#if I saw them at a haunted house I’d scream with joy

[thelegendaryfluffypotato13]

Sometimes You Go A Bit Insane With Ideas And Start Writing Gothic Literature aka @nem0-nee's Helix Made Me Want To Commit Violence So Bad I OOC'd Everyone Involved

Sometimes you get an idea and run with it and since my brain is insane, I took this and sprinted. Anyway, Lily Insane Arc Real ig

Sometimes, Lily would occasionally see a yellow door around campus. While intriguing, she didn’t approach it.

Lily did not like this door. It was creepy and weird and yellow. It also gave her the heebie-jeebies, the only thing stopping her from inspecting it. The next day, she didn’t see it, so she assumed it was some magical mishap or some other thing she wasn’t involved in.

But then it kept showing up. It’d be in places it wasn’t before and it would show up randomly, inviting her over with friendly curiosity. She couldn’t stop thinking about the door. It was strange and sometimes, she’d go a bit closer to it, only for something inside her to scream for her to stop and run.

She would later realize it was her survival instinct.

One day, it stopped showing up and, for a time, she was relieved of the object’s torment. But then it felt wrong. It felt wrong for the door not to be there, it was making her anxious. Even without it there, she still felt… watched.

Oh. That’s why. Lily understood now. When the door was there, there was an object to explain all the haunting feelings, all the paranoia in her head, all the chills down her spine, but without it, she no longer knew where to look to explain the feeling of being watched and nervous. That door could be anywhere, which meant it could also watch her from anywhere.

Then, it showed up again, like a god hearing her prayers or a devil following her sins. It was like it knew she needed that door despite the fear that it exuded. It was unnerving because it felt like it never left. It never left her mind and it never left the school. A familiar, inviting presence.

She ignored its sudden appearance.

The door was more persistent at getting her attention though. Suddenly, she started hearing something coming from it. A banging sound, similar to a heartbeat. It seemed the more she ignored it, the more it became the only thing she could hear. The more she got used to the heartbeat, the more… comforting it felt. 

And that scared her.

Lily did not like this door. It was fascinating and dangerous and always watching. When she saw it, she was filled with a mix of dread and curiosity. And you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat, but madness made it feel alive.

She couldn’t stand the door. She needed it gone before it could continue to torment her with questions and voices and the temptation of insanity. But she also needed answers and satisfaction and the opportunity to torture it like it did her.

Perhaps if she destroyed the damn thing, she’d finally feel at peace. Yeah. That idea eased her mind, the one almost void of sanity.

She couldn’t wait to see the door again, the living nightmare would go away and everything would be back to normal.

Yes, once she tore it apart herself, everything would be fine. It had a heartbeat, it could be killed. Then, she could live without feeling like she was in danger at every second. Such delusions were her hope in the midst of dangerous curiosity.

She prepared an axe and a lighter with great joy and anticipation. She couldn’t wait to use them on the wretched door. She skipped around happily to the beat of its heart and followed the voices that had been coming for her for weeks.

The next time it showed up, it was in Ramshackle.

Her time had come at last!

“Oh my, it seems you finally showed up at my house! Oh how I’ve waited for this moment!”

She grinned at the door as the regular fear and fascination washes over her. She was going to enjoy these last few moments of letting loose and losing her rationality. She knew she lost her mind because the door started talking, something doors don’t normally do.

“Ah, are you finally accepting my invitation? I’d be delighted to finally let you in~!”

“Yes, but first, a little experiment, just for some fun! A little thing to get to know each other!”

She grabbed her axe.

“I wanna see something. I wanna see what you’d look like if I put this inside you.”

She giggled and laughed, madness shown brightly in her eyes.

“I wonder if you’ll scream as loud as your heartbeat thumps in my ears, I want to see if you’ll bleed that horrendous yellow paint or if I’ll have to peel it off carefully myself, I need to know what you look like torn apart and burned and gone.”

Paranoia beats through her chest, hysteria fills her head, insanity flows through her and her hands. On this night of irrationality, the door laughs with a grin that matches the girl’s in amusement.

“Then why don’t we have this bit of fun for a while, hm?”

…

They say neither the door nor the girl have been seen since…

It seems the winner got their Happily Ever After I suppose...

[sonderthroughthestreets]

Hi! Idk what came over me but I thought an AU where Sander’s kid is anti-Bowie was the most hilarious thing thanks to @hidden-joy @kylesbishops and @sanderijzermans so I wrote it skdjdj

Disclaimer: it’s all fun and chaos and I don’t really know anything about how to write kids

x, x, x, x, credit to the chaos 🤪

The day Sander Driesen hears the words come out of his child’s mouth is the day he wonders if this is his child at all.

He’s standing there, leather jacket, white t-shirt and all, bleached hair icy even in the summer sun, and he looks down at the small stature in front of him. Grey-green eyes, dark locks and an air of confidence that could only be learned from a certain music-loving individual fill his sight. There’s so much innocence standing before him but a driven insistence breaks through the words spoken.

“Dad,” he hears. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but...I don’t really like David Bowie all that much.”

Sander thinks he’s lost his senses. He is definitely not hearing right. Hell, he’s only a man in his early thirties, he could not be this hard of hearing already. He tries to brace himself on the couch from falling over. Shit, he’s also too young to feel this frail.

“Wh-what do you mean you don’t like David Bowie all that much?”

The question comes out in gasps of air, ragged and winded, like he can’t believe what’s happening. He feels like his world’s spinning, like he’s entered another dimension, like there was no way, absolutely no way, his child doesn’t like David Bowie.

Denial is a pretty powerful thing, though...

See, when Alexandra Driesen was born, she brought light and life to Sander and Robbe’s eyes. She had a chubby face and squishy cheeks and eyes the colour of a summer storm. Her dark hair had been a blessing to match Robbe’s. Everything about her was as perfect as it could get. And then came the perpetual frustrations of parenthood with the screaming and the crying.

Sleep was something to be cherished at the Driesen-Ijzermans household. A few day-naps here and a doze-off there. But God, oh God, did Alexandra know how to cry in the middle of the night. Robbe and Sander spent hours upon hours holding her and swaying her and rocking her on a chair. Sander had read that sometimes music helps so he’d even done all that. Bowie usually floated in the shriek-filled room during these times and yet, Alexandra just wept.

“Come on, baby, just a little bit of sleep. Don’t you get tired of screaming all night?” Sander asked in that exhausted tone of parentese. He held her against the crook of his neck and walked around in sweats until he saw Robbe enter the room with blood-shot eyes and curls disarrayed.

“She’s still crying?” he asked with a rasp in his voice.

“She literally won’t stop and I don’t know what to do, I’ve tried everything. I’ve even got Bowie on for her,” he said.

Robbe took her from his arms and swayed her a little, cooing and kissing her tiny head.

“It’s kind of loud, though,” Robbe said to him as he then stepped over to turn off the music.

And in an instant miracle, the house was all quiet.

It seems that’s what’s always happened and Sander just hadn’t noticed it. Alexandra settled into Robbe’s chest and stretched her mouth in a heavy yawn. Her warmth radiated and glowed through Robbe, but Sander was stunned. He’s completely shocked.

“You-she-“ he stuttered clumsily for a bit. “But it was Bowie,” he said weakly.

How could his own daughter not feel at peace with Bowie? It was a connection he held with him, something connecting him and Robbe and what he hoped would connect their child to them in this little family.

“Hmmm,” Robbe hums pensively. “Maybe Bowie’s not her thing.”

“Not her thing?” Sander just about exploded. Then he suddenly remembered Alexandra’s finally gone to sleep and whispered, seething. “That is not our child!”

“Biologically, no. Legally and emotionally, yes,” smirked Robbe. “Calm down, babe, she’ll learn to like him soon enough. For now, how about we hold off on Bowie for a bit, yeah?”

He swayed her just a little more, just to really make sure she’s easing into sleep and then set her gently back down in her crib.

“How long?” Sander muttered and Robbe gave him a confused look. “How long without Bowie?”

Robbe contemplated.

“Maybe we give it six months or so,” he said.

And now it was Sander who wanted to weep. -

As the months and years went on, Alexandra had gone on without her Bowie-loving phase, only mildly being interested in the lightning bolt plushies and the songs blasting on road trips and the shirts Sander would get for her. Robbe says it just takes time for kids to get into stuff. That it’s better to leave it there in the open for them than to shove it down their throats.

“It’s barely any shoving,” Sander had grumbled.

“I know, babe. But I know how you can get sometimes,” Robbe had placed a soothing kiss upon his lips.

Still, Sander’s worries were increasingly growing.

Then a few years later, they’d adopted another beautiful girl. Mia was a radiant vision of blonde curls and brown eyes. They held a similar warmth that Robbe’s eyes held and Sander couldn’t be happier to lose himself in pools of coffee or dark, earthy soils or any other sort of metaphor for his favourite kind of brown.

To his relief, though, Mia loved listening to Bowie. She loved playing with the lightning bolt plushy and wearing all the shirts and as she grew, she and Sander had lots of music jam sessions blasting Bowie throughout the house. Alexandra was enticed into joining for a bit in the beginning but as time went on, Sander found it that she was making more and more excuses to not be in the same room when Bowie was mentioned.

“Uh, I got homework, Dad,” she’d nervously run her fingers through her hair.

“Uh, Papa needs help with dinner I think,” she’d run out with a tight smile.

“Group project due soon. Léon’s being a piece of shit and not pulling his weight at all.”

“Language,” Robbe would chastise coming around the corner.

“He’s being a dick?” she suggested.

“Fuck him.”

“Sander!”

“Sorry.”

Her interests lay instead in skateboarding with her friends, headphones in her ears listening to rap: BROCKHAMPTON and Stormzy with even a little Ed Sheeran in the mix, and keeping her hair as short as possible. She’d had a bit of a habit wearing overgrown shirts like Robbe did. But Sander found that endearing and he didn’t really think it was a case of ‘not-like-other-girls’ syndrome. He and Robbe just let her wear whatever she wanted.

And in fact, it was at thirteen years of age that Alexandra came out to the family as a boy. Sander remembers it clearly with them all huddled on the couch looking at the person in front of them with beady eyes, waiting.

“Dad, Papa, Mia. I think I’m a boy. I think I’m trans and I’d like to formally introduce myself to you all. I’m Alexander, or just Alex. And I use he/they pronouns.”

Sander had wanted to tear up, emotions flooding inside his rib cage. Happy tears, though, a joyous occasion where his son felt comfortable enough to tell them about this part of himself. That he and Robbe had created a space where he felt safe enough. Loved enough.

“I kept Alexander ‘cause, Sander,” he gestured to Sander. “But really, Alex is fine.”

And Sander wanted to cry all over again.

They’d all been encased in a huge family hug with Mia chirping that she’d ‘always wanted a big brother.’

Robbe and Sander had been quite supportive of it all, calling the school to change both the name and preferred name and asking if Alex was considering wearing a binder or getting a proper haircut. “Yes” to the haircut. “Hold off for a bit” on the binder. He’d whined a “Daaaaaad” when Sander ruffled the short brown locks. Most of Alex’s friends were cool with it, too and while it wasn’t all smooth sailing, he’d never run out of love from his family.

It was a big change and everything, but Sander thought, well...as long as he had his Bowie-loving children, it was all fine. -

It’s his worst nightmare. It’s the stuff that haunts you from the depths of the worst kind of hell, making your limbs feel like jelly. He’s cursing every name and divine entity and he’s really hoping Robbe’s right about those parallel universes because he’d love to hop over to the one where this wasn’t happening right now.

Sander’s having a hard time even looking at Alex in the eye.

“Dad?” he hears his concerned voice.

“I think I need to sit down,” says Sander, grabbing the armrest of the couch, lowering himself onto the cushion.

“It’s really not a big deal,” says Alex.

“Not a big deal?” Sander looks at him with wide eyes. “My own son hates David Bowie.”

“I never said I-“

“The man who infinitely changed my life. Space Oddity, Life on Mars, Ziggy Stardust, Ashes to Ashes. None of them?” Sander waves his arms. “You’re telling me you like none of them?”

“They’re...fine, I guess,” Alex shrugs innocently with a cringe to his face.

“Fine?” Sander squeaks.

“What’s fine?” Robbe trudges to them overhearing the conversation.

“Your son hates Bowie,” Sander squints his eyes at him.

“I do not,” says Alex. “I’m just pretty indifferent to him. He’s not exactly my style,” he shrugs, his hoodie moving with the movement.

“And what is your style?” Robbe laughs as he comes up behind him to rub his shoulders. He looks up at Sander with long lashes and a questioning smile stretching across his face. They share one of those ‘parenting looks.’ The ones where they know it’s not all that serious. But Sander thinks it is.

“A bit of rap, a bit of hip hop, some pop, some mainstream,” Alex lists off. “Not exactly the ‘80s vibes in me,” he laughs.

Robbe cheers as their tastes in music are quite similar and he proceeds to carry out their very own handshake they’d created when Alex was nine. There’s a different one with Sander. Sander, who’s getting more and more agitated by this revelation.

“Oh, okay,” he pats his knees and stands up. “Well, if you two are having such a grand time hating Bowie and bonding over your own music, I’ll just take myself and leave. No child of mine doesn’t like David Bowie,” he says dramatically.

“Sander…” Robbe looks at him.

“Dad…” says Alex.

“No, no. It’s fine. Really,” he begrudgingly walks out of the living room, almost knocking into Mia on the way.

“What’s with him?” she blinks twice and points a finger back.

Robbe sighs as he looks back at Alex.

“Your father, he…” Robbe puts a hand on his shoulder. “Bowie’s practically his life and so are the two of you, so I guess it’s really important to him that you like him, too. He’s just gonna need some time with all this.”

His eyes are apologetic and he gives him a half-smile, hand leaving his shoulder.

Alex takes in the words while Mia wiggles herself onto the couch and finds the tv remote beside her.

“You finally told him about Bowie, huh?” she gives him a gravely sad look. One that says he’s about to be doomed.

Alex just lets out a stressed breath as Robbe follows to go find Sander.

What’s so special about David Bowie anyway?

————————————————————————

Part 2 is coming! IM SO SORRY SKDJJF I just need sleep and rest

[creativeashproductions]

A Distant Dream III // Luke Patterson

Summary: In 1994 seventeen year old Luke Patterson had once again to ask out the girl that held his heart. With the belief he would see the younger Mercer girl the next morning he decides to then confess his feelings. Only the soft music bewitched the reader into an antique wardrobe with lots of history.

Warnings: Swearing, grief, magic wardrobe, talk of death, angst, and fluff

Words: 3.2k

A/N: I’m loving this series omg.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist

“It should be somewhere in here,” Julie spoke with the flashlight scanning the basement the Molina’s didn’t use. She was hunting for the spare cord her mother had always carried with the amp for the few times she played with her old band for fun.

Most of the stuff had found its way in the basement, collecting dust and leaving sadness in its wake. Reggie’s had snapped early this morning to his great disappointment and with no spare in sight.

As Julie’s hand brushed her old childhood dollhouse, a soft golden light gleamed from further back. Her brown eyes finding the corner when the golden glow was framing a square in the distance. Rocking back on the heels of her feet, Julie stared at the sight.

Faint music came from the surrounding area of the golden glow. The Puerto Rican is enthralled by the bewitching music coming from the back of the basement. Her sneakered feet walking closer to the wardrobe as the creak of a door came from it.

Julie halted as the sheet slipped off, revealing the old wood to her brown eyes and the golden glow brightening the room further. The telltale sound of noise behind her concealed by the music that grew louder and louder. The door unlatched itself with a form slamming the basement floor with a slam.

Julie stumbled back. A deep groan pulled from the stranger’s lips before Julie’s scream ripped through the once empty room. The cry of a male behind her joining the screams as Julie turned on her heel halting at the pure unadulterated fear on Alex’s face.

“What the hell?” Alex hissed, staring at the prone form of a girl with long hair intricately pinned in places. The formal hairstyle at war with the outfit Alex could just barely make out as a plaid skirt reaching mid-thigh over sheer black tights. The colour of the skirt concealed by the dim lighting.

“Peter.” The name slipped from your lips filled with anguish as you frantically crawled to the wardrobe to search it.

The scream of grief falling from your lips as your hand made contact with the wooden back of the wardrobe. Your arms wrapped around your middle as you collapsed into yourself as it cemented in your brain. Your life in Narnia ended in seconds.

“Excuse me? How the heck did you do that?” Julie’s terrified voice questioned as she fought her impulse to run. Just as she had from the boys when they first appeared in the studio.

The truth of the matter settling you swiftly turned to the voice surprised you had left yourself vulnerable to attack. Your wild eyes scanning the room for a sword, or even your bow that was always strapped to you. You found only a basement with old furniture instead and two teens staring shocked at you.

“Where-“

“Y/N?” The blonde boy gasped stumbling forward taken aback by the sudden appearance of his little sister. Your eyes meeting his blue confused before memories of him snapped in your brain previously hidden behind a wall.

“Alex?” You questioned, throwing yourself into his arms to wrap your arms around him as you dissolved into sobs. Alex melting into your body sobbing just as hard.

“I’m two seconds away from storming Dr. Turner’s office, I swear. First, three ghosts appear in my studio and now a girl out of a wardrobe also from the ’90s.” Julie muttered scrubbing her hand over her face. Your eyes wandering to her form in confusion at what she had said.

“’ also from the ’90s’?” You asked, stepping one step away from Alex who refused to let you go as if you would disappear once more, “What year is it?”

“How about we talk about this in the studio. Reggie and Luke are in the studio, I came to get Julie. You’ve been down here for a while.” Alex suggested with a look that Julie caught quickly. Alex didn’t want to prolong the reunion with the rest of the guys.

Alex walked up from the basement with Julie straight to the door with dozens of questions in his brain. This was a change he welcomed with open arms and a happy heart. The house was empty as Ray had taken Carlos to an all-day out of town baseball tournament.

Luke and Reggie’s voices drifted out from the studio blocked by the white barn doors only partially open. The two arguing about the band playing one of Reggie’s country songs on stage. Their attention not on the three people walking into the room as Luke stretched out on his back on his sofa. Reggie curled in one of the armchairs beside the couch.

“It’s not our sound!” Luke spoke, staring his bassist down with a heated glare that wasn’t as harsh as if it was someone else.

“Pop wasn’t either but look where we are now?” Reggie retorted with his arms crossed and a pout painted on his flushed face. Alex could sigh at the same debate that happened at least twice a week.

“Sunset Curve is pop now?” Your soft voice still tortured with loss bringing both the boys to the front of the studio. Standing uncomfortable in the clothing that revealed more skin in the fifteen years you had been in Narnia.

The gasps would have amused Alex had this sudden development not happened, especially when his long lost sister fell out of a wardrobe. Luke and Reggie stumbled to their feet in pure astonishment seeing the person they had dreamed of seeing one more time.

“Holy shit.” Luke choked blinking frantically as you sent an awkward smile to the face of the person that had haunted you for fifteen years.

“Y/N?” Reggie cried, raising both hands to cover his mouth as if it would hold in the heartbreaking sobs.

Julie took the initiative to step to the side to allow the reunion to happen without a distraction, but really it was impossible. A bomb could drop, and none of the ’90s teens would notice with their attention solely on each other.

“Are you a ghost?” Reggie questioned you with furrowed brows. Alex’s hand intertwined with yours.

At the familiar texture and comfort of your older brother’s comforting hand, your eyes clenched tight—tears building at the very different hands you had held for over a decade.

“Ghost?” You questioned, clearing your tight throat in bewilderment. Your e/c eyes changing between the three different eyes. The three boys shared a glance with each other, “Does anyone have a sweater I could borrow?”

Alex was surprised at the request, “You want a sweater? You adore midriff shirts.”

“That was before.” You simply stated, “So what has happened?”

That was the words that shattered the frozen form of Luke Patterson, who stumbled his way to hug you. His arms wrapping around, brought both relief but also guilt. This was the guy that had been the third party of your marriage without even knowing. The thoughts caused your muscles to tense, leading Luke to a different conclusion.

Luke believed you rejected his hug because you blamed him.

“You’re not a ghost?” Reggie questioned following as you sat on the sofa in such an uncharacteristic position.

Your posture entirely pin straight with an air of regality that went above the posture you had as a young Mercer. Alex’s eyebrows raised almost into his hairline at how you held yourself compared to the slight slouch you developed away from your parents. His blue eyes caught the calm mask that concealed your panic under a practised mask.

“You disappeared in 1994 after you spent supper with my family.” Luke softly started recalling the night his life first changed for the worse, “You left just before dark after time got away from us. You sent a smile before the plants hid your form and I never saw you again.”

A sad smile broke the mask you wore, “I’m sorry the fifteen years have made it difficult for memories.”

“Fifteen years?” Julie interrupted, bringing your attention to the girl in the corner with a soft voice. Her eyes couldn’t help scan you and Alex finding the similarities and differences, but she loved how relaxed Alex looked in your presence.

“Time is…different where I was.” The sentence was slow to leave your lips as your eye wandered the different version of the studio.

“Was it a black room?” Reggie inquired shifting for Julie to have space to sit down without her limbs moving through Reggie’s leg. Alex was quick to settle on your left side with Luke in the closest armchair to you.

“No?” You trailed off thinking of the years you had spent ruling a kingdom with your in-laws, “I-I think when I left Luke’s house, there was this music. Like a lullaby that drew me into this antique store and a voice out of a dream. I was entranced, and then I was in a different world.”

“You have an accent.” Luke implored finally seeing the mature difference in your demeanour, posture and personality, “Like it’s English but still sounds like you. Were you in England?”

The soft giggle came from your lips, “No. I swear on Aslan I wasn’t in England.”

Everyone was deaf to Julie’s confusion and her soft repeat of the name you whispered into the air. The word drawing a sense of having had heard it before it comes her way.

“Who’s Aslan?” Alex asked unclipping his infamous fanny pack to remove the pink sweater. He couldn’t help but see the way you tugged the plaid skirt down and your black crop top down.

Your hand grasped the soft material of the pink sweater, the first pink garment Alex had owned. His pride and joy of a sweater was slipped over your outfit landed past the hem of your skirt.

“He’s…” Your words broke off, trying to find a way how to tell them that Aslan ruled the entirety of Narnia. He created it, but he was a lion that could talk.

“I’d like to know how you’ve been in that wardrobe for so long!” Julie gushed unable to hold back her curiosity, “My parents got that as a wedding gift when they were moving into the house. It was shifted downstairs because my mom couldn’t let it go for the sentimental value.”

“I’m sorry but wardrobe? She came- you came out of a wardrobe?” Alex wondered, shaking his head before he said his infamous word, “Okay.”

“I was trying to find a spare cord for Reggie, but out of absolutely nowhere, this music came from the back area. This pretty golden hue lit up the room, and then she just fell out of the wardrobe.”

“I’m so confused,” Reggie whispered to himself, staring off into the distance at two things he had learnt.

You had gone missing before they died yet for you, only fifteen years had gone by.

You had been in a wardrobe. A wardrobe!

“So are you dead or not?” Julie asked next leaning forward to face you in anticipation for the new piece of information. Her inquisitive brown eyes glittering in the light of the studio as you tried to find the correct words.

“I’m alive.” You decided to go the simple route, “I’m guessing that you three are dead?”

Alex, Reggie and Luke all nodded with each other, “Street dogs. How aren’t you fazed?”

“Uh, I walked into a wardrobe. Joined a war, won the war, got crowned for the kingdom by Aslan, and grew up.” You tapped a finger for each piece of your fifteen years, much easier to just use your perspective, “Fifteen years ruling with Peter and his siblings.”

“Peter?” Alex inquired with one dark blonde eyebrow raised high with caution written clearly on his youthful face.

