#of course he might say something to you like 'uhh sorry all the receptionists look the same to me'

[13eyond13]

People hate on Light for many many (mostly valid) reasons, but you can't deny that he's so incredibly organized and so determined to handle most things by himself that being his admin or his receptionist or his assistant would probably be a dream

[fific7]

Dangerous and Divine - Part 16

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo is an itch you don’t want to scratch. But he’s all over you like a rash.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly fluff & lemon zest 🍋 The GIF is from Exposed, unreleased pilot show in case you’re wondering 😌... Billy vibes.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to mentions of sex. Some drinking & swearing.

(My GIF)

So... after your heart-rate slowed back down to normal, you realised that, no matter how much you possibly empathised about Billy dropping her, there was no way you were going to sit back and let Madani keep coming after your man. She’d have a fight on her hands, that you could promise her.

You were trying to concentrate on your paperwork, you really were. But your mind kept circling back to Madani. Coming to a decision, you stood up and grabbed your things. Making your way downstairs, you walked through the café, stopping to let your team know that you’d be out for a while.

Getting on the subway, you made your way to Homeland HQ and asked the receptionist if you could speak to Agent Madani, specifying that you’d meet her there in Reception. You weren’t going to meet her in private, that was for damn sure. The receptionist made a call, then asked you to take a seat.

After a fifteen-minute wait, Madani and her heels came clicking their way over to you. Her eyebrows were presently in a permanently raised position. Standing up, you nodded to her and forced yourself to say civilly, “Good morning, Agent Madani.”

She nodded back at you, lips pursed. “You realise that approaching me while you have an active complaint against me is not correct procedure.”

Shrugging, you replied, “About as correct as you approaching Billy and asking him to meet you.” She flinched back, and you realised she didn’t think he would’ve told you. You carried on, “Agent Madani, this has got to stop. I feel you’re just going to keep on contacting him regardless, and you’re just going to keep getting rejected.” She opened her mouth to reply, but you held up your hand, “Hear me out, please. Look, I get it, I really do - you thought you might have something going for you with Billy. Then you find out he’s met someone else and he drops you. And I’m sorry about that. I wouldn’t be happy about that if it happened to me.”

She glanced round quickly to check there was no-one within earshot, before glaring back at you, but you carried on nevertheless, “I know you don’t believe this, but Billy and I do have a relationship, a real relationship - and yes, it’s all happened very quickly but sometimes that’s just how things do happen.” Folding her arms across herself, she huffed and said, “You’re right I don’t believe it. Billy Russo is the biggest damn player in New York City and if you think you’ve tied him down, you’re more of a fool than I thought. A damn naive, stupid, oblivious little fool.”

You nodded, “Uhuh... well, I thought a woman-to-woman talk about it might help, but I guess it’s obvious where you stand, and you’re not budging.” You started moving away, “Well, if I’m a fool then fine! - I’m a fool. That’ll be my problem to sort out. Bye, Agent Madani.” Turning, you made your way out of the building without a backward glance.

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

Billy was slowly swinging from one side to the other in his chair. His head was lying back against the headrest and his eyes gazed up at the ceiling. He was daydreaming about his girl, something he found himself doing more and more often these days. Thinking back to his visit to her office that morning, a slight smile curved over his lips. He loved it when she initiated sex. Not only did it give a big boost to his male ego - that he couldn’t deny - but it made him go all soft inside. To him, it meant that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, meant it wasn’t him starting things all the time. That’s what he was used to, after all. He’d always been the one in control.

He chuckled to himself, what in the fuck was happening to him? He was turning into a big gooey mess of a man. Shaking his head, he stood up and wandered over to the glass wall, looking down onto the training area below. He’d better get a grip of himself or one of the newbies would get one over on him, and he couldn’t have that.

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

You made it back to Chelsea shortly after your unproductive meeting with Madani. Slamming your office door behind you and flouncing over to your desk, you plopped down into your chair, dropping your bag down beside you.

That obtuse bloody woman!!! And she called you a fool! Pot and kettle, love, you thought, pot and bloody kettle. Now you were going to have to admit to Billy that you’d also met up with her, and all for nothing - a complete and utter waste of time. Oh well, at least you’d tried. Not your fault she couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

But if she chased after Billy just once more, you wouldn’t be responsible for your actions - Homeland agent or not.

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

Madani was quietly stewing back in her office. How dare she try to do the sister act thing, ‘I get it, I really do’ .....just who does she think she is?! Miss Bloody Perfect.

She would just bide her time. There was no way on god’s green earth that Billy Russo would stay faithful to her, it just wasn’t happening.

He’d damn well admitted he’d been attracted to her. That was enough for her, to grasp onto that small sliver of hope and hold onto it tight.

And when he did fall off the Faithful Wagon, she’d make sure she was there to see it. And to catch him as he fell.

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

After texting Billy to say you quite fancied a Vietnamese takeaway this evening, you went down into the café a little later on and had a long chat with Jake, catching him up on the Scorned Woman Situation. He started making you a macchiato, commenting, “She just really doesn’t get it, does she?” You leant closer to him, saying in a low voice, “The thing is, she’s succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in my head.” “What... about Billy?” You nodded, looking down. “He did have quite the reputation before he met me you know, Jake.”

He nodded, “You said. Are you thinking a leopard can’t change its spots?” You sighed, taking the small cup and saucer from him, “Well, yeah. She keeps saying he won’t stay faithful to me, hell - she even said it to his face! And... it is making me worry, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. Everything’s fine now, but what if he gets bored? Sees a pretty face out and about somewhere, feels what he says he feels about me for them?”

Jake shrugged, “But that’s the test any relationship faces. You can’t play it out on ‘maybes’ and ‘what ifs’. Just gotta go with ‘the here and now’. Don’t you?” Nodding, you sipped your coffee before laughing, “What you say is true, oh Yoda.” He laughed, “I am wise beyond my years, little one!” You heard the café door opening behind you, and Jake chuckled, “And talk of the devil...!” Turning your head, you saw Billy homing in on you, big smile on his face and eyes glued to you. Jake whispered, “That looks like a pretty faithful doggy to me!”

You subtly elbowed him, before fully turning to Billy and smiling back. “Hello, handsome,” you greeted him, and you were surprised to see Billy’s face go a slight shade of pink. “Hi, beautiful,” he said back, before leaning down and kissing you shyly. His hand slid down your side and took hold of your fingers, lacing his with yours, eyes gazing into yours. Okay, you thought, I know I’ve been ribbing him about being a big sap but this is a whole new level of sappiness.

You drained the last of your coffee, and said to Jake, “I’m taking off now, Jakey boy, you OK to close up?” He mock-bowed, “But of course, my Princess.” You caught an irritated look on Billy’s face and smiled to yourself, he really was a jealous ass. With or without good reason.

You nipped back upstairs to get your things and when you came back down, you saw Jake and Billy almost facing off against each other, eyes glaring. What the....? You walked quickly over to them, “Hey, guys?” They broke eye contact, Jake looking embarrassed as he met your eyes, “Uhh... have a nice evening.” You swung round to Billy, who was studying his shoes with great interest. “Okay, Jake - thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Billy’s head came up, “No! She won’t be in tomorrow.”

“What? Now, Billy, you know I’m always in the cafés on Saturday mornings,” you said with a hint of warning in your voice. He looked back at Jake, “I’ve got plans for tomorrow. You can cope, can’t you?” Jake bristled, “Of course I can!” Billy looked back at you, “See? All under control. Just for once, have a Saturday off, please sweetheart.” You looked at Jake, who just smiled at you, so you nodded, “OK, just this once, Russo.” Billy smirked in triumph and took your hand, pulling you along with him towards the door as you waved at Jake.

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

Billy almost dragged his girl out of the café, before that bastard Jake could say anything else. Who did that cheeky little shit think he was, trying to give him the “don’t hurt her or you’ll answer to me for it” speech! Her fuckin’ father or something?!

He was seething, but trying to hide it. Once they were both in the car and pulling out into the traffic, she turned slightly towards him, and he could feel her eyes boring into him, “Okay, Russo - spill.”

Sighing, he looked in his rear view mirror as he changed lanes and replied, “Your little pal back there started coming on like your Dad or big brother or sumthin’. Givin’ me the whole “if you mess her around I’ll come after you” spiel.”

Oh Jake, you thought, you numbskull. He meant well but.... obviously Billy hadn’t been impressed. You heaved a sigh and Billy glanced over at you, before making a right turn and swinging the car into his building’s underground parking lot.

“Look, that was my fault,” you said, as he parked up in his space and turned off the engine. He glanced over at you, “What d’ya mean, angel?” he asked as he unbuckled his seat belt, before opening his door and walking round to open yours. “Well... uhh, I went to see Madani this morning.” He was in the process of taking your hand as you got out of the car, but stopped and looked at you, mouth open. “You did what?” You slammed the car door. “Billy! I’m sick of her chasing after you!” He raised the remote and bleeped the car locked.

“Angel, you gotta be careful with her, she’s looking for ammo to fire back at us!” You nodded, “I know that. I met her in Reception so it was in public. I thought I’d try the woman-to-woman chat.” He took your hand in his as you both started walking to the lift doors. “Did it work?” he asked. “No it didn’t! She’s the most obtuse, stubborn woman I’ve come across in a long time.” “Uh-huh, that she definitely is. Tell me what you said to her?” The lift arrived and the doors opened, you and Billy walking into it. “Well, I told her that I got it. She thought she was gonna get somewhere with you, and you dropped her. I said I wouldn’t have been happy either. But that it had to stop, as she was just going to keep getting rejected.”

Billy chuckled, “Oh my, that must’ve gone down well.” You laughed, “She doesn’t believe we have an actual relationship, she said you were the biggest player in NYC and you’d never stay faithful to me. I get the feeling she’s gonna hang around just willing it to happen.” Billy tightened his grip on your hand, stroking your hair with his other hand, then your cheek. Before he could speak, you jumped in with, “And I might’ve admitted to Jake that she’d managed to plant that seed of doubt in my mind.” He closed his eyes, putting his head back against the lift wall. “Angel, please don’t be listenin’ to her bullshit!”

The lift doors opened, and you both began walking along to his apartment door. He suddenly stopped, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you hard. He pulled back, his dark eyes looking pained as he gazed at you, “You know she’s just tryin’ to stir things up between us, don’t you? That’s what she wants, for you to question me and my behaviour, to be suspicious of me, for us to argue.” He kissed you again, before burying his face in your hair, “Well, I ain’t gonna let that happen, sweetheart,” you heard, “....she ain’t gonna come between us. I will be faithful to you, I promise. Don’t want anyone else.”

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

After a very tasty and spicy Vietnamese meal which Billy had ordered in, you both lazed on the sofa nursing your beers. He was looking at you anxiously every so often, and eventually he burst out, “I swear to you on all that’s holy, I’ll keep it in my pants!” He was gazing at you, eyes wide and deep and dark and full of fear. Yes, fear. You reached over and laid your hand along his bristly cheek, “It’s okay, Billy! I believe you, poppet.” The smirk was back, “Uh, not with the poppet thing again!”

You laughed, “Yes! You’re my big sexy poppet.” Eyebrow wiggle, “Well, when you put it like that,” and your hand was lifted up and then placed under his sweatshirt, onto his lower abdomen, where you could stroke the treasure trail of hairs leading ever downwards to his ‘crown jewels’. “Mmmm,” he smiled, eyes closing, “....you gonna keep going, sweetheart?” You didn’t bother replying, just slid your hand further down and under the waistband of his briefs. You still marvelled at how big and hard Billy got, and you very happily took hold of what was clearly marked as ‘your property’ as far as you were concerned.

You relished the feel of his velvety skin and gave him a couple of very firm strokes, before cupping his balls in the palm of your other hand and squeezing. You were pleased to hear a long, low groan from Billy and looked up at him, seeing that his eyes were tight shut in pleasure.

“So, Billy,” you asked, “...what’re these plans you’ve got that are so important I had to take Saturday off?” He opened his eyes and grinned at you, “Can’t possibly tell ya, it’s a surprise.” You took a much firmer grip of him and his hips jerked forward, “Are you sure about that, Billy?” He laughed nervously, but replied, “Very sure, sweetheart.”

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

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

[jimmys-zeppelin]

ghostin'

chapter ten

(table of contents)

(chapter nine)

april 3, 1976

help me

Ellie tried keeping her mind off of her potential situation after she got back home. As soon as she landed, she was at the doctor's office getting her blood drawn. The doctor said she'd have her results on Monday.

She observed how Jimmy had been acting in the 12 hours they were together before she left after their night out. It wasn't that he was on-edge, but he was definitely a little less than comfortable. And that was an understandable reaction considering how unexpected all this was.

She was separating, folding, and putting clothes away from her suitcase when the doorbell rang an incessant amount of times. Ellie knew it could only be one person with the insistence in which the doorbell rang.

The bell only stopped when Ellie finally yanked the door open, "Andrew, what the hell!" she joked. The dark-haired man nearly screamed with delight and engulfed the blonde in a hug.

"God, that was the longest fucking three weeks of my life! How was it? How'd it go? Did you break some beds?"

Ellie held her mouth agape for a second before laughing and ushering the man inside. He followed her back upstairs as they spoke, "No beds were broken, contrary to popular belief. But it went great. Jimmy said Charlotte really liked me after we stopped by a second time. And his daughter is so sweet."

