#in the storm's path: threads

[orphanedshadow]

@outlawfcrged asked: ❝ do you know how to use that? ❞ / outlawfcrged

The question was met with a shake of her head as the weapon's barrel was levelled at the speeder following them. No, she had no clue what she was doing, but the thing had only one lever, and now was as good a time as any to learn.

So she pulled the trigger, hoping the angry was right and that this was a good idea. It felt like one, or at least it felt like it might be fun.

[stylesispunk]

"What remains of us"

outbreak! Joel miller x f!reader

Summary: Joel doesn't die after the brutal encounter with abby because you saved him on time.

wc: 4k>

warnings: angst,mentions of blood, mentions of murder (reader becomes violent), fluff, mentions of broken bones. english is not my first language so excuse my mistakes. Written in a rush.

a/n: so uhmm. How are we feeling? I personally feel broken by the events from episode 2 so I rewrite the story while i was free in the morning to help me cope with the grief and joel is alive.

dividers by @/saradika-graphics

Something felt wrong in your bones the moment the snowstorm hit harder than anyone had expected. Not just the kind of wrong that came out from the conditions and freezing wind in a cold winter. This was deeper. Ancient. It whispered through the trees like a secret from another world, brushing icy fingers down your spine. In a kind of warning dressed up as bad weather. You felt it in your chest, in the weight behind your ribs, where your breath stayed too long before escaping your lips.

Your skin burned from the cold, your limbs throbbed from the fatigue, but it didn't compare to the way your heart pounded.

There was worry settled deep just over your chest from fear.

“Hey, you alright?” Jesse called ahead, pulling his scarf down just enough to meet your glance.

You nodded too fast, trying to find a source of breathing. “Yeah, but this storm is too cold.”

Ellie was further up the ridge, carving her own path through the deepening snow with over shimmer, unaware of how your whole body shook with more with the low temperature hitting your body. You hadn’t told any of them.

How do you explain to them that your body knew something your mind hadn’t caught up to yet? That every step forward feel like walking into danger?

Your heart was screaming at you, sending you signals through with every beating, in a language older than logic. Since the morning. Since Joel left your side before you could fully wake up.

The sound of his voice still lingered in your memory. It stayed there, like a tattoo he had kissed over your temple.

warm, softly, lingering as you stirred under the covers.

“Get some more sleep, darling.”

He hadn’t kissed your forehead like usual. He hadn’t lingered there. As if he couldn't face saying goodbye. And when you finally did get up, your gut twisted when you saw the empty space in the stable, the horse meeting, and snow falling hard over Jackson.

The truth was, Joel was out there with Dina; you had no idea under what circumstances.

The sky had turned more gray; it seemed angry, furious, waiting to hit someone else.

You shook your head, trying to focus on Jesse’s voice. Tried not to feed the panic unraveling in your chest like a pulled thread. But the cold in your mind spread, and no matter how tightly you gripped the reins, no matter how fast your horse moved, the feeling remained.

Something was definitely wrong; you could feel your heart beating harder.

You finally found a rundown outpost, an old hunting cabin half-buried in snow and swallowed by pine trees. The roof sagged, one of the windows was kind of cracked, and the door barely held on its hinges, but it was a shelter that would serve its purpose. You and Jesse pulled your horses inside the narrow lean-to out back, while Ellie stomped snow off her shoes and kicked the door open with force.

Inside, it was cold and smelled like old weed and damp rot, but you didn’t care; you needed to sit and think.

Inside, there was a radio.

You didn’t hesitate. You took your gloves off before Jesse could even notice. Your fingers moved over the knobs, turning dials, trying to find the frequency Jackson always used for patrol.

A burst of static. Then another, and finally, a signal.

Your breath caught. “Jackson patrol, do you copy?”

Ellie moved closer. Jesse pulled his scarf down, suddenly silent.

“Joel? Dina? Come in.”

Only static.

“Come on,” you muttered, heart hammering, twisting the dial again. “Joel, please, answer.”

There was nothing. This type of silence wasn’t normal or ordinary. You knew silence. This wasn’t a delay. It was an absence.

Your body went rigid, every instinct screaming louder than your racing thoughts. Your limbs moved before you made the decision. You were out the door and into the snow again before Jesse or Ellie could stop you.

He called after you still. But Ellie was already grabbing her rifle.

“Where are you going?” Jesse yelled, chasing behind.

“Something’s wrong!” you snapped, swinging onto your horse. “I just know it!”

Ellie mounted up beside you, voice louder within the storm, “Then we’re not wasting time.”

Jesse hesitated, glancing between you both and the radio inside.

“You don’t even know if that’s where they went—”

“I know,” you growled, already riding. “I feel it.”

Ellie followed you without a word. She trusted you, you were her family, and she would follow you wherever you went.

The snow clawed at your skin like it wanted to peel the truth away. The wind howled as if it knew what was waiting ahead. But you didn’t stop.

Because something had happened to Joel, and Dina was out there.

You and Ellie rode as fast as you could, the snow whipping across your faces like needles piercing your skin, the hooves of your horses lost beneath the storm. You could barely see five feet ahead, but then, in the distance, a glow that you could see anyway.

“Shit,” Ellie hissed beside you, pulling her hood lower.

You followed her gaze. Through the trees, past the slope of the hill, firelight. Orange, flickering, wrong. Was this your bad feeling creeping?

Fire was catching, rising in a bloom, too wild to be controlled. You slowed your horse as your stomach dropped.

“That's Jackson,” you whispered, more to yourself than to Ellie.

It wasn’t the whole town, not yet. But something was burning. And it was enough to send a coil of panic twisting through your gut, feeding that same deep certainty that had been clawing at you all day.

“Come on,” you growled, spurring your horse harder, cutting off the cold fear before it could settle. “We are way too far.”

And it wasn’t long before you saw it, the lodge over the hills.

It sat crooked and hunched near a clearing, like it had been dropped there by accident. Too nice to have survived years into the end of the world. One of the side windows was shattered. Smoke was seeping through cracks in the boarded upper floor. The front door hung ajar, barely moving in the wind.

You pulled hard on the reins. Your horse bucked a little, skidding in the snow. Ellie drew her rifle and slid off hers.

Your eyes locked on two shapes near the side of the lodge.

Horses.

Your heart stopped because those were Joel’s and Dina’s.

Both were tied loosely, hooves pawing nervously at the ground. Alone. No movement near the front entrance. No voices. No sounds but the wind and the creak of the old building groaning under the weight it wasn’t meant to bear.

You slid off your horse.

“Ellie,” you whispered, your voice barely audible, breath clouding in front of you.

She already had her knife out.

“Oh shit.”

You didn’t wait for backup. Couldn’t. There was something wrong.

Because Joel’s horse was here. And he wasn’t.

And whatever was inside that building, you felt it. It was about to break your heart open.

The sound of screams of agony and a body hitting the ground echoed down the hallway like a gunshot.

You knew that sound. It was torture. It was pain.

Your boots thundered down the corridor of the lodge, Ellie at your side, a worry and desperate look in her eyes. She’d followed the path like a wolf hunting its prey, her eyes screaming Please don’t let it be too late.

You didn’t say a word. Your heart was stuck in your throat, and the only thing that moved was your body, in fast motion, furious, drawn to the man who should have never left your side this morning in the first place.

Then you saw it. The door, a form from inside, screaming slipping from the lips you used to kiss every day. Those were Joel’s screams. In agony, in pain.

You didn’t wait. You didn’t breathe. You kicked the door open, and your world shattered.

Joel was on the floor, a mess of blood surrounding him and something worse. His legs bent at sort of unnatural angles. One hand barely raised in instinct. His face, bruised, bleeding, and one eye was swollen shut. His body twitched like it wasn’t sure if it should keep trying to fight life.

And above him, a woman. Blonde, her hair braided. Rage carved into her face like she’d waited for this moment. Her arms raised again, a golf club in her grip, stained in red.

She didn’t see you at first. Her eyes were solely focused on Joel, but you weren’t having that.

You roared, not screamed, roared, and tackled her with all the force you had, all your weight, all your fury into actions. You slammed her into the wall with a force that cracked wood. The golf club dropped from her hand and hit the ground.

“No more," you growled, your hand tightening around her throat.

Her group came fast, like shadows over you. One tackled Ellie to the ground. Another raised a knife at her. But they hadn’t counted on you.

You were already moving, eyes wild, mind gone. Every compassion you could have left in your body left, gone, you fought like someone who had nothing left in this life but him.

You weren’t skilled like Joel. You didn’t need to be. You were desperate. Right now, you were desperate.

Fists cracked bone. You took hits but didn’t stop. Didn’t feel them on you. You were pulling someone off Ellie, dragging them by their collar, throwing them into a chair that splintered on impact. You used what you had, a piece of wood, the same club the woman wore, your fists, and the most important thing, your fury.

And they couldn’t stop you. Because you couldn’t be stopped.

The blonde tried to rise again. You met her halfway and slammed her back to the floor. She spat blood. You didn’t flinch.

“Get away from him!” you shouted.

“Who the fuck—?!” Abby turned, fury and shock colliding on her face.

You dropped the shotgun, drew your blade, and charged.

The first one that tried to reach for you got a knife in his chest. You shoved him off like he was made of paper. The next came at you with a bat, you caught the swing and used his momentum to slam him face-first into the fireplace bricks.

“You don’t get to touch him,” you hissed. “Not him.”

The blonde took the club again, swinging it toward your face. You ducked.

Then you hit her. Right in the gut. The force of it sent her staggering back, wind knocked from her lungs.

“Do you wanna kill him?” you growled. “Try me first, then."

She looked at you like she wanted to, but she hesitated.

And that was her mistake. The moment she let her guard down, you shot her.

"It's over." You said, pointing your gun right between her brows, and the shot echoed in the stillness of the room.

She hit the floor, eyes wide. No final words. No redemption. Just silence.

Ellie flinched.

You stood over Abby’s body, breath hitching, heart pounding in your ears. The room reeked of blood, and then there was silence, except for Joel’s ragged breath.

The ringing in your ears stopped, and your breathing steadied as you took a look at the mess you had made.

Your eyes finally dropped back to Joel. You dropped yourself beside him as your knees had finally given out.

“Hey,” you whispered, your voice cracking into pieces. “Joel, look at me. I’m here. I got you.”

His one good eye fluttered open, dazed, unfocused. There was blood crusted at his brow, dried and fresh, a cruel mask across the face you’d kissed so many times before, now dripping blood.

“Y-you-" he rasped, voice like torn gravel. He had barely made it.

You nodded, cradling his face in your hands, not caring that blood smeared across your palms. “I’m here. You’re safe. Don't you dare to close your eyes now."

His breath stuttered, chest rising too slow, too shallow. His eyes couldn’t stay fixed on you. They wandered, like he weren’t fully in the room anymore. As if he were fighting death and life at the same time.

“I thought I lost you,” you whispered, leaning close. Your forehead rested against his, warm against cold.

Not even the cold of the snowstorm had been so cruel to you.

“Hurts,” he mumbled, eyes slipping closed again.

“No, no,” you said quickly, your hands gently patting his face. “Stay with me. I got you. You’re gonna be okay. Help’s coming, okay? I will make sure of it. Just—just hold on.”

But he didn’t answer. His breathing slowed.

And your heart stammered in panic. “Joel!"

But there was no reaction from him. You pressed your fingers to his pulse, still beating but faintly.

“Don’t you do this,” you choked out. “You fight, dammit. You’ve been through worse, haven’t you? Don’t you leave me now, please.”

You'd already faced your worst nightmare. Now you were living in it, holding it in your arms, seeing the life leave him.

Joel lay limp and broken on the floor, his breath rattled. His face was swollen, almost unrecognizable on one side, purple and black with bruising. One eye was swollen shut. Blood trickled from his nose, his mouth, and the side of his head.

“Hey,” you whispered again, voice hoarse. “Joel. Are you with me?”

A faint groan, barely audible, but it was enough because it meant he was still here.

You pulled off your jacket rapidly, shoving it under his head. Your hands were shaking, but your mind was locked in: every first aid trick you’d learned from scraps of survival guides, emergency manuals, all this time surviving, and anything Joel had ever shown you when he thought you weren’t paying attention. You had paid attention.

You just never thought you’d be using it on him, under these circumstances.

Dina stumbled in, still pale and groggy, her hand gripping the wall. “Ellie?” she rasped. “Wh—what the fuck happened?”

You didn’t look up. “You were drugged. Ellie is moving the bodies. We need the space.”

Dina staggered past, gagging at the sight of blood, but she didn’t hesitate. She knew what had happened.

This was now a war zone. You had blinded yourself, becoming a murderer monster just to save Joel.

You pulled Joel’s shirt open, shredded, stained with red. Purple splotches across his ribs. Swelling. At least two were broken.

Your throat burned, voice cracking. “You’re gonna hate me for this, Joel. But I have to move you.”

“Don’t…” he mumbled, almost unconscious. “Just... leave me—”

“Bullshit" you said, angry at you, at him, at that woman who had left him like this, your tears were splashing onto his collarbone. “Don’t you dare say that. You don’t give up.”

Ellie appeared, face pale, blood on her shirt, Dina behind her with a blanket.

“We cleared the room,” Ellie said, out of breath. “It’s just us now.”

“Good,” you said. “Help me splint his legs. We need to keep him still until we can get him out of here.”

You tore up a curtain and grabbed two broken chair legs. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing about this was. This wasn't something that should have happened.

Ellie held Joel’s leg as steady as she could while you worked the makeshift splint around the worst of the fractures. His left leg, with a shot on his knee.

Joel screamed just as he was being dragged through hell.

You didn’t stop, “I know,” you whispered, pressing your forehead to his as you tied the cloth tight. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I got you.”

You felt his breath against your skin, shallow and hot, contrasting with the coldness on his hands.

His lips moved. “Why?” he whispered, barely audible.

You leaned back and looked at him. “Because I love you,” you said simply.

His eye fluttered open, just barely. And for one fragile second, the pain slipped away. There was only you and him inside this room. You brushed the hair from Joel’s face. He was burning up. You needed to clean the wounds. Stop the bleeding. Keep him warm and alive.

And somehow, by the grace of whatever broken god still watched over you all, you would.

You pressed a damp cloth to his temple where skin had split open. His blood soaked through instantly. You felt you were about to throw up.

Your hands moved on their own now, it felt monotonous. Wash. Compress. Tie. Splint. Whisper to him and beg him to stay alive.

Ellie and Dina had gone quiet. Standing behind you. Watching. Waiting for an order, a word from you that it wouldn't be a sob.

Then your voice broke through the silence. “Go back to Jackson.”

Ellie flinched, like she hadn’t expected you to speak at all. You didn’t look up. You were holding Joel’s hand, limp and calloused in yours. Trying to send him the strength he needed to survive.

“We need help,” you said, barely audible. Your voice was shot. Just whisper. “Tell Tommy, tell him to send help. We need to get Joel back there.”

You met silence. Just the sound of Joel breathing.

“Please,” you added, and that word cracked. “Please. I can’t carry him by myself. He’s...he’s too heavy. He’s—” You swallowed hard. Your fingers curled tighter around Joel’s hand.

Ellie stepped forward. “We’re not leaving you.”

You finally looked up, eyes glassy and red-rimmed. “You have to. We need more people. Horses. Anything. I can keep him alive for a few more hours. But I can’t move him like this.”

Ellie’s jaw clenched. Her knuckles went white. “I don’t want to leave you with him like this.”

You reached out, brushing Joel’s graying hair from his brow with trembling fingers. “I got him.”

A pause. Then Dina touched Ellie’s arm. “I’ll go,” she said gently. “I’ll ride. I’m faster. You stay.”

Ellie nodded, eyes not leaving yours.

You left a loud sob. “No,” you said quietly, lifting your eyes once more to Ellie’s. “Ellie… you go with Dina. I’ll stay here.”

Ellie’s shoulders stiffened. Her brows pulled together like she was bracing for another blow. “What? No. I’m not leaving you and him.”

You sat back on your knees, your hands bloodied, trembling. Joel’s chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.

“You have to,” you said, your voice breaking. “You have to, Ellie. Dina shouldn’t be riding alone.”

Ellie looked at Joel. Looked at you. And shook her head. “I can’t leave him like this. I can’t.”

You grabbed her hand, and that startled her. It startled you, too. But you held on, grounding her, pulling her attention back to your face. Your voice dropped to a whisper.

“Please,” you said. “Please. Help me save him.”

Ellie’s eyes filled. Not with tears, but with everything she couldn’t say. The guilt of the lost time. The fury of what they had done to Joel. The fear that maybe it was too late.

But you looked at her like there was still something worth fighting for.

She swallowed hard. Nodded once. “I’ll go.”

Your chest caved with relief. Joel let out a faint groan beneath you, and you turned back to him, brushing your thumb against his jaw.

“I’m here, baby,” you whispered. “I’m right here.”

Ellie hesitated at the doorway, stopping to look at you once again, “Will he be okay?” she asked before daring to step a foot outside.

You nodded, but it was instinct, automatic, hopeful, desperate. The truth lodged in your throat like a splinter you couldn’t spit out.

“I don’t know,” you said softly, voice trembling. “I don’t know how much damage they did.” Your eyes flicked over Joel’s body again, breath catching at the way his chest rose unevenly. “But he’s breathing. And that’s something.”

Ellie stepped closer to you. “What do you need me to do?”

You looked up at her then, and for a split second, she looked like a kid again. Afraid and shaken.

“Just go back to Jackson and bring help,” you said, your voice barely more than a breath. "That's all we need now."

Ellie’s eyes burned. She nodded once, jaw clenched. “Okay. Okay. Just hold on, please.”

You gave her one last look. “I’ll keep him breathing.”

She was gone the next second, steps pounding out the door, calling for Dina, and you were left in the broken room, just you and Joel and the slow drip of blood on the floorboards. His blood.

You pressed your hands to the worst of the wounds, breath shaking. “Did you hear that, Joel?” you whispered, pressing your forehead to his. “Help’s coming.”

He didn’t speak. But his fingers twitched again, slowly, and curled around your wrist.

It wasn’t much, but it meant he was still here.

That night felt heavy like wet ash. Everything smelled like blood, and outside, the snowstorm had died to a bitter hiss. The wind still screamed through cracks in the lodge, but inside, everything had gone quiet, except for the sound of Joel’s ragged breath and the low creak of floorboards every time you moved.

You’d done everything you could.

You had boiled snow over a fire in the next room just to clean the worst of the blood from his side. You weren’t a medic. But you were a woman in love. And that made you terrifying.

He faded in and out of consciousness, his lips murmuring your name between groans, sometimes not even sure it was real. You sat beside him, your back against the wall, holding his hand in both of yours.

But then it went still. You hadn’t realized how quiet it had gotten until the sound stopped completely.

“Joel?” you whispered, leaning close. There was no answer.

You shook his shoulder, gently. Then harder. “Joel.”

Nothing. His head lolled to the side. His skin felt clammy beneath your palm.

Your breath caught in your throat. “No, no—please, no. Joel—” You cupped his cheeks. “You stay with me; do you hear me?”

His brow twitched. His lips parted, barely, and a broken whisper slipped out.

"Sarah?”

The name came out like a breath lost in time. You froze. Your heart cracked open. His eyes fluttered beneath closed lids, a flicker of life.

In his mind, it was Austin all over again.

Sarah was laughing, running ahead of him, calling back over her shoulder, “Dad, come on!”

And he was smiling. Genuinely smiling. He could hear her. Feel her hand in his again. It was so warm and real.

He turned, and they were on the couch. Watching a movie. She was leaning against him, head on his shoulder. He’d just said something stupid, making her roll her eyes. He didn’t want to blink, afraid it’d all vanish.

But then came the gunshot. Her warmth was gone.

Now you were there. In the memory. Not Sarah, but you. Covered in blood and crying out his name.

Joel, please. Please.

Your hands were glowing with firelight, trembling as they pressed against his chest.

He tried to reach for you, but he couldn’t move, and the world was slipping through his fingers.

And then, your voice cut through the haze. “Joel, please. Please don’t do this.”

His heart stuttered once. A sharp inhale tore through his chest as if he’d been drowning.

“Joel!”

He coughed, body shaking, and your hands caught him just in time.

You sobbed, half-laughing as you gripped his cheeks again. “You scared the shit out of me—oh my god” you sobbed, tears streaming down your cheeks.

He looked up at you, dazed and confused. Then his eyes cleared, just a little.

“You were crying,” he mumbled, lips cracked.

“Yeah,” you whispered, brushing your thumb beneath his eye. “Yeah, I was.”

He blinked slowly. “Stop...”

“I can't,” you said.

Joel leaned ever so slightly into your palm, the pain pulling at him, but your voice anchoring him.

The night lingered like a wound that wouldn’t close, that wouldn't take time to heal.

And you didn’t sleep. Your body screamed for rest, but you had stayed next to Joel, watching the way his chest rose and fell, praying it wouldn’t stop again. Every time his breath caught or he groaned too hard, your stomach twisted into knots.

The lodge was cold. Blood had dried into the floorboards. The fire in the next room was too far away to warm either of you, and you didn’t dare move him to get closer.

So you pressed your body to his side gently, just enough to share warmth without causing him pain.

“Still with me?” you whispered.

His eyes fluttered open, sluggish as if they weighed “Yeah…” His voice was more gravel than sound.

You breathed out a shaky laugh, your forehead resting lightly against his temple. “You’re stubborn as hell, you know that?”

Joel let out a faint puff of breath, maybe a laugh, maybe a wince. "Learned from you," he muttered.

Your throat clenched. You reached for his hand again, interlocking your fingers with his, so you wouldn’t brush the torn knuckles.

“I thought I lost you,” you whispered.

His eyes moved slowly, searching, until they landed on you again. Then he mumbled something you barely heard.

Silence settled in. You closed your eyes, listening to the wind groaning against the windows. Time stretched, only broken by Joel’s breath stuttering again.

Then, his fingers twitched around yours.

Then you whispered, “Joel?”

He made a sound.

“I love you.”

He didn’t answer right away. His eyes were glassy with pain. But then he barely squeezed your hand, and his voice came soft, barely a breath.

“I love you, too.”

It felt like the first time he had told you those three words, and that had broken you the most.

You buried your face in his shoulder, careful of the bruises, and let yourself cry, not in panic, not in fear. But in overwhelming, soul-shaking relief.

He was alive.

Joel woke to the soft hum of voices and some old machines. The scent of cleaner stung his nose before the light even reached his eyes.

His body was in pain. He tried to move, but something warm and heavy rested on his side.

Your head was there, leaning on his side.

You were slumped in a chair beside him, your cheek pressed gently to his arm. Your fingers were laced with his, your grip loose with sleep but still holding on.

The light in the room was soft, filtering through the curtained window. Outside, life stirred in Jackson. But here, it was quiet. Just the two of you.

Joel blinked slowly, his throat dry, the taste of cotton still on his tongue. His gaze drifted down to you. There was a crease between your brows even at rest. You looked exhausted and pale.

But you were here. He breathed your name, raw and hoarse.

You stirred at the sound, your head lifting slowly as if from the depths of a dream. Your eyes met his, still sleep-warm but wide with shock. Disbelief flickered, then relief so powerful it made your lips tremble.

“Joel,” you whispered, leaving a sob behind.

His smile was small. Barely there. “You didn’t leave.”

Your hand came up to cup his cheek. “Never,” you said. “You scared me so much."

He swallowed hard, his hand tightening weakly around yours. “How long?”

“Three weeks,” you said, voice shaking with the memory. “You were unconscious the first few days back. The fever wouldn’t break. They weren’t sure if you’d make it through the second night”

He looked at you again, really looked. “And you sat here the whole damn time?”

You gave a soft, broken laugh. “Where else would I be?”

His good eye softened. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

You leaned closer, resting your forehead to his. “You promised me once you wouldn’t leave me.”

He nodded faintly, his eyes closing for a moment as your breath mingled.

Your fingers brushed his temple, so gently, as if afraid he’d fade again like some half-formed dream that wouldn't last. Joel’s skin was warm beneath your touch, warmer than it had been in days, and that alone nearly broke you all over again.

“It’s going to take time,” you whispered, your voice barely louder than the hum of the machines. “To heal from this.”

Joel didn’t say anything, but you felt the tremor in his breath.

You threaded your fingers more tightly with his. “But I’m not going anywhere. You hear me?” you said, firmer now, voice catching on the tears in your throat. “I’m not leaving your side. You will get sick of me.”

His lips parted like he wanted to argue, maybe even protest, but then he looked at you again. Really looked. The cut on his brow. The bruising on his cheekbone. The pain behind his eye, and beyond that, the softness that only came when it was just you.

“You shouldn’t have had to—”

“I had to,” you cut in, gently “Because I love you. Because I couldn’t lose you. And I won’t ever lose you.” you paused to take a deep breath before continuing, “You and I will grow old together, and we will die peacefully in a farm, just as you wanted."

Joel blinked. His hand tightened slightly in yours again, like the only strength he had left was meant for that one touch.

You leaned in and kissed his forehead, bruised, stitched, healing. “You’re mine, Joel. And I’m yours."

Silence fell, heavy but not suffocating anymore. The kind of silence where you could finally breathe again. Where you knew he was going to live.

Joel let his head rest back into the pillow, the edge of a tear slipping from the corner of his eye.

“Okay,” he whispered, smiling at you.

You smiled through your tears, the kind that burned hot down your cheeks but carried no pain, only relief.

You shifted in the chair, reaching up to brush a bit of hair back from his forehead, careful not to touch where it was most tender. His skin warmed beneath your fingertips. He was alive, and the reality of that still hadn’t fully settled in.

“I’m gonna be here when you wake up,” you promised, voice like a hush of wind through leaves. “Every morning. And every day if I have to. You focus on getting better.”

Joel's smile trembled, worn and crooked. His good eye drifted shut, but not before his fingers gave yours one more squeeze, like he couldn’t bear to let you go in his sleep.

You watched him as his breathing evened out again, slow like the beat of a song you never thought you would hear again. The soft light of the light, caught a golden hue over the bedsheets.

You rested your head by his side again, your cheek brushing his arm, eyes closing just for a moment. Not to sleep, but to hold the feeling. The warmth. The miracle.

