#oc 2x05

[mischas]

"You guys are just one of those couples. Even when you're not being a couple, you'll always be a couple." the o.c. || 2x05 the sno.c.

[strangerstilinski]

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐈 ✶ Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinski / Original Female Character

TW | S2

chapter five

summary; as if the last month and a half hadn't been stressful enough – now there were a few more werewolves, a kanima, and a seriously disturbed old man added into the mix. but amber, stiles, and scott could totally handle this. it would be fine. everything was great.

word count; 20k

warnings; explicit sexual content, first time oral sex, car shenanigans, amber and stiles being annoyingly sweet on one another

chapter notes; stiles tries his hand at being romantic and roscoe sees some action. mayhem erupts when derek and his pack decide that the kanima has to be lydia.

masterlist

c h a p t e r f i v e

venomous

There was a quiet *tink* from her left and Amber's head snapped up in surprise from where she'd been laying on her bed reading a book for English. She blinked in the silence that followed before the soft noise sounded again and she pushed herself to sit up, abandoning the worn paperback on the bedspread beside her.

Still unsure where the sound was coming from, she dropped her feet to the floor at the edge of the bed and waited. She was just about to stand when there was a louder, more aggressive version of the noise as something smacked sharply against her window.

She rushed over to peer out through the glass and into the backyard. Squinting into the darkness below, she could just make out the shape of someone squatting beneath her window with their hood up, their hands digging around in the garden before blindly tossing another rock up at the window where it smacked aggressively against the glass in front of her.

Amber slid the slightly creaky window open and laughed when Stiles' head snapped up at the sound. He got to his feet quickly and brushed his hands off on his jeans before waving up at her with a sweet smile.

"Can I ask why exactly you're trying to break my window?" She laughed, leaning onto her elbows on the windowsill.

Stiles spluttered quietly below, "Wh- I'm not trying to- I'm throwing pebbles!" He told her, as if the simple correction explained everything.

"I think a couple of those might've been too big to be considered pebbles-"

"It is not my fault your backyard is significantly lacking in appropriately tiny rocks-" He interrupted.

"Sorry, sorry. Why exactly are you throwing pebbles at my window?" She amended, an amused smile pulling at her lips, "Y'know, instead of using the front door.."

"I- I'm being romantic!" He called up defensively.

"You know what would be really romantic?" She asked playfully, "If you weren't fifteen feet away and I could give you a kiss."

"Good call!" Stiles shouted as he scrambled away, his feet slipping in the damp grass beneath him as he ran out of the backyard.

She shook her head fondly as she watched him go before sliding the window shut again. She skipped down the stairs quickly, catching Jason raising his eyebrows at her curiously as he headed up the steps with a glass of water, the two of them meeting halfway on the staircase.

"Hey, did I hear the Jeep pull in a minute ago?" Her brother asked.

"You did." Amber paused in her path down the stairs.

"Knew it," Jason nodded, "That engine's got a very distinct and mildly concerning rumble-"

Amber laughed and went to continue her descent down the staircase but her brother's hand on her shoulder made her pause again.

"You two.. You're being safe, right?" Jason asked, looking painfully embarrassed as he forced question out of his mouth, "Because I, uh.. Well I noticed the box of condoms in the bathroom hasn't been opened and I want to be relieved but-"

"Wh- Jase, I promised I'd tell you if we moved past friendship and- and I did that. I mean.. Do- do we have to have this talk right now?" She muttered weakly, eyes flicking to the hallway that led to the front door.

"Yeah, we kinda do, bud," Her brother winced, "I just would feel a whole lot better if I knew you were at least prepared if you decide to-"

"If I open the box of condoms and promise to keep one on me, can we end this conversation?" Amber questioned frantically.

Her brother frowned with a sigh, "Yeah.. Yeah, I guess so."

"Good! Great!" She ran back up the stairs, tearing open the cardboard package in the bathroom and stuffing one of the foil wrappers into her pocket.

In the upstairs hallway, the siblings shared equally embarrassed looks as Amber shoved past him and ran back downstairs again. Stiles was standing patiently at the open front door as she stepped into the entryway and she took a calming breath at the sight of him.

"Well, hey there, Romeo." She greeted with a teasing grin as she met him the open doorway.

"Throwing pebbles is romantic," Stiles defended his actions immediately, "It's a staple in thousands of romance books, songs, movies, plays-"

"You are very romantic, Stiles." She pulled gently at the unbuttoned edges of the flannel beneath his sweatshirt until his chest was pressed against hers.

"Yes. I am. Thank you." His voice dropped into something quieter as his eyes flicked between hers, "I, um.. I was under the impression that I'd get a kiss if I used the front door."

"Oh, really?" She asked, leaning back just a little, "Who told you that?"

"Most beautiful girl in the world." He answered without hesitation, his hands resting softly on her elbows.

"Who is she? I hate her." She joked, already leaning in to brush their lips together.

He met her mouth halfway, slotting his lips between hers for a wonderfully long kiss. When he leaned back to catch his breath, Amber licked her lips in thought.

"What're you doing here?" She questioned after a second, "Did I forget we were supposed to-"

"I have an outing of sorts planned." He told her with a grin, "I know that things have been kind of crazy-"

"Mm, I hadn't noticed that-"

He ignored her interruption, "-and I wanted to do something to show you that I still very much want to take you out on dates and things. Despite the crap with the kanima."

"Dates and things," She repeated slowly, "Am I being courted, Stilinski?" His face broke out in a grin and he nodded, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well-" He started, turning to gesture toward the driveway where a familiar powder blue Jeep was parked with a wrapped bundle of flowers on the hood, "If you really wanna find out you'll just have to get your cute little ass in the car."

Amber bent over immediately to pull on a pair of shoes before pushing past him, "My ass is getting in the car!" She called out over her shoulder.

Stiles laughed as he followed but when she went to pull the passenger door open, a hand reached past her to grip the handle before she could move to do it herself. She spun around as the door swung open and her heart fluttered at the sight of Stiles holding up the bundle of white flowers behind her.

"You got me a bouquet of baby's breath?" She asked with a soft smile, reaching for the flowers and poking at the tiny buds delicately with the tip of her finger.

"I did," He smiled at her reaction, "You should've seen the florist's face when I asked for them, though. I guess they're normally only used as a filler for bigger flowers or something-? I'm pretty sure that she thought me asking for a bouquet of only baby's breath was, like, sacrilegious. The lady was not happy with me."

She brought a hand up to his cheek and brought their lips together again in a chaste kiss, "Well thank you for your sacrifice, because I love them. They're my favorite."

"Got a few more favorites waiting if you ever get your ass in the Jeep." Stiles urged playfully.

She rolled her eyes and turned to haul herself up into the vehicle, yelling out in surprise at the sharp smack of Stiles' hand against her backside as she climbed in.

"Sorry," He apologized quickly, "I don't know why I-"

She laughed loudly and sat down in the seat so she could turn to look at him, "Did you just slap my ass?" She questioned in amusement.

"I did," He admitted, cheeks flushing adorably pink, "I dunno what happened.. It was right there and I just-"

"Spanked me?" She asked, barely containing her gleeful laughter.

"I was trying to be a gentleman by opening your door and then I ruined it by- By spanking.. you." Stiles shook his head, an endearing flush still rising on his face.

"You're adorable. And you didn't ruin anything." She assured him.

He laughed weakly, "Okay.. Okay, we're moving on."

He closed the passenger door and rounded the vehicle quickly before climbing in on the other side. Once he was seated he leaned into the backseat and returned with a large styrofoam cup that Amber already knew came from the diner downtown.

"You got me a milkshake from Mal's?" She asked excitedly, placing her bouquet of flowers onto the dashboard to take the cup from his outstretched hand.

"I did," He confirmed before leaning into the back again and digging around, "I also got you this-" He sat back down in the driver's seat with a large paper shopping bag in his lap and Amber's eyebrows furrowed as she watched him set the bag down beside him on the seat, "But I'm not giving it to you until we get there."

She pouted and Stiles spun in his seat to turn the key determinedly in the ignition a couple of times. The engine rumbled to life and Amber perked up where she had her lips already wrapped around the straw of her drink.

"Where are we going?" She asked eagerly, placing her styrofoam cup between her legs in lieu of a cupholder.

"It's a really clear night tonight, so.. I was thinking driving out to the lookout might be nice?" Stiles asked more than told her, "We'll probably be able to see a lot of stars and stuff and I just thought it might be kinda cool. If you want, I mean."

Her stomach tangled in knots in a sort of nervous anticipation, "Yeah, yeah that would be cool."

It wouldn't be the first time they'd been to the preserve lookout together, or even the tenth. They'd gone there to camp out, picnic, stargaze, and spend countless lazy afternoons in the sun. But Amber wasn't entirely sure if they'd ever gone without Scott's company. On a night like this, the spot was practically calling out to be a romantic destination and the insinuation sparked anxious excitement deep in her bones.

Stiles navigated the dark evening roads through town and as her excited nerves grew, her fingers gravitated to pick mindlessly at a loose thread on the seam of her jeans. After a few minutes, her gaze drifted down to the paper bag still sitting temptingly in between them and she leaned over curiously in an attempt to peek inside.

"Nope," Stiles said as soon as he noticed what she was doing, pulling the bag protectively against his side and scowling at her, "I already told you.. You don't get the rest until we get there."

She pouted but settled back into her seat dutifully, bringing the straw of drink back to her lips and sipping on it as she watched buildings pass in a blur that eventually gave way to trees outside the window.

When her straw finally slurped obnoxiously at the bottom of the cup, her eyes dropped down to the milkshake in her hands in surprise and she found herself frowning and poking the straw around at the bottom as she searched for the final dregs of the beverage.

They were less than five minutes away from the preserve entrance when she tucked the empty cup away in the backseat to be dealt with later.

When Stiles finally parked the Jeep at the lookout and cut the engine, she turned in her seat to face him expectantly, eyeing the paper bag against his side.

"Okay, okay." He caved with a laugh, handing over the bag.

She peeked inside excitedly, surprised to find not just one thing, but several smaller items hidden away inside the bag. The first thing she pulled out was a package of sour gummy worms and her eyes rose to meet Stiles' gaze with a pleased smile.

"Your favorite candy." He supplied, gesturing for her to keep going.

The next item she found was a bottle of nail polish in a beautifully bright, sunflower yellow hue.

"Your favorite color." Stiles said slowly.

She looked back inside the bag and spotted a tiny bundle of green fabric and she reached for it in confusion. She fingered the soft material in her hand and her lips pulled into a surprised smile as she toyed with the stretchy material.

"You got me a scrunchie?" She asked, looking between the puffy elastic in her hands and the boy sitting across from her.

"I did," He said, "I know it's not technically a 'favorite' but, in my defense, I didn't really go out looking for it. I was just kinda browsing and then I saw that color and it made me think of the green in your eyes and so- And, uh, yeah.." He trailed off.

She pinched her lower lip between her teeth to stop her face from showing just how breathtakingly perfect of a human being she thought Stiles Stilinski truly was. The utterly endearing image of him plucking a large scrunchie from the shelf at a department store. And then paying for it at the register, where a middle aged woman had likely checked his purchase with a knowing look-

"Thank you," She told him softly, "I love it. It's a really nice color."

He looked slightly relieved at her reaction and he gave her a nod in indication to keep going. When she dove back in, it was to pull out a crisp, newly purchased paperback that she quickly flipped around to skim over the summary on the back cover, an excited smile taking over her face.

"Your favorite.. Genre, I guess?" He told her, "I know you're really into the whole 'whodunit' trope, so I asked the person at the bookstore and they recommended this one. I read the description and thought it sounded kinda cool-"

"It looks great. I'm really excited to read it." She assured him quickly, "Sti, this.. Is so sweet.. And so unbelievably unfair. You asshole. I cannot believe you're upstaging me by getting me such a thoughtful gift one month before your own birthday. Now I have to come up with something mind-blowingly perfect-"

"Anything you get me will be mind-blowingly perfect," Stiles shrugged easily, "Now open up that package of gummy worms because I've been thinking about them for the last hour and I really want one."

With a laugh, she returned all but the candy into the bag and placed it in the backseat before tearing the package open and poking around curiously at the different colors.

"I can never remember, is your favorite the one with the blue?" She questioned, pausing in deliberation.

"Yeah, the blue and red one." Stiles confirmed, scrambling to open his mouth when she immediately tossed one his way and he just managed to do so in time to catch it with his tongue.

"Too bad the blue isn't with the orange," She commented as she chewed on her own sour candy. Stiles furrowed his brows and she elaborated, "Y'know, because Mets."

He grinned, looking pleased with her reference, but before he could say anything she spoke again.

"Oh! Oh, wait, I have an idea!" She announced, picking through the bag excitedly.

She grabbed an orange and green worm as well as a blue and red one and bit off the unwanted colors. Pressing the remaining blue and orange pieces together, she held the new franken-worm up in display proudly.

"Mets!" She declared, handing the pieces of candy to the boy across the car.

"Perfect," Stiles agreed, taking the broken worm from her and tossing the pieces into his mouth, "You are perfect."

Amber's cheeks heated as she munched on her candy, her eyes drifting to the windshield to look out at the stunning view of the starry sky and the flickering distant lights of the lit up town over the cliffside.

"This is really, really nice." She commented after a few minutes of silence as they shared the bag of candy, "You didn't need to do all this, but I'm really glad you did."

He blushed lightly and readjusted in his seat, "Yeah, I just, um. I wanted to do something special."

He reached up to rub at the back of his neck and his shirt rose along his stomach with the action just enough to expose a bit of his happy trail. Her jaw slackened as she was drawn to the movement, eyes glued to the dark patch of hair as she attempted to swallow the candy in her mouth with a heavy tongue.

"I, uh. I actually-"

"Stiles?" She interrupted, licking her lips and dragging her gaze up to his face, "Can I come over there and kiss you?"

He blinked in surprise but nodded, "Yeah, yeah definitely. I- How could I say no to that?"

She slid across the leather bench seat and found herself simply staring at his lips for a moment before Stiles brought a hand to her cheek and drew their mouths together in impatience. She sighed against his lips contentedly as his fingers tangled in her hair and she sunk into the embrace, tilting her head in an attempt to seal their mouths together more firmly as his lips parted against hers. Their tongues brushed despite the awkward angle and she held back a groan at the taste of the candy that lingered on his tongue. She pulled herself away to kick her shoes off on the floor beneath the passenger seat and he frowned at the sudden loss of contact.

"What're you-"

His question was cut off as she climbed into his lap, thighs spread as she knelt over him, the steering wheel at her back.

"Is this okay?" She questioned, suddenly nervous as her fingertips skimmed along the soft fabric of his sleeves. Her weight pressed down against him more firmly as she settled into a comfortable position and Stiles nodded quickly in the dimly lit vehicle. At his approval, she leaned down to reconnect their mouths and he kissed her back eagerly, their lips moving against one another in a smooth rhythm.

She pulled back after another minute and huffed a quiet laugh against his lips when he gazed up at her in confusion.

"Stiles," She said, running her hands down his arms at their sides until she could take his hands into hers, "You're not even touching me." She pointed out gently.

"Sorry," He apologized immediately, "I'm sorry. I'm being really weird, aren't I? God."

At his admission, she leaned back a little further, thumbs rubbing softly along the backs of his hands, "Are you okay?" She asked, pushing herself up on her knees and making a small move to climb off of him, "Do you want me to-"

"No!" Stiles said quickly, reaching up to grip at the sides of her thighs and tugging her back down into his lap, "No, I'm sorry. I just-" He swallowed, "I'm really nervous." He admitted quietly.

She huffed in disbelief, trailing her hands up his chest and pressing her palms lightly over his pecks beneath the open edges of his flannel. As if emphasizing his words, she could feel the heavy thumping of his heart beneath her right hand.

"Did I do something wrong? Am I doing something that's making you nerv-"

"No." Stiles repeated, "I'm kind of- I'm terrified I'm gonna do something wrong and screw this up monumentally."

"So instead you thought the right move was to just.. Lie there like a corpse underneath me?" She questioned in amusement, "Stiles, you've given me a bloody nose with your elbow on two different occasions-"

"Both of which were accidents. And not at all relevant because it's not that I'm worried I'm going to injure you-"

"My point is that I'm not gonna run away if you don't put your hands in just the right-"

"I know, okay. I- Logically I know that." Stiles conceded, his fingertips drumming on the sides of her thighs anxiously, "I'm sorry. I- Did I completely ruin the mood?"

She shook her head, her hair whipping around between their faces as she did so.

"Stiles." She said firmly, watching him blink at her in question before she leaned down to press a quick kiss to his lips, "I'm still very much in the mood." She punctuated her words by rolling her hips down softly over his and was rewarded with a soft groan from him, "How about you?"

"Yeah, yes. Still very interested." He assured her quickly.

She tilted her head down to bring their mouths together again but separated their lips after a only moment to tug her shirt over her head, tossing it into the backseat. Stiles brought his hands up to skim the fabric of her bra seemingly without thought, his tongue poking out to wet his lips as his fingers twitched along her ribcage distractedly.

"You're doing it again." She scolded softly when he made no move to either grope nor kiss her, simply letting his thumbs rest along the underwire as he eyed her chest with interest.

"I- It is not entirely my fault-" Stiles defended quietly, "I mean, your tits are seriously-" He cut himself off with a wince, eyes rising to meet her own, "I mean- I- Your.. Breasts-?"

"Stiles, you can call them whatever you want. You seriously don't need to worry so much about offending me." She laughed, "I've been your best friend for eight years. I'm pretty sure I've heard you say things a lot more vulgar than 'tits'."

"Right, you're right." He nodded, gaze dropping back down to the plushness of her breasts displayed in front of him, "So, anyway- Your tits. Perfect. Freakin' amazing. And very, very distracting."

She blushed at the comment, settling her ass firmly over the tops of his thighs and arching her back, her chest canting toward him enticingly as she watched for his reaction.

"They are?" She questioned, reaching up to readjust the thin fabric of her bra over herself casually.

"When I slammed Scott's locker on his hand last week, it was because I was staring at your tits." Stiles admitted in a rush.

"You broke his fingers," She recalled before her eyes widened in both shock and amusement, "You broke Scott's fingers because you were looking at my boobs?"

"Listen, that bra was criminal. I mean, come on.. The lace?" Stiles defended, his thumbs drifting up to rub lightly over the bottom of her breast, "And besides, Scott was fully healed in like two minutes. He was being kind of a baby about it if you ask me-"

"I could wear that one next time," She offered breathlessly, "There's no padding, so I kinda feel like it makes my boobs look small but-"

"I can confidently say that your boobs would look incredible in absolutely anything." Stiles commented quickly.

"If you wanted to stop talking about my boobs and maybe start touching them for real.. I wouldn't complain-"

He wasted no time before palming both of his hands over her chest, his long fingers gripping the roundness of each breast as he dusted them over the material of her bra. He tightened his hands to squeeze softly and she let out a breathy exhale at the feeling, her hips rolling unconsciously against the slowly growing bulge in his jeans as she gripped the loose lapels of his over-shirt.

Stiles dropped his hands to her hips for half a second, his head dipping down to press a soft kiss in the space between her breasts before he slid his hands back to cup her ass. He pressed more gentle kisses to her chest, the tenderness contradicted by the tightening of his grip on her backside as he pulled her against him to help roll her hips rhythmically.

"You're wearing too many clothes." She breathed quietly after a few minutes, pinching his offending shirt between her fingers.

Stiles nodded in agreement and she leaned back as he sat up straighter and began to slip out of his sweatshirt and flannel. He threw both articles behind himself uncaringly before reaching behind his neck for the collar of his tshirt and pulling that over his head and from his body as well, letting it land over the steering wheel behind the girl in his lap.

She eyed his chest slowly, trailing down the subtle muscles as he nervously tensed his stomach under her attention. When her eyes caught on the dark patch of hair under his belly button that led beneath the waistband of his pants, she let out a shaky breath at the arousal that flooded her.

Her hands came out to follow the same path her eyes had taken only a moment before, fingers dragging slowly down his stomach until her thumbs met in the tiny trail of hair above his groin. She licked her lips and ran her thumbs softly over the dark hairs, the tip of her finger catching on the waistband of his boxers where they came up just above his jeans.

Stiles huffed out a quiet breath as he tried to keep still under her attention, his hands returning to grip tightly at her thighs as he steadied himself.

She leaned back down in a quick movement to recapture his lips hungrily. Her fingers pressed into his abdomen as his mouth opened beneath her own, lips parting and rejoining as they traded deep kisses.

His hand made a slow trail along her thigh until he could reach between them, his fingers pressing firmly between her legs over her jeans. She moaned against his lips and when he rubbed at the denim covering her crotch again, she detached their mouths to lean back and frantically undo her jeans. Stiles watched her with a dazed look for a few seconds before he moved to assist her, hooking his thumbs into her belt loops and tugging her jeans down over her ass.

"I- Fuck, just- Hold on-" She muttered, climbing off his lap to pull her jeans off entirely and throw them into the backseat with a frustrated huff.

As soon as she returned to his lap in her underwear, his hands settled back underneath her ass without prompting. The long length of his fingers squeezed at the exposed flesh and she groaned, leaning down to kiss him deeply again with her hands at his neck.

After only a minute, Stiles' hand found it's way between them again and his fingers skimmed lightly over the front of her underwear. Their mouths separated as he peeked down between them, hesitating as he debated how to approach things from a new angle.

"Don't second guess yourself, okay?" She whispered against his lips, "I'm pretty sure that you severely underestimate how much literally everything that you do turns me on."

"Yeah?" He questioned, fingers easing down between her thighs to press softly into her entrance through her underwear.

"Uh-huh." She whined with a nod, eyes drifting shut and fingers tightening around the back of his neck.

He tilted his chin back up to kiss her as his fingers hooked around the fabric between her thighs, one of his long digits slipping inside of her in a slow movement. She groaned into his mouth and ground down against his hand weakly, pushing his finger deeper. He thrust in and out only a few times before easily sliding a second finger in alongside the first, earning a quiet whine from the girl above him. He thrust his fingers in and out again with deep movements, her hips rolling down to meet each thrust.

Hands trailing down his chest again, she let the fingers of her right hand dip beneath his elastic waistband to rub lightly at the hidden patch of hair that trailed underneath. Stiles groaned into her mouth, hips bucking up into her touch and his fingers stilling inside of her distractedly for a second.

She fumbled unseeingly with the button on his jeans single-handedly but managed to get it undone, tugging the zipper down to give her more space to work with. Their mouths continued the hot rhythm of give and take and she finally followed the trail of dark hairs beneath his underwear until she could wrap a hand around his erection.

A loud groan erupted from Stiles' throat and her stomach flipped at the sound. She tightened her left hand around the back of his neck, fingertips pressing into his skin as she dropped her forehead against his to break the kiss.

"Off," She demanded vaguely, her hand making a retreat from beneath his pants. Stiles made a small noise of objection into the space between their lips before she continued, "Your pants. Underwear. Off."

"Yeah," He agreed quickly. He pulled his fingers from between her legs and began frantically working to help her shove his jeans down his hips as he toed his shoes off. "Yeah, okay. Taking them off-"

She rolled off of his lap as he clumsily stripped out of his remaining clothes, hunching forward while he kicked and pulled his pants from his legs completely before sliding his boxers off as well.

Once he was naked, he didn't give her even a second to look down at him in the dark car before his mouth found hers again in a heated kiss. She allowed him to control the pace for a long minute, her hands cautiously groping his naked hips until she couldn't wait any longer. She dragged her mouth from his and she pushed him away just enough that she could peer down into the space between them.

She stared for a long moment, transfixed with a confusing mix of arousal and fear as she looked at his dick for the first time. He was nearly fully hard already and she couldn't help the quiet noise that squeaked from her throat at the sight of him. Long and thick and flushed with arousal — so much nicer than anything she'd ever seen in amateur porn.

She shifted back to get a better look and her teeth caught her lower lip distractedly, eyes unable to focus on anything but the long length of Stiles' cock.

"God. Y're so hot." He said quietly, reaching out in the short space between them to slowly free her lip from between her teeth with his thumb.

Their lips met again frantically. He licked into her mouth without preamble and they both groaned at the hunger in the kiss. It was only a minute before she pulled back again, her eyes drawn back to where his hard cock bobbed untouched between them.