"So you're cool with the family! Awesome. Now you know you'll probably be seeing more of them. Try not to catch the baby fever, though."

Ellie chuckled dryly at the statement, "You might be a little late on that one, Andrew."

"Listen, kids are cute, but when you actually have to take care of them, it's a hassle. Wait till you're old and wrinkly and you've already lived."

Her heart sank in her chest, would her life really be slowed down that drastically by a baby?

"El, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Can we not talk about babies right now?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose and crumpling up a shirt she had been holding, tossing it into her dirty clothes pile quite aggressively.

"Uh, oh. Seems like I hit a nerve. Did Jimmy say anything to you about having kids?"

"No, not exactly. He wasn't opposed to it. I just—I don't want to think about kids right now. Can we talk about something else?"

"Okay, fine I won't budge," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender before stammering in an attempt to find a new topic to talk about, "what was the house like?"

"It was beautiful. Huge. Like imagine my house but like ten times bigger. I know he doesn't need all those bedrooms."

"You two should've had sex in all of the rooms. A new room every night." Andrew said, almost excited at the prospect.

"What is it with your obsession in my sex life? Aren't you getting some?"

"It's a little hard for my scene of people, Ellie. And plus, it's not my fault your boyfriend is a total looker. I don't know how you don't just stare at him all day."

Ellie chuckled at the comment, "Well we did have a morning that we spent in bed. It was nice."

"You're keeping something from me. Ellie, we don't keep secrets."

"What do you—" Ellie tried to play off, only to enter a stare-down with her best friend. She kept eye contact for as long as she could before the dryness made her scrunch her eyes shut. "Fine! I am keeping something from you."

"And it is....?"

"I can't tell you just yet. But I will say one thing, I'm extremely worried about Jimmy. I walked into his office the other day because I was looking for something and there were just bottles. And drugs. All over the desk."

"What kind of drugs?" Andrew asked, leaning in.

Ellie folded up a skirt, putting it away in her drawer before answering, "heroin and coke."

"Heroin? I hear that shit is wack if you take too much. Was he shooting it?"

"He'd done at least three. He was completely zooted. Out of his mind. His arm looked like an inexperienced nurse trying to find a vein. Andrew, it was horrible."

"Oh, God. I can only imagine. I'm sorry, babe. What did he say when you saw him?"

"He didn't say anything. I got kind of mad at him afterwards because he knows I get worried when he uses the stuff. He tried to butter me up and say sorry, but I just kinda brushed him off."

"Aw, Ellie. Do you wanna go out tonight; get your mind off it?"

"I don't know...I don't really wanna drink this weekend."

"We don't have to drink." He shrugged.

Ellie eyed him suspiciously, "since when does 'going out' not consist of drinking?"

"I heard Queen's still in town. We could try to look for 'em. Maybe I can get Freddie to sign my chest." Andrew said, stroking his chest sensually.

"You sound like a groupie." she chuckled.

"Listen, you're the famous one, not me. I can be as whorish as I want."

With a roll of her eyes, Ellie picked up her hamper, walking off to the laundry room with it to get started on her clothes.

☆

Later that evening, after Andrew had gone home, Ellie picked up the phone. She held it in her hand for a second before hanging up the receiver. Looking at the clock, the blonde noticed it was only 6pm. A drive would be nice. She thought to herself.

Grabbing her sunglasses and a coat—it was unusually cold for April—and took her keys from the table by the front door as she made her way over to her car.

Deciding she'd go down to West Hollywood and stop at her manager's office, Ellie took the long way and chose to take her time while driving.

Turning on the radio, she just caught the beginning of "Help Me" by Joni Mitchell. She turned the volume a bit louder and relaxed against the driver's seat; letting the California sun hit her face and a slight breeze come in through the window. She forgot about everything that'd been on her mind as she drove down the highway, taking in the music and bobbing her head along to the beat.

Taking a turn onto Santa Monica Boulevard, Ellie observed the tons of stores and people that littered the sidewalk. As she slowed to a stop at a red light, she took a look across the street to find a particular head of bleach-blond hair. Rolling down the window some more and pulling her sunglasses down, Ellie's suspicions were confirmed.

"Roger!" She exclaimed without thinking. Her heart dropped to her ass at the realization that she'd just publicly yelled at someone she'd only met twice before. "Shit." she whispered under her breath.

"Ellie?" Roger asked in response. He was visibly leaning over and lowering his own sunglasses to be able see the singer inside her car.

"I thought you went back home!" Ellie said, nervously glancing between Roger and the stoplight.

"No! I hung around! The guys went back home," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I've been calling you!"

"I've been away! I should've told you! I just got back!"

Another glance at the light.

"Can I call you later?"

"Sure!" Ellie exclaimed when the loud blaring of a car horn behind her caused her to jump in her seat. She waved a quick goodbye to Roger before going on her way. It wasn't until she caught her breath that she realized she'd been holding it. She shook her head and took another deep breath, continuing down the street.

☆

"Carolyn'll see you now." The receptionist said. Ellie stood up, now with her coat and sunglasses off, she felt a bit more at ease. She said a quick thank you to the receptionist before letting herself into the office.

"Ellie! Sit down, babe." Carolyn said cheerfully. "You said April 1st."

"I got a little caught up in some personal stuff."

"I hope nothing too bad. You didn't overdo it on the blow did you?"

"No, no. I promise, Care. That's one thing you'll never have to worry about with me."

"I better not. Don't need you dying on me or anything. How was your trip?"

"It was great! Jimmy and I got some alone time, it was nice. I met his daughter. Absolute sweetheart."

"You didn't get knocked up, did you?" Carolyn asked, furrowing her brows at her.

Ellie practically jumped in her seat, her eyes widened, "No! I don't—why would you—?"

"Oh my God, you got knocked up didn't you? You were there for barely three weeks, Ellie!"

"I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I'll call you as soon as I can to let you know how it went. I just don't want to think about it right now." Ellie sighed, not wanting to think about her worst fears for another second.

"Fine. Let's see if the record company needs anything from you." Carolyn replied, flipping through a notebook that was sitting on her desk before looking back up at her, "I need you to get a song out, or even an album. Tell me you did something other than screw around with your boyfriend on your trip."

"I started a song, then I kind of abandoned it when I had an idea for a different one...it's a bit personal so it'll definitely be on the slower side, I think." Ellie explained.

"Got a name?"

"Uhh, it doesn't have one yet."

"Is it finished?"

"Nearly."

"Alright, well. Finish it by this week and we can get you in the studio in two weeks."

"I'll try." Ellie replied.

☆

Ellie sat hunched over her songbook scribbling a few words down and crossing out others. She chewed on her pencil, staring at her thoughts on the page. The blonde hadn't thought about the song she'd written while at Jimmy's house in a while.

Trying to hum out the tune she'd created, Ellie was about to run and grab her guitar upstairs when the phone rang; this stopping her in her tracks. Detouring to the phone, she quickly picked it up off the receiver, "Hello?"

"Ellie?" the man on the other line asked, his voice identifiable immediately as Roger's.

"Hi, Roger." she said, the smile on her face audible in her voice.

"Hey, how've you been?" he asked. "You went missing for a bit there."

"Yeah, I'm doing okay, I went to England with Jimmy for a few weeks. He played host for me for once." She joked, twirling the phone cord in her fingers.

"Oh wow, was it your first time?"

"No, not at all. I go back to visit him quite often, actually. When I'm not busy, of course."

"Right, right. Uhhh, listen, I was about to grab a bite to eat. Did you want to come with me by any chance? Unless you've eaten already, then it's a redundant question." Roger added quickly to the end of his invitation.

Ellie hesitated at her answer, although she didn't know why, "...Sure! Yeah, I was just gonna wind up making some macaroni and cheese anyway, so, I guess it's better to go get an...actual meal." She replied. Her answer was painfully awkward and she physically cringed at her response.

"Okay, great! So I'll come by in a few to pick you up. Say, 8:30 ish, if that's okay with you?"

She glanced at the clock, 7:55pm. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you then!"

The two said their goodbyes and hung up. Then, when Ellie started on her way upstairs—again—the phone rang again. It was Roger, realizing he'd never asked for her address. They had a laugh about it before Ellie told him the information and she went to get ready.

---

masterlist | playlist

Taglist: @diaryofafan17 @tophats-n-lespauls @witchesdust @jonesyjonesyjonesy @paginate54 @hejustsatisfiess @salixfragilis @princesspagey @reincarnated70sbaby @rebel-without-a-zeppelin @kyunisixx if you want to be added to the list lmk!

2-12-21

7-13-21

[savannah-lim]

The Faellen || Chloe & Savannah

Timing: Current Location: The hospital Parties: @savannah-lim and @chloeinbetween Content: Discussion of abuse, illness, trauma, kidnapping  Summary: Savannah pays a visit to Chloe at the hospital to discuss what happened to her and see if she can help in the investigation.

Savannah could scarcely believe it when she heard the news. She was no stranger to awful things happening in White Crest. She’d witnessed many of them with her own eyes. This was something else though. It wasn’t as simple as a quick death at the hands of a mere monster. The actions of Lydia Griffin had been calculated, deliberate, sustained. She left scars more deep than simple physical wounds. Guiltily, she was glad she had another case to look into, one more excuse to remain in White Crest while she conducted more investigations. She just really, really wished it hadn’t been this. 

Nevertheless, Savannah would do her duty. Griffin might still be out there, and she had all her wealth and resources to help her disappear. If they didn’t act quickly, they might lose her for good. The receptionist at the hospital directed her to the right room. The doctors were reluctant to allow visitors, but an FBI badge did wonders to grant Savannah access to places. She knocked gently, then entered. “Chloe?” she greeted, offering whatever sort of smile she could manage, a pained and subtle one. She wanted Chloe to feel comfortable, to feel safe, but she had experience in cases like this. She knew it likely wouldn’t be an option for this poor woman for some time. “I’m Agent Lim, FBI.” She held out her badge, placing it on the hospital tray for Chloe to inspect, if she wanted. “I know it’s been a long couple of days, but I wondered if you might be able to talk to me.” 

Chloe’s hands had been trembling all morning. She wasn’t really sure why, whether it was a side effect of her medical treatments or a side effect of the poison still in her system, but no matter what she did, the trembling wouldn’t stop. She’d turned on the TV news earlier, to try and catch up with what had been happening over the last four years, but the news didn’t really do recaps, as it turned out, and she was the news right now. Chloe had taken one look at the live footage from Lydia’s home, and turned off the TV with an ache in her stomach. She looked up at the door when it opened, tensing up at the sight of a stranger that wasn’t a doctor. She swallowed, her smile even weaker and more fleeting that Savannah’s. "Agent Lim," Chloe repeated slowly, picking it up off the hospital tray and reading the name on it, before setting it down on the tray before she dropped it. "I honestly wouldn't be able to tell if this is fake or not." If Savannah was using a disguise to come here and threaten her or kill her, Chloe just hoped it would be quick. She shifted in her bed, rubbing the rash that had spread up her neck yesterday morning. "I, uhh, yeah, sure. I, um, I've already talked to Detective Agatha Keen. But fire away.”

“You can call me Savannah, okay?” Savannah had enough years under her belt that she wasn’t precious about her title, especially with someone who in all likelihood needed to feel like they were talking to a friend right now, not some government official with their own motives. Savannah did have a motive. It was to see Lydia Griffin brought to justice. She hoped she and Chloe at least had that in common, but experience and a look at the case file had told her this wouldn’t be easy. “Detective Keen is good at what she does. I’ve worked with her.” If Chloe had already bonded with Agatha over being one of the first on the scene, the last thing she wanted was to make her feel like Savannah was coming in and stomping all over her. “In cases like this, it’s quite common for a larger agency to offer assistance. Do you need anything before we get started? A drink or water, some food, some tissues?”

“She’s great. She brought me chocolates. Feel free to help yourself,” Chloe said, pointing at the box of chocolates on her bednight stand, barely touched since Agatha had brought them in. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate them, it was just how little appetite she had right now, even when the alternative was hospital Jello.  “I’ve already got water and tissues. Um, haven’t really been in the mood to eat. And um, you should know that there are things… there are things I can’t talk about. I’m not- I’m not protecting her, I just… I just can’t talk about it.” Because her tongue would swell up and choke her if she tried, because the thought of betraying Lydia was still impossibly painful. “Should I be nervous?”

Of course Agatha had brought chocolates. Somehow that was so… Agatha. Savannah couldn’t help but smile at that. “Well if you need anyone to help catch you up on pop culture, she’s your girl.” Savannah took a seat by the bed, pulling out her notebook and pen. She did her best not to make things personal, to get too invested in her cases, but when she found herself face to face with people like Chloe, it was impossible. “That’s okay. We’ll talk about the things you can talk about.” Chloe’s next question broke Savannah’s heart. “Nervous?” she repeated. “Of me? No. I’m going to investigate as fairly and thoroughly as I can. I know talking might be difficult, but the more we know, the better chance we have to bring Lydia to justice.” 