He was still here.

And you would be, too. Always.

[angelseraphines]

ೃ⁀➷ playing dangerous ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🦢 ꒱

╰┈➤ hwang in-ho x player!reader imagine

a/n: i would like to give a special thank you to @lumillsie for the layout of this post and for the filter used on the header!

˚ ༘♡ player 177. your assigned number. the three digits stitched in stark white thread on the coarse forest-green tracksuit now clinging to your body. you didn’t remember putting it on. you didn’t remember anything between falling asleep in your cramped apartment and waking up in this sterile, alabaster void. the tracksuit was loose in some places, tight in others, the fabric rough against your skin, a similar sensation for the discomfort that had settled deep into your bones.

˚ ༘♡ the air here was heavy, oppressive. tension hung over the room like a storm cloud, pressing down on everyone in its path. you sat on the thin mattress of your cot, the iron bars of the bedframe biting into your back as you leaned against them. your throat was dry, your lips chapped, and a faint crust of dried blood clung to the edge of your mouth, an unpleasant reminder of the chaos you’d barely survived. in your lap rested a cold metal bento box, unopened. the thought of eating its contents of rubbery eggs and starchy rice, made your stomach churn. it wasn’t hunger gnawing at you but dread. eating felt like acknowledging the possibility of another day here, in this place where death lingered so close you could almost taste it.

˚ ༘♡ death. it wasn’t something you’d ever had to think about seriously before. you were young, healthy enough, aside from the occasional winter flu. life’s struggles had been mundane, bills, work, nothing quite noteworthy. you’d thought financial trouble was the worst of your problems. how naive that seemed now. the sharp crack of gunfire still rang in your ears, and the memory of bodies crumpling mid-run played in an endless loop in your mind. every scream, every desperate gasp for air as life left someone’s body, was etched into your mind.

˚ ༘♡ this wasn’t life. it was survival, twisted into something grotesque. children’s games weaponized against desperate people for the amusement of others, with the promise of money as bait. one hundred million won for every life taken. your own life, reduced to a figure on a balance sheet. you’d survived the first game, the horrifying version of red light, green light, but at what cost? surely, after witnessing such carnage, the others would have voted to leave. you’d been certain of it. but the desperation was stronger. greed was stronger. most players had chosen to stay, ignoring the horrors of what lay ahead.

˚ ༘♡ “the next game,” player 456 had said, “will be cutting shapes out of dalgona candy. pick the triangle. it’s the easiest.” his voice had carried a strange conviction, and he claimed to know these games intimately, even to have won before. but how could you trust him? maybe he was lying, or maybe it didn’t matter. maybe none of you were meant to leave this place alive.

˚ ༘♡ “hey, 177!” the crude voice shattered your thoughts, dragging you back to the present.

˚ ༘♡ you glanced up to see player 230, “thanos,” as he called himself, sauntering toward you. his garish purple hair stood out like a bruise against the sterile backdrop, and his brightly colored nails flashed as he gestured. he’d painted them to match the infinity stones, leaning fully into the nickname he’d given himself. behind him, player 124 followed, all sharp angles and slicked-back hair, his grin as eager and sly as ever.

˚ ༘♡ “why didn’t you vote for one more game, huh?” thanos sneered, his voice laced with mockery. “you had no problem playing foul last round.”

˚ ༘♡ you frowned, rising slowly to your feet. “you and i both know it was an accident,” you replied steadily. “everyone was running for their lives. i didn’t block your way on purpose. we both finished in time, didn’t we? no harm done.”

˚ ༘♡ he rolled his eyes, his expression exaggerated and spontaneous. “yeah, sure, whatever. typical cold-hearted bitch behavior.”

˚ ༘♡ player 124 cackled at the insult, his laughter harsh and grating. “that’s right. cold, stuck-up bitch,” he echoed, his voice dripping with scorn.

˚ ༘♡ their taunts were designed to provoke you, but you refused to give them the satisfaction. your hands curled into fists, but you forced yourself to relax them, forced yourself to breathe. these two thrived on conflict, and the best thing you could do was walk away. you turned on your heel, ignoring their shouts, and started to move toward the far corner of the room.

˚ ༘♡ “hey! i’m talking to you!” thanos barked, stumbling after you with heavy, uncoordinated steps. he didn’t get far. player 001 stepped into his path, his expression stoic and unyielding.

˚ ༘♡ “don’t you boys have any respect?” player 001 asked, his voice quiet but firm. there was something about him, an emanation of authority that made everyone within earshot pause.

˚ ༘♡ thanos bristled, his arrogance faltering for just a moment. “mind your own damn business, old man,” he snapped, jerking forward.

˚ ༘♡ player 001 didn’t flinch. when thanos lunged at him, the older man moved with startling precision, sidestepping the punch with ease. he grabbed thanos by the wrist mid-swing and twisted sharply, forcing a guttural yelp from the younger man as his knees buckled. with a swift motion, player 001 yanked him forward and drove an elbow into his chest, the dull, cracking impact echoing in the room. thanos collapsed onto the floor, clutching his ribs and coughing violently.

˚ ༘♡ player 124 scrambled forward, his face twisted in fury. “bastard!” he yelled, charging with reckless abandon. player 001 turned just in time, catching the younger man by the collar and using his momentum against him. a sharp twist and a well-placed shove sent player 124 sprawling into the edge of a nearby cot, the metal frame rattling as he hit it with a thud.

˚ ༘♡ the fight wasn’t over. thanos struggled to his feet, his face contorted in pain and rage. “you’re gonna regret that, old man,” he spat, lunging again. this time, player 001’s response was more deliberate. he ducked under thanos’s wild swing, stepped inside his reach, and delivered a devastating blow to his lower torso. the younger man doubled over, gasping, before player 001 swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor once more.

˚ ༘♡ not finished, player 124 staggered up again, charging at player 001 with fists raised. the older man sidestepped and grabbed player 124 by the arm, wrenching it behind his back and forcing him to the ground with a hoarse cry of pain. he planted a knee firmly against player 124’s spine, holding him there as the younger man squirmed and cursed.

˚ ༘♡ thanos, blood now trickling from his nose, crawled toward his friend, wheezing apologies and swearing obscenities all at once. player 001 released player 124 with a shove, stepping back as the two younger men lay crumpled together on the floor.

˚ ༘♡ the room was silent, every player watching in stunned awe. then, slowly, the silence broke into cheers and clapping. player 001 straightened his posture, his expression as calm and inscrutable as ever. without a word, he turned and walked back to where player 456 and a few others were gathered, leaving the two troublemakers to nurse their wounds.

˚ ༘♡ you hesitated, then followed him. when you reached his side, you spoke softly. “i wanted to thank you, sir. if you hadn’t stepped in, they wouldn’t have stopped harassing me and disturbing the peace. you’ve done us all a favor.”

˚ ༘♡ player 001 turned to look at you, his dark eyes meeting yours briefly before he nodded. he said nothing, his expression unreadable. there was something deeply weary about him, a weight that seemed to press down on his shoulders. his posture was rigid, his face lined with exhaustion, and though he was relatively handsome, it was the kind of masculine appeal eroded by time and hardship.

˚ ༘♡ you wondered what had brought him here, what had led him to the point where he’d chosen, or been pushed into, to enter this place. you didn’t ask. prying into his past would be an impolite gesture and an indignity for what he had done for you.

a/n: my first squid game fanfiction! i definitely want to write more for hwang in-ho in the future so let me know if you have any requests! 🤍

[petalbcrnes]

﹅ 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙎 ◞ j. todd & d. grayson.

SYNOPSIS: How do the batboys show their love to you?

A/N: If you recognise this type of series it's because I already posted this series before and I've just brought it back to life. It was one of my favourites!

✹ ꕀ M.LIST ; AO3!

@ 𝘿𝙄𝘾𝙆 𝙂𝙍𝘼𝙔𝙎𝙊𝙉

WONDERWALL: Dick is utterly captivated by you, unable to escape the gentle pull you have on him. His thoughts naturally wander back to you, no matter where he is or what he’s doing. The flower shop across the street from his apartment reminds him of the way you smile when you see fresh blooms. The warm cup of coffee in his hand brings to mind your laugh shared over countless café visits. Even the melodic song playing on the radio seems to echo your voice, leaving him lost in the memories of moments spent together. Every part of his day feels touched by you, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

BUTTERFLIES: For a man as confident and experienced as Dick, his reaction to you is a mystery even to himself. Why does he suddenly lose his words when you're around? Why does his heart race, his breath hitch, and his usually steady voice falter? He’s never understood the cliché of “butterflies in the stomach” until now, but with you, it’s as if they’ve taken permanent residence. And strangely, he doesn’t fear them. On the contrary, he treasures the fluttering chaos you bring into his life, embracing the vulnerability you stir within him.

TO THE WORLD: While he might be bashful in your presence, Dick’s shyness vanishes when it comes to showing you off. He takes pride in being with you, in letting the world know that he’s yours and you’re his. His touch is constant—an arm resting around your shoulder, fingers threaded through yours, a warm hand resting lightly on your waist. In his eyes, you’re a treasure he’s lucky to have, and he makes sure everyone knows just how grateful he is to be with you. His actions are both a promise and a declaration: you’re the center of his world.

SACCHARINE: Dick’s love is a sugary-sweet devotion that knows no bounds. It’s in the gentle kiss on your forehead that wakes you in the morning, the perfectly prepared breakfast waiting for you—your favorite, of course. He anticipates your every need, from packing your lunch to knowing your schedule better than you do. His phone lights up with a special ringtone just for you, and his heart skips a beat every time it does. Throughout the day, he sends you little messages, checking in and reminding you how much he adores you. And when the day is done, he’s there, waiting with open arms to welcome you back home, where you belong.

♥︎

♥︎ ♥︎

@ 𝙅𝘼𝙎𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙊𝘿𝘿

PROCESS: Jason’s love is a journey—slow, steady, and deliberate. It unfolds one step at a time, built on the foundation of mutual trust and understanding. At the start, he wrestles with unfamiliar feelings, trying to push past his instinct to hold back. But you teach him patience, reminding him that boundaries are just as vital as vulnerability. With every shared moment, every quiet conversation, he learns to open up, to let you in. The path may be long and winding, but the bond you create is worth every effort, a reward neither of you takes for granted.

REVERY: Jason’s life is a constant storm, weighted by responsibilities and the ghosts of his past. Crime Alley, his vigilante work, and the fragile threads of family ties often leave him tense and restless. But with you, he finds something rare: peace. In your presence, his defenses soften, his shoulders lose their rigidity, and his gaze takes on a gentleness that’s reserved for you alone. Your touch steadies him, your voice soothes the chaos in his mind. You are his haven, his reprieve from a world that rarely gives him rest.

THE ONE: For Jason, you aren’t just someone he loves—you’re his everything. In a crowded room, his eyes find yours first. His hands instinctively reach for you, seeking the comfort only you can provide. Your name is always on his lips, whether he’s asking for you, talking about you, or just thinking aloud. No matter who else vies for his attention, you remain his first choice. From mundane errands to quiet nights at home, he wants you by his side, sharing in every moment, big or small.

NOT ONLY LOVERS: With Jason, your relationship goes beyond romance—you’re his best friend, his confidant, his partner in every sense of the word. Before love blossomed, your bond was built on trust and camaraderie. You’re the one he can laugh with until his stomach hurts, the one he can stay up all night talking to about everything and nothing. Inside jokes, shared secrets, and endless conversations are the foundation of your connection. Together, you’ve created a love that’s as deep as it is unshakable, one rooted in friendship and nurtured by unwavering loyalty.

© petalbcrnes | all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are not allowed to be reposted, translated, or modified.

[writeriguess]

hey neema! i was going to request a fic with azriel from ACOTAR, my brain has been cooking up some ideas and i wanted to see what you do with it! i was thinking something along the lines of some kind of tension finally hits a boiling point for reader and az. they finally act on it after what feels like forever. something smutty that ends with them figuring out they’re mates aswell? thank you!

Shadows and Fate

The tension had been unbearable for what felt like years. Stolen glances, the brush of hands that lingered just a second too long, the way Azriel’s shadows curled around you protectively whenever you were near. It was a slow, torturous dance—one that neither of you dared to finish.

Until now.

The mission had been grueling, the kind that left you both adrenaline-drunk and raw. You’d barely made it back to the House of Wind in one piece, every muscle in your body screaming from exertion. But the ache that truly consumed you wasn’t physical—it was the one burning beneath your skin, the one that had been festering for months, years.

Azriel was watching you again, his golden eyes darkened to molten amber, his jaw clenched so tight you swore you heard it creak. He was pacing, still keyed up from the fight, his siphons flickering with untamed power. The tension between you crackled, electric and undeniable.

“Az,” you breathed, stepping toward him.

“Don’t,” he rasped, though he didn’t move away. His wings flared slightly, as if his own body betrayed him, reaching for something it had been starving for.

But you were done pretending.

You surged forward, crashing into him with all the force of a battlefield. Azriel caught you instantly, his hands gripping your waist so tightly it bordered on bruising. And then his lips were on yours, all sharp desperation and unrelenting hunger. He kissed like a man starving, like he’d been waiting for this moment for so long it might shatter him.

Your back hit the wall before you even realized he’d moved, his body caging you in, shadows licking over your skin like they had a mind of their own. You gasped against his lips, and he seized the opportunity, his tongue sweeping into your mouth, deep and claiming. His hands were everywhere—your waist, your hips, your thighs—gripping, kneading, pulling you closer until not even air remained between you.

“You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” he growled against your neck, his breath hot, his teeth grazing sensitive skin. A delicious shudder wracked through you, and you let your head fall back, granting him full access. He took it greedily, lips and teeth marking a path down to your collarbone.

“I think I do,” you whispered, raking your nails down his back. His wings shuddered violently, a strangled noise escaping him as he pressed his forehead against yours, breathing heavily.

“I won’t be able to stop,” he warned, his voice strained.

“Then don’t.”

Something inside him snapped.

Azriel hoisted you into his arms, legs wrapping around his waist as he carried you to the nearest surface. His shadows tugged at your clothes, making quick work of the barriers between you. Every touch was frantic, every kiss bruising, as if he needed to map every inch of you before he lost his mind completely.

And then he was inside you, and the world shattered.

It was pure, unrelenting pleasure. He moved with a purpose, each thrust driving deeper, hitting the spot that had you gasping his name like a prayer. His grip was possessive, his lips never straying far from your skin—kissing, biting, soothing. He was everywhere, overwhelming, consuming, and you never wanted it to stop.

Your release barreled into you with the force of a storm, your body clenching around him as stars exploded behind your eyes. Azriel followed soon after, his name tumbling from your lips like a benediction. And as you both came down from the high, bodies tangled, breathing ragged, you felt it.

The bond.

It was like a golden thread snapping into place, something ancient and undeniable singing in your blood. Your eyes met Azriel’s, wide and disbelieving, his pupils blown wide with shock.

And then, a slow, wicked grin spread across his lips.

“Mine,” he murmured, pressing a lingering kiss to your lips, his voice laced with awe and possession.

Yours. Forever.

[orphanedshadow]

Another growl made its way from the basement, this time from Kara instead of her pup. Signalling that she couldn't speak was difficult without revealing herself, and people never seemed willing to leave once they saw her. Besides, she would have to lower her bow if she wanted to sign….not that humans seemed to understand it.

Still, taking a deep breath, and gesturing to Maskim to be silent, she put down her bow, picking up the empty gun with her other hand. Stepping in front of the light once more, making sure the shadow included the weapon, she gestured to her own throat before giving a thumbs-down, hoping it would signal that she couldn't speak… something that she was sure would make all diplomacy nigh on useless.

After another moment of thought she also put the gun on the table, letting the shadow show that she'd put it down, hoping that much was understood. She had no plans of shooting either, though if pressed then she would have no problem with loosing an arrow, or throwing a knife. In fact, she could just put out the torch and be at an advantage, something she was not about to let the stranger know.

Just in case the other decided to try something, Kara decided to go and grab an arm, one taken from one of the infected. It had been a large specimen, and although mostly mummified, it was slightly pliable, as well as stiff enough to keep some shape. With a gardening glove over the hand and a long sleeve, it was vaguely convincing, so she bent the fingers to show only one, then stuck it through the doorway, as if asking how many people, and stating that she was alone.

Hopefully it would be convincing enough for the young-sounding girl to think that there was someone physically imposing, with a big scary dog, and stay away.It was best to be menacing, show strength, as if she didn’t just have a tiny dog, ancient weaponry, and magics she wasn’t entirely able to control. She would be okay if the other was actually alone, but if there was the possibility of a larger group, or if people would come looking for them…then things would probably get bad quickly.

It required focus, to hear the sounds and shifts in the space around her over the agitated, out of rhythm skittering of her own heartbeat pounding in her head. She was used to adrenaline, she was used to surges of fear and anger interrupting her train of thought -- hell, she'd have been dead a few thousand times over if she didn't know how to adjust to the fucked up things adrenaline and emotions did to reactions and senses. This felt different, somehow.

As weird and unusual as her life was, there were norms. There were patterns. Sequences. And whatever this was? Didn't fit into any of the 'norm'. Her heart jerked, leaping up into her throat for a second at the shadowed image of a gun -- and again, at the low, agitated growl. She didn't exactly have the best history with dogs, mostly because most of the ones she'd encountered had been trying to eat her face. And she rather liked that attached.

She should've taken the loss, accepted the warning and that she was probably on the losing end of whatever power struggle this was, but she wasn't about to let this particular mystery go unsolved. Okay, maybe she should leave. Go get Joel. Come back. Let him figure it out. But then there'd be the yelling and the chastising and the arguing. No. It was better if she figured it out first. And then, if she had answers, it'd be better. Right?

"Okay, real cute," she groused, at the bird flipped her way -- like she wouldn't do exactly the same thing. "And I get it, fine, you -- you have your space, and your .. weapons, and your space, and your... dog." What did she have? A gun. And a guaranteed line of sight way to get herself shot if she tried to go down. "So let's ... discuss." Because talking was such her strong suit. "I ... am not here to shoot you. And I'd rather not get shot. So maybe, we start with ... not doing that, okay? I... uh, would ... like to ask some questions, maybe. Maybe you need something, and ... we could trade, right?"

[slytherin-pen]

Diplomacy Be Damned

pairing: Kallias x Reader

word count: 1.2k

warnings: some fighting, burn injury, Kallias loses his temper to defend you, Beron being Beron

a/n: dipping my toes into writing about Kallias. i need to read up on some headcannons since we have so little canon info about him. dug this one out the drafts lmao

The halls of the Winter Court glistened with ethereal beauty. Walls carved from ice, crystalline chandeliers dripping with frozen jewels that caught and refracted the faint glow of faelight. The chill in the air was familiar, comforting even, though it did little to ease the tension rising in the room.

The High Lords had gathered again to discuss the threat of Koschei. And as always, it felt like sitting in the eye of a storm.

You sat quietly beside Kallias, your mate, the bond between you a steady hum under your skin, a thread of warmth woven through the cold. His hand brushed yours subtly, an anchor amidst the political currents swirling around the grand table.

Beron was speaking.

Of course, he was.

You had the displeasure of sitting near him, Kallias and one of his sons were all that was between you. On your right sat Thesan and Tarquin with their respective councils. The Inner Circle, Helion, and an empty spot for Tamlin across from you. The large circular table made of ice was designed with the much-needed space that was necessary for these tumultuous meetings in mind. Usually, Autumn would be positioned on the same side as Night, but with Lucien Vanserra’s new position as their emissary you convinced Kallias to rearrange the seating chart so the poor male did not have to sit near the male who caused him so much suffering, and instead next to his true father. You were reconsidering that moment of compassion now.

Arrogant and venomous, Beron’s words were dripping with condescension as he spoke of sacrifices and violence with the casual cruelty only the Autumn Court’s High Lord could master. You saw the way Kallias’ jaw tightened, the faint narrowing of his eyes, the only signs of his control slipping.

Across the room, Feyre Archeron sat beside High Lord Rhysand, her posture rigid, and nails tapping rhymically against the table as Beron’s smug remarks continued. You could see it in her eyes, she was losing her patience with him, as was everyone else in this room.

“If Koschei wants the Archeron witch so badly, I say let him have her,” Beron drawled with a flourish of his hands. “There’s no sense in going to war over one useless female.”

A burst of flames shot across the room, wild and uncontrolled. It was meant for Beron. You knew that. Everyone knew that.

But Feyre had still not yet mastered her aim, and you were sitting in its path.

The searing heat hit you before you could react, fire licking across your shoulder, burning through the layers of fabric, biting into flesh. A sharp, involuntary cry escaped you as pain erupted and you fell backward out of your chair.

The room exploded into chaos.

Kallias’ reaction was immediate, his power blowing an icy wind that extinguished the remaining flames. The chill of his power was a different kind of sting, but an improvement nonetheless. He helped you rise, his hands on your waist as he sat you down in his chair. You gazed up at him to tell him it was alright, to just adjourn the meeting for a moment until you saw his face.

Fury.

Uncontained, unrelenting fury.

His eyes blazed with a rage colder than the harshest winter as he turned on Rhysand and Feyre, his power crackling in the air like a blizzard ready to consume.

“What were you thinking?” His voice was a snarl, low and dangerous, ice creeping across the marble floor like the tide rising at a beach.

Rhysand rose, hands raised in a gesture of surrender, but there was a readiness in his stance. “It was an accident—”

“An accident?” Kallias roared, his magic lashing out, frost racing across the walls, shards of ice falling from the ceiling and crashing onto the table. “She burned my mate!”

You tried to stand, the pain sharp and unyielding, but Kallias was already at your side again, lowering you back down to the seat. His breath came fast, uneven, his fury battling with fear. The smell of your charred flesh permeated the room, even Lucien across the table wrinkled his nose at the all too familiar scent.

Beron, ever the viper, chuckled darkly from his seat. “Seems the High Lady still can’t control her temper. At least it wasn't my wife this time.”

That was all it took.

Kallias and Rhysand lunged.

Power collided—ice, darkness, and fire. Winter’s wrath and Night’s might against the burn of Autumn. Beron blocked Kallias’ strike with a shield of fire, but the sheer force sent shockwaves through the hall, cracks spiderwebbing across the floor. Rhysand’s darkness engulfed Beron, snuffing out his flames.

“Enough!” Helion shouted, stepping between them, his golden power radiating as he formed a shield around everyone else.

But Kallias wasn’t listening. He could only think to protect, avenge, defend. His magic surged again, colder than death itself, as he bared his teeth.

“Kallias,” you managed to rasp, your voice raw from both the pain and the rising fear of what he might do.

He froze.

Then he was in front of you, dropping to his knees, cradling your face in his hands. His fury didn’t vanish—it was there, sizzling beneath the surface—but his focus shifted entirely to you.

“Hold on,” he whispered, his voice ragged with emotion. “I’ve got you.”

With a burst of his power, he winnowed you both away, the freezing air swallowing the sound of shouts and curses from the meeting room.

He had taken you to your shared chambers, the familiar scent of fir trees and eucalyptus wrapped around you like a comforting cocoon.

Kallias didn’t waste a moment. He led you to the edge of the bed to sit and carefully peeled away the burnt fabric. The sight of the angry, blistered skin made his breath hitch. He strode into the washroom to retrieve healing supplies before returning to your side. His fingers hovered above the wound, trembling slightly.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered as if it were his fault. “I should’ve—”

“You couldn’t have stopped it,” you assured, wincing as he dabbed a cool cloth over the burn, the chill both soothing and sharp.

But Kallias didn’t respond. He clenched his jaw, his eyes shadowed with guilt as he worked. He was meticulous, his hands gentle, as if he feared hurting you more.

After delicately applying healing salves to the burns and wrapping them with a bandage, he sat beside you, his head in his hands.

“Does it still hurt?” he asked.

You shook your head. “No, it just tingles now. The salves are working.”

He released a sigh of relief. Then, softly, “When I saw you fall…” his voice cracked, and he took a shaky breath. “I’ve faced war and impending death, but nothing has ever terrified me like that.”

You reached for his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. “I’m here. I’m okay.”

His grip tightened, pulling you into his arms with a desperation that made your heart ache. He held you as if you might disappear, his face buried in the crook of your neck, breathing you in.

“I don’t ever want to feel that again,” he murmured, his voice barely audible.

You pressed a kiss to his temple, feeling his tension slowly ease. “You won’t. I’m not going anywhere.”

[cup1drul3z]

★ — Salt in her lungs

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 1 : ᴅʀᴀɢ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱʜᴏʀᴇ

ᴘɪʀᴀᴛᴇ!ꜱᴇᴠɪᴋᴀ x ᴍᴇʀᴍᴀɪᴅ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ | 5.7ᴋ ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ

TAGS : Age gap, Mermaids, Pirates, Fantasy world, set in 1600s, blood mentioned

A/N : another fic that has been collecting dust in my docs

Summary : A curious mermaid princess saves a drowning pirate, breaking centuries of secrecy between their worlds. Sevika can't forget the girl beneath the waves, haunted by her even in someone else’s arms. Now, both are searching for each other—drawn by a connection neither fully understands.

Long ago, before salt crusted the corners of maps and before ships carved paths across the sea, the oceans were ruled by song.

Mermaids—known to themselves as the Thalassari—were not the glittering fairy tales whispered to human children. They were warriors, mystics, daughters of tide and storm. Born with sharp teeth and sharper tongues, they shaped the ocean’s mood with their voices: lullabies that calmed tempests, laments that mourned lost ships, and siren-songs that could drag a fleet to the bottom of the world. They lived deep in the trenches, in palaces carved from coral and whale bone, protected by magic older than the moon.

But once—centuries ago—humans and merfolk did meet.

The stories say a fisherman’s net tore through the kelp curtain guarding a mermaid nursery. Curious, the humans came closer. They captured one. Dissected her. What they didn’t understand, they feared. What they feared, they destroyed.

A war followed. Not one of armies or flags, but of quiet ruin. Ships lost with no trace. Islands swallowed by sudden tides. Harbors cursed with empty nets and dead water. In retaliation, humans built stories—legends to bury the truth. Mermaids were dismissed as sailor myths, drunken mirages, hallucinations brought on by thirst and madness. A convenient lie. Over time, belief faded like a tide pulling back. Mermaids became fantasy.

