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0skeleton-tears0 · 1 year

Text

Rosyln

[Jacob Black] X [Reader]

One shot

Prompt: Unwilling Imprint, ANGST

Pronouns: I tried to be gender-neutral but I may have messed up a few times.

TW: DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOOD AND GORE. Read at your discretion. A little bit of mommy issues lmao. (laughing through the pain rn)

Notes: I don’t have the best grasp on what phones were like in the 2000’s so it’s probably inaccurate. Jake is fine y'all please don’t call paw patrol. JUSTICE FOR LEAH CLEARWATER. A little bit of simping for her because idc she's gorgeous and I love her.

I realized that the timing for this is a little confusing, so its supposed to take place in like the middle of New Moon but I wrote that Seth and Leah had already shifted, which doesn't happen until eclipse so pls ignore that.

THE FUCKING TITLE HAS BEEN SPELLED WRONG THIS WHOLE TIME ITS ROSYLN NOT ROSLYN

꧂☾✮☽꧁

Jacob Black had made it clear he didn't want me in his life anymore. Those last words I had heard from him burned themselves into my memory, into my very skin.

"It wasn't supposed to be you."

I cringed and tried to sink into the bed further, but the mattress wouldn’t let me in. My eyes traced the shapes in the popcorn ceiling of my room, and I tried desperately to think of anything else. Making shapes out of nothing—and stories to go with it. Yet my mind seemed to somehow circle back. Everything seemed to remind me of him. And the last time I saw him.

The rain pounded against the steps of my front porch, drenching my clothes in muggy water. The deafening sound almost tore me away from the boy in front of me. But he wasn't the boy I knew before. He was taller, bigger, and much meaner. He said nothing for a moment, he just stared at me. I couldn’t read his expression—it was many things all at once. There seemed to be some sort of realization, then confusion, and then hatred. A burning hatred that made me want to shrink away from him. It made my skin crawl. I was suddenly very aware of the way my clothes now hung to my skin, the rainwater adding an extra pound or two.

He shook violently, his breath hitching. His eyes darted around like they were searching for something.

I hadn’t expected him to change so drastically in the two weeks I hadn’t seen him. His long, dark hair was cut short. His formerly lanky figure looked like that of a man twice his age. And his dark skin bore an intricate tattoo located on his right shoulder. It was the same tattoo Sam had. Sam, the man he apparently hated.

"It wasn't supposed to be you."

That was the last thing he said to me, before storming away. Into his truck, and out of my life.

It hurt to think about it, I tried to convince myself that it was somehow my fault. That I had said or done something wrong. Something so vile that it would make him hate me enough to leave. But why would he be so angry with me? I had called him, I called Billy. I even tried calling Charlie. No one would give me a coherent answer. Charlie was the only one willing to give me anything. Saying something about how Jacob and Bella had gotten into a big fight, and she was receiving similar treatment. But to know that he had at least had contact with her while having ignored me completely. It stung. It made my skin crawl, and I felt a burning sense of rage. But it was overshadowed by guilt. Maybe it was my fault—or was it selfish to assume that everything in his life revolved around me?

I felt tempted to call Bella. It seemed like she knew the most about whatever had Jacob acting this way. I bit my lip, weighing my options. Bella and I were never close, I knew that Jacob liked her. Jacob liked her a lot—I bit my lip a little harder at that thought. I hated the way he would swoon whenever she breathed in his direction. How he would trip over his feet trying to please her. And yet he couldn’t take the hint that she didn’t want him. And she refused to let him go. Wrapping him around her finger and leading him on, only to pull back as soon as he got his hopes up. I stared at my phone, I had Bella’s number saved somewhere deep within my contacts. The last time I had actually used it was weeks ago when I tried to be friends with her—she had denied my advances of course. I reached for my phone hesitantly. My heartbeat quickened slightly. Would she even answer me? Was it rude to try and talk to her just so I could ask about Jacob? Especially while they were fighting? My finger hovered above the call button. I pressed it quickly, it was worth a shot.

The phone rang for an uncomfortable amount of time, enough for me to start regretting my decision. But before I could chicken out and hang up, Bella answered. She didn’t sound too great. Her voice was slightly hoarse, and it wobbled a bit. It sounded like she was forcing the words out of her mouth.

“Hello?” She answered. It took me a second to remember what I had called her for, though I should have expected this from her. She was almost in the same situation I was in. Almost.

“Hey Bells,” I used the old nickname we had for her when we were kids. I hoped that the friendliness would maybe help convince her to spill the beans about Jacob. “I don't want to pry into your guys’ business, but what's going on with Jacob?” I tried to sound like I was just mildly curious, forcing the worry out of my tone. But I didn't have time to explain my reason for asking before she cut me off.

“He's just not feeling well.” She spoke fast, too fast for me to understand at first. The words jumbled and rushed, slowly connecting in my mind. Not feeling well? He seemed fine to me.

“Oh,” That couldn't be all that was wrong. “Did he say if he was sick?” I questioned. I wanted to drag this conversation out. I wanted to pry as much information as I could from Bella.

She paused on the other side of the phone—I desperately wanted to know what was going on inside her head, to hear what she was keeping from me. There was no way she didn't know more than what she was leading on. “Uh, he said it was Mono. Yeah, he got pretty bad Mono recently so you probably won't see him for a while.” She spit the words out fast. Stumbling over them like the way she stumbles through life. I knew for certain that he did not have Mono. That was the biggest load of shit I had heard since Jacob told me he “didn't have a crush on Bella”. People got Mono from kissing someone else with it, and I knew that Jacob wouldn’t have kissed anyone but Bella. And she was apparently Mono-free.

“Oh that’s awful, when did he get it?” I asked. I had no idea whether or not she knew about my recent encounter with Jacob. Only her answer would tell.

She panicked for a second. “Um, I think it was three weeks ago. Yeah! Three weeks.” She sounded more sure of herself the second time she said it. Bingo.

Bella had always been a bad liar. She’d stutter over her words more than usual, and she’d start to get antsy the longer the lie went on.

“Huh, well that really sucks. If you get a hold of him could you tell him I hope he feels better soon? I haven't been able to contact him.” I didn't plan on telling Bella about Jacob's midnight appearance. She didn't know, which meant she didn't need to know.

“Yeah, I will.” She sounded eager to hang up, so I put her out of her misery. I tossed my phone back onto the bed. And began to calculate my next move.

Bella had no idea that I had seen Jacob, so she had no idea that I was certain he was not sick at all. Sick in the head maybe, but he seemed physically healthy to me. Jacob stood in the pouring rain with no problem, in a sleeveless shirt might I add. And showed no signs of any kind of sickness. From the sound of it, Bella knew he wasn't sick. It was painfully obvious that she was trying to cover for him. I had to come up with some plan of action. I needed Jacob to talk to me. It wasn’t fair that Bella was allowed to know everything while his “best friend” wasn’t.

I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. This wasn’t going to be easy. I had no idea where he was, and I knew no one was going to tell me. I could beg Billy to tell me what was going on, he could only handle so much of my puppy-dog eyes before he cracked. I could march my way to Sam’s house and demand to know everything. Both plans of action sounded terrible. It felt selfish. I wasn’t really owed anything, it felt wrong to demand that they tell me their secrets. Maybe once I found out I’d wish that I’d left it alone. Stubborn as always, I decided that I was going to find out. You can’t just shut someone out for no reason and then be upset when they want to know why.

I reached for the stale glass of water on my bedside table and knocked back a large gulp. I cringed at the funny taste. My thoughts flew a mile a minute. I came up with a new plan of action. I was going to go to Jacob’s house and wait for him there. He couldn’t stay away from his house forever and I was willing to wait as long as it took. He would talk to me, whether he liked it or not.

I marched to the other side of my bedroom and rifled through my closet. I picked out the first outfit I found, and threw on a jacket. I snatched my keys and marched to my front door. I didn’t care who I had to ask, I would figure this out. There was no way Jacob was getting rid of me so easily. The puddles on the pavement splashed violently as I stomped through them, soaking through the crevices of my shoes and dampening my socks. But I was too preoccupied to care. The car door creaked from the force that I opened it with, I threw myself into the driver's seat and slammed it shut again. I flinched from the loud noise. I need to slow down a bit. I inhaled, closed my eyes, and relaxed my shoulders. I shouldn’t be driving in such a state. I pried my eyes open and started the car, reversing out of the driveway once I heard the roar of the engine.

The long roads that led to the reservation were more familiar to me than the back of my hands. I had driven there so many times, for as long as I could remember. It hurt to think about every other time I had been here. When things weren’t so complicated. When it was Jake and me against the world. Without Bella. I bit the inside of my cheek, focusing on the pain from that instead of the tears threatening to spill. Breaking down crying while driving was not the best idea. I didn’t need to add a hospital visit and a wrecked car on top of all of the other shit going on in my life. I focused on my breathing, and not crashing the car. With every landmark, I knew I was getting closer. It wasn’t long before I was turning down the road that led to Jacob's house. A cozy, barn-esque house. Where I shared some of my most cherished memories. Though the memories were slightly bitter now. I parked the car in his driveway. Billy Black was sitting on the porch, his eyes bored into my very soul, and I fought the urge to avoid them. He huffed and wheeled himself back into the house.

I shoved myself out of the car and marched up to the front door. I pounded on the stable wood, he wouldn’t ignore me too. Billy swung the door open, looking frustrated and concerned.

“He isn’t here [Y/N]. I’ll tell him you stopped by.” He turned to close the door again. It hurt to have Billy turn me away. I had never felt anything other than welcome in his home, but I was treated like a stranger now, he was treating me like a girl scout. I grabbed the door before it could close.

“Then I’ll wait here for him,” I said in the sternest tone I could manage. It killed me to be rude to Billy. But I kept my guard up. I couldn’t show any sign that I would back down.

Billy sighed but made no move to let me in. He glanced behind him into the house, then back at me.

“I hate to do this to you kid, but you really can’t be here right now.” Billy looked me in the eyes again. His tone was stern but comforting. But I couldn’t give up so easily.

“Why not? Why won't anybody tell me what’s going on?” I was more desperate this time, my faḉade dropping. It took everything in me not to start hysterically screaming.

Billy cringed, it hurt him to shut me out. He obviously knew what was going on with his son but something was stopping him from telling me. He looked up at me again, opening his mouth to speak. But his eyes caught something behind me, and he stopped. I turned around. A red truck pulled into the driveway. Jacob sat in the driver’s seat and huffed when he saw me. I looked next to him, of course, Bella was with him. She bit her lip, and blinked way too many times, looking between me and Jacob. He stepped out of the truck and walked to the other side to open Bella’s door for her. He was just pouring salt on the wound at this point. The pair walked toward me, I opened my mouth to yell at Jake, but he walked right past me, Bella in tow. Billy looked disappointed but said nothing. Bella looked back at me with a look that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. It almost looked like sympathy, but there was venom to it. Not quite a glare, but not friendly. I scoffed. Who does this girl think she is?

“Hey!” I shouted. Jacob paused, his shoulders tensed. But he didn’t turn around to look at me. “What is your problem?” I continued, “What am I not good enough for you anymore? Not cool enough to hang out with you and your new friends?” This went much more calmly in my head. A lot less accusingly. Jacob still refused to look at me. But Bella did. She walked toward me and put her hand on my shoulder.

“[Y/N] I really think you should leave.” Bella insisted, but I shoved her hand off of me. I was even more frustrated that she had the audacity to tell me what to do after she tried to lie to me earlier.

“No! I’m not going anywhere ‘till he explains himself! He has no right to just cut me off.” I yelled, more at him than her. But she still flinched, and I felt a little bad. Jacob spun around now, jumping at the chance to protect Bella. He got in my face and pushed Bella behind him.

“Don’t you dare yell at her.” He glared at me. He shoved me back a bit, the force almost sent me flying, but I held my ground.

“I’m not yelling at her, I'm yelling at you, Jacob. Funny how you only speak to me when you want to protect her. And what the hell does “It wasn’t supposed to be you” mean?” I got right back in his face, confronting him about his last encounter with me. His eyes widened slightly, and he glanced back at Bella. She furrowed her brows and looked at him.

“Jake, what are they talking about?” She held onto Jacob’s shoulder and tried to turn him towards her. But he didn’t budge, only turning his head to look at her.

“Don’t worry about it, Bells.” The nickname made me want to barf. Wasn’t she dating that Cullen guy? Oh right. The Cullens had packed up and moved town a few months ago, the whole town had been so worried about Bella since she was so in love with Edward. I had felt bad for her too, her depressive episode was all too familiar to me. Though it seemed she had moved on and sunk her claws into Jacob now. Suddenly I wasn’t too sympathetic toward her.

“He didn’t tell you?” If he wouldn’t, I would. “He showed up at my doorstep in the pouring rain and told me the most cryptic bullshit I’ve ever heard, before disappearing out of my life!” I shouted. It seemed I had called out to some weather god because a light rain began to fall on all of us. But no one made any move to take shelter. At least this was more dramatic now.

Bella looked confused but didn’t press any further. Jacob turned to me again, he looked more frustrated than mad now.

“Look [Y/N], just go away. If I could tell you I would. But you shouldn’t be here right now.” Jacob started to shake, he wasn’t wearing that thick of clothing, so he was probably cold because of the rain. He turned to walk away again, but my hand shot out on its own to grab onto his shoulder. Woah. I was wrong, Jacob wasn’t cold at all. He was hot to the touch. It almost burned.

“Holy shit!” I pulled my hand back, and he turned around frantically, my cry alerting him. “Jacob you’re burning up! I think you need to see a doctor or something.” I looked down at my hand, thankfully it wasn’t burned, only a slight red tint was left behind. Even though I was mad at him, I couldn’t help but worry. As much as I try, I’ll never be able to hate Jacob. I looked up at him, my ‘angry face’ was gone now, a look of worry taking its place. His eyes softened for a moment. His shoulders relaxed, before tensing back up again. His gaze hardened, and he huffed.

“Go.” Was all he said, before turning again. He ushered Bella to follow him, leaving his arm around her shoulder. I stomped forward again and slammed my palm onto his shoulder.

“Hey! I’m not leaving without an answer, Jacob Black. If you think you can get rid of me that easily you are stupidly mistaken.” I let out a sarcastic laugh at the end of my sentence. Nothing was funny about this but I couldn’t help myself. Jacob shook more, and his breathing sped up. He let go of Bella and looked at me.

“I am not going to tell you again [Y/N].” He emphasized each word, “Leave now, for your own good.” For my own good my ass.

“No Jacob, not until you tell me WHY.” I emphasized my words, mimicking his. He shook so hard I was afraid he would combust.

And then he did.

Within a split second, the sounds of clothes tearing filled my ears. And I felt something tear at my arm. I was flung back from the force of it, landing on the muddy ground. White hot pain shot through my entire right side. I felt something warm run down my arm, contrasting with the cold rain surrounding me. But my focus was still caught on what was in front of me. Jacob was gone, replaced with a reddish-brown wolf. It was the size of a horse. Way bigger than any normal wolf should be. My mind felt fried. This couldn’t be real. This had to be some horrible dream or some hallucination. But the pain in my arm told me that this was all too real.

The wolf, presumably still Jacob, snarled and growled for a moment before its eyes caught sight of my arm. I looked down. I could barely see anything past the amount of red. It was my blood. The flesh was torn, ripped almost to shreds. Exposing the pink mussel beneath. I caught a small bit of white. Bone. My breath was rapid. The air entering my lungs burned, it felt like they were trying to rip open. I shook. It took everything not to start screaming. I was in shock. This couldn’t be real.

I looked back up at the Jacob-wolf. His ears flew back, and he shook and backed away slightly. His brown eyes, eyes I knew too well, flickered between my face, and my arm. His tail tucked between his legs, and he ran. With incredible speed, he ran into the forest. My ears rang.

All I could hear was the pounding of the rain and yelling. I heard yelling from all sides. A woman’s voice. And a few different male voices. I heard something thump on the ground across from me. But as my vision blurred, I was unable to make out what it was. Or, who it was. I felt something pull me from the mud. Two large hands grabbed me and held me tight. I was pulled into someone's arms, and I felt us move. The heat was almost unbearable. It was suffocating. I wanted to pull away. To be left on the ground. But I couldn’t pull together the strength to do anything. I felt oblivious to the world around me. Everything was blurry, and moving both too fast, and too slow all at once. I could make out only some of the words I heard around me. Most were panicking. But over all of that, I heard a calm voice yelling orders. I heard more clothes ripping, and two more giant figures ran into the woods. After Jacob.

I heard that same voice from above me, it was calm and reassuring this time.

“Everything is going to be okay [Y/N], we're gonna get you some help” It was distinctly Sam. I knew that tone. It was paternal, it was gentle. But it felt so firm, so firm that I believed every word of it. I let myself relax. Black spots entered my vision, everything was blurry again, and then there was nothing.

꧂☾✮☽꧁

The faint sound of beeping woke me, the shrill noise scraping against my ear canal.

I groaned. My everything hurt. I squeezed my eyes further shut, trying to block out the bright light that threatened to burn my retinas.

My opened my eyes reluctantly as I heard footsteps come through the door. Sam’s large figure came through the doorway. He looked calm, but his brow was slightly furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it again. He looked down for a moment, almost like he was having a conversation I couldn’t hear. Sam inhaled deeply, before stepping towards me. His heavy footsteps resonated through the nearly silent room. The only other sounds were the beeping of the machines next to me. He stepped cautiously towards me, before sitting down in the chair next to my bed. I looked at him anxiously. I knew what was coming, but I didn’t know how. There was no way I could explain what I had seen without sounding insane, “Why yes doctor, my best friend turned into a wolf and mauled my arm. No biggie though.” I bit the inside of my cheek nervously, but Sam gave me a knowing look that calmed me slightly. His look told me he could understand the silent words I was trying to speak.

“How are you feeling?” Sam’s commanding voice vibrated off the walls. I didn’t know how to answer, I assumed he was asking about my arm.

“Fine, the doctors gave me a bunch of meds to make it hurt less so I’m mostly just numb now-”

Sam raised his hand to stop me.

“No, no. How are you feeling.” He emphasized the word. He didn’t mean my arm. It was clear that he wasn’t going to try and cover up what I had seen. I knew there wasn’t much I could say to him. If anyone were to overhear me talking about my friend turning into a giant wolf and scratching my arm, they’d ship me off to the psych ward without a second thought. I bit the inside of my cheek. For a moment, I refused to meet Sam’s gaze. His eyes were intense—they always were.

I tried to think of an answer for him. But I just couldn’t put what I wanted to say into words. He seemed to understand my frustration, and he sighed.

“Look kid, I know that this is going to be hard to understand, but it's time you know the truth.”

I perked up at this. Finally, they were going to tell me what was going on. It only took a traumatizing and unexplainable experience, and my arm getting fucked up to make it happen. Worth it.

We sat there for what felt like hours, as he explained to me the deep, and extensive past of the Quileute tribe's history. How they could turn into wolves, and it was their duty to protect humans from vampires. He also told me about where Bella fit into all of this. The Cullen boy she was dating was part of a family of vampires. And, by proxy, she was now involved with the pack too. But everyone in the pack was sworn to secrecy. And that's why they couldn't tell me. Sam being the alpha made his word law. So they had no choice.

I felt guilt bubbling inside my chest, I was so mad at Jacob and the others for not telling me. But they couldn't whether they liked it or not. It felt like someone was grabbing at my heart and squeezing it. I felt so selfish, so arrogant. I demanded that they tell me everything, and then got myself hurt. I felt so bad.

Sam gave me a sympathetic look, it was as if he understood without me having to speak a word.

“It’s not your fault. Besides, we would have had to tell you anyway.” I looked up at that. But he paused.

“Why?” I asked. It was hard to find the words I wanted to say. I felt like I had so many questions, but forming them together in a coherent manner was impossible. These drugs were fucking with my head. I noticed that the lights were a bit fuzzy now.

Sam looked away and contemplated for a moment. But when he looked back, it was obvious he wasn't going to explain himself. Why does everyone have to be so cryptic all the time?

“I think Jacob should tell you himself,” Sam spoke with finality. There was no wiggle room to try and pry anything out of him.

I sighed. But I didn't try to push any further. I was exhausted. Taking in so much information was hard, especially while I was barely awake. Sam smiled at me and stood. He towered over my bed, making the giant machines look like children's toys. This explains why the Quileute men are all so big.

“I'd better let you rest kid, just come to the reservation whenever you're ready.” He smiled and made his way out.

I sunk back into the firm hospital bed. I ran through everything in my head again. Vampires? Werewolves? What other ghouls should I be worried about? Will I run into a troll the next time I cross a bridge?

I couldn’t pull together the energy to really care at the moment, the only thing I cared about was going back to sleep. I glanced down at my bandaged arm, moving it slightly, and wincing. I sighed, and relaxed my whole body. I tried my best to ignore the beeping, and clamped my eyes shut. I shifted slightly, and felt a jolt go through my entire right side. I grumbled and settled back down, being more weary of my arm this time. I rolled my eyes, this was going to be a long recovery.

꧂☾✮☽꧁

It took a week before they let me out of the hospital. But the stitches in my arm would take way longer to come out. And I wouldn't even be fully healed for a few months.

They gave me fresh clothes since mine were basically ruined. I had to wear a shirt that was way too big for me, and shorts that went down to my calves. My socks were a bright yellow, and the worst texture I’ve ever felt, with grips on the bottoms. This sucked. Stupid Jacob. Stupid wolves. Stupid me.

My mother helped me to the car, but I nudged her away slightly. My arm was hurt not my legs, I could still walk on my own. I half-expected her to try and carry me to the car.

I wasn't allowed to drive while my arm healed, obviously. But at least I got time off of school, and off work. At least one good thing could come out of this mess.

But having so much time on my hands gave me too much time to think. And of course, my mind went to every bad scenario that could happen. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to face Bella. She had seen everything. But I couldn’t really find it within myself to hate her any less. Hate feels like a strong word, but I can’t think of any other word to describe the way I feel about her. It felt like she had ripped my best friend away from me, and left a gaping, burning hole behind. But was it entirely her fault? He chose to leave me, for her. But at the same time, she didn’t make any move to stop him. I sighed. Obsessing over it wouldn’t change anything. My mom glanced at me from the driver's seat. I could see her reflection through the window, as I stared at the beautiful scenery. The rain cast a thick fog across the forest, giving a gray tint to the world around it. My mom's eyes scanned my face, before quickly bouncing back to the road.

“What’s wrong honey?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. So many things were wrong. Jake was gone, my arm is fucked, and I’m way behind on my homework. What was I supposed to tell her?

I sighed, “I just… I just miss Jake.” That felt right. It was the truth, but not in its entirety.

She grimaced, “I know sweetie, but… when people get older, they tend to drift apart. Maybe it’s just time to let Jacob go. Maybe make some new friends?” She always got over things quicker than I did.

“No. He’s my best friend. I can’t lose him.” But what would I do if I did? It was entirely possible now. He had his new wolf friends and… Bella. A shiver of anger rushed through me at the thought of her.

“I know it’s hard but-”

“No! I-” I cleared my throat. I didn’t mean to yell at her. “No, I- I won’t lose him.”

She didn’t respond, she continued to stare at the road ahead. The large pine trees cast a thick canopy above us, rainwater pouring through the gaps in the branches. I sighed and tried to relax. All this stress was bad for my health. I didn’t need to have a full breakdown and end up back in the hospital.

The pine trees gave way to a small path on the side of the road. I caught a glimpse of brown fur vanishing into the foliage. I gasped lightly, which alerted my mother.

“What’s wrong? Did you hurt your arm? You’ve got to be careful with those stitches in! And how did you even-” I cut her off before she could start ranting.

“No, no everything’s fine I just thought I saw something in the forest. Like a bear or something.”

Smooth [Y/N].

She looked hesitant, I couldn’t tell if she believed me, but I prayed she wouldn’t push me. I guess lady luck finally decided to cut me a break because my mom sighed and focused on the road again. I wanted to yell for her to stop the car. I wanted to jump out and chase after him. I didn’t care if I was injured, or if I could get lost in the forest. I wanted nothing more than to just at least talk to him. But after… the incident… would he even want to see me? I held back a sob.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I shoved myself out of the car. I needed to be alone for a bit. My mom waited a bit to get out, trailing behind me a few steps. I stood on the porch, waiting for her to unlock the door.

Memories flashed at me in waves. Pieces from my childhood, when Jacob and I would play in the grass, or draw in the driveway with our chalk. When Jacob would pull in with that loud ass truck after school to complain about all the homework he had. And when he struck the final nail into the coffin that was now our relationship. I cringed. Everything would remind me of him now. Ghosts of my past would haunt the hallway. Phantoms of what I had lost. My mother didn’t bother to hide her concern. I’m sure I looked like a mess right now. My hair was unkempt, my eyes dark and sunken in, and my skin drained of its warmth. I felt like a shell of my former self. A ghost walking amongst the living, trying to blend in. I sniffled and shook it off. I didn’t need to scream my anguish to the world. As far as they were concerned, everything was fine and dandy. I let myself in as soon as the door opened, and made a bee-line for my bedroom. I ignored the memories, and my mother when I was asked what I wanted for dinner. I let my legs give out and fell onto my bed. Just inches away from crushing my arm. I sighed, and ran my good hand over my face, trying to wipe the stress away.

I had no idea how long I lay there. Staring at the ceiling, without even bothering to make shapes in it this time. My phone rang, and my computer pinged. But I made no move to check either. Nothing went through my mind. It felt like time was moving at breakneck speed, and I was stuck. Unmoving. I was catatonic. I felt myself going through my nightly routine, showering, brushing my teeth, and taming my hair. But none of it registered. Like an automated machine. I was on autopilot. When I lay back down, I hoped to just pass out immediately. I should be exhausted. And I should be happy to be able to sleep in something other than a hospital bed. But I felt nothing. Something was missing and I knew it.

But minute after minute of laying there, I felt myself start to drift off. Maybe when I woke up, everything would have fixed itself.

꧂☾✮☽꧁

I was running. Branches and bushes whipped around me, scratching at my arms and face. They caught onto my clothes as if they were trying to slow me down. But my feet carried me through the thick forest. I heard howling, and the sound of something running. But they didn’t stop me. I had to keep going. But what was I running towards? I didn’t stop to think, I kept moving. But I was quickly halted, as a huge, black wolf appeared from the trees in front of me. I stopped as fast as possible, losing my footing and sending myself onto the hard ground. I scrambled back to my feet quickly, without taking my eyes off the wolf. It was as big as Jacob was when he turned into a wolf. More wolves emerged from the forest surrounding me. I could see now that I was in a small clearing, only a few feet big. I turned around, ready to make a run for it. But as I did, I came face to face with a brown wolf. This one was closer than the others. And its eyes bore into mine, nothing was threatening about this wolf. It took a tentative step towards me, and I stepped back. It bowed its head and continued to approach me. But before I could move, its head snapped back up. It growled and snarled. The wolf took a step back. It wasn’t looking at me anymore, but something behind me. I didn’t have time to look before the wolf pounced. Jumping high above me. I screamed and ducked. And then, I was in my room.

I sat up in my bed, panting and sweating. My heart was beating so fast, I feared it would fly out of my mouth. I tried to slow my breathing, I wasn’t in the forest anymore. I was home. I was safe. It was a dream. A really weird dream. I fell back into my bed.

It was clear to me now that the brown wolf in my dream was Jacob. The reddish-brown fur, and the deep brown eyes I had known my whole life. But what did it mean? What was behind me? Why did he attack? Maybe it was just a weird dream, maybe it had no meaning. I assumed that the first wolf was Sam, it seemed a tad bit bigger than the others, and it just felt like it commanded authority. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I rolled over to my bedside table and grabbed at my phone, eventually, my hand made contact, and I turned it towards my face. I recoiled from the intensity of the phone's light, my eyes having been adjusted to the dark. I squinted, 2:45 a.m. Great. It’s not like I was going to school in the morning, not while I was healing. So I could just go back to sleep. But what if I had another weird dream? I could only handle so much weirdness at a time.

The door to my room slammed open, and I flinched at the sudden sound. My mother stood in the doorway, still clad in her nightclothes. She looked frantic, and her eyes studied me.

“What happened?! I heard you scream!” My mother yelled, breathless. I guess when I screamed in my nightmare, I must have actually screamed. That was kind of embarrassing.

“Oh sorry. I had a nightmare.” I looked at my hands, they were shaking still. My mother sighed a breath of relief, but when she looked back at me, she was concerned.

“Honey, what’s wrong? You still won't tell me why you were in the hospital, and now you’re having night terrors? Why can’t you just tell me?” Her voice started to waver, I knew I was hurting her by not telling her.

It pained her to see me like this, but since she didn’t even know what was wrong, she was unable to help me. I felt so bad. But I knew I couldn’t tell her, Sam had sworn me to secrecy, and I wouldn’t betray his trust. Or the pack.

I didn’t really know the boys too well, of course, I knew Embry and Quil, as they were Jacob's other best friends—I didn’t know if I was even considered his best friend anymore, it felt weird to call myself that. After… everything. So of course I knew them well enough. But after the whole shift, and then Bella's situation. We grew apart.

I blinked, snapping myself back to the present. I think I just made mom more concerned.

“It was a dog. I saw some stray dog and I was gonna give it some food, but it attacked me.” I lied, I had to make it up on the spot. She didn’t look convinced, but I’m sure I looked rough enough for her to leave it be. She sighed, and gently grabbed the door handle, contrasting to how she had slammed it just a few minutes before. She glanced at me, before shaking her head and leaving. I sighed, relaxing my shoulders and flopping onto my bed. I thought back to the pack. So many of them were so young, too young to be fighting vampires. I thought back to Embry and Quil. Quil still hadn’t shifted, but Sam told me that they knew he would soon. I thought about how much Embry had changed. I didn’t even really talk to him anymore, but any time I saw him he just seemed different. I glanced at my phone. I probably still had his number somewhere. Maybe I should call? I still had plenty more questions about the pack. Why did they cut their hair off? Why did they go through a growth spurt that drastic? Why was Jacob so mean now? I held my phone in my hand and hovered over the call button.

“Hello?” Embry’s distinct voice echoed through the silent room. I almost forgot what I was going to say, he was still so different, but he sounded the same as he did before shifting. Into a werewolf. The word felt wrong. Like it wasn’t the right way to describe them.

“Uh hey, Embry. I’m sorry did I wake you up?” I tried not to stutter over my words. I had completely forgotten what time it was. I felt bad for waking him.

“Oh hey [Y/N], no it’s fine I wasn’t asleep yet.” Embry’s voice picked up in volume. The tired tone from his voice had vanished, leaving the excited boy I was familiar with.

“I uh, just wanted to ask you a few questions.” It wasn’t like that’s the only reason I called, but it must have sounded like it. Because Embry sounded upset like he audibly deflated.

“Oh, yeah. Of course, uh go ahead.” His enthusiasm from before was lost.

“No! No! I wanted to talk to you too, I didn’t just call for that. It’s just that since I know about you guys now, I can really talk to you again.” I reassured him.

I could hear him perk up at that. “Oh! Of course! Well uh, what’d you wanna know?”

