#pity liam is not gonna remember any of this later :) and will continue to think chase left him there :) yeah such a pity :)))

[hurting-fictional-people]

Betrayal Story - Part 6

Hii look at what I finally finished! sorry for taking so long to post this guys, I don't even have an explanation lol... I have something else already half written for the boys so hopefully I won't take so long to update the story again 🙃 anyways, I hope y'all like it <3

tagging @thelazywitchphotographer @swift-perseides @whump-it-like-its-hot @sunflower1000 @msrandonstuff @fromtheo-withlove @boxofsilence @lionhxartx @sometouchofmadness @paleassprince @livingforthewhump @1becky1 @shameful-indulgence @whatwhumpcomments @tropes-for-my-md-daydreams @starnight-whump @writingbackwards @noodlesandkareokee @mylifeisonthebookshelf @nightwhumpee

CW: forced sedation, manhandling, drugged whumpee, needle mention, aftermath of branding/burning

Part 1 here, continued from here

-

Liam can’t move. Every time he does, his arms do too and the mere brush of burned skin against pristine bandages is enough to get him on the verge of tears.

The room he’s kept in is too barren, too small to provide any kind of distraction from the constant pulse of pain – too much and never abating. No one listens or cares when he begs for medication, for anything to ease the agony. The doctor comes in to see him, give him antibiotics and check if there’s no infection, but barely looks at Liam when he whimpers under gloved hands.

The first time he takes a glance at the twisted skin underneath the wound dressing, a breathy, hysterical laugh slips out, quickly followed by a silent gasp as Chase’s initials weigh on his arms. He was always his, in the end, wasn’t he? Even after being betrayed and stabbed and kidnapped, he could never get the agent off his mind. Now he’ll be on Liam’s body as well.

It takes all of his willpower not to rip the dressings off once the doctor and nurses leave, just to stare at the hideous thing his arms are now.

But in the silent room, with nothing to do but think and despair, Liam can’t stop looking at the bandages.

He doesn’t know how long he spends staring at it – at the white itchy gauze, and the burns that hurt underneath it. At the C and the R he knows are forever burned on his skin. Like fucking cattle, marked with his owner’s name. Like the stupid boy who thought he could give his heart away to the beautiful, mysterious man that smiled at him. If nothing else, it is a good reminder of how big of a fool Liam is. If he lives long enough for it to be useful, that is. If Jonah doesn’t decide he’s had enough of Liam soon.

Horror floods him at the thought, and when his heart speeds up, Liam can’t hold it any longer. He pulls off the bandages in one swift movement, holding his breath when a wave of fire licks his arms. It doesn’t stop him from ripping out the second bandage though.

His hands tremble on his lap as Liam stares at the skin above his wrists, red with blood and raw skin disfigured into letters. It looks just as ugly as it feels.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until a tear drips on his thigh. And then another and one more, until he’s openly sobbing, chest heaving and stomach twisting.

Lost in tears and the sight of burned skin that sinks into his heart and burns everything there too, Liam only realizes there are people in the room when a hand grabs his forearm.

“What did you do? I just bandaged that,” the nurse complains.

This time, this one time, he moves. Liam yanks his arm away from their grasp and stumbles out of the bed, away from the nurse that stares at him with wide eyes and a startled frown.

“D-d-don’t touch me,” he hisses, holding his hands as close to his chest as he can, and hissing again when sore skin rubs against his shirt. “Stay the fuck away!”

But instead of moving back or so much as talking to him, the nurse calls for the guards and starts walking in his direction.

Liam takes a step backward and presses his back against the wall, wild eyes searching for an escape, a weapon, anything, but salvation is nowhere near. “Please, don’t. Leave me alone.”

When the guards open the door and enter the room, Liam slides to the ground, as small as he can make himself, elbows on his knees, arms protecting his head.

“Get off!” he screams when hands grab at him, and thrashes in the hold. His foot connects with soft flesh, his knee with someone’s chin, but there are too many men. Too many hands for too little strength, no matter how desperately Liam fights.

They drag him through the floor as Liam writhes with every last bit of stamina he has, panic driving him to fight like he wishes he could every time he’s hurt.

A different kind of pain blooms as he squirms uselessly in unforgiving grips – one deeper, familiar, warmer. Liam still doesn’t stop.

“Fuck, he reopened the stab wound,” someone shouts over the cacophony of pain and panicked struggling. “Hold him down, now!”

Liam is pushed to the floor, and when someone squeezes both his arms to keep him there, right over the exposed burns, the world turns red, and a scream tears its way out of his throat.

“No, no, no, get off!” he sobs, kicking out even when a needle sinks into his arm. “n-n-nggh off, get, get o-off,” he tries again, but the world is already slipping through his fingers. He kicks out and thrashes as best as he can, but it isn’t enough. There are stronger bodies over him and the movement is barely there at all.

As much as Liam tries to keep his eyes open, they weigh too heavy, the drugs stronger than he is.

What isn’t?

Liam’s body relaxes against his will, slumps under harsh hands and angry stares, and all he can do is whimper when they drag his limp body to the bed.

-

Chase moves through life like a ghost, only a shell of helplessness and worry, and for the first time, his team notices. He hasn’t slept in days, not with Liam’s face twisted in agony ready to wake him up each time he closes his eyes. Has barely eaten, no appetite left when all he can think about is the boy he loves being hurt on his account.

How can he be free when Liam is locked up? How can he be the one who isn’t hurting when he is the only one who ever deserved it?

“Come on, I know that there’s something wrong,” Zoey says, crossing her arms.

If he could simply flee, he would, but with the hacker standing right in front of him, Chase knows it isn’t worth it. Even if he did leave, she wouldn’t stop trying to get the truth out of him. So Chase sighs and looks down at the blond woman who looks ready to commit murder.

“We all know it. You look like shit. What’s going on?”

It takes all of his strength to plaster a smirk on his lips and lean against the wall with a casual tilt of his head. “You guys worry too much. I’m fine, Zo. Probably could do with a little more sleep, but who couldn’t?”

As convincing as he hopes he sounds, Zoey doesn’t seem at all impressed by his acting. If anything, her frown deepens. “I know you, Chase. And you know me, so you know you can trust me. You look even worse than you did after that mission with the newspaper boy.”

Newspaper boy. If that was all Liam meant for him, maybe Chase’s heart wouldn’t be this tattered.

“Zoey. I am okay, I p– I promise.”

I never lied to you, he had said to Liam as he bled out in Chase’s arms. I betrayed you, yes, but not once did I lie. Stay alive and I’ll prove it to you.

But that was just another lie, wasn’t it? Liam is as alive as ever, and all Chase’s done is cause him more pain than any of them ever imagined possible. All he’s proven is his failure to keep Liam safe.

What is another lie when he’s already filled with them? Maybe that’s all he was always meant to be, all he will ever be – a betrayer. A traitor. A liar.

With a casual shrug that makes his stomach twist, Chase sidesteps his teammate. Before he can move farther away though, she grabs his arm and pulls him back.

“You are good at lying, but I can see the way your eyes have gone dull. I’m not going to force you to say it, but when you get tired of pretending to be fine, I’ll be here. Okay?” When Chase doesn’t answer, she takes a deep breath and nods. Zoey leaves him standing there, feeling dirty and raw, something stirring inside his chest and begging him to tell her everything.

Chase opens his mouth, the truth one breath away, and takes a step towards Zoey’s back. And then his phone buzzes, and reality comes crashing back as he looks at the screen and she disappears down the corridor.

Wanna see him?

It’s the first message he’s gotten from Jonah in days, and Chase holds his breath and freezes for a second at the words.

He’s rushing to his car even before his mind has caught up with his legs.

He’s standing in front of Jonah’s building in a matter of minutes, heart racing but mind weirdly quiet. Static silence, fear building up.

Jonah waits for him in the lobby this time, leaning against the open door of the elevator with a smile on his lips.

“Chase! Long time no see.”

“Where is he?”

“Straight to the point, huh. Boring as ever,” Jonah rolls his eyes. “I was feeling generous today, thought you might want to say hello. I’m not sure our dear boy will answer you, but you can try for yourself I guess.”

“What the fuck did you do?” Chase hisses as Jonah nods for him to get inside and presses the button.

“Nothing bad. He was just fussing about the pain, so my nurses gave him have a little something to relax.”

Chase steps into the elevator, two guards close behind, and fears he’ll shatter his jaw from how hard he’s clenching it.

“He also doesn’t really like his new… adornments, I don’t think. Ripped the bandages earlier today, wet the whole bed with tears.”

Jonah’s voice is light as he says it, the tone one would use to talk about something meaningless, something that doesn’t make Chase sink his nails into his palms and hold his breath. The man’s eyes are the telltale, shining with dark glee, and Chase can see the way Jonah follows his every movement like a predator, reveling at the little cracks in his unruffled façade.

“So when I offered him something to calm down, he didn’t even think before accepting,” he continues.

The doors slide open before any of them can say anything else. A small mercy.

The walk to Liam’s room is as quick as it is infinite. They stop in front of the door so incredibly soon, yet so painfully late.

“Be nice to him, I think he’s going through a phase,” Jonah chuckles as he nods for one of his men to unlock the door. “And don’t forget that this is your fault, dear.”

He barely realizes he’s entered the room until the lock clicks behind him. And then Chase’s eyes find Liam, and the world stops on its tracks, just like it always does when they are in the same room together.

He’s lying on his back, arms open and hands hanging off the bed, bandages covering the skin from Liam’s elbows to his wrists. His eyes are open, but unfocused, slow blinks that lead to nowhere even when Chase takes the first step towards him. His chest rises and falls slowly, rhythmically, a shallow blow of air through parted lips, and despite everything, Chase is happy that Liam isn’t in pain.

It is only when he stops beside the bed that Liam’s head lolls on the pillow, a sunflower looking for the sun even though no real light can reach him here. Still, he looks, and half-lidded eyes roam around the room before finally stopping on Chase’s face.

“Hey,” Chase says, curling one hand into a fist while the other clutches the edge of the bed.