Below the surface, the Thalassari wove their own stories. Humans, they said, were extinct—burned out by their own fires, vanished into the sky. “Surface ghosts,” they were called, used to frighten little mermaids into obedience. Don’t swim too close to the shore, or the ghosts will steal your voice.

Generations passed. The sea kept its secrets.

Until now.

Until you.

You, the youngest daughter of the Sea King—mouthy, reckless, and far too curious for your own good. You’ve always wanted to see what was beyond. Not just the reef wall or the border tides, but the world above.

You weren’t supposed to be awake this late.

The reef pulsed with sleepy biolight, soft and dim, like the whole sea was breathing slow around you. Your sisters had long since curled into their shell beds, and even the guards stationed at the edge of the inner currents had grown lazy—hovering with half-lidded eyes, tridents drifting just slightly out of reach.

Perfect.

You moved silently through your chambers, brushing past strands of sea-silk and coral trinkets. Your father had filled the place with gifts. A necklace of blood-pearls. A singing conch from the Mariana Trench. A polished mirror carved from obsidian that always reflected you looking smaller than you felt. They were all meant to distract you. Soften you.

But none of it mattered when your heart was pulling toward something outside.

You ran your fingers through your hair. Tugged on your travel wrap—lightweight kelp-thread woven for speed, not elegance. No crown. No sign of royalty. Just you. Just the water.

You moved to the back wall of your chamber, where a curtain of kelp swayed lazily over the outcrop. It looked like just another patch of rock, but if you pushed it just right—there—the shimmerline faltered.

Just a flicker.

Your heart thudded in your chest, a rhythm too fast for deep sea calm.

One look over your shoulder.

Empty room.

You exhaled.

Then you slipped through the crack in the reef—outside Sanctum for the first time in your life.

And the sea felt different out here.

Colder. Wilder.

Free.

“You call that a tie-down? That knot wouldn’t hold a drunk mermaid’s panties, let alone a cannon!”

The deck of The Harpy’s Grin was chaos—ropes whipping in the wind, gulls screeching overhead, crewmen scrambling like wet rats as the sails snapped angrily above. The storm had passed hours ago, but its temper still echoed in the waves. And Sevika, captain of this barely-floating beast, was not in the mood.

She stalked across the creaking boards with heavy boots, the scent of brine and old smoke clinging to her coat. The sun caught the steel of her mechanical arm as she grabbed a dangling line and yanked it tight with a grunt, shooting a deadly glare at the nearest crewman.

“Reefbreak’s balls, if you lot can’t manage a basic lash, I’ll start tossing you overboard one by one and see who floats best!”

“Cap’n, the wind changed too fast—” one of them started, eyes wide and voice shaking.

“And the wind’ll break your jaw next time you whine instead of workin’.” Her voice was rough as gravel, but cold. Controlled. She didn’t raise her voice unless she meant it.

The man shut up real fast.

Sevika took a slow drag off the half-chewed cigar clenched between her teeth, squinting out at the horizon. The water stretched out, glittering like spilled coin under the sun. Endless. Boring. Predictable.

God, she hated calm days.

“Where’s the chart?” she barked, already heading for the helm.

“Below deck, Cap’n!”

“Well get it! I’m not lettin’ this damn ship drift like a tavern whore waiting for a kiss.”

She took the wheel in one hand, metal fingers tapping restlessly on the polished wood. Her jaw worked against the cigar, tension in her shoulders she couldn’t seem to shake. Not from the storm. Not from the crew.

From the feeling. That gnawing itch behind her ribs like something was coming. Something that didn’t belong on the sea.

She spat overboard.

“Fuckin’ sirens,” she muttered.

Except she didn’t believe in sirens.

Not really.

Sevika barked one last order and turned back toward the wheel, the wind catching her coat as she narrowed her eyes at the far edge of the water. Something shimmered there—a ripple too smooth for open sea, a flicker of color where none should be.

Probably nothing.

But her gut said different.

And Sevika had learned long ago to trust her gut more than gods, ghosts, or gossiping crewmen.

She took another drag from her cigar and growled, “Bring up the scopes. I want eyes on the wreck fields.”

A crewmember scrambled up beside her, already raising the scope to his eye. He adjusted the focus, then stiffened. “There’s... something in the water, Cap’n.”

“‘Something’?” she snapped. “That’s real fuckin’ specific.”

“Not a fish. Too big. Looks like... maybe someone fell overboard?”

Her cigar twitched at the corner of her mouth.

“Lower the rowboat,” she ordered, voice flat. “Two men. Careful hands.”

Oren hesitated. “You think it’s a survivor?”

“I think I didn’t ask for your opinion,” she said, turning on her heel.

But as she walked away, she muttered under her breath, just quiet enough not to be heard:

“Or a goddamn lure.”

You’d gone too far.

You knew it the second the light changed—the way it bled through the water in slanted, unnatural beams, not the warm shimmer of Sanctum’s safe magic but the sharp, raw glare of the surface world. The current had tugged you past familiar coral shelves and singing stones. Now, the water was colder. Still. Heavy with silence.

And wreckage.

You kicked gently through the murk, weaving past twisted metal and splintered wood, ghost-ships swallowed by barnacles and age. Sails shredded like jellyfish skin. Harpoons rusted and bent. A graveyard.

Your brows furrowed as you muttered, “Why would there be so many here...?”

You’d always been told humans were myths—surface ghosts that vanished long ago, burned away by their own greed. Old stories. Scare tactics. Tales told to mares to keep them close to the reef. No one you knew had ever seen one.

But the wreckage told a different story.

You drifted lower, nearly brushing your belly against the ocean floor as you approached a strange shadow ahead—huge, looming, far too intact to be part of the graveyard. Not a reef. Not a creature.

And then you saw it.

Half out of the water above: a massive dark shape, long and wide like a sleeping leviathan. Wooden skin. Metal teeth. Some kind of strange… hump-backed whale?

Right next to it, floating just beside the beast, was a smaller one. Sleek. Smoother. Almost cute, in a crooked kind of way.

You froze, breath catching in your throat.

“...What are those?”

You stayed low, heart thudding as you pressed into the sand, eyes wide and glittering with curiosity. Whatever they were, they hadn’t moved yet. Maybe they were just strange surface creatures. Maybe they were whales. Maybe this was why your father forbade you from leaving.

But gods help you—you had to know.

The rowboat rocked gently beside the ruins of the old wreck, creaking as it drifted in the lazy current. Sevika stood near the bow, one boot up on the edge, arms crossed, cigar tucked behind her ear. She was squinting into the water, watching the way it shimmered around the rotted timbers below.

“See anything yet?” she muttered.

“Hold on,” one of her men called back, leaning farther over the edge. His fingers gripped the railing as he tried to peer past the sun glare. “I thought I saw—wait, yeah—somethin’ shiny. Looked like—”

The glint was gone before he finished the sentence.

A plink broke the stillness.

They all froze.

The man’s hand went to his bare chest like he’d been stabbed. His face twisted. “No—shit! No!”

“What now?” Sevika asked, already annoyed.

“My necklace—!” he barked, voice cracking. “It—it was my late wife’s—shit!”

And then he jumped.

Straight off the side.

“Godsdammit!” Sevika cursed as water splashed over the side.

“Man overboard!” the second crewman yelled, standing and nearly tipping the whole boat in his panic.

Shouts rang out from the main ship—sails snapping above, boots pounding on the upper deck. Sevika didn’t wait. She tore off her coat and dove in.

The water swallowed her whole.

She cut through it like a knife, teeth clenched against the cold. The man was below her, flailing, reaching toward the shimmer of silver glinting just above the ocean floor—lodged between sharp black rocks. Stupid, reckless bastard.

He grabbed it, fingers closing around the chain.

But then he panicked.

His chest heaved. His eyes went wide.

Sevika reached him, shoving him upward with both hands. Her grip was strong, steady. “Go!” she yelled, voice lost in a stream of bubbles. “Get up!”

He kicked off, disappearing toward the surface.

She turned to follow—and pain lanced up her leg.

Her boot had caught.

She yanked, hard. The rocks didn’t budge.

The pressure was already building behind her eyes. Her lungs were screaming.

She kicked again, twisting, trying to slip free—

Still stuck.

Still sinking.

The decision wasn’t a decision at all. It was instinct.

One moment, you were crouched in the sand, hidden beneath a ledge of coral and bone, eyes wide as the strange surface woman thrashed against the rocks. The next—you were moving.

Your tail snapped once, twice, and you shot forward through the murk.

Her foot was caught tight between two slabs of stone. You yanked on them, fingers digging into the crevices, but they wouldn’t budge. Too sharp. Too strong. The woman’s dark eyes locked onto yours—wild with confusion and quickly clouding. Her mouth parted, a stream of bubbles escaping.

And still—she fought.

But something else moved behind you.

A shadow.

The shark.

You felt it before you saw it—the ripple through the current, the low thrum of hunger. It circled from far off, but closing fast, drawn by the shimmer of your scales.

You cursed under your breath.

Too shiny, stupid tail, stupid.

You twisted, diving down just as it cut through the water in a flash of grey muscle and hunger. Sevika flinched as it passed—still trapped. Still vulnerable.

You didn’t hesitate.

Your fingers found the knife strapped to her thigh—slick and cold, the leather sheath wrapped in thick cords. You yanked it free, spun, and darted directly toward the open mouth of the predator.

It came at you fast.

You were faster.

With a sharp flick of your tail, you spun to the side and drove the blade into the beast’s eye with all your strength.

A hiss of blood spiraled through the water. The shark jerked, convulsing, and fled into the gloom.

You turned back, breathing hard. Sevika was struggling against the rock again—and with a final wrench, she broke free. You caught her as she kicked off the bottom, her strength already faltering.

She was slipping.

You could see it in the way her limbs moved—slower, heavier, like her body was made of stone. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to stay conscious.

You grabbed her hand.

Your fingers locked around hers as you pulled, kicking hard toward the surface, dragging her up through the light and salt and silence.

When her head broke the surface, she gasped—choking and sputtering—but you were already gone.

Back beneath the waves.

A shadow disappearing in the blood-tinged blue.

Rough hands pulled her from the sea.

“Got her! Cap’n—breathe! Come on—damn it—”

Water spilled from her mouth as she coughed, hacking and heaving onto the wood of the little rowboat. Her chest burned. Her lungs felt like they were made of rust. Her limbs, heavy and half-numb, barely moved as someone braced her shoulders.

“Is she bit?” someone asked. “Shit, there was blood—a lot of it.”

Sevika blinked, vision blurry with salt and sun. Her throat felt like it had been scraped raw with sandpaper.

“Wasn’t mine,” she rasped, voice like gravel dragged across stone.

The two crewmen looked at each other. “You sure? Looked like a fuckin’ massacre from the top deck.”

Sevika coughed again, this time spitting over the side. She sat up slowly, her shirt soaked and clinging to her, the weight of the sea still wrapped around her shoulders like a ghost.

“I said it wasn’t mine,” she muttered, jaw tight. “Shark came in. Got chased off.”

“Chased off?” one of them echoed, brows lifting. “By what, a fuckin’ miracle?”

She didn’t answer.

Because she didn’t have one.

There’d been something in the water. No—someone. She remembered flashes. A face. A grip on her arm. Eyes wide and unafraid. No legs. Shimmering skin. A tail.

And then—nothing.

The rowboat bumped against the side of The Harpy’s Grin, ropes lowered to haul her up. Voices crowded her ears—more concern, more confusion—but she didn’t register a word.

She stumbled onto the deck with help, boots squelching against the boards. Her mind was still half-drowned.

“You hit your head, Cap’n?” someone asked. “You’re out of it.”

“Fine,” she growled, brushing off a hand from her shoulder. “Fine.”

But she wasn’t.

Because when she looked down, just before the crew peeled her soaked coat away, she saw something wrapped around her wrist—delicate, green, and glinting like sea glass.

A strand of kelp, knotted into a perfect little braid.

And Sevika never tied things pretty.

You didn’t realize it until you were almost back—until the shimmerline came into view, flickering faintly around the outer reef like a curtain of moonlight.

The knife was still in your hand.

Your breath caught. You paused in the current, tail curling beneath you, the knife suddenly heavy in your grip. You turned it over, saltwater glinting along the blade’s edge.

It wasn’t just any weapon.

The handle was worn but beautiful—wrapped in aged leather, darkened by years of salt and heat. Carved into the metal beneath were delicate engravings: waves, stars, a compass rose. On one side, stamped into the base near the hilt, was a name in old surface script:

Sevika Vexley.

You mouthed it soundlessly, letting the letters roll through your mind.

That woman—she wasn’t like the stories. She wasn’t shriveled or monstrous or cursed with fire-skin. She was strong. Broad-shouldered and wild-eyed, all sharp angles and tension, even as she drowned. And... gods. She was attractive. In a terrifying, deeply unfair way.

You shook your head, cheeks heating. This was not the time.

And yet—your fingers didn’t let go.

You could’ve returned the knife. Left it near the surface. Let it sink back into her world. But a part of you didn’t want to. A part of you needed to keep it. Not just as proof that it happened—but because it meant something. She had a name. A face. A voice. A life.

Humans aren’t real, you’d been told. And if they were, they’re long gone. Dangerous. Violent.

But she didn’t feel like a ghost.

She felt realer than anything you’d ever touched.

You sighed, slipping the knife carefully into the folds of your kelpwrap and turning back toward the shimmerline. You passed through the magic, your tail tingling as you crossed the barrier and reentered Sanctum.

Guards drifted lazily nearby, none of them noticing you.

You exhaled in relief. No one saw. No one knew.

And no one would believe you anyway.

Your chamber was dim and still when you slipped back in—just as you left it, though your heart was hammering like you’d been gone for days instead of hours.

You crossed quickly to the corner near your bed, where the coral flooring dipped slightly beneath your vanity shell. With a careful glance over your shoulder, you knelt and pried up a loose tile of polished shellstone. It had cracked months ago, but no one had bothered to fix it. Lucky you.

The knife slid in perfectly.

You let your fingers linger on the handle—just for a second—before pressing the tile back into place and smoothing the sand around it. You exhaled. Safe. Hidden.

But before you could rise—

“Where were you?”

You froze.

His voice filled the room like a wave crashing against the reef—deep, commanding, too calm to be harmless.

Your father hovered just inside the entrance, broad-shouldered and impossibly regal even without his crown. The water shimmered faintly around him, a sign of his rising temper.

“I asked you a question,” he said, slower now. “Where. Were. You.”

You turned, schooling your face into neutrality. “Nowhere.”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying,” you snapped before you could stop yourself. “I just... went for a swim. I stayed within the boundary.”

“Don’t insult me,” he growled, his tone sharp now, dangerous. “Your scent is soaked in brine and blood. You reek of the outer currents.”

You stiffened. “I’m not a child.”

“No, but you are my daughter,” he barked, surging forward. “And I did not build this sanctum just for you to go wandering into cursed waters where things that shouldn’t exist still might.”

Your jaw tightened, hands curling at your sides. “So I’m supposed to spend my whole life locked in a cage of pearl? Singing at court? Smiling for foreign envoys? That’s not living.”

His face twisted. “That is safety.”

You held his gaze, unflinching. “Then maybe I don’t want to be safe.”

The water between you crackled with tension. Silence hung, thick and bitter.

His voice, when it finally came, was low. “One day out there will get you killed.”

You turned your back on him.

“One day here will kill me slower,” you muttered.

You didn’t look as he left. You couldn’t.

Because your hands were still shaking.

The reef was asleep again.

Soft glows pulsed through the coral towers like slow heartbeats, and the palace was quiet save for the faint echo of guards’ tridents tapping stone. You lay still in your bed until their patrol passed your chamber door—then you moved.

You slipped from the silkweed sheets, every motion careful, quiet. The room was still dim, only the bioluminescent drift-lamps casting gentle light across your floor. You knelt by the vanity again, fingers brushing over the loose tile. It popped free with practiced ease.

The knife was still there.

You pulled it out slowly, cradling the handle in your palm. The engravings were cool under your fingers, familiar now. You traced the name again.

Sevika Vexley.

There was no going back. Not really. Not after today. Not after her.

You needed to know more. You needed to see her again. Ask what she was. What the surface was. What the truth was.

You slid the knife into the belt of your kelpwrap, letting the folds hide it from sight. You glanced once more toward your door. Still quiet.

You slipped out.

Through shadowed halls and gently swaying curtains of sea lace, past the silver fountains that never ran dry. Past your sisters’ chambers. Past the court’s main hall. You moved like a shadow, like a whisper. Like you weren’t the king’s youngest daughter.

Like you weren’t royalty at all.

Except—you forgot.

The moment you passed the final shimmerline, leaving Sanctum behind, you felt the cool rush of wild sea against your skin—and a gentle tug at your temples.

Your crown.

You hadn’t even realized you were still wearing it—so familiar, so constant it felt like a part of your body. The delicate chains brushed your cheeks as you swam, gold glinting faintly in the dark, seashells and crystal pieces catching what little light filtered from above.

The teardrop gem gleamed like a beacon.

If someone saw you—

You swallowed hard, but didn’t stop.

The knife was secure at your hip. The water was cold again.

And somewhere out there, above the wrecks and waves, was a woman who should not exist.

And you were going to find her.

The dock buzzed with noise as The Harpy’s Grin pulled into its usual berth, ropes thrown and sails furled with practiced speed. Salt clung to the air, and the wood of the pier creaked beneath hurried boots as the crew began unloading barrels, crates, and whatever scrap was worth selling from the old wrecks.

Sevika stood at the gangplank, arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the chaos below. Her coat was back on, sleeves damp, and the braid of kelp that had been wrapped around her wrist was gone—tucked somewhere deep in her quarters where no one could see it.

She didn’t say a word as her crew barked and grunted, lugging gear onto the docks.

“Hey!”

A familiar voice cut through the noise.

Sevika looked up just in time to see Vi weaving through the crowd, her usual cocky smirk in place and a gleam in her eye. The crowd parted for her. It usually did.

“Finally,” Vi said, coming to stand beside her. “Took your sweet time.”

“Storm slowed us down,” Sevika muttered, voice low. “Got caught in a wreck field.”

Vi looked her over, brow twitching. “You good?”

There was a pause.

Sevika scratched the back of her neck, eyes flicking toward the crates being hauled off her ship. “...Fell overboard.”

Vi blinked.

“You what?”

“I said I fell overboard.”

Vi stared for a beat—then barked out a laugh, loud and obnoxious, smacking Sevika on the shoulder. “You idiot! I told you to stop standing so close to the damn edge when you’re brooding like a cliché.”

“I wasn’t brooding,” Sevika grumbled.

“You were,” Vi grinned. “You always are. Gods, you're lucky you didn’t drown. I’d be stuck drinking alone, and you know no one else can keep up with me.”

Sevika huffed a soft laugh through her nose, shaking her head.

“So?” Vi raised a brow, already turning toward the street. “We doin’ our usual, or what? I got us a table at the tavern.”

Sevika didn’t answer right away.

Her gaze drifted over her shoulder, back to the sea. The waves looked calm now—unbothered. Innocent.

But she could still feel the ghost of fingers wrapped around her wrist, dragging her toward the surface.

Not human. Not a dream.

Her jaw tightened. “...Yeah. Sure.”

She turned and followed Vi into the crowd.

But her mind stayed on the water.

The tavern was warm and loud—clanking mugs, the low thrum of music from the back corner, sailors laughing too hard over nothing. It was the kind of noise that usually helped Sevika drown out her thoughts.

Not tonight.

She sat at the booth, half-drunk cider sweating in front of her, boots kicked out under the table. Vi was mid-story—something about a guy trying to barter with a dead jellyfish and calling it “enchanted”—but Sevika wasn’t really hearing it.

Her eyes had drifted to the far wall, where a faded mural stretched across the plaster. It was chipped in places, water-stained at the corners, but still vivid enough to make her pause.

A mermaid. Painted in swirling blues and silver, hair flowing like seaweed, mouth slightly open in song. A fairytale. A warning. A joke.

Except it didn’t feel like one anymore.

“—and then the guy actually licked it, I swear on my—wait—”

Vi snapped her fingers.

“Hello? Not talkin’ to myself over here.”

Sevika blinked. Her gaze flicked to Vi, then back to the mural, then back again. She shifted in her seat, leaning back with a quiet sigh.

“Sorry.”

Vi raised a brow. “You good? You’ve been weird all night.”

There was a long pause.

Then Sevika just said it.

“Do you believe in mermaids?” she asked, voice low. “Or… sirens?”

Vi snorted a laugh, lifting her drink. “What, like the fish-girls with seashell tits and magic songs? That kind of mermaid?”

But Sevika didn’t smile. She didn’t even blink.

Vi’s smirk faded slowly. She lowered her mug and leaned in a bit, watching her friend’s face.

“…Did you see something?”

Sevika didn’t answer right away.

Vi scooted closer across the bench. “Sev. What happened out there?”

Sevika stared into her drink, fingers drumming once against the side of the mug. Her jaw worked like she was chewing on the words, deciding whether to spit them out or swallow them whole.

“I saw something,” she finally said, voice quiet enough that Vi had to lean in more to catch it.

Vi’s brows knit. “Like… what kind of something?”

Sevika hesitated.

“Something in the water,” she said. “When I was stuck. Thought I was gonna black out. Then she was there.”

Vi blinked. “She?”

“...I don’t know what she was,” Sevika muttered. “Had no legs. Fast as hell. Got me loose. Dragged me up. Then gone.”

Vi sat back slowly, mug forgotten. “You’re serious.”

Sevika nodded once, slow and deliberate. Her eyes flicked to the mural again.

Vi followed her gaze, then let out a low breath. “And you think—what? Mermaid? Siren? Sea spirit?”

“I don’t know,” Sevika repeated. “But she wasn’t a hallucination. She had weight. Heat. A face.”

Vi was quiet for a moment, chewing on her lip. Then she scoffed softly. “Well, damn. I thought I had a good story tonight.”

That finally earned her a ghost of a smile from Sevika.

“You still do,” Sevika said, lifting her drink. “Just not as weird as mine.”

Vi shook her head and grinned, clinking her mug against Sevika’s.

“You’re buying the next round,” she said. “And if this ends with you falling in love with a sea creature, I better be the best man at the wedding.”

The water was darker here. Colder.

You'd been swimming in circles for what felt like hours, trying to retrace the path from earlier. The wrecks weren’t where you remembered. The currents were different, pulling wrong, whispering strange things around your ears.

But you had to find it. Find her.

You darted around a cluster of sunken crates, eyes sharp, heart thudding with a mix of urgency and hope. You couldn’t stop now—not after what you saw. Not after what you felt.

Then the current shifted. Cold. Heavy. Familiar.

Your blood ran colder than the sea around you.

You turned slowly, and there it was. The shark.

The same one from before, its wounded eye now scarred and clouded with rage. It hovered just a few body-lengths away, tail swaying in slow, predatory rhythm. It had followed your trail.

Of course it had.

You backed away, body tense, hand reaching for the knife at your hip—but you knew you couldn’t outswim it in open water. You were fast, but not that fast. Its nostrils flared. It inched closer. Closer.

It opened its jaws.

And then—

“Tch. That’s enough, fish-breath.”

The voice came from behind you. Smooth. Teasing. Dangerous.

The shark froze mid-lunge.

Its entire body trembled before it spun, darting off into the gloom with a ripple of panic you could feel in the water.

You turned.

Floating just a few feet away was a woman.

A mermaid, but not like anyone from Sanctum.

Her hair was long—long—a brilliant, electric blue that shimmered even in the low light, trailing all the way down to where her deep indigo tail began. She was tall, lean, and wore a grin like she knew every secret the sea had ever whispered. Sharp teeth glinted behind her smile.

She cocked her head at you.

“Hey, kid,” she said, voice curling around you like silk. “Wanna turn into a human?”

Your eyes went wide.

The tavern was even louder now.

The music had swelled into a full reel, all frantic strings and stomping boots, and the crowd had doubled since sunset. Lanterns glowed low and golden above the bar, casting warm light over sweat-damp necks and flushed cheeks. The air was thick with the scent of spiced rum, woodsmoke, and something fried and probably burnt.

Sevika was drunk. Very drunk.

She was slouched in a chair near the back, one boot kicked up on a barrel, her coat half-falling off her shoulder. The smoke from her cigar curled lazily above her head, ignored entirely as her attention was focused on the woman seated across from her.

She had a voice like honey, one hand wrapped around a mug, the other idly playing with the end of Sevika’s collar. She laughed too loudly at something Sevika said—and Sevika smirked, leaning in, words low and slurred just enough to soften her usual edge.

From a distance, she looked like any other pirate relaxing after a haul—flushed cheeks, hooded eyes, the swagger of someone used to getting what she wanted.

But if anyone looked close enough, really close, they’d see the difference. The way Sevika’s gaze flicked—not quite focused on the girl in front of her, but through her.

Because the girl wasn’t her.

Not her.

The girl was close, sure—dark hair, delicate mouth, a laugh that danced in the air—but her eyes were too pale, her chin too sharp. Her hands were wrong.

Still, Sevika played the part. She leaned in, voice rough and low. “You always drink like that, or are you tryin’ to impress me?”

The girl grinned, tipping her mug. “Maybe a bit of both.”

Sevika laughed, mouth curling around the cigar, smoke exhaled through her nose as she tilted her head. “Dangerous game.”

“And you’re the warning label?” the girl teased, inching closer, eyes glinting. “Please.”

Sevika took a slow sip of her drink. It sloshed slightly as she set it down, the amber liquid nearly gone. Her elbow hit the table harder than intended. She blinked a little too slow.

“Just sayin’,” she muttered, “You got no idea what I’ve seen. What I’ve touched.”

She didn’t mean to say it like that, but the words slipped out anyway, thick with drink and memory.

The girl’s brows rose, but she was still smiling, amused, leaning in close enough that her perfume—citrus and sweat—brushed Sevika’s senses. “Then maybe you should show me.”

A smirk ghosted across Sevika’s mouth. Her hand drifted forward, fingers brushing against the girl’s wrist. Her touch was practiced, steady, but her eyes…

Her eyes were miles away.