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Chloe said. “All I have at the moment is daytime soaps.” She gestured at the tv in the corner of her room. She watched apprehensively as Savannah pulled out her notebook, settling into starting her case. She was kind, but then, Lydia had been kind sometimes. It was hard to trust the intentions she was given. “It’s a reasonable question,” Chloe defended herself with a wry chuckle. “I’m kinda new at the whole talking to the FBI about being held against my will thing.” That flash of personality  faded as she looked away, her chest aching sharply. “This is going to sound fucked up, but… I don’t want to approach this from a justice angle. Or a doing anything to Lydia angle.” She was gone. She wasn’t coming back. But, whispered the loudest voice in her head, if she did, she wouldn’t have wanted you involved in any kind of justice against her. You can’t just betray her like this. Shouldn’t you be loyal? Then the quieter, unpoisoned part of her mind chimed in: Look what happened to Sammy when he betrayed her. “It’s easier-” Chloe started sharply, as if interrupting her own thoughts, “It’s easier if we talk about this in the context of just… telling the truth. Being honest. But, um, ask whatever you like.”

Savannah nodded solemnly. After all this time, the hold Lydia had on her would be difficult to break. She might have been out of the basement, but in so many ways, she was still held captive. That fear and anguish would be with her likely for the rest of her life, but Savannah hoped to help her quiet it. "Talking to the FBI about being held captive isn't a life experience many people go through, thankfully.” But she appreciated Chloe’s offer of honesty, her candor. She knew there were things Chloe would be too scarred to reveal, but Savannah would gather as much information as she could to bring that awful woman who’d done this to her to justice. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, it was difficult to know where to begin. “Do you know where Lydia might be now?” 

“Yeah I heard it’s a hard one to get off the old bucket list.” It wasn’t funny anymore. It might not have ever been funny to begin with. Chloe looked back at Savannah, weighing the question in her mind. Without me. I wasn’t good enough. Chloe squeezed her sheets in her fist, breathing deeply.  She waited. The pain had begun to dull, slowly, until she could unglue her mouth. “No,” Chloe replied, huffing in thought. “She could be anywhere. Peru, Argentina or Ireland. But probably dead. She wouldn’t leave this much evidence behind if she was alive. She’s gotten close to being caught before, I’ve heard. If this was an escape, then I wouldn’t still be here talking with you.” 

"She never spoke about where she might go if she had to escape the authorities? Nothing like that?" Savannah asked, trying to be simultaneously direct, yet gentle. She wasn't sure whether she hoped Chloe was right about Lydia being dead or not. In many ways, it would be easier, but she was an agent of the law. She wasn't supposed to think like that. Savannah had been doing many things she wasn't supposed to recently. It was becoming almost easy. "I'm sorry," Savannah said, because she felt she was supposed to apologise at the thought of that awful woman killing her captives before fleeing. "That's the only reason you think she might be dead? Did you hear her mention anyone who might be out to harm her? If she's done this before, I'm sure she made enemies."

“She had that all figured out years before I showed up on her doorstep,” Chloe replied, shaking her head. She ran her fingers over the bandage on her left arm, tracing over where the bandage glue itched most. That was a much easier pain and ache to feel. “Please don’t apologise,” Chloe said eventually, picking at the threads of the bandage. “If you apologise that I might start thinking about what I should be feeling sorry about, and I really don’t want to do that. She’s been doing this for longer than you would believe. So many people knew. People who agreed and people who didn’t, so. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

"Yeah, she seems as if she was a very intelligent woman," Savannah said, her tone making it clear that in this instance, the words weren't a compliment. She scribbled down a few more words in her notebook. "Noted," she replied as Chloe told her not to apologize. "But you don't need to be sorry for anything, okay?" Savannah said directly. Chloe didn't seem the type to want to be treated with kid gloves, which was for the best, considering Savannah was far more comfortable simply being even-toned and neutral. "You say she's been doing this for a long time. Can you tell me anything about people she might have hurt before and what happened to them? If we know their names, we can at least let their families know." 

“Agatha Keen found their IDs,” Chloe remembered, from when she’d been pressed up against the corner of Lydia’s office, trembling in fear as Agatha had searched the room. “Everyone Lydia has ever had. I know Sammy Metz was shot dead on September 30th, and Lydia killed Anneliese Vandergroot in like… April or May, but I think she was autopsied. Then before that, like summer of last year, a kid called Guillaume. There were more, but I don’t remember much of them.”

Of course, the names on the IDs appeared in the police file Agatha had started, but Savannah felt it was important to get the information from Chloe directly. Chloe could reveal more information than the mere names on little plastic cards could. “Do you know why she did this? What her motivation was?” Savannah asked. “Was it just so she could steal your work or was there another reason?” Besides being a fucking sicko, Savannah thought, but opted against saying out loud. Chloe didn’t need to hear it. 

“Would you believe me if I said she was eating us?” Chloe chuckled bitterly, subconsciously touching her fingers against her lips.  So much of her was gone. So much of her was missing. Most of her life force ripped away from her. A few years ago, Chloe hadn’t even known what that meant, but now she felt it in every muscle ache and stiff movement. No one was going to believe her. The doctors had been slowly trying to characterise all her illness, but they couldn’t work out how so much had gone sideways inside her body in those four years. Chloe winced. “Which I… also accidentally said to someone I thought was part of the paramedic team but turned out was just some rando, so now the news coverage also includes pictures from Hannibal Lecter. So. Oops.”

“I… heard something about that. We didn’t find any charred bones or cooked remains or--” Savannah narrowed her eyes in thought. She had seen so many strange things recently. The reports didn’t make sense, just like her Javier case. Lydia was in her forties, but the evidence of captives being held went back for over fifty years. “I hate that sensationalist crap,” she sighed, then immediately shook her head. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t professional.” She lowered her voice and looked around, as if trying to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard in spite of there not being anyone else in the room. “There are things in this town that don’t make sense. I don’t know how much of what happened outside that house you know about, but… if I told you the things I’d seen, you’d think I was crazy. So when I say you can tell me the truth, I really, really mean it, okay?” 

Chloe did fully shudder at the mental image of Lydia slowly cutting through Sammy’s body like one would a joint of meat, cringing away from the bed in apparent discomfort. “Well, you wouldn’t have,” she agreed quietly. What point was there in telling the truth when the truth was this? But Chloe couldn’t be fucked to work out a half truth that explained it just as well. “Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve spent four years being held captive by an evil fairy who is so beautiful that no piece of art could ever fully capture it which is why we’re always compulsively making pieces of art as she drains away our life force, because that’s what she eats? No, I didn’t think so.” 

Savannah was quiet and sombre for a moment as Chloe explained. She was grateful to be wearing a blazer, because the hair on the backs of her arms stood on end, stomach tightening itself into knots. Yes, she did believe. She’d seen them with her own eyes. Was this what would have happened to her if that beast from the mushroom ring had got her? If Deidre hadn’t stepped in, would she even have made it as long as Chloe? “I think I’ve seen something like the creature you’re describing before,” she admitted, voice low. She’d seen not just the beasts in the forest, but Regan too. Was Regan capable of something like this? Savannah couldn’t believe that. Surely if all humans were different, all fae were different too. “Did she have wings?” 

Chloe had already settled into a distant state, waiting for the gentle dismissal she’d already had from the psychiatrist, the nurses, the doctor. Sometimes we make new realities to process traumatic situations, they said. Especially considering the possibility of drugs.  No one, of course, could decide what drugs, but they were sure there had been some. Which wasn’t… inaccurate. Being away from Lydia was worse than any hangover or any set of withdrawal symptoms. Worse than the basement. She was jarred out of her thoughts by Savannah’s admission. “You have?” Chloe repeated in utter disbelief. “Yeah. Like a beetle. But she was like 5 foot tall, not five inches." She weighed this new information with a frown. “Are you like… the real version of the X-Files?”

Savannah narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the description. Like a beetle. She wasn't exactly familiar with the insect world, but that tracked with what she'd seen of Regan's wings, and, from a distance, the fae that had chased her and Deidre. "Are you asking if I'm Mulder?" she asked with a small laugh. "Not exactly. My superiors don't know about the type of things that come up in my investigations. I have to make it palatable for them. But I believe you, Chloe.” She had continued making notes only for her own benefit, but the details would have to change when she typed it up, She’d have to indicate Chloe was having a reaction to her trauma and of course fairies who kidnap people aren’t real. The medical reports should have her up. It was sad how easy it was to dismiss the truth.  “Do you know where you're going to go after you're discharged? Do you have somewhere to stay?"

“I don’t know, Area 51 could all actually be a fairy cover up instead of an alien conspiracy for all I know.” Chloe chuckled beside himself. “You could be here to Men In Black me with the light pen.” Wouldn’t that be nice? Just… forget the last four years had happened, wake up to a life a mystery agency had already fixed for her. Much easier than the long way around. Remembering all of it and living with it every day for however long she had left. It was terrifying, exhilarating. It was also impossible not to include Lydia in the future her mind held. “Yeah, yeah. My brother’s coming to pick me up in a few days, I’m going home with him. There’s just… well, apparently, the last four years fucked up my body. They’re monitoring some last things, because for a while I kept getting worse.”

“Hmm, nope, don’t have one of those,” Savannah said, her tone even, but a tiny smile barely touching the corners of her mouth; an attempt at comfort. “What I know about them, which is unfortunately not a lot, is that they can do things with their words. That they control you. I can’t begin to understand what happened, but I’ll try and figure out something to write in this report that.. that can make sense to them.” Funny how she didn’t really consider herself a ‘normal’ person any more. She’d seen way too much for that. “Where is home for you?” she asked. 

“You should get one. I think it would make you look cooler. Not that you need much help with that,” Chloe chuckled drily, her spirit not quite in the tease. Savannah made her feel calmer than she had all week, but that really didn’t say much at all. It was a relief, not to have to lie about her experiences to someone in a position to help her, even if she had no idea what Savannah really knew. “Well, uh, good luck with that. My brother should understand, but I don’t know about the rest of my family.” One bridge at a time. When she could feel the unbridled hate of Lydia that she should, then she could think about explaining.  “New Jersey. So quite a distance.”

“Of all the odd things I’ve found, the Men In Black memory wiping pen isn’t one of them, sadly.” It was good that Chloe was trying to laugh, trying to joke, trying to have some semblance of a normal conversation in spite of there being nothing normal about this. Savannah gave Chloe a small nod, reaching into her blazer pocket and pulling out a card with her contact information on it. “I hope you find peace after all this, Chloe. I’m sure we’ll speak again, but call me if you need anything, okay? Even if it’s just to talk about how bad the Game of Thrones finale was.” 

[perspective-series]

Zapped Perspective (2)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Fear, panic, arguments, treating someone like a pet, and feeling helpless.

(Check the reblog for the links to any future chapters)

——————————————————————————————————–

 Roman ran a hand through his hair, beginning to get desperate. The borrower in hand was, of course, no help either as Roman now searched through the house for a third time. It was evident that Logan was no longer here, as he didn’t respond to any of his calls.

“Okay, okay, no need to panic,” Roman spoke aloud, mostly to himself as he headed into the kitchen. “We’ll just...call the shelter. Maybe he ended up there.” Roman glanced down at the borrower in his hand as he grabbed his phone. “Maybe they’ll have room for you there, as well.” After all, Roman wasn’t exactly in the mood to take on another tiny right now.

 “What? No!” Virgil started to panic as he watched the human pick up his phone. “No! You can’t tell anyone about me!” He didn’t care how crazy this guy was, he refused to be shown to the world because of him.

“Hmm? Oh, right, the wild thing.” Roman had almost forgotten with how quiet the borrower had been while he searched. “Don’t worry, the shelter staff are perfectly friendly, I’m sure they’ll take good care of you.”

 “No! You can’t do that. They won’t even know what to do with me!” They’d probably end up selling him to some lab or something. “Please, dude, just accept that Logan left and let me go!”

“No,” Roman said sternly, placing the phone to his ear. “Yes, hi, I’d like to report a missing borrower, have you seen him?”

 Virgil’s eyes widened and he began to shake. No, this stupid human was going to reveal his whole kind!

“He goes by Logan.” Roman’s spirits fell when the receptionist confirmed they hadn’t seen him. “Okay, well, do you know where I might find him? We went to bed last night and this morning when I looked into his enclosure he disappeared and this wild tiny took his place.”

 Wait...what was happening. This human was actually...holding a conversation with the shelter. There were no gasps or yells of amazement. They...They knew exactly what this human was talking about. 

 What was going on?

“Yes, I’ll try that.” Roman sighed, finding their advice to leave out his favorite food a bit juvenile, but Roman was running out of options. “Thank you, yes, please do. Now, ah, about this other one… what’s your policy on dropping off borrowers?”

 Virgil’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he didn’t want to go to this shelter place. “No, please. Don’t take me there. Please.” Virgil turned to begging, not knowing what else to do.

“I- hold on one moment.” Roman put the phone to his shoulder, giving the borrower a sympathetic glance. The poor thing looked so scared, even if he was cute now that he’d stopped angrily yelling so much.

“I promise you, you’ll be okay.” Roman quietly assured him. “They’ll help you find your human or a new human as the case may be.”

 “No! I don’t want a human! I just want to go back home!” Virgil yelled, shaking in the human’s grip. Tears started rolling down his cheeks. “I just want to go back home.” Wherever that was, at this point.

“Ah-” Roman raised the phone to his ear. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.” He quickly hung up the phone, his concern wholly focused on the crying borrower in his hand. Roman shushed him, holding him to his chest as he would do to Logan.

