#i mean she can still be involved somehow. but it just never sat right with me that she was the one who raised dola in lnd

[xx-justsomeguy-xx]

I might go crazy writing this other backstory for lnd dola omfg

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (8)

Chapter Eight: Bad Territory

Gif by @rebekadjarin

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: The group is divided, each side with a mission of their own to follow

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, swearing, angst, fluff, limited (y/n), Crosshair feeling left out, me making up how the Force can work/be used, more dancing around M-count things, and me making up a rough timeline

Word Count: 5.2K

Author's notes: Not gonna lie, I struggled a lot with this one for a variety of reasons but I hope people still like it! Thank you @burningfieldof-clover for your much needed and valued assistance during this!

Pabu

Omega sat on the steps of the Marauder anxiously tapping her boot as she stared at her commlink.

“You know staring at your comm won’t make Echo contact you any faster.” Crosshair told her as he approached.

Omega got to her feet with a sigh. “He and Rex lost most of their squad in that attack. All because the Empire was after me and (Y/N). I have to do something to help them.”

“You are. Follow (Y/N)’s example and keep staying away.” Crosshair said.

“Wow, I’ve never been used as a positive example before.”

Omega turned to see you and Hunter standing in the doorway of the Marauder.

“Crosshair’s right. We need to know more about why Hemlock’s after you and what his M-count experiments mean.” Hunter added. “Until then, you both have to lay low.” He said with a firm look at the two of you.

Hey, Omega is the priority here, not me.

“Don’t start with that.” Hunter chastised. “It’s a high chance that Hemlock being after Omega means he’s after you too, especially if M-counts are involved somehow.”

We don’t know that he’s after me specifically, I’ve always just had issues with any Imperial official. I’m more of a general Imperial threat. Me getting captured, I could wind up anywhere.

“That’s a very reassuring thought, thank you.” Hunter muttered sarcastically.

Besides, even when I handed myself in, I wasn’t sent to Tantiss so I might not even be on his radar since he seems to be looking for clones and not Jedi to test on. Omega is the one we know for sure that Hemlock is after.

“Hey! Incoming transmission. From Phee!” Wrecker came to tell the rest of you.

To be continued. You placed a chaste and pacifying kiss to his lips before you headed towards the cockpit.

“No, not to be continued, you’re laying low the same way Omega is!” Hunter called to your retreating figure before he too headed back in.

“They were arguing, and I didn’t hear a single word she said?” Crosshair as the two of you walked back inside.

“Hmm?” Omega stopped patting Batcher and then understood his question. “Oh that! You mean she hasn’t tried it with you yet?” Omega asked curiously. She’d honestly barely noticed the interaction; she was so used to moments like that now.

“Tried what?” Crosshair asked.

“It’s a Jedi communication thing.” Omega tried to explain but that was really all she could provide. “I don’t quite understand how it works but she does it with the rest of us. I’m sure if you asked her, she’d be able to do it to you too.”

“Right.” Crosshair said hesitantly, unsure as to what he could’ve done to make you think you couldn’t trust him with that. But he pushed that to the back of his mind for now before inquiring, “And Phee?”

“She’s a liberator of ancient wonders.” Omega said with an appropriate amount of showmanship.

Crosshair just stared at her unamused and not playing into the mystery she was trying to create.

“Pirate. She’s a pirate.” Omega admitted with a sigh.

How you lot had managed to make allies with a pirate was something he found himself wishing he’d been there to witness.

--

Wrecker put the transmission through.

“Hey Phee.” Omega said warmly.

“Hey kid.” Phee replied.

“What do you got for us?” Hunter asked.

“I’ve been asking around about this M-count thing, which hasn’t been easy, by the way. Tech’s brain was the data bank, not mine.”

The grief you were in constant battle with asked for another way in, but you let is wash over you as Phee continued to speak.

“But I came through. As always.”

“And what did you find out?” You asked.

“Word is, certain class one bounty hunters have been retrieving M-count target for the Empire.”

Again, you ruminated in your thoughts over this. Omega couldn’t have a high M-count, not in the way the Empire seemed to want, you’d know if she did. And it was all to do with clones, so it had to be something about their DNA specifically. “A high M-count signifies Force user potential. But that’s not got anything to do with you.” You added hastily as you saw Omega’s look of excitement. “So, why else would they need her if she has one?” You asked Phee.

“Don’t know. You’re better off asking a bounty hunter.” Phee replied.

“We have run into a few.” Hunter revealed.

“What about Fennec?” Omega suggested.

“Who?” Crosshair asked.

“Fennec Shand.” You said, your feelings about her made very clear by the distaste in your voice. “She was hired by Kaminoans to abduct Omega. Tried to pick me up along the way.”

“She might know something.” Omega said.

“She’s dangerous, but it might be our only option.” Hunter agreed and she definitely a better option compared to Cad Bane.

“I can probably track Fennec down for you.” Phee said. “But she’s not gonna hand over that information for free.”

“Naturally.” You and Crosshair said in the same wry tone.

But as he said that you, Hunter, and Omega noticed the way his hand began to tremor despite Crosshair’s efforts to stop and hide it.

“I gotta split. I’ll get back to you.” With that, Phee ended the transmission.

“Yeah, I don’t like it.” Wrecker said nervously to Hunter. “We can’t trust Fennec. Not around those two.”

“Agreed. You and I will go alone.”

“But-” Omega protested.

“Hold on-” You began to argue.

“This isn’t a debate.” Hunter said definitively. “Stay on Pabu and stay out of trouble. All of you.” He said to the three of you.

“Fine by me.” Crosshair drawled before he left the ship.

Hunter addressed the two of you once he’d gone, concern in his voice. “See if you can convince him to get his hand looked at. Ignoring it won’t make the problem go away.”

--

You walked back to the ship as you saw Hunter and Wrecker getting ready to depart.

“I already told you no.” Hunter said as you stood on the bottom of the door staircase.

“Hunter-”

“You and Fennec have a score to settle and I’m not going to tempt her with it. What we need to know is more important than that.”

“I know that but she’s dangerous and I don’t see how having someone else there to help would be such a bad idea.” You disputed.

Hunter went for another tact, “Did you hear Phee say the phrase ‘high M-count targets?’ ”

You ground out a sigh, “Yes.”

“And don’t you have one?”

“Yes, but I-”

“Did you hear that bounty hunters are being used to retrieve them?”

You shot him an exasperated look. “Yes.”

“Do you see where I’m going with this?”

You exhaled a defeated breath. “Yes.” You begrudgingly acknowledged.

“Good.” He came down a couple steps and placed both hands on your shoulders as he kissed your forehead. “We’ll be careful.”

“Yeah, you better.” You threatened but with a caring smile on your face. “I’ll see you soon.” You hopped off the stairs and watched the ship take off.

--

You rejoined Omega and Crosshair who were standing by the Wheeping Maya tree. “Sooo, what do we want to do today? Walk around, go for a boat ride, chill by the beach and talk about our feelings?” You broached casually. You couldn’t get away with making him sit down and push him into doing something about his hand- Omega had the better shot of using an approach like that. What you were doing fit the rhythm you and Crosshair had before everything in the galaxy went to shit.  

Crosshair ignored your suggestions. “You can help me train.” He said as he grabbed his rifle.

Omega glanced up at you to see if you wanted to say anything yet, but you only shook your head as you both followed him down to the beach cove.

--

“How’d you want to handle this?” Omega asked as Crosshair started prepping his scope.

I’ll open the door for you. Give us a few minutes.

--

“Target practice or hand-to-hand?” You asked as you reached him.

“Target.” Crosshair with a hard stare at you, warning you against any further unrelated conversation.

“I’m here to help as you requested.” You raised your hands in surrender, “I only ask because the most recent time you tried hand-to-hand; you got your ass handed to you.” You taunted as you made your way to your position and removing your lightsaber from your belt. “Now remember, the goal is to aim for me which finding the motivation for shouldn’t be too difficult.” Omega, when you hear the blaster fire stop, you’re up.

You weren’t facing him when you sensed the shot that was being aimed for the middle of your back. You ignited your lightsaber and blocked it on the half turn. “Hey, that was good!” You called back. “More like that and I might actually have to try!” You got into your stance and waited.

Crosshair heaved a sigh as he set himself again.

--

You disengaged your blade to signal that it was time to stop, and you lightly jogged over to where Crosshair was waiting. “Twenty shots, but only eleven I had to actually dodge or block… you really gotta sort that out, it’s not like you.”

Crosshair glared at you, “I forgot how annoying you were to train with.”

“Oh, I’m just the warmup.” You said with a knowing grin. “She’s the real challenge.” You nodded past his shoulder.

Crosshair followed your eyes, and he gulped as he saw Omega walking towards with gritty determination on her face. He already knew exactly how this was going to go.

--

Finding Fennec Shand hadn’t been very difficult, the hardest part now was getting her help without giving too much away.

“So, what kind of information can I help you with?” She asked, relaxing into the booth but she saw the wary look the two clones shared with each other. “See, the way this works is you tell me what intel or target you’re after, and I give you a price. So stop wasting my time.”

“We hear the Empire has a bounty out for M-count targets.” Hunter replied tentatively.

Fennec adjusted her posture. “Why do you wanna know about that? You trying to find your girl?” She looked at the helmeted clone who visibly tensed at her words. She sipped her drink. “She’s been quite the busy Jedi, nice price on her head too.”

“The why is our business.” Hunter said stiffly.

Fennec let the evasion slide and shrugged as she lounged back once more. “I haven’t done one of those jobs myself, but… I might know someone who has.”

“Can you put us in touch with them?” Hunter requested.

“Now that will definitely cost you.”

“How much?”

“More than you’ve got. But we might be able to work something out.” She took another gulp of her drink. “I’ve read your files from before.” She addressed the bigger clone, “You’re good with demolitions and ordnance, right?”

“Ha! ‘Good’? I’m the best.” Wrecker boasted proudly.

“And you’re the tracker.” Fennec said to the other one.

“What’s your point?” Hunter questioned warily.

“There’s a bounty I’ve been trying to bring in. Worth a lot. But he’s been hard to catch without a crew.”

“Oh, so you want us to work with you?” Wrecker sussed out.

“No. You’ll be working for me.” Fennec corrected. “You follow through, I’ll get you what you want to know.”

Hunter barely debated the situation in his head. Getting the information was all that mattered. “Deal.”

Fennec nodded and grabbed her stuff. “We’ll use my ship. And so we’re clear… I keep the payment on the bounty. All of it.”

--

Omega sat next to Crosshair whilst you crouched by Batcher’s side, absentmindedly petting the hound as AZ finished scanning Crosshair’s hand.

“How does your hand feel now?” AZ inquired.

“The same.” Crosshair grunted dejectedly as he massaged it with his good hand.

“Unfortunately, it may never heal 100%.”

“There’s nothing else you can do?” Omega appealed.

“I have exhausted all the medical treatment options. Perhaps the issue is not something physical.” AZ theorised.

“You think it’s in my head?” Crosshair hissed angrily.

“If you were to elaborate more on the experimentation you were subjected to, I could determine the cause.”

“Forget it.” Crosshair snapped as he shoved past the droid.

You jumped to your feet attempted to catch his arm, but he shrugged you off.

“Crosshair?” Omega called out to him as he left but he didn’t look back.

“If he won’t talk about it, I’m not sure how else we can help him.” You pondered anxiously.

“I have another idea.” Omega said. “But you need to be there too.”

--

“We’re working for her now? We don’t even trust her.” Wrecker whispered as he and Hunter stood in the back of Fennec’s ship. It wasn’t like Hunter to not think through the dangers of taking a job like this on.

“What choice do we have? We need that information. Just be ready for anything.” As soon as Hunter said that the door slid open, and Fennec appeared.

“We made a deal. I’m going to keep it as long as you hold up your end.” Fennec reminded the clones.

“Wanna tell us who it is we’re going after?” Hunter asked.

Fennec brought out the puck and activated the image. “Sylar Saris. ‘The Slayer od Ordo Eris’. One of the slipperiest marks around. Got a tip on his location.”

“Well, what did he do?” Wrecker asked.

“Hmm. Got greedy. Took out a couple top bosses for the Haxion Brood and escaped with a cache of credits. Powerful people want him found. The other hunters that went after him? Never came back.” She waited half a second before continuing, “Sylar knows the planet like the back of his claw. But eventually, everyone’s luck runs out.” Fennec turned off the puck as she finished the brief and retreated to the pilot seat.

--

You watched the line of fruit on the rock ahead as Crosshair raised his rifle, but his hand was still trembling, so his shot skimmed the top of the fruit he had been aiming for. You had thought a degree of normalcy was what he needed but now it was time for both you and Omega to push him- even a little bit. “That was close.” You said encouragingly.

“Close doesn’t count. It’s either a hit or miss.” Crosshair replied sharply.

“You’re still more capable than most.” Omega said with a soothing touch of his arm.

Crosshair only sighed and sat with his back against the rock. “That’s not good enough for a sniper.”

You and Omega both hopped up on the rock.

“Have you ever considered that AZ might be right?” You proposed slowly, your voice kind and gentle. You knew how hard accepting help with something like this could be and it couldn’t be rushed into.

“Whatever they did to you on Tantiss could’ve affected you more than you realise.” Omega backed up the suggestion in a similar tone.

“No. No, no. It’s not in my head.” Crosshair disagreed.

“Just because there’s nothing AZ can do, doesn’t mean your hand can’t get better.” Omega said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you’re the one who has to fix it.”

Crosshair considered it. “How?”

“I’m glad you asked.”

Crosshair glanced over at you to see a familiar scheming smile on your face but there was a kindness to your eyes that told him you weren’t messing around with this. “I’m not gonna like it, am I?”

You and Omega shared a smile, “You don’t like anything.” You two said in unison as you left the rock.

“True.” Crosshair conceded with a sigh as he got to his feet.

--

The light was all but gone and between the toxic swamp air, the mines in the river, and the gators that attacked them, it had already been a trying journey and things weren’t getting much better since Hunter couldn’t get a proper read on the current anymore.

“Well, tracker? Which direction?” Fennec asked as she slowly steered the hired boat.

“The currents are too calm to tell.” Hunter admitted reluctantly.

“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you guys aren’t cut out for this job.” She said irritably.

“Oh. You think you could do better without us?” Wrecker challenged.

“I wouldn’t be doing any worse.”

“Well, (Y/N) got the best of you and even Omega managed to get away.”

“Apparently, they both got away from you too.” She watched as that clearly hit a mark with both of them. “So what happened? I know what your girl’s been up to, tracker, but what went down for her to get to that? And how’d you lose the kid?”

“What’s it to you?” Hunter deflected coldly as he pulled out his macro’s and searched ahead for any sign of Sylar’s safehouse.

“Just seems odd. You’re both willing to work for me, considering our past. That information must really be important to you.”

Hunter said nothing. He feared that anything he would say would give something more away.

“And just so you know, I didn’t lose Omega. I let her go when the bounty was called off.” Fennec informed them.

“By who?” Hunter asked, turning to look at her.

“The client. They thought Omega would be safer with you guys. Guess they were wrong about that.” She glanced between them both. “And your Jedi wasn’t worth the trouble since there wasn’t a set bounty on her at the time. Though, if I saw her again, with the price on her head that might change.” Fennec couldn’t help but goad. She scoffed as she saw the helmeted glare from the tracker.

“I guess you’ll work for anybody as long as you get paid.” Wrecker said with a hint of disgust.

“Good guys, bad guys. Their money is all the same.” Fennec said breezily.

“Well, money’s not everything.” Hunter said.

“That’s cause you don’t have any.”

Hunter couldn’t respond to that because there was nothing to argue against. He simply brought his binoculars back and scanned the water. “Someone came through here. Veer starboard up ahead.”

--

‘Slippery mark’ had been right. They’d been able to find his hideout but actually subduing Sylar had proven a far more difficult feat than anticipated.

