown as he scrambled back, wringing his sore hands of the sweet, hot liquid.

Gasps could be heard and as Sunwoo clutched onto his reddened hand and grazed his fingers over his burned waist, he couldn’t help but feel extremely embarrassed. His hand and waist may feel like it’s burning but it was nothing compared to the heat in his cheeks. So much for a perfect first date and with you no less. He was sure he’d made a fool of himself right there and then.

He barely even registered it when you rushed forward, a look of concern on your face as you held his hand.

“Oh my god, are you ok? We need to get you some ointment immediately!” You said as you held onto his hand.

Sunwoo nodded quietly with face was downcast as though he couldn’t bear to look you in the eye.

The two of you sat underneath a giant oak tree at the park as he lifted up his shirt to expose his raw, now angrily red torso.

Your eyes widened as you realised just how toned and chiseled he was but quickly masked it over as you squeeze out a dollop of burn cream onto your fingers. Dabbing gingerly at his wound, you hesitated as he flinched, his teeth gritted in pain as you made contact.

“Does it hurt a lot?” You asked softly.

“Um... Yeah, a little,” he replied in a small voice, his eyes avoiding yours. There was a pause before he added, “Look, I’m really sorry for how this date turned out.”

You stopped what you were doing and gazed up at him in total shock. What was he saying?

Sunwoo’s face was turned away as he continued on.

“It’s all my fault this date is ruined and I know you probably don’t expect much from me but this must have been even lower than your lowest expectations. I may be younger but I swear I can be as good as the seniors, it’s just that today just wasn’t the day I guess. I showed up late, clowned myself-”

You quickly placed a finger over his plump lips, shushing him immediately as he gazed at you in surprise.

“Don’t say another word! This isn’t your fault, Sunwoo. Please don’t blame yourself.” You said in a tone of disbelief. To think he would beat himself up over this was completely beyond you.

His eyes softened and he murmured against your finger.

“Weely?”

The feeling of his moving lips on your skin felt searing hot as you withdrew your finger, your body tingling at the sensation and blood rushing to your cheeks.

“Yes. There is no other like you. I wouldn’t have traded this date in for the world.” You smiled as you watched his lips tug into a huge, genuine beam.

“That... That meant a lot to me... Thank you.” He whispered, suddenly shy.

You can only chuckle at how cute he was before you stood up, holding out a hand.

“Let’s just enjoy our day together, okay? We could start by shopping for a new shirt.” You laughed, gesturing vaguely at the large darkened stain on his shirt.

Sunwoo looked up at you. The sunlight was shining on the side of your face and it brought out the liveliness in your eyes, your hair framing your face in the most elegant way possible. If you didn't already look beautiful in his eyes, you certainly were now. 

He felt his heart flutter wildly and he grinned as he clasped his hand with yours.

“Okay.”

[writingfortoomanyfandoms]

Penny For Your Thoughts (III)

Pairing: Young!Sirius Black x Reader

Series Summary: Y/N Y/L/N has lived in the Potter household since she was eight years old. Even amongst the Potters, whom she knew loved her, she has never felt truly accepted, never felt like anything other than a burden. Until she went to Hogwarts. For the first time she had friends who weren’t forced to act as such, she had a family who loved her by choice. There, she met Sirius, the first and only person to ever truly understand what she was going through, to listen to her and not judge.

Chapter Warnings: Ummm not sure - maybe swearing?

A/N: And here’s part three! I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think - especially if you’re on the taglist, hearing your comments always inspires me to keep on writing, so please do let me know. If you wish to be added to the taglist send me an ASK, replies to the parts asking to be added onto it won’t be responded to

The first term flew by, the days becoming indistinguishable from each other as the First Years got set more and more work. Y/N spent a lot of her time in the library, working on essays or studying for upcoming exams, often joined by the other Hufflepuff girls with whom she had formed a close friendship with - Eric having slowly fazed himself out of the group to spend more time with the other boys. 

When she wasn’t there, however, she spent much of her time near the forest, often dragging Beatrice along with her in search of magical creatures, fascinated by the many species that resided in the Hogwarts grounds. Hagrid, the gameskeeper, had taken a liking to Y/N and would sometimes invite her to tea with him if he had found something that he thought she may find particularly interesting, though had so far steadfastly refused to take her into the forest with him, regardless of her pleas.

She was also accustomed - as was the Hufflepuff way - to spending a lot of time in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout, especially with Beatrice and Jessica’s love for Herbology. 

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were always together. Whenever Y/N saw one of them, she knew that the others wouldn’t be far behind - James and Sirius in particular seemed to be inseparable, much to the infuriation of the teachers.   

Y/N learned the exact extent to which James found himself in trouble through the letters she received from his parents, which often included great lamentations about James’ work ethic - or lack thereof.

Y/N was happy at Hogwarts. Happier than she felt she had ever been before. 

Her favourite place to sit in the library was in the back right corner. It was a table right by a window that overlooked the whole of the grounds. It was out of sight from the strict librarian, Madam Pince, which allowed more leeway for her to be able to chat quietly with her friends over whatever work they happened to be completing. 

It was also quieter than other areas, on account of it being the opposite end of the library to where James and his friends would frequent on the rare occasions that they decided to do some actual work. 

“I don’t know why you think you need help with this,” Liane murmured, her eyes scanning down Y/N’s potions essay. “This is completely fine,” she slid it back to Y/N over the table who sighed, still editing Liane’s Astronomy homework.

“I still think it’s verging on cheating you doing that,” Jessica told them, her nose buried in her Defence Against the Dark Arts Book. 

“It’s not cheating, it's just a little… morally ambiguous,” Liane protested and Beatrice snorted.

“I’m sure that would hold up in court,” she commented, sharing an amused glance with Y/N.

“Well… to be fair, it’s not as though we’re writing each other’s essays - we’re just checking them through,” Y/N pointed out. “You really suck at writing conclusions, by the way,” she added, raising her eyebrows at Liane who shrugged.

“Never claimed to be good at it.”

Y/N pulled out a spare piece of parchment and began to re-write a conclusion for her.

“Totally not writing each other’s essays,” Beatrice agreed.

“It’s funny - I don’t remember you being so against it when you needed help doing the Potions one last week,” Liane pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

“That was different,” Beatrice scowled. Y/N tried to suppress her grin but upon meeting Jessica’s eyes across the table, both of them promptly fell into a fit of giggles.

“And you’re always telling me to be quiet in the library,” James whisper-shouted, causing Y/N to jump and glare over at where he was standing by one of the bookshelves, arms folded as he watched them.

“At least we’re actually doing work,” Y/N retorted.

“To be fair - we only come here,” he looked distastefully at the bookshelves surrounding him, “because of Remus - so one of us does work.”

“Your Mum’ll be thrilled you made friends with Remus, probably thinks he’ll be a good influence on you,” Y/N responded drily.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Y/L/N, come on - I need to talk to you.”

“No surprise there - I’m pretty great, many, many people want to talk to me at all times.” 

“And we’re not some of them,” Beatrice stated, pushing her friend’s shoulder. Y/N scoffed and rolled her eyes but stood from the table and walked with James to the nearest empty one.

“What’s up?”

“Evans-”

“Did you really corner me in the library again to tell me that you had some intimate eye contact with Lily? What was it this time? Breathed the same air? Almost touched hands? She didn’t tell you to piss off?” Y/N groaned.

“I mean - ouch?” James said, looking mildly offended. “And no - she spoke to me, thank you very much,” James said, raising his chin defiantly at her.

“I’m thrilled for you, I’ll get right on the wedding preparations,” Y/N deadpanned.

“That’s not the point,” James muttered, his cheeks flushing red. “We were talking about the Christmas holidays and she mentioned that you were thinking of staying here for them.”

Y/N froze. She hadn’t intended for James to hear about her plans for Christmas yet. She was going to tell him nearer the time, when he would have less of a chance to argue with her and convince her otherwise.

“Well?”

“It was just a passing comment, Jamie,” she denied, using his nickname in an attempt to soften him up a little.

“Y/N, I know you better than anyone,” James reminded her in a low voice and Y/N found herself unable to meet his eyes, far too embarrassed.

“James-”

“Don’t stay here,” James said, his tone verging on pleading. “Just don’t.”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“You wouldn’t be!” James argued and Y/N shushed him as his voice began to raise. 

“We’re in the library, remember?” She whispered harshly.

“Then stop being stupid!” James retorted angrily, setting his jaw.

“Excuse you!” 

“Well you are being stupid!” James insisted. “My parents will be so upset if you don’t go home for Christmas! It won’t be right!”

Y/N stared down at the table for a while, feeling the tears burning in her eyes, blinking rapidly to keep them at bay. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” James asked in a gentle voice.

Y/N looked up at him with a watery smile and James gave her a sad one in response. 

“I’m sorry for shouting but… I’m being serious, Y/N, you have to come home for Christmas!” He pleaded. 

“But-”

“No buts!” James shouted, annoyance flaring again immediately. 

“Mr Potter!” Madame Pince came storming over to their table, glowering at them. 

“Sorry Miss!” Y/N butted in before James could aggravate her further but it didn’t seem to do any help and instead her murderous glare turned onto her.

“Both of you! Out!”

“But-”

“No! I said out!” She shrieked shrilly, waving her wand and gathering Y/N’s things for her from the table where her Hufflepuff friends were sitting watching the exchange in amusement. She gave her wand another wave and Y/N’s belongings were shooting over to her, chasing both her and James out of the library to the laughter of their peers. 

“Nice going, dickhead,” Y/N huffed, managing to catch her bag and she glared at James. 

“You can’t stay here for the holidays,” James said instead, a pained look in his eyes that caused her to feel a bite of guilt in her gut. 

“I thought that was going to take longer?” A voice commented and Y/N looked over to see Remus smiling at her, standing with Peter and Sirius, sitting by the window nearest the entrance of the library evidently waiting for James to return. 

“What? Getting me kicked out of the library?” Y/N retorted. 

“You act like you’ve never been kicked out before, Badger,” Sirius commented, familiar smirk at the ready. 

“Sorry to disappoint you, Star Boy, but I haven’t.”

“Disappointed,” Sirius confirmed with a solemn nod of his head. “But not surprised.”

“James said he was asking for help with the Astronomy Essay - I thought it would take longer is all,” Remus butted in with a placating smile in Y/N’s direction, which she appreciated.

“Yeah well unfortunately James is beyond help - a complete lost cause and when I told him that he decided to get me kicked out of the library with him,” Y/N gave James a sidelong look, attempting to hide her grin. 

“Tosser.”

“I wanted to ask you something, by the way,” Sirius mentioned, looking at Y/N who raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. “What were you doing down by the Forbidden Forest yesterday evening?”

Y/N brightened at his question, a broad grin swiftly cracking her face in two. 

“Hagrid was showing me his nifflers!” She exclaimed

“That doesn’t sound dodgy at all,” Sirius commented and Remus hit his shoulder lightly as Peter burst out laughing. 

“I didn’t realise Hagrid had nifflers,” Remus said, looking interested at the news.

“Yeah! Some babies recently hatched so he asked if I wanted to help take care of them.”

Before any of the others could respond, Peter’s stomach rumbled loudly. James looked as though he was trying his hardest not to laugh at him.

“I guess we should start heading down to dinner,” he suggested and Y/N smiled at Peter’s bright red cheeks.

“You guys go ahead,” Y/N gestured at the four Gryffindor boys to pass her, indicating that she was planning on waiting for her own friends to leave the library. James fixed her with a warning look.

“Come on, I still need to talk to you,” he grabbed hold of one of her arms and dragged her along the corridor with him so that they were walking side-by-side together towards the Great Hall, a few metres ahead of his other friends. Y/N could feel the eyes of the other three boring into her back, wondering what they were discussing.

“Way to be subtle,” Y/N hissed and James scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“I can’t believe you’re seriously considering staying here for Christmas.”

“We’re really back on this?” Y/N groaned and James glared at her.

“Of course we are!” 

“Jamie-”

“No! I mean… it won’t be right without you there.”

“You’ve spent Christmases without me there before,” Y/N pointed out and James squeezed her arm, trying his best to comfort her.

“Not since…”

“I know,” Y/N breathed, shaking her head a little and attempting to collect herself. 

“I figured I’d be less of an inconvenience here.”

She could feel James watching her but refused to look over at him.

“That’s not how they see you.”

“I know,” Y/N agreed, a slight smile forming. “But it’s how I see myself.”

“Evans!” It was shouted from behind them, Sirius’ loud exclamation cutting off her and James and Y/N immediately felt the heavy atmosphere between them lift. They shared an understanding look, James grinning at her nervously and Y/N nudging his shoulder in return.

“Surprised your Lily-Radar wasn’t beeping,” she teased.

“My Lilydar is working perfectly fine thank you,” James retorted. “I just figured you might want my undivided attention seeing as though -” James let out a long, drawn out sigh. “I have so many other friends now and have so little time for you anymore.”

“You’re such a dick.” 

“Hey Y/N!” Lily ignored Sirius’ greeting, making her way over to Y/N’s side and linking their arms together.

“You alright?” 

“Yeah! You?”

“I was fine until James interrupted my studying and got me kicked out of the library,” Y/N agreed, grinning at the distasteful look that Lily shot at James.

“I’m surprised he even knows where the library is, to be honest with you.”

“Wow, Evans, bit rude,” Sirius commented, catching up with the trio. He turned his gaze onto Y/N. “Sit with us?”

“I’m not Gryffindor.”

“So? Live a little, Badger.”

“How hard do you think it would be for me to push him into the Black Lake?”

“I think even the Giant Squid would be disgusted by his company.”

“Anyone would think you two don’t like me,” Sirius teased, throwing his arm over Y/N shoulder and she turned her head to look at him in amusement.

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

They entered into the Great Hall and Y/N allowed herself to be guided by her Gryffindor friends over to their table rather than the Hufflepuff one. She could see Eric sitting there with the other boys in their year, his eyes watching her in confusion as she took her seat in between Lily and Sirius, James sitting opposite her with Remus and Peter either side of him.

The other Gryffindor girls joined them shortly after and Y/N saw her Hufflepuff friends walk into the Great Hall just behind them. Beatrice frowned over at the Hufflepuff table, her eyes glancing around the room. Y/N raised her hand to gain her attention and Beatrice beamed, saying something to Liane and Jessica before moving over towards Y/N.

“Can I sit here?” She asked Remus, who smiled and nodded his head, moving up a little on the bench to make room for her. 

“Beatrice, you’re half-blood aren’t you?” Marlene asked, bringing the girl into a conversation that was being held between the Gryffindor girls. Beatrice looked over in surprise.

“Yeah?”

“Which side?”

“What do you mean?” Beatrice laughed, clearly uncomfortable. She glanced over at Y/N who shrugged, equally confused.

“Is it your mum or your dad who can do magic?” Marlene clarified. 

“Oh - my dad,” Beatrice said. 

“And your mum - how much does she know about wizards?” 

“Does it matter?” Beatrice frowned and Marlene’s eyes widened, clearly realising what her questioning was sounding like.

“No! No of course not!” She assured her. “I didn’t mean it like that - Dorcas and I were just wondering how much muggles get to know about the wizarding world when they’re introduced to it like that.”

“My mum never had much interest,” Beatrice said, looking down at her plate and swallowing.

“Really? My parents never stop asking me questions,” Lily inputted with a laugh.

“What about your sister, though? She didn’t get any magic did she?” Alice questioned curiously and Lily’s face fell a little.

“No - she’s not particularly interested,” Lily confirmed, an icy edge to her voice.

“None of my family were either,” Y/N piped up, not thinking of the consequences her input would have, just knowing that her two friends definitely wanted the attention to move off of them.

“I thought you came from a wizarding family?” It was Peter who spoke, staring at Y/N wide-eyed. Y/N caught James’ eye and saw the concern etched into his face.

“Ah - no, I’m muggleborn.” She answered shortly.

“Then how come you know James so well?” Sirius asked and Y/N could feel the eyes of everyone at the table staring at her as she kept her eyes trained on her food, which she was slowly cutting up into smaller and smaller bites. 

“Told you,” Y/N risked a glance over at him, forcing a smile. “Childhood friends.”

“My mum was always really interested to hear about magic,” Remus spoke up at last. Y/N looked up at him to see he was looking back at her with a slight smile on his face, which she returned gratefully.

“You’re muggleborn as well?” Marlene asked which made Remus laugh as he shook his head, a somewhat shy expression taking over his face, giving Y/N the distinct impression that Remus was unused to having the attention on him, especially when he was around James and Sirius. 

“No - my dad’s a wizard.”

The rest of dinner passed quickly, with the Gryffindor students exchanging anecdotes about their family lives, what it was like growing up in a muggle household compared to a wizarding one - Beatrice and Y/N both remained fairly silent, occasionally chipping in when it seemed appropriate.

Sirius, to Y/N’s surprise, did the same. After being questioned by Marlene over what his family of traditionalist purebloods were like, he fell silent. This didn’t seem to go unnoticed by James either, who Y/N caught looking at both Sirius and herself with a concerned expression. 

“Hey, B, you finished? I need to finish that essay.” 

Beatrice looked at her in confusion, aware that Y/N had already finished all her homework but realisation dawned on her quickly and she stood from the table.

“Yeah - you said you’d help with my Astronomy one as well?”

“Of course,” Y/N could tell her smile must seem slightly strained as she stood up. “Well… see you guys around.”

They walked in silence towards their common room, about half way there, however, Beatrice turned to look at her, a sadness in her dark eyes. 

“I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

“What?” Y/N asked in surprise. 

Beatrice’s smile was fixed on, humourless and Y/N saw the wetness in her eyes.

“My dad died when I was younger,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and moving her eyes to stare ahead at the corridor. “I don’t remember much about him - my sister remembers nothing at all.” Beatrice swallowed heavily and Y/N stared at her. “My mum was torn up and doesn’t like to be… reminded of him,” she was choosing her words carefully. 

Despite Beatrice being a fair bit taller than Y/N, she did her best to comfort her, placing her arm first around her shoulder and then, when Beatrice let out a wet laugh, moving it instead to be placed around her waist, giving her friend an awkward side-hug as they walked together towards their common room.

“So you didn’t know much about magic growing up?” Y/N said and Beatrice nodded.

“We weren’t allowed to ask questions - the word ‘Hogwarts’ was practically banned. I don’t think Mum would’ve even told us we were witches if it weren’t for our Grandma interfering.”

“I’m sorry, B,” the dark-skinned girl rested her head on top of Y/N’s briefly and Y/N could feel her tears dropping onto her hair. 

“I… I live with James.”Beatrice looked at her, pulling out of their awkward hug to wipe her eyes.

“I thought he wasn’t your brother?”

“He’s not,” Y/N rushed to confirm, her face twisting a little as she tried to think of what to say. 

“I’ve lived with the Potters since I was eight? Maybe seven,” Y/N shrugged, glancing down. “I don’t remember much about it.”

“What about your family?” Beatrice asked in almost a whisper.

“I see my parents every now and then,” Y/N said, her voice monotone. “I haven’t seen my siblings much, though - it’s a long story,” she added, seeing the intrigue in Beatrice’s face.

“Are you okay?”

Y/N forced a smile at her and nodded.

“I am now.”

[whump-mania]

I Will Survive

Something a little different from what I usually write! This is a songfic inspired by “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. I made some new characters for this one, not sure if I’ll ever use them anywhere else. Enjoy! (This is a long one)

TW: domestic abuse, implied noncon attempt, dubcon, nonconsensual kissing/touching, cursing, gaslighting, use of slurs (sl*t)

~

The crowd was silent. All eyes on him. A bright, burning spotlight shining down on him. Everyone was waiting in quiet anticipation for the first note. Tyler steadied his breathing and focused on the sheet music in front of him. His fingers rested lightly on the keys of first chord of the song. A breath. A glance into the crowd. Alex was there, smiling at him. A surge of confidence flowed through Tyler as he turned back to the piano. 

He struck the first chord, which sent him into a flurry of notes arpeggiating up to the end of the intro. A nod to his bandmates sent him into the first verse of the song.

“At first I was afraid, I was petrified...Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side...”

~

“N-No, I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean it, I love y-”

“Shut the FUCK up, Tyler!” Eric was filled with rage. He had just pushed his boyfriend down onto the ground of the kitchen, Tyler’s now broken phone on the hard tile next to him.

It was all started by a text. A text that Tyler sent to his new friend, Alex. A bartender at the bar they performed at with their jazz band. He had been so kind to Tyler, coming up to him after the performance and telling him he had never heard someone play the piano as well as him. Eric was putting his trumpet away when he noticed the two talking, and he kept a wary eye on the bartender since then.

Tyler was just saying hello. He was just asking him if he wanted to meet up for coffee. As friends. That's when Eric found the texts messages and lost it, accusing Tyler of cheating on him.

“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” Eric accused. “You think I’m not good enough for you, huh?!” 

Tyler shook his head rapidly. “No! No, please, I was just being friendly, I-”

“I don’t think I can be with you if you’re gonna be a slut,” Eric spat. “Have fun with your new boytoy.” Eric turned and left Tyler on the floor, taking his own things and heading for the door. 

“Wait! E-Eric, please!” Tyler scrambled off the floor and grabbed Eric’s arm. “I’ll do anything, please, d-don’t leave me...I love you...” 

Eric glared at him, not even needing to think about his next move. Everything was going according to plan. “Would you block him? Would you never speak to him again?” His voice dropped to a lower, vulnerable tone. 

Tyler nodded immediately. “Yes, yes, I promise, I won't even think about him, just please don’t leave...I-I’m sorry...” Tyler fell to his knees and sobbed. 

Eric grabbed Tyler’s broken phone from the floor, handing it to the sobbing form on the tile. Tyler took it instantly and deleted Alex’s contact with shaking hands. Eric smiled and embraced him.

“Good boy...I love you so much, Ty.” He stroked his boyfriend’s hair, calming his sobs. “Shh, I’m here.” Tyler melted, falling in love all over again.

~

Tyler’s eyes shut closed as he sang the next lyric.

“But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong...and I learned how to get along...”

~

“He’s using you, you know.” Alex frowned at the man in front of him. 

Tyler and Alex were at the bar. Alex was working and Tyler had just finished his set. This was the only time they could see each other without Eric knowing: Eric was sick at home with the flu, and couldn’t perform in the gig. Tyler sipped his drink nervously.

“Maybe he is. Maybe he doesn’t even love me.” He took a shaky breath. “But I think I still love him, you know? And he’s my lead trumpet, and the band can’t survive without him...I-I can’t just...leave.”