She shook her head, attempting to sort through her thoughts before any words could spill out of her mouth. She finally brought her eyes back up to his face, but the words that tumbled from her lips after a moment still managed to be wholly unfiltered.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Stiles dropped his hand from her face and frowned as he looked down self-consciously, "What's wrong?"

"I- Sti, you're huge. Like really, really-" She whispered nervously, eyes flicking between his slowly before dropping down to his erection again for just a second. When she looked back up, she watched an embarrassed flush rise on his cheeks and she swallowed before speaking again, "I just. I've never.. I mean, you are a lot bigger than what's currently stowed away in my underwear drawer and I don't know if I-"

"Wh- We don't have to-" He paused, eyes flicking between her panicked ones quickly, "We're not having sex right now.." He told her quickly before seeming to hesitate with wide eyes, "W- Are we?"

She looked at him in stunned silence for a second, "Oh. I just assumed you-" She took a shaky breath, "Okay. No, yeah, okay, that's kind of a relief."

"Hell. You just- You looked at it and then you-" Stiles breathed out harshly, "I-I thought something was wrong with-"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with your dick." She interrupted quickly. Her hand twitched at her side and her eyes bounced between his nervously, "Can I-"

"Yes." He interrupted with wide, pleading eyes.

She shifted beside him in the seat and took his right hand in her left one as she slowly wrapped her right around his length once again and Stiles made a choked-off noise, leaning closer and bracing himself with a hand on the steering wheel. She tightened her grip and jerked her hand back and forth in slow motions, watching the way his face seemed to both tighten and go slack at the same time.

"Is this okay?" She checked quietly after a few pulls, continuing to jerk him slowly.

"Uh huh," He articulated with a nod, "Okay. Very, very okay."

"Okay." She whispered.

Her hazel eyes trailed back and forth between his brown ones slowly until he released another small noise and pinched his eyes shut. Her heart was pounding nervously in her ears as she focused determinedly on the movement of her hand around him.

As if he could feel her attentive gaze, Stiles' eyes blinked open slowly as he lifted his head to look at the girl in front of him. She pulled her lower lip back into her mouth anxiously at him watching her and he groaned, leaning forward to capture her lips with his own in a quick motion.

A soft sound escaped her mouth and she moved a hand to cup the side of his face, pulling his mouth against hers more firmly. She readjusted, throwing a leg over him to straddle his left thigh. Stiles made a sharp noise when the tip of his cock nudged against her stomach on the upstroke, his mouth falling open against hers as his jaw slackened in pleasure.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever felt so nervous, turned on, and frantic all at once before.

"C'you, uh, maybe-" His words were choked as he pulled her hand from his cock and brought it up between them, "Just, um, spit?"

"In my hand?" She questioned.

He nodded, cheeks managing to flush further with the request and she wasted no time in following the order, spitting into the palm of her hand before returning it to his length and resuming her movements.

Her hand slipped along his cock more smoothly with the added lubrication and drew a weak sound from his throat. The head of his cock prodded against her waist again lightly on the upstroke and his moan melted into an even more desperate noise.

"Gotta. Back. Lay back." Stiles pleaded against her lips, pushing on her shoulder to guide her back just enough that he could begin to change their position.

She didn't slow her hand as he attempted to guide her back to lay across the seats but she determinedly forced him to stay upright in the cab of the vehicle. Taking in a nervous breath, she gave him a demanding nudge, her free hand pressing into his chest firmly as she pushed him to sit back on the passenger side of the car.

The moment he complied, she dropped to her knees in the narrow space on the floor between his legs. Stiles looked down at her in awe as her own gaze lowered back to the slow slide of her hand over his cock. She flipped her hand, adjusting her grip and licking her lips in nervous anticipation.

"Okay, so I- Do you mind if I-?" She left the question hanging in the air, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Sure," He agreed immediately, "Wha'd'you-"

His words cut off sharply when she licked softly at his tip, having already leaned forward determinedly at his initial approval.

"Jesus, fucking-" Stiles exclaimed quietly, head thumping back against the seat and hand shooting out to grip at her shoulder in a frantic motion.

She slowly took the head between her lips and into her mouth. She eased down cautiously until she could suck lightly at just the first couple inches, continuing the motions of her hand over the parts her mouth didn't reach. She pulled back off to lick the length of his cock again and ran her tongue in a slow drag from the base to the tip before wrapping her lips around the end once more.

The next time she eased back to lick at the head, her mouth watered at the taste of Stiles' precome that began to coat her tongue.

Not entirely confident in how she was doing after thirty or so seconds of simply replicating what she'd seen in porn, she peered up to find Stiles already watching her with rapt attention, his mouth hanging slightly open as he pulled in choppy breaths. When she took the end back into her mouth again, her gaze caught on the tight fist that he was making with the hand not currently gripping at her shoulder, his knuckles pinched white.

"Amber, I-" He cut off with a quiet groan, "'m not gonna last very- Your mouth.. Is-"

She hummed in acknowledgment due to her mouth being otherwise occupied and he moaned loudly, his whole body twitching at the vibration that the noise made around his dick. His fingertips dug into her skin as his grip tightened unconsciously around her shoulder.

She pushed her mouth down another fraction of an inch, the head of his dick rubbing softly along the roof of her mouth as she experimentally eased her mouth a tiny bit farther down the length of him. His hips twitched suddenly in an upward thrust and the head of his cock prodded at the back of her throat, causing her to gag and pull back with a quiet cough.

"Sorry," Stiles apologized quickly, "Shit. Sorry. 'm so sorry-"

"'s okay." She assured him quickly, already leaning into the space between his thighs again.

She took a small breath in through her nose before determinedly sliding him into her mouth again. This time, when she pushed the first few inches in her mouth, she allowed the tip to softly nudge the back of her throat. She took a deep breath through her nose and fought determinedly against the instinct to gag.

Stiles moaned loudly and she reached her free hand up from where it had been resting on the leather seat beside him and nudged at his knuckles until he loosened his fist. She tangled their fingers together as she moved her mouth up and down the end of his shaft, letting the tip hit the back of her throat gently a couple of times and continuing to work her other hand along the base of his long length. His fingers tightened around hers almost painfully as he fought to remain still while she sucked and bobbed her head.

"You sh- You should-" Stiles slid the hand on her shoulder to fist into her hair and gently tugged her mouth off of him, "'Cause I'm-" He finished eloquently.

She nodded and allowed herself to be guided back, his fingers remaining clenched in the hair at the back of her head even after she'd pulled away.

In the absence of her mouth, she slid her fist lower along his length to collect some of the spit that now coated the end, jerking him using the newly acquired lubrication in a smooth glide.

Stiles moaned loudly at the slick feeling of her hand working him as she continued. It was only a couple more strokes of her hand before his fingers tightened in her hair and he tensed with a loud moan, warm come shooting out onto the center of her chest.

She watched his face as she worked him through it, her gaze avidly glued to his slack jaw, the way his eyes pinched shut tightly, the dark flush of his orgasm on his cheeks.

She couldn't help the curiosity that had her leaning back in-between his legs after a moment to taste the come-soaked tip. A surprised noise left his mouth as she sucked softly at the head of his cock. His thighs were still trembling against the seat and she pulled her left hand from his grip to run her fingertips gently along his waist in a soothing motion.

When Stiles finally released her hair and nudged her arm weakly a few seconds later, she leaned back to lift her gaze to his face again. She let her hand fall from his dick and watched as he took a shaky breath, looking down at her with red-flushed cheeks before his focus seemed to pause on her chest.

He released a slightly pained noise and she followed his gaze self-consciously, her own eyes locking on the long stripes of come that had already begun to drip down in a shiny trail between the valley of her breasts and down the center of her stomach.

She wiped at the bottom of the mess in a weak attempt to clean herself but only succeeded in getting the fingers of her right hand covered in come as well. She had collected a small amount of the mess onto her fingers and she looked up at Stiles for assistance.

"What should I- Do you have a-"

He simply stared at her in a daze for a moment as she spoke, his jaw slack, before he blinked and jumped into action, leaning around her to dig through the glove box and returning seconds later with a couple of napkins.

He immediately pulled her up by her forearms and she straddled his lap, settling over his thighs easily. Stiles spread a hand over her thigh and used the other to wipe gently at the long stripes of his release, starting at her belly button and following the trail up to her chest. His fingers slowed as he wiped her cleavage clean, his touch more deliberate as he brought the napkin over the softness of her breasts and beneath the band of her bra.

She found her heart fluttering in her chest at the gentleness of his touch, her eyes glued to his face as he focused intently his task. He continued to clean her with a shaking hand and once he was finished, he grabbed the second napkin and took her hand into his own, carefully clearing away the residue from her fingers.

Once he was done, Stiles sat back and took a deep breath before speaking.

"That was-" He finally panted, "I- You-"

An awkward blush colored her cheeks. She couldn't comprehend how it was possible to suddenly feel so unbelievably nervous after having had someone's dick in your mouth for three minutes, but that was precisely where she found herself.

"Was it okay?" She asked seriously, leaning back until her back rested against the dashboard, "Obviously I've never given a blowjob before, so. I know I couldn't, like, take all of it because, well- I mean, you're-"

Her words cut off when his gripped roughly at her biceps and manhandled her in the close quarters of the vehicle. She landed on her butt in the opposite seat with a small huff, the breath whooshing from her lungs as she fell back against the driver's side door.

Stiles was on top of her before she could blink.

"Wha-" Her words were cut off once again, this time by his mouth descending on hers.

"That was.. Amazing. Phenomenal. Easily the single greatest experience of my entire life." Stiles praised against her lips between quick, sloppy kisses before sealing his mouth with hers again.

His tongue broke through the seam of her lips almost immediately and she tilted her head in acceptance, feeling him groan into her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingertips of one hand digging into his shoulder while the other scratched gently at the short buzzed hair at the base of his neck.

After a minute, he pulled back just enough to take a much needed breath, nose dragging softly against hers as his gaze flicked between her eyes.

"You taste kinda like-" He paused for a fraction of a second, "Like come. A little bit."

She flushed at the comment, "Sorry."

Stiles blinked at her in confusion, rising up onto his arms to put another few inches of distance between their faces, "Are you.. Apologizing for sucking my dick right now?"

"Well I- You said-"

"Oh god. I wasn't complaining." Stiles told her earnestly.

"Oh, okay," She felt relief wash over her, "Good, because I really wanna-" She completed the thought nonverbally by drawing his lips back down to hers roughly.

The kiss was returned with enthusiasm and Stiles leaned over her, holding himself up with his left arm propped up on the back of the seat and his other on the door behind her.

Though she couldn't see it from their close proximity, his naked body on top of her had her brain fuzzy with arousal. Her legs fell open unthinkingly and when Stiles readjusted to settle into the space, his dick pressed intoxicatingly against the skin of her thigh.

Stiles trailed his mouth across her cheek and down under her jaw, her head tipping back against the window easily to give him access to her throat. He took to the invitation quickly and sucked featherlight at the skin below her jawline, moving lower in a line of gentle kisses until he was at her collarbones. He nibbled at the skin, just light enough to not leave any marks. He continued on quickly, lips dragging lower still until his mouth found her breast.

She hummed, hand around the back of his neck tightening, as he mouthed at the softness of her bra-clad chest in a series of open mouthed kisses, tongue poking out through the seam of his lips to brush against her skin. He tugged the thin fabric down to wrap his lips around her nipple in a soft suck and she gasped, spine arching away from where she was pressed back the door.

At her vocal approval, Stiles moved his mouth over to her other breast and repeated the series of motions. Her bra straps were tugged down her shoulders as he kissed and sucked and bit lightly at her chest, his large hands coming up to softly squeeze at whatever flesh his mouth wasn't focused on.

Stiles leaned back after a few minutes and she took a shaky breath, lifting her head from the window to look down at him, stunned by the pause in his barrage of kisses.

"Can I- Is it okay if I return the favor?" He asked quietly, tongue darting out to lick at his already spit soaked lips.

"Uh-huh, yeah. Yes." She nodded quickly.

She watched him slide further down the seat between her knees, her heart stuttering nervously in her chest as her arms fell away from his neck.

Hands trailed down her sides and his lips pressed softly into the small, three week old slice of pink scar tissue over her abdomen seemingly without thought. As he leaned back, his fingers tucked into the waistband on either side of her hips and tugged her underwear away, tossing them to the dashboard beside the abandoned bouquet of flowers before he continued lower.

She was taken by a sudden flash of a memory. Just a quick burst in her head to the distant memory of Stiles between her thighs that she'd dreamt up over two months ago. With a blink, the image was in front of her, clearer than ever as he settled down between her legs with an anxious wide-eyed look on his face.

At the sight of his nerves, she was about to reassure him that it was okay, that he didn't need to return that favor, but just as soon as she opened her mouth to say the words, Stiles dropped down to lick at her experimentally and her head lolled back against the metal frame of the Jeep's door with a loud thump.

Her legs fell open further and he took the invitation in kind, moving the warm wetness of his tongue softly over her newly-exposed clit. She gasped out a high pitched noise at the warm caress over the sensitive nerves and he immediately licked over the same spot again in a slower, more sure motion.

"Holy shit, Stiles-" She moaned quietly, gasping when he continued to move his tongue softly over the sensitive bud, "This- This is so much better-" She had to break off to suck in a shaky breath as her thighs jerked around his shoulders, "S'much better than it is in my dream-"

The motion of his tongue stopped as he pulled back and she whined in protest at the loss of contact.

"'M sorry, can we back up-"

"No," She objected quickly, "No, no. We cannot back up-" Her head lifted from the window frame and she looked down at him in wide-eyed distress, "I-I don't remember taking your dick out of my mouth to.. To talk-"

"You have dreams about being eaten out?" Stiles asked quickly in interest, ignoring her protests, "Because that is.. That is so hot. You-You have sex dreams where just, like- Someone's tongue-"

"You're tongue, Stiles." She corrected in a huff, "I've had numerous, painfully repetitive dreams about your tongue so please, I am actually begging you-"

He ducked back down in a surprisingly fast motion, but instead of focusing on her clit, he gripped her thighs and spread her legs further, delving lower this time, his tongue licking into her in an agonizingly gentle motion. A choked off whine sounded in her throat and he repeated the movement, pushing further until the muscle actually poked past her entrance.

She scrambled to reach down, desperate for some sort of tether to him, and gripped tightly at the muscles of his upper back. He shimmied his right shoulder further beneath her left knee and she spread her thighs for him that much more, calf draped over his bicep just as his tongue began to lick deeper inside of her with purpose.

"Oh, god-" She gasped, throwing her head back against the window with another painful thump as she scraped her fingertips lightly over his shoulders and neck.

Stiles wrapped his arms around the backs of her thighs and dug his fingers into her flesh, gripping tightly as he worked his tongue in and out. He alternated between pushing in as deep as he could reach and then licking shallowly at her entrance before delving back in again.

He fucked her with his tongue for several long minutes, maybe ten, maybe thirty, it was hard to tell when her brain was so hazy with arousal. Her throat felt dry from the heavy, slack-jawed breaths she'd been pulling in between soft moans of pleasure as he worked his tongue inside of her.

"Stiles," She called out in a breathless whisper feeling truly desperate, "C'you, fingers-? Please?" She begged inarticulately.

The warmth of his mouth pulled away and two of his fingers immediately pressed against her entrance, pushing inside in a gentle motion that had her moaning loudly. The thick firmness of his fingers after the softness of his tongue was incredible. He curled his fingers up immediately to massage at the sensitive spot she'd instructed him toward before and another high gasp left her mouth at the feeling.

As soon as his fingers settled into a rhythm, he lowered his head to lick at her clit again. The combination of his mouth and his fingers had an embarrassing stream of moans rushing past her lips. Her own fingers scraped against his shoulders as she scrambled for some control under the all-encompassing pleasure.

"God-" She moaned softly, voice cracking as his lips closed around her clit entirely, sucking lightly before he continued to roll his tongue over the bundle of nerves, "Stiles-"

Her hips were starting to grind up against him unconsciously as she neared her peak, his name slipping past her lips in a constant stream of quiet, high-pitched pleas.

"Sti, 'm.. Stiles-"

He straightened his fingers out inside of her without prompt and began to thrust them in and out experimentally. She finally managed to pull in a deep albeit shaky breath with the change of pace, but the reprieve was short lived as Stiles studied her reaction and immediately changed tactics, attentively and earnestly trying to learn what made her tick, moan, writhe.

The air she'd only just pulled in was knocked back from her lungs when his fingers curled again but continued the hard in and out movement of his fingers. His hooked fingertips caught against the bundle of nerves behind her pelvis with each thrust and on each slightly rough press of the pads of his fingers against the sensitive spot, she was dragged down just slightly toward him, her ass sliding along the worn leather of the seat and incidentally pressing his tongue more firmly against her clit.

His name spilled past her lips in weak gasps as her fingers dug into his shoulders, shaking thighs straining against the grip of his free hand, and suddenly her whole body was tightening with her release.

The only thing she was aware of was the slow waves of warm white fog in her brain through panted breaths as he continued to wring her climax out of her with his fingers and mouth.

An indeterminate amount of time passed before her vision settled back into a semi-clear image as she looked up at the roof of the Jeep above her. Thighs trembling, she smacked her lips quietly at the dryness in her mouth from her moans, reaching down to unseeingly swat at Stiles where he was still tonguing at her gently with unmoving fingers.

He pulled back in response to the soft slap of her hands against his shoulders and face. Instead of immediately crawling back up her body like she'd anticipated, Stiles moved in a slow trail back up toward her. Soft kisses were pressed along the inside of her thigh, and then her stomach, trailing up along her ribs, her chest, the valley between her breasts. He tugged her bra straps back up over her shoulders as his lips dragged up slowly across her sternum and collar bones. He pressed a gentle line of kisses into the curve of her neck. There was just one soft press of his mouth against her jawbone before finally he paused, lips stopping to hover just above hers.

Her heart was still pounding loudly in her ears from her orgasm, brain feeling pleasantly mushy from a culmination of both her climax and the gentleness of his kisses as he'd moved up along her body. She found herself looking between his deep brown eyes for a slow moment, her gaze drifting across the long line of his eyebrows and his sharp cheekbones before settling on his swollen lips.

"God." She said softly, reaching up to drag his mouth down against hers desperately.

Her fingertips rubbed softly through the smooth, close-cropped hair at the back of his head and her tongue broke through the seam of his lips with a sense of urgency. She finally understood what he'd been talking about before when she absently realized that she could taste herself on his mouth.

"That was amazing." She murmured against his lips when she finally pulled back just a fraction, "Phenomenal, even. Quite possibly the greatest experience of my life." She returned his earlier sentiment.

He grinned and pecked her lips as he blindly reached out to feel around for his boxers. He located them on the floor and pulled back to tug them on before snatching her panties from the dashboard, turning to hand them to her with an unbearably soft look.

She thanked him quietly and pulled them on before leaning into the backseat to snatch his discarded flannel and tug it onto her own body, clumsily doing up a couple of the buttons. When she settled back in the front with her jeans in hand, Stiles had already managed to get his pants on and was just finishing pulling his shirt down over his chest.

She quickly finished getting re-dressed and spotted the abandoned package of gummy worms on the floor beside the gear shift. Grabbing the bag, she dug around in search of one of the red and blue candies. Upon locating one, she held it out in front of Stiles' face wordlessly and grinned when he automatically opened his mouth to accept the offering.

"Hey, um. I kind of wanted to ask you something." Stiles said after a moment as he swallowed the candy, voice quiet.

She frowned, pulling her legs up onto the seat underneath her and turning to face him, "Yeah, of course. What is it?"

She watched his long fingers rub along the steering wheel while he took a nervous breath.

"I just- I wanted to ask if you'd be my girlfriend?" His eyes didn't flick up to look at her until the question hung between them.

"I kinda thought I already was." She admitted, smiling admiringly at the boy in front of her.

"Oh," Stiles gaped, "Okay! Cool. Sweet."

"But, just to be very clear.. Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend, Stiles." She leaned across the car to kiss the sour sugar from his lips before slipping underneath his arm, settling into his side and picking out a candy for herself, "Did you do all of this because you were planning on asking me to be your girlfriend?" She asked, gesturing around them with her gummy worm.

"Yeah," He admitted sheepishly, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck and tightening his other arm around her shoulders, "I was supposed to get your attention with the pebbles and then ask as soon as you opened your window. And- and then I told myself I'd definitely do it by the time you were finished with your milkshake. And then I swore that I'd ask when we got to the lookout-"

"It doesn't matter how many times you didn't ask me, it just matters that you did," She told him gently, "And I said yes, and now we're boyfriend and girlfriend and we're both, y'know, aware of it."

"Yeah," He agreed, reaching into the package in her hands to pull out another couple pieces of candy for himself, "Yeah, you're absolutely right."

Amber chewed happily on a gummy worm and tipped her head back against the leather seats to stare at her boyfriend.

"Thank you." She told him after a quiet moment.

"For what?" He asked in confusion through a mouthful of candy.

"For being sweet, and adorable, and romantic, and stupidly perfect despite everything that's going on." She explained.

He blinked and shrugged in an attempt to hide the blush that colored his cheeks in response to her words.

"Anytime, babe." He choked out after a moment as he swallowed the candy in his mouth, a pleased smile pulling at his lips.

The next morning, Amber skipped up to Lydia's locker with a wide grin, feeling on top of the world. She leaned against the locker beside her friend and gave the strawberry blonde a dopey smile as she watched Lydia pull books from her bag and tuck them away.

Lydia's eyes shifted to Amber and she merely blinked at her once in silent irritation before looking back into her locker.

"I have so much to tell you-" Amber said in a daze, pulling at her backpack straps and dropping her head against the locker she was bracing herself on.

"Do you?" Lydia questioned indifferently, "That sounds like something friends do. I wasn't sure if we still were friends considering you haven't texted me back in two days-"

"Oh. Yeah, I think I dropped my phone at the lacrosse game and I haven't been able to find it." Amber explained apologetically, "I'm gonna ask Coach if he's seen it later on, but that is so not what I wanna talk to you about right now."

Lydia seemed to accept her excuse and finally turned to give her friend her full attention, "Fine, what's up?"

She sighed gratefully, "So, Stiles picked me up last night, right? Totally out of the blue. And he was being so romantic and sweet.. We drove out to the lookout and-"

Lydia's locker slammed shut and Amber flinched in surprise.

"Are you telling me that you punched your v-card last night?" Lydia asked in excitement.

"No!" She denied immediately, "No.. I mean, I thought maybe we might but he said we didn't have to and, honestly, I was kinda relieved because I'm not sure if I'm ready t-"

"Well if you didn't have mind-blowing car sex then why on earth do you have that stupidly sexed-up look on your face?" Lydia questioned, smacking her fingertips against Amber's forehead playfully to emphasize her words.

"Oral." Amber said simply as a dopey smile pulled at her lips again.

"Giving or receiving?" Lydia followed up quickly.

"Both," Amber sighed happily, "And it was.. So good. Like, so good. I swear to god his mouth is-"

"Did you ask him to do it?" Lydia questioned curiously.

She shook her head, "No, he offered."

"Huh," Lydia's eyebrows raised as if she were slightly impressed before shaking her head, "How was his you-know-what? Was it average? Small? Uncut?" She asked the last one with a wince and Amber laughed.

"Nope."

"No to what?" Lydia frowned.

"No to all of them." Amber grinned when Lydia's face morphed into surprise, "Seriously. I- I never thought I would think a dick is pretty, but good god, Lyds-"

"It wasn't small or average?" Lydia asked in confusion.

"I know I'm not exactly an expert on the matter but.. No."

Lydia shook her head in disbelief, "So, Stilinski is packing.. And he goes down willingly? Who would've thought."

The first bell signaling only five minutes until classes started rang out in the hall with a loud trill as Amber nodded at her friend.

"He's perfect." She sighed contentedly.

Lydia rolled her eyes and patted the brunette on her shoulder as she moved past her, "Congrats, hon."

The redhead left to get to first period and Amber pushed off of the lockers to make her way to her own class.

