#we used to hang out when our parents fought

[yutaholic]

the show must go on (M)

PAIRING: Haechan (NCT) + reader (female)

SUMMARY: Your best friend, your ride or die, Haechan has never once left your side, but all good things must come to an end.

WARNINGS: strong language; brief mentions of alcohol and drug abuse; explicit sexual content

NOTES: 7.9k words; this is part three of a rose and her thorns, but can be read as a standalone one-shot

Seattle, 1991

We met in detention. Eighth grade. Not to be cliché, but I knew Lee Haechan was trouble when he walked in.

Takes one to know one.

What I didn’t know was the role he would come to play in my life. I doubt many people meet their soulmate in middle school. I was pretty lucky in that.

The two of us practically lived in detention that entire year. Ninth grade was a little better; we just hung out behind the school instead of inside it. A silly pair of dumb kids wearing matching leather jackets and passing a cigarette back and forth, coughing up smoke and thinking it made us cool.

We thought we had it all figured out. But only Haechan turned out to be right.

He was the one that started the band. Haechan threw us all together and made music out of our chaos and trauma. He was the glue and without him, we would fall apart.

You clambered quietly into the passenger seat and whispered, “They’re asleep.”

Haechan was behind the wheel, but the van was parked on a grassy knoll just off the main highway. “Finally, some fucking peace and quiet,” he mumbled, sitting in a cloud of smoke that poured from his lips. The thick scent of marijuana filled the van from stem to stern.

You followed your best friend’s gaze. His eyes were firmly planted out the window at the black curtain of nightfall painted with billions of little lights. “The sky looks so pretty,” you said in awe.

“I know. It’s crazy seeing stars this bright.”

There was a tiny lull of silence. You were thinking. It wasn’t often you got to be alone with Haechan lately and it was making you crazy - not getting to confide in your best friend.

“I let Mark raw me,” you blurted out.

Haechan snorted. “I heard, but clearly your birth control did its job.”

“I snorted cocaine with Jeno… and fucked him in a dressing room.”

Your best friend looked at you, arching a brow. “So?” Doing crazy shit with Jeno wasn’t new, to be fair.

“What the hell am I doing?”

“What you do best - loving everyone except yourself.”

You frowned. Nail hitting the head every time, but you quickly realized you didn’t want to hear it. “Don’t do that,” you said in a small voice.

Haechan smirked and put the joint to his lips, taking another long drag. “You know me better than to think I’m going to be your conscience and scold you,” he said a moment later. “It makes sense you’re trying to get in as many rounds of fun before the summer ends.”

The summer was winding down. August was half over.

I didn’t want it to end. I couldn’t. Because I knew in my heart when we went home, we would go our separate ways. Forever.

There would be nothing holding us together anymore.

“Haechan?”

“Yes, my love?”

You fought back tears as you asked, “What are we going to do when it’s all over?”

Haechan slapped on a playful grin for your sake and said, “We’re going to get scouted at a concert and get a huge record deal and I’ll eat you out over a bed of hundred dollar bills.”

You snorted. “God, that would be a dream.” You quickly sobered. “What’s the reality?”

Your best friend’s grin melted away and his voice turned to frost. “Go home. Find a minimum wage job. And try not to turn into raging alcoholics like our parents.”

“I thought so,” you sighed, hanging your head.

Haechan reached over and rubbed your arm. “Save the major depressive episode for back home. Let’s just enjoy these last few days.”

“I don’t want to give up,” you said, meeting his eyes again. The fire inside you lit itself with resolve. No matter how small it was. “I want something more for us in life.”

“I know you do, baby,” Haechan crooned, touching your cheek affectionately. “But some things are just out of our control.”

You blinked with the urge to cry. You couldn’t fight it anymore. Regardless of his gentle tone, Haechan’s words sounded final. You slipped out of the seat and to the floor to lay your head on Haechan’s thigh, closing your eyes as he stroked your hair.

After a moment, Haechan whispered, “I’ll never forget you for as long as I live. No matter what happens. I hope you know that.”

The tears slipped down your face as you smiled and said, “I love you too.”

Haechan’s lips twitched. He wanted so badly to not let it bother him, but he couldn’t. He knew damn well when the summer ended and the band came up empty, there would be a permanent wedge of broken hearts and crushed dreams between you.

So, so lonely. That was Haechan’s biggest fear. Losing his best friends would destroy him beyond repair. He would go through life jaded and bitter, like his parents.

Maybe it really was unavoidable. Fighting fate sounded great in songs, but reality wasn’t kind. He knew that better than anyone.

The next morning, you woke in the bed with Jeno’s arm tucked around your waist, his body molded to yours keeping you warm. There was no telling which boy scooped you off the floor and put you in bed, but your money was on Mark. He was having a hard time looking at you and Haechan was mysteriously quiet.

But you knew why.

Tension had settled over the van, the worst of the worst. After the show in Seattle, there were no more gigs to be played. Now, the long drive home would begin, shadowed by defeat and failure.

You resorted to doing what you always did; trying to alleviate the pressure and raise everyone’s spirits. Once the boys were up and actually keeping their eyes open, you had Jeno drive to the nearby state park.

As he did, you drifted between them. They were like strangers, devoid of energy and hope. Mark hadn’t touched his guitar since the final gig. The gentle strumming of his acoustic and the beauty of his softly whispered singing didn’t fill the van anymore, to your dismay.

Haechan curled up in the bed and didn’t say a word. Jeno drove silently, smoking one cigarette after another and blowing the smoke out the window. You started with him, running your hand over his shoulder as he held the wheel. Jeno glanced at you briefly, offering a weak smile that even he couldn’t keep. You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his temple.

You went to Mark next and curled up next to him, hiding your face in the crook of his neck and holding him tightly. Mark was a little surprised, seeing as how the two of you had been working hard to keep your hands off each other, but was over the moon to have you in his arms again. He kissed the top of your head and ran his hands up and down your back.

“Won’t you play a little something?” you asked gently.

Mark shook his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you assured him, closing your eyes to fight the tears.

Finally, you went to Haechan and sat on the mattress next to him. He just looked at you, his stare vacant and blank. You brushed his long hair from his face and leaned in to trace a few kisses from his cheek to the corner of his mouth, just to see if you could spark a reaction.

Haechan pushed you ever so slightly and said, “That’s not going to work this time.”

You frowned. And gave up. The three were inconsolable and it broke your heart.

Sidling over to the cabinet, you found your notebook and began flipping pages, going to where you’d left off. Your brows stitched when you didn’t find it and that was when you noticed the torn remains of paper in the metal spiral.

“Okay. Which one of you ripped the page out?”

Mark met your eyes and said, “Don’t look at me.”

You called, “Jeno?”

“You know I wouldn’t touch your shit,” he replied calmly.

Leaving you to turn to Haechan, his eyes closed. “Haechan?”

“I don’t give a fuck about your memoir,” he said, hissing your name.

That made you flinch. You understood his anger, but not the vitriol toward your story. Your eyes fell to the notebook and the missing page, and your hands began to shake.

You threw the notebook at the cabinet and it landed in a pitiful heap. Tensing with frustration, you bent your legs, wrapped your arms around your knees, and hid your face, crying as quietly as you could.

Mark moved slowly, grazing against you to pick up the notebook and tuck it back into its place neatly, but he didn’t have the courage to comfort you. Too scared he would make it worse.

It was Haechan that slipped to the floor and enveloped you in his arms, cradling your head to his chest and dabbing at your cheeks with his sleeve.

When Jeno pulled into the park, you breathed in relief. The van was too stifling, suffocating you in all its misery. You hopped out of the van without a word and started marching for the scenic overlook advertised on a giant sign like you couldn’t get away fast enough.

One-by-one, your bandmates whined and huffed, but inevitably followed. They could wallow in their own disappointment, but they couldn’t stand seeing it hit you.

That’s how the four of you came to sit at a lone picnic table, silently staring at the Pacific Ocean, watching the waves ebb and flow in all its unwavering glory.

The tears had dried on your face. Breathing in the sweet, salty air grounded you again, clearing your lungs and your head.

You were the one to finally break the silence. “I need to come clean about something.”

“Go ahead,” Jeno replied, yawning as he still struggled to shake off sleep.

Wringing your hands in your lap, you began, “I’ve been mailing pieces of the memoir to Cassie.”

“That explains the trips to the post office,” Mark said offhandedly. You couldn’t tell if he was trying to be glib or not.

“And?” Jeno pressed.

You took a breath. “She submitted it to a publisher for their… consideration, I guess it’s called.”

Well, that woke everyone up.

“Are you serious?” Haechan asked, his eyes wide.

“Yeah?” You were befuddled by the reaction, glancing around at them. All three of your boys were sporting similar looks of shock. “You knew I was writing a memoir.”

“We knew you were scribbling in a notebook to toss in a bin and find it again twenty years later and laugh at all the dumb shit we did…” Haechan’s tone of disdain was not lost on you.

Jeno’s gawking increased. “Babe, are you insane?”

You felt small on that picnic table between them, utterly confused, and snapped, “No. I’m trying to get us out of this hell!”

Grimacing, Mark asked pointedly, “You wrote about all the very illegal shit you’ve been doing?”

Oh. That’s why they were freaked out. Underage drinking. Marijuana. Cocaine. All very punishable offenses. You shrugged and plastered on your cutest, most innocent smile. “A little?”

“Fuck,” Jeno swore, sliding off the bench to his feet and running a hand through his hair.

Haechan shook his head and chuckled. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

You rubbed your arms awkwardly.

I was so determined to make it work. It was tunnel vision, so intense I could see nothing else.

“What did the publisher say?” Mark asked, touching your shoulder in comfort. The awkwardness was killing him too.

“I don’t know,” you said, leaning into him a little, desperate for warmth. “I call Cassie at every stop to check on the dogs and she promised to update me on any replies from the publisher.”

Jeno looked to Haechan. “Can they report us to the cops?”

Haechan waved him away, looking more amused the longer he thought about it. “No. She can just say it’s all fiction. Very embellished fiction.”

Mark bobbed his head. “Good thinking.”

You almost laughed. Haechan could lie his way out of almost anything. In this case, it would be in your favor. You glanced around at your boys again. “So…, is everyone mad at me or are we good?”

“We’re good,” Haechan said, patting your head. “For now.”

“Fuck.” Mark sounded exhausted. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know if I could handle losing our music career, but being notorious in a fucking book.”

It was your turn to comfort him, running your hand across his shoulders, feeling the tense muscles under your fingers.

Jeno kicked at a pinecone, watching it skitter across the rocks. “We’d be the fucking losers just known for banging bitches at every stop,” he sneered. Then, the drummer had a thought and raised his brows. “Actually, whatever gets us paid, I don’t really care.”

“Yeah, how does that work?” Mark asked curiously. “You technically wrote the book, but it’s about all of us.”

You made a face. “It’s our story. Of course I’d split everything fairly with you guys.”

Haechan smiled at you ever so faintly.

“I can’t believe our story’s almost over,” Jeno mumbled bitterly.

You perked up. This was as good a time as any. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“What do you mean?”

You got up and spun on your heels, so you could face them all at once. “I was thinking…,” you said, shifting your weight. “We could get a place together and we’d work odd jobs to pay the bills, but we would play gigs here and there. Whatever we could get.”

Jeno simpered. You weren’t clinging to the band. You just didn’t want to let go of them.

“We’d be scraping by a living forever,” Mark pointed out.

“But we’d be doing what we love,” you argued.

“Try loving something that never loves you back,” Haechan said harshly. “You become bitter and miserable. Just like my parents. And yours.”

You scanned their faces. Each had the tiniest bit of hope in their eyes, but their expressions were firmly rooted in defeat. “You guys just want to go home after everything we did this summer and…,” you trailed, a tremble creeping into your voice. “Pretend like it never happened?”

Jeno softened. “Of course it happened. We’ll always look back and remember this as the best days of our lives.” He talked to you like he was soothing a fussy baby. “But best days don’t last. That’s why you look back on them.”

Your eyes burned. More tears would come any moment now and you weren’t ashamed of them. “I just don’t understand why you’re all giving up. Why am I the only one trying to keep us together?”

“Because you’re the dreamer,” Mark sighed.

Haechan snapped, “Stop being so gentle with her,” and Jeno was quick to warn, “Don’t be a dick.”

Your best friend jumped down from the picnic table and approached you. You knew by his tone and his gait that he was about to dress you down and you readied yourself for the blow.

“This is how it’s going to go,” Haechan started, pointing at the guitarist. “Mark’s parents will blow their entire retirement savings to send him to a good college to recover their reputation. And they will never let him date someone like you.”

You flinched.

“Fuck you,” Mark hissed, every muscle in his body tensing for a fight.

Haechan continued, “Jeno won’t be able to hold down a job. He’ll be a regular customer in rehab, then jail.”

Jeno held up his middle finger. “Go to hell.”

Haechan set his eyes on you and a chill ran down your spine. “And you,” Haechan said through clenched jaws. “You’ll meet some guy you can barely stand, but he’ll keep a nice roof over your head. He’ll put a couple babies in you after some miserable missionary and your entire personality will center around the screaming kids you never wanted. Just like your mom.”

Your blood turned to ice in your veins. Planting both hands on Haechan’s chest, you shoved him back and screamed, “You son of a bitch, I hate you!”

Jeno was suddenly caught in a very precarious position. As you stomped off, his first instinct was to go after you, but in the next second, Mark was off the table and charging toward Haechan. So, Jeno had to decide whose life was in the most imminent danger.

And he correctly chose Haechan.

Mark grabbed Haechan by the collar with both hands and crowded into his face. “I’m gonna fuck you up,” he roared, but Haechan didn’t fight back.

He was numb. His face was blank, his eyes cold.

Jeno did his best to wedge himself between them, but he was too defeated. All the thunder was gone from him. “Why did you do that to her?” he asked sadly.

“She has to let go of us,” Haechan replied, looking from Jeno to Mark. “Make her hate you. It’s the only way.”

Mark shook his head in dissent, clenching his fists even tighter in Haechan’s shirt.

You put plenty of distance between yourself and the boys, and the moment you found a solitary bench between trees, you collapsed onto it, buried your face in your hands, and wept.

We have no secrets, Haechan and I. He knows the darkest depths of my soul, and I know his.

I never thought he’d use that as a weapon, but I should have known.

He was the only one that dreamed bigger and harder than me. With it all ending, his heart was dying and pain makes us do horrible things. Especially to the ones we love most.

Because he knew I would still love him anyway. No matter how much he broke me.

Time lost all meaning as you cried on that bench. It wasn’t just Haechan’s words that crushed you, it was the cruel reality of life. You didn’t want to live without your boys. The four of you were too interwoven and connected. Being parted from them would be like tearing at the fabric of who you were.

You were expected to walk around with a gaping hole in your chest forever?

Sure. Most people did. It would account for all the hate and anger in the world.

“My love?”

You lifted your head at the sound of his voice, roughly wiped your wet cheeks, and growled, “Go away, Haechan. I swear to god, I will slap the shit out of you.”

Haechan dragged his feet over to you and said, “Go ahead. I deserve it.”

You refused to look at him as he sat beside you. Your eyes focused on the ocean.

We had the same biggest fear. Becoming our parents. As time went on, the more it seemed inevitable. A cycle that couldn’t be broken. We were fools to think we could be different.

That’s what I was hanging onto. I had to avoid that fate at all costs. Part of me thought that as long as I had my boys, they could save me from it.

“How could you say my worst nightmare so casually like that?” You were still shaking.

Haechan hung his head. “I was trying to hurt you.”

You scoffed, deadpanning, “At least you’re honest.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, like all the air was sapped from his lungs. When you didn’t respond, Haechan said, “Look at me. Please.”

“No.”

Your best friend sighed loudly and slouched into the bench, resting his head on the back. The two of you sat there for what felt like hours, watching the world pass you by.

“You’ll prove me wrong,” Haechan said tenderly. “You will be the one that breaks the cycle. The rest of us will just watch.”

Still, you said nothing. You hated him.

Because Haechan always ended up being right. It was a gift and a curse.

Mark and Jeno came looking. The latter was the only one brave enough to approach you, holding out his hand without a word. You peered up at him and let your hand slip into his, and Jeno led you away.

Haechan blinked and the tears escaped. He held them back until you left, refusing to cry in front of you. Keeping his hands in his lap, Haechan didn’t bother to dry his cheeks.

Mark blew out a pained breath. “What do we do?”

“You know what you have to do,” Haechan said, cutting his eyes at Mark. “If you don’t stand up to your parents, they’ll make you give her up.”

“I won’t,” Mark started.

“They will wear you down. You know they will. She’s not who they have in mind for their perfect boy. They hate her.”

Mark nodded.

“If you grow a spine, the two of you can at least live happily ever after,” Haechan joked, but there was a bitter edge to his voice.

“What about you and Jeno?”

Haechan stood. “It is what it is.”

The cloud in the van darkened. Jeno and Mark were miserable, and predictably stoic about it. Neither knew what to do with you. As it turned out, you were the rock, not Jeno.

Curled up in the bed with your back to them, you closed your eyes, but had no intention of sleeping. You would just lay there and wait for something to break or change. You’d done the heavy lifting so far. Now it was their turn.

Haechan couldn’t take the silence anymore. He trudged out of the van and slammed the door behind him.

You didn’t bat an eye. At this point, you didn’t have the energy to ask or care.

That wasn’t true. I always cared. Nothing could ever make me stop caring. We are all cursed and that was mine.

When the doors wheeled open, Haechan was sweaty and disheveled. You wondered how much time had passed as he sat on the mattress beside you. “Come with me,” your best friend said, holding out his hand.

You smarted, “Or what?”

“Or I’ll drag you.”

You looked over your shoulder and gave him an obstinate glare, but your curiosity was piqued. The hell had he been doing that got him so shiny with sweat? It didn’t take him that long to jerk off.

A defeated sigh left your lips. He was still your best friend, even if you hated his guts at the moment.

After batting his hand away, you got up and followed Haechan outside, rolling your eyes at the looks Mark and Jeno were sporting.

Gravel crunched beneath your shoes as Haechan led you into the trees, not too far from the van. When you saw what he was bringing you to, you couldn’t help but smile a little.

A camping tent was set up; the one Haechan had insisted on strapping on top of the van in case he found a nice spot. And it seemed he found one.

This was a habit of ours. When the yelling at my house got to be too much, when I couldn’t block it with my locked door or the blankets over my head, I would sneak out the window.

My parents didn’t notice. Hard to notice if you don’t care. Haechan would always be waiting to run off with me to the park. There were safe, secluded areas to set the tent up without fear of being interrupted.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten laid in that pathetic little tent. I’d probably mourn the damn thing when it finally fell apart.

Just as I mourned my relationships.

“How about a night not sleeping in the van?” Haechan asked, unzipping the front flap and holding it open for you.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” you barked, narrowing your eyes at him and crawling inside.

Haechan bit his tongue. Any witty remarks would not be appreciated at the moment.

But given Haechan was allergic to quiet, he wasn’t going to keep enabling your cold shoulder for much longer. Watching you lay on your back and make yourself comfortable over the sleeping bags, Haechan sidled up next to you as close as humanly possible.

“I’m still mad,” you huffed.

“I know.”

Well, with that out of the way, you relaxed. He knew you were upset. Now the groveling could begin.

Haechan rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand, staring at you and how intensely you were ignoring him. He reached over and stroked your cheek tenderly, and said, “I love you. It’s gonna hurt so much when you leave me.”

You closed your eyes, your heart clenching in your chest. “Then why are you trying to make me leave?”

“To give myself some control over the pain. Maybe.”

You turned your head and looked at him. His hair had grown longer over the summer, its natural jet black. It was cute; falling into his eyes, hiding them behind fluffy strands. You brushed some back with your fingertips so he couldn’t hide. Then you reached for his hand and laced your fingers through his.

Haechan smiled softly.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you told him. “You’re my best friend. I’ll be next to you in a nursing home.”

“Will you still kiss me if I have no teeth?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Heck yes. That would be hilarious.”

Both of you laughed at the sudden mental image of you and Haechan as two little old people sucking each other’s faces.

The rest of the world melted away. Your summer wasn’t coming to an end. It was just another night spent from home inside Haechan’s tent. If you didn’t think too hard, you could convince yourself nothing had changed.

Nothing was over.

You talked for ages, about everything. Like always. The light beyond the tent died and everything went dark, prompting Haechan to light a familiar lantern beside the sleeping bags. Soon, the ambience shifted from birds chirping to crickets singing.

When the atmosphere changed, so did the gravity inside the tent.

He was good at talking you away from the edge. Haechan made you laugh hard enough you forgot your anger and sadness, and he started stealing kisses between words. His hand occasionally traced patterns on the bit of your exposed stomach until it slipped under your shirt and got comfortable palming your breast. That’s when you began initiating kisses and running your fingers through his hair.

Kissing overtook conversation. You were immune to all the pain when his lips were on yours and you wanted more, wanted to overdose on the feeling until your heart was made of stone.

Haechan was my family. He was the only home I’d ever known, the only person who loved me unconditionally like my parents were supposed to. Soul mates aren’t always romantic. Maybe they’re just the person that loves you despite everything.

There was a little hitch in his breath as Haechan deepened the kiss, his arms heavy around you. He needed it too, needed to feel loved again before it was all over.

Your lashes fluttered as Haechan settled on top of you, abandoning your lips to suck and nibble at your neck. Your hands were on his shoulders, having been pulling him to you impatiently. His leg wedged between your thighs, pressing against your sex.

Haechan tugged at your clothes, undressing you while he bruised the base of your neck with his lips and teeth. When you yanked off his clothes and finally felt his naked body against yours, you moaned into his mouth and tangled your fingers in his long hair.

