#+ have to wait at least 6 months to even travel cause my moms not letting me travel til my next age

[lulladae]

i am free from paranoia and sadness, time to become an influencer

[kimingyuslover]

Breath in your love

Synopsis : What if Jeonghan wishes of turn back time come true?

Word count : 3,231

Pairing : yoon jeonghan x fem!reader

Genre : time traveler!au, angst, fluff, lovers to exes to lovers, second chance romance

Warnings & note : TEARS, she has a daughter named Seok kyung, single mom!reader, slight of dad!Jeonghan at the end, time traveler!Jeonghan, mentions of food, lots of mentions of Seok kyung, kinda simp!Jeonghan, mentions of pregnancy, this fic does not represent his character in real life!

a.n : back with another angst story.... literally tearing up rn lolololol

Life hasn't been easy for you, not even now, exhaustion evident on your face, you just want to go home and have a good rest on weekends like you always do.

Working under one of the big 3 companies was not easy, and you know it, yet you still work there and even achieve being their head of finance.

After you reach home, all your exhaustion goes through the window when you see your daughter waiting patiently with her nanny at your doorstep.

She's greeting you with a sweet smile plastered on her face with a piece of paper that she held proudly on her chest.

“Seok kyung!” You open your arms towards her. She reciprocates by running to you and wraps her tiny hands on your back.

“Did you be a good girl today? you're not causing a problem, are you?” she giggles between your questions and shakes her head no.

“I'm not mommy! Miss Jiwoo also said I'm good today and she gives me 5 stars!” She gave you her paper full of stars, you gasped at her answer, then smiled widely.

“really? My baby is so smart!” You take her inside while Seok kyung's nanny helps you by taking your bag and you mouth a ‘thank you’ to her as she smiles at you.

Having Seok kyung was not on your plan, at least until you found out that you're pregnant 5 years ago with her, and your pregnancy is seven weeks old.

When you first tell your boyfriend– now ex, Jeonghan, that you’re pregnant and you want to keep it, arguments start to happen.

He’s arguing that he's not yet ready to be a father and he doesn't want you to keep it, whereas you argue back that even though you're both not as ready as anyone else to be a parents, you still wants to keep it, you can learn together how to be a good parents, they done nothing wrong, so if you aborted them, wouldn't it be cruel?

Arguments keep happening since then, and it took you 3 days to finally break up with him, if he doesn't want the baby so be it, you're willing to give up on your 6 years relationship for your baby.

And now here you are, a single mother on the peak of your 30s with a daughter and a stable job that can give you more than enough money to live with your daughter.

There's so much purchase that you buy for your future, like a car, a house, maids, and even a nanny to take care of your daughter while you're working.

When you're on a business trip, though, you bring her with you because it makes you not worry too much about her.

“Sweetheart, mommy's having a business trip tomorrow. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay here with Uncle Joshua?” You asked Seok kyung after bathing with her and putting on clothes for both of you.

She makes the ‘think’ gesture first and answers you with excitement in her voice, “I want to go with mommy! Will we go with a plane again?” You lightly chuckles and stroke her hair softly.

“Yes, we will, baby. Let's pack up first, yeah?” She nods her head and runs towards your walk-in closet to take a big suitcase.

[ఇ ◝‿◜ ఇ]

Now you're in the first class lounge, waiting for your airplane to open the gate for boarding.

Seok kyung playing games on her Ipad while you were reviewing the proposal your team has been working on for over a month.

After a couple minutes of waiting, your gate has finally opened for boarding, and you usher Seok kyung to get up from the couch and walk to the boarding gate.

On the other hand, Jeonghan thinks he might be dreaming when he sees you with a little girl on his plane boarding gate, smiles attached to your and her face while walking hand-in-hand.

It's been years since he last saw you, the last time was when he fucked up your relationship, feeding only his ego then at the end all of his mistake was the cause of your break up.

His first serious relationship that he cherished the most comes to an end, and it was not in a good way.

Jeonghan knew he was the wrong one, and the only one who can be blamed for your ruined relationship, you've done nothing wrong, but in his eyes that time, you've done more than the wrong things he imagined.

There’s a hard pang he feels in his heart when he sees you. He spent almost every hour in a day stalking your social media, and he always wanted to be the one who you'll always mention in your post.

He felt the hurt in his heart more when he saw your posting almost 5 years ago. It's a picture of one pair of tiny feet on your hand, but for him, it's not only a picture of a baby feets, it's a photo of his daughter, the one he left when you're only seven weeks pregnant.

When he got your notification, he almost immediately checked on his phone when he saw you updating your life with Seok kyung (he learned that was her name when one of your friends mentioned it in the comment section).

All of your updates have always been successful to bring a smile to his face.

Jeonghan always wondered what his life would be if he shortly apologised after the first argument, would Seok kyung love him? Will he be a good dad? Will you get married and live a happy life for the rest of your life just like you both had planned when your relationship entered 3 years?

The questions are always running on his mind 24/7, wanting no more than to run to you, holding both your hand and Seok kyung on his, kneeling in front of you and muttering apologise after apologise until you forgive him.

But that seems to be an impossible act. Before he knew it, he had already gotten on the plane and sat on his seat.

When he turns around, his body freezes upon seeing you and Seok kyung on your seats, playing like there's nobody else in the world.

After what feels like an eternity, the plane finally takes off, Jeonghan’s hoping that he won't be fast asleep because he wants to see you and your daughter– or rather, the daughter of his and yours.

A few hours have passed, and you are both fast asleep on your seat. Jeonghan called the air hostess to allow him to switch seats, luckily for him, it's not a full flight so there's a few seats left, he chooses the one who he can get closer to you, wanting to observe your little family a little bit more.

He can see the little detail on her face, he can see the manifestation of your and his love, she got your lips and eyes, meanwhile her nose and hair seems to be more likely to his.

Suddenly, tears started to brimming in his eyes. Why can't he accept his fate? Why can’t he do what a good fiancé will do when their fiancée says that she's pregnant? Why can't he seem to never be good enough to enroll in your life again?

Tears fell down from his eyes down his chin, then dropped to his lap.

oh, how he wished he could turn back time.

[ఇ ◝‿◜ ఇ]

“baby? baby, you need to get up. Today is still thursday, and you have to get ready to work” Jeonghan can't believe what he's hearing, your sweet voice filling both of his ears.

Realising that it was, indeed, your voice, he immediately sat up from his sleep figure and started to look at you with disbelief prominent on his face.

He still didn't believe his eyes, and he went as far as holding your cheeks with his hands, and you gave him a puzzled look.

“Uh, baby? what's wrong?” You asked him while raising one of your eyebrows, puzzled by his unusual behavior.

Jeonghan said nothing and just pulled you on his chest. If this is a dream, he’s hoping he will never wake up and have to live his life with the same nightmare everyday.

“Just for your information, ten minutes has passed and it's now seven past five and you can always hug me again when you get home” You said with muffled voice, and there Jeonghan let go of you, to have a better look of your face, and then smiles which you reciprocated with the same.

“Okay then, I have to go shower even though I still want to cuddle with you, am i?” You nod at his words and get off the bed.

Jeonghan finally comes to his senses and gets off from the bed, heading towards the bathroom, a wide smile still attached to his face.

After he got out of the shower, his ironed work attire already sat on his bed. It's the daily activity you would do, preparing his work attire when he showers.

Jeonghan still remembers how you two would act like a married couple, like a husband and wife, even long before your engagement.

When he goes downstairs, he searches for you, and when he does get to see you, you're in your kitchen, cooking breakfast and preparing lunch for him.

He never eats in the office canteen because the lunch you made has already made his stomach full, and he makes sure to tell you everytime he gets home from work.

Jeonghan checks the dates and months on his phone, and when he opens it.

January 16th, 2021

30 days before you announce that you're pregnant, he hopes that he can be here forever so he can fix everything for both of you.

“Love? Eat your breakfast first, and here's your lunch” back in the day, Jeonghan never appreciated your dish like he should, he only said ‘thanks’ before eating it half and then got up and went to the basement of your Maisonette apartment.

Jeonghan eagerly sat on the dining table and started to dig into the breakfast that you made, which is kimchi fried rice with seaweed on the side.

You look at him confused because Jeonghan is usually not this enthusiastic with your dish, but of course, you're happy to see Jeonghan eating your dish like this.

When he's done, Jeonghan goes to the sink and washes his plate and eateries.

“The food is so good sweetheart, can't wait to eat my lunch that you packed for me. Thank you, angel” He said, then kissed the top of your head with love, and that made you let out giggles.

“You're welcome. You better get go on though, there's a little traffic on the way to your office when i opened the maps earlier”

And does he already mention that you're always checking the maps before him?

After bidding you a goodbye, Jeonghan closed the front door and went straight to the basement, ready for probably a long day at work.

In the modern day, Jeonghan is already the vice president of the marketing department, so it shouldn't be that hard now.

He knows you're working remotely, so he doesn't need to worry about you getting late to your office.

In a matter of hours, lunch and working hours have passed, it is now five past six, and Jeonghan hurriedly tidying his office desk to go home.

Unluckily for him, the traffic is worse than the previous one in the morning where he got one, which makes him get home 15 minutes late.

Now it's 5:45, and he made it home before it got dark, wanting no more than to throw himself on your hugs.

“I'm home!” he announces as he kicks his shoes and places them on the shoe racks.

His ears perked up when he heard your hurried footsteps, coming down from the second floor.

“Long traffic? I've seen the route from your office to here. You should probably go shower. What do you want for dinner? I’ll make it” you said as you practically ran after you got off the stairs to him.

Jeonghan smiled. He really missed your attention for the past years he’s not with you.

So he answers you with the meals you and him like, Kimchi stew and after that he brings your lips to his for a chaste kiss that makes you blush and slap his chest lightly and whine his name.

Jeonghan just chuckles lightly, and he runs towards your shared bedroom to have a shower.

Once he gets out of the shower, he rushes out to your dining rooms, excited for the Kimchi stew you make.

Until now, Jeonghan only likes the Kimchi stew made by his mom and yours because he found comfort in them. He already tried to like Kimchi stew from the restaurants, but it never beat yours nor his mother's.

He misses these moments, where you and he will eat together in your shared maisonette, eating with happy giggles always left on both your lips, and the satisfied feelings when he's eating your dishes again with you sitting on the opposite of his seat.

“I love the meal, angel. you're such a good cook, i know you're going to be a good mom someday” He knows you're a good mom, Seok kyung always looks so happy when she's with you.

His words make you blush, and you try to hide it by burying your face on your hands, Jeonghan laugh and get up from his seat to hug you from your back, “I mean it, you're good at cooking and will be a good mom to our kids” then he kisses the top of your head before getting your and his bowl to wash it.

[ఇ ◝‿◜ ఇ]

February 15th, 2021

1 day before your announcement, everything goes more than well. He just has to stick with his plan, and he hopes he can change his future with you.

Jeonghan sometimes sees you when you're throwing up in your bathroom and always asks if you want him to go to the pharmacy nearby, but you always shake your heads no.

He tried to build a happy relationship with you. He wants to treat you with the treatments you deserve. He wants to love you like he should before the downfall.

He wants Seok kyung to have a life like the other kids, having a mother and father figure.

Jeonghan was living his old life, like usual, going to work 9 to 5, going out with you every weekend, and telling you how much he loves you everytime he could.

He just got off from work. When you suddenly started to put distance between you, he furrowed his eyebrows, creating creases on his forehead.

He vividly remembers that this was not in his memory.

Did he do something wrong? Why are you putting distance towards him? Does his plan not work? Do you want to get off of him? His thoughts are running hundreds of miles per hour, thinking of the worst scenario in his head.

The next day comes fast. Last night, Jeonghan had already emailed his boss that he’s taking 2 weeks off and requested to do work from home because his fiancée is pregnant. His boss doesn't waste another single time as she reads it. She accepts Jeonghan's request.

Jeonghan’s nervous. Could he really change the future?

“Jeonghan,” There is it, your voice calling his name, it means you will have a serious conversation with him.

You look so afraid that you couldn't see him in the eyes, your eyes attached to the ground beneath you, Jeonghan can see that you're trembling, so initiated to take you by your shoulders and told you to sit in front of him.

“What's wrong, honey?” Jeonghan asks, worried plastered on his face.

“I'm pregnant with your child. It's seven weeks old” you said hurriedly while giving him the test, the ultrasounds, and the doctor's examination letter.

In the past timeline, Jeonghan already cuts you off when you said you're pregnant with his child, never letting you finish your words.

“I want to keep the baby” you said again while fiddling with your hands on your lap.

Jeonghan couldn't be happier than he is now, Seok kyung will recognize him as her father, not a stranger.

“Okay, keep the baby. We both know that we have a minimal knowledge to be parents, but we will learn together” Jeonghan answered you, with his tear-filled eyes he held your chin up, so your eyes were at the same level as him.

You looked at him in disbelief. Jeonghan can see your tears already spilling from your eyes, so he wipes your tears from your cheeks with his thumbs.

The distance between you both grows smaller, Jeonghan wastes no time to crush your lips together and give you a long, chaste kiss.

He pulled out first, giving you and him a room for air, “Thank you, baby, thank you” He connects your foreheads, smiling as he looks at you.

That night was spent with you on the held of Jeonghan's hand, sleeping after watching a few videos of how to be a good parent and early pregnancy care.

Jeonghan doesn't want anything other than this, having his life with you in it.

[ఇ ◝‿◜ ఇ]

Jeonghan eyes shoot open when he hears the sound of a film beside him. He remembers that he was sitting alone, wait–

when he turns his head to the right, there's a window, ‘no no no no no’ he thought to himself.

If he's in the present time, that means everything he sees, he feels, is it only his dream? but he dared to turn his head to the other side, wanting to see who was sat beside him.

He can't buy what he's seeing right now, Seok kyung is sat beside him while you're sat beside her.

Seok kyung looked at her side when she felt something was moving, “Mommy! daddy's already wake up!” her eyes light up when she speaks with you.

“Got a nice dream, huh? you passed out for like, 10 hours of our flight, we're landing in 30 minutes” you say with a teasing smile on your face, Jeonghan's confused, trying to regain his mind.

Then it clicks, he was not dreaming, he really changed his future, Seok kyung known him as her father, not a stranger.

When he sees his right hand, there's a wedding ring, so this is the ending he gets. He really gets his happy ending, with Seok kyung, and most importantly, you.

“Love, you're okay?” You ask with cautiousness, Jeonghan seems unusual after his 10 hours sleep.

He then answers you hurriedly, “yes, i'm fine, i'm just zoning out” Jeonghan answers, and in a split seconds, he pulls you both for a long hug.

You and Seok kyung chuckles when Jeonghan doesn't want to let both of you go, and when he did, he leaned in to kiss you on the lips.

This is resulting in his daughter whines ‘i want to be kissed too!’ That, of course, Jeonghan accomplished, giving his beloved kisses on her cheeks, forehead, and lips.

Jeonghan can finally live his life with goods waiting for him. He starts to forget his life before this trip, how he wanted to pray every single day to thank god.

He lives a happy life with you and Seok kyung. He will never let you go again.

His little family consisted of Yoon Jeonghan, Yoon Seok kyung, and Yoon Y/n.

[lilchibi-chan]

Part 1

Part 2

Hawks Mafia AU x Reader Pt. 3

After you got in from your brunch date, you washed your face of the little makeup you had on and change out of your outside clothes and into an oversized tee. You put on some tv and ended up falling asleep.

When you finally wake up, it’s 6:30.

“Wow, it didn’t even feel like I slept that long,” you say to yourself

Last night, you barely slept, so you knew that sleeping tonight would probably be an issue because of how long you slept this afternoon.

You decide to get up and take a shower, switching between hot and cold to wake yourself up and then leaving it on warm to finish. Once you get out, you put on some lotion and perfume.

You head to your bedroom, wrapped in your robe, to pick out some cute lounge wear since Hawks was coming over.

You take out a nude bra and leggings set and then a black bra and leggings set (think skims inspired) and hold them up in front of your mirror.

“Mochi, what do you think?”

Mochi is your white Akita that you adopted after you got out of school. You had some left over money after you had paid everything for the month and you always wanted a dog since you left home and it made your time away less lonely.

Mochi is well behaved and loves to cuddle and is only temperamental when he feels there is something off.

He walks over to you and boops the nude set.

“I think so too buddy,” you say agreeing and put on the loungewear.

You also grab a chunky cardigan to wear over it.

You glance at your alarm clock and see that it’s 7:30.

You were starting to get a bit nervous because it had been a while since you had a man at your apartment and even though you knew Hawks would never do anything to take advantage of you based on his behavior thus far, you were still a bit anxious.

Time passes by and at 8 on the dot, you hear your door bell. You look at your phone to see Hawks standing outside with flowers and take out.

“Coming,” you say excitedly and you go to answer the door

You take a deep breath and open the door.

“Wow baby bird, you look stunning,” he says, almost breathless

“Thank you,” you say shyly

“Do you need any help with those,” you say moving aside to let him into your apartment

“No, I got it,” he says setting the food on the kitchen counter

He turns to face you, flowers in hand.

“These are for you, humming bird,” he says handing them to you

“Thank you, they’re beautiful,” you say and then hug him

“They don’t have anything on you,” he says taking your hands in his and kissing them

You blush

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” you say sarcastically

“Believe it or not kid, I don’t go on that many dates. I’ve had flings and relationships that didn’t mean anything, but you’re different. I can actually let my walls down with you. Your energy is very calming and I can’t help but be relaxed around you,” he says honestly

You stand there, not knowing how to respond

“Oh god, w-was that too much. I’m sorry I-”

“No, you’re fine,” you say cutting him off,“it’s just, I’ve never heard anyone be so honest about how they feel so confidently.”

“Well, in my line of work, honesty is the best policy,” he says with a cheeky smile

“You’re so corny,” you say laughing

“You just bring it out of me,kid”

You sit down on one of your bar stools at the island in the kitchen and Hawks is on the other side, taking out all the food.

“It’s Thai. I hope that’s okay,” he says worried

“It’s fine, I love Thai food,” you say smiling, which eases his nerves

“Good..I’m glad, I was unsure of what to get on the way over here,” he says honestly

Just then, Mochi comes out from your room and makes a b-line for Hawks. Once there, Mochi starts sniffing him, making sure he’s not sus.

“Mochi,” you say,“c’mere boy. Sorry, he usually doesn’t just run up on people like that.”

“No it’s okay. He’s fine,” Hawks says,“I’m sure he was just checking on his mom and wondering who this weird guy is in his home.”

Mochi continues to sniff around Hawks and then he sits right next to and nudges Hawks’ hand with his nose.

“What’s up, buddy? You want some head pats,” he says in a baby/puppy voice

Mochi head tilts in response and places his head under Hawks’ hand.

Hawks pets Mochi’s head and ruffles the fur around his face.

You take a picture on your phone causing both Mochi and Hawks to snap their direction towards you.

You burst out laughing.

“You guys look,so cute,” you say with a smile

“Sorry kid, but I’ll have you know, I am devilishly handsome, not cute,” Hawks says

“Mmm I still think you’re very cute,” you say egging him on

He walks around to your side of the island and turns you around in the bar stool, so that you’re facing him.

He stands in between your legs and puts his arms on either side of you, resting his hands on the counter. He lowers himself down to speak into your ear.

In a low voice he says,“Baby I promise you, I am anything but cute.”

He moves his attention back to your face, smirks and walks back to side of the island he was originally on.

“Let’s eat, honey,” he says and starts dishing out some of the food he brought over

“O-okay,” you say flustered

You do your best to bring yourself back to earth, but now you find yourself stealing glances of Hawks, wondering what came over him, what came over YOU, what else hasn’t he shown you yet. You became more intrigued by the mysterious man that you are having dinner with.

For the rest of the night, you both spend it drinking and enjoying each other’s company.

By the end of the night, you both finish a bottle and a half of wine and you feel yourself grow tired due to the alcohol taking over your body.

“Hawks,” you say slurring the s and slightly loud, causing him to direct his attention towards you

“Yes, baby bird,” he says massaging your temples, as your head lay on his shoulder

“Why me? You’re handsome and rich and seem well traveled, but I’m just a regular girl. Why choose me to go on a date with,” you say quite timid

“Because baby bird, as you so put it, you are a regular girl. You’re nothing like women that I’ve been involved with, so to speak. You’re kind, caring, smart, funny, good with animals and last, but certainly not least, you’re beautiful. Inside and out,” he says honestly

“Hawks, you barely know me,” you say directly

“Yes, but I’ve observed you long enough to know what kind of person you are,” he says

You look at him with a shocked expression.

“Woah, not like that,” he says frantically,“just while you work, how you treated people. I learned you were someone worth having in my life and that night when I saw that guy harassing you, I just wanted to protect you. It was like this instinct kicked in and I just had to help. I couldn’t bare the thought of what would’ve happened had I or anybody for that matter, not have done something to help.”

You sit there stunned by his words. Next, you do the unthinkable, well for you.

You grab Hawks by his neck and pull him in for a passionate kiss. Things start to get heated and Hawks stops you.

“Baby bird, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just, if and when we get to this point of our relationship, I want it to be special for us. I don’t want to treat you like a fling and…I have an early work day tomorrow, so sadly, I have to go” he says

“Let me walk you out then,” you say, walking Hawks to your apartment door

You both make it to the door, when you suddenly stop him from opening it.

“Wait,” you say, then stand on your toes and kiss him on the lips, wishing him a good night

“Night baby bird,” he says, the closes your door

“C’mon Mochi, let’s go to bed papas,” you say as you walk to your room, stretching from sitting on the couch for so long

You lay on your bed, then turn on your side and fall fast asleep.

Art by 10shiko

I hope y’all enjoyed today’s chapter!! Sorry it’s sooooo late!! I will be better about getting things out faster or at least try to be as some times my day doesn’t go according to how I want it to, but I will work hard for y’all!!

[pretend-writer]

Kids Of The Future (Chapter 6)

Mini-Series

Summary: After time traveling from the apocalypse in 2019, a surprise waits for Diego and Y/N as they arrive at Dallas, Texas circa 1960.

Pairing: Hargreeves x sibling!reader, Diego Hargreeves x reader

Word Count: 3.9k words

Warning: mention of violence, mention of death, gruesome violence, swearing

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

- Y/N's POV -

Five had left me by myself in The Handler's office, hunting for the briefcase as I read more of Belinda's files.

It was a huge mystery how she ended up in the 60s with us. She was only a baby when we found her in the alley, nothing made sense at all.

A loud creek shifted my thoughts, making me jump up. Staying in character, I spoke up thinking that it was probably someone from the commission. 'Who's there?'

'Ahh!' Diego screamed as he tackled me, 'You creep! It was you at the alley harassing my girlfriend huh? Who the hell are you exactly and what do you want with my daughter?'

'It's me, oh my- Diego, it's me!'

He seemed confused until the realization hit him; Diego's jaw dropped when he noticed that I was shape shifted into The Handler. 'Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know this is what you were doing.'

'What are you doing here?' I turned back to my original form, slightly raising my voice at Diego. 'I told you it's just me and Five here today.'

'Sorry, I just got worried and-and I came here. I didn't meant to cause trouble.'

'But what if you got caught? We don't know what these people are capable of.'

'Well, I took the risk for you.' Diego bit his lips and shifted eye contact. 'I had to make sure you were okay.'

I sighed, frustrated but flattered at the same time that my stomach was filled with butterflies. He had called me his girlfriend, came all the way here to talk to The Handler about that night.

But I was far too focused because my baby was in danger; more importantly her history was revealed. I handed Diego the file that was in my hand, 'Read it.'

His brows furrowed, showed nothing but confusion as he saw Bel's name across the file. 'Where's this from?'

'It was in this desk. The Handler's desk.' I answered as he opened it and read throughly. 'It-it kind of answered our questions we've been wondering for the past three years.'

'This... this has got to be a mistake, right? I mean she's one of us then? But how?'

'I have no idea.' I was scared; scared as to how she got here in the first place. Scared about what was going to happen to us, to Bel. Scared that this whole thing could've been a set up and we never knew.

Diego grabbed my hand, 'This... this won't change the fact that she's still our baby.'

A small smile formed on my face, it was nice that Diego was giving me reassurance. In a way, I was glad he was here. He made me feel safe. 'Yeah. You're right.'

'You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here to protect you and Bel.' He smiled, it was weird for him to say such thing because this whole time we'd never talk to each other like that. Or in this tone, at least. He squeezed my hand, pulled me in as he wrapped his arms around me. 'You're safe with me, Y/N.'

As I smiled back at him, Five appeared out of thin air using his powers. With a briefcase in his hand, he stared at us. 'Guys, get a room.'

'We're already in a room.' Diego chuckled, 'You're the one that interrupted us.'

Five rolled his eyes, 'What the hell are you doing here anyway? This is supposed to be mine and Y/N's mission.'

'Sorry, I couldn't sit still knowing how crazy The Handler is. Didn't want anything to happen to you guys.'

'Well, we're fine. Now let's get back to the others and figure out what the hell we're going to do now.' We gathered around together closely, Five controlling the briefcase as we traveled back to our meeting spot, the Karate Gym.

Everything was fine, or at least we thought it was until we turned around and saw all our siblings tied up with one person standing around them while holding onto Bel; Lila.

'You really think you could impersonate my mother?' Lila laughed, 'Your acting sucks.'

'Stay away from Bel. Put her down.' Diego shouted.

'Ah, so that's where the cute one went. I was looking for you, Diego boy.' She grinned, 'What makes you guys think I'll give her back?'

'Give me my baby back, now. Or I swear I'll do harm to you far more worse than you can imagine.'

Lila raised her eyebrows, 'I'm not scared of you. What, you're going to morph into Frankenstein or something?'

'Ha, I wouldn't test it if I were you. She's pranked us with things scarier than that.' Klaus laughed softly.

'You see Lila, my power is such a great thing because you know why? I can turn into anything I've seen and I've read many books as a child. Many.'

Lila laughed, 'You guys are such idiots. I thought it was just Five but seems like it runs in the family.'

'Watch your mouth!' Five yelled at her.

'You Hargreeves aren't the only ones that have super powers, you know that right?'

The cheeky grin made me want to just punch her in her smug face. 'We already know Bel has powers. We went through The Handler's fil-'

'I'm not talking about her.' She flashed a smile as she stepped closer to Diego and I. 'Diego, I heard a rumor...'

Diego's eyes flashed glassy grayish white, completely freezing into place. My mind immediately was out of focus, noticing that somehow, Lila had Allison's powers. But I didn't have time to think, I had to get her before she got into his head then try to get Bel back also.

My eyes met with Five, knowing exactly what we needed to do. He disappeared into thin air, appearing back next to Lila as he quickly grabbed onto Bel.

Lila was distracted, not realizing I shifted into Luther as I used the strength to pull her up the floor.

'You can take their powers too?' Lila smirked, holding onto my hand as she tried to grasp for air. 'Thought it was solely just for design.'

'Why are you surprised? I'm a shape shifter, I told you I can turn into anything.' I threw her to the ground then shifted into Vanya, using my force field to try to hurt Lila. While my surrounding turned blue as my energy started to build up, Lila kicked me hard into the mats.

A scream came from the other side of the room as Diego charged towards Lila, throwing knives at her when she tried to get up. As he tackled her down, I grabbed one of his knives and held it only a centimeter away from Lila's neck.

'What do you want with Bel?' I yelled as I shifted back to myself again. 'And don't fucking lie to me.'

'I don't know, this was all mom's plan. Even if I did know, I wouldn't fucking tell you.' Lila giggled devilishly.

This time, I stuck the cold knife onto her skin, letting her bleed lightly to scare her but not hard enough to where she's severely injured. 'I appreciate you playing this "I'm a bad girl" act, but cut the shit or I'll really hurt you.'

'You wouldn't dare.'

I raised my brows at her as she tested my patience. It had been a while since I've "investigated" anyone but the thrill and the adrenaline just took over my body. It didn't help the fact that this girl was a part of taking my baby away from me.