In the end, it had taken a team effort from the three of them to knock out the insectoid and even then, it had taken four stun blasts to successfully managed it.

Wrecker released a breathless groan as he stepped over the target. “You were right to bring us along.”

“I’m always right. Grab him and let’s go.” Fennec instructed.

--

“If this is a Jedi technique, how is this going to help me?” Crosshair asked dubiously as he saw you and Omega sit cross-legged with your hands on your knees on a rock facing out to the sea, the orange sunset giving the water a warm purple hue.

“One, it’s not solely a Jedi technique because, as you can see, Omega does it.” You pointed out.

“But-”

“Two, I’m also out of practice so we can both learn together. Come and sit down.” You encouraged, patting the space between you and Omega.

Crosshair reluctantly mirrored both your positions. “So, this technique…”

“Mediation.” Omega reminded him. “It’ll help you heal. Not just your hand, but your mind too.”

“I doubt that.” Crosshair tried to follow the example of you two, but he couldn’t quiet his mind and his hand had started to shake again. He inhaled sharply as he felt Omega take a hold of it and turn it so that his palm was facing up.

You closed your own eyes and spoke calmly. “You need to breathe. Take slow, deep breaths and find your centre. Focus on yourself and what you’re feeling and accept it. Let it pass through you and don’t run away from it.” You guided him as you followed your own advice and found yourself becoming one with the living Force around you.

“And don’t compare yourself to her. It works slightly differently.” Omega told him.

Crosshair glanced at you from the corner of his eye to already see that you were completely at peace, and it looked like nothing could ever bring you out of it. “Where did you learn this? Did she teach you?” He asked Omega.

Omega kept her eyes shut as she replied, “No, she hadn’t done it until after I picked it up from my friend Gungi, and the other Wookies on Kashyyyk. But she helped me with it thereafter. I think she needed that moment again too.”

“You’ve been to Kashyyyk?”

“Uh huh.” Omega took another deep inhale and exhale. “You’ve missed a lot.”

“I know.” Crosshair realised.

“Now, close your eyes and focus.” Omega repeated.

Crosshair did as you both suggested and let go.

--

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Fennec said as the clone departed her ship.

“Hang on.” Hunter turned on his heels. “You promised us information.”

“I didn’t say I had it on me, but I’ll get it. Ater I deliver Sylar to my client.”

“That’s not what we agreed on.” Hunter growled.

“You can either fight me or trust me. Take your pick.”

Hunter shared a look with Wrecker but decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

“Good choice.” Fennec before she stepped into her ship and brought the ramp up.

Hunter and Wrecker could only watch her ship leave the station hangar. Having to trust the word of a bounty hunter was not the ideal situation they wanted to be or leave in.

--

Fennec put through the transmission and addressed the hologram.“I just finished a job with some clones. They were asking about the Empire’s M-count bounties. What can you tell me?” She digested the muffled chatter that came in response. “I’m sure you can find them easily enough. I’ll send you what I have.”

--

“(Y/N)? (Y/N), we’ve finished.” Omega shook your shoulder. “Come back.”

You jolted back to the current moment. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. Just wanted to tell you that Wrecker and Hunter are back.” Omega said as she stood back up. “How was it this time?” She asked you.

You exhaled deeply. “Better but I could still feel my focus drifting more than it used to.” Plus, no matter how often you trained in it, you had never gotten to see your master again and you were beginning to think it had been a one-time deal. If what you needed to talk to him again was to reach a certain level of emotional turmoil, you wouldn’t want to get to that place again. “How was it for you?”

“It was good.” She replied cheerily before she set off to meet up with Hunter and Wrecker, Batcher close at her heels.

“How’d it go?” You asked Crosshair as you got to your feet.

“Eh, I still don’t get it.” Crosshair grunted in reply.

You smiled understandingly at him. “It gets easier.”

“I know, I’ll keep trying.” He took a step in the direction Omega had gone but your voice stopped him.

“I’m not talking about the meditation.” You said softly as you grabbed his shoulder to turn him to face you. “I’m talking about dealing with whatever it was that happened to you.”

Crosshair cast his eyes to the ground. “I can’t tal-”

“Believe me, I understand how hard it can be to recount experiences like that, so I don’t expect you to, not any time soon. The second you wanted to; I would be there but that’s not what I’m saying right now.” You reassured him.

Crosshair regarded you carefully. “Then- then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that whatever you’re feeling, whatever memories in your head that are so fresh it feels like they’ll haunt you forever, it’s okay to feel them. And, while they may never go away entirely, it does get easier.” You looked at him with warm sincerity. “Just don’t bury them because that’s when they’ll eat you alive.”

Crosshair’s eyes widened slightly at your words as he recognised the place you were coming from, and he was grateful for them.

“Or not dealing with them can lead to reckless and damaging decisions that get your face slapped on every Imperial noticeboard across the Outer Rim. Take your pick.” You joked to lighten the mood again.

Crosshair managed a smile at that.

You patted his shoulder. “I meant what I said though, it gets better. We’re all here for you.” You started to walk away to see Hunter and Wrecker to find out what information they got from Fennec.

“Omega mentioned a Jedi communication thing you do?” Crosshair said to your back.

“Yeah, I do it with all of them.” You called back over your shoulder.

“All?”

“Uh huh.” You said casually before you stopped in your tracks as you realised what he was getting at. You swivelled around again, “Oh! Yeah! I can do that to you whenever you want!”

“But you haven’t.” Crosshair countered as he walked over to you.

You shrugged. “You said you needed time to adjust, and I didn’t want to freak you out.” You replied simply. “I wasn’t conspiring to keep it from you, I just didn’t want to assume anything.”

“If you still don’t trust me, I-”

You rolled your eyes. “Would you shut up; I just said it was because I thought you needed more time. Do you want me to do it with you too?”

Crosshair shifted on his feet. He didn’t like the position he suddenly found himself in, it felt rather pathetic.

“It’s a simple yes or no, come on, we have places to be.”

“I’m sure Hunter can last ten minutes without your mouth attached to his.”

“Okay, see now you’re just pissing me off.” You tossed your hands in the air and went to turn away.

“Yes.” Crosshair grumbled. He’d already missed out on so much and he didn’t want this to be yet another thing.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?” You drolled. “Give me your hands.”

“Why?” Crosshair asked suspiciously.

“Because I’m actually in love with you.” You jibed flatly as you shot him a look of exasperation.

Crosshair rolled his eyes at you. “Gross.”

“Sometimes it helps when it’s a first connection, especially when I haven’t been around someone for quite a while.”  You explained. You held yours out and waited expectantly.

Crosshair hesitantly complied- both hands steady this time- and watched you intriguingly.

“Fair warning, it can feel a bit weird.” You took a deep breath and closed your eyes. You reached into his Force signature, and it was what you expected. It was barbed and you could feel a resistance- a wall- to it. But there was also vulnerability, a longing for growth and acceptance, that wanted to let you in and that was what you appealed to. When you felt that the connection was there, you opened your eyes and looked at him. Now, can we go see your brothers please?

“Okay, that’s really fucking weird.” Crosshair said as you let go of his hands.

Hey, you asked. You grinned at him before the two of you officially set off to go meet the ship.

--

One week later

“Any word?” Omega asked as she and Crosshair stepped into the Marauder. They’d been mediating by the Maya tree and decided to come check in. The news that Fennec didn’t have any immediate information to offer had been disappointing and each day that went by without any communication only let that disappointment grow.

“Nothing.” Wrecker groused.

“Fennec never told us how long she’d take.” Hunter admitted before he noticed you weren’t with them. “Where’s-”

“Don’t know. We thought she was with you.” Crosshair said as he placed a toothpick in his mouth.

“You’ve not seen her all day?” Hunter double-checked. He’d seen you when you’d woken up but then you’d left, and he and Wrecker had been on the ship for most of the day.

“No, we haven’t. Batcher must be with her too.” Omega guessed since the hound hadn’t been with them and wasn’t anywhere on the ship.

Hunter mulled this over in his head. This isolation you were now putting yourself in since you’d heard the news about Fennec’s lack of information was beginning to become a real habit.

“Three seconds. That’s all it took for you to decide to go find her.” Crosshair teased, earning a snicker from Wrecker in the process.

“Shut up.” Hunter mumbled as he left the ship.

--

You had been aimlessly wandering the shoreline, occasionally chucking a stick Batcher had found for her to chase.

The Empire,

Omega,

M-count,

Jedi,

Clones,

The Empire,

Omega,

M-count,

Jedi,

Clones…

You ran that list over and over again in your head but couldn’t see the connection. The Jedi were dead and hated by the Empire- what could they need that M-count for? Omega wasn’t Force sensitive and neither were any other clones but that was Hemlock’s main test subject choice. So, what was it about an M-count in clone genetics that mattered so much? What were you overlooking? A demanding bark pulled you out your thoughts and you saw Batcher had dropped the stick at your feet and was waiting expectantly.

“Tell me, Batcher, what am I missing?” You crouched down and held the sides of her face in your palms and smiled at the hound. “Tell me, girl!” You laughed as she let out an affectionate whine and licked your cheek.

“You know, it might help to share your theories with someone who can actually talk back?”

“Uh oh, the tracker found me.” You said as you scratched her jaw before you glanced past her with an affectionate look to the clone walking towards you. “And how’d do you know she doesn’t?” You disputed light-heartedly as you stood up taller.

“You’re right, I don’t.” Hunter played into the joke as he reached you before he turned more serious. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“Nothing.” You said dismissively.

Hunter just stared at you with a knowing look on his face. “Don’t do that, don’t shut me out. You’re not keeping to yourself for no reason.”

You remembered your own advice to Crosshair and swallowed tightly. “It’s right in front of my face, Hunter. I should know why this M-count matters for Omega but it’s not clicking and it’s driving me insane!” You rubbed a hand across your tired face. “I don’t know what I’m not seeing.” You confessed as you hung your head with a defeated breath.

Hunter placed his hands on your upper arms and brought his eyes to your level. “If it were obvious, we’d know it already.” He said as he rubbed his thumbs comfortingly up and down your arms. “You don’t need to keep working through this alone.”

“I just feel so useless. I should be able to figure this out!” You said with a frustrated huff.

“I know, it’s hard to just wait it out, but Fennec will come through. Until then, we just have to be patient.” Hunter said as he put his arm around your waist as the two of you and Batcher headed back to rendezvous with the others. “Jedi are meant to be good at that, right?”

“Would it shock you to know that I struggled with that?” You remarked satirically as you mirrored his actions.

Hunter chuckled. “Not in the slightest.”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @notgonnaedit, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @nightmonkeysstuff @superbookishhufflepuff

[sthnearlyheadless]

To be alone

The Hyde is looking for Wednesday Addams, everyone knows this. But you're not scared of this. Nor of her. Pairings: Wednesday Addams x fem!reader

You see, i intent to make this a series and is going to be +18, i guess, but for this one the warnings are gonna be mentions of blood and fights. That's all i guess. also: i did not proofread, y'all!!! I'm sorry if you find any mistakes

You always were an observer. Always. It was a curse and a blessing.

You were born with this quiet trait and people often took it as if you were spacing out or were just disconnected with everyone else all the time. To be honest, most of the time you felt disconnected with everyone else, yes, but you were always aware of everything. You just chose to not get involved with things that weren’t of your concern.

But when you saw her, you could not help it. There were something more than magic and attractive about the new raven student girl of Nevermore Academy.

Wednesday Addams. The one and only.

You could never be sure what made you - and let’s be honest - half of the school so magnetized by the small girl. The same mysterious and gorgeous amount of energy that Wednesday carried with her made you and the other fascinated, the other half of the school were just afraid of the strong but small girl.

Not only because of her personallity, but because of the monster that was seeking for her.

The Hyde.

You were scared for her, but not of her. Never of her.

But you never ever expected that she would notice you.

You, who show up little and speak even less.

But that was what happened. Completely out of nowhere she showed up by your side, taking you by surprise and filched a little. Just like she expected, of course.

“Don’t you sleep?” she asked. You were sat by the lake, looking at the white reflection of the Moon on the water. The only sound present was the wind that occasionally made you shiver a little, the weather was the way you liked. But now, Wednesday’s voice was present as well and her figure also made you shiver a bit, for different reasons.

“Yes”, you answered looking up to her. She was looking straight ahead not at you. You look at the lake again, like she was doing. “You?”

“It’s late. You shouldn’t be here by yourself” she pointed out, still not looking at you. It wasn’t the fact that she didn’t answers your question, was the statement itself, like she was concerned about you somehow. That thought made you frown a little and look back at her. “You know there is a monster out there, attacking people”.

“Do you even know me?” you scoff, Wednesday looked at for the first time. O as far as you know, it’s the first time, because just like you, Wednesday is an observer. A pro one. Like a hawk and am owl, nothing can escape from her and that was what you were feeling right now looking back at your reflection on her black irises. Like a pray.

“Your Y/N Y/L/N, a very brilliant shapeshifter for your age… or so the teachers say” she stated. “Your also Enid’s so I inevitably heard about you, even if that wasn’t my willing”.

“Sorry to hear that Enid tortured you” you smiled without showing your teeth.

Wednesday looked you, I mean, really watched you. She was watching how your hair was softly dancing with the wind accompanied by the moonlight. She loved the feeling of solitude, but to be alone with you right now almost felt as good.

“It wasn’t torture, I usually enjoy pain. But hear her bubbling is not the good kind. It’s worse than anything”.

“So the big Addams does have a weak point. This is a real surprise”.

“Tell anyone and that will be the last thing you’ll ever say” she fiercely said. You raised your hands in defense, smiling at her. Once again Wednesday felt a weird feeling on her guts, seeing you smile. Why couldn’t she figure it out this? You?

“I guess you’re right” you said standing up. Patting your clothes to clean them. “I should go back to my dorm. It’s getting late.”

Wednesday nod one time.

“Why are you here, Wednesday?”

“I was just passing by”

“And suddenly came to the exactly place that I was. The other side of the Ophelia Hall, almost at the florets. It’s very far”

“I couldn’t sleep, was just wondering”

You squinted your eyes.

“You? Just wondering?” you scoffed, crossing your arms around your chest. “You don’t seem to be the person who even breath without thinking about. All your movements have a reason why”.

“You almost talk like you know me” Wednesday slightly lifted her perfect eyebrow. It was almost unnoticeable.

“I’ve been watching you. You caught my attention, that doesn’t happen often”.

“I could always said the same to you” she retorted.

As you were about to reply and ask one more time what Wednesday was really doing there, both of you clearly heard a noise. A loud one, coming from the bushes that were near you two.

You instantly took a step forward Wednesday. People didn’t know about your body muscles because you always wore big clothes, they were comfier, but boy you were strong. You always were exercising when you were not studying and this is about everything you do in your life.

“Stand back” you advised her. Wednesday send you a dirty look, you couldn’t see because you were looking at the bushes that were moving a little now, and that wasn’t because of the wind that was blowing.

“Don’t you ever tell me what to do”

“I’m just trying to protect you” you explained, talking low and approaching to the bushes. You looked at Wednesday. “Can you please leave now?”

“And let you here by yourself? We don’t even know what’s in there”

“It could be the Hyde, we both know it” you said. “That’s why you came here outside, wasn’t it? You’re crazy to find who is it, aren’t you?”

You were very smart, Wednesday had to admit. Quick to solve puzzles. But she would not tell what she thinks to you or out loud, of course. You just seemed to be more and more interesting to her.

“If it’s it you can’t beat it by yourself, Y/N. The Hyde is looking for me”

“I’m stronger than I look” you gave her a half smile. “Now go back inside, Wednesday”.

“I’d love to see you try make me do something I don’t want to” the raven girl challenged.

Dammit, you thought as you sighed. She wasn’t going to back up, she was too stubborn to do that.

