#who am i gonna hang out with at school now ?? my sister and her friends are there but i dont wanna bother them

[iknaenmal]

OH RHIS SUCKS

[elytrafemme]

call the hairdresser and call the mediator because the way i'm splitting to the fucking ends right now

[4m1rz]

Little Tease

Kim Chaehyun x Male Reader

Tags: titjob, couch sex, daddy kink, creampie

"I'll meet you at your place like usual, ok?"

"Sure, no problem bro. Don't be too hopeful that I'll be there today."

That's how the conversation between me, Moon Jiyeon and my friend, Kim Donghoon always goes. Me and Donghoon have been friends since we're in elementary school. Right now, we're both college students and I always go to his house just to hang out after our classes.

It's the end of my class right now. Yeah, if you all are thinking, me and Donghoon aren't in the same classes and we both have different courses; I'm taking the engineering course while he is taking the law course. Also, he's been in the college's student council since last week, so he's been a lot busy nowadays.

As I expected, I got a message from him saying that he wasn't able to hangout with me. I sigh as I have expected that this would happen. However, he still asks me to come to his place and somebody will hang out with me there. I then texted him again, asking who's gonna hang out with me at his place and he answered back with, 'his sister'. The minute I saw the word 'sister', I was dumbfounded.

Apparently, my friend has a little sister named Kim Chaehyun who is a year younger than me and my friend. Back then, when I hung out with Donghoon at his place when we're in elementary school, she was also there. The three of us are basically partners in crime as we all do things together back then.

However, things have not been the same since Chaehyun has been accepted to join SM Entertainment as a trainee. This causes her to be unable to hangout with me and her brother that often. When she was nominated as a member for Kep1er, both me and Donghoon were very ecstatic as the two of us know that she has been working so hard to be able to debut.

One thing that I still remember till this day is that she has once told me that she has a liking towards me when she was 10 and I was 11. Knowing that I'm going to hangout with her and still remember what she said when we're younger, I kinda have a thought of whether she still has a liking towards me or not.

Fast forward to now, I am already at the front door of Donghoon and Chaehyun's place. I ring the doorbell to indicate to the person inside that I have arrived. As I am waiting for the door to open, lots of thoughts come flying around my mind about Chaehyun, such as how she is doing, how she looks nowadays, and other stuff.

Then, I noticed the doorknob start to turn and the door opened. As the door opens, it shows the girl I'm thinking of just now, wearing a white sports bra with a blue shirt shrug and a white skirt. I was amazed with her pretty and sexy appearance with her assets shown, her thick thighs and her big busty tits which made me dazed for a while.

It was until she snapped her fingers in front of my face that made me wake up from it. Gosh, how stupid I was seeing her giggling shyly after that happened.

“Oppa, am I that pretty which makes you dazed just now?” She says that after giggling. The only thing I could do is just scratch the side of my head after hearing her ask. She giggles once more before inviting me to go inside the house.

After entering the house, I immediately sit on the sofa while Chaehyun sits on the armchair on the right. I was about to ask about what she's doing nowadays, but it seems like she beats me to it.

“So oppa, how is your life nowadays? It's definitely a shame that you hang out with my big brother less due to his roles.” She asks. “Well, it's just like that… It really can't be helped about his roles, I don't mind about it though.” I then answer.

Then, I ask her about her activities as an idol in which she answers with the usuals, practice and such. “Ah, I'm such a fool not to serve some treats for you, oppa. Oppa, are you ok with tea and crackers?” She suddenly asks.

After hearing her ask, I just nod to it which makes her go to the kitchen to prepare the food. As I am waiting for her to prepare the treats, I get a message from Donghoon that he might need a few more hours to deal with his work at the college. I was about to tell her that I might be leaving the place when I see Chaehyun bending down to find some kitchenware, I suppose. Surprisingly, her long skirt gets pulled up which shows her pussy.

At that moment, I was dazed a bit and my bulge started to appear from my pants. And with that, I try to distract myself by looking at my phone, trying to forget what I just saw. Without me knowing, Chaehyun is still in the kitchen, having a huge smirk on her face as her plan works.

A few minutes later, she comes back with a teapot full of tea, cups and a tray of plain crackers. She then goes to the opposite side of the coffee table, just right in front of me before putting all of the treats she brought from the kitchen. I was stunned yet again due to seeing her cleavage as she was bending down while putting the treats onto the coffee table.

I start to eat the treats that she had served me once she sits back on the couch beside mine. We both then start to chat about our past lives, how her idol life is at the moment and so on. Suddenly, I had the urge to ask her about what's lingering in my mind.

“You know, I somehow still remember about you having a liking for me…” I state. Her eyes bulge out a little after hearing that statement coming out from me and her cheeks start to redden. I then continued asking, “… so I wonder if you still have that feeling until now?”

After I asked her that question, I could see that her cheeks were fully reddened, which means she was blushing madly. It took quite a while for her to answer my question, just after her naggings on why I brought the topic out.

“Well… ummm… I s-still do… I lik- no, I love you, oppa.” She answers. I was shocked hearing that, which makes me speechless. “My feelings for you have never faded, heck it grew even more.” She continues.

I was in total shock after hearing her answer despite me correctly estimating her answer, but I did not expect that her feelings for me were that deep. In fact, it also shocks me that she said she loves me as I actually start to have feelings for her as well, just a bit later after her confession back then, well, about a year after the confession.

In an instance, I go sit right beside her and grasp her hands which makes her gasp for a bit. “Chae, I know this might sound awkward, but I do also have feelings for you. Well, a bit later after your confession when we were little.” I state it to her. My confession really makes her shocked even more and tears a bit.

“R-Really, oppa?” She asks. I then nod and continue to say more. “It's that, your affection and your attention towards me makes me fall for you.” I then give a peck on her lips which makes her even more stunned and her cheeks become even redder.

“S-So oppa, are we… a couple from n-now?” She asks while still sniffling. I just nodded before holding the side of her head and kissing her lips yet again; this time the kiss was a bit longer. She was yet again stunned at first, but then accepted it and kissed me back. The kiss would then turn into a 5 minutes making out session.

After we pulled away from the make out session, I somehow had the audacity to tease her. “I didn't expect this girl in front of me right now would tease me earlier by showing her bare pussy and cleavage.” I say, while giving a smirk towards her.

However, she surprises me by giving a smirk back towards me despite her flushed red cheeks. “Well oppa, I've planned this already. Donghoon oppa has told me about how you always hang out here, so I might wear this to seduce you.” She replies. “Besides, you love them do you, oppa?” She continues, while jiggling her covered tits.

I couldn't think straight as I was horny as fuck after all of the teasing from her, so I just nodded. This causes her to smirk more before removing the cardigan from her, which then later playing with the hem of the sports bra she's wearing.

“G-Gosh, stop teasing and just let me see your bare tits Chae.” I whine, which she obliges and pulls up her sports bra. This reveals her naked tits in which she jiggles it one more time towards me. I am amazed seeing her topless that lead me to pull down my pants and boxers in a single move which reveals my already hard dick.

“Oh oppa, such a big and hard dick you have. Let Chae help you relieve it, ok?” She says, before kneeling down and putting her hand around my dick before stroking it. I can only groan as she starts stroking my dick. Her hand feels so good all around it.

“Mmmmh, so soft, so good…” I say, to which she smirks even more. “Hehe, wait until what I'm going to do next, oppa.” She says. After a while, she removes her hand from my dick and replaces it with sandwiching my dick between her massive tits. This causes me to groan even more.

“Hehe, I knew it. You would definitely like this, oppa.” She chimes before starting to move her tits up and down, giving me a titfuck. I can only nod and groans coming out from my mouth are a bit louder. This excites her even more to which she licks the top of my dick that is able to emerge from her tits.

“Oh god Chae… You did wonder to me. Keep going, please.” I plead. This causes her smirk to grow even more and speeds up the titfucking. This results in me groaning even more.

After several minutes later, I started to feel that I'm feeling close to cumming. I believe that Chaehyun is also able to feel that I'm getting closer to ejaculation. However, just as I am about to cum, she releases her tits from wrapping around my dick, which causes me to groan in disappointment.

“C-Chae, why did you stop? I'm about to cum, and you know it too!!!” I whine. She giggles seeing my reaction before saying about it. “Oh oppa, I'll let you cum, but not on my tits. I want you to fill my pussy with it, oppa.” Her statement makes me speechless. Just as I want to argue, she talks again. “...and if you worry about getting me pregnant, you don't have to, oppa. Us idols have to take birth control pills frequently to control our hormone levels and stabilize our period dates.”

I still feel a bit skeptical about this, like is she for real? She, a K-POP idol who is also my friend's little sister, wants me to fill her pussy with my cum. My mind still feels clogged after receiving what she just said.

Then, I get from my dazed situation to see Chaehyun pulling down the only clothing she had left, which is the skirt. After that, she walks towards the larger couch and lays on it before spreading her legs, showing me her wet, glistening pussy.

“Come on, just take me right now. I won't be mad, as I also want this for a very long time… Please fuck me oppa, or I guess, daddy…” She persuades me and emphasizes the word daddy. I don't know why, but her calling me daddy brings out the side of mine that I didn't even know existed.

I get onto the same couch she is laying onto, before I stroke my dick and line it with her entrance. “Are you sure you want this, Chae? Won't you regret it later?” I ask her, to which she nods before answering, “...yes daddy, I won't regret this whatsoever as I've been waiting for this. Now please, claim this pussy of mine as yours, daddy.”

And with her approval, I started to push my dick slowly into her pussy. This causes both of us to moan loudly, feeling the sensation. “Oh god Chae… Your pussy feels… so t-tight!!!” I exclaim.

“Mmmmh, yes daddy!!! Your dick feels so… mmmmh… big!!! Please daddy, start thrusting it inside me, make both of us cum!!!” She moans so loudly, I'm afraid the neighbours could hear it. After that, I pull my dick until the tip still remains in her before pushing it back, indicating the start of my thrusts.

Her moans just keep getting out from her mouth as I keep thrusting inside her. “G-Gosh, you moan so loudly, Chae. You really want the neighbours to know, hmm?” I say and ask. That question makes her giggle a little before answers, “...they don't call me… mmmmh… the main vocalist for nothing. Besides, daddy's dick hitting Chae’s spots inside me feels really good!!!”

I chuckle a little as I hear her calling herself Chae, so cute. As I continued thrusting inside her pussy, I couldn't pull my eyes from seeing her massive tits bouncing up and down as I continued with my thrusts. This makes me follow my instinct and put both of my hands onto them and start fondling and groping them, which causes her to moan even more and also whimper a little.

“Mmmmh, that's it daddy!! Fondle Chae's tits, or suck on it, I don't care.” She says. Of course, I won't miss the offer as I removed both of my hands from her tits and replaced it with my mouth, sucking on her two massive mounds, starting with her right tit, then her left. This makes her whimper a lot more.

Several minutes later, I could feel that my dick starts throbbing, indicating that I'm really close to cum. “Chae, I don't think that I could hold any longer, I'm so c-close. You sure you really want me to cum inside, C-Chae?” I state. This causes her to wrap her legs around my back really tightly in an instance, not letting me get away from her leg lock.

“Don't ever think about pulling out, daddy. Chae means it, Chae really wants it. So please, CUM! INSIDE! CHAE’S! PUSSY!!!” Knowing that me trying to fight back is futile and seeing that she's really serious, I just followed her request and after a few more thrusts later, I started to cum deeply inside her pussy. As my cum hits her pussy walls, it triggers her orgasm that causes her to cum all around my dick.

After a couple minutes later, both of us finished and relaxed from our respective orgasmic state. I react first by pulling my flaccid dick out from her pussy before sitting at the other end of the couch. I could see some globs of our mixed cums start to leak out from her. Then, I slowly pull her and make her straddle my lap. Both of us then smile at each other before having a sweet, slow yet passionate make out session.

After both me and Chaehyun finished our make out session, we heard the sound of the front door opening. Both of us turn our heads towards the door and see Donghoon staring at us, which makes us blush in embarrassment. There's also the sense of fear and guilt as I am afraid he will scold me for screwing his little sister. However, instead of anger, he gives us a sneaky grin.

“Hehehe, seems like the ship has finally sailed. Congratulations, you two.” He says. This causes Chaehyun to blush even more while me being confused and distraught. The thing I've had in mind after what he just said is, ‘How long has this bastard been shipping me and his little sister?’

P/S: If someone's been waiting for my fics, sorry for make you guys waiting. Hope you all like this

[fandomnsfw]

Cherry - James Potter x Barmaid!Reader

Pairing: James Potter x Barmaid!Reader

Prompt: the songs Cherry by Harry Styles and the song Best Friends by Rex Orange County

Warnings: smut basically. (Also first song type fic so go easy on me!)

No Beta today lovelies let me know about spelling errors. ENJOY!!!

***********

You clutched your jacket to your body, running as fast as you could, your heart pounding against your chest as your lungs fought to take in more air. Your hair was whipping in the wind as you sped around the corner straight towards The Three Broomsticks. The second you burst into the pub everyone stared at you in mild shock before going about their evening. 

“Y/N your late!” Rosmerta huffed making you pout. 

“I know I was up late helping my sister with her homework.” You sighed as you slid the denim jacket off your shoulders before wrapping the plain black apron around your waist, putting your notepad and pen in the left pocket then your small tea towel hanging out the right pocket. 

“Be warned The Marauders are playing tonight so it's gonna be packed.” Rosmerta explained as she began ringing someone up. 

“O-Oh. Awesome.” You stuttered as you tried to control your emotions. 

“Don’t tell me you still fancy Ja--

“I am well aware he has Lily you don’t need to remind me.” You glared at her making her eyes widen. 

“Actually, they split up about 6 months ago.” Rosmerta whispered with a smirk. 

“R-Really?” You whispered trying to conceal the small flicker of hope. 

“There was a rumour that she found out one of his songs was about another girl.” You heard Frank whisper behind you making you jump a little. 

“I hate it when you do that. That’s the most stupid rumour I’ve ever heard.” You snorted with an eye roll. 

“It’s Cherry.” Her stated and suddenly you couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t think I’ve heard it.” You muttered with a frown. 

You had gone to school with both the Marauders and The Valkyries. You had been friends with them for the most part but they weren’t people you overly saw outside of school. So, when school finished you never really spoke to them again. When you got a job here, you’d occasionally see them after they performed. However, when they got more popular, they started doing bigger gigs. You had even dated James in year 9 when you were both 13 but you were kids, so it didn’t last. You both thought you were so mature, calling each other baby and kissing cutely behind the side of the science block.

You grinned at the adorable memory before shaking it off just in time to see The Marauders walk through the side door. You looked up to see those same hazel eyes, even to this day you would recognise in a crowd, even after all this time they still made you heart clench. You hadn’t seen him in over a year, it felt surreal. 

“Holy shit! Is that little Y/N Y/L/N?” You heard Sirius shouted excitedly making you tear your eyes away from James who was staring at you liked he’d seen a ghost. 

“We were in the same year, ya’ fuckin’ numpty.” You snorted making Sirius grin. 

“Hey show some respect! I'm a rockstar now!” Sirius laughed causing you to roll your eyes.

“Ha! I don’t give a shit if you're selling out 100,000 tickets love. This is my domain.” You snickered before passing him a beer.

“How’s Evan? You guys have been together since...year 10 right?” Sirius asked excitedly as he sipped his beer. 

“We broke up, about 2 years ago actually.” You muttered awkwardly as you tried to busy yourself drying the rim of a glass with your tea towel. 

“Oh! That sucks.” Remus sighed sadly as his eyes flickered towards James. 

“Right, I'm letting in the crazies so get yourself set up lads!” Rosmerta shouted as she pointed to the small stage in the corner of the pub. 

You watched the set as the boys played happily, they hadn’t changed in the slightest, even now with such a serious fanbase. They were still fun and down to earth. You watched the first few songs with interest as you served the gaggles of girls that were cheering too loudly but you couldn’t blame them. They’re in their element up on stage, like they’d always been. You chuckled as Remus and Peter told the other two they needed a break. 

“We’re gonna play Cherry whilst our Drummer and Bassist take a break.” James muttered breathlessly into the mic.

Sirius began playing a beautiful tune on his acoustic guitar that you instantly felt a connection with. It almost sounded like the first random tune James created when he first learnt to play guitar. You decided to take you break and stand a little closer to the stage. This is the song Frank had said was about someone else. When James started singing you listened to the lyrics intently. 

‘Don't you call him baby. We're not talking lately, Don't you call him what you used to call me.’ He looked at the floor as he sang making you frown in confusion, he usually sang with a lot more confidence, until he finally looked up to meet your eyes.

‘I, I confess I can tell that you are at your best, I'm selfish so I'm hating it.’ His eyes bore into yours and you couldn’t understand why, but you figured maybe the spotlight was obstructing his view.

‘I noticed that there's a piece of you in how I dress, Take it as a compliment. Don't you call him baby We're not talking lately Don't you call him what you used to call me’ You frowned as you realised he was wearing a red plaid shirt over a white T-shirt similar to one you had back in school. Don’t be stupid Y/N it’s not about you, you thought to yourself.

‘I, I just miss I just miss your accent and your friends. Did you know I still talk to them? Does he take you walking round his parents' gallery?’ You instantly felt your heart stop as your eyes widened. This song was about you, Evan’s parents owned an art gallery in the next town over. You looked for an escape spotting the door to the outdoor smoking area and immediately sped out the pub telling Frank you’d be back soon as you shoved past the hordes of girls. 

“You okay Y/N?” You heard someone shout as you got outside. 

“Is that song about me?” You asked blatantly making Remus smile sadly. 

“Its one of them.” Remus answered calmly taking a pull of his fag. 

“THERES MORE?” You shouted, your jaw dropping in shock.

“Yeah, there's also Best Friend that’s an old one though.” Remus laughed calmly, you grabbed the half-smoked fag from his fingertips and took a long drag of it. 

“You were always...the one that got away, I guess. You dated as children, but I think James always wished you guys had waited until later in life.” Remus added making your eyes soften. 

“This isn’t why Lily and James broke up is it?” You asked, guilt swimming in your gut but the question had laughing again. 

“Nah, Lily came out the closet.” Remus chuckled making your eyes widen.

“O-Oh okay.” You chuckled shyly before passing the lit smoke back to Remus which he motion for you to smoke. 

Remus left you to your thoughts as you took drag after drag trying to calm yourself down. Your hands were shaking causing the ash to drop off the cherry-Cherry…why was it called that? You thought curiously your nerves fading into curiosity. Just then you looked up to find those hazel eyes staring at you from the exit of the smoking area.

“Hey.” He muttered like he couldn’t quite believe you were here.

“Why Cherry?” You asked abruptly making his mouth open as if to say something but he paused for a moment before finally speaking.

“You had this red tinted lip gloss…when we dated, it was the girliest thing you owned, and it tasted like Cherry. You wore it everyday for a whole year even after we broke up, then in year 10 you started dating Evan and stopped wearing it.” He answered softly making your heart clench.

“I can’t believe you remember that. That was 12 years ago.” You chuckled in disbelief.

“I remember everything about you…about us. Like how you never used to style your hair because you’d always run your hand through it and ruin it. Or how you didn’t wear much makeup in summer because you have hayfever and are always rubbing your eyes. You used to hate the colour yellow but you think your baby sister looks amazing in it. I remember how you used to love when I’d play with your hair. I also remember the last time we really spoke, it was just after we had finished 6th form and we all went to the pub. You were out having a smoke and Evan had already passed out at the booth. I said to you that I was glad I’d met you and you replied—

—Don’t be such a sap. Just buy me somet nice when yer’ a rockstar.” You finished for him with a laugh which was quickly silenced when you looked at James hand that was holding a box in his hand.

Your eyes widened as you stared at the box like it was about to bite you. He seemed to find this amusing but he swallowed his laugh and opened to box showing you the contents. There sat a white gold chain with a white gold and rose gold cherry pendant hanging off it. He took it out the box, sliding the empty velvet box into his pocket before approaching you. You could feel tears building in your eyes as he came behind you.

“I was jokin’ ya’ fuckin’ sap.” You sniffled so quietly you were sure he heard you.