“Mmgh,” Liam slurs with a shuddering breath and a crease on his forehead before trying again. “I, mm, I’m not, n-uh not feeling… well.”

“How can I help?” Chase’s voice is hoarse and low, pained, but Liam hears it. He hears it and he whimpers, shaking his head no.

Make it stop, his mouth forms, but doesn’t voice.

I can’t, Chase wants to scream, I’d give anything to make it all stop but I can’t. Instead, he softens his voice and tries to smile. “What if I do something to distract you? I… I was told you are under some strong drugs.”

Green eyes blink at him, and Chase is happy there are only the two of them in the room. He might actually lose it and punch Jonah square in the face if the man was here.

“How about I tell you a story? You’ve always liked them.”

Liam swallows, eyes darting around the room again, and even though Chase knows he isn’t listening, not really, he sits on the edge of the bed and starts talking.

“It’s about a boy who thought he could change the world, but instead changed the person who was sent to stop him.”

“Sou-sounds like a shit story,” Liam mumbles.

“Depends on how you look at it. Or who’s the one telling it, I guess.”

There’s a pause, and Liam sighs softly before talking again.

“Are you… are, are you really… here?”

The words slam into his chest, shattering anything left in there, and though Chase holds himself firmly still and keeps his face carefully free from anything but tenderness, something collapses inside of him. Maybe it’s his heart. It feels like it, and he wants to cry, to grab Liam and leave, but he can’t, and Liam strains to focus on his eyes, so Chase smiles like there isn’t burning agony rippling through him.

“Do you want me to be?”

“I, I don’t, I don’t know.” It is only a murmur, but Chase knows he’ll hear its echo in his nightmares for a long time – the uncertainty, the fear, the sadness. The helplessness.

I’m here. I would be here forever if I could.

But the words are only that – words. He can’t be here forever, nor erase all the pain he’s caused and continues to cause. So Chase picks up the pieces of his heart and pretends it doesn’t hurt to smirk and brush Liam’s hair away from his forehead like he used to do so long ago.

If he can’t take Liam away from this nightmare, the least he can do is pretend it is a dream.

“Then you should stop dreaming about me.”

“Ca-can’t,” Liam frowns, staring at the hand Chase just touched him with. “Will, will you leave? Again?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Liam looks up again, and something is missing in those eyes. A spark of life that was still there the last time they saw each other, but isn’t now. As Chase searches for the hope he always loved in the depths of Liam’s gaze, what he finds instead is sadness.

“Don’t go,” Liam breathes. “I, I, my h-head, it it it feels weird, Chase.”

“I know, love,” Chase says calmly, nothing of the wild desperation that rages inside of him seeping through the words. Not when Liam is this lost, this vulnerable. Not when it is the first time he has called Chase by his name after the betrayal. “It’ll pass.”

“I’m scared,” he murmurs, shifting on the bed. “But, I, I don’t remember… why.”

“You are okay, Liam. I promise. You’ll be okay.”

Liam closes his eyes and shakes his head, and when he speaks, his voice is only a whisper, gone even before he finishes. “I don’t believe you.”

Chase bites on his lip and creases his forehead, but none of it shows when he takes Liam’s hand in his own and gives it a little squeeze.

“I know. That’s okay too.”

But Liam isn’t there anymore to hear it. His body sags on the bed, taken away by the drugs, and Chase is left alone in Liam’s cell, watching the boy he’d kill and die for fall asleep. As he does, all Chase can think about is that he needs to get Liam out of here. Somehow, he needs to get him away, no matter the cost of it.

An hour goes by, and though it is one of the worst hours of Chase’s life, is it the first time he doesn’t feel like a part of his heart is bleeding in days. Not when he can see the bleeding part right in front of him.

He wants to wake Liam up, to hear his voice while he can, before he’s forced to leave again. But there’s peace on his face as he sleeps, and Chase can’t take him back to reality when he looks like he used to, like he could wake up at any moment and kiss Chase with a smile.

And then the door opens, and the memories vanish as Chase reluctantly gets up. As soon as he does though, Liam stirs on the bed, frail hand reaching out and grabbing Chase’s wrist before he can move away.

“You promised me… a… um, a story.”

Liam’s eyes open for a moment before closing again, but he doesn’t let go. Chase shoots one look at the guards waiting by the door and knows that nothing good will happen if he waits. He has to play nice if he wants to get Liam out.

Chase looks down at Liam again, and when he finds half-lidded eyes struggling to stay open, he can’t stop his voice from breaking mid-sentence.

“It’ll have to stay for another time, okay? I’ll see you soon, love.”

Liam’s eyes flutter back closed with a soft sigh. His voice is soft as the tears that sting Chase’s eyes when he speaks. “You al–, you always leave in real life too.”

Chase can’t find an answer before he is dragged out of the room by a firm grip he knows better than to fight. He yanks his arm away as soon as the door locks him and Liam on different sides, and hears the words rattling around his head while he is lead to sit in Jonah’s office to hear what the man wants next. All the way back to his house.

He doesn’t think when he calls Zoey. All he hears is Liam.

All he can see is Liam’s lost gaze, the life fading out of his eyes. All he knows is that if he lets him in Jonah’s claws one more second without doing anything, he might actually, truly, crumble down until he can’t pull himself back up.

He is sitting on his couch, hands over his face and elbows on his knees just like they have been since he got home, when his friend opens the door.

“Oh, Chase,” she breathes as soon as she sees his face and sits beside him. “What happened?”

He doesn’t get to crumble down. Not when it’s Liam the one being hurt. The one branded and tortured and kidnapped and betrayed. Still, when Zoey’s gentle arms wrap around him, he hugs her back.

“It’s Liam,” he says, fighting to get the words out through his heaving breaths, trying to force his mind to put them together long enough for someone else to know it too because he can’t do this on his own. He thought he could, he thought he was enough, but he isn’t and he needs to get Liam out, no matter what, no matter how, he has to, he has to before the light goes out in that beautiful green gaze. “He, I, he’s caught and it’s my fault and I thought I could keep him safe but I can’t and now–“

“Chase, breathe,” she commands, and he answers. It’s all he knows how to do, isn’t it? Answer orders. Look at what happens when he’s left on his own. “Let’s start from the begging.”

So Chase does.

(next)

[bitchiaintanonymous]

Here we are, back at it again by popular demand.... Okay, so no one actually asked for this, but it’s here so get ready.

Oh also, just so you know, this is sadder than the last one.... like a lot sadder.

But hey, go ahead and read on, I’m like, 99.99% sure you won’t regret it. Enjoy, I guess.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Alcohol/Alcoholism, Mild Description of Gore, Mentions of a Car Accident, Harsh Language.

Hold Me, Set Me Free

It takes ten seconds for a life to be ruined.

It took one second for Race to leave his house. It took one second for him to decide to cross the street. It took one second for him to fall. It took five seconds for him to get back up. It took one second for the driver to look at his phone.

It took ten seconds total for the car to hit him.

It took longer for Jack to find out.

The past few hours seemed like a blur to him. He remembers leaving the trial, hugging Crutchie and watching him go with Snyder. Then getting a phone call from the very same man not even a few hours later. After that, he remembers feeling hopeless. So incredibly hopeless. A feeling, strong enough, that it made him run to a bar, successfully breaking his two year sobriety. Although after that, his memory gets a little… flashy.

There are things he knows for sure. Race called him… he didn’t answer. Race left a voicemail…several actually. They ranged from as old as only half an hour after Jack got to the bar, to as recent as the moment everything changed.

After that Jack got another call, one that he answered.

It was a hospital.

He should have answered Race’s call.

It’s a thought that repeated in Jack’s head while waiting for his baby brother to get out of surgery. He should have answered the call, he should have called him back.

He should have done something.

Instead he decided to make, arguably, one of the worst decisions he could have made. He drank. Two suffocating years of sobriety and he threw it all away just because someone’s words got to his head. He knew he shouldn’t have listened to Snyder, but after how the last trial went, he knew how close Snyder was to gaining full custody. No matter how hard Jack tried, Snyder had one thing Jack never seemed to have enough of. Money. He could see the jury was siding with him, and now Snyder was taking away one of the most important people to Jack. And he wasn’t even blinking an eye about it. Now the only thing Jack was sure of, is that all he has is Race.

... All he had.

But Race got taken too. Taken by Liam. Truthfully, Jack can’t even remember the last time he saw Race properly. They used to see each other everyday, but things had changed. Now they only seemed to communicate through phone calls. Yet, even then, Race seemed different. His tone was never as happy as it used to be.

And God, Jack should have done something.

“How’re you holding up sugar?”

Jack recognized the person interrupting his thoughts as Miss Medda Larkin, the head nurse in the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the person who constantly checked in on him for the past few hours.

Jack shot out of his seat hearing her voice, “Is he out? Is he okay?” It seemed that no matter how much Jack tried to appear strong, the shake in his voice gave him away.

Medda seemed to have noticed that as her look of pity intensified. Any hope Jack might have had in that moment left when she shook her head sadly. “Sorry sugar, we’re not sure when he’ll be stable enough to be put in a room. Only time, and our best doctors, can tell that dear”

Jack sighed and took his seat again. He was ready to wait days if that’s what it took for Race to be okay. Hell, he was ready to wait years.

“However… we do have someone here looking for you. A young red headed woman.”

Katherine.

Jack subconsciously sat up at that. He didn’t know why Katherine had come, but truthfully, he didn’t want to question it. “Yeah I know her, she was my girlfriend… not too sure what she’s doing here though.” Jack saw that Medda looked like she was gonna send her away and elaborated, “We left on good terms. She can come in.”

Medda looked skeptical leaving the small waiting room, but a few seconds later Katherine walked in.

Jack had never really gotten over Katherine. He thought about her a lot. More than you should think about someone who broke up with you, but he couldn’t help it. Katherine was... everything. Feisty and witty, intelligent, drop dead gorgeous, and the more Jack thinks about it, the more he understands why she left.

Seeing her again was like everything Jack needed, and everything he was trying to avoid.

She looked frantic coming in, different than Jack had remembered her. “Jack! Hey... how’s Tony?”

