#was walking to my friends car and tripped and slightly twisted my ankle

[rosicheeks]

😓

[missymurphy1985]

The Return

It's been 2 years since you were last in Dublin. 2 years since you up and left without warning, saying goodbye to your life there and restarting somewhere completely new. Sometimes, you have to go backwards in order to move forwards.

Requested by @noctvrnalmoth I hope you like it!

*Featuring Jim from the Delinquent Season*

Stepping off the train into the platform, you sighed. It all looked the same, and yet so different. Pulling the buggy open, you gently strapped your sleeping son in and made your way to the taxi rank, your suitcase trailing behind you. A kind lady helped you with your bags and waited with you for an available taxi.

"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders there, are you okay?" She sat next to you on the bench as your son murmured adorably in his sleep. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry..."

"No don't be sorry.. just been a long time since I came back here is all. Few loose ends to tie up." You glanced at your son's sleepy features as his eyes started to open. Beautiful, ocean blue eyes alongside his dark hair, growing more every day... The memories of that night flooding back before you took a large gulp of water from the bottle in your bag, forcing them back down. You'd done so well... 2 years and you'd built a new life in London. New friends, amazing new job allowing you to put that degree in marketing to good use - you were finally making a complete fresh start. But the secrets you had buried deep inside kept coming to the surface the more your son grew. He deserved to know his roots, who his father was, you knew that, but you couldn't do it.

Choking a tear back, you thanked the kind lady for helping you as a taxi pulled up and she helped you to get in.

Pulling up outside your cousin Natalie's townhouse in the city centre, she was waiting for you at the gate to help with Jackson and your bags. Grinning from ear to ear she pulled you in for a huge hug once you'd got inside and settled on her couch as Jackson sat in this new lady's lap tugging at her earrings.

"I can't believe I'm only just meeting him y/n.. he's the image of you!!" She kissed his cheek, bringing him up to look at him properly for the first time not over Skype.

"I never see it, I just see.... I just see him I guess..." You mind wandered to the man you actually saw, but you didn't let it slip.

"Those EYES!!! So blue and vibrant, just beautiful!" Natalie was swooning now, she'd never seen eyes that blue on a baby. Your eyes were brown, so he clearly inherited them from his father, although you had never revealed his identity - just a drunken one night stand and he wasn't involved. You weren't lying, technically...

After catching up properly, Natalie told you she'd planned a few people coming over to welcome you back that evening - nothing major, just a few friends from years ago that were keen to see you after so long away.

"Oh.. yes, that would be nice... Um, who's coming?"

"Well I think David and Amanda, possibly Caroline.. I think Liam is asking Jim too but I'm not sure if he's up for it - he's been through a tough time lately.." you caught a gasp in your throat at the sound of his name. Last you heard, through Natalie, he and Danielle were going through a rough patch. Cheating accusations on both sides, they'd agreed to a trial separation. "Apparently she isn't as broken hearted as once thought - already shacked up with someone new, fancy house on the coast, new Jag on the driveway, she's doing quite well for herself!" Your chin began to wobble, not unnoticed by Natalie, who placed Jackson in his bouncer on the floor and moved to place a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm fine Nat, honestly I'm good. It was a long time ago, things have changed. I'm not that silly little girl with a crush anymore..." Natalie looked into your eyes. Nothing ever got past her.

"Y/n.. when I said I'd never seen eyes that blue, I meant on a baby. Only one person I know has eyes like that, and I think you know too. Tell me the truth, please?" You were frozen, until tears escaped and you couldn't stop them. Jackson looked to see his mum crying and began crying too. Scooping him up, you held him close.

"It happened once... Just once Nat... And he doesn't know and he doesn't need to know, let's just leave it there, yeah?"

"What?? This is Jim's son? I was almost kidding y/n... How could you keep this from him for 2 years??" She was stood up now in complete shock. Jim wasn't just her friend, he was her husband's brother - this made things even more intense. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

"Please Nat... This wasn't easy okay? I was 21, I slept with a married man, and I got pregnant... Then mum died.. I had to go back to London to sort out the funeral and the will... I didn't want to be seen as the homewrecker that got herself knocked up..."

"And what about Jackson? Doesn't he deserve to know his father?"

"Of course... And he would.. when I was ready Nat. And I'm not ready..."

"Not ready for what?" Liam, Natalie's husband was stood in the doorway, as you heard the front door close. Now standing next to him was the man you were desperately trying to avoid... Jim stood behind him, eyes wide at the sight of you with a baby in your arms.

"Baby, we need to go pick up that delivery from the post office, remember the one we missed last week?" Natalie pulled a confused Liam out of the room, leaving his brother and you alone.

"Y/n... Hey.. um.. how are you?" You tried to smile in response but your heart was pounding in your chest, you could barely breathe.

"I.. yeah.. um, yeah I'm okay.." you glanced down at his hand.. the wedding ring was gone. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Olivia..."

"Probably for the best eh... We weren't exactly getting along, just stayed together for the kids I think. They're older now though, they're fine. Y/n.. where did you go? Why did you go?"

"My mum was ill... She'd had a stroke and they couldn't save her, I had to go... I just stayed.. and things happened.."

"You had a baby..." He looked at the little boy in your arms, feeling extremely nervous now. "He must be just over a year old, right?" You nodded.

"13 months.."

"And we... We had sex y/n.. the day before you left..." His own breath was faltering now as the dates in his mind started to catch up. Again, you nodded, tears rolling down your cheeks. The realisation of what was happening dawned on Jim. He started to back away, before shaking his head and storming out of the house, the door slamming behind him making you and your son jump.

Your sobs came out in full force now, Liam and Natalie coming back into the room. Liam took Jackson into the kitchen to find him something to eat as Natalie held you.

"It's okay y/n... Give him time yeah? Poor guys just had the shock of his life, he'll come round." Your heart was sinking.. you hadn't meant for any of this to happen, but here it was. The memory of that afternoon had never left you, you hadn't even been able to move on - your son, for starters, looked just like him, how could you find love with anyone with the constant reminder of the man you'd never have around you 24/7.

Flashback

"I'm so sorry Jim, I didn't know who else to call..." You climbed into his car, cheeks burning as he picked you up from outside the pharmacy. You'd been walking along the road when a pothole in the pavement took you by surprise and you'd tripped, your ankle turning funny - the pain was horrific, but no one seemed to be answering your phone calls when you rang around for someone to come pick you up. Reluctantly, you'd dialled Jim's number, your cousin's brother in law. He'd given you his number the previous week, after offering to help you move into your new apartment later that month.

"No problem, I was just dropping the kids at school so I was only round the corner." He helped you into the car and drove you back to his house. "I figured your place is in boxes, no chance of a first aid kit either, I'm guessing?"

"No," You laughed. "Thank you so much.." you grimaced as you turned your foot round, trying to ease the pain.

"Definitely not broken, just need to rest it. I'll put the kettle on." Jim led you into the kitchen and sat you down at the kitchen table, and grabbed an ice pack from the fridge. Lifting your leg onto the chair opposite, he placed the ice pack onto your ankle. "Feeling okay?" He asked, flicking the kettle on and preparing two mugs of coffee.

"Much better.. thank you." Definitely better.. the physical contact from him was driving you insane, you had to swallow the blushes in your cheeks, praying he hadn't noticed.

"I've only got instant coffee... Hope that's okay - Danielle won't let me buy a coffee machine." He rolled his eyes. His wife was one of the tightest women he'd ever met.

"It's fine, thank you.. and I honestly can't thank you enough for coming to get me.. I can't believe how clumsy I am!"

"Hey those pavements are a nightmare - I'm surprised no one's broken a leg yet! Don't you be moving now, I'll take you back home once that swelling has gone down."

"How did you know how to fix it all?"

"I have a son, y/n, who at one stage a few years ago thought he was an actual superhero and would fling himself off anything to check if he could fly.. you learn the difference between a broken ankle and a twisted one pretty quick!" He laughed, remembering the time his son climbed the tallest tree in the park, giving him a heart attack before throwing himself from the top - luckily Jim caught him before he hit the floor.

"I think it's better now, Jim, I can try and walk." You said, after chatting for a while in the large kitchen.

"Let me help you.." he held your hands and guided you upright, your chests now pressed together as you placed your foot gingerly on the floor, testing it's strength. Stumbling slightly, Jim caught you, your bodies now even closer together. You could feel his heart racing, could he feel yours? His hands wrapping around yours, holding you up, an arm snaking round your waist. You looked up and found him looking right back at you, your face inches from his. Before you had time to think, you kissed him, before quickly pulling back.

"Shit I'm sorry... Oh god.. no... I'm sorry..." He took your hand in his and pulled you back to him, pressing his lips back to yours. This time you didn't pull back, your mouth opening allowing his tongue to dance against yours. Lifting you up, he sat you on top of the counter, his hands roaming your body hungrily.

"I can't... I shouldn't..." He murmured against your neck, the vibrations driving you wild with need. "You're so fucking beautiful y/n..." He ground your hips against yours, you could feel his erection through his jeans as you reached down to cup it through them, kneading it slightly. He growled, pulling your hand up to his chest, his heart hammering underneath his shirt. "You feel that? Feel how fast that's going?" Silently you took his hand and placed against your chest.

"Feel mine...." You pushed his hand down lower.. over your breast... Down your stomach and under the waistband of your skirt. His fingers found your folds, and he gasped your name. "I'm wet... I'm so fucking wet..." Lifting your skirt up, he pulled your underwear down. You relieved him of his jeans and they fell to the floor, revealing no underwear, just his huge, hard cock already leaking.

"I see you are too..." You ran a finger along the slit, taking some of the precum and lifting it to your mouth. "You taste good..."

"You want this...?" He asked, lining himself up against you. You nodded, and he pushed in easily, you gasped his name and threw your head back as he filled you completely. Pulling on your hips, he rocked you against him as he moved his own hips back and forth, fucking you against the countertop. You legs wrapped round his waist as his thrusts came harder, deeper, faster.

"Fuck... Right there... Jim... Oh god...." He bit down on your exposed neck, hands pushing against your still covered breasts, he moaned.

"Feels so good y/n... You feel so good... That's it baby, I need to feel you... Cum for me..." You leaned back, and eyes locked with his you drew a hand down to circle your clit as he moved inside you.

"Gonna make myself cum on you... Gonna cum hard for you... Faster Jim..." He pounded into you now, your moans echoing through the kitchen as you came over him, his release following seconds later. Both of you leaned your heads together as your worlds came back into focus.

Present Day

"Hey."

"Hey.." you'd agreed to meet Jim for a coffee a few days later. He'd called you the evening before, slightly tipsy which made you chuckle. Liam and Natalie were watching Jackson while the two of you caught up.

"How's the hangover?" You smiled, he grimaced.

"Well I've definitely felt fresher.. it was a bit of a shock y/n..."

"Listen.. for what it's worth.. I'm sorry. I didn't know I was pregnant until I was nearly 20weeks. With the stress of losing mum and the funeral, I hadn't had a period for a while but I thought it was just the stress.. then my friend convinced me to take a test and the doctors confirming it.. it was too late to do anything about it.. then I heard you and Danielle were trying for another baby and I just couldn't do it Jim.. I couldn't destroy your life like that.." your hands were shaking. He leaned over and took your hands in his.

"I understand y/n.. I do. I spent most of this week thinking about it. I don't blame you for what you did.. but I do wish you'd told me."

"I'd done enough damage Jim, sleeping with a married man? On his kitchen counter where he makes his kids breakfast? Where his wife makes her coffee in the morning? I couldn't face you.. I couldn't face what I'd done.."

"You know where my wife was, that morning?" He leaned back, smiling a little. "At her office, bent over the desk while her boss fucked her from behind. She called my number by accident while it happened. I didn't answer, obviously, I was busy.. but my voicemail picked up the whole thing. I'd had my suspicions for a long time, but that confirmed it. We were never trying for another baby - that's just what she told people to distract them from the fact we were clearly falling apart at the seams. Couldn't exactly be mad at her after what I'd done with you though."

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes, but she didn't know it was you. Then you up and left.. I thought there was no need to tell her who it was. I guess now we kinda have to, right?"

"Jim, I don't expect anything from you, okay? I have an inheritance from my mum, I'm fine for money, there's no need to be involved if it'll cause you problems.."

"No. You've kept him from me for nearly 2 years y/n, don't do this again, please? I'm not asking you to move in, I'm not asking for a relationship, I just want to get to know our boy.. that's all.. please?" You saw it in his eyes. It was there, for all to see. Was it love?

"I'll call Nat.. ask her to bring him over, maybe we could go for a walk?" Jim smiled, nodding. You made the call, and an hour later you were walking to the local park, Jim pushing the stroller. He took Jackson out of the buggy and placed him inside a baby swing, pushing him gently while pulling silly faces making him giggle. Your heart swelled watching them.

"He's incredible.. those eyes.."

"Your eyes, Jim." He looked up at you and smiled listening to his son's giggle, before he started becoming grouchy again.

"He's teething... Come on little man, let's get you back shall we?" Jim lifted him from the swing and placed his little finger in Jackson's mouth. He responded by sucking his gums along it, finding relief. You smiled, watching Him soothe your son's whimpers of pain as his teeth came through.

Making your way inside Natalie's house, you were surprised to find it empty. A note on the kitchen counter read that they'd gone out for the afternoon, they wouldn't be home until the evening. You warmed a bottle of milk for Jackson as Jim gave him some Calpol. Taking the bottle from you, he fed his son, as you watched, heart pounding as you watched the man you were still in love with take such good care of your baby. Within 15 minutes, Jackson was fed and had been rocked to sleep in his father's arms, you took him and placed him upstairs in his cot to nap. You knew he'd be out for at least an hour after all that fresh air. Walking back into the lounge, you found Jim sat on the sofa waiting for you.

"Come here, y/n..." You sat next to him as he turned to face you, hand gently caressing your cheek. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm heading back to London tomorrow Jim..." His eyes glistened slightly. He'd just found his son, and now he was going again. He'd just got you back in his life, and now you were disappearing again...

"What can I do to make you stay?" His question took you by surprise. Stay?

"Jim, I..."

"I haven't stopped thinking about you.. about what happened 2 years ago. How long I'd wanted you, how long I'd dreamt of you, how I still dream of you even now.. and we share a son y/n.. I can't let you go again, it'd break me.."

"I'm half your age Jim! I'm barely older than your eldest child, how can this possibly work?" He answered with a kiss. Leaning forward to take your mouth against his, without thinking you returned it, linking your fingers with his as he pulled you into his lap.

"It'll work because we'll make it work.. nothing else matters.. all of that other stuff is irrelevant.." he felt you grind your hips against his and his erection was burning against his jeans. He needed you, now.

"And Danielle?"

"Is fucking a man old enough to be her own father - opinion invalid. I don't care about her, I care about you.. please.." he was aware of how desperate he sounded but he didn't care. He had his hand under your t-shirt against your breast, no bra in the way this time. Lifting you up, he carried you upstairs to the guest room you were staying in, and laid you down softly on the bed underneath him.

"Birth control?" He looked at you, smiling.

"The coil - don't worry, I'm covered this time.." You smiled back as he lifted your t-shirt over your head and kissed you again. The reason for being at the pharmacy 2 years ago was to collect your prescription for the pill - you'd not taken it for a couple of days after running out suddenly. After Jackson was born, you switched to a more efficient form of birth control.

Pulling your skirt down and off, along with your underwear, he nestled his face between your thighs, now parted by his hands.

"I want you to watch me y/n... Watch me as I make you cum..." Your core burning, you raised yourself up on your elbows as he blew a hot breath against your wet folds, causing you to shiver under him. He parted your lips with his fingers, before licking from your pulsing hole up to your clit, finding a rhythm that made you cry out and shudder underneath his tongue. Smiling, groaning into you, you tried to keep your eyes on him as he licked and sucked your throbbing clit in his mouth.

"Jim.. don't stop.. oh god..." You hadn't had sex since that afternoon 2 year ago, no one being good enough to compete with the man currently buried between your legs. No pleasure you'd given yourself since was a patch on this, and you felt that burning feeling in your stomach starting to rise. "I'm close... Mm... Fuck I'm close..." Your words barely a whisper but he heard them, pushing harder with his tongue as a finger entered you, hooking upwards to find that spot inside, the one you didn't think actually existed, but there it was.. you bucked against his mouth, coming hard and fast - you felt your liquids gush over his chin, there was no stopping them... "Aha... Oh god Jim... Fuck... Stop, it's too much..." He smiled, blowing another warm breath over you before moving back to your mouth. You could taste yourself on his lips, turning you on even more.

Flipping him onto his back, you lifted his clothes off him and kissed down his chest. Your core needed a breather before you took him inside you. Licking the top of his now rock hard cock, you slowly sank your lips down, taking him fully inside your mouth. You'd never had a strong gag reflex, and you enjoyed the feeling of his cock hitting the back of your throat.

"Holy fuck... Jesus y/n... That's it baby..." Up and down your head bobbed, swapping between hard and light sucks, your teeth gently scraping the underside of his cock and your fingers lightly playing with his balls underneath you. Every time you felt them tighten, you'd ease off, allowing him to catch his breath, before bringing him into your mouth again. After a few near explosions, he couldn't take anymore and lifted you off motioning for you to sit on him. "Ride me y/n..." You smiled, and sank your pussy onto him, allowing him to fill you. Slowly so as to adjust to his length, your hips moved, back and forth, up and down, finding the right rhythm for you both. He sat up, chests together and his hands under your thighs as he rotated his hips from underneath, driving his cock against that magical spot again.

"Yes... God that feels good... Jim..."

"I'm not gonna last long y/n..."

"That's okay.. we've got plenty of time to make up for this... Cum in me, give me all of you..." You felt his cock twitch inside you as he moved your hips faster. Leaning back, you rode him hard, the bed frame squeaking underneath as you both cried out, your climaxes arriving simultaneously. Coming back to rest your head against his, you clenched your core once more causing him to gasp as you drew yourself off him slowly. Lay down next to each other, he pulled you into his arms.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked, kissing your head gently. "Plenty of time?"

"I meant it, Jim... I need to get back to London to sort a few things, put my flat up for sale.. my job... But yes. If you'll have us, we'll come back.." you looked into his eyes. He lifted your head to kiss you and you felt it. All the love you thought you'd never find, in the man you thought you'd never find it with.

Everything was going to be fine, you couldn't wait to start your life over again, this time for the last time.

@margoo0 @queenshelby @peakyscillian @cloudofdisney @ntmynouis @being-worthy

[toplinetommy]

You Bring the Moon and Stars to Me (Part Three) - Tyson Jost

Synopsis: A Soulmate!AU where your soulmark only appears once you fall in love with your soulmate

Words: 5.8k

Warnings: Underage casual drinking (Tyson is almost 20 in the first part so it kind of counts)

Part One | Part Two 

February 2018 - Denver, CO

“So, have you and Tyson been hanging out a lot?” Caityln asks from where she’s sitting on the opposite side of her couch.

“Kind of. We FaceTime a lot because our schedules don’t match up a lot.” You answer. “We get food or cook a lot together and he’ll invite me over just to hang out with him and JT and Kerfy.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed your car over there more often than before.” She smirks. You roll your eyes at her love of snooping. “I still think it’s crazy that he lives across the street from me.”

“Honestly, same,” You agree. “Speaking of the Rookie House, I probably won’t be over there for a while. Tyson was telling me that their Mentor’s Trip is coming up at the end of this week, so everyone has people visiting them.”

Caityln looks confused as you speak, so you explain further. “The Avs have the dads and stuff come out for a few days to watch their kids play and get to spend some time with them. Tyson said his grandpa is coming down.” You smile. You thought of the way your friend’s face would light up every time he had mentioned his Grandpa Jim.

“Aw, that sounds like so much fun!” Caitlyn exclaims. Suddenly, your phone starts vibrating on the coffee table in front of you, pulling you from your conversation with her. Tyson’s face fills the screen as you pull your phone to your ear.

“Hey, I just saw your car. Come over real quick.” Tyson greets you, foregoing his usual ‘hey’.

“Uhhh, okay,” You stammer, “Let me put shoes and a coat on and I’ll walk over.” You hang up the rather short phone call and stand from the couch to head to the entryway of Caitlyn’s home.

“I’ll be right back, Tyson wants me to go over there for a minute.” You tell your friend as you pull your Doc’s on. She nods at you, not looking up from her phone before you slip out into the cold, nippy Denver air.

You walk up the front steps of the Avs rookie house before you knock on the large front door. Tyson swings It open, moving to the side letting you in.

“Why do you even knock still?” He questions.

“I was raised to knock, and besides, you don’t live alone. I don’t know what I could be walking into.” You reason with him, to which he nods his head in understanding. “Anyways, what was so urgent that you made me come over here for.”

“JT got his soulmark over the weekend!” Tyson exclaims. “Also, Grandpa Jim is here!” He points to the man sitting on the living room couch, not noticing him prior to his gesture. The man, now with the title of Tyson’s grandpa attached, stands up and walks over to the two of you.

You smile at him before sneaking a stern look towards your best friend.

“This is y/n! She’s the one that went to UND with me.” Tyson introduces you. You stick your hand out with the intention to shake Grandpa Jim’s hand, but he ignores the gesture and instead opens his arms to hug you.

“You’re the best friend Tys is always calling me and his mom about then, eh?” He says, pulling away. He takes his eyes off you and looks towards his grandson, which you’re happy about now that you feel your cheeks heating up.

Tyson groans next to the both of you, “Grandpa you can’t just say stuff like that.” Grandpa Jim laughs, not too sure why that’s even a big deal.

He turns back to you, “Y/n, are you coming to Tysons game tomorrow?”

“I wasn’t planning to, I don’t really go to too many games.” You answer.

“Well let’s change that! Tyson can get you tickets, right?” He asks, looking back at Tyson for an answer.

“Yeah, I can. I can get you two so you can bring Caitlyn if you’d like.” He suggests, fishing in his pocket to pull out his phone. He’s tapping away at the screen when you interrupt him.

“Tyson, I’d be more than happy than happy to get them myself, I promise.” You say. You had previously expressed to him that both you and Caitlyn were more than compatible to spend money on your own tickets, to which he constantly responded with ‘then what’s the point of having me as a best friend’. “Just this one time, eh?” He suggests. “It’s a special occasion with Grandpa Jim and all the dads being here.”

You contemplate the proposition before giving in, “I have to make sure Caitlyn can come still.” Tyson nods his head in understanding. A large smile filling his face and his eyes glimmer in the setting sunlight from the windows.

“I’d normally say we can go to dinner afterwards or something but I think the guys are doing a big team dinner after the game.” Tyson mentions. You nod your head, trying to think of an alternative thing all three of you can do.

“Let’s just do something tonight and I can just drive you all to the airport Saturday morning?” You suggest. You knew that they would be traveling to Chicago that morning from your previous conversation with Tyson when he first told you all about the Mentor's Trip and his plans for the week. “Also, let’s circle back. JT got his soulmark? It’s that Sydney girl right? Is he here?”

Tyson laughs at your rambling before shouting for JT to come to the living room through the house. You hear his heavy footsteps and he greets you with a ‘hey’ and a small head nod.

“When do I get to meet this Sydney now that she’s officially your soulmate?” You ask, a smirk playing at your lips. His eyes light up and a smile appears on his face at the topic,

“You can’t keep your mouth shut, huh?” JT chirps his roommate.

“Technically I used it as bait to get her to come over here because I know she wouldn’t have come if I told her she was meeting my Grandpa.”

You smack Tyson’s chest as your jaw drops at his confession. He lets out a quiet ‘oops’ before speaking again, “Well you’re here now.”

“She’s coming during her spring break which is next week so you can meet her then.” JT offers up. You nod, making a mental note to make at least introduce yourself to her.

“Can I see your soulmark?” You ask, moving close to the tall ginger. He nods his head and shows you his ankle where you could make out a small outline of a wolf. “Does it have any meaning?”

“Yeah, we met at college and the mascot is a wolverine there.” He answers. Your heart swoons at his answer, feeling excited for your friend. You stand up from where you were slightly bent over before looking over at Tyson.

“I really can’t stay that long, Caitlyn and I had plans.” You say more to Tyson than to anyone else in the living room.

“Just stay for one drink.” Grandpa Jim suggests. You don’t see the harm in it, so you agree and send a text to Caitlyn letting her know you’ll be a little bit.

“I got that bottle of wine you suggested to me last week if you want a glass of that.” Tyson recommends as the three of you make your way to the kitchen.

“You found it?” You exclaim. “I haven’t been able to find it since I first tried it a few weeks ago.” As you finish talking, the two of you move in harmony as he grabs the bottle of wine from the wine cooler located underneath the island and you go to where the wine opener and wine glasses are located - both of which you urged the three rookies to purchase. You meet Tyson at the island where his grandpa is now sitting, handing him the wine opener for him to use as he pours the three of you a glass.

Tyson moves to sit next to his Grandpa on the other side of the island while you opt to continue standing, leaning on the countertop in front of you.

“I’m your best friend, huh?” You ask Tyson, referring back to your first conversation with Grandpa Jim.

Tyson rolls his eyes, taking a quick sip of his wine before speaking. “Don’t act all high and mighty. You’re my best friend and I’m yours, that’s how this relationship works.”

You can’t argue with him, fully knowing that Tyson had suddenly become your go-to for almost anything nowadays. You take another small sip of your wine, setting the glass back onto the island table top in front of you, pondering the amount of time you’ve spent in the Rookie House lately.

“Have you played the ukulele for her yet?” Grandpa Jim says interrupting your thoughts. He’s looking at Tyson but pointing his free hand towards you. Tyson’s face drops into another groan as he sets his wine glass down hastily.

“What?” You exclaim with your jaw slightly dropped.

“I got him a ukulele for Christmas.”

“Why am I just now finding this out?” You question eyeballing Tyson’s reddening face.

“Because I barely know what I’m doing,” Tyson laughs in an effort to shrug it off.

“Wait,” You interrupt. “That ukulele you have sitting on your bedroom dresser isn’t just for decoration? Like, you actually play it?”

“Kinda,” Tyson repeats his earlier statement in hope this topic of conversation will die down and that the three of you could talk about anything else.

“Oh, c’mon, Tys, you’re good at it.” Grandpa Jim complemented, giving a slight nudge to Tyson’s shoulder with his own. “Go get it and we can play a song for y/n!”

Tyson, knowing he was going to lose this battle with his Grandpa, gets up from his barstool. “I’ll be right back,” He utters, before disappearing down the stairs to his room. He reappeared a moment later, ukulele grasped in his hand. A hand you hadn’t really noticed was all that big until you saw it dwarf the neck of the instrument. You pushed the unfamiliar warm feeling down at the thought and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I only know the one song.” Tyson starts, directing his assertion more towards his Grandpa than you. He strums lightly at the instrument and you can see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to concentrate. His face twists in concentration as his tongue pokes out of his mouth, a gesture you’ve always smiled to yourself at.

His fingers pick up pace and he starts to strum a familiar beat before you realize he’s playing Riptide by Vance Joy. The already small smile on your face widens as you see his concentrated face turn into a smiling one. His head starts bopping along to the beat and you look to his Grandpa, his head also bopping in synchronization with his grandson’s.

