#intake was gone for a week and everything is kinda fucked now

[starssystem]

Mondays really be something else, huh gang?

[moxfirefly]

One tracking the other down at lunch and making them accept food that they personally made because they know the other person doesn’t have a lunch that day.  - Not a relationship one, but a headcanon that reader fills the boys' fridge when they can to make sure they're eating well and not just pizza.

I am soft already 🥺

I’m making this in headcanon style as to cover all the lads.

Listen Raph EATS™️

The calorie intake in this man is insane so naturally carbs are like go to

But there’s more to carbs than just pizza and yes sometimes he’s caught up in patrols and training and sleep and it’s easier to inhale six boxes of pizza

Living alone has taught you to make meals for yourself or meal prep but now you find yourself making more portions. Pastas, meats, stews etc

You bring them down while their out patrolling and place them in the fridge with sticky notes for who gets what, the more fatty and high calories ones usually reserved for Raph

He catches you one night though and he’s legit like giddy cause you’re cooking is his fucking favorite and he’s already getting his designated container out and digging in

You can’t help but feel a slight blush cause Raph can be so serious and moody but he is legit stuffing his face with a happy smile and telling you that he loves how you effortless season the meat and tenderize it. He’s just a happy big lad.

Oh god does Donnie need to be fed

This motherfucker has gone days without a proper meal at times

It’s to the point that you’ve set up alarms on his phone to REMIND HIM TO EAT

And not snack, A MEAL

So you’ll drop by with food all the time at all hours of the day. Thankful for those 24hr places or you’re own cooking.

You’ll barge into the lab and announce it’s time to eat and you’ll force him to stop whatever he’s doing so he eats with you.

You make it easier for him by asking him questions about his projects, he likes feeling he isn’t slacking off and talking over his ideas helps him reach answers to questions he might have

Donnie is so hideously smart and you love hearing him talk cause you’ll flex the knowledge he drops on you with your coworkers

One of the things he’s a huge sucker for is sweets so you usually grab dessert for him along with the food. You can’t comprehend where he puts it all cause he’s so lean and when he does sit down to eat his appetite rivals Raph’s

And trust me Donnie secretly loves that you know his tastes so well.

April calls one day to ask what the guys want and without missing a beat you blurt out exactly what Donnie’s order is and you tell her you’ll Venmo her some extra cash to grab him a tiramisu

He feels really fuzzy on the inside when you do that

This lads eating habits are frightening honestly, mostly because he eats combos he creates that you’re sure should either kill a man or at least give them heartburn for six weeks straight

But he is the one that most devours pizzas and can eat it for a week straight if you don’t watch him

Mikey is a great cook though but he likes cooking for everybody ya know? He likes sharing his crazy inventions with his loved ones but he sometimes neglects that on himself and just goes for easy stuff

This is something you plan to change naturally

On the occasions that Mikey is patrolling near your place you’ll text him to swing by and get a snack. You’ll grab his backpack and fill it up with all sorts of snacks from healthy to not so healthy and water because orange crush is not a source of hydration

You also leave him silly notes because you both like to make each other laugh with lame jokes or anecdotes and that makes him excited to swing by during patrols to get his night snack

Mikey likes that you try to present all the food groups. Celery sticks, potato chips, ham sandwiches, an ice cream sandwich, like seriously you spoil him. It’s pretty easy though because Mikey is actually the only one of the brothers who’ll eat ANYTHING. Seriously he’ll try anything and that’s kinda fun cause he’s honest about it.

You know he might get in trouble when he starts to blow off the last couple of hours of patrol to spend it with you eating and laughing. He’s always dropped everything to spend time with his two favorite things: food and you

Leo is pretty on top of his diet. Yes he’ll eat pizza cause it’s a nice comfort food but he does tend to switch away to other things more than Mikey will.

In his case is, he will literally forget to eat

He’ll go ham on his training and patrolling and when he starts feelings a little nauseous and dizzy it’ll hit him that maybe he skipped a meal.

Queue you, you always ask him if he’s eaten. Wether in person, in text or on the phone and if he so much as makes a thinking face or sound you’re already telling him to come by or to sit tight

And something that absolutely and I do mean ABSOLUTELY KILLS HIM is that you can make sushi from scratch and when you show up with three bento boxes all for him, he can almost squeal with joy

Boy loves his sushi, any Oriental cuisine really. Ramen, bibimbap, coconut curry, bubble tea. You like to poke fun at him and arrive with a buffet by announcing “here’s your food you weeb” oh but it’s you who recommends him anime’s and rants to him about storylines etc

You find it really sweet that he’ll share the food you brought him even if you’ve told him twenty times that you already ate

He’s a sneak cause he’ll offer you pieces of sushi while you rant about thing but you do notice that he gives you the nicer pieces.

And you don’t miss that he gives you half his bubble tea

Why he gotta be such a caretaker???

You don’t mind though, you like how happy he is sharing his food with you and he seems to like feeding you.

[fific7]

Ticket to Ride - Part 1

Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: Inspired by The Beatles song of the same name. This takes place in my S1 Punisher AU with Arrogant!Billy in attendance. Billy gets a taste of his own medicine.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, including oral, between consenting adults* in some chapters. Drinking and swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My photo edit)

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕀'𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕕, 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪, 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕙

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪

𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖

𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖

𝕊𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You were grabbing armfuls of clothes out of the wardrobe and dumping them into the three massive suitcases you’d laid open on the floor. If any of your friends had seen you at that point, they’d have said you looked like a woman possessed.

Finally, the wardrobe was empty of your clothes, and you moved on to the chest of drawers and then the bathroom. The contents were shovelled into a couple of large backpacks, as were various other bits and bobs from bedside table drawers and shelving units. In a surprisingly short space of time, you’d packed up everything that belonged to you in this damned apartment.

That left you just two very quick things to do, and you could then somehow get all this luggage downstairs into the lobby and get the hell out of Dodge.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The receptionist at the airport hotel you were booking into looked at the amount of luggage you had with you, and studied your face again carefully. No doubt she was wondering if you were a celebrity. Obviously deciding that there was an outside chance that you were but she just hadn’t recognised you, you were given an upgrade on the room without even asking for one.

Plopping down onto the bed once you’d got into your room, you rummaged around in one of the backpacks until you found your laptop, connecting it to the hotel WiFi. Opening one of the major airlines’ websites, you began scrolling through the destinations offered from JFK.

So many to choose from!

Now to plan your getaway.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy Russo got back home really late. He was going to be in trouble, no doubt about it... he hadn’t even texted because he hadn’t wanted to face any questions about what he was doing and when he’d be home.

Opening the apartment door, he was surprised to find it in darkness. Oh... had she gone to bed already? That wasn’t a good sign. He switched on the lights and immediately noticed a sheet of paper and a photo frame lying prominently on the kitchen island.

Walking over, he didn’t even have to pick up the note to read it. There was only one word, printed large.

“Goodbye.”

His stomach knotted and then he looked at the photo frame lying next to it. The photo was the one which was usually on the bedside table, a favourite of his.... she was sitting on a bar stool and he was behind her, his arms right around her. Both laughing into the lens as the photo was taken.

The photo was still in the frame, but it was torn in two.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Finally, by the next morning you’d decided on London. You’d never been, and quite honestly wanted to lose yourself in another big city. Flight booked, an AirBnB apartment booked for two weeks and you didn’t need a visa, so you were all set.

Now just one more thing to do. You opened up the box containing your new mobile phone and fitted the SIM card into it. After about twenty minutes of entering contact details and various apps onto it, you took your original phone and called Karen.

Her bored voice answered so you knew she was already at work, but she perked up when she heard your voice.

“Hi honey! How’re things? Wanna meet up for lunch today? I’m bored and I need a good gossip.”

You were a freelance copy writer and so you were your own boss. There were one or two assignments you were currently working on, but you could work from anywhere you could get a WiFi connection, so that wasn’t a problem.

“Uhhh, sadly not darling, I’m flying to London this afternoon.” You could hear her intake of breath, then she squealed, “Oh you lucky woman, how’d you manage to land an assignment like that?”

You gave a bitter little laugh, “I’ve left Billy.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy had sat on his sofa for a long time after he’d seen the note and photo. At first he’d just had to sit down, overwhelmed, as he had the most horrible feeling that his world was crashing down around his ears.

She was the one person who made him feel safe and loved. But he knew only too well that he’d been walking the line recently what with the situation at Anvil and having to keep Madani sweet. He hadn’t actually crossed the line, but he’d had to make sure she thought that he would, and soon at that. Would he have crossed it? He’d need to get back to himself on that question.

Of course he’d mentioned none of this to his girl. But obviously - somehow - he mustn’t have done a very good job at being discreet because she’d guessed something was up. And left him.

He’d poured himself a large whisky and downed it in one, before going over to the window and looking out forlornly at the city lights. Then he called Frank.

When he heard the gruff growl on the other end of the line, he said, “She’s left me, Frankie,” and realised how hoarse his voice sounded.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“What?!” screeched Karen. You hadn’t divulged your recent secret fears to her, hoping against hope that you were wrong when you’d started noticing little things over the past few weeks. But now you gave her a full rundown of it all.

More and more claims of ‘working late’ and ‘being very busy at work’.

Alcohol on his breath after he’d been on these ‘working late’ evenings.

A distinct smell of CK’s Eternity from a jumper he’d left crumpled up in a corner on the bedroom floor when he’d been out extra late one evening.

The final straw? You almost laughed when you thought about it, as it was such a cliché. A smear of dark red lipstick on the inside collar on one of his otherwise pristine white shirts. And another unmistakable whiff of Eternity.

You’d never be able to wear that damn perfume again.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Frankie had been suitably sympathetic to start with, but had then begun to berate Billy for being ‘a stupid asshole’ once he’d explained what he’d been up to with Madani. “I didn’t sleep with her!” Billy grumbled, “....just messin’ around. You know we need to know what she knows.”

“Yeah, but women ain’t stupid, Russo! Were you goin’ home reeking of booze and another woman’s perfume?” Billy said nothing at first, just grunted but then said, “Maybe. Yeah.. probably.” “See!” said Frank, “...you’re a stupid asshole!” “I mean, she didn’t even challenge me on it!” Frank started laughing, “So that makes it her fault, huh!? You’re a piece of work, Russo.” “No, no.... I just meant, aren’t you supposed to have arguments about that kinda stuff first? She just up and left me!”

“I don’t blame her,” said Frank, “...and you know she’s not the type to take any BS from you, Bill. She probably thought it wasn’t worth her time listenin’ to you tryna give excuses for the inexcusable.”

Billy was reminded by this that one of Frank’s pet peeves was infidelity. “But I didn’t cheat!” said Billy forcefully. “Whaddya do, kiss her?” “Yeah.” “Feel her up a bit?” “Mmhuh.” “That’s cheatin’ in my book, Russo.” Billy realised he was hanging his head in shame, and quickly looked up and out of the window again.

“I dunno what to do, Frankie.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d given Karen your new number and told her on pain of death not to pass it on to anyone, even Frank and especially not to Billy. She’d assured you she wouldn’t, and neither would she tell them where you were headed.

She’d been fuming at Billy, and you wouldn’t like to be in his shoes the next time she happened to meet up with him. Her rage had been quite spectacular and she was really, really pissed that Billy hadn’t even tried to contact you. You didn’t say anything to her, but secretly you wondered if he’d actually spent the night with his side piece on this occasion and hadn’t even seen your note yet. Jealousy and anger began to take over and you stood up abruptly, determined that thoughts of that douchebag weren’t going to invade your brain.

You took the SIM card out of the phone, shut it down and tucked it away in one of your bags. Gathering all your stuff together, you began to get ready to leave the room..

Can’t wait to get on that plane, you thought.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Frankie rang Billy back a couple of hours later. “Micro tracked her phone,” he said without preamble. “Where is she? At Karen’s?” Billy asked anxiously. There was a pause, then, “Nah, Bill. She’s at JFK. And her phone’s switched off now.”

Billy, standing next to the window again, yelled, “Fuck!” before leaning his head against the cold glass. “Can Micro find out which flight’s she’s booked on, Frankie?” “He can try, but it’ll involve some hacking so it might take a little longer.” He paused again, before continuing, “And avoid Karen. She’s out for your blood.”

Billy sighed, “She’s spoken to her?” “Yeah, course she has, Bill. She knows more than she’s tellin’ me of course, but I’m not even gonna try askin’ her. Waste of time.” “It’s okay, I get it, Frankie. I wouldn’t ask you to. But if she does say anythin’.....” “I’ll let you know,” Frank finished the sentence for him and hung up.

Billy looked out of the window and then up into the sky. She wanted to get away from him so badly, she’d got a plane ticket and was about to fly.

He just prayed he’d be able to find her before she took off.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry @odetostep

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

London

[andilovetowrite]

Punch To The Heart (Part 2)

Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: After repeatedly blowing you off on plans, events and trips, you have finally had enough. But Peter soon regrets it as he sees the harsh reality of almost losing his best friend.

Based on a request, you can find here!

Warnings: Shooting and violence. But nothing too graphic. This is probably my most angsty fic yet, with sprinkles of fluff here and there :)

Word count: 2.4k

Here is my Masterlist in case you want to find more of my work :)

Punch to the Heart (Teaser)

Punch to the Heart (Part 1)

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“Crap crap crap”, Peter muttered, running his hands through his hair. He looked at Aunt May, hoping she would say that she was joking; it was some sick prank. But she just looked down, coming to smooth her hand on his back.

“Sorry, Pete. Her parents just called me to tell you that she is in the hospital. She isn’t doing so good. She was losing a lot of blood before passing out on the street. Police arrived 5 minutes later.”

Peter sighed, feeling his throat close up as he shook his head. “No, no, no, they said they will go after my girl” Peter looked back at May as he quickly suited up. “My girl,” He said quietly before snapping his web up, jumping out of his window and towards the hospital, sirens blaring in the background…

2 WEEKS AGO

Peter walked into the school, arm slung around MJ, pressing a kiss to her head before he let her go, watching her walk to her class. He kept walking, a glazed look in his eye, that he didn’t even see you, tumbling onto you.

“Oh, I’m so sorry”, he rambled before he saw who he was talking to.

“Hey Peter”, you said coldly, looking at him with a pinch in your heart.

“Oh, hey Y/N!” he said, a slightly pained look on his face.

You let out a sharp intake of breath you didn’t know you had been holding since he walked in. “I’m surprised you even know my name after you bailed on me last night. Again.”

Peter sighed uncharacteristically. “Look, I already said I’m sorry. Like a billion times!”

You scoffed, trying to hide how much it hurt. “Nope. Not even once. I left you 15 voicemails, Peter! I thought you were dead or you had gotten hurt! Couldn’t you just send me one text? After you probably texted MJ a billion times”, you said, imitating his voice. You tried to stop the shaking in your voice.

It had only been less than a week since you and Peter had talked about him not speaking to you anymore, and now it had been happening more and more. You knew he had Spiderman duties 5/7 days in a week, so you planned your night together on a Saturday night.

The same Saturday night, Tony had asked him to come because there was a challenging mission urgently. But you had looked at the news all night to see how the fight was going. Not once did they mention anything about a fight.

“How was the fight, Pete?”

“What fight?” he asked, confused. And that gave you the answer you were looking for.

“The one you told me as an excuse… You know, I’m sure MJ didn’t even get one text. Because you were by her side the entire time.”

Peter looked at you, wide-eyed. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to say something to you.

“Tell me I’m wrong, Parker. That you blew me off for the hundredth time to hang out with your new girlfriend?!”

Peter didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, just staring at the ground, even as the bell rang. But then he squared up, jaw clenching. “Why the hell can’t I just spend time with MJ” Without you breathing down my neck?”

“Because you hang out with everyone, Peter! MJ, Ned, Betty… heck, even Flash! But not once do you hang out with me!”

“Maybe because you are just so fucking frustrating! Always wanting attention like a kid!” he spat out, then he looked away, muttering something under his breath.

“What did you say?” you asked, voice breaking, as the silence of the hall felt suffocating.

“I said, I thought you had gotten more than enough attention you would’ve needed in your life!” Just as those words left his mouth, you crumpled as if a shock of pain had gone through your body.

“Why-why would you say that?” you cried out, not caring that you had school anymore as you dropped your bag on the floor, furiously wiping your tears on the back of your hand. “Don’t answer that. I know why you said it, Peter”, you said, glaring at him through the tears. Walking out of the school, you clung to your shirt. So much for not wanting to care.

Little did you know that leaving your bag at school may have been the worst decision you could ever make….

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DING DONG, DING DONG, DING DONG, the doorbell kept repeating. Your parents had gone out for the night, leaving you at home by yourself. You walked over, trying to see who would come at 4:00 in the evening.

“Y/N!”, Peter called out. But he sounded muted.

You slowly opened the door to see Spiderman standing there, holding your school bag and some flowers. “I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been spending time with you, but someone sent a message to the compound a week back. Said it was for Spiderman. They told me that they were going to go after my girl, to get revenge for stopping the bank robbery that happened a couple of months ago.”

“Uhm, so that’s why you weren’t spending time with me?”

“Well, MJ also wants me to stop spending time with you so much. Said you were kinda clingy.” He said, scratching the back of his neck.

You scoffed. “No offence, but you gotta stand up for yourself Peter!”

“I can’t just do that, she is my girlfriend.”

“More like your mom…”, you muttered, rolling your eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing”

“Ok then.”

You sighed, giving him the flowers back. “Here, give these to MJ. She will like them. Or why don’t you wilt them a bit first, so I’ll be like her soul?”

Peter looked shocked. “Why would you say that? She is the best girlfriend ever!”

Your eyes softened. So he didn’t know. “Peter, I saw her and Brad today. At the field. Making out!”

Peter shook his head, more so to himself than you. “She wouldn’t cheat on me Y/N!”

“Okay, Peter. If you wanna keep on trusting your lying, rude girlfriend. Then go ahead. Guess we are back on square one then?” Peter didn’t even say anything, but when he left, you could see he left the flowers at your door, crumpled but still smelling fresh.

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Peter stood in MJ’s room, playing with her hair softly after his fight with Y/N. But something was playing on his mind.

“MJ, did you cheat on me? With Brad? Since some people claimed that they saw you and him making out near the bleachers?”

MJ looked like a deer caught in the headlights but was interrupted(or saved) by Peter’s phone blaring loudly. Peter grabbed it, picking it up to hear Aunt May tell him something he never would have thought of.

“Y/N’s in the hospital Peter”

Peter gasped, jumping off MJ’s bed. “What happened”, she asked, looking annoyed.

“Y/N’s in the hospital! I have to go there…” Peter said, freaking out now. He looked at MJ, hoping to see some type of understanding in her eye, but she just glared at the phone.

“So what? It’s not like you can speed up her healing process. Whatever happened to her? Did she cry so hard her eyes fell out?”, MJ asked bitingly, rolling her eyes. Peter stood there, shocked.

“MJ, she is my best friend! I have to go see what happened to her.”

She laughed cruelly, “Oh please, you haven’t been her best friend for a long time. Let’s not act as if you care. Plus, you promised to meet my parents tonight.”

Peter shook his head firmly. “No-no MJ, I can’t just sit here having dinner with your mom and dad while Y/N’s in the hospital.”

MJ scoffed, looking down at Peter. “Okay, then here is what’s gonna happen. If you go to the hospital tonight, we’re over.”

Peter stuttered, looking at her in disbelief. “Wha-why?! What’s wrong with you? I have to go see her MJ!”

“No, you don’t. She will be fine. I’m sure it’s nothing major knowing Y/N. Always makes such a big fucking deal about everything”

Peter chuckled humourlessly and turned towards the window. “If you are going to make me choose between my best friend and my girlfriend, then I don’t know what to say to you, Michelle.”

MJ nodded, flipping him off. “Oh please, more like the girl you love and your girlfriend.”

And with that, Peter jumped out the window, tears already gathering in his eyes.

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Peter quickly ran into the apartment, seeing May sitting down in the kitchen, talking to someone on the other side.

“Oh okay, I’ll tell him. Please keep me updated”

May turned around when she heard Peter slam the door shut. He ran over to her, eyes bloodshot. “Wha-what happened?”

May sighed, looking at Peter sadly. “It’s not your fault Peter”, she started, and that was when Peter broke.

“May-ple-please, what happened to her!?”

“Remember how you got that call, that those guys will be after someone you know? Well, they must have seen you go to Y/N’s house in the afternoon, and then targeted her.”

“Shit May! It’s my fault...Wait, do they know I’m Spiderman? Because then you have to go somewhere. I’ll call Happy!”, Peter said, rushing around.

May put her hand on his shoulder, “Peter, they don’t know you are Spiderman. All they saw was the city’s hero dropping off a package to Y/N’s house.

“How did she even get out?!”

May sighed. “Fought out of the van, but just as she was running, they shot her in the leg and stomach. Then came up and hurt her a bit more before leaving her on the street”

“Crap crap crap”, Peter muttered, running his hands through his hair. He looked at Aunt May, hoping she would say that she was joking; it was some sick prank. But she just looked down, coming to smooth her hand on his back.

“Sorry, Pete. Her parents just called me to tell you that she is in the hospital. She isn’t doing so good. She was losing a lot of blood before passing out on the street. Police arrived 5 minutes later.”

Peter sighed, feeling his throat close up as he shook his head. “No, no, no, they said they will go after my girl” Peter looked back at May as he quickly suited up. “My girl,” He said quietly before snapping his web up, jumping out of his window and towards the hospital, sirens blaring in the background…

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7:51 pm Peter, Peter there are some guys standing outside my apartment. These look like the guys who you took down a few months ago, remember? The bank robbery. Anyway, please call me back, I’m worried.

8:05 pm Hey, please pick up. The guys are now banging open the apartment door. I think I heard a gunshot, Peter! Please please come here…

8:15 pm Oh god, Peter. They are coming up the stairs, and they aren’t stopping. I locked the door and I’m staying hidden, but I’m scared, Peter. Please come here. I think they already shot someone downstairs...Ohmygod, I can hear them on my floor, Pete-

8:17 pm Peter, they are outside my door. I shut off all the lights and am hiding under my parent’s bed. You let out a quiet gasp, then started whispering. “They are inside Peter! I can hear them. At least three voices. Please come here, I need Spiderma-

There you are, a gruff voice called out as you let out a pained squeak.

8:26 pm Pete-Peter, they bought me down. Chucked me out the window. Peter, I don’t know where I am just that I’m in some type of van. I kept my phone next to me, and all-ugh-the guys have gone out for something, wait they’re coming ba-

As he played each message on the way to the hospital, Peter could feel himself getting more and more worried. The guys from the bank robbery. The threat. Y/N now in the hospital. Because of Spiderman. Because of him. Because he didn’t stay next to her when it mattered. Because he blew her off for his probably cheating, heartless girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.

Arriving at the back of the hospital, he quickly shed his suit, running in. “Um, hello. I’m trying to find Y/N, Y/L/N? She was brought in today evening.

The nurse nodded, pointing to the room down the hall. “She is in there.”, she said, sounding sympathetic. “Sorry..”

Peter didn’t even stick around to see why she was sorry for him. Instead, he ran to the room. No one was here, only a couple of doctors here and there. He went next to the room, seeing your parent’s standing beside you, your body covered in gashes and bruises, while gauze covered several parts of your leg and stomach. Peter walked in, going straight to Y/N, but just as he was about to reach you, your heartbeat flatlined, a loud BEEEEP resonating in the room….

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Tagged: @idkatee @eternalscribblesforthesoul @loudbluepancake @poisondevotion @scram1326 @t-hollanderr @305weasley @starknik22 @marvelfansworld @lou-la-lou @lomlparker

Wow! Cliffhanger...ohhh. Anyway, thanks for reading this. It was really fun to write, and I highly enjoyed it. The next part won’t be out for at least a week, since I gotta study for exams. If you wanna be tagged in my next part, as well as other posts, just comment or send me a quick message… Thanks so much, and until next time :)

[sukunahz]

i.  been away .

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞: what would you do? / a03

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: your old friend, eren yeager had been gone for almost an entire year and you and your friends have all but moved on with life. in fact you have barely given him a second thought -- but when he returns, he's not the same passionate frat-boy you once knew; he's a stranger now.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.6k words

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: smut, oral, fingering, eren is kinda’ mean, mentions of alcohol, intoxication and drugs. based on the absolute banger been away by brent faiyaz. i posted this on a03 two months ago and i swear every week my writing changes and when i look back i’m ashamed. i swear the chapters get better 😩

You were barely paying attention to the conversation around you, you were idly fiddling with your completely empty cup since Sasha and Connie had been arguing about the same thing for the past 20 minutes. You knew it was because they had both been tiptoeing around something; they were keeping something from you. What did you expect from the two people closest to you, but you weren't a sensitive, little baby bird? In fact, you had forced yourself to not shed tears over a night that was so insignificant that there was no point for these two to continue on with this desperate charade. “He’s back. Isn’t he?” You stated bluntly, your words were viciously slicing at their conversation. They both remained silent; their clear discomfort was painted vividly onto their expressions as they exchanged worried glances between each other. Eren had been gone for so long that he had faded from you and your friends’ lives completely, he was so easily displaced from your thoughts in such a short amount of time and you had felt the least bit of guilt for it. Time marches on, not even Eren would be able to bend time to his will. Your friends had adjusted to life without their friend, but you could sense the discomfort in celebrating Connie’s birthday in his absence.

“Apparently.” Sasha replied, her gaze darted towards the door as if his return was some impending doom, like a devastating natural disaster that would upset the balance of everything. You wanted to be confused as to why they were hiding this from you, but you knew full well that with the way he disappeared – you would be counting down the days till he returned. Sasha and Connie knew that you were now a minefield and one misstep by anyone would illicit a violently ruinous reaction from you.