As she walked into the English classroom, she slid into her usual empty desk. She pulled her class-issued paperback and her notebook out of her bag and dug around in search of a writing utensil. Finally managing to locate one at the bottom of her bag, Amber pulled it out in a quick movement and it slipped from her fingers to roll down the row between desks before stopping just beyond the desk in front of her.

The boot-clad foot of the boy sitting ahead of her in the next row kicked out and rolled the pencil closer before he bent over to pick it up and turned around in his seat.

"Isaac!" Amber exclaimed in surprise, looking around the classroom in slow confusion, "Wait, you- You're back in school? And, like, no longer in hiding?"

Isaac handed over her pencil, "Jackson decided to recant his statement to the police."

"Did he now?" Amber asked curiously, "That seems uncharacteristically helpful of him. How come?"

Isaac shrugged noncommittally in response.

"Okay, well, cool." Amber told him, "Congrats, I guess. Welcome back to the joys of high school."

"Thanks." Isaac smirked before turning back around in his seat.

It was only another minute before Scott dropped into the seat across the aisle from her. The boy sat down, pulling out his books and spreading them across his desktop before looking up. His gaze focused on Amber for only a second before his attention seemed to snap over to where Isaac was sitting in front of him, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What's he doing here?" Scott hissed at her across the aisle, his voice loud enough that it was borderline amusing, a harsh whisper that Isaac had to have been able to hear clearly from just a foot away.

She sat up in her seat, eager to fill her friend in, "Oh! So apparently-"

Stiles suddenly stumbled into the English classroom in a mess of flailing limbs. He dropped into the empty seat behind Amber and she peeked back at him with a frown, regarding her boyfriend's haste with curiosity.

"I just talked to my dad, who just talked to Jackson, and I've got really terrible, horrible, very, very bad news-" Stiles whispered frantically.

"I think we already know." Scott mumbled in response, nodding toward the seat in front of him.

The girl's brows furrowed as she too looked at the side of Isaac's head, unable to piece together whatever problem the other two were seeing with the innocent werewolf being back at school. She turned toward her friends again as Stiles leaned back into his seat with a nervous look.

"What-" She started, only to be cut off by Mr. Anderson's booming voice from the front of the room as he began his lecture, "Nevermind."

As soon as class was dismissed by the bell, Amber shot up from her seat to approach Scott and Stiles as the three of them rushed from the classroom and spilled out into the hallway.

Stiles adjusted his backpack strap on his shoulder and took Amber's own bag from her hands before she could pull it on herself. He tugged the strap over that of his own bookbag on his shoulder and dropped his free arm to curl around the back of her neck.

Her mouth dropped open to comment on his endearing display of chivalry but he spoke before she got the chance, his own gaze locked on Scott.

"Alright," Stiles started slowly, "So I only found one thing online called a Kanima. It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

"That thing running around is not a jaguar." Amber stated obviously, slipping her hand around Stiles' waist as they walked.

"Yeah, obviously. And you and I aren't exactly murderers." Stiles emphasized.

Scott frowned in thought, "Yeah, but you guys did see it kill somebody.. Which is probably why it tried to kill you," He added quickly before continuing, "And it's still trying to kill you.. And it probably won't stop until you're both dead-"

Stiles pulled Amber to a stop and they both glared at the back of Scott's head. Scott continued a few steps down the hallway distractedly before he noticed their absence beside him. He turned around to face them and Stiles' glare only intensified.

Stiles dropped his arm from her shoulder with a huff to gesture with his hands wildly as he spoke, "Y'know, sometimes I really begin to question our 'friendship'."

"Come on," Amber shook her head and moved behind Stiles to grab his hips, urging him forward with her own body glued to his back. She pushed until they'd caught up to Scott again and then released her boyfriend to pinch the soft flesh of Scott's hip between her fingers as she stepped beside him, "You need to work on that brain-to-mouth filter of yours."

Scott frowned and reached up to rub at his side, "Ow."

"Oh, did that hurt the big bad werewolf?" Stiles scoffed, "You poor thing."

They moved through the hallways and headed to Economics where Amber threw her things down into the empty desk behind Stiles as Scott dropped into the chair beside him.

The girl pulled out her notes and a pencil, beginning to flip through her textbook to get ready for the start of class. Her left arm draped across her desk so that her fingertips could toy idly with the collar at the back of Stiles' shirt as she skimmed over the section she'd read the previous evening. There was a loud slam as Jackson dropped down into the desk beside her, smacking his books onto the tabletop and forcing her gaze to cut over to him in surprise.

"Hey. Taint and testicles left and right." Jackson hissed quietly, looking between the three of them. Stiles and Scott both snapped their heads up but refused to turn around and Amber rolled her eyes at the boy beside her just before he spoke again, "What the hell is a kanima?"

Amber's eyes widened in surprise and her friends both turned around in their seats in a flash. Before any of them could speak, Coach Finstock slapped a folder down onto the mess on his desk with a loud smack to garner everybody's attention.

"Alright everyone! Listen up. A quick warning before we begin our review," The teacher said loudly, "Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups.. Because tomorrow's mid-term is so profoundly difficult.. I-I'm not even sure I could pass it."

Amber let out a breath of despair in time with her classmate's groans and wordlessly held her notebook out across the aisle. Scott reached out automatically to accept it and flipped it open it over the top of his textbook so that he could copy some of her notes down for himself.

"Okay! I need a volunteer to come up to the board and answer the first question!" Coach demanded, grabbing a piece of chalk and looking out at the class expectantly. "Who's got it? Huh?"

Finstock called on a boy from the opposite side of the room and Jackson pitched forward in his seat again at the moment of distraction, "I just heard Derek's little pets talking in the hallway. Something about a kanima and Lydia and-"

"What exactly were they saying?" Amber was quick to ask.

"Look. Could someone just tell me why the hell Derek and his band of freaks kidnapped and tested me last night? Why they thought I was this thing called a kanima? Huh?" Jackson demanded as he looked between the three of them.

"What? Why would he think it's you?" She asked in confusion.

"He spouted some crap about a snake not being poisoned by its own venom and forced this absolutely vile slime into my mouth and I was paralyzed." Jackson recounted in a hiss, "Paralyzed. From the neck down. Do you have any idea what that feels like?" He snapped rhetorically.

"Uh, yeah, kinda." She muttered bitterly, tapping her pencil eraser against the top of her desk restlessly.

Stiles turned in his seat and instinctively wrapped his hand around Amber's fidgeting one as he glared at Jackson, "We're familiar with the sensation."

"Wait, back up-" Scott turned in confusion, "Seriously, why would Derek test you? Why would he think that it's you?"

"How should I know?" Jackson shot back.

"Wait, wait, wait," Amber whispered frantically, leaning out further into the aisle to hiss another question at Jackson, "Do they think it's Lydia?"

He shrugged with indifference, "I don't know. All I heard was her name and something about Chemistry-"

"Jackson! Callisto!" Coach yelled suddenly. All four teens flinched and Stiles and Scott spin back around in their seats again to face the front of the room as their teacher continued, "Do either of you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um.." Jackson said slowly, drawing out the word as his eyes met Amber's across the aisle.

"We were just.. Discussing our, um, undying admiration for our favorite teacher and coach.." She said slowly, heart still pounding with adrenaline at being called out.

"That's really kind of you," Coach smiled, insincerity bleeding out from beneath his expression as he looked between them, "Now shut up! Shut it!" He yelled before turning back to the rest of the class in search of another volunteer to answer a review question up at the board.

The moment their teacher turned around, Scott reached over to grab ahold of Stiles' sweatshirt and Amber's wrist, yanking them both toward him with a little too much force. Amber's ribs smacked down against her desk painfully as she pitched forward while Stiles nearly fell out of his seat and into the aisle.

"How do we know it's not Lydia?" Scott whispered quietly, oblivious to the matching winces from his best friends in response to his display of strength.

"Because. We've looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what we saw was pure evil." Stiles explained, turning to look at Amber's frowning face for a second before continuing, "And, y'know, when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see like 50% evil."

Amber slapped him on the back of his head aggressively and he flinched, turning to shoot her an irritated look before returning his attention to Scott.

"Honestly, maybe 60%," He amended in retaliation, easily catching Amber's wrist when she reached out to smack him again. Stiles sighed and refused to release her arm as he continued, "But, y'know, no more than 40 on a good day." He added reassuringly in a weak attempt to appease the girl behind him.

"Stiles!" Amber hissed, entirely unpacified as she kicked a foot out to thump against the bottom of his chair.

"Yeah.. Dude, that's not a very good argument." Scott pointed out quietly.

"I swear it's not her," Amber cut in, "It- It can't be, alright? Lydia's.. Lydia's fine." She said weakly, her mind spiraling with the long list of issues regarding her friend's current mental state.

The words hung in the air for not twenty seconds before the redhead in question let out a soft cry from the front of the room where she had been answering a question on the blackboard. Amber looked up to find Lydia no longer facing the board, though she still held chalk in a tight grasp between her fingers as tears ran down her face.

Amber's heart dropped. "Lyds?" She called out softly, dropping her pencil down on her desk.

"Lydia?" Coach Finstock questioned in confusion as he moved toward the board, "Lydia?" He said again — louder this time.

Lydia merely whimpered, eyes still pinched shut. Another stream of tears trailed down her cheeks, pulling mascara from her lashes as they fell and leaving tiny black smudges along her face in their wake.

Amber pushed out of her seat and Stiles finally dropped his hold on her wrist as she hurried down the row toward the front of the room.

"Lydia?" She stepped in front of her friend to block her off from as many of their classmates' curious stares as she could before calling out again more firmly, "Lydia!"

Lydia's eyes snapped open and they cut sharply around her in surprise and confusion.

"Okay, then.." Coach said loudly, turning back toward the class, "Anyone else want to try answering? This time in English?" He joked.

Lydia spun around in a flash and she and Amber both blinked in confusion at what the redhead had written on the board in her daze. It was English. But the letters had all been written backwards, the words mirrored and jumbled together curiously.

SOMEONEHELPME

Amber was spiraling.

Her heart had felt on the verge of beating out of her chest for the last hour and a half and she was beginning to genuinely worry about what kind of an effect the stress might have on her body long term.

"God, what if it is Lydia?" She whined, "It's not, right? I- I don't- And Derek won't actually kill her, will he? He wouldn't, right? I mean, he couldn't have meant that-"

Stiles had his fingers locked tightly with hers and Scott dropped a hand over the back of her neck to give her a reassuring squeeze as they stepped into the classroom for their weekly Chemistry Lab.

"Derek's not gonna kill her without proof." Scott attempted to reassure her.

"Alright. So, then, he tests her like he did with Jackson, right?" Stiles reasoned.

"But where?" Amber questioned, "When?"

Scott sighed as he looked around the classroom in search of empty seats, his eyes widening as Erica and Isaac stepped through the door at the opposite end of the room.

"I think here and now." He realized suddenly.

Their gazes all flicked over to the empty lab chair beside Lydia in a panic.

Isaac and Erica began to determinedly make their way down the row between tables and the three friends jumped into action. Amber sprinted to claim the seat beside Lydia, Scott sat at the table just behind them, and Stiles simply pulled an extra chair from the side of the room to settle in at the corner on Lydia's other side, even though the table was only meant to seat two.

Amber sighed in relief and gave Lydia a weak smile when the other girl looked between her and Stiles in confusion. Stiles grinned awkwardly at the redhead in greeting and she returned her gaze to Amber with a slow blink to convey her annoyance.

As the room filled, Mr. Harris stood from his desk to address the class, "Einstein once said, 'Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity.'" He recited, "And I'm not sure about the universe, but I, myself have encountered.. Infinite stupidity."

As if emphasizing his words, the teacher dropped a hand heavily onto Stiles' shoulder as he stepped up to their table. Mr. Harris thumped his hand against the boy's back with enough force that Stiles' body rocked forward with each pat as his face pinched in irritation.

"So," Mr. Harris continued, "To combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one." His gaze dropped to Stiles again with a frown of distaste and Amber's jaw clenched in anticipation, "Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one."

Amber huffed in annoyance. When she caught Stiles' eye, she quickly pulled her face into what she hoped was a bright smile while he grimaced at their teacher singling him out yet again.

"Erica," Mr. Harris called, "You'll take the first station with-"

Hands around the classroom shot up eagerly, mostly boys but a couple of girls as well, all hoping to be partnered with the blonde.

"I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down." Mr. Harris snapped, shifting his eyes over the room, "Erica, you'll start with McCall."

He paired off the rest of the class for the start of the experiment. Half of the class would move stations and switch partners between reactions, starting the first half of the experiment before finishing the second half of someone else's.

Amber found herself partnered with Isaac for the first round, able to work with Stiles for the final half. She'd normally be relieved, were it not for the fact that when Isaac left her, he was set join Lydia, of all people.

Isaac dropped into the seat beside Amber with a wink, shooting Stiles a smug grin when he noticed the boy hesitating before leaving his girlfriend's station.

"Stiles, it's fine." Amber reassured him softly.

His face pinched in frustration but he gathered his backpack into his arms, intentionally bumping Isaac's shoulder as he passed by with a parting glare.

"A little clingy, isn't he?" Isaac observed, unscrewing the cap from the solution they needed to start measuring to begin the experiment.

"You think so?" Amber questioned, "I think his protectiveness is pretty justified, all things considered." She narrowed her eyes at her current lab partner in consideration for a moment, "Didn't you used to be nice? What happened to that guy?"

She used a small scoop to measure out the sucrose they would eventually need to add the liquid currently coming to a boil over their flame.

"That guy was a loser." Isaac muttered, voice so quiet that Amber almost didn't catch it.

"Says who?" She countered, continuing to scoop the granules from one container to the other.

"Lydia said so," Isaac shrugged, watching her work, "What, you don't remember? You were right there. Always a loyal friend, even when it's to a cold-hearted bitch."

"Hey!" She snapped sharply, spilling some of her next scoop over the tabletop.

"It was the first day of Freshman year," He continued at if she hadn't spoken, "I asked her out."

"I definitely don't remember this." She told him.

"She laughed at me," Isaac recounted, "Said she didn't date losers and I should come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine, not a chain."

"Okay, so that wasn't very nice of her," She agreed, "But that doesn't make her a bad person, alright? I mean, you're still upset about this? It was like a year and a half ago, Lahey. We've all changed and grown-"

"Some of us more than others." He interrupted with a smug grin, cutting the flame so that she could start pouring the sucrose into the beaker.

"If you're really so heartbroken and you want to do something about it, take a creative writing class or something. Channel all that anger and negative energy into something that might actually be useful." Amber muttered.

She poured out the granules slowly and watched them dissolve as Isaac swirled the liquid around with a stirrer.

"Nah," He shot down the idea casually, "I'm not very good at writing. I was thinking I'd just channel it into killing her-"

His words caused her to flinch, the glass container she was pouring the sucrose from slipping from her hand and shattering against the tabletop with a loud crash as Mr. Harris rang the tiny bell on his desk in signal for them to change of stations.

"Switch." The teacher called out.

Mr. Harris stood from his desk to grab a small dustpan from the side of the filing cabinet and dropped it gingerly over the pile of glass at Amber's station. She wordlessly began to sweep the mess away, watching with wide eyes as Isaac stood and began to move over to Lydia's table.

Stiles bumped his shoulder against Isaac's again and the werewolf looked down at the human in amusement as Stiles' face tightened in anger.

"Mr. Stilinski," Their teacher's voice snapped, "If you're trying to test my patience, I guarantee it'll lead to a failing grade."

Stiles made a small noise of frustration but dropped into the abandoned seat beside Amber wordlessly. He took the dustpan from her hands and dumped it into the trash before leaning close.

"What happened? You okay?" He asked quickly, "Because I swear to god if he did something, I'll turn his little werewolf ass into a fur coat and I'll give it to you for your birthday."

She raised her eyebrows, "My birthday is in August."

"You can wear it in the fall." Stiles countered quickly, "I'm serious. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just-" She nodded her head to where Isaac was working with Lydia and Stiles followed her gaze with a frown.

The pair distractedly finished the second half of the experiment, fumbling to mix things together while attempting to keep an eye on the station beside them where Isaac seemed to be working dutifully with Lydia.

Mr. Harris finally rang the tiny bell at the front of the room again and everyone looked up in response to the sudden sound.

"Time," The teacher announced, "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should be looking at a crystal."

Stiles and Amber both let their gaze drop to the yellow mush at the bottom of their beaker with a wince.

"Now for the part of the experiment you'll enjoy," Mr. Harris told the class, "You can eat it."

Stiles held the beaker out toward Amber as if daring her to try their failed concoction of ingredients and she pulled a face of disgust as she pushed his hand away with a gag. When her eyes drifted to the front of the room, Mr. Harris had his eyebrows raised judgmentally, his gaze locked on the beaker that Stiles was setting down on the tabletop.

"Lydia!" Scott shouted in sudden alarm, gaining everyone's attention.

Amber flinched and sat up in her seat, looking over at Lydia worriedly, but the other girl seemed to be fine. Lydia was giving Scott a look of annoyed confusion, a perfectly concocted crystal held between her parted lips.

"What?" Lydia asked in irritation.

"Nothing." Scott slowly righted his chair from where he'd kicked it out in his haste a moment before.

Amber looked over at her best friend in confusion and he tilted his head in Lydia's direction pointedly, mouth silently moving as he tried to tell her what was going on, 'Kanima.'

Her eyes snapped back to Lydia and Amber only now spotted the familiar shiny substance coating the crystal in the girl's mouth. Lydia's tongue caught on the kanima venom as she moved to take another bite from her experiment and all of the supernaturally aware teens in the room watched on in alarm.

Lydia's teeth crunched down on the crystal and Amber found herself flinching in response to the quiet sound, heart pounding in her chest. A few slow seconds passed but nothing happened to the redhead.

It seemed the venom didn't affect her.

"Derek's waiting outside for Lydia." Scott told Allison, Amber, and Stiles as they hid away in Coach Finstock's office around lunchtime.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison questioned.

The knots in Amber's stomach tied themselves that much tighter and she looked to Scott with wide eyes.

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, then yes." He told them, "Especially after what happened at the pool."

"But it's not her. I mean, it- it can't be!" Amber told them resolutely.

"She didn't pass the test, Amber. Nothing happened." Scott reminded her.

"But she left!" She assured them, "That night at the pool, she left before I even went inside and she wouldn't have come back-"

"You can't really know that for sure, though. Can you?" Stiles asked gently.

"It doesn't matter," Allison interrupted slowly, leaning back to sit over the edge of Coach's desk, "Because Derek thinks it's her. So.. Either we convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

Amber found herself nodding wildly in agreement.

"Well I don't think he's gonna do anything here," Scott said quickly, "Not at school."

"Okay, but what about after school?" Amber questioned worriedly.

Allison threw her head back in distress before looking back at them slowly, "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

"By three o'clock?" Stiles questioned incredulously.

"Th- There could be something in the bestiary-" Allison started.

"The nine hundred page digital book that's apparently written in Archaic Latin?" Amber clarified in barely concealed irritation, "The one that none of us can read? That bestiary?"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Stiles added with a shake of his head.

Allison didn't seem to be affected by their negativity, her gaze drawn to Scott as she seemed to get an idea, "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

Amber let out a breath, "Okay.. So Allison gets the translation and uh, I can.. I'll go out and talk to Derek. Maybe if I-"

"No." Scott disagreed quickly. Amber's eyebrows pulled together at his immediate dismissal but he shook his head at her firmly, "No, you stay away from him for now, alright? I mean it-" Amber frowned and Scott gave her a serious look, "I'll talk to Derek. See if I can get him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her. But you guys.. Look, if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"

"What does that even mean?" Amber stepped closer to Scott in confusion.

"It means that you guys can't heal like I do." He said, eyes drifting over all three of them slowly, "I just- I don't want you getting hurt." His gaze paused on Allison at the tail end of his statement, a worried look on his face.

Allison pushed off from the desk quickly, turning to rifle through her shoulder bag for a moment and Amber lifted up onto her tiptoes to see what the other girl was doing with interest. When Allison turned to face them again, she was holding a tiny, handheld crossbow, arrow already sheathed and ready to be fired.

"I can protect myself." Allison told Scott with narrowed eyes.

"Is that, like, a pocket-sized crossbow?" Amber asked curiously, catching sight of Stiles as he also eyed the device with clear interest.

"Wh- Did something else happen?" Allison asked Scott softly after a moment passed without response, setting her weapon on top of Coach's desk to take a step closer to where he and Amber were standing.

Amber's mind flashed briefly to the image of Scott standing in her bedroom late on Tuesday night. She recalled the small tear at the bottom of his shirt that had been overtaken with a dark bloodstain. When she'd frantically lifted his shirt, it was to find the skin of his abdomen unmarred and already healed. He'd told her how Allison's grandfather had thrust a knife into his gut when he'd gone to pick his mom up from work, the threatening words the old man had spit at him as he twisted the blade to drive his point home.

Amber remembered the way Scott had pleaded with her not to tell Allison what had transpired. How he'd encouraged his friend to be more careful around their new principal, confiding in her the worries he had that even Allison wasn't entirely safe from him.

Looking at Scott now, Amber could make out the terror behind his eyes, the deep-rooted worry he was carrying that something awful might happen and he'd be unable to protect them.

"I just don't want you getting hurt." Scott repeated, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the two girls in front of him, "Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you let me handle it. Okay?" He looked to Allison, his expression pleading, "I- I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can."

Amber swallowed nervously at the sobering weight of his words, watching as Allison nodded at him in silent agreement.

Scott sighed, "We have until three."

He looked between Amber and Allison again with a small nod of his own before turning toward the door of the office and making to leave. Amber followed close behind but only narrowly avoided running into his back when he stopped suddenly and spun around to face her. Scott's hand shot out behind her and she turned around beneath his arm in surprise and confusion. Her eyes widened at the sight of the arrow clutched in his hand, the object snatched just an inch beyond where the back of her head had been only a moment before.

"Ah, Sorry! Sorry-" Stiles rushed out with wide eyes, giving the crossbow in his hands back to Allison quickly, "It's a sensitive trigger on that-" He told them awkwardly.

Amber's heart was thumping loudly in her chest, eyes bouncing between the arrow in Scott's hand and her boyfriend across the room, "Wh- Why were you aiming it at me at all?" She squeaked.

"I wasn't! I wasn't aiming it at you!" Stiles defended. Everyone blinked at him in disbelief and he clarified immediately, "I mean, I was just holding it! And it happened to be pointed.. In- in your general direction.."

"Stiles. You almost shot her, dude." Scott scolded, handing the arrow back to Allison as well.

"I- I am aware of that. Thank you, Scott." Stiles snapped.

Amber huffed quietly, heart stammering beneath the ebbing adrenaline in her veins, "Look, I-I really need to go and talk to Danny before free period ends."

"Wh- Babe, just hold up-" Stiles called out, stepping toward her.

"I'll see you guys later." She told the group quickly before slipping out the door.

"Amber. Hey, c'mon, wait a sec-!"

She didn't wait, already hurrying down the hallway in the hopes of catching Danny working in the library the way he so often did during the free period. When she stepped through the doors, the boy in question was sitting at a table with Jackson and Matt Daehler, the latter standing at the back of Danny's seat as they conversed.

"-hey. We could've done it together." Matt laughed, nudging Danny playfully.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." Amber cut in, moving to stand at Danny's other side.

"Then why are you?" Jackson asked in clear annoyance.

Danny punched him in the arm, turning toward the girl with a grin, "Not interrupting, what's up?"

"I, uh- I talked to Coach and he said you helped with cleanup after the game on Tuesday?" She started, continuing at Danny's nod, "Okay, good. So, I lost my phone and I was hoping-"

"Oh, hey!" Matt cut in, moving around the table to stand beside her and pulling his bag off of his shoulder to dig through its contents, "Is this yours?" He asked, pulling his arm from the depths of the bag with her cell phone in hand.

"Oh my god!" She squealed excitedly, "Yes!"

She took the phone from his hand quickly and wrapped him into a quick hug in thanks.

"I found it under the bleachers at the end of the game," Matt explained, "But by the time I thought to check it to see whose it was, the thing was dead. And my charger doesn't fit it."

"No, no, don't worry about it-" She told him in a rush, brushing her fingers over the device gratefully, "I'm just glad it's not gone forever. I have so many pictures on here that I haven't gotten around to backing up on my computer-"

"That's a pretty bad habit." Matt grinned playfully.