We talked for a long time, and he told me a lot more about the Quiluete boys. How their hair translated to how long their fur was, which seemed stupid to me. That their bodies had to rapidly grow to accommodate their new wolf abilities. But when I got to my third question, Embry stopped. He didn’t answer when I called his name. But in a few seconds, he shook out of it.

“Oh uh, well, Jake’s been going through a lot more hormones than the rest of us, and he… He uhm…” He stuttered over his words, it was painfully obvious that there was something he wanted to tell me. But something was stopping him. I’m getting pretty sick of people being all cryptic and keeping shit from me. “He’s just, well… I don’t think I should be the one to tell you.” I was quickly reminded of my conversation with Sam in the hospital.

“So who should I ask?” I was getting frustrated at this point, but I didn’t let it show through my tone. After all, it wasn’t Embry that I was upset with.

“I think you know the answer to that [Y/N].” Embry finished. Before I could say anything in retaliation, he said a quick goodbye and hung up the phone. I glared at my phone as it flashed CALL ENDED across the screen. I resisted the urge to chuck my phone across the room in anger. Breaking your phone is counter-productive [Y/N]. I went back to my contacts, gazing at one familiar number. I shouldn’t call him so late.

Waiting overnight and thinking about what to say is probably the smart decision. But I didn't doubt that he would ignore my call anyways. At this point he probably had me blocked. I didn’t know if I should be mad at him for that or not. I was calling excessively, and that was bound to get annoying at some point. I thought about going back to his house, and waiting there for him to show up. But that didn’t go too well last time. But if I was calmer this time? My thoughts trailed off. I thought about every scenario possible. I thought about every possible way he could try and dodge my advances, and I thought of ways to make sure that he couldn’t run away from me. I don’t know when I managed to fall back asleep, but sooner than I thought I had drifted away. I was ready to face my problems. Tomorrow.

꧂☾✮☽꧁

“Come on, get your lazy butt up.” My mother barged into my room, ripping the blanket off of me and shaking my shoulders. I winced from the cold air hitting my newly exposed skin and tried to pry it away from her. “Wake up, you have a visitor.” That woke me up. My thoughts raced, was it Jake? Embry? Bella…

I heard a voice from the other room, “It’s okay Ms. (L/N), I could just come back later.”

Bella.

I sighed, slumping back down into my bed. I let my entire body go limp, hoping that I could somehow mold into the mattress and avoid all of my problems. But unfortunately, reality came like a harsh slap to the face.

“No, it’s fine hun! I’ll have them up in just a minute!” My mother called back, making a promise that I really didn’t want to keep.

I groaned into the pillow. My mother grabbed my shoulders again and started to pull. After a couple of seconds of pulling and tugging, I gave up and sat up fully.

“There you go. Now get dressed, we’ll be waiting in the living room.” My mother chirped and flitted to the doorway. “And fix your hair. You look like a mess.” She threw out one last comment on my appearance, shutting the door before I could respond. I sighed, did she expect me to wake up with perfect hair?

I shook off the last of my blankets and forced myself out of bed. I stumbled a bit, letting my legs get used to the feeling of walking again. I dragged myself around my room, grabbing whatever clothes I could find. To be honest, I was tempted to go out in my pajamas, was Bella really worth the trouble of getting dressed? I contemplated it for a minute, but I knew my mother would chew me out as soon as I stepped out of the door. I got dressed sloppily, not caring if I looked presentable or not. I ran my fingers through my hair, taming it as much as I could. I tied it back, hiding most of the mess. I didn’t bother with shoes.

I carefully opened the door, trying to refrain from making too much noise. I slowly shut the door and made my way down the hall on light feet. I rounded the corner into the living room, my mother's back was turned, but I had a clear view of Bella. She didn’t look too much better than me, but it was clear she had at least tried to hide it. Her hair was tied back, but the chunks that framed her face had escaped. Her eyes were dark, with deep bags hanging underneath. Her clothes were too big for her, hanging off of her small frame. I felt big just standing next to her. I felt like if I walked by her too fast she’d crumble. Her emotional state didn’t seem much better either. A small frown permanently occupied her light pink lips. Her eyebrows perpetually furrowed. I almost felt sorry for her.

It only took a moment for her to notice my presence, she looked up and gave a half-assed smile. I formed my lips into a tight line, I could be civil. But she was on my turf. It’s free range here. I smiled a little more at that thought. I made my way to the couch where my mother was sitting and plopped myself next to her.

She pushed me away slightly, “You’re sitting too close.” She murmured.

I made a show of scooting to the other end of the couch, exaggerating my movements as much as possible. She scoffed and looked back to Bella. Her expression brightened drastically as she looked at the girl across from us. Way to make it subtle Mom.

“So what brings you here Bella?” My mother chirped, she took a sip from her mug without breaking eye contact. Bella squirmed under my mother's intense gaze, fidgeting with her fingers and the hem of her jacket.

“Oh uh, I hope it’s not too much trouble but I’d really like to talk to [Y/N] alone.” She stuttered. She avoided eye contact with me entirely. I hoped that I was intimidating her.

My mother deflated as if she was hoping that Bella was here for her. No doubt I would get a lecture later, ‘You should be more like Bella! She’s so much better than you in every way blah blah blah’ etcetera etcetera. I rolled my eyes and shifted around.

My mother straightened again and smiled at Bella. “Oh of course honey! Why don’t you two go to [Y/N]’s room?” I snapped my head toward her, my room? It felt wrong to let Bella in there. As if she was trespassing into my domain like she was tainting my sacred grounds. I huffed, and my mother shot me a deadly glare. I winced and lowered my gaze. I held back a sigh as I pushed myself off the couch, gesturing for Bella to follow me. As soon as my back was turned, I grimaced. She shuffled behind me, watching her every step. Like she was afraid she’s break something if she stepped on the wrong floorboard. I rolled my eyes, knowing damn well I was the same way.

I shoved my door open and waved my arm in front of me in a ‘ladies first’ motion. She gave an awkward smile and walked in. When she was far enough into the room I walked in after her, shutting the door behind me. Every inch of my body was screaming. Screeching for me to shove her out, to get her out of my room. My brain itched and scratched, I wanted nothing more than to scream at her to leave. I smiled, at her and gestured toward the unmade bed.

“You can sit down.” I tried not to sound upset about it. Her sitting on my bed.

She glanced at the bed and hesitated. But she didn’t sit down. She continued to stand in the middle of the room. She bit her lip and blinked too many times.

“Oh, it won't take that long.” She started, “I just… wanted to talk to you about what-” she paused, “What happened.” I knew exactly what she was talking about. And I grimaced, taking a look at my arm. I chewed the inside of my mouth, debating my response.

“Oh yeah… That.” Wow. Absolutely amazing. 10/10 conversational skills [Y/N].

It was silent. Neither of us dared to say anything. Bella opened her mouth for a moment, presumably to say something, but she closed it just as quickly. I shuffled my feet, taking notice of the fact that I wasn’t wearing any socks. Kind of weird to have my feet out right now.

“It’s fine.” I blurted. “My arm I mean, it’s healing all right.” I clarified.

“That’s good. It was uh, pretty bad…” She trailed off, grimacing as she remembered that night. I thought about it too.

I felt tingles run down my arm as my skin remembered the feeling. The feeling of being torn open, the warm blood coating my skin and clothes. Lying on the wet ground with my former friend in front of me. My stomach lurched, and I resisted the urge to double over and empty my guts on Bella’s shoes. I shook my head, shaking the thought away.

“Yeah. But I’m getting better so.” I gave an awkward confirmation, was this all she came for? She could have just called or something.

“Um, [Y/N]... I dont mean to pry but…” Oh god, here we go.

“How are things with you and Jacob.” She asked shyly, shuffling her feet and picking at her fingernails.

I knew this question was coming. I guess it was only fair she wanted to know, but something in my gut told me that it wasn’t just innocent curiosity. I sighed, thinking about my answer for a moment.

“We haven’t spoken since then.” Putting it bluntly seemed like the best idea. I didn’t know if there was a way to sugarcoat it, but I didn’t bother to try anyways. Bella tried and failed, to hide her excitement. I guessed that was the answer she was hoping for. She tried her best to hide the way her back straightened, and her eyes lit up. But as always, Bella was a shit liar.

I gave an awkward smile.

“It’s fine though, I think it’s best to just give him some time before I reach out again.” I ignored the shiver that ran down my spine. I tried to ignore the way that she deflated a little. Maybe she was hoping that I would never speak to him again. She smiled and took one last look at me. Before she politely excused herself. Hopefully to leave my house altogether. As soon as the door was closed, I breathed a sigh of relief. And let myself fall back onto my bed, being careful not to land on my arm this time. I stared at the ceiling. I find myself in this position a lot huh? Whatever. Going back to sleep sounded really good.

꧂☾✮☽꧁

I was only aware of the events that took place in the next few days secondhand. And surprisingly, I made a new friend.

As usual, the sky was covered in a thick layer of clouds, creating a blanket over the trees. And the air was moist with the promise of rain. I walked briskly, I was completely out of snacks and that would just not fly. What was I supposed to eat? Real food? Absolutely not.

The posters covering the walls of my favorite convenience store brought a smile to my face. The door opened with a loud ding, alerting my presence to the man behind the counter. A sweet old man smiled at me through bushy eyebrows. His big handlebar mustache moved up with his smile.

“Hey, Mr. Barker!” I chirped, making a beeline for the snack aisle. As expected, it was recently stocked, and colorful plastic littered the shelves, drawing me in. What I wasn’t expecting, was Leah Clearwater standing in the middle of the small space. Right in front of my favorite chips. I paused, not wanting to alert her. I didn’t feel like getting on her bad side and getting my head bitten off today. But, as if she could sense me, her head turned quickly. Her beautiful dark hair was cut short, as were her sleeves and shorts. Her russet skin bore the same tattoo Jacob had. I had heard of her shifting recently, and of her father's death. I tried not to let the wave of pity I felt show on my face. I avoided her cold gaze and pretended to check out the other snacks. I would have to wait until she’d moved.

After a few seconds, a hand made its way into my view, holding my favorite kind of chips. I followed the arm upwards until I found the face of the owner. Leah held her hand out, without making eye contact.

“Here, you like these right?” Her voice was assertive like she wasn’t asking me. She was telling me.

I’m sure I looked really confused because my silence made her turn to look at me.

“Pack mind-reading. Jacob doesn’t keep much to himself.” She explained. I grimaced.

I was trying not to think about him. She must have noticed because her lips turned up just slightly.

“He still hasn’t told you huh?” She teased, but I could hear underlying sarcasm in her tone. She sounded upset about it.

“Oh god,” I rolled my eyes, “Not you too.” I groaned.

It took me a second to realize what I had said. And I slapped my hands over my mouth. I snatched the chips out of her hand and started to speed walk out of the aisle. But, to my surprise, Leah laughed. Not like the sarcastic one before, this one sounded genuine. It was a quiet, small laugh.

“I know what you mean kid,” I’m pretty sure I’m older than her. “I felt that way before I joined the pack.” She opened her mouth to say more but stopped herself. She peeked her head around the aisle to look at the old man behind the counter, and the various other shoppers. Mr. Barker was blissfully unaware of us, too occupied with his game of solitaire. She turned back to me and grinned for a split second, it threw me off for a second.

“Do you wanna talk about this at my house?” She gestured behind her with her thumb. Her face was unreadable again.

Oh.

OH.

I felt my heartbeat speed up, just a little. A pretty girl just invited me to her house. What do I do?! I felt my brain moving at lightning speed, trying to come up with a response that didn’t make me sound like a total dork. I prayed that I wasn’t sweating.

“Uh, sure!” I beamed. Nailed it.

She gave a small—noticeably strained— smile, I was sure that she saw through me without any trouble. But to be fair, she’s very intimidating. I mean, she could tear me in half like wet paper—the same went for all of the pack to be honest— and she’d look pretty doing it. I cleared my throat and tucked the chips under my arm. Being careful not to crush them. We went to pay for our stuff quickly, I’m sure the old man could sense my internal panic because he sent me the most heartwarming smile. Stupid old man and his silly mustache. I smiled back of course, before hurrying to meet Leah at the door.

She opened the door, stepping out into the cool air. The rain must have started when I went inside, it wasn’t pouring thankfully. I watched as Leah stepped out into the cold rain with no trouble as if it didn’t even phase her.

I suppressed a gasp as I watched, the water was evaporating as soon as it touched her skin, coming off as mist.

Incredible.

I guess I hadn’t paid much attention to how warm all the members of the pack were. Thinking back on it, I’m pretty sure Jacob did the same thing in the rain. The water had evaporated from his skin as soon as it had touched him. I hadn’t processed it then, with my mind being so preoccupied, I thought I was just seeing things.

I pried my eyes away from Leah. It was rude to stare. But as soon as I did, she laughed quietly to herself, before leading the way to her house. I wasn’t as sneaky as I thought.

The walk to her house was quiet, with nothing but the rain and the sound of cars filling the air. It was hard for me to tell if the silence was awkward or not. I couldn’t see her expression, as she was a few paces in front of me. Damn, she walked fast. She didn’t say anything for the duration of the walk, but thankfully it was short. We made our way up to the front door, she unlocked it quickly. It took a harsh shove for the door to open, it creaked loudly in protest. Leah groaned and held the door open for me. Waving her arm as a gesture for me to go in.

I was getting a lot of deja-vu from when Bella came over. I’m pretty sure I did the same thing. And just like Bella, I sheepishly made my way into the home. Taking in as much as I could, I watched my every step. Leah walked past me, and I followed her instinctively.

She led me to the living room, I repressed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know if I was ready to go into her room. That felt a little too personal. She gestured for me to take a spot on the couch next to her. I carefully sat down, feeling the couch creak a bit. She sighed, before turning to make eye contact with me. I resisted the urge to shy away from her intense gaze.

“So, Jake still hasn’t told you huh?” Leah started, “I guess it makes sense since he’s still got that obsession with the leech-lover.” Her tone was malicious, she didn’t try to hide her disdain for Jacob, and whoever the “leech-lover” was.

“Leech-lover?” I questioned, why would someone like leeches?

She paused and looked back at me. A sense of realization crossed her features, and she grinned.

“Bella, the vampire girl.” She explained. I nodded my head, humming in affirmation. I had almost forgotten about the fact that vampires existed too. And that Bella used to date one.

Wait. Vampires. Does that? Mean what I think?

“Wait, the Cullens were vampires. Did they… eat people?” My voice wavered at the thought, were they responsible for the unexplainable deaths in the area? How many people of Forks had they eaten?

Leah noticed my concern and shook her head.

“No, the Cullens were… vegetarians. They ate animals instead.” She said that like she didn’t believe it, as if it were blasphemy.

“Oh. Okay, that’s a relief.” I sighed, “So there aren’t vampires running ramped through the streets anymore?” I giggled. Leah’s eyes darted away from mine. Oh god.

“Well, not the streets.” She sounded very reluctant to say that. I felt the color drain from my face, my eyes widened, and my breath hitched. There were still vampires? That wasn't the Cullens. They weren’t vegetarian. Leah saw my face and quickly retracted her statement. “No! No! It’s just one and we’ve got her under control.”

“Under control? So what you’ve got her like locked in your basement or something?” I barked out a strained laugh, trying to deflect my anxiety with humor.

“No,” she laughed, before fixing her face to look stoic again. “We’ve managed to chase her off the border, but we can’t figure out what she wants.” So she wasn’t just trying to kill everyone in sight? Good. Great. Cool.

She inhaled and shook her head lightly, “But that’s not what I brought you here for.” She started.

I perked up at this. Finally, I’d get some damn answers. I was confident that Leah wouldn’t be as cryptic as the others. Her blunt nature gave me a sense of security. I knew she would tell me the truth.

“So, did Sam,” she paused at his name, but I didn’t question it. She cleared her throat and continued. “Did Sam ever tell you about imprinting?” She asked.

“Imprinting? Like that thing ducks do to their moms?” What did that have to do with me? The last time I checked they weren’t ducks.

“Sort of. But it’s kind of different in our case. So, well- I… ugh” She stuttered over her words for a moment, “How do I explain this?” She sat there for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Before she inhaled and started again.

“When we imprint, it’s like, the whole world stops. As soon as you set your eyes on your imprint, the world stops rotating for anyone else. They are the only thing that matters, you would do anything, be anything for them. It’s a kind of devotion like no other. And there’s no escaping it.”

She didn’t sound too happy about it, now and then her eyes would narrow. I really wanted to see what was going on in her head.

I was starting to connect the dots in my head, so did this mean Jacob imprinted? On who.

Bella. Of course. Obviously, it was Bella.

I barked a laugh, “Of course.” Leah looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue.

“Jacob imprinted on Bella!” I could faintly hear her groan, but I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to care. “He imprinted on Bella, but he’s mad she doesn’t like him back so he ended up taking it out on me! Ugh, it all makes sense now.” The way Bella clearly didn’t want me around Jacob, the way he’d always protect her, the fact that he wouldn’t stop pining over her even though she didn’t want him. Of course, it was so blatantly obvious to me now.

Leah sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose disappointedly. I was taken aback, was that not what happened? I glanced out the window, it was getting late. I sighed and picked up my stuff. I got up to leave but Leah stopped me.

“Hey wait, that’s not what happened.” She started, then who was it?

“Jacob didn’t imprint on Bella, he imprinted on-” She was cut off by a loud BANG.

We both whipped our heads to the door, where a young Seth Clearwater stood panting. He barged in frantically and started to shake Leah.

“Leah! We gotta go one of the Cullens is back and Bella’s gonna go to Italy and get them back and Jakes freaking out and, Oh hi [Y/N],” He stopped for a second to acknowledge my presence, but I was still trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

He opened his mouth to continue, but Leah held up a hand and got up from the couch.

“[Y/N], you go home. I’ll catch up with you later.” She ordered, I didn’t have time to say anything before she and Seth hurried out the back door. I jumped from the couch and watched as they ran into the forest, I could see clothes tearing, and fur sprouting. I marveled at the two new wolves, watching them in awe as they darted into the trees.

I grabbed my stuff and hurried out the front door. The rain wasn’t quite pouring, but it would be a pain to walk in. I hurried down the street, trying to avoid the puddles. They splashed violently against my shins, dampening my pants. I cursed but continued.

It took me a long longer than I liked to make it back to my house. I was regretting not just taking my car, but walking was good for me and I needed to save gas. Courtesy of my mother. I stomped to the front door, my wet shoes making small puddles on the porch. I fumbled with my keys, and hurriedly unlocked the door. The house was dark and noticeably empty. Mom’s car was gone, and all the lights were off.

I flicked on a few lights as I made my way inside, but as I set my keys down my eyes caught something.

A brown leather jacket was hanging on the coat rack, it was way too big to be my mom's. And I knew it wasn’t mine. My heart raced, my eyes widened, and my mouth fell agape. Someone was in my house.

I scanned the area around me before my eyes landed on the hallway closet.

Bat! We had a bat in there just in case, and mom called me paranoid. I opened the door as quietly as I could, grabbing the bat quickly. My cold hands wrapped around the hardwood tightly. My knuckles turned white with the death grip I had on the poor stick. I slowly made my way through the house, turning corners quickly, with the bat raised to swing.

I felt a presence behind me, I was sure whoever it was could hear my heart pounding, and my breath hitching. I felt a large hand touch my shoulder gently.

I whipped around and swung the bat with all my strength. It made a sound CRACK as it met its target.

“Hey! What was that for?” I recognized that voice. I knew that voice so well, it was the voice I was praying to hear for weeks.

“Jacob?!” My hands fumbled for the light switch, I squinted as I turned it on. But I was able to see the boy in front of me now. Lo and behold, Jacob stood in front of me, like a giant brick wall. But he didn’t look like Jacob. His eyes were darker, heavy bags hanging beneath them. His skin was de-saturated, giving him a sickly look. His hair was messy, and his clothes were raggedy. I stepped back a bit.

“Jake, what are you doing here? How did you get in my house?! Why were you just waiting with the lights off?!” This didn’t make any sense, he avoided me for weeks, and then shows up in my house all creepy? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand this boy. I untensed my shoulders, and sighed.

He looked away for a moment, he looked embarrassed. “You weren’t here, and I heard Leah say you were at her house so I thought I’d wait here for you. I didn’t think you’d let me in soaking wet.” Of course, Jacob knew where the spare key was. So he wouldn’t have had any trouble getting in without committing a crime. I sighed and looked him in the eyes.

The air was tense, we both just stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time. Neither of us knew what to say.

“I heard what you and Leah were talking about.” Jacob blurted. It caught me off guard before I remembered about their whole wolf telepathy. I huffed. I had so many things I wanted to say, but putting them into words was impossible. I thought of everything at once, before just meshing them all into one.

“Why?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so vague, but Jacob looked at me with a guilty expression. It was clear he understood, he knew exactly what I was asking without me even having to say it. I tried not to let it show, but I was trying not to cry. I thought of everything that happened the past few weeks, it felt like it had been years since I saw Jacob. Really saw him.

Within a month I had lost my best friend, fucked up my arm, had my perception of reality shattered, and now my long lost best friend broke into my house. And I still don’t know who he imprinted on.

I sighed and shook my head. “Why did you cut me off, Jacob? What did I do? Was it something I said? Or did I make you upset? Whatever I did I’m sorry-” I started to ramble, I couldn’t even look at him as I choked the words out of my mouth. I had told myself I was ready for this confrontation, but just thinking about it made my eyes swell with tears. I tried not to let my breath hitch.

Jacob looked guilty again, grimacing and looking down. When he looked back at me, he sighed. He held my face gently and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“[Y/N] I’m sorry please dont cry.” It was clear he didn’t know how to comfort me, but he was trying his best. I pushed his hands away harshly and wiped my face with my sleeves.

“I’m not crying, you’re crying.” I hid my face in my hands, trying to calm myself down. I heard him huff and take a step back. When I was ready, I made eye contact again. I didn’t care if I looked like a trainwreck. My hair was frizzy and messy from the rain, my eyes were now puffy from the tears, and I could only assume the bags under my eyes were prominent.

“Well? Are you going to answer?” I demanded, I don’t think it was wrong of me to want some damn answers.

He grimaced, and looked away. His eyebrows furrowed, scrunching together in thought. I watched the way his eyes darted around for a second, I analyzed his every move to try and figure out what would come next. I was waiting for the bad news, for some terrible fate to come crashing down on me. I was waiting for him to look me in the eye and tell me he hated me.

His gaze hardened, and his eyebrows scrunched up. The way they moved seemed harsher this time, more hostile.

“I had no other choice. I won't get you wrapped up in this.” His voice was firm, unwavering. His eyes were dark, completely unreadable. I felt them burn into my skin even as I looked away.

“It’s a little late for that Jake.” I mumbled. His huffed, and I saw his jaw tense. His upper lip curled up slightly, in a menacing snarl.

It was frightening.

I told myself I wasn’t going to be afraid of him. He didn’t hurt me on purpose, I just happened to be standing too close.

But as the boy in front of me shook again, I shook too. My heart pounded against my ribs, I pulled air into my lungs violently. My lungs burned from the force of my breaths. My eyes widened, and I took a tentative step back. I tried my best to hold a tough exterior. But it was obvious how easily Jacob saw through me.

He stopped, and blinked. His cold exterior fell for a second, showing the warm, sweet boy I knew before.

But as soon as it was dropped, he caught himself. I blinked and it was back, sending a shiver down my spine. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, holding his breath for a few seconds.

He let out a long exhale, and opened his eyes again. His calm and cool mask was back, no doubt hiding the anger I knew he was feeling.

But he deserved to be upset, after all that transpired. I failed to see where I could have possibly been wrong. What I could have possibly done to piss him off this much.

“I came to say goodbye.” He spoke, his voice didn’t waver for a second. His eyes didn’t move from mine, his unrelenting gaze intimidated me.

“What? Wait why are you leaving?” I asked, I didn’t try to hide my emotions this time. I was baffled, he’s leaving again?

“I just… have to. I’m sorry but this is the way it has to be.” My fat fucking ass it is.

“No it’s not, Jacob stop trying to run away from your problems!” I shouted, “What did I do to you? Why are you doing this to me?” I was frantic now, raising my voice at him.

“Goodbye.” He gave a curt nod, and turned around, making his way to the front door. I tried to grab at his shoulder to stop him but it was no use. He pushed forward, completely unaffected by my feeble attempts to hold him back.

He didn’t so much as glance at me as he opened the door, it gave a loud creek in response to being ripped open so suddenly.

I watched as he walked down the front steps of my porch, into the pouring rain.

I was vividly reminded of the first time he did this to me.

The first time Jacob had ripped my heart out of my chest, crushing it beneath his big stupid feet.

I stood in silence.

Not this time. I wouldn’t chase after him this time.

#jacob black #the twilight saga #angst no comfort #jacob black x reader #bisexual panic #mommy issues #jake is being an ass #originally posted on ao3

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the-hinky-panda · 2 years

Text

The Tremont Tempest: Chapter 5

Warnings: Descriptions of a sexual assault.

Jonas Bronck Park

17 months ago

Mike has no idea what he’s looking for but what else is new? He’s been chasing leads, losing witnesses left and right to either pay offs or hits, and still healing from the wounds of his undercover failure. The blood loss had been significant but fixed relatively easily with a transfusion. The stab wounds missed major arteries and organs, leaving only muscle damage, which he’s still doing to physical therapy to regain his fitness. Speaking of fitness, his legs are burning at the moment as he treks off trail in one of the many wooded parks in the Bronx. One of his contacts told him he should head out here, have a look around…

He looks at the compass on his phone, the longitude latitude numbers as he wanders through the woods. He comes to a stop on a ridge in the middle of the woods, standing at the exact coordinates. It’s the early morning, three thirty to be exact. He checks his notes from the informant.

“Look for the broken tree.”

He turns the flashlight on on his phone and shines it around the area. About five feet in front of him, it lands on a tree that had been blown over, the trunk snapped and jagged. He goes over to it and continues to shine his flashlight around the area. Down from the tree in a small flat area, he sees something hanging on a tree branch. He climbs down the embankment and as he gets closer, he sees multiple things. Scraps of clothing, probably sixty or seventy pieces of cloth. No. Not just cloth.

Underwear.

He crosses himself. “Dios mio.”

He takes pictures of the tree, tries to get as many up close pictures of the underwear that he can. A fucking rape tree. As if he needed another reason for wanting BX9 out of the Bronx for good. Anger carries him out of the park and back to his apartment. He’s trying to figure out who he can report the tree to that won’t bury this evidence. Who hasn’t Oscar Papa paid off in the NYPD? There was a detective over the Bronx SVU, what was his name? Pluto? Fido? It was a dog’s name, Mike remembers that. He was one that was making noise over there, pointing fingers at inept and crooked cops. He might be a good one.

He gets back to his apartment, unlocks the four out of the five deadbolts on his door, picks up the paper, and then clears his home. He needs to look up the name of that detective, see if he can meet with him, talk to him, feel him out to see if there is a bite to his bark. He googles Bronx detective whistleblower and immediately the name Terry Bruno pops up. Bruno, that’s it. Next, he goes through his contacts until he finds the number for Bronx SVU and calls. Two rings and an automated message comes on: Thank you for calling the Bronx SVU. At this time, we are experiencing an influx of phone calls and wait times may vary from sixty to ninety minutes. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911. If this is not an emergency, please remain on the line until an available officer can speak with you.

Sixty to ninety minutes? What the hell is happening down there? As soon as the thought crosses his mind, the answer is immediately provided by the newspaper headline: Detective Terry Bruno files lawsuit against Bronx SVU for wrongful termination. Mike’s eyes zero in on the ax that slices through his only lifeline, termination. Bruno isn’t even a detective there anymore. The SVU is going to be scrambling trying to cover their tracks right now. Piles of evidence is most likely being dumped into the incinerator which is why no one is answering the phone.

“Fuck.”

He ends the call and fights the urge to throw it against the wall. He rubs his hands over his face, his fingers slipping down to the new tattoo on the side of his neck. He had just gotten it last week. It had been Gabby’s birthday and he wanted to do something to memorialize her because no one else in the neighborhood was going to do anything for some stripper in a sticky floored bar. He had the tattoo placed there, the point on his neck where her head always inevitably fell, even after death when he held her on the blood-slicked kitchen floor. Now, he presses the pads of his fingers into the still sore skin.

What is he doing wrong? What does he need to do differently? Or is he just destined to fail no matter what?

***

Bronx River High School

Later that day

You had just finished a tenth grade class where students were doing peer edits of their final essays on symbolism found in “The Tempest.” You had helped guide discussions, modeled how to properly and kindly critique others' work. The students had been responsive, some even grateful, for the chance to fine tune their writing before submitting a final version at the end of the week. You were saying your goodbyes to the students when Dr. Caban stepped into your room. One of your new students, a young man named Albert, stops by Dr. Caban and gives him a wary look.

“Albert, have you met our principal, Dr. Caban yet?”

He shakes his head. “No, teach.”

Dr. Caban extends his hand. “Albert, very nice to meet you. Welcome to Bronx River High.”

Albert cautiously takes the offered hand. “Thanks.”

“Albert’s writing about the symbolism of Prospero’s books in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest,’” you add. “He makes some very solid points and explains them well. He’s quite a strong writer.”

Caban smiles kindly. “You’ll have to share your final revision with me, Albert. She doesn’t praise student’s writing very often. In fact,” he winks, “ you should hear what she says about the writing in my emails.”

Albert nods. “Alright, okay. I’ll, uh, I’ll send you my final essay.”

Albert leaves and Caban motions to him. “Bright boy.”

“He is, very much so. He just came to New York from El Salvador. His attendance is still shaky but he could just be becoming used to the routine here. I’m keeping an eye on him. He has a lot of potential.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, if you have a minute.”

If it were anyone else, that phrase would make you nervous. But you’ve known and worked with Dr. Caban since the start of your teaching career. He’s seen you from the first day in the classroom, through your cancer treatments, your divorce, and your rise to the English department head. “Of course. What do you need?”

“More teachers like you,” he responds kindly. “Actually, more administrators like you. Our Dean of Students is taking an admin position over in Brooklyn Heights next year. I would like to see you fill the role.”

You’re stunned. You had gotten your administrative certificate just as a fallback, a just in case kind of career plan. You never intended to leave the classroom. But you know Dr. Caban wouldn’t ask you to make this move if he didn’t think you would do well in it. “I, uh, I don’t know what to say.”

“The pay would be more, the benefits would be better. But I want you there because the students love you. They’ll listen to a dean that they feel will hear them.”

“But I love to teach.”

“I know, and you’re excellent at it. But when opportunities to move forward, to move up, are presented to you, you should take them.” He gives you a wide smile. “Besides, when have I ever steered you wrong?”

He had a point. “Alright, I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

Something feels off about the exchange. Dr. Caban had always encouraged you to follow your gut whenever it came to teaching a concept or interacting with a student. His response now seems pushy, maybe even…no, you’re just not comfortable with the idea of being in a more administrative position. You remind yourself of the idea that you teach to your students: growth only occurs when you’re uncomfortable.

