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queen-of-deans-booty · 5 years ago

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Two Minutes to Midnight: Part Two

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,634

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

“Why aren’t you on the ground?”

“Pestilence is great and all, but Amara is a lot stronger than he is.”

“Amara, I should have known,” Pestilence scoffs. “Always getting in my way even when we were younger.”

He nods to the demonic nurse, and she disappears only to reappear behind you. She grabs your arms and holds you to her body tightly. Sam falls to the ground since he’s too weak to get up on his own.

“Sam! Dean!” you yell as the nurse drags you into the room.

She forces you into a chair and uses her powers to hold you there while she gets Sam and Dean. She grabs their collars and drags them inside the room before closing the door.

“You boys don't look well. It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever, meningitis, or syphilis! That's no fun. It doesn’t matter because what you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse,” he grins and walks over to Sam. He grabs him by the hair and lifts his head up to look into his eyes. “Questions?”

When Sam doesn’t answer, he laughs and drops his head.

“Leave them alone!” you yell and struggle against the demons powers.

Since you’re so worried about the brothers, you can’t concentrate on fighting against her powers. You know you can beat it, but there is no way you’ll be able to concentrate with the brothers in so much pain.

“Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think?” Pestilence ignores you as he continues talking. “For being filthy. Chaotic. Uh, but, really, that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself is very pure and single-minded. Bacteria has one purpose--divide and conquer.

“That's why, in the end it always wins. So, you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something so messy and weak. It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now... On a scale of 1 to 10, how's your pain?”

The door to the room opens and Castiel stands in the doorframe. He could not have picked a better time to show up since you’re running out of options to save the brothers.

“Castiel!” you exclaim.

“How'd you get here?” Pestilence asks the angel.

“I took a bus. Don’t worry, I—” Castiel is cut off by coughing.

He crumbles to the ground and spits up blood. It looks like even an angel is going to be affected by him. Castiel isn’t as strong as he used to be, but still.

“Well, look at that. An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?” Pestilence teases.

Ruby’s knife is lying very close to Castiel’s hand, and he musters up whatever energy is left in his body to push through. He grabs it and gets up, slamming the blade down on Pestilence’s pinky and ring finger--the finger that houses his ring. The Horseman screams out in pain and backs away.

“Maybe just a speck,” he chuckles.

The demon yells and runs at Castiel for hurting Pestilence. She tackles him to the ground, which releases your hold since she’s focused on something else. You get out of your chair and immediately go to Sam and Dean. Both your hands are blue, and you place them on their heads to try and heal some of the pain.

The demon takes down Castiel, but he stabs her when she lands on top of him. She dies instantly, and you focus back on the brothers. However, because the ring is away from the owner, the effect Pestilence had on the brothers is no longer there. Dean pushes your hand away and gets up to grab the ring that’s just sitting in a bloody mess. You frown but help Sam to his feet.

“It doesn't matter. It's too late,” Pestilence says and disappears without a second thought.

“Are you okay?” you ask Sam, and all he can do is nod.

You’re saddened by the thought that Dean didn’t want your help, and that he thought a Horseman’s ring was more important than you. You now know where his head is at right now, and you don’t like it.

Your dad is glad to hear that the mission was successful. You went to that home to find Pestilence and get his ring, and you got it. So why do you feel like it’s far from over? Castiel is better now that he isn’t under Pestilence’s control, and you healed the rest of him with your magic. Sam was grateful for your help, but Dean didn’t want it. You and Castiel are leaning against a desk while the brothers are sitting in front of the desk that your dad is sitting at.

“Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?” your dad asks. The looks on yours and the brother’s faces say otherwise. “What?”

“The last thing Pestilence said is, ’it's too late’.”

“He get specific?”

“No.”

“We're just a little freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere. So, please tell us you have actual good news,” Dean sighs.

“Chicago's about to be wiped off the map. They’re calling it the storm of the millennium. It sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die.”

“I don't understand your definition of good news,” Castiel says in confusion.

“Well, Death is going to be there. If we can stop him before he kick-starts the storm, then maybe we can get his ring.”

“Yeah, you make it sound so easy,” you scoff.

“Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it.”

“Bobby, how'd you put all this together, anyways?” Sam stutters.

“I had, you know, help,” your dad shrugs.

“Don't be so modest,” Crowley appears in the kitchen with a smile on his face. “I barely helped at all. Hello, boys Y/N. Pleasure, et cetera. Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it.”

“Dad? Tell us what?” you ask, standing up.

“World's gonna end. Seems stupid to get all precious over one little… soul.”

“You sold your soul?” Dean gasps.

Hearing this brings you back to the time you found out Dean lost his soul. The pain, the overwhelming weight sitting on your shoulders, and the panic attack that was a given.

“You sold your fucking soul for me?!” you yelled at him.

“Well, I couldn’t let you just die!” Dean yelled back at you. Ellen, Bobby and Sam felt awkward being there but you couldn’t care less.

“God damn it! Dean! How could you do that?! How could you do that to me? To Sam? To Bobby and Ellen?” you asked, the tears not stopping.

“God, I couldn’t let you die! I love you!” he yelled into the night.

“How long do you have?” you asked, your voice quiet.

“Please don’t…” Dean begged.

“Dean, how much longer do you get?”

“One year.”

The minute the words left his mouth, your heart broke. Seeing him in that hospital broke you, but you didn’t know how you were going to handle Dean being gone, much less in hell because of you, once again.

“One year…” you repeated, looking down as the tears left you.

You let out a sob, falling to your knees. You sobbed, letting out longer and louder sobs that broke everyone’s hearts. Your heart was hurting, it felt as if your chest was caving in on itself. You couldn’t breathe but you couldn’t stop crying.

Your dad is going to go through the same pain that Dean did after he got out. He got out because Castiel pulled him out. Who knows if your dad is even going to get that same deal. This isn’t happening right now. There is no way that your dad was stupid enough to give up his soul for something that could have been accessed another way. Either he’s stupid or suicidal because there had to have been another way to get Death’s location.

“Give it back!” Dean yells.

“I will.”

“Now!”

“Did you kiss him?” Sam asks your dad.

“Sam!” Dean hisses.

All of their voices are blending into each other's to create one loud buzzing noise that’s hovering around your ears. It’s hard to concentrate on a single voice, and it’s not long before you start seeing black spots in the corner of your vision. You’ve been so preoccupied at the noises and sights that you forgot how to breathe. Your lungs feel like they are closing in on themselves, and you can’t get a proper breath in no matter how hard you try. It’s been a while since you got one of these which is why it’s stronger than ever.

“Y/N, you okay?” Castiel asks when he notices the panic in your eyes.

You can’t answer him because you can’t form a coherent thought. Everything is jumbled up in your head, and you can’t grasp onto a single thought long enough to express it verbally.

“Alright. You know what? I'm sick of this. Give him his soul back now!” Dean demands and gets out of his chair to face the demon.

“You shouldn’t be worried about him, it’s her,” Crowley says and points to you.

All heads turn to you, and you stumble into the desk behind you. Castiel reaches out to steady you, but you flinch away from him. There is only one man’s touch you welcome, and he’s not even speaking to you at the moment. Dean wants to go to you to help you out like he’s done all those other times, but as much as he wants to, his feet don’t move where they’ve planted themselves.

“Y/N,” you dad sighs when he sees how this is affecting you.

“You… sold your… fucking soul?!” you pant and yell.

“Y/N, you need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” you scream. “First Dean and now you? Do you not remember how much of a mess I was when Dean died? When I found out? How could you make me relive that?”

“We were getting nowhere! We need Death’s location!”

“That gives you no right! We always find a way!” you yell.

Tears stream down your face as if they have a mind of their own. You’re not in control of your body at the moment, and since Dean made it clear he isn’t going to help you, you decide to step away from all of this. Your feet move on their own to the back door.

“Where are you going?” Sam asks.

“I-I can’t be here anymore,” you stutter and stumble out of the house.

This isn’t real, none of it is. Your dad is playing a sick joke, and he actually has full ownership of his soul. He wouldn’t be this stupid when he knows how you feel about all of this. The cars surrounding you look like fluid black shapes, so it’s very hard to avoid them.

“Y/N!” Sam yells as he runs after you.

“I can’t do this Sam,” you cry. “I can’t go through this again.”

“You’re not going to go through it. Your dad’s going to get it back.”

“How do you know this? Crowley is a demon, he lies! For all we know he’s going to ditch us the first chance he gets with my dad’s soul!” you sob.

Sam brings you into his arms, and you place your ear above his heart. You’re at the perfect height to do so, and since Dean isn’t going to do this with you, then Sam is going to have to do. This news about your dad is shocking enough, so you won’t be able to get out of this panic attack without some kind of help. Sam is offering himself to you, and you’re not going to complain.

His heartbeat is steady underneath your ear, his arms are strong around your body, and his breathing is soothing to listen to. You focus all of your energy onto those things, and slowly but surely, you’re returning back to normal.

“I can’t go through this again,” you whisper when you pull away from him.

“I’ll make sure you don’t. Your dad is going to keep his soul,” he promises.

“Thanks Sam,” you whisper. “And for the record, I don’t like your plan of shoving Lucifer down your throat. You can’t handle it. He’s too strong.”

Dean leaves the house and heads over to you and Sam. It hurts him to see you like this, but the anger and betrayal he's feeling trumps it.

“I hate this, but I agree with her,” Dean speaks up.

“For the record, I agree with both of you,” he says. He sees the way Dean is looking at the way he’s holding you, so he lets you go and steps back. “About me. You two think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer. Well, so do I. Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am. You two, Bobby, Cas… I'm the least of any of you.”

“Sam,” Dean sighs.

“No, it's true. It is. But… I'm also all we got. If there was another way, believe me, I’ll do it. But I don't think there is. There's just me. So, I don't know what else to do. Except just try to do what's got to be done.”

“And scene,” Crowley says after appearing next to you. All you see is red, and you get ready to attack the demon who stole your dad’s life, but Sam holds you back. There is no use in killing the demon that can bring it back. “There's something you three need to see.”

“Niveus pharmaceuticals is rushing delivery of its new swine-flu vaccine to ‘stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak’,” Dean reads from the newspaper he got from the demon. “Uh, shipments leave Wednesday.”

“Niveus pharmaceuticals. Get it? You three are lucky you have your looks. Your demon lover, Brady? V.P. of distribution, Niveus. Ah, yes, that the sound of the abacus clacking? We all caught up?”

“Wait, so Pestilence was only spreading the swine flu only to poison the vaccine for the whole world to take? What’s in the vaccine?” you ask.

“I know. I'll stake my reputation that vaccine is chock-full of grade-a, farm-fresh croatoan virus,” Crowley puts in his two cents.

“Simultaneous, countrywide distribution. It's quite a plan,” Sam nods.

“They don't get to be horsemen for nothing. So, you three better stock up on, well, everything. This time next Thursday, we'll all be living in zombieland.”

“Not if we have anything to do with it. There are two objectives, and six people. Three will go get Death, and the other three will stop this distribution. It’s going to be tough, but we can manage it.”

“Alright, I’ll take squirrel here and get Death’s ring. Don’t want to be near those demons if I can help it,” Crowley shudders.

“I’m going with you two. Sam, Castiel, and my dad can stop the distributions,” you declare.

“I think we can do this alone—”

“I am not letting you take on Death alone. You may hate me and want me out of your life, but I still care about you. You can cry, pitch a fit, and scream all you want, but I’m going. And if you don’t like it, I’d like to see you try and stop me because I can assure you, you won’t be able to,” you glare at Dean and leave the group to go find Castiel and your dad to let them in on your little plan.

“She’s more useful on your team than ours,” Sam points out.

“Shut up,” Dean grumbles and rolls his eyes.

“Like I said, one big happy family,” Crowley smiles.

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#supernatural fanfiction #supernatural series rewrite #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fanfiction #season 5 episode 21 #s5e21 #spn #supernatural

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fragmentedink-archived · 5 years ago

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Hell to Pay: Chapter Eighteen

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI

cowritten by: @lux-scriptum

A/N: TRIGGER WARNING FOR ALLUDING TO SEXUAL CHILD ABUSE, FOR PAST SELF HARM, PAST TRAUMA

A/N2: if we forgot anything, pls do not hesitate to ask to tag <3

All Cameron was aware of was the door opening silently, and the flash of light brown hair shining against the moonlight and the glowing hazel-green eyes. He barely had time to register who was in his room when Destris flashed his white teeth at him.

Cameron only blinked, a rush of cold running through his entire body when the blankets and sheets were tugged off of him. He was locked in place when Destris sat down next to him, pale fingers going from Cameron’s jaw to his shoulder. “This is our secret.”

-----

Nik jolted awake when he felt the bed moving. It was too still too late for it to be Cameron getting up, and the baby wasn’t crying, which meant something was wrong. He stared at Cameron shaking, fingers- claws- shredding into the bed.

Shitshitshit-

Lev was trying to move to check on Cameron. He wasn’t fast enough to stop Lev from touching Cameron’s shoulder. He was able to knock Lev out of the way and got fangs sunk into his arm for his effort. Nik choked on a groan and nearly blacked out when he crumbled into the sheets.

He was barely aware of Lev’s attention turning to him, or of Cameron still half out of it, as the venom started working its way through him. His blood felt like it was on fire, the walls felt too close. Nik tried turning. He wasn’t sure if he was even trying to turn towards a window, or the doors. He just wanted out. He wanted out of this room, right now.

Nik wrapped his arm around himself, and tried to breath through the undiluted panic that was rushing through every inch of him. He barely heard Cameron’s ‘don’t touch him’ to Lev. Tears were slipping down his face as he squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he couldn’t see the room tighten around him. It didn’t do much, though, and it felt like days before Nik could feel his body start to relax.

His throat felt like it was bleeding raw, when he tried to sit up. It took him several tries getting upright. It took him a moment to realize Lev and Cameron were still in the room with him. Nik couldn’t stop himself from flinching back, when Lev tried coming near him. “Don’t,” he croaked.

Lev froze midstep, face etched with concern. Cameron’s eyes were bloodshot, but his face was completely marble as he held onto the baby. Nik tried getting out of the bed, and nearly landed on his face before his reflexes kicked in and he got a hand out in front of him.

Nik slumped back against the bed and dropped his head back onto the blankets, trying to catch his breath. He was fine. He was fine. He was-

“...Nik?” Lev asked, very hesitantly.

“How- how long has it been?”

Cameron coldly said, “An hour and a half. You were screaming the entire time.”

That explained why he felt like he had been ripped apart from the seams. Nik tried standing when Lev said, “How can I help?” “By not waking Cameron up during a nightmare?” Nik snapped. Immediately he said, “It’s fine. Just. I need to go outside. Grab my jacket.” Nik stumbled for the door and had barely caught the frame when he about face planted again. He was breathing heavy. “Did you get bit?” he asked Lev.

“No,” Lev said, barely audible.

“Good,” Nik said, mostly to himself as he forced one foot in front of the other until he got to the front door. There was frost lining the windows. He could almost feel the cold seeping against the panes of glass. He held out a hand. “Jacket.”

Lev instantly handed it over. Nik didn’t even have it on all the way when he stumbled outside. The sun was barely starting to come up, and he could see his breath, but his lungs were starting to work again and he didn’t feel like bolting anymore.

He crumbled onto the edge of the porch and dropped his head between his legs and breathed. He hated Cameron’s venom and how it made him feel like a damn child. But there was nothing that could be done about it and he was just going to have to live with it.

Cameron appeared in front of him, without the baby or a coat, shoes or shirt. Nik slowly blinked up at him. “I’m fine,” he said, automatically. “You don’t-”

“You’re sleeping on the couch,” Cameorn said, sharply.

“You bit me,” Nik said. The way Cameron’s eyes vacated, told Nik the nightmare was particularly bad this time. “Fine. For how long?”

“Until I say so,” Cameron said, looking into the house. “Do you want something warm?”

“Coffee,” Nik muttered, rubbing his face. “I’m not sleeping again any time soon.”

--------

Lev backed away from the front door, and carried Eden to the kitchen. He got her set up in a high chair that hadn’t been there last time Lev had been in the kitchen. Lev assumed it was from the three hour long shopping trip Cameron and Nik had gone on last night.

He rummaged in the fridge, and returned with some ground beef. He warmed it up, and handed it to her, curious to see if she’d go at it without him feeding her. When she did with a ferocity that startled him, Lev decided it was best to go ahead and fix the coffee. He was pouring a cup for Nik when Cameron showed up.

“For Nik?” Lev said in a small voice.

“Yes,” Cameron said tersely.

Lev handed the mug over. “You want one too?” he offered.

Cameron considered that. “I’d rather have tea.”

Lev frowned. “Where do you keep it?” He paused “And what kind? I’ll bring it out to you.”

“Cupboard above the sink,” Cameron said. “Earl grey, with a little bit of honey.” He paused, and then, “Make it extra hot.”

“Will do,” Lev promised. By the time he turned around Cameron was gone. Lev set some water on to boil and reheated some more meat for Eden, adding some frozen peas to the mix. “Eat the veggies too,” he said, as sternly as he could. Eden’s only response was an earsplitting shriek and a loud bang on her tray, sending peas and meat alike flying. Lev sighed.

Once the water was boiling, Lev set a large mug to steep, and tried the ground beef by itself again.

“You have to eat veggies eventually,” he told Eden, who just babbled and smeared ground beef across her face. "I'll just have to find the vegetables you find acceptable," Lev mused. “Now you stay right there while I run this outside to your father,” he added, pouring a little honey in the mug once he’d removed the tea bags.