Alex became more upset, but held it in so he wouldn’t upset Tyler. “I know it’s hard to leave a relationship like that.” He reached over and held his hand. “But I’m here to help you. I can stay with you the whole time, so he can’t hurt you.”

Tyler looked into Alex’s eyes. He couldn’t help but be reassured by the concerned, caring look in those brown eyes. A look he barely saw from Eric anymore, a look he had to work for. Tyler furrowed his eyebrows and nodded.

“Okay.”

~

“...And so you're back!”

Tyler tapped his foot, feeling a new rush of confidence as the rest of his band struck up and the lights shone on all of them.

“From outer space...I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face. I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key, if I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me...”

He pounded the keys of the piano, not even needing to look at the sheet music. He knew exactly what he was supposed to say.

“Go on now, go! Walk out the door! Just turn around now, 'cause you're not welcome anymore...Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? You think I'd crumble? You think I'd lay down and die?”

~

“Welcome home, Ty.”

Tyler stood, dumbfounded, in the entrance to his house. Standing there, in his own home, was Eric. Someone he thought he had finally gotten rid of. Tyler closed the door behind him. 

“W...What are you doing here? How did you-”

Eric smirked and held up the house key, the one he forgot to take from him before he told him to leave.

“I couldn’t just leave you here all alone with him. I had to come take you back...after all, he did take you from me.” Eric stepped forward.

Tyler’s eyes widened and he backed himself against the door. “W-We broke up! We had a talk, you...you agreed and everything!” Tyler’s eyes threatened to shed tears. “I thought everything was okay!”

Eric laughed. “Wow, Ty, I knew he made you a slut but I didn’t know he made you a dumbass, too!” He strode forward and pressed Tyler against the door. Tyler tried to struggle away.

“No! N-No, you can’t call me that anymore, I don’t belong to anyone!” He tried to worm his way out of Eric’s grasp, but he was locked in place.

“God, he really brainwashed you, didn't he?” Eric frowned and stroked Tyler’s hair. “You can't really believe that bullshit.” He grinned and leaned in to kiss him.

“No! Stop it, g-get away from me!” Tyler wasn’t strong enough to escape the kiss. It was aggressive, and passionate, and it brought him back. Back to the fear, to the shame, to never being good enough. Eric’s hand slithering down to his waistband sent Tyler into panic mode, screaming and pushing Eric away with all his might.

Eric snapped out of his trance of lust and glowered at Tyler. His mood changed entirely as he snarled and rushed toward Tyler, ready to fight. He lunged at him and Tyler was able to dodge him, using the opportunity to push Eric to the ground. 

Tyler took the opportunity to run to the kitchen, grabbing a rolling pin and holding it at Eric, panting.

“Get. Out.” His hands were shaking as he looked at Eric with all the rage that had been built up over his months of recovery. Eric stared in bewilderment at Tyler before stumbling up and running out the door. 

Tyler dropped to his knees. He didn’t know it would be so easy. It was almost too easy...but that didn’t matter. He was gone.

~

“Oh no, not I, I will survive! Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive...I've got all my life to live, and I've got all my love to give, and I'll survive... I will survive...hey, hey!”

Tyler belted and stood up from the piano seat, feeling stronger than he ever had before. Alex was in the crowd, beaming at how much he had grown. He cheered as Tyler continued.

“It took all the strength I had not to fall apart...kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart. And I spent oh-so many nights just feeling sorry for myself, I used to cry...but now I hold my head up high!”

~

“Tyler, stop! Don’t say things like that!”

“But it’s true! I-I’m disgusting, I need to go back to him, I’m being unfair...”

Tyler was sitting on his own couch, Alex by his side. He had just broken up with Eric yesterday and it was the hardest thing he had ever done. It was only possible with Alex by his side, and to his surprise, Eric left with barely any argument. 

Now, however, he regretted it all. Everything Eric said to him in the past was coming back to him, grabbing him and dragging him back to Eric’s arms. And Alex was doing his best to keep him at bay.

“Tyler, you don't owe him anything. You did the right thing, he was horrible to you, please understand that.” He looked at Tyler in the eyes, pleading. “You are not disgusting. You’re brave, and you’re beautiful, and he never deserved you.”

Tyler shook his head. “No, y-you’re lying, I’m a slut, I’m using you, I-I’m a dirty cheater, I need to go back...”

“Tyler. Look at me.” Tyler shuddered and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. Alex sighed. “I don’t want to force you into anything. But I will say this. I’ve seen the way he treats you, and it isn’t okay. You are the bravest person I know for leaving him, and I know you can recover. I...I love you, Tyler. I have for a while and I hate seeing you upset. So...I wanna see you happy.”  Alex teared up as well, quickly wiping his eyes.

Tyler stared in shock, not knowing what to say. So he didn’t say anything. He leaned forward and kissed Alex, most likely soaking his face with his tears. Alex embraced him and kissed him back. This was a start, but they still had a long way to go.

~

“And you see me, somebody new, I'm not that chained-up little person still in love with you...”

~

“Uh...Eric, I dunno how safe I feel doing this...” Tyler tugged at the restraints that kept him tied to Eric’s headboard. Eric gave him a dangerous look.

“Tyler, you promised me. You’re really gonna do this to me on my birthday?” Eric raised an eyebrow, securing the knots.

“N-No, I-”

“You’re really gonna be that selfish? After all the things I’ve done for you? Remember all the stuff I gave you for your birthday? Does that mean nothing to you?” Eric feigned a hurt expression.

“Eric, no, I...” Tyler swallowed. “I’m okay. We can do this, I’m sorry for upsetting you.” Tyler smiled at him, but it was forced. He really, really didn’t want to do this, but he was afraid that it would be even worse if he kept complaining. He felt trapped, he felt chained up and restrained: in a literal and figurative sense. 

Eric smiled down at him, giving Tyler that approving, loving gaze he so yearned for. “Thank you, Ty. I love you.”

“I love you too.” The response was automatic. It was the only thing keeping him going.

~

“And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free...”

Tyler smiled and looked to Alex in the crowd.

“Well, now I'm saving all my lovin' for someone who's loving me!”

Alex laughed, blushing and clapping along with the song as Tyler went through the chorus once again. 

“Go on now, go! Walk out the door! Just turn around now, 'cause you're not welcome anymore...Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? You think I'd crumble? You think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I, I will survive! Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive...I've got all my life to live, and I've got all my love to give, and I'll survive... I will survive...I will survive!”

The crowd cheered loudly. Alex stood up, tears in his eyes. He was filled with pride watching Tyler, his boyfriend (that still felt good to say), performing on stage like this. 

Tyler’s fingers danced across the piano as he ended the song, the crowd erupting in applause when the song was over. Tyler rushed offstage and into the crowd to embrace Alex. 

He was brave. He was beautiful. And Eric never, never deserved him. 

He will survive.

[mattzerella-sticks]

Supernatural Crack🩹tober

Day 22 - Merchesters

          Cas found his children talking with a stranger. His already battered heart should have taken one final breath at this realization. But, as he descended those panicked highs their absence caused, Cas found no reason for worry. The stranger could not cause his young kids harm, lounging like he did. A green-scaled costume tying his legs together, replacing them with one large fin. He walked over on shaky legs, clearing his throat. Drawing three sets of eyes towards him.

           “Daddy!” Claire cries, pouncing on him first. Jack following a beat later. Both kids grab for one of his hands, dragging Cas closer. “Daddy, we found a real-life mermaid!”

           “You did?” Said mermaid curls slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. Sheepish, almost. “Is that why you two ran from where I could see you.” He looked away briefly. Searching his fanny pack for money so he can buy them ice cream. When he poked his head free from the pocket, they vanished. And Cas experienced the first aneurysm of his afternoon.

           Claire mirrored the mermaid, studying her toes rather than Cas’s stern gaze. “No,” she admits, “I saw Jack chasing a seagull… and you were busy! An’ you said never go anywhere alone! So I figured I’d make sure he didn’t get in trouble –“

           “We met this mermaid, though!” Jack says, jumping. Bits of sand spraying with each leap. “That’s gotta make up for running off, right?”

           Cas finally deigns this mermaid with his full attention, catching his stare. The mermaid flushes bright red, face turning away from him. Like one of his children when Cas catches them in the midst of breaking a rule. Acting innocent, doodling in the wet sand. “A mermaid, huh,” he huffs, “pretty far from home… aren’t you?”

           “Well… not really,” he starts, voice a beautiful Midwestern twang that gives Cas the sense the man never spent much time around water. “I mean… yeah, I was born way – way out there. But I moved!”

           “You moved!”

           “Got a cozy little shell down by the aquarium,” he tells them, “they give me food and rent, and all I have to do is put on a show every now and then. Which – I’m grateful for. Don’t know how I’d make it without their kindness… I’m still confused with how you trade seaweed for things.”

           “It’s called money, Dean,” Jack supplies, giving Cas a name to go along with that face. “How do you not know what money is?”

           “Because there’s no such thing as money in the ocean, Jack. Duh!” Claire crosses her arms, grinning. “You remember the Little Mermaid. Wasn’t anything like that in the movies.”

           Jack nods, attention latching onto Dean again. “So are you like Ariel, Dean? Huh? Is your dad king of the sea? Do you have a pet fish who talks? A seagull? Was that seagull I chased yours?” His son barrages Dean with tens of questions he cannot parse through. Taking pity, Cas lays a hand over Jack’s shoulder and squeezes. Stopping him.

           “Jack,” Cas says, “one at a time.”

           Dean smiles, grateful, before shining that dazzling expression at Jack. Eyes darting to the side momentarily. “I’d love to answer your questions Jack,” he says, “but first… don’t you think you should have some ice cream?”

           “Ice cream –“ His kids barrel up the beach, towards a taller, shaggier man bearing twin cones. He hands them off to Cas’s kids, trading glances with Dean. Dean glowers, signing something at him. The other man sighs, bending as he converses with Claire and Jack. “So,” Cas hums, “you bought my kids ice cream?”

           “Sorry about that,” Dean says, stretching. Tail wagging in response. “My brother’s not that great around kids. I pitched the ice cream thing to give him some space.”

           “And him staying there, distracting them?”

           “Gives you enough time to ask a few questions of your own.”

           Cas silently applauds the quick thinking, sitting next to Dean. “Are you really a mermaid?”

           “To pay the bills,” he explains, “I wasn’t lying too much, before. My brother and I work as mermaids over at the aquariums, swimming with the wildlife and doing all these neat tricks. The only difference is I actually live further inland.”

           “So you being out here?”

           “We needed promotional shots.” Dean shifts, lying on his side. Tail tucked under his bottom. “Newer ones, showcasing the upgrades to our costumes. I got Sam’s earlier, and we were in the middle of doing mine when your kids found us.”

           Cas apologizes, “The Little Mermaid is their favorite movie.”

           “Not a problem,” he snorts, “wasn’t the first time I got called Ariel. Won’t be the last.”

           The sun sets behind them, Dean’s profile glowing as the rays strike from behind. Golden hour. Whatever lucky person snapped a picture now, they might convince even the world’s largest skeptic that creatures such as mermaids existed under the sea. It makes Cas dizzy. “Your show,” he continues, throat tight and dry, “is it popular?”

           “It’s been pretty slow, these days,” Dean shrugs, “a lot of people getting ready for school. We cut our hours back from three times a day to only one.” He smiles, winking at Cas. “If you want tickets, though, I can tell the front desk to reserve four.”

           “Three.” It’s important Dean knows. “Three tickets.”

           “Your partner not a fan of mermaids?”

           “I wouldn’t know,” Cas says, “I don’t have one to ask.”

           Understanding flashes in Dean’s eyes, lighting like algae in the murkiest depths. “Oh.”

           Cas hears his kids returning, their voices carrying on the wind. He only has a few moments for this next question. Dean has to answer it. “Dean… is there a Prince Eric to your Ariel?”

(Day 21 - I Like Cocaine)

[lilacyams]

Under these lights, with you

Wayhaven Week 2020, Day 7 - Shatter / Mend

@otomefandomevents

Pairings: F!Detective/Ava Du Mortain

Summary:  It’s the night of the ball: nothing better than a fun time to drink and forget problems, for Unit Bravo and the town of Wayhaven. As yet another argument shatters the harmony between Kassandra Remender and Ava Du Mortain, their strange relationship grows to be too complicated for the Detective to bear. But in a night like this, the most unexpected things can happen…

Word count: 6,506

Rating: Teen and up audiences 

AO3 link: click here 

“Let’s just get this over with.”

I swing my legs out of the car, paying particular attention to how steadily I place my feet on the ground before standing up. High heels are something I’m familiar with, but it’s been a while since I’ve worn a pair this tall.

Tina is busy changing the flat shoes she used for driving into a fancier, more event-appropriate pair of heels; once she’s done, she swings around to face me and glowers at my less than enthusiastic groan.

“Don’t be a party pooper,” Tina reprimands me with an exaggerated eye roll, “We haven’t partied in a while. It will be just like the good ol’ times!”

The mayor organized a formal event to celebrate the Somethingth anniversary of Wayhaven’s Police Department. The whole town has been invited, including my mother and her unit. I can predict that the mysterious and rather attractive government agents will turn heads tonight. One in particular will definitely turn mine.

“This is not that kind of party, Tina,” I chuckle. “Tell you the truth, I just wanna go to sleep. Tomorrow it’ll be a working day, and I’m definitely not looking forward to that early alarm.”

“Oh, quit it already!” She stands up and gives my shoulder a light swat as we make our way to the venue’s entrance side by side. It’s none other than the town’s only five star hotel: its adorned, golden interiors, as well as its large conference hall and ballroom, will prove themselves worthy of such an event. I’ve heard the outdoor area looks quite cozy, too.  “It’ll be fun. And you’ll be able to spend some quality time with your hot agents.”

She throws me a knowing glance, a beaming smile spreading across her rosy lips. “Or should I say... Your hot agent. That one.”

I let out a yelp as I almost trip over the steps. “Tina!”

“I said what I said.”

“Is that why you insisted on helping me get ready for the night?” I glare at her with suspicion, but I can’t stop an amused smile from tugging at the corners of my lips. It was adorable of her and I really appreciate it.

Tina’s eyes slowly trail over my mid-length burgundy dress beneath long, mascara enhanced lashes and rise up, until she can fix them on my face to further admire the results of her hard work.

“Maybe so.” And with a long, Cheshire cat-like smile, my friend opens the door for me. I nod in appreciation at her chivalrous gesture and step inside, but she doesn’t follow.

“You’re not coming with me?”

My confused question seems to intensify her mirth.

“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about, I have a date tonight. See you later! Have fun in there with your pretty girl!”

 I sigh as I let the jacket slide off my shoulders before handing it to the steward who greets me at the entrance. There’s a full-sized mirror on the wall and I take the chance to check my makeup one last time before going in. Tina did an amazing job, I have to admit it.

My fingers fumble with my formal updo, doing their best to fix the pins and hoping they will hold the weight of my very long hair until the end of the night.

“You took your sweet time, Detective. We’ve been waiting for you,” a familiar voice calls out from a short distance.

The quip makes me smile. “Hey,” I protest with my gaze still fixed on the glass surface as I fix the Bardot neckline of my dress, “A lady needs the time she nee-“

I turn around and the witty remark instantly dies on my tongue at the sight of Ava. She’s wearing a dark blue full-length dress; its thin straps, as well as the slit cutting down the side of her left thigh, make my breath hitch. Her hair is tied in a soft updo and although the heels she’s wearing are shorter than mine, she stands taller by several inches just as any other day. Seeing her in such an attire is unusual to say the least, and I can’t contain my shock... Nor the aggressive blush that spreads across my cheeks like wildfire.

She notices my reaction and loses some of her bite, shifting on her feet under my scrutiny. “Is there something wrong, Detective?”

“No, I’m... I...” I’m a stuttering, wide-eyed mess. What’s happening to me?

Much like a superhero coming in to save the day, Nat emerges from the corner with the rest of Unit Bravo, followed by my mother.

“Kass!” She beams, placing a hand on my shoulder. The forest green of her long dress is very flattering on her tawny skin. “It’s good to see you.”

“Really good, I’d say,” Farah adds as she takes in my figure with an appreciative smirk. Her pink dress is as bright as I would’ve imagined.

Morgan nods at me in greeting, a wolfish grin forming on her lips as she looks me up and down in a similar way to her friend’s. With those tight pants, her black suit will surely attract a lot of attention tonight.

Finally, Rebecca strides towards me, eyes gleaming with pride. “And here’s my daughter, the detective of this town. The speech is about to start. Let’s head to the conference hall.”

Just as my mother starts to make way further into the venue, I can’t help but throw a quick glance at Ava. Finding her green eyes already fixed on me, I could swear there’s a mischievous glint in them; but I have no way to confirm it, as she promptly turns around to follow close behind Rebecca.

 The speech is tedious and predictable, just as expected. Still, I make sure to put on my best “interested face”, as well as the most charming smile I can muster when it’s time for me to step on the stage to give my personal contribution. The mayor had someone else preparing me a speech , not forgetting to have them include an exaggerated amount of praise for him and his “generous support”, though I’m sure he would’ve never shown such kindness if it wasn’t for Douglas joining the police force.

I take my round of applause and walk back to my seat next to Rebecca. Turning around, I can spot Tina sitting next to her date. She sends me a kiss; I catch it and offer her a wink.

 About half an hour later all the talking is finally over, and I'm free to go. I stand up, stretching my legs with an inconspicuous gesture, and Rebecca places a hand on my back to call for my attention.

"I'll be back," she excuses herself before marching off towards the crowd that's gathering around the doorway leading to the ballroom. Unit Bravo doesn't follow her, preferring to wait for me in a cleared up corner, away from people – though they still don’t go unnoticed in the slightest, judging by the amount of amazed stares they’re getting from men and women alike.

"Detective!" A voice calls out from behind me. I whip around to spot Verda and his family striding closer. Cara waves her tiny hand at me; Eric, who is carrying their younger daughter in his arms, briefly extends a hand in greeting before wrapping it safely around Lacy again.

I greet them with a genuine smile. "Hey. Going home?"

Verda releases a heavy sigh. "Of course. The girls have daycare tomorrow, and we have work to attend to. One last thing, before we go," the tired look on his face disappears for a moment to be replaced by a warm smile. "I'm proud of you, Kass. You did great up there."

The candor in those words takes me by surprise, and I let out a nervous chuckle. "I didn't write that speech..." Then I inhale, my chest swelling with newfound resolve and my voice steadier as I speak again. "Though I totally agree with the part about defending the town at all costs. It's what I'm here for."

Verda nods, each of his words bubbling with sincere trust. "As long as you're in charge, I believe that Wayhaven will be safe."

"Through good and bad times." I raise a hand to trace absentmindedly over the almost invisible scar on my neck, with the slightest touch of my fingertips. As my gaze trails off into the distance, I spot Ava focusing on the gesture with particular attention.

“Have a good night, Kassandra.”

 "So..." I wrap an arm around Farah's shoulders amicably as we all move to the ballroom. "How are my friends enjoying the evening?" My finger points at each of them in turn. "Because you're enjoying it, right? Mayor’s going to be offended if you’re not."

The younger vampire laughs and spreads her hands out in mock innocence. “Offending people? Us? We would never!”

 The ballroom is broad and festive looking. Fancy golden curtains with intricate looking patterns hang from high ceilings, half draped over tall windows and the wide glass doors leading to the gardens. A brilliant chandelier hangs from the ceiling and provides the room with the ideal amount of light, powerful enough to brighten up the place down to its farthest corners but as discreet as it takes not to overload your senses.

From the corner of my sight I see Ava shoving her phone back in her purse. “Agent Remender is asking for us, Nat,” she says as we all turn to her. “We’ll be back, you go ahead.”

The pair leaves together. Farah and Morgan proceed farther into the ballroom, and I go with them without missing a beat.

The mood in the hall is more laid back than I predicted, with townsfolk scattered around the place chatting up one another cheerfully; and as soon as music starts playing, the center of the room clears up to make space for dancing pairs.

We settle into a spot near the beverage table, not before having grabbed a glass of wine each, and we watch over the activity into the room with our backs leaning against the wall.

“I was expecting something livelier than this,” Farah pouts. “This kind of music is not my thing. Unless Morgan wants to invite me to dance, that is.” She side eyes the quiet vampire, who scoffs loudly in response; then she turns to me. “Alas, we can’t all be as lucky as Kass, having a partner to slow dance with and stuff.” A suggestive smile spreads over her lips.

I don’t have enough time to elaborate a reply: the young vampire takes the glass from my hand and nods toward a spot on my right side. Turning around to look at whatever she’s pointing at, I spot Ava and Nat coming back to us.

Then, as soon as the leader steps closer to me, I hear Farah chirp “Thank me later” gleefully; and immediately after, a hand pushes on my back without any courtesy.  

With no way of stopping it, I bite back a yelp as I stumble forward, high heels throwing me off balance. I almost tumble to the ground, but two strong arms wrap around me, catching me in time.

I look up to find Ava glancing down at me with a concerned frown. Being so close to her for the first time this evening, I take the chance to have a better look at her attire. My eyes dance over her body, focusing on the thin straps of her dress and the swell of her arm muscles flexing as she keeps me from falling; desire to get closer takes over, and I grab her shoulders.

The instant I touch her, Ava jolts up straight and pulls me back on my feet, interrupting the contact. I don’t let go, and this causes her frown to deepen – and her breath to quicken.

Deciding not to let this chance go to waste, I slide one hand free only to offer it right back to her as an invitation. “I hope you’re not too shy to dance.”

Her expression doesn’t change one bit; if anything, it darkens. The vampire looks around her stiffly, noticing the dancing couples. As the realization slowly kicks in, her eyes flicker with something that looks like actual, badly concealed panic. I can only see it for a moment, then it washes away to be replaced with a cold mask.

“No.” She doesn’t even bother to look at me.

Though I was expecting this kind of reaction, it doesn’t sting any less. “It’s just a dance, Ava. It won’t kill you.”

Her jaw tightens. “I can’t do this. Sorry.”

The vampire storms out of the room through the open glass doors, leaving me with the rest of Unit Bravo – who just witnessed everything. As I face them I make sure to wipe the disappointment off my face and turn it into a semi convincing smile.

Can’t say it worked: Nat is full-on “sympathy mode” and Farah gives me a puppy look; even Morgan is eyeing me carefully, one thick brow arched up. I get my glass back from Farah’s hand and take a long sip of the beverage inside.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s nothing,” I scold them.