If it were any other time Jack might have teased her about not being happy to see him, but all Jack could think about was Race. “He's... hanging in there. The doctors don’t know when he’ll be stable enough to come out.... He was taken a while ago.” He assumed. Jack doesn’t know how long he had been blankly staring at the wall in front of him, and he wasn’t about to think too hard about it.

Katherine just looked at him with concern. “And how are you?”

Stressed, angry, concerned, worried, frustrated, terrified.

“I’m fine.” he replied.

She looked like she was about to argue, but he cut her off before she could.

“I’ll be happy when Race is happy” And it was true, Jack would not really be fine until Race was safe.

She pursed her lips like she did when she was getting frustrated. “No one is asking you to be happy Jack. Just asking that you’re okay.”

Jack was getting frustrated now too. “I’ll be okay, when Race is okay.” His tone suggested that that was the end of the conversation.

For a second, it looked like she might drop the

subject, but then, suddenly, she scrunched up her face. “Is that… were you drinking Jack?”

Jack stared at her for a few seconds then let out a humorous laugh, “Really? You really want to do this, right now?” Jack bit out harshly.

Katherine didn’t flinch at Jack’s tone. If anything, she seemed to get more aggressive. “Yes Jack, really. You have a problem. We broke up what, three years ago, and you’re still going on with this bullshit?”

It hurt Jack that she thought he hadn’t changed, but at that moment Jack didn’t want to be hurt anymore. He focused on the anger. “One, you don’t get to do that. You broke up with me, you don’t get to tell me how to live my life. And not that I need to tell you, but if it’ll get you off my back, I was two years sober until tonight happened.”

A small part of Jack took pleasure seeing Kath speechless. Another part felt guilty for making her feel bad. He wasn’t sure which side won control.

Katherine looked like she had more to say, but thankfully, didn’t push the subject further. Instead, she surprised Jack. “You’re right…. I don’t have any right to tell you what decisions to make. And, if it counts, for anything at all… you seem like you really did change. I didn’t mean to hurt you… I’m sorry.”

Jack didn’t respond, although he knew Katherine didn’t mind. Even after three years, Jack could still tell when she got lost in her mind.

A few seconds of silence passed before Jack felt a hand on his. He froze before looking over at Katherine who looked like she was mentally telling him to accept the comfort. Jack didn’t know what to think. It baffled him that she held his hand like it was perfectly natural. Although… In a way, Jack supposed it was. Natural, just uncommon. Very uncommon.

He accepted the comfort.

A few minutes pass with them sitting in silence before a question surfaced in Jack’s mind. “Kath,” to her hum of acknowledgement he looked up from the ground “how did you know Race was hurt? I thought… after we broke up you took your name off his emergency contacts.” When Jack looked to Katherine he saw a guilty look displayed across her face.

“I did,” She spoke the words carefully, as if she were breaking bad news to someone “but that’s not how I knew… Jack… have you watched the news lately?” Jack didn’t say anything, just shook his head and motioned for her to continue. “What happened to Tony is there… All of it.”

Before he could think, Jack grabbed the television remote from the small table in front of them, and turned on the news channel. Katherine tried to protest and grab the remote, but Jack was already standing up out of reach, turning up the volume.

“-An accident involving 22 year old Anthony Higgins, who got hit by a car at the Fort Washington Avenue and West 176th Street intersection. Anthony appeared to trip and fall in the middle of the intersection, and that combined with the driver, who was said to be on his mobile device, resulted in this terrible accident.” Jack couldn’t focus. For a second he thought the television was off, but then he saw a video on the device playing. It showed police cars lined up around the crime scene, and Race being loaded into an ambulance. He looked terrible. His face was covered in blood and even through the sheet that was covering him, Jack could his right arm and leg busted. He could vaguely hear Katherine trying to get his attention, but he ignored her in favour of listening to the television once more.

“The young adult is said to be getting medical treatment at a nearby hospital, but the future of Anthony seems to be unknown-”

This time the television really did turn off, and suddenly Katherine’s face was in front of him, her hands on the sides of his face and her eyes filled with concern.

“Jack? Jack, c’mon snap out of it…. God I knew I shouldn’t have told you about that crap… Jack come on, you’re okay, Tony’s okay, he’s gonna get out of surgery soon and everything is going to be fine”

“You don’t know that.” The words came out a lot harsher than he meant them to, but Katherine didn’t seem fazed.

“I do. He’s gonna make it Jack. I know he is. What they were saying on there was-”

“The truth, wasn’t it? We don’t know what’s gonna happen to him… We don’t know if he’ll live or…”

“Hey. Don’t think like that. If there’s anything I know, it’s that Race is a fighter. And he’s a good one too.... He’s gonna make it Jack.” Her tone left no room for argument and she said it with so much certainty, Jack almost believed her.

“A fighter...” She had no idea how true that was.

“Well I wouldn’t say that. More like... a mouse you know? In a game of Tom and Jerry.”

Jack stopped at that voice. For a second he thought he was imagining it, but when he looked over Katherine’s red curls at that unmistakable smirk, he saw red.

He was sure he blacked out, or he skipped a period in time, because one second he was looking at the face of his brother's abuser, and the next he was being pulled off of a bloodied Liam. Jack didn’t truly know if he was the one that caused all that blood, but he sure as hell hoped he was. And judging by the bruising on his knuckles, he had a pretty good chance.

Before he could say anything about it though, he remembered the situation at hand. Race got hit by a car, because he was running from his house, and he was running, because of Liam. All at once Jack realized he felt angry again. Murderous.

And he loved it.

He also realized that security guards were holding him by his arms to stop him from getting to Liam.

Jack tried to pull his arms out of their grip, but they were prepared and just held his arms tighter. He heard a gruff voice speak behind him, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you boy.”

Jack didn’t have time to decide if that was a challenge or a threat because not long after, Liam was talking.

“You’re fucking crazy man! Do just fucking attacked people for no reason? I didn’t even do anything to you.”

Even with the serious situation at hand, Jack let out a laugh. A crazy, psychopathic laugh. “Didn’t do anything?! Didn’t do anything my ass.” Faintly, Jack could hear Katherine trying to calm him down, but he wasn’t going to stop. Not until Liam was either dead on the ground, or in a hospital room himself. “You hurt my brother. You’re the reason he’s not here by my side but rather in surgery getting treated because he got hit by a fucking car!”

It was Liam's turn to look at Jack in humorous disbelief. “Me?! He went out in the middle of the night on his own. That’s not my fault.”

Jack was about to fight him back on it but Liam put on a smug smirk and cut him off before he could even open his mouth. “Besides, last I heard, he called you... and you didn’t answer. Maybe that’s what got him so distracted before he got hit. I think, if we should blame anyone here, it should be you.”

He knows. Jack knows it’s his fault, he’s been telling himself that since he got the call... but at that moment, he can’t help but think otherwise.

Seeing Liam at the hospital, acting like the douchebag Jack always knew he was... Jack’s not so sure it’s his fault at all.

“He was only outside calling me because he was running away from you… So that pegs the question Liam.” He spit the name out like venom, and smiled at his next words. “Why was he running from you?”

Before Liam could give some bullshit excuse though, Jack heard another voice enter the room.

“Jack, can I talk to you? It's about Anthony.”

As much as he wanted to expose Liam for the terrible person he was, Jack knew he had to go with Medda. Race was his first priority.

Without taking his eyes off Liam, he answered, “Yeah, of course.” Jack didn’t stop glaring until the door closed behind him.

After it did, Jack finally turned to face Medda. Upon seeing her troubled expression he immediately started asking about Race. “Is something wrong? Is he finally getting out?”

Meddas face fell even more than it already was. She spoke her next words carefully. “Jack… sweetie, he… he didn’t make it.”

For a second, everything around Jack stopped.

For a second, he forgot all about Liam, and Katherine, and Snyder. He forgot about the custody battle, he forgot about the bar, he forgot about everything. For a second his mind was quiet.

And then that second passed.

Jack didn’t know what was happening around him. If he focused really hard he could make out a floor underneath him and hands on his arms, a voice talking to him, and a head of red hair. But realistically, he didn’t have the energy to focus on that. Medda’s words played on a loop on his mind.

“he didn’t make it.”

It takes ten seconds to take a life.

It took four words to ruin Jack’s.

... Sorry. Yeah, that was... something. Anyways, I hope you liked it, I know there’s a lot left hanging in the air, and I’m planning to make another fic related to this at some point in the near future. But if you want to see anything specific, just send an ask and I’ll see what I can do.

[oh-theatre]

Objection!: Chapter 27

Chapter title: Clocks Tick and Phones Still Ring

A/n: ....yall im so sorry for how long this took and the fact that not only did it take forever but it fucking sucks. I hate this I'm sorry I can't just here I'm so sorry

First | Previous | Next

words: 2155

summary: Through troubling times Logans mind run wilds trying his best

pairings: Eventual logicality, prinxiety, platonic demus, romantic remile

warnings: Murder mention, child murder, Law and Courtroom, swearing, blood, hospital, crime scene,  murder, gun mention, guns, swearing abuse, graphic descriptions, alcohol, shooting, crying

Ao3 Link  

Twenty minutes later...

Do you know what you are supposed to do when the love of your life sits pale and barely breathing in a room?

No Im genuinely asking

Because running out of the room and collapsing to sobs on your knees does seem valid however Logan just stood there. He stood there frozen, Barbara knew what to do. She ran to Pattons side, taking his cold hand, silent tears as she examines his soft face. Virgil emerges moments later, the family rule disposed of as he takes Patton's other side.  Roman took the end, and soon the room felt tight, he couldn't breathe.

He wanted to yell

Or cry

Or do anything remarkably human

But he just stood, nurses and doctors rushed by him, his friends talked in whispers of concern.

Why didn't he care?

He could hear the rest of them talking, questions fired at the nurses and doctors, sweet words of encouragement for a speedy and safe recovery for Patton. Telling them how much they care for him, but not Logan. In what seemed like minutes, the rest had decided to give Logan a moment. A moment for what? That was lost on him but alas the room fell quiet.