He padded back to the front door, poking his head out hesitantly. “Tea?” he asked, holding it close.

Cameron nodded his thanks, which was surprising in and of itself, and took the mug from Lev. Lev hesitated a moment longer.

“Do you want me to make breakfast?” Lev offered. “I’m not as practiced with the fancy stuff, but I can make scrambled eggs and toast.”

Cameron didn’t really seem taken by that idea. It took him a few seconds of looking at Lev blankly before he just said, “Use your own pans.”

Lev nodded. “You want me to bring some out here when it’s made?”

“Yes,” Nik said, at the same time Cameron gave a nod.

“Okay,” Lev said. He hovered for a few more seconds, but he couldn’t think of what to say, so in the end he backed away and shut the front door again.

-----

A few hours later, Nik was still outside, and he was bored enough, he was starting to get restless. Cameron had to do paperwork, which just left Lev and the baby. He waited until the next time Lev came out to check on him to bring up going to the park. “It’s like, a ten minute walk,” Nik was saying. “We could take Eden?”

Lev perked up by the door, seeming interested in Nik’s proposal. “I think that sounds like a great idea, but I should ask Cameorn first.”

Nik tried to not sulk. “Okay. Hurry up, though.”

Lev looked apologetic. “I don’t want him to be mad at us for taking off, that’s all,” he said. “Besides, I have to get Eden ready. It’s cold out here.” Lev disappeared inside and it felt like forever before he reappeared with a bag full of shit and a baby more coat than actual baby in a stroller. He awkwardly held out a travel mug. “Coffee.”

“Mmm.” Nik looked down at Eden, then back at the cup. “You carry it.” He knelt down and unbuckled Eden from the stroller and picked her up. She was instantly wiggly in his arms. “I’m carrying the infant. Come on.”

Before Lev could talk him out of it, Nik stepped off the porch and started across the yard, letting Lev catch up to him with the empty stroller and the heavy looking bag he insisted on bringing. Nik listened to Eden babble happily with Lev next to him on the way. “I don’t think I have ever been to a park while sober,” Nik mused. “Definitely not fully clothed.”

“Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a park drunk or missing any clothing; maybe my shoes. I never did like wearing shoes,” Lev said.

Nik laughed and Eden squealed. “Honestly, that is so unsurprising. I doubt you have ever been drunk in your life.” Nik held Eden up and looked up at her. “Can you believe this guy? He’s been to a park sober. What a life.”

Eden just babbled at him, but Nik took that as an agreement. Nik looked at Lev when he pulled her back down closer to his chest. “See? Even the baby agrees with me.”

Lev just shook his head. “Amara tried to get me to drink once and I threw up for the rest of the night. I don’t drink ever.”

“You let Amara try to get you to drink? She’s like, ninety-five percent booze.”

“I only had one drink,” Lev said, mournfully.

“Ha. You’re more of a light-weight than I am. Amazing.” Nik smiled to himself and then perked up when the park came into view. There were a few people here, but not many. Both the demons here gave them long looks while Nik started for the swings.

“Let me hold her,” Lev half-whined.

“But I want to hold her,” Nik said, sitting in one of the swings. He kicked up his feet and swung a little. “Hold the diaper bag. It’s big enough to pretend to be a baby.”

Nik just smiled when Lev gave him a look. “Be careful,” he said, going to sit the diaper bag in the stroller.

“Can you please stop assuming I’m going to drop the kid on her head.”

“I worry. I’d assume I’d drop her half the time, and I took care of two kids,” Lev said, sitting next to him. “Worrying is my job.”

“Hmph.” Nik carefully turned Eden so she was looking at him. Her little nose was tipped in grey while she gave him a toothless smile. “Stars, how are you related to Cameron. If you weren’t like, literally the color of snow- or, well, a demon- I’d say you were my kid. Must you be so pale?”

Her only answer was a loud enough shriek that Nik grimaced. Lev said, “Well you asked.”

“That doesn’t mean she should screech at me. She makes it sound like I’m trying to kill her.” He frowned down at her. “Am I trying to kill you, tiny demon baby? Me? Who gave you your name? I don’t think so.”

“Who’s changed her diaper every time since she’s gotten here?” Lev asked, taking her hand.

Nik frowned and kissed her nose. “Don’t know how. Sounds disgusting.”

“You get used to it.”

“I’d rather I didn’t.”

“Well you’re going to have to. She’s here to stay.” “You say that like there isn’t two other men in the house and like nannies aren’t able to be bought,” Nik said. He bounced Eden lightly while pushing the swing a little. “Stars, imagine me changing a diaper. I’d probably fuck it up like I always do.”

“Just takes practice, Nik,” Lev said, smoothing down Eden’s coat. “You wanna see if she likes the slide? I’ll take her up and you can catch at the bottom.”

Nik perked up and then frowned at him. “You mean. You’re just going to let her go at the top?”

Lev gave him a confused look. “We’ll use the short slide. She’ll be fine.” “Won’t she fall off?”

He shook his head. “The sides are high enough, and you’ll be there to catch her.”

Nik hesitated slightly but then stopped the swing. “Okay, but if she splits her head open and gets brain damage before her first birthday, I’m telling Cameron it’s your fault.”

“She’ll be fine,” Lev said, taking Eden from him. “And that’s coming from me, Nik.”

“‘It’s my job to worry’ he says. ‘Shove the baby down the slide he says,” Nik muttered, going to the slide. “‘You broke my baby,’ Cameron will say. ‘Now it’s your turn’ Cameron will say. Hmph. This goes sideways I’m siccing Nate on both of them.”

“I’m not gonna shove her, Nik,” Lev said, sounding offended, going to the top with Eden.

“Sure, Lev, of course you’re not,” Nik said, making sure that he was as close to the bottom of the slide as physically possible. “If our boyfriend kills us, I’m still blaming you. That baby is wiggles. She is a wiggler, but sure, let’s let a six month-ish old go down a slide on her own.”

Lev just stood at the top of the slide and looked down at him. “Nik,” he said, exasperated. “This slide is four feet tall. Five, maximum. She’ll be fine, and I’m a good healer if she isn’t, But she will be. I know what I’m doing.”

“MMMMM.”

Nik wasn’t sure he was breathing or not when Lev knelt down with Eden and laid her on her back. He leaned forward and just… let… her go. Eden squealed rushing down the damn slide and was laughing when Nik caught her as soon as he possibly could a foot from the bottom. He was annoyed by how much he was sweating and trembling. He brought her to his chest. “Haha, we’re not doing this again,” he said, poking her belly. “You can take drugs like the rest of us, if you want to have a rush.”

“Nikolas.” “WHAT. I was kidding, stars.” He looked down at Eden. “You are way too young to be doing drugs.”

Lev scooted awkwardly down the slide. “Stars help that child if we let you and Amara be influences in her life.” He had held out his arms for Eden when Nik held her to his chest and turned.

“Back off, I’m holding the baby.”

“Fine, you can check her diaper then.”

Nik scrunched up his face. “This is extortion.” He held her out but Lev refused to take her back. Eden just kicked her legs and squawked at him until Nik pulled her back into him. “Cannot believe this. I’m being blackmailed by both my boyfriend and a six month old.”

“You wanted to hold the baby,” Lev said. “Checking her diaper won’t kill you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll probably make Cameron change her diaper later, too. I’m not doing them all,” Lev said. “I did not make this baby, and I will not be doing all the gross stuff by myself. Even if I am the only one who knows how.”

“Okay, but you were the one that wanted to keep her,” Nik said. “Which means her poopy diapers are all your responsibility.” Nik paused and considered. “But if you do force Cameron, please let me be there with a video recorder.”

“Don’t be childish, Nik. If you have a camera I won’t be able to get him to do anything. You’re making too big of a deal out of it. Come on, let’s go over to the picnic table.”

Nik went cold all over and immediately shut up and did as told. Lev was pulling a changing pad thing out of the diaper bag and set it up before quietly saying, “Are you okay? I said something didn’t I?”

Nik felt his face prickle and he had to blink to stop himself from crying like an idiot. “I’m fine,” he said, tightly. “Make sure she doesn’t just roll off,” he mumbled. He needed to get out of this jacket. It was too constricting. It didn’t help the tightness he felt in his throat, though.

He didn’t really give Lev a chance to respond when he started peeling out of the jacket and throwing it on the stroller. Lev reached for him before immediately pulling back. But he reached forward again, hesitantly and touched Nik’s arm. “You don’t look fine. What did I say? I won’t say it again.”

His father’s voice echoed in his head, and had been for hours and hours and hours it felt like. After a bit, Nik started mechanically getting Eden undressed. He was relieved when her diaper was clean. Eden wiggled and whined at the cold table under her while Nik awkwardly got her dressed again. “There, done,” Nik said, fixing up her coat. He picked her up and let her smack him while he flicked Lev a look. “Happy?”

Lev looked tired and worried, but he just said, “Yeah. You did- yeah.”

Nik went back to the swing, ignoring the looks from the demons still here. Eden seemed unaware of the tension that Nik felt and just wiggled happily while he swung absently. Lev settled in the seat next to him, mostly pushing himself back and forth with one foot.

After a while of sitting in silence, Nik quietly said, “Do you really think I’m childish? I’d expect that from Cam because he’s an asshole, but not from you.”

“I don’t really think you’re childish,” Lev said. “But teasing Cameron like that is, sometimes. It’s not a bad thing, I just worry about annoying Cameron too much. Which… you’ve known him longer, you’d probably know where boundaries are and where you can push a little better than I can, anyway. I didn’t mean it as in you’re childish, though. You’re more adult about some things than angels I know three times your age.”

Nik scoffed. “I was joking, Lev. It’s a joke. I’m not that much of a prick. I wouldn’t do that to Cameron.” Cameron was skittish enough around kids, he wasn’t going to make it that much worse for the poor bastard.

Lev just watched him before saying, “I’m not good at jokes sometimes, Nik. I didn’t know you were kidding.”

Nik looked squarely at him. “You should have known me. Did you really think I’d be that cruel when I got between you and Cameron’s fangs.”

Lev looked away, shame flickering across his face. “I don’t- I’m not good at telling things like that. It’s something Amara would have done.”

“You’re saying Amara would be able to tell I’m a decent person, but not you? Nice.”He looked down at Eden and pressed a hand to her cheek. “She’s probably getting cold,” Nik said. “We should take her back to the house before she gets sick.”

“No,” Lev said, “I meant. I meant that Amara would have filmed Cameron. She’d think it was funny.”

That did sound like Amara. Nik said, “Noted. We should still go, though.”

“Okay,” Lev said, in a small voice.

----

Lev let Nik keep Eden with him. He seemed to like playing with her, and Lev felt bad for upsetting Nik. Again. Instead Lev dropped his shoes and jacket off in his bedroom and then padded off to find Cameron. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually pushed open the door to Cameron’s office and found him there, still as stone.

The moment the door opened, though, Cameron flinched, snapping his head around so suddenly Lev froze. It was never a good thing to see someone go from so still to so... not so suddenly. “I just wanted to let you know Nik and I were home,” Lev said softly.

Cameron’s nod was stiff, and he cleared his throat before he asked, “Are any of you hungry?”

Lev hesitated. “I’m always hungry these days, it feels like,” he said, trying for humor, before shaking his head. “I don’t know about Nik but if we’re going to feed Eden now, we’d better do it soon, or wait until after she’s had a nap. She had a big morning, and she was up early.” He hesitated, and then said softly, “I think she had fun.”

This time Cameron’s nod was slow. Lev didn’t like the... it was almost vacant, his expression, but he stood and headed for the kitchen. Lev scooted out of his way, and stared after him. That was... Lev didn’t like it. Rather than follow and push Cameron about it, Lev padded off to find Nik and let him know Cameron was probably going to be fixing lunch.

Eventually Lev realized they’d never left the porch. He thought about grabbing his shoes and jacket again, but rather than make the trek all the way across the house, Lev just wandered outside, tucking his shoulders close. Grief as sharp as a knife sliced through him- his wings hadn’t been useful for much, but they’d certainly have been helpful against the brisk breeze that had sprung up.

Nik was tucked away out of the wind, thank gods, bouncing Eden in his lap. She seemed happy enough, waving her clenched fists at him and shrieking in a way that sounded joyful. Terrifying, sure, but joyful. Lev hesitated to intrude, despite the cold.

Nik eventually looked up. Lev shifted his weight, and then, “Cameron’s making lunch, I think. I- Well, I think. He asked if we were hungry and then headed into the kitchen, so...” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I figured I’d let you know so we could get her unbundled and in her highchair. I don’t know how much longer she’ll be awake; most babies need naps pretty often, and I’d hate to see a cranky demon baby.” He was babbling and he knew it. “I could show you how I got Amara and Reneé to sleep, if you want- or- I mean, I’m sure you could figure it out on your own, I’m not trying to say you couldn’t. I just- are you even hungry? She probably is, I know I am, but I’ve- I’ve been practically stuffing myself lately, I should- I should stop doing that, probably. I never do know how to do things in moderation. It’s always one end of the spectrum or another, but- it’s not like I’m not hungry, I am, or I think I am. Maybe I’m just stressed, though I don't know why, I know I’m safe here, I just-”

Nik held up a hand. “Please. Shut up.”

“S-” Lev bit his lip, hard enough he could feel it split. “Okay.”

Nik looked down at Eden mournfully before handing her up to Lev. “I’m going to stay outside.”

Lev bounced her gently, unable to stop himself from pressing his nose to her head, more to comfort himself than her. She hit his chest with her little fists in response. “Do- do you want company out here? Cameron can handle her for a little while, if- if you do.”

Nik shrugged, leaning his head back against the post and closing his eyes as he said, “It’s up to you.”

He looked so... small, to Lev. He had to be cold, with no shirt and no jacket. Lev stepped closer, crouching until he could press a soft kiss to Nik’s hair. “I love you,” he said, cautiously. Earnestly.

Nik’s “I know,” was soft, and Lev had to admit it wasn’t the response he wanted, but that was okay. He ran his fingers through Nik’s hair, before standing so Eden wouldn’t start squawking in Nik’s ear.

“I’ll be back, if Cameron will watch her. If he won’t, I’ll make sure he brings some lunch. And a jacket?” Lev backed away, ducking inside.

After changing her diaper and getting the winter coat off her, Lev lugged Eden to the kitchen. She was already getting squirmy; he figured naptime wasn’t far off in the future. He settled her in her highchair, despite her constant wiggling and screeching.

“Hey, now. None of that. We’re going to get you something to eat, little one.”

Lev’s words meant nothing to her, and she continued to bang her hands on her tray and yell at him.

When Lev turned around, ready to ask if Cameron had anything ready for her, he realized Cameron was watching them both blankly. “Nik still outside?”

“Yeah,” Lev said slowly. “I was going to ask if you could handle Eden while I went to go sit with him.” He looked Cameron over, and then said, voice gentle, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. Though Nik does need a jacket or something. He took his off, and he’s going to freeze out there.”

Finally something showed up on Cameron’s face, even if it was disapproval. “I’ll stay with her,” was all Cameron said.

“What’s for lunch?” Lev asked, starting to look for a sippy cup. “I told Nik I’d bring him some.” He filled the first one he found with water, and handed it to Eden, who promptly began to chew on the handle. Lev adjusted it until she started drinking out of it like she was supposed to.

“Spaghetti,” Cameron said simply.

“Pasta,” Lev said, unable to stop his pleased hum. He glanced back at Cameron. “I’m going to find a jacket for Nik and get a blanket or something. I’ll be back in just a sec.”

“Alright.” Cameron settled across from Eden, watching her blankly.

“See if she’ll eat the spaghetti?” Lev offered as he ducked out of the room. He padded off to his own room, grabbing one of the big fluffy blankets Cameron had gotten him at the store yesterday. Lev paused long enough to put on some fuzzy socks first.

Nik was still waiting there, eyes shut. Lev slowed to a stop beside him. “Blanket?” He asked, trying not to shiver. “You’re going to get hypothermia.” When he got no response, Lev crouched and shook Nik gently. “Nik?”

Nik slumped forward, jerking awake before looking up at Lev. Lev let out a relieved breath, pressing a hand to Nik’s face briefly. “You scared me,” Lev said, trying not to scold. “You’re freezing, Nik. Come inside? Please?”

The way Nik tensed sent guilt rippling through Lev. He just shook his head at Lev, not saying a word.

“Okay,” Lev said quietly. “At least take the blanket?”

Nik stared at Lev longer than was comfortable, but took it in the end. Lev fussed with it, settling beside Nik in hopes of sharing some of his body heat.

“You hungry?” Lev asked. “Or do you want some coffee?”

Nik nodded stiffly. “Both?”

Lev looked him over. He was trembling. Or shivering, maybe. Lev wasn’t sure. Either way, Lev didn’t like it. He tugged at the blanket, tucking it fussily, before letting out a small sigh. “I’ll be back,” he promised. “Don’t... don’t freeze out here, okay?”

Nik let out a soft sigh. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He sounded tired.

Lev cupped his cheek, hating how cold it was, and leaned in to kiss him softly. “Thank you,” he said, stroking Nik’s cheek with his thumb once before pulling back.

----

Cameron couldn’t feel himself, but that didn’t stop him from watching the baby unamused. She was screaming and smearing spaghetti all over the highchair with a good portion of it on the floor and on her face and body. “This is ridiculous,” Cameron said, unsure if he was talking to himself or to Eden. “Infants are clearly flawed design and this mess is going to take forever to clean up.”

