#love to get to know everyone else who responds to pinky’s tag too

[bastillewolf]

Hello idk if the requests are still going but if not then its okay ignore this and if they are please don't over work yourself and you don't need to do my request if you don't want to just stay healthy and eat well and drink lots of water we all live your work (and are simps for corpse-)

The ask : could I ask for a corpse husband x reader where they used to get shipped together before they even meet each other and when they meet each other corpse goes soft for reader and they play two rounds In among us together where they are imposters together and corpse is an imposter alone in the other round

Reader info : reader has a very soft voice and is a softie and the pronounce is she/her or they/them ( as you wish)

Again you don't gotta do it if you don't want to

Thanks so much for the ask, An. I was feeling like shit and this was a lot of fun to write. I’m sorry though, I completely read over the part where the reader was supposed to have a soft voice. I’ll see if I can make another one with this specification sometime. Also, I wrote this rather quickly because I’m watching Twilight for the first time and now my feelings are hurt.

#CorpseBride - Oneshot

Pairings: Corpse / Reader

Twitter wasn’t really your forte, but you knew how to get around. It’s just that you never really had the time to check it, let alone to see what’s on the trending page every single day. At the very least, you were capable of replying to your friends’ stuff and letting your viewers know when you were streaming or when a new video would be up. Again, you weren’t a pro, but you got by.

Until you didn’t.

“Hey, everyone,” you greeted, and immediately went to change your Among Us figure to its usual colour and outfit before someone else took it.

Everyone welcomed you, while it seemed Toast was still busy trying to get a last person to join.

“Whaddup, baby,” Corpse’s shot out from the rest of them. It was pure teasing, something he’d grown quite comfortable with ever since people had blatantly started simping for his voice. “Nothing much, honey. How’ve you been?” You cheekily replied. “Pretty good. Streaming still makes me nervous, though.” “You greeted me with ‘Whaddup, baby’ and then proceed to tell me you’re nervous? Don’t get upset when I say that I don’t believe you.” He chuckled at that.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

“Ha!” you called out, “I doubt this will soothe your nerves, Corpse. You’re teamed up with me now.” You sneaked in a glance at chat. “We are not an old married couple! If anything, he can be my bitch for this round. I’m just not gonna murder anyone.”

And that’s basically how it went. He managed to kill three people and still wasn’t being sussed. “Alright, I think I’ve tortured him enough,” you laughed, “I’ll even spare Sykkuno for the man.”

You managed to corner Toast and killed him in a corner where the water wheels were, before heading out into admin. You vented until you found Corpse in Labs and jumped out. It was right when Sykkuno walked in.

“Oh, god no. Please, Sykkuno.”

Your kill count still wasn’t down yet and he was obviously planning to run straight out the door to hit the emergency button, but he was stopped. Corpse had murdered him in an instant.

Your mouth was hanging open. “Did… Did he just kill Sykkuno for me?” Chat was going absolutely wild. “What the fuck just happened?” You decided to report the body anyway.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” Corpse growled, “Not my best friend, Sykkuno.”

You had to mute yourself to keep the laughter at bay. Corpse evidently vouched for you, saying you’d walked in on the body together. Felix was sussed and voted out.

“Corpse, you killed me!” Sykkuno cried out.

“I’m so sorry, Sykkuno! I wanted to spare you but you walked in at the wrong time!” You pleaded.

“Sacrifices had to be made,” Corpse merely responded.

“Wait, what happened?” Sean asked.

“I walked in on one of them venting and then Corpse killed me!”

“Collateral damage. You watched me get killed one time, too.”

“Blame me, Sykkuno. It was my fault,” but you were laughing as you said it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such regret coming from an imposter,” Sean laughed along, “Also, why the fuck were you two being so slow? Three meetings in and you’d only killed three people.”

“Corpse was simping for me,” you replied.

“I was not.”

“Yes, you were. Otherwise you would’ve asked me what the hell I’d been doing that entire time.”

“Fuck off,” he laughed.

“Corpse is an UWU-boy!”

“Oh my god, you guys are already trending.”

“Wait, what?”

Your phone was being blasted off to space, getting tons of messages with the hashtag #CorpseBride. It was number 1 trending on Twitter.

“So… whaddup, baby?”

“Oh no, you better buy me a drink first.”

“Sure.”

 You hadn’t thought he’d been serious in that moment, until he’d asked you to meet up after the game had ended. You hesitantly agreed, but reminded him that he absolutely did not have to participate in this just for the meme. “I’m not doing this for the meme,” he’d said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while, I just never knew how. It seemed like the perfect timing.”

You met him at his apartment, knowing how he was about going out in public, and feeling extremely nervous. You’d brought takeout, and because you hadn’t been sure what he wanted you’d ordered way too much. Upon opening the door, he looked at you, down at the bag, and said, “Shit, you got food?” Not really knowing what else to say, you simply replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have lots of leftovers, then.”

He smiled, gave you a hug that ended way too fast and left you paralyzed for a minute, and then invited you in. It turned out he’d already ordered food, too. “Plenty to choose from,” he laughed awkwardly. “Uh… You got any neighbours who might want some?” you asked.

“I-I don’t really talk to anyone outside of my friend group.”

“Oh, of course. I could go around, if you’d like.”

“You’d do that for me?”

You furrowed your brows. “Of course I would. Why not?”

“Alright, but let me at least come with you. You just do the talking.”

Three knocks at three different doors later, and someone accepted the offer and took over some of the food. “Hang on a minute,” the elderly man said, clad in only his pyjamas and a bathrobe, managing to make the situation even more uncomfortable, “Aren’t you my neighbour? You always scurry off before I get the chance to talk to you!”

You looked at Corpse, and he back at you, and you turned back to the elderly man. “He, uh… He’s very people shy. He has anxiety. I’m trying to help him cope. Also, his vocal chords are damaged.” Nothing you’d said so far had been a lie, technically, but the man still remained sceptical. “Then why didn’t you just leave a note or something?”

“Uh…” you jumped at the small voice appearing from behind you. It’s just that his ‘small voice’ is still nothing close to small. “I know, I’m terribly sorry, sir. I also just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I’m just a few doors away.”

This seemed to please the man enough.

“I can’t believe you made me do that.”

“I made you?!” You gasped, “I didn’t make you do anything, you filthy liar! You’re just as bad in real life as in Among Us, when you’re the impostor and I’m the innocent crewmate.”

“No comment.”

“I didn’t even ask you a question.”

“No comment.”

“Deadass?”

“Deadass.”

You both laughed. Corpse hesitated for just a moment, but decided to ask anyway, “Were you nervous when I opened the door?”

You chuckled awkwardly, admitting, “Yeah, I was. I always get anxious meeting people. Well, we’d met before, of course. But just, you know, in real life.”

“I get it.”

You stood there in silence for a moment, until you noticed the rest of the takeout in your hands was getting cold. “Come on, wife,” he joked, linking his pinkie finger with yours, “Let me get you that drink.”

If he hadn’t dragged you along then and there, you could’ve sworn your knees would’ve given out.

TAG LIST CLOSED

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[fictional-lvr]

Code

A/N: Yo! Sorry this req took me so long to fulfill, I hope you all enjoy it. Remember to drink water and reblog writers!

-----------

I awoke to the sound of my phone pinging, signaling a text from my best friend, Emma.

Emma: ‘Yo, if you wanna play Among Us with us, the code is ______’

She knew that I hadn’t been talking to anyone recently. Compulsive self isolation amirite? I figured that I should at least try. I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes with my fists. I checked the time, 2:00 pm. I groaned, sick of being unhealthy, but unable to become healthy. I padded over to my setup on the other side of my small bedroom. I turned on my pc, wincing at the bright screen, a contrast to the dark surroundings of my room. I quickly opened up Among Us, typing in the code that Emma sent me. I watched as my finger hit the wrong key, but I hit enter before I could react. My mouse hovered over the exit button, that was, until I saw the names of the people in the lobby. Corpse, Spedicey, Rae, Sykkuno, Toast, Pewds, This could not be happening. I did nOt just somehow, accidentally, join my favorite streamers and youtubers lobby. The little red dot popping up on the chat icon pulled me from my thoughts.

Corpse: ‘Uh, who r u’

My fingers crashed across my keyboard, desperate to not make it look like I somehow searched out, and found, this one specific code.

Y/A/N: ‘sorry. i think i typed in my friends code wrong’

I quickly typed out, slamming enter with my pinkie. I took a deep breath, trying to not freak the fuck out. I anxiously stared at the chat icon, waiting for someone to say something.

Rae: ‘I mean, we do need a filler,’

Spedicey: ‘Wanna play?’

Yo. What the fuck? Was this happening? Was this real? I shook the thoughts out of my head, starting to frantically type.

Y/A/N: ‘fuck it. sure’

I buried my face in my hoodie sleeve covered hands, letting out a muffled screech. Alright. I needed to calm the fuck down. I took a couple deep breaths before seeing the red dot appear once again on the chat icon.

Corpse: ‘whats ur discord’

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

After putting my discord in the chat, I waited. Staring at my discord, waiting to be invited to a server or something. Then I got a notification from Corpse, a friend request and an invite to the Among Us server, in that order. The way I slAmmed my finger onto the mouse button the accept the friend request was almost sinful. “Jesus christ” I muttered to myself, accepting the invite to the server, much more calmly this time. I saw that everyone has already joined the call. I adjusted my mic, cleared my throat, and joined the call. I heard all of them laughing at what someone had said “Wait guys they’re here!” I heard Sean's voice cut through. “Uh, yeah, hi” My voice sounded quiet and small. I cringed a little bit at it before I heard Rae say, “Oh my god I love your voice it’s so cute!” In an excited tone. I chuckled a bit. “Thank you, I just woke up so it’s a little wonky right now but that's fine” I stated, rubbing my eyes a bit, still tired. I never got enough sleep. “What time is it for you?” I heard Corpses voice say. His voice sounded even better on call than in videos, and probably even better in person. But his voice is not him, it’s not why we love him. It’s just a feature of him. Nevertheless, it gave me butterflies. “Uh like 2:15 I think” I replied, checking my phone for the time as I did so. “Oh, cool, same for me” Corpse said, he didn’t sound anxious per say, but he sounded a bit nervous. But, to be fair, I sounded more than a bit nervous. “So, what’s your name?” Sykkuno asked. “Y/N” I stated, smiling a little. “Nice to meet you Y/N’ Sykkuno replied. “Pretty name,,” I heard Corpse mumble. “Uh, I- Thank you” I stuttered out. God, why did I sound so damn nervous? These people are just people. They’re the same as me. I heard Corpse let out a small nervous giggle.

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

We all talked for a bit, just them asking me simple questions and me answering. “Yo, who wants to wear the cat ears with me?” Corpse asked, I replied without a thought “I gotchu, Corpsey” I heard him laugh a little bit. His laugh was so nice. “WELL I WANNA WEAR THEM TOO” Sean scrEamed. You don’t realize how much he turns the volume down in editing until you’re actually talking to the man. “Goddamn that was loud” I laughed. “Oh yeah, Sean is very loud. All the time. You can’t escape it.” Felix warned, I giggled at his statement. “Oh I know, I know” I responded, receiving a laugh from Sean and Felix. “Y/N! Put on the fUcking cat ears” Corpses voice boomed through the call. I jumped a bit at the sudden sound. “Woah, a little close to the mic there aren’t we?” I laughed out, moving my littol bean character to the customization thing, putting the cat ears on. “How else was I supposed to get your attention?” Corpse asked, still very, very close to the mic. I laughed, and before I could open my mouth to respond, Sean cut in “Literally just talk. You have a voice like fuckin shortwave radio.” I started laughing even harder, attempting to put my head down on the desk, but instead, FULLY bOnking it. “ow” I muttered, laughing quietly. “yo was that your fucking head?” Sean asked, I laughed a little louder before answering, “look, I have like zero control over my body at any given time” earning a chuckle from Corpse. I smiled, making him laugh made me smile.

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

After a few games, Corpse and I got imposter together. I hate being imposter. We were doing alright until fUcking Rae just hAd to see me vent. “ITS Y/N SHE VENTED I SAW HER” 

so naturally we lost that round

---------

After we had played quite a few games, everyone was pretty tired, except for me and Corpse. “Alright bye you guys! Thank you so so much for letting me play, it was fun” You could literally hear the smile in my voice. Everyone had left the discord call other than me and Corpse at this point. “So, uhh, can I get your Instagram real quick? I just realized I don’t even know what you look like” Corpse spoke somewhat awkwardly, almost as if he was nervous for some reason. “Well, to be fair, I don’t know what you look like either” I retorted, laughing. He gave me a chuckle in response and hesitated before saying; “I mean, we could change that, yknow, if you like, wanted to,,or something”

-----------

Tag List:

@amaikitsune

@into-the-end

@corpsesimpp

[mooniefics]

— in the grand scheme of things [ 1 ]

pairings : zeke jaeger / reader, referenced eren jaeger / reader

word count : 8.4k

tags : unhealthy relationships, relationship discussions, implied cheating, drinking, break ups, eventual smut, praise kink, mutual infidelity, dubious morality, love triangles

warnings : contains nsfw, sexual coercion, intoxicated reader, rlly toxic behavior

summary : you and eren hadn't been doing the best these past few months, and no one that you knew seemed to have any answers for you, or pointers in the right direction. who better to offer you some sound, insightful relationship advice than his older brother. or so you thought.

note : i apologize if the text convoformatting is a little yucky, i pinky promise it looked wayy better on ao3 (//▽//)

— originally posted 1 / 20 / 21 on ao3 —

you would reluctantly admit that you and eren had been experiencing a few issues as of recently.

it was the run-of-the-mill turbulence: ignored texts and phone calls, unexplained hostility, hanging around with your shared group of friends—more his than yours—without you. you'd been able to ignore it around midterms, being so busy with studying and getting all your family affairs in order for the end of the year that you didn't have much time to worry about how he hadn't bothered to respond to your "happy new year, baby!!!" message you'd sent days ago.

but winter break came and went with no reply from him, you spent christmas and new years in the company of your parents, who couldn't seem to keep quiet about asking about "that jaeger boy". you couldn't really blame them for their questions, you'd been friends for nearly four years now, in a relationship since the night of senior prom, even followed each other to the same university with a few other high school friends just to stay close. the summer that preceded your first year of college was so full of love and life, celebrating your newfound freedom that you had always thought would come with adulthood. but you supposed that it was just the hopeless romantic in you talking, it was called the honeymoon phase for a reason.

consulting his best friends about his sudden detachedness yielded nothing—mikasa had never held much besides poorly hidden disdain for you, and all armin had to offer was nervous glances over to the uninterested girl as he assured you that he was probably stressed about his classes, or had another disagreement with his mother about his choice of major, just excuse after excuse for his friend's behavior. you were feeling desperate. you had little desire to break things off, to throw away nine months of commitment despite how your relationship had soured. you were in love with him, and he hadn't explicitly expressed that he wanted to end things, just left you out of the loop for a bit, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a nice long conversation over dinner, right?

but how could you reach him if he wouldn't answer your calls, if his friends only seemed to want to placate you rather than actively help, you felt like there was nobody to turn to—except him.

zeke, the ever-elusive older brother. you'd met him upon one of your first visits to eren's house, a brief, somewhat awkward exchange when you'd ventured into the kitchen by yourself to grab a few things for your friends in the living room. he'd startled you when you turned out of the pantry to find him standing by the fridge, eyeing you and your armful of chip bags curiously, only wearing a pair of thin-framed glasses and grey sweatpants, revealing the sculpted expanse of his muscular arms and torso, an unopened can of beer in his hand.

"you one of eren's friends?" he'd asked, cracking open the tab and taking a generous gulp.

you replied with a quick nod, adding a sheepish "yup..! everyone else is in the living room, i'm on snack duty" with a shaky smile.

he chuckled, shaking his head and running a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "typical eren. 'm zeke, good to meet you."

he didn't bother to ask your name before he disappeared into the adjacent hallway, the distant sound of a shutting door finally letting you release the breath you didn't know you'd been holding. that was how a majority of your exchanges went over the last few years, the longest conversations you'd had was when he'd offered to help you on your physics homework more than a couple times, his number was only in your phone because of the one time you'd worn the teeshirt of a band he happened to like and he wanted to send you a playlist. there were plenty of things you didn't know about him, but he was eren's older brother—half-brother, if you wanted to get technical—and after seeing the deflective nature of his closest friends, zeke seemed to be your next best option.

so now you were here, nervously standing at the door to his new apartment, dressed nicely so you didn't risk making a bad impression after not having seen him all these months. he seemed sympathetic over the phone when you'd called him last night, not minding how you'd contacted him out of the blue or that it was only for the sake of asking something of him, inviting you to discuss things more thoroughly over dinner. you didn't know whether he'd extended a helping hand for his brother's sake or your own, but you would be grateful no matter what if he gave some sound advice and a few words of reassurance.

you were startled out of your thoughts by the sound of the lock unlatching, the door swinging open to reveal zeke, smartly dressed in a pair of dark jeans and dress shirt, the top few buttons left undone. "sorry if i kept you waiting," he said, stepping aside to allow you in, "dinner's just about ready."

"no worries." you replied quickly as you slipped off your heels, hoping the heat warming your face wasn't flushing visibly on your cheeks.

he had always been a good-looking guy, an effortless sort of attractiveness that was only magnified by the relaxed yet perceptive air he carried. but he'd changed since that day you first met—his shaggy hair had been trimmed back into a shorter, more manageable style, the usual scruff of facial hair had grown out into a well-maintained beard, frames that similarly complimented his handsome features perched on the bridge of his nose. flashing a polite smile, you stepped into the apartment, trying not to let your anxiety get the better of you as the door was shut and locked behind you.

"nice place." you mused, peering about at the spacious, well-decorated interior as you followed beside him.

"thanks, honestly i'm glad i could find someone that was willing to split the rent," you felt nerves stir in the pit of your stomach, the thought of having to meet the other tenant leaving you feeling a bit uneasy. he turned down to glance at you, grey eyes glinting as he offered you an easy grin, "you don't have to worry about my roommate, i kicked him out for the night so you didn't feel uncomfortable."

you were sure the blush on your face was evident now, biting at the inside of your cheek as you both entered into the kitchen. "oh.. thank you. sorry if i caused any trouble, i know this was kind of last minute."

"no worries." he echoed your earlier sentiment, motioning you to the table just beside the kitchen before he returned to the skillet on the stove. the warm scent of coriander and turmeric filled the air as he lifted the lid and set it aside on the counter, stirring the simmering contents within. "hope you like curry," he said over his shoulder, turning down the gas on the stove and opening up the cabinet beside him to pull out the plates, "i didn't make it too spicy, just in case."

"i don't really eat it too often, but it smells amazing."

you felt yourself starting to relax into the chair, shedding your jacket and hanging your purse on the side of the chair as you watched him scoop a generous portion of white rice onto each plate. it was just you two here, he was willing to help, and you were incredibly grateful for his hospitality.

you pulled your phone out of your pocket to fiddle with while he was still plating the food, aimlessly tapping through your apps to kill some time. your text to eren from a few days ago still read "delivered", and you felt a slight twinge prick in your chest as you closed out of your messages, opting to scroll through your feed on one of the few social medias your friends had convinced you to download. it was relatively safe to look there, seeing as eren didn't post all that often, if at all, but seeing everyone your age, people that you knew from your classes posing with their boyfriends and girlfriends and going out on excursions with their peers made you feel jealous. you couldn't have imagined what you had done to deserve such a shitty situation.

your thoughts were interrupted by the dull clink of the plate being set before you, the clatter of silverware following as he rounded over to the opposite side of the table to place his things down. you switched your phone on silent just in case, tucking it back into your purse and sitting up a bit straighter in your chair. but instead of sitting down, he wandered back over to the kitchen, reaching up into a different cabinet to fetch two glasses.

"i'm assuming talking about your relationship troubles isn't the easiest, so pick your poison. i've got gin, tequila, beer—" he listed off the myriad of drinks he had at his disposal, pausing to throw you a glance. "but i honestly pegged you as a vodka kind of girl."

you felt a nervous giggle bubble up in your chest, fingers twisting in your lap, feeling more than juvenile as you replied. "i'm still under twenty-one, so i'm not really much of a drinker.."

"come on, you're in college now," he said, pulling a bottle of vodka from one of the lower cabinets and stepping over to the fridge, "most of the people hosting parties don't give much of a shit whether you're of legal drinking age or not, and i've got a feeling that you really don't either. i know i got shit-faced plenty of times during my freshman year."

you mentally debated the principles of accepting, he was right in saying that you had attended plenty of parties where you drank with your friends, suppressing a grimace at the memories of you throwing up in a stranger's bathroom while an equally drunk historia or sasha held your hair back. but those times you'd been looking to get wasted, drinking in this context would just be for the sake of loosening up, easing the sting of ripping off the metaphorical bandaid that was the thought of your relationship slowly crumbling right before your eyes.

"you're right," you relented, much to his delight, "and, yes, i guess i am a vodka kind of girl."

you didn't appreciate how charming the grin your words garnered was, fixing your eyes on the steaming plate of chicken curry in front of you before you could embarrass yourself. you were here to figure out how to smooth things over with your boyfriend, not oogle at his unnecessarily attractive older brother.

"here, something simple to start you off." he set down the glass on your place mat, finally taking his seat across the table, "there's plenty of ginger beer and limes in the fridge, and plenty of vodka still left."

you stole a glance at his drink. "whiskey, on the rocks.. how refined."

he gave a low chuckle at your sarcasm, taking a slow sip. "it's an acquired taste, i wouldn't expect someone your age to appreciate it." that was right, he was older than you, significantly older than you. just because you were legally an adult didn't mean your life experience could crop up to zeke's.

"old man." you murmured, a small smile perking up at both of your lips as you spooned some of the curry and rice into your mouth, "wow, thi' i' really gu'!" you managed to speak around the mouthful of food, grey eyes watching you intently with an obvious bemusement from across the table.

"i'm glad you like it. guess those years working at a couple restaurants around town weren't a complete waste." he said, tasting his own bite of the food, "cumin's a little off, hope you can forgive me for that."

"are you kidding me? this exceeds restaurant quality. i can barely put eggs in a pan without burning the kitchen down."

you were nearly a quarter through your plate already, setting your utensil down to take a sip of the drink he'd made for you. it was simple, bubbly, a nice mix of ginger, vodka, and lime to cool off your tongue. you could barely taste the alcohol, which somewhat eased your worries of becoming a drunken mess that required him to babysit you for the rest of the night.

you were both silent for a moment, the air occupied with the scrape of spoons and quiet sips from your respective glasses, and you were beginning to dread ruining such an easy mood with the topic of your emotional turmoil. but zeke beat you to the punch, clearing his throat as he settled his gaze onto you.

"so, you and my brother. you wanted to talk about that, right?"

you allowed yourself to frown a bit, taking a generous sip of your drink before you answered. "yeah. i don't really know where to start.."

"when did you first start noticing problems?"

you felt somewhat eased by his calm tone, bright grey eyes that were entirely focused on you, wordlessly reassuring you that you could trust him with this. you'd come this far, there was no point in trying to back out now.

"well, i guess it was around november." you began, scraping all of the food left onto one side of your plate to keep your hands occupied, "we'd all met up for halloween, me and eren and mikasa and armin—" you prattled off the other names of your friends, even some that you weren't sure he knew from your high school days, but he nodded along all the same. "and we all had an amazing time. got all dressed up, wandered around campus and crashed in on the frat parties, drank ourselves stupid, like you said. and at one point i just completely lost track of eren, and i didn't see him or anyone else besides sasha, connie, and mina for the rest of the night. after that, he kind of dropped off the face of the earth, wouldn't pick up my calls or answer my texts, always told me he was busy when we ran into each other on campus, and he wasn't at his dorm most of the time i came to try and check on him."

by the end, you'd finished off your drink, zeke wordlessly getting up to grab everything to pour you a new one without you asking. you were more flustered at his attentiveness, forcing yourself to chalk it up to him being an excellent host as he returned with a freshly opened can of ginger beer, pouring it over the ice in your glass and adding at least two shots of vodka, finishing it off with half a lime before returning to his seat. had he put that much alcohol the last time?

the thought slipped your mind as he swallowed a few spoonfuls of curry and spoke. "hmm.. so everything was going just fine, and then all of a sudden radio silence?"

you nodded, working on your remainder of rice, watching his face take on a pensive expression.

"if i'm being honest, eren has always been a little shithead." you suppressed a giggle at that. "he's rude, he's immature, and most of all, he's a terrible liar."

"mhm, the ears are a dead giveaway." you added, earning a grin over the rim of his glass.

"exactly. my stepmom— his mom always called him on his shit with that." you shared a moment of laughter at that, the memory of how defensive he would get over in when you'd first pointed it out making you feel a distant nostalgia creeping in the back of your mind.

you remembered how easy the days where all you had to worry about was catching up on all your late work and forcing yourself to learn about nintendo games for the sake of impressing your crush. now on top of school, you had bills and parties and shitty professors and an even shittier situation with your first long-term relationship that had started off so well yet devolved into feeling like you were a million miles away despite living on the same campus.

"so, eren is a shithead. and a terrible liar. go on." you took a long sip of your drink, unable to distinguish the warmth of the alcohol from the warmth of the curry in your stomach.

"well, he's just— how do i say this..." zeke murmured the last bit more to himself than you, pushing up his glasses on his nose and scratching the back of his neck, "he doesn't know a good thing when he sees it." you felt your heart skip at that. "like that mikasa girl, her and eren have been friends since grade school, and never once in all those years has eren ever acknowledged the way she's fuckin' head over heels for him." the mention of mikasa made you feel a sharp pang echo through your chest, suddenly feeling much more disheartened than before, especially at the mention of her perpetual affinity for him.

"but, i do have to give the kid some props," he continued, taking a sip of his whiskey, "at least he had enough of a brain to realize that you're a real catch. if i'm being honest, you're out of his league, and when you first started dating, he knew that."

you couldn't tell if your face was feeling hot because of his words or the fact that you'd just finished off your second drink in one long gulp, already reaching for the unopened ginger beer and vodka. blinking away the glassiness starting to settle over your vision, you met his gaze, suddenly feeling much smaller before him. he waited until you'd finished refilling your drink before he began again, not saying anything about how you'd accidentally poured much more vodka than you meant to.

"i think eren's problem is that he's getting too cocky," your appetite was starting to disappear as you focused on his words, still trying to finish what was left on the plate, "doesn't know his ass from his elbow, but he still thinks he's got everything figured out. you know what i mean, right?"

you nodded with an affirmative hum, a series of incidents that made you want to rip the boy's head off flashing through your mind only added credence to his claim. your tongue was starting heavy in your mouth, movements sluggish as you washed away what was left of dinner with more of your drink. you hadn't been truly drunk in months, not since that halloween party, only indulging in the occasional mimosa over breakfast with your family and your celebratory champagne for new years.

you hoped the heaviness weighing at your lids didn't show on your face, or that your words didn't string together when you replied. "i know exactly what you mean, can't imagine how hard that was to deal with for the last nineteen years."

he chuckled, finishing off his whiskey. "i've saved that kid's ass more time than i could ever care to count. being the older brother is a thankless fuckin' job if i've ever seen one. you done with dinner?"

"yeah. thank you again, it was amazing."

he grinned at your praise, rising from his seat as he spoke. "here, table's kind of crowded, we can move to the couch. i'll take care of dishes later. you want a refill?"

"sure." you responded before you could really think about your answer, trying to subtly steady yourself on the table as you got to your feet, head already starting to spin.

blinking away the blurriness fuzzing at the edges of your vision, you wandered past him through the kitchen and into the adjacent living room, falling into the cushions of the couch before you could trip up over your own feet. you felt embarrassed by your lack of tolerance, but felt some of that tension ebb away when he made his way over to sit next to you, fresh glass of ginger beer and vodka in hand. you didn't expect to feel the warmth of his thigh pressing into yours when he settled down, placing your drink on the coffee table before he turned down to speak to you.

"alright, i haven't said much in the way of advice, so here's what i think."

you grimaced internally, reaching over with an unsteady hand to grab your glass and take a long sip to brace yourself for his thoughts. you weren't expecting that it would be an easy pill to swallow, he'd probably be realistic about things and tell you to just suck it up and break things off while you could still maintain a shred of dignity.

"i know this is probably not what you want to hear, but i really think you should break up with him."

your lips pressed into a thin line, partly from his assertion but mostly because of the burn of alcohol sliding down your throat. there was definitely much more vodka in this than there should be, but you didn't want to seem weak before him, trying not to shudder as you continued to take small, fast sips.

you nearly spat it up on yourself when his hand settled on the skin of your thigh exposed by your skirt, wide eyes raising to meet his intent gaze. "don't tell me you think a guy that ditches you for just about three months now is worth your time, even without everything else considered."

"everythin' else?" your words were starting to slur together, but you still tried to drown out the dread tangling in your gut with the bubbling contents of the glass.

"you haven't figured it out yet, have you.." he faltered, a slight frown drawing across his lips when you gave a hesitant shake of your head, sighing as he pulled his glasses off of his nose and folded them neatly to place on the coffee table. "think about it; he disappears on you while he was drunk at a party, most likely with hanging around alone with the female friend that's clung onto him for a majority of his life, and then after that night he just completely gives you the cold shoulder, avoids you every time you try and come talk to him, like he's running away from you." he paused, adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "like he's hiding something."

you felt your heart sink, biting firmly down on your bottom lip, a thick lump forming in your throat, eyes stinging. "s-so, you're saying th-that—"

you couldn't blink away the first tears as they dribbled down your cheeks, choking back a small sob. he carefully took the nearly empty glass from your hands and replaced it on the coffee table, you could make out the expression of pity drawn across his handsome features through your watery gaze. you didn't protest when the arm closest to you moved to wrap around your waist, the other curling around your shoulder and drawing you against him. restrained sniffles gave way to hiccuped sobs, your own hands linking around his neck and squeezing him tighter against you as you wept out into the empty air behind him.

normally you would've put on a brave face, maybe excused yourself to the bathroom to let out a few silent tears before you returned to thank him and stammer out some excuse to leave and spend the rest of the night wallowing on your own. but the alcohol had melted away any barriers you would've put up against zeke's compassion, made you crave the security his warmth provided as he pressed his face into your shoulder, a large, gentle hand rising to stroke over the crown of your head. he let you cry on your own for a while, not minding how your fingers clutched tightly at his shirt or how your snot and tears wet the pale fabric, petting your hair and rubbing soothingly over your shuddering back.

your adjacent thighs were nearly overlapping each other, but all you could think of was how your hammering heart felt like it was one beat away from bursting at the seams, the dim glow of the lamp in the corner that blurred into a shapeless ball of light, his steady breath fanning across the skin of your neck.

"that asshole doesn't deserve you." he murmured, voice low as his lips ghosted over your shoulder, strong arms fastening their hold around you.

you couldn't help but shudder at the feeling as you sniffed, swallowing down the tension balling in your throat before you managed a shaky reply. "h-he's your brother, i thought you'd b-be on his side.."

"what makes you think i'd be on his side after hearing how he treated you?" his fingers worked their way deeper into your hair, palm cradling the back of your head. you forced yourself not to squirm when his face nestled further into the crook of your neck. "you deserve someone mature, someone who can treat you right.. someone who can make you feel good..."

you let out an alarmed breath at the feeling of a soft kiss over your skin, then another, posture stiffening as your grasp around his neck slackened. "wait, i c-can't," you started, the sudden sensation of his fingers sinking into your waist and drawing you closer against him making you lose your words for a moment, "i haven' officially broken up with eren, just because he might've ch-cheated on me doesn't mean-"

"there's no use trying to deny what he did.. what's done is done, you need to do what's best for you—right here, right now." his voice lowered even further, barely a whisper as he implored, "what do you want to do?"

you bit back a weak sound when his tongue drew a slow lick over the sensitive skin, the involuntary heat stirring between your legs making your thighs clench. this was wrong, you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be letting this happen, an endless stream of muddled thoughts flashed through your mind as you desperately searched for some sort of excuse to buy yourself a few more moments to think. a distant memory popped into your head, the blurry mental image of zeke with his arm draped around a dark-haired woman when you'd dropped by to visit eren just before you'd both moved in on campus.

"g-girlfriend!! don't you have a girlfriend?!" you blurted desperately, a small whimper slipping out of you as he gave a brief suck over your pulse.