“I wanna say I forgot how much I love your accent but that would be a lie.” He chuckled happily as he lower the chain around your neck.

His fingers brushed against the skin at the back of your neck causing your body to come alive, goosebumps all over your body, you held your breath, praying this moment would never end. He did the clasp so slowly, you knew it was intentional, but you didn’t care you welcomed it. 

“Can I take you out next week?” He whispered in your ear his hands brushing all the way down your spine over your clothes.

 “Y-Yes.” You stuttered almost breathlessly.

**********

You were just sliding your white strappy heels when the knock on the door came. You brushed off your white satin shirt that was tucked into a grey tight mini skirt that hugged your hips perfectly. You opened the door and instantly saw a bunch of what looked like a bouquet of flowers but when you took a longer glance you realised it was multi coloured chocolate covered fruit made to look like flowers.

“I suggest this be put in your fridge and not a vase.” James joked making you grin.

“Probably for the best. These are awesome, way better than normal flowers.” You giggled as you pulled out two gold dusted white chocolate cover strawberries before placing the ‘bouquet’ into the fridge.

“You’re wearing the lipgloss.” He muttered in shock as you passed him one of the strawberries.

“Well I’m wearing a cherry lipgloss. I don’t think they even sell the brand I had 12 years ago.” You giggled before biting into your own strawberry.

“You look gorgeous.” He muttered happily as he finished his strawberry, popping the stick in the bin before holding out his hand for you.

“I would return the sentiment but you have enough fan girls doing it for me. Where are we going?” You snickered as you slid your hand into his, lacing your fingers together.

“Thought I’d take you to that little Italian place they just opened then maybe dancing?” He muttered nervously making you soften.

“You could’ve said McDonald’s and I’d of been happy cos I’d still be with you.” You replied sweetly making him grin from ear to ear. 

“Careful, you almost sound like a sap.” He teased you playfully.

“I’m not 18 and emotionally stunted. I’m  allowed to be a sap.” You argued with a cute pout on your lips.

“Stop pouting or the only place I’ll be taking you will be the old science block.” He whispered in your ear as you both exited your flat block.

“Mr Potter the scandal!” You exclaimed in a Scottish accent, a clear imitation of the time Ms McGonagall when she’s found you both behind a wall kissing. Though you had joked back your cheek we’re still painted red with James previous ‘threat’.  

“Oh I miss Minnie. I wonder how she’s doing?” James sighed softly with a small smile on his face.

“I see her at Tesco a lot. She seems well. She recently retired lives just at the edge of Hogsmeade in a small cottage.” You answered with a grin.

“I miss living here. Don’t get me wrong I love being able to play music and live with my surrogate brothers but I miss the quiet here. I still come back to see mum and dad but it’s not the same.” James sighed as he looked around at everything around him as you both started walking towards the restaurant hand in hand.

“Could you not live here but still do your gigs?” You asked with a soft frown on your face.

“I never thought so but recently Remus has been talking about being closer to his parents. They moved up here a few years ago when Remus mortgaged them a little cottage with 2 bedrooms. I think he wants to settled down, have some roots. Sirius is a wild card though. He’d rather be in a new city every night. Peter only has his mum so I think he’d be happy to move back here too. So really it’s just Sirius stopping us.” James rambled making you smile at the utter familiarity of it.

“He’s dating that Pop singer right?” You laughed making James roll his eyes.

“I think she really understood him and it freaked him out so he ended it not long before we got here. That’s my guess anyway…he won’t talk to me about it.” James huffed with an eye roll. 

“Idiot.” You snorted as you both saw the restaurant ahead.

James opened the door as you both approached it, his face lighting up when you leaned up to kiss his cheek before walking past him into the restaurant. James stood in front of the host with a polite smile. However when the young woman looked up her face instantly lit up.

“You’re Jame Potter right? The lead singer of the Marauders?” She asked as if trying to keep the excitement out her voice.

“Yeah we have a table booked for 7.” He replied with a smile.

“I love your new song Cherry.” She gushed as she showed him the way your table clearly not even bothering with your presence.

“Thank you! Can we get two glasses of red please? And some menus?” James asked as he pulled out your seat and suddenly the girls eyes were on you. 

She scanned you with a look of mild disgust until she caught sight of something on you that seemed to have her flushing, with anger or embarrassment, you weren’t sure but you looked down and instantly realised you had the Cherry necklace James had given you on.

“Two glasses of red. Got it, here’s your menus.” She stated in a professional tone that made your eyes widen. When she walked away you turned to James with a deadpan look.

“She totally knows.” You whispered nervously.

“Knows what?” He asked with a frown.

“That I’m Cherry.” You hissed as she began coming back towards the table with two glasses of wine.

“Thank you.” You said sweetly making her eyes narrow before turning back to James.

“Can I get a quick picture and an autograph?” She asked in a sickeningly sweet tone that made you laugh behind your wine glass.

“Do you mind?” James asked you sweetly making you smile with rose tinted cheeks.

“Of course not love.” You whispered softly making him grin happily. 

He jumped up, posing for a picture with the girl before grabbing a napkin and signing it for her. She gave him a bright grin before scampering off probably to text her friends. You watched as James sat down with a happily look on his face.

“You’re really in your element aren’t you?��� You chuckled softly as he looked up into your eyes, sipping his wine.

“Without our ‘fans’ I really would be no where. Did you know the first record company that approached us was because a young woman who worked there, retweeted a video clip of our gig in a run down underground bar in London. She gushed about it so much a few of the higher ups saw it. Sirius got his first photoshoot because a photographer saw her teenaged daughter liking a bunch of the bands Instagram pictures. Without fans we would probably be washed up nobody’s.” He explained and you felt your heart melt. 

“I’m so glad you stayed the same baby.” You whispered with a cheeky grin.

“I never called Evan baby by the way. Just wanted to clear that up.” You giggled making him flush.

“Good. I-I never called Lily it either.” James replied making you smile a sincere smile.

“Good.” You sassed playfully making him chuckle.

You both finally ordered food, flirting over the dinner table with an alarming amount of ease. It felt natural, like this was a normal everyday date night; and not the first proper date you two had ever been on. You laughed, you both got tearful and nostalgic. Everything was going swimmingly until your ex boyfriend walked in with a blonde girl you knew was his secretary.

When you both locked eyes he seemed to go through a slew of emotions ranging from sadness to love, until he caught sight of James and it all turned to anger. 

“I want to say I’m surprised but I really shouldn’t be should I?” Evan scoffed quietly as he approach your table.

“Evan, how are you mate?” James tried casually making Evan visibly sneer at him. 

“I’m well, thank you Potter. When did you two start dating?” He spat making James’ eyes narrow.

“This is our first date.” He stated as calmly as he could, clearly surprised by his hostility.

“I’m surprised, considering you’re the reason my girlfriend of 7 years said no to my marriage proposal.” Evan spat out and suddenly everything grew silent.

“If I remember her words correctly. She said ‘I’m sorry Evan I can’t marry you. I can’t picture my life in the future with you. I thought I’d give us a chance but I can’t take the next step when I don’t feel it.’ I obviously asked what she meant by it and she said ‘The pull.’ I had no idea what she even meant. I mean I was her first PROPER boyfriend she’d never been with anyone but me. Then I found her secret little—

“Shut up Evan.” You snapped in utter humiliation.

“I found a box full of things from when you two had you 3 month long relationship in year 9. Letters, notes with music notes on them, cute little gifts you gave her. There was even a cutely pressed flower sealed in resin. I mean I’d think that was cute if she had things like that from OUR relationship but nope. Nothing.” Evan finished making tears prick your eyes.

James was never gonna wanna see me again. He’s gonna think I’m some creepy stalker that has been obsessed with him for 12 years. You went to stand up but James reached out and wrapped his hand around your wrist.

“What did you honestly think was going to happen by telling me that she’d been longing for me just like I have for her? I also have a box filled with things from her including the red plaid top she left at mine after a party in year 11.” James snorted out proudly making your jaw drop. 

You wiped the unshed tears away carefully before you glanced at Evan who looked beyond angry. He didn’t say anything else just walked to his own table silently. You turned to James who let out a small sigh making your heart clench in fear. 

“I never understood why you dated that dick.” He huffed with an eye roll.

“Because you started dating Lily.” You whispered brokenly and he looked up at you with a frown.

“I didn’t start dating Lily till you started dating Evan.” He corrected making you frown.

“No I remember seeing you and Lily at Madam P’s on a date. You bought her my favourite cream puffs.” You huffed with an eye roll.

“I bought them for you! Then when I went to give them to you you were making out with Evan!” He argued and suddenly tears pricked your eyes.

“N-No cos then that would mean I wasted 7 years with the wrong person…” You whispered sadly with tears brimming your waterline.

“Oh baby…” He muttered sympathetically before standing up to kneel at the side of your seat.

“We were kids. We didn’t know better. As adults we know it’s easier to talk about things instead of assuming.” He stated gently, his hand caressing your thigh in a soothing manner.

“Come on, I’ll pay for dinner then we can go for a walk instead of dancing?” He offered sweetly making your heart pound heavily in your chest.

You gave a nod and collected your purse as he signalled for the waiter. The waiter came over with the bill which you quickly offered to pay half of, but James looked psychically wounded, so you dropped it. 

He offered you his arm which you took as you both began strolling towards the park. He was quiet until we got to the floral covered entrance of the park. He clutched your hands that were resting around his bicep as he looked down at you.

“I missed you.” He suddenly said making you flush under his gaze.

“I missed you too.” You replied sweetly making him grin happily.

************

You walked into your flat, locking the door behind you and putting the latch on before throwing your keys into the bowl near the front door. You kicking off your shoes before shuffling straight towards your bedroom. When you opened the bedroom door and turned on the light,  you instantly caught sight of your boyfriend making you frown a little before you let out a squeal of happiness.

“Shit…I fell asleep.” James grumbled huskily as he sat up rubbing his eyes. He grinned at you sleepily holding his arms out.

“I thought you weren’t back till next week?” You giggled as you launched yourself into his arms.

“The show in Sheffield got cancelled cos of the rain. So we came back early.” He explained as he nuzzled into your neck.

You and James had been dating for about a month, you’d only given him a key because he was always away so you told him if he ever got back early he was welcome to chill at yours. You guys had yet to take it to the next step, you weren’t sure why he was hesitant, but for the past three days since you’d accidentally given a full view of James naked torso over FaceTime, you’d been insatiable.

“I missed you baby.” You whispered in a rather seductive tone as you settles on his lap and leaned down to kiss him softly.

“Mmm missed you too.” He mumbled as he pulled away from the kiss. 

“Nope m’not done yet.” You grumbled as you brought him in for a more heated kiss.

He gasped against you lips but his hands gripped at the back of your work shirt. You moaned against his lips, your tongue sliding along his bottom lip teasingly before pulling away with a grin.

“I need a shower. You are welcome to join me.” You offered with a wink as you climbed off his lap to strip down to your undies.

“I’ll wait until your out. I’m not making love to you for the first time in the shower.” He chuckled as he stripped off his T-shirt and laid back on your bed with a smirk.

You couldn’t help the way your eyes raked over his now naked torso. It was like he was sculpted by the gods. The only thing you could think of in that moment was, I wanna lick him. He reached down and cupped his package, something that would usually make you roll your eyes but instead you found yourself wanting to drop to your knees and beg him to use you. 

“Ugh it should be illegal how fuckin’ hot you are.” You huffed before stomping off to your bathroom with a pout.

When you got into the shower you sighed happily, you realised you’d thankfully shaved the day before as well as washed your hair so it saved time. You quickly put on a shower cap before stepping into the water to start washing. You used your expensive lush Snow fairy shower gel, smiling at the sweet smell. Once done you got out and dried yourself off before using the matching Snow fairy body mist. 

You took the show cap off and wrapped the towel around you before wandering into your bedroom. When you walked in James looked up and immediately sat up straight. He must’ve been expecting you to come out in clothes because his face flushed softly.

“Why pray tell, are ya’ still dressed?” You smirked making him grin.

“Apologies my lady.” He exclaimed as he very dramatically dropped his pants making you openly laugh.

“Idiot.” You laughed as he threw his jeans and socks across the room leaving him in a pair of tight Calvin Kleins. 

“You look like a fuckin’ Calvin Klein advert.” You groaned deciding to wind him up as much as you felt wound up.

The second the towel dropped so did James’ jaw. You smirked as you sauntered over to the bed, your hips swaying as you went. James seemed in a slight daze as he shuffled after you. You laid down, leaning up on your elbows to raise an amused brow at him.

“Fuck you’re gorgeous baby.” He groaned as he crawled onto the bed admiring you body openly.

“Been wanting this for days.” You whispered as he hovered above you, his arms trapping you against the bed. 

“Oh really?” He teased his index finger trailing up your body slowly, until it reached your chin.

“Mhmm Sirius accidentally pointed the phone at you when you went to change a few days ago…haven’t been able to satisfy myself since.” You pouted playfully making him smile.

“Poor baby.” He whispered huskily in your ear before leaning down to kiss just below your ear making you gasp.

“Please James…” You whispered breathless arching again him as his hand slid downwards until he arrived at your hip.

He said nothing, instead he gave you what you wanted. His hand slid down a little further, his fingers brushing through your already wet folds. He groaned audibly as his finger pulled the wetness to your clit and began massaging in slowly tentative circles. You arched against him your moan long and full of desperation. 

“Feel good love?” He asked sweetly as he began pressing kisses over your chest before taking your left nipple into his mouth, suckling on it gently.

“Mhmm…oh f-fuck…just like that baby.” You moaned as he dipped two fingers into you tight wet heat before dragging them back out putting pressure on your clit before diving back in.

“Need to taste you.” James growled as he backed down the bed until his face was level with your dripping pussy.

You suddenly felt a little panic. Evan had only done this once of twice in the years you’d been together and it was never any good for you. As if James sensed your worry he sat up a little and stared at you with worried eyes.

“I-I’ve never…I’ve only done this twice a-and I-I didn’t really enjoy it..” You whispered shyly your ears and cheeks flushing bright pink.

“I’m sorry… I thought I just heard you just say you’d only had this done twice?” He whispered in disbelief making you shrink a little.

“Fuck that come ‘ere baby. Let me change your mind.” James whispered in a slight daze as he bent your legs back exposing you but before you could feel embarrassed his tongue was on you.

You moaned at the feeling as he began leaving sloppy kisses all over your exposed heat. You keened against him try to change the feeling but you loving accidentally caused his tongue to slip a little further than your pussy. You let out an embarrassing squeak covering your face with your hands as James peered up at you with the dirtiest smirk on his face, if you’d of been feeling more coherent you’d of slapped it off.

“Interesting.” He whispered smugly as he kept eye contact and over down to lick your puckered hole making you gasp loudly which was followed by a long drawn out moan as he did it again.

“Gonna file that but of information away for another day.” James chuckled huskily before moving back to your pussy which he quickly began devouring as he slid two fingers inside your sopping wet heat.

“O-Oh shit…” You moaned loudly as he pressed his fingers into your g-spot.

“Could do this all day.” James groaned, his hips grinding into the bed like a horny teenager which shouldn’t of been as attractive as it was.

“M’Close love.” You cried out as his finger sped up but his tongue stayed gentle and precise. The combination had you clenching around his fingers but you needed something but you couldn’t quite figure it out so you took the initiative.

“Stick your tongue out baby.” You moaned and he looked up at you with a hint of surprise before he looked at you lustfully and did what you asked.

You hands slid into his hair as you began grinding against his tongue. He groaned at the sight of you using him for pleasure but you couldn’t focus. You threw your head back in pure ecstasy as you thrust against his tongue.

“Fuck yes. That’s it baby…gonna cum all over your pretty face.” You moaned as your hand gripped his hair even tighter. Finally you felt yourself tumbling over the edge your thrusts erratic and untimed but you clenched around his fingers coming undone on his tongue.

“Ahhh James.” You cried out as your legs shook with the force of your orgasm. When your body turned to jelly you released his hair letting him sit up as he licked his lips happily.

“That was so fucking hot.” James growled as he leaned down to kiss you heatedly.

“Need you…Need to be inside you baby…please.” James whispered breathlessly as he shimmied out of his boxers.

“How could I say no when you look so pretty begging.” You chuckled seductively as you reached down to guide his rather large cock into your pussy.

He pushed in slowly making your head fling back in pleasure. You’d never felt this full, it was like you could feel him everywhere. You let out a long drawn out moan, your heat clenching around him as he bottomed out. He let out a husky groan, burying his head in the crook of your neck.

“Fuck your so tight.” He growled against your neck making you chuckle.

“That because the only person I slept with was barely 5 inches.” You snorted and James let out a surprised laugh.

“That is the only time talking about an ex is acceptable in our love nest.” He laughed as he leaned up to kiss you passionately making you instantly forget what you’d even been talking about.

When he began thrusting inside you wet heat you let out an embarrassingly high-pitched moan that had you flushing as you attempted to bite your lip to contain anymore.

“Ah ah. Don’t you dare cover your moans. Wanna hear you.” James growled as he gently freed your lower lip from your teeth.

“James.” You moaned as he sped up his pace.

You flung your arms around him, your nails digging into his back as you lost yourself in the feeling of him inside you. You pulled him into a messy heated kiss, your hands sliding into his hair to grip it tightly.

“Fuck…harder p-please.”  You so yes as you pushed your hips up to meet his thrusts.

“We’re supposed to be making love baby.” He teased as he refused to speed up.

“James if you don’t fuck me like a whore I’m gonna get myself off while you get to sit there with blue balls.” You growled threateningly making his eyes widen.

“You my love have got a dirty little mouth on you.— he gave a deep thrust to punctuate his words.— Such— thrust—An—thrust—impatient—thrust—little—thrust—slut.” He growled before he began pounding into you.

“Fuck yes! M’ yer’ little slut though.” You moaned loudly making him groan, his cock twitching inside you as he began thrusting at an animalistic pace.

“S-Shit so tight and wet for me.” He moaned huskily against your neck, his hand squeezing your arse cheeks roughly.

You clung to his muscular body unable to do more than lay there and let him fuck into you like his own personal fuck toy. You could feel yourself building up again so you reached down to circle your clit but James slapped your hand away before leaning up to spit on your pussy, the whole scene was something you’d thought would disgust you but it only had you moaning as he brought his fingers to your clit. 

He began circling the swollen bud as he contained fucking into you roughly. You felt yourself teeter towards the edge until he began drilling straight into your g-spot knocking your orgasm out of you like a punch. You came around his cock which triggered his own orgasm, growling through gritted teeth as he came inside you. 

“F-Fuck Y/N!” He groaned deeply as his came, his thrust begin to slow down until they came to a stop. Your legs were shaking and you felt limp everywhere but you’d never felt so satisfied.

“Wow.” Was all you managed to say as James moved your left leg to lay over your right one before laying down behind you making sure he didn’t slip out.

You flushed a little at the intimacy of the whole thing but as he left soft kisses on your spine and shoulders, you closed you eyes and basked in the feeling. Usually you’d jump straight up, pee and get dressed but this felt right. 

“I—

The sound of James phone ringing broke the moment and he rolled his eyes before sliding out of your pussy causing you to let out a breathless gasp. He smirked down at you as he grabbed his phone and answered the call.

“What do you mean your outside ay/N flat?” James sighed as you passed him his boxers. He slid them on after hanging up on his best friend and walking towards the front door of your flat. 

“Sorry to interrupt you screw sesh but this is important!” Sirius exclaimed as he pulled out the bands shared tablet and slapped it into James hand.

“Your ex girlfriend posted a new single?” James questioned with a frown as you finally came into the room dress in James t-shirt.  

The second the song finished you burst out laughing. You knew you shouldn’t of but the fact was, it WAS fucking hilarious in your eyes. 

“You finally pissed off the wrong girl.” You snorted through your laughter.

“What the fuck do I do now! Everyone knows this is about me!” Sirius growled as he began pacing.

“It’s a good song?” James tried as he tried to hold back his own laughter.

“Are you serious?” Sirius screamed making you fall into another round of laughter.

“Karma. Am I right?” You smirked before plugging the tablet into you speaker with the aux cable before blasting out the song.