It was so familiar and comforting. With Haechan, everything was okay. Nothing could hurt me here.

He seemed in no rush to touch you where you really wanted him to. Typical. Haechan always dragged things out and made it last. He knew you had all the time in the world and was in no hurry to plow through it. Pun intended.

Haechan sucked your nipple into his mouth and pinched the other with his fingers. You bit your lip and squirmed under him, feeling his hard cock against your thigh. You hooked your legs on his hips and flexed, bringing him flush against you for good measure.

You flipped your positions and Haechan let you, holding your waist as you rolled onto him, straddling his lap. He kissed you even deeper, running his hands up and down your back while you cradled his face and tried to snatch all the air from his lungs.

Haechan broke from the kiss to ask playfully, “Have you been writing about sex in the book?”

You were breathing heavily, flushed and dazed from his kisses. “Yeah,” you rasped, running your hand through your hair to get it out of your face.

Haechan tugged you back down and trailed kisses over your jaw before whispering in your ear, “I need to give you some new material.”

“As if you haven’t given me plenty already.”

“I have competition,” he retorted, brushing his hands to your breasts. “Jeno is a slut with a dragon dick. You have a fat crush on Mark and he railed the shit out of you.”

You snickered. “Who are you then?”

Haechan steered you up and shuffled down until his arms were around your thighs and his mouth was inches from your sex, and purred, “I’ll always be the one that gave you your first nut.”

Though you were about to laugh at that, the next sound out of your mouth was a whimper as Haechan tongued at your folds. You were mindful not to put too much of your weight on him, but his hands on your hips said otherwise, bringing you down to meet his lips.

The sight of his face buried in your pussy, between your thighs, was so arousing you felt your walls clench on nothing.

“Fuck.” You let your head fall back and closed your eyes. Reaching for his hands on your hips, you held on tight and joked breathlessly, “The book will give us more groupies than the band ever did.”

Haechan stopped sucking on your clit long enough to retort, “God, I hope so.”

An involuntary shudder shot through you when he latched back onto your bundle of nerves. You squeezed his hands even tighter, eyes winching closed. Another moan tumbled off your tongue. Haechan didn’t play when he was sucking you dry.

It was probably one of the few things in life he took seriously.

“Mm,” you hummed, trembling when his tongue swirled around your entrance before returning to your clit. “So good, baby.”

Haechan made a noise against your cunt. “You know, you only call me baby when I’m getting you off.”

“Do I?”

“I like it.”

“I like when you touch me,” you said in barely a whisper, biting your lip lest you go into juicy detail.

Haechan would have loved that.

You were so far gone already. Your hands found his hair, your hips bucking against his face. Little nothings mingled with your moans. Haechan kneaded your hips, but as you got closer, he reached up to grab and squeeze your breasts instead.

It felt so good you felt guilty that you weren’t touching him. Releasing his hair, you lilted back and wrapped your hand around his hard cock, feeling it twitch the moment your fingers made contact.

Haechan broke away from your pussy and scolded, “Don’t touch me.”

“Why not?”

“Only think about yourself right now. Be selfish. You’ve earned it.”

You swallowed and let Haechan guide your hands back into his hair, and he bit the inside of your thigh as a warning to do as he said. Your body tensed when he lapped at your clit again and you decided to obey. You would be selfish.

Haechan smirked when you arched away from him, propping yourself over him on your arms and riding his face. He reeled a hand back and slapped your ass, the best way he knew how to convey to you that you were giving him exactly what he wanted.

He lapped at the arousal between your folds, his tongue teasing your bundle of nerves again. Haechan knew that was your weak spot, where you were most sensitive. If he played his cards right, he could have you screaming for mercy from the overstimulation.

“Right there,” you panted, voice pitching higher. "I'm close."

For once in his life, Haechan said nothing. He ate you out like a man starved, suddenly grabbing your waist to keep you in place. He sucked on you until your legs shook and you whimpered his name.

And when orgasm hit, you went higher than where the cocaine took you. Your eyes rolled back in your head and your body shuddered, and you chanted, “Fuck,” like a mantra.

Haechan kept going until you pushed frantically at his head.

“Stop. Stop. Stop,” you begged, fisting his hair and finally earning yourself a reprieve.

Haechan chuckled, slipping his arms under your legs and tossing you to the side. You gladly rolled to your back, staring up at the ceiling of the tent, waiting to come back to your senses.

You felt his hand smoothing its way up your thigh before cupping your sex, feeling all the slick he’d gotten out of you and muttering, “Fuck,” under his breath. His fingers prodded into your pulsing pussy, hooking at your sweet spot, and you writhed, sensitive.

“Put a condom on,” you told him hurriedly, still trying to catch your breath.

As you came down from the high, Haechan crawled over to the other side of the tent and returned with a packet, tearing it open with his teeth. You watched him fit the condom on his hard cock and you spread your legs invitingly when he moved between your legs, grasping your knees and pushing them toward your chest, bending you in half.

You rested your hands on his hips and drew him toward you when he slipped his cock into your entrance and stroked in slow. “Mm, baby, you’re so good,” you mewled dramatically. “The biggest ever.”

Haechan, whose eyes had been on his cock sinking into your tight cunt, tossed his long hair out of his eyes and said, “Fuck you,” with a tiny snort.

You grinned and sank your fingers deeper into the flesh of his hips, tugging him toward you in tandem with his movements. He loved when you left scratches and bruises in his skin. A reminder of you he got to carry around with him for days after.

“Kiss me,” Haechan whispered, rocking into you harder.

Without missing a beat, you lifted your head to meet his lips, but his hands wrapped around your wrists and pinned them to the ground. A noise of frustration left you, because you couldn’t close the rest of the distance with him holding you down.

Nipping at your lips, he taunted, “What’s the matter?”

Rather than answer, you moaned as his cock bottomed out in you again. Your face tensed with pleasure, every thrust making your toes curl. You were still raw from orgasm and his cock hitting you right made a shudder race through you.

Haechan went still. When you peered up at him in confusion, he smirked and said, “Fuck me.”

You hooked your thighs higher up his hips and started grinding into him. Haechan looked down to watch you bouncing on his dick, sucking in a breath when your pace grew more hurried and desperate.

“Please move,” you whined, eyes closed. Sweat formed at your back with the effort, your body burning.

“You’re doing fine without me.”

“I’m never okay without you,” you said breathlessly, out of your mind with lust and emotions. The two were colliding.

Haechan draped over you, slipping his fingers into your hair, and fucked into you at a ruthless pace for that, making you slap a hand over your mouth to keep from crying out.

The last thing you wanted was his name echoing through the woods. You would never live it down.

“Oh god. Oh fuck.” You clawed at his back, trying to find purchase.

Haechan gathered you in his arms and you sat up face-to-face, straddling his lap. Haechan kissed at your neck, crushing you in his arms. You rode him, his hips matching your rhythm.

“Come for me,” Haechan purred in your ear, saying your name silkily. “Again.”

It wasn’t fair that he could snap his fingers and your body would answer. You were so close and had been together for so long, your skin knew his touch. Your heart gave in to his every desire and whim.

Ecstasy spilled over and a moan caught in your throat.

Haechan held you even tighter as you came, biting his lip as he felt you clamp down on his cock, holding his breath to stave off his own orgasm until you sighed his name and slumped against him.

You buried your face in his shoulder and whimpered as his thrusts turned ragged, his groans pitching higher until he released into the condom. You rubbed his back and kissed his neck while he came down, lowering you to the floor gently and landing at your side.

The two of you breathed heavily. Sex broke something in you both that you needed. It felt final.

Like it was the last time.

Haechan discarded the condom and crawled back to you, getting a blanket out from one of the sleeping bags to drape over your bodies. You nestled closer to him, ready to doze off in his arms. Haechan settled a hand on your thigh, the other behind his head. Your eyes fluttered closed as his chest rose and fell with his breaths.

“I’ll never stop fighting,” you whispered with resolve. “And you shouldn’t either.”

He said nothing, but pressed a kiss to your temple.

The next day, the van was on its way home. You sat in the passenger seat as Jeno drove, just as you had when summer - and the trip - started.

When Jeno parked at a rest area, you ventured inside to look for a payphone.

Haechan leaned back against the van, arms folded.

Mark wandered over to him, asking in a soft voice, “How is she?”

“Ask her yourself,” Haechan retorted.

Mark frowned. “You know her better than anyone.”

Haechan’s eyes darkened as he said, “You hurt her and I’ll kill you.”

Mark opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Jeno, who had been hovering close by, smirked at the exchange and murmured, “Says the one person actually capable of hurting her.”

Haechan shot him a glare. “She loves Mark more than she ever loved us,” he started.

Jeno was quick to cut him off, “You know damn well that’s not true.”

“Maybe she’s right about us,” Mark spoke up, glancing between them. “Maybe we should stay together and try to make it work.”

Haechan let his head fall back and groaned. “Pussy power strikes again.”

“Are you done?” Mark snapped. “You are the biggest hypocrite, you know. You’re hoping and praying she’s right. That she makes something happen. You’re trying so hard to look like you don’t care, but you don’t want to lose us.”

Tears filled Haechan’s eyes. His lips pursed.

Jeno cocked his head. “We know that, Mark,” he crooned cutely. “Our Donghyuck cares the most. That’s why he tries so hard to hide it.”

Haechan quickly wiped his cheeks. The tears had escaped too fast. After a pause, getting himself together, Haechan said, “I’m sorry for yesterday. I didn’t mean it.”

“We know that too.” Jeno reached over and squeezed his shoulder.

The two looked at Mark expectantly. His anger faded and he huffed a sigh.

Your voice broke the moment. “Guys!”

“What?” Jeno barked, turning to see you racing across the parking lot toward them.

You could hardly breathe, panting like you’d run a marathon. “They want to publish the book!”

All three of them gaped in perfect sync.

“Are you fucking serious?” Haechan wheezed.

“Yeah,” you said in disbelief, chuckling to yourself. “They want me to keep sending in chapters and they’ll assign me an editor to help organize everything. And then I’ll have to fill in the gaps, but… it’s gonna be a book. An actual book!”

In the next second, you were the meat in a boy sandwich and you couldn't have been happier about it.

Once everything calmed down, Mark shook his head and exclaimed, “This is insane!”

Haechan took your face in his hands and planted a big kiss on your lips with a loud, “Mwah!” Which made Jeno whine, “I was gonna kiss her and I can’t now!”

“I’ll kiss you too,” Haechan taunted, wagging his tongue and reaching for Jeno, making the drummer turn on his heels and run for his life.

You giggled as Haechan chased after him and Mark took the opportunity to wrap you in his arms and bury his face in your neck, enveloping you in a hug. You held him tightly and closed your eyes, breathing him in.

“You did it,” Mark whispered, saying your name in reverence. “You made this summer count for something.”

Tears pricked your eyes.

Haechan and Jeno traipsed back over, pushing and shoving each other with big grins on their faces.

With the celebration winding down, you looked at your boys one-by-one and said, “There’s a couple of conditions.”

Jeno grumbled. Haechan arched a brow.

“I won’t write the last chapters and send them in until you get clean,” you said, pointing at Jeno.

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on.”

“I’m serious.” You planted your feet and stared him down. “You think I’m going to risk this book being a hit and us getting a huge payday just for you to blow it all on blow?”

Jeno sulked.

“It’s a fair condition,” Haechan said lightly.

“I know it is!”

You waited patiently.

“I’m not an addict,” Jeno insisted. “I am a casual user.”

“Then you can casually stop,” you smarted.

He made a face. After a tiny lull, Jeno handed you the bag from his back pocket and you didn’t hesitate to cram it into your own. Its next destination was the nearest toilet.

You turned to Mark. “There’s a condition for you too.”

Mark grimaced nervously. “I’m listening.”

“You have to do what you want with your own life. Not what your parents want.”

Mark visibly relaxed. His eyes went soft. Something happy and content washed over him. “But I don’t know what I want.”

You shrugged. “You have time to figure it out. Change your mind as many times as it takes until you find what makes you happy.”

“Okay,” said Mark, smiling.

Finally, you turned to Haechan. “And you.”

He tilted his head and puckered up his lips.

“You’re not your father, Haechan.”

“You sure? I was pretty quick to cut you down.”

You scoffed. “Last I checked, I’m still standing. Bitch.”

Haechan chuckled.

“She’s right,” Jeno said, draping his arm around your shoulders and pulling you close to press a kiss to your cheek. “We shouldn’t give up on the band already.”

“The book could make some people check us out,” Mark added, optimistic again.

All eyes were on Haechan. He smiled bashfully and said, “And if it doesn’t - if it all fails - at least we’ll know we tried.”

“No regrets,” you finished with a nod.

Haechan suddenly reached into his pocket and handed you a balled-up page.

The missing chapter of your memoir.

You gaped when you realized what it was. “I should have known you took it.”

“I couldn’t handle someone talking so highly about me,” he said under his breath.

“Oh. Only you’re allowed to speak highly of yourself?”

Mark and Jeno laughed.

Haechan did too. Then he sobered and tucked some of your hair behind your ear. “Thank you for believing in me.”

You gave him a puzzled look. “Haechan, you started the band. Don’t you remember?”

“No?”

“We met in detention in eighth grade,” you reminded him, to which Haechan bobbed his head. “You noticed Jeno drumming his hands. You said you saw Mark playing acoustic by himself during lunch. And you heard me singing under the bleachers when I skipped gym.”

“I forgot all that,” Haechan mumbled, his eyes twinkling like they shone with stars. “Damn, I really gotta quit drinking.”

Mark moved to your free side and said, “Yeah, dude. We’re all here because of you.”

Haechan looked at his three best friends, his family, smiling at him, and it almost broke him on the spot. He slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged.

Jeno laughed loudly. “I’ll be damned. All you’ve ever wanted is to be the center of attention and now that you’ve got it, you don’t know what the fuck to do.”

“Yep,” Haechan said with a sheepish grin.

You closed the distance and hugged him, patting the back of his head. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” you whispered for his ears alone and Haechan let go the breath he’d been holding, releasing all the tension and pain in his chest.

Once you parted, Mark reached for your hand and gave it a squeeze. You melted into his familiar arms and flushed when he said, “You are, by far, the greatest person I have ever met.”

“Stop it.”

“Okay.”

“Wait.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and lifted to your toes. “Maybe a little more.”

Mark smiled as his lips met yours in a chaste kiss that he poured his all into.

A kiss that was dramatically interrupted by Jeno, knocking into Mark enough to jostle you both. “It’s not your job to save us, you know,” he chided sweetly.

Yes, it was and it always would be. Because they saved me first.

“Hey, I’m just an instrument of the power of rock and roll,” you said, putting a hand on Jeno’s chest and giving him a playful shove.

“I take back every compliment I’ve ever said to you,” he joked, tickling your sides.

You laughed.

The four of you gabbed and teased each other for what felt like an eternity. The air was lighter. The sun a was a little brighter. Your boys were smiling again and you felt the pieces of your heart snapping back into place.

Hope is a powerful thing. A gentle promise that maybe - just maybe - we could all be happy and whole.

“We’re burning daylight,” Jeno eventually said.

You exclaimed, “Let’s hit the road,” and it was the first time you said it without dread.

Hopping into the van after you, Mark stuck his head out and called, “Don’t forget the trash.”

Jeno proceeded to scoop Haechan up in his burly arms and carried him to the van.

“Very funny,” Haechan deadpanned, but he couldn’t help but grin.

Smiling till your cheeks hurt, you got in the driver’s seat and fired up the engine, pulling out of the rest area and onto the highway, toward the new life awaiting you and your boys.

Everything would change for us. The drive home wasn’t some miserable journey we’d been fearing. It was the final chapter of our summer, but only the beginning of our story.

Copyright 2020-2024 © yutaholic (formerly zenyukhei) All rights reserved do not copy or translate without my permission!

[apomaro-mellow]

Matchmaking Harringtons 2

Diane wanted to ask more about Steve's interaction with the cashier, but she remembered being a youngin. The more questions she asked, the more Steve would close up. She didn't know what her husband had said to get things started, but clearly they needed a different angle.

She said as much that evening as she and Jonas got ready for bed. He protested, as she knew he would, but it was her turn now.

So right away the next day, she returned to the mall, hoping Steve's intended would be there. And to her luck, he was.

"Hello, hi", she waved as she approached the counter.

"Hi. Did you need help finding anything?"

"Oh no, not really", Diane said. "You see...", she looked to his name tag. "Eddie, I don't know if you remember but yesterday my husband and I were here with our son, Steve?"

Eddie's cheeks got red and his mouth turned to a straight line. Diane would take that as a good sign.

"We really want Steve to find someone special", Diane said in a low voice, leaning in a bit. "Now I don't know what my husband told you, but I'm here to give you a bit of advice."

"Advice....on getting a date...with your son?", Eddie said slowly as if speaking to an alien.

"Yes. Now here's our number. Call today, we'll make sure he answers. And ask him out."

"Your son? On a date?"

"You've got to be assertive, really make use of this...", Diane gestured to his whole being, "alternative look you've got going. Steve's never dated anyone like you so I'm sure he'll get a thrill having a taste of rebellion."

Eddie smirked as he took the paper with the number written on it. "Getting permission to be rebellious kind of takes the fun out of it. Uh, where should I take him?"

"Some place where he'll get a real rush of danger", Diane suggested.

"A dive bar?"

"He's not of drinking age yet and I am still his mother. I've got to act the part." Diane had definitely drunk underage, but her parents didn't know about it. She was pretty certain Steve had partaken while hanging with his friends. But as long as she didn't see it, she could play dumb. "Where do you and your friends normally hang around?"

"Dive bars", Eddie answered.

Diane pursed her lips as she thought of the best course of action. "I've got it. You're going to say you're taking him out to dinner. But when you pick him up, you'll actually be taking him out to a movie."

Eddie was silent as he did the mental math. Tell the parents one thing, but do another, thus the rush of rebellion. Dinner was public and respectable. But two young folks could fool around in a dark theater. It was honestly something he might try to do.

"Okay, I asked your hubbie yesterday if this is entrapment and I just need to ask again."

"Our Steve is a good boy. He...just has trouble holding onto someone. We don't know if it's him or the girls. We just want him to find someone special."

"...How special? Like, should I be making room on my hand?", he asked, wiggling his ring covered fingers.

"Not that special. Just enough to get him on the right track."

Eddie looked down to the number, then this strange woman again. He braced his hands against the counter and took in a deep breath. "Alright. I'm a gambling man. My break's at noon. I'll call him then."

"Wonderful. And whatever you do, don't tell him that we came to you."

"I don't even know how to begin that conversation", Eddie admitted.

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

Diane was staring at the phone like she was the one waiting for a date to call. Jonas and Steve were watching a game on the tv and she was practically guarding the phone, using dirty dishes as an excuse. When it started to ring, she bit her lip to keep from smiling too much.

"Steve, sweetie, can you get that? My hands are wet."

"Got it", Steve said, picking up the phone on the third ring. "Hello, Harrington residence."

Diane was pretty much just pretending to do the dishes at this point, eavesdropping on Steve's side of the conversation the best she could without looking obvious. She fought the urge to jump for joy when she heard Steve confirm that he would be seeing the caller this Friday at 7.

"Alright. See you then", Steve said, the cord twirled around his finger. "Bye."

He hung up the phone, a dreamy smile on his face and Diane knew that look for sure but she reigned in her own expression. She was about to ask but Jonas beat her to it.

"Who was on the phone?", he called out.

"Oh, um, it was...", Steve was clearly debating how much to tell them, if anything. He took a breath as he decided to trust them. "It was that guy from the music place. He wants to grab a bite this weekend."

"Grab a bite, huh?", Jonas sat up a bit in his chair.

"Yes. Just a little something, we'll probably go to Benny's or whatever", Steve crossed his arms like he always did when he was trying to downplay something.

He then quickly excused himself to go up to his room and Diane dried her hands off for real. She went over to Jonas and nudged him, then nodded to the stairs.

"What woman? I'm not psychic."

"Go and listen. I bet you anything he's calling a friend right now to tell about the date."

"Are we really dropping eaves on our son now?"

"Go and listen!", she whispered urgently.

Taking his sweet time, Jonas got up and crept up the stairs. Steve's door was closed of course, but when he put an ear to the door, he could hear him walking about the room and talking to someone on the line in his room.

When he figured he'd heard enough, he came back downstairs to report to his wife.

"Well?"

"He's talking to that one girl he never dated, Robin?"

"About Eddie?"

Jonas nodded. Apparently the other day, Steve thought he didn't make the best impression on him when buying the music. He thought he came off as boring compared to Eddie. So he was surprised to get his call.

Diane couldn't help but be a little smug. Now the ball was rolling.

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

Saturday night was here and at 7 o'clock sharp, the Harringtons heard a loud engine enter their driveway. Steve came downstairs but instead of going to the door, went to the bathroom and did a final check in the mirror as the bell rang.

Jonas opened the door and got a load of date night Eddie. The ripped jeans were still there. But now instead of the uniform shirt and name tag, he was wearing a t-shirt that Jonas was just guessing had album art on it and a ratty denim vest.

"Evening Mr. Harrington. Is Steve ready yet?"

"I am", Steve said, appearing behind his dad.

"You two have fun at the diner. Have him back by 11", Diane said as she saw them off.

Jonas was oddly quiet the whole time. Diane just waited him out, knowing he'd announce any opinions he had once they were alone. In fact the moment he closed the door, he turned to her.

"How sure are we about Eddie?"

"Oh here we go. Were we so sure about Chloe? Or Mary Lee?"

"I just thought he might clean up a little more for a date, that's all."

"The important thing is that Steve likes him."