"girlfriend?" he paused his motions, chuckling lowly and giving a small shake of his head when he realized who you were thinking of, "oh, pieck? i'd hardly call her a girlfriend, just an old buddy. honestly, it's no wonder you got stuck in this sort of situation, you manage to find an excuse for everything."

you couldn't ruminate on his patronizing tone for longer than a moment before he returned to kissing at the sensitive skin of your neck, testing the waters of your resilience. you were afraid of your responsiveness to his touch, your body's unabashed honesty, afraid of how your protests had devolved into uncertain whimpers and shifts in your seat.

"good girl," he murmured, sending a jolt of heat racing up your spine, "see how easy that was? this is what you want, isn't it?"

you allowed the fingers in your hair to gently tug your head back, exposing more skin to his eager mouth as he teased a bite just under your jaw, drawing a soft whine and an even deeper flush of heat over your cheeks from you. your movements were sluggish, limbs leadened with inebriation falling down easily when he urged you down onto your back. in one slow blink he'd settled on top of you, warm lips melded easily against your own as his fingers began to work at unbuttoning your blouse.

maybe he was right, maybe you just needed to accept that you and eren's time had come to pass and indulge in what you really wanted—and now that he'd made it an option, what you really wanted right now was to feel the warmth of his bare flesh on yours, taste more of the whiskey on his breath as his tongue slid between your teeth, replace every hint of eren that still resided on your skin with his scent of expensive cologne. you could already feel the ache of a forming bruise at the base of your neck, fingers messily tangling in his hair and back arching up to his hands when they began to smooth across your chest, snaking under your body to undo the clasp of your bra.

"you never told me what exactly you wanted, baby.." he murmured over your lips, low-lidded eyes meeting yours, "do you want us to just kiss, or do you want me to touch you?"

"touch me, please.." you mumbled restlessly, quickly becoming impatient with the fact that his hands had halted after slipping the straps of your bra free from your arms and tossing it somewhere behind him to be forgotten.

but even after you answered, he didn't continue, a smug smirk tugging at his lips as he gazed down at you. "and then what after that? do you want me to touch you here? his fingers ghosted over the swell of your breasts. "or here?" one hand trailed down the length of your abdomen, forefinger just barely hooking onto the waistline of your skirt and giving it a teasing tug.

"zeke." you whined in frustration, mind foggy with lust and alcohol, uncoordinated hands wrestling with his shirt despite not having undone the buttons first, "you're being mean.."

"sorry," he said without a hint of remorse in his voice, only pride as he returned his hands to your chest, "you're just too easy to tease, so responsive, i'd never get bored of playing with you."

you took it as a compliment, as praise, rather than what it really was. it was easier to think of it like flattery in the moment, to push the obvious reminder that his brother had gotten bored of you out of your mind. despite the implication of such a statement, you couldn't help the odd sense of safety you found in such an equivocal intimacy, hazy, not sound of mind, not entirely yourself as you offered him your body, his to kiss and grab and bruise if only for the night.

you hummed with approval when his lips trailed down to the valley of your chest, fingers sinking into the soft flesh of your breasts, but making a point to avoid your nipples, only further denying you the stimulation that you thought he'd finally assured you with that last arrogant taunt. you could feel his smile on your skin, nearly huffing at the realization that you couldn't squeeze your thighs together to give yourself some friction with him positioned between them like he was, buzzing with warmth yet entirely unfulfilled.

"patience is a virtue.." he murmured sagely, unfazed by your second sound of annoyance.

"what about trying to fuck your brother's girlfriend is virtuous." you bit back, momentary anger leaving you in a surprised pant as he gave a gentle tug to one of your nipples.

"ex-girlfriend." he corrected after a quiet chuckle at your forthrightness, mouth closing around the pert bud not being rolled between his slender fingers.

you moaned out a soft curse, hand threading back into his thick hair and pressing him further against you. the fog that had been momentarily sobered clouding your senses once more, hips rutting up into nothing as he worshipped your skin with his lips, teeth, and tongue. you felt the spark fully reignite when one hand moved back down your stomach to wrestle with the button of your skirt, the zipper sliding down easily after it was undone, fingers delving under the loosened waistline to palm at you through your underwear. he pulled away from your nipple with one last gentle bite over the tender skin, low voice at a husky mutter.

"have you ever had sex before?"

you quickly nodded down at him, seeing your own dazed stare reflected in his darkened eyes, pupils almost entirely overtaking the cool grey.

"was it with him?"

you swallowed thickly, suddenly finding yourself unable to meet his gaze, turning away to focus on your long finished drink on the coffee table, ice already half melted in the sweating glass. "yes." you barely whispered.

"was it good?"

you bit the inside of your cheek, blinking fast, trying to dispel the blanket of unease that was quickly settling over you, suffocating you. you only answered with a non-committal shrug, feeling your face burn with a humiliation that he couldn't have thought such a line of questioning would have not inspired.

he maintained a steady gaze with you for a moment longer, lowering his head back to rest at your shoulder without another word and picking a place on your neck to bite and lick at, fingers rubbing slow circles over the drenched fabric beneath them. a small moan bubbled up in your chest, squirming at just the easy attention over your clit, lids falling shut as your head sank back into the cushioned arm of the sofa.

you sighed out a small whimper of relief when he finally tugged your underwear to the side, fingers instantly slicking with your arousal when they met your bare skin, sliding in with little resistance. he'd started out with just two, but the incessant desire to be filled was quelled for the moment with them, drawing a pathetic mewl out of you when they curled just right within you.

"are you always this excited?"

another question you didn't know the honest answer to, but you shook your head anyways, accompanying it with a weak "n-no" to stroke his ego like you knew he wanted you to. you went stiff with a sudden tension when felt a third finger prodding at your pussy, eyes flying back open as you made a disconcerted sound of protest.

"relax.." he murmured into your shoulder, biting softly over one of the fresher marks, "if you can't handle this, how can you take me?"

you took a shaky breath, taking your bottom lip between your teeth as you let your thighs fall open a bit more, doing your best to not clench your muscles. and you could feel how he let out a low groan over your skin when he finally slipped in all three, burying them knuckle-deep, rewarding you with a smattering of open-mouthed kisses across your bruised flesh.

"good girl. good girl." he nipped at your jaw, adjusting the speed of his wrist to match how your hips rolled up to meet his hand, the pad of his thumb rolling firmly over your clit.

you could feel that warm knot in your stomach tangling further, the tantalizing thought of release ebbing every bit of trepidation out of you as you allowed your moans and whines to spill out into the open air, heels digging into the felt of the couch around him. but just moments before you could find your high, his touch gone, and he was rising off of you to sit back on his calves, absentmindedly wiping the wetness from his fingers away on his pants, making quick work of his shirt, standing briefly to kick off his pants and help you out of your displaced bottoms before he settled back over you.

your skin was hot with need against his own, arm linking around his sturdy back and pressing his lips back over yours, letting him guide one leg up against his side as he lined himself up with you. you squeaked when you felt the tip of his cock press into you, hands bracing themselves on his shoulders, wide, unfocused eyes gazing up at him for some sort of reassurance. and that sense of security filled your heaving chest, that knowing look he focused solely on you, only made for you in this moment, forehead pressed to yours, breath fanning over your lips.

a strained, shuddering whine broke from your throat as he eased himself inside of you, inch by inch, barely able to hold your eyes open enough to maintain his fixed stare, mouth falling open in a feeble attempt to gasp back in all the air he'd pushed out of you.

"fuck." he growled lowly, fingers sinking almost painfully into the thigh in his grasp, trying to fit his body as close as it could possibly be to your own.

another sound rumbled out of him from deep in his chest when your nails dug into the firm muscle beneath them, hungry, greedy lips capturing yours. his pace was mercifully slow, given that he was probably just as eager for his own release as you were for yours, but the overwhelming fullness that you felt each time his hips met yours drove whatever tiny breath you'd been able to catch between his kisses.

you spread your legs as far as the narrow space of the couch allowed it, whimpering, feeling how you were already making a dripping mess of your thighs and the fabric beneath you. your heart was practically beating out of your chest, so loud in your ears that you wouldn't be surprised if he could hear it too, his mouth catching every pant and moan he drew from you, the steady pace of his movements falling away into an ardent, frenzied rhythm. his mouth strayed back to your neck, grunting and biting into the abused flesh, and without the barrier to muffle your sounds you were whining out into the open space of the apartment, gasping in the air humid with your shared arousal, nails scratching down his back without care for whether they'd leave a mark, only dragging them back across his hot skin over and over again just to hear him groan out your name once more.

you could feel yourself climbing back up towards that delightful precipice, legs wrapping around his body and forcing him deeper into you so he could reach that spot that made white stars burst across the darkness of your close-lidded eyes. you tried to force your mouth to form coherent words, to warn him about how dangerously close you were, but all that spilled from your lips was more breathless sounds, body arching up to press against his as heat scalded over every inch of your bare skin, limbs shuddering and clinging desperately to him as he continued to roughly thrust into you.

tears were pricking at your eyes by the time he moaned a jumbled string of curses into your neck, arms nearly giving out beneath him as he spilled himself inside of you, your chests heaving in an unmatched, ragged unity against each other. he stayed there for a few moments, still inside you, struggling to catch his breath but still pressing the occasional kiss over your neck and shoulders. your fingers released their grasp on him, not realizing how hard you'd been clenching your hands until you felt the stiff ache resonating through your joints.

you tried to murmur something to him, but all that escaped was a weak whimper, legs slipping back down to lay on the couch, arms resting heavy on his back. you hadn't meant to fall asleep so fast, but your head had already been spinning from warm shocks still echoing through every fiber of your body, let alone the alcohol and the sheer physical exertion. you let your eyes fall shut, lids far too heavy to keep open, and slipped away easily into a dreamless slumber.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

zeke blindly reached about for the towel he'd set aside near the sink, finally grabbing it and pressing it to his dripping face, patting his skin and beard dry before tossing it into the hamper by the door. replacing his glasses onto his face, he blinked away the grogginess in his eyes, running his fingers through his hair to flatten it into a somewhat presentable style. he turned to the open door, catching a glimpse of you nestled under the comforter of his bed, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

he'd carried you to his room last night, but didn't get the chance to clean you up until this morning. by then, the bruises that had been an angry shade of red over your neck and chest had settled into your skin and darkened significantly, some bordered by deeper teethmarks that still had yet to fade. you hadn't stirred when he'd pulled the covers away from you for just a few moments, peeling off your underwear that he'd haphazardly replaced on your body to keep the mess to a minimum and gently wiping his cum away from your skin with a wet washcloth. he'd really tired you out, and something about seeing you so exhausted after just one night with him made a flicker of pride swell in his chest.

flicking off the light in the bathroom, he didn't bother to add a shirt over his relaxed attire of just a pair of sweatpants as he left his bedroom, making sure to quietly shut the door behind him.

"rise and shine." his back was still to the kitchen when he heard reiner's voice, turning to face his roommate who was looking at him with a mix of disapproval and curiosity, most likely having gotten a good look at the scratches you left down his skin last night.

"how was your time at bertholdt's?" zeke asked, ignoring reiner's frown as he glossed over his intrigue, wandering over to the fridge to grab some water for himself.

"not great." he grunted, reaching into the cabinet below the stove and fetching a pan, "he decided to invite annie over when he heard i was coming. you can imagine how boring it was to watch those two make eyes at each other the entire night."

zeke chuckled at that, cracking the top off of the cool bottle in his hands and taking a refreshing gulp, glancing at the table and noticing its lack of plates and the leftovers of night-old curry. "oh, you did the dishes. thanks."

"yeah, yeah, just glad you had your fun last night without me having to hear it." he stepped aside to let reiner put a carton of eggs and the butter out of the fridge. "but seriously man? the couch? you're gonna have to get that dry-cleaned or something, and i'm not helping you pay for it either."

"don't worry about it, i'll take care of it." he replied with a lazy smile, quickly adding on to his smooth response, "and be nice, alright? it's someone we know."

"who?" he asked, not at all looking it but obviously interested in his answer, flicking on the gas under the pan and dumping a spoonful of butter into it.

"one of eren's friends." reiner's eyes shot briefly over to him at that, prompting him to give a brief description of you, "remember? you saw her that time we all met up to watch that horror marathon while i still lived with my parents."

"wait.. you told me about her. isn't she dating your brother??"

"was dating my brother." he corrected, rolling his eyes at the disgruntled bewilderment etched across his friends face, "what? i had to show her that this generation of jaegers wasn't a complete disappointment.."

"whatever, man. your business." he finished off his water bottle in silence, watching reiner crack a few eggs in a bowl and whisk them together with a fork, finally breaking the silence with a generous offer. "you want me to make something for her?"

a slight grin broke out across zeke's face, dumping the empty plastic into the recycling bin, slapping reiner's back affectionately. "thought you'd never ask. thanks again, man."

"at your service." was his grumbled, monotone reply, the shadows weighing under his eyes clearly showing how late he'd arrived home last night and how little sleep he'd gotten. zeke was sure that once he'd got some coffee in him he'd cheer up a bit.

he was sure reiner wouldn't be done for another few minutes, so he wandered back into his room, wondering if you'd woken up yet so he could direct you to the shower if you wanted one. in the time that he'd been in the kitchen, you shifted around in bed, having rolled onto your back and knocked the covers away to reveal your bruised chest, hair covering half of your face but still identifiable. perfect.

zeke fished his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, unlocking it and tapping into the camera app, taking a few steps closer to the bed and zooming in a bit before he snapped a picture of you.

                  10:39 am  you you sent an image to eren

eren  10:40 am uhhh did you send that to the wrong person

eren  10:41 am wait hold on who is that zeke who the fuck is that

eren  10:42 am is that my fuckingngirlfrined

you missed a call from eren

eren  10:43 am why the fuck aren't you fuckign picking up

you missed a call from eren (2)

eren  10:45 am holy shit what the fuck this can't be fucking happening zeke what the fuck is wrong wjth you you piece of fucking shit

zeke tapped out of his messages with his brother, sliding over his notifications setting to "do not disturb" before dropping his phone back into his pocket. he couldn't help the low chuckle he let out at his frantic replies. maybe if he'd held the same enthusiasm with you then he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. moving over to your side of the bed, he took a seat on the mattress beside you, perking up at the sound of your small groan, eyes sleepily fluttering open to gaze up at him.

"g'morning." you murmured, letting out a quiet yawn as you sat up in bed, holding the sheets up to cover your bare chest despite him having already seen you naked.

"how'd you sleep?"

"like a fucking rock." he laughed softly at your bluntness. "my head kinda hurts.. sorry i fell asleep on you last night."

you looked positively adorable right now, and he was glad you weren't panicking or having any second thoughts about him, that you had fully digested the reality of your situation and come to peace with it. well, at least the situation before he'd sent that picture to eren.

"don't worry about it," he assured you, keeping the thought of his brother probably blowing up his phone and leaving the usual voicemails of him screaming at him when he was angry in his inbox, "i'll get you some breakfast soon. need any ibuprofen?"

"yes please." you smiled gratefully up at him, his heart twinged. "and could you grab me my purse? i left it in the kitchen, my roommates probably wondering why i didn't come back last night."

he began to say yes, but thought of how you were probably receiving a similar slew of alarmed messages by this point made him stop. "how about a shower first? you'd probably feel a lot better after that."

you hummed thoughtfully for a few moments, rubbing the sleep from your eyes with the back of your hand. "a shower sounds nice.. if you don't mind."

"wouldn't have offered if i did, babe." he grinned at the way your cheeks flushed, waving a hand over to his bathroom door, "shower's in there, plenty of towels on the rack by the tub."

he stood, turning to begin making his way to the door to give you some privacy, but felt your fingers gingerly wrapped around your wrist. "zeke.. thank you. for everything. i've been in a really tough spot for the last few months, and now everything seems... it all seems a lot clearer to me, like i just took the hardest step and it'll be a breeze after this."

your smile was genuinely, infectious, eyes full of gratitude, and had it not been for the heavy news that you would most likely be finding out about within the hour, he probably would've responded with one of equal radiance. but he managed to perk up the corners of his lips for you, tracing back to press a quick kiss over the top of your head.

"at your service."

he was pleased to see that his copied, more charmingly delivered words garnered such a positive response from you. and so he made his way back out into the kitchen, pulling out his phone to briefly check the amount of notifications that had racked up on his lock screen. thirty-six messages and sixteen missed phone calls. damn was that little brat persistent.

despite having essentially thrown you under the bus, he didn't feel any semblance of guilt for the action of having sent that incriminating photograph. the only remorse he felt was for leaving you as the sole recipient to his brother's rage, and the fact that he was starting to feel a strange sort of affinity for you, something lighter and more innocuous than the lust that he had shown you the previous evening. so he slipped over to the dinner table, acknowledging reiner's announcement that your eggs were ready with a short hum, finding your purse exactly where you said it had been.

he could hear the sound of the shower being turned on, and he felt safe unzipping the small bag and rummaging around to fish your phone out from beneath your other belongings. as he'd expected, there were a few missed calls from a "sasha", who he assumed to be your roommate, the messages from "eren <3" quickly beginning to pile up on your home screen. and as the "incoming call" text showed on the screen and the phone began to vibrate, zeke held down on the power button, completely shutting it off before he pocketed the device.

he just had to keep you busy, get you to focus on anything besides your desire to get to your purse and check your phone, or figure out a polite way to quickly shoo you out of the door and get home before you realized that you didn't have it in your bag. he hadn't really planned for this outcome, he usually didn't have this sort of compassion for others when he set his mind to getting something done, but he had a feeling that the extra work would be worth it in the grand scheme of things.

⥼ next chapter

[slimepuparibaba]

Starconches and Windwheel Asters | Chapter 1: A Bet Sealed

In which Childe and Lumine have a talk on the beach and make a bet...

Okay, I am so sorry in advance, but this one is painstakingly long. I sincerely did not mean for it to be this long, but it's hopefully fluffy enough to make up for it. These first few chapters are going to need fluff. And... and I mean it. Seriously. Childe might seem a little OOC and all over the place, as will this chapter. Hopefully, I managed to capture how scattered Childe's thoughts are. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Full fic below the cut!

Masterlist -> Next

You can also read this fanfic on AO3!

"Hey, girlie, hold still!"

Those first four words made Lumine's heart thump in her chest.

She will never forget the day she met that Harbinger, the one she was supposed to call her enemy. His codename was Tartaglia, though he went by Childe. He was cunning, bold, and sly. The first day they met, Childe wasn't hesitant to reveal his intentions to her and Paimon. He was here on Fatui business, to fulfill the will of the Tsaritsa.

Even then, Lumine fell.

It wasn't a subtle type of thing, either. Everyone who traveled by Lumine's side noticed that, as soon as she returned to the inn they were staying in, she was giggling to herself... almost on cloud nine.

Kaeya was one of the first to notice it. He had left Mondstadt to ensure Lumine safe travels throughout Teyvat; and, since there was no calvary to be the captain of with the Knights, he wasn't exactly "needed", per se. Besides, Jean and Diluc were still there; surely, the Dandelion Knight and the Darknight Hero would be able to take care of any issues.

Kaeya could easily see through Lumine. He was there when the encounter between Lumine and Childe first occurred. As soon as the ginger gestured her to follow, the knight could tell how smitten Lumine was. And, while the one she happened to fall for was a Fatui, Kaeya wasn't entirely against it. He was glad to see her mind taken off the whereabouts of her brother, after all.

Barbara was the second. She was one of the members of the team to easily read the faces of everyone, whether they seem troubled or happy, or in this case, madly in love. She was hesitant that Childe was the one to sweep Lumine off her feet, but the nun shrugged it off and decided to support Lumine.

Whenever the young Harbinger was spotted nearby and approached Lumine, Barbara and Kaeya weren't hesitant to push her towards the object of her affections. They gave subtle tips, hoping the Traveler would catch on and at least attempt to make a move.

Of course, though, Lumine's comrades weren't the only ones to notice.

Childe was, of course, very aware of the Outlander's affection towards him. In fact, he somewhat formulated it. He heard of the "new girl" in Teyvat who saved Mondstadt and learned she was heading towards Liyue. Since he was already stationed there for the Rite of Descension, he decided that it was best to gain the trust of her and her acquaintances before pulling the rug out from underneath them when the time was right.

He had done this before. He would make many swoon for him and gain the information, or the Mora, that he needed. After all, he was Tartaglia, the 11th Harbinger. This kind of work was as natural to him as breathing was.

Thus, he decided to pull the strings on this strange yet powerful visitor...

"Running... errands?" Lumine asked.

"Yup! Exactly that." The ginger teen was leaning against the bar the inn had owned, his blue eyes filled with playfulness. "I've seen how your little tour group over here is faring, and I couldn't help but notice the lack of ingredients and materials you have in that inventory of yours." When he said that, he gestured towards Paimon, glancing at the floating being. Everyone else did the same, glaring at the mascot.

"Hey! What did Paimon do?!" She squealed.

"You ate most of the Sunsettias in the middle of the night?" Amber said.

"You also used our Mora to buy an entire feast for yourself..." Noelle added.

"Paimon, maybe Lumine was right... maybe it's time you become emergency food." Beidou finished chugging one of her jugs of alcohol, slamming it onto the table next to her, and smiling almost wickedly at Paimon.

Paimon was in the midst of a panic, waving her arms around. "No, no! P-Paimon meant to share it with everyone! Really! Honest! P-p-pinkie promise!" At that, Childe let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, as you can see, your team is desperate for some supplies." He looked back at Lumine, who was watching the fiasco take place directly in front of her. She was giggling at the scene, and the sound of that laughter slightly made the Harbinger's heart flutter.

I'm sorry, my heart did what? Childe tried to snap himself out of it. We're here on a mission. We have to find the Gnosis and hand it over to the Tsaritsa... this is just the usual seduction routine we've used before. Stay on track, Tartaglia!

He cleared his throat, continuing. "So, ojou-chan..." He leaned closer to the girl, flashing that signature smile that he always wore. He could tell Lumine was swooning just from the slight red that started spreading on the tips of her ears. "...how about it? You and I can round up some food. After all, I do have lots of Mora, and you are the team's leader. You should know what everyone wants." The blonde started to ponder on it, weighing her options carefully. "Oh, and you need to ditch the small child."

"HEY!"

Paimon let out a loud yelp, taking offense to the last-minute comment that Childe tacked on to his proposition. She angrily huffed, looking to Lumine and telling her to turn down Childe's offer, because it was "not fair to Paimon" and Childe was "super untrustworthy". The ginger reiterated his proposal, putting extra emphasis on the "ditch Paimon" condition, and Lumine had her mind made up.

"Alright. I should be fine around three."

"LUMINE!"

Paimon continued to throw a hissy fit, whining about how she has to come with Lumine because, without her help, Lumine wouldn't be able to hold the food. Even then, Lumine still confirmed that she made up her mind.

This was working smoothly for Childe. He would be able to get Lumine, the foolish girl, alone. No Paimon or teammate could get in between the two of them. He would easily be able to squeeze out all of the information he needed. And, if the time came, maybe the two of them could've even had a sparring match. Oh, how fired up he was just to cross blades with the Traveler.

However, he then realized that it wasn't up to just Lumine to make this decision...

"Alone? With a Fatui?" Amber spoke up, having an obvious opposition to this outing. "Traveler, with all due respect, you may be the Honorary Knight, but he's a Harbinger! You can't trust him that easily. Remember what happened with the Fatui in Mondstadt?"

Lumine looked up at the Pyro Archer and smiled nervously, correcting her statement. "I mean... if we are being technical here, it was mostly the Abyss that was involved with the Stormterror issue."

"And Venti?" The girl responded, crossing her arms. "You told me that La Signora harmed him pretty bad. Signora is also a Harbinger. I don't know what she did to Venti," Amber said, crossing her arms and standing firm, "but I know that it was bad. All Fatui are the same, especially when it comes to the Harbingers. You can't trust them--especially not one like this guy." She glared at Childe, who just flashed a smile her way.

Childe was used to this by now. When he first got promoted to being a Harbinger, everyone that used to be close to him stood far away. Not even his fellow Harbingers could trust them--in the Fatui, you had to learn to trust no one but yourself. Because the Fatui was a place for those who were used to scheming and lying for the sake of the Tsaritsa. That was what he signed up for, anyway.

The archer continued, suggesting that Lumine at least take someone with her, or let them tag along from behind. She claimed it was safer that way so that Childe wouldn't try any "funny business." "You can take Kaeya with you, or even Lisa," she suggested. "Anyone would be fine... just please, don't go on your own with him."

"Well..." The Traveler looked around at the people who were gathered near her. They all seemed to be nodding their heads in agreement, and she felt the atmosphere became much tenser than it was minutes before. "...um, if that's the case, then--"

"Actually!"

One person raised their hand from amidst the group. The Calvary Captain himself, Kaeya, stood up from his seat and approached Lumine from behind, patting her on the shoulder.

"Lumine is more capable than we would like to think. I think she'll be fine," the blue-haired man stated. He made it clear to Lumine that he was on her side--he already knew of her little "crush", anyway, and was willing to play the wingman. "She's strong enough to defeat Stormterror. Who's to say that she can't deal with one lousy Harbinger?" Kaeya chuckled, turning to the rest of his friends and teammates. From the crowd, another figure emerged, standing right beside Lumine.

"Mhm! I think she'll be fine, too!" Barbara clung onto Lumine's arm, backing up Kaeya's stance on the matter. "She's able to harness both Anemo and Geo now, and she's already proven how strong she is in Mondstadt! I know she'll be okay!" The two Mondstadt citizens glanced at each other, nodding their heads in mutual agreement. Truly, those two were on the same wavelength.

"But... but Paimon doesn't trust him!" Paimon shouted out, zooming across the room and staring Childe right in the eyes. "You can see it in his eyes... yeah, like Kaeya said! His eyes... they're suspicious!" Ironically enough, Kaeya pushed Paimon away from Childe, gesturing her to back down.

Kaeya and Barbara gave Lumine the thumbs up, almost as if to say that they would take care of the others and that it was best for the two of them to be on their way. So, catching onto their cue, Lumine coughed and looked up at Childe.

"W-well, n-now that I think of it," she stuttered, trying to smoothly change the topic. "I just realized that I am... not busy right now?" She tilted her head towards the exit to the inn, and Childe smiled softly. He understood clearly.

"Ah... then, shall we head out?" The ginger offered his arm to the girl, and she took it with glee. "Well, then, I'll be taking oujo-chan out now!"

"Bring her back home before dinner!" Beidou called out, gaining a chuckle from Childe. "Or else..."

"Yeah, yeah! I hear ya, Miss Pirate," he laughed. Looking down at the blonde, he smiled. "Now then, shall we get going, Miss?"

Oh, dear Archons, his smile was enough to make Lumine die and revive on the spot. Forget Mora Meat or Qingce Stir Fry--if Childe smiled at her like that, she would instantly have buffs and infinite health restoration!

Slowly melting from his charms, Lumine nodded.

"Yeah...! Let's go!"

Liyue Harbor is a beautiful place.

Childe knew this, considering he had been there for a while. And yet, for some reason, just walking along the beachside with Lumine made its beauty all the more noticeable.

He was able to finally get the Traveler all to himself, and seeing how easily she went with him, squeezing information out of her should be easy. He was slightly disappointed, though. Considering her title as the "Honorary Knight of Mondstadt", he was expecting her guard to be a bit higher. And yet, she came willingly without any additional convincing. How he so wished for her to put up more of a fight...

Lumine, however, noticed Childe's watchful eye on her. She ran ahead and bent down, digging into the sand beneath her. Her intentions weren't exactly clear until she gently cradled a small shell in her hands.

It was a starconch.

The blonde looked back up at her acquaintance and smiled. It was one of the goofiest grins anyone could ever have seen. She seemed almost proud of it like she needed praise for digging up such a small shell.

"Well, now," Childe teased, "must I give you a gold star for digging this up?" He was slightly amused at her actions and wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the shell. "What? Does this ojou-chan want to build a sandcastle?" Childe kneeled and leaned in closer, peeking over Lumine's shoulder. He's done this before--it's just the normal routine. He'll tease them with the possibility of a kiss and then treat them to dinner, before gaining every possible piece of information he co--

"It's for you, actually!"

...I'm sorry, it's for what now?

Lumine giggled, grabbing Childe's hand and placing the small starconch in his. Man, her hands are small, Childe realized. She's only two years younger and yet she's so tiny... so tiny that it's kind of cute...

Wait, cute? No. Not cute! Snap out of it, Childe! You're a Harbinger! What are you doing, falling for the one who's supposed to be doing the falling?!

In an attempt to ignore the feelings plaguing his heart, he cleared his throat and asked, "For me? Your enemy?" He held it up to the sunlight, inspecting it further. "Hm... and, what exactly is your intent with this, Traveler?"

Lumine brushed a stray hair behind her ear and smiled. "Well, I just wanted to give you a present. I can do that, can't I?" Once more did she flash that small grin of hers, piercing Childe through the heart. He even dropped the starconch into his lap when she did that, causing Lumine to giggle even more.

Okay, so maybe she's cute. Fine. She wins that.

"That, and..." The girl looked out to the seaside, watching the waves meet with the sand before retreating away. "...I'm not dumb, you know." Without looking Childe in the eye, she stated ever so calmly, "I know you want information."

Shit. I got caught.

So, this Outlander isn't as dumb as Childe initially believed. Good. That made the challenge all the more fun to him, after all. If it was to be easy, it practically felt wrong and would've been much more boring.

The ginger smirked, taking a seat right next to Lumine on the sand, gazing at the ocean as well.

"Well, well. So, you caught me red-handed," he laughed. "What? Did you pull me over just for that, ojou-chan? Hm?" He glanced at the girl beside him, who was enjoying the calm sea breeze.

She looked quite beautiful in the sunlight, now that Childe thought about it. The sun reflected off her golden hair at just the right angle, and the way she seemed so calm was just something else to him.

"Not exactly," Lumine answered, snapping Childe out of his trance.

Seriously, stop daydreaming and focus, dammit!

Lumine continued, "Actually... I only agreed to come with you because I feel like I can change your mind about some things."

Oh? Change his mind? That was new.

"Change my mind? Hah, on what, girlie?" He scoffed, intrigued. "Being part of the Fatui?" Surprisingly, however, Lumine nodded her head. Childe stared at her for a second, astonished. They... they only just met? Why would she care about him being in the Fatui? "You're... you're joking, right?"

"Nope," Lumine stated, bluntly. "Not joking."

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, suddenly, the ginger started to burst out in laughter, clutching his stomach and rocking back and forth. To him, such an idea was so outlandish that he didn't expect this Outlander to even admit such a thing! Him? Leave the Fatui? That was such a stupid thought that even Childe wouldn't dream of pursuing such a path.

"L-Leave the... hahaha...! L-Leave the Fatu... Hahahaha!" The boy was practically cracking up, still in disbelief. "M-Man...! When did you become so funny, huh, ojou-chan?" He attempted to catch his breath, and yet, he kept laughing. He was in hysterics.

In response, though, Lumine shook her head. She stared directly at the Harbinger, resting her head on her knees. The look in her eyes told Childe the truth.

Lumine was definitely not kidding.

Childe ceased his laughter, an eyebrow raised in confusion and intrigue. What was the purpose of this, he wondered. Was Lumine that smitten that she believed she could reform Childe? That kind of plot-twist was one that was unimaginable to him, so that couldn't be it at all. Did she think that having Childe out of the Fatui would be beneficial to her? Now that option seemed much more plausible.

He sighed, lying down on the sand and looking up at the sky. "Really, now... this is one of the first times I've heard that in years. But..." He turned his head to look at Lumine, a slight chuckle in his voice as he softly smiled, "...I never expected it to be from you."

The girl picked back up the starconch that Childe had dropped onto the sand and placed it back into his hand once more. She curled his fingers up so that the shell wouldn't fall out of his grasp, and she gripped his hand in hers, nodding.

"Well, guess I'm full of surprises." This Traveler was somewhat unlike anything that the Harbinger was able to grasp, but he found that it just made things more interesting. "I... want to make a bet with you, actually."

"Oho, a bet, you say?" Childe sat up, leaning in closer. "Continue... I'd like to see what's on the line. Our lives? Dignity?"

"How about..." The girl started to trail off, looking away before snapping her fingers and glancing back at Childe. "...your title as Harbinger?"

Oh, so we're playing that game now.

"My title? As the 11th Harbinger? No, no, no... see, even if I did take you up on that offer," the ginger stated, before hastily adding, "Which I'm not if I need to make that clear..." He sighed, closing his eyes before continuing with his reasoning. "...I had to go through a lot of stuff just to get that title. There's nothing, and I mean nothing, that you could bet on that would match up with that."