Eden’s only response was her continued screeching and smearing food everywhere. Barely any of the food made its way into her mouth. Cameron’s eyes narrowed when he wiped splatters of sauce off his face. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

Eden smacked the highchair tray hard enough it rattled. Her shriek was loud enough he almost winced. “It’s not too late,” he mused. “Then I would have some peace and quiet. But no, those idiots have taken a liking to you and they would be upset if I killed you.” He was almost disgusted with it.

Cameron scooped up some meat sauce in a spoon and held it out. “Open your mouth, Eden.” He got the spoon in when she started babbling at him, effectively cutting off her rant. “Good, now eat your damn food.”

Some of the food dribbled onto her chin, but most of it went down. He grimaced and wiped it from her face with his thumb, barely missing her chomping down on it. “Is it really that hard to keep it in your fucking mouth? Babies are so uncivilized.”

She waved her fists at him in retaliation, getting even more sauce on the ground. Eden only squealed when he bared his teeth at her. “Gods awful creatures,” he muttered.

It was that Lev decided to grace them with his presence. Cameron couldn’t stop his withering look at Lev coming into the kitchen. Lev paused, looking at Cameron warily before, “How’s it going?”

“My kitchen is a mess,” he said, flatly. “And she is a menace. You are lucky that she is still in my house.” He ignored Eden’s babbling and went to scoop up another spoonful. He caught Lev’s small eye roll from the corner of the eye.

“Babies are messy,” he said.

“Well no shit,” Cameron said, getting another bite into her mouth. “I hate infants for a reason.” He added, “Your and Nik’s food are on the counter. Do not make any bigger of a mess.” Lev shook his head but pressed his cheek to Cameron’s shoulder, in some kind of peace offering, he assumed.

“I won’t make more of a mess,” Lev promised.

“Good,” he said, tersely. “I’d make you clean it up with your tongue.” He wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

Lev hummed his acknowledgement before going to fill another travel mug with a fresh batch of coffee for Nik and taking the plates. He paused at the archway, saying, “She’s gonna need a nap soon. Come get me if you need me?”

Cameron made a noncommittal sound in his throat and fed her another bite. When Cameron didn’t say anything, Lev took the food outside. He gave a resigned sigh and looked squarely at Eden. “I hate you.”

She laughed at him.

-----

Lev padded back outside, grumbling under his breath. He’d forgotten a jacket. Again. He settled next to Nik. “Take the coffee?” he asked, nodding down to where it was tucked against his side awkwardly.

Nik moved far too slowly for Lev’s tastes, taking the coffee with a lethargy Lev decidedly didn’t like. Lev set the plates down on the other side of himself, and then reached over, pressing his hands around Nik’s.

“You’re freezing,” Lev said, concern ringing through him.

Nik looked up at that. “I’m not going inside.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that you were, but stars, Nik. You’re going to lose your fingers.” Lev pushed his healing into Nik’s hands without even thinking about it, reaching for the edge of the blanket to pull it tighter around Nik.

Nik’s mouth twitched to the side. “Not now, I’m not.”

“I- I didn’t think to- is that alright?” Lev ran a hand down Nik’s arm, trying to warm it somewhat.

“Too late to object now, isn't it?”

Lev looked up at him. “Plenty of you is frozen. There’s more I can do. If- if that’s okay?” He tried for a smile and a light tone. “It’s not just your fingers that I like about you, you know.”

Nik shook his head. He just held out his coffee. “Take the lid off?” When Lev reluctantly let go and opened it, Nik added, “Flattery gets you nowhere, Levant.”

Again Lev tried to smile. “Well. It certainly gets you places.” He handed the coffee back, and then tugged on Nik’s blanket again. “I’m just-” Well. Nik probably knew he was worried by now. No use telling him again. Instead Lev stared at him sadly.

Nik didn’t even say a word. He just drank his coffee and closed his eyes. Lev watched him, counting every rise and fall of his chest. He looked... he looked young. Young, and tired. Lev hated it.

“Do you want to talk?” Lev finally asked. “About... about anything?”

Nik shook his head slowly.

“Right.” Lev chewed on his lip, pausing only when he realized he could taste the sweetness of his own blood. “Right. I’m guessing you don’t want to eat, either?”

Nik’s “No,” was mumbled, and Lev barely made it out.

“Yeah. Me neither.” Lev glanced at the plates, guilt pricking at him. “I;m gonna go inside, put those away and see if i can't find something better to keep you warm. Okay? Don’t... just... don't. Okay?”

Nik’s smile was as pathetic as the ones Lev had to offer, which was no comfort at all. Lev gathered up the plates anyway, and shuffled back inside.

----

Cameron had watched Eden fall asleep during her feeding. He silently thanked the gods she passed the fuck out in her highchair. It took him far too long for his taste to manage the highchair tray off without jostling the hellbeast awake. He grimaced at her onsie caked in spaghetti sauce.

“This is never coming out,” he muttered. “Unbelievable.”

He carefully scooped her up and started for her bedroom, which incidentally was only a few doors down from his own. He went to the dresser and pulled out a new onesie and socks to change her into before setting her on the changing table gently.

There was no way she was getting in the crib covered in sauce and noodles, but also wasn’t going to give her a bath. That would involve waking her up and gods knew when she would get back to sleep. He stripped her and cleaned her up with a few diaper wipes, getting her cleaned up before getting her into the new green onesie and fuzzy green and yellow socks. She looked ridiculous in those colors, but all the baby clothes were some shade of color and he didn’t have much of a choice. He’d need to find a time to find decent baby clothes that weren’t so….

Cameron shook his head and picked her up and took her to the crib before turning on some quiet music that hopefully would keep her unconscious for as long as possible. He wasn't sure why he was watching her sleep, but he stayed anyways, absently tracing the way her chest moved.

He shook himself and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him, but leaving it cracked. He looked at the nearest sentry and said, “If anyone goes in there besides me, Nik or Lev, cut them at the knees. No one touches her.”

When the sentry nodded, if a bit confused, Cameron stalked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb, trying to clear away the exhaustion before going to start clean up. But he found Lev already picking things up. Cameorn frowned. “I thought you were with Nik.”

“Neither of us were really hungry, and when I came back and saw the mess, and I know you don’t like messes, and I just-” Lev shrugged. “I felt bad.”

“As you said,” Cameron said, flatly, “babies are messy. Is Nik inside, then?”

Lev shook his head. “He won’t come inside. I’m worried, but-”

“But?” Cameron prompted.

“He won’t let me help,” Lev said. He sounded unsurprisingly upset. But Lev just gestured at the mess around them. “This was something I could do, though.”

“Hmm.” Cameron ran a hand down his face and then started for the front door. “I’ll check on your progress later,” he said, at the doorway. “I’m going to go make sure the idiot doesn’t freeze to death.”

“Okay,” Lev said. Cameron heard his, “Get some sleep soon?” when he was already halfway down the hallway.

Cameron found Nik halfway unconscious on the porch, skin deathly pale and wrapped in a blanket. “Come inside,” Cameron said. Nik shook his head, far too slowly for Cameron’s taste. When Nik didn’t say anything other than that, Cameron said. “I am not taking no for an answer.”

“I’ll just come back outside,” Nik mumbled.

“Unless I break your legs,” Cameron retorted, going to scoop him up. Nik weakly pushed against Cameorn’s chest, but was too cold for it to be of any use when he pushed open the door and brought the idiot angel inside the house. Nik’s breath was shallow when he jolted in Cameron’s arms, trying to latch onto the doorframe. “Do you want your fingers broken?” he asked, unhooking them from the door. “Nothing in this house is going to hurt you- except me if you don’t stop it.” Cameron started back to the bedroom with Nik curled into him, fingers tightly clenched in Cameron’s shirt. “Please,” Nik mumbled.

The cold of Nik’s skin seeped through Cameron’s shirt, nearly making him shiver. “No.”

“Please.”

When Nik pushed against him again, Cameron grabbed his arm and folded it between them before he hurt himself any more. Lev was watching them from the kitchen doorway, distraught, but not saying a word.

Cameron went to the bedroom and pushed the door open to lay Nik on the bed. Nik tried pushing himself up to go back outside, but was unable to move except for a few inches before collapsing back on the bed. “Cam.”

Nik’s hoarse plea fell on deaf ears when Cameron started cutting away the too cold clothes from Nik’s body with a spare pair of scissors. He found several blankets to cover Nik with before lighting the fireplace and going to turn the heat on higher. “If you move from that bed, I will break your legs,” Cameron warned.

Nik nodded slowly and didn’t move a muscle, not that Cameron thought he even could. Cameron went to the nearest sentry. “Stand at the door and watch him. When he passes out, come get me.” When they did as ordered, Cameron went back to the kitchen where he found Lev scrubbing the floor.

Lev stopped and looked up when Cameron came in. “How is he?”

Cameron sighed tiredly and went to make himself a cup of coffee. “He’ll live. Unless he keeps being a dumbass.”

Deep guilt shone in Lev’s eyes. He made a small noise of acknowledgement before going back to cleaning. Cameron watched him, slowly drinking his coffee when five seconds later Lev sat back on his haunches and said, “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Cameron said. “Wasn’t you who bit him.”

“I tried to wake you. I should have known better.” Lev looked down at his hands. “I keep saying stupid things that upset him. I keep causing problems, and I can’t even say I’m sorry.”

“First of all,” Cameron said, too exhausted to not keep the annoyance out of his voice. “You didn’t know. Second of all, Nik is an adult. It’s neither of your faults that his father is a prick. He’s just going to have to get over it.”

The words didn’t even sound right in his own ears, not when he had been playing his nightmare on repeat all day. He could taste the metallic of his venom and he was glad enough that it couldn’t affect him.

Lev watched him for a long moment before giving a small nod. “Do you want a hug?”

“A what?”

A light golden flush spread on Lev’s cheeks. “A hug. They make me feel better, anyway.”

“Do you want one?” Cameron asked.

“I always want a hug,” Lev said, “But it’s more for you, this time.”

His skin prickled. “If you want one, then come get one.”

Lev watched him for a bit. “Do you want one?”

Cameron frowned and took a drink from his coffee, trying to get the metallic taste out of his mouth. “Who cares what I want. Do you want one.”

“I care what you want,” Lev said. “I don’t need one. I get enough from Nik, and we have Eden now.”

“I didn’t ask if you need one,” Cameron said, picking at a cufflink. “I asked if you want one.”

Lev looked tired. Lev shook his head and mumbled, “I can’t tell if you’re being deliberately obtuse or not.” Cameron frowned, before Lev admitted, “Yes. I do.”

“Then come get one,” Cameron said, putting down his coffee.

Lev stood, wiping his hands on his jeans, before coming to lean on Cameron. He forced his body to relax and put an arm around Lev’s waist to pull him into a hug. Lev pressed his face into Cameron’s neck, scenting him deeply, while Cameron counted down the seconds until Lev finally let go of him.

Before he could, the sentry came into the kitchen. Cameron instantly lifted his eyes and when they nodded towards the bedroom, he said, “I need to go check on Nik.”

Lev peeled away from him. “Can I come with you?”

“If you want,” Cameron said, starting for the bedroom. Nik was in fact unconscious; Cameron had to go closer to make sure he was actually breathing. He pressed the backs of his fingers against Nik’s cheeks, frowning at how cold they still were. Not as cold, he guessed, but still far too cold for his liking.

Lev was quiet as he whispered, “He wouldn’t let me heal him.” Cameron didn’t like the way he sounded defeated.

“He doesn’t like angel healing,” Cameron said, pulling the blankets tighter around Nik. “If he can’t heal himself, he doesn’t want it.”

Confusion flickered across Lev’s face. “He’s let me heal him before.”

“He’s an idiot,” was all Cameron had to offer. “He has his moments where his pride overrides his self preservation.”

Lev gave a soft “Oh,” before, “So why won’t you let me heal you when I can?”

At the curious tone, Cameron flatly said, “Why would I let an angel heal me after they’ve been slaughtering us for centuries? Nik’s prideful, but I am not forgetful, or forgiving.”

Cameron ignored the slight hurt in his eyes, even if he was watching Cameron hesitantly. He eventually said, “It has to stop somewhere, doesn’t it?”

Cameron leveled him a long look. “And why does it have to start with me.”

“Why shouldn’t it start with me?”

Cameron scoffed lightly. “Because I doubt you can kill a demon outside of being forced to. You’ve probably inflicted the least amount of damage against my people. Nik’s brothers have probably slaughtered thousands.”

“All the more reason for me to be the one healing,” Lev said.

“Because you have less sins to atone for?” Cameron asked, moving to grab another blanket to cover Nik up with when he started trembling.

“If you want to look at it that way,” Lev said. “I’ve never wanted anything but peace. I don’t like seeing anyone hurt. Demon or angel or human. Why shouldn’t I use my gifts to heal?”

“Good luck finding a demon that will let you,” was all Cameron had to say to that.

Lev watched him for far too long for Cameron’s liking. “So… what you’re saying is that I need to be forgiven just like the rest of my people, no matter the size of my sins personally? Or that you cannot forgive my people at all, and that includes me?” In a small voice, Lev added, “I Just want to understand.”

“Then understand this,” Cameron said, looking him in the eye. “I do not forgive you. I do not forgive Nik. I do not forgive a single angel that decided to kill us the moment they laid eyes on us. Your king only wanted to end the war for glory and I will not pretend he did it because he was tired of the fighting. I do not forgive my mother who colluded with him. I do not forgive a single demon that had any part of it, and I do not forgive anyone who didn’t have the spine to put Maikel down before he was butchered in his sleep.”

Lev’s eyes were big. “Okay,” he said, eventually.

“Okay,” Cameron said. “Are you done?”

“Yeah,” Lev said, softly, before, “Are you going to get some sleep?”

Cameron rubbed his face. “I need to keep an eye on Nik.”

Lev’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “You need to sleep eventually.” Then he said, “I’m going to finish cleaning the kitchen, and then I think I’m gonna call Gramma. She knows more about little ones than I do.”

If Raziel thought she was getting her hands on Eden, she was sorely mistaken. But Cameron just said, “Go nuts.”

Lev pressed his cheek against Cameron’s shoulder briefly before disappearing out the door. When he was out of hearing distance, he looked down at Nik. “If you die on me, I will kill you myself.” He then went to grab a crossword book from his desk and went to move his chair closer to the bed.

He settled before crossing his legs and opening up the book to his last puzzle.

-----

Lev sat back, surveying the kitchen. He couldn’t see anything else that needed to be done; he’d even cleaned up the lunch dishes and put his and Nik’s food in tupperware to eat later. Now he was sitting on the floor, tucked up against the cabinets, giving the kitchen one more once over before pulling out his new phone.

He already had Eden as his lock screen. He’d managed to catch her mid laugh, though somehow she’d managed to have a whole spoon in her mouth at the same time. With a small sigh he unlocked his phone, and dialed Raziel, tucking his knees close to his chest as he listened to it ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Gramma,” Lev said, tipping his head back. “I finally got a new phone. Thought I should check in.”

“That’s not your checking in voice, little bird.”

Lev grimaced. She knew him well. Too well, he sometimes thought. “Okay, I also had some big news, and a favor to ask.”

“I know. Go on.”

“We have a baby,” Lev said. The pause Raziel gave was long enough he knew she was doing some mental math. “Not mine, Gramma. Cameron’s. Someone left her on his porch.”

“How is she? How old is she?” Raziel asked. Calm, as ever. At least that never changed.

“She’s fine. She’s adorable and I love her. She looks like Cameron. If he was ever a baby, anyway.”

Raziel sounded amused as she said, “Everyone was a baby once upon a time. Even Cameron. Even me, little bird.”

“I can’t imagine you as a baby either, Gramma.” Lev puffed out a laugh. “We think she’s about six months old? Maybe a bit older. The cutest little smile, even if she tries to bite everything within range of her mouth.”

“That’d be the demon in her,” Raziel said without any judgement in her tone. “She might be teething, too. Just keep an eye on it, maybe look into some teething rings if you haven’t already.”

Lev hummed. That tracked, honestly. “That reminds me. I was wondering, do you still have Aunt Sophia’s old baby books? It’s been a few years since Amara and Reneé were little, and I don’t remember everything.”

Raziel was quiet for a long moment. Lev knew better than to rush her. Finally she said, “I think I do. I have a favor to ask of you in return, however. I miss seeing you. Do you think you could spend the night tomorrow? We can go through the old clothes I still have, while you’re here.”

“I don’t know.” Lev closed his eyes. “I don’t want to leave these two with Eden on their own too long. And things are a little tense right now, too. But...”

“But...?”

“I miss you too. We haven’t had dinner in months.” Lev thought for a few heartbeats, and then said, “Let me talk to Cameron, make sure they have everything under control. I’ll text you when I know, okay?”

“Alright, little bird. If you can’t, I’ll bring what I can find tomorrow anyway. There’s no pressure.”

“‘Kay, Gramma. Love you.”

Lev dropped his phone in his lap, jaw dropping in a yawn. He could talk to Cameron later, when Nik finally woke up. Maybe Nik would be in a better mood then too.

----

Nik’s entire body was still freezing by the time he woke up. He made a pained noise, trying to sit up. Nope. Not happening. He collapsed back onto the bed, and managed to open his eyes. He shouldn’t have done that either. He did not like the ice cold lividity of Cameorn’s stare across from him. “Hi?”