“Fine” you said at last. “But if it’s really what you’re looking for you won’t stay here. You’re going to the school and call for the teachers, Weems, the police or whoever the hell for help, OK? I’ll try to stop this thing but you won’t stay here”.

Wednesday was analyzing you for a second. Studying your features and almost seeing through you like a dead frog in a biology class that amazed her.

“Why do you care do much?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt” you explained. “We have a deal?” Y/N urged.

“Yes”

“OK. Good” you nod your head. You both were a bit serious now, tense as you quietly walked towards the bushes. A growl could be heard. The bushes were moving more erratically and out of nowhere, something jumps out if the bushes, aiming to attack Wednesday, but Y/N is faster and catches the thing in the air. Wednesday was petrified for a split second, but it wasn’t her fault. Everything happened in a blink of an eye.

She watched as the Hyde and Y/N were on the grass, rolling from one side to the other as Y/N was struggling to hold the enormous creature. But somehow during the fight, Y/N could shift her form to a wolf, a big wolf, almost as big as the Hyde. She was strong, this Wednesday could admit out loud. Even more because she was defending her for some reason the short girl couldn’t understand.

“Go. Find. Weems!” Y/N growled. Her voice wasn’t her voice, was the wolf’s voice. A anger bark. But Wednesday was getting back to Earth quickly, pulling herself together as the Hyde looked at her with its horrid eyes.

The Hyde attacked Y/N when she was trying to get Wednesday’s attention to get out of that place and she was the one who lowed her guard and was with that was hit pretty hard in the head. The wolf’s body flew away with a shriek of pain.

“Y/N!” Wednesday wailed.

The thing’s distorted face cracked a smile looking at Wednesday, the girl shifted her gaze between Y/N’s body and the monster who attacked her. The wolf’s head was bleeding now.

You see, Wednesday was a stoic person and would never demonstrate with her facial expression or body language what she was feeling, her face was always grave and serious and all. But she was feeling a lot right now.

She was concerned with Y/N, she knew she was never able to get to the school without the Hyde get her before she could even think about it. And she was dying to know who it was and why this monster was haunting her and hurting other people. Well, in on way or another she would actually know at least one thing finally. Even if it was the dying part.

She had to think.

Fast.

The Hyde growled and huffed its big nostrils and was starting to walk walk rapidly towards Wednesday. Only to be stopped on his track by you. You was hurt, but you managed to get in front of Wednesday, like a wall. The small girl’s breath was erratic like yours.

“Why don’t you fight with you height, asshole?” you grunted.

Angered, the Hyde attacked one more time, but this time you could block its attack. And having her senses back to her, Wednesday thought of a way to get him away from you. She spotted an old rake that was laying around near the garden cleaners and ran to get it. When she took it, she glanced at the both of you and saw the Hyde on top of you while you were both fight. She didn’t think much of it. She ran toward you two again.

“Leave her alone!” she screamed as she stuck the rake into the side of his stomach, piercing the skin. That was enough to make it whimper and get off of you. You were panting as you watched the monster hold its belly as it was walking away. The Hyde was with his wide eyes looking at Wednesday, scared and surprised at the same time.

You smiled weakly. Stupid beast, it should know better than underestimate the small raven girl. Wednesday’s impassive face was looking on the monster’s eyes without blink, a silence dare to it get back, but the Hyde was too pathetic to try. Not now that it was so hurt, at least.

The monster got back to the florets.

Y/N’s whimper made Wednesday look back at her, she kneeled down by the girl side.

“You are an idiot” Wednesday said looking at her. “You could have killed yourself”.

“I know”

“Why did you do it?”

Y/N was going to answer if the blood on her mouth wasn’t making her cough and the pain on her whole body wasn’t starting to get a little too much for her to be conscious.

“Don’t say anything. I’ll get help. I don’t want you dying here like you did something when I was the one who actually saved you”.

“Yeah…” you smiled a bit, your face was getting back to normal. You were so tired that you couldn’t even open your eyes. “You’re the hero, Wednesday, you can have the credits. I won’t say anything. Maybe you’ll get a medal”.

“Can’t you pass out already?” Wednesday taunted and heard a laughed from you before you actually pass out.

She was worried in reality, but she had to make sure you were OK. The Hyde wasn’t important now, she rushed to get help for you.

[whoopssteddiefeels]

Birds of a Feather

In which Robin tries to buy weed for Steve, and finds more than she bargained for in one Eddie Munson.

Robin was hovering by the tree line outside the school, trying to work up the courage to buy some weed. Her internal monologue was amped up with anxiety, spinning around in a way that had her muttering out loud to herself.  "Come on Buckley, you fought Russian soldiers, a high school drug dealer should not be a problem."

Starcourt had happened fast though, and never felt like a choice. This was deliberate and felt much more real somehow. Fighting a Russian conspiracy under the mall that involved people with superpowers? Insane. Buying weed off Eddie "The Freak" Munson? Plausible. Illegal. Suspension or expulsion potential.

But then she thought of Steve. Mostly healed, but still sensitive to light with occasional crippling headaches. His refusal to see a doctor (How am I going to answer when they ask exactly how I was injured, Rob?). The way the dark circles under his eyes never really left, the permanent exhaustion that let her know he definitely wasn't sleeping. Weed was supposed to be good for sleep, right? And maybe Eddie had something for pain too. She wouldn't be able to afford that, but Steve might, so long as it didn't have any dissociative components. No need to trigger truth serum flashbacks. Ugh, she was going to have to ask questions, and give reasons, because she didn't know exactly what she was doing, or what she wanted. This was going to be unbelievably uncomfortable.

She clutched the strap of her backpack and began stomping through the woods towards the infamous picnic table, fall leaves crunching underfoot. It came into view through the trees quickly, the "woods" by the school being more of a small cluster of trees no one had bothered to cut down than anything approaching an intentional wooded area. The sky overhead was a slate grey, but it was still very light out, leaving the whole scene appearing two-dimensional for lack of shadows.

A metal lunchbox sat ominously on what appeared to be an abandoned, slowly rotting picnic bench. Telltale signs of teenage delinquency were littered around, beer cans, cigarette butts, broken glass and bits of paper. The picnic table wasn't abandoned though, as she stomped closer, she noticed the long legs sprawled parallel to the far bench, straddling it. One ringed hand was dangling in a similar position, just off the ground, and a small tell-tale plume of smoke was rising from where she assumed his head was laid on the bench. "You sound like a damn elephant, you know that?" a voice drawled, but Eddie lost none of his relaxed posture. At least, not until she spoke.

"You're not exactly Mr. Twinkle-toes yourself, I'm shocked the lunch tables don't break under your feet."

The boy slowly sat up with the faint jingle of chains, eyebrows scrunched in confusion, leaves clinging to the bottom of his curls where they had brushed the ground. She was clearly not who he had expected. He pulled the cigarette that had been dangling from his lips away with two fingers and simultaneously flicked the ashes off the end and exhaled another cloud of smoke.

Why wasn't he saying anything?

"I uh... I mean... when you do your whole, rant thing, y'know? With the..." Robin gesticulated wildly, trying to encompass Eddie's usual theatricality. Smooth, Buckley. She dropped her hands back to her bag’s shoulder strap, wringing it nervously. "I uh... heard you sell. Drugs, I mean. Is that weird to say?"

The confused brow wrinkle was quickly replaced with a soft smile and a chuckle, a very different look from the manic grin she had seen in the cafeteria. To be fair, she was usually trying to not make eye contact with anyone drawing attention to themselves like that. "Not weird to say, since it's true. What can I do for you...?" he paused and gestured at her with the hand still holding the cigarette, clearly inviting an introduction.

"Robin... Buckley. I, uh, play trumpet?" she mimed her instrument of choice, then winced and tried not to kick herself for that idiotic move.

Eddie just continued to smile softly at her, large eyes a little too wide, shoulders a little hunched in on himself. "Eddie Munson." he offered "I play guitar," and he mimed a tiny air guitar solo.

"Right. So...." she clambered onto the bench opposite Eddie, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the smell of smoke that wafted up from the still lit cigarette in his hand and off his hair and clothes. She wasn't successful, obviously, if him putting it out a second later was any indication. Then again, it could just be a coincidence since his next move was to the drag the lunchbox between them.

"So." he agreed, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on top. So far this was not what she had expected. Munson always seemed... loud, off kilter. Manic to the point of being a little scary. She supposed those descriptions might also apply to her, but where she tried to control it, he always seemed to lean in. Embraced being weird in a way she might envy if it didn't give her severe secondhand embarrassment to witness. Here, he seemed quiet and relaxed. Soft, with big eyes and a small smile contrasting with the angry zombie on his t-shirt under the denim and leather. There was something familiar in his mannerisms. Something she couldn't quite place.

"Here's the thing, and I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I’m not lying, it's not actually for me. Like really, it's not. I feel like I might be unbearable high, actually, like- anyway. Yeah, so this friend of mine has had... well, multiple knocks to the head.  And the trauma is... not... all physical? Like we worked together at Starcourt, and the fire was... something. So, I guess what I'm asking is what would you take for light sensitivity, and also intense headaches, but also inability to sleep because of nightmares and ALSO isn't dissociative because... yeah. Just nothing dissociative."

Eddie blinked at her, face unchanged other than slightly wider eyes and slight furrow between his eyebrows. He seemed to be waiting for her to take a breath before responding, so she did. "That's a lot of “alsos.”"

"Yeah."

He sighed, but then leaned back and popped open the lip of the lunchbox in an obviously practiced motion. Eyes darting back and forth, biting his lower lip lightly in what she hoped was thought.

"Not to talk myself out of a sale here, but it honestly sounds like he needs a doctor. Possibly several."

"Yeah, I've told him that, but he refuses to go and I'm tired of watching him be in pain and tell me it's fine," she threw air quotes up around the last word. Steve's martyr complex was something else, honestly.

"Well as long as you give your boyfriend that disclaimer..." Eddie was rooting around in the lunchbox, but his eyes flicked up to her face and his slight frown morphed into a wide grin that lit up his whole face at her expression. "Okay, not boyfriend?"

She probably should be more subtle, but Robin couldn't help the disgusted face she was making. Why did everyone assume she and Steve were dating? It was gross. "Emphatically not."

Eddie's eyes darted up and down a few times, running over her face and outfit, rapidly. He seemed suddenly nervous, and she had a terrible sinking feeling in her gut that he was about to ask her out. She was trying to work out the nicest complete refusal that would still let her purchase some weed when he went back to staring into the lunchbox, one hand tapping a rhythm on the table while the other extracted a plastic bag with plant matter in it. He seemed to come to a decision, and she braced, when he said "Hey, I wouldn't be able to resist Harrington in that sailor outfit."

She was gaping. She should definitely close her mouth. It did not need to be open for her to do the rapid mental math. There were rumors that Munson was gay, but there were also rumors he kept repeating his senior year on purpose to find vulnerable freshmen to sacrifice to Satan. She had barely been sure that he actually dealt, people said so many wild things.

Also how did he know she was talking about Steve? Though… in retrospect the two of them were pretty inseparable these days. He drove her to school daily, and she had mentioned she worked with the person in question. Ok maybe it was obvious she had been talking about Steve.

Eddie was looking up at her through his bangs, clearly nervous, and she suddenly thought of the bathroom floor and a prolonged silence on the other side of the wall. "Hang on, I'm just judging your taste in outfits, not men. We both looked ridiculous. Absolutely embarrassing."

"You say that like it wasn't part of the attraction." The wide grin had returned, though he quickly hid it behind a lock of hair pulled across his face. Cute. Why had she thought he was scary?

She scrunched her nose up at him anyway. "Gross. That's gross. Men are gross."

"Yeah, I got that opinion from your boots." He waved the small plastic bag at her. "Anyway, sounds like his majesty has a lot going on, but he can certainly start with weed. His old friend Tommy used to buy off me, so I know he's smoked before. Should at least help with sleep and doesn't really have any side effects so it shouldn't fuck up his head any more than it already is."

"How much?" she asked, down to business, rummaging in her backpack for cash.

"For you? $10, but that's the Friends of Dorothy discount. If Harrington asks, it's $20."            

"That's an insane upsell."

"Beggars can't be choosers, and I’m really the only game in town. Plus, that's not including the jock hazard rate, since if he's friends with you and those freshmen in my club, he can't be that bad."

"He's a dingus, but he's kind of my dingus at this point."

Eddie blinked once, exchanging the bag for her cash. "He definitely knows you're not dating, right?"

"Steve? Oh, he knows about me. There was a whole-" she paused, trying to figure out what part of that story was actually relatable according to the novel-length NDA, and came up blank, "...thing. Platonic with a capital P."

He gave her a little half smile. "Maybe Dustin is less naive than I thought then. He practically waxes poetic about the dude. He’s his hero." Eddie clasped his hands together, her cash between them, fluttering his eyelids dramatically at the sky. There was the Eddie she was more familiar with.

Shoving the baggie into her backpack, she moved to get up. "That kid is too smart for his own good most of the time. And... also a little naive. Just not about Steve."

He nodded, agreeing easily, and then looked like he’d suddenly remembered something important. "Remind me to introduce you to Tiffany sometime, by the way."

She immediately tripped over the bench, catching herself before she went sprawling, but had to scoop her backpack and its new illegal contents off the ground. Had he waited for her to be off balance on purpose? She slowly backed away, doing a fair impression of a goldfish. That was... out of left field. Tiffany? Did she know a Tiffany? Did he? "That's.... yeah. Definitely. Sure. Yes. How do you know... I mean I've never seen any girls in your club."

"She's not in Hellfire, but she's around. Birds of a feather, Buckley." He winked cheekily, performative grin back in place.

"Sure, sure. Makes sense." It did not make sense. If Eddie was implying what she thought he was, there were in fact other lesbians at Hawkins High, and he knew them just because he was also gay. Of course there were other lesbians, statistically there would be, but how did he know? How. Why. Was there some sort of memo, and why hadn't she gotten one?

"If you need anything else, or I guess if King Steve wants to call on the local jester, you know where to find me." He saluted and flopped back onto the bench, like she had never been there.

Eddie Munson. She wasn't sure how she felt about that interaction, retreating through the woods, but it wasn’t bad. It was nice, actually. Something in her chest glowed warmly with the knowledge that she wasn't the only queer person she knew anymore. She'd have to take better notice of him this year, it was his third senior year, he could probably use all the friends he could get. Plus, she might be able to spot this “Tiffany.”

She jogged down the hill to the waiting BMW, trying to decide what exactly, if anything, to tell Steve.

[greazyfloz]

Hiii, can I request a 1,2 and 4 angst with quinn please! Xxx

ANGST: 1.“I told you to leave. Why are you still here?”, 2. “Whatever, I’m leaving” “Don’t call me!”, & 4. “What are we?” “I can’t keep living this way” w/ Quinn Hughes

Can't Do This

Quinn and I were never officially dating, but we acted like it. We both gave off serious vibes that we were into each other, well, until tonight. I was friends with Jack growing up and somehow at the beginning of summer Quinn and I got involved with each other. Jack was fine with it because he said he always had a feeling I had a crush on Quinn.

We were secretive about what was going on and it started to make feel bad about myself. He continued dming and liking girls pictures on instagram and I just had enough of it all.

We were all out by the pool with a couple of the boys friends, it was labour day weekend so a bunch of their friends were able to come to the lake house. I had my feet dipped in the pool as I sat beside Faith, Trevor's new girlfriend as all the boys were playing water volleyball. Quinn's phone buzzed and he looked over at me.

"Can you see if that's Josh?" Quinn says as we were awaiting for Josh's arrival.

"Sure" I say standing up and making my way over to the lounger where he placed his phone. I flip over his phone and instead see a DM on instagram from someone named Camille. I get nosey and unlock his phone.

_quinnhughes: Hey!

randomigmodel: Hey!