"Well," she trailed off, looking down at her feet and tapping her boots together as if stalling. "...you're right. I have nothing to offer." She looked back out to the horizon, watching the sun slowly start its descent. "You're a Harbinger, and asking you to leave the Fatui isn't something I can just ask you to do."

"Exactly."

"And... I'm sure that you're convinced that we're enemies and that you'd never want to leave in the first place."

"Mhm. Right on point."

"But...!" Lumine tried to continue persuading him, and finally decided to reiterate, "You don't have to give it up if you don't want to by the time this whole thing is over." Childe became even more curious. By the time what is over? "I want to take you sightseeing around Liyue Harbor while we run errands."

Ah, so a date...

...wait, hold up, a date--?

Aren't we moving too fast? We literally just met! Should I even be doing this on duty? Wait, what am I saying?! I'm her enemy! Why am I worried about moving too fast? It's not like I want to... or... d-do I? Damn it, Childe, get your act together!

"And... this time..." The girl, while Childe was in the middle of his own internal monologue, continued with her proposition. "I want you to take a good look and see the people as what they are--people." She emphasized this point, losing the light-heartedness that was once in her tone. "Not as people you need to collect debt from, need to defeat, or need to conquer. Just... as people with families, with lives!" She looked at him with the most sincere gaze. Her amber eyes were sparkling with a glow that was drawing Childe in, almost convincing him--hypnotizing him--to accepting the deal.

Her eyes are actually really pretty now that I have a good look at them...

"I want you to see them as an average human being, just like you and me. If you can do that... then... at least consider leaving the Fatui. I'm not forcing you to leave, but I just want you to keep it in mind, okay, Childe?" When Lumine was finished with her speech, she noticed Childe was just staring at her blankly. It was almost as if he was in a trance, which was uncharacteristic of him. "Um... Childe?"

Were her eyes always that pretty? It's like looking at the sun, but...

"Childe?"

...why can't I look away?

"Childe!" Lumine called out, snapping him out of it. He jolted, just realizing he was in a daze. "Were you even listening to me?" Childe was about to lie and say he totally did until he saw Lumine's pouting face. Her cheeks were slightly puffed, her eyebrows furrowed, and yet she was incredibly...

Adorable.

"U-uh..." Holy fuck, she's cute.

"Hello~?" Lumine started to call out to Childe, waving her hand in front of his face. "Teyvat to Childe. Can you hear me?" Little did the Traveler know the number of jumbled thoughts going through Childe's head.

It was a mess in there. Mountains of gushing ramblings about her were starting to pile on top of each other with some logical part of Childe's conscious trying to compress them and hide them far away into the back of his mind. Even then, the loud thoughts kept bleeding through. He was starting to lose focus.

She's just so cute.

In fact, he was so broken that all that left his mouth were broken words and jumbled up sentences. "Um... sorry, what? I was... um... uh..."

Come up with an excuse, you dimwit! Don't make a fool of yourself! You know better than this!

"I was looking at that... o-other starconch!" Childe stammered, trying to search desperately for some convenient starconch that was placed out in the open. Sadly, he couldn't find one, so he just pointed in a direction, hoping Lumine wouldn't catch on to his poor acting skills. "Y-yeah! That starconch, haha! Over there!" Lumine was about to check in that direction, but Childe immediately tugged on her arm in hopes he wouldn't be exposed.

...wow, he thought, mentally facepalming. This is... a complete and utter trainwreck. Good going, Childe. Good. Fucking. Going.

The Traveler, realizing how off track he was, decided to cut him some slack and summarize it in a few short phrases. She sighed, saying, "Look, I just think you're not as bad as everyone thinks you are." She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, seeming quite sincere about such a concern. "You're a lot nicer than a lot of people would think you would be, even if you're a Fatui Harbinger... you just... need to learn to put down the act, you know?"

How would you know how nice I am? Childe began to wonder. For all you know, I could be deceiving you and ready to kill you at any moment. So why... why are you letting down your guard for such a flimsy hypothesis? Are you choosing to believe that I'm nice just because you've fallen for me? He scoffed, deciding to scold her for such an unusual mindset.

Ojou-chan, that's truly sweet of you, but being smitten for me doesn't change the fact that I'm your enemy...

"Even if you are my enemy..." Lumine responded, stopping Childe from continuing his internal narration.

Shit, did I just say that out loud?!

"I think you're... way too humane for me to brush off as a totally bad person," she explained before turning her head and smiling at him.

Did she just gloss over the whole 'smitten' part? God, why can't I think straight today?!

While she was definitely very pretty whenever she smiled, Childe's thoughts were all over the place that he was just picking out things that he probably shouldn't have been paying attention to. Truly, the Harbinger was completely off his game.

"Haha... hah... humane, you say?" He nervously chuckled, trying to regather his thoughts (as well as what little left of logical thinking he had). "Girlie, with all due respect, I'm a Fatui Harbinger. You know that I'm not here for good reasons, and yet, you still want to deny that?" It was admirable, really, it was. The fact that Lumine was completely ignoring Childe's position as a Harbinger and seemingly not minding it at all was something he hadn't seen in a while, but it was dangerous for her. She was on a quest: a journey across all of Teyvat, fighting against the Abyss and the Fatui alike. So why was she disregarding Childe's position as Harbinger? Why was she denying it?

"Well... yeah," Lumine answered. "Of course I'm denying it."

"But why?"

"Because..." The blonde girl shifted her eyes away from Childe, murmuring something under her breath. Even though she tried to avoid him hearing it, the Harbinger could make out a few words: "...you keep looking lonely..."

Oh? Him? Childe? The 11th Harbinger? One of those appointed and trusted by the Tsaritsa? The one who always shows up wherever the chaos is? How could he be lonely? If anything, he was far from lonely. He was surrounded by colleagues who feared and respected him, who would listen to his every word! How was that lonely?

Lumine, still avoiding Childe's gaze, let out a sigh and said in such a small voice, "I... caught you alone once. You were... writing a letter to someone, if I remember correctly."

Oh.

…oh.

His letters.

The letters that Childe would write to his siblings back in Snezhnaya whenever he had the time; letters talking about the things he had seen, sent over with an abundance of gifts that he so wished he could give them in person but can't; the letters written with stories he wanted to tell by their fireplace back home, where they could all eat Calla Lily Soup together and laugh at the shenanigans Childe was up to.

Those letters.

The letters that he had to send from nations away because the Fatui didn't trust him to stay in Snezhnaya.

The letters that he sent constantly because he felt homesick and wanted to be with his family.

…yes, those were such letters.

How could he be so stupid to let his guard down and have Lumine, his enemy, of all people, see that?

Childe fell silent, not saying anything. His silence spoke volumes to Lumine, confirming her suspicions. She saw the look on his face and seemed to take pity on him, to which he didn't want from her. He was seen at one of his most vulnerable times--when he was homesick and hoping the best for his family. He didn't want the one he was to cross blades with one day see such a thing.

"...you seemed kind of sad writing it." Lumine looked up at the sky as if searching for someone. It was almost as if she knew the feeling Childe had felt when he was writing those letters. "...you must miss them, the person you were writing to." The atmosphere grew tense, with the girl continuing to gaze at the sky with such a sorrowful look in her eyes; the boy, remaining uncharacteristically silent. "...maybe you just joined the Fatui for the sake of that person..." She looked back at Childe, with what seemed to be a look of pain on her face. "Right?"

Why? Childe wondered. Why is she looking at me like that? Like she would know. And why would it matter to her why I joined the Fatui? I'm still her enemy in the end... He looked at the waves touching the sand gently before they moved away, back to the ocean. The waves would touch the sand, then part with it... touch it, then part... what a somber feeling he felt, just from this one conversation.

Was this her plan? The ginger kept pondering. Did she pry into my private life in hopes that she can let my guard down? In hopes that she can strike me down faster that way? Childe was slowly growing paranoid, not believing Lumine's intents to be pure. He kept searching for reasons to antagonize her, to make her the enemy. He kept grasping at straws.

The thumping of his heart, though, kept telling him otherwise.

This entire time on the seashore of Liyue Harbor, Childe was at war with his heart and his head. His thoughts were all over the place, he couldn't understand a thing, and he was making no sense. He was quite lost, though he hated to admit it. The only thing he could make out clearly was the sound of Lumine's voice and her ethereal figure as she sat there, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning.

So maybe that's why he accepted her offer. Maybe that's why he decided to let his guard down, just this once. Maybe... just maybe, that was the reason that he took up Lumine on her offer.

"...so," he quietly murmured, breaking the silence between them. "...you just want to take me on a date around Liyue and convince me to be... what? Merciful?" He had a slight smile on his face, hoping to lighten the atmosphere. Thankfully, to his benefit, it worked.

"Something like that--wait! Date?!" Lumine almost instantly regained that innocent glow she had before, giving in to Childe's antics. "D-da... it's not a date!" she screeched, turning to him and pounding her fists into the sand. The Harbinger covered his face to avoid the sand from flying into his face, starting to feel a bit giddier.

"Hahaha, yeah, sure! Okay, I totally believe you," he laughed, lowering his arm to catch a look at the flustered girl.

"I'm serious! It's not a date!"

"Oh, then what is it? A business outing? Hahaha!" Ah... she really is a bit cute.

The lighthearted atmosphere that was with them in the beginning returned. For now, Childe told himself, he'll let his guard down. Just this once, he'll try and let Lumine do as she pleases. Some part of him was telling him that it was alright to just be a human rather than a Harbinger around her...

...and for the first time, Childe listened.

[foryoumyheroes]

Stan Twitter

[Midoriya + Todoroki + Bakugou + Kaminari] and their secret stan accounts.

A/N:  Gender neutral reader and [H/N] stands for [Hero Name].  Aged-up AU and everyone is already a Pro-Hero. Kinda SMAU? 

Disclaimer: I recently became aware that the word “simp” has been appropriated from AAVE. As someone who is not from the black community, I genuinely apologize and I don’t have an excuse for my ignorance. I am removing it from these hcs! I consider myself an ally (but I clearly have a lot of work to do) and it is my own fault for not educating myself, which I hope to do more of in the future.

I also have to give credit where credit’s due I love @myherowritings​ ‘s SMAUs and was inspired to write this from their works so please check them out if you’re reading this!  

Izuku Midoriya: 

Goes the whole mile. Has a [Name] stan account with 10k followers. Interacts with other [H/N] stans regularly. Retweets edits and compilations. Makes his own fancams and edits. 

Vote [H/N] for the top ten  @[H/N]might345  I am so lucky to be able to get the entire @official[Hero Name] x @Super_Groupies collaboration collection!! It sold out within minutes! 💨💨 It was kinda stressful haha. 😅 Thanks again to everyone who supported our favorite Hero! http://bit.ly/G4peUrTd36A

Vote [H/N] for the top ten @[H/N]might345 Thank you to tik tok user @rainbowinureye for giving me permission to post their playdate edit of [H/N]! It’s so well done and the cuts and the scenes line up perfectly 😊 http://m.tiktok.com/WrqKOXWpYbU  

Vote [H/N] for the top ten  @[H/N]might345 I made another [H/N] edit to the song “This is Love” by Illene Woods slowed and pitched version 😊💕💕 Please tell me what you think and how I can improve! http://bit.ly/dK9-c7QOcWg 

Of course it’s edited perfectly with all of the clips synced up perfectly?? It’s a byproduct from his All Might days. He’s still sure to respond to every person who gives him constructive criticism on how to improve his edits. 

Unintentionally becomes a meme?? Becomes known as the fanboy to end all fanboys. Like this guy is EVERYWHERE. He’s in the comments of every [H/N] funny moments and [H/N] battles but every fight is poorly edited to the sound of vines and every official interview posted by official YT channels. 

Stream Fine Line  @randomaccount360 The wildest thing about Twitter is that one [H/N] stan account that comes running whenever you mention their name. 

Vote [H/N] for the top ten @[H/N]might345 replying to @randomaccount360  hahaha! I am here! 😁

High-key people think that he’s one of those stalkerish fans?? Like he’ll post pictures of you eating at super close angles that no other news site has and it isn’t like a pic a fan has asked for either... it’s like a candid photo of you shoveling back food 

But you guys are legitimately dating?? He lives with you?? It’s just so embarrassing to know that he runs this popular stan account of you that you rarely bring it up asdfg ;; You ;; politely look away.  

Vote [H/N] for the top ten @[H/N]might345 Isn’t @official[Hero Name] the cutest? Here’s them eating the souffle pancakes at Flipper's! It was super good! http://bit.ly/fQE__7riZko

Mashomallow @mashomallowfood  replying to @[H/N]might345 OP how do you know what the pancakes taste like 

Pinky step on me @Minastannn replying to @mashomallowfood  OP pls respond it’s a legit question 

thehighground @ayeyeye  replying to @[H/N]might345  @official[Hero Name] if you are in danger please wink twice  

OHH if you get hate?? He will respectfully put that person in their place in the most eloquent way possible. Five pages, doubled-spaced, MLA format, works cited page. 

[H/N] > Deku >:(  @[H/N]might345  It has recently come to my attention that people online have been saying that Deku is a better hero than [H/N] and I am here to say that is not the case. Not only is pitting two heroes against each other extremely toxic but [H/N] has shown time and time again that they are the more successful Hero. [1/24] 

Show this thread 

He exposes himself by being tagged in those “Get to know them better” trends and it wasn’t like he was ever hiding the fact that he ran the stan account so he has no problem doing it. He’s so casual with posting a selfie of himself and saying his name and likes and dislikes but the people who tagged him just thought that he was just a regular fan?? Not Pro-Hero Deku?? 

#WTFDeku is trending for a whole day in Japan. 

It answers a lot of questions but opens up more. 

Everyone legit thought that @[H/N]might345 was just a rich kid with a lot of free time this whole time. But no?? It was Number One Hero Deku?? Does he make the edits when he’s fighting villains or something asdfg 

It makes him so happy though!! You guys would be chilling and his phone dings from notifications and he’s turning to you so happily like, “Look, [Name]! Another popular fan account retweeted my compilation of you! I can’t believe they noticed me!” Asdf i love this boy. 

Shoto Todoroki: 

LOOK even before you two debuted as Pro-Heroes he was your number one stan buying all the merch, watching all of the interviews. 

Interacts with other fans occasionally. 5K followers. Verified by Twitter for some reason. Has a generic name like @[Name]snumberone and thinks that it’s polite to always end his posts with a simple :) 

He’s told you about his side account before, but you know that he has one dedicated to Endeavor hate, so you always think that he’s referring to that one. 

Horny on main for some reason?? People think that he’s socially inept and doesn’t really understand a lot of jargon or slang, but thanks to Kaminari and all of the other stans he’s studied up because he thinks that’s how you’re supposed to talk on the internet. 

Like someone will post a pic of you holding something between your thighs like a water bottle or your phone or wallet while you tie your hair up or sign something for a fan and he’ll be like “goD i wish that was me.” 

it’s photosynthesUS @queenking[H/N]  Can you believe that there are people out there that don’t think about [H/N]’s thighs at least once a day?? coughcough anyWAY on an unrelated topic here’s several pictures of those beautiful legs http://bit.ly/pH6KeOjpKeI

[H/N]’s biggest fan @[Name]snumberone replying to @queenking[H/N]  I can die happy if those legs suffocated me 

[H/n]’s biggest fan  @[Name]snumberone  Another fan messaged me saying that they liked my account :) thank you. I love [H/N] more than anything. 

[H/N]’s biggest fan  @[Name]snumberone Someone messaged me this from a site called Archive of Our Own? They said since I like [H/N] so much I would like this. It’s pretty enjoyable :) although kind of OOC? (is that right?) 

[H/N]’s biggest fan @[Name]snumberone I thought I would try my own hand at [H/N] fanfiction since it was so fun to read I binged the entire tag last night :) But please be warned that it’s not for underage readers. 

Would try to fight the haters in the most passive-aggressive and aggressive-aggressive way possible. He had no problem with trying to square up against the chief of police and he’s incredibly stubborn. He immediately responds to their post and tries to shut it down as quick as possible and sometimes it’s ;; kinda hurtful 

One time a hater account was spreading negative things about you and after Shoto came on the scene they quickly ended their thread with a “Of course [H/N]’s white knight came to save the day again 🙄🙄”

Within the next hour he changed his bio to “[H/N]’s white knight” 

Doesn’t get that trend where after someone posts something thirsty about someone else another user will reply by thanking them for something random? 

[H/N]’s biggest fan @[Name]snumberone Has anyone seen [H/N]’s arms after their most recent fight with a villain? They can break my back like a glowstick :) and stick their tongue down my throat ig 

Stradandelous @pikadeegeek  replying to @[Name]snumberone  Thank you for paying for my anger management classes :))))

[H/N]’s biggest fan @[Name]snumberone replying to @pikadeegeek  Oh, do you have me confused for someone else? I know that @realbakusatsuou needs anger management lessons 

He gets exposed after someone posts a picture of you and him smiling at each other cutely and someone responds with “🥺🥺 get someone who looks at you the way Shoto looks at [Name] and soba. It must be nice to kiss one of the cutest Heroes of the century” 

[H/N]’s biggest fan @[Name]snumberone  replying to @bossbiccc Thank you but soba will always be number two to [Name] :) and it was nice. 

Everyone then collectively LoSeS their minds and connects the dots like hUH?? You included!! You aren’t spared from this shit!! You spend your whole day with your jaw dropped to the goddamned grOUND as you scroll through his side account. Did he try all of that before or AFTER writing his fanfiction?? 

Endeavor gets news of it and learns just how horny his youngest son is and nearly goes into cardiac arrest. 

He just slurps his soba when everyone under the sun confronts him about it and he’s just like “what about it?” 

Katsuki Bakugou: 

About 600 followers. Doesn’t interact with anyone other than retweeting posts and liking them. Rarely comments. Never answers DM’s. Only follows one person and that’s @official[Hero Name].

You don’t know about it. No one knows about it. If he had it his way, no one will ever know about it.  

Occasionally he posts, but it’s mostly him flaunting the fact that he got limited edition or super expensive [H/N] merch that gets sold out in seconds and he’s super fucking smug. 

my hero [Name] @[H/N][Name] check out my limited edition [H/N] figurine. their costume is covered in real strakowski crystals. they did a good job with the face too.

Whatcanisayyyy his parents are designers. He has a taste for the finer things in life. 

He’s not much of a texter in general? So he doesn’t go off on lengthy arguments with people who post hate like the other two. Surprisingly mature when he does this. He reports or blocks them, but he’s always proud to know that these lowlife people can’t bring up a good argument because he always finds holes in their points. (They also don’t have the whole story. Which is? He loves you.) 

NEVER retweets or likes content that involves you and another Hero being shipped together. Purely Ground Zero x [Hero Name] only. Who gives a damn that Creati x [Hero Name] got the most votes from the Official [H/N] Fan Club?? Bakugou ,,, does not see it. 

Kinda boring really ;; he only has that many followers because he only retweets the BEST [Name] content and he’s fucking proud of it. 

He gets exposed when you and he get dragged to a club with Bakusquad one day. You’re on the dance floor with Mina and Sero and he’s just reclining in the booth retweeting paparazzi pictures of you that night and Kaminari manages to sneak up behind him and takes a picture of him without him noticing. People ofc zoom into his phone screen and find out that hE FUCKING HAS A WHOLE STAN ACCOUNT DEDICATED TO YOU?? When y’all are dating?! He’s retweeting photos of you in your outfit that night when he was right there?? He sometimes uncharacteristically comments 🥺 or 😍 or “my love”??? 

The goddamned UWUs that are passed around that night!!

The unsuppressed anger 😨😨

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway @realbakusatsuou YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!! IT WAS SAID THAT YOU WOULD DESTROY THEM NOT JOIN THEM!! 

Red Riot @theofficialredriot replying to @NOTjammingway The PLOT TWIST OF THE CENTURY! NOT EVEN THE SHARINGAN COULD’VE PREDICTED THIS

Cellophane @Serophanetape  replying to @theofficialredriot  No wonder he’s changed since our school days... 😔😔 as his bros we should’ve seen it... the good in him...the c o n f l i c t 

Pro Hero Ground Zero @realbakusatsuou  replying to @NOTjammingway  Shut. The fuck. UP!!! 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway  ASDFGHJKLHELPMEEEEE http://bit.ly/DVtNve4qySA

Show this thread 

woah pass that  @hellofolksclapclap Transcription of @NOTjammingway’s post that was taken from his IG live for anyone that needs it 😊

[Chargebolt]: [to Red Riot] and anyway, I there I was barbecue sauce— [two knocks appear on his door]. Huh?  [Red Riot]: [walking to the door] were you expecting anyone?  [Chargebolt]: No—? [Door slams open loudly. It falls to the ground off its hinges.] [AHHHHASDGHSPE?] [T/N: how did he manage to keysmash in real life?] Bakugouuuu! [Screams impressively high pitched.]  [Ground Zero]: I’m going to fucking kill you!  [Red Riot]: Bakugou, no! Stop! What would [Name] think?! [Ground Zero]: [Name] can’t fucking look at me without laughing anymore!  [A whole bunch of voices interlap and more screaming ensues.] [A faint ‘wheee’ is heard.]  [END.] 

Eventually he just fucking owns it and is like yEAH!! I HAVE A [NAME] STAN ACCOUNT WHAT OF IT?? 

hero for all  @official[Hero Name] Love you too, @[H/N][Name] <3 <3

Pro Hero Ground Zero @realbakusatsuou  replying to @official[Hero Name] ...You’re lucky I didn’t deactivate the whole fucking account. 

He still retweets things to this day, but now he’s getting more bold. 

Denki Kaminari: 

Unlike the others his official twitter IS his [Name] stan page. 

He’s going back and forth from posting about his battles, his promotional content, and then splits them all with retweets that are like “I’ve NEVER wanted to hold a hand so bad before in my life. I SWEAR!” 

IMAGINE if he did have a stan account though. He would be going back and forth between his official and stan account and like fake beefing with each other. 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway  [Name] just defeated 28 villains today!!! FUCK👏ING👏TWENTY EIGHT👏 The talent in this household... the sexiness... 😳😳

i sent you my love pls respond @[H/N]steponme replying to @NOTjammingway Dude I’m going to steal your lover 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway  replying to @[H/N]steponme  You wouldn’t dare 😤 😤😡

i sent you my love pls respond @[H/N]steponme replying to @NOTjammingway   If that’s your lover why are they buying MY animal crossing turnips? 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway replying to @[H/N]steponme @official[Hero Name]... say it isn’t so... 

hero for all @official[Hero Name]  replying to @NOTjammingway  What the FUCK is going on 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway  Replying to @[H/N]steponme They’re in your acnh island but they’re replying to MY tweets we are not the same 

Since he’s a Pro-Hero and therefore a public figure, sometimes he gets flagged by karens on the internet for saying stuff like “pls sit on my face [Name]” on his official twitter and he always replies to comments that are like “Think about the children!” with “This AINT about them!!”  

If his S/O is getting hate he’ll reply to them such as

dog mom coffee lover @lilyjargon920 I’m sorry I can’t help it, [H/N] is so ugly ESPECIALLY after a fight 

Pikachu’s long lost son @NOTjammingway replying to @lilyjargon920 That’s a strange way to say that you’ve never gotten anyone hot and bothered 

Flip-flops between being super horny and “Can i hold your hand ;;; PLEASE” 

Whenever he takes mirror selfies in his bedroom his bed is like ;; half [H/N] plushies 

Because he’s not hiding anything he’s able to interact with your page freely and most of the time his retweets get more likes than your tweet because he’s just randomly thirsty without it having anything to do with your og tweet. 

He tries tik tok trends on you and reposts it on his twitter as well. He tried the “getting naked in front of partner” challenge while you were in the middle of working at your desk at home and you just looked at him like “Put some clothes on HOE” while laughing and getting back to work. 

He posts Boyfriend ASMR POVs but most of them are like self-indulgent fanfiction and he’s talking to “[Name]” instead of making it open to everyone. 

Everyone in Class 1-A clowns him so hard for this. 

Present Mic plays one of them during his radio one day as a request from a listener and he had to leave the room but since he’s so loud his laughter was basically the only thing people hear. 

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.9|Brittana

A/N - So we're potentially nearing the end to this one. I've been considering writing the entire school year, but I may finally be getting back to work soon so I won't have much free time to continue this. Who knows though, a miracle might happen! Don't worry, I'll get this to a good stopping point so no one's left hanging. Thanks for sticking around!

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut 

When Monday morning rolls around, Brittany has no trouble waking up to start her day. In fact, she barely grumbles as she does a stretch before getting ready for her usual morning run. Most of the time, Mondays are the hardest for her since it means getting back into her busy routine for the week but today feels different.

Actually, the whole weekend has felt different.

Brittany feels weirdly well-rested although she didn’t really get much sleep last night because she spent most of it texting Santana. They weren’t even talking about anything important, but Brittany couldn’t get enough of her even after the day they spent together.

Like they agreed upon, Santana tagged along with her and Pete to the park where they both watched Pete swing. Neither of them could help glancing over by the pond though and Brittany definitely couldn’t help but to remember all that happened there. She bets Santana was thinking the same judging by the coy smirk Brittany caught her wearing when their eyes finally met. The look made Brittany blush, but they were soon interrupted by Pete begging one of them to push him on the swings.

It was a great afternoon at the park followed by lunch back at the Pierce residence where Brittany made everyone sandwiches. Pete talked animatedly about this show he watched at their grandparents’ house in between bites of his ham and cheese. Santana followed along just as enthusiastically which made Brittany’s heart just about burst. She found herself wondering if anyone else knew of Santana’s softer side or if this was just for them.

Either way, it was nice and easy and even if Brittany was dealing with a hangover from hell it was okay, because once Pete fell into a food coma Santana kissed away all her worries.

And it was different, kissing Santana completely sober. There was nothing in her system that could blur the way she felt in that moment, nothing else to pin those dizzy feelings on.

Everything she felt was purely because of Santana.

It was something Brittany wondered about before Santana came over that day. What would happen once the alcohol wore off? Would Santana regret everything? Would Brittany? Would things become awkward and uncomfortable to the point where they’d have to stop being friends?

Santana put a rest to most of Brittany’s burning questions just by showing up after everything that happened that night, then she assured Brittany by pushing her up against the kitchen counter and kissing her hard after Pete fell asleep on the couch.

Of course, that’s just how Brittany’s interpreting it all so that she can make sense of how quickly their friendship has changed. If Santana regretted anything they did, it definitely didn’t show so it must mean that they’re okay.

But again, Brittany’s just guessing because they haven’t actually had a conversation. Right now, it’s like she’s in limbo and she’s not sure how she feels about that yet.

\\

When Brittany arrives at McKinley High an hour or so later, Santana’s just pulling into the Senior parking lot. The quarterback lingers by her car as she watches Santana get out of hers. It’s crazy how much she’s drawn to her but it has always been like that. The only difference now is that she knows what Santana’s lips feel like on her skin and how much she loves kissing her.

There’s also Santana’s habit of looking super hot while doing the most ordinary things – for example, putting on her bookbag. She’s just gorgeous, simple as that, and Brittany can’t help but to be easily distracted by her.

“Mornin’,” Santana says casually as she walks past Brittany before taking sip of her coffee.

Leave it to Santana to make a pit stop at the Lima Bean before class, but she’s as pretty as ever in her Cheerios uniform. Even her voice has a little bit of a rasp to it and it just reminds Brittany of how long they stayed up the night before talking to each other.  

Brittany kind of wants to kiss her again.

Santana’s steps slow when Brittany only stares blankly, “Earth to Pierce?”

“Sorry! Good morning,” Brittany finally answers as she blinks back into reality.

“You still waking up or something?” Santana jokes as she takes another sip.

“I guess,” Brittany answers shyly, “I was up late.”

Santana just smirks before continuing to walk towards the building. Brittany quickly closes her car door and rushes to catch up to her.

When Brittany joins her again, Santana gives the blonde a once over and quirks a brow, “You not bringing your bookbag today?”

“Huh?” Brittany looks around and blushes again before going back to her car for her bag. She started off the morning doing so well, but maybe she’s going to pay for the lack of sleep after all?

\\

By lunch, Brittany’s a lot more coherent. She sits at her usual table with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina and she can hear them going on about some Glee Club drama which would usually interest her since she’s not involved in any way but she finds herself getting lost in her thoughts.

There’s a ton going through her head: an upcoming history test, Santana, finishing her English paper, Santana, getting ready for the last two games of the regular season, Santana.

With it being so late in the football season, she really should be focused on the playoffs but this past weekend has really thrown her for a loop. She has dated before – twice and none of them lasted more than a few months – but none of her past partners ever consumed her attention like this.

“How was your weekend, Britt?” Kurt asks with a nudge to Brittany’s shoulder, “Did you end up going to Puck’s party?”

“Yeah, you’ve got to tell us how that happened,” Tina says with a gesture to Brittany’s nose.

“I can cover that up by the way,” Kurt adds.

Brittany smiles, “It’s cool, I accidentally got…headbutted. It’s not the worst that’s happened.”

“It looks like it hurts like hell,” Mercedes says with a chuckle.

Brittany only shrugs, “I don’t even notice it. But yeah, I did go to the party. It was a lot of fun. Missed seeing you there though, Kurt.”

Kurt shakes his head, “Yeah, I think I would’ve rather gone to Puck’s than Rachel Berry’s Halloween House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Brittany comments as she picks at her lunch, “Not a good time?”

“Endless drama,” Mercedes answers, “Even I was a little annoyed by it.”

“That sucks,” Brittany frowns just as Santana and Quinn enter the cafeteria.

It’s like her whole world stops.

Brittany glances their way as they walk by just in time to see Santana eye her up and down. The blonde just barely catches the wink she sends before she and Quinn continue on towards their table.

Surprisingly, the rest of the table was totally oblivious to their exchange. Seems like Quinn was too. Brittany has to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too widely, she doesn’t need Kurt and Mercedes prying again.

Instead, she goes back to listening to the breakdown of whatever drama took place at Rachel’s. She nods and responds whenever necessary, but she isn’t too invested in the story. She’s too busy glancing Santana’s way every so often just to check if she was looking too.

Santana always was.

\\

By the final class of the day, Brittany swears she can feel the tension between them. She can’t quite put her finger on the kind of tension it is, but it makes her feel hyper aware whenever Santana is around. Anytime the Co-Captain glances her way or their hands accidentally touch, it’s like a thousand alarms go off in Brittany’s head.

What they’re alerting her of, she has no idea.

They look at each other like they have this shared secret and they’re both just dying to blurt it out. Brittany guesses that’s sort of true. She of course hasn’t told anyone about what happened when she and Santana left Puck’s party, but that’s because she isn’t really close to anyone. Kurt and Mercedes’ reaction to her friendship with Santana really put her off of telling them anything so she keeps most things to herself now.

But Santana?

Brittany wonders if she told Quinn anything or if she’s keeping this under wraps too. With the way news travels at this school, she doubts Santana would be the first to say anything to anyone. She can understand Santana wanting privacy after everything she has been through though.

So Brittany continues to listen to Ms. Holliday’s lesson and tries her hardest to focus on notetaking and not Santana, no matter how close her pinky is to Brittany’s. If she wanted to, she could link them together and it would kind of be like holding hands.

“You going to practice early today?” Santana asks in a hushed voice. She doesn’t even look up as she continues to write.

Brittany wasn’t planning on it but the question makes her curious so she lies, “Yeah, why?”

Santana just lifts her shoulder casually, “Just wondering.”

Brittany can see a hint of smirk and that makes her even more curious.

\\

It’s just after the final bell of the day and Santana and Brittany have gone their separate ways.

Brittany’s heading to her locker while Santana goes off in the opposite direction. It confuses her because they usually walk together to their lockers and Santana didn’t say she had to be somewhere else after class, but Brittany doesn’t think too much about. She just heads down the hall to her locker to put the last of her books away before making her way towards the gym

Santana’s secrecy all makes sense when Brittany finds her waiting in the empty locker room. She barely gets a word out before Santana’s pushing her gently against the wall of lockers and kissing her silly.

It takes Brittany completely by surprise but it also feels like a sigh of relief. She didn’t realize she had been waiting for this to happen all day and now that it has, it’s like she’s back on Cloud 9.

“God, I’ve been waiting so long to do that again,” Santana mumbles against Brittany’s lips just as she starts to pull back.

Brittany’s still a little dazed and it doesn’t help when Santana licks her lips, but she drops her bookbag on the bench behind Santana and pulls her back in. She hears the surprised whimper Santana lets out and it only makes her smirk as she deepens the kiss.

