#vampire gwil

[queensdivas]

A Damned Soul Chapter 4 (A Vamp Gwil Fic)

I’M BACK FROM THE DEAD BITCHES! Yes I have a concussion but I gotta power through it because I love writing and missed writing this book. Also! 39 isn’t dead! I’m bringing it back bitches because I’ve missed writing Pat Murray so badly! 

Here ya go ladies and gentlemen! If you’d like to request a certain bohrap or Queen dad let me know. If you would like to be tagged also let me know! Please enjoy because I’m back and more head issues than ever! WHOOP WHOOP! 

Previous Chapter

Taglist: 

@mexifangorl @i-live-for-queen @leah-halliwell92 @its-funny-til-its-not@bonafiderocketqueen @b-i-g-i-r-l-b-i @teathymewithben @mayofbrian@brianmydear @sprite-jh

The top was down as the warm summer night of warm July was wrapping itself around the car. It felt nice..and it being a very long time since I found myself in America. Not that I don’t mind the states at all, just enjoy a quick visit every once in a while for the kicks of it. Never imagined she would drag me over here..but somehow she managed to wound up over here. 

Stopping at the red light as she began fumbling through the radio station till a familiar guitar riff was beginning to play. John Denver has swept the nation with his new song Country Roads, but Annie's song really hit it home for her that summer to turn out being the song that would play nonstop in the car. 

A very loud Volkswagen van pulled up next to us, rolling down the window as all the smoke from the van came out. I’ve never been high in my life, but the amount of smoke that came from that van would’ve made anyone high. It was so damn strong that I think we got a context high from it. 

“Hey brother. Do you know how to get to Shark Island? We heard that there’s some voodoo lady who can hit us up with more weed!” So how does Voodoo and weed connect? Now I’m curious on where to even find this voodoo. My entire life I’ve been dealing with witchcraft..but voodoo has been something interesting since it’s even older than most witchcraft. 

“Yeah. Actually we’re on our way there to find her ourselves.” Robin told them as they nodded. 

“Alright! Road trip!” They yelled as the light turned green for the van to start driving hard down the road. 

“C’mon. I’m a witch and would enjoy learning about voodoo. If you don’t wanna go we don’t have to.” Shifting into the next gear then flooring the gas pedal. We caught up with the Volkswagen to keep up the same speed, the hippies were screaming at us through the window as Rolling Stones was blasting through their van. 

“Let’s get there before the pot heads.” She encouraged as I let off the accelerator to change into the next gear. Pushing my foot all the way down on the peddle to zoom past the van. Robin cheered as she also turn up the radio. 

“COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER YOU'RE MY KIND OF MAN! SO BIG AND SO STRONG! COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER! I’M ALL ALONE AND THE NIGHT IS SO LONG!” She sat up in the car to allow the wind to blow her hair all over the place and her body to be enticed by the music and wind. 

Stopping the car on the roadway that was lit only by a long line of torches down to the large mansion. In the middle of swap island? Why exactly do I get myself thrown in these situations where we end up in the middle of somewhere like back in Transylvania. 

“What do you think? Super spooky?” She giggled as we began going down the driveway slowly. Owls and cicadas were roaring all over the woods as we eventually stopped at the house. The large red doors opened as a very old women dressed in all blue came out of the doorway. She carried a gold cane that smacked onto the ground for the torches around us to become brighter. 

“I presume you’re here for my services?” Her voice carried through the entire property as we climbed out of the car. 

“You may come inside. Shoes off at the door.” It was like watching a ghost floating away, leaving a trail behind her. She grabbed my arm to guide me up the stairs as the humidity of the swamps fell on top of us like a wool blanket. 

Before she started up the stairs to the house to wrap her arms around my neck as I put my hands on her waist. Placing those beautiful lips against mine as my hands gave her waist a little squeeze. Her beautiful brown skin was glowing by the vast amount of fire around us.

“Careful..or the voodoo that we do will tear our souls.” She giggled as she ran up the stairs to start taking off her sandals. Taking off my tennis shoes to see her already walking through the mansion, her fingers grazing over everything in the hallway. Her dark yellow skirt was flowing as we walked to the sitting room to which I was so damn enticed that I forgot to notice she stopped walking. 

“My name is Wislande Janvier. You come seeking answers over a little situation you two are constantly in.” Pouring black pebbles into a tiny circle then a cluster of white feathers in the middle. 

“Situation? What do you mean a situation?” Robin chuckled as the snap of her fingers the white feathers burned into a white smoke. 

“She doesn’t know? Your story is as old as they come, though is slowly disappearing from the world.” Wislande began making the smoke dance in front of her as it danced its way over to Robin. 

“Open your eyes.”

“How come you never changed her?” Hyacinth broke my train of thought from the living room. Fixing my jacket in the mirror as I took one last glance to make sure I looked somewhat decent. Each time I always try to look somewhat presentable even though over the years it's gone from tights...to suits..to now jeans. I very much prefer jeans instead of tights. 

“Don’t think I haven’t tried in the beginning. Each time I even attempt to change her it would end up cause her body to immediately shut down. Like her body just flicks off whenever it hits her vessels. Tried it for the first few times, but it was just so much more painful.” Walking out into the living room to see Hyacinth was sitting on top of the couch licking himself. Oh god stop stop stop! He must’ve known what I was thinking because he looked up..smirked and continued to give himself a bath on my couch. 

“Hyacinth. If you’re going to live in my home then..then we gotta lay some sort of guidelines.” Sighing as I stood above him. God just realizing how big he is sitting on the couch. Think they call him mainecoons or something but regardless of what cat he is! No bathing on my couch!

“But what about the rest of your homes? Because if I could have the house in Montreal or even the one in Aswan that would be quite exquisite. Wait how many places do you have now by this point? Eleven? Twelve? You wouldn’t happen to have one in Alaska or very far north Canada? Do tell so when we fix this sticky situation I can have a nice place to return.” Glad to know that my vast amount of properties across the world is more important than him showing some sort of house manners. Scoffing as I noticed an empty moving box was sitting right next to the table with the tape right on top of the table. Let me try this one more time before I pack his furry arse up. 

“Just..no cleaning yourself up on my furniture..I have a bathroom and you’ve been around long enough to know that it's just weird to do that right in front of me or everyone in general. I imagine in your lifetime you’ve had a vast amount of owners who would let you do whatever you want in their house. But I’m different as you can see. Just no more bathing yourself on my furniture please.” His head came back up to stare directly at me. Raising his paw up to his mouth gradually with those eyes squinting at me. Oh I wish he would! OH I HOPE HE DOES! His tongue sliding against his fur as I nodded, getting up from the ground to nod at his actions. 

“Fine. I’ll give you one of my places! Now..how would you like to be sent there?” Snatching him up by his stomach to keep a tight grip around him so he wouldn’t budge. 

“Hey hey! Let me go you bloodsucker!!” Screaming as I tossed him into the box. Quickly closing the flaps to start taping up the box. 

“You realize that I’m a cat! I love boxes!” He wasn’t moving or trying to jump out of the box. Shocking. Maybe when I’m done taping his arse up he'll start getting ancy. Don’t worry I don’t plan on sending him anywhere. He’ll just be going with me into town so he can start “fixing” my situation. 

“If you were just a regular cat yes! But your human side can’t stand living in a box!” He went silent as I tossed the tape to the side of the room. A few seconds passed as he began scratching the box. 

“Okay you had your fun! Let me out!” Time to go see her. Picking up the now heavy box since this guy is stupidly big for some reason. He began moving around to the box and it almost caused me to drop it. 

“Okay okay! I promise I’ll stop the licking on the couch. Can’t exactly pop into the shower with you and diving into salt water won’t solve the problem! Now let me out!” He was so close to getting out till he screamed at me to let him out. 

“If you’re so old and so wise..why on earth have your manners not developed.” Locking the cottage door to then begin walking towards the car. He was still screaming at me to let him out, but was being drowned up with my humming of some simple John Denver. Though American..he still has some very beautiful songs. 

Throwing him into the passenger seat as I walked over to his side of the car to begin putting the top of the hood up. Yes the sun is going away, but it looks a little more cloudy than I like to have a top down. My playlist was already beginning to play as Hyacinth was hissing in the box. 

“Please no John Denver!” Walking towards the other side of the car to put my side of the hood up. 

“Why? Can’t stand good music?” He was quite till his eyes looked through the handle holes. 

“I just don’t want to cry.” This is for cleaning yourself up on my couch. Turning the dial as he was beginning to meow obnoxiously in the box. Listen to it and wheat bitch! Climbing into the driver side of the car as John began singing through the radio. 

“Screw you Gwil.” He was actually cry!? Glad to know that one thing he can do besides be a pest is to be an amusement by watching him sob to John Denver. Putting the car into reverse as I began turning us around, then beginning to drive down the dirt path to get on the main road. 

“MEEOOOWWW!” Ignore him. 

“MMMMMEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!” He’s being a little attention seeker. Just ignore him. 

“MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!” Nope. Not giving him the stupid satisfaction of annoying me and him getting out of the box. 

“Fine. Two can play at this game bloodsucker!” HE coughed a little then stuck his head out in one of the handle holes. 

“BUT THE COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH! I’VE SEEN IT RAININ FIRE IN THE SKY! SHADOWS FROM THE STARLIGHT IS SOFTER THAN A LULLABYE!” 

“DON’T YOU DARE INSULT THE MUSIC OF JOHN DONVER!” He wouldn’t! He wouldn’t dare insult the signing of John Denver! 

“ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH!” Turning the car sharply to the side of the road then parking it on the side. Ripping open the box to see him with big stupid eyes looking like regret. 

“Fine. You can have the house in Alberta Canada if you stop meowing like alittle twat AND NEVER INSULT THE MUSIC OF JOHN DENVER!” He smiled as he climbed out of the box, kicking it to the floor then getting comfy in the seat. 

“Glad we can come to an agreement. What part in Alberta?” 

“Right on the shore of Eva Lake. Absolutely gorgeous since no one travels that far north. So the air is very refreshing.” He purred as he sunk into the chair as I got back onto the main road. 

Pulling up to the curb as I climbed out of the car with Hyancith falling slowly behind. He kept purring as we got closer and closer to the shop as my fingers began feeling a little numb from the fact of this happening again. 

“Oh my god are you really nervous?” Snapping at me before I could open the door. Is it wrong to be nervous. 

“Well I can’t help it ya know.”

“Open the stupid door you bafone.” He tried jumping on top of my shoulder but I dodged his jump for him to fall on his feet. Shaking his head as he sat back down on his butt. 

“That was rude of you. I was going to hide in your jacket so she wouldn’t notice me.” For someone who calls himself wise..he sure is a dumbass. Like she wouldn’t notice a large bump in my clothing. 

Walking into the store with him poking his head out from the back of my jacket. This was so stupid! The door closed behind us as a woman came out of the back with a wooden crate filled with some sort of jars. 

“What can I help you with?” She began unpacking the crate as I approached her. 

“Ummm..I would like to have a scrying done by..umm..Miss Robin La Torneau? I was planning on getting it done when you were in Highbridge but you two left before I could even give it a shot.” Nervously laughing as I felt Hyacinth shaking his head behind me cause his whiskers were tickling my cheek. 

“She went to buy some fish for dinner, should be back in a few minutes or so. Knowing her she got distracted by some kind of animal or some sort of attraction a person has on the side of the street. Please sit at the table behind the curtain till she gets back.” Nodding as I walked through the curtain to sit down at the table. Hyacinth climbed out of my jacket to walk all over the table trying not to knock over anything. 

The room was egg white that had painted leafs and branches all over the walls and even the ceilings. The only light source in the room was a light that had vines with little lights acting as leafs. It felt so magical oh my god. 

An old blue wardrobe had a bunch of herbs, a collection of different colored candles,  a bunch of small knives, some kind of mixing bowl, and other witchy things were in the wardrobe. I’ve never seen her shop before so decked out in so many different spices, and everything else. 

“Has she always been this witchy? I swear this place looks like something you would see on Pinterest. But an actual witch place. Do you know if she has skulls in a secret closest or even lambs in the back for sacrifices?” What a furry ass hole! 

“A dog? Since when are you into dogs?” Shit! Hyancith looking at the curtain for his fur to start rising. Shit shit! Yanking him from the table to shove him back underneath my jacket. 

“Let me out! I’m going to kill that dog!” He was muffling from my jacket till I zipped it up then smacking the back of it. 

“Don’t say a word otherwise we’re screwed!” Yelling through my teeth as she was moving stuff around in the other room. He was still moving around in the back of my jacket till I leaned back into the chair for him to stop moving. Looking like a fucking hump on my back as she came into the room. 

Her beautiful wild curly hair, her beautiful golden skin was shining with the dimmed lighting in the room. Those beautiful grass green eyes lost in her looking at me..and this dumbass cat on my back. 

She wore a long high waisted red skirt with a black dress shirt that had a little bow tie around the collar. Small black heels were on her feet as she was tapping her foot. Every time we come into contact she gets all nervous and her foot always starts tapping. 

“Good evening sir..ummm. May I ask what kind of reading were you wanting today?” She looked so beautiful so nervous in front of me. 

“No real preference.” Come to think of it..would it be a good idea for her to read my future or anything? Would that cause another sort of body shut down? 

“Figured I’d try something a little different and do some capnomancy..sound okay?” Nodding to her as my thumb as began moving in small circles. She was beginning to gather things from the wardrobe. 

“So I heard that you came all the way from Highbridge to see little old me.” Little old you? 

“Ummm yes.” 

“You’re totally blowing it!” Smacking my back as she spun around to see what happened. Acting natural as if it was her imagination doing the voices. Stupid cat! Causing so many stupid troubles in my life! 

[fallingprincess]

Tears of Blood (Vampire!Ben x reader)

Summary: Ben is a vampire, Joe is as well, Gwil is an evil demon, and you are human. They show you their world. This can be read by itself or as a fourth part starting with Bloody Hell.

Warnings: Lightly smutty. As always swearing, drinking, bruises, biting, and lots of blood.

Words: 6.3k

*****

“Remember what I told you?” Ben asked for the twentieth time as he guided you through one street after the other; the roads becoming darker and narrower with every turn.

You rolled your eyes but ultimately nodded before listing the things the vampire had told you over and over again for the past hour. “Don’t make eye contact. Stick to your side.”

“Alright.” He sighed and hadn’t you known better you would have said he was nervous as he led you towards a dark alleyway you had absolutely overlooked until now. It was way past midnight, but the street you found yourself on was crowded with people; red flickering lights gave the atmosphere a looming gloom and you couldn’t help but shiver at the sudden coldness surrounding you.

Ben studied you, worry written on his face, as he kept tugging you along by your interlaced hands. “Are you sure you want this? We can still leave.”

“No. I want this, Ben.” The more you entered the street, the more the world around you seemed to shift. You couldn’t even begin to take it all in at once, your senses absolutely overwhelmed.

You first noticed Joe standing under one of the red and yellow flickering street lights in front of a dark and worn-down building. You probably wouldn’t have admitted it, but seeing a familiar face in this strange crowd relieved you just the tiniest bit. Your eyes subconsciously fell to the guy Joe was heavily involved in a conversation with. You were immediately taken aback by his light skin in contrast to his dark hair and sharp black nails. The closer you got the harder it was to rip your focus off of his eyes that seemed to switch through the color spectrum in a never ending cycle. This must be the demon Ben had been telling you about.

Fascination spelled on your face you came to a halt in front of the two men and looked up at Ben, waiting for him to be the first to speak.

It was, however, the man next to Joe that took the first word with anger swinging in his voice. “Why the hell would you bring a human here, Ben?” he growled, exposing a set of sharp edged teeth that scared and intoxicated you at the same time. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Ben held his free hand up in defense, his other tightening the grip on your fingers to an almost painful measure. “Relax, Gwil. She wanted to come here.”

“God, she has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she you dumbass?” Joe cut in to agree with the demon. “Hi, (Y/N).”

You smiled shyly at him, the scene of his teeth stuck neatly into your neck playing in your head instantly, an icy shiver running through you with the memory. “I’m (Y/N).” you then tried introducing yourself to Gwil, who just glared at you with something radiating in his eyes you had never seen before.

“I’m a demon. I know everything about you.” he snapped and then returned his attention back towards the vampire still connected to your sweaty palm. “Ben, what the fuck?”

“I marked her. It’s fine!” Ben protested in a sudden outburst of anger and smoothed your hair off your shoulder to show off the freshly placed bruised at the left side of your neck.

Joe’s dry laugh surprised you and you met his darkened eyes as he practically snarled while shaking his head. “Yeah, that’s gonna help with the vampires, man. What about the other 70% here? They’ll have her for dinner.”

You swallowed at that, unsure on why Ben had secluded that of all information from you. Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea after all. Had you been childish, naïve, too trusty in the fact that Ben would always save your life no matter what? After all this was a world you basically knew nothing about. But surely Ben would have insisted for you to not do it – might even had compelled you not to – if he had thought you were not going to make it out alive, right?

“Actually.” Ben began in a careful tone of voice, his words swinging with a hint of anxiety. “I was thinking that Gwil would mark her?”

“Is that so?” the demon laughed, mischief already forming in his eyes as for the first time he looked you up and down, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

You simply stared at him, your heart beating as fast as humanly possible, your mind completely wiped like a blank canvas at this point.

“Please?” Ben tried again, his thumb swiping a soft and reassuring rhythm over the back of your hand. Obviously he could tell how you felt; the blood in your veins was probably rushing wild.

Gwil sighed and then lifted his eyes to bore them straight into you. And god you had never felt so lost and found in your entire life before. “Fine. But you owe me big time for that one, man.”

Without further explanation the demon had stepped forwards and positioned himself right in front of you; his tall figure towering over you dangerously.

You tried to continue breathing as fear arose in you; Ben slowly leaving your side to stand next to Joe did not make you feel any better either.

You pressed your lips tightly together to stop yourself from whimpering as a surprisingly warm hand lifted your chin to then ghost over your naked collarbone.

“This is going to hurt.” Gwil whispered so only you could hear, his voice strangely soft, before one of his black long nails ran right below your collarbone, sliding deeply into the skin, blood immediately pooling out of it and running down your chest to soak your tank top with it.

The demon laughed dryly as he took a step back to turn back to Ben; the vampire’s eyes completely blacked out by now. “Be a good boy and open up, Ben.” Gwil hummed and you watched in awe as Ben instantly followed suit, his mouth falling open, a glare in his eyes as Gwil wiped his bloody finger clean on the vampire’s tongue, the red liquid tainting Ben’s pale lips.

Gwil sighed again and had the audacity to wink at you, his entire aura asserting dominance and authority to everyone. “Let’s go have fun then, shall we?”

You followed him on instinct, pain still radiating through the cut on your chest, and you tried not to hiss when Ben moved your shoulder and with it your collarbone to guide you through the crowd of underworlders.

“Sorry about that.” he muttered quietly but sincerely into your ear before pressing a kiss to your shoulder blade from behind. “You are safe now, though. No one fucks with a demon. They have all the power here.”

“Why are you even friends with him to begin with?” you hushed back at him as you allowed the vampire to lead you down a long stony stairwell.

“It helps to have a demon around in this world, believe me.” Joe appeared out of nowhere in front of you and answered in Ben’s place. His irises were darkened as he hungrily eyed the blood now drying on your chest. “You’ll learn soon enough.”