“My husband.” The words choked everyone in the damn room, and Luke felt like he could puke. The girl he was still very much in love with was now taken by someone else just weeks after he grieved the almost-relationship he could have had with you.

Adjusting to the new world, the third time in your, life wasn’t as difficult as you would have expected. Well, adapting to the technological advances and the new band Sunset Curve had evolved into. The relationship with Luke was at simplicity quite awkward, something Luke never anticipated when he envisioned finding you.

It was painful for everyone in the room with you two. You were trying to deal with the guilt of abandoning your kingdom, of your Narnian friends, of not being with the Pevensies. You had a strong suspicion they had returned back to England, and the time was the hardest to deal with.

Instead of 1994, the current year was 2020 for you—twenty-six years in this world but fifteen in Narnia. You didn’t look a day over your age in 1994. Looking in mirrors was startling every time to see your teen youth instead of the thirty-one-year-old.

Happily, the bond with Alex hadn’t diminished if anything it had gotten stronger. He was assimilating to the new fashion you liked. You had a more mature style and preferred modest outfits; the Narnian fashion was still very much part of you.

Reggie adored hearing the adventures you had done in Narnia, he grew a crush on the version of Lucy you told. He was definitely awed at how you had had a stable of horses that could talk, some weren’t vocal.

All three boys were jealous of the fact that despite being born in the late ’70s, you were alive in 2020. You could touch and interact with everyone while they only had each other, and now you. Flynn had been sceptical but grew to be friends with you.

For you, you would be found staring out the window in the attic of the Molina house where you had settled in. A rather long-winded explanation of being from overseas and your housing having fallen through. Ray and welcomed you into the home with open arms.

“Hey! We’re gonna go explore. Do you wanna come with us?” Alex asked from his spot near the door he had poked his head through. His smile turning upside down at the lost look in your eyes and fingers that played with the only evidence of your Narnian life.

The ring you had worn since Peter had proposed ten years ago with a specially designed ring by the best of the business. Cair Paravel’s military General, formerly of Aslan’s Army, Oreius’ sister Odette had personally pushed the contract to the front.

The ring was absolutely breathtaking of a moonstone set in a rose gold floral metal setting with tiny diamonds in a flora design. It was definitely made with the rarest rose gold, and the moonstone was personally found on a quest Peter had gone on. You were thrilled it had survived the return to the human world.

“Y/N?” Alex spoke once more, gaining your attention from the overcast sky with a bittersweet smile.

“Hey, Alex.” You replied, walking closer for the hug he had quickly made into a requirement every time he saw you.

“Reggie, Luke and I are going to explore if you want to join us.”

The offer was tempting even if you had to submit to being in an awkward environment with Luke Patterson. Seeing him each time brought that love that had overshadowed Peter’s love and that in itself brought tremendous guilt.

“I think I’ll hang here. Thank you for inviting me, Alex.” You softly replied as you retreated to the bed in the large renovated attic. Ray and Rose had renovated it into living space when Julie was still in elementary school.

Ray had spent a few months staying in the attic room after Rose passed away because he couldn’t even touch the doorknob. His sister in law Victoria had to help move things to the attic as Ray mourned his wife.

“I’ll be right back,” Alex told you before he poofed, something you still couldn’t wrap your mind around.

Instead of Alex returning it was Luke with that sheepish smile he adorned in the last week you had returned. Your e/c eyes widened in surprise when they met the hazel of his own.

“Luke.” You breathed astounded as he hesitantly walked closer, “Aren’t you going with Reggie and Alex?”

Luke’s hand gestured to the bed, “May I sit?”

“Yeah!” You nodded shifted to create distance between you and the guitarist that had once held your heart in his hands.

Things were different. The ring on your left hand said so. The wedding ceremony in Narnia said so. Yet your heart didn’t understand further than the yearning and love it throbbed with.

“Alex kinda hit some sense into me. This has been…a rather confusing time since that night in 1995.” Luke didn’t talk about his experience dying with anyone because he was still working through it. To avoid the pain and trauma, he focused on the band instead.

“I can attest to that. A week ago, I was with my family hunting for the White Stag content with my life. Next thing I knew I’m racing after Lucy into a wardrobe in which blasted me with memories.” You sighed thinking back to the banter with Edmund and Susan before Lucy uttered ‘Spare Oom’ of a distant time, “I feel terrible that I had no conscious recollection of my life before Narnia. I’d see a tall blonde in the crowd and have this sudden emotion of loss. I forgot about my own brother.”

“I can’t blame you for anything. You had a responsibility to an entire kingdom.”

“Part of me must have remembered because when I was gifted my horse, it asked me to name her. I chose Mercer without thinking about why. It’s always interested me in the reason behind the choice.” You played with the bedspread to avoid his face and the guilt of abandoning him unintentionally or not.

“How was the music in Narnia?” Luke inquired, bringing a neutral topic to once best friends in the process of recovering the friendship, “Any rock?”

The laugh lightened the heaviness in Luke’s chest and brought a smile to both the teens’ faces. Music was always one of the topics you could talk for hours with the band given the classical background you had.

“None that we had the honour of hearing.” The grin brought a smile to Luke’s face as well, and then some of the pieces of your friendship found their place in the frame.

“So, tell me more about this place.”

And so, you did as the sun set and then rose hours later while you were content to retell the tale of your time. The war with the White Witch and watching Edmund take his last breath and his first one after a drop from Lucy’s Cordial.

As you retold your tale of adventures to Luke, a quartet of siblings scoured a wardrobe decades before the conversation commenced.

A little girl sobbing for her lost sister and greatest friend while her oldest brother closed himself off. A seventeen-year-old closed himself off, finding it difficult adjusting to being a teen once more. As if he hadn’t lived fifteen years with his wife beside him. As if he never had a wife.

Above is the Narnia engagement ring reader wears from Peter

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[ilovefandoms102]

Do Re Mi

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Summary: After breaking things off with Kelce, he wants you back after finding out you’ve been hanging out more with JJ....

Taglist:

@jeyramarie @drewswannabegirl @teamnick @jiaraendgame @agirlwholovescoffee @outerbongs @jaxandcomet @velyssaraptor @baby-pogue @they-write-once-in-a-blue-moon @must-be-a-weasley-92 @kaitieskidmore1 @ma10427 @ifilwtmfc @lasnaro @justcallmesams @judayyyw @lonely-kermit @gviosca @iamaunicorn4704 @jellyfishbeansontoast @fernweh-fangirl @runway-to-my-aid @eb15​ @hurricane-abigail​ @tangledinsparkles​ 

Note: This is for the lovely @maybebanks , thank you for giving me an amazing request so that I could use this gif(look at those biceps)! I hope this was ok! As always let me know what you guys think, and don’t forget to check out my new Rudy Pankow series here! 

PSA IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY ABUSE DO NOT READ THIS!

=====================================

What Kelce and I had from the beginning was toxic...

I was too blind to see how manipulative and abusive he was. The constant threats of leaving me, cheating on me, and of course me begging him not to. I fell into his trap. He would fill my head with negative thoughts, doing anything and everything to make me feel horrid about myself. All of my friends could notice the change in me, saying how I looked mentally drained all the time. 

Well, they weren’t wrong.....

======================================

“You’re such a fucking slut! Hanging out with those Pogues?! Really y/n?!” he shouted.

“They’re my friends! I don’t give a shit about your stupid rivalry against them K, they are good people!” I shouted back, running a hand through my hair. 

“Trash derseves to hang out with a slut like you then. You’ll fit right in.” he snarled.

“I’m so done with your bullshit Kelce! Fuck you!” I screamed, storming out of his house. 

“Don’t you dare walk away from me!” he yelled, coming after me. 

“I can’t take this anymore, I’ve been done for a long time now! You and your constant mental and physical abuse, I will not let you hurt me anymore!” I screeched, slamming my car door shut.

He banged on my window, demanding I open the door. He pulled as hard as he could on my door handle, no doubt almost breaking it. I sped off, going to the only place I knew I could find comfort.

=====================================

I pulled into the chateau, tears still streaming down my face. A sob wretched from my chest, my head falling to the steering wheel as I cried. It was pouring the rain as I got out of my car, slowly treading to the front door. My chest felt like it was caving in from how hard I was sobbing, my whole body convulsing inwards. The door opened and I saw a familiar looking blonde coming on the porch. His eyes widened, taking off to me. I ran into his arms, colliding with him.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” JJ asked, pulling back to look at my face.

“I couldn’t take him anymore JJ, I had to leave.” I sobbed, clinging on to his shirt. He pulled my head back to his chest, leaning his head on top of mine. 

“I won’t let him hurt you ever again y/n, you’re safe now.” he said softly, his fingers combing through my soaked hair. 

“I’m so sorry J,” I blubbered.

“What are you sorry for?” he chuckled.

“That they hurt you, and the others. They always hurt you.” I cried, thinking back to the times I had seen Kelce and the others beat JJ to a pulp.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle sweetheart, I know you did everything you could.” he whispered, kissing my hair. 

“I should have done more...I should have left a long time ago.” I mumbled.

“Hey why don’t you guys come in before you get sick!” Pope yelled, both of us laughing. 

JJ led me inside, John B. bringing both of us towels to dry off. I left my shoes on the porch, starting to shiver from the slight chill in the air. I was glad I had left some of my stuff here so I could change into some comfier clothes. John B. was kind enough to let me take a warm shower, even threw my clothes in his beat up washing machine. The boys hovered over me in their protective fashion. JJ made me a sandwich, arguing with Pope about what goes on the bread first, and John B. got me every blanket he owned as I sat on the pull out bed. 

“The cheese is supposed to go on the bread first JJ.” Pope insisted, hovering over JJ’s shoulder.

“Dude can you please just let me make her the fucking sandwich for god’s sake!” JJ shouted, chuckling as he slapped it together and threw it on a plate.

JJ brought me my favorite sandwich with the chips I left here, and of course a beer. I smiled widely at my best friend. He sat in front of me while the other boys sat on the opposite sides. 

“What happened?” JJ demanded, Pope and John B. tuning in. 

“We were just fighting, I honestly don’t even remember how it started...Then we got to talking about how he doesn’t like me hanging out with you guys, and I told him that you all were my friends and that I didn’t care what he said. He said some other mean stuff and then I just left.” I recalled, my eyes staying down as I ate.

“What mean stuff?” JJ inquired, raising a brow. I looked up at him, then to JB and Pope.

“Pope, let’s go get Kie and Sarah. I think y/n needs some girl talk.” John B. said, patting my shoulder.

“What did he say?” JJ demanded, his hard eyes staring intently.

“He...he called me a slut and said that I would fit in with you all since Pogues are trash.” I croaked, feeling the tears begin to rise again. 

JJ let out an angry huff, throwing his hat off. 

“I should kill that motherfucker.” he griped.

“He’s not worth it J. I wish I would have learned that a long time ago.” I sighed, setting my finished food to the side with my beer. 

JJ came beside me, his arm falling around my waist. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cause my heart to flutter. Since things with Kelce and I started declining, I had began to develop feelings for JJ. Both of us coming from similar home lives made our bond stronger. When I started dating Kelce, I thought I’d finally get away from the bad things that haunted me from my home. Turns out I ran into another abusive situation, but I always had JJ. He was my constant light that I needed when things went dark. I knew I could trust him with my life.

“You’re my best friend y/n, and I’ll be dammed if I ever let that fucker hurt you again. If you even think about going back to him I will drag your ass back here and chain you to this couch, you hear me?” he affirmed, his blue eyes burning with rage.

“Trust me that won’t happen, I’m done with him. You’re the best J.” I said softly, hugging him.

JJ squeezed me tight to him, silent tears flowing down my face again. I was so lucky to have friends like the Pogues, all of them had hearts of gold. I pulled back, smiling as I wiped some of my tears. JJ’s thumb came up to my other eye, gently wiping some away as well. We stared into each other’s eyes for a long time, a sudden change in the air. Both of us unconsciously moving our heads closer together. 

Then the door slammed open, causing us to jump apart from each other. 

“We brought movies!” Kie said cheerfully.

“And chocolate!” Sarah exclaimed.

“Yeah, too much chocolate.” John B. groaned as he and Pope lugged in some grocery bags.

I got up to hug my two girl best friends, all of us grouping together. They rubbed my back as I again started to cry, this time very loudly. Then I felt even more surrounded as the guys joined in our group hug. 

We baked, and watched comedy movies all night. I laughed until my belly hurt, the pure joy of being with my friends making my sadness go away even if it only would be for a moment. The sun was beginning to rise as we all fell asleep out in the living room. John B. and Sarah sharing a small air mattress that Sarah had brought, Pope got up to crash on the outside couch, Kie fell asleep in the floor, and JJ and I shared the pull out couch. 

=========================================

After that night, JJ and I had become a lot closer. We began spending a lot more time together, even doing odd jobs together. Weeks had gone by and people of The Cut and in Figure Eight began discovering that where JJ was I would be found and vice versa. Word got to Kelce that I looked cozy with JJ, and he was not happy. 

I was home alone, my dad was with JJ’s at Barry’s. A loud banging heard on my door. I crept to it, peeking out of the window to see Kelce. I dreaded opening the door, debating on just letting him sit out there. 

“Y/N! Open the fucking door right now!” he barked, his fist coming down on the door again. I waited another second, seeing if maybe he would go away. He barged in, my eyes wide at how angry he looked.

“Kelce,” I gasped.

“Who the fuck do you think you are embarrassing me by being seen with Maybank!” he sneered, coming closer to me. I backed away, cutting around my house so I couldn’t be cornered. 

“It’s none of your business who I’m with Kelce, we aren’t dating anymore!” I shouted.

“We had a fight y/n, we’re not over until I say we are.” he claimed, snatching my wrist. I tried to wretch my hand away, but he was too strong. 

“I told you I was done! I don’t want to be with you ever again!” I screeched. I felt pain on the side of my cheek as Kelce slapped me, falling to the ground. 

“You listen to me you little bitch. I don’t ever want you hanging with that piece of trash ever again, is that clear?” he hissed, using his hold on my wrist to yank me up.

“Fuck you,” I spat. 

In the next second, I was being pinned against the wall. Kelce’s hand grabbing my throat as he slammed me into the hard wood. He squeezed my pulse point, my breathing halted. I scratched at his hand as he lifted me higher, my air supply being cut off even more. My vision started to become hazy, black spots appearing in my eyes. I kicked my legs as hard as I could until they connected with something. Kelce dropped me to the ground, air whooshing back into my lungs. He looked at me with hard, angry eyes. As if I was the one in the wrong.

“This isn’t over,” he sneered, storming out of my house.

I coughed and gagged until I finally started to breathe normally again. I crawled to my room, dragging myself on to my bed. I curled up in my covers and sobbed. I wished so hard that I had never been stupid enough to date a Kook. I realized now that I was desperate to get away from my dad, snatching any opportunity to get out of this hellhole. I cried myself to sleep that night, not even harvesting enough energy to call JJ. He was all I wanted right now, but I couldn’t move....everything hurt.

===================================

The next day, I got a text from JJ saying everyone wanted to hang out. I groaned, hauling myself out of bed. My eyes almost bulged out of my head at the sight of the deep bruises on my neck. How was I supposed to keep this from them? From JJ? I couldn’t tell them, JJ more than likely would end up in real jail this time if he went after Kelce. 

I did my best to cover it up, even opting for one of JJ’s hoodies I stole that covered more of my neck. My cheek thankfully didn’t look as bad and I was able to cover it completely. I heard JJ’s bike pull up, nerves creeping in my chest as I went outside. He smiled when he saw me, and it was like all my worries melted away. He opened his arms when I got closer, pulling me into a hug. I inhaled his scent...smoke, weed, and an earthy tone that was just JJ. His scent calmed my raging nerves. I jumped on the back of his bike, holding on to him as we sped off to the chateau.

==================================

I was doing a good job of hiding until I stupidly pulled my hair to one side.

“What’s on your neck?” Pope asked, inspecting me as I flinched from his prodding fingers. 

“Nothing,” I mumbled, flipping my hair back over. JJ’s eyes narrowed at me, my heart sinking. 

“Ooohh, did you get some last night y/n?” Kie raised her brows suggestively. 

“No,” I scoffed, my cheeks reddening. 

“You so did! Spill!” Sarah squealed. 

“Yeah y/n, spill.” JJ clipped, his arms crossing his chest. 

“I didn’t get any guys, swear.” I insisted, my eyes mainly on JJ. He nodded, but he didn’t look like he believed me.

“Then what is that?” John B. asked, joining in on the interrogation. 

“I tripped getting out of the shower last night,” I said, unconvincingly by the accusing look JJ was still giving me. He stormed back into the chateau, of couse I followed after him.

“JJ please, I-” I started.

“No, you-....I thought-I, I thought we had something building here. Guess I was wrong, I mean how could I ever think you would go from a Kook to me. I feel so stupid!” he ranted, throwing his hat on the ground. He sat on the couch, elbows going to his knees. 

“JJ please believe me, it’s not what you think!” I pleaded.

“Then what is it y/n! Because I know damn well that ain’t from falling, you can’t get bruises like that from a fall.” he fumed.

“JJ I did fall!” I exclaimed, partially telling the truth.

“I’ve wanted you, for so long now....and I thought I finally had you. Then you go back to Kelce, after everything he did.” he said in disbelief. 

“Stop JJ please!” I yelled, choking as I felt tears come to the surface.

“Guess trash like me doesn’t deserve a girl like you huh y/n?” he questioned mockingly. 

“He hit me!” I screamed, both of us freezing.

“What?” JJ asked, his voice barely a whisper. 

“Last night, Kelce came over...he found out about us being together more. Let’s just say he didn’t like it.” I stated, marching to my bag. I yanked out a makeup wipe, dragging it over the sensitive skin. 

“Oh-my-god,” JJ whispered.

“So yeah, I didn’t fall. He slammed me against the wall and choked me after smacking me for telling him to fuck off.” I sniffed.

We were both silent after that, I stared at the floor. I could feel his gaze burning into my skin, analyzing every detail. He got up suddenly, throwing his hat on. JJ marched out the door, a look of pure rage in his eyes. I ran after him, knowing exactly what was in his mind. 

“JJ!” I shouted.

“That motherfucker has some nerve,” JJ raged, the other getting up to see what was going on. 

“JJ please don’t go!” I cried, reaching to grab his arm.

“Oh no, no. The Kooks are not getting away with it this time, not after laying a hand on my girl.” he stated, shaking free of my hold. 

I was too worried at the moment to think about what he had said, everyone looking between us confused.

“What the hell is going on?” John B. asked.

“Dude her neck, Kelce did that.” JJ said, pointing at the now very prominent bruises. The others gasped, staring in horror.

JJ didn’t wait for anyone as he jumped in the van, all of us following after him. 

================================

We arrived at the Boneyard, I knew Kelce would be here more than likely with Rafe and Topper. JJ stormed out of the van, walking quickly to find them. My heart dropped when we spotted them, JJ stalking over to where they were. I raced after him, the others following behind me. 

“Well if it isn’t the happy couple everyone has been talking about.” Kelce taunted, a smug grin on his face.

“You piece of shit!” JJ yelled, punching Kelce in the face.

“JJ!” I gasped, Kie grabbing my arm before I could go to him. 

“You-no-good-motherfucker! You dare lay a hand on my girl!” JJ sneered between punches.

“She’ll never be yours Maybank, I always win.” Kelce laughed as blood spewed from his nose. 

“If I see you within 100 feet of her, I’ll kill you.” JJ said darkly.

“That slut will never be satisfied.” Kelce said, igniting another surge from JJ as he hit Kelce again and again. 

“You abused her asshole, what kind of man treats a woman like that?” JJ scoffed.

“She asked for it.” Kelce said, throwing me an accusing look. JJ wrapped his hands around his throat, John B. and Pope jumping in to pull JJ off.

“If you EVER come near her again, I’ll fucking kill you!” JJ screamed as the boys dragged him away.

==================================

Once we got to the chateau, everyone headed inside except JJ and I. He pulled me into a hug, his head going into the crook of my neck. He kissed the skin there, tingles shooting through me. 

“So I’m your girl now?” I teased, smiling as JJ chuckled. 

“Hell yeah,” he said, pulling his head back to look at me. 

“Thank you for everything J,” I said softly, my hand going to caress his cheek. 

“Anything for you sweetheart.” he whispered, his forehead coming to rest on mine. 

I got on my toes and kissed him, grasping on to him tighter. His hand went to the back of my head, holding me there as our lips moved. I felt as if I were on top of the world, JJ pulled me closer as we fell deeper into the kiss. I pulled away when I felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen, our chests both rising erratically. We were both smiling like idiots, basking in the after glow of doing what we both wanted for so long. 

That night, I fell asleep cuddled next to JJ...the boy who I had longed for and was finally mine.

[pinkprimrose05]

GX Month Day 7: Ojama Delta Thunder!!

@gxmonth

"That’s right! You know what today is! Today we celebrate The Chazz, the one and only Manjoume Thunder! Give sparky boi a hug!"

...I'm not giving Manjoume a hug. I...*cackles evilly* am gonna make him suffer as much as the actual Duel Links players do, maybe even more. And I'm not the least bit sorry, because hey, he gets something out of it in the end!

Manjoume Jun was not having a good day.

The Ojama Duelist grumbled to himself, kicking a non-existent pebble into the air as he made his way to the Duel Studio. The picturesque environment of Duel Links -too clean, too perfect- never ceased to amaze him and many others, but right now, he was too damn pissed to care about that.

After all, it's hard for one to appreciate the technology behind a game's setting when that same technology had just fucked up their entire collection of cards- And in the middle of a Duel no less!

The door slid open as he walked through, revealing rows upon rows of multicolored tables placed on either side of the massive ground floor that was the Deck Editor section, leaving a clear path to the spiraling staircase of clear blue glass that led to the Card Catalog and several other, more obscure sections. After all, the Deck Editor was the single most popular part of the Duel Studio, if the couple dozen Duelists buzzing around all day long were anything to go by.

Manjoume plopped down on a chair at the first empty table he could find, fishing out the single Deck box in his pocket and dropping it on the yellow, round surface. The twenty cards inside the box spilled out over the table (he had hundreds of those for fuck's sake!), and their owner groaned in frustration as he rifled through his completely reset Deck....Scratch that, it wasn't even his own Starter Deck. Battle Warrior? Flame Manipulator? What the hell?!

Briefly, he considered the benefits of marching up to Isono and demanding an explanation and solution to what happened, but that idea was shot down almost immediately. It's not like the guy would be of actual help; the last time someone asked about a bug in the game Isono had literally told them, quote unquote "Please ensure that no other house utilites are interrupting your connection, such as a microwave oven.", and while Manjoume was no tech expert, even he could tell how much of a half-assed excuse that was.

Stupid Duel Links and its stupid customer service-

"Manjo-kuuuuuuun!!"

Startled out of his thoughts, Manjoume only had enough time to gasp before a familiar blue blur put him in an unexpectedly tight headlock, already rambling at rapidfire speed straight in his ears.

"I'm so glad I could find you today!!" Kylie squealed "Had no idea I'd see you here, but that doesn't matter- do you wanna Duel?? I've been working on a new Deck and combos for days now and I can't wait to show you-" the second-year abruptly paused when she caught sight of the cards spread on the table, letting go of Manjoume in favor of taking a better look at them "Waaiiiit a minute, what's with those cards? They don't look like anything you normally play-"

"-It's Manjoume-san." He sharply interjected in a mix of annoyance and exasperation, shooting a glare at the oblivious blunette standing next to him as he massaged his neck "And yes, those aren't my cards. The game just randomly decided to reset my connection in the middle of a Rank-Up Duel of all things, yeet off all my Decks into nonexistence, and then gave me a shitty Starter in exchange, so now I'm stuck with almost zero gems and no way to recover my progress, which is just fucking splendid considering how close we are to the next KC Cup."