Cameron shut his puzzle book with a calculated slowness that made Nik want to shrink into the bed. When he finally looked back at Nik, his face was blank again. “If you ever,” he said slowly, “do that again, you will not have to worry about freezing to death because you will be bleeding from the throat. Understand me?”

Nik did not enjoy feeling like he was getting scolded like a ten year old. But honestly. Fair. “Yeah, okay,” He groaned. “I understand. But in my defense-”

“You don’t get a defense,” Cameron said, flatly. “You get to live.”

“You do care,” Nik croaked, rolling over onto his back. He frowned. “Where are my clothes?”

“They were wet, and you were freezing,” Cameron said. “Basic first aid, idiot.”

“Will you stop being so mean to me,” Nik said palming his eyes.

“I’ll stop when you stop being an idiot,” Cameron countered.

“Ugh.” Nik was still freezing. “Can.... I need to warm up?”

“A bath?”

“Yeah, that works.” Nik forced himself up into a sitting position. “Stars, did you put enough blankets on me?” He asked, shoving them away weakly.

Cameorn looked unamused. “You were shaking,” he said. “And pale.”

“Gross.” Nik went to stand up and almost face planted before Cameron caught him by the waist. “Whoops.”

He could feel Cameron’s irritation. “If I let you leave this bed, are you going to try to go back outside?”

The walls weren’t closing in on him anymore, so. “No,” Nik mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I said no,” Nik snapped. “Bath? Please?”

Cameron didn’t deign him with a response as he propelled Nik towards the bathroom. He sat Nik on the toilet and went to start the bathwater. Nik couldn’t help but trace the outline of Cameron’s jaw and neck with his eyes while the water ran. His eyes lifted to the grey bruising beneath Cameron’s eyes. “Have you slept?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Nik winced internally. “Did, uh, Eden? Take a nap?”

“Two,” Cameron said. “I had the sentries make sure you didn’t stop breathing while I went to check on her.”

“Mmm. Father of the year.” Cameron threw a bar of soap at Nik, hitting him square in the head. “Okay, ow.” Nik said, rubbing his forehead. “Was that necessary.”

“No,” Cameron said, straightening. “But it was fun. Get in the tub. It’s hot, but not hot enough to scald you.” Cam was already moving to get him up before Nik was able to even start moving. He got Nik into the tub and watched him settle. “Is it too hot?” he asked, when Nik winced.

“No. Just. Wasn’t expecting it to hurt.”

Cameron’s face shifted barely, but he could tell he was displeased with Nik’s statement. “I imagine that’s a side effect from almost freezing to death,” Cameron said. Nik wrinkled his nose at the pure blunt tone from him. “You worried Lev, too.”

“Too?” Nik asked. He looked at Cameron. “Are you saying you were worried?”

“That is not what I am saying,” Cameron said. “I’m saying he was almost crying and you know I loathe crying. Don’t upset him again.”

“Yeah, okay.” Nik sunk down into the water, trying to not wince as he settled neck deep. “Is he okay, now?”

“He was sleeping in the kitchen the last time I saw him,” Cameorn said. “But I imagine he’s fine.”

Nik looked up at him. “You let him sleep in the kitchen?”

“He didn’t die,” Cameorn said, dismissively. “He was fine. Not like he was sitting outside in the middle of winter without a coat on.”

Instead of answering his bait, Nik dunked his head under the water. His face felt like it was melting off, but he deserved it. When his lungs protested, Nik finally went back for air. Cameron hadn’t moved from his spot. “Are you going to just stand there?”

“Yep.”

“Great.”

Nik sunk back down into the water and stayed in the tub until the water ran colder than Cameron’s heart. Cameron said, “Do you want it warmed up, or do you want out?”

“I guess I better get out,” Nik sighed. “Lev probably wants-”

“To know you’re not dead? I imagine so.”

Nik cut him an irritated look. “Are you going to let that go any time soon.”

“Probably not.”

Fair. “Fine.”

Cameron handed Nik a towel and went to drain the tub before helping Nik out. “Do you want clothes?”

“Never stopped me before,” Nik said.

“You also never almost died from the cold,” Cameron said. He sat Nik on the toilet. “Don’t move.” Before Nik could protest, Cameron came back with a shirt, pajama bottoms and a pair of socks. He got to his knees and started dressing Nik.

“And they say romance is dead,” Nik muttered.

Cameron pinched Nik’s thigh hard enough to bruise, but said nothing. Nik couldn’t help his small smile despite the pain now lacing through his thigh. When he finished, he got Nik to his feet and put Nik’s arm around his neck.

“I can walk,” Nik said.

“If I let you go, you will faceplant and then I’ll be cleaning angel blood of my linoleum floors.”

Nik opened his mouth, but closed it when he couldn’t think of a retort. Cameorn led him out of the room and towards the kitchen. “You’re eating.”

“Haha, like what?” Nik asked, trying to tease his way into Cameron stop being pissed at him.

Cameron cut him a dry look. “Food.”

“Just food?”

“You can eat the concrete if you want,” Cameron said.

“Och. Pass.”

“Hmm. Thought so.” Cameron did sound vaguely amused, under his annoyed tone. He’d consider it a win.

They found Lev still passed out on the floor, using his arm for a pillow when Cameron turned the lights on. Cameron looked unimpressed while he toed at Lev’s forehead to wake him up. Lev jerked awake, and smacked the back of his head against the cabinets. “Oh good, you’re awake,” Cameron said.

Lev sat up, rubbing the back of his head when he blinked up at Cameron. “What was that for?”

Cameron only shrugged. “You looked ridiculous.” Nik snorted, when Lev just sighed and got to his feet. “There a reason you were incapable of moving to a bed? Or at least a chair.”

“Didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was talking to Gramma, and then I didn’t want to move, and then you were waking me up like… that.”

Cameron was frowning. “Are you saying you were talking to that old bird while sitting on the floor.” Nik choked on a laugh and Cam moved him to a stool. He flicked Nik a small look. “If you fall from that I will not help you up.”

“Charmer,” Nik sighed, dropping his head on his arms.

Lev’s small, “You okay?” clearly was directed at Nik.

“Absolutely fabulous,” Nik sighed. “Don’t I look it.”

He could almost see Lev’s wince. “Not really.”

Nik scratched at his arm before looking to see that his bracelets weren’t on his wrist. He slowly looked up at Lev and then at Cameron. Neither of them said anything. “Where are my bracelets.”

“Cut them off,” Cameron said, unblinking. “They were cutting into your skin.”

Nik felt his face heat and then he dropped his hands into his lap. “I want new ones.”

“Then I’ll get them tomorrow,” Cameron said.

He could feel Lev looking at him. It was an effort to look back at him. Nik was a little worried that Lev had seen the scars, but he didn’t want to ask in case he hadn’t seen them. When Lev wandered closer to him, Nik slid his arm deeper between his legs.

Lev stopped in his tracks. “Do you want me to stay over here?”

Nik looked down at his arm and then to Cameron who had just leaned back against the counter, not saying a word. Right. No help there. He forced himself to look Lev, who was just looking at him patiently.

“I, um.” He didn’t want Lev to think he didn’t want him near. But he didn’t want Lev to see. His face heated and he stared down at the table. When Nik hesitated for too long, Lev retreated to the counter to lean against.

“It’s okay,” Lev said. The light tone in Lev’s voice didn’t persuade Nik much, but Lev clearly decided to steer things in a different direction, thank the stars. “I actually wanted to talk to you both about tomorrow. Gramma asked me to spend the day with her. She got some baby stuff for us, books and things I had when I was little Eden might like.”

“Like what? A little toy halo?” Cameron asked, dryly.

Lev shot Cameron a look before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “I don’t know-”

“So there is a toy halo?” Cameron asked.

“I haven’t seen most of that stuff in well over a century. I figured it was worth a look, though. But I wanted to check with you before I told her I’d come.”

“You’re not planning on taking my baby into angel territory, are you,” Cameron asked, frowning at Lev.

Lev looked at Cam, confused. “No,” he said, “I was going to leave her here with you. Which is why I wanted to ask first.”

“Wow, you’re abandoning us,” Nik said, dryly. “Bring a baby into the mix and you’re already taking off. Should have known.”

“I don’t have to go.” Hurt and anxiety were plain on Lev’s face. “She said she’d bring what she could find if I can’t, she just misses me. And I kinda miss her. But I don’t have to go. If you need me to stay.”

Nik rolled his eyes. “Will you relax. Stars, you need to learn to take a joke. I think we can handle an infant for a day.”

Cameron said, “Go. You’re not required to stay in this house twenty-four seven.”

“No, but I figured communication was important.” Lev lifted a shoulder, half shrugging awkwardly as he pulled out his phone, likely to text his grandmother. “She’ll probably want me to stay the night, but I’ll be back by the next morning.”

“Fine,” Cameron said. “Just make sure to call before you get back. So I know you didn’t get killed in your sleep.”

“Gramma wouldn't let anything happen to me,” Lev said, looking very confused.

Cameron just snorted softly, but said nothing. Clearly he had about as faith in angels as he did literally anything else. He probably thought that Raziel would kill Lev in his sleep, or something as equally ridiculous.

“So. We’re going to be left alone with a six month old,” Nik said. “Honestly, it can’t be that hard.”

Lev gave Nik a look. “Maybe I should stay home.” “Ye of little faith,” Nik said. “We’ll be fine. Go eat with you grandmother. Cam and I will play house with the demon baby. It’ll be fun.”

tagging: @idreamonpaper @livvywrites @incandescent-creativity @solangelo3088 @celestiacq

#hell to pay #writeblr #writers on tumblr #wip boost #ch: cameron #ch: nik #lev #cameron and nik and lev #trigger warning #god pls be aware of the tw #angels and demons #a/b/o verse

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gloriousstudentfury-love · 5 years ago

Text

Chloé Bourgeois X Sister Reader - Who would've thought? •{1/2}

"Ahh!"

The scream reaches my ears with a shudder and without so much of a thought I dive, ribbons catching onto nothing, all my focus on the wailing of a hysterical child.

Beep-

Beep-3

There's a whiz of yo-yo and a clank from a staff, music reaches my ears and Carapace yells. Gritting my teeth hurts but I reach forward knowing I've got one minute left to save a life.

The little boy screeches in fear, red hair wild as it blinds him during the fall. Dots of freckles covered by tears and snot as he reaches out blindly, screaming for his life desperately.

My heart is beating too fast, muscles seizing up as I reach forward. Come on, almost- there!

With a shout, I grip the tiny boy's frail arm realising too late my ribbons haven't caught onto anything. The wind whips hard and fast and I turn in the air, boy clinging to my chest as green materialises in thin air. Carapace...!

A gleeful laugh bubbles from my throat as I hit the back off the shield, the boy shaking his head and pressing his face into my shoulder.

There's a yell and a sworn of red and pink ladybugs bring us back to the ground, sinkhole disappearing as the boy struggles out of my grasp with the last hug.

Rena Rouge rushes up, bushy hair blocking airways as she squeezes, relief in the sigh of her breath. Queen Bee is pale but smiling and Carapace, the newbie, looks like he's about to faint.

Beep!

A flash of colour blinds us all and I freeze, mind and heart going numb as Rena stumbles back as if burned. A glimpse of their faces has me running fast.

Legs carry me to the hotel not needing a command. Father isn't here so it's easy to bang into my room without worry.

The tears start.

They start slow but then they pour out like a waterfall, my knees wobble at the sobs and I collapse onto my bed as Lili sits on my knee with a frown. She's tired and exhausted but she floats up and nuzzles my neck and attempts to wipe the tears away.

"They had no right to look at you the way they did!" She whispers it quietly, rabbit ears lowering in anger before hugging my shoulder the best she can.

The dam only stops when there's a knock. Startling I rub my face but Lili stays, looking at the doors to the balcony is anger and protectiveness. Queen Bee.

Frowning I stumble up and yank the door open, poisoned tipped words ready to start up and never stop. Opening my mouth only gets out a squeak as shaky arms wrap around me.

Ever so slowly I return it, Lili hovering above us in a protective way. Resting my chin on her shoulder a stray tear tickles my cheek on its way down. She was the only one.

She was the only one who was simply shocked. She was shocked and they were confused and disgusted, suspicious and not trusting. They looked at me like I was Hawkmoth.

There's a beep and I pull back startled, closing my eyes quickly and just managing to block out the light. My eyes remain squeezed shut as Bee de-transforms. I'll show her that she can trust me. Despite Lili's gasp of shock, I keep my eyes closed, someone has to trust me.

"(Y/n) come on, open your eyes. I trust you and you can trust me, after all, I am your sister."

(E/c) eyes fly open, mouth hanging agape. Chloé Bourgeois, my sister smiles at me. My older sister, my sister who puts her walls up so high I barely even see her smile a true smile but right now.

Chloé snorts and rolls her blue eyes in amusement. "I'm not an idiot, I've seen her kwami before (y/n)."

Dumbly I nod. I completely forgot about that! The reason I even figured it out was because of their timing of disappearances and their reappearances, not to mention her lame excuses of why she has to leave. Not to mention she looks exactly the same in the suit and out of it.5

The Bee kwami flies down, Lili following her. "Don't do anything rash Chloé. I know that her reaction was wrong and all but you don't want anything worse to happen." She says it quietly, regretfully.

"You're right Pollen..." My sister sighs and her expression darkens as the kwamis sit on their chosen' shoulders tiredly. "This is my fault.."

Blinking I stare at her, "how?"

Chloé snorts in disdain, shaking her head and grabbing a snack for Pollen, throwing a carrot to Lili. "Just because I was mean to everyone they excluded you as soon as you transferred to our class. They never gave you a chance and assumed you were like me! So it's my fault and I'm sorry.."

Her little rant made me hug her as she breathed heavily, face flushed as Pollen patted her cheek affectionately. "It's alright," I whisper, pulling back.

It's quiet for a while before Chloé looks up with a grin. "Sleepover?" With a wicked grin, I nod.

—

Two hours later my (h/c) hair is platted and Chloé has hers down, nearly brushed. Our nails are painted, mine white and brown for my hero persona and Chloé's yellow and black.

Lili and Pollen are in the air giggling and chasing each other like me and my sister pelt each other with pillows. Snickering every time she cries out about her hair and nails.

The sun has set and we both know we have to patrol soon but we play a little longer. That is until Pollen scolds us and tells us to get going as Lili giggles.

Groaning dramatically I get up, heart beating a little faster. "Fine... Lili ears up!"

The transformation is familiar and comforting as Lili flies into my headband. I see my sister cover her squeal. Beaming she takes a deep breath and I watch as my bratty sister turns into a hero people know and adore.

We smirk at each other, time to hop.

—

We play tag across the buildings, laughing and shouting when one of us got to close. It's fun until it's not. It's fun until we hear voices.

"How on earth did she of all people get miraculous?!" Ladybug.

"I don't know, maybe she found it?" Carapace.

"Hah! More like stole it.." Rena Rouge.

"Either way I don't see how that would've happened. She's a miraculous user and she's not even here yet! What is she doing, waiting around?" Chat Noir.

"Most probably causing another Akuma so she can play the hero." Ladybug.

Bee is growling and I back away, hand over my mouth as tears trickle down. With a sob I can't keep quiet I run away hearing the voices stop in shock. Queen Bee explodes.

"How dare you?! She has saved your lives a dozen times and now you doubt her? Just because she isn't who you expected to be under the mask! Some heroes you are! And here I thought you were some amazing people..."

Crying I run home de-transforming, Lili looking on in shock as I dive into bed. Tomorrow is going to suck.

—

Chloé is as angry as ever tomorrow but she stays by my side. She doesn't bother anyone or make snide remarks she just angry. Angry enough that people stay out of our way, except Sabrina.

Sabrina stays with us, sticks beside me with a small angry frown. It's easy to tell I've been crying and no amount of Chloé's makeup she used hid it. There's also the fact I don't wear makeup.

Shaking I head into class, eyes on me as I walk to the back with Sabrina and Chloé. They sit next to me and when Ms Bustier calls them she looks a little surprised at them at the back.

The day is normal but I feel four sets of eyes on me. Obviously Marinette but surprisingly Alya, Nino and Adrien. I ignore them the best I can and focus on my school work.

—

RING!

We pack our stuff quickly and head to the door as fast as possible. "Hey, Chloé!" It's Adrien.

Instead of squealing and throwing her arms around him she groans and turns around glaring. Everyone looks at her in surprise and I smile slightly.

"Yes, Adrien?" She asks, still glaring. Adrien blinks before questioning her.

"Are you alright? You seem a little off today?"

Scoffing Chloé flips her hair over her shoulder in annoyance. "What's it to you?" It comes out as venom and Marinette steps up, glaring at both of us. What did I do?

"You don't have to be so rude! He was just asking a question!" She spits it out, getting nods from the class.

Chloé goes stone-faced. Hands balled into fists as she glares at Marinette with such hatred it has Alya stepping in front of her.

"Funny you should say that," she mutters under her breath, "it's none of your business what I do." She states out loud, turning on her heel sharply.

"Isn't it?! You treat everyone like shit!" She yells, angry beyond belief.

"And your not perfect either!" I shout out, halting everyone in their tracks. I barely even talk in class come to think of it. "My sister is allowed to have her off days as all of you are! Why don't you just mind your own business and leave us alone?"

They stare at me wide-eyed and Marinette narrows her eyes. "You're not perfect either!" She spits out, fury in her bones.