How she managed to go this long without knowing what it’s like to kiss Santana is beyond her. It’s probably one of the best feelings in the world and Brittany’s so happy that she’s able to do this now.

“What’s the time?” Santana breathes out as her hands tug at the sides of Brittany’s sweater.

Brittany shrugs, “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

Santana chuckles as Brittany grabs her ass, “The squad will be in here soon.”

“Not if we lock the door.”

“Quinn has a key,” Santana says and Brittany can just barely hear the urgency start to come through in her tone, even if her hands are diving beneath Brittany’s top.

“Then we should probably stop,” Brittany mumbles but doesn’t make a move to do so. Santana’s hands feel too good on her skin and really…she does need help getting undressed. After all, she’s here to get ready for football practice.

“We probably should.”

They’re quick to realize that neither of them are moving away.

If anything, they’re pulling each other closer. Santana’s nearly got Brittany’s top off and Brittany’s fingers are hooked into the waistband of Santana’s Cheerio skirt. Where this is all going is a mystery to Brittany, but it’s a dangerous game they’re playing. Someone could walk in at any moment and catch them in this compromising position.

When she feels Santana’s fingers play at the clasp of Brittany’s bra, Brittany feels her senses heighten. It makes her think, what are they doing? It’s like their lust for each other has gone on a joyride and they’re just acting completely on that rather than using their heads.

What’s worse though is that Brittany isn’t all that against it. They’re living in the moment and who is she to stop that, right?

Suddenly the locker room door starts to creak open and voices can be heard on the other side.

Brittany doesn’t miss the way Santana stiffens before she’s putting as much distance as she can between them. There’s a blush covering her face and she looks a little wide-eyed as she glances from the group of girls entering the room before looking back at Brittany.

The group doesn’t notice them as they head to the Cheerios’ side of the room and Brittany watches as Santana slumps against the opposite wall of lockers in relief. In this area, they’re hidden from their sight so Brittany climbs over the bench separating them.

“That was a close one,” She says jokingly.

The worry in Santana’s brow fades, “Just as it was getting good too.”

Brittany laughs at that, glad to see Santana’s sense of humor is still intact. She was a little worried for a moment there.

“Go get ready,” Brittany tells her. If Santana lingers this close any longer, she might just make her miss practice.

Santana nods though and Brittany takes a seat on the bench to get to work untying her shoelaces. Just before Santana goes though, she bends down to press a quick kiss to Brittany’s cheek. Again, it’s unexpected and sweet.

“Have a good practice,” She says.

Brittany can only smile as she watches Santana turn, her hips swaying hypnotically.

Yeah, Brittany can totally get used to this.

\\

Brittany and Santana keep up their secret meetings for two whole weeks.

It doesn’t only take place in the locker room before practice and after games won though. Sometimes it happens in the backseat of Santana’s car in the parking lot at Elliott’s, sometimes it’s in the backseat of Brittany’s. Sometimes it happens on the park bench by the pond around dusk when all the kids have gone home for the night. Sometimes it happens on Brittany’s couch when her mom is at work and Pete’s with her grandparents.

They have been making out behind – and up against – all of these closed doors and sometimes it gets heated. There have been more times than not lately that Brittany’s found Santana tugging on her waistband and even Brittany’s guilty of trying to take of Santana’s bra.

It’s an exhilarating feeling – to have these moments with Santana with this underlying fear of getting caught. It’s almost like a game to see how far they can get before they have to stop, but as much as Brittany loves a challenge she’s also starting to want more.

Not more as in wanting to take things to the next level – although she really wouldn’t mind that either – but more as in wanting to do things without having to hide. It doesn’t always have to be a steamy make out session, sometimes Brittany just wants to do simple things too.

Just the other day at school, Brittany tried holding Santana’s hand in the hall but Santana was so smooth in evading her. Brittany figured it might’ve been a coincidence; maybe Santana needed both hands to carry her books but a little piece of her didn’t think that was so true.

It wasn’t until a few days later that Brittany tried it again and noticed Santana do the same exact thing. It wasn’t a coincidence, Santana was purposely avoiding holding Brittany’s hand.

But Brittany wanted to be sure. After all, it was a pretty big accusation because why wouldn’t Santana want to hold her hand in public? It’s not the riskiest thing they’ve ever done.

\\

Brittany starts to get creative in trying to lure Santana away from being so secretive, but it doesn’t work too well in her favor. In fact, it does nothing but confuse Brittany even more.

Santana doesn’t want to hold her hand, fine. But apparently, linking pinkies is okay?

They can make out all over the locker room and sometimes behind the bleachers, but Brittany can’t kiss her in the hallway?

At first, it was an innocent mystery that Brittany wanted to solve but the longer it went on the less fun she started to have. Santana was afraid and Brittany could understand why she would be after every thing that has happened to her, but it was becoming the giant gay elephant in the room. Brittany found herself coming up with more and more questions, but only one stood out the most.

What were they doing?

Later that week, Brittany tried her luck in getting an answer.

\\

It was Thursday so that meant the last football practice of the week. It also meant Brittany coming into the locker room earlier so that she could put in extra work on the field, but lately Santana occupied most of that time.

Brittany had on her padded girdle and dry-fit tights already by the time Santana wandered into the locker room.

“Look at you already dressed,” Santana husks as she moves closer to Brittany’s side of the locker room.

“Almost,” Brittany nods before turning to get her shoulder pads on.

She figures the more gear she has on, the less of a chance she’ll be distracted by Santana’s sweet lady kisses. Her shoulder pads are kind of her last line of defense so she’s quick to get them on – so quick in fact that she forgets to put her practice jersey on them first.

Santana takes a seat on the bench and watches Brittany work. There’s that familiar glimmer in her eye as she watches Brittany’s fingers move to get the clasps in place. The look makes Brittany feel hot all over. She keeps her eyes focused on the task at hand though, certain that if she were to glance Santana’s way they might get wrapped up in each other yet again.

Brittany gives the pads a hard tug once everything’s secure and it isn’t until then that she realizes she forgot about the jersey. She can get it on herself, but it’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do once your pads are already on because it kind of becomes a two-person job.

She’s going to need help and lucky for her, Santana is probably all too willing.

Brittany bites her lip as she holds the jersey in her hand, contemplating whether or not she should struggle in silence or just risk the wonderful consequences of asking for help. She’s in the middle of weighing out the pros and cons when she sees Santana stand from the corner of her eye.

“You need a hand with that?”

The pads hide how Brittany’s shoulders ease at the question. She’s nodding before fully thinking it through.  

“I just need help getting it over the shoulders,” Brittany says as she pulls the jersey over her head, “I can do the rest.”

“Okay,” Santana gestures to the bench, “Sit.”

Brittany does as she’s told and tries to keep her breathing even as Santana stands in the space between her legs. She’s not sure what it was about the way Santana commanded her, but memories of the night at Puck’s come rushing back. They clog up her brain while Santana wears a coy smile, doing her best to work the jersey over the pads one by one.

It’s a little overwhelming for Brittany to have her standing so close, that she almost forgets what she was meant to be asking her today. There are things, important things that need clearing up and it doesn’t seem like Santana is in a rush to address them which means Brittany has to.

But it’s kind of hard to think straight with Santana’s boobs practically in her face.

“You know, these uniforms never really did it for me. Just reminds me of dumb, sweaty boys,” Santana mumbles as she gets the jersey over the final pad, “But on you? God, you look really hot.”

Brittany bites her lip and she can already feel herself wavering under Santana’s heated gaze as she eyes her up and down. Maybe she should quickly put on her helmet? That would definitely keep her from getting swept up in Santana. You can’t make out with anyone through a face mask.

Brittany’s too slow to move before Santana’s bending down to plant a wet kiss on Brittany’s lips. It’s always the same feeling – a sigh of relief – and Brittany just breathes her in. She revels in how the kiss makes her feel like she’s soaring through clouds of cotton candy. She can’t imagine doing this with anyone else anymore and that thought surprises her.

If she doesn’t want this with anyone else, Santana has to know that because maybe she feels the same way too? Maybe the way Brittany feels about her is enough to show Santana that they can be more than just this…if she wants.

That’s the big question though, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why Brittany’s been dragging her feet a little? What if Santana’s perfectly fine with how things are right now? What if she doesn’t want to be anymore than this?

Brittany just has to know. For just a little longer, Brittany continues the kiss before she starts to pull away.

“We should probably talk…”

Santana’s kissing along her jaw now instead, “About?”

Brittany swallows roughly, momentarily distracted by the feel of Santana’s lips, “That feels so good.”

“Mhmm.”

Brittany tries valiantly to focus although her hands slide up Santana’s thighs and settle on her hips. Santana shed her track pants at some point so all Brittany feels is her soft skin and that feels so good too.

“We should talk about this,” Brittany says.

“About me kissing you?” Santana smirks against Brittany’s pulse point before pressing a kiss there. Brittany has to bite back a moan as Santana’s lips brushing against a sensitive spot.

The blonde shakes her head though, “What are we doing?”

“I’m getting my mack on.”

Brittany wants to laugh at that because who says getting my mack on anymore, but Santana’s kissing just near Brittany’s ear and concentrating starts to become a losing battle. Santana’s whispering sweet nothings about how sexy she looks in tights and how badly she wants to make her feel good and Brittany feels like she’s wrapped around her finger now.

“Santana,” Brittany tries to pull herself from the daze but the way the name falls from her lips sounds more like a whimper and it eggs the Co-Captain on even more.

“I love when you say my name like that,” Santana husks before nipping at Brittany’s earlobe.

Brittany’s heart is racing a mile a minute. She grips at Santana’s Cheerios jacket like it’s going to keep her from ripping it off of the brunette. She’s slipping, but she has to try once more.

“Santana…”

“Mhmm?”

“Seriously,” Brittany says. She tries to sound a little firmer but her voice wavers, “We should talk.”

“Why do we need to do that?” Santana rasps as she lifts one leg to straddle Brittany’s thigh, “Kissing you is so much better.”

Brittany gulps at the way Santana presses into her. She kind of has a point.

It’s the biggest mistake when Brittany’s hands fall to rest on Santana’s thighs, “I know but…talking.”

Santana leans in again to continue kissing along Brittany’s jaw, “What about it?”

“It’s good,” Brittany feels herself shiver and she doesn’t quite know if she’s talking about talking or Santana.

“This is good too, right?” Santana says in that sultry, sexy tone of hers.

It’s all it takes before Brittany’s abandoning her efforts and pulling Santana to straddle her completely. She’ll just have another go at this some other day, because clearly neither of them are in the right state of mind for a serious conversation.

Maybe next time she’ll put her helmet and mouthguard on first?

\\

“Tomorrow’s a big day Titans,” Coach Beiste says as everyone takes a knee in front of her, “It’s the first game of the Playoffs.”

The team cheers loudly at that, rowdier than ever although everyone is exhausted from such an intense practice. It’s a different kind of energy than usual and the players soak it up.

Brittany watches her teammates with this proud grin on her face. The past two weeks have breezed by but she’s happy with how they’ve ended the regular season. It’s been one of the toughest ones she has ever played with so many obstacles to overcome but the fact that the Titans are ending the regular season 11-1 is something no one saw coming.

Brittany feels such a sense of pride knowing she had a hand in getting them there, even if it took a little longer than she’d like to get everyone on board with her. She hasn’t had an incident with Karofsky and Azimio in awhile, but that doesn’t mean she’s out of the woods just yet.

Coach Beiste smiles before getting the team to settle down.

“I know. It’s exciting stuff and everyone has worked their asses off this season. I’m proud of how far we’ve come as a team,” Coach continues as she looks around at the squad, “But we aren’t done yet. There are two Playoff games this year and if we can manage it, we’ll be meeting Carmel High in the Championships.”

“That hasn’t happened in years!” Finn gasps.

“Man, I can’t wait to kick their asses,” Puck follows, “They’ve had it coming for so long.”

Brittany smirks at the two, “We’re totally going to win this thing.”

“I want everyone to stay focused. Put in the work and we’ll get there,” Coach tells everyone, “We need to be a well-oiled machine from now on. It’s football and school, nothing else. No partying, no girls, no boys, no outside interferences.”

Brittany knows Coach is talking to everyone in general, but her words resonate with her the most considering how her personal life has been lately.

“She’s talking to you, Stud,” Puck jokes with a nudge to Brittany’s arm.

He wags his eyebrows at her but Brittany isn’t sure what he’s hinting at. What could he possibly know? He’s either just being funny or he really does know something, Brittany isn’t sure. She just shakes her head at him before turning back to the Coach.

“We’re getting to the Championships and we’re going to win this school that trophy,” Coach goes on, “Understood?”

There’s a sea of Yes Coach! but Brittany stares blankly at the turf. She needs to figure out this thing with Santana before it’s too late.

\\

By Monday, Brittany’s nearly hit her breaking point.

With Thanksgiving in just a few days, it’s a shorter school week. Wednesday is a half-day for the students, but for the Titans, it’s Game Day and the buzz around it is unimaginable. A win could put them in position to go up against their long time rival, Carmel High, and the Titans are as motivated as ever to make that happen.

It’s a ton of pressure on Brittany which she usually works well with if it were the only thing on her mind. But it’s not, it hasn’t been for weeks now and she knows that isn’t fair to her team. She needs to give them everything she’s got, but she can’t do that when Santana’s the one that is unknowingly wielding most of her.

With winning their first Playoff game last Friday – successfully ending the McKinley High Playoff drought – the next game is even more important. This game might determine the futures for a lot of Seniors on the team, maybe even her own and she needs to focus on that like Coach Beiste said.

If only it were that easy.

She was never good at keeping secrets and what she and Santana have been doing since Puck’s party felt like the biggest secret she ever had. At first it was fine, maybe even kind of fun, but now? She feels so conflicted; loving her time spent with Santana in private but wanting more for them.

She likes Santana, that’s obvious to her now but it’s not very useful when it comes to breaching the topic about what they’re doing. Especially when it seems that every time Brittany has tried to bring it up, Santana either deflects or distracts her with sweet lady kisses.

\\

Brittany decides she’s going to bring it up today. No more dragging this out any longer, for both of their sakes she just has to get this off of her chest already.  

And she’s not going to let Santana wiggle her way out of it this time, Brittany’s finally going to get some answers. All she needs to do is get through the remainder of her school day before she can try to figure out what’s going on between them.  

\\

Brittany’s on her way to Ms. Holliday’s class when she spots Santana and Puck talking heatedly across the hall. She’s not sure what they’re saying, but Santana looks annoyed and Puck looks how he always does – cocky and a little mischievous. It makes Brittany feel uneasy but as she approaches, they go their separate without even noticing her.

Once she gets to class, she finds Santana getting out her materials. They share a simple greeting like always before sitting down to get started on the class warm up. Brittany can’t help but glance to her side when Santana doesn’t automatically offer to do the work together.

There’s this crease between her brows like she’s in deep thought. Brittany knows it can’t be the warm-up because Santana never fails to breeze right through it. This is bigger and it worries Brittany the longer she watches.

“Is everything okay?” Brittany asks timidly.

Santana doesn’t bothering looking her way as she answers.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Brittany looks from Santana’s profile to her left hand and frowns.

“You’re doing the work with an eyeliner pencil.”

Santana snaps out of it and glances down at her work, “Shit. I just bought this too.”

Brittany continues to watch Santana rummage through her pencil case for an actual writing utensil. She seems off and Brittany wonders why she won’t just tell her what’s going on.

“You sure you’re alright?” Brittany tries once more, “You looked kind of…upset when I saw you talking with Puck.”

Santana shakes her head and continues to avoid Brittany’s gaze, “It’s fine. He was just being an annoying asshole. Nothing new there.”

“Oh,” Brittany gnaws on her bottom lip and looks to her work, “What were you guys talking about?”

“Just something JBI said on his stupid show,” Santana shrugs, “It was nothing. Like I said, Puck was just being a pain.”

Brittany stiffens, “What did JBI say?”

Her imagination goes into overdrive and she starts come up with her own answers. Have they been caught somewhere? They’ve been super careful but things still happen. Now Puck’s comment at practice starts to make a little sense, but she hasn’t heard anything, so maybe it’s only about Santana?  She has no idea.

“It doesn’t matter,” Santana sighs, “It wasn’t true anyway. Puck just wanted to confirm or deny.”

The way Santana’s being so dismissive about this doesn’t sit well with Brittany. She knows that Santana harbors things, she’s still yet to tell her how the fight started those weeks ago too. And Brittany can’t force her into talking, she can only make her comfortable enough to say it on her own.

“You’d let me know if he was bothering you, right? Especially Puck,” Brittany asks, “If someone on my team isn’t being cool, I can deal with them. It’s part of my Team Captain duties.”

Finally, Santana looks her way.

There’s this smitten little smile on her face as she softens. Brittany’s never seen her look at her quite like that before, that might be her favorite kind of Santana-smile yet.  

“You’re sweet.”

Brittany continues to look warily at her though and it has Santana sighing before she reaches over to cover the top of Brittany’s hand with hers.

“It’s okay,” Santana tells her earnestly, “I promise you.”

Brittany glances down at their hands then back up at warm brown eyes. The touch is soft and sure; Brittany hopes Santana keeps her hand there forever. She can do nothing but relent.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Santana smiles once more before nodding to the warm-up, “Do you want to work on this together?”

Brittany beams at her, “Yeah!”

They fall into their usual routine of working together; Santana lets Brittany take the lead and only coaxes her in the right direction if she’s heading the wrong way just like she does during their tutoring sessions. Santana never makes Brittany feel less than for her mistakes and that’s one of the best things about how well they work together.

“So, are…you going to practice early again today?” Santana asks awhile later.

Brittany knows what that’s code for and smirks, “Yeah.”

“Do you…need help warming up?”

She knows what she should say to Santana but something has her hesitating on an answer. Maybe if she plays her cards right, she can do both? Talk and – as Santana would say – get her mack on?

“Always,” Brittany finally says.

\\

When the final bell of the day rings out, it feels like she’s off to the races. With Titans’ practice starting at 4 and Cheerios’ practice starting at 3:30, there’s only about 20 minutes of alone time with Santana.

It’s not really a conversation she wanted to rush through, but she rather at least get it started before practice than to continue dragging it out. So Brittany gets to the locker room early and heads over to get changed like always.

And like always, Santana wanders in a few minutes later.

“Need help with your jersey?” She flirts but Brittany remembers this time to put them on her pads first.

“It’s okay,” Brittany says instead as she works to get the jersey on her pads, “I was wondering if we could maybe talk instead?”

Santana’s smile falters as she rests against the far side of the lockers, “Again with the talking…”

Brittany’s taken aback by Santana’s annoyed tone, “Sorry if I want to know what we are.”

“We’re friends. Friends who talk with their tongues super close.”

Brittany rolls her eyes, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make this into a friends with benefits situation,” Brittany replies, “What you said at Puck’s would suggest differently.”

Santana crosses her arms, “What did I say?”

“That there’s more to this,” Brittany answers, “There’s more to us that just friends who talk with their tongues super close or whatever you’re wanting to call it.”

Santana shrinks in on herself. She looks like she’ll run if Brittany pushes any further, but they have to do this now. No more avoiding the obvious.

Brittany softens at her silence, “I know you had a hard time last year and this is new to you but we can’t keep skirting around this. Ignoring the problem isn’t going to make it go away. You and I, we deserve more than sneaking around. We could be a – ”

“Look,” Santana replies, “I’m not here for anything serious.”

Brittany feels like she’s just been punched in the gut, “What?”

“I thought you knew that?”

Brittany feels blindsided, “How could I possibly know that, Santana? You haven’t said anything. You refuse to talk about this, about your feelings.”

Santana just shrugs and looks away, “Maybe because I don’t have them?”

Brittany’s never been more confused in her life.

Santana is blatantly lying to her face but Brittany can’t understand why. What’s the point of pretending she feels nothing? If anything, it makes Brittany’s heart clench in the most uncomfortable way. She’s patient and she’s kind, but she can’t put her heart on the line for someone who won’t do the same.

What’s crazy is that she knows Santana would do the same. She’s seen her do it before, so what’s with the sudden change of heart? Brittany’s been nothing but understanding thus far, but this? She can’t comprehend Santana’s motive or reasoning other than her being an idiot – and she doesn’t throw that word around too often.

“I don’t do the whole feelings thing,” Santana adds.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this anymore then if that’s the case,” Brittany says and it surprises them both. She watches Santana’s eyes widen and the quick flash of what looks like regret or guilt. Brittany’s reading her like a book, but just when she thinks she has Santana figured out she goes and says the complete opposite.

“Why do we have to label this?” Santana replies. There’s just a hint of desperation in her voice, “Why do we have to be anything other than us? I thought we were having fun? Why ruin that by complicating it with feelings?”

“Because with feelings it’s better,” Brittany says simply, “I can’t do this any other way, Santana. That’s just not me and I didn’t think that was you either.”

Santana looks like her world just came crashing down and Brittany feels the exact same. She remembers one of her dad’s old sayings after laughter comes tears and she never really understood that until right now. All their good times over the past couple of weeks was just building them up for this reality check.

Santana isn’t ready and Brittany’s not sure when she will be.

A piece of the quarterback wishes she would’ve held out a little longer – had more time to enjoy things while they were still simple – before it came to this. She knows deep down it was the right decision though. There’s no point in continuing if there’s nothing more for her here.

Santana continues to stand there silently with this anguished look on her face.

It takes everything in Brittany to resist the urge to reach out and comfort her, but what good would that do? Apparently Santana doesn’t have any feelings so really it would be a waste of her time.

“I need to finish getting ready for practice,” Brittany says. She clears her throat when her voice cracks, “I need to focus on football. I have a team counting on me and I can’t be distracted by all of this if there’s nothing for me here.”

Santana looks up at her through her lashes and Brittany’s surprised to see her eyes tinging red. It has her reaching out before she can stop herself.

“I’m sorry,” Brittany tries but Santana dodges her hand.

It stings but she gets it.

Santana only lifts her chin before walking to her side of the locker room to get ready for practice too. Brittany only swallows back the lump in her throat and continues to get dressed.

It’s hard for her to see the good in all of this, but she knows it’s there – somewhere.

\\

The following day, practices ends a little earlier than usual but Brittany invites Mike and Sam to the park near her house to practice running plays. Every extra bit of practice helps but more importantly, it acts as a little bit of a distraction from Santana.

Her final class of the day dragged on and the tension she felt between them was unbearable. Santana didn’t even look at her once, but Brittany couldn’t find the nerve to glance her way either. She knows Santana’s hurting, she is too, but she can’t go back on her word.

Pete tags along with Brittan to the park too, always excited to watch the Titans play.

Once they get to the park, Sam tosses the ball in Pete’s direction. He makes the catch and spikes the ball on the ground before doing his own version of a celebration dance.

Brittany giggles along with Mike while Sam cheers him on.

“Nice catch, Pete!”

“Skill must run in the family,” Mike jokes.

“It’s a Pierce thing,” Brittany chuckles, “Isn’t that right, Petey?”

Pete rushes up to give her a high five before throwing the ball back to Sam. He calls out to him to throw it again and Sam obliges. Brittany and Mike watch the two from side and cheer for Pete when he makes the catch again.

“He’s really good,” Mike notes.

“Like I said, it’s a Pierce thing.”

“I see,” Mike chuckles before suddenly looking a little nervous, “So uh…how’s things going with Santana?”

The question surprises Brittany as she raises a brow at him, “Random.”

“What?” Mike tries to look casual, “I’m just asking. You know, a little receiver/QB chit-chat?”

That makes Brittany laugh, “Right. This has nothing to do with Quinn putting you up to ask?”

“What?” Mike sputters, “No way…”

Brittany shakes her head, “Why doesn’t she go talk to Santana herself? Aren’t they best friends?”

“She isn’t getting much out of her,” Mike shrugs.

Brittany finds that really interesting.

She would’ve figured Quinn of all people would know what’s going on. It must be frustrating for her if she’s making Mike do her dirty work, but it isn’t Brittany’s place. Whatever Santana has or hasn’t said to Quinn isn’t any of her business and she isn’t going to add to the rumor mill.

Even if they’ve hurt each other, Brittany still cares about Santana and she would never do anything to jeopardize her trust.

“Well, her guess is as good as mine,” Brittany answers before jogging over to Sam and Pete.

[hailbop1701]

ReaperXFemaleReader

Doom: To Hell And Back

Chapter 4: For Whom The Bell Tolls...

Hello my loves! Been a few days and I felt bad so I made this one extra long! Thanks again to @thottiewithashotgun for editing! ❤🖖 and as always if you would like to be tagged please let me know!

You and Duke gently, yet forcefully dragged Dr. Carmack through the halls and then the atrium. There were gasps and shouts of surprise. “Keep everyone back!” you ordered the head of security. He nodded vigorously and urged people back as you, Duke, and Sam pushed through the increasing gap in the crowd. Moving down another corridor, you came to a stop in front of a large grey doorway. ‘Nanowall.’ you thought with resignation.

“No, no, I don’t do nanowalls,” Duke said shaking his head in protest. You smirk, and Sam quickly moved over to the wall controls. “Yes, you do,” Sam said, hitting a red button turning it green. “Do you want me to clear it?” you asked teasingly. Duke snapped his head to you and shook his head “Nah, Nah. You ladies stay out here with Dr. Fruitcake. I’ll clear it.”  he said and Sam took over for him on Carmack’s other side. Duke raised his weapon and quickly moved through the wall to clear the other side. An Asian woman ran up to your group from the atrium. 

“Did they find the others?” she asked, not bothering with a greeting. She looked at both you and Sam, hope in her eyes. You frowned, guilt coating you from the inside out. You shook your head, “Not yet.” you whispered to her.  The woman deflated slightly, “My husband is with them.” she said and Duke motioned for you all to move. 

“I’m sure Steve is fine,” Sam soothed as she helped you lift Carmack onto an exam bed. You grabbed a blood pressure cuff from a nearby cart and showed it to him. “Dr. Carmack, I’m going to take your blood pressure,” you said in a calming tone.  Carmack growled, “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” you whispered and gently attached the cuff to his arm. “See? Easy,” you breathed out. Pressing a button, you watched as it filled with air. Carmack watched you intently as you examined and cleaned his wounds. ‘Okay, now you’re getting creepy.’ you thought and moved a step back as he began to sniff at your hair again. 

Then out of the blue Carmack started panting “I can feel it.” he whispered, panicked. You placed a newly gloved hand on his head trying to calm him down. “What happened down there?” Sam asked from the other side of the bed. Carmack started to shake, “ Shut it down. Shut it down. Shut it down.” he chanted, shaking his head back and forth. He then suddenly clutched your arm way too tight. Duke surged forward but stopped when you held up your other hand. Carmack’s breathing became more erratic, he locked his eyes with yours, “It’s inside.” 

“Oh that’s not ominous,” you muttered and gently pried his hand from your arm. You gestured for the syringe on the tray next to the lab tech; she grabbed it and quickly handed it to you. “Alright Doctor, I’m just gonna take a little bit of your blood,” you said in an even tone, a small smile on your face. The man grunted and did nothing as you rolled up his sleeve and looked for a vein.  Upon finding one you uncapped the syringe with your teeth and stuck the needle into his arm. You furrowed your brows, the blood filling the syringe looked like it was red curdled milk. “That’s not right,” you whisper. 

“Oh, my god. There’s something in his blood. What’s happening to him?” the lab tech asked eyes wide. Shaking your head you held the syringe up to the light; then there was a commotion over the Comms. You looked up at Duke but his head was bent down, with a hand to his ear. Turning up the volume you listened, “Reaper, what have you got?” Sarge barked, 

“We’re chasing something,” Reaper responded, sounding out of breath. “What do you mean, ‘something’?” Sarge asked, his frustration growing. “Something big, not human.” came Reaper’s reply. Sarge lost his patience, “God damn it! Give me confirmation on what you see!” 

“It’s in the sewer. All units, all units. Southeast corridor near the med lab.” Reaper said urgently. “Crow, you too. We might need you down there.” Sarge ordered; “Yes sir.” you spoke into your comm. then turned to Sam holding up the needle, “You mind running some tests?” you asked. Sam nodded, taking the syringe from you, “(Y/N), be careful.” she said sincerely. “I’m always careful Sam.” you said with a smile; shucking off your gloves you gave Duke a look, “I got her.” he said. You pulled your rifle from your back and stalked out of the infirmary toward the southeast corridor. 

You came to a stop just as Portman began to descend the ladder; Sarge nodded to you in greeting. “How is Dr. Carmack?” he asked and you frowned and sighed, “Weird. I pulled some blood and I asked Dr. Grimm to run a few tests for me.” Sarge gave you a look, “He’ll live.” you amended and he nodded and gestured for you to climb down. 

You slid down the ladder quickly before hanging in the air. Glancing down you saw the murky water below, you let go of the rung you were holding onto and landed with a small splash. “It’s a shame a fine ass like that has to be in fatigues,” Portman said, leering eyes never leaving your behind. “Portman.” Reaper barked and the slime ball held up his hands in mock surrender. Rolling your eyes, you moved out of the way of Sarge. “I can handle him,” you whispered to Reaper. 

He sighed and looked away from you not saying a word. Huffing you followed after Sarge and Destroyer down the nasty sewer tunnel. “Tunnel ahead is the main junction. It leads back to the lab complex,” Pinky said over the comms a few moments later. “Destroyer, cover the exit.” Sarge ordered; the big man nodded and moved back behind the group.  You walked in silence for a few minutes before Sarge picked up a floating lab coat, “We got a Dr. Willits. Move out.” he said before he dropped the ripped cloth back into the water. 

“Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Goat said and smiled kindly at you like he was keying you in on a joke. “That’s real comforting, Goat. That ain’t freaking me out at all.” Portman complained, truly looking disturbed. ‘Ah.’ you thought smirking now. You stopped suddenly, a prickle danced across your skin. You looked into the dark with narrowed eyes, “Crow, you okay?” Goat asked, placing a hand on your shoulder. Frowning, you nodded.

“Yeah, thought I heard something.” you muttered. Before you could continue on, Portman yelped and disappeared into the murky water. “Portman!” Goat shouted and dove for the man. Sarge whipped around, “What the fuck?” 

In the commotion, you and Reaper both dove and grabbed part of Portman’s vest. “Goddamn son of a bitch is heavy!” Reaper grunted. You craned your neck to keep your head from slipping under. “Quick, he’s slipping back. He’s slipping.” Reaper hissed in frustration. Finally, the thee of you pulled Portman up from the drink; you stumbled back and Destroyer caught and steadied you. “Thanks,” you whispered. Destroyer patted you on the head affectionately before turning his head back to the rear. Shaking your head you shook off the extra water. “Portman, what the hell happened?” Sarge shouted. Portman spat out water and put his finger in his ear, “I fell in the damn hole.” he said annoyed. 

You, Goat, and Reaper glared hard at Portman, who ignored you in turn. Sarge looked pissed, “Everybody, on me. Watch your goddamn footing. Move.” you made a choking motion at Portman with your hands before shoving past him. After another five minutes, you came to a stop at a crossroads. Sarge turned around, “Goat, Crow, straight ahead. Portman you’re with me. John, take the Kid and go to the right.” he said before leaving with Portman. Goat walked up to you and flicked on his flashlight; “Ladies first.” he said with a gesture. Nodding you flicked on your own gun light before continuing on. 

There was a comfortable silence between you and Goat until he decided to break it “What made you want to be a Marine? If you don’t mind me asking.”

You thought for a moment and sighed. “I could tell you it’s because I wanted to help people and serve my country, but I would be lying. I did it all out of spite. My mother wanted me to be something else; like a lawyer or violinist. My god those violin lessons. She made me stop when I began to add remixes.” you laughed and Goat smirked. He looked at you and nodded, “I can see that. You being the rebellious type.” he chuckled. You grinned, “I mean I was pretty good and I liked it for a while. But it started to become a chore after she pushed and pushed. I was never good enough, I always had to be better. So I secretly started to talk to a recruiter, and after I graduated I was gone.” you said with a shrug. Goat looked over at you, “Have you talked to her?” he asked with no judgment in his tone. “Sort of. If you think shouting matches over the phone as ‘talking’.“ you snort and pause for a moment. “Wow, you’re like a confessional,” you mutter, and Goat burst out laughing. 