They spent their evening, drinking some wine and watching a movie. But they made sure to be up in their room before it got too late. They wanted the boys to have just a smidge of privacy when they returned.

All the lights were off when they heard that roaring engine come back at 11:15.

"They're late", Jonas said. "That's a good sign."

Diane smiled. They were both listening hard for any sort of sound that might tell them how the night went. They heard the front door open. It was about two minutes before it actually closed. Another good sign. Steve tiptoed up the stairs but in the quiet of the night and them holding their breath, he was easily heard.

The door to his room closed and Diane gripped Jonas' arm tight. "Do you think it went well?"

"Are you gonna go knock on his door and ask? Or should we tap his phone line this time?" Jonas chuckled at his wife's pout. "We'll hear about it in due time. Good night, Di."

"Good night."

They both settled in, officially this time. If things kept going well like this, they'd be inviting Eddie over to dinner soon.

Part 4

Don't worry, we're gonna get some actual steddie focus soon. And Jonas still needs to warm up to Eddie all the way.

Tag Team

@tartarusknight @swimmingbirdrunningrock @estrellami-1 @potato-of-the-lord @dragonmama76 @m-owo-n @sticknpokelightningbolt @somegirlsomewhere @tinyplanet95 @samsoble @runniem

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 783: Advancing ranks

Pag 1

1: “Friends”....

2: “People who trust each other and treat each other as equal”

“People who hang out and chat together”

4: Funatsu-kuun

Huh!? Me... me!? What

You and Kiriya-kun are friends?

5: Ye-yeah, we've been together for three years, so of course

And last year and this year we worked hard together and participated in the Inter High....right?

Yeah

And what about me?

Huh!?

Pag 2

1: What about me?

2: Are we friends!?

3: Uhm, well

4: We also were together for three years with this guy and we practiced and participated in the Inter High together

Uh.... well

What shoud I say? How should I answer this question

But this guy doesn't talk about anything but bikes

5: There they are, Midosuji's “cryptic questions”!!

Thank god this time his target is Funatsu

6: What's the correct answer!!

Ahh, dammit... I'm suddenly shaking

Midosuji!!

7: I'm sorry, Funatsu!! Do your best!! Funatsu!!

Pag 3

1: Of course!!

We've been running together for three years!! You're a great friend!!

How about this!!

3: Fr... iends...

Me and.... you?

6: He's satisfied!? Yes!! It was the correct answer!?

Pag 4

1: What, did you misunderstand?

Me and you are not equal in the slightest!?

Pag 5

1: Our efforts, tenacity, our attitude and readiness, and even our imagination!!

Uwaaahiiii!!

2: Didn't you think about it?

Ah.. was there even a moment when you felt like we were equal!? Surely

Dammit so this is what it was!!

3: You that in your zeal for goodness became nothing?

Puku

4: What's this!? This time

Ahh, dammit, don't spout nonsense!!

This time even my parents came to see me

5: Midosuji-san

More importantly

Pag 6

1: The course is changing

Turning west along the flat seaside road

Pag 7

1: it's entering a hill

4: The Kyoto Pass

It's a hill with a 3.5km climb with an incline of 4%, about 250m above sea level

Pag 8

1: According to my plan....!! Alright....!!

Let's move on....!!

2: Heading for the next phase!!

Yeah!!

Yes!!

Yes!!

4: Kyoto Fushimi are assembling and moving up

5: They didn't move in the first half, Kyofushi is saving their legs

Yet on this short climb they're spontaneously moving up their group's position

Pag 9

1: They're moving up!!

3: Seeing him this up close, this Midosuji really is amazing

His body's thickness is completely different from other people's, and his limbs are so long!!

4: He has such an aura that it makes me feel like there's no way I could win!!

5: I broke out into a cold sweat but at the same time I can't help but laugh a little!!

Pag 10

1: They really are amazing, Onoda, Imaizumi... and Naruko, they fought against him last year and the year before!?

3: Sugimoto-san

Sugimoto-san

4: Ah, sorry, is everything alright?

I was just thinking a little about something, just a little

5: That's right, I'm in the “selected team”!! I need to focus more on bringing these guys together!!

Pag 11

2: Huh

3: The two sprinters who went ahead

4: have turned back!!

We're back... we're back!!

5: Sugimoto-san!!

Yeah!! Kobayashi!! Uchikawa!!

Pag 12

1: We somehow managed to catch up to the lead

Is that so!!

But the remaining 3km... too fast!!

I see!!

2: That guy from Hiroshima let us know a lot of things

I see!!

They're so sweaty and their jerseys are all torn out too

3: They worked hard, I'm glad...!!

4: I couldn't last until the very end, but Kobayashi-san was there too

There were four people in front of me so I pushed as hard as I could in fifth place

5: And I placed ninth

Oh you're in the top ten, amazing, amazing!

Waaa, Sugimoto-san praised me, I'm so happy

Pag 13

1: Hahaha

Ah, that's my line....

I'm feeling so proud, somehow

2: Ninth place is amazing

Well... Ichikawa pulled me

Was the lead amazing?

It was!!

3: I'm aiming for the top ten for the mountain line too!!

Really? Do your best!

5: We're an impromptu team and we still have a long way to go in terms of skill, but with our mutual interest and cheerfulness

Pag 14

1: Maybe we could go far!!

3: It's all thanks to Sugimoto-san

No no, I only asked Doubashi

Doubashi-san also helped us a lot!!

4: That's right, next time we meet him

Pag 15

1: I'll have to thank Doubashi

3: Dammit!!

Sorry, it's my fault!!

4: With opponents like that, if I had gone myself we would have placed even lower

This just shows how hard it is to carry out your words in road racing

Pag 16

1: As I told you, you needed to be careful about that guy

3: The race goes went a low pass and passe through a tunnel

Pag 17

1: They went downhill in a line

2: Waa... this is the place for “three seconds”...!!

Kiji-saan!! Fou!!

3: Looking at the limestone quarry that is the raw material for cement

4: the passed through the coal mining factory that supported the growth of Kitakyushu

Pag 18

1: The ranks went south along the riverside in the inland areas of Kyushu

2: Ah....

Oi, Issa, how long....

3: How long are you gonna feel down!?

Pag 19

1: Naruko-san

2: Stop with the depressing sighs

You'll just have to use your frustration as a springboard to keep moving!!

3: Naruko-san, you don't know what it feels like to lose a sprint!!

5: I've matured, I've matured, I've matured.... or I should have

Naruko chanting magic words to suppress his anger

Two people who feel so sorry for him they have no words

6: What's wrong? You're shivering and peeing your pants?

I wanna kill him...!!

7: Hotshot, gimme permission to kill him!!

I don't have that license

8: Ah!!

I see it!!

Pag 20

1: It's the mountain!!

The first day's..... this Inter High's very first....

2: mountain!!

[letstripdotcom]

cold- matt sturniolo x fem!reader

a/n: i’ve looked at my first fic so many times that i’m starting to hate it so i’m gonna try and change up my style a little bit!

summary- due to the freezing weather, the triplets have to stay with you until the weather lets up

warnings- smutttt🤷‍♀️ kinda longgg but i rly like a good build up so bare with me

i have known nick matt and chris for as long as i can remember. our parents were best friends all throughout highschool, so growing up we spent every second together. I have a single mother, who raised me and my twin brother nate, so she always said marylou was just another parent for us.

they were there for all my birthday parties, they were there when my parents fought, they were there when i broke my leg for the first time, my first crush, every first day of school, and so much more.

nick was my all time best friend, i told him every detail about my life. he knew every one of my secrets. he knew all of my crushes, all of my fears, he was there when i got my first period, i called him after i had sex for the first time, and he was there when i cried in his arms after getting my heart shattered for the first time.

nick was basically the male version of me, so it was no surprise to him when i told him i had a crush on his triplet brother, matt. “it was obvious when you asked him to teach you how to ride a bike instead of me” he said popping candy into his mouth “nick i was like 9” i laughed. “the truth always unfolds” he says in a singy-songy voice “plus you’re the only person who laughs at his stupid jokes”

nick was right, every time matt would tell a joke it was like everything in the world was so funny. it was always like that around matt. every time i saw him it was like i had no control over my actions. i was just as close with him as i was nick and chris, but it was just different.

i discovered i had feelings for matt the summer before 8th grade. we were all at that age where you’ve just hit puberty and everything changes. we were out by the pool hanging out like the 5 of us always did when matt suddenly came up behind me, picked me up, and jumped in the water. after i got back up he made sure i was okay before laughing at me, and i laughed with him. he looked me in the eyes and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. my heart fluttered

matt had always been so sweet to me, but this summer it was different. we spent so much time together. we were attached at the hip for the rest of the summer. that was until school started back, and we didn’t have any classes together so we never had time to talk

one day a new kid came into my class and he was super cute. the teacher sat him in the empty desk next to me and we immediately hit it off. “hey i’m derek” he spoke as he sat down. “y/n!” i replied flashing him a sweet smile. we sat by eachother for the rest of the semester. one day he needed help with the work, so i gave him my number to talk to me after school. that night we stayed up on the phone for hours.

he finally asked me out on valentine’s day. i knew that deep down i still had feelings for matt, but i had to put them aside and focus fully on derek. we dated all the way from eighth grade to the middle of sophomore year. he broke up with me after the homecoming dance, and for a while i thought my world was going to end.

i left the dance early with nate and the triplets, and cried with them by my side for hours. once they went to bed, nick stayed in my room with me and i cried in his arms for hours. the next morning when i went down stairs, there was a basket of all my favorite candies, a blanket, and a card that read “i’m super sorry about the breakup. i love you so big and hope you get better soon. love, matt” i called matt and thanked him for the basket.

fast forward through sophomore and junior year, and now it’s winter break of our senior year. nick and i are still best friends, but me and matt aren’t nearly as close as we used to be. and just to clarify, winter in boston is terrible. it never gets above 20 degrees, and it occasionally gets higher than 10. right now, we were currently in the middle of a snow storm, so we were trapped inside. my days consisted of watching my favorite movies while occasionally being bothered by nate.

it was getting late, so i decided to get in the shower. i grab my usual sleep wear, a small tank top and whatever pajama shorts i have in my drawer. i was home alone, but about 20 minutes into my shower i hear ringing at my doorbell. i hurry up and get dried off and dressed, when the doorbell rings again. “coming!” i yell as i hurry down the steps

i open the door as i’m greeted by a strong gust of cold air, and my 3 favorite faces. “hey guys come in!” i said as i stepped out of the way “our pipes are entirely frozen until the ground defrosts, nate said we could stay here for a bit” nick said explaining the sudden visit. just as matt walked through the door, he leaned down close to my ear and whispered “you must be so cold in that outfit.” i looked down at ny chest, my nipples clearly hard from the cold air. fuck. i quickly ran upstairs to cover myself before coming back downstairs.

“nice hoodie” is all i hear then i look up to see matt staring at me. i look down to see the hoodie i was wearing. it was one matt gave me last winter when i didn’t have anything to wear one night at their house. i smile back at him and say “yeah i got it from this really weird kid on the side of the road once” “he must have good taste” he said matching my energy.

that was the thing about matt. i could go forever without talking to him and still feel like it had only been a day. as the three got settled on the couch. i grabbed blankets from my basket and distributed them. “aww no way you still have that!” chis said referring to my blanket. i looked at it and noticed it was the blanket matt gave me after my breakup. i know it’s old, but it’s always been my favorite blanket. i used it on every occasion, and it’s seen many tears.

as the movie started i couldn’t help but stare at matt when he wasn’t looking. the way the screen lit his face so perfectly in the dark light of the living room. then he opened up his phone and began typing. i few minutes later, i hear my phone go off.

matt: you seemed so cold earlier i’m glad my hoodie and blanket can keep you warm.

me: i’m glad too 😛🥶

matt: i almost forgot how good you looked in my hoodies.

me: matt what?

matt: you know how i feel about you.

just because you changed in 8th grade doesn’t mean i forgot about us.

i put my phone down and ran to my room. all it took was one text from matt and now i’m all hot and bothered. i sat on my bed trying to catch my breath. once i my hands stopped shaking so dramatically, i started typing up a text for nick.

before i could hit send, i heard footsteps coming up my stairs. “nick?” i said my voice obviously trembling. “sorry it’s just me” matt said entering my room. “look y/n i didn’t mean to scare you i jus-“ i cut him off my smashing my lips on to his. after a second i pulled back and immediately felt regret

“matt i’m sorry” i said “don’t apologize” before i had time to speak again he was kissing me hard. eventually the kissing turned into a very heated makeout. he sat down on the bed and i straddled him on his lap. both of us were clearly very needy. our teeth clashed and we groaned into each other’s mouths. i had my hands running through matt’s hair tugging on his brown curls.

he squeezed my ass and pulled me closer to him causing me to moan. i grinded on his lap steadily as we kissed eachother making him groan several times. his hands gripped my waist as my hands trailed up is shirt. i then ran my nails down his sides which caused matt to wince a little.

in one swift motion he let go of my waist and tugged my his hoodie off of my body, leaving me in the tiny tank top and shorts i was in earlier. “you must be freezing” he teased then stuck his hands down my top and cupped my bare breasts causing me to moan. matt saw that as ammunition and continued to massage my boobs.

“fuck matt don’t stop” i begged. i sounded so needy but i didn’t even mind. i had always wanted this moment with matt. he stopped and removed my top leaving my chest exposed. he then attached his mouth to my nipple, swirling his tongue around, then he moved to the other nipple and repeated those motions.

when he got up i ripped his shirt off then he attacked my neck leaving wet sloppy kisses. i dug my nails deep into the skin on his back which made him let out a slight whimper. he moved his hands down my body then he grabbed the waistband of my shorts. he looked at me in the eyes asking my for my permission.

“please matt” i whined almost a little too loud. he pulled my shorts down leaving me in just my panties. he lowered his head down to my waistline, leaving kisses all over. “fuck matt don’t tease” i whined. “just be patient, i’ve had to wait all my life for this” he demanded, his hoarse voice turning me on even more.

i rubbed my legs together hoping for some kind of friction. he gripped my thighs holding them still. he began to massage them as the continued to kiss my waist. the then made his way to my thighs kissing up til he reached my underwear.

he took them off tauntingly slow. the second they were off, he stuck his head between my legs and immediately latched his mouth onto my clit. i bit my lip hard trying to silence my moans. he sucked and licked and nibbled so well sending me into a euphoric state.

he started to finger me with one finger while he ate me out. my back arched so high off the bed i thought i could snap. my stomach tightened and i moaned his name “matt i’m bouta cum don’t stop! pls don’t stop!” all he did was hum, sending vibrations all up my body causing me to release.

he sat up with a corny smile on his face and looked me in the eyes. he grabbed my waist and quickly flipped me onto my stomach causing me to gasp. he lifted me so my ass was in the air “how do you wanna go about this?” he asked.

“fuck me like you mean it” i demanded, needing him right then and there. with that being said he removed his pants and his boxers in a flash, exposing his inches. i winced at the size, but i didn’t let it get to me.

“if you need me to stop just say ‘pink’ okay? it’ll be our safe word” he said. i nodded my head frantically becoming impatient.

suddenly he rammed into me at full speed causing me to almost scream, disregarding the people downstairs. he shoved my head into the pillow muffling my noises as he rammed ruthlessly into me.

this was a completely different side of matt. normally he was so sweet and gentle, but right now he was tearing me apart. not that i’m complaining. he thrusted into me with so much power i swore i could feel him up in my chest.

i screamed into the pillow and arched my back upwards causing him to get a better angle, hitting my g spot repeatedly. “fuck y/n you feel so good” he moaned. my legs shook once again. i clenched around matt causing his jaw to fall open as we both came. he fucked me through our highs never losing pace.

“remeber if you wanna stop now the word is pink” he said signaling he wasn’t ready to stop, but i wasn’t either. no matter how overstimulated i was becoming, i just couldn’t get enough. “please don’t stop matt” i begged.

he flipped me on my back where he can look me into my eyes and fucked into me slowly this time taking in every detail of my face. i had tears running down my eyes, my hair was a mess, and i couldn’t control the muscles in my face. i was an absolute mess under him but i didn’t mind at all.

he thrusted into me slowly as he dropped his head in the crook of my neck. “fuckkk. just like that. oh my g-god you feel amazing. i could do this forever.” he whispered praises in my ear sending me over the edge. i bit down on my swollen lip, causing it to bleed just a little as i released.

matt smirked as he pulled out and released thick white strings of cum all over my chest. he then licked it completely clean and smiled at me. “god you’re so beautiful, i’ve wanted you to be all mine forever” he said looking in your eyes.

“god matt i’ve loved you since we were 14” i admitted. he smiled at me and kissed me sweetly “ i knew you would be mine the second i laid eyes on you” he said “matt we were infants.” i joked “that’s besides the point, y/n. be my girlfriend?” he asked. “of course dummy” i kissed him.

kissing matt was so addictive. i just couldn’t stop once i started. “okay now let’s get you cleaned up and get to bed i’m so tired” he said standing up. he then picked me up bridal style and carried me into the shower.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

AHHH THE ENDD I HOPE YALL LIKE BC I LOVED WRITING ITTTT

[voidscreamintheories]

Kitten: Theory of a "Hunter"

Spoilers for Hunter The Parenting

So Kitten. He is our happy lil Br*tish hunter. He also is always wearing ski goggles, a sweater, and full face covering. Even in the one flashback image we have of him. As always we must acknowledge the DNA this series pulls from: Kitten was the Captain General in TTS, this is why he uses a spear with a gun and a stake at the end in HTP, it's a guardian spear by way of hunter. It was a running gag in TTS that his helmet was never removed, even all of his other garments were. Side tangent, 1. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING 2. I hope desperately Lockwarden and Santodes return in HTP, because both of those characters were immaculate and we didn't get enough of them. Side tangent complete.

TTS acknowledgement aside, let us consider what Kitten might be. In the audiolog between Kitten and Big D, kitten seems to question the existence of some supernatural creatures, like the witch. Yet two of them he is unphased by them being mentioned: The vampires, which makes sense as the family is hunting vamps and Kitten has fought a vamp (important later). And the werewolves. This is the sticking point to me: Kitten not only is unphased about the existence of werewolves, he in fact says "wait hang on you know about werewolves" to Big D. Now that's a might curious, why wouldn't Big D, master-hunter and well known supernaturalist know about werewolves, and even more so, why would Kitten know and Big D not?

My theory is that Kitten IS a were creature. But not a wolf. In World of Darkness there are a few species of shapechangers like the werewolves. The wolves are the most common, but the other kinds know of each other's existence as well. I propose that Kitten is a werecat. Not only this, I suspect Kitten is a specific kind of werecat, a metis (can someone who knows more about WoD tell me is this is pronounced Met-iss, a made up word, or May-tea, a real word for a real world group of people who this does not necessarily apply to). A metis (in world of darkness, not the real world ethno-cultural group) is a shapechanger born to two shapechanger parents. When they are born they come out in their warform, the half-human-half-animal "hollywood monster" form. These shapechangers often have malformations of some variety, and this can include very obvious animal features even in human form. Say for example, cat ears and fur. I think Kitten wears his ski stuff, and has ears on his hood because he is a lil catboy under that hood. As a werecat he would be familiar with the shapechanger culture and practices, he'd know about other shapechangers (notice in the black shuck story at one point he says "and it is [black shuck]" not "and it PROBABLY is", maybe because he actually knows who black shuck is?), and he'd be supernaturally strong. Perhaps even strong enough to overcome a vampire that just fed. Kitten describes his encounter with the vamp at college, with maybe a Ventrue or Torreador vamp (I think Ventrue because he was charismatic but had a need for a violent feeding), while these clans aren't the normal muscle for the vamps, they are stronger than humans. Yet Kitten managed to beat this vampire, even though he was hopped up on blood. I think our lil cat boy was using his own supernatural strength. Another thing mentioned around this story is the tragedy that befell Kitten's parents, which left him with the house. If they are shapechangers, there is the potential that Kitten killed them during his first change, a not uncommon occurence in Garou families. There's also the possibility that his parents were killed in the war that all Garou are fighting, or because they broke the litany (werewolf mascarade) by having a metis child.

Now. Problems. Both Grimal and Markus have cannonically "broken that boy". Now is Kitten a "sorry babe, the ski mask stays ON during sex" type gamer? Or do Grimal and Markus both know? Not sure! Grimal could probably be convinced he was just REALLY into cosplay, I bet. And Markus may have known about Kitten being a cat from their childhood, depending when they first met.

But! This lets me talk more about garou society as evidence for Kitten being a cat. In shapechanger society, a metis is often hidden from the public until they can control their form, so as to not give the game away on werewolves being real. Maybe Kitten was isolated as a child, making it harder for him to interact with other kids when he did eventually get his form *more* under control. Maybe in the time before he was allowed in public, he became a true gamer. Maybe Markus was one of the few kids weird enough to hang out with him. Maybe those lack of social skills brought him closer to Grimal when they first met, two strange weirdos with similar experiences (please Alfabusa don't make Grimal the ghoul, I don't want her to get Arcanum'd)

Also! The werecats have some characteristics in their culture that might explain why our lil cat friend isn't just vibing with the other werecats. Some of the Bastet (Bastet means werecat, Keikaku means plan) are VERY curious lil fellas. They seek out hidden knowledge and talk to other garou clans to learn their secrets all the time. Maybe Kitten became a hunter because of his in-built desire to be a gatherer of lore. This would also explain how he knows all these stories, and finds secrets in games. He just HAS to know these things. This would further explain why he is SO upset about being blacklisted, he wants desperately to be able to study and learn, but has been cut off.

In brief, I believe Kitten is a werecat and his lil sweater ears are not just a fetish thing. He joined the arcanum/our hunters because it's a great way to sate his innate curiosity.