"God, I know." She agreed, "And one I will never do again. I am.. So relieved, right now. Seriously, thank you so much for finding it."

"No problem," He shrugged, zipping his bag back up, "Sorry I didn't get it back to you sooner."

The bell rang out signaling the end of the period and the group collectively sighed at the knowledge that they needed to get to their next class. They all split off and as Amber walked down the hall, she fingered at the power button on her phone thoughtlessly.

The screen lit up suddenly and her steps faltered in surprise, eyes narrowing as she watched her phone power back up slowly.

Her eyes focussed on the wallpaper displayed on the device as it booted up, gaze scanning the cropped image she'd snapped of one of the photostrips she and Stiles had posed for on their date at the ice rink. The top picture displayed Stiles looking down at her in feigned surprise, their fingers laced together in front of the camera as Amber bit down playfully on his wrist. She was slightly blurry in the bottom picture, head thrown back against Stiles shoulder in hysterics from the tickling of his fingers in her sides while he laughed with a big smile directed straight at the camera. The pictures had a warmth blossoming in her chest despite the stresses that had unfolded throughout the day.

The device finally booted up enough for her to unlock it and her eyes went to the display of the battery life in the corner of the screen. She squinted at it and her eyebrows furrowed further in confusion. It was still at 62%.

"Huh."

Amber's leg was bouncing anxiously and she knew it was starting to irk the girl beside her but she couldn't stop the frantic movement.

"Why exactly can't we start studying yet?" Lydia asked, using all of her willpower to not snap at her friend when Amber began to drum her hand against the tabletop as well.

"We have to wait for everybody else." She explained, eyes still glued to the library doors.

Lydia sighed quietly, "Who exactly are we waiting on?"

Amber's eyes cut over to the redhead for a second before fixing themselves on the doors again, "What d'you, uh.. Y'know, everybody. Allison, Stiles, um-"

The library doors burst open and Amber jumped so hard she nearly fell from her seat as Stiles approached their table with fast steps.

"C'mon, time to go." He urged quickly, pulling his girlfriend up with a hand in hers and ushering both girls toward the side doors.

"Where are we going?" Lydia asked in confusion.

"Study group," Amber supplied brightly, pulling her hand from her boyfriend's to urge Lydia to move faster as they headed into the hallway, "At Scott's house."

Lydia looked the couple beside her over in confusion as they walked abnormally quick steps, "If we're doing study group, why didn't we just stay in the library?" She questioned obviously.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else." Stiles explained, frowning at Amber as she stepped to Lydia's other side and away from him.

"Hm," Lydia hummed, "Well, why don't they just meet us in the library?"

"Oh, that would've been a great idea!" Stiles acknowledged, "Too late."

Lydia paused, slowing her steps, "Okay, wait-"

Jackson suddenly pushed between Amber and Lydia to pull the redhead forward with a firm hand wrapped around her bicep.

"Lydia, shut up and walk." He snapped quietly, pleasant as ever. His fingers were pried from their place around Lydia's arm as quickly as they'd appeared, Amber squeezing his hand in a shockingly tight grip as they continued to walk.

"Jackson, if you want to keep your hand, then I suggest you don't grab her like that again." She whispered darkly.

Jackson rolled his eyes in response to the threat and ripped his hand away, making a show of gently dropping it onto Lydia's shoulder as he continued to urge her forward.

Stiles stepped up behind Amber and put his own hand on his girlfriend's back, face pressed close to hers as he spoke quietly into her ear, "Hey, so I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for-"

"Stiles, now's really not the time." She told him in an equally hushed voice.

"I know it's not the best time but-"

"Stiles," She whispered sharply, shooting Lydia a smile when the other girl flicked her gaze over curiously as they rounded a corner, "I know it was an accident, okay? It's fine. It just- It scared me, is all."

"Scared the crap outta me too, if it's any consolation." Stiles muttered under his breath.

She reached to take his opposite hand into hers and gave it a quick squeeze, "It's okay. I'm fine. No harm done, right? I forgive you." She promised in a soft whisper.

They pushed through the main doors of the building and quickly made their way down into the parking lot toward Stiles' Jeep. Lydia's steps faltered when she spotted Allison leaning against the blue vehicle in wait and Amber bumped into her back before pushing her to keep moving.

"Wait, wait- We're riding in that?" Lydia asked with a frown, voice high.

It took a moment longer than it should have for Amber to realize that Lydia's thoughts were focused on what she'd divulged that morning detailing the events that had taken place in the Jeep the night before.

"Yes, Lydia. We're riding in that." She said in exasperation, "It has the most room."

Stiles caught sight of Lydia's pinched face as they stepped up to the vehicle and he blinked in confusion, "The Jeep comfortably rides six, I.. Why're we dissing the Jeep? What's wrong with the Jeep?" His attention focused solely on his girlfriend as he asked the last question.

She pulled open the passenger door and threw the seats forward so that Jackson and Lydia could climb into the back.

"Nothing is wrong with the Jeep. Absolutely nothing. Right, Lydia?" Amber asked pointedly.

"It's fine," Lydia agreed begrudgingly, still pouting as she began climbing into the vehicle, "Even though there is no way this thing has had enough time to properly air out-" She muttered to herself as she crawled into the back seat.

The tires of the Jeep practically squealed when Stiles slammed on the breaks outside of the McCall house. As soon as Allison and Amber were out of the vehicle at the passenger side, the latter threw the back of the seats down again to let Jackson and Lydia climb out onto the sidewalk.

When Lydia moved to close the passenger side door, Amber automatically took over to slam the door firmly, habitually holding it steady with her hand pressed firmly against the left corner for half a second in a practiced move to ensure that the heavy door latched and remained shut.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?" Lydia asked determinedly, giving Amber a sharp look to convey that she knew something was up.

"Meeting us here," Stiles interjected quickly as he rounded the vehicle, "I think. I hope.."

"He'll be here." Amber assured Lydia before turning to give Stiles a disbelieving look at his lack of composure.

When they stepped inside the house, Stiles didn't waste a second before he was throwing the front door closed and working at the many locks and latches up and down the wooden doorframe. The metal clang of the deadbolt and the tinkling of the door chain as he slid it into the track rang out loudly in the otherwise quiet house.

Lydia was distrustfully eyeing the way Stiles secured the door, but she wasn't the only one focussed on his movements, the whole group watching in disbelief as he frantically locked them inside the house. When he finally spun around to face them, he faltered at the amount of attention focussed on him.

"Uh.. There's been a few break-ins in the area." Stiles supplied after a moment.

His eyes drifted to something behind Amber and he moved around her in a flash to grab the wooden entryway chair and prop the tall back of it firmly beneath the doorknob as an extra precaution.

"And a, um.. A murder." Amber added when Lydia's eyes moved to her in a silent question.

Jackson huffed a quiet snort of annoyance and Allison looked as if she were desperately trying not to laugh, but neither one of them interjected to add anything helpful.

"Yeah, it was bad." Stiles agreed immediately, the backs of his fingers brushing against Amber's with how close he was now standing beside her.

She slipped her palm into his and gave his slightly clammy hand a supportive squeeze while Allison nodded her head at Jackson in a gesture for him to do something.

Jackson sighed, "Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia huffed in annoyance but moved to follow him when he turned, "Seriously?" She muttered under her breath, "What is going on with everyone?"

Amber watched them go with a frown, making sure to shoot Jackson a sharp glare in warning that he merely rolled his eyes at as they moved to climb the staircase toward the upstairs bedrooms.

In their absence, Amber turned to drop her forehead against her boyfriend's shoulder with a shaky sigh. She felt his free hand come up to tangle softly into her hair and her heart continued to pound with anxiety despite the soothing scrape of his fingers against her scalp.

"I had Mrs. Morrell look at some pages from the bestiary." Allison told them after a moment.

Amber lifted her head, "Our French teacher slash guidance counselor knows Archaic Latin?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well, not exactly," Allison admitted, "But she knows a lot of languages and Latin is one of them."

"Latin isn't Archaic Latin." Amber pointed out.

"I know," Allison agreed, "But she did manage to translate one thing.. 'The kanima seeks a friend'."

"Seeks a friend?" Stiles repeated incredulously, "It killed two people. Amber and I were there for one of 'em.. It didn't exactly look like it was on a quest for friendship."

"How does this help Lydia?" Amber asked Allison quickly.

The other girl shook her head, "I don't know."

After a drawn out stretch of silence, Amber spoke again in a weak voice, "How long d'you guys think we have before Derek to figures out where we took her?"

"Not long." Allison responded quietly, "How are we supposed to protect her from a whole pack of werewolves without getting killed ourselves?" She asked, finally admitting her concern to the fellow humans.

"I'm not sure about Erica, Isaac, or Boyd.. But I know Derek wouldn't hurt me. I-I'm not afraid of him." Amber told them, turning around again but keeping herself firmly pressed against the warmth of Stiles' body with their fingers tangled together, "He doesn't want to hurt any of us.. But he's scared of Lydia-"

"Scared?" Stiles scoffed, "You think Derek Hale is scared?"

"Yes," Amber frowned, "He is. All he wants is to protect the people he cares about and- And I know he doesn't go about it in the best way but-"

"You can say that again." Stiles muttered.

Amber tightened her hand around his and continued, "He's afraid that the kanima is gonna kill someone he cares about. He's lost so much already, you guys. He's lost everyone." Her voice cracked with emotion and Allison blinked at her in surprise.

"He wants to kill Lydia," Allison reminded her firmly, "Amber.. You can't be on both sides when one is trying to kill the other."

"I'm not on both sides," She disagreed quickly, "I'm just saying I don't think that the three of us are in serious danger from Derek specifically, okay? It's the others we need to be worried about.. I'm not convinced that they have control yet over their emotions or their new wolfy instincts."

"Well, then, I think we might need to start worrying," Stiles announced from where he was peeking out of the curtain covering the window beside the front door, "Because they're here."

Amber cursed quietly as she leaned close to peer out of the window, finding the pack of werewolves crowded onto the sidewalk.

"One of you give me your phone so I can call Scott." Allison demanded quickly.

Amber pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it over easily, her eyes flicking back and forth between Derek and where Allison was bringing the phone up to her ear as it rang out.

"It's me." She said into the phone as soon as Scott picked up, "You need to get here. Right now." She told him quickly before ending the call.

Erica grinned as her eyes bounced between her packmates and where Amber and Stiles still were peeking out underneath the curtain.

"Oh, jeez." Stiles muttered quietly when Erica raised her eyebrows at them smugly, a silent but somehow obvious threat lurking in the purse of her lips.

Amber took a shaky breath and squeezed her boyfriend's hand once again before letting her gaze drift over to Allison. The other girl was fiddling with the phone in her hands, but it was no longer the touchscreen of Amber's phone that she was tapping her fingertips against.

"What are you doing?" Amber asked as Allison flicked through her own cell phone.

"I think.." Allison sighed anxiously and wiped at her sniffling nose with her shirtsleeve, "I think I have to call my dad."

Stiles turned toward her immediately, "But if he finds you here, you and Scott-"

"I know." Allison said quietly. She licked her lips and looked between them and the windows in distress, "But what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us, okay? They're here to kill Lydia."

"Your dad wanted to kill Lydia too." Amber was quick to remind her.

"Not anymore," Allison defended, "He- I think he'd help-"

"Are you sure about that?" Stiles questioned.

Allison frowned, seeming to seriously mull over the question.

"Jesus. If you honestly have to think about it, then you are not calling him." Amber told her firmly.

Allison sighed but nodded with a murmured agreement before dropping down to dig through her bag. She pulled out the small crossbow that had nearly killed Amber that afternoon and held it in a tight grip.

Stiles had pulled the curtain to the side again and was peering outside once more. When he looked back at the girls beside him, his gaze fell to the weapon in Allison's hands and his eyebrows rose as he frowned in thought.

"I got an idea," He told them suddenly in a hushed whisper, "Just shoot one of 'em."

"Stiles!" Amber hissed, releasing his hand to smack his arm with a look of disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Allison whispered back.

"We told Scott we could protect ourselves, so let's do it," Stiles whispered in quiet determination, looking between them, "Or at least give it a shot, right?"

"Okay." Allison agreed quickly in a barely detectable breath.

"Look, they don't think we're gonna fight," Stiles continued quickly, "So if one of them gets hit, I guarantee they'll take off. So just shoot one of 'em."

"You guys are serious?" Amber whispered in surprise.

"Which one?" Allison asked Stiles as she squinted out the window, the hand wrapped around the crossbow raising just a hair in anticipation.

"Uh.. Derek," Stiles said quickly, "Yeah, shoot him. Preferably in the head."

Amber punched her boyfriend in the arm with as much force as she could manage and he turned to her with a wide-eyed look of surprise and betrayal that matched her own.

"First of all, we are not doing that," She hissed, "And second, if Scott can catch an arrow flying through the air, then I guarantee that Derek can too."

"Okay," Stiles conceded quickly, raising his hands in submission and turning to Allison, "Uh.. Shoot one of the other three then."

"You mean two." Allison corrected quickly as she looked outside.

"I mean three." Stiles disagreed firmly.

Amber moved to look out the window again and her eyes raked over the group outside frantically, but Allison was right. One of them was missing.

"Where the hell is Isaac?" Stiles asked nervously as he looked out over her shoulder.

There was a sudden scuffle of feet across the wooden floor and Amber spun around to find that the boy in question had ripped the small crossbow from Allison's hands and tossed her roughly onto the floor of the living room.

Isaac growled lowly as he approached, shoving Stiles to the ground with one hand and throwing Amber into the kitchen with his other. Her back smacked painfully against the kitchen island and she fell to her hands and knees with a pained groan.

As she pushed herself up and moved to stand, Allison was already stepping into the kitchen to help her to her feet, supporting Amber with a firm grip on her arms.

"Go make sure Lydia is safe," Amber ordered as she got her feet underneath herself again, "Tell her that someone broke in and she needs to hide or- Or something. Just- Protect her."

"I will." Allison promised before dashing upstairs.

The wooden block on the countertop was one knife short as Amber clutched it in her fist with trembling fingers and moved back toward the main room. Just as she stepped through the doorway, Stiles was shoved into the adjoining wall with a loud thump. Isaac was quick to abandon Stiles as he noticed Amber's approach, turning his attention toward the threat who was wielding a weapon instead.

Stiles fell to his knees the moment he was released and Amber watched him suck in a pained breath as her eyes bounced between him and werewolf stalking toward her.

"C'mon Isaac, don't be a dick, okay?" She pleaded, raising the knife in her hands defensively, "We- We don't have to fight-"

"Not much of a fight, if I'm being honest." Isaac shrugged, ripping the knife from her fingers in an easy move and tossing it over her shoulder into the kitchen behind her.

At the sight of Erica rushing toward the staircase, Amber moved to follow after the blonde on immediate instinct but was yanked back by a hand in her hair. A yelp slipped past her lips at the painful tug, the side of her head bashed against the wood that framed the archway between rooms before she was released. She fell to her knees and gripped at the side of her head with a another groan, mildly relieved when she didn't feel the warm wetness that would indicate she was bleeding.

A loud thump sounded behind her and she heard Stiles release another pained noise. She gripped the table along the wall and pulled herself to her feet unsteadily. Amber turned around and, at the sight of Isaac's hand fisted in the front of her boyfriend's shirt, she rushed forward without a thought.

Isaac was pulling his right hand back to deliver a punch but Amber jumped up onto the taller boy's back and grabbed at his arm before he could make contact.

"Hair pulling, Isaac? Really?" She grunted, tightening the grip of her arms and legs around him further when the boy tried to throw her off of himself, "I'd expect that shit from Erica, but you?"

"'s a bitch move." Stiles agreed weakly, only to be thrown down onto the ground at the other side of the room.

With Stiles temporarily out of the fight, Isaac spun around to slam himself back against the wall in the living room, crushing Amber between the wall and himself. The girl groaned in pain but refused to release her hold, instead tangling her own fingers into the dark blonde curls on Isaac's head and tugging aggressively in retaliation.

Isaac let out a rumbling growl in response and pressed back against her that much more, "I'm trying not to hurt you guys-" He grunted through his fangs as he pushed the air out of Amber's lungs.

"Well you're doing-" She huffed breathlessly, "A terrible job-"

Stiles had crawled his way back across the room and he kicked his foot out suddenly into Isaac's ankles, sending the pair crashing to the ground as the werewolf's feet were knocked out from underneath him.

Another growl sounded out, but this time it hadn't come from the werewolf tangled up between Amber and Stiles. Instead, the threatening sound came from the back of the room where Scott was standing with bright, glowing eyes. In a flash, he was in front of them, slamming his fist into Isaac's face with enough force that the other boy slumped back against the floor unconscious.

"We totally had that," Stiles groaned quietly, "Y'know, just.. For the record-"

"Mhm. Didn't need your help at all," Amber agreed weakly as they climbed to their feet, "Thanks though."

Scott gave them both a weary look as he grabbed Isaac by the back of his jacket and dragged his body over to the front door, where he dropped him unceremoniously before heading upstairs without a word.

In the aftermath of the fight, Amber turned to face her boyfriend worriedly. Her hands moved over his chest and up his neck, fingers skimming softly over his cheeks as she checked him for any sort of visible injury. He brought his own hands to her waist but his grip was light in contrast to her desperate touch, as if he were worried he might cause her pain if he applied too much pressure.

"You.. Are such a badass, y'know that? I cannot believe you just pounced on Isaac like that," Stiles flicked his eyes between her own with a soft look, "But please, don't throw yourself into danger for me ever again.. Literally or figuratively."

"Yeah.. There is no way in hell I'm promising that." She scoffed quietly, rubbing the pad of her thumb lightly across his cheek.

Stiles shook his head, knowing it was useless to fight her on it, "You hurt?" He asked gently.

"I'll be fine." She promised, dragging her fingertips over the back of his head as she unsubtly checked for any bumps he might've received from being thrown around.

Scott and Allison's heavy footsteps began to descend the stairs and Amber pressed her forehead to Stiles' in a quick nudge before pulling away. Scott came into view with Erica thrown over his shoulder and he ripped the front door open before tossing her and Isaac outside and onto the front lawn.

The four teens stepped out onto the porch as Derek looked at his incapacitated Betas with a disappointed huff. There was a moment of silence in which Stiles tangled his fingers with Amber's while she reached out to rest a hand against Scott's back supportively.

Derek pursed his lips and slowly looked between the four of them, "I think I know why you both refused me," He announced as his eyes flicked between Scott and Amber, "You're not an omega, Scott. You're already an Alpha.. Of your own pack. And Amber, you're a part of that pack."

She blinked in surprise and her eyes gravitated toward Scott, who had stiffened beneath her hand at Derek's words.

"I thought you.. But, you said you couldn't be a part of a pack unless you were a werewolf." She questioned in confusion.

"I never said that," Derek disagreed, "I told you I didn't want you to be a part of my pack if you wanted to stay human." He corrected easily.

She felt the heavy weight of her friend's gazes fall to her after the admission, but her eyes remained focussed on Derek, unable to help the small pang of hurt that shot through her at his words.

"You know you can't beat me, Scott." Derek said after a moment, his eyes moving to the younger werewolf.

Scott swallowed and reluctantly pulled his gaze away from his best friend to look at Derek again, "I can hold you off until the cops get here-" He retorted.

No sooner had he spoken when the quiet trilling of sirens rose loud enough to be noticeable even to the humans of the group.

Derek's eyes narrowed, head tilting as he determined the distance of the emergency vehicles. His assessment was cut short at an all too familiar hiss from the roof.

The teens rushed down the porch steps to stand in the grass beside Derek and look up at the house, finding the kanima crawling across the roof. The dark, scaly creature turned its head to look at them, as if feeling the weight of their stares, releasing a threatening shriek in response to the attention.

Amber flinched at the shrill sound and Stiles' grip around her hand tightened as he protectively dragged her a small step backwards.

The creature looked the group over with its slitted yellow eyes for a moment before turning and scurrying away, tail flicking in the air behind it as it scaled the side of the house and disappeared from sight.

Stomping footsteps came from inside the house and they all turned their heads toward the open front door as the footfalls drew closer. Amber readied herself for Jackson to step outside with some sort of typically dick-ish remark, but it wasn't him who rushed out onto the front porch.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" Lydia demanded sharply as her eyes flicked around the group in wide-eyed confusion.

"Lydia." Amber breathed in surprise.

"The kanima.. Is Jackson." Scott whispered in sudden realization.

Amber's eyes dropped to the unmoving werewolves laying in the grass that Lydia had somehow not yet noticed and Amber nudged Scott in distress. He turned, following her gaze, eyes bouncing to Lydia and then back down again a few times.

"Um. Why don't I take you home, Lydia-" Allison said suddenly, "Scott, can you give us a ride back to the school to get my car?"

Lydia blinked, "But-"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure." Scott agreed quickly as Allison dragged him to stand in front of where Erica and Isaac were laying.

Amber released Stiles' hand to rush up onto the porch, snatching Lydia's backpack from the entryway inside the house and dragging the redhead down the porch steps quickly and toward the sidewalk.

"Amber-" Lydia huffed in annoyance when her heel caught in a groove in the pavement as she was dragged along.

"C'mon, Lyds. This has been really stressful and scary and we should all just go home and get some rest." She pleaded as they reached Scott's mom's car.

"Shouldn't we wait until the police get here and give them our statements about the break-in?" Lydia asked smartly.

"Stiles and I can handle it," She promised, "Get in."

Lydia frowned and shot her friend a glare before turning and climbing into the back of the car without another word.

Amber leaned down as she readied to close the door, "Text me when you get home safe?" She asked gently.

Lydia rolled her eyes and buckled her seatbelt, refusing to look at her friend as Scott and Allison also climbed into the car.

"Fine," Lydia said with a huff, "Whatever."

Amber accepted the weak promise and finally closed the car door. When she turned back to Stiles with wide eyes, she found that Derek and Boyd had already managed to disappear with Erica and Isaac's unconscious bodies. She was back up the sidewalk in a rush, coming to a stop in front of Stiles and looking around with wide eyes.

"Where the hell did they go?" She asked in disbelief.

"Y'know, it's funny. Derek didn't give me his itinerary for the evening before he left." Stiles shot back easily.

Amber narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend's sarcasm and had opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the sirens approaching them grew louder.

"Right! Time to go." Stiles urged quickly. He guided her down to the Jeep in a rush and sped off down the street in the opposite direction of the sirens before Amber had even managed to buckle her seatbelt.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she fought to remain calm.

"Right now? Nowhere. When we meet up with Scott again? We're gonna go find Jackson." Stiles said, eyes flicking over to her for a moment as he spoke.

"How exactly are we gonna do that?" She questioned.

"Our best friend is a werewolf," Stiles looked at her incredulously, "We're gonna track him down by scent or something and we're gonna get Whittemore's lizard ass."

She sighed, sliding across the seats to sit beside him and tipping her head onto his shoulder, suddenly desperate for the comfort his touch provided. Stiles moved his hand from the gear shift automatically to squeeze tightly over her thigh in reassurance.

"Great," She agreed weakly, "Sounds like a plan."

[winnie-the-monster]

[justrainandcoffee]

Against all odds (Alfie Solomons x fem!oc) 2x06

Crossover Hunger - Games Peaky Blinders

First part Masterlist. Second part Masterlist → 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05

Summary: Even if Alfie, Rose and Allie are living in a momentary bubble of happiness, he has time to warn Rose about some attitudes that Campbell has and it doesn't take her long to discover what it is. || The Shelbys face a tragedy. || Snow reappears. || Campbell has a secret on his back.

Warnings: Description of deaths.

Words: 3.6k

Rose being ascended to the rank of Victor, was something that she was still upset about. No matter what Campbell said, she refused to accept it.

"You agreed!" she yelled at Aveline later that night although she shouldn't have yelled at her. She appreciated the black woman, but Rose was mad. And still didn't understand why her friend was the first one to agreed with Campbell.

"I did. You are!" Then Aveline leaned towards Rose and whispered in her ear "if being a victor is the price to pay to be in Campbell's inner circle then I thought it was something you must agreed with it, too."

