#hournite fic

[president-zebra]

Secret Santa!

Surprise! @cleonap I'm your secret santa! Enjoy!

[pink-bird-30]

Hey guys, I finally posted another chapter.

As always,

Happy Reading!

(You  can also read my story on FF.Net)

“Should we really be talking about this in public?” Rick questions.  It was lunch time and Courtney was attempting to turn their lunch period into a team meeting. “If you claim that the children of these super bad people go to school with us, don’t you think it isn’t wise to have a team meeting here?” He slouches back in his chair raising a brow in Courtney’s direction.  From his right he can see Beth nodding in agreement with him and on his left Yolanda gives Courtney a ‘I told you so’ look.

Courtney huffs in frustration and stabs at her fruit salad.  “Fine.  What would you guys like to talk about?”

Everyone looks at one another trying to bring up a new conversation, but realistically, none of them really know each other.  Besides Rick and Beth, Courtney is still the new girl and Yolanda is a fallen popular kid.  What could they possibly talk about?

“Oh!” Beth looks excitedly up from her perfectly crafted lunch, “The Fall dance is coming up!”

Rick groans.  “Anything but that, Beth.”

Beth shrugs and takes a bite of her sandwich, “Well, I’m on the dance committee and we can use some volunteers.” She smiles in Rick’s direction.  Oh no. “I thought maybe you guys would like to help out.  Plus, Cindy is head of the committee, that would give us a chance to get close.”

Courtney perks up at the opportunity, “Yes!  Beth, you are a genius.”

Yolanda shrugs her shoulders, “Sorry, I can’t.  My parents only allow me to go from school to home.  No extracurricular activities for me.”

“Darn, what about you, Rick?” Beth looks at him hopefully.  “There is a lot of stuff that needs to be brought from the basement, and it's kinda heavy.”

Fuck.

Why did he have to get involved with these girls?  How is it possible that this bundle of sunshine is about to make him cave.  Mustering up whatever courage he could, Rick said, “No.”

“Oh.”  Beth looked down at her lunch sadly, and before turning back to Rick, she plasters a fake cheerful smile on her face.   “That’s okay, I think Cindy got Cameron Mahket to help us.”

His eyes narrowed hearing that jerk’s name.  No way was he going to let Cameron help Beth.  Over his dead body.

“Actually,” Rick spoke up, interrupting Courtney and Beth who were going over details of the dance.  “I’ll help out.”

Yolanda smirks, “Oh, really.  And why suddenly do you want to participate, Rick?”  Yolanda wasn’t stupid.  She’s sat across from Rick and Beth for months now, and it’s plain as day these two have bypassed whatever friendship they had and are on the cusp of something more.  But that also doesn’t mean she isn’t going to tease Rick about it.

Rick glares back, “No reason.”  He crosses his arms and leans back in his chair in nonchalance.  Although he seemed calm on the outside, Rick was annoyed that Beth would think Cameron could possibly do a better job than him carrying heavy objects.  

“Great!” Beth cuts in.  “Let’s all meet by my locker after last bell.”

Rick nods in agreement and scrolls on his phone for the rest of lunch.  Rita the lunch lady was on vacation this week, which means no free lunches for Rick.

“I’m heading to the library to get some studying in before my biology exam.”  Beth said to Rick.  He glances up from his phone long enough to notice Yolanda and Courtney have already left.

“Where did Court and Yolanda go?”

“They left a while ago, something about needing to get a head start on a history project?” Beth continued to pack up her lunch.  She still had an apple left over that she knew she wasn’t going to eat.  And it didn’t go unnoticed by Beth that Rick hasn’t had lunch in two days...

She places the apple in front of him and slides her backpack strap over her shoulder.  “I really don’t like apple.” she scrunches her nose.  “My mom insists I eat them, but I just can’t get past the texture of them.”

Rick looks at the apple in front of him and then up to Beth, “You sure?”

She nods her head, “Yeah, like I said, I don’t like apples.  I’ll see you later!”  As she walks past him, she affectionately touches his shoulder and heads out of the cafeteria.  It was a small gesture and a gentle touch, and he was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

It was at this moment Rick knew he was screwed.

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

It was well into the evening when Beth, Courtney, and Rick left school after the dance meeting.  Courtney was in a foul mood after Cindy shut down all her ideas for the dance.  But a bonus was Cameron trying to get her ideas heard, but also falling victim to Cindy’s death glare.  Beth was happily chattering excited for the next two weeks before the dance.  Then there was Rick.  He couldn’t stop re-playing what happened in the basement with Beth.  It doesn’t seem to faze her, but his mind had been going a mile a minute trying to understand what happened.

After meeting at Beth’s locker, the trio made their way to the auditorium where the dance committee would be meeting for the afternoon.  At first, the meeting was civil and normal, but then Cindy took notice of the two new volunteers in the room.

“Wow, the newbie and the town psycho volunteering for the Fall dance, I must be dreaming.” Courtney rolls her eyes and ignores the comment.  Rick on the other hand lazily flips Cindy off and crosses his arms.  It wasn’t the first, nor the last time someone would call him that.  He wasn’t sure why but nevertheless he could truly not give a single fuck what Cindy Burman had to say about him.

But Beth did.

“Cindy, I would appreciate it if you did not call my friends names.” Rick’s eyebrows rose hearing the sharpness in Beth’s voice, eliciting amusement from him.  He grins seeing the taken aback look on Cindy’s face.

Cindy flips her hair over her should and mutters, “Whatever” and moves on to the next topic.  

Eventually everyone is split into teams, Courtney and Cameron, Cindy and Henry, Beth and Rick.  Rick and Beth were tasked with retrieving the decoration from last year from the creepy basement.  To Rick’s amusement, he learned that Beth was deathly afraid of spiders.  While shuffling through old boxes in the basement, a small black spider crawled out behind one of the dustier boxes and Beth nearly had a heart attack.  She ran behind Rick and pointed her finger at the small creature.

“You have to kill it, Rick!!!” She clutched the back of his yellow hoodie in fear and peered around his side.  “There is absolutely no way I will stay down here knowing that thing is still alive.”

Rick laughed so hard that he had to take a moment to collect himself.  He looked behind him to see Beth pouting.

“Fine, but I’m never letting you live this down.” Rick goes to move away from Beth but finds that she has his hoodie in a death grip.  “Uh, Beth?” he looks down to her hand holding him hostage and she lets go muttering, “Sorry.”

He steps on the spider and uses a tissue to wipe away the evidence and tosses it into the trash can. As he turned around Beth threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Before Rick could react, she pulled away, brushed a soft kiss across his cheek and stepped back.  She looked up to him with this sparkle in her eye that he didn’t understand.  But that look made him feel things he couldn’t explain.  It was a type of warmth that he could only compare to being piled under blankets during the winter.  Comforting and safe.  But overall encapsulating.

After that, Rick stayed silent as Beth moved on to more boxes and finally found what they were looking for.  She continued to chatter as usual, but Rick was lost to his thoughts and his confusing feelings.

Still lost in thought, he didn’t hear Courtney bid him and Beth goodnight, and jogs over to her mother’s car.  He and Beth continue to walk in silence to his mustang.  He opens the passenger side door for her without thought.  Beth gives him a small smile and says, “Thanks” before sliding in. He shuts the door and walks around the back of his car and tosses his backpack into the trunk before making his way to the driver’s side door.

The entire ride to Beth’s house was silent.  Beth didn’t try to fill chatter with Rick, she could tell there was something going on with him.  She noticed it after they made their way back to Courtney and Cameron.  He didn’t have his usual snark towards the other boy, and that is when Beth became concerned over his silence.

When Rick finally pulled up to her house, she noticed all the lights were off and the driveway was empty.  Rick frowned taking note of this as well, pulling him from his thoughts.  It was well past nine in the evening, and it seemed odd that Beth’s parents were not home yet.

“Are your parents usually not home?” Rick asks.  “You really shouldn’t be by yourself with everything going on right now.”

Beth starts to respond but then shuts her mouth.  How does she explain that her parents are workaholics and never want to be around her or each other?

Putting on her typical cheery persona, Beth opens that car door and steps out.  “It’s probably just a late night for both of them.  I’ll be okay.”

Rick doesn’t feel convinced by her fake attitude.  He knows her too well to ignore the fact that she is upset and should not be alone.  “Are you sure?”

Hiking her backpack high on her shoulder she gives him a small smile, “Yeah.  I’m fine, Rick.”

Before he could reason with her, she says, “Goodnight” and shuts the car door.  He watches her walk up the driveway to her front door and waits for her to open it and walk inside.  He sits there for a few minutes contemplating what he should do next.  He knew what he really wanted to do, and that thought scared him.  The part of him that wants to shut off his car and walk up to her front door and then…and then what?  Ask her to come inside so she doesn’t feel as alone as he feels?  That they can be alone together?  His grip on the steering wheel tightens trying to sort out all of these

confusing feelings inside him.  Before he lets his emotions get the best of him, Rick pulls away from the curb and takes the long drive back to the farm.

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

The next morning, Rick woke up to missed calls from Courtney and about 20 messages in the JSA group chat Courtney insisted they create to keep in contact with one another.  Rick rubs sleep from his eyes and reads the time on his alarm clock.

8:30AM

He rolls his eyes and reads the messages in the chat.

Courtney: Meet at the garage at 9AM for team training!

Yolanda: This is the one day I can sleep in, are you crazy?!

Beth: Okay, see you guys there!

Courtney: RICKKKKKKKK, WAKE UPPPPPPPP

If there was a way to throw something at Courtney through his phone, he would have done it by now.  He sends a quick text that he’ll be there soon and lets his head fall back against his pillow.  As he was slowly drifting off his phone started to ring again.

He groans into his pillow and swipes to answer the call, “Courtney, I swear to God— “

“Oh, no. It’s Beth.  Good morning!” her cheerful voice filled his ear.  He’d be lying if the sound of hearing her voice didn’t make his heartbeat a little faster.

“Hey,” his voice filled with sleep.  “Sorry, I thought you were Courtney again.  She already blew up my phone ten times today.”

Beth lets out a chuckle, “Yeah, she called me at seven, but she was lucky I was already up, or I would have responded just like Yolanda.”  Rick chuckles.

“Well, as you could tell, I am not a morning person.  Sorry about that, didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Beth brushes it off, “No worries.  But I did want to ask you if you wouldn’t mind picking me up on the way to the garage?” she asks hopefully.  “My bike has a flat tire, and I haven’t had the time to get it fixed.”

Rick sits up in bed and checks the time.

8:45AM

“If you’re okay with being late, then yeah.  I can pick you up.”

“Great!” Rick had to pull the phone away from his ear, Beth’s energy at eight in the morning was something he was not used to.

“I’ll be there in 10.”

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

By the time Rick and Beth made it to the garage, Courtney was standing in the middle of a room full of gym mats thrown everywhere, imitation villains that sort of looked like the ISA, and Pat shaking his head in disapproval.

“This is a bad idea, Court.”

“Oh, c’mon, Pat. You even said so yourself, we hardly know how to use our powers and need to practice for a real mission.  And according to you,” she points an accusing finger at him, “we should be prepared at all times if the ISA is to attack.”

Pat throws his hands in the air and glances at the two late arrivals, “Glad you two could join us.”

“Hi!” Beth smiles and waves, completely ready to tackle whatever it is that Courtney has concocted.  

“There you two are!”  Courtney walks up to them and grabs them by the arms and hauls them over to where Yolanda was sitting cross-legged on a blue gym mat.  She motioned for them to sit down.

“Alright, welcome to our very first training session!” Courtney cheered.  Rick rolled his eyes.  “Pat is going to teach us some basic hand-to-hand combat and other ways we can fight back.”

Courtney motioned for Pat to step forward as she moved to sit next to Yolanda.

“Alright,” Pat sighed.  “Each of you has a unique power that needs to be understood and used properly.”

Rick leans over and whispers to Beth, “Is he about to give us the Uncle Ben speech?”

Beth tries not to laugh as Pat continues to drone on about how each of their suits and accessories work.

“With great power comes great responsibility, as they say.” Beth and Rick did their best to hold in their giggles.  But Pat overheard their snickering and glared at the pair.  “Am I interrupting something?” They both shake their heads and have the decency to look somewhat embarrassed.  Pat continued his speech and eventually moved on to teaching basic self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, and other ways their powers can assist them in any situation.

Pat eventually finished his lecture and they moved to stand across from one another on the mats.  “What we are going to do now is some basic ways in which you can protect yourselves in the event that your powers do not work.”

“Mr. Dugan,” Beth interrupts.  “From my understanding is that Chuck is mostly a research component of the team, how am I supposed to use that to defend myself if it is more of a mental and not a physical aspect to my persona?”

“Beth has a point.”  Yolanda buts in.  “Beth’s abilities are more on the intellectual side of things and not so physical interaction.”

“Even so, it is important that you learn how to fight.”  Pat explains.  “Charles knew how to fight just as well as Starman, even without Cosmo.  No one gets excluded. Got it?”  Everyone nods in agreement.  Beth was glad she asked.  Although the thought of physically fighting someone frightened her, she was glad that someone else thought it was important for her to retain these skills just in case.

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

After training was over, and oh boy was that an experience, Beth changed back into her normal clothes.  A long sleeve floral top, a corduroy skirt, and her favorite black ankle boots.  As she walked back out to the main part of the garage, Beth couldn’t help but think back to the last two hours.

Courtney was a natural when it came to learning how to defend herself.  Yolanda too, probably because she knows how to box.  And Rick seemed to get the hang of things quickly.  As for Beth…let’s just say her hand eye coordination could use a bit of improvement.  But overall, not too bad for the first day.  They all agreed that after school they would meet twice a week to train.  

Beth walked over to where Rick was sitting at Pat’s work bench, tinkering with some type of car part and listening to Pat go over where he can improve his form for next time.

“-Otherwise, I think you’re do well, Rick.”  Pat patted him on the shoulder and turned to Beth.  “Beth, I just wanted to let you know you were really doing your best today.  Next time, I think we should work on a few basic things before moving on to more complex defensive moves, okay?”  Beth’s heart sank, she thought she did better, but she does agree she is not at the same level of fighting Rick, Courtney, and Yolanda are at, but is hopeful that maybe she will be someday.

“Yeah, that would be great, Mr. Dugan.”  She grips her backpack strap, starting to feel the soreness in her shoulders and arms.

