#ringing up the groceries or when we’re unpacking everything at home. he’s like ‘oh what? how did these get there?’ and smiles when I take | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bbyboybrock--archived · 4 years

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The New Hampshire House (Trap House Imagine)

Summary: You and the trap house boys decided to travel to New Hampshire for a week to film Sam and Colby’s new series. Trouble arises on the first night.

Written: 2020

Word Count: 2,250

Warnings: Swearing, murder, haunted house

Masterlist

Slowly sliding through the mist came a faint human-like figure and went into the new house. I shrugged it off as my imagination and helped the guys carry everything inside.

When Sam, Colby, Jake, and Corey invited me on this trip, the last place I expected to be was in a haunted house in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire. I knew we would be doing the typical stuff for the week: haunted overnights, explore videos, and midnight rituals. What I didn’t know is that they lied to me about our lodging situation. I was told we were going to be staying in this nice Air BnB in a cute little neighborhood. They even showed me pictures. But when we flew in Colby announced to me, because he had already talked to everyone while I was asleep on the plane, that there was a problem with the original house and he had to book this one last minute. We’ve been at this house for about 20 minutes and let me tell you, Bradford, New Hampshire looks and feels creepy.

“Y/N, come in the living room, we have to talk.” I heard Sam shout from probably the living room.

“Coming!” I exclaimed. I walk into is what I think is the kitchen and spot Colby walks into a different room. I follow him and find everyone sitting around together.

“Y/N, we have to get a few things for this week and we need you to stay here and set up some stuff,” Sam explains when he sees me.

“What? No way! I am not staying in this creepy house by myself! Why can’t we all go or one of you stay we me?”

“We’re going shopping for food and supplies for the week. The rental is small and we need to get a lot of things.” Colby explains, patting the seat next to him for me to sit.

“Sure leave the four of you in charge of getting the food we’re going to be living on for the next week. You know what, I’m willing to put feminism back a few years for this. I’m the woman here and I’m probably going to be doing all the cooking anyway. I’ll go grocery shopping, Jake can stay home.” I sit on the armchair by myself and cross my legs; I’m not going out without a fight.

“Y/N, you know if we leave Jake, we’ll never get the deposit back.” Corey jokes.

“Fine, then you stay Ye Rock.”

“Fuck that, I’m not staying here.”

“Then why do I have to?”

“Please, Y/N, we’ll all owe you big time. We’ll be gone for an hour—two hours tops. We just need someone to charge the equipment and double-check that we have everything.” I throw my hands up and sink into the couch. There is no way I’m going to win this argument.

I wave goodbye to everyone as they pull out of the driveway. I scan the street one more time before locking the door. We’re really the only house out here. Nothing but dirt and trees for miles. If I didn’t know any better, I would think we were in the middle of the suicide forest. I check all of the equipment that Sam and Colby left behind for me to charge. I stay downstairs for 20 minutes after that before going upstairs to my room to unpack a bit. I close the door and start putting my clothes away.

Knock, knock, knock.

I go and open the door, knowing that I’m the only one home, to find nobody there. It’s probably just one of the guys trying to scare me. Maybe they wanted to get a prank video done and make me the subject of their torture. I close the door and go into the closet to start putting some clothes on hangers again. I see a box probably, from the owners, tucked away in the corner. I know I probably shouldn’t open it, I’m a guest in this house. But my curiosity gets the best of me and I get the desk chair and climb on it to reach the shelf. After a few misses, I grab the old dusty brown box. I blow the dust off and open it to find old newspaper articles about this house.

THE DAILY NEWS: MAN MURDERED IN HIS OWN HOUSE

Mark White (Age 37) was murdered in his home today. He suffered head wounds and had multiple stab wounds. His wife (Arianna White, Age 35) found him dead in the family room with the possible murder weapon. Police officers found no fingerprints on the evidence…

Out of all the houses in the area, Sam and Colby had to choose the murder house. They probably did this on purpose. I go through the box I see pictures of a man and a woman, probably Mark and Arianna, standing in front of the house. Then I pick up another newspaper article.

DAILY NEWS: WOMAN MURDERED IN HER HOME

Arianna White (Age 35) was murdered in her home today. She has suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Mrs. White’s husband was murdered last month in the family room and his wife was found there dead. Her children found her dead when they came home from school and called 911. The family was in the process of moving.

They have to be fucking with me. There is no way that this group of people, the group that is always doing spooky shit, just happened to book an Air BnB where two—possibly more—people have died. On top of that, them leaving me home along with wouldn’t be a coincidence either. There have to be hidden cameras around the house. How did I find the one room in the house that conveniently just had this box in it?

“No, absolutely fucking not. Nope. Fuck you guys. I’m over this, you picked the wrong bitch.” I shout to nobody in particular and put the box back. I grab my laptop and head to my bed to binge the series I started yesterday.

I must have been tired because I fell asleep while watching the show. It’s dark now and the house is unusually quiet. I sit up and turn on the light to look for my phone. I grab it and unlock my phone to a text from Colby saying that they dropped off the groceries but had to head out for something. He said that they didn’t want to wake me up, so they left without me and would come back with dinner. I rolled my eyes and head downstairs. I pass by the thermostat on the way down and turn on the heat. For the middle of summer, it’s oddly cold.

When I get to the kitchen I check to see what the four dumb asses managed to get us for provisions. Surprisingly, they got things that we can have for actual meals, on top of snacks. I grab the stovetop popcorn and begin to make it. I turn around and hear a loud crash behind me. The bags on the dining room table were now on the floor.

“Y/N,” I heard a faint voice say. This has to be a prank. They guys have to be home and hiding filming me somewhere.

“Get out of our house, Y/N.” Now I hear two faint voices one sounded like a man and the other sounded like a woman. This getting weird. Maybe they hired a woman to help prank me. Or maybe one of them finally nailed their fake woman voice.

“You guys can stop now! I’m actually scared so you won. You come out and welcome me to the prank war.”

“Nobody’s here, Y/N. No one is going to help you.” The voices are getting closer.

“I’m never doing another video with any of you, ever again. If you don’t— if you don’t come out right now I’ll move out.”

“Then leave!” Something else falls somewhere else in the house, causing me to scream and jump back into the hot stove. If it’s not the guys, then the ghosts of this house are still here holding a grudge against their killers. I start getting goosebumps and the hair on the back of my neck as I turn off the stove.

“Sam, Colby, Jake, and Corey you better fuck off right now!” I yell as I start running to my room. This house is huge it’s easy to get lost.

While I’m running things are flying and falling behind me. I’m going to kill them when I see them. After what seems like forever I finally get to my room. I lock the door and slide my back down it. I grab my phone from my back pocket and dial Colby’s number. As I call, I feel things getting thrown at the door.

“Hello—”

“Are you guys fucking with me right now?” I ask as I move myself to the closet.

“What do you mean? We’re not even home right now.” He sounds only mildly panicked, I don’t even know if he’s faking or not.

“Cole Robert Brock, are you and your asshole friends somewhere on property pulling a prank on me?” The banging on the door stopped and I poked my head out of the closet door.

“No, we’re on our way home from a witchcraft store for some ritual ingredients that we couldn’t find at the store. What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, things are weird here and I’m over—” A loud bang at the door causing me to scream louder than I think I’ve ever done in my entire life.

“Oh, shit. Okay, we’ll be right there.” I hear Colby and everyone else running in the background. I don’t know if it was my scream or if they heard the bang in the background, but now they’re done fucking around.

Colby stays on the phone with me while I go back to hiding in the closet. A few minutes later I hear footsteps approaching my door. When the footsteps get close enough, that when the loud banging started up again, causing me to scream.

“Oh, fuck, sorry. Y/N, it’s just us, open the door.” Colby says on the other line.

I take a few deep breaths and open the door to reveal my idiots, scared out of their minds. I drop my phone and wrap my arms around Colby. I didn’t even realize I was crying until Colby hugged me back and started stroking my hair. Normally, I hate it when he does this because his rings get stuck in my hair, but right now I just need this hug from my best friend.

“What the fuck happened to the house?” Jake asks, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean? It was your guys’ prank.” I pull away from Colby and look at the four of them in disbelief.

“Uh, not it’s not. The box in your closet, the stuff in your bathroom, and the two dummies outside are our pranks. All this other shit was all you.” Corey says, picking up broken glass and dropping it on the floor.

“No, it wasn’t. Do you honestly think I’m that good of an actress? I broke character like two months ago when I tried to convince Sam that Colby fell into a ditch the last time we did an overnight. Do you genuinely think I could sit here, screaming and crying for fun? Or that I would somehow have the time to break all that shit and stage the knocking on my door.” I wipe my face and step back to finally let the boys in my room.

“She’s not wrong guys, she does share a brain cell with us. I don’t think she could pull this off. She didn’t even know we were coming here until this afternoon and she can’t think that fast.” Jake says before flopping himself on my bed.

“You know what Webber, I may be scared, but I’m not scared to throw these hands—”

“Guys! Let’s think about this. Couldn’t it have been an earthquake or something? Or the movement of Y/N running. It’s a pretty old house.”

“It can’t be an earthquake dude, I’m pretty sure New Hampshire hasn’t unlocked those yet,” Corey explains.

“Okay, first of all, Sam I’m pretty sure you called me fat but I’ll deal with that later. Second, Corey, you’re so fucking stupid, I swear to God. I’m constantly worried about your well being. And thirdly, Colby either you’re sleeping in here with me or I’m sleeping in your room with you because I refuse to sleep alone tonight.” I explain, sitting down on the floor.

“Wait, can we talk about this seriously. If none of us set up this prank, then who the fuck did. Do you think the owners of this house are doing this? Because if they are, I vote we get the fuck out right now.”

“Why would they even do that?” Sam asks, now joining me on the floor.

“To scare us before they murder us, brother,” Jake says jokingly from my bed.

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Corey says from the door.

“Can we be serious for one second—” Sam is cut off by the lights going out, covering us in a deep velvet of pitch black. Not even the windows are helping. All five of us scream but dare not move.

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ijustwant2write · 4 years

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Negative-Jax Teller x Reader

(GIF credit to @xrockrebelqueenx)

Masterlist

Prompts List

Tags: @amirahiddleston @bloodorangemoonlight

Summary: (Y/N) and Jax have been trying for a baby ever since they were married, but each time she takes a test, it's bad news. Jax doesn't realise how much pressure he is putting on her, until she finally breaks.

Characters: Jax Teller x Reader

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Unable to get pregnant, mention of sex, swearing, lots of fluff

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

I paced around the small bathroom, ringing my hands together as I waited for the agonisingly slow two minutes to pass. Every time I did this, I got my hopes up, despite being disappointed time and time again. The alarm on my phone startled me, but I let it ring out for a few more seconds before switching it off. Taking a deep breath, I noticed how shaky my hand was as I picked up the pregnancy test, closing my eyes as I counted down in my head. 3, 2, 1...

Negative

Not pregnant

After so many tries, you would think the tears would be dried up, that I could shed no more. But it was the absolute opposite. The pain, the disappointment, it was too much now. Like most people, I just wanted to start a family. There were no more dreams of being a millionaire or becoming famous, or even marrying a celebrity; I had Jax, and all we wanted together was a baby. We had tried so many times, worked out when best to try and get me pregnant, patiently waited for months and months on end. It seemed nothing was working anymore.

“Babe?” Jax’s voice called out in the house.

Sighing to myself, I picked up the test, not bothering to even act happy as I made my way to him. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, I saw him looking through the fridge before he noticed me. His smile disappeared when he saw my expression, instantly asking me what was wrong. I carelessly threw the test onto the kitchen table, watching as it slid across. Sensing that something was wrong, he didn’t get excited, slowly looking at it.

“Let’s face it Jax, someone up there doesn’t want us having kids.” I mumbled, looking through the cupboards for a wine glass.

“Don’t say that.”

I looked over my shoulder after pouring myself a drink.“Am I wrong?”

“It’s normal for it to take time.”

“Not this long. And I’m sick of going through the same thing over and over! Sex seems like a chore, it’s not spontaneous.”

He smirked, thinking it was the right time to joke around.“We can change that.”

I scoffed.“For fucks sake Jax, I’m not in the mood for that.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.” he slowly approached me, unintentionally trapping me between him and the counter.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just...” putting down the wine glass, I covered my face with both hands, feeling more tears emerging.“I just want this so badly. We’ve tried everything. Why isn’t it working?!”

“Hey, hey,” his voice was hushed as he pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me,“it will happen. We can’t give up. How often have we spoken about this?”

“Forever.”

“We always talk about having a kid! And it will happen, I promise you.”

“You can’t promise that Jax.”

“Well, I’m going to anyway. I can’t stand seeing my girl like this.”

Pulling away to wipe the tears off my cheeks, I tried to calm down, knowing that standing here upset would get us no where.”Do you really think it’s ever going to happen for us?”

He held my chin in his fingers, tilting it up to look at him.“It will. But it’s a shame you think fucking ain’t fun no more.”

Jax walked away, and I knew what game he was playing.

“Well...I mean, just casual fucking isn’t that bad I suppose.” I admitted.

He stopped, looking over his shoulder at me.“That’s a relief.”

“Yeah?” I smiled.

“Yeah, cause, I was gonna take a shower but...”

“Need help old man?”

“I’m gonna need help with something if you don’t get your ass in there soon enough.”

I immediately took back my statement on sex being a chore after that. It felt more wild, yet still loving. Of course we didn’t just leave it in the shower, it continued for most of the night. Pent up anger that was subconsciously stored away in the back of our minds were being released making it all the more exciting. Jax left early the next morning, heading out to the club, but kissed me before he left. I wasn’t fully awake, but acknowledged him with a lazy smile before sleeping for the rest of the morning.

Heading out later for groceries, I checked over my list once more, seeing that I needed to buy more supplies for the first aid kit at home; it wasn’t a surprise that we needed more items again, especially when you were the wife of a President to a motor cycle club that dealt with many illegal doings. As I picked up what I needed, my eyes scanned over the pregnancy tests, sadness waving over me again. It was like they were tormenting me. Pulling myself away from the aisle, I tried to forget about it, focusing on anything else but that.

Jax was already home when I returned, lounging on the sofa as I walked by. He got up as we greeted one another, helping me unpack the shopping.

“Hey,” I said before he kissed me,“how was your day?”

“Same old. Everything is pretty quiet at the club at the moment.” he explained.

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, nice to take a break from...well, that stuff.”

“Nice to see you home so relaxed too.”

We finished unpacking everything when I noticed another bag. However, it was from a different store.

“Jax, did you buy something today?” I asked as I looked inside.

“Yeah,” he waited until I pulled the item out,“it’s more pregnancy tests.”

I frowned at him as I held it up to him.“Why would you go out and get this?”

“Because we didn’t have any left, and I thought after last night, might be worth seeing if it did anything.”

I threw it onto the counter, stomping away towards the bedroom.

“What’s the attitude for?” he called after me.

“I’m not a science experiment Jax! I don’t have to take a test every day if I don’t want to.”

“But what if you’re pregnant?”

“Then taking a day off from tests won’t change that.” I sat on the edge of the bed, glaring at him as he walked in.

“Don’t you want to know?”

“No! Not anymore Jax! I want to just eave the tests for a while.”

“We just spoke about wanting a baby-”

“Do you know how stressed this makes me feel? It’s like this is my only purpose and I’m failing!”

“It’s not your ‘only purpose’. Why are you suddenly acting like this?"

"You know what, I'm not suddenly upset or stressed about all of this. I've felt like this ever since our first negative test."

"Ad you've just been hiding this from me? Thought we were supposed to talk about this kinda shit like normal married couples."

"We're far from fucking normal." I leaned my elbows on my knees, cradling my face in my hands.

"Exactly. You know how tight this family is, it's us and the club." he quickly approached me, kneeling on the floor and grabbing my wrists to reveal my face."You know that family comes first. You are my family."

"It's just every time we have sex, you shove a test in my hand." I sobbed."Like last night, I thought we actually had a great night, then you come home with multiple tests."

"I just want to make sure-"

I groaned before raising my voice at him."You're not listening!"

Having had enough of the pointless argument, I shoved him away from me, grabbing a pair of shoes and quickly putting them on.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to be alone. I need to have some fresh air."

"Let me go with you, please."

I shook my head as I put on a jacket."No Jax, I don't think that's a good idea."

He ignored me, following behind as I rushed to the front door. Why was this man so stubborn? Stopping before I even turned the handle, I spoke to him without even turning around.

"Jax, please, I just need a moment to be by myself."

"You've been by yourself all day-"

"You know that's not the same as this."

"Fine, go away then. You know what, don't even bother to call or text if you're alright."

I was about to retaliate, but I would be stuck here all night arguing with him. I was only heading around the block, I didn't want to be out before it got dark. It was only a little cooler outside, but it was still a relief, as was the peaceful silence. My pace was slow, trying to concentrate on my surroundings to distract my previous thoughts. Although it had worked at first, it was interrupted by the rumbling of a motorcycle. Rolling my eyes as Jax pulled up beside me, I carried on walking.

"Babe, would you get on the bike?" he asked over the noise.

I said nothing.

"Oh please not the silent treatment. You know I can't stand that shit. I just want to hear your beautiful voice."

"Do you not understand the meaning of being alone?"

"(Y/N), come for a ride. I know you like them as much as I do when I need to clear my head."

He wasn't wrong there.

"I brought you a helmet. Come on, please?"

We both halted, and I hesitantly faced him. He was holding out the helmet, a small smile on his face. Why was it so fucking hard to resist him? I gave in, smiling back as I put on the helmet and climbed on the bike behind him. As soon as my arms were wrapped firmly around his waist, he set off, revving the engine more than he needed to, causing me to laugh.

Jax wasn't wrong. This feeling could not be beaten. I had never been on a motorbike before I met Jax. Like most people I was apprehensive to ride with him at first, but after that first trip, I was hooked. But it didn't make me want one of my own, it had to be with Jax. Being on this thing together was exhilarating, it always took me back to the first time, where he had been so cocky and confident as he flirted with me. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice where we were driving to until he started to slow down.

“Really Jax?” I giggled as we pulled up across the street from the grocery store.

“What?”

I climbed off the bike, shaking my hair as I took off the helmet.“You know I already went grocery shopping today.” I joked, knowing why we were really here.

“Come on, you can’t forget the first time you laid eyes on this.” he gestured to himself, leaning back on his bike.

“Of course I know why we’re here. You trying to earn some brownie points?”

“Kinda.”

I waited for him to continue.

“Just...it just felt right to come here. I don’t know, maybe cause I wanted to reflect on how it used to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we were still kids. So much shit has happened since then.”

I knew he was referring to the club more than our marriage.“Yeah, it’s been hard.”

“But I couldn’t have done any of that without you.”

“You would have managed fine without me.”

“No,” he grabbed my hand,“I wouldn’t have.”

“Jax, you don’t have to butter me up you know.” I raised my other hand to cup his cheek, tenderly stroking my thumb back and forth.“I mean, I am still upset, but I couldn’t be mad at you forever.”

“You have every right to be. You would think as someone who is under stress almost all of the time, I would stop you from feeling the same. And I’ve been a shit husband.”

“No, Jax-”

“I have though. I thought back about what you said. You were right about everything. I come back from the club, we speak, eat dinner, and most nights we are fucking. I’m not making love to you anymore because I’m immediately expecting a result after, I’m not thinking about us in that moment.”

I sighed.“The other night felt a bit...different from how we’ve been doing it recently.”

“I still stormed in today with those tests.”

“Jax,” I placed both hands on his shoulders, standing in between his legs,“we’re just going to have to forget about earlier if we’re going to move past this. You seem to be understanding better, and I’m thankful that you thought about it. I know we both really want this, but why don’t we leave it for a bit? And I don’t mean go back to using protection, because you never know, but if we’re having sex, I just want it to be for us two, not to create something.”

He nodded, pulling me in closer and slowly kissing me.“I’m sorry. I promise I won’t put any pressure on you again.”

I smiled.“Come on, let’s go home.”

#Jax teller #jax teller one shot #jax teller x reader #jax teller imagine #jax teller imagines #jax teller #sons of anarchy x reader #sons of anarchy imagines #sons of anarchy imagine #sons of anarchy one shot #sons of anarchy #Soa #soa x reader #soa one shot #soa imagines #soa imagine #soa

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honeypirate · 3 years

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Don’t Forget pt two

Aizawa x reader

Part one here

Part three here

warning- none I think haha

You get moved in and settled pretty quickly, the teachers and students now lived in dorms which you thought was really cool. Everything was different since you last saw it and you were filled with an overwhelming nostalgia and excitement being back.

You couldn’t help but wonder about the boys you used to be friends with, you fell out of contact after a little while, the time change being extremely hard since your family moved to America, you didn’t google him, you didn’t google anyone, you thought it would hurt too much to know anything. You hoped he was happy, but avoided thinking about him, the thought of him having a family gave you acid reflux so you avoided it.

The teacher apartments were furnished but you had a few things delivered from your last apartment that would make the place feel more like home, mostly decorations like fairy lights, tapestries, and pillows, but you also brought a frame of a picture of you, Hizashi, Oboro, and Aizawa at a sports festival. A picture you kept on your dresser the last 12 years and since you were back here it felt right to keep it that way. Once you unpack all of your things and hang up all of your clothes you decide to run to the grocery store and walk around the city you grew up in.

The first place you went was the home you used to live in. You stand across the street as you look at the house, it has a new roof and has been repainted, it’s now dark green instead of the white you used to know. You take a picture of it and text it to your mom, you don’t expect her to reply yet, she’s probably asleep by now with the 14 hour time difference on the east coast. You smile at the nostalgia you feel in your heart before turning back and heading to the store near the school, walking down the paths you used to take before, smiling the whole time.

You get about a week of groceries, enough to carry home and have it not be too much, but you couldn’t resist when you saw the watermelon… which led you to struggle carrying your bags and a melon the half a mile back to the school. Of course it was hard but you mostly found it amusing, your quiet giggles making the people you passed look at you funny. All except one, who knew exactly who you were the moment he saw you, this wasn’t the first time he saw you struggle carrying a watermelon.

“Is that.. MYYYY ~ YYY////NNNN BUUGGG~???” the people around you groan and quickly run away from the loudness of Hizashi’s voice, everyone but you, your eyes popped up to find him, his signature yellow hair was longer but he still styled it the same, he had new glasses though, and a mustache?! “YAMS!” you shout back and his laugh fills your ears as he runs towards you, his arms out to hug you.

“Woah woah YAMS!! BE CAREFUL! MY MELON” you shout as he just laughs loudly, hugging you and lifting you up, your bags falling to the ground and your melon cracking in two as it hits the sidewalk. “Damn it Yamada!” you yell, his voice is singsongy as he responds in between his laughs “OH COME ON Y/N YOUR HANDS ARE FREEE NOWWWW so ~HUG~ME~BACK!~” your arms snake around him as you laugh, your ears already ringing and the people steering clear around you.