He plays through most of the song before the familiar beat fases away and he seems to just be strumming away at the strings. He tilts his head up to the both of you, “That’s all I really know.”

“That was so good!” You compliment. You move your arms from where they were crossed around your chest to play with the stem of your wine glass. Tyson smiles sheepishly, looking down at the instrument now resting his lap.

His Grandpa slaps Tyspn’s shoulder saying he did a good job, and suggests to him that he’ll teach him a few more songs before he leaves. The conversation flows naturally from there as the three of you continue to sip on your wine. You and Tyson share stories from your college days and Grandpa Jim doesn’t miss any chances when it comes to making fun of his grandson - too which Tyson continuously groans in embarrassment at.

One glass of wine ends up turning into two, but you couldn’t complain as you hugged Grandpa Jim and Tyson goodbye in the entryway, letting them know you’d see them tomorrow at the game.

April 2018 – Morrison, CO

“Have you ever thought about who your soulmate might be?” You ask Tyson, voice just above a whisper. Your eyes flicker from the night sky to your friend next to you, before flicking back towards the brightly lit, crescent moon in the clear sky.

“Honestly?” He checks with you, looking at you as you nod your head towards him. “I’ve put most of my time into my hockey career for pretty much my whole life. I haven’t slowed down enough to give it much thought.”

You hum in response, understanding the intensity that was his life. “But have you ever, like, just fantasized about it?”

He stays quiet for a moment, his eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes looking off into the distance thinking over the question. “I guess I’ve thought about what she looks like and what it’ll feel like when it happens, ya know?”

You chuckle at his response, nodding in agreement. The two of you are laying on a shared blanket - the one you kept in your car for moments like these - just off the path of your favorite spot to hike. You had discovered it soon after you had moved to Denver all those months ago, and it had quickly become your favorite spot to come to on nights when there was a clear sky scattered with bright stars.

“I feel like I fall into that category of people that’s all like ‘it’ll happen when it happens’. I’m not actively looking for anyone but I’m not avoiding it either.” He explains further. “What about you?” He asks, turning his head to look at you.

“I’m really excited for whenever it happens.” You start, voice soft and smooth like honey. “Growing up my friends and I would always talk about how we wanted it to happen or what we wanted our soulmarks to look like.” You turn your attention back to your friend whose gaze is already on you. The combination of the moonlight and the stars create a slight, almost ethereal, glow on his tan skin.

“Yeah?” He asks, smiling softly at the fondness in your voice.

“Yeah, like, my one friend back home got exactly what she guessed.” You smile, thinking of the small butterfly tattoo she has on her ankle. “We have this theory that whatever you think it will be or want it to be, will actually be what it is.”

Tyson hums, eyebrows furrowing as he thinks more about your theory.

“I kinda hope mine has to do with the mountains or the sky. I don’t know, it kinda sounds silly now that I’m this old still thinking about it.” You shrug, smile faltering as you feel your walls to start coming back up.

“No, it isn’t at all,” Tyson reassures you. He turns his body towards you, propping his head upon his hand before he continues. “I wanna hear about it.”

“I just feel like I have this connection to the mountains and to the sky and to the moon and to the stars,” You ramble. “Growing up I was always really infatuated by it all and always wanted to go on trips to the mountains and lakes instead of the beach. Like, part of me feels like I was supposed to end up in Denver because what better place is there to get all of that than here.” Your smile comes back slowly as the corners of your mouth turn up at the thought.

“You should go to Lake Okanagan in the summertime.” He suggests. “It’s where I spend my summers, it’s beautiful. You get the best views of the mountains when it’s sunny out.” He smiles at you, thinking back to his memories of last summer.

Quietness falls over the two of you as Tyson rolls back to lay on his back, moving his hands to rest under his head. The moonlight and the stars are the only sources of light on the mountainside. The only sound around the two of you is the wind rustling through the trees and the music playing quietly from your car speakers.

“Does it ever scare you?” Tyson asks. You continue to look at the man lying next to you, unable to read his face.

“Soulmates?”

“Yeah. What if I never find mine?” He asks, barely above a whisper. “It’s so engraved in our minds from such a young age that there’s someone out there for you and that you’re destined to meet them. What happens if you don’t though? Or if the person you fall in love with doesn’t fall in love with you?”

This time, it’s your turn to turn your body to face his, your head now leaning on your hand. “There’s definitely stories like that out there, but you can’t let that thought be the one to cloud your mind.”

“It just seems like so much extra added pressure.” He continues. From the short time you’ve been close to Tyson, you’ve quickly noticed that one thing he struggles with is not letting the pressure get to him.

“You have to remember you’re barely 21, you still have your life – and your career – ahead of you. Don’t forget that.” You reassure. Tyson stays quiet at your advice, closing his eyes. “Besides, you’re too great a guy to not find someone that wants to spend forever with you.”

He doesn’t respond verbally to you and instead nods his head once more letting out a heavy breath. The music and the wind becomes the predominant sounds before he speaks up again. “Hey, thanks for taking me out here.” Tyson speaks, opening his eyes and flicking them towards you. “I needed a break from the stress of the playoff push.”

“Of course.” You reply with a yawn, “I’m always down for spontaneous trips out here.”

You yawn once more, causing Tyson to sit up. “C’mon let’s get you home. I’ll drive.”

You stretch your arms above your head as you stand up, wrapping the blanket around you as you walk to the passenger side door of your car.

Tyson starts your car, turning the music down some before he puts the car in drive and starts the short drive back to Denver.

“You can stay at my apartment if you don’t want to drive back to your house.” You offer, knowing once he dropped you off and started his drive back it would be well past midnight by the time he got home.

Tyson ponders the offer shortly before responding, “I think I’m gonna just head home. I have an early practice in the morning and I don’t want to have to drive around all morning or wake you up earlier than you’re used to.”

You nod your head in response, too tired to use your words to respond.

“I have a question for you.” Tyson starts after a few songs have gone by. “Gabe’s getting married in July. I wanted to know if you wanna go?”

“Is Gabe asking you to ask me or are you asking me to go with you?” You asked, considering you weren’t terribly close to the captain, so you figured it was the latter. You had only hung around him when you made your casual appearance to group-gatherings over the past few months.

“He wants you to come.” Tyson states, “and I want you to come.” He looks at you at his second statement, blush rising to his cheeks in the dark car. You hum as you think about the offer.

“And it’s in California and I know you’ve never been.”

“That’s a pretty good selling point, bud.” You joke, “Ask me again tomorrow when I’m not half-asleep in my car.”

Tyson smiles widely, glancing at your smiling face once more before focusing on the road in front of him.

--

A few days pass by before Tyson walks through your apartment door kicking off his shoes in a messy manner. You give him a stern look telling him to keep the entranceway neat before he kicks his shoes so they’re neatly placed next to your running shoes and out of the way.

“Sorry we haven;t been able to talk much since I brought up Gabe’s wedding. I promise I didn’t forget I just got really busy with some family stuff.” Tyson rambles as he moves into your living room, sitting on the ‘L’ part of your couch.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” You ask, wanting to make sure your best friend was feeling alright. You take a seat at the opposite end where you were sitting before he arrived, folding your legs underneath you.

“It’s nothing really anymore, Kacey just had a tough end to her senior season and had an injury scare on top of that. All good though.” Tyson reassures you as he pushes a hand through his longer than normal curls. You knew he was due for a haircut soon, knowing that he had a weird thing where he didn’t like being able to tuck his curls behind his ears.

“She’ll be a freshman in the fall right?” You ask, not quite remembering his sister’s age.

“Yeah, she’s super pumped. She got to meet a lot of her new teammates a few weeks ago and said she’s really excited to start playing with them, especially at the next level, ya know?” Tyson says, quirking his eyebrow in your direction.

“I’m glad she’s not hurt then, so she can be ready right away for college.”

“Yeah, me too.” He says, a sigh of relief coming out of his mouth. “Anyways, Gabe’s wedding. You still want to come? I was serious about it when I asked you the other night?” He turns his head to face you, tucking one his large legs under him and moving his arm to drape over the back of the couch.

“It sounds like a lot of fun, yeah. As long as you’re sure Gabe doesn’t mind that I'm coming.”

“I already told you, he said he doesn’t mind and that he wants you there. I even asked him why he didn’t just ask you and he said something about how he just assumed I was already planning on bringing you, whatever he means by that.” Tyson waves off.

“Then, yeah. Give me the dates and I’ll request time off.” You answer, a small, tight-lipped smile tugging at the corner of your lips. His smile mirror yours only slightly larger before the two of you start an argument over what new show you were going to start.

July 2018 - Newport Beach, CA

As you walk towards the baggage claim of the airport you shoot a text to Tyson, letting him know you landed and just waiting on getting your bags. Instead of texting you back, your phone starts ringing and Tyson’s face fills the screen.

“Hey! So I’ve actually been here for a while, so I parked, and now I’m walking towards the baggage claim area, too.” Tyson lets out in one breath.

“Really?” You exclaim. A smile finds its way on your face at the thought of seeing your best friend for the first time since early May in a few short minutes. That was the major downfall of becoming so close to Tyson - he lived hundreds of miles away from you in a different country for close to four months out of the year.

“I’m walking in right now. I see baggage claim number three if that helps?” He says, infliction in his voice as he asks the question.

You don’t answer and instead, turn your body around dramatically looking for where Tyson may be standing. Your eyes move around the large space quite quickly until you see Tyson and his familiar head of brown curls with his phone pressed to his ear.

You shriek lightly at the sight of him and you can see him pull his phone away from his ear in confusion before you’re jogging over to him and encompassing his body into a hug.

“Hello to you too.” He laughs, wrapping his arms around your body tightly. The two of you stay together for a beat too long and you pull away looking up at his face, then looking at the random people standing a few feet away from you to avoid his gaze.

“Whose car did you drive?” You ask. You knew that he had flown in from Alberta yesterday so he obviously didn’t have a vehicle of his own with him, which was something the two of you had argued about the day prior when solidifying your arrival plans. You had told him you had no issues ordering an Uber and meeting him at the hotel which he refused to let you do.

“Gabe let me borrow his actually.” He answers, following you as you lead him towards your respective baggage carousel.

“That’s surprising considering you’re the worst driver I know.” You chirp. He scoffs in response, knowing you don’t actually mean that.

You stand in silence, shoulder to shoulder, enjoying each other’s company as you wait for your bag to come around. Once you spot you go to grab it and Tyson doesn’t miss the chance to chirp you on the size of your suitcase.

“You’re literally here for three days, what the hell did you pack?” Tyson asks, grabbing the rolling suitcase from you. He starts to lead the two of you out of the airport and to the parking garage where he’s parked.

“I needed options! You know how indecisive I can be when picking out my outfits.” You bite back. There had been plenty of times when you were late to something he invited you to and times where he sat around your apartment waiting for you to just pick an outfit. Not to mention all the times you’d ask for his opinion and the countless amounts of times he reminded you of his colorblindness.

“So what are our plans for the rest of the day?” you ask once you’re sitting in the passenger seat and on the highway heading towards the hotel.

“The wedding is obviously Saturday, so we can do whatever we want today and tomorrow. Everyone’s doing a thing tonight at the house Gabe and Mel rented for family that we can go to.” Tyson suggests.

“It’s not just a team thing?” You ask.

“Nah, it’s everyone that’s already in town, like family, close friends, a bunch of the team, and some other players Gabe invited.”

“Sounds like fun. My only request is that we go to the beach and that I can take you to get a pedicure with me.” You muse, looking across the car to see Tyson’s eyes bulge at the word ‘pedicure’. “Please! I don’t know anyone but some of the team so you have to come with!”

“Fine,” He huffs out. “Just don’t put me on your Instagram story.”

You cheer in victory to yourself and turn the volume up on the radio as you hear a familiar song start to play.

--

The two of you are sitting at a large round table, sharing it with a few of Tyson’s teammates and their dates. Most of them are off on the dancefloor or at the bar getting refills. You’re sipping on your cocktail admiring Gabe and Mel as they continue to make their rounds around the reception room.

“Hey Tys, thanks for inviting me this weekend.” You say, moving your attention from the newly married couple to your friend sitting next to you. There’s a slight glossiness to his eyes and his golden cheeks have a pink tinge to them from what you assume was the many Bud Lights he’s consumed. You can hear the slight slur in his louder than normal tone as he speaks and the way some part of his body seems to always be touching yours, whether it be standing shoulder to shoulder or laying his hands softly on your exposed back.

His suit jacket and tie are long-gone and draped over the back of his seat. The California heat combined with the alcohol he’s consumed has also caused him to undo the first few buttons on his dress shirt and roll up his sleeves. His silver watch stands out against his tanner than normal skin and you admire the contrast before looking back up at Tyson’s face.

“I’m glad you came, too.” He agrees sweetly. He moves his arms that’s draped over the back of your seat causally to grab at your hand that’s sitting in your lap. He stands up, tugging at your hand and setting his drink down on the table in front of him. “Let’s dance.”

You stand up, letting the slit in your floor-length dress fall around your bare leg. “My feet hurt,” you pout, sticking out your heel adorned feet. Tyson glances down at your feet and back up to your face before suggesting that you take them off. Before you can even argue about how pain is beauty or whatever, he’s lifting the thighs of his slacks before he’s down on one knee reaching for your ankles.

“What are you-” You start with a laugh. He interrupts you with a loud shush before moving his fingers to under the straps of your heels.

“I expect us to be tearing up the dance floor all night and I’m not listening to you complain.” He states. You step out of your right heel as he moves to do the same with your left heel, thanking him as he places them under your chair.

He grabs your hand again and drags you out the dance floor, joining JT, Sydney, Alexander, and Marissa. It seems like hundreds of songs go by and as that time goes by it seems as the men in attendance have decided to not only ditch their suit jackets, but start ditching their dress shirts as well. You laugh alongside some of the other girls as they watch their boyfriends whip their shirts above their heads.

Tyson, never one to not act like a fool, also decides to partake in the new dress code. You can see the redness in his cheeks start to pop out and the curls in his hair are starting to bounce around atop his head.

He dances his way over to you as the song fades into the next one, a much slower one this time, and he pulls you into him before you can run back to your table.

“Just one slow song.” He pleads, teeth shining through his smile. He puts his dress shirt back on, choosing to not tuck it back into his slacks, and only doing the buttons up halfway.

“You keep me young.” You muse as you rest your hands softly on his shoulders.

“Shut up,” he laughs. “I’m only, like, four years younger than you.”

You move your arms from around his neck briefly to scratch at your left elbow for what felt like the millionth time that evening, continuing to sway to the soft beat of the acoustic guitar that’s playing.

“You okay?” Tyson inquires with knitted eyebrows once he notices the discomfort on your face.

“Uh, yeah, I think my eczema is acting up again. No big deal.” You reassure him with a smile on your face. “I have lotion back at the hotel.”

Tyson smiles right back at you before pulling you in a little tighter to his chest, continuing to sway to the music. “Good, gotta make sure you’re all good.”

His voice is barely above a whisper, sending shivers down the exposed part of your back. You readjust your arms and rest your hands at the back of his neck, playing with the long curls resting at the nape. You look up at your best friend, with a new sort of adoration in your eyes before speaking up. “Still haven’t gotten your summer haircut, have you?”

A quiet chuckle passed through Tyson’s lips, “No, I was thinking of listening to what everyone was saying and let the curls go wild for a bit.”

You nod your head at his words, knowing that you were one of the many people that encouraged him to keep his hair on the longer side. The song and the chatter of the crowd drown to the background as you look into Tyson’s eyes. He’s looking back at you with what you think is the same look that you have in your eyes, with pure adoration and like you could have hung the moon in the sky.

Tyson’s hands slowly move from the small of your back, one going to your hip and the other curling around your rib cage, and suddenly his head is tilting down towards yours. Going along with both his movements and bravery, your hands tug around his neck bringing his head closer to yours as you tilt your head up, getting ready to meet him in the middle.

You can feel his nose brush against yours and that’s when the background noise comes back, someone in the distance clanking their champagne flute to make a speech and cheers erupting around you. Tyson breathes out heavily, closing his eyes, choosing to instead pull your body flush against his in a hug.

You release Tyson, looking around the reception area to see that Gabe’s sister is the one getting everyone’s attention for a speech. The two of you are standing staggered now, with your shoulder in front of his as Beatrice begins to speak. She dives headfirst into stories about how Gabe would constantly call his twin throughout the years to talk about Mel, stories about the summers Mel spent in Sweden with the Landeskog family, and what happened when Gabe’s soulmark had appeared on his shoulder blade a few years back.

All of the storytelling has Tyson pulling your back into his front, draping his arms loosely around your shoulders. You smile, holding onto his forearms, leaning back into his chest. As Beatrice continues to tell stories of her twin falling in love and finding his soulmark, you can’t help but think about the brief two years you’ve known the man standing behind you.

He was essentially some random Canadian that had somehow forced his way into your life. From finishing your senior year at North Dakota barely knowing him to you landing a job in Denver and befriending his neighbor unknowingly. From getting really into hockey only because you had tutored a few guys on a college team to it becoming an almost every day topic of discussion for you.

From how getting into hockey landed you here, at the Colorado Avalanche captain’s wedding, in beautiful Southern California, dancing with a man you knew would somehow forever have an impact on your life. That feeling was only confirmed when the two of you went to the airport the next evening to get on flights that were going to two separate places - him back to Alberta and you to Denver. 

--

tag list: @REAVENEDGES-LIES (if you want to be added just let me know)

[d4rkwr1t3s]

Three Written Loves Chapter 2

Romoxiety and Intruloceit soulmate au where you are given a notebook to communicate with your soulmates at 16. You cannot say your name, address, place of school/work, number, etc.

TW: Mentioned cutting, not eating (not by choice), if anything else needs to be tagged please tell me

Chapter is in Patton’s POV with mentioned Prinxiety. Pat has a convo with Ro with a very slight mention of Remus

Fonts/Colors for the chapter from Google Docs: Virgil’s- Pacifico purple last dot  Roman’s- Pinyon Script red 4th dot

He didn’t know how long he had been walking when he came up to the school. It was still dark but the school seemed like a safe place to stay. Especially with class tomorrow. Only problem was the alarms so people didn’t go in uninvited or when it wasn’t time or whatever reason they were told this year. Patton yawned but leaned against a tree still out of sight from the cameras or people when they arrived and picked some sticks out of his hair. He was absolutely exhausted and dehydrated but he couldn’t rest yet. Not with school in how long? He had turned off his phone to keep the battery charged even if it wouldn’t work soon with his parents turning off his line. What did he just get himself into? Besides who could he call? He didn’t have any friends at this school he could rely on. Well not yet anyway. He hoped to make some soon. Could he hide in the locker rooms after school? Maybe? Last resort. He’d have to start eating in the lunchroom which was better than nothing. Patton let out a yawn before stretching, wincing at the soreness the action brings. He was pretty sure he twisted his ankle on a root but there wasn’t much he could do about that right now. He’d survive. It’d hurt but it wouldn’t kill him, right? He shook his head to rid himself of the thought before feeling the telltale feeling that someone had written in the book. Patton moved that backpack to his lap before opening it to get out his book and read it. Now he didn’t feel as alone even if he was all alone in the woods, in the dark, and with no sort of water. He scanned the lines given which weren’t that much but it felt like enough to him. If he went back and commented on previous statements would they notice?

Ro: Hey V… You up? I-

V: Yeah I’m up princey. What’s going on?

Ro: I… nvm

V: No. No nvm tell me

Ro: Just a bad feeling and arguments again

V: You’re not hurt are you?

Ro: No! I’m fine just thoughts

V: Just don’t fall asleep writing again. Remember-

Ro: Yeah yeah I remember. Don’t have to bring it up

V: I can feel your pout from here. Remember though-

Ro: I know. Just don’t leave me alone right now.

Ro: I’m sorry I’m supposed to be your prince no-

V: You don’t have to be all the time. Beside you’re already my prince and even princes need saving sometimes

Ro: Thanks V

V: Of course. Got the butterflies?

Ro: Yep! Ones even purple your special color. No harm shall befall any of them

V: You are so cheesy

Ro: You love me thooo

V: That I do. That I do

Ro: Didn’t you say you were moving?

V: Hm? Yeah. Moving in with my brother. Still in the car with him. I should arrive tomorrow morning if traffic holds up

Ro: Really hope its here so I can make good on my promises!

V: I wanna see you try but we’ll see. Maybe

Ro: Someday I’ll find you my love but I have to get up in an hour for school so Imma go to sleep

V: Sleep well. Talk to you later

Patton gently moved his fingers across the writing. So it was about 5 am. Not enough time to actually get enough sleep but enough to get ready. School started at 8:15 am but most showed up between 7:20 and 8:30 am. The halls didn’t open to students till 8 so he had 3 hours. 3 hours to look presentable and not look like he had just been kicked out and had been travelling all night. Did he take a detour? He didn’t remember the path taking that long. Well maybe it was the constant tripping or the slow pace due to not being able to see. Either way. Maybe there was a little house in the woods he could stay in for a little bit. That’d be too easy though. He sighed softly but slowly got up off the ground with a wince. Using this time to actually clean up a bit. He didn’t feel safe or comfortable changing in public eye. The sun was coming up now so it should be safe to go to the cafeteria to get something for breakfast. Maybe he’d see Roman again. Roman seemed trustworthy so maybe he could help a bit. He sighed softly before starting the trek up to the school, limping due to his twisted ankle. 

Ro: Hey V

V: Shouldn’t you be in class?

Ro: I aaaaaam

V: Then why are you writing to me. You’re going to get in trouble

Ro: It's fine just wanted to say thanks anyway for earlier. I’ll talk to you at lunch V!

Patton sighs and shuts his soulbook after reading the messages. Looking over at the male who just shut his soulbook not even three desks away in red pen. Roman Kingston. Well there was a small chance it wasn’t him. But what if it was? What would that be like? Patton shook his head slightly to rid himself of that thought. No. He had a mission. He needed to talk to Roman about staying with him for a few nights until he found some other place. Then maybe he’d finally write to his soulmates. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too upset. He didn’t ever want to hurt them. Patton sighed softly and waited for the bells to ring.

When the bells finally rang Patton stood and walked over to Roman. He held one arm in a hand as he waited nervously. Roman seemed to light up at seeing him before pulling out a container. He pushed through the crowd to get to Patton with that brilliant smile that almost made his heart skip a beat.

“Patton! I’ve been looking for a time to give this to you. It’s mama’s recipe. It’s in thanks for the cookies yesterday,” Roman moved to hand him the cookies that Patton hesitantly took.

“Thank you. Can I ask a favor?” He asked nervously while holding the tin with two hands.

“Of course! What is it?”

“Can I stay with you for a few nights?”

“Did something happen?” Roman’s face dropped into one of concern yet seriousness.

“Yes… It won’t be long if-”

“Nonsense! You can stay as long as you like. Mama loves visitors. Just meet me and my… brother out by J wing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive! I’ll text Mama later. I’ll talk to you later,” he smiles with a wave before leaving to his locker. Patton stood still for a moment with a smaller fonder smile. He pulls the cookies closer with a mutter of, “see you later.” He then walks out to head to class. One more block till lunch.

[hailbop1701]

25 Days of Ficmas

December 16th prompt: "It's fucking freezing!"

Word count: 4,062

Ripper's Gifts

Warning: Blood and gore are ahead! Please of that makes you uncomfortable skip this one. Might be triggering!

Hi everyone! So this one went pretty damn dark pretty damn fast! I blame @thottiewithashotgun! So this content might not be suitable for all viewers! Reader!Whump and Angsty!Kennex Lemme know how I did!

-H❤🖖

Detective John Kennex chuckled amused at the face you were making across the street. You had a deep scowl and your arms were firmly crossed over your chest. “Come on (Y/N) you have to be seductive,” he said into the comms. You full-on glared in his general direction, “It’s fucking freezing! I don’t see you out here in a short tight dress!” you growled. John snickered again, “yeah well the guy we’re after has a type and I’m not it,” he said a clear smile in his voice. You huffed and leaned back against the bar you were situated in front of. You pulled a pack of cigarettes from your clutch bag and put one in between your red-painted lips, Dorian furrowed his brows. “Since when do you smoke?” he asked mildly concerned; you smirked, “I don’t. But I refuse to look like this standing out on the sidewalk,” you mumbled lighting the cigarette expertly. Noticing the heavy silence you rolled your eyes, “let’s just say I was rebellious in high school,” 

John chuckled, “I don’t think that has changed much (Y/N),” you narrowed your eyes and discreetly flipped him off. John’s laughter grew louder, “Target sighted,” Dorian broke in leaning forward. A man pulled up in an old van that really shouldn’t be street legal, he pulled on a hood and hopped out of the driver's seat. He whistled twirling a set of keys around his finger, face covered he ducked around the car to where you were standing. “Damnit I can’t see them,” John muttered straining to see over the windowless van. “Can anyone get a visual?” he asked into the comms. There were multiple negatives; Kennex looked over at Dorian who was staring off into space trying to find any CCTV footage of the bar. That’s when everything went dark, Dorian sagged in his seat and John’s leg felt heavier than it should. John shoved open his door, he watched as SWAT surged forward. They rounded the van and it was completely silent for a moment before the SWAT commander walked back towards him shaking his head. “Fuck!” he shouted punching his steering wheel repeatedly. The commander looked elsewhere awkwardly, “Detective, the EMP affected half the city we need to get back to the PD,” he said after a minute of Kennex’s seething. Taking a deep breath John nodded and started his car, “I’ll meet you there,” he muttered slamming his door shut. 