You let out a chuckle and Goat nudged your shoulder with his arm, “For what it’s worth kiddo, you’re one kind-hearted soul who won’t put up with shit. Just uh take care of yourself; maybe give that violin a shot again someday. Go to school for something amazing, don’t end up like me. Full of regret and in pain every time it rains.” he said with a wry smile and you looked at him surprised. “Thanks, Goat. I’ll keep it in mind, I promise,”  you whispered with a sad smile. At that moment Goat’s light began to flicker, he smacked at it with an unhappy grunt. 

You frowned and looked down at your own light, sighing relieved you saw that yours was still working perfectly. Goat unhooked his flashlight and shook it until droplets of water came out. “Great,” he muttered frustrated, “You uh guys didn’t get the waterproof ones?” you asked with a cheeky smile. Goat looked at you with a raised eyebrow; you unhooked your own light and held it out for him. “Take mine, I think you might need it more.”  

Before Goat could respond Reaper’s voice came over the Comm. “Crow, Goat, I think there’s something coming up on you.” Goat huffed and spoke into his own Comm. “My light is down. I’m sharing with Crow,” he said and looked over at you. He took your light and promptly hooked it back onto your rifle. You gave him a look and heard Reaper again. “Don’t move. I’m on my way.” 

“Men; Pinky. Can you see anything?” you asked tensed up ready for a fight. There was a pause, “No. Nothing.” Pinky said and the distinct sound of growling made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Beside you, Goat tensed and turned so you were back to back “Dr. Willits?” he called out into the dark. The growling became louder and then suddenly Goat was screaming; you whipped around and gasped. Taking aim you fire into the monster's back, but not before it bit into Goat’s neck. After you fired the monster howled and tossed Goat aside,  turning to you. Gritting your teeth, you fired rapidly but it came at you too quickly. With the strength of an oncoming truck, the monster batted you aside into the sewer wall with a crack. 

You screamed out in pain and fell into the water; you faintly heard the monster above you roar. It stepped on your chest, you clamped your mouth shut trying your hardest not to scream. Pulling out your sidearm you lifted your arm out of the water and fired into what you hoped was the creature’s chest. It howled in pain again and then reached down and grabbed you by the throat lifting you out of the water into the air. You tried to gasp for air but none would go to your lungs. Faintly you could hear Sarge yelling at both you and Goat over the Comm. He wanted you to report your location. ‘Would if I could,’ you thought numbly. The creature sniffed the air and brought you closer as if you were buried tressure it had just found. 

Gagging, your hand slowly moved to your hip grabbing the hilt of your knife. “Crow!” someone shouted in the distance. You ignored it and pulled the knife from its sheath and with what strength you had left; jammed it right into the monster’s ear into its brain. It made a gurgling sound and dropped you back into the water. “Man down. Man down!” Reaper shouted into his comm. 

He ran over to you but you waved him off toward Goat. The Kid took his place and helped you lean up against the concrete wall. “Hey are-are you okay?” he stammered. Coughing hard you nod your head and tried to stumble toward Goat. The kid’s eyes widen, “I don’t think that’s a good idea!” he said just as the others surged onto the scene. Sarge’s eyes were wild and angry; his eyes left Goat and Reaper and flitted over to you. “Report!” he barked. You stood up straighter, ignoring the room’s sudden desire to tilt completely. “Goat and I were back to back when it grabbed him. I fired, but the thing just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Threw me against that wall and pinned me under the water. I managed to pull my sidearm and fired five shots into its center mass. I guess it didn’t like that cause it then grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air like I weighed five pounds.” you croaked and winced at the extreme use of your voice. 

“This your knife?” Destroyer asked lifting up the body; he was working on shoving it into a black body bag. “Yeah. I’m not into the whole choking thing so…” you trailed off and moved with Reaper as he and Portman began to pass you. “Crow. (Y/N) are you good?” Sarge asked thin-lipped. Stopping you look over your shoulder at him, “Yeah. I just need to get out of this sewer.” you said and quickly moved after your patient. Sarge didn’t miss how your eyes were unfocused, or how you held your arm close to your chest. The blood flowing from your temple and shoulder were also pretty noticeable. But he looked away. If you said you were good, then you were good. 

You all must have been a sight because the people gathered in the atrium were becoming restless. With a burst of energy, you moved in front of the group leading the way to the infirmary. Distantly you could hear Sarge order for the evac of personnel through the Ark.  You surged through the nanowall and go straight to the supply cabinets on the far wall. Sam moved to ask you what happened but Reaper and Portman flew through the nanowall towards the nearest bed.  

“What happened?” Duke asked, eyes wide. “He was talking about devils,” Portman grunted as he and Reaper lifted Goat onto the exam bed. Sam looked perplexed “Devils?” she asked. Portman rolled his eyes, “All his Bible shit. Angels. Good and evil. Devils among us.” he said with a huff. You piled all your supplies onto a tray before rolling it over to the bed. “Let’s get this vest off him,” Reaper said, helping you as you were obviously down an arm. The vest cleared away you motioned for the Kid to come closer. “Keep pressure on his wound,” you ordered and he did as he was told silently with shaking hands. “Got a weak pulse. Portman keep an eye on it for me,” you said, a deep frown etched on your face. Portman placed a couple of fingers on Goat’s neck and kept out of your way. Grimacing you pulled on a pair of gloves with a pained hiss. 

“Get a line in.” You ordered Reaper who complied without complaint. You lifted Goats shirt checking for any other potentially life-threatening wounds. Ripping open a packet of gauze with your teeth you placed it on the long deep scratches that covered his abdomen. “How’s his pulse?” you asked and Portman shook his head, “ I’m losing him,” he said. You nodded at Reaper and he quickly traded places with you. You gently moved the Kid’s hands and bent closer to the wound on Goat’s neck. Frowning, you noticed that his blood started to look a lot like Dr. Carmack’s. Pulling out more gauze you packed the wound again and motioned for the kid to place his hands back.

You looked up to the monitor and hissed in frustration. Glancing at Reaper you saw that he was busy sewing up the lacerations on Goat’s stomach. “Sam, give me a shot of adrenaline,” you said without looking away from the heart monitor. It flatlined, “We lost the pulse.” Duke said anxiously. “Okay let’s defib!” you said placing the electrodes on Goat’s chest. “Clear!” 

I faintly heard Sarge shouting about Dr. Carmack in the background. The heart monitor beeped but it was gone again a second later. “Damn it! Clear!” you called out again before activating the machine one more time. Nothing. “We’re losing him. Sam, I need that adrenaline!” you shouted as the monitor continued to flatline. “Come on Goat. Clear!” you shouted and Sam came running up with the syringe of adrenaline. Taking it you plugged the syringe into the line that Reaper placed. Pushing the plunger you watched the monitor closely. Nothing; he was gone. Taking a deep breath you looked down and then up at his team. You turned on your heels and shucked your gloves in one swift motion. Wincing you ignored everything around you, the pain, the progressing shouting match between Sarge and Sam, and the sudden guilt of losing Goat. 

Unzipping your vest you dump it on an empty table before pulling up a stool. Sitting down you peer into the most reflective surface available; the laceration on your head only looked worse than it really was. Sighing you grabbed some cotton swabs, a bowl of water, and a suture kit. Setting down your haul you dab the first swab into the water and gently clean the drying blood around the cut. The shouting behind you got increasingly louder making your head pound in your ears. Tilting your head just slightly you started to suture the skin back together; that’s when things became quiet again. The sound of footsteps behind you made you pause; glancing into the reflective surface of the tray you were using as a mirror. Reaper walked up to the table you sat at giving you a once over. 

“I know I’m not supposed to tell a woman this but, you look like shit,” he said putting his gun down next to your vest. You snort, “Yeah I smell like it too. I think I have a dislocated shoulder, can you help me pop it back in?”  you asked looking up at him and he gave you a look that simply read, “Wow.” 

“Yeah and I can even sew up that cut on your shoulder,” he said pointing. You whipped your head around too fast and gasped in pain. You closed your eyes to stop you from blacking out completely. Reaper placed a hand on your shoulder steadying you.

“Easy, deep breaths.“ he whispered. After a long moment, you opened your eyes only to meet Reaper’s green ones. “I’m okay,” you breathed; standing up you held up your injured arm. Pursing his lips, Reaper gently moved you so you were up against the table, “Up you get,” he said gently. Sighing you maneuvered with help, up onto the table. Reaper moved so he had a decent angle to pop your arm back in. “Ready?” he asked, looking at you and as soon as you nodded he snapped it back in. Yelping, hissed out a stream of curses that made Portman’s eyes widen across the room.

Reaper couldn’t help but chuckle, you glared at him half-heartedly. “Ow.” was all you said while he smirked at you. “I’m gonna need all kinds of shots when this is over. Sewer water isn’t great on open wounds,” you muttered as Reaper helped lift your shirt over your head. “Ah Crow, why does Reaper get to undress you?” Portman called from the other side of the room. Scowling you opened your mouth to shout at the man child but Reaper beat you to it. “Shut the fuck up Portman, no one will miss you if I decide to shoot you.” 

You give the man in front of you a look that clearly said, “Really?” the man in question grimaced. “Sorry,” he muttered. Sighing you slowly turned around on the table so you were sitting criss-cross on top of it. “It’s pretty deep, it’s going to need stitches,” Reaper murmured lowly and started cleaning it. “You know you did everything you could right?” he asked after a brief silence. You tensed up at his words.

“I’m the medic, I should have been able to do something.” you whispered back. Reaper sighed, “Things around here aren’t normal. I’m sure you caught on to that by now.” he said and you felt the numbing spray on your shoulder. “Reaper I couldn’t save him as a medic, and I couldn’t save him as a Marine either. I took too long trying to take...that demon down. Heh demon, how accurate.” you muttered bitterly mind wandering. The sharp jab of a finger into the small of your back made you hiss. Turning slightly you glared at the offender, “I’m not gonna sugar coat it because that would be an insult to you. That being said, I think you were given a shitty hand and made the best with what you had. Goat wouldn’t blame you for any of it, and I think he would be pissed to know you took all the blame. You gotta get over yourself.” he said firmly as he sutured your shoulder. “And please call me John,” he murmured.  You chuckled dryly, “You’re right. I can be a bitter bitch later, thanks John,” 

You heard a snip and felt him place a bandage gently over the stitches. “It’s no problem, Crow. I’ll be happy to call you out on your shit,” he said with a smirk, and you couldn’t help but laugh. “I look forward to it. And John, call me (Y/N), I freaking hate my call sign,” you said turning back around to face him. He handed you your overshirt and cleared his throat nervously. You pulled your shirt back over your head and grabbed your vest just as Sarge walked over to you. “All set?” He asked more gently than you thought possible. “I’m all good. No longer bleeding,” you said with a small smile. 

Sarge nodded and watched you walk away towards Sam and Duke, “How is she really?” he asked Reaper. John looked at his C.O. and sighed, “ Bad concussion, cracked maybe some broke ribs. I fixed her dislocated shoulder but it’s obvious she’s in pain. She’s tough though.” he said truthfully. Sarge gave him a knowing look that Reaper glared at, “Shut up, sir.” 

Sarge held up his hands and smirked, “I said nothing.” 

@thottiewithashotgun

@dw-writes

@lauraaan182

@marvelouslytrekking

[lilyharvord]

The Chain (Part 1)

I’ve got two words for you all: Time Travel. Main concept: Two love struck idiots get sent back to a pretty UGH time period in their lives (that required me to reread all the books again) and have to hide the fact that they know everything. Stupidity ensues. Enjoy everyone. @redqueenetwork (this is what I mentioned to ya’ll in the chat, it’s finally here!!!) If you want a tag let me know. I don’t even know who is in the fandom anymore. 

“Don’t back her into the corner, whatever you do. We still don’t know what she’s capable of.” I hiss into my receiver as I sprint down another tight alleyway with Ella close on my tail. My hair sticks to my face as raindrops roll down my nose, and thunder rolls overhead. I swipe my hand across my forehead to push the annoying strands out of my face as we go. Behind me, Ella puffs out an annoyed sigh.

“She helped blow up a building Mare, I think we have a pretty decent idea of what she can do.” She admonishes as we round the corner, following Kilorn’s quickly relayed instructions from a moment ago. Ella and I had originally gone after the accomplice but after he hoped a fence and vanished into thin air, we had realized our mistake. He was a fucking teleporter, and therefore the perfect goose for our wild goose chase. We should have guessed something like this would happen. We needed the girl more than anything now. Sometimes I really hated being called into things like this. 

“Ella has a point.” 

“Agree with her one more time, Cal. I dare you.” I grumble into the receiver, pissed he is even chiming in. “Shouldn’t you be more focused on following our suspect and getting her to a place where we can make an arrest?”


“Trying.” Is his reply, followed by a burst of static from Kilorn probably messing with his receiver again. I reach up and bat at the piece in my ear, grinding my jaw against the sound. I could always just short the thing, but that wouldn’t really help with my frustration. It was my fault we lost the teleporter. I’d let him get too far ahead of me instead of just trying to incapacitate him. The last thing I wanted to do was cook him by mistake though. We wouldn’t get any information from a dead body. We needed that information if we wanted these bombings, and other things like them to stop though. 

We rounded the corner and I almost slammed into Kilorn’s back. He manages to dance out of my way. HIs expression is drawn tight, as he puts his arm out to stop Ella. With a quick gesture to the alley beyond the corner he says, “Cal is trying to talk her down.”

I push his arm out of my way and say, “No one engages Ardents alone, it’s a rule.” 

“She’s a kid Mare, they tend to respond to him better.” He says with a shrug, making me shake my head. If there is one thing Cal is still incredibly good at, it’s being a royal pain in my ass. He shouldn’t face anyone alone. Tyton had learned that the hard way when a young Ardent had put him in intensive care for three days. The last thing I need is Cal getting his leg broken because a kid hears what he has to say and doesn’t like it. My mother will never forgive him if he so much as has a bruise going into our wedding planning. Not that that was happening anytime soon, not now with the information I have tucked away to share tonight. I step around my best friend, who only passively tries to stop me. He knows that’s futile and steps back to stand with Ella as I slide around the corner.

My skin barks in protest as a wave of heat rolls over my skin. I hold my hand up to cover my eyes from the flames that circle Cal and the girl who has her back pressed up against the wall. She glares at him, her palms pressed to the brick and stone. I reach a hand out for the flames, knowing Cal will sense the shift in the flames distribution. Sure enough, the flames die in a small me-sized hole, giving me a chance to slip through them. They kiss the edges of my jacket and burn away the rain there.  

As soon as I enter the makeshift ring, the girl’s eyes fly to me over Cal’s shoulder. I know a cornered animal when I see one. She reminds me of myself too, which screams trouble. She’ll do anything to get out of that corner. Talking her down might not be an option, but we have a duty to her to at least try. Forcing my hands to remain at my sides I say, “We want to help.” 

“The last thing I need is your help.” She spit with a sneer and a raised chin. Definitely red, I realize in the light of the fire. She’s either an Ardent or a Red. I’m praying for a Red, they are far easier to apprehend and deal with during interrogation. 

The girl takes a step off the wall and holds a hand up in threat. Immediately my own hands light up with sparks, and Cal takes a step back to give me a clearer shot. The flames around us die as he channels that fire to a more useful source. Hopefully Ella senses the shift in the air and joins us to apprehend this kid. She can’t be older than sixteen, but that just makes her that much more dangerous. Younger Ardents were untapped fonts of power. 

The shadows from the early morning cut into the alley, and my lightning bathes us all in a deep purples glow. The dark shadows under the girl’s eyes are like bruises in this light. Her ragged breathing turns her into a woman possessed though. I try to dim my electricity, to prevent her from acting too brashly. She doesn’t take the hint, and instead takes another step closer to us. The air around us condenses until my ears pop painfully. 

I cry out at the sensation, almost dropping to a knee, and press my hands to my ears. Next to me, Cal pushes himself in front of me, using his own body to shield mine. I wish he would stop doing that, but no amount of arguing is going to change instinct, I’ve figured that out. Four years is a long time to spend with someone. You knew the intricacies of everything. In fact, if this still goes to plan, I can name exactly what he will want for breakfast after, down to how many cups of coffee he will need to stay awake for the rest of the day. 

A wicked wind snaps at me, ripping strands of hair out of my braid and extinguishing Cal’s flames completely. His hand on my shoulder is both a question and an order. If I’m incapable of standing, I need to get out of his way. If I’m capable, then I need to stand and help him. His voice carries even with the hurricane building around us, and he speaks to her like she hasn’t already made herself a danger to us. “Giselle, at least listen.” 

I have no idea how he got her name, but I file it away for later as I look up. She laughs at his attempt to negotiate, and brings her other hand away from her body, palm side up. The wind whips her auburn hair into a frenzy, but she does nothing to tame it. She should do what’s best for herself and listen. If she blatantly attacks us, her punishment will be more severe than blowing up an abandoned building. 

I grab onto Cal’s sleeve, as the wind tears at me as well. If I could just get a well-placed shot off, then I could disable her. Bringing my hand up, fingers spread, I take careful aim for the space right below her heart. Her eyes fly in my direction, and her lips fall into a tight line. “Don’t make me do it.” 

“Whatever you plan, you won’t be as fast as me,” I assure her, trying to rise to my feet completely. She shakes her head, her eyes growing just a hint wider as she states, “I can’t stop it now.” 

My stomach plummets, and my blood runs cold. What has she done? Is there another bomb? Is she about to set another one off somewhere else in the city? Somewhere that might actually be populated? 

“Whatever it is, we can stop it, if you just stand down.” Cal argues, keeping a tight hand on my arm, while his other arm tries to shield his eyes from the debris in the alley that the wind kicks up. Giselle shakes her head one more time, before looking down at her hands. Her entire body begins shaking, and with a smirk she says, “I’d tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not even sure where you’ll land.” 

My brows fly up into my hairline, and I grab Cal to pull him out of the way as she holds her hands out again. A body blow sends us flying backwards though, and through a wall. 

Immediately, my body goes into free-fall, and instinct kicks in as I try to flip myself over. There’s nothing but a wash of color around me though, and I end up tumbling in circles, simply trying to keep myself in one position. 

My hands seek purchase, and I manage to grasp Cal’s jacket again. His hand latches onto mine and I try to pull myself closer to him. I’m gasping for air though, unable to breathe. It feels like I’m being squished through a pipe the size of my pinkie, like how it used to feel when Shade teleported me. I wish I had opened my eyes during those times, maybe I would have seen the same wash of colors. Those trips always took a heartbeat though; this is taking seconds. I had never seen an Ardent that could teleport people and not themselves. Were Ardents evolving again? Julian said it was a possibility, but it should have taken hundreds of years, just like it had taken that long for us to appear in the first place. 

“Don’t let go,” I managed to gasp to Cal, as he tries to wrap an arm around my hips. I grip the front of his jacket with two hands, terrified of what will happen if I lose him in this tunnel. His answer is to squeeze me tightly to him. 

I press my face into his shoulder trying to inhale the scent he always carries with him. He smells more like the lake in Monfort now, probably because he keeps wearing this jacket when he walks around the lake with Kilorn. He should know better. It reeks of moist lake water. 

I glance over his shoulder only for something to catch my shoulder. I try to scream an alarm as my fingers release Cal, and I go spinning off to the side. My vision is limited but I still see him go limp from whatever hit he took. I scramble to grab at him, my fingers managing to catch his sleeve before we both collide with the side of the tunnel. 

It is like passing through a window, with multicolored glass shards explode around us. I spiral into darkness then, losing my weak grip on Cal completely. My chest heaves for air, and I try to force myself to be as loose as possible in case I end up hitting the ground. It’s a pointless exercise, any hit will kill me at this point. The pressure around me changes again, making me ears pop once more. Only a heartbeat later, I slam into something else, and finally fall unconscious.

[jlalafics]

“Stand by Me”-an Everlark one-shot

This prompt was requested by @all-consuming and my prereader @keelaree. 

I’m sure that this wasn’t what you expected, but I was vey inspired by a subplot in a K-drama that I watched recently and just went with it.

Prompt request: “You’re afraid that you’ll lose me in big crowds so you always hold my hand but now you just hold my hand when there’s only, like, five people around and I’m getting very suspicious” 

Trigger warnings: child abuse, kidnapping, reference to suicide

Summary: Peeta Mellark returns home to find himself mysteriously drawn to his little sister’s best friend. Mature themes.

~~~~~

“When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we see

No I won't be afraid

No I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me…”

—Ben E. King “Stand By Me

 ~~~~~~

“Move faster!”

He clutches her hand tightly as they run out of the forest.

It’s well after midnight, too late for children their age to be out and about. Katniss’ two braids have become unraveled and her flowered nightgown is dirty and torn at its bottom. He isn’t any better with torn jeans and his ankles burning, each step agony.

But he presses on, he needs to make sure she is safe.

“Peeta, I’m scared,” Katniss tells him in her tiny voice. Everything about her is tiny. Except for her eyes. They are big pools of silver surrounded by dark lashes; each lash wet with tears. “I want to go home.”

“That’s where I’m taking you,” he grumbles. “We just have to get out of here.”

They walk and walk and walk…Peeta feels himself beginning to cramp up. Katniss is starting to falter. What did he expect from a child of five?

He looks up at the sky—a full moon. It feels like forever since he’s seen the sky.

Tears gather in his eyes. What if his family has given up on him?

By some miracle, they find themselves on the main street of the town next to their own. There are people everywhere and Peeta tightens his hold on Katniss’ small hand.

“Stay close to me,” he tells her.

Katniss squeezes his hand. “I won’t let go.”

A group of people stumble out of a bar as its jukebox plays ‘Only You’ by the Platters, and Katniss presses herself to him, seeing a man fall to the ground and vomit on the concrete. Protectively, Peeta puts an arm around her as they move away from the rush of people.

It is nearly sunrise when Peeta reaches her house; no one is probably even aware that Katniss has been gone.

“Go right to bed,” he tells her sternly. “And, don’t go walking out of your house in the middle of the night again!”

Her gaze is solemn. “I promise, Peeta.” She holds out her little finger. “Pinkie swear?”

He indulges her and hooks their pinkies together, a tired smile of relief gracing his lips. “Go now.”

“Thank you for protecting me,” Katniss tells him, her cheeks perked by her sunny smile. “I’m going to marry you.”

“That’s stupid,” he responds. “You’re only five!”

However, even at the tender age of nine, Peeta is flattered at her declaration.

This little wisp of a girl is so sure that her heart belongs to him.

“When you’re older, you’ll find someone else to love and marry,” he says to appease her.

“I will be older, but I will still love and marry you!” she declares, chin up defiantly.

Peeta nods. “Okay, when we are older.”

++++++

Peeta opens his eyes as the train cart jolts. He looks around, finding his entire compartment empty. His back aches; exhausted from the plane ride back to the States followed by the four-hour train ride back to his hometown.

It’s been years since he’s been home. His family would usually visit his boarding school in England for the holiday. Eventually after school was over, his wanderlust took him away to the different sides of the world.

He chases for peace of mind—but it never comes.

Nightmares plague him even in the most beautiful of places. He found himself crouched and shaking on the balcony of his hotel in Mykonos before finally deciding to come home.

Peeta decides to walk home; the Mellark Home is just a scant ten minutes away from the train station. He wants to get back into the rhythm of small-town life before he’s bombarded by his family. They are wonderful people, loving and supportive, but he often feels as if they walk on eggshells around him.

Everyone but his little sister, sunny girl that she is.

As he reaches the block where his home is, Peeta feels like he’s going back in time. Everything has remained the same; the street sign still has a sticker that Rye, his older brother, placed as a dare by one of the Hawthorne boys.

The large trailer that Haymitch Abernathy and his wife Effie use for camping trips is still parked in front of their house.

His home looms over him, a perfect two-story colonial with flower boxes at its windows and a white picket fence. His mother is an avid gardener and it shows in the perfect flower beds at the front of the house. He recognizes his sister’s namesake immediately, right by the door, and finds his mouth perking into a semblance of a smile.

A flash of white suddenly catches his peripheral vision.

Looking to the building next door, Peeta suddenly freezes.

Dark hair and grey eyes catch him. She is wearing a thin, white nightgown and the morning light catches the outline of a feminine figure. Her tanned legs hang from the porch fence she has perched herself on and her hands reach into a bucket sitting next to her.

She pulls her hands out—her fingers, delicate and graceful—before she touches them together to make a circle. Her rose-colored lips rise and she exhales as bubble forms and flies out into the air.

Her gaze follows the bubble and a grin forms on her mouth as she watches it fly off—

“Peeta!”

Prim is running towards him, golden hair flying with her, and he catches her easily in his arms.

“You’re home!” she cries happily and Peeta smiles fondly at her. “Did you walk from the train station?”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Peeta replies, his voice raspy. “The town is nice and quiet at this time.”

“It’s always quiet around here,” Prim explains, taking his hand and leading him up the stone pathway. “Mom and Dad aren’t awake yet, but they’ll be so happy you’re back…Rye and Cashmere are coming for dinner…you’ll get to meet Baby Sarah…”

He listens dutifully but can’t help but look next door.

She is staring at him, still as tiny as ever, her hands clasped together.

He is awestruck by her innocence and happy to know that there is no darkness reflected in those lovely grey eyes.

There is only hope.

Her mouth rises in a small smile.

Before Peeta knows it, she is gone, disappearing into her home but leaving him with an unknowing ache inside.

++++++

Dinner is a happy affair.

His parents are thrilled that he is home. His mother is still the picture of elegance, her blonde hair in a perfect chignon and her smile is brings such youth to her face that it’s almost hard to believe that she is the mother of three grown children. His father, ruthless businessman that the newspapers report him to be, is actually a kind, caring person whose greatest treasure is his family.

They did everything under the sky to make sure that he was alright and Peeta is grateful; he loves them for it, but he can’t help but feel like he’s missing that part in his mind that makes him able to convey it. Prim and Rye are boisterous and loud, unable to not pull him into their arms for hugs. Upon his arrival, Rye cried just seeing his baby brother on their couch.

They’re at the tail end of dinner when there’s a knock on the front door.

Katniss enters their dining room and Peeta immediately stands up at the sight of her. Her hair is down, raven waves framing her pretty face, and she wears a simple green dress that makes her look like a woodland pixie.

Everyone stares at his motion; his parents amused while his siblings look to him curiously.

“Sorry,” he mumbles as he sits back down, his eyes darting up just to see the wisp of a smile on her mouth.

“Katniss!” Prim rushes over, giving her a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Rue and I made pies,” she explains shyly. “I know how much you like peach, so I brought it over.”

His mother, gracious hostess she is, goes to Katniss to take the pie pan from her.

“Thank you, Katniss! Go ahead and have a seat, sweetheart.”

His father grabs a spare chair, putting it between himself and Prim. He stands, so used to doing it during events at boarding school, as she sits and doesn’t hesitate to help push her seat for her. He almost grins seeing that her feet are just a little bit off the ground before sitting down.

Katniss looks to him. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you,” he tells her quietly, his throat tight at the sight of her.

He learns that they moved into the house next door when she was ten after her father passed away. Also, that Katniss’ mother remarried three years ago, and Katniss has a stepsister, Rue, who is eight years old. By the way she talks about the young girl, it’s obvious they are close.

“I’m taking her to that carnival that just opened this weekend,” she tells his family as they eat dessert.

“I want to go!” Prim cries out excitedly. She is nineteen, but there is still that youthful excitement in her eyes. “May I please tag along?”

“Of course, Prim,” Katniss tells her. She looks around, before her eyes go to him. “All of you are invited.”

His parents decline, but Rye and Cashmere agreed, and his parents offer to babysit Sarah, his cherub looking niece, so they can have an actual date night.

“How about you, Peeta?” His father asks.

He nods immediately, his eyes going to the girl next to him. “Sounds like fun.”

++++++

As Peeta gets ready for bed, there’s a knock on his door and he is surprised to find his parents on the other side. He widens the door and they enter, his father sitting at the chair next to his desk and his mother at the end of his bed.

“We just wanted to check on you,” his father starts. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been home—almost fourteen years, actually.”

“I know,” Peeta replies and looks around. “Looks like you never changed the place. If I open my bedside drawer, am I going to find those mini chocolates I used to carry around?”

“You always did have a sweet tooth,” his mother says with a smile. “How are you, Peeta?”

“Some days are hard,” he admits. “But I can’t keep running anymore.”

“We’ve missed you,” his father tells him, his voice on the verge of weeping.

His father’s voice had only sounded like that once before; the day that Peeta woke up in a hospital bed screaming bloody murder, begging them to get that woman away from him.

“No matter what, she’s going to be part of me,” Peeta explains. “Part of my nightmares.”

His mother hurriedly brushes away her tears. “Oh sweetheart, we failed to protect you—”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“You are our son,” his father intones. “We will always worry about you and want to take care of you.”

Peeta nods; his chest filling with that familiar heaviness that comes with the night.

“I’m tired,” he tells them, suddenly listless.

Both stand, his mother kissing his forehead and his father patting his shoulder before bidding him goodnight.

Sleep does not come.

++++++

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Prim tells him as they walked into the entryway of the carnival. “It’s been ages, really.”

“I’m happy that I’m back,” Peeta replies. “Why does this place look so familiar?”

“It’s part of the old camping grounds, remember?” Prim skips down the path towards the carousel. “Look! There’s Katniss!” She jogs ahead to go greet her friend, just he sees an image in his mind of two children running out of the camping grounds to escape a madwoman.

Peeta makes his way his over, his eyes on Katniss, her hair in a long braid. She is wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, with white sneakers on her tiny feet. Next to her is a young girl, mocha-skinned with wide almond eyes.

“Hello,” Katniss greets him with a friendly smile. “I’m glad you came.”

His mouth raises slightly. “Thanks for inviting us.”

Katniss puts a hand to the young girl’s shoulder. “Rue, this is Peeta. He’s Prim’s older brother.”

The girl stares up at him shyly. “Hello, Peeta. It’s nice to meet you.”

Kneeling before the girl, he holds out his hand. “Hello, Rue. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

His eyes go quickly to Katniss, who flushes as their eyes met.

Rue shakes his hand and then turns to her sister. “He’s cute.”

“Rue!” Katniss takes the young girl’s hand, avoiding his eyes.

“Well, he is!” Rue insists.

It was starting to get crowded; Prim had disappeared, and his eyes search anxiously for her.

“She went to get food,” Katniss informs him, seeing his concern. “Your sister has an ever-stretching stomach, skinny thing she is.” Her eyes go down to her own figure. “I look like I’ve obviously had too many desserts.”

Peeta looks her over quickly; she is definitely curvy, her waist small and her hips full—a true Botticelli, which he finds overwhelmingly appealing.

“You look perfect,” he finds himself saying. His hand suddenly reaches for hers and Katniss starts. “I don’t want to lose you, too.”

They head towards the concession stands in search of Prim; Katniss in the middle, her hands held by both Rue and Peeta.

“You’re only saying that because you’re Prim’s brother,” Katniss says, her gaze avoiding his.

“I shouldn’t be saying that because I’m Prim’s brother.”

++++++

“You have to be quiet!” he demands under his breath. “You’ll make her angry.”

Her wrists and ankles hurt, and Katniss is getting tired of sitting up against the wall of the smelly, dusty house. Why did the lady never clean?

Her eyes wander to the teddy bear, sitting in the corner of the room, caked with dirt and its eye missing. Did that mean that there were other children here?

“I want to go home!” she wails.

“Please Katniss…if you’re quiet, I’ll give you something to eat,” Peeta tells her. She quiets immediately and he offers her a smile. Though his hands are bound, he manages to reach into the pocket of his jacket to pull out a wrapped piece of chocolate. “Here you go.”

She unwraps it quickly before stuffing it into her mouth. “Thank you, Peeta.”

Katniss fails to notice that his own stomach grumbles with hunger.

++++++

Katniss sits up in bed, breathing heavily, as the remnants of the dream swim in her mind.

What was that?

She looks to her wrists and ankles—no marks.

It wasn’t real…the lady with the dark eyes and long, black hair…not real…

Laying back, she tries to close her eyes, but the faint taste of chocolate lingers in her mouth.

++++++

The night is humid and Peeta struggles to keep his body cool underneath the dress shirt he wears.

“Peeta, you should’ve borrowed something from Rye,” Prim tells him good-naturedly as they walk towards the stage. Around them, groups are setting up their picnic blankets for the summer concert that is an annual event in their town. “I’m taking you shopping tomorrow.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he assures her amusedly. “Am I cramping your style?”

“Of course not!” She entwines their arms. “You’re my very international older brother who my friends are dying to meet.” Her other hand shoots up. “There they are!”

His eyes go to the group of six; the two dark-haired men are obviously the Hawthorne brothers, beside them are two blondes, one tall and statuesque while the other is about Prim’s height with soft waves on her shoulders.