“Yams how have you been?” you say when he finally frees you, your hand reaching up to cup his face, “you’re so old now” you say with a chuckle as your thumb brushes against his mustache, he pushes your hand away and scoffs “come on Bug, we’re the same age” you laugh “I know! I’m old too!” you both laugh and he helps you pick up your groceries “I’ll bring you another melon later, I was headed to the store now myself.” he smiles and you chuckle “thank you, I would appreciate it. You know how I feel about melons” he nods with a laugh “I would never forget! So what are you doing back?” you stomp your feet in excitement “Nezu told me to keep it a secret until the meeting tomorrow but..” “YOU’RE THE NEW TEACHER?!” You nod while looking at him and he just about loses his shit in excitement “THIS IS AMAZING! SHOUTA IS GOING TO DIE” your eyes widen and he nods at you, reading your mind “HE’S A TEACHER TOO! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS!” you laugh in shock and then his eyes light up in a way you are all too familiar with.

With heavy convincing on Hizashi’s part, you reluctantly promised to wait until tomorrow to surprise Aizawa that you are the new teacher, which made you about a billion times more nervous. You get back to the teachers quarters, walking into the building you were now nervous to accidentally run into him, you look around before making your way to the elevator, you peak your head out the elevator door before exiting and then quietly walk down to your apartment, but before you get there, the name outside the door across the hall from yours catches your eye ‘Shouta Aizawa’

“Fuuuckkk!” you say as your eyes look over to your door, scrambling to slide your name off the metal holder. You quickly try to unlock your door after you hear movement behind his,the sound of your bags rustling sounding so loud in your ears before your door opens and you slip inside accidentally slamming the door behind you. You collapse against it, your heart beat loud in your ears and against your ribs as you slide to the floor, your bags hitting the ground as you let go of the handles, taking a moment to breathe and calm your racing heart. If he was anything like you remember, he wouldn’t come to say anything, he would be meeting the new teacher tomorrow and he would probably not want to bother since it was unnecessary, you just hoped he didn’t see the name card.

When you heard his door open you held your breath until you heard his footsteps retreat down the hall. God, waiting until tomorrow was going to take everything. ..

...And as you realized after noticing you kept listening to see when he got back, you didn’t have it in you to wait. After 11pm you realized he might not come back for a while, so you decided to do something, still keeping your promise to Hizashi, you snuck out your door, looking down the hallway, before you took the step across the way and put a sticky note on his door that just said “surprise :)” before heading back into your apartment and heading to bed, where you will hopefully convince yourself to sleep before the big day.

“Surprise? What the hell does that mean?” his eyes flick to your door, he'd knock if it wasn’t 2am. The only place it could have come from was the new teacher. You pop into his mind but he shakes his head, no it couldn’t be you. He heard that the new teacher was a man, Hizashi said he met him at the store. He sighs, taking the note off his door and heading inside. Already grumpy about all the sleep he has missed out on.

Taglist~ @spicy-therapist-mom

#mha #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha shouta aizawa #aizawa x reader #mr aizawa #aizawa shouta #aizawa x y/n #shouta aizawa x you #aizawa x you

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hateswifi · 4 years

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Rising from the Ashes: Of Nicknames and Luck

So this is Part Five here is to my Master List and Part Four. Enjoy!! I just felt like... hey why not post two today? So that’s what I did, I hope you enjoy these shenanigans.

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Back with Marinette now in her hotel room, she decides to unpack a bit and look for an apartment offer online using the hand-me-down laptop Chloe had given her.

After about an hour, she decides to take a break from apartment hunting and go to the grocery store even though she couldn’t exactly cook anything from her hotel room. She could at least make some good sandwiches.

When she got to the grocery store and after she had collected everything she needed which included: bread, peanut butter, jelly, chicken, lettuce, tomato, and some chips she hadn’t heard of before. The cashier looked her up and down then asked. “Are you the Ice Prince's girlfriend?”

“I’m no one's girlfriend. You must be confusing me with someone else,” she said as she paid then left. On her walk home she heard a bing: someone said they would meet with her about renting an apartment. The person was the manager of a building owned by Wayne Enterprises. They said she would like to meet Marinette at one o'clock: two hours from now. She decided on a salad for lunch because she had something so sugary for breakfast. She still wanted to keep a somewhat healthy diet.

She sits down and decides to check out what Diana recommended last night. She Googles ‘Gotham's Heroes' results immediately came up with Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and lastly a traffic light looking boy named, Robin. Seriously, who designed that outfit? If she ever met him she would have some words with him. She sighed while checking the time: twelve-thirty. She grabbed her stuff and left quickly.

“Hello my name is Marinette, I’m here to talk with,” she pauses, looking at her phone. “a Ms. Simms.”

“I’ll call her,” the receptionist said reaching then dialing on the phone. “Hello, Ms. Simms your one o’clock is here, Miss Marinette? Of course.” She hangs up then stands. “Please follow me.” They walk quietly into an office. She knocks on the door.

“Enter,” a voice says from inside. “Hello, Marinette. My name is Sarah Simms. Please come take a seat.”

“So I recently moved here and need an apartment. I already have a way to pay for it, I got a job on Monday,” Marinette said, sitting across from Sarah.

“Well want to visit the apartment?” Sarah asked, standing.

“That would be lovely,” Marinette says, following.

“So the last tenant left their stuff here which includes a fridge-freezer combo, a table, a couple of chairs, a couch, and two beds, one queen and one twin. They also left a smaller television,” she finishes, opening the door. The apartment was on the third floor with a decent view. “The rent would be six hundred a month and you would need to sign a year contract with a down payment of a hundred today.”

“This sounds almost too good to be true!” Marinette smiles after she finishes looking around the apartment she says. “Where can I sign?”

“Let’s head to my office and I’ll print the papers,” Sarah said, smiling as they left the apartment.

After the papers were signed and money was paid, Marinette left for the hotel grabbed her stuff and checked out. She smiles for the first time in quite a while she was happy and proud of herself.

She heard ringing as she dropped her stuff: it was Chloe. She immediately picked up. “Hey, Mar, how’s the second day of your new life,” Chloe asked, her voice crackling over the line a bit.

“It has been pretty good. I got up early and went to a park close to the hotel I was staying at. This dog tackled me and the dog’s owner felt bad, so he took me to breakfast. His name is Damian, I really hope to see him again… crap he ran off before I could get his number,” she pauses falling on the couch.

“Sounds like someone has a crush?” Chloe asks, Marinette can hear Chloe’s smirk through the phone.

“I only met him once. After that, I went grocery shopping. Also, I got an apartment! Most of it is already furnished all I have to buy some basic things like pots, pans, plates, utensils, towels, and you know little things like that,” Marinette explained.

“That’s great Mar. I’m so happy for you!” Chloe said.

“How was your day going?” Marinette asked.

“I miss you a lot and life is quite boring without you. Lila was talking crap about you again,” Chloe answered.

“I don’t even care at this point, as long as we know the truth. She doesn’t affect me anymore,” Marinette explained.

“I know it just makes me angry knowing that her lies are so terrible,” Chloe sighed.

“I know I’m sorry I’m not there, but I couldn’t stay in Paris. There is too much trauma and no family left for me,” Marinette explained.

“Marinette I’m family. Luka, Adrien, and Kagami. We’re all your family! We all love and miss you!” Chloe exclaimed angrily, then hung up.

Marinette sighed and plopped on the couch then turned on the small tv that was just across from her. It was some celebrity news so she changed it and watched an English cartoon instead as she checked her Twitter feed, which is still based on Paris. Chat had given the announcement of her leaving Paris, along with an announcement of no longer endorsing the Ladyblog after a post of Lila being love rivals with Ryuko for Viperon. Chat also announced that the rest of the team would continue with patrols.

She hung out for the rest of the day making a list of things she needs to get. She would go to buy things after work tomorrow. She made herself a chicken, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. She then went to bed early so she could be on time for work which starts at seven.

When she woke up to her blaring alarm at six-twenty she put on a pink long-sleeved sweater, which she tucked into a black high waisted shirt with a belt. She paired her outfit with kitty black heels. She also put her hair up in princess bun.

She rushed to work and arrived on time. She greets Diana and put her purse in the back.

“Marinette in a little bit there will higher class customers in need of suits. I would appreciate it if you would measure them. They are as I said celebrities and like their privacy, please respect that,” Diana explains. Not long after Diana finished speaking a group of people walked in four of them to be exact.

“Welcome, Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Tim. Damian is not with you?” Diana asks as they entered the store.

“No, he had a class this morning,” Bruce informed Diana of the changed plans.

“But it is to my understanding that he also needed a suit,” Daina states.

“That is true, I was wondering if I could call in a favor,” he asks.

“Well, I can’t because I’m leaving to visit my family, but I’m sure I could ask my new employee, Marinette, to go take his measurements,” Diana said, looking for Marinette.

“I’m right here, Diana,” she says, exiting the back room. “I was grabbing the measuring tape, a notebook, and a pencil.”

“Oh my god! You’re Demon Spawn’s girlfriend!” Dick yells, running up to her.

“I’m no one's girlfriend,” Marinette says back then mutters in Mandarin. “Why does everyone keep asking that.”

Jason hears what she says and responds in Mandarin. “Because people saw you out--”. Dick elbowed him before he could finish not wanting to blow Damian’s secret. “We mistook you for someone else.”

“What was that for!” Jason exclaims.

“I’ll tell you later,” Dick mutters.

“Ok so now that's over, please take the boys to the back to take their measurements,” Diana said, pointing the boys to follow her. In the back, Dick stood on a platform so Marinette could measure him.

“So Marinette,” Dick started being cut off.

“I am pretty sure Diana didn’t say my name. How do you know me?” Marinette paused her measuring of Dick. “Would you be able to step down? I have to measure your shoulder blades.”

“I heard Diana say it,” Dick says as he stepped down. He felt her feather-light touch dance across his back as she measured him. She then stepped in front of him measuring his chest then arms.

“How old are you and how long have you been working here?” Tim asks, staring at the petite girl while she works.

“Ummm… today is my first day working here, but I am experienced in the fashion world. I don't want to talk about my past work because this is my new beginning and I turned eighteen about two months ago,” Marinette said, measuring her legs.

“We’re all about new beginnings, that's why Bruce adopted us,” Jason chimed in.

“They’re not pretentious like how I thought Americans would act,” Marinette mutters in French.

“Thanks, but we’re not like most Americans,” Dick responds, looking down at the now flustered girl.

“I’m sorry to assume. In Paris, most Americans are shown as fools or snobs. I’ve only met a couple before today. How many languages do you all speak?” Marinette asked, working faster while keeping her head down.

“We all speak, English, French, Mandarin, Spanish, and Italian, but our youngest brother also speaks Slavonic and Arabic,” Tim explained.

“Ok, you’re all down Ummm… I’m sorry I never caught your names,” She speaks softly while backing up to give Dick room.

“You don't know us?” Dick asked shocked.

“Diana said you guys were celebrities, but I don’t pay attention to famous people unless they’re from the fashion industry and I haven’t exactly caught up on American celebrities yet,” Marinette explained.

“Well I’m Jason Todd-Wayne, this is my younger brother Tim Drake-Wayne, and my oldest brother Dick Grayson-Wayne,” Jason said, pointing at each of them as he talked.

“Ok, which one of you wants to go next,” Marinette asked, looking between the younger two of the trio.

“He’ll go next,” Jason said, pushing Tim forward.

“So you said you’ve only met a couple of people we know a bunch of people would you be able to tell us who you met?” Tim asked.

“The first person I met Diana she is quite nice, I don’t know much about her though. The second person I met was a guy named Damian. His dog, Titus, tackled me, so I guess he felt bad, we met at the park across from where I was staying. He wanted to make it up to me by breakfast, which was so delicious. I had waffles! I met my landlord, Sarah Simms, she seems a bit distant, but I barely know her. Then I met you guys, your dad seems cold, but you guys are quite nice,” Marinette explains as she finishes up with Tim.

“Are you and Damian friends now? You sound quite fond of him,” Jason asks as he takes Tim’s place.

“He ran off to take a call or something as I was going to ask for his number, it’s truly a shame he was nice,” Marinette says then blushes and looks down. “And he was handsome not going to lie.”

“Aww someone has a crush?” Dick asks.

“I’ve only met him once, but if I ever met him again I would ask him out, he was so nice, so kind,” Marinette sighs, looking lost in thought.

“Are we sure she’s talking about the same person?” Tim asks in Italian. “She looks smitten by him.”

“We have to get them together! She would be so good for him,” Dick answers in Italian.

“Guys I’m pretty sure Damian doesn’t want us to interfere,” Jason responds, holding out his arms for her to measure.

“I’m all done. I’ll go call Diana to see what she wants me to do with the measurements,” Marinette says as she gets up and leaves.

“She’s perfect for him. Think he hasn’t dated or been open with anyone before maybe she could be a first,” Tim says still in Italian. “Also she’s adorable!”

“You guys decided to talk in Italian while she was working? She thought that you guys don’t like her and we’re going to have her be fired, but she may have been overthinking,” Bruce said, entering the measuring room.

“Damian was nice to that girl. She likes him. He likes her!” Dick exclaims, standing up.

“Well it’s a good thing she’s coming over tomorrow to take Damian’s measurements,” Bruce smirked.

“She is, what time?” Jason asked.

“You’re not to disturb them. If there’s a girl out there he won’t send off or a girl who won’t run to the hills, we have to at least try to set them up,” Bruce said.

After Marinette left the boys she went to give the measurements to Diana.

“Here you go,” Marinette said, cheerfully.

“Thank you. Also tomorrow there’s one more boy’s measurement to do. Bruce said he would pay extra if you go to the manor after the boutique's closing. Would you be able to take the boy’s measurements?” Diana asks taking the notepad.

“That will be easy, but would you be able to tell me the address?” Marinette asked, pulling out her phone ready to type the address.

“Bruce said he would send a car,” Diana informed Marinette. “May I have your address to give to him for his driver?”

“Yes, I live in Wayne Apartments, which is ironic because you know they’re the Waynes,” Marinette said, laughing.

“That’s so funny!” Dick said, pointing at Bruce. “You’re friends with us, the Waynes, and you live in a building he owns.”

“To be fair I’ve only been in America for three days and I already have a job and an apartment. I think that’s pretty good,” Marinette says, crossing her arms.

“I would also say pretty lucky, Spot,” Diana says as Marinette blushes.

"Bye Sunshine!" Dick calls as he goes to open the door.

“Thank you, guys! I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” She waves to them as they leave. The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly, she designed a bit while there weren't any customers in the store.

Diana closes her shop around seven o’clock, her business is thriving. She goes home eats some food then grabs her money to buy the stuff on the list she made earlier. She left quickly and went to the closest store. She finished shopping and when she got home put the stuff away. She then took a shower and went to bed.

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Tag list (Open):

@northernbluetongue @melhuney @ladysblackcat @sturchling @otaku4312 @g-arya @smolplantmum @bluefyoto94 @echpr @moonlightstar64 @thesunanditsangel @cutechip @heaven428 @elmokingkong @kass-is-weird @niza13149 @urbanpineapplefarmer @ginamarie1512 @chocolatecatstheron @crazylittlemunchkin

#ml new life au #damianette #batfam #maribat #lila salt #ml salt fic #marinette x damian #ml x dc #wifiwrites #marinette x batfam #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne

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wlw-imagines-blog · 4 years

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The Darkest House on Christmas Day {Carol Danvers x Fem!Reader}

Summary: Hallmark movies are so overrated. You and Carol are pleased to learn that you are every hallmark movie’s nightmare; a couple of gays. After moving into a small, ideal town, you and your fiance experience small town minds and souls. There must be a way to get through the season in one piece.

Pairing: Carol Danver x Fem!Reader

Word Count:

Warnings: indirect homophobia, heteronormative themes

A/N: This was super fun to write, it was inspired by a Hallmark movie!

Moving houses is always stressful. Moving houses a week before Christmas is unbelievably hectic.

Your fiance, Carol, had assured you that the move would be a breeze; load up the truck in the morning, drive an hour, unload in the afternoon, then settle into the new house for the night. The new house was absolutely wonderful. The sweet little two story was at the end of a cul-de-sac, coloured blue with white shutters, and a large front porch.

The drive had been stressful to say the least. Going through snow and sleet on a highway of insane Christmas drivers. After an hour and a half, the two of you arrived, at your new slice of heaven.

“Get a load of this!” Carol called out, jumping onto the porch. She threw her arms wide. “It’s wonderful out here! There’s so much more space!”

You grinned, burrowing your face into your scarf. “It’s lovely! Much better than my shoe box in New York!”

Just as you were going to step off the porch, Carol wound her arms around your waist. “Come oooon, one inaugural dance to christen the porch, what do you say?”

You turned, throwing your arms around her neck. “I can think of a better to christen it.”

“Oh yeah?” She grinned, cheeks dimpling. “Wanna come inside and show me?”

You stole a quick kiss. “After we set up the bed, yeah?”

Carol hummed, distracted by your mouth. She dove back in, pressing sweet kisses to the corners of your mouth, before landing one directly on your mouth.

“Um, excuse me?” A voice pulled the two of you out of your reverie.

Carol and you turned to see a middle-aged woman, wearing a Christmas jumper that could have been mistaken as a ugly sweater. She was bottle blonde and bristling, with heavy pale eye shadow and flared jeans.

“Are you the new... neighbours?” she asked in a bright, obviously confused voice. Her eyes darted from you to Carol.

Carol untangled herself from you. “Hi! my name is Carol Danvers, and this my fiance, Y/F/N Y/L/N. We just moved in two minutes ago.”

“Very pleased to meet you,” you said, reaching out to shake her hand.

She smiled and hesitantly shook your hand, eyes remaining cloudy. “My name is Brenda, I live next door with my husband Richard. We’re so... pleased that you moved in five days before Christmas!”

Her honeyed tones did nothing to sweeten her sour mood and bitter words. Carol blinked at you and you raised your eye brows in response.

This wasn’t going to be good.

You intercepted before Carol could say anything too scathing to your new neighbour. “Right, we had no time before today, and we needed to be out of my apartment by yesterday. Five days is still a lot of time before Christmas!”

Brenda’s fake smile only widened. Jesus, this lady was making you sweat.

“Of course! It’s just the neighbourhood has a theme every year; all white!”

The two of you balked, mouths open.

“Every house must be adorned with all white lights!”

Carol visibly relaxed while you breathed in deeply. “Lights! Of course. We’ll, uh, see if we can make time to put something up. We’re going to be pretty busy with moving.”

“I totally understand,” Brenda said in a tone that made her seem to not understand at all. “But you better put them up quick, you don’t want to be the only dark house of Christmas!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” you found yourself agreeing. “It was nice meeting you, Brenda.”

Brenda smiled and nodded, as to say yes, it is nice to meet me.

You and Carol waved goodbye as Brenda turned sharp on her heel and returned to her home.

She turned to you. “Everything about that conversation was disarming. Her vibes are disgusting.”

“Hey, don’t be too mean; we might need to borrow a cup of sugar from her one day.” You laughed, shoving her gently. “Come on, let’s unload before it gets dark out.”

“Right!” She clapped her hands. “Then we can christen the house!”

You shushed her playfully then followed her to the moving truck.

***

With all your kitchen supplies in boxes, and no groceries in the fridge, you and Carol drove out to the nearest restaurant on the downtown strip.

Downtown itself was festive and cozy. Lights were strung up on every shop, with wreaths and Christmas trees at every door and corner. People bustled about, shopping and spending time with their families. A gentle snow had started, gently peppering Carol’s light hair and landing in her eye lashes.

You smiled at her, winding your hand in hers.

There was a small diner on the corner of the street. It wasn’t as quiet as you had expected for a Tuesday night. From the looks of the patrons, it was the usual crowd; the owner and his wife, enough women to create a book club, and a few bachelors loitering at the bar. No one paid you much attention.

Carol squeezed your arm. “I’m going to the little girl’s room, grab a table for us?”

You nodded as she left.

The owner’s wife finally saw you as you sat down at a small table for two.

“Well hello!” She wandered over to you. “How many tonight?”

“Two of us, thank you.”

“So, where’s your husband?” The perky woman asked nosily, eyes landing on your engagement ring. She was older, with grey hair and bright blue eyes.

You paused uncomfortably, taking the napkin from the table. “My fiance is in the bathroom. We’ll order in a bit.”

She nodded, not aware of your sudden attitude shift.

“My name’s Joan, i run The Diner with my husband, Don. We’re the town’s central hub for good food and even better company!”

“It’s a lovely little place.”

“Are you and your husband passing just passing through?”

“No, my fiance and I just moved in this morning. She was excited to visit downtown.” you stated pointedly. “It’s beautiful this time of year.”

“Wow, moving in just before Christmas!” Joan steamrolled along. “He was right! Downtown is absolutely gorgeous during Christmastime. The snow, the lights, and the people make the town absolutely dream-like.”

This entire conversation made your skin prickle. You looked past Joan and saw Carol leaving the bathroom, drying her hands on her pants. As discreetly as possible, you shot her a look that screamed help.

She picked up immediately and fast walked to your table.

“Excuse me,” Carol turned up the charm by a hundred percent. “Just need to sit down.”

Carol’s presence turned Joan completely on her head at such a fast rate, you though she needed to sit down.

“I-I, uh, right,” the older woman stuttered out as your fiance seated herself across from you.

“What looks good, hun?” She asked conversationally.

You hummed. “Pasta or burgers, baby?”

“Ooh, pasta sounds divine.”

Joan stood there, mouth opening and closing like a fish. “I’ll-I’ll send a waitress when you’re ready to order.”

As she left, Carol leaned over to you. “What was that all about?”

“That was Joan, she and her husband Don own the diner. I told her that we just moved into their small town; she was really excited to meet my husband.”

“Oh. Did she give you any flack? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. This is a small town, we have to assume the worse.”

Carol reached out and held your hand. “We just got here, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.”

You smiled and brushed off the weird interaction with Joan. The evening was pleasant, despite the looks that Don and Joan shot you and Carol. You and carol ate quickly, paid the bill, tipped 15%, and left without a word.

That night, you and Carol set up the bed, and unpacked the toiletry boxes.

After a quick shower, you went downstairs to the box-filled living room and found Carol sitting cross-legged in front of a long box.

“So, I found the tree,” she gestured to the fake tree at her feet. “Wanna put it up?”

You groaned, flopping next to her. “It’s almost ten, hun, how do you have the energy?”

“I drank a red bull. Come on, it won’t take us too long!”

It took a few minutes of convincing, but she managed to sway you into decorating the downstairs with garlands, tinsel, and wreaths. The tree stood tall, broad, and covered in silver and gold.

It took plenty of effort, but the two of you managed to move the couch from the garage to living room. You flopped there, Carol burrowing into your side and wrapping her arms around your waist.

“I’ll put the lights up tomorrow,” She whispered into your neck.

“You don’t have to, Carol. Just ignore what Brenda said.”

“It’s not because of Brenda. I just want to put them up,” Carol replied with faux innocence.