The PD was a flurry of activity, Dorian-who revived in the middle of the trip back- help John to his desk. Rudy rushed over to him with a tool bag in his hand, “What happened?” Maldanado snapped striding over to him. John gritted his teeth, “Guy knew it was a setup,” he hissed rolling up his pant leg so Rudy could do his thing. The Captain’s eyes flashed, “He set off a major EMP! Half the city is in the dark!” she practically shouted making John’s temper flare. “He also has (Y/N)! He had an exit strategy,” he snarled, the Captain gave him a warning look before her eyes softened. She knew John may or may not have some feelings for you. “We’ll find her John but until the power comes back on we’re flying literally in the dark,” she said in a calming tone. Kennex deflated, his thoughts immediately went to the case file and the autopsies of the girls that had been found. Dorian placed a hand on his partner and friend's shoulder, “We’ll find her John,” he reassured. John glanced down at Rudy who had lifted his leg onto a chair; the skittish man was mumbling to himself as he unscrewed a little panel from the prosthetic. “Will I live?” Kennex asked dryly. Rudy’s head snapped up his glasses crooked slightly, “It should be fine, I just need to fix a few little things and then you’ll be good to go,” he said waving a tiny screwdriver around. John sighed and leaned back in his chair a tension headache brewing over his eyes. He didn’t want to think about what could be happening to you. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It felt like your head was full of cotton and a subtle pain in your shoulders and wrists made you groan. “I’m hanging like a piece of meat. That’s great, just great,” you muttered sourly; opening your eyes you saw that you were in what looked to be a basement. “Great, a dungeon. The guy has a dungeon,” you grumped a scowl forming on your lips. Something shifted in the shadows of the basement, leaning forward as far as the chains on the wall allowed, you squinted your eyes hoping to get a better look. Suddenly a feral dog jumped into the light snarling and snapping his jaws at you, white foam fell from his mouth. A spiked collar and chain kept him secured to the wall. The large animal growled and barked trying to break free of his restraints; you quickly leaned back hoping to keep as far away from the hound as possible, “Good doggy…” you gulped. The sound of old fashioned locks clicked and the basement door opened with a loud screech. Wincing at the sound you tensed as the man slowly stomped down the stairs, “I see you’ve met Baxter. Seems like he’s excited to see you,” he chuckled. Your stomach churned your mind flashing back to the case file and how the bodies were mauled by a large animal. “Oh he’s...charming,” you mumbled eyes flitting back and forth between the killer and his pet hellhound. The man strode across the room so he could stand in front of you, he reached out and gripped your chin tightly turning your head left and right multiple times. He was examining you. He hummed in approval, “Such a beautiful specimen,” he purred, stroking your cheek with his thumb. You gritted your teeth and tried to yank your head from his grip, he growled and grabbed your throat angrily slamming your head back into the concrete wall. Choking on a pained cry you glared at the serial killer, “Now be a good girl,” he scolded with a cluck of his tongue. When you kept silent he let go of your throat, hissing you glared at the bastard “They’ll find me,” you growled. The killer chuckled, “I think they’ll be too busy to find you, but don’t you worry. They’ll see you soon,” 

The statement sent shivers down your spine, the underline promise in it made you feel a little sick. Taking a shuddering breath you watched as he rummaged through a box of items; he pulled out what he needed and gently placed them in neat rows on what looked to be a surgical tray. Consistent with what you John learned, the man was medically trained. He would dissect and cut away his victims, they also found many dog bites littering the remains. Glorified meat puzzles. He looked up at you with an excited gleam in his eyes, “I know I have a method to my madness but you, my dear are very special! You get something a little different today,” he said and started to hum Christmas music under his breath. Going to the large metal table in the center of the room killer the media happily dubbed “The Ripper,” (after the original Jack the Ripper) turned on an overhead light. Blinking your eyes at the sudden assault to the senses you swallowed back bile. The floor and the table were covered in old dried blood, Ripper hummed joyously setting up a camera on a tripod so it could capture the table perfectly. He checked his watch smiling at the time. “Well my dear, it looks like it’s time!” He cheered with a loud clap. Baxter growled in his corner at the sudden loud noise, you struggled causing the chains to clatter against the walls. Ripper seemed to enjoy your fear; he slowly strolled over to you dancing and shuffling to the music he put on. Pulling a gun from the back of his pants Ripper held it pointed at you as unshackled your wrists. Your arms fell limply to your side, a pained groan fell from your lips making Ripper smiled cheekily. He placed his free hand over the back of your neck giving it a non-to-gentle squeeze. Hissing he lead you over to the bloody table; he waved his gun gesturing for you to climb on. Glaring you stood your ground refusing anything else he asked. Rolling his eyes he pulled the pistol back and whipped it across your face, yelping you crumbled toward the ground only to be caught by Ripper. “Now that’s better!” soothed as he placed you on the table with your hands back over your head, much to your bitter annoyance. Blearily you tried to fight him but he was stronger than he looked; Ripper pulled leather restraints across your chest, wrists, hips, and ankles. Tightening them so the only thing you could really move was your wrists he checked his watch again. He bellowed the rest of his song as he walked around the table to the camera, “There, now I’m sure you’re wondering what this was all about!” Ripper said walking back to your side, you realized with a jolt that he wasn’t talking to you. The red light blinked indicating that he was broadcasting to someone, ‘oh my god,’ you thought panicking. Your chest became tight and you became dizzy; Ripper smirked running a finger across your cheek, “You see I don’t like to be tricked. I don’t like the constant stupidity from you-” he searched for the word he wanted to use twisting his hand in a circular motion. “ trash heaps,” he concluded proudly. “The world will be better with the work I’m doing!” he screamed over the cheerful sound of Winter Wonderland as it played in the background. 

Ripper picked up a syringe off of the surgical tray, pushing the plunger a stream of cloudy liquid streamed out. When he felt the dosage was right Ripper placed the needle to your neck. You tried to turn your head in so he could get a clear shot but he simply placed a hand on your forehead and slammed your painfully to the side. You felt the prick of the needle and the mysterious liquid enter your veins. It felt cold going through your body like ice was forming in your blood; the sensation was short-lived. A burning fire replaced the ice, every nerve was twitching painfully and you could help the pained shriek escape your lips. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Kennex’s stomach dropped as he and the others in the precinct watched as The Ripper injected an unknown compound into your blood. Your eyes were glassy and sweat rolled off of your forehead. You were gasping for air and shaking like a leaf, “As you can see I managed to perfect my serum! Every nerve ending in detective (Y/L/N)’s body is now extremely sensitive to touch. So if I do this…” he spoke like he was giving a lecture on the best ways to torture someone. Ripper took a dull blade from the tray next to him and dug it into your arm and slowly dragged it upward. A deep bloody gash ran from the crook of your elbow to your shoulder blade; the sound of your pained screams made John grip the back of his chair tightly. Valerie Stahl covered her mouth as Ripper plunged the knife into the opposite shoulder. Many of the people in the room turned their eyes away, “Dorian,” John’s voice was clipped. The android had been working to track the location ever since the footage started broadcasting. “I’m working on it!” the DRN said frantically eyes swinging back and forth like he was reading at an extremely fast pace. Rudy was tapping quickly at John’s computer only looking up occasionally at the screen, sweat beading at his temples. “Faster damnit!” 

Your screams and shrieks of pain were getting more and more frequent. Blood covered your face as Ripper made shallow scratches and cuts to it. Dorian’s head snapped up, “I got him!” he said and cocked his head to the side a surprised expression crossed his face. “He’s seven blocks from here!” he gasped looking at his partner. “Cocky bastard!” detective Paul said from the other side of the bullpen. Kennex grabbed his gun from his desk drawer, loading it he shoved it into his holster. Moving quickly towards the exit John stopped when your screaming tapered off. Twisting around to look at the screen he saw you panting heavily, your chest heaved up and down. Tears fell from your eyes, Ripper gently brushed them away cooing at you. “You have a lovely singing voice,” he complimented as Silent Night played lowly in the background. “I would love to hear more,” 

Stahl screeched and turned around covering her eyes. Ripper slammed a cleaver down on your arm just below your elbow effectively cutting off your arm. Your screams would echo through John’s skull for the next several months. The video cut off and Kennex was flying out the door with several MX’s and police behind him. “Calling EMS!” Dorian called as they raced to the car. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

You felt so cold; like you would never be able to get warm again type of cold. You heard your name being called but you couldn’t tell who needed you, their voice was so far away. You were underwater, so deep under you almost couldn’t feel the pain anymore. “(Y/N) stay with me, sweetheart,” the voice begged. There was muffled shouting a very distant screaming, “don’t worry (Y/N) I got you,” ‘Dorian?’ you thought dreamily. The figure above you swam in and out of focus, the darkness of the water crept in. You fought it off as long as you could but it won in the end, you felt yourself get lowered and a warm hand cupped your cheek. “John what did you do?” ‘John? Why is Dorian mad?’ you questioned as you faded into the abyss. 

The next time you floated to the surface you heard hushed voices and a hand in yours. It didn’t last long but you no longer felt oppressed or in pain. The weight on your chest has lifted and you drifted away knowing that you were truly safe. Time passed and Christmas was long over, springtime rolled around with little fanfare. The first thing that came back was your sense of touch, it was warm and the surfacing you were lying on was as stiff as an autopsy table. Your heart rate picked up; ‘I can’t be back there!’ your thoughts suddenly screamed. Your hearing flared to life, there was a loud scrape of a chair sliding across the floor. Frantic beeping filled the air, panic settled in your gut. The sound of rushing footsteps caused you to peel your eyes open, “Detective (Y/L/N), can you hear me? You’re in the hospital, everything is alright!” a commanding yet soothing tone broke through your panic. Choking you searched for the voice, a man in a white doctor’s coat stood above you gesturing for a nurse to get on your other side. He unhooked a few things from the thing that was going down your throat, eyes wide you saw Dorian and Valerie Stahl standing anxiously at the foot of your hospital bed. “(Y/N) I need you to cough for me on the count of three,” the doctor said gently his hands on the tube. He counted and you did as you were told and coughed as hard as you could. He swiftly slid the tube from your throat and set it aside on a tray. Introducing himself as doctor Greene he pulled an object from his coat pocket, coughing and gagging you turned your head away from the man as he ran a penlight over your eyes. He was patient with you as you fought him, “I- what-” you stuttered voice horse; a nurse glided over to you holding a pink plastic cup of ice chips. “You’ve been in a medically induced coma for the past five months. The mystery compound you were injected with took a toll on your body,” Doctor Greene hesitated for a second, clearing his throat he looked down at the floor. A pit formed in your stomach, “I’m afraid to tell you that we did everything we could but we couldn’t save your arm. The compound that was given to you had corrupted the tissue and caused a severe infection.” cold dread filled your body and the doctor’s words rang in your ears. You sat frozen for the longest time, you didn’t even notice that the medical staff had left you alone with your friends until Dorian gently took the hand that was still there and sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s okay. I promise it will all be okay,” Dorian whispered to you as the tears silently fell. Valerie stood on your other side and started running a hand through your hair, “where’s John?” you asked meekly taking notice that he wasn’t there. You wanted him to tell you that everything would be okay and that you’ll walk away from all this better than before, but he was nowhere in sight. Dorian and Valerie looked at each other holding a silent conversation, “I’ll get you some more ice,” Stahl whispered and placed a kiss on your forehead. She left you and Dorian alone, “Dorian…” you whispered eyes wide fearing the worst. Dorian looked down at your attached hands, “John is working, he uh he has been very busy,” he said voice hard. Your brows furrowed, “I-he didn’t,” you whispered your heart cracking at the revelation. The android leaned down and hugged you gently, “I’m sorry (Y/N),” he whispered. He held you until your tears dried; with the promise to visit the next day with Rudy Dorian left you in Valerie Stahl’s care. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

You had been awake for a few weeks and everyone had come to see you at one point or another. Some more than once; well all but one. Dorian was none too happy, he had to watch as you deflated every time someone who wasn’t John came walking through your hospital room door. Things were already hard for you and that fact that someone you cared about couldn’t be bothered. So that night after his visit with you Dorian stormed up to John Kennex’s apartment. Ringing the bell repeatedly until the door flew open; John stood there a bottle of jack in his hand and a deep look of irritation on his face. Dorian shoved past him with a, “you look like shit,” John scoffed taking a swig of the almost empty bottle. “Come right in,” he muttered dryly slamming the door shut. Turning John glared at his partner, “what do you want Dorian?” he asked taking another drink. It was Dorian’s turn to scowl, he snatched the bottle from John’s hands and tossed it right into the trash. The glass shattered with finality, “Dorian!” John shouted outraged, he surged forward but stumbled into the kitchen counter. Blinking the drunken dizziness John glared up at his friend, “You have been an ass these past few months. But now you’re officially a drunken ass,” Dorian said eyes piercing. Kennex scoffed again, “she doesn’t need me. Worse when I’m around anyway,” he said easily figuring out what the DRN was talking about. 

Dorian laughed humorously, “get your head out of your ass John it isn’t about you at all! It’s about (Y/N), she was tortured and was in a coma. She lost a part of herself, and I thought you’d be able to help her through it! She’s hurt and confused about why one of her closest friends isn’t there!” he started shouting. John flinched like he’d been slapped, “I know!” he ended up shouting back. “I fucking know! I’m sorry, okay?” Dorian’s fists clenched at his sides, “I’m not the one you need to say sorry to,” he said darkly. Kennex leaned back against the glass that leads to his bedroom and slid down to the floor a deep sadness in his eyes. Dorian took an unneeded deep breath, “John you gotta know that it wasn’t your fault man, none of it was,” he said in a gentler tone crouching next to his friend. It was John’s turn to laugh humorously, “I should have been standing nearby or-” he choked and looked away. “She’s alive and the Ripper is dead. You made sure of that,” Dorian reminded placing a grounding hand on Kennex’s shoulder. “You need to go see her man, it’s tearing both of you up,” 

Taking a deep shuddering breath John staggered to his feet, “I uh mean like tomorrow,” Dorian murmured watching as John grabbed his jacket and keys, “you’re driving,” was all the drunken man said tossing the keys to his partner. Shaking his head Dorian followed the man out of his apartment, “We’re stopping to get you some coffee, and maybe a breath mint. Hose you down in the parking lot,” he muttered quietly. 

An hour- two cups of coffee, and some deodorant later John stood in the doorway of your hospital room. Your chest rose and fell steadily as you slept; you looked peaceful and he immediately regretted coming at such a late hour. He felt Dorian nudge him forward into the room and heard the door gently close, looking out the window he saw the android talk to the nurses on duty casually. They were glancing over at the closed door with knowing smiles, “Looks like I’ve been a topic of conversation,” John sighed. Looking back over at your sleeping form John shuffled over and sat in the chair by your bedside. He bit his lip when he saw your prosthetic arm draped over your stomach; taking the hand closest to him John gave it a gentle squeeze, “I am so sorry,” he whispered rubbing his eyes with his fingers. “I have been the worst friend on the entire planet and you should honestly kick my ass,” 

“You’re right, I should kick your ass,” your voice made him jump; looking down he saw that you were giving him a glare. “I’m too tired to kick your ass or even to yell at you,” you said eyes dull and sad. It made Kennex’s stomach clench, “(Y/N) I deserve whatever you decide to do to me, I just-” he cut himself off looking anywhere but your eyes. John gritted his teeth as you waited for what he had to say, “I was afraid.” he whispered finally looking back at you. Sighing you sat up so he knew he had your undivided attention. John cleared his throat, “I was afraid that coming to see you would make it all real, and it-it brought back some things that I didn’t want back. So I ran-metaphorically,” your eyes softened understanding his reasons, “I’m still mad but I forgive you,” you said after a minute. John’s shoulders sagged with relief, his head dropping to the bed by your thigh. “You’re important to me John, I just wish I was important enough to you so you could talk to me,” you whispered sadly running a hand through his hair. Your hand dropped when he snapped his head up, “You’re important to me (Y/N) I just-I’m shit when it comes to-” he gestured wildly, “all of this,” 

You laughed quietly, “I promise to never disappear on you again. Expect me to be annoying now, cause I’ll be hovering,” John said with a crooked smile. The smile you gave him in return made his heart skip a beat, “you’re going to be insufferable, I just know it,” you chuckled ruefully. John winked, “of course, I wouldn’t be me if I made things easy,” he squeezed your hand again. “John, can you do something for me?” you asked biting your lip. He perked up, “anything,” he said and you shivered. “Can you get me another blanket? It’s fucking freezing in here,” John was out the door and at the nurse’s station before you could blink. “Oh boy,” you laughed nervously as you watched the man take the offered blanket and rush back to your door. 

To be continued…? 

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Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 118

118

   Everyone was sleepy as they made their trek back to the car park. Lance and Keith having some pretty nice cuddles before falling asleep, leaving sex for the night in favour of just snuggling up. It was nice. Keith all small spoon in his arms, not so nice was finding out he’d nipped Keith in his sleep. He didn’t taste blood, but it was a little scary to see his teeth marks on Keith’s shoulder. Lance rolling over, only for Keith to spoon around him before he could escape.

  Nearing the car park, Lance just wanted to get home and unpacked without the drive in between. Matt and Pidge were squabbling the whole walk down, though that didn’t stop her getting Matt to piggyback her the last half the walk thanks to the blisters on her feet. With the car park in reach, Pidge’s mischievous nature came out. Tugging on Matt’s shoulder, Matt sighed at her, Pidge had been excitable on the walk, pointing out all sorts of things that lead to her and her brothers semi-serious play fighting

“Put me down”

“Gladly”

Matt dumped Pidge down, Pidge scoffing as she dusted herself off as she picked herself up

“Rude, much”

“You said down”

“I didn’t say throw me down. Anyway, last one to the car park has to pay for the snacks on the drive home!”

   Pidge took off running, Lance impressed she’d risk her feet for the excuse not to buy snacks. Matt watching his sister as he dealt with his confusion over what happened

“Huh! Wait! That’s cheating! Pidge!”

Taking off running after his sister, Hunk shrugged as Matt bolted past them

“I’m not paying for the snacks”

In a better mood about how close their cars were, Hunk and Shay took off after the two siblings, Kosmo barking at the “game”. Keith letting go of his leash so the doggo could chase after them. Lance kind of wished he’d gotten this on camera. There was no way Pidge could out run Matt, but that hadn’t stopped the gremlin taking off like a rocket.

  With the four “adults” of the group left, and Keith, they all mutually shook their heads. Running was better left to people with more energy. That was until they heard a scream, all of them bolting at the sound.

   Reaching the car park, Pidge was sprawled out. Matt by her side, and blood in the air. Instantly he knew what had happened. Instead of walking down a little further to the opening for the trail, Pidge had tried to hurdle over the rope side, her boot must have caught, tripping her and sending her flying

“Pidge!”

Shiro brushed past him, Curtis hot on his trial. Lance wanted to move, but the smell of blood... He didn’t want to scare Pidge who was already crying harder than he’d seen her cry before

“Babe?”

Trust Keith to remain calm

“There’s a first aid kit in the back of my car. She tripped on the rope”

“Alright. I’ll get the kit, you let the others know”

  Splitting up, Lance forced himself to Pidge’s side. He wasn’t about to vampire out on her, but when she looked him in the eyes, all he saw was her fear

“No! Stay back!”

Pressing herself against Matt, Matt held his sister close. Fuck. Both of them... both of them thought he’d... He’d seen Pidge bleed before. He’d helped her dress more than one skinned knee from an alcoholic mishap. Ashamed, he wrapped his arms around himself, mumbling

“Keith’s getting the first aid kit...”

Matt picked up on what his panic over his sister had done. He still held her protectively, but a hint of shame was in his tone

“Thanks, Dude. She’s skinned her knees and her palms, and I think she’d twisted her ankle”

“You don’t need me here... just make sure you disinfect things properly, and get her boot off, if there’s swelling it’ll affect the blood flow”

His teeth stupidly ached. His stomach twisted in painful knots of shame. Everyone else wanted to help her, but he was the only one not allowed to... He loved her. He’d always love her. That’s why her fear cut him so deep.

   Lance passed Keith as he went to his bronco. Opening the back, he threw his backpack into his car with too much effort then sat himself on the edge. Something had been left behind in his previous baby. The bronco smelt slightly mouldy, making him queasier. He felt diseased. Contagious. And very much in the wrong. How was he to know Pidge would send herself flying? What did they think he was going to do? Had his teeth been showing? Had he shown Pidge his scary face again? Hunk was the first of the group to come to him. Putting his backpack in the back, his best friend climbed up to sit beside him

“It’s okay, man. Shiro and Keith have it under control”

“Did... were my teeth showing?”

“Nah, man. I think she scared herself when she tripped. You know Pidge wouldn’t normally scream like that”

“It scared the fuck out of me”

“Me too... I was still behind her... I thought she must have broken something”

“Don’t say that... You should go with her. She’ll need to get checked at the hospital if her ankles busted. Have Shiro take you guys”

“I think she wants to stay with Matt, besides, you’re my best bud. I’m not scared that you’re going to feed on me”

“She was. She looked at me...”

“Dude, she’s probably ashamed of making a scene as... Hey, Keith. How is she?”

  Keith nodded as he walked over, Lance had been too busy not looking that way and trying to block everything out to notice Keith

“Rolled ankle. She’s going to go with Matt, Shay, Curtis and Shiro... There’s another space if you want to go with them”

“Nah, bro. It’s fine. I’ll stick with you guys”

“You sure? Shiro’s thinking of just taking her to see Coran because it’ll probably be faster...”

“Yeah. I think I want to be with Lance right now...”

“Dude, you don’t have to...”

“It’s fine. I can car swap when we stop for fuel...”

That was true... he still didn’t want to split Hunk and Shay. Wait...

“So Rieva said she’s coming with us?”

Keith nodded again, he was standing just out of reach of Lance... which did nothing to make him feel better even if he knew his boyfriend was there to check that he was okay

“Yeah. She thought Pidge would feel more comfortable with Shay and Hunk...”

“I mean, it’s only for the drive. I’m hardly leaving Shay behind...”

  Hunk was still so smitten with Shay that it was still adorable. Pidge was the only one not in a disgustingly sweet relationship... though she wasn’t looking for one, claiming it would impact her tech time

“Bud, if you want to go with Shay, I’ll understand”

“What kind of a best friend would I be leaving you alone when you’re upset?”

Lance leaned into Hunk. He loved him. He loved him so damn much that it made him feel guilty for existing. If he was normal Pidge wouldn’t have freaked and this wouldn’t have happened... Pidge was probably going be mad that Hunk had chosen him over her. Keith was still standing there, reminding him of the horrible nightmare he’d had the previous afternoon. It’s taken Keith and Shiro nearly an hour to get Kosmo free of pond mud and then the bathroom cleaned up after them... He really should have been in there helping them.

  Reaching out, Keith ruffled his hair. His boyfriend either jealous or finally unafraid enough to touch him

“Pidge is okay, she’s already snapping at them for fussing. Why don’t you two go ahead and take your boots off, and get comfortable? We’re going to chuck ours in the sedan so they’re out the way”

When had they decided this? It sucked when you got struck in the mood of every single thing feeling against you. He’d definitely be talking to Coran about this. He felt appalled by his behaviour from the moment they’d first arrived. Keith seemed pretty happy with thing, but he’d been so up and down he wasn’t sure his boyfriend had truly relaxed and enjoyed himself.

    *

The seating arrangement played out so Curtis, Shay, Pidge, Shiro, and Matt were in one car, with Keith, Lance, Hunk, Rieva, and Kosmo, in the second. They were going to stop for fuel halfway there, but Shiro was going to find somewhere to get ice for Pidge’s ankle, then meet them at the same service station as the one they’d stopped at on the way there... Sitting in the back of his Bronco, Hunk was cuddling Kosmo as Lance kept himself balled up. He’d tried to keep his feelings under control, but Pidge had hit him with a sad look that crumpled him internally. She was sorry, but she couldn’t say it in person. Getting her checked was the main priority.

     They were barely half an hour in when Lance’s stomach rebelled against to the point where he was definitely going to throw up. His scent must have changed, or Rieva thought they were far enough away from others to casually drop a truth bomb

“Lance, is there something you’d perhaps like to tell us? Perhaps why you are crying? Matt and I have a fair feeling we know why your scent has changed, and we all know Pidge will be quite fine with attention”

They weren’t even talking about him. They weren’t even really talking at all. Keith kept shooting him glances, Rieva was staring out the window, and Hunk was making things better by existing... He’d tried to be sneaky and quite, hard when you have a werewolf in the car.

  Covering his mouth, he gagged, eyes wide as he looked to Hunk for help. Getting car sick as often as he did, Hunk was usually prepared for this kind of thing. Kosmo half pushed aside as Hunk leaned into the front of the car

“Pull over!”

Hunk yelled at a confused Keith, who pulled off the road a tad too fast, all of them jerking in their seatbelts, Lance unable to stop as he threw up on his hand and in his lap. This was the cherry topping his crappy morning. Bursting into tears, everything felt too much. Around him Keith was getting Rieva to take Kosmo, Hunk was trying to undo his belt. Lance was crying. Things weren’t fun

“Hey, Bud. It’s okay...”

Lance shook his head at Hunk. He wasn’t okay. He really truly wasn’t okay

“I’m sorry!”

Wailing it at his friend, Hunk didn’t care about the mess as he pulled him into a sideways hug

“You couldn’t help it”

“I... fucking hate this... we don’t even know if the baby’s okay and Pidge hates me as it is...! How am I... how am I supposed to fix... I... I didn’t want to scare her... I want to see Coran”

  Hunk hushed him gently, he wasn’t making much sense, shocked and yet not shocked Rieva knew, and desperately scared she’d start yelling, which he didn’t need after everything

“Lance, I’m sure the baby is fine... if you want to see Coran, we can totally see Coran on the way, man. You couldn’t help it. Do you think you’re going to be sick again?”

Lance nodded, wishing he hadn’t as it caused him to gag. His jeans were soaked... now was he supposed to move without making a mess?

“Hunk, let me take him. Can you grab some water and things out the back? Keith, can you find him something to change into. Lance, it’s okay. I only wanted to ask because I had the strong feeling Hunk knew, and you seem so sad. I am truly sorry if it upset you”

     Sitting in the back on the bronco, Rieva helped Lance change his shirt into one of Keith’s and Keith’s sweats. Keith and Hunk were cleaning up the mess he’d made, Lance still feeling shaky as if about to throw up again

“Lance, try some water. I’m sorry. I never should have pressed. I wanted to know, though I suspected before Matt with the accident and your behaviour over the weekend”

“I can’t help but feel you picked the right moment so we’d be forced to talk about it”

“Are you not happy? A baby is a wonderful thing. You and Keith will make excellent parents”

“But I’m a vampire”

“So? You love so freely, you will be a good and strong parent”

“When did you work it out?”

“When your scent remained sweet. It was of course only a suspicion. Then how sleepy you have been this weekend... though that is quite normal. I have seen it many times in werewolves. You have been resting, correct?”

“Yeah... but I’m still tired”

“It is normal. I know I haven’t much right to pry, but is there something wrong? You said mentioned the baby”

“I’m just... with Pidge... I couldn’t go near her and everything just... got a bit much”

“I did notice you crying, and I heard you and Hunk speaking. Pidge had a scare, but she is most fond of you. Will you tell her?”

“I was planning on saying something after the next scan... I was going to...”

Great, why was he getting teary?

“Hush. I know you would have spoken. I should have perhaps picked a time when we were home alone...”

“Matt’s bad habits are rubbing off on you”

  Rieva laughed softly. She could be scary, but she also could be nice and comforting. He didn’t want to be scared of her, not when she was showing him such kindness... but her timing dick suck balls

“You and he are both very sweet and very cute. I imagine this weekend was both fun and very hard for you. Our scents must effect you”

“They do... but... like... it’s weird. I think I’m acting weird. I get... possessive of my space. I want to talk to Coran about how to work through it”

“You have nothing on werewolves. Some of them could learn a lesson from you and your kindness. It may be weird to say, yet I had a good weekend. Thank you for organising this”

“So... you guys... get territorial?”

“We can. Some who cling to the old ways very much so. You will be okay”

  Rieva kissed him on the forehead, smiling prettily as she did. Matt had found an amazing person in Rieva

“I’m sorry if I’ve been rude to you guys”

“Not at all. A baby is a wonderful thing Lance. I pray for yours and Keith’s happiness”

Lance nodded, feeling like Rieva was getting her hopes up too much

“Can you... maybe... not mention it until after the next scan? I don’t know how this one is going with me being like this”

The female werewolf took his hands in hers, squeezing firmly

“It will be strong and well, like you. But I respect your privacy. Please know you can ask me. I do have some experience with wolf pregnancy”

“I don’t think we’re quite the same...”

“Still. Now, you should drink. Would you prefer to ride in the front with Keith?”