As I took her hand off the floor, I snatched her index finger and this time, pushed the knife right under her finger nail. 'I'm not playing around, do you believe me now or should I keep going?'

Lila was terrified, breathing heavily as she shook her head. 'S-sorry.'

Five kneeled next to me, joining in on the conversation to try to get information out of her. 'So how did Bel end up here in the 60s?'

She rolled her eyes. 'You really are a kid aren't you? Story time is-'

I interrupted her as I pushed down the knife that Diego struck into her arm earlier. Screaming in pain while the knife dug deeper into her skin, I got closer to her face.

'Okay, okay. Don't mess with you or your brother, I get it now.' She said before I let go of the knife. 'Who are you people?'

'Couple of old roommates that had to play house with an old man that never gave a shit about us.' A fake smile formed on my face. 'That geezer taught us a lot of stuff, taught me how to interrogate people at the age of six. Sounds great right?'

She laughed, 'We would've been great friends.'

'I'd rather have my eyeball chewed off by a wolf.'

Five groaned, 'Will you guys shut up and let me know how this baby ended up here please?'

Diego chuckled, 'Oh no. Keep going. It's hot watching Y/N getting riled up.'

Klaus gagged from behind. 'We're only tied up you know? We can still hear.'

Lila sighed, probably fed up with the Hargreeves shenanigans that she had to deal with. 'Anyways, she was several months old when she started to discover her powers, poor baby couldn't control such powerful thing. Her ecokinesis energy collided with the lightning that was flashing that night, aligned with your timeline as you were traveling back in time. Then boom, alley. Crazy huh?'

'That is actually fascinating.' Diego nudged Five's shoulder as he nodded, interested in the story. 'What? Don't tell me you're not surprised as I am how that worked. That means lightning can somehow boost time traveling. Maybe that's why we're stuck here.'

'Or you just suck at time traveling.' Allison added.

I looked at Lila and smiled. 'So what do you say? You let us go and never ever see us again.'

'That's cute of you, really but I can't let you do that.'

Five cracked his neck and his fingers as he looked at me and Diego, 'Guys move out the way.'

Diego asked, raising his eyebrows as he was a bit scared of what might happen. 'Uhm why?'

'Just go untie them, please. I'll handle Lila.'

'Handle? What are you going to do to me?' She replied back as Five pulled out some weird item from his blazer. In a second, he made Lila shut up which I was thankful for. On the other hand, I was a little scared since I didn't know what the hell he did. Hopefully, it was a tranquilizer.

Making sure that Lila was no longer conscious, Diego and I walked over to our siblings. As I reached over behind Allison to untie her, she cocked her head. 'Ah. Well, Five left with that girl.'

'Can we please talk about the weird  but sort of cool transformation that Y/N did?' Klaus added as Diego helped him untie the rope. 'You turning into Luth-'

'Yeah, no let's not mention it.' Diego shook his head, 'Y/N don't ever do that again.'

Luther gasped. 'Hey! Honestly, I thought it was awesome.'

I laughed as I stood behind Luther after I was done with Allison, fiddling with the knot on his wrist. 'I mean, it worked right? I needed the strength and Luther was the first person I thought about.'

'Why couldn't you be like Hulk or Wonder Woman?' Diego complained, untying Klaus from the ropes from his wrist.

Just as I finished untying Luther, I heard the voice. Her voice.

'Majority of the Hargreeves in one room, very impressive.'

'Yup, did it all by myself. Are you proud or what?' I implied as I popped up from behind Luther, quickly shifting to Lila. 'Couldn't find Five or Y/N but asked the commission to keep an eye on them while I'm here.'

The Handler smiled, 'Good work. So tell me why everyone's untied except for Luther and Vanya?'

With Luther's hands still behind his back, he played along and kept his hands as if it were still tied. Vanya was still tied up from when Lila captured her, since Diego and I didn't have the chance to untie her yet.

Klaus, Allison and Diego on the other hand, stood still and stared at me. Thinking of some random excuse, I went along with the first one I could think of. 'I've rumored them to stay like that and to keep their mouth shut. They're harmless now.'

'Brilliant. Wow, Lila. You're more ready than I thought you were.' She walked over to me then "booped" my nose.

Oh, what I'd do to wipe the strong perfume off my nose. I just kept on talking to The Handler, hoping that it would distract me from the smell. 'So what should we do with this baby?'

'I'll take care of it. Raise it like I raised you, make it a warrior and hopefully become a powerful part of the commission.'

'She.' I corrected her. 'The baby is not a thing.'

The Handler chuckled, putting her briefcase down as she walked closer to me. 'Does it matter? Don't tell me you're attached to.. "her". Are you?'

'No, mom. Just wondering if you ever thought of me like you do this baby.' I was a bit proud of myself, thinking of a scenario and keeping Lila's accent as I fooled this woman.

'Oh, no darling. I could never.' She stood close to me, caressing my cheek and smiled at me. 'You will always be my one and only daughter. Always making me proud.'

'So you don't mind us taking Bel back then?' Allison stood behind her and smiled, knowing that she took The Handler by surprise.

Luther walked over next to Allison, grabbing The Handler's briefcase off the floor. 'Excuse me while I take this off your hand. You won't be needing this anymore.'

The woman's brows raised, confusion rushing through her brains as the rest of my siblings except for Vanya started roaming free. 'H-how did you guys-'

'Ha, it's just me behind my powers.' I revealed myself in front of The Handler, watching her jaw drop. 'My accent was pretty good wasn't it?'

'Way better than The Handler performance, to be honest.' Five popped out of nowhere, smiling and waving at the woman. 'Long time, no see granny. Did you miss me?'

Vanya stood up as Klaus helped her with the rope. 'Uh Five? What did you do to Lila?'

'I figured out that she can manipulate people's powers so I had to improvise.' Five grinned, 'Used my briefcase, zapped us to a time where she won't be able to survive. Now I'm back here.'

Luther stared at him, 'Wow. You're fucking evil.'

'Thank you, how kind of you.'

'You bring my daughter back right now!' The Handler stomped on the floor.

Diego gasped, 'Hey! You're going to ruin our mats. It cost us a fortune building this gym.'

'You only want your daughter back because you have no power when she's gone, right? Just like how you want Bel for her powers.' Five took a step towards her. 'You can't control and manipulate them anymore.'

'Letting you choose the easy way or the hard way.' I watched her squirm, looking around the room for a way to escape or perhaps a weapon that can hurt us.

Klaus smiled, 'There's no way out of here.'

The Handler huffed. 'The commission will come and hunt you forever if you kill me.'

'They already don't like you.' Five laughed, 'We'd be doing them a favor. And you know it.'

She slowly backed away from us, knowing this was the end for her. I would've felt bad about all of this but knowing that she only wanted to use Bel for her "personal project" and seeing how manipulative she was towards Lila, I didn't feel any remorse at all.

'This won't hurt. Maybe.' Five smiled as he inched closer to The Handler.

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

- Diego's POV -

Our gym was a wreck. I guess it didn't matter though because we were about to go back to our own timeline, leaving everything we've ever had here. It sucked that we had to leave this place that we called home for the past three years, it was even worse that it got turned into a crime scene all because of this woman that couldn't mind her own business.

I was always for beating the back guys and punishment but seeing how this turn out made my stomach turn a little. It had been a while since we did something as gross as this; not since we all left dad's mansion. But Five mentioned that a bullet through her brain wouldn't even stop her, so I guess this was necessary to stop her once and for all.

At the end of all of this, Bel, Y/N and the rest of the family was alright. That's what mattered.

'Wow, damn.' Luther spoke in awe as he looked around the room. 'This place is... uhm... I'm so sorry guys.'

'It's okay.' Y/N let out a soft laugh, 'Like Five said, we don't belong in this timeline. Nothing here will matter anymore once we go back.'

Allison took a deep breath, trying to catch up her breathing after long, hard work. 'Still, Y/N. This was yours and Diego's home.'

'Honestly I'm more worried about Bel watching us do what we just did.' I looked over at her, realizing that she had fallen asleep in the corner of the gym. 'Oh, well I guess I don't have to worry.'

Klaus got up from the mat, 'So you guys ready to go back home? I know I am.'

'Hold on, there's something I need to do before we go back.' Y/N said, then looked over at Five. 'Do you mind helping me with something?'

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

The seven of us stood behind a bush, in front of a nice, suburban house after Five zapped us here with a briefcase. Five and Y/N haven't told us where we were yet, guessing that they didn't want to share whatever they were whispering to each other. Luther questioned them, 'Where are we?'

Both of them ignored him, continuing to mumble amongst each other. Y/N seemed sad, as if she was about to cry. I wanted to comfort her but decided to wait until she reached out to me.

Vanya nudged my side, grabbing my attention and looking at me then back to Y/N. 'You know what's going on?'

I shook my head in response as I was confused as she was. Continuing to watch over Y/N, she finally looked over at me and motioned me to come. With Bel in her arms, she held her tight and kissed her forehead. 'Everything okay, Y/N?'

She stared into my eyes, tears streaming down as she nodded slowly. 'You see the two couples inside the house? That's Bel's parents.'

My eyes fell to our baby, then back to her. Hoping that it didn't mean what I thought she meant, I clarified. 'We're not in the 60s anymore, are we?'

Y/N bit her lip and shook her head. 'Five took us forward in time. This is the year we'd turn three years old, where Bel would turn three too.'

'Wait so-' My mind was all over the place, I wasn't prepared for this at all. 'What are you trying to say?'

'You know Diego, you know.' She sniffled, 'Please don't make me say it.'

Y/N cried on my shoulders as I hugged her and Bel tightly, heartbroken that it had to be this way.

I didn't know what I expected when we took her in. I've never thought of the days where we would finally see the rest of the Hargreeves, or getting the briefcase to go back to where we came from. I didn't even imagine the days where Y/N and I would grow old together, raising Bel peacefully as we start our lives in the 60s. I just simply took it day by day, enjoying every single moment with the two girls that I loved so much.

But everything was different now, so different that I didn't expect any of this. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Bel, I couldn't imagine being back to a "normal" life because my norm was being with her. I knew, however, that this was the right thing to do and I was sure Y/N knew that too. This must've been a tough decision that she had to make, I stood next to her and supported her choice even if it hurt so much.

'Don't cry, mama.' Bel giggled, touching Y/N's cheek and wiping away her tears.

A laugh escaped her mouth, smiling as she kissed the top of Bel's head. 'I'm sorry kiddo. I-I just love you so much.'

'I love you, Bel. More than you could ever know.' Belinda smiled at me as I said those words to her, grabbing me on my nose.

Y/N exhaled, 'You ready, Diego?'

'Yeah.' I said hesitantly, gazing at Bel for the one last time before Allison took her in her arms. 'You're going to say bye too?'

'Something like that.' Allison walked to the front door, guessing that she needed space from me and Y/N.

She mumbled words to Bel, making her eyes turn grayish white for a few seconds before it turned back to normal color. Y/N saw my facial expression change, holding onto my hand as she comforted me. 'It's for the best, Diego.'

Allison knocked on the door then left Bel on the front porch before she joined us back behind the bushes. The couple came out, gasping in surprise as they reunited with their baby once again.

'She's back with her family. It wouldn't have been fair for her to remember everything, you know? A normal life is what we want for her, right?'

I hugged Y/N and kissed her on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around me. We've loved Bel as if she was our own, took care of her for the last three years of our lives. Knowing how much Y/N loved her, it must of been hard to let her go. 'I love you, Y/N. I love you so much.'

'Aw, that is so cute. I love you all. I actually loved that little goofball too.' Klaus joined in on the hug, ruining my not-so-romantic moment with Y/N, although I wasn't slightly upset about it because Klaus was just Klaus.

Luther chuckled, 'Look at us being a family again.'

'Again? We were never a family to begin with.' Five cackled. 'This will be a start of something new, maybe. If you guys won't piss me off, that is.'

'That is the cutest and the kindest thing that's ever came out of your mouth, Five.' Allison grinned.

Five rolled his eyes. 'Ugh, never mind then. Let's just go home.'

'Okay, okay. Quick question though before we have this wonderful and fun time traveling back to 2019.' Klaus beamed, ear from ear. 'So when you turned into Luther, did you turn into Luther? You know, like your body everywhere?'

I hit him on his stomach, grossed out by the imagine in my head. 'Klaus, I swear I will leave you here in the 90s.'

'Actually, that doesn't sound too bad.' Klaus hummed.

[su-univeralai]

GOOODDDD MORRNNNNIINNNGGGGG SUU 💛

I am here for your essay. Or yknow, just any dunebaby facts that you can spare.

*heavy breathing* oh no, she's come for my OCs exactly like she said she would.

lolol Ok, I've got bios on 9 out of 10 of my kids so far, but I wrote a quick blurb about them so hopefully you can't figure out who I didn't start until now lol. The older 4 (which 3/4 are legit characters in LOK, but tweaked to my liking) are grown-ass adults while the other 6 are probably between 14-21. So, our beloved Taang parents have been popping kids out from when they were 18 or 19 to 39 or 40 years old.

At some point I'll make a family tree for you, since most of the older dunebabies have their own families and that can be confusing. Some have more information than others, but more will be added on each of them as time goes on. I just haven't figured them out yet.

Also, gonna put a cut here, because it's a long post and I know not everyone wants to see my OCs lol.

Ok Onto the Dunebabies from oldest to youngest:

Gyatso (M) Airbender, 35: Named after Aang’s father figure, Gyatso is Toph and Aang’s first born and first of several airbending children. He has a knack for the art and excelled quickly with mastering it, narrowly falling short of beating Aang’s record of mastering airbending at 13. As he got older and his parents continued having children, he became like a father figure to the younger ones. That’s the best part about having tons of kids, right? At some point the older ones raise the younger ones and the parents can just have fun. Once Tiao Wu turned 13, Gyatso and his own wife, boyfriend, and kids moved away from home and resided in the Western Air Temple with some Air Acolytes.

Lin (F) Earthbender, 32: Lin is a straight arrow, always following the rules. Sometimes Toph’s jokes that her first born daughter is actually Katara’s because wasn’t as goofy as Gyatso and Tenzin. As kids, Lin and Tenzin butted heads like no other. They may have had a year or two when they got along, but that was when Lin was training to be a police officer and Tenzin was always out because he was dating Pema. They constantly bicker at family gatherings, but make a mean team when they spar against the other next gen kids. Their twin telepathy (yes, they are twins in my universe) comes into play and they are undefeatable. That is until the triplets becomes masters in their own right. While Lin is a talented earthbender and metalbender, she struggled with picking it up (perhaps because of Toph’s hardcore teaching style). She responded to a “more gentle approach” as Katara would say, and Aang helped her learn the basics until she was ready to take on Toph’s more intense lessons. Lin is definitely closer with Aang than she is with Toph, but goes to mom if something needs to be done quickly and under wraps. Lin works long hours as chief of the police force in republic city, so she doesn’t have much time for romance. When she finds a spare moment for intimacy, she frequents a bar that accepts everyone. She brought Songa with her before her little sis fell in love with (insert steambaby daughter name here).

Tenzin (M) Airbender, 32: Tbh Tenzin still marries Pema and has his four kids, like in LOK. Lol. Unlike the show, with the weight of the whole air nation not on his shoulders, Tenzin was not a serious kid. He played pai sho with the white lotus members and roughed it up with Lin. Tenzin had a difficult time mastering airbending, though. He lacked the spiritual connection that his father and brother easily had. He blamed being stuck with an earthbender in the womb for 9 months at his lack of skill with airbending. His masters airbending at 21 and is pumped to finally get his tattoos. Since Pema is an air acolyte, I'm saying that her parents were also acolytes, and she and Tenzin met as kids and got along really well. They started dating at 16. Tenzin wanted to wait to get his arrows before proposing to her, so they date for 5 long years as Pema cheered him on in the grueling training. Tenzin and Pema eventually move to the Northern Air Temple and kept Teo company.

Suyin (F) Earthbender, 26: Suyin was a troublemaker when she was a kid, always pranking her siblings. She spent way too much time with Sokka. At least that’s what Toph says. Her teenage years, that’s when things became dicey. With Lin on the streets as a cop and Su committing petty crimes, the two were bound to cross paths. After Lin brought her in for whay must have been the thousandth time and Toph had to bail her out, Toph sent her to the her old stomping ground: the Earth Rumble 6. Toph still had her ear in the stadium and stayed in touch with The Boulder, and she thought it’d do her some good to get beat up by other earthbenders. Su stayed with her grandparents and got the structure she needed and got her act together. She got pounded by her opponents the first few years, but she slowly moved her way up the food chain and eventually held her mother’s old title as champion. Once she turned 18, she left to travel the world, meeting up with Kya (can't decide if Kya will be a steambaby or a Sukka baby. Is there a cut name for Sukka babies?). Along the way she met Bataar and fell in love with him and together build zaofu and have all their kids from LOK.

Songa (F) Airbender, 21: The oldest of the triplets to be born. Songa is a calm spirit, she reminds Aang of Yangchen with her way of keeping the peace in their large family. She’s a true romantic like her father and catches the attention of a lot of men, but alas, her heart is won over by one of Katara and Zuko’s daughters, (insert steambaby name here lol). She sees the best in everyone and trusts a little too easily. Watch out though, if you get on her bad side or betray her trust one too many times, her mother’s sass and tongue come out and no one wants to be hit by her earthbending styled airbending. Songa is a talented bender and has a tendency to use her airbending like an earthbender, facing things head on. She can seemlessly switch between styles, but she'd prefer to take her opponents on directly.

Kera (F) Nonbender, 21: Kera is the heart of the triplets. She’s passionate like a firebender and meets conflict head-on like her mom. Being the first non-bender didn’t feel great coming from the lineage of the Avatar and Toph Beifond, strongest earthbender in the world and metalbender originator, but she found peace in being a non-bender when hearing all the stories of Sokka, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee, Teo, and their many other friends taking down bender and non-benders alike. Kera begged her parents to live in the Fire Nation to study under Mai and Ty Lee. Aang and Toph didn’t have any problems with her going, but Zuko and Katara did, fearing she (being a dunebaby) would cause mayhem in the palace. Only after swearing to Zuko that she wouldn’t make a mess did the Fire Lord allow her stay with them. During her time there, she mastered Mai and Ty Lee’s techniques and trained under the Yuyan archers. When she came home, she could beat the other two thirds of her triplets easily. Only when she teams up with the other two, can they take down Lin and Tenzin.

Choekyi (M) Airbender, 21: The last of the triplets to come be birthed. Choekyi is a free spirit, much like his father. He enjoys traveling and meeting new people. As a child (and an adult) he is easily excited and is a very charismatic guy, which gets him far with the ladies in his teens and early twenties. He’s never scared of trying new things, sometimes to his detriment, as he gets hurt a lot for someone light on his toes. His preferred method of transportation is air scooter. Choekyi gets along with Uncle Sokka the most, with his never ending jokes and letting him learn how to throw a boomerang even though he’s a bender. Choekyi spends some time in the swamp with the swamp benders just because he finds them to be hilarious and interesting. This is where he connects with his spirituality and returns to excel in airbending, and earns his tattoos.

Songa and Kera are idenitcal twins, so no one (beside Toph and Choekyi) can tell them apart until Songa earns her arrows. Choekyi looks similar to them, as he is their triplet, but since he came from a different egg, he turns out to be much taller than his sisters. Just imagine Toph's face when she feels three freakin' heartbeats along with hers. Idk if that's scientifically sound, but it's my universe, so I can say what I want lol.

Gyun (M) Nonbender, 18: He's a very musical guy. Gyun means music, but it can also mean germ or bacteria. So his older siblings make fun of him when he’s young. While his bending siblings practice and spar, he masters most musical instruments and even becomes a skilled singer. He’s a favorite of Uncle Iroh’s and spends time with him playing music and perfecting his tea making when he’s not training with Master Piandao and mastering different types of sword fighting styles. Gyun is a lover, not a fighter, and is recruited as the youngest member of the national opera company. He rises in fame, without having to reveal his high ranking connections to his family members. Gyun is a true renaissance man (you know if the renaissance existed back then). He looks up to all of his siblings and soaks in all the stories and advice his can get to perfect the art of storytelling and acting.

MeiLin (F) Nonbender, 17: MeiLin may be one of the youngest, but she’s definitely the sassiest of the bunch. With the personality like her mother, it’s no wonder she’s a bosslady even from a young age. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. While she’s the beauty of the dunebabies (but who really isn’t attractive in this family?) and can hold her poise better than any royal, from the tender age of three, she’s wanted to become the fiercest fighter in the world. After a lot of convincing, Toph and Aang let her train with Aunt Suki and learn how to fight like a Kyoshi Warrior. After she masters that, She begs her parents to send her to the Fire Nation to study under Mai and Ty Lee. By the time she’s 14, she’s already mastered the art of dagger throwing, chi blocking, and the Kyoshi warriors fighting style. Aang isn’t too pleased that she fights in tournaments like Toph did, but Toph watches every match she can get! MeiLin asks her to bet on her and they split the wealth at the end. Lin wants her youngest sister to join the police force when she turns 18, but MeiLin isn't sure she wants to enforce the law like Lin.

Tiao Wu (M) Earthbender, 14: The baby of the family, and loves it. Unlike MeiLin, Tiao Wu is a homebody and a huge mama’s boy, though really isn’t a mama’s boy in the Beifong Family? Like his name suggests, he’s a great dancer and for an earthbender, he sure is light on his toes. While Gyatso is called Twinkletoes Jr, Tiao Wu is known as the Fancy Dancer. Literally. That’s the stage name he chose for his bending dance competitions. When he’s not dancing or hanging out with Toph, he’s studying his cousin’s bending forms, wanting to incorporate it into his repertoire. Tiao Wu is also close to Aang, as he showed an early talent to be one with the spirits. As a six year old, he would meditate next to Aang and beat the freakin’ Avatar, master of all four elements and bridge between the physical and spiritual world, to the Spirit World. He’s also known to be the only human who is allowed to visit Wong Si Tong’s library there.

ALRIGHT Joy, here are some basic facts about my dunebabies universe. If you or anyone else wants to send me asks so I can more deeply construct their personalities, feel free!

[redmaneroster]

Our Home Away From Home, Away From Home

[1] [2] [3] [4-5] [6] [7] [8-9] [x]

PART 10 – Domestication

Yang blinks awake. She wonders why her pillow is so dense until she realizes that she's patting down Jaune's chest. Her hand is dangerously close to his waistband.

She wants to move but can't. Below her, her hands run through the threads of someone's dark red hair. Ruby wriggles at the touch. She'd come back a week earlier. In time for the dance but she'll be gone again when it's over.

It's like her baby sister is slipping out of her hands. She wants to scream and shout. To demand that Ozpin give her back… but he wasn't the one who could make that decision for her. Her dad had made it clear, Ruby is the only one who gets to choose, and she chose Ozpin.

She dreads to think on what Ruby's actually chosen. What she'd picked over everything else. Her friends, her family, her team, maybe even her dreams of being a huntress.

Yang bites her lip. Ruby isn't a huntress-in-training anymore either. She's licensed and fully-fledged. Has jobs and is on record as the youngest to join an academy and the youngest to graduate.

Peeling back her bangs, Yang spots the scar running along her forehead. It's deep and an ugly pinkish-red. Jaune asked where she got it. She'd gotten too close to a behemoth and got clipped trying to dodge its tusk. She'd killed it, somehow. She wouldn't tell how, just that she did. If she really tried, Yang could probably extract the story from her; global secrecy or no. But she can't. Won't.

Suddenly respecting her privacy feels like a vice on her lungs.

Ruby grabs Yang's hand suddenly. She's still and her breathing is rapidly pouring out of her, but then Ruby tugs the arm into her chest and nuzzles into it.

It's like they're eight and ten again, when Yang would spend the day working herself to exhaustion to make sure Ruby had a fulfilling day, only to collapse in her arms. Then and only then did Yang permit her little ten-year-old self to breathe, rest easy, then finally sleep. She recollects it like a blur of sweat and aches she was entirely too young to have, but now that they've passed, Yang can hardly remember what any of those pains felt like.

How differently could things have gone if she'd had a father and mother to tend to them instead. Maybe not long enough to mind Ruby themselves, but at least long enough to rub her hair and tell her she did good at the end of the day.

Calloused hands run through her hair. She looks up to see Jaune spying her out of one eye.

"You're getting that scary, thoughtful look on you again." Not quite the loving encouragement she'd expected, but close enough. "I'd warn against developing some early wrinkles but I can't help but feel they'd look good on you too."

She laughs. "You can't be serious. Were you checking out my mom?"

"Pfft! Sure. Let's go with that." She rolls her eyes. He ruffles her hair. "But in all seriousness, you can't blame a guy for admiring that kind of craftsmanship." His thumb runs slowly down her cheek. "They chiseled you out good. You have all their best parts."

She blushes but pushes the feeling down. "God, Jaune, were you checking out my dad too?" she teases but her eyes widen at his brief pause. "Oh my god."

He waves it off. "It's nothing like that. Despite looking like he could bench-press a truck, your dad still manages to look the least threatening when he's got some alcohol in him. I had thought that the day I'd meet my girlfriend's dad, I'd be most worried about being hated. Instead, I ended up worrying I'd just disappoint him. Like making him sad was worse than getting him angry."

"Yeah, Dad's got a wounded puppy look on him. I think it's why Zwei listens to him all the time. Like he even makes the dog feel responsible for keeping him happy."

"He's a dangerous man."

"I hope the title is hereditary."

"Ha! What was that you said on our first date? You could total a car, or something? I think that qualifies as dangerous."

"Hm… Is that a turn on or does that make you afraid? Both, maybe?"

"I think I'd qualify as crazy if it was both. Do you qualify as crazy if you're still into me after that?"

"We could be crazy together." Her fingers run circles over his abs. "I could live with that…"

Ruby curls up and covers her ears. "Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!"

Yang ruffles her hair. "Good morning to you, too,"

"Sleep well?" Jaune asks.

"Too well…" Ruby grumbles. "I don't think I could go back to pillows ever again. Maybe I'll sleep on Zwei or something… No, that doesn't feel right…"

Yang pulls her head up, inching enough along Jaune's chest to rest her head up against his chin. "I think it's the company. Missed your big sister that much, huh?"

Ruby's nose scrunches. "Yeah, I do." She crawls into them and snuggles in. She takes Jaune's hand and tugs on Yang's till they're hugging her now. "I'll miss you all so much when I'm gone…"

The way she words that digs a pit in Yang's chest. She squeezes her a little tighter. Her chest feels hollow for a little longer.

Ruby pulls out and Yang lets her go, but she jerks back a bit cause Jaune hasn't let go. "Sorry…" Jaune says. He looks like he wants to hold on.

"Don't be." The softness of her hands press warmly over his, and her smile shares its qualities. "I'd miss me too." She means it like a joke but it stops showing on her eyes and a frown worms its way into her cheeks. "I have to go get ready."

She glances over to the rest of the bed. Only Blake is there, her back turned to them. "Pyrrha's probably waiting for me downstairs. I'll see you two tonight, alright?" When she's pulling fresh clothes out of her travel bag, she calls out, "If Blake gets up, tell her we'll see her on the bullheads and grab a bite in Vale if she's late!"

JNPR's bathroom door shuts behind her. The door feels tiny from where they are, on the opposite side of a giant bed in the RWBY dorm room. Its distance echoes with the thrum of the muffled shower.

Jaune pulls Yang up and against him. "Sorry about this. I know you were looking forward to going with me."

"You shouldn't have to feel sorry for giving my sister a good time," she says. He can tell that she means it. "She's going to miss you too, and this might be her last chance to feel like a normal girl for a change. Besides, it's only sophomore year. We'll still have plenty of school dances to go to."

"I guess… Save me a dance?"

"I think I'll need a little more than one."

The distant pattering of the shower is notable when it stops in the quiet of the twin rooms. Jaune eyes Blake and realizes that her bow is on. "Didn't Blake stop wearing that?"