***

You feel like a teenager again as you get up the next morning and get ready for work. For once, the clearing of your apartment last night resulted in no findings. No notes, no bottles of wine. All that Mike found was a blanket on the couch that you forgot to fold and a couple dirty dishes in the sink that you were too tired to clean. You and Mike had enjoyed the food from the Havana Cafe and the bottle of wine while sitting on your couch.

You fix your hair, twisting the riotous curls into a dignified style to keep your hair from getting in your face while remembering how Mike’s hands felt sliding through the curls last night. The broad span of his palms as they held your cheeks, the pads of his fingers pressing into your scalp. It seems like a shame to slide lipstick on, wanting to preserve the feel of Mike’s lips on yours. You’d never been kissed like you had been last night.

Mike kissed like he did everything else, with complete focus, conviction, and passion. It had been so long since someone had not only kissed you, but kissed you like they wanted you. All of you. It had been overwhelming and heady. There was an undercurrent of excitement that ran through your body, the kind that you hadn’t felt for such a long time. You wanted to feel it again. But before things progressed past the kissing, his phone had rung and he had been called back to the precinct. He had said he was going to try to make it into the school this afternoon but you don’t know how far into the night he had to work. So you ready yourself for your day with slightly trembling hands and a silly grin on your face.

You make your way into the office, opening your door and are immediately greeted by half the Manhattan squad of SVU. Captain Benson is back and introduces a new face, Sargent Tutuola. Your cousin Terry saunters in, takes one look at you, and grins. Doctor Caban is the last person to join you all in your office and he shuts the door for privacy. Of course it’s your cousin who outs you in front of everyone that’s gathered for the debriefing.

“Well, who is he?” Terry asks.

You shuffle papers on your desk. “Mind your own damn business, Ter.”

“He, who?” Dr. Caban asks.

You shake your head. “Nothing. Detective Bruno is my cousin and likes to instigate things.”

“I mean if you’re seeing someone,” Terry continues, “we should probably know who it is. For the investigation’s sake.” He ends the sentence with a shit-eating grin.

“I plead the fifth, thank you.”

Benson speaks up. “I do think we should know if you’re dating someone. It’ll give us someone else to talk to, maybe they’ve noticed something you haven’t.”

You sit down behind your desk and hold Benson’s eye for a beat longer than necessary. “We’ve already discussed this.”

She nods once in understanding but the downturn of her mouth tells you what she thinks of the situation. Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything else about it. “Alright, this is what we have so far. All the notes and the wine bottle didn’t have fingerprints on them. The paper is cardstock that is found throughout this school and many others in the state. We do have the video of the woman from the convenience store.”

Caban pushes his glasses up his nose. “There was a woman at a convenience store?”

Benson nods. “ Yes, the bodega owner has the person who bought the wine on video but he didn’t recognize her from the neighborhood. Velasco and Muncy are trying to identify her as we speak. Fin, you and Bruno went out to Long Island to talk to Charles Murrary yesterday afternoon. Anything come from that?”

“I could have saved you a trip out to Long Island,” you say. “Charlie and I still talk from time to time. He’s a little too busy and quite happy with his wife and four kids to care about me.”

Terry shoots you a pointed look and grimace but neither one of you says anything. You know his feelings about Charlie and how things shook out after your cancer diagnosis. You can only imagine how that interview went yesterday. Maybe you should shoot Charlie a text to see how badly Terry questioned him and see if you need to smooth any ruffled feathers.

“So here’s what I’d like to do next,” Benson adds. “Dr. Caban and I will go over a list of teachers and staff to see if any of them stand out as possible suspects. Bruno and Fin can brainstorm with you to come up with any other people that you may have noticed hanging around you lately. Someone from the neighborhood, parents, store clerks.”

You nod. “Okay, sounds good.”

Caban gives you a light touch on your shoulder and a smile before following Benson out of your office. He closes the door behind them and Terry immediately leans forward in his chair.

“Who’s the new guy?”

Before you can shoot off a retort, Fin interjects. “I don’t want to get in the middle of family issues here, but I’m with Bruno. It might be helpful to know who the new boyfriend is.”

You drop the pen that you had been fidgeting with onto the desk. “Fine but I don’t even know how serious this thing is yet.”

“Fine,” Terry agrees, “I’ll hold off on the background and credit check. Who is he?”

“It’s Mike.”

“Duarte?” Terry prompts.

“Yeah,” you confirm.

“Well shit,” Fin sits back in his chair. “Liv isn’t going to like that.”

“Liv and I have already had a conversation about how Mike isn’t the stalker. He’s had multiple opportunities to take advantage of me and hasn’t done one thing that raises a concern.”

Terry sighs. “To be fair, you did marry Charlie.”

Fin shrugs. “What happened with you and Charlie? Cuz over here got real quiet when I asked him why the two of you divorced.”

You’re surprised that Terry didn’t blast Charlie when Fin asked about him. Terry’s opinion of your first husband always had been less than stellar. “Charlie and I just…wanted different things.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Terry mutters.

“Look,” Fin starts, “I know this is tough. Having all of us here, digging into your life, your past, it’s invasive. But having someone stalk you is dangerously invasive. The more information, even the embarrassing things, can help us.”

“On a professional level,” Terry says, “anything you say in here stays between us. We might see something in the information that you don’t. And trust me, we’ve heard worse than what happened with you and Charlie.”

You pick up the pen again and click it a few times. “Alright, fine. Charlie and I met in college. We were both education majors. We got married two days after graduation, he went to work at an elementary school, and I came here to teach. Two years later, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Between the hysterectomy and chemo treatment, I obviously couldn’t have any children of my own. Charlie always wanted children but I couldn’t give them to him. So we divorced.”

Fin motions for you to continue. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. He met his current wife at the elementary school. She’s a kindergarten teacher and was able to give him his…legacy.”

“Duarte’s looking pretty good now, isn’t he?” Terry quips.

“No shit,” Fin agrees.

“So that’s why I don’t think it’s Charlie,” you state. “Charlie has exactly what he’s always wanted. There’s no reason whatsoever for him to stalk me.”

Terry stands. “Well, maybe Benson and Caban can come up with some names for us to track down. But until then-”

“I’ll keep in touch,” you promise.

***

Mike looks down at his phone and smiles as he takes another sip of bourbon.

Teenagers and Shakespeare do not mix well. God love them for doing their best though.

He had been tied up with leads, strategizing, and paperwork all afternoon that he never made into the school today. He had been afraid after last night you would take his disappearance personally. God, he didn’t want to leave last night. Everything had been perfect for once. Nothing had been found in the apartment, the food was excellent, it was the first time he had felt like he could breath. And then you stole it away from him when you kissed him.

He had texted you about the day getting away from him and you had messaged back that you were facing similar circumstances. The principal that was supposed to show up for the Shakespeare play this evening had to cancel due to a sick baby at home so the duty of attending fell to you. So he opted to have a drink at the Bronx Beer Hall while exchanging text messages with you.

What play is it?

Taming of the Shrew. There’s a pause. At least I think that’s what this is.

Any plays you’ll need to attend on Saturday night?

Nope, no theater productions are being held on Saturday. What do you have in mind?

I was just thinking I could go for some Italian.

Oh really? I was thinking of trying some more Cuban.

He smiles. I guess the kids aren’t the only lousy acts this evening.

I suppose not. I don’t know if you’re ready for Bella Luna yet.

Why not?

My Aunt runs it. Terry’s mom, Carla. She’ll throw you in the meat locker in the back and interrogate you.

Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s done that.

What?!

Long story. Sounds better with a good bottle of wine. I’ll be back in school tomorrow and we can settle on where to go on Saturday.

Ok. The lights just came up. Oh dear God, it’s only intermission. I may pull the fire alarm.

That’s premeditation now. Better find another way.

“Well, you look happy.”

Mike looks up from his phone and sees Benson standing next to his chair. “Captain. To what do I owe this visit?”

She orders a glass of wine as she takes the barstool next to him. “A friendly warning.”

All good naturedness bleeds out of him. “Alright then.”

“Dr. Caban is convinced that you are the stalker.”

That doesn’t surprise him. “Dr. Caban was against me coming into the school in the first place. He’s been looking for a reason to get me kicked out. Let me guess,” he drains his glasses and motions for a second one, “you agree with him.”

“Actually, I don’t.” She laughs humorlessly. “I talked to a lot of teachers and students today and they all spoke very highly of you. Those kids in that school love Mr. Mike.”

He smiles at the nickname the students have come to refer to him. “Alright, so the staff and kids vouched for me. I already know that Caban is gunning for me. What’s the warning?”

She fiddles with the stem of the wineglass. “The way that Caban was gunning for you, wanting me to focus on you and only you, it was odd.”

Mike leans back on the barstool. “You think he’s the stalker?”

“Him or maybe his son. I have Velasco looking at Caban’s family, see if he has a sister. Muncy is reaching out to some gang contacts to see if the son has been approached by BX9 or if he’s involved, it’s just a solitary fixation.”

Mike stares down in the amber liquid and sighs. “If the Cabans are involved in this, it’s going to break her heart. Caban was her mentor when she was student teaching. She equates everything she learned about teaching to him.”

“Betrayal never comes from enemies.”

That is certainly true. “Amen.”

“Where is she tonight?”

He picks up his phone and turns it over. There are no new texts from you but it could be that the second act has started. “She’s at the Shakespeare play at the school. It should end in another hour.”

Benson pulls out her phone. “I can have Fin or Bruno make sure she gets home safely.”

“I can finish this off and go see her home, that’s fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” It’s an excellent excuse to surprise you at the school, to see you again.

She finishes her glass of wine and reaches for her purse. “Are you sure I can’t drop you at the school?”

“Nah,” he waves her off and finishes his drink. “I’ll walk. It’s not that far. And the play should be letting out by the time I make it there.”

“Okay, well, let me know if you change your mind.”

He throws some money down the bar to pay for both of their drinks. “Is this your way of apologizing to me?”

Benson opens her mouth but closes it as she rethinks her answer. “It’s not so much an apology as it is…an understanding. You’re right. The Bronx is a completely different animal compared to Manhattan. But talking to those students today, you guys are making a difference in those kids' lives. It may not be the way I would deal with the problem, but at least the problem is being dealt with.”

“Well, if that’s the closest I get to an apology tonight,” he grabs his phone and stands up from the barstool, “then I will sleep soundly.”

Benson laughs and shakes her head. “Just know that I wish Terry’s cousin the best of luck with you.”

He laughs as well. “Well, thank goodness she’s used to dealing with people with behavioral issues.”

He sees Benson to the towncar and waves her off for the night before heading down to the school. It’s early spring, the night is unusually warm, a positive reminder that warmer days are on the horizon. But he’s worried about what Benson told him about Caban. If Caban really were the stalker, it truly would devastate you. He had also looked into Caban’s son’s record and the boy was an upstanding citizen and student. He really hoped that Benson was wrong on this one. He passes by the bodega where the wine had been bought and catches sight of Roberto behind the counter. Checking his watch, he sees he still has some time to kill so he goes inside.

“Hey, Cap!”

“Hey, Roberto.” He doesn’t really need anything but knowing the news that he may need to break to you prompts him to do something he hasn’t done for six months. “Can I get a pack of reds?”

“Sure,” Roberto reaches around and grabs the pack of cigarettes. “I thought you gave these things up a while ago.”

Mike shrugs. “Old habits, I suppose.”

Roberto shrugs and starts to ring him up when the door opens and two teens in hoodies walk in. They both look at Mike and Roberto before moving towards the back of the store. Mike turns to Roberto who just nods and Mike sees one hand press the emergency call button under the counter and the other hand wraps around the handle of a baseball bat. Mike draws his weapon but keeps it at his side as Roberto comes from behind the counter.

“They might be letting their friends in from the back,” Mike says.

Roberto motions to the sidewalk in front of the store. “Let’s get out there at least.”

As soon as Mike reaches for the handle of the front door, it swings open as three more teens rush them. He manages to get off one shot but the flash of a machete comes down on his right hand and forces him to drop his gun. Roberto is swinging the bat as best he can in the confined space but Mike feels a blade cut into his arm, his shoulder, his back. He hits the ground as Roberto keeps swinging, trying to hold the teens at bay but Mike can see the blood dripping off Roberto as well.

He can hear the sirens in the distance and prays they reach them in time.

***

You were so happy to hear the last line of the play and see the lights come up in the auditorium. The kids made a very valiant attempt at tackling Shakespeare and you gave them props for that. But you were tired and ready to crawl into bed and sleep for at least a few hours before getting up and coming back tomorrow. You go back to your office to pick up your coat and purse when someone knocks on your door, causing you to jump.

“Oh,” you laugh, “Dr. Caban, you startled me.”

“Sorry about that,” he smiles easily at you. “I was hoping I could talk to you for a moment.”

“I’m very tired-”

“I understand. This won’t take long.”

“Okay,” you sigh and set your purse down on your desk. “What’s up?”

He closes the door behind him. “I really enjoyed the play tonight. Taming of the Shrew. It was always one of my favorites of Shakespeare.”

Your skin starts to prickle, your palms sweaty. “Really? I was always a fan of Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“You always do enjoy the more fantastical stories of literature, don’t you?”

“I suppose.”

Caban stops just a couple feet away from you. “What do you see in him? That Duarte guy?”

Something is terribly, terribly off at the moment, and you swallow down the bile that has risen to your throat. “I don’t understand-”

“Yes, you do.” He lays his hand over yours. “I can, I have offered you so much more than he ever could. I gave you your career, your skills, your positions. I put you in this office, next to me. You deserve everything that I’ve given you and more. And I can give it to you. If you let me.”

“Dr. Caban-” You try to slip your hand from his but his grip tightens to the point of pain.

“Just stop!” He closes his eyes and releases a breath through his nose. “Stop.”

“Please,” your eyes dart to the closed door. “Please, just let me go.”

He shakes his head. “I’ve watched you go every night for the last twelve years. I can’t do it anymore. Not after those clandestine lines from the Bard himself.”

“Please, just let me go.” You feel tears starting to form in your eyes, the buzz of adrenaline bursting through your veins. But Caban had an iron grip on both your arms now. You were wedged against the curve of the desk, your back against the hardwood with Caban pressing closer against the front of your body. He lays his cheek against yours, his lips against your ear as a tear slips from your eye.

“‘Tis a wonder,’” he whispers the last line of the play, “‘by your leave, she will be tamed so.’”

“I don’t…please, I don’t want this.”

“Oh, my fiery Kate, you don’t mean that.”

You’re shaking with fear, looking for any escape route when you hear voices in the outer office. Caban stiffens with surprise and you take the only chance at escaping this situation and yell for help. Caban’s hand cracks across your cheek with enough force you see stars momentarily and leaves you dazed. You manage to scream again which earns a second strike across your face but you’re able to hear the splintering of the door to your office as someone kicks it in.

“Hands where we can see them!”

There’s a scuffle around you before Caban is pulled away and you fall back against the desk. Before you can regain your balance, someone has your arms and is pushing you towards your office chair. You hear your name being repeated and recognize the voice speaking it.

“Terry…”

“Yeah, it’s me,” he says, his fingers skating over your face where Caban’s hand had struck you. “Are you okay?”

You nod numbly. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Did he-”

“No,” tears start to fall in earnest. “No, he didn’t.”

“Okay. Okay,” he looks behind him before refocusing on you. “We’re going to have to head over to the hospital.”

You take in a couple deep breaths. “I’m okay, I promise.”

Fin is standing at the door of your office. “Caban’s in handcuffs. I’ll wait for Velasco. Get her over to the hospital.”

You start to assure them both that you’re okay, just dazed and out of sorts when you catch the look in Terry’s eyes. “What else has happened?”

Terry sighs. “Mike was jumped along with a bodega owner tonight by BX9.”

#mike duarte x you #mike duarte x reader #mike duarte #captain mike durate #mike duarte fic #law and order: SVU fic #SVU fic

36 notes · View notes

lolitastories · 2 years

Text

————Maybe————

Description:

You work alongside Matt and Foggy at the law firm. Of course as one of the most successful lawyer in the city the one and only Tony Stark would recruit you. As you are trying to find a meaning of your life you find life in someone. It’s may be a rocky start for you two but maybe it’s worth taking.

Chapter 4:

I agreed with Tony when he offered so kindly for me to stay. I roam the room for the whole day because he says I should get better before doing any work. But he promised to get as much information on the case as possible. Now it was the next day. Nat got some clothes brought to the tower and thank god for that. “ Tony what do we have?” I received a message from tony saying he wanted me to meet him this morning in the conference room

“Goodmorning to you too, am doing good thanks”

“Goodmorning Stark. Glad you’re doing well. Can we get on with the man's murder?” I sat down next to him. He places a folder infront of me. “So the man in the picture was his uncle?”

“Yes. The marking doesn’t go back any further than that. The uncle was questioned but nothing. He only told the detective it was a family tattoo” Bullshit. It has to do more than that. If not than the muder is trying to set up false leads and if that's the case than we are back to square one.

“No. It can’t be nothing. The two other men found with him were not family related. They as far as we know were friends. No job relation so either they messed with the wrong crowd or all three won the lottery for a straight ride to death.” That sounds like bad buiness. “I guess we are going to have to question him”

“We are going to be on the radar. Then we both will be kicked out the case” Tony sips his drink and I smirk towards him.

“Say we see him in a public setting and just start talking” I shrug. “And if they say anything about us bring up the case than I have a good lawyer you can call”

“Sure has gotten me out of the worst” He moves to stand taking the envelope in his arms. “But you are not going. Not leaving this tower until they catch this guy or people” I don’t say anything but that caught his attention. “Why is that smirk still plastered in your face?”

“Well Mr. Stark.” I stand place a hand on his shoulder “You know eitheir way I wasn’t going to follow your instructions but turns out this time it is not for my benefit.” its true. When someone forbids me to do something It just makes me want to do it more and I will find a way. “Steve has a ticket he needs resolved and for that I need to show up in court”

“You can always give them a call?”

“And that's how you think I got in good standing with the judge? Tony you should know better than anyone that the way to people is facing them face to face” I walk out going to find steve.

“Just know that I am letting you go! Not you! And take Bucky with you!” I roll my eyes as I continue walking. I have to find Steve so we can get this meeting over with. Yesterday I tried to take care of it over the phone but these people in the court just don’t like being nice. I know it's the kind of job they are in and it's not their fault. People can be a pain and the pressure they place on them is big but damn, can’t they just get a message through?

“Lets go Steven, we got that appointment at 10”

“I thought you were supposed to be a good lawyer, good enough to not have your client go to court” I am just going to ignor his words. Ignore, ignore. The soon we get back the sooner Bucky will be plastered outside whatever room I am in. I take the passenger seat all the way down to the court house. I could feel the stare in the back of my head and the thick tension was felt too.

“Don’t speak a word, we will be out in 3 minutes tops” We walk in and walk straight into our appointment. “Goodmorning Judge”

“Hey!” when she looks at me her eyes recognize me. “I didn’t see you on the defence paper”

“It was short notice, this guy over here wasn't even in my roster.”

“I see Tony got you a lot of clients” We laugh before she continues “So let's get started so running a light”

“Yes. Even america’s captain makes mistakes”

“Sure do. Everyone does. And you must know that just because he has saved us from many attacks, he still broke a law”

“Totally understand your honor” I notice Steve about to lift his hand when I slap it away.

“But knowing you are now in charge of this guy, I know you will take care of it” She hands the folder over to the officer beside him “How are the boys?”

“Still living it day by day. I tell you I thought working for them would be easier but thank god Karen is there to keep me sane most of the week”

“I understand” she points her head at the officer beside her laughing. “Well you go and take care of this troublemaker” With that we are sent out. Check the time, 3 minutes.

“Where is Bucky?” I look behind us and he is not following us. So much for a guard dog. We look around until we see him out the glass door in a cop car. Fuck. Now to save this other soilder. “Can you get him out in 3 minutes?” I wanted to tell him we could always go home. But I am more excited to see his face when I solve his problem.

“I can figure it out in 1” We head out. “Why would he get arrested? Who is he really Steve?”

“Quick story, we were stationed together in the 40s. Right when I became Captain America. His group was captured. Red Skull, and we rescued them. Later we were at war again on a train and he fell. We thought he was dead until recently. We got a word about someone with the alias, The Winter Soilder. He was an assassin, brainwashed to Hydra's favors. He was doing that for the longest and I had no Idea of it. There was a whole controversy with Stark but now he is all better. He went to Wakanda and the programming on his head was gone” In the use of words I know he was holding things back. Maybe to protect Bucky or because I know him being his bestfriend and not being able to help him while he was suffering for so long did affect him too.

“So is he in god standing with Tony?” I am not good in situations like these. I can’t speak on what has happened because it has nothing to do with me. While it comes to Steve feeling guilty well, It sometimes best to let people heal.

“For the most part. He accepted him as part of the team so we call that a start” I laugh a little. We finally got to the station. “Goodmorning. We are here for James Barnes” The front lady awkwardly typed in her computer. I watch the interaction between her and Steve. She was nervous. The golden boy himself was standing infront of her.

“Yes. He was taken in just a couple minutes ago. I'm sorry but I can’t give you any deta-” I cut her off by setting my card infront of her.

“I am his lawyer.” Simple and short. I need to get out of here. I hate police stations, and hospitals, also resturants but that is besides the point.

“Of course. Give me one second” She walks back through a door. Well hell. My plan to make it a minute was failing. I look around trying to figure out who is involved. Bingo.

“Where are you going?” Steve says grabbing ahold or my wrist

“My one minute starts now” I say. I head myself down towards the sheriff. As I began talking I was texting back and forth in our group chat. Which included Karen, Foggy, and Matt. I figured out Bucky was in jail because he had violated his court ordered therapy session. I settled it and walked out with the Sherriff.

“I know If I ever need a fast lawyer I will contact you” I laugh as he sways my card around.

“I always do my best and thank you for being so kind” I shake his hand seeing as Bucky and Steve are waiting for me. “Is that a good enough lawyer for you?” I smirk at Bucky who would rather stab himself than look me in the eyes right now. “Let's get back to the tower. I need to talk to Tony” but of course nothing can be too simple.

“Mr. Barnes?” We all turn to take in the lady standing infront of us. “Session, Now” Bucky’s head turns towards me with a bigger smirk.

“I just got you out of Jail not mandatory therapy” I shrug. He huffs following the therapist. Steve and I sit outside waiting for him to be done.

“You got his order cleared didn’t you?” I nod. He didn’t have to go anymore to the therapy sessions but when he looked at me, I just had to do it. Well unless he decides to continue them, for his good I hope he does. I can’t even imagine how it was to suddenly live in a totally different place. He was in and out of the ice only to kill and now free of all that the only one he has is Steve. He didn’t get to see his family one last time.While we sit I make a few phone calls. Tony finished with the interview and was getting a couple of things together for when we arrived at the tower. I advised Matty and the team to hang back and not try to be more involved than they already were. I don’t need anything to happen to them just because I decided to continue on with the case. “Do you ever think one day in the future you would have a normal life?” What kind of question is that?

“Why? Is Captin America thinking of the white picken fence life?” He shruggs looking at his hands. “Deep down I know I want a family. Maybe 4 kids. 2 dogs. Big house that's big enough for us but with a lot of land. Maybe a couple of fruits growing everywhere.”

“But?”

“It's a future that is uncertain. I don’t like uncertainty, so I’d rather play it day by day” I keep hoping that one day I will find someone who stands me up enough, and live until our last breath. But I don’t know what will happen, so it's better not to speak and let things find its course.

“I hope you decide to come on your own, next time” Steve and I jump up hearing the door open from the therapist office. She pats Bucky’s back and he walks past me to stand next to Steve. “Can I speak to you?” I can feel their stares through my back as I just shake my head and follow her inside her office. “You haven’t been to see me in almost 2 weeks” She takes her seat on her chair pulling out her notepad.

“The past couple weeks have been busy. I tried my best but those two weeks were very difficult to take time for myself” Lie. I know I could make some time for atleast a 30 minute session but I didn’t want to stop by.

“Well now that you're here just answer me one question” Her pen clips and the point attaches to the paper ready to start writing. Fuck. “Since the last time we spoke we agreed you were going to contact your family, did you” There it was. The fucking question of the year for me.

“No. I still need time. I have a hard fight against myself but you know I will do it eventually. Soon”

“Let's not diagnose ourselves. You are very smart but sometimes coming up with our own explanation on why we do things will push us back from our actions.”

“Yes. Of course” I smile standing up. “It was nice to see you and I will certainly take your advice. '' With that I open the door and continue walking to freedom. I hate being talked to or criticted like I'm some child, atleast that's how I feel when I am in that room.

“I hope to see you soon too” I look down, walking past the boys out the entrance. We get into the car and drive off. The whole ride I spent looking outside the window. I wasn’t embarrassed about them knowing that I talked to a therapist, I just don’t like answering questions about my life that can be kept without saying.

“Y/N, Tony is waiting for you upstairs” I see Pepper holding on to her tablet like always. “Tony Spoke to the guy and of course denied everything but finally we were able to get something out of him. A couple years ago the guys nephew and the two other guys were suspect of a murder”

“Whose murder?”

A/N: I never saw myself fan-girling over anybody until Sebastian Stan came into my life. LIKE LOOK AT HIM.

#bucky #james buchanan barnes x yn #bucky fic #bucky x female reader #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky banres #james buchanan barnes #james barnes #tony stark #natasha romanoff #the avengers #Steve rodgers #bucky smut #bucky barnes x reader smut

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flower-of-zaun · 2 years

Note

Bruh can you stop incorrectly tagging shit. Tags exist for a reason. For people to find and sort content. What the fuck is the point if ur just gonna put whatever you want in whatever tag you want regardless of if it belongs or not. And before you come at me with the “it’s first person sweetie it counts :^)” yes I understand x reader shit can be in first person, but that was not the point the other anon was trying to get across they were trying to explain that it isn’t a reader insert if you fucking a whole character insert. That’s an oc. Not a blank reader template. You might have gotten that if you actually read their ask instead of getting nasty for literally no reason. I’ve had the same criticism with fic writers for years and I usually just ignore it and block like you told them! It’s easier for everyone! And while that anon may not have been rude to you initially, I will be before I block you since you decided to be nasty for no reason first, ignore a fair criticism, and double down on your incorrect tagging! Have lovely day! <3

I explained why I tag first person POV. There is very little character description. I’ve always tagged it and never had an issue. I’ve done this for years. In other fics on different sites I also haven’t updated the fic in MONTHS, so y’all are just low down in the tag and super mad for no reason. It came off as rude and I kinda said no the first time, they kept going. Y’all are either friends or the same person acting like someone else, bc I didn’t even tag these with anything fic tags lmfao. Someone saying “don’t tag this plz, I don’t agree with it” isn’t criticism. It’s requesting someone to do something.

Thanks for blocking me babes. I’d maybe take it into consideration of you were anon and being dumb loud over a tag 💀

Edit since y’all mad:

Description: gaining and losing weight, the length of your hair is showing time passing. Also hair plays into a massive plot point. Tattoos also play into it too.

Personality: who the fuck wants a basic ass self insert. You’re a little bad ass and you’re funny. Silco isn’t falling in love with some basic bitch. Still has relatable humor.

Backstory: it’s tragic and kind of cliché BUT It is a plot point. This isn’t basic Porn with Plot but a whole ass story where you’re building a relationship with people from your past and present. You are living in a fantasy world and you aren’t yourself…but stepping into this persons shoes and living their story. It still counts as reader. Sorry you have your OPINION on what x Reader should be. I never said you were wrong, it’s one of the ways of writing but ISNT THE ONLY WAY.

#lol daddy chill #I think it’s a skill issue if you’re this pressed over a tag #the flower rambles #the flower has angry anon requests

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dumfanting · 2 years

Text

Same Heart ch 14: The Bad Batch

AO3 Link

Rating: M mature

Warnings: description of injury

Word Count: 3259

This is another chapter I wrote by accident! Honest, I only meant to jot down some notes but I blinked and four hours had passed and this was written. Another happy accident I suppose!

F! Reader/ Echo (and Fives)

A long time has passed between your last conversation with Kix and where you are now.

You are aboard the Marauder, the ship used by Clone Force 99, and currently traveling through hyperspace. You’re in your bunk, and the curtain is drawn. A short time ago, when you had heard the transmission from Cody in which he said that he and Rex needed The Batch for a mission, your heart sank into your gut. You had tried to look calm and unaffected as you excused yourself into the bunks, but the glance Hunter had shot you made it clear that he knew something was wrong. Thankfully he hadn’t followed you right away, instead needing to respond to Cody.

In the semi-darkness of your curtained off bunk, you slip the glowing stone, which you’ve still never taken off except for showering, out from its hiding place under your under armor. The metal wires you had used to wrap the crystal into a pendant have tarnished and become slightly misshapen, but you ignore this and instead watch the purple-blue colors it projects onto the durasteel wall, trying to calm yourself down. You’ve been with the batch for a while now, and although the rest are typically understanding, Crosshair, the sniper, would jump at the opportunity to see you rattled and try to provoke you. You don’t know what his problem is with you, but you won’t give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. Not today. It takes some time, but you are eventually able to slow your breathing back to normal.

After a few minutes, the stone has done its job, and so you tuck it back into your under armor against your chest and out of sight. You draw your bunks' privacy curtain back and swing your legs out, accidentally kicking someone in the process. You quickly get to your feet and mumble an apology before trying to walk past them. Hunter, because of course it’s Hunter, firmly grips your shoulder and stops you from moving any farther. He says your name.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, a touch of concern peeking out from his gruff expression. You sigh; there is no point lying to him, he can always tell by your heartbeat or hormones if you were being dishonest. Although, you may be able to evade the question.

“I’ll be fine Sarge, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” you say, trying to stay casual. No luck. He frowns at you, releases your shoulder and closes the door to the bunk area.

“You’re a part of this team now, whether you believe it or not, so if something is bothering you it’s going to bother me,” he says, stern but not uncaring, and watching you carefully. You sigh again and sit back down onto your bunk. You hold your head in your hands and take a second to gather your thoughts before speaking.

“Sorry, Hunter. You think I’d know by now that nothing gets past you,” you say, chuckling a little. Hunter's expression softens, which encourages you to continue. “It’s just that I haven’t seen any of the regs, apart from Cody, in a very long time, especially Rex.”

“Is there a problem between you two?” Hunter asks, frowning again.

“No, not really,” you say as you shift your eyes away from him.

“Not really?” Hunter says skeptically.

“It’s just that…” you trail off before pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ve never told you the real reason I took this job, have I?”

Hunter shakes his head.

“Well, you already know that I was a medic for the regs first, but I’d gotten, um, intimately close with two who died. Killed in action,” you say as you unconsciously roll up your left sleeve and idly rub your thumb along the domino tattoo on your forearm. You’d gotten it a few weeks after taking this assignment with the guys, but the ink is still sharp and clear. Five dots on the upper half, three dots on the lower, in black and white ink with a few bright green highlights.

“Is that what that’s about?” Hunter asks, gesturing to your arm.

“Yeah. They called themselves the Domino Squad. They were the only two left from their batch. Then just the one, then, well,” you say, pausing to clear the growing lump out of your throat.