“I don’t speak boy shit!” You cheered as you did a little dance making James burst out laughing. 

[graysnetwork]

Tacenda (BBF Keegan)

(Warnings: not proofread, mentions of fighting kinda, blood, broken nose.) Summary: The senior night football game ends badly.

It was senior day and tonight was the last football game I'd see my brother and Keegan play at our high school. They were both growing up and I didn't like it, how were they– Keegan Russ the boy who tripped face first into mud when he slipped after it rained, and Liam (L/N) the boy who broke his arm two weeks into football practice– going to be seniors, going to college, and joining the marines?

I had now idea how they had even gotten through freshman year.

__

“So is your sister gonna be there?” I asked as I peeked my head over the seats. I always got stuck sitting in the back seat since Keegan and Liam were too big to sit in between. “Yeah why?” Keegan turned his head to look at me “Just wondering” i smiled and sat back in my seat “You better not have her hang out with your friends'' he furrowed his brows as he turned all the way to look back at me, he never liked my friends, he didn't hate them but he didnt love them. Keegan only had the memory of coming to my house to pick up his younger sister Marley, and she had her hair curled, makeup on, and not fun little girl makeup, glam makeup. I don't know what type of makeup would have made it better but he was mad.

“What the hell!” Keegan yelled as he woke all of us up, poor Marley was so embarrassed, i had no idea what was going on, while Kim and Hailey were snickering but apologizing. He pulled me outside and asked what had happened last night that caused his little sister to look like she was gonna go to the club. “I dunno, I literally fell asleep like…” i thought for a second “9:30” Marley mutter before Keegan glared at her, “so this was your friends ideas”

He wasn't mad at me, he was mad at them, he seriously said “It's okay sweetheart, go back to bed” and he yelled at my friends after i got in bed.

“I promise they wont do anything stupid, they cant, it's not like i'm gonna fall asleep at the game” i chuckled, his face softened and he sighed “If they do anything, i mean anything, i'm never letting Marley hang out with you guys again” he said and sat back in his seat again.

__

I sat on the bleachers in the student section with my friends and Marley, our families sat a few rows behind us, but we were sitting in the front benches. “So.. what's your boyfriend's number again?” Hailey asked as she sipped on her soda. I turned to her with a confused face “What? I don't have a boyfriend” i said quickly, “Oh c’mon” he chuckled as he looked out onto the field “We all know you and keegan have things for each other” she smirked as she turned back to me and i looked over at Kim who had the same smirk and Marely had a disgusted look on her face, it was her brother we were talking about after all. “I don't know what you guys are talking about” i looked over to Marley for support “As much as I hate to say it, Keegan is way too sweet to you to just be your friend. '' Marley said with raised up brows as if it was a fact. “You guys are forgetting Keegan is Liam’s best friend so has to be nice to me” I said trying to convince them “Sure, just cause your Liam’s sister means he has to drive you places, buy you things, and carry you around when your tired” Hailey rolled her eyes “It was one time!” I said remembering the time that Keegan carried you to the car after a day at the beach with your friends and families.

“Why are you this tired?” he said quietly as the sound of waves filled your ears “we woke up at 5 am to get here, how are you not tired?” I mumbled as I closed my eyes “touché” he smiled, that perfect smile was the last thing I'd seen before I fell asleep the rest of the ride home and only woke up in the middle of the night to my dark bedroom, Keegan nowhere to be found.

“One time, but it was so romantic,” Kim said as they both got up and stood at the railings as the players were about to come out. They ran out, it almost looked like a movie, felt like it too, other than the baby crying everyone's ears off.

“Look at him, gosh you’re lucky” Hailey smirked again as we watched keegan lead the team out and they all huddled up before the game actually started. He looked as perfect as he looked the first time he put that jersey on. “Can we refrain from the comments about my brother?” Marley said with a frown.

__

The game had ended a few minutes ago and I left in a hurry to congratulate Liam and Keegan, i left the bleachers on my own and excitedly went through the crowds and very quickly found out, a few feet away from the players locker room was where all the weird men hung out. I now remembered why i stayed in groups, a man approached me and started hitting on me, it was very weird, i was uncomfortable but my mind went blank, i had no idea what to say or do, and panic really started to set in when i realized the players were coming out a different exit and now I was all alone.

I couldn't even move as I saw Liam walk past the fence I was behind with not even a glance, as did the other players.

Keegan

I walked up behind Liam and looked around at the bleachers noticing y/n was nowhere in sight, maybe she was just throwing something away, or heading to the bathroom. It made no sense but y/n not being anywhere with her friends or family made less sense. I looked around before Kim and Hailey looked down at me, my jaw tensed at the sight of them, they had good intentions but they annoyed the crap outta me, y/n was the only one who i really liked, not just because I like her though. I furrowed my brows as they said “where’s y/n, thought you two lovebirds would be making out right now” they teased her relentlessly about me, and vice versa. I couldn't let anyone know I actually wanted half those things to happen. “I haven't

seen her'' I said. I was starting to worry as I scanned the bleachers again. “Wait what?” Kim said, for the first time ever, I'd seen fear flash on both their faces. “She was gonna go to the locker rooms to congratulate you guys” they said at the same time.

Shit

I dropped everything and started looking around as Kim told liam to start looking for y/n.

I looked over at the fence space between the locker room and the bleachers and saw her, and an older man. One of those perverts that hung around at random places to try and pick girls up. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I was on the other side of the fence punching this man, his bloody nose finally cracking as people crowded around and I saw Liam jump over the fence out of the corner of my eye. He went over to his sister and pulled her back as I yelled at the guy before security finally came over. I was glad this was the last game of the year because if I was gonna get in trouble for this, it didn’t matter.

Once the security guard and my coach were finished yelling at me I walked over y/n and Liam, “Why the hell did you wander off alone!” I yelled at her, it was the first time I’d yelled at her and it was odd, but the anger that coursed through my body overpowered every cell in my brain telling me to calm down and just make sure she was okay. Y/n couldn’t even get a wod out before i yelled at her again “What the fuck was going through your head!” Liam held her close before putting a hand on my shoulder “Alright dude, calm down-”  “Why the hell weren’t you more concerned about your sister!?” I yelled at him “Don't turn this shit on me dude!” He yelled back, what the hell was I doing, blaming Liam for something he didn't know about. All I could think about was the guy's hand that had touched y/n’s hip. I hadn’t touched her in weeks, no hugs, no high fives, just my eyes lingering on her for longer than they should have. That shit pissed me off so much, I should've killed that guy.

__

Y/n

The night ended ended terribly, id apologized for the thousandth time to liam as we got back home but he just went to his room and i went to mine, we had to cancel the dinner we were gonna go to after the game since keegan was still infuriated with everyone even though everyone agreed he was overreacting and it wasn't anybody's fault except for that douchebag. Iaid on my bed for what felt like an eternity and stared at my ceiling until my phone started

ringing. I expected it to be Hailey, or Kim, or even Marley but instead it was Keegan, the contact picture of him asleep with doodles on his face showed up as the phone rang. I contemplated answering; what if he wasn’t done yelling at me and he was calling because he was still angry? Maybe. I took my chances and swiped right to answer the phone.

“Keegan?” I asked quietly, preparing myself for the possibility of yelling in my ear, but all that prep was done for nothing as I listened to his smooth silky voice say “y/n, sweetheart..”

The name made my stomach flip, I swear I felt butterflies flutter as heat rushed up my neck and my cheeks felt hotter than the sun. “listen keegan” I continued my quiet voice as to not be heard through my home. Liam was already pissed, and he hadn’t eaten so he didn’t need to hear the name keegan; a reminder of what ruined the night. “No, you listen” he said sternly, but it was still soft as ever, it was the voice he used when he would teach me something. He always joked that he used the stern voice to get lessons through my thick skull, but he always meant it when he said he'd never yell at me.

Oh my gosh he yelled at me today.

I hadn’t even realized it earlier, it's not like I wasn’t sad about it, I was surprised.

“I know I fucked up tonight, but Ii was really upset you gotta understand that” he said softly “I do” i replied just as softly. “I'm really sorry, i shouldn't have yelled at you or Liam” he said with a sigh “He’ll get over it” i smiled to myself, he was always forgiving. “Still, I shouldn't have yelled”

“Yeah it was a pretty shitty move” I chuckled. “Woah, its bad etiquette for a princess to say bad words” he said, I could hear the airy chuckle he let out after. “Shut up” I smiled as I listened to his laughs.

I could totally get used to this. This was my own personal slice of heaven. It was what I'd always dreamed of. Keegan and I having a late night phone call. Well, my dream was being with Keegan in his arms until I got uncomfortable, which I already knew was impossible since his arms were the safest place to be in the world. But this was close, maybe the top 5 dreams I had.

[tunaababee]

we will be everything we say - Chapter 2

masterlist // fic playlist // read on AO3 // overall rating: e // wc this chapter: 2.1k // updates Mondays (aest)

Feyre Archeron has been best friends with Rhysand Sterling ever since she moved onto the same street when they were kids - the two became absolutely joined at the hip, with nothing able to come between them.

As they get older, life gets more complicated and things get harder. Not everything comes as naturally as it once did. People change, things happen, friends... drift.

But after drifting apart, maybe life can push them back together again, in time.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Chapter 2: eleven and twelve

School had finished about two hours ago and Feyre was pacing around the house, tidying up and trying to do as many chores as she could to make sure she stayed on her dad’s good side. Today, like many days and nights before it, Rhys was staying over and she didn’t want to possibly jeopardise it because of something as simple as her room not being clean. The seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours as she kept trying to find more to do - she was never a patient girl, and waiting always felt like agony to her.

So it made sense that the minute she heard the key clumsily twist in the latch, she burst out of her room without a second thought to fling the door open before he could continue messing with the lock. They’d had keys to each other’s houses since they were eight and nine respectively, but in the past three years Rhys had never gotten any better at managing the fiddly lock on the Archerons’ door. Feyre gave him a warm hug, squeezing tightly like she hadn’t seen him for weeks when it had only been mere hours. Rhys squeezed back with just as much fervour.

“Geez, Feyre, if you missed me that much, you could have come over to help me pack my stuff for tonight.”

“Am I not allowed to be excited? You get to stay over tonight and it’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Feyre, I’ll be staying over most of the summer!” Rhys said with a laugh, heading into the family’s living room before putting his stuff down by the couch.

Their coffee table had been moved out of the way, now replaced by a large inflatable air mattress in the middle of the cream-coloured carpet. It was laden with blankets and pillows - Feyre was a bit of a blanket hog, admittedly - just the way they liked it. It made it easier for the two of them to battle each other at Mario Kart under the covers in the dead of night before one of them inevitably got too excited. Their noise always earned them a stern scolding in the morning, but neither of them let it faze them too much. As long as they were having fun together and not getting into too much trouble, what did it matter? She got to hang out with her best friend in the whole world.

Rhys had no trouble settling in and making himself comfortable - the Archeron household had become like a second home to him, especially once Rebecca had passed unexpectedly only a few years after the two had become friends. It was around the same time that Feyre and her sisters lost their mother too - it was hard and unfamiliar, the change so deeply painful that she struggled to comprehend it at all. She couldn’t imagine how her sisters or her father had felt, being much closer to her mother than she was. But Rhys was struggling in the same way and needed a place to find solace. Feyre was just glad that they could find it in each other, especially as he found his dad getting colder and harsher as the years wore on. As her own father changed too, her sisters not quite the same as they once were either, her and Rhys stuck by each other’s side through it all.

He, somehow, remained warm and steadfast and comforting, and she could only hope that she had provided the same safety in return for the only other person who could understand her – her best, closest and dearest friend.

Elain made small talk with him as he kept trying to ask her questions, seeing if he could help around the house with anything, while Nesta unsurprisingly glared at him from across the room. She had never quite clicked with Rhys, as much as it irked Feyre, but she appreciated the fact that she wasn’t as rude to him as she was when they were a bit younger. Feyre darted into the kitchen amidst their conversation, not hesitating to grab all their favourite snacks and treats she had stowed away for whenever Rhys stayed over.

“It’s pizza again tonight,” she said as she grabbed the packets of chips and cookies, hauling as much as she could with both arms over to their humble abode for the night. “Dad has been having trouble cooking again.”

“You know I love pizza night!” Rhys took some of the snacks out of her arms, helping her bring them over.

“Yeah, when you haven’t had it for, like, three days in a row.” She rolled her eyes a little, beginning to head up to her room and get her charger for her Nintendo DS so they could play to their heart’s content later. “Nesta can’t cook well, and I’m not allowed near the gas stove yet.”

“You don’t need to go telling everybody!” Nesta shouted from the kitchen, beginning to storm off towards the other side of the house. Feyre couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.

“I’m sure your dad will feel better soon, Feyre. Besides, most people would kill for three pizza nights. I know I would.” Rhys picked up some of her games and trailed behind her diligently - he knew the house like the back of his hand, but his mother had drilled into him a sense of chivalry and politeness from a young age that wouldn’t be shaken. She simply laughed, bumping her shoulder with his as they walked back down the hallway together.

Soon enough, complaints about pizza nights and arguments over toppings were forgotten in favour of games and laughter and fierce competition about who could beat the other at Cooking Mama. As much as Feyre had been practising her skills, Rhys had a knack for those stupid minigames that Feyre couldn’t seem to master. Between bites of pizza, handfuls of chips and pillows smacked in faces, their night carried on with their usual raucousness. As things wound down for the night, the two laid side by side in their pyjamas, snuggled under blankets and Rhys’ head Feyre’s shoulder without a care in the world. Monster House played out before them, one of many movies they had on rotation for their sleepovers together that was a certified favourite of theirs.

But Feyre couldn’t help but realise as the night drew on that there wouldn’t be as many of these sleepovers soon - the summer was nearly over, and the thought made her stomach churn a little bit. It meant that she was going to start middle school, with a whole cohort of new people to meet, new faces to judge her. She couldn’t stop shifting and fidgeting, Rhys taking notice after a while and looking down at her with worry.

“You okay, Feyre? You’re all fidgety. Usually you’re so still when we watch our movies.”

Feyre sighed a little bit - she felt silly admitting her worries and fears about middle school to Rhys. He had seemed to take to it so easily like he did with most things, a year above her due to their ages and when their birthdays fell. She sat up slightly, crossing her legs as she looked into her lap with a small grimace on her face. Deep breaths, Feyre - this was Rhysand of all people. If there was anybody she could talk about this with, it was him. She turned her body in his direction, looking at him.

“Well, I’m, um- I know it’s kinda stupid, but like… You know how I’m going to start middle school next year, right?”

Rhys cocked his head slightly, sitting up straighter alongside her. “Yeah, just like I did. What’s wrong?”

“I, uh… I’m just. I’m a little scared about the whole thing, I think. Meeting so many new kids is always a bit scary and like, what if I don’t fit in? What if everybody just thinks I’m the weird art girl or something? Other kids can be so mean, and trying to make friends is always so hard.” Feyre sniffled slightly - all these thoughts had been weighing on her for a while, but she didn’t feel comfortable enough to talk about them with anybody around her.

Anybodyexcept for him.

She wiped at her nose a little before she continued. “Plus, you’ve got Azriel and Cassian to hang out with - I’m so glad you have more friends because you’re so nice! But I’m scared I won’t be able to find friends like you have.” Feyre was hunched over, fiddling with her hands in the blanket as she talked to Rhys.

There was a beat of quiet between them for a moment, the dull sound of the CRT’s tinny speakers in the background as the action of the movie played out on screen. Feyre could feel a few tears begin to prick at the edges of her eyes before Rhys… laughed. It was small and quiet, but it was definitely a laugh.

“Feyre, you’re so scared that it’s making you forget stuff.”

She looked up at him with a quizzical frown. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Rhys smiled at her widely before pulling her into a huge, crushing hug. She was still for a moment, a small squeak of surprise escaping her before she hugged him right back with as much force as she could muster.

“We’re going to be going to the same middle school, dummy.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, that means you don’t need to worry so much! You’ve already got one friend there. I’m the coolest, smartest person there anyways.” The two of them giggled together for a moment before breaking the hug, a smile finally breaking its way onto Feyre’s face as well as she shook her head.

“As if!” She gave him a light shove, Rhysand throwing a pillow lightly in her direction in turn.

“But for real, I’ll introduce you to Azriel and Cassian. Cassian can be a lot, and Azriel is a bit quiet, but they’re really good friends of mine. My cousin is coming to the same school as us too! She’s really fun, I think you and her will be close friends too. You’re not gonna be alone!” Rhys’ tone only got more and more filled with exuberance and delight as he kept talking. It made Feyre feel all warm and fuzzy to see Rhys find other people he connected with, making all of her worries seem a little bit lighter.

“Besides,” Rhys continued, “You’re my best friend. I’m gonna stick with you forever, remember?”

He reached out his pinky towards hers, held high and confidently between them with his signature mischievous grin on his face. Her smile had grown even wider to match his own grin, the two of them probably looking a little bit mad to anybody who happened to peek in on the two of them. Feyre reached her own pinky out, interlocking them tightly together before shaking their linked fists, almost like a handshake but with a lot more meaning and promise between the two of them.

“Yeah, I know. You’re gonna be stuck with me always.”

The credits began to roll on the TV, the high pitched sound of it shutting off as Feyre’s dad came into the room with the remote following not long after. He half-heartedly mumbled something about it being lights out, the two of them wishing him goodnight before laying in quiet silence as long as the two of them could possibly manage. They both knew what they were going to do next - it was practically a ritual at this point.

After what felt like an eternity had passed, Feyre felt Rhys nudge her arm gently with his elbow - that was her cue. She crept off of the inflatable mattress as quietly as she could manage, grabbing both of their DS consoles from the other side of the living room where they were charging out of reach. After climbing back on, she passed Rhys his, pushing down the volume on her own to zero before even daring to turn it on.

She set up the Mario Kart DS multiplayer room before the two of them hid underneath the bundles of covers, facing each other so there was no possibility that they could see each other’s screens and cheat.

“I’ve gotten sooo much better with Peach since you stayed over last time, I’m definitely gonna beat you.” Feyre whispered at him, mischief splayed all across her face.

“Maybe, but have you even unlocked R.O.B?” Rhys muttered back.

“No, show me!”

The two played late into the night, jabbing at each other and bickering as long as they could in game after game until they were inevitably caught out like clockwork.

They wouldn’t have changed a single moment of it for the world.

[roses-r-rosie3]

Chad x male reader where reader used to be bullied so bad and chad was one of the bullies but then they grow up and reader stays distant from chad but he apologizes and tries to be a better person and reader accepts him and they go out on a date ty pls ❤️❤️ .

Change [Part 1]

Chad Meeks x M!Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, mentions of bullying

Quote: “Shut up you’re still an asshole”

✁ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You used to get bullied in middle school by a group of boys. One of those bullies stood out from the rest. His name was Chad. He used to constantly picked on you about your insecurities. Sometimes he would even physically harm you. At the time, you didn’t know how to stand up for himself.

So you did the best thing you could, and told your parents (or guardians). And when you finally showed your parents (or guardians) the bruises you got from the bullying your parents moved out of woodsboro immediately for the sake of your health. When your parents moved to New York, you started making friends and getting more social with people in your new school. You were walking through New York when you bumped into some familiar faces.

“Wait aren’t you-”

“Yes I’m that girl from the news” Sam said in annoyance.

“No, No, that’s not what I was gonna say, that’s Tara, and you’re Sam, her sister, Sam! From woodsboro!” You said.

“Oh my god y/n! It’s been so long!” Tara said excitedly.

“Why did you move?” Tara said as she hugged you.

“You remember my bully, Chad right? I showed my parents my bruises and they immediately took” you said awkwardly.

Sam and Tara looked at each other in shock.

“What? Did I say something wrong?” You said in confusion.

“Are you talking about Chad Meeks-Martian?” Sam asked.

“Uh- yeah actually, how did you know?” You said.

“He’s our friend now, but before you get mad, he changed y/n he’s a very sweet guy” Tara said.

“Chad and sweet don’t really go along” you said sarcastically.

“It was nice meeting you” you smiled.