Yang shifts over his stomach and realizes how broad her outline is. "I don't think that's her."

They share a look before poking her in the head.

Ren groans and swats his hand away. He wiggles out and takes off the wig he's wearing, scratching his head.

They snort. "That's a good look for you," they say, realize they've said it at the same time, and high-five.

He groans again. "That's never not going to be weird."

"Not as weird as you in a wig," Jaune says.

Yang notices he's in Blake's pajama top too, sagging off his shoulder since it's so much smaller. "…Or in her nighties."

"It's called a jinbei." Ren shakes his head. "Before you ask, I lost a bet."

Jaune shrugs. "We figured. Not like we expected you to wear that for fun or anything."

He pulls on the delicate fabric. "Aside from the wig, it's very comfortable."

"Oh, I'll bet."

Ren rubs his eyes. "Jaune…"

He throws his hands up. "I'm kidding! … Not really. You want one in your size?"

"…Yes." He blushes which is weird cause Ren doesn't blush. But he does and it's adorable. They snap a picture. He can only summon the energy to scowl for a breath's length. "I should get going too."

"Why are you up so late anyhow?"

He blushes and he doesn't bother answering. They don't need one anyway.

-0-

The echoed bass of this year's dance bounces off the walls of the hallway just outside of reception.

Yang hasn't been on a dance floor in months and now the sounds feel alien. She used to attribute clubbing as a part of her, even as a freshman who could pass for eighteen. Breaking it down, it's clear that she only went out there to have fun. And she's been having a lot of fun elsewhere this year.

"I don't really wanna go in there," Oscar says beside her as they make their way to reception. They're both wearing green, to match hues with her eyes and to contrast his. "I'm starting to get dizzy on just the sounds of it."

"You get used to it," she says. "It's mostly just sensory overload. Just let it sink in and you'll hardly even register the music. It's meant to be white noise anyway so no one has to talk in silence."

"So it's, what, a social tool? Like a distraction?"

"Most of partying is. For all the awkward folks, it means they can hide behind something else while they get their wings. For the rest of us, the ones who've got it down, it lets us keep going. Longer than the night sometimes."

"I never thought of it that way."

She pats him on the shoulder. Even in flats, she's so much taller than him. "Try not internalize it too hard. It's easier when you're letting a conversation happen instead of trying to force any advice you hear into it."

"And if I end up in awkward silence with someone?"

"Then maybe you aren't talking to the right people. Take Ruby for instance." She points ahead of them, at Jaune and Ruby dressed in red together. They're talking and laughing. "You ever have a conversation just stop when you talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"Then she isn't the right people." She catches Ruby's glare but she goes back to Jaune pretty quickly.

"Uh… Oh! You're joking!" Oscar exclaims.

"Whoa! Hey! Don't take me seriously all the time. Half of me is comedy."

"It's often bad!" Jaune calls back.

"Shut up!" Yang giggles. "I have the worst boyfriend," she whispers loudly. Jaune pretends to be wounded by it.

"So…" Oscar rolls his hands. "I'm getting mixed signals here. Is it okay to have awkward silence?"

"Yeah! I mean… I guess had a bad example. It's okay if a conversation stops, but not when it drops."

He squints. "I feel like you're deliberately confusing me."

"I'm just not the most articulate person. Not like I learned to be social on a quotable handbook or anything. So when you talk to someone on something you're interested in, like, say, coffee –"

"-Or milk."

"Or milk. Yeah, let's got with that. Say you like skim milk – you monster –" he laughs cause he does, "then you know you've found someone you can talk to if they don't try to derail the conversation once they find out."

"Cause I brought up skim milk?"

"Cause they're still interested in talking even after you mention it. Someone you can talk to might agree and keep at it, or disagree but wants to hear your side of why you like it so much. Someone you can't talk to will try to change the topic after finding out what you like or not about something."

"I thought it was all about finding things in common."

"I think it's just as interesting if you don't. I hate Seven Rapids cause they're all noise and not even music to me, but that's precisely why Jaune loves them. Jaune and his sister used to be afraid of thunder, so when a storm hit their hometown, it was the only band they could listen to on the same pair of earphones without having to block out the other ear with something."

"That doesn't sound like he particularly likes it either."

"But it's a story I wouldn't have heard otherwise if I switched gears! Now we know each other a little better."

The bass thumps in their ears after they sign on in the registry and come through the doors. Blake is already dancing with Penny, Sun and Pyrrha are expectedly missing, and Nora is a having a subdued moment with Ren by the punch bowl.

"Ruby?" They're instantly stopped by Cardin Winchester of all things. His date, Velvet, trails behind him and crashes into Ruby first.

"You're back!" Velvet cheers. "For how long?"

"Not very," she says sheepishly.

"That big a deal, huh?" Cardin guesses. He continues before she can get uncomfortable. "We missed you at Leadership. Jaune cried."

Jaune rolls his eyes and lets it be… For an entire second. He punches Cardin in the arm and they laugh.

"I missed you guys too. Even the class. Ugh! Can you believe I miss waking up early for class?"

"I miss that feeling too," Velvet agrees. "When you're Juniors and Seniors, you lose half your classes and you're not even expected to attend most of your sessions. We're usually out on the field taking low threat missions. Even a noisy classroom is quieter than the woods."

Ruby rubs the back of her head. "I kind of know what that's like now, actually."

Jaune and Yang trade looks. Oscar tries not to look them in the eyes.

"We should get going," Cardin says, reading the room. "We'll catch up later." Velvet takes him by the arm and waves off.

Ruby, like Oscar, doesn't look them in the eyes either.

"It's okay!" Yang says soothingly, her a voice a titter with a laugh. "We won't pry. Just happy you're here."

"C'mon," Jaune says, taking Ruby's hand, "let's see how well Oscar taught you how to dance."

Ruby slaps a hand to her lips, trying feebly to hide her blush. "The punch bowl first, please. If it's spiked, I can pretend to be good at anything."

"Not a chance," Jaune teases. He kisses Yang on the cheek before leaving her with Oscar.

"He really is the worst," Oscar says, sarcasm bleeding off his cheek. "He's so sickeningly sweet. Wanna trade dates? I'd take him."

Yang slaps him on the back. "Ha! That's the spirit. I can see you're getting more comfortable."

Oscar shrugs. "I think you're just easy to talk to. We should go, too. I'm starving."

-0-

Ruby might have been right about the punch. Nora is loud and all over the place, but Oscar remembers a few stories about her and asks, "Is this how she normally is?"

Ren laughs, it's quiet and patient. He sounds older than he looks. "I don't think she qualifies for normal."

Nora crashes into a few people he doesn't recognize but they laugh and stand her up. They're all friends here. Or maybe Nora just has that effect on people.

"Here." Ren is standing in front of him with a plate of sushi, a black dip of some sort, and what looks like green clay. "Try one of these."

"You ever have these in Mistral?" Yang asks.

"Only the cities. Funny how my first time with it will be in Vale of all places."

Ren demonstrates with chopsticks, expertly grabbing the rolled sushi, dipping, then grabbing a dab of the clay before inserting it into his mouth. "Now you try."

Oscar takes a fork, stabs the sushi, dips it, end curves the fork's teeth into the clay-like thing, and shoves it in his mouth. He can only register Ren's panic when it's already too late.

"You took too much wasabi," he breathes.

Yang is already grabbing a cup from the punch bowl. Oscar's mouth explodes in heat. Then the rest of the night is a blur.

-0-

Ruby was right. Someone did spike the punch.

By now it's too late and they devolve into a flurry of laughter and dancing. No one seems to care that there's suddenly alcohol present, but a cursory glance reveals that the staff isn't even present. Coco does mention seeing Ozpin and Glynda alone in the plaza, and much of the staff was huddling in the dark trying to eavesdrop on them. Seems mischief is ageless.

Jaune and Yang don't dance. Ruby is too important for them to let the night be about them, so they dance with her instead. She's at least thankful that Jaune chose to lead her in a slow dance. She doesn't think she can keep up with him otherwise. Yang, on the other hand, is an expert on matching her pace. She's her big sister after all.

Oscar doesn't get to dance with her either but he's fine with that. What he isn't fine with is being completely hammered by one watered-down drink. Yang thinks its funny how similar he is to Jaune but the similarities end there. He gets swung around by Nora on the dance floor and the alcohol doesn't help.

Remembering this night mostly comes out as a thousand flashes. Their scrolls roll the whole night, and the photos flood the memory banks like they'll struggle to remember this night when it's over. Which doesn't happen because the alcohol doesn't make them drunk. Unlike Oscar, all the alcohol just serves as an excuse for everyone else to let loose.

Joan shows up in a dress and everyone has flashbacks of first year. Ruby jokes loudly about Jaune filling the dress out real well this time and most people momentarily forget that Jaune has a twin sister.

Somewhere down the line, they pour out of the dance and sing off-key in the garden, count stars in the courtyard, and then they're out on the roof where half their class has turned up for a grill off.

Jaune and Nora get so into it that they're scared out of themselves when Cardin shows up in an apron and a grill of his own. Yang remarks that Weiss would have loved the smell.

Oscar kisses Penny and Ruby doesn't know what to do with that. Yang lets her figure it out cause she's growing up and she can ask her whenever she's ready.

Nora's corsage gets caught in the wind somehow and Ruby jumps into action. She weaves through the crowd in a stream of red and rose petals. She's over the railing and she shows no fear as she leaps off the edge and curls over the shattered moon with the pink flower in her hands. Her smile is stunning, her confidence brimming off her cheeks.

Jaune and Yang hold hands at the sight. She's a burst of beauty that steals hearts.

There's a cheer when she effortlessly blurs back and falls into the crowd. She doesn't think what she does is anything special, but it is. She is. And everyone knows it.

And just when their spirits are highest, it rains.

Ruby doesn't leave the roof when it does. Her friends stay with her, Jaune and Yang especially. The look in her eyes tells them that she's barely holding something back.

They stand with her, letting the chipped pieces of them fall apart together so Ruby doesn't feel like she's alone. She tells them she's afraid. They tell her they are too. But fear doesn't get to take residence, it doesn't get to loiter and sink into the upholstery. They'll kick and scream until it's gone cause they never go down without a fight.

It sounds like they're all struggling blindly, but Yang tells her that defiance is only the first step. And that also makes it the most important.

In a moment of solidarity, Ruby screams at the top of her lungs as the rain hides her tears and her friends drown out her pain with defiant roars of their own.

And in the next she's on a bullhead, barely out of her dress, and she disappears in a sea of stars.

-0-

It's the weekend again, and Yang convinces Jaune to come to the apartment for the day. Walking back into it feels like a lifetime has passed him by. There's a layer of dust on everything and he resists the urge to wipe it all down. He can't spend the one day they're here this month cleaning. Maybe next month when he's got the lien to cover his half of the rent.

No, that's an excuse. He could just as easily ask for an advance on his allowance or pick up an extra mission to cover the gap. He wanted to push them both to stay in the dorm, but when Yang pushes passed him with a box full of last night's freshly developed photos, he can see the forced curl of her cheek that's just a little too wide.

Ruby's been again for a week. She might not come back. Yang needs a breather to reconcile with that.

She plops the box down on the coffee table as Jaune sorts out their dinner across the room in the kitchenette.

"Anything good?" he asks.

She waves a photo in the air. "You in a dress!"

"Ha, well… Wait, no, I didn't do that this year! That's Joan!"

"Pfft! Not when I post it and tag you. I expect continued confusion from the campus."

"Yang…"

"C'mon, it's funny!"

He tosses an orange in a basket and reminds himself to eat it later. It's not gonna stay ripe if they leave it behind. In his head, it suddenly sounds like a shitty metaphor. "You're allowed to be sad about Ruby leaving, y'know?"

She chuckles and whips back to him. "So are you."

He doesn't know how to answer that. He spent a lot of that night dreading her leaving but he hadn't expected her to up and go before midnight even hit. It's still jarring, unreal even. Like he could walk back onto campus and bump into her, cause that night was a blur and he might have just dreamt it ending the way it did.

A hip bumps into his, and he drops the pork chops back onto the counter. Yang doesn't look sorry but she hides her face in his chest and he lets her hold onto him.

"It feels like I'm still halfway down a landslide. With my parents and uncle are off to god-knows-where, and Weiss and Neptune fighting for the soul of her company, it felt inevitable that Ruby would just… follow after. And it's a little scary, y'know? I don't know when all of this stops. I don't know if I'm gonna keep losing people." She doesn't cry, but her chest feels tight. "It's like I'm either waiting to see who's next or if I'm gonna crash when I hit the bottom…"

She'd been putting up a strong front, but her bravado feels like it's slipping, and she already feels like it's going to break her. Finding JNPR had stemmed the tide. She even thought she might stop slipping altogether but then Ruby comes and just goes into the night…

Jaune's pulls out his scroll and she can hear him clicking. She only then realizes that his other hand is squeezing carefully on her waist.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding people."

"What? Who?"

He brings the scroll close to his face. There's a call and it goes through almost immediately. It's a voice she doesn't recognize but she can guess who it is. She's already familiar with the stories about her.

"Hey, runt!" comes a woman's voice. "Caught me at a good time. Coral's burning the eggs again and she could use a few pointers from her big brother." Yang can practically feel her wink.

"It's nice to see you too, Sable. You're the eldest in the house now, don't you know how to cook it?"

There's a snort on the other end of the line. "Please. Wouldn't know my way around the kitchen unless I crashed a car into it. And even then I'd only familiarize myself with the quickest exit."

Jaune groans. "You can't keep getting take-out and engorging everything your pit crew gets you. One of these days you're gonna regret never learning from mom. At least Coral's trying."

"Well, Coral doesn't have a job."

"Hey, I totally have a job!" a muffled voice shouts.

"And besides, the track keeps me busy."

Yang mumbles into Jaune's chest. "That sounds like an excuse to me…"

Jaune laughs.

"Jaune… who was that?"

"She's the reason why I called you in the first place." He's already propping his scroll up against a bundle of uneven loaf.

"Ooh! Do we finally get to meet this elusive girlfriend of yours?"

Yang sucks in a breath. It feels like she's stepped into a different space altogether and she's nervous now for very different reasons.

"Girls, this is Yang."

"Hi there." Yang hopes she doesn't sound awkward.

On the screen is a set of huddled blondes all crashing to get a view through the screen. In the middle is the cheeky one she guesses is Sable. Unlike her sisters, her hair is red fading into blonde tied in a braid over her shoulder. "Hey yourself. I'm Sable. I heard you're good with bikes. We should talk. Grease monkey to grease monkey."

Another blonde in a bob cut and glasses pushes into her cheek. "God… hi. You're so pretty. Are you sure you're a huntress? Jaune, please don't let this be a prank." She seems all over the place.

"That's Coral," Jaune supplies. "Don't mind her. She'll make proper sentences when she starts calming down."

A dark-skinned girl with dirty blonde hair is pushed into view. Yang remembers Jaune mentioning having an adopted sister with dirty blonde hair. The dark hues accent her and it's all the more stunning when some of the white strands she has makes it clear that all that hair natural. "Ahem, I'm Dahlia," she says with the tiniest smile. She looks fourteen but she doesn't sound it.

She tilts her head to the side revealing another fourteen-year-old hiding behind her. "And this is Liona."

"Uhm!" Liona nearly screams, "H-hi!"

"Is she alright?" Yang asks.

Sable waves it off. "Oh, it's nothing really. She's just -"

"See?!" Liona points at the screen, looking at the other girls. "It's another blonde! The curse is real!" And she's gone.

Dahlia sighs and gets up. "I'll go after her. It was nice meeting you, Yang."

"She's polite."

Sable shrugs. "Grew up in a strict house. We're still trying to shake it out of her but enough about that, why don't you tell us how you got all that hair to behave? Mine spazzes out if I don't tie it down and there's only so many ways to tie long hair before I have to cut it down."

Yang starts going on about products she uses and Jaune slowly starts slipping away. There's an excitement brimming off her cheeks, a confidence to bury any embarrassment she might have had. It's like she's not even here anymore. She's in Clove with his sisters.

He feels a tightness on his wrist. Yang gives him a dangerous look. "Oh, no way, buster. You're staying here so I don't collapse in on myself." She tugs him in and wraps an arm around his.

They're shocked when another voice comes in. "We'll aren't you two cute," says Helia, Jaune's mom as she peeks over Sable's shoulder.

The afternoon is a blur of conversation. Bikes and Cars are both similar and different enough that Yang and Sable get along quick with always something interesting to add.

Coral has a distinct fascination with Yang's hair and has non-stop questions. It's got loose strands and is the furthest thing from perfectly straight but Yang makes it work somehow and Coral has an intense need to know how. Jaune just calls it Xiao Long magic.

Liona and Dahlia, despite being respectively excitable and largely subdued, ask Jaune and Yang both about being huntsmen. Yang catches the way Dahlia's eyes go a little wide at the excitement and terror of their stories, and Jaune never fails to point out every time Liona chews her lip like she can't decide if being a huntress is for her. He lets her sort it out until she's ready to talk about it.

The only sister Yang hasn't met yet is Cori, the second eldest, and that's cause she's in Atlas. Jaune notes that she's keeping an eye on Weiss and Neptune for them. They stop the conversation when Sable tells her that they're really allowed to talk about it.

Helia – she still insists on Aunt Hess but Yang's still getting the hang of it – reminds them that they promised to have dinner with her and her husband.

And when it's all over and they wave their goodbyes, Yang's eyes are as bright as she remembers. "I wanna meet them," she says when they're on the couch.

"This summer then. I was planning on coming home. Sable might have to run a summer circuit for her sponsors but she'll still catch us. And Cori will be there for a week. We can even get Saph to come join us."

"Yes. That. Please?"

He pulls his scroll off the coffee table. "Alright, alright. Calm down. It's happening. Let me just drop Cori a line so we can figure out when it's best."

She hugs him. "Thank you," she whispers.

"For what? I only called up my sister."

"For this. Them. All of it. I really needed to get out of my own headspace."

"Back to Remnant?"

"Not quite. It still hurts. Just a little. I can't shake the feeling."

He gently pushes her away, grabs her waist, and thumbs her cheek. "Maybe a classic distraction will suffice."

She giggles. Her cheeks are warming up. "I missed this. Just you and me."

They press their lips together. She pulls him down with her against the armrest of the couch.

While he's holding her steady by the waist, her own hands can't seem to settle anywhere. One minute she's clutching the back of his head grabbing a fistful of hair, the next she's tugging on his shirt and stretching the fabric. Now she's on his neck, pulling him in.

He loves the way she tastes. Practically devours her lips until he coaxes her into his biting his.

He gasps and that hungry look in her eyes tells him that wants him to sing for her. His eyes are dangerous in response, pulling away only to bury his face in her neck. She shuts her eyes and expects him to bite, to mark her like they do every time, but he's suckling and her skin feels like it's getting more sensitive.

"Ah…!" She bites her lip. She wants him to keep going but she also wants him to do more. Her fingers curl into the back of his neck. Arching her back to the sensations bursting from his ministrations, she hisses before whispering, "bite me."

She can feel the way hot breath pouring out of his nostrils as she says that. You're a dangerous woman, he'd all but said. And with the look he gives her in the periphery, she can't help but feel him saying it with his eyes. He bites down and her back arcs again. Its soft and he's suckling at the same time. She wonders how that would feel on other parts of her body.

When she's curling into him, she gasps as her limbs act without her consent. Her arms wrap around his shoulders and her legs bend and clasp around his waist. She's already off the sofa and hanging off of him entirely.

"Yang…" he breathes. They pull back enough for her to see the manic look in his eyes. There's nothing coy about it. It's just hunger. Need. And after everything they've been through, she knows she wants it too.

He's looking down at her as he settles his breathing and lays her back on the couch. She doesn't let go, only now his weight is on her. As meek as she looks, he has to tell himself that she can take it, but the innuendo sparks dangerous images in his mind. It doesn't help that she's a hot, sweating mess.

She feels him pull a tent in his pants. It's nothing new. She'd even teased him about it now, but it's not out of place here.

Daring herself to look at it, she spies it in the space between their legs. It feels taboo to even bear witness, but in her half-hearted attempt to look away, she instead finds the tear in his shirt just at the collar. She doesn't know if she caused it, somewhere in all the tugging and moaning, it must have happened. In the afternoon sun, it's a clear sight line from his chest to his stomach. Sweat trails down there too and it drives her wild to follow it down.

His hand settles experimentally on her belly.

She looks up at him. His askance stare and bated breath do not need words. She nods.

It trails carefully downwards, delicate even at the shallow scratch of his nails. It feels like he's uncoiling tension bundled in her abs, and every line is a full, happy sigh sung from her lips.

He can't stop staring at his hand as it seems to go on forever over the valley of her stomach. A hand is on his cheek. He meets her eyes and she seems to dare him not to look away from her. Her other hand wraps around his wrist and guides it till snags at the hem of her shorts.

His breathing betrays him. It's practically telegraphing the tremors dancing in his chest. He doesn't want to scare her. The way she jumped back the first time they got this close still sends the wrong kind of shiver down his arm like he might burn her if he tried.

But she isn't afraid. Her eyes are half lidded, her breath staccatos but its even. Her hand tugs at his wrist again.

He undoes the button.

She gasps.

His finger traces the zipper.

She bites her lip.

A hint of panic settles in cause he needs to see what he's doing but he can't look away from her. She has no trouble staring at him herself. It's like she's in a trance and all she's interested in watching is him. So he swallows his fears and kisses her again. Her lips are welcoming but her tongue is a tidal wave that swallows him whole.

It emboldens him. Lets his fingers push passed the zipper and straight over the thin bit of cloth behind it. The fabric is like his own. Nothing special. Plain and normal, and makes him laugh against her lips and she laughs with him.

Her hand pulls his wrist over her crotch. His fingers graze the unshaven hairs down there. Then she lets go of his hand and trusts that he'll figure out the rest.

He does.

His hand is so much larger than her own. That's what she first thinks when his digits span over her southern hairs and inch its way down. He has to pull his chest away from hers to get an angle that doesn't twist his wrist, but she doesn't stop moaning into his mouth.

A heated line draws sidewards from his hands, like her legs are tugging closed along the path his hand into her mound. She welcomes it. There's no alarm bells in her head. She wants to bring him there and trap him

She's okay with this.

And when his fingers smooth over her entrance and finds exactly where to make first contact, her heart's already ramming into the walls of her chest. She wants it. A bite of his lip. Bodies press firmly together. She's already trapped him down there.

She wants it. She wants it. She wants it!

Yang pulls away. He's shocked out of her nethers. His fingers are still wet.

"Yang… I'm – I'm sorry, I –"

She closes into him and shoves his damp hand into his mouth. "How do I taste?" she asks, voice hot on his neck. Inside, she's screaming because it would have been sexier to taste it herself. Then again, she isn't sure she wants that.

"Like you," he breathes against the back of her neck.

She laughs. "What's a girl supposed to take away from that?"

"Because like everything else about you, it makes me want more."

The hammering in her chest has evened out. "I want this. You. All of it."

"Then what happened?"

"Nothing. I'm not scared. I don't even know why I was in the first place anymore."

"Is that what happened? Did it bother you? Not knowing why?"

She doesn't need to answer. Instead she pulls away, kisses his lips, and tells him, "The Aries."

"My car?"

"Yes. Could you go and get the installment cleared and… maybe grab us dinner? Please?" She doesn't want to have to say that she needs a bit more time to figure this out, but he's already kissed her and is at the door.

"Later?" he asks.

She nods, a giddiness worming its way into her cheeks. "Later. I'll be ready when you come home."

He loves that look on her. He'd kiss her again if he didn't have to go.

-0-

Blake gets a call from Yang. She has to pull away from Ren and Nora on the beanbag. She's barely dressed as it is (Nora's slovenly habits are starting to rub off on her) and she isn't sure she's ready to answer any questions Yang might have about what's going on between them.

"Yang?"

"Blake! Uh… did you just get out of bed?"

She glances at her roommates. Nora's waggling her brows and Ren has that tiny smile of his that is somehow far more embarrassing. "Something like that. What about you? Do I even need to ask about the fresh hickey?"

Yang is silent for a moment. "I almost had sex with Jaune."

Her eyes widen hysterically. "Almost? What happened?"

"I needed to sort some things out." Her eyes narrow. "Look, we're gonna meet again in an hour or two, but before then, I need to bounce the last few months with my best friend."

Blakes gives her a good-natured sigh. "Fine," she says with a smile she can't stop, "give me the whole story."

"It all started on the day I was born."

"Yang!"

"I'm… I'm only half joking."

-0-

It's sundown when he gets home. He half expects scented candles, ambient music, thick makeup, and lingerie. But there's none of that. She isn't even in the living room.

"Yang?" he calls out.

His scroll pings.

"Take a shower in the guest room and come meet me in your room, please?" It reads. He takes off his jacket and pulls off his shirt when his scroll pings again. "If you love me, you'll come in only towel. So please love me."

He sprints into the shower.

Minutes later he's mostly dry and standing in his own living room, staring at his bedroom door like it'll fall on him if he even dares to come in to see his probably barely dressed girlfriend.

He knocks.

A moment of silence, but it is quiet enough to hear her take a healthy breath before she gives him a nervous "I'm ready!"

He expects a mountain of nerves. Maybe even another try at the lingerie with a bit of snide confidence beneath a toothy grin. But when he opens the door, he finds a gentle smile sitting up in an igloo of blankets. There's no put-upon anything here. She's not trying to be enticing, or trying to get a rise out of him,

He can only call that look honest.

"Are you cold?" he asks.

The question shocks her into laughter. Cause he's fresh out of the shower and she's been cozy in these sheets for the better part of an hour now. "No, no, I'm plenty warm."

"Could be warmer," he says. He doesn't intend to flirt but it's already out of his mouth and she's matching the nervous, embarrassed smile on his cheeks.

"Maybe. Why don't you come here and find out?"

With the towel wrapped firmly around his waist, he locks the door behind him and crawls onto the bed. He doesn't get any closer though.

Now that he's up close, he can see the silhouette of her bare legs just between the sheets. One of her hands comes out to pull both sides of the sheet together while the other comes to reach for him.

He takes her hand, bare knees touching.

"Hey," he says. And it's goofy, and so like him that it blossoms something in her chest.

"Hey, yourself." She calms her own nerves again and he loves the way the shape of her straightens like she's conquered something again.

He's staring and he knows it but the moonlight is sinking in through the gaps in the blinds and he swears her hair can put gold to shame.

"I've figured out why I was so afraid before," she says.

"Of getting intimate?"

"Yeah…" Her hands are sweating. Her gaze is locked to their hands. "I've already shown you so much of me. I've carved out my deepest fears and fed them to you like I was trying to stuff you full. Cause I didn't like having them in me. Like mom, and us, and Vytal, and now my team… When I'm with you, I already feel exposed. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with showing you all these sides of me but…"

She looks up at him, and their eyes meet. "I still have secrets." She says it like an apology. "But I'm not about to share my every thought but I find myself speaking my mind around you all the time anyway. I've been open but it's like I can't hide anything from you." She inches closer and her hand on the blankets tightens. "And this? Us? It's like I'm showing you all that's left. I'm no prude. I don't mind showing you a little skin."

He laughs. She doesn't wear much to bed. Not that he does either. "You never really seemed concerned about it, yeah."

"Yeah, but… doing this means I'm giving you something I can't take back or keep for myself. What I'll say or do when we do it will be new secrets and they'll be yours and… I was afraid of that."

Was, she said. He focuses on that.

His fingers run over her knuckles. She fixates on the way his hands are trying to hold her without getting any closer.

"What changed?" he asks.

"You… you showed me that you were just as scared." She remembers the way he was breathing only hours ago, staring down at her like he was scared of hurting her if he kept giving in to what she was offering. "It was like a hundred little things. Adrian, Terra, wanting to ruin your hair like an idiot for me…"

He scratches the back of his head. "I thought I was keeping a brave face on that one."