“Nah... it’s okay. I think maybe Hunk should. He and Keith both get car sick”

“I didn’t consider that. Alright. If you do not mind my company”

“I don’t mind your company... and I’m sorry I threw up”

“Nonsense. You could not help it. Oh, dear. Keith is hovering. Should I let him close? I can growl if you need some time to compose”

“Please don’t growl at the boyfriend. I’ll be okay, Rieva. Thanks for helping me”

“I would gladly help you at any moment. You’re not bad for a vampire”

“And you’re not bad for a werewolf”

   Seeing they’d taken so long, Shiro caught up to them, pulling up behind them. Leaving the others in the car, Shiro jogged over to them, Lance leaning heavily against Keith, thanks to throwing up the water almost as soon as he’d had a little to drink

“You guys okay?”

Hunk called out, answering for them and trying to be a good friend. He didn’t know Shiro knew because it wasn’t like they could talk about “macaroon” in front of everyone

“Yeah. I get car sick, so we pulled over. Lance had to change. How’s Pidge?”

“Murderous. She threatened to stick the ice we bought where the sun doesn’t shine”

Keith laughed, Lance more timid about it all as he asked

“Will she be okay?”

“Yeah, kiddo. She’s calmed down a lot, she says it feels twisted and not broken. We’ll know more when we get home”

At least Shiro wasn’t mad at him...

“Thank god... I can still hear her scream”

Shiro chuckled

“I wouldn’t mention that. Matt’s been teasing her. She threatened to stab him in his sleep”

Oh... he shouldn’t have mentioned it. Keith rubbing his arm as he sensed Lance’s distress. His boyfriend taking over talking

“We’re okay. You guys want to take lead? We’ll be ready in a few minutes”

“Sure. Just stopping to make sure you didn’t have a flat or anything”

Lance felt like the “anything” somehow meant Shiro was checking he hadn’t flipped out and attacked Keith. Nuzzling into Keith’s side, his boyfriend dropped a kiss on his hair

“Nope, we’ve got this. We’ll see you soon”

Shiro started back towards his sedan, calling back over his shoulder

“Call us if you need us!”

“I won’t!

  The others waves as Shiro pulled away from the side of the road, Lance giving a small wave and hoping they wouldn’t be talking about him

“Babe, you ready to go?”

“Yeah. Sorry I threw up”

“Are you in any pain? Do you need some blood?”

“I’ll be okay... you’re fussing”

“You blew chunks in the car, I’m allowed to fuss”

“I couldn’t help it”

“I know. Let me know if I need pull over again”

“Probably. I don’t feel that well”

  Admitting it to Keith was hard. He’d told his boyfriend he was okay, and now he was sending out mixed signals

“Maybe you should nap?”

“Yeah. Probably... I just want to get home now”

“I know you do. You still had fun, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, right up until Pidge looked at me like I was freak”

“Babe”

“Sorry... It really hurt to see her hurt and not be able to help. I’ve cleaned her up before, but I guess she’s still working on trusting me”

“I think she was more worried that you were uncomfortable seeing her blood, not that you were going to feed on her”

“I don’t... but yeah, I feel so sick that I’m sulking”

“Can I help?”

“Nah... pregnancy stuff and all that. We should get going. Shiro seemed pretty worried”

“Shiro’s fine. I’ll talk to him later. You sure you’re not in pain or anything?”

“No more than usual. Your macaroon is fine”

“I’m still more concerned about you. Try and get some sleep...”

“Yeah”

     *

When they reached the service station they’d stopped twice so he could throw up. Lance now too tired to even contemplate finding something to eat or drink. Pidge pulled his out of his total flunk, climbing into the bronco and filling the back seat with her short little legs as she sat sideways. Leaning back against him, she dropped her head back to look up at him

“How do you look so shit when I’m the one who hurt myself?”

“I don’t know. How are you sitting in here with me?”

“Car swap time. Shiro’s going to drive the others back to Platt. Matt’s coming with you, me, and Keith”

“Are you sure you want to?”

  Pidge sighed at him, she really couldn’t be comfortable leaning on him

“I didn’t mean to freak like that... like I know you’re not about to vampire out, but I was embarrassed”

“You didn’t mean to trip”

“Nope, but I fucked my ankle and my wrist hurts. I didn’t... like want to make you feel awkward with the blood”

“Pidge, I would never ever feed on you”

“I know that’s what making me feel so bad. You’re my brother from another mother. I’m so angry that I didn’t stick the landing”

“At least no one was filming”

“The evidence would be gone by now if they were. Oh, Shay totally thinks you’re scared of blood now”

  Lance sighed deeply. He was too tired for this, and to do the think. He was also tired of people not giving him a straight and clear answer of Shay

“I want to tell her”

“Hmmm... maybe. I mean, it’s hard not to. She’s so fucking hilarious. She’d have jokes for days over this”

“I mean... I want to tell her for Hunk’s sake”

“Don’t worry about them, dude. What’s going on with you? You’re all pale and dead looking”

Another unclear answer. Fuck it. He was going to ask Coran, all his friends sucked

“The perks of being a vampire”

“You’re not very funny. I know you think you are, but you suck”

“Only on blood bags”

Pidge groaned at him, poking him in the eye as she tried to poke him in the cheek

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiine, keep your secrets... you filthy hobbitses”

“I promise it’s nothing bad, I just haven’t been feeling well since the accident. I’ll be fine though. I miss my bed”

“I’m going to tell Blue you haven’t missed her”

He did. He missed Blue. He was going to be in so much trouble for her lack of tinned food. He’d be lucky if she was talking to him

“Blue is perfect princess. How could I not?”

“Nope, you didn’t say it. It doesn’t count if you don’t say it”

“In that case I’m sorry for freaking you out”

“You’re really depressing for a dead guy. I’m fine... I’m going to lord this over Matt”

“I thought you were embarrassed”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t milk the sympathy. Mum’s all like “you have to protect her” and “blah, blah, blah””

“From me?”

“Nah. I mean. They were pretty shocked that I didn’t know my best friend was a vampire”

“I still don’t know how they knew?”

“You smiled and showed your teeth. Dad doesn’t care. He’s met vampires before... he said he didn’t like them, but you’re okay because you’re not like them”

“I feel like you’re leaving out half the conversation”

“Mum yelled. Dad yelled. Bae-Bae barked. I keep wanting to bring Bae to meet Kosmo but I forget”

“Kosmo would want to play and poor Bae would be like “let me sleep””

“Probably. Dude, have you ever drunk animal blood?”

  That was kind of a weird question

“Are you asking if I’ve fed on Blue and Kosmo?”

“Nah, I’m asking because I’m bored of being serious”

“If I say yes, are you going to want the details?”

“Nope”

“Yes”

“What?! When?! What does it taste like?”

Lance sighed

“It tastes like you said you wouldn’t ask”

“But I didn’t promise”

Lance groaned at Pidge. He didn’t want to think about that part of his life

“It was out of desperation. And only absolutely fucking necessary. It didn’t do much and I didn’t hurt them much... and I hate myself for doing it”

“So why did you?”

“Because drinking human blood is weird...”

“It could be worse. I mean, you could have to eat shit or something”

“Yeah. No. Blood is bad enough”

“Is there a supernatural creature that loves tequila? I think I could do that”

“Gremlins are particularly fond of alcohol”

  Pidge’s eyes went wide, Lance saying it as seriously as he could

“Gremlins are real?!”

Pinching Pidge lightly, she shoved her hand across Lance’s face

“You’re an arsehole!”

“To be fair, you’d do the same thing to me”

“Merp”

“I’ll Merp you. Now get your hand out of my face. You’re smelly”

“I am not smelly”

“You are. You smell like pretzels and disinfectant”

Pidge huffed, removing her hand in order to cross her arms

“I didn’t even get any pretzels. Matt ate them all”

“Matt eats everything”

“I know. He sucks! I hope you heard that Matthew Holt!”

“I’m sure he did. I’m going to take a nap, don’t get into too much trouble”

“You suck too. Fine, I’ll have to be content with teasing Keith”

“Don’t tease my boyfriend, that’s my job”

“You snooze, you lose”

“You’ll be snoozing. You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’”

“Puh-lease. I’m a sweet innocent human”

“Maybe in your delusions”

“Here I was, trying to make you feel better...”

“Ah, my cute little Pidgeon. I do feel better. I’m alright, I was stressing over you”

“That’s because you’re old enough to be my dad”

“I take it all back, you’re not cute at all... but seriously, I need a nap... and like a weeks vacation to recover from hiking”

“Amen, brother. Take my home to my technology!”

   Climbing into the bronco, Keith eyed Pidge with caution

“I was told you can only have your slushie if you agree not to complain about the cold compress again”

“I agree”

Keith started to hand over the slushie

“Wait. She hasn’t promised. She’s agreed, but she didn’t settle a time limit for the agreement”

Pidge elbowed him in the ribs

“You were supposed to be napping!”

“I’m dozing. Or I was until Keith came back... now, promise the nice man you’ll be good and use the ice, or the slushie goes out the window”

Pidge elbowed him again, Lance groaning as she hit his belly. It wasn’t hard but was enough to remind him hurt enough to throw up at any moment

“Babe?!”

Keith was alarmed, Lance’s ego wounded that his boyfriend would think Pidge could hit him hard enough to hurt the baby

“Give the woman the slushie. I’m going to shut up before she beats me up again”

Keith handed over the slushie, Pidge settling down happily to slurp on the blueberry treat

“Maybe you should ride in the front? I’m sure Matt will be fine with Pidge in the back”

“I’m fine... Pidge, no more bashing my stomach. I’ve already thrown up and I’m not afraid to aim for you”

“Ewwww. Fine. Truce. I’ve got my slushie and I make no promises”

“That’s my girl”

  Leading Kosmo back from his bathroom break, Matt hefted the dog into the car, Pidge hissing as Kosmo dumped himself in her lap

“I thought he was going with the others!”

“Kosmo is best boy, and stays with me”

“Then you can hold him!”

Chuckling, Matt moved the front seat back into place on his side

“You guys give into her demands too easily. I called mum. She’ll meet us there. Called Coran too. He promises that “Young Miss Katie shall receive the best care he can provide””

Pidge hissed at the name “Katie”, shoving Kosmo until he climbed into Lance’s lap. Keith didn’t seem pleased

“I’m fine, Kosmo is fine. We’re all here, let’s get Pidge to VOLTRON. I’m sure Coran can find an extra large needle to probe her with”

“Keep this up and I’ll ask him to neuter you when he does Matt”

“Leave my testicles out of this. I got you your slushie and paid for the snack. You’re welcome”

  Throwing the snacks over, Lance copped a bag of pretzels to the face

“Can everyone stop bashing the vampire? I want to sleep”

Matt chuckled, slamming the car door behind him hard enough for Lance to flinch in worry for his poor baby

“If we’re not bashing the vampire, who are we going to bash then?”

“I nominate the werewolf. For a starters he’ll be healed by the time we get home, and for a second, he doesn’t throw up when he eats”

“Yeah, I’m going to side with Lance on this. Sorry, Matt. You’re the designated bashee”

“You guys suck. Keith, help a bro out here”

“Pidge is scary and Lance is my boyfriend. I think there’s space in the boot of Shiro’s sedan if you’d rather ride in there”

“The bunch of you are traitors. I’ll remember this Pidgeon. When you least expect I’m going to pee in your shoes”

“And when you least expect it I’m going to shave your head”

“You have to catch me first”

“That can be arranged. I’m not afraid to tell mum”

“And I’ll tell her about how little vegetables you eat”

“She knows, but she’ll never take me alive”

Lance sighed at the pair of them... How many times did he have to say he was tired?

“Can you please let the vampire sleep now? I’m tired. I feel sick. And I want to get back to Platt in one piece. Keith’s in charge of the music... Babe, feel free not to crash my car into a tree, no matter how tempting it is”

“I won’t do that to your baby. I’ve got some water if you want it”

“Nope. I want to sleep... if you guys wake me before Platt, I will shave both your heads and glue your hands together. Keith’s the exception”

“Dude... you’re so mean...”

“Yeah, Lance, take a nap already”

  He wouldn’t win this battle and he knew it. He could only hope he managed not to throw up on the way home and avoid stray paws and wild Pidges.

[ditch-witches]

Eyeliner II (Dean-Charles Chapman Smut)

thank you to the darling @chokopieeater​ for the gorgeous moodboard. i love you

(PART ONE)

requested: yes/no (I am but y'all's humble servant.)

pairing: band member!Dean-Charles Chapman x reader

warnings: smut shit, lots of filler crap as well

word count: 4k (º-º)

a/n: I just wanna thank my girl, Iv, again and that superior 5sos album for getting me through this.

After your first date, you and Dean became inseparable, quickly falling head over heels into your relationship. It had gotten to the point where even when you weren’t with him, he was always on your mind. Little things reminded you of him like the incessant pencil tapping or pen clicking from the guy sitting beside you during lab or your green sweater that he always seems to compliment and can’t stop touching whenever you wear it.

You could be gone for hours on end, not intentionally, but because of Dean’s shitty car. You didn’t know what make or model but it was some kind of Frankenstein’s motor-monster and you never complained about it. Most of the time it had a mind of its own, and Dean had made it his mission in life to tango with its independence from him. There would be times when he’d be driving the two of you to a movie or dinner---the both of you attempting to talk over the loud radio that had only two volumes: ear rape and silent---when it would just sputter out and die, leaving the two of you to walk towards the next town over in hopes of finding a gas station. In complete honesty, you enjoyed the car. It gave you more time with Dean, who never seemed to get frustrated at it. Whenever it did break down, you always expected to look over and see him red in the face, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel too hard, but instead you received a shrug and him holding his hand out to help you out of the piece of shit. That was another thing, the passenger side door was stuck shut so you had gotten pretty good at slipping in and out of the window. Dean claimed it was because the car was meant to race; “a stallion” to be more specific.

You knew the door was just rusted shut.

When you weren’t pushing the stallion to the nearest auto parts store on a Friday night, you and Dean found yourselves cooped up in one of your apartments or out with a group. Your friend still insisted on going to each of the band’s shows, which you really didn’t mind anymore, especially since you got to experience Dean’s confidence on stage being the one that mirrors his confidence in the bedroom. Your friend knew you and Dean had gone out a few times, but you were positive she wasn’t aware of just how much the two of you were together. And that you were thankful of, knowing full well she would blow everything completely out of proportion and make you think too much about having him around.

One day, when your late afternoon classes were canceled due to the professor’s spontaneous trips to Israel, you had the perfect opportunity to tangle yourself up with Dean. The warm glow in the room mixed with your after sex bliss as Dean lazily strummed a guitar (often finding ways to catch your attention with old riffs from The Cure, his favorite being Lovesong), propped up on the window seat tucked in the corner beside his bed. His curls, rather wild and untamed from the lack of hair product and working from your fingers. His eyes seeming brighter as the light from outside drew lines across his face. You twisted in his comforter to stretch your back as you watched him furrow his brows in an attempt at pulling chords from his memory and matching them with others.

You could prop your chin in your hand and listen to him hum slightly, in his own little world, until the end of time if you were given the opportunity. His voice was always slightly raspier, especially in moments like this. His acoustic versions, especially of the Cure, had become your favorite, mainly because you knew they were just for your ears and something about having such intimate gifts from him made your moods fuzzy and soft. The first time you stayed over, you were surprised there hadn’t been sheet music thrown about, expecting to find it shoved in awkward hiding spots of his room, but it was mainly on the window seat, where he usually played, or his desk on the other side of the room. You loved seeing him finally getting something he was happy with or constructing a lyric he liked and feverishly looking for clean space in his notebook to write it down before he forgot and it was gone forever. He seemed to have been writing a lot lately.

“Did you ever play an instrument?” He asked, his eyes darting up to look at you through his long eyelashes as he threw the notebook and pencil on the ground next to him. “I mean, besides in marching band.”

You snorted at his question. “Oh gosh. You’re gonna make fun of me,” you quipped.

“I thought that’s what we did, gorgeous?” He answered with a smug look on his face. “Come on, tell me.”

You rolled your eyes with a smile. “I used to be really into the Dixie Chicks, so I learned how to play the banjo.”

He laughed in disbelief. “No.”

“Yes,” you nodded, wincing slightly.

He giggled. “Wait,” he wet his lips and sat up slightly, beginning to strum an all too familiar song. “You’re going to have to help me with the words.”

“Dean, stop-”

“CoWbOy, TAKE ME AWAY-” You bolted from his bed and took the guitar from him as he giggled, grinning at you like an idiot. You took a seat across from him, tucking one of your ankles under your leg and shivering slightly, only Dean’s t-shirt and your shorts to keep you warm after being bundled up for so long. You rested the guitar in your lap and Dean crossed his legs, scooting closer to you.

“Never do that again,” you grumbled and he laughed again, lacing his fingers together. “Since you always play for me…” You strummed your hand across the wires, the instrument feeling more foreign than when you picked up a flute last year for the first time since high school. You chuckled shortly, “I’m a little rusty.” Dean couldn’t help but beam as you blushed mildly, beginning to play what you could remember of I Believe in Love’s chorus. As you sang lightly, trying not to seem like you were putting much effort behind what you were doing, you caught his gaze and he inhaled rather sharply, his eyes dancing with softness as he watched you. You smirked slightly as he watched you closely, seemingly loving every second of your short song, physically gushing as he usually bright smile eased blissfully. You finished, looking at him with a sarcastic, “Taddah.”

He leaned forward, his hand wrapping around the back of your neck to close the space between you, searing the moment into your memory with a kiss you could feel in your toes. He always kissed you like everything was relying on the way he did it. With Dean, every kiss mattered, but this kiss seemed to encompass everything he wanted to say. The sweet taste of your vanilla chapstick blended with the smell of his cologne as his warm breath flared over your cheek. You sighed against his lips moving your hands into his hair and relishing his actions.

You don’t remember getting home that night, but as you damn near floated into your apartment, you figured not even your essay due the next day could ruin your mood. Of course, that was until you realized your friend had gotten home before you and was standing in the kitchen with a juice box. Your eyes went slightly wide at the shock and she tilted her head. “Where’ve you been?” Her smirk meant she knew exactly where you were.

You shrugged slightly, “Studying. I had the afternoon off.”

“It’s seven.”

“...Right…” Your eyes darted around the room.

She bit back a wider grin before moving around the counter towards you. “Must have gotten a lot of homework done then. What subject? Anatomy?” You rolled your eyes at her joke and she pulled you into a hug, fully welcoming you home before leaning back from you quickly. You looked at her with furrowed brows and she narrowed her eyes. “You smell familiar…”

You chuckled. “Am I not supposed to?”

“No, you smell familiar, but not like you. You smell like Dean.” You pursed your lips together, looking at her like she was crazy. “Dean’s still the one you’re sneaking around with!” Her expression flipped on a dime to excitement and she giggled. “I KNEW IT.”

“STOP.”

“Jeez, that’s why he’s so happy. I mean, more than usual.” You sighed as she continued. “God it totally makes sense though. That why he ALWAYS LOOKS AT YOU LIKE HE’S IN LOVE WITH YOU-”

“QUIT. HE’S NOT IN LOVE WITH ME.”

“Dean wants to marry you. He wants to kiss you. He wants to lOooVe you,” she teased, dancing slightly to her own song. You closed your eyes, pinching the bridge of your nose between your index finger and thumb. “How is your boyfriend, anyway? I’m assuming that’s where you were today.” You threw your bag down on one of the kitchen chairs.

“He’s not my boyfriend, cut it out,” you grumbled.

“Sure seems like it. You blush every time I say his name,” she jeered, her voice still sing-songy as she moved back into the kitchen.

The fact that Dean wasn’t your boyfriend seemed to echo through your mind until his next show, which happened to be in a much larger venue. You weren’t sure how you felt about coming to the realization that the two of you had never really set a label. Did you even want a label? The two of you hadn’t really been keeping your relationship private, but maybe it was for a bigger reason that you had given thought to. You and your little sidekick in the shape of your best friend made your way to the venue, her almost tripping over her shoes a few times with excitement. There weren’t any seats, in fact, the place reminded you of a warehouse and it made complete sense having been set up by the bassist and the drummer when Dean and the other guitar player just had to trust the guys. You couldn’t help but smile at the fact that it was incredibly packed. A sense of pride rushed through you, proud of the band slowly climbing the ladder yet still keeping it fun. You also knew Dean would be feeding off this high for at least a week after the show.

Your friend dragged you to the front by the tight grip she had on your arm, landing the two of you in almost the front row. The people around you smelled like beer and were already cheering and yelling, making you laugh slightly. Anytime college kids had the opportunity to throw each other around to punk music, they would. Your friend smiled at her phone before clicking it off and shoving it in her pocket, looking over the crowd and waving her arm in the air. You furrowed your brows, attempting to see who or what she was trying to wave down. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” she commented, biting back a grin and putting her arm down. You shook your head at her and someone came around you to pull her into his arms. She giggled wildly as he kissed her. You recognized him as the drummer. The two had been very vocal about their whereabouts after she had given him her number. Dean was at your side, giving your arm a nudge and furrowing his brows at the two, probably mimicking your expression. “What are you guys doing out here?” She asked, through a bright smile. You scoffed like she didn’t just wave them down.

“Relax, no one knows it’s us,” Dean joked from beside you. “They came for the booze.” He seemed oddly calm for such a big event, but there was something off about him. The two laughed at him before joining in their own conversation. Dean leaned closer to your ear, “Can we go somewhere?” You nodded and followed him away from the crowd and towards the backstage area before turning towards a bathroom. You looked around the space, it was disgusting but you didn’t mind.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. There was definitely something wrong. Was he nervous? “Are you okay?” His usually bright face was smothered with slight worry. You could tell he wanted to reach out to you.

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

He bit his lip. “I don’t know, you’ve gotten weird… Did I do something?”

You scoffed, shaking your head quickly. “No, I just…” You ran a hand through your hair and he watched you closely, the same look flashing behind his eyes as when you were playing for him. “She found out about us and,” you shrugged, “it just got me thinking.”

Dean fought against his smirk as he took a step towards you. “That’s never a good thing, love,” he joked, making the tension lighten. “What were you thinking about?”

You scoffed. “It’s not really a big deal-”

His eyebrows picked up. “Quit.”

“Did I become a groupie?” You asked, a smile playing on your lips, causing him to give into his grin. You hated to do this before his show, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“Are you also fucking the other guys?” He sarcastically quizzed, his arms finally moving to rest on your shoulders before sliding down so his hands settled on your neck, the cool metal of his rings bringing enticing goosebumps to litter your skin. You looked up at him, quietly wishing you could take him home around this time. Damn, were you really this whipped?

“I mean, the bass guy has been looking awfully yummy lately…” You mocked, your eyes dancing between his lips and his bright blue eyes. He chuckled at your answer.

“Do you wanna be just a groupie?” He asked in more of a whisper.

You were surprised as your tone matched his. “No…”

“Fine, can I be your boyfriend?” He smiled into his question and your gaze snapped to his. “I wanna be your fucking boyfriend, okay.” His tone was so light you couldn’t help but laugh.

His thumb brushed against your jaw, making you melt. “Good.” You grabbed onto the front of his jacket, finally bringing his lips to yours. You made sure this kiss counted more than all your previous ones for him. You could practically taste the relief pulsing through him as his hands moved into your hand. The noise around you died away as you stood on your toes, feet fitting between his sneakers to bring him closer to your body.

He pulled away rather reluctantly, pressing his lips against yours a few times between attempting to talk to you. “I have to quit before I get carried away,” he groaned, kissing your cheek and jaw.

You chuckled. “Promise to get carried away later then?”

“I swear on my life,” he practically growled in your ear. He was back to being Dean again. He pulled away to look you in the eye. “You are so beautiful, you know?”

You rolled your eyes, shoving him away from you. He giggled. “Alright, go get on stage, lover boy.”

He leaned forward to kiss you briefly again before beginning to back out of the bathroom. “To be clear, I’m not going because you told me to. I’m going because I have to, okay?” He joked.

“Dean.” He sent you one last wink before slipping out the door, leaving you to finally grin like an idiot in peace. You joined your friend’s side again and the look she gave you was more than all-knowing as you shook your head at her again. As the band took to the stage, the crowd roared with excitement. Dean was wrong. They had come for them. Maybe it was Dean’s accent because each time he attempted to talk or swore during a song, the girls in the crowd would scream their heads off.

There was something about Dean’s performance tonight that was different for you. Maybe it was the rise he was getting out of everyone and the fact that he was going home with you. You bobbed to the music slightly, your mind flashing to the afternoons with Dean. The grungy man before you, eyeliner smudging from the heat of the lights and exertion of adrenaline, looked different and oozed with confidence that was somehow even more attractive to you now, but when he would grin at one of his bandmates or a sign in the crowd, he was exactly the same. He had made sure to find you in the crowd rather quickly, sending you flirty smirks and a wink every so often. God, he really knew what he was doing. There were times during the set when the bassist would introduce the next song as Dean would take a sip of beer or a puff of the guitarist’s cigarette and the girls behind you would make a comment about being jealous of whatever his lips had touched, making you laugh slightly---a fact you would have told him if you hadn’t known he would bring it up every chance he got.

After the show, the two of you barely made it up the stairs to his apartment before wrapping around each other, hungry to relieve the sexual tension between you during the show. You knew Dean was still running on performer’s high, and you were thankful. Your hands knotted in his hair as the taste of alcohol and cigarettes invaded your senses to blend with the smell of the concert on you both. Your back pressed against his bedroom door as you practically yanked his jacket off his arms, tugging his shirt over his head as he smashed his lips against yours in a disarray of teeth and hair. He slipped his hands under your shirt, pulling it off as well, his lips finding his favorite part of your neck. You moaned as his teeth clashed against your skin, his hand moving to grasp at your breast as he pressed you harder against the door. You ground your hips against him, feeling the wetness between your legs begin to pool.

You pushed off the wall, dragging him with you to the bed. As you fell back into the soft comforter, Dean climbed over you smiling before you locked your lips against his, your tongue pressing into his mouth with a neediness that he seemed to reciprocate as his fingers moved to your zipper, lightly unfastening your pants before dragging them down your thighs and over your ankles. He stood between your legs, getting ready to remove his rings. “Uh-uh,” you almost hissed, making him look up at you smugly. “Leave ‘em on.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, his smirk making you melt as he hooked his arms around your thighs, his head dipping down.

“As you wish,” he divulged, his breath hot against your core before he began nipping at the skin of your inner thigh. He was in complete control as his mouth moved to press against your clothed center. You moaned slightly, a grin spreading across your face as your head tilted back, his tongue moving against you, drawing patterns as he applied pressure with it. He broke away from you sliding his hands between the fabric of your waistband and skin, your underwear soon falling to the floor. As he settled back into his previous position, you ran your fingers into his hair, pushing it off his forehead so you could fully see his eyes. He flashed you another smug look before attaching his lips to your clit, sucking slightly before slipping his middle finger into you.

“Fuck,” you hissed, your legs wanting to clamp shut around him as he began to curl his finger inside of you, moving to draw a reaction out of you with each of his actions. He flattened his tongue against your core and moved his head from side to side for more friction. You groaned again, needing more of him, which he seemed to notice as he added another digit. You could now feel the rings at the edge of your entrance, giving you a new sensation to moan over. The tension within you tightened as he continued, his tongue lapping against you, bringing you closer to the edge. “Dean, I’m close,” you almost whined, moving your hips to grind against his tongue.

