#wait I just realized I must up the scaring on Nina's face FUCK.

[curdled-blood]

Tumblr has converted me to Toby x Nina x Clockwork I will NOT be held accountable for my following actions 😇

[rcksmith]

Desire — Kaz Brekker

(Photo not mine)

Requests: “Hello there! I've been around this blog for a bit now and you are an amazing writer! I was wondering if you would be ok with doing something with 21 28 & 29 from the smut prompts and kaz brekker? If you are uncomfortable please just ignore this!”

“Kaz brekker Smut prompts 28 66?? Love you💖!!”

“I can request Kaz smut prompts 29?❤️”

Smut prompts:

21. “Look at you, I’ve only started using my fingers and you’re already shaking.”

28. “Such a needy little thing, aren’t you?”

29. “I didn’t know you were so sensitive.”

66. “You know I don’t like to be teased.”

Couple: Kaz Brekker/ Fem!Reader

Warnings: swearing, mention of shot, mention of desire, desire, mention of smut, explicit smut, NSFW.

Word count: 3k

A/N: All smut requests for Kaz must follow these rules.

I hope you like💕 English is not my first language, so I so sorry if have a mistake.

Requests are open. Love you ❤️

— — — —

There was something about you. Something impossible to decipher, with a glow hovering around you like a electrical energy. Wrapping your whole body in a cloak of magnetism. There was something about the way you spoke, walked, laugh. Something about what it was like to be you, in your beauty and mysteries like a sphinx.

Something that made Kaz Brekker completely furious.

You couldn't be more distorted from the image, in Kaz's mind, than what was to be a peaceful woman. Calm, controled, with steel emotions and wit in eyes. Someone who, like him, knew how to dance the waltz of negotiation, manipulation, who could blend in with the shadows and know the best time to listen more than speak.

You were not like Inej, you were not like Jesper. Hell, you were like nobody Kaz has known in all of his 28 years.

Nothing reminiscent of calm and control would be used to describe what it meant to be you.

Your soul are stormy, loud, obstinate, too stubborn and too talkative. You needed to speak loudly, laugh, move, expose your opinions to the seven winds and to whoever listened the most. You needed to question, inquire, doubt and test the limits of any situation. A direct order for you would be an affront to your free and independent spirit. A command that would curtail your freedom or tame your strong genius was almost like an invitation for you to do exactly the opposite of what they had ordered you to do.

So, for a man of trained reasoning, subtly balanced world, and who was used to his every command being followed vehemently and promptly in blind obedience, such a personality like you was like introducing a disturbing factor capable of shaking all his judgments. Sand in a watch, or stone in a shoe, would be no more a nuisance than a strong nature like your.

The extraordinary stubbornness and mania to counter his orders - when, in your words, they were unreasonable - had made you different from all the women Brekker had ever met. Kaz liked challenges and responsibilities, a good puzzle, but you were on a level far beyond that.

You were a danger to his peace of mind. And you knew that. All his aversion to your indomitable spirit only served as fuel for your own mission in to piss him off. Few men were like Kaz Brekker, you knew that, with a strength of character too powerful to be ignored. He was not just comfortable in his position of authority as he was obviously unable to act in any other way than as a leader. His stoic figure and always so contained in a wall of indifference made you want to ruffle his hair to see if you could remove any emotion. And being a girl who hasn't always liked leaders, Kaz Brekker was a huge temptation. Few moments had been better than those that you managed to piss him off beyond what he could handle.

However, all the reasons why the two of you were so exasperating for each other, did not explain why the air crackled in ambiguity when your eyes met. The hemisphere was adorned in a thought-provoking, poignant veil, like a warm honey flowing down its throat, and there was something else in the way blood flowed like flames of fire through veins of you two.

Jesper said that the sexual tension between you was so tangible that it could be cut by one of Inej's knives, but you refused to think of Kaz that way. At least until that moment.

Not pure images of what the infamous Brekker could do to you between four walls swept you like the strong Arabian wind. Making you be surprisingly breathless. Kaz was not a man whose private life was exposed, nor was he involved with many women, but you have heard two or three of them when they were drunk saying that Kaz Brekker in the room could be incendiary.

Everyone knew that his touch reserve didn't limit him to anything, but that his job was at the top of the priority list and that sexual encounters were almost never on that list.

"It was not my fault!” Jesper defended himself one night, slightly drunk, sitting at the club's round table next to the other crows “I didn't know he was married to another man! That damn pretty face seduced me!”

"Did he seduce you?" You asked, skeptical and playful.

"I swear to God! And it had been a long time since I had sex with anyone, and I went… ”

“But you did sex last week." Inej laughed, chocked.

"Exactly!" Jesper said, as if he were obvious.

You laughed with your beer glass in your hand, taking another sip.

“Is a week a long time to not sleep with anyone?" Matthias retorted, trying not to laugh.

“Are you going to tell me that is not?” Jesper and Nina spoke at the same time.

“If a man has time for sex more than once a week, he clearly doesn't have much to do. And I'm sure I gave Jesper a lot of tasks that would keep him busy.” Kaz narrowed his eyes at his friend, and Jesper hid his guilt behind the rim of his beer glass, looking to the side.

"So you are saying that you are a very busy man?" You teased, trying not to laugh at the scathing look Kaz sent you.

"I disagree. The values ​​of hard work and discipline cannot match the hot body of a woman in bed.” Matthias said, exchanging a brief conspiratorial look with Nina, who winked at him.

"There are more important things." Said Kaz.

"Like what?" You rested your chin on the back of the hand whose elbow was on the table, the playful look of a rebellious student.

"Progress." Kaz held your gaze.

He wasn't going to take your bait. But you didn't give up easy.

"Tell me, if God gave you a deal: all the hunger in the world would be extinguished in exchange for you never being able to have sex again, what would you choose?" your eyes had a teasing feline glow.

At that moment, Kaz felt a shiver up the back of his neck, like a warm breath of autumn. Something crawled, like a snake, across his rib cage and down to his groin, pumping blood like fire through his veins.

He held your gaze, but the feline glow in your eyes promised to contain the most ardent sins. Suddenly, Kaz's mind was flooded by the wave of obscene images of you, on his bed; moaning, squirming, shouting his name and being very obedient with every order he gave you.

He would make you such a good girl...

"I don't believe in God." He replied succinctly, the predator's eyes still in your eyes audacious feline's.

A big, satisfied smile spread across your face, and you said: "As I thought. Bad luck for hungry people.”

Realizing that he had fallen right into your cunning trap, Kaz got rid of your diabolical magnetism and cursed.

“I didn't say…” he stopped, impatient “It doesn't matter. I have more important things to do than waste time here.”

But the smile you hid behind the glass was noticeable to Kaz.

After that night, the crackling, gasping flame that circled the two of you intensified to alarming levels. Kaz could feel you holding your breath when he was too close, and you could see him squeezing his cane harder when you sweetened your voice for him.

However, regardless of Kaz's wanted to fold you at a table and put an end to your brat girl pose, enjoying the groans he was sure you would let out, the two of you still fought like dog and cat.

Just as it was now.

“What do you mean, I'm not going?!” You looked at Kaz, amazed, when he told you that you would not participate in the robbery that week “I know that security system like the back of my hand!”

It was true, what you had of stubbornness, you had of technological intelligence. There was no computer that you would not hack, a program that you would not hack, and a system that you would not unlock. Your genius with technology made up for all your lack of obedience.

But Kaz ignored. “I've already told you. It's a more dangerous mission than you're used to and we don't have time for the plans you come up with right away.” He needled you.

“Are you referring to Switzerland?” You were never anything short of direct and inquiring. It was logical that you would question every orden. “But I already told you that when the alarm went off your plan didn't work anymore! I was more useful inside to deactivate the alarm than waiting outside.”

And stubborn. Holy God, how stubborn you were!

"And it cost you to get shot."

"But it was just a shot!"

Kaz looked at you, puzzled. “Just?! And wasn't it enough ?! You put the whole team at risk!”

“But if I hadn't deactivated the alarm, we would all be arrested! And only I knew how to do that!”

"My fucking God, isn't there a speck of common sense in you?!"

But you answered boldly: "Not when you impose clueless plans on me."

Mortified would be an understatement to describe how he was now. What an unbearable creature! Kaz felt the anger spread from his neck to his face, igniting his breath and squinting his eyes in annoyance.

Why was it so difficult for you to follow a simple goddamn rule?!

“Besides, your initial plan was flawed and there was no reason for me to be out when it was necessary inside and...” And you kept talking!

If you had noticed Kaz's completely enraged state in front of you, you would have been scared, shut up and ran. But, truth be told, Kaz suspected that even if you knew how to read the murderous humor in his eyes, you wouldn't have left that office. Much less be afraid. You could argue with the demon. And you would probably beat him out of tiredness.

However, regardless of the desire to shake you up, to see if that put any good sense in you, in that second, watching you gesture with your hands, defending your point of view as if it were the england queen's crown, something swept Kaz's body from the top of his head with dark hair to the tips of his illustrated boots.

The sound of the world was drowned out by the flow of blood itself in his veins. His heart hammered hard in his chest and, in that instant, a sharp sting in his groin and the pit of his stomach set him on fire.

His gaze went down to your mouth, which kept moving. And when it came up to your eyes, your stubborn and defiant gaze sent Kaz's rationality into space. He dropped the cane abruptly, which toppled to the floor with a hollow crack, and advanced towards you in firm and determined steps.

Gluing his gloved hands to your face, Kaz silenced all your protests with a strong kiss. Hot, fiery, domineering. The kind of kiss that held years of camouflaged desire, years of irritability, years of an unnerving desire to make you shut up with all the perverse forms that existed.

You weren't afraid of him. But you should. You should if you knew everything he wanted to do with you.

However, as if you have been burning in the same desire for years, you responded to that kiss with the same urgency. The same hunger. Kaz slipped his hands into your hair, closing his fingers there and deepening the kiss with ferocity. He felt beside himself, like a hungry wild animal that had been denied food for years and that only now had its teeth set on its prey. You moaned against his lips, bringing your hands to his lean, strong biceps, squeezing your fingers there.

You both needed air, but neither seemed to give a damn about that. Misted of desire that burned like a fire in their bodies, Kaz pushed the two of you backwards, slamming your back against the wall and swinging a frame beside. You gasped, and the gesture made it possible for Kaz to invade your mouth with his tongue, hunting every piece of hot meat. You two fought the same battle in that kiss: invade, dominate, conquer.

They both wanted to take the waltz, but Kaz would never let you conduct the show.

He pulled your wrists up, pinning them with one hand against the wall, leaving you immobile while sinking his mouth further into yours. Kaz felt you try to get rid of his tight grip, but he was stronger than you. And much more when he have a objective.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He murmured against your mouth, the tip of his tongue playing with your bottom lip. “You know I don’t like to be teased.”

Was impossible for you to control the loud moan that escaped. Your body trembling with desire, your legs wobbly, your wet core vibrating with his words. Kaz Brekker was a fallen angel. With a beauty and charm you've never been immune to.

How can you think you'd win the dominance game with him?

And, like the fallen angel he was, his smug and arrogant smile painted the corner of his lips when he saw what his lines did to you.

“I didn’t know you were so sensitive.” Kaz mocked “If I knew it was only necessary to do this for you to shut up...” he brought his lips closer, his voice hitting yours “I would have fucked you like the naughty brat you have been a long time.”

If his caustic and maddening kisses hadn't been enough to break you in half, that statement would have done all the work.

In that second, you hoisted your white flag, biting your lip in a needy moan and closing your eyes for a second by the overwhelming vibration of your core. God, you needed more. Whatever he gave you. Anything he wanted to give you. You just needed more.

"Are you going to be good?" He played with the dough you were in his hands, his devilish mouth going down your neck, leaving a trail of fire and debris wherever he went.

You agreed, desperately. “Yes, Sir."

That title seemed to do things with Kaz. Because in the next second, his mouth was back on your. More urgent, more needy, more dominating. You shifted your hips for more friction with his, and Kaz rewarded your obedience by pulling one of your thighs forward, making your skirt go up, aligning your thigh on his hips and giving access for his member to fit perfectly against your pulsating core.

You moaned louder this time. Fingers clenching, heart pumping frantically. Kaz pulled his lips away from you for a second, taking his hand off your thigh and bringing it to your mouth.

“Pull.” He ordered, referring to the glove.

You murmured a low, excited moan, bringing your mouth to the glove and clenching your teeth on the cloth at the top of his middle finger. Satisfied, Kaz pulled his hand back, watching the alabaster skin peel away from the leather fabric. As soon as he was free, he removed the glove from your mouth, replacing it with his own and stealing all your breath in that fiery kiss.

His free hand wandered over your thigh, touching you for the first time with a touch that promised to show you all the most delicious and secret sins in the world. His tongue wrapped around your again, and the moan you let out was even greater when his long fingers brushed against your wet, throbbing core.

"S-sir!" You sobbed, your hips rocking against his hand, desperate for more.

"Look at you." His fire voice beat against your lips, the tightness against your wrists getting stronger, more possessive "I’ ve only started using my fingers and you ’re already shaking"

Your body cried out in unbridled desire, sobs mingling with loud moans and heavy sighs as Kaz tormented you with his fingers. He touched you, slid, opened and sank, increasing the volume of your pleas.

“P-please" You begged, the body in need, the urge too urgent.

Kaz looked you in the eye, a dark, malicious gleam burning in his Egyptian blue irises. "Such a needy little thing, aren't you?" He teased you.

But you no longer cared about his teasing. With your lips swollen and red, your heart racing and the core pulsing in despair on his experienced fingers, you were already surrendered.

"Please. I n-need." You mumbled submissively, rummaging your hips in his hand.

"I bet if I wanted to fuck you against my desk, here and now, you would be very happy to do it, wouldn't you?"

He was foisting all of his dominance on you, bending you to your knees for him. And you knew that. You knew he was taking years of anger out on you. But you couldn't care less. You wanted him. Ardently. Desperately. And if it was a good girl Kaz wanted, damn it, you would be a good girl for him.

You readily agreed, your eyes shining in supplication.

“Good.” Kaz pulled you brutally off the wall, turning you over to the table and pushing your chest against the icy wood, pulling your hips at him. “Because that's exactly what is going to happen.”

Suddenly, desire and hunger roared like a wild beast. Kaz watched you, bent over his desk, obedient, surrendered, offering every inch of your body to him.

His breath was burning in his throat and it was no longer possible to order his thoughts, contain his euphoria. He would fuck you so hard that it would make that memory the only thought when you remembered him. When you dare to rebut his orders.

Kaz pulled you skirt up and your panties down, letting out a groan that sounded more like a growl as he saw your wet core. Pulsing and desperate for him. For anything he wanted to give you. It sparked a fervent desire that Brekker had never felt in his life, devastating any possibility of thinking about anything other than fucking you.

Playing with your fingers in your slick, wet folds, you whimpered again, the core pulsing whenever he teased you inside, pressing his fingertips there but never entering.

"Do you want me to fuck you?" His voice came over the top of your shoulder, hoarse, animalistic, full of profane desires.

"Please." You were quick to beg “I do what you want! But just...please, please… ”

You already felt your eyes watering from over-stimulation, your heart burning so hard it was beating, your core aching from emptiness.

You sealed the end of the game between you. Kaz had won. In a triumphant checkmate.

And you didn't have to beg again. Barely seeing when he unbuttoned his pants, you just reasoned his hard, hot, pulsating member by opening your from the inside. Claiming everything that was yours as his in a strong, desperate, hungry lunge.

"S-sir!" You screamed, your nails scraping the wood from the table, the core pulsing overwhelmingly around his rigid member.

In a more badly lunge, Kaz sank completely into you, moaning loudly as he hit rock bottom. The gloved hand slid over your shoulder, propelled you to him while the bare hand tightened on your waist, hitting you at a steady, raw, animalistic rhythm.

The sounds were pornographic, dirty and loud, echoing off the walls. The air was hot like molten lava, pungent and muffled, driving you two lost breath. Their bodies clashed as if the world was going to end tomorrow, in aggressive, rough thrusts. These were thrusts that made half of his things on the table fall to the floor, mixing in a mess that would serve as a reminder later about the sinful activities you two did.

You screamed when Kaz took on more force, his fingers squeezing you so hard that they would leave you with marks on your shoulder and waist the next day.

"Fucking hell!" Kaz snarled between his teeth, feeling your flesh throb around him, squeezing he with such desperation that he knew you were close.

You sobbed, tears streaming down the corners of your eyes as you pushed your ass towards him, trying to bring him as deep as possible, as deep inside you as possible. But every time his pelvis smashed into your ass, a loud moan and the feeling of being completely full drowned you.

You begged, pleaded, for something you didn't know. But Kaz seemed to know. Taking both hands to your hips, your pace became even more unperturbed, pushing you to the limit until you cum in a scream in his name, your lungs on fire. Kaz came close behind, sinking as deep as possible and pouring all the hot liquid into you. Almost like a brand.

The air was filled with sex, lust and desire, filled only by the sound of their ragged breaths that struggled to stabilize.

You were still panting when Kaz's voice came after you: "Whatever I want, don't I?"

A deal with the devil.