The other woman leaned in like she was expecting a kiss.

But Sevika didn’t move.

Not yet.

Because all she could see, in the flicker of candlelight on this stranger’s face, was another face—wide-eyed, glinting with seawater and moonlight. That tail. That mouth when it opened in shock. The shimmer of scales, the cut of a jaw that didn’t belong to any myth she knew.

Sevika blinked again.

The illusion cracked.

“You alright?” the girl asked softly, drawing back just an inch.

Sevika rolled her jaw, wiped a hand down her face, and laughed—low and hollow.

“Fine,” she muttered, tossing back the last of her drink. “Just thinkin’ about someone who ain’t here.”

The tavern blurred as the night deepened—faces blending into laughter, music thickening into static, the hum of drink and desire drowning out all reason. Sevika didn’t remember leaving exactly. Just the heat of the girl’s mouth on her neck, her fingers tangled in Sevika’s shirt, and the way the air outside felt cold against her flushed skin as they stumbled down the uneven cobbled streets toward her place.

They barely made it inside.

The door slammed shut behind them, the girl giggling as Sevika backed her into the wall, one hand braced beside her head, the other sliding up her thigh. Their mouths met—hot and hungry, the taste of rum and desperation between them.

It didn’t matter that her name was wrong. That her voice was wrong. That the curve of her back didn’t fit Sevika’s palm quite the way she wanted it to.

She didn’t stop.

Didn’t want to.

Didn’t let herself.

The bedroom was dark, lit only by the moonlight bleeding in through the thin curtain. Clothes came off. Hands roamed. The girl made all the right sounds, said all the right things, wrapped herself around Sevika like she meant it.

And Sevika gave in to the rhythm—fast, rough, breathless.

She chased the high, moving harder, deeper, fingers gripping, mouth biting, needing something to burn out the feeling gnawing at her ribs.

But just as she tipped over the edge—

Just as her breath caught, her eyes squeezed shut—

She saw her.

Not the girl beneath her. Not the one gasping and moaning and clawing at her back.

Her.

The girl from the water. From the wreck. From somewhere else entirely.

Except—this wasn’t a memory.

It was an invention. A split-second fantasy.

The mermaid—you—laid out beneath her, body slick and glistening like she’d just surfaced, hair tangled in seawater, eyes wide and dark with pleasure. Your mouth open, lips parted around Sevika’s name—not Captain, not help, but Sevika, like it belonged to her.

Her expression was soft. Overwhelmed. Beautiful.

It wrecked her.

Sevika came hard, breath torn from her chest, muscles tensing as the world went silent except for that imagined sound—the voice of someone she didn’t even know, someone she couldn’t possibly forget.

And when it was over—

When the girl curled up beside her, pressing kisses to her shoulder, sighing into her skin like she meant it—

Sevika just stared at the ceiling.

Eyes open.

Jaw clenched.

Haunted by a fantasy she hadn’t meant to have

comment to be added to the taglist!

[orphanedshadow]

@orderfcrged asked: ❝ you are like your grandmother. same eyes. same mouth. same spirit. ❞

"Grandmother?" Brown eyes suddenly widened, refusing to blink, afraid Rio would vanish if she did. Finding Grandmother had been nothing more than a fantasy, a dream that the child thought would never be realized.

Now that she thought about it Grandmother was some kind of spirit, whispering lessons like the wind through the trees. Of course Death would know of her… perhaps more than Kara herself did.

"Is Grandmother gone? With you?" Though the child didn't know which option would be worse. Dead, and somewhere Kara could not yet follow, or alive and somewhere she may never find.

[clementineinn]

listen to the bookman!

abstract: two BAU agents find themselves caught in a different kind of tension — not the kind that cracks cases, but the kind that lingers in glances and slips between the lines of shared quotes.

pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader (usage of Y/N)

genre: fluuuuuff

word count: 8.5k

note: i've been writing sm, but i haven't posted anything bc lowk i feel like my stories suck lol, but i'm just gonna pull the trigger and post this one. it is fluffy, which, sorry, i can't help myself, but i do have some angsty pieces in the works! enjoy!

The rain had started just after nine.

Not with thunder, not with fanfare. No lightning stitched across the sky, no windswept leaves gathering like whispers in the gutter. Just the quiet insistence of it — that slow, silver curtain descending from nowhere in particular. It arrived without urgency, as if it had always meant to come, as if it had only been waiting for the world to quiet down enough to notice it. A soft percussion, delicate and steady, like fingers drumming idly along a windowsill — not to fill the silence, but to settle into it.

Each drop struck the windshield with the hush of intention, tiny cymbals against glass. They gathered at the edges of the wiper blades, collecting into trembling rivulets before slipping downward in uncertain paths, distorting the view beyond until the whole street looked underwater — houses sagging in reflection, lamplight warping into golden haze. Time itself seemed to slow beneath the weightless repetition of it. Not stopping. Just stretching, the way long nights tend to do when nothing moves and everything matters.

The wipers stirred only now and then, slow as breath, like they too had fallen under the spell of the storm. Each sweep was reluctant — a lazy gesture through the fogged glass that cleared a temporary view before the rain returned, gentler still, like it meant to stay. Outside, the town had curled into itself: porches darkened, curtains drawn, the world behind doors gone still. What little light remained flickered in warm, amber pools across wet pavement, refracted in puddles that looked deep enough to fall into and dream.

Inside the car, the rain made a kind of silence that had nothing to do with sound. A hush that lived beneath the noise, pressing in close, like a held breath waiting to be released.

Their SUV sat parked along a narrow, tree-lined street — the kind where the sidewalks cracked in quiet places and the air still carried the faint scent of cut grass and wet bark. The federal government plate gleamed dully beneath a film of rain and road grit, a muted badge among leaves clinging to the bumper like the last breath of autumn. The vehicle itself had become part of the scenery now: quiet, unmoving, patient.

The Bureau had been called in days earlier, summoned like a needle to thread together the frayed edge of a town unraveling. A string of disappearances — ordinary people, vanished in the soft blind spots of routine. No witnesses. No patterns that held. No certainty. Only shadows, and the kind of silence that pressed too close to the bone. And so tonight: surveillance. One house under suspicion. Two agents in the field. Spencer and Y/N, seated side by side in the long, slow hush of a stakeout that had yielded nothing but hours and the strange intimacy of shared breath.

It had been hours already — the kind of time that stopped meaning anything. The kind that crept into your bones and curled there.

Across the street, the suspect’s house sat inert, draped in a stillness that felt almost deliberate. Its windows were dim behind gauzy curtains, pale rectangles of nothing. No movement. No flicker of motion behind glass. Only a single porch light humming softly in the rain, casting its weak yellow glow over the sagging porch steps and the glint of wet shingles. A weathervane spun once above the roof — a slow, indecisive turn, more gesture than warning — then stilled again, as if it too had grown bored of waiting.

The rest of the neighborhood had long since folded into sleep. Porch lights clicked off, one by one. Televisions flickered behind drawn blinds, scenes playing to no one. Cars glistened in parked rows like resting beasts, their hoods wet and gleaming. Everything had gone hushed. Held.

At the far end of the block, a lone red bulb blinked on a motion sensor, pulsing faintly against the damp concrete of a driveway slick with rain. It flared, then dimmed, then flared again, like a slow heartbeat echoing down the empty street.

Somewhere deeper in the neighborhood — faint, almost imagined — a wind chime stirred. Not with wind, but with memory. A sound delicate and eerie in the stillness, like the echo of something forgotten.

It was the kind of street that, on nights like this, made even trained minds question what was real. The kind of quiet that softened the shape of fear. That made the air feel too gentle for anything to go wrong.

And yet.

They watched. Because danger never did ask permission. It simply waited, like they did now — cloaked in rain and silence, eyes fixed forward, hearts just a little louder in the quiet.

Inside the car, the air held the slow warmth of people who had stopped pretending they weren’t tired. It was the kind of warmth that built over hours — gathered from breath, from body heat, from shared silence that had nowhere else to go. It clung faintly to the glass, fogging in soft curves around the edges of the windshield, curling up along the side windows where no one had spoken for a while. The scent was a mix of things that didn’t quite belong together but somehow fit: the faint sharpness of old paper, the damp wool of Spencer’s sweater sleeves, and the thin, bitter ghost of gas station coffee steeping in the bottom of two stainless steel travel mugs in the console.

The dashboard lights glowed a dim green, casting soft geometric shadows over the interior — across the grain of the steering wheel, the uneven crease of Spencer’s slouched coat, the glint of rainwater still clinging to the doorframe. The SUV felt like its own small world now, floating somewhere just outside of real time.

Spencer sat in the driver’s seat, his posture relaxed in that very particular way of someone who never truly let his guard down. A worn paperback was open across his knee, its spine softened from too many readings, the corners curled. His fingers moved absently along the edge of the page, not turning it yet, just holding the weight of it. A pen was tucked behind his ear — not needed but always there. The sleeves of his cardigan were shoved to the crook of his elbows, revealing the pale, fine angles of his wrists, the delicate bones that made him look more scholar than federal agent. His coat was balled up behind him, crushed into the space between his seat and the door. It looked like insulation. Or a comfort he hadn’t realized he needed.

Y/N sat sideways in the passenger seat, curled toward the window like she’d grown into that shape — one leg folded beneath her, the other stretched lazily out, her socked foot resting against the center console in a quiet, unconscious nudge. Her boots were somewhere on the floor, long forgotten. The rhythm of her breath fogged the glass just slightly. Her head tilted, chin propped in her hand as she followed the rain across the windowpane — not watching the house, not really watching anything. Just letting the storm draw soft, meandering shapes down the glass, like an artist sketching something only she could see.

Outside, time moved on without them — steady, indifferent, marked by the soft blink of porch lights switching off and the deepening hush of a town folding itself into sleep. The world beyond the windshield turned in its usual way, unaware that anything was waiting.

Spencer turned a page.

The sound was nearly silent — just the faint rasp of paper moving against paper, the quietest breath of motion in a space that had forgotten what sound was. The overhead light remained off — too conspicuous, too artificial — but the dashboard cast a low, steady glow across his lap, enough for his eyes to follow the words without strain. In that dimness, he looked almost like a ghost of himself: all sharp planes and soft lines, caught somewhere between thought and presence.

He looked oddly comfortable for a man halfway through a ten-hour surveillance shift. But then again, Spencer Reid had never needed comfort to look at ease — only stillness. And this night, at least on the surface, had given him plenty of it.

Across from him, in the passenger seat, Y/N shifted.

It was the kind of movement that drew the eye without trying — slow, unhurried, the kind of stretch you made only when your body had started to mold itself into the shape of a seat. She drew her knees up onto the leather, curling into herself, not out of tension but out of familiarity. One hand rested lightly at the base of her neck; the other dangled off her knee, fingers relaxed, half-curled.

Her gaze still followed the long, translucent trails the rain carved down the glass — eyes tracking them like someone reading a foreign language slowly, line by line. Outside, the world blurred into shape and color: yellow porch light, dark trees, the soft distortion of reflections in wet pavement. But her eyes didn’t flinch from the blur. She just watched, quiet and still, like she might stay that way until morning.

They hadn’t spoken in some time.

But silence, here, was not a gap to be filled — it was a rhythm. A heartbeat. A third presence in the car, curling around them, holding everything that hadn’t been said.

Until—

“Any movement?” she asked, voice low — not tense, not expectant, just soft, like a thread being tugged out of habit more than hope.

Spencer didn’t answer right away. He glanced toward the house across the street, his gaze cutting through the layers of fog on the windshield and the distortion of raindrops sliding down the glass in lazy, luminous streaks.

Nothing.

No lights. No shift behind the curtains. No silhouettes pacing in backlit windows. Just the soft, constant hush of the storm and a porch that had grown too still to feel natural.

He shook his head, eyes drifting back to his page. “Nope. Not since the cat around eight-forty.”

That pulled a sound from her — not quite a laugh, more like a small, amused exhale. A puff of disbelief softened by affection. She turned toward him, one brow arched in gentle accusation.

“You logged the cat?”

Spencer didn’t look up. Just flipped a corner of the page with the back of his knuckle, as if this were the most obvious response in the world.

“He was orange. Limped on the right paw. Could be important.”

She smiled then — faint, but real. Not at the cat. Not even really at the joke.

At him.

At the way he said it with no trace of irony. At the way he watched the world like every detail might hold the thread that could unravel everything. At the way his voice had settled low for the night, mellow and worn like the spine of the book in his hands.

It was barely anything.

And still, she found herself holding on to it.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

But it wasn’t the kind of silence that demanded explanation. It wasn’t brittle or impatient. It simply stretched between them, soft and steady, the way old friends might fall into rhythm without needing to fill it with sound. The rain had become a background hum — steady, hypnotic — wrapping the SUV in a cocoon of warmth and fog. Every so often, the wipers traced a slow arc across the windshield, a half-hearted attempt at clarity.

Spencer flipped a page with the careful precision of someone who didn’t just read — someone who studied, who inhabited, who listened to the echo of every sentence long after it was gone. The movement was unhurried, like time didn’t touch him here.

Y/N leaned her head back against the seat, the curve of her neck exposed in the dashboard’s low green glow. Her eyes slipped closed, lashes brushing the skin beneath her brow. Not sleep. Just stillness. The kind that only found her when the storm outside was louder than the one inside her mind.

Then — a pause, a breath, a beat too long.

Her voice broke the hush like a pebble tossed into a still lake.

“What are you reading?”

Spencer didn’t glance up. Just lifted the book slightly, eyes still scanning the page.

“Persuasion. Austen.”

That made her lift her head again, brow raised, an amused spark catching behind her gaze.

“Seriously? I pegged you more as a Brontë man.”

“I like the Brontës,” he said easily. “But Austen’s prose is more psychologically nuanced. And Anne Elliot is arguably one of the most emotionally complex heroines in English literature.”

Y/N blinked once, slowly.

“Okay, but does she walk across moors dramatically in the rain?”

Spencer arched a brow at that, finally looking up, mouth twitching at the edge.

“You do know it’s raining right now, right?”

She smiled — wide this time, unguarded, the kind of smile that curled at the corners and didn’t rush away. She stretched her legs out, shifting in her seat until her sock-clad foot nudged his knee lightly — a small, familiar touch that didn’t feel like much until it did.

“Fine. Read me something.”

He hesitated, thumb holding his place on the page.

“From this?”

She gave him a look, dry and warm.

“No, from your weather log. Yes, from that.”

He didn’t ask why.

Didn’t smirk or prod or ask if she was serious. He just flipped back a few pages, slow and unhurried, his thumb dragging lightly over the paper as though reacquainting himself with the rhythm of the words before they even met the air. A quiet breath slipped past his lips — not a sigh, not nervous — something centered. Then he cleared his throat gently, and began to read.

“My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation.”

His voice was softer when reading — less clinical, less tightly wound than usual. Like the cadence of someone telling a story they remembered too well. It slipped easily into the space between them, filling it with something light but tangible. Familiar. Almost fond.

She smiled again, but this time it was smaller — quieter. The kind of smile that tugged at one side of her mouth, just enough to mean something, just enough to give her away. It wasn’t for him, not fully. It was for the moment. For the sound of his voice. For the line.

“And is that why you’re stuck in a car with me?”

Spencer looked over at her, gaze steady, not blinking. Not teasing.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt.”

Y/N gave him a look — half-amused, half-skeptical, but undeniably warm — then turned back toward the window with a faint shake of her head, lips still curled. Her breath touched the cold glass in front of her, fogging it just enough to leave a small, crescent bloom where her exhale had landed.

For a while, the only sound was the rain — a steady hush against the roof, soft and constant. Like the sky had decided to whisper all night and had no plans of stopping.

Time passed like that — not fast, not particularly slow, but in that strange, viscous way time has when nothing moves and everything feels like it might. The kind of time that didn't announce itself, only lingered in the stillness, tucking itself into corners: the curve of a seatbelt, the soft click of a shifting jaw, the rhythmic sweep of wipers.

Outside, the street held its breath. Inside, the car did too.

Spencer had already read two chapters. Probably more, if she was being honest. His eyes flicked across the pages with that impossibly fast rhythm she’d grown used to, but still found quietly bewildering. He turned each one with the same reverent calm, the motion so habitual it was almost unconscious — as if his hands knew the story before his eyes did. Not a single sentence read aloud since the last one she’d asked for. But the air still felt full of his voice.

The silence had begun to thicken. Not unpleasantly. Just noticeably. The kind of quiet that made you suddenly aware of the sounds your own body made — the shallow pull of breath through your nose, the slow shift of fabric over your knee, the faint, traitorous beat of your pulse.

It was sometime past ten.

Y/N had already counted the porch lights on the block — seven, two dimmer than the rest. She’d played a mental guessing game with the silhouettes behind living room curtains: game show, drama, rerun of something laugh-tracked. She’d reorganized the snack bag in the backseat by color, then by noise level, then by expiration date. Her left sock was bunched and bothering her, but not enough to fix. Her boot had begun to tilt inward from where it sat abandoned under the dash.

Meanwhile, Spencer remained exactly as he’d been: spine straight, expression unreadable, a small vertical crease between his brows — not from stress, but from focus. That peculiar kind of stillness that only sharpened his edges.

And it was all just a little too much.

She couldn't take it anymore.

“Okay,” she said at last, her voice slicing softly through the quiet — not a jolt, but a ripple. Like a pebble skipping across still water, breaking the surface just enough to catch his attention. “Let’s play a game.”

Spencer glanced up from his book. The low green light from the dash slid across the lenses of his glasses, catching on the faint smudge of a fingerprint. His pen was still poised between his fingers, tucked neatly into the crease of the page like a placeholder he hadn’t meant to use. He blinked once, slow, thoughtful.

“What kind of game?”

Y/N turned toward him more fully now, folding her leg up beneath her, sock brushing the console. She narrowed her eyes with a mock-serious squint, the dramatic tension undercut by the small smirk that tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Quote battle. You read a line, I name the book, and vice versa.”

Spencer tilted his head — that precise, birdlike angle she’d come to recognize as curiosity. He looked at her as if analyzing the strategic value of her challenge, weighing outcomes and probabilities in real time.

“What do I get if I win?”

Her grin widened, sharp and playful, lighting her face like something just a little dangerous. “What do you want?”

He blinked once — visibly computing, as if she’d just asked him to solve something unexpectedly complex. His eyes darted slightly, then settled.

“Control of your iPod on the jet for a week.”

“Deal,” she said immediately, hand flicking outward like she was signing a contract in the air. “And if I win, you buy me coffee every morning until next Friday.”

Spencer considered this with the seriousness of a man preparing to enter diplomatic negotiations.

“So… eight days?”

Her brows arched, delighted. “You already did the math?”

His mouth twitched — just slightly. “You challenged me.”

She gestured toward the book in his lap, chin tilted like a dare.

“Go on then. Hit me.”

He flipped a few pages back, fingertips grazing the dog-eared edges with the ease of someone who had memorized the landscape of a book — its weight, its breath, the way the spine folded in his palm like it belonged there. His eyes moved fast, scanning the text like wind moving through leaves. Then he found it. He cleared his throat quietly, a low sound that somehow deepened the stillness between them, and read aloud:

“She had the kind of beauty that hurt to look at—sharp, aching, and likely fatal if mishandled.”

His voice dipped naturally into the rhythm of the line — not performative, not dramatic, just soft and sure, shaped by memory and admiration. The words seemed to hang in the warm air of the car long after he stopped speaking.

Y/N squinted, angling her head toward him like she was turning a puzzle over in her mind.

“That’s not Austen.”

“No,” he said, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, equal parts pleased and impressed. “It’s Tana French.”

She hummed, a low sound of appreciation, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

“Well played.”

“My turn?” she asked, already shifting her weight, her voice curling with anticipation.

He nodded once, resting the book lightly against his knee. “Hit me.”

She didn’t hesitate.

Her voice was steady, quiet, but carried the weight of something familiar — a line so worn it gleamed like glass:

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Spencer blinked. Once. Then again — not out of surprise, but recognition.

“Jane Eyre.”

“Too easy,” she sighed, the corners of her mouth twitching with mock disappointment. “Fine. You go.”

He thumbed through another page, slow and deliberate now, though his eyes still moved with that rapid, uncanny rhythm — like he wasn’t just reading but indexing, cataloging, selecting the perfect thread to pull. His fingers paused near the middle of a chapter, pressed gently to the margin like he needed to feel the weight of the words before he let them leave his mouth.

When he read, his voice was casual — too casual. That smooth, practiced kind of nonchalance that only ever meant someone was trying very hard not to reveal too much.

“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

The words drifted out into the warm hush of the car like smoke — slow and curling, heavy with implication. And for a beat, they just hung there. Not long. Not really.

But it pressed.

Pressed into the stillness. Pressed into her.

Y/N turned to look at him — slowly, like she already knew what she’d find. Her lips curved upward just enough, not a full smile but something sly and edged with disbelief.

“Are you quoting Pride and Prejudice at me right now?”

Spencer kept his gaze trained on the page in front of him, but the corner of his mouth twitched — a single, unspoken tell.

“Would it be weird if I was?”

“Only if you keep using Mr. Darcy’s lines on me.” She nudged his knee with her socked foot — not hard, just enough to feel him there, solid and warm beside her in the dark. “That man proposed like he was submitting a complaint to management.”

That did it.

Spencer finally looked up — really looked — and smiled in a way he rarely did. Wide, teeth showing, the kind of grin that cracked across his usually composed face like sunlight through drawn curtains. His dimples appeared, sharp and genuine, softening the angles of him until he looked startlingly young. He wasn’t trying to hide it. Not tonight. Not from her.

“And yet,” he said, tone rich with mock solemnity, “he’s one of the most beloved romantic heroes of all time.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, letting the words tumble out on a half-laugh, half-breath, “everyone loves a man who can’t express emotion without sounding like he’s about to faint.”

Spencer tilted his head, still smiling, eyes never leaving hers.

“That likely depends on whether you’re Elizabeth or Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”

She let out a laugh — not loud, not sharp, but quiet. Contained. The kind of sound that stayed close to the chest. The kind that wasn’t just amusement, but recognition. Affection. A small flare of something bright held carefully in her hands.

“You know,” she said, nudging his knee again — gentler this time — “this whole thing is starting to feel suspiciously like flirting.”

Spencer looked up slowly.

His smile stretched wider this time — all teeth and dimples, that rare, utterly unguarded kind of grin he only seemed to wear around her. It softened everything. His posture, his face, the ever-present weight between his brows. He looked… happy. Genuinely so. And that alone made the moment tip slightly, like the air around them had taken one breath too deep.

“Only suspiciously?”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing in exaggerated thoughtfulness.

“Well, if it is,” she said, her tone lilting with amusement, “you’re doing it very… academically.”

“That’s the only way I know how.”

“I figured.” Her lips quirked, but there was affection behind it now — warmer, quieter. She shifted in her seat again, drawing her knees back up beneath her, curling into the corner like she meant to stay there. Her shoulder bumped the inside of the door; the toe of her sock pressed softly to the edge of the console.

“Next quote, Doctor Reid.”

He turned another page, but this time his fingers slowed at the edge — like they were no longer moving just to move. His eyes flicked down the page, scanning, not quickly now, but deliberately. He stopped halfway down, and when he spoke, his voice was lower. Smoother.

“There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison.”

The quote settled in the warm dark between them like smoke. Light, but dense. Fragrant with intention.

She didn’t guess this one.

Didn’t even try.

Instead, she watched him — not startled or shy, just there with him in the moment, fully. Her gaze held steady on his face for a second too long, her expression unreadable but soft, like she was seeing something she hadn’t let herself look at before. Then she turned her head slightly, eyes drifting out the windshield toward the still-dark house.

Her voice followed a moment later — quieter now, but not hesitant.

“You always pick the romantic ones when it’s just me.”

Spencer didn’t reply.

Didn’t have to.

The words didn’t need answering. They weren’t a question. They were something else entirely — a thread unspooling gently in the hush between them, tying things together she hadn’t named until now.

They hung in the air — not heavy, not awkward, just suspended. Like a truth neither of them had to rush to touch.

And still, it pulsed there. Quiet. Unspoken. Real.

Outside, the rain picked up.

Not all at once. Not with drama or force. Just a slow thickening — a soft insistence in the air, the kind of weight that settled gently over rooftops and sidewalks until the world seemed wrapped in water. The drops came heavier now, tracing long, uninterrupted streaks down the windshield like tears that didn’t know they’d fallen. The rhythm changed — not frantic, but full. A lullaby in another room, low and constant, the sound of the earth exhaling.

Thunder murmured somewhere in the distance, too far to startle, too soft to fear. It rolled low and wide, more suggestion than presence — a storm that circled like a thought you couldn’t quite finish.

Inside the car, the change was quieter still.

But it was there — the kind of shift you felt more than saw. In the way her hands stilled completely in her lap. In the way his thumb lingered on the edge of a page, but never turned it. In the way he closed the book softly, without ceremony, and let it rest across his thigh like something that had given him all it could for the night.

The space between them wasn’t wide. It hadn’t been for hours. But now it felt different — a kind of nearness that didn’t ask for attention, only acknowledgment. A quiet hum building beneath the sound of rain, shaped like something waiting to be named.

Y/N stretched again, slow and languid, like the warmth of the car had melted into her bones. Her jacket was folded between her seat and the door, a makeshift pillow that carried the faint scent of wet wool and worn leather. One leg tucked beneath her, the other lazily extended until her knee nudged against Spencer’s on the console — light, casual, but not accidental.

“You look comfortable,” he said, voice low and edged with something that wasn’t quite a smile, but close. The corner of his mouth tilted up, that soft glint in his eyes reserved only for her.

She shrugged, gaze still half on the glass, where the rain stitched silver threads across the surface.

“We’ve been here for hours. I’m adapting. Survival of the fittest and all that.”

Spencer glanced toward the house again, letting the moment breathe.

Still no movement.

“It’s not like you to go stir-crazy,” he said, voice soft, shaped around the edge of a smile.

Y/N turned her head toward him, slow and deliberate, the overhead glow catching the curve of her cheek. Her voice was quieter now, touched with teasing, but threaded through with something gentler.