“It’s alright, don’t panic, okay little guy?” Roman rubbed his fingers gently down the borrower’s back. “You’re gonna get home.”

 Virgil flinched away at the fingers. “N-Not if you take me to that shelter or whatever.” Virgil managed to say.

“...okay.” Roman felt his heart go out to the borrower. He had always been a sucker for them. “Okay, look, if it’s bothering you that much, you don’t have to go to the shelter, okay?”

 Virgil let out a sigh of relief and then paused. “...Does that mean you’ll let me go?”

“No no, a little thing like you couldn’t possibly go out on your own.” Roman shook his head. He didn’t even let Logan do that, and this one was clearly deranged. “But, I promise you, I’ll help you find your home.”

 Virgil bit his lip but he supposed that was better than going to that shelter. He was starting to suspect this was all some underground thing. A group of people who had found out about borrowers or something. Though...that didn’t make a load of sense either.

 “I’m on my own all the time.” Virgil decided to say. 

“Wait, you don’t have a forever home yet?” Roman gave him a pitying look, debating in his head. “I mean, I suppose if you aren’t taken we do have room for you to stay here… I’ll have to check with-” Roman paused, once again distracted by the devastating notion that Logan was missing.

 “What? No, I-I can’t stay.” Virgil spoke, panic building up. “I happen to have a forever home already, it’s called none of your business, now let me go.”

“No no no, that’s not how this is going to work,” Roman said sternly. “I can return you to your home, but you’ve got to cooperate with me, are we clear?”

 Virgil ducked his head, tensing at Roman’s tone. “...Fine.” He said, not wanting Roman to get angry again. He could feel the bruise from where Roman had squeezed him before and winced.

“Excellent.” Roman praised, glad they were getting somewhere. “Now, where do you live? Who’s your owner?”

 Virgil grit his teeth. “Like I keep saying. I don’t belong to anyone.” Why couldn’t this human understand that?

“Look, you can either tell me your address or I can just drop you off at the shelter.” Roman reminded him.

 Virgil deflated. “I-I don’t know it,” Virgil admitted. Why would he ever need to know the address of the building he lived in?

“...of course you don’t.” Roman sighed. “Alright, well what do you know?”

 Virgil thought for a moment. “Well...it’s a student building, for a college. And the human who lives there is named Patton Hart.” Virgil said but he didn’t really know much more than that.

“Alright, I guess we’ll start there.” Roman moved over to his desk, setting the borrower down and pulling up his laptop. He typed in the name ‘Patton Hart’, but it yielded no results. The internet could be cruel.

Instead, Roman pulled up pictures of the local university, clicking on the ones of the dorms. He turned the page towards the borrower. “Any of these look familiar?”

 Virgil sighed in relief, glad to finally be put down. He took a few steps away from the human but looked at the laptop when asked. “Uhh, no...it doesn’t.” That was definitely not where he lived.

“Okay, well, what about this?” Roman asked, quickly pulling up the next location.

 Virgil shook his head. “None of this is looking familiar.”

“We’re going to need a new tactic.” Roman frowned. “How did you get here, anyways? Because this is the closest university and I doubt you could even walk that far on your own.”

 “I don’t know,” Virgil said, looking up at the giant but not meeting his eyes. “I went to bed in my own home last night and then just woke up in that dollhouse this morning.”

Roman paused. “You just...woke up there? What? That doesn’t make any sense. And it’s not a dollhouse, it’s a borrower house.”

 “Looks like a dollhouse to me,” Virgil muttered. “And I know it doesn't make sense! That’s why I’m so confused about how I got here!” And it didn’t help when this human kept trying to make him believe everyone knew about borrowers.

“...wait a second.” Roman’s eyes widened in realization. “If you just appeared, and Logan just disappeared, then maybe what we’re dealing with is some sort of dimensional prince and the pauper.”

 Virgil blinked. “...Come again?” Great, this human was even crazier than he thought.

“Well, you’re all freaked out about this borrower secret business, and I've never heard of an actual wild borrower before, so I was assuming you just hit your head and were insane.” Roman shrugged. “But think about it! What if you’re actually from another timeline or something where borrowers haven’t been discovered?”

 “That’s...no, you’re crazy.” Magic didn’t exist, different timelines or whatever didn’t exist. This human was just messing with him.

“Alright, fine.” Roman leaned back in his chair. “Then tell me about your owner, Patton.”

 “Okay, for the last time.” Virgil glared. “Patton isn’t my owner. No one is! He’s my friend.”

“Yes, alright, but what about the other borrowers in your building?” Roman asked. “Do they have owners?”

 Virgil shook his head. “Well, for one, there aren’t any other borrowers in my building. And second of all, no other humans know that a borrower exists.” Virgil crossed his arms. “Why do you insist on forgetting that fact? Or better yet, why do you keep trying to convince me that every human knows about borrowers?!”

“Because they do!” Roman threw his arms up in exasperation. “Do I need to prove this to you? Here, come on.” Roman grabbed Virgil off the table, heading towards the front door.

 Virgil yelped as he was grabbed once more with no warning, pushing against the fingers. And then he saw that the human was heading towards the front door. “No! Stop, you can’t.” 

“I can.” Roman didn’t stop his pace. “I promise you, a borrower is nothing they haven’t seen before.”

 “No, no, no, no, no! Please don’t show me to anyone, you-I-” Virgil was full-on panicking now. He couldn’t be the reason borrowers were discovered and create the world this guy kept going on about. 

“Okay, calm down!” Roman hastily instructed, not wanting to send this poor little guy into an attack. He carefully put on his coat, tucking Virgil into the pocket. “There, you can be all secure while I show you the town, alright?”

 Virgil squirmed in the pocket. He still didn’t like it, but at least the human wasn’t walking around with him in the open. “Fine...but you better not take me out.” He said, despite knowing he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I won’t,” Roman assured him, finding this procedure ridiculous as he finally opened the door.

 Virgil stilled as he heard the door open. He didn’t exactly know what the human’s plan was at this point but he was nervous to find out.

Roman waved at his neighbors, stepping out onto the lawn. He began to point out every piece of evidence he saw, missing a few because to him they were so trivial.

“There’s the little borrower pathway.” Roman pointed near his feet, watching his step. “That woman has a borrower, you can see them peeking out of the carrier.” Several passersby had borrower carriers, actually. Roman should have thought to grab his own since a pocket could be so unsafe. 

 Virgil peeked out at Roman’s words, eyes going wide with complete shock as he took in the sights around him. “But...no, this...this can’t be real…” But it was hard to deny what was right in front of him. Borrowers everywhere, all with a human, most in a cage. The sight alone made Virgil’s heart sink. 

 That parallel dimension business the human had been talking about was starting to make a lot of sense. 

“Just down there is the borrower agency, we can go visit it if you’d like.” Roman glanced down at his pocket. “Unless you’ve seen enough?”

 Virgil nodded, silently slipping back into the pocket, feeling defeated. “Yeah...I’m done.”

Roman returned to the safety of his house, pulling Virgil out to rest in his cupped hands. “Alright, now do you understand? I’m right, aren’t I? Your world isn’t like that at all.”

 Virgil looked down, still trying to comprehend everything. “I...no, it isn’t. Borrowers aren’t pets in m-my world.” It felt weird saying that but he supposed at this point he couldn’t deny it.

“That’s so bizarre.” Roman breathed out. He didn’t like the thought of that world, as he might never have met Logan. “Is it an alternate universe, or are you from the past? Do you have television there?”

 Virgil nodded and again, he never thought he would be asked a question like that. “Yeah, it-it looks like we have the same technology as everything.” Virgil rubbed at his eyes. “This is crazy.” He muttered.

“How many borrowers are in your world, then?” Roman felt as though the floodgate of questions had been opened. “Do you really live in the walls? How do you survive?”

 “I’m not sure how many there are but I survive by borrowing food and such things to use.” Virgil shifted uncomfortably at the question being asked. He was just too afraid at this point to not answer them. Was this human planning on making him a pet too? To replace Logan? He didn’t even know the human’s name.

“But how?” Roman insisted, looking around his apartment. “You don’t have borrower platforms. How do you get around? How do people not notice their stuff going missing?”

 “I...have a hook. And we only take small things that humans wouldn’t miss.” Virgil looked up at the human. “Let me ask you a question, how can you treat a sentient being like some pet?”

“Oh, no no no, you misunderstand.” Roman gave an awkward laugh. “We don’t treat borrowers like ordinary pets; Logan certainly isn’t a dog. No, we just take care of them, and keep them with us.”

 “Yeah and keep them in cages and stuff against their will. Sounds like a pet to me.” Virgil snarked back. He at least wanted Roman to admit that’s how everyone treated borrowers in this world.

“It’s not a cage- well, okay, sometimes it’s a cage,” Roman admitted. “But most of the time it’s a borrower’s house, and they’re perfectly comfortable and very practical.”

 “Uh-huh. Doesn’t matter. You’re keeping them here against their will and that’s wrong.” Virgil crossed his arms. “What? You think Logan is actually happy here?”

“Yes, Logan is perfectly happy here,” Roman assured him, walking further into the house. “I know this all must look frightening from your perspective, but you are blowing this way out of proportion. Borrowers like being companions in our world. They’re well fed and well taken care of- heck, sometimes I wish I was a borrower just to have it that easy.”

 “Right, because being at the complete mercy of a human and having to do whatever they say in fear of punishment sounds like such a great life,” Virgil said bitterly.

“Woah, hold on there.” Roman looked appalled. “I don’t punish Logan.”

 “I find that hard to believe.” Virgil glared at the human. “After all, you punished me, when I tried speaking up earlier.” And he was still worried that was going to happen.

“That’s just because I lost my temper,” Roman admitted, looking slightly ashamed of himself. “You kept talking about Logan is such a terrible manner, and I was stressed about finding him, and you had quite the attitude… but I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.”

 Virgil furrowed his eyebrows. He had expected the human to apologize...but still. “Yeah, well, it only takes one loss of a human temper to end a borrower's life, so my point still stands.” Virgil sneered.

 “Besides…” Virgil looked away. “You can’t tell me, that in a world like this, every human treats borrowers like a ‘companion’ and not a pet or even a toy.”

“Well, no,” Roman confirmed. “But not every human treats other humans like a person, either. Besides, it is a bit hard to resist at times. You guys are just so cute.” Roman emphasized this by ruffling the borrower’s hair.

 Virgil tried pushing the hand away. “You’re just proving my point! I can’t stop you like this and I doubt Logan likes this either!”

“Sorry.” Roman pulled his hand back, forgetting this wasn’t Logan. “And Logan likes this, he just doesn’t admit it.”

 “Did you ever think he doesn’t admit it because he actually has nothing to admit?” Virgil asked, fixing his hair. “But of course you didn’t, all you humans care about is yourself.” Except for Patton, of course.

“That is not true.” Roman insisted. “I care very much about Logan.”

 “Oh, I believe you. I believe you care about Logan like a pet. Certainly not like a fellow human.” Virgil was starting to wonder where this bravery was coming from.

“Well he’s not human, so that wouldn’t make sense, but I’m telling you that you just don’t get it.” Roman shook his head. “It- it’s not all that bad.”

 “Right, cause you know best. Gotcha.” Virgil deadpanned.

“You are insufferable,” Roman muttered, already eager for these borrowers to switch back so he could be back with Logan. Even Logan wasn’t this annoying.

 “Right back’atcha.” Virgil glared. 

[nazario-sayeed]

No one like you (Kamilah x MC)

Summary: Kamilah and Amy reunite after Paris- but Amy ends up saying more than she meant to. 

Word count: Around 2000.

Author's note: I was talking with some friends that it would be fun to see Kamilah's reaction to the Paris threesome, so I thought: why not write it? I used the default name for my MC. English is not my first language, sorry if there are any mistakes. I wrote this quicker than I'm used to so it might be shitty it probably is. 

Rating: I'm saying 18+ to be safe but there's nothing explicit. 

Also, I listened to the song Stars Dance by Selena Gomez while writing this, so it's my suggestion for you guys.  

Tag list:  @nazariortega  @duchess-ash-flame  @lahelalove @carreraleigh @donutsgirl36 @queenkaneko @msjpuddleduck @quinnskelly @flyawayboo @brightpinkpeppercorn @jlpplays1 @desiree-0816 @sibella-plays-choices @embarassingsmartphonegame @mfackenthal @iam-the-fuckin-queen @loversintheshadow27 @sleeping-with-her06 @emisondifields @shreya-mackenzie @galaxyside-0 @gavryllo

"We should probably get some rest now, and at dusk we leave to talk to Dracula" Kamilah said when they arrived at the hotel lobby, like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Lily and I already have rooms, but I'll check you in."

Amy placed a hand on Kamilah's shoulder before she could walk to the receptionist desk.

"Kamilah, maybe you could get only two more rooms? For Jax and Adrian, I mean. We could share, if that's okay with you." Amy suggested, shyly. Although they have been together for months now, they never really had the talk. They knew they cared deeply about each other, but had never put labels or boundaries on their relationship. Kamilah eyed her curiously and smirked, before placing a gentle hand on the other woman's cheek.