**

The club was buzzing with light and a cold heat you didn’t know how to describe. You were watching the underworlders with wonder, drinking in the way all the bodies were moving in synch, the metallic taste in the air, the way the dimply lit warehouse seemed to blur the picture in front of you ever so slightly.

You were sitting in a booth far against the back, a cold black wall against your back, Ben to your right, his hand situated on your knee in an assuring manner, and Gwil’s tall figure to your left, his thigh neatly pressed against yours ever so lightly. You were still watching the people, the way there appeared to be no shame here; vampires making out in the one corner while people you couldn’t tell who they even were were dancing right next to them. The room was vibrating with lust and passion and you couldn’t get enough of it.

A girl walked by, an apron slung around her slender figure as she cleared a table in one motion, stacking the empty glasses as high as she could before her tablet had run out of room. Your breath got caught in your throat as a third arm appeared from her waist to pick up the remaining empty bottles and your mouth fell open in shock when she disappeared into the crowd towards the bar.

“Did she just..?” you questioned your own sanity as you looked up at Ben who had observed you with an amused smile.

“Shapeshifter.” he stated neutrally, not without a smug grin on his lips, and yelled out a “Finally!” when he spotted Joe emerging from the dancing crowd.

“It’s super packed today. One vodka straight, one with orange juice, and two bloody ones.” Joe rambled off, placing the glasses in front of their respective owners.

You curiously eyed the vampires’ red drinks and then studied the demon take a sip from the clear liquid in his glass like it was water.

“Ask.” Gwil simply said, the moment his shifting eyes focused on you your pulse sped up again involuntarily.

“I- I don’t-“ you stuttered but then caught yourself by taking a deep breath in and exhaling it slowly through your nose. “You don’t live off blood then?”

“No.” The simple syllable combined with the first smile you had ever seen on his face hit you like a brick and you tried to cover up how your breath got caught in your throat. He truly had all the power. Don’t fuck with a demon. You began to realize why. The way he carried himself, the way his mere presence asserted dominance was something so incredibly breath-taking you couldn’t find words to describe it.

And you had questions, so many of them, but you were too afraid to even dare ask. But you still urged to know more, so much more. What he lived off, how he had become a demon, how old he was – he didn’t look older than thirty but in this club that obviously didn’t mean anything.

“I don’t have an age.” he stated as if he had read your mind and Ben’s tightened grip on your upper thigh ripped you from the weird trance you had been in. “I just am. I have always been here. I will always be.”

“Remember when I met you, you were that Russian girl?” Joe interrupted with a smirk on his face and took a sip from his glass, the blood darkening his irises as he released a content sigh. “I liked that look on you.”

“She grew on me.” Ben replied as he laughed along with Joe and for a moment you felt as if you were just sitting at a bar with three friends chatting along. However, at the same time you knew they were referencing something that had happened hundreds of years before you had even been born. A bizarre world indeed.

Gwil cockily raised an eyebrow and then stretched his long arms along the backrest behind your shoulders. “It was time for a change though. I kind of like this body. I know it’s only been fifty years, but it feels good being a man again.”

“Joe just misses lusting over her.” Ben snipped and you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh against his side. In response he pressed a short but sweet kiss against your temple.

Joe propped his head to the side as she stared his vampire friend down with a grin. “Says you who tried compelling her for blood.”

“I couldn’t have known she was Gwil!” Ben argued back and you had to admit you enjoyed their banter. It was strange seeing him be…well, what exactly? Normal was not the right word. Just…comfortable? You loved being around him, but he also always seemed just the tiniest bit tensed whenever he was alone with you. This was different and you couldn’t help but smile fondly at the way he opened up and appeared to glow in this atmosphere.

“What can you do?” you turned to your left to face Gwil who had been following Ben’s and Joe’s discussion in silence like you had. “I mean vampires can compel people and have super speed and stuff. What can demons do?”

A shiver ran down your spine as his colorful eyes pierced into yours and your heart skipped a beat when his low voice rang in your ears without him opening his mouth just once. ‘I can do whatever I want to do, love.’

You bit into your bottom lip, your hand reaching for your glass automatically, the cold alcohol forcing your senses to come back to reality. Holy shit.

‘No need to get vulgar.’ the demon’s voice rang in your head again and you gulped down some more of your drink before placing the glass back down to fidget with the hem of your tank top instead. You glanced at Ben who was still heavily involved in his discussion with Joe, both of them wildly gesticulating with their hands across the table. Was he aware of what was going on with you? How the hell was Gwil doing this?

‘It is fairly easy you know. I can just take a stroll through your head, make you do the things I want.’ Without your doing your hand lifted and placed itself on Gwil’s upper thigh. In shock you ripped it back to your own legs once you had gained control over your arm again. Holy fucking hell.

The demon’s laugh ran through your head, his face never moving as he even tore his eyes from you to follow his friends’ conversation. ‘I can also rummage through your memories. Let’s have a look, shall we?’

Your heart rate sped up instantly when you saw yourself on your back pop up in your mind, the pictures right in front of you, way clearer than the average memory. You studied the way your face distorted in a moan, Ben’s head between your legs doing wonders as usual. You remembered that day quite vividly. It had been storming all day and night and you had spent the entire time in bed with Ben, surrendered to lust and ecstasy together.

The feeling of happiness radiating through you from the memory was replaced by something entirely different when instead of Ben Gwil kissed his way up your naked body, a daring look in his shifting eyes. You were not sure how, but you could feel his warm lips against your chest right now.

On your mind, his hand wandered up to grip your neck and the choking robbed you your ability to breath. How did Ben not notice what was going on here? You watched the demon kiss you again, this time on the lips, a weird vibration going over your mouth as if it had really happened. But it didn’t. You could see Gwil sit next to you, his face in a cocky smirk, casually sipping on his vodka while he was watching the crowd.

You took a deep breath as his imaginary self released your throat, only for his hand to wander downwards to insert a finger into you. You sighed, but quickly covered it up with a cough as you suddenly felt filled up without anyone even touching you. This was too real, this was absolutely surreal even.

‘You can tell me to stop anytime.’ Gwil’s voice rang in your ears over the music of the club and you tried to get yourself to talk without luck. You even tried to get yourself to think, but it was no use. He had more control over you than you yourself had at this point.

‘I’m just messing with you.’ The scene in your head shifted, the demon now lying on his back as you straddled his hips, his length fully buried in you. With every pound into you, you felt your orgasm building and you couldn’t stop yourself from groaning out loud.

This, however, immediately got Ben’s attention as you heard him growl loudly next to you. “Gwil are you in her head? Get the fuck out.”

The demon simply laughed and the pornographic scene in front of your eyes vanished into thin air leaving a weird emptiness in you as he focused his attention on the vampire. “Oh, Ben. I don’t think she has a problem with it. Right, love?”

“Right.” you heard yourself say, but it wasn’t you that had ordered your mouth to utter the word.

Ben growled again, this time deeper and more violent, the veins on his cheeks pulsing in a dark blue. “Gwil, I swear to god. Get the fuck out of her head.”

“Or what?” the demon hissed back, the tension at the table growing heavily as they stared each other down over your body. “What are you gonna do, Ben? I marked her. She is mine for the night. I can do whatever the fuck I want to her.”

You were not sure on what exactly came next, the entire thing happening in the blur of only one second; Ben pushing you aside to jump at Gwil, his hands immediately wrapping around the demon’s throat, anger filling his face.

In a shaking mess you let yourself fall to the floor, cowering under the table as you heard Joe yell at them to stop. You scooted closer to the middle of the table, your hands shaking violently as you listened to groans and punches being thrown over the table top. You couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying, your mind too riled up and foggy to comprehend a single word. All you knew was that your instincts were telling you to get the fuck away from there.

Carefully and slowly you crawled from under the table, only steadying yourself against the wall when you knew the three of them couldn’t see you anymore. What next? You were stranded in a club full of underworlders, all by yourself. So this was the danger Ben had talked about.

You felt heat rising in you and you began to sweat as you realized that a lot of faces were turned towards you all of the sudden. A human, unprotected, and all alone, the ultimate victim.  

Rage bubbled up in your chest as you leaned against the cold black concrete to balance yourself out. Ben had promised not to leave your side, to protect you, and here you were in dire need of his protection, but he was too busy fighting his own friends. Typical. Maybe after all you had been in the wrong to trust him; maybe it was good you finally saw him for who he really was. A dangerous creation of the underworld. How had you ever expected him to put you before him? This was all on you, you had insisted on coming here, but you still couldn’t help but hate him for bringing you.

You wiped the sweaty hair from your forehead as you tried to locate the exit in panic. The cut on your collarbone was hurting and pulsating like crazy and you felt like you were either going to throw up or pass out from fear and adrenaline rushing through you.

The last thing you saw were two pink glowing eyes approaching you from the dark crowd of strangers, when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped themselves around you to hoist you up.

You wanted to scream in panic, for god known whom, but instantly relaxed when you heard Joe’ voice directly next to your ear. “There you are.”

You tried to catch your breath when you were dropped to the ground on the main street a few seconds later. Attempting to get up, the brightness of the regular street light hurting your eyes, your attention shifted to Joe who was crouched on the pavement, crawl marks and cuts littering his skin.

“Fucking hell.” you mumbled as you scooted towards him, your entire body aching as you reached out towards his bleeding body. “Are you alright?”

“I will be. God, Ben is such an idiot.” he hissed as he groaned, pain distorting his beat up face. “We need to get away from here…We need to get away from Gwil.”

You nodded and got up, your head pounding as if two brains were in it and you felt the urge to turn around and return to the club you had just fled from. Was that his doing?

Thankfully, at just this second a cab rounded the corner and you managed to stop it, helping Joe to hoist his body inside; the mark on your chest burned like fire at this point, while a voice in your head screamed angrily at you, your brain about to give out completely.

**

“We need to get this mark off of you.” Joe exclaimed loudly once the cab door had closed behind him and he quickly leaned forward to give the driver the address you told him – not without compelling him not to remember later.

You nodded, your breath still going in a fast pace, your heart beating out of your chest from fear and adrenaline rushing through you as you tried to stay conscious.

The vampire scooted closer, his eyes a pitch black instead of their usual brown and you swallowed as he edged closer with a pained wince; his irises trained on the cut along your collarbone that had already began healing by building a crust over it. “This is going to hurt like hell. I’m sorry.” He blinked up at you, the veins in his cheeks pulsing in a dark blue, and waited for your approving nod to continue.

You rammed your teeth into your bottom lip when Joe began to scratch a part of the crust off, hissing at the feeling of warm blood running down your shivering chest immediately. You were painfully aware of the fact that you were in the back of a moving car, covered in bruises and blood, with a hurt vampire watching a single tear of metallic red liquid drop onto your tank top with hungry eyes.

Joe tore his eyes off of the blood, his hands shaking as he bit into his finger to run its tip along the newly opened cut; the painful drizzle ripping through your body in a heaviness that almost made you want to cry out loud. However, you kept your hands balled into fists to stop yourself from screaming.

The stabbing pulse in your chest soon ebbed out and you leaned your head back against the seat to wipe your hair from your sweaty forehead. “Thanks, Joe.”

“My pleasure.” he grinned sarcastically, his face distorted in an agonizing grimace. He hissed as he shifted, his gaze falling to his cut up arm, the bruise on his cheek now more prominent than before.

“Why aren’t you healing?” you questioned him, your eyes never leaving his torn up body and only noticed you had reached your apartment when the cab driver looked towards the backseat expectantly.

Joe groaned again as his finger pressed against an already forming bruise on his shoulder. “It’s more complicated than that.”

You dug out a bill from your dirty jeans and handed it to the driver, motioning for Joe to get out of the car before you.

When the vampire made no move you ushered him on, your voice suddenly containing more authority than you knew you had in you. “I’m not leaving you here after you saved me, Joe. Get out of this cab or I swear to god.”

He attempted to laugh, the sound coming to a halt in his throat as he winced at the pain in his chest, but ultimately allowed you to guide him towards your front door, his weight steadily balanced on your shoulder.

You somehow managed to get him to lie down on your couch and then stretched your sore arms over your head as you watched him worriedly. There was a rather strange vampire on your couch. Visibly in pain and different stages of hurt when he was supposed to be able to heal himself within seconds. You were neither prepared nor trained for this; but he had saved your life after all. Something you definitely couldn’t say about Ben. Asshole.

“Is there anything I can get you?” you asked, still panting, the palms of your hands so sweaty you had to wipe them onto your jeans. “I don’t know. Alcohol? Coffee? Some bandages?”

“I told you I will be okay. Demon caused injuries take a long time to heal.” he explained calmly although he was clearly still absolutely miserable and leaned his head back against the cushion as he closed his eyes. “And they hurt like hell.” He laughed dryly, slightly shaking at the agony it caused. “Ben didn’t happen to leave any blood here, did he?”

“No, sorry.” you replied as you ran your hands through your hair and trailed them down your neck and jaw mindlessly. Until it hit you. “But I mean… I have blood…in me?”

“No way. Ben could tell.” Joe shook his head as well as possible and blinked his eyes open to meet yours; his irises running through the brown spectrum in a never-ending cycle. “And he is probably already super pissed because I just took you and left.”

“You saved me, Joe!” you protested as you sat down on the ground next to him, your warm hands now placed on his cold arm. “Ben doesn’t own me. I can do whatever I want. You saved me, and I want to help save you.”

“Lovely.” he snorted and shivered again which only concerned you more since you knew vampires couldn’t really feel the cold. “I appreciate it. But even if I wanted to I couldn’t bite you right now.”

“I have knives.” you stated, your words leaving no space for arguing, and you stood up to walk towards the kitchen when you heard his voice ring behind you.

“Would you mind taking an aspirin beforehand? It doesn’t work if I take it.”

You shook your head in wonder but still managed to find a kitchen knife, a package of aspirin, and your first aid kit within a minute. Swallowing the aspirin dry you sat down on the free space on the couch that Joe had offered you by scooting away in a wincing mess. You smiled anxiously at him, his eyes half-opened, his normally so strongly towering frame a puddle against the cushions. Where you really going to do this?

“You don’t have to. I’ll make it somehow.” he repeated again but you quickly shushed him by grabbing the knife and running it along the back of your forearm, your lips tightly pressed together to not make any noise.

You only hissed at the stinging pain for a few second and then extended your arm towards his face, the blood already beginning to pool on the surface of your skin.

You studied carefully how the red heavy liquid rolled from your arm directly onto his lips and couldn’t help but smile when his tongue darted out to lick it off, a deep groan escaping him after the first taste already.

After about a minute of blood slowly but surely dropping into his mouth, he managed to sit up. His side propped up against you he held your arm in both of his hands and then met your eyes for approval.

You understood immediately and you nodded insecurely as he licked a thick stripe along the cut to collect blood from it; his darkened eyes not leaving yours for one second. It shouldn’t have felt this intimate, but somehow it did and you couldn’t help but sigh when the adrenalin still pumping through your veins transitioned into a calm and relaxed feeling; the anxiety being replaced with a sensation of warmth and comfort. You waited for the waves to come, for hotness and coldness rushing through you at once. However, the ecstasy never came. Instead, you only experienced yourself falling closer and closer into Joe, one of his arms now protectively wrapped around your side to steady you as he retrieved more and more power, the bruise on his cheek already starting to fade away into nothingness.

You never noticed yourself passing out, but you woke up in wonderment when you realized you were on your bed, carefully tucked under your heavy blankets, your boots neatly placed next to each other on the floor.

“Hello sleepyhead.” Joe’s voice ripped you from falling asleep once again and it was only then when you noticed him sitting on the armchair, his arms crossed, the cuts on them almost completely healed.

You yawned and stretched as you checked your arm, the skin already closed up. He had healed you again. “Were you watching me sleep?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” he responded, his brown eyes intently trained on you the entire time. “Are you okay?”

“Think so.” You mumbled and tried to move again, your tank top clinging to your drenched body in an uncomfortable way. “I am just really really hot.”

With the blink of an eye Joe sat next to you, his cold body engulfing yours, the coolness of his skin immediately soothing the feeling of burning up.

The two of you stayed that way for a few minutes and you sighed as you leaned your head against his shoulder, the cold against your feverish forehead doing wonders.

“I wanted to thank you.” he finally muttered against your body. “For letting me drink from you. I didn’t want to say it, but I was pretty fucked.”

You chuckled against him and managed to peak up at him from his embrace, feeling completely safe for the first time that night. “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“Shut up. I am trying to be nice here, human.” he laughed back, his voice quiet, the normally asserting dominance and annoyance now gone. “Anyway. I was saying… Thank you for helping me although you didn’t have to. I can tell why Ben keeps you around.”

“Speaking off.” you yawned again, the vibration of it making Joe giggle in a beautiful sound. “Have you heard from the idiot vampire that abandoned me in a club filled with dangerous creatures to fight a demon?”

“I haven’t. I texted him you are safe but he never replied. Sorry. I am sure he is fine, though. He always is.” Joe sighed and then turned your chin so you were forced to meet his eyes. Hadn’t you known better you had thought he was going to kiss you. “I need to tell you something…I know Ben and you are like…friends? Maybe more? But what he is too scared to tell you is that vampires cannot fall in love… So I don’t know what you want from Ben, but he cannot have feelings for you ever… Don’t tell him I told you though.”

“I won’t.” you smiled in a forced manner as a reply and swallowed down the knot forming in your throat. “Thanks for telling me.”

He nodded and you cuddled closer into his cold chest although you didn’t even feel hot anymore. Your mind started to wander as you mulled things over in your head. Weirdly enough you had never even considered the fact that you might have feelings for the attractive blond vampire. So far you had just assumed the magical pull you felt towards him was your body and mind chasing the highs that he was able to give you. You had never thought that maybe it was your heart that craved him and not your apparent addiction to his bites. But did it really? You liked Ben, how couldn’t you?

But right now right here all feelings there might have been were overshadowed by him leaving you all alone in that club. And you just couldn’t manage to shake that feeling of pure terror and vulnerability off of you.

“Hey Joe?” you asked and wiggled up to look at him again, your mind quickly flashing back to the time he almost choked you to death upon first meeting him. Funny how things turned out since you now felt completely protected by him. “Since we are friends now… do you mind staying for a bit longer?”

**

The next time you awoke you were alone in your room; however, the loud shouting match in your living room was audible very clearly.

You managed to get up, all your limbs sore and in pain with every step; your body ached for a shower. In spite, you managed to drag yourself to the living room, leaning against the doorframe as Ben’s darkened eyes flickered from Joe to you, his mouth shutting close immediately.

“Ben.” you smiled sarcastically, lips tightly pressed together. “Are you checking to see if I am still alive?”

“I’m sorry.” he answered instantly, his hands running through his short hair, and you could tell he meant it. But you still weren’t even close to forgiving him. “I shouldn’t have left your side.”

“Left my side?!” you laughed dryly and snorted, your hands wandering to your hips as you pushed yourself off the doorway to make your way towards him. He looked bruised, but a lot better than Joe had last night. “You abandoned me, Ben. You literally pushed me aside! I could have died! You know what? I probably would have if it wasn’t for Joe.”

“I said I am sorry.” he repeated, this time asserting more dominance, but you simply shrugged it off.

“I trusted you!” you almost yelled at him, the whimper in your voice giving away how hurt you actually were as your next words came out in a pained whisper. “I was so scared, Ben.”