“Well, I gotta get a move on.”  Pat walked over to a pile of boxes filled with books.  “I have to get through these boxes to try and figure out that map you guys found.”  Piqued with curiosity, Beth walked over to Pat and investigated the boxes he was referring to.  She picks up one of the texts and brushes away some dust.  “‘Local History of Blue Valley’ why are you searching the town’s local history, Mr. Dugan?”

Pat takes the book from Beth’s hands and opens it to a page showing different blueprints of Blue Valley.  “The map you found means something important and I think it has to do with Blue Valley.  But all the most recent history doesn’t seem to hold the right information we need.  I thought looking in the past would dig up something important.”  He shuts the book and tosses it onto the table with the rest of the books he will be shuffling through for the next few hours.

Beth eyes brighten in excitement at the possibility of a new lead.  She spent hours with Chuck trying to decipher what the map could possibly be.  And Pat may have found the break they needed.  She needed to get her hands on those books.  

“You were going to go through all of this on your own, Mr. Dugan?”

Pat shrugs his shoulders, “Sure, someone must do the research on this team.  Might as well make myself useful.”

From where Rick was watching the exchange, he had this dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach that Beth was about to say something he wasn’t going to like.

“Maybe we can help.”  No. Nonononono.  Rick wills Beth not to look at him because he knows a single look from her will break him, and he does not, under any circumstances, wants to spend his Saturday shuffling through local history.

But it gives you an excuse to hang out with her...

“Right, Rick?” She looked over at him expectantly and he knew he was about to spend his Saturday elbow deep in local history.

She’s giving him that look.  The same look that she used to get him out of trouble a few weeks ago in the cafeteria.  The same look she gave him when she asked him to join the dance committee.  And now her gorgeous brown eyes and how they seem to twinkle whenever she looks at him are once more sucking him into whatever is going on.

Internally groaning Rick nods his head and walks over to Beth and Pat. Pat seems surprised at Rick volunteering to help.  Rick wishes he could explain how and why, but that still remains a mystery to him.  

All he knows is that Beth Chapel will be his undoing.

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

“Do we need to keep reading these?” Rick doesn’t whine often but the old, faded handwriting starts to blur together the longer he stares at the worn pages.  It’s been hours since Pat handed Rick and Beth the box of worn books of Blue Valley. It was Beth who started to read the books and eventually dragged Rick into it.  Although his inability to say no to Beth was ever present, he held out opening a single book until about an hour after Pat handed them a box and they settled in the loft.

For the first hour, it was mostly Rick replaying the day before over and over again.  How has the person next to him made such an impact on his life in such a short period of time.  He spent years ignoring her, but the second he let her in, that was it.  There was no going back.  And that alone scared Rick.  Especially now that they made up two fourths of a newly resurrected superhero team.  What if something happened to one of them, what if they got hurt…what if someone dies?  These were the endless thoughts that ended Rick’s refusal to help, but instead, forced him to get out of his own mind and think of something less depressing and anxiety inducing.

But it did not help that from time to time his mind would drift and his eyes would wander to the girl sitting next to him.  In the last 24 hours, Beth has managed to make him a part of a school club, seriously, Rick Tyler is on the dance committee, and got him to help with research when he could be working on his car or sleeping.  He wishes he could explain how she managed to do this but, in all honesty, all it takes is a single look from her big brown eyes and he’s done for.  It’s been like this ever since the night of Cindy’s party.

The hug.

A hug changed something within him, and he can’t explain it.  Ever since then, he felt softer whenever Beth was around.  He doesn’t feel like he must be Rick Harris, the troubled kid with the drunk uncle, but Rick Tyler, the son of a superhero.

He feels like he can do better for once.

Because of her.

Because of Beth Chapel.  The girl he’s sat next to for years, never giving her a chance.

And now he’s feeling slight regret making her a friend because now he can’t stop being near her all the time.  Like today.  He would have said no to researching through these ancient books, but somehow Beth convinced him otherwise.  But Rick also knows deep down there are other reasons why he didn’t say no to Beth.  Reasons he still wasn’t quite sure of but was on the cusp of figuring them out.

The hours move along, eventually they stop around three to go to Richie’s and grab some burgers and shakes.  Rick learns that Beth hates whipped cream on her milkshakes and that he was more than happy to scoop away the delicious fluff and add it to his own strawberry shake.  They talked about random things, things that Rick didn’t even know he wanted to know about Beth, like how her favorite movie is Tangled, her favorite flowers are Sunflowers (which he was not surprised by this), and how she always wanted a dog, but her dad is allergic, so she’s only ever had pet fish growing up.

After they finished their lunch, they made their way back to the garage and dove back into the large pile of books.  Time passed but neither teen seemed to notice as they continued to research.  Eventually, Beth looks over at Rick sprawled out next to her on the couch.  Her goggles glowed as she took in his tired expression.  She lifts the goggles to her forehead and pulls out her phone.

11:30PM.

“Oh no.” her eyes widen not realizing how much time has passed.  “I was supposed to be home hours ago!”  Beth bookmarks the page she’s on and rests the book on the table littered with the books they’ve already read through.  Rick watches her panic trying to find her glasses.  He smirks knowing she handed him her glasses so she wouldn’t lose them.

But she looks too cute freaking out trying to find them.

The smirk on his face drops after the thought.

Since when do I think Beth Chapel is cute?!

Panic started to rise in his chest at the revelation.  That was it, that was the feeling he couldn’t describe.

I like Beth.

“Rick?” Beth says his name, waving her hand in his face. “Are you there?”

“Uh,” he glances down at the messy table before him and reaches for her glasses.  “Sorry, you gave them to me, remember?”

She smiles at him and takes her glasses dangling from his fingers.  As she takes them their fingers brush and Rick feels a spark at the contact.  He retracts his hand as if she burned him and sits up straight looking away from her.

“I’ll um, go start the car.  See you downstairs.”  He tosses the last book he was reading onto the table and leaves without looking at her.

Beth watches him go, curious as to why he was acting so strangely.

If only she knew…

[granolabird]

I Always Knew, it’s You

My final after-Stargirl hournite fic. It feels weird saying that. Still, this one is my favourite yet, maybe because it’s the first canon-complacent fic I can write where Hournite is ACTUALLY canon. But who’s to say? To everyone who loves my fics fear not, there are more to come, this is most certainly not the last <3

Title is from I Always Knew by The Vaccines :)

.

After the dinner at the Whitmore-Dugan house, Beth’s parents insist that Rick goes home with them. Between his intermittent withdrawal symptoms and his lack of parental support at home they are adamant that he stay in their guest room, even if it’s for only one night. He wants to refuse, he’s not used to this sort of kindness, but he knows they’re right. It’s safer for him to stay somewhere with other people, at least until he’s feeling one hundred percent. He fed Grundy (Who was very hungry after months of being buried) before the dinner, so he really had no reason to go back to Matt’s old house anyway. That’s something his mind latches on to for a moment. The way he’s never stopped thinking of that place as Matt’s old house, even after Matt left. Too many memories of Matt’s drunken rages, insults thrown that never quite faded from the back of his mind, and bloodstains that never quite faded from the floorboards. It was never a home, with or without Matt.

So, Rick resigns to his fate of sitting in the back of the Chapel’s SUV, listening to Beth’s father rattle on about all his new ideas for Beth’s costume. Beth seems completely embarrassed, but Rick can’t help but smile. It’s nice to see how much her parents care for her, and apparently him as well, as shown by her father’s ideas for his own new costume design. Yet throughout it all he’s entirely too aware of the way Beth’s hand is placed in the middle of the seat, resting just between them as they weave their way down the road towards Beth’s house. He keeps wondering if he should take it, hold her hand for the rest of the ride home, but he doesn’t. He already wonders if he pushed his boundaries with his whole spur of the moment hand-on-Beth’s-back decision during her earlier conversation with her parents. It’s all got him on edge. 

He likes Beth. A lot. But he’s also terribly bad at showing it. As a friend, he always knows what to say to Beth, he always knows what to do. But as soon as his brain tells him he’s trying to romance her, it’s like he’s turned into Bambi on ice, limbs uncoordinated and heart uncontrollable. So he leaves her hand, playing the unaware card, barely even glancing Beth’s way for fear of the way it might make him implode entirely. Yet he still doesn’t miss the disappointed glance Beth sends his way when they pull into the driveway, ringing her hands together in a way that sends his mind into a further spiral.

The guest room is already made for him, and it’s ten o'clock when they arrive home so Beth’s parents immediately begin to get ready to go to bed. They both have an early shift in the morning, yet even when they emerge from their room in their pyjamas, they don’t stop chattering

“So Rick, what did you think of our costume ideas?” Her mother asks, voice full of excitement.

“I, uh, think they’re pretty good. I’d need a visual to get a full idea, but I think it sounds cool.” He agrees, trying his best to sound enthusiastic enough to match their energy.

“I definitely need to start drawing mockups on my break. I’m thinking shoulder pads!” Her dad chimes in, pointing at Rick’s shoulders for emphasis.

Rick shakes his head, but upon seeing the disappointed look on Beth’s parent’s faces, he immediately explains, “I don’t wanna change my costume too much. It is my dad’s originally, I have to keep the legacy.”

Beth’s father nods, suddenly very understanding. “Oh yes, of course! I suppose we’ve never asked. What was your father like, anyway?”

Rick feels his stomach sink. His memories of his father are vague and hazy but all good. Yet with everything that’s happened in the past few days, and tonight, somehow the memory of his father feels so much more raw. The hourglass and its limiter, Sylvester… He takes a breath.

“He was… incredible. What I remember of him, at least. Way better to me than Matt ever was. I miss him. My mom too. I miss them more than anything.” He explains, trying to steady himself.

“Well, we’re here for you Rick. If you ever need a parent to talk to, you have us, okay?” Beth’s mom assures him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

Rick blinks away tears, smiling softly. “Yeah. Yeah, thanks.”

Mrs. Chapel offers him a hug which he gladly accepts. It’s been so long since any adult has been this kind to him, much less the parents of the girl he’s not-so-subtly in love with. It’s a lot to process. He’s not sure what to say next, finding himself swaying awkwardly in the hallway, when as if sent from above Beth comes up the stairs. She looks between him and her parents, but if she notices the tears still welling in his eyes she doesn’t say a word.

“You two should be in bed! Don’t you have to be up at five?” Beth chides, crossing her arms sternly as her parents glance at each other, before sighing and nodding in sync.

“Yes I suppose you’re right.” Her father huffs, already heading into the room.

Her mother begins to follow, but pauses in the doorway, turning to Rick.

“You know sometimes I think this girl is more of a parent to us then we are to her. You have to watch out for this one Rick, if you’re not careful she’ll be setting your bedtimes and making you breakfast within the week.”

That makes Rick laugh, even more so when Beth halfheartedly bats them away, herding them into their room. They all say their goodnights, going their separate ways, but as they walk past Beth’s room, she stops him.

“Hey do you wanna… talk?”

That could mean a lot of things. Rick and Beth talk a lot, that’s nothing out of the ordinary. He’s spent too many nights to count holed up in the Pit Stop, pouring over books, talking about the day to day nothings of highschool life. That’s normal. But the hesitancy in her voice, the quiet waver that only Rick could pick up, makes him think this is different. That Beth has something important to say. So, he nods and follows her in. He’s been in her room before but it never gets any less exciting for him, walking into her space. The walls covered in drawings, and polaroids, and sticky notes faded with time. She gestures for him to sit on her bed so he does, his hands coming together automatically so that he can twiddle his thumbs to try and rid himself of some of his anxiety.

“So? What’s up?” He asks, trying to not sound as unsure as he’s feeling.

“It’s just… I… hmph!” Beth makes a sound of frustration as she paces in front of him, clearly searching for her words.

“You… hmph?” Rick asks, trying his best to mimic the noise Beth had just made.

“Rick! I’m trying to be serious here!”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” He raises his hands in feigned innocence, which only seems to fluster Beth more.

She seems to debate what to say next before she sighs and walks over to her desk. Beth picks up a photo, running her fingers over it as she stares at it. Rick waits a moment before he stands, peering over her shoulder to see what she’s looking at. It takes him a moment to register what he’s looking at, but as soon as he recognises the photo, he speaks.

“Hey, I remember that one.”

Beth jumps, whirling around to face him so that they’re practically chest-to-chest. She backs up as far as she can, leaning against her desk.

“Don’t scare me like that!” She yelps, her grip tight on the photo as she recovers from the scare he’s just given her.

“It’s not my fault you were too busy gazing longingly at a photo of us bowling to hear me coming.”

“Rick!” She waves the photo at him in a feeble attempt to dispel him.

He laughs, gesturing for her to hand him the photo. She does, and he takes it carefully, eyes tracing over its laminated surface. It’s him and Beth, from over the summer. He’d driven them out to a bowling alley for a day trip, while Courtney was still out camping. Beth had a great time, while Rick had never felt so angry at a stupid game in his life. He wouldn’t doubt it if someone told him he hadn’t hit one pin. Apparently bowling was not his forte. The photo is a happy one, though, with Beth leaning into him as they stand in front of their scoreboard. They’d had some woman take the photo, she’d been taking her son to the arcade. She’d told them they’d made a cute couple and they’d both vehemently protested they were just friends. The memory floods back as if it were just yesterday and not months ago. Rick can’t help but smile softly, handing the photo back to Beth.

“Why are you looking at that photo, Beth?”

Beth pauses, still staring at the photo.

“Because… Do you remember what that lady said after she took the photo of us?”

Rick nods, “That we’d be a cute couple.”

“Right.”

“And?” He pries, mind already racing, thinking of where this conversation might be going.

“And, after everything, with you all alone, and my family being so welcoming… I don’t know.”

“Are you trying to ask me if I’d date you, Beth?”

Beth immediately begins to backtrack, “If you don’t want to, it’s fine! You’re my best friend, and I’d never want to ruin that, it’s just-”

Rick takes a step forward so that he’s right in front of Beth, carefully raising his hand to her cheek.

“Oh.” Is all she can utter, staring up at him wide eyed.

Rick takes a breath, making sure he’s sure about what he’s about to say.

“Beth, I’ve been in love with you since the day you helped me find out what happened to my parents. I’ve never wanted anything more than to date you.” Rick reassures her quietly, eyes searching her own, hoping somehow he can tell if she feels the same.