_quinnhughes: you in Van?

randomigmodel: Yes I am ☺️

_quinnhughes: let me take you out when I get back

randomigmodel: I'd have to think about that...

_quinnhughes: trust me, you'll have a good night;)

randomigmodel: Oh that's what you really want

randomigmodel: I'm down for that 😏

randomigmodel: Let me know when ur back 😏

"What he say?" Quinn says and I look over at him trying hard not to show the anger raging inside of me but instead of my face deceiving me, my mouth does.

"It was Camille. She says she's down to fuck just let her know where and when" I say putting his phone back down before leaving everyone in the backyard and making my way into the kitchen.

I sit in the kitchen for a second before the door slides open again. Faith walks in and shuts the door behind her. "Hey- Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she asks me. I didn't even realize I was crying until she said that.

"I'm fine" I say quickly rubbing the tears away, "I don't know why I keep coming back here every weekend"

"Is it Quinn?" she asks me coming around the island where I was standing and wrapping her arm around me. "He is just in that phase" she says trying to comfort me.

"Well, when is he going to leave it?!" I say slightly aggressive and Faith steps back, "I'm sorry Faith. It's just so frustrating"

"It's okay, it sucks I understand-" she starts but the door sliding open and closed grabs both our attention, "I'll leave you two". She says leaving me with Quinn in the kitchen.

"What sucks?" Quinn asks coming closer to me, "Are you crying?"

"No Quinn" I say turning away from him but he walks around me

"Yes, you are"

"Quinn seriously, you are the last person I want to talk to or even look at right now!" I say before leaving the kitchen and making my way to the spare bedroom I was occupying for the weekend.

Quinn follows and slides in front of the door before I can open it. "What is that suppose to mean?" he asks me.

"Quinn, I'm so fucking confused okay?!"

"Why?!" Quinn yells back, his tone finally matching mine before the front door opens. I roll my eyes at the amount of times people entering rooms have interrupted me tonight.

"Hey" Josh says grabbing Quinn's attention allowing me to step around him and into the room. I quickly fix my makeup and put my hair up into a messy ponytail as the party was starting up soon, before calming myself down enough to go back out.

I didn't end up going back out with everyone until about an hour later, I made my way over to Trevor, Faith and Jack. I smile at them pretending nothing was wrong.

"Are you okay?" Jack leans in

"I'm fine" I say smiling at him doing a good job acting as if nothing was wrong.

"I don't believe you" Jack says, "Did the DM bother you?"

"No" I say back and he gives me a look that says 'yeah right', "Seriously, I'm fine"

"Then why is Quinn way over there, and you are way over here?"

"Trouble in paradise?" Trevor chimes in earning an elbow from Faith.

"Why do I have to initiate everything, Quinn isn't coming over here?" I say defending myself, "Where is the cooler?" I say looking around and Jack points across the pool deck beside Quinn.

They all watch as I make my way over and open the cooler beside Quinn, grabbing his attention as I look through the cooler for the drink I am looking for.

"What are you looking for?" Quinn asks and I ignore him, "White Claw?"

"No" I finally answer him as I pick a random drink and stand up facing him, "Sorry, I'm just exhausted from the sun" I lie as I feel Jack watching from the other side of the pool.

"It's okay" Quinn smiles as Josh comes over

"Hey!" he says bringing me in for a hug

I begin chatting to Josh as more and more people come and join the conversation. As the night goes on, I get tired of acting like I'm not upset about everything and sneak off to the small beach at the edge of the lot.

I begin throwing rocks into the lake until I feel arms wrap around my waist turning me around to face him. I look up to see Quinn leaning in to kiss me but I turn my face.

"What?" Quinn says looking offended

"What are we Quinn?" I ask him stepping back. I wait for his response but all I get from him is the visual of him scratching the back of his head as if he his thinking about it. I roll my eyes and start walking towards the house.

"Y/n, wait. Is this about what you read earlier?" he asks me and I stop dead in my tracks before turning back to look at him. I try to think of what to say but I blank. I turn back around and continue making my way to the house."Would you stop?" Quinn says as we enter the house. I ignore him entering my room.

"Quinn, I can't keep living this way" I finally say to him.

"What way?"

"Are you fucking stupid?" I ask him, "Do you not see how much these girls you DM and talk about hurt me?" I continue and Quinn just shakes his head. "Get out Quinn!" I say turning to my suitcase and throwing stuff in it.

"What are you doing?" Quinn says watching me pack

"I told you to leave. Why are you still here?”

no response just blank stare

"Whatever, I'm leaving!" I say brushing past him grabbing my car keys on the nightstand and opening the door, "Don't call me!" I say slamming the door behind me.

[soulofapatrick]

Changes - Joel Miller x reader

Summary: Y/N joins Joel and Tess to deliver Ellie but you go into shock at an event somewhere between Boston and Lincoln 

Words: 2.3k

Warnings: character death; naked together but nothing sexual; mostly fluff

Y/N’s POV

Watching the way Joel tends to Tess' wounds makes me nauseous. A sick feeling deep in my stomach that you would get with a partner cheating, but that's just it. Joel isn't my partner and as much as I hate to I have always seen Tess as motherly figure in my life. 

They picked me up when they found out I was a smuggler because to them I was way too young for it be safe. I'm 26 but that's young in their eyes apparently as I barely remember the world before the outbreak. I was five and had my older brother looking out for me. 

Now we're sat in an abandoned house with carry cargo in the form of a sassy 14 year old girl called Ellie. She's currently passed out on one of the mattresses and honestly it's not a bad idea, especially the way Tess is giving Joel those stupid fucking heart eyes.

The mattresses are old but not bad, still very comfortable and in this house still clean somehow. Newly weds or family starters much have like just moved in just before the outbreak started because the place is immaculate. It's as if this house has been frozen in time and holds so many memories of the past with boxes of unpacked possessions. I'll never get over wearing other peoples clothes, wearing clothes of those less fortunate than you. I mean they definitely could be seen as more fortunate that they're not living in this crazy world. 

I don't realise I'm crying until there's shuffling and I'm surrounded by the safe and familiar scent of burnt coffee, musk and wood. Joel. He's gently manhandles me until my head is using his arm as pillow and his other is wrapped around my waist. We're laying on our left sides and I think my heart soars at that. He feels safe enough with me to sleep with his deafer ear up. 

Tess is on watch. Oh. He feels safe to do it with her guarding him. 

Joel huffs behind me, pulling me closer until my back hits his chest and he's pulling the blanket over us. He doesn't speak, he doesn't have to when his chapped lips ghost over the back of my neck and his cold nose bumps my hairline. He's telling me he's here and that I'm safe.  I'm safe with him but I want more; I want to feel love and compassion with him. 

"Sleep," His voice is low, trying not to wake Ellie, "I'm right here."

-----------

It must have worked because I'm being woken by firm hands shaking me. Bleary eyed I stumble to my feet and pack up my shit so we can carry on with getting Ellie to the fireflies and all that crap. Somethings off with Tess, both Ellie and I can sense it as we make our way towards Lincoln to find Joel and Tess' friends. They can apparently help us.

"Shit, Tess?" The words leave my mouth a few miles later when I notice the fatal marks on her neck when she turns back to look at Joel and Ellie who are bickering. She whips around, eyes dark and anger written all over her face as she hisses an almost inaudible 'shut the fuck up'. I just raise my hands in defeat because I'm not getting involved unless she goes to bite any of us later. I love Tess but she's stubborn and I know the risks of not telling Joel but I can't tell him now. He looks as happy as he's ever been since they found me, bickering with Ellie. 

It starts happening around four hours later: she begins twitching and it starts with her hands which she hurriedly shoves in her pockets. I keep next to her so Ellie and Joel are back and away from her, not wanting them to be harmed when she does finally jump which will happen. There is no cure so it's inevitable but she has at least an hour or so more. Or so I thought. 

"Are we almost there yeeeettttttt," Ellie's begun dragging her feet as we begin to see the signs for Lincoln and Joel just points at the sign with a sigh. I barely hear them because Tess has begun that warning twitch and there's a gurgling sound leaving her lips. 

"TESS NO!" I ram my side into Ellie so she tumbles into Joel who in turn stumbles, trying to balance them both as Tess moves. She's fast and the force of her weight on mine causes me to fall, hitting the rough concrete with painful force. I throw an arm up, holding it across her neck as she tries to bite me anywhere she can.  

"Please," The word is strangled as she seems to try and fight the virus, her eyes full of pain and tears. It makes me want to cry. There's a lump in my throat as I plunge my knife upwards, straight into her heart and my vision blurs as I twist it, watching the light fade from those sorrowful but barely human eyes above me. 

I have to squeeze my eyes shut as Tess' body is yanked off me, not wanting to move as her blood pools over my hand that is gripping the knife so tightly I'm losing the feelings in it. As much as Tess made me jealous, I loved her like a daughter loves their mother. She was the mother I never got to have and I… 

"Y/N," Strong and safe hands are prying the knife from my now shaking ones, "It's okay." Joel's voice is rough as he pulls me into a hug. My hands seek something, anything to hold and I'm clenching his jacket in my hands as the dam breaks. Ellie scrambles over, but Joel stops her getting too close as I sob into shoulder, the sobs becoming gasps as I feel the panic and reality of what just happened hits me. 

"I can't-" I'm gasping for air as panic takes over, "I can't breathe-" 

Ellie's got fear written all over her face as Joel moves so  he can grab my face in his calloused hands. His hazel eyes search mine before he's surging forwards. Rough lips moving against mine and all I can smell is Joel. My eyes flutter shut, moving into the kiss before he pulls away. 

"You kissed me…" I whisper, scared to speak any louder. 

"Yeah uhhh," He clears his throat, " I once read that holding your breath can stop a panic attack so when I well… kissed you, you held your breath." He clears his throat again, standing up. 

Without another word from him, Ellie is scrambling over and they're pulling me to my feet and guiding me forwards. I try to turn to look back at Tess but Joel puts his broad frame in the way and Ellie grabs my hand. The thought of her makes my bottom lip wobble but I don't cry again. I can't cry again. 

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

The walk to Joel’s friends’ house blurs by as all I can focus on is putting one shaky leg in front of the other while Ellie and Joel have a steady grip on each arm, guiding me in the direction. I barely process the buzz of an electric gate opening and closing or the new voices joining Joel’s. We go inside and I’m sat on a chair as people flit around me, the only constant being Ellie’s gentle fingers running through my messy hair as she stands next to me. I relax into it, letting my eyes fall shut and resting my head against her body, trying to focus and ground myself. 

I’ll get myself killed if I stay like this. I’m in shock, I’m aware enough to know that but every muscle in my body is acting like it’s seized up and my mind… all I can see and feel is Tess’ life draining from her body and the uncomfortable weight of her on top of me as the knife slid further and further… I lurch forwards, dry heaving and Ellie’s still got a hold on me. She’s pulling me back up and rubbing a hand in soothing circles on my back as Joel’s voice blurs into the background like radio static. 

There’s more movement then Ellie’s guiding me to my feet, through the house and to a bathroom where a bath is running. It could be a bath running or sound of my own heart rushing through my ears, I’m not sure anymore. I’m struggling to work with Ellie as she helps peel the blood soaked clothes off me, wanting to do it myself because she doesn’t need to see this or me naked but I can barely walk let alone get undressed. 

The bath stings when I step in but it’s a beautiful kind of burn. I sink into the water, ignoring the painful burning on my back from scraping it on the pavement earlier. I let my eyes slide shut again, resting my forehead on my knees that are pulled up to my chest and just focusing on the pain. I need to snap out of this. It’s dangerous. I’ve thought that before. 

“Darlin?” That familiarly gruff voice breaks through the fog and I turn my head to face the bathroom door, cracking one eye open to see Joel standing there instead of Ellie. He looks somewhat awkward as he moves to place a towel and some clean clothes on the toilet seat lid, ready for me after but I don’t move, “You okay?” 

He’s suddenly next to me, kneeling beside the tub and leaning over me to grab the body wash and wash cloth I didn’t notice were left out. The body wash smells of vanilla and times before the world fell apart, bringing back memories I didn’t realise I had. Memories of my younger brother and Malachai playing in the garden; of sharing a childish kiss with Jesse and the way my older brother would let me climb into his bed with him when I was scared. It makes my eyes burn but then again that might be from Joel gently cleaning the scrapes and open cuts on my back, I’m not really sure of much. Joel’s talking but he could be speaking Spanish for all I can make out but the sound of his voice is soothing so I just go back to resting my head on my knees and closing my eyes. 

He moves onto wiping the soft cloth down my arms then he taps my knee lightly. There’s concern in his hazel eyes, silently asking if it’s okay. I nod, uncurling myself and laying back, my aching muscles screaming at me because the heat is blissful. Joel’s loving hands cleaning me is even more blissful though, feeling the unspoken words through his every action. Sighing at the way his fingers expertly massage the sweet scent of strawberry shampoo and conditioner into my hair before he delicately rinses it out so not a single drop gets into my eyes. It almost makes me cry because I haven’t felt this much love since… well, since I had to kill my older brother. 

“Come on doll,” Joel guides me to my feet and out of the bath, the wash cloth’s softness being overshadowed by the towel that is currently being used to dry me. It’s like a blanket on the wettest and most miserable day you could imagine. The feather light kisses following every area dried adds to the bliss and love that has begun enveloping me. I’m malleable in Joel’s calloused hands as he dresses me then pulls me into a hug. 

Something in me snaps and suddenly I realise the gravity of what’s happened. I killed Tess and Joel just bathed me, not a single thing sexual about his actions. I killed Tess and we’re in Joel’s friends house. I killed Tess and Joel is now drying my hair with the hairdryer by the sink like it’s nothing. 

It doesn’t take long for my hair to be dry and Joel’s wrapping his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder and meeting my gaze in the mirror. I just stare at us, my hands resting over his as I finally look at myself. My strawberry blonde hair has darkened to a coppery colour since the last time I got to really see myself and my green eyes are sunken into bags; my freckles are overcast by the scars. I remember why I try not to look at my reflection, so I never have to see the scars that mar my face because they’re so prominent and remind me of what happened. The main one stretches from just below my right eye to the left corner of my lip. The others aren’t as noticeable due to the size and length of this one but they’re scattered all over my body and I-

“Beautiful,” Joel breathes before placing a chaste kiss to my jawline. He shifts and the mood changes to a more somber one as he asks softly, “Are you ready to meet Bill and Frank?” 

I nod, turning to look up at him. He’s not that much taller than me, about 6 inches but it’s enough to feel small in his presence. It means I have to tilt my head further back to press a risky kiss to his lips before nudging him to lead the way. He freezes for a second, gaze softening before he’s clearing his throat and captures my hand in his to guide me through the house both feeling the sense of change between us. 

[abiiors]

Do Me A Favour

yes, like the arctic monkeys song.

warnings: angst, just sadness. at least there's only 900 words of it.

White knuckles gripping the steering wheel, that’s his most vivid memory—something that he will always associate with today. White knuckles and the sound of a car door slamming shut. 

And the anger in her voice as she tells him to fuck off…

Two hours before as he sits outside thei—her house, eyes red-rimmed yet bone dry, he wonders how everything came to this. How did he suddenly wake up one day in a cold hotel room all alone?

The car door opens viciously, her scent fills his lungs once again and what would have once driven him crazy, nauseates him even further. 

‘Speak,’ she mutters as soon as she enters the car. Her tone is clipped and short, frigid enough to rival the arctic. 

He looks over her features; the same sparkling eyes, now filled with so much indifference; the same full lips, now pressed in a straight line. ‘Why are you so angry at me?’ It’s soft, whispered, almost as if it slipped out without him realising it. But she hears it regardless.

‘Why am I—for fucks sake, Matty, are you hearing yourself right now?’ she scoffs, then takes a deep breath. The meaning is clear to him. He’s not worthy of her anger, of evoking any emotions in her. 