“This is your own fault, you understand that right?” He finally sets on speaking, not that anything would respond. Unless you count the steady monitor and the wheezes from the machines. “I'm not sure how many times I must clarify this but I'm not Liam. You can tell me things, you can trust me”

He scoffs, his arms crossed over his heart.

“None of us are Liam. You know I don't say ‘I love you’ ok?” He pushes, he can feel his nostrils flare. Do something Patton, respond. “I've only said it to my mothers and you” He glares, why was he just laying there. How dare he? “You took that from me!” He takes a second, breathing deep. “You knew...you knew this was going to happen. You have a will...its reasonable. You have two kids, a sister and assets at your disposal. But they showed it to me, they brought it to me”

He took his copy out, the crumpled and tear stained document felt too heavy.

“I, Patton Hart, residing at 1823 Millow Lane, declare this to be my Will, and I revoke any and all wills and codicils I previously made.” Logan begins to read, his hands shake noticeably but he continues. “I leave minor children surviving me, my daughter Valerie and son Remus. I appoint as guardian of the person and property of my minor children my partner Logan Tolentino. He shall have custody of my minor children, and shall serve without bond. If he does not qualify or for any reason ceases to serve as guardian, I appoint as successor guardian my sister Barbara Hart.” He finishes, some small part of him almost hopes that Patton awakes. An explanation ready. “This was recent, you knew, you knew something was going on!” He shouts, he tries to recenter but he can't, everything is too much. How was he supposed to handle these things?

“Logan? Everything alright?” A knock allows him to remember he's here.

“M’fine” He lies, and soon it's just him once more. “You changed it, this was clearly recent because I know you. I know that it takes you forever to trust people...although looking back on this unfortunate event you don't trust me. How dare you do this? How dare you not tell me, how dare you turn away from and do this” He rips the paper, watching its remains crumple to the ground “It's not that I can't do it, or won't” He states “Its that I don't want to…” He approaches Patton, finding himself next to the pale faced man. “I don't want to do this without you” He breaks, the anger shatters as his hand meets Patton's cold touch. “Please Patton..” He barely whispers at this point, his heart feels too heavy to be his own. “You do not get to be the love of my life and then die, you do not get to do this to me. Do you understand?”

“Papa?” Logan turns and eyes in horror as the twins, so bubbly and sweet, lose everything about them. Emile bursts through, his eyes and breath apologetic. “What happened...to papa?” Remus cries, Valerie shakes her head.

“Logan I am so sorry, they ju-” Emile begins but Logan sighs.

“It's alright” He assures standing, Emile takes his cue and walks away, leaving the three of them in the room...well four of them, for now. He takes them both in his arms, a breath of relief knowing they exist, knowing they are there and ok. He leads them to the bed, sitting at the end as they fear their place. Valerie squirms first, crawling closer, but alas her hands recoil. Remus has no qualms, he jumps hugging his father.

“Papa wake up please” He begs, his voice so soft. His energy and excitement for the mystery of life is gone. He wanted certainty, he wanted his father. Soon his sad calm aura turned quick to confused anger. “Wake up! Wake up papa! Wake up!” he cries, Valerie's simple tears, as she watched in pity for her brother, were nothing compared to the waterfall. Logan takes the boy, embracing him gently in his arms, soothing him to breathe. Valerie adjusts herself under the blankets, hugging Patton as she tries to mimic his sleep pattern. Logan watches knowing his world is breaking, and he's only got a smidgen of knowledge of what to do.

“The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout, down came the rain and washed the spider out” Valerie hums, Remus eyes her red and puffed. She continues her gentle tone, and Remus joins her on Patton's other side. Both cozying up to him, simple and sweet tunes until the pair tire themselves out. Sleeping away, Logan sits in the chair, he watches hoping to protect them for a moment before his own eyes fall prey to the idea of rest.

~~~

A week later…

“So we ended up going to the wrong store” Logan explains as he sets up the meal, the children giggle placing the sheet over the table. The hospital had granted them permission to use a table, and set up for meals in Patton's room. “Here you are” He hands plates to Valerie, she juggles them carefully setting them neatly upon the surface.

“Imma go get napkins!” Remus declares, he enjoys the sweet gushes the nurses give him so running through the halls was his favorite pastime.

“He's not gonna come back with napkins” Valerie sighs, continuing to help Logan. He sits by Patton, recalling their day. “Lollipops maybe, but not napkins” She finishes giving Logan his moment to set the food. He had been trying his hardest, help from Roman and Remy was required for cooking. He followed the recipe and tried for a simple mac and cheese today, with some salad and sweet desserts.

“Ready?” Logan asks as Remus emerges with a bundle of his own finds, none of which included his treasure he had set to get.

“Don't forget food for papa” Remus reminds, Valerie nods already chomping into her meal. The twins had insisted they set a place for him every time, serve him food and Logan would wait until he was alone to pack it back up. They knew he wasn't eating it but it was nice. “He's going to be so big and strong when he wakes up”

If he wakes up

“Absolutely” Logan agrees. So they eat and Emile comes to pick them up for a day away, Logan cleans and makes sure everything returns to normal. He can't say he doesn't enjoy the few moments alone, it takes time to go from a solitary routine, to adding a romantic partner and then children.

But he misses the second part more than he cares to admit. He sits at the end of the bed, stroking away Patton's loose hairs, the freezing touch scares him. He moves closer, somehow finding himself exhausted and wrapped around Patton. Its funny, he used to dream of the day's end when he could cuddle up in bed alone, the world was his own. But he hadn't realized how much he missed having someone, Patton, there with him until it was gone. Sleep had been awful, restless, but as soon as he had his protective arms around Patton, making sure he was ok...Logan fell fast.

“Careful Lo, hes just a baby” Patton smiles, swaddling the young child in Logan's arms. The man fears his own breath, the smallest of tears as he watches the young one snore so easily. Patton keeps his arms connected and in this moment they just are, they feel connected. A soft kiss to Logans cheek as footsteps shuffle behind him.

“This is Jamahl, Terrences brother” Cindy introduces, Patton flashes his award winning smile. The boy remains hesitant, keeping his eyes steady on the little child in Logan's arms, he has no choice he thinks. If he wants to keep his brother safe this is his option. So he goes with them.

“Where are we going?” He asks, as the neighborhood finds itself less familiar. Patton looked at him, he insisted on sitting in the back with the children. Keeping an eye on the baby.

“Home” He replies, Jamahl scoffs shaking his head. “My home, and Logans and if you would like it to be...your home” Patton corrects, Jamahl gets a choice? That's new. “Oh I should warn you-”

“Here it comes” The twelve year old sighs, Patton keeps a gentle grin.

“I have two twins at home, they're both five years old.” He pulls out his phone, swiping to show a shining photo of Patton and two young ecstatic children, “Thats Valerie and that's Remus” He points, beaming with pride. Jamahl nods, ok...not as bad. “They're wonderful and...five years old and very excitable so just be wary” He laughs, Logan could never get tired of the sweet sound.

They arrived at the house quickly, and Patton was not wrong to warn the child.

“Im Valerie!” A young girl smiles, shaking his hand vivaciously.

“Im Remus!” The boy greets, a giant hug. Jamahl freezes but allows it to happen, thanking whatever ethereal being let Patton pull the twins off him.

“Remember what I told you humbugs, no touching unless they are comfortable with it ok?” Patton reminds, they nod before waving their goodbyes. They run off and Logan disappears into the hall, coddling the baby. Jamahl looks worried and Patton assures him. “You wanna come see what's going on?”

“Yes please” He nods and finds himself allowing Patton to lead him into the baby room. A bed set up for him as well, he watches Logan be ever so careful with the baby and Patton respect his boundaries. He shrugs.

Maybe this won't be so bad.

~~~

A month later...

“Its your fucking fault!” Logan decides, Emile shushes him backing him up from Virgils heated face. “Everything that is happening is your fault!”

“Logan you're being a dick right now” Remy announces, a glare from Emile quiets him. Logan scoffs kicking the chair underneath him, scaring even Roman.

“And yours too” He points, his nasty finger threatening the detectives. “Why didn't you do anything, day after day he came to you! About Liam! And now because of your fucking negligence, he was too scared to come to you and tell you about these phone calls!”

“You know what Lo? I shouldn't have told you, as of now you have no legal bindings to Patton, so me telling you that we searched his phone and found the phone calls, that was a courtesy” Virgil spits, Logan goes to approach not sure what his next move is but thanks to Roman and James he has no time to figure it out. They command him to sit, calming both parties and get a soothing talk down.

“You know it's his fault Roman” Logan sighs exasperated, Roman nods unsure but doesn't want to to escalate.

“You know what, fuck you Logan!” Virgil screams, Logan stands.

“You're the reason those children are gonna lose their father!” Logan retorts, that catches something. Virgil pushes past Remy, almost landing one on Logan before Roman grabs him, both surprised by how well they fit together. Silly to think about at this moment.

“Maybe if you weren't so fucking cold they would see you as a father” Virgil replies once more, that hurt. Logan won't lie that his knees buckled and he might have fallen right then had Barbara and Marcy not taken him and cared for him. He wants to keep going but a chilling throat clears the room. Instantly they both look to the doctor who stands, judgmental but patient.

“Hes awake”

[the-everlasting-dream]

Good Fences - The Perfect Cliche Part 2

A/N: I don’t know why I wrote this... I wasn’t planning to continue this au/series/thing but my brother gave me the hilarious idea for the unfortunate incident later on so *shrugs*

PART 1

Trudging up the stairs because the elevator was broken yet again, Elizabeth fished for her keys in her bag to unlock the door to her new apartment. Could you still call it new when you’d already lived there for a month? She shrugged, pulling her hair out of its ponytail while jiggling the key in the door. She cast a cursory glance to the door labelled 144 which housed the subject of her sustained interest. 

Other than that first interaction with Drake in the elevator, she’d failed to have any interaction with her neighbour who was equal parts attractive and grumpy which only intrigued her more. While she was still job hunting, he already had an established full time job and their schedules seemed like polar opposites. Throwing her keys into the bowl near the door, she set her bags down and headed to her bedroom. Actually she corrected herself, there was that time last week..