Finally Beth speaks, her voice filled with excitement, “Well then why didn’t you say anything! We could’ve been together ages ago!”

Rick finally allows himself to feel relieved, nearly beginning to cry again.

“I just wasn’t sure, I didn’t know if you felt the same way.” He admits.

Beth laughs, unbridled full laughter that causes her to bend over, burying her face into his shirt. Rick doesn’t know how to respond, so he simply puts a hand on her back, trying to keep the confusion off of his face.

“What’s so funny?” Rick finally asks, once Beth has caught her breath, his hand still snug around her, not quite ready to let go.

“It’s just that, I thought the exact same thing. I didn’t want to be the one to ask you, because I didn’t know if you felt the same, when the reality was we both felt that way all along. We’re hopeless.”

Now it’s Rick’s turn to laugh, though not nearly as much as Beth, as he takes her hand and leads her to her bed, before sitting beside her. He feels giddy, like his heart is about to burst from his chest from joy, and fear, and excitement, and nerves, and everything in between. He wishes he had Beth’s polaroid camera now, so that he could capture the look on her face forever. Her eyes bright, staring at him as if this was the first time she’d ever seen him, and he was the most beautiful thing in the world. He can only assume he's looking at her the same way.

“So, now what?” She asks, hand still gripping his tightly.

“Well, I think after everything we’ve been through, I should take my lovely girlfriend out to lunch tomorrow, and then maybe we can figure out who we’re gonna tell. Because I know as soon as your parents know, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

“Girlfriend?” Beth asks, her face etched with complete disbelief.

“Uh… yeah, is that not what just happened? I thought-” Rick tries to amend, but Beth nods her head, silencing him.

“Yes! Yes, yeah, no please call me your girlfriend.”

They both lean forward, pressing their foreheads together, as they both giggle at their own romantic confusion.

“We really are hopeless.” Rick affirms, squeezing Beth’s hand with another huff of laughter.

When he finally opens his eyes, he sees her looking back at him. Their noses are touching, faces close together so that all he can see is Beth. Everything seems to go silent, as if they’re the only thing left in the world. Rick thinks he likes it this way. If he could stay in this moment forever, he would. Beth is the first to break the silence, her voice quiet, as if her speaking would break whatever moment they’re having.

“Rick?”

“Yeah?” He says, more as a confirmation than a question, letting his eyes trail down her face, towards her lips.

“Yeah.” She affirms.

And then they’re kissing. It’s everything that Rick’s ever imagined and more. He would be lying if he hadn’t thought about him and Beth kissing before. He’s thought about asking her on a date and kissing at Richie’s, or in his car, or at the park, a million times. But here, now, when it’s actually happening? Nothing can compare. It’s slow, and sweet, and Beth’s hand is threading into his hair in a way that makes him melt into her touch entirely.

He is Beth’s in all entirety.

He always has been.

They stay like that for a long time, kissing and giggling and holding hands, until the clock ticks past midnight and Beth can’t stop yawning

“I should probably go. We’ve had a long day, we need to get some rest.” Rick stands up to leave, but Beth catches his arm, her face pleading.

“Don’t go, please.”

“Beth-”

“Please?”

Rick sighs, but sits back down beside Beth. She doesn’t say anything else, just stands, gathering some photos, pens and a book, placing them down on the end of her bed in a messy fashion.

“Are we… scrapbooking?” He asks, picking up a pen and twirling it around his fingers.

“What? No! No, this is so that if you fall asleep here, my parents don’t get the wrong idea. We were scrapbooking, didn’t notice the time and both fell asleep. See?” She gestures to the mess she’s made with a self-satisfied grin.

“Beth Chapel, is my ‘town bad boy’ status rubbing off on you?” He teases, bumping her with his shoulder, which makes her start laughing again, burying her head into the crook of his neck.

“Only just a little.”

Then they’re kissing again, hands entwined, holding each other close.

When Beth falls asleep against Rick somewhere around halfway into him telling her stories from when he was a kid, he doesn’t dare move. Instead he lets his arm wrap around her and grabs a pillow for himself, letting himself fall into the most peaceful sleep he’s had in years. He thinks of Matt’s house again, during that nondescript haze when his brain is just on the verge of sleep. He thinks about it not being the place for him. But here, with Beth by his side, and a family that cares for him so deeply, a warm feeling settles in his chest.

A feeling that says he’s finally home.

When Beth’s parents awake in the morning to go to work, they peek into Beth’s room. They don’t say a word, just share a quiet smile. Rick and Beth are sound asleep, snuggled close to one another, still in the clothes they wore to the dinner.

Mrs. and Mr. Chapel don’t mind.

They always wanted a son.

[hournites]

The Booth

Hournite Week Day 4 - Jealousy 

Summary: Beth sets up a kissing booth. 

~.~

DAY 1 

Rick does not hate this Blue Valley High event for once. Unlike dances like Homecoming or any other obnoxious pep rally during the football season, this was one of the only things that could get him to come back to school after hours. The back-to-school fair held every September had always been gratuitously sponsored by the American Dream. A Ferris wheel and bumper cars set up in the faculty parking lot, carnival games, food trucks and cotton candy stands littered along the front and back fields attracted wide-eyed double-ponytailed freshmen students and seasoned and otherwise bored BVHS seniors alike. Every past year, Rick would secretly supply beer for the popular kids drinking on the roof, the weekend always turning into one of his most profitable occasions. 

He’d also sit on the roof, left alone, watching over the student population in bright colours and cheer uniforms scattered around below like ants. 

This year would be the first time he’d get to be one of the ants and he could not help admitting to himself how good it felt enjoying the fair and belonging with friends on the other side. 

The second Rick parked the Mustang, Yolanda and Courtney flew out of the car, making a beeline for the line to purchase a row of tickets. 

Rick huffed and rolled his eyes, taking his time to catch up with them. Principal Sherman was in a t-shirt and baseball cap cranking up the sound system playing the top 40 and Yolanda was explaining to Courtney which food trucks to avoid. Rick cut through the line to some light protests, joining the two. 

“Let’s get fries, I’m hungry.” 

“I want fries too.” Courtney raised her white star-shaped sunglasses, propping them in her hair. She flexed the toes in her shoes but failed to peer over the taller heads in front of them. “But Yolanda said if we don’t get in line for these now, it’ll loop twice down the courtyard later.” 

Rick pulled a wad of tickets out of his pocket with a smirk. “Yolanda doesn’t know how these work as I do.” 

She gaped at him. “Where did you get those?” 

He shrugged, pulling them out of the line and into the high grass field. “They buy them at the dollar store. Why spend a dollar per ticket when it costs five to get a pack of two hundred?”

Yolanda took ten tickets and stuffed them into the pocket of her jean shorts then passed some for Court. “Usually I don’t condone cheating but this is a game-changer.” 

The girls ripped off enough tickets for the value of at least fifteen food items and carnival games each. Rick had already torn off a few strips for Beth but hadn’t found her yet. He would never venture out to the student clubs area of the fair before this year, but Beth was running a booth with other club presidents, kicking off the year’s first Teacher Appreciation Club fundraiser. 

“Where’s Beth?” 

He did his best to sound casual, scanning around the crowd for some of her standout clothing. She was the only member of her club, she wouldn’t be able to switch out with others for shifts. Rick thought she’d probably get hungry. Lonely too, but he didn’t want to assume. “I was thinking Yolanda could go show Court the Ferris wheel and I could get her some lunch?” 

Yolanda and Court looked at each other. 

Rick waited for them to answer, standing still in the middle of two balloon dart games with an eyebrow raised. 

“That sounds like a great idea,” Court finally said gamely. “I have a better one, though. Let’s all say hi to her first, then do the food and rides.” She didn’t let anyone else get a word in, nodding her curly ponytail at Yolanda and then Rick. “Yeah? Yeah! Awesome, let’s go!” 

They trekked over to the club booths, chatting about their new school schedules and comparing opinions about the new art teacher until they found Beth sitting alone at her vibrant red and white craft-decorated booth. 

Rick stopped short a few feet away, his face drawn white as a sheet. “What is she doing?”

“We’ve been over this,” Courtney said with a dramatic sigh.

“You told me she had a bake sale.”

“No.” Yolanda was having a very hard time keeping her mouth in a straight line. “We said she was raising money. There was no bakesale about it.” 

“Of course, there was a bake sale!” Rick argued. “That’s how you raise money! Not…” He waved his hand at the gigantic woodshop-painted pair of lips hanging from the left corner of her poster stand. “Not that!” 

Because that was a kissing booth just a yard away. A kissing booth with Beth Chapel waiting patiently behind its table in a white dress, absently playing a game on her phone while waiting for students to visit her. The table was decorated with fairy lights in mason jars surrounded by an even larger jar for donations. A few signs were propped up on display.

 1$ per cheek kiss. $5 for lips. 

“Is she crazy? Why would she decide to do that?” 

“I think it’s cute,” Court said. 

It was extremely cute. Incomprehensibly impractical and likely to yield no profit from a business perspective, but cute as hell. The fact Rick could readily agree to that was only the start of the huge problem. He stuck his hands into his pockets and looked away as his cheeks burned.

“She’s not going to make any money.” It came out harsh but he didn’t mean it like that. 

Okay, he did mean it like that, but it wasn’t any slight on Beth. 

She looked adorable and this was a cloyingly sweet thing to do but as the velvet red rope stood to manage the nonexistent line, nothing could argue that this entire concept was bound for failure. Especially when she had Model UN’s national flag cupcakes as her main competition. “Nobody is going to kiss her.” 

“Rick, that is so rude.” Yolanda rolled her eyes and dug into her purse for a dollar. “That is not true.”

She pushed Rick to get past him and strolled right up to Beth’s booth, dropping in her change. Beth glanced up from her phone with a bright smile and she leaned in to press a kiss on Yolanda’s left cheek. 

Rick and Courtney spied from behind the Justice for Isaac Bowin! BVHS Band booth. 

“If you’re so worried about her club’s finances, why don’t you give her a real kiss?” 

“Why don’t you?” he shot back. 

Courtney laughed. “You call that a threat?” She blinked her eyelashes innocently at him. “It’s not that big of a deal. See? Watch.”

She looped her arm into Rick’s and semi-dragged him over. Beth sat up straighter in her seat and waved at them. 

Courtney emptied out the pockets of her jean shorts to find some crumpled bucks. Sliding them over, she let Beth press a quick peck to her lips.

It was implied that it was his turn next, what with Yolanda and Courtney’s twin stares. The sun beat down on his back hard enough to break out in a sweat. Remembering the burning hole in his pocket, he strode over and handed her the saved tickets instead. 

“For me?” She turned around and stuffed half of them into the purse slung over her chair. Her nose crinkled and she leaned her elbows onto the table, her face against her clasped hands with the rest. She took a giant whiff of carnival food with a longing sigh. “I’ve been sitting for two hours. I would die for a funnel cake right now.” 

“You want a funnel cake?” With all the red glitter, the shimmer of Beth’s plum gloss, Court and Yolanda’s pointed silence, and painted lips staring him down, Rick jumped at the opportunity to escape the pressing it’s your turn thoughts. He tugged the tickets right out of her hands, hurrying back into the crowd.

~.~

Beth smoothed out the laminated cards on her booth’s table describing what events her club would be putting on the next fiscal academic year. Over the summer she had budgeted for a get well soon package for Mr. Deisinger, flowers for springtime and a box of chocolates for Miss Woods for taking the time to really help Rick (As club president and its only acting member, Beth was glad she did not have to justify all her expenses to a team). While she technically could supply most of the needs required by pulling these activities off by herself–she had a generous allowance– Sticking to a club budget would help with her professional accounting skills. 

Yolanda brought Courtney to the bumper cars ten minutes ago, so she was by herself back on her Instagram page liking all the other club exec stories when a cardboard box of sea-salted fries and a healthy heaping of ketchup slid under her nose. Beth looked up to find Rick perched on the ledge of her wide table with her treats. “Your funnel cake.” 

“Thank you!” She grinned at him and took some fries, then pushed the carton over to share some with him as she ripped off a huge piece of the fantastic greasy dough. “Oh my gosh, these are so yummy.” 

After another bite, she gently dapped her mouth with her napkin, sheepishly mindful of the sugar crumbs likely all over her mouth by the way Rick kept looking at it.“Have you done anything fun yet?”

“Eating is fun,” said Rick. 

Beth pouted. “Don’t you want to play one of the games?” She reached out and squeezed the muscles of his arm playfully. “You’re strong. I bet you’d win the high striker without even needing the hourglass.” 

Rick began to stammer, to her surprise. “M-Maybe. I’d rather stick with you though.” He tapped the donation jar and inhaled deeply. “Any luck?”

“Not yet!” Though she wasn’t too concerned about it. “There’s still tomorrow and Sunday.”

“You’re really okay with anyone kissing you?”

She bit her lip, twirling a fry into the ketchup. “I thought it would make good practice.”

“For what?”

“You know,” she said shyly. “A kiss that matters.”

Rick cleared his throat. “I guess it’s good then that Yolanda is advertising your booth.” 

“What?”

He nodded over at the group of girls coming over. Beth straightened her back and fixed her hair. 

“Oh!” She licked her lips once more self-consciously. These would be the first visitors to her booth that she truly didn’t know. “How do I look?” 

Rick was taken aback by the question. “Me?” 

“Yes, you, silly. Who else is here? Do I have sugar on my face?”

Rick gave her a once over as she turned it side to side. She should’ve brought a mirror but she trusted Rick. He'd tell her if she had powdered sugar all over her face. “No…You’re good.”

Beth shot him a grateful smile and he returned it.

The girls walked over to her booth and Beth got busy explaining how it all worked and what her club was for. Rick hopped off the table and quietly slipped away. 

Yolanda knew what she was doing, bringing over some of the school’s most popular girls. She’s not sure how she did it, especially with the way most of them treated her now. And more especially, Beth wasn’t sure how they’d react to her. 

This was not a Cinderella remake, but she did brace herself upon their arrival, unsure about their silence when she explained her club and the rules and was silently thankful Rick stuck around to watch them listen to her. Fortunately, they did not mock her club or rip her handmade glue-gunned posters. In fact, upon realizing Beth had set up an event of being kissed for extracurricular credits, four other girls signed up to volunteer on the spot. 