“Can I put your number in your phone?” You asked

“Sure” Both Sam and Tara said as they gave their phone to you.

You put your number in both of their phones before you left. A couple days later you got a text message from a random number.

Unknown ID

Hey y/n

You might not remember me but I’m Chad from middle school

I know you might not want anything to do with me but I changed

You stared at the phone blankly. Was someone playing a Sick prank on you? It couldn’t really be him. He would never say something like this. You later got an invitation from Tara, to a hang out at Sam’s place. Y/n accepted the invite and started to get ready.

Y/n decided to walk to Sam and Tara’s place because it wasn’t too far from his house. When he got inside he greeted everyone. But he saw a familiar face, he didn’t know where he knew the guy from, but he looked familiar.

“Hey, do I know you?” Asked y/n

“Oh uh, I’m Chad”

That made y/n’s heart drop. He was in the room as the same person who used to constantly make him feel unsafe in school. As soon as the word ‘Chad’ came out of his mouth y/n started to walk away.

“Y/n wait!” Said Chad running to catch up with y/n outside of the dorm.

“Listen y/n-” said Chad.

“What do you want to say! ‘Oh I’m sorry for bullying you so bad that you had to move states’. That’s not going to work, because the bullying got so bad that I had bruises on myself 24/7 and had to wear long sleeves to hide it from my parents!” Said y/n angrily with tears forming from his eyes.

“I know what I did was wrong and I’m sorry, I was a dumb teenager-” said Chad before he was cut off.

“Is that what you’re going to blame it on? Being a ‘dumb teenager’ doesn’t mean anything, I don’t want anything to do with you” said y/n trying to walk away.

“Y/n would you please just listen! I’m not the same person I was in middle school, I changed!” Said Chad.

“And what am I supposed to do! Just take your word for it!” said y/n.

“After you moved I realized what I did was wrong, I felt bad that I hurt you so badly that you had to move” said Chad.

“I will understand if you don’t forgive me, but at least listen to what I have to say” said Chad.

“I was acting the way that I did because I was trying to impress them, but when you moved I realized that I was a bad person” said Chad.

“So you’re saying it took you to bully someone so badly that they move to another state for you to realize that you were a fucking bully?!” Said y/n angrily walking further away.

“I used to like you okay!” Said Chad.

Y/n slowly turned around.

“What?” Said y/n in shock.

“I used to like you.. and I still do” said Chad.

“I didn’t realize it until you left, but I liked you, I missed you so much that I swore to change myself so that I wouldn’t screw up like that ever again” said Chad.

Y/n was in shock, he felt like he didn’t know how to speak. Chad was about to speak again but y/n pulled him in for a kiss.

“Wow I didn’t expect that” said Chad as he pulled away from y/n.

“Shut up you’re still an asshole” said y/n.

“Let me make it up to you” Chad said as he held your cheeks

“Can I take you out on a date” Chad

“That won’t make up for all the bullying, but it’s a start” chuckled y/n as he pulled Chad in for another kiss.

A/n: For all the other people who suggested stories don’t worry I am working on your requests!

[asukaskerian]

🌩️🌤️

🌩️ Share something funny/cracky from your WIP. ot4 still!

Goat: okay, picture this. nineteen, five months pregnant, sleeping under a bridge. 

Me: alone?

Goat: don't interrupt me. 

Me: who knocked you up

Goat: idk some jerk

Me: hn

Goat: grimmjow. >:(

Me: yeah fine ok. sleeping under a bridge.

Goat: suddenly, guy in a limo. 

Me: suspension of disbelief crashed

Goat: fuckin pick it up then! Guy. In a LIMO.

Goat: by the way it's also raining copiously and my tattered t-shirt is sticking to me like cling wrap.

Me: ................. ok how much thought did you put into this

Goat: ANYWAY guy brings me to his manor (shut up. Yes the manor is essential and also the bed the size of two parking spots.)

Goat: hot bath with bubbles, five courses dinner, etc etc etc. then comes the time to pay my rent with my body, BUT!

Goat: intimidated, i believe he will then ravish me!!

Me: and then you wonder why women take ten centuries to nut. If you gotta rewrite war and peace first 

Goat: shuuuut the frickfrack up 

Goat: it turns out! I am not for him! His beloved wife is in a tender condition (swooning, possibly also pregnant) and he, too vigorous and virile, etc etc

Goat: just saying, i would go down like the titanic.

Me: uh huh

Goat: very grateful and also very seduced etc etc, him looming sternly to ensure i do it right, her overwhelmed, never knew the touch of a woman, yadda yadda

Me: i'm still stuck on how SOME GUY got you pregnant and fucked off

Goat: OKAY FINE there's this sexy bad boy who knocked me up, condom broke, i didn't tell him BUT he finds out, comes to find me just in time to see the limo take me away!

Goat: climbs the wall to rescue me from my lascivious captor

Me: if i gotta keep dictionary.com open for this

--

🌤️Share your favorite piece of dialogue from your WIP. i have SO MANY???

"So. Yeah. Roommates suck. You pay more than them and it chafes your ass, you pay less and you can't open your mouth without being told you can also get the fuck out if you've got a problem, nobody but you will wash a single fucking plate, the TV's broken and nobody will fess up, then someone throws a fist."

Ichigo opens his mouth, closes his mouth -- and then apparently can't hold back any farther than that and says drolly, "Yeeeeah, I suspect that might have been the 'bunch of feral teen bastards raising each other' thing mixed with 'where's the money coming from tomorrow' stress." 

Nelliel chokes on a laugh she really wasn't expecting. "That's... Huh."

"... Sounds fake, but okay." Grimmjow squints. "You ain't gonna tell us being saddled with roommates as a married couple is awesome though."

... Now why did Ichigo clear his throat like that? 

He stands all at once, bussing his and Hime's glasses back to the sink, and starts the hot water to wash them, studiously not looking at any of them. Nel blinks. Okay, that's -- suspicious? Strange? 

"Honestly, I used to live with two sisters and my dad who has a really big personality, let's call it that, and my room was Grand Central for all our friends back in high school. It's quiet here, and that's cool, but we live too far from all of them to just drop by so we haven't really seen them in months. The neighbors are alright but we don't hang out either, so..."

Nelliel nods slowly, brow furrowed. His head's still bowed over his glass, scrubbing at nothing. "I guess. But that's visiting, not..."

"Visiting is good! And I..." Orihime tangles her fingers together, staring down at her hands. "After my brother died -- I was fourteen -- I lived alone, in a studio -- and it was... lonely." 

"Oh right, your bitch aunt." 

Ichigo's hand slips on the spigot; water splashes. He splutters, getting a faceful; Nel slaps a hand on her mouth. Fuck.

Grimmjow is staring, not even at Nelliel's sudden comment or at Ichigo being ridiculous, but at Orihime. "Didn't hear about that."

"Well! I still had my own place and all! It's pretty cool for a teenager! Serious street cred!" 

"You hated it," Grimmjow retorts, eyes gone narrow.

"I hated it," Orihime admits, voice quiet. "But I spent a lot of time at Tatsuki-chan's house and at Ichigo's, so it wasn't too bad. Then I got into a share-house for university! That was great." She takes a deeper breath, like she's bracing. "I like that Nel-chan is here during the day. I kinda -- otherwise, I just... I do chores, I guess." 

Stranded at the sink, Ichigo looks stricken, like he didn't know, didn't fully realize. 

"All my other friends work," Orihime adds, bowing her head. "And it's -- it's nice, keeping house! It's my house, I like doing it! But it doesn't take all the hours in my day, you know? And it's -- quiet."

Ichigo steps up to her, rests a hand on her back. She smiles up at him, bright like she said nothing of importance. He furrows his brow back; he's not buying it. 

Her smile shrinks, turns sadder. Nel turns her glass in her hands.  

Everyone is silent for a moment. 

"We should have had this conversation in the pillow fort," Orihime says all at once, eyebrows furrowed very seriously.

Nelliel cracks up.

[dogwittaablog]

community note anon here. i didn’t insinuate to ‘know them so well’, my point was being from manitoba is not a write off for being a horrible human being. i pointed out that the way in which Steve was raised, socioeconomically, geographically, culturally, and family make up was very similar to my dads, and yet he and his friends are not like steve.

i moved away from manitoba for work but still keep close with all my friends from back home. i have never personally met nolan, or his dad or younger sister. i met his older sister once (at a friends graduation. very nice. literally just a hi, very pretty smile). but his mother several times and let me tell you that woman is a piece of work imo. a lot of people in town like her but i’ve never had a good experience at her store or seeing her around. my friends who have met her said she is a rude customer at their places of employment.

am i biased? hell yeah. there is a brand of “tough hockey mom” in manitoba that i do not fuck with. they make excuses for their sons behaviour, talk badly about their girlfriends and female friends, drink with the kids, and are so focused on the horrible

CP is openly conservative. no one is that family has ever hid how conservative they are. conservative where you live might be different from conservative here. Here, it’s anti immigration, anti social welfare/“govt handouts”, it’s anti tech or anything that impacts farmers, it’s anti urbanization or public transit. you guys keep talking about their daughters being progressive and our group chats are cackling. no, i’m not gonna air that laundry out because they were teens at the time and i believe everyone grows up. HOWEVER, if they decide to take nolan’s route then i’ll be more than happy to ask my hometown friends for specific stories.

for your last question was i shocked? ha. no.

the brendan liepsic group chat wasn’t even shocking my dude. most of the people i grew up with spoke that way. it’s not just the norm, it’s encouraged. my teachers used to make jokes WITH the boys. and the teacher would remind everyone that “so and so” was gonna be in the Chel one day and we’d all got to say we know him (none of the boys from my school made it. not one.)

almost every man from home that i am friends with/associate with/have dated, has played hockey. they all quit before 16 because of the culture. they loved the sport but realized they were hanging out with racist, misogynistic, homophobic, hateful, young boys who DIDNT WANT to change. they loved that people were disgusted by their behaviour. they loved that some girls thought they were bad boys for their behaviour. that egged them on. the 4 that i still speak with who stayed behind that and now work in hockey, are all the first to say how terrible the culture is. they do not want to be defined by that and have done so much work to try and undo the norms they accepted while playing.

tldr: only met older sister once, mom is a c u next tuesday, hockey celebrates misogyny.

(i wrote this on the bud to work so forgive the grammar and spelling errors i didn’t reread it)

.

[amaiguri]

The First Demon—Zalathiel Paralogue

I guess I'm on a writing-sharing kick so here is literally the best thing I've ever written, in my opinion. It perfectly encapsulates my taste right now. I like it so much, I keep trying to write everything else like it -- the problem is, it doesn't WORK with everything else. And also, it's a middle chapter of like a 150k word story. But who knows? Maybe you'll pick it up from context...

What follows is a first-person retrospective piece on the childhood of the current Inquisitor-General, Zalathiel Kalespari.

(Zalathiel, Acting-Inquisitor General) My half-sister, Tsinavi, never suffered the first Demon of children’s cruelty: ostracism. She was largely beloved yet she still was the strange type of girl to appear in your closet one day unannounced. The little moth hung by her knees from the coat rack in my new office — reading my less-classified reports with her golden locks hanging like wings and a red apron covering her face. God only knows how she got into all these places but I’d have Saravanya check my office later.

Za: Tsinavi, what are you doing here?

Tsi: Bored.

A perfectly average response from her.

Za: Tsi—

Tsi: No.

She knew I was going to tell her to get on a train and go home. But with both Chetiel and I in Telethens, there was little chance of even bribing her to spend the fortnight returning to Zavlakya.

Za: Tsi, please — father is going to chew me out for this.

Tsi: Pfttt, sounds like your problem!

I sighed. She was at the age where she was no longer required to attend school nor stay in her home city — but instead of taking the time to apprentice herself somewhere, she had doggedly followed Chetiel and I everywhere. On occasion, we found her in disciplinary centers for trespassing. The trespassing had declined in recent months — or rather, the arrests had.

Za: Don’t you have training programs to apply to?

Tsi: I told you, I can’t! I don’t know what I’m supposed to be the best at yet.

Za: You’re fourteen. You’re not gonna know unless you try things.

Tsi: I am trying things.

Za: Reading my confidential files isn’t “trying things”, Tsi.

Tsi: Okay.

Za: …You’re not listening.

Tsi: Nope!

I trusted her implicitly but I did not trust her ability to stave off the mental effects of demons. I removed her unceremoniously from my coat rack, retrieved my classified documents, and returned her to the floor. She tried to bite my ankle but I stepped over her.

When I was her age, I still suffered a military school education. Father, the fool that he was, insisted that both my brother, Chetiel, and I go to “uphold the family legacy” or some such nonsense. And Mother (not Tsi’s mother) was a double agent for the North — and when she found out I knew, she heard no arguments against it. Chetiel hated it. He snuck out to the Theatre every week to lounge backstage at punk operas and endear himself to the skinny-legged producer. And I was much stupider back then — I hadn’t cultivated the kind of demeanor people trusted. You see, I made the mistake of thinking the Aftokratoria was truly a meritocracy — that my peers, literal children, would hear my astute observations and witty repartee and swoon. My brother — perhaps by virtue of being minutes older than I — entertained no such illusions. I suppose he’d learned to hide our unusual Thuillean accents sooner, and he made all our friends on my behalf. I, unfortunately, made monsters of them.

Tsi groaned and rolled across the floor, before she crawled into a chair at last. Once in it, she sat properly — like a goblin who pretended to know how to portray a “girl.”

Ts: Fine. Give me better advice. How did you know what you were best at?

Za: You know this is a flawed approach to making life decisions, yes?

Tsi: Answer the question!

Za: There was a pretty girl and I decided I wanted to follow her.

I first met Nesa after an alleged-Demon murdered one of the students on campus. She and her mentor came and spoke to our class about the signs of Demons — mismatched eye-colors, inhumanly smooth voices, striking beauty, and staring for too long without blinking. Nesa was stunning and she displayed all of them.

Tsinavi disapproved of this answer.

Ts: Why did you make a life decision about a girl you weren’t dating?

Za: I don’t recommend it, but I’m sure you’ll have more empathy for it when you’re older.

She pouted and kicked my chair leg.

Ts: Why can’t I follow you?

Za: Most Inquisitors get recruited very young, Tsi. Most have killed their first Demon by your age.

Ts: You were older!

Za: I was not — they just didn’t know about my first Demon. I killed one of the children the Bloodsmith turned.

Ts: Oh. Well, then I’ll go kill a Demon!

Za: If I let you go Demon hunting, Father will kill me.

Ts: Pfft, but he couldn’t though…

I permitted myself to snicker. I shared our disdain for father but he actually liked her. I hoped she would continue to leverage his generosity and position as the former Lead Intelligence Officer for the Northern Campaign to get herself into a field which would sufficiently challenge her.

Za: Fine. I will give you a task to see if you even like Inquisiting. Consider it your tryout.

Ts: Really?

Za: Apprentice yourself to Senator Diacaius Praefori and hide your connection to me as much as possible. If you can do it, I’ll let you in.

He didn’t take apprentices — he only took those with formal political philosophy training as assistants whom he would later promote. Never apprentices. But if anyone could convince him otherwise, it was Tsi.

Ts: If he’s actually as smart as they say, then he’ll know I’m the best possible candidate he could have as an apprentice.

I smiled. This was exactly the sort of arrogance I had as a child — and exactly the sort of excessive honesty that ruined my classmates’ opinions of me. A week on the Zavlakihk Docks fixed me right up — enough to charm even Nesa — but as I child, I had held honesty and wit equivalent to charisma.

I once told an upperclassman — Svyet, I think he was named — that he was the sort of person who could name every type of armbar, but could not name one time his mother was proud of him. I wasn’t wrong. He laughed it off, of course — to exude enmity would be to expose vulnerability afore his mindless… posse. He made some comment to the effect of, “You wouldn’t be saying that if Chetiel wasn’t here” which was markedly untrue, but he didn’t know that. And lack of information was always the most dangerous place to be for a Demon-hunter.

Za: Tsi, if you’re going to do this, take it seriously. Observe your target to draw out their weaknesses — do not assume your current strategy will work because you are strong.

Ts: Senator Diacaius is a big softie for little girls. Look how many daughters he has. And he’s never claimed his sons! He’ll love me.

She wasn’t wrong.

Za: On second thought, maybe I’ll pay him a visit too…

Ts: Pfft, he won’t like you!

Za: …No. But his daughter might.

Ts: What, the Burned Maiden of Thuille? She’ll take one look at you and hate you! I don’t buy any of that “symbol of the peace” horse doodoo!

I shook my head. There was a lot of intelligence on her — a concerning amount, in fact, one might call it “obsession.” From what I could tell, she was a scared little girl — good with a knife, and useless without. She would take to any genuine kindness like a Demon to blood.

Za: Of course, because she isn’t a symbol at all. She’s a person — and people are easy, if you know how to use them. You are not ready for that, Tsi.

My brother stole out to the Theatre one night and I had to provide an alibi. He knew how to use people. We weren’t allowed to leave the school at the time, so I attended a dorm party masquerading as him — but I also left early to “help my brother study.” Those sorts of meaningless social functions exhausted me and the weather was horrid. I just wanted to be home with a cup of tea and a good physics codex.

When I emerged from the throng of the crowd, a gang followed me. I led them somewhere nice and secluded — just for Svyet and his corteges. They craved the blood of the frail, awkward little brother who scored one point above his more popular brother on everything. Who was I to deny them?

They could have easily killed me with overwhelming numbers and physical superiority. They did push me over. One gashed my forearm with a nail. Then, Svyet did some grandstanding and told me to apologize — the rain haloing his form like some seabeast rising through the storm.

But I knew a thing or two about theatre from my brother’s secret ravings; I smashed a rock through the nearest window for the glass and I pointed to the longest shard in the bottom rail. I told him to apologize first — stick his neck on the shard and I’d forgive him.

They balked.

“Svyet, it seems it won’t just be your mother who thinks you’re pathetic… Can’t even beat up one underclassman on your own? You need a whole centurion to do it for you?”

People are simple. They all don masks and classifications, but the minute the curtain’s down, the masks come off. Svyet was not a secure person who laughed off insults and bantered back — he was a narcissist and a bully and a disappointment to his parents. No one would miss him.

And no one did.

When he’d finished spilling his blood over the window, I turned to the other stunned, older boys. I told them this: “I have two simple commands:

“The first: You will not lay a hand on me or my brother again.

“The second: You will not tell anyone happened here. If you tell someone and I’m arrested, you will be not safe. I already have one of your heads; do not give me the others.”

My brother was furious. He demanded to know where I’d been and why my hands were in rags all night. I never admitted to anything, but I think Chetiel knew when the Inquisitors came looking for a Demon, they were looking for me.

[kirinda-ondo]

Cobalt for the headcanon ask game?

O shit uh

not gonna lie canon already barely gives a shit about him so it's basically My City Now for every Cobalt fan, but let's see lmao

Our Boy spends a lot of time off-screen, forgotten by the plot (aside from one time he just opted out entirely by going back to bed lmao), and there's a wide variety of ways to go about explaining or justifying it beyond "Tezuka just straight up didn't know what to do with him"

Realistic: His family isn't repeatedly forgetting about him while they go on adventures without him, he's just babysitting baby brother Chi-tan (who is generally even more forgotten by time than Cobalt), which is something he genuinely like doing (there's an episode where he basically argues with Uran over who's better at putting him to sleep, and another where he just straight up YOINKS this infant out of Astro's arms and it's really funny--). In episodes pre-Chi-tan or ones where Chi-tan is also involved in the family adventure but Cobalt isn't, maybe he actually just likes vibing by himself. I know I personally love having the house to myself while everyone else is off doing whatever--

Hilarious: Cobalt actually has a rich inner world with his own friends and adventures and all kinds of incredibly wacky shit happening that nobody has any idea about because nobody ever asks the right questions. There's an episode where he gets kidnapped by a society of little colonists that live in the center of the earth, becomes their slave, saves them from a giant mole, gets promoted to general, accidentally starts a war because he's easily distracted, and then single-handedly has to stop the war he started, (and that's not even getting into the giant monster crickets and their funky background music) and Astro doesn't really even show up until the last few minutes of the episode. Just imagine something like that, but more. Give us a Cobalt spinoff where he goes on silly adventures Tezuka Pro I am begging we can do it we can make it happen and it'll be really funny I prommy--

Heart-Crushing (Evil): Cobalt IS a victim of child neglect and favoritism. Astro is everybody's favorite world-saving child of science, Uran is the Little Sister of all time, requiring a lot of attention lest she inflict chaos upon the world around her, and Cobalt, who is generally far more mild-mannered and lacking a lot of the abilities Astro does (a bit moreso if you go by the anime version where he's literally a defective prototype), he gets pretty easily lost in the shuffle. In the anime, they literally forgot about him on Christmas. And in the manga, there's a chapter wherein Cobalt gets to go to school, albeit a different one to Astro, and they get caught up in a school rivalry and basically wind up fighting each other until they're both "dead," seemingly unable to be repaired. Astro and Cobalt's parents are seen mourning Astro... but not Cobalt. Turns out Astro's fine and they sent home a fake body (all as part of a lesson on not making robots fight each other for sport), but we literally never see or hear of Cobalt again for the rest of that chapter. We don't see him with any canon friends in either version, so uh, if you wanna really look into it seriously, Being Cobalt is Suffering.