“I didn’t expect to wind up with the second man, but we were both grieving over the first and it just kinda happened,” you continue with a sad, wistful smile. Hunter nods and waits for you to keep speaking. “I’d see their faces everywhere I looked. When a man died in the field and I wasn’t able to save him, it was like losing them all over again, and I tried for so long to fight through it, but I-“ you say, talking quickly and on the verge of losing your composure.

Before that happens, Hunter holds up a hand and reminds you to breathe. Once you have, you speak again; “I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to leave, but then Kix told me about this squad. Said you might be just the thing I needed. I think he was right. You’re so… different,” you say quietly. Understanding crosses Hunter’s features, and after a pointed look from him and a nod from you, he moves and sits beside you. He says your name.

“I can’t imagine what that must have been like, I’m sorry,” he says. You kind of shrug and say it wasn’t his fault. After a second, he speaks again. “Alright, so I understand all that, but what does it have to do with Rex?” he asks. You take a moment to compose yourself again, willing away the grief and anger you always feel when remembering this.

“He watched the second man die. We have very different opinions on why it happened. I haven’t seen him since F-“ you stop yourself, then clear your throat. “Since that day,” you finish. “So you could say there’s some baggage.” You get to your feet and pull your sleeve back down. “But,” you say, back to business, “I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way of the mission, sir,” you say as Hunter also stands back up. Without waiting for him to say anything else, you open the bunk area door and head towards the cockpit. Hunter follows, and Tech announces after a few quiet minutes that they will be leaving hyperspace shortly. You return to your bunk, alone, and strap your upper kit back on.

Due to an extremely rare miscalculation by Tech, the Marauder is unable to properly reduce speed before landing. The ship barely manages not to crash onto the air strip where you all have been summoned, instead screeching to a halt on its landing gear, thanks to the excess momentum. As people scatter out of the way outside, inside the ship, Wrecker hoots and hollers as you all finally come to a stop. The stop is abrupt, and hard, so you’re glad everyone has helmets on, otherwise their smacked heads would have to be treated, delaying whatever this mission is.

Despite the ringing in your ears, you can faintly hear Rex and Cody speaking from outside of the ship, and when the hatch is opened, your hands start to tremble, ever so slightly. You catch Hunter glance at you, but you just shrug and he leads everyone out of the ship. Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker follow, and you’re able to disembark unnoticed, thanks to everyone being distracted by how loud, and large, to be frank, Wrecker is.

Hunter and Cody grip each other’s forearms with a firm nod, and then Hunter introduces the squad to the others nearby. As he does, they each remove their helmets. “You may already know our medic,” he says, looking back at you before saying your name. You can see the surprise on Rex’s face, and hesitate briefly before also taking off your own helmet. Kix and Jesse are standing a little ways behind him, and Jesse looks just as startled as Rex does. Kix meanwhile, nods at you and you return the gesture, trying to calm your pounding heart.

The squad takes a minute or two to somewhat brag about the mission from Yalbec Prime you all had just completed, and you watch, amused, from the back of the group, before a gunship arrives, obviously waiting to take you all elsewhere. You slip your helmet back on and climb into the ship, thanking Wrecker as he gives you a small boost to do so.

A good chunk of time has passed within the gunship in silence. You half expect Kix or Jesse or maybe even Rex to approach you, but when that doesn't happen, you can’t decide if you feel relieved or slightly annoyed. You are fully annoyed however, when you catch Crosshair staring down his nose at Jesse. The sniper makes a snarky comment about how you all don’t usually work with ‘regs’, and you step forward to stop the fight you sense coming after he flicks a toothpick into Jesse's chest, but Cody does that for you by getting everyone’s attention and distracting them with the mission briefing.

He details how this is going to be an information retrieval operation, with the target being a Separatist cyber center. Rex then steps in to briefly outline his suspicions that the Separatists are somehow using his own plans and attacks against him. Getting the needed information from the cyber center will either confirm or disprove his suspicions.

Just as the ship prepares for landing, it’s suddenly shot down, sending it careening toward the ground. If the landing in the Marauder earlier was rough, this crash put that to shame. Once the smoke begins to clear, you follow the others out of the wreckage, coughing as you do. You glance behind you once you’re outside and see that the cockpit has been obliterated, taking the clone pilot with it, and you grit your teeth, cursing. You don’t have any time to think about this further, however, as Kix is shouting that Cody has been trapped under the destroyed ship. Adrenaline starts to pump into your veins and you quickly make your way over to the rest of the group. Wrecker has lifted the entire ship off of the downed Commander, then he throws it to one side just before retrieving him, walking away as what’s left of the ship explodes.

Once Wrecker sets Cody onto the ground, you run over to him, right next to Kix, and begin scanning him for injuries. There’s a sizable gash across his forehead that’s bleeding freely, and Kix’s scan reveals that Cody has internal injuries. Just as you turn to take your medpack off of your back, you hear the sudden sound of blaster fire. Whether it was the explosion or the ship being shot down that drew attention to you all was irrelevant; a battalion of droids was quickly approaching, and shooting without pause. Hunter comms directly into your helmet and tells you to stay with the Commander, he and the rest of the squad would handle this.

You catch Kix’s attention and shout that you both need to get Cody out of there as more blaster bolts begin to fly overhead. The two of you are able to carry him to a somewhat sheltered spot near the sidewall of the gorge you had crashed into. Kix holds Cody’s head and neck as stable as he can, while you quickly dig through your medpack to get what you needed for the cut on his forehead. As you work, a stray bolt screeches past you, forcing you to draw your own blaster and fire back. You take out the droid that had been shooting at the three of you, and about three more behind it, then quickly focus back on finishing the stitching of Cody’s wound. “Since when can you shoot like that?” Kix says incredulously. You’re now applying a bacta patch to a smaller cut on Cody’s cheek, so you don’t hear this or see his dropped jaw.

Now that you have done all that you can for Cody, you tell Kix to stay where he is and rush over to where Rex and Jesse are watching Clone Force 99 do what they do best. You keep your blaster at the ready, fully prepared to shoot any of the droids that get too close, but you don't need to bother. Hunter throws electro-pulse grenades into the air, and Crosshair shoots them down into the approaching throng, where the resulting explosion deactivates many of the droids. After they take out the majority of the regular droids this way, you can see larger, spider-like machines approaching and scream out a warning to the squad. Wrecker moves a large piece of the crashed ship’s hull that he was using as a shield for the others out of the way, and the four of them split off to individually attack.

You glance over at Rex and Jesse and can’t help but smirk. You didn’t need to see their faces to know they were gawking. The three of you watch as the remaining droids are destroyed, then you jog halfway over as they are returning, and immediately look them over for injuries. Of course, there are none, but you’d be damned if you didn’t check and something slipped by you. Not again. Hunter and Tech don’t really acknowledge what you're doing, and Crosshair shrugs you off. Before you can get a good look at Wrecker, he laughs loudly and announces that there isn’t a scratch on him. He’s not wrong, so you clap his shoulder a few times, barely able to reach it, then run back to Cody and Kix, who has managed to stabilize Cody enough that he can walk, with the two of you assisting. The three of you return to where the others are, and Hunter says that you all need to keep moving, as there are bound to be more clankers headed your way.

The gunship had crashed just before the sun began to set, so when you all finally stop to make camp for the night, it has been dark for a few hours. You’ve been glued to Cody’s side the entire time the group was walking, but Kix insisted you both take a break and eat something, so you reluctantly joined the others around the fire, leaving Cody with Rex for the time being.

There’s a somewhat tense silence as you quickly eat the ration bar you kept in one of your pockets. You’re sitting a little ways off on your own, but not too far from the others. Hunter sits down next to you, asking how you’re doing. You take a swig from your canteen before you respond, needing a second to think.

“I’m… okay. For now. Being able to focus on Cody has helped. I guess the scar on his face is different enough that treating him isn’t bothering me,” you say with a shrug.

“I saw you take out a few of those stray droids back there, your aim is getting better,” he says after nodding.

“Tell him that,” you say sarcastically, jerking your head toward Crosshair, who said something neither of you can hear, which starts another fight. Hunter shakes his head and stands just as Wrecker lifts Jesse into the air, Tech awkwardly telling everyone to stop while standing off to the side.

Hunter makes his way over and breaks it up before things get out of hand. As he does, you get to your feet and meet Kix where he’s been watching everything. “How’s he holding up?” you ask, looking over at Cody. Before Kix can answer you, Rex stands and walks quickly back to the head of the group, getting everyone’s attention.

“Kix,” he says, “I’ve called in an evac for Cody, go with him.” Kix nods once, then walks over to Cody, who is barely able to sit up. After a moment of thought, Rex says your name, getting your attention, and tells you to go with Kix.

“Respectfully sir, no,” you say, taking Rex by surprise. “I don’t think it’s wise to leave you all without a medic,” you say, explaining yourself.

“My knowledge should be sufficient in your absence,” Tech says, looking over at you. You’re about to speak again when Crosshair cuts you off.

“We were fine without you before, we don’t need you here,” he says with a smirk. Hunter turns to say something to Crosshair, but you hold up your hands, stopping him. You look back at Rex, who still seems taken aback by all of this, and tell him that you’ll go with Kix, if that’s his order. He nods at you, and you walk over to Kix and Cody, barely able to keep your fisted hands from trembling as you go.

“What’s his problem?” Kix asks, obviously irritated, as you stand by.

“He’s an asshole,” you say flippantly, and the subject is dropped.

After another hour or so, the medical evacuation shuttle arrives. Once Cody is properly stabilized, and the shuttle takes off, Kix tells you that there isn’t much more that can be done for him. You make your way to an empty seat and sit back with a groan, worn out from the long day. A familiar, deep voice calls your name, as as you glance around you’re surprised to see that Bortuse is on board.

“What are you doing here?” you both ask in unison. Bortuse sits next to you and laughs, the deep rumble making you feel nostalgic, and you can’t help but smile at him. You really have missed the guy.

“I’m posted at Anaxes for now, and was told to accompany the shuttle for a pick up,” he explains. He takes a moment to look you up and down. As he does, you realize just how much time has passed when you also look him over. His Montrals have grown a fair bit longer, and the medium blue of their stripes has darkened to a deep sapphire color. He looks tired, like everyone does lately, but appears to be in good spirits. Sitting next to him in your red and black armor, which is a drastic change from the tunic and leggings you wore back on Coruscant, you’re acutely aware of how much you’ve changed too.

“How has the reassignment been?” Bortuse asks softly. As he does, you notice that Kix has been sitting on his other side, passively listening to everything you’ve said. You know what Bortuse is really asking, and can’t help but sigh softly.

“I’m doing better. It helps, not having to see their ghosts all day everyday. But it’s still hard. When I can’t sleep at night, my mind always goes back to them,” you say quietly. With a few quick movements, you remove your gauntlet and roll up your under armor sleeve on your left arm, showing them the domino tattoo. “They’ve never left. They probably never will,” you say quietly before putting everything back into place.

“We’ve missed having you around, you know,” Kix says softly.

Bortuse nods. “You really were one of our best,” he says. “Have you thought about coming back?” he asks.

Kix leans forward enough to look at you when you respond.

“I have,” you admit. “But as tough as the squad can be, I truly feel like I’m supposed to be with them. Maybe it’s the will of the Force or something, I can’t really explain it,” you say. Before either of them can say anything else, an announcement over the PA speakers tells everyone that the ship is coming back down for a landing, abruptly ending the conversation.

Taglist: @kaminocasey @grievouus @madameminor @zoeykallus @wolveria @jennamelinda12 @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @whore4rex

To be added to or removed from this list, simply reply to this post.

#my fics #series #tcw echo/reader #tcw echo/you #tcw echo #tcw fives/ you #tcw fives/ reader #tcw fives #tbb echo/reader #tbb echo/you #tbb echo

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catastrophe-at-sixteen · 3 years

Text

strawberries and cigarettes (m)

Jungkook x reader

“For a biology project, you and your class are going on a field trip to collect evidence for your hypothesis. It is all going well until the dark haired nuisance called Jeon Jungkook decides to piss you off.”

Also - a nerd. The resident bad boy. The police. Annoying friends. A loose psycho killer. What could go wrong?

This is my first time ever uploading any fics !! im super nervous haha - i'll probably post a little of each one and see how it goes !!

Jungkook x reader.

This is your classic enemies to lovers but with a slight little twist!

This is set in the 80s/90s and is your typical bad boy/nerd girl trope- but , there is a killer on the loose. I mean this is kind of based on jack the ripper (serial killer) and my teenage fantasies of falling for bad boy jungkook. I hope you’ll give it a go and tell me what you think !!! <3

Tw : cursing, killings, descriptions of death and psychopaths, masturbation , making out, smut.

WC : 11K

also a big massive thank you to @ggukkiereads for helping me gain the confidence to write and dedicate time to finishing this ! ik its been a while since we spoke but much love to u angel <3 may u always have the best !

Begrudgingly the students lag off the bus at 10pm, finally having reached their destination.

Tired and sore from their journey the teachers find no trouble in distributing bedrooms for everyone.

When your name is called out along with Tiffany you internally groan - great you think one of the most plastic girls in the school all to myself.

You grimace but make no argument as you could have gotten worse you suppose.

As you grab your belongings and ignore her protests that she doesn't want to room with a loser like you, a dark clad figure pushes past you, almost tripping you over.

Angrily you shout

"Watch where you're going you prick"!

Yet he doesn't so much look in your direction.

Under the dim moonlight you can faintly make out the low blunt of a cigarette in a tattoo clad hand - so it was the infamous Jungkook.

Honestly you didn't understand why all the girls fawned over him when he was just a rude and ignorant asshole. Sure, he had a pretty face but no good soul to match.

Calming yourself, as it was unlikely that you'd ever receive an apology from the school rebel you just head to your new room.

The school had organised a biology trip so that you could gather authentic evidence on the correlation of birds and wood growth in a certain designated area and honestly you were excited- not having enough expenses to get out of town when you were younger meant that this was a treat for you and paired with you being a biology major your inner geek was surfacing pretty quickly.

You move into your room and begin unpacking your things ignoring the chatter coming from your new roommates.

You set everything nicely, precisely -just to your liking. Maybe some would call you fussy, but you like to think of yourself as organised and classy.

You don’t have many thoughts that night as you lay down for bed, but you do hear the news playing in the background.

" a killing has not been sighted for a time breaking the pattern of the 1-week intervals in which they have been happening, but police still advise to remain on high alert at all times. "

You shudder as you think about it, a killer on the loose in the country and everyone powerless to stop him.

He fed of the insecurities of people, the fear of not being safe. He did a damn well good job at it as well.

You look outside and see the police on night duty setting up, the country while terrified also was reluctant to admit the threat and instead of protecting you properly they had merely sent police force units as glorified bodyguards to ' keep you safe '.

You sigh, as you climb under your covers those problems seem like a long way away from you as you drift off with an empty mind.

It was morning, the sun was shining brightly through the windows giving an orange glow to the room.

You were up before your roommates, had brushed your teeth and were already preparing for your project.

You had to do well, you were depending on a scholarship for university, your family could simply not afford it otherwise.

When your first signs of morning hunger begin to strike you venture outside your room in order to satiate yourself. You find that it’s still quiet only a few students up like yourself, you find a coffee machine and immediately begin to make one for yourself.

“While you're at it could you make one for me too".

a deep voice drawls out.

You almost jump out of your skin at the sound his voice breaking the silence you had been enjoying. Jeon Jungkook.

You scowl at him, choosing to ignore him carrying on making your own cup.

He whistles under his breath.

“wow, edgy or a bitch? I can’t decide".

He taunts you.

You roll your eyes at him and sigh in annoyance, his eyebrows raise at this.

“you’re clearly not a morning person".

He speaks.

You mutter under your breath.

" or maybe I’m just not a YOU person, not everyone lives to be nice to you. "

He lifts his hands up in a mock surrender.

“Okay, okay I get it it's a bad time for you jeez.... I suppose I'll have to make my own coffee".

He moves closer to you, totally invading your personal space, clearly, he had never heard of a personal bubble! You scowl and try to move away but he’s faster and is hovering over you before you know it. He looks down at you with those pretty dark eyes.

They’re so gorgeous.

Not that it matters to you because he is still an asshole, and he still ruined your morning.

“get out of my face Jeon Jungkook".

You say between clenched teeth.

You’re not some sort of pushover.

Yes, you're clever, as society classes a nerd but you're not one to let people walk all over you.

If he’s shocked, he doesn’t let on, just hums and lets you walk away, which you do, a little aggressively. You got back to your room and let out a sound of annoyance, the girls are still sleeping.

You sigh.

This was going to be a long trip.

After an uneventful morning, the wait was over and finally the teachers had called you to gather in the common area. Much to your dismay however there would be no actual data collecting until the police had secured the area, which meant that your whole day was pretty much wasted. The other students were chatting and gossiping and being idiots as per usual.

It’s not that you thought you were better than them, it's just that they were so mundane, so lifeless. They were just living on with no sense of direction. You suppose that's what you get for attending a school for rich kids though.

You could never fit in.

So, you never tried. People took pity on you every now and then offered you a smile. You smiled back but that was it. Your thoughts are running and to clear your head you decide to go outside for a little breather.

There isn’t much, just a few abandoned train tracks that seemingly lead into nowhere, a few broken fences and lots of grass. Not much time after this you head to bed.

Finally, the day had arrived, you could collect your samples.

You are so glad that it’s an individual project because you honestly cannot even imagine working with one of those air heads.

You shudder at the memory of having to work with Taehyung last semester for a chemistry practical.

You had to basically pull all the weight for your grade.

So, you get on working your way through your work and proving or disproving your hypothesis.

You’re pleased at the work that you completed. Not entirely satisfied but satisfied enough, for now.

You let out a stiff yawn, you need to stretch and need a little fresh air since you had spent the last few hours writing up your data and making graphs to compliment them.

You forgo your jacket since the weather isn’t so bad.

It’s nice.

When you go outside there are quite a few students already there, goofing around. There is also a pretty scenery, that in all honesty you had not appreciated until right now.

“Wow" you mutter under your breath.

Maybe I should try living outside my own head sometimes.

You spot some students surrounding a police officer and the curiosity gets the better of you and your soon wandering around the outskirts of their conversation.

Alas, it was merely a fruitless conversation. The police officer telling the other about his escapades and how they will be good in hands.

You lose yourself to your own thoughts again and look at the scenery. Until a little scuffle, breaks you out of your thoughts.

“What was that? There was a movement down there!! “

A boy called Josh calls out.

The police officer had also noticed it, then a sound of a gunshot sounds through the air.

The police officers curse and begin to get ready to scout the area. They want you all to go away, be safe inside but you’re all young adults- you want to see what’s going on.

Everyone gathers, watching the officers.

You scan the area; you spot the balcony that looks over the area just in front of the cabins.

Perfect you think that’s the perfect spot to see what’s going on.

So, you begin to climb up the steps to that room, when you get there, you can see everything.

You see a dead dog, a dead bird and the gun which had killed them laid out to where the officers were heading.

Fear grips your heart; your heartbeat is erratic. You think you see the shape of figure retreating into the distance but before you can look again, you feel the ground give way under you.

You let out a shriek, feeling yourself falling.

Is this truly how my life end you wonder I didn’t even get to complete my PhD?

Yet, instead of the hard fall that your body had been anticipating; your landing is softer and lets out a low grunt.

You're sure you're dead and have entered heaven.

Slowly you register a warm feeling under your legs and a secure one at your waist.

oh, this feels nice.

you think, eyes still closed until you hear some chaos in the distance.

what's happening?

Why is heaven so noisy? Are they partying because I’ve arrived? Was I actually an angel all this time am I coming home?

Ah you think this must be the angels- I knew all those days spent doing charity would help me.

You open your eyes and you’re met with bambi eyes staring back at you.

Slowly you begin to piece the rest of your angel together.

“Jeon Jungkook? “

You try and raise your voice to compliment your surprise, but it comes out in a more whisper.

“But this, Jungkook, you were an angel all this time? “you say.

His eyebrows knot together in confusion.

“What are you talking about strawberry?”

You gasp.

"Do we all get code names in heaven? You’re a pretty angel Jungkook. “

Then your eyes zero in on the scar on his cheek.

“Aren’t Angel’s supposed to be blemish free? Is that? Are you fallen? Wait.... for me? Are you my angel Jungkook? “

His eyes, which had previously shown confusion are now coloured with amusement.

“You talk a lot don’t you my little strawberry”.

You vaguely hear the sounds behind you before you begin to feel drowsy and fall limp the arms of your unexpected angel.

Jungkook was, of course no angel, your delirious ass was just doing and saying delirious things. You were going to be mortified when you woke up.

When you come to your room in a dark room, tucked into a warm bed. Your headaches aches as if someone is using a sledgehammer to hit it every second.

‘Agh’ you let out a pained groan.

What even happened? you wonder in your head.

You move quickly, getting out of bed ignoring your protesting limbs. You almost reach the doors until a pair of arms trap you.

‘woah woah where do you think you're going?’

You let out a scream, completely startled. A hand comes to cover your mouth.

‘man, you really do have a set of lungs, don’t you? ‘

You stop struggling in his embrace to match his voice to a face. Its familiar.

‘Jeon Jungkook?’ you let a little unsure and panic still evident in your voice.

‘your one and only’

You frown.

‘mine?’

He smirks at you,

‘that's right yours strawberry’.

You shake your head.

‘are you smoking something? Are you high right now?’

He pouts a little then, it changes his look completely. He looks a little cute.

‘you don't remember? ‘ he cocks his head to the side and points to himself. ‘I'm your angel’.

You scoff.

‘Please in what world are YOU an angel? You're far from it’.

Then it all comes back to you.

Jungkook watches as the realisation begins to show on your face.

‘Oh my god I had a concussion, you cannot be serious right now ‘

He chuckles.

'The words still came out of your mouth' Jungkook counters, he leans closer to you, his face way to close for your liking.

You feel your face grow warm from his proximity, but you don't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

You scoff and push him away.

‘You're insane’.

He accepts the distance you've placed between the two of you and he chooses to smirk at you from where he is standing.

‘And you're crazy for me’.

You let out an incredulous laugh, not believing him.

‘Oh, my lord, please shut up for the sake of my sanity’.

He chuckles at your flustered state and you scramble your brain to find a change of subject.

‘okay whatever now just excuse me because I need to go back to my room’.

You move to begin walking to the door, but his voice halts your movements.

‘This is your room now’.

You whip around to face him.

‘What?! Ha as if Jeon, why would they room us together- were supposed to separate for the opposite genders- which I totally get when you're involved’ you say disbelief painting your voice. You whisper the last part though.

He puts his hands into his pockets and shrugs.

‘Protection?’

You set him a hard stare.

‘Save your lame ass men superiority talks for someone else i am having a severe case of I'm not interested’.

Why the hell would you need Jungkook for protection, it reeks of patriarchy and you hate it.

He shrugs.

‘Listen princess I don't know why either really to be honest but I'm not complaining-’

You don't bother entertaining him for much longer.

This can't be true. You cannot be paired into a room with him. He cannot be your new roommate - heck now tiffany doesn't seem so bad. Flirting asshole, you mutter under your breath as you begin searching for your teacher.

You only learn a bitter truth, due to the collapsing of the room you had to be relocated into another room and the only person without a roommate was Jungkook. They ‘trusted’ you enough that you would be able to handle it and not to do anything you were not supposed to.

‘We trust you, y/n’ was what she had told you.

You spend your time cursing out both her and Jungkook as you gather your belongings to move into your new room.

You're so caught up in your own thoughts that you don't notice a foot that comes out to trip you.

You look up and see the faces of three stupid bitches.

Tiffany Jessica and Irene.

They seemed to consider themselves above everybody else, though you've no idea why. Aside from flawless looks they seemed to live pretty empty life in your eyes. They were living definitions of empty shells walking around.

You get up quietly from the ground, you'll gain nothing from engaging with them, maybe you'd lose a few brainless. You just want to go back and rest - your head is killing you.

But to your disappointment they begin to talk.

‘Well, well well, if it isn't the school's new slut moving into MY boyfriend's room’.

You have to let a little laugh at this. This one is seriously deluded. Jungkook didn't do relationships you knew that. Everybody knew that. They had hooked up about 3 months ago and even though he does his best to ignore her she still insists that he is her boyfriend. It's just pathetic and a bit sad you suppose. Her obvious attraction to him which he just does not reciprocate.

She becomes enraged at your actions.

‘listen here you little bitch you better not even think of starting anything with my man-’ she spits out at you.

You snap back then, unable to hold your tongue.

‘I am not a slut, and I will not go after your man- which fyi he is not. He is a human and he doesn’t belong to you he never has’

She grows red at your words.

‘you little piece of shit-’

She raises her hand but just then a voice interrupts her and she halts her actions.

‘well if it isn't my new roomie, l’ll take that from you strawberry’ Jungkook says, too cheery for your liking, your still contemplating hitting Jessica.

Jessica begins speaking up, but he ignores her turning to you.

Your mouth almost drops open at his dismissal of Jessica but then again, she is annoying, and he cannot be immune to that.

‘Jungkoooook’ she whines when he doesn’t respond to her the first time.

He still doesn’t entertain her.

He moves to take your things from you, but she speaks again, latching onto his arm.

‘just leave her -cshe's just an annoying stuck-up bitch’.

He responds to this under his breath laughing.

‘reminds me of someone ’

She doesn't understand his comment.

‘huh?’ she says almost comically.

‘who baby?’ she pouts at him ‘my poor baby having to deal with such people, just leave with me and we can-’

‘no’ he sets her with a hard stare.

It's like she has forgotten that you're there, so you decide to use this to your advantage, letting Jungkook deal with them. You move to get your suitcase, but a hand stops yours. Its Jungkook.

‘I don’t think so strawberry - I'll be getting those for you’.

You turn to look at him scowl adorning your features.

‘I don’t need your help Jeon’.

He smirks at you.

‘no no - I insist’.

He dismisses Jessica with a wave of his hand and begins to walk away your suitcase in his hand, which prompts you to follow along.

‘What. Was. That. Jungkook?!’ you say when the door closes, you’re fuming because he had made it seem as though you were dating or doing things together which meant that they would keep bothering you, which is just something that you don’t want.

He turns around to face you.

‘oh, don’t get your panties in such a twist, I just needed to get the fuck away from her’.

He sounds angry and this is the Jungkook that you are more accustomed to. Not the flirty one you have been seeing. Hopefully he had given up on whatever he was trying to achieve with that. He was a rude asshole who was just to used to seeing things come out in his favour.

‘excuse me, you just fuelled her whack ass thoughts and next time don’t use me as your escape route’ you say matching his hostile tone.

‘oh, don’t be such a priss, it saved you as much as it saved me’.

An exasperated noise escapes your throat.

‘well maybe you should have kept it in your pants lover boy’.

He sets you with a hard stare.

‘oh, shut up - you don’t know me’ he grits out.

You cock your head to the side much like he had done to you earlier in the day.

‘hmmm I think I know you pretty well Jungkook, you're not as unreadable as you like to think, Jeon Jungkook the infamous bad boy who uses girls to fuel his ego and is used by girls to fuel their own ego and status quo among their own stupid--’

You do not get to finish you sentence however because you're harshly being pinned to the door. His grip on you is hard and it stings but you meet his gaze.

‘shut the fuck up y/n’ the tone of his voice is almost carnal, animal like.

You seriously had hit a nerve.

‘I go beyond your perceptions of me- you little miss goody two shoes’.

You spit back in his face.

‘I've yet to see you act more like a crazed rabbit Jungkook and to be honest I don’t plan on finding out the depths of your character either. I don’t fucking care about you’.

You push him aside and move to unpack your suitcase.

He mutters something under his breath that you can't hear, and he walks out slamming the door behind him.

��well, that was fun’ you say and begin to take out your notes and books that you will need through the day.

When you wake up the next you feel like you’ve been hit by a ton of bricks. The painkillers had given you the illusion that you were okay. You look a mess, you're tired, you cannot believe that this happened. You had been looking forward to this for so long, they had told you that another student would be collecting your data. Your new roommate. Jeon Jungkook. He was going to be collecting your data.

This is preposterous! He would probably sabotage you on purpose! This cannot happen, but they wouldn’t budge from their choice. You huff as you look out of the window, where you could be collecting your data along with the other students. Darn you and your curiosity.

They always did say didn’t they- that curiosity killed the cat.

Your walking around the room, pacing- that’s how bored you are. You had reorganised your things 3 times and colour coded all you notes, redrew your graphs, you had done everything that you thought would keep you busy but here you are sitting with nothing to do. You look around the room see Jungkook's things laying on the ground.

You sigh into the empty room again and just lay down waiting for them to come back. You end up falling asleep.

You're stirred from your sleep, quite rudely by a book being thrown at the foot of your bed. You sit up, still groggy and look at Jungkook.

‘what the hell man’

He stares at you blankly.

‘There's your work priss’

You're not bothered by his hostile tone instead open the book and seeing what he had done, or you suppose looking at it what he had not done. The more you look at the work the more the frown on your face deepens.

‘what the hell is this Jungkook?’

He looks up at you annoyed.

‘the work? Thought you were meant to be a genius?’

You scowl at him.

‘this Jungkook? Is unacceptable a nursery kid could do way better than this !’

He rolls his eyes at you.

‘and? That’s what you're going to get priss so deal with it’.

You make an exasperated sigh.

‘you've used the wrong measurement and everything Jungkook’.

‘look - I don’t care. I didn’t want to do this for you anyway’.

‘like I wanted YOU to do it for me’.

You sigh,

You keep bumping into him everywhere, you know he is your roommate but he is always there at the cafeteria taking the last donut which you had been craving pushing in line, making unnecessary comments and he makes the room so messy!

It’s the same thing for the next few outings, Jungkook comes with the same half assed versions of the data you need.

You try, you really you try so hard to use the data sets he provided but its no use. They're absolutely useless, so you decide to take matters into your own hands.

Your going to sneak out early in the morning, you have to sneak past the guards which as you’ve gathered won't be as hard as one may think because they are not good or much invested in their job anyway.

You prepare yourself and head to set out in the morning. You quietly get up so as not to disturb or wake Jungkook. If he sees you, you know that there will be trouble.

You throw on a hoodie and grab a notebook, a pen and your watch. You have to be back before anyone can notice that you're gone. You steel yourself one last time, giving yourself a pep talk and sneak out. You hold your breath as you walk past the room of your supervisor and out the back door of the cabins.

This isn't so bad you think. Once you're out of sight of the guards and you think your safe, you let out a sigh of relief and do a little shimmy out of your happiness. You are so pleased and proud of yourself. What you didn’t know that behind you, watching your every move was a boy covered in tattoos with a cigarette in his hand watching you with an amused face.

Jungkook was, not as you thought asleep when you had snuck out. He was also outside, leaning on the side of the building a cigarette in his hand, he couldn’t sleep that night, it happened to him on most nights so he routinely wakes up to have a smoke. On this particular day there is not the usual eerie morning silence that he is used to, but a few grunts and hisses to accompany it. He furrows his brows.

Is that? He thinks y/n!?!?!?!?!?