He chuckled and leaned away from you, slipping his fingers into his as you leaned up to tug off his jeans. You scoffed as he connected your lips together again. “You haven’t been wearing underwear this whole time?”

He smiled into your kiss, pushing you back onto the mattress. “No one but you has to know,” he joked.

“Ew, Dean!” You giggled as he kissed your jaw and laughed at your comment. He pulled one of your legs to rest against his hip and positioned himself before you as you drug a hand through his hair. He met your gaze again and despite the fact that he still looked like his rockstar persona, the sparkle in his eye was consistent with the Dean that you would be confident in introducing to your parents one day. He reached a thumb up to brush against your cheek before kissing you softly, a sweet gesture that forced you to wrap yourself around his arms. He pressed into you, fitting against you almost too perfectly as he moaned, bringing music to your ears. He broke away from you only to settle a kiss beside your ear and against your shoulder, beginning to thrust into you. His breath fanned over your chest and you sighed in pleasure. His hand fisted the sheets beside the two of you as he ground his hips against yours. You moved beneath him wanting to find the right angle to push yourself over the edge. You tightened around him, drawing another moan out of him. If the man could be in your ear for the rest of your life, you would thank whatever higher being allowed it to happen every second you could.

He pulled your hips towards him more, driving himself deeper into you and reaching where you needed him most. “Don’t stop,” you moaned, kissing him again as he smiled. You began to feel every inch of him as he moved inside of you, hitting your sweet spot with each of his thrusts. You kissed his jaw softly, your fingers drifting to the curls at the base of his head again. Your toes curled as you finally reached your orgasm, calling out his name and feeling him release as well, riding out your pleasure. As he sank into the covers next to you, you couldn’t fight the smile playing on your lips. One of his arms jutted out to pull your back against his chest, wrapping himself around you and sighing into your hair. His lips brushed against your shoulder blade softly and you tucked into his arms more.

“Thank you for coming to my show,” he mumbled from behind you.

You smirked. “It was like pulling teeth, getting me there,” you answered sarcastically, hearing him laugh lightly.

“I meant the first time. I’m glad you didn’t end up as a groupie,” he hummed, joking rather lazily and you knew he was drifting off. You rolled your eyes with a grin, your hand moving to rest over his, lacing your fingers together.

“I’m glad, too,” you quipped, his heartbeat lulling you to sleep as well.

[realllllfangirllllll]

Beyond Lovers || Chp. 17

{More Than Friends Sequel}

Chairman!Jaehyun AU x CEO!Reader AU

Summary: You find yourself falling deeper and deeper in love with the former CEO after overcoming your fear of love. Although there were rough patches, both of you are now stronger than ever. However, you realize that maintaining a relationship and a company at the same time can be very difficult, especially if someone is out to destroy the both of you.

Masterlist

{Previous / Next }

The moment the pilot announced that the flight safely ended, you rushed to exit the plane. What was supposed to be an hour’s flight ended up to be ten hours instead. You cursed fate for making you wait while the engineers fixed whatever happened to the plane. As you waited for your luggage, you checked the time on your phone. 5:07pm. You were late. The date was set for today at four, but you were an hour late. 

Part of you wanted to think that it served Jaehyun right. After all, he did hurt a part of you and you didn’t want to let that slide. However, the other part of you screamed that Jaehyun must be in so much pain. You couldn’t help but think of what he’s going through. You know best that Jaehyun is a person who beats himself up over every mistake. This was definitely no exception. 

Throughout the ten hours of pointlessly waiting, you had time to carefully think about your future with Jaehyun. At first, you thought there was no way that he could ever make you feel the way you used to. You were severely traumatized. But as time went by, you started to get this lingering feeling in your heart. You didn’t get to look at his face for days or feel his touch. Your heart hurt, not because he broke your heart, but because your heart ached for his presence and warmth. 

You leaned against a nearby pole as you waited for your one luggage to arrive. It’s been approximately half an hour and it still hasn’t come around. You let out a bitter chuckle and suddenly remembered what Jaemin told you. Jaehyun almost beat up a reporter. You shook your head, somewhat disappointed by Jaehyun’s usual possessive behavior. However, a part of you felt somewhat relieved. Thinking back to the incident and the charity ball, you felt so vulnerable and exposed. It was the one moment that made you feel as worthless as when your parents left you. But what Jaemin told you made you realized that someone out there really cares for you. Even in the heat of his own problems, he cared about you and only thought to protect you. Shaking your head, you cleared the mixed feelings and came to the conclusion that the only way to find out about your feelings was to see his face again. You finally spotted your suitcase on the conveyer belt and quickly picked it up.

~~

The taxi pulled up to the familiar destination. You were surrounded by beautifully tended flowers of all kinds. When you stepped off the car, the first thing you did was press your nose against the daisies. The pleasant smell hit your nose and a small smile made its way to your face. No matter how upset you may be with the world, you would never be able to stay mad at this garden. Its scenery and scent were your biggest comfort. You stopped in your tracks and realized that Jaehyun must have the exact thought in his head. He must’ve told you to meet him here because he knew the garden served as your comfort.

Your mouth was left agape as you stared at the large, vacant space. “Hey! Look at this big empty field! We could practically build our own park here.” 

Before you could continue expressing your fascination, you heard Jaehyun yell out, “Where are you?” before a rustle of leaves were heard. 

You felt him rush towards you as he swooped you up with his long arms. His scent filled your nostrils as the wind blew in the direction of the two of you. There was a sudden smell of daisies mixed with the smell of his cologne, and you grew curious. “Do you smell that?”

He set you down gently on the empty field, never unwrapping his arms around your waist. You felt him nuzzling your neck and his breath tickling your skin as he mumbled, “I only smell the good body wash you used.”

You rolled your eyes and slightly pushed him away from you. Walking toward the direction of the scent, you heard the leaves underneath you crunching as Jaehyun followed behind you. You stopped abruptly as you laid your eyes on a rare sight.

Distracted, Jaehyun bumped into your still figure. “Baby what are you doing just standing in the middle of this field.”

You let out a soft whisper as if any slight movement can break the small plant, “Look, a daisy.”

His eyes wandered everywhere, “What are you talking about y/n?”

You huffed out in frustration at your clueless boyfriend and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down to the spot you were looking at. Jaehyun chuckled when he saw the tiny flower sprouting from the soil. He then turned to look at you. Your eyes were practically sparkling and he couldn’t help but admire you as you focus your attention on the small daisy. Suddenly, you felt his lips touch yours. You flinched a bit but he paid no mind, only deepening the kiss. The feeling of his soft lips had you melting into him, any thought of the daisy was gone. When he pulled away, he gave you the prettiest smile you have ever seen. His dimples adorned his face as he placed his finger under your chin. “I think I could kiss you forever,” he whispered dazedly.

Your face was painted with a bright pink as he confessed his thoughts. His thumb gently touched your lips and your heart started to beat uncontrollably. Suddenly, you felt a pinch on the side of you ears and shot your hand up to investigate the odd feeling. Your hand plucked out the small flower from your left ear and when you realized what it was, you shot up with a look of shock. 

“Jung Yoonoh! What is wrong with you?”

Confused by the sudden rise in your voice, he asked, “What? I thought you liked the daisy? It looks cute on you.”

He gave you another smile as he took the daisy from you and tucked it back behind your ear. You let out a cute, exasperated huff, not knowing how much that made Jaehyun’s heart race. Pecking your cheek, he told you softly, “We can always grow more on the field. This vacant land is right behind our house.”

Staring at him with confusion, you asked him in a soft voice, “O-our house?”

Jaehyun returned your confused expression with a loving gaze, “Our house.” Your silence worried him so he spoke again, “W-would you want to move in with me?” Suddenly growing shy, he looked at his feet as he told you, his voice barely above a whisper, “I just want to be able to see your face every day and know that you’re doing ok.”

You gently lifted his head up and gave him a cheeky smile, “Jaehyun, of course I’ll move in with you.”

~~

You walked through the now fully grown field and searched for Jaehyun. The further you walked the longer your heart ached for him. This place held so many dear memories with him and you finally admit to yourself that you were missing him a lot more than what you showed. However, you couldn’t find Jaehyun anywhere. Doubt suddenly started to fill you up as you wondered if he left thinking you weren’t going to show up. Suddenly, you heard a familiar voice shouting from behind you. 

Turning around and walking towards the voice, you were left speechless. You shouted at the voice when you witness the horrifying scene. “Xiaojun! No! Stop! What the hell are you doing?!”

Xiaojun landed a harsh blow to Jaehyun’s face as you rushed to them. You tried to get in between the two men but none of them budged. It was as if you were invisible to Xiaojun. He strongly pushed you aside causing you to trip over your suitcase. You felt a twinge of pain in your ankles as it twisted and you fell down on the hard soil. He paid no attention as he relentlessly beat Jaehyun up. Unable to stand up from the pain, you cried for him to stop but it was useless. Xiaojun continued as Jaehyun stood there, letting him beat him up to a pulp.

———

• I’ve been mia w/ my writings but I am back now! Thanks for patiently waiting~ •

• Also pls pray for me my 1st finals is tmrw (monday) night adjsfjks •

[bittysvalentines]

I Promise You, Everything Will Be Just Fine

From: @iboughtaplant

To: @sophiegaladheon Rating: It's rated G or T so nothing to worry about rating wise. 

I hope you enjoy this fic!! It was a lot of fun to write and a challenge for me to write something under 3k (and this fic is like 2999 words so I succeeded, but not by much, lol)!  

Kent arrived home after working at the rink. He had a smile on his face as he unlocked the door, excited to just sit and watch a movie with Eric. Their schedules hadn’t lined up the last few days and they kept only seeing each other as they got ready for bed. 

Today was also the first day in a long time that Kent’s knee wasn’t acting up. It hurt from time to time, sometimes more than others. Some private ice time when his knee was feeling good last week was fun, but in hindsight, he realized it probably wasn’t worth it if his knee gave out on him a few days later. 

For Kent, thinking about his knee and how he injured it was annoying at best and traumatic at worst. But it was also good in a twisted way. If he hadn't injured his knee, he wouldn’t be coaching. And he wouldn’t have met Eric.  

An injury at the end of his rookie year (at least he got a Cup out of his short-lived career, if he could call it that) took him out of the NHL for good. Retirement the way no one wanted to retire. He didn’t even reach his prime. From number one draft pick to the rookie who busted his knee so bad he couldn’t play in the big league anymore. 

Which was how Kent ended up in a different city assistant coaching a women’s hockey team. It was also how he met Eric. 

Eric was a men’s singles figure skater who trained at the same ice rink complex as the women’s hockey team. They met by pure chance almost colliding in the doorway of the men’s locker room one day when Kent was running early and Eric was running late, which somehow made their schedules overlap. 

It was by no means love at first sight, but there was some lust. Kent couldn’t help but stare at the attractive skater in his tight fitting workout gear, a slight flush already on his face from changing so quickly. 

“I’m sorry, hun. I wasn’t watchin’ where I was going. I’m just running late and Katya’s gonna kill me.” He patted Kent’s shoulder as he walked past. “Sorry again, I gotta get to practice.” He said as he turned to walk down the corridor, skate guards clomping on the floor as he went. 

Kent shook himself out of his silence, “It’s okay…” only to trail off since the guy was already halfway down the corridor. 

Kent would spend the rest of the day—and subsequent week—thinking about the blond figure skater with the sweet Southern accent. Until, as fate would have it, they ran into each other again. And this time neither of them were running late and there were no near collisions. And most importantly Kent now knew the blond skater’s name. Eric.  

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

After running into each other the second time, it became a thing. Kent’s schedule hadn’t changed, so he figured maybe Eric’s had. This time they saw each other in the locker room when they were both heading out. Kent had just finished changing his clothes as Eric walked by, skate bag in hand. 

Before Kent realized he made a decision, he called out before Eric left the locker room. “Hey, Eric! Wait up?” 

Eric stopped in his tracks. He looked hesitant, but curious as he turned to face Kent. Kent who was shoving his feet into his shoes and nearly tripped over the bench as he made his way over to Eric, who was trying to stifle a laugh behind his hand. Kent didn’t remember being this clumsy, but at least someone found it amusing.

“Ha ha, laugh at the guy who almost brained himself on his locker.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bitty said with a giggle. 

Kent just scoffed before putting on his charming smile. “I guess I can put up with my newfound clumsiness if it means I get to see you laugh.” 

“Well, Mr. Parson, that was not smooth, but I appreciate the confidence.” 

“In that case, I’m going to confidently ask you to get coffee with me?” 

“Really?” 

“Yup. So what do you say? You, me, coffee? You can laugh at me if I walk into a door.” 

“Sounds like a plan.”

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

Years of training away from home made Eric appreciate the people in his life, his found family. And while his parents supported him, they never fully understood him. Sure he and his mama were close as was possible with him training in a different state halfway across the country, but that didn’t mean his parents really knew about his life. They knew he was gay and still supported him and wanted him to succeed, but they didn’t understand why he couldn’t stay in Georgia to do it.

But moving away from Georgia to continue skating was one of the best things Eric did. He had his coach Katya, Larissa and the girls who Katya also coached, Ransom and Holster who lived nearby and befriended him when they all met while skating at a public rink, Jack and Tater who played NHL hockey, and Kent. He had Kent. 

Kent who Eric met two years ago at the rink. Kent who became Eric’s best friend—don’t let Larissa hear him say that—and then something more. 

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

Kent was having a good day. Practice was going great, the team really had a shot at winning their next game in a couple days, and he was having a great lunch with some of the women on the team he was friends with (he was technically one of their coaches, but he was also in the same age range as a majority of them). 

Which of course was when he felt his phone buzz with a text, followed by what seemed like a couple more. He smiled as he slipped his phone out of his pocket, figuring Eric was sneaking texts during practice. He was affectionately chirped to oblivion for the sappy smile on his face as he unlocked his phone.    

The laughing and chirping stopped on a dime as the smile fell off of his face, a furrowed brow and concerned frown taking its place. 

“Dude, what’s going on?” March asked.  

“Um, it’s Eric, I mean not actually him, Larissa sent me a text from his phone, and Katya texted me too. I have to go.” He stood up so quickly that his chair tipped over. 

“Kent, go, we’ve got it,” said Caitlin as she stood up to pick up Kent’s chair, “I hope Eric’s okay. Let us know what’s going on and give us an update when you can.” 

“Let us know if you need anything, okay?” 

“Yeah, thanks. I’m gonna…” he pointed to the door. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and grabbed his bag. 

He ordered a Lyft and leaned against the window of the cafe while he waited. It said it should be there in three minutes, but by the time it arrived it felt like it had been thirty. 

Once the car arrived he opened the door, maybe a little more aggressively than was necessary, “Sorry,” he apologized to the driver, “just in a bit of a hurry.” 

“No worries,” the driver assured him. 

“Thanks,” Kent replied slightly short of breath. Once they were on the road, Kent finally read through all the texts more carefully. Eric got injured in practice. It was serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. He hit his head on the ice when he fell on the landing of his triple loop. That’s what the text from Larissa said. She wasn’t sure what caused Eric to flub the jump. 

The text from Katya, who usually hated texting, was more informative. Apparently Eric’s ankle had been bothering him a bit, but it was just sore not sprained or anything. So he was only supposed to work on his jumps a few times so he could take it easy for the rest of the day. But he must have put too much strain on it. 

Kent could feel his breathing getting more and more labored. He was pretty sure he was on the verge of a panic attack. He didn’t get them often, and he was more used to being on the other side of them—when someone else was having one—but he could feel his mind spiraling a bit. 

He didn’t want Eric to go through what he did, to have a major injury that cut his career short. Rationally, Kent knew that Eric probably didn’t experience a career-ending injury, but his brain kept showing him worst case scenarios. 

Kent anxiously tapped his fingers on his knee as he tried to slow his breathing. He was mostly worried because Eric got hurt, but also freaking out because the situation kept making him cycle back to thinking about his own injury and how he didn’t get to live out his dream. He didn’t want that for Eric.

Kent pulled himself out of his anxiety spiral enough to fumble his phone in his hands and send a quick text to Jack. It was a moment where Kent was immensely grateful that he and Jack were friends despite a bit of a falling out after Jack’s overdose several years ago that meant being anything more than close friends again was out of the question. Kent was okay with that though, he and Jack worked much better as friends than boyfriends anyway. 

He expected a text back, but his phone rang only a few seconds later. He heard Jack’s voice coming through the phone. “Hey, Kenny. How are you doing?” 

“Uh, I’m okay,” he paused, “No, that’s a lie. I’m not, not okay. My figure skater boyfriend is in the hospital and I’m having a panic attack in the back of a Lyft,” He laughed, self-deprecatingly. 

“Take a deep breath, Kenny. You’re on the way to the hospital, you’ll see him soon. Just listen to my voice, I’ll stay on the phone until you get there.”

Kent tried to get his breathing under control as he listened to Jack’s soft voice. He sighed as his mind stopped racing and he was on the verge of breathing normally again.

“Thanks, Jack.” 

“Anytime, Kenny. I hope Eric feels better soon.” 

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

Eric couldn’t believe he fell, and on his triple loop. It should have been fine. His ankle had only been a little sore, the trainer at the rink said it would be fine for him to do a few practice runs of his jumps and take it easy. Katya agreed. Now he was sitting in a hospital bed with a fractured ankle and a pretty bad concussion. 

Katya went out into the hall to call Eric’s parents so they would know what was going on. Eric was glad he didn’t have to do that himself, but he would make sure to call his Mama later so she wouldn’t worry too much.  

Aside from that, all Eric could think was ‘Where’s Kent?’ He knew Katya and Larissa texted him, not that he was allowed to look at his phone anyway to know for sure. And even unsupervised he couldn’t check since his phone was currently in the pocket of Katya’s coat because she knew him too well. 

Just as Eric sagged back against the pillows, eyes closing as he sighed, the door was pushed open and Kent walked in. He looked a little frazzled and his hair was an absolute riot, but he smiled when Eric caught his eye. 

“Hey,” Kent said, voice rough, waving as he walked closer to Eric, throwing his bag vaguely in the direction of the chair near the bed. He stepped closer and grabbed Eric’s hand. 

“Hi, sweetheart, I was hoping someone called you.” 

“Of course they did. I’m here now. How are you? I mean I’m sure you’re feeling pretty shitty. But… you’re okay?” 

Eric managed to smile up at him even though his head was feeling a little fuzzy, “I’m okay, ‘specially now that you’re here.” 

Kent huffed out a half-laugh and then sat on the edge of Eric’s bed, putting an arm around his shoulders. Eric leaned into the embrace and instantly burst into tears. His emotions finally catching up to him now that he felt safe in Kent’s arms.  

He thought about how hard he had been training and how excited he was for this year’s short-program after tweaking it a bit, only to be disappointed he wouldn’t get to perform it in competition again. He had such a shot at placing at Nationals and then Worlds, and now thanks to one bad landing he was out. 

He was out for the year. His ankle wasn’t the worry, but the concussion was. There was no way he would be healed in time to skate at Nationals, dang head injury. And no Nationals meant no Worlds, he’d have to wait until next year. At least he would have another chance next year. It was a sobering thought, and while he wasn’t done being sad about the missed opportunity, he was lucky that he would get another shot. 

His full-fledged crying lasted a few minutes more until it devolved to sniffling into Kent’s neck and Eric was able to catch his breath. “I’m sorry for crying on you, honey.” 

“Hey, no, it’s okay. Cry as much as you need. I know how much it helps.” 

“Guess there’s always next year,” Eric responded with a half-smile, his eyes still watery as he gripped Kent tighter. Kent lightly kissed him on the forehead and hugged him back just as tightly. 

It wasn’t much, but it had Eric finally feeling a little better after his disaster of a day. 

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

When they got to their apartment, Kent opened the door so that he could help Eric inside since crutches weren’t the best idea while he also had a concussion throwing off his balance. 

Half of the hockey team (March, Caitlin, April and co.) stopped by in the following days. Most of them were friends, not only with Kent, but Eric too. 

It had been a week since Eric got injured, and Kent was taking care of him while he recovered. He made them dinner and even assisted Eric in the kitchen so he could make a pie. Kent tried to do all of the chores so he didn’t have to worry about Eric getting dizzy or needing to hobble around with his still healing ankle. But Eric insisted that he could still do things and he really didn’t want to sit on the couch 24/7 until he healed. 

Eric made sure to wrestle the laundry basket out of Kent’s arms so that he wouldn’t just start folding the clothes after he washed them. Their deal was one washes and the other folds. 

Eric also kept up with some yoga. “Honey, I still need to stay in shape. And yoga means I can do the poses that don’t involve putting weight on my left leg. Plus I’m already close to the ground, so quit worrying about me falling.”  

“Sorry, sorry. I should have known I was smothering you.” 

“Mothering maybe, but not smothering. I love how much you care ‘bout me.” 

“Yeah?” Kent asked with hope in his eyes. 

“Mmhmm, of course. Thank you for taking care of me. But shouldn’t you be at the rink? The team needs you. I know that they have a game coming up.” 

“I’m just an assistant coach, they can make do without me.” 

“Kent Parson, stop undervaluing yourself. You are an asset to that team, and we all know it.” 

Kent blushed in response to Eric’s forceful reassurance of his worth. 

“I guess. But yeah, I probably should be at the rink. I got enough angry texts that I’m choosing to ignore.” 

“Kenny, please go to the rink. We can make dinner and listen to some podcasts when you get back later.” 

“Well you didn’t suggest watching something, so at least you remember you’re still on limited screen time.” 

“As if you’d let me forget,” Eric grumbled, his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

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

One Year Later 

As the music faded out, Eric glided across the ice towards the edge of the rink, stopping with a flourish before leaning his arms atop the boards. “How was that!?” He excitedly asked Kent who was standing on the other side.

“Amazing! You hardly wobbled on your quad and the landing on your triple axel was perfect.”  

“Thanks for staying late to watch me run through this, honey,” Eric said and leaned further over the boards to wrap his arms around Kent.  

Kent laughed, bracing himself as he wrapped his arms around Eric as well. “Of course, I love watching you skate. And with just the two of us here, it feels like you’re skating just for me,” Kent said, his breath tickling Eric’s ear. 

“Mr. Parson, you really know how to charm a boy.” 

“It’s a gift,” Kent smirked. 

“Sure,” Eric said with a smirk of his own. “I’m just so excited for Nationals next week. I can’t wait to skate this routine.” 

“You’re gonna be great, babe.” 

“Thanks, honey. Now what do you say we stop and pick up take-out on our way home?” 

“I think it’s the least you can do since you kept us at the rink for hours,” Kent replied jokingly, shaking Eric who was still in his arms, despite the awkwardness of the boards between them. 

“Ha ha,” Eric said deadpan. 

“Whatever, I’ll grab our stuff, you change out of your skates,” Kent said as he let go of Eric and they met at the rink door.  

“Meet at the door near the side parking lot?” Eric questioned. 

“Yup, five minutes.” 

“I bet I’ll beat you there.” 

“Oh, it’s a race now?” Kent asked, eyebrows raised. 

“When isn’t it a race?” Eric asked, smile on his face, a hand on his cocked hip.   

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Running if You Call My Name || Blanche and Kaden

TIMING: After the mime bombing and APPARENTLY after Nora was shot whoops PARTIES: @harlowhaunted and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Blanche called a hunter to come pick her up from a haunted house

The second Blanche called him crying, Kaden was out the door. Well, to be honest, he had already been out the door walking Abel, but he turned around and marched right to his car with the dog at his heels all the same. He may have ran through a stop sign or two on his way to Misery Manor. Why the fuck she was there at that stupid haunt, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter. He was burning rubber to go get her. And to get answers to what happened. He couldn’t make out what she said through the blubbering. To be fair, he wasn't convinced he could have followed it without her tears. It didn’t matter. She was hurt. She called. He drove. When he pulled up to the entrance of the haunted house, Abel hopped over to the passenger’s side window and barked for Blanche. She looked so sad and broken. Whoever did this was going to pay, he knew that much. He got out of the car and Abel followed behind him. “What happened?”

Blanche told the employee that helped her sorry ass back to the front entrance to the haunted to please leave her alone and that yes someone was coming to get her and no she wasn’t planning on filing a complaint on their website. She was so relieved and even a little surprised that Kaden agreed to come get her. He had been the first person she thought to call and he was mad at her. But still, he said he was coming. She was still sniffling when Kaden pulled up, hurriedly trying to wipe her eyes. But it was too late, all the stress, anxiety, and exhaustion had burst out of her and it apparently had no plans of stopping any time soon. Rebecca’s betrayal - that thing’s betrayal? - stung, and the embarrassment of being tricked hung over her. “Abel?” was the first thing she said when Kaden came up to her. Her eyes immediately started watering again and she shook her head. “It - Rebecca. She’s - “ She swallowed back a sob and got up, hissing when she put weight on her twisted ankle. “She’s possessed.” Blanche said. “And it tricked me! And -” Uh oh. Blanche hurriedly wiped her eyes again. “Can we - Can we just get in the car? Please. I just want to get out of here.”

Abel bounded over to Blanche and probably thought the salty tears all over her face were great because he immediately went to lick her. “Abel, come on, cut it out.” Kaden knew he wouldn’t listen but if Blanche wanted him away, she could easily push him off. “Would you fucking wait?” he said as she went to stand up on her very clearly swollen ankle. Putain, he wasn’t sure how she could be that fucking stubborn. He put his arm around her to help stabilize her. “Stop walking on that foot, you’ll make it worse.” He almost missed what she was saying, he was too busy trying to keep her from hurting herself even more as he led her to the car. “Possessed? Does she know you’re a medium?” Fuck, his mind started to race through what could have gone on that night that led to this and, she mentioned telekinesis earlier right? “Why were you even here?” Thankfully, for all of Abel’s failure as a hunting dog, he was loyal and overall good enough to follow his owner and one of his newer best friends to the car, waiting for Kaden to open the door to the car. And he hopped onto the passenger seat as soon as he could. “Abel, move!” The dog just looked at him, tongue out, smiling, sitting there.

She was actually happy to have the dog slobber all over her, if only because she got to pet him before Kaden went to help her to the car. Damn it she could walk herself! Or, well, actually, no she couldn’t. That stupid Misery Manor employee had half carried her back around here.  “Rebecca knows. That thing knows too,” Blanche said sniffed. “It was just supposed to be a haunted house - you know? For some quick and easy adrenaline pumping fun so I could stop having a - god. It probably just fed me a bunch of bullshit,” Blanche groaned, watching as Kaden opened the door, only for her seat to be taken by an adorable dog. Blanche stared, before she gave a watery laugh. She was still exhausted, but Abel had successfully beaten her rotten mood. “Abel, can I sit? Can I sit? Down boy!” Blanche cooed, making the hand gesture. Of course, Abel listened to her, and she shuffled into the seat herself, wincing, before looking up at Kaden as she reached down to pet him. She took a deep breath, just so she could get something useful before she started a new round of tears. “Rebeca’s an exorcist,” Blanche said. “And she’s - it took me in the house. The house gave me a panic attack -” she winced slightly, “I fell down.  She - it… was nasty.” Hearing the words pathetic child in her head made her scowl. “I figured it out. I should have figured it out sooner - I can sense them, I just -” Blanche swung her legs into the car, and patted her lap for Abel to join her. “I threw her into a wall. With my head. She got too close and I - I didn’t even mean too. And now I feel like used JELL-O.”