“He’s not the same.” Connie added, interrupting your train of thought. “You know how he left… he's -- he's not the same guy.” There was a silence after that, you had lost the energy to keep fighting them about Eren. You could see the disillusion drain into Connie’s face, you weren’t the only one who Eren left, in fact – it was everyone in this room that he had left behind. Those two were inseparable a year ago and now it seemed like Connie could barely string together a sincere sentence about Eren. You couldn’t keep recounting your history with them, a history that was so minuscule that you had no right to expect anything from him -- right? You forced the two to return to their idle conversations, doing anything to drag the conversation away from someone that you had tried so hard to put behind you. There was load music droning through the common area accompanied by smoke from Jean’s vape that was dancing wistfully near the window.

You heard a pause in the atmosphere in the room, there was a break in the cluttered chatter of the house. There he was, speak of the devil -- Eren had finally returned after an entire year, surrounded by a group of people who carried the same troubled and unsettling demeanour as him. You had to force every muscle in your body not to respond to him, since all he did was glance languidly your way before he joined a group of people in the other corner of the room. You felt nimble fingers press a comforting touch upon your thighs as she was still engrossed in her conversation with Connie. “Don’t.” Sasha whispered to you; her gaze was still straight ahead. You scoffed at her warning; she knew you all too well, just how easily you were able to get tangled into Eren’s web.

“I won’t.”

You weren’t over Eren because there was nothing to get over, you had no feelings for him, and not a single thing would change just how much of a brazen jackass he was. The timing of your pep-talk with yourself couldn’t have been better since Eren and his friends found themselves occupying the vacant furniture around Connie, Sasha and yourself. It had been a while since you had even been able to soak in his presence, but you could tell there was a different air to him, he seemed indifferent now, his lids drooping low and he barely paid any attention to the conversations around him. You could hear Armin’s attempts to draw Eren out from his shell, his repeated calls to invite him to participate in the conversations but all Eren could do is brush him off or reply with a simple mumble. How did he manage to be so magnetic; he was surrounded by friends and yet he was completely withdrawn and isolated?

“Hey—” Zeke called out to you, his words were already slurring, and the smell of beer was swimming around the air around him. He was just as rugged as his younger brother and you could tell that he was a part of Eren’s recent downward spiral. Despite bearing the same haunted resemblance as his younger brother, Zeke’s blonde hair is tidy and taken care of in contrast to his unruly facial hair. You could tell that Zeke bears no regard for taming his beard or his alcohol intake, you could also tell that just like Eren, he probably didn't care about much at this point. Lost in your observations, you realised you must have been staring too long as Zeke’s gaze met your own. “You know he almost used up his one phone call at the station on you!” He wrapped his arm drunkenly around Eren’s shoulder. Station? You thought to yourself, did that idiot get himself arrested? You glanced quickly towards Eren and you could see the shame and irritation across his demeanour. He had barely even said a word since he arrived, yet he already looked drained and exhausted.  

“Why would he waste a call on me?” You muttered with a roll of your eyes. Your short temper was also about to blow. Why does everyone connect you two together, you were friends before he left and nothing more? No amount of history between you two would change anything, not even one alcohol-fuelled mistake. Eren didn’t owe you anything and he didn’t fail to hammer that notion into you when he left.  

“Eren, you might wanna’ take care of your wasted brother before he embarrasses you anymore.” Sasha jested with a tilt of her head, a futile attempt to diffuse the situation. With that, you decide that it would actually be you who embarrassed themselves if you stayed any longer.

“I’m gunna’ get a drink.” You whispered to Sasha before forcing a reassuring smile across your features in order to ensure that she doesn’t follow you. You weren’t in the mood to talk about Eren or whatever the fuck he’s been up to in his long absence. A better person would be concerned for him but all you could do was feel irritation, you heeded Sasha’s warning, you’ve been living your life – dealing with your own baggage and Eren doesn’t get to just return out of nowhere and take the reins of your life again. You pushed yourself onto your feet towards a familiar friend in the hallway.

“Not joining the welcome wagon?” You teased; a conceited sneer etched upon your features as you can see the displeased expression on your friend. You were provoking the obvious bad blood between the two, it was rather petty of you to seek him out for the sole reason of loathing Eren together, but who better to understand than Jean

“My bad, I better hop in the line and give that asshole a proper welcome!” Jean quipped back, his tone was overly dramatic and topped off with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. “I’m actually getting out of here; Connie’s got some weird black pepper flavoured vape that I’ve been dared to try – wanna’ come?”

“Yeah – I’ll join you in a sec’, let my grab my jumper first.” You replied, accepting any invitation that would lead you as far away from the impending disaster that lurks outside the hallways. As Jean made his way downstairs, you entered your room before the comfortable silence was interrupted by an all too familiar voice. The voice was deep and steady, but you noticed it lost its notable flare, the usual effervescence had lifted from him, all that remained was something dark and troubled. You couldn’t recognise who the man standing before you was. He had stray, brunette locks falling on his forehead while the rest of his hair was hastily tied into a bun. His broad physique was framed by an almost entirely black wardrobe with the exception of his large gold key necklace that sat perfectly upon his chest.

“What’s wrong with you?” He dimly asked, he crossed his arms as he pressed his weight against the wall. He had an air of disappointment surrounding him, as if he couldn’t believe that you wouldn’t want to be in his presence, he couldn't believe that you didn't press further on the comment that Zeke made earlier.

“What’s wrong with me?” You challenged him, was he so self-entitled that he thought he could guilt you from walking away from a conversation that you did not want to be a part of. You didn’t want to know what changed Eren and you didn’t care what it was that pulled him away.

“Wanna’ tell me why you’re so pissed?” His expression, or lack of expression didn't change. As your temper rose, Eren’s voice and demeanour stayed the same. Despite his words showing a genuine interest, his voice and mannerisms displayed nothing but a disregard for absolutely anything going on around him. This wasn’t the Eren that you knew, the man that you had known had life and zest spilling from his expressive eyes, he cared about the smallest things around him despite being just as haunted as you were. In fact, it was Eren who was able to keep you from falling into a dangerous spiral, but it looks like he wasn’t able to save himself.  

“Fuck off, Eren. Maybe if you could take a hint, you’d realise that you’re the one pissing me off.” The words came carelessly fumbling out from your mouth -- at this point you knew you were overreacting; you could tell he had gone through something, but he owed you much more than he was giving you and you relished the thought of humbling him.

Eren didn't respond to your rant, instead, he drew in a long, sharp breath of air before he stepped towards you. Your chest rose and fell, almost out of breath from your last sentence as you stumbled backwards from his advances, your back crashing against the wall behind you. His arm extended to reach out for the wall behind you as his face creeps in closer towards you. “You and your short temper.” He mumbled to you while you soak in his scent. At least there was something familiar about him, this same scent that you were once tangled in. It’s embarrassing just how easily he’s able to bend you to his will. Just like that you were under his spell again, itching to give him a proper welcome back even though you know he doesn't deserve it. But he was so close and tempting, covered with a new and mysterious aura, maybe it was your distaste and resentment for him that fuelled your next move.

Your hands tugged at the ends of his shirt to pull him closer to you as you connected your lips with his. It was a long and messy kiss when he slipped his tongue inside yours. Eren's movements were hungry, as if he had been starving for days and this was his first taste of food. You could see his features were radiating with passion, the colour from his eyes seeping back in. His movements were so robust compared with the apathetic display he had put on earlier. Just for a second, you could see the person you once knew before. Your arms travelled from the bottom of his shirt to wrap around his neck and Eren slips his arms around your upper thighs, inviting you to wrap your legs around his waist. He didn't break his lips away from you but instead he sends a wet trail of reckless kisses along your neck before he lowers you onto the desk nearby, your legs still wrapped around his body. You were ashamed that you wanted more, didn’t you promise yourself that you wouldn’t let him come back and take over your life again, you put him in the past the second he chose to walk away.

“We shouldn’t do this.” You mumbled; Sasha’s prior warning seemed to have fallen upon deaf ears. There was a room outside full of your friends and one stray noise could end it all for the both of you. Despite your weak attempts to convince yourself that you could walk away from this encounter, your body seemed to have a mind of its own and was telling him the exact opposite. Eren’s lips trailed lower and lower from your neck, to your chest and falling all the way to your thighs. Almost every inch of your skin was covered in his wet trails. Your neck and back arched as soft moans spilled from your unruly lips.

“Tell me to stop then.” He breathes, you peered down on him as his hands rest on your thighs while he was on his knees. You remained silent; however, your hands travel to his hair as an invitation for him to continue on. Eren inches closer and closer towards your centre, his fingers pushing the thin fabric guarding your core to the side. His tongue draws intricate and wet lines across your slit as you emit a loud moan at the sudden sensation. You could feel a forceful wave of euphoria rush through your spine while he keeps a tight hold on your thighs to stop you from squirming. He was assiduous with his ministrations and he didn't remove his tongue when he introduced his fingers to your wet centre, teasing your entrance to get a reaction out of you. You inhaled sharply at the newly added sensation, his tongue and fingers massaging your clit effortlessly.

“Ere—”

“Just shut up…” Eren interrupted, as he pushed two of his fingers into you, dangerously close to being knuckle deep inside you. As if your calls of his name were distracting him from his intricate work. His familiar cockiness has returned, the jovial frat-boy that you once knew was zealously tasting you. His ministrations contained a heightened bravado now and you were finally starting to recognise who the man before you was.

“You’re tighter than I remember.” He observed, his fingers were frozen inside you as his piercing eyes were connected to yours, you knew that he was about to have you wrapped around his finger again.

“Maybe I’m just not as turned on as you think I am?” You challenged, forcing yourself not to bite down on your lip in front of him. With your remark, he quickly pulled his index and middle finger out of your pussy. The movement was so abrupt, and it left you craving all the more from him, just when he was pushing you to arrive to your peak, you came crumbling back down. A punishment for your quip at his sexual prowess.

“Oh really? Why don’t I show you just how wet you are then?” The devilish smirk spread across his lips was almost maniacal, a gesture of his sudden surge of confidence. He wrapped his already wet fingers around your own and lead them towards your now notably, wet pussy. Your fingers lingered there, unsure of what to do as you refused to make eye contact with Eren.

“See for yourself, since I apparently am not up to the task.” You still stalled for a moment, heat racing towards your cheeks, despite you baring your entire body to him, were you so shameless that you would pleasure yourself right in front of him?

“Go on — touch yourself.” This time, Eren’s tone was posed as a dominant command than it was a request. Just when you had thought you had the upper hand; it took just one minute for him to have you at his beck and call again. You hesitantly began to rub around your slit, shame soaked into your thoughts as you realised that you are just as wet as Eren stated.

Quiet moans fell from your lips as Eren smugly watched you have a taste of your own medicine, it was bittersweet since despite the pleasure you were giving to yourself, all you were doing was proving Eren right. Once your high started increasing, he softly wrapped his fingers around yours to stop you from what you were doing before he rammed two fingers inside you abruptly, eliciting a high-pitched yelp from you. His other hand was still wrapped around yours, pinning your arm to the desk to stop you from squirming. “Jealous, are we?” You provoked him; your eyebrow raised to match your goading sentiment.

His pace begun slow as he pulled in and out of you in long and detailed movements, he knew exactly how to build you back up as you responded to his movements with moans and your back arched up against the wall, your arms still pinned down by his free hand. “God, stop playing around.” You called out in frustration, he was playing with you and you knew that he was keeping you just below your boiling point.

“I thought you weren’t turned on?” He questioned; his fingers were moving just slow enough within you. You sat there silent, breaking your eye contact with him and refusing to fuel his ego anymore. However, Eren can see the way your body responds to him. “You want it that badly? Then beg for it.” He removed his fingers from you hastily as he rose from his kneeling position, so his face and body were hovering over you. He was just high enough that the tip of the key hanging off his change was resting comfortably on your chest. Your fingers reached out for the collars on his shirt as you carelessly pulled him even closer to you, your lips angled towards his ear.

“I’m begging you… Don’t you want a taste of me?” You successfully coaxed Eren into returning to your core, however, it was not his fingers that revisited you but his tongue. Your game of cat and mouse continued on as his tongue explored every single crevice of your pussy, his hands were keeping your thighs spread apart and pinned to the desk. Your back arched higher and higher as you quickly approached your climax, your fingers were tangling themselves into Eren’s hair and your chest rising and falling as you were getting ready to cum. Eren’s tongue was hitting all the right spots, it was as if he could read your body like the back of his hand, someone with barely any experience with your body could still bend and twist it to his will. Your body finally released the cluster of sexual tension that Eren had so diligently built up with within you. As you fell back against the desk, Eren rose from his position again, standing up this time as the pad of his thumb narcissistically grazed the bottom of his lip, cleaning up the excess remains of your orgasm.

“You’re right, I did want a taste.” He buttoned the bottom of his shirt back up and ran his hand smoothly through his hair, a futile attempt at cleaning himself up. You knew he was about to walk out, and you should have known better than to try to stop him, you loathed him at that moment and yet your body and perhaps even your heart was yearning for him.

“Eren.” You sat up quickly and reached out for his arm. He stopped in his tracks, not a word left his lips just his wide, emerald gaze staring at yours. “I think you should fuck me—” Before you’re able to provide any explanation his lips had crashed onto yours, yet he remained standing, his arms were cupping your upper neck as you are pulled up to meet his height. You responded instantly; your arms wrapped around his torso as your tongue eagerly crashed against his own.

His lips met your neck, and you knew he was about to plant a blue and purple reminder of this very moment. Despite Eren’s greedy reaction to your kiss, you could sense his hesitation in his movements, and you’ve experienced this before, he’s going to walk away – again. “I can’t…” He whispered into the crook of your neck, halting for a moment before he pressed one final kiss above your now growing bruise before he straightened himself up and walked out of the door. He didn’t even give you one final glance before leaving you alone on your desk and once again you could see all the colour drain from him as he exits. He was about to return to the same brooding and apathetic person he had become. It was embarrassing that you thought one hate-infused tryst in your room would change that, you were never able to change Eren.

You had barely adjusted to the change in pace, one second ago he was tasting every inch of you and the next he was leaving you dazed and confused on your desk. How quickly the loneliness crept into you, why did you need him around you so badly? Hadn’t you just sworn to yourself that you would resist him, you wouldn’t make the same mistakes that you did before? You forced yourself not to delve into the dark mystery that was Eren’s year away, but you know he wasn’t relaxing and getting back in touch with his brother, he had lost himself, getting himself arrested and God knows what else – but for some reason he’s back now?

[bigskydreaming]

So this is definitely one of my least favorite things to do, because there’s so many people on here that need help, but if anyone has a couple bucks or a five they can spare, that would be an enormous help to me today. 

For those that know my situation, as far as I know, everything is still on track for me to have the lets-pull-all-twenty-eight - of-your-remaining-teeth-at-once-it’ll-be-fun! surgery on Tuesday. I’m reeeeally looking forward to it, and also the Month of Living Without Any Teeth At All while I heal and they figure out the fittings and everything for my bionic teeth or whatever. Everything about it sounds swell. Can’t wait, it’ll be great.

SO. The plan is for me to take the bus out to the desert on Monday afternoon, reenact some of the best scenes from Saw on Tuesday morning while under hopefully heavy sedation, with fingers and toes crossed that these doctors actually listen to me for once about my ridiculous metabolism making most anesthetics wear off super fast. Because. Ugh. Doctors literally never believe me about that which has led to some pretty not cool experiences in the past, but none of those experiences have been yanking out every one of my teeth by the root all in one go, soooooooo, if ever there was a time for them to think maybe I actually know what I’m talking about and make adjustments for that, I’m pretty sure I want this to be that time. 

Thanks to my keen intuition, I have predicted that this whole process is something I probably want to be deeply unconscious for, and during, and tbh, maybe a week or so after that too. But like, I’ll mostly settle for just not waking up when they’re only actually on tooth eight, you know?

If I seem like I’m babbling cuz I’m nervous, its probably cuz I’m babbling cuz I’m nervous. I’m so not kidding about unpleasant experiences with anesthetics in the past, so while this wasn’t actually my reason for making this post, while I’m thinking about it, if anyone wants to also maybe shoot a quick prayer-tweet over to whomever you might personally @ with that kind of thing, I would be super grateful for anything of that nature, like something along the lines of “Dear Merciful Higher Power/Universe/etc, if there’s any way you could see to it that Kalen spends most of Tuesday knocked the fuck out, that would be awesome, thanks!”

Its just, I’m kinda over being in excruciating pain all day every day, like, I gave it a shot, just don’t think its for me, I’m afraid I just don’t have what it takes to be a hardcore raging masochist or whatever, so I’m just really not looking to set any new personal pain records next week if at all possible.

ANYWAY, requests for spamming higher powers on my behalf aside, the other reason for this post is I only have $3 in my bank account and an appointment this afternoon whose co-pay is going to be $50. But I can NOT miss this appointment, its super critical. See, so, the other thing is, my jaw has decided its reached the point where it just doesn’t want to close at all anymore, so I’ve gone from only eating once a day to only eating no times a day, and since I’ve already lost an absurd amount of weight and muscle mass over the last two years because of all this shit, they’ve put me on a regimen of regular IV intakes or whatever that’s called, just to like....get the nutrients I need into me somehow, y’know?  

And especially with the surgery coming up on Tuesday, and my immune system all shot to hell and my various other Vitally Important By-Products of Eating Food levels are low enough to have my doctor using mostly just four letter words when reviewing my latest labs, they’re literally trying to pump me full of as much of the various Nutrients And Other Stuff IVs as they safely can between now and then. And as much as I’ve been pretty much going 24/7 trying to stay afloat with all of this, I just...did NOT budget for needing to be hooked up to an IV every other day because my fucking jaw picked now to level up on being an asshole and like, physically will not cooperate with my attempts to survive on cheap $5 a day meals. 

So instead this week its been $50 co-pays every other day, because apparently when your body for whatever reason literally can’t take in the cheap 7-11 snacks and Happy Meals you usually live off of because That’s How Being Poor Works, it makes total sense that the one and only alternative for keeping your body fueled is to go to this little clinic place that hooks you up like you’re at a gas station, except you’re some kinda pretentious European model that won’t accept any less than the top dollar diesel, because I guess even Bags of Nutrient Water gotta somehow manage to be name brand shit, because yay capitalism. Everything about it is just so efficient and logical and works so well, especially if you’re part of the 99%.

Anyway I’m TRULY sorry I’m all over the place with this, I haven’t taken my ADHD meds because swallowing is the Devil’s Work right now, and also I haven’t had my daily Bag of Nutrient Water yet so my brain is like no I will not be cooperating. To sum up, once I get to next week I’m all set, everything’s in place for the surgery, insurance, I have a place to recuperate, I even already have my bus ticket for Monday purchased, my specific monetary issue right now is I am literally down to my last $3, I am currently physically unable to chew my way through a full meal, so I’m literally just paying co-pays of $50 every other day to spend 45 minutes sitting in a chair while my body sucks life-sustaining nutrient water through a needle. 

That might actually be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever said or heard said and yet its factually 100% true. Our world is so fucking bonkers, jfc.

Literally ANY help getting me to today’s appointment, would be amazing, and then I have one scheduled for Monday morning before I leave, if I can find a way to make that too. And tbh I don’t actually know if one is even an option for tomorrow yet because the clinic I’ve been going to so far isn’t open tomorrow and I’ve yet to hear back if my doctor found somewhere else to send me that I can actually get to. So who the fuck even knows.

So yeah, sorry for making you ping-pong your way through that mess, this is my brain on Empty, like I said, I haven’t had my Bag of Water yet today. But any help is appreciated, whether reblogs, donations or good-thought-tweets for me on Tuesday. I’m a big fan of any of the above. Even $2 or $5 gets me closer to what I need, and if you can’t spare anything or have already sent or are sending what you can spare to another donation post, I totally and completely understand. And again, even just....good thoughts for Tuesday would be awesome, and certainly can’t hurt. I’m not like, worried about the surgery or whatever, its pretty simple, its more just....extensive. And my only real hope or want for it is just keeping the Ow factor as limited as it can possibly be. Whether that’s from the doctors coming through with a good strong hit of the goofy juice or some higher power telling all my nerve endings to take a sick day or just sit this one out, I am so open to either or anything in between or even coming out of left field.

And now I’m done. Thank you. You’re all rockstars, or insert your genre of choice. In conclusion, capitalism sucks, eat the rich, and buy a  bi a bag of water today please. I’m pretty sure there’s a T-shirt slogan in there somewhere, but fuck if I can pin it down.If anyone else does, hey, go nuts with it. I’m literally a bi guy who needs to buy bags of nutrient water every other day right now. That’s so fucking dumb, someone’s gotta be able to milk some mileage out of it.

My Paypal:

https://paypal.me/bigskydreaming?locale.x=en_US

Or if that link doesn’t work, try this one instead:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/bigskydreaming?locale.x=en_US

My Ko-fi page: https://ko-fi.com/kalenp

[whump-tr0pes]

Honor Bound 2 - 48

This is a series. Start here, continued from here. 

This is a sequel to Honor Bound. 

AO3

Cw: chronic pain, discussion of head injury and its symptoms, death mention, parental abuse mention

Isaac shifted on his cot, his shoulder aching against the stiff canvas under him. I wonder if that��s gonna hurt forever? He rolled onto his back, slowly moving his arm in a wide circle, staring at the ceiling that was almost invisible in the dark.

One day. One day, and they were more than halfway there. They weren’t even driving through the night. I guess that’s what happens when we know we can travel on highways going eighty miles an hour, instead of twenty down bumpy back roads.

They were making such good time that they could afford to stay with some of Tori’s contacts, the Silas’s, an older couple who worked for the Andersons as a hired maid and cook. The whole time they’d been working for the Andersons they’d been smuggling people out of the area, up north, out west, anywhere that was safer. Now they were retired, with generous pensions.

Working for the syndicates has to have its perks, I guess.

I’m sure that’s what Vera’s friend Ryan thought.

He could hear Sam’s slow, even breathing in the cot next to them. They can sleep anywhere, at any time, I swear to god.

He could barely hear Gavin’s breathing in the cot to his other side. Which probably meant Gavin was still awake. Staring at the ceiling, just like he was.

There was no way he was going to check if he was right.

The Coopers had been expecting six people, not seven. They had three rooms in the house that could be made into guest rooms with very little notice, and taken down with very little trace. The plan had been to put Finn and Ellis in one room, Isaac and Sam in another, and Vera and Gavin in the third. Isaac had resisted that suggestion up north, but Vera insisted. “I trust him as much as you do,” she’d said in a hushed tone. “If I’m worried about him attacking me in my sleep, we shouldn’t be bringing him south.” Isaac hadn’t argued.

Vera has a very different relationship with Gavin, though.

Not that Isaac had a relationship with Gavin at all. Gavin had been his enemy, and now he wasn’t. There was trust there, but trust that Gavin had earned over several months of proving himself, offering help, providing information. He’d killed the bounty hunters when it would’ve been ridiculously easy to take them all back to his mother. Hell, he could have taken them back to his own hideout to torture them all for himself. But he didn’t. He killed the bounty hunter, and saved them. Even though he knew he’d suffer, for seeing the blood. Even though it would sign his death warrant if he ever set foot in syndicate territory again. Now, he was coming south to risk his life like the rest of them.

I have so much reason to hate him. To distrust him. But I have so much reason to believe him now.

Isaac sighed, covering his face with his hands. How the fuck did we get here? How did we get to the point where Gavin Stormbeck—

He stopped himself. He’s Gavin Uriah now. He smiled in the dark.

“Are you awake?” came Gavin’s whisper.

Isaac froze. Of course Gavin was awake, of course he wanted to talk now. He cleared his throat softly. “Um. No.”

The room was silent for a moment. Then there was a rustling sound as Gavin rolled over. “Okay,” Gavin whispered.

Isaac rolled his eyes, biting his tongue against the question he could feel forming on his lips. I don’t have to talk to him. I don’t have to say anything at all. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but he suddenly thought of Gavin pushing him against the wall, kissing him softly, cradling his face in his hands with a gentleness that made Isaac’s chest ache to remember it. It doesn’t mean anything that I want to be touched like that again. It’s been a while, that’s all.

He drew in a deep breath, rolling his shoulder again in the socket. “What is it?” he whispered.

Another rustle, as Gavin turned over again. “Um…” A pause. “It sounds like you’re hurting.”

Isaac blew out a frustrated breath. “Yeah.”

“Um…” Another rustle. “What’s wrong?”

Why are we talking about this? “It’s my, um… my shoulder.”

Another pause. “What happened to your shoulder? Was it…? I don’t think…?”

Isaac knew the words that followed that. I don’t think I hurt your shoulder when I was torturing you.

Isaac bit his lip. “No,” he whispered. “When we, um… getting out of your warehouse, a door blew up and hit me. Dislocated my shoulder, tore it up.”

Isaac flushed at Gavin’s short intake of breath. “Oh,” Gavin whispered. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t know.”

“It’s whatever. You didn’t do it.” The rest of the scars on my body are from you, but not this one.

“Um…” A long pause. “Did I… Did I shoot you?”

Isaac turned his head towards the sound of Gavin’s voice. “What?”

“Um… Did I shoot you? I think I… um…” A shaky breath. “I think I remember shooting you. When I almost k-killed Sam.” A pause. “The second time.”

“Uh, yeah.” Isaac’s fingers went to the scar on his forearm, to the graze where Gavin had shot him as Isaac forced the gun away from Sam’s head. “Yeah. The bullet hit me.”

“Yeah.” A long, slow exhale. “That’s what I thought.”

Isaac rolled to his side so he was facing Gavin, although he couldn’t see him in the dark. “What do you mean you think you remember?”

There was a pause so long Isaac thought Gavin had fallen asleep. Then, “I… it’s hard for me to remember things right from that day. That week, actually. Before and after. You, um… you broke my face in three places. I had a, um… I’m sorry. You don’t need to hear about this. It’s—”

“I want to know,” Isaac whispered gently. He wasn’t sure why, but it was the truth.

“Okay. Um…” A rustle. “You gave me such a bad concussion I was in a coma for a few days. Tube down the throat, everything. It took me weeks of PT before I could, um… walk again. And a few months until my memory started to work normally. I still have, um, attention problems sometimes. And I still can’t remember a lot of things.”