You sat up and looked at her. “We have one million things to do, babe. Why the lights?”

“Don’t worry about it, boo. I’ve got it all under control.”

You shrugged, not having time to worry about it, as Carol began to kiss your jaw, hand sliding under your shirt.

You were pretty busy for the rest of the night.

***

The lights did not surface in your mind until the next morning, when Brenda knocked furiously on your door.

“Hello?” You wore a bathrobe and had a cup of coffee in your hand.

Brenda was in her usual attire of mom-clothes and heavy makeup. “Hi Y/N! can I show you something?”

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed your arm and pulled you outside. She turned and pointed to your roof. “Look.”

Carol had put the lights up before you had woken up. She had found the white lights, and had expertly hung them along the exterior of the house. To you, they were lovely.

Brenda was pointing to a string of lights that hung on the garage’s roof. Among the row of white bulbs, was a single, bright red bulb that sparkled brightly.

“It’s red,” you exclaimed, pleased at how smart and wonderful your fiance was.

Brenda pulled a white bulb out from her pocket. “Here, I brought this.”

“Oh! thanks,” you were about to take the light bulb when Carol appeared at the front door.

“Morning, honey,” Carol hopped down from the porch and joined you and Brenda. “You like the lights?”

“I do, babe, but why the red light?”

Carol looked affronted. “Have you never heard of the Spanish tale of the ‘One Red Candle?”

You suppressed a grin. “No, I haven’t.”

“Well, you must have, Brenda,” Carol turned to your neighbour. “Right?”

“Oh! Of course I have,” Brenda stuttered awkwardly. “I just didn’t know you practiced it!”

Carol took your arm and began to steer you away. “We have a lot to do today, Brenda, and we’re sure you’re busy too! Don’t let us keep you!”

Brenda didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, and you closed the door on her face. Pressing your back against the door, you pulled Carol flushed against you.

“So, what’s the legend of the One Red Candle?” you whispered against her mouth.

Carol snorted. “No fucking clue. I made it up on the spot.”

“That red light is going to drive her crazy until the season is over; you know that right?”

“I’m counting on it, baby.”

#Carol Danvers #carol danvers x reader #Brie Larson #Captain Marvel #captain marvel x you #brie larson x reader #marvel ladies #marvel #marvel fanfic #marvel x reader

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opheliawritesxo · 4 years

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The Greatest Team

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Summary: Steve and Bucky have pretty much settled into domestic life perfectly but of course there is one thing that Steve still struggles with - grocery shopping. Although, this time might just convince him that grocery shopping ends with the best surprises known to man-kind.

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: Mentions of general and social anxiety

A/N: again, I originally posted this fic on AO3 but I've decided to post it here for a change. So I swear I'm not taking any work that isn’t mine!

A morning run was Steve’s way of getting up and starting his day in the best way possible. With the serum he was able to go for miles and miles without even breaking a sweat. It was hilarious to him that even though Bucky had a diluted version of the serum he was very much the opposite of Steve. Then again that was Bucky to a T, he’d always been that way even back in the 30’s, he always was the night owl out of the two of them.

Unlocking the front door to their little apartment in Brooklyn, he couldn’t help but stop and stare at the scene playing out in front of him. Bucky had finally awoken from his beauty sleep and was currently basically inside the fridge grumbling to himself.

“Buck?” He chuckled as he made his way over to the breakfast bar. “You alright there?”

“Everything is out of date Steve, not a single thing is in date. The milk is practically cheese.” He grunted as he threw it into the trash. The blonde just blinked for a moment trying to think of the last time they went shopping for food.

“There has to be something edible in there!” Biting his lip as he peered over Bucky’s shoulder, but the ex-assassin was right. There was nothing edible in their whole fridge.

“We need to go grocery shopping-“ Bucky quickly put his hand up to stop Steve mid whine. “Before you start any of your whining, we’re going. If I hear one complaint outta ya this whole trip it’s gonna be you and that huge paw of yours for two weeks straight. Do I make myself clear?” Everyone always talks about Steve and his ‘Captain America’ voice but in reality, Bucky has always had, what he and his ma used to call, his ‘Steven’ voice. It was mainly used because Steve was a stick thin, everything compromised stubborn punk who wouldn’t listen to reason unless Bucky used the voice. He assumed once Bucky came back into this life that now it was roughly eighty years later, and he had a few inches and many muscles on the man it would no longer work. – he was oh so wrong.

“Fine.” He grumbled. Sliding up behind his boyfriend, he placed his hands on his hips. “Y’know the showers kinda lonely..” he purred, his lips tickling at the others ear.

“Steven. Strike one.” Bucky’s voice was calm, but Steve quickly backed away. So, sex was definitely not getting him out of this god forsaken trip and it also got him his first strike. So much for having a good day.

Steve Rogers has faced every foe, alien, crazy guy with a gun he’s ever come across and won but grocery shopping? Might as well tap out now. Too many people which made his anxiety go haywire, even in a cap and sunglasses everyone always recognized him and tried to take photos of his ass without him noticing. Spoiler alert; he always noticed. There was too much choice in the 21st century. He just wanted some Oreos, why does anyone need 25 flavours, not including the limited-edition ones.

Bucky seems to have been the one who has adapted to domestic 21st century life the quickest but then again, the former assassin had spent more time out of the ice having to adapt to the world as he came across it for missions.

“Steve what do you want for dinner tonight?” Bucky asked softly, keeping a tight hold of his hand. Squeezing back so the older man knew that he was okay.

“Uh... pasta? I can whip it up pretty quickly if you want?” Shopping was also a difficult task because no one knew when the next mission would fall into their laps. Not only were Bucky and Steve the perfect partners in life, their fans liked to blow up social media with #stuckysightings whenever they were spotted together. They were also the perfect partners in the field. Steve passed the mantle of Captain America over to Sam a few years prior and although he should be retired, he took back the mantle of nomad and has been working with Bucky exclusively for the past year.

“Okay, I think I’ll get us a couple of cartons of that long-life milk stuff.” Bucky muttered to himself as he continued to pick things up and place them in the cart. For a grocery trip this one went surprisingly fast. They were in and out within half an hour which had to be a record for them both. It was a lovely day, so they’d decided to walk the journey what with their superhuman strength carrying four bags was nothing. Being super soldiers, all their senses were heightened which included their hearing.

In complete sync, both Steve and Bucky stopped at the sound of a soft cry coming from the alleyway. Bucky raced in first going straight to the cry. It was so soft it was unclear what made the noise. “Over here!” Bucky called, having found the source of the noise. Leaving the bags to the side he dropped down next to the brunette who was cooing over something tiny. “Hey little one, s’okay; m’not gonna hurt you.” Bucky said softly. As if that didn’t melt Steve’s heart into pieces.

Pulling himself back, Steve peeked down to see what was in Bucky’s arms. There in the man’s arm was a tiny grey kitten, shaking like a leaf and holding its front left paw into itself. It looked so tiny in Bucky’s large arms, but it didn’t seem frightened by the way it was cuddling into him.

“Hey there buddy.” Steve said softly, gently placing his fingers out in front of him so it could track his movements. When he got the green light, he gently stroked its tiny back.

“We’re gonna need to take it home with us, all the vets are closed.” Steve was so close to bolting home and grabbing the ring he had stashed and proposing to Bucky right this instant by the way his beautiful blue eyes were all concerned and how quiet he was speaking.

“Okay honey, I’ll grab the bags.” Pulling off his jumper he held it out to Bucky so he could carefully bundle the little thing into it. Grabbing the bags, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched Bucky explain to the little kitten where they were going and what was happening around them. They knew that kids were impractical in their world but maybe a house full of kittens was something to think about for the future.

Arriving home, Steve was left to unpack as Bucky went straight to the bathroom to give the kitten a bath. In between unpacking, the former Captain America began researching about kittens and what they needed even if they were going to take it to the vet tomorrow. Someone was probably missing the little ball of fluff.

“Steve! It’s a she and she’s pure white!” Bucky called from the bathroom which had Steve racing through to see for himself. Once again, his heart melted into a pile of mush as he saw the pure look of love on Bucky’s face as he gently dried off the little girl.

“Honey I’m gonna pop back to the supermarket quickly and grab a couple of things for her alright?” He said softly, pressing a kiss to the man’s head and of course, he couldn’t resist dropping a small kiss to the kitten’s head which earned him the cutest meow on earth.

After Steve came back from his second trip to the supermarket with all the supplies, he needed to make this little girl at home. He didn’t have the heart to warn Bucky that she might belong to someone and that they couldn’t keep her. She slept soundly through the night in the little bed they’d made for her in between the two of them because after trying to set her in her little bed on the floor next to Bucky’s side she was not having it.

Come morning the two super soldiers were cuddled into this tiny kitten. Waking with a smile on his face, which was a rarity in itself, Steve got up and padded through to the living room. When he saw that the time was 8am he could hardly believe it. Having slept in three hours longer than normal. Grabbing his phone, he made a call to the vet that he’d researched last night to set her up for an appointment before heading back to the bedroom to get some more cuddles with his boy and the little lodger.

When they both entered the vet along with the little kitten in Steve’s jumper, the trio decided they were not a huge fan of the vets. It had the clinical feel of hospitals which they were both adverse too and they could hear the whimpers and barks from the other animals.

“Oh, what a cutie!” The receptionist cooed. “What’s her name?” The two super soldiers looked to each other with a blush.

“Uh, we haven’t named her quite yet.” Bucky muttered. They were very clear about not naming her. Naming something meant you became attached to it.

“That’s quite alright, I’m gonna put her down as ‘cutie’ right now alright? You three just go take a seat over there and we’ll give you a call when we’re ready for you alright?” Nodding the three plodded over to the seats in the corner, Bucky holding onto the little thing for dear life.

“Think we can get Bruce to go get himself another PHD so he can treat this little one?”

“Buck...” Steve sighed, “We talked about this remember? She probably has a home.” He hated saying it especially when the pout slipped onto his loves face. Soon enough they were called to come through. Bucky sat up on the table even though Steve was pretty sure he wasn’t allowed. He kept a hold of the little cutie the whole time and glared murderously at the vet when the little one yelped.

“She’s just got a little sprain, make sure she keeps her weight off it, and it’ll heal in no time.” The vet smiled before logging some details in her database. “Mr Rogers you mentioned about the microchip and she doesn’t have one. I’m pretty sure she was abandoned. With how young she is and where she was found, there’s no record of her.” Bucky’s eyes lit up at the news, looking to Steve with pleading eyes. – Steve never could say no to those eyes.

“What about missions Buck?” The blonde’s voice soft.

“Carol gets to take Goose on missions!”

“Goose is a literal flerken remember? The reason Fury doesn’t have an eye!”

“But that means Alpine would have a friend on missions, Goose wouldn’t let anything happen to her!”

“Alpine?”

“Yeah... named her the minute I picked her up.” Bucky smirked and that’s the moment Steve knew he’d been played. How he even thought for a second that Bucky would let this little girl go, he was dumber than he thought.

Within twenty minutes she was microchipped, registered as theirs and officially named. Alpine Barnes-Rogers. Her sprain would heal within a couple of weeks and Bucky was right, Goose always looked after Alpine on missions and Alpine herself, as she grew older, was a force to be reckoned with on her own. Alongside her super-soldier dads, they were the greatest team.

#stucky #stucky fanfic #Steve x bucky #Steve x Bucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #Steve rogers #Bucky barnes #stucky fic

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sunflowergirl522 · 4 years

Text

Fuck You Dameron!

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader

Prompt: We’re both moving into the same apartment with a mutual friend of ours but we didn’t know each other and it’s dislike at first sight, but now we’ve got to live together

Word Count: 3285

Warnings: language, drinking, sexual themes

Masterlist

***

“Buddy!” Poe brings Finn into a hug as his friend greets him outside their new apartment complex. Finn had finally decided to move out of his college dorm and get a place of his own and Poe always told him that if he went through with it he would move in with him.

This was the only real bright side to his day, his now ex roommate had thrown a fit because he was leaving before they found anyone else to move in. He had given them a two weeks notice that he was leaving and that should’ve been enough time for them to either find someone or figure something out money wise. Poe had said something to them about them getting off their lazy ass before he left causing them to throw some of his things at the door, breaking a few photo frames in the process, while he packed his car up.

“Your bed was delivered yesterday, I put it in your room.” Finn rubs the back of his neck, which is something he tends to do when he’s nervous but Poe just brushes the act off as move in jitters.

“Wanna help me with these boxes and I’ll order some pizza?”

“We already have food on the way so you don’t have to order anything.” Finn stacks up a few boxes and starts to carry them towards the entrance of the building. Poe follows behind careful not to drop anything and calls out for BB to follow behind them. The orange and white corgi yaps and runs ahead to the door ready to see their new home.

“So how did you find a place that’s so big yet affordable?”

“A lot of research and some help.” After Finn unlocks the door he waits for Poe and BB to head up the stairs to shut the door behind them. Upon walking in you can see straight into the dining room and the living room. Finn steps out of the way to allow Poe and BB enter so he can close the door behind them. Finn then motions for Poe to go into the room next to the stairs. “This is your room.” They both put down the boxes in hand. “You want the grand tour now or after you unpack?”

“Show me around I’ll have time later to unpack.” They both leave the room and Finn points to the two rooms down the small hallway between the stairs and rooms.

“The bathroom and then my room.” They continue into the open design of the living and dining room. “Out these doors is the balcony.” Finn opens the glass doors and Poe steps outside to see the view.

Poe is about to say something when a female voice rings out, getting closer as she comes up the steps. “Finn are you home? I’ve got the food!” Poe looks to Finn waiting for an explanation for who that could be.

“Yeah, I was just giving Poe a tour.” Finn goes back inside and Poe follows close behind to the kitchen.

“Oh so the famous Poe Dameron is finally here?” There’s humor in your voice and you look up from unpacking the takeout to see Finn and the man you can only assume to be Poe in the doorway. “Hi I’m Y/n. I only ordered for me and Finn but I’m sure there’s enough Chinese for you too.”

“How considerate.” Poe mumbles it under his breath and rolls his eyes. You hear it whether he meant for you to or not.

“Excuse me? I don’t have to offer you any of it.”

“Oh no.” Finn knows how sticky this situation could get. Poe’s already in a bad mood and you’re so headstrong that he sees it getting ugly fast. He goes off in his head imagining all the ways it could go wrong and figuring out how to fix it. He’s in there for so long that when he comes back to real life it’s already the worst case.

“Maybe if your head wasn’t so far up your ass you’d see that I’m trying to be nice!”

“Maybe if you weren’t so dimwitted you’d offer to make me something to be nice!”

“Fuck you Dameron! Finn if you need me I’ll be in my room.” You grab your food and a bottle of vodka from the closet and go to your bedroom slamming your door behind you. You don’t know who that man thinks he is but living with him was going to be difficult.

“I have a bed to build, I’ll see you tomorrow Finn.” Poe heads to his room feeling slightly guilty for how he acted.

“Well that went well.” Finn sighs before sitting at the island and eating his food alone.

***

A week passes by and you avoid Poe as much as one can while sharing a living space with each other. You’ve been civil with him, making sure there’s enough food for him when it’s your night to cook, asking if he needs anything when you go to the store, and not stealing BB away from him all the time. You’ve become enamoured with the corgi and you constantly spoil him rotten.

Sure you butt heads with the man still but you both try to limit that around Finn. He wants so desperately for the both of you to get along and that works out in your favor sometimes. The other day you had been arguing over who’s turn it was to do the dishes when Finn got home asking what was wrong. You were quick to tell him that Poe had oh so nicely said he’d do them. Poe had just forced a smile in your direction and agreed to do them.

You’re sitting on the couch with BB watching The Simpsons when Poe gets home from work. You glance over the couch at him and he goes straight to his room without sparing you a glance. BB yaps in excitement at seeing him and jumps off the couch to run to his feet. You smile at the way a smile spreads across Poes face as he crouches down to pet the cutie in front of him. It quickly fades away when he gets up and turns towards you. You quickly refocus your attention on the show hoping he didn’t notice you staring.

“You’re watching this again?” He hops over the back of the couch and lands next to you.

“It’s called binge watching. What, have you been living under a rock?”

“No, I just prefer adult things.” He snags the remote from the table as he speaks and you snap your head towards him.

“Don’t you dare.” He keeps eye contact with you as he smirks and speaks into the remote to change the show. You lunge at him to fight to get the remote back. “You always do this.” You stop halfway in reaching for the remote in his outstretched hand and look down at him. In your battle for the remote he had gotten knocked over and you’re now straddling his waist. His face is just inches from yours and if you lost balance you’re sure your lips would touch. Footsteps start coming from the stairs and the two of you shoot apart. You can feel your face burning up and you refuse to look at Poe.

“You two are unusually quiet. What happened?”

“Nothing, I was just about to take BB for a walk.” You can feel Poe get up from the couch and snatch the remote from the couch to continue watching The Simpsons.

“Wanna join me?” You look over at Finn who’s in the kitchen putting groceries away.

“I’ll make some popcorn.” He beams back at you excited to be somewhat back to normal since Poe moved in.

***

The sound of Taylor Swift surrounds you as you listen to your sad bitch hours playlist plays through the speakers. It had been a rough day, a customer yelled at you and right before you got off your boss had made a move on you, and all you wanted to do was cuddle up with Finn and cry to him like the good old days but he was out with Rose. You haven’t felt this lonely in a long time so here you are sitting on your bedroom floor a bottle of Svedka in hand and belting along to the songs playing. That is until the door bursts open to reveal a seemingly very angry Poe.

“Who do you think you are Dameron?”

“I’ve been yelling for you to turn this shit down!” He makes his way to the plug and unplugs the speaker with such force that you’re anxious he’ll pull the whole socket out.

“Well sorry, you could’ve just knocked and asked.” You stand up stumbling a bit as you feel the alcohol in your system hit you like a train.

“I tried that!” Poe hisses out and starts to storm towards the door before almost tripping on a half full bottle of tequila. He picks it up and leaves. Your anger starts to bubble at him taking your liquor. You paid for it, he can’t just take it. You follow him out and grab onto his arm to stop him halfway to his room.

“You can’t just take my drinks! Especially not straight out of my room!”

“You don’t need it, you’ve got more fucking alcohol in this place than they do in a bar!” The both of you are so into the fight that neither of you notice Finn as he walks up the stairs talking on the phone. “Just go back to your room and drink yourself into oblivion.” Poe rips his arm from your grasp and points towards the room.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Your voice goes just a little softer as you start to get a little emotional, Poe doesn’t notice.

“It means that you’re just a dumb fucking alcoholic and that’ll be the death of you. I don’t understand how Finn deals with you day in and day out.” Your heightened emotions hit you like a ton of bricks as he speaks. Your eyes brim with tears and you land a punch right on his nose before rushing to your room so he doesn’t see you cry. Poe doubles over holding his nose and he sees Finn standing mouth agape at the top of the stairs.

“You really fucked up this time Poe. I’m gonna spend the night at Rose’s, you better fix this.” Finn then heads to his room shaking his head at his friend.

Poe sits at the kitchen island with a bottle of his own scotch next to him and a half empty glass in front of him. He’s been sitting there since Finn left thinking about how much he fucked everything up. He regretted speaking the minute the words had left his mouth earlier and he knew that he deserved the punch. The two of you had just been starting to semi get along and he just had to take his anger from the day out on you. It was a nasty habit he had. He looks down at BB laying at his feet with his head on his paws. When Bb sees the attention he’s getting he sits up and looks at Poe.

“What am I gonna do BB? I’m a mess.” BB just tilts his head at him. “Don’t look at me like that.” BB gets up and walks a little towards the door to your room and whines. “Yeah, yeah I’m on it.” Poe finishes his second glass of the night and goes to knock on your door.

“Go away Dameron!” You’re laid in your bed in sleep shorts and a shirt two sizes too big when Poe knocks. You really don’t want to deal with him anymore. You’ve both calmed down and sobered up a little since the fight.

“I just want to apologize.” You stay silent waiting for him to just leave. “Can I come in?” You think about it for a bit before deciding to hear him out.

“Fine.” He opens the door and steps in closing it behind him before BB follows him in. You stand in front of him and cross your arms across your chest. You notice that his hair is messy as if he’s been running his hands through it or tugging at it, you can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to run your own hands through it. You also notice the toilet paper stuffed in his nose that’s tinted red and smirk at your achievement.

Poe shuts the door and is frozen in his spot when he sees you. He’s not sure how exactly to word what he wants to say. And after giving you a once over he realizes he might just be a little drunk as his eyes get stuck on your bare legs. His mind goes straight to your thighs wrapping around his head as he burrows between them. He pinches his leg to get his mind back to why he came.

“I’m sorry, I have this god awful habit of taking my anger out on people and I didn’t mean what I said.”

“Sure sounded like it.” You walk towards your liquor desk to make yourself a drink to get rid of whatever these nerves are in your body. “Want something to drink?”

“Ya sure whatever you’re making is fine.” Poe stays quiet while he watches you make two Jin and tonics with the ease of a bartender. ”Thanks.”

“I’m not an alcoholic, I just enjoy alcohol and sometimes need a little help dealing with things.” Your voice is soft and Poe can sense some sadness in it. You sit on your bed and look down at the drink in your hand.

“I get that. I’m really sorry about what I said. I feel really bad and if you need to punch me again go ahead.” You chuckle at his words.

“I guess you can be forgiven. How’s your nose?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore if that’s what you're asking. I think it’s finally stopped bleeding.”

“You can go check in the bathroom.” You point to the closed door next to you from over your shoulder. Poe opens it to reveal a double sink and a mirror on the wall in front of him with a walk-in closet on the right and a bathroom on the left.

“Why do you get your own fucking bathroom.” Poe takes the toilet paper out of his nose and tosses it in the trash can.

“Easy there big guy you don’t want to get all angry again. Finn said I could have the master bedroom since I had a boyfriend when we first moved in.” You walk past him and hop onto the counter in between the sinks, drink in hand. You sip from the tall glass and make eye contact with the man in front of you. His arms cage you in as he leans on the counter.

“Had?”

“He didn’t much like that I was gonna be living with two attractive men.” The next thing you know he’s pulled you in and your lips are attached to each other.

When you wake up in the morning the night before is a bit of a blur. You wake up before Poe does and wrestle with the arm he has draped across you to get up. You’re throwing your shirt back on when he wakes up.

“What a view to wake up to.” He whistles at you and rests his head in his hand. He winks at you and you reply by throwing his clothes at him.

“Last night shouldn’t have happened.”

“Wow good morning to you too.” He grunts before getting dressed himself.

“Good morning, now get dressed and get out. Let’s not tell Finn about this so nothing is awkward.”

***

Every time the two of you have argued since that night has been solved with angry make up sex. You’ve both fallen into this fuck buddy type of relationship without even realising it. Tonight’s your chance to finally hook up with someone else as you’re celebrating quitting your job with a house party.

Poe leans on the kitchen counter watching as you grind against Ben Solo to the beat of some stupid song with a scowl on his face.