Manjoume sighed "Fuck this. Just, fuck this."

Truthfully, he wasn't as mad about the progress he lost as he was about losing his cards. It hadn't even been thirty minutes and, while he'd never admit it out loud, he already missed his trio of obnoxious Ojamas. They've been through thick and thin together, and it felt unnatural to have them just up and disappear like that. The last time they've been away from him wasn't exactly something he wanted to remember, and while the situation here was nowhere as severe as the Dark World, it still felt wrong for the air around him to be so quiet.

Kylie, who was uncharacteristically quiet as she listened to her 'friend' ranting about his current predicament, nodded along "So you...basically got your account reset?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Manjoume deadpanned in response. Kylie put a hand to her chin, humming thoughtfully with closed eyes, before suddenly slamming a hand on the table and nearly shocking him into falling off his chair.

"I GOT IT!" She exclaimed, snapping her fingers with a bright grin "This reset bug happened once to someone I know- I don't know if you remember Ruby from Heartland Academy, but anyway, she also lost all her progress a couple months ago after she got booted out of a Duel, and it turned out that her cards were just scattered all around the Duel World, so we went around asking everyone we could if they saw them, Dueled those who had some, and we got all her cards back in the end. It must be the same with yours, so let's get going and find them all!!"

Without warning, she grabbed the Legendary Duelists's hand, hauling him up and out of the Deck Editor before he could even get out a word. Manjoume gasped and spluttered along the way, trying to tell his companion to slow down a bit to no avail; as talking someone like Kylie out of anything was like trying to build a Deck around Cold Feet.

That didn't stop him from actually looking around and asking, though. If there was even the slightest chance of him finding his cards this way, then he'd be damned if he didn't at least try and go through with it. Compared to staking it out at the North Pole for a barely synergic mishmash of a Deck, to going down a haunted well in an empty forest for a bunch of 0-ATK monsters that were -figuratively and literally- bottom of the barrel, Dueling a couple chumps and scavenging for some lost cards was nothing, and he was ready to do so much more to get his partners back.

"See? I told you Aniki would come find us in the end!"

...I take back everything I said, Manjoume thought, cringing in disgust as Ojama Green and Black hugged each other and began prancing around him in circles, babbling and crying tears of joy while they were at it How could I ever miss this shitfest?

He just did, somehow. It hadn't taken too long to find the two Ojamas anyway; the sound of them banshee screeching weeping their asses off by the fountain was all he needed to know they were somewhere out there, and by some lucky miracle, their cards didn't get sprayed to oblivion with all the water by the time he came to retrieve them. As for his other cards, he and Kylie had stopped by the Shop, the Card Trader, the PvP Arena, the Gate and the Duel School, asking everyone they could about his cards, and beating the shit out of those who had some and refused to give them back

(Well, Manjoume was the one who did that, and only to Evan and Zachary, but that wasn't the point here, was it?)

By the time they decided to return to the Duel Studio for a small break, they'd gathered practically all of his key cards. He couldn't care less for the bunch of staples he lost -he'd just reroll the Selection Box or whatever-, so the only missing card that actually mattered, as much as it stung his ego to admit it...

...was Ojama Yellow. And after what happened with his brothers (and with Fairy Dragon, which he found resting on top of a very inconveniently high branch of a tree), Manjoume fully expected the third Ojama to be sleeping in the trash can or somewhere equally stupid. Because if he wasn't, he'd have found him before any other card by simply following the sound of high-pitched crying mixed with a lot of screaming and weird Ojama noises-

-A sudden rattling sound interrupted the noiret's thoughts for the second time that day, and when he stopped to locate its source, he let out a long, drawn-out sound between a sigh and a groan. Surely enough, the sound was coming from the trash can by the cliff, which was shaking wildly and practically begging to be opemed. Feeling a migraine coming up, Manjoume turned left, walked up to the can, and with some difficulty, pried the lid off.

"ANIKIIIII!!"

He instantly regretted it (he didn't) when the snot-faced creature that was Ojama Yellow exploded in his face, crying uncontrollably as he tried to hug Manjoume (keyword being 'tried'). His brothers all but sprang up from their cards, meeting him in a hug midair and effectively plucking him off his master for a bit as they all laughed and cried and did everything in between.

"Aww, look at how happy they are!" Kylie gushed, eyes almost sparkling. She lightly smacked Manjoume's back "You sure have a funny bunch of spirits, luckyyyy~"

Swatting away the Ojama trio and a pair of Catnipped Kitties before they tried sneaking up on him for a hug, Manjoume folded his arms and snorted in response "Yeah, sure."

But regardless, he found his lips quirking up in spite of himself. If it were me from three years ago, he mused I wouldn't have bothered with any of this in the first place.

But this wasn't the him from three years ago. This was the him of today, the Manjoume Thunder who'd gone through so much shit and learned from it to become a better Duelist, a better Duelist, and a better person. And while he had many people to thank for that, he also had to give credit for the monster spirits that followed him through all of the aforementioned shit, because as cringy, messy, bombastic and obnoxious as they might be, they were his partners, and he wouldn't give them up for anything in this world-

"WILL YOU FUCKING STOP THAT??!!"

-Unless they tried to hug him again. Pissed beyond reason, Manjoume chased after the quintet of Level 2's, ignoring Kylie's hysteric laughter and the surprised yelps from other Duelists as they dashed around the area in circles, all the noise merging into a cacophony of angry hollering and frightened squeaking, among other sounds.