Rose opened her mouth, but once again Aveline was quicker "Goodnight, Rose Solomons. I'm fucking tired." Later in their new compartment and after Samuel returned to his after staying there taking care of Allie, who never woke up, the woman rested her head on Alfie's chest. He, already with his eyes closed, caressed her hair.

"It's ridiculous," she whispered.

"Not so much, if you ask me."

"I'm not a kid, Alfie. Those people weren't innocent victims, they ruined lives. They were monsters that deserved to die. It's different from what you were forced to do!"

"I understand your point of view, Rosie. But you can't deny that you were part of that and you were the only one who survived. Avie, is also right, take advantage of it sweetheart. Victors have a lot of benefits here."

Rose snorted "sure, that's why he sent you to make soup."

"He tried to revert his decision days after I was strong enough to walk on my own, but I refused. And yet, he sent me with your brother to the place where your hovercraft crashed because I demanded it. Samuel asked the same several times but he didn't listen to him. Same as the Golds."

"So, victors have privilege that even the Golds don't have."

"The Golds may ruled Capitol's underworld, but here they don't count."

"Campbell is a fucker, isn't he? If it weren't for the Golds, Campbell wouldn't stay here giving us orders like a stupid boss. The Golds provided him the access to the Arena. Aberama sent his people here with instructions specifically for him and his soldiers. Are you kidding me?"

"Campbell is a fucker, yes. And I know he attributes himself things that aren't entirely his. Probably, as you said, things that the Golds planned. Or even you."

"What?"

Rose lifted her head from Alfie's chest and even when she couldn't see him, she tried to look at him in the darkness of the room.

"He wants Snow's chair," Alfie replied "and if that means he has to lie to his people, then he's going to do it."

Rose grunted but rested her head on her husband again. Alfie fell asleep first, but she remained in silence thinking about this new situation for at least another hour. If Campbell wanted her as victor, then she was going to be one. Pretend, after all, was something she did the moment she left her home 18 years ago. She could do that once again.

.

Snow was alone in his office. Despite his efforts, he lost control in some districts. Including district 1 that was the second one to rebel against him. Those traitors.

He was watching in the monitor the different riots across the country. And everything started for a stupid song.

Music always invited people to do stupid things. Including him a lot of decades ago. Just a melody, a pretty face and he lost his mind. Same here. The young twins from district 9 that sang about dandelions and hope. And the lyrics contaminated the minds of thousands. The girl and the boy were dead, but the damn song remained. And you can kill people, very easily by the way, but you can't kill art. You can't kill what it is not alive. And few things were stronger than music. Thanks to the twins, now it was possible to see dandelions printed everywhere. Women using dandelion in their hair, kids holding them in their hands full of dirt. Men taking care of them in their gardens. The wind blowing them. Bees pollinating them. Snow realised very soon that they were everywhere. Because you can't destroy a dandelion shaking it, if you do that you're sending the seeds far away. They grew up even in the most impossible places.

And the rebels where doing the same.

It was impossible, in theory, that anyone could survive under the conditions the districts were now. 12 didn't exist anymore and yet, cameras showed some people living there to much Snow and his inner circle despair. Bombing district 8, should have ended with all hopes and yet, days ago he saw a flag with his face and a middle finger pointing at him.

District 11 survived the famine.

District 10 and 9 exchanged medice, bread and meat.

He didn't see it, but in district 7 a big percentage of the peacekeepers perished in the forest.

And district 13…

The heads of the people he wanted to see dead were there. And not all of them were victors.

Snow admitted that putting the despicable platinum members of the Capitol inside the games was smart. He didn't see that coming. He underestimated her, of course.

Although it was kinda fun to watch. At least for him.

Snow searched the video of the not official 76th games and pressed play.

The volcano island appeared in the screen. One of the arenas that Snow was most proud of. Once hosted at Aveline Young and 23 more kids. Everyone talked about the black girl back then, even him. When no one expected to see a victor from district 11, Young appeared to prove them wrong.

But now, contrary to that distant day, the volcano island received Matthew Sutton and five more people.

The youngest of the group even if all of them were around their late 20s and 30s. There wasn't Cornucopia, not there and not in the other scenarios.

A voiceover narrated the horrific things and vile acts they committed. Gang rape against a 15 years old victor, for example. Torture another sexually to their own pleasure. Mental abuse.

Matthew didn't waste his time to push his adversaries , that once called friends, into the lava when he understood what that was about. He didn't even flinch when he saw died in front of him. Their flesh melting like ice. He proclaimed to be the strongest. He won, he said, when the last one died.

Matthew Sutton didn't know that no one was going to survive this time.

The voice-over, calmed as ever, announced that the temperature of the volcano could cause such damage to the point of almost melting a human bone.

"But," the voiceover said in a bit humourous way "that must not be a problem for Sutton, right? He always proclaimed to be the hottest of them all."

Snow swore that whoever was the person narrating the games was laughing. "Let's see, ladies and gentlemen, how the hottest of them all, dies."

And it happened. Contrary to Aveline, Matthew Sutton slipped directly into the lava. He fought for his life for few seconds but he finally disappeared forever from life.

The rebels even recreated the sky showing the pictures of the fallen. This time they included the crimes they committed.

Snow watched how the rebels now showed the desert. Mortal and dry. Cactus waiting for the next victim. Same as the snakes. Only someone who knew this kind of landscape could survive. Someone like Eva Smith and her cunning brain.

The final destination chosen for Lawrence Evert. Probably the worst of all the people involved in the auction. If you won the games, then almost immediately you were property of Lawrence Evert. Not all them were under the protection of luca Changretta, he gave a fuck of almost all of them. But Evert didn't discriminate. Boys and girls were equally treated by him.

Matthew Sutton admired and was jealous of Evert reputation. Evert was synonym of devil. And he was proud of it. Not the smartest in town, but one that knew how to use power very well.

Snow didn't need to ask himself who was in charge of assigned the arenas to the different tributes. Rosebeth Evert was the answer. Or Rose Coldwell, Snow corrected himself. The wolf in sheep's clothing.

It was his fault, again. Snow invited her to the auctions to corrupt her because he thought she wasn't going to tolerate the level of inhumanity that was there. He wanted to corrupted her. But she did tolerate it and Snow never corrupted her soul. The only legal way she had to be with her real love, the only chance she had, she used it. And there she had the chance to studied the others very well, pretending be one of them.

If Rose sent her legal husband to the desert was a reason.

"He believed," the voiceover said, "that victors were gods and goddesses. Not human at all, but spiritual beings superior to all of us and that's why they won the games and he injected this idea in the rest of the auction members. They believed him and they followed his steps."

Two died thanks to the snakes-mutts. One was yelling at the cameras or whoever he believed that were watching at him, that he was going to give them money if they let them go. Money, everything was about money. No one rescued him either.

Unlike Sutton, Lawrence Evert wasn't the last survivor of the group, but he lasted long enough to suffer. The rebels increased the temperature of the desert.

His expensive shoes weren't made for that kind of ground. His body temperature was incredible high for a human and probably was starting to hallucinate. But if he removed his shoes, his feet were going to burn. The skin on his now bare shoulders was red. Same as his face. His eyes were dry and there were sores on his throat and mouth. Lawrence Evert was about to die, but not yet.

"One of the peculiarities of this man," the voiceover said to whole Panem watching the games, "is that he loved milk. But not any milk. Evert demanded breast milk. Of those female victors who got pregnant and had babies. He didn't care about the babies, for him they were just an obstacle between him and their mothers. And once again he got what he wanted, as always. But," the voiceover said as Evert fell on his knees, convulsing, "I wonder if he wants to be breastfeed or if he wants water now. Or nothing."

Evert's body was shaking on the sand. Mouth foaming. The once richest man the Capitol was counting the final seconds of his life on Earth. And then, just silence.

Snow turned off the tv. He already saw the next death. Rose Coldwell killing the eldest of the group was well commented.

Snow crossed his hands over his stomach and stared at the wall. He needed to think his next move. Unlike Lawrence Evert, he still had a functional brain.

.

Rose woke up the next morning smiling. Alfie's kisses on her neck made her giggle.

"Good morning, Al."

"Good morning, love."

Alfie slid his hand under the nightgown that District 13 provided, touching her legs but she stopped him.

"We can't. Allie is here."

"She's still sleeping."

"No, Alfie."

"We need to find a moment to us, then, Rosie. I need you."

"Me too. But we can't here. It makes me uncomfortable and she can woke up in any minute. Once we have breakfast, we can return here the two of us. Allie probably will be playing with Laurie Nelson or my brother. Or Avie can take care of her for some minutes."

"A lot of minutes."

She smiled at him "all the time we need."

Alfie cupped her face and kissed her. He still couldn't believe that she was there with him. It was September already and he believed he wasn't be available to spend his birthday with her. But she did it in time and with their now daughter as a gift.

"You know I love you, right?" she said, stroking his beard.

"I should be an idiot if I don't know that."

He kissed her again. The biggest victory for both of them was being alive and they were taking advantage of that. They continued kissing until they heard the sweet voice of the girl asking for Rose. Their first morning as parents just started.

And to start the day, the Solomons discovered how energetic the girl was in the mornings. When Rose and Aveline were in the forest, Allie was usually tired and quiet. In part because she was still shocked, she was cold and food was scarce. But after two nights sleeping well, warm baths and especially food, her real personality was appearing.

"And I'm going to play with Cyril and with uncle Sam! Auntie Avie promised me we can visit this place. Yesterday Laurie's mama also told me she was going to told me about her district. She knows a lot of tales!"

"Allie," Rose stopped her, looking at her. "People here has jobs, even your uncle Sam and auntie Avie. Aveline was free yesterday because we just arrived here, but the President for sure wants her to work here as well."

"But she promised me!"

"I know. And I also know that you have a lot of plans todo do today, more than Alfie and me apparently. But if people can't, you can't forced them. Alright?"

Despite her pouts, Allie nodded. "But Cyril is free," Alfie interjected "And do you know what the dog told me?"

"Dogs don't talk!"

"Ah, sweetheart, that's what you think. Do you want to know what Cyril told me?"

Allie's grey eyes opened wide and nodded vehemently. But when Alfie leaned over her, instead of whispering a secret as Allie believed, her father started to tickle her sides causing the girl to laugh.

The girl wasn't aware, and probably never will, that not even in their wildest dreams her parents believed that this kind of life was possible. They always talked about living together for good in district 9. Rose went there only once but for her it was enough to know what Alfie told her about that place.

"There's a house," he told her once a lot of years ago "that has a willow tree. The greenest willow tree I ever saw. I like that house. It has pond, too."

"Who lives there?" she had asked.

"No one. It just there."

They dreamt about living there. Just the two of them and maybe a dog or two. But never believed, truly believed, that could be possible. Let alone the word family crossed their minds. Not just because she couldn't have kids but because the world was horrible to be a kid. Alfie and Rose grew up fearing their deaths every 4th of July, and they also saw dozens of them die every year. Family wasn't something for them.

So that's why adopting Allie, although not legally yet, was something that for them was so unreal and yet, so beautiful. The girl barely taller as Alfie's knees and that was laughing completely happy in that moment was the gift for them that they never expected.

Maybe now the house in district 9 that Alfie talked about. The one with the greenest willow tree and the pond, has a new bedroom this time for the youngest Solomons.

.

But that was a war and even when they were living in a momentary happy bubble, awful things were happening around the country and even inside the same 13.

What started as a quiet morning, usual according to Alfie, suddenly was interrupted by people yelling.

The three Solomons left their compartment to se what was happening. In one of the corridors that conducted to the lower floor, was Tommy Shelby grabbing Campbell by the neck. Lucy was trying to separate them. The chaos also captured the attention of other victors and average people living there.

"Tommy, Tommy!" Alfie pushed him back, away from Campbell before it was too late "look at me, mate. What the hell happened!"

Campbell was coughing and Tommy's blue eyes were full of hatred and Alfie could see tears too.

"He killed my brother! That's what happened!"

Alfie looked at Tommy confused. Impossible. The Shelbys were one of those families that made it to district 13. They were safe.

"It wasn't me!" Campbell yelled back.

"Lucy, what the hell is going on?"

The red haired woman had puffy eyes but she managed to explained what Tommy didn't.

"Campbell sent part of the soldiers to the frontier between 12 and 13 because he knew that a group of peacekeepers were there. And sent John, Arthur and some others there. It happened that it was an elite member of peacekeepers. They killed John and another two. And they took Arthur with them before heading back to the Capitol."

"I didn't kill him, Shelby. Cameras show people approaching. They're trained! It can be civilians like can be enemies. It was the second option this time!"

Campbell, recovered but still disheveled, point at Tommy with his cane "next time you accused me to murder someone I highly recommend to choose your words more wisely."

Campbell left the place and soon everyone started to move except for Lucy, Tommy and friends.

"I'm sorry," Nina said to them "but why did you think that it was on purpose?"

"Because yesterday afternoon we have an argument with him." Lucy explained "all the time Peacekeepers are surrounding us. Why sent John and Arthur there? Why specifically them?"

"The forest is constantly watched by the Capitol. We saw hovercrafts coming here flying over our head like vultures. We had to hide lot of times," Aveline said "Campbell should know that."

"Of course he knows! But he doesn't want his authority to be threatened," Lucy added. "And now John is dead and Arthur is a prisoner in the Capitol."

If he is alive, thought. But she didn't said it.

If there was a reason for Campbell to do that, they discovered it much later in the day when, at least, Rose saw for the first time district 13 in its wholeness.

Citizens were cheering him as he was about to do a speech. Somehow, Campbell across of all those decades in front of district 13 managed to make them believe that he was their saviour.

"…We did it!" he said speaking louder to the multitude "probably you already heard it, but we rescued two of our beloved people: Aveline Young, the fearless victor from district 11 and one of the rebels infiltrated in the capitol for a couple of years, Rose Solomons. We did manage to kill the abusers in the Capitol, because she helped..."

Rose wanted to screamed and didn't care if people around her could look at her as if she was crazy. That was what Alfie warned her the night before. Campbell taking credit of other people's job. Like Mr. Van Trapp, the Golds or even herself.

Campbell didn't want anyone eclipsing him. He wanted to rule Panem the same way he already did that in district 13. He banished two of the Shelbys for that reason. They were a threat.

When later Campbell was alone in his office, she opened the door without asking permission.

"I HELPED TO KILL THE RAPISTS? I DID IT! IT WAS MY FUCKING IDEA, I PLANNED IT! WHAT THE FUCK, YOU ASSHOLE, ARE TALKING ABOUT? AND WHAT RESCUED YOU FUCKING SAID? AVIE AND ME WALKED FOR MONTHS TO BE HERE!"

"People need to believe, Mrs. Solomons. An innocent lie to give them hope. They know me, they need a leader who can guide them."

Rose snorted. "You're not giving them hope, you're lying to them! Giving them the image of a fearless leader who's nothing but a fucking liar chicken. You didn't move your ass from your chair until you receive news from the Capitol and people who wanted to rebel against Snow. Where the fuck were you the last 20 years? 30 years? How many years have you been ruling this place? The victors you claim to protect… Fuck you, Campbell. You saw them fight, you saw kids die and you didn't care. You only acted when you were sure that your ass was going to be safe. And now you're acting like you are a god."

"It wasn't safe to act before."

"For you. A place like that could have taken just seconds to destroy everything in the Capitol and free the kids to their destiny. But you don't want that. You never wanted that. You want to be recognised as a hero… we all due respect, you're not a hero and you will never be. If I have to be the biggest nuisance between you and Snow's chair, then I will be. The last thing Panem needs is another dictator."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am. Yes. Better you start to say the truth to the people, because you're going to regret that I am alive."

Rose closed the door and went to her compartment where Alfie and Allie were.

Campbell called the leader of his soldiers "I told you to check that everyone in that damn ship was dead."

"It was impossible for anyone survive the crash, sir."

"You can't see it wasn't impossible. And now I'm not dealing just with a bunch of murderers but also with one that knows how politics works. Next time I give you a fucking order, just obey! Kill means kill, alright?"

The soldier hesitated for a moment and then nodded, "yes, sir."

Campbell had several hovercrafts with the Capitol logo on it. That's how they rescued victors from the Arena. And that's why he ordered to shot the one where Rose, Bonnie's girlfriend and the pilot were. People in district 11 really believed that it was a ship from the Capitol because they saw the logo, impossible to believe that was one from 13. He didn't want Rose Coldwell in his district, not after he knew that she managed to lie to Snow at least for a decade.

But she didn't die and was exactly where he didn't want her to be.

Next

[damn-stark]

Chapter 3 Stupid teenagers

Stargirl chapter 3

A/N- Don’t you just love happy chapters!

Warning- Swearing, ANGST, fluff! SLOWBURN, talks of alcohol & blood, violence, long chapter.

Pairing- Steve Harrington x fem!reader, male!oc x fem!reader

Episode- 2x05-2x06

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“So,” you roll out slowly as you try to break this awkward silence between Steve and you.

Maybe hanging out wasn’t such a great idea. He’s being such a grump.

“Do you have a fake ID?” You ask and glance at him hoping he’ll just loosen up.

“Yeah, obviously how else do you think I get beer? Do you?”

You nod and pull out the little plastic ID. “One just doesn’t know when you need it. I’ll show you mine if you me yours.”

Steve spares you a glance, he debates whether giving in or not for a moment before he lifts off his seat and pulls out his wallet. His eyes are back on the road but he manages to flip his wallet open with his thumb and show off the ID with the fake birthday.

“Ah,” you grin. “So your hair has always been great. Is that how you whoa the cashiers selling you alcohol.”

Steve looks a bit in disbelief to how bold you are, but he doesn’t find it awkward, he plays along. “I was just born this way. A blessing.”

You snort and he looks at you with amusement while his smile slowly spreads.

“I’m surprised you have one, and that you can come out given it’s dark out,” he mentions.

“Eh,” you shrug. “My dad and I agreed 12:30 was my curfew, he doesn’t really care though. He’s just trying to sound authoritative, he’s chill about it. It’s my grandma that was the strict one,” you laugh softly and imitate her accent. “You can’t talk to boys until you’re out of college, you can’t wear such revealing clothes, don’t speak English at home.” You sigh and shake your head. “Nothing could get past her, but now I can do what I want.”

“That’s nice,” he mumbles. “At least she worried about you.”

You huff out. “Yeah, it seems that way now, not before. You, do you have a curfew? What time should I bring you back home?”

Steve scoffs softly. “I don’t have one. But hey, if we’re going to this club how do you know about it?”

You smirk now. “Eddie, my friend from last night. He said that it’s like a disco, that they do themes too! It sounded cool, but I had no one to come with. Until now. We can drink, dance, forget about shit, be stupid teenagers.”

Steve’s smile fades and he nods slowly in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds cool.” He said with grief.

You want friends. Let’s make friends.

“Is everything okay?” You probe.

Steve exhales deeply and gently taps the steering wheel. “Yeah,” he nods and lies, it’s obvious; No eye contact, soft voice, deep breath.

But you aren’t close enough to press him so you let it go and try to assure him as best as you can. “Well It’s like my daddy says, nothing can solve a agonizing heart like—”

“Alcohol?” Steve cuts you off with a sly smirk.

“No,” you chuckle. “Music! And dancing.” You clap and shift around to face him. “Tonight we’re going to be…” you trail off and look at fake name on his fake ID. “Steven Harrel? Really?” You put his wallet down and look at him with a judgmental gaze. “There’s so many names you could have used man!” You begin to tease him. “Edward, Jo, Bob! But no, your name is Steven! You’d make a terrible spy.”

A small laugh gets past his lips. “Yeah, it was at the moment thing. I couldn’t come up with anything else, how about you then judgy?”

You grin and show off your id again. “Rio. Rio Mendes. Steven and Rio coming at you tonight.” You wink.

Steve this time bursts out laughing and shakes his head. “You are truly something else.”

You go serious. “In a good way or a bad way?”

Steve rolls into a parking spot and turns off his car before answering sincerely. “Good.” He meets your gaze and holds it for a lingering moment before he pulls away and opens the door to climb out, leaving you smiling at yourself before you climb out of the car too.

Luckily the security bought your fake ID’s and lets you inside. However, it’s when you’re inside that your illusions get shattered as you see how slow it is. It’s not completely stranded, but the dance floor isn’t full of people drunk dancing, the bar is not full and the bartenders aren’t busy.

Maybe you were expecting too much?

“What about fun?” Steve remarks and walks past you.

You sigh and look away from the dancing floor flashing in different bright colors, and then follow him to the bar. “We can make it fun.”

“Two beers—”

“No I hate beer,” you cut Steve off as he was ordering from the eager bartender. “Two shots of tequila,” you request. “It’s on me.”

“Right away.”

You shoot the bartender a smile, and Steve leans on the surface and looks at you with an impressed smile. “Really? Are you sure?”

You clasp your hands on the bar and face him. “Yes,” you nod. “I invited you, you drove me here, I owe you.”

The bartender returns with glasses and slides them to the both of you. When you grab them you push your cup to Steve. “To…being stupid teenagers,” you toast.

Steve scoffs softly and nods as he raises his cup. “To being stupid teenagers,” he repeats and then clinks his cup against yours.

You then proceed to quickly drink your alcohol, not failing to make faces as the strong liquid burns your throat. Yet it’s oddly satisfying when you’ve swallowed it all.

“So,” Steve avoids having this be awkward. “Why Hawkins?”

Is no one ever going to stop asking you that?

“Uh,” you sigh and turn to watch a group of friends dance. “My dad retired from work,” you lie. “This was his hometown so we came, settled. Albeit he’s brought all his work with him so is he really retired?” You complain.

“Yeah I understand that workaholic dad,” Steve comments, making you blink and look at him watching his empty cup. “No time for anything, not even the kid.”

Yeah, can’t relate there…

“What does your dad do?” You ask instead of trying to relate to something you don’t. You just needed to get some annoyance out some way.

Steve shrugs. “He owns businesses. What about yours?” He redirects.

“Government agent,” you avoid the entire truth.

Steve’s eyebrows raise and he hums softly. “Interesting. Like, FBI? Because that would be cool.”

You let out a breathless laugh and nod. “Yeah, something like that. He’s cool, or at least he thinks so.” You smile. “With his badge and his armory in his office closet.”

Steve gasps. “Does your dad hunt aliens?”

You giggle and shake your head. “No! Not that I don’t believe in them, but no. He does more mundane stuff.”

“I saw an alien once,” Steve comments, heightening your amusement. “Of course I was high off a bad patch.”

You laugh at him and lean in. “I hear monsters dwell in Hawkins. If you’re lucky you’ll see a real one.”

Steve bursts out laughing and reaches for his cup but it’s still empty. He puts the cup back down and shakes his head. “That would be something wouldn’t it?” He laughs softly almost as if he’s nervous.

You squint your gaze in confusion, but don’t question him, instead you ask for another round. This time after you drink your shot, the space between you isn’t filled with chatter, “Under Pressure,” by Queen plays overheard and steals every ounce of your attention.

“We have to go dance!” You exclaim and grab his hand to pull him out the dance floor, but he gently pulls his hand away.

“Nah, you go, I'm not drunk enough yet.”

You scoff. “Not drunk enough? You don’t need to be drunk, let’s go!” You begin to back pedal whilst you bop your head to the beat. “Come on, we’re Steven and Rio tonight. Stupid teenagers!” You yell as you get further and further away from him.

Steve shrugs nonchalantly with a big sigh escaping past his nose.

“We drank, we’re not carrying anything on our shoulders, let’s go dance!” As you step on the dance floor you start moving your body to the music. However, Steve remains in his seat so you have no other option but to pretend to throw a cord and reel him in.

Steve rolls his eyes, but you see his smile peeking through. “That’s stupid,” he mouths.

You shrug. “Who cares,” you rebuttal. “Come.”

Steve’s shoulders fall and he lazily slides off his chair and drags himself to the dance floor. When he begins to get closer, you step further back and let the music take control.

At first Steve starts off slow, with awkward movements that loosen up bit by bit. You keep your eyes on him as if it was possible to lose each other on a lonely floor, and that distance that stands between you begins to close as you grow more comfortable with each other, and as the song's climax rises.

Now as the colorful club lights dance on your own faces, turning you from blue to purple, to orange and yellow, nothing bothered either of you, it’s like you were truly alone just dancing to the music. You were two best friends it seemed like, lost souls finally rekindling.