Now something to consider, as many of us know, curiosity does have a certain reputation regarding cats...

[godisshook]

Movie Night

Zach was the best friend I could have. He was nice, a nerd just like me, and so so funny. One time, some bully tried to beat me up because I was gay, and Zach stood face to face with him and almost fought him if a teacher didn’t break them up before any fists could be thrown. He was the most genuine guy I knew, and when I found out we were both going to the same high school, I was overjoyed. He was incredibly driven, and despite him not being crazy smart, always was successful at anything he put his mind to.

Sometime during our sophomore year he started really getting into working out, and he was making some progress, but I would always joke that he was just a “muscular shrimp” to which he would usually reply, “At least I HAVE muscle.” And he wasn’t wrong, I was 5’7 and 115 pounds, not the most built individual, most definitely.

We were always hanging out until the pandemic hit later in sophomore year. All of a sudden we were home, and I couldn’t talk to my best friend like usual. We kept in touch through discord and would call each other almost every day after class. When Zach got a girlfriend our junior year, we stopped talking almost completely, and I had a breakdown. When we were back in class senior year, he had completely changed. His girlfriend cheated on him before the year started, and broke up with him three weeks before the first day of class. He started going to the gym a lot more it seemed and even took a firefighter course, which I thought was super cool, even if I would never say it to his face.

When we got back senior year, he looked completely different. A guy who was once 5’8 and only 130 pounds was now 6’2 and 185 pounds of pure muscle. He apologized for not talking to me for so long, saying that he needed time to just focus on himself, which I thought was bs but accepted because I still really valued him as a friend. In class, I would still joke with him, and he would welcome them, flexing as I said that his arms were too big, or he looked like a dorky jock if that was even possible.

The transition back made it so that we would alternate days going to class, and so we were still not seeing each other, but during one of his firefighting classes, I snuck in and attended with the teacher being none the wiser.

We also made a new tradition, a movie night over zoom. It was our way of still hanging out, even though we were busy and couldn’t just go to each other's places. I would constantly pick horror movies, and Zach would pick action every time. It was fun and allowed me to connect with my old buddy even as our lives became more hectic.

I noticed that as time passed, Zach became even more jock-ish, and would start calling me small and saying that he could easily lift me, which I took to great offense in a joking way of course. As we were watching Scream one night, I see Zach on my other monitor with his shirt off, flexing and looking straight at me. “What are you doing?” I say, looking at him incredulously. “Nothing.” he replied in a low tone. I shrug it off as him probably just being weird, and go back to finishing the movie.

I manage to sneak in a screenshot of him as he was doing it, and kept it in my camera roll for “blackmail.”

I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about that night the following week, and one day in class, while daydreaming, Zach interrupts my waking dream by saying, “Do you wanna come to my place for movie night this weekend?” I look up at him and reply, “Of course!” I felt as if the old days of our friendship were coming back, and was so excited to go. His parents were out of town, and this is the whole house would be empty aside from us two. We decide that it would be better if I just spent the whole weekend there, so packed a suitcase on Friday to bring over.

We played board games all day, and then went into playing Fortnite, which he hard carried me in, having to explain half of the game to me the whole time.

It was my turn to pick the movie again, and I wanted to pick Nightmare on Elm Street because I wanted him to see all the "classics." When I came back from a bathroom break, he said I had practically missed half the movie, to which I swiftly play-punched him in the shoulder, and then immediately regretted my decision as it felt like punching straight iron. Despite this, we start play fighting, but as I vastly underestimated his new strength, and vastly overestimated mine, I found myself pinned against the couch as both of my wrists were in his hands.

I look up at him, and as he stares back, I notice his sweatpants start to rise. As the shape of his cock takes form in his sweatpants, he begins taking off his jacket, and I rush to pull my shirt off. There's a mutual hunger, a horniness only created after years of knowing each other, and it was releasing itself tonight.

I rush to pull off his sweatpants, and begin sucking him off. "Fuckkkkkkk" he groans as I wrap my tongue around his shaft and start licking all over it. He pushes my head down on his cock as I gag, saying, "How do you like that?" "Itsthhh sooo guuuuddd" I say between breaths as his cock goes down my throat again. I had never seen him like this, it was like a beast took over him. He takes me and lifts me up, ripping my underwear and placing his cock into the hole he created in it.

He starts pushing me up and down on his cock as I'm on his chest, and every time he pulls me up he goes in for a kiss, a small bit of sweetness breaking through the roughness.

Slowly, he starts to walk upstairs, with me still being hoisted up, and with his dick in me. Every step up causes it to go deeper, and as he gets on the stair it comes out ever so slightly. I moan in pleasure as he does this, and he slaps my ass as I do. When we get to his bedroom, he throws me on the bed and rips off the shreds of underwear I had left.

He fucks me for what seemed like years, taking his massive cock and digging it all in my tight hole. It felt like it was going up into my chest, and I rolled my eyes back as he kept fucking. After the backshots, he turns me over and fucks me, hugging his body towards me, and sliding his dick in and out. His abs were grinding against my cock, and I came as he started pulling in and out of me quickly. With him going faster and faster, I felt his dick get warm in my ass, and soon he started to groan, and hot cum leaked from his dick into me, and he laid on my chest with his cock still in my ass.

As I was walking home commando, I couldn't help but think about how good it was, and texted him, "Where did you get THAT energy from?" to which he replied, "From wanting you since day one." I will admit, that made me blush. Zach was now my regular fuckbuddy, and the sex was mindblowing. I looked forward to our "movie nights" every week, and even though we would never make it through a movie again, at least I get good sex in exchange.

[peachyloveswriting]

Hiii loved your Kyle story <333 could you plsss do one where there’s a new girl and both Kyle and Cartman try and get her and what they’d do to get her to fall for them??

Eric VS Kyle

SUMMARY: Both Eric and Kyle like you but you're so unsure with the many choices you have.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

I stand awkwardly between the two, each one looking at me expectant on my answer. Kyle blinks at me. "Well which one, New Kid?" A glare is shot to Eric who stands beside him. Both teenagers are in a stand off of sorts and it's all over me. That's unbelievable in and of itself but for this to happen, gosh. I only moved in about a month or so ago, South Park was our final destination. After, we go nowhere, that's what my parents discussed. Once they settled on South Park that was it. Stories had been heard online about the shit that's happened here but no one believes it, I was the same way, but now I'm not. I can see how what they said was true and the two boys I became closest with in that group were part of most of it.

On my first day of high school here, I was welcomed by a rather sweet, country sounding blonde. Butters was his name. He showed me around, even introducing me to his friends. All of us seemed to click together rather fast, Kyle and Eric becoming the two I found myself around the most soon enough. At the very beginning I realized there was already this animosity between the two, constant bickering and yelling back and forth. As time went on though, it only seemed to get worse. The two would pull one another into a separate room just to have it out, and about what I'm not sure.

Soon enough I realized that it started escalating into a challenge of who could one up the other in anything. Kyle would spend time with me outside of school and then Eric would try to stay the night. It was a never ending cycle. The two just kept going. First Eric bought me a phone, then Kyle took me to dinner, Eric asked me to homecoming which is months away, and Kyle threatened Eric in front of me. He was all in Eric's face, a scowl covering his features. Insults were thrown up in the air and at one another eventually leading to where I am now.

Both Kyle and Cartman stand in front of me watching me intensely. They expect me to pick which one I like the most between the two.

KYLE

-> If you pick Kyle he's so happy. Literally jumping up and down and tackling you into a hug. He swears to be there for you anytime you need him and he kinda rubs it in Eric's face. Between the two he tried the hardest to make you like him so he feels he deserves this.

-> the things he did to get you though we're rather sweet. Kyle would help you with school work after school, he would let you copy his notes, he always spent time with you. At some point he bought you a gift and took you shopping just because he felt like it. You helped him a lot with his younger brother Ike, watching him when he was too busy. He fought Cartman physically and won, no one knows how since Eric just throws his weight around and usually wins but Kyle knows how to actually fight. He rightly has the upper hand.

-> Cartman was super disappointed by your choice and forever decided to hate both you and Kyle. He constantly made fun of you all the time which resulted in mostly everyone ignoring him for a long time. Eventually he left and you never saw him again.

CARTMAN

-> Cartman played dirty to get your attention. He slashed your tires so he could help you buy new ones, broke your bedroom window then blamed it on a tree limb so he could help you replace it, he stole Kyle's phone and pretended to be him asking you on a date and then stood you up. He did a lot of dirty shit you don't know about just to get your attention. And even though he lost the fight with Kyle you still picked him.

-> He seems excited but the longer he hangs out with you the more bored it gets. He soon realizes that all he wanted to do was beat the competition and win it had nothing to do with emotions. He's too far in to back out now and just doesn't really try. That is until you show him just how good of a partner you are. He appreciates you deeply though he has a hard time showing it. He does acts of service and gives you gifts to appreciate what you do for him

-> Kyle tries to get you to see the bad in Eric but you just can't seem to see it. Eventually Kyle gives up. You've changed Eric a lot and you did him more good than anything. He needed someone like you and Kyle is happy you're happy with Eric.

NEITHER

-> Both stop talking to you, they continue their normal lives just without you in it. And as much as it hurts Kyle to see all that effort go to waste He will eventually move on.

BOTH?

-> It's so much of a accomodation but both boys are extremely happy. Though the competition may continue in various ways they love you all the same. Although the animosity between them never left and jealousy still lies somewhere between them. Though Kyle can be quite possessive at times.

[ghostieeeee]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗: 𝐂𝐀𝐊𝐄?

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

Word count: 1.5K

Warnings: possibly spelling errors :D

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

Golden glowing light bulbs hue the place with sunset blooms, stainless wooden tables adorn the sun-kissed lighting as if it were a picasso painting, and the ambience resembled that of a warm autumn evening.

The restaurant mirrored the outside world at this hour, reflecting the calm nature of everyone's worn energy as it pours with a delicate rain. No one seems to survive a day's worth of work anymore. People instead cower after long shifts, hiding away their vulnerabilities as they regenerate their strength for the next day.

The streets were particularly derelict at the approaching of half-four. Even the roads- that are mostly packed for the day- seem to have gone silent in the downpour of rain.

You haven't been sitting for long- a mere three minutes at most- when the shop's door opens and a familiar female comes squeezing through in a puffy coat, her hood drawn to her eyebrows as she scrunches her face, skin decorated in small dollops of the skys water.

The patient tapping of fingernails against wood fills the small pocket of silence you've surrounded yourself in as you watch Yunjin track you down. Her head spun in circles as she struggles to see through her rain stained glasses, but eventually, she does see you, and a wide smile graces her features instantly.

"Sorry, I tried to get here as fast as I could," she huffs, sounding almost out of breath as she takes a seat opposite you on a cushioned seat. You chose a booth over a table. Something about it just made more sense.

"You're not late-" you pause to check your phone, which had been facing down on the table up until now- "you're actually just on time"

Yunjin smiles. "Oh, that's great news. How long have you been waiting?"

"A few minutes," you speak, watching as the girl unsheathes herself from the warm confines of her thick coat. It almost looked heavy with the way it sags against the edge of the booth, now hanging from the corner piece of the seat "give or take"

"I'm glad I didn't keep you waiting then" Yunjin finally looks up to you, her eyes greeting yours as you share a smile. "How was your class?"

"Ahh…" you begin, your mind screwing into the memories from just a few hours ago. A cold man's finger almost runs up your spine as the battering of your teacher's voice still echoes on in your skull. "It was alright" you almost wince at your lie. The only part that was alright about the class was leaving at the end- but even then everyone basically fought to get out first.

"Just alright?" She raises an eyebrow, her hands coming to clash each other on the table as she now provides you with her undivided attention.

"I mean- what more can you expect from law?" It was abrupt, the way Yunjin almost coughed at your words with her hands moving to clasp her mouth- her eyes wide.

"Law?"

"Yes, law" you playfully roll your eyes at her mimicked remark.

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't really…" she trails off, her mind clearly pondering her next words "...that doesn't seem like a you thing to pick. No offence!"

"None taken," you laugh,"It wasn't my choice- but at the same time it was," you play with the tone in your voice, almost spinning the words on air. "My parents wanted me to pick something they deemed as professional. They basically gave me a list of what I could and couldn't be"

"What were the other options?"

"I don't remember them all, but there was definitely law, economics, engineering, health care.... some others? Honestly, I swear they just picked the most boring classes to see me suffer"

Yunjin gives a laugh to your frustrations,"parents shouldn't control us our whole lives, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." You sigh

"Should we order now?"

You break a small grin at her words, feeling your stomach churn at the lack of food- even if this is just a small snack- because at least this will carry you till dinner. "Please"

"I'll go up and order. What do you want?"

You take a second to ponder, turning to view the assortments of cakes shown within the glass display cases. Colours bloom with a ripe shine, strawberries glistening under the bright ceiling lights. Pigments of all sorts lick the sponge in their icing forms, priming and pricing the in-store made treats to an all-time high.

You nod, finally giving Yunjin your order after having been caught on a cake that stood out the most.

"Gotcha, I'll be right back," she taps the table with her ring adorned hand. The metals of her band rings cause a slightly uncushioned screech as she drags them slightly across the wooden table.

It hadn't taken long for Yunjin to return at all, and when she did return, her hands were occupied with the bought food and drinks.

"This is what you wanted, right?" Yunjin speaks with a hint of need, her voice seeming almost different from her normal relaxed and confident tone. It was strange but easily missable- as your ears ignored the subtle change.

You peered at the rather large slice of cake, the sponge already looking deliciously delicate- as if it could tear at the simplest breeze or crumble at the expense of a gentle sound wave. It's a fragile architecture, one of mostly eggs, flour, and milk, and yet, it holds up the weight of pressure.

"Yeah, it is. Thank you." You offer Yunjin a kind smile, noting the correct order with ease. To this, Yunjin releases a heavy breath, her shoulders slightly faltering in posture as she relaxes into the chair, a grateful grin plastered to her face.

"You okay there?" You ask, having noticed her newly slouched position however.

"Me?" Yunjin pauses to point at herself with her hand half cupped. "I'm good. It just feels nice to finally get a chance to relax"

"Tell me about it," you chuckle, laughing lightly as her head makes contact with the cushioned booth, letting a small sigh fall from her lips.

Yunjin takes a moment of silence before breaking out with a gentle smile,"I've been helping Dahyun for the last few hours, that was probably the most tiring part, but that's only because she accidentally dislodged half of the keyboard's keys"

"Pardon?" You ask, sounding half in disbelief as your eyebrows ever so slightly raise above their resting position.

"Oh- right-" she awkwardly chuckles,"Dahyun is my friend, and an extremely aggressive keyboard player"

"I understand," you smile, separating a piece of your cake before taking a bite. The moistened sponge tickles your tongue, feeling almost right at home like a family reunion. "Is she the person you helped yesterday?"

"Yeah," Yunjin bops her head, taking a bite out of her own order. It's almost hard to ignore how she closes her eyes for a brief moment to savour the bliss.

"How was the rest of your day?" You squeeze an easy question in, observing the taller girl as she swallows her mouthful before opening her mouth to respond. "It was alright, though I'm a bit disappointed my teacher won't let me take his lessons from my dorm"

"Why would you want to take them from your dorm?" You inquire, furrowing your eyebrows slightly.

"I have a small recording booth for me and my friends back at my dorm, it would make learning so much easier for practical projects" You let out a small string of "ohs," taking another bite of your paid food. "Obviously, I'd come in for lessons that require me to be there in person but…" she sighs,"it would make more sense for me to use the equipment I have at the dorm"

"You have a recording booth… at your dorm?"

"Yeah," she grins. "Rosie, another friend of mine, her parents were kind enough to purchase one for our dorm"

"That was kind of them"

"It really was, it helps us explore with music more" she pauses, taking a second or so to think something over before she opens her mouth again "would you like to come over and see it?"

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

: A new college means new faces, and although you already have a set of friends to hang out with, you can't help but be drawn to the two campus heartthrobs... and they can't help but be drawn to you too...

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 | 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

𝐓𝐀𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: [𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍]

@cosettesrants @havex00 @lesleepyyy @i06kkura @luvjanexx @jeindall777

@xen-16 @sewiouslyz @verdanst

[greazyfloz]

Lovers & Strangers - Chapter 1

disclaimer: This series contains heavy smut, heavy partying, swearing & overall angst

Enjoy! :)

My life growing up in Northern Alberta was easy. I was giving an amazing life, my parents truly were the best. The best thing they gifted me was my best friend, Ethan. Ethan and I first met when I was only 8 days old. Ethan was only a year old when his parents brought him to meet me for the first time. Throughout the years we became closer and closer. 

In elementary school we would tell people that we were siblings throughout the early years. Then in the later years of elementary he would dress me up in goalie gear and practice his slap shot in his front yard. It was convenient that he only lived two streets over because we also fought like siblings. Ethan and I bickered like siblings throughout middle school but nothing lasted over 24 hours. 

Our families, along with a couple other families would get together for every holiday and make it our own special day. We would end and start every New Year together, have Superbowl parties, St. Patrick’s day, Canada Day, has ‘Friendsgiving’, Halloween parties, and would celebrate every Christmas Eve together. Every March Break and Labour Day weekend our families spent away on vacation, we truly were inseparable. As we grew older it became a series of the older kids staying for the first half of the parties, then heading out with their friends. As Ethan became more competitive with hockey the less he was able to attend the get togethers. 

When Ethan was 15 when he left our hometown to play hockey but we still were able to keep in touch because of our parents get togethers, and we went to the same parties during the summer months. Typically best friends don’t sleep with each other. Sleeping with each other didn’t really change our friendship, we never got jealous, and we still slept with other people. We really had that “if we both aren’t married by the time we are 30, we will marry each other” type of friendship. Ethan and I having sex was something people always thought we did, but would be shocked if they found out we actually did. 

Ethan and I are both Sophomores at the University of Michigan. Last year it was really easy to sleep with him occasionally because luckily my roommate dropped out a week in the first semester and I was never assigned a new one. Sophomore year was harder to keep a secret. We didn’t care if people found out but we didn’t really want people to know either but recently we haven’t really been sleeping together much or at all.

I love UMich so far, Ethan being on the hockey team allowed me to also have a whole team of automatic friends. Well a whole team minus one. From day one Mark and I could not stand each other. He was easy to ignore at first, but now I think he tries to get on my nerves. 

I walk into the sophomore house and find Mackie, Dylan and Mackie all sitting on the couch, “Hey guys! Eddy still not back?” I ask sitting beside Mackie

“Nah, he just left actually” Luke asks

“Fuck, I thought I would catch him after class”

“You can hang with us buddy” Dylan says

I decide to stay and hang out with the boys until Mark comes home. He comes in the house and sits in the room  beside Luke, “What are you doing here? Do you not have your own place?” he asks me

“Well I was hanging out with some friends but since you are here, I’m now hanging out with my friends and an egotistical piece of shit” I say giving him a sarcastic smile.

“Ouu burn” Mark says rolling his eyes, “Anyways, we are having the boys over tonight. I said we would throw the party for once” he says facing the rest of the guys. 

“Ugh no Estapa” Luke starts, “I don’t want random people in here”

“Too bad! I already told everyone” Mark says, “It’s just the usual gathering”

“That is a lot of people Mark” Dylan says

“Well yeah, but she won't be here so it’ll be fine!” Mark says pointing at me

“She…” I laugh after

“Oh you're a he? You know I always wondered”

“Mark, you’re such an ass” I say standing, “Tell Eddy to call me when he gets back” I say to Mackie as I leave the house, 

As soon as I got home I went straight to the bathroom and into the tub. I put a little bit of bubbles in and stirred the water around. As I was undressing myself, my phone rings. I answer seeing it was Ethan, “Hey Ed” I say into my phone. 

“Hey, I’m coming over” he says

“I’m in the bath right now” I tell him and he sighs

“Can I join?” he says almost defeated

“Of course, what’s wrong?” I ask

“It has just been a day”

“Aw Eth, I’ll wait for you. I locked the door cause my roommates aren’t home”

“I’m pulling in now” he says and I can hear the gravel of my driveway faintly crunch in the back of the call. 

“Okay, I’m coming” I say ending the call.

I take my housecoat and put it on as I run down the stairs letting him in. I pout my bottom lip and bring him in for a hug. “Come on” I say walking back up to the bathroom and he follows. We get into the bathroom and I take my housecoat off and step into the bathtub as Ethan sits on the toilet beside the tub. “You're not coming in?” I ask confused

“No” he says so I sink in the tub a little further

“Okay, then what's got ya down?” I ask him

“I failed that stupid test this morning which sucks because it was a make up test for one I already failed, but practice before that was tough, and I’m just stressin about hockey”

“Get in here” I say sitting back up so he can sit on the other side of the tub. Ethan sighs before answering

“Fine” he says, undressing himself before taking a seat across from me. I bring my knees together so he can stretch his legs out beside me then I stretch my legs out and lay them on top of his. 

“I take it you and Kennedy’s fling is over?” I say

“Yeah why?”

“You're in the tub with me” I giggle and he laughs too. Once we stop laughing I speak again, “So, I really hate Mark”

“I hate hearing that”

“He told me I was manly looking today after he told me that I wasn’t allowed to come over tonight, oh yeah you are throwing a party” I say and Ethan rolls his eyes

“Ugh why do you guys fight so much”

“I literally don’t even start it. Why wont you have my back ever when it comes to him?” I say and he shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I know you’re already stressed I shouldn’t have said anything but it pisses me off”

“Well we both could release some steam, come here” he says casually

I took my legs off his thighs and brought them in before turning my body so I was now sitting between his legs. I lean back and his hands wrap around me so each hand has a boob to hold. He began massaging my boobs and I leaned my head back so it was on his shoulder. He starts squeezing harder and harder, making me moan out slightly. 