In the end, some things never change....for better or for worse.

~~~~~~

Screw the actual Duel Links game for not including most of Manjoume's low-ATK monsters in his Starter/Lv 10 Deck (why tf is Catnipped Kitty a main Box card 4 years after his release?), and double screw them for splitting his Ojamas and Dragons into separate Decks.

I hate how his higher level Decks in the game completely disregard the former half of his cards; those are the ones that actually stuck with him in a meaningful way, not the Armed Dragons...they deserve some more recognition, so why not mix both archrtypes and slap in Ojamatch?

Also, yes, Standard Duelists actually exist here, so I decided to throw in my favorite GX girl AKA Kylie and have her interact a bit, and boy is she fun to write.

Headcanon: Kylie considers Manjoume (and everyone else, but especially him) her best friend because she basically has Yuuma's mentality of 'Anyone I Duel becomes an amigo!', and by sheer dumb luck, the two keep logging in at the same time and often get matched up in PvP Duels.

That's part of why she's so familiar with him (and also why she calls him Manjo-kun) and as you can see, Jun does not approve.

Aaaand this would be everything for Day 7! Expect to see me again...in a week from now. By Day 15 to be exact. In the meantime, if you’d like to follow my prompts for the month, I’m posting them all on ArchiveofOurOwn: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33473653/chapters/83489824

[whipped-cream-writings]

Chapter 1: Haunted Library

A school project brings you to the library and you meet a girl that ruins changes your life.

WC: 2.5k

TW: Blood, fire, a bit of cursing

“Even scientists don’t know what happened to the wildlife within the woods. Many have started to speculate that this is the fault of mages.”

“I can’t think of anything else it could be!” The man on the left lets out a laugh that’s as fake as the greenscreen background. “I mean, what else could explain grass and trees turning grey?”

“Maybe chemicals, Tadashi.”

“Oh. Yeah, maybe that’s it.”

You turn the TV off and set the remote down. These people are supposed to be reporters, not theorists with too much time on their hands.

But you don’t have time to worry about that. The clock tells you that school starts in twenty minutes and you’re supposed to be meeting Midoriya by the station in five.

You mentally run through everything you’ll have to finish today; study for those tests tomorrow, contact that kid you need to tutor, do your homework, and you’d have to work some more on that English project.

You desperately needed a nap, but your teachers had other plans.

You sling your bag over your shoulder and open the door, getting hit by a blast of air that’s much colder than you thought it’d be. You grab a jacket as quickly as you can and hurry down the street.

The morning is cool, the autumn leaves being lifted by the soft caress of the wind. The sky is cloudy, but the sun peeks just behind the puffy clouds as a promise to see you once again in only a few hours. The streaks of blue that stain the sad greys in the sky make you smile.

You hear your name. “Good morning!”

The first thing you notice about him will always be his hair. Naturally green and always messy, as if he just rolled out of bed (considering his schedule lately, he might just have). It brings out his eyes and the splash of freckles that paint his cheeks.

“Good morning, ‘Zuku.”

“You came a bit later than you usually do…” He points out. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just got distracted by the news.”

“Oh! Anything interesting?”

“They were talking about ‘wildlife turning grey’. I bet it was just some chemicals or something like that.” He nods his head excitedly.

“Whoa, I haven’t heard of that! What else did the reporters say?”

“Something about it being the fault of mages. But they were speculating and hopefully just joking… Can you believe it?” He laughs and shakes his head.

The school campus welcomes you both and keeps you sheltered from the frigid wind that howls outside. The halls are familiar, yet still manage to be disappointingly plain. There are only a few people here, waiting outside their classrooms for their teachers to arrive or to be let inside.

When you and Midoriya step inside, you’re greeted by the ever so familiar faces of your classmates. Momo is trying to help Kaminari, Mina and Jiro are listening to music, Bakugo is yelling at an indifferent Todoroki - So, all in all, it’s a regular morning.

You haven’t known these people as long as you’ve known Deku and Bakugo, but they still know exactly how to bring a smile to your face.

“Did you choose the topic?” You ask.

“I chose vampires,” Deku says. “But if you don’t like it, then we could always do something different, you know? I was just interested in them and how they evolved in literature with time.”

“Relax, ‘Zuku. I don’t mind. I’m actually kinda glad.”

“You are?”

“Yeah! At least it isn’t boring. Plus, I honestly have no idea what else we could choose.” You admit. He laughs a little bit.

“Well, I’m glad you like it! I was thinking we could start by reading and analyzing Dracula. That was the book that really brought vampires into the public eye.”

You can’t help but admire how much he already knows. “Maybe we could stop by the public library tonight?”

“Oh yeah! We could go there on the way home.” He scribbles it down in his prized notebook and he taps the pencil against his lip. “Do you have any ideas for books we could read next?”

“Other than Twilight? No.” His face drops when you say that and you laugh. “I’m only kidding! Sort of.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“Good morning, students.” The voice of the principal crackles through the speaker. “Today is October Third-”

Deku hits his forehead.

“I completely forgot about that,” He groans. “I don’t think I’ll be able to walk home with you tonight.”

You blink. That’s… never happened before.

“Wait, what? Why?” You whisper. Professor Aizawa is watching you and you shift uncomfortably under his disappointed gaze.

“I have… a club meeting.”

“Huh. Okay.” Did Izuku ever mention signing up for a club? “I’ll be sure to grab you a copy of Dracula too. I can drop it off at your apartment.”

“Thanks.” He smiles a bit. “I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, so don’t worry about it!” You insist. Your smile doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

Izuku doesn’t notice.

When the day ends, you wait by the wise, old tree that bends down to kiss the skin of the earth. You stand there for five minutes before it hits you.

He has a club meeting. Right.

You internally kick yourself and bid the tree farewell. The wind strikes the branches and causes them to shake as if it is saying goodbye to you as well.

The more you think about it, the clearer it becomes that Midoriya never mentioned a club or an after school program. He often told you what he signed up for and if he had plans to do something else. So why not this?

You shake your head, the leaves ghosting across the ground. You’re his friend, not his mom. If he doesn't want to tell you something, he doesn’t have to.

The path ends at the old library. The outside had yet to be polished the same way the inside was, so it looked less like a library and more like a haunted house, where ghosts drifted aimlessly between the shelves. The sign was missing a few letters and the wood looked like it could turn to splinters with a push that was just hard enough.

When you open the door, you’re greeted by the librarian and you wave to her before stepping inside. The lights make the place feel warm, even though there is no functioning heater. A few people are roaming around, others reading or typing away on their computers. The stairs are in the back of the room, and the classics section is on the second floor.

The section is empty. The other areas had one, maybe two people thumbing through the shelves. It feels strange to be alone, which makes the silence even more deafening.

You find the books that you need and hold them as gingerly as you can like you’re scared they’ll turn to dust if you apply just a little more force. Now, all you have to do is go to-

“Dracula, huh? Are you into that occult stuff?”

A voice. Right against your ear.

You leap away and hold the books to your chest. “I-I’m sorry?” You say as evenly as you can manage.

The girl looks innocent enough. Her light hair is drawn into two buns on both sides of her head and she has a wide smile on her face. She’s wearing a school uniform underneath an unbuttoned beige cardigan.

Even so, you can’t help but think her eyes are glinting with something other than joy.

“Oh, silly me!” She giggles. “I haven’t even introduced myself. My friends call me Toga.” She holds out a hand, her smile never faltering.

Her skin is so… pale. If you didn’t know better, you might’ve convinced yourself that you were talking to a ghost.

“Um… Nice to meet you.” You mumble, taking her hand and barely even shaking it. Her skin is cold, too. You give your name tentatively and pull your hand away. “If you’ll excuse me-”

“You’re really cute.”

You blink; once, twice.

“What?”

“You heard me, didn’t you? You’re adorable!” She giggles again. It feels like her stare is all over you, even though she hasn’t looked anywhere other than your eyes.

“Thank you, but I really must be going.” You insist.

“I have something to check out too! Why don’t we go together? That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?” Her eyes flash.

A hollow feeling settles into your stomach.

But your gut screams that saying no isn’t an option anymore.

So, you agree. It’s a tentative whisper that not even the walls could hear, but she does, loud and clear.

She perks up and laughs.

“Hooray!” She cheers, scooping up a random book from the shelves and dragging you along by your arm. Her grip is steel and her nails dig into your skin. You keep your mouth sealed, even if it hurts a little.

You look at what she’s wearing. There are no pockets in her skirt, and her cardigan is too thin to hide anything effectively, same with her blouse. There are no strange shaped lumps in her socks that go up to her knees.

So why were you so tense? Why are you afraid of this girl?

The last thing you wanted was to stick around long enough to find out.

“Are you walking home?” She sets her book right next to the self-checkout and doesn’t bother to scan it. You refuse to make eye contact with her, pretending to thumb through Dracula.

Should you lie? What if she saw right through you? If you said that you were walking home, would she follow you?  

“I’m waiting for a friend.” As soon as the words escape your lips, your hands start to shake. You hide them behind the books.

“Oh, that’s great! I can wait with you!” She smiles with her teeth and you shrink away.

“Not at the library… We’re meeting at a spot that’s kind of far away. It was nice meeting you, though, Toga-”

“I don’t mind!”

You freeze.

“Excuse me?”

“I really like you, so I’ll wait with you!” Her smile widens somehow. “I can’t let someone as cute as you get away from me.”

Your heart is pounding and you can feel that bile in the back of your throat building up.

“I can wait on my own.” You insist. “I appreciate the offer, Toga, but I’d prefer to be by myself.”

Her smile melts away.

There is no anger on her face. No sadness, no envy or rage. Her expression is just… blank.

But then she laughs. A laugh that teeters on the edge of insanity and mayhem. A laugh that makes your skin crawl.

She sings your name ever so lightly, a soft twinkle in her eye that makes your stomach twist even more.

Her hand shoots out and snatches your arm, her nails breaking through your skin. Blood starts to seep out of the cut, but she doesn’t mind it at all.

Her eyes seem just a bit brighter than before.

“I wasn’t asking you, was I?” She says simply, her smile far too wide.

You pull your arm back. Her hold doesn’t give. You try to resist even further. She’s strong, stronger than what you ever could’ve guessed.

Toga leaves the library, with you in tow. Your arm feels like it could be ripped off at any second.

“Where are you waiting for your friend?”

You stammer out a place that you’re sure she won’t know about. She’ll let go of you eventually, right?

But all she does is laugh and change her direction.

You look around, trying to find someone, anyone nearby. If you cried out for help, no one would hear. You try moving away, you try fighting back, but you can’t - your efforts are fruitless and that panic is building up in your chest once again.

She sighs your name. “Your blood smells so good… Did you know that?”

You have half the mind to question how she can smell your blood before you’re yanked toward her.

Her mouth hovers just above your neck.

Are those... fangs in her mouth?

But you don’t feel any pain. Her teeth never even graze your neck.

Because there’s a shout. Words you can’t understand, words that don’t sound like they’re from any language. But they’re said with such intensity that it feels like you’re standing next to a raging inferno.

And, in the next moment, you are.

There’s fire.

Fire that engulfs Toga’s entire being. Fire that makes you feel like you’re inches away from Hell itself.

Fire coming from Midoriya’s hands.

You’re yanked out of the way.

His hands are scorching. It will most likely leave a mark. Yet, right now, you don’t find that you care.

What you’re really concerned with is that your best friend just set a girl on fire with nothing but his hands.

“Are you alright?” His eyes bore into yours, only inches apart. Heavy breaths fan your face.

“When did you- How-”

He ignores your stammers. “Stay behind me.”

Where Toga once stood, there is only thick, bitter smoke and the dying embers of the flames. It doesn’t seem like anything else is burning, strangely enough.

How is this possible? What is happening?

He starts speaking. The words are fluid and fast, one sound blending into the next.

A gust of wind comes from his hands. It blows away the smoke and reveals that there was no one there.

Toga is gone.

There are no ashes or anything of the sort. Just shoe-shaped imprints left in the dead grass. You’re still bleeding from where she scratched you, but you feel no pain. All you can focus on are the questions swirling around in your head. On the fact that Midoriya just did… whatever that was.

Faintly, you hear your name. Midoriya’s facing you, worry etched on his face.

“Did she bite you?”

You shake your head. “All she did was scratch me.” Your voice is barely a murmur and you show him your arm. He nods, inspecting the cuts.

“You’ll be fine. All they need are a few bandages.” He lets out a long sigh. “That was too close. Toga is getting out of control lately, and it’s not just her-”

“Deku.” The words come out harsher than you meant. He flinches and turns to you.

“Yes?”

“What the fuck just happened?”

This is probably the most self indulgent thing I've written yet! It was so much fun to do and I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! Remember to drink some water and I hope you have a great day! 💕

[calmlftv]

safe. - a.i.

description: covid-19, also known as “the zombie virus,” claimed hundreds of thousands of victims in 2018, and while it all seemed to be going great, something much darker was hiding within research facilities across the nation. 

word count: exactly 4,001

warnings: descriptions of graphic imagery, blood, injuries, feelings of hopelessness. 

w/n: this is my first fic for the 5sos writers collab! i’m so excited to participate in this, i always love reading the fics that come out from this and im so happy i get to be part of it! my prompt for this was zombie apocalypse au so i hope i did it justice! 

taglist: @spicycal @n-ctarinenga @irwinkitten @castaway-cashton @blackbutterfliescal @ashtonsos @loveroflrh @bestyearssos​ @treatallwithkindness @bestyearslftv​ @another-lonely-heart-blog​

****

It’s been 730 days. 

That’s 24 months since the world went to shit. 

Two years since the haunting screams have driven you to nightmares and panic attacks, something you had never had to deal with in the Before. 

That’s all it was now. The Before. The time before the virus contaminated the body, before the monsters smashed into your home and tore your family apart. 

Before all of that. Before, you were a nice person. In the Before, you were having the time of your life. But now? 

Now you’re miserable. 

With a gasp you awoke again, chest heaving as your mind raced. Your palms were pressed against the cold wooden floor of the house you had cleared, eyes quickly darting between all means of entry as you assessed your surroundings. Only when you saw the makeshift barricades you had created did you begin to calm down, your eyes squeezing shut as you pulled your knees against your chest. 

I fucking hate it here. 

Moments passed until you were able to open your eyes again, your vision blurry as you scrambled up to your feet. The old and ragged coat you had been using as a blanket was bunched up in your hand, the old and rotting pillow you had used being kicked to the side as you quickly found the mass that is your backpack. You stumbled through the house, making all kinds of noise as you made it to the closest counter, a shaking hand already reaching up to open the two cabinets above. 

Empty. 

Just like the other ones. 

The dust on the shelves made your stomach hurt, determination already slumping your body as you pushed off the counter and headed towards the door. You knew it was no use to search the rest of the house for food; you had been hiding in this shithole for 14 hours, and if your searches yielded no results by now, you might as well move on.

Carefully you pried pieces of dusty and damp furniture away from the back door of the home, your foot landing on a shattered picture frame on the floor just as you cleared the doorway. You yelped, leaping away from the frame as your eyes landed on it. Captured within the frame was a beautiful blonde woman, curly hair down to her waist and a jungle green dress hugging her body as her hands rested on her rather large belly. In front of her knelt a man with shaggy brown hair, his lips pressed against her belly as she beamed with joy, the two of them so obviously in love with their bundle of joy that it could have made you sick. 

Feeling empty you tore your eyes away, the lack of blood on your foot propelling you forward and out the old, creaky door. You started off slow, like always, watching your footsteps and listening intently as you ignored everything your body was telling you; the aches in your knees and tightness in your jaw could wait; your life depended on it, after all. 

After a few miles you picked up the pace, your vision blurring slightly as you moved faster. Despite the pain that was now in your stomach you pushed on, determined to find some sort of shelter before you passed out, your weak muscles and body screaming at you with every step and breath. 

You’re not entirely certain how far you made it before you heard the near-silent steps nearby, just out of sight on your left. You sluggishly turned around, quickly trying to wipe the fog from your eyes as you tried to find the creature that stalked behind you. 

Much to your surprise a figure appeared, a gentleman peeking around a tree with dark hair. Fear struck you quickly as you backed away, almost immediately tripping over a large branch and landing on your ass as the figure stepped closer, now coming out from his hiding spot as you tried so hard to scramble away. 

“Hey, hey, wait,” he said gently, the voice jarring to you. 

Another human? You thought, shock freezing you in place. But how-

A grunt followed by a bone chilling moan came from the right, your head snapping in that direction. To your surprise, the man quickly got closer and extended his hand, carefully taking you by the arm and hoisting you up easily just as another man appeared from the direction of the sound. 

Another normal, human man, brown hair pulled back into a bun.

“There’s a horde on the way,” he stated, jerking a thumb behind him as his eyes took you in. “We’ve gotta go, Ash.” 

“Alright, Logan, but we’re taking in a stray.” 

The man stared at you and nodded, a silent agreement you had no idea of happening as the first man - Ash - carefully spun you around and guided you forward, footsteps falling in sync between the three of you as the strangers guided you onwards. 

The trees were closing in on you as you gripped Ash’s arm, knees trying to buckle underneath you from pure exhaustion and pain. The man chuckled and soon another hand was on you, the two men hoisting you up and quickly carrying you away. 

***

“Whoa-!” A woman said, strong hands immediately trying to push you down as you struggled against them. 

“Who the fuck-” you started, panic filling you now as you bit down on the side of a hand. A yelp came from the stranger and the hands were gone, your mind racing as a woman knelt beside you. 

“-shh, little love, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” she soothed, hand running in circles along your back as you focused on her voice. It was soft and gentle, the voice a stark difference to the harsh grinding in your mind. 

Safe?

Your eyes landing on her, finally taking her in as she gave you a soft smile. “Hey there,” she said kindly, tone gentle and soothing. “Sorry to have given you a fright, Devyn’s just so used to dealing with...rougher patients.” 

Her eyes guided you to the other side of the room where a young man stood at the sink, glaring at you while he seemed to nurse his bitten hand. 

The woman chuckled, gaining your attention once again. “My name’s Tabitha, but most people ‘round here call me Tabby,” she said, gently taking your hand and turning it over. Her fingers carefully pressed against the inside of your wrist, your pulse pounding against her skin. “And you, little stray, are very much alive.” 

You blinked, Tabby’s eyes taking in your face. 

“Where am I?” 

Your voice was hoarse and broken, vocal chords seeming to ache as they were used again. 

Tabby smiled. “You’re in our Community,” she said sweetly, gesturing vaguely to the room around you. “It’s a bit shabby, but not the worst place to be. It’s a safe place for people to be, little stray, I promise.” 

“M’not a stray,” you mumbled, your voice slightly stronger but not by much.

Your exam went by fairly quickly, Tabby settling you back into your bed as soon as possible before she excused herself. Once you were laying back against the pillow Devyn popped back over, quietly and carefully adjusting some things as you watched. He glanced at you and nodded, seeming to have gotten over your first impression, before he turned around and left the room. 

Once you were alone you finally, truly relaxed, sighing as you carefully sat yourself up. You were able to take in the room, looking around at the chipping paint on the walls and the bits of dust floating in the air around the only window to your left, the light reflecting gracefully as the particles moved within it. Desperate for some light you started to stand, legs shaking as you tried to make your way to the window. 

“Hey hey, what are you doing?”

The new voice startled you, adrenaline flooding your veins as you spun around. You grabbed the nearest object that could be used as a weapon and held it in front of you, ready to fight for your life if need be. 

The man who found you in the woods stood in the doorway with his hands up, a single dark curl falling over his forehead as he stood perfectly still. 

“Hey,” he said calmly, voice soft and warm. “It’s alright, I’m not here to hurt you. We’ve already sort of met, remember? In the woods?” 

As he spoke the memory came flooding back to you and you dropped the weapon, a blush settling on your cheeks as you tried to find the right words to apologize. 

He chuckled, dropping his hands and stepping in. “Someone’s a bit jumpy, hm?” He teased, obviously trying to calm you down. He glanced at your empty bed before looking back at you. “And a bit eager to explore.” 

You cleared your thoughts and nodded a bit, still hesitant to trust him too much. “Just wanted to see outside, sir,” you admitted. “Maybe feel some sun if I’m lucky.” 

The man watched you and nodded, his hands going into the pockets of his jeans. He had on a simple black t-shirt that seemed clean, something that was a foreign concept to you these days. “Well I’d definitely say you’re lucky. You barely made it to the gates of the community before you passed out, I had to have Logan carry you in.” 

The blush returned, causing him to laugh. “It’s okay, you’re in good hands here. Tabby was a doctor before all this happened, and she’s taught Devyn everything she knows.” 

You nodded. “Tabby seems nice,” you said, feeling a bit safer again. “I, uh, kinda bit Devyn on accident, so I don’t know if he likes me.” 

When you met his eyes he was containing a laugh, ultimately failing as you moved back towards your bed. “You bit him!” He chuckled, calming down a bit. “Well, once you’ve got your strength back, I’m sure we’ll have a hell of a fighter on our hands.” 

You smiled, chuckling a bit. “Not sure how much help I’ll be until then,” you said, sighing again. 

The man moved closer, sitting on the edge of your bed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he said softly, flashing a reassuring smile. “Start out with the easy tasks, and work your way up when you’re feeling better.” He ducked his head down, catching your eyes and smiling again. “Sound like a plan?” 

You met his eyes and nodded, the hazel color full of so much warmth that you couldn’t help but believe him. Somehow, despite being on your own for two years, it was easy to trust him; it was easy to let the fear melt away. 

He grinned, reaching to squeeze your shoulder until you jerked away. Maybe you weren’t ready to trust him too much. “We’ll work on that,” he said kindly, nodding and standing up. “I’ll check in this evening around dinner, okay? Maybe bring by a surprise, for our Lucky Stray.” 

You both nodded to each other before he headed towards the door. You quickly remembered something and stood again. 

“Wait,” you said, the man turning around in the doorway. “What’s your name?” 

He smiled. “Ashton,” he said simply. “M’name’s Ashton.” 

You nodded, the man repeating the action before he grabbed the doorknob and stepped out.The door closed softly behind him, the silence making your ears ring as you stared at the window again. 

This is a hell of a place, you thought, settling back against the bed once again. A blanket was draped at the end of the mattress but you curled up without it, the previous rush of adrenaline in your system keeping you warm as you closed your eyes. 

Maybe I’ll stick around for a while, you accepted, your exhausted mind already starting to settle into sleep. Where it’s safe. 

For now. 

****

Over time you were able to recover, your days filled with visits from Ashton and other members of the community. The visits you were always most excited for were Ashton’s, the length of them going from a couple minutes every couple of days to a few hours every single day. Sometimes he’d bring in whatever work had to do and set up a table next to you, teaching you the different jobs within the community from cleaning weapons to childcare to anything else that may need to be done. While you absolutely adored being able to learn about the community more and more, you enjoyed your time with Ash a bit more, the two of you building a strong bond that made recovery easier. It certainly helped that your heart would skip a few beats every time you saw him, his winning smile and wonderful laughter having their calming effect on you. 

Before you knew it you were moved to your own room, a window looking east over the woods bringing you peace on the mornings you awoke in a panic. Though the things that lurk in the darkness between the trees terrified you, the peace that the air carried would blanket around you enough to calm your racing heart. 

The community had slowly become your home, the sights and sounds of the people and the work to be done settling you into a new, welcoming routine that felt like fresh air after the suffocating two years you had been through. All was well and perfect in the months that passed, and as you and Ashton continued to steal glances and flirty smiles, you finally felt normal again. 

Until the day that it changed. 

Day 1,095. Three years since history was changed forever. 

Your normal nightmare was terrorizing your mind again, your body tossing and turning in the restless sleep you had to endure before the dawn of a new day could wake you. This time, however, it felt urgent, more panicked than it had before; the screaming was closer, somehow, the footsteps of your loved ones echoing desperately around you as your mind spun it’s twisted tale. You did everything you could to escape it all but felt the cold hand wrap around your mouth, covering your screams as you tried to launch yourself away. 

“Wake up!” 

You jumped at the sudden voice, the sound shattering the terrifying images that flashed within your mind. You tried to lurch out of bed but a heavy weight stopped you, the hand from your nightmare becoming real as you fought to get up. 

“Stop-” the voice said, the word turning into a grunt as a blow landed against a solid chest. Your eyes began to focus as the voice came again, messy dark hair and hazel eyes finally coming into view.

“Stop fighting,” Ashton asked, voice barely above a whisper as he kept you quiet. You met his eyes and he held a finger to his lips, his other hand still covering your mouth as he paused. 

After a moment he nodded and moved, taking your hand to help you up from the bed. “We have to go,” he said softly, with urgency in his voice. “Do you need to grab anything?”

You stopped, your brain stuck on his first request. “Go?” You asked, voice louder than you anticipated as Ashton quickly covered your mouth again. 

After another moment he pulled away, hands resting on your shoulders. “We don’t have a lot of time,” he started, “but I’ll make it quick. We’re being raided, and we have to go. Right now.” 

Your mind started spinning again, the new information feeling impossible to process as Ashton took your hand again, obviously taking your silence as his cue to start leaving. He led you to the closed door of your room, pressing against the wall as he slowly opened it enough to peek outside. 

Your mind snapped to attention at the sound of a distant shout. “Tabby-” 

“-is already gone with Logan,” he assured you, looking back at you. “They’re getting everybody else out. I wanted to come for you.” 

The gesture was sweet, and while it wasn’t lost on you, your mind now focused solely on getting the hell out of there as more yelling started on the other side of the community, followed by harsh crashing. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Ashton said suddenly, hand tightening around yours as he dashed out of your space and dragged you along. Your steps eventually synchronized, the two of you quietly avoiding detection as you tried to loop around to where everybody else was supposed to be. 

As soon as you got close enough a loud bang echoed through you, chilling you to the bone as a warm liquid started to trickle down your neck. Within seconds you were being dragged along again, adrenaline giving you strength as Ashton started running. Your mind became cloudy as your body fell into autopilot, the distant sounds of your own footsteps not even feeling real as you carefully made your way through the forest. 

Ashton kept the pace, only slowing down as the trees got more and more dense, the path he was taking you down becoming harder to safely navigate as you escaped the home you thought was safe. The questions started racing through your head, each one leaving you more and more confused and frustrated than the last. 

While lost in your thoughts your feet collided with a fallen branch, seemingly taking you by surprise as you tripped over it. You tried to catch yourself but failed miserably, your legs giving out from pure exhaustion as your ribs and jaw met the dirt and debris you had previously been running through. 

Ashton stopped the second your hand left his, spinning around just in time to watch you land on the ground. He quickly came to your side, kneeling beside you and helping you slowly sit up.

“Alright?” He asked softly, eyes meeting yours as you nodded. He looked around, pausing as he heard the unmistakable shuffling of a zombie. He quickly quieted you and helped you stand, leading you in the opposite direction of the sound as the smell invaded your nostrils, turning your stomach over in protest as you forced yourself to move. 

The new path was a large loop, the sound and smell making your heart race. At one point you caught a glimpse of it, the flesh blackened and decaying, exposed bits of muscle staring at you as you held in the contents of your stomach. 