“Yeah, well,” she murmured, mouth curving, “you’ve been reading Austen aloud like it’s bedtime, and frankly, I’m beginning to feel a little wooed.”

Spencer blinked, caught somewhere between amusement and mild academic protest.

“Austen is statistically one of the most romantic authors in the Western canon.”

She grinned, shifting her weight just enough for her knee to bump against the console again — light and unthinking, like contact was instinct by now.

“That’s what I’m saying. I feel like I should be fanning myself.”

He turned slightly in his seat, angling toward her without seeming to think about it — the space between them closing in degrees, subtle and slow. His hands rested in his lap, but his focus was fully hers now.

“Would you prefer I quote something less romantic?” he asked. “Something clinical?”

She narrowed her eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching as she stared him down.

“If you quote a math theorem at me, I’m getting out of the car.”

“In this weather?” he deadpanned, glancing meaningfully toward the rain-streaked glass.

“Dramatic exits don’t wait for ideal conditions.”

That pulled another smile from him — unguarded, his dimples deepening as his features softened in the glow of it. He looked younger that way. Brighter. Like someone who had just been handed permission to be seen.

And then, quieter:

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Her brows pulled together immediately, the shift in tone catching her with something almost like concern.

“You didn’t.”

Spencer looked down briefly, then back up, his voice a little steadier now — like it mattered to say it right.

“I just… wasn’t sure if the quoting thing was crossing a line.”

Y/N tilted her head slightly, eyes still on his face, watching him with the kind of attention that always made him feel like she saw more than he said. The light from the dashboard cut softly across his features — caught the edge of his jaw, the hollow of his throat, the almost imperceptible movement as he swallowed.

And still, her gaze didn’t waver.

She caught the flicker in his eyes — the way his gaze dropped for a beat too long, as if a thought had slipped loose before he could catch it. Just a brief shift, but enough. Enough to feel the weight behind the silence. Enough to see that he was second-guessing something, maybe everything.

So she leaned in. Not dramatically, not to close a distance, just slightly. The kind of movement you made when you didn’t want to startle a bird. Her voice was low when it came, warm and unhurried — teasing in that familiar, sideways way that made space instead of closing it.

“Relax, Romeo,” she murmured, the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth easy, natural, hers. “If I didn’t like it, I would’ve made you switch to case reports an hour ago.”

That earned his attention.

Spencer glanced over at her — and this time, he didn’t just look. He saw. Really saw her. Not as the agent beside him. Not as the person he’d been sitting with for hours. But as something else. Something specific.

It was the kind of gaze he usually reserved for the rare things — uncrackable ciphers, strange celestial maps, pages too dense for most to decipher. But it was softer now. Focused. Unflinching.

And all of it was hers.

Y/N held his gaze, still smiling, still pretending — barely — that her heart wasn’t crashing against her ribs like it had just realized it had skin to break through. She didn’t drop her eyes. Didn’t tease further. Just let the quiet bloom around them.

And then, a little quieter, more honest than before:

“You don’t do it with anyone else. Just me.”

The pause that followed wasn’t long.

But it held.

Not because he didn’t have something to say — but because she’d already said enough.

Then she huffed a breath and leaned back again, her body folding into the curve of the seat like she was trying to retreat from the tension she’d just sewn into the air. She reached for levity — not to deflect, but to steady the moment, to give it room to breathe. Her voice dropped just enough to sound offhanded, even as something more trembled just beneath the surface.

“You’re going to make someone very confused one day, Spencer. Using Austen as a flirtation tactic is very dangerous.”

He turned to her fully now, one brow arching with exaggerated skepticism, the edge of his mouth fighting a smile.

“Dangerous?”

“Highly.” She waved a hand vaguely in the space between them, her tone mock-serious, but her gaze held steady on his face. “All this charm and intellect and emotional repression—it’s a lot.”

Spencer laughed — really laughed. The sound burst out of him light and breathless, and it startled even him a little. He tipped his head back, shoulders shaking for a beat, that rare, beautiful sound filling the car like light through fogged glass.

“That’s… an interesting interpretation.”

She smiled too, lopsided and knowing. A little crooked, a little fond. The kind of smile that came from watching someone unravel gently, willingly.

“I’m just saying,” she said, voice softer now but still playfully edged, “if you keep quoting Persuasion at girls in the dark, someone’s gonna fall in love with you.”

This time, he didn’t laugh.

But the smile lingered — soft and shaped with something quieter. Something he didn’t need to dress up in humor or hide behind logic. It tugged faintly at the corner of his mouth like a secret wanting out.

He just looked at her.

And said, voice barely above a whisper:

“You say that like it hasn’t already happened.”

That was when the air changed.

Not in a loud, crashing way — but in the way the atmosphere does before a storm rolls in. The kind of shift you feel before you see. Pressure dropping. Something pulling low and deep in your chest. The hush before lightning splits the sky.

Her heart stuttered once — a quiet, startled rhythm behind her ribs.

But she didn’t move.

Neither did he.

They just sat there.

Knees brushing. Shoulders angled slightly toward each other. Breath held just below the surface. The thunder rolled again, low and blooming in the distance, but it felt closer now — not in the sky, but in the space between them.

And the silence that followed wasn’t empty.

It was brimming with everything they hadn’t said. Everything they almost had.

They didn’t speak for a while after that.

Not because there was nothing left to say — but because whatever had just passed between them was still in the room, still in the air, like dust lit by a headlight beam. It hovered. It clung. It needed space to settle.

And when the quiet returned, it wasn’t the same as before. It wasn’t companionable or easy. It was charged. Dense with possibility. Like a radio dial turned just off-center — all static and hum, vibrating with the shape of words that hadn’t been spoken but still somehow filled the space.

Neither of them moved.

Not at first.

The rain whispered steadily against the windows, carving glass into trembling river lines. The cabin of the SUV had grown warmer, breath-fog softening the edges of the world beyond it. The outside was blurred. The inside was bright with everything they weren’t saying.

Eventually, Y/N shifted — slowly, like she didn’t want to startle the moment. Like she was wading through it. A deer through tall grass.

She stretched her legs down from the seat, her sock brushing the base of the console as she moved. Not restless — just closer. Her spine curved slightly inward, instinctive, unconsciously tilted in his direction. Her hand dropped into her lap, fingers tapping out a rhythm that didn’t match the rain, didn’t match anything at all — except maybe the quick, uneven beat of her pulse.

She glanced sideways, not quite meeting his eyes, her voice soft — but edged with mischief, like a spark under velvet.

“So,” she said, drawing the word out like a thread between her fingers, the kind that unraveled slowly just to see where it led, “how long have you been using Regency-era romance as a seduction technique?”

Spencer blinked — once, then again, as though her question had short-circuited some internal circuit he’d previously thought infallible.

“Excuse me?”

She smirked, lips curling with the satisfaction of someone who’d just set off a particularly elegant trap. Her gaze slid sideways, head tilted, playful but precise — like she was enjoying watching him squirm just a little.

“You heard me. You’re weaponizing Austen, Reid.”

“I’m not—” He stopped, mid-breath, brows drawing together in a furrow of genuine confusion. His tone shifted, caught somewhere between defense and self-doubt, like he was suddenly evaluating all his life choices. “I’m not weaponizing anything.”

“You say that,” she murmured, voice softer now, eyes narrowing with mock scrutiny. She leaned in just enough to make it feel like a secret. “But you’ve been sitting over there all night quoting Anne Elliot like it’s nothing.”

Spencer’s hands lifted slightly, as if ready to explain himself with a logical breakdown and supporting footnotes.

“It was relevant to our conversation.”

“Mhm. Sure.” She nodded, slowly, exaggerating the motion like she was humoring him. “Totally casual. Just a normal thing you do with coworkers during a federal surveillance op.”

Spencer opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again — the movement small but visible, the rhythm of a man realizing too late that he’d walked right into a thesis statement he hadn’t prepared for. He looked at her, a little wide-eyed, somewhere between horrified and completely disarmed.

And she was still smiling.

That same knowing smile that always made him feel like she could see straight through him — not in a threatening way, but like a flashlight through fog.

She leaned forward slightly, elbow resting on the console between them like she was settling into a chess match she already knew she was winning. The space narrowed — not dramatically, just enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him, see the faintest shift in his expression as she moved closer.

Her voice dropped, teasing and low, her words brushed with deliberate mischief.

“Be honest—do you quote Virginia Woolf to Hotch when you’re trying to butter him up?”

Spencer blinked at her, visibly startled — then gave her a look so affronted, so utterly scandalized, it made her laugh under her breath. It was the kind of expression he reserved for things like inaccurate statistics or poorly alphabetized books.

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay,” she said, pressing now, enjoying the way the tips of his ears turned just a shade darker in the dim light. “So what’s my category?”

Her eyes gleamed as she listed them off, slow and deliberate, watching the way he tried not to react.

“Austen? Brontë? Bit of Plath if I’m cranky?”

He was trying not to smile. She could see it — the twitch at the corner of his mouth, the fight behind his eyes, the way his shoulders tensed ever so slightly like holding in laughter required muscle.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being thorough,” she corrected, tapping the side of her temple like it was all part of a formal diagnostic process. “Profiling, remember?”

He shook his head once, but it was hopeless now — the shape of his mouth gave him away. That soft, helpless curve he only wore when it was her.

And then, quieter. So quiet she almost missed it, but not quite:

“You say that like it’s a theory,” he murmured, “but it sounds a lot like hope.”

Y/N’s breath caught.

Not loudly. Not visibly. But it caught — sharp and low in her chest — and her whole body stilled for just a fraction too long, like something delicate had been named.

The space between them had grown impossibly small.

Inches. Maybe less. The console between their seats felt like a formality now — a boundary that had once meant something, back when lines were clearer. But those lines had smudged hours ago, and now the air between them pulsed with everything that had risen in the silence.

Every glance. Every quote. Every moment of not looking away.

Y/N blinked — just once — suddenly uncertain of her footing, like the room had tilted and she wasn’t quite sure what her next step would do. So she did what she always did when the ground started to shift beneath her.

She reached for levity.

“Alright, then. If you were going to write me a love letter, would it be annotated?”

Spencer huffed out a breath — something between a laugh and a sigh of relief, like she’d just let the air back in.

“Only lightly,” he said, the corners of his mouth curving again. “A few citations. Footnotes. Maybe a reference table.”

“Oh, good,” she breathed, the smile tugging at her lips returning with a softness that hadn’t been there before. “I love when romance comes with appendices.”

He turned toward her fully now — not just his head, but his whole body, his knees brushing hers again, their shoulders angled like a conversation only they could hear.

“You joke,” he said, voice lower now, intimate in a way that made the walls of the SUV feel smaller, closer, “but I could quote you half a dozen passages from 19th century literature that remind me of you.”

She blinked once. Quick. Like her breath had caught behind her ribs.

“…Name one.”

But he didn’t.

Didn’t flinch. Didn’t reach for the book. Didn’t chase the question back with logic or wit.

He just looked at her.

And the look was a thing unto itself — unguarded and direct, like a thought that had lived too long in the dark and was finally stepping into the light. His mouth parted slightly, like he might speak, but no words came. His fingers curled tighter around the edge of his seat, as if he needed something solid to hold onto.

The silence between them swelled, not awkward, not unsure — just full. Brimming. Close enough to touch.

And neither of them moved.

Because if they did — if even one of them leaned closer — it wouldn’t be silence anymore.

It would be everything.

Because the truth of it—that aching, unnamed thing that had stretched and shimmered between them all night—was louder than anything he could have quoted.

It hung in the air now, full and real, vibrating like a string pulled too tight.

The windows had begun to fog.

Not completely. Just at the corners, where their breath mingled in the air, warm and quiet. The edges of the world blurred out, as if even the SUV had started to breathe slower. Everything inside the car felt thick with weight—with them—their bodies no longer separated by anything that mattered.

Outside, the street was still. No footsteps. No shadows in the house across the way. Just the hush of rain, soft and constant, and the low purr of the engine like a heartbeat they’d both forgotten to hear.

It was too much. Too quiet. Too full.

So Y/N broke it—because she had to. Because it was either that, or let it swallow her whole.

“So,” she said lightly, trying for teasing but not quite reaching it, the word catching slightly at the edges, “was that the part where you were going to kiss me or just emotionally devastate me with more well-placed metaphors?”

Spencer turned his head.

Slowly.

Like he’d been waiting for permission.

Like he’d been still all this time not out of hesitation, but out of reverence—like he knew this wasn’t something you rushed.

“You talk a lot when you’re nervous,” he said, so softly it nearly dissolved into the air between them.

She blinked.

“I’m not—” she started, but her voice caught—right on the edge of certainty. She cleared her throat and tried again, masking the tremble with a crooked smile. “I’m not nervous. I just didn’t want to ruin your perfectly curated quote-to-eye-contact ratio.”

Spencer’s lips twitched.

But the look in his eyes didn’t shift.

It stayed steady. Bare. The kind of gaze that didn’t flinch from the truth anymore. It held her without demand, like he was showing her the most vulnerable part of himself and trusting her not to look away.

And she didn’t.

Couldn’t.

He didn’t laugh. Didn’t dodge. Didn’t retreat into metaphor or distraction or some clever turn of phrase.

He just looked at her.

The kind of look that reached deeper than words. The kind that unraveled things. The kind that said I see you — and always have.

“I’ve been in love with you,” he said, quiet as a breath, “since your first case.”

No dramatic pause. No swelling music. Just a soft truth offered in the smallest of spaces. No less earth-shaking for its gentleness.

Outside, the rain kept falling — slow and constant, threading silver down the windshield like time deciding not to move.

The windows continued to fog, blurring the world beyond them until it was gone entirely. Only the inside remained now. Only this space. Only them.

Inside the car, the world stilled.

Y/N felt it in her chest first — a quiet catch of breath that slipped beneath her ribs and stayed there, trembling. Something had shifted — tectonic, deep beneath the surface — and everything realigned around it.

Her pulse fluttered. Her fingers curled in her lap, grounding her in the fabric of her jeans, the grain of the seat beneath her. But she didn’t pull away. Didn’t look down.

She didn’t ask if he meant it.

She didn’t joke. Didn’t tease.

She just looked at him.

And the silence between them wasn’t silence anymore.

It was something whole.

She moved towards him, unhurried and certain, as though the moment had long since been ordained. There was no fanfare in the gesture, no trembling flourish — only the quiet conviction of a woman who had made up her mind. Her hand came to rest at his neck, her fingers light and reverent, and then — with the gentleness of breath and the steadiness of affection long harboured — her lips found his.

It was not a kiss of passion unbridled, nor of haste or vanity. It was a confession, tender and unspoken, offered in the only language she could summon. And he received it as such — returning the kiss with the astonishment of a man long denied happiness, scarcely daring to trust that it had come at last.

When they parted — for breath, for sense, for the sweet necessity of drawing nearer still — her hand lingered at his jaw, thumb brushing the fine curve of it with something very near reverence.

His eyes opened slowly, as though waking from some long, aching dream.

“I wasn’t planning on saying it like that,” he whispered, breathless.

A smile touched her lips — quiet, wry, and altogether disarming. “How were you planning to say it?”

He shrugged slightly. “I was… maybe going to write it in the margin of a book and pretend you found it by accident.”

Her laugh then was soft and genuine, surprised by joy. It caught in the air like a lark in morning light.

“You still can,” she said. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. For dramatic effect.”

They remained there, foreheads pressed together in the hush that follows great change — the kind of silence that no longer feels empty, but earned. Rain murmured against the glass. The world around them faded to stillness.

And though neither dared to say more in that moment, it was understood between them — wholly and without embellishment — that the waiting was over.

And then — through the fogged glass, through the hush that had wrapped itself around them like a secret — a light blinked on across the street.

They both turned, instinct kicking in hard and fast, muscle memory overriding everything else. Adrenaline over romance. Duty over daydream.

Spencer reached for the binoculars. Y/N grabbed the radio. Their movements overlapped — smooth, practiced, nearly synchronized.

It was like slipping back into step. The rhythm of a thousand stakeouts before. The urgency. The protocol. The clarity of purpose. Familiar. Rehearsed.

But when her shoulder brushed his— 

when her fingers lingered just a moment too long on the gear shift— 

when he looked at her and couldn’t help the way his smile pulled, unbidden, real—

It wasn’t the same.

Not even close.

The rain had finally let up by the time they made it back to the precinct.

It was early — the kind of early that belonged more to the night than the day, sky still a gray-blue smear above the rooftops, low and hesitant. The pavement glistened, slick with the memory of rain, and steam curled in lazy tendrils from the sewer grates. Every surface gleamed like it had just woken up. So had they.

Y/N still felt the ghost of his lips on hers.

They walked side by side, steps in quiet sync. A little too close.

Their shoulders bumped once. Neither of them moved away.

She glanced up at him, trying — and failing — to bite down a smile. “You’re being weird.”

Spencer blinked, eyes wide in theatrical offense. “I’m being weird?”

“You keep doing that soft smile thing.”

“I always smile.”

“You smile in footnotes. This is new.”

He tried to school his face into something neutral. Failed miserably.

“Okay,” he admitted, voice low. “I don’t know how to do this yet.”

“Me neither.”

And then, grinning: “It’s kind of fun watching you short-circuit.”

He opened the precinct door for her with a small shake of his head, but his cheeks were unmistakably pink.

Inside, the station was half-asleep. Fluorescent lights hummed low. Agents drifted through the bullpen like ghosts with paperwork — coffee in hand, conversations murmured over case files, the scrape of chairs against tile. It smelled like burnt espresso and printer toner.

Emily looked up from her laptop as they stepped in, her brow immediately furrowing. 

“You two look… suspiciously chipper for a stakeout,” she said slowly, tone sharp with amusement.

From behind her, Morgan appeared with a mug in hand. “Right? You catch the unsub or just catch up on some really good conversation?”

Y/N paused mid-step. Spencer made a sound that could only be described as an intellectual cough.

“We—uh,” he started, eyes darting toward the coffee station like it might offer rescue.

“Read Austen,” Y/N said quickly, deadpan. “He read. I listened. Riveting stuff.”

Emily narrowed her eyes.

Morgan lifted a brow. “Austen, huh?”

Spencer nodded. “She likes the metaphors.”

Y/N shrugged. “They hold up.”

There was a beat of silence, heavy with implication.

JJ passed them on her way to the coffee pot, casting a glance sharp enough to cut paper.

“Cute,” she murmured, just loud enough to be heard — and kept walking.

Spencer looked like he might spontaneously combust. Y/N just smiled, hands in her pockets, a quiet glow still tucked behind her eyes.

Maybe they were terrible at hiding it.

Maybe they never really stood a chance.

But for the first time in a long time, she didn’t want to hide anything at all.

[gojover]

helloo:), i am so in love with your phainon fic and i just wanted to ask if you could write like an epilogue to the story or anything like that (a continuation) basically that gives us a glimpse of how life is for them now ever since things have changed for the better. id really super duper appreciate it if you consider this since i love reading your works so much, thank you !! ilysm<3

hello! this ask warmed my heart so much (i appreciate you immensely, thank you so much for all your love & support!) that i decided to write a little epilogue scene! @mahowaga has been requesting one too, so i hope both of you like it ♡

The war ends not with a roar, but with silence.

No bards sing of the final clash—there was no final clash. No fire raining from the skies, no dramatic stand at the gates. Just a slow, bitter surrender in the snow-covered North, when the last stronghold fell and the enemy finally bowed their heads. It ends with the exhaustion of men who have seen too much, and the stillness that follows when a kingdom waits for its soldiers to return.

The castle stirs awake at dawn with the tolling of bells: three peals, loud and reverent. Once of the lives lost. Once for the peace hard-won. Once, they say, for the ones who waited.

You are waiting now.

Wrapped in a heavy cloak, you stand in the main courtyard of the castle, where the flagstones are still dusted with frost. The wind is cold but kind, threading through your hair and the fur lining at your collar. Your fingers are clenched tightly around the hem of your sleeves. The banners of the kingdom flutter high above your head.

At last, the gates creak open.

The first wave of soldiers passes through—tired men and women, cloaked in the scars of battle. They wear victory the way one wears grief: with humility and shadows in their eyes. You search each face as they file past, your heart thudding faster, harder, until—

You see him.

Phainon walks beside the prince of Castrum Kremnos, no longer a boy who scaled the wall up to your windowsill or a soldier sneaking through corridors to steal a kiss, but a man tempered by war, bone-weary and battle-worn, and more beautiful than you remembered. His cloak is torn at one shoulder, his armour dulled in places, but he stands tall, with the sword of the Royal Guard strapped across his back and snow melting in his hair.

There are lines now at the corner of his eyes. Faint scars along the curve of his jaw. But his gaze finds yours at once, like it always has—without effort, without question.

You don’t know if you run first or if he does, only that the world vanishes around you: the gates, the courtyard, the crowd. There’s only the sound of your heartbeat and the thunder of his footsteps and the crash of your bodies as you collide in the middle of the stone path.

He catches you easily, lifting you off your feet as your arms fling around his shoulders. His face buries in the crook of your neck, and his breath stutters once, just once, before he exhales shakily.

“You came back,” you whisper, not trusting your voice to do more.

Phainon pulls back, his hands cradling your face as if memorising it again, his thumb brushing the corner of your mouth. His eyes are storm-blue and shining. “There was never a world where I wouldn’t.”

Your lips meet, too fast, too desperate, too much and not nearly enough. A sob catches in your throat, swallowed by the way he kisses you. You clutch the back of his tunic, feeling the worn fabric, the warmth of him beneath the cold. He tastes like salt and snow.

Around you, the cheers begin. Applause from the ramparts, a jubilant cry from the guards, a swell of voices that grows louder with every second. Somewhere, Mistress Calypso is crying, and your father is smiling into his wine goblet, and Mydeimos claps a hand over Phainon’s shoulder before stepping away with grace.

But none of it matters. None of it reaches you.

Phainon presses his forehead to yours. “You look different,” he says.

“So do you,” you say. “But you’re alive, and I’ve never been happier.”

“I dreamed of this,” he says. “Every night—when comrades and friends and foes died—I held onto this like a rope in the dark.”

“You won’t have to again,” you promise. “You’re home now.”

He leans into your touch, his lashes fluttering shut as your hands frame his jaw. “Say it again.”

“You’re home, Phainon.”

That night, a feast is held in the Great Hall. Stories are told. Songs are sung. But your favourite part comes later, when the doors are closed, when the fire in your bedchamber crackles low, and you curl into him beneath warm blankets with your head on his chest and your fingers laced through his.

“Tell me everything that has happened,” he says into your hair.

You hum, the sound muffled against the fabric of his tunic, where your cheek rests over the steady rise and fall of his chest. His heartbeat thrums softly beneath your ear, a lullaby you had longed for in silence, night after night.

“I’ll need more time than we have tonight,” you say.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Phainon says, and so, you begin.

You tell him about the meetings and the negotiations. How Prince Mydeimos’ father, King Eurypon, former commander of the Castrum Kremnos army visited the kingdom, and how the alliance grew stronger for it. How the nobles bickered endlessly in the wake of war, and how you learned to hold your own among them. You tell him how your father—older, slower, softer now—let you speak more in court, let you command more without needing to ask.

You speak of small things, too. How Mistress Calypso started weaving lavender into her braids again. How the court hounds had pups in autumn. How the apple tree outside the western tower bloomed early this year, and how the pale pink of the petals reminded you of the conch on the necklace you bought for him on the coast.

Phainon listens to every word.

“And what of you?” he asks, softer now. “Were you… happy?”

You lift your head slightly to meet his gaze. “I tried to be,” you admit. “But when I was alone, I worried a lot. Some nights…” You trail off, fingers brushing lightly over the faded scar near his collarbone. “I didn’t sleep. Not well.”

“I didn’t either,” he says. “I kept dreaming of this room, and you, and the sound of your voice.”

“Now?”

Phainon smiles. “Now I think I’ll finally sleep through the night.”

You lean in to press a kiss just beneath his jaw, and he lets out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. His fingers weave gently through your hair, and he tugs you closer, if such a thing is possible.

Outside, the wind stirs in the trees. The fire burns low, warm and drowsy. Inside, you lie with the man who once climbed your window in secret, now returned through the gates of war, your name on his lips and your hand in his.

You close your eyes to the rhythm of his breath. The future is wide and bright and entirely your own.

[thesecondhandwoman]

ISHA’S DEATH

Sevika x f!reader

Synopsis: Sevika is devastated after learning that Isha, the young girl Jinx had found and whom Sevika had grown close to, died sacrificing herself to protect Jinx during a violent incident. Stricken with guilt and grief, Sevika crumbles, unable to cope with the loss, especially since she wasn’t there when it happened. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Sevika falls apart in your arms, desperately needing comfort.

The news came like a thunderstorm on a clear day.

Sevika had always been the one who was prepared for anything, the one who could take on a hundred enemies without flinching, the one who could shoulder any burden, no matter how heavy. But this news—this thing—was different. It wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t a betrayal. It wasn’t something that could be punched out of existence.

It was a loss. A cruel, senseless loss.

Isha. The little girl Jinx had found when she was barely more than a whisper of herself, a non-verbal, rebellious spark of defiance that had found a home in the chaos of the world they lived in. Isha, the one Sevika had grown attached to, who had wormed her way into her heart with her unspoken resilience and her quiet, yet unwavering loyalty.

And now she was gone.

Sevika stood at the doorway, her broad frame framed by the dim light outside, looking like she had just been struck by a physical blow. Her eyes were wide, unseeing, staring at the floor as if it could give her the answers she needed. Her normally composed expression was gone, replaced by something raw, something wild, as if she was trying to process the unthinkable.

You had heard the whispers long before she walked through the door—gossip, rumors, half-truths—but you had hoped, prayed that it wasn’t true. That Isha was still out there, laughing her silent laugh, running circles around Jinx as they always did.

But when Sevika had stepped into the apartment, her face a mask of disbelief, you knew.

You knew that the storm was finally here.

“Sevika…” you whispered, your voice a tentative thread of concern. You had never seen her like this.