Isaac’s heart pounded in his chest. “Does that mean… you… don’t remember torturing me?”

“No, I… I remember almost everything. Leo helped me with that, came by and helped me remember. It’s not that I don’t remember, it’s that some things were a little out of order.”

“You had… Leo come back and… remind you how you tortured me?” Isaac’s mouth was dry.

“Um… yeah. I was… kinda pissed at you. And I didn’t like there being parts of my life I couldn’t remember right.” Gavin pulled in a slow breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you all that. I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s okay,” Isaac murmured. He gently massaged the aching muscle in his shoulder. “I, um. I didn’t know all that.” I didn’t know I damaged him, too.

“Yeah, well, I only came out of that with a few scars. I didn’t exactly get the short end of the stick.” Gavin’s voice sounded strange, twisted with bitterness and… guilt. Isaac pressed his lips together, pushing against the knot in his shoulder that had never really gone away after the injury. The room was completely silent, save for Sam’s slow breathing. Isaac’s eyes drifted closed.

“We’re gonna reach Fort Meyers tomorrow,” Gavin whispered.

Isaac groaned quietly. “Yeah.”

“Um… I just want… in case… something happens, in case I don’t get to tell you—”

“Nope,” Isaac rasped. “Don’t do that. This is gonna work.”

“You probably know better than I do that that’s not a guarantee,” Gavin whispered back. “And I just… please, I just want you to know…”

Isaac rolled onto his back, his hands moving through his hair. Fuck it. I already know what he’s gonna say. “Fine. What?”

“Um…” Gavin’s breaths were coming faster now. “I just… wanted to tell you. That I… um… You already know I love you.”

Isaac swallowed hard. “Um. Yeah.”

“Well, I…” Gavin sighed. “Okay, just know that I’m not trying to make anything happen, alright? I’m just telling you this in case I fucking die tomorrow.”

Isaac laughed tightly, shaking his head. Fuck, dude, we might all die tomorrow. “Okay.”

“Well, I…” A deep, shaky breath. “I know that you could never want me, with what I’ve done. Even if I hadn’t hurt Sam. I know you could never want me, because you’re good. But… If there was ever a chance for me to grow up, um, normal, to have never been allowed to hurt people, if I’d never turned into a monster… I would’ve wanted a life with you. And… I’m gonna spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to keep you safe from the syndicates. Even if everything ends tomorrow.”

Isaac lay frozen, stunned. He could hear his pulse in his head, feel his heart beating against his chest. His brain buzzed with disbelief, with shock. Knowing Gavin loved him was one thing. Knowing Gavin loved him like that… was another thing entirely. He didn’t think he’d ever been loved like that before. And to be loved like that by Gavin…

“Sorry,” Gavin whispered, and rolled over again in the dark.

“No, no, I…” Isaac’s voice broke. “Sorry. Um…”

“That was a lot,” Gavin breathed.

“Yeah. But, um… I… I don’t…”

“I told you I wasn’t trying to start anything,” Gavin whispered. “I’m not trying to make anything happen. Okay? I know it won’t. I’m not trying to convince you.”

“I didn’t think you were,” Isaac murmured, his voice almost silent.

“Good,” Gavin huffed. “After everything I’ve done to you, I have no fucking right.”

You didn’t have to convince me to step in front of a bullet for you. “Um, Gavin?”

“Hmm?”

“Uh…” Isaac cleared his throat. “Um… thank you.”

“For what?” Isaac could hear the tremor in Gavin’s voice.

“For… for helping us. I know it’s been hard. I know you didn’t, um… have to.”

“This life is so much better than what I had before, Isaac,” Gavin whispered. “I have a family now. I’ve never had one before. Not really.”

“But—”

“I can’t express to you how much my parents just didn’t fucking care about me, Isaac. Here… yeah, Ellis hates me, and Vera gives me nightmares, but… this is a family. You care about each other. Sam cares about me. Gray cares. Finn cares.”

“I care,” Isaac whispered, the words fading into silence. He clenched his jaw shut. Why did I say that?

“Wh-what?” Gavin breathed.

“Um.” Isaac had to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “I care.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There was a long moment when neither moved. Then Gavin rolled over in the dark, and didn’t say anything else.

The last time I had a conversation like this in the dark, Sam heard the whole thing.

Sam slumbered peacefully next to Isaac, breathing deep and slow.

Continued here

@untilthepainstarts, @womping-grounds, @free-2bmee, @quirkykayleetam, @walkingchemicalfire, @inpainandsuffering, @redwingedwhump, @burtlederp, @castielamigos-whump-side-blog, @insomniacscoprio, @cursedscribbles, @whumpywhumper, @stxck-fxck, @omega-em-z-02, @whumps-the-word, @slaintetowhump, @finder-of-rings, @cinnamonflavoredhugs, @thatsthewhump, @im-just-here-for-the-whump, @orchidscript

[when-they-write-stuff]

Because I know you love your angst: “I’m fucking terrified and I don’t know what to do or how to stop feeling that way, okay? I’m scared…”

Stiles thought this pretty accurately summed up his life. 

The abduction and torture that was. The three weeks spent in darkness and the pain that just kept coming. Stiles felt like this was a pretty normal thing nowadays, much to his loathing.

The token human. The easily kidnappable sidekick.

Stiles Stilinski, ladies and gentlemen.

But then on day twenty-three, there was someone new thrown into the cell next to his.

Stiles didn’t actually see a face or a figure. He just heard the faint sounds of struggle, followed by what could only be growls, and then there was the sound of a door opening, a body hitting the floor, and the door slamming closed again.

Stiles winced, curled up in the corner of his cell. He fiddled with the strings of his hoodie and waited for the footsteps of the hunters to leave, not moving until he was sure they had. Only then did he glance up, cautiously creeping toward the iron wall of his cell and pressing a hand against it.

“Uh… hello?”

Silence was his answer. Stiles curled his fingers against the metal and felt his stomach sink.

“Scott? Liam? One of the other pups?”

He still didn’t get an answer, but Stiles could hear movement from the other cell. He sighed and drew back, curling in on himself again. He’d been here for long enough that he was tired of just about everything. And clearly, this wasn’t one of his friends. But that didn’t mean he had to take another supernatural’s shit.

“You could at least say something, you know,” Stiles said. “Since clearly the hunters have taken both of us and we’re probably in for the long haul. Although I’ve been here longer, so I get seniority.”

“... How long?”

Stiles furrowed his brows at the voice. It was hoarse and definitely male, and there was some part of him that felt like he recognized it. But no matter how hard Stiles wracked his brain, he couldn’t remember from where. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him.

He’d spent over three weeks in the darkness, after all.

“Going in twenty days or so now.”

Stiles knew he heard a growl again. He tilted his head toward the wall of his cell and blinked, once more trying to figure out why it was so familiar. He couldn’t quite place where, but Stiles knew he wasn’t crazy. Or he was pretty sure, at least.

“Uh, random question, dude, but do you have a name?”

The darkness went still and a long moment of silence passed. Once more, Stiles didn’t get an answer. He sighed.

“Well, mine is Stiles. You know, just in case I die here and you’re the last person I end up talking to. Because I’d say I have extremely high hopes that my pack will come rescue me— I’m assuming you’re supernatural, by the way— but they’ve been severely lacking in capabilities lately. So I’m not really feeling too positive anymore.”

“You shouldn’t be telling strangers your name,” the man said after a second. “Or anything about yourself for that matter.”

“Hey,” Stiles half-joked. “We’re not strangers anymore, right? I mean, we’ve both been thrown into the darkness together, even though there’s a very rude wall currently separating us. I would say this is quite the bonding experience.”

“A bonding experience.”

“Oh yeah,” Stiles said. “Studies show that being abducted together makes for lifelong friendships. So, you want to tell me your name so I can put something to the face… err, voice?’

“You don’t want to know my name.”

Stiles blinked a few times at the wall. Then he moved closer and lowered himself to the floor, trying to see through the grates into the next cell. But all he could make out was a pair of black boots. He wrinkled his nose and rested his chin on his hands, letting out a long breath. “Don’t presume to know me, kind sir. I would love to know your name.”

“No, Stiles. You wouldn’t.”

It felt weird, hearing his name for the first time in three weeks. Whenever the hunters came in to interrogate him about Scott’s pack, they just called him ‘boy’ and kicked him around a lot. And they were the only voices he’d heard since he’d been taken from his jeep and thrown in here.

Maybe that’s why the voice of the grump next door sounded so familiar. Stiles’s brain was just trying to give a familiar face to anything except the hunters. 

“I’ll call you Miguel then,” Stiles said after a moment. “That’s usually my go-to nickname. It’s gotten me out of more tight spots before than you’d ever believe.”

He could’ve sworn he heard the man chuckle. “I don’t doubt it.”

Stiles smiled to himself and leaned against the wall. For some reason, even just imagining that there was someone on the other side only a few feet from where he sat comforted him. He felt a little less terrified. A little less alone. 

“Just a quick warning though,” Stiles said. “I talk a lot and ask way too many questions. Before this is all over, you might end up knowing about my entire childhood, all of my lifelong dreams, and every single person I’ve ever fallen in love with only to have my heart broken.”

Stiles heard a sharp intake of breath. His heart skipped a beat or two.

“Unless that’s not okay?”

“No,” Miguel said quietly. “No, that’s okay.”

“Oh good,” Stiles said with a grin. “Because you don’t seem like much of a talker. But that’s okay! I can promise to talk enough for the both of us and then probably some.”

“Have the hunters hurt you?”

The question was so sudden, Stiles’s smile dropped. He reached up and prodded underneath his jaw where one of the men’s knuckles had left a dark bruise only a few hours ago. It still hurt, although Stiles’s entire body hurt at this point. He felt like he’d been living throughout one giant ache these past three weeks.

Miguel seemed to be holding his breath. Stiles lowered his hand and debated either telling the truth or lying; he thought he’d heard fear in the man’s voice. So maybe he feared pain. Maybe he hadn’t experienced the hunters as often as Stiles had.

If that was true, he probably didn’t know what to expect. And Stiles found it hard to make himself tell him.

“No,” he lied. “No, I’ve been fine and dandy. A little lonely, you know, but now I have you! And remember what I said about abduction leading to lifelong friendships—”

“Stiles,” Miguel’s voice cut him off. “I can hear you lying.”

Stiles closed his mouth and slumped a little further into himself. He supposed that cleared up what kind of supernatural creature he was dealing with then, although Stiles had his suspicions from the beginning. “So you’re a werewolf then.”

“Yeah.”

“Bitten or born?”

Miguel didn’t answer. Stiles wet his cracked lips, running a hand through his hair.

“My friend was bitten, but he’s the current true alpha of the Beacon Hills pack. That’s where I’m from, you know. I don’t actually know where we are right now cause the hunters knocked me out pretty good, but I’m sure my friends are coming for me. Or at least, they’re going to try and come for me.”

Silence met his words. Stiles tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, desperately holding onto those words.

“I do believe in him, you know. He’s just… he’s not the same. Not the same as the alpha that used to live in Beacon Hills, that is.”

There was a sudden movement from the other cell. Stiles startled, but then he realized Miguel was only shifting around a little. Relaxing again, Stiles kept talking.

“But that guy has been gone for years now. Four, I think, but I don’t keep count.” Stiles hesitated and then scoffed. “That’s a lie, I totally keep count. I’m pretty sure I’ve counted every damn day since he decided to leave Beacon Hills. I mean… he wasn’t an Alpha when he did, but it still kind of sucks, you know? He kind of sucks.”

“I’m sorry.”

The man’s voice was soft and hoarse and Stiles was surprised at the shiver that ran down his spine at hearing it. He turned his face toward the wall. “Dude, why the hell are you apologizing? It’s not your fault he’s a jerk.”

“A jerk?”

“A jerk, a Sourwolf, a goddamn asshole. I mean, I didn’t ask him not to leave and I probably should have, but still, he left. He left and that was a shit move. No more visits, no more texts. He wasn’t even there when I— er, the pack— graduated. Kinda messed up, you know?”

For a moment he didn’t get an answer. Then there was a soft “I know” and Stiles sighed.

“Sorry, man, I warned you I’d be lamenting all my pains and woes. Hey! Wanna tell me a little bit about yourself? Gimme a favorite color.”

“... Red.”

“Red?”

“Red.”

“I mean, that’s legit,” Stiles said after a moment. Miguel didn’t actually ask the question back but Stiles decided to pretend that he had, furrowing his brows as he thought about his own answer. As if he didn’t already know. “I like red too. But also blue. Blue’s just pretty, you know?”

Stiles could’ve sworn he heard a chuckle. That made him smile a bit.

“So, are you a beta or an alpha? Cause some alpha powers right now would be seriously epic to get us out of this shit—”

“Omega.”

Stiles cut off mid-sentence, snapping his jaw shut. Internally, he cursed himself, and the silence reigned for a moment. Then he chuckled nervously. “Oh, that’s fine too. I mean, at least we got some werewolf muscles, right? I love me some werewolf muscles… that totally came out wrong.”

Stiles definitely heard a chuckle this time. He thought that counted as a win.

“Hey, so if I asked you how you got here—”

But before Stiles could finish his sentence there was a loud bang. He flinched and pulled into himself as the sound of footsteps echoing off the metal floors filled the air. Stiles couldn’t help the pit of dread that formed in his stomach, nor the panic that started to make his throat constrict.

He gasped for breath and buried himself in his hoodie. He’d been going through this for twenty-three days now and it still didn’t get any better. Stiles hated himself a little for the panic that rose up in his throat.

“Hey, hey! Stiles!” 

Stiles blinked a few times and spotted a hand reaching through the grates between their cells. He was reaching for it before he could even think and the feeling of another pulse point underneath his fingers was enough to make Stiles’s own heartbeats slow down a little. He gripped the man’s hand tightly and closed his eyes, chin tucked into his chest as he tried to catch calm, deep breaths.

But then he heard the door of Miguel’s cell open and the man’s hand was yanked away from his.

A whole new level of panic rose in his throat.

Stiles shoved himself up and scrabbled at the wall. The sounds of pained grunts and sharp, gasping breaths filled the air and Stiles couldn’t tell if they were Miguel’s or the hunters, but he had a pretty good idea. Moving toward the door of his own cell, Stiles slammed a fist against it and let loose a litany of curses, not even sure what exactly he was trying to accomplish.

“Hey, asshats, why don’t you try coming for the human, huh? That guy doesn’t know shit about the McCall pack but you know I’ve got all the info—”

He cut off as his cell door swung open and one of the hunter’s familiar faces sneered in. Stiles retreated a few steps back, his heart leaping into his throat, and tried desperately not to regret his words.

“Okay, hold up now, let’s talk about this—”

The hunter caught his arm and dragged him out of the cell and Stiles nearly sobbed at the sudden change of scenery. Daylight streamed from down the nearby corridor and glistened off the floors. Stiles hiccuped as his breaths caught in his throat, but instead of being dragged toward the light, he was pulled away from it.

Stiles barely resisted the urge to thrash and fight back, going limp in the hunter’s hold. The man dragged him into the adjoining cell, where two other hunters already waited, and Stiles didn’t raise his eyes until he was dropped to the floor, knees cracking on the cement.

And when he did look up, eyes meeting the grey-green ones of the man curled up in the cell’s corner, Stiles’s heart stopped.

Four years.

That was the first thought that entered his mind. 

It had been four years since Stiles had seen such a vivid grey-green color and it had been four years since he’d laid eyes on Derek Hale’s face. Even now, with blood running from a split lip and pain cracking through in his eyes, Stiles recognized Derek like the day he’d left Beacon Hills. He had a slightly scruffier beard, clothes that were ripped and hanging off of one shoulder, and lips twisted back in a grimace, yes, but it was him all the same.

Four years.

Stiles’s knees nearly buckled beneath him.

His second thought was Miguel and that really shouldn’t have made a humorless laughter bubble up in his throat. But Stiles couldn’t help wondering if he was seeing things. Because of all the people that he could’ve seen in the cell, Derek Hale wouldn’t have even made the list.

The hunter shoved him forward and Stiles sprawled to the floor near Derek’s side. The man snarled and tried to rise, but another kick to the ribcage had him doubling back over.

It was then that Stiles noticed the glowing blue bullet embedded in his arm. And the black lines creeping up his skin.

Stiles drew away, shying into himself. And if possible, Derek’s eyes cracked even more.

“The McCall alpha,” one of the hunters hissed, learning close to Stiles’s ear so the words tickled his skin. “Or the Hale mutt. You have twenty-four hours to decide.”

Stiles’s heart stuttered and the man laughed as he drew away. The door slammed as the three hunters filed out back out and as darkness fell over the cell, the silence returned once more.

There was no more sunlight.

Derek shifted with a soft groan and Stils scrambled away, back slamming into the opposite corner. The man looked at him quietly, one hand pressed to the wound in his arm, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“Stiles—”

“Don’t.”

Derek’s face twisted. He tried to sit up even more but only groaned again, slipping back down to the floor. The cut on his lip wasn’t healing, Stiles noticed. His face was unnaturally pale. 

Stile’s stomach twisted and he felt nauseous. ‘Four years’ kept ringing through his head. Glancing down at his hands, Stiles unconsciously counted his fingers before feeling sick again. He had ten. There were ten.

This was real.

“Miguel,” Stiles scoffed, still staring at his hands. “Goddammit, Derek, I hate you so much.”

The man flinched. Stiles closed his eyes.

“How soon did you know?”

“The moment I caught your scent.”

“And if I would’ve died in that cell, would you have told me first?”

“Would you have wanted to know?”

Stiles clenched his teeth so hard they gnashed. He didn’t realize he was trembling until he was curled in on himself again; and it wasn’t from the cold. “Why, Derek?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you here?”

For a long moment, Derek didn’t answer. When Stiles opened his eyes again, the man’s gaze was fixed firmly on the floor. He looked shaky, fragile. Stiles couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognized his voice before. He knew Derek. Or at least, he had four years ago.

But a lot of things had changed between eighteen-year-old Stiles and now. He’d done four years at MIT and then he’d done a summer of training underneath his dad’s section at the station. Though Stiles still didn’t know what the hell he wanted to do with himself, wandering aimlessly from thing to thing.

He’d graduated with a master’s in criminology. He kind of hated it.

He kind of hated everything about the past four years.

“How are you here, Derek?” Stiles asked again. “How the hell did you find me when my own pack couldn’t?”

Derek flinched. Stiles’s stomach twisted.

“Did Scott send you?”

“I haven’t been in contact with Scott since I left.”

“... Did my dad?”

Derek looked confused and Stiles shrugged, dropping his gaze again. 

“He doesn’t think very much of Scott’s pack anymore. I’d always thought he had outside contacts, but I could never be sure.”

“No, Stiles,” Derek said quietly. “Your father didn’t send me.”

Stiles looked at him pleadingly. Derek swallowed once more and then shifted again, face twisting in pain. When he glanced up, grey-green eyes glowed blue and Stiles felt it like a tug to the gut. Something latching around his chest and pulling.

“I just knew.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, Stiles.”

Stiles clenched his jaw and looked sharply away. Derek’s sharp breaths filled his ears like a ringing alarm and he realized suddenly that they were on a ticking clock. Twenty four hours or Scott’s pack.

Scott’s pack… his pack. The pack. Whatever it was, they were in trouble.

If he tried to save Derek’s life, that was.

As if the man could read his thoughts, Derek’s eyes flicked back up and he looked pained. But not just because of the bullet wound currently festering in his arm. His lips were cracked. Blood continued to dribble down his chin. “It’s okay, Stiles.”

Anger rushed up in Stiles’s throat. He was on his feet in a second.

“No, Derek, it’s not okay! None of this okay, dude, don’t you understand that? I’ve just been asked to choose between Scott’s pack and you. You, who I haven’t seen in four years and just admitted to thinking about nearly every other day? Do you understand how truly not-okay all of this is? I can’t be expected to choose, asshole! I can’t— I can’t—”

Stiles stumbled and slumped back to the floor again, pulling his knees into his chest. His entire body was shaking now.

“I just got you back. I can’t lose you again.”

Derek blinked at him. Stiles scoffed humorlessly and glanced at the man’s arm where the bullet was still glowing blue.

“Need me to attempt to cut that off for you, Sourwolf? Because I’ve grown and matured since we first met. I think I could attempt as long as it didn’t involve using my teeth or something.”

A rare smile tugged at the edges of Derek’s lips. “I thought you fainted at the sight of blood.”

“Only at the sight of a chopped off arm.”

Some of Derek’s smile faded. Stiles hesitated where he sat and then pushed himself back up and moved forward, sinking down next to Derek’s uninjured side. The man radiated heat like a furnace and Stiles couldn’t tell if that was the werewolf or the wound. He was scared to think that he might know that answer.

“We have twenty-four hours to get out of here, Sourwolf.”

“You’ll have longer than that.”

“No,” Stiles said, voice cracking. “No, because you’re not going to die and I’m not going to give you up. We figured it out the first time, Sourwolf, we can figure it out again.”

“The first time we weren’t trapped in a metal cell.”

“Yes, but the first time we were relying on Scott to come through.”

“And we’re not doing that now?”

Stiles’s smile slipped. He glanced down at his hands and realized the truth in Derek’s words. Except this time, he really didn’t think Scott was going to make it in time. And the choice to save Derek’s life was much more costly than it had been before.

“I could always tell them small things,” Stiles said softly. “Numbers maybe. I could make up names and—”

“If they realize you’re lying to them, they’ll kill you.”

“And if I give them what they want, they’ll most likely kill me anyway.”

Derek’s face tightened, but he didn’t argue with that. Stiles leaned against his shoulder and swallowed hard, still not quite able to believe that this was Derek. This was Derek next to him, the man Stiles had thought about for four years. The same man he’d tried so hard to forget.

He’d failed each time.

“I can’t lose you again,” Stiles said quietly. “Derek, you can’t ask me to do that.”

“I’m sorry.”

Stiles’s stomach clenched as he glanced over. Derek studied his face and then dropped his gaze, eyes flickering blue. 

“I was going to come back,” he murmured. “But then Scott had a pack and everything seemed to be going well—”

“Derek,” Stiles said. “Derek, what the hell do you think I was talking about earlier? Everything’s not going well. We could use you. We need you. ” Or maybe just Stiles needed him. But he was terrified to say that out loud.

“Stiles, I can’t go back to Beacon Hills.”

It hit like a blow to the chest. Derek blinked at him and Stiles slowly lowered his gaze, a knot forming in his throat. “Oh.”

 “Not because of you,” Derek said softly. “Not because there’s no longer anything left for me. But I’ve been traveling. Meeting other packs, sometimes going back to see Cora. I don’t have a pack in Beacon Hills anymore. I don’t... have a family.”

“And if you did?”

The words slipped out before Stiles could stop them. Derek gave him a startled look and Stiles dropped his gaze, silently cursing himself.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “Nevermind.”

“Stiles—”

“Derek,” he said, cutting the man off. “Derek, I’m fucking terrified right now and I don’t know what to do or how to stop feeling that way, okay? I don’t know if we’re going to make it out alive or if we’re both going to die here. And I’m scared, but I don’t want—”

And suddenly, the man was kissing him.

It was gentle and cautious at first. But the moment Stiles pressed back, Derek was running his good hand through Stiles’s hair and pulling him in closer, kissing him like a drowning man searching for air. Stiles was pretty sure he’d made a sharp noise at the back of his throat but he couldn’t be sure. The only thing he could concentrate on was Derek; the smell of him, the taste, and the feel. 

Stiles had imaged Derek’s departure countless times. Maybe he would’ve moved forward and kissed the man before he could wish them goodbye. Maybe he would have tracked him down and dragged him straight back to Beacon Hills, refusing to let him leave.

And maybe… maybe he would have followed. Maybe he would’ve taken Derek’s hand and left with him, and the rest of the pack could’ve stopped to digest all of that.

Stiles was pretty sure they were going to die here. So he kissed the man with all his pains and regrets and tried to pretend they weren’t locked in a cell together, the ticking clock hanging right above their heads.

Stiles could feel it again. That tug in his gut, that rope around his heart. Pulling like he was a magnet and his landing place was only inches away. Derek felt like a place to meet in the middle. Derek felt like an anchor.

An anchor.

And maybe the complete opposite.

Stiles thought he could hear distant footsteps. The ringing of faraway doors opening and voices slowly growing nearer. Panic coiled in his stomach like the terror rising in his throat.

“Derek,” Stiles said, gasping around his lips. “Derek, I need you to do something for me. I need you to do something.”

The man nipped at his lower lip, mouth trailing down his neck. Stiles gasped and grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling Derek closer to his skin. The man’s mouth lingered on the nape of his neck and Stiles gripped his hair tighter.

“Derek, do that. I need you to do that.”

He could feel hot breaths against his skin, Derek’s heartbeat pounding through his chest, and the man hesitating for a moment; waiting. Stiles made a low noise as the back of his throat and moved his hand down to cup the back of Derek’s neck.

“Derek, please.”

When teeth met the skin between Stiles’s neck and shoulder, they were gentle. Cautious. But then they got sharper, fangs elongating and sliding through skin. Stiles winced and tried to smother a small groan at the back of his throat, but he couldn’t quite. Derek tensed and Stiles rubbed a thumb over the back of his neck, tightening his hold a little.

The feeling in Stiles’s gut moved to coil in his stomach. Like fire racing through his veins, feeling blood trickle down his neck. Stiles closed his eyes and focused on it. Derek’s mouth left his shoulder and his nose traced up his neck, underneath his chin and when lips met his own again, Stiles could taste blood.

It hit him like a blow to the chest.

Stiles gasped and yanked back, hand-clapping to the wound on his neck. Derek startled too, pulling away and when Stiles’s eyes snapped back open, the man’s own flashed blue.

Derek’s lips parted, eyes widening a little. Stiles blinked at him and tried to talk, but his tongue felt heavy.

“Stiles,” Derek said softly. “Red.”

Red.

Voices filled the air. A door slammed, another one opened, and then light flooded into the cell. Stiles leaped up as the hunters moved forward but then the man coming at him froze. In his hands, the taser slipped and then dropped. He retreated a step backward.