Ashton tugged you further, slowly and carefully until you finally broke through into a clearing. He helped you sit and started to walk the edges of the small space you now inhabited, checking the trees until circling back to kneel in front of you. 

“Alright, we’re about a half mile away from the meeting point,” he said, meeting your eyes. “The others will be taking a longer route in case the raiders followed them, so it’ll just be us for a day or two.” 

You nodded to his words, wincing at the sudden pain in your right ear. His brow furrowed as you reached up, fingertips barely touching it before you hissed. 

He was suddenly very close to you, turning your head and carefully inspecting the injury. He chuckled. “They nicked you real good back there,” he stated, your head jerking away as his fingers got too close. “Sorry. We need to get you to the point, get you bandaged up.” 

All you could do was nod, your mind still racing from everything that had happened. It was all too fast, too overwhelming and hard to process; you had just been sleeping in the safest place you knew of, finally finding somewhere that feels like home, just to have it all ripped away from you just as suddenly. It gave you whiplash, and quite frankly, it was enough to drive you to the edge of your sanity. 

You just wanted one good thing to stay good. Was that really too much to ask?

The two of you were quiet during the rest of your break, the silence only breaking when Ash said it was time to move. Despite the two of you being out of immediate danger he still took your hand, the two of you making your way to this meeting point he had mentioned. 

When you arrived you didn’t even see anything at first; the entrance was in the ground and heavily guarded by plants and fallen logs, Ashton brushing it all away before tugging open the heavy metal door. Inside was a ladder, Ash gesturing for you to go down first. Despite everything aching and screaming for you to stop, you obeyed, climbing down the ladder first as Ashton followed you and sealed the two of you in. 

According to Ashton a member of the community had found this old bunker while hunting one day, the man literally stumbling upon it and finding his way inside. When Ash and the others caught up to him they decided to keep it hidden, only telling a few others about its existence for situations just like this. 

“So what happens with it when we don’t need to hide in it?” You asked, venturing to what seemed like a bedroom with a single bed in the middle of it.

Ashton chuckled. “Nothing,” he answered, following you and leaning against the doorway. “It just sits here, really, until we have a use for it.” 

You sat on the edge of the bed, eyes taking in the concrete around you as Ashton moved towards you, his eyes locked on you. 

“You should get some sleep,” he stated, holding up a hand before you could protest. “It’s obvious you’re exhausted, love, and I know you’ve got to be in pain.” 

You dropped your eyes. “I’m fine, Ashton.”

“Don’t lie to me.” 

The tone in his voice made you look up, meeting his eyes again. “M’not lying. I’m fine.” 

He sighed, moving back towards the door. “Fine. But I’m cleaning up your ear.” 

Before you could protest he was gone, only coming back once he had found a first aid kit. You huffed but let him take care of you, hissing as he cleaned your wound and wrapped it with a bandage and gauze.

“There,” he said, sitting back and cleaning up the mess. “Once Tabby gets here she’ll really get that fixed up for ya.” 

You nodded, his voice sounding far away as the bandage muffled him. He tossed the kit on the ground beside the bed, the two of you sitting in silence. 

“What are we going to do now?” You asked softly, your mind still thinking of the home you had lost. 

He shrugged. “We’ll start over,” he answered, his voice just as soft. “Find a new place for everybody. Build new defenses. Maybe start planting our own crops, even.” 

You looked over at him, chuckling a bit. “Alright, Farmer Ash,” you teased, the man laughing lightly. You both fell silent until you found the courage to speak again. “Maybe I am tired.” 

He chuckled and looked at you, gesturing for you to lay down against the pillows. “Get some rest, then,” he said, standing and moving towards the door. 

“Wait,” you said, the man pausing and turning towards you. “Stay with me? Just until I fall asleep.” 

He smiled and nodded, coming back and sitting on the opposite side of the bed as you got settled. You gave him a look and he rolled his eyes, laying back himself and settling in. 

You faced each other, eyes locking as he smiled. “You can’t sleep with your eyes open,” he teased, earning a light laugh from you. 

“Fine, fine,” you said, letting your eyes fall shut as you slightly adjusted your sleeping position. After a second you opened your eyes again, seeing Ashton with his closed. 

“Ash?” 

He cracked one eye open. “Yeah?”

“You promise this new place will be safe?” 

“Darling, you’ll always be safe with me. I promise.” 

[watarigarasu]

October 20th – Haunted Building

13 Days of Spooky Writing Event

Pairing: Tauriel x Reader

Word count: 1,914

Warnings: None

Author’s note: I have literally no idea what happened here, this story practically wrote itself. :) Also, it takes place in modern setting!

You could still recall the excitement flowing through your veins like a molten gold, the sweet buzzing in your heart and the warm squeeze in your stomach when you finally heard the words you were dreaming about for so long now. It was hard to comprehend that they were not part of your wild imagination, nor another made up scenario you created in your head right before falling asleep—those were actually real. Her offer was honest and it was no kind of joke, you did not misunderstand anything from the very direct and simple invitation, it was no mistake.

Tauriel truly asked you to join her in the amusement park next Tuesday.

However, right when the very first wave of bliss eventually faded away, you started to worry and as the time passed, the anxiety growing in your mind seemed to expand, almost completely blinding the previous joy. Countless questions piled, one more ridiculous than another but every single one of them occupying your thoughts for longer than you would want it to. It was enough to be stressed about meeting with the prettiest, the most talented and charismatic girl in your university—or so you considered her—worrying about any other, more or less possible scenario happening during that day was unnecessary for your already cluttered head.

What if she did not mean only you two, but some of her other friends also? There were always people surrounding her, two particularly handsome and apparently polar opposite boys accompanying her more often than the others. What if it was supposed to be simply a group meeting? What if you would make a fool of yourself one way or another? And most importantly, what if she did not see you the same way you saw her?

You barely managed to fall asleep for the whole hour at least during the night before, now nowhere near excited but rather scared of what was coming up. It was either the best opportunity to finally start talking to her about something less trivial or to prove her that you were not worth her time. Your worry increased as the inevitable hour was getting closer and closer and it peaked when you were standing at the amusement park’s main gate.

Although the afternoon was chilly, there was a lot of people on the carousels, buying deliciously smelling snacks and running from one attraction to another in a hurry. The sky became dark some time ago but it only made all the decorations and lanterns light more brightly, the variety of sounds and colours surrounding you from every direction. Fallen leaves rustled on the wind, the trees reached their branches up like a shadowy claws of some nightmare creatures and the overwhelming aura of upcoming Halloween was visible in every single corner of the fair.

Still, all you could think of was her. What are you going to talk about? Will Legolas be there, too? Perhaps you should eat something before going out, your stomach was starting to grumble but the stress prevented you from eating anything quite successfully. You were present few minutes ahead of time (speaking of making a good first impression) and you felt like waiting for her will be the worst part of it all. Once you start to talk, things should go smooth from that point.

Right…?

“There you are!” Tauriel’s voice cut through the cacophony of mechanical melodies, children’s giggling and screams of those who dared to try the hammer ride, and it was both the most breath-taking and frightening moment of your life. Slowly, you spun around to face her and saw the gentle smile on her sharp features. “I started to worry you won’t come.”

Quick peek over her shoulder proved you that she had no company this time. Just you and her.

“Why shouldn’t I?” You sighed with relief after your recent discovery. “I told you I’ll be here. Besides, I’d let you know beforehand if something happened.”

“I’m glad it didn’t then.” She looked at the booth you were standing next to and eyed the spooky themed candies before continuing. “Should we head to the main attraction of the day or do you want to buy something?”

Even though you liked the bat-shaped lollipop, you have forgotten about it already and agreed to go with her. The screams of those stuck on the rollercoaster did not create the most romantic mood but all you could think of was how picturesque her long hair looked in this peculiar scenery, ginger colour fitting her green blouse perfectly.

You wondered how would it feel to run your fingers through them.

The house of mirrors was an excellent choice for the first attraction to attend to, and you were proud that it was your idea to try it out. It was not as extreme as some rides and you had an opportunity to hear Tauriel laugh out loud, which happened to be yet another of her many advantages—her voice so carefree and fresh like a spring morning. Or maybe, you were simply growing too poetical around her.

“The labyrinth was fun,” she stated once you were out of the hall. “But I have to admit I lost the tracks at some point.”

“And why didn’t you tell me so? I told you I can find a way out just fine.”

“I didn’t want to ruin the great first impression. Plus, I was supposed to be the guide, right?” She winked at you.

“Next time I’m going to be the guide. No getting lost and certainly no mirrors which make your face look like a smashed potato.”

Tauriel chuckled and agreed with your words.

“Certainly. But you have to admit, the one which made us really tall was interesting. I suppose I could get used to being that tall.”

“It would suit you well,” you nodded and felt the next sentence leave past your lips before you managed to stop it. “And your adorable pointy ears.”

Tauriel suddenly stood still and reached her ears with the hands, replying to you before the wave of embarrassment managed to drown you completely:

“Do you really think they’re pointy?” She touched the tips, her expression unreadable.

Vaguely gesturing, you tried to desperately think of an answer which would not discredit you in her eyes.

“I think they’re pretty. A little bit pointy, yes, but I always thought it gives you this mystical look. Like an elf or something...” With every next word, your tone was becoming quieter, until you finished your sentence with a forced smile, hoping that you managed to convince her that you meant no harm.

For a moment, she did not answer you, instead tilting her head to the side and then lightening up, before saying:

“Well then, thank you for the compliment. Still, I believe they’re not even partly as ravishing as your eyes, my dear.”

Contrary to the previous idea, the one Tauriel came up with appeared as more concerning in your opinion. It was not the matter of being scared per se, but rather the possibility of doing something reckless in front of her. You wanted her to like you, to think of you as no less interesting than all the boys she was surrounded with, and even though you knew that you cared about her opinion way more than you should, it was impossible to stop. Not now, when your repressed feelings were finally finding a way out. It could be the only one opportunity to impress her and you were certainly not going to waste it on anxiety.

Or so you thought.

“It’s a really, really bad idea,” you whispered after crossing yet another corridor in the haunted house. “I don’t like it at all, it’s way too quiet.”

“It can only mean one thing,” Tauriel pointed out matter-of-factly. “Soon we’ll witness something spooky.”

Holding your breath, you did your best to not let the heart jump out of your ribcage. You were as close to Tauriel as possible, naturally, keeping in mind to not cross the line of her personal space. As much as you wanted to hold her hand, you were not sure if she would approve it. The corridor, on the other hand, seemed to be endless, decorated in fake webs, some splattered blood and other remotely disturbing decorations, none of which jumped on you all of a sudden.

The booth with candies was much more entertaining but right now there was no coming back, nor time to complain.

Tauriel stopped abruptly and placed a finger to her lips, only then pointing at the closed door you reached to. There was no way it was going to be simply a part of decorations, you admitted bitterly, surely you were being watched and had to experience a pitiful attempt to frighten you based on primal, human instincts and yet—

You did not expect for the hairy monster to jump at you so suddenly but even less did you expect Tauriel to grab your hand, shield you with her body and pull you after herself further into the corridor. From the perspective of running, all the stuffed creatures were not as scary as they could be if you paid the whole attention to them and even if you did, Tauriel’s fingers closed on your wrist were enough to make you focus on something completely, completely different.

She was holding your hand, Tauriel was holding your cold, clammy hand as you both ran through the haunted house, avoiding the jump scares and traps and laughing so hard that your stomach started to hurt. Maybe it was the nerves which made you act so ridiculously or maybe in that moment you were ironically the happiest person on the whole planet, when nothing but you two mattered—you, your connected hands and the silly run through the corridor full of plastic figures and eerie sounds.

No kind of love tunnel could bring as much adoration from you as the haunted house on that windy, autumn afternoon.

When you finally managed to find a way out, you noticed how Tauriel’s cheeks were slightly redden from the effort and emotions but the smile on her face still lasted and the spark of joy present in her gaze as she looked at you.

“Are you alright?” she asked and let go of your hand, muttering. “Sorry for your sleeve.”

“Yeah,” you breathed out. “Yeah, I’m fine. But I suppose I’ve had enough for one day.”

“And for the rest of my life, too,” she admitted and noticing your puzzled expression, quickly added. “I’m not really fond of those places, you know. But I can’t say this idea wasn’t successful.”

“What do you mean?”

“Playing your knight in shining armour against that bear-like-whatever was quite entertaining.”

This time you were more than sure that she winked at you, there was no mistake, her playful expression proved that well.

“Oh…” you were speechless. “Well then, I like the sound of that.”

“Good, because next time I’m going to use my marvellous skills with a bow and arrow to slay the dragon. But first, what would my princess say for a cup of mulled wine?”

You allowed her fingers to meet yours in a delicate grasp, when you slowly headed back to the food booths, all the anxiety leaving you as soon as you felt the cold air on your skin and Tauriel’s hand upon yours once again.

“She’d like that,” you nodded. “Very much so.”

[bbaronpiper]

Moment of weakness pt.3

Finally, here’s the last part. Sorry it took so long to post. I was busy and got stuck somewhere in the story. Anyway, it’s quite long than the previous parts. I hope you like it. <3

Paragraphs on Italic are lyrics form Lany’s songs I don’t wanna love you anymore and If you see her. I just altered some words to fit it with the story.

You can read the previous parts here. Part 1 Part 2

Arón x reader

Y/N’s P.O.V

I used to love these sheets Dark hair against the white I missed watching you get dressed in our hazy bedroom light

Sometimes I just wanna talk for a minute But I can't bring myself to call Because I know that your heart's not really in it And whatever we had is gone

It’s been ten long months since I last saw him or had any contact with him. The first few months were the hardest. I missed him terribly. His scent, his voice, everything. Even his snoring. I’m lying if I say that going back to him and forgiving him didn’t cross my mind. Not after I heard what he said in his sleep. “She’s not worth it, Bebé”. Five words. Just five words but it haunts me every single night. His voice was still ringing in my head over and over again like it was just yesterday.

It’s been ten long months  and I’m doing a lot better now. I have a new job, new apartment, new friends.

Sick of staring up at the ceiling The only way to get past this feeling Is to tell myself I’m not coming back

The sound of my phone ringing snapped me back into reality. It was Danna. Probably confirming if I will be coming over to her place this afternoon. She called me two weeks ago inviting me to her birthday party. Out of all of his friends, me and Danna was the closest. I loved her outgoing personality. I love her like a sister. I didn’t even felt an inch of jealousy when Arón gave her a rose on Valentine’s day. Hell, I would’ve given her one myself too.

“Hola chica! See you later! You don’t have a choice! You promised! Okay! Bye!” she said enthusiastically and hang up the phone. She didn’t even give me time to answer. Typical Danna. I just laughed to myself as I get up from the bed and start to get ready.

I thought of backing out and watch Netflix in the comfort of my own apartment instead. But I convinced myself that it was time. Besides, I’m doing a lot better now right?

“I can do this. It’s been a while and It’s just a party” I said to myself as you rang the door bell to Danna’s house. Danna opened the door and squealed so loud I thought my ears are gonna bleed.

“Bitch you came! I missed you! I had to hug you just to confirm I’m not seeing things!” She laughed and winked at me. I laughed and gave her the dirty finger in return.

“I missed you too! Happy birthday, hermana!” I said as she leads me to her backyard.  There I saw everyone: Ester, Alvaro, Omar, Mina, Miguel, Itzan, all of Elite’s casts and a few of Danna’s friends, whom I didn’t know. Everyone was there except him. He was nowhere to be found and it gave me a slight comfort as I sighed in relief.

They were all looking at me like they’ve seen a ghost. Probably shocked that I came after all this time. I can’t blame them though. At times like this, I would be thankful if the ground opened and swallowed me whole. It was Omar who came running up to me screaming my name excitedly. “Y/N! I see you came down from Mars now, eh? Damn, girl. We missed you a lot!” he said laughing at his own joke while hugging me so tight. “So I see, you haven’t changed a bit huh?” I loved that about Omar. His sarcastic but fun personality always makes me laugh. “I missed you too. Hot stuff!” I said truthfully. They all hugged me and said their I miss you’s eventually. I felt something inside me. Like a spark of joy. I missed these people so dearly.

---

I am now sitting alone in a wooden lawn chair sipping on my drink as I watched everyone. A smile plastered across my lips. Thinking this wasn’t a bad idea after all. When Danna called me, I was sure I wouldn’t be going. I couldn’t be around these people. There was a reason why I cut ties with them. Not because I wanted to but because I needed to. They really did become a family to me but this wasn’t my life anymore – not after what happened with him.

“Y/N! Smile!” Danna appeared out of nowhere with her phone trying to take a selfie with me. She and Omar laughed so hard when they saw the photo. “You guys are the worst! I wasn’t ready!” I said pretending to be pissed but laughed with them after I saw myself. The laughter died down eventually. Omar was now sitting beside me while Danna sat across from us. “But Y/N, how are you doing, really?” Omar asked seriously. Oh boy here it comes. “I’m doing good” I answered simply. They both looked at me as if they know I’m holding back. “No, really. I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would be.” Danna smiled at me proudly as Omar put his head on my shoulder. “That’s good to know Y/N, it was nice seeing you today. It’s been so long.” She said. “I just don’t think you’re aware how much you’ve been missed, Chica.” Omar added.

The smile I had faded away as a heart wrenching guilt dawned on me. I sigh as I remember all the last-minute cancellation of plans I had with them. All those rejected calls. They even came over to check up on me but I didn’t open the door for them. I completely shut them out of my life when all they wanted was to be there for me. That’s how fucked up I am. He really did a number on me. Suddenly I felt the need to at least explain and apologize. I owe them that. “Guys, you know I’m really s-” Omar cut me off as he squeezed my knee. “Y/N, it’s okay. We understand why you did it.” I smiled at him as my tears are now threatening to build up. But these tears are different from the ones I shed the past months. This was tears of joy. “We all had bad break ups, Y/N and we all have our own way on dealing with it and that was yours. You did it to save yourself and we couldn’t use that against you.” Danna added as she looked at me with happy tears on her eyes. Oh god, now I am crying. “Thank you guys, that means a lot to me”.

The door bell rang once again. “I got it!” Danna announced. Leaving me alone with Omar. He then grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “Okay chica, enough of this now. It’s time to parttteeyyy!!!” He dragged me where everyone was. Itzan and Jorge are now dancing on top of a table. While Ester and Mina, laughing their asses off. I can’t believe I survived ten months without these crazy people.

Arón’s P.O.V

Just look at us You'd never bet against our love Got that kind of thing that lasts Table for two She said "for life" so I'm confused How'd she turn it off so fast

Well, I wasn’t confused how she’d turn it off so fast. I mean, I broke her heart. It’s been ten long months since the last time I saw her and I’ve been dreading to see her. Damn, I’d settle even just for her silhouette just to make sure she’s safe.  Not that I didn’t try. I did. But there’s no way I could find her. She completely cut ties with everyone and it was all because of me.

She won’t talk to me anymore So if you see her Tell her I’d do anything, I need her I know I’m not perfect but we were She says she doesn’t love me don’t believe her If you see her

It’s a hot summer afternoon and I’m here on my balcony smoking, staring at the sky. It’s all I ever do nowadays and write songs to reflect what I’m feeling. That’s the only thing that keeps me sane. Bored out of my mind, I decided to open Instagram and saw Danna posted stories of her birthday cake, her house decorations, and birthday greetings from her friends. I totally forgot what today was supposed to be. But it’s fine, I don’t feel like coming anyway. That’s until I saw her last post. It was a picture of her and omar, and Y/N. I blinked twice making sure it was really my Y/N. it was a bit blurred like she was caught off guard. But I know my Y/N too well. I know it was her. I quickly throw my cigarette on the ground, stomp on it and got on my car. I drove so fast as anxiety took the best of me. I think I broke every single law on my way over to Danna’s. I rang her door bell as I waited impatiently.

She opened the door and smirked devilishly when she saw it was me. Like she knows why I’m here and it was not because it’s her birthday. “Sooo, look who decided to show up” I hugged her and wished her happy birthday. Act natural I thought but I’m so close on peeing myself. “They’re out at the back. Go grab yourself some drinks at the bar. You know your way around here, chico” Danna spoke again and wink at me before disappearing out of my sight. I did what I was told. I was about to go out to the garden when I froze in track. There I saw her with everyone. Goofing around. My Y/N. She looked so beautiful. Her hair was now shorter than I remember. She’s in a floral summer mini dress which complement her curves. She was glowing. She looked so happy.

I felt my stomach flip at the sight of her. Excitement now replaced with fear. I’m scared that I’d hurt her again. How would she react when she see me? Will her smile fade the moment she found out I’m here? I don’t think I can do this to her again. I thought to myself. Suddenly I felt the urge to turn back around and leave. Until I heard Miguel’s voice calling after me.

 Y/N’s P.O.V

I don't wanna love you anymore I don't wanna love you anymore From the start, I never thought, I'd say this before But I don't wanna love you anymore

I don't wanna love you anymore I can't forget, the way it felt, when I walked out the door So I don't wanna love you anymore

I was having so much fun catching up with everyone’s lives but at the back of my mind, I can’t help but to think if he was coming or not. Part of me, the confident me, wanted to see him. Thinking I’ve come way too far from where I’ve been since that night. I’ve become stronger and definitely better having to go through all that shit alone but the other part of me, the lonely, curious me wanted to know what it feels like to see him again. Will I go back to the dark place I’ve been the first few months I left. Will I be shattered to pieces again? No one knows but I hope it was the first one. All the questions inside my head stopped when I heard Miguel say his name. I looked at the direction he was looking at. My heart stopped for a moment when my eyes landed on him. He was already looking at me with a sad smile on his lips. All I can do was give him a small nod in return acknowledging his presence.

He said his hellos to everybody and hugged them. When it was my turn, he stopped for a second. If I didn’t knew him I’d think he just didn’t wanna hug me. But I saw it in his eyes. He was scared. I inhaled his perfume mixed with an almost faded smell of cigarette. Oh, how I missed this. Train of memories starts to hit me and I suddenly knew the answers to the questions in my head.

--

It was now dark and everyone’s drunk as fuck. If not, passed out somewhere in Danna’s house. I lit a cigarette. My guilty pleasure, remember? And looked up. I always loved the night sky. How the darkest nights produce the brightest stars. Somehow, it gives me hope. We all needed a little darkness to shine right? I took another puff on my stick and turned around only to see Arón staring back at me from a short distance. My heart started pounding against my chest and I felt a little dizzy when he started walking towards me.

“Can I join you? Y/N?” his deep voice sent shiver up to my spine.

Arón’s P.O.V

So if you see her Tell her I'd do anything, I need her I know I'm not perfect but we were She says she doesn't love me, don't believe her If you see her

We both know she's not perfect either But if she says she loves me, let me see her Let me see her

She bit her lower lip, something she does when she’s nervous. her body movements became uneasy. For a while, I thought she was gonna refuse and tell me to leave. But she nodded her head yes. A smile crept in to my face as we sat down next to each other. No one dared to say a word. Probably afraid to ruin the moment. I like this. Just the two of us under the moon, sitting in silence enjoying the view. Cold air blowing gently on us. Oh how I would give anything to do this with her every single night.

“Danna really knows how to throw a party, no?” I said trying to start a conversation. “She was always the life of the party.” She said laughing a little. Still looking up at the sky. I sunk on my seat further back, just looking at her from behind as the wind blew her hair gently. The light of the moon and stars illuminating her beautiful face. I tightened my grip around the bottle I’m holding as an attempt to hold back my self from touching her. I want to hold her so bad. Tell her I felt so incomplete without her. Tell her I know how stupid I am to let it all fall apart. My Y/N, How could I ever let her go?

“Y/N,-” “Arón, save it. We’re fine like this” I felt a sting on my chest as she cut me off. But I’m not gonna make the same mistake I did ten months ago. This time, I’m gonna fight for her. “No, please just let me get this out. Por favor” I heard her sigh as she looked back at me. The first time she looked me straight in the eye and I can still see the pain on it. or is it pain? or disgust? or anger? I dunno. I shifted on my seat so now I’m facing her. “Y/N, please know that I deeply regret all the things I did to you. I’m sorry you had to suffer alone when I promised you otherwise. ” I can tell she’s trying so hard not to shed a tear. “I just want you to understand that none of this was your fault. There’s nothing wrong with you. It was all on me” my voice getting shaky as I remembered the night she asked me if she was the one to blame for my unfaithfulness. I can’t believe I made her think that. I could hear myself apologizing over the things I did wrong and the things I didn’t do for her.  My heart breaking as I spit out words after words. The look on her face made me wanna pull her in. wrap her in my arms so tight I might glued her broken pieces back together. “I hated myself for it every single day. But most of all, I hated the fact that It cost me to lose you just to realized you’re exactly who I wanted”. I said almost out of breath. I waited for her to say something. Please Y/N, say something. My leg bouncing up and down. 

She took a shaky breath and finally spoke. “You know, Arón. I really thought it was me. All this time, I kept on thinking where did I go wrong, what did I do for you to find comfort in someone else.” I barely heard her as her voice was so soft. Like she’s just so tired of all the bullshit I put her through. Like she gave up on me. On us. “I loved you. I truly loved you, Arón.” Loved? Past tense? Fuck! “I thought we were gonna end up together. You know? Build a family and all that shit” she took a deep breath as her chin starts to quiver. “But you broke my heart.” That’s when a single tear escaped from her eye. “You broke my soul, Arón.” How could I do this to her? My Y/N. I felt a familiar pain in my stomach at the sight of her. That gut wrenching pain I hate so much. “but thank you for tonight. For the closure. We can now both sleep in peace.” And in that moment I knew she was about to leave me. Again. She started to get up and without thinking, I grabbed her wrist and pull her down to me. My heart broke a little more when she pulled away quickly. “Stop, please. I just wanna go home.” She begged. I couldn’t let her go. I won’t.

“Y/N, almost a year ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I’ve regret every second of it.” I was ready to pour my heart out to her. It was now or never. “I Still love you. I never stopped loving you. I know you’re terrified I’d do it again but I won’t and if you ever give me another chance, I will be glad to spend the rest of my life proving to you how much you mean to me. I wouldn’t stop until I’ve made you believe how much I wasn’t willing to lose you.” I said as I cried with her. My chest was pounding like a drum now.

 Y/N’s P.O.V

I looked at him with wide eyes trying to absorb all the things he just blurted out. Arón, the love of my life just said that he wanted to be with me for the rest of his life. That he will never hurt me in anyway possible. I was torn to pieces. My head was screaming at me to run. Run as far away as I can but my heart. My stupid heart wanted to give him another chance. What if he’d do it again - he won’t - he will Y/N, don’t be stupid. I love him but I’m scared to death. It took me a lot of courage and a lot of sleepless nights just to get to where I am right now. I know I would die in agony if it happens again.  But, on the other hand, don’t I owe this to myself? To at least try again?

Arón’s face started to drop as he figured I wouldn’t give him answers. he looked down at his feet shutting his eyes as pain grew stronger inside him, swallowing the lump on his throat. He sighed in defeat. He knows he’ll never have me back now. It’s too late. He looked back up at me again and gave me a small smile “okay, Y/N. I get it.” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. I swore I saw a tear rolled down his eyes just as he started to walk away. 