No way he thinks what the hell is she up to?

Then he catches sight of your notebook and pen.

'Oh, what a nerd' he mutters under his breath. Then he smirks.

He can totally use this to his advantage.

He stubs his cigarette, pulls his hoodie over his head and follows you.

Your heart is still racing you honestly cannot believe that you. l/n f/n are doing this.

‘What a badass’ you say into the silence.

‘Badass? Sneaking out to do bloody work is your idea of badass?’ a voice speaks up behind you.

You shriek startled and are met with Jungkook.

Why is it always him?

‘what in the bloody tarnation's.... are you trying to kill me Jungkook?!’ you say putting your hand on your heart.

He grins pleased at the reaction he had elicited from you.

He cocks his head to the side.

‘what the hell are you doing here ?!’ you hiss at him.

‘could ask you the same thing strawberry’ he replies.

You look at him.

You were so sure that you had been quiet, how could he be here to ruin everything.

‘you do realise that I actually have name, and it's not strawberry’ you say to him.

He shrugs.

‘Yeah but you always smell like them’.

You scoff;

‘and you always reek of cigarettes.’

He frowns but then asks you again.

‘what are you doing here?’

You think of excuses,

‘I'm - I'm on a walk’ you say.

He lifts his eyebrow up.

‘a walk?’

You nod.

‘that's right for my daily exercise its been a pain to be stuck indoors’.

He snorts.

‘you're on a walk with your graph paper pad and pencil case?’

You curse inside your head.

‘yeah I am a nerd after all’ you say, hoping and praying that he’ll just let you go on your way.

He doesn’t

‘I don’t know, you look awfully suspicious to me, do tell why you're heading to the sight of our data collection points when the trail track is in the opposite direction?’ he says.

You rack your brains for an answer.

‘well, I like an adventure’ you say, standing straight.

‘oh, is that so?’ he says laughter infiltrating his tone.

‘yes’, you say meeting his eyes.

‘hmm’ he says ‘I don’t believe you’ he says.

‘do you wanna know what I think?’ he continues.

He takes one step closer to you.

‘I think that our resident miss goody two shoes is sneaking off when told specifically that she can't’ his gaze burns into yours

You feel yourself going red out of embarrassment.

‘I literally have no idea what you're talking about Jungkook' you say breathless.

He leans closer and you can feel his body heat, he continues to bore his eyes into your own and you almost fall into his gaze until you feel your book being snatched out of your hand.

‘HEY!’ you say reaching for it.

But he holds it higher than himself, opens it to the last written on page.

‘new data collection points’ he reads out ‘and oh would you look at that ! It has todays dates written on it’ he says looking down at you with a squint in his eyes.

You huff.

‘well obviously I had to do this because how on earth could I let your lame ass results and data reading be used for my final piece – I'm not looking to fail’ you say venom laced in every word.

He scowls at you.

‘there was nothing wrong with my results princess’ he grits out.

‘oh, please save it’ you snap back ‘you didn’t even use the same measurements – your hopeless’.

‘well, if I'm so fucking useless you should do my work for me’ he says.

You set him a level stare.

‘what?’

‘you heard me’ he says with a roll of his eyes.

‘and why in the hell would I do that? I don’t care if you fail Jungkook, heck I don’t care if you get kicked out’ you tell him.

He shakes his head.

‘well, I mean I could go back right now and tell Miss Taylor-’ he begins.

You narrow your eyes at him.

‘You wouldn’t dare’.

He holds a staring contest with you.

‘oh, wouldn’t I?’ he says.

You both hold each other's gazes before you give in.

You cannot believe the audacity of this asshole.

‘fine whatever asshole’ you say folding your arms and turning around.

He grins in victory and places your notebook back into your hands.

‘chop chop partner get to it’ he says.

You glare at him.

‘partners pull equal weight Jungkook ‘

He rolls his eyes.

‘I don’t really care – you just need to get a move on’.

You turn around no longer wanting to deal with his annoying ass.

You make it forward a few steps before you stop and turn around.

‘why are you following me?’ you ask him.

He rolls his eyes at your apparent dumbness.

‘well smartass, there is a killer on the loose if you didn’t know’.

You freeze up for a second,

Shit

You had almost forgotten. You don’t let him see that you're scared.

‘and? ‘ you say feigning composure.

‘what the hell are you going to do if he pops out of the woods anyway?’

He shrugs.

‘I dunno actually a lot more than you could do anyway’

You stare at him.

‘I could be a black belt in karate for all you know’.

He laughs.

‘okay princess whatever - I just need to make sure that you're not going to fuck this up’.

So, you turn going to the place you need to, to collect your data pieces.

With having to do Jungkook's work as well, it takes a lot longer to complete than you would have liked.

He is surprisingly bearable in the mornings that you both sneak off though. He doesn’t say much. Just watches you – pretends he isn't though.

You catch him once. Its been about 2 weeks since you started this godawful task, and Jungkook's notes and work were in dire need of help so its taking you time. This time however you meet his gaze before he is able to pull away.

You cock your head to the side.

‘what are you staring at?’ you say placing your hands on your hips.

He says something inaudible under his breath.

‘what was that?’

He snaps at you.

‘do you think you have tie to stand around making idle talk with me? The work ain’t going to do itself princess.’

You huff in annoyance.

How dare he! This was just plain wrong anyway I should not even be doing this, but you knew it was the only way. You couldn't risk getting caught and with Jungkook you wouldn't be surprised if he really did rat you out you to all the teachers. And if he did well, you wouldn’t be receiving a very good reference.

It was during an early morning that you hear Jungkook walk off into the distance. Probably to smoke, such a bad habit you tsk.

But you're also done for the day – so you begin to head back on your own.

You feel the grass brush against your feet as you walk back. You’re humming along to that song that was always on the radio, when you hear it. A little whimper - then a cry. You know that you shouldn’t go to look, you know that you're paying for your curiosity already and you don’t need another thing to happen, but you just cannot help yourself!

You follow the sound, going on a detour from the track.

You do consider yourself somewhat of a badass but a serial killer? Yeah, they kinda scare the shit out of you. You hold your breath and walk as quietly and slowly as you can. You hear the whimper again to your left but its deeper into the woods.

As you walk closer you see a pool of blood - your eyes widen, and your heartbeat becomes erratic.

‘what the fuck?’ you whisper into the silence.

You walk closer to the body of the animal and you can feel your knees grow a little weak you can see a white paper which has been tainted red with the blood of the animal that was killed.

You gasp, taking it up in your hands. Your hands also become stained with the redness.

It's in Morse code.

-.-- --- ..- / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. -. .----. - / -... . / .-- .- -. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / --- ..- - / .- .-.. --- -. .

(YOU SHOULDN'T BE WANDERING OUT ALONE)

You look at it for a while and rack your brains to be able to translate it but no such look. Your mind is busy running at 100miles per hour. As you try and clear your head and look at the note one more time, but a noise in the distance pulls you way from any semblance of concentration that you could have obtained.

You frantically look around trying to locate where the sound had come from. Your senses are all on a high right now. You shove the piece of paper into your pocket and begin to go back the way that you came. After the first few steps you begin running your head running wild with the idea of being found dead in ditch. Your nearly at the main path which you had strayed from. You make it onto the path, and you bend over catching your breath when two arms encircle you from behind.

You let out a scream.

A hand is placed over your mouth.

‘shut the fuck up y/n’.

You recognise THAT voice. Its Jeon Jungkook. Why is this motherfucker always trying to scare you? Your turn around and hit him on the chest,

‘what the actual hell Jeon, you gave me a bloody heat attack and a half’.

He doesn’t respond. He is looking at you, his eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes have a glint of anger. He is furious.

‘where the fuck did you go y/n?’ he says, he holds your wrist stopping you from hitting him again.

He holds it in the air holding your gaze.

‘I was.... walking back’ you didn't want him to know what you had found. He would probably tell you it was a bad idea to even translate it. Which it was, but what is life if not for taking risks?

You yank your hand from his grasp.

He looks at you an unreadable expression on his face.

“you’re a fucking liar “he says.

You scoff.

“oh please, what’s it to you anyway jungkook, you left me first “

He doesn’t say anything, but observes you, trying to look for signs of what you’re hiding.

He had found one too, a dead animal and a note written in Morse.

But he could read it and he knew he was in trouble

“Be careful, or your little girlfriend may be snatched from right under your arms “

He swore under his breath as he read it and immediately began to make his way back to you.

“strawberry?” he calls out but you’re not there.

You’re not there and he hates the feeling of dread that sits in his stomach.

He runs back the way you came, but he still finds no trace of you

“fucking hell where did she go?”

He almost gives up and is going to tell the police when you appear before him, out of breath and you look terrified.

He knows you’re lying, if you were where, you said you were, he would have seen you.

He narrows his eyes at you again.

“I left for two seconds and you ran off. Where the fuck did you go? “

He asks, he wants you tell him, needs you to, he’s overcome with this sense to protect you but you don’t trust him. He needs to change that.

He lets you believe that you have him fooled, that he believes your story and he begins to walk back to the cabins right before the call for breakfast is sounded. You follow after him breathing in a sigh of relief that he had believed you.

That night you find it difficult to sleep. You need to find out the meaning of the Morse code, but you don't have access to a book that will help you translate, meaning that you will have to ask around without looking too suspicious.

You decide that a police officer would do nicely, if you seem overly invested in their job, they would just give you the information.

You spot the officer who looks younger than most, you remember his name.

Park Jimin.

You approach him cautiously.

“Officer park?”

He turns around to face you, smiling softly.

Oh, he’s cute you think.

“yes miss?”

You smile at him warmly.

“nothing serious it’s just that I was wondering if you would like some company, it must be a little boring for you out here on your own “

You say to him and you’re glad you asked him because either way his face breaks out into a smile that has your heart fluttering.

“how very kind of you miss! And yes, a little company wouldn't hurt “, he grins at you.

As you strike up conversation, with the officer you fail to notice a figure dressed in black listening in on your conversation. Jungkook listens in as you try and get information out of officer. He knew it. You had also come across the same note, as he had. He wonders what yours said.

He leaves after a bit, leaving both of you oblivious to the fact that he was even there in the first place.

When you get back to your room, you see Jungkook sitting at the foot of his bed frown on his face.

You ignore him and write down the information you'd just got given by Officer Park. You felt a little bad manipulating him when he was so nice but you just had to know what it meant.

Jungkook speaks up.

“that was a nice conversation you were having with Officer Park “

He says,

You whip you’re head up to look at him and closing your notebook harshly.

“What? Were you eavesdropping on my conversation?”

He rolls his eyes

“Why would I be listening to the conservation of the school nerd with a cop? No, I just happened to hear in passing “

You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding.

“That’s mighty rude of y-" you begin to retort before he cuts you off

“what’s a biology nerd like you need with Morse code?” He asks.

Your mind malfunctions for a moment until you bring yourself back together.

“A little extra knowledge hurts no one you know?” you say appearing nonchalant.

He narrows his eyes

“I know it”

You look at him

“you do?”

He nods,

“why need something translating?” he tries.

You think about it, but ultimately decided against showing him the note you found.

You have no clue what it says. You don’t want him understanding before you do.

You shake your head,

“No, I don’t “

You say, deciding enough is enough and you need to sleep now to be up in the morning.

The next morning you sleep in, meaning that you couldn’t do the work that was set out for you. You stretch and moan as you get out of bed when you sit up and open your eyes fully your locks onto the Bambi ones from across the room. You let out a shriek!

‘What the hell why were you watching me you creeper!’ you say pointing a finger at Jungkook.

He rolls his eyes at you.

‘oh, please don’t flatter yourself’.

‘why didn’t you wake me up? Its so late !’ you question him.

He looks at you and says words that you don’t think that you would hear.

‘I think that we should lay off for a bit strawberry’

You look at him in shock

‘but why!?’

He doesn’t really give you much of an answer in his usual Jungkook manner.

You sigh.

Over the next few weeks, you rarely bump into Jungkook, you see him sometimes in the cafeteria and you can always feel him just watching you it makes you grow warm when you notice his staring.

Jungkook is also going crazy. You drive him crazy.

You guess that you'll have to work at the same pace as everyone, truthfully you had actually caught up with your work that was missed a while ago, you were just doing extra readings to stay ahead. One step ahead of everyone. But you guess that that is going to be changed now.

It had been a while since you had been on your morning trips with jungkook and though you hate to admit it, you kind of missed it.

He wasn't as bad company as you thought he would be, he was oddly quiet which meant that without him talking as much, you really got to admire his beauty. And good lord was he handsome, you understand why people are attracted to him, when his mouth is closed, he’s fine. Basically, you became a little horny when you saw him, it had been ages since you had had sex even masturbated, since you now had room with him.

Jungkook has such strong sharp features which sometimes go all soft, if he pouts while he’s thinking or a bird catches his attention, his eyes will go big and doe like. It's cute. Everybody had two sides you suppose, yours was your horny side (lol what)

Okay maybe, more time to admire him was a bad thing, you did not need to have sexual fantasies with him, no, that was a big no no.

It's been a few weeks since Jungkook had asked you to lay low for a while and in that time, you had been asking around about the killer to the police. You tried your best not to seem suspicious about it though, if they caught on – well it wouldn’t exactly end well. So, you make slow progress, you did make progress though, however.

You could now understand the note and while it scared you, it also ignited something in you that you didn’t even know that you possessed inside of you. You wanted to outdo him, you want to find him, lead him into a trap or something like that anyway. You want to catch him.

Something in the back of your mind is telling you begging you to stop being so stupid, but you ignore and continue to daydream about catching this bastard.

But it can only cure your boredom for a while – you get bored and what better to do when you're bored than to read erotica novels?

You had packed this book with you – the secrets of the alluring painter in France. You had taken to reading at night time on some nights.

Like tonight.

You need a wind down, so you pull out your book, and it has such racy scenes that leave you clenching around nothing.

Your sexual imagination goes wild when you read the erotica in the book and the way they make it seem so fiery, you were no virgin - you knew what sex was like, but never has it been close to the way it is in the book.

You’ve allowed yourself to fall into this horrible habit, at night, when Jungkook is asleep to touch yourself, play with yourself, pretending it is you who is being touched by Kim Taehyung the painter with many secrets.

You feel yourself growing more frustrated with each passage you read, it becomes a little irritating and, you have to touch yourself or you'll go crazy, the man in the book was doing it so well, so hot.

Kim Taehyung, he was described as an utter beauty, soft black hair and soft eyes, a deep voice that just made the reader swoon, you close your eyes and reach your hands down to your shorts, they slip past the hem.

You wish you could moan, wish that you could be vocal, like you were in your bedroom when it was just you and your pillow, but there was one big problem and that was Jeon Jungkook.

Why did you have to room with him?

You lighten your breathing and listen for signs of him being awake, but he seems to be breathing really deep, he is asleep you assure yourself.

You turn the lamp off, at the side of your bed, setting the book on the bedside table.

You trail your hand down your stomach, much like Taehyung had done to the main character, he slowly lets his fingers flutter over the top of her shorts, and you do the same. You build the tension, like it's his beautiful hands working against you.

You pause and let your fingers slip past the hem of your panties, you trace over the fabric covering you - first over your mound, stroking sensually.

How had Taehyung done it?

Right yes, he had used his nails slightly and grazed over lightly, a slight pressure but nothing that hurt - it was just enough to make you squirm under your own touch.

You feel your own wetness, feel how obscene it is in the darkness of the night.

Jungkook is right there, and while it scares you, it also thrills you, you feel a new wave of arousal and adrenaline when you remember he is there.

Slowly and as quietly as possible you shuffle, moving to take your shorts off, it's a little loud but you think that you're okay, Jungkook is out like a log. After a moment you continue to tease yourself.

Running your fingertips over your lips, pressing down on your hole and clenching, withholding the need to hiss.

You raise your hand further and your fingers land right at the centre of your pleasure.

Your clit. Oh, the beautiful bundle of nerves.

You cover your mouth with a hand to stifle the moan that you almost let out when you begin to rub small circles around the sensitive nub.

When you can’t get enough your panties are next to go, and when the cold air hits your wet centre you have to hold your breath, shaky.

You reach down and gather your slick slowly, spreading it all over your centre, making yourself drown in your own arousal, you use your middle and ring finger to slide up and down at a pace that leaves you edged and eager for more, you need to bring yourself to the very edge to get yourself the release that you’re after, you free hand travels up to your ever sensitive boobs, you play with them, brushing over the nipple, making them perk and then groping them while you rub at your clit.

A dirty thought crosses your mind, when you remember the boy who was asleep across from you.

What if, he was the one to touch, the one touching you, with those beautiful hands of his, those big hands.

You stifle another moan, as you think about him, hovering over you, giving it to you just right. You had heard that Jungkook could actually make a girl cum while having sex, that made you a little interested. It’s just he always opens his mouth and is an ass and ruins everything. But right now, in your imagination, only his looks and reputation matter, you twist and turn his character to be someone that you can gain pleasure from.

You can the pleasure increase and you begin to fasten your speed until you feel the signs of your orgasm and then you pull away. Edging yourself.

Your breathing is a little heavy and your work on controlling it, both your hands go to fondle your breasts and you unconsciously lift your hips, humping the air, you lean down again and enter three fingers easily into your own heat.

The squelching sound heard is deafening in the silent room, your cheeks burn red and you pull out slowly, so that was a no no, you would have to focus on your clit for you orgasm. Which was fine because you were so sensitive from playing with yourself, you know that it would only take a few more strokes to get there.

You press the fingers that were just inside of you, against your sensitive bud and you rub in slowly circles and then fastening your place and then slowing once more.

Jungkook comes into your mind again, ugh, now his lips, his pretty pink lips and the way he licks them, and the way they glisten under the sun. What if they were attached to your clit, if he was using his face to give you pleasure, like Taehyung had done to the main character of the novel, God it was so filthy.

Its driving you insane and you love it, the frustration will only make your release all the more powerful.

After a while you feel the fire blooming in your bottom of your stomach, and you quicken your pace to the point where you feel light and the waves of pleasure rack over your whole body.

You press your hand to your mouth again to conceal the gasps that are escaping you, you sigh and fall back onto your pillow feeling so much better and lighter.

Gosh did that feel good. You were aware that in your mind alarms were going off in your mind. You had thought of Jungkook while masturbating. It was a line you have no idea why you crossed. How would you look him in the eye now?

After a while, you pull up your panties and shorts and you promise yourself a shower in the morning.

What you didn't know was that the raven-haired boy of your fantasies was in fact awake and now painfully hard as he listened to your filthy little moans and gasps, he grabs his own member in his pants, strokes slowly. He spreads the pre-cum over his member before setting the fast pace that he liked, his breaths through his nose – to conceal the way his breathing has become strained. His hair becomes damp from sweat and it sticks to his forehead. He came much faster that he would care to admit the thought of you right there yet unreachable the fact that you were so NAUGHTY under all that good girl.

Turning him on, making him needy.

He breathes heavy, thinking of you under him as he squirts out cum into his pants, Jungkook too showers in the morning after you.

After this Jungkook stays up at night, listening to you, seeing if you would do it again, you do and, on those nights, Jungkook cums at the same time as you. He feels a little pathetic, he knows that he can fuck a lot of girls in the class right, but it wasn't you, God he wants it to be you writhing underneath him.

It’s the next morning and you're getting ready for your shower.

You're gathering your clothes and shampoo and creams into a little bundle and are about to open the door to the shower, when it is opened for you. The song that you were softly humming gets stuck in your throat when you register that the door was opened by Jungkook.

A very naked Jungkook.

Your face grows red, and your eyes wander over his gorgeous body, the tattoos that trail up his arm and a few on his waist, God they looked amazing.

Your ogling comes to a stop when he clears his throat. Oh, shit you think - I was staring. You quickly look up and your eyes meet Jungkook's.

He is smirking at you and as soon as you meet his gaze, he lets his own wander over body – taken in the skin that was exposed in your pyjama shorts and a t-shirt that had been small for you since you turned 13 years old.

He looks up and down your body brazenly before meeting your eyes. He licks his lips, and you zero in on it. God it was so annoying that he was this hot.

How could this be happening now? When you had spent a while avoiding him? And him you? Why did this happen after you were thinking of him last night? Oh god you grow red again and you think what if he had heard you? God, that would be embarrassing. You look at his lips again, avoiding his gaze again but maybe his eyes would have been a better option because as soon as you look at his lips, the same filthy thoughts come back to you - you shift uncomfortably trying to calm yourself. In that time, you don't notice but Jungkook has come closer to you.

You register his closeness when a water droplet from his hair falls onto your cheek. You move away slightly.

You don’t realise it but in your extended silence of checking each other out the both of you have moved closer to each other. There is no longer what people would call a healthy distance between the two of you anymore. He looks down at you and licks his lips again. His hair is wet and the way he runs his hand through it – he looks so good like this. Your dirty thoughts run wild again. Its only when another water droplet from his hair falls onto your cheek that you finally snap out of it. You move a step back.

“You look a little hot strawberry is anything the matter?” He asks you, a teasing lilt on his voice.

It’s way too early for this, you cannot be dealing with this right now, not when your mind has gone on a memory flashback to last night and he was right here in front you, so very naked.

Still, you feign your ever composed self.

“I’m just fine” you say through gritted teeth.

“I need to shower and your kind of standing in my way” you tell him.

He chuckles, a deep chuckle, gosh how are you this horny in the morning? Stop it y/n you think.

“I don't think you really mind though do you strawberry, you seem to have a very different secretive side” he says, cocking his head to the side.

You blush, shit had he heard you?

“I have no idea what you're talking about Jungkook” you say to him “I need to shower though”.

You move to get away from his hearted stare but just before you enter the washroom, a hand grabs onto your wrist and pulls you back.

Jungkook looks at you, a deep and confusing stare.

“Be careful, it’s quite wet in there” he says and then his tongue pokes into the side of his cheek. Then suddenly, he lets you go and walks off to his side of the room, your left in shock at his words and quickly scurry to get into the bedroom before more heated tension breaks through.

You shake your head of all thoughts and quickly go into the shower, what you don’t realise is that you accidently drop something, the note with the raven-haired boy who you had left in the bedroom.

Its later on during this day that Jungkook approaches you.

'Hey strawberry’ he says to you.

You raise your eyebrows at him, what’s with his sudden kindness.

‘hey’ you reply voice dipped in surprised.

‘Oh, shut up, I just came to talk to you’.

You look at him.

‘I didn’t say anything but okay…. talk then’ you gesture your hands between your two bodies.

He lets out an exasperated gasp.

‘The note – did you find one?’ he asks. You still in the next sip of coffee that you were going to take. You feel yourself grow cold. How did he find out?

He looks at you.

‘So, you did’.

‘I didn’t say that’ you say tone slightly higher than normal – you were a terrible liar.

He laughs at you

‘Hmm is that so?’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about Jungkook’.

He looks at you, more serious this time.

“Listen y/n there's no point playing dumb, I found your stupid note anyway”.

You watch mortified as he pulls out the note that you had thought was in your pocket. Well shit then.

“I- I have never seen that before in my life Jungkook” you can't let him know; he would ruin everything - you convince yourself.

He looks at you, he’s getting annoyed that you're lying to him. He pokes his tongue against his cheek again.

“I suggest you stop lying”.

You scoff.

“Why would I ever need to lie to you your nobody to me Jungkook”.

Something akin to hurt flashes across his face for a few seconds before he slams his hands on the table.

“I don’t think you know what you're even getting into strawberry”.

You gather your belongings getting up, you need to get away from him.

“And I don't think you know what the fuck you're talking about Jungkook”.

You walk off leaving him there, but he follows after you,

“Listen I found one too, you don't need to be miss hero or anything”.

You carry on walking, not bothering to give him an answer, he would want to tell the teachers and everyone, they would cancel the trip and then how would you finish gathering your evidence? No, he was insane.

“I don’t know what you're talking about”.

‘you think your so fucking slick, don’t you? Asking around and acting unsuspicious but your wrong I could sense your stupid plan from a mile away’ he says to you, pulling you on your arm effectively stopping you so you can't walk away from him anymore. You struggle out of his hold.

‘and so, what? So, what if you know? What the hell are you going to do Jungkook? Tell on me? Are you going to threaten to tell the teachers because you know what? I’ve been thinking about it and I think they would much rather take my word for yours and all this work I’ve been doing for you – I could easily go right now and show the teachers and say that you forced me to do it!! ’

He looks at you angrily, looks like he is going to swear or curse you out but then his face relaxes.

‘you say that baby, but the truth is I have money and you don’t if I want to manipulate something I can because I have the means and power to do so, my dad's made himself something while yours totted away in the fucking garbage can’.

You feel the anger come over you and he smirks at you.

‘real fucking classy Jeon, yeah insult my parents – like it's their fault they were born into a world where people are born with silver spoons on their mouth, and at least my parents love me Jungkook’

His eyes flash with hurt

‘how do you now my parents don't love me you little bitch?’

You laugh an empty laugh at his face.

‘just look at you – you’re the very definition of boohoo my parents don't love me so I'm going to kick up a mess, so they notice me for once’.

He groans in frustration at your words then.

Somehow amidst your confrontation with Jungkook you had managed to reach your room, why are you here? Why did your feet have to leave you here?

You walk into the room and as soon as he gets in, Jungkook grabs you by the wrist and pins you against the door, your books and pencils fly across the room and while your mortified - he doesn't even bat an eyelid.

Your breathing is both heavy as you look each other in the eyes, waiting for the other to say something.

You struggle against his hold, uselessly, curse him for doing his workout routine every morning.

“You found the fucking note y/n when you went missing in the woods that day, the note that’s in Morse code, the note that you spent a week trying to decode, don't act fucking dumb” he grits out.

You still try and keep up your act,

“I have no clue in the world what you're talking Jeon, I think you're going fucking insane” you seethe out

He growls, yes, he growls.

“Your seriously fucking pissing me off now, I know you did, I know you found it”.

“Fuck off, Jungkook does it look like I care if I am fucking pissing you off”.

He looks into your eyes again and whispers something like “fucking priss” before he is connecting your lips in a kiss, a kiss that is full of ego, passion and heat. You can feel in searing through your body so fiery, setting your nerves alight.

He is relentless in his pace. His mouth against yours and God indeed Jungkook is good kisser. Before you knees grow weak you move your hands to tangle in his hair and you pull at the end causing him groan against his lips, when he does you swipe your tongue into his mouth getting a taste. You pull harder, and he groans again. It was a sound that you know you would like to hear again.

His hands move from the door and one tangles in your hair while the other presses harshly on your waist. You gasp at the pleasure and at this he takes over, he fights your own tongue for dominance and once he wins, he is rough, he wants all his saliva in your mouth, wants his taste on you, wants you to feel him in every way.

When he knows that your just as enthralled by his kisses he pulls back to taunt you - whispering the words against you bruised lips.

“You act like such a fucking little priss don't you? Act like your better than me? Lying to me? Fuck you drive me insane”.

He attacks your neck now, leaving open mouthed kisses along your ear and neck. He nibbles lightly at a few areas and when he gets to just the right place - where your breath hitches and you move your thighs together he bites down harshly without warning and you try you best to suppress your moans. Not wanting to give him any satisfaction.

“I am better than you” you say to him breathlessly, “I don’t just act like it, I am”.

He bites harder at that and you wince - Jungkook is painting you skin wine and purple and your letting him and it feels so goddamn good. He pulls you back by the hair to look at him,

“You don't look much better than me when you are bending at my will, when you're looking so fucked out and I’ve done is fucking kiss you”.

Your answer is swallowed by a moan that you let out as he takes you breasts into his big hands, and squeezes hard, you pull him up from your neck and kiss him again, his lips, your lips bruising and fighting against one another.

He trails his hand down further and dances around the hem of your pants for a while, and you place your own over his, just as your about to lead him further down a knock is heard at your door.

You both freeze

“y/n?” A voice calls out.

You calm yourself before answering, still a little shaky.

“Yes?”

“Our guest speaker has arrived, I just thought you might like to ask him a few questions before he gives his talk”.

Jungkook swears under his breath, raking a hand through his hair.

“You fucking nerd”.

He pulls you back by your pony tail and the back of your head lands on his shoulder, he tilts you slightly, so he has better access to kiss and leave more marks against your skin.

“Ah- I thank you, I’ll come in an ah- while” you say, and you hear the footsteps walk off, Jungkook spins you around and he goes to kiss you again, but you pull away.

“No, just, stop I have to go and talk”.

He looks at you “you fucking nerd” he kisses you once more, like he can't get enough of your mouth.

You pull away again.

uh what in the fuck just happened you think.

This was not meant to happen.

“Look Jungkook, I did, that is my note and I- I’ll, we can talk just not now, okay? I-I have to go. This is important"

He doesn't say anything, just watches as you fix your appearance in the mirror, an appearance he had ruined, and he smirks a little in triumph. He watches as you gather your books that had been thrown onto the floor and he watches as your ass is on display for him and God, he wishes he could grab a handful, but he doesn’t. He just watches.

You walk out the room, without so much as looking at him again and he feels oddly rejected.

He knows that you had felt good, he had heard you groan against his mouth, grind against his clothed member but he hadn't ever been walked out on before. He's not sure what exactly he is feeling. Its not a good feeling - that he was walked out on and for some old ass lecturer too.

He watches the door close, and he sits and waits for you to finish being a nerd. But truthfully it is a little hot to him that you’re so independent, you do things for yourself, your confidence and your wit, it makes you fun, you piss him off, but your company is nicer than the ones that he is used to.

He sighs what the fuck is he getting himself into.

You take a breath as you exit the room,

What in the fuck just happened? you think.

Well, when you promised Jungkook that you would talk to him you hadn't been in your right mind. Why did you agree to that like fuck? You have no idea what to even say. How do you even start that conversation like...?

"Hey, was just wondering if you would like to you know? Go on a hunt for a serial killer with me?"

Gosh this was so stupid and the kiss, gosh your face heats up as you remember the way he had kissed you - oh so sweet and so naughty!

Gosh you were in bad, as an adult you decide to deal with the problem logically, you'll just ignore him. That will work, Jungkook had a small attention span anyway. You're sure he would forget. You really hope he does.

#jungkook x reader #bts fanfic #jungkookxreader #jungkook fanfic #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x you #jungkook fanfiction #jungkook imagine #jungkook series #bts x reader #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #bts imagine #jungkook smut #jungkook #bts imagines #bts angst #bts fluff #e2l

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andrea-lyn · 3 years

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The Recs (Less Travelled)

I’m excited to bring you the first installment of my ‘roads less travelled’ recs! I will be doing another round of this, probably once the Ted Lasso fic tag hits about 25 pages, and then I’ll also grab a couple more fandoms to collect in there!

The Rules:

Each fandom/pairing was sorted on Archive of Our Own by completed works. Anything recced here was not in the first ten pages when sorted by kudos at the time of reccing. There may be some more well-known authors on this list, but the specific fics I’ve picked are ones that didn’t crack that top ten or just didn’t get much traction and I think deserve it, so hopefully I have also balanced it out with other under the radar (and still great!) works. As ever, I have a pinned post of my other recs (none have been duplicated from there), so you can also check those out! Under the cut you’ll find 10 recs in each fandom for:

Raven Cycle

Roswell New Mexico

The Old Guard

Inception

Star Trek (mainly Kirk/McCoy)

The Raven Cycle

savor all the little pieces by littlelionvanz

“Since when do you garden?”