“What’s got you all grumpy?” Finn asks as he walks past his friend to get some drinks laughing at something someone said.

“I’m not.” Poe forces it out from between his teeth.

“Yeah you are.” Finn stops next to Poe and follows where he’s looking to see you laughing and having a good time with Ben. “Oh! You’re jealous!”

“What? No I’m not I can’t even stand her.”

“Oh please you guys have so much sexual tension it's suffocating. I suggest you do something about that,” Finn points to Ben whispering something in your ear and you giggling at it, “before you miss your chance.” Finn walks back over to Rose and Rey in the corner leaving Poe to think about what he said.

“I’m not jealous.” Poe mutters as if trying to convince himself it was true. He needed a distraction and Zorii walks in at just the right time.

You’re still dancing with Ben when you spot Poe and Zorii laughing in the kitchen. “You want anything to drink?” Ben just laughs at you knowing exactly why you were ‘getting a drink’.

“Y/n just let the man know how you feel.”

“As if!” You scoff and wave off the thought of having feelings for Dameron, that’s ridiculous. “I see you’ve been hanging around the drinks all night. Who’s the alcoholic now?”

“I saw you’ve been getting real close with Ben. Who whores themselves out now?” He’s referencing the time you had seen another one night stand leave the apartment and called him a man whore.

“Why? You jealous Dameron?” You lean over the island towards him and his gaze grazes over your chest.

“What if I am?” He matches you, leaning across the island as well. Zorii makes her way out of the kitchen rolling her eyes at the two.

“Well that’d be too bad. I’m having a pretty good time with someone else.” You lean forward so your noses are touching, glancing down at his lips before pulling away. Poe catches your wrist before you make it out of the kitchen. “Can I help you with something?”

“I need to talk to you.” Poe pulls you to your room and shuts the door behind him.

“What is it-” You get cut off by Poe spinning you around and pinning you against the door. “Oh, are we doing this now?” You wrap your hands behind his neck and lift a suggestive eyebrow.

“No I need to tell you something. I…” He takes your hands away from his neck and holds them while he tries to figure out how to say what he wants. “God why is this so hard?”

“What is it?” You cradle the side of his face with one hand and he leans into your touch.

“I don’t hate you.”

“I don’t hate you either, even though you’re super annoying.” You shoot him a playful smile and he frowns a bit.

“No that’s not what I meant. I mean I, I like you Y/n, I really really like you.” You beam up at him at his words. You waste no time in pulling him closer to attach your lips together.

“I really really like you too Poe. Now come dance with me, it’s a party.” And with that you pull him out of the room completely missing the goofy smile on his face.

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #poe x reader #poe x you #poe dameron x you #star wars #star wars fanfiction #poe dameron au #poe dameron imagine

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mooberg · 3 years

Text

Chapter 7: Broken rock

No one’s more surprised by this than me. Wanna make it hurt worse? This is what I was listening to the whole time writing this.

The lvc belongs to @voiceoflarka

Word count: 3433

Warnings: Seriously, if you’ve had a bad day practice some self care instead of reading this.

Enjoy!

Horns’ scream of protest echoed off the tall buildings around the convention grounds as the mind blast echoed in his head. Everything was muffled, like the first time he fired a gun and left his ears ringing, almost like he was underwater. The sounds of his own breathing amplified in his daze blocked out the frozen world around him even as footsteps approached. It wasn’t until someone clapped a hand on his shoulder that twisted his torso a little that the fog cleared.

“Fuck!” The pain burned through it all.

“Shit, Horns are you okay?” Callow tore his hand away immediately.

“Clearly not.” Horns grunted, wrapping a hand around his torso.

Psi surfed over on a thick vine, jumping off when he got close and running the rest of the way to the two. “Horns.”

“I’m okay, I’m-.” Horns tried to take in a deep breath only to be stopped halfway from the pain. “Fuck.”

“No, you are not. Come, lay down and we will see.” Psi knelt down next to him and he and Callow helped the Satyr lie down.

“That was dumb, you know that?” Callow said softly. “Egging her on like that.”

“Yeah… wasn’t thinking clearly.” Horns gave out a slight laugh and the two shared a smile. His head shot back up with a terrible realization. “Gamma! Where’s Gamma? They were in the air when- are they okay? Psi, are they-”

Gamma landed next to him with a dull thud on the soft grass. “I’m okay, Horns, I’m okay. Lie still.”

“Psi, what can I do to help?” Equo ran up next to her mentor.

“Wait no.” The realization dawned on Horns. “There were three…”

He tried to push back up, intent on seeing for himself. He had to know it was Glitch, Jolly and Peony. He had to. But Psi held him down with gentle hands on his shoulders.

“Focus on yourself right now, Horns.” Psi’s voice was oddly soft, and it almost shook Horns out of his shock.

He closed his eyes and tried to just breathe through the pain and panic as he lay back down. “Okay… okay.”

“Now shirt off.”

His eyes flew open and met Callow’s, and the gator virus immediately understood. “Psi, just cut it.”

“Excuse me-?”

“Just cut it.” Callow practically ordered.

Without a word Psi pulled scissors from his bag and cut Horns shirt with practiced ease. Horns gave Callow an appreciative look.

“On a scale from zero to ten, ten being the worst pain you’ve ever experienced, what are you at right now?” Psi asked.

“Ngh- like a 7?”

“Tell me the moment that increases.” Psi said. “Gamma, that sun’s going to set in about ten minutes, and I need to see.”

“Got it.” Gamma flared out their wings and turned their lights on high.

“Callow, Equo…” Psi sighed. “See if you can get a tent from the stalls to cover the others.”

“But we’re gonna wake them up tonight.” Horns protested.

Psi reached into his bag without a word.

“We have to wake them! We can’t leave them here!”

“You are in no state to wake them right now.”

“But-” Horns’ breath hitched and the throbbing pain spiked. With a whimper he laid his head back on the grass.

“We’ll keep them safe.” Callow placed a hand briefly on Horns’ shoulder before standing. He and Equo took off.

“They will be alright, Horns.” Psi said softly. “We need to focus on you.”

Horns shut his eyes in resignation while Psi got to work examining the cracks scrawling across his chest. He didn’t want to look anyway. Psi explained everything as he went in a voice so oddly soft Horns had to question for a moment whether Dragon had hit his head too. But then he thought about Mu, and the soft look he’d seen Psi give his brother on the rare occasion. And he thought about Sammy, and how just his presence could soften the mentor. And of course, Gamma. He was always easier on the team when they were around.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Psi replied as he focused on his work.

“I shouldn’t have freaked out. It was selfish.” He looked to Gamma. “I’m not the only one with frozen family.”

Psi’s hands stilled for mere moments before picking back up. Something cold connected with his chest and Horns hissed at the surprising sensation.

“It’s Bio Gel. An adherent to help you heal. I know, it’s cold.” He gave Horns a reassuring smile.

“Horns, everyone’s got something at stake.” Gamma said.

“I know… I know.”

~~*~~

“Take a deep breath.” Psi requested.

“Nh- there’s some restriction, but it doesn’t hurt any worse now.” Horns reported.

“The bio gel will have hardened by now. I will keep an eye on it. Do you think you can stand? We will take it slow.” Psi said.

“Yeah… I think so.”

“Nice and slow, you can do it.” Psi stood into a crouch and helped Horns get up. The Satyr’s eyes traveled to where Callow and Equo stood in the darkness under a long white tent with open sides. Three viruses stood over melting ice, never to move again. He tore his eyes away.

“What now?” He asked.

Gamma whistled for the others and they came running. “We should head back to the safe house. There’s nothing more we can do tonight.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow though… right?” Equo asked, glancing back to her long time friend still unmoving.

“We need to take this one slow.” Gamma replied.

Horns purposefully avoided his teammates’ eyes as he zipped his hoodie up over the hardened pink substance keeping him from further harm.

“Okay.” Callow said with more determination than any of them felt. “Equo and I can drive back. Horns, you’re not setting foot on a motorcycle right now.”

“I will fly back with Horns.” Psi added.

“We’ll meet you there.” Gamma confirmed with Callow.

With a nod the two groups split off. Gamma hoisted Horns into their arms and Psi held on tight for the ride.

Since coming to Dashland, Horns had always been fascinated by the city at night. He’d never seen that many lights all at once in all his years. Glitch always wanted to drag him to a quiet spot and gaze up at the stars, but his eyes were on the buildings. They created great constellations of their own of wondrous buildings and bridges, only these could be any colour of the rainbow. He could look upon the steady lights for hours while Glitch gazed up at the stars next to him.

But tonight he shut his eyes against it all.

~~*~~

“We should do something fun.”

“But we’re already doing something fun!”

“I mean more fun.”

“We could get some fun food to go with it.”

“Like a picnic!”

Horns smiled at his girlfriends at they glanced around the grocery store. “Well, we really enjoyed the charcuterie at that last party Callow dragged us to.”

“Oh yeah!” Jolly nodded. “Do you think we can replicate that?”

“No, but we can definitely make the academy student version of that.” Glitch laughed.

“To the gouda!”

“Man, there’s already so many people here.”

The three looked around the tiny outdoor theatre. None of them realized Shakespeare in the park was quite this popular in Fictory square. They had walked twenty minutes from the nearest bus stop to get here. A little nondescript path led to an opening in the forest that sloped down to a multi-level stage where they had set up several tiered steps for seating.

“This is so cool!” Jolly would have squealed if she weren’t trying to be respectfully quiet.

“I think there’s room over there.” Glitch pointed off to the left.

Jolly beelined for the spot while the other two stepped carefully down the uneven decline. The three pulled out pillows to sit on, having prepared for hard earth under foot. Once settled, Jolly excitedly unpacked Horns’ backpack, complete with cans of pop and what was essentially slightly cooler cheese and crackers.

“Dig in.” Horns announced once everything was set.

“Horns.” Glitch elbowed his side. “Look over there. Do those women seriously have wine glasses?”

“Wow…” Horns gave a slight laugh. “They seem like Callow’s type.”

“We’re in a forest. Seriously?” Jolly added from Horns’ other side.

They all laughed for a while longer before Jolly happened to glance behind them.

“Oh my god.” She whispered.

“What? What is it?”

“The guys behind us are cutting bread on an actual cutting board.” She said.

“What the fuck?” Glitch looked down at their pre-sliced cheese and apples. “Is this a picnic in the park or a day at a spa?”

“Bougie.” Horns added. “Definitely bougie.”

“Say ‘bougie’ again.” Jolly snickered.

“Bougie.”

“And what about you two? How long have you been together?” The actor asked, walking up the path a little to interact with a couple just below the trio.

“Twenty years.” The man almost seemed embarrassed.

“Well that certainly is impressive!” The actor said earnestly. “Long lasting love is truly a beautiful thing. Hold on to what you have.”

Horns watched the couple share a smile before the actor climbed further up the hill. He was doing a bit during the intermission about love and its beauty, whether it was three months new or thirty years old. Jolly and Glitch had snuggled up closer to Horns as it had gone on, relishing in their connection together.

“And you two.” He stopped in front of the three of them, looking to Glitch. “Have you been together long?”

“Actually, it’s the three of us.” Glitch corrected. “And… about a year now.”

“Three!” The actor truly seemed surprised. His voice softened. “My, you three must have plenty of love to share. Plenty of love indeed. That is a rare and deeply special gift.” He met eyes with each one of them. “Hold on tight to that, for all it’s worth.”

As Horns slowly woke up, he became more and more aware of the tears sliding down his temples and the quiet sobs he’d been going through even as he slept. He rolled his head to the side and wiped the tears away, blurry eyes coming to focus on Psi sleeping at the edge of the bed. He’d passed out there last night after making sure Horns was comfortable. And checking on him for the hundredth time.

Horns sighed. “He looks like mom every time I came home from a bad day at school…” He’d been so worried… Horns had never seen him like that before.

He looked about the safehouse, and while he didn’t see Gamma, their jacket was draped across Psi’s shoulders. Callow and Equo were fast asleep sitting up on the couch, Equo’s head on his shoulder. Horns smiled slightly at the sight, incomplete as it was.

The sleepy inhaled breath of someone waking brought his attention back to his left, where Psi had also begun to stir. “Horns-.”

“I’m okay.” He gently assured his tired mentor. “No change from last night.”

Psi sat back with a nod. “How do you feel?”

“… I’m tired.”

~~*~~

Callow slowed the motorcycle prematurely as they once again approached Dashland’s convention grounds. Each trainee scanned their surroundings with as critical an eye as they could manage. They were still learning, after all. But the scene seemed unchanged, and this time Horns forced himself to look at his teammates sheltered from the previous night.

“They’re okay.” He sighed in relief.

“Nothing was going to happen to them in a single night.” Callow said, though his elevated pulse belied his own relief.

“With our luck lately, it’s impossible to be certain.” Horns shot back as Callow helped him off the motorcycle.

“Are you really up for this?”

“I think so.” Horns sighed. “We don’t really have a choice. They no doubt have a big red target on their back for Dragon now, especially with those last few hits Glitch landed yesterday. If we don’t wake them up…”

“There won’t be anything left.”

“Stand guard.” Gamma ordered as they approached. “If we’ve gotten a full night’s rest, so has she. I have a feeling this last fight just made her mad.”

Equo and Callow moved to form a perimeter with Gamma while Horns settled onto the grass. Psi placed a hand on his shoulder as familiar plants blossomed and grew around him. In the quiet of a frozen city, Horns could almost pretend he was back safe in his dorm, practicing with Psi while Glitch and Jolly napped, Callow studied, Equo painted, and Peony read. But he shifted slightly, feeling the hard coating of bio gel and the dull pain in his chest, feeling the unfamiliar grass below them, and the dread in his soul. He could not be farther from that comfort now.

He started with Jolly. Her gentle spark had lit up his life from the moment he’d been placed on a team with her. She had ignited it to a flame when she said yes and made them a trio. She always had a way of soothing his worries with a gentle smile and infectious laugh. Every day with her had been something new, something better. His Jolly Bear. One of his best friends.

Her dreams were soft this time. No more fear and pain, no more sadness. She dreamed of ice skating in the sky, painting beautiful clouds with her skates for everyone down below to enjoy. He almost didn’t want to wake her from such beauty. He almost wanted to join her in such simple serenity. Almost.

He moved on to Glitch immediately. He couldn’t stop now; he needed his girls back.

Glitch. His kitten. His confidant. His rock. The one who had seen him for what and who he truly was and not only welcomed him with open arms but loved him deeper and more profoundly. She had only ever seen the best in him, even in his darkest days. Her faith in him had always inspired him to do better, to be better.

She had no dreams. A pure, quiet rest. Horns laded on an old memory from early on in their team’s founding, before relationships had begun to form. Before them. It was a quiet night then, the six of them scattered to the winds of the dorm for their various interests. She lay sprawled out across the couch while Horns sat in the comfy chair he now meditated in. A book sat in his lap, long forgotten in favour of the fascinating questions only she could ask. They talked until the early morning that night, and though he’d long suspected, he went to bed feeling there was truly something more to that black cat.

He pulled out of the dive as quickly as he felt possible. His senses slowly returned to him, the scent of Psi’s flowers and the crushed grass beneath him beckoning him to consciousness. It was stupid, and pointless, he knew that, but for a brief moment he kept his eyes closed out of fear that maybe this time… maybe it didn’t work. He was so tired.

“Welcome back.” Glitch grinned right in his face as his eyes fluttered back open.

Jolly butted her head against him, and he reached up to scratch behind her ears. “You got me, don’t you, Bear?”

“I got you.” Jolly replied softly.

“Alright, Psi I think I can get Peony too.” Horns reported to his mentor. He’d just needed to see them awake before he continued.

“Take your time.” Psi gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“Scratch that.” Gamma unfurled their wings. “We’ve got company.”

“Now, now, little bird. There is no need for such… brutish actions.” Dragon’s voice sent a chill into Horns’ soul. “I simply wanted to see my little psychic in action.”

“He’s not yours.” Glitch snapped.

“Well he’s certainly not yours.” Dragon scoffed. “Look at you. Pathetic little kitten, what makes you think you could ever-”

The gunshot echoed off the surrounding buildings just as his scream had the night before. Horns holstered his gun and slowly rose to his feet. The bullet missed her entirely, but that was not the point.

“Don’t. Call. Her. That.” He growled.

Dragon gave him a quick once-over. “Well. They’ve certainly trained you well, my dear.”

It was Jolly who leapt up and pushed him out of the way when Dragon tried to strike. She twisted on their descent to catch him on top of her, ensuring he didn’t hit the ground and hurt his chest worse.

“I got you.” Was all she said before jumping up and into the fight.

They were all tired, it was easy to see. Glitch and Jolly hadn’t even really gotten a break, and it showed in their attacks. Jolly’s aim was off, her discs flew wide more than normal, and Glitch was taking more hits than she was dishing back. But Callow was faltering too, forgetting entirely about his stardust powder in favour of the canon. Horns knew well he shouldn’t get into the fray, no matter how much he wanted to send his dagger into Dragon’s stupid face, and he didn’t trust his aim with the gun in all the chaos. Gamma and Psi were clearly carrying the team but without a sound fighting strategy there was bound to be some friendly fire.

And there almost was.

Glitch landed a solid hit to Dragon’s torso just as Psi’s venus fly trap came down for a bite. Dragon let loose a string of ice shards in an attempt to fend them off, and one sailed right through the team and Past Horns’ head. He whipped around in time to see it just narrowly miss the frozen figure of Peony. In her state, there would have been nothing left to piece back together. He didn’t even get a chance to wake her back up, he wasn’t about to watch that option be taken away from him.

Horns ran into the fight, ducking under Psi’s vines and shielding his eyes at the right moments from the explosions of Jolly’s discs. He knew each one of these attacks inside and out, he knew exactly how to get around each one and into the centre of the fray. Glitch went in for another strike, and as she was thrown away with a pillar of ice from Dragon, Horns ducked in right in front of her. He spun and faced his team.

“Stop!” His voice was louder than even he had anticipated, and while it took a few moment’s hesitation from his team, eventually they paused. He was in their way, after all. He took a moment to take in each member of his team. Glitch, Jolly, Callow, Equo, Peony, Gamma, and Psi. He knew what he had to do.

He turned to Dragon. "You aren't going to give up, are you?"

"And what gives you that impression, my dear?" She smirked.

Horns just narrowed his eyes, carefully gauging her expression. He knew what he had to do.

"Take me instead. Let them go."

He felt the atmosphere shift tremendously behind him as his team bristled at his offer.

She gave an intrigued laugh. "And why would you do that?"

"To free them." He said plainly. "Not all of them have treated you so poorly, they don't deserve this."

"And if I take you?" Hunger had bled into her eyes.

"You will release those you have frozen. You won't cause any more harm to these people." He demanded. "And if you can give me your word, I will give you mine. I won't run away. I won't find a way to bring them to you. It will be just you and me."

“Wait, hold on-”

She walked up to him and this time he didn't back away. An icy hand connected with his chest, freezing him even through the bio gel. Her hand traced up along his jaw like an owner petting a prized show dog.

"You make one move to stop us and I will freeze his soul." She addressed the team behind him. "Such wasted talent. We will see it put to good use."

"Horns!"

The desperation in Jolly's voice made his chest ache more than any shard of ice ever could. He didn't turn around, even as the shouts of his team began to dim in the commotion of sand kicking up around them. He shut his eyes against it all, feeling a piece of him fall away as the sand settled around them.

They weren't in Dashland anymore.

End of Part 1

#lvc #larka's virus community #moo writes #among the statues #the team #team gamma-psi #the flashback may be based off of an actual outing my sister and i went on and when coupled with the song did make me cry #i have so much to say but AGH i'm so excited to continue this #larka... prepare for many questions #oh also I'm sorry?#but like not sorry

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

Guardian Angel

A Horror Septics Story

(Did not mean this to end up so long, but hey, now it’s its own fic instead of a short snippet like all the other horror septics stuff I’ve written! And I’m not kidding, this is looong. But I thought the impact would be lessened if I split it up. Have fun!)

—————

Day One in the New House

The moving truck had vanished, and she’d just gotten done putting all the boxes in the correct rooms, though they weren’t unpacked. She sighed in relief, and went upstairs to check on the kids. The upstairs had two bedrooms, and she’d given them the bigger one. She figured it was only fair, since they would be sharing it. She knocked on the door. “Mathew? Lark? Can I come in?”

A few muffled words of conversation, followed by a giggle and a “Yeah, Mom!”

She opened the door. The two of them had been busy setting things up in here, though it was still a mess. They’d divided the room in half, a bed against the opposite walls with a window in the middle. “How are you two doing?”

“We’re good, Mom,” Mathew said, in the middle of taping a poster to his side of the room. Larkin nodded in agreement, bouncing where he was sitting on his bed.

“Alright.” She was about to say more, but then she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. “Oh, I gotta get that. Let me know if you need anything.” She left, closing the door behind her.

Back downstairs, she peered through the peephole on the front door. Standing on her front stoop was a woman, probably about the same age as her, with dark skin and curly hair. Deciding the woman wasn’t threatening, she opened the front door.

“Hi!” The woman beamed. She was holding a plate covered in plastic wrap. “I saw you just moved in, and I thought I’d bring you some cookies.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t been expecting that. Even though it was sort of a thing to bring housewarming gifts, she didn’t know people actually did it. “Thank you, um…?”

“Oh! My name’s Janet Rovira.” Janet smiled brighter, if that was possible. “And you are?”

“Stacy. Stacy Allen.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Stacy!” Janet handed over the plate, leaving Stacy to take it. “You’re American, right? What brings you all the way over here?”

“My grandmother lived here,” Stacy explained. “She always spoke highly of it. I just thought that...the kids and I needed a new start, and I thought this would be a good idea.”

“Oh, you have kids?” Janet asked, intrigued. “I have a daughter, she’s eight months old.”

Stacy smiled. “Yeah, I have two sons. Thirteen and seven.” She silently prayed that Janet wouldn’t make any comments about how young she looked, she’d heard enough of those.

Luckily, Janet didn’t even seem to notice. “Ooo! Good luck, I hear thirteen is when things start to get difficult. You and the mister better be prepared.”

Stacy felt a shard in her heart. She smiled through clenched teeth. “Ha ha, yeah, I’ll be prepared.”

Again, luck was on her side, as Janet seemed to pick up on something in her tone. Her smile dropped for the first time. “You know, I was familiar with the last resident in this house. Emily.”

“Oh, really?” Stacy asked. “I, um...heard what happened.”

Janet couldn’t hide her surprise. “You did?”

“Yeah, the realtor was, um...legally obligated to tell me what happened.”

Janet’s expression dropped for the first time, sun overtaken by gray clouds. “It was a sad affair. We all wonder if it could’ve been different. I wasn’t too close, but I wish I could’ve been. Maybe it would’ve helped.”

“No use dwelling on the past,” Stacy sighed. “Just keep them with you.” She was familiar with that. Had some practice with that, in fact, in the last year or so. “Well...thanks for the cookies.”