-

Elizabeth had almost made it home when New York decided to unleash her unforgiving downpour of rain after a long day. Ducking into the concierge, she swiped her damp hair off her face before checking under her coat for the big textbooks she’d borrowed from the library.  Hurrying towards the elevator past the row of mailboxes and highly aware of the judgemental stare of the building’s burly female superintendent, she was painfully aware of the wet footprints she was tracking in. Between balancing the textbooks and struggling to get her keys out of her pocket, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. The wet soles of her ballet flats failed to find purchase on the tiled floor and before Elizabeth realised it she was pitching towards the floor. 

Dropping the textbooks, she let out a yelp of surprise expecting to meet the hard cold surface with her face when something gripped her arm, halting her descent. Inching her eyes open she looked up to see Drake towering above her, his left hand gripping her bicep. Dressed in a white t-shirt with a denim button down spanning across his broad shoulders, Elizabeth gulped at the sight of her handsome neighbour. 

Helping her to her feet, he gave her a precautionary once over. ‘You okay?’ 

‘Yeah, thanks for the save,’ she replied, straightening her clothes and crouched down to retrieve the books she’d dropped, keeping her head down to hide her embarrassment. 

‘Next you decide to take a dive, tell someone first. I won’t always be there to catch you.’ 

Drake dipped down beside her to help her retrieve her books, handing her one before squinting at the cover. ‘Diagnostic Principles by Dr. Ethan Ramsey.’ 

Elizabeth tucked her hair out of her face nervously. ‘Yeah just a bit of light reading you know.' 

Drake looked like he was going to ask more but seemed to think better of it as they stood up. 

 ''m guessing your last name is Richmond.' Distracted with her coat, she glanced up at him quizzically. 

'Yeah why?’ 

He handed her a letter out of his stack of mail. ‘Must have gotten mixed up with mine.’ 

 Seeing the crest on the top left corner, Elizabeth hastily set her bags down and grabbed the envelope, tearing it open immediately to the amusement of her neighbour. 

 Dear Miss Richmond, Thank you for your application however we regret to inform you that… 

 She sighed in defeat, body sagging a little as she vacantly scanned the rest of the letter. Despair welled up in her as she fought to keep the tears from falling, not wanting to cry and definitely not in front of her hot neighbour and the superintendent lady who was clearly still judging her. 

 ‘Everything okay?’ 

 If she had looked up, Elizabeth would have seen the small crease of concern between Drake’s eyebrows as he looked at her with mild concern. 

 ‘Yes. No. I don’t know. No. I should go,’ she muttered, barely able to keep it together. Hoisting the books in her arms, she gave him a tight lipped, watery smile. ‘Thanks for the save.' 

She didn’t wait to see him shrug or catch the lingering look he gave her as she walked away. 

-

The letter was still sitting on her kitchen counter, squashed towards the side where she’d left it in her distaste. What had she been thinking? No self respecting work place would want a med school drop out period. Sure she could have used her father's connections to find something but she’d walked out of his out having sworn to make it on her own. And that is that she was going to do.  

Right what she was going to do was engage in the longest self pamperation session possible. The last interview was rigorous and from the looks on the interviewers’ faces they’d been less than impressed. 

Shedding her clothes as she walked through her bedroom, she donned her purple silk dressing gown and scrubbed off her makeup in the sink before lighting a few candles all whilst humming to herself. As she reached down to fill up the bathtub, a movement caught her eye. Glancing up, Elizabeth was horrified to find the biggest blackest spider on the wall staring back her barely six inches from her face.   

‘Ahhh!’ 

-

Drake eased into his comfy armchair, equipped with pizza and a beer, eager after a gripping workout to turn on that night’s game and just relax. Things at work were tense and things with Kiara? Even more so. After their last hook up, he’d thought things would ease up a little. Boy was he wrong about that too.. Before he could descend any further into the pit of self pity, his phone vibrated from where he’d left it on the coffee table. 

 ‘Liam?’ 

‘Hey Drake. Don’t sound so surprised to hear me calling or anything.’ 

He shook his head recovering. ‘Nah nah man. Its just… It must be early for you over there. Or late..’ 

There was a quiet chuckle on the line. ‘Yeah can’t sleep.’ 

 Drake felt his brows knit together in concern. ‘What’s up? King stuff..?’ Liam grunted a negatory response. 

Liam hesitated. He never hesitated. 

‘Its... its.. Liv.’ 

‘L-Olivia? What did Red do now?’ he scoffed, his least favourite person in the world springing to mind. 'I knew she was bad news. What she do huh? String another footman from his toes?’ 

 ‘Drake no. Its not like that.’ 

‘Dude if you need a-‘ 

‘I’m thinking of asking her to marry me.’ His best friend’s voice brought him screeching to a halt. 

‘Oh.’ 

‘Yeah..’ Taking a moment, Drake gathered himself. ‘Thats.. wow. Thats awesome man. Really.’ 

‘You think so?’ 

‘I do. I’m happy for you man. I really am.’ 

‘She’ gonna make a hell of a queen.' 

‘That she is.’ Liam laughed, obviously relieved that he thought so. ‘How’s Kiara?’ 

‘Mm fine.’ Drake grunted. 

 ‘That bad huh?’ He ran a hand over his face, staring up at the ceiling. ‘I dunno man. She’s just so… complicated.’ 

‘I have no idea why you’re still with her. The Drake Walker I knew was a simple man. Who are you and what have you done with him?’ 

‘Shut up. You don’t get it. Its.. its…' 

‘Complicated?’ 

 Drake was just about to reply with a snappy response when an unearthly screech ripped through the air. ‘I’ll call you back.'

Frowning, he made towards the door of his apartment before something very purple barrelled through it, dazing him for a moment before he recognised it to be the source of the screeching. 

 ‘Spider… spider… in the bathtub.’ His new very attractive neighbour — Elizabeth if he remembered correctly — gasped out, her towel balanced very precariously on her head as she visibly shook with fear, clutching his arm. ‘I… spider… this close to my face.’ She illustrated her words with a thumb and index finger bent together with barely any space in between. 

‘Just catch it.’ Drake replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

‘What?’ She gaped at him. ‘I can’t… I can’t just…’ She shuddered vigorously. ‘I.. I have a fear.’ 

‘You’re a thousand times bigger than it. I promise you its more afraid of you.’ 

‘You want me to catch it?’ Elizabeth stared at him. ‘With my hands? My bare hands?’ 

 Regarding her for one long moment, Drake muttered something under his breath about good fences making good neighbours before he gave in. ’Show me where it is.’ 

 Elizabeth's apartment was an exact mirror of his and while he had opted for the minimalist decoration style, her take was much more.. boho. He eyed the colourful tapestries and fairy lights she’d hung up on the walls and colourful throw pillows that he would die before seeing on his own couch. And for the finishing touch, the scent of lavender hung in the room, thanks to a small diffuser in the corner. 

 ‘In there. In the bathtub.’ Elizabeth’s voice echoed out from behind the wall she was hiding behind.

 Drake shook his head again before entering the small bathroom. Here, candles had cast a warm glow on the tiles, their light scent tickling his nose. It was nice but it was also making it harder for him to see. 

‘Alright spider where are ya?’ When he had located and squashed the offending arachnid, he called over his shoulder. ‘Okay, its dead.’ 

Elizabeth shuffled into the bathroom, her eyes squeezed shut, brandishing a wooden spoon. 

 ‘You can open your eyes now,’ he informed her, his voice giving way to a chuckle at the sight of her covering behind him. 

 ‘Where is it?’ 

‘I squashed it.’ 

‘You squashed it?’ Her eyes flew open. ‘In the tub.’ 

'Yep. You’re welcome.’ He dusted off his hands on his pants, turning to leave. 

‘You squashed it in the tub?’ 

‘Yeah... Are you going to repeat everything I’m saying?’ 

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in horror as she clutched the wooden spoon harder. ‘The tub that I was going to have a bath in.’ 

Drake shrugged. ‘Yeah.. So?’ 

‘Can you get it out?’ He forced himself not to roll his eyes, muttering under his breath about how good fences made good neighbours, no matter how pretty your neighbour was. Grabbing a piece of toilet paper, he bent over to pick up the carcass. 

‘See Richmond,’ he started to say, 'there’s nothing to be afraid o-ARGHH!’ 

It was at that moment that the spider who was decidedly not dead decided to exact its revenge, somehow leaping out of the tub and landing on his face. Drake's yell was soon joined by Elizabeth’s high pitched scream and out of instinct she swung the wooden spoon she was holding and 

CRACK!  

-

The TV blared with the highlights of the game that had just played but Drake couldn’t concentrate on anything at that point in time, not even the impressive shiner that was blooming on his left cheekbone. Nope not even the biggest bruise known to mankind could distract him from  the faint sound of someone singing. He shook his head to clear his mind and winced immediately, clutching the frozen packet of peas to his face. 

 Phonebooks, Wall Street, tax fraud. 

Think of anything else. Anything except the fact that the only thing separating him from his very attractive, very naked new neighbour was a ten inch thick wall. 

He tried not to think of how he’d already seen her almost naked twice. Once just then and another time in the laundry room when he’d walked in on her dancing. The moves she’d been making, the way her hips shook stayed with him for a long time after that. If he was honest with himself, if Kiara wasn’t in the picture, he’d totally be down to hit that. 

  Stop. Stop it. He grabbed a pillow and shoved it between his legs, willing his dick to stay down. Elizabeth would inevitably have to come out of that bathroom and he did not want to be sporting an erection when she did.   

’S what I get for being nice,’ he muttered to himself moodily. ‘A bruise the size of Texas and a goddamn boner to match.’

After they had both recovered from the initial shock, Elizabeth had been extremely apologetic after she realised what she’d done, launching into a flurry of sorry’s. 

Drake had groaned in pain, clutching his face as she sidestepped the now dead-for-sure spider to rush over to him as he stalked out into the living room..

 ‘Ohmygod I’m so sorry!’ 

 ‘Its fine. I’m fine. Just.. don’t bring that thing anywhere near me.’ 

Elizabeth had sheepishly lowered her wooden weapon. ‘Are you okay?’ 