Ronan snorted, “Since I grew up on a fucking farm, genius. Jesus who gave you permission to pursue higher education.”

the old grip of the familiar by littleseal

"There is a single black feather and a printed out picture of Gansey, Blue and Cheng standing in front of some fucking monument Ronan didn’t care enough to remember the name of. Gansey sent it to Ronan’s phone some time ago, but it sat in his messages until Adam picked it up and grinned at it so hard that, one afternoon later, Ronan cursed and kicked and glared his old printer back to life in order to print it out.

Fuck, he thinks, I’m in love with a hoarder."

Adam collects things. Ronan is in love with him.

No Sweeter Innocence Than Our Gentle Sin by gansey_is_our_king

Ronan Lynch has wanted to kiss Adam Parrish for a long time.

(alternately titled: four times that Ronan could have kissed Adam)

Cheers to Another Seven Years! by skyermirth

Adam left Henrietta for Harvard and never returned. Now, seven years has passed, and an unexpected work assignment has brought him back to a place and people he hardly recognizes.

Row, row, row your boat by emmerrr

“What. Why are you smiling at me,” he says suspiciously.

Adam shrugs. “You’re cute.”

“I’m not cute, I’m terrifying.”

“Terrifyingly cute,” Adam says.

and now the world is ours to take / and every single move is ours to make by thatlittleblackcat

"Adam was the scientist, Ronan was the data, and Orphan Girl was the key that explained the strange outliers that Ronan presented, his previously unexplainable actions."

Adam sorts out his feelings, Ronan helps him, Gansey is the number one dad friend, Blue is the number one mom friend and Henry tries to make Ronan smile. Otherwise known as the story of how Orphan Girl became Opal.

All These Things You Make Me Feel by SilverOpals394

It was late. Adam could feel the long day catching up to him as he left Boyd’s, all his energy exhausted. When he started his car, the tape deck whirred to life once more. He sighed and raised his hand to turn it off, but before he did a soft melody began to play.

AU in which the mixtape Ronan made for Adam only plays the murder squash song until Adam realizes he's in love with Ronan, too.

Ways to Communicate by Jalules

Blue Sargent reflects on an early memory (and gets busy with her boyfriends.)

(The two things are related, trust me.)

Hold Me Closer, I'm Safe in Your Arms by actuallyronanlynch

“You wanna tell me why I had to hear from Henry Cheng that my boyfriend was at the hospital?” Adam hissed, though his voice wasn’t as acidic as it could’ve been. Ronan took small victories where he could.

“You don’t have a cellphone,” Ronan pointed out flatly. “It’s not like I could’ve gotten a hold of you.”

arts and crafts and the inevitability of death by sunshineinthestorm

Adam comes to the public library in search of a study spot, not a boyfriend.

But it must be his lucky day—because he ends up with a bit of both.

Roswell New Mexico

a conversation between insignificant others by Bellakitse

“Hey…have you noticed that our boyfriends are madly in love with each other?"

“You noticed that too, huh,” she answers dryly, letting out a huff of reluctant amusement.

***

Forrest and Maria share a drink and a conversation and start a friendship.

Own Personal Hell by BeStillMySlashyHeart

Now that Isobel's getting the hang of her telekinesis, Michael decides to test out his telepathic abilities. It backfires. Badly. Now Michael's trapped inside his own mind and only one person can break him out.

Drop the Hammer by brightloveee

Max makes a new friend at the shooting range, who turns out to be even more bad-ass than he expected.

(Takes place mid-S1)

Boys Like You by forgadgetsandgizmos

Curly, dirty blond hair (the mere description ‘curly’ felt like an injustice) twisted in every direction off his head, a sharp contrast with the scruff darkening his strong jawline and scowl-ridden face.

Alex made a mental note to compliment Maria on her excellent taste in men.

—

Or, Alex has coffee with Maria's one-night stand, a man who he definitely does not have a crush on.

let's exchange the experience by lostin_space

Michael decides they need to quarantine.

Michael floods Alex with love and care over and over and over.

This Is Hardcore by Anonymous

Michael makes a proposal. Alex accepts. Michael wonders what the hell he’s gotten himself into.

i don't know what to think (but i think of supernovas) by Milzilla

michael discovers that the console can talk. then, he discovers it can do far more than that.

iridescence on skin by Lire_Casander

In a world where (almost) everyone has a tattoo on their right wrist with one set of coordinates that point to the place where their soulmate is born, Alex thought he wouldn't be any different. He couldn't be more mistaken.

He has two.

The Real Thing by elliebird

Max checks on Michael the morning after Michael saves Max’s ass from Wyatt Long and his dumbass buddies. He sees more than he’s supposed to.

Written for a Tumblr anon who one of their friends walking in on them or anyone of them finding out about Michael and Alex in an interesting way

Sundering by romancandles

“You know it was just an Air Force balloon, right?” says Alex.

Michael smirks. “That’s what they want you to think,” he says, with a wink.

The Old Guard

Peer Reviewed by ishandahalf

[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])

[Subject:] Ad-hoc note from the editor

I have noticed an uncommon level of animosity in your responses to your reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular). I am writing to ask if you would please do your best to keep your interactions civil. In fairness, I have also sent a similar request to the reviewer you seem to have this friction with. I trust you will both try and remain more professional in the future.

Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.

Sincerely,

James Copley, PhD

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Medieval Studies

An (accidental) academic epistolary romance as (inadvertently) documented via a (theoretically) rigorously blinded peer review process.[citation needed]

third for a word and the song keeps going Macremae

It was honestly shaping up to be a pretty uneventful year before the Vatican got on Nicky’s bad side.

Or: three times in 2008 that the team genuinely thought about killing Nicky if only to get him to shut up about the changes to the Catholic English Mass and his unrelenting opinions on them, and one time Nile did.

Apex Predators In Island Ecosystems (Freeman et al., in press) by Sixthlight

Palaeobotany PhD student Nile Freeman and her supervisor Joe al-Kaysani are invited to billionaire Stephen Merrick’s new project – a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

This Rough Magic by Marivan

When Joe came to Scotland to study the sea, he did not expect to also encounter a beautiful man claiming that A. he’s a selkie and B. they’re married because Joe picked up his scarf.

It sounds like a fairy tale and that’s a problem. Because Joe’s a scientist. And selkies don’t exist.

Wars for the broken by Yuliares

Five years into his exile, Booker is joined by a companion he never expected to meet. Together, they try to work on healing.

Sometimes they go down to the sewers just so she can scream and scream. “I like to hear it echo,” she explains. “Underwater, you can’t hear anything. Here, at least I can be heard.”

“I don’t feel like a warrior anymore,” she tells him, throwing bread crumbs at pigeons. “I feel broken.”

“You’re still a warrior,” he says roughly. “This is still fighting.”

a good (eighth) impression by deanniker

Over the next few months, Joe runs into Nicky every so often at the farmer’s market. Some weekends Nicky doesn’t make it, because of his work schedule - Joe doesn’t understand it because he doesn’t ask, though he does start to recognize when one of those missing weekends is coming up because Nicky will stock up on things with longer shelf-life. When they do run into each other, they make small talk and move through the stalls together.

Joe doesn’t mention it to Lykon when he stops by, because it is kind of weird, that Lykon’s ex-boyfriend texts Joe things like - If you’re here, the apples look particularly good this week and thank you for that recipe, I did not know what I was going to do with that much couscous

Or,

Joe wouldn't usually consider starting anything with his best friend's ex, but as long as they keep it casual, it shouldn't be weird... right?

get back to where you once belonged by tenderjock

Nile takes a sip of her cappuccino and closes her eyes.

(Booker and Nile get that coffee. Life happens, along the way.)

a house; a home by mehm

“Is this a kidnapping?” Joe asks as Nicky checks both their seat belts. “Like, I don’t mind. It’s just not quite what I expected for my birthday.”

In which Joe gets a birthday surprise, because that’s the stuff you have time for when you and the love of your life become mortal at the same time.

the ties that bind by damaskrose

“There’s a story I heard many times,” Andy begins, “in the Mediterranean. Threads of fate and three sisters. One to spin, one to measure, and one to cut.”

Clutter And Croutons by flawedamythyst

Joe and Nicky have an argument, and then Nicky talks to Nile about what it really means to be in a relationship for 900 years.

Inception

My Big Fat Slightly Annoying Wedding by jibrailis

Arthur and Eames elope for ~tax reasons. Certain people in their lives are not happy at the lack of a wedding.

Remember Sydney by pathera

When Eames shambles into the safe house outside of London, he finds a red light blinking on the phone.

For the inception_kink prompt:

Arthur is on a plane which is about to crash. No way anyone is going to survive. Instead of panicking he calmly calls the team's office and gets the answering machine. He hangs up before the plane crashes.

Give me Arthur's last message to the team.

(TW: Character Death / Angst)

Of Such Deceitfulness and Suavity by delires

In which emotions manifest themselves in unusual ways.

YO, K2tog (it's like a code) by lazulisong

“Oh my God,” moans Arthur. “I’ve paid less for Somnacin. Good Somnacin.” A horrible thought strikes him. “How much is the yarn --”

“I want you to have an unguarded reaction,” Eames tells him, and pulls him up from the floor.

(They run an extraction on a knitter.)

hit the ground running by orphan_account

"I travelled halfway around the world for you. I dealt with the French for you."

Valley by wldnst

It's an old story: a knight, a prince, a kingdom in peril.

If This Is Rain Let It Fall On Me and Drown Me by Brangwen

We used to be so brave, Eames thought. Of the two of them, Arthur had always been the more fearless.

a gentle familiarity by jollypuppet

Two weeks later, Eames is on his doorstep with bad Italian takeout and a grin, and Arthur tells him he can sleep on the couch.

Your Crisis Cannot Be Completed As Dialed by sevenimpossiblethings

Arthur doesn't do snow, Ariadne is determined to be as Midwestern as possible, and blizzards make cell phone service unreliable.

Let’s Say I Do (I Do) by xsilverdreamsx

There were, perhaps some things worse that this, Arthur thinks, as he glares at the letter in his hand with his name printed clearly in bold ink, indicating his presence in two weeks for his esteemed marriage to one William H. Eames, III, at St. Catherine's Church in London, England.

Star Trek (predominantly Kirk/McCoy)

Show the World That Something Good Can Work by knune

Leonard McCoy is a doctor, not a personal assistant, and maybe that's why he can't stand working for Jim Kirk.

It's in the little things by winterover

Bones is bemused by a persistent secret admirer.

"Wedding" Away with It by pendrogon

One morning, Bones wakes up and he's single. By the same afternoon, he's married to Jim Kirk for Arbitrary Fic Reasons(TM).

How Long Will You Stay (For Your Whole Life) by withthepilot

Jim Kirk, deputy director of the Enterprise parks and recreation department, sees all of his hard work fall to pieces when budget specialist Leonard McCoy arrives from the state capital to cut Jim's budget and threaten the livelihoods of his colleagues. But thanks to a major parks project, Leonard finds a place in the department, as well as in Jim's life—and when all is said and done, Jim doesn't want him to leave.

All-Time Favorite by mardia

What to do when your best friend suddenly starts making new friends.

Joy Ride by Cards_Slash

While running for their lives from an alien species Kirk had accidentally enraged, they come across a car. And well, if you were to come across a car while being chased by aliens that wanted you dead, and you possessed some lingering knowledge of how to drive a car similar to said car, you would have decided to drive it toward the nearest cliff too.

Also a gunfight.

Syncytia by epistolic

He’d signed up for Starfleet on an impulse, but Starfleet meant James Tiberius Kirk: the first – and second, and third, and fourth – big mistake of Leonard McCoy’s life.

Renovation by canistakahari

Jim has a whammy put on him by an alien death ray and he suddenly craves domesticity. He's crazy with longing to shop at space!Ikea and get potted bamboo and he starts looking into adopting AND HE HATES HIMSELF AND CANNOT CONTROL THE SHIT. Luckily, McCoy is drunk all the time and plays house.

17:08 by butterflycell

She'd watched the news holos with a sick feeling, searching for information that was completely obvious in its absence. Amidst the reports of the the Enterprise's miraculous recovery and the damages sustained, there had been next to nothing about the crew or her captain. Jim had been mentioned only in passing, his name shied away from as his first officer limited interaction to the bare essentials.

The Honey of Hybla by shrift

"Bones, prepare to be my date."

#recs #fic recs #recs project #star trek recs #inception recs #the raven cycle recs #the old guard recs #roswell new mexico recs

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rainecreatesstuff · 4 years

Text

LAMP Soulmate AU Bulletfic thing

Word Count: 2569

TW: Mentions and implications of abuse, mentions of anxiety, descriptions of panic attacks, mentions and implications of death + illness

They’re all connected in different ways

Virgil is connected to Patton through that thing where marks on your soulmate’s skin appear of yours too

Roman through a thing where on your eleventh birthday at 11:11pm a name will pop into your head and wow its your soulmate’s

And Logan through the string thing

Roman is connected to Patton through a timer on his wrist

And Logan through a tattoo-like mark on your wrist that says your soulmate’s first words to you

Logan and Patton are connected through a soulmark (A tattoo or raised pattern on your skin that is also on your soulmate)

Patton is blind

so in this au different soulmarkers develop at different ages

So when V’s little he’s super excited to meet his sm, bc his parents are soulmates and everything he’s seen abt them is so sweet and exciting!

He turns six and doesn’t develop a timer, which is what he was hoping for

But that’s ok! There are tons of other soulmarkers!

And then he doesn’t develop a soulmark when he’s seven

Or a sentence on his wrist when he’s eight

And he can see colours

So he’s starting to get nervous

And hey! Mom’s sick, and in the hospital, and she’s just not doing too swell

But then when he turns nine, a beautiful red string has been tied around his ring finger when he wakes up!

And wow! Mom look, I have a soulmate! Just like you and daddy!

And then a few months later he’s doing his homework at the kitchen table and the string goes limp before shriveling up and turning black

The doctors have no explanation, and V’s anxiety has really started to kick in

Mom doesn’t seem to be getting better either

So when he turns ten, he is fully aware that this is probably his last chance to develop a soulmarker

He writes on his forearm the night before his birthday

It says “Hey, I’m V! I guess we’re soulmates?”

When he wakes up there’s nothing new

Which is fine! Because that means his sm is probably in the same time zone as him!

But then he keeps waiting and

Nothing

Nothing for a week.

Eventually his dad convinces him to wash it off

Then on his eleventh birthday he knows how uncommon a soulname connection is, but he needs to try

So it’s 11:10 and he’s sitting at his desk with a marker ready to write it down and then-

Roman Prince

Roman prince? What do you mean Roman prince? That’s not a name! What the hell?!

So he’s really sad and anxious and stuff because he doesn’t have a soulmate and, yknow, that’s kinda upsetting for him

And hey, your mom really isn’t doing too well, we have to visit her after school, okay?

At first Virgil doesn’t understand why mom’s being so dramatic or why she keeps telling him she loves him

Then it hits him

And now he’s sobbing and hugging her and shaking and he can’t breathe he can’t breathe he can’t breathe

Fun fact! Turns out this is a regular thing and he has really bad anxiety.

And mom has been put in a medically induced coma

So a year later dad decides to pull the plug

Virgil’s anxiety has gotten really bad

He’s just not in a good place

High school goes by without much happening

Now he’s going to university! How exciting and stressful!

Roman, too, was entranced by the idea of soulmates. His parents aren’t soulmates, but they encourage his excitement about them!

And when he turns six, he develops a timer on his wrist! Score! What a romantic way to meet the love of your life!

Or friend of your life

His moms are so excited for him! They get him new paints and take him out to dinner to celebrate.

And then he wakes up on his eighth birthday to words on his right wrist

It says “If you could stop talking, it would be vastly appreciated.”

He’s a little pissed

His moms take him to the doctor bc “wtf why does he have TWO soulmarkers?!”

The answer is that he has two soulmates

It’s uncommon, but possible

So while he is ecstatic and ready to parade his soulmarkers around the school, his moms are a little less happy and a little more worried

They may have made the suggestion that he wears long sleeves most days, those ones that he hates because they will not roll up

But he did what they asked because they’re his moms, and he loves them very much

And then a few years later on his birthday he’s typing up a short story for school

It’s due the next day so he’s rushing through it a little bit

It’s still amazing

But anyways, he’s writing, and he suddenly just gets the name “Virgil Miller” stuck in his head

He doesn’t think anything of it bc he’s writing and that’s normal

He ends up naming the main character Virgil

Logan grows up in a bit of a run-down part of town

His Mami and Dad are soulmates (he doesn’t think they should be)

They fight a lot, and sometimes Dad’ll hurt Mami, especially at night when they think he’s asleep

And he’s heard Mami on the phone with his Tia, talking about court cases? And laws, and soulmates?

Needless to say, he isn’t all too enamoured with the idea of soulmates

When he’s seven he gets a soulmark, some bumps over his heart, which is a little distressing

He’s never met this person, but he’s supposed to spend his whole life with them?

He’s very scared that his soulmate will be like Dad

And then he develops the words “Bold of you to assume I can stop talking” on his right wrist

And then a string when he’s nine.

He doesn’t tell his parents about any of them. “Soulless” people existed, and he knew his Mami was hoping he was one of them.

And then later that year Mami sits him down and tells him that she’s going to live with his Tia until she can find her own apartment, and that she and Dad aren’t together anymore

Logan cries for a while, and tells her about all the things he’s heard, and the bruises he’s seen, and begs to go with her

Mami says she was hoping he would

His Dad finds out the day before they leave and he hits Logan

Multiple times

And when his Mami steps in, Dad scowls and yells and stomps away and Mami picks Logan up and they run to the car and leave

When they get to his Tia’s he hides in the guest bedroom they said is his and he takes a pair of scissors and

Snip snip, he’s 33% more “soulless”

He steals Mami’s concealer and puts it on his wrist everyday to cover the words there

The only one he doesn’t cover is the soulmark on his chest, which he almost never sees because of his shirt

Whenever anyone asks, he just tells them he’s soulless

He tries not to get too close to people, but he usually fails and so he has a very small, very tight friend group

Oh also he’s a grade ahead of his year

Patton’s family is very well off

He’s the oldest of four brothers

He’s trans, but his family is v supportive and helped him transition as soon as they found out

His service dog’s name is Cookie and she’s a golden retriever

He’s had her since he was eleven, and he loves her very much

Because he’s blind there’s certain things he didn’t know about growing up

For example, nobody told him about soulmates until he was nine

Which really explains the weird ticking he hears every once in a while, as well as the strange, tiny bumps on his chest (which spell out “Loved” in Braille)

He doesn’t think about it too often, but he’d be lying if the idea didn’t entrance him

He didn’t think he’d ever meet his soulmates, though, and if he did, he wasn’t sure they’d want the responsibility of a blind soulmate

On the day he turns ten, there’s this little tickling on his forearm, like butterflies gently taking off on him

He doesn’t really think anything of it, though

Despite being blind, Patton is super capable

He can’t cook by himself, but if he’s supervised he does a really good job. He’s the most prepared for “real life” out of his siblings, which is strange, considering he’s the oldest

He goes to public school, where most kids are really nice (sometimes antagonistically nice), but there were also some rude kids

“You don’t really need that walking stick, you’ve got a dog, and we need it to play our game!”

The amount of times he’s had to explain that no you dumbass I do still need the stick is ridiculous

But he keeps a smile on his face and forges through it

And then in grade eleven Roman’s studying in the hallway when he sees some kid being bullied

Well, not bullied, but definitely teased. Something was wrong, anyways

He’s been on edge all day because his timer keeps going down

But he’s not really thinking about it rn

So he goes over and gets the idiots to leave and

Holy hell did heaven drop an angel? They must have, because look at this boy with his golden hair and tanned skin and freckles and

Beep beep motherfucker. It’s soulmate o’clock

And Roman is just so happy

“H-hey, I’m Roman!” “Oh, hi, I’m Patton! Did... did your timer go off?” “Uh yeah! It did!”

And Patton

Just grins so wide and there’s tears, and he leaps up and hugs Roman so tight

And Roman is so freaking happy!!!! He asks Patton for his contact because duh and Pat’s like

“Uhhh well I can’t text”

“Why?”

“..... I’m blind?” “OHHHHHHH”

So they figure they can talk over the phone because Patton does have a phone for calling

So they have a cute first date and they fall in love and everything’s good and dandy and Roman’s going to college but Patton’s found this real nifty job that just so happens to be right next to Roman’s college so they move in together and Patton knows about Roman’s other sm and Roman knows about Patton’s other sm

And Roman’s in a lecture now

And he didn’t really notice but he’s been muttering

And he’s just kinda sitting there when he hears it from the guy next to him

So he looks up and here’s this ethereal looking dude with gorgeous brown eyes and dark hair and

“Bold of you to assume I can stop talking.”

He curses every known god for making his first words to his soulmate be a meme

They excuse themselves from class because holy shit

And Logan introduces himself shakily

And Roman asks for his number

And they go on a date where Roman tells him about Patton and Logan mentions having a soulmark over his heart

Logan is really hesitant to join their relationship bc he was hoping he would never meet his soulmates

So they don’t put a label on it right away

But they go on a few dates and hang out a bunch and Logan realizes that he actually really, really likes these guys and he doesn’t really want to live the rest of his life without them

So he talks to them and tells them about some of the stuff that happened when he was a kid

Roman and Patton are horrified but they hug him and promise that they will never lay a finger on him if he asks them not to

And Logan just has a moment of “These guys love me. Like actually love me. And want me to be happy. And I think I feel the same?”

So on their next date Logan asks both of them to be his boyfriends and obviously they say yes

And basically they’re just all really in love

They move into a bigger apartment together at the beginning of year two

So then they’re all cuddling one day when Logan tells them about his string

And so the other two are like “oh shit is there another???”

And Roman says that on his eleventh birthday he just suddenly had this name pop into his head but he just assumed he’d wanted the name for a character so

And Patton says that after getting his soulmark AND a timer he didn’t think to check for anything else

So they’re all kinda like well whoops let’s hope we still meet them!

And Patton’s at his job one day when this guy walks in and he’s one of the new employees

Pat’s got his seeing eye doggo with him but the vest is off cuz they’re both on break

And so V’s like “oh cool dog can I pet him?”

Bc usually he would never just go up and ask but he literally can’t stop himself because here’s this adorable dude in front of him and the universe is screeching at him to say hi

And Pat hears his voice and immediately falls in love

“Oh, yea sure! She’s my eye dog, but she’s on break so it’s all good!”

And V meets Pat and his dog

And they end up exchanging numbers because they are coworkers and well

Yknow

So a couple days later, after him and Patton have been talking a lot, Pat invites him over

So V goes over and meets Roman and Logan

And he hears Roman’s name and

Holy shit

And of course Roman is also freaking out because the name Virgil just really hasn’t left his head since he thought of it

So yknow

Logan’s a little unsure, but then the two get talking about astronomy and he doesn’t care if they’re not soulmates he is going to marry this guy

And they all get really close really fast

And then one day Virgil offhandedly mentions the string thing

And Logan freezes and just

Shows V his right ring finger, where they can both see this rotting string that’s still tied tight around it and

Fuck V can’t breathe are you kidding? right now?

So they help ground him, and Logan explains everything

And Roman tells him what’s up

But they’re not really sure how he’s connected to Patton but then he just

Grabs a marker and draws a heart on his hand and

It’s right there on Patton’s hand holy s h i t

So they take Virgil on a date and stuff and they make it official

And Virgil’s a little nervous bc like those three have been together for a while now and he feels like he’s intruding

But he talks to Logan and L understands bc Roman and Patton had been dating for 2+ years when he found them

He promises that V is not intruding and that they all really love him

And Virgil just full on starts crying because he hasn’t felt this loved since before his mom died and he loves his bfs so much

They find their bfs and just cuddle all night

Virgil moves in with the rest of them at the beginning of third year

They get their happily ever after for the most part

Hopefully y’all liked this! I think I’ll be posting more writing on here, bc I have TONS of wips stacked up in a google docs and I’d like to get them out of there lmao

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storiesforallfandoms · 4 years

Text

recruit ~ eric coulter;divergent

word count: 2602

request?: yes!

“Yay in so happy you'll do divergent pics! I've fallen down mainly an Eric x reader hole. Could you do something cute and fluffy with Eric pleaseee. He may be a jerk but I love him so much “

description: the newest member of the dauntless faction finds herself drawn to her brutal trainer

pairing: eric coulter x female!reader

warnings: swearing, slight mentions of a toxic home life

masterlist

The wind whipped around me, tangling my bright yellow dress around me. My heart jumped to my throat as I expected to land on the cold, hard ground. I was starting to regret my choice. Even if the aptitude test said I was Dauntless, I should’ve stayed in Amity. Being here, they were going to kill me!

I almost let out a cry of relief when I felt a net underneath me, catching me from falling further down the what looked like bottomless abyss. I crawled to the edge of the net, my whole body still shaking. The initiates trainer waiting for me was full of tattoos, had his hair shaved on the sides, and had a piercing through his eyebrow. He looked like the poster child for Dauntless, and if he didn’t look so young, I would think he was the Dauntless leader.

He eyed my clothes with a raised eyebrow. “Did you fall into the wrong faction?”

I shook my head. “No, I chose Dauntless.”

“An Amity choosing to be Dauntless? Interesting,” he noted. “What’s your name, Pansycake.”

I winced at the Dauntless nickname for Amity before responding, “(Y/N).”

“Even sounds like an Amity name,” he muttered before turning to the rest of the initiates who had already jumped and announced, “Our next jumper, (Y/N)!”

He roughly pulled me from the net just in time for another initiate to come flying down from the building. Once all the initiates had jumped, we followed our trainers into the Dauntless city. I marvelled at the place, I had never seen where the Dauntless lived before. Not even in pictures really. Understandably so, Dauntless and Amity weren't exactly the closest of factions.

“Dauntless initiates, you’ll follow Lauren. New initiates will come with me,” the trainer who had caught us said. “We won’t start your training tonight, but we’ll get you settled away and show you around.”

The initiates broke in half and the newbies followed our leader around the city. I took this moment to look around and take in my fellow new Dauntless members. There was a number of blue bodies (the Erudite), few black and white (the Candor), but of course no grey (the Abnegation) and only one yellow, me.

We were finally led to the room where the initiates would be staying. Our leader turned to us before allowing us to enter.

“Before you really get into this,” he started, “I have to warn you that the Dauntless training is not an easy task. Just because you’re new to the faction doesn’t mean we’ll be taking it easy on you. We’ll be training you just as hard as we train our Dauntless initiates. If you don’t measure up, if you step out of line, if you refuse to keep going after we’ve told you to, you’re out. No ifs, ands, or buts. If we don’t think you’re cut out to be Dauntless, you’re done. If anyone wants to leave now, we recommend you do so you don’t waste our time.”

I pretended not to see the eyes darting towards me before quickly looking away. Instead, I held the trainer’s eye contact. He was definitely being less subtle about thinking I was going to fail, but the joke was on him. His doubt in me was only going to push me more, to make me want to pass and become a full Dauntless member. I wasn’t going to fail, not if I had anything to do with it.