[klbwriting]

Pirate’s Heart - Chapter 11

Ruin My Life

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader

Summary: hearts are found and a new problem arises

Notes: so now you can see why I gave these two a catch phrase, just so a pop song worked out for me

Taglist:  @sixofshadowandbone​​ @thedelusionreaderbitch​​ @itsemy01​​ @angelicdanvers​​ @marinettepotterandplagg​​ @screen-to-stage​​ @aysegust​​ @sagewrites111​​ @lilyoflower​​ @madeofsilkandsteel​​​ @starjane312​​​ @spawn0fsatan​​​ @myalupinblack​​​ @ameliathackray​​​ @moondustmarauder​​​ @lizcookie1

I want you to ruin my life You to ruin my life, you to ruin my life, yeah I want you to fuck up my nights, yeah Fuck up my nights, yeah, all of my nights, yeah I want you to bring it all on If you make it all wrong, then I'll make it all right

When Kaz woke up he panicked for moment.  The room around him was not his.  It was messier than he would ever keep his quarters, papers strewn about, hand drawn pictures on the walls.  He was in a bed larger than his own, dark sheets and a heavy blanket over him.  He sat up quick and realized that this must be Y/N's cabin.  He stood slowly, feeling like someone had beat him with a pipe.  His mind was foggy but he vaguely remembered holding Y/N close and falling out a window into the sea.  Rollins's office, Nina betrayed him, he betrayed Y/N, she had still saved him.  He groaned as he stood, grabbing for his cane, his leg on fire.  He was about to head up above deck when the door opened and Y/N came in.  

"O, you're awake, good this won't get cold then," she said.  Her voice triggered another memory from the previous night.  I love you Kaz she had said.  She loved him.  Was it enough for her to get her heart back?  Was his love enough for that?  He swallowed hard and looked at what she was carrying, breakfast, eggs, a biscuit with some kind of gravy, bacon.  Where did this all come from? "Where did you get all this?" he asked.  She set the tray on her desk and motioned for him to sit.  He did gingerly and started to eat, his stomach feeling empty entirely.  

"I keep some extras on the ship, some luxuries in case we get new girls.  Usually they'd only been fed gruel or broth, a good meal makes them feel welcome," she explained, sitting on her bed.  She sat quietly by as he ate, just watching him.  She was so relieved that the fall didn't seriously hurt him.  After she woke she had had her medic come in and do a quick exam, nothing invasive, just enough to make sure he wasn't bleeding internally.  She also had made sure to send a small crew out to find his ship.  She was still waiting on word from them.  "How much does it hurt?"

"I'm pretty sure hitting the cobbles from that height feels better than this," he said, pushing the empty plate away.  "You saved my life last night."

"Well, my girl got you into that mess, I wasn't going to leave you all there" she said.  She looked at him behind her desk and shook her head.  He looked amazing.  She didn't care if he restored he heart or not, he was her love and that's all she cared about.

"So you said you loved me last night," he said, standing up and moving to sit beside her.  She nodded.

"I did," she answered.  They weren't looking at each other but she felt his hand sliding over hers gently.  

" Y/N, I don't know if what I feel is enough..." he said.  She held up her hand.  

"I don't care Kaz, I love you.  “I don't know if my heart will choose you to be my true love but my soul does.  I choose you, my mind, my soul, my very being chooses you.  Fuck my heart, who cares?  I want you to ruin my life, I want you to fuck up every night for the rest of my life," she said, finally looking at him.  As soon as she faced him he gripped her face and kissed her softly.  His lips were unpracticed but warm and so inviting.  After a few moments she felt a pain in her chest.  She doubled over, pulling back from Kaz and gripping her chest as she fell to the floor.  She groaned as she felt something beat, felt a pulse, felt absolutely everything.  

" Y/N?" Kaz asked, reaching out and touching her back.  She grabbed onto his hand and pressed it to her chest.  He stared, feeling her heartbeat against his hand.  She took a deep breathe, sitting back against the bed, looking at him.  "Well that is a declaration of love if I ever saw one."

"I knew it was you, knew that first time I saw you when you finally grew up.  I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize that I got to choose  my true love," she said.  Kaz just pulled her back to him for a  moment, kissing her head.  

"We can't stay here can we?" he asked.  She shook her head.  

"I sent a message out about the Crow, I'm trying to find it.  If Rollins really has a new fighter we're going to need to sink that think quick before it can sink us," she said.  "Plus, everyone thinks you might be dead."

"Out there..."

"Out there we can be whatever you want."

"I want to be careful.  Rollins seems to think we are just professionally linked still, we should keep it that way.  He thinks we're just working together to find the sea witch..."

"Which he knows we found?"

"I'm sorry," he said.  She looked at him and touched his still bruised face gently.  "But yes, he knows we have the gem, he said if he finds us he will send his entire naval force."  She nodded.  

"I may need to do something drastic then, we can't handle all of the ships in the navy with just our vessels and this gem on me," she said.  Kaz frowned.

"What else could you do?" he asked.

"Fuse the gem to my body, completely take its power," she said.  "Its what the sea witches did to restore the reef."  Kaz looked at her.  No, that could not possibly be what she was thinking.

"They were destroyed," he said.  She nodded.

"I know, but I won't let anything happen to you or my crew, I will protect you all with my life if I have to," she said.  "I need you on my side about this."  Kaz turned his eyes to the ground before turning to look at her.  

"Please, lets just try with our ships first," he said.  He couldn't imagine letting her do this without trying something else first.  He had already lost his parents, his brother, his childhood, what else would have to sacrifice to the sea before it had its fill?  

"We can try, but we have to find your ship first," she said.  She stood slowly, offering her hand to him.  He took it and stood.  "We have to get out there."  

"Before we go," he said softly, turning her face him, lips finding hers.  He nodded then for her to lead.  

On deck the rest of the crew waited, all of them cheering when Kaz emerged.  He almost smiled but waved them down, trying to look annoyed.  He was glad his people were safe, he could only hope the rest of the crew was safe too, wherever they were.   Y/N leaned on the side of the ship, still rubbing her chest.  Kaz realized a second too late, not able to push her hand away before Nina noticed.

" Y/N...something bothering you?" she asked.   Y/N removed her hand and blushed a little.  "O my God, it was Kaz!"  Kaz gave one loud bang from his cane on the floor and sent Nina a withering look to shut her up.  Nina closed her mouth, looking scared.  She should be, Kaz was still livid with her, if she wasn't so important to Y/N he would've killed her.  

"Is the messenger back yet?" Y/N asked, moving in front of Kaz to block him from even looking at Nina.  The others shook their heads.  "We are going to try to take out this new fighter Rollins says he has using both the Crow and the Menagerie.  It will be hard but we need to do something, Rollins has finally had it with us and has made us enemy number one to the navy."  She would leave out the part about fusing the gem to her body.  That was something private between her and Kaz for now, she wouldn't worry the others about it.  A young woman hurried over to the group, handing Y/N a piece of parchment.  She took it and frowned, reading it over twice to make sure she was seeing this correctly.  

"Where's the Crow?" Kaz asked.  

"They've abandoned it near Pirate Island," she said.  "This is clearly a trap...that new fighter is going to be there.  How much tonic do we still have?"

  "3," Inej answered.   Y/N nodded.  

"We'll need to go under them," she said.  She looked at Kaz.  "I'll need you to lead these girls as a distraction until we can take the ship and free the crew and join the fight."  

"Of course, I will keep Nina and Inej with me, you take my crew, they will be helpful against the military assholes," he said.  She agreed.  

"Raise the sails, its time to spring this trap."

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 4

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: And we’re back with another chapter! I am honestly worried how this one will be received by you guys but for another reason completely, you will probably know what I mean haha I won’t hold you guys back any longer, let’s go!

Chapter 5

For the last few days, the ex-residents of Woodbury had been asking Glenn and Daryl to make a run back to Woodbury to get some of the things they left. They’d been telling them about their infirmary that should be stocked with their medical supplies. The kids had even been chiming in, asking them to pick up some of their toys they left behind. After discussing it with Daryl, Glenn decided that they would go back to Woodbury and take a look for anything useful back in the town. The two set out for the run, bringing along Sasha and Tyreese as they had experience outside the prison and they resided in Woodbury for a time so they could guide Glenn and Daryl where to look.

Gloria was on her shift at the fences, taking out walkers with her daggers. Since both Tyreese and Sasha had left on the run with Daryl and Glenn, she was the only one on her shift. Maggie was on watch and Carol was busy watching the kids in the library. Gloria had taken it upon herself to take care of the bodies of the walkers she had killed. As she walks to get the car, Nina meets up with her halfway.

“Hey, you going somewhere?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.

“Burning the walker bodies.” Gloria tells her as she doesn’t stop walking to the trucks.

Nina follows her, “you’re going alone?” and Gloria hums a yes, “I’ll come with you, we aren’t supposed to leave the prison alone anyway.”

Gloria slows her pace and looks at Nina, “you don’t have to, I can do it myself.”

“I want to help, okay? Please? Plus, I want to make it up to you for making you feel bad the other day.” Nina looks down to the ground.

“Alright, come on, we’re taking the blue truck.” Gloria tells her after pondering for a moment, then starts making her way again to the vehicles with Nina following her. 

Gloria gets into the driver’s seat as Nina climbs into the passenger’s seat. She drives the truck to the gate of the courtyard, driving it through with Karen’s help as she opens and closes the gate. She honks the horn lightly to call Carl to open the main gate for her and he does it quickly, then closes it as soon as the truck is outside. With Nina’s help, Gloria collects the bodies of the walkers outside the fence into the truck and they proceed to drive to the designated area to burn the bodies. 

Putting the truck into park and turning off the engine, Gloria jumps out the truck and starts to move the bodies from the truck into the hole that was pre-dug. Nina follows her actions and does the same. Once the back of the truck is empty of walker bodies, Gloria lights the bodies in the hole on fire. The flames crackle for a while before Gloria douses it, shoveling dirt into the hole to prevent any walkers from being attracted to the light and sound of the fire. 

“Alright, done!” Gloria lets out a breath of relief, then looks to Nina, “come on, let’s go back.”

Nina smiles back but then looks behind Gloria and lets out a scream. She then turns and starts running away into the woods. Expecting a herd of walkers behind her, Gloria spins around with her hands ready to pull out her daggers from her belt, however she sees nothing but forest. Frowning in confusion, she looks in the direction Nina had run.

“Nina!” Gloria calls out as she chases after the other woman, “Nina, there’s nothing there, it’s okay, you can come back.”

She searches for her in the woods until she comes across a cabin where she sees Nina panting, breathless from running. Nina seems to be startled by Gloria coming out of the woods as she fumbles back then lets out a sigh of relief when she sees that it’s only Gloria.

“What was that about?” Gloria asks, frustrated that Nina made her chase her out here for nothing.

“I thought I saw something behind you.” Nina says innocently. 

“Well, there wasn’t anything. Come on, let’s head back to the truck.” Gloria says as she turns around.

“Wait! Shouldn’t we check out this cabin?” Nina calls out to her, making Gloria turn back around.

She glances at Nina then at the cabin. It seemed pretty sturdy, the windows were dirty from the outside grime but were still intact. She takes a few steps closer to the cabin to peek into the windows, her back now to Nina. It seemed clean and secure, but Gloria wasn’t about to rummage a cabin in the middle of the woods with Nina. She was not an experienced fighter and if anything happened, Gloria would have to fight for the both of them.

“We should tell the others abou- ah!” Gloria’s words are cut off when she feels a sharp pain on the back of her head, making her fall to the ground, her vision blurring as she looks up at Nina. 

The last thing Gloria saw before she blacked out was Nina holding a rock and a sick grin on the woman’s face. 

---

Groaning and wincing at the pain throbbing in her head, Gloria opens her eyes and finds herself tied to a chair. She looks around and realizes that she was in the cabin Nina had supposedly stumbled upon. Well, that was bullshit. Gloria tugs at her restraints but stops when she hears footsteps coming from behind her.

“Awake already?” Nina cooes as she walks in front of Gloria. 

Gloria looks at Nina warily, noticing that her clothing and hair were messy, disheveled, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m just getting rid of you,” Nina says with a smirk, “I’m going to kill you and leave absolutely no trace of you.”

“You know you’re never gonna get away with this. The hell are you going to tell the others when you get back and I’m not with you? Maggie saw us leave together and so did Carl.” Gloria argues, Carol was definitely right about her.

To Gloria’s dismay, Nina chuckles, “Oh, of course I know that. I’ll just tell the others that you, being the super selfless person you are, sacrificed yourself to save little ol’ me. We got swarmed by a herd and you caused a distraction, allowing me to run. And they’ll believe it because that definitely sounds like something Glenn’s baby sister would do.”

Gloria mutters a curse under her breath. She had actually come up with something the group might even believe. She remembers the other day when Carol told her about the conversation she had with Glenn and Daryl. Nina must have overheard and come up with this plan. 

“Stop this!” Gloria shouts, “Glenn and Daryl are going to find out about this and so will Rick, none of them are going to let this slide. You really think they’re that stupid to believe your story?”

Her only play now was to scare Nina into thinking her plan wouldn’t work and that they’d see through it. She had to stop Nina from doing whatever it was she planned or else Gloria might not make it out alive. 

“Nuh uh, they’ll be grieving too much when they find your body all torn up,” Nina prances around the cabin, “and that’s when I’ll find Daryl, comfort him in his saddest moment, and then he’ll be mine!”

“You’re willing to become a murderer just for a guy?” Gloria could not believe that she was caught up in some sort of psycho love triangle and she was about to die for it.

“He’s not just any guy. He’s Daryl!” Nina glares at her, her eyes flare up in anger, “I love him and I’ll do anything for him! I’ll prove it!”

That’s when Gloria hears the snarling from outside. She looks at the dirty windows and sees a mass number of walkers just outside the cabin. 

“Listen, you don’t want to do this.” Gloria starts, “there’s an actual herd outside the cabin and you’re going to need me to fight them, you’re not getting back to the prison without me, not with all those walkers out there.”

“You’re right, I do need you...” Nina says but then smirks, “but not to fight, I just need you to distract them so I can get out of here.”

Gloria watches as Nina comes closer to her and pulls both of Gloria’s daggers out of their sheaths. Throwing one to the other side of the cabin, she points the tip of the dagger to Gloria’s face, barely poking at her skin.

“The walkers will be drawn to the scent of your blood, they’ll be distracted by you and your screams when they start tearing you apart right in this very chair.” Nina snickers, moving the blade away from Gloria’s face.

“You’re a fucking psychopath!” Gloria shouts.

Nina laughs then slashes Gloria’s chest with the dagger, making Gloria cry out at the sudden pain. She doesn’t stop there though, Nina proceeds to slash at her upper arms and forearms. 

Gloria seethes at the sting on her now bloody skin, “Daryl will never love you.” 

Nina’s grip on the dagger tightens as she gets angry at her words, she glares at Gloria then steps forward and stabs Gloria in the abdomen, causing her to gasp loudly at the pain. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Daryl.” Nina says as she pulls the dagger out of Gloria, and throws it somewhere in the cabin. 

She steps back and goes to the door, “main course is ready!”

Nina bangs on the front door loudly three times and then opens it to reveal a bloody mess of dead animals littered on the porch with walkers devouring the flesh. Nina runs to the back of the cabin and makes her exit. The walkers’ attention now on Gloria, catching the scent of her freshly spilled blood and flesh. 

“Fuck...” Gloria swears under her breath as the walkers start getting up and making their way towards her.

She tugs at the restraints but they’re too tight. Her feet were also tied to the legs of the chair but found that they were still touching the ground. Gloria carefully lifts her body, attempting to stand up, putting her weight onto her feet while the chair was still attached to her body. She had to keep her balance otherwise she’d be walker food. Noting that the chair was old, she prayed that enough force would easily break it. Gloria steadies herself and then pushes herself off her feet, propelling herself backwards, letting her body and the chair fall back into the wall. The momentum from her push and the weight of her body was enough force to crumble the chair, freeing Gloria. She rolls around on the ground, groaning at the pain in her torso. 

Gloria quickly gets up as she sees the walkers beginning to pile into the room. Out of habit, she reaches down to her belt for her daggers and groans as they’re missing. She scans her surroundings and picks up two now broken chair legs and starts swinging them at the walkers, fighting for her life.

---

Spotting the prison gates, Nina ruffles her hair and tears her own shirt. She makes a face and starts to wail, fake tears streaming down her face now as she runs out of the woods and to the prison where Carl was sitting. 

“Open the gates!” Nina shrieks, waving her arms frantically as she runs towards the prison.

Carl gets up immediately and opens the gate for Nina, worry written all over his face, “hey, what happened? Are you okay?”

Nina drops to the ground and sobs, her hair covering her face. Rick and Hershel were taking care of the crops and piglets when they heard Nina’s cries. Concerned, the two made their way over to where her and Carl were. Carl looks out to the road and the forest, then frowns even more when he realizes Gloria isn’t with her. 

“Hey, where’s Gloria?” Carl asks when Rick gets to them.

“Nina? Nina, hey, are you alright?” Rick asks, kneeling at Nina’s side. 

Nina just continues to sob, making Rick look up at Hershel, “bring her inside, she might calm down once she realizes she’s back home.”

Rick nods and helps Nina stand as he starts to walk her back to the prison, “Carl, come inside.”

“No.” Carl tells his father, “Gloria’s still out there, I have to be here to let her in when she gets back.”

A soft smile creeps on Rick’s face as he nods, “okay.”

Rick and Hershel help Nina into the prison, her sobs have softened but she wasn’t able to stop crying. Her sobs and cries catch the attention of everyone in the main area. Rick helps her sit down at one of the tables. 

“What happened?” Carol asks, coming out from Cell Block C. 

Rick shakes his head and sighs, “I don’t know, she isn’t able to talk and she hasn’t stopped crying.”

Sasha goes up to Nina, sitting down beside her and puts her hand on her shoulder, “Nina, what happened? We only want to help.”

Nina shakes her head and sobs harder. Sasha sighs and gets up as she isn’t able to break her walls she seems to have put up but then she gets an idea. Nina didn’t really like Sasha or anyone in particular but everyone knew she liked Daryl. 