“Sorry” he says then starts massaging them a little lighter but still hard

“No, it feels good” I say and he begins massaging them again harder. 

“Turn” he says, and I turn looking at him on my knees between his legs. He continues massaging my tits as he leans in, taking one in his mouth, sucking around my nipple. He then flicks his tongue up and down on my nipple taking turns between each of them. He then begins nibbling my nipples and I reach down and stroke his cock. Ethan’s hands travel down my body and I adjust my position so my knees are bent on his thighs as he enters two fingers inside of me. I continue to stroke him and he continues to finger my pussy until I cum.

He sits on the edge of the tub, “alright, I’m going to cum soon” he says stroking his cock as he waits for my mouth. I lean in and lick the base to the tip then enter him inside my mouth. I bobble my head up and down as his head falls back, “Fuck! I’m close” he says as I continue back and forth on his cock. “Take me all” he says and I begin slowly inching my way down his cock, until I am close to the base. I hold it then shake my head back to relieve my throat. I then take him in and out of my mouth fast as the loud throat noises that escape my mouth fill the bathroom. “A- Fuck-k-k!” Ethan moans as he cums in my mouth. I keep him in a minute to make sure he finishes cuming before releasing him from my mouth, swallowing before plopping back to my side of the tub. Ethan does the same across from me. We both laugh then continue our conversation from before. 

“Just stick with me tonight” Ethan says

“He will still bother me Ethan” 

“I don’t even understand why he wouldn’t like you” he says, “honestly I was terrified he was going to try and hook up with you or something. That would fucking suck” he says making me laugh

“Wow” I say laughing

“Well, we got something weird going on” he laughs

“Not really”

“We are currently bathing together Y/n” he laughs again and I laugh along

“Sooo. Some besties bath together” 

“Sure, but typically they have the same anatomy AND how many of them happen to have their dick slide down the others throat” he says making us both laugh. 

“Well don’t worry, I have no intentions on even being the idiots friend”

[bonefall]

Honestly, I think it could be interesting having Thunder's siblings be old enough to at least interact with him before he left. Seems like a prime way to display how bad parents like Clear Sky turn their kids against each other if it benefits them sometimes- especially when they won't play their games anymore. Plus, it'd be interesting to see them interact with Sparrow Fur, and how she'd feel about them.

I think I've got an interesting direction in mind, to tie in the new family.

Clear Sky Baby Expansion: Draft 1

Thunder Storm is the firstborn. All others in his litter are stillborn, as previously stated.

Ages are shuffled around a bit in BB. Thunder Storm is looking at about 1 year old when he goes to train under Clear Sky, encouraged by his mother.

It's only here that he learns that he has half siblings. They're significantly younger, a little under 6 months.

Their mother is pretty clearly not close to Clear Sky, and treated like most other cats. Thunder Storm pieces together that her life was a lot better when his halfsibs were younger, but it seems like Clear Sky lost interest in them pretty quickly.

Something about this makes him uncomfortable; but he doesn't have the words yet to say that he feels like she has been used and discarded

NOTE: I am planning for the relationship between Thunder Storm and this character to be generally positive, but in a sad way. "I don't know how to say you deserve better without calling my dad a piece of shit."

Tiger Sky and Pale Sky, notably, do not carry their mother's last name. This is very rare for Tribe cats, it's customary to do an even split.

They're also both girls, since there's no stated gender.

Clear badly plays favorites, and has chosen Thunder Storm as his current favorite because he is the largest, most charismatic kit.

Thunder thinks the two younger kids are brats at first, but then realizes, that's the only way they get attention

I may have Pale or Tiger take the role of Fircone; Thunder thinks he's close with them, but they turned the minute they could get a step ahead in their relationship with their dad... and Tall Shadow merc'd them in the First Battle, not knowing that she was Thunder's half-sister.

Clear Sky is unfortunately very unkind to the surviving twin. "We all fought our hardest in the First Battle. If you had been stronger you might have saved her."

This also becomes a thing he uses as a method of control :/ "I'm just trying to keep you safe! I never want to lose another child like how I lost your twin! I hope you never feel what I feel!"

Tiger: "i guess i wont go hang out with my friends because it reminds my dad of my sister dying, which was actually my fault <:("

Tiger Sky will PROBABLY be the survivor because I like the name more.

Eventually Skystar has another litter, Rumble Sky and Lightning Sky (Note: still not named for their mother), after being betrayed by Star Flower.

It is noted that he did not even consider a name for the lost twin and it's pretty weird they have names related to Thunderstar.

Sparrow Heart betrays ThunderClan for SkyClan before the First Battle, and so definitely had to compete against both twins.

[amidstnamjin-and-binchanlix]

i wanna see the sun rise (on your sins, just me and you)

Warnings: Uhhh. Not much. Just some v v light angst, and mentions of hospitalization and stuff, also inaccuracies because i'm not a doctor (no matter how much my parents want me to be lmao)

Pairings: Bangtan Boys | BTS Ensemble/Reader, Kim Seokjin | Jin/Reader, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Reader, Park Jimin (BTS)/Reader, Jeon Jungkook/Reader, Jackson Wang/Reader

Plot: Regrets don't always come in the end, and they're hell-bent in making it right this time

Genre: light angst

'Cause I wanna touch you baby

And I wanna feel you too

I wanna see the sun rise

On your sins just me and you

Light it up, on the run

Let's make love tonight

Make it up, fall in love, try

Baby, I am right here

mixtape: all i have left to give - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - ending 1

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK hi hello i have nothing else to say except my world is falling apart and me writing is saving me a little see you again in a few months!

🌇

"How is she?"

Seokjin is tempted not to answer the question directed at him. So much has happened today, and his nerves are shot from everything that had transpired. If only he listened to his common sense, if only he fought for you. If only, if only.

"Hyung—"

He pulls his wrist away from Hoseok's grasp, ignoring the hurt painted in the younger's eyes when he does so.

"Why don't you go see her and find out for yourself?"

"I don't think—"

"Don't think what, Hoseok? That she's worth fighting for? That this shit's been dragging for too long and that maybe, just maybe, she deserves better than what we're doing to her."

Hoseok hangs his head in shame.

"I stand by what I said. This is no time to be neutral about it. You and Jimin, what did she ever do to the two of you to let the others get their way?"

Seokjin sighs heavily.

"She never asked anything from us, she did things for us that we didn't even know about without shoving it in our faces. She never even asked us to love her, but we do. I do, Hoseok. I love her, no matter how much you all beg me not to."

Seokjin tilts Hoseok's face tenderly.

"I do love her, Hobi. Don't you, too?"

Hoseok knows to himself that he does.

Seokjin is wrong. Hoseok's never really been neutral at all. Stoic about it, yes; he didn't want to break apart the group, after all. But in his heart, he slowly but surely fell in love with you. There's nothing neutral about it, he just learned how to be quiet about it.

In the times he sees you (without you seeing him), he sees your kindness shine. In your industry and this cutthroat world, you never let those old money sons of bitches trample on you, but he has yet to see you be as callous and evil even towards those who deserve it.

He remembers seeing you almost cry in indignance when a project went wrong and threatened employment displacement for those who are not at fault, even when they're not your employees. He had been watching and listening in secret from afar, but he could see how you wanted to burn your office to the ground when you knew that taking an important and needed step would mean that hundreds of families might potentially lose stable income.

He had seen you go undercover in the middle of the night so you could almost buy out an entire convenience store, just so you could feed the homeless one cold night.

He had seen you adopt your (now nth) cat Nori because you had seen it lost and without its mother on the sidewalk.

He had seen you love them from afar and mask it when they're around, even when it hurts him to watch too because that's all he can do when his hands are tied and he's had to keep it to himself or risk hurting their group.

He's seen you love them unconditionally, but not beg an ounce of it back because that's how love should be.

He loves you for your kindness, and everything in between.

"It's okay to love her too," Seokjin says in his silence. "It's the right thing to do, Hobi. We don't have to get scared anymore, not when she would go to lengths to give us what she thinks we want.

"But I don't want that." Seokjin drops his hand, sniffing lightly. "I don't want to lose her, not before I can even love her properly. I never wanted that."

"I don't want that, too, but the others—"

"Will come around eventually on their own. It's not our responsibility to do it for them." Seokjin says.

"And if they don't?" Hoseok asks, eyes wide with questions.

Seokjin sighs. "Then we can do nothing for them. It'll be a regret they will have to carry for the rest of their lives."

---

Talking to Jimin went a whole lot easier than expected. He was neutral about the whole thing, but it didn't take long for Seokjin and Hoseok to convince him.

"Hey," Seokjin says in lieu of greeting as Jimin sits on the balcony of his suite. "Can we talk?"

"If this is about what I think it is, I'd rather—"

"Please, Chim." Hoseok is the one who speaks this time. "Hear us out first."

"But the group, hyung." Jimin shakes his head. "I can't risk losing anyone of you."

"On what, the expense of someone else's life? She nearly died, Jimin." He ignores the gasps from both Jimin and Hoseok's lips. "She nearly died."

"What?" Hoseok speaks again. "You never told me this."

Seokjin sighs, his eyes shutting in pain as his mind flashes back to your prone figure lying on the hospital bed. "Yeah," he croaks. "She had to undergo surgery due to some heart damage, and she's in a coma right now."

"Coma?!" Hoseok and Jimin shout in unison. "What do you mean 'coma'?" Jimin stutters.

"She has to recover, so they put her there to help her heal..." Seokjin trails off.

When Seokjin doesn't continue, Hoseok asks, "But?"

"She's still in critical condition. They're not sure if she'll wake up."

"When she'll wake up," Hoseok tries to correct, but Seokjin shakes his head.

"If, Hobi. She had been so sick that she nearly died."

Silence befalls the three of them.

"How's Jungkook?" Jimin eventually asks, to which Seokjin shakes his head gloomily.

"He didn't take it too well. He got into a fight with Jackson."

"That asshole, again?!" Jimin bursts out but Seokjin stops him.

"As much as it pains me to say this, he has more rights to be there than we frankly do. Maybe legally as much, too."

"What?" Hoseok asks. "What do you mean by that?"

"I can't go into technicalities right now. My brain's too fried." Seokjin rubs his aching temples. "But when we left her, Jackson was there for her. She trusts him with everything, and I can't blame her."

"So we can't go see her?" Hoseok whimpers.

"We can." The other two sigh in relief. "But we can't touch her."

"Fuck that, I don't care if I have to put my fist against Jackson's fa—"

"It's not that." Seokjin shakes his head for the nth time that night. "We'll burn her skin. It's a side effect of her treatment."

Jimin can't even describe the emptiness he's feeling right now. When it comes to you, he has always chosen not to get too involved, not when he thinks it can tear their group apart. He doesn't want that, so better be safe than sorry.

Right now, however, he thinks that what was supposed to be safe turned out to be the biggest sorry.

"I'm sorry," Jimin whispers. "It wouldn't be like this had I not been detached from this."

Hoseok shakes his head. "We're all at fault here, remember? We all agreed to this, so there's no sense taking that burden by yourself." But even he feels the same way, the regret heavy in his gut.

"So what do we do now?" They both turn to Seokjin. "We're not banned from seeing her, are we?" Hoseok asks.

"No," Seokjin says firmly. "It would take more than that to ban us by law. We're still her soulmates, after all."

"Can we go visit her?" Jimin asks.

"Not right now, Chim." Seokjin smiles sadly. "We all had a long day, and we still have a lot of things to talk about, so I suggest we take some rest. Okay?"

Hoseok and Jimin look ready to disagree, but both sigh in defeat. Unbeknownst to them, Taehyung is listening in to the whole conversation. When he hears the suggestion to take some rest, he quickly but silently exits out of the room.

---

They all slept fitfully that night. Every time Seokjin tries to close his eyes, all he sees is your figure lying helplessly on your hospital bed. When his body eventually gives in to exhaustion, he dreams of losing you over and over again.

It was horrendous.

He wakes up to a weight on his chest, figuratively and literally.

Jungkook has his arm slung over Seokjin's waist, head tucked between his shoulder and neck. He's sniffling, clearly crying.

"Come 'ere." Seokjin wraps his arm around Jungkook's shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."

"We don't know that," Jungkook sniffs.

"It will be." Seokjin squeezes his arm gently. "We're not yet done making it up to her, so it will be. We haven't even started yet, so we can't lose hope. Not right now, not when she needs us."

"I just want her to be okay," Jungkook sobs.

"And I do, too. But all we can do right now is fight for her." He kisses Jungkook's hair, petting it gently to calm him down. "We can't afford to lose hope if we need to fight for her. Okay?"

Jungkook nods.

"We can visit her again soon. You and me, and Jimin and Hobi."

Jungkook pulls away slightly. "They will?"

Seokjin nods, and Jungkook puts his head back on his chest. "I talked to them last night. It was pretty easy to convince them."

If only it is easy to convince all of them, the thought hangs heavy in the air.

"Hyung?" Jungkook asks after a while. Seokjin just hums. "Do you ever think of what could have been if we didn't turn her away?"

"All the time," Seokjin admits. "I try not to because it's painful, but I always do.

"She's not hard to love." Seokjin swallows the pain in his throat, willing himself not to cry. "She's lovely and kind, and she never once asked us to love her back. That's what stands out the most for me because that love is unconditional."

A tear finally falls from his eye.

"I cannot imagine what pain she went through at all, and I still can't bring myself to because if I do, it'll be the end for me." He shakes his head. "She nearly died because of love—it was supposed to be the other way around. It was supposed to breathe life into you."

"Hyung..." Jungkook whimpers.

"I'm sorry," Seokjin says as he wipes the tears from his eyes. He doesn't know if he's saying sorry for crying, or for the things he failed to do for you.

"I feel like I don't deserve to cry because I failed her."

"That's not true, hyung. You didn't fail her. We'll still fight for her, won't we? That's not failing her."

Seokjin doesn't answer.

"I love you, hyung."

He hugs Jungkook tighter. "I love you too, Kook-ah."

---

The first thing that Seokjin does in the morning is to call Sejin, which was apparently expected of him because Sejin didn't even bat an eyelash, just agreed to come over and talk.

"Hear me out first, please," Seokjin says first thing when he arrives.

Sejin stares him down before sighing in defeat. "I already know where this is heading, Seokjin. I've seen you grow up and I know you better than yourselves sometimes."

"I know, Sejin-nim. But I can't, for the life of me, not try to make things right."

Sejin shakes his head. "You've fucked around, and all of you found out. This is what this is. I can't undo this for you this time."

"I'm not asking you to undo it, Sejin-nim. I'm just asking for your help. We just want to see her as much as we can."

Sejin's expression is pinched.

"She specifically asked not to let you interact with her unless it's for work. My hands are tied."

Seokjin shakes his head, desperation bleeding from his tired eyes. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her. We'll be out of there before she even wakes up."

"I—"

"Please, Sejin-nim. She doesn't even need to know."

Sejin takes a moment to respond. He takes a look at the kid he helped raise, at the tired slope of his shoulders and the despair in his eyes.

"Okay." However, before Seokjin can even react, Sejin raises his hand, "But, I have to warn you not to do stupid shit like picking fights with Jackson, as tempting as that sounds. His camp warned us last night."

"We're her soulmates," Seokjin says.

"But Jackson is made next of kin, and he can have you hauled out of the room if he wants to. He just chooses not to for [Name]. So please, be the sensible one."

Seokjin sighs in relief and nods. "Thank you, Sejin-nim."

"Are you taking Jungkook with you?" Sejin asks.

"And Hoseok and Jimin," Seokjin lists. "I'll have them behave, I promise."

Sejin's eyebrows raise at that. "You talked to them?"

Seokjin nods. "Last night. It was pretty easy considering they're both neutral about everything."

"How about the others?"

A shake of the head. "I haven't talked to them," Seokjin says softly. "I can't face them just yet."

Sejin just looks at him and nods. "I understand."

"Can you please ensure that Jackson's not there every time we visit her?"

Sejin nods. "That's easy, but I can't promise that every time. Jackson can only stay or visit for a few days because of his world tour. He's also gearing up for his new album, I think. I'll have to check that out."

Seokjin only nods. He'll take what he can have with you, and he's not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I also need to talk to her soul therapist," Seokjin says. "I have to know if there is something we can do to help her heal faster."

Sejin narrows his eyes.

"Is that really all, Seokjin?" When Seokjin opens his mouth to refute him, Sejin shakes his head at him. "I just said I know you better than yourself sometimes. This is one of those times."

Fuck.

How can he tell Sejin that he wants to be able to love you wholly and alive without the therapy present? He knows he can't do it with you undergoing the soul-scraping therapy, so he can only think of one way to do it.

"I... I want to know if there is any way her therapy treatments can be stopped." Seokjin swallows. "I can't let her suffer any longer than she already had. I want it to stop."

Sejin tsks. "You do realize that it can't be stopped like that, can it? It cannot be reversed like that. She's under research, for heaven's sake!"

"We don't know that!" Seokjin exclaims. "Maybe it can be stopped, and she can heal slowly. Treatments are being stopped when not working all the time!"

"It is working, and it is not your decision to make, Seokjin!" Sejin's temper flares. "It's not your call to make, not your decision or say, and not your signature on the damn dotted line. Regardless if you're her soulmate, I won't let you do that to her because that's breaking her trust."

"Letting her die is breaking her trust?!"

"Think twice before you say anything further if I were you, Seokjin." Sejin shakes his head in disbelief. "Who put her there in the first place, me? I was merely a messenger."

And he's right, isn't he? It's not Sejin's fault after all. Sejin puts his hands on Seokjin's shoulders gently.

"I understand and want your happiness too, Seokjin. But it's not our call to make." Sejin pauses. "What if this is what she's happy with? Would you take this from her just to make yourself happy?"

"B—but she's dying!" Seokjin sputters. "I don't care about my happiness at this point. I'd rather she hate me alive than see her die."

"It'll be up to the doctors to do their job, and we have to trust them, okay? She'll be okay. She's a fighter, she'd get through this alive."

Seokjin can only nod in defeat.

"I can set up an appointment with Dr. Im, but that's all I can do. I doubt he'll let you stop the treatments, and that's all we can do at this point."

"Okay, Sejin-nim." Seokjin smiles weakly at him. "Thank you."

"Now go get some more rest. God knows you need it."

---

"Jackson's going to be there, so please no picking fights." When none of the four men in the car answers, Sejin continues. "I'm looking at you, Jungkook."

"Yes, Sejin-nim."

"For her sake, let's keep it civil. I've talked to his camp, and they promised to keep him in check, but regardless if he picks a fight, don't be baited."

"Yes, Sejin-nim," they all repeat.

It had been a week since they last saw you. They've been trying to visit more frequently, but they still have appearances and commitments they need to fulfill. It's hard, playing pretend like everything is fine, especially with the other three, but they have no choice or everything will fall apart.

Sejin had been giving the same pep talk every time their visit overlapped with Jackson's. No matter how it grates them, what with Jackson's side comments, they have to endure it. Anything just to see you.

The first visit almost didn't go well. Jackson had been there and it had been bearable, yes, but Hoseok and Jimin didn't expect what they would find when they arrived.

Their reactions were similar if not the same as how Jungkook and Seokjin reacted the first time they saw you. They did this to you, how can they possibly make it up to you in this state?

"Now you know what you did," Jackson says, "you can leave her alone and never come back."

But the boys are anything but weak-willed.

They had been visiting as much as they could, much to Jackson's anger. Not that he can do anything about it. Being next of kin can only give him so much power over them being your soulmates.

"Here again?" Jackson sneers once they reach your room. "You're not needed here, and you're not welcome here either, so why don't you all just leave?"

Seokjin's jaw ticks but he says nothing, just sits on the comfy sofa of your presidential suite. Hoseok silently replaces the flowers in the vase with the ones he brought just for you. Sunflowers, he knows you like them and it suits you just as well.

"Jackson," his manager says. "You're needed for the shoot in an hour. We need to go."

Jackson huffs in annoyance and the four men can barely keep their glee off their faces.

"Fine. But we'll be back later, yes?"

His manager nods tiredly, apparently desperate to hurry him out of there.

Jackson stands by your bedside and caresses your hair softly before leaning down to kiss you on the forehead with a tender smile on his face. "I'll be back later, okay? Wait for me." You didn't respond, the machines around you beeping in your silence.

It takes all of Jungkook not to punch him in the face for the blatant display of affection, knowing the other men present can't do it with you.

Jackson leaves but not before sparing you a longing glance.

"I want to punch him in the face," Jungkook says once Jackson left. "I won't, but I want to."

"Please don't," Seokjin says tiredly. "Sejin-nim made us promise."

"And besides, his world tour will start in a few days, Kook-ah." Hoseok says, trying to cheer the youngest. "Just a few days, okay? You won't have to see his face for months after that."

Jungkook just smiles weakly, happy at the prospect of seeing you freely without that asshole hanging around like a pest.

It's then that Doctor Choi comes in.

"Ah, gentlemen. You're here again," he smiles at them. It will never stop stinging, the way the doctor always seems surprised seeing them every time they visit you. It's not for no reason, they know, but it will always hurt nonetheless. They all give their greetings and give way for the doctor to make his examination, Jimin giving out their gloves. Once Doctor Choi is done, he turns to face them.

"I would normally ask where the Next of Kin is but seeing as he's not present and you're her soulmates, it should be fine."

"Why, Doctor-nim? Is anything wrong with [Name]?" Jungkook asks anxiously.

The doctor smiles at them and shakes his head. "Not at all. In fact, I have some good news."

They all perk up at that.