“Oh, no problem, hun, we had some extra. Hey, if you ever need anything, and I mean anything, just come on over. We live right across the street from you, and I work from home so I’m usually there. If I’m not, feel free to talk to Martín, my husband.”

Stacy managed a small smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

“Still no problem.” Janet backed up. “Well, I’ll be seeing you around, then.”

“See you.”

“Goodbye!”

Stacy closed the front door. As she did, she caught a glimpse of someone else on the sidewalk. She peered out the front window at the street. Yes, there was a man walking along the path. But then he stopped. And he looked at her house. Stacy gasped, drawing the curtain closed. Yet she couldn’t help it. She peeked out again. The man was still there. Janet was walking towards him, but she stopped, and then crossed the street, jaywalking across the empty asphalt. The man didn’t seem to notice. Stacy drew the curtains closed again. It was probably nothing.

But when she went to bed that night, it was hard to get to sleep. She felt like she was being watched.

—————

Day Fourteen in the New House

—————

Stacy had been out all day, as she had been every day for the past week. She needed a job. She’d been looking online, and applied for a few but got rejected for all. She was now dropping her resume off at some places with hiring signs in the window, but she doubted she’d get an answer. She’d had exactly three interviews and hadn’t heard back from any of them, but she was sure it hadn’t gone well. She sighed, deeply. This was...this was tiring.

And upon arriving home, she was not excited to look out her car window and see the same man from two weeks ago standing outside and looking at her house.

Her heart shot up into her throat, but she remained calm. She parked her car in the driveway, unlocked her front door, went inside, locked the door behind her, went upstairs, unlocked the special drawer in her dresser, took out her handgun and shoulder holster, put it on under her jacket, went back downstairs, and the guy was still standing outside. Five minutes later. She took a deep breath, and went outside, walking right up to the guy. “Hey,” she said.

The man looked at her. “Hi.”

Stacy laughed. “Sorry, I was just...I saw you outside a few weeks ago, too. Do you...want to talk to me about something?” She figured it was a good idea to confront him about it.

The man looked back at the house. He...well, Stacy wasn’t one to judge, but he looked sketchy as hell. He was wearing a dirty green jacket, fur around the hood, at five o’clock on an August afternoon. The eye patch didn’t help, nor did the stained bandages around his neck. “There’s something in your house,” he said.

“Excuse me?” Stacy asked.

“Something in your house. It moves in the windows sometimes.” The man said this as if it was perfectly reasonable.

“Well...I don’t live alone,” she said slowly.

“No, I know. The kids, right? Two boys? I’ve seen them.” He smiled. “Cute. No, I mean...there’s a thing in your house.”

...okay. This was happening. Stacy’s hand drifted upward, towards the handle of her gun. “There are a lot of things in my house. But you don’t have to stand outside to watch for any of them.”

He looked at her again. And Stacy realized that, despite the streaks of gray in his hair, he was actually pretty young. Probably younger than her. “Right. I don’t have to.”

Stacy swallowed nervously, then smiled. “So...I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”

Silence. The man kept staring at her. Then he stared at the house again. And he backed up. “It wouldn’t like me,” he muttered, and then turned and slinked off down the street.

Stacy felt like her house was about to pound out of her chest. She quickly hurried inside, locking the door behind her. And she took out her phone, dialling a number she’d gotten just a few days ago. It didn’t ring for long. “Hello?”

“Hi, Janet? I-It’s Stacy,” she said.

“Oh, hi Stace! What’s up?”

“Yeah, um.” She laughed nervously. And she glanced out the front window. No one was there. “Funny story. There was, uh, a...guy outside my house? Kind of, um, watching it?”

Janet’s tone suddenly sharpened. “What did he look like?”

“Um…” Stacy’s mind went oddly blank for a moment. “I mean, a guy in a green jacket. He had an eye patch.”

“Oh.” Janet sounded a bit relieved. “I know who you mean. That’s John.”

“John?”

“Well, that’s what everyone calls him. John Doe, you know? Cause nobody really knows his name,” Janet explained. “He’s...well, he lives in a tent in the park. Kind of crazy.”

“Crazy?” Stacy repeated, nerves crawling up her spine.

“But mostly harmless,” Janet hurried to say. “Martín’s seen him in the station a few times for disturbances, but he’s never hurt anyone.”

“What kind of disturbances?”

“You know, noise complaints, loitering, some mild destruction of property, pickpocketing. Why was he outside your house?”

“...I don’t know.” Stacy glanced out the window again. She thought she saw a flicker in the corner of her vision, but it must’ve been nothing, because nobody was there. “He said there was ‘a thing’ in my house. Kept saying it.”

“Yep, I told you, kind of crazy.” Janet sighed. “You tell me if you see him again, I’ll ask Martín to look into it.”

“Thanks, Janet.”

“No problem. See you later, hun.”

Stacy hung up, sighing. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to have to deal with some crazy guy on top of everything else going on. The boys would be starting school soon, she still needed a job, they were all adjusting to the new place and...well, the other thing. She needed a break.

She opened her eyes, starting to head upstairs so she could take a nap. But as she walked past the kitchen, she paused. And sniffed. There was a smell in the air...one that she better not be smelling in a house with a preteen and a child. She poked her head inside the kitchen. There was a puddle of red liquid on the counter, dripping off the side and onto the floor. Drops led to the closed fridge. She walked forward and opened the refrigerator door. Among the normal groceries were two dark bottles, a few cracks in them, covered in dust. She picked one of them up and sniffed it, then looked at the label. Yep, that was wine. What was it doing here? She didn’t own any alcohol, she was trying to give it up, avoid temptation. She decided she’d ask Mathew about it later that night at dinner. He was thirteen, he’d better not be getting into this.

She did talk to him. But he denied it, even when she explained she wasn’t mad. Mathew wasn’t a liar, but she gave him the talk about alcohol anyway, just in case. Because she didn’t want to think about the idea that someone had broken into her house, even if all they did was drop off bottles of wine. That was...confusing. And terrifying.

—————

Day Thirty-Two in the New House

—————

Stacy arrived at the school a half hour before it let out. Just in case. It was another ten minutes before Mathew exited the building. He spotted her car immediately, heading right towards it. “Hey pumpkin,” she said cheerfully as he got in the car. “So how was ‘secondary school’?”

“Okay, I guess. A little weird.” Mathew stared out the window as the car pulled away. “It’s like Harry Potter.”

“Well, that makes sense. They are British books, after all.” Stacy bit back a yawn. She hadn’t been sleeping well lately. She kept tossing and turning, having this strange feeling...that she wasn’t alone. More than once, she could’ve sworn she heard someone whisper directly in her ear, but when she looked around, the room was empty. And last night, she thought she saw someone sitting in her chair, but when she turned the lamp on, it was just one of her cardigans thrown over the seat. These things must’ve been caused by stress. She’d finally managed to get a temporary job at the pool, but that would be closing at the end of the month, so she was still looking. And there was the whole “new city in a new country” thing. And she was worried about the boys’ new schools. And there was...well. All of these things probably added up. She trusted she’d sleep better once they all got settled. “Did you talk to anyone interesting?” she asked cheerfully.

Mathew shrugged; she could see it in the rear view mirror. “Mom...do we live in a ghost house?”

“Hmm? What makes you say that?”

“Well, there were these two guys in my Math class, they said that the last person who lived there died, and now she haunts the place.”

Stacy nodded sadly. “Well...the last resident did...pass away. That’s why we got such a nice house for so little. Things like that lower the cost. But I don’t think ghosts exist, Matt.”

“Huh.” Mathew stared out the window. “They said she...offed herself.”

Stacy bit her lip. “Don’t use that term, please pumpkin, it’s a little...disrespectful. But...yes, that’s what I was told, too.”

“Do you...think that ghosts can talk to each other?” Mathew asked. “Do they all know each other? You think this lady would know Dad?”

This was a tricky space to navigate. Stacy stayed silent for a bit. “Well...maybe they do, maybe they don’t. They...did live in different countries, but maybe things like that don’t matter to them. We can’t really know.” Her voice was soft. “Are you...you know you can talk to me about anything, right Matt?”

Mathew nodded. He didn’t say anything else on the drive. Ten minutes later, Stacy pulled up to the primary school. Five minutes later, the kids all walked out. She spotted Larkin, and waved at him. He was silent as he walked up to the car and climbed inside, sitting next to Mathew.

“Hey sweetie,” Stacy said, putting enthusiasm in her voice. “How was school?”

“Good.” Larkin joined Mathew in staring out the window.

“Did you talk to anyone? Make any new friends?”

“Yeah, a few people. I don’t know if we’re friends yet.”

“I bet you could be!”

“Yeah.”

This was...odd. Larkin wasn’t usually this quiet. “How’s your teacher? What’s her name?”

A silent moment. “Ms. Bloomberg. She’s...okay.”

And Larkin continued to give short answers all the way back home. Once inside, he ran upstairs and shut the door to their shared room, leaving Mathew to hang out in the living room. Stacy watched Lark go, not bothering to hide her concern. She made spaghetti for dinner that night. It was Larkin’s favorite, and she hoped to cheer him up. It didn’t work, but when she brought out the ice cream he perked up considerably.

“Hey Lark,” Mathew said, stabbing his bowl of vanilla with the spoon. “Did you know we live in a ghost house?”

Stacy gave Mathew a look, one of the ones that said not to go there. But then Larkin piped up, “Uh-huh. There’s a ghost here.”

She then immediately turned to look at Larkin. “Oh? Have you seen this ghost?”

“A couple times, yeah.” Larkin shoved a spoon of chocolate in his mouth before answering. “He’s a sad ghost, he walks all over the place but then he disappears. I said hi to him, and he said hi back. Then he went away.”

“Interesting.” Stacy filed this under the “to-be-concerned-about-if-something-seems-off” part in her brain. It could just be Larkin’s new imaginary friend. He had one once before, a talking dog named Boots. But he said he went away two years ago to find his family. So, she wouldn’t be worried unless something happened. But she took note of it.

—————

Night Sixty-Five in the New House

—————

Stacy woke up in the middle of the night, for a reason she couldn’t understand. Her initial reaction was to keep her eyes closed and try to go back to sleep. She’d gotten a new job at the grocery store, and its hours were long. She was exhausted, and needed the sleep.

But then she felt something pressing on her chest.

Dimly, she registered this as a problem. Breathing was difficult. In her tired mind, she thought that maybe she should roll over onto her side and that would fix it.

“hey...”

It was one of those whispers in the night, the ones she’d been hearing lately. But this one seemed less like something between the worlds of waking and dreaming, and more like something firmly real.

“i know you’re awake.”

She couldn’t really identify the voice. It wasn’t anyone she knew, so she assumed—hoped—that it was her imagination. If she had to put an age and gender to it, she would guess it was a man her age, but it would be just a guess.

“can you hear me?”

It was definitely a whisper. And it was definitely really there. She struggled to breathe through the weight, as well as the sudden terror that gripped her.

“can you say something? please?”

Something brushed against her hair. And that convinced her to open her eyes.

There was something in front of her. It was sitting on her chest. It could probably feel her heart beating a mile a minute. She stared frozen at the figure, taking in its reaching hand and the tear tracks trailing down its face. And then she managed to scream.

It vanished, the weight on her chest disappearing. She bolted upright, arms and blankets flailing. Her eyes darted around the room. Where is it? Where is it?! She cast her hand to the side and turned on her lamp. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand where it was charging and dialed a number, panting heavily.

After a long time ringing, it was picked up. “Hello?”

“Janet! I-I-I—” Stacy couldn’t get the words out. Tears were coming to her eyes. “I-I-I—”

“Whoa, Stace, hun, calm down.” Janet’s voice was soothing. “What’s got you so upset?”

After a few more seconds of calming her hyperventilating, Stacy managed to choke out, “I-I think I just saw something.”

“Something?” Janet asked, confused. “What something?”

“I don’t—I don’t know.” Stacy shook her head, even though she knew Janet couldn’t see her. “I-I woke up, and I—and I couldn’t breathe and there was something on my chest. And I heard something whisper, and—and I opened my eyes and there was a thing in front of me—” She broke off, trying to control her breathing again.

“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay, Stace,” Janet reassured her. “Whatever happened, it’s over now. Sounds like you had a real scare.”

Stacy wiped at her eyes. “Y-yeah...Wh...what was that?”

“I don’t know, hun, but...have you ever heard of sleep paralysis?”

“Isn’t that where you can’t move?”

“Yes, but sometimes people see weird things. You know, hallucinations. They could be really scary. I had sleep paralysis real bad when I was a teenager, and a lot of the time it felt like there was a weight on my chest. Does that sound like what happened?”

“I...I guess.” Stacy nodded. That made sense. That was probably all it was. “Do you think it can be caused by stress?”

“Maybe. If it happens again, maybe you can talk to someone about it. Like, a doctor.”

“Maybe. I’m...I’ll Google it in the morning.” That seemed like the best idea.

“Want me to stay on the line?” Janet offered. “I got up to check on Maggie, but I can stay up.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Get some sleep.”

“You too. Get a good night’s rest. Good night, Stacy.”

“Good night.”

Yet she couldn’t get to sleep until she heard the early morning birds chirping.

—————

Day Seventy-One in the New House

—————

Larkin had been in his room ever since she picked him up from school. It was now almost dinner time, and she was getting worried. She headed upstairs and knocked on the door. “Hey Lark? It’s almost time to eat, what do you want?”

For a moment, there was silence. “I don’t know, Mom.”

Definitely not normal. Larkin always asked for something; usually pasta, it was his favorite. “Do you mind if I come inside, sweetie?”

A long bit of silence. “Okay.”

She gently pushed the door open. Larkin was lying on his bed with his face buried in the pillow. She walked over and sat on the side of the small mattress. “Are you doing okay, sweetie?”

Larkin nodded, keeping his face buried.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

He shook his head.

She quieted for a moment, thinking. “Lark, can you look at me?” He suddenly hunched his shoulders, and she hurried to add, “Only if you want to, of course.”

That seemed to help. Larkin sat up, rubbing at his eyes. They were red. He’d obviously been crying.

“Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?” she asked quietly. “Is it friends? Or school?”

Larkin suddenly started crying. “Ms. Bloomberg.”

“Your teacher? Do you not like her?”

He shook his head. “She’s mean, Mom.”

“Hey.” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “How is she mean? Did she do something?”

Tears slipped down Larkin’s face. “She calls me L-Landon instead of my name. A-and she won’t stop when I tell her to. Yesterday she...she said she wasn’t gonna call me a for-aim name.”

“What?! A foreign name?” Stacy shook her head, baffled. “That’s ridiculous.”

“And she—she thinks I’m cheating in math.” Larkin hid his face in his mother’s blouse. “Because I-I don’t do good in English.”

“Did she say that?”

“No, b-but she always puts red marks on math questions I know I did right. An-and I asked her why, and she said she’s making my math scores meet my English ones.” He took a shaky breath. “Bec-cause those ones are the ‘right’ ones.”

Stacy patted Larkin’s back. She wasn’t looking at the door, but she knew Mathew was standing there. “That’s awful. Tell you what? I’ll go to talk to her after dinner and get this sorted out. Would that help?”

Larkin nodded.

“Alright, sweetie. Now. What if I made spaghetti for dinner?”

“That sounds good, Mom.”

“Alright.” She planned on staying there a few moments more, to make sure Larkin was okay. But she turned toward the doorway, planning to ask Mathew to leave. But her request died in her throat. Nobody was there. Strange...she could’ve sworn she felt a presence. Like someone was watching her. Maybe Mathew had left.

Stacy did indeed make spaghetti for dinner, then called Janet to ask her to watch the kids. Once Janet came over, leaving her daughter, Maggie, with her husband, Stacy got in the car and drove over to the teacher’s address. It was clearly printed in the school directory, which she found kind of strange, but who was she to tell the school how to run?

It was that strange time of day between sunset and evening when she pulled up to the curb outside Nancy Bloomberg’s house. Stacy got out of her car, locking it behind her, and walked up the path to the front door. She rang the doorbell. After a minute of no response, she rang again. After another minute, she went to knock, and when her knuckles hit the door, it opened. Just a bit. Enough to show it had already been open a little, and the force of the knock caused it to swing inward. Stacy hesitated, then pushed the door open a bit. “Hello? Ms. Bloomberg?”

No answer. There was a car in the driveway, so she assumed Ms. Bloomberg was home. She swallowed, and pushed the door open all the way. “Hello?”

It’s then that she saw the puddle of red liquid.

She was curious enough to step inside the house and head toward it. At first, she thought it was spilled wine, reminiscent of the scene in her own house when she first moved in.

And then she looked into the kitchen and realized it wasn’t wine.

—————

Day Seventy-Two in the New House

—————

She’d called the police, of course. And she’d called Janet, to explain what happened and why she would be late. The cops asked her what she saw, and why she was here, and she replied that she’d been paying her son’s teacher a visit. She told them she’d just found the body once she realized the door was open. They believed her.

It was a Saturday, and the kids were home from school. Mathew was playing some game on his Xbox in the living room while Larkin sat on the floor and colored with crayons. Stacy poked her head inside to check on them. “How’re you guys doing?”

“Good, Mom,” Mathew said.

“Good, Mom,” Larkin said cheerfully.

“What’re you drawing?” Stacy walked over.

“This!” Larkin held up the drawing for her to see.

Stacy stopped, staring. This was...this was impossible. But...no, it was impossible. It would be concerning on its own, but she recognized it. The scribble of red on the crayon floor, the yellow dress and black hair on the lying-down figure...it was exactly what she saw yesterday. “Lark...where did you get the idea for that?”

“The ghost told me about it,” Larkin explained.

“The ghost?”

“The sad ghost who lives in our house!” Larkin explained. “He told me a story last night about a mean lady taking a nap in red paint, so I drew it.”

“...ah.” Stacy looked over at Mathew, who paused the game to look at Larkin, a bit concerned as well. “That’s...that’s interesting.”

“You know the ghost, right, Mom?” Larkin asked. “He goes in your room sometimes. Right through the door.”

Her heart was pumping ice. “I’ve never seen him, sweetie.”

“Aw.” Larkin went back to coloring. “He seems nice.”

Stacy nodded, smiling, and left the room.

She called the police again.

—————

Day Seventy-Three in the New House

—————

“So you’re saying your son killed her?”

“No, of course not! He’s seven! But he did hear about what happened...somehow.”

“What about your other son? How old is he?”

“Thirteen. But he couldn’t have done anything!”

“Would he be protective of his younger brother?”

“W-well, I mean, yes, but it’s impossible! He was with my friend Janet all evening, and before that he was with me.”

“So how do you think your son knew about what happened?”

“I’m not sure. He said the ghost in our house told him about it.”

“Does your son know anyone who could be considered ‘a ghost’? Like an older man?”

“No...not that I know of.”

“...we’ll be looking into this, ma’am.”

—————

Night Ninety in the New House

—————

Stacy was pretending to be asleep, keeping her eyes firmly shut and her breathing even. She wanted to check the time—surely it had to be three a.m. at least. It couldn’t be earlier than that.

There were whispers in her head.

She couldn’t say what they were saying, not exactly. She had the vague sense that they were like fog, filling her brain. A heavy fog dragging her down. Occasionally a memory would flash across her mind. Not good ones. Ones she’d rather forget, actually.

“hey. i know you’re awake.”

The time she’d left the house for work in the morning, trusting the babysitter would arrive on time. But the sitter had been an hour late, and in that time period, five-year-old Larkin had managed to fall off a stool, trying to reach a high-up shelf, and broken his arm. She’d gotten the call from the sitter at the hospital. She’d felt like a failure, staring down at her son’s cast.

“why don’t you ever answer me?”

She rolled over, sticking her arm out in an effort to reach a more comfortable position. In her head, she recalled the night she’d got the news. The night she’d been up late, waiting for him to come home. She stared at the phone, noticing repeated calls from a number, but not the number she was looking for. Then the police officer came to her house, saying something about there being an accident. She should’ve answered the phone. And how was she supposed to tell the kids?

Something grabbed her hand. Something that should’ve felt like a human hand, but it was too cold, a layer of dust covering its palm. She tried not to shudder. If she didn’t react, maybe it would go away.

“i want you to stay with me...”

“will you stay with me? will all of you stay?”

The memory of the first time she’d tried drowning her tears. A bottle of whiskey, late at night when she thought they’d both be asleep. She thought it had worked. A little bit of a buzz, and she was forgetting what all the fuss was about in the first place. But Mathew was awake. And seeing him had reminded her. She didn’t remember what she said, but she remembered it was in anger. She’d apologized the next morning. But it wasn’t enough. She was never enough.

“you’re going to stay with me. i love company.”

She must’ve fallen asleep eventually. When she woke up, she thought it had been another dream. Another hallucination brought on by sleep paralysis. But then she twitched her fingers, clutching them into a fist. And it felt...off. She opened her eyes, and her hand. There was a layer of gray dust on her palm.

—————

Day Ninety-One in the New House

—————

Stacy called a therapist, made an appointment for Wednesday. She approached it with the idea that this was all in her head. Which would be...difficult enough to deal with on its own. With two kids to take care of, could she worry about losing her mind?

But she kept coming back to the gray dust. It was there. It was definitely there. She’d washed her hand, but not before finding a mason jar in the kitchen and doing her best to wipe the dust into it. She got some of it...and it was definitely there.

Larkin had said there was a ghost in the house. A ghost that went into her room sometimes. A ghost that told him that his teacher was killed, the day after it happened.

The kids were at school. She grabbed her jacket, and a moment later, unlocked the special drawer in her dresser, grabbing her handgun and shoulder holster as well. She threw the jacket on over the holster, and left the house, walking across the street and knocking on the door of the house opposite hers.

Janet opened the door with a smile. “Oh hey, Stace. You okay, hun? You look a little…” She waved her hand in front of her face. “...pale.”

Stacy laughed. “I...you’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

Janet sensed this was a serious matter. Her smile dropped. “Why don’t you come inside, hun?”

The living room was small and cozy, pictures of Janet and Martín’s relatives on the walls. Janet set Stacy down on the sofa, bringing her a plate of cookies—“biscuits,” she called them. Stacy took one, but didn’t eat. Janet sat down in an armchair across from her. “Now. What’s wrong?”

That was all it took for the whole story to come spilling out. The sleep paralysis episodes, the whispers she’d been hearing that she attributed to stress, the stories her son told about a ghost, the times she’d found strange bottles of alcohol in her house that she knew she hadn’t brought there, and all culminating in her waking up, with dust on her hand in the same place she could’ve sworn someone was holding it last night. At the end of it all, Stacy realized she’d started crying. She hurriedly wiped her face. “I-I know it sounds crazy,” she said. “I’m going to see a therapist next week, but...I-I don’t know, I just needed to tell someone else.”

Janet had been silent the whole time. Now, she looked down at her hands in her lap. “It...it does sound strange, hun, but...well, some of this can’t be a coincidence.”