“You know they’re not going to stay as club members,” Yolanda told her when she came back with Court and a huge bag of popcorn. “Come Monday, they’ll forget the Teacher Appreciation Club exists.” 

“Oh, I know.” Beth grinned and slung her purse around her shoulder as the other girls' popularity attracted a larger crowd than Beth ever could by herself. She nodded at the jar already half stuffed with money. “But who am I to stop them give a helping hand for a good cause?”

“You mean helping lips?” Court joked as one of the girls grabbed a senior by his collar and fully initiated a make-out with him. 

The three girls tilted their heads, watching with mutually unsettled fascination. “Is that allowed?” 

Beth shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just glad I can get out now to enjoy the fair.” 

The three stepped out of the student club area and bumped into Mike and Jakeem, arguing over who had the best muscle mass for a successful attempt at the high striker. Remembering their conversation from earlier, Beth looked around the sea of people. “Where’s Rick? He could help!” 

Courtney stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth. “He was being a baby so he went home.” Mike and Jakeem snickered. Yolanda stepped on Courtney’s foot. 

“What?” she exclaimed, words muffled with popcorn. “It’ch Sch’rew!” 

  “Is he okay?” Beth frowned, looking up at the Ferris Wheel. She hoped he didn’t get bored waiting for her. She assumed she would have had to miss out on the activities but now that her booth had a shift schedule running… Rick acted like he didn’t care but she knew if she wasn’t busy with her fundraiser he would’ve had fun with them.

Yolanda smiled at Beth and nodded, tugging her along to the face paint tent with temporary tattoos. “C’mon. You should get sun cheeks. I’m getting a butterfly.” Court stuck out her wrist. Tattooed stars were lined up and down her arm. “Yeah. Don’t worry about him. Rick’ll be back tomorrow.” 

~.~

DAY 2

Saturday morning at Blue Valley High was pleasantly sunny, not nearly as hot or wild as the Fair’s kick-off day of festivities the day before. He didn’t even know why he was doing it, but immediately after parking the Mustang, Rick’s feet began walking over to Beth’s damn kissing booth. It was like a bad compulsion. He knew it was best to just steer clear and stay away, but a part of him had to become a miserable witness to Beth offering up kisses to any kid in town.

Courtney and Yolanda blew up his phone when he left the fair early, and fine, maybe he deserved that. Later that evening Beth uploaded a photo of herself with moons face painted onto her cheeks. Rick felt doubly guilty about ditching so fast, staring at the candid close-up pic of her nose crinkled and eyes sparkling, her glasses reflecting the fluorescent carnival lights. After several long gruelling minutes he summoned the courage to double tap for a like on the app.

“It’s just a kiss.” Rick muttered this to himself over and over as he crossed the Whack-a-Mole stand. He half considered using some tickets on playing a round to rid his mounting frustration. 

It was not just a kiss. 

If it was just a kiss, his palms wouldn’t be sweating through his jeans by his sides and he wouldn’t be giving himself a stupid pep talk as he marched through wet grass on the football field to get to the courtyard. Nobody was forcing Rick to cough up the money for Beth’s booth with a gun to his head and as much as the girls poked and teased he didn’t have to do it.

Rick wanted to, though. Not donate the money. Kiss her. Rick wanted to kiss her. Rick wanted to kiss Beth Chapel. Now more than ever, the urge was so bad. 

He had known this for a while now, but Rick was pretty certain that little fact was not something Courtney or Yolanda knew about. The girls joined the JSA to fight injustice and become heroes. Beth joined the JSA to save people.

 Rick had to remind himself nearly every day. She did not sign up for Rick to develop awkward feelings for her.

It wasn’t something that easily came up in conversation and Rick was not going to volunteer something as embarrassing as having a crush on one of his only friends. He wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, or when, but one day Rick became so attuned to the way her eyes lit up that it was like a dynamite stick blew up in his chest. So sue him. Rick just wanted to kiss her. 

He kept thinking these thoughts, still unsure how he was going to greet her as he glanced up at the decorated field. He almost had a heart attack when he saw the line zig-zagging on the school property, stretching from Beth’s booth. An alien feeling of absolute horror almost choked him. 

“You can’t cut the line, moron!” Travis hollered when Rick pushed through the crowd of guys and girls. Rick didn’t care. How were these many people clamouring over Beth? How many people did she kiss?!? Would he even matter anymore? After a fifty, a hundred? What good would Rick’s kiss be after tasting half of Blue Valley High’s student population?

He found Jakeem in the mess of students and ripped him out of the line. “What the hell is going on?” It was stupid, but after everything that went down with Grundy and Eclipso, to see Jakeem milling around here with all these strangers felt like a betrayal. “Why are you here?”

Jakeem chuckled awkwardly, flipping the rim of his bucket hat so he could crane his neck up at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?” 

“You’re too young for her!” he snapped. 

“Only by 5 months.” Jakeem worried his lip. “Is that too wide?”

Rick blinked. What. 

“Helen Cho and I bonded over isosceles triangles.” Jakeem stuck his hands into his hot pink shorts. “She’s in my math class.”

“So you are not here to kiss Beth?” Rick asked to be certain. He raised his voice at the ten or so students gathered in that area of the line. “None of you are here to kiss Beth Chapel?” 

Jakeem shook his head slowly, and so did the confused but dissenting crowd. 

Rick let out a huge breath of relief. “Can I stand with you?” There were still 20 or so people in front of Jakeem. 

“Wait! You want to kiss Beth? That’s cool!” 

“Never mind,” he said impatiently, walking to the front. 

Finally, he got a glimpse of her. Sitting in the middle chair in the row of popular girls and cheerleaders, Beth was counting money. Her dress today included a green and pink cow print that Rick weirdly enjoyed, and another shade of vibrant plum lipstick. The entire outfit was classic and breathtaking. Rick needed a moment to calibrate his senses from the beauty overload by the time he got to the front. 

Beth frowned at him. “You can’t cut the line, Rick.” 

He leaned against the side, trying to be smooth. “C’mon, it’s me.” 

She carefully folded a ten-dollar bill in half. “I can’t give you special treatment just because…” Beth swallowed and tore her gaze away. She tucked the bill into the money box and cleared her throat in a dainty manner. “You’ll have to wait your turn if you want to kiss Chrissy or Dana.”

“Chrissy or Dana?” The line of cheerleaders sitting on stools dragged down from Mr. Deisinger’s  art room were all the same. Perfect hair and straight white teeth and skirts rolled up so high up their thighs they looked like underwear. Any one of them could’ve been a Chrissy or Dana. 

Beth said, this time more curtly, “You’re holding up the line.”

Rick closed his eyes. “Are you saying you don’t want me here?” 

“I’m not saying that.” One of the girls passed a clipboard to her. She scanned it, briefly looking up at Rick. “I’m working and you’re distracting me.” 

“Is this about me skipping yesterday? It’s not like we made plans.” 

“Don’t I know it,” Beth muttered under her breath. 

Rick pulled a face at her odd attitude. “What the hell?” he wondered aloud. “Are we fighting?” 

Beth crossed out a name in her schedule sheet. “We’re not fighting,” she said plainly. “We’re talking.” She waved a dismissive hand to the back as a new guy stepped up to kiss her. Rick’s eyes went wide when she leaned over and gave his cheek a smooch like it was nothing. She stuffed his $1 away, and then glanced up at Rick again a moment after. Clearly, he was an afterthought. Rick scoffed when she raised a single eyebrow, biting on his cheek until he tasted copper. He spun around and pushed his way through what he now understood were five separate lines. Rick followed his brain instead of his heart and stayed the hell away. 

Yolanda found him an hour later at the picnic benches, stabbing aggressively at his vinegar fries. 

“Sheesh.” She grimaced at his plastic fork slicing through soggy fried potatoes as though he was Shiv or something. “What’s got you in a funk?” 

“Nothing.” Rick scowled. “This is your fault.”

“My fault?” she balked. “What’s my fault?” 

“You invited half of the school to join Beth’s stupid kissing booth!” 

Yolanda laughed out in disbelief. “You’re mad that I helped Beth raise money?” 

“No!” Rick threw his fork into the cardboard food box. “I’m mad that sixty people are going to give her mono or something before I get the chance to–” He cut himself short but it was too late. Yolanda’s look was knowing. Rick slouched. “Whatever.” 

Brian won the balloon pop game nearby, triggering a clamour of bells and whistles. 

“You want to kiss her.” 

Rick sighed for a very long time. Needing something to do with his hands, he began to shred his box into tiny pieces. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” 

Yolanda clicked her tongue softly. “You’re nervous.” 

“I don’t get nervous.” 

“You do around Beth.” 

Rick didn’t reply.

“You know…” Yolanda gave Rick a sidelong glance. “Maybe you just need practice.” 

“What?” 

“If Beth gets to kiss so many people, you could too.” 

“What does that even mean?” 

She shrugged. “Have you asked if she needs volunteers?”

Rick let the idea marinate in his brain for a good two minutes. She had a point, it was better than leaving early again to pathetically watch reels on social media. 

Yolanda frowned at his staring. “What?”  

“Do you have a mint?” 

She rolled her eyes, rooting through her purse. 

~.~ 

Rick pushed through more disgruntled guys to get to the kissing booth. Nobody was currently lined up for Beth, but the cheerleaders from earlier still had quite a few each. “Hey,” he said in one windless breath, climbing over the counter. 

Beth and the girls all exclaim and protest his sudden ambush. 

“Rick!” Beth watched as he kicked Dana off the stool next to her. “What are you doing?” 

“Adding a little gender equality around here.” Rick plopped himself down and reached over for that clipboard with the schedule. He crossed off Danaa’s name and then ripped out a fresh sheet of paper from the pile underneath. RICK got scrawled carelessly on the front of the paper with Beth’s pen. The new name card propped in front of him. 

He cupped a hand around his mouth. “I’m open!” 

Beth jumped when Dana spun around in her bedazzled flip-flops, interested. “No!” she yelped suddenly, shutting Rick down before he could even get started, slapping her hands chaotically over his makeshift name card and shoving the money jar away. “No, he is not for sale!” 

Rick leaned back as Beth manhandled his affairs, standing right in front of him and blocking any line from forming. He peeked around her waist, folding his arms. “Why not?”

“Because!” she snapped, crossly. “You haven’t gone through the, uh, orientation training!” 

Jenny W made a funny face at the end of the booth. “What training?” She circled a manicured finger around her mouth. “ All I needed were my two lips.” 

Chrissy and the other girl bobbed their heads. “Mmhmm.” 

“This is my booth!” Beth cried. “If I say Rick can’t be a kisser, he can’t!” 

Dana stood awkwardly at the front. “So do I put away my five dollars or…?” 

Rick fixed Beth a look. “Do you want to raise money or not?” 

“I do,” she replied meekly. 

Rick took that as an answer and beckoned Dana over. The money landed on the table. Rick closed his eyes and swallowed harshly as Dana teetered over the edge to bestow her kiss. Beth went concerningly quiet beside him. Rick reminded himself that she put him through the same thing, but worse. He was the one that liked her. But when he felt Dana’s breath tickle his face and a sharp gasp emitted next to him, he turned his cheek and pulled away, rocketing from the chair. He couldn’t do it. Not for a first kiss. Not even to fill that pitiful aching hole in his chest, the one that demanded payback. Even Rick had standards. 

Rick yanked his school bag from the corner of the booth and fled before Beth could yell at him for being such a mess. 

~.~ 

When Beth got home Saturday evening, Rick’s Mustang was parked in her driveway. Her dad nodded at Rick, who was sitting on her front steps. They both waited for her dad to go inside. 

Beth hesitantly stepped forward in her cow-print dress. Rick was playing with his car keys. 

“I think we need to talk.” 

She nods. Worried about this moment, she said, “We don’t have to. It’s okay.” 

Rick’s brows furrowed in a way Beth had always thought was tragically cute. 

She failed at her own advice, unable to stomach the stretch of silence. “The booth got wildly out of control. I couldn’t micromanage everyone.” While this was true, it was not the whole truth behind her absurd behaviour. “I asked the other girls not to come tomorrow. There’s only one member in the Teacher’s Appreciation Club. My booth should be run by me.”

“That makes sense.” 

“I’m sorry for today,” she said. 

“I’m the one that cut your line.” 

They looked at each other. Her street was quiet, eerily empty. There wasn’t anyone around except for the crickets, no light but the stars overhead and the soft orange light emitting from her living room window. Beth shivered in her short sleeves. Now that the sun was long gone and she wasn’t wearing any tights, she was cold. Without having to ask, Rick went to his car and pulled out a hoodie from the backseat. Beth slipped her arms into it, taking a gift for what it was, appreciating it without questions. 

“Are we good?” Rick asked. 

Beth nodded. “We’re good.” If she continued any longer, she’d confess that even when he did truly stupid things could she never be mad long. 

Rick looked like he wanted to say more. Beth just wanted to hide from the embarrassment of today in Rick’s forest-smelling sweater.

“You’ll still visit me, right?” Beth asked right before he got into the car. “Tomorrow?” 

He smiled crookedly at her. “I’ll be there.”

DAY 3

Rick was indeed there. Bright and early. Her booth was vacant again, but after the chaos this weekend, she didn’t mind. 

Flattening the skirt of her green dress, Beth gave him a genuine smile. “As you can see, I’m not very busy.” They both glanced at the cupcake stand from Model UN. They looked especially yummy today.

“Do you want one?” 

“I can’t walk away from my booth unattended.” She met his eyes and then looked away, not expecting his gaze to be so heavy. The repetitive beat of the carnival music thumped in her ears. “I can shut it down. We can finally explore the rest of the carnival together.” 

“We can do that.” Rick was probably tired of this booth anyway. 

“Awesome. Let me pack everything up.”

“Or…” Rick began softly, reaching into his back pocket. Beth watched him slide three fives across the table. 

“What are you doing?” she asked carefully, mindful of the way her heartbeat morphed to that of a hummingbird. Small. Erratic. Wild. 

“This is a kissing booth, right Five dollars per kiss?” 

Beth stared at the money as hope crept in all the right places. “You want to kiss me?”

“Only if you want me to.” He seemed nervous again, second-guessing. “For your club. We don’t have to–”

“I’d kiss you for free!” Beth steeled herself. There was no turning back now. “I don’t care about my club.” She shook her head. “I mean. I do, but I care about–”

Rick leaned forward and cupped her face with his big hands. He kissed her quiet. Beth gasped sharply, pressing herself closer to him. The wooden plank of the countertop dug into her dress belt. The happy tiny laugh from Rick wove into her heart. They pulled apart only to kiss again. 