‘I will be. I think I’ve got something in the freezer back at my place for this.’ 

 ‘At least let me walk you back. Its the least I can do.’ She was so insistent, Drake could barely refuse and had found himself seated on the couch with a bag of peas to his face and a very worried Elizabeth. 

 ‘You sure you’re gonna be okay?’ 

‘Mmhm.’ 

She'd seemed to collect herself, remembering that she was still scantily clad in little more than her dressing gown and stood to leave. 

‘Well thank you again for killing the.. yeah. And I am so sorry.’ 

 Drake had waved her off, shutting the door, hoping finally to get some peace and quiet. Through the wood of the door, he could still hear her voice however. 

‘He squashed. Its gone Elizabeth. That slimy little bug. Its dead. Squashed. Probably left its disgusting little bug juice all over my tub now. And I was going to have a bath. In bug juice. He’ll be looking at me from bug heaven knowing I’m sitting in his bug juice.’ 

Drake'd sighed for a moment, taking a second to make up his mind before opening the door. ‘Would you like to use my shower?'

By that time the shower had stopped, which meant Elizabeth was done and he shoved the pillow down harder, hoping it would look suspicious. A cloud of peach scented soap filled his nostrils as he heard the door unlock and Elizabeth step out, dressed again in that purple dressing gown, her hair wrapped in a towel. 

 ‘I’m so sorry.’ 

‘Don’t be. It was an accident,’ he waved her off. 

‘Let me see.’ Before he could protest, she dropped herself onto the couch next to him and was gently lowering the bag of peas, her hand warm on his cold one. 

From this angle, Drake had a fine view of the way her brows drew together in concentration and the tiny crease that appeared between them as she did. He hissed when her fingers touched the sensitive red skin and she mumbled an apology, studying the area with a focus that both unnerved and thrilled him. The fruity aroma of her shampoo filled his nostrils and he felt the tip of his ears burning when he realised how close she was, looking carefully over him with a concerned eye. His eyes flitted to her full lips that had the slightest bit of water still clinging to them, wondering what she’d do if he reached over to wipe it off.

Elizabeth must have noticed their proximity as she dropped her hand from his face, eyes sliding down to his lips and back up. Her breathing had picked up a little as they drew closer and closer, until their lips were centimetres away and- The sound of the frozen peas falling out of his hand to the ground was enough to make them both spring apart. Drake cleared his throat awkwardly.  

‘So umm…’ She looked just as uncomfortable, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear only belated realising that she’d twisted it all up into her towel. 

‘I should go. I need to go. Put on some clothes and all,’ she rambled, clearly still reeling from what had almost taken place. ‘I… uh..Sorry. Again.’ 

She made her way towards the door and he followed vacantly. ‘Its fine.’ 

Elizabeth nodded giving him a timid smile. ‘Goodnight Drake.’ 

‘Goodnight.’ 

She gave him a last look before closing the door to his apartment behind her and Drake sagged against it, unable to process the last few minutes. 

 What the hell just happened?

[thejacketandthehook]

CSFF: Before Dawn 2/?

Title: Before Dawn 

Author: thejacketandthehook (aka everystareverywhere) 

Summary:  Emma Swan and Killian Jones only had one thing in common: Emma's best friend and Killian's brother were dating. But Emma and Killian could not get along. That was, until the day they had to work together through a tragedy that no one saw coming.

Rating: General (but that will change to Mature in later chapters) 

Word Count: 6529

Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing. 

Author’s Notes:  So, I’ve been in the mist of writing this particular story for almost two years. And I’m hoping that if I have support, I’ll be more motivated to finish it. So my story is based off of the movie "Life As We Know It" starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. And below is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter One

You can also read it here: A03

@searchingwardrobes

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two Months Later

Emma smiled as her boyfriend, Walsh, leaned across the table, gently taking her hand in his.

"You are an amazing woman, Emma Swan," Walsh smiled. She and Walsh had been going out for the last four months, and though Emma really didn't believe in love at first sight, or any kind of nonsense like that, she was smitten with him. He was just that kind of guy; charming to a fault, but also kind and considerate. He loved spending quiet time with Emma, but also loved being around Liam and Elsa (he's never met Killian; Emma felt he didn't need that kind of torture). With his shaggy brown hair and warm brown eyes, he was exactly what Emma needed and wanted. Elsa saw that the first time Emma brought him to her house from BBQ. Walsh and Liam got along wonderfully, and even Henry seemed to like him -  though to be fair, Henry likes everyone, but still. It was nice that Walsh could fit into her little life. It meant a lot.

"I know," she smiled back, tilting her head to the side. They had just finished dinner and the waitress asked if they wanted desert.

"I can't eat another bite," Emma replied, leaning back and rubbing her hand over her completely full stomach.

"Oh, come on! You have to have their ice cream! You love the ice cream here."

That was true, but still..."Walsh, I couldn't."

"Fine, I'll take the ice cream."

After he told her what flavor he wanted and the waitress walked away, Walsh excused himself to go to the bathroom. Emma was fiddling with her phone, checking Facebook and Instragram when he returned. "Everything alright with work?"

"Yeah, yeah. I haven't been assigned a new case yet."

"You will be soon."

"Well, I just closed one today."

"And that is why you are the best detective here in Storybrooke."

Emma gave a small chuckle. "I wish that felt like a big victory, but...I want to go where there is real detective work. Like in New York. Or Boston."

"You want to leave Elsa? And Henry?"

She shrugged. "It's a dream right now. I'm sure that I'm not gonna..." Just then her cell phone rang. Usually she would ignore it, because she was on a date with Walsh and it wasn't her work ringtone. But it was Anna's face that appeared on the screen. And Anna rarely called Emma. And right then, Emma's stomach dropped.

"I should take this," she muttered before picking up and phone and turning slightly to the side before swiping her finger along the bottom. "Hello?"

"Emma?" Though it was Anna's voice, it...wasn't. Because Anna was usually chipper to the point where you wanted to tie her down and read her horrible stories about how magic really works in Disney World until she loses that innocence. But right now it sounded like she had found it all on her own. "Emma...I can't..."

She's crying. Why was she crying?

"Anna? What is it? Are you okay? Is it Henry?" Oh no, please let it not be Henry. Please say Henry is fine. Because Elsa and Liam would lose it if something happened to Henry.

"He's..." Anna sobbed so loud, Emma pulled the phone away from her ear, but she quickly replaced it, in case she continued talking. Emma wanted to jump out of the chair and start pacing, but since she was in a public place, she couldn't. But her body wanted to move while her mind was trying to focus on Anna.

"Anna? Anna, is it Henry? Is he okay?" Emma asked, anxious. Anna was not answering her questions and she was starting to freak out.

"Henry's...he's fine...but Emma...Come to the hospital. Now!" Before she can say another word, Anna hung up.

Emma slowly lowered the phone, Walsh's ice cream placed in front of her on a lovely dish. But she barely saw it before she gathered up her belongings. "I need to go."

"I gathered," Walsh said, signaling to the waitress for the check. "Is Henry alright?"

"I don't...Yes, he's okay. But I don't understand why she called. I need to go to the hospital."

"Wait, I'll drive you."

Emma stood up, ready to run out of there and run to the hospital if she had to. "Walsh, I can't--"

"I'll take you. You're in no condition to drive." The waitress appeared with the check. Walsh handed her his credit card and said, "We need to leave now, so hurry up." Usually he's so considerate to waiters and waitresses, but he knows that Emma's in a rush.

"It has be something to do with Elsa," Emma says, trying to figure out what got Anna so upset. "If it's not Henry, than it's Elsa. It has to be."

The waitress returned with the receipt and Walsh signed it before the two of them ran out of the restaurant and towards his car.

The drive to the hospital took forever, but they were also there in record time. Emma ran towards the doors when she saw someone running out of the corner of her eye. She didn't stop, even when she recognized Killian's profile. When he saw her, he came closer before asking, "Henry?"

She knew what he was asking: was Henry hurt? She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Walsh was right behind the two of them as they entered the hospital. Emma and Killian went straight to the front desk. They spoke at the same time. "I want to see my brother, Liam Jones." "I need information on Elsa Jones."

The nurse looked at the two of them. "You must be the family members. Let me page the doctor for you." She turned around and picked up the phone.

"This is not good," Emma whispered. "If we need to talk to a special doctor, this is not good."

"Think positive Emma. They could be in a minor accident. Anna is a bit overdramatic."

Killian turned to look at Walsh, but didn't say anything. At that moment, the nurse turned around and said, "Dr. Whale is on the third floor."

The three of them went speeding towards the elevators. But they were taking too long, and Emma was jumpy, so when she saw the staircase, she went towards them instead. She thought that she heard Walsh and Killian behind her, but she wasn't certain. Everything felt like a dream, a really awful dream where you can't wake up. It felt fuzzy and uncertain and all Emma wanted to do was going back to the restaurant with Walsh and finish their date.

But when she threw open the door and saw Anna sobbing into her friend's shoulder, she knew that life was about to change forever.

Anna could barely speak, but her friend, Kris, filled them in. Elsa and Liam were in a terrible car accident. Their car slid and went over a bridge. Another car saw them go over and called the ambulance, but both of them were unresponsive when they were brought in. Henry was not in the car; he was at home, currently sleeping in his bed, a neighbor watching him.

Emma barely heard the words coming out of Kris's mouth. She heard their names and "car accident" and everything went fuzzy. She grabbed onto someone, she wasn't sure who, who helped her sit down. Her legs felt weak and her brain was numb and she just sat there, staring off into nothing. Because she couldn't lose Elsa. Elsa was the only family she had. She had literally no one but her.

Killian sat beside her, but she felt him rather than saw him. He leaned forward and rubbed his hands against his face before standing up and screaming, "Fucking hell!" as loud as he could. If people stopped and starred at him, Emma didn't know. She only heard the sound of his voice, not the actual words.

But she couldn't lose Elsa. She just couldn't.