Stacy let out a deep breath. “I-I know, it is a bit weird—”

“No, I mean…” Janet inhaled deeply, and looked back up. “You remember the person who lived in that house before you did?”

“Emily?” Stacy asked.

“Yeah, Emily Kendrik.” Janet nodded. “A week before she...well. A week before it happened, she showed up at Helen’s house—she’s the head of the Homeowner’s Association. Emily complained about there being a lot of dust in her house. Helen said that wasn’t a problem for the HOA, and Emily showed up here.” Janet bit her lip. “She talked about that, and the fact that she kept hearing things at night...and how broken beer bottles were showing up in her fridge.”

Stacy’s eyes widened. “I—I swear I didn’t know this—”

“No, of course you didn’t,” Janet waved away. “Helen might’ve laughed about the dust thing with her friends, but I never told anyone about what Emily said to me. I mean…” she laughed nervously. “H-how could I have? When a week later, Emily was found...like that.” She tried to say it as delicately as possible.

Stacy put the biscuit she was still holding down on the plate. “So...I-I’m not the only one who’s had this...happen?”

“Apparently not.” Janet looked...well, worried was a mild way of putting it. “I think maybe your son’s right. Maybe your house is haunted.”

All Stacy could do was stare at nothing. Her whole world had just been flipped on its head. “What am I supposed to do?” She asked hoarsely. “Call a priest?”

“I mean, I think that’s what people usually do when there’s a thing in their house.”

Stacy suddenly started. “Wait, what did you say?”

Janet blinked, confused. “I said I think that’s what people usually do when there’s a thing in their house.”

That phrase was ringing a bell. Stacy cast her memory back, trying to think of where she’d heard it, and why it seemed so memorable.

There’s a thing in your house. It moves in the windows sometimes.

Stacy suddenly stood up. “I-I just remembered something. I’ll talk to you later, Janet.”

“Oh, uh...alright. Talk to you later, Stace.”

Stacy wasn’t even listening as she left. Quickly, she walked across the street back to her house. Digging in her pocket for her wallet and car keys, she devised a plan. It was still morning, she didn’t have to pick up the kids for a while. Plenty of time to find a guy whose name she didn’t know.

—————

The city had two different parks, but she decided it would be a better bet to search the bigger one first. And it was. In one corner of the park, the one that had a particularly high amount of trees, she found a small green tent set up, vaguely dome-shaped, probably only big enough for one person. She...wasn’t sure how to check if anyone was home. Did you knock on a tent? That seemed like a good idea. She walked right up to the tent, found an area that looked like a door, and hit it a couple times with her fist like she was knocking on a house door. “Hello?” she asked.

There was a sudden yelp, and the walls of the tent moved as someone inside scrambled about. The door area unzipped, and a man climbed out, standing up and looking around wildly. Stacy backed away as she realized the man was holding a pocket knife—and a rather big one, as well. The man’s eyes—or, eye, the other one was covered by a black patch—landed on her, and he relaxed. “Jesus christ, you fucking scared me,” he breathed, folding the pocket knife closed. “Don’t do that. I thought you were coming to take me.”

“I-I’m sorry.” Stacy smiled shakily. “Um, are you...I mean, I don’t know your name, but my friend called you John?”

“Yeah, that works, it’s the closest yet,” the man said, shoving the knife in the pocket of his green jacket.

“Uh...okay. John.” Stacy swallowed nervously. “I...don’t know if you remember me—”

“You’re the lady in the house across from Martín’s, the one with two kids, boys,” John said, as if he was reciting words from a cue card. “Yeah, I remember you.”

“...oh.” Stacy fought the urge to take a step backwards. This guy was really unnerving her. But what was unnerving her more was the thought of what was happening back in her home. “Well. My name is Stacy. You...a couple months ago, you were outside my house, and I talked to you, and you said something about there being ‘a thing’ in my house. I-I was just wondering...why did you say that?”

“Cause there’s a thing in your house,” John stated clearly. “It’s in the windows. But I mean, it kind of disappears when anyone else tries to look at it.”

Stacy realized that sounded insane. She then realized she might be going insane, but decided to keep going anyway. “A thing like a ghost?”

John burst into laughter, doubling over with the force of it. Stacy took a step backwards, waiting for him to finish. After what must’ve been a solid thirty seconds, John managed to stop himself. He straightened, and grinned widely at Stacy. “No, not like a ghost. Ghosts might not even exist. I’ve never seen one. Unless you count the souls of the damned that are trapped in the mist of an Irish forest. No, this is much worse than a ghost.” His grin faded slowly. “...and...you’re actually looking at me seriously. Like, this doesn’t sound like complete bullshit to you.”

“I mean, it does,” Stacy admitted. “But after what’s been happening, I think bullshit is my new reality.”

“...huh.” John blinked, staring at her. One blue eye looked over her, its gaze piercing.

“I think...I need your help?” It came out like a question. “Things have been happening...c-crazy things.” She laughed.

“...well, then.” John grinned. “We can talk. But on one condition.” At Stacy’s sudden wide eyes, he hurried to say, “Nothing too big. I just want to see if you could buy lunch, or something? We can talk at a restaurant...or something. Not like, McDonald’s. I’ve had enough of that.” He smiled a bit.

“Oh. Um, okay. Yeah.” That didn’t sound too bad. If anything happened, she did have a gun. “C’mon, I know a place.”

They ended up at a local diner, fairly crowded. Stacy wondered if that was gonna be a good idea, given what they would be talking about. She didn’t want anyone to overhear. But then again, maybe it would be too loud for anyone to hear anything. And given the looks John was attracting, maybe anyone who did hear would think she was just humoring his crazy ideas.

It would be a while until the food they ordered actually arrived, so Stacy got right to business. “What you were saying back there. What do you mean, worse than a ghost?” she asked, jumping right into the topic. “Like, a demon?”

“Well, to me, the word ‘demon’ kind of...implies something specific.” John was scratching his nails into the wooden table, seemingly not caring about the marks it was leaving. “Like...there’s a specific idea to it, y’know? Maybe that’s ‘cause of religion or something, I don’t know, but even if you’re not religious, you have a sort of concept in your head of what a demon is.” He chuckled. “These things...don’t really fit into a category. They’re more like horror movie monsters come to life.”

“That’s...not encouraging,” Stacy admitted.

John laughed. “Life isn’t as safe as you thiiiink it is!” he said in a singsong voice. “There’s so many different ways you can get fucked up!”

“...okay, then. That’s even less encouraging.” Stacy scooted her chair back a bit.

John’s smile faded. “Sorry.” He paused. “If it’s any consolation, you...you really did just have bad luck. The odds of actually running into one of these things is relatively small. You just...chose the wrong city.”

Stacy looked down at the tabletop. “My grandma grew up here. She never mentioned the...I don’t know, cryptid horror monster.”

“Well, to be fair, most people wouldn’t. Even if they knew, they’d probably say something like, ‘oh it’s not safe to be out on the streets at night’ or some shit like that. I mean, come on. Would you?”

“You talked to me about it,” Stacy pointed out. “Even before I came to you about it.”

“Yeah, and you thought I was insane.” John shrugged. “Which I mean...jury’s still out on that.”

Stacy laughed nervously, and shook her head. “We’re getting off track. Do you know anything about this...this thing in my house?”

John scrunched his brows, thinking. “Well, I know it straight-up disappears when you look at it in the window. And I haven’t seen it outside anywhere. Have you?”

The waiter arrived, bringing over their drinks. Stacy quietly thanked him, and John did too. The waiter ignored him, though, just talking to her to say the food will be coming out soon. Once he walked away, Stacy returned to their conversation.

“Outside anywhere? Like, outside my house? Um…” Stacy cast her mind back over the last three months. “Actually, come to think of it, I haven’t. I-I mean, when I’m in my house I sometimes see shadows in the corner of my eyes. And I hear these...whispers.” She shuddered. “But it’s never when I’m at work, or when I’m picking up the kids from school, or running errands.”

“So it’s probably confined to a single space,” John said. He took a sip of his Coke. “Some of them are like that, but others travel about.”

“Okay…” Stacy nodded. “So...what should I do about it?”

John shrugged. “Well, I don’t know, exactly. I’ve only been here five months, and I didn’t see it until I stopped outside your house the day you moved in. But I can give you a suggestion.”

“Alright. What’s that?”

“Leave. Like, right now.”

“Wh—” Stacy spluttered. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?” John looked genuinely surprised.

“Because we just moved here! The kids are still adjusting, I’m still adjusting—”

“Perfect, you won’t have anything to miss!” John laughed.

“No! You can’t handle two moves in such a short period! What would that do to the kids? Mathew has a hard enough time making friends already, and Larkin is only eight, he wouldn’t be able to understand.” Not to mention that she didn’t know if she could get another job, or another house. Or any new friends of her own. “Isn’t there anything else we can do? How do we get rid of it?”

John’s face suddenly fell. He leaned across the table, getting closer. “Do you know what it wants with you?”

She felt like the breath was knocked out of her. “I...I don’t know,” she said quietly.

His head tilted. “Have you picked up on anything? Any sort of intentions?”

She paused, thinking about this. “Um...well...th-the last person who lived in the house...she was—I mean, I figured out she was haunted by the thing, too. And she...um, she committed suicide.” She went quiet for a moment. “Do you think it was because of this?”

“Probaby,” John said casually. “Either it drove her to it, or it killed her and framed it.”

Stacy felt her heart stop. “I-I can’t—” She shook her head. “I can’t let that—my kids—”

“I see.” John nodded. His expression softened. “It would be hard for them. And obviously for you, too. So…” He leaned back. “That’s why you gotta leave. As soon as possible.”

“...maybe.” Stacy settled back in her seat. “I...I guess I could start looking for some place to live. Find a new job.”

John sighed. “Look, the longer you stay here, the more at risk you are. You need to get out before it gets to you.”

“I can’t just leave, though. With no support, no way to get income? What would happen then?”

“Um, you wouldn’t die. That seems better than anything else.”

“It’s not just about me, though,” Stacy said quietly. “I’m the only one who can look after Mathew and Larkin. We have no other family, a-and C—my husband, he’s…” She swallows the lump in her throat. “...he’s gone now. They need me.”

John’s expression softened in a way it hadn’t yet. “...I see.” He sighed. “I...I guess that makes sense. Just...just get out. As soon as possible.”

“Isn’t there anything else?” Stacy asked. “Can we get rid of it?”

John laughed, the sound hysterical. “If you find a way to, please tell me! Because I haven’t yet, and I’d love to hear it!” He sighed again. “I’m sorry, but you really just need to leave.”

Stacy felt her heart sink. But she nodded. “...okay, then.” She swallowed nervously. “Maybe we should just move back to the U.S., then we could avoid all this.”

“I mean, they exist in the states, too,” John said, shrugging. “They exist all over the world. But if you want to avoid the one that currently has its eye on you—wait, does it have eyes?”

Stacy blinked, surprised. “Um..well, I’ve seen it crying.”

“That doesn’t help.” John shook his head. “Well, anyway, it’s just a metaphor. If you want to go to the states to avoid this one, go ahead.” He smiled. “But once you’ve gotten involved in things like this, you tend to...see more.”

The waiter arrived with their food. John immediately began eating, tucking into his sandwich like he hadn’t eaten in a while. Which, Stacy realized, he might not have. “How do you know all this stuff?” She asked quietly.

John took a moment to answer, swallowing the bite he’d taken. “Experience,” he said with a dull smile. “I was a lot like you, once. But I wasn’t lucky enough to have someone there to give me advice.” He fell quiet for a moment, eye darkening with shadows. “Just...just get out, okay?”

Stacy nodded, not saying anything else.

—————

Day One Hundred in the New House

—————

It was getting worse. Stacy had decided to ignore it, for the time being, but she could tell it was getting worse. She could hear the whispers whenever she was alone in the house, always in the back of her mind. The shadow of the thing would linger in her peripheral vision, watching her. The longer it stayed, the more details she could make out. And sometimes, she walked past the boys’ room and heard Larkin talking to someone when Mathew was still downstairs.

It seemed like John was right; leaving was starting to look like the best option. Stacy began looking for options online for places to move to. But only outside the house. She didn’t want to risk the thing catching onto what she was planning, so she’d take her laptop and go sit on a bench in the park, browsing houses for sale in nearby cities. She also continued a job search online, looking for openings in those same cities and applying to anything she could find, just in case they moved to the area.

She did tell Janet about her plans. In person, at Janet’s house. Luckily, the other woman was understanding. “If you told me a week ago, I would’ve asked you to reconsider it, after some therapy,” she said. “But with your problems lining up with Emily’s, I...I’m the one who’s reconsidering.” She chuckled nervously.

“I probably should talk to someone anyway,” Stacy sighed. “I did cancel the appointment I made, but I can make a new one in the new city.”

“That sounds like a good idea, hun,” Janet said, patting Stacy’s shoulder. “And if you ever need a friend, you’ll still have my number.”

Stacy smiled softly. “Thanks, Jan. Hey...whoever moves in after I leave, just...look out for them, okay?”

Janet nodded. “I will, don’t worry.”

—————

Day One Hundred Sixteen in the New House

—————

Finally, Stacy found something.

A lovely little house, in a city two hours away. She got the feeling that it was being advertised as being far away from the current town, but it didn’t seem too far to her. The house was cheap, though she’d still have to dip into her savings, and big enough for her and the boys. The realtor offered for her to come and take a look, but she said that she preferred to purchase now, thank you very much. That probably hiked up the price offer a bit, but she didn’t care. They had to get out of here.

She tried to break the news to the boys gently, taking them out to dinner and telling them there. Larkin seemed to accept it, but Mathew kept asking questions.

“Why are we moving? We just got here!”

“It’s complicated, pumpkin. I’ll explain later.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a town called Rysbuwich. A little ridiculous sounding, but it’s a good town.”

“Can we come back here?”

“We can come to visit, sure, it’s just a couple hours away.”

Eventually, Mathew seemed satisfied as well. He had his one friend’s number and email saved on his phone, so the two of them could still chat, and he could still come visit for events and such. That must’ve been what convinced him.

But then Larkin piped up with a question: “What about the ghost? Are we gonna leave him?”

Stacy smiled tightly, hoping it didn’t seem too forced. “Well, I suppose we’re gonna have to.”

“Aw…” Larkin looked down at the restaurant table. “He’s a lonely ghost, he’ll be all alone and sad.”

“Well, someone else will move in soon enough, so he won’t be lonely anymore.” Or maybe the house would stay empty. Hopefully that would be the case.

—————

Day One Hundred Twenty in the New House

—————

She knew that once she told the kids, she wouldn’t be able to keep the move a secret from the thing in the house for long. Mathew and Larkin would be talking casually about the move with each other, and she couldn’t tell them to just stop doing that and not explain why. So she waited to tell them only a few days before the moving truck arrived.

And arrive, it did. She’d managed to get the boys to pack up all their stuff the night before, and they spent the morning helping the movers put the boxes and furniture in the truck.

There had been no whispers or shadows that whole morning, or the night before. And though that sounded like a good thing, it put Stacy on edge.

“Alright, that’s everything,” she said cheerfully, trying to hide her worry from the kids. “Say goodbye to the house.”

“Um...yeah,” Mathew said, shifting awkwardly.

“Goodbye house!” Larkin said, waving. “Goodbye ghost!”

Stacy tried not to flinch. “Alright, let’s go.” Stacy slung her purse over her shoulder, reaching inside for her car keys. But there was nothing. She opened it, staring inside and pawing through. They weren’t there. But she was sure they’d just been there…

Her heart froze.

“Shoot.” She looked back at the kids. “You guys go ahead, okay? I misplaced my keys, and I’m gonna look for them.”

Mathew nodded. “Alright, Mom. C’mon, Lark.”

The two of them disappeared through the front door, closing it behind them but not closing it all the way. Stacy didn’t bother to close it the rest of the way. She swallowed nervously, and turned back, into the house.

The rooms were empty now, completely void of any decoration. It looked emptier than when they first moved in, since the house had come pre-furnished. But now, they were taking the furniture with them. And all that was left were faded spots on the walls where there used to be chairs, pressed carpet where beds stood. There weren’t a lot of places for her keys to be. They were nowhere in the living room or the first floor hallway, neither on the floor or hanging from the hooks left where photographs used to hang. She headed towards the kitchen to look next.

Stacy was immediately met with an overwhelming sharp smell. She gagged, covering her mouth. The floor was wet, covered in puddles of pale amber liquid. It was trickling from the water main where the fridge was once plugged in, dripping down the cabinet doors, pooling on the tiles. But she saw her keys sitting on the counter. She took a deep breath and walked forward, trying to step over the worst puddles.

The keys were in the middle of the counter. Somehow, in the thirty minutes since she was last in the kitchen, the faux marble countertop had become incredibly dusty, a layer of gray covering its surface. She picked up the keys, stuffing them in her purse.

And then there was a hand on her shoulder.

“where are you going?”

Stacy stiffened, shrugging off the hand. She could feel it standing right behind her. She couldn’t turn around to look at it, so she headed to the open doorway that connected the kitchen to the dining room. It followed her, staying close behind. It was close enough that she should be able to feel its breath on her neck. But there was nothing. Somehow, that was worse.

“you’re leaving…”

The dining room was completely empty, scuff marks on the wooden floor where the table and chairs had been. There were dust motes flying through the air, suspended in the beams of sunlight drifting through the windows. Stacy coughed, and quickly circled around the perimeter of the room, feeling it close behind her. She headed back towards the kitchen entrance.

“please don’t leave…”

She sidestepped around the puddles on the floor again, heading back towards the hallway.

It grabbed her shoulder again.

She shook it off, and it grabbed her wrist.

She couldn’t help but yelp this time. Deliberately not looking backwards, she pulled her arm away and ran for the entrance again. She was two steps into the hallway when it grabbed her. Its arms wrapped around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides.

“stay with me…” It whispered into her ear. “Forever.”

Stacy didn’t bother to answer. She wriggled against its hold, but it squeezed tighter, choking out her breath. Her foot kicked backwards and connected with something solid, but it didn’t react at all. She struggled to breathe, chest rising and falling. Every time she breathed out, it tightened its hold, giving her less and less room to gasp for air. Black spots were starting to appear before her eyes.

With one last breath, she wrenched her head to the side to look at the thing behind her. She caught sight of a face, liquid trailing down like tears. And then it disappeared. Bending over, she breathed deeply, gulping down as much air as possible. She didn’t even wait to fully recover to run down the hall, back towards the living room and the front door.

She made it to the front room when her vision flickered, and it appeared in front of her. She skidded to a halt, but then it disappeared. It grabbed her from behind again, but this time she shook it off, running for the door.

When she was halfway across the room, the thing started to scream.

No, it wasn’t a scream, it was a wail. A long, keening sound that started on the edge of her hearing and grew to fill her entire mind. She staggered, pressing her hands to her ears. But the sound didn’t lessen. It was like a drill spinning into her brain, a sound that dragged down her heart and filled it with longing.

Stay, it said. Stay, please stay, it said in a voice that wasn’t hers, and it wasn’t the voice of the whispers either. Stay with me, Stacy, it said, mimicking perfectly the voice she’d never thought she’d hear again. Please stay, Stacy, please I’m so lonely, stay, stay—

Stacy turned the knob of the front door and burst outside. The wail suddenly cut off, leaving her strangely breathless. Tears were flowing from her eyes. And for a moment, she still heard that voice, speaking from a place of deep grief. But she knew it wasn’t really him. “You’re gone,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, but I need to stay here. Maybe I’ll see you again one day. But not before it’s time.”

“Mom? What are you doing?”

“What’s happening?”

She took a deep breath, and then straightened. Mathew and Larkin were standing by the car, staring at her with identical wide eyes. “I just had a moment there,” she said softly. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Strangely enough, neither of them pressed the matter. Maybe they didn’t want to think about their mom crying. Stacy promised herself she’d tell them what happened one day. Some time in the future, when they were old enough to understand.

—————

Heading out of the city, they drove past one of the parks. As they did, Stacy suddenly got an impulsive, probably stupid idea. She parked the car, asked Mathew and Larkin to wait, then headed out to the spot she remembered.

The tent was still there. This time the doorway was unzipped. John was laying on the ground, half inside the tent, half outside, turning a small wooden flute over in his hands. He heard her footsteps approaching, and looked up, grinning. “Oh it’s you again. How’re things working out with the thing?”

Stacy walked right up to the tent, stopping a couple feet away. “Pack up your tent and stuff, we’re leaving.”

“Um…” John blinked up at her, suddenly wary. “Are you gonna kill me? Cause if you are, at least tell me beforehand so I can prepare. I mean, I’m not gonna let you, but—”

“What the hell? No!” Stacy shook her head, shocked. “Sorry, my boys are waiting, so I want to hurry instead of leaving them alone. Anyway, we’re leaving. Like you suggested. And I-I mean, if you hadn’t suggested that, I don’t think I would’ve ever...well.” She paused. “So I thought I could, I don’t know, repay you by offering for you to...I don’t know, stay with us? Not in a romantic capacity, of course,” she hurried to add. “You’re not really my type.”

John stared up at her. “You want me...to come live with you.”

“Yeah.” Stacy shrugged. “I mean, only if you want to. It’s the least I can do.”

“You...really don’t want me to come live with you,” John said. “Trust me.”

“Why?”

“Just...you just don’t.”

“Well the new house should have room,” Stacy remembered. “And if you don’t want to stay in a house, you can just put your tent in the yard. Because apparently a lot of places in this country don’t have yards, what do you know? Lots of urban areas, not a lot of suburban ones. But anyway, I figured it would be...nice, to not have to worry about...a lot of things.” She smiled softly.

“I mean, it would,” John admitted. “But there will still be things to worry about. Things that you really, really don’t want to be bothered with.”

“What, you mean like your criminal record?” Stacy asked. “Yeah, I know about that. I just—I think that if—”

“I don’t have any records,” John muttered. “Listen, do you have a computer?”

That was an odd question. “Um, yes, I have my laptop and we have a desktop too.”

“And you have a smart phone? Do your kids have smart phones?”

“I do, yes, but they don’t. Mathew has a flip phone, but I’m not getting him a smart phone until his next birthday. Then Larkin can have the flip phone for emergencies.”

This clearly wasn’t the answer John was looking for. “Look, it’s best for both of us that I don’t go anywhere near you. We had a small visit, but that’s it. Good luck on your...life. I guess.”

Stacy frowned, not one to give up. “Look, I can tell this isn’t...a good situation for you. You don’t even have to interact with me that much if you don’t want to. But you saved my fucking life, so stop being stubborn and let me pay you back.”

John kept staring at her. Then he sighed. “Fine. I’ve been in this town for long enough, anyway. You can give me a ride to wherever you’re going.” He crawled out of the tent and stood up, stretching. “Give me a few minutes to pack up.”

Stacy nodded, smiling brightly. “Great. Thanks, John.”

“‘Thanks’? Shouldn’t I be thanking you?” He chuckled. “Here, hold this.” He tossed the flute at Stacy, and she fumbled to catch it.