"Of course, Amy. I was already going to do that. I've missed you these past days" she leaned in and sweetly kissed her lips, making Amy tremble from head to toe, before walking away to book the rooms. Amy stared dumbfolded and a bit flushed as the vampire elegantly crossed the lobby. She still hadn't gotten used to the power Kamilah had over her- and over pretty much everything and everyone else. Kamilah could make her weak on her knees when she was being her normal self, stoic and determined, but Amy felt like she would melt into a puddle everytime the vampire showed her more tender side. The fact that a woman as amazing as Kamilah could feel this kind of affection towards her made her feel dizzy.

The two women went to the luxurious suite Kamilah got for them after saying goodbye to the rest of the group. As they walked in, Amy's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Woah… Kamilah, this room is incredible!" she said, taking in all the beauty of the place. Everything looked fancy and romantic, and Amy couldn't control her urge to throw herself in the huge bed. She honestly thought it was the most comfortable bed she had ever laid on.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Amy" Kamilah smiled and opened a bottle of wine, pouring it into two glasses. She walked to the bed and sat next to the young woman who had a content smile on her face now, offering her the wine. Their fingers brushed against each other when Kamilah handed her the glass, and Amy felt a warm tingling sensation where they briefly touched. She let out an exhausted sigh.

"After everything that happened in Paris, I feel like this exactly what I need. This bed is so comfortable I can almost forget that less than a day ago I had to fight my way out of a bloodshed" she said, kind of joking, but it backfired. Her mind immediately filled with the images of that crazy night: the Order killing vampires and humans left and right, the strong smell of blood invading her senses, Serafine being dragged away like an animal... But the most traumatic memory of all was Adrian attacking the Order's soldiers like a beast, so changed and taken by fury that she could barely remember he was a person at that point. Something on her face must have given her away, because she felt Kamilah's hand on her arm.

"Are you okay, Amy?" the bloodkeeper still felt surprised when Kamilah used such a gentle tone with her. For the rest of the world, Kamilah was cold, intense, and closed off. But Amy had seen a part of her that she wouldn't show to everyone: a caring, warm and almost loving side.

"I'm trying to be." she took a long sip of her wine before continuing "It's just… One minute, I was having fun with Adrian and Jax on a private lounge and in the next the Order had invaded Serafine's club and it became pure chaos, you know? And not the good kind of chaos. I can't stop thinking about it" she let out in one breath, her voice shaky. Kamilah ran a hand up and down the other woman's arm trying to comfort her; it wasn't much, but Amy would always feel calmer when Kamilah touched her. Her touch was addictive and somehow magical.

"They're gonna pay, Amy. We'll make sure of that. Those people... They're way passed civility. What they've done it's unforgivable. Adrian's reaction was… extreme. But I do get it. In moments like that, it's easy to let the anger go over your head, it's easy to lose control." she said, and Amy could see in her face that was there was a lot on her mind. She looked hurt and angry for a few seconds, but soon her face changed, like she had just realized something. Kamilah turned to Amy with an eyebrow raised.

"You said you were having fun on a private lounge with Adrian and Jax? What were you doing there?" she asked. Oh shit. "Knowing you, I'd imagine you'd like to stay in the middle of the club taking everything in. I've been to Serafine's club before, I know how interesting things can get. And you are a very curious woman, Amy." she said, and Amy's face immediately turned red. Fuck. She didn't even notice she had mentioned the private area. Kamilah eyed her with interest, waiting for her answer.

"Oh… Uhh… We were, huh" she stumbled on her words. She didn't wanna lie to Kamilah. They weren't exclusive or anything, but telling her that she had a threesome with two others council members was an uncomfortable situation to say the very least. She was feeling suddenly shy and could feel her heartbeat quickening. When her eyes met Kamilah's, the vampire seemed almost amused. Like she knew what happened, but wanted Amy to say it. Amy blushed even harder.

"Things got pretty interesting at the lounge too" she admitted, looking down. Kamilah held back a chuckle.

"Really? How interesting?" she teased, smirking.

"Uh… I think you know, Kamilah." she said, avoiding her gaze. Kamilah smiled and put her fingers on Amy's chin, tilting it up so she could look into her eyes.

"Oh, I have an idea, yes. But please, do enlighten me." she told Amy, and the bloodkeeper knew it wasn't a suggestion. Kamilah's firm tone made her want to do everything and anything she told her to.

"We… uh... " she felt her face burning, but Kamilah didn't back down. Amy let out a long breath and blurted out the next words "We had sex, okay?"

Kamilah was enjoying herself way too much. She didn't really mind that Amy kept seeing other people. But she looked adorable all flushed and bothered, and Kamilah couldn't help herself. The fact that Kamilah could feel attracted to one person at all was pleasant enough, but monogamy seemed like a concept destined for failure when it came to humans- their lives were too short and they felt way too much.

"I thought so. Jax or Adrian?"

Amy looked at Kamilah thinking she was teasing, but the vampire seen legitimately curious. Shit. If she could possibly blush harder, she would've.

"Uh, actually… both." Amy admitted and buried her face in her hands, embarrassed. Kamilah's eyes went wild and her jaw fell open.

"Both?!" she couldn't hide the surprise in her voice. She cleared her throat, trying to disguise it. Amy sighed and cautiously removed her hands from her face, looking at Kamilah. Her face was emotionless once again.

"Yeah… I guess we got carried away. The ambience was very suggestive, we had a couple of drinks..." Amy trailed off, trying to explain herself. Kamilah didn't respond so she went on "Are you mad? You know how much I care about you, and we never really said anything about being exclusive, but I don't know what you're thin-"

"No" Kamilah cut her off. Her voice sounded a little more harsh than she wanted. She reached out a place a hand on Amy's, giving it a little squeeze and speaking again, with a more delicate tone "I'm not mad, Amy. I think it's charming that your heart- and apparently other parts of you as well- are open to more than one person." Amy felt herself blushing again but Kamilah was smiling. The vampire pulled Amy to her, and they laid back together on the pillows, Kamilah's arms wrapped around Amy. "I know how limited most humans can be when it comes to relationships and monogamy. But when you've lived as long as I have, you tend to think jealousy is a frivolous emotion."  

"What about you, Kamilah?"

"What about me?"

"Are you also open for other people?" she asked tentatively. She wouldn't mind if Kamilah said yes, but she was kinda hoping she wouldn't. Amy had feelings for Adrian and Jax, yes, but what she felt for Kamilah was completely different. It was so intense, so passionate, so unique. She had fun with the boys and she cared about them, but Kamilah held a special place deep in her heart. If she wanted Amy to stop seeing them, the bloodkeeper would do it in a heartbeat.

"Amy, before you I didn't even know there was still a place for romantic feelings in my life. I thought I had grown out of it. But then you came along and reminded me of what's like to care about someone. I hadn't felt attracted to someone for a long time. Until I met you. You are... something else." Kamilah said tenderly, and kissed the top of her head.

"So… that means you don't have anyone else?" Amy asked, just to be sure, and Kamilah chuckled.

"No, Amy, I don't have anyone else." she confirmed, and then tilted the other woman's head so their eyes met. Amy felt a chill run through her body; Kamilah's gaze was intense, and so was her voice "And even though I don't mind that you are also dating Adrian and Jax, you know I could make you forget both of them in a second, don't you?"

Amy felt hypnotized. The feeling of Kamilah's fingertip on her chin was too much and not enough at all, at the same time. Amy's breath got caught in her throat and her heart started to beat faster inside her chest. She couldn't force her mind to form words; and before the young woman could even blink, Kamilah straddled her hips and gently pushed the collar of Amy's shirt down and placed a kiss on her neck, making her gasp. She moved her mouth to whisper on her ear "And I know that neither of them come even close to me."

Kamilah placed a hand inside one of Amy's thigh, moving it up so they were under her skirt and dangerously close to where Amy wanted her the most. Amy tried to move so she could feel any kind of contact, but Kamilah kept her still with ease. The vampire moved her face so her crimson red eyes were looking directly into Amy's brown ones.

"Kamilah, please..." Amy whispered, dignity nowhere to be found. Kamilah had barely touched her and she was already at her mercy.

"Please what, Amy?" she whispered above Amy's mouth, with a firm tone. Their lips were inches apart.

"Please, touch me" Amy begged, desperate to feel what only Kamilah could give her.

"Good girl" Kamilah smirked before leaning down to hungrily kiss her. She let her hand move to between Amy's leg, making her moan into the vampire's mouth and melt into her touch.

It didn't take look until Amy was screaming Kamilah's name, overtaken with pleasure and lost in Kamilah's spell. She used her hands and mouth to remind Amy that no one else could make her feel like she did.

Many hours later, Amy felt worn out. Her legs were shaking and she felt like she wouldn't be able to walk for at least a week. She was panting, flushed and breathless by Kamilah's side. The vampire had a content smirk on her face, but she had barely broken a sweat- and it was more than enough to turn Amy into a euphoric mess.

Her heart was pounding inside her chest and she couldn't bring herself to form a coherent sentence. But there was one thing on her mind: Jax and Adrian who? 

[frombeginingtoend]

Program and Control - Stefan Butler

Summary: Graphic artist (y/n)(l/n) has worked on numerous games with Colin Ritman. When Stefan comes in to present Bandersnatch, (y/n) helps him complete the less story oriented parts of his game.

Notes/Warnings: slow burn-ish, language

Word Count: 3k

---

July 9th, 1984

Your alarm screeched, jolting you from a peaceful slumber. A heavy groan left your chest as you realized you needed to work. You were exhausted, and you wanted an extra ten minutes that you could rarely indulge in.

Sleep In | Get Up

You clicked the snooze button, eyes slipping closed and allowing those prized extra minutes. However, all good things must come to an end. In this case, a very loud end.

You took a deep breath as you sat up, massaging the back of your neck. You were not ready to go into work. Mainly you just didn't want to deal with Mohan, but what must be done, must be done.

Still bleary-eyed, you searched through the closet for something that matched.

A dissatisfied sneer crossed your face when you looked at your reflection. "Yeah, that's about as good as it's gonna get." A small smiled pulled at the edges of your chapped lips as you adjusted your dad's old bomber jacket. You looked back at the clock to realize half an hour had already passed. "Shit!" If you didn't hurry you'd miss the bus.

You slammed into the walls on your way out, hopping into your shoes as you left the house. Luckily they didn't have laces, and you could run without much difficulty. You got to the bus stop without breaking anything or twisting your ankle, which was surprising based on your clumsy history with those very shoes.

Entering TuckerSoft drained every stray remnant of adrenaline in your blood.

"Hey, Colleen," you called, waving at the receptionist. She said hi back, an undertone of distaste in her voice. You have no clue why she didn't like you, but she seemed to have decided that by the first time you met.

You flopped into your chair as quickly as you could, not wanting to be on your feet anymore.

"You're late," Colin commented, keeping his eyes on his screen, probably scrutinizing his code, trying to weed out a flaw. "And who, exactly, are you trying to impress with that number?" He peered around his computer, looking at you over the rims of his glasses.

You looked at the button down and tight slacks you picked out this morning. "Am I not allowed to dress nicely for myself?"

"I'll never understand you," Colin murmured under his breath as he turned back to his code, to which you rolled your eyes and smirked.

While getting your supplies from your desk to continue the mock-ups for the game Colin was working on, you heard your names being mentioned. Across the room was Mohan and a young looking man who fidgeted when he looked over at you.

You smiled and waved before turning back to your work.

"Looks like you've got a fan," you casually mentioned to Colin. You put on your headphones and played a cassette, drowning out the noises of everyone around you.

A tap on your shoulder made you jerk, scratching a line of graphite across your current project. You slid the headphones off with a heavy sigh. "What is it, Ritman?"

"You coming with?"

"No, I'm- I need to get this done." You gestured to the concepts for his newest game. "Fill me in if he gets the job. I'll probably be forced to work on his game."

"Will do." Colin pat you on the back before following the other two into the conference room.

You watched as the group of three walked into the conference room. The kid paused for a moment, looking in your direction. You waved once more, shot him a double thumbs up, and mouthed good luck.

His chest rose with a heavy breath before he nodded and continued through the doors.

Maybe twenty minutes passed before the three men exited the conference room.

"(Y/n)," Mohan called, "I'm sure you'll be glad to know we're picking up Stefan's game! You'll head the art department on it."

"Head it?"

"Well, if we get any other artists on it, yeah, but you're in charge. Just follow Stefan's lead."

You were left nodding like a broken animatronic from It's A Small World, knowing that you shouldn't have expected anything more from Mohan Thakur.

The next few months felt like a blur. You felt as if everything was going more and more downhill as the project progressed. You worried not only for yourself, but for Stefan as well, whom you ended up building a bond with.

He started inviting you over after work, but it tended to revolve around the game rather than personal matters. You wouldn't be opposed to admitting you had a crush on him. He had divulged his thoughts to you on many occasions. You even helped him remember to take his medication. After spending months together, it felt natural to connect like that.

But that was just one part of it.

All the heads working on Bandersnatch made the game feel like more of a clusterfuck than a branching story. You ended up making thirty different final images for it. All of them were shot down by the team until the last one, which you hated.

When the review came out, you waited anxiously with Stefan for at least some good response. However, that's not what happened. The coconut-headed son of a bitch gave the game two and a half stars.

You squeezed Stefan's hand, hoping to keep him calm.

"I need to try again."

"Stefan, what do you-"

"I need to try again."