When no one stepped away or responded, he spoke again, “Good. Now, go rest. We start right after breakfast tomorrow morning. You’re all gonna want to be well rested and ready to go.”

~~~~~~

Despite how hard I tried, I just couldn’t sleep. I was staring at the ceiling for hours, listening to my fellow initiates sleeping heavily around me. I couldn’t stop thinking of the day before, when I chose Dauntless. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see my parents faces. Part of me wished I’d open them again and it would just be the day before the ceremony, and all of this would be some sort of nightmare, but of course that didn’t happen.

I gave up trying to sleep. I silently pulled myself up out of the bed and slipped on the jet black Dauntless clothes that were provided for us. They were a little tight, but it seemed like that was the Dauntless way, too.

I silently creeped out of the room, making sure I didn’t wake any of the other initiates, or that none of them got up to follow me. The last thing I needed was some Candor or Erudite trying to prove themselves early by attacking the Amity. I had heard stories like that before.

I walked to the chasm that we had been shown on our tour of the Dauntless city. Although I could hear the water crashing down below, it still felt like yet another bottomless abyss. Looking down into it made me feel dizzy, but I swallowed my fear and sat myself up on the railing around it. I wasn’t going to pass the initiation if I backed away from my fears now.

“What are you doing up, Pansycake?”

I turned to see the trainer from earlier approaching me. Instead of shying away at the nickname, I scowled at him.

“You can’t call me that,” I said. “I’m Dauntless now, like you.”

“Technically you’re not. You haven’t passed initiation yet. You could be factionless by this time tomorrow.”

I scoffed. “I’m sure you’d like that, but I won’t be. I intend on passing the initiation, with flying colours if that's possible.”

“Watch it, you’re starting to sound Erudite.”

He pulled himself up onto the railing next to me with ease. He sat so close I could almost feel the warmth from his skin. I tried to repress the shiver that was coming up my spine.

“Why aren’t you in bed?” he tried again.

I shrugged. “Just couldn’t sleep. I figured getting to know my possible new home would be better than laying in bed all night. Besides, maybe the fresh air will knock me out.”

“Or the fear of the Chasm will.”

I was trying my best to avoid looking down into the Chasm, but as he mentioned it I couldn’t help but letting my eyes flicker down. Sitting on the railing, I could finally see the bottom, and I could see that it was full of sharp rocks. I felt my stomach lurch and my head begin to spin, but I couldn’t prove weakness now. I simply looked back up at him.

“It’s not that scary,” I said, hoping my voice sounded as even as I wanted it to.

He snorted. “You’re really trying, Pansycake, aren’t you?”

“Stop calling me that,” I hissed. “Even if I fail the initiation, I won’t be Amity anymore. I’ll be factionless, which means that no matter what, I am not Amity, which means I am not a Pansycake.”

He put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, geez. Calm down kid, I’m just trying to have some fun with you. We’ve never had an Amity initiate before, this is all new to us.”

“I’m not a kid,” I huffed. “Not to you anyways, you look like you’re close to my age.”

“I’m 18,” he said. “But I’m still your superior, which means you’re still a kid in my eyes.”

I sighed, frustrated, and rolled my eyes. I was getting sick of this guy. And now I had to train under him? It was going to be a brutal few weeks.

“So, what did your people think when you chose Dauntless?” he asked. “I can’t imagine the peaceful being angry like ever, but I also can’t see them being too happy that one of their own chose violence over peace.”

I looked down into the Chasm, the nauseous feeling starting to subside. Falling down this Chasm would’ve been much easier than having to relive the day before, where I betrayed my parents and my faction by choosing Dauntless over Amity.

“It’s not like no one has ever chosen to leave Amity,” I responded. “It’s just...a lot of them tend to go to Abnegation or Candor. Selflessness is seen as the closest thing to peacefulness, and the Amity also value truth over everything else. I went into my test thinking I’d come out as one of those. I always followed by what my parents taught me, what the faction taught all of us. I thought it was simple that I would get one of those three factions.”

“But you didn’t.” His voice was no longer harsh and teasing. It was light, almost understanding. I wondered if my brutal initiation trainer was a born Dauntless.

“When the test ended, the woman who administered it to me was shocked. She was also Amity, a family friend, actually. She kept looking over the results, muttering to herself that they must be wrong. Of course, to me, worst case scenario was I didn’t test for any faction. That I was some freak who would never fit into any of the factions, that I was meant to just be factionless for life. But when I asked her what my results were, she looked at me and said, ‘Dauntless’.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Really? She was panicking because you were Dauntless?”

“The Amity seem to think that if one of their own is tested as Dauntless, then they somehow taught that person wrong. I’m sure you can vouch for the fact that there are very few Amity born Dauntless. I mean, I’m the only initiate from Amity here. It’s as rare as an Abnegation testing for Dauntless. Of course, me being the first one in who knows how long, it was a big deal. I didn’t tell my parents, I begged her not to, either. She struggled with the decision, but said she wouldn’t as she isn’t allowed to anyways.”

“So they found out at the ceremony.”

I nodded. “I kept saying I couldn’t tell them what my results were, and that they’d know by the time I chose. They were so excited that they had themselves convinced I had gotten Amity. Or maybe they were just nervous about losing their only child that they had to convince themselves that they wouldn’t. When I dropped my blood onto the Dauntless coals...I swear, I could hear my parents hearts break.”

Well, I could hear my mother’s anyways. My father...I could already hear the angry yelling. I was glad I had been whisked away before they had the chance to really say anything to me.

“What was their reactions?” he asked. I was so lost in thought I had forgotten he was there for a moment.

“Mom is a born Amity, so she understood. She cried a lot and hugged me so tightly it felt like she was crushing every bone in my body, but she understood that if I tested for Dauntless, that I should choose Dauntless...my father on the other hand...he didn’t even hug me goodbye. His face was so red with anger, I was sure if I was there another moment he would’ve yelled at me.”

“That doesn’t sound very peaceful of him.”

I looked down at my lap. Did I tell this complete stranger, that had done nothing but taunt me since I got here, the biggest secret of my family? What exactly could he do? It wasn’t illegal what my father did, just wrong. The worst that could happen, maybe he became factionless. Maybe that’s what he deserved.

“My father isn’t a born Amity,” I revealed. “He didn’t even test for Amity. He’s from Dauntless, tested for Dauntless, but chose Amity.”

He looked at me with wide eyes, disbelief written all over his face. “What? Why would he...no one ever does that. Especially not a born and tested Dauntless. They’d choose Erudite, maybe even Abnegation before Amity.”

“Apparently he was just in love with my mom,” I responded. “They met in school, they were the same age. The day they got tested, they met up with one another in private to discuss the results. When they found out they had been tested for their own factions, they were both disappointed thinking they’d never see each other again. The day of their choosing ceremony, my dad chose Amity to be with my mom. He’s good at pretending to be peaceful in public but...when he was angry...he was angry. He always took it out on me and mom, but because mom is a born Amity she doesn’t do anything about it to keep the peace. I feel so terrible for having to leave her behind, but I had to get away from him.”

“You chose faction over blood, as you’re meant to,” he said. “At least you’re out of there.”

I didn’t realize I had been crying until he touched my face. I jerked away at first, until I realized he was using this thumb to wipe the tears from my eyes. I was happy to be away from my father, but I hated having to leave my mother. I wished nothing more than to go back and get her, to somehow sneak her into Dauntless, but I knew this wasn’t the place for her. She loved Amity, and, despite how he was, she loved my father. She was so caring, so selfless - a true Amity.

“You’re pretty tough for an Amity girl,” he told me. “Standing up against your father by choosing the faction you tested for over the one he probably threatened you to stay in. That takes guts.”

I scoffed through my tears. “More like cowardice. I was looking for a way out, not looking to stay true to what I tested for.”

“But getting away from that scenario is tough, whether you want to believe it or not. You got guts, kid. I think you’ll make it here.”

I smiled and wiped my face dry using the sleeves of my shirt. “My name is (Y/N). You can call me that, you know. We’ll be equals once I pass the initiation.”

He laughed. “And there’s the cocky attitude. You’ll definitely be a great Dauntless. Since you’re so hellbent on being equals, you can call me Eric, but only in private. Don’t want the other initiates knowing we’ve gotten close or else they may think I’m playing favourites.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You think we’re close?”

“I think I’d like to get close.”

My face heated up at his words and I had to look away. I was grateful for the gust of wind that blew at that moment, cooling me down.

“I’d like that, too,” I decided. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle the yawn that came suddenly.

“Tired now?” I sheepishly nodded. Eric jumped off of the railing and offered me a hand. He helped me down, making sure I was safe on the ground before letting me go. “We have training after breakfast tomorrow. Come find me in the dining room, I’ll be sat with the other trainers and the Dauntless initiates. You’ll be seen as pretty daring sitting with us.”

I smiled and nodded, stifling another yawn as I did so. Eric laughed and wished me a goodnight before heading back towards his own home. I watched him go for some time before I excitedly hurried back to the initiate room, but trying not to make the excitement seem so obvious. Maybe I would like being a Dauntless after all.

#eric coulter #eric coulter imagine #eric coulter x reader #jai courtney #jai Courtney imagine #jai Courtney x reader #divergent #dauntless #divergent imagine #one shot #imagine #request

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sammisweets143 · 3 years

Text

A New Family Member (OC x Hunter)

Summary: The Bad Batch and Jedi General Sienna Nellock have just gotten off of the Ordo Moon and are in Hyperspace. Sienna is having difficulties coping with her place amongst the batch since she no longer has the Jedi (her family) and she feels out of place with the clone squad. Hunter decides to make her an official member and act on his feelings toward her.

Pairings: Hunter and Sienna (My OC)

OC Description: Sienna has several braids that are pulled into a ponytail fit for any Viking warrior (think Lagertha from Vikings). She also has the same plastiod armor the Clones and Bad Batch have, hers of course are the slate grey/black. She no longer uses her lightsaber, instead she uses a blaster and a knife, just like Hunter.

TW: Wholesomeness, Steamy kiss scene, feelings of not belonging, *I think that about sums everything up*

Notes: I am still learning the steamy/love scenes between characters if any creators have advice I’d love to hear it!

There was a quietness on the ship after take off from the Ordo Moon. Sienna rather enjoyed it.

It was the first time in awhile she’d actually gotten to meditate without interruption from anyone. She sat in the copilot’s chair, releasing a calming breath as she centered herself.

The force flowed through her almost immediately, letting her feel the entire ship’s energy in her grasp. From Omega’s bubbly and energetic spirit to Echo’s hard yet kind spirit, everything was in her grasp again and that made her feel better. It was hard not letting the force in due to the fear of being discovered by the enemy. What if someone knew she was still alive and came for her? For the Bad Batch?

No sooner had she began to feel at peace, a presence she was all too familiar with entered the atmosphere. With her heightened senses she heard him coming first then when he entered the cockpit she smelled the familiar clean yet smoky fragrance he had to him.

“There you are, I was wondering where you’d gone off to,” Hunter’s smoky voice reached her ears as he sat in the pilot’s chair. “You’ve been unusually quite.”

There weren’t many places she could go to unless she released herself out of the airlock. No matter how hard she had tried, Sienna had managed to lose her grip on her control with him. He was forbidden fruit and she wanted nothing more than to have him. For several days now they’d been flirting, they even flirted when they first met, everything was innocent of course, up until recently. Their desire for each other was growing, and Sienna ached for the one thing she’d been told all her life she couldn’t have, attachment to someone.

When she had first met Hunter and the group it was when they were going on a covert mission to the Cyber Center and then to save Echo from Skako Minor. There was an instant connection, almost a magnetic pull between them. They both did their best to ignore the feeling, each having their loyalties set on their duties as Jedi and Clone Trooper.

What didn’t help them was when he’d kept her steady with his hand on her back or waist, or when the shuttle went down and his arm locked around her and she was pressed against his front. I got you, I got you. He repeated in her ear as if it was a promise, he wouldn’t let her go even if it killed them.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Hunter pressed on when she didn’t respond to him the first time.

“I shouldn’t have left Saleucami with you. I should’ve got on that shuttle like you told me to,” Sienna said, before she could even stop the words from spilling out of her mouth. When she uttered them it felt as though they hit him right in the face.

“I thought you wanted to?” His features hardened. “You fought me on this and I-“ he stopped as he could sense she wasn’t acting right. “Hey, you are just as important as any of us.” He knelt down in front of her.

“I’m not one of you, I just don’t feel like I belong.” She said. “I’m not a clone, I’m a Jedi. What use am I?”

He nodded as he looked at her. “Okay.” He stood up. “Stay.” He pointed at her and went to retrieve something from a cabinet. He came back and sealed the cockpit so it was just the two of them. “Come here.” He knelt down again and pulled her closer and turned her so her shoulder was to him.

“What are you doing?” She asked as he was grabbing her and moving her.

“Quiet.”

“Hunter.”

“Sienna, I said be quiet. This takes concentration,” he looked at her with a hint of playfulness in his eyes. She rarely got to see that look from him anymore.

He opened one of the container and it was white paint. “Don’t move,” he ordered as he began to paint on her pauldron.

She did as she was told and didn’t move, so she took the moment to look at him, really look at him. The side of his face that wasn’t tattooed had a light dusting of stubble, the other side did too but this side was visible. His lashes were long, and when he blinked they’d dust across his cheeks gently.

As her gaze swept over him she seemed to fall deeper into the trance that was Hunter. All caution was out the window now, anything could happen. And anything did. She found herself reaching up gently to stroke his cheek as he focused on painting, the tiny stubble barely poking at her finger tips. It was one of the most simplest, yet intimate things both had experienced that they let the quiet moment consume them for what seemed like forever.

“Tell me about your tattoos on your back,” He finally said, needing a distraction. “What’s special about them?”

She cleared her throat and took a breath. “I got them because on each planet or moon was where I learned something.” She said.

“Tell me about your favorite one.” He prompted her.

“Sorgan.” a little smile graced her lips as she recalled the memory. “The children there loved to race and play, they were part of this family that owned a farm,” she began. “The mother was so kind and she had a new born with her but she always managed to be doing something strenuous and that benefited her family and community with the child strapped to her.”

“Sounds like quite the woman.” He nodded. For a brief moment he pictured her doing the same thing. She rarely rested since she’d been with them, and she doted on Omega. She never let that girl out of her sight if she could help it, much like himself.

“I also just fell in love with the planet itself. They say it’s just some backwater planet but it’s so beautiful. I’d live there if I could.”

Another picture pushed its way into his mind, of them on that little plant in the middle of nowhere with a farm of their own, a couple of kids running around, maybe his brothers not too far away. He quickly pushed that thought down so not to get ahead of himself. Hunter chuckled some. “Tell me another.” He coaxed.

“Kashyyk, I learned how to shoot a crossbow,” She smiled and bit her lip. “Very fun, and I met several force sensitive Wookiees.”

“Really, interesting.” He smirked as he dipped the brush into the paint again. “A Wookiee with a lightsaber seems unsettling. Could be just like Wrecker with a lightsaber, imagine.”

Sienna let out a small laugh. “They’re very skilled with weapons surprisingly. May I continue sergeant?”

“By all means, General,” he all but purred that statement before resuming his painting.

“Kamino, like I said is where I learned friendship, thanks to 99.” She said. “Well and Rex and the rest of the guys.” She shrugged a little.

“Don’t-” he grabbed her shoulders and chuckled some. “You’ll make me smudge it.”

“Sorry,” She laughed. “Um, let’s see, I actually was dared by Echo to get Endore on me but since it’s a forest planet I didn’t mind.”

“Seems to be your theme, forests and oceans.”

“They call to me the most,” a sigh left her lips, but it was a sigh of relief. “I often wonder if that’s where I’m from, someplace with a forest or water.” She said

“You don’t know where you’re from?” The lines on Hunter’s face settled into a deep frown as he asked her that question.

“I was a toddler when I was given to the temple, I wasn’t told where I was from.” Her voice became gentle, as if she spoke too loud the memories of her past may break. “I’ve come to peace with it.” Her opposite shoulder rose into a shrugged. “Not knowing where your home is I guess is good, so you don’t know if it’s a bad place.” She bit her lip. Sure she said she came to peace with it but occasionally there was a part of her that yearned to know her parents, her home. All the trivial things that many great Jedi were willing to part with.

When Hunter looked up at her he realized she was watching his face. He set the brush down in the container and held her hands. “Your home is with us, you are Sienna Nellock of Squad 99.” He said. “You’ll never be told differently.” He released her hands and then cupped her face being as gentle as he could. “You are here to protect Omega, be a role model for her. You are here to reassure Wrecker that eventually he may be able to blow things up or beat someone up. You are here to make sure Echo isn’t a grump to everyone since he favors you, and to give Tech something new to talk about besides manuals and random plants. Most importantly, you’re here to keep me sane, drive me wild, and make me strive to protect this squad even harder.” His voice was soft as he recited his speech, stroking her cheek with his thumb after each declaration.

Sienna’s pulse jumped as he held her face and spoke to her in the gentlest of ways he’s ever done. “That’s one of the best things that’s come out of your mouth ever. Thank you, Hunter.”

He smirked and pulled her closer. “You have such a way with words,” his voice got slightly huskier as his lips brushed against hers. He was taking a big risk doing this, but he wanted Sienna to know how important she was not just to the squad, but to him.

When his lips touched her’s, that caused her brows to furrow as her eyes closed. This was unexpected but she welcomed it none the less. They weren’t what she expected, his lips, she had expected them to be dry from constantly wearing a helmet but they were actually soft. Returning the kiss was almost instinctual for her, as if she’d done it hundreds of times before. She gripped the back of his neck and pulled him close, causing him to let out a low, hungry grunt, at that point it was the most attractive noise she’d ever heard and she didn’t care about anything else.

Hunter pulled away, wanting nothing more than to keep kissing her but their need for air plus his need to keep a handle on everything took precedence. “So, that’s what it’s like to kiss a jedi?” He smirked.

“You know, I imagined kissing a clone would be weird, like I’d be kissing a friend since you all are the same-” She began.

“But?”

“I suppose since you are genetically defective that might make you better at kissing.” She joked and smiled.

A chuckle escaped his lips as he picked up the paint brush again. “Almost done with this, be still,” He said as he moved her chair so she was turned to the other side.

“Yes sir.” She said as she rolled her eyes. They sat in a comfortable silence as he finished painting her other pauldron and he leaned back, admiring his work.

“Alright, have a look.” He said and smiled.

The excitement built up in her as she looked down at her right pauldron and it was the Jedi crest but adorning each peak was the skull of Clone Force 99. Then on the left was the signature skull with 99 below it. “Hunter,” Sienna smiled. “I love them, thank you.”

“You’re a certified member of the Bad Batch now,” Hunter smirked. “This armor definitely suits you even more than before, I’ll be the first one to admit that.”

Sienna laughed and smiled. “Hunter,” she shoved him playfully. Before she could go anywhere he grabbed her hands pulling her against his chest.

“Would you prefer it if I said I’d rather see it on the floor?” A smirk grew on his face.

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time something like that came from you,” she mimicked his expression as she pulled him closer. “We’re alone for at least another hour-” she reminded as she stared at him with a new found desire in her eyes.

“Say no more,” he silenced her with a kiss and picked her up, securing her legs around his waist tightly.

A breathy laugh escaped her lips as she pulled away momentarily for air. This was the first time she was able to touch him, memorize his facial feature, run her fingers through his silky, dark hair, and look into his eyes without the feeling of being watched by an audience. He gave her very little time before he pulled her back and hungrily kissed her, letting his tongue explore her mouth. He kept a firm grip on her thighs, keeping her as close as psychically possible. Occasionally, he’d give them a squeeze to make sure this was real, she was real. Like her, he felt like this was their chance to do anything they wanted, no interruptions. The final question, where was he going to start?

#the bad batch #hunter x oc #original character #clone wars 99 #clone troopers #clone trooper hunter #star wars omega #clone force 99 #bad batch hunter #sergeant hunter

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divineluce · 3 years

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Point of Origin || Alcher & Luce

Timing: May 14th, 2021

Location: The Outskirts

Tagging: @zahneundklauen & @divineluce

Description: Alcher can smell fire in the wind-- she finds Luce instead.

Shuffling around the edge of the burnt out clearing, Luce scrutinized the bits of charcoal, half-burnt branches, and the charred earth that remained. As far as she could tell, it was all just burnt pieces of wood, but she needed to find the anchor point, the place where the phoenix had first been raised. The books she’d gotten from Rio were about as clear as mud, but as far as she could tell, she needed… a piece of the phoenix. Which was easier said than done. The feather she and Adam had found was incredibly volatile on its own. And besides, just because they’d seen the phoenix, that didn’t mean this was where they’d reincarnated. For all she knew, they could have come here from another goddamn state. “Fuck.” She muttered to herself as she continued to look around for anything that might help her. “Like looking for a needle in a haystack full of fucking needles.” Luce said as she made her way through the woods, twigs and leaves crunching loudly under her boots.

A familiar smell had awoken Alcher from her nap on the stoop. Smoke and charred wood was a scent that Alcher was sure she would never-- could never-- forget. The strangeness came in the lack of pain. Fire always triggered a fear response in Alcher, but this time, all she felt was-- something distant. She did not have a word for it. Still, it worried her. If there was a fire in the forest, it could reach the farm. She needed to act fast. But as she ran, something else familiar began to come into her senses. It smelled like-- Leah. Was she here? Was she the one that caused the fire? Alcher did not know much about phoenixes, but she knew that this could mean Leah was in trouble. Her feet carried her fast, despite being human. There was the smell of a human nearby as well, mixing and lingering with the smell of the ash, the burnt wood. Alcher stopped mid stride when she heard leaves crunching under boots. She could see the opening up ahead, where the fire had caught the trees, the ground, the brush. Her head swiveled and she followed the scent line. A woman, younger. She was rifling through the burnt remains as if looking for something. Or, perhaps, someone. Alcher stepped forward tentatively. “Are you looking for something?” she asked, showing herself fully, making sure to stay nonthreatening. Whoever this woman was, she could have answers about what happened here.

The sudden presence of another person made Luce flinch, her fingers instinctively flexing as though to call upon magic. But, her flames were still dead, buried under six feet of ash. She couldn’t start a fucking candle like this. She glanced down at the charred bits of debris around her and then to herself. Yeah, a tattooed lady in ripped jeans and a crop top didn’t scream “Nothing to see here, official park business,” so she couldn’t even lie about why she was here. But, the lady didn’t seem like she was with the cops either. Standing up, Luce shrugged. “Sorta. I’m looking for… whatever started this fire.” She said, not entirely a lie not entirely the truth. “Just. Looking out for the forest, you know. Civic duty and shit.” Luce said, her voice trailing off as she squinted at the woods around them. Were there other people just lurking in the woods? It wouldn’t surprise her if that was the case. She should have come here at night. But, that would just be a whole host of other problems. Turning her attention back to the other woman, she asked, “What are you doing out here?”

What was Alcher doing out here? Had she really expected to come here and find Leah? And if she had, what would she have done? She did not want to see the other girl. She did not want to see the pain on her face as she looked at Alcher and saw only the wolf who tried to kill her. Alcher idled for a moment before pointing to the charred earth. “I smelled the fire,” she said, “it was...close to my home.” The farm, the pack, that was all that mattered right now. If a fire had reached the property, Alcher didn’t know what she would’ve done. Claws and teeth can not fight fire. She brought her attention back to the other girl, who smelled of ink and metal and-- “Ulfric.” She spoke his name slowly. It was small, but it was there. This girl had been somewhere Ulfric had been, enough to let his scent sink in. She tilted her head, curious. “Why are you looking for the source? What do you wish to do when you find it?”

She smelled the fire? What did that mean? The fire had been out for days, there was no way the woman would have smelt the remains of the smoke now. Luce kept her expression neutral, even as she tried to piece together what this lady meant by her answer. “Your home. You live all the way out here?” This part of the woods was far from the rest of town, deep in the outskirts. If this woman lived out here, it was in a place tucked away that Luce wasn’t familiar with. That or-- Blinking at the mention of her boss’s name, she frowned. “How do you know my boss?” She asked, though even as she did, pieces were starting to come together. She’d said she had smelt the fire, even though it was long since dead. And she said it was close to her home. The only person who lived this deep in the woods was Ulf, and his farm. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been there, but… “You’re like him, aren’t you?” She asked. If this woman knew what she meant, good. And if she didn’t, she could brush it off. Say she mistook her for some kinda… Viking lady or whatever.

Blinking in confusion, Luce glanced down at the melted shards of rock, lumps of molten earth that had fused together from the heat. “I’m trying to help. Whatever happened here, whoever did this, they’re hurting.” She’d seen them, trapped in that half form. They had to be hurting, “I just want to help.”

Alcher approached with less caution as the girl spoke. She kept her eyes sharp on her, though even just a few feet away, her figure was blurry. “I do. On a farm. My--” she paused, thought on it a moment, “--family lives out here.” But it seemed this girl was more than Alcher had previously thought. She worked for Ulfric. He had mentioned a few of his employees but Alcher often had a hard time recounting stories about humans she did not care for. She wondered which one this girl was. You’re like him. Ah, so she knew. Tentative, Alcher nodded. “I am. In a way.” She mused on the thought, her sentences short and punctual, her accent slipping thick as the weight of her burdens continued to press down on her. “While he is...what you would call feral, I am patient. Controlled.” Though she would not show her full hand yet, she bent down to examine the earth as well, running her finger through the ash before bringing it to her face. The scent was unmistakable. “A bird who smells of ash and human,” she murmured, “you are looking for a phoenix, yes?”

On a farm. That clinched it. This woman had to be another wolf-- and the confirmation came a moment later. Luce nodded, listening to the other woman speak. A controlled werewolf? Color her surprised. Not that she doubted that people who could do that sort of thing existed, but she’d never heard much about them before. Granted, outside of casual conversation with her boss, Luce had never paid much attention to the particulars of werewolves. The woman lifted a handful of dried, cold ash to her face-- wild. In a near literal sense, too. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.” She said, shifting her backpack on her shoulders. “I need to find where they came from and get some kind of… essence. A piece of them. There’s something wrong with them and I just-- I need to help them.” Because this was beyond a want. She rarely wanted to do things for people she didn’t know. No, she needed to do this. To atone.

Alcher stood back up, dusting the ash from her hand on her leg. Her plastic joints creaked as she rocked back on her heels and closed her eyes, letting the scents of the forest come to her. Familiar were most of them, but one stood out. It smelled just like the ash in front of her. “A feather?” she glanced around, but she doubted there were any feathers here. At least none that would’ve survived this purge. She turned her golden eyes to the girl who smelled of ink and wondered what she would want with a phoenix, why she would want to help them. Perhaps she knew them. Perhaps she knew Leah. It was all speculation without confirmation. “Why do you need to help them? Has something happened to them?” The unasked question being-- have you done something to them?

“Yeah. Essence.” Luce repeated, looking again at the ground. It was useless, she knew that. This place was a husk, burned and devoid of anything that might help her. All that remained was glass and ash, which was of very little help to her. As the woman stared back at her, Luce held her ground, in spite of the strange luminous eyes that held her gaze. She might not be feral in the way that Ulf was, but Luce knew that there was no such thing as a tame wolf. If this woman wanted to take her out, she could do it and Luce would be powerless to stop her. That reality made Luce’s next answers all the more important. “Yeah, something happened to them. As far as I can tell, they were reborn on corrupted ground. And I need to find that place, so that I can figure out how to help them. They’re… in pain. Or at least, I think they are. They way they were stuck between shapes, it can’t be good for them.” She paused before tackling the other question. “As far as needing to help them, I just have to. I didn’t do this, if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s just… the right thing to do.”

Just the right thing to do. Alcher hadn’t thought humans capable of empathy outside their own species, but then again, did she have that ability? She thought of Nicole. Of Nate. Did they count? Her eyes traveled back to the scorched earth and she thought of Leah. Maybe, if she helped this phoenix as well, then her heart would forgive her for what she’d done to Leah, too. She nodded astutely, approached the girl and held her hand out. “If you have a piece of them, I can track that place for you,” she said, as if that were the simple answer presented in front of them. “It can not have gone far, considering these burns are fresh and the smell of smoke still lingers here.” She would help this girl, she decided-- this human-- because it was, as she’d said, the right thing to do. And in all of the horrible things Alcher had done lately, perhaps some atonement could do her good.

Luce blinked in surprise, unable to hide her confusion. Why was this woman helping? She had no stake in the game, she didn’t need to do anything. She’d figured out that her home-- Ulf’s farm, Luce guessed-- was no longer in danger from the flames. She should be content to go her on way. And yet, she was offering to help? Why? What did she stand to gain? “I don’t have anything of theirs. I don’t know them. I’m not sure that any of their stuff would even still be here, their fire, it burns so much hotter than anything I’ve ever seen.” She said with a shake of her head. Squinting around, Luce looked at the wide swaths of destruction, the burned out tree trunks that littered the area. “Okay. That’s a good start.” Kicking out with her boot, she began to sift through the ash and debris that littered the ground. When she and Adam had first tracked down the phoenix, she remembered seeing footprints that had been seared into the ground, glass forming where sand had been superheated and fused together. “We might be able to backtrack? They melted sand into glass, dried up a stream in the middle of the woods. Problem is, they cut through Scorch Street at some point and that place is a mess of magic and fire already. I’m not sure where they came from before that.”

Not being able to differentiate between scents was such a human problem. One Alcher had never dealt with. She tilted her head at the younger woman, but retracted her hand and nodded. Once they were away from the main source of the scent, she was sure she’d be able to track the location that way as well. She nodded towards the path of burnt ash that led away from the quarry, and picked up a fist full of the burned grass, rubbing it into her palms before they departed. It would keep the scent fresh for her, and distinguishable from the original source. “Even fire has its own scent,” she said as she looked over at the younger woman, “once we find a path, I will be able to follow it.” She motioned towards the treeline and made sure to keep her from wiping her hands off too much. She pushed through the bramble and back towards the town. A phoenix whose fire had corrupted them. She’d have to ask Leah about that someday.

What? Fire had a scent? Smoke, maybe, but fire itself? Or was that just a werewolf thing? Luce wasn’t sure what the woman meant by it, but she followed after her all the same. “Okay.” She said cautiously, doing her best to keep up with the woman. The way she moved was distinctly inhuman, as though she was more at home in the woods than she was anywhere else, which made it a bit difficult to keep pace. But, Luce was no stranger to the woods either. They walked in silence, with the woman leading a path that seemingly had no rhyme or reason to it. “What’s your name?” Luce asked after some time. She’d only just realized she’d never gotten the woman’s name. “I’m Luce. Ulf might have mentioned me. I’ve helped ward his farm a few times before.” She said with a nod.

The woods were like home, perhaps even more some nights than the farm. Alcher moved through them with an ease that did not suit humans in any fashion. Crouched and low and slinking along through the bramble as if it were simply water being parted. She did not look to see if the other woman was following. Not until she spoke up, and Alcher turned her head to gaze back at her. “Alcher,” she said, deciding that she, too, could trust a human Ulfric did as well, “you are...one of the artists.” She remembered her smelling of metal and ink. “You carry it on your scent.” Tattoos were not something Alcher had ever thought about, but the ones she’d seen on Ulfric, and the meanings they had for him, made her wonder if she might want one, too. How did one carve an entire family lost onto their skin, though? How did one carry such an intangible pain? She stopped and closed her eyes. They were close. “This way,” she pointed, taking off again before the artist could ponder on her words.

Branches scratched against Luce’s arms, the woods not parting for her as easily as they did for Alcher. Was it because they remembered what she’d done to them? The trees, did they remember how she’d burned and raged and brought ruin to the forest? As another branch smacked against her shoulder, Luce brushed away the thought. No. It was just a branches. Just stupid branches and stupid trees and… she was going to help this phoenix. She was going to fix this. “Nice to meet you, Alcher.” Luce nodded. “Yeah, I work for Ulf. I was his apprentice for a while and when I finished, he took me on full time.” She said, continuing to follow behind the woman. Small talk. She hadn’t done much of that outside the shop in a hot minute. When Alcher came to a sudden stop, Luce nearly bumped into the woman. But, she stopped just in time to change directions and follow the woman at that quick pace. “How do you know Ulf? Birds of a feather? Or whatever it is for wolves?”

“Ah, the apprentice,” Alcher nodded, “Ulfric speaks well of you. And often.” The scent of rusted metal reached Alcher’s nose, and for a moment, the fire was gone. She lifted her palm to her face and drew the scent back in, checking the area. There, at a trailhead, burnt trees, bent over from the exhaustion of the heat. It was old. She stepped up to it and ran her fingers along the ash, watching bark crumble to the ground. “This way,” she said, and her eyes fell on an old coal mine, machinery long abandoned, and a curling sense of dread tainting the ground. This place was cursed, with a dark energy. She could feel it. Lyssa’s Peak was nearby, after all. Perhaps the human touch had tainted its natural magic and left behind this, the curse of a broken phoenix. She pointed towards one of the cave entrances. “Through there.” Went to continue her way forward, but paused. “Birds of...yes. We met through another wolf, a pup. He is...what a human might refer to as my beta. My right hand.”