“I-…just…when Gwil did that to you I-“ he began, but never finished. Instead he stepped forward in human speed, each step sounding heavier than the one before.

You studied him carefully as you met him in the middle of the room, Joe had already disappeared without you realizing it, and ended directly in front of him, his broad chest towering in front of you. “You what, Ben?”

He fidgeted with the neckline of his bloodied dress-shirt and then ran a finger through his messy blond hair; not achieving the effect it normally had on you. You were so fucking mad at him. For everything. And yes, maybe you were mad at yourself too; for wanting to go see his world in the first place. But mainly you were mad that you had been so stupid to trust a vampire, to believe in one of them.

“Him doing that, I just snapped.” he started another attempt at an explanation as his cold hands settled onto your waist. “You are mine and I didn’t-“

“That’s why you got so pissed off?” you cut in angrily and took a step back to distance yourself from his embrace, his arms lifelessly falling to his sides. “Not because a fucking demon was messing inside my head. But because it wasn’t you?” You groaned again, unable to handle the rage and fire rising inside you all of the sudden. How freaking dare he? “Just to get one thing clear here, Ben. You don’t fucking own me. I own myself. And I am not yours. Understood?”

“I-“ he started, but you were too enraged to let him continue.

“I needed you to protect me because you cared. Not because you see me as some kind of property. God, I am so fucking pissed right now!” You angrily groaned again, your hands running through your already messy and dirty hair as you leaned against the back of the couch to stabilize yourself.

He sighed, his eyes a sad shimmering green when he suddenly stood right in front of you, his cold lips pressed to your warm ones firmly and in a closed-mouth-kiss. “I’m sorry, okay? Tell me what I can do to make it up to you.”

You could tell he meant it. But then after all, what did he really mean anymore? How could you know what was right and what wasn’t, coming from his mouth? You collected all your will-power and pushed against his chest with both hands, your eyes staring straight ahead into his. “You can leave.”

“(Y/N). I-“ his mouth fell open as he stared at you, studying your reaction to him still being so close. And you wanted to fall into his chest until everything was okay again. But all you felt was incredibly angry. And cold. So fucking cold.

Your next words came out in a chocked whisper and you struggled to not sound absolutely devastated. “You heard me.”

“Please don’t make me leave.” he begged, his voice quiet and desperate.

You sighed, leaning against the couch as you looked at him questioningly, the hurt running freely through you now. “And why not?”

He made a motion to close the distance again, but seemed to change his mind in the last second, instead opting to walk towards the door frame with a pleading sparkle in his glowing green eyes. “Because I love you.”

You snorted as you shook your head in disbelief; a cold shiver running down your spine. First he abandoned you and then he possessed the audacity to say something like that?

You felt anger rise in you anew and you took a deep breath; his confession hurting you more than you could have ever expected it to.

Especially since you were aware of the fact that it was a total fucking lie.

*****

For the last chapter please click here :)

Also, here is my Masterlist 🖤

*****

[net-fics-n-chill]

Vampire!Gwil AU concept moodboard. I cant stop, somebody help 🤤🤷‍♀️🦇

[omgsquee2001]