Nat offers me a warm, reassuring smile. “Of course, Kass.”

By the way she purses her lips I can tell she knows what I’m really thinking, yet she’s kind enough to drop the subject and doesn’t pick it up again – a quality of hers I very much appreciate.

Farah’s blunt and no-bullshit self, on the other hand, looks like she still has something to say; and so she does, while rubbing a hand over my back in circular motions, perhaps in an attempt to bring me some comfort. “There, there. It’s not your fault, she was in a good mood before. Something set her off…” She pauses and raises her glass to her lips, taking a sip of its contents as she mulls over the possibilities going through her head.

Meanwhile, the laid back atmosphere around us goes through a radical change: as the music switches to modern and its pace quickens, the volume is turned up and more people join in to the center of the ballroom to dance with whoever they can grab.

Morgan winces and pushes her back further against the wall; the next thing she does is letting out a quite colorful string of curses. I notice a pack of young women striding towards our little group with the obvious purpose of approaching the quiet vampire, but they’re forced to stumble to a stop and turn around in retreat as annoyance – to use an euphemism – rapidly creases her forehead and the bridge of her nose, and makes her look like a wolf ready to pounce in a rather uncanny way.

The young vampire pulls me in by the forearm and speaks directly into my ear, maybe in order to avoid having to scream to be heard over the louder music, maybe – a more likely possibility – to give me some kind of privacy. Given it’s Farah, I have my doubts that she would mind having to raise her voice.

Her loose, fluffy hair tickles my cheek as she speaks. “I think she saw you rubbing your neck earlier… Were you touching the scar again?”

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Now that I think about it, I saw her too. Could it be…? That was the gesture that set her off? But why? Is she still feeling guilty over it?

I scramble to conceal my shock and quickly cover it up with the most smug, blinding grin I can muster. “Shit, that was what she was looking at?” I exclaim with a snicker, so loudly that Morgan and Nat look at me with curiosity. “I thought she was staring at my tits!”

Farah nearly chokes on her wine, belting out a deafening laughter; Morgan chuckles deeply, her shoulders trembling as my crass quip manages to mitigate even her awful mood; Nat shakes her head in defeat, though a corner of her mouth curls up in amusement.

“I mean… could’ve been both, who knows?” Farah replies, as soon as her laughter cools down.

“Well, I hope her assessment was a positive one at least,” I jest with wink.

The young vampire raises her glass. “I’ll drink to that, my friend.”

Once Morgan’s chortle slows to a stop, surliness falls back onto her features like a curtain. She throws a lingering glance toward the glass doors, as if registering the existence of the bright, green outdoor area for the first time since her arrival.

“Alright, I’m outta here. Shit’s getting too loud and I need to smoke,” Morgan announces with a flick of her wrist before heading out.

A pleasant air settles between the remaining three of us. At the end of the song I excuse myself to go have a chat with Tina, whose curly head I recognize immediately among the crowd; and given my position, I should try to have a conversation with as many people as possible in there. Wayhaven needs to know more of their detective, unspoken duties and all that jazz.  

Yet, as I take a step forward, a hand wraps itself around my forearm, stopping me from advancing.

“Nice one, Kassie,” Farah says, her amber eyes piercing through me with unexpected gravity. “But remember, I know what’s going on. Shit, we all do. Take it as my humble advice, but I just think that the two of you would do much better without secrets getting in the way.” Then she releases my arm and shrugs lazily. “But hey, do as you wish.”

 Almost two hours and an impossible amount of small talking later, I can finally say I’ve fulfilled my social duties for the night. I’ve engaged with the mayor, Douglas, some of the hospital staff, the firefighters and needless to say, several people from the town. They know me – though they don’t “know” me – but sometimes I still wonder what do they see when they look at me. Do they see the rebellious, untrustworthy teenager I used to be, behind the detective with the fame of having saved the town from a psychopathic murderer? Have they forgotten about my past?

I’m just glad I haven’t seen Bobby yet. Thinking about it, I wonder when she’ll come harass me tonight.

This evenings’ happenings replay in my mind.

I can’t help but think of Ava and her reaction. What’s her deal? The woman is a walking conundrum, the toughest one I’ve ever seen at that. A living enigma surrounded by a formidable fortress. Sometimes it feels like I’m so close to finally solve it, then she kicks me out, her gates slam shut and it’s as if I made no progress at all. It almost feels like dying in a video game, only to be brought back to the starting point each time. Why does it have to be so complicated?

Suddenly my legs feel heavier, my heels taller, and my chest tighter. I need to go out and get some fresh air.

 The outdoor area is extensive and, I’d say, rather mesmerizing.  The wood-look decking paves the way to four different paths: one starting from the left, one from the right, and two taking off from straight ahead only to separate into opposite directions later on. Each path extends way past my eyes and disappears into rows of flowery bushes and trees, making it impossible to predict where it’ll bring you without walking the trail yourself.

Light strings hang by each tree and garden lamps stand almost shyly from their spots in the corners, illuminating the entire area with a cozy, festive vibe.

Few people sit by the aluminum chairs and tables arranged by the pool, faces brightened by the twinkling lights above and their own vivid enthusiasm as they engage in conversations I don’t pay attention to. Underneath their voices I can hear the chirp of crickets, singing night songs from the safety of their bushes.

I take a deep breath of the cool air surrounding me. I’m close enough to the pool to smell chlorine, but I don’t mind. The way it mixes with the scent of leaves is sufficient to clear my mind a bit.

I walk across the length of the entire patio, ignoring the sound my heels make as they hit the wooden flooring, and stride past the people sitting by the pool. I take the path to my right without thinking twice.

It was a random choice, really. All I want is to lose myself for a bit, before heading back to the others.

I let the path guide me further into the garden, and I follow without any haste. It’s a beautiful night: the sky is clear, stars shimmer above and peek through branches of the trees lining each side of the trail. I can’t help but think it’d be rather romantic to walk in here with a special someone. Whoever designed this place knew what were they doing, no doubt about it.

“Came to find your girlfriend?”

“Eek!” I flinch in fright at the sudden voice and whip my head in its direction, only to find Morgan standing in a scarcely illuminated corner, cigarette in hand. As I approach her, I notice a lazy smile tugging at her lips. It’s good to see that my plight is a source of amusement for her, I guess.

“What the fuck!” I grab my chest and puff out a relieved sigh. “Did you really have to hide in the dark like that?”

“I’m not hiding, and I’m not standing in the dark. I’m in plain sight. You’re the one who couldn’t see me,” she counters in a flat tone, bracing herself with her jacket. The tight, tailored lines of her suit hug the soft curves of her body rather appealingly, but it’s not my place to indulge in that.

“Whatever you say, shadow creature,” I reply with a roll my eyes, but I let the trivial disagreement die. Her cigarette attracts my attention, and I point at it with a nod of my head. “You know, I’ve gotta say I’m surprised you didn’t just light that up in there.”

Morgan shrugs. “Agent Remender told me to behave.”

A sly grin appears on my lips. “And you always do what you’re told to, don’t you?”

The vampire turns her head to the side and slowly blows out a long trail of smoke, intense grey eyes trained on me. She examines my face with interest, and smirks.

“You’re a stubborn one, huh? I can respect that.”

I look at her in confusion.

Morgan points to her left with a casual flick of the wrist. “She’s over there. Go.”

 I don’t even know why I’m doing this, she might be still in a mood and I’m really not looking forward to another argument. It’d be stupid and unnecessary. And yet, here I am.

Morgan’s directions lead me to a clearing: it must be the heart of the garden. I approach slowly, trying to spot her before I make my presence known, so that I can have an idea of how grim her current mood could be – and brace myself for it.

My eyes scan the area from left to right, looking for the familiar vampire.

And there she is.

Ava sits on a wooden bench, shoulders sagged and eyes fixed on the ground. Vases of hyacinths frame the clearing, before the trees behind take over. Her expression is difficult to decipher: her lips are shut tight, her jaw clenched. That also happens to be her standard guise, and that’s what makes it particularly hard to read.

The clack of my heels drags her out of her trance as I step forward. She sets her eyes on me, and I freeze on the spot.

Wondering if I made a mistake coming here at all, and too tired for the eventuality of a spat, I hold up a hand in apology and make to turn around on my steps. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here,” I lie. “I’ll peace out now.”

“Wait.” It comes off as an order, but her commanding tone softens as she speaks again. “Stay.” That single word has a sweet sound to it, like the one of a plead.

I stride towards Ava cautiously until I’m standing in front of her. My gaze focuses on her face, still trying to study her expression; but it ends up studying her everything else instead.

The light makeup enhancing her beautiful features without overwhelming them, the silver jewelry wrapped around her neck, her blonde hair shining gold under the artificial lighting, the dress hugging her figure, the slit… I’d better look away from the slit.

Deciding to break the awkward silence, I nod at her heels. “I would’ve never imagined to see you like this. Those don’t look very… practical.”

Ava arches a brow.

“Uh… I mean, I’m not complaining about that or anything,” I blurt out defensively. “Actually, I was thinking that you look really good.”

The woman looks at me for the longest time. Eventually, a small smile finds its way across her pink lips. “Are you making fun of me, Detective?”

Relieved to see her relax, I smirk and place a hand on my hip. “I would never.”

Ava lets out a lenghty sigh and leans back in her seat, rolling her shoulders as if she just got rid of something heavy weighing on them.

“Farah talked my ear off about dress code and I couldn’t hear the end of it. I gave it a chance, though it’s clear my choice was far more practical than yours.” She throws a disapproving glance at my five inch heels.

A chuckle escapes my lips. “Point taken.”

Confident in the harmony that has settled between us, I take the spot next to her on the bench. Neither of us say a word for the following minutes; we just enjoy the peace together, as we usually do.

I look up at the sky, lulled by the tunes of crickets and the muffled music coming from a distance, and lose myself in the pleasant moment, apart from everything save for the one woman whose presence can only improve it all.

The corner of my right eye spots a movement, and I tilt my head to follow it. Ava is fumbling with her updo: she frees her hair from it and lets it fall loosely over her shoulders. The silky golden waves cascading about her face make me want to reach out and touch them, feel their softness.

Instead, I open my mouth to speak. “Sorry if I insisted, earlier.”

Ava tucks the loose strands behind her ears and turns to look at me. As much as I wouldn’t like to ruin this moment, I need to tackle this topic before I lose my mind over it.

“I don’t want to push you, but at the same time… I get mixed signals from you and I don’t know what to do. You show interest, then you don’t. You enjoy my presence, then you act like you want nothing to do with me.” My eyes have fallen to the ground, unable to face her as I nervously fidget with my fingers – a gesture that’s quite unlike me, and this speaks volumes on how much this whole ordeal has been bothering me. “The others told me to keep going and pursue you, and I believed them since they’ve known you for so long. I thought they were acting in your best interest. Were they wrong about it?”

“The others told you what?” The astonishment in her voice is evident.

I hold my hands up. “If you want me to stop for good, just tell me and I will. Please. I need some kind of closure to move on from.”

I turn to look at her straight in the eye, waiting for a reply.

Ava opens her mouth only to snap it shut a moment later, eyebrows pinched together. Then she looks away from me, brings her hands together and fidgets with uncertainty, seemingly deep in thought as if she’s pondering whether or not to answer. I watch over the side of her face I can see, studying every brief movement.

After long, drawn out moments, Ava returns my gaze. “You misunderstand me.” The green in her eyes deepens, warm and vulnerable. “I don’t want you to stop. It’s all new for me, and it’s difficult. I’m learning day by day, and sometimes I’m just… afraid.”

I could swear my heart just stopped beating. I didn’t expect her to be so straightforward, not like this.

“Afraid of what?” I ask in a stunned whisper.  

Her lips tremble as she closes her eyes, the frown long gone though replaced by apprehension.

It’s one of the rare times when the impenetrable fortress that is her mind opens the gates and lets me in, and I intend on making the most of it before she can shut down once more.

“Afraid of losing you. I’ve been alive for centuries, and the existence of someone like me…” It’s almost as if she’s censoring herself from uttering the word “vampire”, “It’s vastly different from a human’s. Feelings complicate everything. I’ve been on my own for a long time, and now… I feel like this for the first time, for a human nonetheless, and I’m afraid.” Her voice cracks as her eyes meet mine, unshed tears pooling along the waterlines. “You do not understand how scared I am, Kassandra.”

The sincere intensity of her words astounds me, and I find myself unable to speak.

One thing is for certain: I believe her.

Standing up from my seat, I adjust the dress over my knees and kneel in front of the vampire. I rest a hand on hers as the other moves up to cup her face. She bites her lower lip, but doesn’t shy away from my touch.

Ava looks incredibly vulnerable, and the sight is even more jarring when compared to her usual self. She’s showing me this side of hers as an act of trust, and I’ll ensure that it will be safe in my care.

My voice finally finds its way out of my lips, each word stressed with gentle determination as I look up at her. “You can’t let fear dictate your life. I’m afraid to lose my mother and my friends… But pushing them away would only make it worse. This is true for me as it is for you. You might not be human anymore, but you are still alive.”

Her expression slowly goes from fear to concern, then confusion; and finally, a hint of reluctant understanding spreads over her features.  

“Alive…” she mumbles, as if dumbfounded by the concept.

I smile at her with fondness, and it reaches my eyes. “Stop pushing people away, Ava. Allow yourself some happiness. You’re alive.” My tone is patient, gentle. I’m grateful for her choice to open up to me, and I want to make sure she knows I’m willing to help.

She inhales sharply and nestles her cheek further into the palm of my hand, as if she wishes nothing more than to disappear in my touch. Breath catches in my throat at the sensation of her skin brushing against my fingertips, her warmth seeping through.

I clear my throat and go on.

“Plus, even if you quit on me, I won’t stop being in danger. It’s my line of work, Ava. I’m a detective, now even tied to the Agency. Whether or not we date, I’ll be in danger regardless. It’s just the way it is. It’s my job.”

My gaze holds on to hers with perseverance: it’s not an easy truth to accept, but it’s a necessary one, and I want to make sure she really understands it.

Ava clenches her fists until her knuckles turn white, muscles taut; however, as the seconds go by, the woman appears to lose any will to put up a fight, and her internal turmoil ends with a grave, resigned sigh. I’ve never seen her so defeated.

Yet, as she wraps her hands around mine and holds it firmly, I can tell that acceptance has found its way within her heart. She can finally see my point. We won’t have this argument again.

“I’m new to this.”

“Me too, blondie. Me too.”

The vampire pulls her hands away politely, then makes use of their newfound freedom to smooth over the creases in the skirt of her dress.

I watch as she stands upright and extends a hand towards me.

“Does your offer still stand?”

Her serious tone confounds me at first, but realization swiftly kicks in and widens my eyes with genuine surprise. I’m not used to see her so… open. But after this night, maybe, just maybe, this won’t be unusual anymore. This might be the fresh beginning I was looking forward to, with the one woman I’d share it with.

I smile up at her and reach out. “Of course.”

 The muffled sounds of music from inside of the ballroom slip through the open windows, mixed with chatter and infectious thrill. Though coming from a distance, the night’s quiet makes it so that the wind carries the notes with ease until they reverb across the clearing.

Ava’s arms hold me tight, snug around my waist, as we slow dance in the clear, dimly lit space. We don’t pay attention to the music, we don’t care about the rest of the world: that’ll have to wait. Right now it’s just the two of us, in our own dimension where time has stopped.  

I hold her back, hands clutching her shoulders as if she might disappear the moment I let go. Every little movement, every clenching and unclenching of her muscles is rapidly registered by my fingertips.

Leaning forward, I rest my head on her chest. The sound of her heartbeat steadies my nerves, and her heady scent surrounds me comfortingly. It feels like home.

We move at our own rhythm, forgetting about the mismatching upbeat song coming from the ballroom. Every step is fully coordinated, like a choreography. It’s as though we’re one body swaying on its own accord, rather than two separate individuals having an unprompted dance.

“You know, I’ve been waiting for you…” My voice is nothing more than a whisper as it comes out, words trailing off.

When Ava replies, I can picture the smile on her lips even without looking at her face. “I hope I didn’t make you wait for too long, then.”

Unable to resist the urge to see it, I tilt my head up. Just as I thought, she’s smiling. But it’s different from all the smiles she’s shown me so far, however mirthful or sweet they were.

It’s a radiant smile, the happiest I’ve ever seen her wear. Impossible not to feel weak in the knees at the sight of her face, all lit up by joy and tenderness and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. Dimples poke into her cheeks; eyes crinkle with sincere glee. The light strings hanging from above draw attention to her gorgeous bone structure and project their almost magical glow into the warm green orbs I can’t look away from.

I think I’ve lost my mind, and in all truth, I don’t want it back. “I love you.”

Her pupils widen. Ava takes two, three, four breaths. So close to her, I can feel her heart rate going through the roof.

“Is this it?”, I think. “Is this the part where she pushes me back and leaves? I’ve fucked up, haven’t I?”

Then, the woman rushes forward. She grabs my face, her strong hands cup the wholeness of my cheeks. Next thing I know, her lips are crashing into mine. For so long I’ve dreamed of this moment; my imagination built and rebuilt this scenario each time I’ve wanted to kiss her. I’ve wondered about the softness of her lips, the strength of her arms pulling me in, the spark in her eyes as she regards me before diving in again and again.

Yet, even my wildest dreams couldn’t compete with reality. Never did they predict the eagerness of her touch, nor the intensity of her kiss. Our lips move together with desperation, intensified by months of crucifying longing. Ava holds me, and I hold her. Nothing else matters.

We only reluctantly pull away once there’s no air left in our lungs; but Ava doesn’t let me go, the heat of her body keeps on covering me like a blanket. With fingers tangled in my hair, holding me firmly in place, she presses her forehead against mine and draws in a shaky breath.

“I love you.”

The words I thought I would never hear ring in my ears, the best sound I’ve ever heard. They come out so easily, as if she practiced for this moment. There’s no hesitation, no uncertainty in her voice. She says it like it’s a fact, as natural as air.

“Say it again,” I whisper, fingers sinking deep into blonde waves.

Her nose brushes against mine. “I love you.”

I kiss her again, and again, and again. And her mouth chases mine tirelessly, with an intensity that leaves me breathless.

Our kisses become less urgent as we go. They get slower, intimate, as deep as the ocean; and we can’t help but drown in them.

Now I know for certain what was it, the gleam in her eyes I saw earlier: love. Pure, unadulterated love.

Searching in the brown of my eyes, Ava recognizes the same unconditional feeling.

No more words are needed.

We are alive.

 I’m not sure of how long have we been here. To me, it feels like days.

Somewhere along the line the music stopped playing, and I cannot hear the laughs and voices anymore. Yet no one came to find us, something I’m grateful for. I can’t help but wonder if the others played a part in this; the thought makes me smile.

“Ava?” I call, my head resting comfortably in her lap. She runs a hand back and forth through the length of my loose hair with the gentlest touch – all that kissing messed up my updo, so we undid it for good.

“What is it?”

“Do you believe in fate?”

She groans, but doesn’t stop caressing me. “You ask many charged questions. In any case, I don’t.”

I let out a content sigh at her ministrations. “Well, you see… Fate brought us here. It brought you here, with me.”

“I don’t believe in such things.”

A smile curls my lips. “You could’ve been somewhere else now, but you’re on this bench, in this town, in this part of the world. And you met me. How do you explain it?”

Ava remains silent, likely frowning in thought.

I don’t get an answer.

I don’t need one.

[zen3to5]

J/H 4-20: Jackie’s Cheese Squeeze

Another partial rewrite...but this one is much more Zen-heavy ;) Basically, every scene dealing with the "secret squirrel" runner has been rewritten with a new runner involving Hyde.

We assume that, in this timeline, 4-19 ("Leo Loves Kitty") is without changes.

FF.Net AO3

***

INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   ERIC stands in front of the TV. Before him sit HYDE in his chair and DONNA and FEZ on the couch. He has their full attention.   ERIC: I saw Jackie making out with the guy from the cheese shop! The little guy!   Donna breaks into a huge grin, Fez’s jaw drops, and Hyde folds his arms and scowls.   DONNA: No way!   ERIC: Oh, yeah. She was chompin’ on the cheddar.   DONNA: She was swapping spit with the Swiss?   ERIC: She was gettin’ the Gouda.   FEZ: Ooh, ooh! She was... doing it with the dairy?   ERIC: (beat) Fez, not bad, man!   He chuckles, Fez smiles, and Donna pats Fez on the back.   Eric looks over at Hyde.   HYDE: Hey, Hyde, buddy? You want in?   FEZ: Yes, we have just learned information that could crush the very heart and soul of one of our best friends. You live for days like this!   HYDE: Guys, this isn’t funny.   DONNA: Yeah, I guess he’s right. I mean, Kelso used to cheat on Jackie, like, all the time. If all she did was kiss this guy, then you could call it Kelso’s just desserts.   ERIC: What, you mean Jackie chewing on the cheesecake?   Donna and Fez snicker as Hyde stands.   HYDE: No, man. Jackie finally gets fed up with Kelso and she starts making out with Captain Curd? What a load of crap!   DONNA: Wow, Hyde, you’re really upset. Now, why would Jackie kissing some random cheese guy bother you so much?   She, Fez, and Eric all grin and look to him. Hyde’s shades don’t quite hide the nervous darting of his eyes.   HYDE: (beat) That’s my student out there, man, my grasshopper! I can’t have her locking lips with losers on the bottom rung of the food service industry!   He looks over his friends, seeing if they buy it; they clearly don’t.   HYDE (cont’d): The honor of the dojo’s on the line here!   They all just keep grinning.   HYDE (cont’d): Ah, get bent!   He stomps off to his room as the others break down laughing.