Sevika didn’t answer, and you knew she wouldn’t. She wasn’t the type to speak when words could never be enough. You approached her slowly, your heart pounding, unsure of what to do, how to comfort her when the hurt was so vast, so endless.

Her eyes met yours, and you felt your breath catch in your throat. They were empty. There was no fire in them, no hardness, no walls. Only a hollow, vast emptiness that swallowed everything in its path.

“Isha’s dead,” Sevika rasped, her voice thick, hoarse, and cracking. “She… she died saving Jinx. I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there… and she’s dead.”

The words didn’t feel real, not in the way they should. Isha was a kid, a girl who had barely started her life, a girl who’d found something like family in the wreckage of their broken world.

The details were hazy, but you had heard enough—an accident. A violent break-out. A sacrifice.

She had stepped in front of Jinx.

You felt the ground beneath you tilt. Isha had always been so quiet, so protective in her own way, but you hadn’t thought of her being so… brave. To protect someone with her life, someone who meant everything to her… to her family. You knew how much Sevika had cared for Isha—she had never said it aloud, but in the quiet moments, when Jinx was distracted or the others were fighting, Sevika had been the one to watch over the girl.

The one who tried to fill the space that had been left when everything had fallen apart.

You reached out instinctively, your hand brushing the sleeve of Sevika’s jacket, but she flinched away as if your touch was too much, too soon. It was like she couldn’t breathe, like the air had thickened and pressed against her chest.

“I wasn’t there,” she repeated, this time with more anguish, her voice cracking under the weight of guilt and helplessness. “I wasn’t there. I should’ve been there. I should’ve—”

Her voice broke on the last word, and before you could stop her, Sevika dropped to her knees. You rushed to her side, your heart in your throat, but she was already shaking. Not violently, but with that quiet tremble that comes before something breaks.

“I should’ve been there,” Sevika whispered again, almost to herself, her hands gripping the floor like she was trying to anchor herself to something solid, something real. “I promised… I promised I’d protect her.”

You knelt beside her, your arms reaching out to her cautiously. You weren’t sure if she wanted comfort, if she wanted anything from you at all. But when she didn’t pull away, you wrapped your arms around her, pulling her into your chest, pressing her face to your neck, the warmth of her breath sending a chill through your body.

Her hands clenched at the fabric of your shirt, like she was trying to hold on to something that wasn’t slipping away. Her body trembled against yours, and the soft sobs that had been building inside her finally spilled out in a quiet, guttural sound.

“I couldn’t protect her,” Sevika gasped, her voice trembling with frustration and sorrow. “I wasn’t there when she needed me. I wasn’t there when she gave herself up. I couldn’t… I didn’t—”

You shushed her gently, running your fingers through her hair, pressing her closer to you. You knew the words wouldn’t heal the wound, not now, not with what had happened. But you also knew that she needed to feel something besides the crushing weight of guilt and helplessness.

“She knew you loved her, Sevika,” you whispered, your voice soft but firm. “She knew you would’ve been there if you could. She knew you would’ve died for her. She knew.”

Sevika’s sobs deepened, her body going limp against yours as she let go of the dam she had been holding inside. She clung to you like a lifeline, her tears soaking your neck, her breath ragged and uneven. She wasn’t just mourning Isha’s death. She was mourning her own inability to protect the one person who had needed her the most, who had trusted her the most.

“I failed her,” Sevika whispered through the tears. “I failed her like I failed everything. I failed them all.”

“No,” you said softly, your hand pressing against the back of her head, guiding her gently back to look at you. “No, you didn’t. You’ve been there for them, for Jinx, for everyone. You can’t save everyone, Sevika. Not all of them.”

The words felt empty, but you couldn’t find any better way to express the helplessness that had settled over you both. The truth was, there was no right way to console someone in the face of such loss. You couldn’t bring Isha back. You couldn’t undo the past.

But you could hold Sevika. You could hold her as she crumbled in your arms.

“I’m here,” you murmured, your voice steady despite the heartbreak you felt inside. “I’m here, Sevika. You’re not alone in this. You’re not alone.”

It wasn’t much, but it was all you had to give. And, in that moment, it had to be enough.

So, you stayed there with Sevika, cradling her in your arms as her sobs slowly began to taper off into quiet, exhausted whimpers. The weight of her grief still pressed down on her like a suffocating storm, but her tears had slowed, the brokenness of it all sinking deeper into her bones.

She didn’t speak anymore—just leaned into you, her breath shallow and uneven, her body trembling in your arms as if she couldn’t quite shake the agony of the moment.

There was no magic cure for the pain she felt. No comforting words that would ever be enough to erase the guilt and loss clawing at her heart. Isha was gone, and no amount of regret could bring her back.

Still, you kept holding her. One hand pressed against her back, the other running through her hair in slow, soothing strokes. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing you could offer—your presence, your warmth, and the unwavering understanding that she didn’t have to shoulder this alone.

You could feel her exhaustion seeping through her, the weight of everything finally wearing her down, and slowly, very slowly, her body relaxed. The tense shuddering of her muscles eased, her sobs becoming faint little gasps. You shifted slightly, adjusting your position to support her more comfortably, but she didn’t pull away.

You kept your voice quiet, just barely a whisper, speaking into the quiet space between you both. “It’s okay to rest now, Sevika. You’ve been holding on for so long… it’s okay.”

Her only response was a small, broken exhale, and then, finally, her body went completely limp in your arms. She was still—completely still—and her breath became deeper, more regular, as if sleep had finally claimed her.

The tears had stopped, leaving only the softest trace of salt on your skin. You felt her weight, the heaviness of her heartbreak, resting on you as she slept. Her face was peaceful for the first time in what felt like forever, though the faintest shadow of pain still lingered in her features.

You didn’t want to move. You didn’t want to disturb her. Sevika, the fighter, the protector, was finally letting herself fall apart, and for the first time, she was allowing herself to be weak, to be human. The woman who could take on the world had crumbled into your arms, and though it tore your heart to pieces, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of tenderness toward her in that moment.

You stayed with her, as the hours passed, your body still aching from the grief you couldn’t fix. But as Sevika slept, the sound of her breath steadying in the crook of your neck, you realized something. She had needed this, even if she couldn’t admit it. Even if she hadn’t known she needed it. She had needed to break, needed to feel the comfort of being held in someone else’s arms, to know she didn’t have to be strong all the time.

And so, you stayed.

The night passed, and time seemed to lose meaning as you sat there, holding Sevika as she slept. Her heartbeat had slowed, her face now softened in sleep, and despite everything—the tragedy, the pain, the emptiness—you felt a quiet hope bloom inside you.

Tomorrow, you would help her heal. It wouldn’t happen quickly, and it wouldn’t be easy, but together, you would find a way to carry the weight of this loss.

For now, you just held her.

And in the stillness of the night, as the world outside seemed to hold its breath, you wished you could make the ache in her heart disappear. But for tonight, you could only be there, as she rested, utterly broken—but not alone.

[twst-aceofhearts]

could you maybe do a Lilia x reader..... Where they are Also a fae and have been around for as long as him. They got married when he was a general. And are pretty much Silvers mother figure?

Eternal Vow

a/n: I actually have an oc with this exact prompt! this was very sweet to write, I love it words: 1123 tags: @luxaryllis @thegoldencontracts @waterthatsmoe @oya-oya-okay @writingattemptsxx +ask if you want to be added <3

The war didn’t stop for weddings. Not even for generals.

But in a lull between battles, under the blood-red light of a fading dusk, Lilia stood in a glade hidden by ancient trees and layered enchantments. Armor still clung to his frame—dented, scuffed, proud. His black and red hair was braided back hastily, and he smelled faintly of smoke and moss.

And then you appeared.

Your cloak billowed as you stepped out of the shadows, and Lilia’s breath hitched.

You wore no ceremonial silks, no regal gown. Just the armor you’d fought in—the same that had shielded you when you had carved a path to protect his flank two weeks ago. A new scar peeked from beneath your collarbone. He knew where it came from. He had nearly gone feral when he saw you bleed.

“General,” he greeted softly.

“General,” you replied, just as formal—but your eyes glowed with something far more personal.

“Still want to go through with it?” he asked, tilting his head. His fangs flashed with a crooked grin. “You do know I snore when I’m wounded.”

You stepped closer until only a whisper of air separated you. “Only when you’ve been hit in the ribs.”

“Which is often,” he teased.

You laughed. It was soft, tired, real.

Then silence.

Only the wind spoke, threading through the canopy above.

Lilia’s voice dropped low, quiet in reverence. “I have lived too long in blood and shadow. But every time I turned, you were there. Shield at my back. Fire in your heart. I never once felt afraid, because you were beside me.”

You reached for his hand, pulling off your gauntlet to intertwine your bare fingers with his. “And I never once faltered, because I knew you’d carry me if I fell. We’ve walked through death and emerged whole, Lilia. I want to keep walking—with you.”

He brought your joined hands to his lips and kissed your knuckles, reverent.

There were no priests. No crowds. No thrones or officiants.

Only a bond woven in blood and choice.

“Then I vow,” Lilia murmured, “to love you with all the ferocity I once gave to war. I vow to protect your life, your soul, your peace—until the stars burn out.”

Your voice was steady. “And I vow to guard your back, your name, your dreams. Even when time tries to wear us down, I will remain.”

Two fae. Two immortals. Two hearts forged in war and sealed in vow.

The air shimmered.

A quiet hum spread through the glade, wild magic responding to the union. The trees bent slightly toward you. The grass brightened. Fireflies rose.

And then—he kissed you.

Not with the passion of a prince in a fairy tale, but with the grounded ache of someone who had seen too much, lost too much, and now stood before the only thing he never wanted to lose.

When you broke apart, you rested your forehead to his, eyes damp.

Lilia chuckled. “You know, you’re terrifying when you’re in love.”

“So are you,” you whispered.

“Perfect match then.”

Silver’s soft breathing stirred against your shoulder, still dozing peacefully. Lilia brushed a strand of hair from your face, his eyes half-lidded.

“Do you remember,” he asked quietly, “how you looked the day we wed?”

You smiled. “Covered in blood and half-dressed?”

He chuckled. “And still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

You leaned in, lips brushing his cheek.

“Still?”

“Always.”

Lilia didn’t need to open his eyes to know you were already awake. He could feel the way your mana brushed gently against his, steady and radiant like morning sunlight after a night of storms. You always woke before him these days—not because you needed less sleep, but because you liked to watch the sunrise over Diasomnia’s towers.

When he did finally open his eyes, you were sitting by the window, bathed in blue-green light, your silhouette still as a statue. Regal. Timeless. Just like the first time he saw you across the battlefield in Briar Valley—armor gleaming, hair tangled from wind and spellfire.

“You’re staring,” you murmured without looking. “Again.”

Lilia chuckled as he pushed off the bed with a quiet hum. “Can you blame me, my darling general? You were the most dangerous sight I ever saw. And centuries later, still are.”

You turned your head at that, the corners of your eyes crinkling with amusement. “If I recall, I outranked you once.”

“Only for a century or two. And I didn’t mind being beneath you—metaphorically and literally.”

You threw a pillow at him, snorting with laughter. “You’re incorrigible.”

He caught it with ease and pressed a kiss to the soft fabric. “And you married me anyway.”

Your smile softened as you stood, walking toward him with quiet, graceful steps. He reached out for your hands—still calloused from weapons long set aside—and pulled you close until his forehead rested against yours.

“You’ve changed,” you whispered.

“So have you,” he replied.

“But not this.”

“No,” he agreed. “Not this.”

The tender silence that followed was broken only by a soft knock. A familiar one.

You both turned toward the door as it opened just slightly. A silver-haired young man poked his head in, his hair disheveled from sleep and his eyes still cloudy with dreams.

“Mmh… M-Mother? Father?” Silver rubbed one eye, voice low and heavy with drowsiness.

Your heart swelled.

You crossed the room in a few swift steps and gently placed your hand on his head, brushing his bangs aside. “Good morning, sweet one. Did you sleep well?”

Silver leaned into your touch with a sleepy nod, like he had done since he was a boy. “I had that dream again. The one with the forest and the lullaby.”

Lilia joined you both, humming as he placed a hand on Silver’s back. “That was a real memory, you know. You were only four. You wandered off during training, and your mother sang to calm the forest spirits.”

Silver blinked. “She… really did that?”

You smiled at him, brushing your fingers gently through his hair. “And I’ll do it again if you ever wander off. Though I think it’s more likely you’ll fall asleep before you get lost now.”

Silver gave a soft chuckle and, without hesitation, leaned into your arms. “Can I stay here? Just a little longer?”

“Of course,” you and Lilia said in unison.

The three of you sat by the open window then, with Silver’s head resting on your shoulder, your arm around his back, and Lilia’s quiet humming filling the room like a ward against the world.

So much had changed. The battlefield had faded. The swords had been laid to rest. But the love? The family you'd built together?

That, like you and Lilia, endured.

[orphanedshadow]

Levi chuckled, the sound just a little alien, even if it was filtered through an attempt at humanity. "It was a side effect, neural connections tend to send more information than mere words, so our language evolved to mimic it. Besides, you saw the offspring's larval form. Electrical and vibrational connections are processed over the entire vessel, not like your ears with their fragile little drums"

The introductions made them happy, it was nice to be treated as a sentient being instead of as a data system. Clearly the descendants of humanity had respect for the varied forms of life…at least this one did. That was good, perhaps they were indeed worthy. "She has, but it is nice to be considered by the organic. As for their meaning, none of them come close to what you would be called in our tongue. Your position of obedience and command is for those who wish to know what respect it affords you…to us that seems…odd. A person is more than their position, it seems unhelpful to be focused on."

Cortana's information allowed understanding, and explained the motivation… but that didn't make it make sense in the traditional way. But that didn't matter, as John's attention was turned to Kara.

"Do not like covenant. Tried to break helix. Like forerunners, but clumsy. Told to destroy Humanity. Said was gods decree. Are wrong, know now." Her hand reached out to grab John's arm, clawed fingers almost digging into the titanium with how hard she was gripping. "Will not let them. John mine now. Is kin. Kin never fights alone." No, she wouldn't be letting him fight alone, or let his people be exterminated. Though Kara hadn't experienced it herself she had felt the pain of her ancestor, and she did not want her other kin to go through that.

A few trills from the computer brought her attention back, Levi having typed up a few words in her language as well as providing a little bit more human biological data, enough to make a point.

"Alterations, not consented? No control? Still like larvae, only small?" More symbols popped up, ones that drew a little growl from Kara as hazy memories drifted to the surface. "Like forerunners. Like covenant. Took before grown. No control." It was with concern that she took John's arm, watching to see if the slight scratches she left would heal, and disliking what she considered to be the implications.

"Human do many times? Make many John? Then trap in carapace?" After all there were numbers, that suggested multiples, and responsible, well in her language that carried a certain blame, perhaps even what could be called an accusation. "Did not alter self? Why?"

"That's.... efficient," John settled on, mulling over the AI's description of nomenclature in its origin society. "But definitely a bit .. much for the human ear to process," he acknowledged. His weight continued to shift, small tilts of feet that allowed him to take in bits of information as he turned, flagging key words, definitions, interpretations, biological data and analyses as they flooded the screens of the room around him. He could spend lifetimes here and not touch a fragment of what there was. This was enough to keep even Cortana busy for ... days. Months? Years, maybe.

He watched the flickers of data streams crossing, exchanging. He could feel the excited hum of energy as Cortana's mind absorbed and collated, an almost tangible buzz in the nape of his neck, in the base of his skull where she lived. "I'm sure Cortana's already made the official introductions but I'm John. Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 of the United Nations Space Command. I don't know if any of those designations have a relevancy to you, so just -- John, works fine."

Leviathan. Many. His attention shifted again to the petite figure that loitered near him, listening to the augmented words that the machine filtered, offered up as translation. He gathered the gist, he thought, from the history she offered, but he was working with fragmented information at best. "The ones -- that became infected, they are from a coalition of alien entities that we refer to as the Covenant. They seek to wipe out humanity. We seek to stop them." It was a ... losing battle, but that was part of the story for another day.

A small, slightly strained smile, at Kara's queries. "The woman who designed this armor, who was responsible for the creation of my platoon, she did alter us -- on a genetic and biological level, when we were younger. It made us stronger, faster, enhanced our speed and agility, our reaction times, our senses. We had to be above and beyond normal human capacities to be compatible with this armor. It multiplies our already enhanced abilities. It does have the capacity to repair itself, on a molecular level, with nanotechnology, but as of ... yet, that technology is only viable on a non biological entity."

[itwillbethescarletwitch]

Meant To Be Yours

bob floyd x fem!reader

tw: Stalking and obsessive behavior,  Psychological manipulation and abuse, Kidnapping and confine, Use of chloroform / drugging, Threats and implied violence, Emotional trauma, Strong language / profanity, Mental health struggles

There’s a certain kind of silence that screams. The kind that settles in when the world’s too loud, when your mind twists itself in circles and no one else sees the shadows creeping behind their perfect little lives.

Bob Floyd knew that silence. It was the soundtrack to his every waking hour.

He had seen her three months ago, long before they actually “met.” It was a stupid coincidence — or maybe fate, if you believed in that crap. She was standing outside that old bookstore, the one with the chipped paint and the rattling neon sign that flickered every time a storm rolled through. She had that look on her face — the kind of tired smile that only comes from living too much, from carrying secrets in the hollow of your chest.

Bob hadn’t been able to look away.

From that moment, she became his entire fucking universe.

He started small. Lurking on her social media like a goddamn shadow, piecing together her routines, her friends, the places she went when no one was watching. He learned what she drank, the kind of books she liked — that she’d stayed up until 3 AM last Thursday because of some stupid deadline, and how she always left her phone on silent.

God, he memorized everything.

Every post, every smile, every moment was a thread he pulled at obsessively. It was like unraveling a beautiful, fragile thing that belonged only to him now. But she didn’t know it yet. Not even close.

Sometimes, he’d drive past her house at night, heart hammering so loud he thought the whole neighborhood could hear. The porch light was almost always on, flickering shadows through the lace curtains. He’d wait in his car just across the street, pretending to be a ghost passing by. He knew the security cameras, the dogs that barked at midnight, the way the old oak tree in the front yard swayed in the wind. He marked the nights when her car was gone, when the windows glowed warm and inviting, when the silence screamed that she was home alone.

And when she finally stepped out — the curve of her neck catching the streetlamp, the nervous twist of her fingers — he’d follow, careful and patient.

There was no rush in obsession. No expiration date.

But Bob was watching, always watching.

⸻

He wasn’t just stalking her. He was protecting her. That was the twisted part no one else understood. He would stop anyone who looked at her wrong — in his mind, anyway. Because if he couldn’t have her, no one fucking could.

When they finally met — when their paths crossed and she smiled politely like she had no idea what he’d been doing for the past three months — Bob felt a surge of something so fierce it nearly broke him.

She was his.

And if she ever tried to run, Bob would be waiting.

———

She was rushing into that little bookstore — the one with the cracked sign and the faint smell of old paper — just to get out of the rain.

He was standing in the back aisle, hidden behind a tower of dusty books, looking for something to read.

Their eyes met.

It was like a jolt, a spark that neither of them expected but both immediately felt.

“Hey,” he said, voice low and smooth, a slight grin playing at his lips.

She smiled back, heart already racing. “Hey.”

He stepped closer, careful not to crowd her but close enough that she caught the scent of his cologne — fresh, a little woodsy, addictive.

“Crazy weather, huh?” he said, nodding toward the rain pounding the windows.

“Yeah, perfect for getting lost in a bookstore,” she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

They started talking — about favorite authors, movies, music. His humor was quick, witty, making her laugh before she realized it.

She found herself telling him things she didn’t usually share with strangers.

He listened, really listened.

When the rain slowed, neither wanted to break the spell.

“Coffee?” he asked, eyes hopeful.

She hesitated for a split second, then nodded.

That coffee date turned into dinner. Then a walk under city lights.

By the end of the night, it felt like they’d known each other forever.

She didn’t know what this was — a chance encounter or something more — but she wanted to find out.

And he? He already knew.

She was the one.

———

The sky was streaked with pinks and soft oranges as the sun began to dip below the horizon. The park was quiet, just the hum of distant cars and the gentle rustle of leaves in the evening breeze.

Bob walked beside her, hands tucked deep into his jacket pockets, eyes fixed on the fading light. His usual cool, calm facade was cracked just enough to show the nervous pulse beneath.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, voice low but steady. She glanced at him, curious. “I don’t want to be just some guy passing through your life. I want to be the guy you come home to. The one you call when you’ve had a shitty day or when something good happens. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Her heart skipped, cheeks warming. She smiled—big, bright, the kind of smile that made the world feel lighter. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”

Relief and something fierce bloomed in his chest. Without thinking, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her with a tenderness that promised steadiness and something real. No rush, no pressure. Just this quiet, solid moment where the world fell away.

———

The evening air was just cool enough to make the soft glow of streetlamps seem warmer, promising something quietly electric between them.

After their night out, her phone buzzed with a new message. She smiled as she read it.

She had texted casually, “You should come over sometime.”

Bob’s fingers hesitated for a moment before he typed, “I’d like that. Send me your address.”

She sent it instantly, the little blue ticks showing he’d seen it right away.

Later that night, Bob sat in his car outside her house, studying the exterior like it was the first time he’d ever seen it. The porch light cast soft shadows, the garden was neat but unpretentious, and the front door looked inviting.

When she opened the door, her smile was warm but curious, as if wondering how he could be so calm after all they’d shared.

He stepped inside slowly, making a show of looking around like a visitor seeing a stranger’s home for the first time—even though every detail was etched in his mind. The way the curtains framed the windows, the bookshelf stacked with novels, the faint scent of vanilla and fresh laundry.

“Wow, your street is so quiet and peaceful,” he said, carefully casual, sitting down on the couch and running his hand over the soft throw pillow beside him.

She laughed, a soft, genuine sound that made his chest tighten.

Bob spotted the vintage record player in the corner. “I’ve never actually seen one of these in person,” he said, reaching out to lift the needle, pretending to discover it anew.

“It’s been in my family forever,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with pride.

He smiled, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small box of chocolates—her favorite kind.

“Thought you might like these,” he said softly, handing it to her.

Her eyes softened, already knowing the gesture wasn’t as casual as it seemed.

They shared a quiet moment, the kind where words aren’t necessary but everything feels said.

——

It became routine—Bob at her house, sitting on her couch like he hadn’t been watching it from the street for months.

Sometimes he’d bring her favorite takeout before she even said what she was craving.

Other times, he’d show up with a book she’d once mentioned in passing, casually saying, “I saw it and thought of you,” like it wasn’t already saved in a note on his phone titled “Things She Likes.”

He never stayed too long—just enough to feel like he belonged, never enough to raise suspicion. He’d lean back against her kitchen counter while she cooked, pretending to be surprised when she reached for ingredients he already knew she kept on the second shelf.

“I like your kitchen,” he’d say once, tracing his fingers along the countertop. “It’s…warm.”

She smiled at that. “It’s just a kitchen, Bob.”

He looked at her for a second too long. “No. It’s yours.”

Sometimes, she’d catch him looking at the little things—a framed photo on her hallway wall, a chipped mug she always used. He never asked questions about them. He already knew.

One night, when she stepped into the bedroom to change into something more comfortable, Bob stood in the middle of her living room, just listening. Breathing it in. Her house was quiet. Her scent was everywhere.

He picked up one of the candles on her side table and turned it over in his hands. Vanilla cedarwood. He’d bought the same one for his own place weeks ago.

When she returned, hair in a messy bun and feet bare, he was smiling, calm, like he hadn’t just been thinking about how well his hands fit around the base of her wine glasses.

———

She knocked on Bob’s door with her knuckles out of habit, even though he’d already texted her: “It’s open, come in :)”

Still, there was something about stepping into someone’s space for the first time that made her want to be polite.

She pushed the door open slowly. “Bob?”

“In here,” he called from the living room.

She kicked off her shoes in the entryway and followed the sound of the TV. When she turned the corner, she nearly laughed.

He was lounging on the couch, legs stretched out, blanket tossed over his lap — and on the screen?

Her favorite comfort show.

It was the exact episode she’d posted about two weeks ago on her story, a blurry photo with the caption “this one hits me in the soul every time.”

“No way,” she said, grinning as she dropped her bag by the armchair. “Are you watching this?”

He looked over, feigning surprise. “Yeah, it was just on. You like it?”

“Like it? Bob, I’ve rewatched this show like six times.” She plopped down next to him, barely noticing the tiny tension in his shoulders that eased as soon as she smiled. “It’s kind of my everything.”

“Well,” he said, grabbing the remote and turning the volume down just enough, “that explains the good energy in the room.”

She laughed and settled into the couch, hugging one of the throw pillows to her chest.

And then — because her throat was dry from the heat outside — she asked, “You got anything to drink?”

Bob was already standing. “Yeah, fridge is full. What do you want?”

“Water’s fine,” she said, automatically.

But he was gone before she finished the sentence.

When he returned, he was holding out a can of Dr Pepper.

She blinked at it.

“I… didn’t know you drank this,” she said, taking it slowly.

“Is that okay?”

She opened it and took a sip, still smiling. “Okay? It’s my favorite. Literally. This is witchcraft.”

He gave a sheepish shrug. “Just a lucky guess.”

She had no idea he’d driven to five different stores to find the right variety pack because he remembered the exact bottle she was holding in a photo from last fall. No idea that the blanket she was curled under wasn’t just “a nice Target find,” but the exact color she’d liked in a Pinterest post from three years ago. No idea that he’d started watching this show the moment she mentioned it on her socials, just in case it came up.

To her, it all felt serendipitous.

To him, it was strategy.

And it worked. She glanced around his place, her brows lifting as she took in the books on the shelf (a few by authors she’d gushed about), the cozy lamp in the corner (same vibe as the one in her reading nook), and the faint smell of vanilla cedarwood from a candle lit on the counter.

Everything felt familiar. Warm.

Like home.

“Bob, your place is kind of amazing.”

He smiled, watching her curl further into the blanket like a cat claiming its spot.

“Thanks,” he said, soft and honest. “It feels even better with you in it.”

She laughed quietly and leaned against his shoulder, sipping her soda. “God, we’re like the same person.”