Then there is Katniss; tiny but breathtaking, in a blue knee-length dress.

“Hey guys!” Prim greets the group. “This is my brother Peeta, he just got back home a week ago.” She turns to the Hawthornes. “You know Gale and Vick.”

He shakes their hands and Gale gives him a friendly smile. “It’s been awhile, Peeta.”

Briefly, he remembers that he was in the same grade as Gale before he left. Were they friends before?

“Too long,” Peeta replies before shaking Vick’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Prim told us that you just left Mykonos before heading back,” Vick says in admiration. “You have to tell us all about it and all your other trips!”

“Yes, it can get a little stifling here,” the tall blonde adds, her deep blue eyes set on him. “Madge Undersee.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replies with an easy smile. Then, he goes to the shorter blonde. “Nice to meet you—”

“Delly Cartwright.” She is much more soft-spoken than Madge, her eyes less predatory than Madge’s as well. “Please make yourself comfortable.” She waves her hand to the array of food on their blanket. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“This looks great,” he tells her as he settles down next to Katniss and Prim who are chatting. “Do you cook all of this?”

“I own a café in town with my grandmother,” Delly explains. “I didn’t make the pie, though.” She smiles brightly at the dark-haired sprite next to him. “That was Katniss’ doing.”

Peeta turns to Katniss and she beams at him.

Finally, he can breathe again, the sight of her calming him. “What flavor is it this time?”

“Chocolate.”

She can’t quite meet his eyes after that.

++++++

The concert is a selection of popular 50’s songs covered by a popular local band.

Prim knows Thresh, one of the singers; he is the reason they scored such a great spot by the stage. As the night progresses, Peeta feels himself relax around the group. He tells them about the places he’s visited and finds himself realizing how fond he had been of cobbled stone streets in the small sector of Paris that he lived in for six months.

“What did you do there?” Madge asks. She has moved closer to him while he subtly scoots closer to his sister and Katniss.

“Walked along the Seine…sat at cafes and people-watched…got lost in the Louvre…pretended I was an artist and attempted to sketch…” Madge and Vick look wistful, losing themselves in the romanticism of it all. Delly is amused when he mentioned people watching; she seems to be an intuitive one, someone who would, like himself, find interest in human behavior.

“We all can’t wander around the world,” Gale remarks, his tone slightly envious.

During his time with Prim’s friends, he notices how the older Hawthorne gazes at Katniss longingly. However, Katniss seems focused on Prim, and sometimes, on him.

“True,” he agrees. “Boarding school was great when I was child. I needed the structure but, as I got older, it seemed that I needed to see what was beyond. I was lucky that my parents understood, but they wanted me to find some sort of work. So, I didn’t exactly ask them to help me get around, so I worked where I could.”

“What did you do?” Katniss suddenly asks.

Peeta turns to Katniss, giving her his full attention.

“I did what you do. I baked.” Her mouth widens in surprise and it thrills him to see how her eyes light up at his words. “In Paris, I worked at a boulangerie and baked the whole night. In Amsterdam, I learned how to make stroopwafels and in Spain, it was churros.”

“Then, how the fuck do you have abs?” Madge demands to know, and the group laughs. “Seriously, I can’t eat a piece of cake without my ass jiggling!”

“It’s the Mellark metabolism,” Katniss suggests. “I mean, look at Prim! She can eat and eat and look at her!”

“But the Mellark metabolism doesn’t seem work in my favor when it comes to alcohol,” Prim tells them, her eyes hazy. “I need some water.” She tries to get up but fails spectacularly. “Just give me a second…”

Katniss stands. “I’ll go grab some bottles.”

“Let me help,” he offers. Katniss doesn’t say a word, only nodding to the group before heading to the concession stands towards the back of their field. She is silent as they walk through the congested space, and he finds himself taking her hand once again. “The pie was really good.”

Katniss doesn’t pull away, though her eyes remain ahead. “Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“You should do it professionally,” he says.

Katniss finally turns to him.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to learn other baking techniques.” She smiles softly. “It’s a bit of a dream of mine to open a bakery here.”

“Oh yeah?” She nods bashfully. “I think you’d be great at it.”

“I don’t have much experience with other baked goods, so that might be an issue,” Katniss says as they reach the concession stand. “Seven waters, please.”

Peeta goes to his back pocket, pulling out a ten and handing it to the cashier.

“How about going to culinary school?” he suggests.

The cashier has been nice enough to given carriers for the bottles. Katniss insists on taking one, so he grabs the other, not letting go of her hand. As they move towards the stage, he finds his senses heightened as the crowd closes in.

He lets go of her hand, winding his arm around her shoulders instead and pulling her to his side.

“To answer your question; school requires money, which I don’t have,” Katniss replies as they move closer to the group.

“I can give it to you,” he offers suddenly.

Katniss stops just short of Prim and the others, her eyes curious. The group watches their exchange in apt interest.

“Why would you do that?”

Peeta shrugs. “Because…”

Because I want to take care of you.

He didn’t know where the errant thought came from.

However, his mind travels to a dusty room…a young girl with two dark braids…and his last piece of chocolate…

“Do you want to dance?” Katniss abruptly offers.

“What?”

She takes the carrier from his grasp and puts it on the ground along with hers, before holding out her hand.

“I don’t know how,” he admits anxiously.

“I’ll teach you.” Katniss reaches for his arm to wrap it around her waist before taking his other hand in hers. “There.” She smiles encouragingly. “All you have to do is move.”

 “Only you can make all this world seem right

Only you can make the darkness bright

Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do…”

 Katniss is a tiny one, her head just hitting his chest. He longs for her to rest it against him so that he can wrap his arms around her…protect her.

From what, he doesn’t know.

All Peeta knows is that this is where she was meant to be—in his arms, safe and sound.

His eyes spare a glance at the group’s reactions; Prim watches them through her buzzed eyes, a grin on her beer-laced lips, Delly with a gentle understanding, Vick with amusement at Katniss’ impromptu suggestion, Madge with envy, and Gale with resentment.

What they think means nothing to him, especially when Katniss rests her head against him.

 “When you hold my hand, I understand the magic that you do

You're my dream come true, my one and only you…”

 ++++++

She tells him to call her Mother.

Katniss lays on his lap, exhaustion taking over as it gets closer to sunrise, and his nth day in this dilapidated room. Peeled yellow wallpaper hangs down the stained walls. There id no furniture, but there are cobwebs…so many cobwebs.

“Wake her up,” the woman commands. “We’re going soon.”

She smiles at him, revealing perfect white teeth. The woman is beautiful; creamy white skin and perfectly made up with her lined eyes and ruby red lips.

The look in her eyes, however, is unhinged.

“Is Father coming soon?” he asks.

She often speaks of “Father” who is supposed to be coming home from a business trip. Father who expected nothing but beautiful, obedient children.

Silent children who never spoke if they heard people walk by the house.

The woman’s eyes blaze, and she makes a grab for his chin, squeezing it between her index finger and thumb painfully.

“He’s not coming!” She screams at him. “Are you a fool? He did not want me! He made me kill my baby!”

Peeta whimpers as she reaches behind with her free hand to reveal a rope.

She places it to Katniss’ neck, and he prays that Katniss doesn’t wake—her cries would only agitate the woman.

“Such a pretty girl with such lovely hair,” the woman whispers. “Do you think her family would miss her? Would they cry for her? Would they mourn her?” She touches Katniss’ braid so softly before reaching into the pocket of her coat to take out a pair of scissors. “Or do you think that they would just forget her? Like I was forgotten…”

“DON’T! PLEASE!” he sobs. “I promise we won’t say anything! I will be quiet forever! No one will ever know! I promise! Please mother! PLEASE!”

Please God…someone…anyone…please keep Katniss from waking…keep her safe…

“Don’t cry.” The woman’s voice is suddenly gentle, and her hand reaches to touch his head tenderly. He looks up, eyes full of tears and snot dripping from his nose. Her gaze is resigned and sad, the hand holding the rope against Katniss pulling back. “There now. You’re a good boy, Peeta. You stayed with me till the end.”

She leans forward, pressing a kiss to his forehead, and he can see her tears against the dust of the floor.

Peeta stares at the ground, his eyes focusing on her red heels as she stands to walk out of the room—rope in her grasp.

“Goodbye Peeta.”

His eyes shoot up.

“Don’t go! Please don’t do this! Don’t leave us…MOTHER!”

++++++

Peeta rushed out to the back porch, breaths heaving as his whole body shakes.

He walks down to the grass of his backyard, vomiting his dinner all over his mother’s green grass before falling to his knees, sobbing hysterically and lost in the dazed memory of the woman’s final goodbye.

There is the bang of the back door and Peeta suddenly feels his father’s strong arms encircling him.

He rocks Peeta against him. “You’re home now. You’re safe…”

Peeta’s mother joins them, the scent of freesias solidifying her warm presence and his breathing begins to level.

“Go ahead and cry, love,” she urges “Get it out…”

They sit there in that vomit-wet grass until his legs feel strong enough to stand. Prim is at the open doorway, her blue eyes damp as their parents walk him up the steps.

His eyes suddenly drift to the porch next door.

Her grey eyes are deep with worry.

His dream-laden mind calls out to her:

Please Katniss…please stay asleep…

++++++

“Who really likes to go hiking?” Madge asks as they stand outside of the archway that leads them into the park.

“I don’t mind,” Delly says as she puts her backpack on.

“It’s good for you,” Gale cajoles Madge. “Separates the weak from the strong.”

“I’m self-admittedly weak,” Madge retorts.

“You’re so fit,” Katniss tells her admirably. She stands next to Peeta and Prim in a pair of leggings and a green hunting jacket. “I find that hard to believe.”

“You’re too sweet, Katniss.” Madge puts an arm around her shoulders as they all walk underneath the archway and towards the trail. “This is why you’re my favorite.”

“Hey!” Vick calls out to her. “What about me?”

Madge goes to him, batting her lashes. “You’re my favorite boy.”

Peeta and Prim follow behind, his sister’s concerned gaze on him.

He finally turns to her. “I’m alright, Prim.”

“Are you?”

“These things happen,” Peeta assures her. “I’m having them much less than I used to.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better at all,” his sister retorts. “How do I know that you’re not going to up and leave again?”

“Because no matter where I go, whatever this is will always be in me,” he tells her bluntly. “At least here, I’m not alone.”

Prim bites her lip and he knows that she wants to say something.

Instead, she nods and Peeta draws her into a hug.

“Go on and join your friends,” he tells her. “I prefer a slower walk.”

She squeezes his hand before heading to their group.

“I prefer a slower walk, too.”

Katniss is at his side.

Peeta takes her hand, lacing their fingers together.

She stares up at him, chest rising rapidly, and cheeks pink.

“There’s no crowd for me to get lost in.”

“I know.”

++++++

“Do you want to tell me what last week was about?”

Peeta turns to the woman curled up next to him on the bench. “We’re going to get right to it?”

“Yes,” Katniss replies bluntly. “I remember you when we were children—”

He looks to her in surprise. “You do?”

“You used to come into our class to pick up Prim,” she explains. “And, you always looked larger than life to me.”

He brushes his finger against her cheek affectionately. “I think everyone is larger than life to you, little.”

“Maybe it’s because your family is so rich and you live in this beautiful house,” she explains. “And, I lived in low-income housing where there were no backyards or flowers or even working locks on our doors.”

It explains how Katniss had found herself trapped with him. Did the woman take her from her bed? Or somehow persuade Katniss to come with her?

“That night, you looked so small,” Katniss tells him, her voice soft. “Will you tell me what happened?”

“I have nightmares,” he tells her and she seems to recoil into herself. “A long time ago, something very bad happened to me.”

“What?” Katniss inches closer, her hand reaching to touch his wrist. He hisses instinctively. “Did I hurt you?” She pulls back the sleeve of his shirt and gasps. “Peeta, what is this?”

The scars from the cable ties are nothing but an inch of pink skin, but against his tanned skin, they stand out starkly. Katniss traces her finger along the scar, and he forces himself to breathe, to quell the feeling of sickness down as the memories rise to the surface.

“An accident,” he forces out.

“Is this why you left?” Peeta nods. “It must have been a bad accident if no one in your family will talk about it.”

“Do you remember anything about me—beside what you’ve told me?” he asks nervously.

“Not really.” Katniss gives him a smile. “Should I?”

“No, not really.” Peeta is relieved at her words. Standing up, he offers his hand and Katniss takes it willingly, almost eagerly. “We better go find everyone.”

He hates to leave their bench with its little wooden thatch roof.

“You ready?”

Gathering her backpack, Katniss stands to join him. “Ye—AHH!”

She turns, falling against him, and gasping as if something is choking the life out of her.

“Katniss, what’s wrong?” His eyes go to where she sat, and he finds a web along at the corner of the thatch. He quickly swipes it away before turning to the cowering girl, rocking back and forth on the ground. “You’re afraid of spiders.”

It isn’t a question.

She is afraid of spiders because of him.

++++++

It has been quiet too long.

There had been only one sound—a chair dropping. He remembers seeing the small wooden stool as the woman brought him into the house. Guiding Katniss off his lap, Peeta rolls onto his belly. The cable ties keep him from getting to his feet or pushing himself up, so he decides to slither into the other room.

Peeta knows what he was likely to find, and he doesn’t want to see. Slithering towards the room, he breathes a sigh of relief seeing the scissors on the floor, next to the woman’s shoes.

“Don’t look up…” He can hear the creaks of the beam. “Don’t look up—”

“Peeta, what are you doing?” Katniss cries out.

“Don’t look in here!” he screams; he knows he sounds mean, but he can’t let her see.

So close…Peeta stretches with all might, taking the scissors with his pinky finger—

“Peeta, what’s in there?” Peeta looks over his shoulder to see Katniss twisting to look through the open doorway.

“A SPIDER!” He pushes back, trying not to think about the dangling feet above him. “Just don’t look, Katniss!”

“I hate spiders!” she wails, bursting into sobs as he makes his way back towards the room on his belly. “I want to go home…”

“We’re going home.” He takes the scissors in his grasp, using it to free his bloodied ankles before cutting her wrist binds free. “Help cut these ties Katniss.”

Katniss frees him easily and he goes to work on the cable ties on her ankles.

Carefully, he stands, slightly dizzy from having been in the same position for God knows how long.

“Take my hand,” Peeta tells the young girl. “We need to get out of here.”

++++++

“Is something going between you and my brother?” Prim asks as they walk into the auditorium.

Katniss turns to her best friend uneasily. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Because you two hold hands,” her best friend replies with a sly grin. “Not like I’m against you two getting together. I love you both like crazy.”

“He worries about me getting lost in crowds,” Katniss reasons. “I’m so short and all.”

“Peeta is just trying to be chivalrous,” Prim tells her. “You’re part of the family. Not surprised that he’d want to protect you.”

Her chest warms at the thought.

As much as Katniss tries to deny it, she is very much attracted to Peeta. She loses herself often in his ocean eyes and the need to hold him…protect him overwhelms her senses.

It is so not like her to act like this around a boy.

However, that treacherous voice inside tells her that Peeta is not a boy, but a man—and maybe that’s what she needs.

“Here are our seats,” Prim calls out, pulling her away from thoughts of how Peeta’s hair always looks so soft to touch. “I can’t believe Madge is in a fashion show.”

It is a local show for a department store two towns away. Madge has invited them as well as Delly to come check it out.

“I can,” Katniss replies as they sit down. “She has legs for days!”

The show begins promptly five minutes later, just as Delly slips into her seat. “What did I miss?”

“Madge hasn’t come out,” Prim tells her. “So far, so good. What do you think Katniss?”

Katniss isn’t listening, her eyes on the model heading down the runway.

Long dark hair…red lips…trench coast…strutting towards her.

She was coming to take her back!

Her face grows cold and she can hear the sound of blood rushing down her head.

Then, everything fades to black.

++++++

Mommy says that Daddy is too sick to come home.

Katniss went to bed angry. She would see Daddy; it had been so many days since they’ve played outside at the park. Her favorite is when Daddy pushes her on the swings, and she just pumps her legs to go higher as the sun shines in her face and the wind plays with her…

She would go see Daddy in the big building and help him get better.

Walking past Mommy’s bedroom, she looks in and finds her in deep sleep. It is easy to get out of the house. Sometimes the lock doesn’t work, and they would put a chair against the knob.

Tonight, Mommy forgot to do that.

Outside it is quiet, but the moon is bright and big. She looks around trying to remember which way to the hospital.

“What are you doing out?”

Katniss turns to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and dark eyes like her. She wears red lipstick like her Mommy used to when her and Daddy went on dates. Her long coat even looked like the one her Mommy wore during those dates!

“I’m going to the hospital to visit my Daddy,” she tells the lady. “What’s your name?”

The woman doesn’t tell her. “I’m going to the hospital, too. Would you like to come?”

She holds her hand out to Katniss and the light of the moon shows scars against her wrist.

Katniss is happy. Maybe it won’t take all night to see Daddy!

So, she takes the woman’s hand.

When they arrive at the broken house and her eyes go to the boy sitting in the corner, Katniss knows that she will be in so much trouble with Mommy.

++++++

Peeta rushes down the long corridor, his family hurrying behind him. He had been with his parents at Rye and Cashmere’s house when they got the phone call from a sobbing Prim telling them that Katniss was in the hospital.

Rye volunteered to drive him along with their parents to the hospital, fearing that Peeta was not in the right state of mind to get himself there in one piece. The whole time, his anxious mind goes from one scenario to another and he could feel his scars begins to itch and burn.

His brother stopped him from breaking skin, one hand on the wheel and the other on his hand.

“She will be alright,” Rye assured him, sadness in his blue eyes.

Now they were all looking for the right hallway, making another turn and relieved to see Prim leaning against the wall.

“Prim!” he calls out and his sister run straight into his arms.

“It was horrible! One minute she was sitting there and the next she was sinking to the floor…” Prim pulls away, her face streaked with tears. “They think she went into some sort of shock.”

“What are they doing for her?” Peeta asks. “Should we call her parents?”

“They’re already with her,” Prim informs them before looking to him. “She’s asking for you. It was the first thing she said as soon as she opened her eyes.”

Peeta is already opening the door.

In the room, a woman with golden hair and man with Rue’s dark eyes sit by the bed. Their eyes widen as he bursts into the room.

However, his eyes are focused on the woman sitting up in the bed, face grey and her eyes haunted.

“Peeta…” Katniss turns to him, anguish in her gaze. “I remember.”

He immediately goes to her, moving the siderail then wrapping his arms around her waist.

His head falls to her chest, feeling her heartbeat steady and strong, and her hand goes to his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs.

“Don’t be.” Katniss caresses his locks tenderly. “I wasn’t afraid…because you were with me.”

++++++

“How long were you there?” she asks when they are finally alone.

His parents and Rye have taken Katniss’ parents as well as Prim out to lunch. Katniss’ doctor assures them that she is not in any imminent danger, but they are running some customary tests before releasing her.

“A few days. At least, I think. I lost count at some point, and I never really wanted to ask my parents about what was on the official police reports.” He takes her hand sandwiching it between his own. “I don’t even know her name or anything about her. I don’t want to.”

Katniss nods in agreement.

“I understand.” Their eyes meet. “What I don’t understand is—how could I forget all of this?”

“You were five.” He caresses her face gently, trying to remove the distress off it. “You were in that house for a few hours. A child could easily mistake what happened as a dream.”

“Or a nightmare,” Katniss replies quietly. “For you, it was.” She whimpers suddenly, her eyes growing wet. “The spider—”

“It was her,” he admits quietly. “I couldn’t let you see. You told me about your Dad; how he was sick in the hospital and I knew he was probably going to die. I couldn’t let what she did be your first experience with death. You wouldn’t have understood. At least with your father, his death would be mourned and eventually the pain would be healed. You would have never healed if you saw her.”

“But you saw her.”

“Only for a little bit,” Peeta says as he closes his eyes. “I could still hear the creak of the beams…feel the brush of air as her feet dangled—” He breathes out shakily. “For years, nightmares plagued me of that day. I couldn’t function; I couldn’t focus in fear that she would somehow come back. I knew she was dead, but when I closed my eyes, she was still standing before me.”

“Oh Peeta…” She looks so desperately sad for him. “You were only a boy and you took it all on yourself.”

“I wanted to keep you innocent.” Peeta’s thumb moves along her cheek, swiping away an escaped tear. “You reminded me that there was hope and good out there. I focused on you and you alone, promising myself that you would get out of there—even if I didn’t.”

“Don’t say that,” she cries. “I would have stayed with you. No one would’ve taken care of me the way you did.”

“I’m always going to protect you.” He reaches for her and Katniss falls into his arms. She belongs there. “I’m sorry that it took me so long to find you again.”

“You’re mine now,” she says against his chest. “You told me that I had to get older to find someone to love and marry.”

Peeta chuckles. “And, you told me that you would get older, but you would still love me and marry me.”

He knows that her promise stands true, strong and resilient.

Like them.

++++++

Time passes.

Katniss is released from the hospital and she returns home. Peeta remains at his parents, planning on eventually finding his own place in town. The fact that Katniss lives next door is the contributing factor for him choosing to stay in his childhood bedroom.

Eventually, he and Katniss gather their family together and tell them about their time with the woman; how the woman lured him away by asking him to help her with her luggage and offered him a drink which he had foolishly accepted. How he awoke to find himself bound. How she insisted that he and Katniss refer to her as Mother.

Their own mothers wept at the admission.

Katniss explains how she discovered a way out of her childhood home; how the woman told her that she would take her to see her father in the hospital. She described her first memory of Peeta, how he had offered her his last piece of food—he didn’t tell her until then that it had been days since he ate.

They feel horrible when Prim gets physically sick when they tell them of that dark day.

How the woman yelled over being heart broken and killing her baby, how she placed the rope against a sleeping Katniss, how Peeta begged her…promised to keep silent…

“I kept that promise until now,” he tells their families. “But, I can’t anymore. Not if I want to move forward…if we want to move forward.”

His eyes go to Katniss, beautiful and pure, her grey eyes shining at him.

He continues, explaining how something had broken the woman. How, in those last minutes, she was kind and gentle to Peeta. How she had thanked him for being there till the end.

Prim runs out of the room at that point; Katniss follows to make sure she is alright as she retches in the downstairs bathroom.

When they return, Prim is pale and her eyes blood-shot, but she asks them to continue.

Katniss talks about waking up to see Peeta crawling on his belly into the other room—and how he had told her to not look. How there was a spider in the room and how she cried in fear—the arachnophobia still exists, though she knows now that she associates spiders with the woman.

Peeta tells them of crawling into the room to get the scissors, how he told himself to not look up at the woman—Rye had wept at his words. He speaks of cutting them out of their bounds—cable ties still bring him to a state of panic—and how he instructed Katniss to close her eyes tightly as they walked out of the house.

“He brought me home,” she tells her parents. Rue had been left with a sitter. She is still too young to understand. In time, Katniss and Peeta will sit her down and tell her their story. “I don’t know how I managed to remember my address, but I did.”

“I went to the police station,” Peeta continues. “I barely made it passed the entrance before fainting.”

The story of the Mellark kidnapping had been kept under wraps by high-powered lawyers threatening to sue anyone who leaked the story.

Peeta recovered but suffered from PTSD and anxiety, barely able to make through school. Eventually seeing how it had put such a strain on his family, he asked to leave—as far away as possible.

“We never wanted you to leave,” his mother tells him. “Your father and I argued over whether it was the best thing, but your psychiatrist agreed that maybe you needed time away—a more structured environment where there were no abrupt changes to your daily life.”

“It was for the best,” Peeta insists before looking to his parents. “I want to tell you how grateful I am to have you as my parents. You never pushed me to just get better, and you were patient when I was hard to love. You let me go even though I know it was the hardest thing in the world and you let me find my way back home.”

“We love you,” his father tells him gruffly. “We wouldn’t change a thing about you—not a single hair on your head—and we’ve felt that way since the day you were born to now.”

When it is over, emotionally drained, they all stand to leave.

Katniss’ mother Iris goes to him.

“Thank you for saving Katniss.” Her eyes are filled with tears. “From her father and I, we are eternally grateful.”

“No need to be thank me,” Peeta replies. “Katniss, in so many ways, saved me.”

+++++++

Six months later, Peeta moves into his own place.

It is a modest apartment above a pizza parlor in the main part of their town. His mother overzealously decorates his one bedroom, one bathroom abode with calming blues and greens. His father shows up a week after he moves in with two flatscreen televisions for his bedroom and living room while Rye, who is a technician, sets-up his internet for the new laptop that he gives Peeta as a housewarming gift.

Prim often comes to visit with their friends. Fridays eventually become ‘Dinners at Peeta’s house’ nights and the group invades his home; Delly takes over his kitchen while Katniss brings over whatever dessert she is experimenting with.

And at the end, once the food is eaten and the dishes washed, one person remains—Katniss.

They watch television in his living room and then eventually on his bed until they fall asleep.

Peeta still experiences nightmares at times. However, it is better when he wakes from them with Katniss in his arms.

She never pushes him, and he does the same. They know eventually they will talk about whatever they are going through. It is not in their nature to not share with each other; they know too much about one another already.

++++++

It takes them three times to actually kiss.

The first as they sit on his porch one month after her hospital release. It is raining and they sit out watching, enjoying the sound and the smell of wet grass. Katniss looks spectacularly beautiful, her grey eyes peaceful, and though it is cool, he can feel the low fire in his belly at the sight of her.

Their eyes meet and he pulls her close.

As he closes his eyes, the woman’s face flashes in his mind and he abruptly pulls away.

“I’m sorry,” he pants out.

Katniss is, of course, hurt. She stands up and walks back into his house to collect her things to go home.

However, when the night comes, he finds himself awakened by Katniss slipping into his bed.

Her head goes to his chest and her hand to his heart. “I understand.”

They are still plagued by those irrational fears, Katniss still goes numb at spiders or cobwebs and sometimes the woman’s face pops up to remind them that there are horrors in life.

Katniss always reminds him that there is hope.

He covers her hand with his. “Thank you.”

++++++

The second time comes a month after he’s moved into his apartment.

He wakes up to Katniss thrashing in bed, sheets tangling in her struggle.

“Spider…go away! Cobwebs…cobwebs…too many…”

“Katniss—” She shoots up, scratching at the air and sobbing. “—what happened?”

“Peeta…” Her head falls against him and gathers her close, pulling her onto his lap. “I was trapped! She was the spider and you were on other side of the web—I couldn’t get to you! There were too many cobwebs.” Katniss meets his eyes, her own glittering with tears. “She killed you Peeta. She killed you and I couldn’t do anything but watch…”

“It was just a dream,” he reassures her, rocking her in his arms. “It isn’t real.”

“Sometimes I don’t know what is real and not real,” she whispers against him tiredly.

“We are real.” Katniss lifts her head to meet his eyes and he smiles tenderly at her. “You and me. We’re always going to be. I can’t offer anything else to you, Katniss, broken man that I am, except my promise to love you forever.”

Her hand reaches to cup his cheek.

“I love you, too.” The faint heat returns and Peeta feels the needy burn to kiss her. Katniss presses herself against him and he knows she feels it too—this hunger beginning to grow. “Please Peeta.”

The fire flares.

“Not now,” he tells her tightly…reluctantly. “Not after you’ve had this nightmare.”

Katniss understands, breathing out. “Then just stay here.”

Always.

++++++

A year later, they go to Paris.

They rent the small apartment that he used to live in. Peeta takes her to the boulangerie where he used to work so the owners, Monsieur Latier and his wife Wiress, can coo over his ‘petite amie’ and then teach her how to properly make baguettes and croissants to her heart’s content.

He begins to draw again; small sketches in a journal that he plans to give Katniss after their trip is over. His favorite drawings are of Katniss…smiling as she watches the sunset out of their window…walking the cobbled streets in her dark green hunting jacket…staring at him with those dark, hungry as she lays in their bed without a stitch on…

Their last night in Paris, Peeta presents her with the journal, complete with daily writings of his thoughts, photographs, recipes from Monsieur and Madame Latier, sketches of her. She wept seeing all the work that had gone into it.

“I want to make great memories with you,” he simply tells her.

They makes themselves a simple dinner, a bottle of red wine accompanying it. Then, they watch the sunset from their open window, Katniss perches between his legs and her head rests back on his chest. He weaves his arms around her, pulling her close, and she hums her contentment.

“This feels like home,” she says happily.

Peeta presses a kiss to the top of her head. “You are home.”

There is a sudden shift in the air, and he finds Katniss facing him, her fingers reaching to cradle his chin and his breath catches at the sensation. Her gaze goes to his lips and the hunger returns, desperate and calling out to her.

“Please Katniss,” he finds himself saying.

She smiles and leans forward, pressing her mouth to his.

Fire.

After as they lay together, sated after another kind of joining, Peeta gazes down at the Katniss, peppering kisses against her chin, savoring her taste, and thanking God for every moment they have now and whatever is beyond that.

“Marry me,” he whispers.

“Yes,” she replies, smiling up at him. “Even though I asked you first.”

And for the rest of the night, they are no words and there are no nightmares.

++++++

Now, there is another dark-haired girl with two long braids, and another blond boy. The girl’s eyes are his deep blues, while the boy, still learning to walk, has inherited his mother’s lovely greys.

Peeta watches them play in the backyard of the bakery that had once been a pipe dream of Katniss’. He bought the property below his old apartment as an anniversary present—enthusiasm in her thank you led to the conception of their daughter in its kitchen.

They are moderately wealthy, business is steady, and they are happy most of the time. Some days they struggle with nightmares or terrors, but in the end, they hold onto one another and it makes them stronger.

His wife joins him on the steps of their porch.

Immediately, his hand reaches for hers.

Peeta takes a deep breath and closes his eyes without fear, enjoying the sweet scent of Katniss and the sound of their children playing.

FIN. 

[enragedbees]

Could I possibly get 1, “I can’t do anything right” with creativitwins? Possibly with Roman saying it, if possible?

1.  “I can’t do anything right.”

A/N: this is the politest ask I’ve ever gotten, thank you for the prompt I loved writing it!!

send me a prompt!!

General Taglist: @thenewlarislynn @xionbean @fall-sunflowers @emo-disaster @darkstrange-son @soupgromlin (if you’d like to be added or removed, just let me know!!)

(DO NOT TAG AS SHIP)

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

Remus was already in his room when Roman popped in.

        He trudged over to the bed where Remus sat drawing a picture of an octopus killing a stick figure man. Roman flopped onto the bed and threw his arm over his face.

        Remus sighed. “What’s the matter, Roman?”

        Roman didn’t respond. Remus assumed he was just being dramatic and went back to his doodle. But then Roman began to shake, and Remus realized he was crying.

        “Wait, seriously, Ro,” Remus scooted closer to his brother. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

        Roman shook his head and sniffled. “I’ll never be one of them,” he said after a moment, voice thick.

        “What? Of course you will. They just need time,” Remus insisted.

        “I can’t do anything right. All my ideas are so…boring. I don’t know how to create things without you. And none of them know what to do with me.” Roman sniffed again.

        Remus sighed. He had been having similar thoughts.

        Everyone was still adjusting to the split. Nobody knew what it meant to have two creativities, and since Roman and Remus couldn’t create anything together anymore, there wasn’t a whole lot of productivity, which put everyone on edge.

        When the twins woke up for the first time, they had no recollection of who they were before. They knew they were a part of Thomas, they remembered their role, but they had none of their previous memories. They kept to themselves, unsure what to do, until the others found them and decided for them.

        Nobody was happy about what had happened.

        As time passed, Roman and Remus found themselves pulled more strongly in opposite directions. They both had roles to fulfill, and so they had places where they belonged. Roman was the dreamer, the inspiration, the “good” creativity. He was supposed to be in the lightest part of the Mindscape, along with the rest of the sides Thomas didn’t try to forget about.

        Remus was dumped in the dark part, where it wasn’t enough to be hated by Thomas, but by everyone else there, too.

        Remus wished the others helped them more. They understood the twins’ roles, but they did nothing to make the transition easier. The others in the dark were practically hostile to Remus. He had hoped the others in the light part would be nicer to Roman, as the better half, but it didn’t seem like they cared at all.

        “Are the others giving you trouble?” Remus asked. “Because if they are, I can always take care of it.”

        Roman shook his head. “Morality tries to pretend like he’s okay with me, but I know I make him uncomfortable. He tells Logic when he thinks I can’t hear. And Logic just…ignores me. I just wish I could make them understand that I didn’t want this, either!”