‘Do me—do yourself a favour, Matty. Sign the papers, don’t make this harder than it has to be.’ She brings a hand up to her face to rub her eyes as if that would somehow make the exhaustion go away. And his heart stutters in his chest. 

The ring that once sat on her finger is gone. The ring that he used to caress and kiss lovingly, the ring that he put on her finger on the happiest day of his life, has simply been discarded. The only thing that’s left behind is a ghostly pale band the colour of death. 

‘You really want that?’ he asks stupidly. Of course, she wants that, his brain tells him, she wouldn’t get the lawyers involved if she didn’t. ‘You really want…’

‘What? For us to be over?’ she rolls her eyes and laughs mirthlessly, ‘we have been over. For a long, long time.’ The irony doesn't escape him that even in the middle of a fight, they still finish each other's sentences.

‘Don’t say that, darling…’ The nickname slips out—muscle memory, a habit that won’t die so soon, maybe ever. She doesn’t even register it, so used to him calling her that all the time. It’s some solace to him that she doesn’t. 

‘I understand you’re angry with me, I do,’ he tries to placate her, holds his hands up in surrender and then an idea strikes. It’s insane but he’s willing to give it a try at least. Willing to do just about anything at this point. ‘Punch me if it makes you feel better,’ he grabs her hands, coaxing them into fists, ‘hit me, break my nose, beat me black and blue yeah? I know you’re angry, I know–I accept every single thing you’re mad at me for—’

‘Mad at you?’ she seethes and wrenches her hand away so forcefully that she almost hits her elbow against the door. ‘Matty, this is not some stupid fight! I’m telling you it’s over and there’s no coming back from it,’ her voice rises higher but he refuses to take the bait. 

‘I know it’s not some silly fight–fuck, believe me, I know it’s not,’ he yells louder than her, and then in a softer tone, ‘but…but I know we can save this, I know we can—’

‘Stop!’ She holds up a hand as if that would physically stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Tears threaten to spill over as water gathers at her lower lashline. ‘You are still the exact same person, you know that? Taking me and my emotions for granted, you think if I hit you it will make all the hurt and pain go away? Or do you just want me to do something that would make me just as bad as you, huh? Worse still.’ 

There’s venom in her voice that he has never heard before. Words, rotten and foul that spill from her mouth. The same mouth, the same person who used to tell him how loved he was, how precious. 

‘I’m glad we never had children,’ she spits at him. ‘Although I don’t doubt “absent father” is a badge that would bother you. Being an absent husband clearly fucking didn’t.’

He flinches, unable to come up with a coherent answer. Heart cracking open and ready to bleed all over his car. 

A shadow of uncertainty crosses over her features for the briefest of seconds, almost concern, almost regret. But it’s swallowed whole by steely resolve. 

She furiously wipes at her eyes and places a hand on the door handle. ‘Don’t contact me again,’ her voice is firm, ‘my lawyer’s contact information is in the email.’ 

‘Wait—’

‘Goodbye, Matty.’

The door opens and thuds shut before he even registers it. The sound echoes with finality around the car, the final nail in the coffin before this marriage breaks down and withers away forever. 

He watches and waits till she’s back inside, waiting to see if she will turn around and wave goodbye, even if it’s forced; or give him a smile, even if it’s fake. But she simply slams the front door shut. 

His hand hovers mid-air, a half-formed wave, a pathetic goodbye.   

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 34 of Harrow the Ninth

I sat on this for a while, because I was trying to work out exactly what was going on. Then I wound up getting my Sims 2 back into a playable state and inadvertently spent a lot of time playing the Sims 2 haha

Anyway

Is this just because BOE is in a constant state of fighting against the Nine Houses and thus all their stuff is a bit battle-scarred, or was this shuttle in particular involved in a fight recently?

So Palamedes will become an animated skeletal arm instead of a talking skull. I should have realized that this story puts too much effort into having accurate anatomy to have talking skulls with no attached lungs or vocal tract

Also, I guess Palamedes is either not attractive enough or not female enough to get a sexy arm-creation scene with Harrow

If Camilla would get in trouble with BOE if they found out Harrow was making animated skeletons possessed by the ghosts of dead necromancers for her, that means they probably don't know and didn't plan for her to meet up with Harrow on this planet. But she knew Harrow was going to be there, she was specifically looking for her in the exact right part of the planet and everything. Probably only Harrow would do - regular non-Lyctor necromancers (like for example, Judith) can't do necromancy on thalergenic planets or in space without a bunch of people dying to generate thanergy, and the other Lyctors have no particular reason to want to do Camilla a favor (most of them don't even know who she is). So, somehow Camilla found out that Harrow was going to be on this planet at this time without BOE finding that out (since I'm sure that BOE would probably have objected to Judith being within range of a Lyctor they don't trust) and convinced BOE to let them go to this planet (I'm guessing, since Camilla later says they are still with BOE, and therefore they didn't like, escape from BOE in this shuttle or something). Based on Judith's dialog about a BOE mole, that leads me to suspect that the mole is Mercy, who is the main person who would be able to engineer Harrow being on this planet by herself for this period of time, which makes some sense, since we know that Mercy has some secret that she is bribing Augustine to keep from John. But if that's the case, I'm not sure why Mercy would share information with Camilla and friends that wasn't shared with BOE proper, since as previously stated, Mercy has no particular reason to do Camilla a favor that I know of

This seems to be suggesting that the poster is of Gideon, but no one was making posters of Gideon, and also, I wouldn't describe her as "unsmiling" and "adamant". But if Commander Wake was Gideon's mom, it both makes sense that there would be a poster of her inside this BOE shuttle and also that her appearance would remind Harrow of Gideon strongly enough to cause this reaction

What dangerous information could per-Work Harrow have thought that Judith (or for that matter, Corona) would have that Camilla did not? Or was there more to the letter that Camilla received that asked her not to talk about certain things?

This is hilarious, I can just see them fighting over the pen here

Is this the rapier that Gideon brought with her to Canaan House, and then abandoned during the fight with Cytherea in favor of her two-hander? Ianthe obviously took Naberius's rapier for herself, but there were several other dead cavaliers whose rapiers were never mentioned again, and whose necromancers weren't around to collect them (Magnus, Jeannemary, Colum) that she could have taken from, and I think Colum's would have even been in the same room as her after he died, and based on the early scene in Gideon the Ninth where they were trying to find a decent rapier for her, those others would probably have been in better shape. I wonder why she took Gideon's

On this read-through, this makes me think that Camilla's letter probably did say something about not talking about certain subjects, and that she conveyed this information to Judith and Corona while Harrow was in the River

So, after the last chapter of Gideon the Ninth, but before the epilogue when Harrow was rescued by the Erebos, BOE arrived at Canaan House, rescued/captured all of the non-Lyctor survivors, including Judith who would have clearly been an enemy officer, and stole Gideon's body. Why? I guess since Judith used regular EM-frequency radio to contact the Erebos and tell them about what had happened, that could have been intercepted by BOE and maybe they thought there would be something useful there? I guess they could have already been in the system, given that Commander Wake probably went to Pluto and died there at some point in the not too distant past. I guess they probably know something about Lyctors, and also how to recognize Lyctors, if they left Harrow and Ianthe alone - Ianthe might have seemed too injured to still be alive, but I don't think Harrow was that injured at the end of the book? And also there's the thing where Commander Wake probably knew Gideon the First personally. I guess they might have just taken them all because they couldn't leave them alive to inform the Erebos about them, and they maybe aren't the sort of people to just kill people like that, but why take Gideon's body? Did they recognize her as Commander Wake's daughter?

John said before that he thought that Cytherea was working with BOE, which sounded like a conspiracy theory back then, but if Mercy is working with BOE and BOE turned up at Canaan House just after Cytherea died, that might actually be a sensible conclusion to draw. BOE probably does benefit from that, there could have been potentially eight new Lyctors as a result of the Lyctor trial, which would have tripled the number of extant Lyctors. Cytherea's main damage seemed to be about the nature of Lyctorhood and not stuff that BOE probably cares about, but I guess she could have been both working with BOE and also doing it for her own reasons

[noodles-n-soba]

A general's intuition

CW: Didn't proofread~, bad jokes, a lot of time skips

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Masterlist

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Your eyes had enjoyed the vast views of Sumeru city, marked up by greenery and complex architecture. Situated in the middle of nowhere, you wiped a drop of sweat off your forehead while sighing deeply. Why did you take on that commission that'd send you to your own personal hell again? Of course, curiosity killed the cat.. And this time you were in fact the cat, about to get demolished by heat. The desert had nothing to your liking, it was too hot, too empty, too misleading, and there were barely people to talk to.. You were not too much of a stranger to the idea of nobody talking to you, but to put it simple.. It did not help to get you further in your investigation..! Currently you were sitting under the shade of a palm tree, patiently awaiting the sun's department so you could continue wandering in the evening shade.. It was annoying, you constantly felt the need to fall asleep each time your mind decided it was time to rethink stuff.. Eyes automatically closing. Gosh, this heat was working on your nerves and body.. Irritating.

The last few days you had been sent out to the desert to do more and more commissions, only to arrive at the scene and find out everything was already dealt with. You still got paid fully even though you barely did anything, even protesting about the matter at hand to Katheryne, but she smiled while saying it was okay. You didn't know who managed to do all your tasks, but you wouldn't necessarily attack the person for stealing your duties.. If you could laze around a bit and get paid anyways.. You weren't lazy! That wasn't the case.. This mysterious person just caused your life to become a tad easier.

Before you knew it the heat had taken over your head, you dozing off while thinking about everything and nothing. Even though this person completed your commissions, your main goal was still unsolved.. And you weren't planning on asking anybody to help you, you had to be the first and last one to witness and undergo such a thing. You dreamt of black screens, nothing really more.. Sometimes there were thoughts that even appeared in your sleep, consciousness somehow returning while you were in your personal resting space.. A phenomenal experience, but you did nothing. This sounded like some weird spiritual Akademiya thing, in no way you wanted to get involved with those pigs.

Never interested in the Akademiya, not even reconsidering going there after being spotted by some dude who called himself a teacher on the Akademiya.. Your gut feeling always told you not to go there, and you weren't mistaken. You made the right choice to follow the path of Adventuring. You made friends along the way , learned all sorts of other things.. Cultures, fighting techniques.. Yes, how great. If you were signed in for the Akademiya you had probably been writing papers right now in a room with nothing. This way of living would give you an feeling of freedom, not an open window that would allow the wind to come through in your room. You slowly got woken up, sun burning straight into your face. You cringed as you sat up, stretching arms and legs. Had you really been sleeping so incredibly long..? You were supposed to leave when the sun touched the horizon.

"You seem lost and exhausted, am I by any chance correct..?" The voice seemed so calm, but it made sure your body flinched and flopped around as you tried standing up rapidly to face whoever was standing next to you. You tried reaching out for your weapon, only to realize it had been taken away. The moment you finally stood on two feet, fists ready for hand to hand combat..  You realized that the man standing in front of you didn't mean any harm while giving you a dry face expression. You awkwardly lowered your guard, looking at your weapon in his hands. "... I'm not lost, I'm exhausted. Can I have my weapon back.. I had to depart way earlier.. I'm in a hurry actually.." You notified, holding out your hand and expected to retrieve your weapon back in no time.. But he simply kept staring at your face, not budging whatsoever. ".. State your business." He then brought out, you squinted in irritation while stretching your arm even further to hint him that you were waiting for him to place YOUR weapon in YOUR hand.. ".. Say, Mr. Wanna know it all, how about you hand me over my iron and I'll leave. You got no business with me here, I don't have the entire day." Your hand grabbed the handle of your weapon and tried pulling it towards yourself, but he held on pretty tight. "Injustice must be punished, so now.. (Y/n), what are your true motives. I don't believe you are doing commissions." His set of scarlet red eyes caused you to shiver, directly staring into your damn soul for a second or two before you subconsciously let go of your weapon. ".. You are the one who has been finishing all my commissions aren't you..? Why are you doing all my work...!?" You snapped rudely, he remained as calm as he was before as he looked further into the desert behind you.. Sand, sand.. More sand. Yes. Still, he knew this place better than everyone.

"You're trying to get past something that has been locked up for a very long time, you might pose a threat to the people of Sumeru." You had enough of it, with an almost invisible to eye movement you snatched your weapon out of his hands and pointed your finger to him. "If you'd just ask me officer..! Because you know for sure that you are allowed to know everything..-!" "Cyno is the name." You immediately gulped, eyes wide open while you slowly started realizing who you were dealing with. THE Cyno, ex General Mahamatra.. Oh, yeah, you were messing with the wrong one. Not even a minute and you sat back on the ground completely defeated, looking over the oasis you were currently at while you sighed.

".. Since I don't have any choice or escape plan.." Quite reluctant you told the guy about you planning on searching abandoned Ruins that were originally closed off for the public, searching for merely one object which included a remote like mechanism.. Nothing more or less, simply that. The words sparked some interest in him, lowering his own polearm as he extended his arm out to you. ".. I'll help you. That way I can keep an eye out for you... If I see you having any ill intentions, I won't hesitate to make sure your hands will never feel the item you're looking for.. " Of course, an indication that he'd cut off your hands.. Eh.. It's not as if you were going to blow up the entirety of Teyvat to begin with.

Days had passed, underground tunnels that had been followed led to nothing but piles of empty boxes and stone slates which didn't spark your interest. How hard would it be to find a REMOTE. COME ONN..! You hated how spiders would crawl out of small places once you pushed a single vase, or how there were those stupid primal constructs which were activated once you walked past them.. You were a great fighter but if you had to be honest, you didn't even needed to do anything.. Since Cyno would take them down in one single strike.. Every single time you heard the well known robotic clicks, he'd already pull you back.. Standing in front of you and told you that you didn't need to do anything.

… You thought you had imagined it, your chest just used to reverb the harsh sounds of the mechanisms… But the moment you came across a few Treasure hoards, him pulling you close to him the moment they circled around you.. You realized that your heart was beating so hard-. Eyes wide open you were frozen, hearing him letting out an annoying 'tch' before he let go and tapped your shoulder. ".. Not exactly the right moment to freeze in place." He mumbled, you immediately broke out of your thought bubble and unsheathed your weapon on the spot.

How long would it take? Well, if you told the tale to someone else you wouldn’t even try going into details.. It took you too long to find it… But you did enjoy your time in Sumeru with Cyno. A couple of months later, you weren't actually actively trying to find your item, but basically climbing ranks in Sumeru's adventure system. Staring at the blue sky, enjoying the fact you could just casually float in a small pool in this hot desert temperature.. What a life. The fact you finished your commissions so quickly every day, no stress at all and you could just.. Chill around..! What a great day again.

"(Y/n), are you done." Nearly drowning in the water you tried sitting up straight, hair ruined and looking like a gremlin once your feet were on the bottom of the pool created by nature itself. "What is your problem…" You squinted, seeing Cyno standing there.. No, he was the one looking like a gremlin.. Jesus. A tiny gremlin who RUINED YOUR SUNBATHING MOMENT. He nudged for you to come over, irritated you swam towards him and climbed out of the pool. "Look, didn't you notice the sky changing color. Why does it think it is that powerful huh?" Confused you looked at the guy while drying yourself with a towel you had prepared. "What do you mean, it's a.. Shade of green.. That's odd though. But why is it powerful..?" Cyno stared you straight in the soul, face expression as blank as ever: "Since it's always looking down on us."

...