"Please. I love you but there's no way you were going to be comfortable looking an idiot again no matter how much you say it wasn't going to bother you." She sighs. "It's funny how that made me love you more."

Her smile falls away. "When I was younger, I was used to affection. It was like I had a mom and two dads. They'd dote on me and sing my praises like I could be nothing but spectacular. I couldn't go a day without being smothered by someone's love… Then… Then I lose Summer and dad shuts down. Qrow would try to be there for us and did everything he could while he was around but he always had to go to work. And I kept thinking if I was feeling like this, how did Ruby feel? How much did she feel that she was missing out on? So, I smother her with enough love to make up for everyone else, but every time I did, I was reminded of how much I missing for myself."

"And then we happened and it's not all the making out, or the cuddling, or the hickeys. I was afraid I'd have to give up this apartment cause I was overstaying my welcome, but then you smile at me and… Jaune, do you remember what you said to me that day?"

He's been flush this entire time. "I, uh, no, I don't."

"You told me it was already decided. Like I belonged here and that I never needed to work for it even if I tried my hardest to prove that I did. I didn't need to earn a place here. We were friends and you thought that was already enough."

He squeezes her hand. "It goes both ways, y'know?"

She squeezes back. "Tell me."

"I hated this apartment. When I first got it I thought I'd just bought myself a hole I could hide in while I drown myself." He eyes the walls, and even in the dark he knows where he'd had to plaster over cracks he'd punched into. "And it wasn't like I had anywhere else to go so I couldn't leave. I thought I'd maybe show up at the clubs and find someone else to warm my sheets, but even when I got propositioned, I couldn't dare to drag anyone else into what I'd put myself through."

"Then you showed up and I forgot what those nights even really felt like. It was just you, tearing every sordid, manic page out of my book and putting yourself there instead. It isn't just Terra you replaced it was… everything else. No more cold nights, broken sinks, or empty bottles. Even when things are quiet in the morning, it was nice to remember someone else was there that I had to wake up. It was nice knowing I had to cook for two. It was nice knowing that whenever I had to go out and do something tiring, or frustrating, or stupid… there was always someone waiting for me at home."

He lets go of her and makes for the vanity. A drawer is tugged open. Yang recognizes it as the one Jaune uses to hide the previous tenant's wedding ring box, but that isn't he pulls out of it. It's his flask. He sets there in full view of her. "I haven't needed it in months."

There's warmth against her skin. Even back then he said that she couldn't fill the gap of every torment but there it is. Definitive proof that she has. And it isn't just that she's done it, or even that she's done it for months, but also that she hasn't noticed. That the part of him with doubts has quietly slipped away.

And it's the same for her.

When he's back on the bed, she slinks her hands away into the blanket, clutching its two halves.

She's surprised at how easy it is to pull them apart and show him all of her. That doesn't mean it gets any easier with the way he stares at her. Yang has to resist covering up again.

His eyes trace the length of her arms down to her toned, steady legs. Back up to her abs and the swell of her breasts, to the soft coiling of her shoulder blades into her neck. This woman is built like a brick house and he loves every inch of her.

She'd already been staring at most of him before the towel on his waist slips away. The broad stroke of his arms, the wound tightness of his chest, his abs are pulled taut but his navel looks soft and boyish between the strong ridges. His legs are thin but muscled. She never knew she could appreciate the curve of a calf before but his legs help make him tall and it looks like she can dine on its width.

He crawls towards her and she welcomes his look of uncertainty as if it was her own. She falls back onto the sheets, prepared for him. One hand on her belly, the other pressed firmly over her beating chest. He doesn't move in to kiss her. He's stopped and staring somewhere on her breast. She almost cracks a joke about it but his hand comes up suddenly and runs along her skin.

"What happened here?" he asks.

There's the shadow of a scar beneath her left breast. She's surprised he can even see it in the low light. "Accident. I crashed my bike one night when driving home back to Beacon. It was… it wasn't a very good night. Assholes just drove on by and didn't bother checking in. Everyone sees an armed huntress and they think I can everything handle my own. Never mind that I was bleeding and calling out for help."

His eyes narrow. "People in this city suck."

"C'mon, they're not all bad. That boatman's pretty nice."

"Tackle."

"What?"

He snorts. "Yang, that's his name. Tackle. You're telling me we spent two weekends with him and you don't even know his name? You remember the old guy who sells dust? You meet him every month. His name's Shop and he's Tackle's brother."

She's laughing. Mostly from embarrassment. Mostly. "And how do you know this?"

"I talked to him?"

She shakes her head. "Y'know what, nevermind. I'm lying back here naked and you've got me thinking about old men and their equally old brothers."

"But hey, not so nervous anymore, right?"

He's right. It's so much easier to just talk to him. "Yeah. Much better tha-a-anks~! Jaune!"

His head's below her breast, kissing along her scar. He's doing it so softly that it tickles. "J-Jaune! Ha ha! What are you doing?"

"Kissing it better," he says matter-of-factly.

"Quit it! Ha ha! It tickles!"

He pulls his lips off her and leans over her, resting his forehead to hers. "No more bad memories. I'll rip out everything from before and give you something new everyday."

She nudges her nose to his. "Everyday?" she asks softly.

He shrugs but he means it. "I'm exaggerating but I'll try."

She runs a hand down his cheek. "Why do you always gotta do that?"

"Do what?"

"Just… be real with me? Some guys just stop at the sweeping romantic gesture."

"I think I'm incapable of being anything else with you at this point."

"Scary," she teases. "Jaune Arc, ever exposed. How will I ever contain myself?"

"Shut up."

She shakes her head meaningfully, something beautiful dancing behind her eyes. He tells himself it's love. "I can't. Words are all I have when I can't do anything with my hands."

He kisses her knuckle, its strength softening at his touch. "And why don't you?"

He's flush against her. Her knees curl around his waist. "Because I won't be able stop myself if you let me."

"Don't stop," he whispers. "Show me everything."

Her hand braces against the back of his neck.

He sucks on her lower lip. Then he does the same to the other.

She moans and it's raw and animalistic, but it's a symphony in his ear.

-0-

Yang plops onto the sofa next to him. "If this takes any longer, I'm going to tear my hair out."

Jaune takes a sip of his apple juice and eyes her passed the glass. She's been stressing out all afternoon. "I don't think you've failed enough tests to warrant a failing grade. Didn't you pass the exams?"

"I'm not worried about failing." A pause. She doesn't look at him when she admits, "I need to get a B."

His brow creases. "You only need to not fail to be a huntress."

"Yeah, but they don't let you be a teacher or a coach without at least B."

"You wanna be a teacher?"

She scratches her head. "No? Yes. Maybe. Look, I wanna have my options open."

He sits closer. She can feel his warmth on her hip. "Is this cause of what Qrow said yesterday?"

"Mom, actually. We were talking about how she wishes she was home and worrying about cracking an egg right instead of trying to crack open a conspiracy."

She doesn't need to tell him more. "Yang, our kids will still love you if you're not home all the time."

"But I'd like to be home all the time. I hate the idea of being gone for months and… ugh, look at me. Losing my mind on imaginary children."

"You're thinking ahead. It's what a leader does. I like to think it's what a Xiao Long does too."

Yang rubs her arm. "Yeah… leader." With both Weiss and Ruby officially off the campus roster, Yang had been voted as the new leader. It's strange having to trade teammates with JNPR every once in a while to get teams of three, but they're always all together now anyway. Still, the title hangs over her head and she's trying her best.

"You'll get used to it. Leadership isn't a hard class and you'll only officially start taking it next year."

"But sitting in it makes me think a lot. I didn't think a class with no grades could be so stressful… I mean, maintaining team psychology? I didn't think Ruby had to consider our wellbeing all the time, and now that I do, I feel like we all take our leaders for granted."

He puts a hand on her shoulder. "See, this is why we don't talk about Leadership outside of class. You gotta detox. What would you like?"

She tosses her scroll onto the coffee table. "These grades. I get this out of my system, and I can start worrying about everything else."

He claps his hands and gets up. "Okay, bubble bath, massage oil, scented candles, and cake it is."

She gives him a wiry smile. "Thank you…"

"What kind of cake?" he asks when he's sifting through the cupboards in the kitchen. "I can whip up the chiffon and icing real quick if that's what you're after."

She picks her scroll back up and thumbs through her messages. She goes through a backlog from Ruby. She met up with Weiss a few days back and the photo of them together (and Oscar getting along with Whitley in back) always manages to curl a smile into her. Among the images sent, she finds another with Weiss alone in her room. Neptune's not allowed to get close just yet but she's wearing the aquamarine necklace her got her for the proposal.

"I'm thinking Red Velvet," she calls out to him. "Maybe you can experiment again? I'd love to help you try."

"Nah, not this time. I couldn't get the red velvet to mix right even with Ren's help. I'll need to pick a lesson with mom when we get to Clove so I can get it down."

She gets an image from Blake. She's having afternoon tea with her parents. Ren and Nora are with her. Ren seems right at home with Kali, and Nora seems to have gotten Ghira to laugh. Somewhere in the background, Sun's teasing Ilia about someone on her scroll. She's turned a shade of pink, which does nothing to hide her blush. Looks like Sun managed to find her a girlfriend after all.

"We can do a different cake then," she tells Jaune.

"It's okay, I'll just order again." He already has his scroll up. "But we're getting three little boxes. I'm not letting you engorge the whole thing again."

She snorts. "You can't stop me from snacking."

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Yang, one of these days I'm gonna have to buy a padlock for the fridge."

"Like a padlock would stop me."

His hand slaps the counter. "Okay, no bubble bath, and no massage then."

"Fine. Little cakes. But you know I can just order more, right? It's a joint account after all." It was her mother's idea to help them balance finances between them. It managed to get Helia Arc to talk to Raven. They get along. Yang doesn't know what do with that.

"Please don't do anything crazy with the account. It's the last installment for the car."

"Which I'm helping you pay for. I deserve a treat."

Jaune stops what he's doing and just stares at her. She's not normally this difficult. Or difficult at all, for that matter. "Yang, are you messing with me?"

She peeks back gives him a sheepish grin from behind the couch. "Yes? C'mon, you know I love you. You like eating them with me anyway. You need to get your head out of the rain too." Because their new tub is big enough for two, the massage is always the kind with a happy ending, and she's pretty sure the scented candles are just a silent joke between them at this point.

He comes around to sit next to her again. "I'm not the one worrying about her grades."

"And I'm not the one stressing about his car," she counters. "Don't think I haven't noticed."

Leaning back into the cushions, he loses any desire to argue. "I took good care of it…"

"I know you did, so it's not your fault. Just you wait. The mechanic will be back with a message for you any minute now to tell you it was a nothing issue and they can fix it in an afternoon."

She's on her inbox with Jaune now. They hardly send messages anymore since they're together all the time so instead they send each other the pictures they take so they always both have copies. They had a mission at the ruins of Glenn, a dinner date by the docks, drew on Ren's face while he slept, spent an afternoon hanging photos off strings on the ceiling, visited Cardin in the hospital (he's got a cool scar along his arm and neck now), took a hike in the woods, and there's a dozen more photos of them cozying up in the apartment. These have just been in the last month, too. With summer coming, they'll have enough photos to hide entire ceiling at the dorm.

Jaune leans over. "Why am I Hummingbird in your contacts? I thought I was Vomit Boy."

She snickers. "Well, you know how Blake's books have all those fancy words for sex? Like the word vagina is somehow too crass for 'erotica'."

He squints. "I already don't like where this is going."

"So we got to talking and she mentions how, in her latest book, the vagina substitute is flower, and what comes out is nectar."

Jaune buries his head in his hands. "Oh my god, Yang…"

"And with the amount of time you spend down there…"

"Yang!"

"Did you know that hummingbirds can consume up to eight times their weight in nectar? Those are rookie numbers. They should probably take notes from you."

He grabs her face and presses his forehead to hers, manic eyes meeting hers. "I love you, but if you have an off switch, you have to tell me."

She looks down and up at him again. She points to her lips. "They're right here, lover boy."

He pulls back and looks between her lips and the coy look in her eyes. "I… no." He huffs and crosses his arms. "Not doing it."

This throws her for a loop. "What? Why?"

He glances back at her. She wants it just as much. Now he's the one being coy. "Cause this is funny."

"Fine. Why don't I send Blake a few of these little facts. She's started writing and I'm sure she could use some our juicy details."

"Yang, no."

She's already typing down on her scroll. Jaune crashes into her and they fall back onto the arm rest. For a moment they struggle as Jaune tries to reach for her scroll until Yang decides to slip the device into the back of her sweater. If he goes for it, he'll reach have to reach in closer and their faces are already close enough as it is.

"And it's gone!" she cheers. "I mean, feel free to try for it again but there's enemy territory down here."

He thumbs over her cheeks. "Fine. You win." He says with a chortle. "I swear, Yang, you're impossible."

"And yet you have me anyway."

Their lips press together warmly, making them meld together into a host of mewls and hushed laughter.

Their scrolls ping. They go completely ignored.

-END-

And that’s it! I hope you liked it! There’s a sequel coming down the pipeline but for now I have a major Dragonslayer story to work on elsewhere on my ff.net and ao3 accounts. Maybe I’ll post a link here to it when it comes out.

That said, thank you to everyone who gave this story their love. I would not have made it this far without your support. Thank you. :’)

[remmyswritings]

Dragon Rider

Hello my lovely Puffs! I hope you enjoy this fic that not only includes Theodore Nott but also the second babe of my dreams: Charlie Weasley. I’m definitely considering writing for Charlie sometime in the future so let me know what you think pretty please :) <3

taglist: @booksmusicteaandanimals​, @curious-curios​, @summer-writes​, @willowbleedsonpaper​, @strawberriesonsummer​, @jenniweaslee​, @cherrycolakxsses​, @kalimagik​, @iliveiloveiwrite​

Theo couldn’t believe how his life had turned out after the war. Realizing he couldn’t stay in London, he traveled around Europe until he somehow found himself in Romania face to face with a dragon. That’s when he met the man that changed his life: Charlie Weasley.

“Oy, mate!” the man exclaimed as quietly as he could, “You need to stay as still and as quiet as possible.

Theo merely nodded, so caught up in awe of the beautiful creature in front of him. Of course the first time he stumbles in front of a dragon’s nest it just so happens to be that of an Antipodean Opaleye.

Next thing he knew, the man moved around and threw a rock in the opposite direction of him, causing the dragon to look away with just enough time for him to reach over and grab Theo, apparating away with him. 

The man landed them in front of a tent where he dragged Theo inside, “Here why don’t you sit down and I’ll get us some tea.”

Theo stood there in shock, not expecting such hospitality.

“Well,” he hesitated, “we can stand instead if you want.”

Theo then shook his head, “No no it’s fine. Sorry I just think I’m a bit in shock.”

“No need to apologize,” the red head- one that reminded him of a certain set of twins that were two years ahead of him in school- joined him at the table, “it’s always a bit of a shock when you see your first dragon.”

“It wasn’t my first time though. I just couldn’t help but admire her beauty. That was an Antipodean Opaleye, right?” Theo looked towards the man with eyes full of curiosity.

A smile formed on the man’s face, one that seemed to be full of pride, “Yes, you’re right! How rude of me, I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Charlie Weasley.”

“Weasley?” Theo couldn’t help the question, “Like the prankster twins? Sorry, I meant George-“

“No it’s perfectly fine… and ya I’m one of their older brothers,” Charlie’s smile dimmed slightly at the mention of his younger siblings.

“I’m Theodore… Nott,” he hesitated waiting to see how Charlie would react at the mention of his last name, “but I typically go by Theo or Teddy.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Theo,” Charlie brought out his hand to shake Theo’s. “Say you seem pretty tired, why don’t you crash here for the next couple of days? It looks as though you haven’t seen a proper bed in a while.”

“No,” Theo looked down bashfully, “No I couldn’t properly intrude.”

Charlie shook his head, “My mum would have a fit if I found out I’d met a person in need of help… so no you’re staying here.”

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice then do I,” Theo chuckled.

Charlie laughed and nodded his head, “You really don’t.”

After that day, a brotherhood had formed between the two men, one that surpassed a typical mentor-mentee relationship… that’s right, Theo started to work with Charlie the next day. It had been around three years since that day that Charlie came to Theo with a proposition: come with me to the Burrow this summer.

Charlie would return to his family every 6 months for a couple weeks at least, and by now he felt it was time that his two families: his blood family and his new “brother” actually spent time with one another. Obviously Charlie informed his mother of Theo the night that he found him in front of that dragon and by then everyone else in the family knew that Theo wasn’t like his father… he didn’t believe in those pureblood beliefs. Yet, this was the first time that Charlie had even brought up the idea to Theo, possibly because this was the first time that you’d also be returning to the Burrow since you left after the war.

To him, you weren’t just Ginny’s best friend, you were also a little sister. Someone that he saw blossom into a beautiful, mature woman having gone through trauma after trauma only to come out of it even stronger. So in his head, you and Theo were perfect for one another, and he wasn’t the only one to believe that- so did his mother. Those two couldn’t help their matchmaking tendencies, the second you and Theo, respectively, decided to go to the Burrow for those couple of weeks.

You knew you were in for one hell of a treat when you landed in the front garden only to find a particularly rugged redhead standing outside, “Charlie!”

He turned the second you called his name, only to see you running straight towards him, jumping into his arms for a long hug. Charlie couldn’t help but laugh at your antics… even after all this time you still got excited when you saw your friends. 

“Your mom didn’t mention anything about you coming as well,” hints of your new American accent tainting the air.

He placed you down on the ground and held your forearms so as to get a better look at you, “Well might I remind you, little missy, that you’re the one who hasn’t visited in a while, not me.”

“Ok, ok. Point taken,” with the slight distance between you and Charlie, you were able to look over his shoulder to find another man standing there. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see that someone was with you.”

Charlie chuckled, knowing that you truly did feel bad about not having seen Theo, “It’s alright Y/N. You can make up for it later,” he winked cheekly. He turned behind him and grabbed Theo by his forearm bringing him closer to the two of you, “Y/N, this is Theo. He works with me on the Reserve. Theo, this is Y/N. She’s been living abroad the last couple of years and is Ginny’s best friend.”

You looked up at Theo, only to realize that you recognized him from Hogwarts- something that you had no plans of bringing up unless he mentioned it- “It’s really nice to meet you Theo,” you smiled brightly with a small blush accompanying it.

Before Theo could respond, a certain redhead that happened to miss you the most came rushing out of the house, “Y/N YOU’RE HERE!” Ginny tackled you into the ground as she went in to give you a hug.

“Ginny,” you groaned out, “I love that I get to see you too but I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t try to crush me por favor.”

Ginny rushed to stand up pulling you with her, “Sorry about that. Also what was the last thing that you said? I didn’t understand it.”

“She said please,” Theo smiled softly, “right?” he turned to you looking you straight in the eye.

You nodded, and then lowered your eyes as you felt a blush grow from your neck. 

Charlie watching your interaction with amusement, as it merely confirmed what he believed: you and Theo would be perfect for one another. It was then that he knew he needed to put his plan into action, starting with the two of you sitting next to one another. He had a feeling his mother was most likely going to think the same thing, so he merely hoped that she had set up the seats in such a way to make it happen. 

The four of you walked into the house and enjoyed the company of all the other Weasleys and their partners until Molly said the fateful words, “Dinner’s ready!”

According to plan, you and Theo sat next to each other only it seemed as though you would never have the chance to get to know one another since everyone else wanted to learn about how the last years had treated you. Once dinner had ended you’d finally decided to do a Gryffindor thing and ask Theo to join you outside for a walk.

Thankfully, Theo and Charlie were the only ones left in the living room. Walking up to them, you tapped Theo on the shoulder, “I was wondering if you’d like to join me outside for a bit,” you whispered.

Charlie answered for Theo, “You know what Y/N that sounds like a great idea, you two should do that! I’m starting to get a bit tired anyway so I’m gonna head up. Goodnight the two of you,” he headed to the stairs, turning back to send Theo a quick wink. 

Theo stood up and grabbed your arm softly, “Shall we?”

There was an awkward silence between the two of you when you made it outside, as if you were waiting for the other to speak, “What is there-” “Are you-”

You cut each other off and then laughed at each other’s eagerness. You then motioned to Theo, “Why don’t you go first?”

“Ok,” he nodded, “I was just wondering if there was something between you and Charlie you seem really close.”

A blush grew on your face as you shook your head, “Oh no! He’s like my older brother and either way I think he is a bit too old for me even if I am into slightly older men. What about you, are you with anyone?”

Theo’s eyes seemed to brighten at your response, “No, I hadn’t met anyone at the reserve who I really felt I could be in a relationship with.”

“Really,” you slowly looked at him seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, one that you knew you were mimicking, “Well you said hadn’t so I’m assuming that you’ve found someone then.”

Theo stepped forward and slowly brought your hand to his lips, “Well… there is this really beautiful and quite frankly wicked woman who I remember from my Hogwarts days for being an incredibly kind and loyal Puff.”

You brought Theo’s hand to your waist and then wrapped your arms around his neck, “It just so happens then that there is this very handsome and interesting man who just so happened to come and visit with my best friend’s brother.”

“Oh really,” he brought you closer to his body.

You leaned in slowly, your hands tickling the tips of his hair, “Mmhmm, I’m just wondering if he’s going to kiss me or not.”

“He definitely is,” he closed the gap between the two of you, his lips slowly and softly touching yours so as to give you the space to back away if you wanted to. When he pulled away, he placed his forehead against yours and swayed with you in his arms, “Tu eres la mas bella mujer que yo he conocido.”

The two of you stood there for who knows how long merely enjoying one another’s presence and stealing a couple more soft kisses before you went off to bed. For the first time since the war, both you and Theo slept soundly, happiness filling your bodies after finding your person. 

--

translation: “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met.”

[hitsuackerman]

What in the World? (Akaashi Keiji x Reader) pt.10

a/n: so this was supposedly a one-shot but i realized it was too long so it eventually led to an ongoing full on fic xD thank you all so much for spending the time to read this! :) have a bit of action in this chapter :’) this a long chapter so...

Akaashi’s lineup: @alluring-akaashi @oikawalmart-hq @extrasugafree @bbykiyoomi @apricotjihyo @awings​ @simpformiya​ @sayakaaaaaa​ @colorseeingchick​ @something-that-idk (i have no idea why i can’t tag some of you :( huhu )

links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9,  part 11

“Shall we?” Offering his arm, you gladly accepted it. This time, he couldn’t help the small content smile on his face when you fully held on to him. When the both of you were out of the gym, Bokuto had already turned around the corner leaving you two alone. “So, let me get this straight. You’re not from here, you have powers, and I somehow give you energy?”

“More or less.” Your other hand began to play with his fingers. “But it never goes past 35%.”

“How does it feel? To be stuck at that level? Is it frustrating for you?” He caught your fingers and intertwined them in his.

“Ooh~ You’re a curious one.” By now your knees were weak from being able to hold his hand. “At first, I was scared. Having to assess the situation is always tricky. When I realized that no one here has a quirk, I guess it was safe to assume that nothing could go wrong. It doesn’t necessarily suck. Being here for almost 3 months now, I actually like having not to rely on my quirk.”

“Do you ever think about what’s happening in your, uhh, dimension?”

“I do, every now and then.” For a second, you debated on telling him about being able to feel Todoroki’s warmth on your hands. “But, compared to my dimension, your world is a paradise.”

“What was UA, then?”

“It was the top school in Japan for producing great heroes.”

“Heroes?”

“Yeah.” God it felt so good to talk about home. Leaning your head on his arm, you continued. “I wanted to become a hero. Took the exam, passed, and got placed on the hero course. It sounds weird, I know, but it's pretty common there.”

“Your world sounds like a manga.” He stopped walking and faced you. Seeing you in a new light made him feel as if that tug he kept feeling had its purpose.

The moment he met you, Akaashi couldn’t help but want to get to know you more. When you took up the offer to be manager, it was the perfect opportunity. During the first day, he had managed to show off a bit by saving you from that particular chance ball. He could still remember the way you kept his eyes on him for longer periods of time.

He did feel that something was off. The bike-firecracker incident never made sense to him. Now that you told him, things just made sense now. But, with the knowledge that you liked him back, would it be unethical or selfish that he wished you would prefer to stay here?

“It’s not selfish, Akaashi.” His eyes widened. “No, I don’t read minds. It was just obvious because I’ve been thinking about the same thing too.”

The sounds of chattering and the aroma of the barbeque was much nearer now. Letting go of his arm, you made him enter the area first and trailed behind him. Walking back to your spot, you were met with empty plates and immediately assumed that Bokuto ate both your shares. Not minding it too much, Akaashi and you went with the team and ate there.

Hours had passed and the sun was now setting. Each team was now saying farewell to the others. Watching them board the bus, all of you were now waving the Karasuno crows goodbye. The next time you would see them would be in a few months. Not long after, the Fukurodani team was now lining up to enter the bus.

Taking the same seat, you stuffed your bag beneath you and wondered who would take the vacant seat. Bokuto had now entered the bus and he beamed when he saw the vacancy, before he could even sit…

“Bokuto-san.” Akaashi spoke with a deadly unemotional tone. “Washio-san has something he wants to tell you.”

Tossing his bag to the seat beside you, Akaashi had to smirk at the face his friend gave him. Pouty face and deflated hair when Washio denied the allegations about him. Crossing his arms to his chest, Bokuto had to nod and cheer for his friend. This would have to be the first time for him to actually see such a range of emotion from him. Though, if he were to be honest, Bokuto was going to give the seat to Akaashi.

“You don’t feel sorry for Washio-san?” You teased your seatmate.

“Bokuto-san falls asleep every time we head back to school.” Especially when he sits beside their # 2 player. “I can switch seats with him if you want.”

Holding his shirt, you looked down and avoided eye contact. Your palms glowed a bit and he covered the glow with his hands, bringing them to his thighs. Brushing his thumb on your skin, you relaxed and huffed at his little prank.

The scenery was now changing as the travel back home began. Feeling drowsy, Akaashi offered his shoulder with red cheeks. Not long after, your breathing slowed down and evened. He stared at your sleeping form and rested his head on yours. The rest of the team were now sleeping so a little PDA was safe.

Noticing how your palms would occasionally glow faintly, he made sure to cover them before allowing himself the privilege to fall asleep.

Around 30 minutes before the bus would reach the school, Akaashi woke up. With your head nuzzling his neck and your palms faintly glowing, he was sure he could have a stroke with the amount of blood rushing through his cheeks. Glancing at the view, it wouldn’t be long before the bus would arrive.

Slowly checking if the others were still sleeping, he took a look at your palms. There were a million questions running through his brain. How old were you when you found out about your quirk? What was life like with having quirks? When you stated you went to a school that nurtured heroes, does that mean the diversity of quirks were so wide and varied? Was this ‘Shoto’ one of your friends from your side of the dimension?

With the sun now low in the orange and red sky, he covered your hands once more. Just in time for you to stir and wake up. Stretching a bit, he saw how the glow began to disappear.

“Sleep well?”

“You make a great pillow.” It was true though.

“The coach will be gathering us for a short meeting later.” He explained. “Do you want to have dinner?”

“In the same cafe?” Not bothering to fight the smile, you felt your palms heating up. Taking them away from his, you hid them underneath your thighs. Your face and the tips of your ears red. “Sorry. That happens when I can’t control my feelings.”

“Yes. In the same cafe.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of you being flustered and your quirk showing it.

Moments later, all of you were now seated on the gym floors. The small announcement the coach gave was nothing too important. He merely stated that the incoming practices will be a little longer and a bit more straining for the players. Everyone nodded and took note of the days with no practices. Next thing you knew, you were now saying goodbye to the others and walking down the streets with Akaashi.

“Can I hold your hand?” He needed to make sure you were on the same page. There was no answer. You simply held his hand and laced your fingers with his. Seeing you giddy always made him happy.

“I bet you have a lot of questions. Go ahead and ask.”

“What’s your world like?”