        At least they weren’t blatantly mean to Roman. Deceit and Anxiety showed Remus his room and didn’t speak to him again. Deceit only pretended that he didn’t exist, but Anxiety would glare at him if he caught Remus looking, or leave a room if Remus entered.

        It didn’t help that they all seemed so much older than the twins. Even though none of them really aged, the rest of them looked to be in their late teens. Roman and Remus couldn’t have looked more than ten or eleven. None of them would take the twins seriously if they just saw them as scared little kids.

        Remus could handle the way the others treated him, but he didn’t want them to hurt Roman. Roman was already so insecure; all of the pressure of creation was forced onto him, along with all of the restrictions of what was acceptable. Remus, at least, was free, even though none of his ideas were good enough.

        Remus scooted over so his legs hung off the bed and laid down, his head right next to Roman’s. He grabbed Roman’s hand.

        “I think your ideas are awesome,” Remus said. “They’re a little tame, and I think you don’t take advantage of your ability to make people uncomfortable, but --”

        Roman snorted. “I don’t want to make people uncomfortable.”

        Remus shrugged. “Then don’t. Leave that to me. It gives you more time to think of something amazing.”

        Finally, Roman took his arm off of his face and turned his head. His eyes were red and puffy. “What if I never think of anything worthwhile?”

        “You will.”

        “How do you know?”

        Remus squeezed his hand. “Because I know you. I know you better than anyone else ever will. And I know what you’re capable of.”

        A tear leaked out of Roman’s eye. “What if I can’t do it without you?”

        “What makes you think you have to do anything without me? I’m not going anywhere.”

        “But…the others…”

        “Screw the others!” Remus sat up. “We’ll always stick together, Ro. They’re not in charge of us.”

        Roman sat up and wiped at his eyes. “Promise?”

        “I promise.” Remus stuck out a fist, pinky extended. Roman giggled and hooked his finger around Remus’s.

        “Can I stay here tonight?” Roman asked. “I don’t wanna go back to my room.”

        “Totally.” Remus leaned back against his pillows and Roman came and laid next to him.

        “Roman?”

        Roman looked up. “Yeah?”

        “When you become one of them, and you get all important and liked, promise me you won’t get all stuck-up and thinking you’re better than the rest of us like they do, okay?”

        Roman grinned. “I won’t. And if I do, just remind me that I came from the same place you did.”

        Remus smiled and laid his head against his pillow.

        He wasn’t tired. But Roman was, and Roman needed him. As Roman fell asleep still clutching his brother’s hand, Remus hoped that they would always be this close. There was nobody in the world he could trust more than his brother; he didn’t know what he’d do if something happened.

        Remus closed his eyes. Of course they’d always be close. They were the same. Roman needed him just as much as he needed Roman. They were two halves of a whole, two sides of the same coin.

        They would always be friends.

        Remus fell asleep smiling.

[the-weeping-author]

Secrets are forbidden Ch. 3

A/N: so before I start this authors note let me say some of y’all will not like how I wrote hopper so please don’t @ me lol. But finally done with chapter 3 I’m so happy.

Tag list: @ahoy-stevieboy @thehair-ington @linkispink1995 @harringtown @violet-dahlia @gardeniasandwhiskey @lxvesickreality @bluebellbrooke @thenameishayley248 @pappydaddy @simplesammyx @didyouputyournameinthegob @lenassaviorsblog @wolphielautz

Warnings: cussing, parent issues.

Wordcount: 2,592

Parings: Oc hopper x Steve Harrington.

Please enjoy 🙂

I woke up to the sound of the A/C kicking on, I threw my covers off of me. I rubbed the sleep from my face, I got undressed walking into my bathroom. I turned on the cold water, went to find clothes to wear for the first day back at school. I grabbed a pair of my black overalls, I grabbed a white t-shirt walking over to my dresser and I grabbed a bra, underwear. I walked back into the bathroom, turned the hot water all the way up, turned the cold down about halfway.

After my shower I put my clothes on, I grabbed my car keys walking out into the kitchen. I saw my father, I walked to the cabinet, grabbed a coffee mug. I poured myself a cup of coffee, I sat at the kitchen table drinking it while my father sat across from me. It was awkward, I didn’t know what to say. I knew my father didn’t hate me, but he didn’t care to talk to me either. I never knew my father’s issue with me, but I think it had to do with the fact that Sara and I didn’t share the same mother.

I wanted to believe it wasn’t true, but I didn’t have time to sit and ponder on the thought. If I were to bring it up it might make matters worse between us, I didn’t want it to get worse. That’s why I was getting a job, it was sad. Not because I had to work, but because I’d rather have all my time taken up by work, school than spend more than an hour with my father. It was too late to try and get to know me. It was 17 years too late, I didn’t care if he wanted me in his life or not anymore.

After I finished my coffee I put my mug into the sink, I walked out the front door. I got into my car, drove to school. When I got there I got out of my car, walked into the school. Eyes were on me as soon as I opened the main doors, as soon as I entered the building I left the stress of my home life at the front doors. My grades weren’t going to be affected by my crush on Steve, my father, but definitely not by the upside down. I walked to my locker, I twisted my combination perfectly because as soon as I finished the last number it popped off.

Now my lock has a love hate relationship with me, it can wait in line just like the rest of the lovely people who love but hate me. I grabbed a few textbooks out of my locker, out the corner of my eye I saw a dude. Now I knew everyone, but I didn’t know this dude. I could tell just from looking at him he was troubled from the brown boots on his feet to his curly blond hair. I knew just from looking at him once I Wasn’t going to like him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to get to know the guy.

All it took was for us to lock eyes, he was on his way over to me. I quickly shut my locker, nearly ran into the guy. When he got closer the more I could smell his aftershave, just the aroma made me nauseous. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear as he approached, I leaned up against my lockers as he halted to a stop right in front of me.

“So you’re the queen of Hawkins huh?”

I looked up at him, confidently nodded my head at him.

“Yep that’s me, and how may I help you?”

He smirked slightly, ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

“Names Billy Hargrove, you’re going to give me a tour of Hawkins high.”

I let out a slight amused laugh, I looked right into his eyes.

“In your dreams Blondie.”

I smiled, walked away from him. There was one thing on my mind, that was to find Steve. I mean I was sure since Billy approached me he would approach harrington. If he hadn’t already done it. He’s intentions were clear, that was to put everyone on guard here. Everyone had a target on Steve's back, but I had a feeling Billy was going to knock a few of those guys out of his way. I mean after all this was high school, guys cared about their reputation. Girls were Way different, we didn’t care who was popular. It's why I loved Robin.

Robin didn’t care that I was popular, but she didn’t like crowds so that’s why she only hung out with me at lunch. I always sat with her, only because my “friends” bothered her the whole time. So I decided that we’d only hang out at lunch and after school. It was a regular lunch day, I was sitting in my usual spot. Next thing I knew that Billy guy was sitting next to me, Robin immediately stopped talking. I turned my head a little bit to look at him, smiled.

“Hey There Bobby how can I help you this time?”

He looked at me, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“My name is Billy, But I didn’t have anyone to sit with so I thought I’d sit with you.”

I looked behind Billy, then looked back at him.

“Well according to the group of people looking over here you found somewhere to sit.”

“Huh? I don’t know what your-.”

I put my hand up, he stopped talking immediately.

“Look Benny, why don’t you just save yourself the time. I wasn’t Interested earlier and I’m not now. So save yourself the embarrassment.”

He stood up, grabbed his lunch. I could tell he was seething but It didn’t phase me, I didn’t care he definitely needed to back off. He turned his head as he walked away, stopping not too far from us.

“The name is Billy by the way.”

I turned to Robin, she smirked slightly at the conversation that just happened. She drank some of her milk, the bell rang. I walked to my locker to get some of the things that I needed for the rest of the day.

I grabbed my last book when I turned, numbed right into Steve Harrington.

“Hey Steve.”

He smiled at me, nudged me with his shoulder.

“Hey hopper how are you?”

I shut my locker, looked at him.

“Well besides some guy named Baxter Hargrove coming up to me today I’m good. How about you?”

Steve's eyebrows furrowed, he cracked a smile at me.

“You mean Billy?”

I gasped dramatically, I put my finger on my Chin.

“Oh is that his name I was wondering why he kept popping up every time I turned around?”

Steve let out a laugh, shook his head at me then he looked down at me his smile dropping some at my last statement.

“He came up to you? What did he say?”

I shook my head, let out a laugh.

“He was basically trying to get me to give him a tour of Hawkins, but it definitely wasn’t happening. He probably just wanted to get alone with me so he could lie about some false sexual encounter.”

I barely saw steves faces drop, but I could tell just by mentioning Billy probably lying about something stupid made him upset. Which was weird cause we weren’t a thing, but I guess he was just being protective. For some odd reason, trust me it wasn’t like Steve to be protective Steve and I never had the best anything really. I mean we were always making fun of each other even in elementary school.

I shrugged it off though, I continued with the rest of my day. The last period of school went by like a blink of an eye, it was time for me to return to my Castle in the woods. I walked to my car, I saw Steve standing near my car. I guess Nancy was somewhere else at the time because they were always together, I walked to my car opening my door.

“What’s up Harrington?”

Steve smiled, moved off the side of my car.

“Nothing just wanted to come see if the queen of Hawkins high was going to Tina’s party.”

I let out a laugh, looked at him.

“Steve you know just as well as anyone else I’m going.”

He smiled then looked at me, nodded his head. I looked through my purse for my keys, When I finally found them he responded.

“Alright cool I guess I’ll see you then?”

I threw my purse in my car, looked at him.

“Okay Harrington what’s your damage?”

He cocked a brow at me, shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

I shook my head at him, let out a sarcastic laugh.

“You know exactly what I mean Steve. We totally aren’t friends, now all of a sudden you’re being nice to me and making sure I’m going to a party so like what’s your damage?”

Steve looked at me, put his hands up in defense.

“Jenna I was just trying to be nice, maybe I want us to actually have a friendship instead of being at each other's throats.”

I nodded my head, looked at him.

“Okay Steve but we need to hang out more if I’m going to consider you a friend.. so here’s my number. You can call when you want to hang out. I have to go.”

I smiled at him while I grabbed a bubble gum wrapper along with a pen, I jot down my number. I handed him the wrapper, got into my car, buckled up then drove away from the parking lot.

After I pulled into my driveway I stepped out of my car, over the fishing line that was totally invisible. I sighed when I finally got inside the house, called out.

“El I’m home.”

She came out of her room with a smile on her face, she looked at me.

“How was school?”

I laughed at her, ruffled her hair.

“Well we have some new guy at school named Billy but he’s a dick, but don’t tell Hopper I said that.”

She smiled, crossed her heart then held out her pinky which I gladly accepted. I wrapped my pinky around hers, She told me about her day at the house and I told her about my day. I started dinner, after it was done my dad finally came home. I sat his plate in front of him, I sat Eli’s in front of her then I sat down.

“Hey dad, how was work?”

He poked his food with his fork, then shrugged.

“Eh.”

I looked at him then smiled.

“Anything exciting happen today?”

He shrugged again, took a bite.

“Nope.”

I looked at him, smiled.

“School was good, we got a new guy but he’s totally bogus.”

This time he didn’t reply. I knew he just got in from work, but he could at least indulge in the conversation. I sighed, quickly ate my food then stood up from the table.

“Alright El come see me before you go to bed I have something for you.”

She nodded, continued to eat. After I washed my plate, fork off I walked into my room. I sat on my bed, stared doing homework. About thirty minutes later the phone rang, I heard my dad pick it up, a few minutes later he knocked on my door.

“Jenna telephone.”

I cocked my eyebrow, I closed my folder, and got off my bed. I walked to the phone, I put it up to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Jenna it’s me Steve.”

I smiled slightly, I walked into a more secluded area of the cabin.

“Hey Steve what’s up?”

I heard him take in a breath then exhale.

“Nothing just wanted to hang out so I thought I’d call and see if you wanted to hang out.”

I furrowed my brows together, looked at my clock.

“Steve it’s ten thirty. There’s no way my dad’s going to let me go out.”

Steve went silent for a minute then he decided to speak again.

“You can’t sneak out?”

I sighed, put my palm against my forehead.

“Yeah I’ll get my shoes on, where should I go?”

“Come to my house duh.”

“Okay Steve see you in about fifteen minutes bye.”

After hanging up with Steve I slid on my shoes, grabbed my car keys. I walked out into the living room, my dad was watching tv so I decided to ask him just to let him know where I would be.

“Dad Steve wants me to go over to his house is that okay?”

He didn’t even look away from the tv, I barely heard him answer me.

“Mhm yeah have fun.”

I sighed, shook my head. Most kids my age would kill to have a parent who let them do whatever, but honestly it wasn’t everything expected it to be. He didn’t just let me do whatever I wanted, but he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.

After I got to my car safely I put the key in the ignition, turned it. After it started up I pulled out of the woods, headed to the Harrington house hold. The sky was beautifully lit, the moon was full. It was a beautiful night to be out, but I assume Steve wasn’t one for stargazing. I mean come on he could barely hold a conversation.

The drive to Steve's house was quick, when I got there his porch light was on. I knocked on the door, he opened it smiling at me.

“I’m glad you could make it.”

I nodded my head at him, he opened the door.

“Did you think I wasn’t coming?”

He looked at me, rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well uh I honestly didn’t know.”

I smiled, looked at him.

“Are your parents home?”

He quickly shook his head no, let out a scoff.

“No they aren’t, they’re never here.”

I looked at him, looked around.

“Yeah I can definitely relate to that.”

His brows furrowed, he looked at me walking over to the couch sitting on it.

“What do you mean, isn’t your dad home like all the time?”

I let out a soft sigh, then sat beside him pushing my hair behind my ear.

“He is but he doesn’t really pay me any kind it’s a total drag.”

He pressed his lips together for a quick moment, then he rubbed his hands on his jeans. Since when did Steve Harrington get nervous?

“I’m sorry to hear that Jenna, would you like a beer?”

I probably should have said no, but I decided against that thought.

“Sure Steve I’d love one.”

He stood off the couch, walked towards the kitchen.

“Okay I’ll be right back, oh and Jenna.”

I looked up at him, arched my eyebrow at him.

“Yes Steve?”

“You can always talk to me if you need to.”

I smiled at him, nodded my head at him.

“Same here harrington.”

The rest of the evening was spent laughing, talking about everything really. School, parents, his relationship, and we even went for a swim which quickly escalated into a playful splash fight. I don’t know what changed between Steve and I but something did, I saw myself developing a crush on Steve, but I didn’t know how or when it happened.

A/N: thank you guys and gals so much for reading chapter 3 I hope y’all liked it. Sorry hopper fans but his attitude isn’t gonna change for a few chapters.

[yeojaa]

SUGAR HIGH, chapter viii. (w. JJK)

You're not entirely sure when it happened, though you'd come to terms with it. You'd counted the days, waiting for the inevitable. You'd truly thought you'd be okay, but by the broken, half-beating thing in your chest - you knew you'd never really been prepared.

alt summary.  You thought you’d known real love and maybe you had - it just wasn’t with who you thought.

pairing.  jeon jungkook.  mentions/involvement of ot7.

tags.  angst, break up, post-break up, comfort, OT7, slow burn, friendship, moving on, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, emotional baggage, fluff, canon compliant, jeon jungkook is bad at feelings, jeon jungkook is a good friend, jeon jungkook is a sweetheart.

rating.  general (for now?)

word count.  ~2000

chapter 8.  Boy With Luv

You find yourself stepping out of your shell, stopping to smell the roses again.  Has life always been this sweet?

“Who are you and what’ve you done with the Soomi I know?”

You know he’s only teasing but somehow, you’re blushing scarlet, apples of your cheeks turning as red as their namesake.

“‘You need to get out more,’” you answer verbatim, even adopting the low rasp of Yejin’s. You realize you sound more like Batman but run with it anyway, small hand shielding your mouth in some sort of makeshift voice changer. “‘You’re going to keep mopping around until you put yourself out there. And I don’t mean with the boys.’”

Hoseok is scandalized, his expression morphing into one that screams ‘how dare she!’ and ‘what the hell!’ in equal parts.

“Yah - you tell her to respect her elders!”

The way he says it makes you think Seokjin’s been parroting the same phrase around the apartment and it’s now drilled into the dancer’s brain.

“She’ll tell you off.” Spoken sagely and yet so very matter-of-fact. It didn’t matter that he was beloved by millions or her older - Yejin mocked him like he was her little brother. No one was spared.

Something about growing up in America, she’d say.

“Whatever,” he huffs before the sound is descending into a laugh, feet shifting until he’s knocking into your hip. “If it got you here, then I don’t mind.”

Here being a dance studio. A place he’d normally never catch you, unless dragged along by your over eager best friend or as a patient observer.

This time, you were here of your own accord. You’d even cracked a joke about inheriting Hoseok’s dance skills by osmosis, asking for a good luck sweatband.

(You’d tried not to cringe when he’d slipped it over your head, only marginally relieved when he insisted it was new.)

“You’ll have fun. I promise.” You don’t lock pinkies and you don’t press kisses to your thumbs, sealing it in forever, but you still believe him. He would never lead you astray, that much you knew. He’d maybe make you trip over your own two feet or blow a lung from exhaustion, but you’d be giggling the whole time.

You try to shake the nerves, will them away from the tips of your fingers. It’s hard when there’s a handful of people around you, all eagerly drawn by the chance to dance with Jung Hoseok.

Honestly, you probably owe him a flat of Sprite after this. And a jar of your dad’s kkakdugi.

"Okay, now that everyone is warmed up, let's get ready to begin."  You've never heard him like this, authoritative yet gentle, his words a warm reassurance as he settles beside you.  "We'll be going through the chorus of ON.  We'll be jumping right in on count eight and land on one." 

The way he moves should be illegal, the grace with how he runs through the motions a god-given gift.  Even the simple act of bracing arms over one another - right above left - and jumping, feet spread wide, is done with a practiced ease you could never manage.  The rotation of his arms is hypnotizing, a forelock of slate grey catching beneath the light as he readjusts in a single, fluid motion.  You're not quite sure if his eyes are even open or if this is as easy as breathing.

He'd been guiding your group so easily that you'd nearly forgotten he was speaking.  "Soomi-ya, you need to do it too,"  he chides sweetly, breaking the spell. 

"Oh, right.  Sorry."   

"It's fine, just relax.  Pretend it's just us."

So you do, doing your best to memorize the patterns he taps out and the direction of his arms.  It's harder than you remember, but maybe that's your nerves.  Still, you try, apologizing around laughter when you accidentally drag yourself in the opposite direction, swinging your arms into the crags of Hoseok's shoulders. 

You let the warmth radiate through your body and when your lungs are on fire, you push harder (and remind yourself to do some more goddamn cardio).

You're dying.  You have to be.  There's no other explanation for the way you're laying on the floor, what used to be your legs but you're sure are now just jelly sprawled out beneath you.  Your head is swimming and your chest is heaving but you feel oddly light, as if the air's filling you and lifting you above the immobile shape of your body.

"Stop being so dramatic."  God, he sounds like he hasn't even broken a sweat.  He doesn't even look bothered.  

You gulp once, twice, and try to speak but it comes out like a half-whine, half-groan.  "Can't.  Dying."

"Do you need water?"

If you'd been paying attention, you might've noticed the change in tone, the distinctly different voice.  

But instead, you're barely alive and reaching for the shadow of the water bottle.  Hands scramble across the surface, all but yanking the offering from a loose grip.  You manage a polite 'thank you!' before you're chugging the contents, all semblance of civility temporarily forgotten.

"Thank you, Wooram-ssi."

Your head snaps up.  Who was Hoseok speaking to?

"No problem.  I don't think a heart attack in class would go over well."  You'd laugh if you weren't so mortified.

You gape up at him for a second longer before you're throwing yourself up, ignoring the way your right knee begs to give out and steadying yourself with the help of your friend's arm.  You're certain you look like a complete mess - in fact, you can see it reflected back at you in the mirrors of the dance studio.

Baby hairs wild, ponytail no longer deserving of the name.  Pink sits on your cheeks, seemingly permanently burnt there. 

"I'm Kim Wooram."  The stranger is offering a hand and a grin.  You don't know him but you feel immediately at ease when he lays that smile on you.  He has kind eyes and a soft face, the angle of his jaw and the slope of his nose working to harden the otherwise baby-faced contours.  The piercings in his ear reflect the incandescent lights, gleaming as his head cocks to the side in curiosity.  You wonder how old he is to have been speaking to Hoseok so casually.

It takes you a moment to respond but when you do, you're quite proud of how level your voice is.  "Park Soomi."

Your hands meet and you swear you hear bells.

( 6:13pm )  paksom:  sorry i missed your call!

( 6:13pm )  paksom:  everything okay?

It hadn't been bells but the dinging of your phone, nestled into your bag and forgotten.  

( 6:15pm )  jeon jungkook:  come over?

( 6:15pm )  jeon jungkook:  we're cooking tonight

( 6:16pm )  jeon jungkook:  samgyupsal!!!!

You can practically hear his excitement through the little device, a sticker of his BT21 character popping across your screen.  

"Hobiiii."  The way you're singing his voice catches his attention and Hoseok's at your side in an instant, peering down at your phone expectantly.  "We're cooking tonight!  Let's go pick up some extra stuff on the way back."

You've definitely bought too much.  Between the two of you, you're carrying five bags or rather, he's struggling with four and you're happily trailing behind with one.  Not that you hadn't offered - you had, arguing in front of the store before you'd thrown your hands up in exasperation. 

"Can you open the door?"  He's sidestepping, allowing you access to the door handle.  The keys in your hands jingle, little acrylic KAWS figure swinging from the small set.  You turn the lock carefully before edging in, the welcome aromas of fat and spice wrapping you in a warm hug before you're consumed in real, physical heat, the smallest member somehow engulfing you.

"Hi, Jiminie."  The greeting is lost in the collar of his sweater as he squeezes you.  "You should help Hobi-oppa with the groceries."

All at once, you're able to breathe again, Jimin having released you in favour of taking two bags off his hyung's hands.  So eager to help, you think.  "What did you get?

Scratch that.  Just hungry.

"A bunch of random stuff we thought everyone might like.  I bought squid for osam-bulgogi, since you like seafood now, right?"  He'd mentioned it in a V Live recently but he's still surprised, the biggest smile stretching his perfect lips.  You can't help but return the expression of joy, proud in being able to bring such delight to one of your favourite people.  "I also brought a bunch of banchan I made earlier this week.  And soju and makgeolli!"

"And kkakdugi, but that's mine!"  It's a booming proclamation as the three of you shuffle into the kitchen, goodies dropped unceremoniously on the kitchen counter and everyone's attention now caught.

"You didn't have to bring so much stuff!"  Seokjin, flabbergasted as snacks spill out and a glossy green bottle nearly rolls off the edge of the island.

"Welcome back."  Namjoon, from his seat, headphones around his neck as he taps away at his laptop.

"Yes, I did!  A guest can't come empty-handed."  Both of you know you're right but neither you nor Seokjin relent, huffing adorably at each other.  He breaks first, turning his attention to the things he needs to immediately start preparing and instructing Jimin to put away anything else.  Watching them, it truly is like being among family.  It makes you feel fuzzy inside as you take a seat beside Bangtan's leader, dragging your attention from the now-bickering members - something about 'that's not the right place!'  - to survey the apartment.  "I saw you guys last week."

Namjoon doesn't even look up when he answers, "No, you saw us on Wednesday.  It's now Saturday of the following week."  

You almost snort, giving him a heavy dose of side-eye.  "Joonie-oppa, are you my abeoji?"  

It's clear he isn't expecting that when he nearly knocks his headphones off with the force in which he turns to you.  "Yah!  It's not me.  Jungkook--"

And then there are hands on his shoulders, long fingers tensing and pressing perhaps a little too hard.  The maknae has appeared out of nowhere, seemingly conjured by the sound of his name.  His hair's still wet, water droplets darkening the grey of his tee shirt and dripping down the curve of his ear.

"Yes, hyung?"

"You can't just sneak up on people like that."

"I heard you say my name so I thought you were calling for me."

"No, I was telling--"

There's that subtle flex of fingers again.  You're watching the two of them like some weird tennis game, attention bouncing from one face to the other's.

"You guys are being weird."

Even weirder is the way they're refusing to meet your eyes, instead boring holes into each other's like they're going to find gold buried somewhere.  

When Namjoon finally relents, he goes back to his computer like nothing's happened and Jungkook's transferring his weight to you, arms locked comfortably around your shoulders.  You can feel the moisture from his hair sliding down your cheek and you resist the urge to pull away once it's seeping into the cotton of your top.

"Hello to you, too."  You muse, twisting your neck to meet his stare. 

"How was dance class with Hobi-hyung?" 

The chance to answer is torn from you as the man in question appears across the island, flicking the faucet on to wash his hands and assist with dinner.  He's got a great big grin on his face, cheeks puffed out like the literal cat ate the canary. 

"She did really well, though I think I'm going to be bruised from where she stepped on my foot."  A tongue wagging at you.  Had you thought he was going to give a compliment without wrapping it in mockery?  "Wooram-ssi saved her from dying at the end."

He's wiping his hands before returning to his spot, taking up the easy task of chopping carrots.  He seems so focused that you think he's done speaking, about to resume your conversation with your best friend.

"He asked for your number, by the way." 

You're not sure whether it's you or Jungkook when you tense.  What?

notes.  hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaha.  that's all I can say.  

this was a super fun chapter to write so i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did.

[icannott]

Apartments (Mike Hanlon x Reader)

Requested: nope!! just a draft i had for a while that i finally finished :)

Pairing: Mike Hanlon x Reader

Warning: maybe swearing ? but im not entirely sure lol,, kinda long but im not sorry haha

a/n: PLEASE please please send in some requests guys!! im open for some wintery stuff now ;))

gif cred belongs to @cassieainsworth​

You met the losers when they occupied the two empty apartments across the hall from yours. They were fresh out of college, as were you, but you didn’t actually learn that for a few months.

The first run in you had with one of them was with Mike. Mike and Beverly were walking together to the laundry room, Bev chattering loudly about something while Mike--being a polite, attentive listener--nodded along and offered his thoughts.

You were just coming out of the laundry room and slightly struggling with your two baskets of clothes. Mike saw this and put his basket on top of Bev’s, promising to be right back and she nodded in understanding. Mike smoothly slipped the basket from your arm as Bev slipped into the laundry room.

“Oh, thanks,” you chuckled.

“No problem,” he said with a friendly smile that you returned gently. “I’m Mike Hanlon.”

“[name] [last name],” you offered.

“Beautiful name,” he charmed. You blushed. “So [name], why all the clothes?”

“I just got back from a trip,” you said brightly.

“Oh, really?” he questioned politely. “Where did you go?”

“Well, actually my friend was supposed to go on a trip with her boyfriend for their two year anniversary, but he dumped her,” you sighed. He cringed in sympathy. “Yeah, I know. Total jerk. Anyway, she had me come with her instead. We went to Hawaii for two weeks.”

He nodded. “Sounds nice. Bet you got better weather than we have here,” he joked, throwing a pointed look to the window at the end of the hall, where the raging storm outside was apparent.

“Yeah,” you laughed. “Oh, my apartment’s just right here.” You set the basket down and unlocked your door, opening it and motioning for him to follow you. You both placed the baskets down on your table. You smiled at each other as he moved to stand outside. 

“Thanks so much for the help,” you smiled.

“No problem,” he chuckled. “You know, my apartment’s just across the hall.” He leaned back and pointed to the wooden door.

“Oh,” you drawled. “You’re the people who moved in... a month ago?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Great to finally meet you,” you giggled. “Well, if you ever need anything, I’m right across the hall.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, waving as he walked away. You closed your door with a grin. 

The next losers you met were Bill and Eddie in the coffee shop across the street from the apartment. 

It was a cold, snowy winter day and you were temporarily working at the small shop while you searched for a definite job. You were working one of the later shifts when the boys walked in with Mike. You were wiping down the counter, as only a few costumers remained spread throughout the round tables in the shop. You looked up when you heard the bell ding and smiled to yourself when you saw Mike. You went back to wiping as to look inconspicuous.

“[name]!” Mike exclaimed. Since you first met, you had a few encounters with each other that brought you to a friendly status.

“Hey, Mike,” you chuckled as the boys approached the counter. “Lovely weather we’re having.”

“Oh, definitely,” he joked, nodding as if he were serious. You laughed. He gave you a grin. “[name], these are my friends Bill Denbrough and Eddie Kaspbrak. They live in the apartment next to mine. We all moved into the building after going to college together with a few more friends of mine.” You nodded. “Guys, this is [name] [last name]. She actually lives in the apartment across from us.”

“Oh,” Eddie drawled and Bill nodded. “I’m so sorry.” You let out a laugh.

“I thought you looked familiar,” Bill chuckled, reaching a hand over the counter. You took his cold hand into your warmer one and smiled. He returned it happily.

“So what can I get you three?” you asked, leaning back.

“Seven hot chocolates,” Mike sighed.

“Not the strangest order I’ve gotten all day,” you sighed, making them chuckle as you scribbled it onto your notepad and waved the paper to your coworker. You laughed and gave them their total, to which they payed and spent the wait time chatting with you. Even after they received their orders, Mike stayed to talk. Bill and Eddie shot each other amused looks as they took the rest of the drinks and walked out of the shop while you and Mike laughed.

You met Stan, Beverly, Ben, and Richie without the help of Mike. 

You met Bev first. Beverly, being the caffeine addict she is, stopped by the shop regularly for daily doses of coffee. You were her regular barista, therefore sometimes you’d talk when the days were slow. After she found out that you guys lived across from each other, she’d wake up earlier to accompany you opening the store and get the first hot coffee of the day. You two easily became good friends through slow days and fresh drinks.

Your meeting with Richie continues to amuse you to no end. You had been entering the apartment complex as he and Eddie were exiting. The duo appeared to be arguing, Eddie looking visibly annoyed while Richie seemed more amused than peeved. You were a few feet away when they had exited, so Eddie was holding the door open for you. Richie stood next to him and said something casually, and whatever he said made Eddie growl and kick his ankle. Naturally, Richie fell.

Eddie was about to apologize when Richie quickly recovered. He barely sat up as he winked and shot finger guns at you, suavely saying, “Guess you could say I fell for you.” You immediately cracked up while Eddie grumbled and helped Richie up.

Eddie greeted and apologized to you, introducing you to his “idiot roomate” Richie. You guys hit it off easily, and whenever you were around and he got the chance, he’d drop a line just as cheesy as the one he dropped the day you met.

Next was Ben. He had come into the coffee shop one late evening, looking a little frustrated. He had a book tucked under one arm and a work bag in the other. Despite looking so bothered, he smiled at you.

“Good evening,” you greeted nicely. “How are you?”

“I’m alright. How are you..,” he glanced down at your name tag, “[name]..?” The hesitation in his voice prompted your lack of response. Luckily, he continued, “You don’t happen to know Beverly Marsh, do you?”

“I do,” you beamed.

He nodded. “So you’re the infamous [name].” You giggled. “She’s been raving about you for weeks. I’m her boyfriend.”

“Oh!” you exclaimed. “You’re Ben, right?” He nodded. “So lovely to finally meet you!”

“You, as well,” he responded coolly. And since then, you and Ben found your fun together within small talks at the cafe and light reading sessions after you once ran into him at the local book store.

Your meeting with Stan was more or less mutual: just casual coffee shop banter. You had told him some strange off-handed pun and he had just shook his head. From that point on, you always told him puns in an attempt to break through him and get him to laugh. Eventually you just started writing them on his drink cup, and he would roll his eyes before he left. 

When Stan first saw you hanging out with Mike, just walking in town one day, he connected a lot of dots, as did Mike.

“You’re the pun girl, huh?” Mike laughed. You nodded, giggling. “That makes a lot of sense.”

After you had officially met all of the losers, they all constantly teased Mike about how often you two were seen together.

One day he walked into the apartment where everyone was gathered, and after they all greeted them, Richie piped up, “Coming from the coffee shop?”

He nodded. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“You’re smiling,” he grinned, and they all giggled.

He flushed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”

Little teases like this became the norm whenever he came back from hanging out with you, them always saying how he was glowing or smiling or sweeter than usual. But he would never admit anything to them. And after five months of you two hanging out nearly every day, the losers decided it was time for the both of you to quit blushing like high schoolers and get together.

“I have the perfect idea,” Beverly grinned. And they got to work.

It was a Saturday afternoon and rather slow at the coffee shop. You sat behind the counter, reading a book and waiting for your shift to be over so you could go home and relax. Then, Beverly burst into the shop, making your grin and close your book.