“What the hell?”

“Twenty four hours,” Stiles said, stepping forward. The man’s face drained of blood and he stumbled back toward his friends. The air filled with the sound of guns cocking. “You really think you should’ve given us twenty-four hours?”

“Get back, boy.”

“I have a question,” Stiles said, leaning down to pick up the taser and turning it over in his fingers. “How much electricity can the human body take?”

“Put that down.”

“This,” Stiles said, wiggling it through the air. “Has fifty thousand volts. I wrote a paper once, you know. For fun. And most humans… most humans can’t take more than a hundred thousand. But that means this isn’t much use to you, doesn’t it?”

“Shoot him!”

Derek snarled from the side. Stiles looked at him, eyes flashing, and the man’s glowed blue in return. Stiles smiled, one word ringing through his ears.

Anchor.

He turned back toward the hunters right as the sound of loading guns filled the air, and Stiles dropped down, slamming a palm against the floor as sparks leaped off of his hand. They raced across the floor, rebounding off the metal walls, and actively sought out any beating heart in front of him.

Gunshots turned to shouts. Shouts turned to screams.

Blood roared through Stiles’s ears. Trickled down his shoulder. Dripped onto the floor, inches from his hand, and sizzled in the heat.

“Fifty thousand,” he murmured to himself, slowly lifting his eyes. “I’d say this is about five hundred thousand or so.”

By the time silence had fallen back over the cell, Stiles felt a little bit faint. The air smelled like burnt flesh and his sight was a little blurry. He still managed to rise to his feet, glancing over his shoulder, and Derek met his gaze with wide eyes.

But Stiles couldn’t find any fear in them. Just wild, dilated shock. He smiled a little and leaned shakily against the wall.

“Guess chopping off an arm won’t be necessary.”

“Stiles—”

The man moved forward but then collapsed, dropping to one knee. Stiles was rushed to his side before he could stop himself, his own world spinning a little. The lines of black had moved to creep up Derek’s neck and he hissed as he pressed a hand against the wound, face terrifyingly pale.

“Stiles, bullet—”

It hit him hard and Stiles scrambled sideways, shaking a wolfsbane bullet out of the nearest gun. He ripped the top off between his teeth, shook the powder into his hand, and then gave Derek an apologetic look before shoving his palm against the man’s wound.

Derek howled and arched into Stiles’s chest, face turning into his neck. Stiles pulled him close and they both sunk to the ground, until Derek’s panting died down to a soft gasp or two and his chest was no longer rising and falling so rapidly.

Stiles still held onto him, holding the man trembling in his arms. Derek whined softly at the back of his throat.

“That should do it.”

“You’re okay?”

“Other than the agonizing pain?”

“Well,” Stiles said, chuckling a little. “The ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health.”

“Shut up, Stiles,” Derek huffed. Stiles grinned.

“So, I guess we’re not relying on Scott to come through.”

The man stilled. Derek turned his head and glanced up to search his face. Stiles nervously wet his lips and Derek dropped his gaze again. “I still can’t come back to Beacon Hills, Stiles.”

“Because—”

“Pack, Stiles. I’m not part of Scott’s pack. I don’t think I’ll ever want to be.”

Stiles held him for a moment longer. Then he leaned forward and touched his lips against the man’s forehead and when Derek glanced back up again, Stiles smirked. Sparks danced over his fingers and his eyes flashed; Derek’s glowed blue in return. The man swallowed, his words coming out in a hoarse whisper.

“Red, Stiles.”

“And you know blue’s just pretty.”

“Stiles—”

“Come back,” Stiles said. “Derek, come back for me.”

The man studied his face for a moment longer. And then once more, Derek was kissing him, no hesitation or cautiousness to it this time. Stiles chuckled at the back of his throat, making the man growl. One hand tangled through Derek’s hair. Another cupped the back of his neck.

Stiles could’ve sworn he heard the word ‘Alpha’ whispered behind Derek’s mouth. His heart skipped a beat or two.

Twenty-four days, a handful of dead hunters, and one slight love confession later, Stiles saw daylight again. Derek leaned against his side, Stiles bit back a soft sob, and the dawning sun tipped on the horizon, hints of scarlet and blue coloring the sky.

Stiles had thought this all pretty accurately summed up his life a few weeks ago. The abduction and torture that was. He felt like this was a pretty normal thing nowadays, much to his loathing.

But not anymore. There was no token human. No easily kidnappable sidekick. There was the boy and his wolf. The spark and the omega.

Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale.

- -

This was planned at 1k-2k words. Then it became 5k. I completely blame the prompt but I honestly had so much fun with it ;)

(if you enjoy my writing, consider supporting your underpaid student writer? You can also request a prompt if you’d like!). https://ko-fi.com/rh27writer

[pinnithin-writes]

Good Jokes

Chapter 19

Stars wheeled above Tommy’s head in constellations he didn’t recognize. His eyes slowly fell into focus, and they moved sluggishly as he tracked the dust motes swimming in front of his nose. The nausea was gone, replaced with a strange lightness in his limbs; an airy, detached feeling he wasn’t quite sure he enjoyed. When he raised his head to look around, his body responded several beats slower than he’d like.

So this was Xen. It… didn’t look like much. Tommy had been deposited on a hunk of floating rock in the middle of a nebulous void, clustered around other asteroids rotated and spun like tortoises. It was unnaturally small, he noted. There was no way the hordes of aliens that had flooded Black Mesa had originated here. Spatially speaking, it was impossible.

But Tommy had just lived through an entire week of the impossible, and his survival depended on suspension of disbelief. He watched the landmasses floating past as he flicked through his thoughts. The ground beneath him had a light, chalky texture. Tommy skimmed his palms across the surface in an attempt to ground himself.

He felt untethered in a dangerous way. Vulnerable and exposed and… something frighteningly new.

Mortal.

It was very likely he could die here, he realized. Die for real. Die and not come back. Die with real consequences. His heart was delayed in its reaction, thumping out an anxious rhythm that was too slow to be natural. He was stretched out like taffy here, and if he broke it would end him permanently. Tommy was suddenly very, very afraid.

He forced his limbs to move, pushing himself into a sitting position with an effort that was worrying. Dr. Coomer had made it through -  he was dangling his legs contemplatively over the edge of the rock they were floating on - as had Gordon, who was casting a wide-eyed stare at their surroundings, too awed for words. Bubby was nowhere to be seen, but Tommy was too busy wrestling against the static in his body to spare the prototype much concern.

He couldn’t lose it here. Not now. His pulse was thin and rabbity and oh so mortal, but if Tommy started freaking out in this unreal and dangerous plane, he’d surely die.

In that moment, Gordon wheeled and caught Tommy’s gaze, giving him a brief pass for injury before fixing on his face. “This is fucking crazy,” he breathed. “I can’t believe this is real.”

Tommy swallowed and managed a weak nod. No, he would not be dying on this planet. Look around, he thought, figure it out, build a solid foundation on fact. He drew in a steadying breath.

There was - somehow - an atmosphere on Xen, which Tommy deduced from the lack of boiling in his eyeballs, as well as a decent amount of oxygen, evident from Gordon being able to speak without instantly suffocating. The guy really should have put the helmet of his suit on before entering the portal, he thought distractedly. Gordon didn’t seem to be experiencing the same slowness in his limbs as Tommy was, which was good. Better to have one barely capable teammate than an entire downed crew.

They were short a member, though. Tommy didn’t miss the worried trill in Coomer’s voice when he said, “I haven’t seen him since we… I - I don’t know.”

“Oh no,” Gordon muttered. He passed another narrowed glance around them. “Where’s Benrey?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Where had the entity gone, exactly, now that he was no longer bound by the structural laws of Earth’s plane? A dark premonition told Tommy they would be playing on his turf while they were here on Xen. Best to tread lightly. Shouldn’t be too hard, considering the gravity level.

Gordon shaded his eyes against the glow of the nebulas around him. “Did you see that?” he murmured.

“See what, Gordon?” Coomer asked.

Tommy heard a sharp intake of breath, a shift of dry gravel as Gordon took a step back. “Whoa.”

He flicked his gaze up at what had alarmed the man, and sucked in a startled gasp of his own.

Benrey had ballooned to a grotesquely colossal size, hovering nearby with that same placid smile stretched across his mouth. Uneasy, Tommy scrambled to his feet, and immediately was forced to double over from the sudden rush of blood to his head. The entity’s eyes, two gelatinous circles of yellowed flypaper, rolled from Gordon to Tommy. His lip curled back to reveal his jagged grin, each individual tooth the length of a fully grown man.

“What?” Gordon harshed out in disbelief.

Dr. Coomer, wholly put off, only uttered a small, “oh.”

Head spinning, Tommy managed to stand to his full height and draw his rifle from his shoulder. He made the mistake of catching the entity’s gaze and rapidly looked away. Okay, no, yeah, the nausea was back.

Gordon held out a hand defensively. “Hey, man,” he began.

The force of Benrey’s voice shook the platform they stood on. “Yo.”

Gordon fought valiantly to remain calm, but Tommy could detect the panic running a cold undercurrent beneath his voice. “What’s up? You look a little - you look kinda… big, there.”

Benrey’s enormous shoulders rolled in a shrug. “I’ve been tellin’ you to go back. I dunno man, you’re not listening to me. It kinda hurts.”

“Why do you want us to go back? What is happening?” Gordon asked. His face quickly hardened from shock to indignation as his brain began piecing together the facts. “Hold on. Hold on. Hold on,” he growled. “I was fucking right. It’s you, man!”

Benrey’s lips, if possible, stretched thinner as his grin widened. “Yo, it’s me!” he affirmed, buffeting them with his breath. “What’s up?”

Tommy covered his mouth and nose with one hand while Gordon sliced his arm in a threatening arc. “Don’t come any closer. Stay at that distance,” he warned.

Benrey’s mile-wide smile didn’t waver. “What the hell, man?” he asked. “Why are you freaking out?

“Because this is insane!” Gordon barked. He tore his eyes away from the creature to cast a worried look at the boxer beside him. “Dr. Coomer, what do we do?”

A tense few seconds of silence passed. Coomer’s voice was quiet when he responded. “Gordon. I’m scared.”

Gordon pivoted anxiously to Tommy again, who had managed to aim his rifle at Benrey. “Tommy. Tommy,” he hissed.

He darted him a look. “Yeah?”

“Make a run for it, okay? I’m gonna distract him.”

Tommy frowned. Like hell he would. If Gordon thought Tommy would leave his side after everything they’ve already faced, the man was dumber than he thought. He gave a sharp shake of his head and Gordon turned away with a sigh.

The entity was still watching them with a predatory expectancy. Gordon made another attempt to act like it was normal to speak with a man so large his mouth was a cave. “Hey what’s y - ah, what’s your favorite - what’s your PlayStation 3 gamer, uh gamertag-” he fumbled, muttering under his breath. “Do they call it gamertag? I dunno. I dunno, man. What’s your na-”

Benrey’s grin fell into an amused smirk. “That’s private information,” he answered. “You shouldn’t be asking that.”

“...‘Kay,” Gordon responded flatly. He returned his attention to a despondent Coomer. “How do we get him out of here? I feel like if we move he’s gonna fuckin’ eat us, or something.”

That made the entity laugh, vibrating the asteroid they were standing on. “Wanna kiss?”

Gordon startled backwards. “No!”

He scrambled away just as Benrey drifted closer, taking a flying leap from one platform to the one adjacent in what was far too great a distance to be natural. Tommy watched Gordon skid with all his weight on one foot as he adjusted to the gravity, and once he was certain of a safe landing, he grabbed Dr. Coomer and they made the jump together.

Gordon was still shouting at Benrey as they touched down. “You can stay there. You can stay there. Over there-”

“Yo, come back,” came Benrey’s distant whine.

“No,” Gordon bit back, insistent.

Tommy helped Coomer to a steady standing position and brushed the dust off his lab coat. A pointless action, perhaps, considering how crusted it was already with dried blood and alien gore, but Tommy was more focused on the scientist’s hollow stare as he tapped his shoulder in a “you good?” manner.

Dr. Coomer met his eyes and gave a very slow nod. His grip on his weapon was shaking.

Benrey, further back, swam lazily through the stardust as he basked in Gordon’s attention. “Man, we used to be great friends,” he said.

Tommy scoffed. He’d heard this one before.

“We were never friends,” Gordon barked. “We were never friends. There was maybe-”

“Remember those days where we played - we were playin’ in the sand and in the mud, we played in the mud all the time? Great friends.”

Gordon looked to Tommy, who managed to roll his eyes. Being the size of the house didn’t change Benrey’s tendency to act like a complete ass, it seemed, though Tommy’s nerves were still alight with apprehension as the creature stared them all down.

“I don’t think - I have a - you are forging these memories, dude,” Gordon went on, backpedaling quickly as Benrey lurched closer. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit.”

God, he really looked awful at this size. Tommy’s instinct to keep an eye on the most immediate threat warred with the revulsion of seeing an almost-human with pores the size of mailboxes. He shook out his right hand, then his left, as if that could get rid of the crawling feeling on his skin. Benrey blinked, slow and wet, at the three of them.

“Hug?” he asked.

Gordon made a noise that could only be described as “fuck no” and booked it.

As they hopscotched across the levitating platforms, Tommy gradually gained his bearings, adjusting to the weightlessness and the loose grasp this plane held on the laws of matter. Feeling a bit more oriented (but not an iota safer), he was able to notice more detail in the architecture here. The spires that lanced into the milky starlight above were definitely otherworldly, but a few features in this plane were recognizable to Tommy, such as a support beam in the shape of a lava lamp, and… were these Pop Rocks under his shoes?

Another rock formation swam past and he leapt lightly across the gap. Gordon was connecting a dotted path toward the largest landmass in this nebulous thing that passed for a planet, putting as much distance between himself and the entity as possible.

“Okay. Okay,” He huffed. “So, I guess Bubby - we have to forget about him because we have more pressing matters on hand right now.”

Coomer deflated vizibly at this notion, but he said nothing. They kept moving.

Now that Tommy was looking for it, he caught a number of other items from Earth in this plane. Busted copies of old video games, value sized bags of sweets, and other assorted oddities dotted the landscape, fusing and unfusing with the skeletal architecture like Xen was some kind of extraplanar bowerbird nest. He blinked with disorientation as he struggled to track it all. These were all things Benrey liked, he concluded, and suspicion coiled in Tommy’s stomach. Perhaps he had underestimated how much influence the entity held over this plane. It was probably best not to discount how easily he could kill them all here.

Gordon was in the same vein of thinking. “We have to get away from whatever the hell Benrey is,” he warned them, before lamenting to himself, “Why, why, why, why? Why is this my life? Why does it have to be this way?”

Tommy wasn’t sure if Gordon intended for the others to hear him, so he only grimaced and shot the man a sympathetic look in response. The whites of his eyes were showing stark in that frightened, deerlike way. He was terrified, but still somehow holding it together.

“Is he gone?” Gordon asked, right as the entity loomed into view. “Oh god. Oh god. Hide from him!” he hissed, throwing out a frantic gesture. “Tommy, get out - get out of sight! Don’t let him see y-”

Tommy’s position didn’t seem to matter that much, as the entity kept his luminous gaze on Gordon exclusively. “I can see wherever you go, friend!” Benrey boomed. “I have scans of your feet as well!”

“I don’t want you to have those!” Gordon replied, vaulting over the edge of the structure onto a nearby rock formation. “And they told me you didn’t!”

“Stop right there, Mister Gordon Feetman.”

Benrey leaned in close as the platform swung past him. Gordon stood tall and fired on the creature with all he had, even while trembling in his boots, and Tommy loved him for his fearlessness.

The entity seemed content to play with his food for now, taking the gunfire without so much as a flinch while the platform circled away from him. As Gordon, panicked and gasping for air, slid out of range, Benrey turned his glistening smile on Tommy and Dr. Coomer. His chin and neck were honeycombed with bullet wounds, and blood slid slow and thick down into the collar of his uniform.

Benrey winked at Tommy. Tommy racked his rifle in response, though fear was furrowing bone-deep in his limbs. Getting killed by this guy in the ass end of space would be a pretty embarrassing way to die, all things considered.

His attention was ripped away by Gordon charging past them, arm raised to fire. Tommy wheeled and met the wave of peeper puppies skittering toward them. He took aim and shot them down one by one as they approached, reminding himself to be conscious of the weightlessness in his body and the pulse in his neck that could be stopped in a second. You’re mortal. You’re mortal. You can’t slip up here.

Through the pepper of gunfire, Tommy heard Gordon utter a bewildered, “Bubby! What?”

Coomer popped the last alien with a slug of lead and snapped his attention to Gordon. He was staring, puzzled, at a static point on the ceiling a few yards away. Tommy looked, too, blinking through spatial disorientation as a full-sized Hot Wheels car phased through the prototype’s body. Bubby dropped from the stalactite he was clinging to, stumbling to an unsteady landing on their level.

Coomer exhaled in audible relief at the sight of him.

Bubby adjusted his glasses and dusted himself off, as if that bizarre entrance had all been planned. “God dammit, I thought I was out of there.”

Gordon’s gun arm hung in limp confusion at his side. “What just happened? Did you just turn into a car?”

A beat of silence passed as asteroids skimmed around them like pontoons.

“Look,” Bubby muttered, tossing an awkward look at the vehicle over his head. “We all have secrets.”

As Dr. Coomer pulled the other scientist into a hug, Benrey leered around the corner, aiming his yellow, pointed smile at them. The four of them hurriedly clambered through one of the cracks in the chalky stone walls and out of the monster’s line of sight.

The odds and ends Tommy had been seeing were tangled up in a scattered nest inside. He stepped gingerly over knotted shoelaces, a broken plasma ball, and sixteen copies of FIFA 08 as he followed the others toward the glowing teleporter in the cavern’s center. It hummed lowly, spiderwebbed between pillars, far more organic than the portals Tommy was accustomed to.

“What are these?” Gordon breathed. “There’s way more to this than we knew, huh?”

“The alien landforms here are beautiful,” Coomer intoned sarcastically.

Tommy crunched over broken glass and bottlecaps as he circled the room. Had Benrey taken them… home? Was this his home? How long had he been collecting this stuff? Tommy was having difficulty reconciling the two vastly different environmental factors of this place, alien and terrestrial, while Gordon and Bubby debated the safety of the teleporter.

“Well, either you’re stranded in an alien world, or you’re sent somewhere safe, or you’re instantly killed by it,” Bubby reasoned flatly. “So, take your pick.”

In that moment, Benrey’s face squeezed between the rock like flesh through cheesecloth, and Gordon pulled Tommy by the wrist through the portal before they could vomit at the sight of it.

Chapter 18 <-----> Chapter 20

[philosophorsfosterhome]

Something about Noodles and Love

Show: Tales of Arcadia Characters: Celeste Millway(OC), Hisirdoux Casperan Word Count: 2332 Summary: Hisirdoux is confronted with the fact he may have a problem with noodles.

Okay so, this one is legit just me distracting myself from a slight trigger i put on myself the other day, and it’s absolutely nothing but pure fluff. Please bear with me, i just needed to feel good inside

   “I'm home!” Douxie called out as he entered the house. A kinda small house, but the perfect size still. He heard laughter from the living room, the sound got closer and Celeste stood in the doorway to the entrance.

   “You've been gone, for fifteen minutes Douxie” she laughed and leaned against the door frame.

   “Aw come on, indulge me” he said with a smile and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulder. “I'm home~” he said softly and kissed her forehead.

   “Welcome home love” she chuckled and kissed his cheek. “Did you get the snacks?” she grabbed the grocery bag and looked inside it.

   “I tried to remember everything, but I also got-”

   “Some fucking cup noodles oh my god Hisirdoux I thought you were trying to stop” she laughed and took the noodles out. “these aren't even the good expensive ones! Douxie these are literally just air!”

   “Aw come on! I've kept myself clean for a whole two days! Not a single noodle have I eaten” he grabbed his girlfriend and swung her around. She squealed and tried to keep him from getting the noodles from her hands. A little difficult seeing as how all of his limbs had a distinct advantage of being significantly longer.

   “We have, a whole fridge full of food! Leftovers even! You just have to chuck them in the microwave!” Celeste got out of his grip and managed to snatch the noodles back. “you promised you'd try to stay away from Noodles for a week! At this point it's like you're actually addicted”

   “Two days is almost a week!”

   “It's like under a third of a week!” Celeste ran through the house with the noodles in her arms. “I'm locking these up before you can eat them!”

   “Oh no you don't!” Hisirdoux took off after her, long limbs almost getting tangled up and making him fall over himself. He could hear her squealing with delight as he chased her. He couldn't for long though, somehow it seemed he ran out of gas too fast.

   “That's what you get for existing on nothing but instant noodles!” Douxie had lost sight of her but he knew exactly where she was once he had the thump of a shutting safe door.

   “Aw come on!” he made it to their bedroom and saw her proudly standing by the small magical safe she had on her desk. “how many noodles do you have in there by now?” he walked over and tried opening the door. He knew the code, sadly he had no idea what infernal spell she'd managed to put on it that kept him from actually opening it.

   “Enough to feed all of Asia at this point” Hisirdoux felt a little better when he realized she was out of breath as well.

   “It's not that bad” he scratched the back of his head. He couldn't be that addicted to noodles, could he?

   “Not that bad? Douxie, Douxie” she laughed and patted the safe. “there's practically nothing but noodles in this! I've had to empty it to make room for more noodles”

   “Wait did you just throw them out?” Douxie was somewhat offended. Both that his girlfriend would toy with his noodles like that, and that she'd just waste food in such a way.

   “Of course not” Celeste rolled her eyes. “I gave them to Jim, and it was just the cheap generic ones, Malai eats those like chips”

   “Oh so when your sister wants to eat crunched noodles like it's cereal it's Okay, but when I wanna do it I 'have a problem' and 'need to cut down on my sodium intake'” he put up his fingers for air quotes and put on a thick sarcastic tone. Although he couldn't keep a straight face. Both him and Celeste laughed, he even saw her wipe her eyes a bit.

   “The difference, my dear boyfriend, is that Malai... actually eats a varied diet alongside the noodles” she faked a gasp and put her hand in front of her mouth. Douxie just rolled his eyes and pulled her close. “Not to mention that uh, Jim, is the one cooking for her usually? You know, the best fucking cook in Arcadia”

   “Don't let Mr. Benoit hear you say that, he might fire me for it” he chuckled. Celeste just rolled her eyes dramatically. “but like, seriously, how many noodles have you given away?”

   “Oh my god” she snorted and pushed at his chest. “Relax, I check the thing weekly for expired or expiring noodles and I give those away, I'm not that cruel”

   “I think I'd beg to differ, you are keeping me away from my drug of choice”

   “Oh so you admit you have a problem?”

   “... Alright, you got me there, i'll give you that one” he let go of her and held his hands up in defeat. “Maybe, just maybe, I do need to cut down on the noodles, in my defense it's the only thing I've known how to cook for, let's say a good few decades” he looked at the safe again. He knew there were some noodles in there he really wanted to eat. He heard Celeste sigh. She seemed to have noticed his longing stare at the safe.

   “Listen” he instantly whipped his head to look at her. This was the sort of tone that told him he was about to be given a rare gift, a gift from the goddess herself.   Mercy.

   “One fucking pack” Celeste held up one finger. “One pack today, maybe another tomorrow, but only one pack a day, maximum, and no that's not accumulative, i'm not gonna let you fast for a week and then overdose every Sunday”

   “Sou say that like I do that all the time”

   “Hey, guess what, you would, I know you Casperan” She opened up the safe door and stuck her whole arm in there. The safe itself wasn't that big. Honestly it couldn't be, as it was situated on top of a standard wooden desk. He knew she'd enchanted it to hold a lot more than it should be able to, like the weird safe Merlin had in his study at Camelot way back when.   Although this one had a different lock system, one Hisirdoux had yet to crack. And when he did, then yeah maybe he was gonna overdose on noodles, he wasn't sure.

   “But, I'm gonna throw you a bone” he was taken back to the real world when he heard the crinkle of a noodle pack emerge from the depths of the safe. “I'll even, let you have one of the good ones”

   And out she pulled, a spicy shrimp package, a really fancy expensive one with actual bits of dried shrimp for topping.   Douxie knew, that he had not bought that one. He had never seen that one anywhere but his dreams. And a few websites he'd browsed to see what kinds of noodles were out there.   But there it was, right in front of him, it was real and Celeste was gonna let him eat it. But that only brought up one question in his mind.

      “where'd that come from?” he took it and looked it over. It didn't feel like a reseal, he could feel the packets and noodles inside, there was a reasonable amount of crushed noodles inside.   As he thought all that, it did dawn on him that maybe he was a little too intimately familiar with the contents and feeling of a standard, non tampered with noodle package.   Which also brought to light that Celeste had tampered with enough to make him familiar with that as well. And lastly, that Celeste was definitely right, he had a problem.

   “I think, amazon?” Celeste shrugged. “I don't remember exactly, but like, it was on your wishlist, why, do you not like it?” she cocked her head. He could hear in her voice that she was very certain he did indeed like it.

   “Okay but why did Amazo- wait you bought this, and I assume more, for me?” he was now even more confused. Why would Celeste, who so vehemently tried to get him to stop consuming so many noodle packs, voluntarily bring more into the house, and especially ones of this price range.

   “Well” she walked over and stood on tippy toes to kiss his cheek. “Sometimes I gotta spoil ya, or you'll just leave me” she walked out of the bedroom and Douxie just stood there.

   “If you're implying that my love for you, is measured in how many noodles you let me eat... you're not entirely wrong but also that's a bit offensive” he walked after her and read the cooking instructions on the back. They were in japanese, but he did have a translation spell easily on hand.

   “I was joking” they split up as Douxie continued to the kitchen and Celeste slouched down on the couch again. “Although that does make me worry, but also if you leave you won't get the rest of your noodles”

   “I'll find a way to crack that safe!” he put the water over to boil, he was gonna tempt fate this time and actually use a pot, the noodles were of such quality that they deserved it. He decided to look through the fridge while the water came to a boil. Celeste hadn't been joking about the status of the fridge, it was indeed full. He did honestly feel a little bad, but he good to honest could not cook anything without something going wrong.   He'd tried, many times. Always failed, one time he's managed to explode an egg while boiling it.