***   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   The gang’s all here, but one. KELSO sits in the lawn chair. Eric, Fez, and Donna all sit on the couch (Eric up on its back) and Hyde sits in his chair.   JACKIE enters through the basement door. Eric looks up at her, grins, and turns to the others.   ERIC: Oh, hey, guys! It’s Kelso’s loyal girlfriend, Jackie!   DONNA & FEZ: (teasing) Hi, Jackie!   They smile up at her. Hyde turns to face the TV, his arms crossed.   JACKIE: (beat) Okay... I’m not here to stay. I just came to get Michael. (to Kelso) Come on.   ERIC: Oh, no, stay. We’re just gonna hang out and fool around. We all know how much you like to... fool around.   He gives her a telling look. Jackie edges away from him and taps Kelso on the shoulder.   JACKIE: Okay, Michael, come on. Let’s go to the Hub.   KELSO: No, I wanna stay here and fool around.   He smiles at the others, who all smile back sans Hyde and Jackie.   ERIC: So, hey, Jackie, how’s it going down at the cheese shop? You must be so tired from... giving it away at the mall.   Jackie glares at Eric, who just looks right back.   HYDE: It sickens me.   All eyes snap to him, though it takes him a moment to realize he spoke aloud and pulled focus.   HYDE: (beat) Corporations using free samples to lure the masses into gorging at the feed bags of their factory farmed dairy. I want no part of it!   He turns in his chair so his back is to the others.   KELSO: I think it’d be fun to be a dairy farmer. I’ve always wondered if those udders on a cow feel like boobs.   Jackie rolls her eyes and slaps Kelso’s arm.   JACKIE: Come on, Michael, let’s go!   ERIC: No, let’s stay! We could play Monopoly. Oh, but that wouldn’t be much fun since we all know that... Jackie cheats.   JACKIE: I do not!   KELSO: Oh, you do cheat. We’ve all caught you.   Jackie squirms on her feet as Eric, Donna, and Fez snicker.   ***   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   THE CIRCLE. Kelso is halfway between a grin and a grimace. Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” plays on the radio.   KELSO: You guys are never gonna believe this – Jackie cheated on me. WITH THE CHEESE GUY!   Pan to Hyde, just as upset as Kelso. His raised fist trembles as he glares out into space.   Pan to Kelso.   KELSO (cont’d): I know. I was speechless too.   Pan to Fez.   FEZ: Well, thank God all she did was kiss him.   Pan to Kelso.   KELSO: I guess, but... wait. How did you know all she did was kiss him?   Pan to Fez.   FEZ: Kiss? Ah... I didn’t say “kiss.” Don’t make fun of my accent.   Pan to Kelso.   KELSO: That cheese guy’s lucky he’s a little fella, or I’d kick his ass. Just – BOOM! Right in the ass!   Pan to Hyde.   HYDE: Hey, man, you gotta kick his ass. Like on Fantasy Island, if Tattoo took one of Mr. Roarke’s women up to his little tower and put it to her, Roarke would slap that little dude like a drunk southern widow! And then he’d hit him off with some vicious voodoo.   Pan to a laughing Donna.   DONNA: Voodoo on Tattoo. Voodoo... Tattoo... peek-a-boo! Honeydew... kung-fu... goo goo g’joob! (beat) I’m done.   ***   INT. MALL - DAY   Kelso’s on the warpath. He struts through the courtyard with Hyde, Donna, and Fez in tow. They make a beeline for the Cheese Palace, where TODD is taking inventory. Kelso gets right up in his face, with Hyde right beside him and Donna and Fez standing off to one side.   KELSO:  Your ass is mine, cheese puff!   TODD: How did you know my nickname?   KELSO: Wait – your nickname’s “cheese puff?”   Todd nods. Hyde smacks Kelso on the arm.   HYDE: (to Kelso) Stay focused – kick his ass!   KELSO: Yeah, right! Good! Yeah! (to Todd) What do you think you’re doing, kissing my girlfriend, huh? Huh?   TODD: Well, maybe if you paid more attention to that gorgeous creature than your little modeling gig, it wouldn’t have happened.   KELSO: Little? That picture sold hundreds of young men’s briefs all over the greater Kenosha area!   FEZ: It’s true. I bought three pairs. Very supportive!   KELSO: Yeah! (to Todd) So look – I know you’re a little fella, but I can’t let you go around kissing my girlfriend, so you’re gonna have to take a punch.   TODD: I understand.   Hyde circles around to Todd’s left and puts his dukes up as Kelso gives a solid jab to Todd’s gut. Todd, grinning like a madman, looks up at Kelso.   HYDE: (beat) Okay, that didn’t work.   TODD: Well, I guess it’s my turn.   He slowly advances toward Kelso, who backs up along with Hyde.   KELSO: Hey – I didn’t mean to scare you, little guy -   He grabs a serving tray off one of the decorative barrels and holds it up between himself and Todd. With one punch, Todd splits the board in two.   TODD: I’m a black belt.   Kelso and Hyde look to each other, Fez grabs Donna’s arm, and Donna’s jaw drops.   DONNA: I did not see that coming!   ***   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT – NIGHT   As Eric promised, he and Jackie wait for Kelso, but they have company. While Eric paces the room, Fez sits in the lawn chair, and Donna and Hyde sit on either side of Jackie on the couch. Hyde has a busted lip.   JACKIE: And I’ve just had such a hard time lately that I guess I was open to any sign of affection.   DONNA: Well, that’s understandable. It’s just too bad it had to happen with your boss. (to Hyde) Right, Hyde?   Donna grins, and Jackie looks to Hyde. He looks straight ahead, his arms crossed.   HYDE: (to Jackie) You stay away from that cheese guy. Corporate stooge and kung-fu fighter? That combination shouldn’t be allowed to exist.   Kelso comes running down the stairs. Jackie stands and crosses to meet him.   KELSO: All right, look. Jackie, here’s the deal: you cheated on me.   JACKIE: You used to cheat on me all the time.   KELSO: Yeah? Well... yeah.   As he considers that, Jackie crosses, sits on the deep freeze.   KELSO (cont’d): (following Jackie) But you cheated out of hate, and I cheated out of joy.   Jackie shakes her head.   JACKIE: I didn’t cheat out of hate, Michael. I cheated because, lately, you’ve been acting like I don’t exist.   KELSO: Well, I sure know you exist now that you’ve frenched the whole mall!   Fez “oohs;” Hyde cuts him off with a look.   KELSO (cont’d): Look, I know that I need to pay more attention to you, and I want to forgive you, but I have all this anger built up inside of me and nowhere to put it.   Jackie considers that for a moment, smiles.   JACKIE: Eric knew about the kiss all along and didn’t tell you.   Kelso turns and glowers at Eric.   KELSO: (to Eric) You knew?   ERIC: Jackie!   JACKIE: What’d you expect?   KELSO: (beat) You’re a dead man, Forman.   He charges. Eric makes it to the basement door and up the stairs, and Kelso follows in pursuit.   Jackie hops off the deep freeze. Hyde stands and crosses to her.   HYDE: Look, Jackie - I get where you’re coming from, feeling the brush-off and all, but you gotta find better ways to deal with it.   JACKIE: I know.   FEZ: Or maybe you just need a better fellow to kiss. Now, who could Hyde have in mind for that?   He and Donna each give Hyde a smug grin. A confused Jackie looks to him to explain their behavior, but Hyde shakes his head.   HYDE: If you’re having a problem with Kelso, then you’ve gotta go straight to Kelso.   JACKIE: What, you mean, talk to him? Steven, I just did that.   HYDE: (nods) That’s one option.   The basement door flies open. Eric comes tearing through the basement.   ERIC: I doubled back, but he’s still behind me!   He races up the stairs just as Kelso comes back in through the basement door. He starts after Eric, but Hyde sticks his foot out, and Kelso goes crashing into the dryer.   From the floor, Kelso lets out a low moan.   KELSO: That’s both my eyes!   Hyde grins, nods toward Kelso’s body on the ground.   HYDE: (to Jackie) That’s another.   Jackie tries and fails to choke down a laugh.   FADE TO BLACK

[mxliv-oftheendless]

Green Wounds, Ch. 7

GUESS WHAT’S BACK, MY DUDES????? IT’S THE MALEFICENT AU!!!!

In all seriousness though, I do apologize for that hiatus. College life forced me to prioritize and put my writing on the backburner while I got through the rest of the semester, and then I just sorta... forgot about this for a while. But never mind all that. The important thing is, I’M BACK BABY!

I wrote out the next two chapters after this one in advance, and since I’m going home for spring break on Sunday I’m hoping I can sit down with the movie and type up some more chapters. My main hope is that I can go back to regular Saturday afternoon chapter postings, but we’ll see. For now, enjoy Chapter 7! Here’s the link to the master post I made for this story if you want a refresher on what’s happened so far. 

@cosmicrealmofkissteria​ This one’s for you while you ride out your hell week. Enjoy, girlfriend! :) 

King Ace ordered his men to seize every spinning wheel in the kingdom. The wheels were broken and burned, and they might never be used, and thrown into the deepest dungeon in the castle. Secretly, he entrusted the safety of his son to the magic of the pixies, who would take him to a remote hideaway for sixteen years and a day.

Ace shut himself behind the walls of his castle, while his soldiers rode far and wide to hunt Starchild down. But Starchild made walls of his own, fearsome walls of gigantic black thorns, that the Moors might never again suffer the touch of any human. And he reveled in the sorrow that his curse had brought.

The pixies began their charge to raise Eric in a snug little cottage in the woods, far away from the Moors.

At the sight of the cottage, Vinnie was immediately questioning why, exactly, they had agreed to this.

The cottage they were to raise Eric in was, in a word, a mess. It clearly had seen better days; patches of the roof were gone, the windows were covered in dirt, and the gardens surrounding it were a wild mess of overgrowth and dead plants. Vinnie hated to think about what the inside looked like…

Erik and Tommy, it seemed, were taken aback by the cottage as well. “No!” Erik exclaimed. “This is it?”

“It looks terrible,” Tommy stated.

Internally, Vinnie agreed, but he had to shove that opinion aside. “It’ll have to do for now,” he said. “No matter how filthy and unkempt and… probably full of insects it is…” He just hoped there were no spiders.

A gurgle made the three of them look down at the baby in the bassinet. Little Eric gazed up at them curiously, having woken from a nap. Here was another reason Vinnie didn’t want to do this: the little prince would have to be raised away from home, away from his parents. Why had Starchild cursed this little baby, who wasn’t even two months old, to such a fate?

Vinnie pushed that thought away, and instead took another look at Eric. And it was this time that he noticed how big he was. For a human, he was rather small, even for a baby, but he was easily three times bigger than any of the three of them. This could become a problem…

It seemed Erik and Tommy noticed this as well. “We’re gonna need a smaller baby,” Erik said aloud.

“Or bigger bodies,” Tommy agreed. “Maybe we can make him smaller…”

His comment about bigger bodies gave Vinnie an idea. “No… what we need is a good disguise.”

Erik and Tommy turned to him. “What do you mean?” Erik asked.

“We have to blend in, don’t we? And we have to be big enough to look after this baby. So, gather around, you two.” Erik and Tommy flew over to him, and they huddled together and joined hands. “Ready?”

They said together, “One, two, three, grow!”

There was a puff of pink, green, and blue dust, and when it cleared, all three pixies were human size. They looked themselves and each other over, moving their arms, legs, and fingers interestedly. It felt strange to be so big; they were giants compared to their normal size.

Erik looked over at Vinnie, who was standing beside Tommy, and burst out laughing. He pointed at Vinnie. “You’re so short!” he guffawed.

Vinnie frowned and reached out to smack Erik’s shoulder. At least there was one benefit to this; he wouldn’t have to move his whole body to hit one of them. “Oh shut up. You’re shorter than me!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Tommy cut in, “you’re both shorter than me.”  

Neither Vinnie nor Erik wanted to admit he was right, even though he was. They both had to turn their heads upward a bit to meet his eyes, and Erik was eye-level with Tommy’s shoulder.

Vinnie huffed. “Fine. But at least now, there won’t be any questions asked. As far as anyone knows, we’re no longer pixies. We’re three peasant men raising our orphan child in the woods.” Tommy and Erik nodded. “So that means, no more flying.”

Erik’s eyes widened. “No flying?” he repeated.

“No flying. And no magic.”

Now Tommy looked shocked. “No magic?”

“You heard me. No magic.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Not even a little bit. We have to appear human, and that means no flying and no magic.”

Both of them looked incredibly disappointed. Vinnie wanted to join them in being disappointed, but someone had to take charge here. “Let’s get Eric inside and start cleaning up,”

Tommy carefully picked up the bassinet, and they all entered the cottage. “You sure this place will be safe?”

“Of course it is,” Vinnie replied as he opened the door. “It’s the middle of nowhere. No one will find us here.”

-*-

Starchild could not believe how easy it had been to find the pixies.

He expected it to be difficult, of course. Peter had been reporting Ace was taking every precaution he could, including sending the little prince away with the pixies. He figured the pixies would hide themselves and the boy well enough that it would be difficult to find them, which he was fine with. He had all the time in the world to track them down, after all. But really? Hiding themselves so close to the Moors? So close it had only taken him a day to find their cottage? They might as well have invited him over to visit.

He peered through the foliage surrounding the cottage, Peter doing the same from his perch on a branch above his head. Clanging noises came from within, meaning they were still working on cleaning the place. His eyes immediately went to the bassinet in the front yard. Did… Did they realize they had left Eric outside? They had brought him outside while they cleared up the gardens, then one by one went back in the house, effectively leaving the boy outside.

Starchild wanted to laugh. The three pixies had always been absentminded, but this was ridiculous even for them.

The door suddenly opened, and Erik ran out towards the bassinet. “There you are!” Starchild heard him exclaim. He picked up the bassinet and went back inside. “You gotta stop hiding,”

Did he… never mind.

Starchild stood there for a moment, pondering on what to do. There was really no reason for him to stay any longer. He knew where they were, which meant he could now spy on them whenever he wanted. And the pixies weren’t exactly doing anything exciting, just cleaning. So why wasn’t he leaving yet?

He blamed curiosity as the reason for why, as soon as he was sure the pixies wouldn’t see him, he stepped out into the clearing and quickly and quietly snuck across the yard. After a moment, Peter jumped down to the ground and bounded after him. Starchild crept up to the window and pushed it open to look down at the bassinet next to it. Peter hopped up on the window ledge beside him.

Eric’s head turned and their eyes met. Faerie and baby stared at each other for a moment. Starchild hummed as he looked him over with unimpressed eyes. “Hm. It’s so ugly, you could almost feel sorry for it,” he said aloud.  

Eric’s mouth curled up in a smile. Starchild frowned, caught off guard for a moment. He’d never gotten that reaction from someone before. Perhaps he was still too young to realize the concept of fear.

Well, no better time to learn. Starchild growled in his throat, then bared his teeth, held out his hand in the shape of a claw, and hissed at him.

To his satisfaction, the smile dropped off Eric’s face. But then, a few moments later, the smile returned.

Starchild glowered at him. “I hate you. Little fox.”

He looked up at the sound of the pixies’ voices and clattering pots, then turned and left the window. And by the time the pixies came back from the kitchen, he had disappeared back into the trees and was headed back to the Moors.

Some time later, Peter brought up their interaction. “By the way, what’s with that nickname, ‘little fox’?”

Starchild frowned at the thought of the encounter with the baby boy, and bluntly replied, “I hate foxes.”

Peter just nodded. That made sense.

-*-

The pixies were perhaps… unequal to their task. Although they took it on with enthusiasm, they nonetheless knew next to nothing of raising a human child.

Starchild decided he hated the sound of a crying baby. Though this was a problem he wouldn’t be having if curiosity didn’t keep bringing him back to the cottage to spy on the pixies and Eric. He hated his curiosity.

More loud crying interrupted his thoughts, and he scowled. He hated curiosity… but not as much as he hated this.

From where he was safe in the trees he glared heatedly at the bassinet sitting in the front yard of the cottage, more specifically at the wailing baby boy inside. Shut. Up.

The pixies weren’t making things much better. They themselves were utterly confused as to why Eric wouldn’t stop crying.

“Why is he crying?” Tommy asked, looking down at Eric.

“I think he might be hungry,” Erik said thoughtfully.

“Then feed him!” Vinnie called from where he was tending a garden. Erik immediately left Eric’s bassinet.

For once, Starchild actually felt relief. At least they had enough sense to recognize the problem. Maybe now Eric would finally stop crying.

As soon as he thought that, Erik came back, holding in his arm a bunch of carrots pulled from the vegetable garden. He placed them in Eric’s bassinet around him. “There you go.”

Starchild sighed in frustration. Never mind. From where he sat on a branch watching the scene, Peter himself lowered his head and shook it, letting out a low sound that was his own frustrated sigh.

Tommy went off and got vegetables of his own, cucumbers, and put them in the bassinet alongside the carrots. Starchild just facepalmed. Meanwhile Eric did not stop crying at all; in fact, he began wailing even louder.

Starchild covered his ears and growled in frustration. “It’s going to starve with those three looking after it,” he ground out.

-*-

Eric’s crying only proved two things: one, the pixies were useless, and two, he had an admittedly-impressive set of lungs. Quite a bit of stubbornness, too, because as day turned to night he went from crying to simply fussing, then back to full-blown crying again during the night. Miraculously, the pixies were able to actually fall asleep in spite of all the racket.

If he hadn’t been so annoyed at the child himself, Starchild would have perhaps been amused at how persistent he was. But as it was, he felt nothing other than the desire to get him to be quiet.

Which led to later that night after the pixies fell asleep. Peter crept into the cottage through the window as a cat, carrying in his mouth a pink rose. The rose, however, had its petals pushed back into the form of a bud, with a small opening at the top, and was full of fresh milk. After giving up on the pixies, Starchild had gone off to find the flower and the milk, because even he knew babies drank milk. Well, Fair children did, but he figured the little fox was so hungry he would eat anything offered to him.

Starchild watched from the window as Peter crept across the floor towards Eric’s cradle. As he moved, milk began to slowly drip out of the rose onto the floor. Perhaps he’d used too much, but he didn’t care, as long as it would just shut the baby up.

Peter jumped up onto the side of the cradle and offered the bud of the rose to the crying boy. At the sight of the cat, Eric was so surprised his crying immediately began to taper off. Peter nudged the bud against Eric’s mouth, and after a moment, Eric reached up to grab the flower in his tiny hands and began to drink the milk, finally going silent.

Starchild sighed in relief. Finally. He turned around and was about to leave when sudden noises made him turn back around. Eric was staring up at Peter as he drank, and around the rosebud Starchild could hear him cooing at the cat. And to his surprise, Peter began to purr at the baby boy, bumping his head against Eric’s and making him giggle.

After watching the cat and baby interact for far longer than he would ever admit, Starchild turned around and set off back to the Moors, his mind turning. If today had been any indication, the three pixies clearly were unable to properly care for the boy. And Starchild had come too far in his plans for revenge to let some incompetent pixies ruin everything.

The faerie sighed heavily. He was willing to patiently wait for Eric to turn sixteen. But if his curse was going to be fulfilled, then Starchild was going to have to make sure nothing happened to the little fox until that day came.

[inkribbon796]

Maybe Christmas Perhaps, Means a Little Bit More

Summary: A look at how some of the heroes and villains kick back and celebrate the holidays.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

   Virgil huffed warm air into his hands, rubbing them together. He’d been standing a block from the Heroes’ base, outside in the cold for the past five minutes and his instincts were already telling him to go inside. The snow was falling and while the coat, gloves, and hat he had were good enough it was still freezing.

   But he had a mission, one he knew the guy he was not going to just let him head back inside without saying a word.

   Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Patton walking over to him, out of costume and bundled up like blue marshmallow.

   “Hey, kiddo,” Patton smiled. “What are you doing out here? Party’s inside.”

   Virge just leaned back against the lamppost, just staring at the Side that had walked up to him. “What the hell are you doing here? You’ve got to be freezing cold.”

   “What do you mean?” Patton asked.

   “Dee, I know it’s you,” Virgil told him. “Come on, focus on keeping yourself warm.”

   “Patton” glared at him, but in the blink of an eye, Deceit was standing in front of him. To the villain’s credit he was wearing a coat and enough cold weather gear to make Virgil sweat even thinking about wearing it, but Virgil knew Deceit was cold blooded. The cold air was probably one bad gust from knocking him over.

   “Well, Virgil, I’ve come to see if you’ve been arrested yet, or if you came to your senses,” Deceit announced, sounding as smug as he could be with his teeth chattering.

   “You should be inside,” Virgil reminded smugly. “It’s almost in the 20’s out here.”

   Deceit threw his arms up in exasperation, “You’re insufferable, I never should have come.”

   “Thanks for the gift,” Virgil told him, gesturing to the new scarf he’d gotten on his birthday.

   Deceit rolled his eyes, “I didn’t get you anything.”

   Virgil smiled back, holding out a wrapped gift. “Sure, right.”

   The Dark Side looked at it for a couple seconds before taking it and opening it. He just stared in surprise as he pulled out a yellow and black knit beanie and a scarf that looked like a snake. Deceit immediately noticed the part of the scarf around the neck was a heating pad.

   “There,” Virgil stood up. “Now I didn’t get you anything either.”

   Deceit was clearly speechless by it for a good while, but he put it on and then with a curt nod, left Virgil alone outside the base. “Have a good night Virgil,” he told him.

   “Yeah Sergeant Slithers,” Virgil scoffed, calling after him.

   Once Virgil was sure he was gone he shuttered, hurrying inside, “Ugh, it’s freezing, I thought I’d be out here forever.”

   As soon as he walked in, he almost literally ran into the Host, and began to panic. He’d barely seen the guy since he helped free the town from Wilford. The Host had been like a specter that occasionally wandered out of his library and read books in random places of the base. It was a quality that Virgil actually understood, sitting or laying on the floor or other random places because he could.

   “Ugh, hey, I was just getting some fresh air,” Virgil could already feel himself start to sweat.

   “Anxiety should not worry himself, the Host didn’t notice anything,” the seer grinned.

   “Right, bet you’re not going to hold it over my head either,” Virgil folded his arms defensively in front of him.

   “Of course not, the Host cannot begrudge who Anxiety choses to give presents to,” the Host began walking back to the main area of the party. Virgil following behind him. “Not when he had to deliver a gift to someone that most of the heroes would find . . . rather unsavory.”

   “So, what does that mean?” Virgil asked.

   “To the Side known as Virgil? Nothing,” the Host turned his head to smile again at him.

   When they walked back into the main area where some of the heroes were partying and talking. Other heroes were out spending time with their families. Chase, Mark, and Sean were out.

   Virgil wound up with Eric and Marvin watching Muppet Christmas Carol and Nightmare before Christmas, eventually falling asleep on the couch, curled up.

   While the heroes were at their base, Dark and Anti were glaring at each other in the Manor. They’d gotten into a physical fight and after calming down just a little bit, and were now giving each other death glares. Dark sitting in a chair across the room from Anti, who was scratching pictures into the wall, just to piss Dark off.

   “Get your filthy hands off my walls,” Dark threatened.