"I know. You've made it perfectly clear what you think of me." I state it and I see her eyes widen. She knows I know. Others look at each other confused and before anyone could say anything a shout pierced the air.

"Watch out!"

I'm running before I realise it, shouting out and everyone watches wide-eyed. My transformation is quick and before I know it I'm swinging my ribbons in front of me, grabbing my classmates and pulling them to safety.

Debris crumbles down and the building groans but Marinette isn't safe yet. Yelling I wrap my ribbons around her, pulling myself into her place and her into mine with all the momentum.

"(Y/n)!"

A scream rips into the air and I glance up, a pile of debris comes crashing down and I see black. Eyes out, ears working.+

"I'm sorry...!"

My last breath is bittersweet.

#miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois

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harrylewisbitch · 5 years ago

Text

Lost Her- Harry Lewis Imagine

Warnings- a little sad, major character deaths

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

Y/N as always finding her self in trouble but this was some deep shit. She had started an argument with Talia (no hate on her, I stan her x)again but this was too far of revenge. Y/N was enjoying a little time with her friends when Talia had to crash it and make it a party with the sidemen. Alcohol made the air in the house humid as drunk people danced together grinding against each other. Y/N was lost in the crowd of dancers a WKD in her hand, everyone was singing and dancing to the music as she tried to get through. "Hey Y/N!" Someone called over the music and she turned around to find Harry Lewis standing near her a beer in his hands, but yet he still looked gorgeous. Y/N blushed at the sight of him never mind him talking to her. "You know my name. Omg you know my name." Y/N happy panicked and Harry only laughed at the shorter girl. His was dressed in his usual black jeans, black trainers and his blue sweater, while she was dressed in dark ripped jeans , black combat boots and light purple sidemen shirt. "Let's dance." He said grabbing her waist and they slowly started moving to the beat. The rest of the night Y/N drank, grinding on Harry as they danced and well more drinking the night became a blur.

Y/N doesn't remember that much of that night but she woke up in her friends (which was where the party was held) spare bedroom, bed sheets crumbled and Harry's naked body laying next to her. Messy hair and hickey is what she left that room looking like, she had on Harry's hoodie knowing she won't see him again as he's popular and a youtuber but completely forgot to pick up her XXL hoodie because she like sweater or hoodie paws. Walking out her heart breaking after looking at his peaceful look etched on his face, but she still slipped out of his life like he was bedsheets.

--8 months later--

A lot had changed in 8 months, including Y/N's rounded stomach that she hid by wearing hoodies all the time. Y/N was wearing the same pale hoodie when she left Harry, even though it was his hoodie. She was at the park with Freya, Talia as they sorted it out, eating Subway and Simon and Josh tagged along for their sister(not really but they have a bond like that) after their video when they seen him walk past, Freya was motioning so he'd notice them while Y/N ate her sub. Harry noticed the girls flaming arms instantly and smiled wondering if she knew where Y/N was but his smile dropped when he seen her eating her sandwich laughing at something Simon said. Freta kept pointing towards her stomach but Harry was confused until she played out pointing at Y/N then her stomach and then cradling a baby. He instantly clicked when he notice that her 7 month pregnant belly was barely noticeable in his hoodie. He couldn't believe it the girl he liked sat barely a foot away but she didn't look like she cared. "Y/N!" Freya said tapping her shoulder then pointing to Harry who was walking towards them. Y/N froze, everything around her froze as she sat glanced at him, that was before Talia clicked her fingers in front of her bringing the girl back to reality. "I have to go I'm sorry." She said putting her sub on the table and rushing out like she rushed out of Harry's life before. The park gate rang out as she ran out, but Harry was catching up to her before standing in her way. "Y/N please." He begged as anger crush through her veins. "You want your stupid hoodie back here it is." She screamed pulling of the pale blue hoodie and throwing it at him. Her 7 month belly was clearly visible through the black sidemen shirt. "See this, this baby is mine I don't want you in their life." She screamed storming away. Harry wanted to run after her but he knew she was hurt because after they had slept together they tried a relationship but he cheated a day after he said I love you. So that ended early enough for him not to know about the unborn baby. Josh followed behind his sisterly friend. But as she ran away from it rained down, hard. He ran after her as he seen her body slip and slide across the path on the road, he reached the end of the path as she slowly got up before a black car zoomed around the corner and running over her body as it's was rain hard in the window. "Y/N!" Everyone screamed/cried as the car came to a sudden halt, she lay in the ground,weak and broken as she whimpered in pain. He took the girl in his arms, "Baby baby, please stay awake baby." He cried pushing her hair away from her forehead as Talia sobbed calling the ambulance while Simon's life froze, the girl he always thought of as a sister was gone. The weak girl laid in his arms as the ambulance drove to them, she brought her cold hand up and brushed his hair. "Harry if I don't survive but the baby lives please look after them and you can pick the girls name." She said as the lights appeared. "How about Rein if it's a girl baby." Harry said watching the girl become weaker and weaker. "And if it's a boy call it Tobi or Zander after Tobi as I love him, he's the nicest person ever." She said coughing dangerously add the paramedics lifted her body into the truck and Freya walked over to the boy. "We are so sorry Harry, we told her she should go and see you but she just cried." She said placing a hand on his shoulder as he watched the truck zoom away with Simon and Talia with her. Freya and Josh were at his sides now too holding his other shoulder. "We went to her scan and she's having twins but she wanted to be surprised at the genders and them being twins." This only made the boy cry she wanted to live her life with her children but I showed up and ruined everything.

Three years later

A dark figure walked up to the white grave and placed a bunch of lilac lillies down before putting his head against the grave. "Y/N I love you I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" And kissed the grave before disappearing again.

A young boy at the age of 25 could be seen sat in front of a new white grave which read:

Your Full Name

Your birthday- 09.08.21

She will be loved

A friend

A sister

The bond

And

Rein Lewis

09.08.2021

Never made it to the real world.

A twin Sister

She was loved

So he sat with a little kid sat in his arms. He sat on a picnic blanket with some sandwiches on a plate, He must have been coming for three years now. "Harry!" Someone called and he turned around, it was all the sidemen. "Hey guys" He said as they sat next to him and around him on the blanket in front of the grave. "Still coming eh." Tobi said smiling like one of his closet, best friend wasn't dead. But he only nodded biting into his sandwich as the kid chase a butterfly around laughing. "Hey Tobi Jadon Lewis where's my hug?" Simon said laughing at the young boy which he used the full name of and he ran towards him laughing and smiling, "Uncles." He said running into their arms.

A lot of changes since Y/N's death but she had watched all the memories. His first steps, first words and had seen him grow into a toddler, but of course she watched Harry, her lover. He had grown up since her death realising the child's life's where his to handle but his love for his ex still shrine through the cracks. But Harry was barely ever seen of again, after the news of his girlfriend was dead. He still lived there in London were she was buried but hardly ever left his new house close to the graveyard so he could still Y/N every day. Her death had broken the young boy, they had been friends for so long he thought he'd never lose her so easily but life doesn't always work out the way you want it to.

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

I'm sorry about my first ever piece being sad but this really hit my heart when I had a dream like it and it inspired me xx

Thank you for reading it Lovies 💜💜

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bkwrm523 · 7 years ago

Text

Wet

Title: Wet Rating: Explicit Pairing: Leonard McCoy/reader Word Count: 1982 (UGH, I’m sorry) Warnings: PWP, shower sex, daddy kink Tags: @aprofoundbondwithdean @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @cookingglitterfairy @kittenofdoomage @catsoftheapocalypse @imoutofmyvulcanmind @medicatemedrmccoy @gracieminabox @mccoymostly @goodnightwife @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse @the-lokis-queen @thefanficfaerie @mrswhozeewhatsis @daughterofthebrowncoats Summary: Just sex with Len. That’s it. Author’s Note: Beta’d by @outside-the-government Every now and then I get frustrated with how long it takes me to crank out Plot Fics, and write something PWP. Case in point.

The first time Leonard McCoy surprised you in the shower, you’d screamed, slipped, and nearly broken your neck. He’d startled you. Since then, if he ever decided to join you in the shower, you’d usually hear him first. He’d call out to you, ask you if you wanted company, close the door to the bathroom extra hard, or even just walk loudly.

As such, when you heard the bathroom door close with a louder than usual noise, you just smirked. Silence for a long moment, save for some rustling coming from the other side of the shower curtain.

“Long day?” You asked Leonard conversationally, enjoying the hot water.

“Something like that.” Leonard grunted. A moment later, you heard the shower curtain get shoved aside behind you. You stepped forward into the water, leaving room for him to join you. Leonard stepped into the shower, sliding the curtain shut behind him. You felt his warmth moments before his arms enveloped you from behind, wrapping around your midsection and pulling you back into him. He rested his chin on your shoulder, nuzzling your neck gently, and let out a deep sigh. You lifted a hand to bury in his now damp hair, leaning into him. He hummed contentedly, taking in and releasing another deep breath.

You didn’t get suspicious until you felt his cock starting to harden against your ass.

You hummed and cuddled him, debating for a moment on the best course of action. You decided to pretend ignorance, shifting your weight restlessly and trying to surreptitiously grind your ass back into his increasingly interested cock.

“You’re not very subtle, gorgeous.” Leonard commented softly, his lips inches from your ear. You couldn’t help the smile that grew on your face, and started giggling. Leonard hugged you a little tighter, his frame shaking a little with soft laughter.

Then his lips closed on your neck.

He bit gently, right where he knew would get you weak. Your knees buckled a little, and only his arms around your waist supported you until you remembered how to stand. You heard him chuckle, the sound doing funny things to your insides as he continued to turn you into jelly in his arms.

You completely forgot about said arms until you felt his hands tweaking your nipples. You gasped, feeling his lips twist into a smirk as he sucked at your sensitive skin. Your eyes half shut and you groaned his name.

“I missed you,” Leonard murmured. You writhed in his arms, already incapable of a coherent reply. You tried to whine his name, but it came out as garbled nonsense. His cock felt fully erect now as he ground against your ass and made you writhe in his arms. You shifted, wiggling and trying to find an escape from the pleasurable torture. You tilted your hips back, grinding back into him. Leonard let out a startled moan, drawing a smirk to your lips. He dropped one hand from your breasts to around your hips, pulling you closer and thrusting against you.

His arm shifted, reaching between your legs to test how wet you were getting. When he felt the flood of arousal, he let out a noise that was half moan, half growl. His next thrust against your ass was a little harder.

Leonard didn’t waste time; his fingers plunged into you, thumb stroking your clit as his fingers sought out your gspot. His other hand stilled, holding you steady against him as you unraveled into his hand. You gasped, one hand blindly reaching for the shower wall to steady you as your hips rutted into his fingers.

“That’s it, sweetheart.” Leonard purred into your ear. “Let daddy hear you. Show me how much you like this.”

“Lee,” you gasped out, your world narrowing to the warm water against your skin, and his fingers inside you, pushing you expertly higher. Your fingers curled a little against the wall, seeking a grasp of something, anything to ground you. Your other hand reached back and buried in his hair, needing to touch him somehow.

The hand stroking you stopped moving, drawing a piteous whine from you.

“What was that?” Leonard demanded, his voice eerily calm.

“Daddy!” It took you a moment to remember how to think, and another moment to realize what he wanted. You cried the word, desperate to get him moving again. “Daddy, please!”

Mercifully, he resumed driving you mad then. His finger brushed your gspot; your vision flashed white, and you writhed in his arms and let out an involuntary cry. Leonard let out a humm in your ear, and his finger moved back over the spot.

“This is what it takes to make you sing for daddy, sweetheart? Is this what you wanted?” Leonard taunted in your ear as he stroked the spot determinedly. You were utterly unable to speak as his fingers pushed you higher. In moments, you were crumbling and flung over the edge, screaming his name. His fingers never stopped inside you, stroking at clit and gspot and keeping you arched and crying in his arms. You felt set afire, orgasm making your muscles seize and tears form in your eyes. Your hand let go of his hair and clenched into a tight fist, fingernails digging into the flesh on your hand. You couldn’t see, and all you could feel was your nerves all screaming pleasurable impulses at you all at once.

Until you finally slumped back into him. Leonard pulled his hand out of you, joining it with the other to wrap around your middle and prop you up against him. You just stood there, leaning against him and trying to catch your breath. After a moment, Leonard gently turned you in his arms until you were facing him, letting you lean against his chest, cradling you.

The shower beeped behind you, signaling that your water ration was running out. Leonard shifted, taking one hand away from you. After a moment, the water stopped. Leaning against Leonard, you let him lead you out of the shower and over to the bed, where he gently sat you down. You scooted back on the bed, until you were lying on your back near the middle of the bed. He crawled after you, both of you dripping wet and naked. You licked your lips when you saw his cock, erect and eager for attention.

“What do you want, sweetheart?” Leonard murmured. He dropped his body against yours, supporting his weight on his arms planted on either side of you, and kissed you. “Want daddy’s cock?” He continued, not giving you a chance to reply. You squirmed under him, trying to pull away enough to beg, but to no avail.

Finally, he let you break for air.

“Please, daddy!” You blurted out the moment you could speak. “Need your cock!”

Leonard groaned and dropped his head to nip at your neck. “Daddy loves it when you beg, sweetheart.”

“Please, daddy?” You whined, tilting your hips up to try and grind up into him. His hard cock brushed against your folds, drawing another deep groan from him.

And then he moved. And not in the direction you were hoping.

His weight vanished from on top of you. You gave a piteous whine, looking up, before you saw him crouching between your legs. Your breath caught with excitement, and you couldn’t speak. His eyes were knowing and eager, a smug smirk on his face reading everything you were thinking and more. He lifted his hands to your hips, holding you in place.

You felt his tongue on your outer folds, his eyes still piercing yours. All your breath left you in a whuff, and you dropped your head back to the bed.

Your hands rested on the bed, grabbing handfuls of the sheets and clenching hard as you tried not to move. His hands tightened on your hips, pulling you towards him as he wiggled closer. His tongue dipped inside you, shortly joined by one of his hands. His tongue attacked your clit as his fingers twisted skillfully inside you. You cried his name, your hips writhing and trying to lift off the bed despite your efforts at self control. The hand still on your hips pinned you to the bed, leaving you no escape from the bolts of pleasure overwhelming you. You heard a snarl from between your legs, and you let out a whimper; you were still oversensitive from the fondling in the shower, and were quickly reaching your limit. You tried to call his name, but nothing came out except for an unintelligible string of vowels.

You came, so much more intense this time. You screamed his name, your back arching as you came into his eager mouth. His hand and tongue carefully kept stroking you, knowing just where to touch you to squeeze the most pleasure out of you.

You collapsed down to the bed what felt like a year later, feeling like a wrung out sponge, and panting like you’d just run a marathon. Leonard crawled up your body, tender and smug and gorgeous. His arms landed on either side of your shoulders, and he moved one hand to cradle the back of your head. Leonard leaned down; he didn’t kiss you, but nuzzled your neck gently and just held you while you tried to catch your breath.

“Still with me, gorgeous?” Leonard murmured, nipping lightly at your neck.

“Fuck, daddy.” You whined, still barely capable of rational thought.

“You ready for daddy’s cock?”

“Yes!” You could barely move your limbs, but the reply came instantly. Leonard chuckled in your ear, resting his head on your neck for a moment as he laughed.

“Such a good girl,” Leonard murmured when he stopped laughing. He attacked your neck then viciously, making you gasp. His hips ground against yours, rubbing his hard cock just right against your folds and making you groan.

“Daddy, please.” You whimpered.

“Gotta get you ready for me, sweetheart.” Leonard reassured you.

“‘M ready, daddy. Need your cock, please?” You whined. Leonard growled, dropping his head against your shoulder as his hips gave a hard thrust against yours. You managed to lift a leg, wrapped it around his hip, and tried to pull him closer. He lifted his head, his eyes pure desire, and kissed you fiercely. You gasped into his mouth as he thrust into you, bottoming out quickly. You ripped your mouth from his and keened his name.

Leonard’s thrusts rocked the bed. He didn’t speak, nipping occasionally at your neck as he growled and rocked you back into the stratosphere. You couldn’t speak, your mouth only emitting whines and wordless cries as you approached the edge more rapidly than before. You felt a powerful surge growing in you, and tried to speak, to babble something. But you were long past the ability to speak. A familiar urge grew in you, almost like you had to pee.

You came again, your orgasm drawing screams from you as you spasmed around his cock. Leonard dropped his head to your shoulder again, and you felt him cry against you as he came inside you. You barely noticed as your powerful orgasm kept you squirting around him, into the soaked bedspread.

You nearly blacked out when your orgasm finally stopped. You half expected to. Leonard didn’t move for a long moment, panting just as hard as you were. Finally, he managed to stirr himself. He slowly pulled out of you, then rolled off of you to lie next to you and pant.

“We probably should have dried off first.” You finally spoke, realizing only now how wet the bed had to be. You started giggling at your own statement uncontrollably, joined after a moment by Leonard’s low laugh.

“I’ll clean you up in just a minute, sweetheart, and change the sheets. Let me just wait until I can feel my legs.”

#adorable grumpy boo #writing #fanfiction #leonard mccoy/reader #leonard mccoy x reader #leonard mccoy/reader fanfiction #leonard mccoy x reader fanfition #leonard mccoy/reader fanfic #leonard mccoy x reader fanfic #leonard mccoy/reader smut #leonard mccoy x reader smut

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batbobsession · 7 years ago

Text

Shattered

What if Belle said “I love you” the moment she saw the Beast again instead of when he was close to death? What would have happened then?