“Daryl,” she calls out to him as he leans against the wall with his arms crossed, “try and get her to talk.” 

He hesitantly looks around as everyone looks at him. Nina had made it painfully obvious she liked Daryl and he knew it too. Hating that everyone’s eyes were now on him, he sighs then makes his way to Nina. Sasha moves out of the way to give them some space. 

“Nina... what happened?” Daryl asks as she sits down beside her. 

In an instant, Nina throws her arms around Daryl and cries. Daryl didn’t really know what to do, he was never comfortable with physical contact, especially with anyone he wasn’t close with. But Nina was crying and he had his arms up, hovering over her body, clearly uncomfortable. 

“Daryl, I was so scared! I went out to burn the walker bodies and got swarmed by a herd! I barely made it out!” she chokes out between sobs. 

“You went out there alone?” Carol frowns as she asks the question.

“No,” Maggie frantically says as she walks out from Cell Block C, “she left with Gloria, I was on watch when they left.” 

“Yeah, I opened the gate for them to drive out the courtyard.” Karen chimes in, crossing her arms.

Glenn jumps up at this and Daryl puts his hands on Nina’s shoulder to push her away from him, “Where’s Gloria?” 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Nina starts to bawl again, “I didn’t want to leave her but she told me to! I didn’t want to! She yelled at me to leave while she caused a distraction for me to come back here!” 

Not believing her story, Carol doesn’t say another word as she rushes out the building, followed quickly by Daryl, Glenn, Maggie and Rick. The five of them run to the front gates as Rick yells to Carl to open the gates for them. They were going to bring Gloria back, they had to.

---

Next Chapter

SO, that just happened! :D I’m gonna get bombarded by angry comments now aren’t I... hehehe I still love you all~~ hope you enjoyed this infuriating chapter, please let me know what you thought! I’m gonna go hide now!! Love you~

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

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[13dead-ends]

Chapter Three Dates and Parties

Henry Cavill x Named OC

Chapter Three of Blood Bound

Summary: Nina’s adjusting to life in London and to working as Henry’s donor. She starts to realize that there’s more than just fancy outings and parties that come with the pay raise.

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: mentions of blood, blood drinking, wrist biting/wounds, swearing, mentions and descriptions of a riot/protest, drinking.

A/N: Chapter three yay! I really hope you all enjoy it! @hellcaster901​ watched as i suffered through a block to get this out. If i missed any warnings on this chapter or any other chapter let me know! Happy reading :)

           I couldn’t go back to sleep again, so I went to the kitchen to start dinner. I found pasta and sauce. I thought about Henry telling me to eat a big dinner and then the dream. I groaned and shook my head. Stop thinking about that. I focused on my spaghetti and watched the clock. Irene would be calling soon too. It didn’t take long to make, and I ate while watching Netflix. I sighed, thinking about binging The Witcher for the first time with Irene, we ate dinner on the couch like this so many times. I looked at my clock and she still wouldn’t call for half an hour. I finished and cleaned up, and then it was right about time for her to call me. I laid in bed and stared at my phone, waiting for her to call me. Soon her drunk selfie filled my phone screen for a facetime.

           “Ello mate,” Irene said in a terrible accent.

           “Please no accents.” I laughed at her. “How are you?”

           “Good, lonely.”

           “Aw, Irene.” I missed her bad.

           “Just keep my mind of it by telling me everything.” I told her about the flight, Penny, and gave her a little tour of the apartment.

           “Wait, Henry Cavill saw that picture of me?” She groaned. I had told her about Henry’s random compliment of my costume.

           “Hey, we looked awesome.”

           “Yeah, but I’m in a fucking orange wig.” I snorted.

           “You’ll have to come visit me. Then he can see your real hair.”

           “Of course I will. We’ll have to plan it.” She smiled. “Okay, tell me about Henry, how was it today? Did he feed yet? Has he-“

           “Irene chill out.” I chuckled. “But yes, he fed today.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He was nice.” I couldn’t think of words for what had happened today.

           “Nice? Nice? You’re gonna have to give me more than that.” I rolled my eyes.

           “It was different than before. I don’t know.” She tilted her head.

           “He is a million times more attractive.” Thinking of him in that tank top, in between my legs… “I don’t know how you don’t just combust at the site of him.”

           “Me neither, girl.” I took a big breath.

           “Have you been putting on the moves?” I scoffed.

           “Irene, he’d paying me.” She rolled her eyes.

           “Well, I heard that Mark Strong, who’s with Positive, had a relationship with a donor.” I sighed. I wasn’t sure what the rules were with that. Well, I guess in all the paperwork I had to go through there never was any mention of that.

           “I don’t know. It could get complicated.” I sighed it was hard to tell how something like this could pan out.

           “But you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” My cheeks burned.

           “No, I guess I can’t.” I muttered and she cackled.

           “I knew it!”

           “I fucking had a dream about him, Irene.” Her jaw dropped.

           “Tell me everything, immediately.” After talking with her for a while, I needed to go to bed and she needed to go to work. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep after hanging up.

 I stared at my closet, looking for something to wear. It was still nice out, but it would turn into fall soon and I wanted to wear something summery before it does. Henry had finally gotten a full day off so, he was taking me around the city today. I basically got to be tourist for the day. I had told him I wanted to see The Crown Jewels, but that was my only must. I was curious to see what he’d pick for me to see. I found a skirt and shirt to wear, and shoes easy to walk in. As I pulled my shirt over my head my phone rang.

           “Hello?” It was Henry.

           “Nina, good morning.”

           “Good morning,” I smiled into the phone.

           “I’m leaving to come get you now, are you ready?”

           “Yes, I am.” I looked in my mirror, my makeup simple so it wouldn’t melt off if it got hot.

           “Alright, great.” I squeezed the phone in between my shoulder and ear and began putting on my shoes.

           “I’m excited.”

           “Me too. I’ll see you soon.”

           “See you.” I hung up and got my shoes on. I went out and made sure I had everything together. I was so excited that I was pretty much ready before Henry would get here. I sighed and sat on my couch.

           If you don’t send me pictures of Henry while on your date today, I swear.

           I laughed at the text Irene sent.

           I’ll try, and it’s not a date. Go to bed.

           I didn’t wait for a reply and just scrolled through my phone until Henry got here. He knocked on my door and I grabbed my bag, all but skipping to the door.

           “Hey, ready to go?” He smiled at me.

           “I am! Let’s go,” He held the door open for me as I stepped out.

           “Someone’s excited.”

           “Well yes, of course I am.” I grinned up at him and he chuckled.    

           “I’m glad I finally get to show you around.” He had a hand on the small of my back as we got to the elevator. My skin tingled underneath the fabric of my shirt. He pressed the down button and it didn’t take long for it to open.

           “Where are we going first?”

 I stared at the glittering jewels in the glass case. They were beautiful and I couldn’t believe they existed. “You’ll fog up the glass,” Henry’s voice was right by my ear. I jumped at his sudden proximity to me. I bumped into his chest and he steadied me.

           “You scared me.” I could see his smirk in the reflection of the glass.

           “Come on, there’s still more to see.” He pulled me away by my elbow and I looked back at the pretty gems one more time. We went through the rest of Westminster and then he took me to the Eye. A giant Ferris wheel on the Thames. I stared up at it, the thing was intimidating.

           “Are you scared of heights?” Henry had our tickets in his hand, he stood next to me.

           “I don’t think so,” I chewed on my lip. “But that’s pretty high.”

           “You’ll be fine.” He smiled at me. “Shall we?” We waited in line for a bit and then he helped me on to the compartment. It was a little glass oval, so you could see outside from all angles. After jumping on the moving thing, we made our way up. The view of the city getting bigger and bigger.

           “It’s amazing.” I got closer to the window to see everything. I took a picture for Irene.

           “It’s beautiful.” He was standing next to me, arms crossed. I looked around the compartment. There wasn’t a lot of people in it, and they didn’t really notice that Henry Cavill was in here. I pursed my lips. When I looked back out the glass, we were almost at the top. I gulped, looking down into the Thames. I let out a little gasp and Henry’s hand found a place on my waist. The same tingles from before we’re there this time, my shirt was a little bunched up and my skin touched his.

           “That don’t look down thing is pretty good advice.” I muttered and He chuckled. The wheel circled back, around and we got off, Henry holding my hand as I did. He let go once I was off completely. I let him lead me down the side of the Thames.

“How about we go get something to eat?” He asked.

“Yes please.” I looked over at the Thames and boat floating through it. “Where are we going?”

“I remembered you saying something about sushi,” I smiled. “I think you’ll like this place.” We didn’t have to walk far and being this close to the river the temperature was perfect. It was such a good day for this. When we arrived I could already tell this place was fancy. I caught a little sign on the door window that said vampire owned and ran. Inside was a pretty dark-haired women at the hostess station. She smiled at us when we walked in.

“Hello! How many?”

“Just two, please.” She grabbed menus and lead the way. In the dining room was the normal looking place, but all the booths had dividers so you could be separated from other people. A lot of places like these popped up. It accommodates the vampires who want to feed in private while their donors ate as well. He’d feed again today. It had been about a week since he was at my apartment. It was about time. “A booth would be great.” She took us to the booth and we ordered drinks. I just stuck to water and looked at the menu.

“Get whatever you like.” The sugar daddy part of this arrangement was really nice when it came to food. When we ordered, Henry didn’t get anything, and when the waitress left, he shut the curtain that cut off our booth.  I thought of how it felt last time and swallowed. I felt like Henry would catch every little reaction I had. I couldn’t think about him too much, or that dream.

“What did your family think of you moving?” He asked suddenly. I took a breath.

“Well, I’m not really on speaking terms with most of my family, so I’m not sure.” I forced a laugh to make it less depressing, but he looked at me with a furrowed brow.

“Can I ask why?”

“They weren’t really into the idea of me donating like this.” I sighed.

“And you still do?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s been a really good way to make money and pay off loans. I’m okay with it and that’s all that matters.” He nodded. “What’s your family like?”

“I have four brothers.” I raised my eyebrows. “And our mum and dad.”

“Wow, what a lady. Raising four boys.” He smiles big.

“Yeah she’s the best.” He looked away for a second. “Did you go to University at all?” I guess it was twenty questions time.

“Yeah, I majored in English and Journalism.”” His eyebrows raised.

“A writer? Why don’t you do that?”

“Well, I do. I write articles for a little website sometimes, but after losing two book deals after graduating, I just, I don’t know.” I shrugged. I still wrote like crazy sometimes but kept it in journals. I didn’t even type them anymore.

“Why don’t you get back into it?” I chewed on my lip.

“That’s a good question.” I sighed. “I still write on my own. I just don’t really have the confidence to put much of it out there.” His face softened.

“I bet if you did it would do well.” He smiled.

“Well, thanks, but you haven’t even read my writing yet.” I laughed.

“Still, don’t sell yourself short.” He looked at me, his blue eyes seeing right through me, but in the gentlest way possible.

“I’m not really sure if this is a comfortable question, but how were you turned?” I didn’t know much about how the change worked. I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with the way you’re buried. I never asked questions, but I felt like I could with Henry. “You totally don’t have to answer that.” He shook his head.

“That’s a long story. For another time if you don’t mind.” He didn’t look at me, and I figured it was a touchy subject. I wanted to know more, but if he didn’t want to tell me…

“Sorry,” He shook his head, his smile returning, but it was smaller. “Did it hurt? Changing?”

“It was kind of like falling asleep and waking up, just as something else.” I nodded.

“Is any of your family a vampire too?”

“No, just me.” He pursed his lips. “Did you ever ask your last client these questions?” I tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Not really, he didn’t talk that much.” I sighed. “Sorry, I’m grilling you. Just tell me to shut up if it’s too much.” He laughed.

“It’s alright. What’s this website you write for?”

“It’s just a little site, kind of like Buzzfeed. I write articles about donor news mostly.” He nodded.

“I’ll have to check it out.” I shook my head. “What? You don’t want me to?”

“No, yes. It’s fine.” I gave him the website and he pulled it up on his phone immediately. “Not now!” In a panic I reached for his phone and obviously he was too quick for me. The phone all but disappeared from my sight. He was so fast.

“I’ll look later.” He smirked at me.

“How fast are you?” My eyes were wide.

“Very fast and strong.”

“That’s why you do your own stunts.” I leaned my chin on my hand. “What else can you do?”

“My senses are the same as yours, if your senses were magnified by a 100.”

“Are they really?” I leaned forward.

“Yes, it’s like everything I see, or touch, is more intense than when I was a human.” I thought of the way he held my wrist when he fed. How did my skin felt to him?

“That must be amazing.”

“It’s overwhelming. At first.” Suddenly the waitress came by with our food and left quickly.

“I-“My phone ringing cut me off. I huffed. Who was calling me? “Let me see who that is.” I pulled out my phone and saw Irene’s picture. I furrowed my brows; she knew I was going to be with Henry all day. Plus it was the middle of the night there. She wouldn’t call unless she had to.

“Irene? What’s up?” I answered.

“Nina! Oh my god, are you okay? Where are you?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m with Henry. Why?”

“Have you not heard? There was a huge riot at the Positive building in London. I was binging a show all night and I saw news footage.”

“What?” Henry and I made eye contact. He pulled out his phone and started looking it up.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if you would be there today. I wanted to call.” She sighed.

“No, we haven’t been there today.” I had only been to the building once since I’ve been here. It wasn’t as big as the one in LA but had the same resources. “What did you read?”

“They were protesting the donors, shitting on vamps too. Then someone broke a window or something. Shit hit the fan and cops were all over. It looked kind of crazy.” I rubbed my temple. This was a normal occurrence in this line of work. People still didn’t like this.

“Thanks for checking on me.”

“I was just worried. I wanted to make sure.” I nodded.

“Well, you should get to bed, okay?”

“Okay. Text me later.”

“I will.” I hung up and took a deep breath. Henry was watching a video of the riot, now. He turned it so I could watch with. A large group of people holding signs stood in front of the building. The signs said things like donors are sinners and vampire whores. I cringed at them. They were directed at people like me. The front glass door suddenly shattered and the camera shook. Some of the protesters ran in, and others just stayed, yelling at who ever came close. I clenched my jaw and leaned back on the booth.

“Fucking psychos.” I mumbled. I crossed my arms.

“Did you deal with that a lot in LA?” I nodded, looking up. “It happens here every now and then.”

“It’s not that hard for them to mind their business.” I decided to focus on the food instead of the riot. I’d do my research tonight and probably write an article, but right now I didn’t feel like dealing with it. Henry put his phone away and sighed.

“How is it?” I smiled.

“It’s great! Thank you for bringing me.”

“Of course. It’s a good place.”

“Very private.” I raised my eyebrows.

“That’s what I like.” He smirked. “When you’re finished, I’d like to eat as well, if you’re okay with that?” I nodded.

“Of course.” I said mouth full of rice. I swallowed. “Sorry,” He just grinned at me, laughing under his breath. After getting my fill of the rolls, Henry stacked the dishes, pushing them out of the way. I held my arm out across the table, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

“Thank you,” Henry leaned forward and took my hand, just as delicate as before. He kissed the inside of my wrist. I kept my eyes opened as his fangs pierced my skin once again. The warmth from him came back and my toes curled. Chills ran up my back as I watched him take my blood. His eyes were shut and his hands were big around my arm. His lips were pillow soft on my skin. I let my eyes flutter shut for the rest. Basking in the feeling it gave me.

“Are you good?”He finished but my eyes hadn’t opened.

“Yep, I’m alright.” I opened them just in time to see him wipe a tiny speck of red off his mouth. I absently licked my lips. I took a long drink of water, I still felt the feeling lingering, the ghost of his lips still on my skin.

“What got you into this?” I grabbed a bandage out of my purse for my wounds.

“I girl in my dorm told me about it my first year of college. I would only donate at labs at first, and it got me some extra cash.” When started opening the band aid Henry held out his hand for it. I handed it to him and stretched my arm out again. “My last two summers I would get a lot of money for my blood specifically. I stopped after I graduated, but when I didn’t get a book deal, I came back.” Henry nodded, and stuck the bandage on, smoothing it with the pad of his thumb.

“There,” he smiled at me. “You ready to go?” I nodded and Henry paid and we left. We stayed away from the Positive building, there wasn’t really a plan to go there but now we avoided it. I was just happy to let Henry be my tour guide. He took me to local places I would’ve never heard of if he wasn’t with me. It was a fun afternoon.

“Did you have fun?” Henry was at my door; I had stepped inside while he had his feet planted in the hallway.

“Yes, today was wonderful.” I grinned at him. “Did you?”

“I did.” He smiled too. “I do have somewhere to be so I’m going get out of here. Good night, Nina.”

“Thank you so much for today, and goodnight.” I hesitated, but he walked off, so I shut the door and leaned against it. My eyes were shut, and I took a deep breath. It was such a good day. I went to my couch and turned on the TV. Of course, similar footage to the video on Henry’s phone splayed over my screen. I chewed on my lip. I had almost forgotten Irene’s frantic call. I turned up the volume listening to the reporter on screen.

“There was significant damage to the front windows of the building, but no one was hurt during the attack.” I sighed. That’s good to hear. “Police are investigating possible suspects.” I listened to the news for a little while, there wasn’t much information yet, just more videos and interviews with people who were there. I changed it eventually and just ordered food for dinner, my feet started to feel the effects of walking around all day. It was easy to fall asleep that night.