Every single new thing Kaden heard about this incident made him hate it more. “What happened to not getting into trouble?” he grumbled as he waited for her to take a seat next to the dog that was about half her size. A traitor dog that listened to everyone else before him. All he could do was rub his forehead and then run his hands through his hair, letting out a sigh. There was a lot to take in and he was just stressed. This could have been a lot worse. It sounded like it was about to get a lot worse. He shook his head before closing the door and walking around to the driver’s side. “Panic attack. Exorcist. Possession. More telekinesis. Putain.” He sighed and sat in the seat a moment before turning the keys in the ignition. “Used jell-o though? Really?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be a trouble thing!” Blanche said, flatly. She wiped her eyes again, focusing on making sure Abel was getting the best kind of pets. Blanche was grateful Kaden had come to get her, even after their argument about Granny the other day. She looked over at Kaden, “Alright. I feel like I ran a marathon. Twice. Or I haven’t slept in three days. And my ankle hurts. And I feel like that sixth sense I have that lets me see dead people has been set fire. Is that better for you? Or can I go back to used jell-o?” Blanche said, slumping in her seat. After a moment, she closed her eyes, settling into the seat before she let out a low sigh. “Thank you. For coming to pick me up. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

He clenched his jaw listening to her. The fact that this kept happening, that people kept letting this happen to her under their lack of fucking supervision, he could feel his blood boiling. “You can be jell-o if you want.” Kaden kept an eye out for her in his peripheral vision as he drove. His knuckles tightened around the steering wheel. He didn’t really understand what exactly happened or who Rebecca was or what was fucking possessing her but he was ready to go find her or the ghost or whatever it fucking was and punch it. He was so sick of seeing people he cared about like this. Just sad. And hurt. Fucking hated it. “Of course I picked you up,” he said simply, eyes still fixed on the road in front of him. He wasn’t sure how to help or make it better but at least Abel was there. Shitty hunting dog; good comfort dog at least. “We’re going to urgent care, by the way.” He wasn’t posing this as a question. That was fucking happening.

“Oh thanks, I’ll try to be the red kind rather than the green,” Blanche muttered. The would-be sarcastic comment lacked fuel, and she was getting too tired to really argue now that she knew she was safe again. It was weird that she felt safe here, with the stupid hunter and his dog, but she was too exhausted to question it. She glanced over at him, tearing up again at his affirmation that he wouldn’t have just left her there. Shit. Don’t make it weird. Blanche sniffed slightly, once again using her sleeves to wipe her eyes, her cheeks raw from the repeated movement. But she let out a groan when he said urgent care. “Do we have too?” Blanche asked, looking at him. “Can’t you just take me home? I’ll ice it and elevate it, I promise and I’ll have my housemate or Nell take me tomorrow. Please?? I just want to go to bed.”

Just when Kaden thought he could go a full day without having to fucking wallow in worry, here she was. She barely sounded like herself. There was no bite or sarcasm behind her words. They were hollow and tired. Seeing her cry like this felt like a kick to the gut. A problem he couldn’t solve. “They’re all sad. So it doesn’t matter.” He sighed at the same time as Abel whose head was settled in her lap. Kaden knew damn well she should go see a doctor. But a quick look over to her and he couldn’t. She looked so exhausted and broken. He didn’t fucking trust her to actually se a doctor but putting her through all the waiting that came with medical care right now felt cruel. “You’d better fucking promise to go see a doctor. Someone who’s not Regan.” He changed direction and started driving towards the mcmurder mansion she lived in.

“Red is significantly less sad than green. Or yellow. Yellow is the worst.” Blanche mumbles, absentmindedly petting Abel on the head. She would have to see a doctor or get Nell’s mom to look at it, but she really could not handle a trip to the emergency room right now. Too many factors, let alone the wait times and the potential dealing with her father when she was like this… Not fucking worth it. “I promise to go see a doctor,” Blanche said, settling up against the car door, head leaning against the window. She wondered if it had been whatever magic she used to throw Rebecca against the wall that made her this tired or if it was the overall lack of sleep. Blanche drove Remmy and others insane about that… “And get 8 hours and all that…” She mumbled something else - something along the lines of Regan having cold doctor hands - before she was out cold, one hand comfortably resting on Abel’s head.

Kaden had no fucking clue what she was talking about anymore. He was pretty sure it didn’t matter, she was nodding off, no doubt about it. It’s fine, they were close to her home by now. He shook his head and pulled up to the driveway. She was mumbling something about getting out by herself and didn’t move. He sighed and stopped the car and went to get her out of the seat. He told Abel to stay in the car and, despite a couple of protesting whines, he listened for once. He had a feeling he’d be helping her inside no matter what but carrying her up the stairs past fucking snakes and spiders wasn’t really what he expected. Thankfully she was conked out enough not to protest, but awake enough to mumble where the hell her (master?) bedroom was. He’d save the questions on her living choices later. Her room looked normal enough and she was safe in her bed. One scribbled note with “Go to the fucking doctor,” later and he closed the door and left to go back to his apartment, maybe finish that walk he promised Abel.

[girls-scenarios]

Trip Into Your Heart

Idol: Yoojung (Weki Meki)

Prompt: may i request a scenario in which doyeon and yoojung were pranking each other and yoojung ended up getting hurt so she has to go to the hospital. while at the hospital, she meets doctor!reader and immediately falls for her. tyyyy

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: I meant to have all the Weki Meki requests up so long ago rip. Thank you all for your patience with me, I never expected this summer to be so busy for me. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy!

♡ Tip Jar♡

It had started off innocent enough, as things always did between the two of them. Prank wars were nothing new. In fact, Yoojung and Doyeon were almost always pranking each other, trying to make the other slip up to get a good laugh. It was all fun and games, and nobody ever got hurt, so it was completely safe.

Well, that is, until Doyeon’s contraption to make Yoojung trip when she opened the door went horribly wrong and ended with Yoojung in a teary ball on the floor, clutching at her ankle.

“Is it broken?” Doyeon’s voice was high and nervous as she leaned over her best friend, looking all too guilty and like she didn’t know what to do. Yoojung winced and sat up, gingerly touching the ankle she’d twisted so badly after tripping.

“I don’t know. It hurts really, really bad though.” As she touched it, her eyes teared up again and she winced hard, and Doyeon panicked a bit, standing up and grabbing her phone. Her hair stood out in all directions from running her hands through it in panic, and had Yoojung not been writhing on the floor in pain, it would have been funny. As it was, though, she just settled on closing her eyes and trying to think about anything else as she listened to Doyeon pace the floor.

“Wait here, I’ll call Suyeon! She’ll know what to do!”

“Where else would I go?” Yoojung quipped, but Doyeon was already on the phone, completely ignoring her. With a sigh, the small girl resigned herself to her fate, knowing good and well what Suyeon was going to say when she got here: she was going to have to go to the hospital.

-

“We need to take you to the hospital,” Suyeon said as soon as she got there and took one look at Yoojung’s ankle. With almost no effort, the older girl swept Yoojung up into her arms and ordered Doyeon to unlock her car because “I’m going to have to drive, I don’t trust you right now.” With a guilty look on her face, Doyeon led the way to Suyeon’s car and helped Yoojung get inside before climbing in herself, glancing at Yoojung as they began to drive.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” she said softly, biting her lip. Again, had Yoojung not been in so much pain, she would have found this Doyeon funny. But right now, she actually appreciated the sincerity.

“It’s okay. You didn’t mean to hurt me.”

“You can punch me as revenge, if you want.”

“Nah, I’m not going to do that. Unless it’s broken.”

“If Yoojung’s ankle is broken,” Suyeon said from the driver’s seat, “then I’ll punch you, Doyeon.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Doyeon squeaked in return, slinking down into her seat. This time, despite her pain, Yoojung did laugh. She was sure that her friend was praying for her ankle not to be broken, but not for the right reasons. Swallowing, she looked down at her now-swollen ankle and felt her heart sink. It wouldn’t be broken, right? She wouldn’t be able to survive with a broken ankle! (She would, but the thought of not being able to dance and run around made her feel like crying. That, and the fact that she was just a crybaby when it came to pain anyway.)

“Don’t worry, Yoojung. It shouldn’t be that serious.” Suyeon smiled at her through the rear-view mirror, as if she knew what the younger girl was thinking, and Yoojung nodded slowly. “We should be in and out of there in no time.”

“Okay,” she said, decided to trust her mom friend, because when had she ever been wrong? “I’ll try not to worry, then.”

-

Yoojung hated hospitals. They were always so cold and stuffy, and as soon as she hobbled inside the emergency room with Doyeon and Suyeon supporting her, she wanted to run away. The white walls reminded her of shots and getting the flu as a child, and she shuddered slightly as Suyeon made her sit down and went up to the desk to check in for her. Thankfully, the emergency room was pretty empty, so there weren’t any other crying or coughing patients to up Yoojung’s anxiety. On the flip side, this meant that it only took minutes for a nurse to walk out and call Yoojung’s name, making her pulse skyrocket to probably alarming levels.

“Sorry,” the nurse said when Doyeon and Suyeon walked Yoojung up to the door, “only family members are allowed into the rooms until we know what’s wrong with the patient, it’s the hospital policy. I have a wheelchair here, and I’ll call you when you can come back.” She gave the two girls a friendly smile, but Yoojung’s pulse skyrocketed again. She almost wished that at least Suyeon would have put up a fight or front, but then she was plopped down into the wheelchair and her friends were gone, leaving her alone to be wheeled away by the chatty nurse. Thankfully, they didn’t have far to go, and before she knew it, Yoojung was sitting on a hospital bed, dazedly answering the nurses questions.

“So it’s your ankle that’s bothering you?”

“Yes.” Why was the air so cold?

“Can you tell me what happened? Was there an accident of some sort?”

“Well....” Yoojung’s face colored. How was she supposed to explain this? “I tripped over something in a doorway and when I tried to catch myself, I twisted and landed weird on my ankle. And then it started to turn all purple and look like this.” She gestured to her foot and the nurse laughed, nonchalant, like she’d heard this a hundred times before.

“I see. How would you rate your pain, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hardly any and 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt in your life?”

She stopped to think for a moment, looking down at her throbbing ankle. “I guess maybe a seven? It was pretty bad at first but I think I’ve gotten more used to it now.”

As the nurse jotted down the notes, she glanced back at Yoojung. “And it’s just your ankle that hurts? You don’t feel anything in the muscles on your leg?”

“No, it’s just my ankle.”

“Alright.” The nurse finished writing something before shuffling the papers together and walking over to take another look at Yoojung’s ankle. “I think you might just have a bad sprain, but we’ll have to take an x-ray. Also, if you tripped and put a lot of strain on this ankle you might have also put strain on the muscles in your calf so I’m a little worried about that. The doctor is in today so I’ll have them come and take a look but first lets get these x-rays rolling.”

It was a lot of information to process, and before Yoojung knew it, she was back in the wheelchair being rolled into an even colder room with giant x-rays that made her look even tinier. Just in case, the nurse told her they’d x-ray her entire leg, and Yoojung was then helped onto a table and told to lay down. After (painfully) moving her ankle in three different spots so they could see it all, she was plunked shivering back into the wheelchair and taken back to her room.

The chill in the air made her wish that she’d brought warmer clothes, but as she shivered on the bed, the door opened and in stepped the most attractive doctor she’d ever seen. Her mouth went dry for a moment as you closed the door behind you and turned to her with a smile on your lips.

“Hello Yoojung. My name is Dr. (Y/N). I’m here to take a look at your leg.”

“A-ah. Hello.” She lifted a hand, then quickly put it down, wondering when she’d gotten so awkward. “Um, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” You sat down on the roll-y chair in front of the bed, but as you moved over to her, you seemed to notice her shivering. “Oh, are you cold? We have a blanket right here that you can use.” You quickly stood again and went to the other side of the bed to pick up a blue blanket before bringing it back to her. “If you’re cold, just let us know! No use being cold and in pain, right?”

“Right.” Yoojung smiled as she took the blanket and quickly put it around her shoulders. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s look at this ankle. You said you tripped and when you tried to catch yourself, you landed on the ankle weird?”

Again, Yoojung’s face colored, and she nodded slowly. “Yes. It twisted weird and then I put all my weight on it.”

“That sounds like it would do the trick.” Your fingers were chilly, yet gentle as you touched at the swollen skin. “It does look pretty bad down here, but it seems like the bones are still in-tact. Do you mind if I check your calf muscles for any pulls or strains?” Yoojung shook her head, and your hands moved further upwards, making her heart pound. She had to remind herself that you were just doing your job.

A knock at the door interrupted you, and you rolled your chair back and stood up, walking over. After a brief exchange at the door with the nurse, you came back with a folder in hand and pulled out the x-rays.

“Alright, Yoojung. It looks like your bones are all okay, so that’s the good news. On the other hand, I think one of your muscles is pulled, and you do have a pretty bad sprain on your ankle.” At your words, she winced, but you quickly patted her knee, comforting her. “A sprain can be treated much easier, though. What we’re going to do is get you a brace to support your leg and ankle, and we’re going to wrap you up tight. You’re going to want to ice your ankle for about twenty to thirty minutes every few hours and I’ll give you some medication to help with the swelling. For the muscle, I’d recommend massaging it and icing it too. I want you off your feet for the most part, and I’ll give you crutches for when you absolutely have to move around. When you’re resting, elevate your ankle. It’ll help the swelling go down.”

“I don’t know if I can remember all that,” Yoojung said, a little daunted, and you laughed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll write it all down for you. After about a week, I’ll have you come back and I’ll check on your progress. Does that sound good?” You rolled away to grab your clipboard and begin writing, and immediately, she brightened up. Getting to see you again so soon? Of course that sounded good!

“I can do that.”

“Awesome.” You sent her another smile and finished writing, pulling the paper from your clipboard to hand it to her. “I hope you feel better and heal quickly. All of your instructions are on that paper there, and the office phone number is there at the top. If you have any questions or the pain isn’t going away, or you notice anything weird, do give us a call and we’ll help you out.” Your smile was so soothing that it made her smile too, despite the pain, as you stood up. “Do you have any questions?”

As much as she wanted to keep you there longer, she didn’t have any, so she shook her head. “No. Thank you for your help.”

“Of course. Have a good day, Yoojung. I’ll see you in a week.” You turned to go, and she immediately flushed again, heart jumping in her chest. The next time she saw you, she’d definitely ask for your phone number.

-

When she finally appeared back in the waiting room, she was on crutches with her ankle bound tight and papers with prescriptions and your instructions in hand. Immediately, Suyeon and Doyeon jumped up and rushed over, looking her up and down.

“Oh god, it’s broken, isn’t it? Please don’t kill me guys I didn’t mean to!”

“Are you okay? Why is your calf wrapped up too?” Suyeon paused and looked at her face, confused. “And why are you smiling? Did they already give you meds?”

“No,” Yoojung replied, trying her best to control her face. It was hard to do, especially when your smile was still in her head. “It’s just a sprain, Doyeon, and a pulled muscle in the calf, Suyeon. I have all my papers and things right here.” She waved the papers, and Suyeon raised her eyebrows while Doyeon let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god.”

“So why are you smiling so much?”

“I’ll tell you when we get outside.”

Directly outside the doors, both girls turned on her, eyes wide and curious, and Yoojung let out a sigh. “Okay, okay. The doctor I had was really, really cute.”

“Really?” Suyeon wiggled her eyebrows. “Did you get their number?”

“No, I was too flustered today. But I have to come back in a week and I’ll definitely do it then!”

“Gross,” Doyeon said, gagging a bit. “I can’t believe you’d hit on your doctor.”

“They’re so hot, I’m not even kidding.”

“How hot?”

Yoojung whined, feeling her face flushing again. “I’m injured! Stop interrogating me!”

“Do you think if I injure myself, I’ll get the same hot doctor?” Doyeon asked, eyeing her own leg. Suyeon hit her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about it. Come on, let’s get Yoojung home. She needs to get that ankle elevated.” At Suyeon’s words, Yoojung let out a grateful sigh and began to awkwardly move on the crutches again. As her friends talked, she glanced back at the hospital and felt her heart skip a beat.

She’d never liked hospitals, but for the first time ever, she found that she couldn’t wait to come back, if just for you, the cute doctor with a smile she knew she’d never be able to forget.

[your-high-lady]

Realisation

Summary: This story is about Feyre. She has a couple of small dreams she wants to achieve but turns out it isn’t as easy as she imagined it would. Trust me, the story is better than the summary. Modern AU. Feysand.

Chapter 1  Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4  Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't anything except for the plot. All credit goes to Sarah J Mass. That woman is fucking amazing.

Chapter 6: First Glimpse

Art History. Remind me again, why I chose this class. Oh, that's right. Because I thought it'd be interesting. How wrong I was. I shake my head at my own thoughts before crossing the threshold that would lead me into my next passage of life: college.

But why does Art History have to be the first class I ever took in college. Couldn't it be something like yoga, which I also happen to enjoy?

After almost an hour and a half of the balding male professor droning on and on, the rustling of students and scraping of chairs being pushed back awakened me from my half-unconscious state and I stood up to pack my bag. The next class, Visual Art was the total opposite. I found what the teacher was saying so interesting and barely two sentences into the class, and I was hooked. As I doodled—Miss Berger, a middle-aged woman who had a very good sense of style, light brown hair and huge glasses covering most of her face, had given us free time after explaining what we'd be learning over the semester and what our syllabus was—I thought about it all: I hadn't really known what I'd wanted to do during the first couple of months in Year 13, and I'd started getting a bit worried. And then the rape happened. Exactly two weeks after the incident, it had randomly hit me. I'd just been painting random things on a spare canvas I'd been able to salvage from my mess of a closet when I realised what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach. I wanted to teach people how to paint. Specifically, people who were mentally disturbed due to some incident in their life. I hadn't painted at all during the last couple weeks and today was one of the first times I'd even tried putting something onto a canvas. I didn't want that to happen to other people. I wanted to help them channel their grief into their painting, to create something new. I wanted to see if I could teach them to heal through their art, rather than stopping it altogether, as I had even it was only for a short time. I wanted to make my own business that did exactly that. And that is exactly why I took all the classes I had.

After Visual Art was over, I decided to go for a short walk. I had an hour before my next class, which was with Mor. Business—my only class with her. I was glad I had the class with her, but there was also the fact that Rhys and his friends were in that class too. The thought instantly brought butterflies to my stomach. Mor had messaged me halfway through Art telling me to come ten minutes early so that she could introduce me to him and his friends. Reading the message had immediately brought a picture to the front of my mind. A picture of Mor's cousin and his friends, who incidentally were also friends with Mor. The thought of seeing them made my skin crawl. It wasn't that I didn't want to see them. I was just a bit nervous. I'd only recently started getting used to the presence of men—though, I still shuddered and got all sweaty if I noticed someone with particularly golden or dark features—but I knew that the second I saw them, I would go back to square one where I was still a quivering mess. They were just so handsome. All three of them. As if God himself had handpicked each of their features and carefully put them together to create the closest thing he could to someone as overpowering as he was himself, in every sense. Plus, all of them had features that reminded me of that night. Rhys's dark blue hair reminded me of the shadows that had been in that dark alley; Cassian's golden skin reminded me of how beautiful and smooth Tamlin's had been under his clothes; and Azriel's hair, though not holding the same darkness in them, was still black. Too much like Dagdan's. Just thinking about them gave me a cold sweat so I quickly kicked all the horrid thoughts out of my head and started imagining the type of car I might want to get, and before long, I was swapping my art diary for a couple of textbooks and heading off to Business.

—

After having nearly asked ten people where my class was, I finally found it. And there they were. The class was half full, some people looking down at their phones or books while others chatted among themselves. But no one was as loud as Mor. She was practically shouting. But then my attention went towards the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. Rhys. Sensing my gaze, he turned to look at me, and I blinked in astonishment, a silent gasp escaping my mouth. I took a couple of steps back, wanting to run away but then Mor turned her head, following Rhys's gaze, and exclaimed, "Feyre, you're here!" She jumped out of her seat, grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me back into class. I was pretty sure at least one of my ankles were sprained judging by the number of times I tripped over my own feet as Mor dragged me in, by the time we reached Rhys and his friends. Moving to stand behind me she pushed me forward before standing on her tippy toes and peeking over my shoulder. "Guys, this is Feyre. Say hi." Mor drawled. Strangely Rhys just stared at me but, thankfully, Azriel replied before he could say anything. "Hello, Feyre. I'm Azriel." He stuck his hand out, and I stared at for the shortest second.

In that second, a hundred things went through my mind: the rape, the emotions I went through afterwards, me flinching at my father's touch, me promising myself that I would stop that. Azriel's handsomeness. Because he was handsome. All three of them were. But each of them was also so different in their own way. Azriel's face was straight and void of any emotion—though a small smile lit up his face, every time he looked at Mor—and he was tall and mysterious with his black hair and hazel eyes. His skin was tan, the planes of his face elegant. Peaking above the neck of his long-sleeved t-shirt I could see a swirling mass of night-blue coloured tattoos. If I was being honest with myself they were a big intimating but despite that, strangely enough, he made me feel… safe. As if he would protect me no matter what. It gave me some solace because I had always trusted my gut. And right now my gut was telling me that he was good. So I shook his hand.

And then it happened. I flinched.

Thankfully it wasn't big enough for Azriel to notice, but it still made me angry. Why didn't my body understand that I was safe now, or at least as safe as I could be? Tamlin was back in Auckland. Far, far away from here, from me.

Taking a couple of subtle deep breaths, to calm myself down, I took my hand out of Azriel's and moved my eyes to look at Cassian. Whereas Azriel made me feel safe, Cassian made me feel…happy. It took a couple of seconds for me to realise that but when I did, I knew that that was in fact what I was feeling. Happiness. It was something so foreign to me now. But it was impossible to not feel happy when I looked into Cassian's hazel eyes and saw humour and laughter and happiness. His rough-hewn features that reminded me of wind, earth and fire had been twisted into a giant smile. His black shoulder length hair brushed his shoulders on which I could also see tattoos similar to the ones on Azriel's body. A quick glance at Rhys told me he also had the blue swirls. Maybe they'd gotten them together at the same time?

Cassian gave me a wave in greeting, his smile widening. "Cassian." He said, in introduction. I waved back, forcing my mind to stop thinking about the flinch. But it was impossible. I turned to find Rhys's hand outstretched. Ignoring it, I looked up at his face. His eyebrows raised slightly as I took in his heartbreakingly handsome face, my eyes widening a little. The pictures I'd seen did him no justice at all. None. His hair was a strange shade of blue and black, cut short. They reminded me of a raven's feather. His violet eyes had flecks of silver in them making it seem like stars in the night sky. He was also tan like the other two, though unlike Cassian and Azriel, there was a tightening in his muscles. I could see it in the ways his shirt tightened around the shoulders. Other than that, lines also made his otherwise-perfect face, a little flawed, though if I was being honest to myself, even the lines made him handsome.

I don't know why I noticed such an odd and minuscule thing, but it bothered me. Someone like Rhys shouldn't have lines caused by months, if not years, of stress and grief marking his face. Someone cleared their throat, and I blinked, then quickly shook my hand with Rhys which was still expectantly waiting. But I hadn't thought about it. And because I hadn't thought about it, I flinched. Harder. Not much more than before, but enough that he noticed. A line formed between Rhys's brows and his head tilted a little to the side in silent question. I shook my head just enough so that he noticed, but the others didn't. I slipped my hand out of Rhys's and Mor started babbling about things that passed right over my head, though I did hear a few words like "art", "passion" and "own business". I guessed that Mor was telling them about me as a person. But even as Mor was talking, I could feel a set of eyes on me. I turned to look at Rhys, who was staring at me. In those stunning eyes of his, I could see it as he'd written it across his forehead. His eyes told me that he was surprised by the flinch and would not let it go. I cursed at myself silently, for letting the flinch get through my defences. Soon the professor came in, and we all took our seats.

But still, I felt those eyes burning two giant holes into the back of my head. I tried convincing myself that I was just imagining it, that he had no reason to stare at for me for so long, but when I turned around to look, I found them. Every single time. And each time, I whipped my head back around, blushing. It made me think: Rhys had no reason to be staring at me; what was he thinking about?

But running along with those thoughts, were also the thoughts about how he made me feel. Physically. Because, though I don't want to admit it, he made me feel… hot. Right down there, in my core. I'd never thought I could feel something like that. Not after what Dagdan did to me. Yet here I was, flinching at the surprise of feeling aroused.

But then, of course, I was.

—

The professor released us, and as we were packing our bags, Cassian suggested we hang out on Saturday. Mor piped up with, "Ooh, ooh, can we go to that mini golf place that stays open really late? We can have dinner somewhere, first, and then go there! Please, please, please?" She says turning to Rhys, and she brings her hands together as if praying and jumps up and down in excitement. He smiled, nodding causing Mor to squeal and give her cousin a tight hug.

—

"But I don't want to go!" I whined. Mor shushed me and strutted a couple of steps ahead of me before turning around to look at me. As she walked backwards, she said, "But why don't you want to go? Give me one good reason. Just one." And damn me, I said nothing, just breathed deeply in and out of my nose. I shook my head, defeated and she smiled at me before linking her arm in mine and skipping sway, dragging me along with her.

The truth was, I did have a reason. I just couldn't tell her. It was Rhys. I just knew he was going to do something that would either annoy the heck out me, offend me, or in worst case scenario blow my cover. Nobody knew about my flinching problem other than Dad and Rhys, and neither of them knew why. And I wanted to keep it that way. But something told me Rhys wouldn't let that happen.

Ugh.

AN: I really, really hoped you like that. Did I describe the boys properly? Do you like them? Are you happy? Do you have any feedback or advice for me? Tell me everything. I love it so much when you write to me telling me what you think of my story. It really makes my day and also motivates me to keep writing. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you again.

Thank you again. So much. XOXO

[biles-bilinski-24]

Capture the Flag

Pairing: Stiles x reader

Word Count: 4121

Warnings: a bit of blood but not much, angst, fluff

Summary: The McCall pack has decided to play capture the flag and forget about the supernatural for a day. Stiles and reader end up on the same team and get themselves into a bit of trouble. 

Notes: Hey!! I love this one so much. I think it’s really cute. I hope you like it, too! Feedback always appreciated!

“Ok, let’s pick teams. Who wants to be captains?” Scott asks.

He looks around the circle of his friends. You raise your hand saying, “I’ll be one.”

No one else volunteers. You look around the woods of the preserve while you wait for someone else to be a captain. You try to find places to hide within all the trees and greenery.

“Come on, guys. It’s capture the flag, not a battle or something,” Isaac says.

“Well it has to be a human because we’re not having werewolf captains,” Liam tells you.

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Mason decides.

“Perfect. Mason, pick first,” says Kira.

“Okay, um. Liam,” Mason says.

Liam goes to stand next to Mason.

“Stiles,” you say, grinning at your boyfriend.

Stiles finds his place next to you.

“Lydia,” Mason picks.

After that, you pick Scott and Kira. Mason picks Isaac. Scott designates the boundaries and hands the flags to the captains. Just before he starts the game, you stop him.