When Dr. Whale walked into the hallway, Emma could feel the Earth beneath her feet moving and she had nothing to hold on to. Because he told her the one thing she did not want to hear.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

Anna screamed. Killian collapsed. And Emma pulled herself up in a ball and wept. She wept for Liam Jones, the most wonderful (sort of) brother-in-law a woman could ask for. She wept for Elsa, her best friend, her almost sister. They were going to travel the world together. They were going to live next door to each other and have a special pathway put in so someone could get from one house to the other easily. Their children were going to grow up together.

And now she was gone.

Both of them.

Elsa and Liam Jones were dead.

Oh God, what about Henry?

What was going to happen to him? He was an orphan. Two hours ago he was a part of a loving family, one that would do anything to protect him. Now? Now he was an orphan before he could even talk.

Emma knew what that was like, and it was the most awful feeling in the world. The only difference between Henry and Emma is that Henry's family didn't leave him by choice. Emma's did.

But now wasn't the time to wallow in pity. Now she had to help Anna plan not one funeral, but two.

Emma's nights and days became a huge blur. She helped Killian and Anna set up the funerals, and the wake, and what should they bury Elsa and Liam in? She helped take care of Henry, but she was so out of it, a neighbor more often than not took care of him. Anna and Kris were staying with him until they spoke to the lawyer. Even though Elsa and Liam were so young (just over 25), they did in fact have a will. Emma remembered Elsa insisting she and Liam get one when they found out she was pregnant with Henry. "Better safe than sorry," she had said.

Unfortunately, she was right.

The day before the funeral, Anna called Emma to say that the lawyer wanted to speak to Emma at her earliest convenience. Emma wrote down the office address before hanging up.

She looked at her own handwriting. Archie Hopper. What an odd name. Emma wasn't certain why she was so focused on the name, so much so that she sort of just zoned out for a moment.

"Hey, you okay?" someone asked her.

She looked up to see Mary Margaret Nolan and her husband David looking down at her. Mary Margaret and David were Elsa and Liam's neighbors. Emma has of course met them numerous times, and they were certainly nice enough. Slightly older that Emma (by maybe two years), they were married straight out of college and have been by each other's side all the time. Emma wasn't certain whether she has ever seen one without the other.

Mary Margaret was a pretty woman, with a pixie cut black hair and bright green eyes. And she had a full face, though the fact that she was seven months pregnant might have helped with that. And her husband David was the picture boy for the Boy-Next-Door trope. He had sandy colored hair that was always cut short and blue eyes. Both of them were extremely easy to talk to.

"Yeah," Emma said, shaking her head before looking up at them. "I'm okay. How are you doing? How's Henry?"

Mary Margaret and David were the neighbors who had been watching Henry the night of the accident. They were thankful - like everyone else - that Henry wasn't in the car with them. There would have been no way that he could have survived.

"Henry's okay." Mary Margaret looked down that the paper in Emma's hand. "Do you need to go see the lawyer?"

Emma quickly got up, making Mary Margaret and David back up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm suppose I do," she said, sort of in a daze. She's been in a daze since this whole mess started. She wondered if she would ever truly come out it.

"When?" David asked.

"Um, soon."

"You going now?"

"Um...I guess."

"I'll drive you," David suggested. Normally Emma would have objected, stating that she can obviously take her own car, but since she was so out of it, David driving would have been the smarter option.

When they pulled up in front of the law offices, Emma weakly thanked David before getting out. She opened the door and walked towards the correct offices before opening that one. When she walked into the waiting room, she saw the receptionist behind her desk and Killian Jones sitting on one of the hard chair, playing with his phone, a flask barely tucked behind his back. Emma didn't comment. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, and right now a drink sounded like a good idea.

When the receptionist saw Emma, she picked up the phone and called to the lawyer. He must have told her to tell them to come in, since when she hung up, she said to them, "You can go in."

Killian and Emma looked at each other. "Which one?" Killian asked.

"Both of you. He's needs to speak to you both."

Emma wondered what precisely the lawyer needed both of them for, but she figured that she would find out soon enough. Killian let her walk in first before following.

The lawyer's office was spacious, even with the amount of furniture it had in it. He had at least five filing cabinets against the one wall and his desk sat in front of a row of windows. He had a couch and a coffee table sitting in the middle of the room, and in front of his desk sat two chairs. When he saw Emma and Killian, he gestured to them.

"Sit, sit," he said in a soft voice.

Once they were both seated, he introduced himself. "My name is Archie Hooper and I am Elsa and Liam Jones's lawyer. Do you know why you were both called here?" They both shook their heads. "Okay, well, I have their will here and it contains both of you." He took a deep breath before folding his hands on his desk. "Has Elsa or Liam told you what would happen to Henry in the unlikely event of both of them dying?"

Emma's fingers started fidgeting and her heart pounded. What was going to happen to him? "No," she muttered. Killian shook his head.

"Well," Archie continued, "they have both stated that the legal guardians of Henry K. Jones would be...you."

Silence. And then both Killian and Emma leaned forward in their chairs and spoke at the same time.

"What do you mean, 'you'? Like both of us?" Killian asked.

"There has to be misunderstanding somewhere," Emma replied.

Archie held up his hands. "I know this is confusing, and I tried to talk them out of it. Having two people who are not in any form of relationship raising a child...it's complicated. But they insisted that it had to be you. Both of you."

"But I'm his brother!" Killian spoke up with more passion than he had in a week. "It makes sense for me, but for her?"

As much as Emma wanted to smack Killian, he did have a point. Emma wasn't Elsa's true sister, that was Anna. So while it made sense for Killian to take responsibility for Henry, why Emma and not Elsa's actual sister?

"I love Henry just as much as you do," Emma hissed at him.

"But you're not his true aunt, love, no matter how you think otherwise," he replied.

Before Emma could so much as inhale a deep breath to fight back, Archie said, "Now, please. Let's be civil about this. Elsa and Liam have it in their will - both of their wills that if something happened to both of them and they were unable to care for Henry, that--" The lawyer opened the will up to the right page and read it. "'Emma Swan and Killian Jones would be the legal guardians of Henry K. Jones.'" He looked up. "Of course you can think about it."

"How long do we have? To think about it," Killian asked.

"24 hours."

"And then what?" was Emma's concern.

"Well, if you two both decide that you are not fit to take care of Henry, he would go to Elsa's younger sibling, Anna."

"She's only 22," Emma pointed out. "And still in college. She can't raise a baby."

"Well, it would be her decision. However, if Anna too feels that she is not fit enough to take care of Henry, he would go to social services."

"And be put into a foster home? No." Emma sat back and crossed her arms. "Henry is not going anywhere near a foster house."

Killian raised an eyebrow at Emma's outburst, but otherwise said nothing.

Archie nodded. "I understand. But you have to also understand that if no one in his family wants him--"

"I want him," Killian interrupted.

Emma sat up straighter. "Me too. I want to take care of Henry."

Archie raised his eyebrows before saying, "I need you both to understand something of vital importance. Henry is not a toy. He is a living, breathing person who is only barely begun in life. This will not be easy. Being a parent is not an easy job and it is not for the faint of heart."

"Two seconds ago you're telling us to raise Henry, and now you're telling us not to?" Killian's eyebrows creased together. "I don't understand, mate, which is it?"

"I want to do what is best for Henry. Elsa and Liam felt that the two of you were capable of raising their child." Emma and Killian looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, but otherwise said nothing. It was definitely not a secret that Emma and Killian tolerated each other at best, and Elsa and Liam knew that. Why they would want to two people who can barely look at each other to raise their child was unbeknownst to them.

"How--How does this work?" Emma leaned forward. "Like...do we adopt him or...?"

"Well, they named you guardianship. So I just set up a court hearing to grant you temporary custody, and that's it.

"What if one of us wants to adopt him?" Killian asked.

"Well, that would be something that the two of you would need to work through. But, yes, if the judge rules that you, one of you, is capable of raising Henry, then you can adopt him. But let's not get ahead of ourselves." Archie looked at the two of them. They both looked so unsure of what was happening. Like two lost puppies trying to figure out a way home. "Can I make a suggestion? Maybe you two should move in, you know, until things get settled. They did, after all, leave you their house as well..."

"Wait what?" Emma asked.

"Live in their house?" Killian wanted to know.

"Oh, did I not mention that? You would be living in their place."

Emma's eyes opened wide. "We would live in their house?"

Archie nodded. "According to their will, except for a few personal items, everything belongs to the two of you. Their house, their cars, their furniture. Their finances would be used to cover anything for Henry, of course, and their life savings will help you a bit with the upkeep of this house. Their mortgage was paid off, so you two don't need to worry about that." He took a breath. "I think I covered everything. Now. What will your decision be? Will you two raise Henry or not?"

[notgoingtohappen]

Revenge, Interrupted (Part 23)

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Caroline was right.

Something had changed between her and Stefan. It was almost imperceptible; they still got along fine, they still spent the usual relationship-worthy amount of time together. Their friends wouldn’t notice, but when they were alone…

It wasn’t just her hypersensitivity. Since returning from the cabin, this entire week they had been more reserved, less talkative, more distant.

She was sitting on the couch with Elena, trying to listen to her relationship problems, but couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to Stefan.

“–and sometimes, I just want to strangle him! But then… that’s kinda hot, don’t you think? Caroline? Care!”

Caroline started.

“I knew it. Chewing your lip and staring into the distance, the sure sign you’re not listening. Not everyone’s relationship can be perfect! I told Nadia she was dead wrong, it’s Delena that’s in trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Elena. Wait, what?”

“Oh you know, our couple name. Damon and Elena, Delena.”

“No, um, the Nadia thing.”

“Nothing, she just said she got super weird vibes from you at the cabin. Asked me if you’d broken up. Something about Liam being interested in you.”

“No, of course, we’re fine…”

“That’s what I said.”

Bonnie walked in from her room and collapsed onto the couch. “What up, ladies?”

“Nothing, I just think my relationship is dead!” Elena cried dramatically and buried her face in a cushion.

Bonnie exchanged a look with Caroline. Oh boy.

“As for me, I am nervous,” Caroline added.

“Oh right, about your job tomorrow. Don’t stress, babe! You’re perfect for the job”

Caroline sighed. “I know. I just… am gonna obsess over it anyway.”