   “Are you two arguing about noodles again?” Douxie heard Archie say from somewhere, then he heard two soft thumps from the office room and the shapeshifter came walking in. he was currently a cat, while he could easily just walk around like a dragon, he'd found it was easier to navigate the house as a cat, a standard house pet.

   “What gave you that idea?” Douxie asked and put the flavouring in the pot.

   “The screaming and running through the house mostly” Archie stretched and Douxie could hear him step into the living room, his soft paws tip tapping on the ground. “It can't be, Douxie finally won a game of Noodle Chase?”

   “Nah, I won, but I decided to be merciful and give him some noodles, poor man has suffered for a whole two days after all!” Celeste laughed and Douxie could hear Archie start purring.

   “You won't be laughing when I crack that safe of yours!”

   “Oh please! You'd have to navigate it! Given the problems you have finding the keys in my purse I have no worries”

   “I have always been curious, how come it takes you so long to find the keys in her purse? I thought it had a bright neon blue attachment on it?” Archie asked.

   “Listen Arch, you cannot comment on that until you've tried yourself” Douxie put the noodles in the pot, now he just had to pray that nothing would set on fire and he'd be golden. “One of the greatest mysteries in this world, is the ability that women seem to have when packing their purses'' he walked to the kitchen door and looked out at them.   “Same thing with Zoe, I once tried to find a box of matches in her purse, don't ask why, I couldn't find the bloody things and she just looked into it and pulled the suckers right out! I dont think i've ever seen a more clear look of 'you're as blind as a bat' as I did in her eyes that day”

   “You wanna know how? Women do this thing called, organizing, in our purses”

   “Ha ha, very funny love” Douxie walked back to his noodles and poked them. They were still too hard to pull off the heat. He was getting impatient and hungry. Although he wasn't sure if the noodles would actually satiate his hunger for long. That was another thing he could never say out loud, he knew noodles weren't the best, but damn if those suckers weren't satisfying still.

   “You done soon? Movie's about to begin!” Celeste called from the couch. Douxie froze up for a second, he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He tried remembering as hard as he could, and it did hit him.   

   He'd gone out for snacks because a movie was coming up they were gonna watch. An old horror movie that Celeste had been excited about.

   “Yer fecking forgot about the Moovie didn't ye?” Douxie cringed a little at the Scottish accent creeping into Celeste's voice. Although it didn't last long, she began laughing. “oh relax, I can practically hear your muscles contract from here, just get your ass in the seat”

   “Don't scare me like that” the noodles were finally soft and he poured them into a bowl. He hurried inside and sat on the couch next to Celeste. Archie was in her lap, well half in her lap and half on the couch, she had one free hand stuck in a bowl of popcorn.

   “Did you forget to turn the stove off?” She asked, eyes glued to the screen. Douxie quickly snapped his fingers and the stove clicked a few times from the kitchen. “one day, you're gonna burn down the house, I can feel it”

   “Nonsense, I'll just fireproof the house like Merlin did the bookstore!” he took a slurp of the noodles. The movie began and Douxie looked to his side.   As he looked at his girlfriend, and arguably the closest he'd ever had to a brother sitting in her lap, his heart swelled in a way he hadn't felt before. He was pretty sure, it was pure untainted happiness.

   “I love you” he said and kissed Celeste's cheek. She turned away from the screen, smiling at him before pecking his lips.

   “I love you too, yer fecking noodle maniac”

[sebs-anxiety-and-insanity]

TW: Implied self harm, implied suicide, c!thomas is a sad mess, cussing

Viewer discretion is advised

Here is the song by city and colour

The way it used to be/ ThVi (its sad)

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

This is the story of a man

Thomas sat on his couch, scrolling through Twitter, replying to mentions here and there, just sitting. He felt Virgil lay down on his lap, going seemingly limp against him. Thomas put down his phone to turn his attention to his boyfriend. "You good there, Virge?" He nodded, smiling. "Having anxiety is just exhausting." Thomas sighed. "Why didn't you come get me?" Virgil shook his head. "Didn't wanna bother you, and besides, it wasn't even that bad. Now I am here with you." He turned on his side wrapping his arms around Thomas's waist. Thomas sighed in content. He knew this would be the rest of his life and he was completely happy with it.

Who took for granted everything he had

"I- I'm sorry okay? Please calm down!" Virgil said harshly not wanting to scream anymore than Thomas already had. "NO! WHAT THE HELL?!!! YOU KNEW THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO ME!!! THAT COULD'VE BEEN MY BREAK!!" Virgil shrunk back a bit. "I- I know, but-but I can't help it! Its literally my job!" Thomas huffed. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ANXIETY!!!!" Virgil flinched. He called him anxiety instead of his name.... Right as Thomas began to opened his mouth again, Virgil teleported to his room, locking the door.

And how he let it all just slip away

From then on, Virgil didn't act the same, flinching away from touches, hardly speaking and never wanted to be touched really. And a few months after a few more fights and awkward encounters he finally came out of his room he only grabbed a book, one Thomas had never seen before, and left. Returning hours later to say quietly that it would never happen again. And he left. Thomas would've gone after him but he had to go somewhere, and he would always be here when he gets back. Waiting for him since there isn't no where else to go.

Never to return again

He arrived back home sad? He hadn't had any anxiety which was unusual since he was surrounded by a bunch of people, bombarding him with a bunch of questions. He decided now was the time to go check on Virgil, say he is sorry and figure out why everything seemed gloomy. He went into the mind palace, and even the living room which was a neutral space was sad, not as much as everything else but still sad. He walked up the stairs, immediately noticing the bright blue door that had dogs and cats with a couple of frogs, was deepened and cracked, similar things done to the other doors. He walked down closer to Virgil's room, when he heard sobbing. Panic seeping in he ran to Virgils room only to stop dead in his tracks. Patton was crying, and was being cradled by Logan. Janus was in tears on Virgils bed, cradling a piece of fabric. He looked in the bathroom and his blood ran cold. Roman had tears steaming down while harshly talking with Remus, who was in the same state. He couldn't make out what they were saying since they were not audible from where he was. And a single limp arm dangled from the bathtub, red streaks streaming down said arm. Rushing in Roman immediately tried to stop him from seeing, but it was too late. He already saw Virgils lifeless body in a bathtub of red from his bleeding wrists. Tears streaming down his face. He faught against Roman to get to his boyfriends lifeless body. Why did this happen?

Now twenty years have come and gone

"Yeah, well fuck you! You shouldn't still be mourning him! And even if you weren't you still can't pretend I am him!" Anxietys distorted voice rang throughout the room. Thomas flinched. It's been twenty fucking years and they still didnt know anxietys name. And he still looked like Virgil which didnt help shit. He looked up to notice that Anxiety had disappeared. He sighed sitting back down on the couch, head in his hands. god what happened?

And still he wonders what he did so wrong

The next week he stayed in his room, refusing to do anything. Yeah it was twenty years ago but seeing anxiety made it yesterday. He soon created a sick little world in his head, where Virgil never died. And they just broke up. But Thomas knew there was hope of getting Virgil to get back together.

And how that he can win back *his* heart

Anxiety was now scared to be anxiety. Patton always trying to be happy, but failing from time to time, but still always vowing to protect him from such awkward encounters with their host. Anxiety would walk down to get a snack and Thomas would have a date set up for the both of them. Always calling him 'Virgil' and ignoring him saying that he wasnt this 'Virgil' he kept speaking of. And even though he failed, Thomas would always try again. He just had to win Virgils heart back. Ignoring Logan who was trying to get him to stop this behavior.

And finally step outside of the dark

Thomas sniffed the Roses he had bought which was purple, contrary to Anxietys black clothing. Satisfied with the purchase he left, waving goodbye to the owner of the shop, who had remembered his name and a few things about him, since he was in there every day.

He buys fresh roses every day

He offered the flowers to Anxiety once again, who awkwardly pushed them away and teleported out of the situation. He felt horrible, only being known for the past him, and not- ... well, him! Who even said he liked roses.

His favorite flower- so he used to say

It was the middle of the night, and Thomas was sobbing into the covers. The only time he wasn't stuck in his fake world since he was on medication which often made him forget his fake world for the night. He was sobbing, going through various memories of Virgil wearing roses in his hair. He reached over to take another swig of liquor, the all too familiar taste calming him a bit. And anxiety had to watch, since he never slept.

And now the memories are all that he has left

His drinking got more prominent, and even Remus was worried, usually his sticking thoughts and jokes would be there no matter what, but he was drained and focused on his host, not knowing what to do, but watch as this got sickening, even for him. Anxiety was on the same page as Remus, just at a lower volume. But he was the one who had to watch it 24/7 and he couldnt bare to look at his host like this.

I'm afraid he'll drink himself to death

While Thomas kinda creeped him out, Anxiety still felt bad for him, and it was still his job to protect his host. He decided to tell Logan about the rising intake of alcohol each night, slowly turning into spiked coffee, and other things. He really needed to stop...

This is the story of a man

Patton set Anxiety down, preparing himself. "Hey kiddo... I know you know that Virgil, our previous anxiety and friend, has passed... away. But I don't think, we ever told you how.... And for you to fully understand why Thomas is the way he is now, you need to hear the story, and I'm forced to tell it as Roman and Logan have been losing their minds, you know because of Thomas pretending that Virgil is still alive..." tears gathered in his eyes as he continued, telling the story as best he could.

Who took for granted everything he had

Anxiety felt bad for his past self and everyone else... he completely understood what Virgil was going through. But hearing it from his father figure made it twice as hard to pretend to be unphased by the information. This is one sad and frustrating story...

And how he let it all slip away

Anxiety didn't know how to feel for his host, anger? Or pity? He really tried to understand what had happened, but the relationship between Virgil and his host was really confusing, how could it not be? Especially towards the end...

Never to return again

Tears were now forming in Anxietys eyes as it became harder to understand Patton who was sobbing. He had lost his 'son' after all... And Anxiety felt like he lost a brother.

It's clear he moved on long ago

Thomas spiraled even further as he realized that his efforts to get Virgil back with him were futile. And he hated it. He hated it so much. He took another sip of his spiked coffee. Hoping to calm his nerves however he could. But always no matter what, when his meds arent making him somewhat sober minded, he always goes back to believing that he could somehow still win Virgils heart...

But still he clings on to the distant hope

He never slept now, even before he got atleast two hours of sleep. But that didnt happen anymore.. Thomas just stared at the ceiling as flashes of them together played through his mind. They looked so happy... Virgil looked happy...

That he'll come back and make a happy home

Everyone was spiraling as Thomas did, but it took more time for some of them. And Anxiety couldn't help because that would hurt his host even more. Anxiety decided to stop watching his host at night. Staring at the ceiling. He felt utterly useless, and he hated it. He sighed sitting up, the TV turned off, so it was playing footage of what Thomas was doing, and unsurprisingly he was still drinking and crying softly...

And now its him and the bottle all alone

As he spiraled he seemed to remember that his world was fake. And this made him unpredictable, and the others were spiraling with him, anxiety was spiraling the slowest. Which forced him to be the one always watching him. Sometimes he would look over at the TV to check on him and see him under a cherry blossom tree that had a swing hang on it. It was there he seemed the most sane. And numb, which kinda made it terrifying.

Sometimes you'll see him in the yard

You could tell by just looking at him sitting in the swing he was broken. Tears falling slowly, smiling to himself while he mumbles things to himself, something about how beautiful the imagination was. Clutching what seemed to be a purple hoodie.

A wounded man with a desperate heart

It seemed to be all he ever was, anxiety sighed sadly watching as Thomas pulled weeds from purple roses in the imagination. It seemed to be more of a calming thing, but it was still sad to watch.

He kept his Roses (hedges) trimmed nice and neat

Janus was watching Thomas with anxiety one day. Sadly noting that Thomas had replaced the area around the cherry blossom tree to replicate the way it looked when they first got together.

To keep them the way that they used to be

Thomas sat there in the swing admiring his work.

This is the story of a man

He sighed swinging back and forth a bit.

Who took for granted everything he had

After that day he seemed to be getting better, going to see a doctor about his spiraling.

And he let it all just slip away

Thomas was in fact getting better. He had stopped drink as much as he did, but it was a work in progress, and he even got a bit more comfortable around anxiety.

Never to return again

Thomas hung up the purple hoodie on his bathroom door. Just... admiring it sadly.

A single dress hangs on it's own

He would often would often smell the hoodie, it still smelled like him...

A scent of perfume all he has to hold

He remembers fading to his final sleep that night, clinging to the hoodie...

A wasted life waiting on a dream

As he closed his eyes one final time he saw him and Virgil sitting on the swing. Having fun and talking, just enjoying the others presence.

Hoping for things the way they used to be

He was happy, finally. Gone from the world he knew as pain. And he smiled.

This is the story of a man, who took for granted everything he had. And how he let it all just slip away, never to return again...

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

Not really proofread so sorry for any mistakes!!!

But uh yeah hope you enjoyed!!

[breakingsomething]

reunion

summary: marvin is back from anti, and he and jackie have a lot to say to each other.

if you’re confused i’ll link two other fics i wrote that kinda explain what’s happening: X X

trigger warnings: mentions of past suicide attempts, implied self harm

physically, marvin recovered quickly.

despite how bad he’d looked when they’d found him at anti’s house, he wasn’t that badly injured. his neck was bruised, his nose had been broken and he had several shallow cuts on his legs, but apart from that he seemed completely fine. henrik told all this to jackie while he lay in bed in the darkness, facing away from henrik, and he wondered why exactly anti hadn’t hurt marvin worse. he wanted to ask henrik more questions. he couldn't bring himself to speak. “he refused to take off his shirt,” henrik had murmured softly. “i assume he’s been hurt on his arms or chest as well, but i’ll have to wait until he sleeps again to get a look. i don’t know why he won’t show me, but i have to know he’s ok.”

and hearing those soft spoken words from his younger brother, who he knew greatly disliked marvin and had never spoken to him nicely before, almost broke jackie’s heart again.

“thanks.” he said quietly. he didn’t turn to face henrik.

a beat of silence. “do you need anything?” his brother asked.

jackie almost laughed. “‘m fine, hen. just need a bit of time to sort out some… some feelings.” he yawned exaggeratedly. “k? i’ll be alright.”

henrik took that as his cue to leave, closing the door gently behind him. 

marvin was a mess. “he wants to see you,” chase told him worriedly, wringing his hat in his hands and tapping his feet rapidly. 

jackie was sat on the stair above him, resting his head against the wall. he stared through the window at the bottom of the staircase, watching the neighbour’s christmas lights flash outside. he didn’t respond.

he heard chase breathe in loudly and blow out all the air out of his cheeks. jackie tried not to blink in case the tears welling up in his eyes slipped out.

chase saw. “bro. you’re gonna have to talk to him eventually.” when jackie continued to stay silent, chase moved up to next to jackie and placed a gentle hand on his knee. he flinched, and chase pulled away. they were silent.

jackie hugged himself, rubbing his arms for comfort. he felt ashamed of the tears now rolling down his cheeks, and pressed the side of his face into the wall.

after a moment chase left him alone on the staircase.

he knew chase was right. he couldn’t avoid this forever. just a week ago jackie would have sold his soul just to see marvin again, but now he had the chance to, why wasn’t he? he wished he knew. everything in his mind felt so confusing. jackie wished he could find the strength to form the right words.

i’m sorry. i’m sorry i wasn’t there for you. i’m sorry i wasn’t good enough. i’m sorry i didn’t listen, i’m sorry you felt you could only find solace in anti of all people, i’m sorry i was such an asshole, i’m sorry…

it was four days before he got up the courage to talk to him.

marvin was no longer confined to his bed, but mostly stayed in his room, not getting up even to get food or water. chase brought things to him while he slept- henrik had done it once, and marvin had screamed at him to leave him alone. “he caught me trying to get a look at his arms and got very upset.” henrik had admitted to jackie. now only chase went to see him. it stayed like that until one night, when jackie was getting up to go to the bathroom, and he noticed marvin’s bedroom door wide open. he wasn’t inside. instantly, jackie was on high alert; had marvin left, gone back to anti again, or worse? he rushed downstairs as quietly as he could, careful not to wake anyone, and peeked into the kitchen in case marvin had gotten up for a glass of water. only chase was there, asleep on the table with his phone in hand. the front door was slightly open.

marvin was sat on the front steps, his hair in a lazy ponytail, a blanket wrapped round his shoulders. he was staring blankly across the street, his eyes fixed on nothing, and jackie could have just turned back and marvin wouldn’t have noticed.  but suddenly, seeing his once vibrant, larger than life brother so small and broken looking stabbed jackie in the chest. how could this have happened to him? without thinking, jackie took a deep breath. “hey.”

marvin whipped round, and the look of fear on his face dissolved into shock, then sadness. he replied in a voice cracked with disuse, “hey.”

jackie nodded. he plopped down next to marvin, too afraid to look closely at him in case he started crying again. the only sounds were the wind whipping through the trees in front of their flat and a few cars rolling by, rumbling through the slush on the road.

“i’ve been thinking about what i’d say to you if i saw you again for the full year you were gone,” jackie finally spoke. he didn’t take his eyes off the blinking multicoloured lights across the street. “but now that we’re here, i don’t know what to say.”

marvin sniffed. jackie looked down; he hadn’t put on shoes, and his socked feet were cold. he let out a trembling sigh.

“it was difficult without you here,” he said softly. “every day was like- i’d wake up and be forced to remember you were gone, and it felt like… like ice in my bones. cold and heavy. and i… i missed you.” he threw back his head and blinked rapidly.

“jackie.” and fuck, if hearing him say his name didn’t cause the tears to spill over, warm against his cold cheeks. “i have… no right to have missed you. but i did, i did, i knew i had made a mistake. i wish i could say sorry, and...”

a sudden wave of fury washed over jackie. “you wish you could say sorry? really?” out the corner of his eye, he sees marvin jump at his sudden anger, which only fueled his emotions. he dug his fingers into his legs, shaking.

“a fucking year, marvin. a goddamn- a fucking year you were gone and we assumed the worst. we mourned you, do you understand that? we were even- we were gonna stop searching after christmas. we were gonna accept you were dead and move on. do you know how much that fucking hurt, marvin? do you know-” a sharp intake of breath, salt on his lips. “do you know what you did to us?”

“i know, i never meant-”

“you don’t know!” jackie finally faced marvin, who was clinging to his blanket with white hands. “you could never fucking understand how badly that- how that fucked with my mind!” he could barely see for the tears and rage clouding his vision. “i thought it was my fault, i still fucking do, because what else was i supposed to think? every fucking day i cried over you, i stared at the wall for hours just thinking about what possible horrors anti could be putting you through, i laid in bed for- for days, marvin, i couldn’t get up because every area of the house had a memory of you attached to it, you were fucking everywhere, my head was like, i felt like, i wasn’t even-” jackie couldn’t breathe, he gasped for air and sobbed loudly, feeling lightheaded. “i’m sorry i was never good enough!”

with that, he completely broke. he couldn't stop the sobs wracking his chest, loud gasps ripping from his throat, trying to breathe, inhaling shakily only to remember why he was crying and almost screaming from the pain in his mind. he was hyperventilating, his whole body trembling, and he wrapped his arms around himself as tightly as he could. he was painfully aware of marvin beside him, watching him collapse into himself.

then he felt a hand on his shoulder. and fuck, after so long of not letting anyone touch him, it was pure bliss. he melted into marvin’s touch, and his brother took that as an invitation to throw his arms around him, shaking, tears soaking jackie’s hoodie. they stayed like that, holding each other for the first time in a year, the warmth of each other shielding them from the winter cold.

“i’m sorry,” came marvin’s small voice from where his face was buried in jackie’s chest. “i knew i would hurt you but i didn’t think- i didn’t think. i didn’t- i thought it was for the best.” he let out a small gasp and shudders, his fingers digging into jackie’s back. “i thought i was doing the right thing, i didn’t know, by the time i realised…”

“shh, shh,” jackie comforted. “it’s ok, i know, it’s ok.”

all the anger had completely left him. he was left with just the grief, the emptiness, the sense of loss. he rubbed marvin’s back, his fingers tracing gentle circles around his shoulderblades.

“i tried to end it,” marvin whispered, and it takes a moment for a jolt of realisation to shoot through jackie as he realised what he meant. “anti gave me a knife, a pocket knife, for a- a job, and he forgot to take it back afterwards, and besides, i’m sure he didn’t think i’d- dapper was asleep, he couldn’t stop me, anti got so angry at him for not stopping me…” he dissolved into silent tears again, and jackie glanced at the glowing lights in the windows of happy families, normal families, families that weren’t plagued by grief and monsters. his salty tears burned the wound on his lip from rescuing marvin several days prior. he held marvin tight.

“is that why you wouldn’t let henrik see your arms?” he asked quietly, the way marvin tenseed at the name not escaping his notice.

“yeah,” he sniffled. “i’m sorry, i’m pathetic, this is my own fault and i shouldn’t be crying-”

“shush now, don’t say that,” jackie consoled, and his heart ached at his brother’s pain, pain he could have prevented, pain he shouldn’t have had to go through.  “you’re allowed to cry. you made a mistake, that’s all, that’s all, it’s ok.”

neither of them knew how long they stayed huddled together on the steps, but it was long enough for them to fall asleep, jackie slumped against the doorway, marvin laying on his chest.

jackie woke to chase shaking him. 

“you dumbasses, did you two really sleep out here?” chase hissed, trying to gently nudge marvin into consciousness. “i wanted you two to get along again, but not like- marvin, hey, hey, bro, you gotta get up. you also left the door open last night,” he said, directing the last part at jackie. “practically an invitation to any bastard that wanted to steal our shit. let the cold in, too.”

“like we couldn’t take a burglar,” jackie murmured blearily, only half awake. the wind ruffled his hair, and he shivered. if he and marvin got sick, henrik would absolutely kill him. oh, well. “have you forgotten who i am? i’m fucking…” he yawned, the tears from last night catching up with him and making his head pound. “i’m jackieboy man, bitch.”

“are you?” said chase, raising an eyebrow.  jackie looked down at marvin, who was just starting to stir, soft whimpers escaping his lips, his face creased with anxiety even in his sleep. and fuck, jackie couldn’t believe he considered leaving him just because he was petty and angry, he couldn’t believe that there was an alternate timeline somewhere in which this moment didn’t happen. he was suddenly filled with warmth that in this universe, at least, he made what he knows was the right desicion.

“i am now.”

[taetaesbaebaepsae]

BTS after a breakup

Maknae Line

Part 2 of 3 Titled: Things Get Worse Before They Get Better, Folks

Alternate Title: Jimin is a Hot Mess Drama King and We Stan

Alternate Title 2: Reader in Tae's Story Can Meet Me in the Pit

Warnings: tears, angst, being emo, alcohol as a coping mechanism, some disordered eating, Jimin’s gets kinda sexy (ya know, duality)  but no real smut

Word Count: 5,710

Taehyung (V)

During the time you’re apart, Tae avoids social media like the plague

He doesn’t want to see what you’re up to or who you’re with

Ignorance is bliss, until he gets in a spiral thinking about what went wrong and what he was lacking to make you leave

He won’t text you much, but sometimes when he’s drinking too much (which is much more than usual) he will just send you a “hey” and when you leave him on read he just gets sad

Literally zero posts on any social media at all, which is super weird because we know he is the king of smokin hot selfies

Stares into space a lot during vlives, all the Army wants to know what’s up but he won’t say a word about you

He’s not bent on revenge or finding out who you’re with or anything even though he gets hella curious, this poor bb is just sad, just a total mope

It takes Taehyung a while to start feeling even a little like himself again

All the members knew how Taehyung had wanted to spend the rest of his life with you

He'd told Namjoon and Jin after your third date that he was going to marry you one day

They were all shocked whenever he admitted you'd met someone else

You'd seemed so devoted, so perfect for him

You balanced his goofiness with your own dry sense of humor

And when he got too serious it was always you who made him laugh with a deadpan quip

You'd fit in with the boys, too, and when you'd taken a spur of the moment massage therapy class they'd all reaped the benefits

At least for a while

Taehyung put a stop to it when Jimin started ripping off his shirt every time you walked in to the room and he noticed you eyeing his body too appreciatively

You were never jealous of fan meetings or pictures online

You just...fit with Taehyung

You weren't a fashionista and didn't wear much designer clothes (other than the Gucci he bought you)

You were much different from Taehyung but it all balanced

You had probably been closest to Namjoon out of everyone, so he was the one you talked to first

He burst into your office at work like he owned the place

"Joon, what-"

"You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on with you, or..."

He sat down in the chair facing your desk, crossing his arms and giving you his leader face

You sighed as you knew you couldn't weasel out of this conversation

"How is he?"

"Bad. He's bad, y/n. He's not sleeping, he's drinking too much, he's barely talking to any of us."

You winced. "I just....he was going to propose, Namjoon."

Namjoon leaned forward. "I know how you feel about marriage, and I understand that could throw a wrench in things, but Tae said you met someone else? You cheated on him, y/n? He's got to be jumping to conclusions, right?"

You looked away, unable to lie right his face

"He didn't jump to conclusions. I...met someone while you guys were on tour."

"What the fuck, y/n? You know how much he loves you-"

"I know, I know!" You snap. "Believe me, you can't make me feel any worse than I do already. He told me we could work it out, that he'd forgive me..."

"Then why are you still not talking to him?"

Tears prick at your eyes. You know Namjoon cares about you and he had similar ideas about marriage, you'd talked about it with him many times

You wish you could come clean and tell him everything, but you know that would just lead to Taehyung pushing aside what he wants to keep you happy

“He hasn’t really tried to talk to me.”

“Oh, really? After you cheated on him and moved out, he’s not blowing you up? Wild.”