His low voice asked, “does this matter?”

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly. “This was what I was practicing for.” 

[katesrambeau]

sneaking around and getting caught- an hournite fic

a little fic inspired by a conversation me and reena had the other day! my first fic lol be nice :)

It'd been a month. A whole month of sneaking around with the boy she's had a crush on for years. Rick Tyler was her boyfriend. She broke out in a smile just thinking about him. Beth had never felt this way about someone, especially someone like Rick. If someone told her two years ago that she'd be with Blue Valley's "bad boy" she would've dismissed it easily. But it was the truth. And she couldn't be happier.

Rick was the happiest he'd been in a long time. Ten years, to be exact. His dirtbag uncle left town, he carried on his Father's legacy as Hourman, and he called the smartest girl in Blue Valley his girlfriend. They had opted to not tell the team they were together, due to all the drama with Courtney and Cameron. Also, Rick didn't like having everyone in his business. He's always preferred it that way. And he admits, sneaking around after school to make out was fun. All those secret meetings at the Pit stop and drives to school were always the highlight of his day.

Courtney had texted them all to meet at the Pit Stop at 4:30 for some important JSA stuff. She did not elaborate what the meeting was for, but the team agreed to come nonetheless. Rick texted Beth and asked if she wanted to go early to hang out. Sure. She knew they'd do more than just "hang out". She texted back "Yes :)" and soon enough she saw his yellow '66 mustang pull in her driveway. "You sure got here fast!" Beth exclaimed as she walked out of her house and into his car. Rick answered, "I wanted to see you." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She let out a giggle and her cheeks turned pink.

"Any idea what Court wanted us to come in for?" Beth asked. Rick shrugged. "I don't know. I hope its about her finally breaking up with Mahkent." "Rick!" Her and Rick had different opinions about Courtney's relationship. "Don't say that!"

"Why not? I don't get what she sees in him anyway. And he knows about us! About the JSA. I'm just saying that I wouldn't be surprised if he went all Icicle Jr. on her at some point." A look of disappointment crossed Beth's face. "He doesn't have to be this bad guy you paint him out to be. You guys are not that different, you know." Rick felt slightly offended by this statement. Him and Cameron have never gotten along. It had just always been like that. They just didn't like each other. Rick was envious over his rich family and seemingly perfect life, although he would rather jump off a bridge before letting anyone know that.

"We are not the same." Rick tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Beth gave him a look. "I never said that! But come on, both of your dads were in the JSA and ISA, you're carrying on their legacies, you both fell for a girl in the JSA, you have anger iss-"

"I'll stop you there." Rick turned his eyes to look at her. Beth couldn't help but let out a tiny giggle. "Sorry. I may have gone a bit overboard." Her cheeks went red with embarrassment. Rick's did too. "No, don't be. I should be the one apologizing, sorry." They took a moment to stare at each other, eyes lingering at each other's lips before Rick had to pull himself away when he remembered he was driving. "It's okay, Rick. I know." Beth said softly. That was one of the things he loved about Beth. She just got him, in a way that no one else did.

Soon enough they arrived at the Pit stop. Just as they'd hoped, they were the first ones there. "Lead the way, Hourman." Beth smiled as Rick took her hand and they walked into Pat's garage. He did indeed lead the way, pulling her into their usual meeting place and into his arms. Beth cupped his face and pulled him close into her warm, sweet embrace.

The world just seemed to disappear when she kissed him. All his problems seemed to melt away at the touch of her lips. Rick just wanted to hold Beth close and never let her go.

Then the door opens behind them, and Courtney walks in with Cameron. Courtney is carrying conversation with him, walking in backwards seemingly lost in his trance. "Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna-" "Court." Cameron interrupted her mid-sentence. "What?" She turns around to see Beth in Rick's arms, her glasses ajar, both clearly startled by their presence. "OH MY GOD!!" Courtney yells as she jumps up and down ecstatically. "Since when were you two a thing?!?"

"Oh, we, um-" Rick let go of Beth as she adjusted her glasses. He stood awkwardly, hands slipping into his pockets. Stumbled over his words, he was trying to find something to say that won't embarrass him in front of Cameron. Lost for words, he turns to Beth, who also seems speechless. Then somebody else joins the conversation.

"You owe me $20, Courtney!" a voice says from the loft. Yolanda walks into the light where the team below can see her. "Yolanda?" Beth asked, "Have you been here the whole time?" She was a little freaked out by this. Yolanda makes her way down the the group. "Yup. Heard everything. Maria let me off my shift early. I've been up in the loft reading old JSA mission logs for like, an hour." Rick was startled. "Why didn't you say something when we walked in?" Yolanda smirked. "Why would I ever interrupt you two? You guys didn't even actually check if you were alone, anyway. Plus, I wanted to see if Courtney would soon owe me $20. And she does. Pay up Court." Courtney rolled her eyes as she reluctantly reached in her pocket to grab the money and hand it to her friend.

Beth was slightly offended. "Why are you making bets on us?" Yolanda shrugged. "Why not? It was obvious that you guys liked each other, we were just waiting for you two to finally see it." Rick let out a scoff. "Well no more need for that, we're together okay?"

Of course Courtney wanted to pry for more information. "So how long have you guys been together exactly?" Rick rolled his eyes. "Why are you so interested in my love life?" he asked. Beth blushed when he called it that. She looked up at him with a smile and answered, "About a month I think!"

Courtney's jaw dropped. "A WHOLE ENTIRE MONTH?!?" She stepped forward and hugged Beth. "How did we not notice?" Yolanda replied with a laugh, telling her, "Just because you're bad at hiding your relationship doesn't mean other people are." Courtney's jaw dropped. "Hey!" she said, facing Yolanda. "That was mean." She looked embarrassed. Cameron, finally joined the conversation, having been eerily silent the whole time, agreed with Courtney. "Yeah I don't think you of all people should be talking about their friend's love lives."

That wiped the smile right off Yolanda's face. "Really Cameron? That's low." Courtney gave Cameron a look. He started to give a somewhat crappy excuse, but before that could happen Rick stepped up, staring right at Cameron. "Don't talk about her or anyone else here like that." He took it upon himself to the so-called "protector" of the group, even outside of JSA missions.

Cameron had that icy look in his eye. Him and Rick were face to face and if looks could kill, they'd both be on the floor. Yolanda side eyed Courtney and she turned to Beth, all knowing what was gonna happen if they didn't step in. "Okay why don't we continue this meeting another day" said Courtney, pulling at Cameron's sleeves and breaking him out of the trance. Beth followed suit, saying "Yeah, Rick, let's get out of here okay?" Rick softened his body and stepped back, only because Beth was there. He was sure he could continue this another day, but not in front of her. He grabbed his bag angrily and headed for the door. Cameron's eyes lingered on Rick's figure before turning in the other direction, leaving as well.

Courtney scrambled to follow Cameron, hastily waving goodbyes while Yolanda turned to Beth. "So" she starts, "You and Rick?" Beth chuckles lightly. "Yeah. I really do like him. A lot." Yolanda smiled. "That's good. I'm happy for you guys. Rick seems better than he ever has. I'm sure he likes you as much as you like him." Beth sits for a moment, soaking up what Yolanda had just said before remembering that her boyfriend had just stormed out in anger. She knew she had to calm him before he punched a hole in a wall somewhere. It was her job, she felt like. She balanced him. "Yeah" she answered, "I should probably go check up on him." She started to head in the way Rick left in, saying goodbye to Yolanda and leaving.

"Rick?" Beth calls, as she walks out into the sunlight. She turns to find him sulking against the side of his car. "Come on" he says, "I'll drive you home." His tone had changed significantly. "No." Beth knew what she had to say. "Not until you explain whatever just happened in there." Rick lifted himself off of his car and scoffed. "What is there to explain? I don't like Cameron. End of story." This would be harder than Beth had thought. "I know you guys don't like each other. That is so blatantly obvious. But Courtney really likes Cameron, and he's working hard to be a good guy. For her. He's been through a lot. He's lost both his parents. I know you know what that's like." Rick didn't know what to say. Before he could answer, Beth continued. "If you could just try to trust him, and just give him a chance, I'm sure you guys could be really great friends." Rick, still speechless, opened the car door. "I don't want to talk about it right now." Beth was trying her hardest, but the last thing she wanted was to make him even more angry than he already was. "Fine," she says, "But promise me we'll talk about it at some point." She walks around to the passenger side and opens the door.

As soon as she gets in, he nods his head in agreement and starts the car. "Don't take me home." Beth startles Rick. He looks up at her, and with confusion in his face, asks, "Why?" Beth smiles. "My parents are home. I told them I'd be gone for a while. So I don't need to be home right away."

"Then where do you wanna go?" he asks, the corners of his lips turning upwards. Beth is glad she could make him smile. "You decide. Lead the way, Hourman."

yay first fic hope you enjoyed!! i did write this before 3x05 came out but i was too lazy to post it, and i kept changing it because i didn't like how it was written 😭 writing is not my strong suit but i was inspired so here you go!

[sssssssim]

Sim's Christmas Pie 2023: Christmas Lights

What do you do when your crush texts you Help! and you find them tangled up in fairy lights? You help them.

💡 Beth and Rick 💡 Bucky and Steve 💡 Caitlin and Cisco 💡 Carol and Daryl 💡 Crowley and Aziraphale 💡 Effie and Haymitch 💡 Geralt and Jaskier 💡 Kate and Clint 💡 Katy and Shang-Chi 💡 Nico and Will 💡 Rey and Poe 💡 Stiles and Derek 💡

[staroflightning]