Fuck Canon: Everybody likes and hangs out with Cobalt a reasonable amount and he is happy and thriving and plot-important and doesn't constantly get forgotten and pushed aside because this time the writers would actually know how to use him and he gets a character arc and iconic moments and this is honestly just more of a wishlist than a headcanon at this point i'm sorry--

[babeyvenus]

My Future

Derek Hale x OC

Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.

Chapter 5: Shot?

"You've never once bowled a day in your life.", Sam laughed at Scott as they walked down the school steps.

"I know!", Scott groaned. "I'm such an idiot."

"It was like watching a car wreck.", Stiles said.

"First it was the whole group date thing.", Sam listed.

"Then that phrase.", Stiles chimed.

"Hang out.", Scott said.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, ok?", Stiles said. "It's like death. Once you hang out with her, you might as well become her gay best friend."

"Yeah, if that ever happens, you and Danny can start hanging out.", Sam said, patting his back as they stopped in the halls.

"How is this happening?", Scott whined. "I either killed a guy or I didn't."

"I don't think Danny likes me very much.", Stiles mutters. "You never know.", Sam said.

"I ask Allison on a date and now we're hanging out.", Scott continued to whine.

"Am I not attractive to gay guys?", Stiles questioned us.

"I wouldn't know, Stiles. I'm not a gay guy.", Sam shrugged.

"I make attack man and the team captain wants to destroy me and now," Scott ranted, pulling out his phone and checking the time. "and now I'm gonna be late for work."

Scott rushed off, leaving Stiles with her. "He's a big baby.", Sam say and pinch his cheek. "So are you."

Sam leaves the school with Stiles and he drops her off at home. She sighs, walking up to her porch and see a note stuck on the door.

Meet me at my house tomorrow. Don't be late.

-DH

She took the note, looked at the scribbled handwriting and looked around. No Derek in sight. How'd he even find her house… ? She shook her head, and walked inside.

The next day, thankfully a weekend, Sam took her mom's car to Derek's house, parking and exiting the car.

She stared up at the burned and broken down house. How'd this even happen?

"Derek?", she called.

His Camero was here. He had to be here. She looked around as she walked up to the door. "You tell me not to be late and yet I don't see you…", she muttered.

She knocked on the door before sighing and turning around, only to see green eyes staring back at her, making her jump in fear, and clutch at her chest. "Oh – God… don't do that!"

He seemed amused. "You actually showed up.", he says, walking past her.

She followed him inside. "Listen, I just want to make it clear that I had no part of you getting arrested.", she confessed. He raised a thick eyebrow.

"We also don't know what happened to your sister. But Scott thinks he did something last night. I'm only scared that it's true. Scott had a dream about someone and we don't know if it was real or not. But someone got hurt."

"You think he attacked the driver?", Derek asked.

"Did you see what he did last night?"

"No."

"Is he gonna hurt someone?"

"Yes."

"Could he kill someone?"

"Yes."

"Is he going to kill someone?"

"Probably."

She sighed harshly, running her fingers through her hair. "What the fuck did he get himself into…"

She looked up at Derek. "He's been whining about being worried that he did hurt someone but we're not even sure. I don't want it to be true. He can't handle that type of guilt.", she says, shaking her head.

He sighed, "Look, I can help you guys, remember? I can show him how to control the shifts, even on a full moon."

She perks up. "You'll really help? Even though you were cuffed?"

He frowned. "Keep reminding me and I'll say no."

She shook her head, smiling. "No need to worry about that then!", she says, relieved. Aside from his scary scowling and distant attitude, he was kind. Very misunderstood but kind.

She looks up at Derek. "Thank you. We owe you a lot.", she says, giving a soft smile. His face twitched like he wanted to be annoyed, but kept it neutral. "Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it.", he says, looking away.

His head suddenly perked up and he let out a threatening growl. Sam quickly raised her hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything!", she exclaimed.

He rushed over to her, yanking her out of the house and toward the car. "You need to leave. Now.", he ordered.

She didn't bother asking any questions. She hopped in the car, started it up and left, looking in the rear view mirror as she saw Derek stalk off into the woods.

What the hell was that…

Later at night, Stiles pulled his jeep up right up to the school fence and they all got out. Sam and Scott walked to the fence and saw Stiles walking with them.

"What're you guys doing?", Scott asked. "Huh?", Sam look at him in confusion. "This is werewolf business.", he says.

Sam gaped at him. "Who the hell do you think has been saving your ass from flipping out, time and time again??"

"Someone needs to keep watch.", Scott argued.

"How come we have to keep watch?", Stiles whined.

"Because there's only one werewolf and two tiny humans and they stay behind.", Scott replied.

"Ok, why is it starting to feel like your Batman and I'm Robin and Sam's… a side character?", Stiles asked. Sam gaped at him too. "Man, fuck you."

"Well, I don't want to be Robin all the time.", Stiles shrugged at her.

"Nobody's Batman and Robin any of the time.", Scott said.

"Not even some of the time?", Stiles questioned him, pouting.

"Just go wait in the car.", Scott said. Sam kissed her teeth. "Oh, my god.", Stiles groaned as they went back to the jeep.

Time passed and it felt like Scott was in there forever. How bad was it in there??

A horn honked and snapped her out of her thoughts as Stiles had his hand on the horn. Scott hurriedly jumped out of the bus and over the fence, hopping in the back of Stiles' Jeep. Stiles backed the jeep up and turned it around and began to drive away from the school.

"Did it work? Did you remember?", Stiles asked.

"Yeah, I was there last night." Scott said.

"So, you did attack him?", Sam asked.

"No. I saw glowing eyes at the back of the bus, but they weren't mine. It was Derek.", Scott confessed.

She looked at him through the rear view mirror. "What about the driver?"

"I think I was trying to protect him.", Scott said. "I think I was trying to help the driver and I was just trying to ward the creature off. That's why a lot of the blood was mine and not the driver's."

"Why would Derek help you remember that he attacked the driver?", Stiles asked.

"Because it wasn't Derek." Scott said. "The scent was different."

"It has to be a pack thing.", Stiles said.

"What do you mean?", they asked him.

"Like an initiation. You do the kill together."

"Yeah, because ripping someone's throat out is a real bonding experience.", Sam muttered, in disgust.

"Yeah, but they didn't do it, so they aren't killers. And it also means," Stiles gets cut off.

"I can go out with Allison tomorrow.", Scott cheered.

"I was going to say it means that you won't kill us.", Stiles says. Sam laughed at Scott's excitement. At least one good thing came out of this. Her best friend wasn't a murderer.

Sam hummed, cleaning up after last night. She had hoped Scott was at least having fun, feeling better that he was good and not a ravage, hungry werewolf.

"You're in a good mood today.", she hears jer mom say. Sam turned to her, shrugging with a smile. "Can't complain."

She looked at her, slyly. "Uh-huh." Sam chuckled and finished up. She paused in the living room as she heard a honk outside the house and looked at the door.

It didn't sound like Stiles' jeep…

She opened the door to see the black camaro in front of the house and her jaw immediately dropped. What the hell was Derek doing here?

Mom walked behind her, peeping the car. "I never thought Stiles would give up that raggedy old jeep.", she says.

"Uh huh…", Sam mutters and put on her shoes. She rushed, waving her mom bye before stopping at the passenger side of Derek's car. "What're you doing here??"

He rolled down the window. "Get in.", he says, casually. She sighed and hopped in. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see.", he says and drives her back to the woods.

He stopped in front of his house. "Uh, I've been here before, Derek." He gave her a bored look before exiting the car.

She left the passenger side and followed him as he walked into the woods.

"Um, this isn't the part where you kill me, right?", she joked, nervously. He looked at her unamused. "Sorry, bad joke.", she says, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Just be quiet and c'mere.", he says, leading her to a cliff. With the sunset and the blowing breeze, she could see the rest of the city below them. It was beautiful.

She looked up at Derek. He had his eyes closed as he let the breeze wash over him. "How come you brought me here?", she asked.

He shrugged. "I guess to give you some insight that even though I'm a… y'know… I'm still human. I can still enjoy stuff as mundane as this."

She blinked in surprise. She hadn't thought about that. She knew killing couldn't be pleasant, but it was a nice change in scenery.

She looked out onto the horizon. "I've never been up here…"

She sat down on the cliff. It really was beautiful. "I'm kinda shocked you'd wanna share something like this with me.", she said.

She hears him shuffle and watched him sit down next to her. "Y'know since I'm not a werewolf and all.", she chuckled.

He huffed out what she thought was a chuckle, himself. "You don't have to be one for me to feel generous."

He sighed. "I don't know. I guess… I trust you in a way. Plus, you aren't so… hesitant to talk to me. You don't treat me like I'm someone that should be avoided despite me getting quickly arrested."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that again…", she chuckled. He glanced at her "You're good."

They sat in silence for a while until the sun finally went down and she stared in awe as the city looked like sparkly lights below them. "I see why you come here now.", she says with a smile.

He huffs. "At the end of the day, it's something to look forward to."

She looks at him. "How often do you get out?" He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "I get out."

She shook her head. "Not walking by the school or going to diners or gas stations. I mean actually going out. Shopping, stuff like that."

He frowns. "I don't have the time for that." Sam huffed and stood. "Well since you shared this with me, it's only fair, I take you out."

He looked at her, bewildered. He scoffed with a slight smile. "If you say so."

He got up and walked her back to his car before driving her home.

She left his car, giving him a wave. He nodded before driving off.

Later on, Sam drove up to the nearest gas station to fill up her mom's car and went into the station to buy a snack while she was at it.

As she walked in, she pulled off her hood and looked around the store for a snack, whilst getting distracted by other voices outside.

Once she walked up to the cashier, she glanced outside to see a familiar head of dark hair, surrounded by other men.

Tilting her head in confusion, she quickly took her bought snack and left the station store.

"Black cars though…very hard to keep clean. I would definitely suggest a little more maintenance.", she heard as she stood outside, she saw Derek's calmly collected expression.

"You have something that's nice; you want to take care of it, right?", the man ahead said and grabbed a squeegee.

Sam's eyes widened as she realized who the man was. It was Allison's father. Sam doubted Derek would have any reason to be teamed up like this if it wasn't for a reason.

"Personally, I'm very protective of the things I love," Argent said, "That's something I learned with my family. You don't have much of that these days, do you?", he asked, taunting the Hale boy.

Sam pulled up her hood, the shade of her hoodie blocking the light from her face as she glanced at Derek's clenched fists and watched as he unclenched them.

Argent smiled. "There we go. You can actually see clearer now.", he says before walking back to his truck.

"You forgot to check the oil." Derek said, sarcastically. Argent turned around to one of his fellow hunters. "You heard him. Check the man's oil."

One of the hunters walked over to the drivers seat and smashed in Derek's driver seat window. "Looks good to me."

"Y'know, this could be counted as harassment.", Sam called out as she walked over to the men, catching their surprised attention as she stood a few feet away from them.

Argent stood down and Derek looked at her with a wide eyed expression. One that was telling her to leave.

She was already in deep shit by getting herself involved, why not go the whole 9 yards?

"You're a student.", Argent told the girl. "There's a mandatory curfew. You didn't hear?"

Sam's eyebrows rose. "Oh, I heard. Just didn't care. Good thing I came out here because it seems like you douchebags are taking that advantage to stir up some shit.", she says, giving the men a sarcastic smile.

"Y'know, my mom's friends with the sheriff. Should I call him to tell him what type of behavior is happening during his curfew?", Sam asked with raised eyebrows. She turned to the men. "Isn't it like $500 for vandalism? Each?"

Argent's face deepened into a frown. "There'll be no need.", he turned to Derek. "Drive safely," Argent said before walking to his car.

The men entered their cars and drove away from the station. Derek shook his head, his fists clenching in anger once more.

"Dickheads.", Sam muttered before she started walking to her mom's car. "You didn't have to do that.", she heard Derek say.

She turned to him. "I know. I just don't guys like that. You're literally getting gas. That's mundane, not monstrous.", she says. 

"I wouldn't have actually sued them. It'd just make the target on my back bigger.", Derek said, looking at his damaged car.

"I would, plus he's a dickhead. Now, I have to worry about whether or not Allison is the same way.", Sam said rolling her eyes.

"Go home, Sam.", Derek said, opening his car door and brushing the glass shards out with his jacket sleeve.

Sam sighed and opened the driver door before pausing. "Hey, Derek?"

The Hale boy looked up. "I'm sorry about your family. It's pretty fucked up what happened.", Sam said. Derek stared at her before giving her a half hearted nod.

She finally got in the car and went home.

Just before she walked up to her porch, she gets a call from Stiles. "The bus driver passed away a couple hours ago.", he says. She pause.

"No way..." It couldn't have been Derek. They were just together.

If it was, he must have done something to the guy before he came to pick her up. She pulls out of the driveway before driving to the Hale House.

Scott seemed to have already gotten there before her. She quickly parked and got out.

"Ok, Scott, are you sure it was him?", Sam asked. "I mean, I was just with him.", she says as she follows him inside.

There was a burnt staircase in front of them, a hallway to the right, a room to the left and another room to the right. It was all so dark and mysterious. The place felt heavy in a way. Like death...

"Derek!", Scott yelled, calling for him. "We know you're here! You did that."

"I didn't do anything.", Derek's voice echoed.

"You killed him, Derek!", Scott yelled and made his way to the staircase, climbing it. "He died.", Derek's voice growled.

"Like your sister died?", Scott asked.

"My sister was missing. I came here looking for her.", Derek responded.

"And you found her.", Sam said from the bottom of the staircase, looking around for him.

"I found her in pieces, being used as bait to catch me.", Derek gruffed.

"I think you killed them both.", Scott accuses. "Scott!", Sam yelled at his insensitivity.

"I'm gonna tell everyone, starting with the sheriff.", Scott threatened. Sam looked to the right as a figure appeared and grabbed Scott by the back and slammed him down the steps.

Scott landed with a crash on his stomach. Sam took a step back as Scott looked up at her, his eyes glowing yellow, fangs protruding and his nails dug into the floor.

He got to his feet and turned to look up at Derek and gave a loud, bellowing roar. Derek leapt over the steps in one giant pounce and landed in front of Scott. He made another grab for Scott but Scott grabbed Derek first and threw him through a wall.

"Derek!", Sam exclaimed in shock at Scott's strength. Derek landed on his back and spat out dust from his mouth as he dusted wood chips off of him. He stood up, his black leather jacket now covered in dirt.

"Huh." Derek muttered as he continued to brush himself off. "That was cute."

He took off his jacket, showing off his built body.

Derek's fangs grew and his green eyes grew into an electric blue as he gave a roar back at Scott.

Scott ran forward and they circled each other for a moment before Scott leapt at Derek. Derek threw Scott up against the wall a couple of times before throwing him to the other side of the room.

"You guys, stop!!", Sam yelled as she ran forward and leapt at Derek. He flicked her away with a yank, throwing her against a wall.

Sam's back hit the wall and she fell to the floor with a groan. She watched through blurry eyes as the boys tussled. She got up once more, rushing at them and getting between them as they separated for a moment. "STOP!!", she yelled and they flew back from opposite sides.

They look at her in shock. "What the hell…", Scott mutters as he calms down a bit.

Derek seemed to snap out of it quickly. "I didn't kill him. None of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine."

"This?" Scott growled as he got up. "This is all your fault. You ruined our lives."

"No, I didn't.", Derek growled, getting up. "You're the one who bit me.", Scott said.

"No, I'm not.", Derek said.

"What?", Scott asked in confusion.

"It's true. He told me after I told him the same thing.", Sam says.

"There's another.", Derek says. "It's called an Alpha. It's the most dangerous of our kind. We're Betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal than any of us. My sister came here looking for him. Now I'm trying to find him. But I don't think I can do it without you two."

"Why us?", Scott asked.

"Because he's the one that bit you. You're part of his pack. It's just you. You're the one he wants."

Scott looked at him in shock and calmed down. "What the hell…"

"Also… mind explaining what the hell that was??", Derek looked over at Sam, his face changing back to normal.

She shrugged and looked at her hands. "I-I dunno! I've never done that before. I just wanted you guys to stop, not stop and fling in different directions."

He got up and looked at her hands. They were shaky. "Go home. We'll figure this out later.", he told both Sam and Scott.

She brought Scott out of Derek's place and drove him home as he sat in silence. After getting him home safely, she went home myself, too exhausted to do anything anymore.

The next day came and it only got weirder.

Sam and Stiles discussed in his Jeep, looking at something Sam found on her phone and only paused as the jeep came to an abrupt stop.

"Dammit, Stiles!", Sam complains, rubbing the back of her neck and see a pale Derek collapsing in front of the jeep.

"You're kidding me. This guy's everywhere.", she hears Stiles' mutter before they got out to crouch near him.

"What the crap?", Sam muttered, looking at the sickly pale Derek. Derek's face was almost sunken in and covered with sweat, his eyes drooping with heaviness.

"What are you doing here?", Scott growled at him. "I was shot.", Derek panted heavily. "By who?", Sam asked.

"He's not looking so good, dude.", Stiles told Scott.

"Why aren't you healing?", Sam asked. "I can't. It was a different kind of bullet.", Derek said.

"A silver bullet?", Stiles asked with wide eyes. "No, you idiot.", Derek growled in annoyance.

"Wait, wait.", Scott said. "That's what she meant when she said you had forty eight hours."

"What?", Derek and Sam asked Scott in unison.

"Who said that?", Derek asked.

"The one that shot you.", Scott said. Derek's eyes flickered blue and he closed his eyes as he groaned. "What are you doing? Stop that.", Sam says, panicking and looking around as people got closer.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, I can't.", Derek growled at her as his eyes continued to flicker from green to blue and back again.

"Derek, get up.", Scott ordered. "Help me put him in your car."

"Why's he getting in my car?", Stiles whined. "Because we don't have cars. Now quit your whining.", Sam says, helping Derek into the jeep before getting in the back.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used.", Derek told Scott. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?", Scott asked Derek.

"Cause she's an Argent, she's with them.", Derek said, gruff.

"Why should I help you?", Scott challenged. Sam looked at him in shock. "Scott, really? Now? You're asking this now? Go see!", she yelled.

"Fine. I'll try.", Scott rolled his eyes. "Get him out of here."

"I hate you so much for this.", Stiles says, pulling off.

She helped Derek take his jacket off as Stiles throws his phone into the center console in frustration. "Hey, try not to bleed all over the seats. We're almost there."

"Where are we going?", Derek asked, rolling his head back in pain. "To your place.", Sam said.

Derek's eyes quickly widened. "No, you can't take me there."

"I can't take you to your own house?", Stiles asks, confused.

"Not when I can't protect myself.", Derek replied, making Stiles pull over to a curb.

"What the hell are you doing?", Sam asked him. Stiles turns to Derek. "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet, hm? Are you dying??"

"Stiles!"

Derek shakes his head. "Not yet. I have a last resort."

Stiles flails his arms. "What do you mean, what last resort??"