“Just like this except we had bad guys almost everywhere. One of the worst one’s sounds like Tsukki, by the way.”

“Oh. That’s why.” He did not expect you to cling on to him when you met the tall middle blocker of Karasuno. The way your tightness and slight trembling of your shoulders made him wonder if you had any kind of trauma. He was wrong, but not really. “Have you fought big time bad guys?”

“Once… No twice. No wait, three times!” There were just too many instances by now. “The worst would have to be the one where we tried to save a little girl from her guardian. I didn’t fight the big boss but I did fight one of his henchmen. It was troublesome and I got badly injured.”

Opening the doors to the cafe, the two of you ordered your respective dishes and sat in the same booth. This time, you sat beside each other. Akaashi’s hand still laced with yours.

“Why did you want to be a hero?”

“That’s what everybody, or at least a big majority, wanted to be.” He noticed how your stare became distant. “My quirk is pretty high up there and my parents were proud. Everyone told me and even I began to think that things would be a walk in the park.”

“What’s your quirk at 100%?” He just had to ask.

“Well…” You never used your quirk at 100%. “I’ve never used it to that percentage. I usually use it until 80%. But, the thing with me is that if my quirk is below 40%, I can only do basic things. If it’s changing properties, then I can do plants. If it’s at 80% then you can expect to see me breaking huge chunks of cement or lifting boulders 50 times my weight. It’s draining but we train everyday.”

“That’s a lot of information to swallow.” He admitted. The laugh you gave him was reassuring enough. “Why did you tell me?”

“I never intended on telling you today. I envisioned myself saving a cat or safely pushing an old lady away from danger.” Facepalming, you cringed at how you exposed yourself. Akaashi understood that his little flaunting act was the main cause why you two were now holding hands in a small booth waiting for your food.

“So, Ushiwaka being your ex?”

You laughed. A loud one.

“I have never met that person in my life!” Shaking your head with amusement, you explained how you had to search his nearly empty social media accounts. Or the shock you experienced when you found out about him.

“You hold no memories here? Not even random childhood memories from your mom?”

“The only memories I have are from my dimension. It’s creepy looking at pictures of your younger self and having zero recollection. I got used to seeing it though. Every now and then I get tidbits of information as to who I was here. But it just stops at the present.”

“You’re very brave.” He couldn’t imagine the mental stress you were going through. “You really are meant to be a hero.”

“Frankly speaking, being a hero might sound cool and all but it…” Without realizing, you squeezed his hand. Chewing on your lower lip, you let out a shaky exhale. “It’s petrifying. Having villains infiltrate your school activities, defending the weak, and having to face the uncertainty of making it out alive takes a toll on you.”

“I’m sorry. I touched a sensitive topic.”

“Is it sad to say that’s not even a sensitive topic?” You leaned onto his shoulder. “I’ve fought with my life on the line twice. The other one got me staying in the hospital for 2 weeks.”

“Well,” He raised your head, index and thumb softly holding your chin. His gunmetal eyes met your (e/c). “I may not have powers or a quirk, but I will try my best to become a hero to you.”

“Akaashi…”

Your eyes began to cloud and lower lip to quiver. Hearing such simple words may sound cheesy to regular people in his dimension, but as someone who came from an environment where you were trained to put others first, it was enough to let you blink a waterfall of tears. Each mental strain you had undergone, from the USJ Attack, the LoV infiltrating your training camp, and even having to help Fatgum and Kiri with the eight precepts manifested.

Letting go of your hand, he pulled you into his arms. It made him think what exactly did you go through to make you react to those words. He meant them with all his being, of course, but the impact left him speechless. Maybe life in hero centered mangas weren’t as great as he thought.

Right on time, when you calmed down, the food arrived.

When the both of you were now standing outside your houses, you took your phone and checked the time. Avoiding eye contact, you scratched your nape.

“It’s still relatively early,” You were being bold and that amazed you. “Do you wanna drop by my house and chill? BUT NOT IN THAT WAY, OKAY! Just like, you know, get to know each other more or some shit.”

Taking the lead, Akaashi dragged your red face all the way to your door. Opening the entryway for you, you stepped in with your mother yelling from the kitchen. Announcing that Akaashi was here and that the two of you would stay in your room, you heard some teasing. Going up the stairs, your o-mother yelled your name.

“(y/n)!”

“Mom?”

“...Use protection!”

“WHAT THE HECK?! MOM!”

You half expected she would add more salt to the burn but that was least expected. Leading the red faced Akaashi to your room, he was surprised to see it very empty and barely any mementos. You weren’t kidding when you said you had no memories until the day you arrived here. Telling him to put his bag on your bed, he complied and soon helped in getting some pillows from the storage room. Seconds later, both of you were now sitting on the floor.

“What was your childhood like, Akaashi?”

“Normal for my dimension’s standards.” He reached for your hands and admired how you activated the yellow glow. “Aside from volleyball, I also liked reading. No particular genre, anything that catches my eye.”

“Do you plan to go pro?”

“Not quite.” He truthfully answered. “Volleyball is my life but I would like to take up literature one day.”

“What made you choose Fukurodani?”

“I was sent a recommendation letter. I had the option to choose between 2 schools but I chose this one.”

“Why choose this school?”

“I saw Bokuto-san playing and I was just so mesmerized at how much he loved the sport. I had no idea just how much of a handful he was but I don’t mind. Bokuto-san is who he is.” His eyes followed the small glowing orbs you had formed again. With the privacy surrounding you two, the orbs were much brighter and bigger. “What was your childhood like?”

“A rollercoaster ride.” Focusing a bit on your quirk, you morphed the orbs into one. Slowly the balls began to mold into an owl. Akaashi’s eyes sparkled at the sight before him. “When my quirk fully manifested, my parents boasted me around. It caught the attention of some big pro hero. Next thing I knew, my parents signed some papers and I was meeting up with his kid.”

“I don’t quite understand, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” The owl landed on Akaashi’s head and a few feathers of light began to float in front of him. “In my world, we have this thing called quirk-marriages. It’s exactly like an arranged marriage except it involves the person’s quirk.”

“Y-you’re engaged?” The look of horror in his eyes was clear.

“Was.” You saw his shoulders relax. “The guy I was supposed to marry was Todoroki Shoto, not that the name even matters here, and the engagement got called off two years ago. Both of us were glad his dad had an epiphany. He was sweet and all but I never saw him in that way.”

“What was his quirk?”

“Todoroki was a special one. He was the result of a quirk marriage. He has two.” Akaashi’s eyebrows jumped at the thought of having two kinds of quirks. One was enough but two? “We teased him ‘half and half’ since his quirk is fire and ice.”

“Wow. He balances himself.”

“He really does~ Even his hair is balanced. Half white and half red.”

“Huh, this world really is bland compared to yours.”

“On the contrary, it’s not.”

“I highly doubt that, (l/n). Everyday is like an unknown chapter waiting to present itself. The prospect of living or dying high, but I’m pretty sure all of you find it to be worth the hassle.”

“There’s that but there’s also you.” It was your turn to see him with his eyes wide open. It felt so fluffy to see the prettiest setter staring at your palms and trying his best to control the blood rushing on his cheeks. “I know you’ve only met me for less than 3 months, but I can say that you’ve given me comfort in ways you can’t fathom.”

Feeling his chest swelling, he pulled you back into his arms. His soft hair tickling your cheek as you relaxed into his arms. Your warmth was comforting as he buried himself in your hair.

“Do you wanna see me use it on that plant?” You offered. Voice a little muffled from inhaling his godly scent. “You’ve been touching me a lot so I might have a bit more juice-- gods that sounds wrong but you get the point.”

“If you insist.”

Slowly unwrapping his arms, you pouted at the sensation of wanting to just stay still and hug him back. Caressing your cheek, Akaashi smiled a bit. Taking in sharp breath, you could feel your heart rate rising again. Screw it. There was no way you were going to ruin the moment.

Stretching your hand, your palm glowed the brightest it's ever been since you arrived in this dimension. Following the tugging sensation, you began to manipulate the air around the houseplant. Akaashi did a double take when he realized what you were doing. Watching the area around the plant distort, it only took a second before the small pot was now floating above your palm.

Placing the little pot in between you two, your mind was blank and you were not sure what to change it into. You could go bold and flashy by changing it completely into a new plant or just turn it back into a desert rose.

“What flowers do you like looking at, Akaashi?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Do you like roses?”

“I don’t see a reason not to.”

Nodding your head, you were now using both your hands. The Hoya plant now began to hover along with the soil. With each curl of your finger, the plant began to morph into something else. The floating orbs were nowhere to be seen. In the blink of an eye, Akaashi let out a small ‘oh’ once a single stem of a rose now replaced the bushy succulent from before.

The rose was not fully opened yet. Placing everything back into the pot, you were now using just one hand. Pointing your finger at the closed bud, you traced imaginary circles with your index and the man in front of you watched it bloom in front of his eyes.

“W-why aren’t there any floating lights?” He had to wonder.

“I like to be flashy sometimes~” You smirked. “I can make them but for small magical stuff like these, it’s all up to me if I want them or skip ‘em.”

“You just changed the entire composition of the succulent.” His finger touching the soft petal. “Are you tired?”

“Just a bit. My body gets used to it pretty quickly. This used to be a desert rose but I changed it into the Hoya plant last week. So by now, it’s not too tiring.”

“Your quirk is amazing.” Akaashi praised you. His hand found your cheek again. Leaning to his touch, you concluded that he was even more addictive than you thought. In small and delicate movements, his thumb brushed your pink tainted cheeks. “You must’ve been very strong.”

“I tend to hold back when I use my quirk.” You looked down. “My quirk isn’t that strong because of that.”

“Why hold back something so beautiful?”

“It can be destructive just like all the other quirks.” Patting your lap, the owl you made rested on the spot you touched. “If I’m in a neutral or content state, its glow is yellow or what I want it to be. But once my negative emotions come out, it tends to turn into either red or black.”

“How was it when you first came here?”

“It was yellow. Faint but yellow.” Shifting the colors of the owl, Akaashi took note of how faint the glow was when you first arrived. The glow was barely there from what he could tell. When it shifted to red, the soft edges were now replaced with torn and jagged lines. The cuteness of the owl faded away into a more feral and hungry looking bird. Snapping your finger, the creature disappeared. “You’re not weirded out?”

“I am.” Akaashi stared blindly into space. “It’s a lot to digest. A part of me thinks this is all a dream but I know it’s not.”

“It is information overload.” For a moment, you wanted to crawl into his lap and nuzzle on to his neck. Instead, you scratched your cheek and returned the plant to its original spot. “If I were to be honest, I’m not sure if telling you was the right thing to do. I would rather have you be ignorant than to be mixed into the chaos of my world.”

“You wanted to be a hero, right?” Noticing how you were chewing your inner cheek, he had to wonder. What other secrets were you keeping? “Then there’s no reason for me not to trust you. You may not be from here but you're a main protagonist in my personal world.”

“God. Even in times like this you’re so beautiful.” You uttered under your breath.

Stretching his arms out, you saw his smile once more. Giving a nod, he gestures for you to come closer and sit on his lap. With a fast beating heart, he adjusted his position to make you more comfortable. Once the both of you were good, he tucked a loose strand of hair. His mesmerizing eyes solely focused on you.

“Let’s be each other's hero, (l/n)?”

“You know,” You wrapped your arms around his neck. “Heroes aren’t supposed to leave debts.”

“I believe I don’t owe anybody.” Once again his large hand caressed your cheek. His thumb lightly brushing your lower lip. Pulling you in inch by inch, his eyes landed on your lips and back to your eyes. “Are you always this alluring?”

“Eh. Depends on whose lap I’m sitting on.”

Closing the gap together, your lips met his soft one’s. This was nothing compared to your first kiss. The way his lips molded with yours made each butterfly in your belly to flutter. Feeling him snaking his arms around your waist, you gladly pulled him in closer and hugged him tighter. By now, you were sure that Akaashi could feel your rapidly beating heart.

Feeling his tongue running along your lower lip, you happily gave him entrance. It was a rather sloppy and messy kiss from this point on. Shifting your position, you now straddled him and tangled your fingers through his hair.

As of the moment, the only thing in both your minds was the feeling of your lips and tongue dancing with each other. If this was a dream, then you would be too scared to wake up. In all the days of being in this dimension, it was only now you felt that you were truly safe and belonged.

Being human, the both of you broke the kiss at the same time. Panting and catching both your breaths.

Noticing your room was a bit brighter than before, the both of you stared at the small firefly like orbs that danced around the both of you. Hiding your face on his shoulder, Akaashi chuckled and wrapped his arms around you once more.

- - - - -

a/n: hope ya’ll like that smol kissing scene XD and yes Akaashi is still accepting in his lineup! :)

[timeaftertime-chriscornellfanfic]

Chapter 41 - Could It Be Eddie Vedder?

North Washington, November 12 1990

(Andi is 20)

ANDI: It was mid morning in early winter with the sun shining surprisingly bright. It had snowed just a little bit the night before and the air was crisp and cool. The boys were working in the studio recording the first few tracks for the album they were putting together and they finally decided on a name last night.

'I want to show you something, like joy inside my heart Seems I been living in the Temple of The Dog'

Andy would definitely approve.

Anyways... Since it was so early, and not to mention some of the boys do have a little bit of a hangover... ehem - Jeff - I figured we could all use some much needed coffee. Right now Eddie is with me, driving Chris's truck to a small town called Lynwood to see if there is a coffee shop or diner of some sort.

I should say, that as much as I thought that I was shy - and trust me I am - Eddie is even more so. So when the two of us get together, it's pretty quiet and awkward for the first little while, since I'm not usually the one to start conversations. With Eddie I seem to have to but I totally understand why. He had just moved here from San Diego only a couple of months ago after he sent a demo tape of a few songs he had written lyrics to back to Jeff Stone and Mike. I guess they had sent out that same tape to look for a singer as they wanted to continue on and knew that Andy would want them to.

Jeff and Stone were so impressed by the way Eddie sounded that they asked him to fly out here for a couple of weeks to see if he would audition and if he wanted to be part of the band. Well, those few weeks turned into a permanent stay once Eddie officially decided to join them and everyone pretty much fell in love with him, especially Chris.

Before the wedding, Chris wanted to make him feel welcome, so he invited him out for a few drinks and they became so close right away. It was sweet how Chris embraced him like a brother. I think Eddie reminds Chris of Andy in some ways with writing. Chris really missed having that with Andy.

"Thanks for driving me," I say and quickly glance at him.

"Sure... you're welcome," He says.

"I mean it's not like I can't drive... I just shouldn't," I say.

"It's ok I don't mind," Eddie smiles at me and glances back out the windshield. I hate it when it's awkward and quiet like this.

"Um... wanna listen to some tunes?" I ask.

"Sure," He smiles at me again. I open up the glovebox of Chris's blue Ford pickup and pull out my new cassette of a band called Pantera. I slide it into the stereo and the first track starts up right away.

"I've been so addicted to this album since I got it," I say as 'Cowboys from Hell' plays through the stereo.

The rest of the entire drive to Lynwood was pretty silent except for the amazing guitar solos that Dime was playing through the speakers. I wish there was a way that we could somehow make it less awkward between us. We then find a small little diner and Eddie parks the truck out front. We both climb out of our seats and head inside, immediately greeted by 1960's décor. I walk up to the counter and place an order for 6 black coffee's with all the stuff on the side and a dozen doughnuts to go while Eddie studies the place, his hand in the pockets of his suede chestnut brown jacket, his messy golden curls everywhere and those bright blue eyes that can make a girl weak in the knees.

Once my order is filled, I hand the girl some cash with a tip, then Eddie helps me carry out the coffee and doughnuts to the truck. Once we get settled, Eddie pulls back out on to the highway, heading back to London Bridge Studios where the boys are recording.

"These coffee's are probably going t be so cold once we get them back to the studio," I say as I balance the tray on my lap.

"Nah, well maybe, but I think there's a microwave in the lounge," He says and glances in the rearview mirror. There was a little bit more silence between us but then Eddie decides to speak.

"So um... time travelling... what's that like?" He asks. I glance back at him surprised by that question but deep down I was expecting it at some point.

"Not as glamorous as you would think," I chuckle and he gives me a little smirk.

"Sorry, you probably get that question a lot huh?" He says.

"Yea but, I'm used to it. I know it's hard to understand for a lot of people so I try to explain it as best I can. Most people don't believe me until it actually happens though,"

"Well I'll admit, I didn't believe you until I saw it happen at your wedding," He glances at me.

"Yea, that definitely was not my intention... wait, you knew?" I ask as my curls fall down across my eyes and I flip them out of my face.

"Yea... you were just a little different during the party. I mean, you were still you, but you seemed a little older... I can't really explain it. But Chris was just all about you of course. He couldn't take his eyes off of you," Eddie explains. I honestly didn't think he would be able to pick up on when I time slip - if it's my future self or past self. It's still all me of course.

"I wish I was there," I say quietly and Eddie raises his eyebrow at me again. "I mean, this me... the present me,"

"Where were you?" He asks.

"I was with Chris... just in the past," I say glancing down, remembering how upset and angry I was with myself that I missed my own wedding.

"Sounds sweet,"

"It can be... fuck, I love him more than anything. He's like the other half of me .. I never thought I would ever meet someone like him and I just really wanted to marry him that day y'know? " I say glancing out my passenger window as the lightly snow covered fields roll by.

"Yea... but you're married now aren't you?" Eddie glances at me.

"Yea, yea... the next morning we went to City Hall and made it official. It was nice but, it wasn't the same," I say looking down at the tattoo on my finger.

"Not what you planned?" Eddie asks.

"No... nothing ever happens the way I plan it. I always seem to find a way to fuck something up someway or somehow," I didn't exactly mean for that to come out that way. I guess I've been holding in a lot of resentment towards myself.

Eddie glances back at me for a few moments and I can tell he's trying to figure me out, but instead I decide to change the subject for a bit.

"So how is Beth? I haven't seen her since the wedding," I ask, pushing my curls behind my ear once again.

"She's good, she's still in San Diego working on a few things before she heads back up here. I finally was able to convince her to move up here with me just a couple of weeks ago so... she's just getting things together. Her band's not taking it well apparently, and I get it but..." He explains.

"You miss her?" I ask glancing at him as he keeps his eyes on the highway.

"Yea... a lot,"

I can just see how much he loves her as he continues to talk more about her and her band. I had only met her once before the wedding and she barely talked if at all. She is a lot more into punk and hardcore in terms of her style as well as her music, but sweet nonetheless. She's a bassist for her band Hovercraft and she just recently graduated from San Diego State University. Her and Eddie have been together since '83 when she was only 16 and he was 19.

"...and since my dad... um passed away - my real dad - she's been the only one who's basically keeping me together," " He adds, still keeping his eyes on the road.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly knowing exactly how he feels.

"It's ok, I mean I only met him once or twice when I was really little... My dad - who I thought was my dad - really wasn't my dad. When he left my mom, I found out that he was really my stepdad and that my real dad who I thought was just a family friend was actually... my dad," He explains.

"Holy shit," I say trying to take everything in.

"Yea I know... it's complicated but... still hurts though..." He trails off thoughtfully then it becomes silent between us for a few moments.

"Sorry," He apologizes, quickly glancing at me then back to the road.

"No, no it's ok... just wow," I exhale as I keep my eyes on him for a moment, then look down at the tray of coffee's in my lap, then I add "When my mom passed, it was so hard to deal with knowing she isn't really here anymore... same with Andy too. It's like this incredible heartbreak that just doesn't ever feel like it's going to go away,"

"It will eventually, with time... At least that's what they say," Eddie says and I glance back at him and give him a small smile while he does the same.

"Were you close with Andy too?" He asks.

"Oh yea, really close... Chris too... well we pretty much all were but I'd say Chris and Andy were like brothers y'know? He was my best friend. I'm an only child so he was always the one I could talk to if I needed someone... If  couldn't talk to Chris for whatever reason. He was just... so sweet and like such a good person inside... y'know? If anyone was having a rough day or whatever, he was like the best person to talk to cause he would just make you forget and just..." My voice waivers as I explain and then I quickly look away from him and out the windshield trying my hardest not to cry.

Fuck, I miss him... if only I could've just saved him.

I feel Eddie glance back over at me as I try to get myself together. I definitely do not need to have a break down in front of him, of all people. I take in a deep breath and glance back at Eddie and just by his expression, I could tell that he was doing his best to comfort me.

"Looks like we're almost back at the studio," He says clearing his throat and gesturing to the road sign up ahead.

"Yea," I say quietly and after a little while, we pull up to the large cabin that was London Bridge Studios.

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

A/N: So I tried to make a play on a title I thought of "Could It Be Any Better?" but I might have failed miserably LMAO. Anyways, I know there wasn't much happening in this part, but I wanted to give a proper introduction to Eddie and so I feel like this is the best way to do so. Let me know what you think.

[hayleyb100]

Shattered, Part 7

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Midquel - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9- Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 the end

⚠️WARNING!⚠️

*A twisted story of Pokemon Sword and Shield, with Leon as main character. *Lots of fanons. *Everything is headcanon. *It isn’t spoiler free. *It includes death of a character. *SUPER ANGSTY.

"Bleh, it's yucky. You should cook something more greasy and unhealthy for us, old man."

"Then why don't you bring some food once in a while? If not, zip it. Beside, it isn't even for you, Raihan. Why are you eating and judging it anyway?"

Raihan and Kabu were complaining to each other in front of Leon, with a lighter atmosphere in the room. It became a regular thing now that three gather in Leon's place, Kabu brings packed meal and they all share the food as well as stories. Kabu would tell fascinating stories of faraway Hoenn Region, with so many unknown pokemons. Raihan would tell Leon about the fun they had together in pokemon camp and in daily life. Of course, they would listen and sympathize when Leon was low. With time, a smile bloomed in Leon's face more often and things seemed to have taken a turn for better.

____________________________________

One day, Leon quietly suggested something that neither Kabu nor Raihan expected.

"Maybe... we should gather somewhere else next time."

Kabu and Raihan stared at Leon with shock.

"Are you sure?" Kabu asked worriedly.

"I mean, you really shouldn't go outside when you are not ready. If it is pushing you, I suggest we do it later."

"Yeah, the old man got a point."

"I'm fine, really. You did so much to me, and I should make some progress by now."

Leon calmly grinned.

To be honest, Leon was still afraid of outside. Anywhere he goes, the place would have at least a hint of recollections on Hop. That's how close Leon was to his brother, and it would surely break Leon. But with all the help, he just couldn't stay the same forever.

"Well, if you say so... Then we should start with the closest town." Raihan suggested but Leon had another idea.

"Actually, I would like to go to Motostoke City. Mr. Kabu came all the way to my home all the time, so I think it is better to meet there to make things easier for him."

"Young man, do not worry about me. Do not push yourself."

"I'm fine, really." Leon chuckled again.

Raihan sighed.

"You're not gonna back down, eh? Fine. Just promise that you will make a beeline home as soon as you think it is too much for you."

"I promise."

____________________________________

A few days later, Leon wore the most comfortable clothes possible to loosen up before a big day in 8 months. He took a deep breath and lightly slapped his face twice with his hands as if he was going into the battle with a challenger. His mom was anxious to let him out of the house, but Leon insisted and persuaded her.

Leon took another deep breath and opened the door. The sunlight was blinding. It sure has been ages since he greeted the sun.

Everything around him, from the garden to surrounding town seemed so unfamiliar. It was just proving how long Leon was staying as a shut-in. As he opened the door, Raihan was waiting for him. Leon took a very timid step outside. The feeling of stepping on dirt just felt awfully bizarre. He shivered in intimidation. Raihan took his hand for him, helping and leading him outside where Flying Taxi was waiting to take them to Motostoke City.

"Take it easy. One step at a time."

Raihan encouraged Leon. With his friend's help, Leon was able to take the taxi and fly to the destination. And during their travel, Leon shut his eyes tight, to make sure he doesn't see the place he wants to avoid with all his life.

____________________________________

Motostoke City was brimming with people. They were scattered everywhere in small groups, shopping or chatting in the cafe. It was nerve-wracking for Leon to be exposed to so many people in a long while. It reminded him of that day of Champions Tournament, where he lost to Victor. Soon, Raihan and Leon arrived at the Motostoke Stadium.

"Stay here, okay? I'll get the old man. Will you be alright?"

Raihan sat Leon on one of the benches and asked. Leon smiled and replied.

"Of course."

"I'll be right it."

After Raihan left, Leon sat quietly alone. He was nervous as hell but was trying to keep calm. He fiddled with his fingers to see if it helps, but it didn't do much.

But after a short while, some people behind Leon's back started to exchange whispers.

"Hey, isn't that...?"

"Yeah, he is. The former Champion."

Leon could feel the chill going through his back.

"Did you see that? He smiled. He actually smiled."

"He's insane. How dare he smile when his own brother committed suicide?"

"Exactly! Has he no conscience? A family should have protected that poor boy. Yet he didn't do his RESPONSIBILITY and smiling like an ass! How dare he even feel happy? He is ought to be ashamed."

Leon's mind went blank again. Familiar despair twinged from within. Every sound around him started to blare. Leon blocked his ears and tried to breathe but he started to lose his breath again. It was as if he was having a panic attack.

They're right.

Who am I kidding?

How dare I feel happy after not protecting my beloved brother?

The blaring around him and the sense of being watched became unbearable. Leon forgot all about Raihan and Kabu and ran out of the Motostoke Stadium.

But being on the street crowded with people just made everything worse. All the eyes felt like sizing up on Leon and all their conversations felt like backbiting. The noise of people started to blare again and the whole world seems like spinning, making Leon dizzy and feel nausea. Leon just ran off to shake it off. But the more he tried to run away from the crazy hell of noises, the louder the noises got. Leon was losing his breath again. His mind became crashed so far off that he couldn't come up with a simple plan of going back into the Stadium and ask for help from his pal and a good uncle. He dashed madly, not knowing where he was going. He was desperate to get away from the sight of the people.

____________________________________

After running for a while, the noises died down. Leon took some deep breath and looked up.

But...

Things go from bad to worse so quickly.

For not seeing where he was running to, he ended up in a place that is like a hell to him...

The WILD AREA.

The cruel memories that he was pushing to the corner came rushing back in. The coldness, wetness, and stiffness in his hands, and the feeling of his world caving in.

"No... No... No!!!"

Leon started to sprint again in panic. The terror devoured him and stopped all his thinking processes. Only one thought possessed Leon.

Get out of here.

Escape.

So he kept hustling to the place he doesn't even know, and the result was expected. The more he ran, the more he got lost in his own hell. Since it was winter, Wild Area was freezing cold and it was snowing everywhere. Every time Leon breathed to run, the icy air filled up his lungs, causing intensive pain. But he still couldn't stop, because his hell continued like an endless loop. All the places seemed similar and the lake was everywhere. The fear choked Leon. It was as if he was tortured in hell for not protecting his brother.

After roaming around the Wild Area for hours, Leon collapsed on the ground. He could barely breathe, due to all the icy air he inhaled and the terror. The air froze his lungs. His consciousness started to fade away. The snow began to pile up on the collapsed young man, dropping his body temperature sharply.

'Oh. Is this the end?' Leon thought.

'Thank goodness... At least I got to die in the same place as Hop... Does that mean... I get to go to wherever he is...?'

He tried to move his body, but the frozen lungs screamed out intense pain and the body was so fatigued to move a finger. He could feel his body going stiff.

So this was how it was.

This is how he died.

Suffocating in fear.

As Leon thought all these, his eyes closed gently. His breathing became weaker, as he blacked out slowly.

"...Lee."

An incredibly familiar voice that cuts right into the bones woke Leon up. He couldn't move, but he could feel a person hugging him from behind.

"I'm sorry..."

The owner of the voice apologized, as he sobbed.

"I thought I was lifting the burden from you by doing this, but instead, I hurt you so much..."

Then why! Why did you leave me like that!!