   “Or what?” Anti growled, his voice and form glitching. “Ye gonna come o’er here an’ make me.”

   Dark stood up, his dark aura already curling around him.

   Wilford appeared next to Dark with a wine glass and a bottle of wine, wrapping his free arm around the greyscale entity’s shoulder. “Darky, Darky, relax.”

   “Don’t,” Dark spat at the crazed reporter.

   Wil snapped his fingers of his free hand and the scratch marks on the wall disappeared, making Anti glare at Wil instead of Dark.

   “Hey, I was workin’ on a masterpiece,” Anti stomped over.

   “Hush,” Wilford dismissed, keeping himself between Anti and Dark. “We’re here to party, and if you can’t do that me and the kids will just have to do that without you.”

   “He wouldn’t know how ta party if a good time bit ‘em in the ass,” Anti glared at Dark.

   “Now, now,” Wil smiled, letting go of Dark so he could hand Anti a scotch glass he conjured up out of the Void for him. “Let’s relax. It’s the holidays and I want to have a good time.”

   “This is the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Dark glared at Wilford as the report started to pour out a glass of wine for Dark.

   Wilford leaned against him, holding up the glass. “You are going to have fun, even if it kills me.”

   “Wil, you can’t die,” Dark rolled his eyes.

   “So let’s start with the having fun, and less with the arguing,” Wilford smiled, leading them to Dark’s main office where Illinois was trying to tend to an already drunk Yandere. They moved from one area of the Manor to the other in a matter of seconds, the very space between them folding at Wil’s direction. “I bet you two don’t even remember why you were fighting in the first place.”

   “I do,” Dark defended.

   “Prick got me vaporized,” Anti scoffed.

   “Yan, we were gone for an hour,” Dark demanded, stalking over to her, “how are you already this drunk?”

   “Woo!” Yan cheered.

   Dark crossed his arms and gave Illinois a stern, disapproving glower.

   “Hey, she doesn’t listen to what I say either,” Illinois threw his hands up.

   “Hey dad,” Yan smiled up at Dark.

   The entity just glared at her, “I won’t bother, you’re drunk.”

   “Relax,” Wilford drawled out. “Let her be.”

   “Wil, I am the most powerful, wanted man in the country,” Dark spat. “She is a child.”

   “No, they’re all adults,” Wil reminded. Bringing back up the glass up in front of Dark’s face, he smiled when Dark took it. “They’ve joined in on the family business. Let’s celebrate.”

   “Keep these coming, and I’ll play along,” Anti motioned to the glass in his hands.

   “Excellent,” Wilford grinned. “So let’s start the night by saying nice things about each other.”

   “I hate ya, ye insufferable shitbag,” Anti told Dark.

   “You’re a petulant child that I only allow to clutter up my life because Wil and my Lost Ones like you, for some horrible reason,” Dark agreed.

   “Prolly ‘cause they got good taste,” Anti spat.

   “That is my one failing in life,” Dark admitted. “Letting you live for long enough for Bim and the others to get attached.”

   “Tough shite, Dark-osaurus,” Anti scoffed.

   Wilford walked over and put his arms around both Dark and Anti. “Come on, boys, let’s be good sports about this.”

   “Leggo ‘a me ye peppermint fook,” Anti shoved him off, making Wilford hug himself to Dark.

   “Darky, I’m gonna get you drunk, and then you’re going to be Anti’s best friend,” Wilford promised.

   Dark just glared at him, taking a cautious sip of his wine, clearly tasting it before swallowing it. He summoned up a chair for himself.

   “Can you get him drunk?” Illinois asked, Yan half passed out in his lap. Illinois had a drink in his hands but had barely touched it.

   “Illy, can you pick up my boyfriend, he doesn’t know where we live?” Yan mumbled into his leg.

   Illinois rolled his eyes and shoved her off of him, rolling her onto the floor. “Quit drooling on my leg.”

   “Well, I can sure try,” Wilford decided, answering Illinois’ question, and then picked up Yan like she was seven again. “Come on, Princess, you look like you need a nap.”

   “I’m not tired,” Yan mumbled into his chest.

   Smiling softly at her, Wil passed by Dark, kissing him on the top of his head. “I’ll go tuck her in, try not to get into too much trouble.”

   Dark rolled his eyes but took another sip of his wine.

   Anti waited until Wil was gone, “Yer lucky yah somehow got that pink dipshit ta like yah. Yah geratic mess of a skin thief.”

   The wine glass cracked. “That is the exact opposite of what I do.”

   Dark tipped back the rest of his wine, and was about to start another fight with Anti, when Bim walked in, looking around the room.

   “Hey,” Bim tried to smile. “You guys started the party without me?”

   “Wine’s good Bim,” Illinois told him. “You’re going to need it. Yan was out pregaming, so the rest of us joined in.”

   “Oh,” Bim’s smile got a little more genuine. “Hey, Anti.”

   “Hey, Junior,” Anti smiled back. “Tell the ol’ geezer he needs to lighten up before he busts a vein.”

   “Bimmy boy,” Wilford cut in, suddenly appearing at Bim’s sides and slinging an arm around him. “There you are. What’s our poison for tonight?”

   Bim smiled, “Well I’m going to need something to take the creepy edge off this room.”

   “I’ve got just the thing,” Wilford grinned, laughing to himself as he pulled away.

   The sudden lack of living warmth made Bim shiver, he reflexively looked around for Wil, the man was riffling through Dark’s liquor cabinet.

   “Wil,” Dark sighed, dragging his free hand over his face. “You’re going to drop it all on the floor.”

   “Nonsense,” Wil dismissed and tossed Anti a bottle of whiskey. Which, thankfully to Dark’s fraying nerves, Anti caught instead of just spitefully letting it crash onto the floor.

   “I chose this,” Dark groaned, holding the wine glass with his aura so he could just bury his face in his hands. Anything to take his eyes off Wil. “I chose this twice.”

   Illinois just laughed, the bit of alcohol he’d already had starting to loosen his tongue. Bim would have joined in, except his eyes caught sight of something. Normally he didn’t go in Dark’s main office, sticking to Dark’s warehouse offices if he really had to talk to him about something.

   It was a large portrait. The picture framed in a beautiful frame that read two names: BARNUM DOOM.

   Bim looked at the portrait, it was the oldest surviving picture of them. Dark in his favorite chair, an ankle propped out to the side on his other knee. A ten-year-old Bim kneeling in front of him with a huge smile. Wilford standing behind Dark’s chair in his best suit, a hand on Dark’s shoulder. Arthur with his metallic bat, and Illinois in a tweed suit, the cuffs with a bit of dirt and grass stains Dark hadn’t noticed at the time the picture was taken. Both Illinois and Arthur were standing on either side of Dark and Will. Yan with a billowing red skirt, and Kay with his favorite stuffed animal in his hands. Yancy to the other side of Kay with a huge smile on his face.

   It startled Bim that Dark still had this. He’d figured that Dark would have had it thrown out when Kay and Arthur had left.

   “Bim?” Dark called out softly, walking over to him.

   “You still have it,” Bim voiced his shock out loud.

   “Of course I do,” Dark answered. “Why would I have gotten rid of it?”

   Bim found himself playing with his hands, “Cause they’re in it.”

   Dark just looked at Bim, “The lost typically find their way back. Arthur and Kay will come back, it’s only a matter of pushing the right buttons.”

   “Right,” Bim frowned.

   Dark looked over and the ringing grew more shrill. “Wil! I was saving that!”

   Wil had a bottle of wine in his hand, a goading smile on his face, already digging the cork out. “For what? The end of the world?”

   As Wil and Dark argued, and Anti chimed in to egg Dark on, Bim just watched, Illinois close by. All the night dragged on the group calmed down. Dark and Anti entering a tepid truce. Bim and Illinois falling asleep somewhere around 2 A.M because they were still human enough to need it. Wil sitting in the middle of them with two of his boys resting their heads on his shoulders.

   Dark and Anti were arguing, more of a disagreement this time, and he looked over at Wil. Wil smiled back. For the first time in years he felt safe. As if the chaos around them stopped for a moment.

~::~ ~::~ ~::~

A/N:

    Ages of the kids in the portrait:

-Arthur and Illinois: 12

-Kay and Yancy: 11

-Bim and Yan: 10

    With Arthur being the oldest and Yan being the baby of the group.

[kariachi]

Some more fic for yesterday’s au. Because I want to write my OC, let me live. A bit on how the boys function amongst themselves.

~~

“Okay, so, bug types are good against the first gym, Charjabug will be handy for my experiments, and Vikavolt is a powerful battler-” Kevin looked up over the top of his phone, nestled deep in a pile of Wooloo “-so Grubbin should definitely be our first catch.”

“You sure,” Eric replied, glowering at their cookpot. Dinner was his job tonight and neither of them was especially good at the whole ‘cooking’ thing. The urge to just live off pokemon chow along with their starters and Espeon had been strong. “I heard those were rough to find.” He’d asked around Motostoke about what was available in the Wild Area, while Kevin was busy haggling supply prices down. It hurt to be prepared, after all, and they both played to their own strengths.

“Around here yeah,” Kevin said, climbing out of the pile of starter with a bright smile that Eric unconsciously mirrored to come show him his phone. There were charts and things on the screen that Eric didn’t fully understand off the bat, but he didn’t have to. That was what his twin was for. “They only show up in the Wild Area when it’s raining, but if we head down to Route One they’re a rare but ever-present pokemon. They’ll be low level, and it’ll take some time, but it’s perfectly doable and probably faster than waiting for the weather to do what we want.” Ah, okay. He quickly ran over what he knew about the line in his head, to make sure it’d meet his needs as well as his brother’s, and came up clean.

“We’ll head out after breakfast then.” Their joint smiles could’ve shamed the sun.

Still, as Kevin returned to his spot with their pokemon, he had to wonder how how much longer they’d be finding themselves doing that. Judging whether to catch pokemon together. It was the one part of this whole ‘use the gym challenge to escape’ plan that they’d never been able to figure out. Kevin had no intentions on going into pokemon as a career, he wanted to collect pokemon who could be of use in his latest project, and possibly in more in the future. At best he wanted subjects for the art that was his real passion. Eric, meanwhile, had been chomping at the bit to become a trainer, spearheading this whole plan from the start. He wanted a team that would allow him to make something of himself, to become one of the greats.

But how long would those goals lead them to the same pokemon?

They’d matched as far back as they could remember. Dressed the same, ate the same, mirrored each other’s body language. They had the same hairstyle, the same battered glasses. Their entire lives had been a constant act of negotiation, finding a middle ground they both enjoyed so that people couldn’t tell them apart. They’d even had one argument about whether one of them should get colored contacts, so people couldn’t figure them out based on their eyes. At that very moment they were decked out in identical outfits, carefully chosen to be less sporty than Eric would’ve preferred, and less punk than Kevin would have, but enough of both to make each of them happy. It had to.

They always matched.

It was important, for reasons Eric couldn’t explain. Kevin could, with pretty words and everything, but the best he’d ever been able to manage, the one time a therapist had suggested that maybe he should be more independent, was that they were a team. Having one without the other would be wrong. Sure, they were wildly different- for instance Eric was getting on wonderfully, but if Kevin had to be polite to one more moron he may well die- but… He didn’t have words for it. It was right.

They had the same look.

The same service pokemon.

The same starters.

How much could they extend that to their teams? And if they couldn’t…

Not having the same powers already burned enough, thank you very much

[soft---darkness]

Liquid Confidence

Wheeeew!! This took FOREVER to write. My apologies for the delay friends! I'm really proud of this piece, even if it is grossly sweet xD I hope you guys like it! Enjoy....

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

Liquid Confidence

Eric laughed loudly as he held the cup of punch up to his lips. He wasn't completely sure what Bing was talking about but it was funny. The Ego’s were currently having a New Year's party and Eric was quite glad that he had agreed to come. He could remember feeling nervous and being unsure about coming, but he suddenly couldn't remember why. The thought made him laugh again, and he grabbed at the kitchen counter to keep from swaying. Nerves and anxiety...they were silly things. Eric felt neither of them at the moment and instead focused on the warm and dizzy feeling in his head

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

Dark sighed deeply as he walked down the stairs. He had hoped that the other Egos would have kept their partying quiet, but it seemed that he had been wrong. Rather than sit at his desk and glare at his papers unproductively, Dark decided that he might as well make sure that no one died or set the kitchen on fire.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Dark took notice of the pair of Egos in the living room. Dr. Iplier and Bim were sitting together on the couch, talking together mildly. However, that conversation quieted considerably when they took notice of Dark’s ringing aura as he approached. Dark suppressed a grin as he watched the two pairs of eyes flit over to him, only to look away again. He did not mind that the other Egos were afraid of him. In fact, he quite liked it. It helps him stay in control as a leader and-

“Dark!” Dark startled as his name was called out, and quickly turned towards the shout. He blinked in surprise as Eric stumbled up to him, half falling and half throwing himself at Dark.

“Eric?” He questioned, reaching out and steading Eric by lightly grabbing his shoulders. “Are you okay?” He couldn't help feeling concerned as Eric smiled up at him. It was rare that they interacted with each other with any other Egos around, but Eric had run right up to him. Not to mention that he wasn't particularly...steady. But Eric only giggled and nodded, reaching up to grab Dark’s shoulders in return. Dark opened his mouth to protest or say something else, but Eric had already tugged him closer and put his mouth against Dark’s own.

Both the Doctor and Bim gasped in shock and then went quiet, glancing at each other in worry. The Doctor tensed, certain that he was about to see Eric get shoved away and attacked by an angry demon. Bim just turned away and closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next.

But, instead of the expected fight and bloodshed, warm, rich laughter filled the room. The two looked again in bewilderment to see Dark with his head tossed back, laughing in amusement. It was a warm and friendly laugh that nobody had expected or ever heard from Dark. They were used to the sadist chuckle that the demon would sometimes let out, but nobody had ever heard him laugh. It was jarring to the other two Egos, but more than anything they were relieved. Neither had wanted to see Eric get ripped to shreds, and Dr. Iplier was enjoying his break from the constant Doctoring the others needed.

The relief was short lived though. It was quickly replaced with confusion and curiosity. What the hell had just happened?

When Dark had managed to collect himself, he turned to the two and tried to give an explanation, but was stopped by lips on his neck. He tensed slightly and gave a warning growl, reaching up to gently pull Eric away and hold him at a slight distance. Eric whined and tried to resist slightly, but quickly resigned when he saw that Dark was not going to let go. He pouted softly to himself as he glared at the hands holding him so softly.

Dark just chuckled softly and rolled his eyes, entertained Eric's behavior. “Eric darling, you're drunk.” He stated bluntly, very amused by the situation.

Dr. Iplier raised an eyebrow at the pet name and glanced at Bim, who just shrugged in response. At this point, the two were just watching silently on the couch, not saying anything in fear of disrupting the one situation where they had ever seen the demonic entity be affectionate. It was incredibly interesting to Dr. Iplier, and he found himself wishing he had a clipboard to take notes. Bim just watched in astonishment, wondering if this was just a weird fever dream.

Eric seemed to be the only one not having a good time. He was still terribly disappointed about being kept away by him lover, and despite Dark’s gentle tone, he was not reconciled. “No I'm not! I haven't had ANYTHING but punch!” To prove his point, Eric picked up his cup form where he had sat it on the floor and showed it off proudly. Dark smirked softly and took the cup from Eric's hand, sniffing at the pinkish liquid inside. He cringed away slightly at the reek of alcohol and gazed questioningly at Eric.

When Eric didn't react Dr. Iplier piped up, almost hesitantly. “Ah...Wilford spiked the punch earlier. I tried to tell everyone that I ran into, but I must have missed Eric.” The doctor smiled apologetically at Dark as Bim giggled into his hand.

“Of course he did...I should have thought as much.” Dark just shook his head and sighed before turning back to a glowering Eric. He was still being held away and he was not pleased about it. Eric was bored of all the talk going on. He couldn't see how Dark thought that talking was more fun than making out, which was currently the only thing Eric was interested in.

“Daaaaaark…” He whined pitifully, hoping to communicate his frustration with his lover. Dark grinned in amusement and gently brought Eric against his chest. He gave the pouting ego a look of faux pity and kissed his forehead softly.

“Sorry sweetheart, we’re not doing anything while you're intoxicated.” The entity's words were said gentle enough, but they held a certain element of firmness that made it clear to Eric that he was not going to win this. Eric recognized his defeat and sighed, letting his body go slack against Dark’s as he laid his head on the demons shoulder.

“Can we at least cuddle?” His murmured words were muffled slightly by Dark’s suit but they were eligible to make Dark smile.

“Sure darling. Let's go upstairs.” The entity gently picked up a now placated Eric and turned to leave, but then looked over his shoulder at the two other egos on the couch. All of his former gentleness and amusement was gone as he stared the others down, crimson eyes hard. “Let’s keep quiet about this, hmm?” The words themselves were a request, but Dark’s tone held an unspoken threat.

Bim nodded quickly in agreement, face a little paler than normal as he avoided eye contact with Dark. Dr. Iplier just smiled gently at the the demon and spoke in a relaxed tone. “Of course dark. And let me know if he needs anything in the morning for the headache.” The doctor grinned knowingly and Dark smiled back, relaxing a bit with the two egos agreement.

“Thank you doctor. I will see you two in the morning.Goodnight.” With a nod of his head, the entity turned and slowly walked up the stairs, bringing a sleeping Eric with him.

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

Eric groaned as he slowly woke up, his head heavy and pounding in a constant rhythm. Everything felt muted and Eric wasn't sure for a moment if he was underwater or not. He blinked his eyes open slowly, wincing as sunlight streamed past the window onto his face. He felt like he had been either run over or beaten up. What had happened last night?

Eric startled slightly when he realized he didn't even know the answer to that question. He knew there had been a party; a new years party. He also remembered that Wilford had convinced him to come, and Dark had declined, and...Eric strained to remember further, but stopped when the harsh pounding in his head got worse. He whimpered softly, wanting to be able to think clearly but being stopped by the pain.

Eric had started to get slightly distressed when he suddenly felt a cold pair of hands touch his forehead and shoulder. He sighed in relief when he felt them and sluggishly opened his eyes again. He smiled softly when he saw Dark looking back.

“Good morning Mister party animal…” Dark murmured, grinning knowingly. He kept his voice low and quiet, knowing all too well the kind of headache Eric had. Eric just gazed at him questionaly, suddenly worried.

‘Dark...W-what happened last n-night?” Dark’s mischievous grin was making him nervous. Had he done something odd? And what was “Mister party animal” supposed to mean?!

“Well my darling, you unknowingly drank some spiked punch at the New Years party and got quite wasted.” Dark ran a soothing hand through Eric's soft hair as he spoke, laughing softly as Eric's gaze became more alarmed as he continued to speak. “And then, when I can down stairs, you proceeded to try and make out with me in front of Dr. Iplier and Trimmer…much to their surprise.”

Eric's face dropped and he paled considerably. He had made advances on Dark in front of the others?! How was Dark being so calm about this? He gasped softly as he his head throbbed as his panic increased, eyes clenched shut.

Dark sighed softly, his previous humor gone with Eric's distressed reaction. “Come now sweetheart, it's alright.” He ran soothing hands over his boyfriends neck and shoulders, using his cold body to try and relax the other. He shifted his body over slightly, moving to lay next to Eric and hold him against his chest.

Eric relaxed into the hold, letting Dark calm him down enough to talk again. “W-what a-are we going to d-do?” They had both decided early in their relationship that it would be best for them to keep them a secret, but that seemed unlikely now.

Dark just hummed softly in response, thinking it over slowly. “Well, I suppose we should tell the others. I'm alright with it if you are. It's about time anyway, hmm?”

Eric looked at Dark in surprise, but his excitement could be seen as well. “R-really?” He had wanted the others to know for awhile, but hadn't been sure how to bring it up. He was very surprised that Dark was okay with it, but overjoyed anyway.

“I don't see why not...won't hurt anyone.” Dark paused for a moment to think and then tighten his hold on Eric slightly. “But later. First I still need to cuddle you like I promised.” He grinned against Eric, knowing that he didn't fully know what was going on. Eric just smiled and relaxed against the entity. He didn't remember what Dark was referring to, but he wasn't about to refuse the others love.

And anyway, what was the rush?

[glitterrhowell]

Chapter 30

Title: Seized

Co-author: fadingcrystalvoid

Pairing:  Daniel Howell & AmazingPhil (Phan

Word count: 2k

Warning/Genre: Rape/extreme violence/ depression/PTSD/Degradation/torture/ Non-consensual pretty much everything/Little!Dan/Daddy!Phil/Kidnapping

Summary: It started out as a fun day at the park but it ended in terror. Phil takes his little Dan to the park and while Phil is not looking, Dan suddenly gets kidnapped. What will happen to Dan? Will Phil ever see his boyfriend again? Did Phil have something to do with it? Heavy trigger warning

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Ever since Dan had returned to his adult mindset and then regressed back, things had, for the most part, returned to normal. Dan spoke to Lela, Eric, and Kate but it was always in a quiet, afraid voice. Lela was used to the emotional rollercoaster that was Dan when he was regressed but now he seemed rather stoic.

There had only been one incident since his slip, which was nearly a week ago now. He’d been in the canteen, eating dinner with Kate and Eric. Kate was wolfing down her food, clearly hungry, while Eric picked at - but still ate - his meal. Dan had been having the meals served in the children’s wing, enjoying the dinosaur chicken nuggets more than the regular ones.

One of the kitchen staff had accidentally left some food in the oven a little too long, causing the smoke alarms to go off. Being the hospital that they were, sprinklers were everywhere, meaning as soon as the alarms went off, every patient was being sprayed with water.

At first, there had been no reaction, just everyone looking to the nurses to help them go where they needed to go. Though once about half the people had left the room and the other half were thoroughly drenched, Dan’s screams kicked in. He was laying on the ground, twitching and shuddering and screaming the most terrible screams Lela had ever heard.

Everyone was panicked from the fire and the screams, causing all-out chaos in the psychiatric ward. One of the younger adults had ran into the kitchen, the fire triggering him to relapse and need to feel the burn. Another, more older lady, collapsed and was wheeled to the emergency ward, where it was discovered she’d suffered cardiac arrest as a result of a panic attack, her aged heart not being able to pump blood fast enough.

Eric and Kate had handled the situation pretty well, considering the kitchen was on fire and their friend was screaming on the ground looking like he was having a seizure. Lela and the other doctors were all in the room, watching for their patients to make sure they made it out safely and didn’t have any relapses.