 A few weeks and visits with Henry later, I stared at myself in my mirror. I was wearing a black floor length dress with glittery sequins in lines down the entire thing. I had splurged for this evening party for the company. It was the London location’s 10-year anniversary and they were having a celebration. Sarah and Kari would even be there. Kari had emailed me asking if I wanted to be sat next to her. It was an assigned seats kind of party, so with Henry’s pay checks kicking in, I got a nice dress. I even curled my hair and winged my eyeliner. Obviously, employees and donors could go. What I didn’t know until this morning was that clients were invited as well. I was glad I got the dress. If there was a chance that he might be there I wanted to look good. I smoothed the dress down and took a deep breath. It’s okay if he’s not there. You got this dress for yourself. My phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts. It was my Uber, here to pick me up.

           The party was being held at a very fancy hotel downtown. It towered over me as I stepped out of the car. I walked up to the door and a door man held it open for me. I thanked him and gripped my small purse in my hands. Inside was a beautiful room with two large desks on both sides. A fountain surrounded by a few comfortable looking couches was in the center. I turned to a woman at the desk, she looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I cleared my throat.

           “Could you tell me where the Positive party is?” I smiled at her.

           “Do you let those things bite you?” I stepped back at the bluntness of her question.

           “I-“

           “I’m so sorry, Ms, the party is down the hall on your left.” A man came from a door behind the desk, gesturing toward the hall. I only nodded and walked off. What the hell was that? I didn’t look back at the girl and just went straight to the open grand double doors. I heard light music playing from them and golden light spilled out onto the floor. I turned and saw a large ballroom. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and large white tables surrounded a dance floor. I blinked at the beautiful place.

           “Hi there!” I turned to my right to see a table filled with names and seat numbers. “What’s the last name?” A smiling women sat behind it all.

           “Locke.” I told her, trying to see if Henry’s name was anywhere.

           “Nina?” I nodded. “Table 17.” She handed me the number and I thanked her, then walked out to find the table.

           “Nina! Over here!” A few tables a head is where Kari sat, waving me over. I walked quickly over to her. “You’re next to me.” She patted the chair next to her. I sat down, admiring the pretty dishes set up in front of me. “You look beautiful.”

           “Thank you. So, do you.” She did. She wore a gown that fit her figure perfectly.

           “How have you been? Do you like London?” She smiled at me.

           “Yes, it’s amazing. How are you?” We did a little small talk and then other people came and sat down. A girl sitting next to me.

           “Nina, this is Abbey, another donor.” I shook her hand, she had pink lip gloss and blonde hair. “Abbey this is Nina.”

           “Hello, welcome to London. Kari told me you just moved.” She smiled.

           “Yeah, are you from here?” She nodded. “How long have you been donating?” I loved meeting other donors. I liked hearing their experiences.

           “Around five years.”

           “She’s Tom Hiddleston’s favorite.” Kari nudged me and my eyes widened.

           “You’re Tom Hiddleston’s donor?” She rolled her eyes at Kari.

           “Yes, he’s a good client.”

           “Oh, he’s more than that.” I furrowed my brows.

           “What do you mean?” I asked.

           “They definitely sleep together.” A man with curly hair came and sat on the other side of Kari. My mouth fell open a little. “I’m James by the way.” He smiled at me. “I’m a donor as well.

           “James is very mouthy.” Abbey glared at him.

           “I didn’t realize you were allowed to-“

           “Oh, the company doesn’t get involved with your relationships.” Kari told me.

           “Oh wow.” I mumbled. I looked behind me at the door and didn’t see him. I imagined myself giving in to the feeling his feeding gave me. What if I did? It wouldn’t matter contract wise. I shut my eyes for a second and took a breath. They began talking about their lives and I listened, getting served drinks and dinner as we spoke. James was a donor for multiple people, one including Lady Gaga. Before she was Tom Hiddleston’s donor, Abbey was a donor for a really rich engineer. He had given her yacht for her birthday last year. I couldn’t believe half the stories they told me. They gossip about other donors too, and I never realized how competitive it could be.

           “A lot of ladies were mad when they found out Henry Cavill had picked a donor.” I had told them who my client was, and everyone’s attention was on me.

           “Really?” I looked between the three.

           “Oh yeah, his profile was very popular.” Kari took a drink of wine. I wondered again why he picked me. “He wanted me to get it to you first though.” She looked at me. “Have you and him…” She nudged me and I shook my head.

           “No, nothing like that.” I gulped.

           “Is he coming at all tonight?” I had been looking at the door throughout all of dinner. He wasn’t here yet, so why would he show up now?

           “I don’t know. We never even spoke about this. I only just found out clients were coming this morning.” Abbey sighed.

           “Tom isn’t here either.” She crossed her arms over her stomach. “Filming.” Henry had told me he’d start filming soon. I wonder how that will affect how much I get to see him. The waiters took our plates and the dance floor was opened up. Abbey and Kari went out there and James was talking to some one who had come over from another table. I got up to get another drink. Maybe if I had something a little stronger, I’d be confident enough to dance. I held my dress up as I walked over. I ordered a screwdriver and a shot. I felt drained from the socializing. The bartender handed me the drinks and I tipped him. I took the shot and my face scrunched up at the taste.

           “Damn it.” I cursed.

           “Didn’t taste good?” I jumped and turned around. Henry was standing there chuckling at the empty shot glass still in my hand.

           “Shit, you scared me.” I set the glass down.

           “Sorry,” He smiled at me. “I’m not sure if the shot means it’s been a good night or a bad one?” I licked my still bitter lips.

           “It’s fine, it’s a good night. Being social just gets to be a lot sometimes.” I chuckled, my neck feeling warm from the booze. “How’s your night?”

           “Great, I’m glad I decided to come.”

           “Why’s that?”

           “I wasn’t sure if you were coming, and I would’ve been bored if you weren’t here.” I couldn’t help but grin up at him.

           “I’m glad you came too.” We stood at the bar and talked, I liked his stories better than the drama Abbey and James spoke about. He had started training for the next season of The Witcher, he told me about the moves he learned, and I was hanging on his every word.

           “So basically, when I turn around the sword will-“ We looked up as someone called Henry’s name. “Oh, that’s a friend. I’ll be right back.” I just nodded and leaned on the bar. I had got most of the drink down and hearing the music made me want to go dance. As I took another drink a beautiful, curvy, red headed women stood at the bar a few feet away from me. She was hard not to stare at, but when my eyes met hers, I froze. She was staring right back at me. One perfect eyebrow raised; lips pursed. If looks could kill.

           “Nina! Come on, you have to dance a little.” Kari had run up from the dance floor. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back with her. The girl flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned away. Who the hell was that? Kari didn’t give me time to think as she spun me around, forcing me to dance with her and Abbey. I don’t know how long I danced before the music changed to something slower. Almost from muscle memory I began walking off the floor, but just before I got to the edge I was stopped by Henry. He held a hand out to me.

           “Do you want to dance?” I smiled and took his hand. It was colder than mine. He pulled me close, a modest grip on my waist, but his touch felt good. He held one hand up and I placed my other one on his shoulder. My heart was racing.

           “I’m probably not very good.” I looked down at my feet as we began moving.

           “You were doing fine with your friends.” I looked back up at him and he was smirking at me. “Just relax. I can hear your heart beating.”

           “So, you can hear that.” He rolled his eyes. It felt like he was gliding me over the floor.

           “Yes, I always can.” He whispered and a shiver ran up my spine. “You look beautiful by the way. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that.”

“Thank you,” I looked back down at my feet, to make sure I wouldn’t step on him.

“Look up at me, don’t worry about your feet.”

“It’s not mine I’m worried about. I feel like I’m gonna step on you.” I laughed, and so did he.

“You’re fine. You haven’t stepped on me yet.” I nodded.

“True,” I tried to keep my eyes on him, but sometimes his blue eyes were hard to stare into. It made me feel vulnerable, but almost in a good way.

“I saw your article.” That’s when I almost tripped.

“You did?” I had written an article about the riot at the company. It became the top story on the site within a few hours. I was pretty proud of it. I wanted to lace the danger of the riot with my background of donating. I wanted to show how protesting something that’s my choice is wrong.

“Yes, it was amazing. It was very beautifully written. I could almost hear you reading it to me.” My face broke out into a grin and I forgot completely about my feet.

“Really? You liked it?” My heart felt like it was going to burst.

“Of course I did! I found other ones you’ve written as well. I loved them.” He never lost eye contact with me I knew he wasn’t just saying it.

“That means a lot to me, to hear you say that.” I wasn’t used to getting face to face feedback. Since moving over seas, I mostly communicated to the website online and through phone calls, plus the comments from readers were all on the website itself. Hearing Henry say these things out loud made me proud. “I’m surprised with how popular it got.”

“You shouldn’t be. It was a good piece.” My grin never stopped as he spoke. “I want to read more of your work.” He pulled me in tighter as another couple came close to my back. My chest was brushing his now.

“Can I ask you something?” Man, that shot must me working.

“Of course.”

“Why did you request me?” He tilted his head.

“Well, at first it was your blood type.” I nodded.

“I hear it’s very popular.” He chuckled.

“Yes, but something about your profile made me curious, plus you had experience. I thought it may be better that at least one of us knew how it was gonna go.” It made sense. “Not to mention you’re beautiful.” A blush rose from my neck to my face and my skin felt hot.

“Thank you. You’re definitely way more attractive than my last client.” He burst out laughing, stopping our movements for a second.

“Glad to hear it.” I laughed, the heat under my skin still not going away. The song ended and he lead me off the dance floor, my arm hooked in his elbow. “Where’s your table?” I lead him to it and he kept my arm locked through his, so close that my dress brushed his leg. I felt hyper aware of his closeness. At the table everyone was sitting down again, but a familiar red head was in my seat. I furrowed my brows.

“Nina!” Kari’s cheeks were pink and there was a few shot glasses stacked on the table. “You missed shots, but I see now that you were busy.” Everyone turned around, including the red head.

“That’s okay.” I smiled at them.

“I’m Lila, by the way.” She smiled and her white teeth blinded me. She held out her hand, but it wasn’t to me, it was to Henry. He let me go as he shook it she didn’t bother to offer a hand shake to me.

“I’m Henry, and this is Nina.” Henry touched the small of my back, a little lower than he did while dancing.

“Nice to meet you. You’re obviously a client, I’m a donor at Positive.” Lila finally decided to turn to me. “And what do you do here?” I blinked.

“She’s my donor, actually.” Henry cut in and I smiled at her. Her eyes narrowed at me.

“Oh isn’t that just-“

“Wonderful! Nina’s adjusting quite well to the company.” Kari rubbed my shoulder. “Aren’t you, Nina?”

“Yes, it’s wonderful here.”

“Anyways, Lila you’re in Nina’s seat and they’re about to serve dessert.” Kari ushered the women out of the chair.

“I’ll be seeing you around.” She said, only looking at Henry. When she was gone, I let my brow furrowed. What the hell was that?

“You better get to your seat as well, Henry.” Kari patted his arm.

“Come find me before you go?” Henry turned to me.

“Yeah, of course.” He kissed my cheek and walked across the room to his table. I sat down at mine and fiddled with a fork.

“Oh shit, you pissed her off.” James was giggling in his seat. “She hates you.”

“What did I do? Who even is she?” I leaned forward. I needed everything these guys knew about her.

“She likes to call herself high-profile. She only donates to people with money or fame. She’s just greedy.” Kari rolled her eyes. I’m surprised she would even speak about her like this. “She lost us two donors in two months because she wanted their clients.” My jaw dropped.

“As soon as Henry Cavill’s profile hit the website, she was on him. Obviously he picked you, so it didn’t matter, but she wanted Henry.” Abbey shook her head. “She’s just a bitch. That’s all I have to say.” I saw her a few tables over, red hair cascading down her back.

“So she doesn’t like me because Henry choose me and not her.”

“Don’t worry about her, Nina. She’s just petty. There isn’t much she can do anyways.” I couldn’t help but think that if Henry ever wanted another donor, he could have her. The thought made my stomach churn. She looked over her shoulder and smirked at me. I looked away.

“You and Henry looked good out there.” James winked. I looked around and found Henry already looking at me. He smiled as we made eye contact. I smiled back until he got distracted by somebody at his table.

“He’s such a gentleman.” Kari gushed and I wondered if Henry heard that. “You picked a good one Nina.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[artificialqueens]

To New Hytes (Group-fic) 5/? - Mac

AN: Meggie once again is an angel on this earth. Thank you my love for beta-ing this! You are the sweetest! <3

Summary: Nina is still reeling from her fuck up with Monet, Yvie’s joints are bad but Scarlet loves her anyway, Trixie’s sleep sechdule is ruined, and Brooke and Kameron reflect on their past.

Nina West was not good at this type of thing.

She was emotional as hell, sure. But explaining those emotions, dealing with them, not so much. She had always been a bit repressed. Her family had been uber-religious growing up, so being gay was kind of a no-go in her household. She went to church, sang the songs, did what she was supposed to do. Church had been a safe space for so long.

She didn’t have the usual falling out with religion that most people in her situation had. In fact, she had maybe leaned into it too much following the months of her coming out.

Luckily she had gotten through that stage pretty quickly.

She still had faith, still kept a Bible in her bedside table. Still sang the hymns to calm her nerves. Her faith hadn’t waned, it had just changed. She figured if all the other Christians could pick and choose passages to live by, Nina could too.

She had chosen to live by loving others as best she could.

But clearly she had messed this up somehow, because Monet wasn’t talking to her.

Monet was sitting in the back of the tour bus with Kameron and Blair talking quietly. Brooke was a row in front of them, turning around every now and then to say something.

Nina sat near the front with Vanessa and Dela, who were reassuring her that everything was going to be just fine. Well, assuring her as best they knew how to.

“I think I really fucked up guys.”

“No offense, chica, but you kinda did.”

“Vanjie!”

“Sorry! I just…” Vanessa sighed. “You know Monet, you had to know this coulda happened.”

“I did, I just… I just wanted it to be like the movies, you know? Where the main character makes the love interest jealous and that’s what prompts them to realize they’re in love.”

Vanessa nodded understandingly.

Dela did not. “Wait, you don’t understand why she’s mad, do you?”

“I was manipulative and selfish. I was trying to force her to make a move when she wasn’t ready.”

“Yes, and what else?”

Nina drew a blank.

Dela sighed. “She cares for you, I don’t know if she loves you, but she cares for you. You doing that, lying to her, well, it must have felt like you were dangling her feelings in front of her. Like you knew she had feelings for you and you were saying she couldn’t have you.”

“But she knows how I feel.”

“Does she? Cause if she did, wouldn’t you think she’d be sitting up here with you.”

Dela was right.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

…

Yvie had always been strange. She didn’t mind that no one understood her. Couldn’t be bothered to care about their petty insults that reflected their own issues rather than hers. She didn’t mind that she was alone most of her life. People found her confrontational and erratic. She found herself brave and correct - most of the time.

Yvie was just herself.

She didn’t mind the others.

But sometimes, she did.

When they undermined her work or attacked her art. She knew she was strange and different and that scared people. And most of the time it didn’t bother her.

But Vanjie- Vanessa rather, had hit her where it hurt. Had attacked her art not because it was weird but because she couldn’t do it if it weren’t. Vanessa had said Yvie didn’t try to dance in any particular style because she couldn’t adhere to one. She was too sporadic, too ‘out there.’ She could never make it big dancing the way she did.

They both knew it wasn’t true, but it still stung.

Yvie had called her unlovable.

A low blow perhaps, but she was angry and sad.

Luckily they had Scarlet. The most forgiving woman in the world. She had brought them together.

The handshake had been a formality at first. The truce a false one until they decided to blow up at each other again.

Or at least, it had been.

Both Yvie and Vanessa were shocked when their mutual fake kindness turned into genuine friendship. Scarlet had smiled knowingly but held off making comments.

Yvie and Vanessa had gotten so close in fact that they sometimes did their pre-show together. They would sit in someone’s dressing room, usually Yvie’s, and laugh and talk and be late for their call times.

It was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Yvie felt lucky to have a friend. Not that she hadn’t gotten along with the other girls, but Vanessa was different. She was so much like Yvie. They goteach other.

“You did a great job the other night. I swear I’ve never seen a crowd that hyped for a new girl.”

“Thanks. You didn’t look so bad yourself.” Vanessa winked.

Yvie laughed. “Thanks, sis.”

Yvie slid off her chair onto the floor to stretch. She began her usual routine of popping some of her joints, which sent Vanessa into a fit. “I know you can’t help it, but it’s so gross.”

Yvie was pulling her leg up and behind her head when she felt a sudden shooting pain.

It wasn’t the usual pain either, it was a pain that meant something was wrong.

When she tried to lower her leg back down, she couldn’t help but cry out.

Vanessa looked up from her phone, worry etched into her frown lines. “Yvie, what happened.”

“Fuck, fuck, shit. My hip it just- FUCK.”

Vanessa rushed over to Yvie’s side. “What do you need me to do? Call an ambulance? Get an ice pack? You need Scarlet?”

“No!” Yvie answered too quickly. Vanessa’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t tell Scar, it’s fine, just let me- will you help me up?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Vanessa held out her hands and planted her feet firmly as Yvie clambered up. As soon as she stood upright, she nearly fell over into Vanessa’s arms. “Let’s get you to the couch.”

Yvie nodded and winced as she was practically dragged over to the plush seat in the dressing room.

“Can you- can you get me water?” Yvie’s voice had taken on a different tone. It was soft and pained, rather than her usual sarcastic droll.

Vanessa obliged.

She watched Yvie down the bottle in seconds.

Vanessa didn’t know what to do; if she should leave, if she should stay and talk, if she should whisper soothingly into Yvie’s ear.

Vanessa guessed the younger girl probably wouldn’t have appreciated the last one, but she didn’t know.