Three Times Beth Chapel Almost Confessed, And One Time She Did

[this is for @theozmachronicles !! I was your secret santa, I hope you enjoy it!]

~~~

1.

The first time Beth almost said those three special words was on February 14th, 2021.

Rick was missing from the cafeteria table, and none of them knew if he was absent or ditching. There had been no new threats since the defeat of the ISA, which gave the young superheroes a chance to revert back to their normal teenage lives. That particular day happened to be Courtney’s first Valentine’s Day spent at Blue Valley High, so Yolanda explained the school’s tradition to her. 

“They’re asking for two dollars just to send notes to each other?” 

“Five dollars if you want to add chocolates. Or ten for a stuffed animal.” Beth supplied.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Valentine’s Day,” Courtney said. “But this does feel a little… capitalist. Way to leave out the students that don’t have a partner.”

“Yeah, it’s stupid.” Yolanda said. “But of course Blue Valley High is looking to make extra money. Go Prairie Dogs,” she sarcastically mimicked a cheer by pumping her fist into the air.

“But I guess it is a good way for people to confess their crushes.” Courtney said. “Like a secret admirer! That would be cute.”

“Aww,” Beth agreed. “That would be kinda cute.”

“What, you have a secret crush you want to confess to?” There seemed to be something odd about Yolanda’s tone as she asked, but she hid it well. 

“I didn’t mean for me,” Courtney said, completely dodging Yolanda’s question. “I just meant in general. Young love blossoming in Blue Valley.”

“A moment ago you called it capitalist.”

“Sometimes love can form even in the most evil conditions.”

Yolanda chuckled a little, despite herself. 

Courtney turned back to Beth. “So? What about you? Anyone you’ve got your eye on?”

The question caught Beth off-guard, which caused her to stammer a little. “Wait, me? Uh, no. No one in particular. Why?”

“Just curious.” Courtney shrugged and dropped it, clearly just as bad at detecting lies as she is at telling them. 

The subject changed, and Beth felt an inner sigh of relief at being out of the spotlight. The girls talked until the bell rang. Yolanda was the first to gather her bag, then Courtney followed suit seconds after. Beth stalled on purpose, pretending to fiddle with her lunchbox and wishing to scarf down the last few bites of her meal before she packed up. 

“Don’t wait on me, your class is on the third floor.” Beth waved her hand, lightheartedly urging her friends to go on. “My class is nearby. I’ll see you after school!”

“Alright, see you!” Courtney said.

Yolanda waved goodbye, then walked next to Courtney, the two of them making their way to their class and already involved in an animated conversation. 

Once they were gone, Beth quickly packed up her things and reached into the smallest pocket of her backpack. She pulled out a piece of paper folded up as many times as she could have folded it. 

She remembered writing it the night before. After all, how could she not? It took her countless attempts to get the perfect copy, and the poor trash can in her bedroom was now full of crumpled up paper. 

However, memory wasn’t enough. She unfolded the paper and her eyes skimmed her neat handwriting. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, as well as a burning feeling of embarrassment, as each word processed in her mind. 

What really did it, however, were the last five words.

“I love you, Rick Tyler.”

She reached back into the pocket and pulled out the five dollar bill she had brought to school with the intent of buying a gram to go with her note. 

Then she looked at Rick’s empty cafeteria seat. 

She could have given it to him the next day, or even called or texted him asking to meet up. Yet, the more she entertained the idea, the more fear and anxiety welled up inside her, making her feel sick. 

Beth sighed, stuffed the money back into her backpack pocket, crumpled up the note and tossed it into the nearest trash can. 

Ignoring her feelings, she picked up her backpack and walked to class.

2. 

A few months later, Blue Valley High started the school week off by announcing that school year’s prom. 

“Blue Valley allows all grades in their prom?”

“It’s a small town, Court. How else would they sell enough tickets?” Yolanda said.

“Especially since the decorating committee likes to go all out,” Beth said. “There’s a space theme this year! I’m sure it’ll look beautiful.”

“Well, I’m definitely going. Prom seemed like it was so fun at my old school but I couldn’t go cause I was a freshman.” Courtney turned to Rick. “What about you, Rick? Are you going?”

“It’s just some lame school dance. It’s music so loud you can’t hear yourself, bad dancing, and some kids sharing a flask behind the school.”

“C’mon, you have to go! It’ll be fun!”

Rick shrugged. “I don’t have a date.”

“You don’t need a date! We’ll all go together, as friends. The four of us.” Courtney said. 

Rick looked around the table, but his eyes landed on Beth. Beth met his gaze and innocently blinked, unsure of why he was looking at her. Rick broke the brief eye contact and turned back to Courtney. 

“Fine,” he said in his usual gruff manner, as if he was bitter about being persuaded into it, but the girls could tell that there was no real annoyance in his tone. 

Courtney grinned. “You won’t regret it!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Rick said. The school bell rang mere seconds after he spoke those words, and after the few seconds it took to pack his things, he turned to Beth. “You ready?” 

Beth nodded. 

“Ready for what?” Yolanda asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Rick and Beth. 

“Class?” Rick responded like it was obvious. “You and Courtney walk to class together all the time.”

For some reason, Courtney seemed a little embarrassed by Rick pointing that out. 

“Yolanda, isn’t your class the floor above Courtney’s?”

“But it’s on the same side of the school.” Yolanda said. “It’s easier to walk with Courtney until her class, then go up a floor for mine.”

“Right.” Rick didn’t sound convinced.

He turned to Beth and silently asked his question again, and she nodded, placing her backpack strings over her shoulders. Rick waited for her before walking off. 

Courtney and Yolanda watched, shared a look, then left down the same path they take each day. 

When the school bell came that day, Beth met with Courtney so they could sit next to each other on the bus. Yolanda had a shift at Richie’s after school so she couldn’t join them, so they said their goodbyes for the day standing in the schoolyard. 

Courtney watched Yolanda as she left wearing a smile that Beth only ever saw on Courtney when Yolanda was in the picture. If Yolanda had turned around, she would have seen something that conveyed a thousand words, but she didn’t. 

“Are you going to tell her?”

Courtney snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Beth. “Uhm, yeah, someday! I just… haven’t had the right time.”

“You’ve said that before,” Beth said as she walked towards the bus. “It’s starting to sound like excuses.”

“I’m not making excuses!” Courtney said. “Here, I’ll prove it. I’ll tell her soon.”

“Soon?”

“Yeah, soon- WAIT!” Courtney cut herself off with a new thought. “Prom is coming up! I should ask her to prom!”

Beth found an empty seat on the bus and sat next to the window, leaving the aisle seat for Courtney. “I thought we weren’t doing dates? We’re going as friends, remember? It was your idea.”

Courtney sat down, placing her backpack on her legs. “It’ll still be the four of us!” 

“Yeah, but Rick and I don’t want to third wheel your date.”

“Then go with Rick!”

“What?” Beth’s eyes widened. 

“You like him, don’t you?”

Beth stammered. “I can’t just- ask him to prom!”

“Why not?” Courtney asked. “C’mon, it’ll be fun! We can double date!”

Beth started to protest, but the things running through her head she didn’t want to vocalize. What if he says no? What if he never wants to speak to me again?

Courtney ignored Beth’s nonsense stammers and spoke in a sing-songy tone, “I’ll buy you a milkshake if you do.”

Beth sighed and looked out the window, choosing not to argue anymore. “We’ll see.”

“I’ll take it!” Courtney said, and the conversation was over. 

A few days later on that following Saturday, Beth once again found herself alone with Rick in Pat Dugan’s Pit Stop. The building was silent except for the sound of their pencils against paper as they each worked on homework, until the moment Rick spoke up.

“So.” 

Beth looked up at him.

“Courtney and Yolanda are going to prom together?” 

“Apparently,” Beth continued writing math equations on her paper. “Courtney had been waiting to ask Yolanda out for a while, this was her opportunity.” 

“She talked me into going to prom just so you and I can third-wheel their date?” 

Beth shrugged. “It might not be so bad.”

“I guess.”

Beth glanced up at Rick, then immediately dropped her gaze back to her homework. “I do wish I had a date, but what can you do?” 

“You do?” Rick asked, then elaborated in an awkward tone that wasn’t much like him. “Uh, want a date, I mean.” 

“I mean, who doesn’t?” She ignored the way her heartbeat sped up.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” 

A beat passed before Beth found herself blurting out, “do you want a date?” 

Rick’s eyes widened. “Uhm. I mean, yeah, I guess so.” 

“You guess?” She couldn’t tell if this was a good sign or a bad sign. 

“Yes. I do… want one. I mean, uh, who doesn’t? Like you said.” 

In that moment, Beth was overcome with a surge of bravery, and she spoke words that she never thought would come out of her mouth. 

“We could go together.” 

Rick looked at her, stunned, unable to speak. His expression was unreadable. 

Beth’s initial confidence immediately faded and was replaced with fear. Her heart pounded, her mind raced, and she stammered as she came up with a way to save it. To save herself, to save her and Rick’s friendship. “Uh, as friends! I meant.” 

“Oh.” Was that… disappointment in Rick’s tone? No, surely, it couldn’t be.

“...Oh?” Beth echoed the word, hoping her anxiety wasn’t showing.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Yes, I’ll go with you.” 

A million thoughts ran through Beth’s head faster than the speed of light, both good and bad, everything from exhilaration to nervousness to despair to rejoicing. All she found it in her to do was nod and say, “okay, cool!”

A few minutes passed before either one of them said anything else. 

“So, uhm…” Rick tapped his foot against the floor. “Want me to pick you up? I can pick you up.” 

Beth ignored the way her heart fluttered. “Yeah. That sounds nice.”

Rick nodded. 

“Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?” 

Rick blinked. “Am I… supposed to?”

“We should match!” Beth’s usual sunshine came back to her in the form of a grin. “I have this yellow dress I was thinking I’d wear. Since the theme is space, I thought I’d be the sun.”

“That… would fit you.” Rick said, the genuine fondness in his eyes cementing the compliment.

Beth smiled a bit sheepishly.

“So you want me to match that? Like, get a yellow suit?”

“Or you could go as the moon.” Beth suggested.

“Alright.” Rick nodded. “I’ll be the moon.”

The day prom came, Rick showed up in a silver suit that looked stunning next to the beautiful yellow of Beth’s dress and the matching clip in her hair. She was wearing sun earrings and a sun necklace, and on a recent mall trip with Rick she had found a moon bracelet that he now wore. 

Courtney, decorated head-to-toe in star-related adornments, found them and waved with the hand that wasn’t intertwined with Yolanda’s. Yolanda had on a black dress with planet earrings. 

“You both look amazing!” Courtney beamed. “Who knew you two look so good together?”

Beth knew what she was doing, and looked embarrassed. Thankfully, Courtney noticed and dropped it. Beth glanced at Rick, whose expression was unreadable.

As the night went on, Courtney and Yolanda got lost in dancing and each other. Beth and Rick tried their hand at the dance floor, but Rick struggled to quite get the hang of it, and stopped when he accidentally stepped on Beth’s foot. He apologized a bit too much, and excused himself to get ice before Beth could tell him she didn’t need it. 

That led to the two of them sitting in the empty high school hallway, their backs against some lockers and a bag of ice on Beth’s foot.

Rick’s eyes drifted to it. “How’s your foot?”

“Cold.”

Rick chuckled. 

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I told you, I’m really fine.” 

“Do you have your goggles? Y’know, to check it?”

“Rick,” Beth couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. “It’s really not that bad.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” 

“Okay,” Rick dropped it.

“But, if you want peace of mind,” Beth reached into the small purse she brought with her and pulled out her goggles. “I did come prepared.”

She took off her glasses, and Rick held them for her without her saying a word. She slipped her goggles over her eyes, and turned to her foot. 

“See? The readings say it’s fine.” Beth pulled the goggles off, took her glasses back from Rick, and placed her goggles back into her bag. “You don’t have to feel bad, Rick.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why’d you ask me to check it with my goggles?”

“I was just…” Rick sighed, looked away, and muttered a word Beth almost didn’t catch. “Worried.”

“Worried?” Beth repeated, unsure if she heard it wrong. 

“We’re friends, is that really so surprising?” Rick’s tone was bit too defensive, but his usual anger was nowhere to be seen. 

Beth thought about how she doubted Courtney or Yolanda would be quite that protective, and how she couldn’t remember Rick showing the same worry for Courtney or Yolanda, but she stopped herself from voicing this. 

“I guess not,” was what she said instead.

The hallway was silent for a few moments after that. 

Out of nowhere, Beth broke it. “Thanks for coming with me, Rick.”

“You asked me, didn’t you?”

“You said yes.”

“Like I would say no.” The words came out before Rick realized what he was implying. 

“Oh. Uhm,” Beth searched for the right response. “Thanks for being… supportive, then.”

“Supportive?”

“Coming with me when I didn’t have a date.”

“Right,” Rick said. “Sorry you didn’t have a date.”

“You too.”

“Yeah.”

“But out of the people I could have gone with… I’m glad it was you.”

Rick’s eyes lifted from the spot on the floor he had been looking at just a second ago, and he turned his head until he was staring at Beth with disbelief in his gaze. He didn’t say a word, nor did he take his eyes off of her. 

Beth got embarrassed and broke the eye contact. She turned her head, hoping he wouldn’t see her expression. 

She wasn’t looking at Rick when she heard him say, “I’m glad it was you too.”

Thank goodness for that, because Rick didn’t see the way she beamed. Beth’s smiles usually carry enough sunlight to brighten any room, but that one in particular reflected every ounce of love for Rick Tyler she held in her heart. 

She turned back to Rick and got caught in his eyes, returning the same gaze she was getting from him. 

All of a sudden, those three magic words formed. They were on the tip of her tongue.

“I-”

As soon as she heard her own voice, the awareness of reality hit her, and her fear stopped her from saying the rest. 

“Uhm,” She fumbled for a quick save. “I think we should go back now. Courtney and Yolanda might be wondering where we are.”

Rick checked his phone. His screen was void of notifications. “If they were, they would have texted. They’re too caught up in their date.”

Beth checked her own phone as well to see the same thing. 

“They won’t miss us.” Rick stood up and extended a hand to help Beth up. “Feel like milkshakes from Richie’s?”

Her eyes lit up at the idea, but then she hesitated. “These shoes aren’t the best for walking.”

“I’ll drive.”

She smiled. “Then you’ve got yourself a deal.”

They didn’t step foot in the school again for the rest of the night, and yet that was the best prom Beth ever attended.

3.

Christmas at the Whitmore-Dugan household was something you never wanted to miss. Pat’s cooking, the frosted sugar cookies meant to resemble snowmen and stockings and reindeer, the masterfully decorated tree, the radio playing the Christmas carols they loved to sing along to. 

This year, the holiday celebration included something else. A few leaves of mistletoe hung from every doorway. Barbara offhandedly mentioned that the idea had been Courtney’s, to which Beth fought the urge to mutter “of course it was”.

“C’mon, this is a great opportunity!” Courtney had told Beth when confronted about it. “I’m with Yolanda now, so it’s only a matter of time that you and Rick get together. Imagine all the double dates we can go on!”

“Like you forced us into a double date for prom?”

“You enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

“… Well, yes, but that’s not the point.”

As the party went on and everybody got caught up in the spirit of the holiday, Beth forgot about the mistletoe altogether. 

That is, until she was aiming to get to the kitchen just as Rick was leaving it, and all of a sudden they were passing by each other under the doorway and they heard Courtney’s voice sing “oooooh!”.

They both looked up.

And there it was.

That goddamn mistletoe.

Beth looked up at the mistletoe, then at Rick. Rick’s beautiful, beautiful brown eyes. Her eyes darted back to the mistletoe before she got lost in them. 

“You know the tradition! C’mon, kiss!” Courtney teased, only taking her eyes off of them for a second in order to lean over the kitchen counter and grab a sugar cookie to stuff in her mouth. 

Rick could barely muster any words other than an awkward “uh”. Beth wasn’t much better herself.

Beth looked at Rick. She took in every little detail of his face. She saw everything she loved about him. 

She saw everything she’d lose if he didn’t feel the same way. 

Friends. It was safer to stay friends. 

She kissed his cheek, and walked off before anybody could say anything. Not once did she look back.

That, of course, meant that she missed the pinkness in the very cheek her lips had just touched, and the lovestruck gaze in Rick’s eyes as he watched her leave.