"Miss [Last Name] has been responding well to the treatments so far, so we've decided to take her out of her coma."

Relief floods through the four other men in the room.

"Really?" Seokjin asks hopefully. "So she'll wake up soon?"

"Hopefully, yes. She should start waking up soon once we administer the drug to wake her up."

"Thank you so much, Doctor-nim." Hoseok smiles widely for the first time in what feels like ages.

"Mr. Kim, I believe you have an appointment with Doctor Im, yes?" Doctor Choi asks Seokjin.

"Yes, Doctor-nim. Is he in?"

"Yes, he is. He asked to let you know that he'll be speaking with you later."

"Thank you, Doctor-nim."

When Doctor Choi leaves, all three men turn to Seokjin.

"What was that about, hyung?" Jimin asks.

"Nothing you guys should worry about." When they stare at him skeptically, he sighs. "Seriously, it's nothing you should be worried about. I just want to ask some questions about [Name]'s treatments."

The other three thankfully decide to let it go.

They all fuss over you as much as they are allowed to but Jungkook is notably silent.

"Hey," Hoseok says quietly to Jungkook. "You alright?"

Jungkook smiles weakly. "Yeah."

Hoseok shakes his head. "You don't need to lie to hyung."

Jungkook looks at him and bites his lower lip. "It's just that once [Name] wakes up, we might not see her as much as we want to."

Hoseok falls silent at that. He honestly hadn't thought of it that way. Seokjin, having caught their conversation, shakes his head.

"No," he says firmly. "Don't think of it that way because we will find a way."

"But—"

"No 'buts'," Seokjin shakes his head. "We can't give up just yet, no matter what."

Seokjin's right, they can't give up just yet. If every setback will deter them, they will get nowhere in making it up to you.

Their silence is broken when Seokjin is called by Sejin for his appointment with Doctor Im. When he leaves, Jungkook asks the one question plaguing their mind.

"What do you think it is for?"

Jimin shrugs, completely at a loss himself. He had been noticing Seokjin being out of sorts these past few days, but he chalked it up to him worrying over [Name]'s health, as well as the group's well-being.

"I can't see any other reason other than him checking up on [Name]'s condition. It's not like he'll be signing up for the soul-scraping therapy himself, I know he won't." Hoseok says seriously. "We'll just have to trust him when he said it's nothing to worry about."

In a way, they are correct. As Seokjin sits across from Doctor Im in his office, he can't help but feel like he's betraying all of the trust given to him by the people he loves. You, and the rest of the group.

"So Mr. Kim," Doctor Im starts, "I heard from you Manager that you wish to speak to me about Miss [Last Name]. Is that correct?"

Seokjin fidgets in his seat. "Yes, Doctor Im."

Doctor Im levels him with a look, not dissimilar to Manager Sejin on that morning.

"I think I know where this is going, Mr. Kim. Is this about her therapy?"

Seokjin can only nod, feeling like a deer in the headlights. The Doctor sighs.

"If my guess is correct, you would want her to be pulled out, which I unfortunately cannot do. For one, she's in the middle of a worldwide research. And even if she's not, only she can consent to stop the treatments. Otherwise, it will be a breach of patient-doctor confidentiality."

"But will it be a breach if I'm acting on behalf of her as her soulmate?"

Doctor Im, instead of getting angry as he expected, only smiles.

"Unfortunately so, still. Part of the contract for soul-scraping patients states that unless they explicitly step down from the research, nobody can do it on their behalf.

Seokjin's heart drops to his stomach. Doctor Im just smiles softly.

"If you don't mind me overstepping, there was a bond rejection early on between you and Miss [Last Name], isn't there?"

Seokjin nods forlornly. "On our part, regretfully, yes."

"I see." Doctor Im hums. "That's interesting."

Seokjin says nothing.

"I'm afraid I cannot help you with this, Mr. Kim. Unless Miss [Last Name] steps down from the research, we are to continue with her in it. I hope you understand."

"But will it not be dangerous, especially after what happened to her?" Seokjin pauses. "I really don't know how to say this without being disrespectful because I know you're just doing your job, but maybe she can be made aware of what can happen if she continues with the therapy."

Again, instead of getting angry, Doctor Im just chuckles. Seokjin just looks at him like he's grown two heads.

"My apologies," Doctor Im waves him off. "It's just really interesting considering your history with her."

"I had no choice," Seokjin defends himself. "I sadly had no choice, and I didn't know what to do."

"Forgive me for being frank, but you always have a choice. But I do understand now where you're coming from.

"From a professional point of view, you'll be hindering my research and I would have to say no," Doctor Im pauses. "But I've seen enough cases like yours that end in regret and pain more than the freedom the patients thought they'd be getting. And Miss [Last Name], she's so young, way too young to be in this situation."

A terse pause.

"I cannot promise anything, Mr. Kim. I can only tell her what can happen if she wishes to continue with the treatments, but nothing else. Everything else is up to her."

And that is enough for Seokjin. He just hopes you'll stop altogether.

"Thank you, Doctor-nim."

Doctor Im nods with a gentle smile. "I'm aware Doctor Choi spoke to you earlier and told you that we'll administer the drug to wake Miss [Last Name] sometime this week, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"The effects might take some time to manifest, so don't be disappointed if she doesn't wake up right away. Okay?"

"Okay, Doctor-nim."

Seokjin rises from his seat just as Doctor Im rises from his as well.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Doctor Im."

Doctor Im nods kindly.

"No matter what happens, you will always have a choice. That's what I always tell my patients."

"Yes, Doctor-nim."

---

It has been three days since, and they're taking you out of your coma. The boys know you will not wake up right away, but they can't help but feel disappointed when you don't wake up once the drug has been administered.

"What matters right now is she'll be okay," Hoseok says. "She'll be okay."

"Yeah," Seokjin can only hope you'll change your mind about the treatments once you wake up. "She'll be okay."

---

Heavy.

Your body feels heavy the moment you wake up.

You try to speak, but the tubes in your throat prevent you from doing so. You try to lift your arms, but it feels like they're made of lead.

"She's awake! Hyung, she's awake!"

You can't decipher the rest of the words being spoken as you succumb back to the darkness, unaware of the chaos around you.

---

The second time you wake, your body feels a little lighter than before.

There's a mop of curls on your bed and a gloved hand wrapped around yours, the figure appearing to have fallen asleep.

Your eyes are bleary, and you can't see who it is.

"J...Jackson?"

You squeeze the hand around yours and they slowly rouse.

"Jackson...?"

The figure finally wakes.

"You're awake," the deep-voiced figure says. Had you not been drugged and still hazy, you would have noticed the awe in their voice and the emotions being spoken in those two words.

And that the figure is definitely not Jackson.

"You're here." You smile placidly. "You're here."

The figure nods, face obscured by the darkness of the room. Only the light of the lamp by the corner illuminates the otherwise dark room.

"I'm here."

"Not dead?" you ask.

The figure shakes their head.

"No. Thankfully not."

You nod, the last vestiges of your consciousness slowly slipping.

"Don't... don't leave."

Silence.

"Don't leave, m'kay?"

The figure nods again.

"I won't this time."

Satisfied, you fall back to sleep.

----

*cardi b's voice* wha' is that?????

[theroundbartable]

i completely understand what you're talking about with your dad vs your gf's dad. my mom is like your dad and i've lived my whole life on constant damage control to try to avoid getting screamed at and called an idiot. when i first started hanging out with my best friend like 6 years ago now, i was terrified to actually hang out with him in his home bc he lived with his mom and i was just...scared of all moms i guess bc of my own. but i met her and she was wonderful and i remember one of the first nights i was hanging out with them, i bumped into their coffee table and the whole thing just collapsed. i immediately started panicking, saying i would fix it or buy them a new one and holding back tears and she just kinda stopped me and looked at me for a second then gave me a big hug and was like "hey. it's just a table. it's old as shit anyways, it's okay." and we got to talking. turns out she had a mom like mine and she saw that same panic and fear in me and we both cried and hugged and from that day on she was my mom too. me and my friend taped the table leg back together and we've had to fix it a few times since but it's still standing all taped together and shit. and...yeah. it's wild to see how there are parents that are so different from our own.

Thank you for your kind words I hope you're doing better with all that's been going on.

But I also feel kind of guilty now. I feel constantly like being too harsh on my dad. Because I do understand him. Because he's trying very hard to keep our relationship together and he's reflecting and I genuinely believe that when he says he's at fault (even if he's loud about it), he's not trying to be manipulative, he actually means that, he's just frustrated.

I know that my dad was abused as a child by his own dad, even though he doesn't want to acknowledge that to himself. He took care of his dad til the man died and he's never complained while the man was alive nor talked bad about him (that I know of). My dad told me that he tried the entire time while I was young to be a better dad than his, one who doesn't punch us to a pulp in front of our own friends. But there were also times when he didn't know what to do, so he threatened me, beat my younger brother for staying up too late and my second older brother for refusing to eat vegetables and going to church. When he threatened me, I could tell that he felt guilty and let up almost immediately when I started crying. I think my oldest brother was except from all that because he lived in the attic at the time, far away enough to not be affected by it. He also wasn't around for the other stuff that happened outside of my parents' supervision but that's a different story. I just don't think he's as traumatised as the rest of us.

I also blame my mom sometimes because she is a social worker and trained for raising children, so she should have communicated better with him, because she knew what he was doing and let him. (My mom chose to marry my dad because he's her best friend who didn't get jealous when she hung out with other people and she felt safe with him, so it's not like she was afraid of him. They are actually quite wholesome together. They never fought either. When it comes to that, I actually see them as a rolemodel.)

Now that I'm older, I've confronted both of them. On my account, on my brothers account and I'm trying hard to explain to them what their behavior cost me in terms of trust issues and all that kind of stuff. And they are listening.

They are upset sometimes, they sometimes need time to understand it, they are hurt when I keep telling them my childhood was terrible (except for puberty, which is ironic but true because that's when everyone else also got depression and frustration and that made me feel understood.) But they do listen and they do try to respect my needs and they don't hate me or punish me for calling them out. They just thought I'd been happier. And it hurts them to know I wasn't.

That also means I establish boundaries. And when I do, I realize that I sound just as frustrated and resigned as my dad does when they are breached. I told him I don't want comments while I'm cooking because it makes me anxious to cook again, and then he comments about what I could put in the pot and I just freeze and get that defiant monotonous voice and then he leaves the room. I told my dad to call me by my chosen name and he couldn't understand it, so I tried explaining it but he thinks it's stupid. Still, he's trying to call me by that name. He's getting better at it too. Once, I came home while he was on the phone and he told the person on the other end 'Rai is home' and that was the first time in years that I offered him a hug.

What I mean to say is, my dad has a lot of flaws, but he's trying and I feel like I'm making his life so much harder when I complain so much about all the little things. He needs someone to listen to himself and I feel like he doesn't get that at home either.

I am at a point now where I should be letting up a bit and listen in turn, but it's so hard to fight automatic responses. And I understand that that's what my parents are trying to fight too.

It's complicated and messy. But I'm not afraid of my parents. I used to be, but not anymore. Some of my trust issues weren't caused by them, but they did affect our relationship and I'm trying to remedy that.

I just felt like I should also point out their good side because I feel like I'm only venting and showing their bad side here. They are also supportive in their own overly concerned way, and there is a reason why we still eat dinner together as a family.

I don't know what I hope for you. Whether it's that you get away from your problems or that you manage to solve them. I don't know enough about your situation to know what it is you need, but I hope whatever it is, that you have it now.

I also feel a bit guilty for making you say all that and then go and backtrack on what I said about my dad. I apologize for that. I do feel that it isn't quite fair to compare our situations. It's not fair to you, and I don't think it's fair to my dad, and maybe that's exactly what someone would say who's not actually ready to acknowledge they've been abused and maybe it's unfair to say this to someone who merely tried to show compassion and empathy to my situation. I don't know. It's confusing but I don't know.

Thank you again so much for your ask and I hope I didn't blow it all up with this irritating response. 🥲

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Learning New Things

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-Four

A JSE Fanfic

After the two-part romp of the gang exploring Caverns & Creatures, it's back to business. The kids have exams coming up before winter vacation, so they have to buckle down and study and try to ignore anything supernatural happening. But that proves impossible for JJ and Marvin, as they finally figure out what that strange doll does. And they're not fond of it. Hopefully next chapter we'll reach winter vacation so the kids will be a bit more free :) Big things are planned! We just gotta build up to get there ^-^

More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Even with all the supernatural battles they’d fought since summer, Chase thought that exams were the worst struggle he’d had this year. And this was only for the end of the fall term! He was dreading how much exams would suck  at the end of the school year. November and December flew by in a blur of assignments. He tried to put them off for as long as possible, but not only was Mom constantly asking him about homework, but so was Schneep. “I would be willing to help, if you need it,” he was constantly saying.

Chase turned him down every time. “I’m never gonna figure it out if I get help,” he said. “Besides, you’re also busy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I am always on the top of my class work,” Schneep would reply. “And we have some same classes, I could definitely help with those.”

The first time he said that, Chase said, “Great! Can I see your work, then?” And Schneep slapped his arm and said something about cheating that Chase couldn’t quite make out, since half of it was in German. So Chase learned to quietly accept the help Schneep provided. It felt a bit weird to get help from someone younger than him, but Schneep was really smart, so it wasn’t too weird. Still, there were some times when Schneep was at a loss for how to explain things. Especially with maths. Maths were Chase’s worst subject. The numbers just didn’t click in his brain.

Still, he struggled on. It was so hard to concentrate with the other big thing coming up. That being, only the greatest holiday of the year: Christmas. He couldn’t wait! The lights, the presents, the decorations, the songs! And he had to get presents for Schneep and the others! And maybe he could save up to get something for Mom, too? What did Mom like? Books and stuff, right?

Chase was sure that every single kid out there was as excited for this holiday as he was. But one day, at lunch—

“What do you mean you don’t like Christmas?!” Chase gasped.

Marvin shrugged. “At home, basically every day after our birthday is fucking soaked in Christmas. You saw the lights were up already, right? I’m pretty sure they put those up on November first.”

Usually, yes, but not this year, JJ said. Didn’t you notice? They waited until the day after you were home.

“Uh... not really,” Marvin said. “But that’s, uh, good.” He looked back at Chase. “Anyway, yeah, ‘cause of that I don’t really care about Christmas all that much.”

Me neither, JJ agreed. The best part of Christmas is that our grandma stays with us until New Year’s. Other than that? I’m not a fan.

Chase stared at them in disbelief. He looked at Stacy. “What about you?”

“Uhhhh... I-I don’t have any... strong feelings,” Stacy said awkwardly.

“How can you not have strong feelings?!” Chase turned to Schneep. “Come on, Schneep! Christmas is great! Like—you’ve gone to our family Christmas parties in America! I’ve seen you there!”

“Well, Mama and Papa would fly us over for the party, and then we would sleep in a hotel and leave the first thing the next morning,” Schneep said.

“Huh? Well... I guess I never really saw you guys hanging around...” Chase and his parents would always fly to his grandparents’ house a week before the actual party, doing stuff in town and spending time with the rest of the family who would gradually show up over the following days. He realized he never did see Schneep or his parents there outside of the party on Christmas Eve. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t been close with Schneep before Mom took him in. “You guys would fly back on Christmas morning? What about opening presents?”

Schneep looked down at the table. “Most of Christmas was Papa’s business things. If I was good during the time, I-I would... get my present at the end of the day...” He slowly trailed off.

Chase clenched his fists, angry, and then took a deep breath and nudged Schneep beside him. “Well I can show you how Mom and me do things this year, then! It’s so much better than that!” Schneep smiled softly.

“So, you guys are gonna fly to America for Christmas?” Stacy asked.

“Uh... I dunno,” Chase said. “We usually do, we leave right after exams are done. But, uh, a while ago Mom asked me how I’d feel about staying here this year. And I... said I’d be fine with that.” He shrugged, trying to look unbothered about it. He would really miss the Christmas party this year. But... it wouldn’t be the same without his dad there, too. And since the party was on Mom’s side of the family, he probably wasn’t going to be there.

“Aunt Jess asked me something similar,” Schneep said quietly.

“Winter holiday would fucking suck without you guys,” Marvin said.

Yes, I agree, JJ said.

Stacy frowned. “You should add, like, ‘no pressure’ to the end of that or something.”

No pressure, JJ added. Then he blinked, looking momentarily confused, but dismissed it.

“Well, ah, moving on from Christmas,” Schneep said. “Have you all figured out anything more about the strange doll?”

JJ glanced to the side—no doubt looking towards his locker. Apparently the doll would show up in his bag if he carried it around school with him, but if he left his bag in his locker it would stay there.

“Well, uh, last night we tried seeing if a knife did anything to it,” Marvin said.

“What?!” Stacy gasped.

“It didn’t, don’t worry,” Marvin said. “But then again, we didn’t do too much. We just kinda... pressed it against the doll. Didn’t cut through the cloth or anything. But! JJ couldn’t feel that.” JJ nodded. “So it’s probably fine. He also didn’t feel it when we dropped the doll out the window again. Or stacked books on top of it.”

“And... you two just did this on your own?” Schneep asked, worried.

We were careful! JJ said.

“What if something worked?! You would be hurt!”

“It’d be fiiiine, we were careful!” Marvin said. “Very slow about it. JJ was able to stop things if he started feeling weird.”

“You guys are crazy,” Stacy muttered.

“I mean... I guess if it worked?” Chase figured, gesturing vaguely. “Anyway. You guys notice any grown-ups who might be in the Circle watching you or anything?”

JJ shrugged. I think... the attention has started to fade, maybe.

“We’ll be able to go back to normal stuff once we reach winter holiday!” Marvin said cheerfully. “And once the fucking exams are over—fucking hell, I always forget how much I hhhate them.”

“If you are in trouble of failing, I could try to help you learn,” Schneep offered.

“Nah—you guys are a year below us, your shit is all different,” Marvin said. “Thanks, though. I don’t think I’ll fail anything, but... uh...” Marvin trailed off. For a moment, he looked... afraid. Not mortally afraid, but still. There was fear in his expression. Chase knew immediately what it meant. He was afraid that he actually would fail something.

“Well, uh, getting bad grades isn’t the end of the world,” Chase said awkwardly. “I did really bad on my exams last year. I, uh... couldn’t study.” Couldn’t bring himself to study. He ended up spending most of April and May lying in bed and feeling bad. Maybe he should’ve tried a bit harder? “B-but I ended up alright!” he hurriedly added, partly to push away his own doubtful thoughts.

I’m helping Marvin, don’t worry, JJ said. He smiled. He’s not going to get bad grades if I can help it.

Marvin laughed. “Yeah. And, uh... really thanks for that, JJ.”

Of course. You’re my brother.

“Do you think Jackie could tutor you guys?” Stacy asked.

“He’s probably busy,” Marvin said. “He’s in sixth form this year, right? That’s gotta be a lot of schoolwork. But I guess we can ask if things get really fucking bad.”

Chase frowned. “I still don’t really understand what sixth form is... even though I’ve lived here for years now, I just don’t get it. Is it like... a different school? But it happens in the same building?”

“Yeah, I think it’s special stuff to help you prepare for like... going to uni and shit,” Marvin said, frowning. “Well, whatever. We don’t have to deal with that for a couple years. And Jackie’s smart. I’m sure he’s doing good even if it’s a lot.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Chase nodded. Jackie was really cool and smart. He was probably dealing with exams better than most of them.

++++++++++++++++++++

“I’m so fucking dumb,” Jackie said, slamming his head down on the open textbook.

“You’re not dumb,” Fengge said reassuringly. “You’re just not good at taking notes.”

“Because taking notes is booooriiiiing,” Jackie groaned.

He was with the rest of his friends, sitting around a table in Fengge’s house. His parents had a full-on library attached to the side of their house. Well... it was a single room with floor-to-ceiling bookcases surrounding it. But there were still a lot of books in here! And the bookcases lent the room a sort of soundproofing, so the friend group tended to gather here when it came time to study.

“I’m with you,” Missy said, idly doodling on a corner of her notebook. “Not fun. And not all that helpful.”

“Studies show that note-taking is very helpful, actually,” Rama muttered. “Otherwise I would not remember how to calculate the area of a... uh... an ellipses.”

“Pi times semimajor axis times semiminor axis,” Sylvester said.

“Whoa! You know that off the top of your head, Syl?” Missy said, eyes wide. “Impressive!”

“It’s, uh, really not.”

“Smart and good at Gym—you’re a rare breed, Sylvester Shepard!” Missy said, leaning close to him.

Sylvester frowned. “...I feel like all smart people should be offended by that.”

“Oh, uh.” Missy slowly leaned back “I didn’t mean it like that. I just... think you’re great.”

“Oh. Um, thanks.”

“You two need a room,” Celine muttered.

While his friends bantered, Jackie lifted his head and stared down at the textbook. Why did he need to take Biology again? He didn’t want to have a job that would need it... maybe. He thinks. What did he want his future job to be? The question stuck in his head for a while before it slowly fell out, a thick syrup like all the rest of his current thoughts. He could think about his future later. Right now, his present was full of homework. Come on, concentrate. What was something important about Biology that he remembered? The structure of an animal cell... “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” he muttered.

“Maybe we take a break,” Fengge said, reaching over to close Jackie’s textbook for him. The pages gently slapped Jackie’s cheek, since his head was still pretty close to the book.

“I’m fine, I can keep going,” Jackie said, putting a hand in the book as he sat up so Fengge couldn’t fully close it.

“Yeah, no, clearly not,” Ram said. “Breaks are good for you, Jackie.”

“Welp. I’m all for it.” Missy closed her notebook. “Now what d’we do during the break?”

“We could... watch a movie?” Sylvester said.