“You play the flute?” She asked, examining it.

“I’m trying to. I used to play drums but, you know, it’s not quite portable to have a drum set around.”

“I played bass once. I should take it back up.”

“You do that.”

A few minutes later, Stacy was back in the car, introducing John to Mathew and Larkin, saying he was a friend of hers. Larkin, being the friendly kid he was, cheerfully took to the stranger, but Mathew seemed a bit wary.

“Is your name really John?” Mathew asked, leaning forward from the back seat to talk to John in the passenger’s side.

“No, but you wouldn’t remember my name anyways.”

“What happened to your eye?”

“Ah well you see it’s a long story,” John said grinning. “Starting with both of my eyes bleeding and ending with this one getting sewn shut. And yes, you heard that correctly.”

Mathew glared at him silently for a moment. “Do you like video games?”

“Dude I love video games. I used to play them for a job.”

Mathew considered this. “My favorite’s Breath of the Wild. What’s yours?”

“I like Shadow of the Colossus. You heard of it?”

“Yeah.” Mathew nodded, and settled back. Apparently that had convinced him that this guy was normal enough.

Stacy glanced over at John. “You really think we wouldn’t remember your name?”

“I know you wouldn’t,” John said, staring out the window. “Within a week everyone in this town will forget I was ever here.”

“Surely that’s not tru—”

“It is.”

Stacy fell silent for a moment. “Well, I think you should tell me your name anyway, just in case.”

John sighed a bit, but nodded. “Yeah. Alright.”

The car passed beyond the boundaries of the town. And soon, it wasn’t even visible to the town anymore. The sun set, and life went on as normal, in the small city that hid a secret of its own.

—————

Day One Since She Left

—————

She’d come back.

It was waiting.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticegos #jacksepticeye fanfiction #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #tw: horror #tw: suicide mention #tw: stalking #brigid writes fanfiction #horrorseptics

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bechloeislegit · 4 years

Text

25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2019

DAY 05 - JUST GET HERE IF YOU CAN

Prompt from FanFiction User jasmine.allgeyer: Military AU - Maybe you can do Beca or Chloe in the military, and they are coming home for Christmas.

"So, what do you think?" Beca asked, looking through her computer screen at Chloe.

"It's good, Becs," Chloe said.

"But?" Beca asked. "You have something to say about it; I can see it in your face. What are you thinking?"

"You know me too well," Chloe said with a laugh. "Okay, so I think there is too much happening just before the second chorus. Slow it down or take something out. I think it will sound better."

Beca smiled as she watched Chloe talk through Skype. "You're right. I knew there was something off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it."

"Always glad to help," Chloe said.

Beca had her chin in her hand and was staring at Chloe through the computer screen. "You are so beautiful," Beca said with a sigh.

"Stop it," Chloe said, blushing slightly.

"Oh, my God," Beca said in a teasing tone. "Did I just cause the unflappable Chloe Beale to blush."

"Watch it, Mitchell," Chloe said. "Or the next time I see you, I might just have to kick your ass."

"First, it's Beale," Beca said, waving her left hand to show off her rings. "And, second, when is the next time I'm going to see you? You've been gone for over a year. I was hoping you'd be home this Christmas."

"I'm sorry, Becs," Chloe said, chewing on her bottom lip. "There's talk that we may be shipping out."

Beca sat up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, looking down.

"When? Where?"

"I don't know when," Chloe said. "It could be in two weeks, maybe less. It will depend on where we're going. As for where you know I can't tell you even if I knew."

"I know," Beca said, running a hand through her hair. "It's just that you'll be shipping out just before Christmas." Beca sighed, and her eyes lit up with an idea. "What if I came to you before you left? Would I be able to see you? Could you get a day or two of leave?"

"I, uh, I don't think so, Becs," Chloe said sadly. "I'm sorry, babe. I want to see you, but I don't think it's possible. We'll be spending the next two weeks getting everything ready to go. I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry," Beca said, looking Chloe in the eye. "I knew what I signed up for when we got together. This is your career, and I wouldn't do anything to make it harder for you. I'm sorry I pushed to see you. I just miss you so much."

"The fact that you understand what my career entails is one of the many reasons I love you so much," Chloe said, letting out a small sniffle.

"I love you, too," Beca said. "I hate not knowing where you'll be."

"Me, too," Chloe said. "I promise, once we get settled in, I'll ask for some leave, and we can meet somewhere."

"I'd like that," Beca said and looked at the time. "I hate to say it, but I have to go. Can we Skype again tomorrow?"

"I'll send you a text to let you know," Chloe said. "I miss you, babe. Take care of yourself and tell Stacie and Brey I said hi."

"I miss you, too," Beca said. "And I love you. Be safe."

"Always," Chloe said. "I love you, too."

Beca blew Chloe a kiss and ended the Skype call. Beca sat back in her chair and sighed.

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Chloe sat, staring at the blank screen in front of her after Beca ended their Skype call. She was startled when her bunkmate, Jessica, came rushing into their shared room

"Chloe, did you hear?" Jessica asked excitedly.

"Hear what, Jess?" Chloe asked.

"We're shipping out," Jessica said.

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," Chloe said sadly. "Do you know where we're headed?"

"Yep," Jessica said, trying to hide her smile.

Chloe looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Care to share with the class?"

"We're going to San Francisco," Jessica blurted out. "As in California."

"What?" Chloe asked, not expecting that answer. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Jessica said. "Here are our orders." Jessica anded Chloe an envelope.

Chloe opened the envelope and took the papers out. She scanned them, and a smile came to her face. She grabbed Jessica's hands and started squealing and jumping up and down.

"This is fantastic," Chloe said after they settled down. "I'll be close to Beca. Maybe we will get to spend Christmas together after all."

"I know you will," Jessica said with another big smile. "I was talking to the Captain about our orders, and he said that our unit is getting fourteen days of R&R once we get to San Francisco."

"I have to call, Beca," Chloe squealed. She stopped and thought for a moment; a smile came to her face. "I won't tell her. I'll surprise her."

"I bet she'll love that," Jessica said. "My brother and sister-in-law live in San Francisco, and I'm going to surprise them, too. We haven't had Christmas together in like five years, and I have a three-year-old niece I haven't met yet. This is going to be the best Christmas ever!"

"You're right about that," Chloe said, smiling.

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Ten days later, unbeknownst to Beca, Chloe and her squad were packing up and nearly ready to get on a cargo plane to San Francisco.

Beca was getting her things together to go home from the studio. She was on the phone with Stacie.

"I said I'd be there, didn't I?" Beca asked Stacie.

"I know," Stacie said with a sigh. "I don't want you to come up with some excuse for why you can't. We miss your face, and the rest of the girls are going to be there."

"I'll be there, I promise," Beca said.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Stacie said. "But, if you are not here by ten, I'm coming over there and dragging you back here, and I don't care what you might be wearing. Or not wearing."

"Sheesh, Stace," Beca said. "When did my promises to you stop meaning anything? I have never gone back on a promise, ever. I'm a little hurt that you think I would."

"You're right," Stacie said. "It's just Brey keeps yapping in my ear about making sure you come over on Christmas. And I'd rather be on your bad side than hers."

Beca laughed. "I get it. And I'll be there, or Aubrey can have my vocal cords ripped out by wolves."

"Okay," Stacie said with a chuckle.

"I'm heading home, so I'll talk later," Beca said.

"I'll talk to you later," Stacie responded.

Beca sighed as she ended the call. She had to run to the grocery store, which she knew was going to be crowded since it was two days before Christmas. Why did she promise Stacie and Aubrey that she'd make lasagna and her famous rum balls for their potluck?

Beca grabbed her keys and made her way to the elevator to get to the parking garage. Her phone rang just as she opened her car door.

"Beca Beale," Beca said into her phone as she settled in the driver's seat.

"Hey, babe," Chloe's voice came through the phone.

"Hey," Beca said, sounding as if the weight of the world had fallen off her shoulders.

"I only have a minute and wanted to call," Chloe said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Beca said as she started the car. "I'm leaving work and have to go to the grocery store on the way home. I am not looking forward to that."

"Yikes," Chloe said. "I know how much you hate to go grocery shopping. What are you getting?"

"Stuff for my lasagna and rum balls," Beca said. "I promised Stacie and Aubrey I'd bring them for the Christmas potluck with the Bellas."

"I miss them," Chloe said.

"What?" Beca said with a laugh. "The Bellas or my famous rum balls?"

"Both," Chloe said, laughing. There was some muffled talking in the background, and Chloe got back on the phone.

"You have to go," Beca said.

"I do," Chloe said. "I'm sorry I don't have time to talk more, but I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Don't ever apologize for calling, Chlo," Beca said. "I like hearing your voice, too."

"I'll try and call on Christmas," Chloe said. "I don't know if I'll be able to, but I'll try. I love you, and I miss you."

"I love and miss you, too," Beca said.

Chloe ended the call, and Beca sat in the car for a few minutes. She finally sighed and drove out of the parking garage.

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Chloe and her squad arrived in San Francisco later that day. Everyone was shown their quarters and told to unpack for an inspection. Two hours later, everyone passed inspection, and their leave would start the next day. Chloe called Aubrey to make sure everything was set to surprise Beca.

"Don't worry, Chloe," Aubrey said. "Your flight gets into LAX at eleven tomorrow, and Stacie will pick you up at the airport and bring you here. You'll spend the night with us and will get to surprise Beca on Christmas morning."

"Thanks for helping me with this, Brey," Chloe said. "I can't wait to see Beca. And you, of course."

"I know she'll be happy to see you, too," Aubrey said. "I have to say I'm jealous that Stacie gets to see you before I do. Since Stacie and I have so much to do to get ready to have everyone here for Christmas, we flipped a coin to see who would pick you up. Stacie won."

"Well, we'll get to have a more emotional reunion at home," Chloe said. "It's better this way."

"I guess," Aubrey said. "I miss you, Chloe."

"I miss you, too," Chloe said. "And I have two weeks of leave, so we'll find some time to get together, just the two of us, sometime early next week."

"Why do we have to wait until next week?" Aubrey whined. "Why can't we plan something for this weekend?"

"I haven't seen Beca in a year, Brey," Chloe said. "So, once I get Beca home, I don't plan on leaving the house for a couple of days. I'd be happy to elaborate, but I think you can figure out why."

"Why do I even ask?" Aubrey said, sighing. "Fine. We'll plan something for next week."

"Great," Chloe said with a laugh. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Brey."

"Bye, Chloe," Aubrey said and ended the call.

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Chloe walked out of the terminal, dragging two bags behind her. She looked to her right, searching for Stacie.

"Chloe!" Stacie yelled from Chloe's left.

Chloe's head whipped around when she heard her name. She smiled as she saw Stacie rushing over to greet her. They grabbed each other in a hug.

"I'm so glad to see you," Stacie said as she held onto Chloe.

"Me, too," Chloe said.

Stacie pulled back from the hug. "Looking good there, Sargeant Beale. Gotta love a woman in uniform!"

"You don't look so bad yourself, Mrs. Posen," Chloe said.

"What can I say?" Stacie said as they hurried over to Stacie's car. "Married life agrees with me."

Stacie opened the trunk, and Chloe threw her bags in. They both got into the car, and Stacie pulled away from the curb.

"Aubrey's chomping at the bit to see you," Stacie said. "She tried to bribe me so she could be the one to pick you up."

Chloe laughed. "I can't wait to see her and everyone else."

"Especially Beca?"

Chloe smiled and said, "Especially Beca."

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Aubrey came running out the door as soon as Stacie pulled into the driveway. Chloe barely had time to get out of the car before Aubrey grabbed her into a hug.

The two best friends hugged while Stacie got Chloe's bags out of the trunk.

"I'm so glad you're here," Aubrey said, sniffling.

"Me, too," Chloe said as they followed Stacie into the house.

After Chloe changed out of her uniform, she and Aubrey spent several hours catching up. They finally joined Stacie in the kitchen to help bake several batches of cookies and a few pies for the next day.

"I'm ordering pizza for dinner," Stacie said at around six-thirty.

"Sounds good," Chloe said.

Aubrey took two pies out of the oven; Stacie was on the phone ordering the pizzas; Chloe had walked out the back door.

After a few minutes, Aubrey came out to find Chloe leaning against the railing with her phone in her hand.

"You want to call her, don't you?" Aubrey asked.

"I do," Chloe said wistfully. "But, I know I can't. If I do, I'm going to tell her I'm here, and I really do want to surprise her tomorrow."

"How about we swap?" Aubrey said, holding out her hand palm up for Chloe's phone while holding out a beer in the other hand.

Chloe smiled and placed her phone in Aubrey's palm while taking the beer.

"Thanks," Chloe said and took a sip of her beer.

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Christmas morning found Chloe up at five. She barely slept because she was excited to see Beca.

Chloe decided to go for a morning run. She quietly left the house and ran five miles before returning to find Aubrey and Stacie up and about.

"Did you have a good run?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah," Chloe said.

"Go shower and get dressed," Stacie said. "I'm making a quick breakfast so we can open our gifts before everyone shows up."

"Be back in twenty," Chloe said and hurried to the guest room.

Once Aubrey heard the shower start, she went to the guest room and left a wrapped box on the bed. Chloe noticed the package when she came back from her shower. She picked it up and smiled.

"Open immediately," the tag read, so Chloe did. Inside was a box with a Christmas sweater. Chloe laughed and continued to get ready for the day.

Aubrey and Stacie had quickly changed into Christmas sweaters. Chloe came to the kitchen and let out a laugh.

"Oh, my gosh," Chloe said. "These are some ugly Christmas sweaters."

"That's our theme this year," Stacie said. "Everyone is supposed to wear one. We knew you wouldn't have one, so we got that for you."

"Thank you," Chloe said. "I feel bad because I didn't have a chance to go shopping for everyone."

"You being home is gift enough for us," Aubrey said. Stacie nodded in agreement.

"Besides," Stacie added. "I'm sure Beca has gone above and beyond on gifts, so you're covered."

"You're right about that," Chloe said.

"Come on, let's eat," Stacie said as she placed the food on the counter.

Aubrey started plating the food, and Stacie turned to Chloe.

"So, we thought that we should hide you until Beca gets here," Stacie said. "I know the Bellas will want to see you, but I think Beca should see you first."

"Okay," Chloe said, taking a full plate from Aubrey. "Where should I hide?"

"In our room," Aubrey said. "No one will go in there."

"Okay," Chloe said. "I'm so excited and nervous."

~ Day 5 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

The doorbell rang, signifying the first guests had arrived. Chloe hurried into Stacie and Aubrey's room. She decided to get comfortable on the bed while she waited to get the word that Beca was here.

Beca arrived, and there was more confusion as everyone greeted her. Stacie went to get Chloe but found her asleep. She decided to let her sleep for a bit longer before waking her.

When Stacie came back alone, Aubrey looked at her. Stacie walked over to her and whispered, "Chloe's sleeping. I think she needed it, so I'm going to let her sleep for just a little bit longer."

"Oh, okay," Aubrey said.

"Hey, Beca," Fat Amy called. "Have you heard from Chloe?"

"I talked to her two days ago," Beca said. "I'm hoping she'll be able to call today."

"Do you have any new music that you're working on?" Ashley asked. "I mean, we all know most of your songs are about Chloe."

Beca blushed because it was true. "No new stuff right now," Beca said. "Maybe after the New Year."

Stacie leaned in and whispered something to Aubrey, who smiled and nodded her head. Stacie quietly snuck away and went to their bedroom.

"Chloe," Stacie said, shaking the redhead's shoulder

"I'm up," Chloe said, sitting up.

"Sorry," Stacie said. "Beca's here."

"She is?"

"Yes," Stacie said. Just then, they heard piano music start. "The girls asked her to play something."

Chloe smiled, and she and Stacie quietly went to the end of the hallway to listen. They were out of sight when Beca spoke.

"This is a song for Chloe," Beca said, as she gently played the piano. "It's an older song, and I came across it the other day and thought it was appropriate."

Beca took a breath and put her hands back on the keys and started playing. Stacie held Chloe back from rushing out to Beca.

"Let's listen for a minute," Stacie whispered.

Chloe nodded as Beca started to sing.

You can reach me by railway, you can reach me by trailway You can reach me on an airplane, you can reach me with your mind You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

You can reach me by sailboat, climb a tree and swing rope to rope Take a sled and slide down the slope, into these arms of mine You can jump on a speedy colt, cross the border in a blaze of hope I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

Chloe quietly stepped into the living room, and Jessica and Ashley were the first to see her; their eyes widened. Chloe put a finger to her mouth to keep them quiet.

There are hills and mountains between us Always something to get over If I had my way, surely you would be closer I need you closer

The surprised looks continued around the room as Chloe honed in on Beca and quietly made her way to her. She stopped about a foot behind her.

You can windsurf into my life, take me up on a carpet ride You can make it in a big balloon, but you better make it soon You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can

I don't care, I don't care I need you right here right now I need you right here right now right by my side yeah yeah Get here

"I got here," Chloe said, causing Beca to stop playing and jump up.

Beca slowly turned and saw Chloe standing less than a foot away from her. Beca closed the short distance and threw her arms around Chloe's neck. Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's waist, and they stood there, Beca's head buried in Chloe's neck.

Beca pulled back, sniffling. "How? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you," Chloe said, pulling back to wipe the tears from Beca's face. "I have another surprise. We've been transferred to San Francisco. So, my new duty station is a ninety-minute flight away. We'll be able to see each other more often."

"What? Seriously?"

Chloe nodded, and Beca crashed her lips into Chloe's. They kissed until Fat Amy gave a whoop and grabbed them both in a hug. The rest of the Bellas joined in as they all started talking at once.

The girls finally settled down after welcoming Chloe home. Beca did not leave Chloe's side and kissed her every chance she got.

"When can we go home?" Beca whispered to Chloe as they were almost done opening gifts.

"Soon, I hope," Chloe whispered back. "I really want to be alone with you."

"Same," Beca said, kissing Chloe again.

"Keep kissing me like that," Chloe said, trying to catch her breath. "And we may not make it home."

"I don't mind," Beca said with a smirk. "We haven't had car sex in a while."

"Babe, we haven't had any kind of sex in a while," Chloe said, her face flushed. "I'm about to implode from wanting you so bad."

"Oh, God!" Beca's mouth was suddenly dry. She turned to see Stacie and Aubrey looking at her. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you-," Chloe started to ask, but Beca was already halfway across the room.

Chloe watched as Beca went up to Stacie and Aubrey. She furrowed her brow when she saw Beca's arms flailing around. She watched as Beca's shoulders slumped, and she ran a hand through her hair.

Beca turned and walked back to Chloe.

"Let's get your stuff," Beca said. "We're leaving."

"What did you say to them?" Chloe asked as she led Beca into the guest room.

Beca sat on the bed as Chloe gathered her stuff and put everything in her bag.

"I told them that we needed to leave," Beca said. "They asked why and I told them it was because we wanted, no needed to be alone. Stacie laughed and said we lasted longer than she thought we would. Then Aubrey said we could have left any time we wanted to. Everyone would understand."

Chloe laughed at that. "Is that why you look so dejected before you came back over to me?"

"Yeah," Beca said blushing. "We could have gone home hours ago, Chlo."

Chloe grabbed Beca's hands and pulled her up into her arms. She kissed Beca, and they started making out.

The two jumped apart when the door suddenly flew open. They looked to see Aubrey, with her hand over her eyes, and Stacie, laughing, as they stood in the doorway.

"I told you," Stacie said.

Aubrey was shaking her head. "We thought you meant to leave and go home, not leave the room to have sex in here."

"Brey!" Chloe squealed. "We are not having sex in here. We're going home to have sex. That was just a warm-up."

Stacie laughed and said, "It looks like Beca is plenty warmed up."

Chloe and Aubrey both looked at Beca. Her face was flushed, her eyes were dark with lust, and she was still trying to catch her breath.

Chloe laughed as Beca grabbed her hand and pushed Stacie and Aubrey out of the way. Stacie and Aubrey followed, laughing along with Chloe, as Beca determinedly walked to the door.

"Hey, Beca, where are you going?" Ashley called out.

"To have sex with my wife," Beca yelled back as she opened the door and pulled Chloe behind her. "Merry Christmas!"

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Song Used: Get Here by Oleta Adams

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale

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rachel1987 · 4 years

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Part 1 of my new story is here! I’ve cross posted it on AO3 as well as FF.net if anyone is interested in reading it there too.

Guess Who’s Coming For Tea

Synopsis: The Hare is getting a visit from his mother! This means that she'll be able to meet all his friends for the first time, including his boyfriend, the Mad Hatter. But Hare's mother is pretty demanding...

Note: This is based off of Adventures in Wonderland and features implied sex acts between The Hatter and the Hare. They are adorable together and are in love. You got a problem with that? Harrumph!

It was a warm Friday in Spring when the Hatter and the Hare made their way to the Hat house from running their errands. They managed to go to the tea shop for some imported teas the Hatter had ordered, the Green Thumb Greenery to pick up plant food for the Hare’s garden, the grocery store for their weekend tea party essentials and, lastly, the mail box for their mail. Their arms were so full that Hare had to hop the fence and drop his grocery bags on the tea table before opening the gate for his partner.

“After you,” the Hare gestured his arms forward as he bowed enthusiastically, giggling to himself.

“Such a gentleman!” Hatter joked, smiling gratefully as he made his way to the table, unloading his bags on it as well. “I thought we’d never make it back home.”

All the noise made the Dormouse pop out of his teapot. “Are you two done shaking this table? You keep knocking my house of cards over.”

“Sorry, Dormouse,” Hatter said with a nod of his cap. “Won’t happen again.”

With a Queenly “Harumph…”, the Dormouse retreated to his teapot and Hatter returned his attention to Hare, who had already started unpacking the bags from the grocery store.

“Hare, let’s wait to unpack everything. We only just got home and my arms are tired.”

“Shouldn’t your feet be tired?” Hare said with a giggle, looking deep into the paper bag his arm was in. “We didn’t fly home.”

Hatter rolled his eyes, laughing as he took a seat on the table next to Hare, peeking into the bag. “What are you looking for? A little snicky snack?”

Hare pulled a single carrot out of the bag and started munching on it. It was past lunchtime but not quite teatime, so he needed a mid-afternoon snack to keep him going.

Hatter grimaced and smacked his lips at the carrot, deciding he was no longer interested. “Mail time!” He shouted suddenly, lifting his hips off the table and taking a handful of letters out of his back pocket, where he had stored them for the walk home.

“I guess we can go through our mail before we deal with the groceries,” Hare shrugged as he took a seat, putting his feet up on the table. He reached into his jacket and took out a much smaller stack of mail. “That way we can toss the junk into the paper recycling bin while we’re inside making tea.”

“How true that is,” Hatter grinned, fanning his letters out like playing cards, addresses away from him so he couldn’t see who they were from. He liked to keep his mail interesting and not knowing who they were from added to the mystery of it all.