Yvie saw the emotions play out on Vanessa’s face.

“Sorry, just, sometimes-”

Vanessa cut her off. “You don’t gotta explain nothin’. I get it.”

Yvie kept talking; it must have been the pain. She felt she needed to explain herself. “I just don’t like telling Scar. She worries about me.”

Vanessa nodded. “Everybody sees how much she cares. You got a really great girl.”

“I know.” But Yvie could hear the doubt in her own voice.

…

Scarlet had always been adored by men and women alike. She was naturally charming. And naturally distant.

Scarlet was untouchable. Above it all. The princess in the tower, surrounded by thorns and knives and a dragon. She had suitors left and right throwing themselves at her. She never paid them any mind. One drunken night she had confessed to Yvie.

“You wanna know why everyone is in love with me?”

“Not really, but that’s never stopped you before.”

Scarlet ignored her and plowed ahead, counting off her fingers. “I’m quick-witted. I’m intelligent. I’m mysterious.” She paused.  “And no one will ever have me.”

“I don’t know if I agree with the first two, but go off, sis.”

Scarlet tried to punch Yvie in the arm, but Yvie caught her fist before she could. The younger girl twisted her wrist, and managed to get Scarlet on her back with her hand behind it. Yvie fell on top of her, breathing heavily.

The mood in the room shifted.

The air was like electricity, snapping and sparking everywhere Scarlet’s eyes touched.

“I’m starting to not agree with the last one either,” Yvie whispered.

“Yves-” Scarlet went to protest, or to encourage, or to… she didn’t know. Still didn’t know what she was trying to communicate.

Yvie kissed her.

Scarlet kissed back.

And suddenly the princess in the tower was back on the ground.

…

Ever since that night at the bar (meeting Katya), Trixie hadn’t put her phone down. She had even purchased an unlimited data plan she was using it so much.

Katya texted her sporadically. She blamed it on the time difference and her general scatter-brained nature.

Trixie would wake up from her four hours of sleep to twenty or so messages about Katya’s opinion on the oil crisis, or food insecurity, or even how good Trixie’s ass looked.

Having conversations with her was like being in fifty car crashes in a row. Her whiplash was severe.

But she was getting better at it. The banter.

Trixie had never really felt compelled to share her funny comments, content to sit back and be the quiet one - well, the other quiet one - Blair had first dibs on being the most silent of the cast and crew. But lately Trixie had been talking more, she was more bubbly, more open and energetic.

Her phone buzzed.

It was 5 a.m. and she had stayed awake nearly all night to hear from Katya. She felt stupid. It was stupid to be so involved with this girl she had known for less than an hour.

But she was.

So here she was, at 5 a.m. waiting for a text she knew she would get from a girl she met in a bar.

If she thought about it too much, it was sad. So she didn’t think about it.

She let herself be happy and giggly. She let herself live in the fantasy for just a little longer. Who knew how long it would take Katya to get bored of her. How long until she realized how normal and average and un-special Trixie was.

Her phone buzzed again.

K: What are your opinions on baby seals?

K: don’t answer that.

K: you should be asleep.

K: i’ll just say

K: they are a nuisance to the great waters of the world

K: a source you ask for? my source is my eyes.

Twenty minutes later…

K: A seal stole my sandwich.

K: i’m guessing he was a baby by the size

K: Also, I’m guessing he was a he because he stole my sandwich.

K: and men are dogs

K: or in this case

K: seals

Trixie chuckled to herself lightly, the screen on her phone illuminated her face. She felt that stupid silly rush again.

She let it wash over her.

Content to let herself be happy for now.

…

“Why the FUCK did I have to hear from Blair of all people that you aren’t performing tonight? Yves, what the fuck?”

“Baby, I-”

“No, no. Don’t ‘baby’ me.” Scarlet seemed to suddenly realize her girlfriend’s position. Yvie was lying on an ice pack sitting at what looked to be an uncomfortable angle. “You’re hurt, aren’t you?” Scarlet’s tone was suddenly softer.

Yvie waved her hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, really, the doctor said-”

“Doctor! You had to see a doctor?”

“It really isn’t-”

“Yves, why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew you would act like this okay? There. Are you happy?” Yvie spat out.

“Act like what? Act like I care about you? God forbid I care about you! Is that it? Oh look at me I’m Yvie and no one can ever love me.”

“Scarlet.” Yvie tried to sound firm, but her voice cracked.

“No, you don’t get to talk right now.” Scarlet breathed in and out. “You are just gonna have to suck it up. I love you, you stupid asshole. I love you so fucking much my chest hurts.” Scarlet looked down at her hands. “I never thought… I never thought I’d love anybody. And here you are. Making everyday better just cause you exist.”

“Baby-”

A sharp look from Scarlet cut Yvie off again.

“I care about you. No matter how fucked up your joints are. You can’t get rid of me. I’m in it for the long run, Yves.”

Yvie nodded.

“So you can’t just not tell me these things. Yes, I worry about you, but it’s because I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

Yvie nodded again. “Can I talk now?”

Scarlet let a small smile slip.

“I love you, too.”

“And?” Scarlet prompted, teasing smile on her face.

“And I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“And?”

Yvie rolled her eyes.

“And you are an angel on earth and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“That’s more like it.”

….

Brooke and Kameron sat in the audience of the theatre.

They were in Toronto, Brooke’s home away from home.

Right after college she had moved out here to pursue her passion. She joined an up and coming ballet troupe. She had put in the hours, done the work, but something was still missing.

She was living her dream… but it didn’t feel right anymore. It didn’t even feel like her dream.

She stayed for a year.

She would walk Hospital Row at two in the morning, on legs that were begging her to sit down. She would walk and walk and walk until she physically couldn’t anymore. She would sit on the street corner with a water bottle and a longing in her chest for more. Her brain kept coming back to the night in Nina’s living room. A dance company of her own. Something the world had never seen before. The idea made her chest fill and her lungs empty.

Everyday she wore down just a bit more.

But then she got a call one night.

It was her new dream calling.

Well, it was technically Kameron that was calling, too out of breath from excitement to fully explain what she was doing, but Brooke understood. It was happening. This stupid silly drunken plan was taking shape. She said she couldn’t do it without Brooke, and Brooke, heaven help her, was just crazy and young enough to catch the next flight home.

She and Kameron spent the next months throwing their sleep schedule out the window. They stayed up and danced and joked and ate ramen noodles on a mattress on the floor. And they laughed and worked and dodged bill collectors.

And they did it together.

And they made it.

By some miracle they made it.

Brooke didn’t believe it.

Still sometimes didn’t believe it.

Kameron pinched her arm lightly, pulling her out of her head for a moment. “Earth to B, come in B.”

“Ow, Kam.”

Kameron smiled. “Whatcha thinkin bout?”

“This,” Brooke said vaguely.  She motioned to the stage, the seats, themselves. She turned to Kameron, trying to convey how thankful she was, how blessed she felt. “We did it. We really did this.”

Kameron smiled wider. “We really did.”

Brooke pulled her into a hug. It was awkward with how the seats were arranged but neither girl minded.

Kameron pulled back and looked away from Brooke, her eyes falling, as they always did, to the middle of the stage.

Brooke knew what she was thinking. After all these years she knew.

“I always thought we’d do it together though. You know? You and me. Tearing up the world with our troupe of dancers.”

Kameron’s smile vanished and she couldn’t look at Brooke. “B, you know I can’t.”

Brooke sighed. She had hoped, maybe stupidly, that Kameron would finally open up a bit. “Kam, you can’t keep letting what happened keep you from this.” Brooke motioned to the stage again. “I know you miss it.”

“Of course I miss it. But…”

“But what?”

“What if I’m not good at it anymore?”

Brooke gave her a doubtful look. “That’s not true. You know it isn’t true. What are you so scared of?”

Kameron stopped fidgeting with her hands and sighed. “I’m scared I’ll fucking love it. I’m scared if I do it again I won’t be able to stop. I’m scared it will happen again.”

Brooke softened her voice. “Kam, there was a tech issue. That stage light…”

“It shattered my foot, B.”

“I know, Kam, I know. But you-”

“I had a brain bleed from the fall.”

“Kam, I-”

“No, B. I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help. But you’ll never understand what I went through.”

“I was beside you the whole time. I know what you went through.”

Kameron shook her head. “You don’t get it. You can’t. I couldn’t dance for a year! Can you even comprehend that?”

Brooke was quiet. “No.” Because she couldn’t comprehend it. Couldn’t imagine giving it up, not now, not ever. It was the only thing that was worth getting out of bed in the morning. It was her reason for being on this earth. She knew that for a fact.

She couldn’t imagine life without it.

She knows Kameron felt the same.

“No, you can’t.” Kameron spoke softly.

A silence fell between them.

“I’m sorry Kam.”

“Me too, B.”

[hq-cuties-pls]

Can I request Asahi Azumane and Kuroo Tetsurou scenarios (separate) in which they get to know their s/o through the internet chat? After a loooong time they decided to meet and see how their relationship would develop irl. They didn't send a single pic to each other so this first meeting... Can be interesting. (Bonus: S/o is vv shy and a little bit scared of touch but didn't told them about it.)

I used Recovery of an MMO Junkie as a huge influence on these. I loved writing them, though! They were super fun!! Enjoy~Admin Emma

Asahi

Breaking his leg was by far the dumbest thing Asahi had ever done. He would regret getting that damn motorcycle until the day he died, especially where a mild crash with it resulted in him being totally hung up in bed for at least six weeks, possibly more. He spent a solid day and a half after getting out of the hospital pouting. He was bored, damn it, and he could only handle so much of Daichi and Suga’s company before they either had to leave or he was ready to bodily throw them out, broken bones be damned. If Suga made one more Evel Knievel reference, Asahi might have to forget he was a nice person.

After he pouted, he got to work on his homework and his studies. His time in the hospital put him a bit behind schedule, and this way he could get caught up and then some. Maybe even get ahead, or do some extra credit. It really seemed to work out perfectly; he was a slow studier, and his mild attention issues often got the better of him, so it could be a great way to kill a lot of time.

Except that he lasted about four days before his brain felt fried and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

After getting caught up on his reading, watching as many trashy dramas on Netflix that he could handle (it wasn’t many), checking out that anime Suga’s… person kept recommending (he made it to episode three), and killing a few pages in his sketchbook, he hadn’t managed to make time go any faster. He was still hung up in bed. He could get up to go to the bathroom and that was about it. He was ready to climb the walls, or maybe just crawl out of his own skin.

About two weeks into his sentence, Daichi recommended an MMO he’d been playing with his girlfriend. It had really appealing character designs and a high skill floor, so it seemed the perfect solution. He made his character as pretty and bishonen-esque as he could just for shits and giggles… the farthest thing from himself that he could. He named his character Vaughn because he’d watched most of Vision of Escaflowne while he’d waited for the game to install and he was obsessed. He took up the starting quest and started exploring.

Within an hour, he had a chat notification pop up.

Nina: Hi there! Are you trying the Devil Dungeon Event?

Asahi was skeptical at first, because he didn’t see which avatar had pinged him, but then he saw someone doing some sort of pre-animated wave emote. He waved back before responding.

Vaughn: Yeah, I was thinking about it. Still have to grind, though.

Nina: Actually, our tank sort of bailed on us. My group could run you to 20 really fast and then we could do it together.

Asahi was still skeptical–he’d heard about scams like these–but he really did want to try the event, and on his own it would definitely end before he could even attempt it. He figured he’d just bail as soon as they started asking for personal information or money or something.

Needless to say, things went a lot quicker with three higher-level characters helping him out and outfitting him. He was invited into their group chat and he learned they were especially funny, but Nina-san was very nice. She seemed to just keep the group together, seeing as the two DPS players were ridiculous humans. They played and grinded through levels and chatted until Asahi looked up and he’d been playing for eight hours. They’d done the dungeon twice and walked away with several loot boxes he couldn’t wait to open.

Nina: Goodness, I didn’t realize it was so late. Thanks for helping us out, Vaughn-san.

Vaughn: Don’t mention it. It was fun.

Nina: Would you like to game with us again sometime? You’re really good. Is this your first character?

Vaughn: In this game, yeah.

Nina: That’s surprising! But the guild is taking part in a raid tomorrow night after we all get off work and school and stuff. What time’s good for you?

Asahi scowled, though not at Nina. He’d just started to forget that he was literally stuck in bed.

Vaughn: Aahh… I’m sort of free whenever. I can’t get out of bed for another month or so.

Nina: OMG are you sick!?

Vaughn: Broken leg. Crashed my motorcycle.

There was such a long pause–so long, Asahi was afraid Nina had disconnected–but she came back eventually.

Nina: That’s so cool! Well, the motorcycle thing… not the broken leg thing.

Vaughn: I appreciate that.

Nina: Anyway, we’re hoping to get started no later than 7:00 or so, so DM me whenever you log on, kay?

With that, she was gone. Asahi should have been tired, given how late it was, but he was strangely exhilarated. Despite the fact he’d just spoken to her in snippets about the game and they’d each given perfunctory details about their lives, he felt connected to Nina in a way. Maybe it was the barrier of the screen… that he could talk to her. He’d never been able to talk to girls like this in real life.

Assuming Nina is a girl. She could be anyone. She could be Daichi for all you know!

Asahi shook his head to banish his intrusive (if sensible) thoughts. He snapped his laptop closed, not bothering to shut it down. He couldn’t get to sleep–he was too giddy–and he had trouble pinning down why.

Over the course of the next few weeks–between doctor’s’ appointments, PT and slowly-but-surely returning to classes and eventually, practices–he kept logging on every day to play at least a quest or two with his guild, but mostly to talk to Nina. She (and he was convinced she was a she) seemed to like talking to him. Sometimes, after the entire guild logged out and it was late and they didn’t have any more quests to do, they’d just go to a private area and talk about nothing. He learned all about her, and she learned all about him. She was ecstatic when she found out they lived close enough to each other.

After a long time, he finally figured out why it was so hard to say goodnight every night; he was in love. It wasn’t long after he made this realization that Nina and him had… the conversation.

Nina: So, you’ve been logging on a lot less lately. I take it your doctors are letting you back out there?

Vaughn: Yeah, I’m mostly free. Doctor Nishimi isn’t thrilled that I’m back at practice, but I don’t have much of a choice. I’m on scholarship and my leave of absence has already been extended.

Nina: You can’t overdo it! If you hurt yourself even worse, you won’t be able to play at all!

Vaughn: Don’t worry, one of my teammates had a friend with a bad knee back in high school. He’s making sure I take it easy.

Nina: Look, I know we’re both busy and all, but… Vaughn I think I might… could we meet sometime? Soon?

Asahi froze. Hadn’t he wanted this to happen? Wasn’t this end game? Or… well, would it be weird? There was a distinct possibility–the only thing he knew for sure about Nina was her love of this game (and any loot box that guaranteed something extra pink and extra adorable). But that wasn’t it… and he knew it.

He knew that if he met her, she’d have to see him. In all his 188 cm glory, with his fucking man-bun (which he still hadn’t gotten rid of, for some reason) and goatee and too-wide shoulders and his scary face… and she’d reject him. And he didn’t want Nina–his Nina–to reject him. Not when it was so good.

Despite all his fears and trepidations, though, he did want to meet her. He wanted to see Nina for real. And go on a date and buy her coffee and call her by her real name. So he agreed to meet on their next day off.