For all the lovelies from the rabb.it screening of the movie!!!! Imma tag as many people as I can remember, so I’m sorry if I forgot you! [And if I mention you but you weren’t in the stream at all...well, here’s a fun AU fic! Enjoy!]

@tinydooms @morgaine2005 @greensearcher @sweetfayetanner @lumiereswig @forr-everrmorre @im-too-obssesed @cad-enza @singingsweet @hathor-frozen @gastt @ebrienne @emeraldcitynative

There’s a moment when Belle thinks he’s going to fall.

He jumps onto the highest turret of the castle, where two twin towers stand resolute beneath the full moon, anxious to hide behind the light, where Gaston’s eyes could not reach him.

But she is standing above him. She sees everything in clear, gleaming clarity. The light of the moon would not stop the hunter from getting his prey; she could see his red coat flap in his wake as he flies across the rooftops. A great dragon, like the ones in the stories, circling closer, closer...

“No!”

Time seems to stop as Belle’s voice rings clear across the turrets. Gaston skids to a halt, the Beast freezes, even the wind howling through the castle goes silent. The Beast leaps from his place on the first turret and swings around to see her.

“Belle!” he calls, and the moment shatters. Gaston’s up again, running over the stone and the snow. “You came back!”

“Of course I came back,” Belle replies, and she smiles despite the danger. Here, standing at the edge of the castle, she knows what it’s like to be fearless. “I love you!”

The words slip out without her realizing. But as soon as the words register, her eyes widen as she finally realizes that they’re true. They’ve been true for longer than she thought. How could she have not said them back at the village, or when she and Papa were locked in the asylum’s carriage?

Oh. Now she realizes. She had thought, up until now, she thought she had the time to. After rescuing her father, she was going to head back to the castle. But now that she is back, she sees that there is no time at all. She had to tell him before it was too late.

A few levels below the rooftops, as the villagers flee from the castle’s living halls, a beggar woman lowers her hood and smiles.

Gaston shrieks, a cry of animalistic rage and denial as the Beast falters, staring at Belle with something that looks like amazed disbelief.

And the world erupts into a blaze of golden light.

It’s not just the rooftops. The light explodes across the sky, parts of it shining down on the castle below, streams and wisps of it floating off towards the forests. The castle shudders with the might of it. Belle has to shield her eyes—she can’t see the Beast, nor the turrets on which he stood, but she can see Gaston...and the look on his face is one that she never wants to see on the face of a human being—something that speaks volumes above horror and fury. He raises his pistol and shoots off a round—Belle screams and runs toward him—but the bullet just flies through the magic like there was nothing there in the first place.

Then the light starts to move.

It’s slow, but the magic glides from the towers, across open air, towards the broken window of the West Wing.

Belle leaps onto the bridge of stone on which the other man stands, poised near the edge, ready to fire another shot. When she’s within an arm’s reach of him, she lashes out, catching his arm just in time to push his aim upward. The shot disappears into the night sky.

“Gaston, stop this!”

The fierce blue eyes slide toward her, caught in a fit of rage, jealousy, fear, and mania. His lips draw back into a snarl—he does not recognize her; she only sees a soldier caught in the thrill of battle, a hunter driven mad by desire. The hand holding the pistol shakes, twitches toward her—

And the bridge on which they are standing cracks between them. The two look down, then back at each other—Belle gasps and scrambles backward, reaching the castle walls within seconds. Gaston strides forward, trying to follow, but with one final shake, the stone crumbles beneath him. His eyes widen in shock as he drops the gun, scrambling for purchase on the stone but finding none. He locks gazes with her one more time, and she can see it; where there was once madness there is now terror, fear, a silent cry for help. Belle’s lips part, feeling a split-second urge to try to help him, but there’s nothing to be done. Gaston screams as he vanishes from Belle’s view, but after a few seconds even those cries are cut short, forever silent and gone.

Belle lets out a breath, horrified at what she had just witnessed, but she didn’t dwell on it for very long. The Beast. The West Wing. What had happened?

She slowly stands up, but the castle’s shakes and shudders have finally died down, and she stands on solid stone once again. There’s no more time to waste. She flies up the stairs and into the West Wing, only coming to a stop when she reaches the center of the room. The golden light has mostly dissipated, snaking up to the vaulted ceilings and out the windows. But what remains surrounds a man who is slowly being lowered to the ground. His brown hair curls around his shoulders, and he stares at his surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. But when he finds Belle, his expression incredulous and hopeful at the same time. He takes a step towards her hesitantly, as if caught in a dream.

Belle doesn’t move. This is all very strange. Her mind tells her she’s never seen this man in her life, but her heart begs her to look closer. There’s something about him that’s so...familiar…

“Belle,” he says, and gone is the low growl, the garbled speech. His voice shakes, but is otherwise smooth and pleasant to her ears. “It’s me.”

She steps forward now, peering into the man’s face, searching for a sign. She puts her hand up to caress his cheek when she sees it—his eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, like the sky just after the sun rises. She knows those eyes.

“It is you,” she whispers, and smiles through fresh tears.

“We’ve done it, Plumette!” Lumiére shouts, beaming as the villagers ran from the castle’s grounds in fear. “Victory is ours!”

There is no response.

“Plumette?” He turns and something strikes him through the heart; his love is lying on the snow-covered ground, more antique than alive.

“No,” he pleads, rushing forward to cradle her in his arms. “Mon amour, s'il vous plaît!”

She looks up at him, her wing shakily reaching up to touch his chest. “Lumiére…”

“Oui, chéri, I’m here,” he says, trying to hold her gaze just a bit longer, but it’s no use. They’ve run out of time. “Plumette! Not you, please, not you…”

He doesn’t notice the change in the air. He doesn’t hear Mrs. Potts give a shout of exclamation, nor the shocked trill of keys from the maestro behind him. So deep is his grief that he doesn’t notice anything until such an intense feeling of warmth washes over him that he fears he might have set everything ablaze. Then it’s gone in a burst of gold and white. He blinks, confused, before he sees her in his arms, dressed in white, surrounded by feathers, and staring up at him with such untamed joy.

His heart leaps, and his hand curls around her shoulder as she reaches up to touch his face.

Wait.

Her hand. His face. His hand. His heart.

Oh. Oh.

He’s holding her. She is alive and human and he is holding her.

Chip and Mrs. Potts are laughing together. Froufrou, a mass of fur and happy yips, runs in circles around the two musicians. And Plumette, alive, healthy, in his arms, and he isn’t burning.

It must register in his expression then, because Plumette laughs. It’s a sound more beautiful than anything he’s ever heard.

“Oh, my love. You are a fool.”

“Oui,” he agrees, and leans down to kiss her.

Jean stops when he sees the light.

He’s running back towards the trees, trying desperately to get away from the living castle, with its haunted furniture and roaring beasts. He’d had enough of those for one lifetime. He glances over his shoulder to see if anyone got left behind, and stops when he sees a pinprick of light, like a tiny ball, hovering above the castle.

“My, what’s that up there?” he calls, pointing up at the light. “Something’s happening!”

For a moment, no one listens to him. The villagers run past him with their horses, too caught up in their terror to notice an old man’s rambling. Then a hand grasps his shoulder and he turns to see Monsieur LeFou. Jean’s lips part in surprise; when was the last time LeFou talked to him? He couldn’t remember.

“Hey, everyone! Stop!” LeFou yells, and his voice rings louder than Jean’s, so that the people around them all slow their steps to hear Gaston’s second-in-command speak. “M’sieur Jean’s seen something! Look at the castle!”

They all turn to look, and by that time the ball has changed shape. It’s separated itself into ribbons, flying out in all directions...one of those directions being the village.

Some of the villagers start backward in fear, while others only stand there, full of awe and curiosity.

When the light hits Jean, it’s warm and soothing, like a summer breeze. But with it brings two faces to the surface of his mind: a woman in a white apron and a boy with curly brown locks and a bright smile.

Beatrice. Christopher.

He gasps and almost sinks to the ground. His wife. His son. Missing. Gone for years of his life. He had forgotten all about them.

“Oh my word…!”

Think. When was the last time he had seen them? The ball—the young prince had been hosting a ball and they had gone to the castle to help with preparations.

Suddenly the castle’s towers no longer seemed like a threat. It’s where his family was. He has to go back.

All around him, the other villagers spring into action, running back towards the castle with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. The old fishmonger has never looked so happy, and the headmaster is calling his daughter’s name.

That’s right, Jean thinks. He did have a daughter. She would come by my shop every day to look at the new sets.

And with that, the old potter takes off running as well. He had missed so many days that he could have spent with his family. He has to get them back.

Golden light shines through the streets of the castle, where Maurice and D’Arque stand debating by the asylum cart. The horses whinny nervously, but the two men do not notice at first.

“Gaston put you up to this, I understand that,” Maurice is saying. “But now that there is, in fact, a castle, wouldn’t that mean that several of your patients are saner than you think?”

Something flickers in D’Arque’s expression, but he scoffs. “Even so...”

Then they see it, floating through the dark streets of Villeneuve: a golden spirit, a river of light, bringing the strong scent of roses in its wake.

The hat shop owner runs outside, wrapping her traveling cloak around her shoulders. Pére Robert already has his cloak on as he lights another torch, his expression one of relief and praise.

Maurice and D’Arque lock gazes in mutual understanding (Finally, Maurice thinks) and the asylum owner throws open the doors to his cart, making no attempts to retrieve the lock from the artist. There’s only one thought in everyone’s minds: The castle. They need to get to the castle.

A few minutes later, the sun has risen and the loved are being embraced by the lost. The headmaster kisses his daughter on the forehead. Clothilde throws her arms around her husband. Jean has one arm around his wife and the other around his son, all smiles and bright eyes. The triplet sisters run to their brother, weeping over how much they missed him, and how overjoyed their mother would be once they returned to Villeneuve.

There are shouts of recognition as some of the villagers stare at the musicians, not only because they had exchanged blows a few minutes ago, but there are a few that recognize them from their status. LeFou stares in shock as Mrs. Potts beams at him, realizing that he had saved her life earlier. Cadenza extends a hand to Clothilde, though both look a little uncomfortable with it. There are all kinds of emotions in the air.

The only time a hush comes over the crowd is when Belle and Adam come out to meet everyone. The respect the villagers show Belle is astounding. This girl, this woman that they had doubted has turned out to be the one that’s brought their lives back to them. And they remember their prince, the young one that used to show kindness to the common folk before the queen’s death. He smiles at everyone, and they smile back.

Of course, there is still confusion in the air. There are still people in the world that are waking up and not understanding what is going on countries, oceans away. But there is no need to fear it anymore. Darkness is only there to make light brighter.

This darkness has been shattered by love and light, and all words of protest on the matter are better left unspoken.

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omg-foreverfilledwithweird-posts · 7 years ago

Text

Holding On for Life

Summary: Ember has had enough, she arrives at her office, demanding to Adrian that she shouldn’t be fired and for him to finally own up to how he feels. But fate has other plans for these two...

Author’s Note: The feedback on the series is freaking OVERWHELMING!!! I love you guys and all your comments and reblogs, they are why I write, well one of the reasons (*cough* SMUT *cough*) I hope you enjoy this as much I enjoy writing it!!

SORRY I NEED TO TAG PEOPLE SO IM REPOSTING

starstruckzonkoperatorbat

@devineinterventions2

@dangerous-capri15

@ashtonmore

Ember raises her fist in front of Adrian’s office door, it took running past security and avoiding Nicole to get her all the way here, and yet... she can’t bring herself to face him. She closes her eyes, exhaling slowly, before twisting the door handle open.

“Adri-”

She stops herself, hand gripping the door handle at the sight before her, Adrian hovering over Nicole’s neck, pressing her against the desk, just like the first time she’d caught them. Her breath catches in her throat and she gulps, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

Quit crying, Ember... Quit crying...

“I should have known,” she spits, catching his attention, her voice thick with emotion. “I should have known that you would run to her... after... after everything.”

He wipes his lips, embarrassed he’s caught her, pushing himself off a fuming Nicole.

“Weren’t you fired?” Nicole sits up on the desk, buttoning her shirt back up, as he presses his blood to the wound. “You can’t be here,” she sizes her up.

“I needed to talk to Adrian,” Ember says quietly, wiping at her eyes again, feeling incredibly vulnerable as Adrian looks at her with sad eyes, thinking of what could have been.

“Nicole, please leave,” Adrian doesn’t take his eyes off of Ember, searching her face as she doesn’t quite meet his eyes, this makes his heart clench.

Nicole scowls. “But-”

“Nicole,” he says in a stern tone, still looking at Ember, as Nicole struts out of the room, knocking into Ember’s shoulder as she moves past her.

Adrian moves towards Ember, shutting the door behind her, and looking her in the eye, “She’s right, you shouldn’t be in here.”

“You shouldn’t have fired me,” she says back. “You shouldn’t fire me for some petty reason, whatever your problem is, it shouldn’t affect my job. You know I’m good at what I do.”

“You are...” he sighs, looking down and running a frustrated hand through his hair, running his tongue over his fangs. “You were. Then we...” he pauses and shakes his head. “-and it’s compromised my work, it’s not right for me to keep you here, especially with my feelings out in the open.”

Ember chuckles darkly, looking him defiantly in the eye, steam practically coming out of her ears when she stares him down, “This is what you call out in the open? The only thing out in the open is your ego, a small, sensitive, puny ego that got hurt and now you’re taking it out on my job. No, no, you don’t get to do that.”

He frowns, “Emb-”

“No,” she lifts a single finger, frown deepening on her lips. “You can’t do this, you can’t say your feelings are out in the open when they’re not, you have them pent up to protect some kind of twisted, masculinity complex. I don’t care if you’re a vampire, Adrian,” she looks in him in the eye, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks now. “I didn’t care, but you did. You care that I’m human.”

“It’s not some masculinity issue,” his brows pinch together. “It’s the fact I’m your boss, it’s how I could kill you, Ember. I put you in danger! It’s how whenever I touch you, or hold you, or kiss you, I risk hurting you...” he says, a mixture of anger and sadness mingling in his rough tone of voice.

“And I’m not worth that risk...” she finishes his sentence, quietly, she breathes out, breath catching as she wipes at her eyes again.

He shakes his head, “You worth everything, Ember. You deserve everything good in this world, and nothing but the best. And I can’t give that to you.”

“I don’t want the best,” Ember’s voice raises, anger boiling her gut when she looks at the confused and upset look on his face. “I want you, goddammit! You stupid, bullheaded, stubborn, coward!” his eyes are soft now, looking at her as his lips slowly stop frowning. “I heard what you said when you were strangling Jax,” she says, looking at the floor. “I heard you say you’re in love with me, so don’t give that my feelings are out in the open bullshit, because they’re not. I had to find out from eavesdropping. I should have heard it from you.”

His eyes drop to her lips, set in a deep frown, but slowly soften as he continues to look at her, desire in his deep, dark eyes. He meets her eyes, breathing hastily, breaths fanning over each other’s faces, hands willing to stay at their sides instead of pulling the other to them. She turns away from him, leaning her head on the door. One stray coil of hair falls over her eyes, and he clenches his fist, wanting nothing more than to push it out of her gaze and take her in his arms.

But she wasn’t his to hold.

“I owe you that much,” he whispers, looking at the floor.

“You’re damn right you do,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, I’m in love with you, Ember,” he confirms, looking to his side instead of at her. She looks up at him, her entire, defensive resolve crumbling as her arms fall loosely to her sides, staring at him with tears in her eyes. “And it’s affecting our work relationship... but if I’m willing to suppress those feelings, and not let it dictate my job, and so do you. Only then will I let you keep your job.”

“I can’t,” she whispers, looking down at the floor. “I... I can’t do that,” she looks back up, willing at the tears welling in her eyes, but they’re already spilling out. “You’re asking a lot of me, Adrian... It’s just... too much...”

He reaches out and holds her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb over the tears under her eyes, “Don’t cry... please...”

“I’m trying...” she sobs, holding a hand over her mouth.��“It’s... it’s just so hard...” she cries, head in her hands. “I can’t do this...” she says, body shaking.

He clenches his eyes shut, exhaling deeply before wrapping his arms around her back, and pulling her to him, one hand on her back and the other running a hand through her hair as she lays her head on his chest, crying. She attempts to push him away, trying to hit his hard, broad chest but failing, sobbing as she does so. He only pulls her to him and she gives in, face against his dress shirt, soaking it with tears and mascara. They stay like this for what seems like forever, in soft, comfortable silence as she starts to run out of tears, staying in his arms even after she’s felt a bit better.

“You’re asking me to stop loving you, Adrian,” she whispers, flush against him. “You make it sound so easy.”

“If it was easy, we wouldn’t be here right now,” he whispers in her hair, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

“Is it easy for you... to stop loving me?”

“No... because I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” he says truthfully, heart clenching in his chest.

She closes her eyes, “What do we do?”

“I don’t know, my flower...” he says, resting his chin on the top of her head, closing his eyes as well. “I don’t know...”

He wills himself to let her go, stepping away from her to take in her appearance, tousled, unruly curls, blotched cheeks, red, melancholic eyes, and pink tinted lips from her biting down on them. He looks at her like she’s the world, completely baffled at how she still looks this beautiful even after crying. She looks away from him, embarrassed.

“You can’t look at me like that,” she says quietly.

“Like what?” he asks her.

“Like you want me,” she answers, heart twisting.