“Wait! Before we start, I just want to clarify. No supernatural powers. Got it? No hearing or speed or strength or anything. We’re all just normal people playing a game,” you explain.

Everyone nods and you run off with your team following you. The other team runs the opposite direction. Your team splits up into groups and you go with Stiles to hide the flag.

Once the flag is hidden, you and Stiles decide to run back toward the other team’s side of the woods so you can try to find their flag.

“We should go find their flag. Come on,” Stiles suggests in a whisper.

“But then who’s gonna defend ours?” you ask.

“No one, that’s the point. Because if we defended it we’d be showing them right where it is,” Stiles tells you.

“Oh, right. Duh. Totally knew that,” you say.

“Mhm. Sometimes I find myself wondering how I fell in love with a dumb head,” Stiles whispers.

“Hey, don’t call me a dumb head, dumb head. Now let’s go, before anyone sees us,” you decide.

You start running and wait for Stiles to catch up with you. The two of you jog through the forest, looking up and down trees, behind rocks, under logs, and in holes. You see Liam and Mason a couple of yards away from you. You pull Stiles behind a bush and wait for the boys to pass.

You continue your search at a steady run, covering as much ground as possible. You glance behind you once, but you don’t see Stiles behind you. You immediately turn around and start back the way you came, all the while calling Stiles’s name quietly. You come around a tree and find Stiles sitting on the ground clutching his left ankle. Your confused expression turns into one of concern.

“Stiles, are you okay? What happened?” you ask your boyfriend.

“I tripped on a tree root and twisted my ankle. I was gonna call for you but I didn’t wanna jeopardize our chances of finding the flag,” Stiles explains.

“I didn’t even hear you fall. Plus, I think your injury is more important to me than winning the game,” you say with a small smile.

“Nah, it’s not too bad. We gotta win. There’s no way I’m letting Isaac win,” Stiles says.

“Okay, then I’ll help you up. Give me your hand,” you tell him.

Stiles holds his hand out to you and you grab it. You swing his arm around your shoulder so you can help him walk. As soon as he takes a step, he stumbles and falls. He pulls you down with him and you land on top him, face to face.

“Well, look at this,” Stiles says with a smirk.

“You’re not really hurt, are you?” you ask skeptically.

“Nope. Just wanted an excuse to kiss you,” says Stiles.

He leans up to you and you meet his lips sweetly. It’s a short kiss because you both know that you still have to find the flag.

“Ok, come on. We’ve got a flag to find,” you smile, pulling Stiles up.

A few minutes later, Stiles whispers, “I think I found it.”

“Where?” you ask.

“They copied us. One of them put it up there. Where neither of us can reach it,” Stiles says, sounding defeated.

“Not if we stay here. But I can climb the tree. It’s one of my many talents,” you tell him.

“Oh really?” Stiles asks.

“Really,” you say as you start to climb up the tree.

You easily scale the big tree and pull the flag down from the branches. You jump down and land in front of Stiles, waning the flag triumphantly. You smile as he shakes his head.

“Why didn’t you just climb the tree when we hid our flag? Did you have to make me

throw it?” Stiles sighs. “Now we just gotta get back to our side without getting tagged.”

“Good luck with that,” you hear a voice yell.

You and Stiles turn to see Liam and Mason watching the two of you. The boys start chasing you and you instantly turn and run away from them. You sprint through the woods, jumping over rocks and logs, and swerving around trees. Stiles follows you not too far behind, although he’s not as agile as you.

You glance back at Stiles, Liam, and Mason. Stiles is pretty close and Liam and Mason are getting closer by the second. You keep running, hoping that you’re headed toward your side of the woods. You notice Stiles out of the corner of your eye. He runs on a diagonal and ends up in front of you. You try to catch up with him but the second you place your foot down you feel it twist and you fall face first into the dirt. You try to stand up again but you feel a sharp pain in your ankle when you put weight on it.

“Stiles, I don’t think I can run anymore,” you call, your voice cracking in pain.

You look behind you to see if you can see Liam and Mason but for some reason, they’re not behind you. You hear Stiles come to a stop next to you. You turn as he kneels down at your side.

“Now isn’t really the best time for joking, babe,” Stiles says quickly.

“Stiles,” you say.

“I could just kiss you if you want. You don’t have to go through all this trouble,” he says, lightly kicking your ankle.

You grimace and grab your ankle as you send Stiles a glare. He responds with a look of regret.

“I’m not joking,” you tell him but it comes out more harshly than you meant it.

Stiles recoils a bit, not expecting so much anger from you.

“Sorry,” you sigh. “I’m not kidding though, I actually am hurt. I stepped in a hole I couldn’t see and I fell. I think I twisted it but I don’t know badly. Help me up?” you explain.

Stiles gently takes your hands and guides you back on your feet. You take a step, hissing in pain.

“Nope, can’t do it. You go. Take the flag back to our side. You can come get me when you win,” you say.

“What? Leave you? No way,” says Stiles.

“You said it yourself, you can’t let Isaac win. And I don’t know where Liam and Mason are but they’re probably close. I’ll be fine.”

“No, absolutely not. You are way more important than one game of capture the flag. And don’t you remember that we live in Beacon Hills? The town where everything goes wrong? I don’t care if Scott was dying, I’d never leave you alone here.”

“If Scott were dying I would force you to leave me. But I don’t wanna talk about that. What I want is for you to get that flag as far away from us as possible. If you’re not gonna leave me then we need to get rid of it. That or we hide.”

“Hiding sounds good. Wait…”

Stiles stands up, spinning in a slow circle. His eyes flicker around the forest quickly.

“Everything okay?” you ask, slightly concerned.

His eyes lock on something in the distance but you can’t see it. He turns back to you and offers his hand to help you.

“Come with me. I’ve got an idea,” Stiles declares with a big smile.

“I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but I can’t walk,” you remind him.

“Right. Uh, here,” Stiles says, turning around, “climb onto my back. I’ll carry you.”

“Okay.”

You position yourself so that Stiles can easily carry you, and he starts through the forest. He brings you to a small hut made of twigs and long grass. It’s very old and it looks like it would fall over if you as much as touched it with a feather.

“I hope you don’t want us to go in there,” you say.

“Yeah, it’s the hut Scott and I built when we were younger. I’m surprised it’s still standing, but it’s here so why not use it?” Stiles explains.

“Stiles, it looks like it’ll crumble to the ground if I barely poke it.”

“I know. It looks weak, but it’s actually really strong. Which is why Liam and Mason would never look here.”

You want to deny him but you’re not sure where else you’d go, and you can’t say no to his proud smile. Stiles pulls the door open and climbs into the hut first so he can help you get in. You stumble awkwardly into the shabby structure. You lose your balance and fall, but Stiles catches you before you hit the ground. He helps you readjust so you’re sitting next to him with your injured leg stretched out before you. You send him a thankful smile and pull out your phone to text Scott.

“Good luck getting any reception,” Stiles says.

“I have my ways. How else is Scott supposed to know we have the flag? Or how to find us?” you ask.

“More importantly, how are we gonna get you back to my car?” Stiles asks back.

“Thank you for caring so much but you don’t have to stress out over this, Stiles. I probably just rolled it. I should be fine in a few minutes.”

“Mhm. Sorry to say this, but if you really just rolled it, you’d be able to walk on it. It’d be a bit painful but you could do it. You can barely put any weight on it, let alone walk on it.”

You frown up at your boyfriend. You don’t want to admit that he’s right, but you know it’s true. Your gaze flutters down to your ankle, which is beginning to swell up. For a second, your face twists up in pain, but you try to ignore it. You feel Stiles place his hand in yours. You lean your head against his shoulder.

“So what now?” you ask him.

“I guess we wait,” Stiles answers.

“For what?” you ask.

“For Scott, Liam, anyone really. I’m not sure where Mason and Liam went. They were following us but then they just disappeared,” says Stiles.

“Mm,” you hum. “I don’t know why but I’m kinda tired,” you say after yawning.

“Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we win,” Stiles tells you.

A smile pulls at your lips as your eyes close, drawing you to sleep.

When your eyes open again, it looks like nothing’s changed. You pull your head off Stiles’s shoulder and rub your neck.

“Well, look who’s awake. Did you dream of me?” Stiles asks jokingly.

“No, Stiles,” you say with a laugh. “So, did Liam and Mason find us?”

“No, but it looks like Scott and Kira did,” Stiles says.

He points toward the far wall, and you squint to look through the sticks. You see two fuzzy figures approaching the hut. When the door swing open, Stiles climbs out and offers you his hand. He helps you out and you lean on him to regain your balance. Once you’re situated, you meet Scott and Kira’s eyes with a smile.

“Hey guys. We found the flag,” Stiles says after he makes sure you’re comfortable leaning up against him.

“And I found the ground. I hurt my ankle and I can’t walk on it. It’s really swollen now. I think it might even be turning black and blue,” you tell your friends.

“Too bad you’re not a werewolf. You could be healed by now,” says Scott.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” you add.

“I could take your pain,” Scott suggests.

“No, no. It’s not that bad. It really only hurts if I put weight on it. I’m fine,” you say.

“You sure? Because-” Scott starts.

“Scott, really. I’ll be fine,” you tell him.

“Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me,” says Scott with a shrug.

“Wait, where are you going?” Stiles asks when Scott and Kira turn to leave.

“Stiles, the game is still going on. But if you want us to stay, we can stay. We’ll just need to have really good hiding places along the way back to our side. Do you think the others have found our flag?” says Scott.

“Doubt it. I put it up really high in a tree. Even if they find it they won’t be able to get it, at least not without using wolf powers,” you explain.

“Knowing them, they’ll probably just give up and cheat. Maybe not Lydia and Isaac, but Mason and Liam will,” Kira adds.

“Isaac might,” says Stiles.

“Stiles,” you scold.

“What? Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking it too,” Stiles says.

“I wasn’t,” you tell him.

“Sure,” he says.

You lightly punch his arm before saying, “Come on, let’s go. We don’t know how far we are from our side and I’d like to get back before they find the flag.”

“Yeah, there’s just one problem. You can’t walk,” Kira points out.

“Right,” you sigh.

You send Stiles a pleading look, and he knows what you’re asking. Reluctantly, he nods.

“Sure, I’ll carry you. I really don’t think I have a choice,” Stiles agrees.

“Nope,” you say as you jump up onto his back.

The four of you start off in the direction you’re hoping your side is in. You, serving pretty much no other function, keep a close eye out for the other team. You and your friends talk and laugh the whole way. When you reach the back of the Hale house, everyone goes silent as you try to figure out where to go next.

“What side of the house did we start on?” Kira asks.

“I think it was the front,” says Scott.

“Yeah, then we went left,” you add.

“Okay, follow me. I think I know the way from here,” Stiles tells the group.

Stiles walks on, leading your team in what he believes is the right direction. After various arguments between you and him about where you turned and which type of tree the flag is in, Stiles turns around and you see the flag up in the tree where you put it.

“We found it. Nice job, guys!” you exclaim.

“How did you even get up there?” Scott asks, gawking up at where the flag sits.

“That’s a good question,” you hear Lydia’s voice behind you.

You all turn to see Isaac, Lydia, Mason, and Liam standing in a row behind some rocks. They walk up to stand in front of you and your team.

“You guys seriously cheated? I thought we said we weren’t gonna use wolf powers,” Isaac complains.

“We didn’t,” Stiles says, as he gently sets you down next to him.

“Well then, how’d your flag get up there?” Mason asks.

“We could be asking you the same question,” Scott says.

“I put the flag up there. I’m not a wolf, but I can climb trees. I used to do it every day as a kid. I got really good at it, now I can get up tall trees,” you explain.

“I don’t believe it. It’s nice that you wanna stand up for Scott, but you don’t have to. Just tell us the truth,” Liam says.

“That is the truth,” you tell him.

“But that’s not possible, not for a human,” says Liam.

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to say. Scott didn’t do anything. It was me. I’m sorry you somehow can’t understand that I can climb a tree. You need to chill out, Liam, seriously,” you say to Liam.

“I’m fine,” he says, his breathing getting more rapid.

“Liam, what’s going on with you. You’re never like this. You haven’t acted up in a long time. Is something wrong?” Scott asks.

“Yeah, something is wrong. You cheated! You cheated and I want you to stop acting like you magically climbed that high up into the tree when we both know it’s impossible!” Liam yells.

Liam lunges at you and you try to avoid him. You stumble backwards and step with your hurt ankle. You let out a yelp as you fall back, feeling your hand land on something sharp. The pain in your ankle flares and you grit your teeth, clutching your ankle. Stiles immediately goes to you. Scott and Kira combat Liam’s outrage as Issac, Lydia, and Mason try to grab hold of Liam.

“Are you okay? Seriously, I can go pummel Liam if you want,” Stiles asks you.

“No, no. I’m..leave Liam. He’ll be getting enough of a beating from Scott. Just help me get up,” you say.

Stiles takes your hands and pulls you up slowly. He feels something wet on his hand. He turns it around and finds fresh blood on it. He takes hold of your hand and flips it over, finding a deep cut on it.

“Oh my God, you’re bleeding,” Stiles tells you.

“Oh, it’s okay. It-it doesn’t hurt that much,” you lie.

“Hey, come on, don’t lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. It really hurts, doesn’t it?” he asks.

You nod, afraid of your voice cracking as you feel tears welling up in your eyes.

“Oh, baby,” Stiles pulls you into a hug.

Stiles holds your head against his chest and you let your tears fall onto his shirt. You let him hold you tightly for a few minutes before pulling away and wiping at your tears. You look past him to see Liam a few feet away from you, sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. Scott kneels in front of him, saying something you can’t hear from where you’re standing. Lydia pulls her gaze from the wolves on the ground to you and Stiles. She walks around the boys and comes to a stop in front of you.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Lydia asks with concern.

You don’t feel like talking so you look up at Stiles. He gets the message and explains for you.

“It’s not all Liam’s fault. Well, actually it might be. Earlier, we were running from him and Mason because we found the flag. She tripped on something and fell. She twisted her ankle and she hasn’t been able to walk on it since. Then, when Liam had his outburst, she fell back onto something sharp. Now she has a huge cut on her hand,” Stiles explains.

“Oh, sweetie. That’s horrible. Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt. I saw Stiles carry you here but I just thought you were being cute,” Lydia asks.

“We were gonna tell you, but Liam was too concerned with us cheating in a stupid game,” Stiles says, sending Liam a glare.

By now, Scott has stopped talking and everyone is listening to Stiles talk. Liam looks away from you when Stiles looks at him.

“Liam,” you call.

Everyone turns to you, surprised that you decided to say something. You notice that Liam’s eyes are puffy. You assume he’s been crying.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you,” you say softly.

You know you have to be gentle with the beta. He’s still a bit new to the whole werewolf thing. You also know he didn’t mean to hurt you.

“I’m sorry,” Liam croaks. “I-I just lost control. I’m sorry.”

You nod, sending him a reassuring smile.

“I’m just officially gonna say this game is over. We need to get you out of these woods and probably to the hospital,” Isaac says, looking at you.

Everyone agrees. You assume the same position on Stiles’s back as before. You and your friends start the long journey out of the woods. When you get to the hospital, Mrs. McCall is waiting for you. She checks you out and decides you have a broken ankle and your cut, unfortunately, needs stitches. The stitches don’t hurt as much as you’d expected. The worst part is you have to use crutches for the next three weeks before you can just wear a boot.

“What about my stitches? Won’t they come undone when I use the crutches?” you ask.

“Oh, that’s true. Why don’t we put you in a wheelchair then,” says Mrs. McCall.

“Ugh, why did I ask,” you mutter.

“It should only be for a week, then you can have the crutches. The pack will be all over you anyway. You’ll be thankful they can’t knock you over,” Mrs. McCall tells you before softly shutting the door behind her. Almost as quickly as it shut, the door was flung open. Stiles comes in, followed by Scott, Liam, Lydia, Isaac, and Kira. Stiles pulls a chair up to your bed so he can sit next to you.

“Hey, how are you?” Stiles asks.

“Not bad. Not great, but not bad,” you say.

“Good,” Stiles takes your hand.

“I’m really sorry about all this,” Liam tells you.

“Liam, it’s okay. I already told you I’m not mad,” you remind him.

“I know, it’s just...I can’t help feeling like this is my fault,” the beta says, sounding defeated.

“It is your fault, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t care whose fault it is and that I’m not mad at anyone,” you explain.

Liam lowers his gaze to the floor. You can tell he won’t let it go.

“Liam. Were you trying to hurt me?” you ask.

“No, of course not,” he says.

“Then, it’s fine. Please, just let it go. I don’t like it when my friends are sad,” you tell him.

Liam nods and sits in a chair against the wall. Everyone stands in awkward silence until Isaac speaks up.

“So, anyone wanna play a game?” Isaac asks.

“Anything but capture the flag,” you sigh.

“Good. I brought Monopoly,” says Isaac.

“I get to be the car!” Liam exclaims.

“There he is,” you say with a smile. “I call the battleship.”

“Aw, I wanted to be the battleship,” Stiles complains.

He sends you his best puppy dog eyes and you almost break.

“Good try, Stiles, but your cuteness isn’t gonna help you this time,” you say.

“Fine,” Stiles kisses your cheek and picks a different piece.

“Gross, get a room,” says Scott.

You and Stiles each send Scott a glare as Lydia and Kira set up the game on the table over your bed.

Stiles grabs your backpack and slings it over his shoulder, following you out of the room and toward the elevator.

“Thanks for helping me with my stuff, Stiles,” you say, peering over your shoulder at your boyfriend.

“I wish I could have helped you not get hurt,” he says.

“Are we still doing this?” you ask.

“I’m just being honest. Also, crutches are pretty horrible, so have fun,” Stiles says with a wink.

“Nevermind, I want sweet, caring boyfriend back,” you say.

“As you wish,” says Stiles.

Stiles drives you back to your house and helps you get situated. He heads for the door but you stop him.

“Stiles, wait. Stay?” you ask him.

“I don’t know. You need to get some rest…”

“Please? We can watch Star Wars. I can fall asleep on your shoulder like I like to do. You can rest your head on mine like you like to do,” you tell him.

“That does sound like a really good offer,” he pauses. “Alright, I’ll stay.”

Stiles sits down next you and pulls a blanket up over the two of you. You lean your head on his shoulder as he switches on the first movie. He rests his head on top of yours. After about ten minutes, your eyelids start to feel heavy. You take Stiles’s hand in yours. He kisses the top of your head as your eyes flutter shut. Smiling, you fade into sleep.

TAGS: @screamxqueenx94 @snikstudies 

If you wanna be tagged in my Stiles stories, just let me know!

[mooleche]

A Tale of Ink and Venom

Chapter 3 - The Encounter

A/N - This one’s quite chonky so apologies in advance! Also light gore/violence near the end, for forewarning. If you’d like to be tagged in future chapter updates let me know! Enjoy! （*´▽｀*）

By the time I made it back to the labs most of the lower level was barren of people. A few stragglers lurked here and there to finish up what work they had while poor Barry struggled to stay awake during his patrol around the halls.

“Oh! Evenin’ Miss Knight,” he called, jolting awake as I passed. I shot him a hurried wave before continuing my brisk walk to Renato’s lab, caught up in the conversation Mr. Lee and I had shared. He had planted a seed of motivation in me that I hadn’t felt in ages and now that it was here I wasn’t going to let it disappear.

“Hey, I’m back! Sorry for being so late, I got caught up with Mr. Lee. Also, I wanted to run something by y- Bam?” I started as I walked into his lab only to pause short when I saw her full figure leaning against one of the tables. Renato pushed his glasses up and sauntered towards me with hand outstretched for the signatures like he did every time I returned. I obliged, too caught up in seeing my best friend to finish my sentence. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know. Needed some downtime to work on my projects and thought you could use some company. But I also nabbed us some free dinner!"

“I would hardly call the guilt-trip you gave me ‘nabbing free dinner’,” Renato muttered under his breath as he returned to his desk, fully ignoring Bam’s eyes following him the entire time.

“Did it not work?” she asked smugly.

“A little too well. Surprised you’re not following in your father's footsteps with how well you persuade people," he retorted.

"Ugh, way too drab. I wanna be the one that takes the scandal photos of the politicians. After all, how else was I going to get daddy to pay for my college tuition?"

Renato shared a look of suspicion with me and went silent at this, knowing he couldn’t beat Bambi at her own game. You see, despite her name being so innocent, she was not . To give context, the Banks were a family of politicians, and after her father had made the unfortunate decision of voicing interest in a bill to out mutantkinds identities during talk at the dinner table both Bambi and Benni had made it their god-given right to give him absolute hell. All it took were a set of scandalous photos taken of the parties involved and the super-sleuthing computer skills of Benni’s and the two had not only gotten the bill vetoed but also gained a full ride to college to keep quiet.

They didn’t. But that was another story for another day. All I can say is that I was glad that she was on our side because gods help you if she wasn’t.

“Anyway,” Renato sighed as he fished out his wallet from his back pocket, carefully removing some crisp bills to place in my hand, “Hate to send you right back out but we thought you’d be back sooner. You still like Mr. Basils, right?”

“Hmm, hard to say since we eat there every day,” I teased as I felt Bambi loop her arm around mine and drag me towards the door. “You got me my usual, right?” I called as I struggled against her pull, but Renato’s response was lost to the low hum of the machines whirring amidst the other rooms.

“Yeah, yeah, he got you something spicy. You like that, right?” Bambi answered as we headed back out into the streets once more and I nodded softly. Now that the sun was beginning to set the air grew cooler and I dove my hands into my hoodie. I felt her grip on me grow a little tighter as we walked in casual silence, noticing now that she had sacrificed warmth for style. She donned a light loose cardigan over a lace tank top where an array of different necklaces that jingled with every step we took. Her lower half consisted of shorts and chic ankle boots that made me wonder how in the world she thought she could manage in this weather. I had no time to properly question this before she cocked her head to the side and grinned. “So what’s the scoop? What you were going to ask Renato?” she inquired curiously.

I shrugged in response.

“It’s nothing serious, just some hypotheticals…” I admitted, feeling my stomach twist with hunger as a familiar smell wafted through the air. We had arrived at our destination sooner than expected, a Thai restaurant that was quoted as ‘The most lively hole in the wall in town!’, and I was inclined to agree. While it was small in size it almost never held an empty seat, and that was no different today as we shuffled into its busy entrance.

This didn’t matter to Bambi though, who’s eyes to lit up with curiosity at my words as we shuffled past a small group of people to get to the register.

“I love a good hypothetical. Go on,” she urged, but my attention had been fixated on the short double swinging doors that hid behind the counter. A small set of doors that had a smaller man burst through with arms that shot up in excitement at the sight of us moments later.

“My favorites, Pinky, and the Brain!” he greeted us warmly.

“Hi, Mr. Basil,” we chimed in unison, though Bambi’s grip grew slightly tighter around my arm at the nicknames. Mr. Basil was an elderly man who had opened this restaurant up with his wife many years ago. No one knew their real last name, only that they shared a love for basil so much that they made a business out of it, and it worked . Can’t fault someone for that logic. Especially when he was so warmhearted about it.

He hummed softly as he rang us up, disappearing back through the door before I could ask how business was doing.

Bambi, however, dropped her smile and rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, does he always have to call us Pinky and the Brain? I'm the one with the higher GPA."

"Why don't you tell him that sir brags-a-lot," I asked smugly while pointing to the pink poking from under her beanie. She scrunched her nose up in response.

“You still didn’t answer my question, by the way,” she added, the determination in her voice growing the longer I avoided talking about my earlier inquiries. “Spill the beans, Knight.”

“Okay, okay . It honestly wasn’t anything big I just..I was going to ask Renato if maybe he could pull some strings so I could visit Xavier’s School…” I admitted in a hushed tone, my hands wringing together nervously that others would overhear. I had never seen Bambi’s face light up as fast as it did when it clicked.

“No shit? Nina, that’s huge!” she grinned before wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tight. I smiled as I sank into her hug, a feeling of relief filling me at her support. As hard as I had tried to live a normal life I missed the days when I could be myself, and Bambi knew this all too well. It’s why she pushed me so hard to go back so I could spread my wings a little more, and after the pep talk I had gotten today I felt it was finally time to fly.

She separated herself from me as Mr. Basil reappeared, this time with a large, neatly wrapped bag and a smaller, more colorful wrapped bag beside it.

“Sorry for the wait! For Little Levi, Mrs. Basil’s special treat!” he whispered warmly and I blinked in surprise. Little Levi was short for Little Leviathan, Renato’s pet cuttlefish The Basils had fallen in love with after seeing one of many proud pet owner photos Renato carried with him at all times. I’d tease him mercilessly for this if I wasn’t absolutely taken by that adorable crustacean myself.

I just make fun of him for everything else instead.

We thanked him and Bambi and I both took a bag, her face set in a small, pleased smile as we set back for the lab.

“Why are you smiling like that?” I asked suspiciously, her pleasant silence causing me to grow curious.

“This sudden change of heart wouldn’t have anything to do with that video we saw this morning, would it?” she asked, her smile growing wider as I stopped abruptly and frowned. I hadn’t even thought of the video since we had watched it. Not even once.

Alright.

Maybe once.

“What? No! No. What video?” I laughed nervously before Bambi stopped as well, nudging me with a sly smirk.

“I’m kidding. But I am proud of you, Neeners. I know this is a big step for you and…” She was saying something to me, something that sounded borderline encouraging, or so I thought, but my attention was drifting elsewhere.

A trickle of people had begun rushing past us, voices of worry weaving in and out of my range of hearing before a low rumble broke through the air.

“Bambi,” I interrupted softly, the hushed voices I had been hearing now growing louder, footsteps growing more rapid as the trickle turned into a mass of panicked bodies running past us in the street. I watched as a wide-eyed man ran head-on into her before he picked himself up and continued running away unabashedly to both of our surprise, but Bambi was not having it.

“Asshole!” I heard her shout as she tried to recollect herself, drifting into the street to try and get a look at the man that had knicked her, but he had already melded into the group of other panicked people. My stomach began to dance like I had just unleashed a wasps nest inside of it, like something very bad was on its way and we needed to join them. “What’s going on…?” she asked, but I had no time to answer.

I saw it before she did, a giant piece of debris flying straight where she stood and I ran forward.

“Get out of the way!”

I yanked her back against the wall and we listened in stunned horror as it scraped against the ground with a terrible screech and slowed to a stop. Once the fear of almost having a decapitated best friend wore off my eyes adjusted to the scrap, a disfigured car door that had been ripped off its hinges as tossed aside.

Bambi’s eyes made her look like a deer in headlights before she turned to me in horror and gripped my hand that was visibly shaking.

“You saved me…”

“I…”

I tried to answer, but a low menacing roar rang through the air that made my voice catch in my throat. Every inch of my body told me to run the other way, to find safety and wait this sudden disaster out while the real heroes came to save the day. But somewhere deep down told me they were never coming, and my curiosity was too strong not to see who, or what was causing all of this chaos.

So I went forward.

“Wait up!” Bambi called as she joined my side, hand still glued to mine as we rushed against the current of panicked civilians. Together we stood at the corner of a nearby street while the screams around us continued. Ahead of us smoke blocked any sign of what was happening, like a final warning to leave while we still could.

Then, like a veil lifting, I saw it.