Which was the next day.

~~~

He was looking for a pink cardigan, which sounded just… too cute. He shouldn’t have been surprised, given Nina’s enthusiasm for all things cute and pink in the game. He swallowed hard, debating if he should get decaf today so as to not act completely spastic when he finally met her. He tugged on his wine-colored sweater, trying to not put too much pressure on his left leg, and waited. He didn’t want to be too overt scanning the crowd, in case Nina was there and thought he was a molester or something. Then he’d go to jail and Nina would think he stood her up, which just… wouldn’t be good.

“Um.. excuse me.”

Your small voice at his elbow nearly made him jump, but it was worth the fright, because you were wearing a pink cardigan. His eyes widened at the bright smile. You were so cute!

“N-nina?”

You grinned even wider, a precious pink blush across the tops of your cheeks; “Actually, my name is ____. You must be Vaughn, then.”

“Asahi,” he corrected. “Azumane Asahi.”

“Well, then, Azumane Asahi, should we get a table? This place has amazing crepes, and their coffee is actually really good given the price.”

He smiled, a bubble of pressure releasing from his chest. He followed you to a shaded table under the kitschy awning, ready to get to know you for real.

Kuroo

Kuroo had a dilemma. A quandary, if you would. A predicament. It was the shittiest predicament ever, and he was pretty sure that if he brought up his predicament to Yaku he’d get his balls ripped off for being “ungrateful” but it really wasn’t that simple. See, his dilemma was just this; he liked two people.

Now, to people who’ve never gone through such a trial, it wouldn’t be so bad. Liking two people and all. And some people could take advantage of the fact, especially given how young he was and how prevalent casual dating was. But people weren’t Kuroo. People weren’t the serial monogamist who looked like some sort of casual-sex God (apparently… Kuroo still found that high school reputation highly unsettling) but was in reality a giant cuddle spoon full of shmoop and love.

The other problem was he didn’t exactly know the other person he knew. He gamed with them from time to time, when he got a free hour or so, but they communicated mostly via Skype’s chat function. He’d never even seen their picture. He didn’t even know their real name. But they were an awesome person–they put up with his sense of humor, they could keep up with him, they didn’t seem to mind listening to him pour his anxieties all over them at 2:30 in the morning when school was hard and grad school applications were piling up and what the fuck even is a statement of purpose? And they just… listened. And it felt so nice to just be heard.

And then… well, and then there was you. He didn’t have quite as intimate of a relationship with you as he did with his online friend, but he still liked you. You and him had similar classes, similar taste in music and movies, even similar senses of humor. There were times when he’d tell his online friend a joke only for you to nearly parrot it at him the very next time you saw each other. Most of all, though, you were sweet and caring and beautiful… and for that matter real. Like, he knew you were real. And that was the problem.

His online friend had never seen him, so they got to know him separately of his reputation and his appearance. He could really be himself, whereas sometimes with others–even you–he always felt like he was putting up a front. It wasn’t any fault of yours, it was just an old habit that was hard to break. It was hard showing everything to someone and having them reject it… he knew from experience.

He didn’t know what to do about any of this, but he knew that if it was keeping him up at night he should probably solve it soon. The problem was that there were three people he typically went to when it came to this sort of thing, except Bokuto was at this hyper-intense training camp with the rest of the National team hopefuls, Kenma was caught between research for his undergrad thesis and applications to grad school, and, well… the other person was Nao-chan…

He huffed under his breath, opening his laptop and tapping it impatiently to get it to load faster. He pulled up Skype; Nao-chan’s icon had the little yellow bubble next to their name that showed they were away. Kuroo decided to message them anyway and hope they’d get back to him when they got back.

Kuro-kun: I have a conundrum. Can you talk?

Kuroo smirked at his own name. It was his handle in the game he played with Nao-chan. It wasn’t exactly creative, but too much of his mental energy went to school and maintaining his volleyball scholarship to come up with fancy names for his MMO characters. He went to get his bag to maybe work on some studies, thinking that Nao-chan probably wouldn’t be at their computer for a long time.

Instead, the little indicator lit up with a new message.

Nao-chan: Sure thing, Kuro-kun. The doctor is in. Tell  me about your mother.

Kuroo laughed; Nao-chan could always get him to laugh. They were a lot like you that way.

Kuro-kun: Very funny, Doctor. It’s stupid, but… well, it’s kind of serious.

Nao-chan: Are you dying?

Kuro-kun: Not any more than most people. No, it’s more of a moral quandary.

Nao-chan: Oya oya? Now this I have to hear.

Kuro-kun: I know it’s weird hearing this from me, but could you be serious for a second?

Nao-chan: Sorry, sorry. Bad habit. Seriously, Kuro-kun, you know you can tell me anything. Talk to me

The little heart emoji made this so much harder, but he didn’t want to tell Nao-chan that.

Kuro-kun: See, it’s like this. There’s this girl in like… half my classes. And she’s smart and pretty and she’s really nice. She likes the same music and books and stuff as me, and we have a lot in common and she likes my friends…

Nao-chan: She sounds perfect

Kuro-kun: That’s sort of the problem. I mean, it would be easy to just… pretend that she was the only one. But the problem is I like someone else.

Nao-chan: More than her?

Kuro-kun: Not more or less… just different. See, I can be honest with this person. I’ve told them things I don’t tell anyone. I’ve let them see a side of me I don’t let anyone else see. But I’ve never even seen their face. Maybe if I knew what they looked like… if we talked face to face, it would be easier. Then this other person would be confirmed real and… I sound like a raving lunatic, don’t I?

Nao-chan: Kuro-kun…

Kuro-kun: It’s you, Nao-chan. I like you. I like you a lot. I don’t.. I don’t want this to end. I want to get to know you better and see you and… all that other gross coupley stuff that couples do. Like get coffee and talk about our day without euphemisms. I want to see your smile and hear your laugh and I want to talk to a person when I talk instead of just typing it out. I totally understand if you’re not comfortable. Those are just my feelings.

There was a long pause. A heartbreakingly long pause. Nao-chan went horrifically silent. It was long enough that Kuroo sat and questioned every decision in his life that had lead this moment. He paced around his apartment twice, fed his cat, got a snack, boiled water for tea, and had a very minor panic attack in the time it took for them to respond.

Their response wasn’t something he could have ever anticipated.

Nao-chan: Do you have your webcam set up? If so, don’t respond. Just… start a video call with me.

Kuroo didn’t question it. He immediately hit the little video button, not caring that his laptop was probably in a place where he looked like shit on camera, and his apartment was a mess, and he was pretty sure he was wearing Bokuto’s Spyair sweatshirt, which sent so many wrong messages…

Then, his screen filled with a face. Your face. Your… your perfect, beautiful smiling face. You looked just as surprised as he was, but that gorgeous look of shock and awe was something he wanted to see over and over and over again.

“Hey there, Kuro-kun,” you said, somehow sounding so much better now that he knew who you were. “Nice name, by the way. Did you spend a whole ten seconds thinking about it?”

He couldn’t even defend himself from your teasing. He was too busy trying to not embarrass himself by breaking down into the most ridiculous tears any grown ass man had ever produced. He didn’t have to choose… he could have it all.

When did he get so lucky?

[worlds--avenged]

Professor Tom: Chapter 13

Summary: This wasn’t the first time a student had fallen for him. Hell, it wasn’t the first time this year. But something etched deep in his bones told him that she was different. Surely there could be no harm in talking to her after class… Right?

A/N: I know, I know. It’s been forever! College has been kicking my ass lately, and I’m finding less and less time to write this. Soooo this might be the last chapter in a minute, sorry!

Previous Next

“Before you start,” Sebastian’s satchel makes a thud as it lands unceremoniously on the chair by the door.

“We’re not exclusive.” Tom’s knife stills over the vegetables and thoughts of dinner exit his mind as confusion and anger replace it.

“You think I’m upset about this-” Tom gestures between the two of them. “Seba. I know we’re not together or anything. I’m-- Jesus, Nina Griffin.”

“You’re upset that I’m fucking Nina and you’re not? Tom,” Sebastian clicks his tongue.

“We both know that juggling is not your forte.”

Tom frowns and he doesn’t hide his disdain like he probably should have. Seb would see through it anyways.

“How long have you two been doing this?” Seb shrugs and grabs a pear out of the fruit bowl and Tom almost stops him to remind him of their dinner plans, but he’s already talking and he abandons the thought. Seb wouldn’t have listened anyways.

“About a year. We met at the club camp I was coaching at.”

Tom splutters. “You seduced her at soccer camp? What is it with this damn sport?” Sebastian grabs the silverware Tom laid out on the island and began setting the table.

“They’re always willing to listen to their coach?” Sebastian jests.

“Seb.”

“What? What do you want me to say?” Seb turns his back to Tom and Tom can see the muscles tightening under his button down. “That she wasn’t willing? That it was my fault? Because right now, you really don’t have a leg to stand on.”

“You never told me.”

“I didn’t think you’d understand.”

“We’ve been living together,” Tom exclaims. “While you’ve been sleeping with her.”

Seb pulls a set of paper towels off the roll and places them on the table.

“Fuck, Seb. A year.” Tom presses the palm of his hand into his forehead. “You’ve kept this from me for a year?”

“Jesus, are you really mad that I didn’t tell you?”

“Yes!”

Seb restrains himself from throwing the knives down.

“Tell me, if it had been someone like Elizabeth O’Connor-”

“What the fuck-”

“-someone not in your class or on your radar, would you even care?”

“You think I care because it’s Nina?”

Seb walks over to the oven and turns off the broiler.

“Truthfully? Yes.”

“I’d care if it was any of my students!”

“If it was Becca?”

Tom’s head shoots up and he wonders for a moment if Seb has been lying to him more than he’s already admitted to.

Seb spots the thought from a mile away and immediately reels it back in.

“Come on.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Look, just because this is all new to you and Rebecca might be screwing you over for her grades, don’t take it out on me.” Seb pulls on gloves and takes Tom’s roast out of the oven. “Don’t lecture me because you’re scared. If you want me to promise you that I’ll have your back on this, then fine, whatever.” Seb places the dish on the center of the table. Everything is in place and Tom feels like a jerk for ruining their dinner.

“Don’t pretend like you know anything about me and Nina, either.”

Tom anticipates Seb’s exit and doesn’t flinch when his bedroom door slams behind him. The roast is perfect, a ballet pink on the inside, and Tom guiltily stabs at it while he mentally prepares an apology.

Tom marks fairly, despite being a bit worried about it, and Rebecca manages to get an 85%. Good enough to scrape a B. Which, for Rebecca, is almost unheard of. Tom steers well clear of overthinking it, because it probably involves Nina Griffin and Elizabeth O’Connor and that’s a dynamic he doesn’t want any semblance of a glimpse of.

He attempts to talk to Seb again, to tell him that she’s passing on her own merit and not his indiscretions, that he was wrong. But when he goes to his office, he sees a silhouette of Nina bent over his desk. Tom huffs loudly in disgust and frustration and heads back to his own office.

“You have practice,” He mutters under his breath, noting the precious few minutes he had until Coach Johansson walked in on him, demanding to know where he was. When he opens the door, he finds Rebecca there.

“Miss Campbell!” His ears burn a bright red as he sees her sitting on his desk, her latest paper in hand. He’d forgotten to lock the door. Stupid.

“I just… I had to ask. You didn’t- you didn’t curve my score, did you?” Tom shakes his head.

“No. Why would I do such a thing, Miss Campbell?” He turns away from her. A small huff, barely audible, exits out of her and the next sound is the soft tap of her feet hitting the floor.

“I know what you think,” When Tom shoots her a piercing look, daring her to accuse him of favoritism, she stutters. “I-I heard from Nina who talks to Sebastian,” Tom rolls his eyes. As if that was all they did. “I heard that you curved my scores because I slept with you.”

“Is that not the case?” His voice turns up at the end, and he wished he didn’t sound as desperate as he did for the right answer. He hates how fast his heart beats at the anticipation of her answer. He hates that he’s praying she says the right thing. She smiles gently.

“Can’t I just sleep with you because I love the way you say my name when you come?” The tension falls out of Tom’s shoulders and the movement doesn’t go unnoticed by Rebecca. It’s exactly what he’d been hoping she’d say. His guarded stance falls and seeing Rebecca brings back all the desire and guilt he’s been trying to alleviate for the past three weeks. Rebecca grabs his hand and pulls him closer to her so that she’s pressed between Tom and his desk. A hand finds her hip and she pressed her forehead to his.

“We shouldn’t do this here,” He says numbly, though he doesn’t try to make a move to get away. He can’t shake the image of Seb and Nina out of his mind and Rebecca’s proximity to his desk isn’t helping.

“Didn’t realize we were gonna set rules for this.” Rebecca grins like Tom has just admitted that they were a thing. That they’re doing this because Tom’s setting boundaries.

Tom tries his best to ease his nerves. He knows messing with his hair or touching his collar will make him seem smaller and bring him down to her level. He can’t do that yet. Instead, he pulls back and puts his hands on his hips and flattens his shirt, trying his best at being professional.

“Are you going home?” Rebecca shakes her head.

“Soccer.” Tom nods.

“Right, right.” Tom closes his eyes. That damned sport is gonna plague him for the rest of his days. At least now he understands it a little better.

“But I can-” She puts her palm flat on his desk. “I could come over to your place later?” Tom’s eyes jolt to the classroom door. Classes ended half an hour ago and surely they’d be wondering where she was.

“You’re gonna be late.”

Rebecca steps forward and closes the distance between them by reaching up and carding her hands through his hair.

“They’ll forgive me. I’m too good for them not to.” He realizes that that comment was meant for him too. It was enough to keep him from pulling away.

“Go to soccer,” His lips form a hard line and the mirth in Rebecca’s eyes dulls. “I have grading to do.” Rebecca bites her lip.

“But after… I’ll see you?”

“Yeah, okay.” It’s better than being at school. He’s better than Seb and fucking her on his desk. He’s above that.

Except Rebecca leans up on her tiptoes and kisses him square on the mouth as if she’s trying to remember the taste of their first time on his tongue. God knows Tom hasn’t been able to forget how she tastes. She must have a thing for Tom’s hair by the way she keeps tugging at the ends and wrapping the strands around her fingers. A bolt of misplaced desire shoots into his stomach and he can’t stop the flashes of Rebecca’s climbing skirt and her wanton moans as she pulls at the roots of his hair with her legs locked behind his head. His hand touches her cheek.

As much as he wants to judge Sebastian, almost as much as he wants to judge himself, he can’t shake the image of Rebecca’s legs spread and her wetness waiting for him.

He just hopes that that doesn’t make him a bad person.

Rebecca pulls back dazed and flushed. She looks like the kid who’s about to get that candy that she’s been waiting for. Tom usually hates metaphors that remind him that he’s old as hell, but it’s the only one that seem to fit. There are simply no other words for the smug face she’s wearing now. It would be arrogant if she wasn’t so sincere with it.

“See you after practice?” Tom swallows and tries to remember that she’s yet again offering him an opening, a chance to say no. But he knows that he can’t get the taste of her out of his mouth and that the disillusioned look on her face wouldn’t be worth the moral ground behind him. He smooths the tail of her shirt against her hips and tries to not let his touch linger. Her breath hangs in the air waiting for his response and he wishes that he didn’t want her as badly as he did.

“Yeah, sure.” A bad idea forms in his mind.

[such-a-common-girl]

Professor Winchester (Dean Winchester x Reader AU) Chap. 8

Professor Winchester Masterlist

Word Count: 2,270

Professor!Dean Winchester x Reader AU

Warnings: Language, mentions of drug use, angst, the tiniest amount of fluff 

*gif not mine, found off google*

Your mind begins to race as you take in the scene in front of you, panic overcoming your mind. Mr. Shurley is still standing there, hand in hand with who you presume to be his boyfriend or husband, a confused (and shocked) expression on his face.

“Dean Winchester?” Mr. Shurley says slowly. “I thought I recognized your car! You’re the last person I expected to see here tonight. How are you doing?”

Dean looks over at you, panic obvious in his eyes. You shake your head at him as if to say that you have no ideas. This is it- you’re going to get kicked out of university because even when you’re cities away from people who know the two of you, fate has a twisted sense of humor.

“I, uh, yeah. Me neither.” Dean stutters.

“How’s Sam doing? Haven’t talked to him in a while.” Mr. Shurley starts up a casual conversation, and your heart is racing out of your chest, wondering when he’s going to say something about you and Dean being there together. He’s not even acknowledged you, yet.

“He’s, uh, he’s great. Yeah. Him and Jessica are great, his job is going great… Everything is great.” Dean forces a smile. “I’ve actually really got to go, though, so I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“First, introduce me! Last time I knew, you were still quite the player. Didn’t even take girls on dates. So, who’s this here? Must be pretty special if she’s got you wrapped around her finger like this.” Mr. Shurley directs his attention to you, a smile on his face. Confusion begins to fill your mind- what the fuck?

“She’s um,” Dean pauses, looking confused as well.

“I’m a friend of Sam’s.” You smile at Mr. Shurley, reaching out to shake his hand. “Sam introduced me a few months ago and ever since then, we’ve been together. I’ve heard a lot about you, actually! You and Sam are pretty good friends, right?”

You never knew you had the ability to come up with a lie on the spot like this, and it’s a huge relief. Any other day, you’d probably be offended that the dean of your university didn’t recognize you, but right now you’ve never been more grateful. You can see Dean’s face visibly soften, him breathing a sigh of relief as Mr. Shurley apparently believes your lie.

“Yeah I am.” Mr. Shurley smiles at you. “Well, it was nice to meet you, but I’m damn starving. I’ll see you on Monday, Dean.”

“See you.” Dean nods. As soon as Chuck and his boyfriend (husband? You didn’t see a ring) walk away, the both of you basically dart to the impala, taking a deep breath once you’re inside.

You don’t say one word as the both of you sit there in silence. Dean doesn’t make any attempt to start the car, only sitting there staring at the wheel and in seemingly deep thought. Your own mind races as well- that could’ve been it for you. That moment right there, if Mr. Shurley had recognized you, would’ve screwed up your entire future. You would’ve been kicked out of university (also getting Dean fired, which you would feel terrible about), and your entire teaching career would go out the drain. No decent university would accept you after they find out why you were kicked out last time, leading to no quality education, leading to most likely working a job you don’t enjoy.

Your entire future was risked tonight just because you acted on your feelings about your teacher, and the only reason it was spared is because Mr. Shurley apparently has a terrible memory.