“That break sounds a little too long,” Celine said. She put her books down and moved them into a little stack. “Let’s just chat. I actually wanted to tell you something, Jackie.”

“Hmm?” Jackie perked up. “What is it?”

“You’re still looking for that Jack guy, right?”

Jackie immediately sat up straight. “Yeah?”

“Well I talked to my brother, Mr. Student Body,” Celine said. “He said that when Jack’s parents had to pull him out they were required to give a moving address. To prove they’re moving out of range. I guess. He said it’s probably still in the records, so that the school can send them letters.”

“Why would the school want to send a former student letters?” Sylvester asked. “I know universities do that, but... our school?”

Celine shrugged. “It’s what he said.”

Jackie’s mind was racing. “Do you think you could...? Do you think I could ask your brother for...?”

Celine grinned. “He wouldn’t tell you, Jackie. But fortunately, I have myself some ways.” She wriggled her fingers mystically. “I can figure it out for you... for a price.” That last part was added in a spooky voice.

“I’m not giving you thirty pounds,” Jackie said, straight-faced.

“Twenty?”

“Fifteen.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Done.” Jackie reached into his pocket and dug around for his wallet. He opened it up, took out a few loose bills, and handed over seven. “The rest on completion.”

“Hehehe.” Celine grinned. “That’s fair.”

Sylvester watched this all happen. “You guys freak me out sometimes.”

“But you looove us,” Jackie said teasingly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Why are you so curious about Jack McLoughlin, anyway, Jackie?” Ram asked. “Is it because of the name incident?”

“Uh... I just want to talk to him about some stuff,” Jackie said. “I... think he could help with it.”

“Hmm. That is fair.”

A moment passed in silence. “We could ask my mom for snacks,” Fengge said, looking towards the library door. “That would probably help with everything.”

“Oooo snacks!” Missy said. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

The group got up and headed out of the room towards Fengge’s kitchen. Jackie tried to keep his face neutral. If they could reach Jack, they could see if he really was connected to Anti. And if they could take care of Anti, they could stop these monsters for good. Or at least, stop Anti from getting them forcibly involved with the monsters. The rest? Well... he and the kids would figure it out eventually.

++++++++++++++++++++

Marvin stared at the worksheet sitting before him. He was sitting on the floor of his and Jameson’s shared bedroom, the worksheet sitting on a stack of books that formed a makeshift table. He really wished that they had a desk in their room. Honestly, he was surprised that Mam and Dad hadn’t already gotten one for JJ. But their room was pretty small; he wasn’t sure where a desk would fit, anyway.

A flush echoed down the hallway, and a few moments later, JJ appeared in the doorway. Sorry about that, he said.

“Literally don’t worry about it, it’s so normal,” Marvin said.

JJ sat down next to him. While I was gone, did you figure out the answer?

“Uhhh...” Marvin looked back down at the paper. “It’s... x = 12, right?”

Marvin, this is your World History homework, JJ signed gently.

“I know, I know. Just... thought I’d make a joke.” Marvin smiled weakly at JJ. When JJ didn’t smile back, he sighed, and put his head in his hands. “This fucking sucks, JJ. When am I ever gonna need to know this? I don’t think Chinese dynasties will come up a lot in my life.”

You could have taken English History instead, JJ pointed out.

“But I’ve taken English History every year! We never get any farther than, like, the fucking 1830s.”

Well, maybe this year would’ve been different if you took it, JJ said.

Marvin groaned. “Whatever. Just... help me out with this. It’s... Zhou, Shang, Qin—”

The first two are reversed, actually.

“Fuck.”

JJ smiled. Do you remember that little song I taught you to help with this?

“I do! I just... got the first two reversed.” Marvin groaned.

Let me see your textbook, JJ said.

Marvin pulled it out from the pile, opening it up. “I’m working on this chapter.” Some papers were sandwiched between the pages, covered in graphite writing. His notes. “And here’s what I got.”

JJ looked over the notes. The problem is that you’re being TOO detailed, I think. You’re never going to remember a long sentence like this. You have to jot down something shorter that reminds you of the longer fact. This is why people make acronyms and such.

“But... it all seems important,” Marvin said slowly.

JJ nodded. It does, but if you can remember a fact that’s linked to other facts, then the rest will come to you. Or at least, that’s how it’s always worked for me.

Marvin nodded back. “Alright. So... what should I focus on with this?”

The exam will probably ask you for a bunch of dates, so focus on those, JJ said. So you have to come up with ways to remember all those numbers. For me, I like to—

More footsteps came down the hallway. Dad peered into the open bedroom of their room. “What are you boys working on?” he asked.

“Uh... studying, Dad,” Marvin said.

“Oh really?” Dad smiled. “Working hard, huh? What’re you looking at now?”

“Um, World History,” Marvin said.

“Hmm?” Dad looked confused. “Jameson, I didn’t think you were taking World History.”

JJ blinked. I’m not... he said slowly. ...but I’m helping Marvin.

“Oh? So... you’ve already gotten all your own homework done, then?”

JJ hesitated. He nodded.

“Really?” Dad raised an eyebrow doubtfully. “So if I went down to check on your homework on the table downstairs, your essay would be done?”

Oh shit. The essay. Marvin glanced at JJ worriedly, knowing that he hadn’t even started it. It’s not due until next week, JJ said.

“It’s never good to procrastinate, Jameson. That only leads to sloppy work at the last minute. You need time to edit your writing and double-check that you’re doing the best work you can. You don’t often get second chances in life.” Dad smiled in a... well-meaning way. “Now. Go down and work on your homework and don’t stop until you’re done with that essay.”

JJ stood up right away, nodding, and headed out of the room. Marvin looked after him, surprised at how fast he got up and left. Usually when something like this happened, JJ at least took time to reassure Marvin that he’ll be back later. Or to remind Marvin about some important fact or studying method. Not this time. It was fine, but... confusing. And Marvin would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little hurt, wondering if he’d done something wrong. But it was too late to say anything. JJ was already gone, leaving Dad standing awkwardly in the bedroom doorway. “Well... good luck, Marvin,” Dad said, and went back down the hall towards his and Mam’s bedroom. 

Marvin sighed and looked back at his notes and worksheets.

Meanwhile, JJ was sitting at the kitchen table, pencil in hand, before he even realized what he was doing. He just—got up like that? How rude! He should go back upstairs to apologize to Marvin, at least. And finish what he was telling him. Maybe he could even take his books upstairs with him. Even though he usually left them at the kitchen table so he could do homework on a proper flat surface, it would be better to do homework together, wouldn’t it?

He started to get up.

Or, at least... he tried to.

He pushed the chair back from the table, but when he thought about standing up... his body just didn’t listen. He continued to sit there.

Okay, that was annoying. Come on, JJ. There would be no real consequence to delaying for a moment. Mam and Dad probably wouldn’t even notice if he popped back upstairs. Come on. Stand up.

But his legs wouldn’t move.

Jameson’s eyes widened in alarm. He looked down at the pencil in his hand, and told himself to let go of it. But the result was the same. His fingers stayed wrapped around the wood. He wasn’t gripping it tightly or anything. Just holding it casually. But he couldn’t... let... go.

He stared at his hand, utterly baffled for a moment. And while he did that, he found himself pulling the chair closer to the table. His other hand grabbed a piece of paper from the stack nearby and set it in front of him. And then... the pencil started to move. It pressed to the paper, and his eyes widened as he felt his hand write his name at the top without his intent.

What was this?! What was happening?!

The pencil wrote down his name, the class, and the professor’s name, and then stopped. Desperately, he tried to push back from the table again, but every time he thought about it his body stayed still. His eyes widened and his breathing started to speed up as panic crept up on him. Why?! Why couldn’t he stand up?! He looked around the kitchen, eyes darting, head turning. Was there something strange in here?! No, he couldn’t see anything. His eyes looked back down to the paper. Was he—was he being compelled to do his homework? Why?!

No no no, he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to go back upstairs and help Marvin. This wasn’t due for a while, but Marvin’s worksheet was due the day after tomorrow! He had to help him a bit more, at least!

Why couldn’t he stand up?!

A small whimper came from his throat. He continued to struggle against whatever force was keeping him here, against whatever was keeping him still. But he couldn’t fight it. He thought about crying out for help—Granmam was in the living room, she would hear him before Marvin or his parents did. But, as always, his throat closed up.

Maybe—maybe if he just got through the essay, this would go away? Maybe if he focused long enough to do it, he could get up afterwards? He wasn’t going to be stuck sitting here forever, he couldn’t be!

His vision was starting to blur with tears. Focus! Calm down! Just calm down! He didn’t have to write a good essay, he just had to write something.

Slowly, he took shaking breaths, and tried to concentrate on the words. He just... had to write about... what was he writing about? A book? Right, The Count of Monte Cristo. What prompt had he chosen, again? Something about... morality in the book?

Concentrate, concentrate. Everything would be okay if he could concentrate.

...

...

Time passed. He wrote slower than he usually did, counting the words until he was done, trying to write around wet spots on the paper. Finally, he finished it off with a weak conclusion paragraph. He leaned back, breathing slowly, blinking up at the ceiling. Then he tried to stand up.

It worked. Just as normal. It was so normal, in fact, that for a moment he doubted anything had happened. But no. He would never be able to forget that.

He walked out into the hallway, reaching the staircase—

“Jems!” Granmam was in the hallway already, walking towards the kitchen. Next to her feet, their kitten Sinney wound around her legs. But they both stopped as they saw Jameson, Granmam staring in shock. “Are you alrigh’, lad?”

Jameson was aware that his eyes were red and his face was red. But he couldn’t explain what just happened. He—he didn’t know how to. So he just hurried up the stairs, not looking at her as he climbed.

Marvin had given up on the worksheet and was now lying on Jameson’s bottom bunk, flipping through the instruction manual for his magic kit. He initially didn’t look up as he heard Jameson come in. “Hey, d’you think I could use my greenlight powers to do some of these for real?” he asked. And then he looked up. And he went white. “Wh-what happened?”

Jameson shook his head. I don’t know! I couldn’t move!

“What do you mean?” Marvin sat up straight.

I went down to the table and I couldn’t move I couldn’t stand up and the only way to fix it was to write the essay and I don’t know what it was but it must have been something weird and magic and scary— Jameson’s signs started to fall apart as the panic returned.

“Whoa, whoa, hey!” Marvin quickly scrambled to his feet and walked over to JJ. He put his hands on his shoulders. “Calm down. Breathe, JJ. Please.” His voice was soft. Gentle. A solid anchor to grab onto.

JJ took a few deep breaths and wiped his eyes. It must have been something related to Anti or the greenlight or something. That wasn’t normal.

Marvin shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. Hang on. I-I was thinking about this, and I might be able to sense the greenlight...”

JJ nodded slowly. He knew that Marvin had been practicing on that. So far, he’s been able to pick up on ‘vibes’ from the weird doll and some of the rocks in his collection.

While Marvin closed his eyes, concentrating, JJ heard footsteps come up the stairs. Granmam stopped in the doorway to their bedroom, holding Sinney in her arms. “I was wond’rin’ if you two wanted some playtime with the kitten.”

Marvin’s eyes immediately opened up again. “Sinney!” He went over to the corner, grabbing a cat toy that he’d left there. He dangled it in front of Sinney, and she immediately leapt out of Granmam’s arms and pounced on it.

“Is there anyt’ing else you lads need?” Granmam asked, looking directly at JJ as she said that.

Jameson shook his head. No. But thank you, Granmam.

Granmam smiled. “Any time.” And she headed back downstairs.

JJ waited until she was gone to close the doorway. Then he turned back to Marvin. Did you get any vibes?

“No more than the normal ones,” Marvin said. “From there—” He pointed at his box of rocks. “—and there.” He pointed at the corner where they’d thrown the doll earlier. It was sitting on the floor casually. Like it was relaxing and staring at them.

JJ shivered. He walked over to the doll and turned it around so it was facing the wall instead. And... that’s when he noticed it. Does the doll look... bigger to you?

“Huh?” Marvin looked away from Sinney and towards the doll. “I... guess.” He paused. “It’s not, like, taller, but it does look... bigger? Like there’s more stuffing inside.” His eyes widened. “Do you think the doll did that to you?”

JJ nodded slowly. We HAVE been wondering what it does... 

“Holy shit. It... froze you in place?”

No, that wasn’t exactly what happened. He wasn’t just frozen. He was stuck there until he did his homework. JJ frowned. He had a crazy idea... He didn’t want it to be right, but there was one way to figure out if he was. Tell me to do something, he said.

Marvin blinked. “Huh?”

Tell me to do something, JJ repeated. Something I wouldn’t normally want to do.

“Okay, uh...” Marvin looked down at Sinney. “Meow like a cat.”

“Mew.” JJ’s eyes widened as the sound popped out of his mouth. 

Marvin glanced at him in surprise.

Now see what the vibes from the doll are, Jameson said.

Marvin narrowed his eyes at the doll in concentration. He gasped. “It—there was like, a spike in the vibes. A vibe spike.”

Tell me to do something else! Jameson insisted.

“Um, uh—do ten jumping jacks!”

JJ started jumping immediately. He tried to stop, but just like downstairs, his body didn’t listen to his brain. As he did this, panic on his face, Marvin looked over at the doll again. “Another vibe spike!” he gasped. “The—the doll—it’s—making you do stuff?”

JJ finally finished his jumping jacks, panting. It’s making me do stuff people are telling me to, I think.

“That’s so fucking fucked up!” Marvin gasped. “What the fuck?! And we’re pretty sure the Circle gave this to you, right?! What the fuck?! Why?!”

I don’t know, JJ said. But we need to message the others.

++++++++++++++++++++

“So you’ve never seen a Christmas movie?” Chase pushed. “Like, at all?”

Schneep shook his head. “No, and I am starting to get tired of you and everyone else talking about Christmas all the time.”

“Sorry. It’s just... such an important thing to me, you know?” Chase said. “It’s like... really big and happy and, uh... and good.” He shrugged. “Anyway, you gotta at least see one Christmas movie. Then I’ll leave you alone. Probably. I’ll try, I mean.” He was currently crouched on the floor in front of the TV, looking through their DVDs. Schneep sat on the sofa behind him. In his lap was a textbook and his small plushie bat, Mitternacht. “Uh... We can watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Or these stop motion things, I guess, they’re kinda boring. Nightmare Before Christmas is more of a Halloween one, I think, but we didn’t watch it in October so we could watch it now. Have you heard of any of these at all?”

Schneep shook his head. “No. I am sorry.”

Chase sighed. “Maybe you didn’t have any of these in Germany.”

“No, maybe we did. But my parents did not like me to watch television. Remember?”

“Yeah...” Chase frowned for a moment, then continued looking through the movies. “Oh! A Muppet Christmas Carol! That one’s fun. But my favorite is Home Alone. It’s funny. We can watch that.”

“Do you think I will like it?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah, sure! It’s about this kid who gets left home alone accidentally while his family goes to France for Christmas holiday. While the mom really tries to get back to him, he has to stop some burglars from getting into the house.”

“Ooo.” Schneep leaned closer. “Alright. I am... intrigued.”

Chase laughed. “Intrigued? Fancy word.”

“It means curious... I think. Or, ah... interested?”

“Can’t believe you know more English words than me sometimes,” Chase muttered, setting up the DVD.

Footsteps came down the stairs as Mom arrived in the living room. “What are you boys doing?” she asked. “Are you done with homework?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Chase said. “I’m showing Henrik Home Alone.”

Schneep nodded. He held out the textbook—apparently it was a habit of his to offer for Aunt Jess to check his work.

“Don’t worry about it, Henrik,” Mom said, knowing what he was asking. “Before you two get started, Chase, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, sure.” Chase stood up and walked over.

“Both of you,” Mom continued. She looked back and forth between Chase and Schneep. “How would the two of you feel about... having the family Christmas party here this year?”

“Huh?” Chase blinked. “Like... in our house?”

“Well, obviously our house isn’t as big as Grandma and Grandpa’s,” Mom says. “So the family wouldn’t actually stay in the house. They’d stay in a hotel.”

“Ohhh. Uh...” Chase thought about it. He did really like traveling back to America every year for the party. His grandparents’ house was great, they had a big TV and a big yard with a playground and so many rooms! But... He looked at Schneep. “What d’you think?”

“Ah... wh-who will be coming to the party?” Schneep asked, looking nervous.

Mom looked at him seriously. “Albrecht and Maggie won’t be invited if you’re not comfortable with them being there,” she said softly.

Schneep looked down at his lap. He messed with Mitternacht’s wings. “I... I would be... fine with... h-having the party here. As for Mama and Papa... ahm... a-ask me again l-later.”

Mom nodded. “Alright. If you’re sure.” She looked at Chase. “What about you? You know, if we have the party here... I was... thinking about inviting some of your dad’s relatives.”

Chase perked up. “Will Dad be there?” He hadn’t been expecting Dad to go to the Christmas party, since it was on Mom’s side of the family.

“I don’t know, sweets. Maybe.”

Chase nodded. “Y-yeah, let’s have the party here!”

Mom smiled. “Great. I’ll start sending out invitations, then.” She headed back upstairs. “You have fun watching the movie!”

“We will, Mom!” Chase shouted up after her. He grinned, thinking about it. What if Dad really did come to the party? What if—what if he could talk to him? About video games and baseball and everything? That would be amazing! Though his chest kinda hurt thinking about it... Not because he was sad. Because he was feeling... something else. He didn’t know what, though. It was... good, maybe? Maybe... he could ask Mom about that later. For now, he looked at Schneep. “Are you, uh... okay?”

Schneep nodded slowly. He was hugging Mitternacht to his chest. “Ah, can we... watch the movie now? You said it was funny?”

“Yeah.” Chase walked back over to the sofa and sat down next to Schneep in his usual place. While they’d been talking, the previews included on the DVD had been playing. He quickly pressed the menu button. “The movie’s from, like, years ago so some things are different, but the funny is forever.”

Schneep laughed a little. “I am very intrigued now.”

Chase laughed as well. “Hope it lives up to the intrigued, then.”

He pressed play on the remote and the two of them settled in for the movie, leaning close against each other. The first half of the movie proceeded normally, but then—

Beep!

He heard the text tone of his phone go off. Chase scooted over to the end table to grab it, looking at the message. It was from JJ. Emergency meeting tomorrow at zellys PLEASE!!!!

“Is it one of the others?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah... JJ says we need to meet tomorrow.” Chase frowned. The capital letters and multiple exclamation marks really wasn’t like JJ’s usual way of typing. He hoped everything was okay.

...

It would be fine, wouldn’t it? After all, the meeting isn’t now, it couldn’t be that bad if JJ was asking them to wait until tomorrow.

Chase slowly set the phone down. “I’ll ask him about the time after we’re done,” he said. Though he felt a bit bad about it, he was sure everything would be okay.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Hold tight guys we're getting some turbulence -Danny Words: 1,812 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'Running Up That Hill' -by Kate Bush

XLI: Source(s): Dude, Trust Me

A whole day goes by and Hades is nowhere to be seen, but I've made up my mind that I won't care anymore. I've fought and killed monsters, but it isn't enough.

"I feel like we should've told someone about this..." Lily mutters.

"Jake's helping us, we're fine."

"Ara..."

"What?" I snap at her impatiently.

Lily's worried, I'm not as giddy and positive as when the fight started, so she thinks I might do something reckless. But it's not like I'm announcing our impending deaths, it isn't that kind of change. I have a fierce disposition to keep going no matter the outcome.

Which of course, could be seen as "being reckless".

You see, an hour ago we found my parents in their Prius, right in front of where we'd fought that day. Percy almost lost it, it was the second time I had to absorb half of someone's breakdown in less than two days, so I'm pretty tired, but I refuse to take a break.

"I'm just making sure..." Lily pauses. "That you have the remotes to these things."

I point at the dino bag hanging on my shoulder. "'Course. C'mon, before Percy realizes I left."

I burst into tears pretty often, but I have an advantage over demigods like Percy and Lily: I process feelings faster. Right now it's like I'm in the zone, with all these people feeling all kinds of ways, I have the clearest mind.

Mom's right, feelings give me power.

We go back to the camping site where Percy's already looking for me, and he's angry.

He pulls me away from Lily. "Let's talk."

Everyone throws curious looks at us, Percy's never harsh with me, not even when we're training together.

"You're pinching me!" I whine.

Percy stops and stares at me, his eyes are like Greek fire. "What did you do?"

"I-I just went to place some bombs—"

"Not today," he interrupts me. "The other night—Jake said you disappeared for a whole hour. Spit it out."

"...I'm helping you win the war," my voice gets quiet.

"What did you do?"

"Judging by how you're acting, I think you know."

Percy's hands go to his hair as he turns away from me, his face red. This feels like being scolded by my dad. "You made a deal with Hades?" He asks in an angry whisper, turning back to face me. "What were you thinking?!"

I don't ask how he knows. Maybe he saw it in a dream. "He's been insulted, Percy. He doesn't want to help you, and we need him."

"You're stupid," he says like he's just realizing this now. "Mr. D told me..."

"What?"

"He asked me to tell you," Percy scowls. "That he wants to be considered too."

I can't hide the excitement in me. "I'm listening."

He grimaces at my reaction. "He said that having madness on your side is useful too."

"Will you look at that," I mumble, my gaze drifting as I take in the news. "The gods really are paying attention to me..."

"Ara," he grabs my shoulders. "Stop. Whatever you're doing, it's a bad idea."

"No."

"Didn't you learn anything from—?"

"The prophecy says you have to die," I state bitterly. "I heard Jake and Will talking about it," I push his hands away from my body. "You're not dying if I can help it."

"They don't know anything!" He says in frustration.