The Hare got a Gardening catalogue, some junk mail and a letter reminding him that he still had time to enter the next Wonderland 5k race before it filled up completely. Maybe this would be the year he’d finally beat the Tortoise! His mind was working a training schedule as he munched on his carrot, returning to his gardening catalogue and flipping through the pages.

The pair were browsing through their letters when the phone on the table started to ring. Neither of them looked up from their mail, but the Hatter reached his long arms out and blindly felt around for the candlestick telephone. He had slapped a bag of oranges and some dishes onto the floor with a crash before he finally found his target.

“Hatter’s hat making services: We’ve got a cap for your cranium, a lid for your dome and a topper for your noodle. This is the Mad Hatter speaking.”

The tall man was silent for a little, nothing but the sound of the crunching of carrots coming from his neighbor. Every once in a while, the Hatter would Uh-huh and nod. After a few moments, he smiled and said, “Well, it was nice talking to you, June. Hare is right here, let me put him on.”

The Hare’s mouth fell open and the carrot clattered to the table on his magazine.

“It’s for you,” the Hatter offered, then mouthed the words “It’s your Mom.”

Hare scrambled, wiping his hands on his jacket before taking the earpiece from Hatter and speaking into the candlestick portion of the phone. “Hello?”

“Sonny!” came a loud, screechy voice from the other end, causing Hare to pull away from the phone a little. “I called your home and left a message, but I knew you’d be there with the Hatter. It’s just about snack time, did you have a little something to keep your blood sugar up?”

Hare looked down at the carrot on the table and flinched, picking it up and tossing it into the bushes. The Hatter had returned to his stack of mail and didn’t notice. He had opened a tub of ice cream and was snacking from it with a small sugar spoon he had found on the table.

“Yes, Mom, I just had a snack,” he rolled his eyes. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Oh, silly me! I got so excited to hear your sweet little voice that I nearly forgot to tell you why I called!” The Hare could hear her excitement as she spoke. “I’ll be making my way through Wonderland next weekend and I was hoping to stay with you a couple of days. Maybe meet some of your friends, finally meet the Hatter in my little boy’s life. I’ll be arriving by train on Friday.”

If it was possible, the Hare’s jaw dropped even lower. His stomach was filled with butterflies and his palms immediately started to sweat under his gloves. “Oh, well, yeah, sure Mom. That would be great.”

“Marvelous!” she crooned. “I left all the details on your answering machine. Oh, I’m looking forward to some good Mother son time! I just can't wait!”

“Neither can I,” Hare forced a chuckle, before trailing off.

“Well, I’ll let you get on with your day. I’ll see you on friday. And, Hare,” she paused. “Don’t let the Hatter spoil his dinner with that ice cream.”

The Hare furrowed his brow and looked at the phone, before glancing over and seeing that the Hatter had eaten a good portion from the tub of ice cream. He reached forward and put the lid on the tub, hearing the thump of Hatter’s spoon hit it repeatedly as he blindly tried to dip his spoon back in for more. He was still looking through his pile of mail and hadn’t noticed a thing.

“Okay, Mom. I won’t. See you friday.”

“Ta-ta!” she sang, and he returned the handset to the receiver.

“Hatter,” Hare muttered. “My mother is coming!”

“Hm?” Hatter finally looked up from his own pile of mail, sorting the envelopes into colored stacks now. “Well that’s nice.”

“Do you know what this means?” He looked at him, fear in his eyes.

The Hatter continued to look through his mail, not seeming to be paying attention to the Hare at all, when suddenly he gasped and threw all his letters up into the air. “I’m going to meet your mother!?” It wasn’t entirely obvious if he was excited or afraid of the prospect, but he was enthusiastic all the same.

“She’ll be coming through Wonderland in a week and wants to stay with me for a couple days. She says she’s excited to meet all my friends…” Hare rambled out. “And especially wants to meet you in person.”

“Oh, well…” Hatter blushed and brushed a bit of imaginary lint off his shoulder. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Hatter, I don’t think you understand…” Hare looked up, shaking his head a little. “My mother is very fussy about things. She’ll expect everything to be perfect, especially from me.”

“That shouldn’t be hard, Hare,” Hatter shrugged. “You’re always perfect to me. Even when you pull your little temper tantrums.”

“Aww, thanks,” Hare blushed, waving his hand at him absently. “But we’ll really have to do some work to make things ready for her.”

“We’ll have a tea party in her honor, that way she can meet everyone,” Hatter offered. “I’ll host it here.”

“Excellent idea,” Hare nodded. “We’ll make up invitations and send them out tomorrow. I think I still have some left over from the fondue party fiasco.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to have a good party!” Hatter squealed, kicking his feet out and knocking a bunch of cups and saucers crashing to the floor. The Dormouse stuck his head out of his teapot again and started speaking, but was completely drowned out by the Hatter’s loud voice. “We’ll have food and tea… and music! What kind of music does your mother like? Maybe country? Or Polka? Oh I don’t know, I’m so excited!”

The Hare didn’t seem nearly as eager about everything. He couldn’t shake the nervous feeling in his stomach about it. What the Hatter didn’t know was that his mother would criticise every little thing Hare did. June expected nothing but perfection out of her only child, and that was a lot of weight to carry on his shoulders all the time. He ran a hand through his hair and bit his thumb nervously, his mind racing.

“Hare, aren’t you excited?” the Hatter boisterously jumped up behind him, giving his shoulders a squeeze before slantering through the IN door and returning immediately with a pile of cookbooks. “We should start planning!”

“I think maybe we should put the groceries away first,” Hare suggested. They had cream and perishables that should really be put away before too long. And the ice cream was starting to melt onto the table.

“Righty roo…” Hatter nodded. “That’s why you’re the smart one and I’m the one with impeccable fashion sense.”

Hare managed a chuckle, digging through the bags and sorting everything.

Later that night, after the groceries had been put away and the tea party had ended, the pair were in the attic of the Hat house going through recipe books. Hare was scribbling away at the desk on the invitations, making sure to write up a nice one to put in his mother’s letter he was going to send her. He knew she’d probably like to tuck one away in a scrapbook to show people later.

“How about spinach puffs?” Hatter asked from the floor. He was laying on his stomach, a dozen cook books open around him with dogeared and scribbled on pages.

Hare thought for a moment before shaking his head. “What if spinach gets stuck in your teeth? No, Mother won’t approve.”

Hatter scrunched up his face and flipped a few more pages. “Asparagus spears with bacon?”

“Hatter, asparagus makes your pee smell. Mother won’t like that.”

Hare sure wasn’t making this easy. Hatter lifted his hat and scratched his head before flipping a few more pages. “Jello mold salad?”

“That stuff is sticky, isn’t it?”

Hatter scoffed and slammed the book shut, rolling around the ground in frustration. “Hare! Your mother can’t hate everything! There must be something she likes eating that won’t be messy or gross or smelly! Throw me a bone here!”

“Well, she won’t eat bones either,” Hare replied, not even looking up from the invitation he was working on. “She has soft teeth.”

“That’s it!” Hatter thrust his arms out in the air. “We’re having cucumber sandies and water. I’m done!”

Hare chuckled at his boyfriend, finding him cute despite the flush to his face. “She likes things that won’t get stuck in your teeth or make a mess while you eat it. Cucumber sandwiches are fine and so is the usual tea party spread. But, I’m telling you, she’s picky. We’re going to have quite a time making her happy.”

“Has she always been like this?” Hatter asked, scooting across the room on his knees to the Hare.

“Yeah…” he sighed, leaning back in the chair as Hatter hugged him around the middle and rested his head in his lap. “I was a pretty sheltered kid. Coddled, really. It was just her and I after my Dad left, so she put a lot of effort and time into my activities.”

“So you were a mama’s hare, huh?” Hatter teased.

“You could say so…” Hare shrugged, removing the Hatter’s top hat and setting it on the desk. He ran a gloved hand through his hair, a grin crossing the Hatter’s face as he relaxed at the touch.

The Hatter remained silent for a while, thinking to himself about the Hare growing up alone with his mother. He knew that June was persnickety, but was only now really getting the full picture. This was going to be important to the Hare and he would have to do his best to make a good impression.

“She knows about us, right?” Hatter asked suddenly.

“I wrote about us a while ago, yes. So she knows.”

Their relationship wasn’t necessarily new, they had been friends for years (felt like a lifetime, really), but they had only been officially together for a year or so.

“Did she say anything?”

The Hare was silent, trying to pick his words. “She wasn’t surprised. She said she knew we were going to end up dating by the way I spoke about you. I don’t write to her about my relationships often, not that I’ve had many.”

“Well that’s good, I suppose… sounds like she’s supportive, anyway.” The Hatter gave the Hare a squeeze before getting to his feet. “You want to stay the night?”

The Hare shrugged. “Sure. I can take my gardening things home in the morning.”

Hatter smiled and nodded, picking up his hat and giving the Hare a soft kiss on the lips while he was bent over. “I’m going to brew some sleepytime tea then. Be back in a jiffy.”

Hare nodded and finished up his last party invitation, looking around the attic while he listened to the Hatter putter around in the kitchen downstairs. The longer he looked around, the more problems he uncovered. “My mother would hate this…” he muttered to himself as he took notice of all the gathered dust and spiderwebs in the corners. Tisking to himself, he put the invitations in his jacket pocket with the intention of mailing them tomorrow, before going downstairs to help the Hatter with the tea.

Hare woke up in the Hatter’s bed much earlier than he had expected to. He had tossed and turned all night, having nightmares about his Mother’s visit and everything going wrong. That simply couldn’t happen. Everything had to go perfectly on her visit. He laid beside the Hatter for a long time, trying to listen to his light snoring in an attempt to let it relax him. It didn’t.

After a little, he had finally had enough contemplation and snuck out of bed. He padded his way to the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth and changed back into his suit from the day before. Normally he wasn’t one to leave without saying goodbye, but he had to get home and check his garden, amongst other things. Plus he would be back later that day anyway.

Scribbling a note on a piece of paper, which he left on the Hatter’s bedside table, Hare waited to put his shoes on until he was out at the tea table.

“Let’s see…” he mumbled to himself as he laced up his yellow high tops. “I’ll go by the mail box on my way home. Check the garden, maybe take a look in the guest room… the whole house will need to be cleaned this week,” he groaned, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. For a second he considered going back inside and making a pot of coffee, maybe munching a scone or two, but no. He needed to get things done, there was only a week till his Mother got there.

Heaving a sigh, he got to his feet and scurried through the gate and made his way home with the gardening supplies he had purchased the day before.

“I was disappointed that you weren’t here when I woke up this morning, Hare,” The Hatter said, sipping the tea he brewed to go along with lunch. “Where’d you go off to so early?”

“I mailed the invitations and my Mother’s letter,” the Hare shrugged. “Plus today was weeding day in the garden. I wanted to get that done early so I could spend the rest of the day with you.” He had also managed to grab a shower and do a little cleaning at his place. He had washed all the sheets in his house and they were currently hanging out in his yard to dry so he could set up his Mother’s room.

“I should come see what you’ve done with your garden,” Hatter said with a smile. “It’s been a while since my last visit.”

“Hatter, I’ve been thinking,” Hare said suddenly, making the Hatter look at him with an alarmed look on his face. “I think it would be a good idea for us to give your house a good scrubbing.”

“Oh, and I thought this would be something serious,” Hatter shrugged. “Sure, we can do that. How does our day look next Saturday?”

“No,” Hare shook his head, his ears bouncing a little. “Tomorrow. We need to get it done as soon as possible.”

Hatter cocked a brow, putting his tea down and giving his boyfriend a once over. Hare could be a little bit of a neat freak at times, but he’d never been one to put his foot down about picking things up before. He knew he wasn’t the most perceptive hatter who ever lived, but the anxiety practically oozed from his Hare. This simply wouldn’t do.

“Sure, Hare, whatever you think. But try to relax a little, you look like you’re trying to lay an egg.”

“Rabbits don’t lay eggs, they hide them,” Hare said with a chuckle to himself, enjoying a good bit of bunny humor.

“Well, all the same, we can clean my house tomorrow. No problem. I think my day was wide open anyway.”

Hare nodded and took his notebook out of his jacket, scribbling notes on it as he munched on some celery with his lunch. “Tomorrow we’ll clean your house and finish planning the food for the party, the day after we’ll go back to the grocery and get everything… We’ll have to get our suits pressed, so get any dry cleaning together you want so we can drop that off at the same time… the garden will need to be relandscaped and I’ll have to clean my house at least twice over… I should bring the tea set she sent me for Christmas too, clean those and use them for the party...”

The Hatter listened to the Hare continue to list everything they needed to get done, smirking to himself as he finished off the last bit of the lunchtime tea. He’d think this behaviour was adorable if there wasn’t such a sense of panic about everything. Hare was working his way up into a frenzy and they still had all week to plan and get things done. They needed a distraction.

Wordlessly, the Hatter reached across the table and plucked the notebook from the Hare’s hands, flinging it across the courtyard and into the bushes. The Hare was about to protest when the Hatter took him by the shoulders and kissed him deeply on the lips, tipping his chair over and leaving them smothering one another on the floor.

After an afternoon of distractions (a lot of chasing one another around the house followed by some hanky panky), the pair returned to the Hare’s house to bring in his laundry. It was also decided that the Hare would spend the night at the Hatter’s again so they could get up bright and early to tackle the attic.

“This sheet goes in the guest room,” Hare announced as he passed the pure white folded sheet into the Hatter’s arms. “And this one goes in my room.”

“You don’t usually use white sheets…” Hatter remarked. “Don’t yours have pastel stripes?”

“My mother only likes white sheets,” he explained. “She thinks they look better when you turn them over before going to sleep.”

“But your regular ones are so much fun!” Hatter beamed. “These seem boring and blech…” he then made a face like he had put salt in his tea by accident instead of sugar.

Hare chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, well, this is what Mother would approve of. So…”

“Oh, jeez…” Hatter rolled his eyes. “It’s that kind of thing, huh?”

“Hatter,” Hare breathed with a pause, shaking his head. “You have no idea.”

They entered Hare’s house and made up the beds with the fresh sheets and blankets, adding the family heirloom vegetable quilt from the hall closet to the guest room as a final touch. Hatter gave Hare some privacy as he packed some things into an overnight bag, perusing the bookshelves in the living room as he waited.

“Hare,” Hatter said out loud to him in the bedroom. “Maybe we should bring some of your cookbooks over to my place. The ones with family recipes in them. There’s got to be some scrummy things we can make in there that your mother will like.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hare said loudly from beside Hatter, making him jump a little. “Those are on the top shelf with the orange bindings.”

Reaching up, Hatter grabbed a pair of orange books from the shelf and stowed them away under his arm before turning to the Hare. “Are we ready?”

Hare lifted his overnight bag into view and shook it a little. He also had a box of various tea sets under his other arm. “Gifts from Mom,” he attempted.

“No need to explain,” Hatter said calmly, taking the box from the Hare and following him out the front door.

“My Mom is very particular about things,” Hare said, fixing his little bandana on his head to cover his hair as they cleaned. The sun had only just risen the next day and they were already out of bed, full of breakfast and standing in the messy attic. “We’ll have to clean this house from top to bottom to meet her expectations.”

“But why do we have to clean my house?” The Hatter asked, smoothing his hair down before putting on a painters cap. “Your Mother is staying with you.”

"We want to make a good impression with her,” Hare wheezed. “I want her to like you.”

“What’s not to like?” The Hatter posed, his arms outstretched to show off his lanky physique.

“Your buttons are off…” Hare muttered, moving to unbutton and rebutton his boyfriend’s coveralls.

“Oh…” the Hatter dropped his arms to his sides, letting Hare fix his shirt as he continued. “Do we have to throw things away or just organize them to look like I have less? Because I’d really rather not get rid of anything.”

“Mostly cleaning,” Hare patted the Hatter’s chest, turning and picking up a broom and a dustpan. “Though this attic could use some reorganizing. But we have five days till my Mother gets here, and with everything else we have to do I don’t think we’ll have enough time to re-catalogue everything you have.”

“How true that is,” Hatter nodded, picking up a box and finding an empty fish bowl underneath. “I’ve acquired a lot of new things since we last did that.”

“Maybe I’ll make a note for us to do that soon,” Hare muttered, taking out his pocket calendar and flipping through the pages. “How about a week from Sunday?”

The Hatter thought to himself before shaking his head. “Naw, we have Pun Sunday that day.”

“Right, right…” Hare made an exaggerated X on that page and made a note about Pun Sunday before continuing. “Well, the next opening would be the day after Labor day.”

“Pencil it in and we’ll see if we can’t move that project forward,” Hatter suggested, causing Hare to nod in agreement as he scribbled in his book.

It took the better part of the day, but by the time teatime rolled around the Hat house had a very clean attic. All the dust and lint had been swept away and they organized it enough that you could almost find you way around up there. The pair was knackered though and almost too tired to even set up the tea party. But, it was expected of them, so they did it.

They decided on a raspberry tea and a matcha tea, in the hopes that one of them would give them a little more energy to carry on the rest of the day. They also had all their sugary treats left over from the day before.

“The next time you suggest cleaning out my attic,” the Hatter moaned, laying across the tea table with a cup in hand. “Remind me to shove you out the window.” He had his coveralls open and his cap on backwards as he sipped his tea, dunking a cookie in his cup before nibbling on it lazily.

Hare chuckled to himself giddily, showing how sleepy he was. “Just remind me to jump out the window.”

“Hi Hr Hatter! Hi Hr Hare!” Alice greeted them from the gate, making both the men jump. “Am I late for the tea party?”

“Hullo, Alice!” the pair greeted in return. “Feel free to join us.”

“Sorry that I don’t hop up and open the gate for you,” Hare apologized. “It’s been a long day and I’m pooped.”

“That's alright, Mr Hare, I can manage” Alice said, noting how filthy their coveralls were as she approached the table. “What have you been up to today?”

“Cleaning…” the Hatter spat out. “It was terrible.”

“I hate cleaning my room too,” Alice laughed, helping herself to the raspberry tea and adding some lemon and sugar to it. “Are you doing some spring cleaning?”

“No, Hare’s mother is coming to town and he insists that we make the place look good for her.”

“Your mother is coming, Mr Hare?” the girl asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat a little. “That’s so exciting!”

“Yes, I’m thrilled…” Hare muttered, sounding less than enthused about the prospect. The idea was growing on him, but so were the butterflies in his stomach.

“When will she be here?”

“Actually,” Hare put his tea cup down and dug into his pocket, pulling out an invitation to the party and handing it to her. “She’ll be here at the end of the week. We’re throwing a special tea party for her, I hope you can come. I meant to give this to you a couple days ago but I got so wrapped up in things I seem to have forgotten.”

“Of course I will!” Alice beamed, taking the invitation and looking over it. “I can’t wait to meet her. Have you met her before, Mr Hatter?”

“Hm?” Hatter shook his head, trying to wake up a little. He’d had a long day and wasn’t his usual peppy self. “No, I haven’t. I mean, I’ve spoken to her on the phone when she calls here to speak to the Hare, but that’s about it. Not more than a few words.”

“You must be nervous to meet her,” the girl guessed. “I’m always nervous when I meet my friends' parents for the first time.”

“Me? Nervous?” Hatter scoffed. “Naw. I’m sure she’ll love me.”

“That’s my Hatter,” the Hare beamed. “Never lacking in self confidence.”

“How true that is,” the Hatter replied with a wink.

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. I love planning parties.”

“How are you with a mop and a bucket? We have the other half of a house that needs to be cleaned and I just can’t force myself to do it,” the Hatter complained. Alice didn’t know if he was serious, but the Hare knew that he was.

They spend the rest of the night finalizing the party menu, Hare taking note of all the ingredients he would have to get at the grocery store later that week. They didn’t dare touch the attic. Now that it was cleaned they didn’t want to have to clean it again after they messed around up there, so they settled down in the living room. They had the Hare’s cook books out and open over the coffee table and they were sharing a bowl of ice cream as they flipped through the pages. They were in their pajamas, Hare in a large t shirt and pants, Hatter in his sleep pants with no shirt on. He was also hatless for once.

“Cherry tomato tartlets, shrimp tapenade canapes and sweet pea and leek tartlets will be enough, right?” Hare asked scratching his head with the rubber end of a large pencil as he looked over the recipe notes he had jotted down in his notebook.

“I think so,” Hatter said around a mouthful of ice cream. “We’ll have the usual spread of cakes and tarts and cookies for dessert…”

“And the crumpets!” Hare interjected.

“And the crumpets. I think we’ll be plenty busy with all this. I don’t think we can fit another item on the menu.”

“You don’t think we should make a carrot cake, do you? It is mother’s favorite.”

“We can scratch the regular tea cakes and make mini carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting.”

“Maybe I’ll order those from Just Add Sugar. I feel like we’re going to be really busy with everything else.”

“Just add it to my regular order there, it’s fine,” Hatter shrugged. “We’ll pick them up on the way to the train station to get your Mother.”

Hare felt grateful that Hatter was so supportive of all his demands. He really couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend, who would not only put together a full party for his mother but also offer to help prepare and clean every inch of both their houses.

“The Queen would probably like some wine too,” Hatter thought out loud. “Might get her to loosen up a little. Is she still angry with your mother about the quicksand incident?”

“When the Rabbit called to rsvp, I might have overheard the Queen say something about my ‘meddling mother keeping her pinched nose out of her business if she knows what‘s good for her’.”

The Hatter sat silently, thinking for a second before eating another spoonful of ice cream. “Ah…” was all he could muster. “Then wine would be a good idea.”

“Red, of course,” Hare nodded, jotting another item on the grocery list, Hatter nodding in agreement.

“Any other rsvps?”

“Everyone said they’d attend, including the Caterpillar. Which surprised me the most.” The Hare craned his neck and looked into the bowl, eyeing the last bit of ice cream.

“Well, it isn’t every day your mother comes all the way to Wonderland to meet all of us,” Hatter said, pulling the bowl out of reach of the Hare as he moved his spoon in to finish it up. The Hare furrowed his brow and looked at the Hatter with a ‘you’d better not’ expression. The tall man gave Hare a wide, teasing grin. “What will you give me for it?”

“For the ice cream that I put in the bowl that you’ve eaten almost all of?” Hare tilted his head down a little, looking at the Hatter over the rims of his glasses.

“Mhmm…” Hatter nodded, still holding the ice cream hostage.

Hare couldn’t even pretend to be angry with that shit eating grin staring back at him, he found the man far too attractive. But it was his prerogative to play hard to get and he just couldn’t let his Hatter down.

“How about…” The hair said out loud, before leaning in and whispering something into the Hatter’s ear, letting his whiskers tickle him as he spoke.

Hatter sat upright suddenly, practically threw the ice cream bowl into Hare’s lap and ran to get his blindfolds. “I’ll give you a three second head start to hide!” Hatter shouted from the next room.

#adventures in wonderland #mad hatter #March Hare #hatter and hare #fanfiction #they are too adorable i cant stand it #aiw #disney channel #guess who's coming for tea #gwcft

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