As soon as Leon knew who that voice belongs to, he tried to quibble that person, but his voice didn't work.

"I cannot apologize enough, Lee. I shouldn't have done such a thing to you. I did it to make you comfortable but I made everything worse. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Come on, voice, work!!

Leon was desperate to ask him tons of long-overdue questions and hold him in his arms once more, but he couldn't move. Leon just slowly faded away, 

as something warm covered him.

[zhuilingyizhen]

Part 2 of Medieval AU

alright let’s do this thing

part one is here!

-note: i didn’t establish this before, but they’re in an inn room when the whole thing happens. 

-they wake up and there’s a knock on the door

-jl and ljy argue quietly about who should open the door

- “i’m the prince for [insert name of an important religious deity]’s sake!!”

- “yeah, well the guard knows me too!”

-they all agree on lsz because lsz is the only one that won’t be recognized

-also because lsz is least likely to mess up

-he opens the door and it’s the captain of the royal guard.

-the captain introduces himself and explains

- “we tracked prince Jin Ling to this location. we have multiple eyewitnesses saying they saw someone who matches his description here. we’re offering a monetary reward for anyone who has information.”

-meanwhile jl and ljy are prepared to jump out of a window to escape if needed.

-it is a miracle that they aren’t heard by the captain

-and by a miracle we all know i mean lsz

-he somehow charms the captain out of their room and promises to keep a look out for the prince.

-lsz goes back in, waits a couple minutes for the cap to leave, and goes to find jl and ljy huddled under the window whisper-arguing.

-they talk and lsz, being the gay angel he is, agrees to go with them to who-even-knows-where

-i know where, because i’m making them travel to lsz’s home

-the secluded cloud recesses, which is a famed school for swordfighting and martial arts

-jingyi doesn’t say anything about having to live there, and when jin ling says something along the lines of “wait a sec didn’t you used to live ther-” jingyi just shushes him.

-they visit lwj and wwx (lsz’s dads) and jingyi is scared for a sec that he’s gonna get recognized

-TIME FOR CONVENIENT-TO-PLOT BACKSTORY TIME (UNDER THE CUT)

-when jingyi was like 6 he and his mom ran away from the cloud recesses. from what he understood as a six year old, she felt trapped by all the rules and stuff. After she got punished by getting whipped twice due to attempting to leave with a lover, she decides that she really has gotta leave.

-So they ran away (successfully this time) and moved to the capital city.

-ljy and his mom were really, really close. he took after her.

-but his mom died a couple years after due to a rogue monster attack on the capital (imagine wwx when he attacked the wens)

-ljy gets saved by one of the guards though.

-the guard proceeds to adopt him (and wow this is giving me some rapunzel the series vibes) bc baby ljy needs love

-ljy get inspired and wants to become a knight. so he does.

-cue ljy going through a hell lot of training and stuff to become a knight.

-several years after, the guard who saved him retires. 

-ljy is appointed to be jin ling’s guard after jl meets him and is like “you. you are my friend now”

-so back to now

-lsz talks to his parents, the trio stay there for a couple days.

-jingyi is kinda awkward with it all, lan qiren is suspicious 

-jingyi still holds some hatred for the cloud recesses cause 1. his mom got whipped and 2. he doesn’t hold any good memories of the place, so it’s gotta be bad.

-but then lan qiren overhears his full name being spoken by lsz and jl and realizes

-lan qiren confronts ljy about it but isn’t really too keen on punishing him

-but ljy is terrified and runs off into the surrounding forest

-lsz realizes how dangerous that is and he and jl sneak out to follow him

-ljy does get attacked, but all he has on him is a dagger. he manages to fight off a couple of the monsters, but his left arm is badly damaged 

- he kinda sits down and wonders “is this how i die”

-but then jl and lsz burst into the clearing

-lsz patches him up and tells him to never do that again

-jl does the same except x4 more aggressively

-ljy is like “cool can we do this like after we get back??”

- but then fairy runs up to them

- and oop the royal guard is just behind

- jl, not wanting ljy to get in trouble for hiding him and lsz for also hiding him, tells them to leave & that’s he’ll give himself in

-ljy says “but your uncle-”

-jl says that he’ll be fine. hopefully. 

- jl tells them to get out of there

-lsz really needs to go back to treat ljy so they leave, but not before telling jl to be safe

-jl gives himself in (er, well, back to the castle)

-lsz goes back and treats ljy. ljy has to stay for a couple more days because because

-he and lqr deal with their issues well enough. no one gets whipped, so yay.

-ljy doesn’t wanna leave lsz or be away from jl, so as soon as they’re well, they’re off to find jl

-jl, who is now locked up like rapunzel (WOW I REALLY AM MAKING THIS LIKE RAPUNZEL), is just chilling. he’s bored out of his mind. fairy is with him. his punishment is not being allowed out for a month. he still has to train everyday INSIDE.

-the royal guard is on the lookout for ljy (who may or may not be getting fired after that shenanigan. or punished)

-lsz & and ljy set out together to the capital

-little do they know, jl got the hell out of there as soon as he could.

-they somehow bump into each other on their ways to each other

-it’s great

- after they cry hug and jl gets reprimanded cause “bro i thought you were gonna DIE”

- “Wait, how did you even get out?”

- “I told you they needed to reinforce the East Wing...”

[cursed-ice-queen]

My Jacob’s birthday was yesterday! So to celebrate here’s his profile! Outline provided by @hogwartsmystory.

     IDENTITY

Name: Jacob Lovino Parker

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Birth Date: December 29th

Species: Human

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Sexuality: ???

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Ethnicity: White

Nationality: Irish, Italian

Residence: Cork, Ireland

Myer Briggs Personality Type: INFJ-T

     THE MAGE

1st Wand: Pine, 10”, Dragon Heartstring Core

2nd Wand: He has several! All of varying lengths but all dragon heartstring

Hawthorn: Suited to healing magic and curses; suited to those with a conflicted nature, proven talent

Hornbeam: Talented with a single pure passion/obsession, adapt more quickly to owner’s style than most wands, become so personalized others find it difficult to cast simplest spells, absorbs code of honor and may refuse to perform, fine-tuned and sentient

Maple: Suited to travellers and explorers, prefer ambition otherwise magic grows heavy and lackluster, regular changes of scene cause it to shine

Pine: Independent and individual master, may be perceived as loner or mysterious, enjoys being used creatively, adapts well, owners never die young, among most sensitive to non-verbal magic

Silver lime: Works best with skilled Legilimens

Willow: Healing power, owner often has some insecurity, enables advanced, non-verbal magic, selects those of greatest potential

Yew: Matches are notorious, has dark reputation in dueling spheres, a fierce protector of others, never choses mediocre or timid owner

Misc Magical Abilities: Legilimens

Boggart Form:

House centipedes

Snape

R Messengers

Forest Vault with Acromantula over unconscious Parker

Later has Pius’ voice

Riddikulus Form:

Putting it in Disco clothes and making it dance

He has no defense for the Acromantula

Amortentia: (What do they smell like?) Books

Amortentia: (What do they smell?) Pumpkin, dusty old books, Nonna’s garden, fall leaves

Patronus: Cheetah

Patronus Memory: Duncan comforting him after accidentally coming across Snape Boggart

Mirror of Erised: Himself surrounded by friends and family acknowledging that he isn’t mad and that he was right all along about the Vaults

Specialized/Favourite Spells: Melofors Jinx, Bluebell Flames, Doubling Charm

      APPEARANCE

Height: (5’5”)

Weight: (135 lbs)

Physique: Scrawny with chubby cheeks

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Copper, darker than Megan’s

Skin Tone: A bit darker than Megan’s, “Italian” skin

Scarring:

Stretch marks across his back from growth spurt

Frostbite scars on legs and feet

Scar from Acromantula on left forearm and calf

Soccer ball-sized burn from dragon on right side of torso

Inventory: (what do they carry on them?) Notebook for taking notes and scribbling in; a separate notebook that he talks with Olivia in

Fashion: Doesn’t like to wear his Hufflepuff uniform pieces, wears a Ravenclaw scarf; sticks his wand in bun; wears fleece leggings under his pants because he’s always cold; long sleeves and pants even in summer; in winter he doubles up his shirts; socks pulled all the way up

      ALLEGIANCES

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff (Ravenclaw)

Ilvermorny House: Horned Serpent

Affiliations/Organizations: Rakepick

Professions: Wand-maker

      HOGWARTS INFORMATION

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: Exceeds Expectation

Charms: Outstanding

DADA: Outstanding

Flying: Acceptable

Herbology: Exceeds Expectation

History of Magic: Outstanding

Potions: Troll

Transfiguration: Outstanding

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectation

Divination: Acceptable

Favourite Professors: Sprout, Pince

Least Favourite Professors: Snape

      RELATIONSHIPS

Sister: Megan Sofía Parker

Mother: Alice Parker

Grandmother: Sofía Vitale

Best Friends: Duncan Ashe, Olivia Green

Enemy: Snape, Pius

Dormmates: (Who’s in your MC’s dorm with them?) Eric Munch, Aaron Alto, Michael Hughes, Kenny Griffiths

Closest Canon Friends: Duncan Ashe

      BACKGROUND/HISTORY

Pre Hogwarts: Learns quickly to take care of Parker due to other people mocking her or teasing her

1st Year: Meets Duncan when they sail across Black Lake; 6½ minute Hat Stall, devastated that he isn’t sorted into Ravenclaw; has a horrible time at Hogwarts; begins to hear whispers and have dreams, learns of the Cursed Vaults and connects the two

2nd Year: Becomes Library assistant for Madam Pince; insists that the Cursed Vaults are real and that they are talking to him and giving him dreams, classmates bully him for this; finds and tampers with Ice Vault, unleashing curse; gets stuck in cursed ice for hours and suffers severe frostbite on his legs and feet because of it; finally opens Ice Vault and shows Dumbledore, Dumbledore realizes he is a Legilimens and tells him

3rd Year: His Boggart becomes Snape, makes his home in Room 784 in an abandoned corridor; Dumbledore gives him Legilimency lessons; Boggart curse begins without him tampering with the Vault, quickly finds and opens Fear Vault; R contacts him for the first time; meets Rakepick and is enthralled to have someone who is a professional Curse Breaker believe that the Vaults speak to him, she promises to work with him; Legilimency lessons with Dumbledore end; sleepwalking curse begins late in the year

4th Year: Duncan starts to drift away from Jacob in favor of new friends and romantic interest, Jacob becomes lonely and jealous; Black Lake Incident, Olivia begins asking Jacob for help with creating spells; connects sleepwalking curse to Centaurs and meets Torvus; Celestial Ball Incident; Jacob becomes closer to Olivia while drifting away from Duncan; Aurors take him from the Three Broomsticks and he is forcibly interrogated by the Ministry of Magic; Rakepick promises to help him open Forest Vault; Duncan’s girlfriend disappears due to curse, Jacob and Duncan agree to open Vault earlier than planned and Jacob sends message to Rakepick; forced to steal jeweled arrowhead from Torvus; while waiting for Rakepick to meet them at Forest Vault to fight Acromantula, Duncan has a nervous breakdown at seeing the half-eaten remains of his girlfriend, little girl sleepwalks into Acromantula nest and to save her they have to fight the Acromantula without waiting for Rakepick to rendezvous with them, Jacob hit by pincer and receives venomous scar on forearm and calf, they force Acromantula to retreat and Jacob opens Forest Vault; receives praise from R and told to immediately work on next Vault; Boggart becomes R messengers

5th Year: Olivia doesn’t return from summer break; R impatient about finding next Vault but Jacob can’t find any leads besides his dreams of dragons and being buried alive; R gives him instructions to create super explosive Erumpant potion, which Jacob asks Duncan to do; Duncan killed in potion explosion, Jacob expelled

Post-Expulsion: R threatens his family, mainly Megan; to force Jacob to work with them an R agent named Pius abducts Megan in the dead of night but Jacob finds out immediately, runs away to work for R, makes Unbreakable Vow with Pius to protect his family; works on finding fourth Vault for months; secretly plans to guide Megan to opening Vaults; closes first three Vaults and hides artifacts in columns; attempts Portrait Vault with Rakepick and Pius, easily opens door with Legillimency, trapped in portrait

           PERSONALITY

Cannot curse. Gets flustered and stutters over his words. Avoids even saying the word “butt.”

Rather sweet and caring. A thoughtful friend who shows his appreciation with gifts.

Shows affection through physical touch. His close friends get hugs and cuddles and handholding. Expect him to use you as a pillow. (This all applies to Duncan in their early years)

Never believed in “cooties” and even if he did he wouldn’t see any problem with it.

While he was quite social in elementary school and friends with everyone, in Hogwarts he was more of a loner with only Duncan as a true friend. This was mainly because of his insistence of the Cursed Vaults being real and people thinking he was mad.

An academic prodigy. Despite coming from a largely non-magical life he learns spells with ease and spends a lot of time studying and getting ahead of his classmates. He loves learning new things, especially things that other people don’t know.

Also a voracious reader. He has a particular affinity for magical history and medieval texts. Another thing his classmates think he’s weird for.

A supportive and protective older brother. He dotes on his little sister Megan and learned from a young age that he has to protect her. In elementary school he would have to defend her from people teasing her and making fun of her crooked, discolored teeth.

           MISC

Poor boy is always cold.

His first magic is giving his father purple and green boils on his arms when he tries to kidnap infant Megan.

The biggest “Men are trash” proponent you will ever meet. The amount of men and boys who made comments about his sister and he saw cheat on their girlfriends are his evidence.

Searches for the Vaults because they whisper to him and give him dreams, and he wants to confirm that he isn’t crazy or mad.

Thought that he would have a choice in what House he would be sorted into, and he’s convinced that the Sorting Hat made a mistake in putting him in Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw like he wanted to be.

His affinity for studying came from having little else to do around the castle. He was frequently ahead of his class and taught himself new spells from books in the Library. Whenever professors would go over spells he already knew he would skip class.

He was a 6 1\2 minute Hat Stall. The Hat couldn't decide whether to put him in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Has accidentally called McGonagall “Mom” on at least one occasion and will not admit it.

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x01 Eden

One of my favorite episodes of the show. It’s incredible how much I enjoy it every time I watch it. Clarke being my favorite character certainly helps, but the episode is so well done in terms of cinematography, music, acting, direction, and 95% of the writing. (The only thing that makes it less than perfect are 80 seconds towards the end that are very, very badly written.)

The fandom is split on whether the time jump was good or bad for the show, but I think it brought more good than bad, overall (especially since it was necessary, so the actors wouldn’t still be trying to pass as teenagers well into their 30s). If nothing else, then for Octavia’s storyline and this epic beginning of the season - the first 3-4 episodes of season 5 - probably the strongest of all seasons of the show.

Full disclosure: I already rewatched season 5 and season 6 while waiting for season 7, so this entire season is pretty fresh in my mind, but season 5 is still the only one that I haven’t covered in my episode reviews (since I wrote season 6 reviews week by week as it was airing), and I want to get that done. And then I also wanted to rewatch Eden after 7x02 The Garden, because of the parallels and contrasts between the two episodes which I mentioned in my review of The Garden. (Review of 7x03 is coming soon.)

In light of season 7,  when the main characters are also separated and the timeline is very weird, it’s also interesting to see how this season 5 premiere is structured:

The opening shot is the Rings seen from space, then we see the Earth from space, before zooming in and seeing Clarke coming out of the ruins of Becca’s lab, 42 days after Praimfaya. ^^^

Almost 25 minutes of this episode are a Clarke flashback, and most of it is just her, fighting against the nature and her own despair and isolation, until she finds Eden and meets Madi, almost two months after Praimfaya. This is the show’s first full uninterrupted flashback that lasts longer than a couple of minutes, but it’s also the first time the show has covered a time jump in a flashback - its previous biggest time jump was 86 days, rather than 2199 days. (And the next time jump will be 125 years. Things have really escalated.) 

Then we go “6 years later” (actually 5 years and  about 10 months later) and the remaining 16-17 minutes are all set in the present. And even though this is a very Clarke-centric episode, it actually manages to feature all the main characters. First we see Clarke and Madi in the present, then it goes back to the Ring, but this time we see Bellamy and the Spacekru for the first time this season, to check in with them and see how they have or haven’t changed in 6 years.

We see them noticing Eligius,, then we go back to replay the present days scenes from the end of the season 4 finale, where Clarke was expecting Bellamy and kru in the pod, and instead saw the Gagarin transport ship coming down.

We meet Diyoza, McCreary and Shaw for the first time. There’s a few more minutes of Clarke and Madi trying to defend themselves against the prisoners, and killing two of them, but also alerting Diyoza to their existence. Then we go back to the Ring to see Spacekru preparing to board Eligius 4, and, almost at the end of the episode, we get the “OMG look at this twist! You didn’t expect these two to be together, did you? Or maybe you did because you saw the clumsy hints in the season 4 finale, I mean if you stop someone from committing suicide and then you happen to fall right next to each other that counts as setup for romance. right?” twist-reveal of Becho in a 1 minute 20 second scene.

But - that’s not the last scene (you need something actually dramatic for the last scene), because - right after Bellamy says the ironic-foreshadowing line “Octavia is the least of our worries”. we get a cliffhanger-teaser ending - our first look at the fighting pit, with Miller, Indra and Gaia looking on (yes, they’re all credited for this episode, alongside Marie/Octavia, though they all appear for about a second or two), until the winner of the gladiator fight turns to Octavia, and we see her for the first time with her new Blodreina persona. Leading into 5x02 Red Queen (which I hope to rewatch and review soon, too) - unlike this episode, fully set in one place, in the bunker, and most of it is the longest uninterrupted flashback the show has ever done. It only jumps back to the present at the very end, with another teaser-cliffhanger that’s again set in the fighting pit (this time, the twist is that Kane is one of the fighters), setting up a “how the heck did they get there?” question for 5x04 and flashbacks from 5x11 to explain.

(I wouldn’t be surprised if in season 7 we get more of such cliffhanger-teasers where a character or set of characters only appears in an episode for a minute or two, setting up their longer storyline in another episode. I don’t think all episodes will be like 7x02 and 7x04, fully set in one place and with all other characters fully missing.)

So, the first 2 episodes of season 5 had the task of showing us what happened to the three set of characters in three completely different locations over the time jump - with the focus on Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia. But we got almost 25 minutes of Clarke flashbacks (about the time that was the hardest and most eventful for her - trying to survive on the ruined Earth in the first few months after Praimfaya, meeting Madi), a full episode plus later flashbacks in another episode (about 50 minutes?) of flashbacks of the bunker; and.... 0 flashbacks of Spacekru on the Ring. And that says a lot about what the writers considered important to show. The boring, everyday, humdrum life is what you skip in fiction. So, the show told us right from the start that there was nothing of note that happened on the Ring. While Clarke in this episode - after her “death”, goes through her 40 16 days in the desert before she finds Eden (literally paradise!), and the bunker is clearly Hell on Earth, the Ring is basically just 7 people being stuck in quarantine for 6 years and trying not to get too bored.

The cinematography on this show since season 5 has been so good! Here, the sepia, grey and pale yellow tones help make Earth look desolate and ruined, and like a real desert. Until Clarke finds Eden, which is in normal colors. (This contrast in the color scheme between Eden and the rest of the Earth is there throughout season 5. Later we get the almost too colorful Sanctum, and the soft light and blue-green tones of Skyring.)

With how often TV does the Beauty is Never Tarnished trope - where female characters have to look as gorgeous as possible even when their circumstances are such that it doesn’t make any sense - I love the fact that the show let Clarke have radiation burns on her face and wear a dirty top for half of this episode. This shouldn’t be an exceptional thing in TV shows, but sadly it is.

42 days after Praimfaya - that’s how long Clarke was in Becca’s lab, until she either ran out of food, or judged it was safe to go outside because the death wave had passed, or both. 

Oh hi, Rover, maybe the most memorable inanimate “character”. It got a lot of memorable screentime in this ep.  The sea is no more - the one good thing is that Clarke has an easier time travelling from the island. First stop Polis - back when Clarke was hoping to reunite with her mom and the rest of the people in the bunker. How much would things change if she had? That shot of the destroyed Tower in Polis is such a memorable symbol of not just the physical destruction that happened in Praimfaya, but the end of the old way of life. Even though season 5 will then weirdly try to resurrect the position of Commander. 

I love the opening titles! I can’t believe I have never paid attention to them before the hiatus between seasons 6 and 7. Starting with the title shot of the desolate Earth with the ruins of the Tower, the opening sequence is showing the death wave as it’s happening in the area where the first 4 seasons took place, going from Polis when the tower was still there, to Arkadia burning (where the death wave came before it got to Becca’s lab and Polis), to various other shots including the one that’s clearly the remains of the Statue of Liberty, presumably already broken during the first nuclear apocalypse, to shots of sea and forest burning, to a shot of Earth from space with a green spot, to the really cool animation of most of the Tower disappearing. (The shot of Eligius landing is the only one that doesn’t fit.)

The temple collapsed 46 days after Praimfaya (according to 5x02 - I’ve written that down before). Clarke was trying to dig out the entrance to the bunker for quite a while, stopping occasionally to get some rest and eat. That moment when she desperately pounds at the bunker door and yells “I’m here! Mom!” is one we see from Abby’s POV as she hears the sounds and  learns her daughter she’s out there and not in space. 

While unsuccessfully trying to clear the path to the entrance, Clarke notices the remnants of Lexa’s throne in the other rubble. A broken throne, another symbol of the past. The Clexa theme starts playing for a moment as Clarke notices it and take out one branch - probably just as a remembrance, because I’m not sure it looked that useful for her current task. And that somehow (however unlikely) seems to cause the rest of the Temple to collapse (a moment we also see replayed in 5x02) - meaning that Clarke loses her chance of being with her mother and other people during the 5 years, and the people in the bunker lose the hope they’ll be able to get out after these 6 years (or maybe ever). 

The branch does prove useful later when Clarke uses it as a walking stick as she’s walking through the desert when she’s at the end of her strength.... And... this could all be seen as a metaphor? She met Lexa at the time when she was desperate to save her people, then she became isolated from them, then in her traumatized state, her relationship with Lexa became a crutch but was also isolating her further from her family and her people.

Back to the ruined Arkadia, where Clarke says she was looking for food or water but only found ghosts. One of the most emotional moment of the episode when Clarke cries after finding a chest with Jasper’s goggles, Maya’s music player he had kept after her death, and his letter to Monty. Clarke probably learned about Jasper staying behind to commit suicide off-screen from Bellamy some time at the end of 4x09, and learned about his when she reunited with Monty and Harper, but we didn’t see her react to his death in season 4.  (This scene would later be a flashback in 6x07 Nevermind, where Clarke used that same chest in her mindspace to hide her memory in the Dark Place.)

(Maya had really good music taste! And it’s a neat way to hear some good songs and for Clarke to be able to listen to them while driving her rover.)

The hardships Clarke undergoes here and the way she fights shows her strong she is - one of her main character traits is that she does not give up, no matter how desperate the circumstances are. Clarke’s way of fighting despair was to talk to Bellamy on the radio. Sometimes she told him very meaningful things - as when she thought she might die: “If this is the last time I ever do that, I just want to say... Don’t feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to. I’m proud of you”. (This reminds me of the time in 2x05 when Bellamy told her he knew she had to leave him and Finn outside to save the others when she closed the dropship door.) Other times she’s telling him about her current problems, musing about her life, chatting about Monty and Raven and all sort of things, imagining he could hear her, even though it must have become obvious to her pretty early on that he can’t reply, and probably can’t even hear her. She wasn’t at this point even sure if he was alive. As she says at one point: “God, this would be so much easier if I knew you were alive, that I will see you again.” But it’s in Clarke’s nature to hope. She was also refusing to believe he and Finn were dead after the Ring of Fire, she refused to believe Bellamy could be dead or captured even while she was worrying about him all the time while he was in Mount Weather. At one point right after getting out of Becca’s lab, she is trying to encourage herself: “You got this” - the way she sometimes tries to encourage others and also the way Bellamy sometimes does it. And other times, she definitely was channelling Bellamy, gently mocking her: “Positive thoughts, Clarke”. He was the one who told her they had hope as long as they were breathing.

And I must say I’m impressed that Clarke had Jasper’s letter to Monty for 6 years and never succumbed to the temptation of opening and reading it. But to do that, would have meant she was giving up hope that she would see her friends again and give it to Monty.

 But it would be far less realistic if she hadn’t had a moment of complete despair. (Another character known for being a survivor, Murphy, had that moment after 86 days of sitting in a bunker alone.) Long isolation is a torture in itself and can drive you mad, as it was emphasized in 7x02. It’s not the first time Clarke has been isolated - she was in solitary for a year on the Ark when she was 16-17 (she only had the walls and her drawings to distract herself with), she isolated herself because of her trauma for 3 months, and now she was again forced into isolation. This time she was also losing hope due to the terrible conditions she had to fight, and the way everything seemed to be getting worse. “I’ve done! I’ve lost everything! My friends, my parents. I have nothing!” As Buffy would say - she still had something left, herself. But this is the first of the three times we see Clarke almost lose all hope and the will to live - but the other two times were under the influence of a psychosis, and when she had been bodysnatched. This time it was the tiny hope that there could be a place to live, with basic living conditions, that made her change her mind.

Who was Clarke talking to when she said “You think you can kill me? Have at it” and later when was yelling that at the sky? Nature? Gods or gods? (There has never been any indication that she was religious. Probably not.) It’s the only times during in her solitary moments when Clarke isn’t talking to Bellamy, or, occasionally, to herself.

Finding Eden saved Clarke from despair, at least for a while, I don’t think she would have been able to keep her sanity and her hopefor 6 years  if she hadn’t met Madi, almost two months after Praimfaya. Having someone for company, having someone to take care of, is very different from being all alone. Still, even after meeting Madi and became her surrogate mom, Clarke still needed to keep talking to Bellamy every day, for 2199 days in total, to keep herself sane, to have something to look forward to.

These people from the Shallow Valley clan seem so cool, they’re already my favorite Grounder clan from the little we see of their way of life (at least this community - I wonder who the 100 chosen for the bunker were), and most importantly, from the fact that Madi’s parents must have had support from their community in keeping her from the Conclave and all that garbage. Of course they didn’t want to give their child away, so she would be forced to fight and kill other children, probably die at 12, or at best become Heda and be separated from her family tor the rest of her life, because ‘love is weakness’ etc. 

The shot of the dead boy is so sad. But he and the other dead people look far too peaceful for radiation victims?

Poor Madi - 6 years old and already she saw her family and everyone she’s ever known die. Her mother died in her arms, and she was left alone. And even before that, she had to hide and learn to fight and lay traps to avoid Flamekeepers, whom she saw as her archenemies. She was another girl who had to hide from birth, like Octavia. No surprise she was a “child from Hell” when Clarke first met her.

Clarke’s world view has gotten so dark. Her old moral certainty from season 1 has been chipped away gradually, and, at this point, she has accepted the moral relativism idea that “everyone does things for their people” and there is no right or wrong - which so many of her enemies or temporary allies have tried to install in her. She’s started to see herself as the “Commander of Death”, too, believing fighting is all she does and can do. “I used to think that life was about more than just surviving… I’m not sure anymore. Animals don’t feel guilty when they kill. It’s kill or be killed.” Interesting - this is the same thing Pike said in season 3a. Clarke has more empathy for her enemies “ I told myself that every life I took was for a reason, but the other side had reasons, too",  but the end result is now the same, as we see later...