A hulking black silhouette getting up, the same hulking black mass I had seen in the blurred news photos earlier this morning. Renato’s worried speech rang through my head as if pleading me to turn back, but my feet stood rooted to the spot.

The one time I didn’t listen to him and now we were in the thick of it.

“That’s him, that’s the villain!” Bambi whispered in horror or disbelief I couldn’t tell, but we watched as it released another bone-chilling roar and she looked around in worry. “Where the hell are the Avengers?”

I don’t know, I wanted to answer. They were international now, hell it wasn’t too long ago that they had fought off aliens from our planet. Brooklynn was now small time for them, and it was more apparent than ever in this moment.

But then a flicker of red caught my attention as if sensing my doubt. My jaw went slack with awe as we watched the smoke settle just in time for the mystery assailant to lay a devastating blow against the monstrous figure's chest that sent him staggering back.

“I don’t believe it…” I whispered when he landed, masked appearance revealing who I had never expected to see saving the day.

“Is that Captain America…?” Bambi whispered back in awe and, despite the circumstances, I whipped my head to look at her in disappointment.

“Are you kidding me right now? That’s Spider-Man!”

“What? They both wear blue and red, give me a break!”

“WHAT? Captain America wears almost all blue and white and uses a red shie-You know what, I'm not doing this right now." I announced, having to stop myself from going on what was probably the nerdiest tangent I would ever have in my life.

I knew superheroes like she knew famous politician drama. The drama on Spiderman was that while he had once been your friendly neighborhood vigilante, no one had seen nor heard from him in months . Tabloids had suspected maybe he had finally bit the big one. Others assumed maybe he finally just craved a proper getaway after being worked to the bone saving people all day.

To see him now felt like I was watching a unicorn fight crime.

Bambi had already clocked out as soon as I had opened my mouth but now stared intensely forward, reaching for my face to direct me to join what she was watching.

“I definitely know who THAT is,” she grinned as my sights settled amidst the debris.

No freaking way.

There picking a wedgie out of his ass as if he wasn’t about to square up to something three times his size stood Deadpool, ex-trainee disaster himself. I blinked in surprise, unsure if I was seeing this scene correctly. I knew next to nothing about him, only the recent chaos he had caused and that he, and I quote, ‘Was right all along and everyone could blow me!’.

He was a real character if nothing else.

I felt like I was dreaming. This team-up was as uncanny as it was to even see them in the first place, and we had just gotten a front-row seat to them saving the day.

That was until the creature caught Deadpools leg and sent him colliding straight into Spiderman like he was the last bowling pin in the lane.

Bambi and I winced.

Then we both said something very unexpected.

“You have to help them!”

“I should help them,”

“Wait, what?” we said in unison as the words processed fully. I couldn’t believe I had said that. I couldn’t believe SHE had said that.

“What in the world makes you think I can do anything to help them?” I asked, still in disbelief at my own words while watching her begin rummaging through her bag with a newfound purpose.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve seen what you can do, and this is what you wanted right? Look at them,” she added, another wince leaving us as Deadpool was tossed into the air like a ragdoll. “They can use all the help they can get.”

She wasn’t wrong. They were fighting a losing battle, and even though I hadn’t done this myself in a long while I knew deep down what the right choice to make was.

Deep down I still wanted to save the day.

“...Alright.” I agreed softly as I dropped my bag to the ground, a newfound determination in me that had not been there moments before. I slipped my gloves off before plunging into the contents of my bag only to retrieve a bundle of papers. Various drawings and schematics of weapons I had worked on in my spare time, all drawn in ink, all ready to be summoned at the drop of a hat.

“Hello? You just walk around with these willy nilly??”

“Not exactly…” I admitted sheepishly before choosing a particularly feisty looking sledgehammer and sprawling the paper down across the concrete. While I usually kept these for a rainy day, I had wanted to test them with Renato to see how they faired. There was no time like the present to test that theory out yourself though. And that’s exactly what I did as I rubbed my hands together and slapped them down on the sheet.

My nerves were on edge. It was risky to do such a thing out here while so many people were running about and my body was quickly realizing this as my hands shook with anxiety while I struggled to work my magic. But desperate times called for desperate measures and the sounds of the two superheroes continuing to get pummeled in the background was enough to push me through.

I watched with anticipation as the inky black sludge that pooled from the paper and my hands merged to form a solid black sledgehammer. It was weighty, reeked of ink and had a good swing to it, but would it be enough?

There was no time to make sure. I stood and smeared my hand across my eyes for a very hasty attempt to save my identity with an even messier attempt to tie my hair back. In the time that it had taken to do this Bambi had successfully retrieved a camera that I was sure was more than both my kidneys combined and beamed at me.

“I just want you to know you look super badass right now,”

“O-oh. Thanks…” I smiled weakly, feeling my cheeks grow warm. That feeling soon died down as a deafening crash sounded off nearby, my innards squirming with fear as another violent roar echoed into the air. Bambi's hand squeezed my shoulder as if to snap me from my fear.

“Relax. You’re Nina Fucking Knight, you can do this.”

“I can do this,” I whispered in confidence. I didn’t believe myself, but I believed in Bambi and her belief in me, and at that moment that was all I needed to step forward. One encouraging slap to my ass later I was stumbling, trying not to trip over myself as I got closer to the carnage that lurked ahead.

My heart began pounding like a drum. The dizziness from the sudden use of my powers was quickly catching up to me before I could properly shake it off, and I kicked myself for not putting that into consideration before diving in. It was too late to focus on that now though. My attention snapped forward and the creature towered above me as it admired its prize that was a battered and bruised Spiderman, now trapped within its grasp and unable to fight back.

I had to act fast.

“H-hey! Ivan Ooze!”

The words left me before I knew what I was saying and I readied myself, not giving myself time to realize this was an extremely bad idea before swinging my entire body into the hit in an attempt to stun him. I felt the contact, and for a moment I was excited, but instead of sending him falling over himself like I had hoped I listened to what can only be described as the most horrifying noise you could ever hear in a situation like this.

My sledgehammer shattered.

I stood in stunned horror looking at the shards of broken ink below me as the monster turned and faced me, completely unaffected by my embarrassing blow. The first thing I saw were teeth. Long, sharp jagged teeth that ran up into a gnarled grin as it looked down at me with white, milky eyes.

“I’d like to apologize,” was all I could muster before watching Spiderman get flung onto the concrete like a toy. I spun around to make my quick exit, realizing in that moment that this was quite possibly the worst mistake I had ever made. In the distance, I saw Bambi’s horrified gaze as I struggled to walk quickly towards her in an attempt to flee, only to feel a large clawed hand wrap around me and yank me back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” it asked, voice deep with malice as a long tongue slid out from between its teeth. I grimaced as it ran along my face, the hot sticky sensation leaving a chill of fear running up my spine as a deep chuckle emerged from its throat at my disgust. "Two meals for the price of one? Today must be our lucky day."

From below I heard a groan of pain and we both looked to find Spiderman struggling to stand. There was fury in his eyes and my heart jolted with hope as he looked ready to continue fighting the good fight.

“Leave her alone. Your fight is with me,” he called, but my hope soon died as I watched him stagger and fall once more. I began to struggle like my life depended on it. Hell, at this point my life DID depend on it. The monster's grip only grew tighter at my efforts until I felt the stabbing pain of its claws begin to sink into my skin and I winced.

“What? No witty banter for your last moments? Pity.” it asked as its face grew close to mine. All I could do was close my eyes and pretend I was somewhere else. Somewhere where I wasn’t about to be mincemeat to Flubber’s roided up cousin.

“Yeesh. Can you believe this guy? I asked for tall, dark and handsome, I'm gonna give you a guess on what they missed in this request.” a new voice called out now. I opened one eye to find Deadpool a few feet away standing on top of a car with a gun at the ready to the creature who roared in response.

“Don’t you ever die?!”

“You know I ask myself that every day? Hey there, thanks for that distraction, by the way. The name’s Deadpool, and you are?” he asked me now, completely ignoring the 7 ft villain that looked ready to tear him in two.

The question caught me off guard and I answered as well as one would in that situation.

“I’m Nina, I-I’m a big fan!”

Smooth.

“Well Nina,” he started while pointing a girthy looking gun to the angered creature, “This has been a real treat, and I appreciate you saving my man over there, but I think it’s my turn to save the day if I wanna get that victory kiss.”

“By all means,” I winced as its grip against me grew tighter, the feeling of claw cutting through my skin beginning to grow stronger. Only the mention of ‘my man’ and ‘victory kiss’ had caught me off guard, and I shot him a look of confusion at his words only to be met with horror. While Deadpool had been ready to fire point-blank at it, he realized all too soon that he had no ammo and looked frantically from his gun to us in confusion.

“Well that’s not great,” he muttered before it released a furious roar. My heart gave a jolt of fear, convinced that this would be my final moment and I began to struggle with a newfound determination. It was then that I realized I had still been white-knuckling the remnants of my sledgehammer this entire time and I twisted my arm painfully out of its position. I closed my eyes, knowing I only had a few seconds to focus on sharpening the broken pole to drive it deep into its hand in one last hail mary.

And boy did I deliver.

The noise it made was deafening, but the feeling of being flung into the windshield of a car was even worse as I felt the impact hit my back with brute force. I could do nothing but groan in pain and hold my head as the world spun around me, like getting a look into a cartoon characters life when they got a mallet to the face.

“Nina! Nina, oh my god,” Bambi's voice filled the air and I rolled haphazardly off the car to try and find her voice. I jolted in fear as I felt hands wrap around my arm, but the soft reassuring touch told me it was her and I sank against her weakly.

“Hey there! You’re a gentleman and a scholar for your efforts, now let me handle the rest!” he called as my vision began to stop spinning. We watched as he somehow had hitched a ride on the back of this monster via katana to the shoulder blade and now flailed on it’s back like a cowboy at a rodeo. "Y'know I have to ask, WHERE IS THE HULK IN THIS SITUATION? CAN'T SPARE AN AVENGER FOR THIS?" he yelled while desperately held on for dear life, though we were unsure who he was directing his words at this point.

“That’s what I said!” Bambi called, but the way he snapped his attention back to us seemed a clear indication that he was not speaking to us at all.

"As much as I enjoy your enthusiasm I feel like you should be running!" he called to us, but we were rooted to the spot in fear at the chain of events that had begun in that same moment.

It all happened so quickly, and yet it still felt like an eternity.

All it had taken was a slip of his foot and he was in its range of reach, who now took the chance to grab his leg and yank him violently forward.

“We won’t let you run again,” I heard it growl menacingly before gripping Deadpools upper and lower halves and pulling hard. My eyes grew wide with terror as I heard his bones pop and skin tear before he began wailing a series of ‘ows’ that grew more frantic with each passing second.

And then suddenly he was in two pieces.

Bambi emitted a shriek of terror as his blood hit us, yanking my frozen figure back as I tried to process what had just happened.

But I knew all too well what had happened.

I had just watched Deadpool die and I had done nothing to stop it.

I had failed as a hero.

[welcometophu]

Into the Split: Arrival 6

Twinned Book 3: Into the Split

Arrival 6

[ Previous | First | Next ]

It doesn’t take much time to get everyone cleaned up and ready to move out. They end up taking blankets from the cabin, and Nikolai hopes that someday he can make it back to replace them. The morning’s warmth faded abruptly with the arrival of a chill breeze, and temperatures have already dropped back to typical for March. Without winter coats these newcomers won’t survive for long; it’s going to be a hard enough trip as it is.

As Nikolai finishes shoving the last of the food for travel into the bottom of his bag, there’s a touch to his back. He turns to find Mattie stepping away quickly. Her smile flickers, and is gone.

“You taste like him all the time,” she says quietly. “Which is not to say that I plan on sipping from your life, just that you taste like lemon, not dreams, and it isn’t what I expected.”

Nikolai blinks. He has no idea how to respond to that.

“I’m not going to travel with you,” Mattie says, pointing behind herself to the shadows lingering in the corner. “It’s too bright, and while I could, I have my own ways of getting around. If they notice I’m gone, tell them I’m not in trouble, and I’m not causing trouble. I promise I will be back.” She pauses, then offers, “I’ll bring food, if I can.”

“I can’t really tell you not to go.” Nikolai can’t order anyone around, no matter how much Seth tries to, for their safety. “But do you really want—”

“I’m not like your Shadows,” Mattie says firmly. “But I am like them. I’ll be fine. They won’t want to swallow me down; I’d give them indigestion. They want light, not more darkness.” When she smiles, her teeth are sharp and bright. “Besides. I make your skin crawl. You won’t miss me.”

Nikolai feels like he should negate that, but she slips away before he can. The darkness wraps around her, enfolding her, and when she turns sideways into it, the shadows swallow her and she disappears.

He’s still staring at the darkness, the bag held loosely in his hands, when Seth comes into the cabin. “Nik, are you ready to go?”

He looks up, nods. “Yeah. Just—” He grabs the box of crackers that Carolyn had found while they were pulling out blankets, and shoves it into his bag. He zips it up and throws it over his shoulders. “I’m ready.”

When they get back outside, everyone is waiting. Mac and Carolyn each have a blanket around their shoulders, and Nikita and Heather are sharing one. Pawel bounces on his toes, and Alaric is nowhere to be seen.

“Alaric’s gone ahead, so now that you’re—” Pawel cuts off. “Where’s Mattie?”

Nikolai doesn’t wait for the conversation, striking out down the same path they left by days before. He whistles once and points, assuming that Alaric will hear and see him. “She left,” he says as soon as Pawel catches up. “She’s neither causing trouble nor in it, so we should let her be.”

Pawel makes a noise that Nikolai interprets as not necessarily trusting what Mattie has said. Nikolai just shrugs because there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

The trip is both easier and more difficult this time. Nikolai knows the path laid out by the map, but Alaric swoops down periodically throughout the day to offer an alternative. Each time they have to consult the map, consider what Seth and Nikolai know of this world versus what Alaric is remembering. Three times they follow Alaric’s advice, but at least twice Nikolai forces them to turn away and shift their path. He’s not sure if they’re making better time overall with all the pauses, but the path itself is less treacherous.

The others walk without complaint, despite the fact that Nikolai knows their feet must hurt, and their hands must be cold. Pawel jogs through the day, keeping moving, bouncing slightly forward. Mac teases him, and at one point they playfully fight along the path until Seth shushes them. Quiet is good; noise could bring unwanted attention.

As the afternoon sun draws closer to the horizon, Alaric drops out of the sky, reforming into himself from the eagle’s wings as his feet touch the ground. It was strange the first time he did it early that morning, but by now, Nikolai is used to it.

“There’s a road over there,” Alaric says, pointing away from the river. “It’ll be easier than sticking close to the riverbank, and it doesn’t smell like it’s traveled regularly.”

Nikolai brings out the map, and he and Seth look closely until they find their spot. The road Alaric mentions is a rural highway, far enough away from the cities and the main roads that it might be safe, if it really isn’t traveled. “You’ll need to keep watch and let us know if we have to get off the road,” he says. “If someone has a car, they’re human.” He trusts that Alaric can smell the fumes of people and vehicles, but at the same time, not often doesn’t mean never. There could always be something.

They pick their way through the trees, and as they reach the road Alaric takes flight once more. He’s visible now that they’re out of the trees, wheeling overhead. Pawel pauses to look at him, his hand shadowing his eyes.

“If it’s this clear, it’s going to be cold tonight,” Pawel mutters. “Are we close to someplace safe for the night?”

Seth’s lips press together tightly; he gives a small shake of his head. Nikita makes a displeased sound at the motion, and Carolyn huddles under her blanket.

“We’ve moved away from our original path,” Nikolai reminds them. “The road is going to be easier, yes, but it’s also further from the known safe location where Seth and I stayed last time we traveled this way. I don’t think that safe house would be much use anyway. It wasn’t much more than a lean-to that kept out the wind. I was hoping there’d be more structure when we found it, but I think it was probably something a hunter set up before the Split.” He pauses, then clarifies, “the deer kind of hunter, not the Talent kind of hunter.”

“We figured,” Mac says.

“The sun’s going down soon,” Seth says curtly. “I know you’re tired, but we need to keep going, and if we spot someplace off the road, someone may need to go scout it to figure out if it’s survivalists or abandoned, and if it’s abandoned if it’d be safe enough to stay there.”

“If it’s been abandoned, why wouldn’t it be safe?” Nikita asks.

“Traps. People who think if they can’t have the place they worked their whole life for, then some random Talent looking for shelter shouldn’t have it either.” Nikolai remembers the first time they found something like that. His mother tried to keep him from reading the vicious words that had been painted on the walls. His father had lost a hand. “We have to be cautious.”

Heather wraps an arm around Nikita, drawing her closer. “We will be.”

“Let’s move,” Seth says, so they do.

As the sun drops lower, the air begins to chill quickly, thanks to the lack of cloud cover. They pause at the end of a dirt road, an old, rusted mailbox hanging off the wood post at the end. Nikolai whistles sharply, and Alaric drops out of the sky, shifting shape again as he lands. He glances at the road. “Thinking of stopping?”

Carolyn is huddled in her blanket, shivering, and Heather and Nikita are staying so close together they have trouble walking. Mac shrugs out of her blanket and hands it to Pawel, fixing it around his shoulders. “I’ll go with you,” she says. “Running, not teleporting, I promise. But at least I’m another pair of hands, and a lethal pair if needed.”

“Watch out for the traps,” Seth warns.

Alaric grins, snarls under his breath. “I’ll sniff them out.” A hound replaces him, and he lopes off, Mac keeping pace easily at his side.

“What do we do now?” Heather asks.

“Move off the road and wait,” Seth says, because there isn’t really anything else they can do.

If they keep going along the rural highway, they’d have to come back if Alaric reports the place is safe. If they start down the dirt road, they’ll have to come back to this point if the place isn’t safe. It’s easiest to just stay put and hope that Mac and Alaric don’t take too long.

Pawel gives the blanket to the girls, who wrap themselves each in one, then stick close together. Pawel picks a flatter stretch alongside the road and starts moving through sets of footwork, punches, and kicks that Nikolai doesn’t recognize. It seems to be letting Pawel focus, and the faint flickers of electricity that had started to trail across his skin fade away as his cheeks turn rose from the effort of his movement.

Pawel stops mid-kick, lowers his foot and shades his eyes as he looks down the road. Nikolai feels it then, the faint rumble that implies something is coming.

“Get further off the road!” Seth shouts, and they scramble down the embankment, running for the trees. Nikolai’s feet are half numb and awkward from the cold; he stumbles but Seth catches him, dragging him to his feet.

When Nikita stumbles as well, Pawel grabs her, hoisting her up in a bridal carry. He’s skinny and strong, but she still slows him down to a walk.

“Put her down and let her move on her own,” Seth yells from the edge of the trees as Carolyn joins them there.

“I twisted my ankle!” Nikita calls back. Pawel tries setting her down, but she shakes her head, and he lifts her again just as cars come into view.

There’s nothing they can do; they’ve been spotted, and the vehicles slow abruptly, stopping at the end of the dirt road. Nikita slides from Pawel’s arms, leaning against him as she stands on one foot.

Something taps Nikolai’s shoulder, and he jerks sideways, turning to see Mattie emerging from the darkness fostered by the trees. “They’re friends,” she says.

All three vehicles are old, covered in rust, painted in ways that might blend in under the trees. There are numerous dents, although the engines rumble quietly once they are stopped; these are well kept.

The passenger door of the front van opens, and a woman climbs out. She is tall and tanned, her dark hair pulled back. She smiles sharply before dropping to her knees, a lion roaring moments later.

There’s an answering baying howl in the distance.

As she stands again to speak as a woman, she calls out, “I am Alia and I am here to take you to Havenhill. Get in, and we’ll be there not long after nightfall. We have beds, and food, and you will be safe.”

Havenhill. They’re from Havenhill.

Seth grips Nikolai’s hand, holding on tight. “This can’t be—”

“She’s Talented,” Nikolai says, and he knows that’s why she changed shape, to prove that she’s not human. It gives them every reason to trust her, even though parts of him are still screaming to be wary. So many questions, from how do they have cars to how they found them.

“Bedrock,” Mattie says firmly. “I told you that, but no one listens. Are you going to get in the van or not? I’ll take the shadows back and meet you there.”

She’s gone before Nikolai can blink.

Another low howl, long and mournful and coming closer, then Mac is there, appearing by the mailbox. She takes two steps back, shouting, “Alaric!”

Pawel lifts Nikita, starts walking toward the van. “Thank you,” he says to Alia, before calling back over his shoulder, “We can trust them. Let’s move.”

The hound skids to a stop, paws raking through the dirt before he transforms back to Alaric. “Mom?” he asks, voice breaking and raw.

Alia turns to look at him, frowning. “No,” she says. She turns away to pull the side door of the van open, while the back doors to the other two cars open as well. “Get in if you’re coming with us. We don’t want to linger.”

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[applevictorianico-blog]

Desire

So, a friend of mine that I play VtM with asked me to write a smut Drabble between our two characters. This is that piece. I needed a break from Choices for awhile and he knew I still needed an outlet.

To Cory: The greatest storyteller I know. Thank you for putting in the blood, sweat, and tears for many years to lead us all on an adventure. And for seeing more in me than I see myself.

Warning: Language and Smut

Apple was ready for a change. The years after the heat came down in NOLA had led to a dull existence in North East Tennessee. There was no change, no excitement, only dreams of him.

She looked in the mirror and stared back at the short apple red locks she had worn since the early 80’s. She closed her eyes and imagined her mother’s long flowing tresses. A few moments later she opened her eyes to the new her. Long waves of chestnut flowed down her back.

Apple glanced at the only treasure this area had offered her. A late night shopping trip in an antique store produced a tintype from the early 1860’s. Cole Rainer, human, sat in an antique silver frame staring back at her.

“There’s a safe house in Martinique, if you ever need it.” he told her as they once again were splitting ways. A week of ravenous sexual exploits after years of radio silence, and he was gone again.

—————————————————

A night of driving had deposited her just inside the Florida line. The next night led her to the very tip of the state, and selling her car. A couple of boat rides later, and she was finally stepping onto Fort de France, Martinique.

Apple had been on the island for a couple of nights, staying in a cheaper inn on the outskirts of the city. She ventured out at night, taking in the nightlife while looking for him.

Apple had ventured into a forgotten area that needed some TLC one evening. She found an old distillery building, surrounded by overgrown foliage. That’s when she felt it; the gut wrenching sensation of being watched. Apple continued to look around, pulling out her phone to take a “selfie.”

Before her finger could press the button, she heard the voice. One full of gravel and honey; a slight twang of times long past. “I wouldn’t take that picture, if you value your life.”

Apple slowly dropped her phone, as a smirk spread across her face. In her sweetest Tennessee accent that she had picked up, she suppressed her giddiness. “You wouldn’t harm an innocent little girl, would you?” She knew very well he’d rip her head from her neck if he had the slightest inkling to.

“I don’t think your so innocent. Maybe I think you’re here to do me harm?” He barked out. Apple rolled her eyes before slowly turning towards the voice.

“Or maybe I needed a good fuck before continuing on my way.” Apple quipped, this time her thick New York accent cut through the night as her eyes focused on the man before her.

Cole was a little shocked at the sudden comment, but upon seeing her face, he found it familiar. Being his usual self he grumpingly replied, “Honey, I wouldn’t touch you with a diseased dick, let alone my own.”

Apple turned red with anger, it was always like this with him. “You would think a jackass like you would remember someone you’ve fucked several times over the last three decades.” She spat at him as she started to walk away.

His own anger grew, confirming his identity was known to someone on the island. He racked his memory, looking for her face. “You changed your hair.”

Apple stopped, not turning around. “It was time for a change.”

Cole continued trying to come up with her name, but images of her bound and beneath him, skin covered in a sheen of blood sweat was clouding his thoughts. “I preferred it red.”

“No one asked you, you ass.” Apple began walking the path back towards the city, never turning around.

Cole quietly followed her, “Cherry, no not with moves she has. Peaches? Not right. Damn it’s some fruit she’s named after.”

Apple got closer to the inn she was staying at, knowing he had followed her back. “You going to stay back there mumbling all night, or are you going to give me what I need?” She turned to face Cole, the street lights showing her lust blown eyes.

“You came all this way for a fuck? You don’t look like the type that’s desperate.” He watched as she once again stormed off in anger. “Damn, why is she so hot when she’s mad?”

Cole caught up to her effortlessly, and spun her around to face him. He looked down at her, then noticed the tiny apple tattoo peeking out below her top. “Apple, why are you here?”

“To see you, you big jerk. It’s been almost ten years. I’m leaving the states for awhile and I thought I’d stop here on my way. Part of me just hoped you’d be here.” Her voice grew smaller as he towered over her.

More and more images of nights filled with every position known to man came flooding into his mind. Apple stood, staring up at the only man she ever obeyed without question. The only man that worshiped her in a bedroom the way a woman would fantasize. A breath she didn’t need to take quivered in her throat.

Cole watched as her body responded to being so close to him. He shoved her back into the building behind her, slightly cracking the bricks. His mouth descended on hers, forcefully pressing his lips against Apple’s. Mere seconds passed as their tongues began warring with the other for more.

Apple grabbed the back of Cole’s neck with one arm, the other wrapping around his waist. She pressed her body as tightly to his as she could on her tiptoes. A low growl slowly eased from within his throat as she pressed herself into his hardening member.

Cole hooked his hands under Apple’s firm ass lifting her up and against the wall. Apple placed both hands on his shoulders as Cole traced kisses along her neck, his fangs slightly scraping her sensitive flesh.

Apple locked her legs tightly around his waist, her hands clawing at his back as Cole used one hand to grab her full breast, squeezing roughly. Apple barely registered that Cole had taken off at record speeds back to the abandoned building.

Upon entering the old distillery, Cole sat Apple down and slapped her ass. Apple squealed, and looked to see what he was staring at. Her eyes grew wide, “You’re not serious?”

Cole’s eyes grew darker in the moonlight, “I can’t have you cheating like that time with the rope.”

Apple bit her lip to keep from smiling as she dropped her bag on the floor. Cole grabbed her shirt and ripped it open like a piece of paper, his mouth immediately descending on one breast, fully enveloping her entire hardened bud. His hand pinched and twisted the other, as the other hand worked at the buttons on her shorts.

Apple moaned as she felt the heat pool in her core, reflexively thrusting her hips into his hand. Cole squeezed, and bit down on her nipples, pulling a yelp from Apple’s full lips.

Cole pulled away from her chest, and in one swift motion pulled her shorts from her legs. He grabbed the copper tubing on the ground beside them and bent it around her wrists. A second piece he bound her ankles fashioning a spreader bar. A devilish smile adorned his face as he took in the woman before him.

“Do you think you can be good this time?” Cole asked, cocking an eyebrow, daring her to defy him.

“Anything for you, Daddy.” Apple purred up at her lover.

Apple had been on the island for a couple of nights, staying in a cheaper inn on the outskirts of the city. She ventured out at night, taking in the nightlife while looking for him. Apple had ventured into a forgotten area that needed some TLC one evening. She found an old distillery building, surrounded by overgrown foliage. That’s when she felt it; the gut wrenching sensation of being watched. Apple continued to look around, pulling out her phone to take a “selfie.”