Who Wants to Live Forever

BoRhap Cast + Queen + Adam x Reader; Vampire AU

~~~~~~~~

[Y/N] [L/N] is your normal, 20 year old person. They absolutely love the band Queen just like anyone else. When they go to a Queen and Adam Lambert concert, their life changes forever

(????) has yet to find their soul mate. They travels with the two head Vampires, Brian and Roger, as well as Adam to see if they has any connection with anyone. Soon enough, their undead life changes forever when they make eye contact with a young person in the crowd at one of the concerts. 

//Since this story has gotten literally zero love, I’ve decided to change it. I’m going to leave it up to the readers. If the readers like the idea of it being OC x reader, I’ll change it. If the readers would like Ben, Gwil or Joe to be with the reader, just comment Borhap cast. I would really love to continue with this, but I feel like it’s useless to continue a story that won’t get any love on it. That’s why I stopped writing the Twin Paranormal. I felt like it wasn’t getting very much love. So please, help me continue writing this by commenting OC or Borhap cast.//

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

Eccentricity [Chapter 10: Stay, I Need To Be Myself]

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the fluffy times while they lasted. 😉

Series Summary: Joe Mazzello is a nice guy with a weird family. A VERY weird family. They have a secret, and you have a choice to make. Potentially a better love story than Twilight.

Chapter Title Is A Lyric From: “Where Were You When The Sky Opened Up” by The Dangerous Summer.

Chapter Warnings: Language, sexual references (not graphic), angstttttttttt.

Word Count: 6k. 

Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE

Taglist: @queen-turtle-boiii​​​ @bramblesforbreakfast​​​​​​ @maggieroseevans​​​​ @culturefiendtrashqueen​​​​ @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark​​​​ @escabell​​​​ @im-an-adult-ish​​​​​ @queenlover05​​​​ @someforeigntragedy​​​​ @imtheinvisiblequeen​​​​ @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhyee​​​​ @deacyblues​​​​ ​ @tensecondvacation​​​ @brianssixpence​​​​ @some-major-ishues​​​ @haileymorelikestupid​​​ @youngpastafanmug​​​ @simonedk​

Uninvited

“Hey, it’s our song!” Joe turned up the radio as he steered his Subaru down the Lees’ cobblestone driveway and into a parking spot facing the woods. We’d been back from Chicago for a full week now, and—with the notable exceptions of classes and the early morning hours when Joe soundlessly crept out of my bedroom window—were very rarely apart.

“And I would do anything for love

I’d run right into hell and back

I would do anything for love

I’d never lie to you and that's a fact.”

“Uh, this is not our song,” I objected, the soles of my shoes propped against the dashboard. “I was not consulted. A couple’s official song cannot be a unilateral decision.”

“But I'll never forget the way you feel right now

Oh no, no way

And I would do anything for love

Oh I would do anything for love

I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that

No, I won’t do that.”

“Oh okay, what are you, the relationship police? Alright, Chief Baby Swan, let’s hear your brilliant suggestion. Wait, let me guess. Something by The Killers. Vampire Weekend. My Bloody Valentine. Is there a band called Chipotle Veggie Bowl?”

“Never Gonna Give You Up?” I suggested.

He laughed, dragging me over the center console and into his lap. “Oh, you are the worst!”

I straddled him in the driver’s seat, cupped his face in my palms, giggled as I touched my lips to his, soft and cool and lithe and inviting. When I broke the kiss, Joe pulled me back in, knotting his fingers through my hair. The way my thighs fit perfectly around him; that sharp, instinctual, now so familiar ache of longing. “I want you,” I breathed.

He pretended to be scandalized. “Right now? At this exact moment? In my parents’ driveway?”

“Yeah,” I confessed.

He grinned, unbuckling his belt. “Okay.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. I’ve lost all sense of decency. I’m an animal. You’ve absolutely ruined me.” His hands travelled beneath my U Chicago sweatshirt and tore it over my head. Yes, he had converted me to Chicago apparel. It was very embarrassing. Let’s move on.

“I’m sorry,” I moaned softly. I lied. I wasn’t sorry at all.  

“I think we might need to get our own place.”

“Why?”

“Because I love the way you ruin me. And I want you to do it...” He went on, kissing me after each word: “All. The. Fucking. Time.”

I yanked off his Cubs t-shirt in one vicious tug. “We’re okay out here?” I didn’t really care; I should have, I was aware of that. But I didn’t. The Lees, most likely, would not call my dad to report us for public indecency. I could imagine Scarlett’s voice in my head, warm with approval: Get it, girl.

“Totally. And we’re far enough away from the house, Rami shouldn’t be able to hear us.” Joe nipped lightly down the side of my neck: carefully, always so carefully.

“He’d only get your side of things anyway.”

“Well yeah, that’s what I’m worried about! Your thoughts wouldn’t be so intrusive. I don’t care if he knows I’m a fantastic lay.”

“Oh, are you?” I teased, grinding my hips against him. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Joe smiled as he unbuttoned my jeans, deliciously slowly. “Well let me...just...refresh your...memory...”

I kissed him, roughly and deeply, arching into him, biting his lower lip. Yes, yes, yes...

Joe pulled away, still smiling but blinking and dazed. “Wow, all the sudden I feel...like...really calm.”

“Thanks...?” A week of almost constant sex might do that to a person. Sure, maybe, what did I know? My lips found his again. My hand skated down his bare stomach and into the waistband of his boxers. Joe began to help me peel off my jeans; then he stopped.

“Wait wait wait, I know this feeling.” Joe lifted me off of him and pushed me back into the passenger’s seat, gently but stubbornly. I tried not to be offended.

“What—?”

“Shhh.” He grabbed the headrest of my seat and twisted around to peer out of the rear windshield. I followed his gaze. There was a new car in the driveway, parked up by the front porch: an anonymous black Honda Civic. The plate said California. It was probably a rental. “Oh fuck,” Joe whispered. His eyes were enormous, glassy, horrified.

“What is it?”

“Stay here.” He threw on his Cubs t-shirt, zipped his pants, fastened his belt. “Stay down, stay quiet. And no matter what happens do not get out of this car, do you understand me?”

“Joe, why—?”

“Do you understand me?” His voice was low but severe, so incredibly unlike him; his dark eyes were flinty. Just like that night with the apples in Mercy’s kitchen, that night when Ben almost...

“I understand,” I heard myself reply.  

“Good.” Joe climbed out of the Subaru—smoothing his shirt and then his tousled hair—and rushed over to intercept the unsolicited guest. I peeked around my headrest to watch, my right palm braced against the center console, that feverish lust that had been rushing through my bloodstream gradually weakening, perishing, vanishing like seawater baked from the sand under a rising sun.  

The stranger stepped out of the Honda Civic, and although I knew his face, it took me a moment to place him. It was like—I could only imagine, having never been myself—a child stumbling into their movie heroines and beloved stuffed animals come to life during their first trip to Disneyland, amazed and yet somehow gut-twistingly uneasy as they gawked up at that grotesquely inflated cartoon face, that mask of lipstick and rouge that didn’t quite match their recollections, that dreamlike mirage plucked from pages or screens and impelled into a physical form that suddenly swallowed up space and gravity and oxygen. I had seen this stranger before in the massive painting that adorned Gwilym Lee’s upstairs office.

Cato.

He was very tall and very beautiful, classically beautiful, Ben-level beautiful. Joe often jokingly referred to him as Idris Elba within the Lee household, and a mid-thirties version of Idris Elba was just about right. He wore an immaculately tailored grey suit and aviator sunglasses, which he removed to greet Joe, folding and then sliding them smoothly into the front pocket of his suit jacket. His face was solemn and observant; he had a closely-trimmed beard without a fleck of silver. He extended a hand, which Joe shook.

“Hey, Cato!” I heard Joe say, muffled through the walls of the Subaru. I couldn’t make out Cato’s replies; his voice sounded deep, rumbling, extremely level. “So nice of you to stop by! I didn’t know you were in town. Yeah, everyone’s doing great. Even Ben. Hahaha, yeah, you know how he is. You know exactly how he is. But it’s all good. Well look, I’m just gonna go run a friend home and then I’ll be back in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes and we can all chat. Okay? Awesome. Feel free to head inside, I’m sure Mercy would be thrilled to play hostess. There’s sweet tea in the fridge and a hummingbird cake on the counter and...oh, something else too...some weird type of cookies she baked this morning. Help yourself. I’ll be back before you can say ‘tyrannical vampire murder cult.’”

“Tyrannical vampire murder cult,” it looked like Cato replied without a hint of a smile. But he wasn’t paying attention to Joe anymore. His eyes had found the Subaru, and then me; he was staring with that intense, seeking bewilderment that reminded me of Rami and Lucy and Ben when I’d first met them, when they were still trying to puzzle out why my mind (and my mind alone) was a night-draped, silent ocean of the unknown.

He's trying to read me, I realized. He’s trying to read me and he can’t.

Joe was jogging back to the Subaru now. At last, Cato turned away from me and headed into the house. The carved pumpkins from Weber’s Farm still lined the front porch: Scarlett’s Thunderbird, Archer’s Vantage, Rami’s swooping bat, Lucy’s moon and stars, Joe’s moustached jack-o-lantern, my (but actually Gwil’s) snapshot under the sea, Ben’s miniature Lee residence complete with the winding cobblestone driveway. Joe swept into the driver’s seat, adjusted his rearview mirror, and spun out of the parking spot.

“Goddammit,” he hissed as we barreled down the driveway.

“Why is Cato here?”

“I have no idea.” Joe looked straight ahead as he drove, preoccupied, consumed with possibilities. His fingers drummed the steering wheel. “We have to pay dues to them, all the covens do. Gwil cuts a check. But that’s not until around the New Year. That’s almost always when Cato stops by. Collects the payment, interrogates us in a way that masquerades as conversation, hangs around town for a few days, reports back whatever we’re up to...which usually isn’t much. Holidays with the extended family, gotta love it. I don’t know why he would be here now.” Joe shook his head. “Maybe something to do with Ben. It would have to be Ben. There’s no other reason.”

“And you don’t want him to know about me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“But...Cato isn’t all that dangerous,” I said, not understanding. “Is he?”

“Not alone, no. But the people he works for are.” Joe sighed, glancing over at me as he drove, serious and sorry and sad. “There’s a lot of violence in my world. A lot of darkness. I’ve tried to protect you from that as much as possible. And maybe I’ve done too good a job, maybe it’s too easy for you to forget what we really are. Most vampires aren’t like Gwil’s coven. They’re not like me. They kill easily and unrepentantly. And I don’t want any of them knowing that you exist, that you’re a weakness of ours. I want them to know as little about you as physically possible.”

“A weakness,” I repeated. I didn’t like that.

He smiled faintly. “It’s a compliment to be somebody’s weakness, Baby Swan.”

“I guess so.” The towering pine trees whipped by in a verdant blur. The sky above was thick and grey and churning. “You’ll be okay, right? Ben will be okay?”

Joe seemed to find that amusing, ridiculous even. “You don’t need to worry about us.”

“But I still do.”

“We’ll work it out, whatever it is. Cato is a reasonable guy. And Ben is definitely capable of...well. Advocating for himself.”

Capable of unparalleled carnage, he means. The memory of the first day I’d met Ben hit me like a hurled stone, illuminated my mind like a pulsing neon sign: the coiled tension in his muscles, that mindless, animalistic hatred in his eyes. Yes, he must be quite the monster when he wants to be. But he didn’t want to be anymore. I knew that completely, unquestioningly.

Joe pulled into Charlie’s driveway. The police car was gone; my 1999 Honda Accord and Charlie’s Toyota Corolla rested idly side by side. My dad would be working late tonight, until eight or nine at least. A pang of loneliness struck in my gut, just beneath the ribs; I had grown so accustomed to the absence of solitude, of quiet. The silence suddenly felt so loud.

“Don’t let it ruin your night,” Joe said as I got out of the Subaru. His words were affectionate; but his voice was still distracted, distant. “Don’t let it bother you. Everything will be fine, I promise. And as soon as Cato’s gone, everything will go back to the way it should be.”

“Okay,” I replied, not feeling very comforted at all. I don’t like the way he pushed me off him when he saw the car. The way he’s barely looked at me since. The way he called me a weakness.

Joe was already checking his mirrors, preparing to leave.

“Hey. Mob guy.” I leaned into the rolled-down window. “I love you.”

And the grin lit up Joe’s face like the sun. He crawled across the passenger’s seat, drew me into him by the collar of my brand new U Chicago hoodie, kissed me until that wild, interrupted desire was flaring up again in my arteries and nerve endings and everywhere else. The thunderous clouds in my skull split open. Everything’s still okay. It really is. “I love you to death. And then back again.” He retreated and shifted the Subaru into reverse. “I’ll see you soon. But maybe not too soon, I might be tied up with this family thing for a while. Don’t wait up tonight.”

“No problem. I’ll just call one of my other monster boyfriends to keep me company. The werewolf should be free. It’s not a full moon, is it?”

“No bestiality,” Joe retorted sternly. “That’s illegal, ma’am.”

I smiled and waved as the Subaru swerved out of the driveway and disappeared. Everything’s okay, I told myself, standing in the front yard under darkening skies. Everything will be okay.

And I kept telling myself that, again and again like Hail Marys, until I was dozing off in my bed alone six hours later.

Hit It And Quit It

I dreamed of the beach at La Push—my toes wriggling beneath the cold sand, the ricocheting cries of seagulls, the primordial growl of the frothing waves—and woke up with the ghost of saltwater in my sinuses. I grabbed my iPhone off the nightstand. Two new texts: one from Archer—Hey would it be distasteful or hilarious to dress up as Dracula for the Lee Halloween party? Asking for a friend.—and one from Jessica asking if she could copy my Marine Botany homework. Absolutely nothing from Joe.

When was the last time I didn’t have a text from Joe waiting for me in the morning? I struggled to remember, my mind still foggy with snippets of dreams. A week? Two weeks? A month? It felt like forever.

I tapped out a text to Joe with my clumsy, just-waking-up thumbs: I am resolved. No more nights with my werewolf boyfriend. Dude scratched the hell out of me and then barked at the mailman. Had to drop him off at the SPCA for neutering. See you soon! xxxx

I tried not to obsessively check my phone as I showered, got dressed, gathered my textbooks and notepads and pens. And yet still, I noticed: Joe didn’t text me back.

The rain poured from a grey sky all through my drive to Calawah University, Marine Botany class with Jessica, our frantic dash across campus beneath her hot pink umbrella to Forks And Spoons. My human friends had custody of me during lunchtime today. Angela was studying for a Computer Science quiz, Eric working on an article for the Calawah Chatterbox, Mike histrionically lamenting a sprained ankle coming just on the cusp of basketball season. Jessica bought me a chocolate chip muffin as thanks for texting her a picture of our Marine Botany homework this morning. Ah, the sweet taste of academic dishonesty.

I was relieved—more than I would have liked to admit—that all five Lees were at their usual lunch table, looking worn and tired but normal enough. Ben was hiding behind a pair of sunglasses and his black U Chicago hoodie that Joe and I had bought for him last weekend, sipping steaming tea out of a mug that he gripped with both hands. Scarlett flipped moodily through an astrophysics textbook. Rami repeatedly tapped the tabletop with a pen while Lucy knitted a lavender sweater, never raising her eyes from the jumble of yarn in her lap. They all murmured to each other in low, furtive voices, their mouths barely moving. Joe gave me a wave and a drawn smile; but only after I waved first.

Angela was now scolding Jessica for her lack of moral integrity.

Jess rolled her eyes, gnawing on a chicken finger that was burned black around the edges. “I’m here ostensibly to become an anthropologist and in actuality to find a hot rich husband, not to learn how to identify like sixty different types of algae.”

“Then why even take Marine Botany?” Angela asked, confounded.

“Calawah University forces every student to take at least two science classes, even if you’re a humanities major. Because they’re fucking fascists.”

“Oh, fascists, a big word for you!” I congratulated Jessica, patting her shoulder before returning my attention to my homemade veggie quesadilla and leftover slice of Mercy’s hummingbird cake. I was getting so good at this eating respectable meals thing. Joe would be proud.

Angela chuckled. “How’s that finding a husband thing going, by the way?”

“Awfully,” Jessica sighed. “I had this really promising flirtationship going with a frat boy in my Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic class. Ellsworth Jonathan Griffin, gorgeous blue eyes, blond man bun, his dad is a partner at a corporate law firm in Los Angeles. That’s the stuff dreams are made of. But I’m pretty sure he dropped out because I haven’t seen him in a few days. Also he would bring Absolut vodka to class in an Aquafina bottle.”

“You can probably do better,” I said.

“Well we can’t all end up with Lee boys, now can we?” Jess snapped irritably.

When it was time to depart for our afternoon classes, I met Joe in the doorway of Forks And Spoons, linked my fingers around the back of his neck, tugged at his dark, auburn-tinted hair.

“You okay, mob guy? You seem a little...” Exhausted? Edgy? Sad? “...Distracted.”

“I’m good. I’m great.” He kissed me briefly, fleetingly. No big deal; after all, we were in public. Right? “Are you cool to hang out later?”

“Absolutely. Can we go to La Push if it stops raining? I know it’ll be cold, but I woke up with the beach on my mind and haven’t been able get it out all day.”

“You got it. Can I meet you there? I have to take care of a few things first. Have to, uh, hunt.”

I stared up at him, feeling my stomach drop, feeling rapidly and jarringly off-kilter. Joe rarely mentioned hunting around me...not in a serious way, at least. It was one of those things that knocked me out of the fantasy of how compatible we were, how possible. It was a reminder of all those interminable differences that lived in the hushed space between us. “Okay.”

“I’ll...I’ll explain everything then. At La Push.”

“Okay,” I said again, very uncleverly. What’s going on here? What exactly did Cato say?

Joe smirked; finally a flash of playfulness, that contagious light he was built of. He smoothed my hair with one feather-light stroke of his hand, touched his lips to my forehead. “Don’t be late to Chemistry. I can’t have you failing out.”

“Of course not. How would I be able to get my Marine Biology PhD from U Chicago?”

But Joe didn’t laugh, didn’t even smile; he just left.

Ben was hunched over our table in Professor Belvin’s classroom, his arms encircling his notebook, the pen in his hand scribbling frenziedly. The window was wide open; the rain outside had weakened to a docile drizzle. He was still wearing his sunglasses. He didn’t acknowledge me at all.

“Rough night?” I asked, sliding into the seat beside him.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“I definitely do not.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him. Ben glanced up, his thick eyebrows raised; they peaked just above the rims of his opaque sunglasses. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

For a long time, Ben just looked at me; maybe wanting to say something, maybe just feeling that decorum necessitated it. “You shouldn’t be,” he replied at last. And he spent the rest of class paying no attention whatsoever to Professor Belvin’s lecture on the Pauli exclusion principle and instead scrawling untidy Welsh phrases into the formerly pristine pages of his notebook.

It was just after 5 p.m. when I arrived at La Push, the tires of my 1999 Honda Accord crunching over the gravel of the small parking area, the wind whipping ferociously. Joe had gotten there first; he was sitting on a rock down by the water with his back to me, peering out over the Pacific Ocean, tossing pebbles and shells into the waves. We had an hour of daylight left. The sky was obscure, grey, dim. Fine droplets of rain like mist sailed through the biting autumn air and clung to my skin.

When Joe spotted me, he leapt off the rock and watched me approach with his hands in the pockets of his North Face jacket. He wasn’t wearing anything Chicago-related today, which was highly unusual. I waited for him to touch me, to hold me, to tell me that everything was okay and always would be...at least for the next ten to fifteen years. He didn’t. “Hey,” he said instead.

“Hi.”

Joe nodded down the beach. “Let’s walk.”

I have never been especially good at mundane, monotonous rambling. That’s a Scorpio thing. And yet monotonous rambling is exactly what I did: I prattled on about my classes, Charlie’s bowling league, Renee’s new life in Florida with Paul, the ocean, the weather, anything to fill that space between us that all at once felt so enormously significant. I was vaguely aware that I was afraid to stop talking; I didn’t want Joe to have the chance to say whatever was on his mind.

Finally, Joe stopped walking. He took my hand, ran his thumb over the faint scar from when I accidentally cut myself in Mercy’s kitchen. His shoes sank into the wet sand, left imprints there like fingerprints. He turned to face me, pained, grave, and oh god, far worse: guilty.

“What?” I asked, terror swelling in my lungs, my bones, some inborn warning of impending ruin.

Joe gazed out over the crashing sea, then came back to me, like a dislocated joint popping back into place. “I am so sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I...” He spoke slowly, haltingly. “I thought that this was something that was doable. But I was wrong.”

“What...?” And then a possibility occurred to me, a glorious possibility. Of course. A grin erupted across my face. “This is a joke, right? You’re joking, you’re always joking, this is just—”

He shook his head. He wasn’t joking. I wrenched my hand out of his and stared up at him in furious disbelief.

“It’s not fair to you,” Joe said. “This thing, being with someone like me. I can’t give you a future. I can’t give you an uncomplicated existence. I mean, come on, you have to worry about getting murdered around my own family—”

“Do you have fucking amnesia?” I demanded, incredulous. “Joe, we just talked about this. We just made plans to move to Chicago after graduation, we agreed that it was what we both wanted. I don’t want a normal human boyfriend. I don’t want normal human in-laws. I want you, Joe, and Ben, and Mercy and Gwil, and Rami and Lucy and Scarlett, I want the whole ridiculous Lee family package and there’s nothing you could say to make me decide that this isn’t worth it.”

“Look—”

“No, something happened, right? Something happened with Cato, or Ben, or someone, something happened and now you think that you have to do this but I’m telling you that whatever it is we can figure it out, we can figure it out together, isn’t that what you promised me?” He said he wouldn’t leave. He promised me he wouldn’t leave. All those things...all those things he said...

“Listen.” And now his eyes were stony. He didn’t call me Baby Swan. Oh, this is bad. This is so bad. “It’s not fair to me either.”

“And that’s what this is really about,” I realized. My voice was abruptly fierce, caustic. All those other women; those beautiful, graceful, immortal women. How did I ever think I could compare?

“It’s not personal.”

“It’s the most personal thing there is, Joe, it’s pasts and futures and love—”

“It’s not though.” He smiled, just barely. “Maybe we thought it was, but it’s not.”

It hit me like a brick, like a bullet; I couldn’t catch my breath. I was drowning in thin air, like a sawfish, like a shark. “Well I’m glad you figured that out on your own fucking schedule.”

“This was my fault,” he said. “All of it. And I am so profoundly sorry for the pain I’ve caused you, and I take full responsibility for it. I hope you’re able to move on knowing that there’s nothing you could have done differently. These are just the realities of my world. You’re better off in your own. And you’re going to make someone very happy someday.”

It's all so empty, so excruciatingly generic. “You’re a monster,” I seethed at him, tears stinging in my eyes.

“Yes,” Joe agreed softly.

“I hate you.” I wasn’t sure if I meant that, but I still said it. Maybe I could will it into being true, like how people find God after a particularly grim diagnosis; there’s no harm in trying to make it real. There’s nothing left to lose.

“That would be more than fair, given the circumstances,” he said. “I won’t bother you again. I’ll ask you to do the same for me.”

“Sure.” Tears were streaming down my cheeks now; my breaths were ragged, hitching. I need to get out of here. I need to get away from him.

A shadow of concern crossed his face, the first one I had noticed since yesterday afternoon. “If you need someone to drive you home, I’d be happy to—”

“I’d literally rather die.” And I left Joseph Francis Mazzello standing on the beach with the twilight wind in his hair and the sun setting behind him like time slipping through an hourglass.

I fled to my Honda, turned the keys in the ignition, covered my face with my hands and wept in raw, heaving shudders as Hungry Like The Wolf played from the mixtape that Joe had left in my cassette player. I ejected the mixtape, rolled down my window, tossed it out onto the rain-slick gravel. I couldn’t stand the thought of going home. Charlie would be at work until late tonight; Joe would never set foot in the house again.

I have to go somewhere. I can’t just sit in that goddamn bedroom. I can’t be alone.

I wheeled my car onto the main road and drove until I came to an unceremonious mechanic’s garage with a fractured concrete floor and cracks like spider legs across the windows. When I stepped out of my Honda, Archer raced over to meet me, beaming and wiping his hands clean with an oil rag.

“Hey, you know you’re not allowed to come here unless you bring Taco Bell with you...” Then he saw me, he really saw me. “Whoa, what—?”

And Archer caught me as I collapsed into his arms, sobs ripping through my throat like fangs.

Benjamin, 24 Hours Earlier

It was bad. Whatever this was, it was bad.

I knew because Rami could read Cato, and I could read Rami; the hazy wisps of color that unfurled from him were a hectic, wrestling electric blue: distress, grief, anxiety, denial. Cato’s own aura had always been rather unforthcoming—he tended towards deep, mellow greens and purples of congruence and contemplation—and forever tinted with an opalescent quality that spread like wildfire to the people around him, the people who were under his influence, that intangible calming and harmonizing effect, that irrational sense of wellbeing. Everyone in the room had that faint opalescence shimmering around them now, even Rami, whose unspoken turmoil remained a roiling rather than a storm. And I thought—not for the first time—that if Larkin was a spade that hollowed you out, scraped along the jagged snags of your split bones to empty you of any ambitions and loyalties that had come before, then Cato was the anesthetic that made the mangling go down smoother, the promise that you would someday still catch glimpses of innocence. Larkin was a purger, a purifier; Cato made you believe again.

There were pitchers of sweet tea and a heaping tray of butter pecan cookies on the living room coffee table. Cato sat on the neat white sofa, one leg crossed over the other, stoic, waiting. Rami stared vacantly from the loveseat; Lucy was beside him, her delicate bare feet tucked beneath her and her fingers laced through Rami’s, her brow knit into grooves of worry. Scarlett was next to me on the largest couch, her boots propped up on the edge of the coffee table, her hair in a long French braid, periodically cracking her knuckles. It was nearly the only sound. Mercy bustled around the room gifting everyone tall chilled glasses of sweet tea; Gwil stood by the virtual fireplace on the big-screen tv, his hands in his pockets, his lips pressed into a rigid line.

The front door opened, and Joe stepped inside, his car keys rattling in his fist. For as long as I’d known him, his color had so often been a bright and buttery yellow, his aura more visible and constant than anyone else’s. Lately, he was increasingly cloaked in the rosy pinks of love or the vivid, shifting, crimson reds of lust; and Rami and I bonded over our shared efforts to politely ignore that particular variety of thoughts.

Joe pointed to Cato. “What’s going on?”  

“How long?” Cato asked him.

Joe feigned cluelessness. “Huh? What do you mean? Oh, car chick?! That’s nothing. She’s just a friend.”

Cato blinked. “Do you really think I just arrived in Forks today?”

It rolled through Joe like a wave: surrender, apprehension, dread. The realization that Cato had been watching us for days, weeks even, meticulously keeping just enough distance to stay out of Rami’s range of hearing. Joe’s now-opalescent aura dipped from cerise to an agitated mahogany. “Two months.”

“And she’s talented.” Cato’s voice was impatient, incredulous; How could you be this stupid? that voice said.

“No,” Joe flared, like shards of wood cracking in a fire. “No, she’s got nothing to do with you, with us. With our world. She’s got nothing to do with it.”

Cato circled the fingerprint of his index finger around the rim of his misted glass of sweet tea, meditative. “In one hundred and seventy years, I have never met someone who I couldn’t find if I wanted to. And yet the second I turned my back on that girl, she was gone. Vanished. The world was a blank map. How is that possible?”

No one said anything. Finally, Cato looked to Rami.

“You can’t hear her thoughts, can you?”

“No,” Rami admitted.

“And how many times has that happened in...how old are you now, the same as Ben? How many times in the past century have you met someone who made you feel normal, weak even? Who made you feel human again?”

“Never,” Rami conceded.

“You too, right?” Cato asked me. “You can’t see what she’s feeling. She’s nothing but white noise.”

I nodded reluctantly.

“She’s talented,” Cato said again, decisive.

“Oh god,” I choked out, burying my face in my hands. Now I knew what Rami had heard. I knew everything.

Joe shook his head almost violently. “No, that’s not fair. There’s no way of knowing if that would translate to life as a vampire or how it would manifest. There’s no way of knowing if she would survive the transition at all. And none of us are ever going to find out because she has nothing to do with our world.”

“She does,” Cato insisted. “Because you brought her into it.”

Scarlett shivered beside me, crossed her arms over her chest, clutched her leather jacket tighter. “You can’t be serious, Cato. You’re not a monster, you know she might not survive—”

“And that would stop Gwil. It would stop me, sure. When has it ever stopped Larkin?” Cato gestured to me. “With him? With me? With Akari or Araminta or Liesl or Rigel or all the ones who didn’t make it, who died screaming as they scorched from the inside out? It has never stopped him because he doesn’t care. He finds talented people. He covets them, covets them jealously, like jewels or money or lovers. And they either become one of his possessions or they become nothing at all.”

“No,” Joe whispered. “No, no, no...”

Rami was shrinking into the loveseat, overwhelmed by the emotions in the room that were dragging his aura into whirling greys, those desperate and dark thoughts; not even Cato could mute them entirely. Lucy tried to soothe him, laid the back of her fine-boned hand against his cheek. Mercy covered her gaping mouth. Gwil studied the floor, thunderstruck, absorbing it all.

“This is a courtesy that I’m doing you right now,” Cato told Joe, his large palms clasped together, his voice sorrowful and yet unyielding, almost pleading. “This is a warning. If he finds out about her, about what she can do...he’s going to want her. And he gets everything he wants.”

“He can’t find out,” Gwil said hoarsely.

“No,” I agreed. Death or a hundred-year sentence. Either way, a part of you dies. Either way, a part of you ends up in a box six feet underground and clawing for the sun.

“What can we do?” Scarlett asked Cato. “I mean...is there anything we can do?”

“You have to get rid of her. That’s her only chance. Get her out of your orbit, away from our world, away from where Larkin or anyone who serves him would ever cross her path. I won’t tell him about the girl. I’ll try to deflect his attention. If she’s already been spotted, I’ll tell him that she’s useless, just another one of Joe’s litany of casual liaisons. And that’s a risk I’ll take, I’ll do it out of respect for your coven, Dr. Lee, and for Ben. But there is absolutely nothing I can do for you if Larkin finds out for himself. I don’t think I’m the only one he has watching you.”

“Of course not,” I said bitterly. “I’m sure he has all sorts of eyes on me. The white whale. The one that got away.” This is my fault. It’s all my fucking fault.

“It’s not,” Rami murmured; and nobody else heard my side of it, but I think they understood.

Joe’s aura was now murky, sunless, almost black. It was a color I hadn’t thought he was capable of. His eyes were slick and bleary.

“Son?” Gwil prompted. Mercy was sobbing into a handkerchief patterned with roses. Mom, I ached instinctively, before pushing the thought away.

“I won’t do it,” Joe said. “You’re asking me to break her heart and I won’t do it.”

I begged: “Joe, you don’t understand—”

“No, you don’t understand! You don’t understand what this will do to her, what it’s going to do to her for the weeks and months and years that come after, she might never forget—”

“Do you want her to end up dead or in a hundred-year contract?” Cato shot back. “Do you want to see how much of that girl you care about so much is left after a century with Larkin?”

Everyone’s eyes fell on me. I could feel them, full of pity and horror. I’m what’s left. Someone gutted of everything but rage and bloodlust.

“No, of course not,” Joe said. Thanks a lot, brother.

Cato smirked without any humor at all. He had known. “Then the choice is easy.”

“Son,” Gwil said again.

Joe gazed back at him with huge, agonized eyes. His words were brittle, raspy, hollow. “Dad, I love her.”

“I know,” Gwil replied. His aura was a blue like cobalt: profound sympathy, compassion, mourning. “And that’s why you’ll do the right thing.”

Twenty minutes later, I was puffing on my vape pen as I paced back and forth across the wrap-around porch like a caged bear, watching the sun disappear behind the western hemlock trees that raked the clouds. Gwil, Rami, Lucy, and Scarlett were with Joe; Mercy was trying to convince Cato to stay the night in one of the guest bedrooms. I could hear her ludicrously gracious protestations through the walls. “We know it’s not your fault, dear, this...this...situation. We know you’re just the messenger. And you’ve been so important to Ben all these years, so kind. It’s really no trouble at all...here, let me at least wrap up some cake for you to take...”

The front door opened and closed. Scarlett appeared beside me, resting her forearms on the porch railing. She sighed, closed her eyes, said nothing.

“This is going to destroy him,” I told her.

Scarlett nodded, her face bathed in silvery moonlight, marvelous and yet forlorn. The aura that surrounded her was a deep, despondent indigo. It matched the sky. “Yeah.”

“And to think...” I exhaled heavily, nicotine-tinged vapor vanishing into the damp night air. Rain was coming; I could feel it in my bones. “I was just beginning to like it here.”

[isitstraightvodka]

liv love, number 17 & 18 with either joe or gwil please. we love to see it :)

17. “Bite me”, 18. “If you insist” - hope u like this!

Being between the sheets with Gwil warmed your heart, and certainly other parts of you as well. He loved on you as if you were a goddess, every touch was mesmerising, every look was unforgettable, every kiss seemed like it was the first, you were pretty sure you could be like this with him forever.

Gwil felt the same way. He thought the world of you, he loved you passionately and deeply, both in and out of the bedroom, you were his girl, in every single way, and you felt so lucky that he'd chosen you to the recipent of his love and touch. His eyes never left your body, how you writhed beneath him made him go crazy, you two were crazy together, more so crazy in love.

On a night filled with heat and entangled limbs, you were obsessed with the sight that lay before you. Tousling brown hair between your legs, spread open over broad sweaty shoulders, a pair of soft hands squeezing and stroking the swell of your breasts, deep groans from the man who was devouring every inch of you, so focused on your pleasure, enjoying each moment, savouring the taste of your core. Gwil was a natural with his tongue, wet and warm on all the right places, slipping up and down over your folds, managing to touch spots you didn't even know existed. He lapped you up like a cat drinking milk, he was so into it, nothing excited him as much as this did, he twitched between his own legs when your back arched in a response to his lips being wrapped around your swollen clit.