Bob didn’t answer right away.

He just smiled again, eyes dark and still.

That’s because I already know you, he wanted to say.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he turned the volume up just a little and said, “Yeah. We really are.”

———

She doesn’t answer his text.

Just one.

Just once.

A full 32 minutes of silence.

Bob checks the timestamp again, then again, then again. The message sits there, unread, delivered, quietly mocking him from the screen of his phone.

It’s stupid. It’s nothing. She’s probably just in the shower. Or cooking. Or writing one of those little captions she always overthinks. God, she’s so cute when she overthinks.

Except — she always texts back.

Always.

And Bob’s not the kind of guy who spirals. He’s rational. Level-headed. Trained for high-pressure situations. But right now? His pulse is a jackhammer in his throat and his grip on his phone is white-knuckled.

He knows she’s not cheating. She’s not like that.

Still. He opens the live camera feed from her front porch. The one he installed three weeks before she invited him over for the first time.

Nothing. Stillness. Porch light glowing.

He taps through the app to another angle. Her kitchen window.

There she is.

She’s smiling. On the phone.

Laughing.

Bob’s mouth goes dry.

The laugh isn’t for him. She’s never laughed like that on the phone with him. Not that loose, breathless kind. Not that easy kind.

His mind starts to split itself open.

Maybe it’s just Ava. Or that screenwriter friend with the dumb glasses and the stupid beard. Or — no. No, not him. If it’s him, Bob swears to God—

She hangs up. He watches her mouth a bye, still grinning, and that smile sears itself into his brain like a brand. He can’t breathe. He can’t think.

A moment later, she finally texts him back.

sorry! was on the phone. miss you 🩵

Bob stares at the message for a full minute, then types back:

who were you talking to?

He deletes it. Sends instead:

miss you more :)

Because he’s not crazy. He’s just in love.

But love requires vigilance. Protection. Sacrifice. And sometimes, it means looking a little deeper than what she’s willing to show him.

So he gets in the car.

It’s past midnight when he parks two blocks away from her house. He walks the rest of the way like a ghost, slow and careful, keeping to the dark edges of the street.

From the sidewalk, he watches her through the window.

She’s watching that dumb movie she loves, curled up in that same blanket he “left” at her place. It makes his chest tighten.

She has no idea he’s standing outside, soaking in every second of her like she’s the air in his lungs.

You don’t even see it, do you?

He whispers it like a prayer.

You don’t see how much I do for you. How much I’ve given up just to be near you. I know you better than anyone ever has — better than you even know yourself.

And yet…

She lets other people call. Other people text. Other people exist in the same orbit as her when he’s the only one who should.

Bob presses his palm to the wooden fence lining her front yard. He could hop it in one movement. He knows which window creaks, which floorboard by her bedroom door gives the softest squeak. He could be inside in under a minute.

He doesn’t.

Not tonight.

But he wants to.

Because she’s starting to drift. Not far — not yet — but enough that he can feel it. Enough to twist something sharp and ancient in his gut.

She’s slipping.

And Bob?

Bob’s never been the type to let go.

———

They were curled up on her couch, legs stretched out, socked feet brushing now and then beneath the blanket. A half-eaten bowl of popcorn sat between them, and a half-forgotten action movie played low on the screen — the kind they’d both already seen before.

Her phone buzzed once.

Then again.

She barely lifted it from the table to check — just two texts and a picture from her sister. A snapshot of her niece in an oversized sunhat with glitter sunglasses. She smiled without thinking and tapped out a quick reply.

“Who are you texting?” Bob asked, his tone light, almost casual.

She glanced up. “My sister.”

He didn’t say anything for a beat. Just reached for more popcorn and kept his eyes fixed on the screen. But the shift was immediate — not dramatic, just… subtle. A little too quiet. Like the air had changed without her realizing it.

Another text came through. She picked up her phone again and let out a quiet laugh under her breath.

Bob let out a sharp exhale through his nose. “Kinda weird to be on your phone this much while we’re hanging out, don’t you think?”

Her hand stilled.

The words weren’t cruel. They weren’t even said harshly. But they landed with a strange, heavy kind of weight. One that sat between them now, louder than the explosions on the TV.

“I wasn’t trying to be rude,” she said quickly, already setting her phone down. “She’s just sending pictures. I’ll stop.”

He shrugged, still not looking at her. “No, it’s fine. I just thought you liked this movie.”

There was something in the way he said it — too casual to be casual.

She gave a small, apologetic smile, locking her phone and placing it face-down on the table. “I do. You’re right. I’m here with you.”

That’s when he looked at her again — soft eyes, that familiar boyish tilt of his head. So careful. So attentive. It was easy to forget the way his jaw had clenched just a second ago.

She settled back in at his side, trying not to overthink it. It wasn’t that weird. Maybe she really had been distracted. He probably just wanted her full attention. That wasn’t so terrible, right?

Everyone has a red flag or two, she told herself.

What she didn’t see was the way his gaze lingered on her phone for a little too long after that. The way his hand didn’t come back to rest on her waist for a full minute — like he was recalibrating.

Like he was reminding himself just how much he loved her.

And how dangerous it would be if someone else ever got her attention again.

———

She stared at her phone, the screen lighting up with a message from Bob.

Are you sure you want to cancel tonight?

She sighed, fingers hovering over the screen. She had already told Knox she wouldn’t make it. Bob had been persistent about staying in, claiming he had a surprise planned. She was tired, sure — but a small voice inside her wondered: was this really about the surprise?

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. When she opened it, Knox stood there, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

“Hey,” Knox said quietly, glancing past her. “Is he not letting you go out?”

She blinked, caught off guard. “No — no way. I would never let a man tell me I can’t go out.”

Knox eyed her skeptically but said nothing.

She stepped outside with her, the cool evening air brushing her face as she tried to sound casual.

“Honestly, I just thought a quiet night would be nice. Bob’s got this movie we’ve been wanting to watch. We’re like, thirty minutes in, and he’s been waiting on me.”

Her phone buzzed again. She glanced down. Movie still paused. Waiting for you.

She rolled her eyes but quickly replied, Give me a minute. I’ll be in soon.

Five minutes passed. Then ten.

She was mid-sentence, trying to convince Knox it was fine, when the front door suddenly swung open.

Bob stepped out, his voice low but sharp. “Alright, you’re done.”

His hand shot out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back inside.

She yanked away, stepping back, heart pounding.

“Hello? Give me a minute to say goodbye,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Bob’s face darkened. The door slammed shut behind him with a finality that sent a chill down her spine.

“I gotta go,” she said, desperation creeping into her voice.

Knox placed a hand on her arm as she turned back toward the house.

“Hey, he’s not hitting you, right?” Knox asked softly.

She shook her head, but the lie tasted bitter in her mouth.

“Girl, that seems a little… abusive,” Knox said, worry filling her eyes.

She wanted to tell Knox she was fine. Wanted to believe it, too.

But deep inside, a small seed of doubt began to take root.

She stepped back inside, closing the door softly behind her, heart pounding like a trapped animal in her chest.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded, voice shaky but loud enough to cut through the thick silence.

Bob looked up from the paused screen, his face calm—too calm, like a predator masking its hunger. His eyes widened just enough to play innocent.

“What was what?” he asked, voice smooth and practiced, the kind of fake confusion designed to unnerve.

“You—you yanked me. Grabbed my arm like I was some damn child. You didn’t even let me say goodbye to Knox before shutting me inside.”

He ran a hand through his dark hair, brows knitting as if wrestling some unseen pain. “The movie’s been paused for a while. I just wanted to finish it.”

She frowned, trying to keep her voice steady despite the dull ache where he’d grabbed her. “Okay, but you didn’t have to yank me like that. It kind of hurt.”

For a heartbeat, his face softened. His lips quivered, his voice dipped to a whisper heavy with false remorse. “I’m sorry.”

Then, just as quickly, the mask slipped. Behind the apology lurked something darker — a calculating gleam in his eyes, a twitch at the corner of his mouth. Those tears? A damn show.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he added quietly, voice velvet wrapped over steel.

She blinked, heart twisting painfully at the sight of those near-tears. It was the kind of vulnerability he wore like armor — a weapon to dismantle defenses.

And it worked.

Her walls cracked. Her doubts melted beneath the warmth of his gaze.

“I’m sorry too,” she murmured, voice barely steady. “I just… I haven’t seen Knox in a while. I really wanted to hang out with her.”

He reached out slowly, deliberately, pulling her into a gentle, possessive hold. “And you stayed in for me.”

She exhaled, sinking into him, the tension draining as his arms wrapped around her like chains she didn’t yet see.

But beneath the surface, something cold stirred in him — a thrill at the control, the knowledge that she was already bending, unknowingly tethered to him.

His lips brushed the top of her head, curling into a slow, sinister smirk she couldn’t see, but could somehow feel in the way his body tightened against hers.

I’ve got you right where I want you, he thought, eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction.

And in that moment, even as her heart fluttered in fragile hope, she didn’t want to leave.

Because sometimes, the silence that screams is quieter than the one you can’t hear coming.

———

The shift didn’t come all at once.

It was small at first. Barely noticeable, like a crack in glass you could convince yourself wasn’t there.

The first fight started with her phone.

They were having dinner at her place — pasta she’d made, garlic bread a little burnt but still warm — and her phone buzzed once, twice, then a third time. Bob’s eyes snapped to it like a reflex.

“Is that gonna keep going off all night?” he asked, not even looking up from his plate.

She blinked. “It’s just a group chat. Knox and Jules are planning a beach day.”

Bob let out a dry chuckle. “They ever stop talking?”

She smiled, unsure. “It’s not a big deal.”

But when she picked up her phone to reply, his voice dropped.

“Can’t you do that later? We’re having dinner.”

The way he said it — flat, almost like a challenge — made something twist uncomfortably in her stomach.

“Right,” she murmured, setting the phone down again. “Sorry.”

That was the first time she apologized for something that wasn’t really wrong.

The next came three days later.

She’d mentioned in passing that she was thinking about going out on Saturday night with some friends. Bob’s face immediately shifted — a flicker of something cold and unreadable tightening his jaw.

“Out where?” he asked, trying to sound casual, failing miserably.

“Just drinks downtown,” she said. “A bar, maybe some food after. Nothing crazy.”

His nod was slow. Too slow. “With who?”

She gave him a look. “You know who. Knox. Jules. A few others from work.”

He didn’t argue outright. He didn’t have to.

Instead, the day before, he showed up at her door with flowers and takeout from her favorite Thai place. A stack of DVDs in hand.

“I figured we could do a movie night instead,” he said with that soft voice of his, those blue eyes that always looked so sincere.

She hesitated.

“Unless you’d rather go out,” he added, like it was a test she didn’t know she was taking.

She caved. Stayed in. Told her friends she wasn’t feeling well.

And maybe she wasn’t.

Something about the guilt she felt sitting there with Bob, watching the opening credits roll, didn’t feel earned. It felt planted.

The third fight was worse.

He’d come over unannounced — something he was doing more and more lately — and found her sitting on the back porch with her laptop open, taking a Zoom call with a male coworker about a freelance pitch.

He stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

When she saw him, she smiled, lifted a finger to signal she’d be off in a minute.

But the moment the call ended, he was already inside, pacing.

“You didn’t tell me you were working with him.”

She frowned. “Why would I need to? It was a five-minute brainstorm.”

Bob’s eyes darkened. “You’re laughing with him like he’s your boyfriend.”

She stared. “Are you serious?”

His voice rose. “I saw the way you were looking at him.”

“That’s—” She stopped herself. Her heart was pounding. “That’s not okay, Bob. You don’t get to accuse me of something like that. Especially over a work call.”

His hands went to his hair, dragging through it like he was trying to claw the thoughts out of his own skull. “I just— I don’t like other guys thinking they can talk to you like that.”

“Like what?” she asked, incredulous. “Like I’m a person? A coworker?”

Bob didn’t respond. He just stood there, breathing heavy, until finally he mumbled, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get jealous. It’s just— I’ve been messed up before, okay?”

And again, she found herself saying, “It’s okay,” when it really wasn’t.

Now, two weeks out, the air between them felt different. Tighter.

She found herself hesitating before she answered texts in front of him, closing out of apps without realizing it. She’d told herself it was just sensitivity, just something she needed to navigate better.

But it wasn’t.

There were too many moments where her voice was quieter, her opinions softened. Too many times she thought, He didn’t used to be like this. Or maybe she just hadn’t noticed it before. Or maybe… maybe she hadn’t wanted to.

That night, as they sat curled on the couch, his arm over her shoulder like a noose dressed up in warmth, she stared blankly at the TV, not watching it.

She didn’t even remember what episode they were on.

Bob leaned down, kissed her temple. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, too quickly.

He smiled. “Good.”

But something inside her whispered that it wasn’t.

Not even close.

———

It started with a name.

She had mentioned it offhand — a guy friend she hadn’t seen in a while, someone she used to work with. Said they might grab lunch sometime next week.

Bob had been silent. Too silent.

The kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl before your mind even knows why.

He didn’t look up from where he stood at the kitchen counter, slicing an apple into even, perfect pieces.

“Who is he?”

She blinked, pausing by the sink. “What?”

“The guy. You said you’re getting lunch with him.”

“Oh—he’s just a friend. Jesus, Bob. I’ve known him forever.”

The knife stopped moving.

Bob looked up, eyes empty. “And you didn’t think that was something I should know?”

Her stomach dropped.

“Are you serious right now?” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I didn’t hide anything. It’s not like I’m sneaking around.”

He smiled. But it wasn’t a nice smile. It was all teeth, no warmth. “So I guess I’m just supposed to be okay with you running off to spend time with some other man?”

“Oh my god, Bob—”

“You’re not going,” he said flatly, still smiling. “End of story.”

She slammed her hand down on the counter. “I’m not asking for permission. I had a life before I met you, I have a life with you, and I’ll have a life after you if I want one. You need to figure out where you stand in that, and know your damn place.”

Everything stopped.

The room seemed to tighten.

His expression changed in an instant. The calm was gone. So was the smile.

He moved fast — faster than she could back away. His hand caught her arm, and then he shoved her hard against the wall, rattling the frames beside her head. His forearm pressed up across her chest and throat, not quite choking, but enough to trap her completely.

“You don’t ever talk to me like that,” he growled, his face inches from hers.

Her breath hitched.

“I’ve been patient,” he snarled, his voice low and venomous, “I’ve been good to you. I make you feel safe, don’t I? I know you better than anyone ever has. Better than you know yourself.”

She tried to push at his arm, but he didn’t move.

“You don’t get a life without me,” he hissed. “There is no life after me. You think someone else is gonna put up with you? Love you like I do? You think someone else is gonna take care of you when you’re crying at two in the morning? You think someone else is gonna watch out for you the way I do?”

“Bob—”

“No,” he snapped, pushing just slightly harder to shut her up. “You’re mine. Mine. You were made for me. And if you try to leave me, I swear to God—”

He stopped.

His jaw clenched. His whole body trembled with barely contained rage.

Then suddenly — just like that — he pulled away. Let go.

“Go, then,” he said, backing off. “Run off to your pathetic lunch. Go play pretend like you’re still your own person.”

She stood frozen for a second. Just staring at him.

Then she turned and left without another word.

She didn’t even realize her hands were shaking until she was gripping the steering wheel. Didn’t realize she was crying until she saw herself in the rearview mirror.

She drove to the nearest Best Buy and bought the most expensive outdoor security cameras they had. She spent the next two hours drilling them into the doorframes of her house. One for the front porch. One watching the back.

She wanted to feel safe again.

But she didn’t know.

She didn’t know Bob had already wired a camera inside her bedroom. Disguised in the base of a fake houseplant on her nightstand — one she thought she bought herself.

He watched her now, live on his phone, curled up on her bed with the lights off.

Watched her wipe her eyes and mouth silent apologies to no one.

Watched her try to sleep.

Watched her forget he was still there.

Because he was still there.

And next time she tried to leave?

He wouldn’t let her go so easily.

———

The camera perched discreetly above her front door captures everything. The footage is clean: timestamped, high-resolution, and damning.

Bob appears at different times each day now.

Sometimes it’s noon. Sometimes three in the morning. Sometimes dusk — when the light starts to fade and the shadows deepen just enough that his face looks less like the man she once trusted, and more like the monster she’s beginning to see.

He never yells. Never bangs on the door. He just stands there, staring straight into the peephole like he can see through it. Sometimes he knocks — three soft, patient taps. Like he’s not trying to scare her.

But he is.

INT. HER LIVING ROOM – DAY

She works from the couch now. Hasn’t stepped foot in the office in almost two weeks. Her laptop balanced on her knees, camera app always open in the corner of her screen. The blinds are shut tight. The front and back doors are double deadbolted.

Every time her phone buzzes, her stomach flips.

It’s always him.

She doesn’t answer anymore. Doesn’t text back. But she watches. Every second. She needs the footage.

Today, it’s just past noon when she hears it: tap tap tap.

She doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe. She taps into the live feed.

Bob is there again, arms crossed, hoodie pulled over his head. That same navy one he left at her place months ago — before everything changed.

BOB (outside, voice muffled but clear):

I know you’re in there. You don’t answer my calls, but I know you’re in there.

He takes a slow step closer, leans toward the door.

BOB:

If I can’t have you, no one can. You got that?

She flinches, her coffee sloshing onto the blanket over her legs.

BOB:

No one’s ever going to love you like I do. And you know what? That’s not a threat, sweetheart. That’s a promise.

He doesn’t wait for an answer. Just turns and walks off the porch like he didn’t just deliver a threat that settles like lead in her chest.

INT. HER BEDROOM – NIGHT

It’s nearly 2 a.m. She hasn’t slept. Her eyes are glued to the security app.

Another motion alert. Back door.

She pulls it up and her breath catches.

Bob. Again. Standing at the edge of her fence. Not moving. Just watching the house. Watching her. As if he knows where her bedroom window is. As if he knows she’s awake.

She records it. Downloads the clip. Adds it to the ever-growing folder:

EVIDENCE

– Front Door

– Back Door

– Verbal Threats

– Obsessive Behavior

She backs it all up twice — once to an encrypted hard drive, and once to the cloud.

INT. HER KITCHEN – MORNING

She drinks her coffee with shaking hands, rereading the transcripts she’s started typing out. All the audio she’s captured. The times, the dates. She’s built a case file without even realizing it.

The isolation is thick. She hasn’t seen anyone in eleven days. Groceries are delivered. Doors locked. Curtains drawn.

She feels like prey.

But she’s not running. Not yet.

She’s waiting.

Because when she goes to Maverick — when she goes to the Navy — she’s going to bring more than just fear.

She’s going to bring proof.

And Bob Floyd won’t see it coming.

———

The room is plain and serious. She sits across from Maverick and two senior Navy officers. A folder with security footage and notes lies on the desk.

She places the folder down, her hands trembling slightly.

“I’ve been keeping everything—every time he shows up, what he says… it’s been getting worse,” she says, voice shaky.

Maverick opens the folder and flips through the pages calmly.

“You’ve done well documenting this,” he says quietly, eyes steady.

One of the officers looks up. “This kind of stalking isn’t just a personal issue. It can impact your safety—and potentially ours.”

She swallows hard, glancing at the floor.

“He’s been at my door—front and back. I have to deadbolt everything now. Last week, he said, ‘If I can’t have you, no one can.’” Her voice breaks slightly.

Maverick’s eyes soften. “Have you contacted the police?”

She shakes her head quickly. “I was scared… I didn’t want to make it worse. But it just keeps happening.”

The other officer leans forward, voice firm but kind. “We’ll coordinate with law enforcement immediately. Restraining orders, patrol checks—you’ll have support.”

She nods, wiping her eyes. “Thank you. I just… I want to feel safe again.”

Maverick adds, “If you ever feel in danger, call us immediately. We can explore options—relocation, extra security.”

Her hands clench into fists. “I’m scared, but I want to fight this.”

One officer says, “You’re doing the right thing. Keep documenting. We’ll move as fast as we can, but these situations take time.”

She exhales, a mix of relief and fear. “Okay. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

———

Bob stands stiffly at the front of the room, eyes cold but tense. The panel of senior officers and JAG attorneys sit across from him, dossiers thick with evidence spread out before them. Maverick is seated among the observers, watching silently.

The board chair, Commander Jenkins, addresses him formally:

“Lieutenant Robert Floyd, you have been summoned here today regarding multiple serious allegations filed against you by civilian Ms. [Y/N]. These include stalking, harassment, and obstruction of justice.”

JAG attorney Collins flips through the folder labeled with Y/N’s name.

“Ms. [Y/N] has provided video footage, electronic communication logs, and witness testimony that collectively demonstrate a clear pattern of disturbing and unlawful behavior.”

Collins looks up, voice steady:

“This evidence was submitted in full to this board and to your defense counsel. You were given the opportunity to respond.”

Bob’s eyes flicker briefly, jaw tightening.

“I deny any wrongdoing.”

Maverick stands, voice calm but firm:

“With all due respect, sir, I have personally witnessed Lieutenant Floyd’s behavior escalate beyond concern. This isn’t a matter of opinion—this is documented fact.”

Commander Jenkins nods, addressing Bob again:

“The committee finds the evidence overwhelming and your conduct incompatible with the standards required of an officer in this branch.”

He slides a formal discharge document across the table.

“Effective immediately, you are to be dishonorably discharged from the service. Further actions may be taken if additional offenses come to light.”

Bob’s face hardens for a moment, then cracks — a flicker of rage and disbelief. But he says nothing.

Commander Jenkins stands.

“This hearing is concluded.”

Maverick exchanges a brief, relieved glance with the civilian observer from Y/N’s legal counsel.

Bob gathers his things silently, the weight of his fall settling like a shroud.

———

Bob stood outside the building where he’d just been stripped of everything he had worked for—his career, his reputation, his place in the Navy. The word dishonorably discharged echoed in his skull like a gunshot.

Lieutenant Robert Floyd was gone.

Now he was just Bob. And Bob was furious.

He sat in his car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned bone white. His jaw clenched. His mind screamed.

She did this.

She walked into that room and showed them all those videos. That audio. That proof.

She turned him into the villain.

“I loved you,” he muttered aloud, voice shaking. “I gave you everything. You were mine.”

He snatched his phone from the center console and opened the app.

The spy cam feed flickered to life—her living room.

Empty.

His eyes scanned the view. Her shoes were gone. Her bag wasn’t on the hook.

She wasn’t home.

A slow, twisted smile crept across his face.

This was perfect.

Without hesitation, Bob reached into the backseat. A duffel bag sat waiting, already packed: duct tape. Rope. A bottle of chloroform. A rag. Zip ties. Everything he needed.

He parked a street over and approached her house from the side, slipping through the bushes and past the camera she’d recently installed over the garage—one of the new ones. She thought she was being safe. Thought she was one step ahead.

She had no idea he was always ten steps ahead.

He used the spare key he’d made weeks ago, quietly letting himself inside. The house was still. Silent.

He inhaled deeply, like he was home.

Then he moved to the bedroom and dropped to the floor, crawling beneath her bed like it was instinct. Like he belonged there.

And then he waited.

The door clicked shut behind her with a dull thud. The quiet was thick. Still. Too still.

She exhaled, dropped her keys in the bowl on the hallway table, and rubbed at her temple. She’d just come from the police station—filling out forms, reviewing footage, recounting the darkest weeks of her life. It was over. She’d done everything right. She was going to be okay.

At least… that’s what she kept telling herself.

She headed straight to her bedroom, peeling off her coat. Her hands trembled slightly as she moved, but she tried to brush it off.

“Might take a shower,” she muttered to herself, stepping toward her closet. “Get out of these clothes, get out of that whole damn day.”

She yanked the closet door open and sifted through hangers, muttering under her breath.

“That son of a bitch. He’s fucking insane. Psychotic. Like, full-on Lifetime movie level crazy. Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?”

She pulled out a sweatshirt and tossed it on the bed. “I mean, seriously. I liked him? I thought I could—” She shook her head and laughed bitterly. “God, I must’ve been out of my mind.”

She didn’t notice the quiet shift of a shadow under her bed. Didn’t hear the nearly imperceptible scrape of fabric on wood.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. What did Maverick say? ‘He fooled all of us’? Yeah, no shit—he fooled me the most.”

She turned to grab a pair of leggings—

And screamed.

Bob came out from under the bed in a blur. One hand shoved a cloth to her mouth, the other caught her around the waist, dragging her down.

The sharp, chemical sweetness hit her hard. She gagged, thrashed, her limbs flailing.

The lamp went crashing to the floor, exploding into shards. She elbowed him hard in the ribs, kicked blindly toward the bedframe.

Her vanity was next—slammed into during the struggle, the drawers spilling open as one leg cracked and snapped clean off. She reached for the broken wood, anything, anything to fight—

But he was too strong.

He had her pinned, pressing her into the floor with his full weight.

Her vision started to blur, the edges going dark.

“You really thought you could get rid of me?” Bob growled, voice shaking with fury. “You thought you could humiliate me? Ruin my life?”

His breath was hot against her cheek, the mask of sanity long gone.

“You went to the Navy? To Maverick? After everything I did for you?”

She kicked again, weaker now, limbs heavy.

“I loved you,” he hissed, eyes wide and unblinking. “I still love you. But now? Now you have to be taught.”

She whimpered against the cloth, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as her strength drained.

“You said you’d have a life after me?” he sneered. “You were wrong. There is no life after me. You’re mine. And if I can’t have you, no one can.”

She tried to scream, but the sound didn’t come out. Her body jerked once more—and then started to go still.

Bob stared down at her, panting, eyes crazed. His voice dropped to a whisper, tender and twisted all at once.

“I’m gonna make you regret every second you thought you could leave me.”

And then—silence.

Her body went slack.

Bob slowly leaned back, brushing a piece of hair from her face as if he hadn’t just knocked her unconscious.

And in the eerie quiet of the wrecked room, he smiled.

[tojikai]

MASQUERADE 3: Amber

Pairing: Suguru Geto x Reader

Masquerade |  Masquerade 2  |  Masquerade 3 | +

Genre: Angst

tags/cw: angst, royal au, forced marriage, cheating, drama, emotional turmoil, power imbalance, manipulation

word count: 6k

a/n: i cannot tag some users :((

If you’re coming for Aika’s heart, then it’s only fair that he comes for yours.