What am I doing here just standing like an idiot. He just told me he loves me and I still love him. So what the fuck? Y/N? It’s been a while and we’re both different person now. Stronger, and probably better. Your heart finally won the battle when you yelled his name. “Arón!” he instantly looked back at me. We both walked towards each other and meet halfway. I placed my hand on his chest desperate to feel his warmth as he looked down at me with hopeful eyes. “te quiero, asshole” I saw a smile form on his lips before he grabbed my face and smashed his soft lips into mine. We poured so much passion into the kiss and it felt so right. Like every pain I felt these past months just vanished. I felt his left hand leaving my face tracing down to my neck and down to my lower back pulling me closer and there’s nothing more I wanted right now than to have him. All of him. We pulled away out of breath as he pressed his forehead against mine. I brushed the tip of my nose to his slowly. Savoring the moment. “Y/N. Gracias. I swear you’ll never regret this” he whispered so lovingly I almost felt myself melt. “Take me home” I never ever had to ask twice. 

Next thing I know, we were back in our old apartment. He lifted me up as soon as we got inside. My legs wrapped around his torso as I hold onto him like my life depended on it. His wet kisses on my neck sent shivers to my whole body. Oh how I missed this feeling. Soft moans left my lips. His soft kisses now became rough and needy as he throws me into the bed. He just stood there looking at me. 

 Arón’s P.O.V

I can’t believe this is happening right now. I had to pause for a moment and stare at her laying on my bed. Our bed. I wished I could take a picture and frame it on our wall but I have to have her now. I pulled my shirt over my head quickly as she sat up and start to unbuckle my belt. I did the same for her “Oh, bebe, you wouldn’t need this anymore” I said referring to her dress and threw it to the floor.  I climbed on top of her. Just hovering over her. Kissing her on places I knew would drive her crazy while I palmed her right breast onto my hand and I smirked when I heard her moaning my name. I aligned myself to her entrance and looked at her waiting for her approval. I didn’t waste any second and pushed myself inside of her as soon as she nodded yes. Both of us moaning in pleasure.  I realized how much I missed being inside her. How much I miss her. “Y/N, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for this. I missed you” I saw her smile for me for the first time since I saw her today. He reached up to me and kissed my mouth. I thrusted into her faster and deeper earning loud moans from her. “Faster! oh, I’m so close baby” she said almost out of breath as she dug her nails on to my back which I’m pretty sure would leave marks and buried her face on my neck biting it. “Cum for me bebe, like you used to” and with that she let herself go. The sight of her trembling beneath me with her eyes shut, screaming my name, telling me she loves me was enough for to send me over the edge. I collapsed on top her. Trying to calm down my beating heart. She kissed my shoulder and gently run her fingers up and down my spine. I kissed the tip of her nose in return as I slowly pulled out of her. We made love and it got me smiling like an idiot.

I held her all night. I couldn’t get enough of her. I couldn’t let her go I’m scared that if I did, I would wake up tomorrow and she’d be gone again. The room was so quiet all you can hear is our breathing and our beating hearts. I laid here thinking I’m a one lucky son of a bitch. I knew Y/N was the one for me. I am so sure that it’s her who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I know what it feels like to lose her I almost died by the way and I won’t let that happen again. I looked down at her lifted her chin up and kissed her softly.

“te quiero mucho” I felt my heart flutter when she said those words. I released her from my grip and reached on my side table leaving her confused. “Baby, No, where are you going?” I didn’t answer and pulled out a small box I bought for her months ago before things went to shit. Nervous as ever, I faced her again.

“Y/N will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

--

That’s it guys. I wasn’t sure about the ending... but here we are. haha!  P.S. Don’t settle for anything less. You deserve better. *wink* <3

[romeulusroy]

Dead And Buried (Dick Grayson Oneshot)

Character/s: Dick

Word Count: 1,047

Requested: anon

Word Prompt/s: Burning, Touch

Tag List: @dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long my love! I absolutely loved your request, writing has just been so hard lately. You'd think I'd be lying when I say this took close to three hours to write, but I'm not. . . Anyways, I hope you like it. It turned out a lot longer than I expected! I hope you're taking care of yourself my love, being kind to yourself is so important! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💖💜

~ FIC MASTERLIST PART ONE. / PART TWO. ~

MINI FIC REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

The house was haunted, ghosts of the past running, playing, screaming through the doorways, pounding their fists against the wall. Hopes of the future buried beneath the carpets and floorboards, trapped in a wooden box, suffocating. Walking through the rooms, his fingers catching dust when he ran them over empty shelves, over furniture you never bothered to pack up. Too many reminders of what was, what was supposed to be, what should have been if the world hadn't come crumbling down at his feet, if he hadn't been the one to wreck it in the first place, making the biggest mistake of his life, one he'd regret for as long as he lived, maybe even longer.

Married young. No one ever thought you were going to last. You wanted to prove them wrong, prove the whole world wrong because at that age you thought you had to, you believed you had to show you weren't what they assumed. The next step, a house. You fell into place, into the expectations of society, but for older people, not couples who still were still dealing with hormonal acne, not yet grown out of your baby faces. Breaking the rules by being compliant. It's what you wanted, though, the future you always dreamed of. A home with the love of your life, one that would always be warm, inviting. You vowed it would never become the houses you grew up in, ones lacking, starved, neglected. Looking at it now though, all he saw were bones, ruins, a dead dream forgotten and abandoned. A curse through the generations of unhappiness, of failed love, of continuously coming up short.

You never were sure how long you were dating before you tied the knot, though it felt like a lifetime ago. Time had a funny way of playing tricks on the mind, making things a lot more appealing because they were left in the past. The good times seemed to last forever in comparison to the bad. Fights were seconds, mere blinks, there one second, gone the next. But you knew better than that. Your arguments were long, heated, burning holes in the walls, igniting the roof until your whole life seemed to be up in flames. They were explosive, never ending. You'd sleep separately, letting things fizzle out before you spoke again. It made the good times eternal, fluffy, the very thing that gave you air to breathe. Better than they ever were. You weren't sure where the good had gone, how you'd lost it, dropped it, broke it, but you did, you never realized though until it was too late.

There were more things to consider. The stress to be perfect, show everyone how happy you were even if it was fake. Being thrown into the adult world with jobs, with a mortgage, and bills. You thought you were invincible, that you could do it on your own just because you thought you could, because you were too stubborn to admit you'd made a mistake, that they were right all along. It wasn't just the outer world crashing down on you, it was your inner world, too. You thought he'd always be there for you, no matter what, that's what he vowed, but it seemed like he was fading with the rest of your hopes. Too many times he was choosing the hero life over you, too many nights you spent alone, waiting up for him, exhausted by the constant worry that crushed your shoulders. He didn't see a thing wrong with it, too wrapped up in the idea, the notion, that if he did this enough, if he risked his life enough, he'd make a name for himself, an image outside of Batman's shadow.

Dick never realized the toll it was taking on you, on your young marriage. It was your biggest cause for fights. You tried to work on it, on your relationship, going to counseling, therapists, going through the motions, but the only thing that would put an end to this, make it all go away, is as if it never happened in the first place. You lived like this longer than you wanted. The spark, the joy, it was fading faster than you ever wanted. Adoration became disdain. Need became indifference until finally you couldn't take it anymore. Just looking at him made you ache for what you used to be, what you'd never have. The marriage, the house, it was all a mistake. Maybe even falling for him, too.

He hadn't come home for a few days, an old habit you grew tired of, too wrapped up in his own business of capes and tights to even notice. It'd given you enough time to figure out that was the last straw. You packed your things, moved what you could, left what you couldn't. Notes and keys, important papers spread out for him along with a business card of someone willing to sell your house. Money too, for bills, for the real estate agent, taking enough to get on your feet somewhere else. You didn't want to do this, to walk out on him like this, but he was naive, convinced it could all be fixed, making more appointments, but he never put in his full effort, He never very made any real everlasting changes. It couldn't. You'd told him you were leaving, that you didn't want him to be your husband anymore, but he never listened. So you left, and that was the last time he saw you.

He never sold it like you wanted. Sometimes he still visited it, unable to give it up, give it away. It was the last piece of you he'd have left. There was nothing left of what once was. Young, divorced, you never called again after that last paper had been signed. It was the wake up call he needed, the slap across the face reminding him not to be so selfish, to think of others, not to take the ones he loved for granted. He never spoke of what you had, knowing it was exactly as everyone expected. They were counting on your end, making bets with the ghosts. He'd always thought they would be the cause, their constant gossip and rumors, but it was him all along.

[voldemorthatesnose96]

ABRUPT

My second “first meet” AU of SOBBE. Please enjoy❤️❤️❤️

“Happy birthday to me... happy birthday to me... happy birthday dear Robbe... happy birthday to me...”

A lonely brunette hair guy blows the candle on his birthday cake—well, it’s not actually a cake but a single chocolate cupcake he bought earlier after walking from the morning shift at the mini market. Today is his 20th birthday and Robbe IJzermans is celebrating alone, again. His friends back home and his parents are congratulating him, of course, but it doesn’t feel the same when they’re all together.

Robbe is an exchanged student from Belgium and been studying at University of Central Florida (UCF) for two years now. Time goes too fast, and there isn’t a single moment passed without him missing home and everything.

It’s only eight in the morning. Even though, his body is tired but his mind is restless. Robbe’s already know this kind of situation. There won’t be any use if he’s trying to get some sleep. So instead, after eating his cupcake, he grabs the jacket, backpack and leave his humble flat—suddenly have this idea of going to the theme park and treat himself there.

———————————

It takes more than two hours by train from his flat to Universal Studios, and when he’s finally get there, he whispers to the air, “home!” and smiles to himself as his feet enters the theme park.

Robbe ALWAYS love the theme park, any kind of it; probably the second favorite place in the world besides the local caffe near the college. His inner child screams in utter joy whenever he sees rides such as roller coaster, haunted house—basically, everything.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the place where he can NEVER EVER get bored. So many things to do, too many things to buy, but he always saves the rides for later. For now, he just needs to take a walk for a bit to clears his mind. Not many people comes at this hour, so it’s a good thing.

After buying a cold butterbeer, Robbe’s first plan is to see the castle and takes a selfie (if he brave enough).

“Ah, what a beauty!” Robbe says while admiring the Hogwarts Castle from afar. He knows he’s a Hufflepuff through and through but would it be so much more amazing if this school actually exists in real life? A guy can dream.

When he’s satisfy enough looking at the magical castle, Robbe continue his walking to the ice cream parlour. When he’s almost there, for the tenth time since he got there, Robbe stumbles over his own feet and.... he accidentally trips his drink over someone’s t-shirt and also knocks down theirs.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT! I AM SO SORRY! SO SORRY!” He panicks without looking at the person. “I DON’T HAVE TISSUE! SO SO SO SORRY! I STUMBLED OVER MY FEET! YOUR DRINK IS FELL TOO! I’M SO STUPID! SORRY SORRY SORRY! I WILL—“

“Dude, stop!”

Robbe’s body freeze for couple seconds after he looks up and sees a guy around his age, wearing black everything but his bleached hair is making a beautiful contrast to the appearance. This guy’s looking... handsome? Devilishly handsome? In a way; and he’s looking rather pissed.

I’m dead, Robbe thought.

“I’m so sorry. I accidentally—“

“Yeah yeah, I heard you before. You accidentally stumbled over your feet, I know. I’m not deaf. But now what’re you gonna do to fix this? This clothes is expensive. Can you buy me another one?”

Robbe is super embarrassed right now. Cursed his feet and his too-clumsy nature!

“Look, I can make everything’s right again, okay?” He finally manage to find his voice and courage. “I can wash your t-shirt, even your jeans and buy you another drink. But please, forgive me! I’m sorry!”

Not long after, the bleached hair guy snorts and laughs loud; he’s too loud, almost everyone looking at them now.

“OH MY GOD, YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE! YOU LOOK TERRIFIED. SMILE A LITTLE, DUDE! IT WAS JUST A JOKE!”

“W-what?” Robbe asks, genuinely confused.

“This fucking t-shirt isn’t expensive,” the bleached hair guy says after he finally manages to calm himself from laughter. “In fact, I wanted to burn it.”

“But why? It’s nice.”

“Nope, you should buy me a cup of stracciatella ice cream then I’ll talk.”

Robbe can’t believe this weird guy; a total stranger, a little bit bossy but also exciting at the same time can stunned him easily. Feels like there’s an invisible sign above his head that speaks “DANGER!” but to hell with this—it’s still his birthday and no danger will be happened at the theme park, as far as he knows.

“Yeah, okay.” Robbe says as he follows the handsome stranger to the ice cream parlour.

Robbe almost trips when the bleached guy abruptly dead-stop in front of him.

“What is it?”

“Almost forgot,” he says, as he turns around and offers his hand. “Sander, 22, Juilliard student.”

Robbe takes Sander’s hand. It feels warm and strong in his, “Robbe, 20, exchanged student at University of Central Florida.”

Sander smirks, letting go the handshake, “cool. Come on, then!”

After they buy some ice creams and eat them on the spot, both agree to ride a Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey after this.

While they walking side by side, Robbe says, “now that I’m finally bought you an ice cream, mind to tell why you wanted to burn your clothes?”

Sander doesn’t answer for a minute or two. But when they walking pass the souvenir shop and Robbe’s being a little distracted by the wizard hat in the window, Sander says.

“Because my girlfriend gave it to me,” then he adds. “Well, an ex now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t be,” Sander shakes his head. His voice is surprisingly calm and playful still. “She was cheating on me. Here, at this very park.”

“ARE YOU FOR REAL?!” Robbe absentmindedly yell but quickly compose himself. “I mean, what? Here? That’s not possible!”

“But it IS possible, Robbe.”

“I’m sorry...”

“Stop saying that!” Sander giggles. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m glad I could finally get rid of her!”

“Can we... can we just sit somewhere and talk?”

Robbe doesn’t know where he gets the idea but one thing for sure, he also have the need to pour his heart out too to this guy. They may just know each other less than 2 hours, but... don’t know, but Robbe’s already trust Sander; something that never happen with anybody else, ever. And mostly, he feels that Sander need someone to talk to, even though his exterior speak otherwise.

“Because it’s you, I’ll do it.”

Wait, what? What does it mean because it’s me? Robbe thought, feeling bewildered but doesn’t mind.

“Before I continue,” Sander says after they finally sit at the cafetaria. It’s so crowded now, that they have to wait for almost 15 minutes to get a seat. “Do you think I’m a bad person for saying those things?”

“About?”

“That I’m happy for getting rid of her.”

Robbe shakes his head and smiling softly, “not at all. I swear.”

“Okay, then,” Sander sighs in relief. “We’ve been together for nearly a year now. Ups and downs, of course. But never in my life, even for a second that I thought she’d cheated on me,” he sips his iced-tea before continuing. “Like I said before, I’m a Juilliard student, that’s in New York and she’s in USF, which means we had a long distance relationship. You can still keep up, right?”

Robbe nods, not saying anything.

“Long story short, I just got here yesterday and we’re supposed to have fun today blablabla... then when I came back from the restroom, she was supposed to wait for me near the giant globe but she was nowhere to be seen. Was looking for her for nearly half an hour when I accidentally saw her french-kissed this asshole near the haunted house. Well, I took a pic of them, sent her that and said ‘wow! A public porn!’. She still had the audacity to sent “I CAN EXPLAIN, OK?!” but I blocked her number after that. The end. Happily ever after.”

“Wow...”

Sander gives him a mocking snorts, “that’s it? Just wow? What’s wow about that?”

“Um, sorry. No, of course it’s not a wow. Not that kind of wow. It’s just,” Robbe takes a deep breath to calm himself. Damn this nervousness! “I can’t believe someone actually did that. Cheating and everything.”

Sander lets a huff and rolls his eyes, “but some people could. But enough about me. Let’s talk about you.”

Robbe is a bit perplexed by the sudden change of topic, “me?”

Sander smirks while pierce his stares at him, “only you.”

Why does everything he said does something weird to my heart and stomach??? Robbe thought with annoyance.

“What do you wanna know, then? Ask away!”

“Why are you here alone?”

“Because I want to.”

“Give me a better answer, Robbe.” Sander mocks.

Robbe gulps. He plays his thumbs as self-assurance that what he’s going to say next isn’t that embarrassing.

“Well, today’s actually my birthday and I’m celebrating alone for 2 years now. I’m from Belgium, by the way. I always miss it and my friends.”

Looks like there’s only single information that Sander catch because he says “happy birthday” without making any comment about other things.

After saying that, he smiles as his hand ruffling Robbe’s hair. This gesture make Robbe’s heart beats even faster than before. But it’s only a friendly gesture, right? Like what big brother usually do to his little brother? Or as a friend. Right? No matter what is, he likes it too much to care.

“Thanks.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Robbe laughs at this, “no.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No but I’d love to.”

Sander’s green eyes widen, “so, you’re a...”

“Gay, yep!”

“Good for you,” Sander grins. “But did you realise that you just come out to a stranger?”

“You’re not a stranger anymore,” Robbe mumbles shyly as he holds his glass tighter. “I trust you, Sander.”

Both are silent for few minutes before Sander taking off a necklace around his neck and place in Robbe’s palm. It’s a gold necklace with a mini violin as the pendant.

“Yes?” Robbe asks, utterly confused. His brain’s momentarily has stopped working when their hands touch once again, but this time they linger.

“This is your present.”

“For what?”

“For your birthday, dummy!” Sander says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“No, Sander. I can’t! This is too expensive!” Robbe yelps but the bleached hair guy holds his hand even tighter.

“I need you to keep it!” He demands, “my mom gave it to me for my 4th birthday. It’s for a good luck and now it’s yours.”

“But—”

“I gave it to you, okay? Keep it,” Sander cuts him. “Or if you still insist, give it back to me when we meet again next time.”

“What?”

“I’m having a solo concert at Juilliard in two months. Would you be there?”

At this point, Robbe can never say no to him. Probably ever. He doesn’t know the reason why, but he’s certain that this sudden friendship will turn into something more. Hopefully. God, is he already whipped for someone he just met today?

“Are you gonna play a violin?”

“Yes,” Sander beams. “So? Would you?”

“I’d love to.”

“You promise?”

It’s true that they just met, it’s true that both doesn’t know each other that well yet, it’s true that this is quite abrupt but who would’ve thought, behind Sander’s devil-may-cry attitude, there’s an innocent and child-like insecurity? And Robbe is more than happy to get to know more about this special person.

This time, Robbe place his hand on top of Sander’s hand and whisper gently, “I promise.”

He isn’t sure how it’s gonna be, where it’s gonna lead but just them being like this—it’s more than enough. It left unsaid, but both already understand.

And that’s all that really matters.

[theonewiththefanfics]

Limited Space (one-shot)

Synopsys: One room. Two beds. But will both of them be used?

Pairing: Tom Holland x f!Reader; OC!Juliet (Reader’s character’s name)

Genre: fluff, tiny bit of angst, like blink and you’ll miss it

Warnings: like one swear word I think :D

Word count: 3739

       “Y/N.”        “Yes, Jimmy?” she dramatically flipped her head to the side causing her hair to swish which made everyone laugh a bit at her antics.        “When you found out you weren’t going to be in ‘Civil War’ with these guys, and Tony was going to get a new protegee in Spider-Man, what were your thoughts? Did you kinda go up to Kevin Feige and ask if he was replacing you?”        “Funnily enough,” Y/N pointed at Tom, “when we first met on the carpet for ‘Civil War’ that was the first thing he said. “Please don’t think I’m replacing you!”" she imitated his London accent though quite badly making everyone chuckle, and Tom had to bite his lip to keep the smile at bay.        “If I’m being genuine –“ she continued, “I was just terrified I was gonna be fired. Cause after ‘Age of Ultron’ where it turns out the Hulk took the plane to space and ended up in Sakaar, I thought that’s what would happen to me. And I was pumped,” Y/N emphasized the word, “but like, Mark and I were keeping in non-stop contact while it was leading up to Phase 3 announcements, 'cause neither of us had any idea what was happening to our characters. And when it was announced Hulk would be in 'Ragnarok', yet for me, it was radio silence, and then Spidey flipped into the ‘Civil War’ trailer… I-“ she laughed, “I kinda started sweating.”        Robert patted her knee as Y/N made a motion of ‘cooling off’ with her hand. “And then for like two more weeks, there was nothing. Mark knew zip, though that was a smart decision on Marvel's part.”        “Is he still not trusted by anyone?” Jimmy chuckled, and Robert rolled his eyes.        “Listen,” the legend started, “everyone loves him, and he’s such a kind person. Whenever something slips past those loose lips,” he looked over his tinted glasses at Tom as well, “it’s never from a malicious place. Like those two are just excited and want to share that with the world, but when you stream the first fifteen minutes of the movie on your Instagram… you kinda lose the access to the secrets.”        The audience erupted into laughter as did Y/N. She had gone to the 'Ragnarok' premiere to support her friends, and the movie and clearly remembered the woman poking Mark in the back and angrily whispering for him to turn off the Instagram Live that was still going. At the afterparty, for the first twenty minutes, that’s what everyone was talking about.        “And what about you, Tom?” Jimmy brought the conversation back on track. “When you found out you’d be in Civil War but had no contact with Y/N or Juliet in this case what was your first thought?”        “I was really scared that she’d hate me,” Tom laughed rubbing his neck and looked at Y/N, who waved him off. “ ‘Cause Tony’s and Juliet’s relationship is one of the strongest in the MCU, and now that he’s recruited Peter, I was genuinely terrified. Especially of her fans, like they are passionate about Juliet, which I totally get. I just hoped that she’d be nice and accepting when we did meet and got to work together.”

       Y/N rolled her head to the side and looked at Tom. “And am I as scary as you thought I’d be?”        “In the mornings, horrifying,” Tom sassed, and Y/N slapped his shoulder with mock hurt on her face while Robert exclaimed a ‘watch it, kid, that’s my daughter! I might be dead, but I’ll come back to haunt your ass.’        “Did you kinda help him fit into the dynamic of everything?” Jimmy continued on, and Y/N looked at Tom.        “Not really, no,” she shook her head. “He just fit in so perfectly on his own, that nobody had to do anything. Sure, like helping out with the scenes and advice like that as peers, yeah. But there was no ‘here’s Tom. Now be friends’ kind of a thing. And in the end, I was off in space, and they were kicking Cap’s ass back on Earth.”        Someone in the audience hollered a ‘Team Iron Man’ making Robert blow a kiss in the person’s direction. Given how he wasn't with them to promote Marvel anymore and was there for the re:MARS initiative, it was nice for all of them to catch up.        “Honestly,” he piped up, “I couldn’t wait for Infinity War and then Endgame, to film with this one, and then see us on the big screen reunited,” he affectionately ruffled Y/N’s hair.        “Me too,” she smiled, “though, when we saw Spidey and Iron Man interacting with the Guardians, yet no Juliet, I started to think maybe it was just like a mock scene that wouldn't end up being used. 'Cause by that point, everyone knew she was rolling with the Space Avengers, and maybe it was just to throw everyone off. But filming it was a really amazing experience, ‘cause Juliet hadn’t seen her father for what now,” she looked at Robert for confirmation, “three-four years? And suddenly they meet again, but he has a new protegee and stuff. It was interesting to see how the dynamic would evolve, and how she’d feel about Peter. As evident in the movie – she kinda liked him.”        “So, no rivalry between the two of you?” Jimmy motioned with his hand.    And Tom placed his head on Y/N’s shoulder making the audience aww. “None whatsoever.”        “Good answer,” she patted his head. “I’ve trained you well.”        But as everyone laughed, Y/N was completely unaware of how Tom’s heart galloped in his chest from that small touch and show of affection. Fuck, he was in deep.