Lela was only concerned with Dan, even though she did have other patients who lived in the hospital. The other two in-patients she worked with were both well on their way to recovery and Lela had no doubt they’d be able to handle the situation properly. Dan, on the other hand, couldn’t.

She ran up to him, slamming her knees into the tiled floor as she climbed onto the floor.

“Dan? Dan can you hear me?” she tried, getting absolutely no response. “Dan! I need you to wake up now, you’ll feel really light and on the count of three, you’ll be fully awake. Okay? One, two, three.”

Dan lay still, the shaking stopping. He didn’t open his eyes though and a minute after he’d stilled, the convulsing picked up worse than it was before. Between the screams, Dan was begging for it to stop. Lela had no idea what to do, the bring him from hypnosis hadn’t worked, not that Dan was under at the moment. She signaled a nurse over, knowing there was no other option but to sedate him. She felt she did this a lot, and she really did, but sometimes there was no other option. Like now, if she left Dan to himself, who knew what kind of damage - physical or mental - it could cause. No, sedating Dan, while seeming horrible, was best for him.

~~~~~~~~

Louise packed her small handbag and climbed into the car, turning the ignition as she adjusted the rear-view mirror. She was heading towards HM Wandsworth Penitentiary, the prison where Phil was being kept. It had been two weeks since the end of the trial and Phil’s parents had visited him in the first week. They had said she could visit along with another friend the next week, knowing Phil would want to see his friends again. Pj was meeting her there, each living on opposite sides of the prison.

“Hi love,” she said, pulling Pj into a hug.

“Hey Lou,” Pj replied. They turned towards the prison, sparing a glance with each other before they began walking towards the big sign that read ‘visitation’. “How do you think he’s going?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Louise replied. “I’d like to say he’s perfectly fine but you and I both know Phil is too soft for prison. I’m worried he will have become a punching bag by this point.”

“Don’t think like that,” Pj scolded, holding the door open for Louise to enter the cool building.

“Who are you here to see?” a guard asked, holding his hand out before they could walk through to the area where Phil would be waiting.

“Phil, Philip Lester,” Pj answered, his friend’s full name sounding strange on his tongue.

“Ah, Lester. He’s in there,” the man said, stepping aside and gesturing to the room behind him.

“Lou!” a voice shouted, causing her to look towards the sound, seeing a fully grown man, with tears in his eyes, running towards her. “Peej! God am I glad to see you.” After hugging them both tight, he led them to the table he’d been allocated and took a seat.

“I thought you might have not come,” Phil said, looking down. “I didn’t hurt Dan, I swear. I never wanted any of-”

“Phil,” he was cut of by Louise, her hand going to rest atop his. “We know you’re innocent. You don’t need to explain yourself to us. We know you love Dan, don’t worry, love,” she said, giving him a hopefully comforting smile.

“How is he?” Phil asked. He felt like he was saying that a lot, but it couldn’t be anywhere near as much as he was thinking it.

“Let’s not talk about him, Phil. How are you holding up?” Pj suddenly said, sending a wary glance in Louise’s view.

Phil furrowed his brows. He didn’t like how his friends were just brushing off his question. Had something happened? At least when his parents had told him he was good he’d got an answer. He’d known it was a lie but at least they’d tried.

“Please, I need to know how he is,” Phil tried, desperate to know how his boyfriend was.

Pj sighed. “He’s scared, Phil. He’s so scared and the doctors don’t know what to do anymore. Recently he started screaming when water came near him and it’s not like that’s something he can avoid forever, he needs to drink it for fuck’s sake.” Louise put her hand on his shoulder, calming him. “I know you weren’t there and didn’t have anything to do with it, but do you have any ideas why Dan would be scared of water?”

-

“Ready for some fun?” Sir asked, grinning as he brandished a taser and the familiar blade Phil had been using on Dan’s skin for the past couple of days.

“Please just let us go,” Phil tried, knowing it was pointless. It was basically routine at this point. Beg Sir to let them go, eat whatever drugged food Phil was being made to have that day, then carve the words into Dan and wait for him to pass out from blood loss. It always ended then, Sir didn’t seem to see the point in carving the words if Dan wasn’t conscious for the pain.

Today was different from those days though; a taser had never been involved before and Phil felt sick just thinking about what could happen with it.

They went through the unfortunately usual routine. Phil ate, slowly lost control of his limbs, and then was dragged over to Dan’s limp body.

“Hi love, you’re a good boy, remember that for me, can you?” Dan sobbed and shook, nodding despite himself.

The new word began to form itself into Dan’s perfect light brown skin. The ‘o’s hurt the most. After the words ‘good fuck’ were finished being carved, Sir moved Phil’s hand back over the circles. He placed the blade in Phil’s hand at the top and slowly started cutting down as if he were cutting some meat for dinner. The bright red of the muscle under Dan’s skin was clearly sore, blood dripping from it as his stomach convulsed, the muscle abused and unused to the torture.

“I’ll help with this part,” Sir laughed, picking up two squares from the bed and putting them over the two open bits of skin. At first, Phil was confused, thinking they were bandaids, until he realised he was very, very wrong. Little wires hooked up to the pads, making Dan look similar to how he had when he’d first arrived at the hospital after being rescued.

“Here you go,” Sir said, dropping a device into Phil’s lap and causing the cords to tug on Dan’s tender stomach.

“Now Danny, I want you to beg. Remember how much you enjoyed this last time, princess? It’ll be even better this time, I promise.” The words ‘last time’ rung in Phil’s ears as Dan instantly began mumbling pleas. Phil didn’t think he was really aware of what he was begging for, just wanting to please Sir to maybe lessen the pain.

“Well, Phil? Who are you to deny Danny what he wants?” Phil glowered as Sir leant over him, pressing his thumb to the dial to turn it up to its second highest setting. When Phil didn’t move his thumb, which he was slowly gaining control of again, Sir verbally growled. He pressed the dial up to the highest setting and pressed Phil’s thumb into the button. Dan’s screams rung so loud Phil was surprised that no neighbors came to check on them. The screaming didn’t stop for a minute, even after the stimulus stopped. “Suck a fucking wimp,” Sir chuckled, picking up the blade again to quickly carve ‘wimp’ into his skin.

-

“Electrocution,” Phil said suddenly. Pj and Louise exchanged looks, ones that said ‘are we sure he’s innocent if he answered so quickly and confidently?’ “It happened at our flat. There wasn’t any water but I’d bet they’d done it at the cabin with water,” he explained, sad his friends actually thought he could be guilty.

They nodded, promising to share the information with Lela. Pj asked again how Phil was and he answered with his usual response - “I’m as good as I can be” - and they spoke for maybe half an hour longer before Louise had to get going to pick up Darcy from school. Pj said he’d better get going at the same time and Phil couldn’t help but think it was because he didn’t want to be in Phil’s presence any longer. He knew it was mad, and that they were his friends, but his mind didn’t like to listen to reason so it thought what it wanted.

Phil hugged them goodbye before heading back to his cell. Boston was getting out at the end of the week, having cleared his parole and been given early release with a good behaviour bond. Phil was sad to see him go, the man being the only “friend” he had in the prison. He wasn’t rude, kind enough to give him some advice when Phil clearly had no idea how to act in prison. He watched as Boston was lead from the cell, no cuffs on his wrists but two guards following him.

It wasn’t until three days after Boston left that Phil realised exactly what that meant. He now had a private cell, it was only a matter of time until he got a new roommate.

“Hey, Lester. Long time, no see,” a voice chided, causing Phil to look up into the eyes of the one and only Roger Kide.

[grace-writes-shit]

I Won’t Give Up On You (Loki x PlusSize!Reader)

Request: Hi, i love your style of writing so much! 😍 Can I please get number 25 and 32 with Loki? Thank you so much ❤

Summary: The reader helps save Loki from Thanos’ control and becomes an Avenger.

Words: 1965 (woooooow)

Characters/Pairings: Loki x reader, Tony Stark, Thor, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Nick Fury, Eric Selvig

Warnings: Angst, character ‘death’, alien invasion

A/N: Alright guys so this is the last request on my list so please send me some more to keep this blog going!

“You want me to do what now?” She rose a brow at the man in the star-spangled suit. She leaned back in her plush armchair. Her gaze moved over to the long-haired blonde one and then over to the one in a fancy suit jacket and a Black Sabbath tee.

“We need you to look into my brother’s mind to find out what he is plotting.” The one with long hair said again. Her (e/c) were piercing as she looked at each of them in the eye, it was as if she was looking directly into their souls.

“Alright.” She shrugged, grabbing her knitted sweater. Their faces contorted in shock.

“That’s it?” The short one asked, looking put off by how easily she agreed.

“Well… Yeah. So, are you gonna show me the way or not?” She shouldered her designer backpack and waved her hand to her office door.

The man named Nick Fury and a woman by the name of Natasha led (Y/N) down a corridor to a large set of automatic doors.

“Be careful with this one, he’s a Master of Lies and Mischief, and he won’t hesitate to kill you given the chance,” Nick said as he pressed his hand over the scanner and the doors slid open. Inside a man dressed in green and, gold armor stood proudly.

“Not everyone is as they seem,” (Y/N) said as she entered the room, the door closing behind her. The clicks of her boots drew the attention of the god but he did not turn to gaze at her. Always the one for dramatics.

“Well, well, has Fury sent me a new toy to play with?” Loki finally slowly turned to face the woman who had seated herself on the chair just in front of the glass separating the two.

She was a plump woman with very nice curves that drew his gaze. Her hands were folded over her lap were a notepad lay. Her (h/c) hair was thrown up into an attractive messy bun that framed her round face nicely.

“My name is (Y/N) (L/N), I’m a psychologist from New York. I was hired by S.H.I.E.L.D to talk to you.” She shifted in her seat, her skirt riding up ever so slightly. His eyes were instantly drawn to it.

“So, I guess I’ll start off by telling you a bit about myself. I was born and raised in a little town in Washington State, and I moved here to find better opportunities. I became a psychologist a few years ago. I have a cat and live in a small apartment in Brooklyn.”

He eyed her wearily, unsure of where she was going with this. She was hired by these mortals to find out what his plan was but not even the Widow had approached him in such a roundabout way.

“What is it you want from me?” He approached the glass, trying to read her. But as she sat there with a soft smile and an understanding look in her eyes, he couldn’t find anything worthwhile.

“I just want to talk. S.H.I.E.L.D hired me to find out what you were up to but honestly, I couldn’t care less. However, from the footage I saw from when you first showed up… I’m curious as to why you looked so horrid for someone claiming to want to take over our planet.”

Loki knew the answer of course, but he wasn’t about to divulge this girl in that story. He smirked and licked his lips.

“Oh? And how did I look?”

“Tortured. Like a man who had hit rock bottom and had only one option. To follow orders.” She spoke bluntly but softly as if to not set him off. But it was too late for that.

“What do you know? You don’t know what it’s like to be cast out! To be looked over! To practically be on your knees!” Loki’s rage suddenly broke free, he slammed his fist on the glass and glowered down at the woman.

“Don’t I?” She whispered, her eyes turning down to her hands. “Being the second youngest of five isn’t as great as it seems. Especially when your parents only want the best.”

Loki’s intense gaze softened as he listened to her.

“I was never the smartest, nor the prettiest. Everything I would do, everything I accomplished was already done by my older siblings… and my youngest would receive all the attention. It was as if I didn’t exist to them. It was all about my siblings…”

“…Did you hate them?” Loki asked, lowering his palm down the glass. She sniffed and shook her head. He rose a brow in confusion.

“No, no I didn’t. Well, at first, I did. I blamed everyone and myself for what was happening to me. I hated my siblings and my parents. But, as I grew older, I came to realize that even though my parents shunned me, my siblings always defended me, always praised me. I was blind to that because of my own self-pity.”

Loki didn’t know what to say to that. Suddenly, he was back on that rainbow bridge, his brother holding him up. He remembers feeling so lost as his father looked down on him in disappointment. He didn’t even glance at the anguished look in Thor’s eyes.

“Loki, no matter how hard the situation seems, or how alone you feel, there is always someone there for you.” (Y/N) smiled up at him as his body relaxed and he gazed back at her with damp eyes.

“I-I never meant for anyone to get hurt,” He muttered. She nodded, standing and walking up the glass and resting her palm on where his rest.

“We never do, Loki. But sometimes, we just lose sight of the path… We just need someone to lead us back.” Abruptly, the entire ship shook, nearly knocking (Y/N) off her feet. And like a spell was broken, Loki looked down at (Y/N) with that same crazed look in his eyes.

“Loki?”

“You think too highly of yourself, you quim. Did you really think you could help me? It’s too late!” He laughed as a group of agents burst into the room, leading (Y/N) away, telling her to get to a safer place.

“I’m not going to give up on you, Loki!” She shouted as the doors closed. She was shoved onto a chopper that took off immediately, dodging shots from a rogue quinjet.

She didn’t see him again until he was atop the Stark Tower. She had noticed the quinjet from her office not too far from the Tower. Figuring it was Tony and the others, she made her way there. How wrong she was.

“I already told you, it’s too late.” He scowled down at her, but at this proximity, she could see the desperation in his eyes. She had been discovered as she made her way up and was brought to Loki to decide what to do with her.

She had been trying to convince him to end this.

“Loki, whoever’s making you do this, we can hide you, we can keep you safe! Please!” She grasped his hand in hers. He tore his hand away.

“You can’t stop this, (Y/N)! Stop trying…” He looked up at her with defeated, tired eyes. “I have.”

She frowned and drew her hand back and cracked it across his cheek. “Enough! Stop with the tough guy act! Stop with all the damn self-pity! End this, Loki!” She growled in his face, pulling him closer by his collar.

His eyes were wide as she yelled at him, his cheek stinging. Some clarity returned to his mind. “Thanos will come for me. There isn’t anywhere he won’t find me.” He shook his head.

“Then die.” She shoved him away. His heart dropped at her tone. She was telling him to die, to let Thanos come after him… He studied her, hoping she would say something to let him know she didn’t mean it.

“He can’t find you if you’re dead.” Loki looked at her as if she grew another head. “Thor told me of how he thought you were dead after you fought… Just do it again.”

How can she say these things so bluntly and carelessly? He marched up to her, dropping his scepter and took her in his arms, too overcome with relief to care of how this looked.

She wrapped her arms around him. “Shall we?”

She and Loki called the newly assembled Avengers and explained to them what was really going on. Thor was as relieved as he could be when he learned this wasn’t his brother’s plan. But he was enraged when he heard of what Thanos had done.

The others were obviously doubtful but decided to trust Thor’s and (Y/N)’s judgment. And their plan was set into action.

Loki opened the portal, allowing the Chitauri to invade. Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Tony kept them away from the civilians while Thor fought Loki. Bruce was at the device where the portal was coming from, trying to deactivate it.

(Y/N) had knocked out Selvig by hitting him over the head with a fire extinguisher. Soon Thor had defeated Loki, taking the scepter. He flew up to where Bruce and (Y/N) were.

“Anything?” He asked, his voice strained. (Y/N) shook her head, watching as more Chitauri poured from the portal.

“What if this was all meaningless? They may still find another way here… We need to do more than just close the portal…”

“What do you have in mind, (Y/N)?” Tony asked over the earpiece they had given her.

“Something crazy…”

A nuclear bomb was indeed crazy, but it worked. The moment the main ship exploded, the soldiers on Earth all collapsed. From what she could hear, there wasn’t as much a there would have been had Loki truly been trying.

After all was said and done, Thor took Loki’s ‘dead’ body back to Asgard. The news was all about this Alien invasion and the people who helped stop it.

(Y/N) sighed as she gazed up at the stars. It has been weeks since then. The casualties of the battle were much lower than she had thought, but then again, Tony and the others were able to evacuate a lot of people before the portal was opened…

But, as happy as she was that it was all over, she felt a strange emptiness in her chest. What was Loki doing now with his newfound freedom? Did he think of her as much as she did him?

She turned to look at her new room. When Tony had finished repairs on the Tower, he invited the Avengers to live there, even (Y/N).

“You’re as much of an Avenger as the rest of us (Y/N),” he had said. She agreed eventually.

A knock at her door had her moving away from her window. She opened it, expecting to see Steve or Tony, but was shocked to see the dark-haired god that had ‘died’ weeks ago.

“L-Loki?” She covered her mouth with her hand. He didn’t say anything besides holding his arms open. She stepped into his arms, wrapping hers around his torso.

“You’re here… what happened?” She looked up at him. He smiled slightly at her.

“Odin thought it would be appropriate if I served my time here on Midgard to atone for my wrongdoings…” He brushed her hair from her face. Her soft body pressed against his own. This girl saved him. And he couldn’t be more grateful for her.

“Well, I’m glad that he decided that.” She rested her head on his chest. He nodded in agreement, dropping his head to rest on hers. “Hey, Loki?”

“Hmm?”

“Just hold me.”  

“As you will never give up on me, petal, I will never let go of you.”

[letdecemberburninflames]

The Challenge

Part Two

Summary: Here’s part one, if you missed it: Part One

Fic Type: Eric Coulter x Reader, Tattoo Artist!Reader, smut

Warnings: strong language, smut, unprotected sex (assume reader is on the pill; wrap it before you tap it, kids), kinky af

Author’s Note: Wow. Okay. So, The Challenge: Part 1 was really successful, and a bunch of people like it, apparently. So here’s Part Two and a whole lotta smut. (I’ve only written smut like twice before this so please don’t kill me if this sucks.)

Also: I know that tattoos need to be covered and cared for, but since this occurs in the future we are just going to pretend that you get the tat and you’re good, m’kay?

***Eric’s POV***

“You know what this means, little girl.” I almost sang as I grinned down at her. “You lost.”

“Little girl?” Y/N spat. “I’m twenty five!”

I stared at her. She didn’t look a day over seventeen. “You’re seriously twenty five?” I asked.

“Why? You want to make sure I’m legal?” Her voice was filled with hatred, brimming with animosity.

The rest of the time Y/N worked on my tattoo was spent in silence. She really did look young. But, she was talented. I’d give her that. She seamlessly worked the fuck-up into the design. When she finished, she stood, ripped her gloves off without a word, cleaned up, and turned to leave.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I spread my newly tattooed arms.

“No.” She glowered at me. “Some other time. Not tonight.” She slipped out the door.

I jogged to catch up with her. “You shouldn’t walk home alone.”

“Listen, daddy, I can take care of myself.” Y/N’s voice was sarcastic, but tired.

I was finally starting to wear on her. She was sick of dealing with me, furious that she lost the challenge, and even more upset that now she had to sleep with me. Unfortunately, my patience was wearing thin and my ability to push down my arousal even thinner. “That’s a bad idea, Y/N.” I replied. I knew most of the guys who lurk around here at night, and they’d just love the chance to to jump a girl like her.

She clenched her fists. “Why is that, daddy? Past my bedtime?”

That was it. I spun quickly, slamming her up against a nearby wall. I pinned her there by her wrists, and based on her face I was sure she could see the barely managed restraint and lust in my eyes. “Call me daddy one more time, and I’m gonna show you why.” I said darkly. “I’ll let you leave, but after you do, I’m going to go home.” I released one of her wrists and slid the hand up to her neck, tilting her head back so I could stare into her eyes. “I’m going to get naked, and get myself off three, maybe four times tonight thinking about you. But just remember, I won fair and square, and I like to claim my prizes. And remember this as well: The longer you make me wait, the rougher I’ll play.” I could feel her chest rise and fall beneath mine as I spoke, and her breathing quickened.

***Third Person POV***

Y/N stared up at Eric, and a wicked grin blossomed on her face. “Is that why you didn’t like it when I called you daddy?” She asked in a flirty voice. “Because it turns you on?”

Eric’s jaw tightened, and he replied shortly. “Yes.”

In response, Y/N easily freed her other wrist from Eric’s grip. She snaked both arms around him, stood on her toes, and connected their lips. The kiss was brief and left Eric deeply unsatisfied.

As they locked eyes after the chaste exchange, a silent agreement passed between them. It wasn’t hatred they held for each other. It wasn’t spite or animosity either. It was desire. An untamed lust left to simmer, eating away at the back of their minds. The constant competition wasn’t what drove them apart, it was what brought them together. It was their dynamic, and it suited them perfectly. They played rough, and it pushed every other partner either of them had away. But it brought them together. Y/N didn’t back down, and neither did Eric.

Eric delved in again, hungry for more. He smirked into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Y/N waist. She placed her arms around his neck, her fingertips exploring the ends of his hair. Eric’s tongue grazed Y/N’s lower lip, demanding entrance. Y/N replied with a smirk and the slightest shake of her head. In response to the act of insubordination, Eric’s hands slipped quickly from her waist to her perfect ass, giving it a strong squeeze. To his surprise, Y/N didn’t budge.

“Nice try.” She laughed. “You’ll have to-”

Eric cut her off with a sharp smack to her ass, and as she gasped he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Y/N conceded, and let her own tongue wander across his. As with everything, it quickly grew into a competition that began with strong movements and wandering hands and ended with biting and hands slipping into clothing.

In a sudden rush, Eric ground his hips against Y/N’s and she giggled, feeling his arousal. “Somebody’s horny.” She muttered in his ear, her lips just touching one of his piercings.

“Want to go somewhere more private?” Eric’s voice was dripping with seduction, and despite the lack of light, she could clearly see the lust in his eyes.

Y/N wiggled her eyebrows. “Well, as appealing as sex in the middle of the Dauntless compound sounds, I would much prefer a bed… daddy.”