"Fuck, keep going..."

Your pleading tone made him smirk between licks and flicks, his fingers a little rougher around your breasts, thumbs brushing over your nipples, so sensitive with everything he was doing to you. His rhythm became more intense, licking over your clit, up and down and around, then where he'd entered you just earlier that night. Moans flew from your mouth like running water, your hands buried in his hair, coaxing him to not stop, the pleasure was too good you could barely handle it, that burn of arousal rushed throughout your body down to your toes, curling  into the small of his back the closer you got.

Gwil encouraged you to let go, slipping his fingers up and down your body as it rolled beneath his touch and tongue, keeping his attention on where you liked it the most, where he knew it would make you finally come undone again on this night.

"Cum for me, my love, you're so close, good girl.." He trailed off as your mewl cracked the silence and overpowered his words, back off the bed and your fingers tugging at his hair, head craned back as you felt the wave of your orgasm tumble over you like a wave. It was incredible, how easily he could make you finish, time and time again, mutiple times in one sitting, you didn't think you'd have the energy but Gwil was just that good.

"You know you sound so pretty when you do that." He smiled, locking eyes with you as he licked his lips, shiny from your arousal, pupils blown wide in elation and his hair a bird's nest from the contact of your hands; you could only imagine how you looked right now.

"Bite me."

"Babe, that's something kids say." He chuckled, stroking patterns on your hip, cheek pressed against one of your slick thighs. You shook your head, your fingers moving over his top lip, tracing the curve of it, nails scratching through the regrowth of his beard.

"No, I mean literally bite me. My thigh, be rough with me."

Gwil blinked at you before smiling again.

"I'm no vampire."

"No shit, just please, do it. You're always so soft and lovely and it's so good but sometimes...I want more, for you to be more...aggressive. Can you..try?" You asked, chewing on your thumbnail, cheeks heating up at the fact that you really were bringing this up with him. Gwil was always open to anything behind closed doors and you knew you could trust him, as communcation was key and important in this aspect of your life together, as well as every other part.

"Okay, let me give it a go. If you insist."

He dove back down between your legs and ghosted the tip of his tongue over the area where your core and thigh met, a very orgeneous spot for you, you couldn't help the whine that left your lips. His grin was hot on your skin, as he began to sponge kisses where you liked it, your fingers back at his scalp again. Gwil wrapped his mouth around a spot of your flesh and as if you hadn't of asked for it, his teeth pierced your skin, it stung but the good skin, you knew you were going to flare up from this, and you couldn't care less. You whimpered as he left another kiss where his teeth had been.

"You okay?"

"Yeah...yes, just do the other thigh, fucking please." You heaved and Gwil went to work, biting, licking, kissing, incorporating his fingers into the mix, rubbing over your swollen clit as he teased your thighs with his teeth and mouth. And god you were so glad you'd suggested it, because he was even better than you had expected.

A vow of oath came into your mind. You would never leave this room, as long as Gwil was here, you'd never want to go.

prompt list

[ificanwriteiscannon]

ificanwriteiscannon masterlist

YAAAY, I finally made it!! Ok, so I’m pretty sure its probably missing a lot of stuff and it’s not the best masterlist ever, BUT at least its one right?! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Social media AUs:

Ben Hardy -

From haters to lovers (part.2)

Harry Styles -

 Accidentally in Vegas (part.2) 

Soulmate au 

Y/N and Harry’s relationship on instagram

MCU -

Meeting and dating Bucky Barnes (part.2)

Y/N and Avengers texts

Proud godparent Steve shares a picture of his best friends’ family moment.

Bohemian Rhapsody cast -

Joe and Ben in Y/N’s IG (Gwil’s girlfriend)

Boyfriend!Ben jealous of girls night

Pregnancy/ Babies  AU

Reader is Joe Mazzello’s sister and secretly dating Ben Hardy.

Reader and Gwilym’s relationship

Harry Potter Universe -

Sirius Black x reader modern AU

Draco x reader modern AU

Draco and Y\N Malfoy social media 

Dorcas, Hestia, Lily, Mary and Marlene’s vacation

 Musitians - 

Roger Taylor x Reader + John Deacon x Reader AU

Duff  Mackagan x Reader AU

Supernatural - 

Baby Girl Winchester in her parents’ snapchats au

 DC- 

Being best friends with Caitlin and Barry, but having a crush on him

__________________________________

Aesthetics \\ Moodboards:

Klaus Mikaelson in love with a marmaid au

Harry Styles’ retro love aesthetic

Natasha’s little hacker sister in a relationship with Bucky au

Spencer Reid’s girlfriend au

Persephone and Hades aesthetic

Sam Winchester’s girl aesthetic

Being Draco Malfoy’s wife

BIKER!IVAR Aesthetic

 Lagertha’s daughter and secretly dating Ivar 

IL VOLO MONARCHY AU

Loki loving a Midgardian girl with powers AU 

Harry Styles in a HP AU

Kol x Reader x Klaus AU

Guns n roses members as greek gods AU moodboard.

Friends with benefits with Damon Salvatore

One direction as demigods 

Kpop idols 

Ateez in Hogwarts houses 

Christmas kpop aesthetics

______________________________________ 

Imagines: 

Supernatural- 

Mommy Winchester (Sam x Reader) \\ ( family album ) \\ Flashback

Musitians-

The roommate ( Brian May x Reader) 

Tiny dancer (Axl Rose imagine)

Just give me a reason (Douglas!Nikki Sixx Imagine)

You’re the one (Jake Kiszka imagine)

Broken Strings  (Harry Styles Imagine)

True Love (Harry Styles  Snow White AU)

Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. (Nikki Sixx imagine)

The memory of you (Ringo imagine)

Actors -

Dynasty –Ferdia Walsh-Peelo Imagine

Ben Hardy Imagine – James Oliver Jones

Harry Potter Universe-

Draco Malfoy imagine 

Regulus Black imagine

Criminal Minds-

Come back to me- Spencer Reid imagine

Vikings-

Ubbe Lothbrok imagine - Treat you better

Stranger Things- 

Steve Harrington imagine

Steve Harrington Imagine ( not related to the first one, but apparently I keep forgetting to name imagines.. insert facepalm here)

MCU-

Loki’s Sigyn

Peaky Blinders- 

Love Story (A Luca Changretta imagine)

Kpop- 

Vampire au

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[brianandthemays]

Blood Moon (Vampire!Ben Hardy x reader)

A/N Yes this is not my normal thing, yes I’m terrified to post this, no I cannot take any criticism right now. 

PLEASE 

Warnings: There’s blood and ish gore and it’s got like 2 seconds of plot before it’s just mainly smut (18+ only please, if I find that you are underaged I will block you)

Word Count: 3,6K

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The bar was pulsing in time with the beat of your heart. Your eyes darted from person to person trying to find some resemblance on someone. Your friends had ditched you. Left you in the middle of the crowd surrounded by moving bodies and loud noises. But it was blood moon which meant that vampires were out in full tonight. Your blood was racing as you pushed your way through the crowd. You finally made it to the bar, leaning against it heavily.

         “Can I get you something, human?” the bartender asked, looking you up and down.

You grabbed a menu and looked it over. “I’ll have a Moonrise, please.”

         “I’ll pay for that, if you’ll get me a Bloody Mary.” A deep voice behind you startled you as you whipped around. A tall man in a black suit with a black mesh shirt had appeared behind you but what was really startling about him was his green eyes. They pierced right through your soul and you felt yourself being drawn to him, like he was a magnet for you. “I’m Ben, and you are?”

         “(Y/N).” Your response was almost automatic, surprising yourself. He chuckled and looked away from you and you felt your heart beating again.

         “Sorry, didn’t mean to catch you there,” he apologized, sitting down on the barstool next to you. “We tend to have that effect on people.”  It was in that moment you realized what he was.

         “You’re a vampire,” you stated, sitting next to him.

He nodded, thanking the bartender as he handed you two your drinks. He took a sip before turning back to you.

         “And you’re a human,” he observed. “Alone?”

You scoffed. “My friends ditched me.”

         “It’s not safe ya know,” he commented, pushing your drink towards you. His eyes twinkled with mischief as he let his lips come into a small smile. “Monsters about.”

         “Like you?”

         “Worse than me.” He smirked over his cup, his hand coming to grab your wrist gently. He turned your hand over and traced the blue veins on the underside of your wrist gently. “You’re very loud, ya know.”

         “My pulse?” you questioned, watching his finger trace your palm.

         “It’s what drew me over here,” he told you. “It was like you were calling to me.”

You took your drink and brought it to your lips, not quite taking a drink yet. The way his fingers were moving over your skin was really taking over your thoughts causing your breath to pick up. You swallowed thickly before finally taking a drink.

         “Well, thank you for the drink,” you hummed, leaning towards him. “You’re very handsome.”

He smirked again, pressing his fingers against your pulse. A whine made its way through your throat and his smirk turned into a cheeky grin, allowing you to see the point of his teeth.

         “Would you like to come to my booth?” he murmured, pulling you closer by your wrist.

         “How do I know I can trust you,” you whispered back.

         “You can’t.”

You looked up at him, finding his green eyes meeting yours. For some reason, you trusted him. You grabbed his hand and nodded. His skin was oddly cold, not something you were expecting but it was oddly comforting. He started pulling you through the crowd, keeping you close to him, tucked into his shoulder as you walked to the back of the bar. There in the back, was an empty booth where he let you sit down. He slid in next to you, sliding his arm around your back, though you didn’t feel trapped between him and the wall. You felt safer with him than alone.

         “So, what were you looking for tonight?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

You shrugged, looking at your drink. “Don’t really know. Whatever found me I guess. You said this was your booth, what does that mean?”

         “Well. I’m a partial owner,” he explained, nonchalantly. “Me and my three other mates went in on it together. And this booth.” He tapped the wood. “Is mine.”

         “Are they all…” You gestured towards him. “Like you.”

He nodded. “Rami is a demon, Joe is a Vampire as well, and Gwil is a werewolf.”

Your eyes widened as you realized just how in over your head you were. You were dealing with monsters and demons and things you never thought you’d come into contact with. But for some reason, you were scared. You were seriously turned on. You shifted in your seat, leaning back against his shoulder.

         “You’re beautiful,” he murmured, bringing his hand to your chin, moving it towards him. You tried desperately not to look up at him, but you felt yourself drawn upwards. His eyes were pulling you in again and you couldn’t look away. He titled your head and stroked his hand down your neck. “I can hear you. You’re scared.” He moved down to graze your soft skin with his mouth, his teeth scraping slightly. “Don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you.” You felt yourself let out a soft moan. “Please let me know if this is okay.” You couldn’t find words, so you just nodded, but he pulled back. “I need to hear you say it.”

         “Yes, please yes,” you begged, grabbing onto his shirt.

He dove back into your neck, attacking it with his lips. He sucked and nipped at your skin causing you to cry out as your hands flew to his hair. You wanted to know what it felt like. To feel him sink his teeth into your skin and lap at your blood. But he wouldn’t. He just sucked on a piece of your skin, no doubt leaving a dark mark. You whined and pressed on his head, pulling him closer. He pressed a kiss to the mark he’d just made before pulling back and looking down at you. You knew you looked desperate, but right now staring at him with his eyes a much darker shade now and his lips swollen, you didn’t care.

         “Patience, love, needed to mark you,” he told you, his fingers brushing the bruise. You shuddered slightly. “Now everyone knows you’re mine.”

Your breathing hitched and you bit your bottom lip. “Does that make you mine?”

Amusement flickered across his eyes and he leaned back in the booth.

         “For tonight, yes,” he confirmed.

You placed your hand on his thigh and moved forward. “Then shouldn’t I mark you?”

He raised an eyebrow and pulled you into his lap, wrapping his arms around your waist to keep you pressed against him.p

         “Well, what are you waiting for,” he murmured, and he presented his neck to you.

You leaned into him, feeling as his hands drifted down to your ass, pressing you into his hips. You pressed teasing kisses onto his neck, moving slowly to his jaw. You moved your hand to the other side of his neck, pressing him closer to your lips. He moaned as you brushed your teeth against a particularly sensitive part of his skin. You focused in on that part starting to suck and nip at the skin. He moved one of his hands from your ass to your neck, tugging on your hair. Your head pulled back as he tugged on your hair. He dragged his mouth along your neck, not kissing or anything just taking you in.

         “Let me take you to my place,” he murmured, kissing your collar bone. “I need to have you.” His voice was almost a growl. You could tell he was retraining himself from just taking you right there.

         “Okay,” you breathed out. He let you get off his lap but as soon as he stood up, he’s got his arm wrapped around you, keeping you close to him. It was almost like the crowd parted for him as he walked by. People turned to look and as soon as they saw the mark on your neck they hissed away. You made it out in the open air before you knew it and then you were in his apartment. It felt like you had blinked, and you were there. And maybe you had. But here he was, pinning you against his wall just mouthing up the side of your jaw.

         “Ben, please,” you whined, tugging at his shirt.

         “I’ve got you love,” he growled. “I’m going to take care of you.”

He grabbed onto your thighs and lifted you up. You immediately wrapped your legs around his waist. He walked you through his house and all you could do was grab onto his neck and pray he didn’t drop you. But eventually he brought you into his room and laid you down on his bed. He dragged his hands down your body finally reaching your skirt. He grabbed the zipper on the side of it and tugged it down slowly, agonizingly, pulling down your legs. You lifted your hips towards him, wanting to hurry the process along. He chuckled and pressed down on your hips.

         “Patience, love.” He hooked a finger into your lacy panties and dragged those down as well. “Jesus, darling.” He dragged two fingers through your folds, collecting some of your arousal on his fingers. “You’re soaked.” He brought his fingers to his lips and sucked the wetness off of them. “Do you want to taste?” You felt completely breathless by his actions. And looking at him you didn’t feel like you could say no to him. So, you nodded. He swiped his fingers through your core again then pressed them against your lips. You opened your mouth and sucked them in. You swirled your tongue around his fingers, making sure to completely clean them off. His features were blown open with lust and his eyes were starting to have a darker tint.

“Can I make you feel good?” Again, he was checking in on you. And, you sighed, nodding furiously, your mouth still wrapped around his fingers. “Alright, you can let go now.”

You opened your mouth and he pulled his fingers away from you. But instead of wiping them off he pressed them against your entrance. Your breath hitched as your hips rutted forward trying to gain some traction, but he just shushed you, pulling his fingers away.

         “You need to hold still, yeah?” he asked, his eyes commanding even though his voice was soft. He moved his fingers back to your entrance and rubbed soft circles just on the outside. Then he slowly pressed in, causing a breathy whine to leave your throat. Ben leaned up and mouthed at your throat as you leaned back giving him space. He thrusted his fingers in and out, slowly picking up the pace. Ben’s teeth scraped against your neck and you could tell he was holding himself back from just sinking into you.

         “Ben, please,” you murmured. “Go ahead.”

He sucked in a breath through his nose, shaking his head. “If I start, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”

He brought his thumb to your clit and you cried out, throwing your head back against the bed. His fingers filled you so perfectly, just a slight stretch giving the perfect balance between pleasure and pain. The faster he went, syncing the tight circles on your clit match the thrusting of his fingers, the tighter the coil wrapped in your stomach. You shut your eyes, trying to hold it off longer.

         “Please, Ben, please, please, please.” The word was a mantra on your tongue. He smirked against your neck, licking a spot with his tongue before looking at you one more time for confirmation. “Please.”

The second he sunk his teeth into your neck, you saw white as pure pleasure took over your body. Your back arched and your breath caught in your throat. For a second, you didn’t breathe. The only thing you felt was an intense pulsing and static pleasure all over your body. Then there was a faint murmur. Something breaking through the loud ringing in your ear. You opened your eyes and looked down, meeting the pair of green eyes looking up at you.

         “Come back to me, love, come back.” He sounded like he was under water and you couldn’t quite focus on him. “There you go, come on back.”

And then you found the energy to start breathing again. Your chest started heaving and you reached out to grab the blanket.

         “There you are.” He smiled at you, kissing your neck. “Lost you there for a second.”

Your eyes were wide as you looked down on him. “What… I… what?”

         “That was pretty intense,” he told you. He brought a finger up and wiped a drop of blood off your neck, licking it off. “You taste divine.”

You sat up on your elbows, reaching over to run your hand through his hair. Though you were exhausted, you didn’t want this to end. You pulled him up to connect your lips. You could taste the metallic taste of your blood on his lips and it made you crazy. He quickly took control, shoving his tongue into your mouth. His fangs caught on your lip occasionally, drawing a touch of blood. Your tongues twisted together for a moment longer before he pulled back.

         “Are you ready to move on?” he asked, his voice getting husky again. You glanced down and saw his hard-on straining through his suit pants and you realized he was still entirely clothed. You nodded again and he rolled off the bed. You scooted back, pressing your back against the headboard. He threw his jacket to the side then pulled off his shirt. God, it was like he had been sculpted in marble by God himself. Not being able to help yourself, you stood up on your knees and walked over to him. He raised his eyebrows at you as you grabbed him by his belt buckle and pulled him closer to you. He brought his hand to cup your chin and captured you in another kiss. But this time, you didn’t let yourself get lost. You reached your hand down and unzipped his pants before reaching in and grabbing onto his length. His groaned into your mouth, turning his head to rest against yours. You pulled it out of his boxers and started stroking slightly. You swiped your thumb over his tip, collecting some of the pre-cum dribbling out of his tip and used it to lubricate your hand. You started to jerk him off slowly but surely. He kissed the corner of your mouth before reaching down and pulling you away from him.

         “Let’s get this shirt off of you, yeah?” Again, that commanding look mixed with the soft tone. He reached down and pulled your shirt over your head. He stared at your, pulling his lip into mouth. “Bloody hell.” He brought his hand to cup your breast, squeezing it softly, eliciting a moan from the back of your throat. “You’re beautiful. Do you know that?”

His tone was so soft, and it almost took you aback. You blushed and looked down, feeling small under his gaze.

         “Don’t hide from me,” he insisted, pushing your chin back up. “I want to try something…is that okay?” You nodded, smiling again feeling excited. You sat back as he kicked off his pants, his boxer’s following shortly after. He sat down on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. You were mesmerized by the way he moved as he reached over to grab a rubber from his bedside stand. And by his incredibly hard cock that was red and pulsing. He patted his thighs, beckoning you towards him. You moved to straddle him, feeling his dick press against your stomach. He pulled you forward by your neck, nipping slightly at your collar bone. You sat up slightly, grabbing his cock with your hand and lining it up with your entrance. He grabbed onto your waist and helped you lower yourself onto him. You closed your eyes, breathing heavily as you tried to adjust to his size. Eventually, you bottomed out letting out a shaky breath.

         “Ben…” you said softly, gripping onto his hand. You felt so full. His cock twitching and leaking inside of you made you desperate to get off but his hands were keeping you down firmly. “Please”

         “I want you to stay there, alright?” he told you. “I promise this will feel good.” You furrowed your eyebrows at him, trying very hard not to rut your hips forward. “Just stay still.”

He brought his mouth back to your neck, pressing a kiss to your pulse point. You knew what he was about to do, and you felt your pulse start to race as a result. “Are you okay?”

You whimpered, holding back some tears in your eyes from how desperate you were. The anticipation was killing you. Then his teeth pierced your skin and you thought for sure you were going to die. Your eyes rolled back in your head and your grip on his hands tightened. You could feel his tongue moving against your neck, lapping at the blood. His hand moved to your breast, flicking over your tit as he massaged them. And for a moment, that was it. His tongue and this thumb moving in tandem. Pressing and flicking. Giving you an inordinate amount of pleasure you’d never felt before. Then he pressed one more kiss to your neck before pulling away.

         “How are you feeling,” he asked, drawing your attention back to him. You looked at him, not fully aware of anything other than the millions of sensations your body was feeling.

         “Please, please move,” you begged, your voice breathless.

         “I need you to breathe first, love, can you do that?”

It was really hard to do what he asked. It was becoming increasingly harder to concentrate on anything other than his hand on your chest and his cock in your cunt.

         “Just breath, yeah?” He cocked his head at you. “Or we’re gonna have to stop.”

As much as you didn’t want to stay in this position, you didn’t want to leave him so you nodded. Breathing in as much as you can before breathing out slowly.

         “There you go, love.” He brushed back your hair. Then he lifted you up slowly before pulling you back down. “Start out slow.”

You slowly took control of the tempo, moving your hands to his shoulders to give you some leverage. You started grinding against him, revealing in the way his head rolled back against the headboard. You picked up your pace, looking down to watch as he moved in and out of you. But Ben wasn’t having that. He grabbed your chin and pulled it up to his lips, fiercely capturing your lips in his. You bounced faster as the kiss became more intense. Ben growled picking you up off of him. He rolled over, moving to lay on top of you before reentering with a new and bruising speed. His grip on your hips was painful but you honestly didn’t care. All you cared about was the heat growing in your stomach and the look in Ben’s green eyes.

         “Are you close? God, I can feel you clenching around me,” he rumbled. “Be my good girl?  Cum around my cock, love.” You moaned loudly, wanting to obey but not being right there yet. He reached down and pressed his thumb against your clit, and you gasped. “Let me see your gorgeous face. Go on, love, cum for me, cum!” He bent down and sunk his teeth into your collarbone and everything was done.

Your body froze and for a millisecond you thought you had died. But then your whole body was wrapped in warmth and pleasure as your orgasm rushed through you. It was a solid 30 seconds before you could relax against the bed and breath again. When you opened your eyes, you realized Ben was gone and you were alone in his bed. You were groggy but you still pushed yourself up onto your elbows.

         “Ben?” you called out.

         “One second, darling.” His voice sounded but you couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. “Just lay down, you need your energy.”

It wasn’t long before he returned with a plate of food and some water along with a wet rag.

         “You’ll need this,” he told you, coming to sit on the bed next to you. He grabbed the rag and pressed it against your head. The warm feeling really helped the groggy feeling start to dissipate. “And eat some of this.” He presented you with some soup and helped you sit up so you could eat it better.

         “Is that how it is every time?” you breathed out, turning to look at him.

He chuckled, coming to sit next to you. “Not usually as intense.”

         “What is that supposed to mean?”

         “It means…” He took your hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ve never felt like that before.” You blushed as you sipped on your soup. He knocked his shoulder against yours. “I should’ve known you were meant to be mine when your blood was calling to me.”

         “Oh, you meant that?” you giggled. “I thought that was a bad pick up line.”

He just laughed. It was weird. Seeing him in this natural setting compared to the dominant persona he had just minutes before then. The two of you made small talk while you finished your soup, feeling your strength come back.

         “I guess, you’ll want me to leave now,” you said quietly, setting the soup down on the bedside table.. But instead of letting you get up, he grabbed you and pulled you back into his chest.

         “Oh, no,” he chuckled, his laugh rumbling through his chest. “You think I’m letting you get away from me after this.”  You shrieked and pressed your hands against his chest, pushing yourself up so you could look at him. It was easy to forget that he was a highly dangerous monster when he was just looking at you with a smile and those beautiful green eyes you could easily forget. So, instead you leaned in and kissed him. Not fueled by lust but just because you wanted to.

         “Nope, not every letting you get away,” he murmured against your lips before pulling you back into his lap for the third time that night.

[laminy]

Ben and Joe team up to pull a prank on Gwil and Rami, who are napping on the couch, involving a halloween mask and hidden calendars to make them believe they overslept for two entire months. Unfortunately it backfires very quickly because Rami sees Ben in the mask sneaking down the stairs and gets startled so much that he falls backwards off the sofa and gets a bad case of shocked-shriek-induced hiccups, which wake Gwil. So in conclusion: just fluff and shenanigans. Lol. Thanks!

“Okay, go,” Joe says, nudging Ben towards the stairs, voice muffled by his own mask.

Ben gives him a thumbs up and then slowly starts walking down the stairs, trying to not make a sound. But either there’s a creak or his footsteps are louder than he thinks, because Rami yawns and sits up. Ben freezes, and Rami looks over at him, and then does a double take, jumping and gasping when he realizes that Ben is wearing a mask.

“Oh my god!” Rami yells, and he falls backwards off the sofa, landing on his back, his feet still up on the cushions.

“What—” Gwil lifts his head up, looking around, seeing Rami on the floor. “Are you alright?” he asks, holding his hand out to Rami, and Rami opens his mouth to answer, but he just hiccups loudly, clutching at his chest, still trying to catch his breath. Gwil looks over towards the stairs, and then he jumps up as well, stumbling off the sofa.

“In our defence,” Ben says, still hovering on the stairs, and Gwil just lets out an awkward chuckle, “it was going to make a lot more sense—”

Gwil and Ben both jump this time when Joe yells loudly, jumping at the top of the stairs. “How was this going to make sense?” Gwil asks.

“Just— no, Joe!”

Joe hurries down the stairs towards Ben, wrapping his arms around him. “Not fast enough, Benny!” Joe exclaims, and Ben tries wiggling out of his arms, but Joe just holds tight.

“Here, let me help you,” Gwil says, reaching down to help Rami to his feet, and Rami hiccups again before he thanks Gwil.

“Gwil,” Ben whines as Joe pretends to bite Ben’s neck with his vampire mask.

“I want to suck your blood,” Joe says in a thick Eastern European accent, and Ben takes a step, both of them stumbling a bit.

“Careful you don’t—” Rami hiccups. “Fall down the stairs.”

“Love, do you need my help?” Gwil asks.

“Yes!” Ben says.

Gwil laughs. “Well, that’s too bad,” he says, “you shouldn’t have tried to scare us.’

Rami laughs as well, then hiccups, and groans softly.

Ben manages to break free from Joe’s arms, and then runs through the living room, heading down the hallway.

“You’re trapped!” Joe yells. “Seriously, where are you going to go?”

“Come on,” Gwil says, tapping Rami on the arm, and then hurrying after them.

Ben runs to the front door, trying to open it, but it’s locked, and he turns, hurrying into the kitchen.

“Gotcha!” Joe says, blocking the doorway. “What are you doing, dude?”

“Stop it,” Ben says, backing up against the counter. “I don’t trust you.”

“We’re just having fun,” Joe says. “You can’t tell, but under the mask, I’m smiling. Hey— what?”

Gwil wraps his arms around Joe’s waist, pulling him away from the doorframe. “Go, Ben!” Gwil calls out. “I’ve got him!”

Ben reaches up, pulling off his mask, tossing it on the kitchen floor as he runs out of the kitchen, heading back down the hallway.

“Get him, Rami!” Joe yells, wiggling in Gwil’s arms. “Choose my side!”

Ben and Rami stand on opposite sides of the sofa, Ben panting slightly, Rami smiling and hiccuping. “Whose side are you on?” Ben asks, ready to dart away.

“Whose do you think?” Rami asks.

“I have no idea,” Ben says. “You’re about as trustworthy as Joe.”

“So not at all,” Rami says.

Ben nods. Then says, “dammit,” and turns, hurrying up the stairs.

[deakydeaky]

Hi! Can you do a head cannon for going to an arcade with the boys? I just think they’d be really funny 😂

(A/N; hello loves! Good to be back, also the reader is with Ben bc it’s been a minute.)

Okay let’s just say it’s a mess getting there

The boys are loud, they are challenging each other to every game

So you get there and right off of the bat they put in 20 dollars

“Awe, it’s cute that we are adults.” You told Lucy

Gwil and Lucy went straight to Deal or No deal to see who would win more money

They both lost horribly before you stepped in and won

You threw your arms up turning your chair to the others smiling

Behind Gwil and Rami were Ben and Joe having a dance battle

You could and couldn’t believe it. That was your boyfriend, and his boyfriend

You ended up playing Ben after he was done with Joe just to see if you could win

You and Lucy played each other in Guitair Hero

You all made a bet to see who could get the most tickets when playing the spinning ticket thing

“Chill chest peice.” You told Ben

Joe playing games until he could get enough tickets for the stuffed dinosaur he wanted

Pac-man was like a drug to you guys because you all wanted to win

Staying there for hours because why leave

After a few hours you all started to drink but it was dumb because you hadn’t eaten much that day

Joe and you drunk playing dance dance revolution

“I’m kicking your ass!” You laughed at him

“It’s like you get super power when you are drunk.” Joe patted Ben’s shoulder

Getting fake vampire teeth for everyone

Using them for insta pics together

Connect four with Rami many times until you could win, which took a long time

Calling Ben and Lucy the “Hale Twins” when drunk(yes from twilight)

So many snaps while there

Gwil trying to play basketball with you but he sucks

Being a boss at cup pong and Ben not even questioning

Also super good at the clown games

Rami won the most tickets

“It’s always the quiet ones.” You shook your head

You looked at all of the stuff and brought out a stick of laughy tafy

“It’s the size of-“

“Don’t finish that.” Gwil said

“My dick.”

[queensdivas]

A Damned Soul Chapter 1 (Gwil Fic)

So something new has popped out of my brain earlier this week and one thing that I love to do is avoid homework and papers as much as I possibly can! 

I’m warning yall right now! This isn’t gonna be a light hearted fan fic! It’s got witches, vampires, magic, death, fluff, angst and of course and eventually...smut!  I’m really gonna have fun with this one because I enjoy learning and writing everything under the sun.

I also will be posting this on Wattpad if it’s easier for you to read there instead of here. (TOTH-Girl is my username on Wattpad). If you would like to be tagged just let me know and I will be more than happy to tag you! 

Here we go ladies and gents..I hope you all enjoy this possible train wreck of a fic! 

Next Chapter

Masterlist 

@mexifangorl @leah-halliwell92 @bonafiderocketqueen 

The flame crackles, 

Spitting shining sparks 

And ashes and fire

Into the warming air.

It’s always fighting, 

It’s Always changing, 

Seems always so close

To life.

To it’s burning, 

But beyond its brilliance

The fire defies, denies

And defeats it’s death.

Patience, I believe, 

Is learned in the view.

Because with strength and defiance, 

The coals burn anew.

-Sandra Osborne 

I’d like to think that when you’re executed in public it’s because of the fact you’ve done something horribly wrong. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to go anyhow? When you’re in the 13th century England.. eh. Not so much. Being a woman is already hard enough in this time. Being a women whose about to be burned at the stake because she's a full blooded witch..just absolutely peachy. 

“BURN HER!” The village began to scream as I was beginning to enter the village by the priest. A village that once welcomed me to heal their sick, to help women give birth without passing away, and even teach them simple remedies. And now that a church has brought their God...Well..you see how it’s going now. 

Escorted to the top of the wood pile then was shoved against the wooden stake as I just started into the soul of man who dragged me out of my home. The priest...hypocritical bastard! My wrists were bound so tight that it was beginning to cut through my skin already when I tried to at least get somewhat comfortable before I die..and might as well spew the truth and call the priest out for being an absolute hypocrite!

“You poor minded fool who has a twelve year old locked in the basement of the church. Tell me. Doesn’t your God tell you to love all men! To love thy neighbor! Great job at loving thy neighbor you old bastard. I’d like to remind you that your savior Jesus hung around a prostitute in his life when he was preaching your word! Yet he loved her because he preached to love thy neighbor! You are all massive hypocrites who are so caught up in your daft religion that you’ve forgotten the true meaning of love! Go on then! Burn me! It will make you feel better that the only thing you have in your life is religion! I refuse to give you the benefit of me begging for my life!” Screaming to them as moed their torches towards the oil soaked wood. The priest opened his bible to start spewing bible verses from the wretched book! 

“I condemn they to die by fire for going against the nature of God's will! By the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning! For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you! You will be cleaned from all your sins before the Lord! Be not conformed to this world! But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind! That ye may prove what is good, and what is acceptable, and perfect for the will of God! In the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit! May God have mercy on your soul! Any final words before you are taken to the almighty.” His final words echoed in my mind as I looked out into the crowd..

“I’ve been good to you...I’ve been good to all of you as you have been for me. Those who are sane..please hear my final words and I hope that they carry with you through time. Do not follow the path that this priest has laid out because he is a liar...a crook..and no religion should make one kill another! True religion should be love..not execution like this man.” Grinning at the priest as he slammed the Bible shut to walk towards one of the villagers. Yanking the torch from one of them and holding it right over the oil. 

“I condemn you to hell!” He screamed then I tried to lean down close to him with my grin still bright.

“Can’t wait to see you down there then.” Leaning back up then taking one last glance through the crowd. 

His eyes were glowing red even though he wore a black cloak to hide himself from the audience. Though a normal human wouldn’t be able to see this, but I could see him in complete rage. He’s smart enough to know that stepping in would only kill him in the end...he’s already lost most of energy for being outside in the first place. 

We just...we never get the timing right in our lives.. it’s in the end when everything begins playing back again..and again…