He tilts his head to her, looking at her with sad eyes, “I can’t do that, Ember.”

She runs her hands down her face, thinking back to when she was contemplating coming into this office, wishing she could go back and instead of knocking, she’d go home and forget.

If only she went home and just forgot.

The door swings open, a masked man, clad in all black clothing with his face hidden by a dark hood over his head. Adrian stands himself in front of Ember, pushing her back, protecting her as he flares his fangs at the unknown attacker in the doorway. He lifts the stake in his hands, walking slowly into the office. His head darts Ember to Adrian, lunging for him.

It happens all in an instant, Ember pushing Adrian out of the way, Adrian screaming for her to stop, and her jumping in front of the stake, plunging in her heart.

She looks down, the stake in her chest. Her eyes are wide, but something washes over her, relaxing her.

Peace.

She gasps as her lungs fill with blood, killing her slowly. Blood pools around her shirt, she locks eyes with Adrian tear filled ones, “I told you... I wouldn’t go... I’m sorry...” she chokes out.

Just as her limp, lifeless body falls to the ground.

---

Ember shoots up from a bed, gasping for breath as she instinctively reaches down to clutch her chest, searching for a gash. She lifts up her shirt and sees no blood, no scar, no remnants of the night.

She looks around her bedroom, her breathing slowing down more as she realizes it was all just a bad dream. Just one big nightmare... She pulls the overs off of her and swings her legs off the bed, walking over to her bathroom. She turns on the cool water, cupping her hands, and splashing it on her face.

She looks up and slowly lifts her hand up, opening her mouth, fear deep in her eyes, as she runs a finger down a fang, meeting a pair of blood red eyes in the mirror and a figure in the doorway.

#hehehehheheheheheheheehehehehehhe #bloodbound #adrian #adrian raines #ember #choices stories you can play #tumblr is life #im sorry #not sorry

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moodyandmoonyeyed · 7 years ago

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One Headlight

Category: Stranger Things Characters: Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Max Mayfield Word Count: 5590 Summary: Part 3 of ‘Goodnight.’ El experiences her normal life after her world has shattered. Warning: Character death

[A/N]: Tagging @strange-thangs and @rhapsodyinblueyellowgreen

The rest of the week passed without any more incidents, and no one mentioned the one that had happened, knowing it wasn’t likely to happen again and that it wouldn’t do anyone else any good to hear about it. Day after day passed in a slow monotony of bleary eyes and lots of coffee and random moments of laughter that were stunted by a remembrance so profound it took your breath away. Then the Sunday after the funeral, El finally gathered up the mess of things she had brought home, said goodbye to Joyce and Steve, had one last dinner with the Wheeler’s, and then once again settled herself into the hour long drive in a car that felt like it would always be cold, listening to Mike talk about everything he had going on in the next few days.

As he turned the corner onto the street her dorm hall resided on, she took notice of all the same things as last time; she wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to look at them without turning them into personal landmarks for her and her dad. She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, already exhausted and not looking forward to going back to classes tomorrow. Usually she liked school. Having been deprived of the educational experience up until high school, she honestly felt like she’d never want to stop learning new things. But right now she had gained knowledge about a part of life that she was pretty sure she never would have been prepared for no matter what day in her life it happened, and that was enough for a few years.

Mike knew that she had toyed with the thought of not coming back to school, taking a break for a few years just to be with Joyce and figure out how to move on when one of the few constants in her life was gone. She had even broached the subject with Joyce the night after the fight in the ice cream shop, thinking maybe too much had changed and she couldn’t keep living her life the same way. But both of them had convinced her that that would be too much of a difference, and she needed to keep some stability or she might fall into a hole. So here she was, sitting in the car with her head in her hands, taking deep breaths to try and still the scenery around her. A gentle pressure reached her back and she felt small circles being rubbed along it.

They stayed like that for several minutes, neither talking as she tried to regain some stillness, but she knew that it couldn’t be like this forever, so she finally raised her head and gave Mike a watery smile.

“Thanks,” she croaked out, voice dry from lack of use.

“Of course,” he smiled back, gaze darting all around her face. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before squeezing her hand and climbing out of the car to help her with her things.

She took one last deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror, fluffing her hair to try and give her some confidence that she no longer felt, before rolling her eyes and joining him at the trunk.

“Do you think you’ll be able to come by this weekend?” She asked him, closing the trunk for him as he swung her bag over his shoulder.

“Oh, um. I don’t know,” he said, voice tripping a little over the words. “I don’t…I don’t think so? I’m really sorry, El, I just…after the week off I have a lot to catch up on and I think I’m gonna need the weekend for that,” he breathed out in a rush. “I’m so so sorry.” He turned his gaze to his shoes in guilt, and El immediately felt horrible.

Here was her wonderful boyfriend doing everything he could to make sure she was doing as well as she could given the circumstances, and somehow he thought that she’d be upset and think it wasn’t enough. She felt a pang of guilt of her own, and tilted his face back up to give him a smile and a soft, lingering kiss.

“I get it, Mike. I really do. I mean you stayed home all of this week for me and that couldn’t have been easy,” she said, trying to reassure him as best she could. “Please don’t be sorry that you’re taking care of things that you need to for yourself,” she pleaded, eyes wide and at risk of crying once again.

His shoulders immediately dropped the tension and he pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered into her hair, placing a kiss there before pulling away and grabbing her hand so they could head up to her room.

“Besides, Max offered to come visit and I said I’d have to see what you were doing since our date was canceled. I didn’t know if you wanted to try that again or-”

“I do. I definitely do, I just need a little time to get things together,” he told her hurriedly.

“No, I know. Like I said, I get it. So I’ll just tell Max that we’re on for this weekend. It might be nice to actually do some of our old things. Watch movies and paint our nails…” she trailed off, randomly thinking of how her dad always hated when they had those nights because he couldn’t stand the smell of the nail polish. He always claimed that he would make them go outside if they insisted on doing it again, and yes, even in the snow.

She shook her head, a little too late to realizing that Mike was just finishing saying something, but she didn’t have the energy to ask what it was, so she smiled up at him as they reached her dorm, and unlocked the door.

The room looked the same as it had when they left, she guessed. Clothes were thrown everywhere and they forgot to turn off her tv. But the air felt different. There was still some sense of anguish that seemed to be clinging to the dust particles floating around out of sight that was weighing on them, crushing them to the floor if they let it. They stood in the doorway for a few moments, scared to enter and have their strength tested. She knew she couldn’t always live her life like this though, so El steeled herself and walked in, flipping the light switch and sending a soft glow over everything.

Mike set her bag on the floor next to her closet, and then stuck his hands in his pockets as she turned the tv off.

“Anyway. I’ve gotta get going,” Mike mumbled, looking at his feet again.

“Oh. Okay, yeah. I guess it’s a bit of a drive back,” she said quietly, bending to pick a shirt up off of the floor and folding it back up.

“I’ll call you when I get back?”

“Please,” she said, voice cracking on a small bubble of emotion.

He rushed forward to wrap her up in a strong hug, knocking what little breath she felt like she had left these days out of her. She laughed and squeezed him back, burying her face into his shoulder and trying not to cry. They had barely been without each other since they found out the news - just the occasional run to his parents or the store, and when she went with her family to the funeral home - and it was suddenly hitting her all at once. Actually, this would be the first time she was alone since it happened. She had always had someone there to talk to or sit in silence with. How was she supposed to do this by herself? But she knew she couldn’t ask him to give up any more of his time so she pushed back the tears and pulled away, looking up into his face and trying to memorize every detail of it, only to realize she had committed it to memory a long time ago.

“I love you,” he whispered, resting his forehead on hers, keeping his eyes open and on hers.

“I love you too.”

Finally he pulled away and smiled at her, giving her one last quick kiss before heading out the door. As it closed with a resounding thud that she felt in her knees, she tried as hard as she could not to crumble into a pit of despair, and lay on the ground for the next few hours. If she was going to try and go back to her normal life, she’d have to first clean up the mess around her, and then try and get her school work back on track.

It felt like it didn’t take her long at all to clean everything up and then make a list of what all she needed to do for the classes she had tomorrow, but when she finally looked out the window, the sky was turning dark and the street lights were popping on. Sitting there, staring at the house across from her room, shadows of a family moving behind drawn curtains, she felt a sudden wave of impulsivity wash over her. She wasn’t sure where it came from or what she even wanted to do about it, but it was a sudden itching in her feet and a tingling in her hands. Restlessness settled in the air around her and she had to get up and walk around, shaking the jitters away until she was able to slow her heart rate.

As she went to pick up the phone and call Max, she glanced at the window across from hers one last time, and saw that the family had all gathered around the table, the parents and two small children, all passing food around for dinner. She felt something new inside of her break; she wasn’t aware there was enough of her left to even do that. But there it was, another snap happening in her chest, and she slowly dropped to her knees, cradling the phone to her chest, mouth agape in a silent scream of grief. This must be what death felt like. At least for the living. This all consuming knowledge that it was over and no amount of wishing or dreaming would ever make it revert itself. And then the crying came, and even to her own ears it sounded like the wails of every good thing coming to an end. She had no care for what her hall mates around her would think. She had no care for anything at all except staring at this family through tear drenched eyes, and realizing that she would never get that back. She would never feel that sense of belonging or home, she was sure.

Time seemed infinite in this moment, no matter how cliche that sounded even as she thought it. It was like looking at herself from outside of her body. She saw the curled up shape of a barely breathing human rocking back and forth on the floor, mouth still open as far as it could possibly go and her entire body quivering in terror at the rest of her life spread out before her. But she could also think of things like ‘time was infinite’ and ‘I wonder what people would say if they saw me’ and ‘this actually sort of hurts my mouth’ and ‘if there’s any version of an afterlife, what is Dad thinking of me now.’ Analytical and straight to the point thoughts accompanied all of the elusive memories that hadn’t even happened yet and now never would that were streaming through her mind. But eventually, the drowning feeling faded and she sat back up, gasping for air like she might never get another breath.

It was a few more moments before she was finally able to wipe her face with the hem of her shirt, and then a few more before she could convince herself that it was fine to venture into the hall and splash some cold water on her burning cheeks, and then a few more before she actually felt calm enough to call Max. Breathing in deeply and puffing out her cheeks as she held it, she dialed the number she had quickly memorized when they had all left for different schools. She let it back out once the ringing came through and shakily sat in her chair, not sure she could stand much longer.

“Hello?” She heard her favorite redhead say on the other end.

“Hey, Max. It’s me,” she tried, but her throat was raw from all the crying and she had to take a few swallows of her water before trying again. “Sorry, sorry. Dry throat,” she chuckled, setting the bottle back on her desk. “Anyway, it’s me. El,” she finished lamely. Great, now she was forgetting how to talk to even her friends.

“Oh, hey! What’s up? How are you feeling? Are you back at school yet?” Max fired off in quick succession, clearly just as confused how to handle these conversations herself.

El laughed, rolling her eyes at her friend’s nervous behavior. “I’m okay for the most part. Mike dropped me off a few hours ago so I’ve just been cleaning and getting some homework done. What about you? Did you and Lucas make it back okay?”

“Are you kidding? Lucas drove. There was never any chance of being unsafe, or on time,” Max grumbled, but El could hear the smile in her voice. When everyone in the party first started driving - with the exception of El - it was a surprise to find out who was incredibly daring and who was incredibly safe. Max and Lucas resided in the opposite categories respectively, and it made everyone laugh to know that Lucas wouldn’t dare go two miles over the speed limit, and that was even if he got that far.

“Well it’s better than hitting every mailbox on the road,” El joked, reminiscing on the first time Max drove without a supervisor in the car and proceeded to knock down three mailboxes on her street before finally slamming the brakes.

“Haha, very funny. Did you actually have a reason for calling or were you just trying to poke fun? Cause that’s not very Mike of you,” Max said, smirk clearly evident.

“You clearly don’t know what he says about you all behind your back,” El said, smirk of her own on her face.

“Ouch. That one actually hurt a little. Wheeler talks about us behind our backs?”

El knew that Max was still joking, but she also knew that she hated being talked about and not knowing what it was people were saying. She could spout off about not caring what people said all she wanted but at the end of the day, Max really wanted people to like her and lived in constant fear that everyone who pretended they did was just lying until they could ruin her life forever. Her words verbatim.

“Speaking of,” El said, trying to change the subject back to what she originally had intended it to be. “I asked him if he’d be coming back this weekend and he can’t. He said he has to catch up on his own homework and needs the weekend to do it. So if you’re still wanting to come visit, I would really love the company.”

“Yeah, definitely! I haven’t visited your school yet so that’ll be fun. We can even have a real girls night! We haven’t done one of those in a long time it feels like,” Max said, mimicking El’s earlier sentiments.

“I was thinking the same thing, actually!”

“Awesome! Well Lucas and I are about to go get dinner so I guess I’ll see you Friday!”

“See you Friday,” El replied, before hanging up, feeling only vaguely better than she did before the call. Of course she was excited to get to spend some one-on-one time with Max, and she definitely knew that she couldn’t expect everyone to just be open to talk to her whenever she needed, but that didn’t stop the aching feeling in her chest that got deeper with every passing second. So, without dinner, and without even bothering to change out of her clothes, El grabbed an old flannel of her dad’s and climbed into bed, crying herself to sleep once again.

Over the course of the rest of the week, El felt she managed to keep her life together surprisingly well for someone who was pretty sure their world was crashing and burning all around them. Her teachers smiled at her with sad eyes when she walked into rooms, and her classmates gave her odd looks when she wasn’t quite as cheerful or ready with an answer to every question, but beyond that, no one seemed to suspect anything else was out of sync with her life. All she knew was that when her last class on Friday finally ended and she walked into her room, ready to start the weekend, she finally relaxed and felt like she could shake off this other person she had become to get through the tedious days.

In anticipation for Max’s arrival, she once again cleared away the mess that had grown on the floor during the rushed mornings and barely eaten lunches and a few nights without any sleep. Just as she was walking back in with her clean dishes in a bucket in her arms, her phone started ringing, and she almost dropped everything to the ground as a shot of fear ran through her. Sure, the phone had rung several times since she’d been back - Mike called every day (sometimes multiple times) and Joyce and Will had called her a handful of times each - but she wasn’t sure she’d ever get rid of the nausea that settled in her stomach every time she heard the shrill cry of it. Barely maintaining her grasp on the bucket, she quickly set it down on her desk and picked up the phone, anything to silence the awful noise.

“Hello?” She asked, slightly breathless and with an edge of panic in her voice.

“Hey, I’m here. Wanna come let me in?” Max practically screamed with excitement.

The sound brought a smile to El’s face and sent relief rushing through her. “I’ll be right down!” She said, and quickly hung up before running back out the door and to the front of her building.

“El!”

“Max!”

They cried and ran into each other’s arms in an overly affectionate manner that was done mostly out of a flare for the theatrics on both sides. But it really did feel good to finally have someone around who understood everything that had been going on and she knew she wouldn’t have to put up any more walls for a few days.

“I’ve missed you,” Max whispered, squeezing her a little tighter before letting go and picking up her dropped bag. “Let’s get this weekend started. I need some relaxation, let me tell you,” she said, dropping her shoulders and sticking out her tongue in a mock show of exhaustion.

El laughed and led her up to her room, the redhead chattering her ear off about how school would be the end of her and if not it, then Lucas always making sure she was getting homework done on time would. She placed her bag on the spare bed in El’s room and took a look around, peering closely at all of the photos that covered every available surface, including the walls.

“13,” she finally said after taking it all in, and nodding with a satisfied smile.

“13 what?” El asked, not quite sure if she was rating the room or talking about the amount of Eggo boxes in the corner that she kept forgetting to throw away - she was sure it wasn’t that many but maybe she really had lost track of herself.

“Pictures that I’m in. A fair number. I wouldn’t expect any more than Mike but I’m pleased to know that I rank second highest,” Max smiled at her, poking her in the shoulder.

El rolled her eyes and sat down in her chair, motioning that Max could sit on the bed or anywhere she really liked. Everything suddenly felt awkward. All week she had been so looking forward to this but now that they were together and they had the next few days ahead of them with no real plans, it felt too wide open. There was too much that could happen and too much that they could accidentally talk about. Plus, she had never considered what Max would think if she suddenly couldn’t sleep, or if all she wanted to do was sleep all day (an event that she had done at least once this past week).

“So, is there anything fun in town to do?” Max finally asked, after taking one more cursory glance around the room.

“Oh. I thought we were just relaxing. I didn’t look up any movies or anything. Hold on and I’ll go grab a paper,” El said, standing up and heading to the door.

“No! No it’s fine. I just didn’t know what you were up for. Whatever you want, honestly,” Max reassured her with a smile.

El relaxed a tiny bit, but also felt an edge of annoyance slide into her gut. She knew that everyone was trying to make sure that she was as comfortable as possible, but couldn’t things just go back to the way they used to be? If everyone kept tiptoeing around her she was pretty sure she’d implode soon.

“Well you’re the guest so whatever you want to do I’m fine with,” El said after a couple of seconds of trying to regain her peace of mind. She didn’t want to be angry, she really didn’t.

“I’d like to watch movies,” Max said after contemplating the options. “I know you have all of the Molly Ringwald ones. Let’s just veg and eat Eggos all weekend.”

El relaxed. She knew that Max would intuitively know what she wanted, even if she was willing to sacrifice her comfort for the entertainment of her friend. “Sounds great. We will have to go buy some more waffles though…I’ve kind of been eating nothing else,” she laughed a little embarrassedly, a flush running to her cheeks.