You threw your towel with mach 3 to his face as you put on your shirt, shaking your head in disappointed. "You understand? Because the sk-" "Cyno, please.- " He blinked a few times.. Sighing deeply as he picked up your weapon for you and waited till you were done before he handed it over. "Hey (Y/n), I got another one that you will definitely understand." You glared at him once more before you snatched your weapon out of his hands. "... I'm tired of your jokes.." You admitted and rubbed your forehead. He silently waited till you gave him consent, knowing you would eventually do.. and guess he was right. "Go ahead..  But it's the last one. I'm hungry and I wanna have dinner. Also, it's on me today.." You notified with a soft smile on your face, Cyno shook his head. "No. Not necessary. Anyways, I'm sure we'll settle this matter later. (Y/n), do you know why I want to reshuffle the alphabet?" You cringed as you held your weapon tightly in your hand.. Why were you standing still here.. Why weren't you walking back to the village yet? The sun was already setting, and him telling stupid jokes wasn't making it better. "Well, beats me. I don't know." With a small shrug of your shoulders you started walking, there was no reason staying here if you weren't in the cooling waters of an oasis. "It's all for the sake of putting U and I together.. Forever."

You nodded, not understanding his joke again.. But you just let it slide, he'd try to explain it anywa-

"Did you understand. I just said that because I'm in love with you, so I will put u.. Y-o-u but with u as in the letter.. And I.. Me, Cyno.. Together. Just as a coup-" Noticing how your eyes were wide open, pupils constricted and body completely frozen he slowly quit talking. ".. That one was pretty good." He placed an index finger under his chin, nodding afterwards to confirm his own comment. ".. You.. Are in love with me?" Your face turned a shade of red in an instant, covering it with your hands and looked off to the side. "Feelings are to be spoken off, don't you agree (Y/n). Though, I don’t mind if the feeling isn't mutual." You shook your head firmly and grinned.. "I don't think you've got to worry about that.. What about a dinner with a few candles..? And let's look at the stars at this evening.. Sumeru's sky is surely really pretty at night.." You couldn't stop smiling, continuing to hop over to the direction of the deserts village. ".. So, can I assume the feeling is mutual somewhere..?" Cyno's eyes lit up, catching up with you in a few seconds. "… Eh?" You blinked a few times, he sniffed disapproving. ".. You're being careless, I'm one step ahead.. So.. I can protect you."

[byuljoonie]

please give me a remedy. (m) knj. my.

Somehow there are a million people around us and you’re all I can see.

pairing: namjoon x reader x yoongi

genre: smut, angst, fluff, yearning?

pt: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

word count: 3k+

warnings: thickening plot. give it a chance bcs she’s being polished. slight aggression. slow build up for yearning yoongi. namjoon is a dork in love. slight angst. him or me? friends to lovers. no smut yet.

summary: 2 of your 7 best friends have a secret…

note: sorry about my love for lowercase letters.😅I started this story in 2020 while I was a senior in high school…great plot but the writing?? definite no. older me with more experience as a published author is here to take control. still deeply in love with joon after 9 years so let me yearn in peace. Please feel free to leave feedback, I love constructive criticism and listening to your opinions! word count will increase drastically by chapter 2! have a listen to the playlist in my bio while you read the story! enjoy!

I sat back on the leather couch in the practice room absorbed in the way he looks while dancing. His black hair sticks sparsely to his forehead and his brow is furrowed in concentration. He hits each move perfectly, feeling the music as the song approaches its climax. How could he possibly be this sexy right now? The thought sent my mind into a frenzy of unrealistic fantasies. I would never want to ruin our bond but I can’t help but wonder how his soft hands would feel against my sensitive skin. Namjoon is definitely just my best friend, nothing more…sadly.

We met during my junior year of university and bonded over our love for books and art. Philosophy being my major and his minor, we ended up in the same required logic course to graduate. Our first interaction involved a forgetful Namjoon leaving all of his writing utensils at home, sheepishly tapping my sweater-covered shoulder to borrow a pen.

I'm suddenly pulled out of my reverie when I hear Hoseok loudly complain about being hungry. I was so caught up in my mind that I didn’t notice the song finished. He falls back into a nearby chair with sweat dripping from his forehead, glistening in the yellow-tinted light.

"I'll go grab some food just tell me what you want boys," I said quickly standing up and pulling on Namjoons black hoodie.

"How about I go with you?" Yoongi suggested calmly.

"NO, I mean no I'll go with her since I'm the leader you guys just take a break," Namjoon nervously reassured everyone. I heard Jin and Jimin snicker at his quickness to accompany me. Yoongi shifted unfazed by the younger members’ interception. We’re almost inseparable at times but my smile widens as my heart still flutters for the skilled rapper. Feeling the same as I did when I first met him. I gave Yoongi a small smile but he turned away. I frowned confused by his sudden mood change before we could finish talking.

"Y/N I want chicken," Taehyung said, pulling on the sleeve of my- I mean Namjoons hoodie.

The other boys agreed so Joon and I set off to the nearest open restaurant, hoping to stumble upon a hole in the wall. We walked in comfortable silence the street lights illuminating his honey skin, casting a glow around us. I always felt so safe when I’m with him. I feel safe with all of the members of course, but there’s a special soft spot for Joonie. I guess you could say my slight infatuation has developed into a crush, but nothing more can happen between us. The more being a secret drunken kiss from this past new year celebration.

Thinking about the members causes Yoongi’s face to flash through my mind. He seemed kinda hurt earlier and I should have said something. I don’t want them to think I only care about Namjoon. I love and appreciate all of them, especially Yoongi and Hoseok. Yoongi was the last to warm up to me, but the first to spoil me. His kindness and gummy smile always melt my heart. I turned to Namjoon hoping to spark conversation and ignore my persistent thoughts.

"Namjoon what are you thinking about?" I asked catching him staring off into space.

“Nothing you have to worry about Y/N,” he said dimples making a special appearance as he smiled at me.

I felt a chill run down my spine and the wind blew my hair into my face. I noticed a line of people waiting outside of a restaurant; the bright, neon yellow sign lit up the block with the words "열두시 치킨 집" (12am chicken house).

"Let's go here Joon it's fairly close to the company," I suggested.

"Sure I don't mind pet,” he stated turning away from me, missing his words.

"What?" I questioned with burning cheeks.

"I said yes Y/N let's go before the line gets too long." He stuttered at his slip-up.

I felt my face getting warmer at the pet name. I've never been called that before, I think I like the way it rolls off his tongue. His voice was rough from rapping all night and his eyes glimmered in the moonlight. I felt like a buzzing ball of energy and hormones. I might as well exhibit how many butterflies frequently inhabit my tummy. I was once again snapped out of my redundant fantasy world when Namjoon appeared beside me with 2 bags of food and a soda.

"Come on Y/N it's getting colder and the boys are probably starving,” he said.

"That was fast, did you skip the whole line, Monie?” I asked while trying to keep up with his usual fast stride.

"Maybe,” he said flatly.

I was now laughing at his seriousness all of a sudden. I can’t handle how these men switch moods like they do wardrobe changes. It was so cold at this point I couldn't feel my hands. I shivered and rubbed my hands together, teeth audibly clattering. When we finally made it back to the building I called Taehyung to buzz us back in.

“FINALLY," Hoseok screamed at the top of his lungs startlingly.

The boys gathered around the table which had been placed in the middle of the coffee-colored floor while Joon and I had been gone. I absentmindedly bit into the chicken, dropping crumbs on my new hoodie.

“Y/N seems like hyung's hoodie is looking very comfortable on you,” Jimin said smirking with grease-covered lips. I noticed how he glanced at Jin and Jk, weird but I kept that to myself.

“Matter of fact it's mine now and there's nothing Joonie can do about it," I smirked at Namjoon who seems to be ready to attack.

I was about to stop him when he grabbed my arms and pulled me into him. I was staring into his eyes embarrassingly hard when all of a sudden he-

“AHHHH NAMJOON STOP STOP,” I screamed laughing furiously as his hands tickled my stomach and sides.

“Address me properly Y/N and I'll stop," Namjoon said laughing with the rest of the members.

I didn't want to give in to his sick game but I was almost out of breath. The boys laughed loudly in the background, still enjoying their food.

“FINE FINE NAMJOON SSI NOW STOP,” I screamed giving up on my stubbornness.

"Good girl,” he cooed as he stopped his almost unwanted assault.

I quickly gathered myself off of the floor missing the close contact already, but not forgetting to give the boys the finger in the process. My ears get warmer as Namjoons words echo through my mind.

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹ ╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

I start cleaning up the empty chicken boxes. Wiping off the table and pushing it back into a random corner. As I announced my departure Yoongi walked up to me quickly. Almost as if I would disappear in a split second if he didn't grab my arm. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin, but he must have felt them too because he swiftly released my arm. Rubbing the back of his neck slowly.

“Hey can you stop by my studio tomorrow to help me with something, I need a bit of inspiration?" Yoongi questioned.

“Hmmm, sure I'll be here at around 10 if that's okay," I said smiling softly. I gave him a hug and walked out the door before he can even respond. Was I being avoidant because of earlier or am I just tired? I choose to blame it on the array of confusing events and emotions that took place tonight.

“HEY! Y/N let me walk you home!" Namjoon grunted busting through the door.

I nodded and let him catch up to me; pushing my skirt down a little. Fuck. I should have talked to Yoongi, I blew him off just to let Namjoon swoop in and walk me home in light of my circumstances. Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about the situation but hopefully, things will be hashed out during our session later. My apartment wasn't very far from the big hit building so I already saw the convenience store that was placed next door to my place. The wind started blowing harder so we picked up the pace until we reached the door of my place.

"Maybe you should um text the boys to go home so they won't wait on you. Since it's really cold. Do you um want something to drink?" I stuttered out meekly.

“Sure Y/N." He said lowly.

I shivered at the tone of his voice. The way my own name crested my ears like a harmonious symphony, this man can seduce the devil. I walked to the fridge pulling out 2 beers. Trying to calm myself before I walked back. My palms started to sweat and I can hear my heartbeat increase with each step back.

“Here Monie," I said passing him his beer and sitting on the loveseat across from him. I popped mines open staring at the ceiling as I drank.

"Slow down babe you're gonna choke,” he playfully interjected with a grin.

"Make me," I said articulately throwing my pillow at him.

“Why are you sitting so far, there's a better seat right here." He said patting his lap.

My heart started racing again as I nearly choked on my beer. Did I hear him right?

"Ha... Namjoon quit joking around," I said producing a strained laugh.

"Who says I'm joking Y/N hm?" He questioned with his eyebrow quirked. I’m at his mercy and he knows it.

I squirmed in my seat for a second thinking of what made him so bold all of a sudden. I know I talk a big game but I’m already under his spell. He got up and walked towards me for what felt like a millisecond with those long, muscular legs. I was about to say something when a knock on the door interrupted me.

"Uh I-I'll get it," I said jumping up but not failing to nearly trip over my own feet. Very classy I thought to myself.

I open the door in surprise when I come face to face with 6 sleepy Bangtan members. They all shivered in the crisp air, their noses turning red.

"OH MY GOD GET IN HERE I THOUGHT YOU ALL WENT HOME!" I yelled while dragging them into my apartment. I locked the door and stared at them with a look of suspicion laced on my face. Taehyung looks very guilty as he shields himself behind a shorter Hoseok.

"Well, we missed you so much we wanted to have a sleepover with you and WE BROUGHT YOUR FAVORITE SNACKS!" Jungkook said lowly with Jimin chiming in to enthusiastically scream the rest.

"At this point, I'm accustomed to you guys showing up randomly, but a little warning would be nice next time," I said with a small smile, taking the snacks from Jimin.

"HOW COME NAMJOON HYUNG GETS TO STAY BEFORE WE DO!?" Taehyung yelled while running to jump on the couch.

"Because he walked me home and it was cold," I answered calmly. A breviloquent sigh slipped past my lips.

"I CALL DIBS ON WALKING Y/N HOME NEXT TIME!" Yoongi screamed chaotically.

"NO, I DO!" Seokjin said raising his voice.

The boys started arguing and I couldn't help but start laughing. I plopped down next to Namjoon almost sitting in his lap, seems like I missed my chance for that I thought. He must have noticed because he placed his hands on my hips to brace me onto the couch.

He stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity until Jimin brought us back to life with a piercing scream. My head snapped up only to see Taehyung picking Jimin up from the ground and shaking him.

"GUYS STOP IT BEFORE YOU BREAK SOMETHING, I will be walking myself home in the future if you don't relax," I admitted angrily.

Taehyung dropped Jimin to the floor with a thud and hung his head low. I stood up and asked Namjoon to come with me to get Blankets and pillows for the boys. Everything continued normally as Jungkook turned on the gaming console to begin his everlasting reign on Overwatch.

I walked down the hall and felt Namjoon's eyes burning holes into my back. We walked up to the closet and I grabbed a hearty amount of comforters and dropped them in front of me. I tried to reach for the pillows on the top shelf, but as I was struggling a strong pair of arms reached over my head and easily pulled me down the mountain of fluff.

"You know I can't help but find you so cute shorty." He said while smirking at my obviously warm face.

"I'm not short, I'm average height!" I said pouting with my arms crossed. He gently laughed and told me to pick up the pillows and go. I could listen to that sound all day.

When we walked back into the living room Yoongi was already asleep on the couch, Taehyung was playing a game with Jungkook, Hoseok, and Jimin emerged in watching the 2 other boys, and Jin was in the kitchen searching for God knows what.

"Here you guys go, I'm gonna head up to my room and inhale the snacks you brought me then sleep," I said while smiling.

“We think you should stay awake with us y/n, " Jin added from the kitchen.

"Let's play truth or dare," Jimin said with a sinister smile etched on his face. Oh no.

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

"Okay, truth or dare it is gentlemen. Let the game commence." I said with a light hesitant chuckle.

I sat next to Namjoon by habit. I felt his muscles tense when I sat close, but he relaxed when he felt my hand graze his thigh. The heat radiating from him warmed my skin in a way no has ever made me feel.

A couple of questions went by and it was Jimin's turn to ask. "Y/N truth or dare?" I thought about it for a second. "Truth,” I said rubbing my hands together nervously. "Ugh boring," he groaned. His eyebrows dipped in deep thought. Then he snapped, "I got it. Would you ever date Namjoon Hyung?"

My heart began to palpitate and I could feel the mist growing under my arms. All eyes were on me anticipating the answer to my question. "No, I don't think so. I mean we have a great friendship that I refuse to ruin. I’m not even his type." I mustered out as calmly as I could. The room was silent and the air grew dense around all of us. Namjoon looked visibly upset at Jimin. I shifted uncomfortably, silently begging God to take me right then and there. Why would I say that!? He thinks I’m an idiot I know he does.

"Well, who's next?" Taehyung asked. "ME!" Jungkook said breaking the silence quickly.

The questions continued for another hour before I decided to head to bed. The boys happily did any foolish dare that came to mind. Moments like these really help you cherish your friendships with those around you. A shattering pain erupts from my heart as I think about Namjoon’s mood shift during the rest of the game.

I rubbed my soar eyes before turning over and checking the time. 3 AM beamed in white on my alarm clock. The breeze from my opened window caused a shiver to course through me. I could hear faint voices and cars going along the road. I’ve always loved the sound of common nightlife. I assumed the boys were spread out wildly on my couch and floor. Even though the awkwardness cleared up, I still wanted to punch Jimin in the arm. My thoughts soon traveled to Namjoon and the mixture of surprise and frustration in his eyes when he stared at Jimin intensely. I wanted to know what was going on in his mind and why he seemed so serious earlier. The tricks my mind torture me with started to drive me crazy; I really need to talk to him and finally see if he feels what I feel. This empty yearning feeling can only be filled by my person. He is my person.

I tiptoed to the living room ever so quietly. I was greeted with the interesting sight of the boys wrapped in giant fluffy, white blankets. All of them looked so peaceful as their snores bounced off the walls of the room. I looked for Namjoon and he rested peacefully on the couch. His arms crossed over his broad chest, his lips parted slightly. He looked so beautiful I didn't want to wake him. I stepped over Taehyungs foot to sneak around to the front of the couch. I whispered Namjoon’s name quietly and he let out a half-hearted grumble.