~~~~~

The last book from the moving back fit perfectly on the shelf! Nieve floated the last jar of sunflower seeds up to the top of the seed shelf. Now all that’s left is to bless and protect the new building then step up the tablet for payment and we’re open for business!

Nieve yanked down the tapestry we had over the wall to reveal the new mural she had painted on the only empty wall space we have that’s not a bookshelf. The mural was a woman out in a very high grass field with the sun setting. The setting was a very green blue that had white clouds spread across the entire wall. 

“Probably my best work since Campbelltown.” Nodding in agreement as I slid down the ladder so I could see the mural and all its glory. 

“Beautiful. Nice job Nieve.” Telling her as she put her arm on my shoulder. 

“Is everything ready?” She walked over to her pile of brushes so that she could start cleaning up before we open. 

“All that’s left is setting up the tablet. Spices and herbs are on the shelves, books in place, and the reading table is all set to go.” It’s not that I don’t mind that I do most of the work for setting up the shop. I love setting it up because everything has a place and needs to be done right. Sort of a perfectionist. 

“Tell ya what. You get the tablet all set up and I’ll get the place ready for casting out the bad jujus. Should I use cedar or pine this time?” She walked into the back and began cleaning her brushes. 

“Cedar.” Yelling back as I took a glimpse around the shop for a moment. Shop number four I believe now. Don’t think that we go absolutely bankrupt then move on to the next town. On the contrary. As witches we can make our own money if done right and it was our last order given through our teacher Madame Rouge. 

Madame Rouge was our mentor who trained us in the ways of becoming a grande witch. She would always move her shops to small towards across the Uk and even Ireland some times. The ultimate goal of moving around constantly is that we help fellow witches and warlocks who either hide in the shadows from the world or even help them with perfecting their spells. 

But all good things must come to an end. One night Madame Rouge decided to take the evening off so she could rest and we found her passed away in the night with a note for her after life instructions. The first goal being that we continue her work on going across the country to help

Madame Rouge was my mentor who helped me with spells, hexes, becoming one with the gifts I’ve acquired. It was as if I found my new home with Madame Rouge and Nieve eventually joined us after she turned 18. But all good things must come to an end. Madame Rouge was reaching the end of her life and told us to go across the country to save other fellow witches and warlocks who are casted out. When she passed away. Nieve and I set off on our journey throughout the entire country with now calling an abandoned library home in Balmedie Scotland! 

Finishing up the last few details on the tablet as Nieve closed her book to grab the sage that also had rosemary, juniper, and a hit of cedar in it. Rosemary allows for fresh new starts, juniper for bringing a comfort feeling for us and any new sort of people coming in and out, then the cedar for basically cutting off those bad jujus out of the store. 

“You almost ready?” Nodding as I put the tablet onto the stand as I pulled out my rose gold evil eye necklace and grabbed the box of matches from under the counter. She lit the end of the sage as we began with the door and saying the incantation. 

“Blessed be that light energy to come..blessed be that good souls wander through our store.” It’s a simple incantation that does the trick about 90% of the time. It’s almost impossible to keep bad juju away from your living dwelling because it’s as powerful as good juju. Besides. Incantations don’t need to be super long anyhow since if you’re in an emergency situation, you won’t have the time to say a one hundred word spell. 

Once we finished the doorway, a customer already poked their head in as I let her continue onward with the blessing. It was a very old lady with her tiny pug and came into the store. She looked around for a moment as I approached her with my hands rubbing together. 

“Good afternoon! Welcome to Le Rouge! Is there anything I can help you with?” She snapped her fingers so the pug would sit then flicking her finger to lock the door to the shop. OH god..did we enter ministry territory? 

“My name is Madame Maia Whyte. I’m from The Ministry obviously and I’ve heard about you two through the grapevine. You must be Robin La Torneau and Nieve Macleenan We’ve been watching you two for the past few years. The ministry is very pleased on what you two are trying to do and are sitting very well with us. If you should require anything from us then feel free to give us a call.” A business card came out of her pocket as I looked to see only a number on the card. 

“Thank you Madame Whyte. We’ll keep this handy.” Smiling as she nodded then proceeded to leave the shop. Didn’t realize we were causing that much good in the UK anyhow. I know our fellow brothers and sisters over in America are having a difficult time with everyone hating each other. 

The Parliament of Witches and Warlocks was formed a little after the 9th century when we were beginning to be cooked alive, being drowned, and hung by humans who were scared of us. But it wasn’t just humans who were coming after us after a while. Would you believe me if I told you vampires are also running around this world of ours causing mayhem? Just sounds unbelievable doesn’t it? We can cross that bridge in the future with that whole long history lesson. 

This is it! A new store! A fresh start in a little off the coast town. What could possibly happen to us out here!? 

[illfoandillfie]

October is around the corner, you know what that means 👀 If you had to choose: Vampire!Gwilym or Vampire!Brian (from any year you prefer)?

oooo spoopy!

I think I gotta go vampire!Gwil tho. Firstly I'm just generally more into Gwil lmao but also I need my vamps to be at least a little dom and honestly bri is just too subby. He's more into getting bit than doing the biting y'know. But Gwil? Oof yes please bite me sir

[fallingprincess]

Bloody Cocktails

~ Vampire!Ben & Witch!reader meet again ~

Summary: “I don’t want to hurt you.” - “I know.” - “Please help me.” - “I will.” or: Ben has been mixing his drinks and turned into an addict. Unfortunately, Gwil calls in a favor with you.

Words: 5.4k

A/N: Thank you so much to @literatureandqueen​ who made this awesome moodboard and inspired me to continue this series. I hope you guys will love badass witch!reader as much as I do!

Backstory (you don’t need to read it first)

*****

Taking a last glance at the large pentagram on the wooden floorboards, a candle in each corner and crossing line, you closed your eyes and then extended your arms outwards palms up. 

Putting all your concentration and energy into the spell you felt the magic rush through you like a storm, a strong wind swirling through the room albeit the closed windows as you spoke the latin incantation out loud. 

Feeling the surge of black energy pulling you in, you opened your eyes in anxiety - and then groaned as they met a spectrum of color changing rainbow irises. 

"Damn it." you hissed through gritted teeth and then let your arms fall to your sides in disappointment.

Gwilym crossed his arms in front of his chest in annoyance. "Seriously? Again? This is the third time this week you accidentally summoned me here. What exactly is it that you are even trying to do?" 

With another prolonged sigh you moved part of the salt circle to the side so the demon could step fully into your living room. "Trying to create a gate to Tartarus. I was so sure I had it this time."

Gwil smiled, his pointy teeth reminding you of your other unexpected visitor a few hundred years back. "I am sure you will get it at some point...Magistra."

You couldn't help but smile about him addressing you by your newly earned title. "You heard about that, huh?"

The demon followed you as you made your way into the kitchen, ducking his head under a thorny overhanging plant on the way. "As one of the head demons, I did, yes. Congratulations are in order."

He watched as you motioned for the coffee machine to get to work. With an annoying 'bing' you couldn't figure out how to turn off, the high-tech machine started brewing as two cups flew towards you; Gwilym catching one of them midair before he went to grab the almond milk from the fridge. 

"So what's new in the underworld then?" you asked as you sat down opposite him, a cat jumping onto your lap instantly. 

"The underworld is fine. Ben is...you know Ben." he replied well aware of what you were getting at.