"Also..I...I want to make a go of things with the new guy."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know! I'm confused. I need some space, I guess," you lied, trying not to cry

"Look, y/n, I'm upset with you, we all are, but whether you and Tae work things out or not, you can't just cut him out. He's not built to lose people like that. Even if you can only be friends...He needs you."

"Okay. I'll talk to him."

"Do it soon, okay? Before he drowns in soju and tears."

You crack a weak smile and when you stand up, Namjoon gives you a tight hug

You call Taehyung after you get off work and he answers before the first ring ends

It had been a week so you were surprised he answered at all, figured he'd be too angry to answer

"Hey, Tae. How have you been?" You say lamely

"Not so good," he admits, voice hoarse.

"I was hoping...we could talk."

"Yes. Yes, of course we can talk. Do you want to come home and talk now? I mean...come over." He clears his throat and you can't help but smile

"Sure. Is 7 okay? I'll bring food."

"I can't wait."

You come to the door with Thai food and it feels weird to ring the doorbell of the home you've lived in for years

Taehyung looks breathtaking when he opens the door (doesn't he always though)

Dressed in dark skinny jeans and a white button down, he looks dressed for a date, and it's cute

He jerks open the door as if you might leave if he doesn't answer it soon enough and fumbles to take the bags of food from you, giving you a dazzling smile

He's moving kind of slow and you detect the scent of peaches in the air

"Peach soju?" You ask

He turns to you, wringing his hands and looking like you caught him with his hand in the cookie jar

"Just a couple!"

"You're such a lightweight," you say, smirking at him

He offers you one, struggling a bit with the bottle opener, and you accept, arranging the food on the table while he watches with big dark eyes

"I was nervous," he says quietly when you sit down

"It's just me, silly. No need to be nervous."

"Yeah, but I'm trying to convince you to come back to me, so it is an important night." You hate the way his half smile makes your heart hurt

"That's not what this is about, Tae. I just wanna talk. I don't want us to end angry."

"I don't want us to end at all," he says, softly, and you wish he'd quit looking at you like that because it's like you're the only thing in the room

The thing is, he's always looked at you like that, every day for two years, and suddenly you think this was a bad idea

You start eating and he pushes things around on his plate here and there, taking a few bites before he sighs and puts down his chopsticks

"What's wrong?" You ask with a mouthful of glass noodles, and he shakes his head

He wants to say everything because he can't stand how far away you're sitting, how stiff your body language is, how awkward this feels

"I want to ask you what happened, but I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"How much it will hurt hearing about you falling in love with someone else," he says in a low tone, and he looks miserable for the first time that night

"I'll tell you anything you want to know." You say, hoping you can come up with lies that fit

He fidgets for a moment and then takes two long pulls from his soju bottle before speaking

"Look, Jagiya...I know this is stupid and it's just testosterone but I can't stop thinking about it. Did you actually sleep with him?"

"Yes," you say without hesitation, knowing that if he was angry with you maybe this would be easier

Instead of yelling at you he just covers his face with his hands, breathing hard

You're quiet for a moment and when he puts his hands down he's wiping tears from the corners of eyes

He clears his throat

"What's he look like? Is he handsome?"

You were actually prepared for this question because although he was humble, you knew Taehyung prided himself on his looks (being voted the world’s most handsome man multiple times will do that to you)

"Sure," you say casually

"Do you have a picture?"

You fumble for your phone and show him a picture of yourself and a good friend of yours, Jongin

He was painfully shy around most people but you'd been friends since you'd gone to high school together, and since you'd been spending time with your parents lately and his band's tour had ended recently you'd been spending time with him and other friends

The picture wasn't particularly suggestive, just you and a good side profile of Jongin as he smiled and pressed his lips to your cheek

But from Taehyung's sharp intake of breath and the look on his face, you'd think it was a picture of you giving him head or something

"Oh, an idol, huh?" His voice is strangled as he throws your phone on the table. "Did you meet him through me?"

You shook your head. "I've know him for like 10 years. We went to high school together." Your voice is almost a whisper, but at least that much is true

"Oh, good!" His voice is rising and you wonder if he'll finally snap but he just gives you a bitter smile, wiping a hand across his face. "Isn't he the one they call dancing machine?"

"He's...very talented. We had ballet together." It was easier when you could tell part of the truth

Taehyung nods vigorously, knee jerking up and down underneath the table

You recognizes this nervous energy and you knew he is trying to contain his emotions

Suddenly he sits back in his chair and closes his eyes.

"I'm not... I'm not feeling so well."

You snap in to action, suspecting he'd had more than the two bottles he'd told you plus the additional two he'd drunk during dinner

You wet a cloth and walk over to him to wipe his face and when you do he snakes his arms around your waist and buries his face in your stomach

You stroke his hair for a moment and then he pulls back to look at you, arms still tight around you and he's crying in earnest now

"I don't care if you're fucking someone else. I don't care if you don't love me anymore. I'll make you forget him. I'll make you love me again. Just come home, Jagiya."

You can't stop yourself from leaning down to kiss him, just once more, and when you do he makes a surprised sound in his throat and stands to meet you, arms tighter around your waist

It feels like the first kiss, how he grabbed you in the restaurant as you headed toward the bar to order another martini and spun you around

But you guess it's like that, endings and beginnings merging together

When you pull away and gather your things he doesn't try and stop you but he watches every move you make until the door closes behind you

(The other members find out who your "new man" is two days later, when Tae cracks the tv in the dance room by throwing the remote control while Jimin is watching "The Eve" dance practice)

Jimin

It's at least two weeks before Jimin is functioning

And by functioning I mean barely functioning with unhealthy coping mechanisms

He's drinking two meals a day, not eating nearly enough and binging once a week on pizza or ice cream

He's in the gym or the dance room all the time, overworking himself

He's either sleeping too much or not enough

Jungkook's watching him like a hawk as if he's going to jump out a window

Maybe he's thought about it, once or twice

You are truly Jimin's first real relationship and he'd been sure that eventually he'd start a family with you

He had the whole "forever" thing for you and for you just to walk out turned everything upside down

He didn't know how not to call you every day, didn't know how to live without his skin touching yours

He's sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag bc the sheets still smell like you which hurts but if he washes them every trace of you will be gone

You have to block his number because he will NOT STOP CALLING YOU whether it’s 10am or 4am or 2pm he’s always calling you or texting you the sweetest, saddest messages

He stalks you on social media, definitely cries when you post new selfies because he misses you so much

Uses “memories” on FB to post old pics of you two together with fifteen broken heart emojis

You won't answer his messages but you don't unfriend him or block him on anything so he just posts sad faces in your comments

You: #selfiesaturday #feelingmyself *cute snapchat filter selfie*

Jimin: :( :( :(

Girls try to slide in his dms and he tries to flirt but just ends up talking about you for two hours 

You post on Instagram that you're headed to a club with a friend one Saturday night and Jimin is suddenly all energy, bouncing around his apartment where poor Jungkook has practically moved in, relieved every few days by Taehyung

Jimin begs Jungkook to go with him to a new club

"Absolutely not. I am done with you getting shitfaced and me having to carry you up the stairs, Jiminie."

"I won't drink!" Jimin whines.

Jungkook shoots him a look

"Much," Jimin amends

Jungkook only agrees because he actually seems excited, for once

Jimin doesn’t let on that you might be there but he dresses up, eyeliner and everything and Jungkook is lowkey suspicious

When they arrive Jimin is scanning the crowd like a Terminator

Every time Jungkook loses sight of him he panics a little

It isn’t as if he doesn’t think Jimin can’t take care of himself, it’s that he knows Jimin cannot think straight with a broken heart

He just doesn’t want him to do anything dumber than he’s already doing

Jungkook is a good bro

He actually spots you before Jimin does and he starts urging him that they need to leave

“We just got here!” He is drinking less, at least

Jungkook just doesn’t want another public breakdown

The media is all over Jimin’s heartbreak, posting articles about him crying in cafes and bookstores, over anything that reminds him a little of you

The whole BTS Army has #y/ncatchthesehands trending

Jungkook sees some beefy dude slip his arm around your waist as you’re standing at the bar and he’s like “Jimin, we gotta blast.”

Jimin is not having it, he hasn’t seen you yet

“One more drink, Kookie, please. I’m having fun!”

His eyes look a little wild but at least he’s not near tears

It’s a big place so Jungkook focuses on trying to coax him to the upstairs where you won’t be visible

Jimin spots you as Jungkook is all but dragging him up the stairs

“It’s Y/N!” He yells above the music

Jungkook is like SHIT SHIT SHIT

He can pinpoint the moment at which Jimin spots the beefy dude who’s shielding you with his arm from all the other clubgoers crowding the bar

Actual representation of Jimin at this moment:

He just stands there looking like someone shot him in the chest for a moment

“It’s just some guy, Jiminie, don’t worry, he’s probably just annoying her.”

At that exact moment the dude leans in close to tell you something and you brush your hair away to hear him and burst out laughing

Jungkook: 

He looks over at Jimin and he’s not crying, thank God, but he looks like he’s ready to fistfight the moon

Jimin announces that he needs a drink and Jungkook briefly considers picking him up and heaving him over his shoulder to get him out of the club but thinks better of it because Jimin is a real dirty fighter; he’s squirrelly

In the end he just follows him to the bar to watch, where Jimin slips between you and the beefy dude like he has no bones

He orders two shots of Patron as if you aren’t even standing there looking at him like he’s crazy

Jungkook is lowkey impressed at how well his friend is holding it together

Jimin does the dramatic “Oh, fancy meeting you here,” pretending he hasn’t seen you at all

You’re not having it

Particularly since he slides one of the shots over to you with a wink and a smile

You didn’t even think about what you had posted on your Instagram but you knew Jimin was watching every notification by all the sad face comments and dms

You give him a tight smile, though, because you still love him and he looks great, like he’s thriving after you’d left, wearing leather pants and a tight black tshirt, eyeliner and everything

“Hey, Jimin!” 

He puts his lips very close to your ear and asks you if you want to go somewhere more private to talk

He can be very seductive when he wants to be

Your eyes dart to your friend

Jimin turns as if he didn’t notice him standing next to you at all

“Who’s this?” He asks breezily

You: shook at how well he’s handling seeing a man in your general vicinity

Jimin wasn’t exactly jealous when you were together, but possessive, for sure. He wanted all the attention of literally everybody, but definitely his significant other, so he got whiny and pouty any time you so much as looked at you for too long

“This is Hoseok,” you said, stepping back from the bar so that you can half ass stand between them

“No it’s not,” Jimin says,deadpan, and you laugh

“It is. They just have the same name. He’s from Monsta X, you know! I met him while they were here on tour last month.”

Last month while he was on the world tour, Jimin thinks 

Wheels are turning in his head but they’re all the wrong direction it’s bad

“Oh yeah, I bought you that VIP package,” he says, smiling with too much teeth and looking a little like a shark and shaking Hoseok’s hand

Jimin isn’t dumb, he remembers you fangirling over Monsta X and this dude with the muscles who pulled a Jimin in No More Dream during a few songs or ripped his shirt off (also a Jimin move)

Hoseok, to his credit, shakes Jimin’s hand with enthusiasm. “It’s great to meet you, man, I’m a big fan!”

Jimin’s praise kink won’t allow him to be mean to that

“Sure, thanks, you guys are great, too,” he mumbles, and then turns to you

“Can I talk to you just for a few minutes? Please?”

You nod toward Hoseok and he shrugs and winks at you

Jimin grits his teeth. He changed his mind even if he is a fan he doesn’t like him

Jimin orders another shot for you both but since you haven’t taken your yet he just takes them both while you take yours with you

You let him lead you outside which leaves Jungkook and Hoseok standing awkwardly at the bar

Jimin is not even remotely drunk enough for this

The last couple of drinks haven’t even hit him and you’re standing there looking like a goddess in a red leather dress and stilettos, makeup on point, looking like you’ve never been better

He feels like an absolute mess despite his attention to detail when getting ready

You’re standing there hoping your eyes don’t look too puffy and worrying about your love handles in your tight dress

The music pumps out of the doors and so he grabs your elbow gently and leads you around to the alley where it’s quieter

You stand against the brick wall, peering up at him from under your eyelashes and he wants to kiss you so bad, wants to hike your legs around his waist and slam you against the wall while he does it, just to remind you what you’re missing, who you belong to

All he does is kind of shuffle his feet and get closer to you, smiling

“How you been, Jiminie?” You ask softly

“Good! Great, really.” His eyes widen as he lies through his teeth, and you smile back at him half heartedly

He only looks at you for a moment longer before his smile fades and he puts a hand on your cheek

“I’m lying,” he admits quietly. “I’m not good. I’m awful.”

“Me, too,” you breathe, a little tipsy and not mindful of your words or expression

“Really?” He sounds so excited and hopeful. He smiles, shamefaced. “I don’t mean I’m glad you’re awful but you just...you look so beautiful and you looked like you were having fun with...that...guy.”

“I was. Doesn’t mean I don’t miss you.” 

His face falls a little and you notice how sharp his jawline looks

You cock your head. “Jimin, are you eating enough?”

“Sure, sure,” he waves you off

“Jiminie...”

“Jungkook makes me,” he grumbles

You smile, and it seems to Jimin that it lights up the dim alley

“You’re lucky to have him.”

“I am,” he agrees. “But I’d rather it were you cooking for me and looking out for me.” He keeps inching closer to you and you’re cornered

You wonder how much he’s had to drink when you can smell tequila and lime on his breath and he leans down and nuzzles your neck, making you shiver

“You smell so good,” he all but moans into your ear, and you’ve got goosebumps everywhere

Your head is spinning from the booze and his nearness and you try hard to focus on what’s best for him, how he needs to grow up and take care of himself and not worry so much about you and your relationship

You place both hands on his chest and push him gently

He stumbles backward, looking at you like a confused puppy

“I should get back inside.”

Jimin runs his hands through his hair in irritation

“Why? Is that guy your date or something?”

You worry your lower lip between your teeth, and Jimin knows that means you’re feeling anxious

He finds it crazy sexy but now is not the time

“So I buy you tickets to a show, you meet your bias, and a month later ‘you need space,’” he says slowly

“Jiminie, don’t-” you warn, cheeks flushing

“By space, did you mean you wanted to fuck that guy?” He’s yelling, now, pointing vigorously in the direction of the bar as if maybe you forgot which guy he’s referring to

“You’re drunk and you’re being ridiculous,” you huff, pushing him again as he’s started to crowd you in his anger

“I am not nearly drunk enough,” he growls at you

“Jimin, you have to stop this. It isn’t space if you’re following me around-”

“Who says I’m following you? This is a popular club.”

You look at him pointedly and he sighs and runs his hands through his hair again

“I can’t help it! I miss you. I miss you so much, baby. I don’t even care if you’re with this guy, I mean...I care, but you’re not fucking him or anything, right?” 

You worry your lip between your teeth again, not because you don’t want to answer but because you’re starting to get mad at his accusations

His eyes widen, strong jaw clenched tight. “Right?” His tone is low and almost mean

“Stop it. I mean it, Jimin, let me go inside. This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

You brush past him, stilettos clicking on the pavement

“Fine!” He roars. “Go back inside and fuck that guy on the dance floor for all I care! There’s a hundred girls in there who’ll actually want me!”

You shrug off his cruel words and go back inside, leaving him panting with anger in the cool air

Two hours later, Jungkook is so tired

He has been on Jimin watch for the past two and a half weeks and he knew coming here was a bad idea

Jimin was absolutely trashed at this point

They’d racked up a $200 tab, Jimin had girls all over him

He was flirting 50% of the time and just complaining about you and how you broke his heart the other 50%, but Jungkook had to admit they were eating it up either way

Jimin’s shooting death ray stares at you and that dude from Monsta X as you sit on one of the leather couches with him

You’re a lot like Jimin, you get handsy when you’re drunk, so you’ve got your legs draped over his lap and he puts a hand on your thigh and Jimin finally loses his whole shit

Surprisingly, he doesn’t get mad, just super sad

He’s not crying but it’s a near thing and Jungkook feels like it’s past time to go

He’s about to literally throw him over his shoulder when Jimin agrees to leave

“Yeah, Jiminie?”

“Sure. I don’t want to see this anymore. I’ll go pay the tab.”

Jungkook puts a hand on his shoulder. “I got it, pal.”

He heads to the bar, weaving through people, and Jimin glances over at you again

Beefy Hoseok is nowhere to be seen, maybe gone to the bathroom or something, and you’re sitting at the edge of the couch, looking around

For Jimin, of course, but he doesn’t know that

He attempts to walk a straight line over to the couch and plops down next to you, resting his head against the back

You won’t look at him, crossing your arms over your chest

“I’m sorry,” he says, yelling over the music.

He slides closer to you, right at your ear

“I’m sorry, baby. Just please, come home with me. Just for tonight. Just so we can talk. I miss you so much.”

You don’t crack, this time, just stand up and meet Hoseok as he comes out of the bathroom, tucking your hand around his offered elbow and wrapping it around his considerable bicep

Jimin can’t do anything but watch you go

Jungkook comes back and Jimin looks devastated

He doesn’t cry until they’re in the elevator

“She really went home with that guy, Kook.”

Jungkook ends up having to throw him over his shoulder anyway because he refuses to go to bed, wanting to drink more, and throw him on the bed you used to share

Jimin wakes up hungover surrounded by your scent and decides to finally wash the sheets

Jungkook

He is a very sad boi

He’s snippy with everyone because he’s not sleeping well he keeps waking up because he’s reaching for you when he’s asleep and you’re not there and then he’s sad and he can’t go back to sleep

Has sex dreams about you and wakes up sad rather than horny

He plays a thousand hours of assorted video games the two weeks after you’re apart

At first he’s like “she bitches about this sometimes so fuck her imma play all I want” but really he’s just trying to escape from thinking about you and what you’re up to

Will only text you if he’s shitfaced and he’ll say some real sappy shit like “I miss you” or “come back home” and feel like a total idiot when he realizes he sent it and you left him on read

Stalks you on social media just like Jimin but is super low key about it

Would be horrified if he accidentally liked one of your Insta posts or replayed your snaps

King of sassy vaguebooking posts shit like “Hope he’s worth it”

His Insta gets real emo, pouty selfies and nature pics

Every female friend he’s had since he was 13 is blowing up his dms but he doesn’t even read them

Cries more than any of the boys (except Jimin) except he always does it alone

Definitely has at least one major breakdown where he breaks a bunch of shit, punches holes in walls, that kind of stuff

Isolates from the boys

Will only talk to Namjoon when he’s feeling really crazy, so it’s like 1am and Namjoon is talking him off a ledge

If he’s asked about you by any of the other members he shrugs it off and acts like he doesn’t care (he cares very much)

Eats total crap, frozen pizza and takeout only, so much beer

His place is totally trashed in like 3 days

In the gym at least 2 hours a day

If y’all stay apart very long he will get SHREDDED

Never misses dance practice or anything, very functional but he’s kind of a jerk to everyone, snapping at the other members, getting mad over nothing

You don’t respond to the other members, either

They’re all your friends but you know anything you say might slip to Jungkook and you just can’t face him, not yet

You know you’ll end up spilling how you feel and you can’t go back until you know you’re what he wants and he’s what you want

One night when he’s had most of a six pack and Namjoon isn’t answering the phone because he’s turned it off to get some sleep he decides to walk over to where he kissed you for the first time

He’s a hopeless romantic at heart and on your second date he took you to this little spot with a creek and lots of moonlight and laid one on you

You really didn’t know if he was even interested in you because on the first date he didn’t talk much and just walked you to your door

He’s blushing after the kiss and so cute you can’t stand it

He’s out at your spot taking pics for his emo Insta when he sees a couple sitting on the bank of the creek, some guy with his arm around a girl and it makes his heart hurt bc it looks like you

Oh shit it is you

His heart starts beating so fast, poor baby

He hides behind a tree to watch you it’s wild

You’re crying and some moron is trying to comfort you with his arm all around your shoulders, stroking your hair and shit

Jungkook wants to push him in the creek

But you look like you’re being comforted

He’s trying to figure out how to sneak away without being noticed when you peek around the tree he’s hiding behind

“Jungkook?”

The guy is standing right behind you

Jungkook is crouched like some kinda cryptid behind this stupid tree

Jungkook: 

You and Jungkook hanging out at each other’s sappy first kiss place: 

He stands up and brushes himself off and just kinda waves at you he doesn’t know what to do he’s dying inside 

so embarrassed

You just kind of wave off BamBam and he nods at you and hikes up toward his car

“So,” you say, feeling like an idiot for being here and hoping he doesn’t know you were crying (he does)

“So,” he says, just wishing God would strike him dead because he’s out here half drunk at your romantic spot watching as YOU BROUGHT SOME OTHER GUY HERE

“How are things?”

“Good, good.” (Cool cool cool)

“Well, anyway, nice to see you, guess I’ll-” You don’t know if you should hug him or just like...walk away

You’re texting someone and it’s super weird he doesn’t know what’s happening

Two awkward babies

As you walk off Jungkook’s like “Wait-”

His face is all red from booze and embarrassment

“I can give you a ride home,” he says.

“You don’t know where I live.”

Jungkook rubs the back of his neck. “You could give me directions, I guess, unless you’re going home with that guy.” He jerks his chin toward the hill

You want to roll your eyes but he looks miserable so you just sigh

“He’s my friend.”

“Weird. I’ve never met him.”

“Yes you have! He’s in GOT7, you bought me tickets, you dork. We went to dinner with him at that vegan restaurant?”

He remembered now, VIP tickets while BTS was on a world tour. Super bright idea, Jungkook, he thinks

“Wow, a vegan. Tough.”

“Shut up.”

“So he’s the dude you wanna explore with?”

“He’s just been a good friend since-”

“Since you inexplicably left to see other people? I bet he has. He’s trying to get into your pants.”

You’re pissed off. You just wanted the ground to swallow you up at first and now you wanna be petty

“How do you know he hasn’t already?”

Jungkook is shook

Y’all have always been sassy to each other but that was downright cruel

His stomach is in knots

“Has he?”

He wants to scream for the whole thirty seconds that you don’t answer

When you just shrug, he lowkey wants to push you into the creek

You look pretty even with bloodshot eyes and a puffy face from crying and suddenly he’s just so tired and miserable 

“Can’t we just talk about this? Can’t we just go home?”

He sounds pitiful and you want to tell him yes

BamBam blows the horn like a jerk, just because you had texted him to do so after fifteen minutes because you would rather die than have Jungkook know you were so upset that you forced your friend to take you to their spot

Jungkook is big mad

“Who the hell does he think he is? This is who you want to explore your options with? What a fucking asshat.”

“I gotta go, Kook. It was good to see you.”

“Wait - y/n...can we talk sometime else? Will you text me?”

“Maybe.”

You’re being so standoffish, so different, and he hates it

You leave him standing there and hike back up the trail and he just sits at the creek for a couple hours until he stops crying

[adonis-koo]

Three’s a crowd

| 10 |

Plot: (CEO AU) When your mom’s fairytale life begins to bleed over into your world you’re suddenly caught between two men and one big secret, what was suppose to be a relaxing trip soon begins to spiral out of control. All you wanted was a free vacation…

Pairing: Jungkook/Reader/Jimin, Hoseok/Reader, Taehyung/Reader, Seokjin/Reader

Genre: Smut, angst, drama, angst with a happy ending

Word count: 8.5k

Previous | Next

Warning ⚠️ This fic touches on drug use, alcoholism and abuse. Please read with caution if any of these things are triggers for you 🖤

You were collapsed against the futon couch, your stomach exposed to the warm humid air of the room from the shitty cropped Toyko style shirt you wore and the high waisted gym shorts would’ve done some justice to your exposed skin had it not showed your legs like a swimsuit. But the least of your concerns was the skin you were showing as you chugged the beer in your hand like it was koolaid.

Hoseok clacked his tongue as he curved a brow, “Maybe you should take it easy Y/n...you have to open shop with Taehyung tomorrow.”

“Dude, she just watched someone get his head broken in like a pinata,” Taehyung hummed, fingers stroking through your hair soothingly, your head currently laid in his lap as he continued, “I think she has a good reason to drink.”

You sighed, forcing yourself to stop chugging as you set the beer down on the coffee table before curling back against the warmth of his lap, his fingers continued threading into your hair. All you wanted was that horrid memory erased from your mind, you wished you could get the detailed of the man’s splattered blood and chunks of brain out of your memory. But every graphic memory was seared into your memory.

The biggest memory was Jungkook’s expression, he was a totally different person, was that who he truly was? You would’ve expected someone more like Jimin to be tangled up in whatever it was that he was involved in, but no. It was Jungkook, and he was clearly proud of it. Or something like that…? “Fuck…” You groaned, pushing your hands onto your face, “All I wanted was free vacation…”

“Mmm guess everything really does come with a price huh.” Hoseok hummed out, feeling Taehyung shove him only to shove back unappreciative. You had ignored them both though, your phone left further on the futon that had been pulled out, you had instantly blocked Jungkook’s number, but you couldn’t help but wonder if he had tried to get a hold of you.

With your mother's engagement official, and her being so close to Jungkook’s mother, you doubt that was going to be the last time you saw him. But dread only filled you at the thought. When had things become so messy between you both?

“You think a hitman’s gonna lynch me now?” You asked weakly, making both of them snort laughs before trying to cough to cover it. Taehyung had pulled you up to sit upright before encasing you in his arms, “Hey if you die, I die.” 

Leave it to that loveable dumbass to proclaim you’d die together. For the first time in forever you weren’t flinching and trying to claw your way out of his grasp. Instead you found yourself leaning into the large oversized black hoodie, the warmth of his body emitting against you as you gave a contented hum.

Hoseok gave that bright smile he was famous for as he laughed, leaning into his seat as he tipped his beer towards you both, “Alright I’ll be here to pay for the funeral when you fuckers die.”

They both began laughing and slowly, you could feel the tip of your mouth curve up, warmth squeezing into your chest at the normality. You had finally survived the week, you survived and now things would go back to the way they were. 

But strangely enough, you had a bad feeling, things were going to be anything but normal anymore.