Derek pulls back his sleeve, revealing the bullet wound and the teens almost gag.

"Oh my god, what is that!?", Stiles gasps, looking away. "Is that contagious, y'know what, maybe you should just get out."

"Really, Stiles?? It's not contagious, it's a bullet wound.", Sam fusses.

Derek swallowed, panting softly. "Start the car. Now."

"Yeah, I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? Because in fact, if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead.", Stiles fussed.

Derek glared at him. "Start the car. Or I'm gonna rip your throat out. With my teeth."

Sam leaned back in her seat from the threat as Stiles reluctantly started the car.

Night falls and Derek is getting paler and paler.

"I'll call Scott to see if anything's changed.", Sam says, dialing Scott's number. He picked up. "What are we supposed to do with him?", Sam asked.

"Take him somewhere, anywhere.", she heard Scott's reply. "Very helpful, Scott.", she muttered.

"And by the way, he's starting to smell.", Stiles cuts in.

"Like what?"

"Like death.", he responded making her gape at Stiles. "Stop it.", she scolds.

"Ok, take him to the animal clinic.", she hears Scott say.

"What about your boss?"

"He's gone by now. There's a spare in the box behind the dumpster." She took the phone from Stiles.

"You're not going to believe where he's telling us to take you.", Stiles said, as she handed Derek the phone.

"Did you find it?", Derek asked.

"How am I supposed to find one bullet?" Scott whined. "They have a million. This house is like the frickin' walmart of guns."

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?"

"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be a bad thing.", she hears Scott say. This boy…

"Then, think about this. The alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive then you need me. Find the bullet.", Derek hung up and handed the phone to Sam.

"Are we going back to the clinic?", Sam asked Stiles.

"Yeah." Stiles says, driving off.

[sakebytheriver]

Please enjoy this slowburn trauma filled nerd boy/jock girl teammates on a roller derby team AU where the author has no idea how to play sports or how to get a PhD ✌️

Hope you can all forgive me for my utter lack of roller derby knowledge and my lack of knowledge of higher education, I went to art school

The first time Hunter saw the girl boxing at his gym was about a year before he started working at Eda's secondhand store and introduced his new coworker Luz to his step-sister Amity, and they started dating. The girl was midfight gaze focused so hard it looked like it could cut steel, sweat dripped down her skin landing on the mat bellow her feet, and her movements were precise, practiced, and the strength behind them was obvious. He tried not to notice the way the muscles on her exposed arms and legs flexed with her every move, but he would be lying if he said he didn't end up watching her more than once while he ran his set on the treadmil. It was made even worse when she inevitably won the fight and turned into possibly the sweetest person on the planet, she helped her oponent up off the matt, thanked them for a good fight and asked for them to do it again sometime before she giggled and he could almost see cartoon flowers sprouting around her. Ever since that day, he went to the gym a lot more often. Amity and the twins referred to her as his gym crush and were absolutely relentless anytime they saw him in workout clothes. And now she was at the store he worked at looking through the jewelry just an aisle away. He was hanging by a thread.

"Hey, nerd," Luz said as she walked through the door of the shop. "Amity said she gave you her black dress. I've been sent to pick it up." She said as she approached the front counter.

"Yeah, here." Hunter said, reaching under the counter and pulled the duffel Amity had given him that morning. Luz nodded in thanks before turning and noticing the girl from his gym in the aisles.

"Oh, hey, Willow's here." Hunter's head snapped to her, and an expression of pure terror took over his face.

"What?"

"That's Willow, my roommate." She raised her hand to gesture to the other girl, but Hunter snatched her hand out of the air. "Hey-"

"You don't know her." He said frantically.

"What? Yes, I do," Luz said incredulously.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't."

"Hunter, she's literally my best friend, we've been roommates since college. I've known her way longer than I've known you."

"No, you can't know her. Because if you know her then I'm going to have to know her and I can't know her." As he spoke, he knew he sounded like a maniac, but at the moment, he didn't care. The woman he had been watching from afar for almost a year, the woman he had accepted he was never going to talk to, the woman who the mere thought of made him a blushing stuttering mess was suddenly the roommate of his sister's girlfriend and there was no way he was going to be able to be normal about it.

"Hunter, what the hell are you talking about?"

He cringed knowing that there was no escape and that he'd have to tell Luz exactly why he could never speak to her roommate. With the next words out of his mouth, Luz would understand the problem in an instant, but would also cause him a lot of grief in the very near future.

"She goes to my gym." Luz's eyes widened slowly, and her smile grew like the cheshire cat as she realized just what that meant.

"Wait, are you telling me, that my roommate is your gym crush?" She asked in stage whisper excitement clear in every syllable.

"I really really don't wanna say yes."

"Edric, Emira, and Amity are gonna love this."

"Oh, Luz," Willow's voice startled the two at the counter. Hunter jumped away from Luz, a blush covering his cheeks as he was finally face to face with the woman he'd been semi stalking at the gym for almost a year. She spoke as she walked up to the counter with a little bejeweled bee shaped barrette in her hands. "I thought you were off today."

"I am. Just had to pick something up for Amity. Have you met Hunter?" Luz spoke quickly, turning to Hunter with a mischievous grin. Willow turned to Hunter slightly put off by the weird behavior of her roommate.

"No, I don't think- Oh! Wait, we go to the same gym, don't we?" Willow slapped her hand down on the counter excitedly in realization.

Hunter swallowed his cheeks on fire, she recognized him, "Um y-yeah we do. I've seen you boxing. You're really good."

Willow grinned from ear to ear and he felt like he was going to melt into the floor, "Thank you! I know." She said confidently but not conceited.

"Oh yeah, she's got medals and trophies," Luz interjected. "And not just for boxing, for tons of sports. My roomie's a total jock." Luz turned to Hunter and in an instant her eyes lit up with an idea. "In fact, Hunter you roller skate, right?"

"Yeah, I do." Hunter said slowly, his brows furrowed, confused by the change of topic.

"Because you know I remember Amity said that you and Darius go like once a week." She turned to Willow, "It's a really cute story actually-"

"I don't think she needs to hear-" Luz continued on as though Hunter hadn't even spoken.

"When Darius first adopted him, he wanted to find an activity to do together and they tried all kinds of stuff before finding out they both liked roller skating and they've been going ever since. Hunter's gotten pretty good at it over the years." As Luz spoke Hunter made eye contact with Willow and she gave him a knowing smile and scrunched her nose at him in apology for her roommate. He prayed she thought his red cheeks were from Luz and not from her smiling at him. "Anyways, the reason I bring this up-"

"Is because I captain a roller derby team and just lost a player." Willow interjected.

"Exactly! So I was thinking..." Luz trailed off and gestured with her hands between the two of them. Willow giggled covering her mouth with her hand in a way Hunter absolutely did not find adorable. Willow pulled out her phone opening an empty contact page.

"Here," Willow held out her phone to Hunter. "I'll text you the info."

"Oh, I-I don't think I'd be very good at roller derby." Hunter said.

"Well, lucky for you, I'm desperate. We've got a match this weekend, so if you can skate, you're in." She pushed her phone in front of him even more, and he clumsily took it from her nervously typing his information, trying desperately not to think about the fact that this meant his gym crush would have his number now.

He handed the phone back to her, and she smiled, "Perfect! I'll text you." He could feel his cheeks light up, and his brain just kept replaying her words over and over again. I'll text you. Fuck. He was doomed.

She pulled a ten dollar bill out of her purse and placed it down on the counter. As she spoke, she slipped the bee barrette in place in her hair, and all Hunter could think was how pretty it looked on her.

"Keep the change. I gotta go to work," she turned to Luz. "I have to make sure the new guy doesn't kill any of the plants in the nursery." She glanced once more at Hunter as she started to walk towards the door. "It was nice to meet you!"

"Y-yeah, you too." Hunter watched her smile at him once more before slipping out the door. "I really hate you, you know." He said with eyes on the door, and Luz cackled.

"Oh, come on, bro, I'm totally wingmanning you the way you did with me and your sister."

"I didn't wingman you, she just gave me a ride my first day and you were so distracted staring at her that you knocked over a box of silverware then made a dumb joke about buying it to have dinner with her and for some unknown reason she laughed."

"Exactly, just follow my lead, and you'll totally be dating my roommate in no time."

"I feel like you don't listen to me."

"I hear you loud and clear, dude. I'm so gonna get you a girlfriend."

His phone buzzing interrupted them. He looked down to see a text from an unfamilar number.

"Is that Willow?" Luz asked smug.

"No." It was.

"Liar." Damn her.

Hey! It's willow 🌼 ^-^

Also if Luz is still being Luz remind her she has something to get to Amity and she'll practically run out the door

He smiled at her message and looked back up at Luz, "As much as I would love to continue this conversation, doesn't Amity need that dress?"

Luz narrowed her eyes at him and snagged the duffel off the countertop, "Tell Willow I am not as predictable as she thinks I am."

"So you're not going to leave now or?" He asked smirking at her.

"Of course I'm going to leave now, I just don't wanna give Willow the satisfaction." Luz walked to the door, stopping right before it would close. "And just for that, I'm so gonna show Willow those pictures of you from last year's Renaissance fair."

Hunter rolled his eyes as the door slammed closed behind her, turning back to his phone

Hunter:

You're a genius, she couldn't get out of here fast enough

Willow:

😂 idk if id say i was a genius just an expert in Luz

And im sorry we kinda pushed you into joining my team, you dont have to if you dont want to

But if youre in id be down to schedule some practices we can do some one on one so youre more confident before joining the team

Hunter stared down at the phone in his hands blush creeping onto his cheeks as he thought about what she'd just said. One on one practices with just the two of them. He knew he should tell her he can't play roller derby, that he hasn't played any kind of sport since high school, and most of his accolades now were all academic, but he also knew there was no way he was going to be able to say no to her. His fingers were typing before he could register he was doing it.

Hunter:

It's ok. I'm in

He bit his lip nervously as he typed the next message.

And I'm free tomorrow if you want to practice then

He hit send before he could rethink himself and then he panicked for the entire forty-six seconds it took for her to reply

Willow:

Perfect! Im free tomorrow too ^^

At that, Hunter promptly dropped his phone.

_______________________________________

Hunter woke up the next morning and instantly his nerves over the practice he had with Willow later that day flooded his system. He decided to just throw on a jacket and his reading glasses and headed out of his studio straight to the library. Losing himself in his thesis was always the best way to calm his nerves or at least serve as a good enough distraction. He had surrounded himself with books by the time a voice startled him out of his research bubble.

"Hunter?" He looked up to see Willow standing in front of him looking completely put together in cute overall shorts and a yellow crop top that matched perfectly with her gold wire framed glasses and little yellow sunflower shaped crossbody purse. While he was suddenly struck with the realization that he had left the house in his pajamas from the night before, with his hair a mess, his bulky red reading glasses slipping their way down his nose.

"Willow!" He said much too loud, his face and ears on fire. "You're here. At the library."

"What just because I play sports doesn't mean I can't read." She teased him.

"That's not- I didn't mean-"

She giggled at his reaction and slipped into the seat across from him. She put the book in her hands on the table in front of her, revealing the cover to be a cheesy romance novel with an oil painting for the cover.

"I know it's super low brow, but they're sort of a guilty pleasure, and a new one just came out so."

"So library."

"Exactly," she smiled at him and his stomach did somersaults. "What about you? What are all of these for?" She gestured to the piles circling him in.

"Oh, um, they're for my PhD. My thesis is about the history of witchcraft practices in European cultures and how witch hunters tie into religious fundamentalism today."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know. You're bored already." He joked, keeping his tone light.

"What? No, of course not." She was sincere in her response.

"It's okay, an old coworker once told me that how bored it made her was only made worse by how annoying my voice is." Willow couldn't help it the comment surprised her so much she laughed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, that's not funny, that's so mean. I shouldn't be laughing." She said through her laughter. Hunter was just focused on the fact that he'd made her laugh over anything else.

"It's okay. When I told the twins about it, they were a lot worse."

"For the record, I don't think your voice is annoying."

"Thanks, but you don't have to lie to me everyone says it is."

"I'm not lying, I'd actually really love to hear you explain your thesis."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not. Promise." She held out her pinky finger in front of him. He looked from her finger back to her eyes, and something he saw in them made him believe her. He smiled and locked his pinky with hers before launching into the research he had done that day. She just rested her chin on her hand and watched him with a smile.

_______________________________________

As he was fumbling with his keys at his apartment door with her right behind him, Hunter had no idea what compelled him to invite her back to his apartment other than that when he'd told her he needed to change before they went to the rink to practice, the fact that his apartment was right around the corner just slipped from his mouth. She had agreed to go back with him instantly with that adorable perfect smile, and now twenty-four hours after he had met his dream girl, she was going to be in his apartment. He felt like he was going to pass out, stuff like this didn't happen to him.

When he was finally able to open the door and reveal his apartment to her, Hunter realized he really should not have let her come over. It had been a while since anyone but him had been in his place and he'd forgotten just how many books he had, even with the two almost floor to ceiling bookshelves there were still piles of them all over the floor, opened books on his bed, books piled up on the couch, the coffee table, even some on the kitchen counters. But what he found himself regretting most were the figurines and posters and the multiple sided dice strewn all over the apartment.

"You could open another library in here." She said, looking over his shoulder through the open door.

He cringed, "Yeah, I haven't really had any visitors since I moved here." He said, rushing to clear some books from the couch, his route through the maze of book piles practiced.

Willow watched him from the door with a fond look before slowly following him, keeping her head down at her feet. She had almost reached the couch when Hunter snapped back up and turned to face her, knocking her off balance.

"Oh!" She reached out to him instinctively as she fell forward, he tried to catch her but was just as caught off guard by her as she was by him, his knees buckled under him and he fell back on the now book free couch with her on top of him.

It took a moment for the world to catch up with him, he got lost in the fact that he could feel her hands against his chest and the weight of her body against his own, her head down, her breath against his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist and as she slowly lifted her head to look him in the eye her warm breath fogged the edge of his reading glasses. He knew his face was on fire as he realized she was so close he had to cross his eyes slightly to look into hers. Hunter tried to stop himself, but he couldn't help the quick glance he stole down at her lips.

"Hun-" her voice snapped him back to the moment, and in an instant, he had moved her off of him standing up and leaving her sitting confused on the couch.

"Um- I- I should go- um go get changed and um... yeah." He said scrambling away from the couch tripping over a couple book piles making his way to his dresser grabbing the clothes he'd set aside for their practice and stumbled his way into the bathroom slamming the door by how hard he pressed his body against it.

He let himself sink to the floor and burried his face in his hands, he could feel how hot his face was, knowing the red blush was probably covering his neck and ears too. Hunter couldn't believe he'd just run away from her like that.

He stood up from the floor, trying to shove his embarrassment down and got dressed as quickly as he could, leaving his reading glasses behind on the sink. He opened the door only to be greeted by Willow standing on the other side, leaning against the doorframe, waiting for him.

"You okay?" She asked at the sight of him. He cringed at himself, feeling his cheeks heat up at the memory of what just happened.

"Yeah, I'm ok, that was- I mean I um... We should get going, yeah?" He pointed to the apartment door, hoping she would take the change in subject and let the other drop.

"Okay," she nodded before kicking off the doorframe and walking to the door. She stood by the door knob forcing him to stand close to her as he opened it for her, she kept her eyes on him the whole time and he wished he could ignore the way her gaze made his skin itch. The way she looked into his eyes as she slipped through the door, keeping eye contact with him the whole time made him feel like she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

_______________________________________

She changed into her roller derby uniform when they got to the rink, and he tried not to focus on how he could see the way her biceps flexed exposed from her tank top. He prayed she thought his red face was from exertion, and not all the times she had to touch him to teach the full contact moves as she went through the different tactics and strategies. Hunter had never been truly hopeless when it came to sports or anything like that, he had done martial arts as a kid and he could hold his own in the average gym class, but he'd never played a team sport before and even just working with Willow alone he could tell he was going to be out of his ellement. She promised that they'd practice with the full team before the match that weekend and that it would be easier to get the whole picture with them there and a little voice in the back of his head wondered why she would suggest a one on one practice if it would ultimately be easier with the whole team. Of course, then she'd grabbed his arms to correct his posture or something, and he got lost in the point of contact instead.

It was close to the end of the time Willow had reserved at the rink when it happened. She was skating backwards in front of him explaining the intricacies of different plays and Hunter had gained enough confidence in his abilities to let himself get lost in the sound of her voice and the green of her eyes. His skate caught on something he didn't see, pitching him forward, crashing right into Willow in front of him.

"Ack!" He watched as her eyes widened, realizing too late what was about to happen, as his body hit hers, he felt as her arms instinctually wrapped around his torso. He held out his arms letting them take the most impact against the ground, but he couldn't prevent the rest of his body from making a solid collision with hers as she hit the ground and for the second time that day one of them was on top of the other.

When Hunter opened his eyes next, he was staring straight down at Willow's, their noses a hair's breadth away from brushing. Her eyes dropped to his lips in a way that he couldn't not notice her doing it. In that moment, Hunter wished he was a different person, one who wouldn't feel like they were going to have a panic attack from being close to a cute girl. He pushed off against the ground fast, surprising her enough to break the lose hold she had around his waist, and he moved to sit up on the ground next to her.

"Sorry, I uh-" Hunter stuttered as she sat up, he could still see the pink dusting on her cheeks.

"It's okay," she smiled at him and his chest felt like it had been lit up like a forest fire. "People fall, especially when they're on roller skates." He couldn't help the smile that grew as she giggled. "We should probably get cleaned up anyway." Hunter felt like he was imagining it, but she almost sounded disappointed. "I'll schedule a practice with the rest of the team, they'll all be so excited to meet you." She patted his knee as she got up to her feet, she held her out to him still on the ground. He knew he was blushing as he took her hand and let her pull him up to his feet.

"Thanks," he let his hand fall from hers. "I hope I don't mess up this match for you guys." He rubbed the back of his neck self consciously.

"You can't." She said it so definitively that Hunter felt like he had to believe her. "Even if we lose and even if it's because of something you may or may not do, you won't mess up the match. Every game, win or lose, has something you can learn from and something you did right, there's value in the losses and failure in the wins. But as long as you try to do your best, you could never mess it up, it's just impossible." She patted him on the shoulder with a smile."Besides, what sport isn't already a mess?" She said before skating off to the girl's locker room.

Hunter felt stuck like someone had nailed his feet to the ground, and he stared after her. Flashes of memories and echoes of a voice playing in his head a direct contrast to what she'd just said. The life he'd had as a child before Darius had adopted him flooding back, the fear of failure that had been instilled within him, the pain that came with the smallest of mistakes, the almost daily affirmations that he didn't deserve anything good or to be happy or to hope for anything more than the life he had before Darius. It all bounced around his mind, swirling like a vortex threatening to pull him in, but in the center was her.

He couldn't believe a person like her even existed and that she wanted anything to do with him. After everything he had been through, everything he'd done to win the favor of a man whose favor was supposed to be unconditional, somehow Hunter had the attention of a woman who really shouldn't even know he exists.

The laughing conversation of the group who'd reserved the space after them walking through the door broke Hunter from his spiraling. He took a shaky breath before he skated off to the men's locker room, the last thing Hunter needed to think about right now was him.

_______________________________________

After an awkward goodbye at the rink door where she hugged him and he ended up watching her till she disappeared around the street corner the next time he heard from her was the next day when she informed him they'd be having a practice with the rest of the team the day before the match. He did his best not to focus on just how anxious the thought of meeting a group of new people and then having to learn how to play a sport with them made him, but he was very much not successful. He went to the library every free moment between then and the next practice, and on the day of, he showed up to rink twenty minutes early.

Sitting in the rink lobby with a library book he'd just picked up doing his best to tune out the world around him, a unfamilar voice pulled him back.

"Hey? Are you Hunter?" Hunter looked up to see a younger man in a roller derby uniform that clearly belonged to the same team as Willow's.

Hunter scrambled to stand up holding out his hand, "Yes, hi, that's me." The other man took his hand shaking it with a grin.

"Great to meet you! I'm Gus. Willow's been telling me all about you."