Max laughed with her and picked up her keys from the desk along with her purse. “Let’s go now. We’ll grab some other things too. I’m thinking ice cream and pie. Maybe some stuff for hot chocolate. If we get everything now, we’ll really have no reason to leave the room this weekend,” she grinned, heading out the door.

El grabbed her own purse and smiled at her friend as they made their way to her car.

Once again, Max did most of the talking, this time about the latest updates on her shitty step-father and brother that her mother had given her the last time she called. “Honestly, I don’t know why she thinks I care to know these things,” she sighed in frustration. “I’m out of the house. I no longer have a duty to pretend to care about them.”

“Not that you even pretended to anyway,” El snorted, remembering how there had been several fights that Max had had with her mom during high school because she really did not care about putting up that front.

“True,” Max amended, smiling.

When they got to the small grocery store in town, they hurried in, on a mission to get in and out in as little time as possible. But five minutes in and maybe only three minutes to go, El ran into one of her ‘friends’ from her Psychology class. Michelle and her weren’t anything more than people who happened to pair up when needed for projects or in-class work, but they still said hi and chit-chatted whenever they’d see each other outside of school and El knew she had been specifically avoiding her so she wouldn’t have to explain why she had been gone so long. Looked like the period of avoidance was up.

“El! Hi. Oh my gosh, how are you? Where have you been? Last week was hell. Mr. Kaminski had us pair up for a small paper of the five stages of grief and I had to work with that weird guy who always sits in the back and manages to work alone because we’re an odd numbered class. You know, the one who smells a bit like cheese,” Michelle said, all very quickly and in a very conspiratorial voice as if they had discussions about the personal hygiene of this poor boy every day.

“Oh. I’m really sorry that I wasn’t there. He always seems nice though. He’s in my creative writing class and he actually has some of the best stories,” El tried to politely defend him, knowing what it was like to be on his side of the teasing. She also would rather talk about him than explain why she was gone or, heaven forbid, how she was doing. She also couldn’t help but feel a major sting in her heart, knowing that the teacher probably picked that content specifically because of the news about her dad.

“Well, that’s nice I guess. I just don’t really know him, y know? Anyway, so where have you been?”

“Ummm…”

“El? El where are you?” Max called from a couple of aisles over.

“Over here!” El called back, thankful for the distraction.

When Max joined her by her side, El made quick introductions, hoping the other two would find something small to talk about before they could all head in their own directions.

“Nice to meet you, Max. El’s talked a lot about you,” Michelle said, sticking out her hand.

“Oh, well that’s because I’m awesome,” Max joked, flipping her hair over her shoulder, before shaking hands.

The other girl laughed before turning back to El. “So seriously, where were you? Some people thought you ran off with that dreamy boyfriend of yours and got married, but I thought that didn’t seem like you,” Michelle, giggled, waving her hand as if she were waving off those other guesses.

She figured there was no getting out of this and it was probably better to do it now rather than later, kind of like pulling off a bandaid, so she squared her shoulders and went for it. “My dad died on Friday so I went home for that…” Despite the confidence she felt when starting the sentence, it quickly fell away by the time she finished. It was the first time she had said those actual words, and they kept ringing in her ears. Plus the buzz of self-consciousness over her choice of words. Why did she have to bluntly say ‘die?’ Why couldn’t she have said ‘passed away’ or ‘moved on.’ The nerves kept her asking that but deep down she knew it was because she wanted the news of it to hit everyone the same way it hit her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, to hear that,” Michelle said, putting a hand over her heart. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty terrible, if we’re honest,” El laughed humorlessly, trying to make a joke and mask the pain that was growing inside of her.

“Well, at least he’s in a better place,” the girl said, pulling El in for a quick hug. “If you ever need anything, let me know. I’m here for you.” She gave her one last hug before claiming that if she didn’t hurry her friends would probably leave her behind, and hurried away.

“Well that was…awkward,” Max chortled, shaking her head. “She seemed nice though. No replacement for me when I’m not here, but we’ll find you someone.”

“Yeah,” El half laughed, not even paying attention. “Can we get out of here? It’s really hot.” And truthfully, it did seem as if someone had kicked the heat up about ten notches. It took everything in her to not pull at her collar in discomfort and start fanning herself with the box of cereal in her hand.

“Sure.”

They finished up their shopping in record time and ran back to the car, a rain that must have started while they were inside, driving down. They gasped and laughed in the dry air of the vehicle, shivering as the heat kicked on. Neither of the girls talked while Max pulled out of the space and turned left onto the street, heading back to the dorms, but El could tell that Max had some question on her mind. Mostly because she kept opening and closing her mouth.

About halfway back, she finally seemed to work up the nerve. “So how are you actually feeling about what happened back there?”

El sighed and slumped in her seat, leaning her head against the window, suddenly feeling hot all over again. “I don’t know. I mean…I guess…” She sighed again, trying to wrap her head around what she was thinking and trying to formulate it into enough words that Max would understand. But she just kept repeating the line “at least he’s in a better place” over and over again in her head. It wasn’t something new to her. She had heard it a million times from friends and family back home, but this random stranger remarking on it, telling her that her dad was no longer suffering and seeming to be happier now that he was gone, was not sitting right with her, and she was brimming with anger at the audacity of it.

“I guess I’m just tired of hearing that he’s in a better place. It’s an absolute bullshit line that people only say so you can feel comforted that he’s not in pain or anything,” she fumed. “He’s not happier and he’s not at peace,” she continued, anger really working up in her now that she had started to speak her mind. “If there’s any sort of after life he’s pissed off. He’s so pissed off that he isn’t here to do everything that we’re all knowing he’s going to miss out on and he’s pissed off that we’re all upset over him and we can joke all we want to that he would hate the attention and wouldn’t want us to cry that much but no. He’s pissed that we’re in pain and he can’t fix it. He’s pissed off that he won’t be here for Nancy and Jonathan’s wedding and he’s pissed off that he won’t get to see Will’s finished book, and he’s pissed off that he won’t see him fall in love, and he’s pissed off he won’t be here for Joyce’s birthday next month, and he’s so incredibly pissed off that he won’t see me graduate or get engaged or walk me down the aisle or any of that bullsit that seems so given and simple but honestly right now would mean everything to me. I would give everything for that to happen,” she finished on a scream.

She didn’t know she was crying until she felt the drops falling off her cheeks and landing on her clenched hands. She didn’t realize how angry she was about everything up until now. She knew she was still sometimes astounded that it was all happening, and sure she could even recognize the signs of depression setting in, but this anger felt new and she didn’t know if it would ever go away. “I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered, picking at her thumb nail and trying to breath through the tears. “I don’t know how to face every day knowing it’s one day further from him. There are years ahead of me and they’re all absent of him and it’s stupid and it’s ridiculous to think he’s peaceful and somewhere better,” she finally finished.

Somehow, during all of that they had made it back to the school parking lot, and were just sitting in the car, engine still running to keep them warm. “Sorry. I’m not angry at you or anything. I’m just…”

“Angry?” Max asked, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Yeah,” El quietly laughed.

“It’s okay to be angry, you know that right?”

“No, I know. I just…I don’t know. It’s so hard to pinpoint when I’m anything right now. It’s all still so new and I feel like I’m just twirling around and can’t catch sight of anything real,” she tried to explain. Does that make sense?”

“It does,” Max told her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “Do you want to keep talking? I’ve got all weekend,” she laughed.

“No, I think I’m good for now,” El chuckled back. “Thanks,” she said, smiling a teary-eyed smile at her friend.

“No problem,” Max said, leaning across the center console and giving her a hug.

El knew that it wouldn’t be better for a long time. She knew she’d have to go through more encounters where she’d have to explain this whole situation again and again. It would happen for the rest of her life. Anytime she met a new person that she could even hope to have some kind of friendship with, this would be one of the first things she’d have to drop on them. But it was good to know that whenever that happened, she had others waiting to listen as she screamed about it all.

#aaaaand let me know what you think #as usual I don't know how I feel about this #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #eleven #Mike wheeler #max mayfield #Jim hopper #mine #I write things #Mileven #eleven fic #eleven fanfic #Mileven fic #Mileven fanfic #max mayfield fic #max mayfield fanfic

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oldscarredlove · 8 years ago

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AfterGone - Part 1/3

The Origins of AG

Error > @loverofpiggies (tag ain’t working) Swap!Sans > @(can’t remember)

After all this time I still remember what it was like when the human came here to the Underground, the prison of the monsters hidden deep in Mount. Ebott, I’ve lost all sense of time here, when you’re alone you kind of lose all your senses and sanity. Looking over to the other side of Snowdin river, the fields of wooden crosses and blocks of stone, I mesmerized how this all happened… — It is said that the human had fallen into the Underground from the surface landing onto a pile of golden flowers, making them sound like some kind of angel that fallen from the Heavens with golden wings. They were the most innocent thing down here, their smiles and laughs were all it took for the monsters to be befriended and give them their trust.

Right to the very end. No one ever got to see the light of the surface, every single monster that came face to face with the human ultimately ended up being left as a pile of dust. I made sure to never even be within range of the human’s toy knife, being the only one to see their true self.

The human may have fallen as if an angel had been sent to us… But no one ever questioned why the angel had fallen, it was because it was a monster, even more so than ourselves. — Haunting laughter filled the golden corridor, the light of the barrier shining through the windows were blinding my eye-sockets but I’d much prefer look at something that wasn’t the human in front of me. Their cheeks were rosy and their smile was just as it always was but with a more twisted and darker reason other than befriending.

Their yellow shirt was no longer tucked from their brown trousers, the black suspenders hanging loosely on either sides of their legs and their dark shoes powdered with the dust of the slain. Their knife had lost its shine during the journey here, it was pointed at me for the fifth time and I could feel my soul ache in a familiar pain.

“Here again, huh Sans?” Questioned the demon-child, “I wonder how many times we’ll dance like this.” They giggled manically and their soulless eyes looked at me from under their messy fringe.

“The real question is…” I felt my left eye glow before I opened my eyes again, staring into the soul which should have never existed. “Why aren’t you burning in Hell like you should be?” —RESET— Something was different, something has changed and I have no idea what and whatever it was, it was making my bones rattle, it crawled up my spine the entire day, I just couldn’t focus on anything.

It took longer than usual to leave the house, I was heading toward the Waterfall post when it happened, hearing the slice before the bang. I hid in the shadows of the Snowdin woods as I watched Papyrus, my beloved sister, crumble into nothing but ashes, Chara practically skipping away whilst humming a strange tune.

When the human vanished, I came out and wobbled toward the blood-coloured scarf on the ground, hesitating when I reached out for it. “P-Papyrus…? S-Sister…?” I fell onto my knees, burying my face into it and felt myself shiver, feeling the true cold of the situation for the first time.

I was never there to see my sister turn to dust, mainly because I knew I’d lose my mind, I could feel it crack, splitting in half and my eye-socket burning with hatred. “I shall make sure…” I looked up from my spot on the snow, “they burn in the flames of Hell.” — The scarf was wrapped around my neck when I next faced the human, after blasting them with my little pets, they collapsed onto the ground and were silent for a full minute. Then they started to boom with laughter, I could hear them struggling to breathe and see the tears fall onto the floor. They looked up to me with that scary face and had an expression of someone who’s had an awful idea.

“Hahahaha! Why- Why didn’t I think about this before?!” They started to howl again and I could feel their sins surrounding me, it was almost enough to choke me.

“What is it, kid? You’re kinda creeping me out here.” I scowled at their attempt of getting up and falling down again.

“Join me!” I froze in place. “Join me in the next run! Let’s kill everyone! They’ll never-”

“No.” It was all I could say, they’d managed to make me lose my ability to speak, ‘no’ was the only word I could formulate.

“Listen to me, Sans!” They stood up and spread their arms toward me.” They’ll never have to know! I can just reset the timeline and they’ll all just forget, only we will remember!” They held out their disarmed hand. “Join me Sans, it’d be so interesting to see if you’d be able to kill your own-”

Looks like I’m ganna have’ta use my special attack early. —RESET— “Oh! Good morning Sans! You’re up unusually early today!” Papyrus was grinning like a fool as usual, I starred at her in-tents-ly, trying to burn this image of her into my skull. Her heroic cape-like scarf, her shining ‘battle body’, her happy face, looking at me like I was a saint.

How wrong she was, it was almost enough to break me entirely, she was always seeing the good in everything whilst I was her polar opposite. She was the saint, always trying to save those I would’ve discarded without a second thought, being honest and soft forever and always.

“Heh, yeah…” I looked away, ashamed. “Hey sis… I kinda forgot… What would you do if you became the Head of the Royal Guard?”

She looked at me with an expression of bewilderment, amazed I’d forgotten when she’s spoken of it a million times. In truth, I wanted her to picture her happiest day before it all came to an end. As she turned away from me and explained everything with joy, I materialized my claw and sliced at her, making sure to go through the soul to ensure she didn’t feel any pain.

I didn’t want her to even see the human or myself, before she even started to crumble I broke apart, I let the claw fade off and knelt onto the floor, disgusted with myself for what this timeline has in store. After several minutes, I got up, my body rattling loudly, I had no words to say to her, what could I say? “I’m Sorry…” — I was sitting inside Grillby’s when the human came, I heard the door open and footsteps come closer to me, they stopped and were followed by a giggle. “No one’s here, huh?” I said nothing. “Where’d they all go? Did you warn them? Because if you did I can just reset an-”

“I killed everyone.” It was silent for a whole two minutes then booming laughter filled the diner.

“WOW! So you’re going to join me?!” I nodded, they cheered. “This’ll be fun! I can’t wait to see how this goes, par’ner!” I wasn’t so sure. — By the time we reached the Queen’s throne room and that flower-thing were reduced to nothing, we went into the room that was before the barrier, the human was still grinning like a clown with their cheeks the same red as Papyrus’ scarf.

“Now that, Sans, was what I called a good time!” They winked at me like I should agree, but all I felt were the sins crawling up my back.

“It’s the end now kid, we had an agreement: When this was all done with, you’d make sure no one ever knew about this…” I stared at them with hatred, feeling my soul pulsing in agony.

They tapped their knife against their forehead, as if they’d forgotten something. “Oh right!” I was hoping they’d stab them-self in the head. “Ok then, a deal’s a deal.” They steadied their knife. “Goodbye Sans.”

Zoooom….BANG.

My eye-sockets widened and I could feel my jaw drop (not literally), I stared in horror and what’d just happened. The dark grey floor was suddenly covered in red and a choked chuckle rang through the room.

“There… The deal’s done.” And with those dying words, they collapsed onto the ground and time froze. In the monster’s place was a human in different colours, their face was pale and their magenta shirt was stained with blood and their blue trousers and brown boots were dusty.

Staring at this other human, I realized that I’d made a deal with the literal Devil, turning my own words against me. I zipped to the human and started to shake the human around brutally, screaming and sobbing at them to RESET, they always did, why was this any different from the other times they’d died?

My thoughts already pieced the answer together, it was because Chara had killed this human ever since they first possessed them, stealing and destroying a little piece of their soul for every second they were inside them. I started to get slow and my voice was becoming a whisper.

“Please… Bring them back…” — Whilst heading back, I picked a bunch of flowers, gold and blue, and covered each with the dust with a single monster. When I got back to Snowdin, I summoned my claw and made each flower a hole, buring them and placing a wooden cross I’d made from fallen branches in the nearby forest at the head of the grave.

When it came to those I cared for especially, I made them a tombstone, carving their names and a small message into the rock. The last two were Papyrus and the human, although I had never met this human child before, it felt like we could’ve been pals in another lifetime.

When Papyrus’ grave was done, I wrapped her scarf around her tombstone and stood up, looking around at my handy work. My hoodie was torn and tattered, itchy from all the dust it’d collected during the run, I went inside and headed to my room, throwing all the clothes I was wearing into the trash.

When I came outside again in my new clothing, I noticed that time had literally stopped, I guess without the human, there was nothing else to proceed… My head tilted down and I climbed onto the roof, feeling nothing but shame, vengeance and disgust. I felt sick to my non-existing stomach and felt like the ghost of Papyrus behind me, watching my every move in anger and betrayal. — I started to cry out of nowhere, I’d looked at the window of the living room and noticed I’d become skinnier and had actually grown at some point. Ever since… I haven’ had much to eat, resources were becoming scarce and I’ve now had to start living off of plants, forcing myself to become a vegan.

It could’ve been because I’d grown and believed that time was starting again, only to have my hope crushed when I’d stared at a clock for what seemed like an hour. Or it could’ve been that I’d glanced at the calendar that was next to the door and saw that (for me) it has been over a year since then.

Whenever I slept and woke up, I’d count that as a day. I hardly got sleep anymore, resulting with bangs under my eyes somehow and becoming an insomniac. I always got nightmares of Papyrus, staring at me in hatred with marks on her body from when I’d sliced her but dripping with her blood.

I left the house from feeling claustrophobic and jumped onto the roof and sat down on its peek, resting my skull into between my knees. The new clothes I’d made shortly after finishing the graveyard hung loosely to me, during my growth I’ve had to alter them to make sure they were bigger than myself, to be sure I was prepared for any more unexpected growth spurts.

Silence has been the only thing I’ve heard now, other than the imaginary voices of the other monsters before they were massacred, so after a few minutes of self-loathing, you could imagine my shock when I heard a glitch rip and a confused voice ask:

“What’s this place, Error?”

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