The night had continued on, eventually cutting off the alcohol intake as you gave them all of the details of the events that took place throughout the week and you had figured your friend’s would’ve started picking teams, but much to your surprise. Neither of them seemed to like Jimin or Jungkook, “But why…” You furrowed your brows in surprise.

Hoseok was the first to speak, his lip wrinkling in disgust, “First of all, Jimin sounds like an asshole. I mean he blew your back out...literally, but at what cost? Who the fuck would say that too you, you are not a dime a dozen.” 

You winced at the venom in his voice, the protective side he was all too well known for showing as he continued, “And furthermore, Jungkook...okay I’ll admit I didn’t think he was that bad of a kid until you told us about the whole fiancee thing. That was the first red flag for me. But now the whole murder thing? I don’t know if it’s mafia related but you do not need to be involved in that shit.”

“Yeah I agree,” Taehyung hummed, a fair bit more relaxed then Hoseok, who’s shoulders were tensed and his jaw clenched at the idea, “I think it’s for the best that things played out the way they did. You’re better off without either of them, for now at least. Maybe things will change in the future.” He shrugged, looking a little more open to the idea then Hoseok did.

And you could tell Hoseok didn’t agree with him either, but refrained from saying so. Sighing you supposed they did have a point, it was better this way. For things to get back to the way they were before, but you couldn’t shake the odd feeling that things had definitely changed. 

Yesterday night had changed your life, in a lot more ways than one.

You had stood still for a moment, taking in a deep breath at the mouth watering smell of the bakery first thing in the morning. More days than less, you had gotten used to the smell, but having the week off had made your body unfamiliar with your long time work place once more. Allowing you to enjoy the warm comforting smell.

Often times when you were younger, Mr Kim would let you and Taehyung eat from the first batch of muffins if you hadn’t eaten that morning. You had a lot of fond memories in this old beat up place.

You jumped slightly at the plate that was plotted in front of you with a large blueberry muffin. Taehyung eagerly shoving it towards you as he pushed the muffin he was currently devouring further in his mouth, “Eat it, I know you want too.” You could barely make out what he had said, his mouth too stuffed to genuinely talk.

Rolling your eyes despite the smile on your lips you picked up the sweet treat, nibbling on the side as you hummed. The muffin was still warm and had a sprinkling of sugar on the top, mixing it nicely with the tart taste of the blueberries. Damn you really loved this shop, “Hey Tae.”

“Hm?” Taehyung hummed out, placing his half ate muffin on the counter top before going to the large mixing bowl, finishing the rest of the muffin batch.

“Did she ever come and get the rest of her shit?” You had wheeled past him towards the coffee machine, needing something to wash down your throat. You weren’t a huge coffee drinker but it smelled so good, it was difficult to resist when it was right in front of you. 

Taehyung’s lips twitched slightly in annoyance at just the thought of her, huffing he nodded, “Yeah, pretty much, she just has one more round to make before she’s gone for good.” He suddenly scoffed as he turned towards you, “You wanna know what she told me?”

You furrowed your brows, pressing the cup to your lips as you let the hot bitter liquid wash down your throat, “What?”

“That I was ‘more than free to go with her’ as if I’d ever actually do that.” Taehyung had that all too familiar broody look on his face as his shoulders hung, pulling up the 24 pan tray as you opened the oven door for him. You only sighed though, you couldn’t really blame him for being angry with his mom. She was the one who had turned out to be a gold digger, leaving his dad because he wasn't ‘rich enough’.

“She actually thinks you’re on her side during all of this?” You raised your brows expectantly. No matter what, you were always going to side with your friends, sure you might try and give them a voice of reason (just like they did for you) but if they were hurt, especially like this. Well you assumed their anger was justified.

Hearing the door of the shop ring you had made your way out to the register as Taehyung followed sighing, “No, I don’t think so. I made it pretty damn clear when she offered that I wasn’t interested. Besides we’re shacking up soon, right?”

You greeted the customer with the best smile you could muster while taking their order. A large piece of coffee cake and a grande americano was easy enough, shit coffee cake sounded really good right now. Your stomach growled in objection as you set up the plate and Taehyung had got to work on the coffee, “As of right now yeah, I was dead ass serious when I texted you that. But what about you though? Is your dad gonna be okay?”

You glanced over at him, the sleeves to his black hoodie pushed up to his elbows and his sandy brown hair was messy and covered over his eyebrows, Taehyung gave a hum in thought before shrugging, “Nah, I think he’ll be fine, he’s still hurt yeah. But it’s been over a year, old mans actually been on my ass for awhile now about moving out. Kinda works out for me too.”

You had moved to the far left end of the counter that had been opened on both sides, setting down the plate as Taehyung moved to set the coffee beside it calling out the order number before moving back to the register.

“Alright cool, so I was thinking maybe we should start looking for a new place though, the contract was signed under both my mom and me and when she ends the lease I’m not sure if they’ll let me resign with someone new. The landlord's picky as hell with who lives there.”

“In beatshitville? The fuck?” Taehyung snorted a laugh as you shrugged while throwing up your hands, “Alright sounds fine with me, never really cared for your place anyways.” Taehyung nodded. You weren’t too surprised by his words, it’s not like you lived in the best neighborhood in the world, while you’d give it decent at best it still wasn’t the greatest, “Oh by the way, I was thinking about picking up a second job too, any recommendations?”

You curved a brow at his words, not too shocked by them, unless you both were willing to downgrade in house rent he’d have to get a second job as well, “Well Heaven's Best is always looking for strippers.” You snorted a loud laugh as Taehyung rolled his eyes near close to the back of his head, “All I’m saying is it’s really not a bad place, they’ll teach you pole for free with that face.”

“Yeah and the manager would probably want me to suck his dick in compensation.” Taehyung rolled his eyes again as he began cleaning off the counter, he said no more but you wouldn’t have been surprised if he was actually considering. Not that you really wanted him to take the job offer but it really wasn’t all too bad of a jig- temporarily speaking.

The rest of the day went by within a blink of an eye and before you knew it, you were closing shop at seven, you had all agreed to go out before you and Hoseok headed into work for dinner, or well breakfast for Hoseok. But still it was a nice time slot for tonight’s shift, which you wouldn’t be starting until nine.

Hoseok gave a big yawn, stretching out in his long sleeve, you were honestly surprised he wasn’t too hot in as he ran a hand through his hair, “Oh I don’t know if it means anything to you but you might wanna take a look at this.”

You were confused for a minute, pausing from the noodles you had currently been devouring before slurping the remaining that hung from your lips, watching him pull out his phone. Fuck, what was that supposed to mean? You hated cliffhangers. 

Hoseok handed his phone towards you as you glanced towards the screen, a little confused at first before swearing under your breath, “Motherfucker.” Weren’t camera’s not supposed to be allowed on the VIP floor of the casino? It was a picture of you and Jungkook, both of your backs turned thank god, you were perched up on his lap while playing that game of poker. 

The photo was grainy and maybe took off of a phone…? You knew for a fact that there was no way photo’s could’ve been allowed on that floor. Who the fuck sold it to media?

“So it was you?” Hoseok sighed as you handed the phone back to him, your hands instantly covered your face, both in embarrassment and self hatred. You did a good job of forgetting about Jungkook for the day, but that photo had let all of those memories rush back to your head.

It’s not like they knew it was you though, the headline had said it was Jungkook and Jae just the day before their engagement had been announced. Which also confirmed that he had made it official that night of the party. You had been avoiding social media for that very reason.

Taehyung instantly grabbed the phone from him to see before giving a low whistle, “Well we only know because you literally just confirmed it.”

“What if my mom see’s this!?” You screeched out, sure your friends couldn’t tell it was you but what if your mom did? She knew you from the inside out, you wouldn’t be surprised if she knew it was you just by your back, or the color of your hair, hell maybe even your ears. You just didn’t know!

Hoseok shrugged before snatching his phone back from Taehyung, “I doubt it, Y/n you’re too worried, besides i’d be a little more concerned about fucking a mobster the entire week.”

“He isn’t a mobster!” You cried out with a whisper, pressing your hands into your head at his words looking distressed. There was no way Jungkook was a mobster! You just couldn’t imagine those sweet, doe eyes filling that role. You weren’t sure what he was, but that couldn’t have been the case. Right?

Taehyung had been trying his best to not laugh but was failing miserably as he let the laughter bubble in his throat, Hoseok had began to join in with him and as much as you tried to stay serious it didn’t work, letting the smile take over your lips as you sighed. Rolling your eyes as you stirred your drink around, “He isn’t a mobster guys.” You murmured softly, a little more serious than before, “I don’t know what he is, but I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Maybe you should unblock him and just ask?” Hoseok offered, fiddling with his chopsticks before shrugging altogether, Hoseok was the most pragmatic of the three of you and you knew he wouldn’t be suggesting it if he didn’t fully think it was a good idea, “I mean he was gonna explain when you first saw, right?”

You thought over the memory again, it was still a bit vague and the shock of the whole event had made it very hazy for you. You didn’t remember much of the night after that, just waking up in the airplane the next day, “I don’t know Hobi….I mean I don’t remember a lot but I’m pretty sure I was the one who told him to stay away. It feels a bit hypocritical to go and hit him up after saying that.”

“Yeah but you were in shock, that was just a knee jerk reaction,” Taehyung chimed in, ignoring his half ate fajita as he pointed his chopsticks at you, “You said he wanted to get with you, right? And not just for a good fuck.”

You facepalmed before glancing around the shop, did he have to talk so loud? “Yeah but…”

“Then he’s probably wanting to at least explain himself. You should give him the chance to do that before cutting ties...unless his dick is that good then- hey!” Taehyung whined as you smacked his arm with a glare. You didn’t need to hear this right now, the last thing on your mind was his body when he just killed someone.

“I don’t know guys, I’ll think about it but right now…I think I just need some space. Beside’s he just went public with Jae, getting near him with a ten foot pole is social suicide.” You sighed as you leaned against your hand on the table, it was the truth honestly. Right now you needed time to digest everything that had happened before approaching him, if at all.

Your friends hummed in agreement before continuing the conversation elsewhere. Should you really talk to him though? You wouldn’t deny you wanted answers, a lot. You needed some sort of explanation because you were desperately wanting to hold onto the idea that Jungkook was still a good person, that he wasn’t someone who had just pretended. 

He seemed so authentic, if he had genuinely tricked you...you were almost certain your faith in whatever was left in humanity would be lost. But another part of you was too scared to try, the icy look of his face, void of any emotion still haunted you when there was a moment your thoughts weren’t occupied. Did you really want to find out the answer?

You sunk back into your seat, forcing yourself back into the conversation of your friends. It wouldn’t do you any good simmering over it, things were back to normal now, right? Who cared.

“So...basically you’re telling me this guy went hack saw murder on the coffee pot?” You furrowed your brows at the glass scattering across the vacant room, the sheets were fumbled and torn up making the slight creak of the fan above all the more ominous. Not that it actually scared you, but you supposed those who weren’t used to your job would’ve been a little freaked out.

Hoseok hummed with a shrug as he grabbed the broom from the cart, “Yeah basically, didn’t they pass a rule about appliances being left out of the patients rooms?”

“That was allowed in the first place?” You snorted a scoff, raising your brows as you went to work on the bed, pulling the ragged blank off before folding it up, tossing it on the cart while getting to work on the tattered sheet. Damn did these patients have some strong muscles to be tearing this shit up.

Hoseok glanced back over towards you before shrugging, “Well don’t take my word for it. All I wanna know is how he got it in here. I think they had to wheel him to the ER.”

The screams of the guy had died down the echoing hallway as you both stood still for a moment before resuming your tasks, “Did he slit his wrists?” You hummed out, taking note of the fresh blood that oozed from the bed, dripping down to the floor.

“On accident, I think.” Hoseok answered, stepping over the new pile of glass to get the dustpan, sighing as he glanced towards the door, “Don’t you ever feel bad for them? The patients?”

You licked your lips for a moment, giving it some thought. You wouldn’t necessarily say you pitied them, pity wouldn’t fix their minds. But you did wish them the best, you knew first hand how much it taxed your best friend, “Nah, they aren’t broken Hobi...just different.” You finally answered, it was how you felt. It wasn’t the patients fault they were born with the mental illnesses they had, or how they had developed over time. 

But that didn’t make them less human than anyone else, they deserved love and compassion too, “They need people like you helping them Hobi, y’know? Some of the people working here are only doing it for the pay grade and it shows.”

You both knew that was true, it wasn’t a secret that psych nurses were paid well for their line of work. But some of them treated the patients so coldly, it really did show in the patients attitude. You were being honest, Hoseok was such a sweetheart to all the patients, you knew he’d be a good addition to the team here. If he got hired on but that was a whole other problem in itself.

You both finished up cleaning out the room before steering the cart away, stretching out with a long yawn. Damn you forgot how tiring this really was on such little sleep. It was only 1 AM but you weren’t even halfway through shift, it was gonna be a long night.

Hearing scuffling of shoes though made you both pause for a second before shrugging, “You know this is against the rules!”

“It’s her kid he’s almost graduated anyways he can help!” Both you and Hoseok turned around at the bickered words of two of the nurses, they were paused a little ways away from you and they were familiar enough. You didn’t know them by name but Hoseok had knew them both enough. The one on the left stepped forward ignoring her friend as she called out, “Hoseok, we really need some help. She’s having an episode and she keeps asking for you.”

“Where is she?” Hoseok instantly strode over with you in suit, not a single drop of hesitation on his face as he inquired further. But the nurses both turned around showing him the way rather than speaking. You didn’t have to go, but you weren’t sure what was going on, all you knew was the word ‘episode’ in the ward was bad and you knew he could handle his mother but what about after?

Both of the nurses stopped outside of the room where you jolted at the loud thump and harsh scream, that was definitely his mother. The door quickly opened to reveal one of the other nurses, her breath rapid and her eyes dilated, “Holy shit. Thank god you’re here Jung, are you sure you wanna go through with this?”

“Positive, I have Y/n for back up if I need any help.” He gave a glance towards you, making you give a quick nod in confirmation. You’d go to hell and back for your friends, you were a lot of things in this life, but you were best known for your unwavering loyalty.

The nurses nodded at the crashing and muffled screaming continued from the other side, Hoseok paused in front of the door for a second, taking a breath before you both entered. The room was completely wrecked, the sheets tattered and torn off the bed, feathers from the pillow scattered across the room and his mother. 

Yuki was beating her fists against the wall, her hair was ragged and oily but the tears spilling down her face while she wailed something incomprehensible made your heart splinter.

You let Hoseok approach first, his steps with soft and calculated with his gaze focused solely on her, treating her both as if she was delicate porcelain but also like a cornered animal, and you supposed that was a rightful take. His mother looked like such, her eyes were blown out and she looked terrified while pounding her fists against the wall, dark bruises forming on the palms of her hands from the amount of force she had been using.

“Hey, mom it’s me.” Hoseok spoke gently over her wailing to try and not startle her, his hands held slightly in front of him to try and act as a barrier between himself and her if she lashed out, but your sight wasn’t on him anymore, it was on the object in her hand she gripped. You squinted to try and get a fix on it as Hoseok slowly approached closer to her.

Your eyes suddenly widened in realization as you reached out, “Hoseok, wait!” But it was too late, his hand had stretched out to gently grasp her shoulder, causing her to violently whip around and lunge at him with the syringe she had been holding.

You watched in horror but Hoseok had reacted quickly, ducking out of the way only for her to give another loud screech, she had said something but you couldn’t make out her words as she shoved him away.

The strength of patients never ceased to amaze you, you could barely register Hoseok being sent tumbling backwards before her sight suddenly set out you.

The syringe came flying your way as you scrambled to dodge the attack, her movements were fast and sharp compared to your frantic figure as you tried to back away from each of her thrashes towards you. There was only so much space in the room though before your back had hit the wall and Yuki was far too close, she let out another shriek as she slammed the syringe towards you.

Her body near pressing against yours and you barely managed to move your head to the side of her attack in time, the syringe stuck planted far into the wall where your head originally should have been.

After one unsuccessful tug she abandoned it, grabbing your jumpsuit, tears streaming down her face as she shouted something fumbled, something like…..Hoseok?

It sounded similar to his name but you couldn’t think in the moment as she threw you to the ground, but the water falling from her eyes made it difficult for you to want to fight back as you tried to scramble away.

But Yuki had clambered on top of you and all you could feel was the pain throbbing against your face as she slammed her hands down against you with no particular aim in mind, she had kept crying but her force was beginning to weaken as she finally managed to cry out, “Where’s my son!?”

You had tried catching her wrists but her movement was too frantic and for a moment you were beginning to wonder if you were going to pass out. Your head was beginning to feel light and the pressure in your chest from her body weight was beginning to tighten.

“I’m right here mom.”

The pain didn’t cease but the cause of it had, Hoseok had stood behind you both, reach down gripping her upperarms from behind to keep her steady, her breath was ragged and she had almost became like a rag doll as he pulled her off of you, turning her around, “I’m right here.” he murmured more softly.

You couldn’t see her expression, just her choked sobs softening as she murmured, “Hobi.” you collapsed in relief at the sight of her throwing her arms around him into a hug, her crying not ceasing but her volatile state from before being calmed. You aimlessly store up at the ceiling, letting them share their moment together as your hand, shaky from adrenaline lifted up to touch your lip that was in seering pain and an odd wet sensation on your chin.

Gently letting your fingers ghost of the area before lifting them away, sighing again as you closed your eyes, fuck that was blood. She must’ve busted your lower lip during her rounds of hits.

Nothing else was bleeding though, maybe bruising. Probably bruising, but you were familiar enough with that. You had heard Hoseok gently coax her back to sit on the bed an arm wrapped around her shoulders, “Mom lay down, okay? I’m not going anywhere. You good Y/n?” He called out the last part a little louder from his spot on the other side of the bed.

“Peachy.” You replied dryly, the pain still throbbing and your body still pumping with adrenaline from what had just happened. Well, it could’ve been worse. You glanced towards the syringe that was stuck in the wall before sitting up slowly, wiping the blood from your chin despite feeling more trickle down. You’d definitely have to get that cleaned as soon as you weren’t needed here.

Standing up was a bit difficult at first, your head still light and your legs weak but you wobbled over to the wall, giving a good yank from the syringe to pull it from the wall. That could’ve been your head. You cringed slightly as you inspected it, the substance still in there as you hummed. This must’ve been the sedative they were trying to give her before things got out of hand. You glanced back towards Hoseok who had just got her to lay down.

Her eyes were doey and bright just like his but her cheeks were still stained from her tears but even through all the hysteria, she still looked at him like he was her whole world. Briefly you felt the small smile pull on your lips, but deep inside your chest panged with a twinge of jealousy. You could only imagine what it was like, to have someone love you that much. Shaking your head you discarded the thought, what was the use in throwing yourself a pity party? It wasn’t gonna pay the bills.

You walked over glancing towards them both as Hoseok gave you a nod to signal you he had it under control, you had just grabbed the handle when you heard a thrash, turning around in surprise to see Hoseok gently pushing his mother back down despite her insistence, but her eyes were shining on you with a strong determination before she weakly spoke, “I’m...sorry.”

You let your lips squirk into a small smile as she finally laid back down at Hoseok’s insistence, shaking your head as you answered, “It’s okay.” opening the door you gently shut it behind yourself as you sighed.

Looking up to find five nurses standing there waiting with baited breath, you shoved the syringe towards the closest one as you huffed, “She’ll be okay, Hoseok will let you guys know when it’s okay to come in.” but they all store with open mouths at well...yours. Blood dripping off your chin, pattering against the floor but you ignored them as you went to walk down the hall to find the nearest bathroom.

You had been patting down the area on your lower lip for a good ten minutes now, the blood had finally ceased and gave you time to clean down the rest of your chin, no immediate bruising had appeared which was a good thing, now whether they’d be there when you got work at the bakery was...debatable. Sighing you threw away the last piece of bloodied paper towel away as you washed your hands.

Deciding to get the cleaning cart and get back to the vacant rooms, they wouldn’t clean themselves and Hoseok was probably on his way back now, if not already on it. You had got back to the cart before grabbing the clipboard, glancing over the next room number you hadn’t scratched off before making your way over.

Same routine as usual, first take care of the bed, discarding any pillow cases and sheets to take down to the laundry shoot. Next was any split contents or breakables, you had been mopping the floor down when Hoseok had came in, “She good?”

He gave a nod, his expression looked peaceful and he seemed content as he answered, “Yeah, I guess she just had a panic attack about where I was? I don’t know but; she’s okay now. Thanks by the way, you look like shit.”

“As if I don’t always look like shit.” You rolled your eyes but still felt the small smile quirk on your lips, watching him fetch the second mop as he dunked it into the tub you had set out, “Anyway it's not a big deal, I’m just glad she didn’t skewer my head with that syringe, did you see her? She’s fuckin’ flying around the room like jackie chan with that shit.” you both had began laughing as you got to work on the room.

That would be the biggest excitement you’d have for at least a month, you had just finished the room when you felt your phone buzzing in your pocket making your brows furrowed. Nobody ever called, it was either text or in person. Digging out your phone as Hoseok turned towards you confused as well. You swallowed thickly, “Fuck.”

“Who is it?”

“Mom.” You replied before answering, worry filling you. She never called unless it was important, and the last time that had happened was well over five years ago, “Hey mom what’s up?” But you couldn’t even keep the casual tone in your voice, the worry invading it as you stood still in the near empty hallway.

But all you could hear at first was crying on the other end and your mom saying something, but she was speaking so fast and her words were so muddled you couldn’t understand, fuck what had happened? Had your dad found out where you lived? “Woah, woah, woah calm down. What happened? Are you okay?” Hoseok had wheeled around, his eyebrows shot up in concern but you had focused entirely on your mothers distressed voice as she gave a shaky inhale.

“B-baby please come home- these people they just,” She let out another sob, her breath hitching again as she fumbled against her words, “They broke in and the house is destroyed sweetie-”

What? Your mind was reeling from her words before cutting her off, “I’ll be home in ten, have you called the police?”

“N-not yet, Seung’s on his way here right now.” She cried out, her voice high pitched and strained as you sighed, running a hand through your hair. Of course she called him first, that didn’t matter right now though, focus Y/n, focus.

“Alright call them, I’ll be home soon.” You hung up the phone before sighing again, your mind still reeling from her words as you finally addressed Hoseok’s slightly distressed figure, looking highly concerned, “Fuck I don’t know. She just said someone...or a group broke in? I don’t know, I have to go Hoseok…”

You finally glanced up at him but he only nodded, “Want me to come with? It sounds bad Y/n…”

“No it’s fine, one of us needs to stay here and finish shift, I’ll keep you updated okay?” He gave one last nod before you hurried to clock out.

Your entire walk home was spent more like a jog and you were nearly out of breath by the time you had arrived.

You heard a small meow making you stop as your brows pressed together, your eyes scanning the hall of the apartment before landing on the familiar black and brown mottled cat, his fur slightly matted and sticking up on the back of his neck and tail fluffed out as if he had been spooked, “Twix, what are you doing out here baby?” You cried out, the cat quickly came running up as you picked him up, he let out another meow as you tenderly stroked him before going up to your apartment.

The key in hand except your mouth gaped at the sight of the door being forced open, wood scattered across the ground and all it took was a small push for it to open. Your lips fell open in shock at the sight before you, the once small but cozy living room ripped to shreds, everything torn up and thrown all over the place, stuffing from the couch cushions had spread across the floor and what little glassware you had set out was shattered to pieces.

You let Twix jump from your arms as they fell numbly against your sides, what the fuck.

Everything hadn’t just been ruined, it was completely destroyed, all the various knick knacks you had found over the years, the loveseat you and your mom had been so excited to get for her 40th birthday, even the little set of paintings you had bought at the thrift store when you had first moved in were holed and crushed on the ground.

You hadn’t realized how many memories and moments had been ingrained in this shitty little apartment until you stood there, with all of it crushed to rubble in front of you. But your logical side was kicking in as you realized all of this wasn’t for nothing. No, this looked like a raid, like they were searching for something. Nothing had been stolen.

Your mother suddenly appeared, tears streaming down her face as she hurried towards you, throwing her arms around you as she sobbed into your neck, but your mind was numb still reeling from the sight before you. Who would do this? And more importantly, why?

“Look I don’t know okay? I work two jobs and I’m barely home five hours a day, why would I have any ‘enemies’ who’d do this.” You snapped out harshly, it was close to four in the morning and you were too tired to answer anymore questions. The officer took down another note, looking more patient than you.

Your arms were wrapped tightly around yourself and you understood how it looked, you were beaten to a pulp and dead tired but you didn’t get into fights, not ones that would escalate to this. But the officer shifted his weight as he glanced back up at you, “I’m not accusing you of anything Ms L/n, but I need you to think, has there been anything strange you’ve seen lately, do you know anyone that could have caused this to happen?”

His words suddenly triggered your memory, the memory of Jungkook...the gun....the body. You swallowed all of your emotions back down your throat, this couldn’t be connected to that. Right?

“No, I’m positive sir.” He didn’t look sold but gave one late nod before finishing the interview.

You sighed, leaning back against the wall as you heard a meow and a tiny body brush against your leg, glancing down you watched as your cat, Twix looked up at you, meowing again as if sensing your distressed mood. Sighing you leaned down as you let him rub against your hand, a purr erupting from his throat in contentment, your lips twitched into a ghost of a smile briefly.

“You okay?”

And just like that, it disappeared, your frown taking its rightful place on your lips as you glanced up to one of the few people you had assumed you would only have to rarely see. Jimin stood tall, his hands in the pockets of his jacket, expression unreadable making you scoff, a more bitter smile playing on your lips as you replied, “Peachy, why do you care?”

“While it may come as a shock to you Y/n,” Jimin finally gave a weary smile, shifting is weight and his eyes seemed to sparkle in amusement as he continued, “I’m not heartless.”

You stayed quiet for a moment, glancing at him as if searching for any visible signs because you really weren’t sure, was he heartless? He didn’t seem so sweet at Dark Ace’s anniversary party. But at the moment, you couldn’t detect a trace of mockery or condescending that had taken place previously in his demeanor. 