There comes a moment when you’re both lost in the moment that you lean forward, you glance at each other's lips and almost dive into temptation, but there are people in each other of your minds that come up and have you both swiftly moving away from each other.

Thankfully that…weird moment doesn’t make things awkward, you continue dancing to more songs without falter. You drink one more shot and continue to dance and dance under the hot lights until you’re both worn out and tired.

Regardless, neither of you feel any pressure to return home, so you find a 24/7 mini mart and buy late night slushies. Now albeit the conversation back to the car wasn’t so lighthearted, it was serious, which you enjoy.

“I fear disappointing people,” you confess. “My dad mostly. He’s all I have in my life now….” You swallow thickly. “If I disappoint him, what then?”

“Yeah, well as someone who has disappointed their father…just push through it,” Steve tells you softly. “It’s…depressing at first, but if they don’t try getting their head out of their ass then just keep going for yourself.”

You hum softly and take in his advice before you interject. “I’m sorry he made you feel that way. No one deserves to have their parents treat them like that.

“Eh,” he shrugs. “I’m over it.”

You don’t believe him, but there’s nothing you can do to take that away from him. “So,” you continue moments later. “Your fear?” You ask and take a sip of your sweet crushed ice drink.

Steve take a moment to answer, but before he does he exhales deeply. “Doing nothing with my life. I fear…I don’t know…feeling like I’m a failure. I mean I'm not good at school, which now sucks because I'm graduating. Colleges won’t accept me. Working with my dad will turn me to a recycled copy of him, I don’t want to stay in Hawkins all my life.”

“Well,” you try to assure him the best you can. “It’s not the end of the world if you don’t go to college. My dad didn’t go to college and he became a wealthy, skilled government agent who’s traveled the world. Just get out there, follow your heart,” you laugh breathlessly. “That’s what my daddy always says.”

Steve hums and lowers his cup to look at you with a curious look. “Have you traveled the world with him?”

You nod happily. “Yep.”

Steve smiles softly at you. “What’s your favorite place?”

You draw in a long breath and shrug. “I don't know,” you breathe out. “I’ve been everywhere…uh,” you press your straw against your lip and then picture a place in mind. “Antarctic.”

“What?” Steve asks softly and full of wonder. “No way.”

You nod. “You get on a boat in Argentina and sail there. It’s cold as fucking shit, but it’s amazing, you see ice caps that have lived for millions of years, wild animals, and the best of all, the Southern lights.” You beam at your cup. “They dance down on earth, glowing pink, green and purple. My grandma says that it’s dragons having a celestial battle in the skies,” you giggle and steal a glance at Steve, noticing his smile.

“I love them regardless of what they are, it’s magical, breathtaking.” You muse.

“I believe it,” Steve interjects sweetly.

You meet his gaze and assure him again. “You won’t stay here Steve, don’t put that energy out into the universe. You’ll see what you want, live the way you want. Okay?”

Steve holds your gaze for a moment before he looks ahead and nods. “I hope so.”

You take a long sip of your drink and actually don’t hate the silence that follows. He still breaks it however, with more questions. “Can I ask about your mom? Is she…around?”

How do you avoid making this awkward?

“Uh…not around me,” you mutter and grab your straw to turn your drink around. “She’s busy traveling from place to place…she calls, she gives me money, but besides that she’s a stranger. I'm a burden to her.”

Steve scoffs and probes. “How so?”

You exhale deeply, and feel hesitance sharing now. “She’s in the entertainment business,” you mumble. “She’s an actress.”

“What?” Steve presses.

You avert your gaze and mumble again, but a bit louder. “She’s an actress.” You look at Steve and see his interest piqued.

“Do I know her?” He asks with a growing grin.

You shrug. “Maybe…have you heard of Mayra Rivers?”

Steve stops walking and meets your gaze with a serious expression. “Shut up,” he mutters. “No. She’s not.”

You scoff. “Yeah, sometimes I wish she wasn’t. But that’s her, my mom.” You continue walking to his car.

Steve runs to catch up to you and looks excited now. “She's a good actress! Great. You know what, I see the resemblance.”

You roll your eyes. “Well she might be a good actress, but not a good mom.”

Steve huffs. “Bummer. To absent parents then.” He presses his cup towards you.

You cross your arm over your chest and clink your cup against his. “To absent parents.”

“But whenever you see her, let me know, or get me a autograph,” he says.

“Whatever.” You sass.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Throw it,” you urge your dad and swim away from the pier.

The water is cold, sure, but you don't mind much, you’ve stepped in colder waters. Besides, you can’t possibly wait for summer to dip in.

“Catch it this time,” he remarks and throws the piece of candy at your mouth.

Yet as you open your mouth and move to where it’s going to fall, the candy plops in the lake water and begins to sink down. “You think fishes can eat that?” You ask as you watch the candy sink further and further away.

“They might die,” your dad deadpans.

You hum with pity and glance up at him, seeing him sit back and read his work papers about this town that has more than meets the eye. So much so that your dad came home late last night, way after Steve dropped you off. And he hasn’t spoke about it either, which adds to your curiosity.

“Daddy, guess what?” You interject to try and get something out of him.

He hums as a response, letting you swim towards the pier and continue. “I found out the other day that the girl, Nancy, was friends with Barbara, the girl who disappeared.”

Your dad lowers the paper he was reading and tilts his head, letting your floating figure in the water reflect off his sunglasses. “Really?” He presses.

You hum and nod. “Yeah. What about you, have you learned more?”

Your dad sighs and hesitates for a moment before he puts his paper down on the small round table, and leans forward. “Yes actually,” he thankfully begins to say. “The other day, a lady called the police about this girl wandering around the park alone. She said that one minute she was there and the next the swing moved by itself, and then when she looked back the girl vanished.”

Your curious expression fades and worry and fear begins to bleed through.

“I tried to follow the lead to the middle school, but there was nothing. After that I went to your uncles place, stalked him a bit and found out he’s not living at the rv.”

You blink in confusion and this time you probe. “Why are you spying on uncle Jim?”

Your dad pulls his sunglasses off and begins to look enthused. “Because he’s the chief of police, he’s in charge of all the important files, he’s the one hiding things. So I followed him, he lives in my grandfather's cabin. I stalked the place, saw him and then at night a girl just about the same age as the Russian girl, walked in the house. And guess what happened later?” He smiles.

You swallow thickly and now regret asking. “What?” You mumble.

“All the windows in his house broke,” your dad shares. “I think Jim knows that Russian girl. He’s working with Hawkins Lab. We’re close, baby girl, so close,” he pinches his fingers.

So what will that mean for uncle Jim? You haven’t gotten to see him since arriving at Hawkins. Will they confront each other? Will this girl kill your dad? Someone with abilities, anomalies like her won’t go down without a fight.

“Hello?!” A third voice cuts through your rambling thoughts.

Your dad looks back, and you look up, catching Steve, and some tiny boy with a head of curly hair squished under a hat, approaching the pier very cautiously.

“Friends of yours?” Your dad directs at you.

You nod. “The tall one is, the short one must be his brother.”

“No one was answering the front door,” Steve explains as he points to your house. “The cars are in the drive away so, I thought well since it’s sort of urgent we'll check the back.”

You close the gap between the pier and you to grab the edge as they get closer.

“Hello there, I didn’t know y/n was expecting visitors,” your dad greets them with kindness. “I’m Rowan, her father.”

Steve’s eyes go wide and he glances at you with surprise. “Oh,” he mouths and walks down the wooden pier with his friend. “I’m Steve, her friend. And this is,” he pats the boy's shoulder.

“Dustin Henderson,” the boy introduces himself to both your dad and you. “Pleasure.”

You pull yourself onto the pier, catching Steve’s double take before he keeps his eyes on your father as he gets out of his chair.

“Welcome,” your dad continues to be nice and even greets them with a firm handshake. “Please help yourself to some lunch, there’s things to make sandwiches, there’s candy, chips. We were having lunch.”

“Oh,” the boy Dustin says with a growing smile. “Don’t mind if I do.” He approaches the table, and you walk into your sandals and quirk your eyebrow.

“Hi…Steve,” you greet reluctantly since this is truly a surprise visit. “What’s up?”

Said man folds his arms over his chest and shrugs. “Oh, nothing…just came to visit.” He shoots you a smile. “You.”

You point at Dustin making himself a sandwich, and then glance back at Steve with a confused gaze. “Oh, with your brother?” You ask.

Steve quickly shakes his head. “What? No, he’s not my brother. He’s…my friend.”

Oh. He’s friends with children…how weird.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Hey, don’t worry, feel yourselves at home, I’m stepping out,” your dad interjects.

Your gaze snaps to him and you quickly interrogate him. “What? Really? Where are you going?”

Your dad points back. “Work errands, I’ll see you later okay?” He pulls the dry towel from the chair, and then walks over to you to press a kiss on your forehead as he wraps the towel around your shoulders. “Take your walkie if you go out, I tuned it into the right channel. It’s on your desk.”

You slowly take the towel as you narrow your gaze. “Why?” You ask.

“Just in case,” he says and lets you go to collect all the things you used for lunch once Dustin is done using them. When he’s inside you finally address your surprise visit.

“So what’s up? Why didn’t you call?”

Steve and the boy share a quick glance, the boy shares a nod before Steve faces you and responds. “We need your help. I remember that you told me about your dads armory last night, so I came with the intention to borrow a gun or two.”

What?

You let out a nervous laugh. “Be serious.”

“I am,” Steve deadpans and drops his arms to his sides to press his hands on his hips. “We need to borrow guns.”

This isn’t helping cure your confusion whatsoever. “What for?” You demand to know.

“Can we or can we not?” Dustin blurts.

You shoot him a perplexed glare and then meet Steve’s gaze and step towards him to answer. “No. No! You can’t just borrow my dads guns. First of all you won’t tell me what for. Second of all, if something happens it’s on him. So no, I'm sorry but no.”

Steve gasps and shares a worried glance with Dustin. They share silence so you scoff in annoyance and decide to sit down on the chair and wait for their shitty excuse.

“We—” Dustin stammers.

“Shh,” you cut him off.

“Wh—”

“I don’t know you. Steve,” you slowly wave your finger around to point at him. “You tell me what’s going on. Why you came over here demanding weapons?” You cross your leg over the other and narrow your gaze.

Steve points his hand at Dustin with his mouth agape and then blinks repeatedly before he attempts to answer. “We’re going monster hunting. Dustin…found some slug thing that keeps molting, and ate his cat...”

What the hell?

“…he escaped from his shed, and we’re after it. So we need weapons to kill it.”

“Slug thing?” You quote between disbelief and fear since a part of you believes him after all you’ve heard from your dad.

“Yes!” Dustin exclaims. “It’s a monster from a different dimension called the Upside Down. It’s dangerous, we need guns or else it will start making people disappear. Again.”

The anomalies…is this all connected?

The unexplained deaths?

“These monsters,” you say in a serious tone. “Do they come from Hawkins lab by any chance?”

Both guys share a quick worried look before Steve begins to sputter.

“Yes or no?” You demand.

Steve lowers his head and scratches the back of his head. “Yes,” he mutters. “Well not anymore, but it all started there. It’s a long story we can maybe share later?”

You hum and nod slowly before you respond to their previous request without thinking. “Fine, you can get your guns, but only if I go with you and use them.”

Steve rolls his head up and meets your gaze with sass. “We can use a gun.”

You shrug. “Take it or leave it.”

Steve and Dustin share another speechless look before Steve responds. “Fine,” he grumbles. “But at your own risk. If you get hurt it’s not on me, tell your dad that.”

You begin to grin. “I will.”

This is for him after all, to help him with his mission.

“Let’s go get those guns then,” you encourage both guys.

——

*LATER*

“So help me understand, you believe it all,” the little boy keeps repeating for the third time since you left the house. “The interdimensional called The Upside Down, the Demogorgans? The girl who has telekinesis? All the batshit crazy things?”

You groan and fix your shotgun strap around your shoulder. “Look, Justin—”

“Dustin,” he corrects you.

“Yeah,” you brush him off. “It’s just like I said the last time, I’m superstitious. Besides, people here say that demons come out to play here, why wouldn’t I believe it?”

“Well, because people are oblivious to it all.”

You hum in comprehension and glance down at the meat trail that Dustin made Steve and you leave behind.

“Besides,” Steve adds. “Her dad was an old CIA agent, he hunted aliens.”

“No he didn’t,” both Dustin and you counter at the same time.

“The CIA doesnt do that,” Dustin corrects him. “Sure they can, but that’s not its main focus.”

Steve lifts his hands up in the air and mumbles. “Sorry, jeez.”

“Anyway,” you change the subject and lazily let a piece of meat go. “Are we almost there? My legs are getting tired. And the sun will be going down soon. By the way, why am I the one dropping the meat?”

“Because you wanted to risk your life and tag along,” Dustin sassily rebuttals.

You scrunch your nose in annoyance. “Yeah because I don’t trust you,” you point to Steve on your left side. “With my dads guns.”

Steve blinks in confusion. “I’m really responsible. I don’t know where this judgment is coming from. I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” you agree. “But it doesn’t mean I get to trust you with a shotgun that can kill someone. And if you lose it…my dad might just get me in trouble.”

He doesn’t really do that. He’s never even grounded you before either.

“Besides, it has serious kickback if you don’t know how to use it,” you add.

Steve looks at you offended. “But I can. I just had to have you remind me.”

“Mh-mm,” you hum. “Well I still don’t trust you with the guns, so I’ll use the gun. You use the cool nail bat.”

Steve huffs, letting silence build between the three of you again. Not like you minded because you can think about your dad and wonder what he was up to that he didn’t care to share. He just left.

He does seem close to putting all the pieces together, he’s just missing a few pieces. And also seems like you’re collecting those missing, but you can’t just tell him anything through the walkie, not yet anyway. You need more information, or if you see the Russian girl who Dustin calls Eleven, then you’ll call him. Until then you’ll stay quiet.

“All right,” Steve interjects. “So let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who…who you just met?”

You smile softly at the thought of this young boy committing to such a dangerous gesture all for a girl.

“All right,” Dustin rebuttals. “That’s grossly oversimplifying things.”

“I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?” Steve asks.

“An interdimensional slug?” Dustin says. “Because its awesome.” He says as if it isn’t obvious.

“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t,” Steve argues. “I…I just…I don’t know. I just feel like you’re trying way too hard.”

You furrow your eyebrows and slowly side eye Steve. “I think it’s quite cute,” you defend Dustin. “I mean dangerous, but It’s the thought that counts.”

“So you’re saying that you’d want a guy to bring you a dangerous slug monster because he thought it looked cool?” Steve questions you.

“Well,” you sigh and tilt your head to the side. “When you put it that way no, but that’s just me. It’d would be kinda weird and gross,” you scrunch your nose. “But! Everyone else is different, who knows this girl could like it.”

“But she didn’t,” Steve blurts.

You shrug. “Still,” you try to help Dustin. “Everyone has different tastes in stuff, Steve.”

“And she was one who did not like the slug. I’m just trying to help him out.”

“Well,” Dustin interjects between your conversation. “Not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?”

“It’s not about the hair man,” Steve argues. “The key with girls is just…just acting like you don’t care.”

You slowly furrow your eyebrows at the sound of the horrendous comment and slowly side eye Steve again.

“Even if you do?” Dustin asks probably soaking up all this useless advice.

“Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts,” Steve agrees, making you shake your head. Steve notices and throws a piece of meat at you. “Butt out.”

“Well,” you chuckle and walk ahead to hop on the metal railings at the side. “I'm a girl. I could help.”

“How? You haven’t even had a boyfriend yet!”

“Hey!” You exclaim over your shoulder. “That was told in confidence. And I’m getting there.” You roll your ahead again and continue to throw meat pieces down.

“Anyway, back to me,” Dustin interjects. “Then what?”

“You just wait until, uh…until you feel it.”

Your curiosity piques this time, but you don’t look back.

“Feel what?” Dustin asks.

“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know?” Steve explains. “You can’t see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh…electricity, you know?”

Hm, you’ve felt that before with…well him, when you were dancing, when you were talking on your way back to the car…

“Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Steve corrects him while you stifle your laugh. “Like a…like a sexual electricity.”

“Oh.”

“You feel that and then you make your move.”

Too bad you can’t make your move with him.

“So that’s when you kiss her?” Dustin asks very innocently.

“No, whoa, whoa,” Steve quickly cuts in. “Slow down, Romeo.”

“Sorry.”

“Sure,” Steve continues. “Some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a…I don’t know, like a lion.”

You snort.

“But others you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a…like a ninja.”

Hm, okay that one was better. Lion? Pft. Everyone knows a tiger is more aggressive.

“What type is Nancy?” Dustin asks, this time you just peer back.

“Nancy’s different. She’s different than the other girls.”

You smile down at the ground, and feel the need to want someone to talk about you like that when you’re not around.

“Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess,” Dustin says.

“Yeah. Yeah, she is.”

“But,” Dustin adds, “this girls special, too, you know. It’s just, like, something about her.”

You look ahead and grin at his innocent way of describing what he feels.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve cuts in. “Hey, hey, hey.”

“What?”

You hear their feet stop agaisnt the gravel so you just turn and slowly continue to walk back and watch them.

“You’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?” Steve presses him seriously.

Dustin hesitates before he shakes his head. “Uh, no. No.”

Aw so cute.

“Okay, good,” Steve mutters and continues walking. “Don’t.”

“I won’t.”

“She’s only gonna break your heart, and you’re too young for that shit,” Steve adds with his gaze down.

You sigh at his comment and once again begin to wonder what happened between him and Nancy that night at the party.

“Well,” you finally pitch in as they both stay quiet. “My dad said that it’s okay to get your broken once. It builds character, he says. And my grandma got her heartbroken once and never married again. Instead she became pretty cool at her old age, she lived longer and looked 50 at 60, so.” You shrug. “Won’t be the end of the world.”

“That’s pretty sad,” Steve counters and meets your gaze.

You shrug. “I wouldn’t say so, I got more attention and am trauma free.” You shoot him a smile.

Steve rests one hand on his hips and sassily points his finger with the other one. “Except you’re barely getting a social life at the ripe age of 17. I would call that trauma.”

You shrug. “Like I care. I’m rich, and have traveled the world. Have you?”

Steve parts his lips, but just huffs, making you smirk and turn around to continue facing ahead. The silence lingers but only for a little.

“Fabergé,” Steve breaks the silence.

“What?” You probe.

“It’s Farbergé Organics,” Steve continues. “Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hairs damp…it’s not wet, okay? When it’s damp…”

“Damp,” Dustin echoes.

“You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”

You snort and can’t help but begin to giggle.

“Farrah Fawcett spray?” Dustin teases.

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. “Farrah Fawcett.”

They stop again so you stop this time and wait with your back turned.

“You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass,” Steve threatens Dustin. “You’re dead, Henderson. Do you understand?”

Said boy agrees, making Steve sigh and continue walking.

“My grandma used to use Farrah Fawcett spray.” You look back with a teasing smile.

Steve albeit remains nonchalant. “You did say your grandma was cool, so by default I am too.”

You quirk a brow and scoff. “Sure.”

“Farrah Fawcett, really?” Dustin query’s.

“I mean she’s hot.”

“Yeah,” Dustin agrees.

You roll your eyes and put an arm out to focus on walking on the railing. Albeit then your mind goes to your dad so you pull out the walkie as if he was contacting you. You just need to make sure it’s on the right channel and it has batteries.

When you put away again the silence hanging over the group lingers until you finally reach your destination, a used junkyard. Wow.

“Well,” you grumble in disgust as you place your hands on your hips. “Isn’t this a piece of junk.” You huff. “Pun completely intended.”

Steve sighs. “Ignore her. This will do.”

You scrunch your nose.

“This will do just fine,” he adds and walks ahead whilst he takes his sunglasses off. “Good call, dude.”

You drag your feet after Steve. “I hope you guys are up to date on your tetanus shots. One cut here and it’s lights out.”

“You should eat your snacks your dad packed,” Steve throws back at you as he dumps the leftover meat in the middle of the yard. “You’re getting cranky.”

You feign a laugh. “My dad didn’t pack shit. I packed it, I didn’t know how long this monster hunt was gonna take, but just tell me you don’t want snacks and I won’t share with you. Justin and I will have more to eat ” You dump the meat out on the same pile and shoot him a pointed look.

“Dustin, it’s Dustin!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” you mumble.

“I said medium-well!” Another voice startles you.

You look back and see a ginger girl, and a young boy waving.

Dustin and Steve did say a friend of Dustin’s was going to join, you actually didn’t expect it though.

“Who’s that?” Steve points out the girl most likely since Dustin mentioned his friend was a boy.

Alas rather than having Steve’s question answered, Dustin stays quiet, making you glance at him and notice that he looks slightly upset. Whatever for?

“How many kids are you friends with?” You ask Steve as you lean towards him.

Steve leans towards you as the kids approach. “They’re not my friends.” He says.

“Hm,” you hum.

“Who’s this?” The boy points to you as he comes to a stop.

“Y/N,” you introduce yourself with a stiff wave. “A friend of Steve’s.”

The boy shoots Dustin a quizzical look, so the boy quickly explains. “She had guns, so we need her. Steve vouches for her.”

Vouches?

“…So we can trust her. She also knows.” Dustin glances at you. “Y/N, this my friend I mentioned earlier Lucas. L-U-C-A-S, Lucas,” he spells out.

You playfully roll your eyes as you fold your hands over your chest. “I got it man. And this is…” you point to the girl…wait is this eleven? He mentioned she was gone, but is it?

“This is Max…”

No it isn’t.

“Sup,” you greet them both and awkwardly turn away to try and…just look busy. Steve follows you soon after that.

“Don’t you think if this monster is hungry and a predator that it would prefer blood?” You wander out loud. “It must have a drive.” You look back and see Steve pick up some dingy scrap metal.

“I mean Nancy said that blood attracted the Demogorgon last year, but this is different, I mean different instincts, right?” Steve shares.

You shrug and don’t ask why but you also pick up a piece of metal. “Sure. Different animals run by different instincts, but in order to catch prey, they use smell, blood is strong. It could attract what Dustin saw a lot faster.”

Steve sighs. “Sure, but let's take advantage that it isn’t here now to shield this bus.”

You nod and help him and the children fortify the bus to hide while you wait, and hide when that thing comes. And since there’s many helping hands it’s done quickly. And thankfully the monster doesn’t come while you’re building.

Soon albeit the sun sets and the night sky reigns over, bringing a tense wait that is accompanied by silence that you break when you can’t help your thoughts anymore. “So help me understand, how dangerous? Like based on the aliens from the movie Aliens, and well a bear.”

Dustin turns sharply on his heels and answers right away. “Aliens.”

You draw in a breath and nod. “That’s,” you breathe out. “Great.” You slide the gun off your shoulder and drag your body down the bus wall to sit and wait. “So Max, you said you’re new, where do you come from?”

Said girl shifts in her seat before she answers. “California. What about you?”

“London,” you share and turn your head to glance at her. “I didn’t live there, my dad had a job there that took some time, but that’s the last place I was, so.”

Her eyes go wide. “Really? How is it? Is it true that it's never sunny?”

You scoff softly. “It’s not true. You see the sun. Not as much as in California though.” You smile at her. “Would you surf?”

Max shrugs. “Sometimes. I’m more into skating.”

You huff. “Cool. I tried, not my things. I can’t find my balance.”

Max leans over and points to your gun. “Can I shoot that thing?”

You furrow your eyebrows. “No? Do you know how?”

She shakes her head. “I can try,” she tries to assure you. “How hard is it?”

You scoff lightheartedly. “Not hard, but a shotgun is more trickier….come. I can show you while we wait.” You pick up the shotgun and rest it on your lap.

“Really?” Max probes with the sound of excitment.

You take the bullets out and nod. “Yeah, I’ll teach you the way my dad taught me.” You glance up at the younger boys paying close attention. “You boys can come try too. I mean considering we’re monster hunting in a hellscape, it’s important.” You chuckle softly. “Steve, can you give me a quarter from my pack, it’s in the small pocket in the front.”