Eric groaned, and the noise echoed through the Pit. In a second, Y/N had him pinned to the wall, a hand over her mouth. Eric rolled his eyes. He had nearly forgotten how strong she was. The muscles in her arms glistened in the dim light, and Eric had an urge to memorize every curve and slope. Slowly, she let him go, and in an instant Eric sprinted off in the direction of his apartment, Y/N hot at his heels.

---

Clothes were thrown haphazardly across the room. Y/N’s leggings on the desk, Eric’s pants hanging from the lamp.

Y/N was left in nothing but her bra and panties when Eric picked her up and threw her onto the bed. She laughed, bouncing as she landed. In a moment, Eric was towering over her, grinning like a psychopath. All the built up tension that towered between them was about to be broken down in a night of unforgettable, rough passion. And so naturally, Eric reached down and snapped Y/N’s bra strap like a thirteen year-old boy.

“Bastard!” She gasped out, eyes narrowing playfully. “Do you know how much this thing cost?”

Eric shrugged and ripped it in half.

“Rude.” Y/N stated, pouting. That’s when she noticed Eric was (foolishly) still wearing his shirt.

“Oh no.” Eric sat up, pinning Y/N’s legs down as he saw he eyeing his t-shirt. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Watch me.” Y/N yanked her legs out from beneath of Eric, sending him tumbling off the edge of the bed. She scrambled after him.

“No!” He yelled as she chased him around the apartment.

He could hear Y/N laughing behind him. And as soon as she was there, she was gone. The apartment was silent.

“Y/N?” Eric called. “I know you’re hiding.”

Eric made his way across the room, and the moment he stepped next to the bed, Y/N darted out and tackled him, sending them both tumbling to the bed. She sat on his waist, pinning him down.

“Well?” Eric asked, nearly out of breath from laughing. “What’re you going to do? Kiss me?”

Y/N brought a knife out from behind her back, and Eric mentally cursed himself for leaving it out. In one swift motion, she sliced his t-shirt in half, then threw the knife across the room. It imbedded itself in the wall, dead center of a paper target Eric had hung up for knife practice.

Eric wiggled out of his t-shirt as Y/N smirked triumphantly from on top of him. She ran her hands down his toned body, admiring the chiseled design left by years of training.

From beneath her, Eric was also enjoying the view. He set his hands on her waist, his thumbs ghosting over her abs and up her sides. His eyes were glued to her supple breasts, the softness intrigued him. Nearly all of her body was muscle. She was toned and strong. Her breasts, however…. Gorgeous.

They sat like that for a while, admiring each other’s bodies, panting from their games. This was all fine and dandy… Until Eric realized that he was indeed on the bottom. Unable to allow dominance of any kind from Y/N, he grabbed her waist and flipped them over.

Before Y/N could get so much as a word out, Eric’s mouth was on hers. He left her breathless as he kissed down her jaw, nipping and licking at her sensitive skin. While his mouth roamed her neck, his hands danced across her body, caressing her breasts and delving lower and lower. Y/N’s own hands slid across the muscles of Eric’s back, her nails gliding over skin. Eric bit at her skin, sucking and biting, leaving marks for all to see. He moved down her body, placing kisses over everything as he trailed his way down her body.

“Black.” Eric commented on the color of Y/N’s panties. “My favorite color.” Y/N resisted the urge to scoff, and Eric just shook his head playfully. “You’ve been a bad girl, hiding from me like that all this time.” He nipped the inside of her thigh. “I think you deserve a punishment for that.” He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Come here.” Eric patted his lap.

“Mmmm….” Y/N groaned at his choice of words, but remained insolent. “No.”

“Come here. Right. Now.” Eric’s voice was dangerously low.

“Nope.” She replied, popping the “p”, a shit-eating grin plastered on her glowing face.

“Fine.” Eric lept on her, pinning her to the mattress with his body weight. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. He moved down her body quickly, eyes glued to her underwear line. He bit the thin material, pulling it down her body, all while maintaining eye contact. He pulled Y/N up and into a kiss, his hand sliding down between her legs.

“So wet already? I thought someone like you would have more resolve than that.” He teased.

“Says you.” Y/N palmed his hard-as-ever dick through his boxers.

“Are you questioning my libido?” Eric cocked an eyebrow and smacked her ass. “Strong words from the person who fucked up my tattoo.” His hand slid between Y/N’s legs, massaging her clit gently, his middle finger slowly sliding into her already soaking core.

“Shut up and fuck me, daddy.” She replied, spreading her legs out from beneath him.

Without hesitation, Eric plunged into Y/N, groaning. “Fuck… you’re so tight.”

Eric was fucking huge. He pumped in and out of Y/N at demonic speeds, giving her no time to adjust. Not that she needed it. She took each thrust easily, moaning in ecstasy. She dug her black fingernails into his back as he picked up speed. Moans spilled from her mouth like a waterfall as Eric played with her breasts and licked her neck, sucking on it hungrily. The sound of the headboard slamming against the wall only seemed to turn him on more as they continued to fuck. The room was filled with the sounds of moans, skin hitting skin, pants, groans, cursing, and other obscenities.

Eric pinned Y/N to the mattress, wondering why it had taken him this long to make a move. They fit together perfectly, in every way. Having Y/N writhing beneath him was the greatest feeling of his life, and having finally dominated the smartass girl was fulfilling in every way.

It didn’t last, however. Eric locked eyes with Y/N, who sent him a smirk. She wrenched out of his grasp and flipped them over. Eric gasped at her expertise as his dick never left her. Now she was on top, pinning him to the mattress. Eric watched her as she swirled her hips on top of him. She ground and danced, moaning his name like a prayer.

“Oh, shit.” He bucked his hips beneath Y/N, groaning loudly. “I’m gonna-”

“Cum. Me too. Cum with me daddy.” Y/N finished his sentence, purring seductively as she rode him.

With those words, Eric shot ropes of hot cum deep into her body, collapsing against the mattress as Y/N rode him, her pussy spasming against his dick, milking him of his seed. She rode out their orgasms expertly, calling out Eric’s name so loudly that she wouldn’t be surprised if Amity could hear her. Finally finished, she lifted herself off of Eric’s cock. Eric’s seed and her own cum dripped out of her pussy, pooling on Eric’s stomach and tracing down his v-line.

“That was fucking amazing.” Eric gasped as he looked down at Y/N, who had collapsed on his chest.

Y/N lifted her head to face him, basking in the post-orgasmic glow. She gave him her signature smirk. “I may have lost the challenge, but I definitely won this.”

A/N: Since I am super inexperienced with writing smut, some feedback/constructive criticism would be lovely. (Also, I apologize if I couldn’t put some of you in the tags, Tumblr was being unhelpful.)

Tag List: 

@readsalot73 @beltz2016 @imgoldielikehawn @kenzieam @captstefanbrandt

@helperofthenight @angelaiswriting @bluelassbird @nijiru @hypermanga @carefultheyspit @nerdybouquetofkittens @sergioramoselmasgrande @jojuarez26 @hannahhoranxx @irasancti @happelu970 @jojogoo65 @jaihardy @faketextsaye @overlyobsessive  @tonyt1995 @bailieinabottle @lostinthebeans @overlyobssessive 

[let-the-bands-take-c0ntrol]

Side Chick (Part 2)

* credit to gif owner

Part 1

A/N: @iknowyoufeelme because you gotta be the first to know this is up

“Mind if we join you?” he questioned. You could see the look in Calum’s eyes and knew what was happening. He was jealous. The type of jealous that made you question just exactly where the two of you stood in your “relationship.”

     Before either you or Eric could respond Calum was sliding into the booth along with his friends. As a result, you were smushed between Eric and Calum while Calum was between you and Ria. “What are you doing here?” you asked Calum. To everyone else your words sounded like an innocent question, but to Calum he could clearly hear the waver in your voice and a hint of annoyance. You could see the smirk on Calum’s face begin to grow. 

“We just stopped by to grab some food. You know I think I saw you at the party, Y/N I could have sworn I overheard you saying you weren’t coming tonight,” Calum said. For a split second you could see Calum glower at you. His jaw had clenched and he looked down at you with raised eyebrows. 

“Y/N decided last minute that she wanted to come,” Eric answered for you. He looked at Calum with the same expression the Maori boy was giving and you could feel his hand pull you into him even more. Calum had noticed the action too and his clenched jaw grew even more. 

“Hi I’m Ria. I don’t think we’ve properly met,” Calum’s girlfriend interjected, breaking the tension that was in the air. She had peered over Calum’s shoulder and sent you a beaming smile. You studied the girl curiously taking in her dyed blue hair and piercing brown eyes. “I’m guessing you all have class together?” she commented, resting her chin on Calum’s shoulder. You were stunned. Ria’s friendliness taking you aback for a minute. The two of you had crossed paths before, but had never actually spoken to one another. From looking at her now you could tell Ria had not the slightest clue what was going on. She only assumed what Calum must have told her that they were going to grab something to eat. 

“I’m Eric,” the boy beside you spoke up, reaching the hand that wasn’t wrapped around you to shake Ria’s hand. 

“Y/N,” you smiled, feeling guilty at the fact that you were fucking this girl’s boyfriend and she had no idea. You had always wondered what it would be like to meet Ria; thinking she would be the nastiest person ever or some stuck up bitch. Instead you were met with the opposite. This girl seemed sweet and from the looks of it she was so in love with Calum. It made you sick to your stomach at the fact that you were hurting her. 

“You two look like a couple. Am I right?” she asked. You could feel Calum stiffen up beside you and broken sentences began to leave your lips as Calum stared at you curiously.

“Uh no-we’re-uh,” you muttered not sure what to say.

“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Eric laughed making an uneasy smile come across your face. Calum was scowling now and you swallowed hard. This must have been what Eric wanted to admit. That he had feelings for you and wanted to take you out on a date. 

“Are we going to eat or what!?!” one of Calum’s friends whined. Michael, you mentally reminded yourself. Calum’s group nodded in agreement and before you knew it they had gone off to grab food. 

“Excuse me I have to use the restroom,” you muttered, slipping past Eric quickly and making a dash for the bathroom. You felt terrible and your fingers tightly gripped onto the porcelain sink as you dry heaved into it. You felt tears prick at the corner of your eyes and your breath became ragged. “What are you doing?” you muttered to yourself. Your head lifted and you stared at your reflection in the mirror. Your eyes closed and you sucked in a deep breath before slowly exhaling. You then turned on the faucet and began to dab cold water on your face to cool your skin. Ria didn’t deserve any of this. She didn’t deserve to have Calum cheating on her. After finally meeting the girl you realized all of this was wrong. Your feelings for Calum went beyond sexual intimacy which made you feel even more guilty. After a few minutes you left the bathroom only to run into Calum.

“So you and Eric huh?” Calum questioned, leaning against the opposite wall and staring at your with dark eyes. You rolled your eyes at his words and crossed your arms over your chest.

“So you’re all of a sudden jealous?” you scoffed, “Go back to your girlfriend, Cal and let me enjoy my night.”  You tried to walk past him, but Calum was quick to grab your arm and pulled you back into him. 

“I thought I made it clear that you weren’t coming to the party tonight and yet when I look across the room what do I see? You grinding up against pretty boy back there,” Calum hissed. You bit onto your bottom lip and your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You weren’t sure if Calum was angry that you had gone to the party, or that you were flirting with Eric, or both. “I’m telling you now that I’m not one to share, so whatever the fuck you have going on with him you need to end it,” Calum demanded. You looked at him in surprise and you could feel your anger boiling. 

“You’re not one to share!” you exclaimed, immediately being shushed by Calum. You accusingly pointed your finger at him. “You’re such a hypocrite. You’re not one to share, but I’m the one sharing you, Calum!” You pushed at his chest in anger the minute he took a step towards you. “How could you? How can cheat on Ria? Sit there next to her all while you’re secretly screwing me in the backseat of your car?” you questioned. Calum stared at you in shock. “You wanted me to stay in my lane and so I did. Not once did I approach you at the party, but all of a sudden you get jealous and follow me out just to ruin things.” You caught your breath, chest heaving up and down at your small rant. 

“You done?” Calum questioned, looking at you with a bored expression. Your mouth clamped shut and you could feel your skin become hot. Calum peered out the hall and his eyes landed to where the group was. Everyone had gotten back to the table with their respective food. They were all to engrossed in conversation to notice that you and Calum were gone. “I’m not the only one in the wrong here, Y/N. You knew from the jump that I had a girlfriend. You enjoyed sleeping with me as much as I enjoyed sleeping with you, so don’t go around pointing the blame at me when you’re the one at fault too,” he said in a low menacing voice. Calum licked his lips and he inched closer to you until he was towering over you, but also looking down at you. You swallowed hard and just like earlier that day your breath was sucked out of you. “Just because you went against what I said I’ll be stopping by your place at three to remind you who’s in charge. This is the last time I’m telling you…I don’t share, so end things with Eric.” With that said he left to head back to the group and seconds later you rejoined them. Your happy mood deflated as everyone sat eating and Calum spent the rest of the time making out with Ria.

     “You and Calum are what!?!” Eric questioned, mouth parting in surprise. His mouth quickly closed when he felt the food almost fall out. You quickly glanced at your surrounding to make sure no one was eavesdropping on your conversation. Talking in the dining hall resulted in everyone knowing your business whether you wanted them to know or not. 

“We’re sleeping with each other,” you repeated, nose scrunching up in fear of what Eric might say. You flicked your fork about in the pasta you had been eating and avoided Eric’s gaze. He swallowed the food in his mouth and then cleared his throat.

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, shifting in his spot at how awkward the air between you two had become. Eric’s feelings for you was clearly known by now and hearing that the girl he was currently seeing was also having sex with someone else wasn’t something he wanted to know. He wasn’t expecting your lunch date to turn into this discussion at all.

“Because I really like you and I thought you should know because I’m such a terrible person for sleeping with a guy that has a girlfriend,” you explained. It was true, in your mind you were the worst person ever for possibly ruining a relationship. Ever since the party you and Eric had been spending a lot of time together. You had even gone on a few dates to Calum’s dismay and throughout the whole thing you were still seeing Calum.

“You’re not a terrible person, Y/N,” Eric reassured, grabbing your hand and giving it a small squeeze. He let out a deep sigh and asked the question that was nagging at the back of his brain. “So what you’re telling me is that you’re a side chick?” Eric hesitantly asked in shock, he slumped back into his spot. When you said you had something to tell him, well Eric wasn’t expecting to hear this. You quietly nodded and was suddenly aware at how much he was staring at you. 

“It’s not something I’m proud of okay? I feel bad because after meeting Ria and seeing how nice she is…god I’m so stupid for getting myself into this mess,” you sighed, chewing frantically at your bottom lip. This wasn’t fair to Eric or Ria.

“Then why not end it? Clearly you feel second to Ria, so you shouldn’t feel like that with someone you’re dating,” Eric explained. He somehow caught on to the fact that you must have had some type of feelings for Calum. Otherwise you would have ended things sooner.

“Calum told me to end things with you. He doesn’t like to share,” you said. Erick blinked back in surprise. You eyebrows rose in a ‘yeah I know’ type of way and you continued to poke at your food. Eric rolled his eyes.

“What does he mean “he doesn’t want to share” that’s a bunch of bullshit. Y/N you should be with someone that doesn’t hide you away from the world. Someone that wouldn’t cheat on their girlfriend,” Eric said, he squeezed your hand again. You could already tell what Eric’s next words were going to be, but Eric wasn’t the one to say it.

“Someone like you I’m guessing?” the all too familiar voice butted in. Eric’s face contorted into a scowl and he turned in his spot to face Calum. 

“Always a pleasure, Hood,” Eric said. You could hear the sarcasm in his voice. “But yeah now that you mention it Y/N should be with someone like me,” Eric stated. You could see Calum’s hand ball up into a fist and the vein on his neck only seemed to pulsate as his anger grew. “At least she would know she was number one in my life. Unlike you,” Eric said, staring Calum down. You were lost for words. Even if you and Calum weren’t in a relationship you knew just how possessive he became. In Calum’s mind you were his even if you were just his side piece. You could feel the tension get thick and it must have been felt around the area too. Almost everyone that was close by was staring at the three of you. Overhearing everything that was being said. 

“What makes you think she would want to be yours?” Calum taunted, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “You don’t know Y/N like I do, so I suggest you back up off my girl before we have a problem,” he said. Eric smirked at Calum’s words and scratched at his cheek in amusement. Eric looked at you then back to Calum and then back to you again. To both yours and Calum’s surprise Eric’s head dipped down to give you a quick, but passionate kiss. 

Calum so far hadn’t made a move, but Eric decided to take things one step further. Getting up from his spot and getting in Calum’s personal space. “I don’t think she’s yours, but you know I wonder what Ria would think about your little affair with Y/N?” Eric’s words came out as a threat. “You know I think I see her coming into the cafeteria now,” Eric stated. Calum didn’t even hear Eric’s last words. Eric had already pushed Calum’s buttons enough by kissing you and he tipped the scale even more by threatening to expose him as a cheater. Calum’s fist flew up and collided with Eric’s jaw. You let out a small yelp and reared back as Eric stumbled for a second then took a swing at Calum too. Not too long after the two were fighting right there in front of everyone. Eric sent a punch to Calum’s stomach making him double over in pain for a minute before he sucker punched Eric in the eye. 

“STOP IT!” you yelled, not wanting to jump between the two in fear of getting caught in the crossfire of their punches. They were on the ground now and you watched in horror as Eric tackled Calum down into a chokehold. “Holy fuck,” you gasped, your hands flying up to grip at your hair. Calum jabbed his elbow into Eric’s stomach and Eric grunted, hiis hold on Calum releasing. Calum gasped for air, but was quick to get back to fighting.

“CALUM!” Ria shouted now joining you to watch the two boys go at it. Calum’s attention was taken off of the other guy at the sound of his girlfriend’s voice. Ria was looking at him in surprise not sure why he was fighting Eric. At that moment Eric pinned Calum down to the ground and overpowered him. You had remembered Eric telling you he was on the wrestling team for the college. 

“Tell her!” Eric demanded making Calum face Ria. You shook your head no. This was the opposite of what you wanted. Calum spat out blood and glared at Eric’s words. “If you don’t I will,” Eric threatened. Though he didn’t have a chance to fulfill his threat, Calum’s group of friends pushing through the crowd and pulling Eric off their friend. 

“Break it up!” Luke yelled, pushing Eric in your direction and flinging Calum towards Ashton and Michael. “You don’t do this shit on school grounds man!” Luke yelled, slapping Calum upside the head. Calum wiped blood from his mouth and glanced towards you. You were too busy trying to make sure if Eric was okay to notice his longing look. But Ria noticed it, her attention shifting between you and Calum. Out of everyone in the group she didn’t know her boyfriend was cheating on her with you.

“Look I have feelings for you too Y/N and I won’t be second to that asshole, so whatever you have with Calum you need to figure it out and when you do then give me a call when you’ve sorted it out,” Eric said, grabbing the napkins you had given him to wipe his bloody nose. He gave you one last kiss before grabbing his things and leaving. Pushing past Calum and exiting the cafeteria before campus police could show up. You let out a huff and looked at Calum in worry. Your attention was taken off of him when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see Ria eyeing you nervously. 

“I couldn’t help but overhear what Eric had said to you, but answer my question honestly,” she slowly said. Her words had reached Calum’s ears, who wasn’t standing that far away from the two of you, and his eyes widened in horror. Clearly Ria had put two and two together, though she had some suspicion about Calum cheating this fight only seemed to heighten it. Now she was going to the source wanting to hear from your mouth that you were in fact having sex with her boyfriend. “Are you sleeping with my boyfriend?” she questioned.

[zen3to5]

J/H 3-25: The Promise Ring

And here we are - the end of Season 3! Subtext from last time comes out as text, and the path into Season 4 is laid. How's it look? Read on!

(I had originally planned on re-writing the "B" story of "Canadian Road Trip," but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had no real ideas that would tie into a Jackie/Hyde project like this. All I had was a dislike of Jackie's line about never having to think again if she were a model. I still hate that line, but as I said at the off-set, I wasn't looking to "correct" anything about the series just because I don't like it. To the extent you can talk about "filler" in a sitcom, "Canadian Road Trip" is filler anyway, a fun one-off episode that could play at almost any point in the series, with the characters at their most basic.)

FF.Net AO3

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SHOW TITLE   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - NIGHT   A chill night in the usual hangout. ERIC sits on the couch, counting dollar bills. KELSO paces behind him, whacking a paddleball continuously and loudly.   HYDE enters through the basement door and nods at Eric.   HYDE: Hey.   He starts to cross to his chair but is blocked by Kelso, who keeps paddling as if he hadn’t noticed Hyde’s entrance. Hyde’s head bobs slightly as he watches each whack of the paddle, the noise becoming more and more pronounced. Finally, Hyde rips the paddle from Kelso’s hands, pulls the ball free, tosses it back toward his room, and whacks Kelso in the arm with the paddle before shoving it into his hands.   Eric looks up from his money and smiles at Hyde.   ERIC: Rough day down at the precinct there, champ?   A scowling Kelso wags the paddle at Hyde.   KELSO: (slow, deliberate) It’s not the paddleball’s fault you’re on probation, Hyde.   He stomps back toward Hyde’s room to look for the ball. Eric resumes counting money and Hyde makes his way to his chair.   HYDE: (to Eric) What are you up to?   ERIC: Just counting my secret stash. I’m getting something special for Donna. ‘Cause, you know, she and I have been fighting a lot lately...   Kelso, with the ball in one hand and the paddle in the other, jumps over the back of the couch and sits at the other end.   KELSO: I wish Jackie and me were fighting. I’m used to that. But ever since the Ted Nugent concert she won’t even talk to me.   Hyde stirs with interest. Eric takes note.   ERIC: (flat, to Kelso) Oh, no. How awful.   He gives Kelso a look of mock-sympathy. If Kelso gets the sarcasm, he ignores it.   KELSO: Man, I thought for sure we were gonna get back together there. I mean, that second first date kicked ass. But she got all upset right at the end and wouldn’t even tell me why. I don’t get it.   He shakes his head, turns his attention to the broken paddleball. He looks back and forth from the paddle to the ball, trying to puzzle out how to reconnect them.   Eric and Hyde regard him coolly, then turn to each other when they realize he’s not going to figure it out.   ERIC: (to Hyde) I’m gonna get Donna a promise ring.   HYDE: Careful, Forman. You get mushy with Donna, she’s gonna see the secret girl inside the man. Now trust me. You won’t wanna let Erica out.   KELSO: (laughs) “Erica.” That’s a good burn. You can’t do that with Michael, I’m lucky.   HYDE: Oh, really, Michelle?   Kelso pouts, turns to Eric.   KELSO: Don’t listen to him, Eric. Hyde obviously doesn’t understand mature relationships, but I do. And a promise ring is not only a gift from the heart, but it also means more sex and less mouthing off.   Eric gives him a long look.   ERIC: Really, no idea why Jackie wouldn’t want to get back together?   KELSO: None!   He throws his hands up in the air as Eric and Hyde share a look.