"All good things I hope."

"Oh yeah," the smile Gus gave him felt like he knew something Hunter didn't. "It's definitely all good things."

"Um ok," Hunter looked at Gus, thoroughly confused.

The door to the rink opened with Willow, pushing her way through stealing the attention of both men. Her face lit up at the sight of them, a smile instantly taking over her face.

"Gus! Hunter! You guys are here. I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Oh no, don't worry," Gus waved his hand as if waving away her concern. "We've only just gotten to meet. I haven't had time to ask any incriminating questions yet." He smirked at Willow, and a light blush dusted the bridge of her nose.

"You talk like I don't have Matt's number." Willow said poking Gus in the side as she walked to him. He laughed and flinched away from her, holding his hands up in surrender.

"I said nothing, I swear." Gus laughed as Willow huffed at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hunter felt lost watching them bounce back and forth, wishing he knew what exactly was going on with them, but he just felt awkwardly out of the loop. In the presence of two people who were such close friends, they could probably communicate without words. Feeling like the third wheel until all of a sudden in one singular moment, something shifted, and they both turned to him involving him in the conversation, dragging him along with their casual teasing and easy topic changes. On a dime, everything had changed, and the two of them seamlessly integrated him into their dynamic. In just one instant, it was as if he'd known them for years.

When they were joined by Skara and Viney, the final two members of the team they got right into the practice. Watching Willow switch from sweet friend goofing around to serious team captain giving marching orders and correcting positions, zipping around on the rink to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to was a transition Hunter felt like he could addicted to.

Getting used to working with a team was difficult at first, but as the practice went on, he found the manuvers getting easier, and the teamwork became seamless. And after he'd successfully pulled off a new manuver throwing his fists up in the air with woop as the team clapped and cheered him the smile he caught on Willow's face almost made him fall on his face. It was such a revelation to him that even as they were taking their practice seriously, the team was laughing, joking, and having fun with each other. Hunter felt like he fit with them in a way he'd never fit anywhere else. It occurred to him that he might have to actually thank Luz for getting him to play on this team, he cringed at the thought.

"Alright, team, great work today. I think we really found a good rhythm with our new member. We're gonna crush tomorrow's match for sure." Willow said as the team skated to the benches, grabbing their water bottles and sitting to rest.

Hunter was the last to walk out of the lockerroom and as he approached Willow and Gus in the lobby the two were having a hushed conversation that seemed quite tense if the way Willow violently shushed Gus as Hunter joined them was any indication.

"Hey, Hunter," she said, turning to him with a tense smile.

"Hi?" Hunter responded, looking between them confused. Gus nudged Willow none too gently with his elbow.

"You live near the rink, right?" She blurted out.

"Um yeah, I do."

"Great! I'll walk with you." Willow smiled, taking Hunter's arm slipping hers in the crook of his elbow. Hunter knew he was blushing as he let himself be led to the door by her. "Bye, Gus!" She called over her shoulder.

"Bye, Willow! Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Gus said with a smirk as Willow separated from Hunter to open the door, she turned and stuck her tongue out at him. Gus just laughed before turning to Hunter. "It was great meeting you, Hunter."

Hunter smiled, "It was great meeting you too. I'll see you tomorrow, Gus."

"Yeah, I'll see you then, and I hope you'll decide to become a permanent member of the team." Gus clapped Hunter on the shoulder as he walked out the door, Willow still held open, walking the opposite direction of Hunter's place.

Hunter turned to Willow, "Permanent member?"

She shrugged as she walked out the door, "If you want the spot, it's yours." He followed after her the two walking side by side down the street. "The team loves you, and you're pretty good for a total beginner."

"Huh," he tried to sound casual even as her words made his insides feel like molten lava. "I'll have to think about it." He said as if he wasn't incapable of saying no to her.

"Yeah, no pressure. I know your thesis is probably taking up a lot of your time. I would hate it if this interfered with it." The way she spoke with such genuine concern and thought for his schedule and his thesis made butterflies swell in his stomach.

"Thanks, but uh, I think this might be worth making time for." When she smiled at him, he knew he would never get tired of the way it made his breath stutter.

The rest of the walk was filled with casual conversation and comfortable laughter Hunter barely realized when they'd reached his apartment building until they were standing right in front of it. He stopped in front of the door, turning to face Willow as she turned to face him. Absently, he thought she was standing kind of close.

"Well, um, I uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He said, and her eyes looked down away from his. He would swear the smile she gave him when she looked up again was disappointed.

"Right, tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Willow." He found himself whispering it to her like he almost didn't want to say it. Her smile this time just felt sad as she leaned in, wrapping him in a hug.

"Goodnight, Hunter." He wrapped his arms around her briefly before she pulled away. For a moment as they were separating still wrapped in each other's arms, their eyes locked, and Hunter felt like he should lean down the few inches separating them and kiss her.

But instead, he let his arms drop to his side, and Willow took a couple steps back. She looked at him like she had something she really wanted to tell him, but she kept her lips pressed together and looked down at her feet before turning and walking away down the street. Hunter was planted to the spot, unable to stop watching her till she disappeared from view. He couldn't help the feeling that he'd done something wrong.

_______________________________________

"Willow! What the hell is Matt doing here?" Gus skated up to Willow and Hunter as people were filtering into the rink finding seats before the match started. Hunter looked over Gus' shoulder to see as a shorter man with what Luz would probably call a TikTok eboy haircut and dried paint flecks dotting his arms walked through the door looking down at his phone obviously trying to look casual.

"Well, I sent out a mass text about the match today. I guess his number must have found its way in there." Willow said with an air of fake innocence and a cheeky smile.

"You're a sadist."

"I would respond, but he's right behind you."

"Hey, Gus." Hunter watched as Gus' eyes grew to the size of saucers, and he spun around quickly to face Matt.

"Hey, Matt! You're here," Gus said with a smile Hunter could only describe as lovesick.

"Yeah, I uh, I wouldn't miss it." Matt fidgeted with his hands and matched Gus' lovesick expression.

Willow turned to Hunter and gestured with her head for the two of them to leave Matt and Gus alone.

"So, who is Matt exactly?" Hunter asked when they were far enough not to be overheard.

"He's a carpenter that built some shelves for me to store potted plants whom I then connected with Gus to build some sets for one of his productions, and now they're partners in a theater. By the way, never ever enter that theater when they're midproduction. Their fights are legendary."

Hunter looked back at the two men who were currently looking at each other like shy lovesick teenagers fidgeting nervously as they talked to each other, and he wondered just what their fighting could possibly look like. As he was watching the couple, he was able to see as Luz, Amity, Edric, and Emira walked through the door. It had occurred to him that they would all come to this match, but it had not occurred to him yet that that meant they would be meeting Willow, whom Luz knew was his gym crush, the same crush his three step siblings were relentless in teasing him about, and Luz was dating one of his siblings, which meant she would definitely have told them all about her roommate being his gym crush. The realization hit him full force in that moment as the three of them locked eyes on him, and the smiles they all gave him confirmed that the three of them really were all related. He cringed and turned to Willow.

"I'll be right back," he skated over to the group of four before they could reach him and Willow.

"Hey, Hunter. Is that her?" Emira asked, peering over his shoulder at Willow.

"Yeah that's Willow alright," Amity said teasingly.

"She's pretty," Edric said, copying Emira's movement over Hunter's other shoulder.

"I get it," Emira said with a lecherous look.

"Me too," Edric grinned looking Willow up and down.

"Ok, the two of you are going to have to stop being yourselves before you're allowed to meet her."

"Totally," Emira nodded.

"Definitely," Edric nodded. "One problem." He held up his index finger.

"Itty bitty problem." Emira held her fingers close together.

"Your girlfriend has other plans."

"Hi, you must be-" Willow started approaching the group from behind Hunter. Emira slipped around Hunter's side to take Willow's hand, shaking it.

"Emira."

Edric copied the movement slipping around Hunter's other side and taking Willow's opposite hand, crossing her arms in front of herself like an X.

"Edric."

"Pleasure to meet you both," Willow giggled at their antics. Emira and Edric executed a move where they spun Willow around by her arms so her back would face Hunter, uncrossing her arms in the process.

"Oh, please, the pleasure is all ours," Emira said as they spun. "We've been absolutely dying to meet you."

"Truly, we have. Now, you must tell us how many times Hunter fell on his face when you guys were practicing." Willow giggled again as the twins refused to let go of her hands and even leaned into her with matching flirty grins. Hunter could feel his cheeks heating up as they did their best to not only embarrass him but get on his nerves as much as possible by flirting with her.

"I can't believe you let them come here," he muttered to Amity.

"Hey, if I had to deal with this when they met Luz, so do you."

Hunter just steamed as he watched Willow giggle at his step-siblings until it was time for the match to begin. Once he hit the track, the rest of the rink disappeared, and he lost himself in the game and his teammates instead of his family in the stands.

They were down to the wire, and this last point would determine the winner. He made eye contact with Skara, and she nodded at him. The next second, they were moving together to support Willow. She barely acknowledged them, her focus on the match, the only motion she gave was a quick glance out of the corner of her eyes. And then, before he knew it, they'd successfully gotten Willow passed the blockers and scored enough points before the buzzer went off clinching the victory for their team.

The audience errupted into cheers and before he knew he was doing it Hunter had skated his way to Willow practically running into her as he scooped her up in his arms lifting her in the air spinning, the two laughing and screaming, lost in the celebration of the moment. He let her slip down in his arms until her feet touched the ground again, she was still wrapped in his arms, their bodies pressed together, her hands on his shoulders and the position reminded him of the night before when he had the thought to kiss her.

"I'll do it. I'll take the spot." He said, staring down into her eyes.

"Huh?" Her brows scrunched in confusion.

"You said there was a permanent spot on the team, and I could have it if I wanted it. Well, I want it." Willow's confused expression disappeared as a grin took over her face, before she could respond the rest of the team crashed into them turning their intimate hug into a group hug celebration.

_______________________________________

It had been Skara who suggested the team go out to the club and celebrate, she knew the bouncer and most of the staff from DJing there time to time, so she was able to get the team and all of their guests in free and easy. Hunter really wished he could have come up with a good excuse to get out of it, though. He'd always hated clubs, and this one wasn't really an exception, the music was too loud, the drinks were overpriced, and the entire place was too crowded. Mostly, he was there because when Willow asked him if he was going, the twins had materialized over his shoulders to instantly say he was.

Now, he was standing in the back of the club away from everyone leaning against the wall, wincing at the mass of people in front of him. Willow walked up to him, sliding into place, leaning against the wall next to him close enough their sides touched. He turned his head to look down at her, and she smiled at him. She made a gesture for him to lean down so she could speak into his ear to be heard over the music. He tried not to let the feeling of her breath against his ear affect him too much.

"Not having fun?" He chuckled at her question, moving to put his lips against her ear.

"Clubs aren't really my thing." She pulled back and looked him up and down before nodding once seemingly deciding something.

She moved to stand in front of him pressing her body against his as she leaned up on her tiptoes to speak into his ear.

"Dance with me," she said and his face lit on fire.

"Oh, I can't really-"

"Come on," she smiled and took his hand leading him to the dance floor.

She slipped through the bodies on the floor fluidly till she seemingly found the right spot to stop. Willow wrapped Hunter's arm around her waist, keeping their fingers intertwined as she pulled him close to her, slotting his front against her back. She reached her arm back to wrap around his neck, her hand going to his hair as his other hand came to rest on her hip, her head fell back to rest on his shoulder and she looked up at his face as he looked down at her trying not to get overwhelmed by everything going on around him. The music was deafening, the air was hot and stifling, the lights flashing different colors that reflected off her glasses, and even though they were surrounded by people he felt like they were the only two in the room as she moved them to the beat of the music. Looking down into her eyes being able to feel the warmth coming off her body as it pressed against his, the smile on her face lighting up his insides, feeling happier with her than he had in a long time, Hunter had a thought that made his blood run cold. He didn't deserve this.

"Hunter, can I ask you something?" Her voice interrupted him at just the right moment and he forced himself to nod in response. "Why haven't you kissed me yet?"

Hunter felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on him, his only thought a single word. What.

"I mean you've had every opportunity to, and I thought I was being pretty obvious that I wanted you to, but maybe I've misread this, and you don't like me that way." The look in her eyes forced the words from his mouth.

"No. You didn't misread anything." She smiled clearly relieved.

"Then what's stopping you? I mean, even now, you're not interrupting me or anything just letting me talk when I basically just told you I want you to kiss me."

Hunter wanted to, he really did, but as he thought about it, his brain was screaming at him, two thoughts repeating more than others, he didn't deserve her and she would regret it. The air in the room disappeared, and his vision started going fuzzy around the edges. Distantly, he saw her expression shift into one of worry, and suddenly, the two of them were on the move. She pulled him through the mass of people and out the club door, the cool night air hitting his skin like a slap. She dragged him down the street away from any of the people around. She turned to face him, cupping her hands on his cheeks, making him look in her eyes.

"Hunter? Look at me, you need to breathe, okay," she took one hand off his face and held up her hand, counting on her fingers. "Breathe in, two, three, four and out, two, three, four." She got him to match her breathing as she counted on her fingers. Once he'd gotten his breathing under control, he reeled back from her touch, taking a few steps back from her. He started rambling before he even knew the words were coming out of his mouth.

"I'm so sorry. You shouldn't be out here with me right now, you should be in there having fun. You should be in there with someone else, someone better, someone who wouldn't freak out like that. I mean, you deserve to be with someone who won't be such a-"

"Hey, stop." Willow interrupted him, her face scrunched up in worry. His mouth snapped shut his teeth clicking together with a loud noise that made her wince. She looked around at the people standing just a few feet away, waiting to get in the club before turning back to him. "Come on." She took his hand and started walking with him down the street.

The two walked in silence, and she refused to drop his hand. Hunter realized halfway to their destination that they were walking to his apartment building. When they made it to the door, he expected her to say goodbye and leave him to get himself up to his apartment on his own, but she just turned to him and asked for his keys. He handed them over, unable to speak and knowing even if he could the look in her eye would have made him quiet anyway. She barely paid him any mind as she took his keys and opened the building door for them. She led the way up the stairs to his apartment, opening that door with the keys she had yet to give back to him. As she opened his apartment door like it was her own taking his hand like it was the easiest thing in the world and moving the two of them through the maze of books to sit on the couch like she had been there a million times instead of one, Hunter couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't left yet.

She'd let go of his hand the second they sat down and let her eyes slip to her feet on the ground as he found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. The two sat in a silence, Hunter felt like he was unable to break instead waiting until she would inevitably speak next.

"I spent a very big part of my life thinking I didn't deserve to be happy. That I was absolutely worthless, and the people around me were all too happy to confirm those beliefs. I was bad at everything I did, I felt weak and broken like I was half a person. I had an entire world of people happily making my life miserable, and it's really hard not to let that get to you and make you think you really deserve to be treated like that. I was so alone for so long, and it took me a while to realize that I deserved better than that life." She looked up into his eyes. "Hunter, I like you. I like you a lot, and you don't need to do anything to deserve me liking you, this isn't a hierarchy, I'm not above you in any way. I think you're sweet and cute and really smart, and I've liked you ever since I watched you help Mrs. Kwan, after her spin class, opening the door for her and carrying her bags out to her car." Hunter realized distantly that that had happened months ago, long before they'd met at the secondhand store. "I just hope you realize you don't have to do or be something anything other than who you are for people to like you and want to be with you." She looked away from his gaze back down at her feet.

Hunter wanted to respond, but his mind was unable to think of anything to say in response to everything she'd just revealed to him. He could only look at her, taking in her body language, from how she fidgeted with her fingers, to her slumped shoulders, and her pursed lips, realizing all of a sudden that she looked insecure. It caught him off guard that she could look or even feel that way, that she had ever been bad at anything, or that she could have ever felt weak. And even as he had her words repeating fresh in his mind, he could hear the echoes of his uncle clawing its way back, trying to take over instead. But Hunter forced himself to focus on Willow in front of him, drowning out the memories of his past by taking in every detail of her he could. As he looked at her, sitting on one end of his couch in his book invested apartment, he couldn't help feeling like he was seeing her for the first time. She wasn't his gym crush, a mysterious enigma of a woman he would never talk to anymore. She was Willow, his roller derby captain and his friend, who teased him, who helped him, who had a life full of ups and downs he had only just started to learn about. And in that moment, he realized he was going to do something he should have done a while ago.

"I should go." Willow stood up from the couch, walking towards the door. Hunter stood, grabbing her arm and turning her around before she could get any further than one step past him.

"Wait," he let his hand slip from her arm to wrap around her waist, resting on the small of her back as his other came to gently cup her cheek, pulling her into a soft kiss. She gasped lightly as their lips first connected, before she let herself melt into him in an instant, slipping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. Hunter felt like if this was a movie that the moment would have some kind of big meaningful swell of music behind it, but the world around them was peacefully quiet instead and he thought as he held Willow in his arms finally kissing her the way he'd been imagining since the first time he laid eyes on her boxing in their gym almost an entire year ago, that maybe it was better this way.

[elvisabutler]

dove career anon (god i miss dove so much). i was just wondering if dove has any friends in the industry or just close girlfriends in general, maybe people she went to school with? who does she hang out with when austin is away filming or doing press?

no idea what we’re talking about? see the little dove series masterlist for slightly more info, note it’s not safe for minors at all.

am i answering this over a cup of coffee? maybe. is anyone gonna judge me? no. which is to say hi dove career anon, i've missed you and lord knows i always miss dove. ( i say like she doesn't permanently exist in my drafts with the idea of sometimes writing her actual story proper. )

so yes she does have a few in the industry but those err more toward older people, not necessarily men ( with the notable exception of her best dude costar who she never even dreamed of sleeping with but everyone was like BET SHE CALLS HIM DADDY, the two of them run with the joke ) mostly because she figures as soon as she ever truly makes close friends with someone her age, it's gonna be a whole PR mess of getting pitted against each other and blah blah. but she is at least acquaintances with her same age female costars. just not- help me hide a body/we'll bully our agents into getting a movie together friends.

when it comes to people outside of the industry? or like- on the theater side of the industry? those are her ride or dies. most of her school friends disappeared once she got kind of famous- or like really started focusing on acting. but those who stayed are the kind of people who tell you that "you look like shit" when you've stayed up for 24 hours on set, took two planes to see them and dealt with an uber driver from hell. which is to say, they're honest to a fault but they'll protect her with their lives. back in the day she didn't tell them about the Austin and the Elvis thing but they figured out something was up anyway and sort of sat her down and let her have a cry when she was ready. they're the friends that her therapist tells her to talk to when she's having a particularly rough time with things.

now when austin is doing things dove really does try and be busy herself with her own projects but barring that if she can get them to come to new york? she forces some of the good friends to come because "listen i want to be cuddled with no questions and no drama and watch bad movies.".

basically, her industry (like hollywood industry) friends mostly err to the older side but are close because they either see her as a little sister/daughter/trolling soulmate. her outside of industry/theater industry friends are the ones she calls in times of lonely boredom without austin. and to hide a dead body but that's neither here nor there.

[rockseizes]

i think the first time i realized my brother might not be.. “normal” was when we were in elementary.

there was this fifth grader who was bullying me, and since i didn’t know who else would listen to me, i told the only other fifth grader i knew. my big brother, jaiden.

he asked me to tell me about her. i told him that she would trip me during recess and pull me away from the playground. and how she threatened to get her cat on me if i went on ‘her playground’ ever again.

i couldn’t get through it all without crying — it was too frustrating.. he hugged me and said, “don’t worry, may. your big bro will take care of things.” i nodded to him, and we watched tv while doing homework for the rest of the day.

..about a week later, he didn’t come home from school with me. i heard that he took a different bus to hang out with a friend. i didn’t mind, as long as he came back. when he returned, he held a white cat in his arms. he had told me he had found a stray with his friend and wanted to play around with it.

“but isn’t that scary?” i asked.

“not really, but it’s sweet you’re worried about me.” he responded with a smile and headed to the backyard with the cat.

at around three am, i woke up out of nowhere. i think i had a nightmare. i went to jaiden’s room to talk about it, but he wasn’t there. i looked around everywhere in the house, but i couldn’t find him. not until he came in from the backyard door with a dirty shirt, and a dripping knife.