“Sure,” he sighs and does what you say, while you stand up and walk to where Max is standing at the front. “Okay, first.” You say as you shove the bullets in your pocket. “Grip…here,” you hand her the gun. “Put your trigger hand on the side of the stock wrist, so here,” you point.

Max lifts the gun and does what you say carefully.

“Next,” you continue, “your grip, relax your trigger finger ‘kay? And wrap your remaining fingers around the gun, the way you feel comfortable.” You lower your head and watch her attempt to do it.

“Like this?” She asks.

“Here,” Steve cuts in.

You put your hand out and he throws the quarter into your palm. “Thanks,” you mutter and focus back on Max. “Yeah, like that. Now,” you add, “and with your other hand grab here.” You take her other hand and place it under the fore-end. “Grab it firmly, not too tight or too loose. Firm, got it?” You look up at both boys and notice they’re slowly huddling around you to watch. “Got it?”

Lucas nods and Dustin agrees quietly, letting you move on with a tiny smile.

“Don’t stretch your arm or scrunch. Just…” you trail off and fix her arm. “Like this. This grip will feel natural, so don’t stress too much. The difficult part is the recoil, you hold it wrong, you can knock yourself out, pop out your shoulder, shoot someone else, different variations, but,” you make it clear. “That’s why I'm teaching ya,” you chuckle and catch Steve’s attentive gaze on you.

What does it mean? His eyes are on you, soft it seems, he’s smiling just slightly…so he’s paying attention to your teachings…or you?

You’re being delusional.

“Uh,” you clear your throat and look back at Max to continue instructing. “Lift the stock to your cheek, let it touch the ridge below your cheekbone.”

Max adjusts the gun the way you said, but Dustin cuts in, “that’s not the ridge. Right here,” he leans forward to help her, but Max leans away from his touch.

“Yeah, yeah I got it,” she clarifies.

Dustin pulls back with his hands raised. “Sorry.”

You roll your eyes and continue. “Keep your eyes in line with the barrel, raise your shoulders a bit—good. Like that,” you compliment her. “Now wedge the butt of the gun in your shoulder pocket, right between the shoulder and the pectoral muscles…” you trail off and shift the end of the gun the right away. “Here. You’ll barely feel the recoil that way. Keep your head naturally erect, point the tip of your feet ahead, and put your weight on the balls of your feet.” You look down and fix her stance with your own foot. “Great!

“Now,” you continue excitedly, “this is where the coin comes into play.” You then move away and pass Dustin to lay the quarter on the barrel of the gun. “Look this isn’t a competition, okay? Don’t stress yourselves out if the coin falls, I’ll be shooting today, this is practice.” You tell them sweetly as you step back. “Now the point of this trick is trigger control, if the coin falls it means you’re tilting, dipping, just moving in general. Your goal is to have a steady aim. When that happens the coin won’t fall. Now. Shoot.”

Max exhales deeply and taps the trigger. She then closes one eye before hitting the trigger. And when she does the coin falls, making the boys snicker and Max to groan.

You grin at her. “Hey, its just practice. It happens. It took me a while.” You shift your stance and point your chin at Lucas. “You go next Lucas.”

Said boy smiles with enthusiasm and takes the gun from Max. You have to fix his grip, but once he has it, Max places the coin on the barrel of the gun.

“Go,” you instruct.

This time though before he can shoot the coin falls.

“Come on man,” Lucas complains, and lets Dustin move in.

Dustin manages to get the grip right, so Lucas quickly places the coin down. As soon as Dustin shoots though the coin tilts and falls.

“Bummer,” Lucas teases his friend.

Dustin shoots him a pointed glare. “You didn’t get to shoot so shut up.”

You take the gun from Dustin and look to Steve. “You want to give it a try?” You ask him. “Show me those skill you were showing off?”

Steve meets your gaze and then glances at the gun in your hand and shakes his head. “No, you guys do it. Someone has to keep watch.”

You don’t insist. “Okay, then two more tries for each of you. We do have shit to do. Max, again.”

As the kids go again Max fails her second time, Lucas does manage to keep the coin on this time, but when he shoots it falls, and Dustin fails before he can shoot. The third time, Dustin is eager so he does his turn back to back, but fails when he shoots. Max snatches the gun and again loses the same way, Lucas however, on his third attempt manages to keep the coin on the gun.

“Hey, great job kid,” you compliment the grinning boy. “That was good. If I get mauled to death you can take over.”

“Beginners luck,” Dustin complains and walks away.

Max scoffs. “Cool, but I will be better.”

Lucas shrugs and muses. “It’s all my wrist rocket training. So don’t worry you can all stand behind me when shit goes down.”

Max shakes her head, but you catch a small smile as she shoves past him to retake her seat.

“Thanks,” Lucas now directs at you as he hands you back your gun. “That was cool. I guess Steve wasn’t wrong about bringing you here.”

The thought of siblings always kind of pissed you off, you enjoyed your dads attention all to yourself. You enjoyed your grandma's attention; even if doing all the chores by yourself was ass you never wanted help from someone like a brother or sister. But being stuck here with these kids…well it’s not so bad. You like sharing your wisdom.

You smile softly and mutter back. “Thanks. And this goes for all of you, if you want more practice you can come over…I mean it’s kinda weird, but life-saving? Plus you guys can annoy my dad too. He’s good with guns.”

Lucas nods slowly. “Yeah, that’s cool.”

“Yeah, I mean now the Eleven is gone, and these things are coming back, we need the skills,” Dustin interjects. “Lucas' wrist rocket won’t save shit.”

Lucas turns to shoot Dustin an offended look.

Dustin just shrugs, so Lucas moves on and just climbs up to watch from the top. Which, he’s a kid, but he wants to keep watch, so you all let him, leaving Dustin, Max, Steve and you to wait inside.

“You have siblings?” Steve asks as you sit back down beside him.

You begin to put the bullets back in the gun, and shake your head. “Nah. My parents separated young. My mom, well you know her…she has no time for kids. And my dad never married again, he had girlfriends but they never had kids.” You look over at him. “You?”

Steve shakes his head too. “No, my parents just never tried again. I don’t mind though, I mean…” he sighs. “One forgotten kid is enough.”

You sigh and gently nudge him. “You’re not forgotten, you’re just experiencing life without them. Creating stories,” you try to assure him.

“Yeah, sure.”

There isn’t much you can say, you can’t relate to him, you just try to make him feel better. That’s what friends do.

“So you really fought one of these things before?” You hear Max direct at Steve.

You look at him and catch him nod as he fidgets with his lighter, leading Max to her next question.

“And you’re, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Shit,” Dustin cuts in bluntly. “Don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear. Why are you even here if you don’t believe us?”

Oh jeez. Harsh. Mean. Dick.

“Just go home.”

Max gets off her seat and counters. “Geesh. Someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?” She climbs up the ladders in the middle of the bus and joins Lucas on the roof, leaving you to awkwardly focus back at your shotgun.

“That’s good,” Steve comments. “Just show her you don’t care.”

“I don’t,” Dustin spats back. “Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

You glance over at said man and shake your head, he just shrugs and hits you back with a sassy comment. “We all like different things.”

You sigh and cock the gun to have it ready. “So you want to be treated like trash?” You comment on his logic.

Steve gets cocky and shrugs. “Ignore me and I’ll be all over you.”

You snicker. “You’ll swoon?” You tease.

“Yeah sure.”

You smile. “Is that how Nancy won you over?” You ask.

Steve blinks and his smile flickers away, but he maintains it and shakes his head. “I won her over with my charms. I was hard to resist.”

You snort. “Well, it seems I’m going to need some advice,” you tell him. “‘Cause I want to impress this guy. And well I don’t know shit.”

Steve leans close to you and throws his arm around your shoulders. “I got you. Just don’t dance like the other night and you’ll be okay.”

You giggle. “The music spoke to me,” you joke. “But you’re not such a great dancer yourself.”

Steve scoffs and playfully pushes you to the side. He’s about to comment something but then a loud growl in the distance cuts him off and has you both go stiff and fearful.

However, he then quickly turns and looks out the window, Dustin joins his side, and you sit there with your mouth agape, your eyes wide and full of disbelief and horror.

The possibility of monsters was never something you laughed at thanks to what your dad is after, thanks to what you know of Hawkins Lab, but well it didn't set, you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes or heard it until now.

“What do you see?” You ask Steve quietly in case the monster had some kind of super hearing.

“Nothing,” Steve says.

Oh fuck. That’s worse than actually seeing something. Fuck. Fuck!

“Lucas, what’s going on?!” Dustin yells out.

You pick up your shotgun and slowly turn to peek over Steve’s shoulder.

“Hold on!” Lucas shouts back.

There’s nothing but fog and that pile of meat you all left as bait. There’s rusted junk and woods. Fuck. Fuck!

Okay don’t freak out. That’s the first weakness in shit like this. Right? So just remain calm. Calm.

“I’ve got eyes!” Ten o’clock!”

Fuck!

“Ten o’clock!”

You slowly drag your eyes towards the direction, but you don’t catch anything right away. It’s not until you squint your eyes that you catch a dark figure through the thick fog; it looks like some black skinny coyote.

“What’s he doing?” Dustin asks.

“I don’t know,” Steve answers.

The sound of soft chitter travels inside the bus, making the beat of your already racing heart pound faster.

“He’s not taking the bait,” Steve comments as you watch the monster just stand there. “Why is not taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry?” you mutter shakily.

“Maybe he’s sick of cow,” Steve says before he pushes himself back to stand to his given height. You and Dustin watch him, and you notice that he wasn’t up to anything good.

“What?” You murmur.

Steve turns and walks to the doors, making you follow after him. “Hey, hey, what are you doing? Steve?”

Said man turns and shows off his lighter. ���Just get ready.” He then throws the lighter, and Dustin catches it since you’re still standing there confused.

“You can’t just get out and risk your life like that,” you sneer. “It’s stupid.”

Steve opens the doors and only responds when he’s stepped out. “Only if I get caught.” He looks back at you and points his chin at the handle. “Close it. Be ready for when I come back.”

You lick your lips nervously and nod since you can’t argue with him anymore. When you close the doors behind him you walk to the last step and watch him stalk towards the monster.

When it doesn’t get closer though, Steve then whistles and tries to lure it close. “Come on, buddy.” He then continues to whistle as he swings his bat low.

Meanwhile, inside someone steps down, you don’t know who until you hear Max question Steve’s tactics. “What’s he doing?”

“Expanding the menu,” Dustin answers as you keep your eyes trained on Steve as he gets closer to the pile of meat.

“He’s insane,” Max comments.

You nod in agreement, but Dustin applauds Steve’s actions. “He’s awesome.”

This time as the monster gets close to Steve, you finally manage to get a good glimpse; you see that besides walking on all fours, it’s not like a coyote at all. The monster doesn’t seem to have eyes which makes it even more terrifying, and the head looks like….like a closed flower. It looks slimy too, especially as the moonlight reflects on it.

It’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before, not like any monster from any movie. This is real and horrifying.

Fuck, why did you come?

“Steve! Watch out!” Lucas warns.

You look over at the hatch and then back out the window, but only see the one.

“Three o’clock! Three o’clock!”

There’s more?!

Footsteps rush over and before you can look Dustin barges in front of you and opens the doors. “Steve!” He yells out. “Abort! Abort!”

The monster cuts in with a growl as Steve has his back turned. When Steve gives it attention, the monster charges at him and opens his head like a flower; only this isn’t beautiful, its mouth is a weapon full of darkness.

More growls throughout the junkyard fill the air before you actually see them charge at him from all directions, closing his path to the bus bit by bit, and making you just as stupid as Steve as a thought comes to mind.

You don’t even double think it, you pull a switchblade out of your coat pocket and hop off the bus to run towards the other side where Steve wasn't.

“Y/N! Hey! Wait! What are you doing?!” Dustin bellows.

You glance over at Steve and see him swing his bat covered in nails at one of the monsters. Not like it helped, more huddle around him and get closer by the second. So you do the only thing you can think of and cut your palm with the blade.

It stings like hell, you grimace at the burning pain, but the moment blood pours out, and the first drop hits the ground, all the monsters stop and snap their heads back at you.

So blood does call their attention a lot better. Good to know.

“Come on!” You taunt them. “Come on!”

Without waiting another second all the monsters charge at you now, letting you snap your eyes to Steve. “Go!” You yell at him. “Get inside go! I’ll use the back ladders!”

Steve hesitates, he meets your gaze with his eyes wide, with his lips parted and his chest heaving. He looks almost dumbfounded or in awe, so he just stands there looking at you.

“Steve!” You break him from his stupor.

Said man blinks repeatedly, and then does what you say and runs back inside, letting you turn and run to the ladders.

The monsters weren’t close at first, but they’re fast. One manages to break from its group and gets closer to you, causing you to quickly strap your shotgun over your shoulders and rush up the stairs.

You don’t look back, you keep your eyes ahead and pick up your speed. When you reach the top, Steve is sticking his head out of the hatch and hurrying you over. “Come on! Come on!”

You stand on the top, but when you take your first step your shoe slips because of the moisture from the fog that had lightly layered the ground. “Uh, fuck!” You say between pants after you fall on your knees.

“Hurry!” Steve bellows.

You don’t bother standing back up, it would be stupid, you’d only slip again. So instead you crawl over as fast as you can, hearing the monsters now crowd around the bus trying to figure a way in and up.

“I’m almost there!” You cry out with panic. “Don’t leave me!”

Steve shakes his head and stretches his hand out. “I won’t! Just come on!”

When you reach the makeshift post the kids built you stand up and jump over it. The moment you get close to Steve, he climbs down, letting you follow him inside the bus. It isn’t the best place, worst case scenario you’re all perfectly boxed in ready to get eaten, best case scenario the monsters are stupid and can’t find a way in. However, based on the fact that they seem to be throwing their bodies against the bus, they’ll figure a way in.

“Fuck! Fuck!” You panic as your eyes dart around the bus. “I’m going to call my dad!” You break away from the stairs to dig through your backpack on the seat.

Luckily the walkie isn’t deep in your backpack you find it right away. But as you do one the monsters seems to have crashed through the rusted metal. You quickly look over as you turn on the walkie, but the seat covers the view so you only see Steve beating It, and hear the monster screeching.

“Dad! Pa!” You cry through the walkie. “I need your help! I’m at a junkyard with my friend…friends! And we’re getting attacked by monsters from Hawkins Lab! Please come!” You let go of the button and wait.

But there’s only static, so you go again. “Dad?! Dad?!”

Another bang hits the side across from you, causing you to jump and look over to see the monster was tearing apart the scrap metal.

“Dad!” You keep calling as you begin to move away from the windows.

“…we’re at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!” Dustin yells at his own walkie.

“Dad—” You then cut yourself off as the banging stops, and one loud clatter hits the back door. A banging then hits the top of the bus…

Fuck, they’re climbing?!

More banging hits the ceiling, and then over the open hatch stands a monster.

Max screams, and the monster opens its mouth again, letting you see all the razor sharp teeth it has in every inch of its flesh. The sight makes you freeze, but only for a little because you then remember you have your gun.

“Out of the way!” Steve yells as he cuts through the kids to try and hit the monster, however you drop the walkie and cut him off to lift the gun.

The monster growls at you, opening its mouth wide and spreading its disgusting smell, so you respond by hitting the trigger.

The bullet shoots out and goes into its open mouth, piercing through the flesh. And since the monster was close, the power of the bullet impact throws it back.

It’s not over yet though, because then another monster begins to run at the hatch. Just as it shows itself though it turns it’s head away and looks out for a moment. It then growls out as if responding to something before it jumps off the bus. The others that were with it seem to follow it since growls echo in the distance.

“Oh fuck,” you gasp and lower the gun. “Fuck.” You stumble back and plop on the seat to catch your breath.

Steve however, walks to the door and opens it. The kids follow him, so as to not stay alone, you shove your walkie back in your pack, and then throw it over your shoulder to walk out with them

“What happened?” Lucas asks what you’re all thinking.

“I don’t know,” you mumble and push through them to walk out.

“Y/N scared ‘em off?” Dustin asks.

“No,” Steve answers quickly. “No way.” Steve turns to face the kids and you. “They’re going somewhere.”

Fuck.

“And,” you interject between heavy breaths. “We’re going after them?” You ask.

Steve meets your gaze and nods. “Yeah we have to. I’d tell you to go home, but…” he swallows thickly. “We need you.”

You should go home regardless, find your dad who doesn’t answer your calls for help, but you’re stupid. They need you, so you’re continuing on.

.

.

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Tagged- @middle-of-the-earth @x-theolivia @redskull199987 @lilyhw1

[aceofwhump]

ooo just saw your top 5 tropes and do you have any good trapped under rubble recs?

I SURE DO!!!!

Tv Episodes:

Stargate SG-1 2x05

Hawaii Five-0 4x19

Arrow 7x20

Torchwood 2x12

Teen Wolf 3x12

Krypton 2x09

Hudson and Rex 2x14

Stargate Atlantis 5x01

Lost 1x07

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Lost in Space 2x05

BBC Casualty 34x01

Transplant 1x01

Castle 6x11

Agents of Shield 5x22

see this whumptober set for several examples

Fanfics:

My OCs:

Lucifer - Before I Go by Kay_kat: Chloe finally knows— finally believes the one thing that he’s been telling her since the beginning. That he is the Devil. By some miracle they’d worked past it and picked up where they’d left off, solving crimes together and maintaining a loosely defined and somewhat confusing personal relationship. He’d told her a lot of things since she found out, only... there is still one thing that he hasn’t told her that weighs on him every time he sees her beautiful face. It threatens to slip from his lips every time she rolls her eyes at one of his puns. The feelings that had bloomed that night on the balcony. So, when he ends up trapped under a building, with Chloe by his side as he struggles to hold on, will the feelings he’s been keeping inside finally spill free? He’s not sure he can go without telling her.

Hawaii Five-0 - Baby, Stay With Me by Horndog333: Steve and Danny are trapped inside when an explosion destroys and levels a parking structure. Danny is seriously injured by the falling cement and debris. Seeing no way out, Steve confesses something that will change both of their lives forever.

Leverage - but don't you shake alone by tragicallynerdy: Trapped in a collapsed building, an injured Eliot and panicking Hardison do what they can to keep each other alive, safe, and whole.

911 - Thicker Than Blood by altschmerzes: Bobby and Buck are in a parking garage when part of the structure collapses, trapping them both inside. The collapse itself isn't too bad. The problem is that Bobby can't find Buck, and is too concussed to remember that Buck is no longer on the blood thinners that could make even a minor injury lethal. Bobby struggles to communicate to the incident commander outside, a stranger, as well as to Athena, exactly why it's so important that he remain inside the collapse. But Buck's never left him behind, even when ordered to. He's not about to betray that in return.

Murdoch Mysteries - S-O-S by Horatio13: He was pinned in a pretty tight pocket, but not tight enough that it was impossible to breathe. Uncomfortably difficult, yes, but definitely possible. His ears were ringing. Something sharp was stabbing in his thigh. He couldn’t feel his fingers on his right hand, but he couldn’t see enough of them to figure out what the problem was. He could feel something wet and sticky starting to pool underneath his legs and stomach. Well, thought George numbly. This is fun.

Loki - you must know you are beloved; by unintentionallyangsty: When Loki risks his own life to save Thor's, he ends up trapped aboard the Statesman in a room quickly draining of oxygen. Thor is, understandably, less than thrilled at this development.

911 - the urgency of now by wayfarer: Buck is pretty sure the universe is actively trying to murder him at this point. There’s just no other explanation. In the last two years he has been blown up and subsequently crushed by a fire truck, suffered from a pulmonary embolism, nearly drowned in a tsunami and now this. How many times can he almost die before it stops being an accident and starts being some kind of cosmic hit put out on his life? Or, a building collapses on Buck and Eddie. Confessions ensue.

Tony Stark - To Prove a Hero is Allowed to Have Some of His Own by Era_Penn: Or, five(ish) times Tony thought a teammate would leave him behind, and one time he knew they wouldn't. (Chapter 7)

The Man From Uncle - One Day in Morocco by el_spirito : A fulfillment of the following prompt: One where they're in a building that collapses for nefarious reasons and Napoleon is injured and Illya, it turns out, is severely claustrophobic, so Napoleon has to simultaneously try and keep the giant Russian calm and not die. Featuring trapped boys, determined Gaby, and Waverly being great.

[strongwomenunited]

Avatrice Fanfiction

1.) Two Month Bucket list - The idea came from someone on Twitter, in which this would be any and all things Ava would experience for the first time

2.) Possessed Beatrice - Post Season 2, this idea came from someoen on Tumblr in which Beatrice leaves the OCS and when Ava returns, the first time she sees Beatrice, she's been possessed by a wraith demon

3.) Sequel to 'Death Bringing out the Truth' - After I posted this one, I had an idea to continue from it and rework the rest of season 2 on the premise that they are together after 2x05.

4.) Beatrice gets Injured - Something from the other side injures Beatrice not long after Ava went through the portal. Unbeknownst to both, Ava had a hand in injuring Beatrice. It's learned when Ava comes back from the other side from unusual means.

I've worked on all of them, I just don't know which to continue to completion first... Keep in mind, they will all be written, it's just a matter of which to start with. Any opinions, would be greatly appreciated.

[bccksmarts]

Literate, Independent, Selective roleplay blog for Hermione Granger.

Book & Movie compliant for the most part as well as some headcanons mixed in, scripted onto parchment by Pom, 26, she / her, British ( GMT Timezone ).

⤷ This blog uses the BETA EDITOR only.

OC, Crossover & Multimuse friendly!

VERY MUCH ANTI-JKR.

AFFILIATED WITH: ⤷ peachiihearts • slytherintragedy • heartscfvalor // fidelixcorde • misfittcd • malfaith • weasleyandweasley • acourtofmuses • monmuses • thechosengryffindor • historiavn ( all of Callie's blogs ) • curiosityshop // failmilias // vingtiemes // lifeseffort // timechange • fangsforhire // harrylovesvoldy // littlenosferatu • heartheaded •

Navigation:

• Rules • About ( + Verses, Connections / Mains / Exclusives, Art, etc. ) • Meme / Prompts Tag ( as a whole ) • Permanent Interactions Call • Tags

• Hermione Inspired Pinterest

• Partner's Turn ( Thread Tracker )

Also On:

@fluorescentmortem ➝ Molly Hooper ( BBC's Sherlock ) RP Blog ⤷ HIGH ACTIVITY ➝ also has a HP verse! @pompedia ➝ Massive Multi Muse Blog ⤷ MEDIUM ACTIVITY

MEMES I'D LOVE ASKS FOR:

But not necessary!!

EMOTIONALLY CHARGED SENTENCES STARTERS

beauty and the beast sentence starters

&. 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫

Can I Have This Dance?

From Parent to Teen Prompts

HSM3 Song Lyrics Meme Pt. 1

"What, Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?"

CHARLIE PUTH :: CHARLIE PROMPTS

Pregnancy Prompts ( Pt. 1 )

"Shit."

DRAMATIC & PROTECTIVE RELATIONSHIP PROMPTS

PROMPTS FOR LAVISH BALLS, PARTIES, AND SECRETS

𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

SANDITON 2x05 SENTENCE STARTERS

‘A BEE IN YOUR BONNET’ SENTENCE STARTERS

𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐃

"I’m in love with you."

Pigeons Mega Pregnancy Meme

[hazbinbossbrainrot]

M💍xxie Kn💍lastname

VO: Richard Horvitz

(Adult)

(Young):

Bittersweet quote:

“We aren't a family, sir! You are the boss, we are the employees."

— Moxxie, disagreeing with Blitz’s statement about their company being a family

Basics:

Sexuality: Bisexual (confirmed)

Species: Demon (Imp)

Sex: Male

Rings:

• Wrath (via Mrs Knolastname)

• Greed (via Crimson)

Occupation:

• Assassin / Weapon specialist of I.M.P

• Member of Crimson’s mafia (formerly)

Nationality:

• Standard English 🇬🇧 (?)