He stormed off to his bedroom, leaving you in the living room with his dad.

July 9th, 1984

Your alarm screeched, and a pit grew in your stomach. Something felt off today. You'd had this feeling before, and for some reason the whole day felt like it had already passed.

Sleep In | Get Up

You were exhausted, and you wanted an extra ten minutes that you could rarely indulge in, but a pit in your stomach urged you to get up.

You took a deep breath as you sat up, massaging the back of your neck. You were not ready to go into work. Mainly, you just didn't want to deal with Mohan, but what must be done, must be done.

Still bleary-eyed, you searched the closet for something that matched.

Giving the outfit a once over in the mirror, you yawned. "That's 'bout as good as it's gonna get." You pulled at the edges of the bomber jacket, reminded of your late father. A reminiscent smile pulled at the corners of your lips.

You didn't need to rush this morning, so you decided to walk to work. Normally you waited for the bus, which got you there only two minutes before you were supposed to be, but you could likely walk there and be earlier. As a matter of fact, you were even able to stop and get coffee.

You entered the building without much of a care. You enjoyed your job, but work is work. Really, you didn't want to deal with Mohan's demands. Every once in a while it seemed he forgot that you were an artist and not an assistant.

You got into the elevator, deciding the normal route up the stairs would be too long for you to handle the hot cups in your hands. As the doors close you hear someone shout, "Wait, hold the door!"

Hold the Elevator | Let the Doors Close

Your foot shot out without you having to think about it. The sensor stopped the doors half way through their journey and pushed them back.

"Thank you," the young man said, shifting his backpack and staring at the ground. You smiled when you realized who this might be.

"Are you Stefan? Stefan Butler?"

His head shot up, mop of curly hair bouncing. "Uh, yeah. How do- how do you know me?"

"Right, sorry. I'm (y/n). I work at TuckerSoft. I design concept and promotional art. Mister Thakur told me you'd be in to demo." You rose both your coffee laden hands. "I'd shake your hand, but..." you nodded to the coffee, and he smiled, a little blush creeping to his cheeks.

"You did the art for Metl Hedd, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." Your chest swelled with pride at his acknowledgment. No one seemed to care about your role in the games the great Colin Ritman created.

"Hey hey! You must be, uhh, Steven." Mohan called when the elevator doors opened.

"Stefan," you corrected, passing both men to get to your desk.

"It's alright, really. I get it all the time," you heard Stefan assure.

"Colin," you sat on his desk, "I have a gift." He looked away from his monitor, raising his eyebrows. He didn't say anything, just left it open for you to speak. "Coffee: black, three sugars."

"Wonderful, thank you, (y/n)." He turned back to his game, coffee already pressed to his lips. "You look nice today," he commented offhandedly.

"Since when do you care about what I look like?" you questioned with a chuckle.

"Since I realized you care."

You were taken by surprise. You never took Colin for the type of guy to care very deeply for people, but then again, he had Kitty and Pearl. He kept them out of the limelight, safe, treasured them, and made sure they both knew how much he cared about them. You supposed, maybe, he could care about his desk partner and friend like a sibling.

"Colin! I'd like you to meet Stefan..." Mohan looked at the aforementioned boy for his last name, which was murmured for him to repeat. "Butler."

Colin offered the two to look at what he was working on: Nohzdyve, but seconds into the demonstration, it crashed.

"What was that?" Mohan asked.

"Eyeball sprites overshot the video memory," Stefan quickly answered.

"How did you know that?" Colin gave Stefan, who merely shrugged, a suspicious glance.

"Anyway, you have a game for us. Let's go." Mohan lead the men to the conference room. Colin stopped before closing the door, gesturing for you to come with. You gestured to the graphite drawings, but Colin gave you a disapproving look. You hustled to get there, recieving a pat on the shoulder when you passed Colin.

Stefan gave a short demo, very compelling and interesting. A choose your own adventure with given choices that interwove to create one massive story. Just like the original book.

"Don't worship him," you bartered. "He's the thief of destiny."

"You've read Jerome F. Davies?"

"Of course, he was a genius." You shared a smile.

"Didn't he go bonkers and cut his wife's head off?" Mohan asked.

"People do tend to focus on that, yes," Colin replied. However, Mohan didn't seem to care as he snatched the controller out of Stefan's hands and selected an option. The screen went blank.

"What's with that?"

"Well, I haven't programmed that path yet."

"So there's gonna be multiple paths?" Mohan asked.

"It's... going to be like the book." Stefan almost seemed confused as to how oblivious Thakur appeared.

"Amazing. When can you start?"

"You... you mean you're interested?"

"Yeah! Write it here! We can put together a small team just for you, and if course Colin will be here. What do you say?"

Stefan was silent, a huge smile across his face as he took in the offer. "No," he said cheerily. "I mean yes. I mean..." he took a deep breath, "I just think that I need to work on it alone, y'know. It's just, I've got it all in my head, and I feel like, if I have more people working on it, it'll get all... stressy."

Mohan looked irritated, but understanding. He'd worked with Colin long enough to understand a creative genius doesn't bode well in groups. He accepted the offer with the exception that it be finished by November eighteenth.

Before you were able to leave the conference room, Mister Thakur stopped you.

"I want you working on the artwork for Bandersnatch. Are you up for the job?"

You really didn't want to take on the additional game, but you knew it would mean a raise, and you did feel some strange form of obligation to Stefan. Still, the work load of two games- working with two separate minds- was going to be a heavy burden. You wanted to decline the offer but

Accept | Decline

You couldn't. "Of course, Mister Thakur."

November, 1984

You stared at the pages of drawings. Tears stung your eyes, throat tight, and screams being swallowed by your stubbornness. Your jaw ached from grinding it together so much, and your hands cramped from their hours of exercise. The next stroke on the paper broke the graphite tip of a freshly sharpened pencil.

You threw it down onto the desk, head falling into your hands. Tears finally slipped between your tightly clenched eyelids. Hair tugged against your scalp, pulled by your fists. No feelings other than anger pulsed through your veins.

Yell | Break Something

A guttural growl left your throat as you bolted to your feet. The backs of your knees collided with the chair, sending it tumbling to the ground with a loud clatter. Chest heaving,

It didn't take long for you to gather your things and head to Stefan's. He told you his address in case you ever needed to stop by for consultation with the artwork.

You would admit that showing up at his door in the middle of the night made you feel a bit awkward. You'd been here a few times before, for the original consultation for the cover work and other times to give him company. He showed you some of the sketches he made himself as well as the sprites and art from Davies himself.

Each time you came over, sitting in his living room, at the kitchen table, or on his bed, you found yourself growing more and more attached. Standing in front of the red door now was making you nervous. You had never showed up uninvited before.

You knocked, hoping he wasn't in the bathroom or so into what he was doing that he couldn't hear you.

When the door swung open, it wasn't Stefan.

"I'm sorry. Is Stetan Butler here?"

"Yeah, I'm his dad. Do you need me to get him for you?" Stefan's father asked, gesturing an extended thumb behind him.

"Actually, would I be able to come in? I have a few questions about his game that could help me finish the art."

"So, you're the artist he's always going on about! Come in, come in. Stefan's room is upstairs. I'll show you."

"Oh! Actually, I-I know where it is, but thank you."

You made your way up the stairs, quiet and very conscious of Stefan's father watching you with incredulous eyes.

His door opened with a soft creak, alerting him but not giving him a reason to turn around.

"I don't need any tea, dad."

"Good, I didn't bring any." You took a seat at the end of his bed.

Stefan could have broken his neck with the speed his head spun to face you. "(Y/n)! What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood. Figured I'd stop in to check on you, and," you gestured to the scattered papers and his disheveled state, "it looks like you've been at it for a while, Stefan. Maybe you should take a break."

"No, I-I need to finish this last bit. I have to finish this route."

"That route's gonna turn into three, then five, then eight. You need a break. Just for tonight. Get some sleep. I'll stay here, make you breakfast in the morning." You stood from his bed, your arms wrapped around yourself. Stefan's gaze fell to the keyboard as he took deep breaths. Was he trying to calm himself down?

"Why are you doing this?" His eyes, like his hands, clenched shut. "Why won't you just leave me alone and let me work?"

Reason | Let Him Work

"Because I'm worried, Stefan. We may have only met a few months ago, but I care about you. I'm scared that if I don't force you to stop, you're going to run yourself into the ground."

"I have to! If I don't spend all my time on this it will never get done, and then we wont be able to release it. I'll have wasted all of this time with noth-"

"Stefan, look at me." He kept rambling. "Stefan." You turned his chair toward you, one hand above his shoulder, the other on the arm of the chair. Your faces were now mere inches apart. That jittery feeling in your chest came back as you met his green gaze. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed down his nerves.

Your view drifted from his large pupils to his pink lips, warm breath ghosting his skin. After a slight hitch in your breath, you leaned in to capture his lips with your own.

His hands hovered over your hips before settling and roaming your back. Subconsciously, your own hands migrated to his jaw, and your legs situated on either side of his. You tugged on the dark curls at the base of Stefan's skull, eliciting a groan. His lips followed yours as you pulled away, greedy and yearning for your touch.

"What are we doing?" you whispered.

"I don't know, but it feels right. This is the only choice I've made in the last six months that feels so right." He stroked a thumb across your cheek. His mind was entirely enamored by you. You: gentle and caring, intoxicating, unique, his lapse from the confused, garbled darkness of his head. Of all the things to get lost in, you were by far the best.

"Why don't you take a break."

Stefan nodded and muttered, "yeah, okay." He let you pull him from the desk chair. He smiled when you pulled back the sheets of his bed, clearly meant for one person, and positioned yourself to cuddle with him. He pressed his back snug against your chest, letting you wrap an arm around his waist. His eyes slid closed just as you pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. He drifted to sleep with a smile on his lips.

[queen-peck-neck]

Sweetie, Lets Ride: Chapter 2: The Studio

Soo I finished chapter two today! :D

I hope you all enjoy!

Chap 1 / Chap 2 [You’re here] / ?

The fic is under read more!

Summary: Hat kid and Lady winter enter the studio. To see dj grooves and the conductor working hard on the film. Of course will the vampire lass get the role? 

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

The child and the vampire woman entered the studio. Immediately cool air from the ac hit them, the atmosphere was well it’s not really tense but everyone seemed to be quite busy. 

“Stay here!” hat kid said to lady winter as she walks over to the receptionist. Of course the vampire woman complied as she waited for hat kid to finish talking to the receptionist. The lass didn’t mind this gave her some time to look around. After all, it's been a while since the lass has actually been to the studio. Lady winter was quite busy at home taking care of the little ones and at work trying to tend the bar so she hasn’t really been able to stop by the studio. She glances up at the posters, impressed with how well made they are. Winter recognized a few of them such as “Murder on the Owl Express” and “Train Rush”. 

“He’s always works so hard on his movies, I wonder if he’s going to do the same for this collab film ...oh what am I saying of course he  will, he always does” lady winter thought to herself letting out a quiet little chuckle. She then looks over at the other side of the studio to which she assumes it’s dj groove’s side. The posters are also big and well made like the posters on her husband's side. She did recognize one of the films, “The Big Parade” is what the poster said. Like the other posters it has her little hat niece on there as well. The lady may not have seen the film herself but hat kid was telling her all about it and how much fun she was having. Talking about all the colorful confetti all around her, shiny disco balls, and the fun music. The only complaint the child told her was the whole fireworks ordeal and the fact the owl band would sometimes get in her way. 

Before the lass can form another thought she heard a loud bang throughout the studio. This made her jump and clutch her umbrella yet again then she turns her head in the direction of the noise.

“I TOLD YE, HE AIN’T A GOOD ACTORRR YE BAFOON!!” the owl shouted 

“You think I don't know that darling? Where can we find our lead actor at a time like this?! We don’t have a lot of options.” the flashy penguin sighed. 

The hatted child skips right over to the two directors, with a smile on her face she greeted them with a simple “Hiya!” 

This caught the directors attention. 

“Ah hello lassie” 

“Darling!! How are you? It’s been a while!” 

The child only giggled “I’m good! But I brought a friend with me today!” 

Conductor’s feathers on his head perked up while Dj Grooves raises an eyebrow. They were kinda curious on who this friend hat kid was talking about. It’s not often hat kid brings a friend along other then bow kid. 

“Who is this err friend of yours darling?” the penguin asked. Hat kids eyes only light up when she points at lady winter. The two directors looks and much to their surprise it’s the bartender of shady hallow. 

“OH!! LASSIE!!” conductor exclaimed with a smile on his face. Dj grooves was quite shocked seeing her around. He is aware conductor has a wife but he never saw her around himself, mostly because she avoids him but grooves didn’t know that. 

“Soo this is the wife you ramble about darling?” he asked the conductor. Of course the owl lad fluffs up and blushes lightly. 

“O-of course it is peck neck!!” he stammered, looking away. 

Oh dj grooves is so going to enjoy teasing the conductor about this. While the two were talking Lady winter walks over to them, standing next to the conductor’s side. 

“Well hello to you to!” she cooed. Then she waves at the others with a warm smile. 

Conductor looks up at her, “So uhhh what are ye doin’ here lassie? Did the hat lass drag ye along again?” he asks.

Lady winter only giggles a bit “Well I guess you can say that, Though it was willingly. I am quite curious about this new collab film you’re working on!” 