"Joonie wake up, we need to talk please," I whispered one more time before he slowly peeled his almond-shaped eyes open.

"Y/N...what's wrong? Did I do some-"

I placed my manicured finger over my lips in order to hush him. He got quiet and stared at me calmly.

"Come with me," I said grabbing his big hand.

Just the feeling of his fingers entwined with mines made me quiver a little. The blanket slipped from his body as he got up, revealing that he was wearing only short, grey joggers that didn't do much to disguise his bulge. His skin was glowing as he stared at me with dreamlike eyes and his muscles looked so intoxicating that I almost passed out right there. If anything, it made me pull him up the stairs and into my bedroom expeditiously. I closed the door and sat him on the bed. He was staring at me as I stood by the door like a madwoman.

"Y/N why'd you bring me in here? Is everything alright? If this is about earl-"

Before he could finish his sentence I crossed the small space between us and kissed him. I felt him hesitate before he relaxed into the feeling. I perched myself on his lap finally breathing in his scent. He deepened the kiss and started to caress my back.

He lightly grabbed the back of my neck and pulled us apart. "I thought you didn't like me as much as I like you...but I guess you have other plans hmm?" He asked me with a smirk on his face.

"Shut the fuck up and kiss me please," I begged and pushed him so his back was resting on the bed. My knees were placed on either side of his hips, I grinned down at him and then continued my attack on his swollen lips. Not how I ideally imagined our first, non-intoxicated, kiss would be but still worth every second.

I smiled as the cool air graced my face. Legs sprawled out in an entangled mess. Soft shocks circulated through my body as Namjoon gently rubbed my thigh. The buzz of forgotten TV resonates in the back, but now only a mere thought. Cars pass by, honking at whatever they have going on. “A million,” he said. “A million?” I questioned confused at the aimless outburst. He sat up legs crossed pulling me closer away from the opposite side of my bed. “Let’s say there are a million people outside right now. In their own world doing whatever life has destined for them. They go to work, cook, and clean just like we do. Shit, some may even have servants and have never worked a day in their life, but they’re here right now. Just like we are. Somehow there are a million people around us and you’re all I can see y/n.”

｡ₓ ू ₒ☆ * ✲୧( ○ ╹╹ ○ )୨✲ * ☆ ₒ ु ₓ｡

12 pm, I slowly stirred in bed as the sun pierced through my window abruptly breaking my sleep. I felt around for the warm presence of a certain black-haired man but was met with an empty space. I heard a loud yell come from the kitchen and I knew the boys were awake and chatting away. I carefully threw my legs to the side of the bed to quietly get down. I crept to the kitchen entrance trying not to make a sound. I listened to them talk and make bets over if Joon and I fought. I covered my mouth trying not to laugh. Still, in a daze because of this morning's events, I didn't notice Namjoon sneak up behind me.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiled and his dimples appeared on his cheeks. I couldn't help but smile at the sight. He looked so handsome and disheveled in this natural morning state. I delicately covered his face in feather-like kisses before pulling him into another passionate kiss, which he gladly reciprocated. His hands rested on my hips and I wrapped my arms around his masculine shoulders. I felt him smile into the kiss; I giggled on his lips, the lips that said the most erotic things just a few hours before we made it to this point. Suddenly we heard a camera click and the boys screamed exposing the two of us, all giddy and shy in the hallway.

"I KNEW IT, YOU FUCKERS OWE ME 5 THOUSAND WON!" Jimin screamed and threw up a fist of victory in the air.

You all erupted in laughter but what you didn't notice was Yoongi grimacing in the corner.

[canirove]

Professor Rice | Chapter 10

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

Veronica’s POV

I had never been the kind of friend who neglected everyone else when she got a boyfriend, but my current situation kind of made me do it this time.

However, a couple of hours after the match, Jo and I were on our way to meet Maddie and some other friends at a small party, and I was looking forward to spending some time with them.

When I said hi to Maddison, I noticed she looked sad.

“You ok, Maddie?” I asked, worried. I hadn’t been spending as much time with her as usual. What if something major had happened and I missed it?

“Yes, I guess. Just sad that one of my best friends feels like she can’t trust me. When were you going to tell me about it, Nica? At the wedding?”

I felt like I could faint right here right now. “What?” I whispered. “What do you mean?”

“I just found out who your real boyfriend is, Veronica. Everyone has and... I just don’t get why you felt like you couldn’t trust me with that information. I wasn’t going to tell anybody to profit from it, you know?”

“Everyone...everyone knows?” But how?

I was about to crumble, but thankfully Jo got there quickly enough to save the day.

“Maddie, it’s not what it looks like, ok? The press likes to make a big deal out of the most innocent picture, but nothing is going on between them.”

The press? Does the press know about Declan and me?

Before I could mess up, Jo showed me an article from the Daily Mail. My hands were shaking but I still managed to read the headline: “Mason Mount cosying up with mystery redhead after guiding Chelsea to a 5th consecutive win”.

So, some photographer (or maybe a fan?) had taken a picture of Mason hugging me and decided to make up some story about us... as if I didn’t have enough drama in my life at the moment. Now people think I’m dating a footballer.

I noticed everyone watching me and I just wanted to disappear. Jo could see how overwhelmed I felt so she took my hand to guide me outside of the house, where we called a taxi to take us back home.

How did I get myself in this mess?

Declan’s POV

“Um... Dec? I think there is something you need to see.”

“What is it?” I said looking up from my laptop.

“Well, you know, um... people think I’m dating your girlfriend.”

“What?”

I walked to the sofa and sat down next to him to read the article on his phone. Great, this is just great.

“But, how?” I asked. “How did this happen? They can’t just make up a story because of one photo. What if that was your sister?”

“Well, that’d be gross” Mason grimaced. “But you know how this works. And actually, we can use it to our advantage.”

If looks could kill, my best friend would be dead right now. “How can we use this to our advantage, Mason? People think you are dating my girlfriend. There are probably fan pages about you two already even though no one knows her name.”

Mason got up and paced around the room for a minute before he turned to me again. “Look, I don’t talk about my personal life with the media, so nobody is going to be surprised to see I don’t confirm or deny the rumours. But while it’s there, no one is going to see anything weird in your relationship with Veronica. If anything, you two being a little too close would make sense. You are my best friend after all.”

I didn’t want his theory to actually have merit, but it might have some.

“But…” I started. “The only times I get to hang out with her in public are because of you, Mase. If I take her to a match now, there will be dozens of cameras looking for her. And I can tell you she won’t want to be involved in any of this.”

“Ahhhhh” Mason said, covering his face with his hands. “Why does this have to be so complicated all of a sudden?”

“All of a sudden?” I joked. “Yeah, the whole thing has been pretty stress-free for me so far. And,” I used this as an excuse to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while “you don’t even talk about your dating life with me anymore. How’s that going?”

Somehow, that simple question made him uncomfortable. “Nothing is going on” he sighed. “I don’t have time for dating anyways.”

“Yeah, you’re busy but there is always time for romance, Mase. Besides, if you got a girlfriend, you’d leave me alone every once in a while” I said laughing, but he didn’t laugh back at my joke.

“It’s just…” he started. “Nothing, forget it. Let’s concentrate on your problem. We’ll find a solution for it, Dec. Don’t worry about it.”

I hope he is right.

[joy-of-life88]

Lace & Leather [a Damian Priest story] 1 First

When I was told that the boss wanted to see me, I immediately had a bad feeling in my stomach. I would not be aware that I had done anything wrong, but my intuition told me that it could not mean anything good.

With heavy, hesitant steps, I approached the door to Mr. McMahon's makeshift office. I took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. When I heard him ask me to come in, I would have liked to run away.

"Ah! Miss Fay, good to see you. Have a seat, please." he began.

"All right then. I have a new idea for you. We're going to add you to a new group. I think that will give a whole new angle to your character." he explained.

"What, but I thought I was doing well. Why do we want to change that all of a sudden?" I asked.

The heart in my chest was beating faster than normal and it was hard to breathe. There was only one new faction at the moment. Judgment Day... That would mean I would have to work closely with men. Something that scared the hell out of me. I had never had good experiences with men. It was too much for me. I was just too shy and too reserved for that. Whenever I tried to talk to someone, my throat would tighten almost painfully. I began to sweat and stutter. All in all, I went from being confident and happy to shy and scared.

"You do! And that's exactly why I decided to do it," he replied when he suddenly knocked on the door.

"Edge, Damian! Very good, very good. Sit down. I've already started talking to Miss Fay about our plans." said Mr McMahon as the two big men entered the small room and sat down.

Damian sat so close to me that I could feel his warmth in the air. Nervously, I slid back and forth in my chair. I was sure that my face was deep red by now. Repeatedly I tried to swallow, but it was no use. My throat was as dry as the desert.

"Here's the plan we have. Miss Fay and Mr Priest will be involved with each other on and off over the next few weeks. The attraction will slowly increase until Damian finally seduces you to join him on the dark side. With a kiss, of course. I don't think I need to explain that we have a romantic story line planned," said Mr. McMahon.

When I heard that, all the blood suddenly drained from my face. A coldness followed by panic flowed through me.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but.... but I... can't. It's... too much." I stuttered, got up and ran out of the room as fast as I could.

Damian POV

I stared after Katja, totally stunned. I had in no way expected this. On the contrary, actually. I had been really looking forward to working with her. I was fascinated by her. Somehow she was the complete opposite of me. Katja was soft, delicate lace, while I was more like rough, firm leather. I wanted to get to know her better, since she was always very reserved.

Although I didn't know why, I had the feeling that she didn't feel very comfortable in the company of many men. She was still quite young, only 25 or 26 years old, if I was not mistaken. Maybe she had experienced something bad. Whatever it was, it made her anxious.

"Well... that was unexpected. That's very unfortunate. Perhaps I should reconsider Miss Fay's position in this company." said Mr. McMahon and I immediately realized what he meant. But there was no way I was going to let that happen.

"Sir, I will talk to her. I'm sure I can change Katja's mind." I said quickly before he could make up his mind.

"Very well. It can't hurt to try. Otherwise I'll have to look for a replacement." he replied almost growling.

I looked at Edge, who had been silent all this time. A crease of worry formed between his brows. He was probably wondering what the problem was.

After we were able to leave, I immediately went in search of Katja. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find her. She was sitting on a crate with her face buried in her hands.

"Can we talk about this, Katja?" I asked her quietly and sat down next to her.

"No." she said simply, then jumped to her feet, away from me.

"Come on, sweetie. Talk to me. I don't want you to get in trouble." I replied gently.

"I can't. It's way too embarrassing. Just forget it." said Katja as her face turned all shades of red.

Before I could say anything, she ran away again. What could she be so embarrassed about?

But if she thought I was giving up so quickly, she had a lot to learn about me. When we were taken to the hotel in the evening, I saw my chance. I saw Katja enter the elevator alone. I quickly followed her in before the doors closed. With wide eyes, she looked up at me.

"What are you doing?" she asked in surprise.

Shortly after the elevator started moving, I pressed the stop button. With a jerk, the elevator came to a stop.

"What the hell, Damian!" yelled Katja, upset, trying to push past me.

"We're not leaving this elevator until you tell me what your problem is, Katja." I replied.

"It's none of your business. It's personal." she muttered, backing away from me.

"Listen... Is it because you don't like me? If it is, then I can promise you we'll work this out. I don't want you to pass up such a big deal and maybe get fired because you despise me," I explained to her.

"I don't despise you." she said softly, still avoiding my eyes.

"Then what is it?" I pressed.

"I can't... work with men. I'm weird. I can't handle it. All my life I never had much to do with men. I was too focused on my career. And now... it's so embarrassing. I don't know how to do this. It's embarrassing as it is, and I don't need the whole world watching me do it." she suddenly burst out.

"Oh.... okay, listen. First of all, you would only be working with me and Edge. More with me actually. And secondly... it's never too late for new experiences. Don't let anyone tell you that you're weird. You're a great person." I replied.

"You don't understand." she whispered and I saw a tear run down her cheek.

"Then explain it to me," I said softly.

Katja looked at me for a long time and thought. I saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath. Probably she was trying to decide whether to tell me or not.

"The thing is... I've never been... with a man before.... I've never been... kissed." she whispered, then coyly turned away from me.

Now, of course, it made a lot of sense why she was so freaked out. Why she was so reserved with men around. It made her nervous and insecure.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. And just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it never will. Any man would be honored to be your first. In every way," I replied as I walked up to her and slowly grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face me. To my amazement, she let it happen.

"Would you be?" she whispered.

"You bet I would." I murmured as my gaze wandered to her lips.

Without thinking, I put a hand to her cheek and wiped the tears from her cheek. Slowly, I leaned forward.

"Tell me if I'm going too far." I murmured.

"You aren't." Katja breathed as her gaze also hung on my lips.

Carefully and slowly I leaned down to her. I still expected her to stop me, but nothing happened. Soft as a feather, our lips touched for a brief moment. I pulled back to be able to look at her. She brushed her finger slowly across her lips.

"Good or bad?" I asked.

"I... am not sure." she replied softly as a breeze.

Again, I pressed my mouth to hers. More intensely this time. Quickly our breathing turned to gasps as our breaths mixed.

"Good or bad?" I asked again. My voice low and rough.

"Good... worth it."  Katja replied, bringing her small hand to my neck.

"I thought so." I smiled and pulled her to me again.

[cubic-porygonal]

oh right, should make an intro post

so yeah, welcome to my blog! i probably shouldnt say too much detailed info about myself for privacy reasons, but heres a bit i can share. my name's private but i go by Cubic, i live in Unova (Castelia City, specifically), i like computers, games, and my pokemon.

speaking of, lemme tell yall about em!

Vertex

first up, my Porygon Vertex! it's my first pokemon, and it was a birthday gift from my siblings. apparently they spent a whole month searching for one, and we've been the best of friends ever since. it's part of how i can even do my job in the first place, actually! it likes playing games of all kinds, and you might even heard about it in speedrunning circles. somehow, it always manages to find new and bizarre glitches in whatever games it plays, and some of them are pretty good for skips. it's also surprisingly catlike compared to most other Porygon i've seen. not that i mind, though. whatever makes it happy!

Proto

next up is Proto, my Rotom pal! not only are they part of my team, but they're also the Rotom that powers my phone. (i do have a normal backup battery though, just in case of an emergency.) i met them one night when there was a blackout, but my computer somehow hadn't turned off. turns out they'd been living in there for over a week without me noticing! it took all night, but i finally managed to get the little guy to trust me enough to come out... and then they immediately climbed into my phone. but it's been well over 3 years since then, and we've made great progress since! they're a but jumpy and shy, but they generally mean well!

Vi

Vi is my Eevee! i got her as a thank-you gift for helping out the local pokemon center with a Rotom infestation, and she's just the sweetest thing. ...when she's not knocking over everything on my desk and stealing my chair, that is. despite that, she's still great. she's not that interested in evolving, so i've made sure to get her an everstone to make sure it never happens by accident. she likes to sit on my head/shoulders while i walk around the city, which has gotten more than a few pictures from tourists. (youve probably seen some if you follow a few travelers from Sinnoh, they tend to be the ones who are most excited by it for some reason) if you ever see me with her, feel free to say hi!

Woshua

Woshua is my faithful Dewott (named when they were younger, but they refuse to let me change it now) who i bumped into while on a short business trip down to Nuvema Town. they had climbed into my bag when i sat down to rest, and i couldn't convince them to climb out no matter what i tried. eventually i gave up and just carried on. while on the way out of Nuvema, i stopped by Professor Juniper's lab to see if she knew what to do with this random Oshawott. she was out, but her assistant, a girl named Bianca, told me that she'd been looking everywhere for the little scamp. the second she saw their face though, she told me that it'd probably be better in the long run if i kept them with me, so i ended up taking them home. they're pretty headstrong, but they get along well with Vertex at least!