4. 

The only light came from the full moon, a few nearby flickering street lamps, and Courtney’s staff. Beth’s goggles had led them to the Royal Flush Gang, but it seems their arrival had been expected. 

Yolanda’s agility allowed her to sneak up on the gang which gave them an advantage, but it was short-lived. Beth activated her goggles’ combat mode, and the faint red glow stood out against the dark. The golden light faded over the sand in Rick’s hourglass as it passed over his body, imbuing him with strength. Beth gave him a worried glance, but with a silent nod, he assured her that he was okay. 

Courtney maneuvered the staff with the expertise she had learned from the years of being a superhero, her and Cosmo moving perfectly in-sync. She deflected every attack that came her way from a member of the Royal Flush Gang. 

The ten of clubs member of the group stepped up, but before he could throw a punch at Yolanda, Cosmo flew against his chest and under his arms, picking him up and carrying him far away, unable to hurt her. When the man fell to the ground, not seriously injured but winded enough to require a few moments for recovery, Cosmo returned to Courtney’s side. 

Yolanda turned to Courtney with a smile. “Thanks.” 

“I got your back,” Courtney promised. She returned Yolanda’s smile, but not without using her staff to blast another member of the group back as she did so. Yolanda leaped, covering several feet of ground as she did so, and fought off a gang member who had his sights on Courtney. 

“And I’ve got yours.” 

Across the battlefield, Beth followed her goggles’ every command and dodged every attack that came her way. She was learning how to punch and kick with maximum effectiveness, and what moves throw a person off-balance. In seconds, she had knocked him onto the ground.

As Rick watched, a mixture of pride and astonishment formed in his eyes, matched with a soft smile. Beth turned to him. 

“You’re a badass, you know.” He said. 

She smiled.

As another gang member ran up to Rick with a bat, Rick grabbed the bat and snapped it in half. He held a half of the bat in each hand and used them to defend himself against the man. Rick’s opponent ran off the moment he realized he wasn’t going to win. At the same time, a different member rushed to Beth and she aimed to throw him off balance, but he didn’t budge. He was too strong. 

Before she processed what was happening, he grabbed onto her, and held her tightly despite her efforts to squirm out of his grasp. 

Then, suddenly, his grip relaxed and her feet landed on the ground. She turned to see the man reeling from a blow to the chest from Rick, who hadn’t given up and was still fighting the man. Beth watched in anticipation, while surveying the situation with her goggles for any way Rick may need assistance. Rick’s strength overpowered the man’s, and the fight was over in no time. 

Rick turned to Beth, his chest rising and falling with each breath. “You okay?”

“I love you.” The words left her mouth before she realized she had spoken.

Rick’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I love you!” 

Saying it back was the most natural thing in the world to him. “I love you too.”

Despite being in the middle of a battle, time seemed to stop completely. Everything around them ceased to exist, and in that moment, it was just Beth and Rick as if they were the only ones in the world. Without a single thought running through her head, Beth grabbed Rick and pulled him into a kiss. 

His surprise melted away as he leaned into and returned the kiss. The kiss lingered until Beth’s goggles alerted her of danger, to which she broke the kiss just enough to pull her and Rick out of harm’s way, then she kissed him again.

“Hey, we’re in the middle of a battle here!” Yolanda shouted.

The two of them pulled apart and continued fighting the opponents around them, but they managed to make fleeting eye contact with each glance and fit in a smile at the other as they did so. 

After the battle was over, Courtney leaned against the railing of the Pit Stop’s upper floor and pressed an ice pack to her forehead. “I’m happy for you two, but you have got to get better at timing.”

[shrinkthisviolet]

🐛🦋🦗

🐛: Recommend a great WIP / unfinished chapter fic everyone should leave a comment on!

Definitely flawless by @irishseeeker! It’s a retelling wherein Kate is named the diamond and Sophie Beckett is Kate and Edwina’s sort-of sister, and I just!! I love it to pieces!! Go read and comment!!

🦋: Recommend one or three of your own fics! Some love for a few underrated gems:

how dare you march (into my heart), a Peddie fic in which they have to fake-date for the masquerade ball in s2!

i just wanna see you (be brave), a Jyn & Leia friendship fic written years ago (posted a couple years ago, but it’s an old fic 😂). Canon-compliant…so have tissues ready

would it really kill you (if we kissed)?, an Hournite fic for Stargirl! They’re adorable…and if you haven’t watched Stargirl, I can’t recommend it enough. Not just for them, but they add to the experience imo

🦗: Recommend any fic, wild card!

Asylum by the amazing @linearao3! Spoilers for Andor, so don’t read this if you haven’t seen it, but…this is a great character study of Leida, and a great exploration of the complex relationship between her and Mon

fic rec ask game!

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

We’re Not Friends 17

Are They More?

“Leave her alone, Beth. She’s going through enough,” Rick said.

Beth glared at him and smiled, saying through her teeth, “I was just trying to be nice.”

“She asked you not to bother her and you did anyway. So, instead of trying to be nice, why don’t you try not to be annoying, for once?”

“Okay. I’m going. Enjoy your lunch. I’m sorry I bothered you and it will never happen again.”

Since when did Rick Harris take up for people? He never took up for her, and she’s been sitting next to him for a year! Did he LIKE Yolanda? And why did that matter? Did she care about Rick liking Yolanda? God, did she LIKE Rick??

When Rick finally realized that Yolanda was being bullied, he protected Yolanda from Beth’s prying, but he had also explained to Beth why she needed to back off… “People don’t like uninvited guests seeing their dirty laundry,” Rick had told her. 

At the time, Beth had realized that maybe Rick and Yolanda were more alike than she had known. Shortly after, she’d noticed Rick glaring at Henry on Yolanda’s behalf. Warding him away from the table with his threatening expression. All the while, choosing not to be friends with Beth. It had bothered her, even then. It was definitely bothering her now. She didn’t need an ally to be accepted onto the team, but she had gotten very comfortable with the idea of her team being her friends; Of Rick being her friend. Would she and Rick have a chance to be friends if he was into Yolanda? Of course, people could manage both, but she didn’t know if she believed Rick was emotionally evolved enough to do that… 

He noticed her staring! She turned her head back towards her book, but she could still feel his eyes on her. She looked at him again. He looked… pensive and slightly confused. She offered a smile. He didn’t return it, but he wasn’t glaring, at least. “What are you thinking about?” He asked. It wasn’t like him to wonder about such things, but their dynamic had been gradually changing. 

“Just… how sweet it is, how supportive of Yolanda you are. She really deserves it, and I’m glad that she has somebody like you in her corner. I tried to support her before and boy did she not want that.” She laughed awkwardly and returned her eyes to her book.

Rick furrowed his eyebrows, unsure if Beth was suggesting what it sounded like she was suggesting. Did… she think that he liked Yolanda? Should he correct her? Did it matter? “This is a little different. You were trying to get her to deal with feelings she wasn’t ready to face. I’m trying to keep a literal sexual predator away from my friends-”

Beth looked up, her face beaming, and her eyes wide. Rick froze, even though every part of him was warm, seeing her light up that way. He had never used the word “friend” for her before and she hadn’t even known if he truly considered her one. In fact, she was convinced that despite him being on this team and talking to them everyday that they still weren’t friends. Now, his eyes narrowed and she felt herself darken in his stare. He must’ve just realized that he’d made that mistake. “Henry doesn’t belong on this team, Beth.” He finalized. She sighed and nodded. They were in two completely different head spaces. 

But then again… Rick had been protective of Beth at times, too. It was sort of his thing, at the moment. Maybe, hopefully, Yolanda was just his current focus. She reminded herself that not too long ago, she was convinced that he had feelings for Courtney because of how upset he was about her being hurt. It didn’t help that she knew Courtney had followed him to West Farms trying to get him on the team either. What if they’d liked each other and she hadn’t known? But, it turned out that she was wrong about that. He’d been a little bit preoccupied with Beth being left alone, worried that she might get hurt, and that was when she knew that Rick simply was a protector. 

So, there was no reason for Beth to believe that the wall that he was creating for Yolanda wasn’t just Rick being the defender that they were discovering that he was.

It still made her feel bad to have to witness, and she was going to have to figure out why she was allowing Rick to make her feel this way, whether or not he meant to.

.

Rick had gotten pretty tired of all of it. Courtney and Beth seemed committed to the idea of letting Henry on the team. Yolanda was feeling so terrible that the two of them had been talking, instead of her and Courtney, and Beth was acting… he was frustrated with Beth. Trying to explain to everyone how everyone else was feeling was not supposed to be his role on this team, but he found himself doing just that. 

Mainly, he absolutely agreed with Yolanda and wanted the others to understand why. But, whenever he spoke with Yolanda and the subject came up, he accidentally became defensive, because he knew Beth didn’t realize how difficult this was and she was just trying to do what she thought was best for everyone. Courtney could be a lot, but she didn’t need anybody to defend her. Beth did, and he knew that Yolanda was more angry at Courtney than he was at Beth for supporting Courtney’s idea.

Last night, Yolanda had ended their call with, “I’m going to just go, before I say something unfriendly about your girl.” She had made a few comments about how he ‘always took up for Beth,’ which… IF ONLY that were true, he and Beth wouldn’t be having the issues that they were having right now, which were that she was trying to “liaison” for Courtney, on behalf of Henry and all she was doing was upsetting Yolanda and Yolanda was coming to him, because in her mind, Rick somehow could handle talking to Beth straight up “without hurting her feelings…” EVERYONE knew that just was NOT the truth. He was THE person with the record of saying the worst things to Beth, followed by Yolanda, who had started later and stopped sooner than he had.

Now, Beth was being weird about him and Yolanda, and Yolanda was not getting the support she needed, so Rick found himself having to be her emotional support roughneck, Courtney’s common sense fairy and Beth’s… Well… he would always be whatever to Beth what he was, because he just couldn’t help himself. She was soft and sweet and smart, but she needed sharper social skills sometimes, and he knew that he had them, so why not help her out?

With Henry now having superpowers, all three of them needed protection, and Rick felt like he was the only person who could supply it for them. 

.

Lunch Meeting. There was always a lunch meeting. It was the easiest place to have their talks. Whenever Beth sat down and Yolanda sat next to her, Beth and Rick exchanged glances before he sat next to Yolanda and Beth sighed. Rick was frustrated already when Courtney came to the table with Henry. Beth knew this would not go well. Henry had been living in Rick’s mind rent free ever since Courtney even had an inkling to bring him on board, and now, not only was he on board, but he appeared to know EVERYTHING. 

And Yolanda and Rick were no closer to acknowledging peaceful solutions.

Beth did her best to be the peacemaker. To push aside the sinking feeling she got when she saw Henry knock Rick onto his back, when she noted the unspoken understanding between Rick and Yolanda, all of the stress of all of this, to just… PLEASE; let them listen to me. 

“We need to do this. For Court…” Yolanda and Rick exchanged looks. A silent agreement. Beth and Rick had not had those since he became invested in being Yolanda’s protector. And now - Yolanda was cutting off her friendship with Courtney. Beth tried not to focus on how that might mean more Yolanda and Rick bonding, and if they all came out on the other side, Courtney had Henry (new family), to get to know. Court would have her family and she would have Henry become a part of that. Yolanda… would have Rick.. THAT WASN’T IMPORTANT! They were superheroes, and she didn’t need to make anything about her right now. They had a mission to accomplish.

.

Rick and Yolanda did NOT want to be there. They knew that they had to, but working with Henry was already a no go for them both and saving his dad was even less appealing. Add to that the fact that there was no cosmic staff, PLUS Chuck was out of order, and this mission was even more ill advised than the first one that they rushed into. At least Rick had acknowledged the fact that Chuck was useful, Beth thought… but then remembered that he had never thought that Chuck wasn’t useful. It was her that he seemed most unimpressed by. At least he didn’t groan whenever he was sent with her to do retcon. 

That didn’t mean that it went well. In fact, it went as bad as Beth could have even guessed. Now… Beth was no coward, but what she was, was smart. She was smart and she was self aware. She knew that certain things could be dangerous and that she could not do everything. She knew that while she had a duty to perform, that some things were outside of her skill set and that to be successful, she needed to focus on the problem at hand and handle it in the most safe and effective way possible. Rick was not that type of person. Of all the hallways that they could have wound up going down, they had to go down the one that led to the thing that killed Rick’s parents?

The point of being here? He didn’t care. The fact that Beth needed him to finish the assignment? He didn’t care. The fact that more than likely, that thing would probably KILL THEM BOTH? He didn’t care. He saw the one responsible for the worst thing to ever happen to him, and the one that he had even put this suit on to go after in the first place. Nothing else mattered in that moment but getting to Solomon Grundy and getting his revenge..

Beth couldn’t physically pull him away, but fortunately, he came to his senses when henchmen arrived. Everything after that was… So… so BAD. Beth didn’t want to even think about it. But, it was yet another death she had to witness and she never knew that being a hero would mean seeing people die this way. Seeing people her age, seeing people she cared about, people on her team… die. 

Yolanda curled into Rick, and he comforted her. It was easy to comfort her. She needed it, and he guessed he did too. He had been wrong about Henry. Henry had done something awful, sure. But, Henry had also just had to find out that his father killed his mother. Rick wasn’t sure if the guy was lucky that he didn’t have to live with that knowledge, but having his last moments in life being his father murdering him - that just felt wrong. Henry had protected his girls when he couldn’t, and had died to do so. For nothing else, Rick felt that he owed him a portion of respect. And for Yolanda’s benefit, he would never soil the kid’s memory. What Henry did before that, Rick wasn’t going to continue judging him for. Not even Yolanda was doing that at this point.

She was grieving. Rick was checking on her and making sure that she was okay. All of them trying to get to Henry, to genuinely save him, and being unable to, having to watch him be murdered, to watch him know and have his last moments be to leave a good mark on the world? Only heroes did that.

.

Beth hadn’t been able to relax. She did everything that she could. Brought out candles she had not lit yet, ordered some outfits, cooked herself comfort food and escaped in a book. Chuck gave her some ambient music to try to get her calm. Her mom and Henry’s dad worked together for years. Dr. Henry King had always been cordial to her and from what she knew, he was one of the best doctors that her mother had ever worked with. He’d treated Dr. Chapel with respect and never made her feel devalued, even when she was focused on being a mother, he had seemed to always know what to say and how to treat her, unlike some other doctors at work places she had been a part of. It endeared Beth to him for a while. Once she realized his superpower, it made sense. He knew that her mom was a good person and a good doctor, and as long as she did her job and didn’t make things difficult, it was probably easy to be a nice colleague to her, even though he was a bad man.

A very bad man. Poor Henry. All Beth wanted was more heroes in the world. More friends. More good people. The JSA had been murdered by the ISA, and not even the children were safe. Joey. Henry. She had a certain level of care for both of them, and she had seen both of them die. She texted Yolanda to check on her and knew that the “Don’t worry,” she sent back was simply because she didn’t feel like talking to her, not because she was fine. Beth texted Rick to check up on her and he replied that he and Yolanda were on the phone and he’d try to get back to her tonight, but not to worry… Great. “Don’t worry” seemed like such an empty phrase, and had the opposite reaction. 

.