MAIN CREDITS   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   The next day. THE CIRCLE. Eric, riding a good high, holds up the PROMISE RING he’s purchased.   ERIC: Ah, the ring of love. Just holding it makes me feel mellow and content. (beat) Actually, that might not be the ring.   Pan to Kelso.   KELSO: Guys, what if the reason Jackie didn’t wanna get back together is because she doesn’t wanna be with a guy like me? I mean, sure, I’m good-looking – but I can’t be trusted!   Pan to Hyde.   HYDE: Come on, Kelso. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I mean, sure, you cheated on Jackie, lied to her all the time, and kept talking about breaking up with her behind her back – but it’s always great for us watching all that come back to bite you in the ass.   Pan to FEZ.   FEZ: Why is everyone but Fez in love? If I don’t get some romance soon, I’m going to give myself a blister. Well... another blister.   Pan to Eric.   ERIC: (to Kelso) Yeah, Kelso. You and Jackie are like the perfect couple. You do the bad stuff and she tries to catch you. She’s Smokey to your bandit. (beat) God, it’s like that movie applies to everything!   Pan to Kelso.   KELSO: Man, why is everyone always against my love? Especially you, Hyde. When it comes to Jackie, you’re always bringing up the bad times, trying to get me caught doing bad stuff, or cutting in on all my master plans. You’re like one of those bitchy cheerleaders on Jackie’s squad. Hyde... alisha... (to Eric) Quick, what’s a girlie name for Hyde?   Pan to Eric.   ERIC: Uh... Hyde-ringa?   Pan to Fez.   FEZ: Hyde-ephanie?   Pan to Hyde.   HYDE: It’s Heidi, ya morons! Heidi!   He shakes his head in disgust.   BUMPER   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY – NIGHT   A calm, peaceful night. The Vista Cruiser is parked in the driveway. Eric and DONNA lie on the hood, looking up at the stars.   ERIC: That was fun, huh? It was a good movie. It was one of those love movies like you like, huh? And who took ya? (points to himself) This guy.   DONNA: Yeah, it was great.   ERIC: You know what else this guy did for you?   He pulls out a ring box with a red ribbon and a card attached.   ERIC (cont’d): Got you a present.   They both sit up. Donna takes the ring box and reads the card.   DONNA: “To Donna. Love, This Guy.”   ERIC: Yeah, that’s me.   Donna gives him a smile and opens up the box. She takes the ring out, holds it up.   DONNA: Oh, my God.   ERIC: It’s a promise ring.   DONNA: Eric, it’s... it’s beautiful.   ERIC: I’m so glad you like it. ‘Cause... look.   He takes her hand, the one holding the ring.   ERIC (cont’d): Even though things have been a little weird lately...   With perfectly bad timing, RED and KITTY step out from the kitchen and see the kids.   KITTY: Oh! Look how cute on the car! (laughs)   Eric and Red look mortified, but Donna smiles and hops down. She holds out the ring for Kitty to see.   DONNA: Here. Look at what Eric got me.   Kitty takes the ring.   KITTY: Oh, my... (to Red) Red, go get the camera.   RED: Kitty...   ERIC: Mom, I -   KITTY: (to Red) Go! It’s – it’s in the drawer near the cheese grater.   Red heads back inside.   ERIC: Mom, no.   KITTY: Hush. (to Donna) Donna, now, make the face you made when Eric gave you the ring.   She hands the ring back. Donna rolls her eyes.   KITTY (cont’d): Oh, now, see – I don’t think you rolled your eyes! (laughs)   Red appears in the patio doorway, but doesn’t come back outside.   RED: Kitty, I cut myself on the cheese grater.   Kitty tuns to look at him. Eric and Donna, seizing their chance, take off down the sidewalk. Kitty turns back around, too late.   KITTY: Oh, now you get back here and smile, dammit!   They do no such thing. Defeated, Kitty heads back inside to tend to Red.   BUMPER   INT. HUB – DAY   A sunny afternoon, modest business. Donna and JACKIE are at the wall table, Donna in the booth seat and Jackie across from her. Donna has the promise ring on her left index finger. She holds her hand up so Jackie can see the ring.   DONNA: Can you believe it? Isn’t it pretty?   JACKIE: Oh, it’s beautiful... and Eric found a ring size big enough for your giant hands.   Donna gives a quick eye roll, then turns back to admiring her ring.   JACKIE (cont’d): Donna, why aren’t you wearing it on your left ring finger?   DONNA: (shrugs) I dunno. ‘Cause I like it on this finger. What’s the difference?   JACKIE: Donna, a promise ring is sacred. If you don’t wear your promise ring on your left ring finger, it totally cancels out the promise that you’ll be together forever.   DONNA: Wait, that’s what I promised?   Her right hand closes around the left, hiding the ring from sight.   Hyde enters and crosses to the girls’ table.   HYDE: (to Donna) Hey.   Jackie looks up at him and glowers.   JACKIE: Oh, hello, jerk.   HYDE: Good afternoon, wench.   The insult cuts. Jackie stands and elbows Hyde as she runs into the bathroom.   HYDE (cont’d): (to Donna) Hear that? The sweet sound of silence.   He grins and sits. Now Donna glares at him.   DONNA: Shut up. Jackie told me what you said to her after the Ted Nugent concert. You know, that’s why she and Kelso aren’t back together yet.   HYDE: Oh, yeah? Hey, you think that would get me off probation early? You know, for the vital public service of keeping morons split apart.   DONNA: Hyde, the “distant jerk” act’s not gonna work on me, okay? We’ve been friends for too long. I know what’s going on: you like Jackie... for some twisted reason... but you’re too in denial to own up, so now you’re mad at her for wanting to get back with Kelso and you’re worried he’ll hurt her again.   Hyde pulls a stunned face.   HYDE: Oh, my God, you’re right! And that dream I had last night, where I was Sonny Corleone and kicked ass at the toll booth, that was really my unconscious mind telling me how I want to kill my father! Thanks, Sigmund!   He blows a raspberry. Donna wipes the spittle off her face.   DONNA: Look, I think it’s a bad idea too, but believe it or not, Jackie has thought this through. It was weird, sophomore, cheerleader thinking... but she has been more careful this time. And Kelso actually has worked really hard to show her that he’s changed.   HYDE: But he hasn’t, because people don’t change.   DONNA: Come on. That’s not true.   HYDE:  It’s true where I come from.   Donna leans back and regards Hyde. She sees where he’s coming from now.   DONNA:  Yeah, well, Kelso is not your parents.   Hyde jerks in his chair, but Donna doesn’t stop.   DONNA (cont’d): He’s your friend, and so’s Jackie. She really looks up to you, and this time, you’re the one who hurt her. And you could’ve taken a shot yourself if you weren’t so proud. If you’re not going to do that, you could at least respect that Jackie made a choice and thought it through, even if you think it’s wrong.   Hyde gives Donna a long look, his shades a mask to what he’s feeling.   Jackie comes in from the bathroom. Hyde gets up and leaves before she finishes sitting down. Jackie looks away from the door.   Donna looks back down at her ring. Jackie takes notice.   JACKIE: You know, Donna – I really need to introduce you to my good friend, nail polish.   She holds up her perfectly manicured nails. Donna frowns at her, then turns back to her ring.   CUT TO:   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY - EVENING   Later that day. The Vista Cruiser is out in the driveway. Hyde and Eric play basketball while Kelso and Fez lean against the car.   KELSO: (to Fez) Man, I just – maybe I should go to Jackie, you know? Lay it all on the line. But what if... what if that’s it? I don’t think I can take that again.   FEZ: I understand. You are a sensitive man, Kelso. Tender. Delicate.   HYDE: Girlish, even.   Donna and Jackie come up the driveway. Eric, who has the ball, tosses it to Hyde and crosses to Donna.   ERIC: Oh, there you are. The movie’s about to start.   He takes Donna’s left hand and starts to lead her around the car when he notices: the ring isn’t there anymore.   ERIC (cont’d): Where’s your ring?   DONNA: Oh, I put it on a chain so I could wear it around my neck.   She lifts the ring and chain up to show him, crosses to the patio. The others start to make their way around the car.   KELSO: BURN! Oh, super burn! The wedding’s off!   ERIC & DONNA: Kelso, shut up.   Eric crosses to Donna. The others all follow, right behind him.   ERIC: Donna, why aren’t you wearing the ring on your hand?   DONNA: I don’t know. I didn’t really think it was a big deal.   JACKIE: That is not true! (to Donna) I told you – (to the others) I told her it was a big deal!   DONNA: Look, Eric, why don’t we talk about this later?   ERIC: Well, there’s not really anything to talk about. Unless – you don’t want to wear the ring.   KELSO: OUCH!   Everyone gives him the same dirty look.   KELSO (cont’d): Sorry – I’m sorry.   He gestures for Eric to continue.   Eric looks back to Donna. She looks back at him, then laughs and shakes her head.   DONNA: It’s great. The ring is great.   She unhooks the chain and slides the ring onto her left ring finger. For good measure, she holds up her hand.   DONNA (cont’d): See? It’s great.   ERIC: So... we’re good?   DONNA: Yeah, fine.   ERIC: Okay, good!   They head to the passenger side of the Vista Cruiser. Eric opens the door for Donna. Just as she’s about to step inside, Kitty rushes out from the kitchen, camera in hand, and snaps a picture of them. Eric flashes a sheepish smile; Donna wears a long face.   Kitty looks up from the viewfinder.   KITTY: It’s my God-given right as a mother!   She disappears back into the house. Donna gets inside the car.   FADE TO BLACK   COMMERCIAL   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN - DAY   The next day. Red, Kitty, BOB, and MIDGE sit at the kitchen table. Red has a PHOTOGRAPH in his hand; it’s the picture Kitty took the night before. The parents study it carefully.   KITTY: (beat) Well, now – now that is just so... oh, dear.   MIDGE: When they got home, I asked Donna how it went, and she said “fine.” (shakes her head) But she didn’t seem fine.   KITTY: And Eric has never been good at knowing when “fine” isn’t fine. It runs in the family.   RED: (to Kitty) No, it does not!   KITTY: (cold) Fine.   RED: Okay! Good.   He smiles, oblivious.   Bob takes the photo.   BOB: I dunno. She doesn’t look that unhappy. (to Midge) She kind of looks like you.   MIDGE: I’m unhappy, Bob.   They all look amongst themselves. Kitty breaks the silence with a nervous laugh.   CUT TO:   INT. DONNA’S BEDROOM – DAY   Concurrent with the previous scene. Donna is in bed for an afternoon nap. The promise ring is in her right hand. A slow zoom in as we cut to:   INT. GAME SHOW STAGE   DREAM SEQUENCE. Donna is on LET’S MAKE A DEAL, complete with stupid carrot costume. She bobs on her feet as MONTY HALL comes up to her, microphone in hand.   ANNOUNCER (v.o.): Welcome to “Let’s Make a Deal!”   MONTY: All right, Donna, which is it going to be? Your future behind Door Number 1, Door Number 2, or Door Number 3?   DONNA:  Oh, my God, I don’t know!   She jumps and claps.   DONNA (cont’d): Okay – Door Number 3!   MONTY: Door Number 3? All right, let’s take a look at what you didn’t choose behind Door Number 1.   Door Number 1 opens. There is a writing desk with a typewriter and a coatrack with a leather jacket hanging on it.   MONTY (cont’d): It’s a leather jacket and a typewriter, which you could have used when you became a globe-trotting rock n’ roll journalist!   Donna’s shoulders slump.   DONNA: Wow... that would’ve been nice.   MONTY: Yeah, too bad. All right, let’s take a look at what was behind Door Number 2.   Door Number 2 opens. The U.S. Constitution, framed, is displayed between the Wisconsin and American flags.   MONTY (cont’d): The U.S. Constitution, which would come in handy when you became the first woman president!   DONNA: Oh, Monty, these prizes are bitchin’!   MONTY: Yeah, truly bitchin’. Now, let’s take a look at what you did choose behind Door Number 3.   Door Number 3 opens. Eric is sitting on a donkey, beaming and waving, as terrible country music plays.   MONTY (cont’d): It’s your boyfriend and a promise ring!   ERIC: I love you!   He blows Donna a kiss. The “zonk” sound plays. Donna’s face falls as we cut to:   INT. DONNA’S BEDROOM – DAY   Donna wakes from her dream. She curls her right hand in toward her and looks at the promise ring.   BUMPER   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   Concurrent with the previous two scenes. Kelso is in Hyde’s chair, his leg restless, while Fez reads a comic on the couch.   KELSO: This is it, man. If Jackie won’t take me back, I’m done with chicks for good. I’ll be like a monk. Or an ugly person.   Hyde comes down the stairs, a beer can in hand. He’s almost on a march.   KELSO (cont’d): (to Hyde) Hey, how’d you sneak the beer? Is Red still looking at that -   Hyde tosses the can aside. He grabs Kelso by the collar, hauls him out of the chair, and throws him back against the water heater.   HYDE: Are you now, or will you ever again be shacking up with Forman’s skanky sister?   He isn’t completely drunk, but the beer’s loosened his tongue and temper. Kelso, cornered, tries his best to shrink down.   KELSO: Why, did she say something about me? (Hyde frogs him in the arm) OW!   HYDE: I’ll ask the questions here, dirtbag! Now – yes or no?   KELSO: No!   HYDE: Do you now, or will you ever again sneak out back behind the gym to make it with Pam Macy?   KELSO: It was also in the gym. And her car. (Hyde frogs him in the arm) OW! No!   HYDE: Are you now, or will you ever again look to get any action on the side with whores, trash, or sluts from Sacred Heart?   KELSO: NO! And – dude, Hyde, you need to get off probation, ‘cause all that time around cops is having a bad influence on you!   FEZ: I disagree. Once he outgrows his rebellious phase, I think Hyde would make an excellent cop. He projects an air of masculine authority.   Kelso and Hyde give Fez a look, then turn back to each other.   HYDE: I’m not kidding around here, Kelso! Now, I’ve had a shot! I’ve had a good shot! And I’ve been holding that shot! And if I keep holding it, so you can have your shot, because that’s the shot she wants to take, then I need to know damn well that you’re not gonna blow your shot!   KELSO: (beat) Wait, I’m confused. Are we going hunting? (Hyde frogs him) OW! Why the violence?   FEZ: (to Kelso) He means Jackie, fool!   KELSO: All right, fine! Look, Hyde – I don’t know what’s going on with you and Jackie – if you like her, or if her dad hired you to be, like, her secret bodyguard – and, if he did, he’s getting his money’s worth, because – damn!   He massages the spot on his arm where Hyde’s been hitting him.   FEZ: (to Hyde) See, another career opportunity for you. What a productive afternoon.   KELSO: (to Hyde) Look, I don’t need you or anyone telling me I screwed up before with Jackie. I know, okay? I know every time I see her. And I can’t do anything to take it back. And when I try to change, and be a better guy, nobody believes me. But I think I have changed. And I think Jackie does too, which means more to me than anything. So, if I have a shot, I’m gonna fight for it.   He stands up a little taller. Hyde regards him, his hands clenched in fists. His shades mask his thoughts.   Hyde grabs Kelso by the collar again and drags him behind as he marches to the basement door.   KELSO: No, wait – I didn’t mean that kind of fight! (to Fez) Fez, come on, man! I NEED A WITNESS!   Hyde throws the door open, and they exit. Fez runs after them.   CUT TO:   INT. THE HUB – DAY   A short time later. Business is slow at the Hub. Jackie sits alone at a small round table near the center of the Hub. An empty food basket is on the table. Jackie gathers her purse and stands to leave.   Hyde enters just as Jackie reaches the door. They each take a step back from the other.   HYDE: (beat) Hey.   He gives her a chance to reply; she just regards him coolly.   HYDE (cont’d): Um... I’m just dropping off...   He glances behind him; no one’s there. Scowling, he throws open the door to the Hub and sticks his head outside.   HYDE (cont’d): (shouting) Will you get in here, you big baby!   Kelso skitters to the door, Fez right behind him. They stay as far back from Hyde as they can while still making their way inside.   KELSO: (to Hyde) You are a scary, scary man, Hyde!   Hyde cuts him off with a look. He jerks his head in Jackie’s direction and motions for Kelso to go to her. Jackie looks back and forth between them.   JACKIE: Michael, what’s going on?   With one last nervous look to Hyde, Kelso takes Jackie by the hand and leads her back to the middle of the Hub. Fez hangs back by Hyde.   KELSO: Okay, Jackie – look, I know our second first date didn’t end so great. And I know we’ve got some bad history, and I’ll understand if you don’t want to go back to that. But I just – there’s something I need to tell you: from the first minute that I saw you, I knew that I wanted to fool around with you.   Jackie’s face scrunches up. She looks over at Hyde, who shakes his head and shrugs.   KELSO (cont’d): And then, after we did that, and I still wanted to talk to you, I knew that I never wanted to be without you. And I feel like we’ve got another chance to make that happen now, and I want to take it, but it’s up to you. So... will you please take me back?   Jackie studies Kelso’s face. She looks back to Hyde, who gives another, smaller shrug. “Love is the Answer” by Utopia comes on the jukebox.   JACKIE: (beat) Yeah. Yeah, Michael, I will.   She smiles, and Kelso smiles back. They both open their arms wide and embrace, Kelso lifting Jackie off her feet.   Over Kelso’s shoulder, Jackie looks up at Hyde. He gives her the smallest of smiles. Eyes watering, she smiles back before pulling her head back to kiss Kelso.   Hyde looks away, and he sees Fez struggling to hold in tears.   HYDE: Oh, God, what are you crying about?   FEZ: (sniffs) You know what, you magnificent, selfless bastard!   He throws his arms around Hyde. Hyde tries to fight his way free from the hug, but Fez just keeps holding on as Jackie and Kelso continue to kiss.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - NIGHT   Much later in the day. Hyde sits in his chair, sunglasses off. He has a pack of cards in hand; one by one, he tosses them on the coffee table.   Eric comes down the stairs, crosses to the lawn chair. He looks over at Hyde and grins.   ERIC: Hey. So, I hear Jackie and Kelso got back together. And I hear they didn’t do it alone, nuh-uh. I hear they had help from a curly-haired cupid. An angry, violent, curly-haired cupid who may have just broken his own heart and Kelso’s humerus.   He laughs silently. Hyde doesn’t look up, just keeps tossing cards.   ERIC (cont’d): Man... could you just tell me what you were thinking when you -   HYDE: Where’s Donna?   ERIC: (beat) She said she had to study.   HYDE: Huh. So, everything’s cool?   ERIC: (beat) Okay, look. I don’t know what everyone thinks is going on, but Donna and I are not only fine, we’re great. Everything’s finally settled, so... (beat) We’re happier than ever.   HYDE: Well, one of you is.   ERIC: What is that supposed to mean?   Hyde lets out a long sigh. He sets what’s left of the deck down on the table and looks straight at Eric.   HYDE: Look, Forman. I get what you’re trying to do. You know, you’re trying to lock her up. Seal the deal. And I’ll I’m saying is... maybe Donna’s not that kind of girl.   Eric’s face hardens. He stands and points at Hyde.   ERIC: Okay, you don’t know as much as you think, Hyde. So you need to just shut up.   He runs back up the stairs. Hyde glances after him, then leans back and puts his feet up on the coffee table.   CUT TO:   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY - NIGHT   Immediately following. Donna sits on the hood of the Vista Cruiser. She has her promise ring in her hands; she fiddles nervously with it.   Eric steps out from the kitchen, still seething. He brightens up when he sees Donna, crosses to sit on her right.   ERIC: Hey. What are you doing out here?   DONNA: Um... I wanted to talk to you.   She looks up at a still-smiling Eric.   DONNA (cont’d): Oh, this is gonna be hard. (beat) Um... Eric, I love you. A lot. But I have to give you your ring back.   ERIC: What? Why?   Donna looks up, as if searching for the words. She turns to face him head-on.   DONNA: Okay. How do you see the next twenty years?   ERIC: I don’t know. I guess I always figured that we’d go to college together and come home -   DONNA: Yeah, but Eric, you know that’s not what I want. I mean, I’ve told you that. And who knows? I may want to go to school back east, or maybe in Paris.   ERIC: Okay, well, you know what, Donna? Whatever, okay? The important thing is that when you see yourself in Paris, or... wherever, I’m there, right? (beat) Right?   DONNA: I don’t know... not always. I mean, it’s not like there’s anyone else, but sometimes I’m... by myself. I mean, all I’m saying is, I don’t know. Neither of us does. And this ring is just a stupid high school promise. If we’re meant to be together, then we’ll end up together.   ERIC: No, the way we end up together is by saying we’ll be together, and then – being together.   DONNA: Eric, come on! We’re together now! Isn’t that enough?   ERIC: No!   He gets off the car and begins to pace.   ERIC (cont’d): I mean, damn, Donna! If you can see a future for yourself without me, and that doesn’t, like, break your heart, then - we’re not doing what I thought we were doing here! And you know what? Maybe we shouldn’t be together at all.   DONNA: Wait a minute...   She stands too.   DONNA (cont’d): Are you breaking up with me?   ERIC: Well... are you giving back that ring?   Donna tries to choke down her tears; she can’t.   DONNA: Yes.   ERIC:  Then... yes.   Donna tries to say something, but the words won’t come. With one last look at Eric, she leaves the promise ring on the hood of the Vista Cruiser and runs down the street, crying.   Eric picks up the promise ring in his right hand (MUSIC NOTE: “Thirteen” by Big Star). Slowly, he climbs back onto the hood of the Vista Cruiser and lies back. Looking up at the night sky, he slams his right hand down in a fist. Tears come to his eyes as we slowly crane up.   FADE TO BLACK   CREDITS   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - NIGHT   Another night. Eric and Hyde sit on the couch. Hyde’s shades are back, but both boys look forlorn. The radio plays in the background.   DJ (aud. only): Well, it’s a beautiful night out tonight in the greater Oshkosh area, and I hope all the lovers out there are making the most of it. But for those poor fellas without a lucky lady, you don’t have to spend the night alone and inside. We have just the place for you to go to...   “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley begins to play.   ELVIS (aud. only): Well, since my baby left me Well, I found a new place to dwell Well, its down at the end of the lonely street At Heartbreak Hotel Where I’ll be – where I get so lonely, baby I get so lonely I get so lonely, I could die...   HYDE: You know, I’m really starting to hate this station.   Eric rolls his eyes and throws his head back.   END.

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Okay, so - before you get mad...XD

1. This re-write runs through the beginning Season 5 - we've got a long ways to go.

2. Remember that a major goal of this was to keep the Jackie/Hyde tension going through this period of the show in proportion to everything already there. It's been tough to do that without sacrificing Kelso's character development, which is there at this point in the series - he does try to change and be faithful to Jackie. But I think I've found some fun ways to work with that in Season 4 that you'll all enjoy.