“There are no good guys” - this line has been said in so many versions and contexts throughout the show, and many people seem to think it’s the show’s motto. But it’s more complicated than that. Those words have changed their meaning and been challenged and opposed.  When Abby told Clarke “Remember that we’re the good guys” in season 2, she was telling her: don’t lose yourself, don’t become as ruthless as your enemy in order to beat them. When Clarke said “I tried... I tried to be a good guy” and Abby replied: “Maybe there are no good guys”, she meant that it may not be possible to keep your hands clean in a world like that. (Mind you, neither of them ever said there were no bad guys, or that Mountain Men weren’t that.) When Clarke said to same to Bellamy when he was wondering “What do you do when you realize you may not be the good guy?” in season 3, she was comforting him and telling him she knows what it’s like to hate yourself because of the things you’ve done, in a grey world where it’s often hard to see right and wrong. But Abby in 4x12 told Clarke something different: “I told you there were no good guys. But there are. You are.” Clarke needed to be reassured, so she wouldn’t hate herself, that she was a hero, because her motives were good and she was trying her best under the circumstances, where, as they both agreed, they were no good choices. Sadly, Clarke obviously didn’t take that to heart. In season 5, she does not consider herself a hero. And when Madi says “I think he may be a good guy” about one of the prisoners, the one who argued against killing a child, unlike his buddy - Clarke’s reply “There are no good guys” before she kills him, has a darker meaning: she has lost her faith in humanity (with a few exceptions, at this point), and this a different Clarke, one that isn’t ready to give people the benefit of a doubt. She as at her most murderous in season 5 - because she’s now ready to kill even when it’s not absolutely necessary and when she can’t see another choice, as pre-Praimfaya Clarke. It would take her the whole season to start coming back from that - and decide to try to be a good guy, as Monty asked her to.

First introduction of Diyoza, McCreary and Shaw. Diyoza has changed so much since. Her similarities to Octavia have been emphasized much more because they were the opposing sides in season 5 and because of the relationship they develop later, but she also has similarities to Clarke. She also used to fight for what she believed in against who she saw as bad guys, went through a lot, killed a lot of people, was considered a monster, started to fear she was one, became jaded, and finally decided to find peace and happiness and leave violence behind. 

“We’re not alone”.  Season 5 is really going for the callbacks to season 1. And I’m still not sure how I feel about this comparison between the Delinquents and the Eligius prisoners. Because there are two ways to look at it. If it’s a part of the “let’s see the humanity of these people rather than see them as one-dimensional villains” thing, I’m all for it. But it makes no sense to see it as an exact parallel. Because in one corner, we have the level of threat posed by 100 unskilled and (at first) unarmed teenagers who just went about, vs thousands of people who had hundreds and hundreds of armed and experienced warriors and who saw fit to immediately almost kill one of these teenagers and start terrorizing them... and in the other, a bunch of adult murderers with all sorts of powerful weapons and a military strategist at the helm, immediately moving in to take over a valley, and the threat they pose to a lone woman and a child...

Before we meet the Eligius prisoners, we get some sweet mother/daughter moments between Clarke and Madi. We learn that Clarke is telling her stories about her friends (Octavia is Madi’s favorite) and drawing events from her past (as they sit by the fire and look through her sketchbook, we see portraits of Octavia in the Conclave, Bellamy and Clarke looking as her friends are leaving her on Earth). Clarke says she doesn’t regret staying, because she met Madi. But she still yearns for them to come back and gives a longing look - and we get this transition: 

Spacekru

When we see Spacekru after 6 years, we get the updates on what has changed and what hasn’t, and what the time on the Ring has meant for each of them:

Raven has been unsuccessfully trying to get them back to Earth for a year - which Bellamy, in particular, isn’t happy about. He has no idea that Clarke is alive, but he is eager to see his sister again. 

Monty has been keeping everyone alive with his algae farm, although we get a lot of jokes and complaining about their taste (which seems so out of place after you have seen what was going in in the bunker in the meantime).

Emori has been learning to pilot.

Memori have broken up at some point (and Raven has had Emori as roommate since) and Murphy is the one person in the group who has been negative and bitter, to the point they have “exiled” him (history repeating, but in a much more benign way?) to another part of the station. It seems realistic that at least one person and one relationship would crack under the pressure of peace and boredom and being forced to spend time with the same people every day. According to Bellamy, Murphy needs to feel like a hero in order not to feel useless - and without dangers and conflicts, he can’t save anyone and feel like one. According to what Emori says later in season 5, their relationship is one that works better when there is some kind of danger they can face, and Murphy as a fighter and survivor is the version of him she loves.

Bellamy is the obvious leader, in spite of the easy camaraderie between the group - this will become more obvious when they start planning to board the ship and go to the ground, but even here, he is the one who gives pep talks and tries to inspire others - like Murphy, telling him he is not useless. This friendship has certainly developed in those 6 years - before Praimfaya, Bellamy still wasn’t even ready to trust Murphy and was constantly questioning his motives. And they have certainly come a long way from season 1... 

Bellamy’s calmed and lighter manner has been discussed a lot. I’d say it made sense 90% of the time - it was simply a result of 6 years of peace, something he had never really had before. It doesn’t mean he was super happy - but simply that, for a change, he didn’t have to constantly fight and he under stress.

Two people who definitely were happy on the Ring are Monty and Harper. Monty is the only one who is even reluctant to go to the ground - scared that he will be pulled again in the world where he will have to fight and kill again.  Earth has bad memories for him, from having to kill his mother - twice  - to save others, to his best friend’s suicide. The Marper scene is the best of all the Spacekru scenes here. And when Harper tells him his strength - which he showed in all the hard things he had to do - is why she loves him, he has the best line in the episode: “No one should have to be that strong”.

Echo is friendly with everyone and has been teaching them to fight Azgeda-style. And oh, yeah, did we mention she’s been dating Bellamy for a while? Here’s a brief confirmation through a kiss and a conversation where we only learn that Becho is a thing, we don’t know how long it’s been a thing but it’s at least less than 3 years, since he took 3 years to even forgive her (and I don’t think it necessarily means immediately starting to date).; and Echo is worried if it’s still going to be a thing after they go to the ground.

Here’s a thing with Spacekru: the time jump worked much better with Octavia and Wonkru and with Clarke and Madi, because we saw flashbacks, and because we got a good idea what those 6 years were for them, even for things we didn’t see. But the complete lack of flashbacks for Spacekru means that the audience won’t be able to relate to their new “family” unit, because Show, Don’t Tell is the main TV storytelling principle. Even when viewers learn about something in dialogue (like the Farm Station’s tragic backstory since they landed on Earth), they don’t care because they haven’t seen it.

But with Spacekru, there is an additional problem: the show keeps giving us contradictory info about what those 6 years on the Ring were even like. Or rather, most of what we know is consistent with the idea that their biggest problems were boredom and lack of tasty food. *OK, the first batch of algae apparently put Murphy in a coma, but that’s the only traumatic event we hear about.) There were no other people, no one who could be a threat - and while they could have, in theory, had some malfunctions they had to deal with, we never hear anything about it. But the show also has characters saying things like “we kept each other alive” or that Echo has “proven herself on the Ring”, which makes it sound like there was something much more dramatic going on, but they never explain why.

As a result, the idea of Spacekru as a tightly knit family unit - comparable to what the Delinquents were like in season 1 - just doesn’t work so well. The relationships that work the best and are the most compelling are those that had already existed before - Marper, Memori, the friendship between the former 100+2. The Emori/Raven/Murphy trio works because we saw them already interacting in season 4. But Echo is the character who gets the short end of the stick, because all the development she was supposed to have, including her friendships and romantic relationship, happened off-screen. And with the way the show positioned her as a villain in seasons 3 and almost all of season 4, threw her pretty much accidentally (and because she had no other choice and the others accepted her) with the group, and then said “here, she’s one of the good guys now”. That’s really crappy writing. And it set up Echo to be hated, or at least irritate a large part of the audience. Imagine if there had been a time jump in mid-season 2 where Murphy went from being barely tolerated by everyone, to being everyone’s best friend and dating Raven. That’s pretty much that.

Most of these problems are concentrated in the Bellamy/Echo scene at the end. So much bad writing in those 80 seconds. Now, I’m not one of the people who say that this relationship makes no sense. It does make sense for what is it - two people got stuck for 6 years in the same place, with just 5 other people, 4 of which were coupled up. After so much time forced to spend together, you either have to start tolerating and forgiving someone, or your life will become unbearable. There’s a force of habit, the closeness that comes from seeing someone every day, and the lack of other options. There’s also the fact that Bellamy had mourned Clarke and was convinced she was dead. They are both physically attractive people, I’m sure they trained when she taught him Azgeda fighting and he taught her shooting. I have no problem with it as a  placeholder relationship that the show is very obviously using as a plot device. And it’s not even subtle about it. Here we learn about the existence of that relationship as a surprise twist at the end of an episode that was focused on Clarke, Clarke being left alone on Earth and struggling, Clarke talking to Bellamy for 6 years and waiting for him to return. (And later episodes will keep making B.E scenes always about Clarke or connected to Clarke, in even more obvious ways.) There is no attempt to show what exactly it is that these two people like about each other, what drew them to each other, how they went from enemies to friends to a couple off-screen, anything apart from the mere fact that the relationship exists. Here, they are kissing, therefore you know they are in love. Maybe. As if the show is saying: no, it doesn’t matter and you don’t have to see it. Yes, you can conclude that it’s just a relationship of convenience and circumstance.

This kind of relationship and love triangle has been done to death in many TV shows. But even for what it is, it’s remarkable how little the show even tries to make this relationship compelling, compared to just about any other relationship in the show, including those of minor characters.   I gotta say, as a Bellarke shipper, I kind of enjoy all the B/E scenes, because they are so devoid of chemistry, so forced, so empty. But as someone who appreciates good storytelling, they are pretty painful. When the show tires to focus a little bit on this ship, we get terrible dialogue like this:

"Wouldn't it be easier to just walk outside? This is Bellamy's callback to what he told Echo in 4x13 when he talked her down from suicide. He says it in a lighthearted way and she smiles.Her suicide attempt is a cute remembrance they joke about?! Really? Also, it;s been 6 years for them. Do they joke about that often? Or does he think going to the ground is a cool opportunity to remind her of her suicide attempt? Which is a cute memory for her, apparently?! I’m pretty sure this is not how human beings interact. This line may be even worse than the infamous "We found each other in cages".

."We kept each other alive". How? Unless it's just about that half an hour while they were getting to the Ring, they were never in danger of dying during those 6 years. Bellamy even tells Murphy "Up here, there are no heroes."  Monty is the only one who kept them alive, with food. They may have kept each other sane, maybe. However, that goes for all 7 of them. And Bellamy does say “We are family”. Which extends to all of Spacekru and doesn’t really say anything about whether he and Echo will continue being a romantic couple. (Or maybe that was the whole point?)

Bellamy again, making light of the fact that Echo tried to kill Octavia and telling Echo that Octavia will not be a problem and will understand and forgive her easily - even though it took him 3 years. “I’m more stubborn than she is”. Oh come on, Bellamy! You know Octavia better than that! You know more than anyone that this is not true!  Is he simply lying to calm Echo’s mind? I like season 5 Bellamy 90% of the time, but he just comes off so fake and weird in this scene - even if “Nothing will change on the ground” and “Octavia is the least of our problems” are enjoyable for their irony.

Body count: Two Eligius prisoners – the bad one (Baines) shot by Madi, the possibly “good” one (Janson) shot by Clarke

Two Wonkru members killed in the fighting pit

Rating: 9.5/10  (half a point knocked off for the B/E scene)

[caterinawriting]

The Cost of a Legacy (3)

Summary: He sees her and she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, everything perfect. Well except the fact that they’re growing up during the revolutionary war. Their love will hit many hurtles and what the future has in store may not be what they planned. 

Pairing: John Laurens x Reader

Words: 1,576

Still 1771

“John Laurens what did we talk about! You need to focus on your education, not some girl.” His mother scolded him at the dinner table. “She’s not just some girl mom, she's actually agreed for me to start courting her.” He said in a matter of fact way, his father stiffened “And Mr. Gavalanch agreed to this courting? Even after you gave him my resignation?”

“Well I didn’t actually ask Gavalanch but (y/n)-” A snort from across the table, “Of course you didn’t ask cause Gavalanch thinks were trash and would never let you court his pristine daughter.” Henry Jr laughed at his older brother, “Shut up Henry.” He didn’t understand his brothers cruelness. “John, first of all, she is too young to begin courting, secondly you are going to school.” He huffed “Mother she is leaving for Switzerland for who knows how long, I’m going to go.”

“John I said you will n-” His father interrupted “Eleanor let the boy go, he’s right who knows when the girl will be back.” John let out a sigh of relief, at least someone was on his side. “Henry-” His mother ready to argue.

“John if we let you go to Manhattan Friday when you come back you will be fully focused on your schoolwork, those are my conditions.” He eagerly nodded “Thank you, father thank you! And yes my studies will be the most important thing after this, thank you!” He side hugged his father leaving his food half-eaten on the table and ran up to his room to pack.

“Henry sometimes I think you give that boy to much freedom.” Eleanor shook her head, Henry only shrugging continuing his meal.

“Me to mom, me too.” Henry Jr. commented.

Friday Manhattan

“John you’re here earlier then I thought” (Y/n) opened the door letting an excited John in. “Well, we’ve got 45 hours before you leave, not counting the 7 hours each night for sleep.” He dropped his bag and hugged her tightly, “You really have this whole weekend planned don’t you?” She laughed “Yes I meant it you’re all mine for the weekend, you promised.”

“Did I? I don’t remember that.” She joked “Oh you’ll remember in a moment” He began poking at her sides while he still had her captive in his arms “Ahh John!” She laughed trying to get out of his grip, “Do you remember now” He yelled over her laughter still poking her. “Well isn’t this a sight to see.” The loud voice made them pull apart immediately John looking up to Gavalanch.

“3 feet Laurens, you know that. Now what are you doing here on a Friday, I thought you did weekends” He questioned looking for an answer from  either of them. “(Y/n) told me you were sending her off to an all-girls school in Switzerland so I decided to spend her last 3 days with her.” He explained, (y/n) nodded. “Yeah daddy you know how the girls threw me that soiree.”

“Okay, but you’ll be back by curfew.”

“Of course daddy, we’ll go soon. John let me just go up and grab my coat.” He nodded and watched her escalate the stairs to her room. “Son am I correct to assume you were the one who gave my daughter that necklace?” Shit, he did not want to have this talk right now. “Yes sir, just like the one you gave your wife all those years ago.” No point in hiding anything now, she was leaving. “My girl loves to tell that story doesn’t she?”

“I can practically see it taking place in front of me.” He heard (y/n) tell it a thousand times and he wouldn’t mind listening to it another thousand times because every time she told it her eyes lit up with such wonder. “So am I to assume that the necklace has the same meaning as mine did?” Here it was the burning question, what Gavalanch warned him about all those years ago.  

“Yes sir, it does.” He stayed stoned face, trying not to show the fear he had for the older man. “Son let me tell you something, she’s going away for a long time. By the time you see her again, if you get a chance, she’ll be a full-grown woman who can’t even remember how to pronounce your name. Not to mention she’ll be in high-end society for that time, with men better educated than you or your father. Don’t take it personal son but I warned you. She is a treasure and will marry a man deserving of her.” (Y/n) ran down the stair with her coat zipped “What are you guys talking about?” She looked at John who quickly changed his facial expression from shocked to excited.

“Nothing princess just how Johnny here is going to take you to the docks on Sunday since I have a meeting that day, right son?” He patted Johns’s shoulder “Yes, Mr. Gavalanch”

“Oh! Daddy why can’t you come too?” She whined, “Princess I have a very important meeting but don’t worry Ill meet you in Switzerland 2 weeks from now.” She nodded hugging her father before moving to loop her arms with John. “Show my daughter a good weekend son, and make your final goodbye good.” He whispered to John before leading them out the door and closing it.

“Daddy seemed to like you today.”She commented as they left her property. “Yea, he did” John replied still stuck in his thoughts.

“So what’s the first thing on our list?”

Later

“Your quiet.” They ended up having a picnic in the woods but it didn’t take a genius to realize something was bothering John. She ran her finger through Johns’s hair, his head in her lap, a new form of intimacy they developed the past hour. She wondered when she would next get to do this with him, a month, 6 months, a year?

“What?” He looked up at her, he knew he was being quiet but he couldn’t shake what Gavalanch had said to him, was she really going to be gone for that long? Would she even care for him in 5 yea- “John did my father say something to you?”

He gulped, of course she could tell something was bothering him, sometimes he wondered if she could read his mind. He sat up pulling himself from her grasp, he pulled her hands into his, “Do you still want this? Your life is going to change so fast and I don’t want you to be burdened at the thought of me. Youll be so far meeting new people, friends… New men.”

“Joh-”

“Let me finish- I want this, I want you, all of you for the rest of my life. And I know right now you feel the same but in 5 years? My feeling for you can’t change because everywhere I go all there is, is you. But you’ll be in a whole other country meeting new men. Smarter, richer, stronger men. Love, what I’m trying to say is I don’t want to keep you chained, so if you want to be freed just say the word.” (Y/n) was speechless, where had all his confidence gone, had her father really made John feel so small. “John I don’t care how far apart we are in this huge world, I want you. I don’t care what my father said to you, I choose you. You are what I want for the rest of my life too.” He smiled connecting their foreheads.

“Just know that if you ever want to be set free, Ill grant it to you, okay.” He whispered looking deep into her eyes. “I can assure you I will never ask you that.”

Sunday

“3 days went by pretty quick, don’t ya think?” (Y/n) laughed as they walked hand in hand to the boarding dock. “I savored every moment of it John, thank you.” They stood in silence neither knowing what to say to make this moment less depressing, she turned to look at the huge boat behind her.

“You know I’ve never traveled on my own? Daddy’s always with me, its a little nerve-racking going on my own.” She confessed, “Well what’s to stop me from joining you on that boat then? Id hate for you to go alone so I could come with you.” She laughed at him, “Oh John I wish you could, honestly.” “I could you know I have enough to buy a ticket for the boat and I still have my weekend clothes in my bag.” He gestured to his old satchel hanging off his arm. “John-”

“No for real I could come and accompany you in Switzerland, wouldn’t it be nice to know someone there? And I could get a job to provide for myself, for us and we can be together there.” He stopped when he saw (y/n) eyes brimming with tears “John you have to stay, for your family.” She chocked out, she truly wanted nothing more than to agree to his crazy plan, but 16? Too young to give up his life, his shot to become something great. “They don’t need me, my love you need me. I need you.”

“I need you to stay here John.” He sighed reaching down to wipe her glassy eyes. “VIa Albarelle 106 in Geneva right?” She smiled “Yes write every chance you get John.”

“I’ll be waiting for you, my love.” She smiled planting a small peck on his cheek, before turning and boarding the ship.

----

Part 3, edited

[headoverhiddles]

Hair and Bone - Marilyn Manson x Reader [Smut/Angst]

Synopsis: The new album your boyfriend is recording takes its toll on not only him, but you too.

Notes: Antichrist Superstar era! I never thought I’d write anything for this era, but I was re-reading his book, and these parts that were mentioned of the recording process for AS were just so raw, I really connected with them. So, here’s a self insert to feel all the feels! Warning: Not-so-recreational drug use and brief thoughts of self harm.

This fic can be read as a later sequel to Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn. Otherwise, it can be a standalone too.

It was the conversation that needed to happen.

It was less of a conversation, really, and more of a tension release, the pop in the balloon you had known was coming. You just wish it had happened at a more convenient time-- not 3 in the morning.

You don't care if your boyfriend gets home at 6 pm or 6 am. You’re used to his schedule being irregular. It was different when he was just starting out-- he’d record music with the guys in the closet or something, or in Jeordie’s bathroom, since it had good acoustics. Now after the success of his first studio album, the pressure for the next one is greater, and he’s putting a lot more work into it. He's in the studio, and you trust him. Tonight, he had ambled in at 2:45 in the morning, and you had been sleeping.

Hearing a faint crash and a string of 'fuck's, you open your eyes, yawn, and get out of bed. It’s either a serial killer, or your boyfriend. Not much difference.

"Bri?" you whisper, holding onto the wall.

"Yeah," he grumbles back. He sits down in the dark living room, and holds his head in his hands, lacing his fingers behind the back of his head. The only light is that of the streetlight across the road from your big, cold New Orleans house.

"You okay?"

He doesn't answer, and you sit on the hardwood floor with him. The black paint that you'd both been meaning to use on the walls still sat, unopened, beside you. It always reminded you of the times you and he would joke around and say how you'd buy a suburban house with a white picket fence, then paint the fence black and watch the neighborhood fall to pieces in uproar. Causing trouble with you always used to bring his spirits up. He doesn't look like he's in a good place right now, though. He hasn't for a while.

"How'd the day go?" you ask softly, crouching down on your knees in front of him.

Marilyn looks up, and you notice how glazed his eyes look. Well, you think, it's no different from any other night. He's always high now. It's not a judgement; merely an observation. He used to say drugs were all for appearances, to act the part of the rock and roll star he wanted so desperately to be. Now, you’re not so sure, but it’s not your place to say anything about it, and you’re not about to.

He looks at you, eyes travelling downward to sweep over your tiny black satin nightgown. You suddenly become aware of how cold you are right now, sitting on the under-heated living room hardwood. Your boyfriend's dark stare, however, heats you up.

Wordlessly, he licks his lips. You let out a breath, and let the thin strap of the nightie fall down your shoulder. It's an invitation... you did miss him.

A quiet moan escapes his lips, and he reaches forward, pressing his mouth to yours. Putting his weight on top of you, he pins you to the floor, peels off his shirt to reveal his pale, thin body, and reaches underneath the nightie. When he finds you naked with no panties, he reaches down to touch himself, unzipping his pants and lowering them just enough. He gives himself a few tugs, letting the blood rush down to his cock.

A breath of hot air on your face, and you feel the head press in, your body slowly accepting him inside. He gives you three seconds to adjust, then starts to fuck in fast and hard. A jolted cry escapes you, and it turns into a sigh as your back arches. Marilyn keeps his hands firmly braced on the hardwood as he pounds into you, each pump of him inside you feeling as if it's bruising. Your hands scramble downward, and you move your fingers to rub your clit, helping yourself along. Marilyn is unaffected by your attempt to pleasure yourself-- he doesn't tease you by taking your fingers away, and doesn't offer to take over. He just keeps fucking you, deep, punched out noises coming out of him with each thrust.

After a minute, one of his hands finds your breast, squeezing roughly, like his hand can't get enough. You choke out a noise, and you look up at his face to see that he's glowering down at you. His hair is draped around you, and it again brings you back to fond memories of Brian grinning, calling it a curtain so that the world can't see the two of you fuck.

He's not smiling now. His face is completely devoid of emotion-- at least for a moment. His black eyeshadow makes his eyes appear hollow, and you usually find it sexy, but tonight in the dark, on top of you, he looks ghoulish. His face contorts, and his lips part. His slender hips stutter, and you rub your fingers faster, desperately, feeling your release build, needing it as you grind down onto his cock.

"Wait, wait," you beg, panting into his neck, "Wait..."

He grunts a couple of times, slamming in hard, and you feel the trickle before you or he can bring you to an orgasm first. His breathing evens out, and with a sigh, he pulls out. As if he's mechanical, like he knows he’s expected to, he replaces his dick with his fingers-- three, he's not wasting time-- and starts to mercilessly shove them in. He knows all your spots. His fingers brush your G-spot as he bends them right where he knows you'll cum, and you do, gasping his name as he painfully gives you what you need.

The two of you just lie there, staring at the dark ceiling. After about five minutes, the dark starts to move before your eyes, making you see stars, and you need to sit up.

Rubbing your head, you yawn. "You wanna talk about it?"

He doesn't look at you.

"Brian?"

"No."

You look out the window, facing every possible reality. "Is there another woman?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

The fuse that your initial question lit now explodes in your face.

"Sometimes I don't want to fucking speak, okay? Can you just respect that and shut the fuck up?"

It’s like a slap in the face. Worse. "...Okay," you murmur, curling in on yourself as he stands up. Then a voice in your head tells you, fuck that. You're always here for him. You've been here for him since he even had the glimmer of an idea for a band, and had supported him through everything. Sure, he'd supported you too in everything you'd done since then-- graduating school, moving with him, saying goodbye to your family to come out here. But these past few months, it was as if he was possessed by something darker than all the demons he sang about.

"You know what?" you whisper, "You can't tell me to shut up."

"Really?"

"You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I've kept my mouth shut for too long. It's your life. I will always be proud of you, and supportive of you, and I will never tell you what to do. But when you say shit like that to me? I don't deserve that." He doesn't answer, and you feel your blood rising. "You'd better agree with me real fast."

"You can't possibly fucking imagine the stress I'm under right now," he shoots back, "My band is falling apart. I feel like I'm falling apart."

"And I'm trying to help you," you insist.

"You can't help me. You're just in my way." The weight of his words are crushing. "I feel like a hamster in a wheel, (y/n), and I'm ready to chew my own arm off. I'm not getting anywhere and it's because I have some fucked up idea of a perfect life with you, some stupid notion that entered my stupid unconscious grey matter back when I started this disjointed excuse for a fucking band. I can't make the record I want to make to get to the future I want to make with you, it’s all dead ends and it's killing me!"

You balk. And this is somehow your fault? "What am I supposed to do about it?"

"You can't do anything. All you can do at this point is fuck me when I need you, and leave me the hell alone otherwise." Through the darkness, you can't see the tear running down his cheek. He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean any of it, he wishes the automatic wiring of his jaw would stop, just stop, stop talking you fucker!

"Wow. You are something. Why don't you go run to your boyfriend Trent? I'm sure he could help with all of that."

Apologize. Hold her in your arms and make her forget this stupid fight happened. "Yeah, you know what? Maybe I will. He probably gives better head than you too!" That stings. You've always prided yourself on your blow jobs.

"Fuck you, Brian Warner."

He doesn't answer. He just glares, a glare that seems to drill right through you, like he's not even glaring at you anymore.

You put a coat and his pants on, since they're the first ones you find, pick up your bag, shove a few things into it, and leave. He watches you go, numb as he seems to feel every waking moment of his life now. The stubbornness in him won't let him break down and cry, or throw something, or beat himself in the stomach until he throws up. He can only stand there, the silence like knives digging into his ears.

---

It's 6:15 am, and you're waiting for the bus to the airport. Your mom had offered to come pick you up when you get home from New Orleans, and you had gladly accepted. You need your family right now more than ever.

Approaching the flight desk, you look up at all the listings of flights.

"Excuse me, is flight 237 updated?" you frown. She types something in.

"Yes, that's the latest. I'm afraid the cancellation is due to unforeseen weather conditions at the destination. We can get you on another flight tomorrow."

You thank her, and leave the airport. You could just sleep in there, but you honestly don't know what to do with yourself. You just want to lay on the floor and cry away those six years you had been with him... and crying on floors is usually frowned upon in airports.

If Brian was here, he'd tell you to do it, just to see what people would say.

You walk out of the building.

---

"Hey."

Marilyn doesn't notice Twiggy's greeting as he enters Nothing Records' studio, which is just Trent's glorified rockstar pad. Jokingly to get his attention, Twiggy takes off his shoe, and tosses it at Marilyn's head. Marilyn stops, picks it up, takes Pogo's ligher, lights the shoe up, and sends it crashing through the window. If Twiggy had eyebrows, he would raise them. Trent's head appears in the doorway from the other room.

"Yeah. You’ll be billed for that. I take it you didn't have a good night." And just like that, the light mood he had walked in on was now compromised. Great going, Brian. You fuck up. Now they’re not only gonna wanna not work and do coke all day, but they’re gonna wanna not work and do coke all day without you.  

Ginger wisely stays out of it, opting instead to use the kitchen for some weird yoga thing he'd been getting into. Daisy is sitting outside on the steps of the house doubling as a studio, recording personal shit into his tape. Pogo walks through the broken glass to go upstairs, and Twiggy awkwardly shuffles backward that way.

"Mar. There's, uhhh.... there's a table of blow upstairs if you need it. Y'know... you... look like you could use a line or two." His best friend gives a sympathetic half smile, offering solace the only way he knows how. He looks like he wants to say something else-- to offer council, comfort, anything, but he dashes skittishly the other way as soon as Marilyn turns. The frontman really can't blame Jeordie. He's fallen even further into the dope than he has himself, he started a long ass time ago, and moreover, Jeord knows by now that talking to him like this is like poking a bear.