***

       “Ugh,” Y/N groaned putting a hand against her back and stretching, feeling the air between her vertebra pop. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”        Robert gently patted her shoulder. “You and me, kid, but we know we can’t. Chris will kill us if we miss the barbecue.”        “Which one?” Tom asked, dropping his suitcase on the floor. “Pratt? Evans? Hemsworth? Pine?”         Robert cocked his eyebrow. “Since when did we have Pine?”        Tom shrugged his shoulders. “Zoe is slowly collecting all of them. And honestly, I wouldn’t be that surprised if they had some sort of a Chris-convention.”        “Chrisvention?” Y/N quirked her eyebrow settling on the arm of the couch.        “Chris-con?” Tom offered.        She snorted. “That just sounds like crisscross.”        Robert rolled his eyes removing his glasses and placing them on the mantlepiece. He had invited the two youngsters to stay with him since they both were like his kids, especially after having known Y/N for almost a decade, and now having taken the young Brit under his wing, he didn’t want the two to sleep in hotels if he could offer the comfort of his own house.        “Okay, you two, off to bed,” Robert clapped his hands interrupting the weird conversation they were having and shooed them up the stairs having grabbed Y/N’s suitcase much to her grumbling that she could do it herself. “Now, the other guestroom is under renovation so you’ll be sharing. Two beds, one bathroom, unfortunately. Need you to be up bright and early so we could get to Renner’s. And no funny business!”        “Ok, Bobert!”        They heard a high-pitched whine of ‘stop calling me that!’ as he retreated before a door closed shut, leaving the two with their eyes rolling and heads shaking.        “I swear, he’s such a diva,” Y/N joked bringing her suitcase in and dropping it on top of the bed. “The Marvel fame’s really gotten to his head.”        “I know!” Tom exasperated in that same ‘I don’t actually mean it’ tone. “It’s like – chill it, Rob!”        Y/N snorted and zipped open her bag pulling out a set of pyjamas consisting of an incredibly old and stained shirt with some shorts. “Rob?”        “I know,” he wrinkled his nose. “Regretted that as soon as I said it.”        She hummed listening to how Tom unpacked a few of his things and gentle music erupted all around them when he hooked his phone to the speaker.        “Any requests, m’lady?” he said in a very much so overly exaggerated British accent which Y/N didn’t think was possible, seeing as he was, well, already British.        “Why yes, I do actually,” she spun around, her bag of toiletries pressed against her chest as if it was her palm. “Let it be ‘Bowling for Soup’ – ‘Here’s Your Fricking Song’.”        Tom bowed and typed in the name. “As the lady wishes.”        With the upbeat track of late 2000s punk-rock, Y/N skipped to the bathroom and started to get ready for the night. Without even thinking the two had engaged in a sing-along, and she even held her toothbrush as a microphone.        “I get drunk and you get pissed!” she screamed, and Tom responded, “You start dreaming I don’t exist!”        “I say yes, and you say no!”        Without missing a beat, he sang, “Like Katy Perry says, you’re Hot and Cold!”        “With all the shit that we’ve been through, this the best that I can do!” they sang in unison, Y/N almost choking on her toothpaste. “Can I still get lucky tonight?”        Cackling she entered the bedroom and bowed in front of Tom. “The bathroom’s all yours, kind sir.”        The pure happiness on Y/N’s face was a sight Tom never wanted to forget. It was just the way her Y/E/C eyes lit up, that sparked his own joy and released a horde of butterflies to trash around his stomach.        Venturing away from Y/N he released a shaky breath and looked at himself in the mirror.        “Pull yourself together,” Tom muttered to his reflection as if the counterpart could actually take charge and calm him down.        The music still played switching from one song to another as he brushed his teeth and washed his face from all the makeup that had been caked on his skin for the show. With satisfaction, Tom watched as the beige and brown colours went down the drain with the running water, freeing him from its confines and bringing back his own face        Sure, there were impurities. Acne spots, little pimples pushing to the surface, a scar here or there. Usually, when he was around people without them covered, Tom could feel a bit insecure, as if each and every person had a magnifying glass to their eye and were focusing in on just those things. But with the people he was comfortable with, the people he trusted and loved, there was none of that because more likely than not, he had seen them in that same kind of state.        Or in Y/N’s case, with her face covered by a white spot-treatment mask making her look like a weird version of a Dalmatian. She was sat against the bed’s headboard with a book in her lap (her usual state) and sweet melodic music Tom recognized to be the soundtrack for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ wafted around her.        “Getting in the mood?” he asked moving to rest on his own bed, acting as if his heart wasn’t beating a mile a minute.        “Kinda,” Y/N muttered through pursed lips. “In the movie, the scene where Tristan and Yvaine are up in the clouds they spent so much more time with the Captain, where in here,” she pointed with her chin to the pages of ‘Stardust’, “it’s barely been two pages, and they’re already off. And his name isn’t even Shakespeare!”        “What outrage!” Tom mocked and received a pillow in the face for that, phone dropping to his lap. “Rude much?” he threw it back, but Y/N easily caught it.        “Captain Shakespeare is my favourite character!”        “And you still have the movie to see him in,” Tom’s eyebrow rose. She had nothing but a groan as her response.        Y/N read for a bit more while he distracted himself with social media, but it wasn’t long when she placed a candy wrapper as her bookmark and turned off the bedside lamp.        “ ‘Night, Tom,” Y/N yawned and hugged a pillow closer to her chest.        “ ‘Night, Y/N,” he replied, watching her relaxed features for a bit, before residing to the night himself.     Nothing but the moon and stars twinkled outside, illuminating the bedroom with a pale-ish glow, and while he waited for sleep to claim him, Tom watched Y/N rest, her body cast over with the moonlight making him think she was some sort of a princess from a fairytale under a spell, and the glimmer was showing him the way to break the curse.     The dead silence of the night was interrupted by his soft voice uttering her name.        “Y/N?”        “Yeah?”        “Are you awake?”        She snorted and turned on her back. “Given how I just responded to you, yeah. I’d say I’m awake.”        “I dunno,” Tom chuckled. “You could be sleep talking.”        “Then I must be a pretty bomb-ass coherent sleep talker,” he saw her put a hand behind her head. “What’s up?”        “I can’t sleep.”        "Why not?”        “ ‘S just… I dunno… It’s stupid…”        “Well, it’s not that stupid if you’re losing sleep over it,” Y/N propped herself on her elbow to get a better look at Tom. Even in the complete darkness, she could distinguish the worry in his face and what seemed to be embarrassment. “I won’t judge.”        With one last huff, Tom relented. “It’s just when we were in England doing press, I could go home, and sleep, and Tess always slept next to me. I dunno… I just guess I miss something warm to cuddle next to… told you it was stupid.”        “No,” came Y/N’s instant response. “It’s not stupid at all. If you wanna hear something stupid, is that when I first got the role of Juliet, which was my first role like ever, I slept in Evans’s trailer for like three weeks, 'cause he had Dodger with him, and I had forgotten Huks home. Took a while for it to arrive, so I had to improvise.”        She saw his eyebrow raise. “Huks?”        “It’s a plushie husky. Couldn’t go to sleep without it… in fact, I still have worse sleep if it’s not with me than when it is. So, no. I don’t think missing Tessa or her cuddling with you is a stupid reason to be unable to fall asleep.”        Tom just wanted to scream out that it was the most adorable thing ever, and that Y/N had to stop before his heart did, but before he could even mutter that her reason wasn’t stupid either, she managed to speak up first.        “Do you maybe wanna sleep next to me? Not in a weird kinda way, just… you know… you said you miss something warm next to you...”        “Are you sure? ‘Cause I don’t want you to d-“        “Stop worrying and get under the covers,” Y/N hissed but she was smiling as she did so, waving him to come to her bed. “Though, I do have to warn you – I’m a very violent sleeper,” she said scooting to the side.        “How does… that work?”        “It means,” she grunted pushing a bit further to the edge and settling down as Tom slipped beneath her bedding, “that I might just, unconsciously kick you, and no matter how far you sleep from me, you’ll end up either on the very edge of the bed or on the floor.”        “Also,” Y/N extended a hand, “this is you promising not to sue me for whatever damages my sleeping-self might cause you. A broken nose or a rib – awake me is not at fault.”        Tom clasped her hand and sighed. “And here I was getting ready to cash in.”        “Sucks to be you then, cause this deal is unbreakable,” she shrugged and gave him one last smile before turning her back to the man and giving a ‘goodnight’.        “Goodnight,” Tom muttered to her already softly breathing form, but he himself couldn’t find rest.        Although he thought it might actually help him to have something warm to sleep next to, it seemed like his brain was going into overdrive, and his heart was about to collapse.        She stirred for a second and rolled over to face him, making his breath hitch. Y/N was so close to him that he wouldn’t even need to stretch his hand to caress her face.        “You’re so beautiful,” Tom whispered looking at Y/N’s closed eyes. And unbeknownst to him, her heart almost exploded because although she looked like she was dead asleep, a twitch in her body had jolted her awake, and now she was very much so alert. “I wish I could tell you this while you’re awake… or just in general, I wish I could just grow a pair and do it, but I guess this’ll have to do for the time being. You’re so, so beautiful,” his thumb brushed over her cheekbone, and Y/N had to suppress the hitch of her breath.        “And I don’t just mean how you look ‘cause fuck, darling you are a dream… marvellous… but your mind… your heart… the first time we met I thought I’d have a panic attack because you looked at me so softly, I felt my mind go numb and everything just tuned out of focus.”        “And then we got to know one another more,” he released a barely-there sigh, but Y/N still heard it, “and I couldn’t help myself. I started to fall for you. You had a boyfriend at the time, so I knew I had zero chances, but it didn’t matter to me. I was giving my heart to you every day bit by bit, and it didn’t even matter if you broke it or not, ‘cause it was already yours to do as you pleased.”        Tom released a bitter chuckle, and Y/N could feel him shake his head. “But still somehow I’m too much of a coward and a twat to say how I feel despite it being almost four years, despite both of us being single.” She felt his gaze roam her face and tried her hardest not to flutter her eyelashes. “I guess I’m just too afraid to lose you. In any kind of capacity. I’d rather have you as a friend than not at all… that I couldn’t take…”        That was the thought that made his heart clench the most, and tears prickled at the corners of his eyes. One of the biggest fears, when it came to relationships and friendships he had, was, if he told her how he felt, that Y/N would just shove him out of her life completely. So he surrendered himself to loving her from afar. And he let her love him her own way. It was better than nothing.        Quickly before they to dropped to the pillow, Tom wiped the tears away and finally settled for the night, the weight pressing on him lifted if only for a moment before it would come crashing down in the morning. But Y/N had other plans.     “Do you mean that?” her voice trembled, and Tom’s eyes shot open to see her already looking up at him     “Y-Y/N? I thought you were asleep.”     “Answer the question, Holland,” she murmured sliding her hand up to the nape of his neck and pulling his face closer. “Do you mean what you said?”     “Yes,” the word was a breathless whisper as his forehead now rested on hers. “I mean every. Single. Word. I am in love with you.”     And she needed nothing more than to nudge his head away, brush her nose against his and press their lips together. The two practically sagged against one another with relief that the kiss was reciprocated. Y/N’s hands had gently woven to tangle up in Tom’s chocolate locks, both to feel the softness of them and to pull him closer, while one of his palms had settled on her waist and the other was cupping her cheek, his thumb gently stroking the side of her face. But something just had to ruin the mood, and it was Tom’s laughing.     “What?” Y/N pulled back annoyed and frustrated because that one kiss was just not enough after almost two years of her own pent up emotions.     “Robert said no funny business,” he giggled.     Her eyebrow quirked up. “And?”     “And this is funny business.”     “Oh my god,” she groaned, chuckled and slipped out of the bed. “You’re a literal child.” Smacking a pillow over his face, which Tom easily caught Y/N bounded over to the bed he had been previously occupied and slipped under its covers.     “Wait, no, come back!” he whined reaching over the end of the bed, flopping down on his belly with an extended hand. “Please,” and he gave such an adorable pout that it almost broke Y/N, but no. She crossed her arms and put her nose up in the air.     “Nope,” she shook her head, but even in the pitch-black darkness, Tom could see the smile she tried to suppress. “You thought it was funny kissing me, so no kisses or cuddles.”     “Please?”     “No.”     “Please?” his voice increased with each syllable.     “No.”     And then Tom rolled onto his back and pouted, giving Y/N the best puppy-dog eyes in the world. Like if there existed a contest for that kind of a thing, he’d totally get the prize. “Please come back to bed and cuddle with me?”     She couldn’t say no anymore. She never could and never will be able to say no, and that’s when a realization hit her – he had Y/N completely wrapped around his finger, but she didn’t mind that.     If the kiss and his warm arms wrapping around her waist was what greeted her when she clambered back under the sheets, and his steady heartbeat lulled her to sleep, she didn’t mind being wrapped around his finger at all.     And truthfully, with how huge the grin was that spread across Tom’s face as he kissed her forehead ‘goodnight’ this time for real, neither was he too upset how wrapped around her finger he was.     In the morning he had to remember to say ‘thank you’ to RDJ for the limited space he had in his house. And although he did wake up with a sore in his ribs where Y/N had accidentally kneed him during the night, he had never been happier about a predicament in his life. After all, it’s what gave him the chance to speak his heart.

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take): @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @sweet-ladyy @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl @sj-thefan@nerissa98 @happyseagrill @asguardiansoftheavengers @crazybutconfidentaf @wishingforahome @pizzarollpatrol @desir-ae

A/N: should I do like a part two of the next day????????

P.S. what did ya think?

P.S.S. my tags are always open. just drop a message :)

[darthdestiny07]

FE3H Half-Sister AU (Again)

Based off this.

Warning! Obvious Spoilers for Crimson Flower, Azure Moon, and Silver Snow Routes! Consider yourself warned and proceed at your own risk.

It was supposed to be a peaceful visit. Her father and brother were in the carriage ahead of them. As soon as they stopped, something happened and familiar and comforting arms wrapped around her waist.

"It's going to be fine, my darling. We'll see El soon."

Soldiers around them sprang forward, pulling out their weapons. She saw Glenn rush forward, a look of terror warping his face.

"Mother?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry, Nia. You're safe with me." Her mother kissed her head, her lips brushing the child’s golden hair, but it did little to comfort the girl.

A familiar scream split the air, and Nia's heart nearly stopped. That was her brother! "FATHER!!!" The anguish in his voice made her blood turn cold. What had happened to their father?!

She broke free of her mother's embrace, hoping to see what happened. As she attempted to look out the carriage window, an unfamiliar face appeared. Nia scrambled back as he opened the door, brandishing a knife.

"What are you doing? We can't fight! Leave at once!" The order seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the man swung at her mother. She dodged his initial attack, lunging at him and struggling to take the sharp weapon from him.

Her mother looked back at her, her violet eyes wide with terror. "Trust nobody from the empire or kingdom, Aniya! Run!!!"

Terrified, Aniya escaped the tiny confines of the carriage from the opposite side. She fell onto the ground, scrambling to her feet.

"And where do you think you're going?" A man on a wyvern landed in front of her, blocking her escape route. He pointed his lance at her, the sharp tip dangerously close to her smaller body.

Gritting her teeth, she grasped the wooden shaft of his weapon. He loosened his grip in surprise. He clearly didn't know who he was dealing with! Wrestling his lance from his grip, she turned his own weapon against him. Knowing the weak points in his armor were the joints, Aniya went for them. He didn't live much longer, falling off his wyvern as a lifeless corpse.

Aniya seized his mount, taking to the sky as someone raced to stop her. He knocked an arrow, letting it fly through the air. Her shoulder throbbed with pain when his arrow found its target: her. Ignoring the pain, she urged the wyvern to leave this terrible place. As it obeyed her command, she glanced back.

Flames lapped at anything they could. Her father's carriage was completely engulfed in flames. His lifeless body lay on the ground close by. Her mother hadn't fared well, either. She was face down, lying in her own blood. Frantically, she looked for her brother. He wasn't too far away, but he was outnumbered. Someone came up behind him and struck him in the head.

"Dimitri!" Aniya cried as he crumpled to the ground. She clenched her jaw, turning back to focus on her route ahead.

She made it to Garreg Mach Monastery within a day. A knight greeted her, helping her down from the wyvern's back. She nearly collapsed in his arms, dizzy and disoriented from her wound.

"What happened? Where are you from?"

"It was supposed … to be peaceful …" Aniya didn't even protest as he picked her up to carry her. "My family … they're … dead …" Her grip on consciousness finally slipped, falling into the blissful unawareness of unconsciousness.

-----

Aniya didn't do much during her first week at the Monastery. Professor Manuela had done what she could for her wound, and it had healed nicely. But the bitter truth remained: she was an orphan. Her family had died that day.

Her grief left her no appetite or desire to train. She spent most of her time just staring blankly out at the fishing pond, or in the library when the evening fell.

She was just passing the dining hall, foregoing dinner again, when someone called out to her.

"Aniya!" A young woman with vivid mint green hair in corkscrews came up to her. "We've received some wonderful news! Your brother is alive!"

"Dimitri … is alive …?" Aniya felt some hope return to her. "Are you certain?"

"Yes! Although your parents are …" she trailed off.

"I know." Still, her brother was alive! "How is he? Do you know?"

"I don't know."

"That's alright. Thank you for telling me … um …"

"Flayn. Seteth's my older brother."

After that, Aniya perked up. She seemed to return to her old self, although she was haunted by nightmares of that day. Four years passed, and she received some exciting news.

Both her siblings were going to attend the Officer's Academy this year!

She watched the students attending this year enter the Monastery, hoping to catch a familiar blonde or brunette. After a week passed, she had started to lose hope they'd come.

Aniya was spending time in the library one evening when she noticed a gray-haired student struggling to reach a book high on a shelf. "Would you like some help?"

"Hm?" The student looked at her, eyes widening. "Oh, s-sure."

"Then up you go!" Without a second thought or hesitation, she lifted him up. He seemed stunned for a second, but retrieved the book he was seeking.

Once back on his feet, he turned to face his helper. Goddess, she was beautiful … "Th-thanks …"

"Heh, sorry. I should have warned you I'm stronger than I look. I got it from my father." She chuckled sheepishly.

"No, that's fine! You're just … you look like a princess from a storybook …"

"Oh. Thank you." Aniya smiled at the compliment. Nobody really paid much attention to the orphans around the Monastery, so getting a compliment was rare.

"What's your name?"

Aniya had just turned to return to her book when he asked. "Nia."

"Thank you for helping me, Mia. Are you a student here?"

"I will be attending the Officer's Academy, yes. Probably this year, if Seteth allows it."

"Do you know what house you'll be in?"

"Either the Black Eagles or Blue Lions. I'm not certain yet." Nia glanced over at the stained glass window, suddenly realizing how late it was. "Oh, I should be going now. It was nice to meet you!"

The next morning, Seteth called her to his office. Grumbling because she had been pulled from her morning training, she approached his office. A familiar voice greeted her ears before she turned the corner.

"I have someone I'd like you two to meet. They should be here any moment now."

Who was he addressing? Her curiosity bubbling behind her calm demeanor, she turned the corner and approached Seteth's office.

"Is it our mother?" Nia nearly froze and broke into tears when she heard that voice. It had been four years since she heard that beautiful tenor!

Excitement getting the better of her, Nia entered the office and knocked on the door to announce her presence. Seteth was facing her, a faint smile appearing when she entered the small room. Standing with their backs facing her were two students, the house leaders of the Blue Lions and Black Eagles. She recognized her brother immediately, but the white-haired young woman didn't look familiar to Nia.

The two turned to face her, and Nia couldn't hold her excitement and joy anymore. She nearly tackled her half brother and half sister to the ground in a tight hug.

"N-Nia?!" Dimitri was stunned. Not from her sudden hug, but from seeing her. "You're alive?"

The white haired woman who shared Nia's mother's eyes returned the young women's hug. "It's wonderful to see you again, my sister." Her sister … Edelgard. What had happened to her? That haunted look, her brown hair turning white …

"I missed both of you so much!" Nia stepped back, smiling with joy.

"How did you survive four years ago?" Dimitri asked.

Nia's smile fell. "U-um … I … I ran away. I should have stayed an--”

Edelgard quickly cut her off. “And it’s a good thing you didn’t. You would have probably died there. I don’t want to lose another part of my family. Now then, why don’t you come with me, and I can introduce you to the Black Eagles house? You’re more than welcome to join th-”

“She’d be more comfortable around familiar faces, Edelgard.” Dimitri cut off his step-sister and pulled his younger sister closer to him. “You remember Sylvain, Felix, and Ingrid, right?”

Before Nia could answer, Edelgard cut in again. “In case you’ve forgotten, Dimitri, it’s been over five years since I last saw my sister. I believed her dead as well.”

“Do I have a say in this?” Nia asked, bringing the attention back to her. “I’d like to meet your friends, Edelgard. When introductions are finished, I’ll greet my old friends. I’m not officially joining the Academy just yet, after all. But I can still attend a class or two every week. As long as Seteth will let me, right?” She looked at her guardian.

“I suppose I can allow that …” Seteth nodded slowly. “You’ll be well protected with your siblings around, after all.”

“Why would she need protection?” Edelgard asked.

“We still haven’t found those responsible for initiating the Tragedy,” Seteth explained.

As the siblings left Seteth’s office after a quick farewell, Nia froze. Standing at the end of the hallway were two other young men, one that made her blood turn to ice when she saw him. He was clearly from Duscur, the same people that had mercilessly slaughtered her parents.

Dimitri noticed his sister’s hesitation and was about to talk to her when Edelgard led her away, toward her retainer. “Hubert, this is Nia, my sister. Nia, this is Hubert.”

“Hello, Hubert.” Nia nodded with a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“And this is Dedue, a good friend of mine.” Dimitri motioned to Dedue.

“Hello.” Nia clearly forced a polite reply before returning her attention to her sister. “I’d love to meet your friends in the Empire, El!”

Dimitri watched, feeling the familiar pang of sadness in his heart as his sister walked away. He later explained to Nia why he trusted Dedue, which led her to question her memories of that terrible day. Had they really been attacked by the people upset with their father’s actions?

When the students had all arrived at the Academy, the professors took them out for some training exercises. Nia waited for their return patiently, only to fear the worst when her siblings hadn’t returned with the other students and two of the professors. Then when they did come back, they had a group of mercenaries with them.

Things only seemed to get worse from there. The third professor had fled when the students were attacked, leaving a gap that was filled by one of the mercenaries. The daughter of the Captain of the Knights of Seiros: Byleth. The Ashen Demon, as the rumors went. She decided to teach one of the houses her siblings led. And it seemed that Rhea and Seteth would assign them the most dangerous missions that the students could handle. When Nia approached her sibling to express her concern, she was assured that no harm would befall them, that Byleth hadn’t failed them yet and she just needed to trust the new teacher more.

Things didn’t change until Flayn was kidnapped.

Nia was sick with worry when Flayn went missing, almost as much as Seteth. She had grown to view Flayn as her sister the past four years. Thankfully, Byleth led the rescue of the young woman. It was after that when Seteth agreed that both Flayn and Nia would be safer among the students rather than the knights.

Nia spent more time with her siblings while among the students, finally joining Byleth on the monthly assignments.

It wasn’t until the Captain’s death things started falling apart. Her brother wasn’t acting the same. He was more on edge, changing from the caring brother she knew to some wild, battle-hungry stranger. Edelgard was writing more and more letters to her father in Enbarr, even leaving a couple times to return to the capital for a couple days.

Then Byleth went after the person who had killed her father. Nia watched in terror as the professor she had learned to rely on and trust was swallowed up, sacrificed for some terrible, dark magical spell. How her siblings fell apart at that. Dimitri breathed threats while Edelgard kept her composure. Then, when Byleth returned with a new hair color, things seemed to get better.

After that, Edelgard left for Enbarr, stating something had come up that required her urgent attention. She returned later, just before they were to accompany Byleth to the Holy Tomb for some form of communication with the goddess.

Edelgard revealed herself to be the Flame Emperor, the one challenging the Church of Seiros. The betrayal Nia felt at seeing her sister’s secret … she couldn’t believe it.

“Is this some kind of twisted joke?!”

Dimitri challenged Edelgard, who reached out to her sister for help.

Nia was now faced with a hard decision, one that would change her fate forever.

[mydearsaddiary]

Little curiosity notes: Hey guys! We’re on chapter 9 now! If everything goes according to plan the story will end in the next chapter! I might do an additional short epilogue after, but the plan is only to continue until chapter 10! Thank you so much for reading until here and as always: Feel free to reach out!

Thank you!

Candy (08/20/2020)

Neil Chapter 9 part 1- First, do no harm

1933

-Cliff- I said as I walked from the back room of the diner I helped to manage now- you’re running low on soda, you know!

-Geez- He said, finishing up cleaning a table and running towards me- I’m awful with this inventory stuff ya know, MC. Mind seeing everything we’re missing?

I smiled, gently hitting him on the head with the papers I was holding- Glad to help.

-Neil coming in today? Just got his new bourbon stash this morning!

-Im sure he’ll pop by later when the nanny is home. How’s everything going with you?

-It’s fine, me and Jane just moved in together- He crossed his arms , blushing a little and giving me that big smile of his.

-So you finally settled down. Next thing you know you’ll have little Conways running around the place

-Maybe in a few years- He turned around when somebody called his name- Alright, duty calls. Have fun in there!

-I always have- I waved at him and returned the back room to count our stock, manage prices, and do basically everything I did at the Ice Box. I enjoyed doing the same job alongside the same people without having the risk. Our past evolved into a better future than most of what the other mob bosses had.

Suddenly, I heard the lock click. My initial shock soon turned into dark memories I wanted to forget. Impulsively I tried open the door only to find out I was actually locked in

-Hey...! Hey!- I knocked on the door- Hey, let me out! Somebody locked me in- I wasn’t scared of enclosed places. It was the sound of the lock clicking and the inability to open it from the inside that haunted me.

I hated being locked in.

-MC- The door opened after a few knocks. Vince was there- Sorry, just came in and thought somebody left it open

-It’s alright-My cheeks were colored red, but besides that I kept my posture- I’ll just do the inventory outside

1926

I opened my eyes, waking up from my sleep. I could feel no sign of light besides the faint, artificial one. I sighed heavily realizing nothing had changed. In my new found experience, not being in the sun for three weeks messes with you head. It makes you tired and empty. A crippling force tells you to accept your fate to remain there.

I sat up, only to find Vera already awake on the mattress besides mine- Did you check the day today?- I asked

-Yeah. The holidays are approaching fast. How are you?

I rubbed my stomach which now had started to show more. Vera had asked the mayor, in one of the times he came in, for new clothes. She had some in the bedroom they used to share. It was refreshing to say the least and her clothes, that were slightly bigger on me, helped me hide my condition from him. It was a light and loose salmon colored shirt that went down until my hip, and a beige skirt that went to my calf, along with white stockings. It was nothing I’d normally wear, but I wasn’t in the position to be picky.

-I feel fine- I said- I don’t feel too sick anymore. I haven’t gotten any movements yet

-How far along are you?

-Hm... I went to the doctor last month... Must be around 13 or 14 weeks.

-It’s still early. Mine didn’t move until about 17 weeks

I looked at her, genuinely surprised- You have kids?

-Oh yes, Frank and I have our children. They’re all grown and moved on to different parts of the country. My oldest one is a little older than you.

-What’s her name?

-His, actually. His name is Robert. He’s 21 now, he got a job out west and comes back to visit when he can.

-Who are the others?

-Oh, May is 18. She’s with her aunt in Florida. I sent her when things got too complicated here. She wouldn’t listen to us.

I chuckled- I know how she feels.

-Then there’s Matt. He’s 16.

-What’s going on with Matt?

-He’s in New York as an apprentice to his grandfather. My ex-husband’s dad. He wants to teach him how to run the business he owns

-Seems like they’ve got it all figured out

-Yes. Well, I know the feeling of having your first kid. I was but a bit older than you are right now. Although- She pointed to her surroundings- I had a more adequate stay

I laughed, but there was no humor in my voice- Adler’s gonna bring our city down under his total power if we don’t do something

-You don’t think your men are trying to save you or figure it out?

-Trying is the key word. Vince...-I sighed, with a heavy heart- Well, Adler shot him... He must be dead right now. That means Cliff and Uncle Charlie must be a mess. On top of it, for my uncle, there’s the fact that I disappeared. That also messes with Neil who, I can’t even imagine what he must be feeling but it’s nothing good. Then Donovan isn’t close enough with them to put everybody’s head together. Julius, Cleo, Sofia and Andrew... Im sure they’re trying to help but...- I sighed- I’m the head of the Ice Box. Im the queen on the chess board. They need me- I said as I realized it myself- I can’t spend any more time waiting for something to happen or counting days.

-You already tried everything, remember?

-Not everything- I got up, exercising my need to move my legs- You know Adler’s schedule better than anyone. When is he out for a long time?

-He’s always at the office from noon to six on weekdays.

-Then thats our time to escape. We’ll wait an hour just to be sure, then leave.

-Yes, but you’re leaving out the important part— How are we gonna leave?

-Last night, before I went to bed, I was looking around your things to see if I could find something useful

-You went through my stuff?!-She said visibly irritated

-If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have found this- I opened my hand to show her the few bobby pins I had in my possession

-How is pinning your hair up helping us?

-Oh Vera, dig a little deeper. It’s for opening the door. I can pick it!

-With those? I think you might be a little too optimistic

-Thankfully- I said cheering up- I had plenty of training sneaking back in my house, and hiding from Momma and Poppa. I have yet to meet a lock that could stop me.

She looked at me for a few seconds and sighed- Alright, I’ll bite. One in the afternoon then.

-Thats right!-I hid it once I heard the door open. They were bringing breakfast down.

____

We heard Adler leave. We heard everything until there was nothing else to hear. The anticipation was so overwhelming that when Vera’s little clock hit twelve-thirty, we were on out way up the stairs.

I got two bobby pins and started to work on unlocking the door. In a few minutes, it clicked and it opened right up to the now dark living room

-You know- She whispered- For the three weeks you were here, you could’ve tried that sooner.

-I didn’t know you had these!- I whispered too, but in an angrier tone- And you’re welcome!

I pushed the door out slowly, as if someone would head. The dark immensity of the house spread before my eyes. Without a single soul there it seemed peaceful, but in a way that unsettled you, like something was waiting to jump out from the dark. The negativity soon disappeared as I got lost in my thoughts for a second and walked over to the big window, letting the sun hit my face. The warmth of the natural light, warmed up my heart along with it. The joy of finally breaking free made me forget for an instant I had to walk out the front door.

-Miss Granger, let’s go!-Vera hurried me up

-Yeah, right- I walked up to the front of the house. By the door there was a table. I noticed keys on top of it- This is for his Ford, isn’t it?- I grabbed them-Nifty! We just got out escape vehicle

-I can’t drive- She looked at me uncertain

-Well, I’ve been learning- I replied opening the door- Now, let’s scram

___

I had to go through two Fords to find the one the keys belonged too, within myself we could taste the flavor of freedom.

Opening the door, I made my way in. It was then everything was ruined by a single shot that went right through the window on my side. When I looked back, Adler stood a few yards away with a gun aimed in my direction, along with his two goons.

-Go, Vera! Inside!-I yelled at the top of my lungs closing my door and turning on the car. I stepped on the gas and went as fast as the car would allow me to.

Soon, down the streets of Chicago we went. The bright sun and the streets filled with people would normally be cause for celebration, but my currently situation prevented me from enjoying it. I heard more shots coming our way and noticed that Adler was following us in his own car

To make everything better, Vera was freaking out in the passenger seat

-Woaaaaaaaaah, be careeeful! Waaaait, you’re going tooooo faaaaast!

-Vera!- I yelled back, driving and swerving as much as my experience would allow- If I don’t drive fast he’s gonna catch up to us—Ah!- I yelped when another shot came right in between us, making a hole in the windshield