Jimin held down a hand too you in offering as he spoke up, “Your house just got broken into and you look like you went through a garbage disposal, it’d be hard to not feel at least a little sorry for you.”

It was hard to not smile even a tiny bit at the return of his smartass tone, making you roll your eyes exasperatedly as you grabbed his hand, letting him help you up as you muttered, “Asshole.”

Jimin wrapped a loose arm around your shoulder as he guided you back towards the living room, “Yeah well come on loser, you’re staying over the night with your mom.” It felt a bit odd, having his arm around you, and his words so casual. But they felt okay, and that was what you needed at the moment, you needed okay.

Any other day you would have objected but you were tired and your work schedule had already resumed it’s draining hold on you. Jimin had lead you back out to the living room where Seung had been soothing your mother, it was mutually agreed you’d spend the night at their estate until you could work things out in the morning.

That’s how you found yourself laying against the queen sized plush bed, but you were anything but sleepy now, your mind racing trying to sort through everything that had happened. And eventually by six you had texted your friends

Sighing you realized you’d need to get a shower and breakfast before going to the bakery, hopefully whatever your mother had planned would be discussed within the next few hours before you departed. The hot water seemed to be the only remedy for your dull mind as it pounded against your back, forcing your muscles into relaxation. Eventually you did step out of the shower and reality had hit you again much to your displeasure. You had mindlessly got changed before exiting the room. The estate was, well an estate. It was massive.

Why was there so many vacant rooms? What purpose did they serve? Was having this big of a house necessary? Briefly you glanced around as you stepped down the stairs, this would be your mother's new home. And as much as you despised the upcoming wedding, you were secretly relieved. She’d be well taken care of at least. You wouldn’t have to spend day and night worrying about her from now on.

You’d be able to just get through day in and day out without any worries. It would nice actually. The more you thought about it the more you came to terms with, while this change in life wasn’t very pleasant. You could make the most of it.

Now sitting down at the large table being told you were staying with Seung until the police got to the bottom of who raided your apartment? That instantly crushed what little positivity you had gained. Your mom was spouting it out as if she didn’t quite understand what volatile reaction bubbled beneath your quiet exterior, had it not been for both Seung and Jimin being present you would’ve instantly lost your shit.

Jimin had leaned back in his chair, a loose white sweatshirt on and a case of bedhead to match, he looked tired but it didn’t stop his curiosity as he watched between both you and your mom. He knew how you felt about the whole situation so you couldn’t necessarily get mad at him for being interested in your reaction.

But you weren’t going to give in right now, no matter how much you wanted too. No matter how badly you just wanted to scream fuck at the top of your lungs and slam your head into a wall. You didn’t want to be an adult and deal with it, but you needed too. And given Seung was going to be your stepfather- the idea made you shudder, and it felt wrong but that's besides the point-

It was far too early for you to feel comfortable enough to deny the idea- both physically and in aspect of their relationship. It wasn’t like you’d be home all that much anyways, but the few hours you were...well you wanted to be in your own home.

“Y’know…” You drew out, forcing your mother to pause. You had swore every time you weren’t going to do this, and yet here you were speaking anyways. You could only hope Seung and Jimin would be leverage to keep her from lashing out at you, “It’s really not that big of a deal. I mean...I can understand you wanting to stay here but...Well I’m not home much to begin with- And don’t get me wrong,” you rushed quickly glancing to Seung, “It’s not that I don’t want to stay-” don’t fucking lie Y/n “I just feel like I’m intruding a bit...I just think it would be better if I went ahead and just cleaned up the apartment and resettled. Consider me dumb but- I don’t think it’s gonna happen again.”

Those words were ones you firmly believed, whatever they had been looking for, they didn’t find. Therefore your apartment was useless, which also meant they’d leave it alone. You just couldn’t believe it was really a one man operation- or a stray burglar- no valuables in your house had been taken. If there was one thing you prided yourself on- it was your intelligence- albeit you didn’t use it very often...but when you did, it didn’t take much to figure things out.

But just one glance at your mother and you knew you fucked up, her shoulders were tense and she had that rigid expression she always had when she didn’t agree with you. Her jaw was clenched a classic sign of her trying not to snap at you due to being in the presence of others.

Jimin had leaned back in his seat, the glass of water pressed against his lips as if trying to hide his dumb smile at the scene unfolding. You almost felt like you fell into an invisible trap set by him but- dammit this wasn’t about him! Focus Y/n!

But before your mother could speak Seung had beat her to it, his expression the exact opposite of hers, expression soft and warm making you feel all different kinds of level of discomfort, “You aren’t a burden Y/n, we aren’t trying to strip you of your freedom we just want you to be safe,” He explained delicately and while you understood- they couldn’t seem to with the fact that you could take care of yourself. 

You were beginning to feel the familiar bubble of frustration inside you, how many times did you have to say that before someone would believe you? “While I do think you’re correct in your assessment. I also don’t want to take that risk, I hope you can understand.”

It felt like you didn’t even have a choice.

Sinking into your seat you sighed, giving a reserved nod. But your head was already turning, you had a bad habit of ignoring people’s decision when it affected you. At the end of the day, you were the one looking out for yourself. And if there was one thing you couldn’t stand, it was someone making a decision- assuming they knew what was best for you- without even consulting you about it. You got it, it was done out of some sort of notion for care but all it did was irk you.

Maybe you were being unreasonable, all you had complained about was not getting put first, and now that you were, maybe you were being an unreasonable bitch about it. But the fact of the matter was you weren’t being put first, no this was about your mother. What she wanted. And right now she wanted you in this god awful estate because she wouldn’t cut the fucking apron strings- No she refused too.

You hadn’t realized how rapidly your heartbeat was, or how tightly you had clenched your hands into fists in a bout of simmering anger, you abruptly stood up from your chair making everyone’s gaze jump to you suddenly, “I should get going for work. I won’t be back until late morning so I’ll see everyone later.”

You didn’t wait for any goodbyes as you left. You hadn’t gotten so worked up in awhile and when you got like this your mouth would open and pour out words like a faucet. There was no stopping your brutality when that happened. And honestly? You didn’t need to add that on to the list of things that had happened in your life after everything within the past week.

You had barely made it out the door when you heard it open again, “I swear to fuck-” you muttered under your breath turning around in anticipation of your mom ready to chew your ass out. Instead you found Jimin walking down the steps with a yawn, keys in one hand with the other in the pocket of his hoodie.

Squinting your eyes into a suspicious glance only made him laugh, the lazy smile on his lips as he curved a brow, “What the fuck is your problem? I’m driving you to work, come on.” He breezed past you like the asshole he was, walking towards the garage as he called over your shoulder, “I’ll leave without you.”

“And go where?” You snorted indignantly, following behind despite not being in the mood to chat, you weren’t sure what his deal was anymore. First he said, and in quotes ‘a dime a dozen’ in realms of fucking, and now he wanted to act like prince charming? You fucking hated guys, they were so dumb it made you livid!

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll go without you and get something to eat.” Jimin shrugged, even having the audacity to throw you a cheeky smile as your glare heightened but you got in the car anyways. The silver corvette was sleek and comfy and still had that new car smell. It hadn’t even been a full two minutes before he finally asked the golden question, “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

“Do I look like I want to fucking live with you both!? No offense but I’d rather get railroaded by a goddamn golf cart before that happens.” You sputtered out instantly, throwing your hands all over the place as you ranted.

Jimin had only curved an amused eyebrow before prodding you further, “Why use the term railroad when you mean run over?”

“Does that fucking matter!? Our parents are getting married! My house just got fucking raided by some elite spec ops bullshit and don’t even get me started about the anniversary party fucking hell!” You snapped back animatedly, “If I want to use the wrong term I will!”

“Alright, alright, calm down doll I was just joking,” Jimin surrendered though he didn’t look very sorry as he parked in the lot of the bakery, “Try and cool off, when do you get off work?”

You squinted at him again, refraining from going batshit insane at his words ‘calm down’ you were being perfectly calm. Gnawing against your lip in contemplation before finally huffing, “Seven why? I have to get to my other job by 9.”

Jimin clacked his tongue, “Because I’m picking you up, don’t be so sour. I’ll even get you something to eat.”

But your face only soured more, saying nothing in return as you exited the car, ready to throw yourself onto Taehyung and bitch his ear off the entire morning on why you wanted nothing more than for the earth to swallow you whole.

Note: Happy friday everyone! I’m sorry it took me 10 chapters to finally introduce her cat.

Taglist: @sapphireprinces5 @jazzytfw @theslumberingcat @mrsfandomz @cainami @nininek12 @loveherpersona @expensive-bangtan-girl @yoongnysus @sugajinny @peachy-bhun 

(Let me know if you’d like to be added! )

[milomeepit]

Diamond In The Rough: Chapter Sixteen

Roman has always wanted better. Has always believed that there’s a better life, a better world, just out of reach. Just beyond the veil of shitty teachers who don’t care, angry classmates that scream insults and slurs at each other all day, and drug-hazed parents who are more concerned with their next hit than looking after their ten year old son.

When he runs away after a particularly bad night at home and finds a quiet little cafe/bookstore tucked away in a back alley of the city, the sweet couple who run the joint (an odd pair; a quiet, gloomy man with a wry sense of humour and a cynical gleam in his eye, and a bouncy man who smiles like sunshine and laughs like a storybook king) help show him that maybe- just maybe- he really can have the life he always dreamed of.

Masterpost (to be added soon!)

Word Count: 1391

Chapter Warnings: Anxiety, court, lawyers, CPS, abusive parents, arguing, yelling, legal paperwork,  

Patton watched as Virgil paced back and forth in front of him. Tension rolled off of him in waves, and Patton was reminded of a tiger stalking the length of its enclosure at a zoo. The flimsy paper cup of coffee Duck had offered him sat abandoned at the base of his seat, quickly growing cold.

“I can’t believe this. Why do we have to jump through all of these hoops?” Virgil ranted. His hands were shoved in the deep pockets of his jacket, but Patton could picture them; tight fists, white-knuckled, practically shaking with irritation and anxiety. “You heard what Logan said about his parent’s house! It’s fucking trashed! There’s no way a kid should be living there. It should be a cut-and-dry thing, right?!”

“I know,” Patton agreed softly. “But we need to keep it together. It’ll all work out, I know it will.” It kinda has to, he thought as Virgil flopped into his seat, his knee bouncing rapidly. He wasn’t sure what would happen to them if it didn’t.

“Uh-huh,” Virgil grunted vaguely. His head flopped over to land on Patton’s shoulder, and Patton slipped an arm around his waist.

He sighed and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s forehead, then glanced around the large room that they had been sitting in all morning.

The huge windows at the end of the hallway showed a picturesque view of the city streets, dusted with snow that sparkled in the sunlight. People scurried down the sidewalks, jackets tugged tight around them, scarves pulled up against the chilly air.

Despite the frosty weather, it was a warmer scene than inside. There was a heavy cloud of dread and desperation that hung over the people sitting in the rows of chairs around them. It was thick and heavy, and seemed to drain energy from the crowd. It felt... bleak. Hopeless. Patton shivered slightly.

Virgil twitched suddenly and raised his head, looking behind them. “Did you hear-?” He cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath, and the next moment he was just gone.

Patton twisted in his seat to see Virgil practically sprinting down to the other end of the hallway. His heart seemed to leap out of his chest as he spotted what Virgil had; a faded red hoodie and a dark blue backpack.

“Ro!” Virgil called out, and the boy turned, his face an almost cartoonish expression of surprise. He broke away from the man he’d been walking with- a friendly-looking fellow with brown glasses- and ran towards Virgil.

It was like a scene from a movie, Patton squealed internally. The two of them running to meet each other, reunited at last. Everything really was okay. They had him back, and he was safe, and Patton was never going to let anyone hurt him ever again.

That hope cracked like glass as a blonde woman leapt to her feet and intercepted Roman, sweeping him up into her arms. “Oh! Roman, baby, I missed you so much! Are you okay?” She chattered. Her voice was sickly-sweet, and it immediately set Patton on edge.

“Let go of me!” Roman shouted as he squirmed in her grip, trying to shove away from her. “Put me down!”

Virgil skidded to a halt in front of them, and Patton winced a little, half expecting all that coiled-up stress to explode like a bomb. But, no, Virgil simply scowled at her. “Put him down, you’re stressing him out,” He bit out.

Patton could see Roman’s lawyer jogging towards them, and quickly got to his feet to approach, as well. Hopefully he could help diffuse the situation.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” A large man appeared next to the woman- Roman’s parents, Patton realised with no small amount of distaste- and glared at Virgil.

“Virgil. What about you, brute squad?” Virgil snapped as he crossed his arms.

“We’re his parents!” The woman pursed her lips, seemingly oblivious to Roman’s distress. “What does it matter to you?”

Virgil scoffed. “Yeah, I should’ve guessed, with Ro’s reaction.”

“And what is that meant to mean?” The man scowled.

“It means,” Patton frowned as he reached them, “Roman’s told us about you, and we’ve heard some things from a social worker. I’d hardly call you caregivers.”

“Emile, help!” Roman whined as his lawyer drew near.

“Alright, everybody, let’s just calm down for a minute, huh? Fighting doesn’t help anybody.” Emile said chipperly.

“So you must be the ones who kidnapped my baby!” The woman ignored him, glaring sharply at Virgil and Patton. “Of course you look like that.”

“Look like what?” Virgil challenged, taking hold of Patton’s hand and gripping it tightly. “Better guardians than you two could ever dream of being?”

“Come on, now, folks, you’re upsetting Roman,” Emile reached out towards him, but the woman jerked him away.

“Like a pair of lazy retail workers with more fat than sense!” She snapped, her gaze lingering on Patton.

Patton felt Virgil tense beside him. “Bold of you to insult my husband about his appearance when you’re walking around looking like a painted whor-”

“Everybody, quiet down, right now!” Emile roared. They all fell silent and looked at him. His eyes flickered with protective fury as he held out his arms towards Roman. The woman released him, and he scampered over to cling to Emile, his eyes wide. “Everyone is going to go back and sit down back where they were, on opposite sides of the room, and let the lawyers do the talking and negotiating and problem-solving.”

“Don’t talk to us like we’re goddamn children-” Roman’s father started to say, but Emile rounded on him, his face stony.

“If you want to be treated like mature adults, you’re going to act like mature adults,” He said firmly.

Mr Gorgon went quiet and nodded.

Emile sighed and turned to Patton and Virgil. “Mr Sanders, Mr Sanders, please go back to your seats. Duck should be back with the paperwork he went to fetch shortly. Mr and Mrs Gorgon, please stay here, and your own lawyer should be back from... whatever they’re doing soon.”

Patton watched as Roman’s parents slowly sank back into their seats. He tugged gently on Virgil’s hand, then jerked his head back towards their seats.

Virgil frowned and glanced back towards Roman. “But...”

“Later, love,” Patton murmured. He looked down at Roman, who waved shyly, still clinging to Emile’s shirt. He smiled and nodded, then turned away.

Virgil allowed Patton to lead him back towards their seat, where Duck was waiting. He was a thin fellow, with large wire glasses that gave him a permanently bewildered look, and a dark green suit. He seemed a little unsure of himself, but Patton had faith in him, and had told him so.

“I see you, ah, I see you met the Gorgons,” He said awkwardly.

“Fun couple,” Virgil drawled as he flopped into his chair. “I can see why Roman likes them so much.”

Duck sighed. “They... yeah. We generally try to keep guardians and birth parents... apart, during the process. It’s a very tense time for everyone involved, and it can lead to some... less than pleasant interactions.”

Patton nodded. He gripped the hem of his sweater, twisting it in his hands. “Um... so, what did we need to do next?” He asked, then winced at how forced his enthusiasm sounded. “P-paperwork wise, I mean.”

Duck glanced down at the sheaf of papers in his hands and shuffled them. “Oh! Uh... follow me into one of the interview rooms, and we can go through it all. This one’s probably the thickest- background and history check information and financial history and stability stuff, all that kind of thing- but it shouldn’t take too long. I think we should be finished with it before lunch time.”

Virgil groaned and dragged himself to his feet again. Patton frowned at the dark circles under his husband’s eyes. Neither of them had been coping very well in the past two weeks, but he wasn’t sure Virgil had slept much at all in the past few days. He was worried.

Virgil met his gaze and flashed him a tired grin. “Nothing good ever comes easy, huh?” He muttered, taking Patton’s hand again.

Patton hummed in agreement and squeezed his hand before turning back to Duck and nodding. “Let’s do this.”

[outofmylimitcal]

The Hating Game Pt. 2 - Calum Hood

a/n: this is def a filler chapter, but i’m having maJOR writers block w this fanfic and just feeling like nothing i write is good enough, the next part will be up next week as i’m going to a music festival this weekend :) once again any and all feedback is appreciated

part 1

warnings: i love swearing so

---

Unlocking the door and stepping into the foyer, Natalie turned to let Calum slip past her into the apartment. “I, uh, guess you could leave your coat in the closet or on the chair, I don’t really care.”

“Chill Nat, I’ve been to your place before.” Calum chuckled, ridding himself of his jacket and hanging it up in the closet. “You should probably drink some water and pop an Advil, you had a a lot to drink.”

Doing the same with her jacket, she turned to look at him, eyes narrowing at his comment. “Wow thanks dad, didn’t think of that one.”

Walking to the kitchen, Calum followed suit and took a seat at the breakfast bar. Fumbling through the cupboards and finding two glasses Nat filled them both up with water and placed one in front of Calum. Looking through another cupboard she found Advil she knew she would need or else the magnitude of her hangover in the morning could be deadly, popping one into her mouth and downing it with the water, she spun around and angled the bottle to Calum in a wants some motion, shaking his head no in response. Placing the cap on, and putting it back into the cupboard, she spun around to face him, fiddling with the rings on her fingers as she spoke to him. “So, uhm, thanks for tonight, I mean it.”

“It’s really not a big deal, plus I got a place to crash out of it.”

Nodding her head, Nat averted my eyes, and went to place her cup in the sink. Natalie for the love of her couldn’t figure out why she was so nervous all of the sudden, she had been around Calum plenty of times before, but never alone. And maybe the fact that not even an hour ago she was dancing and acting all coupley with him, but even then, she couldn’t place her finger on why he made her so nervous. “Well I’m gonna head to bed.” She stated walking out of the kitchen, pausing at the entry way when she didn’t hear any movement behind her, spinning back around to see Calum still sitting at the bar, she cocked her head to the side. “Aren’t you gonna come?”

“I was, uh just gonna crash on the couch.” Calum replied getting up from his stool, thumb pointing behind him at the couch that could barely hold Natalie and her five nine self, let alone Calum at his towering six one. Rounding the counter to come to the inside part of the kitchen, he moved to place his own cup in the sink.

“Nah, you can sleep in my bed, I’ve taken one too many naps on that couch to know it’s uncomfortable as shit.” Chewing her lip nervously, Natalie wondering what the fuck had gotten into her tonight, first she dances with him, then let him crash at her place, and now she was letting him sleep in her bed, had the world stopped spinning?? Kinda friends sleep in each other’s beds, right?

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind.”

“Dude c’mon before I change my mind. Hands to yourself, and this doesn’t change anything between us.” She replied, spinning on her heels and continuing the walk down the hall to her room. Once inside the room, she silently thanked herself for having a queen instead of a twin, waltzing over to my dresser and pulling out a random oversized t-shirt, and some sleep shorts. She began to head to the bathroom, but not before pointing to the side she didn’t sleep on, “You can take that side, I’m just gonna run to the washroom.”

Closing the door behind her and walking down to the bathroom, she quickly changed into her clothes, putting the sweaty ones in the laundry. Washing her face and brushing her teeth, she glanced up at herself in the mirror, letting out a shaky breath and used her free hand to rub down her face, she looked back on everything that happened tonight. “You really are a fucking mess Nat.” She whispered at the mirror. Walking back to her room, while scrolling aimlessly through her phone, she looked up once she re-entered her room to only be stopped dead in her tracks, because there sitting on her bed was a shirtless Calum in just his boxers, letting her mouth fall agape. Calum watched with a smirk on his face as she gave him the once over, the curve of his muscles, the skin she wondered was as smooth to touch as it looked, the tattoos that she wanted to spend hours tracing, and not forgetting the fact that his boxers filled out pretty well,  damn did this boy look good.

“You know if you keep your mouth open like that, you’ll catch flies.” He stared at her smugly, with that stupid smirk still on his face.

Shutting her mouth quickly, and finding the nearest pillow, Nat chucked it at his head. “Fuck you.”

“You wish you could.” Calum replied, with that ever-present smirk on his face. “Cute PJ bottoms by the way, the Christmas kittens are really working for me.” Nat rounded the bed, getting situated under the covers, and flicking the lights off.

“Goodnight Calum.” She replied, trying to signal that the conversation was over.

“Char was right, you still are holding a grudge over some shit from first year.” He replied chuckling to himself before getting situated under the covers on his side. “Night Nat.”

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Nat could feel herself being pulled out of sleep but seeing as the partying and excessive drinking the night before had started to catch up to her, she snuggled back into her pillow willing herself to go back to sleep. Except her pillow was hard, and warm. Fluttering her eyes open, she found that she was met with Calum’s chest. Taking in a sharp breath, she looked up to be met with a sleeping Calum, silently snoring with each intake of breath. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, and her arm was splayed across his stomach. Damn I didn’t know someone could be this fucking cute and have lips that look so fucking kissable she thought to herself, slowly reveling in the intimacy, but just as quickly as those thoughts came, she pushed them to the back of her brain because where the fuck did these thoughts about Calum come from. Pulling her arm slowly from his stomach, and slowly shimming out of his grip, Nat quietly tiptoed out of her room and to the kitchen.

“She’s alive.” Charlotte exclaimed from the breakfast bar, scooping the cereal into her mouth. Nat winced at the noise that just added to her ever-growing headache.

“Too loud.” Nat said while glaring at Char who just held her hands up in protest. Walking over to the coffee pot and making herself a mug. Leaning against the counter she continued to take small sips, while Charlotte scrolled aimlessly through her phone.

“Oh, great you’re both here.” Luke said as he walked into the kitchen in last night’s clothes with Sierra slowly trailing behind, obviously signalling that he stayed the night. Both Nat and Char’s eyebrows shot up, waiting for him to continue his sentence. “We’re having a little movie night tonight at our place, and I expect to see you all there. Alright, well I’m heading out, see you later babe.”

Turning to give Sierra a peck and walking out of the apartment. The minute the door clicked, Nat observed as Sierra and Charlotte gave each other a look before turning to Nat with their eyebrows raised.

“Why y’all looking at me like that?” Nat asked while bringing the mug, taking a sip, yet leaving it there to conceal her face.

“So, are you not gonna tell us what the fuck that was with Cal last night?” Sierra stated, placing a hand on her hip, and cocking an eyebrow to give Nat the full effect. Widening her eyes at Sierra comment, and at the fact that Calum was currently asleep in her bed, and there was no way that she was going to be able to get him out of their apartment without Charlotte or Sierra seeing him. You really fucking goofed Nat.

“What? Can’t friends just dance together.” Nat replied incredulously, while turning around to place more coffee in her cup, in an effort to hide the blush creeping on her face. Upon hearing her reply Charlotte almost spit out her cereal, trying to conceal her look of disbelief as quickly as it crossed her face. Turning back around, and once again raising her coffee cup, Natalie narrowed her eyes at both of the girls as they shared a look of what the fuck before breaking out into laughter.

“Yeah, well last time I checked you weren’t friends, and nothing about how you were grinding on the man was friendly.” Charlotte choked out once she had regained her composure. Earning another set of giggles from Sierra as she moved to make herself a bowl of cereal.

“I really thought you were gonna jump his bones right there on the dancefloor.” Rolling her eyes at Sierra’s comment, Natalie moved to sit at the breakfast bar with Charlotte.

“Whatever.” She scoffed. “He was just helping me with Ben and the fact that he wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“And he did leave you alone. Morning girls.” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, and if the devil was Calum well then, he was waltzing into the kitchen shirtless with his jeans hanging low on his hips. Giving him the once over again, the same dirty thoughts from last night crept back into her head, Natalie felt herself blush at that fact and remembering the events that had transpired when she woke up this morning. Sierra and Char both took a double take, as if they couldn’t believe Calum was standing in their kitchen.

“Uhm, hey cal.” Char finally spit out after what seem like forever, Sierra following with her own sentiment.

“Welp, looks like I caught y’all at an awkward time.” Cal replied looking between the girls whose brows furrowed even more glancing at Nat who was trying her hardest to hide behind her coffee cup, putting his shirt on, and turning to walk to the front door. “Anyway, I hope Luke told you, but movie night tonight. Thanks for letting me crash again Nat.”

And with that he was gone, and Nat couldn’t help but feel like she needed to be hosed down. Embarrassment was one thing, but embarrassment coupled with definitely not friendly thoughts that had gone through her head at the sight of Calum mixed together to make her feel as if she was on fire.

“When I told you to fuck him, I didn’t mean that literally.” Charlotte said after what felt like forever. Feeling her cheeks heat up at her comment, Natalie got up and went to place her mug in the sink.

“I didn’t fuck him, he just needed a place to crash, and we all know the couch is uncomfortable as shit so I offered my bed, like any friend would do.” Natalie replied matter-of-factly looking between both of the girls, before beginning the walk back to her room.

“Once again, since when are you friends?” Sierra called after her.

“Fuck off.” She said as she entered her room, and went to check her phone seeing she had a message from Cal.

Thanks for letting me crash again, see ya tonight kitten ;)

Natalie huffed in annoyance before plopping down on her made bed? She quickly sat up, seeing that Calum had remade her bed before leaving this morning and had even arranged her pillows the same way she had it last night. Moving to sit by the head board, she leaned back, closing her eyes and trying to make sense of the past 24 hours and her new-found thoughts about Calum Hood, and his little hood.

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once again if this has typos or grammar mistakes i do not claim them

taglist: @rexorangecouny @ayee-style