It wasn’t often that Luce heard things like that. She knew her boss liked her, valued her, even considered her someone he trusted. But, it was still nice to know that he spoke about her at all. Particularly to another wolf. It was good to know that even now, he still cared about her. Her work had been fine the last few months, but her creative spark-- similar to the magic-- was lying low. “Thanks.” Luce said awkwardly, not really sure how else to respond. Luckily, she didn’t need to as Alcher led the way towards the creepiest fucking thing she’d seen in a minute. It was an abandoned coal mine lying derelict, forgotten by the town. As Luce stepped towards it, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She didn’t need Alcher’s to tell her that something bad had happened here. She could feel it in the air. “Christ. Yeah, let’s go,” She said, hefting her backpack on her shoulders as she stepped into the darkness.

The air underground had a chilly edge to it, but the underlying current of magic made sweat roll down Luce’s temple. What had happened here? What had the people who’d been operating this mine before been looking for? And why would a phoenix be here? As the plunged deeper into the darkness, Luce did her best to keep as close to Alcher as she could. She couldn’t summon a ball of fire to light the way as she normally would and the lighter in her pocket wouldn’t be much use while they were on the move. “Do you see anything up ahead?”

Could she feel it, too? The tattooed woman? Perhaps there was more to her than Alcher had previously thought. If the air was filled with magic, maybe she was, too. She didn’t stop to ponder on it long, though. She did not necessarily care. All she knew was that she wanted to help this phoenix, and that was enough for Alcher. They walked slower through the mines, Alcher’s bare feet tripping on old wood planks left by humans, and crumbling posts. Her eyes were no help in the dark of the mine, and the further they strayed from the sun’s light, the darker it became. It felt almost...created. A thick film of darkness that coated even their skin. “I do not see much,” she commented, and opted to simply close her eyes and let her ears, her nose, guide her. They never failed her, not like her eyes did. She pointed again. “Left,” and turned down a side tunnel, that reeked of metal and rust and-- “There.” Her eyes opened and a low, red light illuminated the walls of a cavern. One that was neither natural nor man made. The rocks were scorched, as if a bomb had gone off inside of it, smoothing the rock down to their grain, like glass. She ran her hands along them and felt the cool touch they had taken on after they had become incinerated. “Is this the place? What you were looking for?”

“Shit.” Luce muttered under her breath as she followed behind the other woman, feet stumbling in the darkness. She didn’t like this, being surrounded by what was clearly malignant magic that had soaked into the earth. What had this mine been used for? What had they been digging for? As they made their clumsy way through the darkness, the magic in the air continued to grow. But, it reached its peak when they stepped into a cavern, the radiant magic practically suffocating. It wasn’t a cavern so much as it was like… blown glass. It was as though the earth had been superheated in a single burst of flame, she could see the way the rocks had shifted and melted into one form. Luce leaned against the cave to steady herself, her hand touching dark obsidian-- similar to the glass shards she and Adam had found. “Fuck.” Luce breathed as glanced at the ground. Unlike the winding tunnels they’d followed, she could actually see here and she hadn’t stopped to question it until she’d looked down. In the center of the cavern, was a pile of glowing ashes, the same bright red color she’d seen emanating from the feather that had melted through Adam’s shovel.

“Stay away from the center of the room.” Luce said in warning, dropping to her knees to pull a few glasses from her backpack. They were jars with thick fireproofing wards etched into the glass-- remnants of a simpler time. Back when she’d been hell-bent on studying the will-o-the-wisps that lingered on the outskirts of town, when her biggest problem had been trying to escape Bea’s shadow. Walking up to the ashes, Luce gingerly scooped up the glowing ashes into the jar. The glass heated rapidly in her hand, hot enough to make even her wince in pain, but the glass held. Holding the glass up, she nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think this will work.” Belatedly, she added, “Thanks. For… helping. You didn’t need to.” Why are you helping? I still don’t understand.

Alcher examined the human as she made her way into the glass cavern. Her curiosity for the younger woman had never left her as they traveled, but observing her now was a different situation. The look of horror on her face was not lost on Alcher, despite the dimly lit room providing little for her eyes to catch. Whatever had happened with this phoenix was not just a tragedy, but a danger. Something burning this hot could destroy almost anything. One could not fight heat in the way one could fight a fist. She didn’t need the warning for the other woman, but she heeded it anyway and stayed in the doorway as she observed her pull out a small, glass vial and do exactly what she’d been warned against. Whoever she was, she knew about fire. A human who played with fire. Fascinating. She met her eyes as she stood back up and tilted her head. “Odd,” she said at first, “why would I not?” It confused her for a moment, before she remembered how often humans denied each other the same hospitality supernaturals in need gave each other. “Need and want are two different things. I know I did not need to, that does not mean I did not want to.” She shuffled from her flesh foot to her plastic one. “Is that all you need from here?”

Staring at the glowing pile of ash, Luce watched as they clouded the jar with trails of smoke. In the gray vapor, she could have sworn she saw the image of a bird, flapping dark wings in the jar. But, the smoke filled the space until the glass held a swirling, shapeless mass, a crimson glow emanating from the bottom. Setting the jar back in her backpack, Luce stared at the ground the ash had come from. The ground here had also been superheated and cooled, forming that glassy black surface. But, unlike the other places she’d seen it, the surface had been shattered and broken into fragments. Luce grabbed another jar and did her best to scoop some of the crushed earth into the bottom of it. Whatever had happened here… it wasn’t good. But maybe she could fix things. Fix the earth, once she’d finished trying to help this phoenix.

“On the other hand, why would you?” Luce asked, matching Alcher’s question with one of her own. “But… yeah, that makes sense.” The differences between need and want. Hm. Something about the words-- there was something about them that stuck in her mind. But, she didn’t have time to dwell on that just now. Rising to her feet, Luce brushed some of the dirt from her knees. “Yeah, that’s all. This place… it’s not right. We shouldn’t be here.” No one should be here.

Alcher contemplated the words for a moment. “Because that option doesn’t exist,” she answered simply, as if it made sense to anyone what she meant. While wolves were at the top of the chain, other supernaturals were the only other beings that mattered. And if they needed help, she, as a leader, was to help. Perhaps not in the ways she would another wolf or her pack, but helping was the only option. She looked at the inked woman and punctuated her statement with a nod. “Let us take our leave, then,” she agreed, stepping aside as Luce came towards the entrance of the cavern again. She looked down under her feet and saw the ash, knowing her soles were covered with it. She would carry the stench of this corrupted earth with her home if she did not wash it off. There was a river nearby, though. She could stop there. “Follow me, then,” she instructed, and began to head back through the pitch dark tunnel, wondering to herself, was it really just the phoenix she’d ached to help? Or had she really allowed herself to help a human.

#p: alcher krieg #chatzy #wickedswriting #p: po

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realityhelixcreates · 3 years

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Lasabrjotr Chapter 76: Interlocking Horns

Chapters: 76/?

Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: pg

Relationships: Loki x Reader

Characters: Loki (Marvel),

Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending (Canon-Divergent), Culture Clash Imminent, Protective Dad

Summary: You and your father discuss your living situation, and you mull over your thoughts on Buridag.

Loki was agitated when he lay beside you that night. You'd spent most of the evening showing Tara and your father around to all the places you spent your time. The library, the training grounds, the courtyards, the banquet halls, the common rooms, and even the throne room, which was empty at the time. Over dinner, you told sanitized versions of your adventures; the battle with the Huldra and the Frost Giant, The magical illusion lessons, and the magic you were also capable of, how you had exploded a plate, and met the legendary Sleipnir, whom Tara demanded to see as soon as possible. You showed them your knife, and told them about your armor, and your glorious helmet.

Your father was not terribly impressed by the food. “Not enough seasonings.” he declared, and you told him about the time you'd pranked Loki by putting chili pepper in his meal. He got a good laugh out of your description of the composed prince turning purple, and trying to pretend to all onlookers that everything was just fine.

“Hope he didn't get mad at you.” Tara said.

“Nah. The thing about Loki is that he actually appreciates it when you get the best of him. He likes getting legitimately got. I get the feeling he had to deal with a lot of sycophants growing up, while at the same time being overshadowed in everything he did. Loki can sense lies, did you know that? He can just tell when you're lying. Imagine growing up surrounded by people who don't even like you, but will constantly lie to your face about it. And keep doing it even after they know you can tell they're lying. And they're still doing it! It's wild! Some of these aristocrats are stupidly bigoted, and they keep trying to fool Thor or Loki into making laws that exclude humans from things, but both of them have personal reasons not to do that, as well as political reasons. I mean, there's seven billion of us, we're not gonna be excluded from anything on this planet, and it's ludicrous to even try. But I guess they've been at this for so long, that they can't even think of doing things any differently.

That's part of where I come in. Loki says I represent an inevitability. That humans like us will come to be a part of Asgard, just like the Vanir and Alfar did before us. Some of these nobles want to put that off as long as possible, but I think Loki and Thor are right; better get that integration started early.”

“Then why is there only you?” your father pointed out, “Why not integrate more humans in a group? Why not those people in the weird lodges outside the city?”

“Couple reasons.” you said, “first off, I think they wanted to make sure humans and Asgardians could be culturally compatible. Like, that we could stand to live with one another.”

“Yeah, saw some of that cultural compatibility just a little while ago.” your father grumbled.

“We used to do stuff like that too, you know. And until recently, too. I think there's still some places that do dowries and such, just not us. But if you think about it, Asgardians live to be thousands of years old, and they used to visit Earth a lot. There was cultural exchange for sure. It's just that we change and evolve culturally at the speed of light compared to them. He really should have asked me about it though, I coulda told him it didn't work that way. He does love surprises, and he wants to preserve his culture, but we could have at least discussed it.”

“You discuss things with him? And he listens?”

“Sometimes. That's a part of my job too; advising, on human matters especially. That's why he should have asked, but I think he just really wanted to impress you.”

Your father rolled his eyes. You sighed. This was going to be difficult.

“Dad, this is so important. Doing this for me is unprecedented. I know it doesn't look like it, but we've been working hard, and dealing with some tough situations, but we've come through them all, and kept going. He's proud of me, I'm proud of me, and I am okay with my life here. I'm happy with it even. I miss you, and I know you miss me, but I like my work here.”

“You've almost died three times! In one year! Three times! Keeping you alive is the most basic possible thing, and he's almost failed three times!” he exclaimed.

“His only fault is not seeing the future, then!” You exclaimed back. “Who could predict that a crazy man would come all the way out here to try and assassinate literally anyone he saw? Who could expect that one of their own people would be so monumentally stupid as to hit me right in front of him? Why would anyone ever think that there were giants sleeping under our feet for a thousand years? How could anyone plan for any of that?”

“You're starting to talk like them, you know.” Tara pointed out. “You're picking up the accent. Your vocabulary's changed.”

“I've been studying a lot. I hadn't noticed the accent though. Is it very obvious?”

“Eh, it's no big deal. If you'd just moved here on your own, you'd probably sound kinda Icelandic anyway. I just think it's cute, you sounding like all these high-falutin', fancy alien folks.”

You wanted to thank her. For years and years, when you and your father had started arguing, she would brazenly interrupt with something completely off topic, and completely derail the dispute. Your father was as passionate an individual as you were, which was probably where you got it in the first place, but Tara had always known when to interject.

“The point is,” you said, much more calmly, “is that the world has gotten weird. And since I've been studying, I've been finding out that it was weird in the past too. We've just been coasting by on a short period of relative calm, but it's not going to last forever. In fact, it's over. There is an entire alien species living on Earth now. Nobody has to like them, but they are here. Loki can't demand forgiveness, and he's told me he's prepared to accept that there may be people who never accept him, no matter what he does. But he is doing things. He's doing good for his people; he knows how to do that. He's trying to do his best by me, and I'm helping him to know how to do that. I clearly need to communicate with him a bit more about that. He doesn't have to do any of this, but he chose to. From the beginning, he chose to do this. I mean, don't get me wrong, he sucked at it in the beginning; he had no idea what he was doing. He was kind of an overbearing creep, and when I got hurt the first time, I swear, he was inches away from locking me away in a closet somewhere so no one else could hurt me.”

Your father raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, he totally freaked out. I had to convince him that there was no way he could protect me from everything, but he sure wanted to. I wasn't gonna let that happen though. Maybe I can't leave, but I haven't let this place become a prison either.”

“Baby girl, I'm proud of you, don't ever think I'm not, but a father really never cares for a man who takes his daughter away.” your father said, “I don't think he deserves your defense. But you seem happy, and that's what I'm supposed to care most about right? I'm not gonna be his friend, but I'm not gonna cause trouble while I'm here, for your sake, and also because I gotta represent humanity, right? I love you, and I'm not trying to ride your case, I just don't like that guy. I'm not as forgiving as you are. But I'm not gonna get into a public fight with him or anything.”

“Thanks. And hey, I'm not gonna demand that you be friends with all my friends, I just have a really big day looming over me, and I'm already stressed. But, like, if you have any questions, now is probably the best time.”

“Oh, I got a few!” Tara said. “What actually is wrong with you?”

“Uh, loaded question.”

“No, no. I mean, yeah, but no. I mean, you said these guys were taking care of your medical problems, but you never actually said what they were. Have they figured out what's going on?”

“Ehhh, kinda. It's not exactly a medical problem. It's this.” You held out your hand, showing the mark. “You know how we couldn't figure out what caused this? It's magical in nature.”

“You told me you got drunk and got a tattoo!” your father accused.

“What was I supposed to say? I didn't know what had happened at the time! I didn't even know it was Loki I had grabbed, I didn't find that out until later. Tara saw: I took his hand to get his attention, and this shape burned into my palm. It did the same to him, I found out. It made us both sick. But when we're close together, we heal. Even when I got hurt, being close heals me faster. This is also what woke up my magic. It was always there, but this was what made it accessible. The whole thing is just magic. The only thing we don't really know is why it happened.”

“Magic. It's so weird.” your father said. “It just doesn't make any sense. What is magic? How do you do it?”

“It's a kind of energy manipulation. Like electricity or solar power, but it's less generalized. Like, some things are actual spells that always work the same way, but I haven't learned much of that yet. Gotta get my specific magic under control first. I'm getting pretty good at it. I do it by...well, it feels a certain way. So I concentrate on feeling like that...”

A bowl of apples disappeared from the end of the table, and reappeared in your hands. Both Tara and your father leaned away in surprise as you set the bowl back on the table.

“I move things from one place to another. I don't know the upper limit on size or distance yet. Maybe someday I will move mountains.”

“Does that scare you?” your father asked. “All this magic stuff?”

“Sometimes. It's so strange to think that it's me doing this, and not some woman in a book, or a movie. That it's really real. Even after everything that's happened over the past few years, it's still hard to really understand that all this is real. That every single person you've seen here is hundreds of years older than you, and was born light years away, in space, on a whole other world. That they have millions of years of history that I'm learning about. Some of these people remember a time before the language we are speaking even existed.”

“That's freaky.” Tara said.

“Don't I know it. But somehow, they manage to live in the moment in a way I find kinda enviable. They're looking to the future, but they aren't worried about it like I used to be. It's so liberating not to have to worry about that. About rent, or healthcare, or who's gonna take care of me when I get old, or if I'm even gonna get old. All of that has been lifted off of me, and I'm free to study and learn, and be something unique, and I actually really like it.”

“I'm glad for you.” Tara said. “So who's your tailor?”

You giggled. “I'm super fashionable, for someone a thousand years ago, aren't I? This isn't actually Asgardian fashion, exactly. It's more of a fusion. Isn't it fancy?”

“It's freakin' gorgeous. Is it some kind of uniform?”

“It didn't start out that way, but it sorta became that. The seamstresses hadn't visited Earth in like, a thousand years, so all the illustrations and memories they had were from then or before. So at first they thought that must be how I was supposed to be dressed, and then it just became my signature. It's really comfy, and pretty, and most importantly, it's warm. I mean, I know the place is called Iceland, but I was still surprised at how cold it gets. If you want, I bet I could get you some.”

Tara went to bed happy, and your father went to bed grumpy, but quiet. Then you went to bed, and Loki slunk under the thick blankets with you, holding you uneasily.

He got like this occasionally, cradling you as if he feared you would disappear in the night. It wasn't any real surprise, when you thought about some of the things he'd been through, the abandonment, the loss. You knew he wasn't, and would never be perfect, but you were still prepared to defend him to all comers. You weren't going to vanish from his arms, but you'd probably have to prove it every night. You could do that. You were more than willing to; there hadn't been another man in your life that had made you feel so safe and comfortable when sleeping, and you wanted to keep that feeling.

Tomorrow was the first day of Buridag festivities. Loki said it would start out with a parade that would lead to the site of the new courthouse. There would be traditional poetry and song, and everyone would perform the building task that had been assigned to them weeks ago. Then there would be the First Feast; a meal composed of worker's foods, prettied up for the nobles palettes. You'd seen the menu; it was grain salads and porridges, hearty soups and rustic breads with eggs, jams, young cheeses, winter vegetables, dried fruit, and herbs and spices in approximation with traditional Asgardian flavors. It was a reminder that, in Buri's day, Asgard's prosperity had not been assured, and many of the working class had to make do with rougher fare. Supposedly, the First Feast was meant to rebuke those who took workers for granted, and remind everyone whose hands had built their world.

Personally you thought that was a little patronizing, but you also didn't come from a monarchical culture. Perhaps this was something like an Asgardian Saturnalia, a festival of transformation. A celebration of something being built from nothing, Asgard being built by Asgardian hands.

And yours. Loki and Thor would be laying the foundations and blessing them with some of their more ephemeral power, the thing that awoke the primordial fear in you, made you instinctively cower and search for a tree to hide in when Loki became truly angry. The power that was beyond magic, that reached into the divine.

You, however, had been assigned a brick. It was a decorative brick, that would line a window, and it lay in a stack of other window-bricks at the site. Just one piece of a huge community project. You rather liked that. You knew for sure that the aristocracy did not engage with the common Asgardian nearly often enough before the tragedy of Ragnarok, but now both Loki and Thor went out among their people often, nobles and commoners mingled every day, and the community was becoming less and less divided. There were people who resisted that, of course. People who wanted to claw back every ounce of their perceived power, who tried to pass deliberately discriminatory legislation, people who simply hadn't yet come to accept that their lives had changed.

You were change. Loki was very approving about it. You represented the New, the Necessary Change, the Social Upheaval that led to a Bright Future. You couldn't help but wonder if that was too big for you to carry all by yourself. On the one hand, you weren't exactly alone; Loki was beside you all the way, Andsvarr, Saldis and the Valkyries supported you, even down to the twins. Saga, and even the strange Lofn approved of you.

On the other hand, your father was right; you were still the only human who actually lived here. The first and only human with Asgardian citizenship. A trial run, essentially alone, to see if you, as a stand-in for all humankind, could make it. It was heavy.

But you were doing it. In a little less than a year, you had learned a great deal of Asgardian history and law, had helped actual royalty with things like resource management and policy reform, learned knifework, learned actual magic! You had met several of Earth's greatest heroes, were going to be titled, were becoming a liaison between Asgard and the human settlements growing next door. You had learned some Asgardian, become a prince's lover, and even learned how to play a drum. You yourself were becoming something new. Embodying the Necessary Change.

And maybe that was what you had needed in the first place. For so long, it seemed like you had been trying to let go of an old self, let go of everything you'd gone through. Shed your old skin and emerge, clean and soft into the light of a new day. And so you were. You just hadn't realized that once you started, it would happen again and again, skin after skin, quivering and raw. But you felt new. Despite the pressure, you felt new.

#lasabrjotr #loki (marvel)#loki x reader

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trillian-anders · 5 years

Text

grilled cheese

pairing: chef!bucky x plus!reader

warnings: fluff, fluff, fluff, a little self-depreciation. mostly fluff.

word count: 2746

Description: chef!au; you can tell a good chef by how he makes his grilled cheese.

for @captainscanadian;; the cbc 1k writing challenge

just a taste masterlist

“May I have the… king burger and a side of the Parmesan truffle fries please?” This food truck was your favorite in the city, it just so happened to be parked right outside of your job, and definitely served up some spicy creole flavors. It had gumbo and jambalaya by the cup, a burger that shouldn’t work as an ode to kings bread but it did and fresh beignets straight from the fryer if you had a sweet tooth.

“Would you like something to drink?” The men who worked it were just a plus, the two of them both terribly handsome, the one currently taking your order was smooth. Impossibly smooth. The gap in his front teeth was incredibly endearing, but the wedding band on his finger and the sweet tone he usually used with you led to you believe his marriage was a happy one.

“We’ve got the Big Shot Pineapple back in,” A sweaty bottle placed on the ledge, “I know that’s your favorite.” And you did love some pineapple soda, but you’d been trying to eat healthier, and ignoring the fact that you were ordering a burger and fries you fought yourself for a moment on whether or not this soda would be too much.

“Stop pressuring her, Sam.” The man behind him joked, “She’ll get the soda if she wants it.” A smirk on his lips. Your heart skipped a beat. It was no secret to your coworker behind you, Nat, that you had a crush on Bucky Barnes. His strong jaw and bright blue eyes, that tight bun on the back of his head and his fucking biceps. Those strong arms that were wrapped in colorful tattoos. You’d sat near the food truck every Friday since it’d started parking here two months ago and watched him work.

The kind smile he’d give people, the funny remarks as he cooked their food. The sweat dripping down his face as he lifted the lid off the pot of jambalaya to spoon out a portion. You’d drool over whatever you’d ordered that day watching him work.

“You should ask him out,” Nat popped a fry into her mouth. “He likes you.” You rolled your eyes, taking a sip of the cheap pineapple soda that was just so fucking good.

“He’s nice to me because I tip well,” You wiped your fingers on a napkin, watching him powder beignets and hand them to a sweet little boy, icing sugar still on his fingers. You sighed, looking down at your burger. “Maybe once I lose some weight.” The burger was half eaten as you stare at it with despair. You had been doing so well today, but the sign on the side of the truck said they were only making it the week of Mardi Gras so they wouldn’t have it next week so you HAD TO get it.

It was a very good reason.

“What’s wrong with you right now?” The red headed goddess asked, being someone who hadn’t been a pound overweight her entire life. You rolled your eyes, “No seriously, you’re the same person whether you’re overweight or not. And I can tell when someone likes you and he likes you.”

“I know I’m the same person,” You took another sip of soda, “I’m just….” How do you say it? “Guys have to be into my body type, I guess. I can’t just go out and approach anyone for a date.” You popped a fry in your mouth, “They have to like fat girls.”

“I hate when you say that.” Nat shook her head.

“Say what?” You licked the parmesan truffle flavoring off your finger.

“Fat.” You laughed, rolling your eyes.

“Doesn’t mean I’m ugly.” You took a glance over at the subject of the conversation, Sam must have said something funny to him because he was laughing. That head thrown back, grab your belly laugh. Fuck he was so hot. His eyes met yours across the pavilion. And he winked. He fucking winked.

“Just go ask him.” Nat stole another fry. “He always gives you extra fries, he practically pays for your lunch,” There was always something they ‘forgot’ to charge you for after they swiped your card.

“No big deal.” Sam would say, he would elbow his buddy, “It’s on the house.” It happened more often than would be normal.

“I’m just saying, instead of thirsting over him, at least go give him your number.” Maybe next week. This week you’d spilled some juice from your burger all over your blouse.

“Next week.” You agreed, “New week I’ll give him my number.”

You’d been on track with your diet all week, the salads, protein smoothies, healthy snacks. That way, you reasoned, on Friday when the ‘Connect Nola’ food truck parked on the pavillion you’d be able to treat yourself with something good.

And something better than good.

He was wearing a black t-shirt today, his hair in a high bun on his head, strands framing his face. A clear plastic poked out of the back of his shirt on what looked like fresh ink he’d gotten since last time you’d seen him. The special was a boneless fried chicken breast and red pepper jam on a biscuit.

“That’s what you should get.” Bucky said from his place over the flat top. Two fryers working hard next to him. “It’s my recipe, so it’s good.”

“As opposed to mine?” Sam smacked his friend, scooting himself around him to pluck the pineapple soda from the cooler. Bucky laughed.

“I’ve got some fried green tomatoes for you too if you want them.” He winked. Your mouth watered.

“You’re going to kill me.” You sighed, “Of course I want them.” Bucky smirked,

“Good cause they’re almost done.” He was stirring some kind of sauce in a metal bowl that after he placed the four thick slices of fried tomato in the paper container he poured over top. The two paper containers were placed on the counter, pineapple soda sweating next to them. You pulled out your card, flipping it between your fingers when Bucky stepped in front of Sam to hand you your food.

“How much do I owe you?” Your voice was breathy, heart racing at the sight of him so close. He leaned over the side, crossing his arms on the counter.

“Dinner, tonight maybe?” A charming smile, almost bashful. Your heart skipped a beat.

“I was going to ask you out.” You laughed. His smile widened.

“Well now you don’t have to… so?” His number had already been scribbled on the take out container next to him. “I’ll see you later.” Nat elbowed you to respond.

“Yeah… yes!” You took the warm containers from him, his fingers brushing yours. “Yes, later. Okay.” You bumped into Nat as you stepped backwards. “Bye.”

He smirked in response, “Bye.”

“I have nothing to wear.” You groaned over the phone. Nat laughed from the other side,

“What about that black dress with the flowers?” The one you’d bought from the flea market in the summer. “Wear that.”

The doorbell rang and your heart dropped. “Fuck, he’s here. Hold on.” You quickly shifted through your closet finding the dress she was talking about. “Just a minute!” You called to the man behind the door. “I’m so fucking disorganized.” You said to your friend on the phone, “Where are those heels?”

“The black ones with the thick strap? They’re under your bed. You kicked them off when we got back from brunch last week. I’m sure.” She was right. The dress was soon slipped over your head, heels buckled. “Use protection, be safe, and if you need anything call me.” Your face flushed with the thought.

“Hey,” You panted, opening the door. Bucky stood on the other side, nice slacks and a dark blue button down. “Sorry, I was just…” You gestured behind yourself, catching your breath.

“It’s okay,” He laughed, “I uhh…” He raised a brown paper bag he’d been holding. “I figured I’d cook you dinner, if that’s okay?” So you put on the shoes for nothing, he laughed, “I’m sorry, but yeah, you put on the shoes for nothing.”

“Shit,” You covered your face with your hand, not realizing you’d said it out loud, “Sorry.”

“You’re fine,” Bucky lowered the bag, “Can I come in?” You stepped to the side,

“Of course, I’m sorry.” Being an adult you’ve taken a lot of time perfecting your living space enough that you didn’t need to go out if you didn’t want to. You were fairly proud of your home, the apartment you’d spent the last couple years in slowly collecting items to finally make it yours. From the soft velvety throw down to the little knick knacks that didn’t make it too minimalistic.

“You’ve got a really nice place here,” He put the bag down on the kitchen counter, he pulled out a bottle of wine and what looked like the ingredients to, “Grilled cheese,” He shrugged sheepishly, “You can always tell a good chef by his grilled cheese. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” You dug through the silverware drawer, pulling out the wine key. “I love grilled cheese.” Two stemless glasses joined you on the counter as you poured the red wine, Bucky opening two different cabinets before finding your pans.

“We’ve got to get you better pans than this.” He joked, waving your cheap Walmart nonstick pan in the air.

“That pan does exactly what I need it to do,” You laughed, “Sit and gather dust.” He rolled his eyes, quickly rinsing the pan out and drying it. You took a sip of your wine as he started.

“Have you always wanted to be a chef?” You asked, stealing a piece of cheese off the cutting board. It was a sharp cheese, tangy on your tongue. He cut another slice. Three different cheeses he had for this sandwich. Along with sun dried tomatoes and a slab of uncut bacon.

“My Ma was a really good cook,” He begins, “When I was a kid I would always be in the kitchen with her, cooking and baking.” A thick bar of chocolate, eggs and other baking ingredients had been set off to the side for later. A dessert he was going to make that he said would be a surprise.

“Cooking has always been love for me. It’s a good way to bring people together and a good way to show someone you love them.” His fingers stopped slicing the cheese, looking up at you through his lashes he backtracks, “Not that I love you, not that I don’t care about you because I care about you, but I don’t love you, but not like—“

“I get it.” You laughed, taking another sip of wine, the red in his cheeks in a full flush. He took a steady sip of wine,

“Have you always wanted to work for Stark?” The cheese was set aside, the thick crust bread sliced, he lay the slab of bacon on the cutting board, working your knife that he’d very expertly sharpened, down the slab, cutting thick slices.

“Not always,” You mused, “I kind of just fell into this job. My roommate from college, Natasha, had done an internship there during our last year and I originally wanted to go to graduate school, but I haven’t quite decided if I wanted to stick with my major or not, so she helped me get a job just doing clerical work and overtime I’ve just worked my way up a bit. Now I run my own department. So I guess I’m not going anywhere.” He nodded, laying the thick pieces of bacon on a baking sheet, the oven already preheated.

“What did you want to do?” He asked, placing the bacon in the oven. You sighed,

“It’s dumb,” He turned to you with an incredulous look,

“Try me.” He started making a batter for the dessert.

“I wanted to be a writer.” You shrugged, “Like books.” You gestured to the small library you’d collected for yourself. Stacks of books in your living room next to the shelves of books on your walls. “I have drafts of things, but nothing serious.”

“You should pursue that.” He poured batter into two medium size ramekins he’d brought himself, tapping the bottom against the counter. “You seem like you’d be an amazing writer.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Not good enough.” To tell the truth you’d sent out a couple chapters to some publishers and had nothing but rejection letters, you’d all but given up on it.

He told you more about his family, his sisters, how his parents were still very much in love. “Sam and I with our buddy Steve had all enlisted at the same time.” He flipped the grilled cheese revealing a perfectly crisped brown bread. “Steve decided to have a military career so he’s working in DC right now, Sam and I decided to own our own restaurant, right now we’re going the food truck thing until we have enough to buy our spot in the city, then hopefully we will have the truck and the home store.”

The grilled cheese was fragrant, the three cheeses melted together on a spread of the sun dried tomatoes, thick cut bacon in between. He took his chefs knife and cut the sandwiches down the middle, plating them with ease. “This is so fucking good.” You moaned, the first bite, the crunch, the cheese, the tang from the tomatoes, the bacon perfectly cooked and melty in the middle. Bucky smirked at you from across the table, finishing off his first half.

“I’m honestly surprised you asked me out.” You popped a piece of crust that had fallen onto the side of the plate. Bucky looked at you confused.

“Why do you say that?” Fuck it was the wine, making you feel a little shitty. You were a little drunk to be fair.

“You’re just…. You.” You gestured towards him, “So fit and handsome and like… I don’t know.” Bucky shook his head.

“You’re gorgeous,” He scoffed, “You’re literally the whole reason we even started coming to the pavilion every week. I don’t want to hear that shit.” You sat back in your chair watching him take another sip of his wine, stunned. “Guys really fuck me up because someone probably treated you like you needed to be a certain way to be loved and it’s just not true. I’m attracted to you, you’re kind and funny and smart.” He wiped his fingers on his napkin, “Doesn’t matter to me either way.” Your weight. Didn’t matter. “I like you.”

His eyes were intense and sent a shiver down your spine. “I’m sorry.” You said quietly, “I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t.” His hand gently grasped yours, pulling it up to his lips. “I just wanted you to know I like you, no matter what.” Okay. Okay. He leaned in, shifting in his chair to lay an arm over the back of yours, taking the hand he held and placing it on his cheek he softly pressed his lips to yours.

Your lips parted and met again. And again. And the timer went off on the counter. His phone shrill and loud letting you know dessert was done. “Hold please.” He whispered against your lips. You felt cold when he removed himself from you, puttering around in the kitchen you heard the stove being turned off and he returned a moment later. “Careful they’re hot.” Two perfect chocolate molten cakes, icing sugar and white chocolate sauce drizzled on top.

“Thank you for tonight.” The two of you stood in front of your open door, his shoes had been slipped back on, hair no longer in a messy bun it hung loose around his shoulders. You were sure it had been your fingers that had worked it loose, but you couldn’t be sure.

The hot and intense make-out session you’d just had on your couch, tongues mixing and tasting of chocolate. Heavy breaths and soft moans melding together, and just the appropriate amount of wandering hands.

“No,” He said, twirling a strand of your hair around his fingers, “Thank you.” A breath away he pressed his lips to yours again, slowly. Savoring it. “Breakfast tomorrow?” He breathed, resting his forehead against yours in your doorway. You grinned, running a hand down his arm,

“Same place?” He grinned before taking your lips once more,

“It’s a date.”

taglist// @bookish-shristi @saturnki @jennmurawski13 @geeksareunique @the-soulofdevil @tinmunky @captainscanadian @albinotigerpython

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #sam wilson #chef!au #plus!reader #the falcon and the winter soldier #captain america #the winter soldier #falcon #cbc1kwc

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