• Sicilian 🇮🇹 (via Crimson)

Likes:

Cooking

* Culinary arts

• Musical theatre

* Classical music

* Opera

• Leading a job case (2x05)

• His mother’s kindness

Dislikes:

• Millie stealing his spotlight (2x05)

• Blitz prying into his personal life

• Loona calling him fat

• Killing the innocent

• His father’s abuse

• Stolas’s wrath

• Pop music

• Theme parks

* Theme park mascot

AU:

Beezlebub’s pop music (🤣)

_____________________________________

Romantic interests:

• Chazwick Thurman (ex-boyfriend/ex-fiancé)

• Millie Knolastname (wife)

_____________________________________

Family:

Mother: Mrs Knolastname (✝️)

Father: Crimson Knolastname

Uncle: Unnamed

Wife: Millie Knolastname

Mother-in-law : Lin

Father-in-law : Joe

Sister-in-law: Sally May

* Three unnamed brother-in-laws

Other:

“(step) Niece”: Octavia of the Ars Goetia (inevitable)

“(surrogate) Niece”: Loona Buckzo

“Goddaughter:” T.J. of the Ars Goetia (OC)

Daughter: Molly Knolastname (OC)

_____________________________________

Friends:

Social media:

• Randal

• Oliver

• Steve

_____________________________________

Nicknames:

• Moxxie Poxxie (by Chazwick Thurman)

• Queer Boy (by an unnamed biker)

• Moxxine (human persona)

• The Little Twink (by Barbie Wire)

• Mox (by Millie & Crimson)

• Little One (by Striker)

* Little Fella / Dude

• Mox-Mox (by Blitz)

* Fuckface

* M

• Fatty (by Loona)

AU:

• Uncle Roxy (by T.J. of the Ars Goetia)

* deliberately knowing that Moxxie detests being called “Roxy”

_____________________________________

Enemies:

• Crimson Knowlastname

* Crimson’s mafia

~ Chazwick Thurman (former fellow member)

• Verosika Mayday

Status: Victim of rape

• Employees of C.H.E.R.U.B.S

• Employees of D.H.O.R.K.S

• Barbie Wire (2x05)

• Striker (rival)

Other:

• Blitz Buckzo (boss & former cellmate)

• Millie Knowlastname (coworker)

• Loona Buckzo (coworker)

• Martha (victim)

• Eddie (victim)

• Ars Goetia family (acquaintance):

* Stolas

* Octavia

• Staff of Ozzie’s (acquaintance):

* Asmodeus

* Fizzarolli

• Councillor Jimmy (attempted target)

_____________________________________

Abilities:

Natural:

• Fire resistance

Skillset:

• Drawing - As shown in the pilot, one of the drawings on Blitz’s "Boss Goals" board is by Moxxie (with a note by Blitz on it saying "Moxxie drew not as good"; the drawing being the unnamed Overlord in the Hazbin Hotel pilot.

• Acrobatics - Moxxie is nimble and agile in terms of fighting, as he swiftly dodged all the arrows shot at him while swinging away on a strand of rope to intervene in Keenie and Millie's fighting.

• Musical Talent - Moxxie is a gifted singer and guitar player.

• Bilingualism - In addition to English, Moxxie is also fluent in a little Yiddish.

• Songwriting - Moxxie is able to compose music, having written "Oh, Millie" in honor of his wife.

• Weapon Proficiency - Moxxie is proficient in the use of several weapons, most especially sniper rifles.

• Disguise - Moxxie can utilize multiple outfits to pass on Earth.

• Cooking - Moxxie is shown to be good at cooking.

_____________________________________

Appearance & personality

Moxxie is an imp demon with red skin and white freckles on his cheeks. His white pointy hair leads up to his curvy black and white striped horns.

He also has yellow sclera with black slit pupils. Moxxie has a long red thin tail with a quadrilateral barb at the end, as well as lanky digitigrade legs ending in what appears to be cloven red hooves, reminiscent of artiodactyls.

Moxxie's usual outfit consists of a navy-black coat with red buttons and white cuffs, black pants a white shirt that has a black turtleneck, a large red bow-tie, and fingerless gloves.

During the episode "Loo Loo Land", he wears a plain black suit and tie with no markings and sunglasses while guarding Stolas, just like Blitzo and Millie, but still wears his normal red bow-tie with it.

How would you describe Moxxie’s personality?

• Knowledgable

• Vociferous

• Realistic

Other:

• Queasy & uncomfortable >>> especially when it comes to killing an “innocent” family

• Nonsensical & overly flirtatious (when drunk)

• Comical (selective)

• Easily annoyed

• Clumsy

• Insured

[causewhywouldnti]

My thoughts as I’m watching 24 seasons of law & order svu: (and oc)

Season 23

23x01, fantasizing about Elliot, good way to start the season. New Squad room, not my fave.

23x02, sorry to see Tamin and Garland go.

23x03, at least Stabler didn't get set up by Phoebe. Benson and Stabler bickering. I just really enjoy the two of them in interrogation. Stabler is not doing a good job of earning Benson's trust back.

23x04, I do not like McGrath, not even a little bit, does he get any better?

23x06, season 1 flashback, nice! Amaro is back. Warner!! (I’m much more excited about her than Amaro) At least we know one thing, both Benson and Stabler have terrible instincts when it comes to choosing romantic partners. Cragen!!! Baby Benson and Stabler (makes up for her terrible decisions). The shaky camera work is not my fave.

23x07, creepy! That interrogation was well done by Benson.

23x09, I liked Barba during his run, but I will always take Stabler over him. I also don’t really get his point, they are not framing him, considering he did it. Benson wasn't really called on the scene though, she happened to be there by chance, no? Stabler lost it on the stand, I do however appreciate him bringing up Liv as one of the victims too.

23x10, Murphy looks so different.

23x11, poor Noah.

23x13, people actually having a conversation about their relationship is new, I like it.

23x18, Benson giving credit to Fin and Rollins was sweet.

23x20, I always find it hard to watch when people talk about committing a crime and justify it bay saying it was "god’s plan". So weird that they cut the scene of Stabler meeting Noah on the platforms.

23x22, so Lindstrom tells Benson to either dump Stabler or take a chance on him, yet one season later, and we are still at the same point… She should take Rollins advice… Barba is back.

OC 2x01, bald Elliot. Regie's Mom, that’s a question we all want to know the answer to.

OC 2x02, I didn't need to see an ear being bitten off… nor the rest of the torture. I like Bernie. Seeing Stabler make out with some 30-year-old is just wrong. He is drugged out of his mind, how did he even make it to Benson's apartment in that state? And how does he know where she lives?

OC 2x03, the letter scene. Stabler being subtly insulted by saying the perp has hair and was way younger. I really like Jet!

OC 2x04, no, don’t delete the message, Elliot. Did he have to kiss her, though?!?

OC 2x05, jealous Benson is always fun to watch. Benson and Bernie should be in more scenes together.

OC 2x06, Stabler getting invested in his fake kid. This show does not shy down from showing some violence.

OC 2x07, that court reporter was just stupid.

OC 2x08, why is Stabler going in there on his own, when there is a whole team already up there?

OC 2x09, there was no need for Stabler to call Benson to pick up Eli, but I’m glad he did, considering we got handholding out of it. The cop on the bridge did a good job. Benson being mistaken twice as Eli’s mom is funny. Also, Stabler focusing on whether Benson dated instead of anything else, is typical. Stabler's invitation for Christmas was really sweet. He was so excited about the Benson's showing up, and then they didn't.

OC 2x11, I just want to point out, that Stabler is a really good detective. He also doesn't know when to shut up. I like the hacker Malachi.

OC 2x12, I’m sorry, but I thought the way Wheatley threatened Angela was just funny.

OC 2x13, Ayanna called Stabler out!

OC 2x14, the meeting with Wheatley and his son worked out just as I expected. Poor Bernie. On the bright side, we get a lot of background on Stabler thanks to his walk to the city hall. We all learned something about Jet…

OC 2x15, Benson helping out, and another hallway talk. At least Stabler tries to spend time with Benson.

OC 2x17, Cragen!

OC 2x18, the end scene with Bernie and Stabler was really sweet.

OC 2x20, a Benson and Stabler interrogation. Benson/Stabler still not listening to their orders when it comes to protecting someone. The looks the two of them share in their last scene in the car! This episode brings back all the feels from the first 12 seasons. Definitely my favorite episode this season (on both shows).

OC 2x21, Jet’s hug was really sweet!

OC 2x22, Cragen showed up to Elliot getting the Combat Cross (and Benson didn't). Poor Ayanna.

Both finales were just sad. I really enjoyed the OC season, though, probably because that’s where most of the Benson/Stabler interactions were. I especially liked 2x20!

Favorite Episodes: 23x05, OC 2x13, 2x14, 2x20

Favorite Lines:

"But in a parallel universe it will always be you and I" Stabler in his letter, OC 2x03

"You’re gonna have to get yourself a scarecrow." "Yeah, or you could just move back home." Stabler and Bernie, OC 2x05

"How about we call it a friendship? How’s that for now?" Benson to Stabler, OC 2x09

"You’re in his official personnel file, I’m in his DMs. We are not the same." Jet, OC 2x15

"What do you say, partner?" Benson to Stabler OC 2x20

"It’s always good to work with you, Liv." Stabler OC 2x20

"You deserve happiness, Olivia Benson" Lindstrom 23x22

[elliot-olivia]

Your partner came to check on you. 

[nachosncheeze]

Blindspot Parallels - The makings of a motley family (2x05/3x11)

(I pictured it before and I promise... you've got this.)

Thanks for not giving up on me. Never. We're family.

(Follow up to this set)

[joeal-kaysani]

"this is happening" being rated 7th lowest out of 10 on imdb and the lowest of all the episodes with ed....... tastelessness. absolute tastelessness. that is gun-to-head the best episode of the entire series like what is wrong with people

[beardedbarba]

no but really

how much of an idiot is elliot stabler

i mean, really

[justrainandcoffee]

Against all odds (Alfie Solomons x fem!oc) 2x05

Crossover Peaky Blinders - Hunger Games

• First part masterlist -Second part masterlist → 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04

Summary: Alfie and Rose are finally together and this time is forever. || Alfie meets Allie and Rose is surprised by her brother. || Campbell surprises the whole group saying something about Rose that no one expected. || Remember: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

Warnings: None this time.

Words: 3.3K.

The two of them barely fitted in the mattress. They didn't have a matrimonial compartment, so for now they were together on that small bed. But they didn't care. Too much time apart from each other made that small space the perfect place in the world.

District 13 was still sleeping, big part of it at least. No one knew yet that during the night Aveline and Rose, did arrive there.

"It hurts?" she asked caressing his cheek and eye with her fingertips.

"Not now. But it hurt the first days without morphling. That thing it's the worst and the best thing at the same time thing I ever experienced. But I couldn't think, I was barely awake… painless but so gone."

"I should have been here."

"No, sweetheart. You were where you needed to be. But you're here now."

"I am."

Alfie kissed her again. He has been doing it all night since she appeared in front of him, and wasn't ready to stop. He put his hands on her back, caressing her skin and whispered again her ear.

"Why, Rosie, why…"

She knew that sooner or later the topic was going to appear. It was obvious.

"I had to."

Rose didn't want to mention to him her nightmares but she figured out that he already knew.

"She's gone for ever. And so is the rest. Initially the plan was to leave her there, to froze herself to death. But minutes before we landed she started to talk about you…and I couldn't, Al, I couldn't. I was afraid that maybe she'd survive so I decided that I needed to kill her myself. And I did it."

"I saw it. They showed me the video once I felt better enough to see it."

"It was gruesome. I know."

"No, I think it was pretty impressive. And she's fucking dead, thanks to you. Rosie, I love you."

"Me too. For you, Alfie, I'd do anything. From killing the woman who hurt you to walk almost two districts to be with you."

"Fuckin hell, sweetheart. I don't deserve you," he embraced her really tight when she settled herself closer to him. "No one can separate us, now. Did you think about it?"

"I'm doing it now… and it only took us 15 years. 15 years waiting for this."

Every time they saw each other in the past, time was always against them. Only two weeks a year the first years, and then only once month for an entire weekend. The sound of the clock in their backs was always present. Sounding like a curse, remanding them that despite what it seemed, he belonged to the capitol and not to her. They were the owners of his time and in consequence hers.

But not anymore.

"I want to marry you, Rosie. For real this time," he said on top of her again. "Not just by word. You know? A certificate, the rings… I want you to be my wife."

"I'm your wife."

"Let's make it official. Do you want to marry me now that you're a free widow woman?"

"Shouldn't I be mourning my late husband?" she laughed with a joy she didn't feel in a long time and kissed him. And Alfie, too. He felt alive for the first time he put his feet in district 13 and watching her smile only increased his happiness. "Of course I want to make it official, Al. I don't want anyone else in my life but you. But first, you need to know someone…"

.

The news that Aveline and Rose were alive, fine and finally in district 13 spread really quickly. All of them well assumed that Aveline was safe in her district but after all those months that Rose was alive was something that few expected.

Knowing that, it didn't suprise anyone that even hours after they should be up, as the schedule indicated, Alfie's door was still closed. The man suffered enough since his arrival there and he did deserve time alone with his woman.

But for Samuel the awaiting was more excruciating than for the rest. Last time he saw her sister in person was when he was 15 and she was 19. Later, he saw her in tv when she became the stylist for District 9. But he had been waiting for almost two decades to hug her again.

He had to remain himself that of course her sister chose to see Alfie first because they were a couple and because she didn't know that he, Samuel, survived the bombing that killed his younger brother and mother.

But if he waited 18 years, he could wait a couple of hours.

.

By the time Rose finally left Alfie's compartment, the whole group was dispersed doing their different activities. But Aveline, new there as she was, didn't and Campbell allowed her to take a day off to rest and adapt herself there. Besides, Aveline didn't allow anyone from the district be near Allie.

"Did you enjoy your time with him?" the tall woman asked. She was smirking which caused Rose to smile.

"I did. I missed him and not just physically… I missed him."

"And he missed you. I saw our friends, they're fine. They told me that Alfie wasn't feeling fine. I think you arrived just in time again to his life."

"Thanks to you, Avie."

Allie was in Aveline's bed when Rose entered into her compartment and the girl jumped when she saw her.

"I love your hugs, sweetheart!" Rose said hugging her back "Did you sleep well?"

"I did! And we had a breakfast today with auntie Avie! You weren't there! I knew a lot of people!"

"Auntie Avie, is the best. No, I wasn't there because I was sleeping, I was really tired. But I promise we're going to have lunch together. You meet people?"

"I did! There's another kid, too! His name is Laurie and his mommy told me I can play with him. They wanted to meet Cyril, but a man took him out."

"They took Cyril out?" Rose asked.

"Only to make his business," Aveline clarified. "He's with…"

Samuel, wanted to add Aveline but she realised that her friend didn't know her brother was alive yet and didn't want to ruin the surprise.

"Honestly I don't know where he is," Aveline lied, "but he's with one of us here, don't worry."

"Okay then. Yes, of course you can play with Laurie if his parents allow it, Allie. But you know what? You didn't know the most important person to me here. His name is Alfie."

The aforementioned man was waiting for the person who Rose said he needed to know. A lot of possibilities crossed his mind but neither of them was correct. And he knew it as soon as he saw Rose entering again to his compartment holding the hand of a precious little girl.

"Are you Alfie?" the girl asked before Rose could even introduce them.

"Yes, I am, luv. Who are you?"

Rose released her, and the kid approached Alfie who took her in his arms.

"I'm Allie," she said. Not father and daughter yet but there was something in their eyes when they looked at each other that bonded them in that very first moment.

Allie put her little hands on his face and touched his beard. Her grey curious eyes, looked at him and Alfie couldn't help but smile.

"What happened to your eye?"

"Long story, Allie. But it was an accident."

"Mommy always kissed me when I got hurt," she said kissing his cheek and then hugged him "maybe you can feel better soon."

"You know what? I'm feeling better right now."

Alfie had a lot of questions. Who that girl really was, what she was doing there… but the moment Allie hugged him, Alfie felt that something he didn't know he needed, was finally complete. Alfie sat on the mattress with the girl still in his arms and Rose who was fighting really hard to not cry in front of them, did the same next to him.

Rose didn't doubt about Alfie adoring Allie, but she didn't know how Allie could react in front of him, considering all the things the kid lived in her short life. But now she knew that Allie's personality helped a lot to make things easier. She was sweet and outgoing, she was curious and she was ready to make friends everywhere. Including Alfie.

"I found her in the woods when Aveline and me were walking to come here. There's someone else you don't know yet," Rose said, "his name is Cyril."

"He's my doggie!" Allie exclaimed looking at Alfie , who was stroking her hair "he's brown and has big eyes. He's good."

"He's a mastiff," his wife said "and Allie is right! He's a good boy. He guided me to her and Cyril also warmed her up while she was alone there."

"Seems to me that Cyril is a hero," Alfie commented.

"He is."

Still, he had some questions but those were things that couldn't be asked in front of Allie. So for now the interview was over and the man accepted the invitation to play with her.

"Sweetheart," Alfie casually said to Rose, "Could I ask you a favour? Can you knock the next door and see if the man that lives there is inside?"

If Rose surprised him with a girl, then he could do the same to her. Samuel lived there and it was about time for them to meet again.

"Sure, did he owe you something?"

"Not really. But he'll understand."

"Alfie, what are trying to do?" she asked suspicious of his intentions.

"Just do me that favour, love."

As Aveline knew, Cyril was indeed there and he knew before Samuel that someone was in the other side of the door.

He was resting when he heard the knocks and the voice.

"I'm sorry to bother, but Alfie wanted to know if you're there, sir. I'm his wife and -"

Rose's speech was interrupted the moment she heard noises inside, as if someone was running to the door.

It took her several seconds to process what she was watching. To understand who that man was. But when she did it, tears filled her eyes. She had been trying to remain calm when she saw Alfie and Allie interact, but she couldn't anymore.

"Sam…"

Samuel embraced his elder sister so tight that her feet were in the air. Both Coldwells were crying not just because that was the end of an era separated for so many years but because after the tragedy of Snow killing their mother and youngest brother, finally other than themselves could understand that pain. Even if almost three years passed since that moment.

Alfie with Allie in his arms were looking at them but the siblings didn't notice them.

"Why are they crying?" the girl asked.

"They're happy."

.

"I'm sorry, Sam," she said once she calmed down. Still her eyes were puffy "I pushed my luck. I'm not saying I underestimated Snow, but I felt safe under the identity I had there. But he discovered me. And found you."

"It's not your fault. Don't think we weren't starting to make plans back in 8. Mom and her illegal clinic was one of those things. She trained other women to make abortions as well. Louis and me and a group of rebels were plotting against Snow for years. One of them found a way here and I was planning to take mom and Lou with me when that happened. I was in the garden when everything exploded. I passed out, for few minutes… but as soon as I recovered myself I ran away. That same night I returned with a group of rebels and we buried them there. Then I came here."

"How did you know about this place?"

"Rumours. Once I was 19, and could be free from the reaping I started to frequent some people. They told me."

"Your name wasn't in the bowl, Sam."

"What? But I asked for food, tesserae and medicine!"

"I made a deal with Evert," Rose said. "that was years before I knew he was a pedophile. I accepted to marry him and in exchange he paid for removing your name and Lou's name from the bowl, even if you were in the list. Evert had a disgusting taste for people from the districts. I was young and he couldn't resist that. So I accepted it. Soon I discovered that he was an idiot. With power and money but an idiot. And only a year and half later I met Alfie," she said unable to hide her smile "Alfie made my life easier. But yeah, I tried to protect you two. And despite everything, Lou died the same."

"Rose…"

"I don't regret it, Sam. At least you survived."

.

A new compartment was assigned to the Solomons that day and by her own demand, they gave one to Samuel near theirs. Cyril got an old mattress to sleep on and for the moment he was with Samuel although the dog insisted on sleeping in Allie's bed.

The change in Alfie was notorious and even if it was just the first day together after over two months apart, those who knew him, could say how much he improved.

Allie in that moment was playing with Cyril and Laurie in the Nelson's compartment, when Alfie grabbed Rose by her waist and pushed her against a wall. After kissing her again, he looked at her.

"Let me rephrase the question, sweetheart. Today I asked you if you wanted to marry me. That's not fucking enough, luv. So, here I go: Do you want to start a family with me? Us, the girl and Cyril."

The smile she gave to him it was probably the biggest and full of love since they met.

"Do you want us to be the Solomons?"

"That's what I want, yes. The Solomons. That sounds perfect."

"I love you and I do accept."

Rose finished to brush Allie's hair after bathing her and put her in bed. The little girl was tired and she was still adapting to that. Not just Rose and Alfie but district 13 and her new life as well.

The new compartment they had now was bigger than the one where Rose and Alfie slept the night before and they added a bed for the girl as well. Her teddy bear, Ms. Boo, almost the last thing she had from her old life was tucked next to her.

"Are you going to sleep with me?"

"I am, Allie. Alfie is attending a meeting with his friends, I don't know at what time he's going to come, so for now it's just you and me."

"I like Alfie."

"He's a good man. And he loves you."

"Is he my daddy now?"

"We decided to adopt you as our kid, Allie. But we're not going to pressure to call us mom and dad if you don't feel it yet. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then, baby. Now try to sleep. Sweet dreams, Allie."

Rose kissed her forehead as Allie closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

At least an hour passed, when she heard someone knocking on their door. When she opened, to her surprise, her brother was there.

"Sam? What happened?"

"Campbell and the rest require you. I don't know why, I was going to sleep when I found Aveline in the hallway and asked if I could tell you this."

"Why the hell did they need me?"

"No idea. I can look after the girl, if you want."

Rose frowned. "If that fucker is making Alfie's life a living hell again I'm going to kick his balls. Allie is sleeping," Rose said to Samuel "I don't think she notices I'm not here, besides I'm not planning to stay there that long. I just need what they want."

"Don't worry, Rosie. Just go, I can babysit my niece."

Both siblings smiled and Rose left to go to Campbell's office.

All the victors that made it to district 13 where there. There was a blackboard with the faces that the Capitol held and those who were killed.

"There she is," Campbell said "we guessed that you were taking care of your daughter but we needed you here. Alfie didn't want to bother you."

She looked at her husband who had a grumpy expression in his face. Rose didn't know what was happening but whatever it was, apparently, wasn't good.

"Well, yes, I was with Allie. What…? What the hell is going on?"

Campbell smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder that Rose pulled away from her. "Mrs. Solomons as you can see this is a victors' meeting. I called them because we need to take important decisions."

"Funny considering that until yesterday you sent Alfie to the kitchens like he was a fucking servant. Did you upgrade him from boiling potatoes to this privileged place?"

"I'm trying to make the right things, Mrs. Solomons."

"I wonder why…"

Campbell ignored her, and continue speaking "and because I'm doing the right thing now it's that I'm calling you too, to have a seat here."

"Why? I'm not a victor."

Campbell looked at her, while all the rest were looking at him. "You're our last victor, Mrs. Solomons. Did you or did not win the 76th hunger games? How do you call the last man standing in this world? Let me answer my own question: we call him or her, in this case, victor. You even volunteered to be there. You had any obligation but you decided to participate… and no one survived except you. One plus one is always two, Rose."

"What? No! No! It's not the same. I planned those games! The Golds helped me! You can't… you can't compare what I did to the things that the real victors had to face!"

"It's the same, Rose," Campbell continued "You're a victor. You won the games, organized by you or not, those were the games that whole Panem saw."

"Did you vote for this?" she asked to Alfie.

"We didn't, Rosie. Campbell told us and I said you were going to be angry. But the decision was already made."

"You're a victor," Aveline said "He's right, Rose. I didn't think about it when I saw you. But it makes sense. You survived your games."

"The 76th weren't my games! The 76th was planned to kill the rapists! All of them! I was there to make them believe I was one of them until it was too late for them to fight back! Are you kidding me? Alfie, you can't believe I'm like you! I did it because I had to! Because it was necessary to expose them, because I didn't want more victims of them!"

"They didn't have a chance," Campbell said again "their names were selected the first moment you knew them. Their fate was sealed. Not like those thousands of kids that died, but the method was basically the same. You needed to punish them, killing them. You succeeded and in the process you participated… and you won."

Rose opened the mouth to protest but she didn't found the right words. She didn't find any word, in fact.

Campbell showed her that empty seat next to Alfie and she sat down there. She felt Alfie's hand on hers, but she didn't look at him.

"You're the last victor, Mrs. Solomons."

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[mischas]

ryan & marissa + fun (1/?)