“what were you doing outside?”

“oh, great timing. i need some help throwing something away.“ “what is it?” “why don’t i just show you?”

i wish i didn’t go outside. i wish i had stayed asleep. because when i went out there, i found the stray cat, laying lifeless as its guts had been splayed out for all to see.

“..why did you do that?” i turned to look at him in complete horror. “i was curious. besides, it was only a stray.” he walked to the cat, crouched down, and started poking at its face.

“i mean, it was gonna die eventually. probably would've been a painful one too. i did it a favor.” my eyes widened in fear at his twisted logic.

“jaiden.. i.. i—“

“calm down.” he turned to look at me with his typical smile. before, it had comforted me, but now it drowned me in pure terror and confusion.

“it’s gonna be okay, alright? we’re gonna take a trip to the forest and find this kitty a nice place to rest. we’re fine.”

and so we did just that. he picked up the carcass, and led the way to the forest creek nearby our neighborhood. as he began to dig a hole with his bare hands, i trembled at the sight of the corpse in my arms. it took all my strength to not drop the cat, throw up, and cry all night.

the next day, i was walking around the neighborhood, as i saw my bully sobbing at the park. i didn’t want to talk to her, but then i noticed the missing posters of a white cat in one hand and a pretty red collar in the other.

i ran home before she could see me. she didn’t talk to me — or any of her other victims — for the rest of the year.

when i confronted my brother about it, he reminded me of her threats. how she would have used the same cat i held lifeless last night to attack and traumatize me if i were to break her useless set of rules. he told me that he was only protecting me, and by taking care of the cat, he prevented me from ever getting hurt by it.

“i’d rather hurt everything that tries to hurts you then let you get scarred even once. you’re my little sister; this is my job. trust me.” he cooed, pulling me into a warm hug.

at the ripe age of ten, i realized one thing about him. my brother was willing to resort to violence for me, and that by no circumstances could i let him take things too far. i knew what happened when you do too many bad things — i didn’t want him taken away from me. he was all i had.

..so i definitely fucked up by bringing tara to the cabin trip with me and him.

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

This is a little story of how the girls met. Because their friendship is not dicussed enough. My headcanon is that Marlene, Mary, Lily and Hestia were roommates but only the first three became friends.

Also Dorcas is a Slytherin and it is not part of this group.

And yeah I think Mary had a crush on James at first.

This is a Muggle AU.

And this is for Marlene's Birthday that in my headcanon, is today. So Happy Birthday babygirl!

Anyway, Enjoy!

*************************************************

Marlene had never been surrounded by women. She didn’t have a special female bond with her mother. That woman was always busy with work. Besides, Marlene wasn’t what she wanted.

Marlene didn’t have sisters. She had two older brothers. And the only kids she had played with were boys. James and Frank. Marlene hadn't had female friends before.

Marlene was forced to hang out with James and his new friend Sirius, the first day of school. James was someone she already knew, so it was easy. The rest of the kids only cared about the fact she was the daughter of a famous rugby star. And Marlene didn’t want to answer any more questions about him. All that these kids seem to care about was which family the others came from and if they were rich enough to befriend.

Then it was time to go to her new dorm. That’s when her roommate introduced herself. She sounded so happy that Marlene was afraid her vein would pop out or something. 

“Hi! I am Lily Evans, and you?” she was even bouncing “I can’t believe we are gonna be roommates! I hope we end up being really good friends”

“I can’t believe it either!” Marlene exclaimed sarcastically. This Lily girl didn’t seem like the type of person Marlene would like. 

Then, her second roommate wasn't as polite. Hestia Jones. She seemed like really rugby fun, and again, she asked Marlene many questions about her family.

"Excuse me, girl..."

"Hestia..."

"Yeah... I don't think you would like me asking you about your famous rapper dad, right?"

That silenced her.

"Yeah I know who you are... So leave me alone" And Marlene turned around.

"So rude..." Hestia whispered, while Lily was observing her as she unpacked her things.

"What?"

"Nothing..." the poor girl blushed as she looked away.

Marlene sighed. She needed to control herself. Maybe act nicer. "More delicate". As her mother used to say. But Marlene was kind of raw. She didn't think before speaking. Great job making friends so far.

Marlene's third roommate crossed the room with a big smile on her face. She was dressed so fancy. Her bags were colorful. So as her clothes. She was wearing pink shades and her curls in two pigtails.

"Hi, girls!" she smiled.

Marlene's roommates were impressed. Lily had her mouth open even. Marlene tried not to be impressed. But that girl was pretty. Which made Marlene instantly hate her. She was probably another rich girl. This school was full of them.

"Hi, I am Lily Evans!" the girl used the same squealy tone with the new girl "Nice to meet you"

"I am Mary" the girl smiled "Mary Macdonald... You probably heard the name. My dad used to be a student here. And now he is an important business man"

Marlene instantly rolled her eyes.

"That's cool" Lily nodded "These two have famous dads or something..." then Lily pointed at Hestia and Marlene. When Mary's eyes turned towards Marlene. Marlene looked away and crossed her arms.

"But I don't..." Lily said embarrassed, biting her lip "My dad is an average car salesman.... I am scholarshiped"

Poor Lily. She was probably thinking she was going to be eaten alive.

"I guess I am the only one here"

"And there is nothing wrong with that" Hestia answered "Hi, I am Hestia"

Mary waved.

"So far I've met only another scholarshiped kid" Lily continued putting a lock of hair behind her ear "But he is in Slytherin. He is nice..."

Mary seemed uncomfortable about the subject, because she changed it.

"So... Have you chosen beds already?"

Mary ended up choosing the best bed (according to her). She said she needed to be next to the window because she loved a little breeze in the mornings. She said she needed to be near the bathroom, because she peed a lot during the night. And she needed to be close to the mirror. For obvious reasons.

"What a narcissistic bitch..." Marlene whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing, darling" Marlene smiled fakely.

But Lily and Hestia seemed to be fascinated by Mary. They loved asking her questions. And she loved talking about herself. And her clothes, and her trips, and her super important dad.

Marlene was trying so hard not to listen to Mary speak. But she actually had interesting stories about how her father met certain celebrities, that Marlene was actually paying attention.

Marlene mentally slapped herself. And she decided to turn on some music instead. She plugged in her little radio. She turned it in and found a good song. Then she raised the volume as high as she could, while Mary was still speaking.

Marlene didn't need to turn to realize Mary had stopped speaking. And she was annoyed. All of them were probably annoyed.

That made Marlene smile and start dancing. Marlene rocked the song out. She could tell her roommates were looking at her. Lily began laughing. Hestia smiled and shook her head. Mary was trying to be annoyed but she was secretly enjoying the show.

"Mhmm..." Mary cleared her throat "Excuse me?"

Marlene pretended not to hear her.

"Excuse me... What was her name again?"

"Marlene" Lily answered.

"MARLENE!"

Marlene turned down the volume.

"Oh sorry... Were you saying something?"

"We are trying to talk over here"

"Oh right..." Marlene put her hands on her hips "I thought the girls got tired of listening to you so I thought they wanted to listen to something better...." Marlene pointed to the radio while Lily and Hestia tried not to laugh.

"Was I right, girls?"

Mary faked a smile "Very funny"

Marlene bowed "Always my pleasure, princess"

That made Mary laugh. Even her laughter was perfect.

Mary had such a vibrant personality that it was impossible to be away from her. With Mary on the talking, one simply couldn’t get bored. Besides, she was pretty. And she dressed with style. She even wore the uniform with style. In no time, she had won over not only most of the girls in their year. But also the boys. Even James and his friends thought she was cool.

Marlene hated the way she couldn't look away when Mary was around. Mary was always bragging about herself and her life. Why would people like her? Marlene couldn't. That would make her as shallow and superficial as the rest. But everytime she heard her roommates laughing, maybe she wished she was there. But that was stupid.

And Lily always asked her to join them.

"No thank you. I am allergic to superficiality" she said and she ran away.

It wasn't until a month later that Marlene was left alone with Mary. She entered her dorm to see Mary lying on her belly on her bed, painting her nails.

"Hey..." Mary smiled.

"Oh hey!" Marlene asked sarcastically.

She turned to her own bed but she heard Mary snorting.

"So... Are you free now?"

"No" Marlene pretended to open a book. She actually didn't have anything to do.

"I am bored" Mary sighed "Lily is hanging out with that weird friend of hers... Snake something..."

"Snape" Marlene corrected.

"He is weird, right?" Mary smiled "And James Potter says they are probably dating. Do you think?"

Marlene didn't answer. She stared at that book with fascination, without even reading it.

"Anyway, Hestia said she was busy with some homework... So I am all alone..."

Marlene coughed strongly. Perhaps Mary coud get the hint.

"Do you want to do something with me?" Mary asked. She didn't get the hint.

"I am busy"

"You know you are holding the book upside down?"

Marlene cursed herself. She had been so busy trying to avoid Mary that she hadn't realize.

"It is the new way of reading. You wouldn't know because you don't read"

Mary was smiling.

"Come on....it is Friday..." she begged "Let's do something fun..."

Marlene sighed.

"What if we go and hang out with the boys? You are good friends with them! I think James is cute"

Marlene wanted to vomit.

"Please I just ate" Marlene said "Besides, they just kicked me out of their plans because they were doing one of their silly immature pranks again"

"Oh!" Mary exclaimed "What if I paint your nails?"

"I rather be tortured"

"Oh come on! You are so pretty! I bet a red color would look so good on you"

Marlene secretly liked being called pretty by Mary. Somehow it felt like she was able to decide who was pretty and who wasn't.

"Come on!" Mary begged "Is Gryffindor red!" she smiled showing the little bottle.

Marlene sighed.

"Fine" she rolled her eyes and walked to Mary's bed. Mary squealed "Only because that color is cool..." she sat next to Mary "But you better do it right or I swear to God"

"Don't worry" Mary winked, grabbing Marlene's hand "I am an expert in nails"

It was weird, but Marlene was starting to get nervous as Mary painted her nails. Maybe because she was too close. Maybe because she blew the nail polish every time she finished a nail. Or maybe because they were in complete silence.

"We should've put on some music or something" Marlene said. Mary didn't answer "You never been this silent"

"I am concentrated"

"It's nail painting... it doesn't need much concentration"

Mary smiled "Fine, would you care to tell me about James, then? Do you think he would fancy me?"

"I rather go back to being silent"

That made Mary laugh. That kind of pleased Marlene.

"Why don't you hang out with us?" Mary asked instead "You are mostly on your own. And don't tell me that you are shy, because you are not"

Marlene shrugged.

"We are nice to you" Mary added "Lily defended you when Hestia called you a cold bitch. And I helped"

"Hestia called me what?"

"We would like you in our group"

Marlene sighed.

"People are stupid"

"Real answer, Marlene" Mary sounded like a scolding mother. Which was intimidating.

"I actually don't know how to behave around girls..." So intimidating that she was making Marlene tell the truth "I never had female friends before. And I think it wouldn't be my thing to talk about boys and girly things all the time"

"That's not all we talk about"

"No. You talk about your fabulous rich life and the trips you'd made with your father"

Mary's mouth twisted.

"I care about more than that, you know..." she said "And the others are cool. Lily is an angel. She is too nice and good for this world..."

"Except when your James bothers her"

Mary chuckled "True..." she said " And Hestia is not that bad. She just doesn't understand your attitude"

Marlene didn't know what to say to that.

"Done!" Mary smiled after a while "I knew red was your color"

Marlene looked at her nails. She quite liked that red color. It was so bright and wild. Like herself.

"Uuuh... And I have the perfect hairbands that can suit you..." and Mary moved out of her bed to search in her closet.

Marlene didn't even have time to protest. But maybe she didn't want to protest. She even smiled when Mary turned around.

"How about this?" Mary showed her a red hairband with a bow.

She put it on Marlene's hair as Marlene made a funny face. Mary laughed again.

"Told you! So pretty"

***

Marlene ended up hanging out with the girls in the end. Mary was right. They weren't so bad. Maybe Marlene told Mary to shut up when she was talking too much. Maybe Marlene couldn't understand how Lily could be so delicate and nice. Maybe Marlene and Hestia fought all the time. But somehow it was fun.

It was Mary who introduced Marlene to the “female world”, with rules and codes that Marlene didn’t know they existed. It was Mary who made it fun to talk about boys, celebrities, to paint nails and pick up clothes. It was Mary who made Marlene see herself pretty in the mirror for the first time. 

It was nice to feel part of a group. It was nice to be actually understood by other girls. It was nice to make them laugh with her occurrences and jokes.

But it was after Christmas, around February when everyone found out the truth about Mary. It appeared so that she had been lying about having a famous dad. That nobody of her family had studied at Hogwarts and that she had a scholarship.

Mary's popularity went down as quick as it had raised. Lily, Hestia and Marlene stopped talking to her. Suddenly, not everything was as fun as it used to be. The truth was that it wasn't the same without Mary. But she had lied to everyone about who she was. How could someone trust her?

Nobody dared to talk to Mary. Or be seen talking to her. And she was always seen lonely and sad through the corridors.

"I kind of feel sorry for her" Lily whispered that morning.

Lily, Hestia and Marlene had been walking through the halls and they found Mary cuddled up in a bench, concentrated on drawing something in her notebook. Marlene reckoned Mary didn't look so fancy, fascinating and shinny these days. She looked kind of turned off. Like a bulb without light.

"Come on, Lily" Hestia said "She lied to us and everyone. How can someone be friends with a liar?"

"Maybe she had a good reason..."

"Lily, please. There's one thing to exaggerate things about one's life. But lie about her entire life? I heard she doesn't even know her biological father"

Marlene turned to look at Mary. She wasn't as nice as Lily. But somehow she felt sorry for Mary as well.

"Hey Hestia..." Marlene said, Hestia turned to look at her "Have you seen the school where we are in? All these assholes think kids with scholarship are somehow inferior... No offense, Lily..."

"Nonetaken"

"But perhaps that's why the girl wanted to lie. To fit in"

Hestia considered it for a second. Then she shook her head.

"I am sorry. I cannot deal with liars. Who knows what other lies she is going to tell?"

"Then you should probably go" Marlene crossed her arms.

"Why?"

"Because Lily and I are going to talk with the liar"

"We are?"

"Yes, Lily! Didn't you say you feel sorry for her?"

"Yeah but..."

"Okay" Hestia buffed. She sounded angry "Do whatever you want. I am not going to be part of this... See you later"

Hestia walked away.

"Hestia, don't go. We are all friends..." Lily said as Marlene waved Hestia goodbye.

Lily sighed.

"What are we gonna tell her?" Lily asked "I mean she lied"

"Don't worry about it" Marlene said "I am gonna walk there and improvise. And I will wave you when everything is settled"

"But how..."

But Marlene was already walking.

"Marlene..."

Marlene realized she had no clue of what to say until she reached Mary in the corridor.

Mary looked up. Her eyes were sad, but full of hope.

"Hey"

Good start, Marlene. Good start.

"Hey" Mary's voice was low.

"I... I wanted to ask you..." Marlene started "If you had some lipstick? I am looking rather pale today"

Mary raised an eyebrow. Then she noticed Lily at the end of the hall who was trying to get Marlene's attention. But then she smiled and waved when Mary noticed her. Mary waved too.

Marlene shook her head.

"Yeah I have some" Mary opened her bag and gave Marlene the lipstick.

"Good" Marlene said grabbing it "I knew you would have it. You always carry these crap"

Mary looked down to the floor embarrassed now that they were in silence.

Marlene now realize this didn't suit Mary. Being sad and insecure. She was always smiling. She was always sure of herself. She was such a vibrant person. Mary was pretty, fancy, funny, smart and confident. Why would she lie? Why would she pretend to be someone else when she was perfect?

Marlene couldn't take Mary being sad. It wasn't right.

"Why did you lie?" Marlene asked, sitting next to her.

Mary twisted her mouth before speaking.

"Because I wanted to pretend to be someone else" she answered "I thought I had the opportunity to be who I wanted in this new school"

"But why wouldn't people like the real you? "

Marlene turned around and was suprised to see Lily there. When did she get there?

Lily sat next to Mary as well.

"I mean I have a scholarship and my parents are no rich or important. But they are my parents. And I am proud of them. Besides, not everyone is bad here"

Mary's eyes filled with tears.

"I recently found out that the man that raised me is not my father"

Marlene and Lily looked at each other in shock.

"What?" Marlene asked.

"My mum had a hard and wild life before" Mary sniffed "And when she got accidentally pregnant of me, God finally called her to follow his path.. Or so she says...." and she started sobbing. Lily patted her back "She met Jonah in church. They fell in love. And that man raised me. But he is not my father... I don't even know who my father is. I don't even think my mum knows..."

Mary started sobbing hard now, covering her face with her hands.

"When I came to Hogwarts" Mary said when she calmed down "I wanted to pretend to have a different life...." she wiped her nose "Because my whole life is a lie... I didn't want to tell my new friends the truth. They wouldn't like me"

Mary began sobbing again. Marlene was frozen. She hadn't expected that.

"I like you" It was Lily who spoke. Yeah, a true angel "Even if now I know the truth" she smiled.

Mary looked at her as if she was crazy. Marlene did it as well.

"It is not your fault what happened to your parents or who they are" Lily continued "Besides it sounds like that man Jonah is like your father..."

"But he isn't!" Mary exclaimed, she shook her head "He isn't. He lied to me... He always said that I was his little girl and I wasn't even his daughter... My brothers are his, but not me..."

Mary started crying again. Lily was hopeless. She looked at Marlene for help.

Marlene sighed and took Mary's notebook and pencil and pretended to be writing down.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"I am writing all of this down" Marlene answered.

Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Marlene..." Lily protested.

"You see, Mary?" Marlene continued "Now I am interested in what you have to say" she smiled "Because I prefer genuine Mary with a complicated past than fake superficial Mary and all her fake trips"

Marlene wasn't good in calming people down, saying nice things to them, and patting their backs; like Lily. But Marlene wanted Mary to feel better even in her way.

Mary stopped crying, she just stared at Marlene. Lily's eyes flickered towards Mary, expecting the worse.

Then Mary's frown became a smile, and she started laughing. Lily joined her after now relaxing. And Marlene smiled pleased. This was more like Mary.

"You are so crazy, Marlene" Mary tutted.

"Yeah, she is" Lily agreed, chuckling.

Marlene shrugged.

"What can I say girls... I put spice to your boring lives"

"You guys are not angry that I lied?"

"We were... But not anymore" Lily smiled.

Mary turned to look at Marlene, eyes of hope. Marlene smiled.

"You are constantly making me angry and I am constantly forgiving you. So there's no difference"

Mary chuckled.

"As long as you promise not to lie again" Lily said.

Mary nodded "I swear. I promise... I will only tell the truth"

Lily giggled happily "Honestly girls, I never had female friends before. In my last school, my sister was the popular one so everyone prefered her. They thought I was a weird nerd"

"You are a weird nerd, Lily" Marlene nodded.

"Hey!" Lily protested but she laughed, Mary laughed as well.

"But this is nice... Having friends. It had been so fun with you guys... Even with Hestia"

"Hestia really hates me, yeah?" Mary sighed.

"Hestia is a bitch..." Marlene tutted which made the girls laugh "She is always bickering with me"

"She has a strong sense of justice" Lily said "And she will forgive you, Mary"

Mary shrugged.

"I didn't have friends before coming here either..." Mary confessed, biting her lip "That's why I wanted to impress you guys"

"I did have friends..." Marlene said "I don't know what you're talking about"

Mary and Lily turned to look at her.

"If you count monkeys as friends, that is" she added.

The girls laughed.

"Oh come on, you are so lucky to be James' friend" Mary sighed "He is so cute"

Lily wrinkled her nose.

"You fancy James Potter?" she asked "He is an asshole!"

"And a monkey" Marlene nodded.

"But he is a cute monkey asshole" Mary grinned.

Lily shivered which made Marlene laugh. And Mary laughed as well. Marlene liked her new friends. Perhaps it would be fun to be surrounded by girls after all.