Of course the collab film, the directors almost forgot, Hat kid was looking at everyone. 

Dj grooves sighed, “Yes the collab film...We aren’t even sure if we are going to be able to do it if we don’t find ourselves an actor…” 

“Aye yes...We can’t seem tae find ourselves and actor for tae lead role, I mean we are tryin’ but all tae actors we got tae work with are so darn useless” conductor added.

Lady winter was of course concerned, but of course the movie making business was never the easiest thing around. It always has some sort of challenge to deal with. 

“I’m guessin’ you’re all struggling trying to find someone for the lead role huh..” lady winter said softly. The directors nod not really sure what to say. It looks like they seem to be a little embarrassed. They never really had an issue like this before and they might get desperate if this keeps up. Meanwhile hat kid was listening in on the conversation, thinking about what she can do to help her friends. The child didn’t like seeing her friends upset even though one of them did try to kill her for the time piece. But she forgives them, The time pieces can mess up one's morals. Anyway the time pieces isn’t the child's concern right now. But that’s when an idea hit her. Conductor notices the expression on her face. 

“Aye wot is it lass?” he asks.

Oh hat kid was so delighted that he asked “Why don’t you have Miss winter play a role in your film! She acted in your films before so why can’t she help in this film!?” she said with excitement in her voice.

Lady winter’s ears perk up, as her eyes widen a bit. She was shocked that the child suggested that, her?! Play a role in the collab film? It’s not that she minds but she’s so used to working in some of the conductor’s movies, she isn’t quite sure what dj grooves would be like. 

“Me?” she asked with confusion in her voice, she knew conductor wanted her to play a part in this film but she assumed it was a smaller part not the lead role. 

The directors looked at each other for a moment. Silence was in the room for a few moments until conductor broke the silence by saying “I think it’ll be a grreat idea! Me dear rose has played some roles in me movies before! I can’t see why she ca-” he couldn’t finish his thought before dj grooves cut him off

“Darling, It’s a great idea and all but how do we know she’ll actually do well? No offense darling but I haven’t worked with her before.” 

Lady winter understood why he would think that. “Well, I don’t blame you for feelin’ that way mr. grooves but, I’ll make sure I won’t be difficult to work with. Honest!” the lass added. 

Conductor was trying his best to hold his tongue, he didn’t want to explode in anger in front of his wife. How dare grooves assume that she wouldn’t do well?! But he soon calmed down seeing lady winter is talking in the calm voice she has. 

Dj grooves felt a little bad for assuming such a thing but can you blame him? He’s never worked with her, maybe he’ll give her a chance after all everyone deserves a chance, don't they?

“Oh darling I didn’t mean to make you think like that...But hmm before I’ll consider having you the lead role, perhaps can you read a line from a script we have? Think of this as a test.”

A test? Well reading from a script shouldn’t be to hard right?

Lady winter only nodded in response. 

“Aye don’t be testin’ her! Ye peck neck” conductor snapped 

The vampire lass places her hand on his shoulder, “Dear it’s alright I promise, it’s not that big of a deal” she spoke softly. This made conductor calm down a little bit, of course, he still didn’t like the idea of dj peck neck testing her. While this was all going down a moon penguin handed dj grooves the script for the movie. 

“Well here it is darling” the penguin said while handing the vampire the movie script. “Just read a line from there and we should be good.” he added. 

Lady winter understood, If it gets him to trust her even a little bit then so be it. The vampire’s eyes glanced at the script, she spots the title of the movie. “Sweetie, Let's Ride” it was called. Well it sounded interesting and made her curious on what the movie was about. But the lass is sure she will figure that out later.

While reading over the lines she clears her throat “In all the world you'll never find a love as true as mine!~" she said, her voice filled with emotion as if she were saying that to her own lover. 

Dj grooves was shocked over how well she said, “Darling, darling that was spectacular!!!” he said enthusiastically. Conductor seemed a little smug and prideful, after all his lover did just prove dj grooves that she is able to act. 

Hat kid clapped and giggled with glee, Lady winter felt good knowing she did well. She doesn’t often feel confident in herself so she was quite happy over everyone who seemed to enjoy her short performance. 

“Oh gosh thank you” lady winter said. “Well you’re perfect for the lead role darling! How about you come back next week to start working on the film, in the meantime you can read your lines and memorize them.” DJ grooves said to the vamp. She only nodded in acknowledgement. I mean it would make sense for her to practice those lines. The lass is going to need all the practice in the world. Hat kid wasn’t sure what to say, she was really happy for her auntie to get the part of the film. So she walks right over next to her. 

“Congrats on getting the part, i’m sure you’re going to do great!!” hat kid spoke cheerfully. Lady winter chuckled and smiled again gently patting the top of her hat.

Conductor realized something, he cleared his throat to get lady winter’s attention.

The vampire lass looks at him “yes dear?” 

“Sorry tae ruin tae moment lassie but err do ye know how to play the violin? It’s wot tae hero uses as a sorta weapon...it’s a musical western heh.” he said nervously 

Lady winter shook her head “No but uhh...I know someone who can teach me, perhaps I can have him help me while I practice my lines.” the lass responded.

Conductor’s face lit up and was relieved that she knew someone who can help her. “Oh that would be wonderful lassie!!”

“Uhh we should probably check on the owls and penguins darling...and inform them on the news” dj grooves looked at conductor. The old owl only nodded then he got up on his tiptoes just to smooch his wife on the cheek. 

“Aye lass sorry to cut this short but I must get goin’” 

Lady winter giggled then returned the smooch right onto his beak “no you’re fine dear, just take care of yourself for me alright?” he nodded with a smile on his face, the blush is back on his cheeks after she gave him a smooch. Dj grooves already started walking back to the other room and when conductor noticed he was leaving without him. He ran to catch up to the flashy penguin. 

“HEY WAIT UP WILL YE?!” he shouted. 

Hat kid only shook her head and headed over to the studio doors to leave, Lady winter following closely behind her.

“Sooo who is this person who is going to teach you the violin?” the child asked out of curiosity. 

“Hm? Oh none other than my dear twin seth.” the vamp responded.

The two left the studio, although the child isn’t too sure on who seth is seeing she only heard about him, she is excited to see this twin her auntie mentions from time to time. Hopefully he can help them out with the new film, they only have a few weeks to prepare while the studio sets up the scenes and make the props.

They can just hope right? It’s never an easy thing to learn an instrument in such a short amount of time.

[mbergansmile]

Worst Of You ( Tom Holland AU)

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT GOING TO INCLUDE ANY SMUT.  I also apologise for misspelling or if I've misused grammar etc. 

Summary: Mr Holland is one of Englands many young bachelors. He is the current owner of the Family business that is Holland Enterprises. Y/N was looking for a job when a anons popped up in the morning papers. She was intrigued by the idea of working for a multimillionaire. She applied for the job and got. What would happen when Y/N steps a foot inside of Mr Holland’s life?

word count: 2024 

Playlist

So give me your worst excuses, any reason to stay

Give me your lips, they taste of her, I'll kiss them again

i’d rather you walk all over me than walk away

Give me the worst of you

Y/N stood outside of Holland enterprises. She was holding her breath, nervous to what was to come.

Once she steps inside that building everything is going to change. Y/N looks around to see if their might be anyone else who’s freeing out. It doesn’t look like it, she was the only one. So she thought until a Raven haired female walks up to her. She has a huge smile on her face and put her hand out. Y/N takes out the left headphone and looks up at the unfamiliar face.

“Uhh, do I know you?” She asks, you never know who you might piss off. The girl chuckles and brings Y/N into a hug.

“No but you will. Y/N right?” Y/N nodded, still not sure weather or not she should run. Can’t say the thought haven’t crossed her mind. 

“How exactly do you know my name?” The mysterious girl grabs Y/N ’s arm and starts to walk to the entrance.

“I’m Tabitha, I will be your first day guide”

“My first……” Y/N stops herself immediately understanding what’s going on.

“Yeah, and we pretty much need to hurry , Mr holland does not like to be kept waiting” 

They both walk into the warm building. When you enter the building you will be greeted with a wooden smell. The lobby looked like a 6 star hotel lobby (is those even existed). There was some sort of water fountain in the middle of the room. The ceiling was covered in vintage victorian painting. There were business men running around in black or grey suit and tie’s. Everything seemed so impeccable, it was almost to hard to comprehend. Yanking Y/N out of her mental notes, Tabitha dragged her to the reception.

“Hey, Janice what’s up. How are the cats ?” Tabitha said, Janice didn’t looks as amused as her. Janice was the receptionist who looks like she could be in her late 40’s.

“Miss Williams, it's always a pleasure having you bother me” Janice keeps her eyes on the computer. Not even bothering to look up.

“Well, today is a special day Janice, Mr Holland has a new assistant” Tabitha explained. Janice looks up at Y/N before looking back at Tabitha. They both started chattering. 

Y/N of course could not hear anything, she was to busy watching Mr Holland enter the building. He look troubled almost worried about something. He had a coffee stain on his suit ,walking in distress he was trying to get rid of it with a napkin. He looked up and gave Y/N a stern look. Her eyes follow him until he's out of sight.

"Y/N , hello you there" Tabitha waved a hand in front of Y/N. Y/N looks at Tabitha with a smile.

"He's a real beauty isn't he " Tabitha hands Y/N the office keys, and her staff id.

"Uh" Y/N asked as the walked down the hallway.

"Mr Holland, I saw you starring at him" Y/N's cheeks started to go red of embarrassment. Right now she wanted to be at home with her dog and Netflix.

Tabitha spent the next few minuets showing Y/N around, they are standing in front of a huge wooden door. The door leads to Mr Holland's office. Mr Holland was currently writing letters of recommendations to his interns.

"I heard once , that he fired on of his interns for not closing his door" Tabitha says, intimidation ran through Y/N 's mind.                                                           

    They opened the door and stepped inside. As stated earlier Mr Holland sat by his desk writing his letters.

"What have I said about opening the door without permission" He spat? Both of the girl stood still, not even moving a muscle. He looks up once he realises he won't get an answer.

" Who the hell are you ?" Even though he was speaking to the both of them he only looked at Y/N.

" Uh, sir they instructed me to show your new assistant to your office" Tabitha speaks up. Mr Holland gives away small ' Humf ' before locking eyes with Y/N who was still silent.

" She mute or something?" he asks and Y/N scoffs.

" Well, then, you've delivered her, you may leave now " Mr Holland said . Tabitha hugs Y/N goodbye before walking out and closing the door.                   

Y/N let's out a sign and walks over to the table where Mr Holland is sitting.  

"Sit" he orders and she does as she's told. Y/N looks around the office. The first things her eye spots in how big the office actually is. It's the size of a 1800s ballroom. Most of the walls were glass except this one are where there was a wooden wall, a meter high book shelf stood in front of it. His desk was medium sized mahogany wood. He didn't have much on his desk. The few things he did have was a built-in lamp , his coffee cup, some document and a photo of him and some woman. The woman looked like might have been around Y/N age, she might've even been older.

Behind the chair Y/N was sitting in there was a small grey 'cozy corner' sofa. The office would've been homier if she wasn't to distracted being afraid.

"Tell me , Miss..." Mr Holland paused and looked up at Y/N for name confirmation.

" Oh Miss Y/L/N "

"Well how come you wanted to work here?" Mr Holland goes back to his letters, not even bothered to look at the person he was talking to. Y/N cleared her voice , not sure what she should answer exactly.

“Yeah well, I saw the help wanted anons in the morning paper. figured , why not” Rubbing her hands against her thigh nervously. Y/N doesn’t get easily intimidated, but there was something about Mr Holland that made her nervous. He didn’t say ask her anything else.

“I suppose you know where your station is” Mr Holland said.

Y/N shakes her head and looks down at her feet. Mr Holland sights.

“Right outside those door, there’s a desk. That is where you’ll spend most of your time” He still wasn’t looking at her. Y/N turned her heal and walked out.

 “So what , he barley paid any attention you whatsoever?” Tabitha asked. Y/N were on a twenty minuet break and had found Tabitha one her way out. The went to get coffee and went for a walk.

“Nope” Y/N answers. She presses her hands against the mug to warm her hands in the cold Autumn weather. Tabitha doesn’t ask anymore questions about Mr Holland. She came to the conclusion than it makes Y/N uncomfortable. They walk for a few more minuets when Tabitha spots the clock.

“Hey, when were you supposed to be back?”

“Holy shit I’m late” Y/N runs over to office. What if he fires her, what is he has to find another job that pays 80 dollars an hour. She enter’s the building and presses her id again the scanner. Y/n Speed-walked  over to the office.  All she could think about was how disappointed her mother would be if she got fired on her first day. She carefully opens the wooden door. Mr Holland hadn’t moved, he didn’t move. When Y/N entered the room he barley flinched or looked to see who it was. It’s almost like she was invisible to him.

“i called on you” he says. Y/N fiddles with her fingers, she doesn’t want to look him in the eyes. “i’m sorry” she whispered. Mr Holland stood up and walked over to Y/N, he stopped only inches away.

“i’m sorry , I couldn’t hear you” He moves in closer.

“ Uh, i’m sorry” Y/N raises her voice slightly and steps back a little. Mr Holland finds it cute how intimidating she finds him. His chuckle has a  wicked tone. Mr Holland steps away from Y/N and walks back to his seat.