“What can I get you, Bevvy?” you hummed sweetly, standing from your stool.

“A moment of your time, please,” she smiled smoothly, as if she hadn’t just sprinted into the shop.

“Sure thing,” you giggled.

“I was thinking,” she hummed.

“That’s not good.”

She shoved your arm and you laughed. She continued, “Anyway, I had this great idea that I could set you up on a blind date.” You blinked in surprise. You hadn’t expected that one. “A friend of mine has been begging for me to set him up since the beginning of time, and he’s free tonight.”

“Tonight?” you sounded.

“Yeah!” she exclaimed. “He’s sweet, charming, handsome...” You still looked reluctant. “Come on, it’s just one date! You two would just have dinner at Busby’s down the street!”

You sighed, considering. “Fine.” She cheered. “But only because you asked. And no promises for second dates.”

“Totally, no strings attached!” she exclaimed, holding a pinky out. You took it in your own with a childish smile. “Love you, [nickname].”

“Yeah, yeah, I love me, too.”

Back at the apartment, Richie and Mike were sitting on the couch, conversing.

“A blind date?” Mike sighed, extremely hesitantly.

“Come on, big guy, it’ll be fun!” Richie suaded. “Just one dinner at Busby’s tonight and nothing else. You haven’t gone out with anyone... well, since you met [name].”

Mike huffed, a conflicted look in his eyes. “Okay. Fine. But just one date.”

Richie whooped and hopped to his feet, clapping Mike’s shoulder as he walked away. “You won’t be disappointed, big guy.”

That night, you arrived at Busby’s slightly after seven, cursing yourself for being late. But when you entered, there stood Mike Hanlon himself.

“No way,” he laughed, shaking his head.

You pointed to yourself. “Bev. You?”

“Richie,” he shrugged. You tilted your head, your face scrunching up. “What?”

“I’m disappointed, gotta be real,” you sighed. He laughed, making you grin. From a table near that check-in area, the losers were hiding behind their menus, watching the exchange.

“How’d they immediately know?” Eddie whispered. Bev shushed him.

“It’s sweet of them. I’ll give ‘em that,” you sighed.

“Good intentions,” Mike shrugged.

“No, seriously..,” Eddie trailed.

Mike offered you his arm. “M’lady.” You rolled your eyes as he guided you about two feet away to check in. 

“Yo, pass the bread sticks.”

“Get ‘em yourself, asshole!”

“You’re closer!”

“I swear to God, if you two don’t shut up...”

Now, you two were being guided to your table, not too far away from theirs. When you got there and the waiter laid out your menus, Mike pulled out your chair. You grinned and gave him a quick kiss.

“Wait...”

“Are they..?”

They watched as you two settled down and immediately connected your hands across the table.

“Already dating?!”

[avasharpe]

Beloved

Chapter: Three of ?

Summary: Nyssa and Sara struggle with their relationship in a new place and time.

Fandom: Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance.

Characters: Nyssa al Ghul, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Felicity Smoak, William Clayton, and Baby Mia Smoak.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Nyssa on the Waverider.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

……………………………………………………………………

Sara wasn't angry at Nyssa, she wasn't, but as she stomped up the steps to Felicity's place Sara had to stop herself from pounding in the door. 

Sara paused and gently knocked. She wasn't angry, she was just sad. Nyssa had been so unhappy. Even though she hid it well, Nyssa continued to begrudge her place on the ship. Sara knew she wasn't happy and every time they tried to talk about it and Nyssa would just pretend the opposite and distract Sara away from a true conversation. A conversation that Sara had been trying to have with her as they got ready to over to Felicity’s for dinner that night

Quentin Lance swings open the door with a huge smile on his face as he greeted them in place of Felicity. “Hey you two, come in, come in.”

He ushered them both in the door and pulled Sara in for a warm hug. “Hey Dad.”

“Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?”

“Good,” Sara said, giving him a soft smile. 

He pulled back and looked over it at Nyssa who offered him and handshake. He gave her firm handshake and a stiff eye.

“Dad,” Sara whined rolling her eyes at them. 

They both smiled as they're hard exteriors dropped and Nessa let Quentin pull her in for a hug. Sara headed into the home and took off her coat, putting it over the back of one of the dining room chairs. She is immediately greeted by William who ran over with his Nintendo switch. 

“Hey Aunt Sara look at the new game I got!” he said holding up the switch to show her

“Hey kiddo, maybe you can show your Aunt Nyssa how to play,” Sara said, giving him a nod looking over at Nyssa, he smiled and gave her a fist bump before going over to them.

Nyssa smiled and let him show her the game and pull her over to sit and let him tell her all about the game as Sara scurried off to the kitchen. There she found Felicity with Mia on her hip turned away from the stove as she tried to bounce the fussy girl while also trying to stir the onions for their dinner.

“Hey,” Sara greeted them.

“Hey could you take her for a second?” Felicity asked.

“Sure,” Sara said, jumping at the chance to hold Mia and took the girl off of Felicity's hip, holding her up over her head and cooing. Sara brought her down to blow raspberries on her neck and Mia broke out into a smile. 

Sara continued to play with Mia as her Dad and Felicity quickly put the rest of the meal together taking the vegetables out of the oven and stirring and adding the cream sauce to the onions,then taking pasta and straining it in the sink. 

Sara finally settled Mia on her hip and continued to talk to them. The one year old girl babbled as if she was a part of the conversation too, encouraged by everyone in the room. 

“You’re are becoming quite the cook,” Sara said to Felicity as she watched her finish putting it all together. 

“Not really,” Felicity said, wiping her hands on a towel and standing next to her leaning against the counter. “It's all Quentin, trust me as soon as he left to open the door for you guys it all quickly dissolved into a disaster.”

“Well I'm sure it will be lovely,” Sara said, nudging her shoulder. 

“Thanks,” Felicity said, stepping forward and wrapping her into a hug. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

“How are you?” Felicity asked getting out a bib and taking Mia from her arms to put her in the high chair. “How are things with you and Nyssa, did you two get a chance to talk yet?”

Sara sighed, having talked with Felicity about everything with Nyssa when they arranged the dinner. Sara looked down at Mia who babbled a string of baby talk and stuck out her tongue out as she made all sorts of noise 

“I wish your aunt Nyssa will talk to me as much as you do.”

Felicity got Mia strapped in and put her arm around her again and gave her a smile. “Just give her time. She'll talk to you eventually.”

“Yes, but what if it's too late? What if it comes to a point where she becomes so miserable that she leaves. I don't want to lose her again Felicity if that means having to stop living on the Waverider then maybe that's what it has to be.”

“Would you be happy with that?” Felicity asked, knowing the answer. 

Sara didn’t respond, but Felicity saw the sadness in her features. Felicity looked up to see Nyssa standing in the doorway with the same kind of sadness on her face. She quickly turned away and went back to talking with William and Sara didn't catch Nyysa’s quick retreat. Felicity was about to tell her to go talk to Nessa but Quentin walked past them with the hot bowl of pasta and the tray of vegetables.

“Dinner's ready,” Quentin announced as he placed the food on the table.

……………………………………………………………………

Dinner and a visit with Felicity and Quentin were a relief to Nyssa. Being back in the present on the ground with the outdoors just outside the window and a familiar cozy home, where like a breath of fresh air to her mind. Nyssa had an easy smile on her lips the whole time, but she watched as Sara’s smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

Nyssa knew it was coming. Sara’s words had been on the tip of her tongue all evening. She wanted to have a talk, but they didn't have quite a free moment, so when William’s friends knock on the door and ask if he can ride bikes around the neighborhood with them. Sara also offered to take Mia for a walk, to get out of the house and let Felicity have some alone time. 

Felicity jumped at the idea of having someone else get the baby to bed for the night, but William wasn't so keen to have his aunts follow him, no matter how cool they were.

“Relax,'' Sara said, putting a hand on his shoulder as he tugged on his jacket. “We'll take a different trail than you and if we run into each other we promise to pretend not to know who you are.”

 William gave her a look as if he didn't quite believe her. 

“Pinky Promise,” Sara said holding out her little finger.

He rolls his eyes but locks pinky fingers with her in a quick shake. He took off ahead of them and Nyssa watched him go, she was happy that despite everything his parents went through William was able to enjoy a normal childhood. She longed for some normalcy of her own.

“Are you coming to Dad?” Sara asked, breaking her out of her thoughts as Quentin came around the corner tugging on his coat. 

“No. I'm gonna head home Honey,” Quentin said, pulling Sara in for a hug. “I'll see you in a week for dinner at my place, okay?”

“Okay,” Sara said letting go.

He quickly hugged Nyssa to and whispered to her. “Don’t worry about it, you and Sara are gonna figure it out.”

Nyssa nodded as he stepped back and gave them both a smile as he headed out the door. 

“Here she is,” Felicity said, bringing over Mia dressed in the cutest pink jacket. 

Nyssa couldn't help the smile that instantly spread across her face at her adorable little girl and took Mia from her friends arms and continued to smile at the girl, who waved both her arms with the cutest little matching pink mittens. A little overkill for a warm night, but it was still February. 

They stepped outside and Felicity brought out the pram from the garage and Nyssa put Mia down in the bassinet as Felicity put another blanket around her, snuggling it up into her neck. Once Mia was thoroughly tucked into the bassinet Felicity turned and smiled up at them.

“Thanks for doing this you guys.”

“We're just taking her out on a walk, it's really no big deal.” 

“Yeah, but you’re giving me some alone time. I don't get much around here between Mia, my Mom, William, Thea, and now Maura. Don't get me wrong, I love all of them but I miss having me time, so feel free to stay out for at least an hour, so I can have some adequate alone time,” Felicity said,pausing to wink or at least tory to wink at them. “But then please come back because I’ll definitely miss her and you too of course. We don't see nearly enough of you guys these days.”

Sara chuckled and Nyssa smiled as Felicity stopped babbling and wrapped her arms around her sweater tucking it closed. 

“An hour got it,” Nyssa said taking a hold of the pram.

“I'm going to be sure to knock when we return,” Sara said returning Felicity’s wink with one of her own.

Felicity giggled and gave Sara a knowing smile. “Now shoo, I have an appointment with a bottle of red and a bathtub all to myself.”

Nyssa took that as her cue to start walking and Sara giggled, before falling in step with her. They waved back to Felicity as they walked away and she gave them a quick wave then disappeared back into the home.

They walked next to each other with their outside hand on the pram and the other around the other waist. It was that early sort of twilight where the street lamps have turned on, but the night hadn't quite settled in. The purple and pink sky still light their way around the neighborhood. They did catch William as him and his friends ride around a cul-de-sac before they turn into the path through the woods. As promised, they didn't wave at William, but merely snuck glances at him as he rode past.

……………………………………………………………………

As they settle on the path in the woods with the trees hanging like a canopy over them. The last of them sunbeams streaming through the branches and Mia was content to coo and gaze up at the trees as Sara talked to her, describing what they're doing and where they're going and Nyssa smiled. 

Sara watched as she smiled at them, at the trees, at the twilight, at everything. Sara kept sneaking glances at her as Nyssa’s cheek must hurt from how big and beautiful her smile was. It's only then that Sara realized she hadn't seen it in a while. Sara pulled them to a stop and looked over at her, really taking Nyssa in with her eyes.

“You love it here Nyssa. I can see that you are so happy, but as soon as we go back to the Waverider you’re so withdrawn. I know you've made an effort to really get to know the crew, but you're never quite seen as engaged as you were tonight with everybody else and you've never seemed so happy.”

Sara stared down at the trail ahead of them, knowing that Nyssa would agree with her. When she didn’t Sara began walking again and slipped out of Nyssa’s arm, pushing the pram on her own.

“I'm just not used to it. I just need a few weeks I'm sure,” Nyssa said, running to catch up with them and to keep Sara’s fast pace.

“No, don't lie to me like that,” Sara said, coming to a stop again as she looked over at Nyssa. “If you're not happy then you should say so.”

Nyssa bit her lip and looked down, crossing her arms. She shuffled on her heels and shifted her weight, a telltale sign of her reluctance. Sara waited. She reached out and put her hand over Nyssa’s on her crossed arms, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Nyssa looked up and turned her hand to hold Sara’s, “I am not happy on the Waverider. I miss the outdoors, I miss living in a home with a garden and trees in the mountains or the desert or even the open plans. I would live anywhere else.”

Sara knew the words were coming, but it still hurt when they did. All she wanted was to make Nyssa happy. To see her happy and to be a part of that. Sara felt like she failed her, by putting her in a position where Nyssa was to live in a place that she hated. 

Sara was surprised that Nyssa hadn't run away yet like she had them from Nanda Parbat all those years ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but history had a cruel way of repeating and destiny was never on their side.

“I'm sorry,” Sara said, still holding her gaze even as the tears collected in the corner of her eyes. “I put my life ahead of yours, knowing that you wouldn't be happy. I just wanted you to be happy.”

“I am happy with you Sara!” Nyssa insisted, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Sara’s waste. “But I can't help but think you are not quite as happy with me. You're not free with your affections in front of your crew, your family or our friends, all of whom know about us and accept up. I want to be free to hold your hand, to put my arms around you, and walk arm in arm with you, to place little kisses on your jaw and your cheek and your lips, but that form of affection you only seem to accept when we are alone. Why?”

Now it was Sara's turn to look ashamed, she look away from Nyssa and down at Mia and the pram chewing on the blanket that was around her. 

“In the League we could only show affection when we were alone,” Sara said, still looking down at Mia. 

“Yes, but we are not in the league, no one around us is going to do anything against us if we kiss.” 

“I know. I just can't help, but think about all of the things that we were not allowed to do, about the things we weren't allowed to have,” Sara said, reaching down and letting Mia grab ahold of her fingers.

Sara remembered the conversation they had a month before the earthquake in Star City and before Sara left. Sin had been kicked out of their foster home and she wanted to go get them. Sara had always watched over them from afar, setting the child up with money and trying to get them into a good foster home. However Sara wanted to take care of them herself from the moment their father had died, Sara made him a promise she intended to keep. However, she didn’t have the resources or the connections to do so until then. 

Nyssa knew more than anything Sara wanted them to be a family, but in the League, Nyssa couldn't give her that. Sara knew she didn't want a child to be raised in the life that she had. A life that was full of nothing but death and destruction, obedience and punishment. But Sara wanted a family, she wanted her family, not just Sin, but her parents and her sister, and Nyssa couldn't give her that.

“Well we can be free now, we can have anything you want, your family, my unending affection, and a family of our own if that's what you want.” 

“But you're not happy,” Sara said with a shrug looking defeated. “You don't want to make a home on the Waverider, I know you want to go I can see it in your eyes because that's how I looked before I left.”

Nyssa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Sara's waist, holding her. Sara let go of Mia’s hand and turned her attention to Nyssa as she brought her lips to Sara's and gave her a quick kiss. A gentle reminder of their affection and Nyssa’s love and devotion to her.

“I love you more than anything in this world. Where you go I go. I won't let this force us apart, but I do need time away from the Waverider. Not very much, just a few hours a day, or one day a week, just something.”

Sara let out a breath and reached up to hold Nyssa’s face, tilted her own to lean forward and kiss her. Sara melted into her lips, so overjoyed that she was able to just kiss her and feel Nyssa’s lips against her own. They enjoyed the passion of their love, with quick gentle kisses. When Sara had her fill of Nyssa’s lips they parted and Sara rested her forehead against Nyssa’s.

“We can find a balance for you between the Waverider and here on earth in the present and I promise to be more open and free with my affection.”

“Balance is the key to happiness,” Nyssa said, tilting forward to kiss her lips again, missing them already.

Sara giggled as she pulled away, drunk on their love and, so happy, so very happy.

“I love you Nyssa al Ghul, cliche sayings and all.”

“I promise to be honest with you about my needs because I love you Sara Lance, please don't you ever forget it.” 

The way Nyssa looked at her, so intently, as if she was trying to convey the weight of her words with her gaze. All Sara could do was nod, because she knew. All of the years they spent apart all of the longing the waiting and heartbreak, and never stopped loving each other and Sara knew they never would. 

“Well if we can survive death, you being married off, me traveling through time, and five years apart.”

“Six.”

“Yes, six, I just don’t remember the year I was dead, but anyway, I think we can survive the weekends away from the Waverider.” 

Nyssa ducked her head down and licked her lips, before looking back up at Sara through her eyelashes.

“You already have a place in mind don't you?” Sara said, rolling her eyes knowing the answer to her question.

“Yes,” Nyssa admitted tilting her head to look back up at her. “I was speaking with Felicity earlier and the offer of her spare room still stands. If we agree to pay rent and do chores around the house, I’ve even offered to do the occasional babysitting.”

“Speaking of babysitting,” Sara said, looking down at Mia who had fallen asleep a few moments ago and was now quietly dozing in the pram. 

Nyssa looked down at Mia with a gentle smile and then back up at trees in the sky that had grown dark as the stars took their place on the sky stage. “I think we should be getting back.”

“We can go hiking tomorrow if you want?” Sara offed, seeing the small frown on her face and knowing how much it would help.

“Sara Lance agreeing to hike thought I'd never see the day,” Nyssa said in a  dramatic voice.

“Okay, I take it back no hiking,” Sara said, giving her a play full shove as she steered the pram around. “Anyway it would be good to have a permanent residence for the paperwork and all that stuff if we wanted to try and have a family or get married. I'm not saying I want a baby now, definitely not now, but maybe in a few years. It's just seeing Felicity and Mia and how Oliver was how they are, it's something I want and I didn't know if you wanted that too.”

Nyssa smiled and just looked at her with the most loving stare that Sara paused. “I would love to get married and have children with you.”

Sara let out a sigh and knew she had a love struck look on her face. She leaned up and kissed Nyssa, things got heated fast, but they both agreed to head back to their own bed and jog back to the house, in giggled and hot hands.

……………………………………………………………………

A few days later Nyssa walked up to their door only to find she's been locked out.

“Gideon what is going on? Why is the door locked the only other person who's allowed to lock the door is Sara and she never...” Nyssa trailed off as the door opened to reveal Sara who plastered her hands over Nyssa’s eyes. “Sara!”

“No, I have a surprise for you,” Sara instructed as Nyssa tried to push her hands away.

“What for,” Nyssa asked dropping her hands, but still held on to Sara's wrist. “What have you gotten into?”

“It's a surprise,” Sara said and Nyssa relented letting Sara lead her into the room.

“You know, for someone who is not fond of surprises you sure have quite a few of your own.” 

“That's because most people’s surprises are stupid and inconsiderate. However,” Sara said, taking her hands off of Nyssa’s eyes. “This is something I know you’ll like.”

Sara was right, Nyssa did like it. Sara redone the tile floor of the Waverider with a real wooden floor, she had added more than a dozen plants around the room as well as a small herb garden hanging from the back wall, she had added a monitor to the ceiling and it was now a reflection of the night sky while the monitors that function as windows displayed a forest scene. There were brown curtains that covered to go over the metal doors and soft blue sheets and comforter.

Nyssa relaxed as she took it all in and Sara wrapped her arms around his waist and settled her head on his shoulder. “You are right this time. I do like it.”

“I wanted to make things easier for you while you were here too,” Sara said as they both looked at the forest scene. There was movement on the camera and Felicity, William, and baby Mia all appeared on screen waving at them. 

 Nyssa smiled even more as she looked back at Sara in awe.

“The video is a live view from the forest area behind the house, in Star City and Felicity as given us something else,” Sara said pulling out a set of keys. “I got our room there all set up as well and they’re expecting us this Friday.” 

“Thank you,” Nyssa said looking back at the screen as the three of them disappeared with a final wave. 

Sara came around and leaned up to kiss her, but Nyssa quickly pulled back. “I want to properly thank you for all that you’ve done, for being more affectionate to me regardless of who’s there and for doing all of this. You’ve done so much for me, you've given me a real home, one I haven’t had in a long time.”

Sara smiled and wrapped her arms around Nyssa's neck, pulling her back until they hit the bed and then pulling her down and settling Nyssa on top of her. “I think I have an idea of how you can thank me.”

Nyssa smiled and hummed against her neck, before leaving soft kisses down her jaw. “Like this?”

Sara could only gasp and wither underneath her as Nyssa’s hands tugged off her clothes and began to properly thank her.

[dixonious]

arrowheads | a twd fanfic

Summary: While traveling through the woods if Georgia, Sophia and Y/N get to know each other.

Warning: Uhhh, fluff? Possible grammatical errors.

A/N: Yoo! I'm back! I know it's been like two months, I think, and I'm so sorry for the wait, but I have been writing, not many chapters for this fic but some. I've also been writing for another fic, that I'll go more into detail about another time. As for this fic tho, I do plan on finishing it, the chapters may not come frequently but they will come, thank you to all y'all that are still sticking with me and the fic! <33

ONWARD AND YONWARD!!

_______________________________________________

Chapter 5: Getting to Know You

Narrator's POV:

"I Spy..something brown." Y/N drawled out as she strolled through the woods, hand and hand with Sophia, who also held onto her doll's cotton filled hand. Hours and miles later away from where they had camped.

"Is it a tree branch?" The little girl asked.

"Nope." Answered Y/N.

"Uhh, you're boots?"

"My boots are black." Y/N said.

"But, they're covered in mud."

"They're still black, Little Blue. Mostly." The archer chuckled.

"Nuh-uh, they're mostly brown. Look." Soohia said as she pointed to woman's boots.

Y/N looked down, "huh. Guess they are mostly brown...but that's not what I Spy."

Sophia huffed and pouted, "there's nothing else brown, Y/N."

The archer couldn't help but feel bad at the girl's pout so she decided to help her, "maybe you're wearing what's brown." Y/N said, as she looked down at the girl who was staring up at her.

Sophia gasped, "my pants!" She exclaimed quietly.

"Yep." Y/N grinned. "Your pants is exactly right."

Sophia smiled proudly, though soon that smiled vanished.

"You already did my pants, though." She said as a matter of fact.

Y/N frowned and tiled her head, "I did?" She asked.

"Yes. Like, when we were all the way back there." Sophia answered, as she turned to point behind her.

"You sure?" Y/N questioned again, feeling fairly certain that she had not.

"I'm positive." Sophia said with confidence.

"I guess so." Y/N said, uncertainly.

"We should do something else." Sophia suggested, "there's not much to spy."

Y/N nodded, "you're right. 'Sides we've been doing it for about an hour now, I think."

They'd been walking for quite sometime since leaving their camp from the night before, and though they hadn't been playing I Spy for as long as they'd walked, it was boring what with all the trees, branches, leaves and twigs.

"What's your favorite color?" Sophia asked, this wasn't a game of sorts, but she was curious about her new friend.

"Black. Yours?"

"Blue." Sophia responded.

Y/N chuckled at that, "guess I chose the perfect nickname for ya, huh, Little Blue?" The archer smirked.

Sophia giggled quietly, "I like purple, too." She said, "are you from Georgia?"

"Yes, I am." Y/N nodded. "You too?"

"Mm-hm." The little girl nodded, "and so is my Mama. Where's your Mama?" She asked, innocently.

"Uhm, my, my Mama died. Not during this, but when I was little." Y/N answered, sadly.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Sophia replied, just as sadly.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know." Y/N responded. "'Sides, I don't remember her all that much, at least not much of the good stuff."

"Was your Mama mean?" The little girl asked in a worried tone.

"Nah. Not really. She wasn't the best Mama but, she tried her best." The archer responded.

"I'm sorry." Sophia said.

"Stop apologizing, Little Blue." Y/N chuckled, softly. "Ain't your fault."

"Okay." Sophia said, Y/N couldn't miss the sadness that could still be heard in her voice, it was hard not to.

"What's your Mama like, huh?" Y/N asked, trying to take the sadness away from the little girl.

"My Mama? She's really the bestest, she takes good, good care of me. And she loves me sooo much." Sophia said, as she went on and on about her mom adoringly, telling Y/N so many different stories. "...And one time, before, she even let ride one of the bigger rides at the carnival!"

Y/N smiled brightly, "She sure does sound like the bestest."

"She is." Sophia replied, "I miss her very much." The smile that was plastered onto her face as she talked about her mother started to fall.

"I know." Y/N said, as she detected the sadness that was yet again in Sophia's voice. "But, I promise you I'm gonna try my damn hardest to get you back to her, okay? You're gonna see her again."

Sophia nodded, not feeling very sure of what Y/N had just told her.

The world wasn't very nice anymore. Or good. There were monsters. And they were everywhere. Sophia didn't want to die, but what if she did? What if her Mama did?

"Hey." Y/N whispered, kneeling down to Sophia's height, "I'm gonna get you back to her, Little Blue. No matter what." She said as she gripped Sophia's shoulders reassuringly, looking her straight in the eye.

"Will you pinky promise?" Sophia asked, shyly.

"I pinky promise." Y/N said firmly, as she stuck out her pinky, waiting for Sophia to grab hold.

And she did.

And with locked pinkies, Y/N gave them a firm shake with a firm nod and frown, that meant business.

Sophia gave a small giggle.

"Now, let's keep moving, shall we?" Y/N asked, standing her full height, and letting go of Sophia's pinky to grip her hand again.

They continued their journey toward the highway, walking for more hours and miles, taking a couple of small breaks to drink or when Sophia got tired. There was more walking and little bit more talking.

Talking that involved Sophia asking Y/N more questions about herself. Talking that involved Sophia telling Y/N how her Mama would give her piggyback rides for fun or when her feet and legs got tired. And that was how the archer got conned into doing so.

It was complicated what with all the stuff Y/N was carrying but she had figured it out.

She placed her bow onto the ground and took her quiver and bookbag off her back, she gave that to Sophia to put on since it wasn't all that heavy, along with her quiver. After putting the pack on the girl's back and tightening the straps to fit her small body as best it could, Y/N put the quiver over the pack, before squatting down to let Sophia climb aboard. And she quickly did so.

Standing fully back up and grabbing her bow as she did, Y/N hiked Sophia up higher on her back, the archer gripped her bow securely as Sophia locked her arms and legs around her. The weight that was on Y/N before didn't feel at that different, Sophia barely weighed anything.

"This is much easier." Sophia said, with a smile of satisfaction.

To be so quiet and timid, she sure was sly.

(And a bit talkative. Though, Y/N guessed everyone had their moments with talking.)

But, Y/N couldn't help but agree, "It is." She said. "Pass me an arrow, Little Blue?" Y/N asked. Keeping an arm locked around Y/N's shoulders, Sophia reached her injured arm carefully behind her to grabbed an arrow.

Gripping an arrow, the little girl brought it to Y/N's sight and the H/C woman took it with grace.

This will work out nicely, Y/N thought with a smirk as she continued on their journey.

_______________________________________________

Yes, I know this chapter title sucks ass and probably the whole chapter itself skjskjsk. But I hope y'all enjoyed it anyways!

Tags: @coffeebooksandfandom, @checkintoreality, @wnygirl2012, @assassinsasha23, @catlya, @aristocracy-y, @jodiereedus22, @yes-captainstark, & @merakiaes. <33

If anyone else wants to be tagged just let me know!

[breadoffoxy]

Changing Tides | 4

Summary: At a young age you thought you had your life all figured out. You would marry your crush and become a world renown artist. It was perfect. That is until a childhood friend, your clumsy cousin, an intimidating rival, a nosy neighbor, an art prodigy, a beautiful dancer and a perfectionist workaholic destroyed those plans for better or for worse.

Pairing: some f. reader x Hoseok, f. reader x Jungkook, and f. reader x Jimin

Genre: Slice of Life, awkward teenage years to college au, eventual romance, angst, fluff

Word Count: 1089

Warnings: Mentions of parents getting divorce

Prev | Next

“KOOKIE!!”

“Oof”

You can hear Namjoon’s chuckling from somewhere within the house. He never gets tired of your antics. In the doorway to his house you are hugging a very red, smiley Jungkook. It’s the first time he’s come over to Seoul. You step away slightly to get a good look at your friend.

“How come you are bigger every time I see you? It’s unfair.”

“Why do you keep getting shorter every time I see you?”

You step on his foot a little harsher than necessary, and as he winces over overdramatically trying to hide the pain you see your dad slam his car door shut. Your face becomes more neutral with a polite smile on your face. Jungkook straightens up as he feels you tense up a little bit and unconsciously step a little bit closer to him.

“Hey y/n.”

“Hi Dad.”

Jungkook wraps his pinky around yours to let you know he’s there for you as the awkward silence fills the air. Your visits to your dad are less and less due to your increasing high school homework and club activities, and how he pours himself into his baseball team instead of trying to catch up with how you’re doing.

“Are you coming to the game tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it. Congrats on nationals.”

“Alright. Just got to talk to your mom for a bit.”

He just gives you a nod as he passes through the doorway and into the house.

You look up at Jungkook when you feel the rest of his fingers weave through yours and gives your hand a gentle squeeze. He shows you a soft smile that you return.

“Ok, how about we head out and give the adults some privacy.”

You turn to see Namjoon in the entryway now with Hoseok behind him.

“Sorry that its awkward now. Hope it didn’t ruin any of your plans.”

Hoseok grins at you as he slips on his shoes. “Not at all. Namjoon and I need a break from our lyrics. We’re a little stuck right now.” He claps his hands together in excitement. “You and your boyfriend should head out with us. We can get some fresh air and show him the sights.”

Both you and Jungkook have the immediate reaction of dropping hands and stepping away from each other. Jungkook’s ears are flaming red while you shake your hands out in front of you.

“No no no no we aren’t like that. Jungkook is my best friend. We grew up together. He’s on my dad’s baseball team and they are here for a game. He just tagged along with my dad to visit you know…”

Hoseok just grins as he eyes over Jungkooks shy stance. “Suuuuuure.” He springs up and wraps his arm around Jungkook’s shoulders, who now looks pretty uncomfortable as he is led out of the house he just entered. “Nice to meet you Kookie, my names Hoseok. Do you know how to dance?” And then they were gone.

You just sigh as you fight the urge to start pulling out your hair. You did not want your crush to think you were with someone else. Also, you were a little worried for Jungkook. He closes in around new people and while you love Hoseok he is probably too much for Jungkook to handle on his own right now.

You slip your shoes on ready to follow the pair that just left when you notice your cousin with just one shoe on and looking a little lost. You can’t help but sigh again as you kneel on the floor and look around the various potted plants and the table with numerous family photos and more plants. You pull out the lost shoe wedged back between the wall and some leafy green plant you didn’t know the name of. You didn’t even want to know how it got there.

Namjoon mumbles an embarrassed thanks and takes the shoe from you. Quickly the two of you head out to catch up with your friends. You only make it a couple steps out of the house and stop to stare with your mouth open. Your friends didn’t make it far at all as you see Jungkook following Hoseok’s dancing motions rather well. Too good in fact.

“Hey y/n, your boyfriend is really good! Where have you been hiding him all this time?”

Jungkook trips up on the move he’s currently doing as Hoseok laughs.

“He’s not my boyfriend Hoseok!”

Namjoon just pats you on the back as he joins in on the dancing. He’s really good at it too. You enjoy dancing but watching the three guys do it so well makes you a bit self-conscious. They seem to move so effortlessly while you just feel so clunky. Plus, there’s no music so they kinda look like idiots.

A hand suddenly grabs your arm and pulls you into a twirl. You can’t help but let out a surprised set of giggles as you fall back into someone’s chest. You look up and grin as you see Hoseok beaming down at you. His hands fall down your waist as he starts to guide your movements.

“Hoseok, watch your hands!” You hide your face in your hands as your cousin points at his friend. The hands disappear as Hoseok raises them in a surrender gesture.

Jungkook watches you and Hoseok with a mixture of feelings. He’s happy to see you happy but there’s a sadness that takes over him as well.

Namjoon claps his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Ok, the museum isn’t going visit itself.”

“What, Namjoon no.” You quickly forget your previous embarrassment as you uncover your face to point at your cousin. “Kookie needs to see the sights. So that means we start with Seoul Tower.”

A whine escapes behind you, “No y/n that’s too high. How about Lotte world instead? Think of all the cute sea creatures!”

Your so tempted to say yes to the cute sea creatures but you know Jungkook. He has an affinity for heights and you think he would be impressed by the view. You give Jungkook a pointed look, “Well, where do you want to go Kookie?”

When Jungkook responds with Seoul Tower you yell out, “Yes!” with a fist bump in the air. Quickly you skip over to him and loop your arm with his. “You’ll love it, trust me.”

Namjoon smiles as he shakes his head at Hoseok who pouts in response. Jungkook’s answer was obvious as soon as you asked him.