“You alright?” Dean is the first to break the silence. “That was… That was really close, fuck.”

“Do you realize how bad that could have been?” You say quietly. “You could’ve lost your job. I could’ve… Dean, he’s going to find out who I am at some point. You know that, right? That lie that I came up with isn’t going to last long. He’s bound to see me on campus at some point, or god forbid, recognize my name. I’m on the dean’s list every year.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dean responds, taking a gulp. “We can figure it out, we can make it work, we only have to keep this up for one more year, we just need to-“

“Dean…” You trail off.

“Y/N,” His voices come out hushed. “We can figure it out.”

“No, Dean, we can’t.” You say way harsher than you had intended. “Shit like this is bound to happen all the time. We thought we were being safe this time, we’re not even technically in Kansas right now, and we ran into your damn boss! I thought we- I thought I could handle the risks, I thought we could make this work out and keep this a secret, but obviously I was wrong. This is too much, Dean. If Mr. Shurley…”

“No, no, babe,” Dean grabs your hand, trying to hold your hand. “That’s not going to happen. Trust me, it’s not going to happen. No one’s going to find out. We’re going to be fine, trust me, Chuck probably won’t even remember tonight anyways. Guy was high as a kite.”

“Dean, I’m scared… What if he does remember?” Your voice cracks.

Dean stays silent for a few minutes. He sighs as he hangs his head low, using his left hand to rub his temple. You know he knows the risks of this, too, and tonight only heightened it. You’re scared, no, you’re terrified. And you can tell by the look on Dean’s face that he is, too.

“Take me home.” A tear escapes from your eye. “I can’t do this, Dean. I can’t, I’m sorry. This… Us. It’s never going to work out. You’re my fucking teacher.”

“Y/N…” He says softly.

“Take. Me. Home.” You pull your hands away from his, looking out the passenger side window to avoid looking at him in the face. You don’t want to do this- you really, really don’t. You want nothing more than to keep living this happy, secret relationship you have going on with him. But after tonight, after running into Mr. Shurley, after the realization of what this “secret” can do to you if anyone finds out… You can’t do it. You can’t- you refuse- to ruin your life because of your attraction to your professor.

‘It’s so much more than an attraction and you know it, Y/N. You’re falling for him.’ You think to yourself. You shake your head, pushing away those thoughts.

“Okay.” Dean clenches his jaw, letting out a deep breath from his nose. His grip on the steering wheel tightens as he starts the impala, pulling out of the parking lot.

This time, the drive seems to drag on forever. There is no flirtatious banter, no casual conversation, no nothing. Just pure, uncomfortable, deafening silence. By the time you get back to Lawrence, you’re more than ready to get out of the car and let out the rest of the tears that are threatening to spill over.

He slams his car door shut once you arrive back at his house, a mixture of anger and sadness in his face. He waits for you to get out of the car before locking it and then stomping up to his front door, fumbling with the keys to let himself inside. You, too, search for your car keys so you can just leave. That’s all you want, to leave. You don’t want to make this any harder than it already is. You’re both already hurting enough.

“Y/N,” You can hear Dean say softly just as you’re about to open your car door. You freeze as you can feel his hand touch your shoulder, a tear falling down your cheek.

“Dean, we-“

You’re cut off by him turning you around and placing his lips on yours, kissing you gently. You don’t pull away; instead, you kiss him back. Your tears leak down onto your lips, and you relish in this moment, knowing it might very well be your last. This isn’t a normal kind of kiss- this is a goodbye kiss. The most bittersweet of them all.

His hands cup your cheek as he pulls away from you, an unreadable expression in his eyes. He smiles at you weakly before planting a sweet kiss on your forehead.

“I’ll see you in class on Tuesday,” He whispers before walking away from you. You take a deep breath in an attempt to collect yourself (and keep yourself from crying more than you already have) before getting into your car.

It’s over. Your “relationship” with Dean is over, and it hurts. You’d never felt this way about a man before; your feelings have never gotten this intense. But with Dean, things were different. He made you feel so happy, so alive, so… Indescribable.

‘Not that it matters anymore. It’s over.’

You take another deep breath as you pull out of his driveway, turning on the music in hopes of distracting your mind. You immediately regret your decision as Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking out Loud” blares through the speakers, making you shut it off immediately. The last thing you want to hear about right now is cute relationships that actually work out.

You manage to make it home without a breakdown, keeping your cool. You might be hurt beyond belief but you refuse to let it break you. You went almost the entirety of your life without a boyfriend- you can live without the absence of one now. Even if it is Dean Winchester. Even if you did think you were falling in love with him.

‘This was your choice, Y/N. You made this decision because it was for the best; don’t forget that.’

The second you walk into your house, Nina knows something is wrong. She’s sitting on the couch with some guy you’ve never even heard of, drinking a glass of wine while she obviously fake laughs at whatever he had said prior to your arrival. She looks up at you from the couch as you throw your purse onto the kitchen counter, avoiding eye-contact with everyone. All you want to do is go straight to your room and go to sleep.

“Y’know what, Daniel, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Nina tells the man on the couch next to her, giving you a look of concern.

“My names David-“

“Sorry, David,” She gives him an insincere smile. “But my friend here is obviously upset and it’s my duty as her best friend to put her before anything else. Sorry. I’ll see you around?”

“Nina,” You interject. “Don’t. I’m fine. Finish your night, don’t let me interrupt.”

You don’t give her time to respond before you walk into your bedroom, shutting the door behind you as you drag yourself into your bed. You notice that you have a few unread text messages but you don’t bother to check them before you plug your phone into the charger and turn on your TV, all intents of watching Netflix and snuggling into your blankets all night.

Just as you’ve pushed play on your favorite show, you can hear a soft knocking at your door. You sigh, knowing that it’s Nina. It’s not that you don’t want to talk to her or tell her what’s going on- you just don’t want to ruin her night just because you’re sulking about a breakup. If you can even call it that; you and Dean weren’t even technically together.

“Y/N?” Nina opens the door slowly, peeking her head in. Her lips curl downwards once she sees you curled up in bed, your eyes still slightly red from crying earlier.

“Go back to Daniel, or David, or whatever his name is.” You give her a weak laugh. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“I already kicked him out,” She puts her hand on your shoulder as she sits down beside you in bed. “Best friends are more important than one night stands. So, what happened? You wanna talk about it?”

“No, not really,” You shake your head. “It’s over. We’re done. That’s all there is to it.”

“Y/N…” Nina trails off. “I’m really sorry. I knew how much you liked him, he’s an asshole for-“

“I did it.” You cut her off. “I broke it off.”

“Oh,” She says quietly. “I’m still sorry. Whenever you want to talk- if you ever want to talk- I’m here. You know this. I’m never going anywhere; I love you. And Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Only two more months,” She gives you a smile. “Then its summer, and you won’t ever have to see him again.”

Nina leaves your room after that, giving you some alone time. You take some time to digest her words as you watch TV and eat the package of Oreos you keep in your room. You know Nina is right- only two more months. Two months and you won’t have to see Dean again unless you want to. These two months might be stressful and about every kind of awkward you can imagine, but you can do it.

All you have to do is make it through the end of the semester, and Dean Winchester will be out of your life for good.

a/n: theres only one chapter left after this…but I promise im not too mean, things will get better :)

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[artificialqueens]

things you say through your teeth [things you say part 2] (Ninex) - meggie

A/N: I’m back on my bullshit. Ninex owns my entire heart. Thank you (as always) to Mia, for prereading, hand-holding, tear-wiping, and generally being incredible.

Word Count: 2,106

Their first fight is nothing short of awful. 

It’s all Nina’s fault and it’s all avoidable, and that’s the worst part of the entire thing.

They’re in Miami, schedules synchronized per chance for once. They have been “hooking up” (Nina detests that term, but it’s gentler than fucking, which he hates even more because that’s not what this feels like, not really) for three months, one week, and four days. Not that he’s counting.

Monet is out of bed, mixing them drinks at the bathroom sink with the tiny airline bottles of liquor from the minibar.

Nina’s head spins as he watches, but whether it’s from the alcohol or post-coital bliss that always comes after Monet fucks him he isn’t sure. Maybe a beautiful combination of both; he’s never been an addict, but he’s starting to understand how people crave more and more of what they love. He craves more and more of Monet.

“Girl…” Monet chuckles as he brings their drinks to bed. Vodka sodas this time. “You look ridiculous right now.”

Nina knows it must be true. The longer parts of his hair stick up at awkward angles, sweat shines on his forehead and chest; he knows his pupils must be blown and his cheeks are still rosy from both liquor and sex. Monet’s doing. All his. Monet has fucking ruined him.

“And whose fault is that?” Nina sips his drink. It needs lime, but he’s just drunk enough not to care. Feeling braver, seeking out the heat in his belly that comes from a good (or even decent) drink, he finishes it in four gulps. He’s a little buzzed and it’s wonderful.

“You want me to apologize? Call you by my name and shit?”

“I don’t think I ever said anything about that.” Nina laughs. He likes their sex, loves it, to be honest. It’s just the right amount of wanton lustfulness with a large side dish of true compassion and intimacy. It’s congenial, if you will. (He told Brooke that once; she choked a little.)

Monet just rolls his eyes and takes carefully measured drinks from the glass after he repositions himself in bed at Nina’s side, back against the headboard, legs out straight in front of him.

Nina wastes no time tucking his head into the space between Monet’s hip and thigh and rests there, cheek on silky skin, drawing and tracing letters and shapes and nonsense while Monet channel surfs. He finally settles on an old episode of Jeopardy!, places the remote on the nightstand, and threads the fingers of his free hand through Nina’s hair to massage the scalp absentmindedly.

It’s nice. Comfortable. Domestic. Something Nina could definitely get used to.

The thought is treacherous. Nina getting used to the idea of having Monet, of actually coming home to him, climbing in bed next to him every night after gigs, touching him whenever he wants and not having to wait until they’re locked behind the privacy of a hotel door every three weeks or whenever their schedules line up.

It’s dangerous because Nina knows Monet doesn’t want the same things, can’t want the same things, because that’s not how Nina’s life works. That’s never how it’s been. He’s always been the one to fall first, fall hardest, fall period. If Nina West had a middle name, it would be Unrequited.

Monet is whip-smart (he’s answered the last seven questions right, not that Nina’s counting); he’s so funny and quick on his feet, so kind and benevolent and inspirational. And gorgeous. They just don’t fit.

He pushes himself off Monet’s lap (even though he wants to stay there for the night, for eternity, for as long as Monet will have him). Nina rests against the headboard, blinks back the tears he feels burning in the corners of his eyes. He knew this would happen and still…

It hurts so much more than he could have expected.

“Fuck off, Tyler!” Monet says exasperatedly and drains the rest of his drink. “Can you believe this motherfucker didn’t know the answer was caviar when the clue specifically said it was made from roe? Avocado, my black ass…” 

Then Monet glances over at Nina, who’s picking at his thumbnail and wishing he could stop the stupid tears that are rolling down his face.

“Why are you crying, Nina West?”

“What are we doing?” Nina asks quietly.

Monet glances at the television. “We’re lying in bed watching Jeopardy! Eventually we’re going to sleep because you have a show tomorrow night and I have a flight to catch.” 

“No, I mean like…” Nina gestures to the bed, sheets still rumpled and messy around their legs. “What are we doing?”

“Oh.” Monet’s voice goes quiet with realization, so he turns the tv off and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Oh. Okay. Well. What are we doing?”

Nina shrugs. “This is… You are…” Words, Nina. Use your words. “I like this; I like you. A lot—”

“Me too.”

“—and like, I haven’t been with anyone else since we started doing whatever this is that we’re doing, and that’s fine with me, but I know it’s probably different for you, and I just…” Nina pauses. Stops. Sighs. Bows his head. “I’m not sure I can handle you breaking my heart if we do this anymore.”

Monet quirks his head to the side, eyes narrowed. “The fuck are you talking about?”

“I can’t…” Nina sighs. “I can’t get any closer to you because it’s just going to hurt worse when you decide that we’re done.”

Monet nods, licks his lips, stares at the red and gold duvet scrunched at the foot of the bed. “So I’m the one who ends things; is that how this works? I’m going to be the bad guy?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But that’s what you said.” Monet nods once and pushes himself out of bed, hastily gathering his clothes from their resting spots on the floor. “You said you couldn’t take it when I broke your heart, like it was an inevitability. Like you’re just waiting around for the other shoe to drop.” He pulls on his shorts angrily. “Look, I know you like to live in a Disney movie, okay, I get it, I love that about you. But that’s not how life works, baby. Life is messy and painful and sometimes it takes two people to break a heart.”

Nina sniffs. “What… are you saying?”

Monet pulls his T-shirt over his head and collapses back onto the bed. He sits on the edge with his head in his hands and sighs. “I’m not… I don’t think I’m like you think I am. There’s no one else; hasn’t been for me since we started…” He motions to the bed, repeating Nina’s gesture from earlier. “I guess I just assumed you knew that about me.”

“But we hardly ever see each other,” Nina says quietly. He aches to reach out, to touch him, to trace the tattoo that runs down Monet’s spine. He doesn’t. Doesn’t feel he has the right anymore. 

“So? When we do see each other?” Monet whistles. “It’s enough for me. So why isn’t it enough for you?”

Nina shakes his head fervently. “No, I never said—”

“Not in so many words,” Monet says. “But what’s really going on underneath all this? What’s really making you push me away? Because one day I might not feel the same way? You think I’m not scared shitless at this? You think you don’t frustrate the hell out of me because I’ve never felt like this about anyone else before? But I’m not running.”

The tears are back in Nina’s eyes (he’s not sure they ever really left) because he can feel Monet slipping away from him. And it’s all completely, utterly his fault. He got too in his head and now look where things are. If he’d just kept his mouth shut, they’d still be fine. His head would still be in Monet’s lap, they’d still be watching Jeopardy! Nothing would be different. 

“Right,” Monet says after an uncomfortable beat of silence. “Well. I think I’m going to go back to my own room for the night then.” He stands, steps into his shoes, pauses with his hand on the door knob like he’s waiting for Nina to stop him. “My flight leaves at 11:30 tomorrow… if you want to grab breakfast or whatever, let me know.”

It’s all Nina can do to nod. The door opens and clicks closed, and Nina’s crying for real this time, hugging a pillow to his chest and wanting wanting wanting. 

***

Nina wants to text. Fights with himself over it as he lies in bed, not sleeping, but he’s also not finished berating himself for being an absolute idiot. He orders room service at 10:30 and picks over his fruit bowl, watching the minutes tick by on his digital clock.

He’ll try for a nap later on, before he has to leave for the show that afternoon, and maybe by then, after Monet’s plane has landed in New York, after Nina’s gotten some sleep and they’ve both gotten some distance, maybe then Nina can send a text. Apologize. Beg forgiveness. Tell Monet he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him and that he doesn’t want to lose what they have. Could have. 

Just after noon, there’s a knock on the door.

Nina almost ignores it, almost stays in bed, buries his head under the pillows and tries desperately to slip into the sleep that avoided him all night. But he swings his legs out of bed reluctantly, trudges across the floor, and opens the door without looking through the peephole (it’s bad practice; he knows better, but he’s tired). 

“Hey,” Monet says quietly. He’s standing in the hallway, suitcase behind him, hands shoved in the back pockets of his shorts. A staged casual stance. He’s pretending to be comfortable when he is anything but.

“What…” Nina can’t speak. Can’t form words. Can’t believe this man is standing in front of him like a real life goddamn Disney movie.

“I didn’t like the way I left things last night,” Monet responds. “You didn’t text, and I was at the airport, but I couldn’t leave things like they were without knowing when I was going to see you again.”

“What?” Nina repeats. Still awed. Part of it is probably exhaustion. Part of is is sheer emotion.

Monet runs a hand over his head. “So can I come in?”

Nina steps aside and allows the other man entrance, and Monet pulls his suitcase in behind him. 

The door clicks closed and all Nina wants to do is pull Monet into his chest and kiss him until they’re breathless, but Monet takes a breath and Nina feels his heart clench. Because with no texts, Nina could pretend that everything would be okay someday. With Monet in front of him ready to end things, he isn’t so confident.

“Okay, so. Look.” Monet sighs. “Last night you asked me what we were doing. So I wanted to just come out and say it.”

Nina steels himself, braces for the worst, prepares to have his heart broken.

“I really fucking like you, okay? So if you need more to get you out of this crazy-ass Monet-is-going-to-leave-me headspace, okay. I’ll be more. Let’s do more. But you have to talk to me when you start to get like this.” Monet guides Nina to the edge of the bed, sits beside him, takes his hands. “I want to know you so well that I can see this coming, I’ll get there eventually, but for now, you have to tell me.”

Nina nods. “Okay.”

“Also…” Monet smiles, broad and brilliant and everything Nina loves. “Do you wanna be my boyfriend? Just so we’re both on the same page.”

He kisses Monet then, soft and chaste, just enough to confirm what they both already knew was a sure thing. “Duh,” Nina says against Monet’s lips. They kiss again and then Nina pulls away to yawn, and Monet narrows his eyes.

“Bitch, did you sleep at all last night?”

“Not really…” Nina admits sheepishly.

Monet kicks off his shoes and pulls Nina to his chest before covering them with the scratchy hotel sheet.

“What about your flight?” Nina says softly. 

“There are other flights,” Monet says. “Right now I want to be here.”

Nina will apologize later after Monet accompanies him to his show, grinning the entire time and cheering louder than almost anyone else there. For now though, he relaxes into Monet’s chest, clasps their hands together, and slips into a dreamless sleep.

[artificialqueens]

No Strings Attached (Brooke x Yvie / Scyvie) - ImposterZoe

AN: This is from Yvie’s point of view and is so incredibly cheesy, I wouldn’t read it if you’re intolerant lactose. Enjoy! IZ.

Saying Brooke has been distracting me is an understatement. He haunts every hour of my day, and invades my every dream. God, I sound like a cheesy romance novel, but it’s true.