“ 2 hours “ He said.

“ 2 hours?” Y/N had no idea what he meant by two hours.

“You’ll stay 2 extra hours today as your punishment” he explains. Y/N doesn’t say anything, she walks back to her desk and closes the door behind her.           

-few hours later-                                                                                                  

“Miss y/l/n , could you please come in here” Y/N stands up and walked over to Mr Holland. 

“yes, how may I be of your assistants?”  

“Could you please cancel dinner with my mother I’ll be stuck here for a while, oh and get me some coffee?” Even if he used words like ‘please’ he still sounded unbothered and closed off. You could tell but the mountain of papers he was burring himself in. Tabitha told Y/n that Mr Holland rarely leaves his office unless it is to go see his wife. Which she assumes was the woman in the photograph. It’s sad actually, how he spends most of his time working instead of being out with friends. Who knows maybe he just doesn’t have any friends.

“well, stop starring and do as asked” He said and Y/n jumped. She nodded and walked back out.                                                                                            

Meanwhile Mr Holland was sitting behind his desk doing anything but work. He was on the phone with his best mate Harrison.

“Haz, there must be something we could do”

“sorry Tom nothing you can do, unless there’s a way for you to scratch up the money” Harrison informed his friend. In frustration Tom slammed his fist into his desk, in that moment Y/N appears with a cup of coffee in her hand. Tom looked at her, noticing little things he hadn’t noticed before. Like the way her hair lands perfectly on her shoulders.The way she bite the inside of her lips when she’s nervous. The was she stood there even affected him. She was beautiful there was no doubt about that. Something about her innocents that made him want her even more.  

“Haz, I'll  have to call you back” Tom hangs up on Harrison.

 He places both of his palms on the desk and look at Y/N. He walks over to her again, standing as close to her as he did before. Like earlier Y/N moves back, but this time Tom stops her before she could.

“Tell me, is anyone special in your life” Tom asks her, Y/N blushes, shakes her head in response. Y/N hadn’t been dating for a long time. she’s been so busy with family and friends that relationships seemed out of the question.

“No one” he whispered and moved in closed.

“i-i should get back to my desk” She says and lightly shoves Tom out of the way. But before she leaves Tom grabs her by the wrist and slams his lips against hers. He places his arm around her waist and presses her body against his. They stood in that position in what felt like forever.

Y/n brakes way from the kiss and looks everywhere but into Tom’s brown eyes.

“i have to go”

“y/n” Tom said , still having her body closely pressed against his. She didn’t say anything but Tom knew she was listening.                                                                

“ No one can know “ 

A/N 

I might post a second part because wow I just have so much for this story. Also I'm sorry for the cheesy- ness if this story and how bad it is lool . ok by now 

@hollandroos

[liloscreativeadventures]

Take Me Home (Barry Allen x Reader) Pt. 2

Pairing: Barry Allen x Reader

Author’s Note: I seriously apologize that this took me forever to get this done. I’ve had a rough past few months and just recently found some inspiration to get this done. I hope that you all enjoy it. I didn’t get to tag everyone because I wasn’t sure if I should tag those who liked the first part. If you want to be tagged in this series, let me know! I’ll be glad to tag you! Enjoy! 

Summary: Nine months ago, Y/N’s life was rocked by the decision of someone who she thought she would marry and spend the rest of her life with. But what happens when nine months later, she ends up with an unexpected guest returning back into her life.

[Part 1]

~A few months later~

We found her

I’m falling to pieces But I need this Yeah, I need this You’re my fault My weakness When did you turn so cold

Those were the three words that Barry had been longing to hear. That was the one message that Barry had been waiting to hear since the day that he had woken up from the coma. It had taken them months to find her but using his powers, he flashed straight to the cortex and watched as Cisco and Caitlin looked at him. Catching his breath, he looked at the both of them and asked, “Where is she?”

Y/N sat at her desk in front of Mr. Queen’s office. Since her move to Starling City, she had easily been able to land a job thanks in part to one of her closest friends, Felicity. Felicity was the only person who had known about her decision to leave everything in Central City behind. Not just for the sake of herself but for everyone else there. She didn’t need to cause any more trouble for anyone. Especially Barry and Iris. If they were meant to be then they were meant to be. And that was just going to be something that Y/N was going to have to live with. Since she was merely only Mr. Queen’s receptionist, she decided it might be best if she did homework for her classes. Though the pay was wonderful with her job, she still wanted to land that dream job. She had also wanted to pursue a career in the medical field. Possibly a Neurology researcher or just working in the hospital. Of course in the Neurology department.

Studying the brain has always been something that she was passionate about. Discovering the ways that the mind functioned and for what purpose really just seemed to fascinate her. Pulling out her school folder, she pulled out her reading assignment as well as a highlighter. Her notebook was neatly opened and ready to be filled with notes. The article that she was reading about focused on parental training in early intervention in speech language pathology. This was something else that she was deeply fascinated with. As she began to read the article, she heard her name being called and saw Oliver and Felicity standing there. “Mr. Queen?” She asked putting her highlighter down.

“Y/N, I’ve told you already that you don’t need to be formal with me. You can just call me Oliver.” Oliver told her.

“Well then, Oliver. What can I help you with?” Y/N asked.

“Felicity here tells me that you needed to leave early next weekend on Thrusday. Where you headed off to?” He asked leaning against the receptionist desk.

“Umm to Cabo San Lucas for a wedding.” She said looking between him and Felicity.

“You wouldn’t mind if we tagged along with you would you? Flying wise. Party wise that would be all you.” He stated as Felicity nodded her head.

“I wouldn’t mind. But why would you two need to be down in Cabo? Your schedule doesn’t show any vacations during next weekend.” Y/N explained pulling up Oliver’s schedule through her computer.

“Well…” Oliver said as he began to formulate an idea in his mind.

“It’s a uhh..last minute trip. One that the Board had just informed him of today.” Felicity countered smiling at Oliver than Y/N.

Y/N gave her a suspicious look but disregarded it when she saw Oliver looking at her. She merely nodded her head before she said, “Yeah I suppose that it wouldn’t be an issue.”

“Good! That’s what I like to hear. Say what are you doing tonight, y/n?” Oliver asked as Y/N stared at her planner to see that she had no plans whatsoever.

“Umm studying.” She lied covering her schedule. 

“Oh come on, Y/n/n! You’re free! I can see that.” Felicity said as y/n looked at her, “Just come with us. Give yourself a break!”

“You know it’s hard to believe you would be suggesting that to me given that i could say the same thing to you.” Y/N said as Oliver chuckled before Felicity shot him a look.

“Hey it’s true. But both of you should give yourselves a break. Here take the rest of the day off and get ready for tonight. Y/N, I’ll be sending a ride to get you at your place and enjoy your surprise that we left for you.” Oliver said as Y/N looked at him.

“Surprise?” Y/N asked as Oliver nodded his head before helping her gather her belongings.

“Mhmm now go.” Oliver said as she packed her bag and logged off the computer. 

“Thank you, Mr. Queen!” Y/N said as she began walking away.

“Y/N!” Oliver called out to her as she turned around, “Call me Oliver!”

Y/N smiled brightly before she nodded her head, “Thanks, Oliver!”

Oliver and Felicity watched as she exited the building. Felicity pulled her phone out to call Barry as Oliver nodded his head. They listened for the ringing to stop before Barry picked up his phone. “Hey!” They heard him say.

“Barry, she’ll be there at Verdant.” Felicity said.

“How did you guys convince her?” He asked knowing Y/N’s stubbornness towards going out.

“That doesn’t matter. Just be there.” Oliver said.

“Thanks, guys! I owe you!” He said, “I’ll see you guys tonight!”

You cut me down to the bone Now you’re dancing All over my soul I’m falling to pieces To pieces, to pieces

Later that night… Verdant Club

Barry looked over at Oliver and Felicity. He had high hopes for this working. He really did hope that this would work. He reached out to Felicity and Oliver when he had found out that Y/N had moved to Starling City. He hoped that they would be able to help him win her back. Now all he had to do was prove to her that he did want to be with her. Stepping into the Verdant Club, he noticed there was a pretty good crowd there. Scanning the club, he found Felicity and Oliver in the midst of people ordering drinks. Squeezing his way towards them, he watched as they smiled at him. “Hey Barry!” Felicity exclaimed hugging him as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey Felicity. Oliver.” He said as Oliver nodded his head.

“Diggle said they’ll be here shortly. Do I even wanna ask how you found out she was working for me?” Oliver questioned looking at Barry.

Barry looked between him and Felicity, who shot him a look, before responding, “It’s a long story.”

Oliver was just about to ask him to continue when Felicity cut off him, “They’re here!”

All three of their heads turned towards the door where they saw Diggle walking in with Y/N.

Barry’s eyes widen at the sight of Y/N’s appearance and he knew for a fact that his face was definitely turning red. Here she was dressed in a pink sleeveless soft knit mini dress featuring a surplice-front and a buttoned keyhole cutout back. With caged laced-up stilettos that had a lace-up front with a caged design, open toe, and a back zippered closure. Her hair was curled and held back by an expensive looking headband that had ivory pearl & rhinestones on them. Her make-up was definitely just how he liked it on her. Natural looking. He stared as she laughed at what something Diggle said before her expression turned to complete utter shock when she looked their way. “Barry.” She whispered.

“Hi Y/N.” He said taking a step closed to her as she stepped back.

“What are you doing here?” Y/N asked as she looked back at her boss, Felicity, and Diggle, who held their hands up.

“I…I needed to see you.” He said.

“No. I can’t do this right now. I need a drink.” Y/N said as she walked away from them.

“Let me talk to her.” Felicity said as she walked away from the guys.

Barry slumped against the wall as Oliver pat him on his shoulder. Diggle did the same before telling him, “You can’t expect her to be happy to see you right away, Barry. You did make it clear to her who you wanted to be with.”

Y/N sat at the bar as the bartender made her a jack and coke. Felicity took a seat beside her. Y/N was just about to open her mouth but Felicity interrupted her apologizing, “I’m so sorry, Y/N. I know that we had no right to get in between your business but he really did want to see you.”

“I know, Felicity. I just…why did he have to do this now? Why did it have to be when I was finally feeling like I was over him?” She asked taking a sip of her jack and coke. 

“I can’t give you a definite answer for why he’s here now but I think that you should at least give him a chance to explain himself. He at least deserves that opportunity to explain himself.” Felicity said as Y/N chugged down her drink.

“You really think he deserves a chance to explain himself?” Y/N asked her best friend.

“Y/n/n, he traveled all the way here to see you. That’s the least you can do for him even if you don’t want to talk to him.” Felicity said.

“I can’t believe that’s what you think I should do.” Y/N argued as Felicity rested her hand on her best friend’s shoulder.

“Just hear what he has to say.” Felicity said as Y/N let out a frustrated sigh.

Felicity hopped off the seat and headed back to where their group of friend’s were. She prayed that her friends would work things out. They deserved to be happy and she could tell that when they were with each other they were happy. She nodded her head at Barry, who tugged at his button down shirt before heading back over to the bar. He walked over to the bar and looked at Y/N before saying, “Y/N, can we talk outside?”

Y/N looked at him before she nodded her head. Barry helped her out of her seat and the two walked outside of the club. They stood off to the side in front of the club. Y/N glanced at Barry wondering what he was thinking about but the real question in her mind was what was he doing here. “What are you doing here, Barry?” She asked tugging at the hem of her dress. 

But I still stay cause you’re the only thing I know So won’t you take, oh, won’t you take me home Take me home, home, home Take me home (home, home, home)

“I was wrong to break up with you nine months ago. I was an idiot, who thought that what he really wanted was to be with someone who would never love them.” Barry began to say.

“So you’re saying I’m not your first choice.” Y/N argued.

Barry stared at her before correcting her,” No Y/N, that’s not what I meant. What I mean is…let’s just forget about choices. You’ll always be my main priority and that’s what I want. It’s you that I want.”

“Yeah how do I know you’re not just saying these things?” Y/N questioned crossing her arms over her chest.

“Because nine months ago I thought what I really wanted was to split from the girl, who showed me exactly what love is. To having this desire to be with a girl who doesn’t even think of me that way. I thought that all I ever wanted was to be with Iris. But I was wrong. When I woke up from my coma, it wasn’t her that I was shocked to hear was there everyday waiting for me to wake up. It wasn’t her that I wanted to be there, it was you. You’re the only one that I really want. You’re the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. You’re the one I worry about protecting.” Barry said as her gaze softened.

“Barry, this isn’t fair at all. I’ve spent countless days waiting for you to wake up from your coma because I still cared about you. But then I realized that I deserved better because you were the one who wanted to split. I thought that after our split that it was me who had done something wrong. It took me days to realize that I would never be Iris and I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to try to be someone who I wasn’t in order for you to love me. I told myself that I deserved better. So I did what i thought was best for me. I moved away to restart my life with no intention of wanting to remember you. I wanted nothing to do with you. And then you come back into my life when I’ve decided that I was ready to move on.” Y/N argued as Barry’s face showed an expression of hurt.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m really sorry. I never ever meant to hurt you and what I did was wrong. But I’m here now because I want to prove to you that you’re worth fighting for. You’re worth everything. You deserve the best and I want to give everything that I have to give.” Barry confessed.

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