-You’re gonna kills uuuus!-Her voice got louder and more annoying- I’m not ready to die!- She continued, letting out her “Oh!”s And “Oh my god!”s And her loud screams that were worse than the shots for me. At this point, I tried my best to ignore them since our lives depended on it

She yelled even louder when his car bumped into our rear and sent our bodies forward. I heard continuous shots that shattered our windows and I couldn’t go any faster. I had to think of something quickly, but all the stimulation from the outside made the task harder.

That’s when I saw it and hope ushered back into me. The little red convertible from the corner of my eyes, driving right ahead of us. Vince drove with ease on the wheel, while, surprisingly, our most experienced shooter, Donovan, fired back in the mayor’s direction from the passenger seat.

Seeing them, I let out a relieved little laugh. Fear was substituted with the urge to go faster, so I gained some distance on them. On the other side the trusty green Studebaker had Cliff, Uncle Charlie and Julius in it. Cliff drove, Uncle tried to steal glances my way, and Julius had a pistol, and helped Donovan by firing back. Sometimes Vince would keep one hand on the wheel and use pearl to fire as well. What I thought was going to be hell quickly turned into an exhilarating thrill.

And then, time slowed down as a third car showed up. The darker colored vehicle that belong not just to any man, but to the man I had longed to see all this time— Neil Dresner. I recognized the car but I couldn’t see him since he drove ahead of me. It might seem silly, but the importance of that moment couldn’t be just understood, it had to be felt. The whole world brightened up again just to know he was near. I knew then I wasn’t alone, and I never would be again.

And then everything came back to me in a second, when Vera’s shouting became deafening and another shot came right by us

-We’re going to die! Jesus!- She kept having her panic attacks

-MC!-I heard a voice from Vince in his car- To the docks! Go to the docks!

I nodded, better now that I had a direction in mind,so I sped up towards my new destination.

The city passed by us in a blur, I didn’t allow myself to focus on anything else but getting there. I’m sure everyone else had a plan and in my mind I started formulating the beginning of my own.

I turned into the road that led to the docks and swerving the car faster than it could handle, I stopped abruptly, hitting a few of the many giant boxes piled around, ready to be transported. The side of the car caved in, but we came out unscathed in the front

-What are you thinking?! We could have died! We could hav-

-Vera!- I yelled, looking at her, panting. The adrenaline hadn’t left my body and I knew it wouldn’t for a long time- you’re a chatter-mag bitch- I said in an unusual calm tone, still trying to catch my breath

-Excuse me?-She gave me that look she usually did when she disapproved of something

I was going to reply, but then I heard a car and shots again- Go Vera! Out of the car!- I pushed her out her way and pulled her to hide behind the boxes laid out nearby.

I heard more tires and assumed my gang had arrived to rescue us. I smiled realizing I was right when I saw Vince throwing me my trusty revolver- Let’s take car of em, boss.

-Don’t call me that- I grabbed it, feeling an immense power I hadn’t felt in a long time. I pointed it to my target, my enemies, those who sided with Adler...

...And fired.

Part 2: https://mydearsaddiary.tumblr.com/post/627009903803990016/speakeasy-tonight-fanfic-neil-season-3-chapter-10

[shymeg]

The Dare’s on All Hallows eve

23 and 58 please :) @dreamer757

23. “The house is not haunted.”

58. “Making out in a graveyard?”

                                      The Dares on All Hallow EVE

Betty and Jughead's locker were nearby each other. Every year a dare was delivered to certain peoples lockers all 4 years it seemed that Jug and Betty got one. This year was no different.

Jughead's Dare was Go to the Old blossom Estate.

Betty's Dare, Go to Riverdale Cemetery and have a make-out session until Midnight, you must be there at eleven. 

Betty didn't want to do her Dare. She felt it was disrespectful to the dead. Betty also felt saddened, knowing that she almost had to bury Jughead in one after his stupid savior moment. That her dad was in one. So was Fred Andrews. She and Jug missed Fred. He was indeed a father to both of them. Especially when everything was spiraling out of control. She had to put Archie in a coffin. So, she felt this was some cruel joke. To test her. Yet, she wasn't going to lose. It said, Make-out, and the best Make-out partner had to do his own Dare. Maybe, if she did it with him, he'd be more willing to go into the Cemetery. She figured he may have his demons when it came to her Dare. Yet, he'd never disappoint her.

"Jug," her voice was soft, almost so soft you almost couldn't hear it. He turned around to face her, scratching his head at what his Dare had said, "What's up, Betts?" She loved it when he called her Betts. Her eyes gleamed. "Do you want to do our Dare's together? The rules don't state we can't?"

He smiled the biggest grin, "sure, yours or mine first?"

She knew they'd have to do his since they were Halloween dares, so she said, "What is your's Juggie?"

she saw a tint of red, and his eyes got more prominent at the name, "Go to the old Blossom Estate."

oh great, that place was a burden to both her and Jug whoever gave out the Halloween Dares were genuinely trying to torment them.

"Alright, well, let's do yours first. I mean, we all know that isn't haunted."

Jug smiled and said, "Alright, well, let's get some flashlights, a backpack for food, and well warmer clothes."

Betty nodded and smiled as they went to their houses to get supplies. They agreed to meet at Pops at 6. She was secretly thrilled. She loved her boyfriend, and she knew he loved her. Yet, it was something so thrilling about these Dares. Why the Blossom Estate? Why the Graveyard? She knew it had nothing to do with Cheryl because Cheryl was two years older and had gone to college. The Estate was abandoned because Cheryl wanted nothing to do with her family name. Her Nana was living in Thistle house a little bit away from the Estate. Thistle house was like a manor, whereas the Blossom Estate was a Mansion. Cheryl's mother had died in the horrid fire, but yet the mansion still sits. The flames may have set ablaze, but the house never went under.

She smiled to herself, thinking maybe this is just another one to investigate for the Junior detective agency. Betty often wondered who chose the Dare's and why certain people got them and how come others didn't? Betty wondered how they would know if they even did the Dare? Were they lurking? Did people set it up like a spook house? In all her 4 years she never figured that out. This year she was almost tempted too. Yet, if she did that, would it ruin the fun and the thrill of doing the Dares?

She heard the bell ding, and she saw a slender figure with a beanie. Dressed in all black but luckily he was wearing his dad's winter jacket. The weather was always odd, especially at night. He got a burger and fries to go typical Jughead.

When Betty and Jughead went outside.  She noticed that Jug's motorcycle was nowhere to be found.  He must have walked here under the assumption that they would take Betty's car and probably not hit up Pop's after the last Dare. Jughead was correct, of course. Yet, he could have told her, and she would have picked him up.  Yet, Jug might have thought that if she did that, he wouldn't get his food.   Betty realized she had forgotten to tell Jughead what the last Dare was.   She'd tell him later.  

So, first up, Blossom Estate. Betty's car crawled up the drive. She gave Jughead one last look. He seems okay, but she knew his life was threatened by Clifford Blossom. His dad almost put away for a murder he honestly didn't do, yet covered up because of blackmail. She also knew that Jug and his father were having problems at the time, yet he loved Jug, and Jug loved him. The Blossoms and the Police tried to pin the murder on Jug first. Merely because he was being bullied by Jason and his cohorts was also hard for her to stomach. Yet, Fred came to Jughead's aide. The father figure that he was, and he knew Jug and knew that his second son would never commit murder and then try to figure out who did it.

She looked at Jug and said, "Are you ready?" "As ready as I'll be Betts." He gave her a wink. The last time they were in this house was for Jason's funeral, where they found out that Jason was going to marry Polly. They were supposed to have run away together.

Betty realized when she and Jug were investigating in Jason's old room. That she kind of might be liking Jug and seeing him in a different light. That he wasn't Archie's Shadow. That he was more sincere and always supported Betty and her endeavors. Yet, he was a scared- y cat because he hid behind her when Nana Rose entered the scene. She laughed. His blue eyes twinkled, he smirked and said, "What are you laughing at Cooper?"

"The last time we were here, how you got so scared of Nana Rose that you hid behind me!" he smiled, "I'd knew you'd protect me you always have."

They slowly went up the front steps. Jughead had his hand on the door. He opened it, and the door creaked. He stated, "Anybody home," no answer "Yeah I didn't think so" He took out the flashlight from his backpack and turned it on. Betty followed shortly after. The Estate looked like a tomb. A lot of it was burned, but most of it held up like a tomb. Furniture under clothes or sheet protectors, spider webs on the wall, dust everywhere, nothing was moved. Cheryl took nothing. Nana Rose already lived in Thistle house so, most of her more critical things weren't in this house anyway.

Jug decided to go into the kitchen. Betty laughed, thinking, of course, he would. Jughead just smirked at her, already knowing what she must be assuming. He opened it, and to his sorrow, there was no food in it, and the fridge was unplugged. Yet there was some wine. It sat out and had a ton of dust on it. He had to use his hands just to figure out what it was. He went to the closet, and all the food was gone, so Jughead chuckled, "Well, at least we knew Cheryl took the food out." Betty snorted because of Jug and his love for food. They went the back way upstairs. They heard a low creak. Neither one of them knew where it came from. both looked at each other Jug said, "Must just be the house settling." Yeah, that was it. The mansion was settling Betty, and Jughead heard a loud bang. They opened up the room nearest to them. Hoping something fell off the shelves. Jughead might have been slightly hoping for a random book to be in the house, and he could just borrow it and put it back at a later date. Yet, they could find nothing to explain the loud bang. So two Junior Detectives kept going. They heard footsteps this time. It seemed closer and another bang. Jughead looked at Betty, "I thought this house wasn't haunted?" Betty snickers, "That doesn't mean they didn't rig it to not scare us, Jug!" She laughed Jughead kissed her," Well, ghosts, you can have me, but you can't have my girl!"

Leave it to Jughead to say that. Betty thought. Her smile grew on her face, and she was afraid that one day, his little compliments like that wouldn't bring the same joy. Betty hoped that would never happen. She loved him, and she knew he loved her with all of his heart. He was the first one to say, I love you. Betty knew how hard it was for Jughead to say that. His dad was away, he had abandonment issues, he'd be going to  South Side high for school and was he open, so open, more open then she'd ever seen him at that moment. Betty was shocked because she felt she'd be the first one and be lucky if she'd ever heard those words from Jughead. So at this moment here and now she said, "I love you Jug those ghosts can't have you either."

They decided to go look for the tape recorder or whatever they rigged it with.  Yet, all Betty and Jughead found was mice poop, and Betty screamed when she saw a real mouse. She jumped into Jughead's arm, and he held her. Like he never wanted to let go. They searched that house for probably two hours. The Dare just said to go. No further instructions. Where her's was a little bit more specific.

Betty drove back to Pops, and they sat down to eat a Burger and had a few cups of coffee to warm up and grab a few to go for the graveyard. She forgot she was supposed to tell him her Dare once they left the Blossom Estate. Yet Jughead never asked. Jughead probably didn't ask her because Betty asked him if they could do it together. Meaning she felt safe with him. So now she blushed at the mere thought of him being scared of Nana Rose.

She did feel safe with him. He was her rock, her anchor. So, when she pulled into Riverdale Cemetery and saw his eyes flash for a second. She knew she should have prepared him. Yet, he simply said, "What are we doing here, Betty?" She looked down she couldn't face him, "My Dare Jug, is to make out in this Cemetery for an hour until Midnight. The only Make-out partner I want is you. I'm not going to let who is picking these dares ruin my Halloween, and you know me, Jug, I never back down from a challenge."

Jug just nodded, "Well let's go" He opened his car door slowly looking at the gate. He didn't like it here. Yet, he wouldn't have Betty making out with ghosts or to lose a dare because he refused to help the love of his life. So, he started it.

He kissed her slow at first right in front of the gate. She kissed gently back. His hand reached out to her chin. He kissed her harder, and she bit his lip. He wanted to say ow because it hurt a little. Yet, he liked this side of Betty and didn't want her to stop. He slowly moved his hand to brush her hair away, and he stopped kissing her mouth to simply blow in her ear and slowly nibble it. She made out this low mew, and he loved it. He moved down her neck kissing and licking, and when she tried to push away, he'd go back to her ear and nip at it. He knew she wanted her mouth on his mouth when she grabbed his hair. She pushed her mouth to his, and he felt a power surge, and his mouth opened to hers as their tongues began to fight. He could taste that caramel latte she chose to have instead of her typical hot chocolate. He wanted more, but unfortunately for him, he had to breathe. She pushed him down and straddled him. He was not used to this, Betty. Maybe a ghost had possessed her when her hands started lifting his shirt. She started playing with his nipples and licking them. They never tried this. He just really wanted to satisfy Betty, and if she was pleased, so was he this was different. It made him squirm.

Betty enjoyed Jughead squirming under her. She loved how her hands made his chest warm. That this boy had muscle that nobody could see but her. She wanted to make him happy too. Betty bit his neck and drew blood.  Betty was becoming some sort of animal; her animal instincts were taking over. Betty didn't care. She kissed him, and she bit his lip until it bled. She apologized when she saw him wince.

She bowed down and let him kiss her with such passion, but when he tried to roll them over, she said, "No, Jug, this is my Dare."

She saw his eyes flicker at the moment. He relaxed and just let her take it. Yet she heard his plea, "I want to kiss you, Betty." She snickered, "I Know Jug, and when this Dare is over, I'll let you kiss me there, I promise. Until then, you only get my mouth and my neck, but I get all of you."

She liked this Betty.  Betty even thinks Jughead likes it. Maybe not where she made him bleed per se but the other stuff.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "We have 30 minutes Mr. Jones, and for those 30 minutes, you are all mine." She rolled her hips into him slowly, so he grunted because he wasn't getting the friction he needed. She was-being evil. She knew this, but she'd make it up to him. She just couldn't do that deed here. So all they were going to do was Make-out, so she gave him something to be mad about so when they got back to her place. Her mom always being gone. That he'd pound into her with no mercy. He'd make her scream and shout and beg for more. Until then, he'd live with the slow torture of not being able to get off either. While making his half-hour a slow fate.

She kissed him passionately, she played with him, Betty held Jug's hair as tightly as possible when he tried to get more than she was willing to give. She loved him, and she knew this was torture, but he complained very little. He respected the dead. So, he huffed a few times. He cried out, Betty. Even Please. She loved it when he said that. For that, he got kissed hard, and she twisted his nipples, and she blew on them a little harder.

She loved the taste of his mouth, sweet and oh so tangy. She could devour him like he does those cheeseburgers. The last kiss was gentle and slow, letting him know the torture of the make-out session was almost over.

So when the real one happened, it would probably last more than an hour switching different positions, and god how she wanted him. How she knew he wanted her. She apologized for the lack of the more risque make out session. Yet, she knew he'd understood.

She helped him up, she looked at him and kissed him slow, "Ready to go to my house, Jug?"

"Yes, I am," he smiled.

He looked at her and said, "Let the bewitching hour began. Happy Saints day Betty."

The onlookers figured maybe Betty had figured them out, and that's why nothing truly risque happened in the Cemetery. No real exposure. They couldn't get anything. She was to smart for them or just too respectful. Either way, this was their last year, and Jughead and Betty had both survived unscathed by the Dare police.

[acrobaticcatfeline]

When it’s so Dark, a Candle isn’t Enough to Save You

Word Count: 2526

TW: It’s a vent fic, so swearing, depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, no self harm or actual death or anything but like right on the edge of an attempt and getting talked down, lots of crying and self loathing, parents who arent bad and genuinely want to help but aren’t really reaching their kid, and I think that’s it.

Notes: This is heavily based on my life and my thoughts, but I haven’t gotten too bad like this, I’m fine don’t worry, this was my catharsis. I’m better now. Still not great but better.

Pairings: platonic logince, theres a hint of romantic logince in the last few paragraphs that come after a short time skip.

Summary: “Member left. Member left. Member left.” Roman’s day has gone to shit. Everything is bad and he is so damn alone. He’s sitting on the edge, dangling by a frayed string and it’s snapping piece by piece. He’s losing that grip on life that he used to have. He doesn’t feel like there’s any one who would care anyways, but life finds a way sometimes to put the right people in the right spot at the right time. Sometimes, you really can be saved.

Member left.

Member left.

Member left.

Roman was already having a bad day. When he looked online to see all his friends had left their group chat, he slammed his computer closed and went for a walk. It was early November and below freezing out already. He skipped the jacket, barely stopping to slip on his sneakers before stepping out. He stuffed his already freezing hands in his jeans pockets and looked up at the sky to prevent the drops from his eyes the chance to roll down his cheeks. His parents weren’t listening. They never really listened. They weren’t being malicious, he knew that, but god he just wanted to throw himself into the ocean sometimes with how they responded to his attempts at communication. No dad, it doesn’t get easier to wake up in the morning, its still terrible and he still just wants to hole up and cry instead of going to school. No dad, just because he's always done that chore doesn’t mean its going to be easy, especially as more and more people move in. It’s one thing to clean for 3 people, but 12 is a whole other thing. His spine aches just thinking about standing over the sink for hours at a time scrubbing futilely. His feet sore from hours on his feet after an already terrible school day. His fingers cruelly remind him of the feel on his hands, the tremors shoot through his nerves remembering the sensation that makes him want to tear his skin off bit by bit with his own teeth. His ears ring that horrid sound, the squeak that makes him want to drop to the ground and cry from how bad his brain is hurting. He keeps walking. He doesn’t know where to, but he continues.

They really did love him, he knows this more than anything, and he loves them too but… but dammit, they never gave him a chance; bribing him to get the impossible done, trivializing his problems, equating him to some other ‘normal’ kid. He couldn’t stand it. He had his phone taken a few days ago, over the 4-day weekend he had, and he was devastated, he was wanting to spend time with some friends. He also had wanted to get things done. He needed to shower, he needed to do homework, but he also had to do chores, and unfortunately, he never had energy for anything else after them. His mind swirled with deadlines, but he couldn’t do it, he was out of energy, he had been pulling from his reserves for two weeks and now he was overdrawn, and he couldn’t muster up enough to do anything else. He had been hit with a bout of depression recently and that with all of the shit that had taken place that week and his self-loathing, he was teetering off the edge and he was terrified of snapping and blowing his lights out. He shook his head, attempting to pull his thoughts away from there.

As he walked, he saw it start to snow. He grimaced, ignoring it in favor of continuing onwards. He passed the McDonalds and felt his lips tug upwards, remembering when him and a bunch of his friends had gone before tearing through the shopping center like lunatics. He remembered their smiling faces, their jingling laughter, and then was haunted by their faces of judgement and disgust. He pointedly looked forwards, trying to focus on walking. He passed his school, empty and dark on  Saturday, and remembered when he and his friends would scream and howl with laughter waiting for the public bus to the local library, the times they would raid their friends houses without warning, just crashing on the couch and playing games of all types. Lots of those friends had moved, he was reminded. He hadn’t seen or heard from them in years now, no matter how desperately he tried to keep in contact. He wondered how they were doing; what they would think of the person he’d become. He passed the turn off that would go to that park, the one right outside their old house, the one they held countless parties at, the ones that reminded him of that happy mindless joy he hadn’t felt in years. He remembered those friends who had just stopped talking with him, those people who gradually grew apart from him, the ones he had falling outs with. He kept walking, picking up his pace as he grew colder and felt his eyes overflow.

He passed the library, electing to ignore the flood of memories of booking the study rooms that they would mess around in, they rarely actually got their homework done, electing to sing showtunes on the table and listen to two of their friends play the ukulele together, teasing each other about crushes they had, complaining about the teachers they disliked, ending the excursion with hugs as one by one they went home. He kept walking and walking until his feet stopped fully by the on ramp of the freeway. He jumped over the small barrier, sitting with his legs dangling over the interstate, his arms looped around the bars behind him. He had done it countless times before, enjoying the rushing sound the cars made as they slipped by under him. It was different this time, almost imperceptibly to anyone else. The tear tracks on his cheeks were clear, invisible to the glancing eye. The fidgeting kick of his legs was ever so slightly more erratic. His grip on the bars were ever so slightly tighter, yet also the loosest hold he could have. He leant forward, feeling the wind rush through his hair as he slowly lost feeling in his arms.

Numbly, he registered the sound of the bars tinging, the sound that comes from another person jumping over the rail as well. He felt a warm jacket be wrapped round him. He loosely felt his neck turn to look at the other person, recognizing him immediately. It was one of his peers, his name was Logan, he thought. He was in all the same accelerated courses that he was in. They had spoken a few times out of necessity, but they hadn’t really been close. Roman wasn’t close to anyone really, not anymore.

He had been in fights with all the kids who were a grade above him, his old best friend didn’t even invite him to their graduation. No goodbye, no hugs, no texts to make plans to see each other again, no “H.A.G.S. you nerd ;)” written on each other’s yearbooks, just, slipping away as if their relationship had meant nothing. It was painful. The friends he had in his grade weren’t quite as dramatic. They just, stopped liking the same things. They drifted apart. Its wasn’t sudden, he could have done something. But he didn’t. he just, stood by as his friends were more like strangers as days went by. He remembered sitting in the back of the game store, playing DND and magic and spinoffs and rip-offs, until they got kicked out at closing time. Now they barely looked his way when they passed in the halls, too busy with new friends, better friends.

“what's on your mind?”

He was ripped out of his thoughts by Logan, who had a sympathetic look in his eyes. He looked down at the cars and numbly pulled the jacket that was wrapped around him on fully, relishing in the warmth it radiated. He replaced his arms around the bars carefully before answering.

“a lot. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“considering how close you look to plummeting into the interstate, and the fact that you now have my jacket, I think it is.”

Roman looked at him with a searching eye, seeing the smirk that came as he made his second point, and realizing that he was stuck now.

“… I'm just depressed. That’s all. Its nothing outstanding. I just feel alone.”

“that’s fair. Do you want to talk about it?”

“why do you care? I barely know you; you have no reason to be concerned about me. I might as well just be another number in a statistic they tell middle schoolers to scare them.”

Logan looked thoughtful for a moment before responding slowly and carefully.

“every statistic is made from real lives that matter. Every statistic relies on those data points. No matter how you feel, you are more important than a number on a graph. You have people who care about you. Your brain is deceiving you in making you-”

“yeah yeah, I know people care for me and all that junk. I know that. It just doesn’t matter. They’ll get over it. They’ll… they’ll forget about me sooner than they'd think. I’d be fresh in their minds for less than a year. They'd be sad on the anniversary for anther three maybe. They'd get over it. They'd function better than I am currently. They'd dwell less than me. they'd be better off.”

“you don’t really believe that do you?”

“… just because I don’t believe it doesn’t mean its not true. Did you know that 15 women an hour are hit in Nike manufacturing factories? Completely unbelievable. Completely true.”

“Roman you matter more than you expect. There are people who would be devastated for years if you died. I could bet there’d be another two suicides that would domino if you let go right now. There are people who only have you left, and if you were gone, they'd feel just as hopeless as you do now. This is high school, this isn't permanent. Don’t you want to live to see how right everyone was about college? Don’t you want to live to be able to go to a karaoke bar with your college friends? Don’t you want to live to fall in love again? To see Lin Manuel Mirandas newest Broadway hit? To be able to go see a Broadway show live instead of from a shitty pirated video on YouTube? There's so much to live for, they may be small, but they're there. Do really want to give up before you can hear your mom say she loves you again?”

Roman felt tears welling up and spilling over his cheeks. He wanted so desperately to just believe him. To give in to the idea that he mattered. But he just couldn’t. Not yet.

“why do you think I care about all that, huh? You don’t know me Logan, you don’t know how I feel.”

“who says I don’t?”

Roman blinked, looking back at him. Logan continued.

“who says, that I haven’t walked past this interstate every day, wanting so desperately to throw myself off, but not because I knew I had to hold on for my little brother, who has been suffering from clinical depression. Who says I haven’t held on to just hear my favorite teacher again? Who says I haven’t seen you every day since third grade with that brilliant smile and stunning passion singing through the halls, that I didn’t notice when it slowed, when it was a treat to hear your voice, that I didn’t notice when it stopped all together, when you dropped choir and threw yourself into your studies so much that you rarely smiled other than that little hint when you got good news that dropped just as quickly. Who says I never overheard when you blasted Hamilton just a little too loud in your headphones at lunch? Who says I cant name every single person in the school who is waiting for that one person to give up so they can feel like they are allowed to go with them, who feel like they only have that one thread holding them here and as soon as they're gone there's no point left in living. Who says I'm not one of them? Roman I know you feel alone, I understand, but you don’t know just how much of a ripple you make. You matter so much to so many people. Please, please don’t let go. Jump back over to the other side of the railing with me and go home.”

Roman could hear the pleading in Logan’s voice. He wasn’t sure if he really believed it all, if he really felt like it was worth it to back off, but he couldn’t handle how depressed and lost he sounded, how jaded. He stood and leaped back over, smiling softly when Logan did the same. He started to pull off the jacket when he was stopped again.

“hey, don’t worry about it, I live close by. You can return it to me on Tuesday.”

There was a glint in his eyes and Roman chuckled at the kind-hearted trick. Because he knew that Roman would make a point of returning it, which meant he would have to make it to Tuesday. He nodded, and after a second’s hesitation, wrapped Logan in a hug. whispering a ‘thank you’ before turning to walk home. If he had eyes in the back of his head, he would have seen the longing glance Logan made at the on ramp, and the set glance back at him, before he turned the opposite way.

 -

On Tuesday things would be better. He would have talked with his parents and come to an understanding, he would have accomplished things he had wanted to, and he would be in generally higher spirits. He would let a smile slip more often, his true genuine one with his teeth on display, and he would laugh at the stupid silly jokes he heard. He would have his head up more, he would notice the smiles from friends he thought long estranged and start up a conversation, inviting some of them to a mall crawl later after school.

He would return Logan’s jacket and ignore the weird looks people gave him. He would talk more freely, he would joke with Logan about comic books and their latest obsessions, he would sit with Logan at lunch, he would get his phone back and steal Logan’s number. He would talk with his online friends about how he had felt when everyone had left the groups, and hear them out, instead of jumping to conclusions that they hated him now. He would let himself feel. He would let himself be okay. Things wouldn’t get better immediately, but he would work at it.

He would let himself live, and fall in love, and cry. He would heal. He wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t give up. Not on Tuesday. Not the month after. Not after he went on a less than perfect date with Logan, when it started raining and the highway flooded leaving them stranded at home stuck watching old Disney movies on his couch. Not when a month after that he didn’t get a role in the school play and he spent an hour crying on the phone with Logan. No, he wasn’t going to feel great all the time, but things would get better. Logan was right all that time ago. The pain he feels isn't permanent. He would be okay.

-

Foregoing the taglist this time because of how venty this is. If you would like to be tagged in more trigger heavy fics let me know so I can make a separate list.

Let me know if you want to be tagged in my writing.

Thank you for reading I will see you later ladies lords and nonbinary royalty.