“Y/N!” All eyes darted to the gigantic doors of the castle as it slammed open. The royal guards almost took stance when they heard the noise. Some maids were frozen in place, while others scuffled, whispering to their fellow workers as the Prince shouted the Queen’s name. It was truly a scene to gossip about. Everybody wondered what the Queen did this time when the captive burst through the door, cursing her name.

“Y/N!” Your head whipped to the door, brows furrowed and eyes wide at the sound of commotion on the other side of the walls, surrounding your room. Although it can easily hide and muffle the sounds of your cries, it can never hide the radiating range from your husband’s calls as he storms up the stairs and banging on your door.

The wood was hard, but his fists were determined to break down anything that stops him from getting to you—the reason his Princess and their relationship were deteriorating. It was nothing new, nothing surprising after everything that you have done against them. Suguru knows that giving up was not in your choices when you chose to continue the relationship after he told you about his plans for him and Aika: every other night meetings, a whole week with her during his vacation period, a secured and private path for their rendezvous in the woods where no one will see them. 

Basically continuing his life with her. And you agreed, even if it meant slowly dying inside.

Now, after he left you bare and cold, he’s back with his range. All that you know was that he left to check on his Princess while you stood in the middle of that room alone. Slowly crumbling to pieces as you failed to hold on to the last thread of strength in your heart. You sniveled, lips quivering as you tried to stop your cries. Standing up, you quickly walked to the door as you pitifully wiped away your tears. You don’t want to acknowledge that you’re scared.

“You might need to let him go, my Queen. This country won’t stand strong if they see you in this pain.” You remembered your lady-in-waiting’s words.

This is where your fear stems from. By the sound of his voice, you’re scared that he might say something that would really force you to let him go and even in the middle of all this, that’s the last thing you want to do. You want to hold on until your physical body gives up, maybe then he’ll learn to love you. 

You turned the doorknob, opening it gently, but that was soon broken by Suguru’s harsh hand. Pushing at the door before slamming it in his guard's face as he glowered at you with all the hatred in his heart. It was only about a few hours ago that he was staring at you with dark, desiring eyes, filled with want and need. It was only about a few hours ago, that his hands, his lips, and mouth, were gently caressing your body.

He left here when you can see a quarter of the sun from the horizon. Now, it’s gone. Now, it’s totally gone. Nothing but darkness walks the ground of the kingdom and creeps up the walls. Now, it’s totally gone, and the Suguru that you saw a few hours ago has nothing but darkness in his eyes.

All the love and affection that you’ve been craving all these months of being his wife was totally, painfully gone.

The dried tears in your eyes and on your cheek felt like it was stretching your skin, wanting to tear it off. You looked up at him, waiting for him to explain what made him barge in the way he did, and why he was looking at you the way he is doing right now, but nothing came. He just stood there, breathing hard and his jaw tightly clenched. You can almost feel the friction in your own teeth as he scowled at you.

“H-how is Princess Aika? How come you're back too early—” Your words were abruptly cut off by his gritted voice, strained and heavy with exhaustion from the long journey. “You really ought to know.” He snapped, bitterness prominent in his voice as he took a step closer to you. Naturally, you stepped back with your brows furrowed. Your throat felt dry, and his words got your thoughts into a braided twist.

“What do you mean? I heard she collapsed, so I—” Once again, he interrupted your words, making you flinch—not by the sharpness of his voice but the harshness of his words. “Has your disciple not told you yet?” He smirked mockingly at you, undoing the first two buttons of his shirt as if desperately needing to cool down before he said something harsh that could put you and him in an irreversible place. But it wasn’t of help at all as he continuously spilled his heart and mind, his rage and frustrations from all the troubles that you put him and his lover through.

If you’re coming for Aika’s heart, then it’s only fair that he comes for yours.

“Did you think killing her off would open up a space for you in my heart?” Your chest felt heavy with each word that came out of his mouth. Suddenly, thoughts of the things that could’ve happened to the Princess, your cousin, were thrown out of the window. Questions of why’s and how’s you’re being blamed slowly made their way out of your head, and now all you could think about was how futile all your tries to get his love were.

“Y/N, even if I lost everything dear to my heart, none of those spaces will ever suit you.” Your hand was frozen, shaking, and numb from the coldness of his words. You’re pretty sure it would’ve reached up to rub your chest to attempt to soothe the searing pain flowing in your every vein. “Get that through the stones of your crown and your thick skull.” He hissed through his tightly clenched teeth, pointing a finger at your forehead.

You stood there, unmoving, letting your mind and heart absorb his words. They were knives, cutting you all over your body. They were daggers, piercing through your heart and twisting themselves to your very body to incapacitate you. You thought being left hanging was already painful. You didn’t think you’d end up hurting more when he came back, openly spitting out his resentment towards you. Further proving that whatever happened earlier was only as shallow as the flesh. 

The wind blew on the curtains through your open window, caressing your back and dancing on your hair as you stared up at him with tear-filled eyes. You didn’t blink, you don’t want to let them fall. Because you know that the moment you feel their warm wetness on your cheek, the ice from his disdain will melt, and you’ll end up feeling more of his less. You looked down, watching as the droplets fell on the dark carpet underneath your bare feet and his shoe. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Suguru.” Your voice was a broken whisper, turning around and finally letting your hand reach for the falling tears. “I am unaware of the accusations you are throwing at me.” You’re starting to break as you walked towards your vanity, grabbing a hairbrush and avoiding his glare at you through the mirror. “Whatever happened to Princess Aika is not one of my deeds. I simply wanted to know if my cousin was fine—” You were halted when Suguru clicked his tongue, closing his eyes in annoyance.

“Tell your dog to lift the curse, or I shall find her.” He held his head high, looking you down. His Adam’s apple bobbed up ad down as he swallowed. His eyes were stern, much like his words, as if he was so sure it was you who commanded the evil act. Opening your mouth, you turned to him, but before you could even speak, he already beat you to it.

“Nobody would hate Aika more than you. Nobody would hate the woman their husband love, more than a desperate wife.” Your lips quivered, tears continuously brimming your eyes as you watched him look away from you, turning his back to stare at his shadow on the wall. “Nobody knows about Aika and me as much as you do, much less where we meet.” Your eyes softened as his voice did, coming to a realization at how cruelly he was talking to you. “Who else would…who else would…” He panted, licking his lips as he closed his eyes to calm himself.

“It’s not me…” You croaked, feeling defeated, not really expecting your husband to believe it. If he’s this disoriented, then it must be worse than what you’re thinking. Swallowing the broken shards of your heart, you asked, “Could she be…expecting?” Suguru paused before shaking his head, sure that that wasn’t the case. “An enchanter was with her, a doctor was with her. Aika is not with a child.” He turned to you again, composed this time as he took in your form.

You were trying so hard not to cry, to break down and tell him you didn’t know a thing about what’s going on, but you’re too afraid to meet his gaze. You lost all strength when he left, his accusations squeezed you dry, and now you just want to lock yourself up in this room and cry til your tears turn to blood, probably ending you for good. Apart from saying that you cursed his beloved, everything he said was close to the truth. It only made sense that you’ll be his first suspect if something happens to Aika.

“I shouldn’t have accused you like that but…” He breathed, sitting on the edge of the bed. The image of how he sits now was much different than how he was positioned earlier; greatly contrasting, if anything. “The enchanter said it was done on your account. And I was scared. Aika isn’t well. She’s far from well and we…we’re being forced to separate.” You stood there, perplexed, as you tried to think of any enchantresses you might know, but there are none. 

“Be honest with me. I’ll figure something out to make this work out for all of us but don’t do this to Aika. She did nothing but love.” He almost sounded like he was begging, yet you can’t help but feel sour for his last sentence. She did nothing but love, your hand reached for your collar bones as you locked eyes with him. You did nothing but love too, but what did you get? 

“It’s not me, Suguru. I have no idea about whom it could be, but it is not me.” You sat back down on the ribboned vanity stool, feeling your knees starting to give out. You watched him sigh, face contorted with a worry you’ve never seen before, and you wondered if he’d get like this too if you were in Aika’s place. His hand ran a hand through his hair, grunting as he stood up before halting his steps to turn to you. 

“I’m trying to trust you, Y/N. Please, do not stoop so low.” With that, he exited your room, once again leaving you stripped. 

This time, not of your clothes, but your dignity, your honor, and peace of mind. He stripped you of your right to love him on your own with no consequences.

—--------------------------------------------

“The pages will continue their training, I’ll be stepping in for the officials who are leaving. They’ll try to get back as soon as possible, but I assure you, my Queen, the Kingdom will continue to be safe even in their absence.” Kento assured as the gears get loaded into the carriage. Suguru made a decision to perform a search in the farther end of the woods, an unexplored area, to look for the enchantress. They have no clear leads, but the enchanter said that the culprit is not far outside the Kingdom’s safe grounds. 

Suguru stepped in front of him, locking eyes with you as he picked up something behind you. “It’s only for two weeks.” He rasped, watching Kento hung his head low, stepping back in respect. He should be the one assuring you. But the connection between the two of you only deteriorated ever since the night he confronted you. He apologized, but he’s aware that those words aren’t easy to erase, especially for someone with your wits. 

You know that he somewhat carry a hint of honesty with what he said. You’ve been absent to some court meetings, and they were days when your heart was too heavy to carry. This situation carries such an uncertainty to it that makes you scared of the future. Maybe this is where this circus show will end. Maybe after they fix this, Suguru will leave the Kingdom for good, and elope with Aika somewhere outside your territory where no one will quickly recognize them. Maybe you’ll be stepping down, left alone, like how you were when you were younger. 

Maybe this is where you’ll have to give everything up just so you could give back everything you took away from them.

You weren’t even made aware of the plan until today, as per Suguru’s request. If you denied him, it would only come out as a confirmation for his suspicions, and that’s the last thing you want. You weren’t given a choice but to agree just to prove your innocence to your husband. Some men aren’t aware of the whole purpose of the expedition. Just that they’re supposed to let the Prince interrogate each enchanter and enchantresses they come across.

Suguru looked up from the yard to the small window at the back of your room. As a childhood friend, he hated that he has to accuse you of something like this. But it was like he was left with no choice. You already did something as cruel as forcing a marriage with him, taking him away from Aika despite knowing of their relationship. He couldn’t bring himself to excuse and exempt you of speculations and doubts. 

Setting his mind on Aika’s cure, he pushed his thoughts of you aside. Once he finds the culprit for her pain, he promised himself that he won’t let his emotions get ahead of him and instead go immediately for what he can do to heal her. There’s nothing more important than seeing his Princess alive and smiling again. Suguru’s ready to sacrifice anything, even anyone, if it is required for Aika’s life.

After a week of journey, a letter was sent to them through the Central Palace’s skilled courier. This letter was probably sent a few days ago and only reached them now due to how deep they got into this uncharted territory. As much as he wants to hear from the Southern Palace about the Princess, his mind won’t let him think peaceful thoughts. It scares him that when something comes from them, it’ll only be bad news.

Opening the letter, he spotted that it was from Kento. He assumed that it was about the knights and the pages’ progress or needs, but that was not the case. Suguru found himself frowning, brows knitted together, as he read how the man wrote about you and your state. He almost called a knight to pen him a letter about what your ladies-in-waiting are so busy about that a Grand Officer is looking after you.

“She caught a fever two days ago, Sir. I suppose from worrying too much. About the troop and the people of the Kingdom.” He mouthed quietly, allowing the overthinking to settle on the top of his head. He blinked away the thoughts of another man looking after you. He pulled at the collar of his clothes.

It wasn’t jealousy. He has no time to be jealous right now in the middle of all that is going on inside his head. He simply thinks that it won’t be such a pleasant sight that a Queen is allowing a man other than her husband to take care of her.

Grabbing a piece of paper, he pulled a pen from his chest pocket. “Where are her ladies-in-waiting?” was the first thing he wrote without second thoughts, “She doesn’t like the taste of water when she’s sick. Tell them to make sure she gets enough.” He added, “Grand Officer Nanami, I appreciate your concern towards my wife, but I need you to focus on the pages. With the new schedule, I want you to ensure that they’re still getting quality education and training.”

Proceeding to write the letter, Suguru tried not to make it so much about you and how he felt like Nanami was overstepping his boundaries. He doesn’t want to be so selfish, leaving his wife to save his lover and not expecting her to look for comfort from someone else. He isn’t stupid, and he won’t be surprised if that’s how you feel. But he knows you too much, and he’s just afraid that in times when your relationship is this brittle, you’ll be swayed by the temporary solace and end up ruining your reputation.

That night, he wondered why you got so sick. He felt bad thinking about how the strain from overthinking was making you weak. On the other hand, he can’t help but feel suspicious that of all times, you choose to be sick right now that he’s on a search mission. It might sound cruel, but not even you can make him abandon this mission to save Aika. 

The second week was intense. Wild animals have started appearing in the woods, and it’s getting more dangerous for Suguru’s men. He’s just grateful that these men trained under him so, Suguru’s very confident with their skills. Today marks the 11th day of their expedition, and he can never be prouder about the fact that his troop remained complete and all intact. Their resources as well-managed, too, so no serious problems are arising.

Earlier this morning, a knight informed him that a house has been discovered deeper into the woods. It was really remote, almost close to the borders, but Suguru didn’t think twice before deciding that the location of the house is where they’re headed. This arduous journey might just come to an end after this and conclude Aika’s misery in the best way possible. 

“Remain on guard at all times. This place is extremely unknown to all of us as it is very far from our lands.” Suguru started, turning to his mean as they stood several meters away from the small bungalow. “Stay where you’ve been assigned and remain vigilant.” An Official stepped forward, turning to the men as he let the Prince speak.

“I will be accompanying the Prince. Pay close attention to anything strange, may it be noise or smell.” With that, they went on to knock on the door of the bungalow. Suguru clenched his jaw and balled his fist, saying prayers inside his head as he hoped that this will be their last stop before heading back to the Kingdom. The two of them looked at each other as no one answered the door despite the slow footsteps inside that has stopped a couple of seconds ago.

Another knock gave them nothing. Nobody answered or even moved inside. As if their first knock sent whoever’s inside scuffling and hiding, and now they won’t open the door for the two knights. The Prince was getting impatient, breathing loudly as he tapped his feet on the cold hard ground, covered with leaves. Just as Suguru was about to step forward to knock, the door handle turned. A short woman with strands of white hair looked up at them as she creaked the door ajar.

“I cannot let you in. I’m sick.” The old lady coughed, turning away, but Suguru was observant enough to catch how she glanced at them sharply even as she does so. “You don’t have to entertain us at all. Just answer our questions.” He swallowed his frustration, not having it in him to shout at a poor, old woman’s face, even when she’s obviously rejecting them right away.

“Don’t you recognize the Prince?” His companion spoke, sighing. “I’ll be getting straight to the point because we’ve spent long enough time in the middle of this forest.* Suguru raised his hand a bit to stop the knight from scaring the poor woman further. Having been in service for several years, Suguru knows that he also noticed the woman’s odd behavior toward their appearance. 

"Are you the enchantress who placed a curse on Princess Aika of the Southern District?” The Prince knows that it was pointless asking her, because based on her reactions, she seems like she wanted to shut the door on their faces. "No. Please, leave. I need to rest.” As expected, she attempted to close the door, but the knight’s foot was quick to stop. “This is not our Kingdom’s territory so if someone else came to get you, we won’t be able to give you justice.” He spoke, and it was partly true. Aika’s father also sent a small troop to cover some areas that they can’t and make the search faster.

“We’re not the only ones searching for the enchantress. But I can assure you that we only seek answers and do not intend to harm anybody.” Suguru was determined. He doesn’t know where else they would head to or how else to navigate the area if this is still not what they are looking for. He also has a feeling that they’re running out of time. That’s the last thing he wants to happen.

With his words, the old woman held the door open wider, stepping aside to invite them in. Suguru and his companion shared a look, nodding once before entering the small house. The ceiling was low, but it was surprisingly bright despite being a house owned by someone who practices dark magic. The sat on chairs that creak and look like they’d fall apart if a bit more weight was placed on them. There were books on the shelf that were obviously not opened for a long time, in contrast to the blooming and colorful flowers near the window. It was an odd place, and not what they expected for an enchantress.

“Sir, I have to tell you this first before anything else.” She began and Suguru immediately tensed up, eyes going wide as he turned to the woman "It’s true that I did it for the Queen. But a-a woman was involved. She’s the one who told me of the affair. But I cannot tell you who it was.” She fidgeted, swallowing as she looked between Suguru and his companion. Suguru was too shocked to respond quickly, but the other knight was very observant, “There’s no way, you’ll just give out that information, but I assume you’re saying this to save yourself from the blame.” He gave her an accusatory gaze, only to be met with a shake of her head.

“No, Sir. It’s because it was a part of our deal. It can only be known if she herself admits it, but other than that, it won’t come out of my mouth. This is a woman of power. And I am not the only one who can place sceleris in the world.” Her eyes were looking straight at theirs, they were almost completely convinced, but they know not to trust too much. The knight and Suguru once again exchanged looks, letting the enchantress continue. “But I can tell you how to cure the Princess of the South.” 

That. More than anything was what Suguru needed to know. 

“Tell me, and we’ll leave you alone.” He commanded right away, standing up and standing close to the enchantress, making her breath hitch as she stepped back, afraid. “Tell me.” He repeated, ready to fall on his knees and offer all that he can just to get the answers out of the old woman’s trembling lips. The silence felt so long, and the air he was breathing felt hot and thick in his nose. The moment he hears what Aika needs, they’re bolting out of this shadowed place. 

“There’s this stone that she needs to come in contact with. Just a touch would be sufficient to restore her health.” The enchanter, albeit shaking, took a basin with water, allowing the light to illuminate it and reflect the orange gem she was mentioning. There was a curious look on Suguru’s face, mixed with eagerness and worry. He can’t help but feel like it was too easy to be true. “If you’re fooling us, I won’t hesitate to come and chase after you. Even to the ends of the Earth.” He threatened, eyes looking away from the image for a bit to sent daggers to the old woman, a serious threat.

She simply shook her head and breathed onto the water. Suguru’s companion was behind them, standing guard, just in case this old lady pulls a trick on them. “The only reason I’m giving you answers this easily was because none of them will come from me. They all depend on the people involved, and I’m afraid that they’ll be the real challenge to you, Your Royal Highness.” She addressed, eyes filled with an odd combination of worry, remorse, and fear.

“Just tell me how and where to get it.” The Prince’s teeth were clenched so hard that they start to hurt. His jaw felt like jelly with their friction vibration on them each time they grate against one another. “I don’t care how difficult, how hard. Just tell me.” He whispered, feeling the exhaustion of the past several days slowly catching up to him. 

“There are only two people who own the Amber. As it was a part of a pact that happened long ago.” She started, struggling to sit up straight and wrap herself in her shabby coat that probably can’t even keep her warm enough. It has tons of patches, and loose threads that could probably tear the whole thing down with a single pull.

“The King of the tribe on the other end of the map.” Suguru gulped, feeling his companion's distress radiate on him. The place was not close. He probably won’t be able to save Aika even if he began his journey now. Other than that, they have no connections to that land, no more. They used to be allies, but after certain events and changes, they fell out, and that pact was considered null now. There’s no way they’d have access to their stone. 

“Who holds the other one?” The Prince’s throat felt like sand paper, stinging as he spoke each word. The old woman looked him straight in the eyes, frowning slightly as she breathed deeply, making Suguru’s heartbeat race. He felt like it was something worse than the former. “The Queen has the other one.” Fuck. Suguru spoke in his mind, more out of relief than worry. 

“Queen Y/N?” Suguru asked, refusing to succumb to his assumptions. The enchantress nodded, making him feel a little easy about it all. If it was with you, then it shouldn’t be so hard to acquire it. After all, you also wish for Aika to be better. The only thing to be worried about here was the fact that your judgment could be clouded with your desire for him and the inevitable animosity you might feel towards Aika which explains the look on the enchantress’ face before she revealed you.

Not giving Suguru the stone can get Aika out of your way. This is something Suguru hates to think you’d do, but when it dawns on him that you proceeded with your wedding to Suguru despite knowing his status with Aika put enormous doubts in his mind. If it gets to that point where you’d let your cousin die just to have Suguru all to yourself, then he doesn’t know what he’d do anymore. He’ll probably lose his mind, begging you to save Aika.

Panicking, Suguru couldn’t bring himself to ask another question. “Inform everyone we’re leaving.” He turned, heading for the door as he dragged his cape with him, and rushing out the door. He’ll get that stone, he’ll convince you to let him have that stone. He affirmed himself as he watched his knights scramble to their horses as the official announces their plan. Within a few minutes, all of them were heading back to the palace.

—---------------------------------------------

“Did he not write a letter after the one you mentioned?” You asked Nanami as he sat in front of you, setting down his cup. You looked to the horizon, hoping to see their silhouette on the setting sun. It’s been two weeks since they left, and no letters were received by the palace after the one he sent back ten days ago. You were worried about him and everyone. You also sent Aika some fresh fruits and a letter, hoping for her speedy recovery, and were just glad to receive a short one back. You can’t blame them for giving you a cold treatment. You can’t blame them for suspecting you. But for you, it was just enough that right now, Suguru listened to you. 

That’s all you ever need, after all; for him to listen to you.

 “I think they are very busy with the search. It was an uncharted area. Even for a courier, it might be hard to track, and I believe Prince Suguru considered that.” He comforted you, seeing the glow of the sun shine down on your face. Nanami knows that this whole thing was killing you too. What with watching your husband leave and search for the cure of his lover, and leaving you waiting for two weeks. 

“The maids said you’ve developed an unhealthy sleeping habit, Your Majesty, forgive me if this is a bit too much for a knight, but I worry about you, the whole kingdom will worry about you too if they know.” He sighed, taking in the dark circles under your eyes and how your face is starting to look slim from poor diet. “I doubt the Prince would be happy if he found out too, we all know he cares for you more than he lets you know.” You looked down, shaking your head. 

“It doesn’t matter, Aika’s having it worse. She doesn’t deserve it.” Your voice sounded raspy, cracking at the end. Nanami can’t understand why Prince Suguru finds it hard to fall for you when you are like this; golden inside and out. He looked away, blocking the inappropriate thoughts. He should not be questioning your relationship with the Prince. He’s not on your level and aside from that, he wasn’t chosen to marry someone when he’s already courting someone else. He is in no place to judge Suguru.

“I know they’ll solve it when they come back. The Prince has never taken on a task and failed.” You nodded, pursing your lips as you looked at the empty space on the wooden coffee table. This is a gift you got from Aika’s parents for your wedding. Intricately carved with small images of two lovers waltzing. You wondered if they had Aika and Suguru in mind when deciding its designs. It made you sick, looking away and back to the horizon,

“Nanami,” You breathed out, tensing in your seat as you braced yourself with your chair's armrests. Nanami followed your gaze, eyes widening as he saw the figures of men in horses, rushing to the palace gates. “They’re back.” With that, you sprung out of your seat, holding the skirt of your dress. “Be careful, Your Majesty.” Nanami tried his best to support you, but you were running downstairs, more worried than excited for your Prince's return. 

After all, there was nothing to be excited about. It's not like he was returning for you. 

“Are the gates opened?” You asked the maids as you passed by them in the halls, breathing hard as if you were chasing someone. And maybe you are. Maybe you're too scared that this man isn't even with this troop. Maybe you're scared that this man didn’t even come straight home to you. Maybe you’re scared that if you’re too slow, you won’t even catch him before he disappears again. 

“Suguru!” You shouted, leaning by the window as relief took over your features when you catch him in his horse, having just entered the palace premises. Quite the contrast with his grim expression, as he looked up at you, getting down from his horse. It wasn’t anger or hate like you expected, but it was definitely something far from the longing that your eyes were screaming to him as you ran to hug his figure.

His arms reached up to the small of your back, turning away his head to signal his men to rest and unpack. “You’re back. How have you been? The maids have a meal prepared, let’s go inside.” Nanami stood by the arch of the back door of the palace, meeting Suguru’s gaze as he ran a hand through your hair. Bowing, he saluted the Commander before turning to leave and check on the other knights.

“I need to talk to you about something, Y/N.” His voice sounded hoarse, like he hasn’t spoken for hours. And maybe he didn’t from how fast his heart was beating you can tell it was days of travel. He got slimmer, his eyes look dull; duller than before. “Just rest for a bit first, look at you. It can wait, I’m always just here.” You checked him, turning his face to the side as your hands caressed his shoulders.

“No, it can’t. Aika’s life won’t wait.” Your hands fell to your sides as tears continuously fell from your eyes. Earlier, they were tears of joy, worry, and care. Now, they’re just tears of a heart slowly breaking more and more as you realize that he really isn’t here for you. “I need the Amber, Y/N.” He continued, shutting his eyes close as he tried to steady himself. He cannot let the fatigue get to him yet.

“What Amber?” Your voice was soft, but there was roughness too. “You know what I’m talking about.” He held your hands, kissing them, but it didn’t help at all. It didn’t sooth you, it didn’t stop  your heart from gushing blood. You shook your head, taking a small step back, but he only took one after you, “Please, just this time. Just let me save her. I’ll… I’ll do as you wish. Even an heir, Y/N. If you want me to stop meeting her every other night, I will. Just…” Y/N was too smart to know that half of what he was saying can easily be thrown away if he wanted, but that’s not why she was shaking her head.

“No, I can’t.” Closing her eyes as she turned away, she felt him hug her from behind, pleading with his whole heart, his whole being, more than he did when she decided their marriage. It was an arrow to her already dying soul. She doesn’t know how much more she can take. “Suguru, you don’t understand.” She took his arms off around her, walking away despite his desperation but was quickly halted by his next words.

“Why? You know, the enchantress said it was someone of power who did this to Aika. A woman of power, Y/N.” His voiced cracked, finally getting to his last resort. He hates to say this, but what else can he do or say to make you hear him out? Your back was facing him as your surroundings started to blur, listening to everything he says even as they tear you to shreds, freezing you on your spot.

“This is your chance to prove that it wasn’t you.”

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