???

this one's, uh... kinda a weird story? they're not actually one of my pokemon, per se, but i like to think we're friends now. for the sake of not having every world government, evil team, AND this particular pokemon get on my case, im just gonna say i accidentally stumbled across a not-so-human-friendly psychic pokemon while taking the extremely scenic route in a forest im not gonna name. (i definitely wasn't lost, i swear.) we just kinda looked at each other for a minute before i turned around and walked away, because im not stupid enough to mess with a random pokemon that was telepathically threatening to disintegrate me. theres a bit more to it that came later, but everything after that interaction is gonna have to be redacted for the sake of everyone involved, human and pokemon alike.

aaaand thats about it! if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime!

[residentdormouse]

Find the Words Tag Game

Tagged back by @mrsmungus - cause apparently we both love this game. 😂

My Words were: Sink, Ring, Purpose, Nightmare and Cold

(Somehow this ended in a lot of Harold and Max. My favorite disaster pair. And Harold can be a prickly bitch sometimes, which is always fun to play with.)

Tagging Back: @mrsmungus (I’ll keep this going as long as you will 🤣, and adding @asirensrage , @imagine-you , @late-to-the-fandom

Your words are: clear, calm, cautious, caring, and cave

As always I’m under-the-cuting my answers because I don’t know what short means.

Sink

Looking around the tavern, she saw everything she used to stand against. What she thought she stood against. But it never truly was them. Only the idea, a false threat that was presented to her and fueled by ghosts from her past. She understood now. She was the threat. To these beings, she was a stone cold murderer, and the thought killed any instinct to project the typical confidence.

The eyes on them as they walked into the nearby building were unmistakable, and for once, Max’s immediate response wasn’t one of defiance.

Deserving skepticism at best, hatred at worst, she felt her shoulders sink as she took the looks. Understood exactly how she had been regarded by others here. She couldn’t blame them.

Ring

Harold was preparing for a retort, but Quinn jumped up first, attempting to maintain peace.

"Now ladies…"

"Ain't no fucking ladies here right now, Quinn. Two pissed off bitches. Sit back down."

"Spirited Max, but wasting time.” Gwen gave a sigh as she stood as well, moving back to the bar to generously re-up the amount of whiskey in her cocktail. “You know, I had the same reservations about you. You're a killer to our kind. Others with you, they're trying to provide protection, and I can understand the dilemma this presents to all involved. I’m looking to offer protection myself. But you... You kill us because you like the feel of it."

"Oh, I loving killing assholes who murder families–"

"Yet you do the same. Southside Diagnostic ring any bells?"

"...you know, I didn't know—"

"Do you think they cared that you didn’t know? We could ask, but…” Her eyebrows raised as she took another drink. “How's that glass tower?"

Purpose

“Did you know that was coming?” Glen sat down next to her on the couch and she turned to be able to face him. “I mean, you two are pretty close, right?”

She shook her head before replying, “If I knew, I would’ve said something. To be honest, I’m still in shock he wasn’t trying to fight his way on the committee.”

“Well, I’m not discounting that yet, either.”

Hayden felt her face scrunch up, not understanding his meaning, but he only gave a head tilt before continuing, “We were running the meeting, sure, but make no mistake, that was the Harold show tonight. Every point we made, he had a say in… He thought of moves I couldn’t even anticipate. And that 'in toto' business…” He let out a low whistle, and Hayden had no point to argue; Harold had taken them all by surprise.

“He may have gotten us what we wanted now, but people are going to remember him in this, not us.”

Hayden sat back, pondering how the next conversation with Harold would go. He couldn’t have done it on the fly; all of this was planned, but to what purpose? And why was he hiding it from her?

“Is it really us vs him?”

“You think it’s not? I’m pretty sure he does, at least that's what I saw tonight.”

Nightmare

(You’re asking me to find nightmare. In the story about nightmares. Dear God…)

"Harold, we've all experienced pretty high levels of trauma, especially Hayden. It's not like it would be unheard of to have that manifest into a garden variety nightmare—"

A reply was about to come from Glen, but the unknown woman beat him to it, venom in her voice. "Hey! You weren't there, you terroristic shit!"

"He's not wrong, Ray…"

"Oh, ok! Let's just pretend that asshole didn't come to every single one of us in our dreams, just completely ignore that it was like his whole fucking deal, yeah? Because we all know those were just nightmares then too, right? Wake the fuck up, Bateman! Nothing about this is garden variety!"

As Glen cut off the shorter woman, her arms flew up and an aggravated shout bounced off the walls filling the space. "Of course! Why am I not surprised?! Go ahead and take his damn side in this!" A final huff was given before she walked over to one of the open chairs by Stu and flopped down. Glen continued in his calm and logical manner.

"It's not a matter of sides. We can't turn a blind eye to what we already know to be true. But we can't just assume anything either."

Cold

As Glen began to recount their recent expedition, Hayden sensed her mind begin to drift again. Why did this keep happening to her? Would this keep happening? How does she stop this?

The panic began to rise again with each question, the uncertainty of it all, and she looked back over to him. Their initial meeting at his home started to replay in her head; it was the most intact memory she had. A full uninterrupted day filled with laughter and hope. She couldn’t remember much of anything before this, but she could recall the feeling right before he came into her life. The weight of the world still hung heavy on her. Glen lightened that burden. And each memory she had of him continued this pattern. He washed away her fear and anxiety, all her pain, any lingering cold; he was there to help ease it for her. To help her laugh. To allow her a place to cry. He made her feel safe.

“And that’s when the elephants showed up…”

Hayden looked up confused, and Glen gave her a knowing smile, eyebrows raised with that familiar twinkle in his eyes.

“Good to see I wasn’t completely wasting my breath.”

[garfieldlover3000]

Vent: divorce, mom, and school + mentions of abuse

this is word vomit btw, and i left out a lot of context.

My mom told me on my first day of school that she doesn’t love my dad and wants to divorce him. Idk how she was expecting me to react cause she got upset i started crying. Like girl… what the fuck? this couldn’t wait after you already told my dad and my siblings who don’t even live in the house anymore. Before like 3 weeks after that, i was the only one who knew about it. That was 3 weeks of me suffering alone. And why she only told me? cause i’m her only daughter, and she thinks that means i automatically will agree with her point of views or whatever. After that, my dad started telling me about the changes he saw in my mom, and how he feels so hurt about it. That ducking hurt me so much cause i knew, but i wasn’t allowed to tell him. I should really stop listening to my mom when she tells me to do certain stuff. After the 3 weeks had passed and she told my dad she wanted to divorce him, he told me, and i came clean over what she told me. My mom didn’t know i knew that she already told my dad. This friday, only me and her went on a trip to see some family, and i told he about how much this has affected me, both mentally and emotionally. She straight up told me that it shouldn’t be affecting me at all since it doesn’t involve me. Like yes it fucking does??? i’m literally y’all’s child??? who still lives in the home and has to be forced to see and hear everything that happens in the house?? and she told me that reason why she’s divorcing my dad is cause he never wants to be around us or go to church. Like first of all, she said it like he’s purposely avoiding us. His job is the thing that schedules him to work on sundays. He also works 2 jobs to be able to afford the home we live in. He’s also been the only one doing the chores and shit around the house. He recently actually looked for a new job so that he could spend time with us, but he had to drop it since my mom needed him to pick me up and take me to school. She also tried to convince me that my dads some bad father since he never is around for us. Like yeah i’ve been sad before cause his jobs keep us away, but every experience i have with him is good. Comparing how he treats us to my mom, my mom was always abusive when we where younger, and she still is, just not physically. My dad has never been abusive to us, and is genuinely interested in us as people even when he doesn’t understand what we are talking about. My mom only cares about stuff when it’s for church or we can win something from it. My dad only cares if it makes us happy.

I literally hate my mom so much right now. She literally lied to my face too about her not telling my dad this at all. I know she told my dad this. She legit told me that her and my dad aren’t leaving the house or anything. My dad legit told me like last week he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to take this anymore. What is she gonna do when at the end of the month, my dad moves out the house and she has to pay the mortgage on her own. Like her whole pay check can be spent on the bills alone. We won’t be able to live in that house.

My dad asked me once if i they where to seperate, who would i got with. I said him. I can’t stand to be alone with my mom ever. Much less a 8-14 muinite car ride too and from school. I’m also graduating highschool this year. If my mom ends up moving somewhere to far from my school, i am not going with her. if my dad moves too far from the school i won’t leave either. I have college classes there, and i don’t want to risk getting possible probation from college by not being able to complete the class. I might ask my oldest brother if he can somehow take me in just for me to be able to still go to school there. He lives near by with his gf anyways. I’m looking at colleges right now, and i’ve been looking at one in massachusetts. After i re take my sat, i’ll see if i apply to it. If i get accepted, i’ll probably head up there and stay. I know it will be really expensive to live up there. But i don’t want to live here anymore. And i don’t want to be anywhere near my mom either.

Tbh, considering coming out to my very christian mom and transgender. She’s always told me on how she’s always wanted a daughter, and how i’m her little miracle/doll for being her last child and being a girl. Wanna rip that away from her.

I feel so bad for my dad. He really loves my mom, but my mom doesn’t wanna work things out. Feel like i’m 9 again.

might talk to my brother about it tbh. The oldest one. idk. Also i’m late on like an assignment so i should probably turn it in.

idk

no tags since idk

[soulofapatrick]

Family isn’t Always Blood - Joel Miller x Reader

Summary: Your parents make a surprise appearance, Joel and Tommy arriving to your rescue and a big secret gets revealed

Words: 1.5k

Warnings: fluff; angst; mentions of abuse; someone being punched; fluff

Notes: I don’t know why my stories are suddenly so family orientated angst I promise ill write some fluffy and smutty ones soon

Y/N’s POV

I open the front door, expecting the knocking to be any of the four Millers from across the street. They all have a key to mine but sometimes they forget them so they knock meaning I wasn’t expecting anything unusual. Yet, standing in front of me are two people I never expected to see. Two people who have made my life a living hell and the exact reason I moved to Austin, Texas. They shower me with fake smiles and hugs before pushing past me and into my house, beady eyes looking around as they walk to my kitchen like they own the place. I debate whether leaving them here and going across the street to the Millers, feeling a lot safer if Joel or Tommy were here but it’s almost 4pm so they’re still at work and won’t be back for another hour at least. 

It takes a deep breath for me to close the front door and joining them in the kitchen, my mum holding a photo of Joel, me, Tommy and Joel’s two daughters out in town for the night. It’s one of my favourite photos and she can tell how much it means to me by the way she puts it back down a little too far to the edge of the counter, watching it fall to the floor with a shattering of glass. Silently, I grab my dustpan and brush, sweeping up the glass and putting the broken frame in the drawer so Joel can fix it for me another time. 

“Tea or coffee?” I ask my sorry excuse of parents as I put the kettle on, grabbing three mugs and pouring coffee and sugar into one of them for myself and tea bags into the other two. I don’t know why I asked when I know they’re going to guilt trip me about forgetting or something so I just wait for my mum’s voice.

“Why would we have anything other than tea?” Dad booms instead, voice making me flinch a little, “Have you really forgotten that much about us in the five years since you’ve been gone?” 

“A lot of things happen in five years,” I reply flatly putting the mugs in front of them and staying standing by the counter with my coffee. I refuse to put myself in a position to get trapped by them, knowing from past experiences of having plates thrown at me for making their food slightly wrong. Somehow, I barely flinch when my dad’s mug smashes against the wall behind me, tea sliding down and staining the white surface. 

“You think you can just up and leave?” He stands, anger in his tone as he tries to rile me up and I’m putting my mug down, grabbing my keys and slipping them into my back pocket. I manoeuvre myself away from the wall so I can make a quick exit if things get heated which they no doubt will. Both of the people sat in my kitchen having violent natures and will give into them eventually, the niceness facade dropping, “You think you can just start your own family and not let us see our grandkids?” 

The picture of me and the Millers. They think Sarah and Ellie are mine? Where the fuck is the logic in that? Both girls are sixteen and fifteen respectively, so no way are they biologically mine which means these strangers have no claim to them. I would fight them tooth and nail if they had grandparent rights anyway, years worth of evidence of the abuse in the way of scars and therapy sessions on my side. They can’t do anything towards the Millers and I wouldn’t let them if they tried, “They’re not my family, they’re my friends.” I lie, it hurts but it’s better than getting them involved in this fight. 

“Really?” Mum speaks this time, the card from Ellie in her hand, “Says here you’re their mum. Which means they’re our grandkids.” She snaps putting the card back down and knocking her cup of tea all over it, a lump in my throat as I want to cry and fall to my knees in submission but Joel and Tommy have taught me to stand up for myself over the years so that’s what I’m going to do instead. 

“I think you two should leave,” I tell them, head up and steeling them with a hard look. It takes them aback so I seize the opportunity to carry on, “You have overstayed your welcome and I have things to be doing this evening” 

“How dare you speak to us like that?” Dad snaps, his anger bubbling to the surface as he knocks over the table, shattering everything on it but I hold firm, walking to the front door and opening it. My heart and confidence soars when I see the familiar pick up truck pulling into the driveway with Joel and Tommy bickering in the front seats, “We are your parents!” 

They stalk after me so I step outside, seeing their land rover parked in my driveway and they follow me out, both steaming from the ears and red in the face as I say, “Thank you for visiting, have a safe trip home and don’t visit me again.” 

“You spiteful little bitch!” There’s a sharp sting across my cheek, car doors slamming and suddenly two large and familiar hands are on my waist, chest against my back and breath ghosting my neck as he pulls me away from my mum. Tommy standing to the left of me as mum spits out, “We are your parents, we raised you and this is how you repay us?” 

It’s like something snaps in me, having Joel and Tommy here to protect me if they get physical again so I say what I’ve been bottling up since I left, breaking away from Joel’s safe grip, “You didn’t raise us! Elliott and Charlotte did that! What you did was beat on us until you got bored, why do you think I left? It wasn’t to be spiteful or abandon my siblings! It was because you beat my twin brother nearly to death and then spent that night laughing about it while I held his dying body in my arms! You took the one person from me that-“ 

I’m stumbling back, hands flying to my nose that is now bleeding profusely and tears are welling up in my eyes, the fist connecting to my jaw this time before there’s a flash and arms are wrapping around me while my dad is slammed into the side of his car by a very red in the face Joel. The usually soft man I’ve come to love has murder in his eyes, Dad’s hand being twisted behind his back as Joel hisses out a warning to him. 

‘Wait!” I shake Tommy off but not before squeezing his arm reassuringly, stepping back over to my parents, gently drawing Joel away from them so I can say my final piece, “I might have three children but you,” I point a finger at them, my other resting on my belly instinctively “Will never have any grandparent rights to them. If you even think about coming anywhere near Austin again I’ll call the police and have you done for murder. I should really be calling them now and telling them about Scott so you can shut your fucking mouths and get in your car and never come back!” 

There’s a stunned silence before they’re shuffling to their car and climbing in, not another word spoken to any of us and I stay where I am until I see them disappear around the corner then Joel’s hand is on my shoulder. His honey eyes are wide and voice shaky when he asks, “Three?” Glancing down to my hand on my belly before meeting my gaze again. I’m swallowing thickly before nodding, not knowing how he’ll react as it’s only been two and a half years since we started dating but Joel’s sweeping me off my feet into a hug. Tommy joins in, hugging us both and there’s tears and laughter, as if the last hour hadn’t happened.

“I guess we should tell the girls that they’re gonna have a sister.” Joel steps back holding me at arms length, face contorting from love and happiness to concern and pain when realises my nose is still bleeding, “I think we should clean you up first.”

“Who says it’ll be a sister.” I tease, having a strong feeling it’s gonna be a boy, and knowing that everything will be okay. I made my own family here in Austin that I wouldn’t change the world for and that’s all I need. 

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