Bonnie looked around mournfully. “As long as we’re having a pity party, I’m terrified I’ll do something wrong and it’ll mess up a whole class of children and stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

“You are gonna be the best teacher they’ll ever have their whole damn lives, Bonnie Bennett.”

Elena extended an arm without raising her head and hugged Bonnie as she scooted into it.

“Are you guys sick or something?” Came a voice from above them a few minutes later.

The girls looked up wearily to find Stefan Salvatore standing there awkwardly.

“Oh look, it’s the brother. The perfect boyfriend. Blech.” Elena muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, Stefan! What did you think of your elementary school teacher? Any lasting impressions she made on you? Or any traumas associated with first grade you can recall?”

“Uh…”

Caroline had to save the poor guy. Hauling herself up, she moved to hug him, but he moved to kiss her cheek and it resulted in a really awkward dance that left her best friends snickering.

They were painfully out of sync.

“I’m uh, cooking you dinner. Because of tomorrow.” Stefan announced.

Caroline was touched. “Aw, thank you!”

Moments like these, it hurt to remember none of this was real. To see what they could have for real, but didn’t.

She followed him across the hall and to the Salvatore loft and perched on the kitchen counter, finding it had become an all too familiar spot.

Enzo and Damon greeted her distractedly from the TV and continued gaming. Stefan put some music on his phone to drown the sounds of virtual shooting out and Caroline watched him cook.

Nothing could drown out the memories of the rave from her mind. That night had been mind-blowing. It was an unfair joke on the universe’s part that what she’d told the girls a few days ago turned out to be so completely true: Stefan was the best sex she’d ever had. He made her feel things no other guys had, so easily it seemed almost too natural. Caroline couldn’t get it out of her head for too long, no matter how hard she tried.

She was over being mad at herself for it, though. Now she just had to focus on acting normal with Stefan. On both sides; alone and in front of the others.

It was going to be over soon, she kept telling herself. She wasn’t sure the thought brought more relief or heartache.

“How cheesy do you want the pasta?” Stefan asked.

“Did you say pasta, mate?” Came Enzo’s voice.

“Yeah, but I only made enough sauce for two. Sorry.” Stefan called back.

“Ugh. Pause the game, Enzo, I’m going to order some pizza.” Damon stalked into view holding his phone to his ear, glaring at Stefan.

“Chill out, Damon. He’s just being a good boyfriend” Caroline playfully raised her leg to stop Stefan when he passed by her. He turned to her with an easy smile and she rested her arms on his shoulders, nudging him closer to the counter with her legs. His hands moved to rest on her waist and he kissed her forehead gently.

She swallowed. She was expecting a normal kiss, and this threw her.

Fortunately, Damon and his grumbling came to the rescue.

“Do you two really need to flaunt your perfect relationship in our faces all the time? Some of us have actual problems, you know. I could throw up. Enzo, tell Steffy I could actually throw up.”

Enzo came into view and grabbed a bit of cheese. “Sorry, guys. I think he’s having some relationship problems with El–”

“Shut up, Lorenzo!”

Enzo raised his hands in defeat and swirled a finger near his ear, signalling that Damon had lost it.

Well. Caroline could have predicted that the day they met.

“I blame you four for setting such annoyingly high relationship standards that Elena gets mad at me for everything.”

“Just go talk to each other maybe?” She suggested.

“We just end up having sex,” Damon said glumly.

Stefan pursed his lips with a look that was a mixture of both disinterest and defeat and then went back to cooking.

“Extra cheesy,” Caroline whispered to him. “What the hell, treat yo self, right?”

Damon glowered. “That’s not a problem for you two, is it? I mean both the cheesiness and the sex. The last place I expected to find you drunk Hufflepuffs was upstairs in one of the rooms, but…”

Despite her best efforts, Caroline blushed.

“Back off, Damon.” Stefan snapped, noticing how visibly uncomfortable she was.

“Talk to your girlfriend instead of being a baby,” Enzo said helpfully.

“And we are Gryffindors! Or maybe Ravenclaws.” Caroline added.

“I never figured out which I am,” Enzo muttered.

~*~

Caroline couldn’t stop giggling.

“Candles? Seriously?”

“It’s what I’d do at this point in a relationship, especially on a special occasion,” Stefan said simply.

“Okay, then, I will dress appropriately for your fancy candlelight dinner and be right back.” She laughed and made her way back to her loft.

“Come on, no need” Stefan called after her, but no way was she letting an opportunity to dress up like this go. This was so unnecessary and fun. And cute. None of her exes had ever done stuff like this. But Stefan… it had only been a few weeks and he remained perfect. It was unbelievable. Who wouldn’t want him for real, brooding and messed up exes and all?

“Don’t you look cheerful. Going out?” Bonnie asked from the couch as Caroline walked to the door in strappy heels, eyeing her black gown and elegantly pinned up bangs.

“Nope, candlelight dinner courtesy of Stefan.”

Bonnie smiled. “Have fun!”

Stefan’s eyes widened slightly when he saw her. She’d never get tired of that reaction, she thought happily as she sat down on the chair he pulled out.

She grinned and then raised her eyebrows at him.

He didn’t look too bad himself. Oh, who was he kidding, she was probably mirroring his expression. Stefan Salvatore in a suit made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling anymore. Or at all. Ever.

“Well as long as we were both committed to the fanciness of tonight,” Stefan explained. “Damon’s sulking in his room” he added quietly.

Caroline nodded. 

Honestly, they could probably go on like this for months. They were friends, allies, and it’s not like that much had changed. They hadn’t kissed since they’d got back, and they didn’t even have to talk about what had happened again. It was like they both wanted to forget anything that hadn’t been part of the plan. It was better that way.  Everything was fine.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Stefan asked her as he handed her a glass of wine. They’d agreed it wasn’t hard liquor and wouldn’t do any harm.

“A little… okay yes. I want to make a good first impression, get along with the others, prove myself, you know?”

He looked thoughtful. “You’ll be great. Just relax today, get a good night’s sleep.”

She couldn’t help but stare at the shadows the candlelight cast upon his angular face.

“This is amazing,” she exclaimed as she tried the pasta. ���Why aren’t you a chef again?”

“Thank you. Why aren’t you an actress again?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“The career options are unlimited” Stefan sighed.

“A true power couple.”

Once they’d polished the food and wine and were about to go chill in her loft, Stefan suddenly told her to wait and ducked into his room.

He came out carrying a small velvet box.

“Almost forgot about this.”

Caroline froze. Her heart literally stopped. Marrying a guy this perfect was the dream, and she’d gladly marry Stefan Salvatore (it would certainly fix the problem of her feelings for him being real), but they were too young, they’d just met, and really what the fuck.

Stefan stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on her face.

“Stefan, we’re fake dating, no one said anything about marriage!” She hissed, finding her voice once she saw the ridiculous look on his face.

Stefan looked like a confused puppy, and Caroline felt an instant rush of endearment. Damn it.

“What? No… that’s not… Caroline, it’s a gift I got for you.” He gave the box to her and she opened it curiously, and what the saw took her breath away.

It was a pendant, simple yet beautiful. A deep blue star outlined in silver. The gleaming stone looked like lapis lazuli, and the faint patterns under its surface only added to its charm.

“Oh my god. It’s gorgeous. Thank you, Stefan.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. It reminded me of you. Plus, you know, big gesture and all. You said to take care of it.”

Caroline’s heart sank as realisation dawned on her.

Of course that’s what it was.

Before she could collect herself and say something about going to go sleep, the door burst open and in the doorway stood a very determined looking Elena Gilbert.

“Salvatore!” She called out. “We need to talk!”

Enzo emerged from Damon’s room and on seeing Bonnie hanging behind in the hallway, made a speedy exit with her to god knows where. Their beloved diner, probably.

Elena’s gaze landed on the couple standing in the living room. “Oh hey, Stefan. I didn’t mean you. Aw, you guys look pretty. Wait, is that a–”

“Pendant!” Caroline held the box up quickly.

“It’s so cute!”

“Like hell, we need to talk.” They turned to find Damon standing in his doorway. The couple was facing off from opposite ends of the living room and Caroline and Stefan exchanged a look that clearly said ‘run’.

“Stefan, let’s go to my room. I can thank you for this properly.” Caroline winked hurriedly, well aware of how comical it would have looked, and practically dragged Stefan to her loft.

They collapsed against the closed door, safely away from what was going to be a messy fight.

Caroline ducked into the bathroom to change into her pyjamas and washed the makeup off, running her hands through her hair to loosen the pinned locks.

The sight of Stefan sitting on her bed and smiling at her as she got in next to him, made her heart flip-flop against her will.

“So I’m going to sleep now. Feel free to crash here if you want to avoid, you know.” Caroline pulled the comforter over her shoulder.

Stefan took off his shoes and got in beside her. “Okay, thanks.”

When she moved to rest her head on his shoulder, Caroline told herself it had nothing to do with habit. She didn’t prefer to sleep next to him. She wasn’t that far gone.

~*~

When Caroline woke up, Stefan was gone, but she didn’t dwell on it. All her thoughts were focussed on her first day of work.

She grabbed a piece of toast, quickly hugged the girls, and rushed, determined not to be late.

~*~

The day went by smoothly.

Caroline had gotten along with the other two assistants, a goth-looking young woman and a blonde guy, just fine. Her boss and her other co-workers seemed nice enough, and the work looked interesting. The girl had shown her around the place and explained her job to her, and by late afternoon, Caroline was free. Her work hours weren’t that long. Plus, it was the first day, and she just had to shadow them.

Once she was home, she watched some reality TV with Bonnie until she left for Enzo’s for the night, and then Caroline was alone with the daunting task of cooking dinner for herself.

Suddenly, a much better alternative presented itself to her. She dialled Stefan’s number.

“Hey, wanna check out that diner? I wanted to get some dinner.”

It wasn’t too much, she told herself. Friends went for night-time walks to eat meals outside all the time. She may feel more for him because of their messed up situation, but they were still friends, and that’s what his presence was for her.

She kept telling herself that. 

24