We have a gig… somewhere. I can’t remember. All I remember is that he’s here. I’m supposed to be doing my makeup but then he comes in, all graceful and silent. I watch him walk to his mirror (three to the left, two spaces too far) and I want to put my head down. I hear him laugh at something Nina says and turn my head, catching the deep blue swimming pools he calls eyes. We stare and I know my face portrays every emotion he makes me feel. I flinch as Scarlet claps her hands in my face. I give Brooke a little wisp of a smile and turn my attention to Scarlet. Her makeup is done and apparently she wants my help with her corset. I start lacing her up, nodding along to whatever she’s saying and hoping I don’t get roped into doing something while I’m not listening. Again. I really am never going to forgive Shuga for tricking me into watching Ponyo. Great movie but that was a shady move. I’m vaguely aware of Scarlet speaking again, but she claps her hands in my face again, so it must be important. I look up and she’s wincing.

“Too tight,” She gasps, “I’m not tryna look like Violet!”

I look at her corset and realize I laced her to hell. I undo my work and redo it. I guess it’s good this time because she kisses my cheek and walks away with a call of thanks. I turn back to my left by find Brooke’s spot empty. I sigh, focusing on my makeup. I work without thinking, shocking myself when I look up and find my face done. I grab my outfit and walk toward the bathroom. I’m not ashamed of my body, (I painted my dick pink in front crew, queens, and cameras for christ sake.), but I need a moment alone. I slip in a stall, get out of my boy clothes, and into my outfit. The soft fabric relaxes me, and I walk out smiling at Yvie’s reflection. With sigh I walk out, heading back to my mirror. But before I reach it, I glance three mirrors to my left. Brooke’s there now, still in boy clothes and talking with Nina. His backs to me and I feel the need to hug him. Like right now. I walk over and wrap my arms around his waist. Me and Nina laugh at the yelp he releases. We catch each other’s glance in the mirror and I put my head in his neck, the risk of smudging my makeup the only reason I don’t bury my face there. He lays his head on mine and places his hands on mine. I could stand here forever but Silky runs past whooping and laughing with Vanjie chasing after her, screaming every name on earth.

Silky ruins everything. I find Brooke’s eyes and give an eye roll for the gods. He smiles and dips his neck.  “I gotta get ready,” he whispers in my ear. A shiver travels down my body and a deep breath is the only thing keeping me stable. I nod and let go, feeling cold as I step back from him. He catches my eye and winks before focusing on his makeup. I would watch the mesmerizing process but Scarlet claps her hands in my face. Again. “Ah!” I yelp, “Scar stop doing that!”  She rolls her eyes. “Then listen when I call you. Like I’ve been doing for like, the past five minutes.” I roll my eyes back at her. She is so self entitled to my attention, it’s ridiculous. “Well what do you want?” Scarlet grabs my hand and starts to pull me away while running her mouth, when Brooke calls out. I turn back and he’s holding a folded piece of paper. “You dropped this Yvie.” He places the paper in my hand and pulls my ear down to his lips. “Don’t open it in front of Scarlet.” Brooke is usually easy going but I know an order when I hear it. I nod and walk back to Scarlet, slipping the note into the hidden pocket of my outfit. She’s looking at me funny. “What? Brooke had to tell me something.” I don’t mean to snap but I do and Scar frowns.

“Since she’s so important, you can keep talking to her.” I’m shocked at the anger in Scarlet’s voice as she walks away, opting to go talk to Ariel instead. I’m gonna have to kiss her ass later to make her forgive me (and to figure out what I did wrong in the first place) but that can wait. I pull the note out and smirk at Brooke’s scrawl on the outside. I’m about to open it but I look up and see Brooke shaking his head at me. Not yet. I want almost disobey but Brooke shakes his head at me again. I decide to just put it back and walk over to Nina. We talk until showtime and I go onstage, forgetting everything as I perform collecting more tips with every trick.  

After the show, I count my tips and slip back into the bathroom to change. I’m in the stall when I remember Brooke’s note. I pull it out and unfold it. The words are simple and clear.

“Meet me at the bar, if you want to come home with me. Brooke”

I have to read a dozen times before I comprehend it. Then I get out of drag faster than I thought was humanly possible. I rush out of the bathroom and crash into Scarlet. “Christ Yvie! Get off!”  I stand up and offer Scarlet a hand. She takes it and I help her stand in her gown. “Where’s the fire?” she jokes. I offer a tiny smile and grab my stuff off the floor, making sure the note is in my pocket.  I make to go around her but she grabs my shoulders. “You ok?” I hate the concern in her eyes but ignore it and nod, pushing past her toward my mirror. I shove my makeup in my bag and hang my outfit up. I snag my phone, checking the time before shoving it in my pocket. I hurry out, ignoring the calls of other girls asking what’s up with me. I slip along the wall, thanking my normally dark clothes as I manage to get to the bar unnoticed. I find Brooke immediately, and hug him from behind again. He doesn’t yelp this time, just removes my hands and turns around, leading me outside. I follow him as he pulls me around to the alley. He leans against the wall and I follow suit, scrounging around my pockets for a cigarette. I find my pack and offer him one. Brooke shakes his head and I light up, needing something to calm my nerves. I take a drag when he finally speaks.

“I’ve noticed you staring.” I release a stream of smoke and somehow manage to answer with a steady voice. “You’re something nice to look at.” Brooke smirks and nods in thanks.

I drop my barely smoked cigarette and grind it under my heel. It wasn’t helping anyway. “Your note said something about you taking me home with you?” There’s something in my voice that I can’t place but it makes Brooke smile so it must be something good. “It did. This a… sort of a proposition Yves.”

He’s so close I can smell him. I wonder what cologne he uses. I look at him and find my eyes find themselves swimming in those cool blue pools. “How do you feel about us fucking Yvie? No strings attached.” How do I feel about us fucking? Is he kidding me? Of course I-.  Wait.

“No strings attached?” I wonder aloud. Brooke nods seriously. “It means we fuck and that’s it. That we can see each other and things aren’t awkward. That we can talk about it with everyone else and laugh at their faces. Nothing changes. No. Strings. Attached.” That’s not what I want. I want things to change. I don’t want some fling, I want a relationship. But I’m can’t tell him that. I just can’t. Despite what people think, I’m too nice to say no and too scared to say I’ll do it but I want more than that. But all I say is, “I’m in,” and let him lead me away. I decide to ignore Scarlet shaking her head from the shadows.

The rest of the night comes in flashes. Me and Brooke making out in a hotel room. Brooke rolling a condom on me with his mouth. Me fucking Brooke so hard, I know he’ll walk with a limp the next day. Brooke coming, squeezing my hips, with me not far behind him. An hour passing before he says how pretty my lips are and “ wouldn’t they look prettier on my dick.” Me sucking him and him lasting an embarrassingly short time but me smiling as I swallowed, knowing it was because I’m just that damn good. Him putting yet another condom on me to ride me. Me looking at the clock and seeing that it’s three in the morning. Him suggesting we shower together to “save water.” Us blowing each other while water pounds our backs. Him falling asleep after saying I could stay and that this was fun. Me going to my own hotel room and crying until sun up, knowing I had to act like nothing changed between us. Then, finally, the sweet bliss of a dreamless sleep.

[The next day]

I forgot that we had another show today at that same club. I didn’t wake up until six in the evening so I had to rush to the club. I walk in and sit at my same mirror. I heard everyone start whispering when I walked in but ignored it and looked to the left. Exactly three mirrors down and find it empty. I guess Brooke isn’t here yet. I glance at the my mirror and realize why everyone is whispering. The hickey on my neck is hard to miss. Well if they want to whisper, let’s give some actual content to whisper about. I grab my makeup bag from where I left it yesterday and take deep breath as I strip down to my boxers. I hear a quiet uproar as they take in the hickeys marking my chest, the claw marks on my shoulders, the hand marks on my hips, and the marks on my knees from Brooke’s carpet. And shower. I decide to play dumb. I turn to where they’ve congregated in the back with a confused look on my face. “What? Half of you have seen me in my boxers before. And the other half has seen me with less than that.”  The looks I’m met with tell me none of them buy the act. I shrug and sit down, putting on my face.

About twenty minutes later the door opens and we all look. I was met with whispers, but Brooke’s met with yelps and screams. I was right, he’s limping. He ignores everyone and follows my lead, stripping to his boxers. And I want to beat my own ass. How could I forget about the little reminder I left on his chest. A string of hickeys… In the shape of a J. For Jovan. I wonder how many people in this room know my real name. He limps over to his mirror, and we all hear his groan as he sits down. I can’t bring myself to look at him, keeping my gaze firmly on my reflection as I swipe on my foundation. Of course A'keria is the first to say something.

“You and Brooke get mauled by the same bear, Yvie?” She calls out. I don’t shift my gaze and Brooke stays quiet. I risk a glance and catch Brooke’s eyes. He shakes his head just a bit and that’s how we agree not to mention it. We both focus on our makeup attempting to block out the hoots and hollers of the other girls. I only talk once and that’s to ask if anyone’s seen Scarlet. The answer’s no and I throw on my old brown coat to go call her outside. After three voicemails, several unread texts, and a wasted thirty minutes, I head back in to get dressed. The show went fast but I’ve been worried ever since the owner said Scarlet had canceled. I get out of drag and sigh. I haven’t spoken to Brooke all day. It sucks but I pack my stuff, and hang around for a bit to talk, ignoring all questions of about the night before. At one point I get bored and go into a backbend, grabbing my ankles and sticking my tongue at Ariel, after she did it to me. I freeze when Vanjie cheekily asks if I suck dick that way. I pop up and glare at her. I am so not in the mood for jokes.  “Why don’t you ask your man over there?” I snap at him before I could think. The moment the words leave my lips, it feels like the air gets sucked out of the room and my heart stops. Then Ariel whips around yelling, “I fucking told you guys that J stood for Jovan and not Jose!” Honestly… I don’t know if I’m more shocked at my words or the fact Ariel knew my name. She probably googled it. Then Silky crosses the line. “Damn. I ain’t know Brooke’s standards were that low.” My heart starts beating again but the beat is too fast, too hard, and my hand is across Silky’s face before I could think. The sound travels through the room and everything stops. My hands shake and so does my voice when I say, “Fuck you, Silky. You don’t know a goddamn thing about me and Brooke!” Then I grab my stuff and run out of the club, getting a taxi to my hotel. My hand is throbbing and I can only wonder how Silky’s face feels. I pay and rush to my room. I just stand there in the quiet of the room and start to cry. Big, ugly sobs tear their way through my body. I never meant to hit Silky but something broke in me. If I’m being honest with myself, I know my tears have nothing to do with Silky. I was gonna hit the bitch one of these days. But she asked a question I’ve been asking myself all day . Why did Brooke want to fuck me in the first place? Were her standards really that low? I cry so hard, I have to run to the bathroom to throw up. I need to talk to Brooke. I search for my phone and hit my head when I remember it’s in my brown coat. Which I left at the club. I really don’t wanna go back but I need my phone… and my coat. I open the door and jump back at Brooke standing there, holding my coat, with his arm raised to knock. He stares at me, taking in my tearstained face and for a moment he almost looks guilty. I step aside, waving him through the door. He steps in and sits on the bed as I shut the door, latching it shut. I walk toward him and hold my hand out. In actuality, I want a hug but he hands me my coat and rummage through the pockets and pull out my phone. We don’t speak as I check my messages, rolling my eyes at the texts I have from “The Dream Girls” calling me all sorts of names, half of Vanjie’s in Spanish and the other half misspelled. I sigh and lock my phone. “Thanks for bringing me my coat.” I mumble as I hang it up. Brooke shrugs. “I didn’t think you wanted to go back to get it.”

“You thought right. But that’s not all you want to talk about.” I cross my arms and scowl. I’m not stupid. It was probably Nina who noticed I left my coat. Brooke most likely didn’t give two shits. Brooke sighs and shakes his head. “We said no strings attached.” He whispers. “I know that,” I mumble back.

“So why are you holding on like a kite?” He snaps. I flinch and look up. He’s asking for an answer. Well the truth has to come out eventually. I look at him and find myself incredibly calm. “Because I’m in love with you and after that night I don’t want things to be the same. I want every string that comes attached with loving you.” He reels back at my words. He stares at me and I want to shrink back, but stand tall. He stands up and presses me to the wall. I don’t smell his cologne anymore. I smell beer on his breath and cigarettes.(Did he smoke some from my pack? I’ll have to check) He stares at me, those crystal blue pools frozen. I can feel the read coming. But this is Brooke. He won’t go for the obvious. I tell him everything. He knows how to break my heart and break my heart he does.

“You aren’t special to me, Yvie. There isn’t a you and me. Because to me, you are just like EVERYONE else! Get it? I may have fucked you but in the end, to me You. Are. Ordinary.” My bottom lips starts quivering at being called ordinary but I just bite it and nod at him. He sighs and hugs me. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings but you can’t get the wrong idea. We aren’t a couple Yvie. I don’t want to be anything more than friends.” I shove him off me. “I fucking get it! You don’t want me! It’s crystal fucking clear!” My voice breaks on the last word but then I’m crying so hard I don’t really notice. “Yvie-” Brooke tries again. But I cut him off. “Get the fuck outta my room!” I yell. He looks guilty and he should. He leaves, mumbling “I’m sorry” over and over. But all sorry could do for me right now was go fuck itself. I go lock the door and sit down against it, placing my head in my arms as I cry my heart out.

I don’t know how long I sit there when someone knocks on the door again. I jump up and throw it open, all my anger and pain coming out in a cry of “WHAT?!”  I freeze as see Scarlet standing there. “Scar?” My voice breaks and I’m crying again. She hurries in, wrapping her arms around me kicking the door shut behind her. I place my chin on her head as I choke on sobs. She walks us back into the bed and lets me ramble about everything going on that’s happened in the last 24 hours. She stiffens when I say what Brooke told me. I finish speaking and Scarlet walks to the bathroom. I hear water running and she comes back with a wet rag. The cold rag feels amazing on my face. I let out a shaky sigh and stare at the ground. Scarlet grabs my face and pulls it up. “Look at me,” She whispers. I oblige and look up at her eyes. I’m not met with crystal blue but a deep brown. “Brooke’s an idiot and liar. You are the most extraordinary person anyone will ever meet and if someone is lucky enough for you to want to be with them, that’s like winning a billion dollar lottery. And honestly I would love to be that lucky.”  I want to cry again but I just bury face in her shirt, breathing her in. I wonder if I smell cologne or lotion. Whatever it is I feel it’s uniquely Scarlet. I feel her stroke my head and my broken heart feels somewhat better. “Scarlet,” I say after a minute, sitting up to look at her, “I still love Brooke.” Her face falls but I make her look at me. “I still love Brooke, but I want to love you too. Do you mind being with someone who is trying to LEARN to love you?” I see her considering this and for a second wonder if I’m about to lose two special people in my life tonight. But instead of an answer, Scarlet kisses me so softly I have to touch my lips to make sure its real. She laughs at the action. “I think you’ll find I’m a wonderful teacher.” The smug look on her face is so ridiculous, I lean forward to kiss it off. “And I think you’ll find I’m a fast learner.” I envelop Scarlet in a hug and we sit there for a while.

Eventually, we decide to order chinese and try to find movie on my tv. We sit there as I laugh at her trying to use chopsticks and explain the parts of Ponyo she doesn’t understand. “You do know we have another show at that club, right?” She wonders aloud. I groan. “Can’t we cancel?” I whine. Scarlet laughs, popping some of her lo mein in my mouth. “No. I canceled yesterday. And you won’t leave me there alone.” I start to argue but Scarlet kisses me in a way that makes my mind go blank. “We’re going.” She smirked. I nod stupidly and we focus on the movie.

[The next day]

Scarlet had to leave to get things from her hotel room for the show tonight, but told me to be at the club by five. I sigh before I walk in and go straight to my mirror. I hear whispering again but this time it’s angry. I’m staring at my weary reflection when a familiar pair of hands clap in my face. I roll my eyes and grab Scarlet’s hands. “You really need to stop doing that.”  

“Never,” she replies, pecking my lips. We start on our makeup, joking and laughing in our own little world. At one point Vanjie and A'keria come tell me off for hitting Silky. I almost managed a somewhat guilty face the whole time but then I caught Scarlet’s eye and we both burst out laughing. We clutched each other, wiping tears from our eyes. Vanjie and A'keria looked salty after being laughed at, which just made us laugh harder. “You know you datin’ a hoe, right Scar?” Silky yells from across the room. I think she’s too scared to come over here. Scarlet claps a hand to her mouth. “I didn’t know I was dating you!” she cries. I burst out laughing, banging my fist on the table. All of the Dream Girls look so salty, especially next to Scarlet’s sweet as sugar smile. “You know she was with Brooke, like two days ago,” A'keria points out. Scarlet nods seriously before turning to me. “Glad to know that you’re now dating up. I mean who needs someone who will kiss that,” she points a finger at Vanjie, “ when you can kiss ME!” At this she jumps in my lap and sticks her tongue in my mouth. A'keria and Vanjie huff and stalk back to their mirrors. Scarlet releases my mouth with a loud, “Mwah!” and goes back to her makeup. We giggle and talk like teenagers as I lace her in her corset. Conversation only stalls when Brooke comes in, but only for a second. We whisper shady jokes about her to each other and receive glares each time my laugh rings out in the room… Which is often. The show was fine, everyone getting a decent amount of tips. Me and Scarlet continue talking and I sigh at ease in the conversation. I lean forward and place my forehead on hers. “I don’t deserve you, baby.” I whisper, the nickname slipping off my tongue with ease. Scarlet simply kisses me. “In my eyes, you deserve the world. And I love you.” I kiss her back. “I love you, too.” Scarlet beams at me. “And only after a day of trying.” she teases. I roll my eyes and throw a makeup sponge at her. She tosses it back and it rolls down the table. Exactly three mirrors to the left. I roll my eyes at her throw but get up to go get it. I think Scarlet was about to offer to go instead but I walk over and tap Brooke’s shoulder. “Can you hand my sponge?” He offers it and I grab it. Before I walk away, I look at Brooke in his mirror. We stare at each other for a long second.Then I hold out my hand. “We fuck and nothing changes, right? No strings attached?” Brooke stares at my hand for a second before taking it with a smile. “Right. Nothing changes. No strings attached.” We shake and I walk back to Scarlet. “Ready to go?” I ask her. She nods and we pack up. Everyone goes back on the road tomorrow, so I wanna make sure me and Scarlet have fun tonight. “Hey Scar?” I look at her as we walk outside. “Yes, my chemistry lady?” she replies. I stare at her beautiful brown eyes and whisper. “I really do love you. And I want every string that comes attached.” She smiles up at me and whispers back. “I love you too. With every string attached.”