“Isn’t she gonna be upset that you’re on the phone with me?” Yolanda asked. “Why would she be upset? She knows that you’re going through something,” Rick responded, then amended it with, “And, she’d have no right to be upset that you and I are friends.” Rick thought about earlier. He bent the bars open and made sure that Beth was out first. He owed her for almost getting her clobbered by henchmen in the tunnels while he let his vengeance fuel him at Solomon Grundy’s cell… and he also wanted her to be safe. 

“She’s been acting a little bit jealous, hasn’t she?” Yolanda asked and Rick wanted to immediately say no and deny that he saw anything whatsoever to indicate that, but he definitely had noticed it and didn’t want to address it. That would be too much like trying to sort through feelings and he didn’t have time for that.

“She doesn’t have a lot of friends. Any time there is a mild disagreement, she’ll probably be jealous. This week it’s this, next week, it’ll be one of you, probably.” 

Yolanda let out a joyless chuckle and sighed. “I’ll be sure to answer her inquiries, then.” Rick didn’t respond. “Are you there?” She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other line. “You’re falling asleep.”

“Sorry. I’m just…”

“Tired. Makes sense. Go get some rest, and… be nice to her. We never know how things will go and you don’t want to let the moments that you could have been nice to her become regrets that you weren’t.” 

Rick furrowed his eyebrows, “What are we talking about?”

“Beth. You care about her. I know it and you know it. I don’t know if she knows it. I just… feel like I needed more time with Henry, and I didn’t get it. You have time with Beth. Make sure it’s well spent.”

“Those are two very different stories.”

“Yeah. In your story, you have no reason not to be nice to her.”

“I… am not mean to her. Not like I used to be. I just.. I’m tired. I’m going to hang up now.”

“I’m not going to come along with you and Beth to The Pit Stop. I’ll text her in the morning to let her know.” 

“Oo.. kay. Is this your way of making us be alone?”

“No. But, that sounds like an added bonus.” He sucked his teeth and she explained, “I want to go to church. To… pray for Henry…” he heard a whimper and he almost offered to stay on the phone, but she managed to add, “Goodnight,” and hung up before he could protest. 

[its-like-looking-in-3d]

HAPPY HOURNITE SECRET SANTA @rinasred!!

im your secret santa,, i hope you like it!!

(i realised i had the opportunity to title it with that song yea ngl sjfjskf)

[president-zebra]

daffodils

[pink-bird-30]

Welp, it is finally here...

I was so motived to get this done that I finally figured out how to post on Ao3!

You can also read my story on my FF.Net 

Summary:

Sometimes love doesn't happen over night. Sometimes it happened slowly, building over months, maybe even years. And then it happens. The one moment that changes two lives forever...but what if that love was only meant for two souls and no one else? A retelling of all three seasons of Stargirl and Rick and Beth have a secret they only know about...

As always, Happy Reading!

-----

It was another boring lunch period.

Rick tosses his brown bagged lunch onto the stained cafeteria table and drapes his bag on the same faded busted yellow chair he’s sat in since freshman year.  The cafeteria was overcrowded with almost every student, the loud gossip coming from the popular table where he could clearly see Cindy Burman and her clan.  The jocks cheering at whatever Artemis Crock was saying about last night’s football game…and then there was Beth.

Rick shakes his head as he listens to Beth talk to her parents while she eats her expensive looking salad.  He side-eyes her, seeing she’s wearing her favorite yellow cardigan and sunflower top with black jeans.  Rick wishes he didn’t recognize this as her favorite outfit, but he’s been sitting next to her for as long as he could remember.  The only new addition to their table was Yolanda Montez.  But she’s even quieter than Rick is when it comes to Beth’s animated conversation with her clearly uninterested parents.

“Mr. Deisinger said my art is really improving!”  Beth says excitedly.  “He says I did a great job making strawberries look very realistic.”  She takes a bit of her salad.  “How have your day’s been?”

Rick zones out like he usually does when Beth’s parents start to talk back to her.  Their typical tones sound tired and forced.  Part of him feels bad hearing the bland replies.  He chances a glance in her direction, seeing her eyes dim ever so lightly, losing their excitement.  It’s always made Rick angry how hard Beth tries to have a relationship with her parents and they don’t even take the time to appreciate her.

If his parents were still around, he wouldn’t take it for granted either.

As lunch drones, Beth finally hangs up with her parents and pulls out a thick textbook and starts to read.  Rick looks up from his phone when he hears the thick text hit the table.  He watches as she highlights and scribbles notes down in her notebook ferociously, like she was in a whole different world.  

Unknowingly, Rick smirks to himself at her attention to detail and glances back down at his phone, not realizing the third member of the table witnessing the moment.

Rick Tyler likes Beth Chapel?

Yolanda was glad for the distraction and tucked away the information for future use.

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

Lunch continued the same for the first part of the fall semester until a new student named Courtney Whitmore joins their table in mid-October.

Right away Rick was not happy.  But if Rick wasn’t happy about something, it meant Beth was definitely all for it.

He isn’t one to accept change easily and having this new bubbly California energy joining their ‘loser table’, as Cindy put it, was not going well for him.

“Hi!  I’m Courtney.”

“Hi!  I’m Beth!”  Beth’s annoyingly sweet voice sang.  “This is Rick Harris and Yolanda Montez.”

Rick glares at Beth wondering why she would even bother introducing him.  It’s not like they are friends...Rick wasn’t sure what they were, but regardless, he didn’t want to know Courtney.

“Oh, are you all friends?”  Courtney asks as she sets her tray on the table and pulls out the seat closest to Yolanda.

“No.” Rick’s gruff voice mumbles.

Courtney pokes at her fruit salad.  “Then why do you sit here?”

“Oh!”  Beth puts her sandwich down and wipes her hands on her napkin.  “This is the ‘loser’ table.  As Cindy Burman says.”

Yolanda scoffs as she pushes away from the table, leaving her lunch behind, and storms from the cafeteria.

“Beth…”  Rick rolls his eyes at her blunt response and grabs his bag.  “What Cindy says is crap, don’t listen to her.”  He walks past Beth, his shoulders tense and angry as he pushes past a group of jocks and out of the cafeteria.

Beth watches him leave and Courtney takes note of the sad look clouding her face.

“Rick and you seem like friends…” Courtney mumbles.  “He seems to be a loss less ‘grrr’ around you.”

Beth shrugs and takes another bite of her ham and cheese sandwich.  “I’ve known Rick since elementary school.  We’re not friends but were also not not friends either.”

The blond stares at her in confusion.  “What do you mean?”

Beth sighs.  “Look, Rick is complicated for many reasons, but we’ve been sitting together for as long as I can remember.”  Courtney can tell Beth is nervous talking about Rick almost as if she—

Almost as if she has a crush on him…

Courtney tucks away that piece of information for later…

“But you’ve never hung out or anything?  There must be something fun to do around this place!”  Courtney whines.  “I mean, c’mon this town is so dull.”

Beth gives her a sad smile, “I’m not the best person to ask what is ‘fun’ to do around here.  I’m not exactly popular.”

Courtney gathered as much but there was a reason why she sat at this table today.  There had to be.

Beth and Courtney sit in silence for the rest of lunch and go their separate ways once the bell rings.

As Beth walks down the hallway to math, she passes Rick leaning against his locker reading a book.  She chances a glance in his direction, not knowing why she did, and he happens to look up at the same time.  Beth gives him a small smile and continues down the hallway to math.

Not knowing why, Rick pushes away from his locker and walks to catch up with Beth.

“Beth, wait.”  he catches her before she entered her classroom.  She looks up at him in surprise.  Why was he speaking to her outside of the cafeteria?  “I- um,” it dawns on him that he’s never actually spoken to Beth before.  “Sorry, I was a jerk before.”

Beth pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and smiles, “It’s okay!”

“Cool.” The warning bell rings.  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” he says before walking away.  For some reason, he could feel his heart racing long after he’s sitting in English class listening to the teacher drone on about Of Mice and Men.

[granolabird]

A Promise for the Future

My 3x12 fic. Not as long as my usual fics, mostly bc I’m kinda hitting writing burnout. Too many essays for school and podcast scripts due 😪 But Stargirl is my everything and I will not miss out on writing fics for the final few episodes!!

.

When he showed up to the door, Beth wasn’t exactly sure what she was expecting. Last she’d seen Rick he was yelling, telling off her and her parents for trying to get him to take off the hourglass. When she sees him at the door, however, she knows that’s not the state he’s in. Not anymore. Standing there, arms wrapped around himself, he looks so… sad. 

He can’t make eye contact, staring at the floor as he hesitates in the doorway, as if he doesn't know if he’s welcome here anymore. As if the JSA weren’t still his family. Beth takes it upon herself to grab his hand and leads him inside, all the way to the couch. He doesn’t say much, not until they get him seated. Then he can’t stop apologising, shaking, fiddling with the hourglass but never taking it off. He can’t. He says as much, describing in detail what happened when he took it off before he came here. Beth has to stop herself from crying. The fact that he went through so much pain alone breaks her heart. 

“I called you Rick, why didn’t you answer?” She finally asks, and Rick looks away.

“I… I couldn’t. I saw you calling, but before I never wanted to answer. I wanted to be left alone. But that time I did. I wanted to answer, but I couldn’t. I just…” He takes a shuddering breath, blinking away tears.

“It’s okay, Rick. You’re here now.” Yolanda offers, but Rick still doesn’t look up, eyes glued to the floor.

“I guess.”

The conversation drags on, with everyone asking Rick questions and reassuring him interchangeably. Things only pause when Rick mentions Sylvester. Then the pieces begin to fall together. Sylvester should’ve known about the limiter, he’d helped Rick’s father. A quick glance between Courtney and Yolanda confirms Beth’s fears. They’re all thinking the same thing. 

Sylvester had set Rick up. 

The feeling of unease that settles over the group is palpable, nobody quite sure what to say. Barbara and Courtney leave the room to try and get ahold of Pat. Yolanda sticks around for a while, but when it becomes clear there’s nothing she can do to help, she heads out too. That left Rick and Beth. Rick is quiet, almost curled into himself. This entire time he hasn’t spoken unless he’s being spoken to, and now is no different. He’s in his own world. Beth takes a deep breath, grabbing her goggles and sitting down beside Rick, close enough that they’re shoulder to shoulder. He needs human contact at this point, she knows that. There’s a moment of quiet, just them sitting together, leaning close. 

“Hey, Rick? I’d like to check your vitals with my goggles. Just to see what’s wrong. If that’s alright?”

Rick doesn’t say anything, he just nods. Beth moves slowly, carefully, as if moving too fast would scare Rick. Once her goggles are on, she scans him over. The prognosis is… less than stellar. His heart rate and blood pressure are up and he shows signs of a wide variety of other issues. His broken ribs from the fight with Cameron are still healing, but the good news is they are healing. It’s a start, as least. 

“When Barbara and Courtney come back, I’ll get them to get you some pain killers, okay? And I’ll call my mom in as soon as possible. She’ll know how to help. Then we’ll get that hourglass off of you. I promise.” Beth assures him, leaning forward to squeeze his hand reassuringly.

“That bad, huh?” Rick huffs with a small chuckle. He doesn’t look at Beth but rather places his head on her shoulder. 

Beth sighs, and leans her head against Ricks. “It could be worse. You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

She feels Rick shuffling beside her, and it takes her a minute to recognise that he’s crying. He’s trying to keep quiet, Beth knows he doesn’t want her to see him like this but she doesn’t care. She loves him. Even when he’s going through hell, she’ll love him still. She knows that. She just needs him to know that. She lets go of his hand and moves her arm so it’s around his back, letting her hand run through his hair idly in any attempt to calm him down. She just wants him to know he’s safe now, to let them know she doesn’t care. Even if he’s spent weeks ignoring her, it doesn’t matter. It’s Rick. She’ll stay by his side no matter what.

Her arm around him seems to be enough signal for Rick that it’s okay to let go. He almost collapses onto her, throwing his arms around Beth with a sob. He keeps holding her like a lifeline. She thinks he’s saying sorry, but his face is buried in the knitted down of her vest. She just keeps her arm around him, keeps holding him close, keeps telling him it’s okay. He’ll be okay. They stay like that for a while, listening to the wind howling outside and the quiet conversation in the kitchen. Beth can tell by the tones of voice that Courtney and Barbara are beginning to panic. 

That doesn’t bode well. 

She just keeps reassuring Rick, tries to keep him busy, but she knows there’s only so long she can keep this up before things get worse. Barbara and Courtney could come in with bad news and just exacerbate the situation. If Rick knows that someone he cares about is in danger he’ll never take off the hourglass, not if he knows that it can help. As much as Beth knows Rick’s help in battle is needed, it’s not what he needs to hear right now. Right now he needs to know it’s okay to take off the hourglass and just decompress. Otherwise, she fears he might never take it off and then… She doesn’t want to think about that.

“How about we head outside for a minute, I think you need fresh air.” Beth offers. Rick doesn’t let go of her, but she feels his best attempt at a nod from where his head is resting against her shoulder.

Getting Rick up is easier than she expected. Nobody seems to notice her leading him outside, their hands entwined. Rick is clinging to her hand, following behind her like a lost child, almost stepping on her heels. Courtney and Barbara don’t notice them, too busy huddled around their phones. Beth isn’t sure if she’s grateful for that or not. She wants them to help Rick, to get this hourglass off of him as soon as possible, but she also understands their concern towards Pat. She just wishes things were easier, that she could just help Rick now, and then worry about everything superhero related later. 

She grabs her coat from the coat hanger by the door, and grabs one of Pat’s coats for Rick, and then leads him outside. It’s not snowing yet, but the bitter chill to the whipping wind tells of the coming winter. If Rick is cold, he doesn’t indicate it. His stare is blank as he gazes off of the porch into the street, the yellow glow of the street lamps reflecting in his eyes as he lets go of Beth’s hand and leans against the porch railing.

“This is my fault.”

“Rick-”

“No, it is. I should have never taken off the limiter. Then maybe things would be better. I could’ve helped with Jordan, I could’ve… I could’ve helped.”

“You still can help, Rick. You just need to take care of yourself first. Please. For me.” She moves to stand beside him, trying to gauge what he’s feeling.

Rick looks over to her, and it’s not something she’s ever seen in him before. He looks scared, but he also looks… she can’t pinpoint it exactly. The closest word she could think of was awe. He was looking at her as if she held the very world in her hands. She doesn’t of course, but that doesn’t make the way he’s looking at her make any more sense. 

“Rick, are you okay?”

“Yeah… Yeah. I was just thinking. That’s all.” He assures her, but he keeps ringing his hands together nervously. 

Beth takes it upon herself to take his hands in her own. To keep them still, she tells herself. And to keep them warm. Rick smiles at that, if only a little. She catches it, just a small tug at the edge of his lips but to her it’s enough. It’s progress. She knows then, that he’ll be alright. They both will be. Once this is all over, they’ll be okay. She’s not reassuring herself, this time. Not like all the days she spent searching for Rick, telling herself it would probably be fine, that everything would probably be okay. No, this time it’s a promise. A promise that everything will turn out.

[hournites]

Dying to watch the Icehour Mansion fight next week? Pass the time reading our (me and @bluevalleybreakingnews​) hournite and icehour battle prediction fic posted yesterday on ao3 

Excerpt: 

“I’m serious. Don’t do anything when I say who it is. Okay? Just stay put until we talk it all through.”

“Sure.”

Beth sighed, closing her eyes. “Okay. It’s Cameron.” She paused for Rick to react, but he stayed silent. “He’s…he knows things. About us. About our…identities.”

[katesrambeau]

new fic alert!! just an idea i had, will be a few chapters and ill update tomorrow. i have no idea what i am doing but enjoy.

[bluevalleybreakingnews]

As I mentioned earlier this month, every day this week I’m releasing a fic in lieu of an episode coming out on Wednesday! The idea was for these all to be finished at the time of publication, but I spontaneously decided for this ending to be different than the one I originally had planned. As a result, I’ll likely post the final chapter next week, technically when the “Starvest” is over. Pretend like I didn’t fail my own challenge right out of the gate.