The singer gives a quick glance out the window to make sure he's not currently burning Trent's house down with pyrotechnic footwear (he can pay for a broken window, but a burned down house would seriously deprive their touring funds). When he sees that the shoe is just burning calmly on the sidewalk, contained in its own little bubble of anarchy as it quietly disintegrates to ash, Marilyn relates the shoe to his own life.

Or maybe he just wishes that were him.

Promising himself he wouldn't break down again, he floats like a ghost over to the recording equipment. Their label manager is in the den, watching hockey with Trent or some stupid sports bullshit like that, which leaves him alone, again, to actually try making music. That's what he does, right? That's what he’s supposed to do.

His rough recording of the track 'Tourniquet' is open on the laptop, and for no reason in particular, he starts to play it. Listening to the words, he closed his eyes, and thinks of you. He thinks of your hand holding his, how happy you get when you watch him perform. He hears you whispering that you love him, that he’s enough, that he isn't broken, that maybe it’s just the system that’s broken.

Leaning his head down on the table, he lets all the emotions wash over him, lets the tears drop and watches the red carpet beneath his knees turn them into drops of blood. Digging around under said carpet, he takes out a small bag they had all stashed under there for "emergencies." He doesn't want to do it. He almost splits the bag, almost watches it all pour out, sifting through the floorboards like sugar. But he can't do that. Not that he doesn't have the willpower to quit it now-- he most certainly does-- it just seems like a bigger fuck you to do the coke than to throw it away in favor of self reflection.

Lifting a bump on his knuckle up to his nose, he snorts the powder up, and squeezes his eyes shut. He's becoming numb to it. He gives himself another, and another. After five, he quits when he finally gets the high he wants, dropping the bag and digging his forehead into the table.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Reaching for the mic, he sets it up with shaking hands, turning those hands into fists and tapping an S.O.S into the table, wishing you could hear it and come running to him. He holds the mic, and whispers, clear as day, into it:

"This is my lowest point of vulnerability.”

---

An hour must have gone by, and Marilyn finally drags himself up. Walking out to the front steps of the house, he sits down next to Daisy, the Sexual Janitor, his oldest friend and the only soul on the premises who isn't hopelessly doped up.

"You're not having a good day," the guitarist remarks softly, not looking up from his strings.

"What gave me away?" Marilyn mutters sarcastically, rubbing his sore nose. Daisy looks up, studies him. Marilyn doesn't like to be studied, so he looks away. "(y/n) left." Daisy runs a hand through his green hair, nods.

They sit for a bit, just exist. Daisy picks up a half-smoked cigarette from the step beside him, and offers it to his friend. The singer glances at it, repulsed, but accepts it anyway between his fingers. He takes a pull, then remembers why smoking is one of his biggest pet peeves. Whipping it into the street to join Twiggy's burning shoe before Daisy can take it back, he coughs, waves the offending cloud away and groans into his hands.

"My life is falling apart, Scott. I feel like I just lost the last piece that was holding it together."

Daisy nods again. "I get it. You're losing it. We're all losing it."

"Says the most conscious man here," Marilyn laughs bitterly, almost envious of Daisy's sobriety.

"You don't have to be high to feel like you're out touch," Daisy says, strumming his chords, "And I certainly don't have to be high to know you are out of touch with not only this band, but who you want to be."

"Shit. Thanks, doc. This is really helpful. I think I'm gonna go inside now and blow my brains out."

"Hey. Dickwad." Daisy puts down his guitar. "We've both known (y/n) since Spooky Kids. You were closer to her, obviously, but she's a special one. She's stayed for this long, through your worst. And you've been terrible. Don't lose her now."

Marilyn sighs, rubbing at his eyes, wondering if his headache is from sleep deprivation or a long overdue brain aneurysm.

Daisy doesn't encourage him to open up. He doesn't tell him to accept that it's human nature to be co-dependent. He doesn't tell Marilyn that's love or some stupid shit like that, doesn’t mention that it's in his nature to push people away. He knows his friend too well to even attempt it. He just leans back against the door, and hums.

"We could all die tomorrow. Wouldn't you want to be with her your last night?"

Marilyn pauses. He's never really thought of it like that. "Hey. When did you get so wise?" the singer chuckles.

Daisy just smiles, going back to his guitar. "You haven't talked to me properly in like, 4 years. We used to be close, man."

"Yeah," Marilyn muses, "Yeah."

---

Standing in front of the house, you wonder why you're back. You've told yourself at least ten times it's to grab the rest of your stuff so you don't have to pay him to ship it out to you, but the more you stand here, key in hand, the more you doubt that's the reason you returned.

Taking a deep breath and shaking your head, you force yourself past the walkway, and let yourself in.

"Hello?" the door creaks, and opens to an empty house. Good. No distractions.

Walking around, you start to pack all your things properly, and see evidence of a very tough morning in the bathroom. Writing out a note, you think of what you want to say to him. You'd given him so many years of your life, and he you, since you were both angsty kids who just wanted to make your mark on the world. You write out one of his lyrics he had shared with you in bed the other night... if you could just remember them right:

I wrapped our love in all this foil

Silver-tight like spider legs

I never wanted it to ever spoil

But flies will...

Ah, fuck it. You crumple the paper. You can’t remember the lyrics properly, and that’ll just do more harm than good. After all... he's the poet, not you.

Just then, you hear the door knob jiggle, and keys in the lock.

Oh god. You do not have the emotional stability right now to deal with this confrontation. Ducking behind the couch, you lay on your back and try to keep quiet.  

He tosses his keys onto the table, and sighs. He starts mumbling something, but you can't hear.

---

Marilyn rubs his face, starting to think about dinner. He had an opened packet of kraft dinner somewhere in some cupboard, and even though it would be stale, that sounded pretty good. Mac and cheese with ketchup. White trash through and through and more unhealthy shit to ruin his body with. Whatever. Mac and cheese is comfort food... or so his mom told him.

He runs over the events of the day in his head as he counts how many things he had gotten done. Pissed half his band-mates off, reconnected with one. The middle of the day was a coked up white blur, and... well... he had finished Tourniquet, and Dried Up, Tied was pretty much ready for demo. That's more than he'd done in a month, but he felt as if he had gone backward, not forward.

Grab a razor blade, take your shirt off, and check and see if your worthless heart is still pumping blood.

He stamps the intrusive impulse down, and gives an indifferent huff.

As he walks past the dark living room, not bothering to turn on a lamp, the streetlight from outside catches the metal of something he has sitting on a shelf. He backtracks, and finds a few of his lunchboxes from the collection he hadn't finished unpacking yet. He half smiles, looking at the Scooby Doo one, the Planet of the Apes one, and the one that even had his old band's name on it. Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.

He feels a stab of guilt, and makes a mental note to go easier on Daisy. He did contribute a lot in the days of the old gigs.

Why is he referring to it as his old band? It's still the same band. But somehow, it isn't. They had grown up, into darker, scarier versions of themselves, each one of them on their own personal path of destruction, taking out everything and everyone in their way. Fundamentally loathsome.

Marilyn scratches his bony rib cage and turns away from the shelf, muttering about filing that one away for a future song or something. He walks over to the fridge, blows off dinner, and grabs a beer, chugging half of it down and heading back toward the living room. With any luck, he'll have put down three bottles by midnight.

---

You bite your fist. Hiding definitely wasn't a good idea. Just telling him you were grabbing a couple of things and leaving for good would have done just fine, not... hiding behind your old couch in the dark like a goddamn Nosferatu!

Shit. He's coming over here... maybe if you try and crawl around the cushions...

Marilyn frowns as he sees something move out of the corner of his eye. This time, it isn't metal glinting. This is real movement.

"Satan? Is that you?" he whispers, and lets out a humorless laugh. Ah, the small joys of sharing an inside joke with yourself. (y/n) would find it funny. He swings the beer bottle in his hand, setting it down beside the couch. "If it is... I could use a bit of your black spell shit, you magical goat motherfucker. See, I've got this girl. She's everything I want, but of course, I fuck up things that're good in my life-- you know me-- so that's done. Congratu-fuckin-lations, Manson, you’ve done it again. So, if you wanna... take my soul or something, if it's not too damaged, you can go right ahead, buddy. No returns. If I didn't have a soul, I'd have a lot less pr--"  He lets out a piercing yell as he sees you crawling on his floor. That's not Satan.

Flicking the closest lamp on, he sees it’s you. "(y/n)!"

You glare at him. "I was getting my things."  

"On the floor?!"

"You hide drugs in the floor, why can't I?"

"You don't d... what the fuck are you doing here, and... oh god, I thought you were some crazy girl who got in through my window or something.”

“You thought I was Satan.”

“I thought you were gonna kill me!"

You shrug. "I still might." Marilyn almost lets out an incredulous laugh of relief. It's almost like old times again. You frown, and remember why you're there, and that it is not, in fact, like old times. "Just... I'm not ready to talk to you. Please don't try."

You quickly grab your things, and he stands there. "Why'd you come back when you knew I could be here?"

"Don't make this about you. I'm leaving."

"Go ahead, leave. I'm just asking a question, god forbid." Shut up! Don’t do this again. Tell her you're sorry, you stupid prick, tell her you love her, like you rehearsed!

"Yes, god forbid you try and talk to me after you told me last night I was a useless fucktoy, Brian."

The room fills with the same old silence again, and you roll your eyes. You should have known nothing would change. He sits down, and watches you pack. He watches you put everything in your bag, everything he'd committed to memory over the past 7 years... stuff of yours that had become stuff of his too. It was so strange, seeing everything hidden away in the flaps of your duffel bag.

He isn't numb anymore. He's in pain, and he knows you are too, because of him. That's not fair, and if his ambition proved anything, it was his capability to unfuck things that were not meant to get fucked in the first place.

"I miss laughing."

"What?" you demand.

"I miss laughing," he repeats. "I haven't smiled properly in a year. I'm depressed, sure, but who isn't? It isn't an excuse. Sometimes I wonder if there is a hypocritical, horrible, sick bastard of a god watching me. Sometimes I wonder if he would laugh at me if I prayed to him."

"Yeah. Well. I pray sometimes, to whatever the hell's out there. Sometimes I pray my life was just a dream," you say, and he looks at you.

"(y/n). I love you so damn much."

You suck in a breath. If you turn around and look at him, you'll be lost again. But like any good drug, you just can't resist.

Turning around, you walk over to him. Sighing, you sit in his lap, moving your legs over the arm of the chair so that you're draped over him. You two sit like that for a bit,  neither one of you willing to be the first one to make physical contact. You're both too stubborn. Eventually, you know you're going to have to be the one to do it. You know he's already hugged you a billion times in his mind in the last minute, and he's punishing himself more than you ever could.

"You're still an asshole," you whisper.

"I'll always be an asshole," he mutters back, "It's in my DNA. I can't change that." I can be less of an asshole to the people who love me. I promise. His eyes seem to say it, and you understand. You take his hand, which allows him to subsequently pull you in and cradle you.

"Yeah. Just don't forget who was there for this asshole's first show."

"Mmm."

"You dedicated Lucy In The Sky With Demons to me."

"Yeah. I remember."

"Listen. I love you too. I don't wanna leave. Okay? So I'm not going to."

He buries his face into your neck, and you let him release anything he's been feeling since last night, anything he's been repressing. You rub his back gently, and he squeezes you tighter as he chokes out your name, shaking violently with every sob.

"I know, Bri. I know. I'm here."

A few minutes go by. He wipes his face, and it starts to rain outside. You glance out the window. "Guess I'm really not leaving tonight."

He hums. "You want mac and cheese?"

"Uhhh, is that even a question?"

You roll off him. He presses a kiss to the top of your head, and walks over to the kitchen to root around in the cupboard. You lay on your back again in starfish position, staring at the mildewy ceiling of this crappy old house.

"I lit Jeordie's shoe on fire today!" your boyfriend calls out to you, "Nearly burned Trent's house down. Would've been an improvement, it's an ugly fucking house and sad excuse for a studio. You should see it. That jerk-off should pay me to burn it down, swear to the holy old bastard in the sky." You giggle into a pillow.

There's your antichrist.

[calumance]

Sunshine (bestfriend!Calum AU) - Part 3

Warnings: cussing, some pretty intense angst at the end

Summary: Calum drops a bomb on their friendship at the party, but they aren’t going to let distance mess up their friendship. At least not until Calum neglects to hold up his end of the promise.

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: I’ve been neglecting updating this fic, so I spent all day writing and editing. I hope you all enjoy, feed back is always welcomed!! 

Part 1 | Part 2

         Saturday finally came around and Amelia once again found herself standing in front of her mirror criticizing her outfit. It was a simple grey hoodie, black leggings, a grey beanie that resembled the one Calum wore last weekend, and her favorite white converse. It was a casual outfit, it was good enough for a birthday party, right? Amelia shook her head, moving a strand of hair out of her face. She wanted to stand out, she wanted to catch Calum’s eyes, but the sound of a knock on her door made it too late to change her mind. Amelia’s mom popped her head into her room and smiled at Amelia. “You look cute. I like this outfit.” Amelia looked at herself in the mirror again and thanked her mom. “Your friend, Ashton, is here? He said Calum sent him to pick you up. He seems nice, he came inside and introduced himself.” Amelia knew that all of Calum’s friends were good people. Not a single one of them have seemed to be disrespectful or anything.

           Amelia looked back at her mom and smiled. “Cool, will you tell him I’ll be right there? I just need to grab a few things.” Amelia’s mom agreed, closing the door behind her. Amelia turned and started walking through her room collecting everything. Even though Amelia and Calum were just starting to really get to know each other, she had decided to get him a present. It was dumb, but she got him the latest All Time Low album. She knew there was a large possibility that he already had it, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Amelia gripped the wrapped CD in her fingers and then grabbed her bag. As she ran down the stairs, she placed the strap over her head and onto her shoulder, then slipped the CD into her bag.

           Ashton finished talking to Amelia’s mom as she landed on the last step. Amelia’s mom grabbed her shoulders, and then touched her face. “I’m so glad you’re making friends and enjoying yourself. I really like seeing you happy, I thought we lost you there for a while.” Amelia gave her mom a genuine smile and her mom dropped her hands, allowing her daughter to go off to the party she’d been so excited about for a week.

           The door squeaked as Amelia shut it after she sat in the passenger side of Ashton’s car. Her eyes focused on the outside, not completely comfortable with Ashton yet to have a full on conversation. It wasn’t a long drive, but by the time Ashton pulled in front of Calum’s house, Amelia felt like it had been the longest car ride of her life. Ashton lead the way up to Calum’s door and just walked straight in. Amelia stepped in behind Ashton and put her bag in the same spot she had the last time she was here, but not before pulling the wrapped CD out of her bag. All she wanted to do was find Calum and wish him a happy birthday but there were so many people in the house that she set his gift on the table and found her way to the couch.

           She hadn’t been sat on the couch long when Calum finally found her. “Hey,” he said with a large smile. She responded by standing up and greeting him with a smile, playing with her fingers out of nervousness. Calum stretched his arms out, silently asking for a hug. Amelia opened her arms and wrapped them under his arms and up to his shoulders. As they embraced, Amelia wished Calum a happy birthday. They parted and Amelia moved her hair out of her face, putting her other hand in her pocket. “Thank you, I’m glad you came.” He bounced on the balls of his feet, his smile fading quickly. “I need to tell you something.” Calum’s eyes locked on Amelia’s. Her smile fading shortly after Calum’s. Calum noticed a twinkle in her eye and forced himself to look away, suddenly realizing it was harder than he thought to give her the good news. He wanted so much to have her in his life, and he suddenly felt like that wasn’t going to happen. He ran his hand along the back of his neck, the skin on his arm suddenly tingling from Amelia’s reassuring touch. He took in a breath and smiled. “So, we’re finally going on tour. We leave next month, the 20th. The tour starts the 23rd in London.” Amelia’s smile grew in excitement for her friend, but a look in his eyes made her stomach turn, “We’ll be gone until November.”

           Amelia’s heart stopped. She finally had someone she considered her best friend, and someone who considered her their best friend, and that was about to go away. She wasn’t going to have her friend for almost the entire year. The smile faded off her face, making Calum’s heart break. Amelia withdrew her fingers from Calum’s arm and held them in front of her, her palms pressed together. “Oh.” Her mind was reeling, but she knew she had to be supportive of her friend. Amelia faked a smile and clapped her hands a few times, “That’s amazing!” Her fake excitement caused the smile to return to Calum’s face, and that’s all she wanted.

           Calum threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ll text you every day, and maybe I can fly you out to come visit every once in a while, maybe between terms!” Amelia wanted to cry, but knew this wasn’t the time or place. Calum held her in an embrace for a while, taking in her scent, she smelled like apples, as usual. His eyes closed, knowing every time he smelled an apple he would think of her. He felt like crying, not wanting to leave his new found best friend, but this was an opportunity of a life time, and there was no way he was going to turn it down. Amelia pulled away from him and she smiled at him, wanting him to have the most amazing birthday before leaving to travel the world.

           Amelia let go of Calum, letting her hands drop to her side. “Let’s go get a drink to celebrate, yeah?” Calum smiled and nodded. Amelia grabbed his hand and pulled him into his kitchen. They enjoyed drinks and enjoyed each other’s company all night long. It had started to get late, and Ashton had fallen asleep on Calum’s couch waiting for Amelia to be ready to go home. Luke and Michael asleep on the floor in front of Ashton. Amelia and Calum sat together in the kitchen, still talking and laughing at each other. “I got you something for your birthday. It’s kind of dumb, and you probably already have it, but I felt weird coming without something. Wait right here.” Amelia walked over to her bag and grabbed the wrapped gift and walked back to Calum, handing it to him before sitting down, placing her hands under her thighs.

           Calum unwrapped his and chuckled when he saw the cover, “I actually don’t have this yet. I haven’t gotten a chance to download it or anything. Thank you.” Amelia nodded and looked at the time and then at Ashton.

           “I didn’t realize how late it was. Ashton is supposed to be my ride home, maybe I should wake him up so he can get home and get some sleep.” Amelia stood up and walked over to Ashton, shaking him slightly.

           Calum stood behind her, Ashton slept like he was dead, always has. He was well aware that the moment he fell asleep, nothing would wake him up. Calum leaned against the frame watching Amelia as she failed to stir Ashton. He smiled and looked at the ground, running his fingers across his lips, “Maybe you should just stay here tonight?” Calum suggested.

           Amelia scoffed and tried again to wake Ashton. “My mom would have a heart attack if she found out I spent the night at a guy’s house, that was full of other guys.” Ashton finally jolted awake and he put his hand over his chest as to catch his heart from jumping out. Calum’s eyebrows raised, impressed that she was able to wake the dead. Amelia placed her hand around Ashton’s wrist to try to calm him down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, could you take me home? I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

           Ashton looked around, trying to gather his surroundings, and then sat up, agreeing to take her home. Amelia walked over to Calum so that they were standing less than a foot apart. There was no reason why she wanted to be that close to him, other than the fact that she knows soon he will be so far away from her, that she just wants to remember what it feels like. “Are you sure you can’t stay longer?” Calum asked through pleading eyes.

            “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll text you in the morning. Maybe we can do something in the afternoon?” Calum nodded, liking the sound of that. They embraced again in a goodbye hug and Amelia followed Ashton to his car. Since Ashton was half asleep, they didn’t talk much on the ride home. Amelia thanked Ashton for the ride and he smiled at her, telling her it wasn’t a problem. He waited until Amelia was safely inside before driving off. After Amelia locked the door, she headed for her bedroom. Once she was in the comfort of her room and her bed, the tears finally escaped, eventually crying herself to sleep.

                                                         * * *

           Calum had been gone for 6 months, but that hadn’t stopped him from calling or texting his best friend every day. They would talk for hours before one of them was told they had to get off the phone. Amelia continued to leave out how miserable school was without him, and Calum continued to leave out how much he missed having her next to him. Amelia also continued to leave out that the only person that has kept her going is a boy named William who came up to her at school and asked her on a date. Since then, they’ve gone out almost every weekend. Calum also continued to leave out how many girls he’s made out with, or brought back to his hotel with him. They both thought keeping those things to themselves was for the best, even though it was definitely not.

           Today was different, Calum didn’t have a girl he barely knew next to him, and Amelia wasn’t going to see William. Instead, Calum was coming home for a week, and Amelia couldn’t wait to get the call saying he was home so she could run over there and hug her best friend. Feel his touch again, smell his cologne again. Calum couldn’t wait to get home so he could call her and have her come running over. Ready to wrap his arms around her, feel her body pressed against his. No matter how many girls he pressed himself against, nothing could top the way Amelia felt against him. Finally, Amelia got that call, and she went running. Calum opened the door and smiled seeing his best friend on the other side. She jumped into his arms, body tingling at the feeling of his fingers pressed against her skin. When she finally pulled away from him, she ran her fingers through his hair and laughed, “I like the blonde streaks.”

           Calum ran his hand through his own hair and realized how much Amelia had changed. It had only been six months, but she looked like she had aged six years. She looked less like a teenager, and more like an adult. His jaw almost dropped realizing that she was more beautiful than ever. His eyes subtly looked her up and down, then finally locking with her eyes. “Thanks, I don’t know why I decided to do it, but I like it too.” They didn’t say anything to each other for a second. Calum finally let out a chuckle, “So, what do you want to do today?”

           What did Amelia want to do today? All Amelia wanted to do was be with her best friend. She canceled her date to be with Calum. “Can we just sit outside and enjoy you being home for a few days?” Calum liked that idea. Amelia sat on the deck and waited for Calum to join her. Calum came out with some speakers and some drinks and finally sat in the chair next to her. Calum turned on some music and sat back, taking a breath of relaxation. Amelia looked at him, wondering if she should tell him about William. Maybe now wasn’t the right time, but when would be the right time? It’s not like Calum was in love with her or anything, why would telling him be such an issue? “I started going out with one of the guys at school. His name is William. He asked me out a few weeks after you left, and we’ve been going out pretty much ever since. I think it’s going great, he keeps talking about moving in together once school is over.”

           Calum felt his heart skip a beat. He knew that they weren’t together, or ever expressed any type of feelings for each other, so why shouldn’t she date someone while he was gone? “That’s awesome, do you think you’ll move in with him?” Calum took a swig from his drink, and studied Amelia’s face, trying to read what she was thinking. Her face looked pained, as if she had thought about the answer to Calum’s question for far too long. Calum wondered if he should’ve kept his mouth shut.

           Amelia shrugged. “Maybe, we both still have a year and a half left of school, and so much can happen in a year that I’m not sure.” Amelia finally met eyes with Calum again and smiled, trying to push the thoughts out of her mind. “What about you, do you have any special ladies in your life?” She nudged him, trying to play off the question as a joke, but Amelia wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she had asked. There was no way he didn’t go after all of the girls literally throwing themselves at him?

           Calum shrugged, taking a drink and looking out into the void, “Not really. It’s hard to have a special person in your life when you’re never in the same place for more than a few hours.” Calum didn’t want to tell her that he had a different girl in his hotel room almost once a week, he felt like it was a detail that would change the way she thought of him. However, what he said was true. None of them were special. The only ladies that were special to him were his mom, his sister, and his best friend. “Maybe let’s not talk about our love lives, let’s just talk. I missed just talking to you. I mean, I know we talked over the phone, but that’s not the same.”

           Amelia agreed and just started talking about whatever came to her mind, and that’s what they continued when they were together during the time Calum was home. Calum left again for the next leg of the tour, telling Amelia that he’d still call her every day. Calum kept up his end of the bargain, but Amelia started to seem a bit distant. For a while, Calum couldn’t figure out why, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was playing a show in Denver today, her home town, a place she’s been dying to go back to since she moved seven months ago. Calum called her, this time she didn’t answer. Calum felt his heart shatter as the voicemail box started playing. His thumb and pointer finger rubbed his eyes, the beep sounded and he dropped his hand to his side, “Hey, ‘melia. I, uh, was calling to tell you how much of a fucking idiot I am. I’m sorry I didn’t fly you out while we were in Denver, I completely forgot.” He sighed and paused, his voice softening. “Denver is beautiful, you were right. It’s summer though, so it’s a bit hot. I’m so sorry Amelia, I really fucked up, I know. I’d like to make it up to you, please call back. Bye.”

           Amelia listened to the message, the rage causing her blood to boil. He had offered to fly her out before he left and the only place she wanted to fly out to, he didn’t even offer. She set her phone off to the side and looked down at her fingers. Her mom standing in the kitchen cleaning up dinner. The tears started to well on the edge of her eyes and he looked up and across the kitchen at her mom. “Should I be mad at him for not offering to fly me out to Denver? Because at this current moment I feel like punching something.”

           Amelia’s mom put the plate she was cleaning on the rack and turned her head to her daughter. “You can be mad at him, because he knew how badly you wanted to go home, but you shouldn’t hold it against him forever. It was an honest mistake, the poor boy barely knows where he is day-to-day.” Her mom shrugged. “Maybe you should call him back and tell him how much it hurt your feelings.” Amelia’s mom walked out of the kitchen. Leaving Amelia with her own thoughts. She stared at her phone for a while, seeing a picture of her and Calum as her background from when he had been home a few weeks prior. Her eyes closed as she let a tear roll down her cheek. She let out a heavy sigh and wiped the tear away with her pointer finger. She left her hand on her cheek as she held the phone to her ear and called Calum back.

           “Hey,” The word was draw out as Calum let out a sigh of relief, worried she wasn’t going to call him back, ever. “Did you get my message?”

           “Yeah.” Amelia said still angry with him for not flying her out to see her home town. She closed her eyes, trying to compile her words, “Yeah, I got your message.” She ran her hand up and down her cheek and gritted her teeth. “Calum, you really hurt my feelings by not offering to fly me out to my home town. You know how badly I’ve wanted to go back home.” The tears strolled down her face. Calum clutched his chest, his jaw tensing realizing how much he hurt her. “I’m- I’m not going to be mad at your forever, but I need you to know how much you hurt my feelings.” Amelia put her hand on her forehead and leaned her elbow on the table in front of her, frustrated with the fact that Calum can’t physically see how hurt she is.

           Calum sighed, his hand running across his forehead. “I know, I’m sorry ‘Melia. I fucked up and I’m so sorry. If I could get you here by the end of the day, I would, but that’s not going to happen. What can I do to make it up to you?” Calum dropped his hand to his side, then put his hand in his pocket, waiting for Amelia to tell him what he could do. He knew he had hurt her and all he wanted to do was to fix it.

           Amelia felt the tears well up in her eyes as she thought about what was going to fix this. She looked up at the ceiling stopping the tears and hesitated at her own thoughts. “Maybe, we need to take a break from each other, I think it might be best that we stop talking every day for a little bit. Let each other live their own life for a bit, you know? We’ll catch up when you get back to Australia at the end of the year.” The words felt like fire as they left her lips, causing her to lick her lips and resist every urge to slam her hand down on the table.

           Calum’s heart shattered into a million pieces. What was he supposed to do if he couldn’t hear her voice every day? Her voice is what kept him going most days. He felt like punching something, his free hand balling into a fist. Unfortunately, all he wanted to do was respect her and if that’s what she wanted, then that’s what he would do. Calum looked down at his feet, keeping the tears from falling, and nodded as if she could see him, “Okay, yeah, if that’s what you want, then I’ll just give you a call in a few months when I get home.” His voice hitched and Amelia could tell he was about to cry. Before the both started crying, they bid their goodbyes to each other. Amelia looked at her background of the two of them and burst into tears. Calum looking at the picture of her on his phone and let the tears roll from his eyes as well. He gripped the phone in his hand and squatted while letting out a scream that he hadn’t realized was trapped in his throat. Amelia pushed her phone as far away from her as she could before she slammed her fist onto the table and abruptly stood up and walked away. Maybe it wasn’t for the best, but maybe it was what they needed.