"Is he still doing that thing?" 

The demon sighed and leaned back to make room for the pot to fill his cup. "Mixing his drinks? Yes. Unfortunately."

You scratched the cat's fur absentmindedly. Maybe it had been wrong of you to allow him to drink your blood. Maybe this was all your fault. But then again, he was a grown man making his own choices. "It's going to come back to haunt him eventually."

Gwilym picked up his cup. "I tried telling him, but it's not like he ever listens...Children, what can you do?" 

You laughed at his sarcastic eye roll and then took a sip of coffee yourself. "Back to Tartarus. What do you think is missing in the spell?"

***

“We need to discuss Ben.” the handsome woman in front of Gwilym smiled, her eyes sparkling dangerously, her ashy skin almost too translucent for his liking. 

“I figured that’s why you wanted to see me.” The demon answered politely before seating himself on the vacant park bench. 

The vampire queen followed behind, her bare thigh falling through the slit in her dark black dress as she crossed her legs. “As you know Ben has become quite the...problem. I have gotten complaints from the fairies and even the mermaids before and I have thus far ignored them pretty forcefully, but with his latest fight - against a werewolf nonetheless - I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Gwilym sighed as he watched a baby duckling follow its mother into one of the ponds. “Have you tried talking to him about it?”

A beautiful laugh escaped her, her eyes momentarily turning black before shimmering in purple again. “Have you?” Digging through her purse she handed him a small veil filled with a glittering dark red substance. “You can probably guess that any other vampire doing whatever Ben is doing would have been executed a long time ago-”

“But you have a soft spot for him.” Gwilym finished for her as he cradled Ben’s blood in the palm of his hand, his dark fingernails tapping lightly along the glass. 

The queen groaned and then nodded. “I do. It feels like it was only a century ago that I found him all alone in that alleyway, freshly turned, totally lost and confused. I raised that boy. And so did you.”

A hearty laugh escaped Gwil. “We apparently have not done the co-parenting very well, have we?”

She hit his shoulder playfully, but then shook her head. “Apparently not...So can you help?”

He chewed on his bottom lip for a few seconds and then nodded very slowly. “I don’t think I can. But I know someone that could.”

***

Your eyes immediately fell upon the tall demon standing in your kitchen and helping himself to a cup of the always hot and freshly brewed coffee. Still finishing towel-drying your hair, you raised an eyebrow in suspicion and then threw the towel over your shoulder where it vanished back onto its hanger in the bathroom by itself. 

“Fancy seeing you here. I am pretty sure the hole in the portal is not large enough for a creature your size.”

Gwilym smirked as he raised the steaming cup to his lips, his rainbow eyes switching fast and with a curious stance. “I see you are still trying on that gate to Tartarus.”

You rolled your eyes and motioned for a cup to fill itself and come flying into your awaiting hands before sitting down at your kitchen table. “Cute. But no. The advice you gave worked. It just seems as if I happened to have lost a cat in there. I have been keeping the portal open the tiniest bit in the hopes of it finding its way back by itself.” You happily hummed after taking the first sip of the dark brown liquid. “So what brings you here? You never drop by without reason.”

He studied you for a long time, his eyes finally settling on a rose quartz pink as he sighed. “It’s Ben.” 

Of course it was. When was it not the dangerously attractive but so god-damn stupid vampire?

You groaned internally and then shrugged. “I told you: Him sleeping and drinking around and going rogue or whatever is really not my problem. I am the head of hundreds of covens around Europe. I can’t bother with your little vampire friend, Gwilym. No offence.”

“Non taken.” He shook his head and absent-mindedly began scratching the cat that had settled on his lap behind its ears.

“Furthermore,” you started again as your damp hair braided itself in a quick motion and then fell down your back zestfully. “Shouldn’t that be Miss vampire queen’s problem? She’s the one that should deal with this...problem.”

“I agree. But she has asked me to take care of it.”

“And why don’t you?”

The demon sighed again, his eyes turning almost transparent before transforming into a dark green that almost matched a certain vampire’s irises. Why couldn’t he just stop existing all together? Then you never would have to be reminded of him ever again. 

“I think he is gone too far. Which is why I have come to ask you. You are the most powerful being I know. Please? He will listen to you. He is still very attached to you.”

“Because I saved his life with my blood.” you interrupted him in between coffee sips and then began playing with a little ball of fire in your hand that you had stolen from the now dead candle on the table. 

“And I am asking you to save his life one more time.” His hands reached out to yours, the ball of flame going extinct as he crushed it in between his fingertips before interlacing his larger digits with yours. “For me?”

“I don’t know, Gwilym. I have a lot to deal with already.”

Like a lightning bolt he had gotten up and was now leaning against the sink, a cat carefully balanced on his shoulder like a pirate would a parrot. “I didn’t want to do this, but fine.” He took a deep breath although you were well aware it was for solely dramatic reasons and not because he actually needed it. “Remember that time when you asked for my help for some sort of secret ritual and weirdly enough a week later a famous world leader died under mysterious circumstances helping three different nations to finally declare independence? You know the time where I let you undress me and do very strange things to me that we vowed to never speak of again?” He made eye contact now, forcing you to relive the memories of said ritual in your head and you shuddered before scrunching up your nose; painfully aware of what was to come out of his mouth next. 

“I am calling in that favor.”

You groaned, a white cat jumping up in shock and running into the bathroom in a hurry. “Fine. I will take care of it.”

With a delighted smile he pushed himself off the sink, dropped a kiss to your cheek, and then walked towards the living room; ducking under a few plants as he went. “I knew I could count on you. By the way, can I use your pentagram to go home? Easiest way.”

You waved your hand as you followed him and the candles in the corners of the structure on the floor in front of your altar came to life, the lines in between them glowing up in a dark red instantly. “Go ahead.”

You watched him step into the pentagram’s middle and smile at you again. 

“I will keep an eye out for that cat of yours.”

And then he was gone. 

And all that remained of him was a small dark-filled veil right in the middle of the circle. 

Benjamin. 

***

Ben awoke in shock, his throat dry, his hands shaky, his point of view hazy as he took in his strange surroundings. The dark green fabric of the couch underneath him appeared to be too warm to be normal, the curtains were drawn shut and it took him way too long to figure out that the quiet thumping was the heartbeats of not one but about ten different cats staring at him in unison. 

“Good, you are awake.” he heard a voice to his left. However, his head felt too much like it was going to burst once he tried to turn it. 

“Where am I?”

“Paris.” the witch stated dryly and took a seat on the armchair opposite him, a black cat instantly jumping up and curling into her lap. 

Attempting to keep his thoughts straight, the vampire studied her quietly. He hadn’t seen her in centuries, yet somehow she seemed to have not aged more than a year or two. Her hair was longer as it fell in unruly waves over her shoulders and back; the dark red lipstick was a new addition to her usual wide flowy dark green dress. 

“I was in Russia.” he finally managed to press out through gritted teeth whilst his throat seemed to close up more and more. 

The witch sighed as she snipped her finger and the heavy curtains flung open behind her, casting the room in a faint glow that only dawn could give. “I know. I found you beat up on the street. I teleported you here.” She took another heavy breath as she got up again and leaned against the floor-length window, her eyes ghosting over the eiffel tower in the distance before turning back to him. “What are you doing, Benjamin?”

*

“How are you not dead?”

You almost rolled your eyes but knew better as you stepped around the pentagram on the floor and began playing with another flame ball in your hand. “Really? That is what you want to talk about after avoiding me successfully for what...400 years?”

He struggled to sit up, his eyes faint, his skin ashier than normal. The demon hadn’t lied to you. Benjamin was in fact very far gone. So far, you weren’t even sure if you could still help him come back. 

When you had gone to look for him you had expected to find quite the terrible scene. What you had not expected, however, was your search spell guiding you into a backstreet in the heart of Russia, the vampire hunched up on the floor, a quiet sob escaping his lips as he waited for the deep gashes in his skin to heal. 

Yea, to sum it up, he was doing very badly. 

And you hated how much you cared. 

“But to answer your question.” you finally continued, your eyes still searching for the sun rising over the roofs of Paris in the distance. “Somehow drinking your blood made me age very very slowly. I had time to study. I was instated as the new Magistra a few months back. Which you would know if you weren’t busy fucking your way through the magical kingdom.”

You hadn’t meant for it to sound so bitter, yet here you were, your anger and possible jealousy getting the better of you. 

“Well, congrats.” he groaned in his deep agonizing voice and then began gagging on air in the most unattractive way. “Thanks for helping me...but I should go.”

You watched him as he tried to get off the couch, the weakness showing in his eyes and arms as he fell back against the cushions a few moments later. “Or maybe I could rest here for a bit longer.”

You exhaled slowly and then stepped towards him, your fingers automatically pressing against his forehead in a powerful joint. His eyes closed instantly and you ordered the curtains to fall shut again. 

“Sleep, Benjamin.”

*

Ben awoke in shock once more, the faint memory of having lived this before tumbling through his mind. 

Russia. 

Paris. 

Her. 

With a jolting headache he started another attempt at sitting up straighter, a ball of fur falling from his chest in the process. 

Her. 

His fingers still shaky he managed to get up; a deep gut-shattering hunger burning through his veins. 

Her. 

He was not sure how he had dragged himself into the kitchen; he did not realize he was hunting at all. 

Her. 

The witch’s blood was the only sound his ears seemed to pick up, her loud heartbeat his anchor as he took step by step, the desire almost hurting and clogging all other reasonably thoughts. 

Her. 

He watched her stand in front of the sink filling up a watering can for a few seconds; he could feel his eyes darkening, his fangs sharp against his bottom lip. 

Her. 

With a final leap he jumped forward in lightning speed…

… and was suddenly pressed against the opposite wall, his back pushed against a wooden cabinet, the tip of a dark oak wand drilled into the bottom of his chin, forcing him to make eye contact with her. 

*

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” you barked out, fury racing through your body as you studied his every move. You had to admit you quite enjoyed the scared little whimper noise coming from his pale lips. “Did you really think you could just sneak up on me in my own home and kill me? After I just fucking saved your ass in Russia of all places?”

His fear-filled eyes slowly returned to their natural green as they glanced towards your lips, another deep groan falling from his mouth while his fangs retracted and his shoulders fell back against the cabinet. “Do it. Come on. Kill me then. At least I don’t have to live with this constant hunger anymore.”

You shook your head, a feeling of almost pity making its way towards you heart and you quickly suppressed it by running your wand expertly downward and toward his non-beating heart. “That would be way too easy, Benjamin. You brought yourself into this.”

Hell, it would have been so easy, a few mumbled incantations, a quick lightning bolt, and the problem would have been solved forever. Except for the fact that you had promised Gwilym, and a promise in this world was worth more than any amount of money. 

You took a careful step backwards and then slipped the wand back into the shaft of your thigh-high boot before returning to your watering can. 

The vampire had not moved when you had turned around a minute later and you watched him curiously as you began watering the little herb garden in the corner of your kitchen. Could you have used magic to water it? Most definitely. But the love was what made it grow strong, a lot of magic users tended to forget that part. 

“I’m so hungry.” Benjamin finally choked out and then sank to the floor with a heavy grunt. “Human blood is...I’m sorry I tried to kill you.”

“You would have never succeeded with that but I appreciate the apology.” 

He managed to get up again by holding onto and steading himself on multiple objects of furniture and then staggered towards a test tube sitting on your kitchen table. “What the hell is that? It smells like a bloody cocktail.”

Not missing the irony he was oblivious to, you sent the watering can off back to its cabinet and then stepped next to the vampire, his radiating cold sending a shiver over your arms. “That’s your blood, Benjamin.”

Still mesmerized by the different colored streaks swimming in the dark red of his blood, he spoke quietly. “Where did you get this?” 

Not bothering to reply you reached for the tube and swirled it around for a bit before setting it back down. “See the silver? That’s mine. And the purple? Fairy blood. The blue is definitely from a mermaid. I am trying to figure out where that brownish copper stuff is from.”

“Werewolf.” he whispered so lowly you had almost missed it and then turned to fall into one of your kitchen chairs. His eyes were filled with despair in an almost translucent green tone as he met yours. “I’m losing my mind. I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t even know what is happening to me.” His face fell onto his arms as he groaned again and you studied him cautiously, your head crooked to the side. 

“Can I draw another blood sample from you?” You finally asked and he nodded weakly, his forehead still pressed against the wood of your kitchen table. 

Honestly? He looked like shit. 

But the most beautiful shit you had ever seen unfortunately. 

Stepping closer you pulled on the material of his black long-sleeved dress shirt. “Can you take this off for me?”

You monitored him struggling with the top button for at least half a minute, his fingers too shaky to get it through the matching hole and then sighed. 

“Here, let me help.” Crouching down you placed his hands on his thighs and then began undoing one button after the next, careful not to let his naked skin touch your fingers. 

“My head hurts so bad, I can’t hear my own thoughts.” he mumbled whilst shrugging off his shirt and you only allowed yourself to marvel quickly at the faint scars running all along his skin in various places. 

You rummaged through the medical bag that had appeared next to your side and found a freshly sterilized syringe - this was the 21st century after all. “When was the last time you had magical blood?” 

He studied you closely as you turned his arm over and then ran a warm finger tip over his cold forearm, trying to find the perfect place to pierce his vein. You had to admit you missed doing this with a knife and a dirty coffee cup. 

“Maybe last week? It all blends together.” He hissed when you finally inserted the syringe and then began to draw blood into its adjacent tube expertly. 

“What kind of blood was it?” 

“Fairy.”

You nodded and then slowly removed the needle, his arm healing up instantly. 

“Do you know what’s wrong with me?” 

You nodded again and then motioned for another clear container to come flying your way. Waiting until you had transferred the last drop of his blood, you ultimately answered. “You are addicted to magical blood. Like an alcoholic...or a heroin addict. But your drug of choice is magical blood.”

He groaned as his head fell back. “Is there like a rehab for fucked vampires or something?”

“It’s not that easy.” you mumbled deep in concentration and used your hand to heat up the tube, its content splitting into its different colors instantly. You carefully studied the silver witch blood and then set the tube back down. “When was the last time you had witch blood, Benjamin?”

You had not been prepared for the way his eyes found yours like a ship a lighthouse. Even in his pained state they were still as magnificent and captivating as ever. And you hated yourself for thinking so. 

“I don’t know. Whenever we saw each other last. So...a few hundred years?”

“Right.” you whispered, a faint memory of his fangs against your back and neck running through your mind that you quickly pushed aside. “That’s not good.”

“What is?” The vampire groaned again, a growl leaving him as the veins under his eyes darkened. 

Your hand already back on your wand you relaxed as he slumped over, his back muscles contracting before he almost passed out, his forehead leaned against your table once more. 

“You are going through withdrawal. But unlike a drug addict, the magical blood isn’t leaving your system. It stays. That’s a problem, Benjamin.” 

He listened to your explanation in a seeming daze and you nodded to yourself before helping him by grabbing the underside of his arm. 

Somehow managing to get him into your bedroom and onto your king sized bed - the cats had to sleep somewhere too - you sighed as his eyes instantly fell shut from exhaustion. 

“How do I fix this?” he mumbled quietly, a droplet of sweat running down his forehead even though you didn’t know vampires could sweat. 

Taking off your shoes and placing your wand behind your ear you sat crossed legged next to him, a few cats sensing your unrest and cuddling up beside you immediately. “You aren’t fixing this at all. I might be, though.”

You watched him flip and noticed for the first time the glowing lines along his back in between his scars. Exhaling in shock you reached out to run a finger over one of the silver ones that ran all the way from his shoulder blade down the left side of his spine until it disappeared into the waistband of his black jeans. 

Yours. That line was yours. 

He hummed lightly as you followed a lilac shimmering line from his right toward his left as it faded out towards his waist. 

Too distracted by the way the blue line seemed to go on forever over his arm, you realized too late that he had shifted and only managed to shriek in shock when he had you pinned underneath him against the mattress all of the sudden. 

His eyes were black as night, the veins under them more prominent than ever, his fangs reflecting the faint light coming in from the kitchen. 

Holding your breath you tried to free your hands to reach for your wand that had fallen from your ear onto the pillow within his swift motion. 

However, before you had the chance to wrap your fingers around it, his body slumped against yours, his head falling heavily against your panting chest as a sound that sounded almost like a sob escaped him. 

“I’m so sorry.”

Still in shock you somehow willed yourself to use the free arm to instead run it lightly down his freezing naked back. “It’s alright.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Please help me.” 

You swallowed dryly before exhaling a breath you hadn’t noticed you were still holding. “I will.”

*

Ben awoke for a third time that day, this time in a bed and he vaguely remembered what had happened there as he tried to orientate himself. 

He watched a cat leave the room and then return a minute later with the witch following closely behind. He smiled lightly as he remembered their second meeting a few centuries ago. 

‘Do you understand them?’ - ‘When they want me to.’

“Good, you are up.” She stepped forward and then placed a shot glass filled with silver laced liquid onto the nightstand next to him. 

He eyed it nervously and then her. It had been a long time, but he could never forget that smell. 

“That’s your blood.” he finally stated the obvious and then tried to sit up against the headboard, every limb in his body protesting against the movement in agonizing pain. 

“It is. Mixed with some other stuff. But yes.” she explained and then sat down next to him, her leg almost touching his but not quite. 

So close but yet so far. 

He craved her - no he desired her, in ways he had forgotten about since that cabin in the woods. 

“I need you to be fully conscious while we discuss this. So drink up. I hope it’s enough.”

Ben nodded slowly and then reached for the glass, his fingers so shaky he pulled back instantly. “Can you?”

She nodded, a look of uncertainty hushing over her features before she leaned forward and brought the small glass to his bottom lip. 

In one eager sip he swallowed the liquid down, his senses awakening not even the fracture of a second later, the life filling his body once again, a newfound strength rumbling deep in his bones and muscles. 

“Thank you.”

She sighed. “Don’t thank me yet. We have a lot to do.”

Not managing to suppress the impulse, he watched his hand reach out to brush aside a strand of hair that had fallen into her face and tugged it behind her ear. 

Pretending not to hear how her heartbeat had sped up at the motion he cleared his throat. “Lay it on me then. What do we need.”

Her hand shot into the air and she caught the paper and pen flying towards her head just in time and then dropped both utensils against his chest. “We need a list of all the magical people you have drank from. When I say all, I mean all, okay?” She got up. “I will be in the other room. Just come out when you are done. Take your time. It’s important.”

*

You had not even set foot into your living room yet when your eyes fell onto the tall demon standing in the middle of your pentagram, a ball of fur protectively cuddled up in his arms. 

“I believe this is yours.”

You smiled excitedly as you practically ran the remaining steps and then allowed the cat to jump on your shoulder in a swift motion before purring. “You found her! Thank you so much...I...thank you, Gwilym.”

The demon smirked, his eyes finally settling on their usual rose quartz color, before they fell toward the floor. “You could thank me by removing this salt circle. I have been standing here for at least five minutes like an idiot.”

“Right. Sorry.” you giggled and with a wave of your hand, some of the salt lifted and dropped into a neat pile in the corner of the room. 

“Thank you.” Gwilym stated as he seated himself on your couch. “So how is it going with Ben?”

“It’s going.” you sighed and then fell onto the cushion next to him, your head almost automatically falling into his lap. “This was a big favor to call in.”