"It doesn't matter, this isn't about just you, I promised Mike I would do this," I press, my voice cracking when I pronounce my friend's name. "I've made up my mind."

"What did you promise?" He demands. "What are you doing, Ara?"

"I'm bettering myself." 

Before our argument escalates, a roar and several short explosions reach us from the street I just arrived from. Percy's brows knit together. "That's my dream..."

"And those were my bombs," I point out. "Hopefully, we just killed a few dozen there."

He moves me to the side, urging me to safety.

"Take cover, Ara. They're bringing a Drakon."

Ara's standing in the middle of a field, and she doesn't know how she got there. She looks around anxiously, and for a moment fears she's been taken just like her brother, but then she hears his voice.

"Cyclopes. Centaurs. This is wrong. All wrong..."

Percy. She's found her brother!

"We need to get him back to the boat," a new voice utters. Ara realizes Percy's not alone, two kids are with him, a boy and a girl. "The sea will make him feel better."

"No argument," the unknown boy says. "There are too many of them. The camp... we have to warn the camp."

"They know," Percy whimpers. "Reyna knows."

Ara rushes to meet him and then freezes in her place. An army of monsters is passing by downhill, ahead of them. 

Ara concludes that she's dreaming a horrifying, but long-awaited demigod dream.

"The camp, yes. Vengeance!" Ara takes a moment to confirm, but it really is Ma Gasket in the crowd of monsters. "The orange and purple ones destroyed my home. Now Ma Gasket will destroy theirs! Do you hear me, Leo? Jason? Piper? I come to annihilate you! I will kill you, Arae Jackson!"

"Jason!" The girl next to Percy gasps, she's wearing a purple shirt, and Percy is too. "She fought Jason. He might still be alive!"

"Do those other names mean anything to you?" The unknown boy asks.

"I..." Percy closes his eyes. Suddenly he breathes in harshly, like someone punched him in the gut. "My sister!"

When the Ares cabin arrives, something feels off. Clarisse is glowing pink. I've seen Clarisse's soul light before, and hers is purple. 

Silena's was pink.

I feel dizzy once I understand what's happening. "That's not Clarisse."

The drakon attacks my sister, and Clarisse and Chris arrive soon after. I run towards them, if someone calls after me I can't hear it, everyone's screaming either way. The drakon doesn't see me, I'm nothing to this creature. 

When I reach Silena I fall to my knees crying. Clarisse leaves her side for just a moment, kills the drakon, and comes back. We carefully take the helmet off my sister's head and she confesses to being the spy.

She dies a hero anyway. Did what she had to, to make up for her wrongdoing. There is nothing else to say. 

It's lucky I wasn't given Pandora's box, cause this is my lowest moment, when I finally lost my girlhood. "Get up," I command Clarisse. "You'll help me fix this."

The older girl picks up a sword and a javelin. I grab Almighty but waver, something stops me this time, it feels like the wrong option. Instead, I search through my dino bag and pull the little square panel that controls the traps and bombs we've left scattered around the site. 

I climb into Clarisse's chariot. "Go that way," I point to the left.

"On it," she growls.

I use charmspeak to make sure the monsters follow us. Once we have them all in the alley, Clarisse makes the chariot fly over their heads and I press the square buttons, blowing up every creature below.

We get rid of 60% of the enemies that way. The 40% left is taken by the centaurs, the hunters, and some Ares campers. Only 10% manage to escape us, or at least that's what Lily tells me once I leave Clarisse so I can tend to the wounded.

Clarisse glows red by the time I leave her. I glow pink. Mom's sending a message: This is what an Aphrodite brings to the table, how we win wars.

I run into Pollux as he walks out of the Empire State. "Hey, man," I smile. "You look tough with that cast. How ya feeling?"

"Like a million bucks," he replies sarcastically.

"That's great dude, 'cause I need you."

He raises a brow. "Percy says I'm in no condition to keep fighting, he wanted me to go back to camp."

I try not to look annoyed. Percy knows Mr. D wants me to use Pollux, why is he trying to take him away from me? "I don't want you to fight," I respond. "You got your daddy's mad powers, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you make monsters have some kind of shared hallucination?"

He seems to like where this is going. "I can try."

"Good," I draw out Almighty. "That's all I can do too."

The semester ended faster than Ara thought possible. She's worked hard to keep her mind busy, but now that June has arrived, she's having palpitations.

After she told Annabeth about her dream, the older girl managed to hold some kind of dream communication with Percy thanks to the Hypnos cabin, and that seemed to jumpstart a domino effect of sorts, cause now all Ara sees in her dreams are Percy's bizarre adventures with the horse girl and the archer.

It isn't promising, every dream shows Percy in a different location, and she tries to assist Tyson so he finds their brother, but he isn't fast enough.

When Jason finally gets all of his memories back, he goes to Ara. "What's the name of that Hades kid you're friends with?" It's the first thing he asks.

Ara looks up from the control board of the ship, she's making sure everything works as it's supposed to. "Nico Di Angelo? He's not—"

"Him," Jason interrupts her. "Last September, he visited my camp."

Ara pauses, thinking she heard wrong. "What?"

"Nico Di Angelo," Jason says. "He came to us, and he wasn't alone. He brought his sister to live with us."

The girl's heart skips a bit. "Bianca?"

I don't have a hard time convincing Annabeth to let us use her Yankees cap, I don't even have to use charmspeak on her! Lily's waiting for me with Michael's bow and backpack, and a few trick arrows I made for her. She gives me a bedsheet that I wrap around me as a cape, and a large javelin.

I give Pollux Annabeth's cap. "Stay behind me and Lily at all times."

"You got it."

I whistle (meaning I use a whistle, I can't whistle on my own, remember?) and Blackjack comes down to help me. We just need him to make an entrance, but the amount of sugar cubes I had to promise so he wouldn't rat us out to Percy is outrageous.

"What are we doing, Ara?" Lily asks me, watching as I climb on top of the Pegasus.

"I'm playing dress up," I reply. "If you don't wanna, I can always ask someone else to be my right hand—"

"That's not an option." Her expression hardens, she reaches back and grabs an arrow from her quiver.

I gallop confidently into battle, Lily following right after. Behind me, I hear Pollux whispering in ancient Greek something about blurry thoughts and bending realities.

"Stand down!" I shout at the enemy. "Or I'll kill you all!"

Chiron makes a face like I personally stabbed him in the back. Everyone else starts to yell at me to retreat, but I don't go anywhere that it's not forward. 

If the monsters hadn't been tricked by Pollux, they would've killed me right away, but they were, and it's scared them to death for a good reason: 

The people they see standing between them and the Camp Half-blood army, are Achilles and Odysseus.

Next Chapter ->

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @ash-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles

[tedwardremus]

Faithful friends are hard to find

"Dear Sev," she wrote, the dark ink of her quill flowing across the parchment as she paused and took a deep breath

"I wish things were different. I miss our talks, your advice. I can't believe how long it has been since we properly talked."

Lily sat at her new kitchen table, pausing in her letter writing once again. She stared out the window, through the flicker of the candle flame that was projecting soft light in the room and across the yard to the line of trees that marked the end of their property. The table wasn't really new but it was new to her. It had belonged to her soon-to-be in-laws previously but they had recently downsized and generously gave Lily and James furnishings for their new home in Godrics Hollow.

Effie and Monty, James' kind and elderly parents, were wonderful people. But their generous nature left a gnawing feeling in Lily. A feeling she couldn't quite put a name to yet. She was so grateful for their love but the weight of the loss of Lily's own parents lay so heavy inside her heart that sometimes the Potters' affection felt like a tremendous hurricane inside her gut. She felt like she was fighting a battle inside herself between grief and love as well as comfort and loneliness. And perhaps, Lily thought as she tapped her finger against the wooden table top, those feelings weren't as diametrically opposed as she once thought.

"My parents died. Don't know if you would have heard."

While the sudden death of her parents in a tragic car crash left an aching void in her life, Lily had hopes that the tragedy would bring her and her sister back together. The thought that Petunia would put aside her competitive jealousy and they could comfort each other had been a tiny hope for Lily. But Petunia's refusal to attend her upcoming wedding added another layer of sorrow and frustration.

"I want you to be at my wedding, to witness a moment I thought we'd share as friends. Remember when the Twickys got married, the couple who owns the bookstore in Cokeworth? We snuck into the tent at the reception and nicked some cake. We ate it in the park while sitting on the swings. The cake had coconut on it and we were both disgusted. Who has coconut on their wedding cake?"

The quill trembled in her hand as she drafted a letter to her former childhood friend. Best friends they once referred to each other as.

"I wish life stayed that simple for us. "

Memories flooded back, a mixture of warmth and pain. She missed their late-night conversations in the park between their homes, his quick wit, and the way he seemed to have an answer for everything. But their paths had diverged irreparably. She hadn't spoken to him in years.

Her father had fought in a war before she was born. Risking his life to fly planes over the channel into occupied territory. Her dad was brave. Her dad was her hero. Her dad taught her to do the right thing even if it is hard. Even if it risks your life.

He also taught her that forgiveness is a powerful message of love. And sometimes in order for a person to apologize to you and start to make amends you must reach out to them first and offer them a branch of redemption to hang onto.

"I've been having dreams recently that you show up at my house. Sometimes it's in the middle of the night in the rain. Sometimes it's bright and sunny. But you are always there. And you tell me you don't know what you were thinking. That you've seen the errors in your ways and you no longer want to follow Him. And I apologize to you too. For cutting you out. For not listening to you. For hurting you.

But I wake up and -"

And nothing has changed. He still supports a group of blood supremacists. She is still a muggle born. She still knows what's right and what's wrong. She needs to protect herself and her new family. She needs to be brave. To fight.

Tears attempted to fill the edges of her vision as she looked at the unfinished letter, a silent testament to the fracture in their relationship. The parchment felt heavy with the unspoken truths that lay as a barrier between them.

She folded the unfinished letter and held it over the candle on the table, watching the edges of parchment blacken and curl, the words disappearing into the smoke. The pain of letting go mingled with a sense of closure. The letter, like their severed bond, was reduced to ashes.

In the warm light of the flame, Lily found a moment of solace.

Some ties, no matter how cherished, were destined to be extinguished for the sake of safety and principles.

[drabbles-mc]

Family Reunion

Steve Murphy & Rick Flag (Narcos x Suicide Squad Crossover)

For @narcosfandomdiscord's Day of Cross-Fandom Pollination: create a fanwork featuring at least one character from Narcos, and at least one character from another fandom

Warnings: 18+, language

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: Is this an absurd crossover? Most certainly! But that hasn't ever stopped me before! 😂 The Kinnamoment continues even during Narcoctober lmao. Also shout-out to @ashlingiswriting because one time five million years ago she said that Joel Kinnaman could play Steve Murphy's cousin and the thought hasn't left my brain since. Bless.

Niche Crossover Taglist: @garbinge @proceduralpassion @artemiseamoon @narcolini @hausofmamadas (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

Connie was looking out the passenger window as Steve drove. Music was playing through the radio, just loud enough to break up the silence but not so loud that she had to try and speak up when she asked, “So who’s going to be there again?”

Steve chuckled, shaking his head as he reached over and rested his hand on her leg. “Might be easier to list off who isn’t.”

Connie laughed and rolled her eyes at him. When Steve had originally mentioned the family reunion, he had told her that it was always a bit of a ridiculous affair. Part of the ridiculousness was because that was just how his family was, but also because the term “family” had grown and morphed so much that everyone from friends to neighbors came through to it on any given year. Connie had liked the sound of that. Her family never really did anything like that in all the years that she could remember. So, while Steve had his mumbles and grumbles about it, she was more excited than anything else.

“Okay,” she readjusted her question, “then who is going to be there that I actually know? That I’ve already met?” She saw Steve getting ready to start listing off people and before he could start she added on, “And I mean really met—not just the people I saw for ten seconds at our wedding and then never again.”

He looked over at her for a moment with a smile. “Alright. Gimme a second to think.” Even with his eyes back on the road he could feel Connie looking at him now. He started listing off people she’d know starting with the obvious choices: his parents and his siblings. Then he started to branch out a little farther into the family tree—aunts and uncles that she’d met at various holidays and other family weddings that they’d attended, along with a smattering of cousins that she may or may not remember. “And Rick will be there,” he tossed at the end with a shake of his head, almost like he was saying it out of obligation more than anything else.

“Rick?” Connie repeated, trying to put a face to the name.

“Yeah,” Steve said as he fought the urge to sigh. “He’s a couple years older than me—Dad’s side of the family.”

“Why can’t I—”

“Army brat,” he offered some clarification.

It worked, Connie’s face brightening in recognition once it clicked. “Oh! Rick! He was at our wedding, right?”

Steve nodded. “Yep.”

She laughed at the petulant look on his face. “What’s your problem with him again?”

“It’s not a problem, Connie. I just think he’s fuckin’ annoying.”

She laughed, head leaning back against the rest behind it. “Sounds like a bit of a problem.”

“It’s fine,” Steve said, trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Connie. “We probably won’t even have to talk to him.”

She was trying to contain her laughter and partially succeeding. “Lucky for us.”

Steve looked over at her for a second. “What?”

She smiled. “Nothing. I’m sure it’s all gonna be fine regardless.”

When they got there, Connie’s eyes widened in shock. When Steve said that his family typically just took over and informally blocked off a section of a park for everyone to hang out in, Connie couldn’t really picture what that looked like. It was exactly what Steve had said, though. There were all sorts of picnic tables, some that were probably already there, and others that people definitely brought with them. There were multiple small grills set up, more snack and drinks than Connie thought people could bring and stack in one place.

Steve took her hand in his as they walked towards the throes of it all. Connie looked back and forth between him and the small crowd that had amassed. She had to laugh as she said, “No wonder your parents thought our wedding was small.”

“Yeah, all makes sense now, huh?”

They wandered and mingled their way through all of the people. Steve made a point to find some people before others—his mom never would’ve let him hear the end of it if she just happened to stumble upon him some time after he’d arrived because he didn’t come and say hello. Connie got the chance to meet some people that she’d heard Steve and his siblings and parents talk about before, happy to finally put some faces to the names and tall tales.

Resting her hand against the outside of Steve’s arm to get his attention, Connie said, “I’m gonna grab a drink—want anything?”

He shook his head. “I’m good.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

He smiled, chuckling as he said, “Don’t get lost in the crowd.”

Connie laughed, knowing that it was very much a possibility that that could happen. She’d end up finding Steve again eventually. A few people stopped her along the way for quick hello’s and small talk, and it was only then that Connie really wrapped her head around how much Steve’s parents kept in touch with the rest of his family compared to him. It was a little amusing, if she was being honest—he didn’t have to keep everyone updated on what he was doing since his parents did such a good job of that for him.

Flipping open the top of the cooler, she reached in to grab a can of soda. She let some of the partially melted ice drip off of it. Then, just when she was going to shut the lid again, someone spoke up behind her.

“Mind grabbin’ me one of those, too?”

She was already agreeing before she even looked over her shoulder to see who it was that was talking to her. Turning around, one can of soda in each hand, she found herself tilting her head up just slightly to look the person in the eyes.

He smiled when he realized just who it was. “Connie?”

“Rick!” She laughed, handing him his soda before stepping in to give him a brief hug. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” he said with a nod as he stepped back out of the hug. Looking around, he asked, “Murphy throw you to the wolves all by yourself?”

Connie chuckled. “No, no. I just stepped away to grab a drink—he’s around here somewhere.” She pulled the tab on her soda can before asking, “How’ve you been?”

He mirrored her actions before giving a shrug, tone nonchalant as he said, “Not bad. Busy.”

“Good busy?”

He nodded, a brief grin passing over his face. “Real good busy.”

“That’s great!”

“How about you guys?”

She smiled as she nodded. “About the same. Might be relocating for a bit soon.”

“Oh yeah? Where you—”

Rick’s sentence got cut short when Steve appeared, hand landing gently on the small of Connie’s back as he spoke to her. “Hey, baby, come and meet—” He stopped himself short when he realized who his wife had been talking to before he showed up. “Shit, Rick, hey.”

The smug smirk on Rick’s face was only there for a fleeting moment but it was long enough for Steve to clock it and scowl, and for Connie to see it and realize in that moment that Steve and Rick’s problems most likely stemmed from them being more similar than not. It was hard not to smile to herself over the irony.

Rick nodded in greeting. “Murphy.”

Steve’s hand slid farther along the back of Connie’s waist until his hand was holding onto her hip. He didn’t even notice himself doing it. “Surprised you could make it.”

He shrugged. “Planned my leave ahead of time. Besides, the Missus wanted to meet everyone and it’s not like I’m ever gonna win an argument against her.”

Steve’s confusion at the statement rendered him silent, meanwhile Connie’s eyebrows shot up as she blurted out, “Missus? When did that happen?”

Rick laughed and shook his head, thumb absently running along the gold band around his ring finger. “Not that long ago. It was a quick thing—nothing fancy. Figured we’d do that and plan the party later.”

Connie couldn’t stop her surprised laughter, but she was genuine when she said, “Well congrats!”

Rick nodded, smiling. “Thank you.”

“How’d you two meet?” Steve finally got himself to speak.

He laughed, and from that reaction alone Steve knew that there was going to be more to the story than anyone was ever going to be privy to. “Work,” Rick answered before taking a sip of his drink. “Long story, but it all worked out.”

“Apparently,” was all Steve offered in return.

“That’s great,” Connie said with a nod, her earnestness almost enough to make up for the skeptical look lingering on Steve’s face.

As if on cue, like she could hear the conversation hitting a lull that either Steve or Rick was going to fill with a sarcastic comment of some kind, Rick’s wife appeared. The smile on her face was wide, bright as she practically collapsed into Rick’s side. She had long, blonde hair, so blonde that it was nearly white—a stark contrast to the red and black tank top and black jeans that she was wearing. She batted her eyes at Rick for all of a moment before turning to look at the couple that he was standing with.

Rick spoke up to handle the introductions. “Steve, Connie, this is Harley. Harley this is my cous—”

“Oh my god, yeah, he’s talked about you before!” she said excitedly as she held her hand out to Steve. “Nice to meet ya.”

Steve nodded, much better at playing nice with her than his cousin. “You too.”

Harley repeated the process with Connie before completely jumping tracks. “Oh, Connie, you gotta come help me out.” She motioned back over her shoulder, “We got all day to catch up but if someone doesn’t move fast, Rick’s dad is gonna get all the good snacks and then we’re gonna have a problem.”

The comment got a laugh out of everyone, and Connie didn’t put up any kind of fight at all as Harley reached and took her hand, happily tugging her back towards the small clusters of people they had all just woven their way through. They each called a, “Be right back,” over their shoulders, the three words tangled with laughter from both of them.

Rick was still chuckling and shaking his head even after the two women disappeared from view. When he finally looked back over at Steve, he saw the way his cousin was studying him, looking for something that Rick could only try to fathom.

Steve asked the question before he could be prompted to. “Didn’t think you were allowed to date coworkers?”

Rick laughed. “New department has different priorities.”

“I can see that.”

A few years prior, Rick might’ve taken the bait and let it get out of hand. He might’ve let it dissolve into whatever argument Steve was always looking to have with him. He was different now, though. Instead, he shifted gears slightly. “Speakin’ of which, Connie mentioned you guys might be moving soon?”

Steve sighed. He didn’t want to get into any of it with Rick but he wasn’t in the mood to lie, either. “Maybe, yeah.”

“You’re DEA now, right?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Don’t fuck with me—you know I am.”

Rick chuckled. “Yeah.” He paused. “They settin’ you up somewhere nice at least?”

Steve hadn’t even told his own parents what transfer he’d put in for. He didn’t want to back down from telling Rick, though, didn’t want it to turn into another thing that Rick could use to antagonize him with. They hadn’t been kids for a long time but sometimes when it was just the two of them talking the way that they were now, Steve felt like he was a dorky kid getting picked on by his own cousin all over again.

“Put in for Colombia,” Steve finally said.

Rick gave an impressed frown. “Goin’ after the big fish, huh?”

He rolled his eyes. “Rick—”

“What? Good for you. Gettin’ out there and doing somethin’.”

“Fuck you,” he scoffed under his breath.

“Be careful, though.”

Steve narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll remember to be fuckin’ careful.”

“I’m just saying,” he took another sip of his soda, “it’s a big world out there and it’s not what you think it is.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you think you’re so damn secretive with everything you do, but don’t think that I don’t know. The people you’re workin’ with, workin’ for, they’re just a bunch’a—”

“That,” Rick cut him off with a laugh. “That right there. That’s the shit I’m talkin’ about.” He made a sweeping gesture with the hand that was holding his soda can. “No one out there is as good as they think they are, Murphy. Not even you.” He saw the indignant look on Steve’s face and shrugged. “You’ll learn.”

“I’ll learn?” Steve repeated back, blood already approaching a boil. “What the fu—”

“We did it!” Harley chirped as her and Connie reappeared, each of them with plates stacked in their hands. “Almost had to put your dad in a headlock,” she joked as she handed Rick one of the plates, “but we did it.”

“Damn,” Rick joked easily, like he hadn’t been about to get reamed out by Steve, “would’ve loved to see you throw my old man into a headlock though.”

“Nah,” Harley said with a grin, “I would’ve been nice and left that to Connie.” Both women looked back and forth between Steve and Rick and it was impossible to miss the differences in their expressions and the way they were standing. “Whatcha talkin’ about?” Harley asked, clearly fishing for something.

Rick shrugged, an easy grin on his face as he looked at Steve. “Just talkin’ shop, right, Murphy?” he said, practically begging for Steve to cause a scene.

He didn’t take the bait. Clearing his throat, he nodded. “Yeah, just talkin’ shop.”