His sharp nails began softly running along your scalp and you purred happily as he answered. “May I remind you of the counter performance I did for you? I strictly remember this weird position we were in where we-”

“We do not talk about this.”

An image appeared in your mind, of the demon’s body towering over yours, your breathing going fast as his hips…

“Don’t.” you pressed out and the picture vanished as fast as it had formed. 

“Or what?” his eyes had turned into a dark black and you sat up straight as you allowed your magic and energy to collect in your center, the light in you burning brighter and brighter, your eyes pierced into his, your powers ready to collide…

Before the both of you broke out into a fit of giggles and laughter, his face falling into the crook of your neck, where he pressed a quick kiss against your pulse point once he had collected himself. 

The demon sat up slowly and spoke without turning around. “Hello, Ben.”

You turned to look at the vampire that was leaning in the door frame under a thorny plant, a crinkled sheet of paper in his hand as his eyes glowed in a dark green. 

“Am I interrupting something?”

You cleared your throat and quickly ran your fingers through your from the massage messed up hair. “You are not. Gwilym was about to leave anyway.”

With a motion of your hand the candles on the floor lit up and the lines in between began to glow almost as brightly as the ones on the vampire’s back. 

Your eyes fell toward the cat curled up on the armchair and then onto the tall demon as he stepped into the middle of the circle. “Thank you again.”

“For you always, my love.” he replied with a knowing smirk before vanishing and you turned in place to find Benjamin staring at you, his face filled with something that you could only pinpoint as jealousy. 

You almost smiled to yourself. 

How does it feel when the tables are turned, vampire?

*

“Did you get the list?” 

Ben ripped himself from his trance, his mind still replaying the two of them laughing on the couch, Gwil’s lips where his own should be. “Yea. Here.”

She took the paper from him and he studied her closely as she tried not to look shocked when she saw all the names (at least the ones he had remembered that didn’t say “some tree fairy”). It was okay. He had been, too. He hadn’t been aware of how out of control he was. 

Now that he had finally stilled his hunger, although he was aware that the little amount would wear off quite fast at this point, he could finally think straight again after all. 

“And you are sure these are all?” 

He nodded and then fell to the floor, his still naked back leaned against the side of the couch, a cat demanding to be pet instantly by curling up against his legs. 

“Okay. It’s important for the ratio.”

“The ratio?”

She took a deep breath and then sat down in front of him, her knees almost touching his as she crossed her legs. “I have worked out a spell...a potion so to speak. But you are going to help me get the ingredients. The creatures have to give them to you out of their own will so I can’t just ask for them to be delivered here like I normally do.”

He nodded as he followed along, unsure where this was going, but highly aware that he would not like it. 

“We need some mermaid scales, some werewolf hair, a bunch of fairy petals...seriously what is wrong with you and the fairies?”

He shrugged and then leaned forward without thinking, his nose bumping into hers with the newfound confidence her blood had seemed to have given him. “What about you? What do I need from you?”

Her breath ghosted over his cold cheeks with every exhale, warming them up, bringing him back to life for a second each time. “My magic should do.”

His eyes fell towards her lips, her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth nervously. 

“We should get started.” she finally whispered to interrupt the silence that had settled between and around them, only tainted by the sound of her heart beating fast in her chest and in Ben’s ears. 

With a last glance towards her lips, the vampire nodded and then pulled back. “We should.”

*****

Thanks for reading. As already mentioned there will be a Halloween special (18+) that will be about the ritual that Witch!reader and Demon!Gwil performed. So stay tuned for that :)

Also check out my Masterlist for more Vampire!Ben ♥

[freddiesaysalright]

Soft in Love Part 2

A Gwilym Lee x Student!Reader Fic

Summary: Y/N is an acting student in her last semester of college. When a professor unexpectedly can’t make it for the senior capstone class, a very famous (and handsome) substitute is called in. When they connect, they face a few challenges.

Word Count: 2.7k

Tag List:  @psychosupernatural​, @someone-get-a-medic​, @bensrhapsody​, @deakyclicks​, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession​, @minigranger​, @crazyweirdocalledfriday​, @benders-diamond-earring​, @im-an-adult-ish​, @anincurablefangirl​, @kiainspace​, @lookuptotheskiesandsee​ If you’d like to be added, let me know!

A/N: Hope you all enjoy this next part! Sorry it’s taken a little longer than usual, I’ve been pretty busy at work.

Warning(s): None! Well, more pining, but hey, y’all asked for this.

Part 1

Part 2 here we go!!!

That night, you went to Sloan’s for pizza and a movie. Since you lived on campus as part of your scholarship, you tended to hang out at Sloan and Andrew’s apartment once classes were over and homework was done. You had a room to yourself, but it wasn’t spacious, so the three of you normally were at their shabby, typical New York apartment with little space and even less furniture.

“So, what should we watch?” you wondered as you plopped down on the couch.

“How about Bohemian Rhapsody?” Sloan suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at you. “Y’know, so you can really see Gwilym in action?”

Andrew groaned. “Come on, Sloan, we’ve teased her enough.”

“What?” she shot back. “They were really connecting.”

“Connecting?” you questioned. “We barely said two words to each other.”

You had neglected to tell them about running into your substitute in the library. You were keeping that moment to yourself. It felt like something private, even though it was perfectly innocent. You wanted to keep it in your heart. For now, at least.

“All that eye contact,” Sloan continued. “It was like Edward and Bella in there.”

“If it was like Edward and Bella, he’s more likely to murder me than anything,” you retorted. 

“Edward doesn’t kill Bella!” she argued.

“He turns her into a vampire!” Andrew pointed out. “That’s the same thing!”

“No it isn’t!” 

“Yes it is!”

“Okay, Jacob!”

“Guys!” you interjected. “If we talk anymore about Twilight, I’m going to kill myself. Let’s just pick a movie.”

“I still vote for Bohemian Rhapsody,” Sloan said. “Y/N should see at least one thing our new professor is in.”

“I think we should watch a classic,” Andrew replied. “I haven’t watched Casablanca in a while.”

“One vote for Bohemian Rhapsody, one vote for Casablanca,” she said, then looked at you. “Would you like to cast a vote, or add a contender?”

You thought for a moment, but you already knew what you were going to pick. You just wanted to give Andrew the illusion of having a chance. You tapped your chin with your forefinger.

“I’m gonna go with…” you paused. “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“Oh, come on!” Andrew mock complained. Then he smiled. “Alright, I’m gonna order the pizza.”

“We’ll start the movie,” Sloan assured him.

As she picked up the remote, you considered telling her about the library. You weren’t sure why Sloan should be allowed this information and not Andrew, but you’d noticed he had sort of drifted from you while you were dating Daniel. Now that you and Daniel were broken up, Andrew was friendlier than before even. It made you a little confused. And the distance really hurt you.

But you looked at Sloan and thought about what she had said so far. You didn’t think she would tease you about the library, but she also would likely turn it into something it wasn’t. She had a tendency to gas you up for things that were hardly ever a big deal in reality. So you decided not to tell her. The moment would remain just yours. And Gwilym’s, of course.

The movie began, with the pizza arriving about half an hour in. You wouldn’t call yourself a huge Queen fan, but you liked their hits. You admired the movie’s aesthetic, but you especially admired Gwilym’s performance. He looked so cool with the curly hair and the seventies clothes. It was rather unlike the man you’d met earlier that day. Not that Gwilym didn’t look cool, he just wasn’t as glam. At least, not on that level.

When the movie finished after the Live Aid scene, you had gotten a little emotional. You wiped your burning eyes and sniffled.

“So, what’d you think?” Sloan asked, switching the television off.

“It was good,” you choked out.

“Oh my God, Y/N, you’re such a sap,” Andrew joked.

“Shut up!” you returned. “I just have feelings. There’s nothing wrong with that!”

He laughed. “Nah, I guess you’re right.”

You stretched out on the couch, nudging his thigh playfully with your toe as you giggled and yawned. He smiled back at you.

“I’m beat,” you sighed. “I think I’ll head back to my dorm.”

“You know you’re always welcome to stay here,” Andrew said.

“I know,” you replied. “But I don’t like to intrude. Plus, your couch is lumpy.”

“You could take my bed,” he offered.

Something about the way he didn’t look at you when he said it rubbed you the wrong way. If Andrew had feelings for you, you wished he would either say it or get over it, but not say things like that to leave you wondering. You knew it could never be that way between you, so you hoped for the latter.

“I’d rather be in my own bed,” you said, keeping your tone light.

You got off the couch and stretched again. As you put your backpack on, you thanked them for the pizza and then bid them goodnight. 

Sloan closed the door behind you and looked at her roommate.

“Could you be any more obvious?” she said. She continued by doing her best Andrew impression. “Stay here, sleep in my bed, suck my dick.”

“Oh, fuck off,” he returned, disappearing in to his room. 

You headed back to campus, which was only a few blocks away, your mind racing. Everything from your chance library meeting with Gwilym to whatever the hell had gotten into Andrew was swirling around in your mind.

As you passed the coffee shop closest to campus - frequented by mostly students and faculty, you spotted Gwilym though the window. You watched him as he pored over the book you had recommended, sipping his drink with something of a refined air about him. The temptation to go in and say hello was overwhelming. You were just so drawn to him for some reason. But you decided against it, remembering the way Sloan had compared you both to the cringiest couple perhaps ever written. Showing up suddenly at the coffee shop after one earlier chance meeting seemed very stalker or Edward Cullen-ish. Even if it was genuinely a coincidence. With a sigh, you moved along.

Gwilym lifted his eyes from the page he was reading and looked around. He felt as if there was someone he knew nearby, but as his eyes scanned the room, he saw only strangers. Movement by the window made him look out, but he missed who or whatever it was that created the motion. He blinked in that direction, his mind drawing up - for some reason - an image of you standing there. 

Something resembling disappointment crossed over his heart, but he pushed it down. He didn’t need to be wishing to see you anywhere outside of class. His phone ringing brought a welcome distraction.

“Hello?” he said, picking it up.

“Gwilym, hi!” chirped the voice of Dr. Bennett. “I just wanted to check on you and see how the first day went.”

“You’ve just given birth, and you’re worried about me?” he returned. “Emily, that’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t scold me, Gwil,” she answered lightly. “How’d the class go?”

“If you must know, it went just fine,” he told her. “I’ve been introduced to everyone. You have a very talented class there.”

“Excited as I am to have my son, I am a bit bummed I won’t get to teach them,” she agreed. “But, I’ve left them in very capable hands. I’m glad it’s going smoothly.”

“It really is,” he said.

“What do you think of Y/N?” she asked.

His chest tightened.

“She seems like a lovely girl,” he said stiffly.

“She’s a real star,” she went on. 

“I haven’t heard her sing yet, but from the way you and Dr. Curtis talk, I feel I should have a handkerchief on me or something.”

She laughed. “She’ll impress you I’m sure. Be careful there.”

He paused, wanting to know more about what she meant. It was an odd thing to say about a student. Was she joking? Was she giving him some warning about who you were? Were you not what you seemed? He wanted answers, but decided to ignore it entirely. That was the best way to deal with something like this, in his opinion.

“How are you and the baby?” Gwilym asked, desperate to change the subject.

“Perfect, so far,” she said. “Just ready to get home.”

“I’m sure.”

“Hey, Gwil,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Please keep me updated on everything,” she requested. “I’ll come and see the show at the end of the semester, but I want to know how everything comes together.”

“Will do,” he promised.

“Thanks,” she said warmly.

“You get some rest now,” he said.

“Will do,” she replied, and he heard the smile in her voice.

They said goodbye and hung up. Gwilym’s mind still reeled with her warning. Be careful there. Be careful of what, exactly? Perhaps it was better if he never knew.

On Thursday, you showed up to class early, as usual. The auditorium was empty except for Gwilym. Your heart rate quickened as you approached him. 

“Morning,” you said brightly.

He turned his head and smiled at you. “Hello, Y/N. You’re early.”

“I’m always early,” you said with a shrug. “How’s the book?”

“I’m only three chapters in, but it is interesting,” he replied. “Fond as I am of Shakespeare’s plays, it’s his poetry that really gets me.”

“Oh, really?” you wondered.

He nodded. “Yes. Poetry and songs I think are the most intimate forms of writing. The authors put their feelings out and wrap them up in beautiful language. And somehow, that makes others feel it. As if it were their own. If that makes any sense.”

You pondered his words a moment. You thought of every time you’d sung in your car at the top of your lungs, the words of a song just punching you right in the heart. 

“It makes sense,” you said. “I didn’t realize you were so into that stuff.”

“There’s a lot about me that may surprise you, Y/N,” he said.

You met his gaze, searching for the meaning behind that. He cut his eyes away before you did, clearing his throat.

“Would you like to get started?” he asked. “We can begin with your solo, ‘The Boy Next Door’.”

“Sounds good,” you agreed. “Want me to sing acapella or play piano?”

“You sing, I’ll accompany you,” he returned.

“You play piano?” you questioned. “You certainly are full of surprises.”

The teasing tone felt a bit unfamiliar to you. Were you flirting with him? If you were, was it wrong?

“I play piano, but not very well,” he replied humbly. “I can play a simple tune like this.”

You smiled as you both took the stage, you stopping in the center and he taking a seat on the piano bench. You waited for his cue, and then when he began, you opened your mouth and began to sing.

“The moment I saw him smile

I knew he was just my style

My only regret is we’ve never met

Though I dream of him all the while

But he doesn’t know I exist

No matter how I may persist

So it’s clear to see, there’s no hope for me

Though I live at fifty-one-thirty-”

Gwilym missed a note on the piano and stopped, bringing you to a halt as well. You shot him a questioning look.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m not good enough to turn the pages on time.”

“Oh, is that all?” you teased. “Here, I’ll stand next to the piano and turn the pages for you.”

“I’m very much obliged,” he returned.

You walked over and stood to the side, looking expectantly at him.

“From ‘so it’s clear,’” he told you.

“So it’s clear to see, there’s no hope for me

Though I live at fifty-one-thirty-five Kensington Avenue-”

You turned the page.

“And he lives at fifty-one-thirty three.

How can I ignore the boy next door

I love him more than I can say

Doesn’t try to please me

Doesn’t even tease me

And he never sees me glance his way…”

You stole a glance at Gwilym as you held  this note. His face was screwed up in concentration as his eyes followed the music. His hands, which were large and smooth, moved gracefully. His long fingers pressed the keys with ease. He looked very handsome.

“And though I’m heart sore, the boy next door

Affection for me won’t display

I just adore him

So I can’t ignore him

The boy next door…”

You held the note and came off of it slowly and softly. Gwilym did the same with his final note. As the song closed, you looked at each other. A moment of softness passed between your gazes. Gwilym was beginning to understand his friend’s warning. You were so...charming.

“That was very good,” he said.

“Thank you,” you said sweetly.

“I’m impressed you knew all the words,” he remarked.

“I’ve been a fan of the movie since I was little,” you told him. “I literally wanted to be Judy Garland.”

“Well, you don’t have very far to go,” he said. “Although, I believe Y/N Y/L/N is perfect just as she is. You don’t have to be Judy Garland.”

Heat came to your cheeks.

“Thank you,” you said again, looking at the floor.

You paused, searching for something to say in return, some compliment to pay him.

“The piano playing was -”

“Please, Y/N, let’s not go there,” he said, a smile pulling at his lips. “My piano playing is absolute shit.”

He held his breath as the words left his mouth, fearful you might take offense to the language or feel he was getting too comfortable. When you clapped your hand over your mouth to stifle the most adorable giggle he’d ever heard, he was relieved.

“It wasn’t shit!” you protested. “Really, it wasn’t!”

“I appreciate you trying to bolster me, but the most redeeming part was playing through your page turn, which was executed flawlessly.”

You laughed some more.

“Well, I am known around here for my page turning skills,” you joked.

“I have a feeling you’ll be known for many things, Y/N,” he said. “Including turning pages for barely capable pianists.” 

Your smile lingered on your lips as your classmates began entering the theater. Sloan eyed you questioningly as he saw how close you were standing to Gwilym. When had you drifted that way? You hadn’t felt yourself move.

Tucking your hair behind your ear, you stepped away, back toward center stage. Gwilym got to his feet and followed you, turning to address the other students.

“Welcome back, everyone,” he said.

He took roll quickly before getting into rehearsal. He and Lily were working on their early scene in the wagon. You watched him ease her into comfort with him. She was six, just like her character, Tootie, and though not shy, did need to warm up to people. Sloan’s sister took a seat in the audience, and you saw her soften as she looked on as well.

“Isn’t that sweet?” you said to Sloan as she approached you.

She looked over at Gwilym going back and forth with her niece.

“Precious,” she said flatly. “You and Gwilym seemed pretty cozy.”

You rolled your eyes, but knew you still looked flushed. 

“Oh, please,” you said. “We were just practicing.”

“Y/N, look at me,” she said with uncharacteristic seriousness.

You did.

“I know we’re joking about how hot he is and all that, but it’s not smart to think any further than that,” she said. “He’s a professor - at least right now - and both of you could get into trouble.”

Defensiveness surged through you.

“You’re talking about it like we’ve been sleeping together or something,” you said, harsher than you meant to. “You’re the one who’s been making the jokes. Nothing’s happened, so spare me the lecture.”

“Y/N, I’m just trying to be a friend,” she said.

“Look, it’s perfectly normal to connect with a teacher,” you returned. “It’s nothing more than that.”

She looked you over, skepticism coming over her sharp features.

“If you say so, Y/N,” she said with a sigh. “But, for the record, I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you were looking at him when we walked in. Ever.”

She walked away, leaving you stricken where you stood.

[gwil-lee]

I was tagged by dearest Claire @twoheartsoneclara , thank you, sweetie!

top 4 ships: as always my three space otps, Han and Leia (Star Wars), Spock and Uhura (Star Trek), River and the Doctor (Doctor Who), and then probably Rosaline and Benvolio (Still Star-Crossed)

last song according to spotify: Message in the Bottle by Police

last movie: Interview with the Vampire

currently reading: Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

food I’m craving: actually nothing (and I’m feeling very fat and very sad right now, I’m not really thinking about food tbh)

relationship status: no

favorite color: purple and yellow

lipstick or chapstick: lipstick! I’m all about rich matte colours

favorite food: soups

top 3 shows: right now, The Great, Star Trek: Discovery and M*A*S*H

last thing i googled: colonel pronunciation (my search history is full of “*insert word* pronunciation” lol)

height: 168cm/5′5

time: 9:08 pm

song stuck in my head: Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, and also the line “this is not a moment, it’s a movement” keeps coming back to me

wearing: black leggings and a grey long-sleeved t-shirt

# of blankets i sleep with: just one 😊

dream trip: Rome

favourite gif: I just searched for Gwil’s gifs and this one is always the first and it’s so hilarious, I just gotta use it 😂

Tagging: @victoriel​, @smilecapsules​, @isitstraightvodka​, @bearkare​, @lukeslywalkers​ (feel free to ignore, lovelies!)

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

“And that’s the true tragedy of it. Most of them aren’t really monsters at all. But they’ve been made to believe they are.”

Gwilym Carew Lee, b. 1456 🧡

Requested by: anonymous (“✨ A HUGE congratulations to you dear on 2,500 followers, and happy Valentine’s Day too!! ✨ You are so loved here in the fandom and I hope you are with us for many many years to come. If possible, I would like a moodboard for proud vampire family patriarch Gwil”)

You can read my fic Eccentricity here!